The Stack

On this week’s comic book review podcast:

Ultramega #1

Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade #1

Orphan and the Five Beasts #1

Catwoman #29

Radiant Black #2

The Amazing Spider-Man: King in Black #1

Nightwing #78

Orcs! #2

The Trials of Ultraman #1

Justice League #59

Snow Angels #2

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Full Episode Transcript

Alex:                 What is up, everybody? Welcome to The Stack. I’m Alex.

Justin:              I’m Justin.

Pete:                I’m Pete.

Alex:                 And on The Stack, we talk about a bunch of books that come out this week, but not Head Lopper.

Justin:              Yeah, what the fuck, man?

Alex:                 Never Head Lopper, never, ever. [crosstalk 00:00:22] They barely lop any heads anymore in that book. [crosstalk 00:00:28]

Justin:              It should be Head Notper because they’re not lopping anything up.

Alex:                 It’s a very good book. We’re just not talking about it in The Stack. Instead, we’re going to kick things off, talking about Ultramega #1, from Image Comics by James Harren. I think you actually said it best on the live show, Justin, so I don’t know if you want to just take it from here, but I think you totally nailed my thoughts on this book.

Justin:              Yeah. And so this book is a take on Kaiju, sort of a dark take. I’ve never been a Kaiju guy in comic book form.

Pete:                Really?

Justin:              Just in the comics, I feel like a lot of them are sort of similar to what we’ve seen before. And this book is such a dark take on it. You’re in this character’s head, it’s just such a fresh version of this type of book. I loved every bit of the story and so many surprising moments and especially where it lands by the end. This was definitely the… Caught me off guard and was the most surprising and exciting book of the week for me.

Pete:                Wow.

Alex:                 Pete, what about you?

Pete:                I loved it. The art’s unbelievable. This is a real epic book. Unbelievable battles, super gross. Yeah. The storyline is really creative and different. It’s dark in all the right places, creepy and gross looking in all the right places and huge and intense and others. And it’s just really, really well done.

Justin:              [crosstalk 00:01:56] Sorry, before you get there, Alex, one last thing, it’s also the rare book that goes hard. It doesn’t just set up the premise and then sit in it and be like, “Tune in next week.” Kind of a thing. It goes hard at the ideas and really pushes it.

Alex:                 The basic premise of the thing. And this gives away the first couple of pages, which I think are surprising and exciting in and of themself as they slowly spool out the story. But I’ll do this just to tease people about it and then not talk about what happens probably in the last two thirds of the book. Well, the general idea is this weird eye creature or space being gives three people powers to turn into giant beings kind of called, at least one of them is called Ultramega. And they are able to identify a Kaiju virus that has embedded itself in people, but the catch is when they approach those people, when they see it, it activates that virus and they turn into these giant Kaiju and then they need to fight them. And it’s kind of what the world deals with after that. But as Justin was mentioning, it spins in these crazy, crazy dark directions that are so good.

Alex:                 Art wise as well, Pete, I don’t know if you’re going to take exception to this, but this reminded me in a really pleasant way of Daniel Warren Johnson and his work, just because all of the action. I think this was the thing as well that really shocked me about this book because I’m also not a huge Kaiju fan most of the time, is how clear and unique the action felt across the board, how well it was staged. Great. And it just builds too, over the course of the book. It starts with these big fights and they only get huger by the end. It’s amazing.

Pete:                Yeah, it really is impressive. I guess I’m the only guy who likes Kaiju but that being said, I agree with Justin with the way that it moves. This book, it feels like they really sat on this book a little bit before releasing it and went over it again and again, and tightened and made all these different things because the way it… It’s just a powerhouse from start to finish.

Alex:                 And the creator talks about this a little bit at the end, we should also mention it’s an oversized book. I might have the page count, but it’s at least 60 pages or so.

Justin:              Yep. 62 pages of comic action.

Alex:                 Yeah. [crosstalk 00:04:12] And he talks about this in the end where he says, I know, normally it felt like you should be doing 20 ish pages of a book, but there’s so much more he wanted to say in this first issue that he just jammed it all in there and worked on it and it’s totally worth it. This is an incredible book. Definitely pick it up. Easily the pick of the week, but lots of other good things on The Stack so keep listening to our podcast because here we go. [crosstalk 00:04:34]

Justin:              Yeah, don’t shut it off just because we got a banger. [crosstalk 00:04:36].

Alex:                 Comic book shop.

Pete:                No, I mean, that’s how I would listen to it. I would just be like, “Well, all right, looks like this is the one they recommend. That’s on you, dear. I’m going to go to the shop.”

Alex:                 Well, stay tuned for our even more pick of the week that we’re going to have [crosstalk 00:04:51]

Justin:              Oh, nice. Way to sell it up. P.T. Barnum. Pete, when you listen to albums back in the day were you’re like, “Oh, great song, smash. I’m done with this shit.”

Pete:                It’s all right, man.

Justin:              You’re like Pearl Jam Ten or Pearl Jam One, throw the rest away. I don’t care about the rest of these songs.

Alex:                 Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade #1 from Marvel by Si Spurrier and Sergio Davila, we read the Black Knight King in Black One Shot, enjoyed that. But I think our general impression was it felt like, “Ah, this is really just setting up a Black Knight series.” Surprise, it was in fact setting up a Black Knight series. And what you get here is also a very dark take on a classic Marvel character. Justin, you’re a fan of the Black Knight. How’d you feel about this one?

Justin:              I love the Black Knight and this was another great book. They do a great job in this book of specifically setting up a Black Knight as sort of the dark side of a Thor. Black Knight famously an Avenger, sort of a mid-tier Avenger who wasn’t a super big hero, but was around a lot in different eras of the Avengers. And in this, he feels that. He’s like, “I wish I had friends. I wish I could hang out with the Avengers.” It’s sad.

Pete:                Yeah. It’s got to be tough. You’re so close yet so far away.

Justin:              Yeah. Well, he was in, he’s in the Avengers. [crosstalk 00:06:13]

Pete:                That’s what I mean, but they won’t hang out with him.

Justin:              Yeah. It’s a bummer. They only call him for the real fucked up missions. But in this, there’s a great moment in here where Thor can’t pick up Black Knight’s sword, the Cursed Ebony Blade, because he’s too pure and he’s like, “You have to have a darkness. It has to feel your shadow.” Which I thought was just a great comparison as Thor was just throwing his worthy hammer in the air. And then you have this blade that is too dark for anyone to pick up but our guy Dane.

Pete:                Which is surprising, because you would think with Thor’s drinking, he would have a little bit of a dark side, but apparently not.

Justin:              Yeah. He’s a social drinker.

Pete:                Well, it’s interesting, the way the conflict that he has and the way that he has to use kind of the darkness inside of him. It’s not the goodness that he uses to fight. It’s the dark side. It’s kind of like the anger. So I very much related to that. And it was very cool. Like this moment of him trying to deal with his emotions and talk things out in a way that he can be okay with who he is and how he battles and stuff like that. I thought it was very interesting and cool.

Alex:                 I like this book quite a bit too. Let’s move on and talk about Orphan and the Five Beasts #1 from Dark Horse Comics by James Stokoe. Pete, I don’t know why you need your Head Lopper when you got your Orphan and the Five Beasts. I mean, come on, you got an angry fighter, you got a bunch of lopping going on. That’s got to satisfy you.

Justin:              This is right over the Pete plate right here.

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, this was great. Don’t get me wrong. This was a lot of fun. The thigh master or whatever it was really fucking bad-ass. Just kind of the cloak dude who is just really great at fighting. I very, very much enjoyed this book.

Alex:                 And just to be clear, we like Head Lopper. I’ll stop pretending that I’m slamming it over the rest of the podcast.

Justin:              Love Head Lopper.

Alex:                 But this is exactly what you wanted, to have James Stokoe, I’m trying to think how to describe it, but just like quest to kill five increasingly, probably deadly villains who have killed this ronin’s master sort of story. You kind of know what you’re in for, but it’s the regular requisite James Stokoe insane art. This is very fun. It’s very enjoyable and it looks great.

Pete:                Yeah. I also really liked the kind of setup. Sometimes we get a set up of like, “I have to avenge because of this or whatever.” And it’s sometimes interesting, but sometimes kind of typical. This is a very kind of cool a story to kind of set up how this is all going to go down, this whole you make a promise to, “Okay, I’ll give you this power, but then you’ve got to come back and learn the right way to use it.” And I thought it was a very cool setup for [inaudible 00:09:07] and for all this unbelievable fighting and action.

Justin:              This feels like it’s at the intersection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the classic, Usagi Yojimbo and Ball Z, Dragon Ball Z. And that intersection is actually where Pete lives. If you’re ever looking to send some mail to Pete, that’s the address.

Pete:                Yeah. I definitely get my mail there. There’s no question.

Alex:                 Let’s move on and talk about Catwoman #29 from DC Comics written by Ram V., art by Fernando Blanco. In this issue, Catwoman is running shit downtown, but there’s some different forces who are closing in on her at the same time. A couple of things that I’ll throw out to you guys right at the top here, first of all, I sort of felt this last week, but I felt this even more this week, I am really appreciating Future State even more based on the fact that DC set up these art teams, kind of gave them two months to play around and figure things out and then put them on the permanent titles. And that pays off here with a really good, beautifully drawn story. I haven’t read Catwoman in a really long time, but I like this quite a bit. On the flip side of things, I am wondering, and I know there has been blow back, should they have renumbered these to #1?

Justin:              Wow.

Pete:                Oh, my God. Jesus Christ.

Justin:              I’m surprised they didn’t, to be honest. But I do think coming out of Future State, which was all #1s and #2s, I get why they just kept going. And I appreciate that a little bit more because I think Future State was sort of the bait to get you to sign on to these books with these great new creative teams. And I want to say, I feel like Ram V. is having a moment.

Pete:                Yeah. Ram V.! I agree. I really liked this book. I like how the villain is a kind of similar to Ghost in the Ant-Man movie. I also love this kind of strung out Riddler a little bit who’s hooked on that Ivy. You know what I mean? A very interesting take. There’s a lot going on in this book, which I appreciate. This is a very cool Catwoman book. The art’s fantastic.

Alex:                 I particularly like playing in this villainous side of the world. Catwoman always straddles this weird line, particularly now that she’s canonically with Batman, has fallen more on the side of the heroes, but you do have all these characters in Gotham that have been on both sides. You have Poison Ivy, you have Harley Quinn, you have Catwoman, you have Riddler. All of these ones that are like, “They’re bad, but are they really that bad?” To throw those into a book together as a cast and throw them against even worse villains, I think is a great place for Catwoman to be as a character.

Justin:              I feel like the move there is to make them sort of selfish heroes, as opposed to villains. They’re like heroes who do what they want as opposed to just always saving the day, which I think makes for a more interesting story.

Alex:                 I agree. Moving on, Radiant Black #2 from Image Comics written by Kyle Higgins, art by Marcelo Costa. We loved the first issue here, it was about a guy that discovers a weird black hole over a train track, gets some powers, felt very much invincible, even though it’s a different story and it’s a different character. And it had a lot of the sense of that, that in my mind continues with the second issue, which finds him having breakfast with his dad multiple times, meeting up with another person with similar powers and fighting them. Great. I had a good time reading this book again and I’m very into it after two issues.

Pete:                I would like to point out though, kids out there, if you see a floating black hole, you shouldn’t go towards it and try to grab it, okay. That’s a bad idea. We don’t want to encourage that kind of stuff.

Justin:              And that’s a PSA we’ve done for years. We’ve put that out there on public radio and… We’re the big don’t touch the black hole guys.

Alex:                 What’d you think about this book, Justin?

Justin:              Nice, great question, Alex. I like the second issue a lot. I was fine with it in the first issue. And I think the second issue has made me like it more where we get into the character a little bit. It does feel like Invincible a lot without sort of the epic, worldwide storytelling. This is very much about this kid who wants to be a writer and failed and has to go back home and he’s using his under the radar or his like, I need to figure out my life, “super powers” of being an Uber driver to aid in his super heroics. And I think that’s cool.

Pete:                Yeah. I think this is not only stylistically very cool. And I liked the outfits and when they’re suited up, how that all looks, it looks really looks amazing. But I also like the person inside the suit and the struggles with what’s going on. And yeah, you don’t want to deal with your parents. Sure, you got to talk to them around mealtime, but otherwise, parents, fuck off. You know what I mean? I got shit to do. So I appreciated the check-in stuff. But I’m very interested to see now that he has a plan, how this is all going to go.

Alex:                 Think it should be interesting to follow. Next up, The Amazing Spider-Man: King in Black #1 from Marvel written by Jed MacKay and art by Michele Bandini. In this, we’re getting two stories. The first one has Spider-Man feeling super guilty as I think, frankly, he should about everything that’s happening in King in Black. Teaming up with Reptil, who is one of the characters from Avengers Academy and then Avengers Arena, I believe, as well. And then the backup story shows us what’s happening from Reptil’s perspective and kicks off a new Reptil series that is coming later in the year, which is pretty surprising.

Justin:              And you got the Querque on the art there, the backup story.

Alex:                 The Querque?

Justin:              Yeah. Albuquerque.

Alex:                 Oh, was that Rafael Albuquerque?

Justin:              You’re god damn right it is.

Alex:                 Is it? Are you sure about that?

Justin:              That’s all I’m fucking looking at right here. That’s what it says.

Alex:                 All right.

Justin:              [crosstalk 00:15:15] story. Alberto Albuquerque.

Alex:                 Alberto Albuquerque. That’s not Rafael Albuquerque.

Justin:              You’re right. It’s a different, but it’s still…

Pete:                A different Querque.

Alex:                 Well, thank you for giving him credit, regardless. I appreciate that.

Pete:                Yeah. Classic. Classic. But let me just ask you something.

Alex:                 Yeah. What?

Justin:              It’s about time… Throw the question.

Pete:                Nick Spencer is completely off this book now?

Alex:                 [crosstalk 00:15:46] This is not Amazing Spider-Man. This is a King in Black One Shot. What emotions are you going through right now? Justin, can you talk about this book? Because Pete’s [crosstalk 00:15:59] You are all over the place right now.

Pete:                I was just hoping that this was the start of something fresh and new.

Justin:              Pete came with such joy. He’s like “I got the Querque. I got Jed MacKay, Nick Spencer and Alex just devastated. [crosstalk 00:16:18] One, two punched it.

Pete:                Yeah. That was a combo I wasn’t ready for.

Justin:              Let me just say also, let’s keep in mind that our podcast is the main news source for Pete LePage. He doesn’t get his news anywhere else about anything, not just comics, but truly every bit of news he gets is right here.

Alex:                 Every morning he opens up The Stack podcast and he’s like, “Ah, what’s happening to the world today.”

Pete:                But the comic itself, a very touching kind of a classic Spider-Man story, very moving. I really enjoyed all of it. I thought this was a great kind of little guy versus big monsters. I thought this was such a great Spider-Man story. And I think that this is for me, one of the… I feel like this is a great example of why Spider-Man is great.

Justin:              I liked this book a lot as well. I’m a big Jed MacKay fan, the writer of this. He writes the Black Cat book-

Pete:                Brother of Adam MacKay, right?

Justin:              That’s not accurate. Again, not accurate. Just guessing about stuff, not working right now. Jed MacKay’s Black Cat book. I’ve been a huge fan of, so it was great to see him taking on this Spider-Man book. And I agree, starting with Spider-Man feeling guilty about bringing the Venom suit back. We’ve all felt bad when we brought like a suit back from somewhere and it devastated the world. Whether it’s with mobs or just starting a fashion trend, it caused problems.

Alex:                 Yes. Just to stay in order, Justin, Pete, go ahead.

Justin:              Reptil, as a character, got a lot of love in this issue. I did not see that coming and leading up to Reptil #1. Okay. Let’s give it a try.

Alex:                 It’s fun. He could turn into dinosaurs. That’s pretty cool. I like this issue quite a bit as well. Let’s move on to another big surprise though. In retrospect, given the team and it shouldn’t necessarily have been. Nightwing #78 from DC Comics written by Tom Taylor, art by Bruno Redondo.

Alex:                 I’ll tell you straight up, when I read this book, I was like, “Oh, another Nightwing book. Here we go.” First couple of pages, I was like, “Holy shit, this is great. Why is this so good?” And then we got to the credits and I realized, “Oh, that’s why it’s so good.” [crosstalk 00:18:38] This team is great. So this is Nightwing is back in the costume. He doesn’t have the memory loss, which he pokes fun of a little bit in the middle of this issue, which is very fun, but he is back in Blüdhaven dealing with all that entails. Barbara Gordon comes to visit him. It was a big spoiler for the issue, but I’ll mention this because I’m sure Pete wants to talk about this in particular. The major feature of the issue is Alfred turns out to have been a billionaire and leaves all of his money to Nightwing. Pete, how did you feel about this?

Pete:                The letter was so touching and so moving. I really loved it. Yeah. How heartbreaking is it that the Alfred wrote him a letter every year because of the business that they’re in and how crazy their life is. I was just so moved. I thought it was such a touching letter. Yeah, this was one of my favorite issues for the week. I love the humor in it. The fun bit about having Dick for a name, the dad bit, the Alfred with the dishes moments there. I got choked up for that. And then the whole fucking John Wick of it all, you don’t fuck with dogs, man. Don’t fuck with somebody’s dog. That is just disgusting, as Nightwing put it. And yeah, it was just really just blockbuster fun. Yeah, I was just [crosstalk 00:20:09]

Alex:                 Is that a joke on the fact that Blockbuster, the character, appears in here? Pete?

Justin:              Yes.

Pete:                Yeah, yeah.

Justin:              He’ll say yes. Now that you said it. Alfred the butling billionaire. Who would have thought? This guy was just butling for the fun of it. The love of the game.

Pete:                When the Waynes died, they must’ve been like, “Here’s a shit ton of money to raise our… Just in case.”

Alex:                 And he was stealing it, he was stealing it from Bruce Wayne.

Justin:              Yeah he stole that money.

Alex:                 Every year, squirreling away a little bit of Bruce Wayne’s money.

Justin:              Here’s what he’s doing. He’s telling the Wayne’s that he’s buying these expensive English cucumbers, and he’s buying some shitty fell off the back of a truck cucumbers and pocketing the difference. [crosstalk 00:20:53]

Pete:                I’m not going to sit here and let you fucking… Alfred is nothing but an angel. All right? That house of insanity and he’s the only sane one, all right? [crosstalk 00:21:04] So don’t fucking talk shit about Alfred.

Alex:                 Justin’s making a little bit of sense here because that might explain why Batman never eats any of the soup that he gets him because it tastes like shit.

Justin:              It’s trash soup. Because he’s not buying the high end stuff, he’s not buying the Progresso, he’s buying like… Huh?

Pete:                Don’t you fucking say that.

Alex:                 [crosstalk 00:21:24] or whatever. Even Bruce is like, “Oh, this is bad.”

Pete:                [inaudible 00:21:31].

Alex:                 “I don’t like this.”

Justin:              Wait, Pete, are you telling me you’re like Alfred cooks the best food?

Pete:                Yeah.

Justin:              You know that for a fact?

Pete:                Fact!

Justin:              He only made little sandwiches and soups. It’s not like he was bringing out like a dinner.

Pete:                You don’t know what he was doing while we weren’t looking [crosstalk 00:21:48]

Alex:                 What do you think his worst dish was? The thing when all the bat family [inaudible 00:21:53] And they’re like, “Oh, he’s making his lasagna. That’s bad.”

Justin:              “Master Bruce, I prepared your favorite French toast.”

Justin:              “Oh, Alfred’s French toast.”

Pete:                Yo, he’s dead, you fuckers. Where’s the respect?

Alex:                 “It’s just too eggy.”

Justin:              There’s no cinnamon in it. Put a spice in it. For god sakes.

Justin:              [inaudible 00:22:20] He doesn’t even buy the good maple syrup. He buys the shitty stuff.

Pete:                You don’t know that. Don’t say that.

Alex:                 It’s not even maple. It’s not from Vermont. It’s not B grade.

Pete:                Don’t you fucking…

Alex:                 It’s Log Cabin.

Justin:              [inaudible 00:22:33] Log Cabin syrup. Pocketing the difference.

Justin:              [crosstalk 00:22:36]

Justin:              And then he’s given this difference. He gave it to Nightwing in this issue and that’s continuity right there. That’s the truth.

Alex:                 I don’t want to downsize just to get back-

Pete:                I hate talking comics with you guys. It’s the fucking worst.

Justin:              That’s crazy because you do it a lot.

Pete:                All you do is just fucking kill my dreams and hopes. You take everything that I like in an issue and just do bits until it’s not fun anymore. You’ve killed Foggy Nelson for me and you can’t fucking leave Alfred alone. The fucking guy just died and I still can’t get any enjoyment out of…

Justin:              What do you think Foggy’s worst dish is?

Alex:                 All of them.

Justin:              “Hey, Matt, I made dinner tonight. It’s a bunch of old gum.”

Alex:                 I was doing the old man laugh. Where he’s going…

Pete:                [crosstalk 00:23:36] Please leave me alone.

Justin:              I love Nightwing. I love this issue. Tom Taylor is also on a great run of books. It’s great to see Nightwing, get back to some of the old stuff. Being in Blüdhaven, sort of carving out his own area away from Gotham.

Pete:                Great use of Blockbuster.

Justin:              Great use of Blockbuster. Barbara’s in this issue, touching on his relationship with Alfred, which I do think despite what I said about how just God awful his lasagna was.

Pete:                Fuck you.

Justin:              He did have a great connection with Alfred. And I love seeing that here on display. What’s he going to do with that money? Just buy some cool spandex?

Alex:                 I don’t know.

Justin:              Blow it on spandex?

Alex:                 I do want to shout out also Bruno Redondo’s art. There is a gorgeous, gorgeous two page spread that happens earlier in the issue where Nightwing is jumping off a roof and it’s the classic Batman jumping in front of the moon thing. But it’s him jumping in front of the sun. And I thought it was just such a smart, awesome thing to do to delineate Nightwing from Batman. Loved it. Let’s move on to a book that I’m betting Pete liked as well. Orcs! #2 from BOOM! By Christine Larsen. Just a bunch of orcs, doing fun orc stuff. Pete, how did you feel about this one?

Pete:                Yeah, we loved to the first issue of this. I like this kind of this team up, if you will, of characters. I also love the love of story in this. People will risk a lot for a great story. I can appreciate that. The torture I go through so I can read comics is real. I thought this was fun. I also love the dedication that the person wears an eye patch and has two eyes just for the love of the game. That was really fun. I think the art and storytelling is great. I love the mix of cute and gruesome things. I like where this is going. This is exciting.

Justin:              Yeah. The story within the story stuff is really fun. This reminded me of, this is a hyper-specific reference, but in the movie Willow, all the brownies, the little people that ride along, that’s what this book reminds me of.

Pete:                Really?

Justin:              The orcs are sort of like a version of those guys.

Alex:                 Yeah. I can see that. I think it’s a fun book. People should definitely check it out. Next up. The Trials of Ultraman #1 from Marvel, written by, again, Kyle Higgins and Matt Groom, art by Francesco Manna, Eduardo Ferigato and Guri Hiru. We checked out the first issue of this book. And haven’t checked in in a while. Obviously, this is a new story of Ultraman. It was interesting reading this in the same week as another Kyle Higgins book and another Kaiju book. How do you think it stacked up in comparison?

Justin:              I wish I had read this one first, before I read Ultramega, because Ultramega felt so genre breaking that this felt very within the genre. And if you’re a fan of Kaiju books, I think this is a great version of that and it’s setting up a lot of interesting twists and turns on it and a potential new villain that I was surprised. I thought it was the backup story. I thought it was an advertisement for another book. And then it tied right into to this book. So yeah, I like this, but it definitely feels like just a fun new version of a Kaiju book.

Pete:                Yeah. I thought this was kind of a comparison regardless of what is better or whatever. I thought this was a cool take. It felt different enough where I wasn’t like, “Oh, this is kind of too similar.” I enjoyed where this was coming from and the perspective, I also like the start of this book. Yeah. I like what this is setting up. It’s not as long as the other one. It’s a little bit shorter, but they do a good job of keeping it simple, teasing the story, putting all the things in place. I’ve followed it well, I understood what was going on. Thought it was great art and storytelling. I think this is good.

Alex:                 My favorite part of this book is still the insert pages. I think these are the ones that Guri Hiru is drawing where it’s instruction manuals for what to do for the Kaiju organization or if a Kaiju attacks. They’re super fun. They’re super cute. I like that quite a bit. And it really breaks- [crosstalk 00:27:52]

Justin:              The Kaiju steps.

Alex:                 Kaiju steps. There you go. I enjoy those quite a bit. Agree with you guys. Otherwise, next up, Justice League #59 from DC Comics written by Brian Michael Bendis and Ram V., art by David Marquez and Xermanico. So the front story is Brian Michael Bendis on Justice League for the first time. Backup story is Ram V. doing Justice League Dark. What’d you guys think?

Pete:                I thought it was a fun issue. It’s kind of a setup issue, but really love the story and the art and Green Arrow wants more out of life.

Justin:              It’s interesting what the take here. This feels like a Black Adam book in a lot of ways. And re-introducing one of Bendis’ characters right, at the end.

Alex:                 Naomi. Yeah.

Justin:              Yeah. So I don’t know, that got me a little bit, like this feels like a very Bendis move where I don’t know what the story is going to be about. It feels like it’s like him being like, “Here’s some stuff I think is cool.” And I want it to be a little bit more of like, “Here’s an idea that I’m excited to create for these characters.” The art’s really beautiful in the front story. Good Aquaman issue if you’re an Aqua fan, but I don’t know what the direction here is. It feels like it’s almost like, “You like the Justice League? Well, here’s a totally different bunch of people who are going to operate like the Justice League.” The Justice League Dark backup by Ram V. I thought was great. Spin this off and make it a book.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 I agree. I really liked the backup. That was dark and weird and interesting in a very different way than James Tynion did the book, which I loved. But it was interesting to see this change and this more mythical take on the characters. For the front story, like this better than the Legion of Superheroes. I thought that was very messy. There were too many characters going on. It’s surprising that Justice League feels like it has less characters and is more focused. So that’s a little ridiculous, but the characterizations are good and fine. I don’t know. Like you said, there’s a lot of Bendis isms in the book and I would like to see what he does going forward, but it felt a little derivative down to basically doing the New Avengers cover on the cover here, but with the Justice League. And if he’s going to do that, New Avengers felt different because it was Bendis coming in and doing his Bendis thing on Avengers for the first time. You don’t necessarily get this here. I want him to do something bolder and more exciting.

Justin:              Yeah. If you want to do the New Avengers for Justice League, give us that hit, give us that swing and have all these new characters introduced and have it be that because that’s still a story that sticks right in the memory because it was such a big new change for the Avengers. Instead, it feels like sort of a middle ground here.

Pete:                I agree.

Alex:                 Last one, let’s talk about Snow Angels #2 from ComiXology written by Jeff Lemire, art by Jock. We liked the first issue of this one, I believe, quite a bit. Takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where everybody lives in a snow filled trench. A family, a father, and two daughters is being chased by a guy named The Snowman. That picks up this issue. Pete, you’ve always been scared of snowmen. What did you think of this one?

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, what’s great is snowmen themselves are scary, but this is a nice heightening of that idea. Yeah. I think this is a great… First off an amazing team. And this is very action oriented, which I very much enjoy. And this does a great job. Each issue kind of leaving you really wanting more. I think this is a very intense, kind of reminds me of that horror movie where nobody can talk or whatever. So I think this is really fun. Very creative. Love the way it ended. Love the art.

Alex:                 A Quiet Place? Is that what you’re thinking of?

Pete:                Yeah, A Quiet Place. [crosstalk 00:31:55]

Justin:              Oh, I thought We Have To Talk About Kevin. Is that what it is?

Pete:                No, it was A Quiet Place.

Justin:              Nice. Either way, this book, everyone’s skating really hard in this book.

Pete:                You got to skate hard, bro.

Justin:              You got to skate hard. So that was stressful. Great pace to this book. And a lot of just tense, a lot of tension. And I think A Quiet Place is a good comparison, I think.

Alex:                 I would compare it to The Mighty Ducks, which is a movie with skating in it.

Justin:              That’s true. That’s true. And Pete, I know you love this. It’s sort of a cutting edge with less romance.

Pete:                [inaudible 00:32:31]

Alex:                 This is a great book. Definitely pick it up. You have another point you want to make Pete. What’s up?

Pete:                Yeah. I just wanted to, while you’re wrapping up, while I was waiting for Head Lopper to come through, I did read Superman Red & Blue #1, and I just wanted to say, really fun, love the coloring, really amazing art. The Boy Who Saved Superman, a story by Wes Craig and Jill Thompson. So amazing. The art was unbelievable. His water colors and the little Clark Kent stuff was very, very adorable.

Alex:                 I love how you act like, “Well, I have no say in what happens in this show.”

Justin:              And then you secretly just review stuff at the end. That’s nice. You take control in a way that I just would never be so audacious.

Pete:                Well, thank you.

Justin:              I would like to review my dinner that I made earlier, it was… But taco night, obviously…

Pete:                Couldn’t have been better than what Alfred would have prepared.

Justin:              Yeah. I made Alfred’s trash lasagna.

Alex:                 Foggy’s famous pile of worms. And that is it for our Stack podcast. If you want to support us, patreon.com/comicbookclub. Also, we do a live show every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM to Crowdcast and YouTube. iTunes, Android, Spotify, Stitcher, or the app of your choice to subscribe and follow @comicbooklive on Twitter, ComicBookClub on YouTube, comicbookclublive.com for this podcast and more. Until next time, we’ll see you at the virtual comic book shelf.

The post The Stack: Ultramega, Black Knight And More appeared first on Comic Book Club.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookclub

On this week’s Stack podcast:

The Joker #1

Children of the Atom #1

Karmen #1

Wonder Woman #770

Non-Stop Spider-Man #1

Proctor Valley Road #1

American Vampire 1976 #6

Deadpool Nerdy Thirty #1

Home Sick Pilots #4

Rorschach #6

Thor & Loki: Double Trouble #1

Black Hammer Visions #2

Superman #29

Eternals #3

Birthright #47

Luna #2

Sweet Tooth: The Return #5

The Immortal Hulk #44

Specter Inspectors #2

The Amazing Spider-Man #61

The Last Witch #3

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Full Episode Transcript:

Alex:                 Hey. What’s up, everybody. Welcome to The Stack. I’m Alex.

Justin:              I’m Justin.

Pete:                I’m Pete.

Alex:                 On The Stack, we talk about a bunch of books that have come out this week, and let’s kick it off with the clown prince of crime himself, The Joker #1 from DC Comics, written by James Tynion IV and Sam Johns, art by Guillem March and Mirka Andolfo. This is the first time ever the Joker has an ongoing series. So of course, it’s mostly about Commissioner Gordon. I mean, this is reliably good. It’s James Tynion, Guillem March. His art is gorgeous, as usually, even with the swerve here that it mostly is not about the Joker. It’s still a really good story. I liked it quite a bit. What’d you guys think?

Pete:                Yeah. I was really impressed. I thought it was very interesting because it’s like “Okay. Joker #1. What are we going to get here?” and I was really impressed with the choices that they made with this comic. Also, we’re still getting this kind of Punchline kind of backup story in this, which is great, and it’s going to be really interesting to see how this Punchline thing unfolds, but yeah. As far as Joker #1, I thought they did an amazing job of getting you excited for this big kind of arc that they’re telling. I think, as far as this first issue is concerned, it does its job really well. I am very excited for more.

Justin:              Yeah. I really like this version of Commissioner Gordon, or ex-Commissioner Gordon. We get to see a nice flashback of when he was in the Chicago PD before he got busted down to Gotham, and it reminded me a lot of Scott Snyder’s Detective Comics run, sort of where he was plucked from that.

Pete:                Oh, yeah. With Jock. Jock was doing the art. Yeah.

Justin:              Yeah. He was plucked, and Francavilla, Frencesco Francavilla, was doing the art on that for a little bit as well when he was dealing with his son and being suspicious of him becoming a murderer.

Pete:                Yeah. That whole restaurant scene was just so-

Justin:              A hundred percent.

Pete:                Yeah.

Justin:              In this, we get a little … There’s some reflections of that here in the story as well, and it’s just a great story, and I really like the idea that it’s not a story where we have to watch the Joker being a crazy person the whole time. It’s this sort of-

Pete:                Or there’s three or four Jokers or … You know what I mean?

Justin:              Yes. This sort of detective story where we’re following Commissioner Gordon make some hard choices that I’m curious to see how plays out.

Alex:                 It’s good storytelling across the board. If you were hesitant at all, definitely pick it up. Next up, Children of the Atom #1 from Marvel, written by Vita Ayala, art by Bernard Chang. This is an interesting take on what’s currently going on with X-Men to show us several characters that seemingly have decided not to go to Krakoa and instead be regular teenagers in high school while fighting crime as mutants. There’s, of course, a little bit of a twist there, but what did you think about this first issue?

Justin:              I’m curious what Pete thinks of it, because we get to see perhaps a Cyclops that he can really get on board with.

Pete:                Yeah. It was an issue of a comic book. Had some X-Men in it, which is great.

Justin:              True.

Pete:                There’s some fighting. Yeah. I liked a couple of the characters. Art was really good.

Justin:              Interesting. Not sort of a non-take there, really. I like this story a lot, especially in the larger context of the X-Men universe right now. This feels like a simple, standalone series where we’re going to follow these characters and whatever is up with them. They feel like sort of mutant wannabes, almost, trying to find their place by replicating the original X-Men in a fun way. It’s drawn really nicely. It was cool. Great reveal at the end.

Alex:                 Yeah. I like the fact that we’re getting to see outside of Krakoa and what’s going on there, because this is a part of the world that we need to find out more about of and their reaction to things. So I am curious, given the twist at the end in particular, where this is going to go, but Vita Ayala is always reliable as a writer, but Chang’s art is good. These characters are interesting. I’m excited to read the second issue.

Alex:                 Next up, Karmen #1 from Image Comics by and art by Guillem March. This is a very different take on an angel dressed in sort of a skeleton thing straight out of Karate Kid, right, Pete? You know what I’m talking about.

Pete:                I do know what you’re referencing, but I feel like this costume is a little bit more elaborate than that one.

Alex:                 Slightly more elaborate because it actually is her skeleton, but she is visiting with somebody who … They don’t come out and say it, but has recently died or is about to die and takes her around as a ghost to sort of show her the world. It’s not quite clear to me what this book is going to be about going forward yet at this point. There’s a tease of something a little bit more at the end here, but it’s always a pleasure to see Guillem March’s art.

Justin:              Great art, and this feels like something that is like a labor of love, like something that the amount of time and focus put into this book is just palpable. It’s beautiful, and it’s sort of haunting in the way the story unfolds. I thought this was great, and yeah. Love the art.

Pete:                Yeah. It’s very sad and very powerful, and yeah. I mean, it’s kind of a twisted tale about something that is just … Whoa. Everybody okay? I thought that was a fire alarm going off there.

Alex:                 It’s all right.

Justin:              No. I didn’t hear anything.

Alex:                 I mean, I will say, to that point, not to interrupt you, Pete, but I do want to mention for anybody interested in picking this up, trigger warning for suicide in this book, potentially. They don’t come out and say it, but it’s pretty clear what’s going on there. Also, there is a fair amount of nudity. So this is not a book that should go necessarily handing to kids, but go ahead, Pete, if there was anything else you wanted to say.

Pete:                Yeah. It’s kind of a dark tale, but they’re kind of putting a bright kind of light on it. So I’m very interested to see how this all unfolds and what the point of this is, because it’s a little fucked up, but yeah. I mean, it’s not something you can read in the subway or something. You have to read this by yourself somewhere, but it does a great job of grabbing the reader’s attention, and I’m curious to see kind of how it all unfolds.

Alex:                 Pete, did you take this one to your reading hole?

Pete:                Yeah. Yeah.

Alex:                 Me too. Yeah. I got in my hole, just crawled up, and read that book so nobody could see me.

Justin:              I made a reservation in Pete’s reading hole, and I still haven’t really got my arrival date.

Alex:                 Oh, you got to try the cheese puffs there. They are to die for.

Justin:              So good.

Alex:                 Wonder Woman #770 from DC Comics, written by Michael W. Conrad and Becky Cloonan and Jordie Bellaire, art by Travis Moore and Paulina Ganucheau or Ganucheau. Excuse me. We talked about this a little bit on the live show. This is coming out of the Future State stuff. So Wonder Woman had this new status quo where she pulled herself back from being sort of a guardian of the universe type thing but instead has found herself in Valhalla in the Norse afterlife fighting the same fights over and over again. That’s the front story. The back story is showing us young Wonder Woman. I thought this was phenomenal.

Justin:              This was one of my favorite books of the week. Really great. I was really curious, reading all the stuff coming out of Future State, where Wonder Woman was going to land. It felt like it was going to be just not a fun place, she was going to be doing something different, and this was such a breath of fresh air. Diana sort of doesn’t know what Wonder Woman is. She doesn’t have her powers. She’s just being a warrior in its purest form. There’s a mystery unfolding behind the scenes. There’s some romance here, perhaps. Really just a great story top to bottom. Really caught me off guard.

Alex:                 Pete, you were very patiently raising your hand. What’s going on?

Pete:                All right. So I’m a huge fan of Wonder Woman, but it was weird. I know there’s a lot of different kind of mythology, historical and non-historical, wrapped up with Wonder Woman. So it was like I was like “Asgard? Wonder Woman? Why am I fighting this in my brain?” It’s this weird Valhalla. I know it should be okay, but to me, it’s like I associate it so hard with Marvel that it was hard for me to be like “Yeah. This is cool. Wonder Woman’s walking around Marvel right now. This is totally fine. There’s nothing wrong with this.”

Alex:                 Yeah. I get what you’re saying, but it’s definitely a very different take than Thor stuff over in Marvel, certainly. I agree with you. It is nearly impossible for comic books to divorce Norse mythology from Thor and the Thor comics books and Loki and et cetera, but those existed beforehand. They definitely time immemorial, and this feels like a more mythological take on Norse mythology than exactly what’s going on, usually at least, in Marvel comics. So I got over it by the end, but I was definitely there with you at the beginning with it, Pete.

Justin:              Thor was a different dude. He had a red beard. So that’s totally different.

Pete:                Sure. Sure. Sure. Yeah. Yeah, but that aside, I really thought this was a great start for this new team. I feel like this is really cool. I also really liked the backup. I thought that was fun. I’m excited for this.

Alex:                 Well, let’s move on to one that you’re very excited for as well, Pete, Non-Stop Spider-Man #1 from Marvel, written by Joe Kelly and art by Chris Bachalo.

Pete:                Come on.

Alex:                 Of course, this is taking Spider-Man and putting him in the position of Alexander Hamilton in the musical Hamilton, because he is going non-stop.

Pete:                Don’t ruin this for me, you fucking piece of shit.

Justin:              My favorite song from Hamilton is Non-Stop.

Alex:                 Really?

Justin:              Yeah.

Alex:                 Oh, interesting. Pete, you love this book. This is the fast and the furious of Spider-Man books. It’s sort of the total opposite of what’s going on in Amazing Spider-Man. No real soap opera going on here, just complete balls-to-the-wall action with brief interludes to give you backstory about what’s going on. Talk about what you liked about this book.

Justin:              Even those interludes are happening pretty fast. This is a smash opera, which is Pete’s medium of choice.

Pete:                Yeah. I love this. There’s no time wasted. It’s all non-stop. It’s all happening. During a fight scene, which is such a great idea, don’t waste time like “Oh, let’s go to a coffee shop and fucking talk about our feelings.” No. It’s all action. It is just non-stop. I loved it. The art alone is worth picking this up. Unbelievable. Just so fun how Spider-Man’s falling but counting the stories by having this inner monologue. I needed this Spider-Man, because Nick Spencer’s fucking killing me on that other Spider-Man book, and I just needed a light, fun Spider-Man Spider-Man book that isn’t doing a bunch of weird shit. So I really needed this book, and the art is just so good, and I love the pace of it. I love the action. Every single page was glorious, and then the backup story with not your mom’s Zemo here. This is a new Zemo here that’s just has a lot of sass, got some backtalk, really owning the fact that he’s rocking a purple mask in a fun way, and it’s all about that drip.

Justin:              He does love that drip. Yeah. I first opened this book, and I was like “Surely there’s going to be a couple stops in here.” None.

Pete:                No. Why do you need stops? What do you need stops for? It’s an express train.

Justin:              It’s an express train.

Pete:                You go on the local if you want some fucking stops and look around.

Justin:              Pete, what did you think of the backmatter where the editor, Nick Lowe, talks about how, in every single page, he’s getting his relationship with Mary Jane annulled.

Pete:                That’s not true.

Justin:              That’s how non-stop it is.

Pete:                That’s not true.

Alex:                 Non-stop annulments. Yeah.

Pete:                That’s not true. it’s not true at all.

Alex:                 This is the perfect team-

Justin:              It is true. Re-read it.

Alex:                 I would say this is the perfect team for this book. Joe Kelly, great at this sort of thing. Chris Bachalo, great at this sort of thing. This is fun. Like you’re saying, Pete, this is the opposite of what’s going on in Amazing Spider-Man, and it’s a nice little treat after reading that.

Pete:                It is a nice treat. Come on.

Justin:              Yeah. No. I really enjoyed it. Chris Bachalo’s art’s great. It’s great to see him on a book like Spider-Man where you get to see-

Pete:                It’s phenomenal.

Justin:              There’s so much going on. The panels are crooked. When I got to the end, I was like “This surely can’t be the end,” and there’s a whole other story. So the stops kept not stopping, you know?

Pete:                Yeah. Exactly. Never stop stopping. What’d you guys think of the backup?

Justin:              Fun.

Alex:                 The Baron Zemo backup?

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 I love Zemo. I don’t know what it is. I just love that guy.

Pete:                Yeah. I didn’t know you were such a Zemo head.

Alex:                 I love Zemo.

Pete:                But this-

Alex:                 I can’t explain it.

Pete:                How do you-

Alex:                 No. Actually, I can explain it. It’s because Under Siege, Avengers: Under Siege, is probably my favorite Avengers storyline. I was like “Yo. I’m sold on this guy. This guy-“

Justin:              Avengers: Under Siege is your favorite Avengers story?

Alex:                 Absolutely.

Justin:              Wow.

Pete:                Wow.

Justin:              There it is.

Pete:                How do you feel-

Justin:              You love a real loose mask, huh?

Pete:                How do you feel about this updated Zemo a little bit? He’s got a little sass.

Justin:              You keep pushing his sass.

Pete:                Well, it’s just I haven’t seen the Zemo, and Zalben’s a Zemo head. So I’m wondering if he’s like “This is my Zemo,” or like he feels cool with it.

Alex:                 No. It’s straight out-

Justin:              Pete, have you-

Alex:                 If anything, it’s old Zemo. He’s got the loose mask back again instead of the tight mask.

Pete:                Sure. Yeah.

Alex:                 His neck’s getting some air.

Pete:                Right, but I mean, the way he’s talking is not how Zemo normally talks.

Alex:                 It’s fine.

Justin:              Pete, this story focuses on a drug called A Plus. Have you been taking some of it? Because you seem hyped. You’re non-stop right now.

Pete:                Dude, I am non-stop, and I needed a book like this to get me hyped.

Alex:                 Let’s move on then and talk about Proctor Valley Road #1 from BOOM! Studios, written by-

Pete:                Oh, boy.

Alex:                 … Grant Morrison and Alex Child, art by-

Pete:                What?

Alex:                 … Naomi Franquiz. What?

Pete:                I kept the whole time reading this being like “I can’t believe this is written by Grant Morrison. It looks like such a nice, wholesome book, and I can’t believe Grant Morrison is doing this shit.”

Alex:                 Yeah, and then you got to the end, right?

Pete:                Oh, yeah. I did.

Alex:                 So this is about a bunch of kids who hear a legend about a place called Proctor Valley Road, where a bunch of people seemed to die. Like Pete’s saying, it starts relatively like just regular teen fun movie for three quarters of the book, and then things get messed up by the end in a really big way, spinning out into some mythology. It doesn’t feel like a Grant Morrison book at all, I would say-

Pete:                It doesn’t.

Alex:                 … but Justin, what did you think about this one?

Pete:                It’s easy to follow. You can understand. It’s impressive.

Justin:              Well, I think the biggest difference why it doesn’t feel very Grant Morrison is the art. The choice of the artist, Naomi Franquiz, is very different, feels very not Grant Morrison, but I think it sort of plays against type a little bit in a good way, because the horror comes at you in such a different way by the end. I feel like you get in the heads of the characters very quickly, and they’re all fun, likable, smart characters. Has sort of Scooby Doo vibe with the collection and the era of characters here.

Alex:                 Now, I don’t want to jump on you too much, but the artist’s name is actually Franquiz, and that’s a great segue to start up my Fran quiz. First question. Who played the nanny on the hit TV show The Nanny?

Pete:                Fran Drescher.

Alex:                 Correct. That was the whole quiz. I can’t think of another Fran. I’m sorry.

Justin:              Oh, that’s good. Most famous Frans are Fran Drescher.

Pete:                I do want to talk about that podcast we were on, at some point. That was kind of crazy.

Alex:                 Let’s just skip by that and instead talk about American Vampire 1976 #6 from DC Comics, written by Scott Snyder, art by Rafael Albuquerque. Here-

Pete:                The Querque.

Alex:                 … shit is going down, and we’re heading towards, I would say, the endgame of American Vampire at this point as our heroes finally close in on the thing that’s going to let them beat the Tongue, the demonic entity that’s trying to take over the Earth, and things go horrifically wrong. I like this issue. I also like every issue of this book.

Pete:                Holy twists and turns, Batman. This is some shit.

Justin:              Holy twisted tongue. The Tongue always wins. Can’t beat the Tongue.

Pete:                Yeah. Wow. Yeah. This was very impressive.

Alex:                 That’s what I always say to my wife.

Pete:                Oh, my god. Don’t be creepy, you fuck. Yeah. American Vampire just continues to impress. You think like “Okay. I got a handle on what’s going on.” Nope. No. You do not. Yeah. I think this is a really solid, great issue. The Querque is just killing it on the art. It’s a lot of fun and really crazy and over the top.

Justin:              Really making that nickname work. What is so great about this book and a lot of Scott Snyder’s stuff is he always had another gear. This series, there’s such a big cast. It’s like “Oh, right. These are all … I remember how all these characters work together,” and in this issue and throughout this series, they’ve been in an ever-worsening situation, and in this issue, the situation somehow gets much worse, and he focuses the cast down to the characters we care the most about and the twists and turns that happen there. He’s masterful at timing the big story moves, and this is another great example of that.

