I hope you have your calendar cleared until 2014, because that’s how long it’s going to take before Graeme and I get to answering all your questions from this thread.

Honestly, how were we to know Before Watchmen was going to launched the day before we were scheduled to talk?  As the astute listener may note, we were pretty reluctant to launch into the topic and how clearly tried to get it out of our system beforehand…but like one of those county fair snacks gone bad, it keeps finding new and horrible ways to re-surge and expel itself.

So join us, won’t you, for Wait, What? Ep. 74?  The first eighty minutes is Graeme and I talking Watchmen, Before Watchmen, Multiversity, Darwyn Cooke, Amanda Conner, Len Wein, John Higgins, Dave Gibbons and the mighty sleeveless one himself, Alan Moore.

Then for the next fifty or so, we answer your questions.  Five of them.  But in the course of doing so, we also manage to gas on about Batman: Leviathan, Mike Baron and Steve Rude’s Nexus, Jack Kirby’s Machine Man, books we regret recommending, The Drops of God, Earth X, Fantastic Four, Micronauts, Chris Claremont’s last storyline on Uncanny X-Men, the Image anniversary, and more.

An infernal pact was made and sanctified with waffles to bring you the latest episode on iTunes, but an emergent loophole allowed us to also share it with you here and now:

Wait, What? Ep. 74: Who Befores Watches The Before Watchmen?

We hope you enjoy, and as always, thanks for listening!

Related posts:

1. Wait, What? ep. 4.2: Hey, You Asked…
2. Wait, What? Ep. 73: Thicker Than Forget
3. Wait, What? Ep. 29.2: Retweeted by Brad Meltzer!

2000 AD #1764
ADVENTURE TIME #1
ALL NEW BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #16
ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #226
ARTIFACTS #14
BATGIRL #6
BATMAN AND ROBIN #6
BATTLE SCARS #4 (OF 6)
BATWOMAN #6
BERLIN #18
BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #198
BLACK PANTHER MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE #529
BLUE ESTATE #9
BTVS SEASON 9 FREEFALL #6
CAPTAIN AMERICA #8
CARNAGE USA #3 (OF 5)
CAVEWOMAN FEEDING GROUNDS #1
CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1
DAKEN DARK WOLVERINE #21
DARK MATTER #2 (OF 4)
DEADPOOL #50
DEATHSTROKE #6
DEMON KNIGHTS #6
DICKS COLOR ED #1
DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS #15
ELRIC THE BALANCE LOST #8
FERALS #2
FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #6
GARTH ENNIS NINJETTES #1
GREEN LANTERN #6
GRIFTER #6
GRIMM FAIRY TALES #67
HAUNT #21
HUNTRESS #5 (OF 6)
INCREDIBLE HULK #5
JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #634
KEVIN KELLER #1
KEVIN SMITH BIONIC MAN #6
KIRBY GENESIS SILVER STAR #3
LADY DEATH (ONGOING) #14
LAST OF THE GREATS #5
LEGION LOST #6
LOBSTER JOHNSON THE BURNING HAND #2 (OF 5)
MEGA MAN #10
MEMORIAL #3 (OF 6)
MISTER TERRIFIC #6
MURKY WORLD ONE SHOT
NEW MUTANTS #37 XREGB
NEXT MEN AFTERMATH #40
NORTHANGER ABBEY #4 (OF 5)
NORTHLANDERS #48
PC CAST HOUSE OF NIGHT #4 (OF 5)
PENGUIN PAIN AND PREJUDICE #5 (OF 5)
POWERS #8
PUNISHERMAX #22
RED SONJA #63
RESURRECTION MAN #6
RICHIE RICH VALENTINES SPECIAL 2012 ONE SHOT
SCARLET SPIDER #2
SECRET AVENGERS #22
SEVERED #7 (OF 7)
SPAWN #216
SPONGEBOB COMICS #7
STAR WARS AGENT O/T EMPIRE IRON ECLIPSE #3 (OF 5)
STAR WARS CRIMSON EMPIRE III EMPIRE LOST #4 (OF 6)
STAR WARS KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC WAR #2 (OF 5)
SUICIDE SQUAD #6
SUPER HEROES #23
SUPERBOY #6
THE STRAIN #3 (OF 12)
THIEF OF THIEVES #1
UNCANNY X-FORCE #21 XREGG
UNWRITTEN #34
VENOM #13.1
WAR GODDESS #5
WARLORD OF MARS #15
WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #5 XREGG
WOLVERINE AND X-MEN ALPHA AND OMEGA #2 (OF 5)
X-MEN #24 XREGB

