Weekly Comic Recommendations: Resident Alien, Venom, Exiles, & More

Hi, this is Kevin Conroy, and you're listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Hello and welcome

to the Comic Concierge Podcast, the podcast that

believes that comics are for everyone. The key

is finding the right one. This is one of my weekly

recommend episodes where I go back through the

week that was in comics, talk about the notable

issues, give you my thoughts and opinions on

them. And slight spoiler warning, as I do get

into some plot details, I do try to stay away

from the major plot elements or the major surprises.

But if you're someone who wants to know absolutely

nothing about a book before going into it, check

the show notes as I will list all the books I'll

talking about with timestamps so you can avoid.

Any spoilers and I'll do start each week with

my recommendation of the week and my recommendation

the week is a little bit different It's not necessarily

the best book of that given week It is a good

book because it's one i'm recommending But it's

also one that I feel like is a good jumping on

point a good starting point So if you've never

read the series before if you never read a comic

before It's one that you can go into and you

still feel comfortable and get enough information

out of it based upon what's in that specific

issue This was an interesting week in a way because

there wasn't really one that I would say Far

and away rang and said this needs to be the recommendation

of the week. This is for sure the book I need

to pick this week. Some weeks that happen. Some

weeks this that doesn't happen. A lot of contenders

this weekend. I went back and forth many times,

but ultimately when I came down to my recommendation

of the week, I went with Resident Alien and Alien

in New York number two and. There are some other

books that came out this week that started the

new series and we'll get those shortly that maybe

a little bit more high profile than this, but

I went to this book and I made this recommendation

of the week for a few reasons. The Resident Alien

series has actually been around for a few years

now and although this is issue number two of

this series. The way that Dark Horse tends to

organize their books is that each new arc tends

to get its own miniseries. So this has been a

continuing story from the very first Resident

Alien book, just that each instead of saying

issue number 36, this is a new series, a new

miniseries with a new title and basically like

doing a refresh as Marvel likes to do in a way.

And I kind of understand that because I think

it allows for more new readers to come in or

have the idea of okay this isn't the 30th issue

of a book i can jump in right here but it also

can be somewhat misleading because you can get

into the resident alien number one which i talked

about a few weeks ago and it's odd because it's

starting in the middle of a story so i don't

know if that process works as well for people

i'm curious if someone picked up resident alien

number one and never read it Previous resident

alien book if it was just kind of odd and they

felt lost to begin with so then they gave up

on it but with that said There are bits and pieces

of resident alien and alien in New York number

two that do tie into past story arcs But I think

the the main beat of this, the main purpose of

this, what you need to understand is here. You

can, I think, understand everything you need

to, for the most part, and enjoy this book for

what it is. And for those who have never read

it before, it's about this alien who's crashed

to Earth. He's living amongst people, and when

you see him on the page, he actually looks like

an alien. They draw him like an alien, but the

rest of the world actually sees him as a human

being. He's able to disguise himself and live

amongst humans, and it's more of a drama -based

Sorry than anything else even though it's dealing

with aliens in science fiction What this story

is picking up is he recently was watching a news

broadcast and in that news broadcast About this

former street artist that went missing He saw

a hidden message a hidden phone number that was

written in a language only he and his people

could read So it had him wondering why is that?

Is that artist an alien like me and he has this?

crisis of do I call that number is it really

a trap because this guy has been gone for 20

years and he does have some Friends that do know

he's an alien, but they're okay with it So he

confides in them and they come up with this plan

to travel to New York after calling them and

you know seeing what what's actually going on

and For the most part, this is a you know, a

little key issue. This is not a lot of high tension

here It's not a lot of action. It's this character

based drama, even though you're dealing with

aliens from another world That's what i've always

appreciated about this book it's been kind of

low key throughout but. It's just the oddity

of it that I find really fascinating and I think

it's one too that goes really on song a lot because

it's our course for itself is you know any title

publisher and you know books like black hammer

we talking about get a lot of press hellboy but

in that there are a lot of series that they have

that I think kind of get lost in the shuffle

and resident alien is one of them it's not a

book I would say would recommend I would recommend

to every single person I could see a lot of people

know that if you prefer more action -heavy books

if you prefer. things that go at a more faster

pace. You may pick up this book and find it a

little bit dull. So I do want to put that warning

out there. But if you want to see more of an

explanation of what it is like to be isolated

as a person, how that could affect your psyche,

the idea of alienation, as this always kind of

keys into. And there's a lot here, too, as his

best friends, a Native American or an Indian,

you have this interesting dichotomy of the way

we are structured as a society and how people

often feel isolated in their own world, right?

You have this nation of people who used to be

the rulers of the United States and now they're

kind of lost in a drift similar to him as well.

And that back and forth has always been interesting.

And this adds another layer to it too, as I travel

to New York and find other parts of his... Tribe

that he works with they work on the taller buildings

because they're Cherokee and the Heights don't

bother them like they do certain people So I

just think there's a little bits in here that

I think you can that are hinting at some more

things coming coming by and I always like it

too when you know, that's why I'm a big fan of

someone like Jeff Lemire when you can boil something

down to a very simple idea or you can take a

lot of high drama or a lot of these stakes and

it's just Broken down to one specific moment

and this is you know, either it's beginning it's

a phone call and it moves into just having a

conversation at At a at a restaurant but everything

that he had to go into to make sure that that

meeting was safe like reaching out to these people

and trying to get help making sure that like

he has surveillance following him to Verify that

he's safe and not in danger and I just I thought

that was intriguing and I like to look for books

that Have a good dive -in point even especially

those that have been around for so long and with

this, you know I've not read every single miniseries

of Resident Alien actually missed the most recent

one So I jumped into this and even though there

there were some revelations in here Especially

what's going back going on back at his hometown

that I'm not fully following The center story

I think is enough to grab me and I think if you

read this and enjoy it and like it enough, you

can go back and read some of the previous miniseries

as they offer a similar type of story. The art,

you know, the art is functional. It's not necessarily,

I think, a highlight of the book. It, like the

story, is low -key. There's not a lot of dynamic

panel design or huge splash pages. It's more

about the storytelling of the characters and...

The art here is not necessarily selling the book.

It's not that it's bad. It's not that it's great.

It's just not getting in the way, which I think

in a way is fitting because if it was something

like, for example, like an Andre Sorrentino is

writing this and he is drawing and he has a tendency

to put a lot on the page, it wouldn't fit with

this story that they're telling. But the more

simple approach I think is appropriate. But there

are some sequences that look Really great sleep

when he's like looking into York City for the

first time and that's also kind of intriguing

too because he's coming from You know another

part of the world and and how just different

that is how? Even though he's an alien dealing

with a new setting and you know this more urban

setting It's just as different for him as it

was would be for humans as well So yeah, I think

if you're looking for something a little bit

different out of the norm if you want to break

from superheroes This is a good book to pick

up. Even though it has a science fiction tint

to it, it's really more basic mystery drama,

which I think is something that's often missing.

I'll get to other books today where I thought

that like, okay, this is good. This is getting

into something that's not a sci -fi horror twist.

But then it ended up being that. And it's just

that there's so much of that now. It's like,

I just want a straightforward story. And oddly,

even though this is called Resident Alien, About

an Alien from Outer Space, It's just general

human drama. Maybe it's just me, but there's

something about that I find fascinating so So

talking about a book about an alien going to

New York City I'm also going to talk about another

book involving an alien But this is an alien

symbiote and interrelationship to human and Andy

Brock with venom number one a part of Marvel's

new fresh start that started last week and fortunately

I had some trouble last week so I wasn't able

to release an episode so I missed the big release

which was Avengers number one which I maybe will

get to in some other form but I did get to this

week's which was Venom number one coming from

one of the biggest names in comics right now

who quickly rose up in the ranks in Donny Cates

and Art by Ryan Stegman and I'm not the hugest

Venom fan I'm not someone who like loves the

character per se. I actually tend to enjoy him

more so when he's with Flash Thompson and like

the Agent Venom or I was one of the few people

that actually liked Venom Space Knight when that

came out. Part of me really loved that series

because there was this robot in it that was just

bent on destroying itself and it was just this

running gag I thought was really effective. But

with Venom number one we have a new team and

I've enjoyed what Donny Cagewood has done with

Doctor Strange, Scott Country, Thanos, Renek

and you know Baby Teeth so I went into this with

high expectations and with Ryan's Segments Art,

which is also really great, which we'll talk

about, and I did enjoy it. There was one part

of me that hesitant to make this recommendation

of the week, and that's that I'm not a huge fan

of the, there's this secret that's been there

this entire time, and now we're discovering it.

