Author: ComicsJim

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 237 – New Comic Review

It’s time for Jon and myself to do another round up of 4 new comics that have come out in the last month that we think you should go out and pick up at your local comic shop or online.

The 4 books we are reviewing are as follows:

The Last God #1 (of 12) (Jim Review 1)

Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson

Pencils: Riccardo Federici

Colorists: Sunny Gho with Dean White

Publisher: DC Black Label

Folklords #1 (Jon Review 2)

Writer: Matt Kindt

Artist: Matt Smith

Publisher: BOOM! Studios

The Doll House Family #1 (of 5) (Jim Review 3)

Writer: Mike Carey

Artists: Peter Gross (layouts) and Vince Locke (finishes)

Publisher: DC Black Label – Joe Hill Comic Imprint

Undiscovered Country #1 (Jon Review 4)

Writers: Scott Snyder and Charles Soule

Artists: Daniele Orlandini and Giuseppe Camuncoli

Publisher: Image Comics

2 of the comics are fantasy, sword and sorcery comics and 2 are modern horror comics. All 4 are amazing reads and you should have them on your pull lists! Listen to the podcast for details on why we like the comics.

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 237

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 236 – The Walking Dead Season 10 Mid-Season Finale

It’s the Walking Dead Season 10 Mid-Season Finale, where Jim and Jon review what they saw so far in the season and reveal if the show was spoiled with Jim’s patented Season Spoilers!

In this discussion we focus on the characters of Negan and Lydia. Both are outcasts living in a community that fears and hates them. They are draw together as kindred spirits but have separate destinies.

Negan gets put back in jail for having saved Lydia (but accidentally killed someone). He is sprung from the slammer by hero worshiper, Brandon. Brandon believes in the tall tales that his father used to tell him about Negan and the saviors. Negan wants to past to remain in the past but sometimes that past has a habit of catching up with you.

We discuss Negan’s character arc so far in Season 10 and guess at how he will handle his new alliance with the Whisperers.

Lydia finds out that Carol was only keeping her around to be bait to get Alpha to slip up so Carol can take her down. Lydia runs away and now Carol and her team must try to find her for fear of what reprisals Alpha will bring down if Lydia shows up in the Whisperers camp.

We go over the different scenarios of what will happen if Lydia is found by Alpha or Carol first.

We discuss Dante, Siddiq and Father Gabriel and their fates at the mid-season final. Does it fit with each character at how their roles played out?

Finally, I review the comic book spoilers and how accurate I was to the show.

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 236

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 235 – Crisis on Infinite Earths Pt. 2 (comic 1985)

Hello and welcome back to the 2nd and final part of our discussion on the epic miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths that came out in 1985.

The series was written by Marv Wolfman with art by George Perez (pencils) and Jerry Ordway (inks). It was originally published by DC.

We do a quick recap and then get right back into the discussion of the story. Issue #7 is perhaps the most important issue of the series. It is where we get the origin story of Monitor, Anti-Monitor and Pariah. It is also has the death of an important member of the DC Universe – Supergirl.

You knew something bad was going to happen just by looking at the cover to issue #7…

Look at the way Kara looks in Superman’s arms and the way that Superman is crying. Those are tear of pain. Everyone thought “Supergirl must get hurt pretty bad in this one.” No one expected a death! That was unheard of for a popular character to die in comics but DC and Marv were rewriting all the rules, baby!

I mentioned that this cover is also one of the most parodied covers in all of comicdom. I did a quick google search and her are some the the “homage” covers that I found…

There are many, many more that exist out there. It just goes to show you how influential this series and George Perez’s art was this this time.

There is another death too in issue #8. An even bigger death! Listen to the podcast to find out who!

At the end of the podcast, Jon and myself reflect on the series and give you the answer on “Would you recommend the series?” Our answers may shock you.

Jim

(in the podcast I mention we are recording in 2017. This is a misremebrance. We actually recorded this on 11/24/2019)

Comics Misremembered Podcast 235

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 234 – Crisis on Infinite Earths (comic 1985)

Last year the CW shows (Arrow, Flash, Supergirl and Heroes of Tomorrow) did a crossover event – Elseworlds. At the end of the crossover, they teased their next crossover with this static image:

We were like “Are they actually going to do this? This story? On the CW shows?!!”

wrap around cover by Alex Ross for the 30th anniversary collection of ‘Crisis’

The original, seminal comic miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths came out in 1985 and it was one of the first “maxiseries – anything over 6 issues”. It was an epic tale and was a huge undertaking for the writer and artist. In this case:

Writer – Marv Wolfman

Artist – George Perez

Not only did these 2 creators tell a tale that spans dozens of worlds, with hundreds of characters over millions of years but it also served a purpose of realigning the DC universe to streamline it for new readers without alienation long time fans. It accomplishes both by the twelfth issue.

