Hallow-wieners

We have been running a little late on our podcast, but have no fear, new episodes should be posted this week! But until then, enjoy some of the Warrior's Halloween Costumes!

First off, we have Sean Leslie as Zombie Spider-man!

Rod as Snake Pliskin

Henny and Ally as Scooby and Shaggy

And finally, the always creepy Tim and Jonas as "Dudes attending an Eyes Wide Shut orgy party"

Episode 25: Halloween

Henny's out of town again and lucky for us Matt Page is available to help us chat about all things creepy in comics. We go over some of our favorite halloween (creepy horror spooky kinda) comics.


Jonas's Pick
The Last Days of American Crime #1 Starts @ 2:00
Jonas finally decides to put all his differences aside and pick up a Radical published comic for the first time ever.

The U.S. government has perfected a broadcast signal that will extinguish criminal thoughts. Enter fifty-four-year-old burnout, Graham Brick, a grifter who, with only 10 days before the signal goes live, discovers the crime of the century that he’d been planning suddenly transformed into the last crime in American history—if he can pull it off.

Robot6 at CBR interview Rick Remender Here. It's also got some cool previews of Tocchini's character sketches nice work and one to look out for.

Creators: STORY BY: Rick Remender / ART BY: Greg Tocchini

John's Pick
Violent Cases Starts @ 6:38
I still am stunned this is the first book put out by award-winning author Neil Gaiman and the artist Dave McKean. Set only in the memory of its author, (who looks like Neil) this brillant short story meanders through levels of recollection surrounding a childhood injury. After dislocating his arm, a young boy is taken to see a doctor - an aged osteopath who was once the doctor of legendary gangster Al Capone. Gorgeously illustrated in mixed media by Dave McKean, Violent Cases is a sensuous and thought-provoking meditation on our memories.

Also hear my memory of someone stealing my pillow in the middle of the night (why do I have a strawberry shortcake pillowcase Sean?)

Creators: STORY BY: Neil Gaiman / ART BY: Dave Mckean

Special Guest Matt Page's Pick
Daredevil: Return Of The King Starts @ 25:30
Matt likes this book just because its the last run of Brubaker! Rude. "Return of the King" is a five-issue Daredevil story arc appearing in Daredevil (vol. 2) #116-119 & 500 (the volume being renumbered). We also talk about the retarded numbering system being used by Marvel's seemingly random numbering policy. After the woman he loves and her children are killed by the Hand led by Lady Bullseye, the Kingpin returns to the United States and teams up with Daredevil to take down their common foe.

Creators: STORY BY: Ed Brubaker / ART BY: David Aja Michael Lark

Sean's Pick
DHouse of Mystery, Halloween Annual Starts @ 35:30
48-page annual contains a framing story by the regular HOUSE OF MYSTERY creative team of writer Matthew Sturges and artists Luca Rossi and Jose Marzan Jr. Also included is a series of short stories from a few regular Vertigo titles including HELLBLAZER by Peter Milligan, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stefano Landini and MADAME XANADU by Matt Wagner, Amy Reeder Hadley and Richard Friend as well as a special MERV PUMPKINHEAD tale (the first in over 8 years!)by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham and Kevin Nowlan! In addition, you'll be treated to a yarn spotlighting the upcoming new monthly series I, ZOMBIE by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred!

We also talk about 30 Days of Night and the second trade Dark Days.
• The Junji Ito Manga Uzumaki
• Andrew Crosby and Jason Alexander's Damn Nation
• Eric Powell's The Goon
• Mike Mignola's Hellboy
• Daniel Bremerton's Nocturnals
• John J. Muth's Dracula.

Then the whole podcast breaks down into twilight giggling.
Shoot us now. Sorry.

Also if your so inclined you can join us now on facebook
Or if you prefer even more obnoxious means of communication we are also on twitter!

Episode 24: Locke & Key

Jonas's Pick:
WormWood Starts @ 1:03
Just when John Constantine was starting to be a bit rumpled, along comes another nattily dressed smart-ass who does business with the unholy darkness; this time, he's a little closer to being one of them. Templesmith's Wormwood is a preternaturally cheery corpse with an ever-present cigarette and pentagram tattoo on his forehead to match the psychotic grin. In this debut, the gentleman corpse comes across a plot by a cabal of demons to infiltrate the world of humans and generally lay waste to it all in the nastiest way possible.