Pete:                That guy’s a great writer.

Alex:                 Good stuff. Deadpool Nerdy 30 #1 from Marvel, written by Joe Kelly, Skottie Young, Kelly Thompson, Fabian Nicieza, Gail Simone, Daniel Way, Gerry Duggan, and Brian Posehn, Rob Liefeld, and Chad Bowers, art by Gerardo Sandoval, Aaron Conley, Kevin Libranda, with Bob Quinn, Patch Zircher, Michael Shelfer, Paco Medina, Scott Koblish, and Rob Liefeld. Basically, anybody that you can imagine having something to do with Deadpool over the years was pretty much involved in this. This was a bunch of short stories all set on different birthdays that Deadpool is happening. We’ll turn it over to Pete, our Deadpool expert.

Pete:                Yeah. This is nice. This is just a who’s who that’s put their fingerprints on Deadpool coming back to tell some fun stories, and that’s exactly what it is. You’ve got everything from Rob Liefeld making fun of pouches to just insane party birthday things. Yeah. It’s crazy. It’s Deadpool. It’s over the top. It’s fun. It’s also like the art styles are very different for all these different stories. There’s a lot of really funny stories in this, a lot of funny ideas. Yeah. The No Chill story was really fun. Yeah. I believe Deadpool would hide guns in different ice cream shops all over the country. Why not? Yeah. It’s a ton of fun. It’s a lot of great art, and it’s one of those collected stories that I think is worth it.

Justin:              I’ve been celebrating Deadpool’s birthday every year. So the fact that he’s hit 30 is just a real boon. I’m cutting loose like crazy over here. I thought this was fun as well. I want to give it up for the Skottie Young story, Baby’s First Cable, which is very fun. Kelly Thompson’s Best There Is was really, really good, and the Fabian Nicieza story, I thought, was very good as well.

Alex:                 That’s the one that I wanted to call out in particular. The thing that I really liked about this book is it’s very easy to do a bunch of goofs with Deadpool, but Fabian went for something much serious and much darker, and I think people forget that Deadpool stories can get really dark sometimes.

Pete:                Oh, yeah.

Justin:              Yeah.

Alex:                 So that was great. I was very trepidatious going into this, because I don’t usually love collections. They feel like a mixed bag, but they got the right creators working on it, and this is good. If you’re a fan of Deadpool at any point in his history, I think this is kind of a must-pick-up.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 Next up, Home Sick Pilots #4 from Image Comics, written by Dan Waters, art by Caspar Wijngaard. This is so good. This book is so good. Pick up this book.

Justin:              It’s so much better than it has any right to be, out of the gate just coming out hot with this story about some teens who are in a band, the Home Sick Pilots. They go into a haunted house. One of them becomes this ghost gatherer of these haunted objects, and this is sort of the all fight issue where things are coming to a head. It’s so much action. It’s beautifully drawn. The premise is so strong, and it has this sort of intense loneliness about it as well that I really like.

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, if you would have tried to explain this story to me, I’d be like “You’re out of your gourd. This doesn’t sound good,” but it is so well done, so creative, so different. The art, the storytelling, the paneling … It all works so well. This is such a crazy unique story, and some really unique characters. Yeah. I just continue to be impressed. This is one of those ones where you get it and you’re like “Man, I hope it’s going to be as good as the last issue,” and it fucking delivers.

Alex:                 I think a lot of it has to do with Caspar Wijngaard’s art, honestly, where the character designs are so unique. We talked about this in the last issue, but there’s a VHS something ghost, zombie, I don’t know, monster. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but it’s so terrifyingly and beautifully drawn. One of the main ghost is this horseshoe ghost, has a horseshoe head. Again, absolutely terrifying. We find out more about the mythology here. There seems to be an outside group that kind of has maybe ghosts trapped in TVs that are strapped to their chests that are tracking down ghosts. So there’s so much going on in this book, but it-

Pete:                Then the haunted house double-page spread thing was fucking insane.

Alex:                 Beautiful. The fact that everything is very distinct in terms of the look, in terms of the coloring of the book … Fantastic. Pick up this book. I cannot wait for the next issue. Next up, Rorschach-

Justin:              Don’t trust VHS tapes. Switch to Betamax.

Alex:                 I only use LaserDisc, personally.

Pete:                Oh, wow.

Alex:                 Rorschach #6 from DC Comics, written by Tom King, art by Jorge Fornés. In this issue, we’re continuing to work our way back through the history of our cowboy character, who was killed back in the first issue. Here, we find out how she met the Jack Kirby-esque artist who later went on to don the mask of Rorschach. This is good. I was not quite sure about it going in or what was going on, but like we talked about with the last issue, I think that really started to indicate where the story is going and sell me on it. I like this quite a bit.

Pete:                Yeah. I was a little worried this was going to be like that Eminem song, like “Dear Stan, my biggest fan.” So I’m glad that she didn’t kill herself in those letters or whatever, but man, this was a really great idea and well pulled off. I have no idea what’s going on in this Rorschach book, but I’ve been really impressed with all the different issues, and it’s the classic King thing where he’s like “Oh, yeah. I’m just going to give you just enough information to pick up the next issue.” That guy is a master.

Alex:                 Pete, it’s interesting you brought that up, because you know Tom King wrote the Eminem/Punisher crossover that was in XXL.

Pete:                Oh, I know. It’s a fucking great issue, man.

Alex:                 He didn’t write that, but …

Justin:              Wow. Pete took that bait very quickly.

Pete:                Yeah, but it is a great issue regardless of who wrote it.

Alex:                 Is it?

Pete:                It was Eminem who wrote it.

Justin:              I like this issue of Rorschach a lot. I feel like Tom King is trying to say something about American with this book in a really smart, subtle way, almost as if to say … Here’s what I think he’s picking apart. In the original Watchmen book, it was all about how bringing the world together via the squid monster was a necessary thing to prevent everyone from world war from killing all human, if you were to believe that plan, and this is about how society is drifting apart and what sort of in a very personal in these personal stories, and we get to sort of see that happen in this story following these two characters who are corresponding via letter, and then we’re hearing the presidential debate underneath it all, between Robert Redford and the conservative candidate, and it’s just really good. I am always excited to see what the next big idea he’s getting to is.

Pete:                I’m not sick of this Robert Redford bit. This is fun.

Justin:              Not a bit.

Alex:                 Not a bit. It’s real. It’s happening. Thor and Loki: Double Trouble #1 from Marvel, written by Mariko Tamaki, art by Gurihiru. This is an all-ages title showing Thor and Loki as teens? 20?

Pete:                Double trouble.

Alex:                 Something like that, and just-

Justin:              Something.

Alex:                 … playing some tricks on each other and having a good time. I know I’m a sucker for this sort of thing, but what did you guys think of this book?

Justin:              It’s fun. It’s fun to see, I mean, the inherent dynamic between Thor and Loki where it’s like “Oh, you can’t trust Loki,” but Thor always does because Thor’s a sucker for Loki. This feels the most natural of that, where they’re young, they’re sort of daring each other, and it goes instantly and horribly wrong in a fun, all-ages way.

Pete:                Yeah. I thought this was cute and well done in all the right ways. Even though it’s an all-ages, it’s still a very enjoyable book to read. It’s kind of fun to see them depicted this way and the kind of team-ups and mischief they get into. Yeah. It was a good book.

Alex:                 Next up, from all ages to no ages, Black Hammer: Visions #2 from Dark Horse Comics, written by Geoff Johns, art by Scott Kolins. This is very exciting to me, personally. I don’t want to speak for you guys or the world at large, but to see Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins, the team for The Flash and many other things, collaborating on a very hardcore horror book that’s set in the Black Hammer universe, I thought, was very neat. I was a little worried about it. I wasn’t sure how it would play out, but I thought it was horrifying and well written, and I liked the little twist there. It felt like a Tales from the Crypt episode. I was very happy with how this book turned out. What did you guys think?

Justin:              Yeah. It felt like just classic, classic comics, comic horror with a lot of great execution. We don’t know who the bad guy is right out of the gate, and then it’s like “Oh, this is bad. Oh, maybe everything’s bad.” It feels like we end in a place where it’s just “Oh, this is just awful across the board for everyone,” which is very true to classic horror comics, I think, in a good way. Love the art. This series is so good. Next up, in April we get Chip Zdarsky and Johnnie Christmas teaming up. This has been one of my favorite anthology series to pick up.

Pete:                Yeah. It was creepy in ways that I wasn’t ready for a little bit. It was just like this white dude who has got a POC in the back and gets pulled over by the comics and then is like “Hey. I’m white. So you don’t fucking question me,” or whatever. So it just sucked that so far we haven’t got any … The poor kid gets really completely fucked over and then turned into something monstrous. I hope that there is a kind of redemption arc for that character a little bit, but yeah. The team and art is unbelievable.

Alex:                 All right. Fair enough. Next up, Superman #29 from DC Comics, written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Sean Lewis, art by Phil Hester and Sami Basri. This is the new era for Superman that Phillip Kennedy Johnson on our live show a couple of weeks back. So it’s exciting to finally see it come to fruition. Here, we are finding out about Superman fighting an enemy that he can’t quite beat, or at least can hurt him in a certain way, and we find out from his son that this enemy might in fact kill him, which is, I would say, a big deal for comic books. What’d you think about this issue?

Pete:                Yeah. I mean-

Justin:              Has the death of Superman ever been a big deal for comics at any point?

Alex:                 I don’t remember it in my lifetime.

Pete:                Yeah. I think that there’s some real touching father-son shit going on here, and that Amanda Waller, man. She’s up to something. Somebody should be watching her or paying a little bit more close attention, because-

Justin:              Wow. Strong viewpoint, Pete.

Pete:                Then there was a weird kind of backup where I was like “This just looks like The Goon,” but yeah.

Alex:                 I don’t know. That was Bibbo, right?

Pete:                Yeah. Yeah.

Justin:              Bibbo.

Alex:                 Bibbo. Yeah. That was Sean Lewis writing about Bibbo. He’s writing this backup story about the other folks that live in Metropolis while the Superman stuff is going on. We get a little Jimmy Olsen. We get a little Bibbo. We got some weird villains. I thought that was fun. Justin, what did you think about this book?

Justin:              I really like Phil Hester’s art. Phil Hester Green Arrow was a book he sort of was on for a long time, and I feel like his style really fits here in the DC universe to me for whatever reason, and I feel like this is … The Johnson Superman era has begun. I’ve really been liking the work he’s done on Superman, and this takes the continuity of Superman and his son sort of both being Superman at the same time and adds this sense of dread over top of it in a way that I thought was just really good, really smart.

Alex:                 It-

Pete:                Also, it was really impressive how cool Superman was about his own death, and his son knows, but he wasn’t going to push him on it. He’s really slow playing that pretty well, and I was like “Wow. I would have been like ‘Yo. Fucking son. Tell me when I’m fucking dying here. Help me out. What the fuck. I’m bleeding out my arm and you’re being casual.'”

Justin:              Well, I-

Alex:                 I mean, that feels classic Superman.

Justin:              Superman feels like … We know his greatest weakness is Kryptonite, but his second greatest weakness is not playing Coney ball with him, which really seems to break his god damn heart.

Pete:                Yeah. That was heartbreaking. Yeah. Oh, come on, man.

Alex:                 What are the rules there?

Pete:                If he’s dying-

Alex:                 How do you play Coney ball?

Pete:                … play Coney ball.

Alex:                 Come on.

Justin:              It’s probably a lot of throwing a pine cone while you’re flying or something and trying to catch it. Pine cones sharp.

Alex:                 Yeah. Some day. Some day we’ll get a game of Coney ball. We’ll get the rules. It’ll be a lot like Calvinball, but I guess we’ll have to find out. Eternals #3 from Marvel, written by Kieron Gillen, art by Esad Ribic. Here, we are finding out more about the Deviants in particular, the antithesis of the Eternals, as they are dealing with a spiraling-out-of-control murder mystery of their own. How’d you feel about this issue?

Pete:                Well, first off, the art is just glorious. It’s really beautiful. Lot of amazing character designs and stuff like this-

Justin:              It’s like someone took-

Pete:                … the facial expressions.

Justin:              It’s like someone took the … Sorry to interrupt you, Pete. Someone took the-

Pete:                No problem.

Justin:              He-Man characters and put them in epic Renaissance paintings.

Pete:                Yeah. Yeah.

Justin:              It’s so beautiful.

Pete:                It’s really impressive. It’s almost like a watercolor tone to it. It’s really great. Yeah. I’ve been enjoying. Eternals really wasn’t my bag for a long time, but this new kind of reboot is doing its job in getting me excited about a movie that maybe … I don’t know.

Justin:              Wow.

Alex:                 Good conclusion there.

Justin:              Way to play it cool.

Alex:                 Strong conclusion.

Justin:              Playing it very coy. That movie’s been announced and talked about for quite some time.

Pete:                Well, I don’t know when it’s actually coming out. You know what I mean? So that’s why I was trying to be like …

Alex:                 I do think somebody mentioned this on our Patreon Slack that it feels like it’s Kieron Gillen’s X-Men, and I think that’s accurate in a way because he’s using these text pages to break everything up, but he’s maybe the only person other than Jonathan Hickman that is using that convention in a successful and exciting way. There’s a page here where the computer, who narrates the entire book, talks about how many Deviants actually exist, and they kick to a double-page spread of just names of Deviants, and it’s like “Page 10 of 7,947,” or something like that, and it plays so well because it’s this oh-shit moment of the Eternals … There’s probably 10 of them, and they getting killed off, and their enemies, the Deviants, are innumerable at this point. It’s great.

Justin:              Did you guys have any favorites from the Deviant page you wanted to highlight?

Alex:                 [Corbadorbadugal 00:34:14].

Pete:                [inaudible 00:34:17] that shout out.

Justin:              I’m going to give it up for some of my favorites from the page, [Smokewheel 00:34:22], [Bottleshirt 00:34:22], and [Dabgnorts 00:34:25].

Pete:                Oh, yeah. Dabgnorts. How could I forget about Dabgnorts?

Justin:              I went to college with a Bottleshirt. So I feel like I know that dude.

Alex:                 Not to keep plugging stuff, but you can go back a couple of months in our feed, and we talked to Kieron Gillen before he launched Eternals where he talked about it quite a bit. That’s in the Comic Book Club feed. So check that out. It was fun to chat with him about this stuff.

Alex:                 Birthright #47 from Image Comics, written by Joshua Williamson, art by Andrei Bressan. We are getting to the endgame here. Here, our heroes are going after people whoa re picking the detritus of the magical battle, the climax that we had finding the God King Lore, and that leads to probably what actually this final arc is about, which is brother versus brother. What’d you think about this one?

Pete:                [crosstalk 00:35:17]-

Justin:              Can I love this book more? Can I talk about this book possibly any more in my life? I’ve given this a shine up on every single issue of this series because I love it so much, and this was great. In the midst, the fact that this is the epic end to this epic story and we still get this great, quiet bar scene between these two warriors talking about just how shit went down and the difficulties of being a rage-fueled werewolf … Did anyone on this podcast identify with that character? Anybody? Any hands going up here?

Pete:                I’m sure. I’m sure there was a lot of people that did.

Alex:                 Me? Me? Was it me?

Justin:              You are the rage werewolf of the show.

Alex:                 Okay.

Justin:              Don’t let anyone tell you different.

Alex:                 Awoo.

Pete:                Yeah. I agree. This continues to just be unbelievable. Yeah. It’s crazy because it’s like “Oh, I thought this was wrapped up,” but it continues to go on in such an enjoyable way that I don’t want it to end, but yeah. I just think this is artistically and creatively one of those books that’s going to stand up over time.

Alex:                 I agree. Next up, Pete’s favorite book of the month-

Justin:              Month?

Alex:                 … maybe year, Luna #2 from BOOM! Studios by Maria Llovet. This is about a-

Pete:                Don’t put your weird shit on me, motherfucker.

Alex:                 Listen, man. Maria Llovet makes some gorgeous art. That is what I am going to say. This is about a woman that is getting into a strange cult and getting sucked deeper and deeper. Justin, what did you think about this one?

Justin:              I like this. It’s crazy how much this is like the other book, the Brian Azzarello book.

Alex:                 Faithless.

Justin:              Faithless. Yeah. Just in almost every way. So it’s a little weird to have this being out so soon after we’ve been talking about the other one, but I like this independent of Faithless. I think this is a good book. It’s sort of like the country, the unplugged version of Faithless, where there’s a lot of vests with no shirt underneath, looking in old books and playing some fun acoustic guitar.

Alex:                 Faithless too fancy for you? Check out Luna, now from BOOM! Studios.

Justin:              A hundred percent. Even bad boys have a soft side. Luna, from BOOM! Studios.

Alex:                 Next up, Sweet Tooth: The Return #5 from DC Comics by Jeff Lemire. We are at the second to last issue of this book, a rebooted Sweet Tooth. We find out some big revelations and twists in this issue. Pete, there’s a big, angry elephant. What did you think of this one?

Pete:                Yeah. I really enjoyed the elephant. Yeah. We got the kind of reveal, the evil master plan in this. Yeah. I think it does a great job of leading us, being like “Oh, what’s going to … Tune in next time.” Yeah. I think this is a great book. The art’s fantastic. It’s really raise the stakes. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next issue.

Justin:              Pete, how did you like the zoo? I really enjoyed the elephant. Pete, how’d you like the circus? I really enjoyed the elephant. Pete, how’d you like your safari? I really enjoyed the elephant. That’s all I hear from you, Pete.

Alex:                 Hey, Pete. How were your animal crackers? I really enjoyed the elephant.

Pete:                The elephant. Yeah.

Justin:              Pete, how do you enjoy-

Pete:                See, the elephant animal cracker is a little bigger. So you get more cracker. That’s why it’s more enjoyable.

Justin:              Pete, how did-

Alex:                 Did you bite off the legs first, or the trunk first? What did you go for?

Pete:                It depends on the mood, you know? Some days are a trunk day. Other are the legs.

Justin:              Uh oh. He’s in a real trunk mood.

Pete:                Yeah.

Justin:              Pete-

Alex:                 Yeah. Oh, I can’t eat carbs today. It’s trunk day.

Justin:              Trunk day. Pete, how did you enjoy the animal in the room that no one wanted to talk about? I really enjoyed the elephant. I mean, if you like Sweet-

Pete:                I love walking into the room and talking about the giant elephant. You kidding me?

Justin:              Believe me, I’ve known you for so long I can’t hide an elephant in the room with you. Elephant. If you like Sweet Tooth, you’re going to like this book. It is a true one-to-one sequel to that book. You don’t get to know the characters as well, and it feels like it’s taking the ideas and creating a story that has the tension and stress and thriller nature of Sweet Tooth and just playing that hard quickly, and I’m curious what the big point of this will be at the end.

Alex:                 I agree. I think a lot of the proof is going to be in that final issue, and I’m excited to check that out. Next up, The Immortal Hulk #44 from Marvel, written by Al Ewing, art by Joe Bennett. We are back to the good old fucked up Immortal Hulk this issue with things growing out of people’s backs and big monsters and things exploding and whatever. That’s great. I love it. I love this book.

Justin:              Yeah. I love this book too. The art is so good, so horrifying. Truly, there’s so much just skin stretched-

Pete:                Oh, fuck.

Justin:              … in fucked up places. I love it.

Alex:                 I love that this is the sort of book where you can have a green Sasquatch in the desert with Puck, and Rick Jones, who’s just like a stretched out neck at this point and a head, is coming out of a radioactive guy, and they’re like “Whoa. Whoa. He’s not bad. He’s not smiling anymore,” and you’re like “Yeah. No. No. He’s a good guy now.”

Justin:              Yeah. It was like “I noticed the lack of smile on this horrifying image.”

Alex:                 But it’s great. I love that they’ve gotten this book to a place where they just have this insane mythology where that happens. You have this huge fights with the U-Foes and the Hulk where, spoiler, but they win and they blast the skin off the Hulk in the most horrifying way, leading to a huge cliffhanger at the end there. This is great. Pete, I know you’ve been a little back and forth on this book. How’d you feel about this one?

Pete:                I thought it had a really hilarious, amazing, scary, fucked up last page. I think this is a very creative, dark, twisted book. It continues to be enthralling. I’m excited to see how this is going to kind of end or wrap up here, because after that last page, I was like “What?”

Alex:                 This is not actually my problem or anything, but there was a certain sense I got towards the end of this book, because they clearly are heading towards the endgame with Immortal Hulk. I started to feel bad for whoever is going to have to pick up Hulk afterwards, after this run, and be like-

Justin:              Yeah.

Pete:                But I think-

Alex:                 … “Yeah. I’m the Hulk. I like to smash things. Boop. Boop.”

Pete:                No, but I think that Marvel knows that, and I think that you kind of get something that’s like “Hey. Your Hulk book isn’t always fucked up.” You know what I mean? So it’ll be a refreshing, nice Hulk story that we can kind of be like “Oh, yeah. That’s right. This Hulk,” and then maybe it’ll be something else later, but I think the next thing could be a nice palate cleanser.

Alex:                 No. I agree. I mean, I think all I’m saying is this is such a definitive Hulk run. To come after this, I do not know what you do next at this point.

Justin:              Yeah. I mean, it does feel like they’re setting up … This issue, really, I was like “Ah, I see where we’re going.” I’m very excited for that. The U-Foes were great. It’s rare to see a story where your hero gets just destroyed in such a fashion, and yeah. I feel like they’re going to be like “Okay. How about it’s just Hulk smash for a while?” after this.

Alex:                 Next up, Specter Inspectors #2 from BOOM! Box by Bowen McCurdy and Kaitlyn Musto. We love the first issue of this book, which found a bunch of fake paranormal investigators discovering something real paranormal. They track down more paranormal stuff this issue, specifically a ghost in a library. Pete, you’re a big Ghostbusters fan.

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, the classic-

Alex:                 You love a ghost in a library. What’d you think about this one?

Pete:                Yeah. The classic ghost in the library move. Fun. Yeah. I think this continues to be a really fantastic book, and what’s nice is even though it’s drawn a little cartoony, there’s still some real scary panels going on in here, and I like this kind of group of people that we have working together. It has some heart to it. It’s intense, and it’s going to be fun to see how this gang kind of gets out of trouble, but yeah, a little nod to the old classic Ghostbusters with the old librarian ghost.

Alex:                 Yep.

Justin:              Yeah. This book, the art is so great at just expressing the different feelings and emotions these characters are having throughout this story. So it’s a really great book that … Great synergy between the writer and artist here, and it’s good. It’s scary, and it’s fun.

Pete:                It’s a bold move to talk to a librarian ghost, because you know she’s going to shush you, but they rolled that dice and they took that gamble.

Justin:              I’d rather talk to a librarian ghost than just a regular living librarian.

Pete:                Interesting.

Alex:                 Next up, The Amazing Spider-Man #61, AKA stop Spider-Man, from Marvel, written by Nick Spencer, art by Patrick Gleason. This issue, we’re getting a brand-new status quo for Spider-Man. This is the much hyped new costume. We find out why he gets the new costume here. Justin, what did you think about this one?

Justin:              This is such a total shift back to what Nick Spencer was doing before this last big storyline where all this gross stuff happened with Kindred and Sin-Eater and all that, which was so heavy and intense, and this was like “Nope. It’s fun again. Boomerang and Spidery just being roommates, screwing around, social media,” all that. So it was a bit of a whiplash jumping into this issue. I like what’s happening. It’s hard to reconcile with the last six months of Spider-Man.

Alex:                 Pete?

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, I agree with Justin. This does feel like Whiplash where somebody’s yelling at me to play the drums and I really don’t want to. I’m looking forward to this thing being over with so can get back to Spider-Man.

Alex:                 For me, this felt like Whiplash in terms of I’m a little more into my bird than Sam Rockwell.

Justin:              Okay.

Alex:                 So we all had different takes. I liked this. I thought this was fun. Like Justin was saying, I do think it’s interesting that they throw in the Kindred thing right at the beginning here. They’re clearly not done with it. We’re going to come back to it at some point, you’d think.

Justin:              I just hope we finally get to find out who’s underneath the mask.

Alex:                 That would be great. The Last Witch #3, our last book here on The Stack, from BOOM! Box, written by Conor McCreery, illustrated by V.V. Glass. Here, we’re getting a witch versus witch battle. That’s the hot thing this month. Everybody loves it. Everybody loves seeing witches fighting, and you guys have been loving this book.

Pete:                Oh, yeah.

Justin:              I do love this book. This is another one of my favorites of the week.

Pete:                Yep.

Justin:              These characters are so good. I’m so behind this young girl who has the witch mark and is battling these badass witches and somehow finding a way to win every time. I really love this.

Pete:                Yeah. I’m really impressed with this, the art, the storytelling. It’s really fantastic. What’s great is it’s even better than it looks. When you look at it, you’re like “Oh, kind of looks adorable. Looks like an all-ages,” but it’s not. There’s so much going on in this book. It’s really fantastic. It’s very touching. Plus, you got a badass grandma who smokes cigars. I mean, come on. You know what I mean? Come on.

Alex:                 I knew it. I knew you were going to bring up the grandma.

Justin:              I knew we’d-

Pete:                Come on.

Justin:              … get to Pete’s grandma love.

Pete:                The little kid and the … It’s touching. It’s badass. It’s fun. It’s a lot of different things, but the storytelling and the art is glorious, and this book has really been impressive.

Justin:              At what age are you finally like “Wow. That’s what I’m talking about,” when you see a grandma, Pete?

Pete:                What do you mean?

Justin:              What age? Is it someone having grandchildren? Or are you like … When you see someone, like an older grandmother woman, is that when you’re like “Okay. I want to put a sword in that golden girl’s hand”?

Pete:                Well, any time you see a badass grandma, you think that’s a cool grandma. You know what I mean? So I don’t know what the age is, but if you saw a grandma rocking a cigar or with a sword or a machine gun, you’re going to be like “Hell yeah. I’m on her team. She’s on my team. Let’s go.”

Alex:                 Pete, that’s a real GILF, is what you’re saying?

Pete:                No. No. That is not what I’m saying.

Alex:                 Grandma I’d like to fight with.

Pete:                All right. You know what, Zalben? I don’t know what to do with you.

Alex:                 But I know what to do with all of you. You need to support as at patreon.com/comicbookclub. Also, we do a live show every Tuesday night at Crowdcast and YouTube at 7:00 PM. Probably shouldn’t have said the time there. iTunes, Android, Spotify, Stitcher, or the app of your choice to subscribe and follow our show. @ComicBookLive on Twitter. Comicbookclublive.com for this podcast and more. @ComicBookClub on YouTube. We’ll see you next time at the virtual comic book shop.

The post The Stack: The Joker, Children Of The Atom And More appeared first on Comic Book Club.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookclub

On this week’s comic book review podcast:

Infinite Frontier #0

America Chavez: Made In The USA #1

Batman #106

Demon Days: X-Men #1

Suicide Squad #1

Wiccan and Hulkling: King in Black #1

The Swamp Thing #1

Nocterra #1

Crime Syndicate #1

Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters #1

Sea of Sorrows #4

The Comic Book History of Animation #4

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Full Episode Transcript

Alex:                 What’s up everybody. Welcome to The Stack. I’m Alex.

Justin:              I’m Justin.

Pete:                I’m Pete.

Alex:                 And on the stack, we talk about a bunch of books that come out this week, and we’re going to kick it off with a big one. Infinite Frontier, number zero-

Pete:                Oh, man.

Alex:                 … from DC Comics. Nice, simple lineup of names here. So let’s go through it. Written by Joshua Williamson, James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Brian Michael Bendis, Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, Joelle Jones, Tim Sheridan, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Jeff Johnson, Geoffrey Thorne. Art by David Marquez, Jorge Jimenez, Alitha Martinez, Mark Morales, Joelle Jones, Stephen Bird and Rafa Sandovall, Jody… Oh, there we go. Jordi Tarragona, Jamal Igle, Alex Maleev, Todd Nauck, Dexter Soy, Howard Porter, John Romita Sr. and Klaus Janson.

Alex:                 Now this is your requisite, post-event check in with the entire DC Universe. What’s going on? What’s happening with everybody? What’s everybody’s new status quo now that the continuity has changed. So we kind of know how this one goes, but the framing here is that Wonder Woman has maybe ascended to be a higher being, she’s trying to decide about that.

Alex:                 And so she’s taken a look in on the new state and the multi-verse post Dark Nights: Death Metal. How’d you feel about this book? How’d you feel about the status quo? What jumped out at you?

Pete:                For me, I thought the Bat cycle was sick. Cool green Lanterns thing. And love the last page, but what is happening now with DC?

Alex:                 Wait, what do you mean Pete?

Pete:                Well, like we were really enjoying these DC kind of what if books, and now it’s just all over and-

Alex:                 Well so-

Pete:                … and it all-

Alex:                 … Phillip Kennedy Johnson, when he was on the show, talked about this a little bit. He said that the Future State things are, and they talk about this in this book a bit as well, but not as explicitly, that they’re a possible future or a possible futures. These are places the continuity may be going or may not, but they’re not ignoring them.

Alex:                 And you can see that a little bit in the Batman story that teases the magistrate storyline. That plays later in The Stack Podcast where we’re going to be talking about Batman 106, where that plays in a big way. But that’s what we’re getting here is these new status quos, these new setups, they might head towards these disasters that we’ve seen in Future State, but also maybe not. We’ll have to see what happens.

Justin:              … And I really like that. I liked the confidence with which DC moved forward through Future State and into this where it’s like, “Okay, all that stuff happened, you read it, and then we’re not going to dance around it. We’re just going to jump into the books and we’re going to start to pepper those things in, those things that we like, those things that-“

Pete:                Maybe though?

Justin:              … I appreciate that though. It really-

Pete:                Why do you appreciate that? Because they’re saying, “We may do something that you really enjoyed, we may not. Go fuck yourself.”

Justin:              … I love that. I like-

Pete:                Really?

Justin:              … I enjoyed what we saw, and then if they-

Pete:                I very much enjoyed it, but I would like to know if I’m going to get some of it or not.

Justin:              Well, then you continue being a fan, I think is the real… Like, if you keep talking about the things that you loved, I think they will do those things. And the things that people didn’t like, they won’t do those things. And we [crosstalk 00:03:21].

Alex:                 You heard it here first, true believer. You’re going to have to check in every week to find out whether the adventures of your favorite superheroes are going to turn out good, bad, or something in between. Excelsior.

Justin:              I can’t.

Pete:                Mr. Magoo? I can’t hear anything you’re saying.

Alex:                 Just imagine. Me, Mr. Magoo. Imagine this in the DC Universe, Future State.

Pete:                All I see is The Lost DVD thing. And I don’t hear anything you’re saying, because I’m just focused on The Lost DVD question that popped up.

Alex:                 Here’s the big twist, Pete, that Lost DVD thing behind me has been here the whole time.

Justin:              Wow, I don’t know if that’s-

Pete:                Well, that’s not true.

Justin:              … a direct quote from Lost-

Pete:                That’s not true.

Justin:              … but even if it’s not, I don’t want to hear it. I like the Batman stuff I think is really fun here. It’s interesting that Grifter is now just fully part of the Bat Universe. The Bat Universe feels fairly large right now.

Alex:                 Yes.

Justin:              And-

Alex:                 Well, and you get to see more of that in Batman 106 as well. It’s a big cast, but I agree with you. I like how James Tynion is playing with it. I like the potential threat of The Magistrate. I love the reveal at the end here of what Scarecrow looks like right now. That’s pretty terrifying. What’s up Pete?

Pete:                So you guys are just okay with the fact that we just got two months of amazing stories and now like, “Eh, done.” “Maybe we’re going to do something-“

Alex:                 They told us. That’s exactly what was happening going in.

Pete:                … You can tell us that. But then when you fall in love with it, as you’re reading it and buying these, and then have it maybe show up or maybe be taken away, it’s just-

Alex:                 This is the same thing that happened to you with Titania when you went to Europe, Pete. It was supposed to be two months. And then you were like, “Okay, let’s head home, baby.” And she’s like, “No, I live here. I cannot come with you, Pete.”

Pete:                Did you say Titanita?

Alex:                 Titania.

Pete:                Oh.

Alex:                 Come on. You know the name of your ex-girlfriend, Titania, who you met in Belgium.

Pete:                Yeah, sure.

Justin:              Titania. Famous. Famously, a real person’s name. Read a little Midsummer Night’s Dream over there?

Alex:                 Titania.

Pete:                No, I don’t know?

Alex:                 Oh, man.

Justin:              I’m curious what Green Lantern’s going to do. They introduced the Teen Lantern here, which, okay, a little up in the air there. Flash really puts a flag in like, “We’re fully back to Wally West as the main Flash,” which Alex, you must love.

Alex:                 Great. Feeling a little conflicted after the past couple of years of storyline there. But I will say one thing that I was very happy about was Geoff Johns and Todd Nauck, back on Stargirl. They’ve been going all in on that since the series came back. They’re going to another story I think, coming up, another comic. That’s great. It’s just fun. They capture the tone perfectly. I’m really enjoying it. And I really like what they do here. Setting up Pat as connected to The Seven Soldiers of Victory, which is something from the TV show, where they’re doing the very smart thing of creating stories that work in the DC continuity, also work for fans of the TV show. I think that’s very, a nice thing to do.

Justin:              How hyped were you when Darkseid’s knee-high boot slammed on The Spectre’s head?

Pete:                Ah, spoiler dude. Jesus.

Alex:                 Let’s talk about the end of the book. Always. Great to see John Romita Sr. and Klaus Janson’s art on stuff.

Pete:                Yes.

Alex:                 That’s awesome.

Justin:              Agreed.

Alex:                 Who cares about Darkseid? To be totally-

Pete:                What are you talking about?

Alex:                 … blunt about it? There’s been so many Darkseid stories. I appreciate the idea that like-

Pete:                There’s a ton of Joker stories.

Alex:                 … “We’re bringing it back to basics. It’s Darkseid versus the whole DC Universe. None of this crazy perpetuous stuff. We’re just going to clean it up. It’s just going to be a slam bang slab fest. Let’s have a little bit of a fun time here guys.” That’s great. But at the same time, I’ve read so many stories of Darkseid versus the DC Universe. If he had been away for a while, that would be a different thing. But we’ve had so much Darkseid in different iterations. He’s been on a justice league team. His daughter has been hanging around. If it was a character that was gone for a while, I feel like the impact would have been much greater. But as is, I was like, “All right, this is very nice art, happy to read this. I’m sure this will be fun.” But this is not the cliff hanger I think it was meant to be.

Pete:                Oh, I completely disagree. I was so happy to see Darkseid at the end of it, because I was just… First off, it’s a zero issue. So fuck you for putting all that shit in a zero issue. Fuck you. That is not a Zero Issue. There is so much important that happens in that issue. It’s unbelievable.

Justin:              Oh, I thought you were going to drop a beat, drop a little rhyme there.

Pete:                [crosstalk 00:07:50] It was a spam phone call.

Alex:                 We put it in a zero issue. Don’t blow it in a tissue.

Pete:                Please don’t be the white guy, beat-boxing and trying to rhyme. That’s just awful.

Alex:                 I mean I think-

Pete:                Stop it.

Alex:                 I think that was-

Pete:                Stop.

Alex:                 … I think that was really good.

Pete:                No. I… In all this madness, to see Darkseid, I was like, “Yes. Okay. Now we can get to a storyline. I understand what’s happening here. I don’t know why there’s all this other madness going on, but I can understand this.” So I felt really good about that ending and it got me excited to read the first issue. What the fuck?

Justin:              Does Darkseid always look like he’s crumbling to you guys. I feel like he’s like a gritty sidewalk. He’s like concrete that’s slowly just crumbling out. Like, he needs a good moisturizer?

Pete:                Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Alex:                 Do you think that’s how to stop him?

Pete:                We all need a good moisturizer.

Alex:                 Send him to a spa day?

Justin:              Yeah. A solid pressure washer would really take him down I feel like.

Pete:                No, man.

Alex:                 Just give him a cream called The Pro-life Equation. It would just really smooth him out. Let’s move on and talk about America Chavez: Made in the USA, number one from Marvel. Written by Kalinda Vazquez. Art by Carlos Gomez. So this is, of course, bringing back a solo title for America Chavez. It is revamping her origin quite a bit, adding some new details, some new threats. What’d you think about this book?

Justin:              I like this. America Chavez is such a unique, her power set is so weird. And so I like… And her origin is so specific with her coming from another earth and sort of wandering into our world. And then most recently on the Avengers West Coast team. Very fun. I think this book’s great.

Pete:                Yeah. I agree. I really thought this was a fantastic first issue. Gets you excited for this world and what’s going on. I really like the character. Also, super nice of her, in the middle of a mole battle, to answer questions from somebody with just a camera that… like an old camera, not even like a cell phone. So I was very impressed with her and how she handles herself. Yeah, I think they did a great job of getting me excited for more. I think this was a really solid first issue. Love the art, love the writing.

Alex:                 It probably helps that this starts out in Los Angeles, but it definitely feels of a piece with the work that Kelly Thompson did on the West Coast Avengers title, on the Hawkeye title as well. You got Kate Bishop cameo in here. But it moves off into its own thing, but it has that sense of fun, that sense of weirdness. It’s great. I really enjoyed this book quite a bit.

Alex:                 Let’s move on to the book that we talked about a little bit earlier, at least teased a little bit earlier, Batman, number 106 from DC Comics. Written by James Tynion IV and Joshua Williamson. Art by Jorge Jimenez and Gleb Melnikov. This is the new status quo for Gotham City, Batman chilling out in a basement with Ghost-Maker, fighting crime. Until some new and old villains are coming for him and things are tightening quite a bit. This is, I thought, great.

Justin:              Yeah, I agree. I really-

Alex:                 Pete, you have a question though. You raised your hand.

Pete:                Yeah. I just… You love a good commercial in the middle of the comics. So I was just wondering what you thought of The Oracle eating Ruffaloes? I thought that was a nice nod to Mark Ruffalo who may, or may not be-

Alex:                 Dude sadly died and was made into potato chips? Is that what you’re talking about?

Pete:                … Yeah, exactly.

Justin:              Tragic.

Pete:                I’m just wondering, because you love when they change the, instead of ruffles, they… So they were cute with that. Just wondering usually, you enjoy that. So I was just wondering…

Alex:                 Yeah, I wish there was a little bit of a Hulk crunch on there, that would have really nailed it. But I guess, wrong universe, you couldn’t go do that.

Justin:              Hard to do that, yeah.

Alex:                 Yeah. But yeah, that was my big takeaway from the book as well. So thank you, Pete.

Pete:                Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was cool to see Batman working with Oracle. Just, she’s super caszh that she can fight crime and eat chips. I mean, that’s pretty awesome. But it was also interesting, this Ghost-Maker and Batman dynamic. To see how casual they are sometimes is a little jarring, but it’s fun. It’s a new kind of dynamic. And I like the new villain who didn’t get their reveal out before they got punched in the face, was cool. Yeah, I think the Demon or Detective was fun. So it should be interesting to see how this all unfolds. So I’m in.

Justin:              Yeah, and the way that this spins directly out of the Future State stuff to have this villain, this scientist setting up the Magistrate program, that they really used a ton in the Future State, but never really resolved. So I think that’s cool. And we get to see that build up. I do miss… I think it’s strange that Ghost-Maker is replacing Robin, basically? In a weird way. We get a Robin backup here in this issue, which I also thought was cool.

Pete:                Oh, that was awesome.

Justin:              Now after you’ve had a long day of fighting crime, do you go home and spar with your buddy? I think I’d be like, “Come on, man. Let’s [crosstalk 00:13:09].”

Alex:                 Sure, if you’re a chef, you’re cooking all day and then you go home and you eat. Same thing.

Justin:              Cooking and eating is actually two very different processes, Alex.

Alex:                 No, I don’t think so. I don’t think so.

Pete:                Maybe a chef goes home and orders food, because he’s so tired of cooking.

Alex:                 We talked about this quite a bit, but James Tynion’s run has had these weird stops and starts. It’s been so good across the board, but it was supposed to be a very short storyline. Then it got expanded. Then it got interrupted by the Future State and Dark Nights: Death Metal stuff. So, this feels like a new fresh start for him. And I’m really hoping this time it gets to be whatever ongoing story he wants to tell, because he’s such a good storyteller. I don’t want to see another event come in, or another switch, or something like that. I want to see what is the long form story that James Tynion has to tell about Batman.

Pete:                I was very confused, because the Batman one was the first time I saw the cover and I was just like, “What happened to the last event?” The cover was… I was just like, “What is going on?” So, I’m glad we got in, in the Zero Issue.

Alex:                 Well, let’s move on to something you probably like, Pete. Demon Days: X-Men, number one from Marvel Comics. Story set by Peach Mamoko. This is a very different take on the X-Men. What’d you think Pete? You like this book?

Pete:                Well, yes, I did very much the art-

Justin:              Huge X-Men fan, Pete LePage.

Pete:                … Normally, yes. The art is absolutely glorious. It is just almost like a painting here. I’m a sucker for watercolors. I just love it. The character designs are so cool and unique. It’s got this kind of like old style [inaudible 00:14:53] meets new. I’m very, very much into this. It was really cool. And the wolf is Wolverine named Logan. I was in it to win it, and they really delivered on this first issue.

Justin:              I agree. The art is very… it’s really beautiful here. I thought it was interesting for an X-Men book to have Venom be the villain, and Hulk be here? Is what I took the big red demon to be.

Pete:                They’re two characters in Marvel, so.

Justin:              Yeah, but I don’t know if you follow the X-Men really, but they’re traditionally not associated with them.

Alex:                 Well, that was the thing that was-

Pete:                Sure.

Alex:                 … confusing to me. I read this book and not once did any island fuck another island. So it didn’t feel like an X-Men book to me, to be honest.

Justin:              I think it was implied that Japan was fucking another-

Pete:                Go on. Go on-

Justin:              … the Philippines.

Pete:                … name one other island.

Alex:                 I was going to say, yeah.

Justin:              I was trying to name a neighboring island, because the islands don’t travel to fuck, they fuck the neighboring islands.

Alex:                 I can picture the map. See, we got into your head. It’s just Japan, and there’s nothing around you except ocean. [crosstalk 00:16:02].

Pete:                Absolutely nothing. It’s nothing.

Justin:              A lot of ocean.

Pete:                Oh, yeah.

Justin:              Right.

Alex:                 There you go. Yes. Very good book. Let’s move on to talk about Suicide Squad, number one from DC Comics. Written by Robbie Thompson. Art by Eduardo Pansica. This is bringing in a little bit of the upcoming movie with Peacemaker. The thing that I thought was kind of fascinating about this, we didn’t talk about this-

Justin:              Kind of?

Alex:                 … this happens in Infinite Frontier, number zero. Continues in the Batman issue. But big event, pretty much everybody in The Arkham Asylum is killed. Seemingly by Joker Gas. Turns out later it’s actually the Scarecrow faking Joker Gas, including most of the inmates, including potentially Bane, among other folks. But the Suicide Squad issue takes place the same time as that. They’re trying to break Talon out of Arkham Asylum when The Gas comes, and that’s what we’re playing with here. I like this. I thought Robbie Thompson writes a good Suicide Squad. I think the danger is there. The unnecessary deaths are there. So it hits all the bases. And Eduardo Pansica’s art is real good.

Justin:              I can’t believe we lost Film Freak so early on in his career.

Pete:                Yeah.

Justin:              RIP.

Pete:                I mean, I agree. I thought this was really great issue, and hopefully, the movie will be just as enjoyable. It’s fun because all the Peacemaker dialogue in my head, it was John Cena speaking those lines. I didn’t like the Superboy reveal, did not like that. That was scary. I thought it had a really great ending. And then it was also weird how Waller was like, “I’m tired of losing.”

Alex:                 She loses a lot.

Justin:              She loses a lot. I love the page of Superboy was great, I thought. The kryptonite shackles and the-

Pete:                It made me sad.

Justin:              … It’s sad. It is sad. Because Superboy is a hero and he’s entrapped.

Alex:                 Sorry about that, Pete. I hope you get past that. Let’s talk about Wiccan and Hulkling: King in Black, number one from Marvel. Written by T.D. Howard. Art by Luciano Vecchio. This is following up on the Empire event. They are married now, they’re ruling space, and of course, some goop dragons bash their way into their honeymoon and they have to deal with that. Lots of fun stuff in here. I always like a good Wiccan and Hulkling book. And I think T.D. Howard captures their voices quite well.

Justin:              Yeah, and this book-

Pete:                Agreed.

Justin:              … I liked that this was just a fun book. It wasn’t trying to do a bunch of stuff. It was like, “Okay, we’ve seen… We know where these two characters are, but we haven’t actually seen them be married and be ruling. So let’s just do that and have it be a fun tie-in.” And I think it was very successful at that.

Pete:                Yeah, I completely agree. The lightheartedness added to this big kind of a King in Black event was really cool. I really love the interaction of the guy who’s holding up the little orb. And there are a lot of really cool moments, fun, little moments. I also like how, when they get the robot present, they think it’s just a champagne delivery robot, which is just a fun thing.

Pete:                And then just to see them together is great. I think this is just… The art’s fantastic. There’s just enough action. The balance with fun and give us some good relationship moments. This is just a great book from start to finish. You kind of know what you’re going to get a little bit, and they really deliver on it and don’t let you down. I was very happy with this book.

Alex:                 Next up, The Swamp Thing, number one from DC Comics. Written by Ram V. Art by Mike Perkins. This is a new Swamp Thing with a new M.O. New villains, new weirdness, same old horror. Justin, I think you’ll love this one.

Justin:              [crosstalk 00:19:49] loves plants, that guy.

Alex:                 And we should mention, on the Future State beat, this is the team that wrote The Swamp Thing: Future State book that was so excellent. Here, they’re dealing with an entirely different Swamp Thing, entirely different story. But I think if you like that, and that book was great, it was very exciting to see them taking on this one as well.

Justin:              Yeah, I agree. The Future State book was very sort of clinical. It got into some… It was about Swamp Thing building his children and how he did it in this future Earth. And this brings some of that clinical wraparound to this series. And then we just get into some brand new characters, some mythology building. I think it’s the same sort of green versus the rot situation in a good way. But a brand new character, who’s Swamp Thing. We don’t, he doesn’t seem aware of that he is Swamp Thing. And we’re getting that slowly told over the course of this first issue. Really nice art. This book reminded me of early Starman, both in-

Pete:                Ooh, really?

Justin:              … the writing and the art style. So I’m here for it.

Pete:                Couple of things Justin, if you don’t mind, since-

Justin:              I do mine, so let’s just do one thing from you Pete, if possible.

Pete:                … Oh, okay. All right. Great, great. So if it’s just one thing, I guess I’ll just pick the… It starts off with a plane being grabbed out of the sky by a giant, let’s say, beanstalk. Like, that’s really high up. I mean that-

Alex:                 No, no, no, no.

