Podcast

Comic Timing – Episode 55: DC Wrap Up 2007

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It is time for DC discussion! Raph of Geeks Unite!, Brandon of the soon to return Quarter Bin Podcast, join Brent and I to discuss 2007 in a year in review. We touch on Countdown, Sinestro Corps, Amazons Attack, our favorite and not so favorite titles and creative teams, the works, so listen and enjoy!

You can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO For the Holidays effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

Until next time, thanks for listening, and thanks for downloading!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:43:01 — 50.8MB)

Podcast

Comic Timing – Episode 54: Marvel Wrap Up 2007

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2008 has begun, so let us review 2007, shall we? Brent and I begin with a wrap up for Marvel, as we are joined by Jen Capelli and Chris Johnson of Amazing Spider-Cast. We discuss everything from the major X-Books crossovers to the end of Civil War and the beginning of The Initiative, all the way back to Annihilation and Annihilation Conquest. We also discuss our favorite creative teams, favorite and not so favorite miniseries, and we ask the most important question for 2008: Who is a Skrull?

Next week, Brandon Christopher, Raph Soohoo, Brent and I go over DC in 2007. Make sure to tune in to hear the other side of the comic book universe discussed!

You can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO For the Holidays effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

Thanks for listening, thanks for downloading, and talk to you all soon!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:04:23 — 55.4MB)

Editorial

Spider-Man 3: A Retraction

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On the Upcoming Marvel Year-End Wrap-Up show, I talk a little about how I think Spider-Man 3 was the worst of the Spidey films. I still think this, but upon a second viewing, it’s not as bad as I thought. Dammit! The same things that “bugged” me before (sorry, bad pun) still bug me, but what makes it better is that I see the things that work well, although it took me a second viewing to realize it. So how good is a film if it takes you more than one viewing to realize it? Shouldn’t great films hit you on the first viewing?

The Good:
What I liked in this film was the interaction between the three main players, Peter, MJ, and Harry. On a second viewing, these things seem like a real progression from the second film. Harry is harboring anger for Peter, MJ is with Peter but realizing that he’s not always going to be there for her, because he’s Spider-Man, and Peter is just missing all the cues, like the loveable lug we met previously. Yes, the bump on the head for Harry is silly, but when he forces MJ to break up with Peter and forces Peter to come to him to vent, and then ruins his day again, it just seemed brilliant. And after that, Peter shows up at Harry’s house to beat the crap out of him! Harry wanted to make Peter angry, to lash out in rage, and he succeeded. You could almost say that Peter hitting MJ in the Jazz club is also Harry’s fault. Harry fought Peter in his house, while Peter was under the symbiote’s influence, gave him the rage to win, and go out and be bad, wanting revenge on MJ now. Peter lost control, hit MJ, and then freaked out when he realized what happened. Harry’s actions caused Peter’s heart to break three times, when MJ broke up, when Harry was the other man, and when Peter hit MJ. As Harry said, “sooo good.” That really worked for me the second time around. Because of this, Harry’s redemption at the end of the film really came through, even though Raimi and his writing team had to resort to the Deus Ex Machina of the butler, which is still lame a second time around. Harry, even though he’d been a reak jerk to Peter in the recent past, saved his friend from the spikes and Venom, showing Peter the ultimate act of friendship, self-sacrifice, even if it was impulsive.

MJ’s scenes worked for me on the first viewing, and here as well. I really got the sense that she was feeling left out. Peter was so high on being Spider-Man that he couldn’t see her being so low. Peter couldn’t be there for her, and so she reached out to Harry. Peter’s growth worked a little better, and I even smirked a little during the emo-dance scene. I think I got it this time around, seeing how Harry’s machinations were inadvertantly at work.

The Bad:
Too many villains. Harry, Sandman, and Venom. This is where the film really fails. None of these villains, other than Harry, were really developed characters. We only got a few scenes of Eddie Brock before he became Venom. Sandman was a total joke, being a victim of too little screentime, and the fact that just like Doctor Octopus, he had to be redeemable at the end. Doc Ock’s redemption worked, because we got to know him before his arms went nuts, there was a reason that he was acting weird. Sandman, had no real motivation to be Sandman. His little girl is sick. With what? A cold? Tell me what’s wrong with her, how much does it cost? How long does she have to live? If she has cancer, make her bald or something to show that she had radiation treatments but had to stop due to money problems.