Books / Mags / Stuff
AVENGERS ORIGIN TP
BATMAN TIME AND THE BATMAN TP
DOTTER OF HER FATHERS EYES HC
ENDERS SHADOW ULTIMATE COLLECTION TP
FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #260 DRACULA CVR
FANTASTIC FOUR SEASON ONE PREM HC
HACK SLASH TP VOL 10 DEAD CELEBRITIES
ILLUSTRATION MAGAZINE #36
IZOMBIE TP VOL 03 SIX FEET UNDER AND RISING
JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #319
KEVIN KELLER HC VOL 01
KING CONAN THE SCARLET CITADEL TP
LIFE & DEATH OF FRITZ THE CAT HC
LONE RANGER ZORRO TP VOL 01 DEATH OF ZORRO
METAL GEAR SOLID OMNIBUS TP (O/A)
NEW AVENGERS BY BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS TP VOL 02
SHOWCASE PRESENTS GHOSTS TP VOL 01
STRANGE CASE OF MR HYDE TP
SUPERMAN THE BLACK RING TP VOL 01
TORPEDO HC VOL 04
YOUNG ROMANCE BEST SIMON & KIRBY COMICS HC

What looks good to YOU?

-B

Related posts:

1. Arriving 1/11/12
2. Arriving 10/12/11
3. Arriving 12/14/2011

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #15
By Stewart McKenney/Dan Davis(a), Sholly Fisch(w), Guy Major(c) and Dezi Sienty(l)
(DC Comics, $2.99)
“No Exit”
If he is to survive an unending series of death traps of unknown origin The Caped Crusader is going to need a miracle! Luckily he brought one along…MISTER MIRACLE!

“”No…spears!” HAHAHAHAHAHA. Damn, even Kids think that joke is shit. Judgemental buggers.”

This is a comic for Kids, is that alright? Is it alright if Kids have comics too? Because I know comics aren’t for kids anymore. I know that the works of such mature intellects as Mark Millar, Brian Bendis and Geoff Johns have lifted the fights’n'tights funnybook up beyond the meagre intellects of children into a new and special place where they are exactly like comics for Kids but not as good; which in a very real sense is just like growing up. Everything’s the same as when you were a Kid it’s just a bit more shit. Comics for Kids, okay? Is that alright? Because if it isn’t then there’s no place for a PG version of CUBE starring Batman and Mister Miracle in which Batman solves the confounding conundrum bedevilling our two plucky chums by noticing that he doesn’t need a shave and if that’s true then I guess there’s no place for the following exchange:

DOCTOR BEDLAM: However your MEAGER INTELLECT is no match for the brilliance of DOCTOR BEDLAM.

BATMAN: Really? How about my FIST?

There’s always a place for that. Even though they do not use the correct English spelling of “meagre” and plump for the Colonial mutation. Yes, even though Mister Miracle looks creepy without a nose this is still VERY GOOD!

SCALPED #55
By R.M. Guera(a), Jason Aaron(w), Giulia Brusco(c) and Sal Cipriano(l)
(Vertigo/DC Comics, $2.99)
“Knuckle-Up” Conclusion

“Fact: I, John, actually have a thing about traumatic eye wounds. In that I fear them not that I get off on them. I know this is The Internet but be nice, now.”

Now that’s a fight scene! So that’s GOOD!

PUNISHERMAX #21
By Steve Dillon(a), Jason Aaron(w), Matt Hollingsworth(c) and VC’s Cory Petit(l)(Marvel Comics, $3.99)
“Homeless” Conclusion
Frank and The Kingpin finally collide in a femur shattering confrontation from which only one will walk away! Actually they both walk away but The Kingpin has a hammer stuck in his head and scratches at the glass door of his apartment like a wet brained stray cat before Frank brings him down and then Frank falls over and so I guess it’s really a femur shattering confrontation from which both walk away – but only for a bit!

“The White Male Heterosexual’s Worst Nightmare”

Frank Castle is homeless. And he stands there singing for money. La da dee la dee da. Ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Crystal Waters! Terrible song that but, hey, I was watching THE HURT LOCKER the other night because I like to watch films everyone has already watched and moved on from. It’s important to be timely, to be relevant, I feel. It was okay, really quite a decent film until the end when they did the thing with the guy at home. I didn’t really like that bit because as is usual with cool hard asses we were invited to feel sorry for him because being such a hard ass he could find no pleasure in the real treasures of life such as cleaning out the guttering and shopping for cereal (don’t load the dice too much, eh, Mark Boal) and yet we were also invited to admire him as the romantic lone wolf; true to himself and his manly nature. There are a lot of these films and they seem to fulfil the same function as Chick Flicks. They kind of undermine the gender stereotype while at the same time finding shelter within it. I call the male variation Dick Flicks. PUNISHERMAX is a Dick Flick. Y’know, that weirdly pathetic male wish fulfillment where you can be free at last to be a manly man but it has come at such a cost that you get to be both pitied and feared. Like a baby the size of a tower block crying for Mama to change its nappy. You’d be scared if that turned up outside your window but you’d feel a bit sorry for it as well. Unless you were a manly man in which case you would shoot it in its big fleshy demanding face and turn away before we saw your single, solitary tear.