Ben's Flickr Photostream is pretty awesome and offers some real insights into his process well worth checking out.

Creators: STORY BY: Ben Templesmith / ART BY: Ben Templesmith


Sean's Pick:
WormWood Starts @ 8:13
Nick Fury and a long-dormant spy now reactivated continue their top secret mission while the kids get in way over their heads as they go up against members of the Dark Avengers and the Thunderbolts...and while no one else is looking, HYDRA's grand plans continue to unfold. All that and Ares is finally reunited with his son - watch the sparks fly!

Creators: STORY BY: Johnathan Hickman / ART BY: Alessandro Vitti


Henny's Pick:
DareDevil #501 Starts @ 12:52
In 1964, Stan Lee and Bill Everett unleashed one of Marvel’s longest running titles on the comic reading public, The Daredevil! A young boy blinded by a terrible accident but compensated by gaining extraordinary abilities, he has been in continuous publication since his first issue in 1964. Last month he celebrated his 500th issue, and this week we look at issue 501 and a new creative team.

Creators: STORY BY: Andy Diggle / ART BY: Roberto De La Torre


John's Pick:
CRIMINAL The Sinners #1 Starts @ 16:49
I'm not going to say anything more about how amazing this series is buy the damn thing.

Surebeatsworking is Sean Phillips blog go check it out if your not sold by my review here. He is so flipping talented its scary folks. The covers alone sell this book for me check out #4! Seriously go buy this or Incognito or even the first CRIMINAL trade Coward.

Creators: STORY BY: Ed Brubaker / ART BY: Sean Phillips

Episode 23: Old Man Logan

Jonas's Pick:
Olympus #1 Starts @ 2:30
What do you get when you take 'Boondock Saints,' smash them together with 'Ghostbusters,' and pepper the fusion with a modern look at Greek myth? You get 'Olympus,' an ambitious book by Image that is certainly demanding of its audience, but is well worth the effort.

The story is fairly straightforward, but has a charm all its own: Castor and Pollux are the immortal enforcers of Olympus, as they hunt down rogue demigods who might upset the natural balance of 21st century Earth.

Creators: STORY BY: Nathan Edmonson / ART BY: Christian Ward

Can anyone help us determine what the balls is going on in this panel from the most recent Thor annual? His hand on a leg, arm, baby fetus? What the crap, man? None of us have any idea and Henny is really concerned about it being some crucial point to the storyline that we're all missing. Click the image for a larger version.

Sean's Pick:
Hellblazer #251 Starts @ 10:25
Sean's favorite story run in comics of all time! Issue #251 is an interesting, amusing, and slightly disgusting look at one of the quieter periods of Constantine's life. He isn't battling demons for his very soul this time. He's merely trying to fan the flames of romance with a girl who should, by all rights, know better than to hang around a bloke like him. And just when things are looking up for the would-be Romeo, he develops a nasty skin infection of dubious mystical origin.

Yup, just another day in the life of John Constantine. This story is broken up by a handful of flashbacks starring a factory worker who betrayed his worker's union. Also, he seems to have his own case of black magic skin rash.

Creators: STORY BY: Peter Milligan / ART BY: Giuseppe Camuncoli - 'Cammo' with fill in issues by SIMON BISLEY!

John's Pick:
New Mutants #5 Starts @ 16:23
WARLOCK IS BACK! Everyone's favorite alien robot is back on Earth, but why? Also, see the effects that UTOPIA had on Illyana and the rest of her crew and witness the most vicious fight ever to grace the pages of NEW MUTANTS. The combatants? Cannonball and Dani Moonstar. I'm really stoked about the new art by Zachary Baldus and colorist James Campell's work is pretty unique and makes me decide to continue to pick up this title. New Mutants was on the chopping block for me for sure. Omnilingual Translation is still a crap power Henny.

Creators: STORY BY: Zeb Wells / ART BY: Zachary Flagg Baldus - 'Zachary Flagg'

Henny's Pick:
Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size (2009) - #1 Starts @ 26:15

How can they make Wolverine any cooler? According to Jonas make him 100' tall hence the Giant-Size Wolverine annual

Millar made readers wait eight solid issues for Wolverine to unsheathe his claws, and then a further wait followed for this, the climactic chapter, in which he actually uses them. With Logan's family dead -- killed for fun by the Hulk clan -- there's no longer anything left for Logan to lose, and his story will end the same way it started: by fighting the Incredible Hulk.

