ABC Podcast, Episode #3

Episode #3 is posted in the right sidebar, so please download and enjoy (and leave a review on iTunes if you would be so kind)!

Episode description:
Episode #3 of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by Brian Michael Bendis, so please tune in each week for the next eight months to learn what happened on this episode. Evie and Aaron brag about watching an advance copy of "Batman: Gotham Knight," and fight about Runaways #30 and how literally to consider the Crap of the Week category. Much praise is heaped on punching the Watcher in the head.

But I am sorry that I forgot to clean the litter box

Aaron tells me I was too generous in my assessment of Runaways #30, below, and that in fact it was crap. Granted, I had such low expectations that perhaps I had a sensitive gush meter. But we'll definitely be "discussing" it on the podcast this weekend.

Ok, um...

...Not only did Runaways #30 tie up every loose end, have some true surprises and give Molly multiple winner lines, it made me tear fucking up. This story arc has been so drawn out that I had forgotten what we were even waiting for, but Whedon managed to make it all come back and make sense, and give Chase one of the tenderest comic book moments in recent memory. Despite my spaz-out yesterday, I must remind myself that I did name this blog and the podcast after a piece of dialog that Joss Whedon wrote for this very series, and that he did have the characters pretty well nailed. Which I think made the delays and clumsiness of the set-up that much more disappointing. Anyway, there's really no doubt that this issue will be my First or Last of the Week for the next podcast, so I won't go into it all here, but suffice it to say I am relieved and now almost sad to see Whedon go. Stupid comics fans, you can't win with those bastards!

So, moving on, before the guilt of not doing the work I'm supposed to be doing takes over--as the few of you who know me personally know ten times over, I have a back issue for which I had surgery in December, and the surgery apparently didn't work so now I have the same problem in addition to residual crap from being cut open. Yeah, wah wah wah. Anyway, I have physical therapy in the late afternoon on Mondays and Wednesdays, so depending on how my work day plays out, I'm sometimes able to go straight home afterwards instead of back to the office. I was having kind of a shitty day pain-wise, so I was feeling frowny-faced and being kind of babyish with my therapist and in a general state of orneriness. The weather was unbelievably beautiful when I went outside, so instead of going back to work or getting on the train, I decided my mood could use a comic book and a frozen treat. So I detoured to Forbidden Planet on Broadway and 13th (where, incidentally, way too many dudes think it's ok to read all of their books right there in the too-skinny aisle), brought Final Crisis #2 to Red Mango on 14th and 6th, and decided pretty rapidly that I will be doing this every Wednesday this summer. Seriously, it was a substantially pleasant half hour (I don't race the clock when Morrison is involved), and lifted my spirits several notches.

I don't care who's bitching about what, Final Crisis was great--well paced, cinematic and very nearly terrifying in the right ways. I'm pretty much in the camp that thinks Morrison has been a tad of a dick in the press lately, but it's gotta be said that his storytelling is several levels above the norm. Like, startlingly so. I'm still trying to spelunk my way through Seven Soldiers of Victory with erratic success, but that's my own stupid, and I'm quite willing to read it multiple times to fully appreciate it. And Final Crisis is clearly building from SSoV quite nicely, so I am patient enough to wait for the slow, thinky unravel.

Anyway, if you happen to live in New York and wander into Red Mango on a Wednesday at around 5:00, and see a girl eating a medium yogurt with strawberries and Cinnamon Toast Crunch and reading a Secret Invasion tie-in, say hi. Or ask me how my back is doing, I love to tell people about it.

Good words

Oh, one more thing today--I'm pleased as punch to see how many people are checking out the podcast, and we've gotten some great feedback. If you are in fact someone who listened and enjoyed to any extent, I would be extremely grateful if you'd drop a quick review on the iTunes page. You can also do it if you hated it, but if you hated it I'm guessing you wouldn't waste your time coming back here or bothering to review it. Unless you really really detested it, in which case, go crazy! People like to read that stuff, too.

