Awesomed By Comics

ABC Podcast, Episode #67 and visual aids

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:06:00 +0000

This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by music, some of which is made by us or friends of ours and is good; some of which stole Evie away, and is bad. Very, very bad.

While Evie is AWOL, Aaron is aroused and impressed by Chrissie Zullo's hot babe cover of Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love #1, while being repulsed and insulted by David Finch's hot babe cover of Psylocke #1. Aaron also is incredibly enthralled with the intricate worlds quickly created by Mark Waid and Christos Gage in The Unknown: The Devil Made Flesh #2 and Absolution #3 respectively. Aaron was also shocked by the motivation reveal in The Mighty #10 and enjoyed the start of the Assault on New Olympus storyline, despite a last-page appearance by a certain 'snikt'-er who just has to get his greasy little sporks into every event, doesn't he.

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! (And while you're leaving an iTunes review, why not buy Aaron's band's album, And by The Ampersands?) Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum except don't do that yet because I haven't posted anything there.

Cover of the week

Aaron's pick, from Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love #1, cover by Chrissie Zullo

Panel of the Week:

Aaron's Pick, from Batman Confidential #36 by Royal McGraw and Macros Marz

And as always, feel free to leave your picks (or your answer to this week's Oscar question!!) in the comments.

ABC Podcast, Episode #66 and visual aids

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:53:00 +0000

This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by something nonsensical and kind of awful. Incredible Hercules wraps up a heroic tale of yes, please, and Kieron Gillen declares sweet war on other new mainstream creators with a triumphant new Ares series for Marvel. We learn a lot about Batwoman's past, and Wonder Woman seems kind of screwed, but she'll probably figure it out. Also, KANG.

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.

Cover(s) of the Week

Aaron's pick, from Guardians of the Galaxy #19, cover by Alex Garner:

Evie's pick, from Detective Comics #858, cover by JH Williams III:

Panel(s) of the Week

Evie's pick, from Ms. Marvel #46, by Brian Reed and Sana Takeda:

Aaron's pick, from Unknown Soldier #13 by Joshua Dysart and Pat Masioni:

ABC Podcast, Episode #66

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:27:00 +0000

So, you'll see the show is there in the right sidebar. Sorry, I passed out on cold medicine (again) and couldn't do the whole kit 'n' kaboodle with the post here. Will do it tonight.

ABCP 65 Cont'd

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:05:00 +0000

Since Evie's not feeling so well and has a full day of crap ahead of her, I figured I'd help out and post the pretty pictures, since I know how to do that. If you make clickings, they get bigged.

Here's Evie's cover of the week, Ex Machina 46, written by Brian K Vaughan - cover by Tony Harris with spectacular colors by JD Mettler.

And here's my cover, the variant for Skrull Kill Krew #5 written by my friend Adam Felber, who needs to send me an e-mail next time he's back in New York. Cover by "Rocafort, Regler, and IF's Prianto." (who can also fight for your rights if you've been injured on the job or in an auto accident.)

Here's Evie's panel of the week, from Beasts of Burden #2 written by Evan Dorkin, art by Jill Thompson. And would it KILL you two to put in more cats?

Super bonus - here's more cats.

And my panel of the week, from The Stuff of Legend #2 (which you can get here if your shop didn't pick it up) written by Mike Raicht and Brian Smith, art by Charles Paul Wilson III.

And, as promised, here's Italian Spiderman.

Sheep pictures will follow. (get it? that's what sheep do.)

ABCP Episode #65

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:50:00 +0000

I am working late and getting sick, so I'm going to put off the visual aids until tomorrow night, but the new episode is up here or in the right sidebar. Kisses.

This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by the Valley Shepherd Creamery, where we met some totally badass sheep who totally wanted to hang with us for more than our snacks. Speaking of domesticated animals, Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson's Beasts of Burden wins our hearts, as does Power Girl's cat, and her trip to IKEA. Chew holds onto its title as the Surprise Hit of the Summer well into October, and the new run on JLA, hopefully off a steep cliff, begins. Please be sure to download the War Rocket Ajax Halloween Special this week, where we are delightful, or at least shrill, special guests.

