Crisis On Infinite Midlives

A couple of weeks ago brought us the conclusion of the much-anticipated return of The X-Files. Presented as six episode miniseries meant to function as an official tenth season of the original series (down to the original, shot-on-video opening credits), the event was intended to satisfy both long time fans and newer viewers alike. Meaning that we were the entire target audience - Amanda watched the show from the first episode, whereas Rob has only seen the first couple of seasons on DVD and the movies.

So we talk about the things about the season that worked, the things that unexpectedly delighted us, the elements that were more distracting than anything else... and the things that were simply, truly, irrevocably awful. And while we didn't agree on everything, there is one thing in which we are lockstep: of all the things that work in The X-Files, Chris Carter should be George Lucas'ed into the cornfield, Disney style.

We also discuss The Walking Dead #152, written by Robert Kirkman wih art by Charlie Adlard, Green Lantern #50, written by Robert Venditti with art by Billy Tan and Vicente Cifuentes, and Black Widow #1, written by Mark Waid with art by Chris Samnee!

Open registration for San Diego Comic-Con 2016 came to us on Saturday... and it left us in less than an hour. As has become the norm, the convention completely sold out in less than an hour, and, like many of you, we were frozen out. So we spend a few minutes talking about how SDCC attendance has basically become a lottery system over which we attendees have no control, and discuss various options for making the con more available, from moving it to another city, to expanding San Diego's facilities, to engaging in a mutually assured destruction nuclear showdown with the United States Navy.

Otherwise, the big comics news of the week was that DC Comics finally shared some details about their long-teased Rebirth event. And while story details are still scarce, we talk about how DC swears this isn't a reboot (Even as all but two of their titles are being renumbered to #1), why DC needs to do something like this, what titles we can look forward to starting in May, speculate about what creative teams we'd like to see on those books, and complain that none of those books are Ambush Bug.

We also discuss American Monster #2, written by Brian Azzarello with art by Juan Doe, and Standoff: Welcome to Pleasant Hill #1, written by Nick Spencer with art by Mark Bagley!

Deadpool is a movie that shouldn't exist. It's based on a character with a lower Q Score than Irving Forbush, who debuted in arguably the worst superhero movie not starring Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett, Jr, starring a man who normally spells the end of comic book franchises. It's a movie produced and rated for adults, featuring at least three decapitations, two unfortunate prolapses, and one naked Morena Baccarin. And yet: 150 million American dollars in one weekend can't be wrong, so we break the movie down from the comic fan's perspective: what worked, what didn't, why Deadpool doesn't need an origin story, and why Rob desperately wants DC Films to put Ambush Bug on their schedule.

We also discuss: Public Relations #5, written by Matthew Sturges and Dave Justus, with art by David Hahn and Jose Marzan, and Batman #49, written by Scott Snyder with art by Yanick Paquette!

It's been a couple of weeks since DC Comics Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee tweeted their first teasers toward something called "Rebirth," and since then, there has been, well, absolutely no concrete hard news whatsoever.

But what there are are rumors. Many, many rumors. From where did the rumors originate? Who knows? But rumors there be, about book cancellations, creative team changes, new books, new first issues, and partial to total reboots. So we talk about them, kick around which sound like good ideas, which seem like terrible mistakes, and wind up in a short-term, love-hate bromance with Dan DiDIo.

We also discuss: Batman: Europa #4, written by Matteo Casali and Brian Azzarello, with art by Gerald Parel, and Spider-Man #1, written by Brian Michael Bendis, with art by Sara Pichelli!

It's been a week since Dan DiDio and Jim Lee hyped an upcoming project or event with a photo of some curtains and the word "Rebirth." Last week, the comics Internet was abuzz with rumors that it meant a reboot or a return to pre-New 52 continuity or any number of other things. Well, it's been a week, and in that time, we've learned... exactly nothing new whatsoever. But a few tidbits and Tweets have let us to come up with a new theory about the project, which, since we are, after all, part of that selfsame comics Internet, we are more than happy to discuss and kick around.

But one concrete new thing we can all address is the CW show DC's Legends of Tomorrow. The pilot to the new show aired over the past couple of weeks, so we talk about what parts of the show work, which ones don't, which characters are gonna need some attention, and why Hawkgirl is part of columns B and C.

We also discuss: Grayson #16, written by Tim Seeley and Tom King, with art by Mikel Janin, and Old Man Logan #1, written by Jeff Lemire with art by Andrea Sorrentino!

All right, it's our one hundredth episode. Let's not make a thing out of it. Seriously: we don't. Sure, we spend a few minutes reflecting on where we are and where we came from, and maybe have a little too much Liquid Celebration to commemorate making it this far, but honestly? There was too much comics and genre news this week to spend too much time naval gazing.

We start off by discussing this week's announcement that Star Wars: Episode VIII has been delayed from May to December, 2017. We talk about how the rumor is that the screenwriters want to rework the story to focus more on Finn and Poe, and how the move is a slap in the face to the fortieth anniversary of the debut of Star Wars... but mostly we talk about how waiting for a Star Wars movie is different when you stop being half a decade away from being just a glint in your dad's eye and start being half a decade away from being a card-carrying member of AARP.

