|
Post by darthrabie on Apr 28, 2014 23:39:13 GMT -5
Hey Talking Comics people. I just got my copy of 47 Ronin written by Mike Richardson and illustrated by Stan Sakai, from Dark Horse. (Not to be confused with the recent movie) It is a wonderful book which is a great marrage of a wonderful medium and a story that has deep roots in historical events. The events in question for this book may not have happend exactly as the book suggest, yet the basis of the story is present and the excitment gained from reading the story enabled me the desire to read on and search elseware on the myth and actual history of the 47 Ronin. My question for Talking Comics is two fold; Do you like reading historical comics and, What other comic books/graphic novels based on historical events do you recomend for us readers. The obvious ones are Maus by Art Spiegelman and From Hell by Moore. Thanks for a great podcast.
|
|
|
Post by iamasianbatgirl on May 2, 2014 19:15:27 GMT -5
Greetings! As someone who was on and off of comics for most of my life, there were points where I desperately wanted to catch up with some recommended story arcs or graphic novels that were not easy to find in stores. Greg Rucka's Wonder Woman, Gail Simone's initial Birds of Prey run, X-23 etc. These were some of the trades on the top of my list to look for whenever I went to conventions or when I made a trip to downtown Toronto's BMV Books or the Hairy Tarantula and when I found them, it would feel like a I found the Holy Grail or something equally exciting. My biggest and best find was happening upon Wonder Woman: Hiketeia by accident. I know in this day and age, with technology, it's quite simple but still, there's something about the hunt that makes it all the more satisfying.
Have you guys had this experience? And if so for what trade/single issue/etc.
|
|
|
Post by darthrabie on May 3, 2014 18:51:32 GMT -5
Greetings! As someone who was on and off of comics for most of my life, there were points where I desperately wanted to catch up with some recommended story arcs or graphic novels that were not easy to find in stores. Greg Rucka's Wonder Woman, Gail Simone's initial Birds of Prey run, X-23 etc. These were some of the trades on the top of my list to look for whenever I went to conventions or when I made a trip to downtown Toronto's BMV Books or the Hairy Tarantula and when I found them, it would feel like a I found the Holy Grail or something equally exciting. My biggest and best find was happening upon Wonder Woman: Hiketeia by accident. I know in this day and age, with technology, it's quite simple but still, there's something about the hunt that makes it all the more satisfying. Have you guys had this experience? And if so for what trade/single issue/etc. I know this question is for the podcasters,but I wanted to chime in on my favorite hunt. The Akira series by Otomo released by Marvel/Epic in 1989 was the one. It took me about seven years to get all 38 issues. I went all over Canada to find them,I even found an issue in Washington state. A few years ago I sold them with the rest of my collection to buy a fender strat. I don't regret buying the strat but I miss those books. I might go back on the hunt, but living in Japan makes that harder.
|
|
nikcel
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Posts: 78
|
Post by nikcel on May 4, 2014 15:30:23 GMT -5
Since there will, most likely, be a Doctor Strange Film in 2016, there will also be a comic release side by side with the film. Now my question is, who would you have as the artist and writer for this series and what would you want them to do with the character? Personally I want someone to really define limits/extents to Strange's powers and flesh out the magical world he resides in.
Thank you for your time, Nicolas
(Now, my favorite comic podcast)
|
|
|
Post by rcbtaw on May 4, 2014 20:08:09 GMT -5
Simple question: Does the Comixology sale cut the LCS out of the loop? When I bought digitally for my Ipad, I always took the extra step of going to my laptop to buy through my LCS website. Now, why would I ever help Amazon hurt the business of my LCS?
|
|
|
Post by CaptainInfinity on May 22, 2014 20:15:03 GMT -5
Since I started listening to the podcast I've gotten to hear the group's reviews of several comic book movies and, for the most part, your opinions line up with mine. But after hearing some negative comments about X-Men 3 on the podcast and from many others online I was wondering what you feel was the problem with it. I personally like it, but I've only ever read like five X-Men comics so I don't have any personal attachment to the characters. Is your problem with it due to deviation from the comics in the handling of the Phoenix storyline or just in the overall story itself? Just curious as to why this movie gets so much negativity online.
