OK, folks, I've finally done it: after threatening for months, I have finally got around to recording a real, genuine, honest-to-Gosh comics podcast. This is an experiment! Whether or not I do another is completely up to the reaction this one receives. If people like it, I will do more, and if they don't, I won't. Make your feelings known in the comments.
I'm not an expansive podcast listener and I'm not a comics podcast listener (this is only the second comics podcast I've ever listened to [not that I listen to another one regularly--I listened to a comics podcast once then I listened to this one]). And my comments are probably more about me than you.
ReplyDeleteTwo comments not specific to the content: 1) I've never given a microsecond's thought as to what you sound like, but you didn't sound like I thought you would. 2) I've never been a fan of one-person podcasts. They always sound like lectures. Actually now that I think about it there can still be some dialogue in a lecture format so I guess they really come across to me as sermons.
As far as the content goes it was hard for me to stay interested because I have no emotional investment in current superhero comics. If I want to spend some mindless time reading superhero stuff I delve into the past (I'm on a 70s kick recently). I do read three Marvel and DC comics: Flash, Hawkeye* and Daredevil. And while they are perfectly readable, even good comics I mostly read them because I like the artists--all of whom aren't just good artists but really good storytellers (especially Manapul), which is a skill sorely lacking in today's mainstream comics.
But if the direct market and the Big Two disappeared tomorrow I wouldn't care because as you mentioned the comics I really care about I'd still be able to buy somewhere.
Still, if you continue doing this I'll listen because I do enjoy your thoughts on the blog.
*I agree that this isn't the Hawkeye I grew up with. But if I think of him as the Connor Hawke Hawkeye I can enjoy the book just fine.
P.S. I hope you're reading Michel Fiffe's Copra.
Hey Tim,
ReplyDeleteThanks for answering my question. I also really liked the Sal Buscema run on Spider-Man, largely because his was (along with Bagley's) the Spider-Man I grew with. I checked out on the character right around the time he left because as bad as The Clone Saga was, Spider-Man comics seemed to get even worse after it was over.
Your thoughts on the more extreme content of modern big two comics gave me a lot to think about. While I think that the Joker getting his face cut off was a stupid idea, it didn't strike me as particularly egregious because it seems like DC's been reveling in that kind of amped up violence for a while now and as you pointed out it's not that far away from how the character is depicted in other media. It seems to me that DC is exclusively interested in marketing their comics to very specific target audience while leaving larger public perception of the IP to Warner Brothers Animation. The grossness stems from Geoff Johns and Scott Snyder bringing their childhood love of Mortal Kombat and Stephen King into a gene that not built for that kind of material and will likely dissipate as that style falls out of favor.
I hope you do another podcast. I'd really like to hear your thoughts on the Hickman Avengers and Avengers Arena, particularly since I haven't seen anything interesting written about either.
I would prefer for the podcast to be bit more specific, in regards to the particular runs and creators discussed. The podcast would certainly benefit from your setting up some kind of format, akin to the "House to Astonish". Judging from following your work on the blog for the last several years, you have a lot to say about the medium, and do so in a very articulate way.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed what I heard, and I'd love to hear more.
ReplyDeleteDitto what Alex said.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to hear more on Sal Buscema's SSM run. Interesting that he went through 3 visual interpretations of the character throughout that 8 year run. His still shows up as a guest inker on some of IDW's G. I. Joe books, doing great work over Ron Frenz.
ReplyDeletefantastic. looking foward to more.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear more!
ReplyDeleteawesome. loved it. more please.
ReplyDeleteIt was great getting to hear you talk comics here. I very much enjoy getting to know what you have to say.
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