Episode 1323 Talkback: Previews

Pants

Previews time! David Hedgecock, CEO of Ape Entertainment, joins us to discuss the return of Poison Elves and sticks around as we go through the January Previews catalog for items shipping mostly in March. (2:02:43)

Listen here.

Greg

Since you mentioned the writing change on Constantine and the adjective shenannigans of Skullkickers, and I'm not entirely sure of the reasoning behind it, but Jim Zub was taken off of Birds of Prey being replaced by Christy Marx. Big loss for DC, Zub's a damn good writer. It was just announced a few of weeks ago with Jim's first issue being #18 in March.

kfreeman

I'm gonna get him for busting on my alma mater :)

Greg

Steam Wars - A one shot steampunk parody of Star Wars.

Victorian Secret Agents - Five issue mini-series of steampunky goodness.

CourtOfOwls

Greg said:

Since you mentioned the writing change on Constantine and the adjective shenannigans of Skullkickers, and I'm not entirely sure of the reasoning behind it, but Jim Zub was taken off of Birds of Prey being replaced by Christy Marx. Big loss for DC, Zub's a damn good writer. It was just announced a few of weeks ago with Jim's first issue being #18 in March.

I was so disappointed when Jim Zub posted that on Facebook. I got off Birds of Prey when Gail Simone left the title, & was thinking of picking it back up when I heard Jim was on it. Now I guess I don't have to. :( Also heard that Scott Snyder is off of Swamp Thing! Guess we should hold off on all DC orders from Previews until the final DC version comes out. DC will have to put out an updated supplement when they get their shit together.

mguy1977

I would love to hear a Top Ten Footnotes episodes AFTER Jamie D finishes w/ Legends pt 2. The only DC books I'm getting these days are Superman & Action after the crossover wraps up & Batman & Detective. The rest is Fables/Fairest Collected Editions & pre-Flashpoint Superman stuff like Byrne Man of Steel vol. 7 tpb coming out next month & the COMPLETE Death & Return of Superman Omnibus in a few months. I like the new52 universe but not as much as the post-COIE DC universe (sorry Dan & Jim). Cornell/Alan Davis Wolverine is the comics awesome sauce!

Matthew

[Deleted User]

Actually, Sesame Street did publish a book of comics stories... a thick hardcover, with a very "underground" kind of vibe. I remember reading it in about the 3rd grade, about 1976 or so. It had a story about "Fireman" and the character from the show, "Letterman". Also, it featured stories about some of the standard characters.

If anyone out there has any information/memories about this book, please let me know.. I have searched for it forever, and would love to know it really existed. :)

larry

Dave was a real nice addition to the previews episode! Great insight to indie books. Loved this episode.

May I make a suggestion? I like hearing the discussion about what off the rack books to read. It happened once where you guys decided on the episode which book would be read (I believe it was X-factor). I liked getting in on that discussion. I also like the idea of off the rack picks being 3 of the most interesting books. Not just one Marvel, one DC, and one other.

mguy1977

The latest information on Peter David.

JK's Happy Hour
http://thetaylornetwork.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/jks-happy-hour-how-peters-doing/

Matthew

Flagwaver

I can't get this or the previous episode to download in iTunes. Anyone else having the same problem?

dubbat138

Tonebone said:

Actually, Sesame Street did publish a book of comics stories... a thick hardcover, with a very "underground" kind of vibe. I remember reading it in about the 3rd grade, about 1976 or so. It had a story about "Fireman" and the character from the show, "Letterman". Also, it featured stories about some of the standard characters.

If anyone out there has any information/memories about this book, please let me know.. I have searched for it forever, and would love to know it really existed. :)

That sounds familiar to me. But I don't remember if I owned it or just checked it out from the library.

Royal_Lantern

Jamie, while I would definitely recommend looking into getting the trade of Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison, I would not recommend the Darth Maul trade in Previews this month. It's just an okay story overall and wraps up a bit too fast. It does start off strong, but tends to fizzle out as it goes on. Definitely spend that money on the Vader trade.

Royal_Lantern

As far as Pants disinterest in DC these days, I think he is suffering not just from being older and not wanting to accept the changes (though I'm sure there is some of that), but also the old DC was something near and dear to his heart. Those characters were ones he invested years upon years with. It's hard to accept drastic changes to a universe when you have that much invested in the old. Even those characters did change over the years, this change was much more in your face.

It's probably why he's gravitating so much to the Marvel Now at this point. It's a whole big universe that he can jump into where he wasn't vested in before.