We move on to the news that Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat is leaving the show in favor of writer and longtime fan Chris Chibnell... eventually. You know, after 2016, when there will only be a Christmas special. And after Moffat's farewell season sometime in 2017. Chibnell really should read The Late Shift, that's all we're saying.

But that's not all! Being that kind of week, it was also when Bleeding Cool ran some stories about DC Comics maybe rebooting the DC Universe, maybe returning it to its post-Crisis, pre-New 52 state... or maybe about them doing not very much at all. So we discuss the rumors versus the actual concrete knowledge, and wind up bemoaning the idea of comics that slavishly follow their movie and television counterparts.

And on the comic book front, we discuss: Batman #48, written by Scott Snyder with art by Greg Capullo, Titans Hunt #4, written by Dan Abnett with art by Stephen Segovia, and: I Hate Fairyland #4, written and drawn by Skottie Young!

Secret Wars #9 was released this week, marking the official end of the Marvel Universe as created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (or by Kirby and Lee, depending on whose version you prefer) in the November, 1961 issue of Fantastic Four #1.

Purely by coincidence, this was also the week that our local comic store put used copies of the first two volumes of Marvel's Essential Fantastic Four reprints on sale. And also purely by coincidence, this was the week we obtained a copy of last year's Josh Trank-directed movie version of Fantastic Four, with the original plan being to watch it so we could, in good conscience, list it as our worst genre movie of 2015.

However, with both the beginning and the end of Stan and Jack's Fantastic Four and Marvel Universe in our hands, as well as this wretched little celluloid deviation, we decided it was a perfect time to revisit the team, how much of the Marvel Universe just those first few issues laid down for decades to come, how the comic really was a product of its time (and how the movie was proof of that), and how Jonathan Hickman laid those characters, as they have been since 1961, to rest. And, ultimately, we discuss whether this team, that was born during the Space Race, when Kennedy was President and World War II was closer in history than the Y2K Bug is to us today, could have a future in 2016.

A long time ago, when we barely had the equipment to record people who weren't in the same room with us, we interviewed a couple of comic creators who were on the cusp of releasing their first print comic through a proper comic book publisher. It was also our first interview with comic creators, on new and untested equipment, and even though everyone involved was on untrod ground, it was one hell of a lot of fun.

Now, a year later, we have much better and more trusted equipment, and a lot more experience talking to people remotely. In addition, those two creators not only released their comic, but got the greenlight to publish a sequel, a bunch of good press around the book, and visited San Diego Comic-Con. And since they are now on the cusp of releasing the trade paperback of the sequel to their first comic, it seemed like a good time to check back in and see how the last year of relative success in comics affected them.

So in this episode, we talk with Holy F*ck and Holy F*cked creators Nick Marino and Daniel Arruda Massa, ostensibly to talk about the impending release of the trade paperback of Holy F*cked... but we also get into what it's like to have some success in a local indie comics community, the pros and cons of variant covers for indie comics, how 90s comics affected Generation X vs. Generation Y, how San Diego Comic-Con arguably isn't as big a deal for mid-level creators as it is for anyone else, and acting in reality TV. Oh, and we talk about how Crisis On Infinite Midlives might be the cause of one of the more graphic and talked-about panels in Holy F*cked.

Amanda and Rob also discuss Spider-Man / Deadpool #1, written by Joe Casey with art by Ed McGuinness, and Swamp Thing #1, written by Len Wein with art by Kelley Jones!

2015 is officially ended, and we are celebrating it in the way we lived through it: squealing with glee and complaining with vigor, all through an alcohol and Sudafed-induced haze. That's right: it's time for the Second Annual Crises Awards!

2015 was an eventful year for comic and genre fans; a year where, in many categories, the concept of "worst" really means "least good," and where sometimes "good enough" makes all the difference in the world (You're still a piece of $%*!, Kylo Ren!). So Amanda and I put together our lists of the best and worst that 2015 had to offer! All to the soundtrack of awful, terrible, public domain and / or fair use awards show sounds!

In this episode, we award and argue about:

Best and Worst Comic Book or Genre Movie,

Best and Worst Comic Book or Genre TV show,

Best and Worst Comic Event or Crossover,

Best and Worst Story Arc or Graphic Novel, and

Most Anticipated and Most Dreaded Geek Events in 2016!

After spending some time talking about what we got for Christmas, and best Christmas memories from childhood (spoiler: none of Amanda's childhood memories are anything but heartbreaking and hilarious), we talk about the Doctor Who Christmas special, The Husbands of River Song. We talk about the episode's weird mix of farce and heartstring plucking, how it might mean some solid writing on showrunner Steven Moffat's part to tie River's character closely to her first appearance, and how it paints the Doctor as a remorseless and opportunistic genocidal monster. Really.

We also discuss: DK III #2, written by Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello, with pencils by Andy Kubert and inks by Klaus Janson, Teen Titans #15, written by Scott Lobdell and Will Pfeifer with art by Ian Churchill and Miguel Mendonca, and Darth Vader #14, written by Kieron Gillen with art by Salvador Larroca!