Highest House , Doomsday Clock , Metal , & More

Hi, I'm Brian Ward, DVD producer from Shout Factory,

and you're listening to the Geekcast Radio Network.

Welcome to another episode of the Comic Concierge.

This is one of my weekly wrap up episodes where

I look at the week of comics that was giving

my thoughts and opinions on some notable key

issues, including my pick of the week or my recommendation

of the week. Up front, do know that there are

some spoilers. I won't get into great detail

regarding plot or such upon the great surprises,

but if you're someone who enjoys knowing absolutely

nothing about the story in their comics, go to

the show notes and I will lay out all the timestamps

for each issue I'll be talking about. As mentioned,

I do start each podcast with my recommendation

of the week, and my recommendation of the week

is a little bit different. I'm not necessarily

picking the best comic of the week, which is

especially notable this week with a lot of big

books coming out, but what I think is a good

starting point for anyone that's a new reader,

an old reader, basically a book that anyone can

pick up and fully appreciate without a lot of

background knowledge needed. For this week, my

recommendation of the week is The Highest House,

number two, brought to us by IDW and written

by Mike Carey and art by Peter Gross. And this

is a comic that, in all honesty, is hard to fully

explain. Usually, you know, you want to compare

it to something else. There's really nothing

I can really think of, comic -wise, to compare

it to, which is partially what I really like

about it. Even the presentation of it, the book

size, the comic size, it's abnormal. It's larger

than your normal comic. magazine size and there's

I think a lot of reasons for that which we'll

get to but Although this is the second issue,

you can pick this issue up without reading the

first issue and get pretty much everything you

need to in order to understand what's going on.

Now I would say and highly recommend to pick

up the first issue, but the general story in

that book was this overlord came to this small

town and a bunch of families came up to him and

trying to sell him slaves or family members in

order to make enough money to live. Like you

had legitimately mothers selling their daughters

and their sons to him in order so their other

family could survive. It's a tragic situation,

obviously, knowing that you have to let go of

some children in order to save the rest, but

it was a situation many of them were in. The

main story, though, is about the... boy who was

sold into this slavery named Moth, but there's

something about him that we don't know, but it's

intriguing. He has black eyes or either a certain

background with a story that we are not privy

to. His father is unknown, with mother we do

know. She seems to be a commoner who has a lot

of children, but this overlord named Obustanian

took to him and I think he has a special affection

towards him for reasons we don't know yet. Seems

like he thinks he is capable of doing something.

I guess one of the obvious comparisons would

be something like Harry Potter, this powerful

person or potentially powerful person within

a common world that he's brought into this different

society he's not aware of. He goes to what's

called the highest house and it's not necessarily,

you know, it's not a magical location in everyday

life. It's really in the Middle Ages, the Dark

Ages, and everyone has their specific roles that

they do. And that's really what I like about

it. I guess what I would compare it to is like

if you combine Downtown Abbey and and Harry Potter.