Pete:                … I mean, to grab a plane-

Alex:                 Okay, so the guy-

Pete:                … out of the sky-

Alex:                 … Can I clarify this one?

Pete:                … I’m talking to Justin.

Alex:                 Oh, okay.

Pete:                I’m having a conversation with Justin. He’s the Swamp Thing expert. Trying to get some clarification here.

Justin:              Are you familiar with-

Pete:                No, go ahead [crosstalk 00:21:34].

Justin:              … one of the other major beanstalk storylines, Jack versus Beanstalk?

Pete:                Right, right. I’m very familiar.

Justin:              That beanstalk went very high up. It went so high up there were giants living there.

Pete:                Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Justin:              So, beanstalks-

Pete:                That’s why I said beanstalk, because that’s the only thing that I know that could reach a plane in the sky.

Alex:                 There are big, tall, terrible giants in the sky.

Justin:              That’s true. That’s the point Alex wanted to make. Alex, not very religious, but he does believe that giants dominate, live in the sky in the clouds. [crosstalk 00:22:04]

Alex:                 The lyrics I know from Into the Woods, I say out loud, whenever I can. No, it was not a beanstalk, Pete. The new Swamp Thing was riding on a plane. He was having nightmares. And in his nightmare, he pictured himself exploding into plants out of the plane, not a beanstalk-

Pete:                No.

Alex:                 … rising to the plane.

Pete:                I thought [crosstalk 00:22:23].

Alex:                 No, but then basically, Swamp Thing powers exploded outwards while he was still on the plane, causing it to break. Fantastically drawn panel. I love that. So terrifying. But it turns out he’s just having a nightmare there.

Pete:                Oh, okay. All right, so-

Justin:              He’s made of plants though?

Alex:                 Yeah.

Pete:                … All right. So question number two then will be for both of you guys, since you both seem to be experts.

Alex:                 Okay.

Pete:                One of the reasons I had to move out of New York City is because anytime you’re walking in central park, there’s always people popping out of the trees. And at first I thought it was like a [inaudible 00:22:54] of elves, just when the elves got too big, they got kicked out of the trees.

Justin:              Yes, this all-

Pete:                But it turns out it’s Swamp Thing.

Justin:              … this all checks out so far.

Pete:                I just… That part… The book to me was a lot creepier and scarier than I was ready for. I’m just wondering, have you guys, in Central Park, seen the people popping out, or?

Justin:              The people popping in the park, people popping in the park. Let me say Pete, I feel like, so you wanted a book that was more focused on beans and elves? And this book just didn’t really have that for you.

Pete:                Well, no. I mean, Swamp Thing can be kind of a horror story type of thing, but there’s also a lot of great stories that Swamp Thing does where it’s got a little heart, a little love, that kind of stuff in it. But I was just… They weren’t straight horror for this issue. So I was a little-

Justin:              Well, I think they’re going to…

Pete:                … taken aback.

Justin:              Once we get to know the character, I think that you’ll find the heart there. And The Swamp Thing, also a great history of horror. Have you guys ever grown beans?

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 No, but I will say that when you’re walking out and somebody pops out. That happened to me one time, and he showed me things, many beautiful things that I hadn’t thought to explore.

Justin:              A hundred percent. Let’s let that hang in the air for a little bit longer. Nice.

Alex:                 Pete, any other questions?

Pete:                Nope. No, thank you for filling those. I appreciate it.

Alex:                 Absolutely.

Justin:              Anytime.

Alex:                 Anytime. Let’s move on to talk about Nocterra, number one from Image Comics. Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Tony S. Daniel. Now we had Scott on the live show a couple of weeks back to talk about this very book. He teased it. It’s all about a post-apocalyptic world where there’s no sun and a girl who lives in it, who used to be blind that is now the only one who can lead them.

Justin:              I’m just a post-apocalyptic girl living in a post-apocalyptic world, Alex. When will you understand that?

Alex:                 I thought it was great. This is Scott Snyder’s big wild storytelling matched with Tony S. Daniel’s superhero art. There’s… I love the idea of a post-apocalyptic world where it’s 13 years later and people are like, “Time to dress crazy now. Let’s do this.”

Justin:              I can’t wait for the apocalypse when it’s like-

Alex:                 What?

Justin:              … “All right, dude. Now you can wear lights on your head and stuff.” Like, “Get loose with your fashion.”

Alex:                 We’re living in an apocalypse right now and I’m dressed the same as I always have.

Pete:                Oh, boo.

Justin:              Exactly. You’re not taking advantage.

Alex:                 I’m not. [crosstalk 00:25:21].

Pete:                I tell you, the truck lights in this is amazing. I hope that catches on and truckers start really lightening up their trucks like that. So that’s magical.

Justin:              Yeah, when will the truckers catch on? I like this book a lot. Really fun world that’s created here. Scary. You ride along with your, this, our main character here, and really feel for her. It’s fun.

Pete:                Art’s great. Really think it’s a very interesting, cool story. And they do such a great job of getting you excited for this world and trying to figure out all the things that have gone wrong. A lot of really cool, interesting moments. I did want her to look a little bit more like a trucker and less like a superhero, but then whatever, that’s cool.

Alex:                 No, but I think that’s what you do with Tony S. Daniel. He’s an amazing superhero artist. So you lead into that, and you get wild designs, and you give people superhero costumes, and you make that work. It’s Scott playing to Tony S. Daniel’s strengths, the same way that he does to Jock, or the same way that they do in Undiscovered Country to Giuseppe Camuncoli. Just leaning into those artists and what they can do. And then following this pass down. I think that’s what works here, and it’s fun.

Justin:              I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone utter the phrase, “I wish that person looked more like a trucker.” And I appreciate it. Very rarely said thing.

Alex:                 Next up, Crime Syndicate, number one from DC Comics. Written by Andy Schmidt. Art by Kieran McKeown and Bryan Hitch. Here we’re getting a semi-satirical look at the crime syndicate and their world and how they come together on the newly revamped Earth-3. What’d you think about this one?

Justin:              These people love crimes. It’s our heroes, but they love crimes.

Alex:                 This didn’t really hit for me to be honest. There’s some bits that I liked it at, but-

Justin:              Maybe you didn’t get it Alex, but it’s the heroes that you know and love, but then they love crimes.

Alex:                 My favorite page is the backup story for which is, I don’t remember, Ultraman? Is that what he’s called? The Superman add-on?

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 Ultraman’s origin, it’s a riff off of All-Star Superman. And you get the first three panels are kind of the same. And then the last one is, it shows the Kents and it’s like deranged psychopaths or something like that?

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 That’s funny, that made me laugh. But then I feel like it didn’t quite follow up from there, the rest of the story. I wanted to go wilder and darker this book, personally.

Pete:                Really?

Alex:                 Yeah.

Pete:                I thought it was too dark for me. Seeing a Superman figure, this Ultraman guy, be so douchey and so… Abusing, his power in such an awful way, it was just so scary and against everything that I want out of a superhero. Like throwing a newspaper truck in a high rise of a skyscraper, through the office glass, just because someone wrote a story about you? Go fuck yourself, you fucking superhero. I have thicker skin, Jesus’ age. But yeah, I think that’s the point of it to just show how evil and douchey people can be I guess? But yeah, to me, it was a little too dark and I wish they took it back a little bit. So I guess a little different from [inaudible 00:28:39].

Justin:              I agree with Alex, I wanted to go further. It felt like it was heading for that tone of a Mark Russell book, but it doesn’t quite go that far with the satire. I agree with you also, I did like the backup. Felt like a little bit more in that sort of fun, irreverent tone taking on the Superman origin.

Alex:                 Let’s move on and talk about one that I bet Pete liked, Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters, number one from Oni Press. By Chris Samnee and Laura Samnee. This is a-

Pete:                Aww.

Alex:                 … all ages title.

Pete:                They’re writing a comic book together.

Alex:                 They’ve been working together for a while.

Pete:                Sure. Great.

Alex:                 Pete, talk about what you liked about this book.

Pete:                First of all, words, don’t need them. This book proves that. A lot of amazing panels with barely any words. The art’s unbelievable. Love the character design. Such a cool, interesting world. And also kind of a nightmare, I’m sure, for you parents to yutes over there, that has to be like your worst nightmare. You’re watching your kid, then all of a sudden you get taken out or get a bump on your head, and now you don’t know where your kid is. I mean, that has to be like your worst nightmare come true. But yeah, I really, really enjoyed this. I think it’s such a solid first issue. I can’t wait to see where this goes.

Justin:              I agree. This was very fun. It reminded me, maybe I have Bone brain, given what we’ve talked about lately, but they reminded-

Pete:                Yeah, you do.

Justin:              … me of Jeff Smith’s Bone.

Alex:                 Come on, everything can’t remind you of Jeff Smith’s Bone.

Justin:              That’s not, the times I’ve mentioned Bone in the last couple of podcasts we’ve done have not been because something reminded me of it. And this legitimately does. It has that really smart paneling, good storytelling, some heart to it. I liked it a lot.

Alex:                 I thought this was really good as well. Just classic storytelling. Like you were saying, Pete, from the Samnees. I think they did a great job. If you’re looking for something fresh and new, check this out. Next up, Sea of Sorrows, number four from ITW. Written by Rich Douek. Art by Alex Cormack. This is continuing a increasingly bloody and deadly-

Pete:                Oh, man.

Alex:                 … mermaid saga. Bunch of folks trapped on a ship. It’s like Under Siege, but with killer mermaids. I think that’s a fair way of putting it, right?

Justin:              Ooh, that’s nice. When does she sing, Part of Your World? I just feel like I just don’t know how they’re going to work it in?

Alex:                 It just hasn’t come yet, but there’s a couple of more issues to go in the mini series. So I’m sure it’s coming.

Justin:              I like this book. It’s got such a great tone to it. I mean, obviously, Under Siege is… A lot of huge fans out there of Under Siege, especially Under Siege Two.

Alex:                 Dark Territory? Yeah, of course.

Pete:                Oh, my god.

Justin:              A hundred percent. Way to drop that you’re a huge train fan. So the fact that those-

Pete:                Are you guys talking about fucking Seagal movies over here?

Alex:                 Yeah.

Justin:              Specifically-

Alex:                 Always.

Justin:              … Under Siege Two. Alex, when you got into Under Siege Two, did you come at it as an action movie fan, or more about from a train fan? We were just wondering.

Alex:                 No, I was more of a people-popping-out-of-a-cake fan. That’s kind of where I started with Under Siege.

Pete:                Oh, come on, man.

Alex:                 Then I sort of went from there.

Pete:                Nice.

Justin:              A lot of people come to it from there.

Alex:                 So, yeah. You should check out my letter box list of that.

Pete:                Oh my God. Yeah, this-

Alex:                 Movies with people popping out of cakes.

Pete:                … Anyways, back to the comic. So this is like-

Justin:              Back to the comics? Never!

Pete:                … It’s very scary, very intense and the paneling, and just the action, and the design of this really does such a great job of really getting into this frenzy like, “Holy, what’s going to happen?” All these things are kind of happening at once to this ship. And just when you think like, “Okay, I got a handle on this evil mermaid.” It keeps getting heightened levels and levels of how scary she actually is. This is really just a horrifying, amazing comic that really creeps me the fuck out and makes me never want to go on a boat again.

Justin:              Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Alex:                 Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Justin:              Yeah, I agree. It’s good horror. When the mermaid opens or body mouth, do you feel like it’s very Little Shop Of Horrors and perhaps the song coming out of the mouth is some sort of Suddenly Seymour style song?

Alex:                 No, it reminded me a little bit of the end of the first act of Into the Woods. When they’re saying, “Into the woods, we have to go, I hate to leave a have to though.” That’s mostly what it reminded me of.

Justin:              Interesting. [crosstalk 00:33:11].

Alex:                 Not related, but just always, that’s always in my head.

Justin:              It’s true.

Alex:                 Last one to talk about, The Comic Book History of Animation, number four from IDW. Written by Fred Van Lente. Art by Ryan Dunlavey. This is a guinea for Pete, because not only is it about the rise of the Studio Ghibli films, it’s also about the rise of animation on Saturday mornings with GI Joe, with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra, all of that good stuff. As usual-

Pete:                Yeah, don’t forget She-Ra.

Alex:                 … super well-written, super fun to read, super informative. This is just a great-

Pete:                Gem.

Alex:                 … book.

Pete:                I mean, Fred Van Lente is just knocking it out… It’s so informative. And the art is so creative and cool. This really does such a great job of teaching you things about things that you already know and love in such a fun, creative way. I really want this to be like an animated podcast or something. This is just so-

Justin:              Ooh, yes.

Pete:                … so cool that I don’t want this to stop. I want to learn all things in this format, and I want to learn it from these two. I was just so impressed by this. I grew up in this time and just learning all of this stuff is really crazy. As a kid I just love Saturday mornings. And yeah, this is just so hilarious. The Superman sitting down at like a Hollywood place with Fred, from Scooby Doo doing the finger guns? Hysterical. I love Skeletor in this. Just I just so many amazing, cool things. I [crosstalk 00:34:42].

Alex:                 Well, and Pete, I have a question for you. And this is an honest question, given that they do spend a lot of time talking about the very dark side of this, and the very negative ramifications and reasonings for doing these Saturday morning cartoons. Does that color your viewing of them at all?

Pete:                No. I mean, unfortunately when you learn about things, especially things that happen back more in time, you’re always finding out racist fucked-up bullshit things. So it’s, unfortunately that’s life. But as a kid, those kind of Saturday mornings were amazing. So that doesn’t… It’s hard to go back and watch some of those things because they really don’t hold up. But yeah, this didn’t, it didn’t hurt reading about it and learning about that, which I think-

Alex:                 Well now, now that you’re an adult, your Saturday mornings are a fucking nightmare, right?

Pete:                … Yeah.

Justin:              You got to watch your Saturday morning documentaries.

Pete:                No, man.

Justin:              With a big bowl of cereal and a bunch of serious movies.

Alex:                 Oh, here we go. Another murder doc on Netflix.

Justin:              What I love, I think Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey do so well is, they add the little details that you just, they’re so hard to find, it’s so well researched and then well illustrated by Ryan. And a couple of them that I really liked here were just how everything was sort of made up on the spot. All of these things that feel so important or particular like, “Yabba dabba doo,” and the name of Scooby-Doo and it’s just like, “Oh, hurry up. This is doo.” Name… Or like, “Hey, say Yahoo.” And instead he said yabba, dabba doo. And then it became this super iconic thing. And it just feels like stuff like that doesn’t happen anymore in the creative process. So being able to read this and see this is so cool.

Pete:                I take offense to that, because we usually make stuff up in the moment and it becomes comedy gold.

Justin:              No, we do, yes. I’m speaking more, I guess, television. I mean you can’t script Netflix. Classic.

Alex:                 If you’d like to support our podcast, patrion.com/comicbookclub. Also, we do a live show every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM to Crowdcast and YouTube. iTunes, Android, Spotify, Stitcher, or the app of your choice to subscribe and listen to the show. @comicbooklive on Twitter. Comic Book Club on YouTube. Comicbookclublive.com for this podcast and many more. Until next time, we’ll see you at the virtual Comic Book Shop.

The post The Stack: Infinite Frontier, America Chavez And More appeared first on Comic Book Club.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookclub

On this week’s Stack podcast, we’ve got reviews for:

BRZRKR #1

Stray Dogs #1

The Amazing Spider-Man #60

Two Moons #1

Future State: House of El #1

Future State: Aquaman #2

Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes #2

Future State: Superman vs. Imperious Lex #2

Future State: Suicide Squad #2

Future State: Dark Detective #4

Future State: Batman/Superman #2

The Department of Truth #6

Faith #1

X-Men #18

Something is Killing the Children #15

Nailbiter Returns #10

Firefly #26

Crossover #4

Skulldigger: Skeleton Boy #6

Ice Cream Man #23

Crimson Flower #2

Post Americana #3

You Look Like Death #6

The Scumbag #5

Rain Like Hammers #2

SUBSCRIBE ON RSS, ITUNES, ANDROID, SPOTIFY, STITCHER OR THE APP OF YOUR CHOICE. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, AND FACEBOOK. SUPPORT OUR SHOWS ON PATREON.

Full Episode Transcript

Alex:                 What’s up, everybody? Welcome to The Stack. I’m Alex.

Justin:              I’m Justin.

Pete:                I’m Pete.

Alex:                 And on The Stack, we talk about a bunch of books that have come out this week, or do we? Or do we?

Justin:              Way to create some intrigue. That’s right.

Alex:                 Because the first book that we’re going to talk about is a book that doesn’t come out until next week, but we’re going to do a spoiler-free review of it. It is-

Justin:              A preview review.

Alex:                 Preview review. It is Berserker #1 from BOOM! Studios, written by none other than Keanu Reeves and Matt Kindt, illustrated by Ron Garney.

Pete:                Oh, no wonder.

Justin:              I’ve been following Keanu Reeves’s comic book work for a long time, and it’s great to see just a brand-new book with his name on it.

Alex:                 Yeah. It was great.

Pete:                That was driving me fucking crazy. I did not notice that he wrote this.

Alex:                 Wait. Really?

Pete:                That’s hilarious. Yeah. I was like-

Alex:                 You were like “Oh, it looks like Keanu Reeves in this book?”

Pete:                … “Why does the guy look so much like fucking Keanu Reeves?” Oh, that’s hilarious.

Alex:                 Well, I mean, I got to say, I mean, who knows how much he was sitting down at his typewriter being like “Scene one. Berserker. Open on me”? But a lot of times, I feel like there are these insert-style comics that just don’t work. They’re star vehicles. They’re trying to set up a movie, and they just … They’re not comics. They’re pitch sheets, and that’s pretty much it. That’s not what this is at all. Not only do you have Ron Garney’s phenomenal art throughout-

Pete:                Yeah.

Justin:              I love Ron Garney, and I feel like he hasn’t been doing enough stuff lately. So it’s great to see his work here.

Alex:                 So that’s great, but also you got Matt Kindt, who knows his way around an intrigue storyline, a sci-fi storyline. Again, we’re going to skirt spoilers but not get into any here. But even though the main character is clearly Keanu Reeves, this is a really interesting sci-fi story. It’s a great action story. A lot of times, they just step back and let Ron Garney do his thing. I was very surprised and very impressed by this book.

Justin:              Yeah. It’s one of those books that when you’re reading the first bit of it, it’s like “I see what this is,” and then by the end you’re like “I was completely wrong. It’s totally different, and I am excited by where it landed.”

Alex:                 Pete?

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, I’ve been reminded numerous times not to give away anything, but man, that ending. Am I right? Oh, shit. No, but yeah. The art and action is phenomenal. This is definitely in my wheelhouse, less dialogue, more action. Come on.

Alex:                 It’s really good stuff. I mean, this is already a huge selling comic book. I think they sold 600,000 copies, making it the best-selling original property comic book in like five years or a decade or something like that. I’m forgetting what the exact stat is.

Pete:                Wait. It hasn’t come out yet. What are you even talking about?

Alex:                 Well, the way comics book work, Pete, is that people pre-order them through their comic book shops in order to guarantee that they’re going to be there. So that’s what they’ve been doing. So they sold that many copies to comic book shops. So obviously, big deal. People are really excited. The thing that I think is not a happy accident, but happy surprise about it, is that they’re going to get what they paid for. They’re going to get a good, very cool comic book. So I’m excited for everybody to check it out when it hits stands next week.

Justin:              Exactly. Next week. If you love The Lake House, you’re going to love Berserker.

Alex:                 I’m sending that directly to BOOM! Studios. That’s their pull quote.

Justin:              Two great Keanu [crosstalk 00:03:36].

Pete:                I don’t know if I’ve seen that, but okay.

Justin:              It’s not a spoiler when I say the mail is in the mailbox with this comic.

Alex:                 Hold on. Hold on. Let me try this.

Pete:                Oh, my god.

Alex:                 If you love Always Be My Maybe, check out Berserker #1 from BOOM! Studios.

Pete:                Wow. Wow.

Justin:              The comic book club bump is coming for Berserker right now.

Alex:                 Has he done any other movies, Keanu Reeves?

Justin:              Keanu Reeves? I can’t think of any.

Pete:                A ton. A ton of movies.

Justin:              Well, there was Bill and Ted’s Excellent Lake House.

Pete:                Right.

Alex:                 Bill and Ted’s Excellent Always Be My Maybe.

Justin:              Yep. There’s that. I think that’s the whole thing.

Alex:                 I think that’s it. Anyway, this book is great. Definitely pick it up if you haven’t, or pre-order it if you haven’t already. Next up, here’s a book that’s actually out this week, Stray Dogs #1 from Image Comics, written by Tony Fleecs, art by Trish Forstner. So this is about, as you can tell from the title, it’s not like stray … I honestly thought, because it was an Image book and it was called Stray Dogs, and it’s like “What’s up? We’re a bunch of criminals called the Stray Dogs.” No. It’s literally stray dogs. There’s still a crime element. There’s still a mystery element, but I was surprised about this. I’m curious to hear what Pete thought in particular.

Justin:              Yes.

Pete:                All right. So first-

Justin:              Because he’s a cat guy. He’s a cat guy. So-

Pete:                Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. But I saw that cover, and I was like “Oh, this is going to fucking break my heart,” and it did. It’s got some feels in this thing, and I was really impressed with the story. I thought maybe it was just going to be cute dogs, which would have been fine, but yeah. I thought it really ended well. It sets up this whole arc. I’m impressed with this, and I can’t wait for more. I’m really on board here.

Justin:              This book also surprised me, and I did … The last third of it is so good. They assemble like an Avengers: Endgame level group of mid-period Disney dogs here. This is like your Fox and the Hounds, your 101 Dalmatians, your Lady and the Tramps. They’re all here, and I don’t think we want to spoil it, maybe, but I think there’s going to be some bad dogs in here. There’s going to be some good girls and some bad dogs.

Pete:                Oh, my god. Love it.

Alex:                 Yeah. Good stuff. Again, a nice surprise. Let’s move on with our next book, and I’m going to tell you what it is, and then I’m going to give you a little peek behind the curtain here. Okay? So our next book, before the shouting begins, is The Amazing Spider-Man #60.

Pete:                Oh, fuck you.

Justin:              Oh, no.

Alex:                 Hold up. Written by Nick Spencer, pencils by Mark Bagley. Now, we’ve been talking a lot about Amazing Spider-Man, the Last Remains storyline, this whole thing about Kindred, this villain that turns out to be Harry Osborn, who’s been [inaudible 00:06:18] Spider-Man in the background.

Pete:                But-

Alex:                 Hold on. Let me just finish what I’m saying, and then I’m going to allow you to shout, Pete. But I think we kind of agreed that it sort of started to fizzle at a certain point. They’re dragging out the Kindred reveal for too long. I’ve still been reading it. I’ve been reading each issue because I like Spider-Man and I enjoy reading it, but I haven’t felt like … We don’t need to talk about the same story [inaudible 00:06:43] again and again. So before I set down the stack for this week with the choices of issues, particularly Marvel, I was like “Well, let me just read and see what happens in Spider-Man,” because the cover of this is Mary Jane and Peter surrounded by the centipedes from Kindred, and I read this book, and I was like “Oh, we got to talk about this.”

Justin:              Yes.

Alex:                 We have to talk about this, because I want to hear Pete shout. Go ahead, Pete.

Pete:                Okay. So first off, to kind of peek behind the curtain a little bit, Zalben has been pushing the envelope for how many fucking comics we talk about, and he sends out this ridiculous list that we have to read all these comics.

Alex:                 Nobody is forcing you to do that.

Pete:                Hey. I love reading comics, but I got a full-time job. We got other stuff going on, and he keeps pushing the number. He said “Oh, we’ll cap it at 20.”

Alex:                 I never said that.

Pete:                Hasn’t been capped at 20 in a long time.

Alex:                 I never said that.

Pete:                So then he gives us this giant fucking list, and then goes “Oh, two more,” and guess what one of the fucking two is. Amazing Spider-Man, and I was like “You motherfucker. Always pushing.”

Justin:              This is not the shout I expected to hear, just FYI.

Alex:                 Not at all.

Justin:              Imagine tiny-

Alex:                 [crosstalk 00:07:50].

Justin:              Imagine-

Pete:                I was saying that “Oh, there has to be a reason he pushed this,” like “Oh, just these two Marvel. No big deal. We’re just going to just do two Marvel because we got so many other comics,” and I knew. I knew Spider-Man had to be a fucking doozy. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have fucking pushed it through, and yeah, and here we go again. Here we fucking go again. You want to open a fucking wound and fucking relive some nightmares? Well, guess what. We got fucking Mephisto, and it’s going to fucking relive some god damn nightmares.

Justin:              Here’s the thing though, Pete. First off, let me say, imagine little Pete LePage, Petey, as we call him-

Pete:                No.

Justin:              … dreaming of his future as an adult, and your biggest complaint right now is that your friend is making you read too many comics? Little Petey LePage would drive his little big wheel right into a brick wall if he heard that.

Alex:                 “You’re telling me this is my job?” I mean, well, let’s not go that far.

Justin:              Well, not technically a job, but it’s like-

Pete:                You get paid to do a job, asshole. All right?

Alex:                 That’s what I’m saying.

Pete:                We’re not … Yeah. So I do have a job where I work and get paid, and then we go this out of the love of our hearts, and then one person keeps fucking pushing the envelope by overloading us.

Justin:              I love comics. I would read more. Give me more.

Alex:                 I agree, and to clarify, we said we would cap it at 50 to 75 books a week, tops.

Justin:              Let’s talk about this Spider-Man book, because let me see-

Alex:                 No. I don’t think so. Can you also give us a peek behind the curtain, Justin?

Justin:              Yeah.

Pete:                Yeah. Give us a peek behind the curtain, Justin.

Justin:              Sorry. The only curtain I’m behind is a shower curtain, and it’s sheer. It’s invisible. I’m nude in front of you all, all the time. I’m [crosstalk 00:09:33].

Pete:                Gross.

Justin:              Just a little imagery to preface this review. So this book though, Pete … It’s got Peter and Mary Jane being as close as they’ve been in a decade.

Pete:                Yeah, and then it does the classic bullshit where Peter leaves and then Mary Jane’s got some weird shit going on with the villain.

Justin:              Well, here’s the thing. To your point, Alex, I actually didn’t really like a lot of the lead up to the reveals here. I feel like Nick Spencer used to have a really good Spider-Man and a really good Peter Parker. It felt like it was back to the very core of the character, struggling to get by, has a bunch of roommates that he shouldn’t be hanging out with, messing up all the time, and now it’s like it’s so sentimental. It’s this sort of sanctimonious Peter Parker that we see a lot over the course of the years, but it’s not the fun Peter Parker, and it’s too melodramatic for me, and then by the end of it, I was excited about the reveal at the end of the book and even the stuff that Pete’s talking about with the villain. At least that’s interesting, because this Peter Parker’s not a person I’m loving right now.

Alex:                 Well, and that’s the point of the book, right? I think they’re taking a really long time to get around to it, but what is nice about this issue is it feels like one of those classic Ultimate Spider-Man issues that Brian Michael Bendis would do, where it’s just a conversation, and in this case, it’s Peter talking to Mary Jane. She’s trying to help him through the stuff he’s going through, and he says exactly what you’re talking about, where he’s like “Why is my life like this? Why am I still in this place that I’m in? What is going on here?” and by the end … Spoiler, but we’ve already spoiled it. The revelation is it’s probably Mephisto all over again fucking with Peter Parker’s life. Probably, there’s no way around. If they don’t loop back to One More Day at this point, I don’t know what he’s doing in this storyline, but that’s fascinating to me, what direction they’re going in. It’s nerveracking, but it’s fascinating.

Pete:                Yeah. Well, I’m not fascinated, but I did really like the part of MJ talking about this exercise that helps you kind of work through shit, and I thought that was very cool to have a superhero kind of do a therapy exercise and be like “Hey. Therapy’s okay. It’s okay to talk about your feelings in a safe space and get it out and see what it feels like to say these things out loud.” I thought that was very powerful and very cool, but then you got to fucking ruin it with Mephisto shit, and it’s like, either we’re moving on and that bullshit happened and somehow we have to live with it and move forward, or you better fucking undo that bullshit and then we can get back to our lives. Fucking make a choice, man, because I’m sick of this shit.

Alex:                 All right. Well, let’s move on to Two Moons #1 from Image Comics, written by John Arcudi, art by Valerio Giangiordano. This is set in the Civil War following a soldier who starts seeing some demons or something. We’re not 100 percent sure what’s going on, but the art in here is terrifying and scary.

Pete:                He sees the monster from Critters is what it looks like.

Alex:                 But it’s just somebody’s head, to be clear.

Justin:              Yeah. He’s got a critter on his head.

Pete:                Yeah. It’s a critter head.

Alex:                 Classic critter head. Yeah. Yeah.

Justin:              You guys both sort of felt like you were saying something that you shouldn’t be saying, for a second.

Alex:                 I mean, in my family, when I grew up, we were never supposed to say critter head.

Justin:              Yeah. Say it three times, and then you have yourself a critter head. I like this book as well. This was a good sort of scary story in a time we don’t see very much, especially from this perspective.

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, the art’s really unbelievable. This is a very interesting story. It’s also the take about the nurse getting upset about the fact that when you run out of ammunition, they’ll use whatever scraps of metals they can, and then kind of her reaction is very interesting and very intense. So I think this is a really kind of interesting, original idea set in a shitty time period.

Alex:                 Sure. There you go. Couldn’t disagree with that. Let’s move on to our Future State block, as we’ve been doing all the past couple of weeks, talking about everything that’s come out from Future State. I’ll list the books, and then we’ll talk about some of our highlights. We’ve got House of El #1, Aquaman #2, Legion of Superheroes #2, Superman vs. Imperious Lex #2, Suicide Squad #2, Dark Detective #4, and Batman/Superman #2, and to give you a little peek behind the curtain here, it’s interesting that Pete was complaining about too many titles being in our stack, because at least the past two weeks we’ve talked about the Future State block, Pete has read extra titles from DC and then talked about them on the show.

Justin:              Yeah, and dropped them in.

Alex:                 There you go. So Pete, any extra titles you want to talk about here?

Pete:                No. No, but if we would like to peek behind the curtain, I think you’re a piece of shit.

Alex:                 All right. That’s fine.

Justin:              Again, here’s me, nude behind a very crystal-clear sheer curtain.

Alex:                 Pete, what jumped out at you? What did you like this week?

Pete:                All right. Well, I liked a lot of things, but the one book I didn’t want to like, but then the sappy ending kind of got me in the feels, was the House of El #1. Sometimes we get in the house of stuff. I don’t know.

Justin:              Yeah. You don’t like houses.

Pete:                Yeah. I don’t like houses. I don’t like the kind of historical Superman shit where everybody is talking about their logos and all the weird shit. It doesn’t get me excited, but I was really impressed with this book because I read it like “Harumph. I don’t want to like you,” and then it won me over. I would say one of my favorites was Batman/Superman-

Justin:              Here. Wait. Can we talk about that real quick?

Pete:                Sure. Sure.

Justin:              Sorry. Sorry, but I loved this book. I know I feel like I’ve been on a Phillip Kennedy Johnson love fest, but man, this is another great book by him that is just a hundred percent fun. It’s mixing a lot of the stuff he does in The Last God with a Superman-focused version of the Legion, and it reads like just a great Legion book with all these different version of Superman kin that are out there trying to just save the world and maintain their household and mix in with these sort of light fantasy elements. It’s just a great book.

Alex:                 Pete, what about you? You were about to call out Dark Detective, I believe.

Pete:                Well, I have been enjoying that, and yes, I did love Dark Detective #4. Very intense. I love this no more shadows, like “Oh, shit. What does that mean?” Also, great backup story. I thought this was a very intense, cool Batman book. I’m very excited to see where this goes. Anybody else want to jump in on this one?

Alex:                 Yeah. Sure. Was that not the one you were going to call out? I thought that’s what you started saying.

Pete:                No. It was Batman/Superman #2.

Alex:                 Oh, okay. Sorry to put you on the spot there, but I do really like the backup. We talked about this last time, this Joshua Williamson and Giannis Milonogiannis, and they’re doing basically Red Hood, but Akira, and it’s super fun. I had a blast reading that. But you want to talk about Future State Batman/Superman #2?

Justin:              Real quick.

Alex:                 Oh, yeah.

Justin:              It’s very funny seeing the Red Hood hood on him, where it just goes right to the … It’s just such a weird looking thing, but this has been one of the best version of Bruce Wayne that I feel like we’ve seen in Batman comics in a long time, this Dark Detective series.

Pete:                Yeah. Yeah. It’s really cool. But Batman/Superman #2, really unbelievable action. I really am loving the kind of mystery and the kind of who-done-it with this team up. I love it when Batman and Superman get along, but I also like it when they fight, and I feel like this was a really cool, great kind of fight between Superman and Batman, and I thought this was really cool.

Alex:                 Yeah. It’s a good book as well. For me, man, it’s tough. Again, a very good week for books from Future State. All of this stuff has been really good. It’s a little bit of a tie. There’s one that eked it out a little bit more. Future State Superman vs. Imperious Lex #2 is kind of my number two here, written by Mark Russell, art by Steve Pugh. Super fun. Great Lois Lane in this book. As usual, just hilarious and pointed satire from Mark Russell. So really enjoyed that book, but the one for me that killed it was Aquaman #2.

Justin:              A hundred percent. That was mine.

Pete:                Yeah. That’s what I was going to … Yeah.

Alex:                 Everybody was leading up to that, written by Brandon Thomas, art by Daniel Sampere. Again, like I said with the first issue, I am not an Aquaman fan. I don’t usually like an Aquaman story. This is god damn amazing, and if you didn’t tune in to the first book, the first issue of the book, it was all about this confluence of oceans from the universe that former Aqualad, now Aquaman, and Aqualass, who by the end of the book, spoiler, is Aquawoman, have gotten trapped in. They get separated. Aquaman is imprisoned most of the last book and then finally finds out that Aqualass is alive at the end, and then we loop back and find out what happened with her. The action is so big. Everything that happens is so emotional and creative. I was blown away.

Justin:              I agree. This book was so good. Of all the books in Future State that I would want to replace the main title going forward, it’s this. I want to see these characters going forward and seeing where they go next, because it’s so good.

Pete:                The let go moment was so nice.

Justin:              Yeah.

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, I don’t know how cool a water leg would be, but man, they really sold it in this book.

Alex:                 It’s a fish leg. It’s not a water leg. It’s a fish leg.

Pete:                Oh, okay. My bad.

Justin:              I mean, a fish leg would be much worse, because that shit … You’ve only got like two days max on that things.

Pete:                Before it starts smelling?

Alex:                 Yeah.

Justin:              Yeah.

Alex:                 Don’t microwave it. Not in the office. That’s all I’m saying.

Justin:              Oh, definitely.

Alex:                 That would be gross.

Justin:              [crosstalk 00:19:49] case of scallop-

Alex:                 All right. Let’s move on and talk about some other books.

Justin:              One last thing I want to shout out.

Alex:                 Oh, yeah. Please.

Justin:              We didn’t talk about Legion of Superheroes #2. Want to shout out Riley Rossmo’s art on this. I’d love to see a Legion book with Riley drawing it.

Alex:                 Absolutely. Moving on, one of your favorites, Justin, The Department of Truth #6 from Image Comics, written by James Tynion IV, art by Elsa Charretier.

Justin:              Oh, what an accent.

Alex:                 This is a switch up of artists for the book-

Pete:                Yeah. I was going to say.

Alex:                 … and also a switch up of time periods, as we jump back in time and find out the origins of The Department of Truth. This is a awesome issue that continues, personally, to remind me of a vintage Vertigo book, where it’d be like five issues, take a break, show us some times passed thing, and then go forward with the ongoing story. So good.

Justin:              So good. This book is doing just such a great job of fleshing out the world of the series sort of slowly and really easing into it, and this book does a great job of sort of bringing into focus in the sort of micro with the flashback story. It’s sort of a double flashback. We flashback to right after the Kennedy assassination, and then flashback to Doubting Thomas and sort of the origin of rewriting the world with a new truth, and this book is one of my favorites on the stand right now. If this were a religion, I would believe in it.

Alex:                 Wow.

Pete:                Oh, shit. Wow.

Justin:              I’m not a religious guy, but this is the closest. I’m like “I could buy this. I could buy this fully across the board.”

Pete:                Wow. That is crazy. I think it’s really impressive that this book can look so different from kind of book to book and still feel like a part of the same story. It’s really impressive what they’re pulling off here creatively, artistically. They’re taking some big swings at some big ideas, and they are killing it. It’s really impressive. Yeah. The paneling, the art, the way this story flows. This is a really, really impressive book that is tripping me the fuck out.

Alex:                 This employs a technique that I usually hate in storytelling, but it completely works here, where they have a story in a story in a story. In this book, Lee Harvey Oswald, who in our current time is the head of The Department of Truth goes to his first day there, finds out the origin, so you have one … I think this is the reason it works is the art style changes with each level of the story, where it goes back in time, he’s reading the origin of the story of The Department of Truth, and then one of the characters in the story starts telling the story to the other character, and then the art style changes again. It’s just these multiple layers that feel very purposeful versus the usual accidental employment of that technique. Fantastic book. Definitely pick it up.

Alex:                 Let’s move on and talk about Faith #1 from BOOM! Studios, written by Jeremy Lambert, illustrated by Eleonora Carlini. This is a weird book that I was no expecting-

Justin:              This is a weird book.

Alex:                 … that follows Faith as she’s trapped in a movie theater, and there’s some Watchers watching her, strange stuff going on. What’d you guys think of this one?

Pete:                Yeah. It’s fantastic art. It was a little confusing because we kind of had this shadowy figure behind the main character. So I was having a hard time follow what’s happening, because I was so worried about her present, in-the-movie-theater self. So it was hard to kind of let go of that and follow the story, but yeah. This is interesting. Unbelievable art. Some great action. I’m not quite sure what’s happening though.

Justin:              Yeah. I mean, I agree. Really expressive art, I thought was … There were so many good little horror moments, and Faith’s reactions throughout are great. I don’t know much about Faith in the background. I don’t have faith.

Alex:                 You got to have faith.

Justin:              Yeah. That’s the thing.

Pete:                The faith, the faith, the faith.

Justin:              But I believe in the comic book we just talked about before this one. So yeah. I didn’t know much about the character, but it was a good read.

Alex:                 Yeah. Moving on, X-Men #18 from Marvel, written by Johnathan Hickman, art by Mahmud Asrar. Give you a little peek behind the curtain. I felt like Pete would be pretty mad about Amazing Spider-Man. This one involves Laura, Wolverine, which Pete likes a lot. So I thought this would be kind of like a gimme, like balance the scales a little bit. So this is as three of the X-Men characters wander into a weird future place, as they usually do in this run of X-Men. What’d you think about this one?

Justin:              The Vault.

Pete:                Well, I’m curious about something. So why is she called Wolverine now? You know what I mean? I know Wolverine died for a little bit, and I know she was X-23, and that’s cool, but then when they were referring to her as Wolverine, I was like “Why? What’s-“

Justin:              Well, because Wolverine doesn’t … He’s on the moon popping something else besides claws. So he’s not really …

Pete:                You don’t have to be an asshole when I ask a question. You could just answer it.

Justin:              I mean, I think there’s some truth to that.

Alex:                 There’s more than on person named Pete.

Justin:              Wow.

Pete:                Yeah. Yeah.

Justin:              That’s true.

Pete:                Got that, and there’s also more than one person named Pete LePage, but what’s your fucking point?

Alex:                 My point is, when I search for Pete LePage, the other one comes up.

Pete:                Okay. So it’s okay that she’s called Wolverine is what you’re saying?

Alex:                 Yeah. It’s fine. It’s not a problem.

Justin:              I like it. I like her as a character. I like her as the Wolverine. I think Logan can just be Logan now, and he can go do all of his Logan stuff.

Pete:                That’s cool. I just didn’t know. I was like “Maybe I missed something,” like the passing of the Wolverine mantle or whatever. I love X-23. I have no problem with her being Wolverine. I was just like “Oh, they’re straight just calling her Wolverine now.”

Justin:              Well, I think they’re both called Wolverine. I think it’s just like they’re both Wolverines. There’s no reason to differentiate.

Pete:                Then I was like “Is Wolverine a title of the fucking muscle when you going on …” I don’t know. I was just wondering if maybe I’d missed something that you guys knew about, but usually, as usual, I ask you something and you just make fun of me. So all right.

Alex:                 Oh, Pete.

Justin:              I’m not making fun of you. We’re explaining an important plot point in the X-Men universe right now that Wolverine fucks in the moon.

Pete:                Cool. Cool.

Alex:                 It did stand out to me too, to be totally-

Justin:              The gravity’s only one-sixth. So he’s floating a little bit. You know what I’m talking about?

Alex:                 To be totally fair, it stood out to me too as son as they called her Wolverine, and then I was like “All right. They’re calling her Wolverine,” and I kind of moved on from there rather than sticking with it. This is a good story. It’s crazy that they introduce this whole villain team to eliminate them in one issue, but that’s classic Johnathan Hickman at this point.

Justin:              Well, these guys have been around. The Vault was introduced a while ago. In fact, I feel like Hickman is oddly … He keeps sort of edging on the Vault. He’s like “Look. The Vault. Watch out for them,” and then in this issue, they go in there and wreck shit. So it’s weird what’s happening here. I thought this issue was great. This issue reads like an annual standalone issue where they’re just like “Let’s have a fun mission,” and it’s a great tactical mission. I love Darwin and Synch. Great. It’s all so smartly done, but I think, in general, I’m like “What’s the next move here with the X-Men?” and there are no clues. It’s hard to read the tea leaves.

Alex:                 No. It’s definitely the sort of thing that I think we’re going to look back at it in 15 to 30 years when Johnathan Hickman is done with this run and be like “Okay.”

Pete:                Yeah. “Oh.”

Alex:                 “I get it it.”

Pete:                “I see now.” Yeah. Yeah, but-

Justin:              “Oh, The Vault.”

Pete:                The art’s amazing, and the kind of thinking-man Sentinel thing was really awesome to kind of see as well. Yeah. I think it was really cool to kind of like “Oh, we’re going to send you on this mission. You guys sweep the Vault,” and you’re like “Okay. No big deal. How long will that take?” and then they realize a Vault is a whole fucking city. Pretty cool kind of “How are we going to do this?” moment. I don’t know how any of this makes sense, but I thought it was a cool issue.

Alex:                 I agree. I’m glad to hear that too, Pete, because you’ve been very down on the X-Men. Let’s move on and talk about another James Tynion book, Something is Killing the Children #15 from BOOM! Studios, written by James Tynion IV, art by Werther Dell’Edera. Justin, I’m curious to hear from you because this is the end of the story that they’ve been telling for 15 issues at this point. They wrap things up. They leave things open for the next story, but that’s kind of where we are, and you’ve been very back and forth about it. So how do you feel about this as a whole?

Justin:              James Tynion’s a great storyteller, but I guess I still have the same feeling where I’m like “Oh, that was the whole story.” I thought there was going to be, I guess, more of a crescendo in here. I like all of the storytelling. The art in this book is fantastic. The eating of gummy worms has never been so gross.

Pete:                Oh, man. Yeah.

Alex:                 Maybe you want some gummy worms, I’ll tell you what.

Pete:                Yeah. You’re so creepy, dude.

Justin:              Yeah, but you see regular worms, you’re like “Yum, yum, gummy.”

Alex:                 Put those in my mouth. Give me some of those sweet dirt dudes. That’s what I call them.

Justin:              But yeah. That’s my-

Pete:                I don’t know. This felt like a ending that wasn’t an ending. It felt like an ending that’s like there is a bigger story to tell here-

Justin:              For sure.

Pete:                … and hopefully they will get to tell it, because this is a really great world. I’ve loved every single issue of this. Art’s unbelievable. Love the character designs, and this cool … I feel like this is what our life is going to be like eventually. Since we’re all going to be wearing masks, it’s going to be just down to what does your mask say, and that’s your gang affiliation or your kind of tribe, if you will. So I feel like this is a book of the future before we even know it.

Alex:                 It’s surprising to me because a lot of this specific issue was them talking about houses, which you’ve already got on record as not liking in this very podcast.

Justin:              Yeah. This guy hates houses. You want to see the apartment of El, the condo of El.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 Nailbiter Returns #10 from Image Comics, written by Joshua Williamson, art by Mike Henderson, another surprising ending for a series here as we wrap up Nailbiter returning with some big revelations for the series. How’d you feel about this one?

Pete:                I loved it. I thought this was a cool kind of end but also tease to the to-be-continued thing at the end. That was pretty neat, but I mean, you guys have kids. So you tell me. When you guys sit around the fire to tell stories, do their faces go blank like that? Is that a normal thing that happens?

Justin:              Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Pete:                Oh, man. That’s got to be tough.

Alex:                 Every parent knows that. When you’re about to have the kid in the hospital, they talk you through the birthing process. They also talk you through the fact that, hey, when you sit around a fire, kids are going to have no faces.

Pete:                Oh, wow. Well, I’m glad that you had the heads up on that, because as somebody who didn’t know that, that was pretty scary.

Justin:              Well, that’s because they’re listening so hard, and so the rest of their features just fade away because the ears are really the focus. It’s just using your resources.

Alex:                 This book was fun. I had a blast reading it. It’s definitely a big action movie versus the overall dark mystery that the first one was. Super fun, and I’m glad that they kept it to 10 issues and pretty much done, kept the story really focused. I had a good time.

Pete:                Yeah.

Justin:              I agree, and it really got into some dream logic dreaminess that I really appreciated throughout this whole series and in this issue as well.

Pete:                Also, it’s great for people who collect eyeballs, you know?

Alex:                 Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Justin:              Yes, which I think we all do, and great nail biting. We got some biting of nails.

Alex:                 Good stuff.

Pete:                Finally got some nail biting in this one. Yeah.

Alex:                 Next up, Firefly #26 from BOOM! Studios, written by Greg Pak, art by Pius Bak. The last issue we called a fresh new start for Firefly. It was taking us after Serenity, the movie, moving us forward here. The cliffhanger at the end of the last issue was it looked like Wash was alive. Here, spoiler, not exactly. There’s a good twist on it. I loved the twist with Wash, actually, and I think this is a great … Without spoiling exactly what happens, this is a great way of pushing the story forward, and it feels like a tried-and-true sci-fi idea that’s going to pay really good dividends with the characters. I think it’s neat.

Justin:              It’s so-

Pete:                I’m going to go out … Oh, go ahead.

Justin:              You go.