Thanks. Love the show.
|
|
|
Post by Bob Reyer on May 23, 2014 6:05:48 GMT -5
Since I started listening to the podcast I've gotten to hear the group's reviews of several comic book movies and, for the most part, your opinions line up with mine. But after hearing some negative comments about X-Men 3 on the podcast and from many others online I was wondering what you feel was the problem with it. I personally like it, but I've only ever read like five X-Men comics so I don't have any personal attachment to the characters. Is your problem with it due to deviation from the comics in the handling of the Phoenix storyline or just in the overall story itself? Just curious as to why this movie gets so much negativity online. Thanks. Love the show. Greetings, Captain David! I feel about X-Men 3 much as I do about Amazing Spider-Man 2 in that there is quite a bit of good stuff in X3, most notably in some of the performances, particularly Famke Janssen and Ian MacKellen. There are some vividly created moments, certainly Charles and Eric visiting the Greys, the death of Scott, and Jean expressing her fears and desires to Logan among them. Added to that, if taken as its own tale, the idea of "The Cure" as a thrust for the story brings some interesting facets to the "world that hates and fears them" angle, and as allegory for the "people choose to be gay" foolishness (an idea expressed in X2: "Have you tried not being a mutant?"), it is in its own way quite powerful. That said, there are, to me at least, some terrible choices made by director Brett Ratner and screenwriters Simon Kimberg (attached to the new "FF"- oy gevalt!) & Zak Penn. A short laundry list would include: the further weakening of Rogue; the waste of Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde by not giving her enough screen-time; far too much Wolverine; the joke that was Vinnie Jones as The Juggernaut; the use of The Morlocks as anonymous cannon-fodder; the Angel sub-plot which began so promisingly petering out, only to re-appear at a convenient moment, only to vanish again; and action sequences that seem to run on far too long, and without good pacing. If these factors were all I considered, X-Men 3 would probably clock in at a 2-star rating, perhaps even a quarter-tick more on the right day, however... As you point out, I was very disappointed in that as originally conceived, this was to be the true "Phoenix Saga", with a story covering two films by Bryan Singer; the chance to tell one of comics' greatest epics, an operatic tale of love and loss, and a woman's courage to sacrifice herself for the greater good of friends & family, and all to save a world that would just as soon she didn't exist! That what we have instead is a shell of that, with none of the cosmic scope or grandeur it deserved, and to have had the focus of the story so altered due to box-office concerns that we shunt Jean and Scott to the side so that now it spotlights Wolverine (one of my biggest concerns going into DoFP, I must say!), I'm left with the feelings I have about the two Fox Fantastic Four films, that of lost opportunities to do something truly special. Although I realize this is not the proper way to review a film, for me, when factoring in this "what should have been", X3 lies near the bottom of the barrel. David, I hope this helps illuminate my thoughts on this film...which I do own, and will be re-watching in the days ahead! Bob
|
|
Kal
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Posts: 52
|
Post by Kal on May 25, 2014 23:01:59 GMT -5
I started reading a graphic novel called American Flagg, written by Howard Chaykin, and it's pretty dense stuff. There was an intro written by Warrren Ellis where he references a quote from David Simon of The Wire; "Fuck the average reader, he knows nothing and he needs everything explained to him right away, so that exposition becomes this incredible, story killing burden. Fuck him. Fuck him to hell." I was wondering what your guys' take on modern story telling in reference to the way many stories in comics are spoon fed to readers. I understand the point behind the marvel method, but if I pick up another X-men book that spends the first two pages describing the entire history of the X-men and where we are plot wise I might just quit reading the book all together. Should writers be sacrificing good story telling in the name of easing in new readers. It just seems to me the comics aren't living up to there potential of challenging the reader to think a little bit. I loved pretty Deadly because you actually had to pay attention to the story and interpret dialogue rather than simply being told what was happening and why, but I fear these books are being extremely outweighed by books that undermine the reader and spoon feed them every element of the story. Any thoughts on this, or suggestions for books that fall into the more challenging category.
|
|
|
Post by Tony on May 29, 2014 3:32:28 GMT -5
I wonder what you think of this.
Wednesday comes, I go to the shop and pick up what's in my stack, I mosey home, get comfy, and start flipping through what the week has in store for me. This is usually a magnificently satisfying routine full of laughs and wonderment and mystery and all sorts of happy. This week (as well as last month), I decided to go outside the normal pull-list temporarily and grab the new Guardians of The Galaxy (#15 this week), even though it's a very light, ad-filled, $4 ongoing (that's at least three-strikes, right there), because i'm loving my Captain Marvel right now and I can't wait for the Guardians movie to come out, and as such I fall square in that venn-diagram sweet spot that Marvel's counting on when they decided to throw Carol into the Guardians mix.