you have this clear class system and within that

class system everyone has a specific role and

this month gets recruited or becomes a roofer

and that's much of his job is learning how to

roof and it's you know it's the apprentice age

where he's partnered with his other roofers who

he goes through the process of learning it in

that background you have other things going around

there's someone that seems to be speaking to

him there's a cook who's really jealous over

the fact that he was a roofer because he wanted

him as a cook and there's back and forth between

that cook and and the roofer and all these things

going on and it leads to a really major plot

element by the end of this issue that kind of

really ups the stakes a great deal. One of the

things that I think really makes this work though

is the art. There's such an openness to it as

I indicated. It's a larger format book and I

would highly recommend reading the physical form

because you don't really get... the full effect

digitally and with that the panel layout is really

unique in the sense of you have this full picture

and within that picture they place actual panels

so it's almost like you're looking into the room

and within that room are panels of the story

continued so it's just like there's not an inch

of page that is not covered within some sort

of art it's just fascinating to look through

there's the the composition of each panel the

composition of each page is really unique and

There's so much detail to it. One page that really

stands out is one of the scenes in which he is

working on the roof and what it is the overall

main picture is that of this towering building

where you see in the foreground like the Bay

area and just how high up they actually are and

then on the top frames you see them working doing

their job and I think why it's really effective

it really puts into perspective where those people

are located in because you're getting both an

idea of scale in the sense of how high up they

are as well as just how close they are to different

edges and it gets important as things move forward

and location and understanding location is such

a key to a lot of this it's technically sound

on so many different levels also plays into what

this story is very much about. As this panel

layout provides a great perspective, also the

hierarchy that they're placed into provides a

perspective on which the lives they live, and

you have this order, this set of... hierarchy

that they're placed within you have this kind

of lifestyle that they have to kind of work their

way through but through in the sense of you're

not moving from one place to another you're kind

of stuck within the system you're stuck in the

location you are I mean you have people as I

indicated that legitimately selling their children

just to move on with life just to have the opportunity

to live so I think there is purpose to why they

are structuring the comic in the way they're

doing outside of the fact it looks pretty. I

think it really ties into much of the structure

of this narrative and how also you have this

kid Moth who is kind of working his way through

it and how he's kind of breaking a lot of the...

common laws that have been placed upon them even

small doses here and there but it really leads

up to a major event that happens at the end and

why it's my recommendation of the week is because

it is so different there's really something about

it that i find endlessly fascinating it's a really

creative world that feels somewhat familiar but

in the way it's being approached it's hard to

really kind of pin it into what exactly is happening

because it's not really a magical story there's

magical elements but they're not there to a great

degree there's a realism to it that you typically

don't see in a magical fantasy story, and also

just the lifestyle it's presenting, just these

everyday bits and pieces that are typically skipped

over, I just personally find really fascinating

just how life was lived during that period of

time, and that's really only a small piece of

this, but it's a piece I think that adds a lot.

At the end of the day, when it comes to recommendations

of the week, and what I'm looking for, it's like

what? has me most excited to what comes next.

What book do I think can really have a broad

impact? And this is something that I think a

lot of people would pick up, especially those

that aren't necessarily huge comic book fans

and see just the different scopes or different

types of stories that can be told within the

pages of a comic. So if you're someone who passed

it over because it's not necessarily a well -known

book, not necessarily a high name or it's not

one I think is getting a huge amount of praise,

I would highly recommend picking it up. As I

said, there are only two issues Alright, well

let's move over to what is clearly the biggest

book of this week, which is Doomsday Clock number

4, and I highly debated making this the recommendation

of the week because it is a really great issue.

but the reason I was hesitant is because I would

highly recommend reading Watchmen before really

getting into Doomsday Clock because it is such

a sequel piece to that of Watchmen and reading

the Doomsday Clock series going into it I didn't

think it would be kind of what it is I thought

it would really combine the DC world and doom

in the Watchmen world a lot more and really be

really more focused in on Dr. Manhattan and Superman

but Superman's really not been in this since

the opening issue and this is specific issue

focuses on one character with the new Rorschach

which is why I almost made it the recommendation

of the week because I think you can pick this

issue up, not read Watchmen, not really read

a DC book and understand everything that's being

told within the story, but I think you'd really

appreciate it a whole lot more if you've read

Watchmen prior. It also gives away a lot about

Watchmen, so it would ruin, I think, a piece

of that if you've not seen the film or watched

it already, which I think obviously most people

probably have, especially if you're listening

to a podcast like this, but. But as mentioned,

this issue specifically is looking at Rorschach

and two major stories, his origin and his current

situation where he's stuck at Arkham due to the

events of last issue. And it's just a brilliantly

put together book thematically in the sense of

how it ties visually. well as narratively together

within the mindset of this new war track and

kind of what led him down the road and why he

is the way he currently is specifically, there's

this running motif of flies being attracted to

light and basically being the proponents of their

own destruction in different ways and it's a

really effective and simple idea that is used

really well within this and You know, Jeff Johns,

up to this point, I thought he was doing a really

good job, but ultimately it felt like he was

trying to impersonate Alan Moore. It felt like

even a great cover band, even the best cover

band is still a cover band. And up to this point,

it really felt like that's what he was trying

to do. He clearly is trying to put his Alan Moore

hat on and not write like Jeff Johns, rather

write like Alan Moore. But in this, the flavor

tasted a little bit different. And I think...