Like it's all the secret history of this character

that's been around forever. Now it's finally

being revealed. I just feel like that opens up.

the door for a lot of problems, and it just feels

like something that will just eventually be undone

again. Now, in some cases, it ends up working

and forever staying with the character. Like,

thinking of years upon years ago when, you know,

they adjusted and retcon Magneto's background

and making him a holocaust survivor, that forever

changed the character of Magneto and made him

such... more stronger of a character and a much

more sympathetic figure. So it can work. Venom,

number one, is a little bit different where we

see Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote having

some of a combative relationship to begin with

where the Venom is having some nightmares to

a life that Eddie Brock never lived. It looks

like a beginning, like it's during the days of

the Vikings. It's almost like, you know, North

mythology look to it and all these characters

are being attacked by what looks like an alien

symbiote. and flash forward to Eddie Brock. In

the present day, he's been dealing with a lot.

He's utilizing painkillers and psychotics to

try to control the symbiote, which has been acting

weird, to the point where he's not even going

out on patrols to take out criminals. Instead

of going in to fight them, he's been calling

the police to let them do it. But of course,

things don't go like they should, and it leads

him to becoming Venom, and then things escalate

from there. I don't want to get... Give a lot

away, but what we find out basically is that

venom Eddie Brock have a relationship that isn't

complete There's a lot to it that either the

symbiote has forgotten about or has been blocked

from him and a lot of things Eddie Brock has

never known about symbiote and its history and

outside of Outside of its relationship to someone

like spider -man. So I I'm intrigued to see where

they go with this. I what I really like about

this For the most part one was Ryan segments

art looks fantastic. I love the way he draws

Fetum's webbing and there's really great detail

the coloring was really effective to upsetting

the mood it had just like very muddy look to

it that you just felt a little gross in a way,

but in a good way because you know, you're dealing

with a man who's just feels brought down by life

who's just kind of lost in a sea of Insanity,

and I think the coloring reflected that for me

the best part of the story was not necessarily

the idea there's all this history that they can

the secret history that can get to but how it's

really gonna focus in on how Eddie Brock and

the symbiote have related to one another just

Eddie Brock thinks he needs the symbiote like

he thinks like they're best friends really but

discovering there's so many so much about the

symbiote he hasn't bothered to ask certain aspects

of the character he's taken for granted. So it

makes you wonder, you know, is this relationship

what Eddie Brock has always said it was? Is it

more of a dependency? Clearly, you know, he's

dealing with, clearly Eddie Brock is dealing

with a lot right now. And is that a product of

the symbiote or is that a product of Eddie Brock?

And I'm really intrigued to see how. And, you

know, maybe this secret history will end up working

and being pretty cool and being something that

stays with the character of Venom from moving

forward. Now, there has been a lot of... retconning

when it comes to the symbiote and I think it

was in the Guardians of Galaxy or May have been

in venom space night where they go to the planet

where the same it's come from and so we do know

that there is more to the symbiote than venom

and carnage and I feel like there's a There's

venom carnage toxin anti -venom. There's a lot

of a lot of them. So I always and that also is

kind of A little bit of my concern, too, is when

you create more characters like your main character,

do you dilute the story? Like, does it make Venom

a little less special, knowing that there's more

people out there just like Venom? I trust Ron

and Katie's are my trust, so I'm gonna definitely

pick up issue number two. There are pieces of

here I'm a little apprehensive about, a little

concerned about that, again, more subjective

issues more than objective problems. on a craft

standpoint this issue worked well it did exactly

what it should it sets the stage under gives

you understanding of where they're where they're

headed the stakes are clearly set and you know

there's certainly a lot of mystery that has opened

up that i think will lead to some fun exploration

moving forward so and then introducing a new

brand new character that is a bold thing to do

with with a series so and i'm that new character

even though we got a little bit of him i i do

do hope we get more because it seems like He

could be kind of cool like this kind of rebel

soldier who is the person feeding a lot of this

information to Eddie So definitely recommend

I like I was debating about this for recommendation

of the week But ultimately I thought Resident

Alien had was a little bit more complete in my

mind and I didn't have the apprehended with it

again It's a little bit different because you're

dealing with an issue two of a long -running

series compared to a brand new book but if you're

a Venom fan, or even if you're not a Venom fan

like myself, I think it's worth picking up because

I think this might open the doors or maybe qualm

a lot of the issues people have with a character.

A series I am a huge fan of and have been a fan

of since the beginning was Exiles, back in the

days when it came out in early 2000s, and now

it's a new relaunch and I've been enjoying this.

It's already in the third issue. I feel like

this has only come out like a week ago and we're

already at issue three. pushing this out really

fast. I did not expect a book like Exiles to

be out bi -weekly, but hey, you know, I'm all

for it. And what I've been enjoying the most

about this specific comic so far are the cast

of characters that they've created. Keeping Blink

there, of course, has been a lot of fun. I'm

really liking this Khan character. You know,

it's Miss Marvel, but a future version of her

that's gone through some really... Tough times

and we've we've been getting getting hints about

her past and she's been breaking down a little

bit by bit like there's a moment in this where

she reflects on where the world is that they're

currently in compared to what her world came

to and I think she's really rounding out as a

character. And yes, even, you know, there's little

Wolverine, who's like this cartoonish version

of Wolverine. But I love that because I know

a lot of people can't stand and I get it. But

I think what's really funny about it is just,

you know, Wolverine has always been this tough

as nails, the biggest badass of the team. And

this one, it's now it's Wolverine, but he's really

scared and like he doesn't know what death is

and he runs away. He's a little bit more of a

burden for the team right now, which makes you

wonder. Like what is his purpose? but I just

found that he brought a lot of humor to the book

and just the idea of this character coming from

more of a cartoonish like Sesame Street type

of world then placated into the world ending

stakes and I thought they've been able to Churn

out a lot of comedy with that and in this too.

What would the big? piece of this world is the

fact that they're going to another universe where

Peggy Carter is actually Captain America and

it's like taking place during a World War II

type of setting and you know the story here is

rather basic but it works and I just like the

interaction of all these people that they've

been putting together and we get kind of some

glimpses of things that it possibly could become

there's time travel gets put in here One of my

favorite characters from the past Exiles series

shows up and that was to me really unexpected

and I was happy to see that. So I didn't know

if they would really tie back into the previous

Exiles books all that much, but it seems like

that is something they're going towards. So if

you are a fan of those, I think you would enjoy

this. So yeah, I've just been enjoying this.

I could see the art style not working for a lot

of people. Some of the characters designed, it's

not your typical... look for Marvel book, but

I thought it fits the tone of the story rather

well. And it's just kind of out there and fun

and just goofy. And I enjoy books that are doing

that because, you know, there are a lot of dour,

sad books like looking at Venom, which is dark

and twisted. Reading something like Exiles is

a little bit more fun, even though this one had

some rather large cliffhanger ending, which makes

me wonder, you know, where is it going next?