Someone has to say it, Frank. You are a weak man, Frank. It isn’t a sign of strength to run away from responsibility, Frank. You are a weak man, Frank Castle, to rather have your family die than pick up those toys one more time, rather than sit through The Only Way is Essex one more time, rather than have to sit through those shitty Star Wars films one more time…actually, Frank, I’m starting to see your point.I am a man after all and as a man I found PUNISHERMAX was GOOD! After all, I cannot tell a lie, like most men I like a good Dick Flick.

DEMON KNIGHTS #5
By Diogenes Neves/Oclair Albert(a), Paul Cornell(w), Marcelo Maiolo(c) and Jared K. Fletcher(l)
(DC Comics, $2.99)
“The Traitor”

“Meet The Twin Fists of Tolerance!”

The best thing about this comic, because it’s important to be positive about comics or so people keep bleating, is the character of Jabr. Now it seems to me that this guy is rational, educated, level-headed, tasty in a fight and quite possibly not of European extraction. He’s all those things and yet not boring, he is fact the best character in this except for “Sir” Justin because us Brits love a bit of crossdressing fun. Deny it to your Mother, pal, don’t waste your breath denying it to me. Astonishingly The Internet has not lost its collective mind over Jabr and it’s this magical fact, this clear indication that we have at last, as a species, grown enough to, finally, recognise the transitory nature of our fragile lives and put aside our differences to become, in effect, tolerant and wise and thus strong enough to forge the collective future all our predecessors suffered and died to accomplish. Or maybe nobody is reading this as it is, after all, just OKAY!

ALL-STAR WESTERN #4,#5
By Moritat, Phil Winslade(a), Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti(w)Gabriel Bautista, Dominic Regan(c) and Rob Leigh(l)
(DC Comics, $2.99)
Jonah Hex in “Gotham Underground” and The Barbary Ghost in, er, “The Barbary Ghost”
In the caverns beneath Gotham Jonah Hex finds not only a fine example of the unfettered free market in action but also ancient evil. And some bats. Because it is Gotham. Also in this issue: The Barbary Ghost makes a spooky debut!

It was kind of okay having Arkham around for a bit but now his role seems to have quickly devolved into basically telling us when Jonah Hex is being an asshole and getting himself in a pickle Jonah has to help him out of. This erodes a large portion of the appeal of Jonah for me. I like not knowing if he is actually going to help whoever’s in trouble or if he’s going to just be an ornery asshole. Obviously he has to save Arkham all the time or the Asylum will never be built and Batman’s continuity will be all wronged-up. Oh noes! And also I like to decide myself when Jonah has been an asshole. On occasion it has taken me several pages to realise just how big an asshole Jonah has been on that occasion several pages previous to the point at which said realisation alights upon my mind. I like that. So, yeah, shut yer fancy yapper, Arkham! And let’s get out of Gotham and light out for the territories; it’s too constrictive, Jonah works best out in The Big Country where he can tread in big shit in all manner of unlikely ways. I like the colours by Bautista they are kind of organic but inorganic at the same time, like laser-pastels or something. Yes, people my age still think putting “laser” in front of something suggests The Future. Aren’t old people just the cutest!

Oh, the backup is The Barbary Ghost; a new creation by Gray, Palmiotti and Winslade. While Winslade’s brittle lines manfully attempt to ground the story in a specific milieu at once both evocative and atmospheric this is somewhat undermined by the fact that The Barbary Ghost’s knockers are kind of flopping about a lot. Now I’m no Henry History but I would have thought that a Chinese lady in the 1870′s would have been personally inclined, in large part due to the mores and customs of both the particular point in history she occupied and the heritage of her own people’s customs and traditions, to keep her tits shut in a bit more. Or maybe I missed the class where we were taught about The Great 1870′s Chinese Tunic Button Shortage. I could have; I was a bit of a git as a kid.

Still, credit given for an original character. After all in 2012 DC’s big old money fountain will be WATCHMEN: HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. No doubt JMS is going to improve the original by, apparently, so he says,  explaining about how Jon was obsessed with time yet he still went into that time-locked room! I don’t know. I guess I missed the bits in WATCHMEN where Jon was continually asking people what time it was and craning his neck to look at clocks and banging his girlfriend from behind so he could put his hand on the base of her neck in such a way that it seemed erotically stimulating due to its sensual forcefulness but at the same time afforded him an uninterrupted view of his watch. Or maybe his Dad was a watchmaker and he thus believed in Design but he was changed into a God by a complete ACCIDENT! and that was a metaphor or an analogy or even the whole meshuggener point already or, Christ, who gives a shit. Yes, okay, it was strange. Really strange. I need it explaining in a book illustrated by a cheesecake maker. I’m glad it isn’t someone muttonheadly literal who’s got this gig, rather someone as dependable and imaginative as JMS who is going to bless us with a mini-series in which, let’s face it, quite probably Dr Manhattan reaches back trough time to give events a nudge so that he effectively creates himself! SPOILER! Christ. Mind you I know it has always troubled me, raised a question in my mind, why Rorschach wears a woman’s gusset on his face. Hopefully Brian Azzarrello will be setting my mind to rest on that score. Hurm.  In 2013: CAMELOT 3010!