The point is this: The cover features Carol, front and center, in the foreground, bigger than all the other characters and objects on the page. It says proudly and explicitly, "And Now: Captain Marvel!" on that same cover. Yet she doesn't appear in the book. At all. Not even once. Bendis, the writer, had this to say about it on his Tumblr today:
That's three consecutive issues now that she's been on the cover, counting the FCBD issue. Yet to my memory, her involvement in those three issues amounts to a grand total of a single panel (a full-page panel, yes, but still). The phrase "shit or get off the pot" comes to mind, but then again so does "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Honestly, I can't help but feel like i'm being jerked around. They've fleeced 10 bucks out of me in two months in exchange for two Carol-less issues that I can't seem to care much about, and are making me seriously want to drop the rest of the Marvel in my stack (except for Hawkeye, obviously). It seems to me that this is no way to treat ones customers. Am I being unfair?
|
|
|
Post by Bob Reyer on May 29, 2014 7:52:00 GMT -5
Tony,
I'm a bit peeved by this as well, and I've alerted some friends who were interested in picking up the series due to Captain Marvel's involvement that they're going to have to wait another issue.
Mr. Bendis is right in his tongue-in-cheek claim of a "fine century long tradition" of this happening; back in the mid-Seventies for instance, when books didn't make the deadline, they'd go out with interiors not reflected by either the original or generic covers, and in this era, to use movie references, virtually every cover is a "one-sheet poster" for the title more than a "trailer"!
(As to dropping Marvel's entire line from your pull, I'm sure that there are books you really enjoy that need your support in this tough marketplace, so while I understand the need to make a statement, this could be a difficult mine-field to traverse in terms of the end-result.)
|
|
|
Post by Tony on May 30, 2014 20:13:56 GMT -5
. . (As to dropping Marvel's entire line from your pull, I'm sure that there are books you really enjoy that need your support in this tough marketplace, so while I understand the need to make a statement, this could be a difficult mine-field to traverse in terms of the end-result.) I hear ya, Bob; i'm just wounded, is all. I've only recently begun opening my heart to Marvel again after years adrift, and then almost all the books get jacked up a full buck, and then something like this happens and I can't help but flinch. What can I say, i'm a delicate soul : )
|
|
|
Post by Bob Reyer on May 31, 2014 8:37:59 GMT -5
. . (As to dropping Marvel's entire line from your pull, I'm sure that there are books you really enjoy that need your support in this tough marketplace, so while I understand the need to make a statement, this could be a difficult mine-field to traverse in terms of the end-result.) I hear ya, Bob; i'm just wounded, is all. I've only recently begun opening my heart to Marvel again after years adrift, and then almost all the books get jacked up a full buck, and then something like this happens and I can't help but flinch. What can I say, i'm a delicate soul : ) Tony, I completely understand--when comics went to 25 cents apiece I was crushed! (Sorry...just a flashback to painful memories!) I'm assuming that the story decisions made by Mr. Bendis came too late to change the cover, and that it wasn't meant to be a malicious money-grab, so I'm willing to forgive-and-forget...for now!
|
|
nikcel
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Posts: 78
|
Post by nikcel on Jul 7, 2014 3:56:13 GMT -5
I hope this week's podcast includes a discussion on the Remender situation! Thanks:)
|
|
|
Post by Tony on Jul 15, 2014 0:35:36 GMT -5
I'd love to hear what you guys think about what happened with Hawkeye. Wrapping up at #22, after all these delays and oddly-timed releases (i'm still scratching my head over the goofy x-mas dream issue that came out mid-Spring), i'm not really sure what to make of what went on with this book in 2014. It started so incredibly strong a couple of years ago, everyone was snapping it up and talking about it (it's one of the key books that helped bring me back to comics after a very long break), both the single issues and the ensuing trades shot to the top of a ton of bestseller lists and Bests of The Year, much of the rest of the industry seemed to take note of the humor and the style (there are certainly many imitators at this point, to good effect from where I stand), and I loved the Kate-in-LA departure in the so-called second act, and I thought, between Kate and Clint (and Barney and Pizza Dog), it for-sure had more to tell (or so I hoped, and hoped, and hoped), and now it seems to be going out with a whimper. Honestly, even if the final few issues are as outstanding as I expect they will be, it's going to be difficult for me to shake the expectation i've had all along that there will be more, that we'll get to continue to see Clint and co deal with various wacky/cute street-level intrigue.
These things happen, I guess, but I was wondering if you folk had a better idea than I about the 'why'. It never would've occurred to me that the Tracksuit Bros/Clown/Madame Masque plot would be the only main story arc this book would cover, and now it's clear there were never any other stories in the bag, and I can't help but feel a little let down on that count, and more than a bit dumbfounded. Thoughts?
|
|
|
Post by courtneyk on Jul 23, 2014 9:38:55 GMT -5
The topic I started on the Marvel board about Cloak and Dagger got me thinking about this question which I hope might be an interesting discussion for the show. I'm curious what characters/teams the podcast crew thinks are underrated or underused in the D.C., Marvel, or other universes, and what creators they might like to see take those characters or teams on in the future?
|
|