So I am also kind of liking that we got a little

less of the unseen, which is the weird looking

version of Nick Fury that was changed into this,

like, Watcher -type -like character. I think,

you know, the less of him, the better. So, he's

been kind of dominating the book in the first

two issues, so I'm hoping that they get away

from him and focus more on the team itself. Another

new series that came out this week for Marvel

was The Hunt for Wolverine Adamantium in gender

number one, and I'm not sure what to do with

these different... Series about finding Wolverine

that Marvel is doing, you know They had the hunt

for Wolverine mini that launched all these and

last week was the one that was Daredevil's team

Which I like I actually like that book and I

like this one, too but what's kind of killing

it for me in a little bit is that Ultimately

like what they're searching for we're so far

ahead of all these characters like right now

They're not sure if he's set or alive and we've

been getting all these glimpses of Wolverine

from from the legacy one shot so it's like Is

this all for not is this all leading to to something

that they can't ever really pull off? so I don't

know I like to me if this was just Like a new

avengers book like a new avengers reborn or something

like that. I don't know what you'd want to call

it I think it'd actually be that more effective

when your entire premise is built upon a mystery

That's already been solved elsewhere to a certain

extent How do you? How do you get my interest?

Like, you know, we see them going through all

these different avenues to try to find, okay,

what could possibly be Wolverine's origin? Like,

where did he go? What happened? And we know that

all these decisions that they're making, all

these investigations they're going through are

not really going to end up where they want them.

Like, it's not necessarily heading in the right

direction. It's like we're playing hot and cold

and we want to yell out, you're cold, you're

cold, because we know where they should go, but...

we can't have that happen. With that said, I

do like the story that's being told here though.

If I didn't have that, you know, external information,

you know, that out of the, not even meta knowledge

because it's within the actual book that they're

telling, I would actually really like, I would

like this I think even more because it begins

with this flashback to a story of Wolverine in

the New Avengers, one that happened, you know,

back in the day when Bendis was writing the book.

And one, it did have a nice little nostalgia

feel to me because I did really love the New

Avengers when it came out. And we saw a big reason

why Tony Stark and the other New Avengers like

Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Spider -Man have this

huge affection for Wolverine and what he's willing

to do for the team and flash forward to them

trying to find out. And I just love seeing those

characters back together again, similar to what

I felt like reading Avengers number one. Last

week and and tom taylor who wrote it I think

does write it in a style that is very reminiscent

of bendis like the humor that he put in it's

not as I think overly dialogue driven and I think

The voices necessarily don't sound like bendis,

but this is a sense of humor feels very reminiscent

of bendis and fitting for the new avengers And

then where it leaves off. So i'm like, wow, that's

actually I really like the story that this leaves

off on which seems this completely a left turn

from the idea of hunting Wolverine, but I'm okay

with that because I'd rather them go towards

that mystery or that issue than trying to find

Wolverine. So it's weird. It's like, yeah, I

like this book. I enjoyed it. I actually liked

it a lot more than I anticipated, but the destination

it's headed towards, I'd rather it not head there

because I just wonder, like, what is the end

game here? Could it ever fulfill its premise

in a meaningful way? I think it just written

itself into a corner. and gonna be difficult

for this all to mean anything by the end of it.

Like, I don't know, but we'll see. Like, I think

I mentioned, like, this might, it made it make

more sense to, if they had this in the Avengers

book, maybe, or I don't know. It's good, it's

good. Like, I would love to see Tom Taylor, if,

you know, write these characters again in some

way. So, I, like, I recommend it, but. It's an

oddity. It's it's weird. So it's just it feels

like they're stretching out something far more

than they should but at the same time It's good

quality. So it's odd another big comic to come

out this week as we're getting it ready for the

more fresh start for Marvel was Despicable Devils

300 as Scotty Young is Helming to take over from

Jerry Dugan is running this book for years now

And this is his send -off, taking everything

he's been doing with this series since he took

it over and putting it in this issue and ending

a lot of threads that he's been building up for

some time. The basic premise of this has been

that he's really put Deadpool in a situation

where the world is against him. And he's gotten

to the point where he just doesn't want to deal

with it anymore. He just can't. So he was trying

to get himself killed, and now he's still trying

to find a way to escape. And at the same time,

both... Literally and figuratively and at the

same time, you know You have Captain America

hunting him down and in large part people trying

to bring him down for his actions during Secret

Empire oddly that this is like the one book that

still ties into things that happen during Secret

Empire where everything else kind of seems wants

to forget about it even Captain America's own

book, but this issue I have I Was really anticipating

this issue. Like I mentioned I have been enjoying

this series for some time now and I still haven't

really decided where I settle on it for a few

reasons. One, it starts off with this over long

joke involving vomit that just keeps going and

going and going. It's one of the things where

it's like, okay, that's kind of funny. Now it's

getting a little annoying. Now it's a little

bit too much. Maybe now it's funny again. I don't

know if just the audacity of it works. It's a

little sophomoric, but this is also a Deadpool,

so maybe it works, but it was not what I was

expecting. You know, one thing I've really liked

about this book was the sentimental elements

he's been able to add to the character of Deadpool,

which then also brings me to the way he concludes

it and... I don't know like I understand when

you're leaving a title and you know a new creative

team is coming in you want to put all the toys

back in the box so the next person can play with

them so you got to do what you got to do to put

everything back and you know give that person

the opportunity to tell their own story but in

a way I felt the way it ended while it was similar

to some of the other issues where I felt like

this is more of a Objective subjective problem

and objective problem that it undid almost too

much in my mind And maybe that's again me just

trying to hold on to it for too long But I felt

it brought back Deadpool to you know It's putting

Deadpool into a place where he is Deadpool again,

and maybe that's the way you need to get him

I did think the the way it was done like the

way that it was represented on the page was pretty

cool and reminded me of something of like If

you made a Deadpool version of Eternal Sunshine

of the Spotless Mind, that's this book. And if

that ever intrigues you, it's worth picking up.

But I don't know, I was hoping that maybe some

pieces of this would live on and we'd still get

a Deadpool that was a little bit more of a complete

character. We'll see. I mean, I love Scott Young

as a writer, you know, I hate Fairyland to, you

know, some of his Marvel stuff as well. So we're

looking forward to see what he does with the

character, but... One thing that keeps coming

up this week for me with comics is that I think

I can't have full judgment of a lot of the decisions

until I see where it goes next. And I think that's

the case here, even though it's going to be a

brand new creative team taking over. The next

book I want to talk about is Domino No. 2 by

Gail Simone. And actually, well enough, it was

a little bit more goofy than I was anticipating.