Do you see what I did there? I did an impression of The Internet and played right into DC’s hands and I missed the point. The point about WATCHMEN: BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS not being a nice thing is that endorsing this is endorsing DC’s treatment of Alan Moore. DC own WATCHMEN so they can do what they want with WATCHMEN and what they want to do with WATCHMEN is make money because they are a business. I can understand that, I see that, thanks. DC do not own Alan Moore and they have treated him, and continue to treat him, in a shabby fashion unbecoming of adults. That’s the issue here. If they can do that to Alan Moore and it is all right because we get our nice new comics then it is all right for them to continue treating creators in such a fashion. It isn’t all right. It will never be all right. That’s the point here, for me, not whether the books will be any good, or any of that other diversionary horse shit. Nut up or shut up, DC. Nut up or shut up.

ALL-STAR WESTERN was GOOD! if you can remember that far back.

AMERICAN VAMPIRE #23
By Rafael Albuquerque(a), Scott Snyder(w), Dave McCaig(c) and Jared K. Fletcher(l)
(Vertigo/DC Comics,$2.99)
“Death Race” Part Two of Four
I haven’t actually read this one. I don’t know if you noticed that bit up there, the boring bit, yeah? The “Part Two of Four” bit? I wouldn’t have; I’d have skipped it and looked at the scan (which isn’t there because I haven’t read it, see) and then read the text I judged most likely to contain a cock joke or insult a noted comic creator. So I can fully understand if you missed the whole “Part Two of Four” bit. I didn’t though and since I have yet to receive “Part One of Four” I am unable to read this comic. I don’t mention that for any other reason than the fact that Mr. Jeff Lester and Mr. Graeme McMillan were talking about how weird their comics reading patterns can be (I mean I’ve got this comic bought and paid for but I’m not going to read it? Saywhanow?!) And I just wanted to mention that I share their sickness; I sup from the same trough of pain as they. Also, just thinking about them both brings me physical pleasure. Hurm.NuuuuhHHHH.

Sorry about this one, folks, hopefully it’ll be better next week.
Have a good weekend with COMICS!

Related posts:

1. “He’s Not Human, Jim…I Swear!” Comics! Sometimes They Knife You In The Back!
2. “…I’m Taking The Case.” Comics! Sometimes They Aren’t Older Than Your Grandad!
3. Retail Intelligence: The impact of the WATCHMEN trailer

[Note: this post includes comics read in 2011 as well as stuff from January, so you can expect some cursory bits here. Also: I missed you guys. I miss your face, your moist carcass, your buttermilk porpoise, your tender kiss and your sloppy tongues. Joe McCulloch is going to make a great father to what I've got growing inside me right now, and I hear great things are brewing in the Loins of Khosla. This is dedicated to Brian Hibbs, who is a great man, but would be even greater if he threw away all the sandals I feel sure he must own.]

Herbie #1
Ogden Whitney
A+ Comics, 1990

This was the first in a short lived series of reprints of the old Herbie comics, most of which are known due to their inclusion in Dan Nadel’s Art Out of Time as well as being referred to by Alan Moore as his favorite super-hero comic. It’s about a fat kid who solves problems and sometimes wears a costume while doing so. Most of its appeal escaped me, but I greatly enjoyed Herbie’s parents, who seem to find him almost as obnoxious as I eventually did. OKAY!

What Makes A Man Dress Up Like A Bat??
Miscelleanous
Philly Comix Jam, 2009

A short comics anthology of Batman parodies on newsprint. The strongest entries are the ones that go weird, like one where Batman’s biggest emergency is helping liven up a shitty lawn party, but those are few and far between. The majority are just low-rent imitations of Mad magazine, and for whatever reason, many of those are just really obvious gay jokes. EH! (I really think that if you’re going to do a superheroes-are-gay-haw-haw comic, it should go all the way–either full on hardcore sex, like that comic Dirk Deppey linked to once where Optimus Prime forced himself upon Megatron (don’t look it up, seriously) or full on tortured romance, like that scene in the Ethan Hawke Great Expectations where he’s yelling at what he thinks is Gwyneth Paltrow.)

Kramers Ergot 3
Miscelleanous
Avodah, 2003

Fun stuff here. Soto, Nilsen and Harkham (especially Harkham) are the big stand outs of the volume, although there’s a couple of much longer pieces that probably had some measure of appeal at the time. On the negative side, it proves a pet theory true: most cute indie comics are meaningless exercises best reserved for the portfolios of people trying to get work storyboarding children’s cartoons. If it isn’t being done for small children, what’s the point of these kinds of comics? They’re never interesting to anyone, they’re so basic in construction that “good drawing” is essentially shorthand for “easy drawing”, and it doesn’t take but a few years for the creators to invariably fuck off back to whatever their other interests are. Still VERY GOOD! overall.