What was Flint in prison for in the first place? Has he tried to get a regular job? Play the lottery? A scene or two showing us this would’ve gone a long way. Also, a giant sand-monster, really? Why did Flint lose his speaking ability when he enlarged himself? If they had kept him normal size but just let him enlarge his hands, feet, head, one thing at a time (like in the comics) then I think that final battle would’ve been more personal. Once he became a giant sand-monster I lost all respect for him as a character, he just became lamer. They had already shown how much of a threat Sandman was in the armored car robbery scene, so we know he’s hard to fight, just give the man more motivation to fight and he’d have been awesome. Some other things that really killed me were the kids. “Wow! Spider-Man!” Shut up kid, where’s your mom and why aren’t you in bed? It’s a school night. Sam, you can put your kids in the film, but they don’t need speaking parts to break up the action, it just takes away from it. Speaking of taking away from the action, the news reporters didn’t need the second sequence. Them setting up the danger was fine but once they entered in with the “Oh, the brutality” and “This could be the end… for Spider-Man” they robbed the final battle of all the tension. I know it’s brutal, I’m watching the battle happen, I don’t need your commentary.

So all in all, I’d give Spider-Man 3 a C, on a second viewing. I still think that it not working on a first viewing says something about the film, it’s nowhere near perfect, but it does have some redeeming qualities, mainly our three main actors and their plotline. If you were dissapointed with the film when it came out, go rent it and try it a second time, let me know what you think.

Editorial

Rant Timing #3: One More Bad Story

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One More Bad Story

Here’s a combo of what I’ve posted over at Newsarama and on CBR after reading Amazing Spider-Man #545: One More Day Part 4.

Won’t this affect Thunderbolts as well? After all, Norman plays a huge part in that book, and having his son back would certainly effect his decisions a lot. Would he have turned away from the darkness, or embraced it? Would he ever turn to working for the government? It’s a question that will need to be brought up, although I’ll be curious to see if Ellis even acknowledges the change. Hell, I’ll be curious to see if even BENDIS acknowledges the change in New Avengers! Wasn’t the unmasking half the reason why his teammates thought he might be a Skrull? Oh, and Dan Slott brought doubt upon Peter being Spider-Man in Avengers: The Initiative. Does this mean The Scarlet Spiders are still secret agents because they never went to help Peter?

How about Flash? Did he ever even wind up in a coma? Is he with Betty Brant, and if so, does she remember almost being killed not too long ago by a psycho woman made of spiders? Does Black Cat still know Peter is Spider-Man? Does Black Cat even remember being with Peter at all?

Is Doctor Octopus still disgusted over the fact he got beaten by a kid all these years? Better yet, is he back to being a green suited mop top villain now?

Too many questions, all thanks to Joe Quesada’s editorial mandate. Will we get answers to even HALF of these questions? Doubtful. By 2009, new EIC at Marvel. I’m calling it. Not even the best creative teams can wipe the fact that 20 years of continuity just got destroyed, all thanks to an immature young old man who hates the very idea of marriage. Quesada didn’t even bother to try with this one. All he did was wave a magic wand. But what about all those writers out there who were itching to give their shot at the current Spider-Man? Did he even bother to see if the wealth of creators would be willing to revive Spider-Man while still keeping what has made him such a compelling character over the past few years? No, he did not.

You’re a child, Joe. Sometimes that works to your advantage, as a man with an imagination makes it big in comic books. This time however, your immaturity has alienated your core audience. Does he even bother to read reader responses anymore? I mean he used to do that here on Newsarama, but I know he’s been a busy man lately, drawing an Alien headed Spider-Man for four issues. I hope he realizes our response has been almost entirely negative. I say almost because yes, there are people who saw it as a positive, and I do not want you to feel your take is invalid. I hope you enjoy what you read, more power to you. It’s just not what I’m looking for in a character or a company to spit on the past twenty years.

