CBF Quick Picks #12 : Joe the Barbarian #1 & Siege #2
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I braved a foot of snow to bring you this podcast…
A double dose of Quick Picks comes to you this week to make up for the lack of one last week. 2010 has been excellent so far for the comic book medium and made it difficult to choose which one to talk about. Ultimately, I approved of a new creator-owned effort from Grant Morrison and forgave Marvel for flooding their 1st entry in the Siege series with ads and features after they put out a stellar 2nd part.
NOTE: I’m still working on the audio issues, so I’m hoping you all can bear the echoing and scratching sounds here. Pretend it’s your cat howling and scratching at your legs…
CBF Quick Picks #11 : Maus
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Audio quality is still a bit echo-y, but I’m trusting that my charming voice will still appeal to all 
Today, we dip into more of the classic archives (i.e. my bookshelf) and take a look at a classic from Art Spiegelman. Much like what Magneto Testament brought in discussing about the Holocaust, this one is more personal in its take of the author’s father, what he went through, and how it’s affected their relationship in modern times. The animal portrayal of each nationality brings an interesting take to the story, but still gets its point and purpose across off very well. It definitely deserves the gigantic amount of awards it won back in 1992.
CBF Quick Picks #10 – Bone
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Here’s hoping my audio quality has improved and that my counting skills improve next time (I reference this as Quick Picks #11)…
You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to do a podcast on this book. It only took me so long because I read the all-in-one edition that’s over 1300 pages long! This is how you write a fantasy epic and mix in the right amount of comedy, drama, and action for all age groups to enjoy. I wish I read this a long time ago (my friends are probably annoyingly poking me right now on Facebook because I’m late in reading this), but nevertheless, click play and you’ll see why this is something for everybody.
And as mentioned on the podcast, here’s the link to IFanboy’s video podcast with Bone creator Jeff Smith. Great guy and very knowledgeable – I look forward to picking up his DVD.
CBF “Not My” Quick Pick Podcast #9 : Siege
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So I have a bone to pick with Marvel. Love the guys to death, but with Siege #1 out recently, there’s just something about the issue that irks me a bit. The content that’s in here is a decent set-up for what’s to come, but I hope Marvel understands that I’m expecting more if I’m paying this much for a single issue. Click the play button and you’ll find out what I mean.
The Brightest Day Arrives
So it looks like DC wasted no time in getting this week started with some new buzz:
DC sold me on two aspects: 1) it’s a bi-weekly series that will run concurrently with the main Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps books and 2) Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi will be writing the series as well. That’s enough to let me know that the characters will have the same voices and that we get to see what the writers have in mind for the post-Blackest Night world of DC. No artists have been announced yet, but I think it’s safe to say that Johns and Tomasi will get the best around as usual.
My only concern is any potential burn-out on Johns’ part because he’s been sending out scripts like a madman as of late, not to mention him now having more creative editorial input on DC books in general. But I have confidence that they’ll juggle this properly for him because Green Lantern has been a gold mine for DC and I’m sure they don’t want to mess that up now.
Click the image to read more about it on DC’s blog.
CBF Quick Picks #8 : Peter & Max
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Welcome to 2010! Tastes like chicken…
Today, we go into the first novel of Bill Willingham’s Fables line that talks about the sibling rivalry between Peter and Max Piper of the pied piper lore. I’m constantly amazed at Willingham’s talent, especially in how he writes this out in novel format as opposed to the monthly comic format he’s used to writing in. And the origin tales of the pipers fit so well into Fables continuity that I’m hoping we’ll see them show in the monthly series. A good page-turner (though a bit tedious in the beginning if you already know your Fables concepts) and definitely recommended for both long-time Fables fans and fantasy fans overall.
Mark Millar’s Nemesis
You got ketchup on your face…
This is an interesting series if you haven’t heard about it as of late. Mark Millar and Steve McNiven, who have both collaborated on Marvel’s Civil War and Old Man Logan storylines, are back together one more time to bring a new series to Marvel’s Icon line of books. This particular book though turns us upside down though (as you’d expect from a Millar story) with the main character being the antagonist and having many Batman and Joker qualities intertwined. Think it this way – what if Bruce Wayne still had his riches and turned out to be the Joker?
The whole story about it is here. The concept sounds good, though if they do decide to turn this into a movie, will Hollywood mess around with it to the point that we get a debacle like the “Wanted” movie? And will Millar have to change things around too in the book after DC fired their shots detailed in this article.
Fire away those comments, folks…
Happy 2010 from CBF!
We’ve arrived at the next decade. Hope everybody enjoyed themselves in 2009 and are prepared for more fury from Mike and myself in 2010. Marvel definitely seemed to enjoy the last of 2009 with the official acquisition of them by Disney made known yesterday.
As we prepare to see what the comic world has to offer this year, we’d like to see what you wish to see come out of 2010 in comic books. We already know Blackest Night is wrapping up in DC, Siege is just getting started in Marvel, and Vertigo is continually pushing new and fresh material at alarming rates. What do you expect to see come out of these books and others? What would you want to see overall this year?
Let us know your thoughts and resolutions for the year to come. We already know what Wolverine’s are. What do you say, bub?
Indeed…
CBF End of Year Podcast
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Mike and I recently wrapped up the decade with our 2-part Wizard Decade Edition podcasts (latest one is here if you want to check it out), but I figured to also provide one focused particularly on 2009 as well. A lot went on this year alone, which explains why this was probably the longest podcast I’ve ever done solo. Some highlights on the podcast:
- DC was the big publisher this year in my eyes with Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns leading the charge on the major story arcs.
- Vertigo continues to innovate with their new Unwritten and Daytripper series
- Marvel’s Dark Reign storyline dominates the year, but hear why I believe it lost its focus as the year went on.
- Image and Dark Horse continue to put out quality work in spite of the domination by the big two publishers
- 2010 will see more excellent books and a more focused direction on both DC and Marvel’s sides.
- I lay down challenges as to supporting independents and why comics should never be considered as just “spandex” books
A happy and safe New Year’s to all and we’ll see you on the other side of 2010!
CBF Quick Picks #7 : Daytripper
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Lots of books for me to pick from this week, but I eventually decided on this one to be the Quick Pick. Really came out of nowhere for me and just proves to me once more why DC’s Vertigo line continues to shine, even in the midst of big storylines going on such as DC’s Blackest Night or Marvel’s Siege. The story is quite simple and yet so powerful in how it relates to us when it comes to wanting to fulfill our dreams and what distractions get thrown our way in doing so. And the ending leaves it wide open as to where this series can go – a nice change of pace that makes me wait with baited breath for issue #2 next month.