Episode 1751 Talkback - Comic Talk

Adam_Murdough

The Geeks quit clowning around and share their takes on the JOKER film (some SPOILERS occur... seriously!). Also, Ian's fast-paced fly-through of New York Comic-Con 2019; Kevin Feige's expanded role at Marvel Entertainment; Murd's encounter with Grant Morrison's sword-and-sorcery Santa saga, Klaus; mini-reviews of Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium, Grendel: Devil's Odyssey, and a Steve Ditko retrospective in Alter Ego #160; and other snits 'n' giggles. (1:47:03)

Listen here.

Dman

I haven't listened yet but do you cover the X-Men related series House/Powers/Dawn of X at all? It's pretty much the biggest things in comics right now. Just asking.

nweathington

Re: NYCC and the comic book representation, there aren’t quite as many comic book dealers now as there were when I first started doing the show, but it’s still a good chunk of the floor space. The selection seems to be a bit more streamlined now, though—fewer surprises and fewer deals on the types of thing I’m after. This was the first year I didn’t buy a single thing.

One of these days, I swear the Pop! bubble is going to pop... but it sure wasn’t this year. We set up in the Small Press area about 60 feet from the Funko booth, and their lines went past us all weekend. I don’t get it, the designs don't appeal to me at all, but that dude is making bank.

i_am_scifi

Next year I will make it a point to meetup with you and chat for a bit, @nweathington!

i_am_scifi

@Dman That will probably be next Comic Talk, as Chris was waiting to receive his issues in his DCBS SHIPMENT.

Dman

i_am_scifi said:

@Dman That will probably be next Comic Talk, as Chris was waiting to receive his issues in his DCBS SHIPMENT.

I look forward to it. 😊

nweathington

i_am_scifi said:

Next year I will make it a point to meetup with you and chat for a bit, @nweathington!

Please do!

luckymustard

I was curious if there will be coverage of the Watchmen show of future episodes?

Mark_Engblom

Absolutely loved Joker. It exists in its own space and time, and for that I'm happy. Not sure why the movie needed "a reason to exist", and I'm happy I wasn't burdened with that distraction while watching the masterful work of Phillips and Phoenix. The Joker, of all characters, should not be burdened to fit into some pre-existing continuity, nor having an origin that should be seen as canonical. I mean, we live in an age where DC Comics, the owner of the Joker IP, is positing that there are literally three different men who are the Joker within their current continuity, so it's hard to get too worked up over what's canon, what the reasoning is for a stand-alone Joker movie, etc, etc. As we all know, the boundaries and distinctions of what we formerly knew as "canon" is rapidly disintegrating as the comic biz gets more and more desperate for sales and buzz...so it's all becoming one big vat of meta-elements that have less and less to do with a coherent canon and more to do with just telling compelling stories.

As Murd said, this was the story of A Joker, and this particular Joker was as fascinating, creepy, and original as I was hoping he would be. The intensity and bizarre physicality of Phoenix was absolutely mesmerizing, and felt the Wayne family elements were done just right. As for Thomas Wayne being a jerk, DC Comics has been taking his legacy (as well as his ancestors') into a darker, morally ambiguous direction...to say nothing of the Flashpoint Thomas Wayne. So, as Elseworlds stories go (which this movie clearly feels like), I'm not terribly scandalized by an asshole Thomas Wayne.

Speaking of Murd, I was pleasantly surprised by how much he enjoyed the movie, since he typically doesn't seem to like darker stuff. He said all the stuff I wanted to say to Ian and Chris in his defense of the film, so thank you!