Pete:                I was just going to say I’m going to out on a limb and just say Greg Pak is a fucking phenomenal writer. He makes great choices. I’ve just not yet read something from him and not been impressed by it. Even though we knew what kind of happened, the whole thing needed to be explained to us. I was really impressed. I thought this was a fun book. Amazing art. Really cool.

Justin:              How is it on that limb, Pete? Because I feel like you’ve been out on the Pak limb for years.

Pete:                Yeah. Yeah. It’s just me out here. Loving the Pak.

Justin:              I think your parents conceived you out on the Pak limb, and you’ve just been birthed there. Your parents heard about the facelessness around the fire, out on the limb, and now here you are, still living on the limb.

Pete:                Nothing like limb living.

Justin:              Limb living. I think it’s so smart that they did a long story in the past. It was great. Greg Pak really understands the characters and really put them out there, and then to jump forward in time where we get to sort of collect them again is super fun. Well done.

Alex:                 Yeah. I agree. Next up, Crossover #4 from Image Comics, written by Donny Cates, art by Geoff Shaw. In this issue, we’re picking up with our adventurers who met Madman, the character, from Mike Allred and Laura Allred, last issue. He is going to help them get inside the dome that has covered Denver, I believe, if I remember correctly, and locked in a bunch of comics characters. We again get a bunch of cameos and fun stuff in this issue. We also get some shout outs to Donny Cates and, I believe, Geoff Shaw’s own work as well. This is great. This is a blast to read, and even Donny Cates self inserting himself here is super fun.

Justin:              I mean, it’s great to see Madman in action. That guy can yo.

Alex:                 Yeah. Yo, yo. Pete, you got to be happy. There is a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in this issue.

Pete:                Oh, yeah. You got to love that. I also impressed with the art here, because it has the kind of dot, kind of old-timey kind of comic book style, which is really interesting with Madman, with kind of more vibrant characters as well. It’s just really cool to see them all standing in a room. So I’m glad we got that moment. The kind of torture shit freaked me out a little bit, but man, really great story. Fun stuff.

Alex:                 Good stuff. Next up, Skulldigger Skeleton Boy #6 from Dark Horse Comics, written by Jeff Lemire, art by Tonci Zonjic. We’ve been talking about a lot of the Black Hammer books. We kind of missed this one in terms of reviewing. So I figured it was worth catching up with the last issue here. I’ll tell you what. I … This is all me … forgot about Tonci Zonjic. Amazing artist.

Justin:              Yeah. Great art.

Alex:                 I was so happy to read this again. I was like “Oh, my god. I’m sorry I forgot you. You’re so good.”

Pete:                Yeah.

Justin:              Yeah. It’s so dynamic. It almost has a little Darwyn Cooke to it, but a little bit of just great, I don’t know, Greg Capullo style action. Really good, and the story was great. I feel like the Black Hammer universe is just prime time right now.

Pete:                Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I agree. The panels, the layout, the way the action flows. Really, really fun and impressive, but also some really touching moments, like the look on the kid’s face. They just keep just showing the kid’s face, so different in each panel in the way that it’s just kind of colored. Really impressive, the way they can kind of show emotion through this still panel here. Yeah. I was just really kind of moved by this. I thought it was a really solid issue.

Justin:              The last page, which is almost like an epilogue to the book, just a standalone splash page, was so emotional and great.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 We’re not really talking about the plot here, because we didn’t read the previous five. This is the last issue, but the fact that they can get across enough of the emotion and story in one issue that is the last one to people who have not read the previous five is very impressive.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 Next up, let’s talk about it, Ice Cream Man #23-

Pete:                Oh, here we go.

Alex:                 … from Image Comics, written by W. Maxwell Prince, art by Martín Morazzo. I know Pete is scared of this one.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 Yeah?

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 So another standalone issue of Ice Cream Man, as a lot of them are, mind you, but in this one, it’s text pages interspersed with splash pages of essentially our main character, the Ice Cream Man, going on a talk show with a bunch of animals, until a snake bites the shit out of the talk show host’s face. The thing that is so terrifying about this is the text pages takes place after it. So you’re reading the story of the horrific things that happen to him, and you’re like “Oh, we’re going to see this. We’re going to see this at some point. It’s coming. It’s coming. It’s coming-“

Pete:                I was like “Don’t show me. Don’t. You wrote about-“

Alex:                 “… It’s coming. It’s going to happen,” and the entire issue, and finally they pulled the lid off, and it’s great. Another incredible one-shot issue of Ice Cream Man. Not enough good things to say about this book.

Justin:              I feel like W. Maxwell Prince is just sitting at home tactically trying to break down how to engineer scares in the paper and the printed medium. It’s wild that he is able to continue to find new ways to stress us the fuck out.

Pete:                That’s what’s so impressive about this is each comic is so different but has that same tension, and they’ve done so many different creative ways to scare the shit out of us, and you think “All right. Well, how’s this going to stack up? It can’t be as great as the last issue.” It continues to deliver. Unbelievable, and I don’t know. It seems like shots fired at Jimmy Fallon in these, but this is a crazy book that made me read, and I don’t want to read, and it’s still so well done I read and didn’t hate it.

Alex:                 It’s good stuff. Moving on to Crimson Flower #2 from Dark Horse Comics, written by Matt Kindt, art by Matt Lesniewski. Pete, you seem to like this book.

Pete:                Oh, my god.

Alex:                 This is about a bounty hunter, I guess, who is going crazy, something like that?

Pete:                Well, yeah. It’s about a lot of things, but it’s mainly about this person trying to get revenge, trying to find out who killed their father, I believe is what she’s freaking out about, and just the fact of she’s just driving angry, just chomping pills and half seeing reality, half seeing this tripped-out evil shit is really crazy but also very impressive what goes down, and then the whole fact of she’s not going to do well but keeps kind of playing this trickery and then kind of reveals, throughout, she’s telling a story within the story … I was just really impressed with this. Very creative. Very fun. Amazing art. Just really fun story.

Justin:              Yeah. I really liked this as well. It feels like fairy tale stories. She’s like a Little Red Riding Hood but who grew up to become an-

Pete:                A badass.

Justin:              … assassin out for revenge, who crosses over with some other dudes who are sort of giants, maybe, but also just shit-head other assassins. It’s really fun.

Pete:                What’s awesome is it starts off and it kind of reminds me a little bit of Locke & Key, the paneling and just the different kind of character designs, but then just kind of goes off into its own completely different thing, and yeah. I just think it really worked on a lot of levels.

Alex:                 Next-

Justin:              That art’s sort of reminiscent of … Sorry … of Black Hole.

Alex:                 Oh, yeah. I can see that.

Justin:              In a good way.

Alex:                 Next up, Post Americana #3 from Image Comics, story and art by Steve Steve Skroce. As we’ve been talking about with the last couple of issues of this book, this is a satirical, post-apocalyptic tale about a guy who’s kind of trying to save the world but mostly messing it up. Continues to be gross and funny in exactly the right way. I’m enjoying this book. I’m having a fun time reading it. How about you guys?

Justin:              I agree. The art, I feel like, really took a step up in this issue. We get a lot of close-ups on the characters, and it really … I think the earlier issues were a little wild, and it’s like cannibals fucking around. So it was a little loose. Everything really tightens up in this issue. We get a lot of back story, and I think the art mirrors that in a way that I thought was just very smart.

Pete:                Yeah. I agree. I think the art is great. There’s amazing action, and the story does tighten up, and things start to kind of make more sense, and we’re able to kind of follow things a little bit easier, which is great, but the classic … When somebody comes to visit unannounced, you almost kill them. So you really got to be careful when you go to somebody’s house, guys.

Justin:              Yeah. By the way, Pete, we’re coming to your house at 4:04. So put your ax down when we stop by.

Pete:                Yeah. You might want to text me, because I just want to not accidentally ax you.

Justin:              Ax-identally.

Alex:                 Ax-identally. Thanks for [crosstalk 00:42:27] audio podcast.

Justin:              It’ll work in court.

Pete:                Yeah. No problem.

Alex:                 You Look Like Death-

Justin:              Joke heard and acknowledged.

Alex:                 You Look Like Death #6 from Dark Horse Comics, written by Garard Way-

Pete:                You look like death.

Alex:                 … art by Shaun Simon. This is a tale from the Umbrella Academy. We are wrapping it up of Klaus’s time in Hollywood. It wraps back to the beginning. You had to love this, Pete, another mention of relish, your favorite topping.

Pete:                Well, I don’t know about that, but I do love the characters in this. Klaus is one of our favorites. So it’s just very kind of interesting to kind of see it in this kind of art style, and I’m just so used to the show. It’s almost weird to read the comic, but yeah. This is a really cool story, really fucked up. Spiders scare the fuck out of me. So this is kind of a nightmare, but yeah. This is just great Umbrella Academy fun.

Justin:              I love relish. I love-

Pete:                Really?

Justin:              Yeah. Relish is one of my favs.

Pete:                Have to have it on a hot dog? Or what’s up?

Justin:              A hundo percent.

Pete:                Really?

Justin:              Yeah. I’m a mustard-

Pete:                Get that shit away from my dog, bro.

Justin:              Mustard, relish. I’ll do sweet. I’ll do dill.

Pete:                Oh, wow.

Justin:              If you pickle anything, JT’s there. If you want me to pop by, pickle something, and this book is fun too.

Alex:                 Yes. It’s like the pickles of comic books. Moving on to the The Scumbag #5 from Image Comics, written by Rick Remender, art by Wes Craig. Get the old … Oh, my god … Deadly Class team back together again for this issue, so a switch up of the artist, but we’re still following the same old Scumbag as maybe he finally grows a little bit of a heart this issue. This is super fun. I really liked seeing Wes Craig’s take on this book in particular. I enjoyed that quite a bit. Yeah. This book is a blast. It’s fun to read.

Justin:              It’s very fun. The characters, our main characters … I love watching their relationship between the Scumbag, his handler, and the sex android who drives them around and refuses to have sex with him no matter how many times he asks. It’s all very fun stuff in that sort of reverent Remender tone.

Pete:                Yeah. I think what’s nice is I was getting a little tired of Scumbag being a scumbag. So it’s nice to see the Scumbag evolve a little bit so we can have somebody to root for in this, but man, Remender, dude. Holy shit. You think you’re like “Okay. I know what this is about.” Nah. He loves the twists and turns. He loves to keep you guessing, and then when you’re not ready, he’ll break your heart if you’re not careful, but man, guys, don’t listen to magical Christmas trees that smile way too much. All right?

Alex:                 Very fun bit though.

Justin:              Good advice.

Alex:                 Last but not least, Rain Like Hammers #2 from Image Comics, written and art by Brandon Graham. I’ll tell you what. I was very surprised to find out this was an anthology with this issue. That’s not what I was expecting.

Justin:              Well, I feel like a lot of Brandon Graham’s stuff are loose anthologies where there’s some connection, there’s a lot of tonal overlap and everything. I definitely like sort of the rules of the world are the same. Man, I love this book. Of any issue this week, this was the most just transporting book that I read. It’s so funny. It’s beautifully drawn. It’s so interesting. There’s just a ton of ideas at play here all the time. Great, great book. Can’t recommend this highly enough.

Alex:                 That’s it. If you can’t recommend us highly enough, then hey, support us on patreon.com/comicbookclub. Also, we do a live show every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM to Crowdcast and YouTube. iTunes, Android, Spotify, Stitcher, or the app of your choice to subscribe and listen to the show. @comicbooklive on Twitter. Comicbooklive.com for this podcast and many more.

Alex:                 Until next time, we’ll see you at the virtual comic book shop.

Justin:              Just pull back the curtain, and we’ll be right there, fully nude, as usual.

The post The Stack: BRZRKR, Stray Dogs And More appeared first on Comic Book Club.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookclub

On this week’s comic book review podcast:

GI Joe: Castle Fall

Snow Angels #1

The Immortal Hulk: Flatline #1

HAHA #2

King in Black #4

Batman/Catwoman #3

Savage #1

Guardians of the Galaxy #11

Stillwater #6

Future State: Superman Worlds of War #2

Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman #2

Future State: The Next Batman #4

Future State: Catwoman #2

Future State: Nightwing #2

Future State: Shazam #2

Thor #12

Excellence #10

Once & Future #16

X-Men Legends #1

Aria: Heavenly Creatures

The Last Ronin #2

Black Widow #5

Sabrina: The Teenage Witch #5

SUBSCRIBE ON RSS, ITUNES, ANDROID, SPOTIFY, STITCHER OR THE APP OF YOUR CHOICE. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, AND FACEBOOK. SUPPORT OUR SHOWS ON PATREON.

Full Episode Transcript

Alex:                 What’s up, everybody. Welcome to The Stack. I’m Alex.

Justin:              I’m Justin.

Pete:                I’m Pete.

Alex:                 On The Stack, we talk about a bunch of books that have come out this week. Let’s kick it off, because we got a packed stack.

Justin:              Oh, yes.

Alex:                 [crosstalk 00:00:19] G.I. Joe: Castle Fall from IDW, written by Paul Allor, art by Chris Evenhuis. I got to tell you, never in a million years would I have expected that a G.I. Joe book would be at the top of my personal stack, but that’s where we are. This book is what a lot of what this book has been leading up to. Cobra has taken over the entire world. Finally, G.I. Joe gets an in to fight back. It doesn’t go exactly how you think it’s going to go. There’s a big twist there. This book is great.

Justin:              I got to say, I mean, I was not allowed to watch G.I. Joe as a child because they had guns in their hands.

Pete:                Here we go. Jesus Christ. Can we talk about G.I. Joe one time without you dropping that?

Justin:              What? I’m just saying. It was just sort of an introduction to say that I also love this book. I also wasn’t allowed sugary cereals, which led me to enjoy a lot of Grape Nuts.

Pete:                And you also had to drink well water, and your teeth are falling out.

Alex:                 Don’t spoil. The next book we’re talking about is Grape Nuts #1, which is also very good.

Justin:              That’s going to be good. It’s going to be good. Just put a little honey on it. No. This book is so good, and what I love about it is they’ve been building up to it over the course of all these smaller issues and books to get here, and each one, for the most part, has been excellent, and the fact that they’re building this whole little universe around G.I. Joe is something that … Again, I don’t know if I said. I never watched as a kid.

Pete:                Oh, my god. Fuck, I hate you. I mean, this is great. I mean, you get to see Roadblock fucking pick up a fucking giant cannon of a gun and just fucking shoot. It was great. Yeah. The art’s really good. The storytelling, the plot’s impressive. It’s a lot better than a lot of the cartoon’s plot, but I thought this was-

Alex:                 Not all of it. I would say like 50 percent of the cartoon’s plots. Most of the cartoon’s plots were very good, as we all know.

Pete:                Sure. Sure. Because we all watched them as kids.

Alex:                 I never watched it.

Justin:              It must have been fun for you, Pete, to see your favorite Joes, like soup can, hub cap.

Pete:                So far you haven’t named one.

Justin:              Dance party.

Pete:                Nope.

Justin:              Hat hair. Hat hair is so good in this issue.

Pete:                No.

Justin:              He’s so good because he’s like [crosstalk 00:02:30]-

Pete:                Did you see? My favorite scene in the issue is when load-bearing beam really brings the hurt down.

Justin:              That guy is so tough.

Pete:                [crosstalk 00:02:39].

Justin:              He’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Pete:                I’m the only one who knows the names, and you guys are still doing bits. It’s just ridiculous.

Alex:                 Well, what I love about this is I, again, I have no interest in G.I. Joe particularly because of the names, because they’re so silly and over the top, but every character is so distinct, from the art, to the writing, to their motivations here, including the villains as well. The way that they fleshed out Cobra here and made them interesting rather than just going “I’m a serpent name, and I have a mask, and I’m evil,” and that’s pretty much my whole impression of Cobra Commander. I think there’s two of them, right?

Pete:                Oh, my god.

Justin:              No. There’s more. You need 20 minutes.

Alex:                 There’s Destro and also Cobra Commander? I don’t know how this works.

Pete:                Okay. All right. Destro does not talk like that.

Alex:                 Everyone’s shit.

Pete:                There’s Serpentor.

Alex:                 I’m Destro.

Pete:                Oh, my god. All right. You are killing me.

Alex:                 I’m the Baroness.

Pete:                Okay. All right. First off, let’s back up the truck. If you’re going to do bits about their names, know the show, because one of the funniest things is they would do PSAs after the show, and there would be a character whose name is Barbecue, and he has a flamethrower on his back, and then he’s like “Hey, kids. If you have a house fire, you should run away,” and it’s like “Hey, Barbecue. How did that house fire start? You have a flamethrower, and you’re standing next to a fire. This isn’t cool, man. You shouldn’t set people’s houses on fire and then teach kids about fires.”

Justin:              It’s very funny to me that you were like “Justin, you’re making fun of this by saying the names you said. If you said the name Barbecue,” who’s the hero you like’s name, because when I said hub cap, you were like “That’s stupid,” but you said Barbecue, and you were like “That’s good. Hub cap is bad, but Barbecue-“

Pete:                I mean, Snow Job’s a real … That’s a real name.

Justin:              What about tippy toe? I really like tippy toe.

Pete:                Oh, my god.

Alex:                 This book is fantastic. Definitely pick it up, even if you don’t know anything about G.I. Joe.

Alex:                 Moving on to Snow Angels #1 from ComiXology, written by Jeff Lemire, art by Jock. I said this on the live show, but I’ll stick with it. That team is on a book, and you’re in no matter what, but thankfully this book is great and weird anyway. It’s about a world, maybe a world, that has been covered in ice. All that exists is this snow trench. There’s a family, a father, and two daughters who are skating through the trench for one theirs 12th birthday, and things get weirder and deadlier and more dangerous from there. This feels like the perfect gelling of these two creators’ tastes.

Pete:                It seems like it’s Snowpiercer 2, where after the train’s gone, now they’re just living on the tracks. You know what I mean? And that’s where this takes place.

Justin:              Withering criticism from Pete LePage.

Alex:                 But you say that about anything that involves snow. You said that when you saw the Michael Keaton vehicle Jack Frost as well.

Justin:              Yeah. No.

Pete:                The Michael Keaton vehicle.

Justin:              When the Weather Report came out, Pete screamed at the TV. It’s like “Snowpiercer. Get out of here.” I like this book a lot. You said it best, Alex. It’s such a great combination of these two creators’ work. A lot of great blood splatters on this, and very few snow angels, and ice skating is hard, and these characters do it constantly.

Pete:                Yeah. Yeah. I mean, growing up in upstate New York, you needed to kind of … You might as well put skates on, because you’re walking around so much ice, but I did really … All joking aside, I really love the last-page reveal. The art’s unbelievable. This is a very unique, cool kind of world that we’re kind of thrown into here. I thought it was an amazing first issue of getting you established with what’s going on and then kind of raising the stakes. I thought this was really fantastic book.

Alex:                 Next up, the Immortal Hulk: Flatline #1 from Marvel, written and art by Declan Shalvey. This is another, as you can probably tell from the title, spinoff of the Immortal Hulk doing one-shot stories about him here. Bruce Banner meets one of his old teachers. Things don’t go that well over the course of the issue. How do you think this held up to the high standard of Immortal Hulk?

Justin:              I like this a lot. Declan Shalvey has been talking about this book a lot online. There’s a lot of pride and just love for this book coming from the creator. So I really appreciate that, and it’s a great story. It feels like a classic Hulk story that we haven’t seen in a while, because the main book has been so focused on just straight-up horrifying imagery. So this takes it back a little bit and really says “Hey. Be nice to your teachers, because they might come at you from some gamma-irradiated vision and really fuck up your life if you’re not careful.”

Pete:                Yeah. Teachers will haunt you for the rest of your life, man. You got to be careful.

Justin:              Yeah.

Alex:                 Totally agree. Haha #2 from Image Comics, written by W. Maxwell Prince, art by Zoe Thorogood. This is the second issue, of course, from the creator of Ice Cream Man. It is an anthology about clowns. Here, we’re getting to meet a character who … It’s not revealed until the end of the issue exactly what she’s doing, but as a child, she ran away with her mom, who had a bit of a psychotic break and thought she was a clown, wanted to go away to a fun time happy land. Things do not end up fun time or happy. How’d you feel about this one?

Justin:              So good. Haunting. We love W. Maxwell Prince’s work on Ice Cream Man, and to see it sort of grounded in a weird way … I didn’t expect this series ostensibly focusing on clowns to be the more grounded version of his storytelling, but it really is. It’s sort of real-world stories of people going off the map a little bit with their choices, with clown imagery, and there’s such a melancholy to all of this work, and I really like that.

Alex:                 Pete?

Pete:                Yeah. This is so haunting and messed up in ways that I wasn’t ready for. This mother-and-child-like relationship was very scary to me, and I kept waiting there to be kind of fun moments, and so far it’s just a fucking nightmare, and I’m scared to keep reading this comic, because it was like … I feel like Ice Cream Man kind of encouraged this, and I’m a little worried about what the payoff is going to be.

Justin:              Encouraged it.

Alex:                 I don’t think there’s going to be a payoff. I think it’s just an anthology of stories.

Pete:                I think maybe the people reading it will slowly start to go insane and then paint their faces like clowns and then die horribly.

Justin:              I guess the payoff is when you show up to do the show in full clown, which honestly I think we’re pretty close to.

Alex:                 What if all of these people in this book joined together in some sort of book, all of these crazy people who are clowns forming a group together. It would be some sort of insane clown posse. I mean, just to throw something out there, I feel like that’s maybe how it could work at the last issue.

Justin:              Huh. That’d be quite a league of extraordinary clowns. As long as they aren’t fueled by some sort of small-market soda, I think we’ll be fine.

Alex:                 King in Black #4 from Marvel, written by Donny Cates, art by Ryan Stegman. This is a big issue here where once again Donny Cates redefines the Marvel universe, does a little bit of the old retcon action to come up with an explanation for something that has not made a lot of sense. Eddie Brock is lying dying. Dylan Brock, his son, has been trapped by Knull, the King in Black. All of the heroes are trying to fight back, and they finally get a foothold here as we enter the endgame of this title. What’d you think about all the twists and turns?

Justin:              I love the reveal at the end of the issue. When I first started reading comics, and I will spoil this sort of twist at the end right now, but Captain Universe was what was on the stands right then. Spider-Man had just had the Captain Universe powers, and he was recovering form that, being sort of de-powered. I think the first Spider-Man issue I ever read, he was shooting upwards into space, having just lost the Captain Universe powers, and trying to web himself to a passing airplane, and so to have that make sense and maybe join the Marvel universe with Eddie Brock at the helm I thought was great. It was crazy to see the heroes turn it around so hard in this issue.

Pete:                Yeah. I really thought this was great. Lot of cool reveals in this issue. The good guys are getting their butts kicked for a long time now. It’s nice to see what kind of cards we’re going to play here. So I was really, really impressed with this issue, a lot of cool stuff, and I can’t wait to see how this whole thing unfolds. I went from being like “What is this?” to really I’m bored with this kind of event. So I feel like it was really cool, and then the backup story, the Demon Days, was also really cool as well.

Alex:                 That was very fun. That seems to be a title that we’re going to see going forward that is a Japanese, I would say, art-style-inflected X-Men tale, which I thought was kind of neat.

Justin:              Yeah.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 Next up, Batman / Catwoman #3 from DC Comics, written by Tom King, art by Clay Mann. We’re continuing this time-hopping story of Batman and Catwoman as they fight a war on three different fronts. I like this one. I felt like I had a better handle on what’s going on in this issue than I did necessarily in the first two issues. How’d you guys feel about it?

Pete:                I love this. I thought this was really amazing. I love the kind of tone that’s even set up in the beginning with the double play, the double-spread title page of Bat and Cat. I think this is such a cool area to explore. If the Bat and Cat are together, how do they exist? You know what I mean? Is Catwoman have to be more good? Does Batman have to try to be more bad? How do they exist?

Pete:                I think this is a very interesting position to put Batman and Catwoman, and the kind of reveal of Joker in the money suit … I lost it. I thought that was so funny and hysterical, and that whole “Paul Fleischman is dead. Oh, god. No. Who’s Paul Fleischman?” … I’m really having a lot of fun with this book. I’m very, very impressed with it. Yeah. I can’t say enough nice things about the art and everything that’s going on.

Justin:              Yeah. The art is so stylized. It’s so composed in such a specific way, especially a story that moves around so much. It’s so nice to see the art really reflecting a meticulous design style, but yeah. This reminds me of, oddly, the last episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the jumping between-

Alex:                 Oh, okay. I can see that.

Justin:              … jumping between different eras, telling one story, because it almost feels like in this comic that the characters are aware of the time jumps. I don’t think they actually are, but it feels like they’re very complicit in telling the story in this particular way, and I think that’s what allows it to hang together so well as opposed to … Because it’s jarring, jumping between the different time frames in this. There’s very little visual direction, but there’s just so much emotional direction where we’re seeing so much happen at once, and at the same time, we’re introducing Mask of the Phantasm here, which is a horrifying character [crosstalk 00:14:58].

Alex:                 I got to say that’s the one thing for me that is not quite working about this book is I really like the Phantasm. It just right now feels like this element that I don’t quite get how it fits in and how it’s part of the story.

Pete:                Just wait for it. All right? Don’t-

Alex:                 I’m sure. Yes. I know. It will pan out, and it’s fine, but the Joker stuff in both the past and the present seems to connect. I get that the Phantasm is this outside thing, but it’s such an out-sized presence, perhaps given because of its real-world weight of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm being the best Batman movie, that I felt like “Oh. This is its own story. What is going on with the Phantasm? Why are we not telling this story? Why is this only one third of the book?”

Pete:                Yeah, but-

Justin:              I think that is that exterior pressure, because to me, and I’m someone that didn’t … I didn’t watch that when I was younger. So it’s not something I revere maybe as much. So just seeing the imagery that’s there to be scary as opposed to being like “Look. I’m this character you know,” … I think it’s working.

Alex:                 All right. Fair enough.

Pete:                Yeah. I agree. Just because something was amazing, don’t let it hurt this story before we get what it’s about, but I understand what you’re saying and it makes sense. I’m just so happy we’re getting this story, because we got little teases of it, and then DC was like “No. We’re kind of doing something else.” So I’m so glad that, in this Black Label thing, we get this story that we were kind of given a little bit and then taken away. So I’m just so happy right now with what’s going on in this book.

Alex:                 Next up, Savage #1 from Valiant Comics, written by Max Bemis, art by Nathan Stockman. In this, we are picking up with Savage, a wild little boy who was left in a dinosaur land and came to the present. Now he’s a social media star. Don’t worry. There’s still dinosaur battles in this book. I thought this was a lot of fun. What did you guys think?

Pete:                Yeah. I-

Justin:              Yeah. This …

Pete:                Go ahead.

Justin:              This is a lot fun. It reminds me of back in the day, the Ultraverse line of comics. This feels like strong pitch, strong concept, mixing a classic sort of comic book trope with a modern spin on it, and then the story’s just really fun.

Pete:                Yeah. I agree. It’s fun to see kind of Savage exist now and how that would kind of look a little bit, but I’m glad that we still get to kind of see Savage do what Savage enjoys doing-

Justin:              What Savage do.

Pete:                … and it was … Yeah. The art’s unbelievable. This is a very visually pleasing book, and it really delivers.

Justin:              Oh, pleasing. So pleasing.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 Pete’s not having any of it tonight.

Justin:              Yeah.

Alex:                 All right. Let’s move on, talk about-

Justin:              He’s displeased.

Pete:                Also, I’m very excited. We talked to Cullen Bunn about Shadowman, and we get a little peak of this in this. So I’m very excited about what that’s going to be like.

Alex:                 There you go. Guardians of the Galaxy #11 from Marvel, written by Al Ewing, art by Juan Cabal. In this issue, this is the second-to-lat issue, I believe, of this run on Guardians of the Galaxy. They are facing down dark olympian gods. Star Lord has been through some very weird stuff that’s affecting him here. I know we haven’t really can keeping up with this book. So what’d you think about this issue?

Justin:              I feel like the Guardians of the Galaxy are the most emotional team in comic books. They’re an emotion-first team, and this book is it. All the characters are just wide open talking about what they’re going through, and they’re like “We have to fight, but I really want to talk about this,” and I appreciate that. They’re fully therapeutic. They’re getting it out there. They’re telling it like it is, and the art’s wonderful. It really is a ragtag group of characters. Just it’s used very well.

Alex:                 Yeah. Pete?

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, it’s a lot of fun. Art’s unbelievable. Yeah.

Alex:                 Great. Great stuff. Stillwater #6 from Image Comics, written by Chip Zdarsky, art by Ramón K. Pérez. This is a big flashback issue kicking off of the cliffhanger from the last issue where a bunch of military dudes were right outside the town where nobody dies. In this issue, we find out how they got there, what’s going on with it. As we talked to Chip Zdarsky about on the live show, the danger and the action ramps up in a big way in this book really quickly, which I continue to find very impressive.

Justin:              Yeah. He’s really done a good job of setting up a very explosive environment, the politics of Stillwater. Now we have these military guys on the outside of town. Our main character sort of doesn’t want to be there, is unsettled. That combined with Ramón Pérez’s very pastoral art, I think, makes for just a nice juxtaposition, and I like this book a lot.

Pete:                Yeah. I agree. Just when you think “Okay. This is what’s going,” it really amps it up even more. Art is unbelievable, and the kind of going between times, the adjustments it makes there, but also just in its storytelling and its panel movement … I cannot believe “Okay. Oh, sure. Yeah. Nobody dies. Okay. Oh, yeah, but now we’re going to deal with this thing.” It’s like “Wait. What?” It just keeps kind of keeping the action going, and it’s crazy in all the right ways.

Alex:                 All right. Now it is time for our Future State block as we have been doing the past couple of weeks. We’ve read through every single issue that came out from DC in Future State this week. We’re not going to talk about all of them, but we’re going to talk about some highlights, but if you’re wondering what came out, we got Future State: Superman: Worlds of War #2, Immortal Wonder Woman #2, The Next Batman #4, Catwoman #2, Nightwing #2, and Shazam #2. So let’s call some stuff out. Pete just dropped something on the floor. I don’t know what’s going on.

Pete:                Yeah. I just accidentally dropped a pencil. I-

Justin:              A pencil?

Pete:                Yeah.

Justin:              Oh, no.

Alex:                 Were you writing on your phone with a pencil?

Pete:                No.

Justin:              But Pete, what about your sketching?

Pete:                [inaudible 00:21:27].

Alex:                 Not a lot of people know this, actually, but Pete does these very funny caricatures of us during taping The Stack, and it’s a delight.

Justin:              You got to release those, Pete, because honestly, you’re like the Colossus, famously a painter, of the podcast.

Pete:                Sure. Sure. Anyways, so I really liked The Next Batman #4. I mean, having a black Batman is a great idea, but the part where Batman’s just like “Listen. I’m going to be real with you guys,” I was like “Oh, this is so much fun,” but I really like how this is different. You know what I mean? Because Batman in this book has parents and is willing to maybe stab his mom to get what he needs to get done and keep Gotham safe, and I don’t know if our Batman would do that.

Pete:                So it’s nice to see this Batman really stepping it up and be like “Sorry, ma. Sometimes you got to stab somebody for your beliefs,” and I don’t know. I just think this is … The Future State here, I’m still having a lot of fun with the choices that they’re making with these heroes, and this, The Next Batman, I’m having a great time with.

Justin:              Well, it wasn’t my favorite of the week, but I want to throw it to Nightwing #2, just piggybacking on Pete’s comment, because Nightwing #2 features of this new Batman and Nightwing, and I love the dynamic that’s created here, where our new Batman is sort of deferential to Nightwing. He’s like “I’m just sort of figuring this out right now,” and Nightwing’s like “I get it,” but our new Batman refuses to leave his side despite the fac that Nightwing … It’s a great flip of the dynamic of Batman usually being in the leadership role and Nightwing being more of a sidekick. I just hadn’t seen that before, and it really caught me off guard in a good way.

Alex:                 So what was your favorite of the week then, Justin?

Justin:              Superman: Worlds of War #2. This story-

Pete:                Oh, yeah. Can we talk about it?

Justin:              This story by Phillip Kennedy Johnson at the front end of this book is so fucking good. He just boils down Superman and Clark Kent to just … I’ll tell you about what happened if you haven’t read it. There are these two kids are sort of in Smallville exploring the area. They walk to the original Kent farm. In this world, obviously Superman’s revealed that he’s Clark Kent.

Justin:              So they’re trying to find the original Kent farm, because everybody knows he’s Superman, and the main girl is recounting an article she read that Clark Kent wrote about the town, and it’s so good, so interesting, about a soldier that went to war and how it affected his life, juxtaposed with images of Superman on Warworld just fighting, sacrificing everything to free some people who have been captured on Warworld against Mongul, and it’s just … It’s beautiful. It’s drawn beautifully. It’s so smartly written. It’s so good.

Pete:                I want to take a moment just to talk about the art alone. I mean, unbelievable, just absolutely. The character designs, Mongul and Superman, their faces … Just it fits so well with the story in such a great way. The paneling, the art flow … It’s really, really well done. I was really impressed with this book.

Alex:                 I’m surprised, Pete, that you didn’t call out Michael Avon Oeming’s art on the Midnighter story towards the back of this book, because we get kind of a little Midnighter going through time, and that seems exactly your jam.

Pete:                Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah. If we can talk about that for a little bit, I mean-

Justin:              No. I’m so sorry. We just ran out of time [inaudible 00:25:19]. We don’t have time to talk about it.

Pete:                Yeah. I thought that was unbelievable. Obviously, I’m a huge Midnighter fan, but just what a cool concept, and Oeming … His art is just fantastic.

Justin:              I particularly like the old and young Midnighter versions that Oeming draws here.

Alex:                 Super fun. It was really hard for me to choose, this week. I think, again, this is a very strong week for the Future State books. I kind of want to go for Immortal Wonder Woman #2 just because-

Justin:              Another great book.

Alex:                 … I think it was a gorgeous story, Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad, art by Jen Bartel, of Wonder Woman being the, I guess, second-to-last person in the universe, and it’s just, like a lot of these things, a mission statement on Wonder Woman and what she means, but the one that I kind of left until the end and that I was like “Oh, right,” … The first issue of this was awesome, Shazam #2-

Justin:              I knew you were going to say it.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 … by Tim Sheridan and Eduardo Pansica. Fucking great. So good.

Justin:              Dark. Dark take.

Alex:                 Oh, so dark. This is like the darkest Shazam story I’ve ever read in my life, but I love it, and I love the cliffhanger that it ends off up on, the way that the characters are drawn, just terrifying throughout, of Shazam and Billy Batson being split apart, where it leaves off, where it’s leading into this Future State Black Adam book. Just put it in my veins. I’m having a blast reading it.

Justin:              I agree. I liked that too, and I know we weren’t going to talk about all of them, but I got to throw it out to Future State Catwoman #2 as well-

Alex:                 Great.

Justin:              … because it’s a great story. It’s a train robbery. We get to see Batman, Bruce Wayne, show up. Everyone thought he was dead. Catwoman reunites with him, such a great moment, great action. Onomatopoeias there for some reason, but it’s very cool. It was just great.

Alex:                 Yeah. I’ve been reading this book. The fact that it’s all set on a train, did you feel like it was more of a Snowpiercer kind of book?

Justin:              Oh, yes. That’s what. I was like “Where’s all the snow? They should be just piercing each flake?”

Pete:                I did want to ask. In Immortal Wonder Woman, the art is so amazing, and I was like “What is this reminding me of.” It reminds me a little bit of She-Ra: Princess of Power on Netflix. The way the art kind of jumps off the page is really impressive, and I really liked it.

Alex:                 Good stuff.

Justin:              It reminded me a little bit of the Green Lantern book that we love so much, Far Sector.

Pete:                Oh, yeah.

Alex:                 All right. Let’s move on, because we have a lot of other books to talk about. Thor #12 from Marvel, written by Donny Cates, art by Nic Klein, another one of my favorite books of the month, because you got Throg and Lockjaw in a huge fight with Donald Blake, who has [crosstalk 00:28:03]. So much fun just fighting through dimensions, just a blast to read, also so dark, but great.

Pete:                The art and the way Throg is drawn … Some of the action stuff is just so phenomenal, like him catching the hammer. I had so much fun with this book. I didn’t know it would be this great. I was really, really impressed. This was such a great comic.

Justin:              I mean, time to redo your frog power rankings-

Pete:                Yeah. Dude, are you kidding me?

Justin:              … because Throg’s rise, overtaking the WB frog, Kermit the, really just jumping in here with a big hammer swing.

Alex:                 I want to give a particular shout out though to the first double-page … I think it’s a double-page [inaudible 00:28:48], or maybe it’s a single page, which shows a dissected, cut-open frog-

Pete:                Oh, no.

Justin:              Yeah. It’s the first page of the issue.

Alex:                 … with Throg’s narration, and it’s talking about the legacy of Throg and all the things that he’s done and how he’ll always be remembered, and you’re reading that, and you’re like “No. What happened? What did I miss? This is terrible,” and then if you flip to the next page, it’s like “But he will not die today,” and you’re like “Oh, you son of a bitch, Donny Cates.” Great, just a great, fun little feint right there at the top of the book, just delightful to read.

Justin:              Well, it’s very fun to have Throg be such a badass but also Throg get his little tail-less ass kicked in the middle of the issue, but Donny Cates is having so much fun in all of his work, really, but this issue particularly, and then the last panel I thought-

Pete:                Oh, man.

Justin:              I thought it was so cool, and this is a shout out to anybody, I don’t know, for maybe one person who listens to this podcast, but Odin at the end of this issue looks like Key lime pie Steve, who drinks in B61 back in the day, a bar I used to bartend at, so much that it took me out of the issue for a hot sec.

Pete:                Wow.

Alex:                 That’s amazing. Let’s move on to another book then, Excellence #10 from Image Comics, written by Brandon Thomas, art by Khary Randolph. We’ve been loving this book, which is a very different, very spectacular take on magic. In this book, our main character is still on the run, still in bigger trouble every single issue. As we talked about with the last couple, they not exactly stepped away from this, but sort of layered this in without explicitly saying how much this book was about race and racism, and now they’re starting to hit it hard, and it is so good.

Pete:                This is phenomenal. I mean, the art and the paneling and the storytelling is great, the action sequences. I mean, there’s this one page where someone gets just Street Fighter punched and is like “Fuck what you thought.” I’ve wanted to do that to somebody for so long. It’s just so great, so much fun.

Justin:              Sonic boom. You want to sonic boom someone.

Pete:                Oh, man, do I.

Justin:              Yes. I mean, I agree. The way this comic approaches race is so smart, so good, but I don’t want to lose the other side of it. The way this comic approaches magic is also just a philosophizing about it and really going deep on all of the subjects that are sort of on the table in this comic. It really just is such a smartly written book and beautifully drawn. One of my favorites.

Alex:                 Next up, Once & Future #16 from Boom! Studios, written by Kieron Gillen, art by Dan Mora. Pete, there’s a badass grandma in this one. You want to talk about this book?

Pete:                I mean, if you’re not-

Alex:                 You love grannies.

Pete:                If you’re not reading this book-

Alex:                 You’ve got a real grandma fetish, one might say. Go ahead.

Justin:              Yeah.

Pete:                If you’re not reading this book at this point, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. This book is just magic. Every time, every issue, unbelievable art, unbelievable storytelling, action packed, twisting and turning stories that you know and love in different ways. Yeah. I cannot wait for this to be a movie or a TV show. I need more Once & Future in my life.

Justin:              “If you’re not dating a badass grandma at this point, what are you doing with your life,” Pete says and wonders. This is maybe the most consistent comic book on the stands right now, and I mean that in a good way.

Alex:                 Yeah. I agree. This issue continues to be great, unfolding the mythology of the book. Super, super fun.

Alex:                 Let’s move on to one I’m very excited to chat with both of you about for very different reasons, X-Men Legends #1 from Marvel, written by Fabian Nicieza, art by Brett Booth. Here’s what this book is. First of all, this is a new book that Marvel is launching which finishes or continues stories that are in continuity. This is an in-continuity X-Men story that Fabian Nicieza began almost 30 years ago and never got to finish about the third Summers brother, which, spoiler, we get confirmation here is in fact Adam X the X-Treme.

Justin:              Finally.

Alex:                 Finally. So the thing that I’m very curious about is this felt like the perfect synthesis of things that the two of you like about X-Men. Pete, it’s a bunch of X-Men killing each other and fighting each other in classic style. Justin, Adam X the X-Treme is in it. What’d you guys think about this book?

Justin:              I will not rest until Adam X the X-Treme is hanging out on Krakoa, because this guy’s going to be the number-one get on fuck island.

Alex:                 Didn’t you like him? Am I wrong about that?

Justin:              No. I mean, it’s a very ’90s character. He’s a backwards-

Pete:                It’s Justin turned up to 11 is what it is. He’s got his hat backwards. He’s doing hand stands, wearing tight T-shirts. This is all Justin.

Justin:              That’s very funny, Pete, and maybe makes me rethink a lot of my self worth, but yeah. I mean, I do like the character. I liked the introduction of this character back in the day, and so I appreciate that they’re going back and making it real, and also this comic looks like it happened already. This looks like it’s straight out of the ’90s.

Pete:                Yeah. That’s what I thought.

Justin:              [crosstalk 00:34:20].

Alex:                 I got to tell you. When I was putting together the stack and sending stuff to you guys, I looked this is, and I was like “Is this a reprint? What’s happening? Is this a reprint? What’s going on?”-

Pete:                Yeah. That’s what I thought.

Alex:                 … and I did way too much research for just sending you guys a comic to be like “I got to make 100 percent sure this is actually a new book and not something that came out 30 years ago.”

Justin:              But let me say the meticulous dedication to the poses that Cyclops is in are straight out of the ’90s. Cable shows up here for sort of no reason. The Starjammers are in this, and it’s like “Oh, of course. Why not?” They’re just hanging around. It’s perfect. It’s a perfect version of what it is.

Pete:                I thought this was a reprint, and then I scrolled down. I was like “Oh. Jordan D. White. This is real. Let’s go.”

Alex:                 What’d you think, Pete?

Pete:                This was just ’90s, over-the-top stuff, and I was just like “You know, it’s a fun blast from the past,” like “Oh, I remember when comics-“

Alex:                 What do you want, Pete? What do you want out of an X-Men book?

Justin:              What makes you happy?

Alex:                 I don’t even understand at this point.

Pete:                You know, I was like “Yeah, but we’ve evolved from this. Why would you go back here?”

Justin:              What? Just because hub cap and tippy toe and the other Joes aren’t in this, can’t you enjoy this for what it is?

Pete:                First off, G.I. Joe and X-Men are completely different. How dare you?

Alex:                 Are they? They both have very stupid names.

Pete:                Sure. Sure. That doesn’t mean that they are stupid though.

Justin:              That’s true. The thing is, all the X-Men are named non-compound words, and all the G.I. Joes are named compound words.

Pete:                Yeah. Yeah.

Alex:                 Great. I’m glad we settled that. Let’s move on and talk about Aria: Heavenly Creatures from Image Comics-

Pete:                Oh, here we go.

Alex:                 … written by Brian Holguin, art by Jay Anacleto and Brian Haberlin. This is a very Top Cow book.

Pete:                What is this? What did you make us do here?

Alex:                 It’s a very Top Cow book. It’s about-

Justin:              Perhaps the most Top Cow book.

Alex:                 Yes. It’s a fairy teaming up kind of with a witchblade, but not exactly a witchblade, in Victorian times, and it’s a little bit sexy, but not too sexy. So you can feel okay reading it but be like-

Pete:                No. You shouldn’t.

Alex:                 … “Oh, this is sexy.”

Pete:                You shouldn’t feel okay reading it.

Alex:                 I don’t know. I enjoyed reading this. I was surprised how much by the end I was like “Yeah. This is silly, but I’m having a fun time.”

Justin:              Alex has been missing watching soft core pornography, apparently-

Pete:                Yeah. I think so.

Justin:              … because that’s very-

Pete:                This is just fucking boob comics.

Justin:              Alex, because you put this in the stack, you should have to go read this on the Subway right now.

Pete:                Yeah. You should. Yeah. You should-

Justin:              You should have to go ride the Subway and read this.

Pete:                … [crosstalk 00:36:54] up and down the line. Yeah.

Alex:                 Yeah. Watching a little Skinemax on my phone while I’m doing it.

Justin:              Just listening. Just listening to the Skinemax. That’s all you need.

Alex:                 Yeah. Okay.

Pete:                Yeah. Watching USA Up All Night.

Alex:                 Great.

Justin:              Pete.

Alex:                 Thanks for the review, guys.

Justin:              No. I mean, the heart of this book … This book is … It has such a vibe.

Pete:                It’s just boobs.

Justin:              Well, but there is a lot of that, but it has such a vibe, which I recognize that, and the art is so specific to what it is. I liked reading it. I’m not shitting on it, but it’s very funny that you’re like “This is good,” because there’s a lot of poses where people be showing off their bodies.

Alex:                 Me? No. I’m not saying it’s good, necessarily. I’m just saying I had fun reading it.

Justin:              This is the-

Alex:                 There’s a big Victorian werewolf who eats people. What?

Justin:              Yeah. That part’s cool. This is the OnlyFans of comic books, if you want to get in on that.

Alex:                 The Last Ronin #2 from IDW, story by-

Pete:                Here we go.

Alex:                 … Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, and Tom Waltz, script by Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman, layouts by Kevin Eastman, pencils and inks by Esau and Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, and Kevin Eastman. This is, of course, continuing the story of the last turtle left alive. We got a cliffhanger in the last issue that April O’Neil is also alive, and we find out a lot more about that here. Pete, over to you.

Pete:                All right. So first off, you can’t have enough varying covers. You need varying covers. you need tons of them, and you need like 20 pages of it. No. I’m just so happy that Eastman and Laird have teamed back up to give us another turtle book. I could give a shit if it’s any good or not. This is good. I’m loving every single moment of it, and it goes back to the black-and-white stuff. I am just in heaven, and it’s just so great. I feel like I’m back in time and a little kid reading this in my bed. So it’s just glorious, and I don’t care if anybody doesn’t like it or not. This is just my jam.

Justin:              It’s very funny that you say you feel like you’re a little kid reading this, because this book is about being old, the images of Michelangelo, no longer a party dude, where he’s just super wrinkly, he’s all wrinkles, and they’re just like “Remember? Oh, it’s so great to be alive. Now we’re old. I have a robot hand.” It’s a wild read, but it’s good.

Alex:                 Yeah. I like this a lot. Definitely when it got to the flashback portion and the old-school turtles title, I was like “Oh, Pete’s going to like this.”

Pete:                Oh, my god. It was so great.

Alex:                 But it’s good. Like you’re saying, there’s a lot of danger there. There’s a lot of nostalgia there. It’s definitely way better than it could have been for a story that they had sitting on the shelf for decades at this point, but a lot of fun.

