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 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!
Superman: Earth One and Batman : Earth One Announced
It’s pretty typical to have a comics company launch a new continuity for its flagship franchises every few years. Some hit off great (Ultimate Spider-Man), some fall flat and collect dust (All-Star Batman & Robin).
Geoff Johns recently announced on his Twitter account the next big project he had set for DC in 2010 and it looks like AICN and the DC Blog followed suit in reporting his announcement as well as announcing the other big project. Two big re-boots in the Batman and Superman franchises are are coming our way and will be coming out in an ongoing graphic novel format. Where the writers take this continuity remains to be seen.
This might help a lot for those not able to go through the last few years of DC lore to catch up on their characters. DC did it to a degree with the All-Star franchise of a couple of years ago, but Grant Morrison’s Superman project was all you got that was superb about it. Let’s not even get into what happened with Frank Miller’s Batman All-Star take – just search the forums and you’ll see why people are down on it.
What are your thoughts? Is this needed even with the writing talent behind it in Johns and Straczynski?
CBF Podcast 8: The Unwritten, Spider-Man, X-Force, DVDS
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No Green Lantern talk!
Okay, a little Green Lantern talk. Tim reviews the DVD Green Lantern First Flight, which I should be watching this Friday. There’s been some buzz about the new Marvel and DC DVDs and anime being made, such as Wolverine (which is really, uh…Japanese), Ironman and Hulk (both of which look amazing). We should do a movie podcast down the line.
I review issues 2 and 3 of Mike Carey’s The Unwritten. This is getting good, literary references, secret identities, magical powers, and mystery everywhere. I recommend it with my other new Vertigo favorites, Fables and House of Mystery.
We take a quick look at Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin. Meh.
Tim reviews the end of the Spider-Man arch American Son, with spoilers so you are hereby warned. He also gets into the new X-Force, which is headed up by Wolverine. How he finds the time to do this we don’t know, must be a mutant or Canadian thing. I make a mental blunder confusing my X-titles (like that’s never happened to you).
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Comic Book Fury 6: Blackest Night Prelude, The Unwritten, Spider-Man
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There was an entire wall at the comic shop dedicated to Blackest Night Prelude, so I picked up Green Lantern 41, and Tim got a few Green Lantern Corps. We talk a little more about Blackest Night and how DC is preparing you for it. Something that should be interesting when Blackest night begins next month is the Batman crossover. Night Wing has won the cowl, but when will Bruce Wayne make a return? Steve Rogers is coming back much sooner than we expected, so is the Blackest night story line the right time to bring Bruce back?
I found another great title in the Vertigo line called The Unwritten, which is written by Mike Carey of Lucifer, Hellblazer, X-Men: Legacy, and others. He’s also the author of The Devil You Know, and several other dark fantasy books. For The Unwritten, think if Harry Potter was based on a real boy who been struggling to be free of the association, but when he does he discovers that it may have been more real than he knew. Very interesting work, didn’t grab me like House of Mystery or Fables, but I enjoy Carey’s work and will follow the series.
Tim finishes up with what’s been going down in Spider-Man. He brings us up to speed with the whole re-editing Peter Parker’s history (One More Day) to the current story line, American Son, which has been called one of the best Spider-Man arcs ever. And then there are the usual tangents into things like Book’s of Magic, and the new Batman and Robin series written by Grant Morrison.
We’re also thinking about creating a social community site for Comic Book Fury to get more of you involved. More about that in later posts.
Happy Reading!
Comic Book Fury Episode 1: Origins and Watchmen
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Show runs 49 minutes.
Tim and I talk about how we got into comics, some favorite story lines, authors, and artists. We then review Watchmen, no spoilers, and a little bit about what Neil Gaiman is doing with Batman.