Creators: STORY BY: Mark Millar / ART BY: Steve McNiven

Episode 22: General Comic Book Discussions

Whoo, this one's a doozy folks. We just came off a late night bender from previewing ZombieLand! (starts @ 40:58) Wow. It's well worth the price of admission. In fact, since we saw it for free, now we will have to go see it seven more times. It opens up in theaters Oct 2nd. Sean Leslie's already seen it thrice. Sheesh.


"Only thing it was missing was boobs and it was so good I didn't even notice there weren't any boobs in it."



Henny's Pick:
Blackest Night #3 Starts @ 6:40
As the dead attack in full force, Green Lantern is faced with an impossible decision and the scattered remains of the Justice League suffer a terrible loss. Who can stop the Black Lanterns? Why are they rising? And how can the Spectre help? Will any of us even ever know? Henny picks this one purely based on the cover alone. This guy.... Don't worry Sean lets him have it later in the show.

Creators: STORY BY: Geof Johns / ART BY: Oclair Albert (cover by Ivan Reis)

Jonas's Pick:
The Walking Dead #65 Starts @ 7:38
Hmmm... surprise surprise, Jonas picks another issue of Walking Dead. Seriously people, it's just that good. It's not that the other books out right now aren't good, this one is just that much better, so, you know, if you're not reading this, PICK IT UP! Part 4 of the "Fear the Hunters" storyline. Of all the twists in The Walking Dead so far, I'm surprised we didn't see the idea of cannibalistic human hunters coming a mile away. It fits perfectly with Robert Kirkman's twisted view of humanity post-zombie outbreak.

Creators: STORY BY: Robert Kirkman / ART BY: Charlie Adlard

Henny's Pick: For real this time...
Adventureland Comics #2 Starts @ 11:30
Is it possible that our dear Henny has gotten sick of zombies, stabbings, blood, guts, and gore? Does he really just want to cuddle up with a cute little romantic comedy? Yep. What?! My dude is sensitive, he likes some teen romance. His favorite movie of the year was '17 again.' Henny's on the money with this one, as they tell the tale of the revived Conner Kent, as Superboy settles back into life in Smallville. But all is not well in Superman’s hometown. And while Conner reunites with Wonder Girl to discuss their future, Lex Luthor, and Brainiac form a partnership that will put the entire DCU at risk.

Creators: STORY BY: Geoff Johns / ART BY: Francis Manapul

John's Pick:
28 Days Later #2 Starts @ 13:20
Ok, back into the blood and guts of it, that's what I'm talkin' about! A real man's pick! I picked this issue almost exclusively because of this blog. They are by their own admission, a bunch of surly irish professionals who happen to work in comics and post to the blog daily. I have to admit my favorite consistently on the blog has been Declans's work, so when I heard tell he was starting up this book with 'Boom' I had to check it out and to my surprise (well not really) the books quite well written as well! So be sure to check it out as well as the mick's page it's well worth the gander once a day, my sweet Irish heritage demands it. (Isn't it strange that I make fun of Blackest Night, yet I have never read any of it? Just a thought)

Creators: STORY BY: Michael Alan Nelson / ART BY: Declan Shalvey

Sean's Pick:
The Sword #19 Starts @ 27:21
Dara's epic quest to avenge her family continues, and her last target is Malia, the air goddess who murdered Dara's father. Dara has already fought Malia's brothers - the water god, Zakros, and the earth god, Knossos - but Malia's power over air isn't the only thing that makes her more formidable than her siblings.

Creators: STORY BY: Jonathan Luna, Joshua Luna / ART BY: Jonathan Luna


Sean also waxes poetic about The List (starts @ 30:24) Norman Osbourne's new quest to kill off all of Marvel's biggest money makers. Is ANYONE really going to die? Nah....









We also talk about Matt Fraction's new take on Iron Man's revised origin (starts @ 33:57) is it really more timeless if his origin reflects the movie or should it stay the same as it always was?

Episode 21: Comic Book Censorship

Look Ma were finally legal! The DRUNK episode! Featuring absolutely no alcohol whatsoever, because we talk about censorship in comics and, of course, the consumption of alcohol wouldn't be allowed, so we follow suit.

Zero day release what? (starts at 1:59) did you know that comics are shipped a week early to dealers? News to Henny.

