Episode 1520 Talkback: A Cornucopia of Comic Conversation 2014
i_am_scifi
Posts: 784
It's a family gathering of Geeks, as we sit down to our annual Thanksgiving-week smorgasbord of comic talk! In addition to describing what we did to celebrate the holiday (and what we read or watched to avoid talking to our relatives), we tackle the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer; NBC's 'Constantine'; the Spider-Verse crossover; the fondly remembered CrossGen and Ultraverse comic lines; and other tasty giblets. You're welcome to join us--come, sit, put in your ear buds and pass the potato stuffing!
Listen to the show!
And then listen to the leftovers on the Comic Geek Speak App, available on both iOS and Android!
Listen to the show!
And then listen to the leftovers on the Comic Geek Speak App, available on both iOS and Android!
Comments
Murd ... you gave me a scare. When you randomly threw out the first name of (the unfortunately named) Dr. Dorcas, I thought for sure that I was dead in the water (no pun intended). And, thankfully, I got a quick whistle from Peter on the Empire question too. Was afraid you'd pull that one out of the Murd data banks at the 11th hour.
In any event, a win is a win, and I suppose it's appropriate that I got an assist from Peter as, yes, I do indeed bequeath the much-coveted "Wonder Woman / Superman Treasury Edition" to him. A Christmas miracle indeed! Enjoy, Mr. Rios.
As for the rest of the show ... Pants, I'm surprised you were unfamiliar with The Champions. Thought that would have been right around your Silver Age wheelhouse. I know they're somewhat held to ridicule, but I loved that book when I was a kid. The very first story arc where they go up against Pluto was a classic.
As for the "Silk" character in "Amazing Spider-Man," she was in Peter's class in HS and was present at the same radiation exhibit the day he got bit. After the spider bit Peter, he knocked it away and it landed on her foot and bit her. She's been an interesting character thus far. As a whole, I'm also enjoying the Spider-Verse storyline as well. I'm only reading "Amazing Spider-Man" and none of the other involved titles, but it's been a good read IMO.
Downloaded episode #854 this morning to hear Mr. Deemer's rant about the "LOST" finale. Hope to give it a listen sometime this week. I suspect I voiced (okay, screamed) many of the same criticisms about it in the aftermath.
And thank you @Adam_Murdough for the delightful conversation at the Christmas Barn and the recommendation of Ozgood's. The food was delicious.
We just put up our Christmas tree yesterday and the ornament we bought now proudly hangs near the top while the penguin/snowman/moose figurine sits on my record player in the living room.
It's amazing that Deemer's daughter is plowing through all that Silver Age Legion stuff. Just amazing and even inspiring. We look back on older comics as being wordy s.o.b.s, but I remember reading quite a few old treasury editions when I was young (especially "Batman from the '30s to the '70s", and the Superman equivalent), and I have suspected that really old Golden and Silver Age comics might still translate well to younger readers, i.e. readers who are not yet addicted to decompressed storytelling.
I'm pretty sure Constantine will be back. The ratings haven't been that low, have they? They pulled something similar with Hannibal a couple years ago; midway through the first season they said "We've stopped production, but we're not canceled". Many people flipped out over this, but right before the season finished airing they announced that, yes, it would be returning next season. And isn't Hannibal's usual timeslot in fact the same slot that Constantine's in now? Constantine was probably never supposed to be a year-long show anyway, because Hannibal was/is expected to take over the timeslot come February. So, like Hannibal, Constantine's just one of those shows that airs for half the year or so. (Hannibal is an excellent show, btw.)
Just read Thor #2 and I think it's quite clear now who the female "Thor" is. There's a thought-balloon indicating that she's seen the Roxxon CEO before, so... that basically narrows it down to one female character who's shown up in Aaron's run so far. I'm not thrilled with this character, but I will say that the female lead in Thor #2 was more interesting and seemed to have more depth than the previous character ever did. So if this leads to good comics (and it has so far), then I'm cool with it.
Deemer mentioned that he was kinda getting sick of Waid's Daredevil and its lighter tone. I agree with others that the run seems to be a synthesis of the dark and the light side of the character. To me, though, that can sometimes make for bland comics.
Bland is going too far. It isn't bland, I just don't find it terribly exciting. I've read every issue and enjoyed just about all of them, but I honestly I don't think there have been more than two issues that I'd rate over 4 stars.
I'm going to say something else that's very sacrilegious: I don't think I've ever read a Mark Waid comic that I'd call "great". I've read a ton of "good" and "very good" Mark Waid comics, but no great ones. Even something like Kingdom Come, for me, is a classic almost solely due to Alex Ross's art and concept.
I don't think Waid is capable of writing a "bad" comic, either. For me he has a very, very high overall average, if you want to put it that way. In baseball he'd be like a .330 hitter, with a good deal of RBIs... but no home runs.
I've read many great Bendis comics, but also plenty of awful Bendis comics. I've read many great Moore and Miller and Morrison comics, but also a decent number of bad comics from all three of those writers. From Waid, though? If his name's on the book, it's going to be either "good" or "very good", guaranteed. But imo it isn't ever great. His Daredevil is no exception for me. It's been consistently one of the best Marvel series for years now, but I don't think it's touched elite status. The earlier issues with Rivera art were close. It's been good but I wouldn't put it in an elite status.
But again, everyone has their opinions of what works for them and that doesn't always coincide with what others like. Thank god for variety.
I am so pumped about the Star Wars trailer. I can't even count how many times I watched it. I love that the trailer is breaking all kinds of records in just a couple weeks of being out.
That didn't work, now did it?