I mean, I've read Domino a good deal because

I was a huge fan of the X -Force back in the

90s and she's always been kind of linked with

Cable. Honestly, as a character, she's Typically

kind of incomplete in my mind like she doesn't

get a lot of solo books and even when she's in

teen books Doesn't seem like there's much exploration

of her character all that much So I thought you

know doing the solo series might be is a good

idea Simone can maybe Further explore her as

a character and make her mean more and give her

a little bit more life the first issue though

is like we didn't get a huge amount of that a

lot of it was still tied into her relationships

with other characters and there's a kind of a

team that was forming with domino and i did like

the interactions of domino in her character but

i thought this issue was actually an improvement

and i'm liking kind of where gail simone is going

and there were some really good conversations

in this specifically you know domino is having

this like conversation where she's trying to

determine why is it that she seems to only be

able to have You know friendships with guys and

when it comes to females, it just doesn't seem

to work with her she's also dealing with the

fact that her luck power is just uncontrollable

either it's Turned all the way up to 11 or not

there at all and we see why that is and one that's

connected towards and I kind of like that idea

of it moving forward so I'm excited like I I

like Gail Simone as a writer. I don't like everything

she writes. She's not one that's like, oh, Gail

Simone's on this. I have to buy it. But I think

when her tone and her style of writing fit with

a character, it can lead to something really

special. And I think that might be the case with

Domino. She's really, I think, building a good

team around her too with these other side characters

that... really have not, similar to Domino, gotten

a lot of room to breathe in other books. So I

do like it when a writer's like, okay, I'm gonna

take these characters that have potential and

do something with it. And that's what's happening

with this. So yeah, I'm definitely picking up

a show number three and I'm glad that it improved

from the first book. The next book I wanna talk

about is Star Wars books, Star Wars The Last

Jedi movie adaptation number one. And I usually

have no interest whatsoever when it comes to

comics that adapt. movies, especially the Star

Wars books that they're doing, you know, I think

they did one with Force Awakens, and it's like,

okay, you're just taking the movie I already

saw and putting it in comic book form. Why does

this exist? Is this for people who didn't watch

the movie? Is this just trying to find any way

you possibly can to milk that Star Wars cow for

as much as you possibly could? Fitting enough

for Last Jedi and Luke Skywalker, but maybe that

is the case. The one piece though that has me

interested in continuing with this is specifically

regarding the character of Luke Skywalker and

The fact that this actually is giving us a lot

of inner monologue of the character of Luke Skywalker

during last Jedi and even in this first issue

We're seeing things more things from his point

of view. So I think that actually could Add in

a lot of insight to a lot of the scenes within

the last Jedi that that what weren't there Now

not that I think I would make the movie Worse

or better, but I'd be intrigued to see how they

handle that because it's obviously not done by

Rian Johnson So I don't know if this is if he

has any input or this is just the writer of this

using his own Thoughts and ideas of what Luke

was saying, but I do think that I'm intrigued

to see like how they handle some key scenes I

know The Last Jedi is a very polarizing movie.

I will say I do like The Last Jedi a great deal

I like the direction that it went, but I know

for some people it didn't work. But maybe for

some people that had some problems with the way

Luke Skywalker was portrayed in that, maybe this

could work for you because it gives you a little

bit more idea of, okay, why he was doing the

things he was doing, a little bit more of the,

you know, there was a lot of subtext there, a

lot of things that you had to infer. This maybe

breaks down those little barriers a little bit.

So maybe gives you a little bit more to that.

So if that's you, maybe give it a glance and

see. it could impact your enjoyment of last jedi

maybe not maybe it'll make you hate it more who

knows but i thought i would bring that up because

it's something that's a little bit different

from the other adaptations of the other star

wars films all right let's go over to the world

of dc for batman white knight number eight the

end of this series although we know that it will

be getting a sequel as well. Though going into

this, I had some concerns regarding how this

would all wrap up. Specifically, you know, when

this book started, we saw Batman, a very different

type of Batman in the sense of he was doing things

that I felt were out of character and like there

was a harshness to him and he was a little bit

more out of control than I would expect. But

I thought it fit the purpose of this book because

of, you know, where it was going. idea of kind

of flipping the roles of Joker and Batman. But

as it went on, it went away from that. And, you

know, we saw this Batman kind of come more back

to the Batman we know and love. And I was a little

concerned that those issues wouldn't be really

addressed. It seemed like it was wrapping things

up a little bit. too tightly and all the problems

it brought out regarding batman and his creation

some of the problematic elements of having a

vigilante like batman exists in the world of

gotham were legitimately good points and it seemed

like it was kind of all forgiven because oh no

there's this other person neo joker who's going

to destroy the world so who cares let's let's

let batman be batman i was glad though that they

went back to that and there was a lot of really

great moments for me with Batman in this a lot

of reflection that he was doing about himself

and what it means to be Batman and what he'll

be doing moving forward and we do know that this

is supposed to be beginning a sequel series so

not everything is perfectly wrapped up but I

was taken back by the fact that they were able

to wrap up a lot of the pieces that I thought

were left dangling there that I was worried would

be forgotten and just like a massive showdown

with all these characters so I do think that

some of the ideas that was going for by the end

of it weren't as fleshed out or it seemed like

there was a lot thrown at the wall and by the

end of it it almost backtracked in a way and

just ended up being a normal Batman story with

a little bit of a twist so I don't know if things

changed when it was evident that the series was

being successful so there was going to be more

of it with more sequel series so they're like

okay let's save some things and explore that

later I'm not sure but I thought that Ultimately,

this was a great series and I had a big piece

of that was the art of Sean Murphy I think he

is a good writer, but he's an amazing artist

and even when maybe the story isn't working completely

and like the Neo Joker piece for example I thought

like that never to me got fully realized or the

purpose of it, but I do love the way he wrote

Harley and there was a great conversation between

Harley and Batman in this and Harley to me can

be a problematic character in my mind. It's her

relationship with Joker like she could become

too victimized in a way I liked how this you

know gave her the power back or allowed her to

be You know, she wasn't someone who was just

reacting to things She was the one who was kind

of pushing things forward without giving any

spoilers So I'm definitely a book I would say

once this is in trade and never read it and I

feel like you know Many people have if you're

especially if you're listening to this 100 %

pick it up and read it I think it's gonna be

one of the one of the better Batman stories of

some time even though there's a lot of great

ones right now we're the regular Batman to Batman

the current cure music story as well so I was

sad to see this end because it was one of my

books I looked forward to each month, but I am

happy knowing that we're supposed to be getting

a sequel series and It does open the door for

that without feeling too incomplete I'm loving

this little like Batman universe Murphy is Sean

Murphy is creating so I think it if it gives

him the opportunity to draw more Batmobiles I'm

all for it because the dude can draw a Batmobile

the big release for DC this week though was Justice

League no justice number one and I was concerned

going into this book because I Did not like metal

all that much. I felt like it was overly convoluted

Two plot driven and at the end of the day like

I had no idea what I was really supposed to care

about The character seemed to be lost in it And

it was just think things seemed to be happening

just because or it was the plot was driving the

story Everything else was just in the background

and knowing that you know I like Scott Snyder's

Batman run But I was a little concerned that

that would be the same case here. You have a

lot of writers on this first issue so sometimes

again that leads to too many cooks in the kitchen

and I At the end of the day, I did like No Justice

No. 1. There are some things that concern me,

but what it is about is that Briniac sees that

he needs to form these different versions of

the Justice League. Due to the events of Metal,

the source wall has been broken and these ancient

galactic celestials basically have been released

and they threaten all exists born to destroy

the world, the galaxy, they're just... destined

to do so and he knows that Justice League can't

do it based upon the way that they currently

are. He needs to put them in different factions

due to some equation he's created and now he's

taking them off into space to fight these gigantic

beings based upon other different attributes

to make the perfect Justice League teams. And

it's kind of weird though that, you know, Griniak

who's been trying to destroy the Justice League

forever Was able to do so so easily in this it

felt like wow he you know, he's been trying to

do this for really long He's never done it before

but when this needed to do he seemed to go through

them really easily like weird But you know, that's

you know, it's a little bit different here, I

guess because he's not trying to destroy the

world He's trying to get their help. So maybe

that made it a little bit easier It is also odd

Reading this and reading of Avengers number one,

which also is dealing with celestial. So you

have two gigantic teen books that are both talking

about these gigantic beings that are set off

to destroy everything that we know and what what

what that means and besides that though i think

what what's this allows you to see is the different

ways to approach story like if you look at avengers

number one last week same idea but that to me

was much more character focused by the end of

it you know these celestial beings that were

falling to earth and It was less about them saving

the world, it was more about them coming together

as a team again, and what that meant for them.

Because a lot of it was built upon just general

conversations of where they are mentally after

all the things they were dealing with. If anything,

the idea of having this threat allows for a distraction,

and allows them to do what they do best. Here,

it was a lot of things being told to the characters,

and it was more the plot driving. the ship here.

