Every week, new comics arrive at your local comic shop. It is our job to tell you about the very best that is out there and what you should be reading.
For this New Comic Review, we have 4 comics that have come out within the last 2 weeks and we highly recommend that you pick up. We will give you a review of the comics. We keep these reviews mostly spoiler free.
Review # 1 by Jon
Grimm Tales of Terror presents The Bridgewater Triangle #1 (of 3)
Written by: Brian Studler
Artists: Deivis Goetten and Maxflan Araujo
Publisher: Zenescope
Review # 2 by Jim
Inferior 5 # 1 (of 12)
Writers: Keith Giffen and Jeff Lemire
Artists: Keith Giffen and Jeff Lemire
Publisher: DC
Review # 3 by Jon
Grendel: Devil’s Odyssey # 1
Written and Art by Matt Wagner
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Review # 4 by Jim
Dead Eyes # 1
Written by Gerry Duggan
Art by John McCrea
Published by Image Comics
You may recognize this comic by another title called Dead Rabbits. It did a review for it in CM Podcast 178 which you can listen to here:
Back in 2017, I saw a trade paperback for a books called Sugar & Spike: Metahuman Investigations. The cover looked interesting but what caught my eye was the writer – Keith Giffen.
Keith Giffen is a well known writer and artist that has worked on high profile books like Legion of Superheroes and JLA. He is one of my favorite writers because he loves to inject humor in his projects. The 80s JLA is a great example of telling superhero stories with humor instead of the normal grim and gritty style that was popular at the time.
I wasn’t too familiar with the artist Bilquis Evely but I looked at a few pages and really liked her style for this book so I immediately picked it up.
Now, you may not be too familiar with the titular duo and that is okay. These characters were created back in the 50s by writer and artist Sheldon Mayer. They were originally baby characters that were in a funny book. Here is an example of Mayer’s version of Sugar & Spike:
In the podcast, Jon and I go through Sugar & Spike’s cases and we point out that all of their cases are based on silly DC silver age story lines and Giffen pays homage to these classics. One of the pages of the comic references the exact comics:
We both highly recommend this book for the art and humorous story. Jon mentions that this book reminded him of the old Moonlighting show and that is a great example of why this book works: a pair of opposites begrudgingly work together to solve crimes while knocking each other down a peg.
There probably will never be a sequel or follow up so I will just have to enjoy what I have and re-read it again.
A few months back, Jon and I decided not to see the X-Men: Dark Phoenix movie because we did not hear good things about it.
Instead, we did a review on the original Dark Phoenix Saga comic story and it was so epic that we had to break it down into 2 parts. Here are the links to those podcasts:
We had originally planned to do a comic review this week but I had recently been to my local departments store and saw that X-Men: Dark Phoenix recently came out on Blu Ray and 4K Hi Def Disc (just like comics, I like my movie’s physical, not digital). So on a whim, I picked up a copy of the movie and asked Jon if he’s like to watch it and use it as the topic of discussion for this week’s podcast.
Guess what? He decided it was a great idea, so we watched it. We both decided to go in with low expectations and see what kind of story were we going to get. Well, the movie is a bit of a mixed bag. We like some parts and hated other parts. Overall, we both agree it was ‘okay’.
Listen to the podcast for our full review and why we recommend watching this movie depending on you level of love for the source material.
Listen to the Dark Phoenix Saga podcasts to find out why this epic story will probably never be filmed correctly.
Here at Comics Misremembered Podcast, we like to uncover hidden comics, movies, shows, etc. that you may not have heard about but are definitely worth your time.
This week, we are talking about the super hero movie called Super.
It was an independent movie that was written and directed by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy 1 & 2) and it came out in 2010. It starts Rainn Wilson as Frank Darbo who becomes the vigilante super hero Crimson Bolt. Ellen Page stars as Libby who becomes Boltie, his youth side kick. Together they fight crime and try to rescue Frank’s wife, Sarah – played by Liv Tyler.
Here is the trailer of the movie…
In the podcast, I talk about the problems Super had on its initial release but how it is regarded as a cult movie. This is Jon’s first time seeing it and he thought it was great – very funny tempered with dramatic moments. I thought this movie was great back in 2010 and upon watching it again, it still holds up.