A big part of that was because of Gary Frank.

And man, the work he is doing on this, it is

career level by all stretch. And I know it's

a bimonthly book now, and I could see why, because

what he is doing is something that is truly special.

And I think Jeff John smartly leans on his work

a lot where he needs to. I mean, it's still dialogue

heavy, but I think the heavy lifting is really

being done. by Frank and especially in the closing

moments of this or near the closing moments when

we all just say that Mothman plays a Plays a

role and when we we see his story come to its

conclusion. I think that was best told to the

the work of Gary Frank, especially how he ties

together that motif I spoke of so it's I think

there's a really a lot to dive into within this

series so far Within this specific issue. This

is to me that by far the best issue of Doomsday

Clock It's just on another level. It's the first

time I felt like this does feel like a natural

progression to the story of Richmond without

being a little forceful. I like the issue issues

fine, they've been really good, but this one

feels like a natural progression. I think in

large part because of the fact that it is just

about Rorschach and he just isolated in one character,

which is something we saw. in Watchmen is something

they did a great deal, so it falls in line there.

And this new Rorschach, this does seem like Alan

Moore was to continue the Watchmen series or

to do a sequel to Watchmen. I feel like this

would be something that he would have done. This

is a good idea. I don't want to give of who the

new Rorschach is because it is a big piece of

this story and a lot of people have been having

theories and I think many pieces together already,

but still, even with that, it works well just

to see kind of the trauma that he went to, obviously

that you need to in order to become that mindset

of Rorschach is if anyone who's read or watched

Watchmen previously knows that Rorschach had

had some tragic elements happen to him to really

break him. And they happen here in a different

way and in a way that I think is really effective

to today's world and today's kind of social climate

especially when it comes to things like PTSD

and things like that and how it's different Now

compared to it was when Washington was first

announced and also it's the one I think that

has the least amount of political or Direct social

impact and there's no newsreels in this there's

no last issue had a lot a great deal use of this

running noir Classic film throughout this one

didn't have that I think it kind of just put

everything else aside Just to focus on this one

story and doing so like I said, it felt like

Jeff Johns was Not just trying to ape Alan Moore.

He was really kind of doing something that was

respectful, but not But still his own thing.

And so if you've not read Doomsday Clock I know

a lot of people hate this idea and of even like

Continuing Watchmen that it should be something

that is left alone and is never touched Obviously

that a few years ago that went to the wayside

when they did before Watchmen and now with this

personally If it's a good comic, I don't care

when you look at literature some of the biggest

literature characters of all time from Shakespeare

to Sherlock Holmes, you know, stories that have

had a greater impact than that of Watchmen have

fallen into the public domain and people have

done their own adaptations of it. It's eventually

gonna happen. And I love Watchmen, but I don't

think necessarily it's the same level of Shakespeare.

Shakespeare is not gonna lose any respect because

of a bad movie made from his material or bad

TV show or bad book made from his material. Hey,

you know, if you can get through the Romeo and

Juliet movie by Leonardo DiCaprio, anything's

possible. You know, luckily this is good, and

I know comics obviously it's different, it's

not apples to apples per se, but the point being

that I don't think any art is ultimately sacred,

especially when it comes to narrative -based

art. there's a way to make these characters work

for a new generation I say go for it and so far

this has been one of the best comics each month

that it's actually come out so if we get great

comics out of it I'm all for it so and I think

for those that have a hard stance and that it

shouldn't be touched I get it I understand it

I get where that's coming from for me it's not

that big of a deal and I think this can hopefully

lead to some good exploration to see how Watchmen

has shaped the landscape of comics, especially

that in DC, for the good and the bad. And a book

like this could really do that. It hasn't really

gotten to that point yet. I thought that's going

to be the major focus of it, showing how Watchmen

really changed the game in the way that we approach

superheroes. But so far, like I said, it's really

just been a sequel to the original Watchmen.