Brainiacs that are giving all the exposition

explaining what's happening and you know it's

about how these characters then affect the plot

rather than the plot how the plot affects the

characters. The interplay between the characters

in this wasn't there all that much there were

some here and there with Batman and Damian but

if anything the person who got the most time

was Brainiac. It's not necessarily to say one

way is better than the other but for me I prefer

when the characters are at the forefront Compared

to that of when the plot is at the forefront

when events are driving the story rather than

the choice of the characters driving the story

It's not necessarily one way is better than the

next I do feel like the why I tend to like the

character driven pieces is because that's what

I like out of my stories I'm not a person who

cares all that much about plot, but the interactions

of the characters the way that they develop How

things in fact them personally that to me is

a much more compelling story than yeah, they're

gigantic slush deals. That's cool But to me,

the best part of it is the fact that we're seeing

these people, these friends come back together

again. To me, what we can be really intriguing

is how all these teams interact. Greeniac has

color coded them and we're seeing, you know,

what exactly what attributes make the best type

of Justice League teams. The one piece, though,

that I'm just like, OK, they got to stop acting

like this is a big deal is the idea of putting

villains. Teams and like how that's supposed

to be. Oh my goodness, like that's been done

to the point where the novelty is no longer there

We have the suicide squad. We have Lobo Lex Luthor's

been a good guy for some time now So seeing him

show up and like be part of the Justice League

or you know Lobo or Sinestro They're all characters

that were in the like not necessarily evil or

good Sinestro was it had his core where he was

trying to be the good guy, too. So It just seems

they've gone to that well so much, but they still

try to make it seem like this big deal. It's

like, oh no, the bad guys are teaming up the

good guys. That could lead to great interaction

and that could lead to some fun things. But it's

not the shock that I think it made it out to

be. The piece that I am the most interested in

is seeing how do these teams function. Like,

you know, they've released. Images of the different

groupings and like Batman has you know Beast

Boy and Lex Luthor and his Wonder Woman has her

team and Superman has his team and whatnot So

I I do like the fact that they are splitting

them up and having specific groups Giving it

a little bit more room to breathe so there's

not too many characters This is a weekly series

and it's also kind of weird because you just

we just had that Avengers weekly series No surrender

and now we're getting the Justice League weekly

series. No justice. I don't know. There's just

something in the water where These Justice League

and Avengers things are like you can kind of

and if anything pick them apart combine them

and you would have just one general story It's

it's just kind of funny. I don't necessarily

think they're trying to copy up for one another

I mean Marvel DC have done that forever. It's

just maybe it's a serendipitous that it's happening

this way But at the end of the day, I did like

it. I just, again, there was just my detractions

of I hope this doesn't suffer the same problems

that Metal did and just get too big and forget

the fact that we read Justice League because

we like the characters that are in it. Don't

forget that they should be as much a part of

it as anything else. And it's funny that I mentioned

the idea of heroes partnering with villains or...

less than savory characters because that also

kind of happened in how Jordan in the Green Lantern

Corps number 43 and I actually think this took

that idea and did it better than that of Justice

League No Justice. For one what this story arc

has been centering on is the fact that the Dark

Stars are back and their numbers have gotten

to the point where the Green Lantern Corps can't

face him alone. So they need to go out and try

to find people that they feel like can help them

in this battle. and it's leaving them to go throughout

the galaxy to seek the help of some people that,

you know, maybe don't have the best relationships

with the Green Lantern Corps. I think why it

means a little bit more here or why it's a little

bit more effectively done is because the characters

that they're choosing have more ties to that

of the Green Lanterns. Like, it's not just the

fact that these are evil characters or characters

with immoral leanings, is that... there was a

lot of history there between them and even if

you don't know it just their interactions allow

you to kind of showcase it like just a great

scene with Guy Garner by the way and I've just

been loving this this to me has been one of the

best and most consistent series from DC and I

loved the Zod stuff and now we're getting more

of that and the Dark Star stuff and the way that

they really made the Dark Stars into this really

threatening force where you feel like this is

necessary that they got to the point where they

have to make this decision It doesn't feel like

cheap or a gimmick. It feels like it's fitting

the story that they're telling so Yeah, I this

is the beginning of a new arc Even though it's

tying into what happened the last two issues.

You could probably read this with and enjoy it

I debated about having this recommendation of

the week, but because so much of it was dependent

upon the last two issues and Really? I think

those benefit the story a great deal, so I would

think you're better off reading those before

you get into issue 43. Still, to me, this has

been, outside of Batman, maybe the best and most

consistent ongoing title for DC. Alright, well

let's go over to the world of Image Comics, and

what this week made clear was Image has a lot

of great series that just started in the last

few months or so. It's usually been the norm,

but I feel like there's really a, this is a changing

of the guard year. in a lot of ways, some big

series that have been ongoing for image or coming

to end, like Deadly Classes nearing its end,

Killer Be Killed, East of West, I think Saga,

I think they announced, is going to be ending

relatively soon, and now you have a lot of new

series I think that are... coming in to maybe

fill that void. And one of them to me is analog

number two. I really like the first issue of

analog number one, which is about a near future

where the cloud explodes and everyone's secrets

are revealed. So now people are a little bit

more guarded. And in analog number two, it continues

that idea, but showing how the government is

trying to get around the fact that people no

longer use the internet like they did. They have

to maybe use a little bit more forceful means

to find people's secrets. even if that means

utilizing old technology, like copiers. But what

I found works about this, though, is its premise

just allows it to tell your classic noir crime

story. It allows not to have to worry about cell

phones or technology getting in the way. makes

characters have to do a lot more in order to

find secrets, enjoying the characters that they're

putting together here. The character of Jack

McGinnis, I'm really liking this, we see his

kind of relationship with his dad, and I talked

about Jared Eugen and his run with Deadpool and

how he has humor there, and he brings a lot of

that to this too, it's not... too jokey, but

I think jokes are placed in the right moments.

The one thing I did have, the one problem I did

have with this second issue was that it ended

at a really odd spot. Like, we get introduced

or reintroduced to a character that we saw just

glimpses of in the first issue, and it ends at

a point where it just felt like, wait, we're

done? Like, that's a cliffhanger, kind of. It

just, I don't know. It had a similar issue with,

even though it was a recommendation of the week

with the president alien, where Again, it felt

like it ended just because that's the last like

they they had to get 22 pages in there was a

22nd page But it didn't feel like a natural ending

point for a monthly series so it was a little

weird in that sense and It was a little weird

in that sense. That was like my my one negative

of this Still gonna keep going because I do like

this world the idea that they're taking David

O'Sullivan who this is his first real comic book

series he's been in the world of animation prior

to this i do like his work i never would have

guessed that he's as new to the world of comics

that he is i could see him being a name that

is going to be working for marvel or other big

companies built soon if this series becomes blows

up at all or gets any notoriety because i think

you know marvel has been in the lookout for some

good artists and i think he he's putting together

work that's better than a lot of the current

titles at marvel so Yeah, Analogue No. 2 is another

strong book from Image. One book that I was heavily

debating of making my recommendation of the week

was Barrier No. 1 and 2, the new series by Brian

K. Vaughan and Marcos Martín, the team that also

brought us Private Eye. Another book that was

a panel syndicate book was a digital first. Now

we're getting the paper version of it or the

physical copy version of it. The first issue

was released on New Comic Book Day. for free

the entire first issue so I give them kudos for

doing that because that's really cool to give

a completely full entire issue of a book for

free and I can get why and I'll get to that in

a second of why they made that choice. This week

though issue one and issue two were released.

Issue one also had a re -release that was more

of an extended version of the book with some

more back matter included so if you wanted to

actually pay for it you could do that too. And

I can see why they did it the way they did. It

was actually, I think, a smart move because this

is a book that is maybe a little bit different.

Well, I say very different for a lot of people

because first and foremost, like Private Eye,

it's done in a panoramic style. So you're reading

a book sideways and half of it is also in Spanish,

which I don't speak or read Spanish all that

well. So you would think it's hard to follow

if you can't understand the words on the page.

But clearly, The benefit of that is the fact

that it is a comic so that you can get everything

you need to based upon the images that are on

the page. And it is a great -looking book, the

colors especially. Marcos Martín, I don't know

what it is, but I think his work is so much better

when he's with Brian K. Vaughan and maybe when

he is drawing his books like this with a more

panoramic viewpoint of it. It allows him to open

up the page where you're not really focusing

on panels per se and the story moves really quickly.