ABC Podcast, Episode #64 and visual aids

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:02:00 +0000

This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by tea, zen and scalding all over your lap. Incredible Hercules shines in ball-kickin', nipple-twistin' onomatopoeic glory, and Mike Carey's awesome The Unwritten makes no sense in the best possible way. Deadpool and Spider-Man mini-story anthologies get points, and Batgirl starts to begrudgingly meet our requests, while also demonstrating DC's sore need for good teen-themed pencilers.

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.

Cover of the Week

Aaron and Evie's pick, from Unwritten #6, cover by Yuko Shimizu:

Panel(s) of the Week

Aaron's pick, from Deadpool #900, story by Charlie Huston and Kyle Baker:

Evie's pick, from Blue Beetle back-up in Booster Gold #25, story by Matt Sturges and Mike Norton:

ABC Podcast, Episode #63 and visual aids

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:06:00 +0000

This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by the latest entry in our rap battle beef war with War Rocket Ajax, and holy cats is it a heartbreaking, dream-making love-taker. Brother I mean Doctor Voodoo works his magic, and the long-awaited wrap-up to Planetary is universally (GET IT?) lauded. A lot of good-guys-turned-bad this week, and WTF is up with that thing that Batman did? That was highly irregular.

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.

Cover(s) of the Week

Aaron's pick, from Planetary #27, cover by John Cassaday:

Evie's pick, from Deadpool #16, cover by Jason Pearson:

Panel(s) of the Week

Evie's pick, from Strange Tales #2, story by Jonathan Hickman:

Aaron's pick, from Metal Men #5 (Doom Patrol second story) by Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire:

OH NO YOU DIDN'T

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:50:00 +0000

OH GOD DAMMIT. Many apologies, but you all are gonna have to wait until tomorrow night for the podcast, which is/was going to be a GREAT one--the computer just up and COLD DIED an hour-plus into recording and erased everything. I suppose as "professionals" we should keep these things to ourselves, but honesty is best. Anyway, it's late, it would suck if we did it again now, so tomorrow it is. Very sorry, but I promise it will be worth the wait, there's at least one piece of major awesome.

Oh dizzam

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:28:00 +0000

So if you've been listening to our podcast, you know something about our rap battle (or "beef war") with the War Rocket Ajax podcast, which has gotten fairly heated, and also not heated at all. Anyway, Eugene's answer to our Wolverine smackdown opens the most recent episode of their show, and holy crap is it a punch in the head. Go listen to it immediately. We're going to have to do something desperate. Like really, really desperate. I'm guessing Aaron has some ideas.

ABC Podcast, Episode #62 and visual aids

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:26:00 +0000

This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by Asparagus. It will cut you. We mourn the loss of a top-notch Runaways creative team that got cut too short, and marvel (small "m") at the shagtastic thriller that is Herogasm. A very intriguing first issue of Mark Waid's The Unknown: The Devil Made Flesh leaves us wanting much more, and Marvel Divas rends Aaron's heart in fricking TWO.

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.

Cover(s) of the Week

Evie's pick, from Runaways #14, cover by David Lafuente and Christina Strain:

Aaron's pick, from Unknown Solider #12, cover by Dave Johnson:

Panel(s) of the Week

Aaron's pick, from Bomb Queen IV #1, by Jimmie Robinson (click to enlarge):

Evie's pick, from Herogasm #5 by Garth Ennis, John McCrea and Keith Burns (click to enlarge):

Indie Comics to Watch Out For!