Garden
Yuichi Yokoyama
Picturebox, 2011

This is the only one of Yokoyama’s books that features characters that should get beaten to death, but considering how quickly he seems to be working these days, he’ll probably add to that eventually. Mostly, this book is just not as good as Travel in every way that it can be ranked, even down to the way it’s printed. It’s a testament to how interesting this guy is that “nowhere near as good as something else” still translates to VERY GOOD! on the Savage Critics scale.

Omelett
Menu
Reprodukt, 2000

This is one of the most depressing comics about motherhood you’re ever going to read. The number of abortions would quadruple overnight if it were more easily available. Makes me wish there was a rating higher than EXCELLENT!

Cabbie
Marti
Fantagraphics, 2011

The page in here where the cabbie brings his father’s sewage covered remains home and puts them in what’s left of the coffin and then puts the coffin on top of his mother’s recently deceased body tells you everything you need to know. Unless you’re a Prince Valiant dude, this is the best reprint of the year. Impregnable would be the best word, EXCELLENT! will have to do.

Judge Dredd Tour of Duty: Mega-City Justice
John Wagner, Colin Macneil, Carlos Ezquerra, John Higgins, other british people
2000AD, 2011

A lot of this feels retready–there’s a bad Judge who does bad things and makes bad calls, and PJ Maybe is around–but it’s Judge Dredd, and there’s something kind of gross about the idea of Judge Dredd being a thing that should be constantly reworked and innovated. Look at the way they ruined MILF porn, you know? Don’t do that to Dredd. GOOD!

Darkie’s Mob The Secret War of Joe Darkie
John Wagner, Mike Western
Titan, 2011

If you’ve always wanted to read Bad Company but would rather exchange the alien world setting for the hardcore no-apology racism of 1942-era Burma, then get yourself a copy of Darkie’s Mob. Like all the other Titan reprints of British war comics, it’s good looking, bound well, and hates you more than anything else you’ve ever let into your home. Bonus points for the introduction by Garth Ennis, because it’s the best thing he’s written since Valley Forge, Valley Forge. GOOD!

I Will Bite You and Other Stories
Joseph Lambert
Secret Acres, 2011

These comics are all pretty great, even though sometimes it feels like Lambert is more invested in fucking with the panel borders and general comic-y shit than he is in doing anything on the story front. At the same time, he’s way more interesting than most of the people who do that sort of experimenting, and his usage of color in the cave people story in the back is fascinating. GOOD!

Real Deal #1
By the Real Deal guys, ask Seneca or Marra to explain ‘em
Real Deal 1989

The main problem with Real Deal is that there aren’t enough sexy drawings in it. These kinds of comics–gutter violence, crazy logic rough trade comics–always work best when they have drawings of women with large breasts in them. That’s just a fact of life, and if you don’t like that, that’s totally fine: but honestly, you weren’t going to like the part in Real Deal where a prostitute gets her head smashed into the sidewalk with a garbage can either. OKAY!

Punisher War Journal #28
Mike Baron, Tex, Greg Wright
Marvel, 1991

A done in one story about Frank Castle checking in on an old flame, who is now dating your standard rich fuck-up. This rich fuck-up is in the meatpacking business, and there’s some leftover “let’s give a shit” from the 80′s about meat-eating, but mostly it’s just an opportunity for Frank to kill people in a processing facility, with Texas Chainsaw type implements. Also, the rich guy is a crackhead. Great Michael Golden cover. VERY GOOD!

Cable #1
Fabian Nicieza, Art Thibert, Marie Javins
Marvel, 1993

A confusing comic about Cable. There’s a shiny print effect on the cover, but it only applies to the future-style bandolier that Cable is wearing. So many 90′s super-hero comics have covers that look like the company went straight to print with what they were finding in high school kid’s sketchbooks. “I see you like tracing Jim Lee comics, kid. Well, it’s time to become a star!” AWFUL!

Grit Bath #1-3
Renee French
Fantagraphics, 1993-4

These are the best comics I read in 2011, and I know that to be true, because I fucking read these comics over and over and over again. I read them like they were going to bring Patrice O’Neal back to life. There’s a letter in the second issue where Jim Woodring says that the comic scared him, and I can see why. Grit Bath #2 makes Pim & Francie look like an issue of the Tiny Titans. Renee French makes everybody else look like a weak piece of shit. EXCELLENT!

Acme Novelty #5
Chris Ware
Fantagraphics, 1995

This has my favorite part of Jimmy Corrigan in it, the part where he smashes his glass into his father’s face and says “I brought you a basket of fruit” right before slicing his dad’s back wide open. People who prefer graphic novel collections of comics like this don’t seem to understand how super-fucking awesome it would have been to have read that sequence in this fashion. It’s two pages from the end of the comic. That’s so much better than it happening on some random page in the middle of some 400 page thing you’re plowing through on the fucking couch while some garbage wallpaper music plays in the background. I feel weaker as a man when I have to bookmark a comic book, and I should. EXCELLENT!