Everything is on that exact page. It's basically

like a splash page almost in every way or every

panel is distinctly taken out and in the front

of your face which I think makes a lot sense

when you're reading it digitally because if you've

read books digitally a lot of them have that

enhanced reader where it breaks it down panel

by panel and in this sense it's exactly how it's

designed and to the coloring is fantastic. The

really consistent use of yellows and reds that

I think really make it pop. and greens as well.

There's like this consistent green that shows

up, especially where you see this radar screen

that's this distinct yellow green and it carries

throughout the actual book itself. And I will

say, I'm going to spoil, especially the big ending

of the first issue. And Brian K. Vaughan is the

king of first issues. You know, he did it with

Why the Last Man, Ex Machina Saga. He's really

good at writing that first issue to get you hooked

immediately. What will for whatever reason there

is and the first issue was good? the problem

I had with it again, it gets to more of a Subjected

issue than objective problem the fact that what

this is setting up is you have two parallel stories

one dealing with this woman in Texas Who's taking

care of this farm? Her husband recently died

and she's having some issues with you find this

it opens up on a page of a dead horse head at

right out of you know, Godfather, which they

of course make reference to. And the other is,

uh, you know, an immigrant and I think we go

in states and you see them kind of going back

and forth and of course being called barriers.

We're showcasing the physical barriers and the

fact that the other barriers that tend to hold

us back in this case, the use of language. No

doubt that with this being half Spanish, it is

showcasing that language barrier that often exists

within us, even as readers and how that can.

cause distance between characters and what can

kind of have that kind of come together. So in

a way, you think it's going to be this story

about conflict between this Texas town and these

cartels and what's going on there with these

gangs and thinking that's kind of the focal point.

I mean, that's going to be hop. button topic

for some time now, but at the end of the first

issue, again, spoiler, you find out that no,

it's actually a story about aliens, because aliens

show up, abduct these two characters, and the

second issue is them being in the spaceship trying

to find out ways of surviving, and these aliens

are these like weird creatures designed, you

know, they're not like humanoid or any way, they're

not speaking any language, it seems like they're

just destroying things like, you know, a kid

playing with... uh dissection kit or something

like that you see all these animals that were

on the side that horse head that we thought they

thought was the cartel was actually these aliens

so why they're doing this what they're doing

exactly is still not known again no doubt showing

the the lack of communication that can be caused

and the barrier that occurs so i do like the

idea that you know it is setting up all these

metaphorical allegorical barriers per se, but

I guess we're dealing with so many stories about

aliens and supernatural forces, as I mentioned

with bringing back to Resident Alien. I was hoping

for, again, just a story. the story it was giving

us to begin with. And it reminds me of something

like when I read Abbott, another book by BOOM

Studios, and how it was this great like stylistic

70s cop reporting drama. And then by the end

of it, nope, there's actually Supernatural Twist.

And it's like, oh man, I don't know if I want

that. And that was kind of the case here. This

is a weekly series. because, well, it's all actually

already been released digitally. So you can,

if you really love it, I guess, go back and buy

it digitally on panel certificate if they're

still selling it. But the next issue will be

coming out next week. And I do think I like it

when writers and artists try to do something

new with the medium of comics. It's important.

And I think it's important if you're a comic

book reader and a reviewer to try to read comics

that do different things. If it's like this and

changing the style in which that the comic is

read using more panoramic. If it's using black

and white not using color and I think like all

mediums comics should be experimented with so

I applaud them for trying something different

and going about it and Trying to give people

a way in that is, you know free of charge to

begin with like you can Pick up the or you could

have picked up the first issue for free and free

comic book day to give it a try so I thought

that They were doing everything right within

this because knowing that, you know, a lot of

people are going to be apprehensive to read a

comic this way, especially when knowing that

if you don't speak Spanish, there may be some

concern that you're not going to understand it.

And yeah, maybe you don't understand the finer

details, but I think that the larger thematic

point is made because of that. So I would highly

recommend this. Is it to the level of Brian Cape

on other books, you know, Private Eye, for example,

or Saga or why the last man or paper girls? For

example, I think it's more along the lines of

paper girls a book too that I really enjoy It's

fun. It's beautiful to look at but you're going

into it Not really knowing what's happening the

same case with this, you know second issue in

already and not really clearly sure what exactly

is going on or where they're headed or what the

ultimate point is but It looks pretty and I like

the characters that we get so far and the ideas

that it's going for So all that is making me

stay with it But again, there are some bits of

it that i'm a little bit apprehensive about um

in the sense of like when you get the kind of

rug Pulled under you and you're like, I really

like that rug It maybe has the the negative effect

or the opposite effect you're hoping for but

these are two great creators who know what they're

doing I I know a lot of people probably read

this entire series already. I have not I have

read the Private Eye. I did read that digitally,

but I never caught up with this. I'm excited

to actually pick up the physical forms of it.

So again, I would recommend this for sure. Again,

it was almost recommendation of the week, very

close. So can't go wrong with Brian K. Vaughn.

I'm surprised he doesn't have that as like a

bumper sticker or something. It should be like

his motto at the end of the book, instead of

Excelsior. Can't go wrong with Brian K. Vaughn.

I amuse myself sometimes. I don't know. All right.

Well, let's take a break and another book that

is absolutely gorgeous to look at is Isola number

two and With Isola again, like I feel like it's

kind of a hacky thing to say but it does remind

me a lot of a Hayao Miyazaki film Just the character

designs and their personalities, but mostly in

the same way that Hey Miyazaki with his movies

will drop you into a world and not give you a

lot of exposition of how things work. You kind

of just figure things out as it's going. This

is very similar in a way. They're still like

not really sure what's happening or what is recorded

in this world or even on earth. This is entire

earth. That's definitely you're just going through

this journey and through this journey you learn

more bits and bits about how things occur and

how things function. So Again, it's a gorgeous,

gorgeous book to look at. One of the best books

on the shelf. And it's important because a lot

of this book is told visually. There's not a

huge amount of dialogue. I could see that causing

some people having some problems with it because

the story itself is not all that complicated.

It's really just this soldier trying to protect

her queen who is a tiger because, you know, for

reasons we're not sure of. Through that journey,

something is getting away. It's one of those

situations where things seem super complicated

because of all those small pieces, but ultimately

it's a very simple idea just with some inventive

components to it. So I think this is one of the

better new series that have come out. I could

see this probably working for people a lot better

in trade because of the way it's approaching

its story. but as again as someone who's not

a huge person that cares a whole lot much about

plot when it comes to the way what I like to

get out of books it's working for me on just

the character standpoint and the way it is able

to tell its story and bring us into this world

through its kind of creative visuals all right

well let's keep the idea of image having a lot

of great new series going with oblivion song

number three and it's a good sign for a series

when I like each issue more and more I like the

first issue well enough I was concerned because

I felt like By the end of it, the twist that

occurred was undercutting its premise in a way

that was disappointing. This idea of how do you

move on as a culture decades after a tragic event

in a way that's appropriate. How do you get closure

without forgetting what happened the proper way?

And inside of that was this personal story of

a character trying to find his brother and who

was lost in this... thing that occurred where

this extra dimension came into Philadelphia,

caused people to disappear and now they're still

trying to find them decades later, but there's

a time to give up on them, there's time to move

on, and there was a twist that occurred in the

first issue where I felt like, okay, it's taking

the idea and throwing it out and this is really

what it's going to be focusing on, but still,

it's continuing with that because our main character...