The other interesting fact about this movie that I forgot to mention in the podcast is that it ties into Brightburn (another movie we reviewed) and is part of the Brightburn universe if you watch the end credits.
Time Warner has a cool app called DC Universe that carries all the DC Heroes animated shows like Batman TAS, Superman TAS, Justice League Unlimited, and more.
It also has new and exclusive live action hero shows like Titans, Doom Patrol and Swamp Thing.
This poster gives away a big secret but you will have to watch the show to find out.
Jon and I recently subscribed to the DC Universe app to watch Doom Patrol (and we hope to review it soon) but we stated to like some of the other shows too. We both had little knowledge about Swamp Thing so we started to watch Season 1 and we both really liked it. We like it’s American Gothic setting and story. We like characters and the actors that played them. We like the special effects and the horror elements. We consumed all 10 episodes wanting more and we found out the Warner Media cancelled the series!!
In the podcast, we talk about what we knew about Swamp Thing prior to watching the show and what we really liked about the show itself. We also explain what Phantom Stranger and Blue Demon have to do with the show.
You don’t know about these 2 obscure characters are? That’s great because we share a little info on who they are and why they fit perfectly in the Swamp Thing show.
We lament on what could be with a Season 2 and other characters that would have been introduced like Anton Arcane.
We recommend checking out the DC universe app and the Swamp Thing show now before it is removed. Maybe if enough people watch the show, we can get a 2nd season!
We like to do new comics reviews every once in a while because there are always new series coming out that need attention. We like to let our listeners know about new writers and artists out there that are putting out some high quality comics!
This week we are reviewing 4 new comics series that are all limited series. These comics have come out in the last 3 weeks so you should be able to find them physically or digitally.
Here are the 4 reviews and we highly recommend that you pick up all 4 of these books:
Review #1 – Jon review
Once and Future # 1
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Dan Mora
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Review #2 – Jim Review
Black Hammer/Justice League #1 and 2
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Michael Walsh
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics/ DC
Review #3 – Jon Review
Doctor Mirage #1
Writer: Magdalene Visaggio
Artist: Nick Robles
Publisher: Valiant
Review #4 – Jim Review
Tommy Gun Wizards #1
Writer: Christian Ward
Artist: Sami Kivela
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
4 different comics from 4 different genres. All are great reads with fantastic art. We highly recommend picking up all the books and listen to the podcast to find out why we recommend them.
Back in 1990, DC editors allowed Howard Chaykin and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez to use some of their beloved 1950 and 1960s Sci-Fi characters to be used in a very mature and violent miniseries.
Twilight is quite an oddity. DC only has a few comics that were released dealing with mature themes up to this point and not many after Twilight.
Covers to issues 1, 2 and 3 of the Twilight miniseries
Chaykin and Garcia-Lopez use zany characters like Tommy Tomorrow, The Star Rovers, Star Harkins (now called Axel Starkins), Ilda and Jon Starkins and put them into a comic that deals with politics, religion, civil liberties and many more mature themes. Some of the characters are totally opposite of their 90s counter part like Tommy Tomorrow.
I don’t know who came up with the concept and pitch but I am glad this comic was made. It is a fresh and different idea for DC at the time and it still holds up re-reading it. This is Jon’s first exposure to it and he really had a good time talking about it.
We also talk about the history of the original characters from the 50s and 60s and how the atomic bomb influenced the creation of these characters and how the cold war impacted the imagination of writers and film makers during that time.
Jon and I normally will go to the Boston Comic Con (now called the Fan Expo Boston) and that is being held this weekend (8/16 – 8/18) but we will not be attending this year. :0
The reason we are not going is nothing that Fan Expo Boston did; they have always put together a good show. The real reason we are not going is that we found a better Comic Con called TerrifiCon. It was held last weekend (8/9 – 8/11) at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut and it had 3 times as many comic creators than the Fan Expo Boston!
This con has been going on for a few years now and this was our first trip there and also to Mohegan Sun. We had a great time at both!
In the podcast, we talk about the trip from Boston to Connecticut and our experience in the Mohegan Sun and meeting all the writers and artist that were at the con.
We really enjoyed ourselves and look forward to 2020 lineup. Go to www.terrificon.com for more details.