Time to break free, whoa oh oh oh

No matter how late, confusing, convoluted or unwieldy it is, I CANNOT WAIT for Runaways #30 to drop tomorrow. Because it means the kids will get back home just in time for a Secret Invasion crossover, and it means the awkward Whedon run is finally putting in its notice. I don't know anything about anything, but I have a feeling Whedon got so excited about taking over Runaways that he lost his mind a bit, and got a little manic, and said "oh let's do this! And this! And omg this with these 16 new characters here! Time travel and funny clothes and it will be so exciting that everyone will be totally engrossed and no one will forget what's going on even if I take a six-month break between issues!"

That's how I feel when I read it, anyway. Or at least I think that's how I feel, I don't really remember (GET IT?).

p.s. I should add that I don't think it's cool to thoughtlessly trash on creators, especially those that have proven their talents in many ways--this is just a case of one of my all-time favorites going a little off the rails, and I'm excited for a new start. So Joss, when you read this, because I know you totally will obvs, don't sweat it.

It's an honor just being nominated

As a little sneaky preview/enticement for the podcast, we decided we'd post our Panel of the Week and Word Balloon of the Week here on the blog after we record each show. There are a slew of other award categories and various other nonsense in the broadcast, but the aforementioned categories can do with some visual aiding. If you listened last week to me trying lamely to explain why my Word Balloon of the Week from Captain Britain was so clever, you know what I'm talking about.

You should be aware that these scans could get a bit unruly, as a)Aaron and I each choose a winner for each category, and b)in addition to talking about the victors, we tend to patter on about the ones we almost picked, so much so that they'll need to be equally spotlighted here.

Anyway, here we go--for context and screaming, listen to Episode 2!

Word Balloon(s) of the Week

Evie's pick(s), from Ubu Bubu #2 (by Jamie Smart, Slave Labor Graphics):



Aaron's pick, from Guardians of the Galaxy #2 (by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Paul Pelletier, Marvel; winning balloon is Warlock's, click to enlarge):


Panel(s) of the Week

Aaron's pick, from Incredible Hercules #118 (by Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente and Rafa Sandoval, Marvel; click to enlarge):


Evie's pick, from Incredible Hercules #118:


Evie's runner-up pick, from Guardians of the Galaxy #2 (this was in the top five for word balloon, until I noticed the silly random alien petting Cosmo on the head):

ABC Podcast, Episode #2

Hey look, the novelty hasn't worn off yet! Episode #2 of the ABC Podcast is spit-shined and uploaded--add to iTunes here or download/subscribe via some other mechanism here. We think this one might be better than the last one, but we may be biased by the fact that Yakoff Smirnoff's name was invoked at one point.

And I promise I'll do some actual writing soon. I just don't want to hurt my head too much.

Check's in the mail

Girl Friday K has posted an entirely too generous review of our first podcast episode, which is awesome in that it is very kind, and horrific in that we now have to deliver these things she says. So I guess we have to think of some things to say for Episode #2 this weekend. And drum up some more "sponsors".

Seven Soliders of Abstraction and Ambiguity

I'm reading Seven Soldiers of Victory as background for Final Crisis. If anyone can explain this series in seven coherent sentences, I'll send you some kind of legitimate prize. I think maybe it was written in magnetic poetry.

Gross

Sorry about that icky code on the sidebar there, I'm trying to submit the podcast to aggregators and "claim" it, which requires you to do weird crap that can be deleted later but right now mucks up my page.

Anyway, maybe I'll try to write about comics books later today. Stranger things have happened.

Awesomed By Comics Podcast Episode #1 OMG!

Check it out yo, it's still Monday and I got the podcast up and running! How's that for exceeding expectations?

Click here to download the episode directly (right click to save on your computer), here to subscribe to the feed, and here to read my updated A.Q.s with more info (second question). I've submitted to iTunes but have to wait for their obligatory review process, so if you'd rather get it that way, I'll let you know as soon as it's up, providing I remember to check.

New episodes (which should be weekly if all goes according to plan) will always be at the top of the sidebar on the right. For the full episode description, click on the episode number or go to the feed site.

p.s. Anyone who successfully identifies our theme song, rearranged and recorded by my ubermulti-talented co-host, gets a year's supply of seriously enthusiastic high fives. After I regain consciousness from the shock.

Awesomed by the sound of our own voices

Ok, so coming as no surprise whatsoever, Aaron and I couldn't shut the hell up during our podcast so there is some editing needed in order that you do not pass out from boredom should you choose to listen. So, stay tuned.