Nathan Cole it is just going with this desire

this even selfish desire self -dominated self

desire to try to find his brother and other people

and He learns that Time works differently in

this other dimension and there's a good chance

that a good set of people Accident the city are

living elsewhere He's trying to find out where

they might be thinking that you know his fact

his brother might be surviving even though that

putting himself in danger and Also the big question

and it's raised again here is, is it right at

this point to take him out? Can they, for a person

who's lived in this horrific hellscape for a

decade, could they possibly come back to society

and operate in a way that works? Is it more cruel

to try to bring them back and he's getting...

viewpoint from people who were there and some

feel like it is and some feel like it isn't and

clearly, you know, it's a book that's getting

into the idea of PTSD and which is fitting because

you know that we are living in a time and place

where a lot of people are suffering from it for

a variety of different reasons and something

that people tend to not bring up in the past,

but now we're examining it and its effects and

it showcased here. At the same time, it's a story

about a guy just trying to save his brother,

save his loved one. So With crazy looking at

bugs and aliens. So as you expect with Robert

Kirkman, even though there's this crazy science

fiction aspect to it with this another dimensional

beings Giant insects types of things. It's about

the characters inside like you would with walking

dead. It's kind of cliche to say but it but it's

true and we were getting more of this world and

understanding that this actually this other world

that we think is just in chaos and No one could

possibly be survived. It seemed like there was

a survive in society that existed or exist in

there More so than we were first than we realized

so I'm excited to see see that exploration move

forward there Sometimes I will omit when I when

I'm wrong and my concerns about the first issue

were ill -founded So maybe the many of the concerns

about about certain books will also be ill -founded,

but yeah, Robert Kirkman Of course, you know,

he's one of the biggest names in comics. He knows

what he's doing and he's proven that here So

if you're even if you're a person who did not

like walking dead I could see you enjoying this

book because it's you know, it's not dealing

with zombies It's not very gory. The creatures

look are surely oddly misshapen But the colors

I think kind of mute them The colors almost make

them more appealing to the eye than your gory

zombie adventure or something of that nature

So again, uh huge recommendation I don't know

if this will ever become a tv show or movie or

anything like that. They could be difficult to

do budget wise when it comes to television but

it's a good quality comic and the benefit of

it too is that unlike a lot of image books it

should be coming out on time knowing the first

volume is actually already completed so that's

exciting because as we get to a lot of these

series we'll see a lot of books that you know

they come out and then they're great but then

it takes like a year and a half to get the next

issue. With that said that brings us to Southern

Bastards number 20 a book that is Consistently

delayed for another different reasons brought

to us by Jason Latour and Jason Aaron. You know

Jason Aaron has a busy schedule He is the man

at Marvel right now I get why a book like this

a creative own series probably does not pay the

bills like the Avengers does May not be able

to get his attention and why he may have to put

it on the back burner and instead of just rushing

Through it to put it out giving it the time it

deserves to tell the story that he needs to.

It's unfortunate because when this book is out

and it's consistent, to me it's one of the best

books on the shelves. And issue 20, if I was

just saying what is my favorite issue or what

do I think is the best issue of comics this week,

it's Southern Basterds number 20. And this brought

to head a storyline that started or a storyline

that's been building since the fourth issue of

this series and in Southern Basterds time that's

been like 10 years because it's been a long time

since the series has been out. But It was very

satisfying seeing this issue come together and

seeing a former Justice we've been waiting to

see come to coach boss and seeing really Roberto

Tubb, who I think this entire time has really

been trying to figure things out for herself

to try to discover and understand what led her

father down his path. Like what caused him to

stay in the sound that he absolutely hated? What

was the reasoning he in? Coach boss even got

into our altercation Why didn't he just pick

up and leave and it's been this exploration?

Into her character as well as coaches bosses

character and some other characters that I don't

want to Ruin because I know a lot of people probably

maybe haven't been keeping up with this book

as consistently as I am because it's been so

rare that has actually been out but When I talk

about why I prefer books that are character first,

Southern Bastards to me is a perfect example

of why that works because I can care so much

more about the events of a story when I know

who everyone is, what their places are, what

their motivations are, who they are as people,

where their morals are, what their flaws are,

and it just makes things that to me much more

interesting and there was an issue here or there

with Southern Bastards where I felt like it was

not to the standard it was when it first started,

but this brought it all the way around this issue

and really the gut check storyline was everything

I wanted it to be. I don't know, it doesn't indicate

when the next issue will be out. I mean this

could in all... Forms be the end kind of some

things are left open and open so that that still

need to be concluded But ultimately like I love

the fact that we got a southern bastards book

I didn't even know what's coming out until I

saw it and I didn't believe it until I actually

was able to read it because It's like and until

it's in my hand or until I can read it digitally

or what -have -you I don't believe it exists

and luckily it does exist highly recommend this

series. This is not a jumping -on point by any

stretch of the imagination We pick up the first

trade. It's fantastic I will say like, if you're

reading the first trade, it starts off almost

like this seems like walking tall or something

like that, that movie with the rock or the original

version of it in the sixties, I think. And it

becomes something much more as you expect with

Jason Aaron, as he builds this world. And it's

just got so much style and personality to it

taking place in the South and knowing Jason Aaron

comes from and Jason Latorre come from this world.

There's a little bit more. authenticity to it

and they're not necessarily making fun of these

people or but I think it's giving you a world

that is not often depicted through a viewpoint

that is Understanding of why things are the way

they are certainly this isn't real life. This

is certainly Magnified to agree to make it fitting

for a comic book, but still I think there are

some truths within that that are that are worth

exploring I don't think I can properly make the

transition, so I'm just gonna go ahead and get

into the next book which is brought to us by

Boom Studios and that's Fraggle Rock number one.

I bring this up because I do like to try to highlight

good kids books or at least all the ages books

that come out and that are worth reading and

Fraggle Rock is is that I read it digitally but

I don't I wonder if the physical version of it

is different than your physical comic because

it reads digitally almost similar to that a barrier

where it's more panoramic than your typical comic

but Besides the point what I liked about it.

It's a very simple again a very simple story.

It's about the one of the characters is Having

trouble painting they're having trouble kind

of finding inspiration and it's just her journey

to try to do that and I think it's a has a good

message to it and how we can inspire ourselves

or where we can find inspiration from one another

and it just again, it's just a positive message

and if if you love the world of Fraggle Rock

you want to read something that or Experience

it in a way that is reminiscent of the classic

series another was a cartoon and there was a

live -action series as well I think this fits

right into that and I don't know necessarily

if the kids today like my son has no idea what

frago rock is So I don't know if like this has

an audience per se but if you're a person that

like just wants to provide their kids something

that Even if you don't have that connection,

I don't necessarily think it's all that necessary.

Though it is kind of weird and you do see like

how odd Fraggle Rock was when you're like, you

had a giant monster made of garbage. That was

a thing that existed. Like, yeah, man, Jim Henson,

the guy went for it for sure. But yeah, it's

just, again, if you're looking for a good comic

for kids, there's a lot worse than Fraggle Rock

number one. I'm also from Boomer Studios is Robocop

Citizens Arrest number two. I talked about the

first issue when it came out and again I I like

Robocop, but I've not read a lot of Robocop comics

What got me into this was the fact that Brian

Wood was attached I love his work on Briggs land

for example Which was nominated for an Eisner

and seeing he was doing a Robocop story made

me think man Maybe that could be good and I actually

do quite like this is I almost made this recommendation

of the week too This is much better than I ever

anticipated and what I love about it is The Robocop

movie, the first one was so extremely violent.

It was extraordinary violent purposely. It was

meant to be satirical, just how graphic it was.

And I think it's smart that this is taking the

opposite effect of that so far, where there's

very little violence in this directly. There's

some things that occur, but it's more done through

news coverage or things like that. There are

not many guns fired at all. It's existing in

a Detroit that has fixed a lot of its problems,

but the means to do so has caused more problems.

The police force has been privatized. They're

utilizing drones and self -reporting from citizens,

and it's causing some problems. For example,

this has a scene where a kid is on their balcony

just playing, and the drones are calling child

services because the parents aren't there, but

the mom's not there because she's working two

jobs. Just the problematic nature of what happens

when you just go by the book and not understand

the situation and how a lot of the communities

Luster communities have been kind of left out

in the cold and within that you also have a Robocop

story and Robocop Has been decommissioned. He's

no longer able to fire his weapon But they're

trying to find ways about that to fight back

against this oxycorp Corporation and doing so

and it leaves that off of a good spot too. And

I think it's kind of rather brave is maybe a

strong word but notable that you're doing a Robocop

series and Robocop, you know hasn't really fired

a gun all that much and isn't so far the main

character It's the world itself is the main character.

