Podcast - Episode 90: Social Media & Secret Empire

So Marvel's Secret Empire started in earnest with issue #0 this past week. To me the only thing worth getting riled up about with this event is the insistence of publishers to keep putting out issues numbered ZERO. Enough! No more zeroes, no more decimal points.

But that is a topic for another (very boring) episode.

This week we are talking about a bunch of stuff, but the conversation mostly keeps going back to two things: Secret Empire, and social media.

We did an episode eleven months ago, just after the big HydraCap reveal, about comic books in the age of social media. I was pretty frustrated then, and, almost a year later, I am frustrated still. And that episode was recorded shortly after I wrote out most of my feelings on the matter in a blog post. I stand by everything I said then.

So this week's episode is kind of a like a check in now that a lot of the questions about this story have been revealed. And Dave and I also discuss our individual frustrations with social media, especially Twitter, as it relates to comics. And we talk about people in the industry who are good at using social media...and some who aren't. 

But ALSO this week...Bucky is maybe dead. Probably not. But maybe a little bit dead.

But at least he went out kicking Zemo in the most ridiculous way imaginable:

And then he died as he lived: shirtless and thinking about Steve.

Sigh. If only he'd had some sort of useful device in that new arm of his to get him out of that trap. Like...a blade...or a flame thrower...or a tiny little robot arm. Alas.

Let's top this off with our pal J.Bone's latest Steve and Bucky make-out art:

I feel like I've already drawn this but kisses should always be repeated. #stucky #captainamerica #wintersoldier #jbone

A post shared by J.Bone (@originaljbone) on Apr 23, 2017 at 4:48pm PDT

Oh, and what's this! A little HydraCap/Zemo smooching?

For @rachellegoguen #stemo #captainamerica #baronzemo #jbone

A post shared by J.Bone (@originaljbone) on Apr 23, 2017 at 7:03pm PDT

Next week we will run down this year's Free Comic Book Day offerings! Thanks for listening!

Podcast - Epsiode 89: Artists Behaving Badly

Man. Marvel can't go a week without something bad happening, huh? When they aren't talking some noise about how diversity negatively affects sales, they are dealing with artists sneaking racist messages into their X-Men comics. At least that Thor: Ragnarok trailer dropped!

The Star Wars announcement turned out to be a bit of a letdown. I mean, it's an Omaze contest, as Dave predicted, and the prize is, I suppose, good if you are into that sort of thing. You get to go to the premier of The Last Jedi, and you get to go to the set of the Han Solo movie. Plus you spend a night at Skywalker Ranch. Personally, I would rather win drinks with Oscar Isaac.

I know why you guys are here. You want to see the panel of Bucky with the penis drawn onto him. Well, here you go:

I mean...well done, right?

Alright, so we are taking next week off, and then we will be back to talk about two weeks worth of comic book news!

Here's a Thor trailer gif for the road:

Podcast - Episode 88: Let's Talk About Marvel

Oh, Marvel. Why can't you just stop saying dumb things?

David Gabriel says that fans are complaining about too much diversity in their books, and Axel Alonso says no one cares about artists (I am paraphrasing heavily here). Dave and I have some other ideas about what might be causing Marvel's sales slump.

I was going to post a bunch of terrible panels from Thunderbolts #11 here, but why beat a dead horse? Hopefully my beloved Bucky will find himself in a better looking book soon.

It's a fun episode! I can't think of much to post this week. Enjoy!