Alex:                 Let’s move on, talk about Black Widow #5 from Marvel, written by Kelly Thompson, art by Elena Casagrande with Rafael de Latorre. This, hands down, these fives issues, is one of the best Black Widow stories I have ever read in my entire life.

Justin:              A hundred percent. I have loved this series so much. My favorite issue of the week. The way that this took Black Widow, who has sort of really tread this ground of “Well, someone captured her and erased her memories and reset her in a way that is difficult for her to come to grips with,” took that premise, and just emotionally elevated it to a point where you really feel for these characters, all of them. Even we have Hawkeye in here, who is straight up killing people, which I didn’t know he did all the time. Maybe that was a special.

Alex:                 Do you think he just kind of tapped people with his arrows?

Pete:                Yeah. How did you-

Justin:              Well, he usually hits them in the shoulder or the knee. In this, he’s just like “Sorry, dude. Right in your frigging eye.” But you get to see him-

Alex:                 Your good eye too.

Justin:              Your good eye, your shooting eye. You get to see him be emotional here. You get to see Winter Soldier, which I love the Black Widow Winter, Soldier relationship. I look back fondly on the Ed Brubaker days of that, and to have it be sort of touched on here is super sad, but really, Black Widow … You’re just feeling so much for her. I love the setup of the multiple Black Widows going forward. Truly, pick up this series.

Alex:                 Pete?

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, it’s really great. The art’s unbelievable. Amazing story, very touching. I really hope the movie is exactly like this run, and I will be very happy. Also-

Justin:              Pete, that movie came out last year. Did you not watch it?

Pete:                I didn’t. I didn’t. I was-

Alex:                 Oh, really? It perfectly set up Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which also came out last year.

Pete:                Huh. I guess I just was born today then, I guess.

Alex:                 I guess so.

Justin:              That’s true.

Alex:                 Anyway, before we-

Pete:                I just want to point out though, they’re on a carousel for one panel here, and there’s a cat with this fish in his mouth, and I was just on a carousel with a cat and a fish in his mouth, and I didn’t know that was a thing. So that was weird seeing that it’s a real thing. Did you know that was a thing?

Alex:                 What?

Justin:              I don’t know that what you just said is a thing. I don’t know the words you said is a sentence.

Pete:                Well, usually when you go on a carousel, they got horses, you got different animals you can ride, but I was like “Why the fuck is there a cat with a fish in its mouth that you can ride? This is crazy.” I’ve never seen it before, and then I went from riding that cat with a fish in his mouth to then seeing it in this comic book, and I was like “Life is weird.”

Alex:                 Why were you at a carousel in the middle of a pandemic?

Justin:              That’s the real question.

Pete:                Valentine’s Day, and we had the carousel to ourselves, motherfuckers.

Justin:              I bet you took-

Alex:                 Oh, that is very romantic.

Justin:              Yes. I bet you took a lot of carouselfies.

Alex:                 Nice. Before we wrap up here, let’s finish up with an accidental Kelly Thompson block. Sara the Teenage … Sara.

Justin:              Sara.

Pete:                Sara.

Alex:                 Goodnight. Goodnight.

Justin:              Sara the Teenage Human.

Alex:                 Sabrina the Teenage Witch #2 from Archie Comics, written by Kelly Thompson, art by Veronica Fish and Andy Fish. This is finishing up the Something Wicked arc. Pete, you are showing us pictures of this cat and fish, but we cannot see them. They are too bright.

Justin:              Yeah. Pete-

Pete:                Okay. Well-

Justin:              … I don’t want to see all these Valentine’s Day pictures. I know you have an active love and sex life. Please keep it to yourself.

Alex:                 This is a good wrap-up to this book. I’ve really enjoyed it. I think, like we’ve talked about before, it’s the perfect fusion of the Archie Comics style and the TV show style. It hits the nice middle ground there, and that continues with this issue. There’s also a nice cliffhanger here that made me very poignant for the end of the Netflix series.

Pete:                Yeah. I love this. This is really great, and to me, sometimes when you have these characters that are way in over their heads and fighting these battles they don’t really belong in, Sabrina really pulls it off in a way that you can get behind and don’t think it’s like “Oh, this is just weird.” I’m really impressed with the way that they do Sabrina, not only in this comic, but in this run. So great. The art’s unbelievable. Really fun storytelling, and makes me miss the TV show.

Justin:              Yeah. Talking cat, but still good.

Pete:                Oh, yeah. The talking cat was great. That line was really funny.

Alex:                 If you’d like to support our show, patreon.com/comicbookclub. Also, we do a live show every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM to Crowdcast and YouTube. Come hang out. We would love to chat with you about comics. iTunes, Android, Spotify, Stitcher or the app of your choice to subscribe and listen to the show, @comicbooklive on Twitter, comicbookclublive.com for this podcast and many more.

Alex:                 Until next time, we’ll see you at the virtual comic book shop.

Justin:              Hub cap.

The post The Stack: GI Joe, Snow Angels And More appeared first on Comic Book Club.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookclub

On this week’s comic book review podcast:

Radiant Black #1

Sweet Tooth: The Return #4

Eternals #2

Low #26

Rorschach #5

Daredevil #27

Birthright #46

Black Hammer: Visions #1

Future State: Dark Detective #3

Future State: Teen Titans #2

Future State: Robin Eternal #2

Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman #2

Future State: Green Lantern #2

Future State : Justice League #2

Future State: Kara Zor-El Superwoman #2

Critical Role: Vox Machina: Origins: Series III #1

Thunderbolts #2

Undiscovered Country #12

The Last Witch #2

American Vampire 1976 #5

Black Panther: King in Black #1

Bliss #5

Orcs #1

Home Sick Pilots #3

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Full Episode Transcript

Alex:                 What is up, everybody? Welcome to The Stack. I’m Alex.

Justin:              I’m Justin.

Pete:                I’m Pete.

Alex:                 And on The Stack we talk about a bunch of books that come out this week, kicking it off with Radiant Black number one from Image Comics written by Kyle Higgins, art by Marcello Costa. This is of course, as you could probably tell from the number one and totally new book. And the premise is a Downer’s luck author who has not gotten jobs for a while, heads back home, encounters something weird and may or may not become some sort of a superhero, pretty typical setup. But I really liked how this was executed personally. I thought the designs were great and I’m very excited to read this going forward. What did you guys think?

Pete:                I agree. I was really impressed with this setup. I mean just seeing this guy cry when he goes through early, really makes you, “Oh, you’re rooting for this person.” And then just the way he falls into is very interesting. And the design of the suit and stuff is really fantastic. I think this does a great job of getting you excited for a new series.

Justin:              Yeah, this had some vibes of invincible to me very much Early Kirkman stuff.

Pete:                Sure-

Justin:              And both in the writing and the art. And yeah, it was an interesting launch. I was very triggered by a writer who struggles to work-

Pete:                Wow-

Justin:              Because that’s a constant stress.

Pete:                The douchey friend reminded me of you.

Justin:              Oh, that’s so interesting. The animal, I think it was some hamster or rat that was dead next to the tracks. It reminded me of you.

Pete:                Oh, wow. That’s really fucked up.

Alex:                 So in the back matter, Kyle Higgins talks a little bit about how he was inspired while he was writing Power Rangers-

Pete:                Yeah-

Alex:                 And that really firmed a bunch of stuff up in Bye-Bye and for the-

Pete:                Yes, big time-

Alex:                 About the world what is going on here. But I think what he’s done is he found a really grounded way of taking this Power Rangers concept, making it feel afresh, make it feel new. And it’s a lot of fun. I’m excited to read more of this.

Alex:                 Next up Sweet Tooth return number four from TC Comics so written and art by Jeff Lameer. We get some big answers here about what’s been-

Pete:                Yeah-

Alex:                 Going on with this rebooted-

Justin:              Yeah-

Alex:                 Sweet Tooth. Justin, I know you’ve been concerned about the end game here. So how did you feel about this issue [inaudible 00:02:34]?

Justin:              This issue did a lot for me. I think we got to learn a lot of the backstory here and what I love about the take here, and it reminded me of a lot of the later stuff. The later arcs on the original Sweet Tooth. The way that Jeff Lameer combines in the writing, the ideas of scientists who become religious fanatics, breaking that dichotomy between science and religion and showing that the real danger is when fanatical people actually have the tools they need to cause real problems for the planet.

Justin:              That’s when we as a society get into trouble. I think it’s on display again here. And this is such a great issue to really flash out the mythology. We get to hear a little bit of why the people in charge of this newer world are motivated to do what they do and it’s great.

Pete:                I thought the stuff about the shirt was very sweet and touching.

Alex:                 There’s some stuff about Sweet Tooth shirt, particularly that was such a big thing back in the old book. And that gets called back here. I agree, really good issue, very excited to see how this all starts to wrap up, going over to a Turtle’s number two from Marvel written by Karen Gillan, art by [inaudible 00:03:48] where we left off in the last issue, Thanos was attacking some of the members of the Eternals. So one of the Eternals had been murdered. Usually not a problem. It turns out it is a little bit of a problem here-

Pete:                There’s a problem-

Alex:                 But you get some big revelations and explanation of what’s going on. One-

Pete:                Yeah-

Alex:                 Of my favorite things about this book is it is revealed. I don’t know if it was real to the first issue, but it’s revealed here in a very funny and very Karen Gillen way that the person who is narrating this, is the eternal machine that helps resurrect the Eternals, but that machine is broken. And just the way that is executed, the way that tells the story of the series feels so unique and exciting to me.

Pete:                Yeah. I was-

Justin:              Totally the narration is funny, it’s sort of irreverent. It feels like you’re hearing the Karen Gillan, basically make fun of the characters in the book that he’s currently writing, which I think is so great.

Pete:                Yeah. I was really impressed with this. You got a big Eternals movie coming out from Marvel. So I feel like this does a great job of getting people excited for that. Eternals to me never really was something I could latch onto, but I’m really into this book. I think it’s a really cool setup of a what’s the problem is and what’s going on and what’s going to happen. And I’m really looking forward to it. Art’s fantastic. A really fun time jumps stuff here. Yeah. And even there’s sweet touching moments where they make mistakes. And I was really impressed with this. This is a really solid book.

Justin:              And their R is so good. It feels so big mythology while also having great comic book action at the same time. This comic is really just delivering on all the fronts you want.

Alex:                 Well, on that note, let’s turn a bit to low number 26 from Image Comics written by Greg Takini-

Justin:              Oh, here we go-

Alex:                 This is the last issue of this book. Justin, this has been one of your favorite books for a very long time. How do you think it wrapped up?

Justin:              Great. Just so good. Rick Rimenda. I don’t know how, I mean, we talked to him about this book a few weeks ago and it was on the podcast. And I don’t know how he writes his books. When does he think of the ending? Because he really does such a good job with endings in a lot of his work. He’s able to tie up the character arcs, the emotional arcs as well as just the central theme and leave you thinking and feeling a certain way, in his last issues, it was same with Black Science.

Justin:              And this issue is just beautifully done. You see that… And I don’t want to spoil too much of it. Because I think you really need to read this and take it in. And I want to reread the entire series to really get every ounce of story out of it. But it’s about a family at the end of the day. And you get to see that land in a way that is tragic, heartbreaking, but beautiful and sentimental at the same time.

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, this is the sweetest most moving way Rimenda could kick you in the nuts. He’s still going to get you, but this is done so well. And it’s so moving. It’s really impressive. The art is just… A lot of times when you’re dealing with different worlds, different ideas, the art can get too crazy, but it’s done in such a way that it shows grace and beauty and different things.

Pete:                The layering to it is really impressive. There’s different characters that aren’t human that are very humanized, it’s really amazing and impressive the way this all ties in. This got really weird at times, but man, does he land this so well.

Justin:              And he-

Pete:                He does it so well, it really does make you want to be like, “Wait, I want to go back and see that beginning again.”

Justin:              If I may just get your jacket book quote correct. I think it’s a beautiful kick in the nuts that makes you turn and say thank you to the nut kicker.

Pete:                Right.

Justin:              Peel the page.

Alex:                 Next step Rorschach number five from DC Comics written by Tom King art by Hori Fornace. I hesitate to say it was my favorite issue so far, but this is the one to me that really felt like-

Justin:              Yeah-

Alex:                 It pulled back the veil on what’s happening potentially where this book is heading. We’ve had this guy investigating this mystery. There was an attempted presidential assassination, but somebody dressed as Rorschach and somebody dressed as a cowboy.

Alex:                 The first couple of issues have been really building up, was investigator looking through this mystery. And if I was to purely speculate for a bit, we found out that this cowboy character has been going up to people and telling them, “Hey, you are the reincarnation of Rorschach. His energy with Dr. Manhattan Blue is hemp, has gone into various people. You and Rorschach, come with me, let’s do vigilante justice.”

Pete:                That’ll pick up line.

Alex:                 That’ll pick up line. I think whether that is true or not, that’s what’s happening to our main guy, right? He is going to get to a place where either he becomes Rorschach or even thinks he is Rorschach and maybe starts to think this is true.

Justin:              Well, he believes that he’s Rorschach at the end of the day. I think that’s just smart.

Alex:                 Well specifically because the theme that Tom King is dealing with here is conspiracy theories. And I think this is a little bit about how the deeper you get into conspiracy theory, the more things start to look like conspiracy, and the more it starts to become believable, whether you’re investigating it or whether you’re the one who’s putting it out there.

Justin:              Yeah, I think that’s such a smart take because my takeaway from this issue specifically… I mean, last issue, we talked about this a little bit because it was tricking people into believing certain things and them taking it to the extreme where they end up-

Alex:                 Right-

Justin:              Believing it above everything else in their lives. Also very topical thing going on in our real world. And in this, this issue is about masks. And then we have this character who’s running for president to try to take down a Robert Redford who’s won for like five terms in a row. And he’s shitting on wearing mask because he is so comfortable believing a bunch of nonsense maskless.

Justin:              And the people that wear masks are quote unquote, hiding their beliefs, their identities, whatever, yet this person is so brazen and out there saying nonsense. He doesn’t have to hide even the craziest opinions that he has. That was my takeaway from this, is just, the people that wear the mask are maybe the people to trust more so.

Pete:                I agree with… It’s all been, a lot more is solidified, click into place here. Tom King, just piece meals information as he twists and turns stories. But this is one of my favorite issues for sure. And the last couple of panels, just absolutely fantastic. And so cool. Yeah, I thought this was a great issue and I’m very excited for more.

Alex:                 I agree, next up Daredevil number 27 from Marvel written by [inaudible 00:11:20] who is on the live show this very week, talking about this book, art by Marco Maketto and Mike Hawthorne. This book we’re dealing with the King Black crossover while Electra is filling in for Matt Murdock fighting on the streets of New York. Matt is trapped in prison and has been infected by [inaudible 00:11:36] the God of the Symbionts. So we’re getting these dual stories going on and they’re both very good.

Justin:              I was really impressed with this. I thought the way they handled Matt Murdoch’s belief in religion and God when it came to, what the fuck is, the King of black, what’s his name there?

Alex:                 Knull.

Justin:              Knull, thank you. Yeah, I thought that was so great. And so well explained in such a way that really felt like Matt Murdoch character. I was really impressed with that. It was crazy to hear, to be like, “Yeah, religion, I don’t know.” Because it really felt like he was coming from a place, for this, but I guess he just really gets in the head of his character so well.

Justin:              But yeah, I thought this was really a great, fantastic, hold it up over time issue of Daredevil, really interesting. It’s all of the characters really doing their own thing in their own way, right down to kingpin and a lecturer as Daredevil. I was really impressed with the art and everything that happened in this issue.

Pete:                It’s really rare when a book can continue its story through a crossover and the crossover actually enhances a lot of the themes that we’re dealing with.

Justin:              Yeah.

Pete:                And this book really does it. And the only thing that was missing was a scene where Foggy was sitting alone in his apartment, which is what he does a lot. And a symbiont comes up, jumps on him and then the symbiont is like, “Eh nevermind.” And just goes on to just someone else or just to wrap around a mouse or whatever.

Justin:              Yeah. Well, Foggy wins again.

Alex:                 Next up Birthright, number 46 from Image comics written by Joshua Williamson and art by Andre Bresson. This is kicking off the final arc of this book. As we start to wrap up this story here, everybody’s picking up the pieces by finally taking down the God King Lore. We get some flashbacks back to the world that Mikey and friends were living in for a very long period of time. What’d you think about this? I think we felt like everything wrapped up really nicely in the last couple of issues. And now we have more Birthright.

Justin:              We have this and four more issues. This is another one of my favorite books coming to an end in a great way. The fact that we had the big battle the land of the last arc, we get to see a nice epilogue an emotional-

Alex:                 Oh yeah-

Justin:              Epilogue, which is what again, about family and about what it means, despite all the crazy shit going on in our lives. What do we chase after when the going gets tough? And in this case, family, I love this book.

Pete:                It’s really dawning on me that family’s important. I think comic books might be right. It’s crazy. No, I agree, Justin, this is really impressive. What they’re doing afterwards, this huge thing, it’s kind of like, okay, onto the next adventure. No, they’re really sitting in this aftermath, exploring other things that maybe they could have talked about more while all this madness was happening. I was really impressed with the relationship stuff in this, very moving, this book continues to be amazing.

Alex:                 Next up Black Hammer visions never went from Dark Horse Comics written by Patton Oswalt art by Dean Cots. This is the first issue of course, of this anthology telling stories about the Black Hammer characters from creators. Other than Jeff Lameer, we’ve been really big fans of the miniseries, they’ve been rolling off here. These are these one-shots.

Alex:                 I thought this as usual was absolutely great. This is a one-shot story that mixes up Black Hammer and Ghost World of all things and awards as a coda to Ghost World while still telling a story of Gail for the Black Hammer universe. Absolutely wonderful. I was completely surprised by this. Did not see this coming from Patton Oswalt at all. Really good one-shot comic book.

Pete:                Patton Oswalt, really getting into the comic book game.

Justin:              Yeah, I was really impressed with this. This wasn’t just a comedian doing bits. This was really smart, very moving stuff, such a cool story, the way everything tied in and fit with this world. I was really impressed with this. I really liked the setting of it. I thought it was great. The art’s glorious.

Alex:                 Yeah, really good stuff. Next, oh God.

Pete:                I agree as well. Sorry. Really got into the fact that he was able to bring Ghost World into it, was clearly something that he loves. He’s got some Amy Mann quote lyrics from at the end of the book and still be telling a story that fits seamlessly into this world and is fun, funny with good reveals. It’s really great.

Alex:                 Let’s jump into our Future State block, where we talk about all of the books that have come out for future change.

Justin:              Oh yeah.

Alex:                 And just to read down the list this week, we’ve got Future State, Dark Detective, number three. Future State Teen Titans, number two. Future State [inaudible 00:16:38], number two. Future State Superman and Wonder Woman, number two. Future State Green Lantern number two. Future State Justice League, number two. And Future State [inaudible 00:16:46] Superwoman, number two. I got to admit, I’m a little slightly with Pete here where they definitely hit me this week where I was like, “Oh, there’s a lot of books we’re reading, oh boy.”

Justin:              Yes. It is a lot, but-

Alex:                 Fuck this guy-

Justin:              The stories are, so they get to-

Alex:                 [inaudible 00:17:01]-

Justin:              Go off in a lot of different directions. And if we’re going to dive into our faves I’m going to give it up for Future State Justice League number two, which I really liked the way they went here by having the white Martian takeover. And it became about all the different heroes identities, and the fact that they need to connect with each other or else nothing, or else they’re just weaker as a team. And I liked that as a theme, it was something I didn’t see coming really in the last issue they laid it out and this really paid it off. I thought it was just really well done.

Pete:                Yeah. I completely agree. I love Justice League, amazing art, The White Martian story was great. And also having Joe, the new Green Lantern, he was the best Green Lantern of all time. It was just fantastic. And it made the book so much better and the backup story was great. Magic is hope motherfuckers, I thought that was great. I thought [inaudible 00:18:03]-

Justin:              The Justice League dark story.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 The other thing I mentioned that I thought it was interesting about this week is we’re getting two things here, right? One, we’re getting the wrap-up of these future state stories, but also we’re getting teases for what’s down the road. And DC has started to announce that some of these titles are continuing in different forums. For example, Wonder Woman is continuing as Wonder Girls, or we’re going to get that there.

Alex:                 I think, I’m forgetting which other ones are going to continue, but certainly there’s teases at the end of a couple of these for how they’re going to flesh out in different storylines. Green Lantern number two ends with the tease of Green Lantern 2021, which does seem again, Joe, from-

Pete:                Oh, yeah-

Alex:                 Fire sector is going to be fighting Hell Jordan in the subway. So that should be fun to watch.

Justin:              Yes.

Alex:                 The one that-

Justin:              Great crew-

Alex:                 Really jumped out to me, I love the first issue of this, and I love the second issue of this too. Future States Superman, Wonder Woman, which is of course, teaming up the characters, but sending them off on these very different stories, Superman fighting Solaris, [inaudible 00:19:00]. Wonder Woman trying to have a race around the universe with the Sun God from her culture. I just really liked how these characters related. I thought there was a fun tone to it. The art was really nice as well, and it felt like an enjoyable all ages title, but with these new Superman, Wonder Woman characters and it made me really delighted to potentially follow them going forward.

Justin:              I agree. And this felt really mythological, the whole thing felt it could have been something in the back of an Edith Hamilton book that you read in school and were pleasantly surprised how much a comic book it was.

Pete:                Oh, wow. I really liked Kara Zor-El Superwoman, number two. The art was just so phenomenal and I really liked the character design for Superwoman amazing, just cool [inaudible 00:19:57] like dragons. Very enjoyable. I’ve been enjoying that series as well.

Alex:                 Now let me ask you Pete, at the end of this book we leave Kara Zor-El buried next to her dog Krypto.

Pete:                Right.

Alex:                 Would you feel if you were awesome shared a grave with them a dog, would you be like, “That’s it.” Or in your case, I guess it’d be a cat.

Pete:                Well, currently, I mean, don’t put shit like that out there. I don’t want my cat to die, but-

Alex:                 I’m not saying your cat’s going to die, but someday it will.

Pete:                Oh, that’s fucking heartbreaking, man.

Justin:              Is your cat like a [inaudible 00:20:32] where if your cat dies, you have to be buried alive with the cat?

Alex:                 Yes.

Pete:                I hope not. I don’t want to do that, but yeah, I love that. I thought that was super sweet.

Alex:                 Sorry man your cats live at will, it’s going to happen. I have your cat’s [inaudible 00:20:51]-

Justin:              You can’t sign it with a [inaudible 00:20:52]-

Pete:                My cat can’t read. So it’s going to be fine.

Justin:              The cat doesn’t have to read, [inaudible 00:20:57]-

Alex:                 I explained it very clearly to your cat, your cat agreed-

Justin:              Put a little ink print.

Pete:                [inaudible 00:21:03] my cat then, I’ll see you in court.

Justin:              Lapage versus Whiskers of some sort. All the way to the Supreme court, what’s your cat’s name? Pete.

Pete:                It’s a very long name. I call her Caboots.

Alex:                 Why are you being secrective about this?

Justin:              Do we not have time to get into this?

Pete:                It’s a very long name.

Justin:              Okay. Are you worried about threading tape on it? Because I talked to the engineer and we actually have the tape. We can run it. So go ahead. Lay out the whole name, I guess.

Pete:                Okay, fine. It’s kitten NASCA of the Valley of the wind Lapage Thomas.

Justin:              Aw, that’s very cute.

Alex:                 That’s very cool.

Pete:                I call her Caboots.

Justin:              Well, I look forward to visiting your grave in the Valley of the wind.

Pete:                Nice.

Justin:              Your shared grave.

Alex:                 Alright. Why don’t we move on from Future State and talk about critical Role Vox Mac-

Pete:                Wait-

Alex:                 Oh, there’s other things you wanted to talk about?

Pete:                Yeah it’s-

Alex:                 We’ve got also Dark Detective. We’ve got Teen Titans. We got [inaudible 00:22:07] Turtle.

Pete:                Yeah. I wanted to talk about Dark Detective. I really thought it was a great issue.

Justin:              It’s great.

Pete:                I love this tech Batman versus future Batman. The two designs are really cool and it’s fun to see them go head to head. And to [inaudible 00:22:27] guys so drones are scary and I’m just putting that out there now. Drones are going to be very scary in the future.

Justin:              Yeah. You mean the nano drones that are hovering right around your head even as we speak.

Pete:                Yeah. I’m sure they’re out there, but also I checked out a DC Love is a Battlefield. [crosstalk 00:22:47]. There was very durable. They did a lot of coupling up for Valentine’s day. And Tim Seeley did a Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn love story. It was just so great. So touching.

Justin:              It is amazing how you do this every week and in such an odd way. I really liked Dark Detective as well. The front story has been one of my favorites of this run. And just a quick rundown of the rest, Green Lantern too, I thought the setup for the next issues, I was really into the Green Lantern 2021 coming forward with how Jordan felt like a nice starting point going forward. And I liked the Robin Eternal issue here as well with Tim Drake, really suffering from some juicy Lazarus problems.

Alex:                 I agree. Next up, critical role [inaudible 00:23:37] series three, number one from Dark Horse Comics written by Jody Houser, art by Oliver Samson in this book, we’re getting a bunch of fantasy stuff is happening. What did you guys think? I’m sorry. I’m just not very familiar with critical role. So I read this and I was like, “Yes, this is a fantasy world.” But funny. I get it.

Pete:                Yeah. I think this is a fun adventure book, a bunch of people teaming up going on adventures. Joining fight clubs. I thought the arts fantastic. Some fun storytelling. I thought this was a cool team to get behind. I’m very excited to see where this goes.

Justin:              Yeah, I agree. I was concerned with the fight club that they fight in teams and how do you really judge on a team? If we were to fight another trio, how would we know we were an evenly balanced team?

Pete:                If we won, we would be good.

Alex:                 So Pete is the tank, right?

Justin:              Yeah, that’s what we say off mic.

Alex:                 Justin, you’re the thief, you’re quick and sneaky.

Justin:              That’s okay.

Alex:                 And I’m white like [inaudible 00:24:45]-

Pete:                You’re the evil mastermind.

Justin:              You’re the baby hands-

Alex:                 Baby hands.

Justin:              Every trio has them-

Alex:                 Crucial.

Pete:                The tank, the thief-

Justin:              Yeah, you’re a boss baby [crosstalk 00:24:55]-

Alex:                 I’m a muscle.

Pete:                Justin’s [inaudible 00:24:58]-

Alex:                 I’m a boss baby back in business.

Justin:              Now streaming on Netflix-

Pete:                Justin’s a face man. He can talk his way into anything.

Alex:                 There we go.

Justin:              We’re quite a trio. None of those things we’re fighting by the way just so we’re clear.

Alex:                 Thunderbolts, number two for Marvel Comics written by Matthew Rosenberg, art by Van Ferrari. This is tying into the King and Black event. Lots of goopy stuff going on this week-

Justin:              Goopy-

Alex:                 More [inaudible 00:25:21] to come. Here we get a bunch of villains, have tried to rescue maybe, or work with Norman Osborn to find out some information from him. So they spent a lot of time in Raven Croft. I always want to say Arkham, but it’s not Arkham, it’s Raven Croft.

Justin:              It’s close.

Alex:                 And it’s super fun as usual.

Justin:              How could you mix those two up Alex? How would you mix those two things up?

Alex:                 They’re two-

Justin:              It’s impossible. There are two very different in [inaudible 00:25:45] in two very different universes.

Alex:                 You right, I’m sorry. Super fun bits in here, in particular. And I feel Matthew Rosenberg is just writing for the bits for some of these things where just, what is it? Mister Fear says something to Kingpin. He doesn’t realize he’s of the zoom and Kingpin is, “Hey, Taskmaster you’re here.” And he’s, “Yeah.” He’s like, “Okay, punch Mister Fear.” And he punches Mister Fear, Norman Osborn getting too close to the zoom and his whole face filling it, just fun, it’s a fun book to read. I had a blast reading it across the board.

Pete:                Yeah. I think he does great on team books. This was fun. I also really to see Taskmaster around, so I thought this was a lot of fun, great kingpin stuff. The art’s great. This is just a fun book.

Justin:              Yeah. It’s a great mix of real good comic storytelling, good fights. Character-driven stuff, even characters we don’t really see a lot. I really liked this new star character that the series that we read six months ago now. Seeing her hair, it’s great. Really well-written but also very fun, funny, and still tying into this goopy old crossover.

Pete:                And also, you got to be wary if you just find… Nobody’s just taking a nap in the bush. You got to be careful. That’s all I’m saying. I don’t want to give things away, but that was creepy.

Alex:                 I hope this comic continues. I don’t know if it will, but this is the sort of thing where I could see Wilson Fisk having a bunch of villains going on disposable missions. Most of them getting killed, not coming back alive, betray each other. It’s suicide squad without the bombs in the head, but it’s fun to read and he’s writing the hell out of it. So I’ll definitely read more.

Alex:                 Next up Undiscovered Country, number 12 from Image Comics written by Scott Snyder and Charles Soul art by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Leonardo and Marcello Grassi. This is tying up the second arc of this book, unity in a huge fashion, propelling us into the next arc of the book. This is a wild ride as usual, incredible visuals throughout.

Justin:              Yeah.

Alex:                 Particularly with this issue, we had Scott on the show a little while ago and he was talking about how he and Charles are writing the movie. I do not know how they’re writing a movie of this. It’s just so big. Everything that happens.

Justin:              It would be crazy to boil this arc down to one set piece. Because that’s what it would have to be, sort of. I would think.

Pete:                I don’t know how-

Justin:              The comic, you get the emotional beats are here, it’s wild storytelling. There are so many ideas here. I mean, it’s the same stuff we always compliment this book about, but they just continue to really find the balance of giving this… In this book, there’s this very wild escape. It plays a Super Mario kart race for a portion of it. But then you get this really great heartfelt moment where to the main characters, the brother and sister are talking to their images of their parents and it’s great.

Pete:                Yeah. There’s so much to this comic. There’s so much happening. It can be a little crazy, but man, does it deliver? And the big monster aspect in this issue was just glorious and so cool that a six shooter was really crazy. This was really cool also, they thought this place that they’re out was one thing and it turned out to be something different, really great ideas going on in this book.

Pete:                I mean, I did think it was a little bit like, “All right, when it’s these young kids.” And they’re like, “This is old technology, the first iPod, how do you even use this?” I was, “Okay. All right.” But really impressive fun stuff. Art’s really unbelievable. This continues to be such a scratch your head, what’s happening, but then delivers really well.

Justin:              Yeah. And the last page reveal is just a hundred percent fun.

Alex:                 It’s great stuff-

Justin:              It’s like, “Okay. Yeah, let’s get fun.”

Alex:                 I’m in, I’m on board. Love it. Can’t wait for the next arc. Next up, The Last, Witch, number two for BoomBox written by-

Justin:              Oh man-

Alex:                 Connor MCcury art by [inaudible 00:30:09]. You guys have been buzzing about this book.

Pete:                [inaudible 00:30:13]. This book is buzzing. This book is so good-

Alex:                 Buzzing. First. So we got a girl in a small town heading off to a witch’s tower. Just wants to check it out a little bit, things pick up and this issue where I was, “Did I miss an issue? Is this issue, number three, what’s going on here?” Because this is insane from the first page with witches eating people and powers and everything. What do you guys about this book in particular?

Pete:                Well first off, the art is really unbelievable. It feels like an amazing animation and still form… The characters designed in the witches and the faces and the different kind of glowing things in them are really cool. This is moving, it’s intense, it’s sentimental. The little part where the kid is like, “I told you, it was so awesome.” Yeah, I’m really impressed with this book. I didn’t think I would like it so much. The grandma smoking a cigar is glorious.

Justin:              You love a good grandma, who doesn’t love a good grandma?

Alex:                 You love a grandma. And you Pete, you know that’s a blunt dude, you know she’s [inaudible 00:31:20].

Justin:              She’s far from [inaudible 00:31:22] bro-

Alex:                 She even says, she’s like, “Let’s get this Juniper going around the room.”

Justin:              Honestly. I know we’re joking about it, but Pete, you are very into grandma’s and comics from this to watching Future. I’m sure there’s a couple of others I’m forgetting-

Alex:                 And real life. He loves a grandma.

Justin:              You should release your own podcast where you count down the top 10 grandmas of all time.

Pete:                Oh that’d be cool. I could do it. But yeah, I think this book really took me by surprise and is really impressive. I cannot wait for more. Each issue continues to give us such a great movement for the story. Yeah. I’m really impressed.

Justin:              I love the art in this a lot. It reminds me of some classic Ralph [inaudible 00:32:08] animation style getting in like, the old habit series back in the day. And to your question earlier, Alex, why we think it’s such a buzz, buzz, buzzy book. It moves quickly. It’s both fun, lighthearted, welcoming us into this world. It’s scary at times. But it’s always just driving the story forward in a well done, confident way. It’s just a good book. There’s a little mystery going on at the end. We get a lot of mythology building here and cabins in the woods. Watch out.

Alex:                 Yeah. All right, everybody that has been our buzz-buzz busy [inaudible 00:32:48] book of the week. Let’s move on and talk about American Vampire 1976, number five from TC Comics written by Scott Snyder, art by Rafael Albuquerque. Talk about things getting big-

Justin:              [inaudible 00:32:59]-

Alex:                 In this issue, our heroes are fighting a bunch of giants, encounter a council of vampires, tons of mythology dump in this issue are going on here as we’re on to the end game, seemingly of American Vampire. Another great issue, but it’s just wild to me that we are so far into the road of this book and they’re still laying down huge pieces of the mythology. It’s very impressive.

Justin:              Yeah. And it all fits. It all feels very deliberate and they’ve done a great job of setting up a villain that is worse than everything else we’ve seen it before. And the way that they’re able to keep, Skinner’s such a central part of this character just by the fact that he’s been devamped and he’s just sort of, “Ah, I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m just hanging around.” And he’s still such a fun character, is great.

Pete:                Yeah. Scott Snyder knows what the fuck he’s doing when it comes to writing comic books, because this is really impressive, so well done. After all these arcs you would think that maybe the ideas would get a little, “All right, we’re going to try.” But man just delivers hard on every issue. The last panel reveal on this was really unbelievable. I can’t say enough about the art. These two teaming up is just magic.

Alex:                 Next up Black Panther, Keegan Black, number one written by Jeffery Thorn art by Jermaine Peralta in this issue, as you can probably imagine these symbionts are attacking Wakanda and they start to fight back. What’d you think about this issue? Another book that feels it was inspired by, “Hey, what characters have black in their name? Let’s put them in the Black King and Black Event.” But personally I think it panned out a lot better than you might expect based on that.

Pete:                I was really impressed with this book. Also, I didn’t expect to get choked up but there was a moment where Black Panther and Siri see each other and give each other a hug. And I got a little choked up because I was, “That’s never going to happen in TV or movies and we’re never going to get to see that.” And it got me a little bit, which I wasn’t ready for.

Justin:              It’s funny you say that Pete, because I was thinking the same thing. It’s so rare, I think in a comic book, where from the adaptation to the movie has such an effect on reading the comic book going forward. Because I do feel, when I see Black Panther, I’m just, “Oh, there’s a loss there.”

Pete:                Yeah, It’s tough yeah-

Justin:              I view the character in the way that it’s never happened to me before. And I just can’t imagine it has happened before. And to see this, I don’t know, does that harm the Black Panther character in the Marvel universe? The fact that Chadwick Boseman was such an icon for the role and then died. And is it going to stay with us for forever? I guess would say.

Pete:                I wonder because it’s like, the comic came first. They should be able to do what they want, but man, it was just… I was having a hard time reading it. I was really getting choked up and being, “Ah, I don’t know, what did you just say? Series Black Panther and not kind of deal with it just so you don’t have these kinds of reactions.” But that doesn’t seem fair.

Alex:                 I do think there’s something to be said. I agree with you guys. I had the exact same reaction emotionally and there was a brief thought of you’re saying, Pete, should they retire to Tchala as Black Panther for a while? Which sounds insane. But just to get around that uncomfortable sad reaction that you have, but I would say no, you keep it going because it is a tribute to how powerful he was as the character that even though he passed away in a very untimely manner, the character continues and it does pay a tribute to him by continuing to exist, by continuing to have these ventures. And as long as they keep being good and they keep treating the character in a good way, that does pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman’s performance in a back way as well.

Pete:                Now I do want to talk a little bit about this issue, not you know talking about that. I thought this was a great issue of Black Panther, lot of cool things and the call back to one of Black Panthers enemies was such a cool idea to help stop this menace. I was really impressed with the writing on this and there’s really cool, beast showdowns here. Yeah. Wow. What an awesome issue. What amazing art. This was really cool.

Alex:                 Next up Bliss, number five from Image Comics written by Sean Lewis, art by Caitlin Yarsky. In this issue, we’re getting a bunch of backstory about what’s going on with our father character who was going up against the main antagonist of this book. We find out how he broke out of the hold of this drug. I guess you can call it a drug. Bliss, how he worked his way forward. Meanwhile, we’re following his son as he is trying to track down his dad, I believe. Still some incredible imagining coming out of this book, even five issues in.

Justin:              This reminded me of, and maybe this is a stretch. Do tell me. It’s a reverse never-ending story?

Alex:                 Oh wow. Interesting.

Justin:              I guess it’s just like the never ending story. The dad is going on the adventure and the kid is [inaudible 00:38:35] hearing the dad adventure.

Pete:                That’s a way to reverse Everett Dick story, as [crosstalk 00:38:43]-

Alex:                 You said, the kid being directed to the drug, it’s the dad and then-

Justin:              What I was thinking about was the fact that it’s the dad going on the adventure and the kid is hearing this stories-

Pete:                Riding a dragon means drugs. And then-

Alex:                 I always describe, I don’t know if you guys do this too, but I always describe 13, going on 30 is a double reverse pig.

Pete:                Exactly. And you talk about that a lot, especially in your work as a critic. Yeah.

Alex:                 I try to relate everything back to 13 going on 30 if I can.

Pete:                Seven a movie. Yeah, I thought this was a really beautiful issue. Unbelievable. This story continues to move forward in a great way. You go from absolutely hating this dad to maybe there’s something that could be done. Yeah, I’m just really impressed with this story. And then fun kind of join us next time. And they got the AOC with the scales of justice. I thought that was crazy cool.

Alex:                 What?

Pete:                The character designs are very interesting.

Justin:              I will say to Pete’s point, I don’t think it’s actually AOC, but the woman in the preview for next issue looks just like AOC.

Pete:                It’s AOC dude.

Alex:                 Next step Orcs, number one from Kaboom written by and art by Christine Larson. This is pretty much you could do that you could expect from the title. It’s a bunch of adventure in Orcs. [inaudible 00:40:07] it’s Kaboom, it is very all ages. I thought this was a delightful, fun book to read with some great character designs. I enjoyed this quite a bit. Pete, I imagine given its similarity to other things like Head Lopper and whatnot, you might’ve liked it as well?

Pete:                Oh, I really loved it. I especially loved the first story, thought it was really cool. It’s fun to see things that are cute be violent. But man, it was fun-

Justin:              Yes. Are you Soggy or Jimbo that little bunny?

Pete:                Yeah. I think that… Don’t call him little. You [inaudible 00:40:41]-

Justin:              Oh, I thought you weren’t going to take the bait and then you did. [crosstalk 00:40:45]-

Pete:                It was like that fish that swims by, and you’re, “Wow, I missed it.” And then it’s, “What’s that? Is that a worm?”

Justin:              [crosstalk 00:40:53]. Fish. I love worms. I’m a fish. I love worms even though I never encounter them because I live in the water. But let try that worm it’s exotic to me, because it lives over the ground.

Pete:                Yeah. The arts in this is really cool. It’s all ages, but really it doesn’t feel it’s pandering to children or anything like that. There’s a lot of cool action and adventure. I think this is a cool book.

Alex:                 What I like about this is, it’s an Orc, never ending story.

Pete:                I thought it to be more of a 13 going on 30 myself. Oh wow.

Justin:              I really did like this. Especially the first bit that ends up being the grandma Orc telling a story, Pete. Grandma Orc you must be just basically coming in your pants because you’ve seen grandma here.

Pete:                I wouldn’t go that far, but then I like how the grandma trips out a little bit. That was fun. Story times over, I’m getting fucked up.

Alex:                 I’m sorry, just to ask, would you not let me go that far to edge her about grandmas. Let’s go down.

Pete:                What? What did you say?

Alex:                 Nevermind. It’s not important.

Justin:              [inaudible 00:42:24] broke man.

Pete:                Anyway. Good book.

Justin:              [inaudible 00:42:27] book.

Pete:                [inaudible 00:42:28], I’m fine.

Justin:              You’re trying to take the baton, Pete?

Pete:                I don’t know. Yeah.

Justin:              Some are homesick pilots-

Alex:                 Yeah. Go for it. Number six, Pilots Image Comics written by Dead Waters, art by Casper Winguard. We’ve been really enjoying this book, I think it’s so many things at the same time, but essentially it’s about a girl in a punk band, maybe a heavy metal band who discovers a haunted house has to recover a bunch of ghosts, but it’s so much more than that. So many different things going on. It ramps up the premise at exactly what’s happening. Every single issue ends with a wild visual at the end here. This is great. I really enjoy reading this.

Justin:              Yeah, me too. It was one of my favorite new books out there. Talk about visuals, the visual of the sort of videotape ghost.

Alex:                 Yeah.

Justin:              It was haunting.

Alex:                 Yeah.

Justin:              I want to see that for sure. I want to see that in some movie or film or TV show. So good.

Pete:                Yeah. I also really liked lessons in this, they’re like, “Yo, if you’re going to join a band, it is hard, it is grueling and you might get trapped in a house and not be able to make it out.” So you got to be ready for that. Also don’t fucking go into other people’s houses. All right. It’s not going to end well.

Justin:              Two lessons.

Pete:                But the art is just fantastic and they really try different, the crackly, black panels that they have that look an old book in the middle of the comic is just really cool and creepy and sets this cool tone. They keep using this shot of this window in this creepy house almost looking like it’s about to explode. I’m really impressed with what they’re doing with this book creatively and how they’re telling this story. It keeps being just fantastic every issue.

Alex:                 Great stuff. If you’d like to support our show, patrion.com/comic book club, also we do a live show every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM to Crowdcast and YouTube come hang out. We would love to chat with you about comic books. iTunes, Android, Spotify, Stitcher, or the app of your choice to subscribe and listen to the show. comicbookclublive.com for this podcast and more at comicbooklive on Twitter. Until next time. Keep those grandma’s coming, Pete, can’t get it up.

Pete:                What are you doing?

Justin:              Enjoy your marathon of Golden Girls Pete. You’re going to fucking love it.

Pete:                You’re weird man.

The post The Stack: Radiant Black, Sweet Tooth And More appeared first on Comic Book Club.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookclub

On this week’s Stack podcast:

Runaways #33

Man-Bat #1

Specter Inspectors #1

The Immortal Hulk #43

Future State: Superman of Metropolis #2

Future State: Wonder Woman #2

Future State: The Next Batman #3

Future State: The Flash #2

Future State: Swamp Thing #2

Future State: Harley Quinn #2

Deep Beyond #1

The Legend of Shang-Chi #1

Chained to the Grave #1

Far Sector #10

Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #1

Luna #1

The Comic Book History of Animation #3

King in Black: Marauders #1

Transformers: Beast Wars #1

King in Black: Black Knight #1

Fear Case #1

Sea of Sorrows #4

SUBSCRIBE ON RSS, ITUNES, ANDROID, SPOTIFY, STITCHER OR THE APP OF YOUR CHOICE. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, AND FACEBOOK. SUPPORT OUR SHOWS ON PATREON.

Full Episode Transcript:

Alex:                 What’s up y’all. Welcome to The Stack. I’m Alex.

Justin:              I’m Justin.

Pete:                I’m Pete.

Alex:                 And on The Stack, we talk about a bunch of books that have come out this week-

Justin:              Yes.

Alex:                 And we’re not running away from this many reviews. In fact, we’re running towards them, starting off with Runaways number 33 from Marvel-

Pete:                Oh, I see what you did there. Okay, I see.

Alex:                 Written by Rainbow Rowell.

Justin:              [crosstalk 00:00:25]. Yes, that’s what we thought. That’s what we knew.

Alex:                 I know, it was a little tricky there, but there you go.

Justin:              No, we’re running toward them.

Alex:                 Yes, this title has been sporadic to say the very best, but I think it is always welcome when it returns. We’re cutting in on our kids. Some of them are going to high school, some are not. They’re trying to balance responsibilities. This run by Rainbow Rowell has been so good and I am so happy whenever it comes back.

Justin:              I agree, it’s so well, each scene really stands out. The characters are so well thought through, the art’s great. I love this story. It captures adolescence and also the superhero side of it at the same time. It’s one of my favorites.

Alex:                 Pete.

Pete:                I mean, I really liked it until the man-handling of Wolverine. And then I was like, “Eh, right.” But the art’s unbelievable. It’s some really great storytelling. I think it is fun. I really liked the gib.

Justin:              You think Wolverine could beat a Doombot? Doombots are so strong, there’s no way.

Alex:                 They really are, and Wolverine’s so short.

Justin:              He’s so tiny.

Pete:                Oh, I hate both of you.

Justin:              Doombots are robot dooms, which is good, doom’s good and robots are cool.

Alex:                 One of the things that I think is particularly impressive about this book is usually you don’t see this sort of second resurgence. I mean, not to get too lofty about it, it’s maybe not quite on the same level as bringing back the X-Men or anything like that. But you certainly had Brian K. Vaughan launching Runaways, petering out after a little while. Sorry, Pete, I know you don’t like me saying that. It just came out.

Pete:                Yeah, use a different expression.

Justin:              No problem, it LePage’d out a little.

Alex:                 LePage’d out.

Pete:                It’s not funny.

Alex:                 And then they took the characters and they split them up and put them on other teams and use them in different ways. It’s kind of amazing that they’re taking them back and making them work so well and it makes me very happy. Let’s move on to another book, Man-Bat number one from DC Comics written by Dave Wielgosz, art by Sumit Kumar. This is following the Man-Bat, some bad stuff is happening to him. He’s trying to be a hero, but it just doesn’t work because he’s just a Man-Bat.

Justin:              He’s just a Man-Bat.

Alex:                 What’d you think about this book? And as a follow up, who asked for this?

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, it’s a little weird. I mean, also it’s kind of, he’s a scientist that doesn’t do science. He just thinks that flying around like a Man-Bat is going to win the day. And I don’t see how that works, but the art-

Alex:                 You walk around as a human all the time, Pete, what is that doing?

Justin:              Good call.