I started reading comics with a married Spider-Man when I was just a boy, and I loved the dynamic, even then. Now I’m left with a stranger. JMS was right.

Joe Quesada wants an uninteresting Spider-Man who lives with his Aunt even though he’s well into his twenties, and is addicted to wheat cakes. We want a Spider-Man who is compelling, knows how to grow up, and feels real. Marvel Comics was founded upon the belief that we should be able to relate to the characters as human beings. How can we possibly relate to a Peter Parker who makes a deal with the devil to erase his marriage from existence? It certainly will never happen to any of us. We cannot relate.

This is something Joe Q has forgotten, and it is the major mistake One More Day made.

The last 20 years of storytelling is indeed worthless now. My Spider-Man, the one I grew up with, the one who found a wife and friends to rely on, the one who lost his best friend in tragic circumstances, no longer exists.

Thanks, Joe. For nothing.

Geekspeak Report, Podcast

Geekspeak Report – Episode 3

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Episode 3 of the Geekspeak Report is here! Brent Kossina, my regular co-host of Comic Timing, stops by to assist in the selection process for the upcoming Geekspeak Co-Host Challenge! After the names are randomly picked out of his hat, we talk plenty of geek news and reviews, including:

We will return in January with the first of the Geekspeak Co-Host Challenge episodes. If you want to comment on this or anything else, e-mail us at speakgeekspeak@gmail.com, or you can visit the The Comic Forums to post your thoughts.

Thanks for listening, thanks for downloading, and welcome back to The Geekspeak Report!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:14:59 — 40.9MB)

Podcast

Comic Timing – Episode 53

Spider-Man time! Jen Capelli from the Amazing Spider-Cast and Chris Gallo, alias Webhead on the forums, join Brent and I to discuss our Friendly Neighborhood Wed Slinger. We go all the way through his career, from costume changes to love interests, from cartoons to movie, all the way to One More D(el)ay. Great times to be had, and thanks to Jen and Chris for joining us!

You can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO For the Holidays effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

Next week, our year end wrap-up episodes begin, as Jen Capelli returns along with her podcasting partner Chris Johnson to discuss how 2007 went for Marvel. Stay tuned, and thanks for downloading!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:29:56 — 75.2MB)

Editorial

Rant Timing #2: The Battle of the Analogues

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Battle of the Analogues

VS.


I have a to read pile of about 35 comic books thanks to DCBS, so it takes quite a while for me to actually read certain books. I have also grown accustomed to letting certain series accumulate on the pile so that I can read multiple issues at once. One of the series I chose to do this with is Lord Havok and the Extremists, which happens to be one of 87 different Countdown titles currently being produced by DC. Now I have not been nearly as down on Countdown as some others have been. In fact, in my observations, the tie-ins are often better than Countdown itself. Just as Sean and Jim put it on Raging Bullets, you get the basics in Countdown, and if you are interested, you check out the tie-ins for more information. That does not always work, but hey, you can’t win ’em all. So I read issues 1 and 2 of Lord Havok at the same time, and it seemed quite familiar. I was looking at a dystopian version of The Marvel Universe, Registration Act and all. With characters such as Americommando and Tin-Man, they certainly were not trying to hide their true intentions.

This was far from the first time such a tactic was performed by either Marvel or DC. The “Meta-Militia” as they are called here, originally appeared as “The Champions of Angor” in Justice League of America #87, back in 1971. This was right around the same time Marvel introduced “The Squadrom Supreme” in Avengers #85. Hell, this was done as a way for the two companies to have an unoficial crossover, as both were on the stands at almost the exact same time (See Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed for more info on that)! As the years went on, each set of characters evolved, and we got what could be classified as What If? or Elseworlds versions of the opposite side’s heroes. What If Marvel’s Supervillains Destroyed The World? Superman: King of The World. All you have to do is change Angor to Earth, Extremists to The Masters of Evil, Champions of Angor to Avengers, Angor to Earth, Hyperion to Superman, and Squadron Supreme to JLA, and that is exactly what you get.