Jimbo #1
Gary Panter
Zongo, 1995

This is probably the most read Jimbo comic, I bet. How many of these did Groening print? The nicest thing about those Slings and Arrows guys is the way they just jump right at the meat of the response. Regarding this, their reviewer says “it’s almost impossible to explain the quality of his work if you don’t see it immediately.” Like one of those posters at the mall, I guess. Garloo makes me completely out of proportion angry, it’s really unfair. VERY GOOD!

Space Adventures Presents UFO #60
Jim Aparo, Denny O’Neil, Anonymous
Charlton, 1967

An early Aparo comic done under a nom de plume. It doesn’t look like him yet, although the classic Aparo face does look buried underneath some of the faces on display. For the brevity of the comic, the story is relatively extensive–the first part is ground level espionage shit that gives way to post orbit combat–but it’s weirdly cheap, as if the artists (Aparo wasn’t alone on the book) didn’t have the money to draw cool space shit. I know that doesn’t make sense. EH!

Batman #221
Frank Robbins, Irv Novick, Dick Giordano
DC, 1970

From that great period where Bruce Wayne wore yellow ties and a gigantic hair helmet, this has to be the only Batman comic where the Tales From The Crypt denouement is the bad guy dying in a pit at the choppers of his own bloodthirsty lamb. Batman doesn’t give a fuck, because the guy is a Nazi-loving German. The next story is about some firemen, Vietnam, and a fire-starting idol from Vietnam. It seems to be missing a plot, because the comic ends on the page where the setup finishes. It’s actually a pretty funny story if you read it as a fireman comic where a crazy person in a Batman outfit jumps through the window and attacks a tiny statue while the firemen are trying to get their job done. Pretty much EH!

Time Twisters #5, 12, 13
Various
Quality, Unknown

2000AD shorts, horrible reprint quality. Tge Peter Milligan stuff is alright. There’s one story by “K. Gosnell” about a soul collecting devil who forces dead men down to Airbase Hell, and the last page of that comic should have been the first page of a much longer one. Four page comics have to be tough though. These reprints are cherry picked from all over the place, and there’s still times when you see the construction seams. Comics wise they probably deserve better, but the reproduction value alone makes for an AWFUL read.

The Shadow #1-7
Denny O’Neil, Mike Kaluta, Berni Wrightson, Len Wein, Frank Robbins
DC, 1974

Super good comics. Even when it’s just Kaluta that keeps you moving forward–which is about half the time, although O’Neil does knock a few plotlines out of the park–these are really satisfying single issue comics, and the art is just fucking astounding to look at. The Shadow really is a great character–so creepy, an extremely weird holdover that’s still just pulpy enough to make super-hero comics seem too weak to contain him–and yet there’s something kind of wonderful about the little material we have to judge him by. Gorgeous. VERY GOOD!

Unknown Soldier #219
Frank Miller, Bob Haney, Dick Ayers, Romeo Tanghal, Elliot Maggin
DC, 1978

The end of the Bob Haney story is classic Haney weirdness, with three panels of people laughing at the German High Command’s attempt to paint a loss as a victory and the last panel being concentration camp inmates laughing while a Nazi guard holds a tommy gun on them while bullwhipping them with the other. It’s completely fucking insane. The Frank Miller part is him and another guy drawing a Maggin five pager about an Achaean battle. The comic is pretty terrible. Except for the cover, which is slap-your-mother amazing. Joe Kubert in blue: that really doesn’t happen enough. Miller stuff: AWFUL. Haney stuff: GOOD!

Weird War Tales #64
Frank Miller, others
DC, 1978

Had to figure out where this was, it wasn’t very memorable. The Miller story (again, he’s not alone) is so much the sort of thing you’d find in an EC Comic that I’d be surprised to find out it was all original. Again, a great Kubert cover on an EH! comic.

Judge Anderson The PSI Files Volume 1
Grant, Wagner, Ewins, Kitson, Simpson, Ezquerra, others
Rebellion, 2009

Heavily front loaded, with almost everything after the half-way mark almost unendurably bad. There’s a story in here where Anderson shots a kid she’s come to save point blank (she has no choice), and it’s surprising how satisfying that little twist on the old song turns out to be. That story and a few others, as well as some pretty great art push this one into the OKAY! category.

Cable #96
Robert Weinberg, Michael Ryan
Marvel, 2001

Recommended by David Wolkin, who is something of a connoisseur of weird Cable comics. This is probably going to be the high water mark all stand in fear of, as it features Cable agreeing to an arm wrestling match with an immortal caveman who lived through the pre-Ice Age alien invasion, Biblical times, and now runs a bar? It’s also from that time period where Richard Starkings was able to convince everybody on the planet that Comicraft lettering was the best thing since smoking cocaine. EH!

Psycho Comics #1
Daniel Clowes, Rick Altergott, Pete Friedrich, Joe Kerswild
Look Mom, 1981

Malicious, weird, amatuerish horror stuff from a surprising cast of creators. None of this is that remarkable, but I’d still call it OKAY!