So I don't know. But we're really early in the

story. This is only the first issue out of 12

issues. There's a lot still to be said. It has

me excited, ultimately, and it has the comic

book world excited. It's a book that I think

is doing a lot of good for comic book stores

and the comic book community. But I'd be curious

to hear what other people think of it. If you're

someone who thinks it shouldn't be touched, why

is that? And did you ever give this a shot? And

if it's good, does it change your mind? I'd be

curious to hear. The other big book that came

out this week, too, is Dark Knight's Metal number

six, the final issue to this epic storyline,

this big event that's been going on in DC and

the books of Batman and all of its one shots

and minis for some time now. And honestly, I

wish I was enjoying metal as much as many people

seem to. There were pieces of it that I did enjoy.

It was fun to be had for sure and there's no

denying that Scott Snyder and Greg Coppola have

a lot of admiration and love for these characters,

had a lot of thought put into this overall idea

and the bits and pieces of it that's been building

forever and in a way that's kind of why it's

not working for me. I find that it's so bogged

down and so much exposition. It's so much about

telling me all these things about all these different

things about metal, this metal, that metal, all

these different pieces that Ultimately walk away

with nothing really to grab on to in a narrative

standpoint on a character standpoint I'm like,

I don't know what I'm supposed to really care

about within this story all that much it's just

a lot of craziness with everything that feels

ultimately hollow I get it's supposed to be metal

and it's supposed to be hardcore over the top

and That's okay. I get that but it's like someone

has this hardcore metal drum solo But during

it it keeps getting interrupted with someone

providing a lot of plot contacts to drown out

all that awesome metal rock Ultimately, it feels

like I am hearing someone else's inside joke

where the references and the tie -ins are two

things that I'm not really privy towards so I

really can't enjoy it to the full effect that

someone should and Maybe if you are if you are

part of that if you do know all these different

things that they're mentioning It's a great ride

and you love those different references for me

I just find the overall story that's presented

on this page Lacking on nearly every level for

the most part. There are fun moments there are

pieces within this story, especially this last

issue that I'm like, okay, if I got more of that,

I would probably really enjoy it, especially

the length that Batman goes towards in order

to beat his final nemesis. But also there's been

this huge buildup with this Barbados evil entity

that they're trying to take down. And I felt

the ultimate solution to it was a little bit

lacking. That along with the fact that it seems

to commit the biggest events in where it's so

much build up to also build up to other things

where the story that we're reading right now

seems the least important. It's all about things

that came before, all the things that will come

in the future when the story I'm reading right

now seems to be lost within that, so. I do know

a lot of people love it, and I get it, and ultimately

it just may not be my thing, and that's fine.

Just like some people may not like Doomsday Clock.

But if you are really liking Metal, if you're

finding it enjoyable, if you think that I'm missing

something that would really make me appreciate

it a lot more, I'd love to hear about that. And

at the end of the show, we'll get into all the

different ways you can contact me. But anyways,

yeah, I'm kind of glad it's over, and I do look

forward to the different Joseph League titles

that will be kind of... Born out of this. I know

a lot of the New Age title books were also big

pieces of this too But yeah, I'm just happy to

be honest with you and can get back to some level

of normalcy moving forward Speaking of the New

Age of Heroes, Silent Story Number 3 came out

and I think this is my favorite of all the New

Age of Heroes books. I think this is the one

I've been liking the most. This one, the beginning

of it, is just ginormous action sequence that

John Romita Jr. just hit out of the park. I know

a lot of people don't love this art. The blockiness

of it may be a little bit too much. It doesn't

really have... a real life resemblance for some

people, but to me, when it comes to kinetic energy,

when it comes to action, when it comes to feeling

the brutality of what's being on the page, no

one does it better than him when he's living

up to his potential. Sometimes he can get a little

bit sloppy, but I feel like with Silencer, with

even his current Kick Ass series, he's been really

nailing it out of the park. It's really building

up silencer and just really kick -ass character

that I'm really liking her power of making everything

silent or having these silence cones seemed a

little weird but we're getting more and more

uses out of it and It like how this also ends

it lifts ends a really great cliffhanger. There's

not much story in this specific issue It's mostly

action sequences. That's juxtaposed nicely Against

her trying to go back to her normal life day

-to -day life of you know having kids and going

to school And also ends at a really good cliffhanger

that has me excited to what goes next so it's

not Groundbreaking in the sense of, you know,

revitalizing or coming up with a concept that's

never been seen before. It's a good idea that

works with a good creative team that seem to

be balancing off each other really well and a

new character that I feel like is well defined

and one I can relate to and understand and has

clear defined stakes that are executed well.