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:26:00 +0000

Torment
Paul Schoonerman
168 pgs
Goomba Graphics

An autobiographical take of a 7 year-old, left alone in the world when his mother dies of cholera. He spends three years in an orphanage, struggling with his demons, until he loses all four of his limbs in a freak accident. Drawn by Schoonerman using only his teeth, inspired by the style of Bill Keane. "Horribly depressing, and sickeningly melancholy! Four Stars!" - Spinnin' Indies

Forgotten
Randall Charles
48 pgs
Charlesmain Press

A 9 year old has to grow up in a hurry when his entire family is killed in a gas tank explosion. While tearfully going through the wreckage of his home, he discovers his mother, father, and older sister had all been struggling with depression, and were all self-medicating through alcohol and drunken fist-fights. Drawn entirely on the backs of discarded Christmas cards, then scanned into book form. "So sad, it borders on unreadable. Best comic of the year!" - Grum Reviews

Buried Memories
Chuck Hein
210 pgs
Threefrog Graphics

A desperately lonely middle aged man in a dead-end job with no family or relationship prospects discovers why all his pets have committed suicide. Hein calls it 'George Gately meets Aleister Crowley.' "Even more Heartbreaking and miserable than 'Open and Shut.' Chuck has outdone himself this time!" - Books R Good

High Life
Pauline Endive
168 pgs
SPS Comcis

An 8 year-old girl watches her mother fall apart, trying to come to grips with an abusive relationship. Drawn in Endive's trademark stick figures, this book is entirely without dialogue or narration. "Virtually incomprehensible, yet I know if I were to understand it, it would make me very very depressed. Comics Perfection!!" - Ditto Comics

Eight and a Half Minutes to Liftoff
ZacK
512 pgs
Beat the Press

An 8 year-old boy is dying of dysentery in 1930s Brooklyn. ZacK takes us through the last eight and a half minutes of his life, one page per second. Scribbled into ZacK's arm with loose staples, one panel at a time, then meticulously photographed. "This is by far the saddest book I have ever read, and I have blinded myself with acid so that it will remain the saddest book I will ever read. Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad. Capes are for babies, THIS is what cartooning is all about. One Hundred Stars." - Stanley Littleman, 'Broken by Life; A Homosexual Iguana's Tale'

MoCCA PANEL TONIGHT!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:28:00 +0000

This thing is tonight at 7 p.m., go to there! Me, Aaron, Douglas Wolk, Heidi MacDonald. Heidi predicts it will be fierce, I'm guessing closer to really good brunch, but you won't know unless you come.

Full details:

Thursday, Oct. 1, 7 p.m. 2009
The Comics Press: a panel discussion
Admission: $5 | Free for MoCCA Members

MoCCA invite you to join us for a conversation about the comics press. What is the role of comic reportage today? What gets covered and why? Find out at this discussion with comics critics and reporters Heidi MacDonald, Aaron McQuade and Evie Nagy and Douglas Wolk and find out the answers.

Heidi MacDonald has edited award-winning comics for Disney, Warner Bros., and Fox. She is currently the editor and main writer for The Beat, a blog covering comics as they relate to pop culture. It was named one of the “100 Greatest Websites” by Entertainment Weekly.

Aaron McQuade and Evie Nagy are husband and wife co-hosts of the weekly podcast and pseudo-awards show Awesomed By Comics. In addition to writing about comics for Publishers Weekly and other publications, Evie is a music journalist and editor at Billboard Magazine; Aaron can be heard hourly as a radio news anchor and producer on Sirius XM.

Douglas Wolk writes about comics for the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, the Washington Post, the Believer and elsewhere. He’s the author of the Eisner- and Harvey-winning “Reading Comics,” as well as “Live at the Apollo.” He lives in Portland, Oregon.

ABC Podcast, Episode #61 and visual aids

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:24:00 +0000

This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by the block-rockin' beats of a certain indestructible mutant MC who stepped up to throw down in our rap battle with the poseur zeroes at the War Rocket Ajax podcast. Breathe his hype man's rarefied air and suck it. Winners this week include Echo, Incredible Hercules, and Power Girl's kitty. Hey now. Also, come see us this Thursday night at MOCCA on a panel about Comics and the Press.

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.