Here are some of the covers of the original miniseries:

In this week’s podcast, Jon and I go over the history of why Crisis on Infinite Earths was necessary to clean up continuity. We talk about our own histories on how we discovered the comic. We talk about the story and characters.

We can’t really say there are spoilers since this story is 35 years old and the basis on future Crisis events like Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis. In fact, all the plot twist that happened in this series have pretty much been retconned 3 or 4 times now.

Join us next week for the conclusion of our discussion on Crisis on Infinite Earths!

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 234

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 233 – The Immortal Hulk (# 6 – 10)

Welcome back to Comics Misremembered Podcast. We are continuing our discussion on The Immortal Hulk. We are going over the 2nd story arc (issues 6 – 10) which is called “The Green Door“.

Let’s reintroduce the creators of this grand tale:

Writer: Al Ewing

Artists: Jon Bennet, Lee Garbett, Martin Simmons

Inkers: Ruy Jose, Le Beau Underwood & Rafael Fonteriz

Colorist: Paul Mounts

We start with the Hulk still at large and now being pursued by The Avengers for all the destruction he has caused since his resurrection. The Avengers confront Bruce Banner…

A fight ensues and the Hulk almost gets away but Tony Stark pulls out his Ace in the Hole – The Helios Weapon and knocks the Immortal Hulk out.

The Hulk is turned over to the United States Hulk Operations AKA Shadow Base. This is a military organization run by the General Reginald “Reggie” Fortean – the premiere hulk hunter. He has plans for Bruce Banner and The Immortal Hulk but I don’t think Bruce or the Hulk will cooperate willingly with those plans…

We continue the story and review of The Immortal Hulk in the podcast.

***Warning – There are spoilers in the podcast!!***

Jon and I both agree that this is will ultimately be an epic story run and will have a profound impact on Hulk lore for years to come. We highly recommend that you pick up the 2 trades we reviewed and continue on with the story.

Also, I referenced A Tell-Tale Heart on the podcast specifically mentioning a animated short from the 1950s that was narrated by James Mason. I found the clip on YouTube! Here it is:

Thanks for listening,

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 233

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 232 – The Immortal Hulk # 1 – 5

I am very excited about tonight’s podcast. We will be reviewing the first story arc of the Immortal Hulk # 1 – 5. The story arc is called “Or Is He Both?“

I am excited because I have been reading this in issues for the last 2 years and think it is one of the best written, drawn, inked and colored stories of the last few years. This is not hyperbole. When the creators of this book finish their run, it will go down as one of the best Hulk stories of all time. Jon has not read the series so I gave him “Or Is He Both?” and we discuss the book.

Writer: Al Ewing

Artist: Joe Bennet

Ink: Ruy Jose

Colorist: Paul Mounts

Publisher: Marvel

***SPOILERS IN THE PODCAST***

The story opens with a Carl Gustav Jung quote:

“There are two people in every mirror. There is the one you can see…

and there’s the other one.”

Jon and I explore some of Jung’s psychological concepts, what that quote means and how it is applicable to Dr. Bruce Banner and his relationship with the Hulk.

We go on to talk about the ties the second issue has with the Incredible Hulk TV show from the 70s and the unique story telling of issue three.

We end the podcast with Jon’s opinion of the first story arc and if he is as excited as I am to talk about the second story arc next week.

If you can’t find the original issues, Marvel has reprinted a good chunk of them and they are called The Director’s Cut – they feature some supplemental material that wasn’t in the original release.

Original cover on the left and the “Director’s Cut” on the right

We don’t spoil everything in the podcast but we will next week so go out and read this comic and join use for part 2 next week!

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 232

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 231 – Watchmen TV series (2019)

Over the last few years, HBO has teased use with this image…

This is interesting. People never thought the original miniseries Watchmen would ever get a movie adaptation and it eventually did. Now, HBO wants to make it a TV show based on the original comic? This did not seem like a good idea.

The series was partially written and produced by Damon Lindelof, who has success, to varying degrees with other sacred franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek so he seems like the best choice for this series.