So sometimes that's all you need with a great

book and that's what's happening with Silencers.

Another DC book that I continue to really enjoy

is how Jordan in the Green Lantern Corps, number

41, and this storyline with Zod and the Green

Lantern Corps seem to be coming to a head with

Hal Jordan and Zod facing off one on one and

man Big week for some great action sequences

with silencer in with this Zod and Hal Jordan.

It was a whole lot of fun really got to see how

how Jordan uses his Knowledge of aircraft and

aerial dogfighting to fight someone like Zod.

I would never think I would ever buy Hal Jordan

Going toe -to -toe with Zod and it making sense,

but it really does really done a lot great job

when it comes to the character of Hal Jordan

Since rebirth to bring him back to the fold making

the character he once was with the new 52 He

is really kind of becoming something a lot different

a lot They were trying to think make him interesting

by making him a darker character And that doesn't

work with a character like Hal Jordan in my opinion

Think what makes him interesting as a character

is similar to that something like Captain America

where he just has again that willpower that willingness

to see odds that are forever stacked against

him but do what he think is right even when the

Hierarchy that he's been placed into or that

you know, the guardians what -have -you think

he should be doing something else he has he's

Headstrong and sometimes that can lead him to

do and make bad decisions but sometimes that

can lead him to Have the power necessary to fight

someone like Zod and walk away and tell people

about it. So it's If you're someone who stopped

reading the Green Lanterns series because of

how bad it got with New 52, I've not loved Green

Lanterns, but I've been loving this version of

the Green Lanterns story, especially this story

arc, and I'm glad that it seems like for now

it's not completely over and we may get more

of it down the line because there's something

about the Kryptonians and the Green Lanterns

going toe to toe that just works for me and hopefully

we get more of it. Alright, well let's move over

to the world of Marvel and as everyone knows

Brian Michael Bendis is leaving Marvel to go

to DC If you read a DC book, you'll see all the

different things all the Bendis is coming Ads

that are in every DC book just to make sure you're

aware you see more of those than action comics

1000 for some reason I don't know but uh anyways

with that a lot of his series are coming to an

end or have ended defenders have ended and now

this week comes to the last issue of Jessica

Jones and this was one of the books I was the

most curious about of how he was going to end

it because it's a character that he created you

know Luke Cage is the character that he redefined

but just to go Jones is his baby his creation

now from alias and now this series like how exactly

was he going to bring this character to her end

or would it be an end word it just be the end

of this story will it be more coming down the

line does seem like that's the case but even

though he will have i think more iron man books

to write to me this is his final statement within

his work in Marvel and I think it's a good one

and it's a it's a small story you may think with

it being his final Jessica Jones issue would

be this overtop event a lot of things would be

going on but it's really an everyday story for

that of Jessica Jones where a woman comes in

asking for her help because her husband or boyfriend

Armadillo is just going down the wrong path and

she enlists the help of Jessica to try to push

him back to the fold and try to get him away

from that lifestyle that's really killing him.