Personally, I am still loving what I get from DC overall, and I still get a lot from them. I was invested for many years before, and sure, I miss characters like Wally, Stephanie Brown, etc. a lot, but things change and I have always been one to roll with them....to what I find a reasonable extent for myself of course. Pants I'm sure is the same, but this DCU has fallen out of his reasonable extent. To that point I am sad to hear it happen, but at the same time, to each their own.

alienal

Yayy! Previews! I look forward to this to help me make my choices each month!
Sorry, I stopped getting Rachel Rising. Lost interest. Some characters seem to look too similar in black-and-white.
Wow, I think this is the longest you guys have ever spent in the "back-of-the-book."
Dark Horse: Nah, no B.P.R.D. for me. But I will be getting the Mignola-drawn Hellboy.
DC: Well, in the movie it was "Constan-teen" Heh-heh, but that's the movie...
JLA#2/JL#18/Aquaman#18/WonderWoman#18/Earth2#10/World'sFinest#10/Batman and Robin#18/Batman#18/Constantine#1/JusticeLeagueDark#18/PhantomStranger#6/SwordofSorcery#6/LeagueofSuperHeroes#18
IDW: The Highways #3
Image:East of West #1/Sex#1/Fatale #14
Marvel: Skipping Age of Ultron (I'll probably get the trade, sorry guys)/Wolverine#1/UncannyAvengers#6/Avengers7and8/NewAvengers4/IndestructibleHulk#5/Nova#2/SuperiorSpider-Man5and6/Hawkeye#9/Daredevil#24
Anyway, good show guys!

Chuck_Melville

Royal_Lantern said:

As far as Pants disinterest in DC these days, I think he is suffering not just from being older and not wanting to accept the changes (though I'm sure there is some of that), but also the old DC was something near and dear to his heart. Those characters were ones he invested years upon years with. It's hard to accept drastic changes to a universe when you have that much invested in the old. Even those characters did change over the years, this change was much more in your face.

It's probably why he's gravitating so much to the Marvel Now at this point. It's a whole big universe that he can jump into where he wasn't vested in before.

Personally, I am still loving what I get from DC overall, and I still get a lot from them. I was invested for many years before, and sure, I miss characters like Wally, Stephanie Brown, etc. a lot, but things change and I have always been one to roll with them....to what I find a reasonable extent for myself of course. Pants I'm sure is the same, but this DCU has fallen out of his reasonable extent. To that point I am sad to hear it happen, but at the same time, to each their own.

I think there's a good bit more to Pant's disinterest than a simple 'you're getting old and it's hard to accept change'. I share his growing disinterest in DC and I attribute it not simply to the fact that things have changed, but that they've changed badly. I've been through major changes at DC before after the original Crisis On Infinite Earths, and I had no problems with those changes. This time around, they seemed to have made changes simply for change's sake and without any real reason to it, ignoring and discarding a lot of the original concepts or characteristics that made their characters unique and interesting to begin with. For the sake of change, they've often thrown out the baby with the bathwater. Most of the current DCs feel like thin, cheap imitations of their former selves. Marvel, on the other hand, appears to have sharpened up their act and has been producing better and sharper material; their only problems are of a different nature: the higher price line and the double shipping.

JamieD

Royal_Lantern said:

Jamie, while I would definitely recommend looking into getting the trade of Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison, I would not recommend the Darth Maul trade in Previews this month. It's just an okay story overall and wraps up a bit too fast. It does start off strong, but tends to fizzle out as it goes on. Definitely spend that money on the Vader trade.

Thanks for the heads up

rebis

Someone commented (I believe on this episode) that BBC America should run episode of the original Dr. Who. Well, from their mouth to God's ear.

THE FIRST DOCTOR ON BBC AMERICA!

NICE!

Royal_Lantern

Chuck_Melville said:

I think there's a good bit more to Pant's disinterest than a simple 'you're getting old and it's hard to accept change'. I share his growing disinterest in DC and I attribute it not simply to the fact that things have changed, but that they've changed badly. I've been through major changes at DC before after the original Crisis On Infinite Earths, and I had no problems with those changes. This time around, they seemed to have made changes simply for change's sake and without any real reason to it, ignoring and discarding a lot of the original concepts or characteristics that made their characters unique and interesting to begin with. For the sake of change, they've often thrown out the baby with the bathwater. Most of the current DCs feel like thin, cheap imitations of their former selves. Marvel, on the other hand, appears to have sharpened up their act and has been producing better and sharper material; their only problems are of a different nature: the higher price line and the double shipping.

I certainly didn't mean that all of his dislike was due to getting old and unaccepting of some big changes. More of it I believe has to do with some of the major changes that he finds unacceptable.

As far as bad changes, I think we can agree that a statement like that is all in a matter of individual opinions. What one person finds as a bad change, others don't. But I will agree that there are many changes that I don't like. I miss a lot of the legacy that the old DC had, but I'm seeing some of that creep back in. And not all of the removals of legacy have been bad. I thought I would miss the legacy missing with the Earth 2 title, but I am loving that book. Where I miss it more is in things like Teen Titans.

Some books though for me are just as strong or in some cases stronger than ever before. Outside of the Batman titles, which is obvious in most people's opinion, I am loving Aquaman more than ever. I love All-Star Western (and I never read Jonah Hex before the relaunch). I love Sword of Sorcery and Justice League Dark (ever since Lemiere took over). And I know some people don't enjoy it, but I love Justice League and the Shazam back ups have been amazing (yes, I love my old Captain Marvel with his big cheese personality, but this has been great also).

So, it is a difference of opinion on what is good or bad, but that's all fine. DC gained some readers and lost others. So far, as far as numbers go, I think overall it's still been pretty successful for them.