Time goes on and I have not heard a peep regarding the show until within the last few weeks. The premier episode was viewed at the New York Comic Con and fans got a taste of the new show and overall, the reaction was surprisingly positive.

Jon and I watched the premier episode, along with millions of other people and we came to the conclusion – The show was very strong and seems to have legs.

****SPOILERS AHEAD AND IN THE PODCAST****

In this week’s podcast we are going to talk about…

All of these images. We will try to answer questions like: Who is Looking Glass and what is his “Pod” used for? Who is Sister Night and are her origins tied to the original miniseries? Why are the cops wearing masks? Who are the Seventh Kalvary? We ask a whole lot more questions and look for clues on a few conspiracy theories like does the show really tie into the comic timeline or is it in it’s own universe?

Listen to the podcast for clues…

Also, if you did watch the show, go to HBO’s Watchmen website for some supplemental material. Link here: https://www.hbo.com/watchmen

Comics Misremembered Podcast 231

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 230 – The Walking Dead Season 10 Premier

It is October, time for playoff baseball, Halloween decorations to be in stores and another season of The Walking Dead on AMC.

The Season 10 premier was on October 6th and normally, we would do a review podcast on the premier episode a week later but since the Joker movie came out the same time, we decided to wait a week and review 2 episodes!

In episode 1, the show stars with several members of the Alexandria coalition on the beach of Oceanside using shields and spears to fight walkers. Could they be training for something else…

“I am Fartacus! Just kidding, guys. Let’s kill some walkers.”

There was also a satellite that came crashing down into the woods on the Whisperers side of the border. The Coalition decided that it was more important to break the truce and cross the boarder to put out the fire than maintain detente. Will Eugene be able to use that satellite for anything? Jon has some theories.

In episode 2, we learn the origin of Alpha and Beta. It is the beginnings of the Whisperers and how they form their dogma. Jon goes over his theory of the difference of having a name, no name and a Greco-Roman name in the Whisperers culture.

We end the podcast on a feature that has become very popular on the CM Podcast – Jim Spoils the Season segment.

That’s right, I will spoil the rest of the season for you – well just up to the mid-season finale. How do I do this? The show follows the story line from the comic. The comic is about 4 years ahead of the show. I have read the comic but Jon has not. I make some guesses based on the comic and we will review how accurate I was at the mid-season finale.

Here is a page from the comic that I reference in the podcast…

Oh, that Negan. He should write inspirational posters that have kittens on them. I also explain who the young boy is on this page. Will he make an appearance on the show? Maybe…

Thanks for listening and we will see you in seven.

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 230

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 229 – The Joker (2019)

There was a small, independent movie that came out last Friday called The Joker. You may have heard about it…

Yes, the stripped down, grimy, throwback Joker movie sans Batman came out last week and we went to see it.

There was loads of hype about the movie prior to its October 4th release. Several sources were heralding the performance of Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/The Joker and the movie had even won some film awards. There were also some people worrying that since the movie is all Joker and no Batman that it would incite riots and violence on its release.

Did the movie live up to the media hype? Were there riots in the streets similar to the support of the comment people for Joker in the movie?

Well, no and no.

Sorry, Joker but this movie was…underwhelming. It did not live up to the hyperbole that all the critics were giving it. It was a very average movie. Jon and I go over the movie using historical real life events that inspired the writers, compare it against similar films, talk about the “Is Joker an allegory for mental illness in America” debate, why it’s impossible to root for the bad guy and talk about how the movie could have been much better.

The movie does have some cool posters like this…

but style over substance is not going to win you any Oscars.

Comics Misremembered Podcast 229

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 228 – New Comic Review

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:

https://comicsmisremembered.com/2018/10/20/cm-podcast-178-new-comics-review/

I explain why the title of the book changed and why you want to pick up the new version.

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 228

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 227 – Sugar & Spike: Metahuman Investigations

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.

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 227

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 226 – X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)

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:

Dark Phoenix Saga Part 1

https://comicsmisremembered.com/2019/06/29/cm-podcast-214-the-dark-phoenix-saga/

Dark Phoenix Saga Part 2

https://comicsmisremembered.com/2019/07/06/cm-podcast-215-the-dark-phoenix-saga-part-2/

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.

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 226

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 225 – Super (2010)

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.

Jimbo

Comics Misremembered Podcast 225

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 224 – Swamp Thing Show

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!

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 224

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 223 – New Comics Review

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.

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 223