Pete:                Burn? I don’t think so. But yeah, the art’s great.

Alex:                 Justin, what’d you think about this one?

Justin:              Thought you were going to say more. I mean, this strikes me as a different … Man-Bat in the DC Universe right now feels very much like the Justice League Dark character. And I really liked that iteration of Man-Bat who’s this sort of loopy scientist who’s obsessed with darkness, but also trying to make his science into sort of mad science. And so this take is different. And I missed the other one reading this, but I do like the art and it feels very much like a classic Batman: The Animated Series take on Man-Bat.

Alex:                 I do think I was obviously being very glib with who asked for this because I don’t think anybody was necessarily demanding a Man-Bat series. It was confusing.

Pete:                I’m sure there’s people out there who love the Man-Bat.

Alex:                 I’m sure. It’s the sort of thing that felt to me like if it came out at Halloween, I’d understand what was going on here, as is I think well-written good art. I like it. I don’t know what its long-term prospects are necessarily. But as an individual book, if you like the character, I think you’ll be happy.

Justin:              But here’s the thing, if you go up and you’re like, “I love Batman.” You’re like, “Let me try this other version of the words.”

Alex:                 Yeah, that’s true. There’s also a book coming out next week we’re going to be talking about called Bat Bat and a book after that called Madman.

Pete:                Wait, wait. Justin, let me just, so if somebody walks into a comic book shop and they say, “Hey, I like some Batman,” and they say, “We’re sold out, but would you like to try some Man-Bat?” And you think that’s how Man-Bat sells? Is that what you’re saying?

Justin:              I mean, yes.

Pete:                Okay. I think so.

Justin:              All right. If you walk into a grocery store and you’re like, I’d like some pineapple and they’re like, “No, we have regular apples and some pine nuts.” You’d be like, “I’ll take it.”

Pete:                I don’t know if you would.

Alex:                 Yeah. You can make them at home. Look at it on Epicurious. All right. Specter inspectors number one for BOOM! Box, written by Bowen McCurdy, art by Kaitlyn Musto. This is I think another win for BOOM! Box, just a fun story of a bunch of ghost investigators who encounter something even more terrifying than what they expected. This book is a delight and I am completely on board.

Pete:                Oh, I couldn’t agree with you more. I love this book. I really thought it was cool set up, took some great turns. I was really impressed with this. The art’s storytelling is really a lot of fun. Yeah, I think it’s great.

Justin:              I agree. It really surprised me with how like it’s … I think there are a lot of books like this in this art style where it is sort of character driven, like these people are trying to do this and they haven’t figured it out. But this really like, the art pays off on the comedy side and the character and relationship side. And then the story itself is super fun as well. I really like this.

Alex:                 Yeah, good stuff, excited to follow this book. Next up, The Immortal Hulk number 43 from Marvel written by Al Ewing, art by Joe Bennett. In this issue, a lot of stuff going on, but Joe Fixit is on the run hiding out, the U-FOES are training and getting ready to fight the Hulk. And of course it all goes down by the end of the issue. I don’t know what more to say about this book than it is great.

Justin:              Well, let me say, to me this was a good reset issue, where if you’ve been a little lost lately with all the different sort of stretchy Hulk with eyeball hands and stuff, this is a good restating of what the premise, where it’s like, at the beginning of the issue Joe Fixit says, “All the other Hulks are gone. Now it’s just me, Joe Fixit, and dumb Hulk, we’re in the body.” It’s back to sort of the basic whole premise, except instead of being a smart scientist, he’s not a smart grifter and he’s on the street.

Pete:                I would say he’s doing pretty good.

Justin:              He’s not as smart as Bruce Banner though.

Pete:                Oh, well, sure.

Justin:              And I think he is doing good, but his whole thing is being a good grifter as opposed to being a scientist, and he is.

Pete:                He is a good grifter.

Justin:              And I love this. He’s a good grifter. And would you rather be a scientist? Pete clearly hates science and loves grifting and that’s what he worships.

Alex:                 I mean, this book is great, it’s fantastic. But I really liked the Joe-

Justin:              When you’re sick, Pete, you don’t go to a doctor, you go to a three-card Monte person.

Pete:                Yeah, exactly. You see a guy in the back of a restaurant who take a look at it and he can tell you what’s going on.

Justin:              He’s like, “Right here, follow the diagnosis, follow the diagnosis. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here you go. Here we go. You have a irritable bowel syndrome.”

Pete:                I think that I could have used more Joe Fixit on the streets. I thought this was fun. But that being said it was very cool to see him still have to kind of fight for the underdog and do what was right. So yeah, I very much enjoyed this. Also Alpha Flight cameo was great. I mean, this was a lot of fun, it continues to be amazing.

Justin:              Doc Sampson is Sasquatch somehow.

Alex:                 Good stuff. And just to work off of what Pete said, as I always say, Joe Fixit in the streets and loose Hulk in the sheets.

Pete:                Oh my God.

Justin:              You do say that too many times.

Alex:                 Too much.

Justin:              I love the U-FOES and they do a great job here as being the villains. And we get to sort of actually find out who they are and what they do.

Alex:                 Let’s move on to our future state block. We’ve been doing this for the past couple of weeks, as DC has been trucking through their look at a possible glimpse of the future of the DC Universe. As usual with this, these are the titles coming out this week. There’s Superman of metropolis number two, Wonder Woman number two, Next Batman number three, The Flash number two, Swamp Thing number two, Harley Quinn number two. And we read all of those, but call it what you like. Pete, what was your favorite title of this bunch this week?

Pete:                Ooh, favorite title.

Alex:                 This is a big surprise because we’ve only done it for the past four weeks. Go ahead.

Pete:                Yeah. Big surprise. Big surprise.

Justin:              I have an answer if you want to think.

Alex:                 Yeah, go ahead, Justin.

Pete:                No, Harley Quinn number two. I’m really impressed with the writing and the art on this. And it continues to be really great.

Alex:                 This is written by Stephanie Phillips, art by Simone DiMeo and Toni Infante. In this book, Harley Quinn is working for Scarecrow trying to take down Black Mask. There’s plenty of twists and turns throughout the book.

Justin:              Scarecrow is like a cop essentially. Jonathan Crane on the side, the quote unquote good guys. And Black Mask is the bad guy and that gets a little confusing. My take on this book, these two issues felt like an episode of Batman: The Animated Series if Harley Quinn were the central character. [crosstalk 00:10:03].

Pete:                Or Harley animated series.

Justin:              That’s sort of what I’m saying in a lot of ways, but it’s not like the Harley Quinn animated series, it’s like Batman: The Animated Series [crosstalk 00:10:13].

Alex:                 I thought it was sort of like Scarecrow. It was sort of like a Scarecrow the animated series, is what I’d say.

Pete:                It’s nothing like that, how dare you Zalb?

Justin:              A lot of hard takes. I just think there was sort of a lesson at the end. The characters are having fun, even though they were fighting each other. I enjoyed this.

Alex:                 What about you, Justin? What was your favorite title of the week?

Justin:              This-

Pete:                Justin if you need me to go while you’re thinking I can do that.

Justin:              Do not need you to go, you just went.

Pete:                Oh, okay. All right. Well, if you just need some time, I could-

Justin:              No time necessary. I’m ready to talk in three, two, one, talk Justin. I really enjoy, there are a lot of weirder titles out this week. And the two that I want to highlight are The Flash, Future State: The Flash number two and Future State: Swamp Thing number two, are my two picks.

Alex:                 Flash number two written by Brandon Vietti, art by Brandon Peterson and Will Conrad. Swamp Thing number two by Ram V, art by Mike Perkins. Take it away Justin.

Justin:              Flashed number two just like heartbreaking. These two issues were so good, so unexpected. You have Wally West as this villain who is maybe possessed by this spirit and Barry Allen who’s lost his powers to trying desperately to track it down and save him while also stopping the killing spree that’s going on against the other speedsters. And it was just such a good two-part story. I think this is a great standalone just Flash story that is absolutely tragic, but really gets to the core of what Flash’s powers are. It’s not just running fast, it’s hope.

Alex:                 Hmm, interesting. And Swamp Thing, what about that one?

Justin:              Swamp Thing, totally different like this post-apocalyptic parable about Swamp Thing who created his own offspring through the green, built them. We get to see through both of these issues how meticulously he built them and even their biological features. And then at the end, this is a spoiler, but he sacrifices them for the sake of humanity because he knows that humanity has a soul and the plant children he created do not. And another like-

Pete:                That part was heartbreaking dude, what was that?

Justin:              … [crosstalk 00:12:28], heartbreaking thing.

Pete:                What was that dude?

Justin:              It was great. It was just like both, that’s why I put them together, both the Flash and Swamp Thing did what you want across over like this to do, take your characters, get to a core value that they have and show it in a new way, a new unexpected way. And I think both these books did that super well.

Pete:                Oh, go ahead.

Alex:                 Go ahead Justin, bearded Justin.

Pete:                Pete. I’m Pete.

Justin:              I’m shaved Pete.

Pete:                I just wanted to say I’m still enjoying the new Batman. I really liked the backup, so the Black Lightning, Katana and the signal.

Justin:              Yes.

Alex:                 I was going to call this out. I haven’t gotten to talk yet, Pete.

Justin:              He hasn’t chosen yet Pete.

Alex:                 But [crosstalk 00:13:10] whatever, take all your picks.

Pete:                Justin got to say two.

Alex:                 Sure. Future state: The Next Batman number three written by John Ridley, Brandon Thomas, Paul Jenkins, art by Laura Braga, Sumit Kumar, and Jack Herbert. I agree with you, the outsider’s backup has been excellent.

Justin:              So good.

Alex:                 And that’s one where it ends, it’s not quite as apocalyptic as Swamp Thing or anything like that. It definitely feels like, what I want out of these where it feels like, oh, this is a pilot. I want to see more of this. I want to see more of this world. And the big one for me is Future State: Wonder Woman number two, written in art by Joëlle Jones, which obviously has a lot of heat at it. We talked about this before. Was this something that was a kind of adapting-

Pete:                It’s so hot right now, it’s so much heat.

Alex:                 It’s so hot right now, they’re adapting for [crosstalk 00:13:53]. But this new Wonder Woman heading to the underworlds rescue, whatever compatriots. And I know I said this the last time, but I’ll repeat it as well. It feels revolutionary to the Wonder Woman mythos in the same way the brand Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s run did. And it’s the sort of thing that I absolutely want to follow going forward.

Pete:                I just, the one part that bothered me about that book was she rips off the bones of the arm of the boat person, taking them across. Doesn’t say sorry, nothing.

Alex:                 She does, she says, “Oops.” Or something like that.

Pete:                Oops is not sorry, you know what I mean-

Alex:                 It’s fine, there was such a [crosstalk 00:14:31].

Pete:                … you still got to roll the boat.

Alex:                 She takes Sharon’s bone hand off, throws it to [inaudible 00:14:35] to distract him because he’s a dog, it’s a very cute funny bit.

Pete:                It’s funny but that guy still has to row a boat with now less bones and only one arm and she doesn’t help out at all, doesn’t even offer to row or nothing.

Justin:              Rowing a boat with less bones is a problem, I agree with you. And she doesn’t offer to row. He is an undead spirit. But let me also say Pete, once you don’t have skin, your bones are up for grabs.

Pete:                Wow. That’s a rule?

Justin:              That’s a rule. Watch out, keep [crosstalk 00:15:04], keep your skin.

Alex:                 I don’t know the last time you’d been to a cemetery, but if you look they have a sign outside that says up for grabs.

Pete:                Wow.

Alex:                 Every sector.

Justin:              Bunch of loose bones in the cemetery. They got a bone box.

Pete:                They shouldn’t have loose bones at the cemetery guys, it doesn’t make any sense.

Justin:              It’s like give a penny, take a penny, but you just take bones.

Pete:                What?

Justin:              There are extra bones.

Pete:                What? Give a penny, take a penny, oh my God.

Justin:              Are you using all your bones right now, Pete? I don’t think so.

Alex:                 You have so many head bones. What are you using them for?

Justin:              So many bones.

Alex:                 Are you playing piano?

Pete:                The piano?

Alex:                 The piano.

Justin:              We got fucking Mozart over here using all his bones.

Alex:                 That’s what he was known for. All right. Moving on from Future State, let’s talk about Deep Beyond number one from Image Comics created by Mirka Andolfo, David Goy and Andrea Broccardo and Barbara Nosenzo. I’ll tell you.,I really liked a lot of what Mirka Andolfo has been doing an Image Comics, but this comic is bonkers. I don’t think bad bonkers, just hard to hold onto exactly what’s happening in the plot bonkers.

Pete:                Yeah.

Justin:              There’s a lot going on here. This book to me read like a Rick Remender book where … read like two Rick Remender books both happening at the same time.

Alex:                 Yes.

Justin:              And that’s not to say I didn’t like it. It has a lot of elements that I like.

Pete:                Also there’s weird soap opera in there as well.

Alex:                 It takes place in maybe a post-apocalyptic future where the sun or gasses outside or something killed people.

Justin:              Pollution. I think pollution fucked us up.

Alex:                 Yeah, pollution fucked us up. And we’re explaining it much more straightforward than it actually is. But there’s a bunch of different characters that get involved there. Some of the characters you’re following at the beginning don’t survive, even a quarter way through the book and then it jumps over to another situation. It is the sort of thing that feels like by the second issue it might’ve calmed out a little bit and focus, but there’s so many ideas at play here. Again, it’s hard to hold onto something. The art, very good and gross though.

Justin:              Beautiful. Yeah. I liked the art and to your point, Alex, I like the sort of propulsion into the second issue.

Alex:                 Yes.

Justin:              But yes, a little confusing.

Alex:                 Agreed. Moving onto The Legend, and I’m going to pronounce this wrong, Kevin Feige pronounced it a different way and now it’s really gotten into my head. We’ve called him Shang-Chi, but it’s something else where you actually pronounce it, Shang-Chi or something like that, number one from Marvel written by Alyssa Wong. I’ll look it up. Art by Andie Tong. This is a one-shot focusing on the character, clearly teeing up the movie that’s coming at some point. And this pits him against Lady Deathstrike. I thought this was a lot of fun, just a good actiony book.

Justin:              A 100%. This feels like if you are excited about the Shang-Chi movie, then you can read this and feel. I think you’re going to get a lot of the elements of the movie right here in this book.

Pete:                Yeah, I love this. The art’s unbelievable. The action of course is fantastic. Great to see Lady Deathstrike, not associated with Wolverine kind of doing other things. And yeah, I’m very excited for this and more of it, so I hope this does well.

Alex:                 Let’s move on and talk about another book that I think was a little hard to hold onto, but there’s still some exciting elements into it. Chained to the Grave number one from IDW written by Andy Eschenbach and Brian Level, art by Kate Sherron. The thing that I really like about this book is it’s mostly about a dude who died, sort of probably bad cowboy, is resurrected by his wife. And is like, “Hey family, let’s go on a voyage of vengeance to take out the people who killed me.” That’s the straightforward part. There’s a lot of other stuff happening in this book, but the art sale is good. Pete, you had to love the big guy. He’s a big hulking guy with half a face and he wants to kill people, right?

Pete:                Yeah, I thought it was great. I mean at start it was a little weird, the blow job in front of the kids, but we’ll move right past that. And just kind of talk about a lot of the twists and turns. The art’s really unbelievable. But the character design is really cool. I’m excited for more action and to kind of find out what’s really going on.

Justin:              This reminded me of … I forget the title of the book. And I think we’ve talked about it a lot. The woman who lives in the house and the house has a bunch of … there’s blood everywhere all the time.

Alex:                 Oh, yeah. We consistently forget the title of this book.

Justin:              Yes. And I knew it last time when you didn’t know it, and I now don’t know it. It was-

Alex:                 Murder house.

Justin:              Yeah.

Pete:                [crosstalk 00:19:41] murder house.

Justin:              It’s like House of Sorrows or something like that. But stylistically the art also reminds me a little bit of Chew in a good way. And yeah, this is, it’s fun. I agree. It’s a good read and I really wish I could remember the name of that book that I try to think of.

Alex:                 I think I read about House of Sorrows or something like that. I’ll introduce the next one, you can look it up if you want. Far Sector number 10 from DC Comics, written by N. K. Jemisin, art by Jamal Campbell. We gush over every issue of this book. I thought this was a particularly good one. And it jumped out to me once again how important it is that not just the writer, but also the artist has stayed consistent for 10 issues on here. It’s made it a really cohesive package following our main Green Lantern. She has been imprisoned and shit goes down this issue. This feels like a lot of what this title has been leading towards. There’s been a lot of stuff happening in the background on this weird planet that she’s been living on. And it’s all coming to head in terms of a revolution. It’s all coming crashing down. Great stuff. This was honestly I think one of my favorite issues of this book so far.

Justin:              Agree, to get all these answers.

Pete:                And that’s saying a lot.

Justin:              Yeah, it is. To get all these answers in this book is so good and sort of restating the thesis, we get a nice lead in page at the top of this issue to really remind us of exactly what’s happening. So many great ideas, so many just … The premise and the philosophies on display here are so good.

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, it’s hard to keep coming up with different things to say about how amazing this book is, but the stories continues to impress. The art is so creative and unbelievable. Just every time I pick it up, I’m like, I’m worried it’s not going to be as good as the last issue and it continues to be dope as fuck.

Alex:                 Next up Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures number one from IDW written by Daniel José Older, art by Harvey Tolibao. We talked about the first issue of Marvel Star Wars: The High Republic. This is part of that expansive overarching story set much earlier in the Star Wars timeline. This one is for all ages readers, which is what IDW does with the adventures one. I thought it’d be interesting to check in with this particularly compared to the Marvel book. What did you guys think about this one?

Pete:                Well, I really liked it. I thought it was really cool the way it was kind of split and the story kind of comes together, very, very cool. I liked the art, it was very interesting kind of fresher take on Star Wars. We’re used to a certain style and seeing people a certain way. It was a nice kind of like creative take, it felt like it was a grittier Star Wars which I appreciated. Yeah, I thought it was really cool. Had a great ending that got me excited to read more.

Justin:              Well, you know we love this timeline page. But the last book we talked about extensively where they list all the movies and TV shows in timeline, it’s very satisfying to just look at that.

Alex:                 Speaking of satisfying, what do you guys think of hot Yoda? That’s something we’ve got a little sense of in the Marvel book, but definitely more here.

Pete:                What?

Alex:                 This is a buff Yoda. He’s a little jacked, probably has some abs under that robe going on.

Pete:                What are you talking about? Where’s the robe?

Alex:                 And he is ready for action. He’s young.

Justin:              He’s got abs on his forehead. He’s got abs above and below his lips. He’s all abs.

Alex:                 He’s young, dumb and full of [inaudible 00:23:17].

Pete:                Oh my God, that was awful. It was weird how people were like, “Hey, maybe we should think about this.” And Yoda was like, “No, fuck it, we’re in too deep, let’s roll.”

Alex:                 It was surprising for a kid’s book that he said fuck it in the text.

Justin:              Let me say seriously about this, what I like about the choices here, the art is very … it feels very much like a fantasy book. And I think that’s a smart choice for a comic about Star Wars. We’ve seen this sci-fi version of the Star Wars world a lot, to see the fantasy version of it is worth a lot of the roots of the Jedi and everything are, there have laser swords. And this was a very cool version of that. And I like the ongoing monologue from our young force sensitive character that we meet through in this book.

Alex:                 The other thing is we get a sense of the bad guys, which we didn’t really get in the Marvel book yet. There’s this overarching force of evil. They seem to be augmented in some way that are going to play into this whole high republic story that they’re telling, so that was kind of neat. I assume you guys have not as well, but I haven’t read the novel by Charles Soule necessarily yet, which I think deals with them a little bit more, but that should … it’s interesting. And it’s not as young aiming as you might think.

Justin:              A 100%.

Alex:                 Speaking of things that are not as young aiming, let’s talk about Luna number one from BOOM! Studios by Maria Llovet. Now, Pete, you’re a huge fan of the book Faithless by Brian Azzarello and Maria Llovet. This is following a different girl who also gets fucked by some magical creatures. Pete, what did you think about this one.

Pete:                So Zalben you’re like, “Listen, I got to find something that’s creepy enough, but artistically driven enough where I don’t feel so dirty reading it.”

Alex:                 Here’s the thing, we are still in lockdown. I can not go to the museum of modern art and jerk off there anymore, so I got to find out.

Pete:                You mean the museum of sex to jerk off.

Alex:                 I can’t go there.

Justin:              I sadly know he goes to the museum of modern art or the natural history museum. He goes to any museum. He just loves naked.

Alex:                 I go to the [inaudible 00:25:28] sometimes in the temple of [inaudible 00:25:30].

Pete:                Oh my God.

Alex:                 There’s room in this tube I shout.

Pete:                Oh my God.

Justin:              The publishers of this book are like, let’s listen to Comic Book Club, see if we have a good quote for the book. No, they mostly talk about one of their hosts jerking off at a museum. I really liked this book. I think Maria Llovet’s art is great. And yes, a lot of her books focus on an innocent woman getting slowly deeper into some sort of mystical-

Pete:                Sex cult.

Justin:              … thing where there’s sex involved. But it plays really well and I think this one makes sense. She’s the writer and artist so it feels very much like she’s taking ownership of this story. And the tone that her art sets is so good. And so I want to watch it. I want to put it on the wall of the museum.

Alex:                 Well, I’ll do something to that.

Pete:                Oh my God. Don’t do that.

Justin:              See you there.

Alex:                 Yes. I agree with you, her art is fantastic. It is particularly psychedelic here. It’s about this character that travels, I think to the desert though, it’s not 100% clear and maybe take some LSD or something like that. It goes into some very weird visuals. It’s not dark and devilish like Faithless is necessarily, it goes in a different direction. But it’s gorgeous stuff, it’s a little sketchier. I mean that literally like the lions are a little looser than say [inaudible 00:27:07] or something like that. But great, I really enjoyed this book as well. Let’s move on, talk about the Comic Book History of Animation number three from IDW written by Fred Van Lente and art by Ryan Dunlavey. And this one we’re continuing-

Pete:                We should get them on the show because I’d love to talk to them about this book man.

Alex:                 Pete, we just have them on our live show which is available as a podcast.

Pete:                We should have them back, I want to talk about this issue.

Alex:                 All right. Well, in this issue, we’re continuing to deal with the Disney revolution, delving deeper into Looney Tunes, as well as Fleischer creator of the Superman cartoon and other things. Another great issue of this book, imperative, fun. I’m having a blast reading this.

Justin:              Yeah. Getting into all these characters that we know you got some Mr Magoo in here, you got your [inaudible 00:27:55], you got your Daffy, you got your Wile E. Coyote, just all your favorites are here. The anecdotes that they incorporate into the story are so good. And this is getting into prime time of this type of cartooning.

Pete:                Yeah. And what’s great is not only is it amazing art and fantastic storytelling. We’re also learning stuff and it’s cool. Good to find out about all this, this way. Yeah, I’m having a blast with this, really impressive.

Justin:              [inaudible 00:28:26].

Alex:                 Let’s move on and talk about [crosstalk 00:28:28] King in Black: Marauders number one from Marvel written by Gerry Duggan, art by Luke Ross. In this issue, the marauders are heading to New York sensibly on a mission to rescue the X-Men who have been taken over by Knull the King in Black, but they run into a couple of snags along the way. I thought this was really well done. This is a great book that stands as a one-shot story, tells you enough that you need to know about the marauders while feeding the ongoing story there. You don’t necessarily need to be reading King in Black, but you get enough of a sense of it. That’s a really hard balancing act, but I think they walk it perfectly here.

Justin:              Does all that, also telling this tragic story about human trafficking. It covers a lot of bases and it’s just a testament to that, really heads up storytelling to be able to do all that in an issue seamlessly.

Pete:                Yeah. I was really impressed with this book. This I think so far is my favorite X-Men book that I’ve read of this new kind of era. And I really enjoyed it. I thought there was a lot of great action, a lot of great kind of commentary by the quote unquote heroes. I thought this was really fun, amazing art, great action. And I love the ending, I thought was so powerful and cool. Man, Magneto dude, that was really crazy with the whole skipping a rock thing and talking, that was unbelievable.

Justin:              I also love Magneto at the end. He sort of like laying down in the air hardly. He’s not hovering in a menacing way. He’s feels like he’s sort of reclining in a way. I was like, “Yeah, of course he’s going to sort of lay down a little bit. He’s just tired superhero.”

Alex:                 Yeah, he’s got a lot of stuff going on.

Justin:              Sort of.

Alex:                 Speaking of a bunch of tired superheroes, let’s talk about Transformers: Beast Wars number one from IDW written by Erik Burnham, art by Josh Burcham. This is a reboot of the classic Transformers: Beast Wars franchise with the transformers heading to earth in dinosaur times, taking the form of dinosaurs. Most of the book though is spent with robots-

Justin:              And other beasts.

Pete:                Yeah, other beasts.

Alex:                 Other beasts, sometimes fruit bats or whatever, I don’t know, gorillas, anyway-

Justin:              Optimus Primal.

Alex:                 If this is what you’re into, this is the fuzziest the transformers have ever been.

Pete:                Yeah. Beast Wars were big kind of like bringing the transformers back to popular kind of like cartoon Saturday’s styles. And I was a little, I missed Beast Wars. I was kind of done with transformers at that point.

Justin:              You grew up, you grew out of it.

Pete:                I grew out of transformers little bit although-

Justin:              You’re a big boy, you don’t like it anymore.

Pete:                I don’t know about all that. But yeah, Beast Wars kind of missed me. But I kind of felt like Zalben when he was reading a transformers book and you were like, “I don’t know who’s who,” and it was a little confusing because I wasn’t as familiar with these transformers. It was a little hard in the beginning with them. By the end I thought it was pretty cool.

Alex:                 Like Optimus Prime and Megatron?

Pete:                No, there were other versions.

Alex:                 I knew who they were Pete. Everything was very obvious.

Pete:                Well, there was a book that you were like weren’t … I don’t know if it was Power Rangers or-

Alex:                 No, I couldn’t tell any of them apart, they were all robots in this book.

Justin:              Well, they’re in disguise. They’re in disguise as cars, so it’s hard to tell who is who.

Pete:                Not in this one.

Justin:              If I could turn into a car you’d be like, “Who’s that car? Is that Justin?”

Pete:                I would know.

Justin:              I don’t know.

Alex:                 I always do that when I’m walking on the street.

Justin:              You’re like, “Which car is Justin and which car Pete?”

Alex:                 I try to start a podcast with every car.

Pete:                Oh man. Good luck.

Justin:              Yeah, good luck. I loved Beast Wars when the show is on.

Pete:                Okay, here we go.

Justin:              Of all the cartoons, Beast Wars got into this very philosophical place with the transformers, they were chasing their sparks, they were trying to find out if essentially they had souls, it was so good. And this comic feels like it’s maybe going to get there, I hope it does. This issue really set the stage for that, and I hope they really honor the depth of storytelling they did on this cartoon that Pete was too good for.

Alex:                 Next up, here’s what I’m sure Justin enjoyed a whole lot. King in Black: Black Knight number one from Marvel written by Simon Spurrier, art by Jesus Saiz. The reason I call it, you like the Black Knight, right?

Justin:              I like him. I like his role in The Avengers, and I feel like he … and I do like him, I’m not saying I don’t. But back in The Avengers he was this sort of like, ah, I don’t know what I’m doing. I think he was sort of a precursor to the Hawkeye-effication of so many Marvel characters where he was like, “Yeah, I’m sort of a shit head, I don’t shave, but I put my helmet on and I have my glowing sword. What are we doing today?” And this is a little bit that, but a little bit not that. It sort of had a wobbly beginning, it felt like the premise was really in your face and I didn’t really buy into it until about halfway through the issue. But at the end of it, I thought it was a good issue.

Pete:                Yeah. I really love the way this ended. It got a little bit weird at some points, but I love the action. I loved kind of like the whole backstory and why Knull is after the swords and all that kind of stuff like that. I very much by the end of it and I’m very excited for the next issue, I thought this did a great job of laying the groundwork to get you pumped for more.

Alex:                 Yeah. I mean, to that point, the next issue is I assume ongoing series for Black Knight that is going to pick up here. So to your point, Justin, to me it felt like this is probably stuff that Simon Spurrier is going to deal with more heavily in the series once he gets to it. But he’s kind of playing around with ideas of throwing there, but can’t go all the way, because it was just this one crossover issue where somebody was like, “Hey, what are the characters that say black in their name, have them do a King in Black thing, let’s go.”

Alex:                 But it’s good issue. And the art is good and it brings us fun characters. And to your point there’s some fun action by the end. Last but not least, Sea of Sorrows number four from IDW written by Rich Douek, art and colors by Alex Cormack. We had Rich on our show a couple of weeks back. What?

Pete:                Did you say the last one?

Alex:                 Yeah.

Pete:                We didn’t do Fear Case.

Alex:                 What is Fear Case? Did you make that up?

Pete:                No, that’s the … are you serious?

Justin:              What is Fear Case?

Pete:                Fear Case number one by Matt Kindt.

Alex:                 Oh, no, I missed that one. Do you want to talk about it, Pete?

Pete:                Yeah, I would love to.

Alex:                 Great, go ahead.

Pete:                Okay, I’m sorry. Just I’ve been waiting to talk about this book. I’m very excited about it. This is cool. This is like the setup of this kind of like FBI hazing of like, okay, here is this case that nobody can solve. We’ll let you rookies work on it for a little while. And it really builds it up as like this epic all-time thing that nobody can figure out. And you’re like, “How can this thing be going on for so long?” But really kind of lays out this interesting mythos and very high stakes. I love the art. It’s like sketchy, but cool in this way, that is kind of great. I feel like fits with the story because it’s a little dark and telling this kind of epic tale. I was really impressed with the art and storytelling. This is a fun who done it, what’s going on? How are we going to all figure this out? I thought this was amazing first issue that really got you excited for a bunch of stuff.

Justin:              And I want to talk about Hat Dance.

Pete:                Oh, okay. Sure. Hat dance number one or which one?

Justin:              Number 607. You guys haven’t been reading Hat Dance.

Alex:                 I want to talk about [Miles 00:36:35] Friends number one.

Pete:                Oh, Miles’ friends. Yeah.

Justin:              I think you’re talking about Cinderella and I’m here for it, [inaudible 00:36:43].

Alex:                 Two movies honestly. There’s a whole thing going on with Cinderella, there’s a thing going on with the mouse and the cat. I don’t know, bring it together some way guys. Sea of Sorrows number four from IDW, written by Rich Douek, art and colors by Alex Cormack. In this issue, we are finally getting some hardcore, absolutely gross mermaid attack action here, spoiler, but they reveal what these mermaids look like and it is absolutely horrifying. The slow tension has been building for three issues. The lid is off here and it’s awful. What’d you guys think about this issue?

Justin:              Great reveal. This is what I’ve always wanted to see in The Little Mermaid.

Alex:                 Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Pete:                Yeah. I thought it was-

Alex:                 Pete, did you want to read Fear Case or what’s going on?

Pete:                No, first off the art is so creepy in all the right ways-

Justin:              So good.

Pete:                … it’s great. And they’ve been teasing on what’s going on with the kind of what the bad force is driving behind it. And we finally get to really see it in all its glory in this issue. And it is really creepy and messed up, but really interesting to see how they’re going to kind of make it, how these ships are going to do out in the middle of nowhere.

Alex:                 Awesome, good stuff. And if you’d like to support our podcast, patreon.com/comicbookclub. Also we do a live show every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM to Crowdcast and YouTube. Coming up, we’d love to chat with you about comic books at Comic Book Live on Twitter, iTunes, Android, Spotify, Stitcher, or the app of your choice. To subscribe and to listen to the show, comicbookclublive.com for this podcast and many more. Until next time, bye.

Justin:              Ooh. Short. Hat Dance number 607 guys, check it out.

The post The Stack: Runaways, Man-Bat And More appeared first on Comic Book Club.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookclub

On this week’s comic book review podcast:

Riverdale Presents South Side Serpents #1

Captain Marvel #25

The Department of Truth #5

Firefly #25

Future State: Suicide Squad #1

Future State: Superman vs. Imperious Lex #1

Future State: Dark Detective #2

Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes #1

Future State: Aquaman #1

Future State: Batman/Superman #1

Post Americana #2

Daredevil #26

Monstress #31

The Other History of the DC Universe #2

Nailbiter Returns #9

X-Men #17

Spawn #314

The Last God #12

Something is Killing the Children #14

Strange Adventures #8

An Unkindness of Ravens #5

Colonel Weird: Cosmagog #4

SUBSCRIBE ON RSS, ITUNES, ANDROID, SPOTIFY, STITCHER OR THE APP OF YOUR CHOICE. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, AND FACEBOOK. SUPPORT OUR SHOWS ON PATREON.

Full Episode Transcript:

As

Alex:                 What is up everybody? Welcome to The Stack. I’m Alex.

Justin:              I’m Justin.

Pete:                I’m Pete.

Alex:                 And on The Stack, we talk about a bunch of comics that have come out this week, kicking it off with Riverdale Presents: South Side Serpents from Archie Comics, story by David Barnett, art by Richard Ortiz. This is part of a slate of comics that Archie has started releasing that aren’t exactly in continuity with the shows, but they include the characters the way they appear on the show. They’re kind of like halfway between the monthly comics and the shows themselves. This with a Madam Satan one-shot spinning off and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina that we talked about. This one of course is spinning off of Riverdale [crosstalk 00:00:46].

Pete:                I wish I would’ve known that before I read it, because I read it and I was like, “Holy shit, everything’s going to change.”

Alex:                 Yeah. Well, no, it’s out of continuity.

Pete:                They killed some people in this comic.

Alex:                 They straight up killed some people. I got to tell you, I mean, to start there, I was surprised how hardcore this was.

Justin:              Me too. This book went hard from beginning to end and I will say, “I like this.” To me, I mean Archie Comics for a decade has been taking big swings with a lot of their choices, a lot of their … especially their one shots like this and they’re limited series. But with this like putting it in between Riverdale featuring Toni Topaz here which was great. And then having both Hot Dog show up drawn like Hot Dog from the Double Digest. As well as a murder happening involving Hot Dog, I was like, “Okay, we’re going for it here.”

Alex:                 So the plot of this book if you haven’t picked it up is that Jughead is tasked by FP to go rejuvenate the serpents, FP can see that they’re getting older. He wants them to go out, get some young blood in there. Things go very, very wrong. The thing that I think this book did so well is the serpents are way too friendly on the TV show. They’re supposed to be the most hardcore biker gang, but they was like, “We’re hardcore, we’re fucking helping out with community service. And now we’re going to assist the police department. Look how hardcore we are.” Here they’re an actual biker gag, and they’re treated like an actual biker gang. And it works really well to the devastating end of the book.

Pete:                Yeah.

Justin:              Yeah, I agree. It was also nice to take you back to this time in Riverdale, we’re all Riverdale fans, and to sort of position us sort of earlier, this was like season two Riverdale it felt like, was really fun as well.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 Good stuff. Definitely check. Oh, go ahead.

Justin:              Wait, Pete’s going to weigh in.

Pete:                I really liked this. I loved all the action, it moves really well. It feels like Riverdale, but it has its own kind of flavor, which is cool for the comic. And I thought the art was great and the storytelling was really impressive how well this moved. I had a great time.

Justin:              A lot of biker gangs have a crown that the head of the gang wears.

Alex:                 This is true, like the hell’s angels.

Justin:              Yeah, fairy famously, and some anarchy.

Alex:                 [inaudible 00:03:17] biker gang that we can name which is, what is that, Justin?

Justin:              That biker game, there’s the wheels, the wheelies.

Pete:                The Wheelers.

Justin:              The wheelers, that’s it.

Alex:                 Yes. Captain Marvel number 25 from Marvel written by Kelly Thompson, art by Lee Garbett. This is a title that we haven’t talked about too much, but as it is hitting an anniversary issue, we do like Kelly Thompson in particular here on the show, I figured it was worth talking about. Captain Marvel is trapped in a post-apocalyptic future where the son of Namor and Amara has lead ways everything, using captain Marvel for his evil plan. As usual with Kelly Thompson book, I thought this is a lot of fun. I had a blast reading this. What about you guys?

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, as parents, you have to feel that if your son or daughter stabs a stuffed animal dolphin, you better address that early. Otherwise that’s really going to get out of hand and lead you [crosstalk 00:04:14].

Justin:              Well, the question is, at least in my household is it during stabbing practice or is it [inaudible 00:04:19].

Pete:                Oh, oh, oh.

Justin:              Because if it’s during stabbing practice it’s good.

Pete:                It’s fine.

Alex:                 I’ll tell you what, quarantine school has been weird.

Justin:              Yeah, they’re doing a lot of real post-apocalyptic lessons are going around. Obviously Pete you’re not a parent, but there is a lot of zombie preparation-

Alex:                 Smart.

Justin:              … how to, like early cannibalism stuff.

Pete:                Is it like machete upkeep and stuff like that?

Alex:                 [crosstalk 00:04:44] and the teacher on the Zoom was saying, “Okay first graders, are you distilling your pee properly so you can drink it?”

Pete:                Oh my God. That’s so creepy.

Justin:              That’s why it’s really important to potty train them, so you don’t lose that precious pee.

Alex:                 What’d you think about this book, Pete?

Pete:                I loved it. Oh, that was gross.

Justin:              Precious Pete.

Pete:                Oh man, I don’t want it. Yeah, I really liked this, a lot of over the top action, which I enjoyed. Fun kind of Namor a story, classic tale of raising somebody who is going to murder their father. It was just classic fun stuff. You guys have to be worried about that, getting murdered by your own kids. That’s got to be something that waves on you.

Alex:                 You keep throwing this back on us.

Pete:                I mean, that’s something that you got to be worried a little bit about as a parent that you’re raising the person who’s going to kill you.

Alex:                 I’m much more worried about you killing me Pete than I have my kids at this point.

Justin:              100%.

Pete:                Oh well, that’s smart.

Justin:              That’s the real threat, keeps us up nights.

Alex:                 Speaking of things that are … Oh, go ahead.

Pete:                But I love that art. I love the action. This is some great, yeah, the Thor was just fantastic and this is really fun.

Justin:              Yeah, Bridget. It’s funny reading this alongside Future State over on the DC side of things, because it feels very much like a Future State book in the Marvel Universe. And it’s fun, I like books that take us into alternate futures where shits fucked up.

Alex:                 Well, let’s go to an alternate present where shit is fucked up in The Department of Truth number five from Image Comics written by James Tynion IV, art by Martin Simmonds. This is a big one for anybody who’s reading the series. It’s about a department that is tasked with taking care of conspiracy theories here. Our main character is finding out a bunch more about the other side, Black Hat, and what’s going on with them. Maybe this doesn’t change everything, but it certainly comes close to it. How’d you feel about this issue?

Justin:              I’ve not been shy to say I love this series. I think this series is just so present, it’s feels so real. It’s about how if enough people believe in conspiracy theories, they become real. And like what truth is, it is something I think we as a nation, as a world grapple with literally every day. And so this book does such a good job between the art and the story of really just getting inside my brain.

Pete:                Yeah, this is really kind of crazy cool. The conspiracy stuff is one thing, but just the art and the storytelling, unlike how this all kind of unfolds for the main character that we’re following here is tripped out in all the right ways. It’s just really great kind of like conspiracy story telling that kind of feeds into fears and kind of deep thoughts in all the right ways. I think this is a really creative book that is really doing an amazing job.

Alex:                 I feel like we’ve said this here on the show before, but it struck me with this issue in particular, this feels like a lost Vertigo book down to the art and the writing and everything, and it’s awesome. Firefly … Oh, go ahead.

Justin:              I was going to say just an excellent Vertigo book.

Alex:                 Yeah. A lost Vertigo book that should have stayed lost was what I was saying.

Pete:                Whoa.

Alex:                 Should’ve stayed in Karen Berger’s drawer.

Pete:                Oh, come on, what? You mean drawer?

Alex:                 Come on.

Pete:                You saying drawer?

Alex:                 Yeah, I was trying to say that.

Pete:                Okay.

Alex:                 Firefly number 25 from BOOM! Studios written by Greg Pak-

Pete:                Greg Pak.

Alex:                 … art by Pius Bak. We talked about the special, the end of The Blue Sun Rising, just being an awesome Firefly story. Here after all of this prequel stuff, we’re moving beyond serenity. We’re showing what happens years later. There’s a big twists here. I thought this is great. As much as I like the stuff that went before, I’m very excited about this direction for the book. It tells a good story. If you have watched all the Firefly and Serenity, you can jump in right here, you don’t have to read anything previous. And that is very exciting.

Justin:              Yeah. For Greg Pal to tell a great story that really nails all the characters, but it also feels like it’s expanding the universe as a prequel, and then to jump into sort of where the story is continuing from any fan, whatever they’ve taken in for this show and movie is great, such a smart move, I love that he’s guiding this ship.

Pete:                I wanted to read something, speaking of fans, a fan of our show reached out to me and was just wondering, we had Fred Van Lente on a bunch, but they’re asking me when the fuck Greg Pak is going to be on, so I wanted to kind of turn that over to Alex and just be like, “Hey, when the fuck is Greg Pak going to be on the show so we can talk to him.”

Justin:              Let me throw this out to you Pete, are you the fan that reached out to you?

Pete:                No.

Justin:              Sounds a lot like you.

Alex:                 We’ll try to have him back on scene, we always love having him of the show. Thanks for writing in, Pete. Let’s move over to our Future State block. Here’s the issues that came out of Future State this week. Future State Suicide Squad number one, Future State Superman Versus Imperious Lex number one, Future State Dark Detective number two, Legion of Superheroes number one, Aquaman number one, Batman and Superman number one. Now, as we’ve been doing in the past couple of weeks, instead of talking about absolutely everything, I want to call out what our favorites were, and I’ll turn to you Justin first. What was your favorite or favorites from these Future State titles this week?

Justin:              Once again, I liked a lot of these books. I feel like they’d been really crushing it, but my favorites were, let me throw it to Superman versus Imperious Lex.

Alex:                 Oh, that’s what I figured. I say that’s what I figured because that was also my favorite. And that’s a book, it’s written by Mark Russell, who’s one of our favorites here on the show, art by Steve Pugh. And it shows a Future State, a future society where Lex has taken over a planet, Superman and Lois come head to head with it. Ridiculous parodied, a lot of fun at the same time, Justin.

Justin:              And I do think Mark Russell has done such a good job. He’s so good at bringing real issues into his comic book work, famously first on the Flintstones book that he did. And then a bunch of other things that he’s done. And this to really weave big interesting ideas about how people, populaces are controlled by their leaders and economics, how economics drives people into a far Future Superman United Planets, Lex Luther story, I think was great. There’s a bunch of humor here as well. It’s just a book of ideas and I love that.

Alex:                 Pete, what about you? What jumped out at you this week?

Pete:                I liked Future State Dark Detectives number two. I really liked this kind of like a gritty future Batman. And I also really liked the second story with a Rose, guessing Slade’s daughter. But just-

Alex:                 That’s an in continuity character by the way. That’s not just a Future State character.

Pete:                Oh, okay.

Alex:                 Just for clarification.

Pete:                Thank you.

Alex:                 But just to mention before you get too far into it, written by Mariko Tamaki and Joshua Williamson, art by Dan Mora, who you love from Once & Future, and Giannis Milonogiannis. And the first story is about Bruce Wayne after he’s been “shot and killed” coming back and try to figure out what he is now. The second one is a Red Hood story, which is basically straight up Akira in a very fun way. Justin, what’d you think about this one?

Justin:              I like both of these stories. The Bruce Wayne story at the front of this is so good. The art, the Dan Mora art is excellent, and really I would love to see this as just an ongoing series of Bruce Wayne in a future where he has been killed, figuring out what he’s going to do next and finding his way back is great. And then the backup story really felt a lot like Nightwing [inaudible 00:13:02] relationship, but put on with Red Hood and Rose, which I thought was a cool sort of mapping, and with the Akira stuff you’re talking about as well.

Alex:                 The one that I was completely surprised that I loved was Future State Aquaman number one, written by Brandon Thomas, art by Daniel Sampere. I don’t usually like Aquaman stories at all, but this one is showing Aqualad all grown up training the daughter of Aquaman and Mera. They accidentally ended up in this conjoining of seas, I think it’s called the conjunction or something like that, that travels across different planets. They get trapped, they get separated, Aqualad’s been in prison for years. And finally, spoiler, but he gets some hope that the girl he’s been in charge with maybe still alive somewhere. This was bad-ass, like we were talking about, this is something that I’m like, “I want to read this book.” And this is such a strong concept right here. I want to see where this goes. I want to see them go through all these seas, go through all these worlds, try to find each other. That’s very exciting. And the art from Daniel Sampere-

Pete:                Oh my God.

Alex:                 … is awesome as well, but fantastic. My jaw dropped, I was so surprised, I like this so much.

Pete:                Yeah. And I really liked the Black Manta stuff as well. It was like the right amount of beautiful tripped out colors for all these different kinds of worlds and stuff. I was really impressed by it.

Justin:              I also want to throw it out to the Suicide Squad Future State book. This was really great as well. Really surprising, well-written dark take, featuring a ton of characters that I didn’t expect to really see together and just really smart observations of these characters.

Pete:                The second story, Black Adam really looks like The Rock, it’s like holy shit, all right guys, we get it.

Alex:                 Yeah, that was a weird one for me. But just to mention the writing team of that, written by Robbie Thompson, Jeremy Adams, art by Javier Fernandez, Fernando Pasarin. And real quick, before wrap up, here are the other ones, Future State Legion of Superheroes number one written by Brian Michael Bendis, gorgeous art as always by Riley Rossmo. And then there’s also Batman Superman number one, which is interesting one.

Pete:                That’s the one I wanted to talk about.

Alex:                 Written by Gene Luen Yang and art by Ben Oliver. Because this actually isn’t very Future State. This is, if Future State is 10, 15, 20, whatever years down the road, this is five years down the road with our Batman and Superman right before things go wrong, which is a fascinating tack to take, Pete, take it away.

Pete:                Yeah, I really thought this was, first off the banter back and forth between Superman and Batman was amazing. I also really liked this kind of false face thing. And then Superman realizing why masks are good was really cool. And I really liked this toad character that was introduced. Yeah, I was really impressed with this. Might not have been that far in the future, but man, this was a really cool book. I really liked it. And I’m trying to think, I also read the Batman: White Knight Presents: Harley Quinn, number four. And that was-

Alex:                 Pete.

Justin:              Totally [inaudible 00:16:24].

Pete:                I’m just putting it out there, we’re doing a quick review thing here.

Alex:                 No, no, no, but it’s not Future State.

Pete:                Well, it is DC.

