Episode 1721 Talkback - Comic Talk

Adam_Murdough

Comic Talk comin' at ya! In this formidable farina of fannish ephemera, you'll find our musings on the latest wave of 'restructuring' at DC Entertainment, a spoiler-free reaction to M. Night Shyamalan's pseudo-superhero film Glass, movie news, reading reviews, trivia, random anecdotes, and other tender vittles. (1:49:23)

Listen here.

nweathington

In laying off Mark Chiarello, DC just gave me one more reason not to buy their product. Seriously, practically all of my favorite DC books of the last 20 years were edited by Mark. If there was a DC book that was unique and pushed creative boundaries, odds are Mark was in charge of it. I've known Mark for about 15 years, and though I can count the number of times I’ve talked with him on two hands, I have a ton of respect for the guy, not just as an editor and art director, but as an artist and as a human being. He helped me get in touch with several of the guys I ended up doing Modern Masters books with in the early years, and he was going to write the introduction to one which fell through. The only positive I can see coming out of this is that maybe we’ll get to see more of his paintings now.

nweathington

Re: the SyFy tour of John Byrne’s studio, I guess time was too short to go out to his garage and see his full-size custom car kit of the Batmobile from the ’60s TV series. Of course, it’s probably still only half-built, so maybe it wouldn't have looked all that impressive on camera.

nweathington

Re: Freedom Fighters, while I haven’t been blown away by it, I like it better than any other take on the team they’ve put out the past couple of decades. It doesn’t seem to be a direct follow up to Morrison’s Multiversity: Mastermen story, but it definitely has the same vibe. But, like you @Adam_Murdough, I have a feeling this 12-issue series may end up feeling a bit bloated given the pacing of the second issue.

Mark_Engblom

Fun to hear a larger group together again! However, the audio glitching made it seem like I was listening to a Max Headroom marathon! I realize things get tricky with multiple remote connections...and I truly appreciate the effort, but man that was tough to listen to clearly.

https://youtu.be/oRzYJullFOs

i_am_scifi

Mark_Engblom said:

Fun to hear a larger group together again! However, the audio glitching made it seem like I was listening to a Max Headroom marathon! I realize things get tricky with multiple remote connections...and I truly appreciate the effort, but man that was tough to listen to clearly.

https://youtu.be/oRzYJullFOs

Yeah @Mark_Engblom, we need to figure out the hitch in the line and then all will be smooth. Luckily the double audio wasn't a constant, although in the future I'll be employing a stop the recording, and then restart it strategy until we can get Chris a new headset, as I'm pretty sure that's the culprit.

SharkJumper

I'm still working my way through the episode but some comments before I forget...

Glad to hear others were not thrilled with the Avatar story. I found the story so pedestrian that I was rooting for the bad guys at the end just to make it interesting, much to the chagrin of my girlfriend at the time. Independence Day also had a dumbed down story.

My comic buying is mostly back issues now but I am trying a few new books. I'm giving the new Shazam! book a go. Disappointed that issue #2 was late and no Eaglesham interiors. Did he not have enough lead time?

I stopped reading Doomsday Clock after issue 2 and am just collecting them to read all at once. So I'm right there with ya, Shane.

I'm also giving the new FF a go but am behind (issue 2). I'll probably cut this loose soon though unless the recent issues grab me.

The new Captain America series. I'm having the opposite reaction than Chris. All the right elements are there: Alex Ross covers. Yu interiors. Touches to our own political climate (Russian influence). Impact of a post-dictorial Cap. So why am I so BORED after each issue? It doesn't help coming after Waid's recent run, which really did cleanse the palette of the previous Hydra Cap run for me. I'm just not finding it an exciting run. Perhap Coates' story is moving too slow for me?

Anyone try the new Green Lantern? I do prefer Liam Sharp's inks on others pencils but it is an interesting look here. But Morrison's writing didn't do it for me. I do appreciate that it stands out from other books on the stands.

DC Layoffs. Still early but it feels like the wrong people were let go. Most DC books have a bland Children of Jim Lee look to them so I'm not too excited about the DCU much anymore. And if John's hopeful Wally West Rebirth approach is tossed out for DiDio's dark stumbling vision, then I won't be back anytime soon. I hear King's Batman is good but I'm so tired of Batman. I'd so love a good Superman book but never warmed to Bendis. So best that I hop in my time bubble and live in DC's past. I've been listening to old episodes of CGS and the Spotlight on Wonder Woman got me rummaging through my storage boxes for my Showcase volumes.

So what is the future of printed comics? On demand at high prices? Perhaps licensing out the characters to smaller companies that want to deal with the costs? And are copyrights up in a few decades for all to use or will WB and Disney use their power to extend them again? (Most likely) Thoughts?

alienal

Nice to hear group of the geeks on Skype. The audio issues were a problem, but nothing I hadn't heard before or couldn't get used to. I liked the way Ian said "Comic Talk" ala Pants-style. By the way, is he still on sabbatical? Here are my random comments:

First issue of Shazam was pretty good.

Doomsday Clock? It's okay, but like Shane I usually have to re-read previous issues when I get a new one. However, I think it's mostly because I'm really into the story...I want to see if I've missed something.

I haven't seen either Aquaman or Into the Spider-verse or whatever it's called. I'm looking forward to seeing them soon as they are now being advertised here in Japan. I'll have to look up those trailers and teasers you all mentioned. (Ghostbusters, Sha-zam, etc.)

Captain America: Yeah, not exactly my cup of tea either. I actually dropped Black Panther (what the heck do I care about him in the future out in space?) and I'm close to dropping Cap. The only thing that's kept me on is the connection to the Brubaker run.

I think Superman and Action have been good, but I didn't read Man of Steel (just seemed like a cash grab). I also haven't read Naomi, Young Justice, and the other Wonder Comics line, but I'm looking forward to YJ at least.

Nice non-muddle, Murd! 2 out of 3! Good show!