It leads down Jessica Jones to get on this path

and interview and talk to a lot of her notable

characters from Luke Cage to Daredevil to Spider

-Man to learn more about Amordello to try to

find him really and There are a lot of those

Brian Bynkel Bendis -isms within this. You have

within the first few pages this huge two -plate

spread of a conversation back and forth where

it's just two heads in like six different panels

with a whole lot of dialogue, which obviously

Bendis is known for. But what really stood out

to me was in the closing pages of this in the

conversation that Jessica Jones has with Armadillo

and I won't go in great detail, but I think the

conversation that he is having to me sums up

Really the journey of the character of Jessica

Jones from her early beginnings to where she

is now and how she's grown and how she's grown

with Luke as a Character and you don't often

get a lot of character development to the level

of Jessica Jones You know characters tend to

say the same for the most part Batman will always

be Batman Superman will always be Superman, but

with Jessica Jones being you know a newer creation,

Bendis was able to kind of provide a great deal

of growth with her unlike we get with other people

and by the end, you know, who she is now with

this final issue is a lot different to who she

was in the first issue of Alias. So I, you know,

kudos to Brian Michael Bendis. I know people

tend to knock him for his inability to end stories,

but I think when it comes to the smaller stories

like Jessica Jones, he nails it out of the park

and And it gets to the core of why these characters

work in a way that few writers can. So I am excited

to see what he does with DC. I will be reading

his Superman work for sure, but, you know, he's

left a legacy within the panels of Marvel. I

think it's a right time for him to go because

I don't know necessarily there's really much

more for him to do there. But despite some of

the stories I didn't love, I got to say, ultimately,

there was much more good than bad. And we'll

see what the future has hold for both him and

Marvel moving forward. Continuing with Marvel,

but going in a completely different direction,

let's look at Lockjaw number two. And this is

actually coming out at a good week because we

had a lot of heavy books this week, a lot of

major events, a lot of really, a lot of dour

content for the week of comics. Sometimes you

need a book like Lockjaw to really cleanse the

palate, put you in a good mood. And sometimes

it's just great to read a book about a giant

dog that can teleport. And this has a fun cast

of characters. Last issue was really focused

on D -Man. This issue, he and Long Cha travel

to the world of Savage Land and of course run

into Kzarr and his friendly Taper Tooth tagger

and we also find out that there's a big piece

of this storyline that we're not privy to that

Possibly Lockjaw is connected to some grander

story that involves some unexpected characters

that I'm really looking forward to hopefully

come into play next issue. But I don't think

it's as fun as the first issue, mainly because

there's much more going on here with the first

book. With the first book, it was really just

focused on the life of D -Man. This is more of

a stereotypical Savage Land tale, but there are

some great bits. You know, Kezar making a joke

about how all the people he tends to see are

always from New York City and - and some good

meta humor without being overly meta. Ultimately

it's a book though that is designed to just find

fun ways to put... oddball characters and situations

that have good banter and general jokes with

stakes that aren't really high. It's, you know,

it's not rewriting the book. It's not heavy material

by any stretch of the imagination, but it's generally

fun. It's a good time. It's comic books need

stories like this. It's not something that could

go on for 20 issues, maybe no more than five

really, but I do like the little bit of story

we're getting with Lok 'ja and there seems to

be some connection between him and other Lok

'ja -like characters. anytime we get to trip

to the savage land animal for more dinosaurs

and books. And Carlos Villa, he can draw a good

dinosaur. Dinosaurs are tough to draw. Animals

in general are really tough to draw. And he has

a book that has all of them. So he kind of got

the short straw, I guess, with this book. But

he's been nailing it out of the park. And it's

been a lot of fun. So I think this is a good

book to pick up and read if you just want something

just to put a smile on your face. A book like

Log Jaw Number Two can do that. Speaking of dour

and dreadful, Old Man Hawkeye number three. Now,

not in the sense of quality, but in the sense

of story. This existing in the Old Man Logan

universe. Again, it's Old Man Hawkeye going back

and really, I think, trying to evoke some sort

of revenge for his fallen foe before he finally

goes blind. This has him going toe to toe with

unexp... expected character that we don't see

a lot in the pages of Marvel Comics, but ended

up working really well. Never thought I would

have an emotional impact with a story evolving

atlas, but hey, here we are with this book. I

will say though that the surrounding pieces are

not working as well. There's been this Venom

storyline that's been kind of in the background

for some time. He's been this haunting presence

Just waiting the strike and feels like that's

been going on a little bit too long And I like

the creation of this new bulls -eye character

that they're putting together He's got a great

look to him. I mean any time you have a Character

with a bowler hat I'm all for it, but it doesn't

seem like there's been much with his character

since this introduction I was hoping we get a

little bit more here, and I guess you know obviously

that's leading towards The showdown between him

and Hawkeye But there's just not been a lot for

that bulls -eye character to do for the most

part within these pages But the story that's

focused on Hawkeye I think has been working the

best just seeing him have to go through just

some truly painful and Seeing him going through

the trials and tribulations that he did all of

his friends being killed him being having to

wait on the sidelines and finally just saying

he's giving up waiting and trying to find any

victory that he can or get any form of vengeance

no matter how small it may be, just I guess to

feel like he can do something as he was one of

the few people left alive. But I like this book.