Alex:                 You keep doing this. I send you a list of comics and you are like, I read these five other comics.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 I just think that the story is really-

Justin:              I just love comics.

Alex:                 Great. Pete, when we get to it, I read Amazing Spider-Man as well, so I just want to talk about that.

Pete:                Great. I’m just wanting to say real quick though, the Harley Quinn thing at first, the White Knight Presents, I didn’t, but now it’s really going well and I’m really impressed with it. And I thought it was a really great story and it’s worth checking out.

Justin:              Really grabbing the mic.

Alex:                 How was Usagi Yojimbo, Pete?

Pete:                I look forward to checking that out.

Alex:                 Wow.

Justin:              Wow, shame.

Alex:                 What a hater. Post Americana, oh.

Justin:              Hold up. One last thing about Future State. I think that DC should do this, pick a month every year, do this. It introduces so many interesting ideas. They could reflect whatever the ongoing stories are in the main titles in their Future State titles, introduce a bunch of new artists and writers into this world.

Pete:                I think that’s what they’re going to do.

Justin:              I don’t think they’re going to do that, but I wish they did.

Pete:                I think they are.

Alex:                 That’s a great idea. I mean it’s clearly like it was originally there to give everybody space on the schedule and everything, at least in terms of the writers and artists, but this is great. I’m so happy with all of these books.

Pete:                I also wanted to say in the Future State Legion one, the amazing last page, that was a really fun issue.

Alex:                 Sure.

Justin:              Yes.

Alex:                 Post Americana number two from Image Comics written and art by Dave Skroce. This is a wild book, we talked about the first issue of this taking place in post-apocalyptic world. When we left off, our main characters have been captured by cannibals who wear human skin. That’s where this issue picks up. Pete, you got to love that, picks up right where it left off basically.

Pete:                Huge fan.

Alex:                 This book is fucked up at exactly the right way. It’s like Crossed, but not as dark I guess, with a little bit more of a mission to it.

Justin:              I don’t know. It feels a lot just like Crossed. I don’t know where you’re seeing the less darkness. There’s less like coming on bullets before you shoot them at people.

Alex:                 Sure, that’s fair.

Pete:                I would say-

Alex:                 But the main lady has no limbs, but she calls her robot limbs and then kicks the ass of the cannibals, so that’s pretty fun.

Pete:                It’s like Iron Man. I would say this is like a really dark version of Wall-E a little bit, like a real fucked up Wall-E.

Justin:              Oh, Wall-E, interesting. I don’t get that.

Alex:                 Well, there’s a male character and there’s a female character like Eva.

Justin:              Oh, interesting. None of them are robots. And there’s a lot of other people there and many of them cannibals, which if I remember Wall-E correctly it’s very light on cannibalism. Am I wrong there?

Pete:                Yeah, it is.

Alex:                 Did you watch the director’s cut?

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 It’s on Disney plus.

Pete:                I was just talking about the people who are on vacation, looking at the news and kind of taking it all in. And that kind of little bit was very Wall-E.

Justin:              Oh, I see. Yes. I mean, to be fair, that is reminiscent of Wall-E. That was one panel.

Pete:                Still reminded me of Wall-E dickhead.

Justin:              You said this book is like a fucked up wall-E, and that is taking one panel and being like, this is … If I heard that description, I was like, “Oh, okay, fucked up Wall-E. I love Wall-E, I wish he was more fucked up. Let me read it.” And I was like, “What’s that dude Pete talking about?”

Pete:                Because there’s one panel that really reminds you of Wall-E.

Justin:              Okay, it’s hard to argue with you.

Alex:                 It’s a fictional story like Wall-E.

Pete:                Yeah.

Justin:              My life’s a lot like Wall-E in that I occasionally watch a silent film.

Alex:                 This book is insanely over the top odd purpose, but I’m enjoying it two issues in-

Pete:                I am too.

Alex:                 … and I’m excited to see where it goes. Let’s move on to talk about Daredevil number 26 from Marvel written by Chip Zdarsky, art by Marco Checchetto and Meek Hawthorne, Mike Hawthorne. Excuse me, I don’t know why it’s spelled Meek, like the character for the Guardians of Galaxy, not Guardians of Galaxy, [inaudible 00:20:39], and World War Hulk.

Justin:              Yeah, we can just cut this part out of there.

Pete:                World War Hulk is right.

Alex:                 Mike Hawthorne, this is taking Daredevil who was in prison, mixing it up with King in Black. It is, Ted’s fucked up with an amazing last paddle. I’ll tell you what, I am vehemently against venomizing everything in the Marvel Universe, yet I love this, and I’m not 100% sure why.

Justin:              Well, I think it’s just really well handled. There’s a sort of kid and parent venomization here that is legit scary. I love the Electra taking over from Daredevils in prison. I love Electra being the Daredevil on the street. That’s such a fun story. To see them all having to handle the King in Black stuff is wild. And I loved that it didn’t take over, all the characters get to shine still. And this last bit where we … spoiler, but Daredevil gets venomized and you get to be in his head.

Pete:                You love that.

Justin:              I loved it. I thought it was so smart.

Pete:                Yeah, I was really … There’s a lot in this comic which is great. A lot of very interesting ideas in this comic, the whole prison scene, and where Daredevil’s getting kind of lectured and talking about the difference between white and black. He can just take off the mask and be somebody else, really powerful stuff, really cool. It’s very interesting to see Kingpin. I am not tired of this idea of Kingpin being a public figure. And we know him as this evil person and he’s like, it’s just very … I love this idea and I’m not sick of it. And I hope it continues around Daredevil.

Alex:                 One thing that I really loved was getting to see the moment when the mayor of New York finds out that venom symbiotes have attacked the city. I feel like that’s something that you’d never really get to see at all in a comic book crossover, because it’s always focusing on The Avengers, focusing on the superheroes. You never get to see the government, except later on when captain America is like, “Can you send out the national guard?” And they’re like, “Yeah, absolutely.” You never get to see that moment they’re like, “Oh, aliens attacking again. You got to get out of here.”

Justin:              It’s funny too because I feel like I’ve heard mayor de Blasio talk a lot about them, the venomization of New York.

Alex:                 Oh yeah, he always talks about that.

Pete:                I’m sick.

Justin:              I mean, to be fair, he’s often jumping to conclusions.

Alex:                 Right. Well, you remember when those venom symbiotes attacked New York, he was like, “Alternate side of the street park [inaudible 00:23:18].” It’s very niche content.

Pete:                Yeah, it is.

Justin:              It is very New York focused content.

Alex:                 Great comic though. Let’s move on and talk about Monstress number 31 from Image Comics written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda. Now we had talked about Monstress: Talk Stories, the two-part book that came out before this, after not talking about Monstress for a very long period of time. I thought those were awesome, so I thought it was worth checking out this book, the main book and seeing how it’s going. I still love the art in this. This is such a weird wild world that is fascinating to jump in with, the mythology is so different and interesting to read. But what did you guys think about it?

Justin:              Yeah, I agree with you. This is very much to me, and I haven’t read a lot of this book, but it’s very much to me like all of the cut scenes from Final Fantasy game just sort of put together. And I love that, so I thought this was a fun read.

Pete:                The art is really impressive in this book and it’s really a lot of fun, the different monsters and stuff and the different kind of animal people that we kind of see in this is very cool and worth checking out alone. But you guys, this has to be a dream of yours. Just sit down and have a father, daughter conversation as you sit on a pile of skulls and just kind of have a father daughter talk or a father son talk, that’s got to be something that you guys look forward to as parents.

Justin:              Hmm, didn’t go where I thought it was. Yeah, sure. I mean, after stabbing practice obviously we do sit on skulls after.

Pete:                Obviously after, yeah.

Alex:                 Exactly. Let’s move on and talk about The Other History of the DC Universe number two from DC Comics, written by John Ridley, art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, where the first issue of this book focused on black lightning, here we’re jumping over to the Teen Titans and looking to two characters there. I got to tell you, I mean, this issue was phenomenal as the first issue is phenomenal.

Justin:              It’s so good.

Alex:                 It’s fascinating personally reading this for me because I am much more familiar with what happened with black lightning. And there’s much more touchstones in that book than here, because I never read Teen Titans growing up. I had no idea what was going on there, the continuity. This is definitely, I understand this feels like the decades, but none of these stories, other than Titans Hunt which we talked about at a live show a couple of months ago, and some of the Deathstroke stuff, none of it really feels familiar with me. But at the same time I love this story and I love the idea of taking two characters who were in Teen Titans showing their diverse opinions, their diverse ideas, views of what was going on throughout the history of the DC Universe. This is such a cool project. It’s very exciting.

Justin:              It’s just so smart the way it takes two characters and really weaves their stories together with observations that … A lot of the things that happen in this from the original comics are ridiculous. But to then weave them into one story with actual commentary of what a real person would think, I think it just works so well, on top of that weaving in like real-world events and the perspective of these two African-American characters in a world where, which they talk about a lot where everyone else is white essentially, it’s just really well done. This is necessary reading I think right there.

Pete:                Yeah. I didn’t know how much I wanted this until it happened, just to have that kind of commentary on the stuff that we know from the years of reading comics is just so rich and great and such a cool idea. Art’s amazing. I’m really impressed with the writing and storytelling. It’s a must pick up.

Alex:                 Great stuff. Let’s move on and talk about Nailbiter Returns number nine from Image Comics written by Joshua Williamson, art by Mike Henderson, not Meek Henderson or anything like that.

Justin:              No, that would be [crosstalk 00:27:24].

Alex:                 That was so much fun.

Justin:              Well, I guess we’ll have to cut this out too.

Alex:                 Yes. In this book we’re finally getting a lot of answers about what has been going on in Buckaroo with the butchers. We get the [inaudible 00:27:38] back on the villain of this series. Another just great issue, like the theology that they keep fleshing out here is so impressive and so much fun.

Justin:              And we finally get the eyeball licking that I think we’ve all been asking.

Pete:                Oh, man.

Alex:                 Absolutely. I’ve been begging for it. I’ve been writing them every week. Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?

Pete:                Yeah. You guys are big eyeball lickers, this is right up your alley. This book has started at such a crazy place. And I think every issue like, oh, okay, now I understand. But it keeps getting more and more insane in such a great way. It heightens and makes things even better than you thought. I’ve been really impressed with the kind of unraveling of the stories, if you will. And man, this is so intense and gross and over the top in all the right ways, the arts fantastic. And man, eyeballs are gross.

Justin:              Yeah. But I agree and the amount of sort of dream logic that’s been used in this book, I was really surprised by, but it’s been great and it really keeps you guessing throughout.

Alex:                 Next one, I’m very excited and I mean this earnestly to find out what Pete thought about this book, X-Men number 17 from Marvel Comics, written by Jonathan Hickman, art by Brett Booth. In this issue the X-Men in classic uniforms, X factor uniforms journey to Shi’ar space and have a classic nineties style fight to save [inaudible 00:29:18]. Pete.

Justin:              Save Xandra.

Alex:                 Oh yes.

Justin:              This generation’s [inaudible 00:29:24].

Alex:                 Yeah, sorry. Pete, if there is any issue of X-Men, it had to be this issue, right?

Pete:                Sure. I mean, it was very kind of like, it was a little nineties art that was a little bit like, holy crap, when does this take place in the timeline? But man, yeah, it was enjoyable. I mean the phone call was a little ridiculous. And there was still something that I was supposed to read that didn’t in the middle of it.

Alex:                 Oh my God, that was so much fun. [crosstalk 00:30:00] Bobby.

Justin:              It was very fun.

Pete:                I’ll never know.

Alex:                 Chilling out having a hilarious time. So funny.

Pete:                I mean, it’s nineties excellent fun is what it is and all the right ways. And so that part is very cool.

Justin:              This to me was such a wild read. Coming off of X of Swords and everything that’s been going on in the X-Men books, to read this sort of love letter to the Chris Claremont era of X-Men, drawn by Brett Booth with all this really goofy shit going on between Sunspot and Cannonball. Throughout the whole issue I was like this, it just feels like Jonathan Hickman is like, I’m going to do whatever the fuck I want. And this is what I want to do right now as a palette cleanser after X of Swords, and here it is.

Alex:                 It’s great. I could not believe where they had that splash page of Jean Gray and psych labs in the X-Force uniforms storm in her classic uniform, just walking out and like posing in [inaudible 00:31:03] field style. That’s great.

Justin:              There’s this panel on page nine or something with storms in the front and then behind you got like Cyclops and Jean just flirting in the background. I was just like, this is so … And I love seeing that.

Alex:                 Me too.

Justin:              I was like, it’s such a flashback.

Alex:                 And the other thing that we get a tease of here is there’s going to be an actual vote online to choose the new member of the X-Men, which is so fun. I just love the fact that they’re having fun.

Pete:                You think that’s fun?

Alex:                 What?

Pete:                You think that’s fun?

Justin:              I do think it’s fun. Here, let’s list the options here, and then let’s hear who everybody thinks. We’ve got Banshee.

Pete:                Can we talk about the … in the middle of this giant epic fight, she calls home for help. And we got to listen to this douchebag talk about a fire sale and how he’s making money off of it. Do you guys know what a fire sale is? Do you know what … I mean, this is like, it’s very …

Alex:                 It’s for Sunspot.

Justin:              Yeah.

Alex:                 That’s what he does.

Justin:              Yeah. It was fun. It was weird and fun. That’s what the point of it was.

Pete:                Cool.

Alex:                 What is your problem with the X-Men vote, Pete? Is it that you have to use a computer, which you don’t know how to use yet?

Pete:                Yeah, that’s exactly it.

Justin:              Let me throw it down. Let me list the X-Men, Banshee, Polaris, Forge, Boom Boom, Tempo, hugely famous Tempo, Cannonball, Sunspot, Strong Guy, Mero, Armor.

Pete:                Armor.

Justin:              Who’s your pick?

Alex:                 I do like Armor.

Pete:                I go Armor.

Alex:                 Wait, who is on it then? Who is already on the team? Because I don’t know the list, obviously seen Cyclops, Jean Gray, Storm.

Justin:              Yeah, I mean, I don’t know either. I think it’s sort of up in the air maybe or maybe it’s decided.

Alex:                 Who’s the first batch again?

Justin:              Banshee, Polaris, Forge, Boom Boom, Tempo.

Alex:                 Ooh, I want to see if Storm is on the team. I want to see Forge on this team. Because I want to see that old nineties tension between them. That’d be fun.

Justin:              Yeah, they had a lot of tension.

Alex:                 Yeah.

Justin:              I’m definitely going for Strong Guy.

Pete:                Really?

Alex:                 Love it.

Justin:              I love Strong Guy.

Alex:                 All right.

Pete:                No Boom Boom.

Justin:              Fun character. Funny character. A lot of pathos underneath his his powers, great, great character.

Alex:                 I got to assume Wolverine is the other one, right? It’s Wolverine and Storm, Cyclops, Jean Gray and whoever the fifth one is.

Justin:              It’s a bunch of X-Men. I don’t know. We don’t know. Remember every other X-Men book has been like, look, a bunch of random experts.

Alex:                 It’s true. All right. Let’s throw it out to Pete the page here with a [inaudible 00:33:49], Spawn number 314 from Image Comics, written by Todd McFarlane, art by Carlo Barberi. In this issue Spawn meets a larger Spawn.

Pete:                Yeah. And is immediately confused why this larger spawn would be attacking him. He’s like, “Hey, wait, we look similar, we should be on the same size, giant spawn.”

Alex:                 What I love about this giant spawn, having not read many issues of Spawn before this, is it is entirely possible this large spawn was introduced prior or this large spawn was just introduced this issue. But either way is fine.

Justin:              Let me just throw out there, he fights a larger spawn, is captured, and then that larger spawn is like, “It’s time to meet my master, who is the large and even larger spawn.”

Pete:                And even larger spawn, because [crosstalk 00:34:39], well, you can’t get larger in that spawn. And by the way our spawn is so small in comparison to the large spawn and then even larger one. But what’s fun-

Alex:                 Here’s my question, why do they keep calling each other spawn? Because that’s like their designation, right? It would be like, if we kept calling each other a human or something like that.

Justin:              Yes.

Alex:                 It’s weird.

Pete:                Well, human.

Justin:              It is weird. Yeah, they should have a short hand, because they’re all in the spawn business together.

Pete:                I really liked this twist at the end where it’s like, oh man, you giant spawns are going to get taken down by even smaller spawn. What a twist.

Alex:                 Remember that he’s not a spawn, I think he’s sharp night guy.

Pete:                He’s night spawn, that’s [crosstalk 00:35:24].

Alex:                 Oh, he’s night spawn, was that medieval spawn?

Pete:                It’s medieval spawn. I don’t know if it’s medieval. It looks like a night spawn.

Justin:              I think, and it wasn’t introduced in issue six or something crazy, way back in the day.

Pete:                What, medieval spawn?

Justin:              Yeah.

Pete:                That was-

Alex:                 Before we move on here-

Pete:                No, no, that was a crossover event where medieval spawn was its own comic series for a little, dark ages spawn.

Justin:              Yeah, that’s right. I’m starting to think this Todd McFarlane guy is trying to sell some action figures.

Pete:                Well, he is, he makes a lot of them, and it’s smart. Because if I was a kid I would want all the spawns, but the dark ages spawn is where [crosstalk 00:36:01].

Alex:                 But as an adult you know better.

Justin:              As an adult you put away childish things.

Pete:                That’s right.

Justin:              And you’d have no interest in having any of these action figures.

Alex:                 Pete, before we move on, I just want to ask, did you like this comic book?

Pete:                Yeah, what’s not to like?

Alex:                 Your voice was very high.

Justin:              Wow, really high-pitched answer there, Pete. And let’s just, for the listener, Pete, is sitting on a pile of spawn action figures as if they were skulls.

Pete:                Yes.

Alex:                 The Last God number 12 from DC Comics written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, art by Riccardo Federici. This is wrapping up the first maybe arc of this book. But it definitely wraps up the story that we have here as our friends to try to take down The Last God, I guess.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 Big revelations here, some big deaths. What’d you think? How’d you think about this story as a whole over the course of 12 issues?

Pete:                Epic. I really love the storytelling, and [inaudible 00:36:58] is like we see them in action, but as the issues go on, we get little bits and pieces of their backstory, I think done so well, while telling a bigger story. The action and the lead-up of the ending of this was just really well done. And I wasn’t the biggest fan of songs or whatever, but it really kind of fit. I loved all the back matter and the maps and stuff. This was just a fantastic epic story that I think really 12 issues of just gold.

Justin:              It’s really beautifully drawn. The story’s great. And the fact that it ends with this just great song where we see all the characters, it feels just like a montage at the end of a epic trilogy. I want to see this as a TV series more than I want to see The Lord of the Rings series that’s in development at Amazon.

Pete:                Wow.

Alex:                 Couldn’t agree more. Let’s move on and talk about Something Is Killing the Children number 14 from BOOM! Studios, art by James Tynion IV, art by Werther Dell’Edera. Here we’re getting our hero finally fighting back against the monsters who are the ones killing the children. Justin, I know you’ve been, frustrated is probably too strong a word, but you’ve definitely felt like this title needs to get somewhere. Did you feel like it got there with this issue?

Justin:              Yes, it does feel like this is the issue that’s sort of moving into what this arc is about. When so many of the issues in this arc were very much like we got to fight this stuff, we got to get out there and do this. And we were getting little tidbits. Let me start over, this arc felt like it was going to be this huge backstory arc, really getting us to the next phase. And then it didn’t do that. And then this feels like it does it.

Alex:                 What about you, Pete? How’d you feel about this issue?

Pete:                I disagree a little bit with Justin. I think this continues to be amazing. I didn’t think-

Alex:                 It’s very good. The art is very good. The fight sequences are awesome in this book.

Pete:                Yeah. I’ve just been impressed with it from start to finish, but I think that we do kind of get to see the main girl kind of views her kind of veteran’s styles to kind of work her kind of magic a little bit. I’m glad we got to finally see that. And I love the whole bit about her working out some anger issues, oh, that just spoke to me in ways that you can’t believe. But I want to get one of those mass to walk around with the light that she has. I think that’d be really cool. But yeah, I can’t say enough great things about this book. This is really glorious.

Alex:                 It’s good staff. Moving on to Strange Adventures number eight from DC Comics written by Tom King, art by Mitch Gerads and Evan Doc Shaner. In this issue the Pykkts finally attack earth. The whole Justice League is on the offensive, Adam Strange of course is caught in the middle. And in the backstory, finding out more about what’s gotten with Adam Strange, and it is starting to feel like maybe he’s the bad guy here. What do you guys think about what’s going on?

Justin:              I mean there’s … Go ahead. You go.

Pete:                Yeah, so I’ve been a little frustrated with this up until this issue, because I felt like we haven’t really had enough information to really kind of piece together what’s going on. In this we get a lot of information which is great and much needed. The very crazy cool touching stuff with the daughter here. Yeah, I felt like this finally started to click for me and I was like, “Oh my God. Okay. Now I’m understanding things a little bit more and I want to go back and read it from the beginning.”

Justin:              I mean, this book is so good. It’s such a stressful read, like a lot of Tom King stuff. The tension in this book, it’s just palpable throughout. And we have Adam Strange in the last couple of issues. We found out that he’s been tortured basically for a million lifetimes, just absolutely brutalized. And in this issue, it just rephrases him. He’s gone through so much trauma. He’s like a fully broken person. And Doc Shaner’s art like, he still has these perfectly clear blue eyes, but you just see the pain that he’s in and how he is just not capable of being a hero. And that adds so much dread to the scenes with his daughter. And then meanwhile, you have Mr. Terrific and Batman trying to sort through with great sequences of Mr. Terrific answering trivia questions from one of his fears. I’m so excited to see where this is going.

Alex:                 I am starting to feel despite what I said at the beginning, that this is more about perspectives on war and how nobody is right. That there isn’t really a villain. I know I said maybe Adam Strange was the villain, but I think he committed atrocities, the Pykkts committed atrocities. That’s what happens in war. We know that Tom King has been in wars. He was in the CIA. He knows how this works. And I think that’s what he’s writing about here is that from the perspective of your side, of course you’re right, but that doesn’t mean that you’re right for the perspective of the other side. And I think that’s what he’s playing with here.

Justin:              There are no heroes.

Alex:                 Exactly.

Justin:              It’s very hard to have a hero when you’re in a war where both sides are fighting to kill and fighting for their lives. And I think that’s what we’re going to get next issue.

Alex:                 Yeah. Next up, An Unkindness of Ravens number five from Boom! Studios written by Dan Panosian, art by Marianna Ignazzi. This is the end of the first arc, first book, whatever you want to call it, of this title. We’ve had our main characters try to figure out what’s going on in this weird small town here, spoiler, but she finds out her mother is alive. She had a twin sister who had some power maybe, but it turns out actually she didn’t. It turns out she might have the power. She might be the one that is supposed to complete this coven of witches or whatever is going on here. We were big fans of this from when they started. How did you feel about how it wrapped up?

Justin:              I liked this so much. I think it’s set up a good mystery. I really, the art is so approachable, it makes you really feel like you’re right alongside the main characters. And this last couple of pages reveal is just so sweet. And it does such a good job, especially with the art of being very like Archie or comic books Sabrina. But having more mature themes and more sort of deeper storytelling than those original comics.

Alex:                 Pete, what about you?

Justin:              I really like this, this continues to be a fantastic book. I’ve been really impressed with kind of how we’re finding out the information as this story is going. And this whole thing about this kind of coven of witches called the ravens. And it’s just very cool. And I really liked this kind of mother daughter interaction. I feel like it’s very kind of like old timey versus now times. This kind of like, there’s a bigger picture and then … But somebody just so caught up in their own shit, they can’t kind of see the bigger things going on. I was really impressed with that. The art is glorious. I’m really into it and I’m excited to see how this kind of unfolds what choice she makes moving forward, what team she’s going to choose.

Alex:                 Good stuff. Last but not least, Colonel Weird: Cosmagog number four from Dark Horse Comics, excuse me, written by Jeff Lemire, art by Tyler Crook. This is also wrapping up this title exploring one of the members of Black Hammer. There’s a big emotional catharsis that happens here as he moves forward in his history. I thought this title was awesome. Just Tyler Crooks art is phenomenal.

Justin:              So good.

Alex:                 The writing is great. We’ve talked about this before. I’ve said this before, but it’s like Slaughterhouse-Five in space. Good stuff.

Justin:              Centered on an Adam Strange type of character. I mean, we’ve talked a lot about eyeballs in this episode The Stack.

Pete:                Yeah, sure have.

Justin:              And in this comic like-

Pete:                Eyeball heavy stack.

Justin:              Yeah, eyeball heavy. I’ve been just licking these eyeballs, lapping them up. And this, you just see so much pain in the different versions of Colonel Weird throughout time, throughout this book. And it’s just so good. It’s such a well done story.

Pete:                I think the cover says so much. It’s like The Little Prince and Outer Space, but sad.

Alex:                 That cover is so good. Go ahead, Pete.

Pete:                Yeah, it’s really unbelievable. I feel like I want to read it all again because it ended and I was like, “Wait, what?” I wasn’t sure how great the ending is until I want to go back and read it all again. But it was really cool, very creative and the art’s unbelievable.

Alex:                 And that is it for The Stack. If you’d like to support our show, patreon.com/comicbookclub. Also we do a live show every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM to Crowdcast and YouTube. Come hang out, we would love to chat with you about comics at Comic Book Live on Twitter, comicbookclublive.com for this podcast, and more iTunes, Android, Spotify, Stitcher, or the app of your choice to subscribe and listen. Until next time, keep supporting Dim Comics.

Justin:              Time for stabbing rehearsal.

The post The Stack: South Side Serpents, Captain Marvel And More appeared first on Comic Book Club.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookclub

On this week’s comic book review show:

King in Black #3
Marvel
Written by Donny Cates
Art by Ryan Stegman

Future State: The Next Batman #2
DC Comics
Written by John Ridley, Vita Ayala, Paula Sevenbergen
Art by Laura Braga, Aneke, Rob Haynes

Future State: Superman Worlds of War #1
DC Comics
Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Brandon Easton, Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad, Jeremy Adams
Art by Mikel Janín, Valentine de Landro, Gleb Mlenikov, Siya Oum

Future State: Catwoman #1
DC Comics
Written by Ram V
Art by Otto Schmidt

Future State: Shazam #1
DC Comics
Written by Tim Sheridan
Art by Eduardo Pansica

Future State: Nightwing #1
DC Comics
Written by Andrew Constant
Art by Nicola Scott

Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman #1
DC Comics
Written by Becky Cloonan & Michael W. Conrad, LL McKinney
Art by Jen Bartel, Alitha Martinez

Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon #1
Marvel
Written by Larry Hama
Art by David Wachter

Rain Like Hammers #1
Image Comics
Created by Brandom Graham

Rorschach #4
DC Comics
Written by Tom King
Art by Jorge Fornés

Abbott 1973 #1
BOOM! Studios
Written by Saladin Ahmed
Art by Sami Kivelä

Black Cat: King in Black #2
Marvel
Written by Jed MacKay
Art by C.F. Villa

Batman/Catwoman #2
DC Comics
Written by Tom King
Art by Clay Mann

The Scumbag #4
Image Comics
Written by Rick Remender
Art by Eric Powell

Once & Future #15
BOOM! Studios
Written by Kieron Gillen
Art by Dan Mora

Maestro: War & Pax #1
Marvel
Written by Peter David
Art by Javier Pina

Stillwater #5
Image Comics
Written by Chip Zdarsky
Art by Ramón K Perez

Seven to Eternity #16
Image Comics
Written by Rick Remender
Art by Jerome Opeña

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Full Episode Transcript:

Alex:                 What is up y’all, welcome to The Stack, I’m Alex.

Justin:              I’m Justin.

Pete:                I’m Pete. We’re The Stack. What is up?

Justin:              Oh, he wants a little editorial time at the beginning.

Alex:                 Pete, do your what’s up section, go for it?

Pete:                Hey, everybody, what is up?

Alex:                 [inaudible 00:00:30].

Justin:              What a fun way to Kick it up? You sound like [inaudible 00:00:38].

Pete:                He’s my guy.

Alex:                 We’re going to talk about a bunch of comics that came out this very week. We’re going to review them, we’re going to talk about them, we’re going to offer up our unfiltered opinions. We’re going to kick it off with King in Black number three from Marvel written by Donny Cates and art by Ryan Stegman. This issue spoilers Venom is dead. And what remains to the Marvel heroes are going right up against Knull, that includes Venom’s son, but also includes Thor, who is finally come back to take on Knull. There’s some brutal stuff that happens in this issue. We’re almost through this event, I think at this point. We’re definitely at the halfway point. What do you think about it so far? Would you been thinking about this issue in particular?

Justin:              What I really like about this event is, it has a unique structure. I feel like so many events are built around the idea of heroes having normal lives, problem emerges, everything gets bad, heroes rally, they win. And in this, it was for everything is bad immediately out of the gate. And then now we’re seeing some things getting worse. We’re seeing little pops of different hero moments. And in this issue we get Thor popping, and it’s really good. I love the last page reveal, the arts fantastic in this issue. And it’s also funny how little knull, knull it’s just sort of hovering at the center of it, but we haven’t seen a lot of Knull doing stuff.

Alex:                 Yeah, I mean, this issue it definitely mixes it up though. I think this is just a lot of fun, a really a great kind of event. I’ve been really happy with the action and this, it keeps things getting worse, but there’s little glimmers of hope. I’ve been very much enjoying the over the top action adventure and fun that they’re having on this. This is just a really cool, very bad shit going on here, giant dragons and flaming monsters, and the last page reveal is just bad-ass. This might be the goop on the Chrysler building, but this is starting to remind me a lot of Inferno, the crossover from back in the day when demons took over New York. Partially…

Pete:                Wait, was that Ghostbusters II reference with ooze on the… What do you mean the-

Alex:                 100% absolutely not. It was a reference to the X-Men: Crossover Inferno. We just had… well, it’s very iconic thing of the Empire State Building to be taken over by the demons from LeBeau, and it just got bigger and bigger over time, and people would be like, hey, that’s weird. The Empire State Building is bigger than I remember it is. This reminds me a lot of that, but it also reminds me a lot of that because you have these disparate elements from these other mini-series and other things going on, and kind of starting to come together in this issue, different threads.

Alex:                 Justin, you mentioned this couple of issues back, but I think that one thing that Donny Cates is doing very well, is giving the spotlight to other characters. Like there’s a great Iron Man moments of this issue. Thor knocking Knull’s jaw off is very bad ass. It’s high octane thriller in the same way that Dark Nights: Death Metal was. And I think that’s fun. It’s fun to read right now.

Justin:              Agree. Donny Cates is a big used the whole Buffalo writer and he does it here. With a lot of the stuff he’s been setting up across all the titles he’s been working on, and just stuff that goes on with the other characters in the Marvel universe.

Pete:                Justin, I appreciate your Buffalo reference and go bills.

Justin:              That’s right. I’ve said use the whole Buffalo bills.

Alex:                 Now, as we were doing for the past two weeks, on to week three, let’s talk about Future State over at DC Comics.[crosstalk 00:04:33]. This is an interesting week because we bought a bunch of number one Future State issues, but we’re also getting our first number two with Future State, the next Batman number two. There’s also a lot of developing story at some big points that we start to get about what’s going on in this future world. As we have been doing, why don’t you guys call out the things that you particularly liked, that you thought were interesting? Pete, let’s start with you, at all offer up the writing to you as we go through.

Pete:                Alright, great. I really liked the next Batman. I think this is kind of a fun Batman in the future with tack and kind of shit that he’s up against. I’m enjoying this.

Alex:                 Well, let’s talk about that one first, because that is as mentioned the first number two of this Future State slate. This is written by John Ridley, Vita Ayala, and Paula Sevenbergen, art by Laura Braga, Aneke and Rob Haynes. Pete, what did you like about this one in particular?

Pete:                Well, I like where we’re kind of picking up here. This feels like a Batman book, kind of in the middle of things picking apart who’s doing what to whom, we’ve got some bad guys kind of closing in on Batman, and yeah, I also, Batman’s hurt. It’s nice to see it’s not this Batman that has no flaws, or can’t be hurt with the tech armor that he’s got on. So it feels like a Batman book. It’s a new kind of take on Batman. So I’m excited about it. I think it’s I’m enjoying it.

Justin:              Yeah, I agree. I mean, I like this a lot. It definitely, just the voice is different with Batman throughout here, and that’s just great to see. And it really feels like it’s paying off the promise of Future State. Like we’re doing new versions of these characters and let’s see. And then I also thought [inaudible 00:06:29] is it Gotham city sirens at the end which plays like a… The art is almost like Dan Parent Archie Comics, which I thought was really fun and just a different sort of vibe to the whole thing.

Alex:                 Is that, we read a lot of these, so forgive me if I got this wrong. Was that’s the one was Spoiler and Cassandra [Canaan 00:06:52] in jail, right?

Justin:              Yes.

Alex:                 That was great.

Justin:              I love that.

Alex:                 That was one of my favorite things this week. I thought that was really fascinating. That picks up on some of the threads that we’ve gotten on some of the other books with Spoiler in particular. And just this idea that the magistrate, whoever the magistrate is, who is running Gotham City now, is throwing good guys and bad guys in jail, just because of his zero-tolerance policy. I think it was a really fun idea. I mean, I don’t know if I completely buy this, but I’ll just throw something out to you that was my impression halfway through reading all these Future State books, I almost wish DC had gone for it and said, “This is the DC universe now, this is what we’re doing going forward.” Like to be-

Pete:                That would be too big of a shakeup, that would be-

Alex:                 It would be huge. I understand why they did it, but if you remember back in the day, there was the one year later stuff, I believe after 52, where there’s apocalyptic event that jumped forward a year, and then they kind of filled it and stuff later. The idea of doing that and just jumping forward in unseen unspecified amount of time later, I kind of loved that. Particularly because, well, a lot of what we got this week, was the idea that we’re told in week one Batman is gone, Superman is gone, Wonder Woman is gone. They’re not gone, they’re just in kind of different status quos at this point. So instead, it does feel like the DC universe just, there are some holes to fill it at this point.

Pete:                What I like about this event is, I feel like they are shaking things up. They’re getting different people on different projects, and you’re getting new takes on it. And it feels like a fresh take, which is great. I think they’re doing it smart. If things start to do well, maybe it takes over the regular title. I think that’s a smart way to do this.

Alex:                 They are continuing next Batman. I mean, that’s clearly seems like the one that they’re all in on, they have John Ridley on it, that’s a big deal. They’re continuing that title that you’ve heard of the universe. So to your point Pete, I think there’s a couple of others that could roll off of. Before we get two other leads here though Justin, any other titles that jumped out at you?

Justin:              I’m going to give it up for Superman – Worlds of War.

Alex:                 Yeah, gladiator Superman.

Justin:              Which yeah. And I really like this because it takes Superman, to your point you mentioned before, about how the main trinity are sort of off the board. Here we get to find out where Superman is. And he’s on war world, and there’s a bunch of bad shit happening there. And I thought-

Alex:                 It’s… Let me just interrupt with the creative team for this one, written by Philip Kennedy Johnson, Brandon M. Easton, Becky Clinton, and Michael W. Conrad, Jeremy Adams, art by Miquel Janine, Valentine Delondra, Glib and Melnikov and [inaudible 00:09:47]. Take it away Justin.

Pete:                I would, Justin, if I could interrupt you for a moment. I’m really hoping it’s going to be like planet Hulk, and Superman comes back and he is so pissed, and blows up New York.

Justin:              Yeah, that’s a solid guess. I really liked the Phillip Kennedy Johnson story that kicks it off is so great. Focusing on Smallville, he talked about this a little bit when he was on our show a few weeks ago, and just a great sort of retrospective about what Superman is, what he does, it’s so good.

Alex:                 I also really liked the Midnighters story in this book. This is great and very key to everything that’s going on in Future State, because unless I misinterpreted it, and this is a spoiler here, but we find out the identity of Trojan, the person who’s been running Metropolis in Superman’s absence, and it is none other than Apollo.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 What do you think about that Pete? You love Apollo and Midnighter, so what was your take on this twist?

Pete:                I was very a gasped, I clutch my pearls, I wasn’t ready for it.

Justin:              Those pearls look lovely by the way. You look gorgeous.

Pete:                Thank you. [crosstalk 00:10:55]

Justin:              They really accentuate your neck.

Pete:                You guys.

Justin:              Beautiful neck.

Pete:                Becky Cloonan is writing the crap out of this, this is… I really want more of this. This is a very, very cool kind of story that we have here in this book.

Justin:              I like this quite a bit as well. Like you said there, a bunch of them they’re really good. I like…What’s up Pete?

Pete:                I was just going to say the art across the board has been really impressive. It’s because for me, DC seems very certain style of art, and I’ve been really impressed with how they’re pushing that out a little bit. They’re not as cookie cutter as they normally are. So I’m really impressed with that.

Alex:                 I thought a mortal Wonder Woman was the one that I was really looking forward to, and art wise and in particular, I thought it was really gorgeous,

Justin:              Really nice art.

Alex:                 I like the stories quite a bit, written by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, L.L. McKinney, art by Jenny Bartelle and Alitha Martinez. You have two stories, one about Wonder Woman kind of an end of time Wonder Woman thing going on, and then another one about Nubia, who is Wonder Woman’s twin sister. I thought this was a really solid book, particularly on the Wonder Woman story, which was really fascinating though I liked a Nubia as well. But the other one that a lot of call out that I was very surprised by it.[crosstalk 00:12:20]

Pete:                Justin before you say anything, I thought this was going to be your pick, because you were inside the head of Wonder Woman at the start of that, and you love that shit.

Justin:              I love being inside people’s heads. I’m still trying to crack my way into that [inaudible 00:12:39].

Pete:                [inaudible 00:12:39] this.

Justin:              I feel like in this story, it’s sort of positioning Wonder Woman, almost like Superman. Almost like Jor-El on Krypton in the last days trying to save it, while everyone’s like, “Nope, we got to do this other stuff.” And I thought that was an interesting sort of blending of Wonder Woman and Superman’s [inaudible 00:12:58].

Pete:                The ghost Batman moment with Wonder Woman was very touching. I thought that was very nice.

Justin:              Yeah. So good stuff but the other one I [inaudible 00:13:09] call was Future State Shazam number one written by Tim Sheridan, art by Eduardo Pansica. This is the one that really drove home for me. What I was saying earlier about feeling like, oh, they just could have done this. This doesn’t need to be Future State because there’s going to be a thing. This is what we get here is Neron, has separated Shazam and Billy Batson. Billy Batson is, big spoilers, but Billy Batson has been chained to the Rock of Eternity, to lock in some prisoner we don’t find out what it is, but it’s very bad. And Shazam has left on his own and basically spiraling out and becoming a merciless killer of villains. And this just feels like such a clear Shazam idea at a very different way. It’s something that’s like, you don’t need to do this 40, 50 day years down the road. This is just a good dark Shazamm idea, that I like quite a lot. Yeah, I also really liked Legion. I thought that was…

Alex:                 Legion?

Justin:              Yeah, Legion number 12. Was that not part of the Future State?

Alex:                 No, [crosstalk 00:14:18].

Pete:                No, but great that you’re reading.

Justin:              Yeah, sorry about that.

Alex:                 That’s all good.

Justin:              But I liked the end, the reveal and Catwoman, I thought they also had great art and I liked the last page reveal very much.

Alex:                 That was super fun as well. That was written by Ram V, art by Otto Schmidt and that is just Catwoman going on a great train robbery in this magistrate run Gotham City, super fun.

Justin:              I agree, I really liked the Catwoman one. It was a good use of genre to really tell an interesting story. And the other one we haven’t talked about yet is the Nightwing, which I also thought was cool as well. A lot of different takes.

Alex:                 Yeah, written by Andrew constant, art by Nicola Scott, and this finds Nightwing kind of getting fed up with the status quo of Gotham City and decided to make a big move there. I’m more excited for the second issue of this one. I think that the first issue, but very solid done the less.

Justin:              Yeah, I really, I thought all of these books from Future State this week really had something to really enjoy in them. And that was exciting.

Alex:                 Yeah, I think what they’re trying to do is cool, it’s fun to mix things up.

Pete:                I’m definitely at the point and I know I’ll change my mind in a couple of weeks, but I’m definitely at the point where I’m like, I kind of don’t want to go back to whatever the status quo is.

Alex:                 Oh, wow.

Pete:                I’m enjoying it, I’m having a fun time.

Justin:              Maybe there’s no status quo ever again, in the world.

Alex:                 There’s no status quo baby. Let’s move on to shock one that I think is probably a gimme for Pete Iron Fist, heart of the dragon number one from Marvel written by Larry Hama, written by David Wachter, Pete, what’d you think about this?

Pete:                First off, the Hamas writing this book is really fantastic. Touches my heart in all the right ways. Hama, who famously writes a ton of G.I. Joe, this makes a lot of sense, putting him on this book. And this the issue was just glorious. Really a lot of fun, some cool characters. I loved it. Plus anytime you got Luke Cage and Iron Fist together, I’m a happy camper. Art’s unbelievable. This is just a really cool bad-ass story, and I want more.

Justin:              I mean, is there any more G.I. Joe type story than this with guys named Iron Fist, Taskmaster? It’s right over the gate. If we’re going to get snow jabbing here, I think we have a full set.

Alex:                 Yeah, this is fine. This is Taskmaster is stealing a bunch of dragon hearts and messing up the seven kingdoms. So Iron Fist has to go after him. There’s a bunch of other things-

Pete:                Heart of the dragon.

Alex:                 Yes. Lady Bullseye is in there, like you mentioned, Luke Cage, yeah, it’s fun.

Justin:              Yeah, and I will say it did take some fun turns. I liked seeing Luke Cage in here really getting up and doing some fighting here.

Pete:                Yeah. Also daddy Luke Cage, he starts off so lovable, but he’s not scared to throw down, you know what I mean?

Alex:                 Exactly. Justin, let’s move on to one of I believe your favorites of the week, Rain Like Hammers, number one for, which comics created by Brandon Graham. This is a, I don’t even know if it takes place in the future. It’s definitely a sci-fi book but…

Justin:              This is present day.

Alex:                 It follows a guy… its present day. Follows a guy who works, he watches TV, he eats, then things go terribly wrong.

Justin:              This is the prequel to Wally, is what this is.

Alex:                 This book is gorgeous, but Justin, you go ahead. You talk about it.

Justin:              I love Brandon Graham’s art and storytelling. They’ll… One of the books that really first turned me on is, he was doing the art on profit, the image book that it used to be just like a Rob Liefeld, like a knife and pouch situation, and then took on this trippy Sci-fi space take in the latter issues. And this sort of feels very much in line with that. This could be a stand-alone issue. And what’s the other book that Brandon Graham did, is it Warheads? Something Warhead? Also very good, but this, in the back batter, he talks about this was inspired by him sort of being at home and feeling a little like just in a rut.

Pete:                Yeah, bro.

Justin:              So it’s, in the end talking about healing Manga, a processing comic and how this sort of is-

Alex:                 Yeah, multiple Warheads.

Justin:              Multiple Warheads. This comic is a little bit about processing the stuff that he was going through when he was writing it, and I love that. To be able to take something you’re going through and really make a beautiful piece of art out of it is great.

Alex:                 It reminds me a little bit, it’s almost like sad idiocrasy in a way. It’s not funny, it’s just sort of people sitting, ingesting TV, eating things, honestly things have pretty good that the guy’s eating, but he’s just living his life-

Justin:              They did sound good.

Alex:                 Right? And being a drone and kind of going through it, but gorgeous, gorgeous book. Highly recommend picking it up. Yes Pete?

Pete:                The art alone is worth it. It’s just the way it starts off, and like sets this tone, and the paneling of just this kind of vast thing that he’s on, is really just, it’s very moving and powerful.

Alex:                 There’s a panel towards the end of the book where the main character is standing outside finally at the place that he’s living in, there’s sort of a massive tank or whatever it is. It’s double page spread, and it’s so sad and awesome, and just so many things at the same time. It’s wonderful to see, definitely pick up this book. Next up, Rorschach number four-

Pete:                It’s just like a cruise ship that has elephant legs on it.

Alex:                 Sure. Rorschach number four, from DC Comics written by Tom King, art by Hore Fortes. In this issue, we’re getting a bit more of the origin of the kid. And if anything, this used to be pivoting to be less about Rorschach, and more about the kid, this kind of cowboy character that we met over the course of it. In here we find a man that she-

Pete:                Muscle man.

Alex:                 I mean, it’s arguable, I think. But tricked into thinking he was the reincarnated soul of Rorschach after Dr. Manhattan destroyed him, a lot of what we were dealing with in this title and also here, is about conspiracy theories, which I think really gets to the theme of what Tom King is doing. Another fantastic issue, I don’t know what the thrust of this title is, and I don’t think we will know until the last issue, but man, every issue individually is so impeccably done.

Justin:              You go ahead Pete.

Pete:                I was just going to say, if Tom King wasn’t a good writer, I’d be so pissed. Because I have no fucking idea what is happening, but I’m still having a great time. And part of me is like maybe muscle man was, I mean, how do we know?

Justin:              I think that’s part of the take here, and what my… I’ve really loved reading this series and really love sort of thinking about it after I finished each issue. And with this one, it feels like Tom King is taking some of the Rorschach stuff that’s happened since Watchmen ended, where Rorschach is sort of being put in as like, oh, he was a precursor to a lot of the way people are feeling now politically. Like isolated, believing conspiracy theories, and just chasing them up all that kind of stuff.

Justin:              And so to take that sort of version of Rorschach and then remix it again for our age where she makes this guy believe that he is Rorschach, believes this sort of fake news, this conspiracy stuff, and then he acts on it. I mean, it feels so prescient given the politics that have been happening in the last couple of weeks with the January 6, insurrection and all that. This feels like it’s all speaking to these same issues and to be able to write something that feels that topical when it comes out, is amazing to me.

Alex:                 Pete?

Pete:                Yeah, I just think that, I kind of said how I feel about it as far as it’s impressive, but it’s also confusing. But the way that the kid is portrayed is very, very interesting. And I think it’s really great kind of personification of somebody in this way, but also as I was kind of reading it, I wrote down in my notes. I think I’m crazier now after I’ve read this book.

Justin:              Yeah, you’re next. I mean, the kid is like a charismatic sociopath who believes in this stuff and convinces other people to believe in it.

Alex:                 And it’s funny too, because there’s a line in here where it’s like, What’s the kid’s name?” And it’s like, “I don’t know, we call him the kid.” And I have a friend like that, if they knew that I didn’t know his actual name, we just call him the kid. He’d be pretty upset. I will say, and I don’t know if I can completely believe this premise, but I do feel like there’s a certain hesitance on King’s part to touch Watchmen. And I say that fully knowing there is a scene in here, that shows the characters and Watchmen interacting in a new way. But there’s something about it that feels like you have a book called Rorschach. You’re not actually focusing on Rorschach. What exactly is going on?