Cover(s) of the Week

Aaron's pick, from Spider-Woman #1, cover by Alex Maleev:

Evie's pick, from Power Girl #5, cover by Amanda Conner:

Panel(s) of the Week

Evie's pick, from Detective Comics #857 by Greg Rucka and JH Williams III (click to enlarge):

Aaron's picks, from Power Girl #5 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Amanda Conner (click to enlarge):

and from Guardians of the Galaxy #18, by Abnett and Lanning and Wesley Craig:

COME HEAR US TALK SORT OF SERIOUS IN PERSON

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:23:00 +0000

For anyone who is in the New York City area, or can get here in the next week and a half, Aaron and I will be speaking on a panel about Comics and the Press at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. Other panelists are the esteemed Heidi MacDonald of Publishers Weekly's The Beat, and Reading Comics author Douglas Wolk, who is one of my kinsmen in the small cabal of people who make our livings writing about nothing but music and comics except he is much more famous at it than I. Suffice it to say we have a very weird Venn diagram of mutual friends. Anyway, I'm the first to acknowledge that calling Awesomed By Comics "the press" is hilarious in so many ways, but as Aaron and I are members of the actual press in our day jobs, we have some inkling of the difference and where lines are drawn when and what are the roles of which and blabbity blah. Anyway, you should go to there.

ABC Podcast, Episode #60 plus visual aids

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:57:00 +0000

This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by Thomas Kinkade, Painter of F&$%&* Light, how f*&%(^ awesome is that guy. We extend a warm welcome to new listeners brought via the recent recommendations of respected comics creators and commentators, and then swiftly proceed to go off the trolley like the walnut-brained mouthbreathers that we are. Beasts of Burden and Agents of Atlas get hearty nods, while M.O.D.O.K. demands pancakes, which is perfectly reasonable.

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.

Cover(s) of the Week

Evie's pick, from Beasts of Burden #1, cover by Jill Thompson:

Aaron's pick, from Ultimate Armor Wars #1, cover by Brandon Peterson:

Panel(s) of the Week

Aaron's pick, from Agents of Atlas #11, by Jeff Parker, Dan Panosian and Gabriel Hardman:

Evie's picks, the panel sequence above, plus runner-up from Chapter 3 of Amazing Spider-Man #605 by Brian Reed, Yanick Paquette and Mark Farmer:

ABC Podcast #60 on its way

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:34:00 +0000

Hey kidlings,
New podcast is recorded, but we were out of town for the weekend and did it late last night so editing will occur sometime today. Please be patient, especially all the new or curious listeners drawn here from last week's various very kind recommendations. Danke!
xo E

ABC Podcast, Episode #59 from San Francisco, with special guest Ron Richards!

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:57:00 +0000

This Very Special Episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you LIVE or possibly recorded from San Francisco, California. We're very excited to have iFanboy's own Ron Richards join the party this week and offer his own picks for our categories, as well as insight into why there are so many batcrap crazy people in this city. A bunch of exciting stuff happens but I've already forgotten what because we're on damn vacation, so just listen to the show.

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.

Sorry no visual aids right now, because we're out of town without a scanner, but you are all patient little grasshoppers.

Time to graffiti the Dreaming Celestial

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:48:00 +0000

We're off to San Francisco at 0-crack-hundred tomorrow morning for our first vacation in more than a year--and no we didn't choose it because of the X-Men, we chose it because of the A's, among other reasons, but that's another story.

Anyway, we were going to have to skip the podcast for two weeks, but because we love you clowns just too dang much, we're actually going to bring our stuff and do at least one show live from Graymalkin Industries, or maybe our hotel room, or someone's apartment, or Cannery Row, or something. Not only that, but we're going to make it extra special, with guest star Ron Richards from iFanboy, and maybe some other surprise NoCal-based guests. We shall see.

And now it's time to hammer on that endless pre-vacation to-do list--I've been rocking like 14-hour work days so I can hardly believe this is even happening.

It's a world of laughter, a world of fear

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:22:00 +0000

Yeah, so Disney bought Marvel today. The crossover jokes are already flying across the world like the Scarlet Witch on Angela Lansbury's enchanted bed, so you better get yours in before they're all used up.

If any artists out there want to whip me up a sketch of the iconic "Lady and the Tramp" spaghetti scene with Lady and Wolverine, I will pay you 500 Disney Dollars.