Yes. I know that's cliche, but it's the truth

So I just think it's a well put together story

that has Take in the social commentary of the

first one and evolved it in a way that's fitting

So I think this is the best RoboCop thing I have

experienced since the first movie much better

than RoboCop 3 Sorry, Frank Miller though Frank

Miller hates that movie So maybe not but yeah,

so if you're a huge RoboCop fan I guess it depends

on why you like RoboCop if you like RoboCop because

of the violence because of the action maybe this

wouldn't work for you, but if you like RoboCop

for like the messages that was trying to purvey

or the commentary that was within it, this might

work for you. Alright, let's go to Star Trek

in IDW with Star Trek The Next Generation Through

the Mirror number 2. I am not really a huge Star

Trek fan. I've watched like two episodes of The

Next Generation. I've watched most of the movies.

That's the beautiful thing about comics sometimes

is that... It's a lot easier to pick up one issue

of a comic to see if it will work for you without

having the admiration for the source material

and sometimes it's a true test of a good comic

is if it works for you even if you're not a fan

of that. So with this, this was okay. It's about

the mirror universe, the evil universe where

the Enterprise members are evil and you know

they're evil because they have facial hair. The

one thing I think is lacking with this book is

one of the best things about alternate dimension

stories is Seeing how the different characters

from different dimensions interact with one another

like how a Good John Luke Picard would interact

with an evil John Luke Picard And this is the

second issue of the series and there's been no

interactions really been them trying to figure

out what's going on they've been kind of going

across the universe to these different distress

calls because some Thing mysterious thing has

been attacking people. They don't know what And

by the end of this issue, spoiler, they find

out who it is. It's not, I guess it's spoiler

since it's the name of the book and it's on the

cover. So then that just becomes kind of the

problem where you're waiting for them to interact

with one another and it hasn't happened yet.

So you're just left with just waiting, similar

to like what I mentioned with. I might pick up

Issue 3. just to see if I can what will happen

but maybe if you're a gigantic Star Trek fan

this will work for you but as someone who isn't

nothing really stood out for me is like okay

this is this is a Star Trek comic I need to read

next but alright well let's move over to World

of Dark Horse for World of Tanks number two World

of tanks to citadel number one man. They're the

titles of this week. I feel like there's a lot

of there that are just gigantic We had Star Trek

the next generation through the mirror number

two and now world of tanks Citadel world of tanks

to citadel number one man, but again, this is

another license property I guess I guess I don't

know what I can think world of tanks is a Video

game or something like that. I don't know. I

feel old. I've just Gigantically old there's

so much out there that I had no idea would exist

but The sole purpose of me picking up and reading

this issue was just because of one person, and

that's Garth Ennis. And Garth Ennis can write

himself a good war comic, and that's what this

is. It has the World of Tanks license to it,

but I have no idea if it falls in line with the

World of Tanks storyline, but ultimately it's

about World War II, specifically the Western

Front, where Germany, nearing the end of World

War II, Germany and Russia are kind of having

their... their last major battle and it's focusing

on the Russian forces as well as the German forces

with how they're utilizing their tanks. Some

interesting characters that I'm intrigued to

see where they go. It's not the best war comic

that he's written. He's written, I think, far

more. I do like this idea because we don't see

a lot of this story depicted all that much. You

know, we see D -Day, we see the American side

of it, but the Russian Germany conflict when

it comes to American audiences is usually reserved

to just showcasing Stalingrad So it's nice seeing

seeing a different part of that history focused

on and recently Garth Ennis had the Punisher

platoon series Which was basically a Vietnam

comic masked as a Punisher comic, which was fantastic

This isn't to that level, but this is you know

a World War two comic mashed as a licensed property

for a video game so if this is what he needs

to do to write more war comics I'm all for it

because You know, they don't exist nearly as

much as they used to. So if this gets us more

Garth Ennis telling the stories he wants to,

I'm okay with it. So if you're a person who does

love historical fiction, and maybe you're like,

I don't really care about World of Tanks, it

doesn't really matter. I think that's just something

they're throwing on there just to maybe get a

passerby who likes the game to buy it. I'm not

sure. All right last but not least we're going

to go with CalExit number three and what's kind

of funny about CalExit number three is at the

end of CalExit number two they made a point of

saying out next month CalExit number three no

we're being serious this time because there was

such a big delay between CalExit number one and

CalExit number two first one came out in July

the next one didn't come out till February this

one's now you know coming out but of course it

still comes out a few months later it's a product

of really independent publishers like Black Mask.

A lot of people who are making comics like this,

this is not their day job. They have to do other

things because this is not going to make you

enough money to support you. So you got to kind

of do it when you have the free time. So I get

why a book like this does get delayed. But ultimately,

why I bring this up is because this episode I've

been talking about different debut series and

some of the concerns I have, but I'm going to

continue with them. I usually give each book,

for the most part, not always, as long as I enjoyed

the first issue enough, at least three issues,

because what I usually see by the third issue

is that you get a complete idea of the direction

the book is going. And that was the case with

CalExit. The first issue I did not like all that

much. I felt a lot of its messaging and social

commentary was a little ham and fisted, a little

too simplified. And it painted with too broad

of a brush. But by the end of the second issue,

I saw that, no, there was a little bit more nuance

here than it first let on. And one of the main

characters, for example, seeing that the character

that they were playing wasn't as real as you

thought. There was more of an act there without

spoiling it. What was a little disappointed in

this issue is that it didn't pick up on that

thread at all. But this was a really attention

-filled issue. The story of it is just this carrier

is trying to take this woman across the country

out of California to more of a safe zone, and

they get stopped at a checkpoint, and they're

just trying to talk their way out of it. And

that's really the book of the story. But again,

we find out that maybe the people that we think

are the heroes aren't necessarily as heroic as

they let on. Uh, and that's really been kind

of the message of this book so far. And it's

not really what I expected with it being Kellex

it with this coming closely after the election,

thinking it was going to be about one thing and

finding out, no, it's actually about something

else. And it just brings me back to the benefit

of keeping with the book to at least the third

issue, even if you didn't love the first issue.

I mean, obviously financially you can't always

do that, but if you think there is potential

there and I thought there was with the first

Kellex issue. So I kept with it. And by the end

of this third issue, it's I. It's been better

and better each time. So, yeah. So even though

I may have apprehensions with Venom and Justice

League No Justice, again, they're more objective,

subjective problems. And by the second issue

of those series, I may be proven wrong and I

hope that I am. I was proven wrong with Oblivion

Song and I'm happy to be proven wrong if it means

that a book is going to be good. So, you know,

sometimes it's good not to be right. But that'll

bring us to the end of this week's episode a

little longer this week I want to try to make

up for not being here last week I just had some

technical problems in a busy weekend that led

me to miss an episode But let me know what you

think of these episodes so far if you want to

communicate with me or the show you can do so

by emailing us at movieworld at geekcastreader

.com I'm on Twitter at movieworld the show was

also on Instagram and Facebook. Just search comic

con sears podcast And you can also go to the

episode post at geekcastreader .com or nerdly

.co .uk and really would love it if you can go

on iTunes and leave us a review. Putting a lot

of work into this. I know we're still a new podcast

compared to a lot of comic book podcasts out

there, but your feedback is really beneficial.

Let me know what you want more of, what you want

more or less of. Fun series that are coming up.

I'll be continuing. I recently spoke with Matt

Fridley -Sent regarding the Silver Surfer series,

the first two volumes of Dan Slott's and Michael

Albert's run. I will be talking with Jason Michael

of the Atlantic Screen podcast regarding the

Native Killer series from Dark Horse and some

other things that are in the works. So those

that are all interested, let me know. But that'll

be it for this week. We'll be back next week.

For now, remember that comics are for everyone.

The key is finding the right one. Until next

time, thanks for listening. But it's not my scene

Want this plot to twist I've had enough mystery

Keep building it