Episode 29: Superman: Love Him or Hate him?

Whether you love him or hate him its hard to deny the Man of Steel his due. The comic industry wouldn't be where it was if it wasn't for the Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster creation. We discuss his "boring" rep and the reasons to follow the Superman franchise. We even discuss the Superman mythos and the titles that have followed up on superman's cape like Invincible, Irredeemable and others.

Jonas's Pick
Booster Gold #26 (starts at 1:00)
Well DC's masterfully crafted plan to make us buy more books because of the Blackest Night crossover has worked perfectly and ensared Jonas into buying yet another monthly title to his hold. We talk about the whole 25th century concept and math far beyond my comprehension. I hate math. So we talk about that and the history of Booster Gold and Co-Ed showers. Need I really say more? Your not going to want to miss our perfect evaluation of the future. Henny sums it up perfectly at 5:26.

Creators: STORY BY: Dan Jurgens (also incidentally the artist for Superman #75 the issue where superman dies) / ART BY: Dan Jurgens, Mike Norton, Norm Rapmund

John's Pick
Ultimate Spider Man #3 (starts at 12:48)
After praising X-Men Forever for its masterfully mangled storytelling I've finally dropped it from my hold FOREVER. The most difficult pick of the week for me to have chosen so far and after nearly 6 minutes of talking about the books I read I hated. My default pick of the week was this one. Its hard not to like. But Sean hates Peter Parker's JNCO jeans and Gwen Stacey's eyebrow ring. I think since David LaFuente is spanish born and resides in London he may not have a really solid grasp of what's cool and hip and with it. We also rant forever about the Punisher Max new reincarnation and how it may or may not be living up to our expectations. I also dropped the X-babies. Sad.

Creators: STORY BY: Brian Michael Bendis / ART BY: David LaFuente

Henny's Pick
Anchor #2 (starts at 24:10)
THE ANCHOR. Holy warrior, unholy war. Freak of nature, beast of burden, hulking outcast, medieval prize fighter, Viking raider... God's own leg-breaker.
Cataclysmic action, quirky humor, and profound pathos for fans of HELLBOY and THE GOON. A new BOOM! ongoing series, brought to you by Eisner Award-nominated writer/artist Phil Hester (GREEN ARROW, SWAMP THING, THE COFFIN, FIREBREATHER, THE DARKNESS) and fan-favorite artist Brian Churilla (REX MUNDI, THE ENGINEER, CREEPY).

Creators: STORY BY: Phil Hester / ART BY: Brian Churilla

Sean's Pick
Amulet #2 (starts at 32:30)
I'm reading this and refuse to look up anything about it to write about it. So you should too.

Oh yea Will Smith bought the rights to Amulet and is putting his kids in it.

Episode 28: Let's Talk Comic Shop!

Join us as we discuss our favorite comic shops and the things we love and hate about the stores we patronize!

Jonas's Pick
Invincible presents Atom Eve and Rex Splode #1 (starts at 1:00)
Join us as we ruin the entire Invincible storyline for Sean Leslie! (who reads the book in trades) and give away every single spoiler in the next few issues!
Picking up right where the first ATOM EVE miniseries left off! See the secret origin of Rex Splode! See what shaped him into the man who tragically sacrificed himself in the Invincible War. Witness his first meeting with Atom Eve and learn their stunning secret!

Creators: STORY BY: Robert Kirkman / ART BY: NATE BELLEGARDE & BILL CRABTREE

Sean's Pick
Sweet Tooth #3 (starts at 9:30)
Having recently gotten back his sketch and signed copy of Sweet Tooth #1 Sean is on the Lemire loving bandwagon!

Hunters, cultists, mutants and shantytown pimps all want a piece of Gus, the boy with deer antlers. All that stands between them and him is Jepperd, a killer from the apocalyptic wasteland with motivations of his own. As Gus goes out into what's left of the world, he'll find out that no one is quite what they seem.

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

John's Pick
Freak Angels (starts at 11:30)
Short of comic money? WEBCOMICS are the answer! Or you can actually spend your hard earned money and buy the third trade thats just been released about the FreakAngels.
Twenty-three years prior to the inciting action of “FreakAngels,” twelve children were born at the exact same moment, each with pale skin, purple eyes, and a unique but decidedly superhuman ability. Seventeen years later, the world as we know it came to an end. Six years after the apocalypse, 11 of the 12 FreakAngels do what they can to make life easier for the remaining inhabitants of the now-flooded, future London.

Creators: STORY BY: Warren Ellis / ART BY: Paul Duffield

Henny's Pick
Green Monk (starts at 22:18)
Green Monk follows the adventures of a Monk cast out of his order, wandering a mythical Russian countryside. His only companion is a magical blade of grass that draws him into a brutal struggle against a terrifying foe.

This guy Brandon Dayton Drew a page a day and came out with such an amazing product you really have to pick one up. Brandon works for EA Salt Lake as a concept artist and owes his entire career to Henny.


Creators: STORY BY: Brandon Dayton / ART BY: Brandon Dayton

Episode 27: General Comic Discussion

Since Henny was out of commission for a few weeks and so many great titles are coming out, we felt we had to try to catch up and talk about some of our faves that haven't made it into the podcast lately (and quite a few that have, we discuss in more detail).