Flash forward to today, and each other’s opposite team continues to mimic the other company in new ways. The Squadron Supreme are still around, but so is the newer, hipper Supreme Power. Here, we have a world where Superman (okay, Hyperion) was not found by loving parents and raised to be a good boy. Instead, the government find him and raise him in The Truman Show. Of course, once he realizes his life is a lie, all hell breaks loose and he decides to make things better his way, or the highway. Oh, and Wonder Woman (fine, Princess Zarda) is naked a lot. And Flash (once The Whizzer, now Buzz which sounds less wrong) and Batman (Nighthawk) are black. And Green Lantern (Dr. Spectrum who I’m pretty sure is not a doctor) works for the military. Yeah, you get the picture.

The Champions of Angor are pretty much gone in the regular DCU, but The Meta-Militia are better, faster, stronger, and live on Earth-8. Iron Man (Tin-Man) is president, with Captain America (Americommando) as his VP, in a world where those who do not follow the Registration Act get killed in most horrific fashion. Of course, the villains of this world are none too pleased, and get together to screw up their hard worked plans, and it all goes horribly, horribly wrong. Oh, and the A in USA stands for Angor.

New times, same old song. It shows that Marvel and DC have drifted so very far apart over the years as well, as what was once a playful way of crossing over without crossing over is now “Let’s show how messed up the other company is!” Still, is would be quite interesting to see Supreme Power cross over with The Meta-Militia/The Extremists. Would they fight, or band together to try and control both of their worlds? Do Americommando and Hyperion have a lot more in common than you would think? The guy writing this right now thinks so. I would appreciate seeing Earth-8 get further explored past a miniseries, as Frank Tieri has my interest. Hopefully sales will warrant that. So yeah, let’s see a crossover of a different ilk for once. Sounds good to me.

How about you?

Editorial

Triple Daredevil Review… Yellow, Father, and the Man Without Fear

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I’ve been on a Daredevil kick for the last few weeks, so having read 3 six issue arcs, I’d figured I’d review them here, from worst to best. What’s weird is that in some way, all of these stories have to do with Daredevil’s origin and his father, Jack Murdock.

Daredevil: Father
Writer and Artist: Joe Quesada

Ever remember people saying that Joe Quesada had forgotten how to draw at one point? After reading this abysmal story, I now believe them. Joe Quesada’s Daredevil here is a bulky, grimacing beast, unlike the one he had drawn with Kevin Smith 10 years back, and every other interpretation of the character. The story here is that there is a serial killer going out and cutting out people’s eyes, while Daredevil does nothing, and in the end, it’s all his fault. Well, partially anyway. Quesada introduces some new super-team called the Santerias who do nothing but fight with Daredevil in the two issues they appear in, and their inclusion in the story has nothing to do with the ongoing plot. There are some asides to a young, media-mogul, who has daddy-issues too, and he funds the Santerias and asks Daredevil to look into this serial killer. Daredevil refuses because the killer is not striking inside Hell’s Kitchen, so it’s not his problem, that is until he finds out that all of the victims are his former clients, and that the killer is someone he knows. All of these plots converge in issues 5 and 6 of this mini, showing me that issues 1-4 were pretty unnecessary and that you could’ve picked up issue 5, read the recap page and finished the mini. That’s not good for a story. Quesada seems like he’s reaching out in every direction here, which leads to a sloppy plot, and an even sloppier finish, leaving me to close the last issue with disgust. I went into this thinking it was going to be a story that hearkened back to Matt’s Father, Quesada tried to do this, but got so wrapped up with everyone else’s daddy-issues that he forgot that Jack Murdock was supposed to be the centerpiece of the story. It’s because of this that the story gets lost. If Quesada had kept everything in check, this might have been a mediocre story, instead of an abysmal one. Quesada is trying to do too much here, and it all gets lost in the shuffle. As for the art, People weren’t kidding that his “One More Day” stuff was his best in awhile, because the stuff here looks more cartoony and less detailed than any of his previous work or his new stuff, and that’s bad for an artist who is known for a dynamic, detailed style. I don’t know if Quesada was so loose to try and get a nostalgic feel in the art, or because his Editor-In-Chief job at Marvel got in the way of the quality. Richard Isanove does the colors here, with his digital painting style, and I almost wish he didn’t. Every panel has some wierd color filter. Flashbacks are all yellowed, like on old paper, Daredevil scenes are bathed in red, and the Matt Murdock scenes have a blue hue. This doesn’t work well across the board, because it makes the book look monotone. There is nothing to keep me looking at the page, since, because of the coloring, it all looks the same. I want the coloring to make me stop and smell the roses, this stuff didn’t. All in all, don’t spend your money on this book because you’re wondering what the hassle was all about with the delays way back when, grab it in a bookstore, take 20 minutes and skim through it. You won’t be thoroughly impressed to buy it after that. D