ABC Podcast, Episode #58 and visual aids

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:41:00 +0000

This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by How Grass and Trees Become Enlightened, because those crazy monks are at it again. In a week full of some top-notch comicbookery, mindblowing art hails from Batwoman and Horse Thor, Wonder Woman gets dumped, Herogasm gets serious, and Guardians of the Galaxy makes all of Aaron's teenage dreams come true. Also, we give Peter David a suggestion for how to pluralize "Jamie Maddrox," because it could obviously come in handy.

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.

Cover(s) of the Week

Aaron's pick, from Unknown Soldier #11, cover by Dave Johnson:

Evie's pick, from Wolverine First Class #18, cover by Skottie Young:

Panel(s) of the Week

Evie's pick, from Detective Comics #856, by Greg Rucka and JH Williams III (click to enlarge):

Aaron's picks, from Female Force: Caroline Kennedy by Neal Bailey and Ryan Howe:

And Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #3, by Kieron Gillen and Kano:

ABC Podcast, Episode #57 and visual aids

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 02:26:00 +0000

This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by some horse products, which are hilarious just for existing. Horses. Heh. We're back after a car-calamity-induced absence with mad praise for Ex Machina, mad love for Ponyo, and mad madatness for yet another sloppy Batgirl relaunch. Love is in the air for Deadpool and the Tiny Titans, and that was some damn good lasagna, damn.

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.

Cover(s) of the Week

Evie's pick, from Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #4, cover by Karl Kerschl, because I didn't realize this came out last week:

Aaron's pick, from Tiny Titans #19, by Balthazar & Franco:

Panel(s) of the Week

Aaron's picks, from Power Girl #4, by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Grey and Amanda Connor:

And from Deadpool: Suicide Kings #5, by Mike Benson, Adam Glass and Carlo Barberi:

Evie's pick, from Tiny Titans #19, by Balthazar & Franco:

Show is coming don't freak out!

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:57:00 +0000

Thought I should post this given the number of hits we've gotten today. Yeah I know you probably think we're such freaking bailers... there IS a show this week, we're just running a bit behind. If it's not up late tonight, it will be tomorrow, promise.

Which Bat are you again?

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:48:00 +0000

I could not even begin to tell you why in a hundred million years, because it's so not worth any of our time, but I have some stuff to say about Batgirl #1. However I have much work to do before I can do that, so I just wanted to send up a flare. You can either come back later, or vow not to come back for a week, depending on whether you're the type that slows down for highway pile-ups.

NOTHING SUCKS, AS YOU WERE PLEASE!!

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Gee whiz, us comics fans, you know? We jump to conclusions at the slightest provocation. We see a solicitation from one of the Big Two that suggests a fan-favorite comic has been downgraded from an ongoing to a back-up, or canceled all together, and we assume this to be the case. This is because it is usually the case.

HOWEVER. Please disregard my kvetching post below. Straight from the golden typing fingers of Jeff Parker himself, I received confirmation that the Agents of Atlas ongoing is NOT CANCELED, that the team is "going to be doing a bunch of specials and a Volume 3, to try to lure in new readers. Help me get that message across pleeeeez."

So, my faith in humanity is restored, please spread the word, get people to buy both Incredible Hercules AND Agents of Atlas, and all will be well.

Well, this sucks

noreply@blogger.com (Evie) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:00:00 +0000

As Sandy just urgently DM'd me, Marvel's solicitation for the Assault on New Olympus one-shot, out November 4, includes the announcement that "the iHerc team proudly welcomes our new INCREDIBLE HERCULES on-going back-up feature... THE AGENTS OF ATLAS, written by fan favorite scribe Jeff Parker!"

Wow yay, my two favorite Marvel series in the same book! WAIT A MINUTE--Agents of Atlas BACK-UP feature? FANTASTIC. So Agents of Atlas is canceled. As another friend exclaimed when I gave him the unconfirmed news, WHY DO YOU PEOPLE HATE FUN?

Anyway, trying to find out whether this is true, but I can't see how it isn't. Dammit, comics-purchasing hordes. Why do you people hate fun.