TheMarvelMan

larry said:

I like hearing the discussion about what off the rack books to read.

I agree! Minimally, I like hearing what the three books will be! Have you decided yet? Have you announced them yet? (Sorry, I haven't made it through the "Nominations" episodes yet. If you've announced them there, please ignore me!)

Thanks again for another terrific Previews episodes. You jerks cost me hundreds of dollars per year with your enthusiasm for books that I wouldn't pick up on my own!

ChrisBeckett

That Star Wars omnibus certainly is interesting. I know there was a lot of mention of the Alan Moore tales in there, but, to be honest, they aren't that great. I got them when Dark Horse originally reprinted them as a two-issue series years ago (decades maybe?).

But, the big thing for me are those Star Wars 3D issues from Blackthorne that are being reprinted. I'm sure they have never been collected before. I have the first issue, and it was one of the best Star Wars comics I've ever read - at least up until Dark Horse first got the license. I couldn't tell you what was involved in the story, but I do remember being incredibly impressed with it. And, looking at the solicitation, I'm not that surprised to find Len Wein was the writer.

And, Shane, I agree wholeheartedly on your take on "Special Missions." When it was announced, I remember expecting the same thing - something with a bit more intrigue and tension, more hard-hitting, and all we got was a secondary G.I. Joe title that didn't live up to the title. Not that I don't have all 26 issues in my longboxes, because I do. But I don't expect to ever re-read them. Maybe my youngest boy will some day, though.

chris

ChrisBeckett

Also, my "pick of the month" is from NBM. Family Ties by Eric Hobbs & Noel Tuazon.



Since I discovered Tuazon's art on Elk's Run (with Joshua Hale Fialkov), I've been following him and getting anything he draws, and I'm never disappointed. He worked with Fialkov again on Tumor and did the Broadcast - a fabulous story revolving around Orson Welles's War of the Worlds radio broadcast that is resonant and moving - with Eric Hobbs, who is the writer for this new book. Definitely worth checking out, and only $10.49 @ DCBS.

chris

JamieD

ChrisBeckett said:

Also, my "pick of the month" is from NBM. Family Ties by Eric Hobbs & Noel Tuazon.



Since I discovered Tuazon's art on Elk's Run (with Joshua Hale Fialkov), I've been following him and getting anything he draws, and I'm never disappointed. He worked with Fialkov again on Tumor and did the Broadcast - a fabulous story revolving around Orson Welles's War of the Worlds radio broadcast that is resonant and moving - with Eric Hobbs, who is the writer for this new book. Definitely worth checking out, and only $10.49 @ DCBS.

chris

Thank you sir, I too love that artwork and overlooked this

ShaneKelly

rebis said:

Someone commented (I believe on this episode) that BBC America should run episode of the original Dr. Who. Well, from their mouth to God's ear.

THE FIRST DOCTOR ON BBC AMERICA!

NICE!

I think it was me who said about this, it is tonight and I can't wait!!! Wa-HOO!!!

BBCAmerica so needs to re-run as many old Doctor Who as possible.

Chuck_Melville

I saw a lot of the first Doctor last year on the local PBS station; right now, we're up to the fourth Doctor. The one problem with the 1st Doctor is that a lot of the episodes are missing... though not nearly so many as the 2nd Doctor's.

Pants

Our picks for a future 'Off the Racks' episode from this Previews are Time Warp #1, East of West #1 and Green Hornet #1.

John_Steed

Pants said:

Our picks for a future 'Off the Racks' episode from this Previews are Time Warp #1, East of West #1 and Green Hornet #1.

if they're up on comiXology I'll be able to play along ;;)

TheMarvelMan

Pants said:

Our picks for a future 'Off the Racks' episode from this Previews are...

Thanks, Pants!

ctowner1

mguy1977 said:

I would love to hear a Top Ten Footnotes episodes AFTER Jamie D finishes w/ Legends pt 2.

Matthew

Murd, not sure if you're aware of this, and in no way to impugn your scholarly acumen, but I think the definitive Top 10 Annotations have already been done by Jess Nevins, who has been working his way through Alan Moore's body of work. It's a work of excruciating detail - and it includes compilation of suggestions from many sources:

ratmmjess.tripod.com/topten1.html

To the extent you've caught things he did not, perhaps better to join forces and submit to Jess!

e
L nny

Chuck_Melville

I'm just getting caught up on some of these episodes, and I wanted to correct a comment made at the very end of the podcast: someone observed that the Rocket Raccoon collection had a cover by his co-creator, Mike Mignola.

Mignola did indeed do the cover, and did the much-treasured Rocket Raccoon mini-series with writer Bill Mantlo back in the 80's, but he is not one of Rocket's co-creators.

Rocket made his first appearance in a short-lived black & white series called "The Sword In The Star" in Marvel Preview #7 back in the 70's -- by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen.

(If people want to discount that appearance as being some other Rocket Raccoon in another time era, then you have to consider the current day Rocket's first appearance to be in Hulk #271, a year or so before the mini-series, written and drawn by Mantlo and Sal Buscema. Either way, the point is that the character was there before Mignola came along.)

Both stories are included in the collection.