Jonas gets goosebumps as he and Henny talk about the current situation of The Walking Dead and the dark psychological turn that it's been taking and how its become not as visually graphic but more disturbing.

Sean is loving the Dark Horse one-shots such as Abe Sapien that seem to be the answer to the DC and Marvel ongoing Dark Reigns and Blackest Nights.

We discuss the Dark Reign series and how it seems to be wearing thin on nearly all of us. Is it possible to have a backlash from a series? If I see Dark Reign on a title anymore' I'm not as prone to buy it now. I may actually shy away and so do the rest of the Warriors at this point, with Dark Reign lasting over a year now and no clear end in sight. We discuss, The Seige, The Seige: Embedded and the Fall of the Hulks which will start the Red Hulk ongoing series.

I've been reading the Scott Pilgrim series and have to second Bryton and Sean's nomination of Scott Pilgrim as an awesome must read. Its up to the 5th trade and has provided me with plenty of laugh out loud moments which I feel are way to few and far between in comics these days (at least the ones I've been buying. Spawn never makes fart jokes anymore, sigh....) and I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this one and am looking forward to the new movie coming out soon.

We talk about noobs and BRB and how my sweet sister-in-law is painfully unaware of nerd acronyms. Happy Anniversary Brother! Who will never actually listen to the podcast since we don't discuss Rob Liefeld (other than every episode).

Henny and Jonas discuss the series as it's progressed so far and how after nearly dropping the title, Henny is loving the newest "SHEBANG" issue that con-artists from Brazil swindled him into buying it.

Joshua Dyson the writer of the series is also writing the Vertigo Unknown Soldier series that Sean has been really enjoying. I can't bring myself to read it because it's so issue heavy and serious.

Jonas has finished the second trade of Air and is even more in love with this twisted ongoing series of the Blythe family. With a run of only 5,000 issues we demand that you pick up the series now!

Episode 26: Dropped

Well, I'll be damned. It's episode 26. And guess who's Back? Trevor Rimmasch joins us for another episode of Trevor's Tyrade! Oooh, what bargain basement comics has Trevor found for the mere cost of a quarter, for our enjoyment?

Jonas's Pick
Cowboy Ninja Viking#1 Starts @ 1:00
Jonas loves-slash-hates this comic? It's still a bit hazy if he likes this because he swears he won't be picking up issue #2 or any others. Is it a poor man's version of a poor man's version?
Dr. Ghislain is the creator of a program that that trains people suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder to become killers known as Triplets. Duncan, living his life as a Cowboy, a Ninja, and a Viking, is one of these Triplets and remains Ghislain’s greatest success, even if he/they want to kill the good doctor. When another Triplet goes rogue, Ghislain and Duncan must put aside their differences to track him down.

Creators: STORY BY: A J Lieberman / ART BY: Dave Casey Riley Rossmo

Henny's Pick
Spider-Woman #2 Starts @ 5:50
After a 3 week hiatus of comic buying for Henny, his pick of the month is Spider-Woman. Bendis and Maleev unveil a big new chapter in the life of Jessica Drew as she heads to Madripoor to do S.W.O.R.D.'s dirty work. Based on the ground-breaking motion comic and featuring all new material. And guest starring Spider-Man!!

Creators: STORY BY: Brian Michael Bendis / ART BY: Alex Maleev

Sean's Pick
Noir: A collection of Crime Comics Starts @ 11:03
With crime comics quickly becoming a bona fide phenomenon, it is only natural that the company that published one of the touchstones in the genre would want a piece of the action. Frank Miller’s Sin City is one of the prolific author’s more praised works. It is also one of the books that really helped put Dark Horse on the map. Now 17 years after the seminal noir graphic narrative was launched, Dark Horse brings it's fans Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics.

Creators: STORY BY:
Brian Azzarello
Ed Brubaker
Alex de Campi
Matt and Shawn Fillbach - 'The Fillbach Brothers'
Rick Geary
Paul Grist
David Lapham
Jeff Lemire
Ken Lizzi
Dean Motter
Chris Offutt
M. K. Perker
Gary D. Phillips

ART BY:
Gabriel Bã
Eduardo Baretto
Matt and Shawn Fillbach - 'The Fillbach Brothers'
Rick Geary
Paul Grist
Joëlle Jones
David Lapham
Jeff Lemire
Jose Angel Cano Lopez - 'Kano'
Fãbio Moon
Dean Motter
M. K. Perker
Hugo Petrus
Sean Phillips

John's Pick
Punisher #1 Starts @ 13:50
Jonas sums this up so: "The Punisher sees himself on the list and kills himself" There we spoiled the whole thing for you. Actually nothing like that even happens so I swear it's awesome. Probably the best fight scene in a comic ending with the title character getting his ass handed to him, I've ever seen.
Legendary artist John Romita Jr. returns to The Punisher, joined by regular series writer Rick Remender for this, the most ferocious battle of Frank Castle's life. Plus, a preview of the next exciting chapter of the Punisher. Make mine FrankenCastle!

Matt Page you're wrong.

Creators: STORY BY: Rick Remender / ART BY: John Romita Jr.

This rules, I can't remember where I found it online though, so kudos whoever knows us Wednesday Warriors so well...

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?