The X-Men soft rebooted again last week (is this like the 4th one so far? I lost count) but I ain’t even mad at you, Marvel for doing it.
I was really enjoying the last incarnation of the Uncanny X-Men that started up last year and then I heard that they were going to stop Uncanny again (Ugh!) and restart with 2 new books: House of X #1 and Powers of X #1.
Now the names aren’t so great – House of X sounds like a 1990s fashion show and Powers of X sounds like a math book, but I was very excited about the creative teams on these books.
House of X is by writer Jonathan Hickman with art by Pepe Larraz
Powers of X is by writer Jonathan Hickman with art by R. B. Silva
Having read other Jonathan Hickman Marvel projects like Fantastic Four, Avengers and Secret Wars – I knew that the X-Men were in good hands and we can expect a really compelling story.
This is exactly what we got. Jon and I review the first 2 issues of House of X and the 1 issue of Powers of X that have come out so far. What I like best about these 2 series is that if you are new to the X-Men or a long time reader (like us), you start on the same page by getting introduced to familiar characters but in a new situation and trying to figure out where the story will go next. Sit back and enjoy the ride.
Spoilers on this podcast – we talk about the story in both but since it is only the beginning, there isn’t much to spoil. Jon and I take guesses on what the creative teams will do next.
At this time each year, there is the San Diego Comic Con – one of the oldest, largest comic cons. At this comic con, writers and artists get together to celebrate their peers with the Eisner Awards.
We like to cover the nominees to find out about stories that we may have missed during the year and to see if what we recommended in our “New Comic Review” podcasts get nominated. Here is a list of the categories and order that we cover in this podcast…
Best Short Story
• “Get Naked in Barcelona,” by Steven T. Seagle and Emei Olivia Burrell, in Get Naked (Image)
• “The Ghastlygun Tinies,” by Matt Cohen and Marc Palm, in MADmagazine #4 (DC)
• “Here I Am,” by Shaun Tan, in I Feel Machine (SelfMadeHero)
• “Life During Interesting Times,” by Mike Dawson (The Nib),
• “Supply Chains,” by Peter and Maria Hoey, in Coin-Op #7 (Coin-Op Books)
•            Winner: “The Talk of the Saints,” by Tom King and Jason Fabok, in Swamp Thing Winter Special (DC)
Best Single Issue/One-Shot
• Beneath the Dead Oak Tree, by Emily Carroll (ShortBox)
• Black Hammer: Cthu-Louise, by Jeff Lemire and Emi Lenox (Dark Horse)
• No Better Words, by Carolyn Nowak (Silver Sprocket)
•            Winner: Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310, by Chip Zdarsky (Marvel)
•            The Terrible Elisabeth Dumn Against the Devils In Suits, by Arabson, translated by James Robinson (IHQ Studio/ Image)
Best Continuing Series
• Batman, by Tom King et al. (DC)
• Black Hammer: Age of Doom, by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, and Rich Tommaso (Dark Horse)
• Gasolina, by Sean Mackiewicz and Niko Walter (Skybound/Image)
•            Winner: Giant Days, by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julaa Madrigal (Boom Box)
•            Runaways, by Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka (Marvel)
Best Limited Series
• Batman: White Knight, by Sean Murphy (DC)
• Eternity Girl, by Magdalene Visaggio and Sonny Liew (Vertigo/DC)
• Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, by Mark Russell, Mike Feehan, and Mark Morales (DC)
•            Winner: Mister Miracle, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads (DC)
•            X-Men: Grand Design: Second Genesis, by Ed Piskor (Marvel)
Best New Series
• Bitter Root, by David Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Green (Image)
• Crowded, by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, and Ted Brandt (Image)
•            Winner: Gideon Falls, by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino (Image)
• Isola, by Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl (Image)
• Man-Eaters, by Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk (Image)
•            Skyward, by Joe Henderson and Lee Garbett (Image)
Best Webcomic
•            Winner: The Contradictions, by Sophie Yanow
• Lavender Jack, by Dan Schkade (WEBTOON)
• Let’s Play, by Mongie (WEBTOON)
• Lore Olympus, by Rachel Smythe, (WEBTOON)