Special announcement!

If all goes well, Monday(ish) will unleash the first episode of the highly anticipated Awesomed By Comics Podcast! Highly anticipated that is by my husband Aaron and me, who have talked half-assedly about starting it up for some months. Also, I told a friend about it and he thought it was cool. Anyway, we now have sound effects and a theme song recorded and everything, and we just have to say some stuff. We were going to do the whole thing Saturday, but realized we should do a segment after we see the Hulk movie on Sunday afternoon, hence the (ish) on the Monday objective. I still gotta finalize the hosting and syndication and crap, so I don't want to pretend that will take five minutes.

Aaron is actually a Professional Radio Personality, and I am a highly skilled loud person, so it should be entertaining, at the very least in the car-wreck sense. Please check back, and feel free to bring your own hazard flares.

As long as Big Papi stays put

So under mysterious circumstances, Robin and Batman and the Outsiders writer Chuck Dixon is "no longer working for DC in any capacity," and people are wigging out. The reactions all fall into one of these categories:

1) Aw, that's too bad, I like his work on those books.
2) DC has their heads up their butts like always and don't know something great when they have it and they probably wanted to stifle his creativity and he probably walked out on them, totally.
3) Dropping those books from my pull list, obvs, too bad you don't get my money on those anymore DC, sucks to be you.
4) Good riddance, homophobe.

All of these things all mean the same thing, though, and that's "Ooo! Corporate drama that will truthfully only affect my life microscopically! I'm gonna get in it!"

Here's my take: I've been liking those books quite a bit. I also think that maybe there are other people who could do as well, and we'll just have to see, and if the titles go down hill then that will be disappointing. I have a knee-jerk unavoidable personal bias against anyone who has publicly declared his social conservatism, and a well-reasoned bias against someone who believes those views enable him to write "objectively" about characters with "liberal rage," but I still enjoy Dixon's work and don't wish a career downturn on anyone. Also, comics writers are like baseball players. If you lost sleep when Damon went to the Yankees, you need a little perspective. Ok, that was a bad example, because I just started to involuntarily seethe. But you get my point. Best of luck to all.

ROFLMAO, JPHRED52

I've been roaring through my backlog of books, it's kind of acquired a homework motif. It's that idiot fear of missing an issue, and then when the next one comes, you're like "What the hey?! Who is that and why are they in that place with that other guy and isn't he dead?" The point is, there are about 12 too many Wolverine books, and I'm just not going to read them. Except for Wolverine First Class, because of the cute Kitty Pryde and the cow lady named Bova that Logan keeps calling Bessy. She finally stopped correcting him. I am an enormous sucker for anthropomorphic animals, by the way.

I have to say it, I can visualize at some point in the near future digging on Final Crisis. Sure it makes little sense now, but I was far less flummoxed than I anticipated, and any appearance of Renee Montoya is a strong courting of my favor. Essentially, if the Spectre were to inhabit the body of a talking sheep for his team-up with the Question in Revelations, I'd be the very definition of enthusiasm.

On Trinity, though, I'm going to have to agree with Doug. I'll just add an "M" to that "Eh." I've been kind of a fan of DC's bronzified version of Morgaine Le Fey since her recurring bitchfest on Justice League Unlimited, but this lady is aggravating. Bring on the examination of the complex relationship among the Big Three, but not if Bruce Wayne is going to call Clark Kent "buddy." That is not working for me.

Also. Secret Invasion is boring me senseless. Just gotta get it out there. Even the massive fight scene was drowsy, because it came out of nowhere. It's like super draggy intrigue over here, setup-free chaos over there. I'll still read every damn crossover, because I am a fool, but I'd rather not have to whine about it. Fortunately we have eight dozen more issues for it to get good.

Finally, re: Detective #845, am I alone in thinking that there needs to be more late-night IMing between Batman and Detective Chimp? I cannot be alone.

Um, Alfred? GET OFF THE GODDAM FLOOR.

Sorry dudes, I am so behind on my reading. All I know is that Batman is EFFED UP.

Oh, and if you want to read my thing on the intersection of the music and comics industries, and see a pretty picture of Gail Simone, go here.