Episode 61: With Princess Leia Muffins On The Side

It’s a somewhat truncated show this week, as Rob has been battling a bug for the past couple of days. However, The Show Must Go On, particularly when you do a show about superhero comics during a week when the first medically-created superpowers were discovered. Sure, they’re crappy superpowers, and they run the risk of making you see C’thulhu in every dark corner, but I guess you’ve gotta start somewhere.

More importantly, we wanted to announce that while we will not be covering this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, we will be covering The Chicago Comic And Entertainment Expo the last weekend in April! So in this episode we talk about why we chose to cover that particular convention, a preliminary schedule of podcast episodes we’ll be releasing during and after the con, some of the more interesting panels we want to take in and cover, and how C2E2’s guest roster and programming schedule remind us pretty strongly of SDCC as it was ten years ago.

We also discuss:

• Darth Vader #3, written by Kieron Gillen with art by Salvador Larroca, and:
• Miami Vice: Remix #1, written by Joe Casey with art by Jim Mahfood!

And now the disclaimers:

• We record this show live to tape. While it might mean a looser comics podcast than you’re used to, it also means that anything can happen. Like finding out whether “pig slapping” means what Amanda thinks it means.
• This show contains spoilers. While we try to shout out warnings ahead of time, be aware that we might ruin your knowledge of the current mental state of Lt. Martin Castillo (that state being “shaky.” See? Spoilers everywhere!).
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. Do you want your boss to know Rob’s definition of “pig slapping”? Of course not. Get some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:23:07 — 75.3MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 55: Tertiary Midichlorians

Since we in Boston are staring down the barrel of another blizzard, we decided to get out of the Home Office while we could to catch a movie: Kingsman: The Secret Service, the new movie based on Mark Millar’s and Dave Gibbons’s 2012 comic The Secret Service.

While Rob in particular didn’t like The Secret Service as it was being released in comic form, we took the movie as an opportunity to reread the original series as a complete work, and we talk about some plot and thematic differences between the comic and movie, as well as what worked about the movie… and what didn’t work. (Important safety tip: if Samuel L. Jackson tells you, with a lisp, that in order to save the world he needs to put an explosive chip in your neck? Call your lawyer and tell him to ask Sam for his business plan first.)

We also discuss:

• Star Wars: Darth Vader #1, written by Kieron Gillen with art by Salvatore Larroca, and:
• Southern Bastards #7, written by Jason Aaron with art by Jason Latour!

And now the usual disclaimers:

• We record this show live to tape. While that might mean a looser comics podcast than you might be used to, it also means that anything can happen. Like the discovery that many English foods sound like euphemisms for perverse locker room hazing (hi, Toad In The Hole!).
• The show contains spoilers. While we try to shout out warnings ahead of time, if you intend to see Kingsman: The Secret Service, you should consider yourself warned.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. Do you want to explain to your boss why chugging a Toad In The Hole isn’t a matter for the police? Get some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:41:37 — 90.3MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 51: Clown Merkin

Picture, if you will, a comic book about a world where old gods hide in the shadows. They have amassed monetary wealth and earthly power, and they plan to use it to force humanity to worship them again… by fomenting Armageddon on Earth, and then saving the last surviving dregs of humanity, who will worship the Old Ones while envying the dead. A world where the only one who can save us is a simple nun. Oh, yeah: and Jesus. Who rides a Harley. And carries a machine gun. And enjoys the use of stimulants and prostitutes. Oh, and I forgot: Satan’s there, too. And he and Jesus have a history. In the Sam and Diane, Ross and Rachel sense of the word.

Sound like a fun comic? Well, it actually exists, and this week, we’re excited to have as our special guests: Nick Marino and Daniel Arruda Massa, the co-creators of Action Lab’s Danger Zone imprint’s newest comic: Holy F*ck!

Nick and Daniel spent a little time with us to talk about the book, its origins, how they came to collaborate on the book, how it found a home at Action Lab, and what you can expect from this story of Jesus and Satan against the old gods (hint: there are no helicopters). We also extensively discuss the use of specialty hairpieces in the pursuit of comics work. It’s a damn fun interview.

In addition, Amanda and I talk about:

• Dan DiDio’s ongoing series of Facebook posts recapping his 13-year history at DC Comics,
• Star Wars #1, written by Jason Aaron with art by John Cassaday, and:
• Constantine #21, written by Ray Fawkes with art by Jeremy Haun!