•            Tiger, Tiger, by Petra Erika Nordlund, (Hiveworks)
Best Writer
• Alex de Campi, Bad Girls (Gallery 13); Twisted Romance (Image)
•            Winner: Tom King, Batman, Mister Miracle, Heroes in Crisis, Swamp Thing Winter Special (DC)
• Jeff Lemire, Black
Hammer: Age of Doom, Doctor Star & the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows,
Quantum Age (Dark Horse); Descender, Gideon Falls, Royal City(Image)
• Mark Russell, Exit
Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, Green Lantern/Huckleberry Hound,
Lex Luthor/Porky Pig (DC); Lone Ranger(Dynamite)
• Kelly Thompson,
Nancy Drew (Dynamite); Hawkeye, Jessica Jones, Mr. & Mrs. X, Rogue
& Gambit, Uncanny X-Men, West Coast Avengers (Marvel)
•            Chip Zdarsky, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Two-in-One(Marvel)
Best Writer/Artist
• Sophie Campbell, Wet Moon (Oni)
• Nick Drnaso, Sabrina (Drawn & Quarterly)
• David Lapham, Lodger (Black Crown/IDW); Stray Bullets (Image)
• Nate Powell, Come Again (Top Shelf/IDW)
• Tony Sandoval, Watersnakes (Magnetic/Lion Forge)
•            Winner: Jen Wang, The Prince and the Dressmaker (First Second) [Also won for Best Publication for Teens]
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
• MatĂas Bergara, Coda (Boom)
•            Winner: Mitch Gerads, Mister Miracle (DC)
• Karl Kerschl, Isola (Image)
• Sonny Liew, Eternity Girl (Vertigo/DC)
• Sean Phillips, Kill or Be Killed, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies (Image)
•            Yanick Paquette, Wonder Woman Earth One, Vol. 2 (DC)
Best Cover Artist
•            Winner: Jen Bartel, Blackbird (Image); Submerged (Vault)
• Nick Derington, Mister Miracle (DC)
• Karl Kerschl, Isola (Image)
• Joshua Middleton, Batgirl and Aquaman variants (DC)
•            Julian Tedesco, Hawkeye, Life of Captain Marvel (Marvel)
Lots of new stories to go out and find. We will see you next week!
Last week, we reviewed the 1st story arc to Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic: The Boys. This week we are reviewing the Amazon Prime version of the TV Show that launched on 7/26/19.
The first season is 8 episodes long and we are talking about the first 3 episodes because that is all that we were able to watch so far. We will be watching the rest of the series because we like it so much.
The Seven
In the podcast, we talk about how the show introduces the Boys and The Seven differently than the comic. The way that Butcher (leader of the Boys) and Homelander (leader of the Seven) behave in the show and the comic are much different. This is not a bad thing. Things change when translating written work to a TV series.
Some things are different but somethings do remain the same like how Butcher finds out about Hughie and how Starlight is introduced to The Seven. If you are a fan of the comic, then I you will like the show.
At the end of the podcast, we talk about Carl Urban’s English accent and how he uses some of the Cockney Rhyming Slang. Then I put Jon to a test and see if he can decipher a Cockney Rhyming Slang sentence I put together.
Hello again and welcome back to Comics Misremembered. In this week’s podcast, we focus on The Boys. This comics was created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson. It originally came out in 2006 under the Wildstorm Imprint – this was Jim Lee’s imprint that was published through DC.
The Boys put out 6 issues under Wildstorm before it was cancelled. We explain the reason in the podcast. Luckily, it was picked up and published by Dynamite Entertainment for the rest of it’s run which ended with issue 72 (Nov. 2012).
Here are some of the covers of that run. The image on the far left is the cover for the 1st issue and it was also used when it when the first 6 issues were collected as a trade. The next image to the right is the newest recruit to The Seven – Starlight. Poor Starlight. We talk a little about her initiation into the Seven and it was nothing that she was expecting. The final image is of a mysterious man and his connection to all of the superheroes in The Boys universe. We don’t talk about him in this podcast but maybe we will talk more about him next week when we review The Boys TV show.
Jon only just started reading this comic when he heard Amazon was picking it up as a show. He was pleasantly surprised by it and wants to read all of the series. I originally read the series in issues when it came out.