Seans's Pick:
Kick Ass #7 Starts @ 3:32
Dave Lizewski has had better days. When he first pulled on the Super Hero suit, it was the thrill of a lifetime. Since then, he’s been banged-up, beaten, broken, bludgeoned, and all sorts of other b-words. He’s met a 9-year-old assassin and been on a super hero team-up. He’s watched people die and seen himself become an internet celebrity. But all that means nothing—compared to tonight.

Here's a link to some pics of the movie and the trailer for the upcoming Lionsgate movie.

Creators: STORY BY: Mark Millar / ART BY: John Romita Jr.

Jonass's Pick:
Locke & Key "Welcome to Lovecraft" TPB Starts @ 8:55
Locke & Key tells of Keyhouse, an unlikely New England mansion, with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them.... and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all...
Big ups to our boy spidey for recommending it to Jonas. According to Jonas it's the best comic book adaptation of "Throw Momma from the Train". While it may not be as good as "the night was moist" it's still pretty spot on.

Here's a link to some pics of the movie and the trailer for the upcoming Lionsgate movie.

Creators: STORY BY: Joseph Hillstrom King - 'Joe Hill' / ART BY: Gabriel Rodriguez

Henny's Pick:
Sweet Tooth #1 Starts @ 16:52
From out of the deep woods and the mind of acclaimed indie cartoonist Jeff Lemire (THE NOBODY, The Essex County Trilogy) comes a new Vertigo monthly ongoing series like no other! After being raised in total isolation, Gus - a boy born with deer-like antlers - is left to survive in an American landscape devastated a decade earlier by an inexplicable pandemic. Even more remarkable is that Gus is part of a rare new breed of human/animal hybrid children who have emerged in its wake, all apparently immune to the infection.

Did it remind anyone else of "The Village"? Henny ruins the plot of the movie in order to prevent anyone from watching it in the future. He hates it. So if you haven't seen it may wanna skip past this, we also touch on accents in comic books. I think they are awesome. He also talks about Solomon Grundy... Again....

Creators: STORY BY: Jeff Lemire / ART BY: Jeff Lemire

John's Pick:
Parker: The Hunter TPB Starts @ 25:00
The Hunter, the first book in the Parker series, is the story of a man who hits New York head-on like a shotgun blast to the chest. Betrayed by the woman he loved and double-crossed by his partner in crime, Parker makes his way cross-country with only one thought burning in his mind - to coldly exact his revenge and reclaim what was taken from him! Richard (Donald Westlake) Stark's groundbreaking Parker books are adapted for the first time as a series of graphic novels by Darwyn Cooke. The initial graphic novel brings to life the first Parker book, The Hunter, which introduces readers to the dangerous anti-hero's cold and calculated world of criminals, thugs, and grifters.

This is hands down my pick for the YEAR.
The same (kind of) story is told in the Mel Gibson movie "Payback" while it stays closer to the source material and is the first time Stark authorized the use of the name "Parker" for anything licensed. I effing loved this book, you absolutely have to pick this one up, honestly my favorite comic I've read so far this year. I love Darwyn Cooke's masterfully rendered pages. There are nearly 20 pages of wordless comic in here that are quite possibly some of the best visual storytelling I've seen. This is truly an achievement of the craft and cannot recommend this book any higher.

Creators: STORY BY: Richard Stark (pseudonym: of Donald Westlake) / ART BY: Darwyn Cooke

Episode 20: Comic book formats

Although we are missing dear Mr. Henny for this episode, we somehow manage (despite some of our best/worst efforts) to get out our weekly picks as well as...
We also discuss the Disney Marvel buyout (starts @ 22:10).
The new upcoming Lobo movie (starts @ 27:05)
And our main discussion on comic book formats. (starts #36:05) What sizes do you like? I'm not an Omnibus man myself, but Sean loves them. Why aren't there more manga sized books? Seriously who doesn't want a pocket sized comic. Floppies or trades? Are hardcovers worth it for the extras?

Jonas's Pick:
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly #1 Starts @ 1:20
Jonas is just a cowboy deep down at heart and can't get enough of this new series. But the only thing I found redeeming about this issue was the fact that Dynamite is soliciting the newest robocop series on the back! Meh. But anyways Jonas loves/hates the fact most of the story was written in spanish. What's your opinions about using different languages in english language comics, anyone really upset or love this? Just wondering.