Daredevil: Yellow
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Tim Sale

One of many “Color” books by Loeb and Sale, this one focuses on Dardevil and his time at the beginning of his career, in his Yellow costume. A majority of the book focuses on his origin, slightly altering it more than I’ve ever seen. In this book, Jack Murdock is killed while Matt Murdock is studying in Law School. Everywhere else, Jack Murdock is killed while Matt is a young boy. It doesn’t do much to serve the story, other than place it within the first year of Daredevil’s first appearance. Anyway, Matt fights some gangsters, it’s all pretty standard stuff. The real star of the book is Tim Sale, who’s work is phenomenal in whatever form it appears, whether for DC, Marvel, or on the Heroes TV show. If you’re looking for a book that cover’s Dardevil’s origin without feeling dated or tying into any continuity, this is the book for you. If you’re looking to introduce someone to Daredevil, this might be the book to do it. A solid comic story with some fantastic art. C

Daredevil: The Man Without Fear
Writer: Frank Miller
Artist: John Romita JR

Out of all the Dardevil stories I’ve read, which really is limited to these three, plus Kevin Smith and Brubaker’s first arc, this was the best. Like Daredevil: Yellow, this is an origin story, though it ties in the origin everything Loeb left out, mainly Stick and Elektra. Elektra has been trained by the Hand and is addicted to killing people, but must start confrontations to with thugs to do so. Stick, here is a mysterious janitor who trains Matt in his dad’s gym at night. It’s not clear why he trains Matt, what is clear is that he’s disappointed in Matt when he uses his skills to fight crime, though his black-silhouetted boss is not. This is like Batman: Year One, but for Daredevil. I think it might not be as revered as that, because, essentially, Miller is applying his Year One formula to Batman. It introduces a young boy, his dad dies, he trains, meets a female villain, and fights crime. The Kingpin also makes his first appearance here, and his rise to power is quickly established in a few, pages, and that’s all we need to know, we can fill in the blanks ourselves. That might be what makes this story so great, is that we’re able to fill in the blanks ourselves, with whatever we want the blanks to be, or whatever continuity we know and love. This is pre-Goddamn Batman Miller, so it must be good, right? Fear not, it is. John Romita JR, does a formidable job on art here. I’m not quite sure whether it’s because of his love for the character, or because the acrobatic Daredevil is slightly similar to the lanky and acrobatic Spider-Man, which he so greatly draws. And, it’s not heavily inked by Klaus Janson, so there is no muddiness to the art, like on that last issue of World War Hulk. This is good quality Miller and Romita JR, and should not be missed for any comic fan, even if the Daredevil costume never appears in the actual story. A

Editorial

Co-host non-Co-Host Co-Host now has access… Beware!

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Hey there folks, wait…

‘Sup?

That’s better, and I figured I’d drop a line to say that I’d be posting some rants, thoughts, and stuff on here from time to time. Why the hell not right?

~Brent

Editorial

Rant Timing #1: Ultimate Letdown

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This is the first of a new series of editorials I will be posting both on the Comic Timing site, and on the forums. Hope you folks enjoy!

Ultimate Letdown

Ultimates 3 Issue #1. A brand new era for the fresh, hip, new Avengers. No, not the New Avengers. I mean, they’re new, but just not the NEW Avengers. They’re just new, mighty Avengers. Wait, huh? Okay, no, not Mighty Avengers, that’s something else entirely.

Can we start over?