And the obligatory disclaimers:

• We record this show live to tape (although we recorded our interview with Nick and Daniel separately, and then cut it into the remainder of the show). As such, it might be a little looser than other comics podcasts you are used to, but it also means that anything can happen. Like a detailed description of Zeus’s man-nipples.
• This show contains spoilers. While we try to shout warnings ahead of time, just assume we’re going to ruin every ending you ever cared about.
• This show contains adult, profane languange, and is therefore not safe for work. We interview guys who created a book called Holy F*ck, guys; unless you want your boss to hear a discussion about Jesus’s and Satan’s special relationship, get some headphones.

A few other things we want to point out:

Nick and Daniel did a few short comics about what Jesus has been up to between Good Friday and Holy F*ck, if you want to get a taste of the book:

• Holy F*ck Origins: 33 AD – Jesus returns to the Apostles
• Holy F*ck Origins: 506 AD – Jesus gets drunk with Merlin
• Holy F*ck Origins: 994 AD – Jesus fires Earth’s first gun
• Holy F*ck Origins: 1532 AD – God’s angry at his naughty son
• Holy F*ck Origins: 1958 AD – Lucha Libre action: Jesus vs. Satan!

The first two issues are available at Comixology, and:

While we were talking, Nick put together and sent us a drawing that is relevant to our discussion, the comic and the title of this show:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:55:10 — 105.7MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 46: Tickle-Me-Princess Elsa

Even though a big night out last night turned us into shattered wrecks only resembling human beings, we still had a lot to talk about this episode… starting with Marvel’s Star Wars #1, which reportedly will be selling more than 1,000,000 copies… even though Dark Horse’s very similar 2013-2014 Star Wars comic never sold even 50,000 copies in a month. So we try to figure out just where all these comic books are going. You know, besides the quarter bin.

We also talk about the information gleaned from the Sony Pictures leak that Sony has been in talks with Marvel Studios about bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We discuss where Marvel might fit Spidey in quickly, where he just wouldn’t work, what storylines they might use in a standalone Spider-Man movie, and who should play him (hint: with the Russo Brothers from Community possibly directing Avengers: Infinity War, it can only be… Chevy Chase! Wait, what?).

We also review:

• Bitch Planet #1, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick with art by Valentine DeLandro, and:
• Afterlife With Archie #7, written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa with art by Francesco Francavilla!

And, as usual, the disclaimers:

• We record this show live to tape. While this might mean a looser comics podcast than you are used to, it also means that anything can happen. Like a discussion about the fine line between a Disney toy and a marital aid.
• We use a lot of spoilers in this show. While we try to shout out a heads-up ahead of time, consider yourself warned.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. Unless you want to explain to your employers who Sgt. Douchenozzle is, get yourself some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:39:34 — 92.1MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 44: Jedi Montessori Academy For The Bacterially Challenged

The first Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens teaser trailer dropped on Friday. It’s 88 seconds long, it features less than half of that in new footage, it gives us almost no story context… and it’s enough to get the geek world shrieking like teenagers at a One Direction concert.

So we talk about the trailer: why it was so effective, the smart choices director J. J. Abrams made to turn Generation X’ers all giddy like, well, teenagers at a One Direction concert, and how 88 seconds was all it took to change our opinions about the upcoming movie from ambivalence to legitimate anticipation.

We also discuss the solicits for week three of DC’s Convergence event. This round, which drops on April 22nd, seems to feature versions of DC heroes from before Crisis On Infinite Earths, with antagonists from the Tangent Universe. So sit back, relax, and hear about a week designed to somehow simultaneously appeal to 50-year-olds and Millennials!

We also talk about:

• Gotham By Midnight #1, written by Ray Fawkes with art by Ben Templesmith, and:
• Spider-Man 2099 #6, written by Peter David with art by Will Sliney!

And now the disclaimers:

• We record this show live to tape. While this might mean a looser comics than you might be used to, it also means anything can happen. Like comparing Teen Titan Jericho to a specific form of intestinal distress.
• This show contains spoilers. While we try to shout warnings ahead of time, consider this your master caution alarm.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. Don’t be a filthy Jericho; get yourself some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:50:38 — 88.2MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Second Movie Twist: Rian Johnson To Write, DIrect Star Wars: Episode VIII

So given how generally excited fandom has been that J. J. Abrams was chosen to take over Star Wars from George Lucas for Episode VII, the consensus that, given Abrams’s work on Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, he was the best possible choice to work on the franchise, and that Abrams has said that directing Star Wars was a dream gig, it’s probably safe to say that he’ll be helming the movies well beyond Episode VII, right?

Right?

Rian Johnson will write and direct the eighth “Star Wars” movie, inheriting the franchise from J.J. Abrams, according to two individuals with knowledge of the director’s plans. Johnson will also write the treatment for the ninth movie, but he will not direct it.

Huh. Okay, that was fast.