We go over some of the story and characters that you will meet in the first 6 issue and there are no spoilers in this podcast but we do swear a bit describing some of the situations in the comic. Be warned!
See you next week as we talk about the show and how much of the comic were they able to use.
Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2nd Spider-Man movie came out July 2nd 2019 and it is titled:
Spider-Man: Far From Home
We went and saw it last Sunday. I was very excited for this movie because the previews had Jake Gyllenhaal playing Mysterio, a long time villain in the Spider-Man comics. This is the first time he will be brought to the big screen and I thought they had perfect casting with Jake.
I thought the movie movie was near perfect (listen to the podcast to find out why it’s not flawless). Jon on the other hand had 1 big plot point that he could not get over so it made the movie less enjoyable. I tried to talk him out of this sticking point but he will not budge. Does he have a point? Listen and let me know.
The things I like about the movie:
Humor – there are tons of funny scenes and situational comedy which is a hallmark of Spider-Man comics and previous movies.
Romance – Peter is a young romantic and he tries his best to win the affection of Mary Jane.
Mystery – who is Mysterio? Is he friend or foe? Watch the movie and find out!
Action – Spider-Man has some intense battles. Does everyone survive? Find out!
I feel, if you liked Homecoming then you will definitely like Far From Home and hopefully you will like the 3rd movie: Spider-Man: Home Alone. 🙂
Welcome back to the 2nd half of our discussion on Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s seminal X-Men storyline: The Dark Phoenix Saga.
In this podcast, we pick up were we left off: The X-Men escaping the clutches of the Hellfire Club and heading back to the X-Mansion. During their flight back, Jean Grey loses control of the Phoenix and the Dark Phoenix emerges…
As you can tell from these covers, the X-Men do not have a good time when the Dark Phoenix is around. The Dark Phoenix attempts to kill all the X-Men, then she goes and snuffs out a galaxy and finally the X-Men have to fight for their lives and the fate of Jean Grey…on the moon. There is a lot of story and we try to cover all of it and more in the podcast.
We also take a look behind the scenes to find out what decisions Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter and co-plotters: Chris Claremont and John Byrne made to come to the epic conclusion of the X-Men story.
Towards the end of the podcast, I explain why the Legion of Superheroes (group on the left) look a lot like the Shi’ar Imperial Guard (group on the right).
If you have never read the Dark Phoenix Saga, we highly recommend checking it out. You can read it digitally through Marvel.com or buy a trade paperback like we did. Thanks for listening and we will see you next week.
Since the movies have tried to do a version of the Dark Phoenix Saga twice (X-Men 3 and Dark Phoenix) and have failed both times, Jon and I have decided to talk about the original comic series the story is based upon.
The original Dark Phoenix Saga is officially considered to be issues #129 – 138 (Jan – Oct 1980) of Uncanny X-Men. The creators of this story are:
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: John Byrne
Inker: Terry Austin
The unofficial start of Jean Grey’s transition into Phoenix.
This story originally starts as a subplot with Jean Grey in issue #101 (Oct 1976) when Marvel Girl rescues some astronauts. In saving the lives of these people, Jean Grey unwittingly allows a cosmic entity called the Phoenix Force to enter her body. Over the next few years, the X-Men (specifically Scott Summers and Charles Xavier) will notice changes in Jean Grey’s behavior.
It won’t be until issues #129 – 132 when Jean drastically starts to behave differently and is seduced by Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind) of the Hellfire Club. Jon and I go over the history on how Chris Claremont and John Byrne were inspired by the show The Avengers for the concept of The Hellfire Club and the characters.
Here is how they appeared in the comic…
left to right: Jean Grey, Jason Wyngarde, Sebasitan Shaw, Harry Leland and Donald Pierce
But did you know that these characters where based on real life actors? It’s true. Here are John Byrne’s inspiration…
Peter Wyngarde is Jason Wyngarde
Robert Shaw is Sebastian Shaw
Orson Welles is Harry Leland
Donald Sutherland is Donald Pierce
We explain the connection of these actors to their comic counter parts and how Byrne came up with their comic character names.
We go over some history and some of the story on why this is one of the greatest comic stories ever told. This is only part 1 of the conversation. We will continue this next week with the conclusion of the Dark Phoenix Saga and why TV and movies always get the adaptation wrong.