Tarzan #74
People, for sure
Dell, 1955

One of Gary Panter’s favorite comics, according to one of those websites that ask about that sort of thing. It’s really fucking funny, both because it means to be and because it’s a weird old Tarzan comic. There’s a back story called “Brothers of the Spear” which seems kind of forward thinking for a 50′s comic. VERY GOOD!

Heavy Metal Presents Moebius
Moebius, Fellini
Heavy Metal, 1981

One of the easiest Moebius collections to find, definitely the cheapest. To some people, this is probably the equivalent of It Takes A Nation of Millions or Giant Steps in terms of just being a thing you own until you die, because it does everything the way everything is supposed to be done. EXCELLENT.

The Phantom Stranger #1
Mignola, Kupperberg, Russell
DC, 1987

If I had time to scan in some panels–and I promise to make time for that the next time I do one of these–this would be one of those comics where I just throw my hands up and start ripping the whole thing like we’re on Scans Daily in 06. Everything in this comic looks fucking great, from the trash in an alley to the look in Jimmy Olsen’s eyes. It’s impossible to read, but man: it’s a beauty to drink. VERY GOOD!

Wrath of the Spectre #1-4
Aparo, Fleisher
DC 1988 (reprinting old material)

I read this a while back, after Darwyn Cooke told me it was his favorite super-hero comic. I don’t know if he was being serious, but I’ll be goddamned if it hasn’t become one of mine. Everything in here–from the unbelievable violence to the brilliant pisstake humiliation the Clark Kent stand-in goes through–is note perfect. EXCELLENT. If you don’t get why guys like me live and die by the mere mention of Jim Aparo’s name, buy these four comics (they’re easily available) and you’ll see why.

Wolverine Cable: Guts and Glory
Casey, Platt
Marvel, 1999

I was hoping this would have the same dumpster badass quality of Hearts of Darkness (which still has the best Ghost Rider plot of all time) but it’s just a by-the-numbers adventure that feels like Casey was trying to plagiarize a Garth Ennis story from memory, on a dare. Stephen Platt seems like one of those artists who never met a super-hero story they couldn’t take way too fucking seriously. The whole thing is AWFUL.

Shaolin Cowboy #3, 7
Darrow
Burlyman

I could look at these all day, I can’t read them for more than a page at a time. EXCELLENT and AWFUL, all in one.

Wolverine Revolver #1
Gischler, Pastoras
Marvel, 2009

I actually had post-it notes stuck in this issue, I so wanted to write a long essay on it, the sort of thing that would shake the comics world to its core and cry out for More Das Pastoras Wolverine comics, and now I’m not even sure I could tell you why that is. I think I read this comic every day for a straight month, and I think I could do that again and not feel like the time was wasted. Jog likes it too? I don’t know what to tell you here. I love this fucking thing. EXCELLENT!

Acme Novelty Library #8
Ware
Fantagraphics 1996-7

Lovely comic, purchased cover price at a store in the South and given to me as a gift. This is a tougher chapter than the one mentioned above–Jimmy loses his tooth, there’s an accident, lots of nature drawings. The stand-out sequences are all about color–the red double pager, the shades of blue when the cane is waved, the blue/red boxes that yell LATER and THEN…it’s EXCELLENT, we got a few of those in a row.

The Body of Work
Huizenga, 2011

The Fielder stuff and more, hand colored cover–ah, Kevin Huizenga deserves more than the short shrift he’s going to get here. Smart, smart stuff. At some point, I’m going to only read Huizenga/Ware/Otomo/Kirby an entire year. I won’t come out of that year any smarter, but I’ll bet I’ll be so happy that my buttons will burst. Body of Work: you’re EXCELLENT.

Danger Country #1-2
Levon Jihanian, 2001

Sort of like Dungeon Quest or Mourning Star, but stiffer and with a set of bad guys so intense they’re almost out-of-place. It’s always sort of a rough start for me with these things, but I’m pretty convinced that’s all me: I just can’t tell if I’m supposed to take the gigantic cat-man Conan character seriously, you know? It’s say this is GOOD, I’m definitely curious to see where it goes.

Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man #28
Frank Miller, Bill Mantlo
Marvel, 1978

One of those super-hero comics where the layouts probably looked way more interesting than the finished drawings. There’s a panel in here where Spider-Man blows some shit up in a squatting position–or something, I can’t really comprehend the writing–and it’s hard not to stare at it over and over again. GOOD, sure.

Judge Dredd: The Restricted Files #2
Various
Rebellion, 2010

A torturous collection of some of the worst Dredd stories I’ve ever read, with the only bright spots being random bits of lunacy, like an airbrushed story about a rat who wears his dead rat father’s top hat (it’s an old Mean Machine story, don’t worry about it). It’s AWFUL stuff, although the Wolk doesn’t share that opinion.