Up until now, comic fans were graced with the writing talent of Mark Millar, combined with the lush visuals of Bryan Hitch. Detailed characters along with detailed plot makes great storytelling. Yeah, only problem with that one: it took forever to come out. The 2 volumes of Ultimates (24 issues on total) took FIVE YEARS to complete! Sure, there were a few months between volumes, but even in comic book time that’s a long wait. Instead of making us wait for a third volume of Millar and Hitch to be completed, the team decided to go elsewhere. That elsewhere happens to be Marvel’s First Family, the Fantastic Four. Good luck keeping that on time, but that is another story for another time.

So what does Marvel follow up with a slow yet ultimately (no pun intended) successful era of Ultimates? Surely they would give us another All-Star team, right? Something like Neal Adams and Brian Wood? How about Brian K Vaughn and Phil Jimenez? Nope. None of the above. Instead, they give us Jeph Loeb, who has put out plenty of great comics books over the years, but has also managed to write the worst Wolverine issue EVER just a few months ago. Wolves. Seriously? To go with Jeph, Marvel chose revolutionary artist Joe Madureira, whose Japanese inspired art on Uncanny X-Men ushered in a new wave of artists. Then he got the import of Final Fantasy VIII and stopped drawing Battle Chasers so he could play it.

Yup.

Well, Joe went to the video game world for a while and designed characters for a living, and now is returning to where he got his start, with Christian Lichtner on colors. A bold new beginning. A continuation of a legacy. This should be a team that takes what has come before it and molds it into something bigger and better.

What the hell happened?

Ultimates 3 #1 came in my DCBS shipment today, and those were the words that left my lips. I mentioned the colorist for a reason, because I do believe this guy needs to be taken out back and given a stern talking to. Joe Mad is a bright, colorful artist. And you mash him out in dark tones? It looked like someone dipped my copy in water, dried it, then handed it to me trying to pawn it off as brand new! The writing…not so good. Did Jeph Loeb read the cliff notes of the first two volumes as opposed to the entire collection? He seemed to grab talking points and ran with them: Captain America thinks women of the 00’s are all hussies who need to cover up, Hank Pym’s a pill popper, Thor likes women of all ages, Tony Stark likes to get smashed while sharing his mansion for superheroes, apparently nobody seems to know who Iron Man is even though it is so very obvious (or did I read that part wrong?), Hawkeye is the knight because his family is dead, and Wanda and Pietro share more than just brotherly and sisterly love for one another. Oh, and Black Panther was in Ultimate Avengers, so throw him in too. And Wasp is the most normal member.

Reading this title hurt. Perhaps Jeph Loeb read All Star Batman & Robin right before he wrote this issue? This was God damned bad. Plus, to spoil the ending, so earmuff time for those who have not read it, but you kill off Scarlet Witch right after implying her and her brother shag off screen? Great, now we’ve got another universe with an angsty Pietro on our hands. Now I’m not condoning the twincest angle because hell, up until now it was just a subtle wink and a nod to it from Millar. He was not heading in that direction, that I’ll come close to guaranteeing. But Loeb goes there, and kills one of them off! Why even bother bring it up the in the first place? The death of a sister would have been just as powerful to see unfold, but he went there anyway. Also, Venom? Valkyrie? Black Panther? Yeah, just reminding you Black Panther is there since he had no lines all issue.

I am in pain. I need some Tylenol before the vain in my head bursts. Ultimates does not have to equal edgy to the extreme, Loeb! All it has to do is feel fresh, new, and a little bit militaristic. It failed. Will I continue to pick the book up? I’ll hurt myself for at least two more issues just on the slightest chance they change the colorist so I can actually SEE the art, and that I get the Jeph Loeb back who wrote the first Superman/Batman arc, and lose the one who wrote Wolverine #55 and Ultimates 3 #1. I have not missed an issue of the original three Ultimate books since they launched. Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimates, complete runs for all. If things do not shape up damn fast, delete the last one from the list.

I still hurt inside. Ow.

Join Ian, Brent, and a rotating panel of guests as we discuss one of our favorite things: comics! Because there's always time for comics.