Creators: STORY BY: Charles 'Chuck' Dixon / ART BY: Esteve Polls

John's Pick:
Incognito #6 Starts @ 15:06
The man who killed Captain America, named "Best Writer In Comics" for two years in a row by the Eisner Awards, Reuniting the acclaimed, Eisner-winning Criminal creative team of Brubaker and superstar artist Sean Phillips, this twisted mash up of noir and super-heroics will leave your jaw on the floor! What if you were an ex-super villain hiding out in Witness Protection… but all you could think about were the days when the rules didn't apply to you? Could you stand the toil of an average life after years of leaving destruction in your wake? And what if you couldn't stand it? What would you do then?

Creators: STORY BY: Ed Brubaker / ART BY: Sean Phillips

Seans's Pick:
Air Starts @ 6:50
Blythe, an acrophobic flight attendant for the fictional Clearfleet Airlines, is invited to join the "Etesian Front", who claim to be an anti-terrorist organization. The Etesians trick Blythe into transporting plans for a terrorist attack. When she discovers this, she and a man named Zayn are kidnapped and taken on board the plane that is the hijack target. Later, Zayn and Blythe leap clear of the plane as it crashes into the sea. The head of the Etesian Front, a man named Benjamin Lancaster, also survives. Zayn is later accosted by Lancaster in Narimar, a place that ostensibly disappeared from maps during the 1947 Partition of India, and interrogated as to the whereabouts of an Aztec artifact. Blythe follows him to Narimar, where she is designated by the Etesian Front a "hyperpract", that is, someone with the power to move into different dimensions or realities. The three escape Narimar, while their plane is followed by a mysterious winged serpent.

Creators: STORY BY: G. Willow Wilson / ART BY: M.K. Perker

For those of you who are new to the podcast be sure to check out the image feed for images relevant to the topic of our discussion (or not) plus you'll get some of the really great extras like...

Sean's personal home library. (these are just the hardcovers! zoinks).


Also in the podcast we reveal Sean's Preferred method of reading comics.

Time Machine: Batman The Killing Joke

Join us on a journey through time to the year 1988, be sure to bring along $3.50 to pay for your copy of Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's Batman: The Killing Joke. Promise it's well worth it.

Arguably the greatest joker story ever told. The Joker, after recently escaping from Arkham Asylum, kidnaps Commissioner Gordon and argues with Batman that anyone can go mad after "one bad day".

"The Killing Joke" also goes through the Joker's origin story and tells one of the only stories from 1988 that's still held up in DC continuity. The story stands as a chilling profile of madness. The Killing Joke provoked fury among many readers who lamented the disposal of Barbara Gordon as a mere pawn to testosterone, yet Gordon reinvents herself later as super-info-hacker Oracle, poster girl for disability empowerment (see Birds of Prey, LJ 7/08).

We take a look at both versions of the book; the original 1988 version featuring John Higgin's coloring, as well as the 2008 re-issue of Brian Bolland's re-coloring. Bolland was very unhappy with the original version's colors and was never satisfied with the final product, despite much critical acclaim and fan praise.

Join us in this all new feature to the show and help us evaluate one of the most humanized Joker stories told to date. We also talk about some of the follow up stories that came out of this graphic novel, such as Geoff John's Booster Gold, Batgirl, Sam Kieth's Batman: Secrets and Dave Mckean's Arkham Asylum.

Warrior News: Disney buys Marvel!

Disney buys Marvel! Disney held a conference call with investors that just finished to discuss the deal and while much of it was focused on the financial aspect of the deal – with regards to both current and future opportunities – there were a number of comments concerning publishing and Marvel’s film slate that are of interest.

With a $4 billion dollar price tag I think they got every penny's worth.

"A good way to judge this would be looking at DC and Warner Bros. As far as I can remember, Warner Bros. has never interfered too much with DC and really does let them manage their own business. But then Warner Bros. wants to be the only one making their movies and that is why we haven't seen tons of DC movies because Warner Bros. has no time limit to make films so they really drag their feet.

But at the same time the possibility of Marvel popping up in Disneyland makes me really excited. Plus if Pixar did do something with Marvel then awesome."
Sean Leslie


"So I got this phone call from Joe Quesada and it was just the sound of him rubbing himself with money and now I am confused."
Warren Ellis on Twitter: