Why Did You Make Me Read this?

Well friends, it's been a good run. I always wanted to do a comic book podcast and I did it. I'm proud of the show. I had a lot of fun with it. 

With some new events on the horizon, I decided it was time to leave the show behind and focus my efforts and concentration towards some different endeavors.

Maybe I'll come back to this some day. Maybe not. 

Thanks so much for listening. It means the world to me. 

Take care of yourselves. Take care of others. 

Read some comics. 

In this episode, we slice off a sliver of the complex interweaving crime comic opus that is 100 Bullets. One of my favorite comics of all time, this collection deviates from the main narrative to tell some stranger tales. We go through prison politics, the dangers of a makeshift backyard zoo, a massive junkie with a murderous streak, and so much more as Risso and Azzarello once again spin a one of a kind sequential art yarn. 

It's not the clearest cut comic in terms of conveying the bulk of the actual story that is 100 Bullets. But hot damn is it a lot of weird fun. 

Today I'm Joined by creative renaissance man and all around good dude, Geoff Haney. 

We dive into details of the first Ex Machina trade paperback and discuss favorite moments and characters, personal politics, ethics behind controversially content, and a ton of other wild stuff. 

 Geoff's Instagram: gyhaneybomm

Remember to check out part 1 of the Ex Machina episodes for more comic coverage! 

In this episode we enter a comic book version of America and follow the life of newly elected New York mayor Mitchell Hundred as he tries to keep control of the bustling metropolis. The comic jumps through temporal points as the Mayor works his way through getting super powers, takes up the mantel of probably misguided vigilante, meets the various characters the populate his present day, and makes the decision to leave the superhero costume behind for the slick suit of a big city politician. 

Ex Machina is a prime example of how stereotypes of comic books being simple minded picture books for kids is complete and utter bullshit. 

At the risk of using my platform here to wax nostalgic on my yesteryears, I'm running down one of the very first comics I ever remember reading. In my defense, the shit holds up. This episode we follow Wolverine in a single issue where he traverses the great white outback of Canada and teams up with some Mounties while tracking down a murderer and finding something much, much worse lurking deep within the woods. 

Here we find vintage Wolverine, trying to figure out his past and ready for anything that enters his present. He starts buck naked using his claws to spear fish for dinner and ends fully costumed, squaring up with a wild monster in the Canadian frontier. 
  
This is one of the comics that began it all for me. 

   

In this episode we get to jump into the mix of an unrelenting series as we attempt to take on some of that good ol' Marvel madness in Brian Michael Bendis' New Avengers. The action never ceases as we ride through plane crashes, demonic gangsters, Wolverine getting shot right in the dick, hostel large scale symbiote takeovers, shower scenes, alien invasion induced paranoia, Luke Cage being a cool dude, and more D-list villains than you can shake a stick out. 

Join me as I try to condense the substantial concoction of superhero nonsense that was Marvel in the mid-2000's and have a blast doing so. 

Sweet Stan Lee do I love me some Marvel comics.  

This episode is a further examination of Moonshine as Malissa Moore helps me unpack the plot, try to understand character motivations, and pinpoint just who the hell is actually a werewolf in this Horror/noir graphic novel. 

We go on to discuss depictions of historical racism, why some men are just plain stupid when it comes to women,  the comic's own problematic imagery, and more as Malissa discusses her first experience reading a comic book. 

Remember to check out part 1 of the Moonshine episodes for more comic coverage! 

This week's episode drags us down into deep southern woods and nightly blackouts as a New York city mobster with a heavy drinking problem makes his way into the Virginia countryside. This here's a prohibition era horror-noir story where mobsters, werewolves, bootleggers, and nightmares collide as our drunken narrator leads us down a debaucherous tale of doom and double crossing. 

A yarn that keeps you guessing as it unravels itself with anxiety and bloodshed, Moonshine is an original tale of lycanthropic violence mixed with gangland warfare, led by a charming drunk with good looks who makes bad decisions. 

Azzarello and Risso don't disappoint as the powerhouse comic partnership reunites once again to tackle noir in a gruesome new fashion.  

In this episode I dive into but a small corner of the Criminal world. A series that rotates through a vast cast of interconnected crooks, lowlives, thugs, mobsters, and dirty cops over decades. This story focuses in on Teeg Lawless. Perhaps one of the worst of them. We follow Teeg as he fights for his life behind bars where he finds he has a hit put out on him. Then we go for a ride with him and his young son Tracy as they mix things up in a small town during one of Teeg's crime sprees. 

Criminal ain't a lighthearted romp filled with superheroes and bright colors. It's a comic that drags you through the streets of a dirty town where killers rule and mobsters make the laws. But deep in the cracks of the blood stained cement of the city you can find a pulse from the heart of those that are just trying to make it through. Because no matter how bad things get, you can always find something worth fighting for...and those brave enough to fight for it 

The English enigma that is John Constantine has had a lot of different creative teams at his comic's helm over the years. A divisive run written by an American happens to be both my personal introduction to the "blue-collar warlock" as well as one of my favorite runs. 

Bringing his tour through the backwaters of American to an end, Constantine finds himself up against white supremacists, an eccentric billionaire, kinky sex club participants, and the ghost of the man whose death brought about this whole unholy misadventure in the first place. 

Join me as I discuss the chthonic life of Constantine and even realize some of my own frustrations with a comic I've read time and time again. 

One thing's to be sure about Ol' John, he always keeps things interesting.