Pete:                Is it all about Rorschach?

Justin:              See, I disagree. I think what this book does, it takes the ideas of Rorschach, and really puts them on the table, and looks at them with a modern eye, in a way that I think gets deeper than just having Rorschach be like, hey, what’s up? Hey, what’s up blue guy?

Alex:                 Classic Rorschach line. What’s up dudes?

Pete:                What’s up? It’s me the Rorschach, [crosstalk 00:24:25].

Alex:                 I’m hanging 10 in here with you.

Pete:                Yeah, I just think it’s like a classic inkblot scenario. We’re all bringing our own things to the story and it’s just reflecting our own bullshit.

Alex:                 I don’t know how that connects it anyway to what we’re talking about.

Justin:              Yeah, exactly. What is that in relation to?

Alex:                 What are you even talking about Pete?

Justin:              Are you trying to test us?

Alex:                 [inaudible 00:24:53]. 1973, number one for Boom! Studios written by Saladin Ahmed, art by Sami Kivela. This is pick it up, of course, on previous series of Abbott. She is an investigator, She’s got some supernatural powers. I feel like I’ve only read one or two issues of Abbott, but this was a good jumping on point anyway. And I felt like as a pulpy, 1970s, supernaturally inflected mystery, it was very enjoyable to read.

Pete:                Abbott.

Justin:              Abbott. I agree. I mean, we don’t get much of the supernatural side of it. Just little gestures to it until the very end, but I really love the table setting in this issue and the sort of, just the vibe, it’s got a good sort of irreverent vibe throughout.

Pete:                Abbott. Yeah, I think that first off give a nod to, this is the year [inaudible 00:25:56] was born. So just want to give a shout out to that there.

Justin:              Not true.

Pete:                I know, I’m just messing with you [crosstalk 00:26:02].

Justin:              Pete loves telling lies about us. That’s what his bit for quite some time.

Alex:                 Pete was born in 1942. Yeah, that’s right. Sailed the ocean blue. But what I do… What’s nice is it’s an interesting way to deal with this kind of the creepy feeling of someone. I liked the Reveal at the end, and it kind of made sense with the things that happened. It’s one of those things where you’re like, you read it and you’re like, oh, okay. So I’m enjoying it. It’s weird, but I like it. Let’s move on to talk about Black Cat, King In Black, number two from Marvel, written by Jed McKay art by CF Villa. Of course, we had Jed McKay on our live show this week. So definitely-

Pete:                We did?

Alex:                 We did Pete, you were there and everything. So Black Cat is been tasked with stealing Dr. Strange from Knull, the king in Black, we get to see that heist this issue, this is so much fun.

Justin:              So much fun. I’ve said this, I said this a lot on the live show. I love this book. This book is so smartly done. It’s rare for me to see a character where she has multiple sides. So many superhero characters are… It’s like they do their one thing and we just see it a bunch of different ways. But the Black Cat really gets to be different things to different people, she gets to feel things, be very serious, be a little bit more lighthearted. And then just the heist of it all, is just so well done. Throwing on an antivenom suit to dive into the goop is such a smart idea, and it’s dramatic, it’s tense, there’s some spider immobile stuff.

Pete:                Really plugging the hell a lot of goop on the show. Yeah, I really… There’s also a lot of fun nerd stuff in here. Like the fact that she gets to fly on the goblin glider, and then the spider-buggy later. This is just… They have a lot of fun with this character, which is great to see. I love the baby bjorn with the Ghost Dog. I mean, this is just good shit. And it’s cool to kind of see this. I’m not a huge Black Cat fan, but I’m having a lot of fun.

Justin:              You love cats.

Pete:                It’s true, it’s a good point.

Alex:                 Speaking of which, let’s move on and talk about Batman/Catwoman number two from DC comics, written by Tom King, art by Clay Mann, and this issue, we’re jumping through multiple timelines here. We’re getting to see Batman and Catwoman do some stuff where the tracking down the Phantasm, I believe, who is killing the edge man of the Joker. In the future timeline, Cat woman has come to kill the old Joker. And maybe there’s another timeline in there. I got to be honest with you. Clay Mann’s art, gorgeous. Tom King’s write, good. I like reading this book. I am having a very hard time following what is happening in these issues.

Justin:              Well, it’s only the second issue. So, because I do sort of agree with you. It’s hard to connect the plots as it’s going.

Pete:                No, it’s too early. I don’t try to do that, this is Tom King guys. Just let’s lay off a little bit, enjoy the ride.

Alex:                 The thing is like, there’s not enough of an artistic or textual indicator for the timelines right now where, I understand part of the idea is that all of this mashed together. It’s all happening at the same time. It all connects to each other. But just from a reader perspective, there are some pages where it’s jumping between three timelines, and it takes me a second or two to realize, oh, okay, this is taking place at the middle timeline. This is duplicate of the first timeline. And that takes me out of the story a little bit.

Justin:              Well a second or two, you don’t have that kind of time to spare [crosstalk 00:29:58]. You were born in 1973.

Pete:                Easy speed reader. You don’t have to just plow through everything. Sometimes you got to stop and think about what’s happening a little bit.

Alex:                 I was a child of the love generation man.

Justin:              It’s true. Conceived in wood stack, born in the back of the Crosby Stills Nash and Young van.

Pete:                [inaudible 00:30:21] with all due respect, I disagree. I’m having a lot of fun on this book because I miss that Catwoman/Batman relationship.

Alex:                 This is a bizarre mirror world that we’re in, but go ahead, Pete.

Pete:                Yes. And so also I thought it was touching the way Joker wish Catwoman a Merry Christmas. I thought that was very nice. But yeah, we’re getting a lot of different worlds and different timelines mashed up. We’ve been getting an old villain from Batman, the animated series. But Tom King does an amazing job on Batman, and I’m going to let this breathe a little bit before I start getting to what timeline are we in. I’m just enjoying the ride, and the artwork and man is it great?

Justin:              Clay Mann, is he great? I do think part of it was, I think this book was, the expectations for this book were fun romance between Batman and Catwoman. It’s just not that, it’s like a whole new storyline and-

Pete:                No, but they’re dealing with stuff though. You can tell the [crosstalk 00:31:26] back and forth.

Justin:              Of course I think they are…

Pete:                Well, if you make it, it’s not always sunny, beaches, you know what I mean? Sometimes relationships get real. You got to have tough conversations man.

Justin:              I’ve never had a difficult conversation with anyone. Its all smooth sailing for old JT. No, my point is, you’re walking into this book and it’s just a different, it’s a whole different thing. There’re multiple timelines. There actually is very little romance in this. It’s about the Joker pretty exclusively so far, and the introduction of the Phantasm.

Justin:              But what I do think is amazing about this, it feels like Tom King is really writing toward Clay Mann. Every panel in this book feels like it’s so specific, it’s so curated. And it is just something to behold. Even the small panels are just perfect. There’s this section where the… It’s a close-up on the Joker with a candy cane, everything is so deliberate. And I think it’s great.

Pete:                Now I don’t know about you guys, but the part where the subway scene and getting a little spoilers, someone dies in the subway. I was like, oh man, that is the worst. You finally get a subway car all to yourself, and someone murders you, oh man, classic New York.

Justin:              You sound almost nostalgic for it, Pete. But I actually don’t think you live, you’re a new Yorker anymore, so you get that name out of your mouth.

Alex:                 The Scumbag, speaking of Pete, number four, [inaudible 00:33:02]. Its written by Ric Remender, art by Eric Powel. In this issue, our main Scumbag is heading on a discreet mission to eyes wide shut style orgy that is going on, things go predictably wrong. We had Remender on the show last week where we talked about this title. So it was fun to get his input, but what’d you think about this issue?

Pete:                Yeah, this is just insanity. But I do like how everybody’s skeeved out by The Scumbag, and that’s kind of funny how he can’t get himself into the one place he wants to be. But yeah, this continues to be amazing storytelling, fantastic art, creepy ass fucking dude that I don’t know why we’re rooting for, but we are. And just kind of this scenario keeps getting more and more intense.

Justin:              Yeah, I mean, I think the Pete bag is sort of one of Remender’s real good another great book from him. The art is fantastic and the way that he is just, you could tell, he’s having such a great time writing The Scumbag, for who he is. And I think Ric Remender with this, and another book we need to be talking about very soon, Seven To Eternity, it’s really playing with, why does the protagonist have to be good? And why is the villain bad? Maybe we can mix those. And I think he just does that really well. And same thing here. This guy’s a scumbag, but we still root for him. But he does a bunch of bad stuff, but he seems inherently good. And the bad guys seem like they’re just trying to do what everyone’s doing, getting by as best they can. It’s interesting storytelling.

Alex:                 Once & Future number 15 from Boom! Studios written by Kieron Gillen.

Pete:                Sorry, Justin.

Alex:                 Sorry Justin?

Pete:                Yeah, he was clearly teeing up Seven To Eternity, but you were like fuck that, we’re going Once & Future.

Alex:                 So I said out a list.

Pete:                Here we go, behind the scenes. You can’t stray from the list. If something comes up organically, we got to stick to the list here.

Justin:              Looking back, I don’t think we should have given Pete that much power at the beginning to have his little what’s up corner, because I think it’s really gone to his head.

Pete:                Yeah, I think the vodka is what-

Alex:                 You wanted to talk about Once & Future, I’m sure Pete, because the grabba is in this a lot. In this issue we find out about Lancelot, we also find out more about the backstory of what was going on, a great issue, fun as always, high octane drama and action, with some terrifying things going on as usual. Just another good issue of Once & Future.

Pete:                Good is an understatement man, this is great. The art’s unbelievable, the action is over the top, this continues to be one of the must pick ups of the week. Every time there’s an issue of Once & Future, it’s just continues to be phenomenal. The drama keeps getting more and more bad-ass, and we get to kind of see the other half, the why we’re kind of in this mess, in this issue. And I also really love the, I’m going to tell you a story, you’re going to tell me a story moment, and that first story is fucking really powerful, especially when you reveal scars.

Justin:              Yeah, I do… I like that we’re getting to really learn the rules of this comic as it’s going on. And this is your especially where, it’s a story about stories. But in this it’s about sort of who’s taking power, and who’s the storyteller, and which story are they telling? It feels like that’s the hat that everyone continues to pass over. Like, wait, who are you? Who are you in this story? Oh, I’m this? I started telling this story. I think that refreshes that sort of trope of a story about stories in a fun way. And the artists fantastic. Lancelot screaming in French, I mean, I’m here for it.

Alex:                 Yeah, absolutely. Let’s move on, talk about Maestro: War and Pax, number one from Marvel written by Peter David and Javier Pina. This picking up on the first Maestro mini-series here, the Hulk finally fully as the Maestro, but he hasn’t consolidated all of his power as of yet. So he’s going past the remnants of the Marvel universe. I think we talked about the first issue of the Maestro mini-series previously. So I thought it was worth checking in with this one. How do you think it’s holding up?

Pete:                Well, it’s kind of upsetting to see kind of a evil Hulk. So,

Justin:              Really?

Pete:                Usually I’m on the green guy’s side, so this is, it’s a little tough to see how this guy goes about business.

Justin:              Wow, heartbreaker. I like this a lot. I really like seeing the Pantheon from Peter David’s run way back in the day, characters that no one else has really touched since. And I like them. I also liked that the Hulk and… The Maestro and his squad just jump onto the Staten Island Ferry, and drive down to DC to go confront them, which is just a fun visual choice. And it’s great to see that the Maestro sort of messes up. You expect him to just dominate and it’s about him sort of not doing so had.

Alex:                 Yeah, I mean, Peter David is a baster of the comic book form. Just everything is perfectly paced out. His jokes work, everything works. The action works. It’s always a joy to read one of his books because they’re just, they’re firing on all cylinders every single time, even decades into his career as is at this point, and it’s great. Let’s move on talk about StillWater number five from Image Comics written by Chip Zdarsky, art by Ramón K. Perez.

Pete:                He’s really going to make you wait, Justin. Sorry buddy.

Justin:              I’m fine, I wasn’t [inaudible 00:39:14].

Alex:                 Oh my God. I mean, for those of you listened to the podcast, Justin is furious right now. You can see it just like flames coming out of his head. StillWater number five from Image Comics, this is a big issue here, as our main character has taken residence in StillWater, the town where nobody dies. Everybody has taken this as an opportunity to let the judge, the guy who rules the town know that, hey, they want to change things. They want to leave, they want to let the outside world know about stuff. Things go terribly wrong, and then they get more wrong from there. Then even then there were five issues in, it feels like this is whipping through story at this point.

Justin:              Yeah, but I think it’s really coming into its own. It’s starting to remind me a little bit of Southern Bastards. [crosstalk 00:40:12]. I think the judge has some coach boss vibe to him, and I just think the energy has that Southern Bastards is a great book by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour from years ago, that to sort of think was left open-ended, that I just wish we could see more of. But this is fun, it really is like, I don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s feels like bad stuff is happening all around in this town that [inaudible 00:40:37].

Pete:                Yeah, it’s unfortunate that at this town, there’s a kind of a power hungry judge who’s not willing to hear the people. I think that this book continues to, with the twists and turns. We’re kind of finally getting everything all out on the page here in this issue. So we kind of know where everybody stands and what the kind of moving forward is going to look like. But man, even with all that, the kind of twists and turns that happen in this comic, we’re still pretty powerful and pretty crazy.

Alex:                 Yeah, last and definitely least.

Pete:                Sorry, Justin.

Alex:                 Seven To Eternity number 16, from Image Comics written by Rick Remender art by Jerome Opena. This is the second to last, I believe issue of this title as we talk to Rick Remender about. Here, we’re starting to wrap things up at an enormous battle way. This feels to me, I mean, they’re obviously very different stories, but it feels to me very much like the end of low, where we’re just getting these insane over the top battle scenes with all of our characters as he starts to wrap things up. But it’s great. I mean, in particular Jerome [inaudible 00:41:53] art is stunning on every page.

Justin:              Very good. And he’s managed to tell a story, like following up on what I was saying, honestly so long ago, but to flip the hero and the villain here and still surprise us. And at the same time telling like an epic Avengers or justice league style, like cosmic stakes battle with all original characters, it’s just really excellent comic making.

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, I can’t stop paging through the art. I mean the splash pages with the kind of waterfall, fallen giants thing is just, it’s really unbelievable. The monsters, it’s just really, really impressive. Yeah, the twists that happened, man, what a great book. I cannot wait to see how this wraps up. This is really, really great comic book, right here where we get to read.

Alex:                 Well, and I’ll tell you how The Stack is going to wrap up. It’s going to wrap up right now. If you’d like to support us patrion.com/comic book club. Also, we do a live show every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM to Crowdcast and YouTube, come hang out. We’d love to chat with you about comic books. iTunes, Android, Spotify, Stitcher, or the app of your choice, just subscribe and listen to the show at Comic Book Live on Twitter, comicbookclublive.com for this podcast and more, until next time, we’ll see you at the Digital Cottage Book Shop.

Pete:                What’s up?

The post The Stack: King In Black, Future State, Iron Fist And More appeared first on Comic Book Club.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookclub

On this week’s comic book review podcast:

HAHA #1

King In Black: Thunderbolts #1

Future State: Teen Titans #1

Future State: Green Lantern #1

Future State: Kara Zor-El Superwoman #1

Future State: Robin Eternal #1

Future State: Justice League #1

Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman #1

Future State: Dark Detective #1

Home Sick Pilots #2

King in Black: Gwenom vs. Carnage #1

Sweet Tooth: The Return #3

A Man Among Ye #4

The Immortal Hulk #42

American Vampire 1976 #4

Seven Secrets #6

S.W.O.R.D. #2

Bloodshot #10

SUBSCRIBE ON RSS, ITUNES, ANDROID, SPOTIFY, STITCHER OR THE APP OF YOUR CHOICE. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, AND FACEBOOK. SUPPORT OUR SHOWS ON PATREON.

This week’s episode is sponsored by Shape & Foster. Visit www.shapeandfoster.com for your free 14-day trial.

Full Episode Transcript

Alex:                 What’s up everybody? Welcome to The Stack. I’m Alex.

Justin:              I’m Justin.

Pete:                I’m Pete.

Alex:                 And on The Stack we talk about a bunch of books that have come out this week.

Pete:                Shut up.

Justin:              We sure do. We got lots.

Alex:                 With one that Pete is terrified by.

Pete:                Oh my God, we’re starting with this?

Alex:                 We’re starting with this, Pete. We’re going right into it with HAHA, all caps, #1 from Image Comics, written by W. Maxwell Prince, art and cover by Vanesa Del Rey. Now, the reason I put it right here at the front of The Stack is this is by W. Maxwell Prince who also wrote Ice Cream Man, our number one book of 2020. This is his follow-up book. He talked about it live on the show when we had him on as a guest. I feel like there’s a fair amount of hype regardless in the real world about this, let alone here on our little old podcast.

Pete:                We’re old.

Alex:                 This is a different sort of anthology. This is not about the Ice Cream Man, this is about clowns. This is still an anthology telling deathwatch stories, I believe, about these different characters, and obviously it goes very dark. But what did you think about not just this book, but how it holds up compared to Ice Cream Man?

Justin:              I think definitely it’s great. If you’re a fan of Ice Cream Man, I think you will like this book as well. It’s nice to see a story that is a little bit totally different. I feel like Ice Cream Man has sort of a supernatural dread to it and this has just more of an existential dread to it, which is just a subtle shift in flavor, the difference between a pistachio with chocolate chip and a pistachio without chocolate chip. But the art is different, which I appreciate, and I really liked the first story.

Alex:                 Pete, how did you feel about this? Were you’re too scared to read it?

Pete:                It was very scary, I had to make sure I read it during the day with plenty of light.

Justin:              You had to empty that bladder out first so you didn’t pee your pants.

Pete:                Yeah, this was insane. This is really just … What was nice is you kind think you understand it and then it kind of takes a couple more turns. So it was creatively impressive, but just the fact of like this is the person who did Ice Cream Man, the tone underneath it was very troubling, and scary and intense. There is a lot of creepy stuff going on all the time. Yeah, the art was glorious. The storytelling was impressive, but I am very scared to see what’s going to happen if this is the beginning.

Alex:                 I like this quite a bit. I thought this was really good like you guys are saying. For those who didn’t pick it up, I felt, whether purposeful or not, this felt like a very specific response to Joker to me because this is about-

Pete:                Oh, interesting.

Alex:                 … a clown who is down and out and pushed to his limits, and then what does he do next?

Justin:              The movie Joker?

Alex:                 The movie Joker, yes. Pushed to his limits, what does he do next? It goes in very different directions obviously than the movie goes, but it does go to this very dark place. It doesn’t back off from the realism of it. But like Pete was touching on Vanesa Del Rey’s art, goes through these really different art styles that are very gritty and realistic, some that are cartoony.

Alex:                 So there’s a real breadth to the art there that I thought was really nice. And it does feel different from Ice Cream Man like Justin was saying, which I thought was nice to see as well. Even if you haven’t read that book, even if you had no interest, even if you were scared of clowns, this is really good.

Alex:                 I mean, I will say, I know I’ve mentioned to the lead-up to this book that my wife was a clown so I was going to throw this by her, but this is a different type of clown. It’s just like more of a party clown type thing going on.

Pete:                I’m glad we’re-

Justin:              Well, I guess we’ll see.

Pete:                … talking about this, because something that I touched upon last episode, I don’t know if the live show or The Stack or whatever, I’m worried-

Alex:                 We know, as we do too many podcasts. Go ahead, Pete.

Pete:                … I’m worried about your children, because your wife is a clown, you are an evil genius. What are your children going to turn into? You know what I mean? I am very worried that I’m growing up in a world where it’s going to be the birth of some kind of like joker type character. You know what I mean?

Justin:              I’m worried you’re raising some sort of insane clown posse. Is that possible?

Alex:                 Yeah. The other day, and this is really weird, my son said, “Hey, do you want some Faygo?” and I was like, “I don’t know what that means, but yes, please.”

Justin:              Nice. I feel like they’ve got a big weekend planned later this little summer. I want to give a shout out to the movie Quick Change, which I feel like may have been an inspiration for this comic, a Bill Murray movie from like 1990 or something like that.

Alex:                 Regardless, very good book. Definitely pick it up. Next up, King in Black: Thunderbolts #1 from Marvel written by Matthew Rosenberg, art by Juan Ferreyra. As you-

Pete:                Bergie

Alex:                 … As what?

Pete:                Bergie.

Justin:              Bergie

Alex:                 You just love shouting things in the middle when I’m talking, Pete.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 If you haven’t been picking it up, this is taking place during the King in Black event where Knull, the God of the Symbiotes, has taken over New York City. Here, Kingpin gathers a group of villains to try to take down Knull or at the very least start the process of taking down Knull. In classic Matthew Rosenberg fashion, things don’t go very well. There’s a bunch of sad sack, horrible villains. But a lot of people die in this book. This feels like Marvel’s answer to Suicide Squad, the best way.

Justin:              100%. The movie.

Alex:                 I had a lot of fun reading this.

Justin:              Agreed. This was great. I was really into the star character in her standalone series from last year, so it’s great to see her on this team. And just great story, loved everything that happened. Great panel where you get to see Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones kicking ass in the middle and they’re like, “Yeah, let’s get away from this.”

Pete:                Yeah. I feel like this is a great kind of story, but also the art is really fantastic in a lot of different ways. It’s cool to see Kingpin out of a suit. He’s rocking like a starter jacket and a polo shirt, but casually still running things like Kingpin. Yeah. There’s a lot of fun being had in this book that is completely insane and over the top, but yeah, this is a fun issue.

Alex:                 Yeah, I’ve been a little 50/50 about some of the tie-ins. The Venom stuff feels necessary, the King in Black stuff feels necessary, but a lot of stuff with this event feels very side to the event to me. This is side to the event, but I had a blast reading it anyway, and I think that makes it worth checking out. Next up, let’s go into our Future State block. We did this last week for the first week of Future State.

Justin:              Yes.

Pete:                Oh, boy.

Alex:                 We read and talked about not all the books, but some of our favorites. But once again this week we read all of the books in DC’s Future State, which shows us a possible future of the DC Universe. I’d love to go to you guys. Given that we read, I’ll just read the titles and then we could read the creative teams later.

Alex:                 We read Teen Titans, Green Lantern, Kara Zor-El, Superwoman, Robin Eternal, Justice League, Superman, Wonder Woman, Dark Detective. Those are the ones that came out this week. What jumped out at you? What did you particularly like that you thought was the standout this week or standouts?

Justin:              It occurs to me reading a lot of these books that this event feels so much like the 2099 line that Marvel did many, many years ago-

Alex:                 Good call. Yeah.

Justin:              … especially the Dark Detective book and Robin Eternal in this batch. And I liked both of these books. Robin Eternal brings in Spoiler and some of the … Was it Robin Incorporated? Was that the name of it or? I forget the team of all the Robins, there was a book for a while.

Alex:                 We Are Robin.

Justin:              We Are Robin, That’s what it is.

Alex:                 Yes. Just to mention the creative teams-

Pete:                We Are Robin.

Alex:                 … behind those since we’re talking is, Robin Eternal is written by Meghan Fitzmartin, art by Eddie Barrows. Dark Detective is written by Mariko Tamaki and Matthew Rosenberg once again, art by-

Pete:                Are they-

Alex:                 … Dan Mora from Once & Future, one of our favorites here, and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Go ahead, Justin. Sorry about that.

Justin:              And no, great. And Dark Detective I feel like is almost a direct analog to Spider-Man 2099 #1, which is a great book. I really enjoyed this. And then the backup that you were just mentioning, the team behind it, I think is Matt Rosenberg with a Grifter story which I also enjoyed.

Pete:                … Yeah. I mean, I’m not mad at this event. Like this has been some very interesting reading. I’ve been reading DC for most of my life and some of the stuff in here is really great. The superwoman art was just-

Justin:              It was really good.

Pete:                … unbelievable, the character design. It was just nice to be reading a DC book and being like, “Wow, is this really a DC book?” The colors and the stuff was just so cool.

Alex:                 Yeah, just too while you’re calling it out, Kara Zor-El, Superwoman is by Marguerite Bennett and art by Marguerite Sauvage, who I believe was the team behind the DC Bombshells line as well. So there’s definitely a sense of that going on. But go ahead, Pete.

Pete:                And yeah, I just think that even the Future State: Green Lantern, we still got … I was hoping it wouldn’t be the actual Green Lantern, it’d be the Green Lantern that we really like. But there’s still a lot of creative stuff happening. And maybe I don’t know everything, but I was really … The Teen Titans book, Beast Boy is also part of Cyborg. And Robin is rocking what looked like a Taskmaster belt. But like it-

Alex:                 Deathstroke.

Pete:                … Yeah. But it looked-

Alex:                 Same character basically.

Pete:                … Well, Slade Wilson, but the belt has the T that looks exactly like Taskmaster’s belt. But that kind of stuff aside-

Justin:              Terminator.

Pete:                … I was like, “Oh my God, this is a ton of books that we have to read that Robin just dumped in our laps to make us read. But I ended up being very happy-

Justin:              Make us read.

Pete:                … that we had to do this. And also, I’m still really loving this new Wonder Woman.

Justin:              Yeah. Well, Alex, you haven’t said anything yet. Why don’t you go?

Alex:                 No, that’s fine. I mean, I agree with a lot of those picks that I think are really good. Mariko Tamaki, like you said, her Dark Detective was awesome. This book is about Bruce Wade is left for dead, of course he’s not quite dead. So who does it become next? The Matthew Rosenberg Grifter story, again, a really fun story there.

Alex:                 I agree with you about Robin Eternal. I was surprised about that one, how much that I like that. It’s a really good Tim Drake spoiler story, and I was definitely reading that being like, “Oh, Justin likes this one.” But the one that stood out to me that I was really surprised about was Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman #1, written by Dan Watters, art by Leila Del Duca.

Alex:                 Like Pete said, I think like Wonder Woman, clearly this new Wonder Woman has been the standout here of this event. She’s definitely the one that everybody hooked into. They’re developing it for the CW as a Wonder Girl show. But she’s great, she’s fun, Jon Kent is fun. The tone of this is just …

Alex:                 This Wonder Woman is … I believe they haven’t been totally upfront about everything that’s going on, but she seems to be from some sort of South American god, Pantheon, but also the Olympian Pantheon. Like Zeus is her dad, but somebody else is her mom. So she’s dealing with the Sun God there who ends up having a race with … Is it Solaris?

Justin:              Solaris.

Pete:                Yes, Solaris.

Alex:                 Solaris.

Pete:                In that conversation, Superman versus Solaris really.

Alex:                 So fun where just Superman and Wonder Woman are on the ground being like, “Well, this is messing up the entire earth because of the tides and everything that’s going on, while these two Sun Gods are having a race around the earth.” Just the whole tone of it was so surprisingly light and enjoyable. I had a blast reading this book.

Pete:                Also, I-

Alex:                 Justin, you were pointing at me, which one did you think I was going to call out?

Justin:              I thought you were going to call out Justice league #1, which is I really liked that.

Pete:                … That’s exactly what I thought he was going to say. I also was … Yeah, I really liked Justice League and Justice League Dark. I also liked the kind of last stage reveal.

Alex:                 That was great. So that was Joshua Williamson writing the Justice League story, Ram V writing-

Pete:                The third.

Alex:                 … the Justice League Dark story. Robson Rocha on the first story, Marcio Takara on the second story. And yeah, I liked the Justice League story, I thought that was a lot of fun. That was all about like the fallout of the Justice League messing up and being rear-ended, what have you.

Pete:                Also had the right Green Lantern on that one.

Justin:              Yeah, we get our N.K. Jemisin Green Lantern.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 Which is awesome. But the Justice League Dark story was fantastic in that backup there. So then-

Justin:              Yeah, I like both of these stories. They do a great job of really giving us context for the first Justice League story and then just moving quickly through the story in a fun way by getting this idea out that they’re not supposed to talk to each other, they’re supposed to maintain their secret identities. But they’re all breaking those rules, really great.

Justin:              As opposed to some of the ones that I thought were harder to read were the Teen Titans one and the Green Lantern one because I was like, “What is happening?” There was very little context given up at the top. And they felt like dumping us into story that I didn’t quite know it was happening.

Alex:                 … I think this is an interesting week two thing in particular with the Green Lantern one. Teen Titans is like the … There seems to be a disparity in terms of time period with some of these, where some the earth is a paradise, some the earth is ruined. It’s not quite clear how they connect to each other.

Pete:                Which one are we living in?

Alex:                 A little bit of both, calm A, calm B.

Pete:                Okay, cool.

Justin:              There you go.

Alex:                 Teen Titans is by Tim Sheridan, Rafa Sandoval. Green Lantern is by Geoffrey Thorne, Ryan Cady, Ernie Altbacker, art by Tom Raney, Sami Basri and Clayton Henry. We get three stories in the Green Lantern one. That was definitely one where I felt like we’re just dropped in the middle with a John Stewart story. You don’t know exactly what’s going on. They’re fighting a new villain.

Alex:                 The second one, it felt like it started to become a little clear as we followed. Jessica Cruz is fighting some Yellow Lanterns, some of the Sinestro Corps. And it becomes clear that the rings have failed. At some point, the Green Lantern rings stopped working. And it becomes even clearer in the third story, which was my favorite of that book, which follows Guy Gardner. He’s on a random alien planet as his ring fails and he can’t leave the planet, so he kind of makes the best of it. That story I thought was a lot of fun, personally.

Justin:              Yeah, indeed that one was very fun.

Alex:                 But there you go, good stuff from the Future State. Surprisingly like we’ve been talking about, a strong event going into week two.

Justin:              Really enjoying.

Alex:                 Next up, let’s talk about one of Justin’s favorite books I imagine this week, Home Sick Pilots #2 from Image Comics, written by Dan Watters and art by Caspar Wijingaard. In the first issue of this book, we met a punk band, maybe something like that. One of them got possessed by a haunted house, but-

Justin:              That happens in punk band. Yeah.

Alex:                 … the other folks got killed by that haunted house. And at the end of the book, we found out the one that was possessed by the haunted house was traveling around, finding relics that had been taken out of the house, and that’s where we pick up this issue. This title is awesome. I love it.

Justin:              It’s so good. It’s comes from such a strong point of view, like such confidence writing this story, which is like a little wild. Like, you’re getting into all this like band and music stuff, at the same time a very specific type of ghost story or horror story. And the way this issue plays out is super fun, super unique, sad at points, and it’s setting up some real tension for the characters going forward.

Pete:                Also I’m glad it really explains why people hang a horseshoe above the door. We really get the kind of where that all got started and why people do that. This is all true stuff.

Justin:              But what if the horses come back for their shoes?

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 It reminds me a little bit, I don’t know if this is exactly correct, but it reminds me a little bit of-

Pete:                You buy them Jordans, that’s what you do.

Alex:                 … like Scott Pilgrim meets Locke & Key, because-

Justin:              Okay.

Alex:                 … Yeah. Well, because you got the … This is a spoiler, but we find out by the end of the issue our main character has to track down six relics for the haunted house.

Pete:                Ah, don’t spoil it.

Alex:                 Well, hold on. But six relics for the haunted house. We get some teaser of some very creepy things that are going on there. We get some big fights. But there’s this whole mythology being built out here that is fascinating to read it. It really feels like something completely fresh and new at a very excited way.

Justin:              Yeah, the shot of the horseshoe ghost once it’s returned to the house was very Gabriel Rodriguez I thought, in a great way.

Alex:                 Yes.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 Great stuff. Definitely pick up this book. This is a good one to get on the ground floor of. Next up, King in Black: Gwenom, I think-

Justin:              Gwenom.

Alex:                 … vs. Carnage #1 from Marvel, written by Seanan McGuire, art by Flaviano. This is again tying it to the King in Black event. Here we’re getting our alternate universe. Gwen Stacy is going into the fray as you could probably guess from the title, she ends up fighting Carnage by the end, but not the Carnage you know. What did you think about this tie-in?

Justin:              I like it a lot. I’ve been a huge fan of the Spider-Gwen and now Gwenom and all the different iterations. It’s a pretty wild story at this point that she is a Gwen Stacy who held Peter Parker when he died in her arms and became Spider-Girl, Spider-Woman. And then in this, in her earth, there’s a little bit of gender swapping with a lot of characters and just slightly alternate takes with everybody. Then she had a venom from her earth, she’s now in our earth and dealing with a lot of other Venoms in this issue, including a surprising person who becomes Carnage by the end. I liked it.

Alex:                 Pete.

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, they make comics for different people, and the important part is that everybody gets to enjoy what they like and that’s awesome

Justin:              What don’t you like about this? Not enough Venoms? You need more Symbiotes here?

Pete:                No, just Gwenom is cool for people, not one of my favorite characters. And hey, awesome for other people, just not my cup of tea. And I respect people want to make comics that they want to read, and then you get to pick what you want to pick.

Alex:                 You sound so sad right now, Pete. I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. I do like Spider-Gwen or Ghost-Spider or whatever you’re calling her. I think she’s good. This is a good tie in. It feels natural to bring her into this, given her status quo. And I think in particularly the art by Flaviano is really good-

Pete:                Art is great.

Alex:                 … and very consistent with the Gwen Stacy Ghost-Spider book, if you read that. Next up, Sweet Tooth: The Return #3 from DC Comics by Jeff Lemire. This gets you the story of whatever is going on with this new Gus who might be the old Gus, we’re not quite clear, who is being tracked out of this post apocalypse that’s living under the earth. This book is so wild to read, particularly in reference and bouncing off of what’s happening to Sweet Tooth. It’s fascinating. Justin, I know you were a little conflicted, I think, about the second issue. How did you feel about the third one?

Justin:              I mean, I still like the book. It’s funny. It feels like just a sped up version of the original series in a way. And I do think we’re going to get probably next issue the reveal that this Gus is a clone of the original Gus and it’s sort of like someone trying to re-engineer a religious event for all these people and return to the earth, and all of that. And so I think that’s a cool story, but it definitely feels like we’re digging up fossils that we were there for when they were buried-

Pete:                No way.

Justin:              … if that makes sense.

Pete:                This was an awesome, awesome issue. Earl is my new favorite thing. This was-

Alex:                 This is a large elephant man who kills people.

Pete:                … Yeah. And Earl was just such a bad-ass and such a fun addition to this book. I mean the fuck me Earl is loose just before his head gets ripped off, that’s just great. That’s just great comics. That’s just fun stuff. Yeah. Kind of a creepy reveal of the kind of like two versions of him. But I think this is a very interesting kind of book as it does kind of speed through this, which I … It says three to six, like they don’t have time for this. I appreciate the fact that it’s fast forward a little bit.

Justin:              Of course, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I’m saying that’s just what it feels like.

Pete:                Yeah, so …

Alex:                 That’s definitely a cool quote for the cover, “I don’t have time for this shit.”

Justin:              Yeah.

Alex:                 I really liked this a lot, it’s just it’s a weird read. To your point, Justin, I’m curious too. I’m more curious to reflect on it when it’s done and how it works in relationship to the first Sweet Tooth more than anything else. Next up, A Man Among Ye #4 from Image Comics, written by Stephanie Phillips, art by Craig Cermak. This is ending this title, I believe, for now. It focuses on a bunch of female pirates who are teaming together. We finally get that team in this issue as they try to rescue one of their boyfriends, I guess, that’s the best way of putting it. Pete, you’ve been a big fan of the series.

Pete:                Yeah, this is really great. And I think this ends really well. It’s a little heartbreaking what kind of happens. But I’ve been really impressed with the action, I love the storytelling and I think this is a really kind of cool way of everybody kind of coming together here at the end so we can kind of get more ventures hopefully. But I thought this was a great kind of a fun pirate story with some cool twists in it to kind of update it. And I appreciate a lot of the rage in what was happening.

Alex:                 Justin, what about you?

Justin:              Some comics are for Pete, and some comics are for Justin and some comics are for Alex. And this one, this was fine. I think I said last time like I’m not a crazy fan of this. Reading this issue, it feels very much like an old black and white Disney movie in it’s sort of storytelling and style. Once I was like, “Ah, I think that’s what the vibe is here,” I enjoyed it more, but it’s all right.

Alex:                 Yeah, I would have honestly wanted a little more from it. I want to kind of want to see where it goes, and maybe now that this team is all together where it goes to the second arc, excited about that. But art by Craig Cermak was good. I think the writing was solid. I had a fun time reading this. Next step, The Immortal Hulk #42 from Marvel, written by Al Ewing, art by Alex Lins and Adam Gotham. Gotham, perhaps.

Justin:              Oh, interesting. And on a Marvel book.

Alex:                 That’s weird.

Justin:              I think it’s Gotham.

Alex:                 Gotham.

Justin:              Oh, Gorham actually.

Alex:                 Gorham?

Pete:                Wow.

Justin:              Yeah.

Alex:                 All right. Interesting. Anyway-

Pete:                Actually, it’s Jones, I think is what it is. Yeah, it’s Gorham.

Alex:                 In this issue, we’re getting split focus between Henry Gyrich is taking over Gamma Flight-

Justin:              I think it’s Gyrich.

Alex:                 … Gyrich?

Justin:              Definitely.

Alex:                 Have I been pronouncing it wrong my entire life?

Justin:              Yes.

Alex:                 Jesus Christ.

Justin:              It’s pronounced [inaudible 00:25:37].

Pete:                I don’t want that attention.

Alex:                 Anyway, some guy is taking Gamma Flight to task. Meanwhile, the leader is trying to figure out why he can’t get the whole taking over the world, the Immortal Hulk thing to work for him. He figures out some stuff by the end, so does Gamma Flight. Lots of stuff going on here and lots of movement to this issue. What did you guys think?

Justin:              This book is great. It’s continues to be great. This feels very much like a sort of middle type issue, so it’s not the like big moves happening. I do like the reveal that our newspaper reporter, who’s been an ongoing character in this run, has been affected by the gamma rays. That’s a big turn and reveal. And I love, love the reveal at the end.

Alex:                 Pete, what about you?

Pete:                Yeah. I mean, it continues to be gross and creepy in all the right ways. Yeah. I mean, we got the leader trying kind of figure things out a little bit in this issue, and then some other storylines going on. Yeah, just the monster stuff is so insane and this stuff. I’m interested to see where this is going. It continues to be a really solid book.

Alex:                 Yeah, I love this as well. My one caveat that I was weirdly struck with this issue, I wish, I know that they can because they’ve got to release a whole book every month, I wish that they would have waited for Joe Bennett to do all of it. Because Joe Bennett’s art is so phenomenal and his designs are so disgusting in exactly the right way, that whenever he does an issue, it’s heads and tails above everything else. And we’ve gotten some phenomenal stuff as well. I think the art in this was good. Alex Lins, Adam Gorham, you say.

Justin:              I know, I think you’ve got to give it up for Gorham.

Alex:                 Yeah, both really good things across the board. But man, there’s something slightly missing in terms of the fucked upednes of Joe Bennett’s art in this issue that I would have wanted a little bit more.

Justin:              But I also think this issue wasn’t about that, this was sort of dealing with some of the other characters. If we’re going to take a break from the crazy body stuff, I’m fine having another artist jump on. But I got to get up for Al Ewing for really plumbing all the depths of the Hulk villains to hit all the weirdest marks, and we do it again here.

Alex:                 Yes, I agree with you on that cliffhanger. Let’s move on to talk about American Vampire 1976 #4 from DC Comics, written by Scott Snyder, art by Rafael Albuquerque.

Pete:                Albuquerque.

Alex:                 In this issue we’re ramping things up in a big way as our heroes, I guess, question mark, sort of try to start to figure out how they can stop the apocalypse, things get worse before they get better. What did you guys think about this issue?

Pete:                This was a really amazing, fun issue. Love the crazy team up. A really intense last page. The art is really unbelievable. This was really clicking for me. I really enjoyed this issue.

Justin:              If you walk in a room where the chairs are too big, get out of there, because someone’s coming home and sitting-

Pete:                Yeah, that’s a good note.

Justin:              … in those big ass chairs.

Alex:                 I broke into a house one time and there was a chair that was too big, and there was a chair that was too small, but then there was one chair that was just right, that’s the one that I sat in and then I broke it.

Pete:                And then the bears came home and murdered you like your name was Archie?

Alex:                 Yeah, that was a lot of things all at the same time, Pete.

Justin:              Interestingly you were in a house that bears own.

Alex:                 I got totally bear-zoned, if you know what I mean.

Justin:              Yeah, you got bowned.

Pete:                Yes.

Alex:                 Yeah, great book. Really awesome every issue. Let’s move on and talk about Seven Secrets … Yes, what?

Justin:              No, I do. I really like this book. Scott Snyder has such a mastery of these characters, and I think it’s building up to something really exciting.

Alex:                 Yeah. I guess the main thing is just like, it is wild to be in a thing that started with something so relatively simple as, “There’s different type of vampires,” and now it’s like, “Every monster,” but I love it, it’s fun to read. Seven Secrets #6 from Boom! Studios, written by Tom Taylor, art by Daniele Di Nicuolo. We have wondered the entire series what these secrets are, they just kind of talked about what the secrets are. Finally, we get an inkling of what is going on-

Pete:                A little taste of the secret.

Alex:                 … with them as our heroes get attacked by the Keepers, the Villains, manage to escape at the last second. And we open up the mythology of the book in a really big and very weird way. I thought this issue was not only great as the series has been, but very necessary in terms of the run, because there’s only so long you can keep these secrets-

Pete:                Yeah, exactly.

Alex:                 … secret from the reader before it starts to get annoying and they start to really pull back the veil here.

Justin:              Yeah. It’s great to hear your secrets. Go ahead.

Pete:                I was really impressed because I was like, “Man, it’s the sixth issue when we’re finally getting a little taste of the secrets,” I was like, “There’s no way to build up.” But the fact that it is such a huge kind of thing that happens when they open up one of the cases, I was like, “Okay, great. This is worth it. This is totally insane. The action is over the top.” It’s really interesting how something can start at one place and kind of end up here. It’s really impressive, the writing and the storytelling. It’s great.

Justin:              Yeah. I feel like Tom Taylor set out at the beginning of this book and was like, “I’m going to write a comic that is truly an anime, that is very much in the style of an anime series or anime movie,” and that’s what this is. This feels very much like it’s-

Pete:                In all the right ways.

Justin:              … Taylor-made to be an anime.

Alex:                 I get it.

Justin:              Taylor-made to be an anime.

Alex:                 Let’s move on and talk about S.W.O.R.D. #2 from Marvel, written by Al Ewing, art by Valerio Schiti. This is also tying into the King in Black event, though it’s not necessarily labeled as such, I believe, on the cover. I believe this following how it’s affecting the X-Men side of the world and things get real bad by the end here with this weird defacto team of folks. What did you think? Pete?

Pete:                Sure.

Alex:                 Justin?

Justin:              Yes. This was a weirder … Like we were talking about with the King in Black stuff, this definitely feels like it’s a fair distance away from the main storyline. But it’s a fun, random team of X-Men. And it’s nice to read a book with Al Ewing sort of dabbling around in the X-Men world. I like the places ends. I like to see these characters random. Magneto sort of feels like older Magneto. Sebastian Shaw. We haven’t seen these characters in a while, so I enjoyed seeing them in this book.

Alex:                 Pete.

Justin:              Yeah, Ewing is doing amazing stuff on Hulk and so cool.

Alex:                 This is wild. This is like straight out of the nineties X-Men book. It’s very different from a lot of the other X-Men stuff, and it is tangential. I mean, it’s all of them living on the S.W.O.R.D. Space Station and try to figure out like basically reasons why they should not go fight Knull, the King in Black, is essentially what happens to this issue.

Alex:                 But it is one of those books where I’m reading, I’m like, “Oh yeah, I remember that character from the nineties. Okay, that’s cool.” But like you said, a good cliffhanger at the end that definitely makes me excited to read #3. And last but not least, Bloodshot #10 from Valiant Comics rate by Tim Seeley, art by Brett Booth-

Pete:                Don’t you feel it.

Alex:                 … and Pedro Andreo. This is a book that straight up feels like it’s trying to capitalize off the massive success of the Bloodshot movie that never happened. But regardless, Tim Seeley is doing his best here to put out a fun over the top, insane, cinematic Bloodshot book.

Justin:              Yeah, and I think he is succeeding. I like a lot of the movies in this book. I mean, aren’t we all strung out Bloodshot who comes back in the middle of the issue and tries to pick a fight, but he doesn’t have enough protein? That’s what we’re all living in right now. And I like the line, “Come on you Jared Leto-looking motherfucker.”

Pete:                Yeah, that’s great.

Justin:              Very funny.

Alex:                 That’s just Tim Seeley.

Justin:              Tim Seeley does a great job of combining great action with some fun minds.

Alex:                 It’s wild how much happens in this book, it feels like three entire arcs of a Bloodshot comic happening within 20 something pages which is an insane pace to read. But it’s fun, I enjoyed it. I don’t know.

Pete:                Yeah, I mean-

Justin:              Eat your protein.

Pete:                … Tim Seeley is a great writer. He adds humor to all the right things. Bloodshot to me is not one of my favorite characters, the movie didn’t help that at all. I thought this was kind of a more interesting take, but it was very fast-paced, but it had some great lines in it.

Justin:              Let me ask you, Pete, what don’t you like about him? That he’s like Deadpool, a character you like, or the Punisher, another character you like?

Pete:                I don’t know what it is, man. All right? I don’t know.

Justin:              You don’t like nanites? They’re just tiny robots.

Pete:                Yeah. Don’t trust them.

Alex:                 He kills people and eats meat, what is there that you don’t like about that, Pete?

Pete:                Okay. On paper, it seems like I should love this guy. I get it guys.

Justin:              Tim Seeley, one of your favs.

Pete:                Oh, yeah.

Justin:              Touchy-feely Tim Seeley.

Alex:                 His name is Bloodshot. Blood and shot are two of your top 10 words.

Pete:                It’s okay guys, I get what you’re saying.

Justin:              Whenever we used to go out to bars, you’d be like, “I’ll have a blood shot,” and we would all drink blood with you because that’s what you demanded.

Pete:                Yeah.

Alex:                 And then you would shout, “Dracule.” All right, folks. I think that’s it for The Stack. If you’d like to support us, patriotic.com/comicbookclub. Also we do a live show every Tuesday night at 7:00PM-

Pete:                We sure do.

Alex:                 … a podcast on YouTube. iTunes, Android, Spotify, Stitcher or the app of your choice to subscribe and listen to the show. @comicbooklive on Twitter, Comicbookclublive.com for this podcast and many more. Until next time, that’s it for The Stack.

Justin:              Yeah, round of blood shots, baby.

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