Nothing From Nothing Means…: Star Wars Day Video From J. J. Abrams And Lawence Kasdan, And Star Wars: Rebels Trailers

So it is Star Wars Day because of a vagary of pronunciation (if Ben Kenobi had talked about the august of heaven, we’d be doing parking lot lightsaber duels in much more humid temperatures), which is something that would generally mean less than nothing beyond an excuse to fire up the Blu-Rays of the original trilogy while drinking White Russians with blue food coloring dripped into them.

But this is the first Star Wars Day in a decade where there’s a Star Wars movie actually in production, which means that today of all days, there is an expectation that we will hear something from the people producing that movie about the movie in question. And, true to expectations, a video was posted to YouTube by Star Wars: Episode VII director J. J. Abrams and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan. And thanks to that video, we have learned something important!

That thing being that Abrams and Kasdan are aware of Star Wars Day, and that they understand that they should acknowledge it to the fans, left they face shock and damage!

Family Reunion: Cast of Star Wars: Episode VII Announced

Yeah, I know we were gonna release a podcast today, but a couple of unexpected things got in the way. The first being that Amanda, my co-host and co-editor, is still trapped at her day job. The second being that the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office Mascot, Parker The Kitten, is inconsolable because Amanda is not here, and is displaying his displeasure in his normal reasonable way: by attempting to destroy everything we love.

So right now we intend to record and release a late episode of the podcast tomorrow (we won’t be talking about any particular comics since we won’t have had a chance to read the new books, but we’ll address a couple on the planned, regularly-scheduled weekend episode.

And we will be addressing this little news item in a little more detail on the next episode as well: the main cast of Star Wars: Episode VII was announced today.

The (Mouse) Empire Strikes Back: Star Wars Expanded Universe No Longer Canon

I know I’ve recounted this story before for people who are far too young to have seen Star Wars in its original theatrical release, but there’s some news today that makes it bear repeating: there was a time, not too long after Return of The Jedi left theaters, when Star Wars didn’t mean shit.

I know, it’s hard to believe, but by around 1989 or 1990, nobody was thinking about Star Wars. After Jedi came and went in 1983, we had moved on. There had been two Indiana Jones movies, Ghostbusters had come out, people who had been scared by Darth Vader as little kids were cackling at Freddy Krueger flicks, and Batman was ushering in the first real age of comic book movies. Star Wars was over. Nobody cared. Hell, even Marvel Comics had stopped publishing Star Wars comics in 1986, and that was the title that kept the company afloat in the late 70s.

Sure, we still loved Star Wars, but by then we had moved on. George Lucas wasn’t talking about making any more movies – sometime around the release of The Empire Strikes Back he was making bold claims about producing a nine-movie epic – and by 1986, he was busier executive producing Howard The Duck, possibly from behind a giant mound of cocaine (Editor’s Note: There is no evidence or allegation whatsoever that George Lucas was using cocaine during this period. Other than the fact that he was in the movie business, and it was the 1980s. Which, as someone who lived through that period, is pretty damning evidence all by itself. But I digress.)

But then, all of a sudden in 1991, there was Timothy Zahn’s Heir to The Empire. A novel set after Return of The Jedi featuring Luke, Han and Leia. And a story that, in those pre-Internet days, was strongly rumored to be the actual stores that Lucas planned to tell in the final three movies.

And once that novel hit, Star Wars interest exploded all over again. There were two sequels to Heir to The Empire. There was the Dark Horse comics sequel to that sequel called Dark Empire. And a metric shit-ton of other novels and comics, which piqued interest enough to get the Star Wars special editions released in theaters (including that victory fireworks display on Coruscant – a city introduced in Zahn’s novels!), and then the prequels, and then years of fandom rage, and now the new Episode VII being directed by J. J. Abrams…

…but without that first novel that really established the Star Wars Expanded Universe and kickstarted a new wave of interest in Star Wars? It’s the 70s and 80s version of The Matrix: One great movie, a couple of sorta okay ones, and ultimately a thing we liked when we were younger, until we moved on to bigger and better things, so we don’t really even think about it anymore.

So Star Wars owes a lot to its Expanded Universe. Which you would think would be recognized by J. J. Abrams, who, when he rebooted Star Trek, went to great story lengths to find a way to reboot the property without invalidating all the other stories that came before.

Yeah, but you’d be wrong. Because as of today, all of those stories? Not even remotely canon anymore.

Brain Bleach: Twerking Stormtroopers

There’s not much to say here other than for your viewing pleasure…twerking Stormtroopers.

Horrifying. Mesmerizing. Twerking. Stormtroopers.

Via Geeks Are Sexy.