Related posts:

1. CE’s January 2005 Top 100 by Dollars
2. Some more from 8/11
3. Tucker Found These Capsules On Top Of A Bowflex Machine

-B

Related posts:

1. Comix Experience orders for April by Dollars
2. Comix Experience Subscription orders for April
3. New Tilting is up

We didn’t even come close.

Don’t get me wrong–we certainly tried.  But give Graeme and I more than four dozen questions with an amorphous time deadline and you’re not going to get the bulk of those questions answered even with us putting in two and a half hours to get it done.  [Though we do so at the expense of Haruki Murakami's 1Q84: if you are currently reading that book, please skip over the 20-25 minute section of the podcast to avoid some ship-sinking spoilers.  (Sorry again, Luke.)]

So consider this Part 1 of our answers to your questions, with Part 2 to come next week.  If we go to Part 3, I give you permission to begin hunting us as the most dangerous game.  (Although, really we’re a far cry from that: I’d say I’m about on par with hunting sloths or maybe opposums, and Graeme might be at the level of a squirrel, though the squirrel might be rabid, maybe.)

The Ancient Prophecies foretold this episode would be found in the land of iTunes. But lo, also shall ye find it here:

Wait, What? Ep. 73: Thicker Than Forget

As always, we thank you for listening, and for your questions, and for your patience.  We hope you enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Wait, What? Ep. 20.1: “Business as Usual/Taken by Surprise”
2. We Want Your Wait, What? Questions, Please
3. Wait, What? Ep. 12.2: “The podcast goes, ‘Tweet, Tweet!’”

ACTION COMICS #6
ALPHA GIRL #1
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #679
ANIMAL MAN #6
AVENGERS ACADEMY #25
AVENGERS X-SANCTION #3 (OF 4)
BATWING #6
BETRAYAL O/T PLANET O/T APES #4 (OF 4)
BOYS #63
DAMAGED #5 (OF 6)
DARK HORSE PRESENTS #8
DEFENDERS #3
DETECTIVE COMICS #6
DOCTOR WHO ONGOING VOL 2 #14
ETERNAL DESCENT VOL 2 #3 (OF 6)
FATALE #2
FEAR ITSELF FEARLESS #8 (OF 12)
FUTURAMA COMICS #59
GREEN ARROW #6
HAWK AND DOVE #6
HELLRAISER #10
HULK #48
ICE AGE ICED IN ONE SHOT
INFESTATION 2 TRANSFORMERS #1 (OF 2)
INVINCIBLE #88
IRREDEEMABLE #34
IZOMBIE #22
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #6
KIRBY GENESIS CAPTAIN VICTORY #3
LOCKE & KEY CLOCKWORKS #4 (OF 6)
MAGIC THE GATHERING #1
MEN OF WAR #6
OMAC #6
PUNISHER #8
RACHEL RISING #5
RED LANTERNS #6
REED GUNTHER #8
RICHIE RICH GEMS WINTER SPECIAL ONE SHOT
ROBERT JORDAN WHEEL OF TIME EYE O/T WORLD #20
SAVAGE DRAGON #178
SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU #18
SERGIO ARAGONES FUNNIES #7
SIMPSONS ILLUSTRATED #1
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #233
STAR WARS DAWN OF THE JEDI #0
STATIC SHOCK #6
STORMWATCH #6
STRANGE TALENT OF LUTHER STRODE #5 (OF 6)
SUPERNATURAL #5 (OF 6)
SWAMP THING #6
SWEET TOOTH #30
THE LONE RANGER #2
THOR DEVIANTS SAGA #4 (OF 5)
TWELVE #9 (OF 12) (RES)
UNCANNY X-FORCE #21 XREGG
UNCANNY X-MEN #6
VALEN OUTCAST #3 MAIN CVRS
VENOM #13
VILLAINS FOR HIRE #3 (OF 4)
WARLORD OF MARS ANNUAL #1
WARRIORS OF MARS #1
WINTER SOLDIER #1
WORLD OF ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #14
X-CLUB #3 (OF 5)
X-FACTOR #231 XREGG

Books / Mags / Stuff
ACTION MYSTERY THRILLS COVERS SC
AMERICAN VAMPIRE HC VOL 03
ASSASSINS CREED THE FALL TP
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE TP VOL 02
BATMAN GATES OF GOTHAM TP
COMPLETE ANNOTATED OZ SQUAD TP
ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR TP VOL 06 NEW ED
FRACTURED FABLES TP
GARTH ENNIS JENNIFER BLOOD TP VOL 01
HEAVY METAL MARCH 2012
JOHN CARTER A PRINCESS OF MARS GN TP
JOHN ROMITA AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ARTIST ED HC
MADMAN 20TH ANNIVERSARY MONSTER HC
PREVIEWS #281 FEBRUARY 2012
RAT CATCHER TP
WARLORD OF MARS FALL OF BARSOOM TP VOL 01
XOMBI TP

What looks good to YOU?

-B

Related posts:

1. Arriving 1/18/2012
2. Arriving 1/4/2012
3. Arriving 11/30/11