I wish it focused a little bit more on that aspect

of it and maybe the some of the side pieces were

either bigger and made them more developed more

or not there at all. But I thought it was a bad

idea to begin with to do a story like this. I'm

like I don't think we need an old man Hawkeye

story, but it's actually been building into something

good. It's not as good as Old Man Logan in my

opinion. But it's also naturally a lot harder

for a prequel to meet the level of the original

series, especially when you're focusing on a

character like Hawkeye and you get to know where

her story is ending up if you read Old Man Logan.

The universe of Old Man Logan, it's fascinating.

I love the world building and finding out more

pieces about it, like there's a great opening

page. And I won't spoil it, but I'll just say

that it had a huge impact on me seeing what was

happening take place. And you find out what was

really happening, but still it was just a good

trick that had a big impact. So I would recommend

Old Man Hawkeye, especially if you really loved

Old Man Logan and just want more of that world.

It gives it to you. It's also a gorgeous looking

book as well with great art. All right, let's

move over to the world of any comic starting

with boom and probably the biggest any comic

that came out this week Oddly enough was Mighty

Morphin Power Rangers number 25 and kudos to

boom because they're really making this shattered

grid Storyline into something special and they've

done a live -action trailer for it. They've done

the situation where each comic was in a black

wrapper, so you didn't know the cover you got

until you unfolded it. They just are putting

a lot of effort within this Power Rangers storyline,

25 issues in, and you tend to see that time of

work done when the book is being announced or

in the early stages of it, but it's been around

for some time, and 25 issues in is actually,

I think, hitting its stride. Shadowgrid storyline

has me really excited. And in general, the Money

Morphin' Power Rangers series shouldn't really

work for me, but it does. I haven't really cared

about the Power Rangers since I was a little

kid. I tend not to like licensed books all that

much because they typically aren't very good.

That's really changing as of late, and Power

Rangers is a good example of it. Kyle Eganzo

is just doing something special with it. He has

matured the tone of the series, so it feels for

someone of my age reading a Mighty Morphin Power's

book. He's opened up the lore and especially

this charted grid with Darkon, the big bad. It's,

I don't know, it has to be fascinating. It's

like the days of future past in the world of

Power Rangers and... That may sound awful, but

it's working really well. Some major events happen

in these pages and it's supposed to be within

canon to my understanding of the Power Rangers

series. I don't know how this all goes together,

but a lot of tie -ins, a lot of pieces to other

Power Rangers series outside of the Mighty Morphin

Power Rangers, many of which I honestly didn't

really get because I stopped watching Power Rangers

really early on. So some of the other series

that it was connecting towards. were out of my

realm of knowledge, but it wasn't really all

that important. I just do like the idea of all

these different series that have been going on

for some time kind of coming together and really

showing how vast the world of Power Rangers is

within comic form. So if you are someone who's

been a huge Power Rangers fan and has stayed

away from the series, I would highly recommend

this book, especially this issue. I debated about

putting this as the comic of the week or the

recommendation of the week. I ultimately went

away from it just because, as I mentioned, there

are some different pieces that it's tied to within

the world of Power Rangers that I don't know

if a non -Power Rangers fan would really like

it, but for the audience that it's geared towards,

I think it's really gonna work well for them.

So, and if you're someone who watched the movie

and was like somewhat disappointed about the

movie, highly recommend picking up the series

because I think it will give you what you wanted.

A series that's been giving me what I want is

Abbott and issue number three came out this week

and what I'm loving about this book is how it's

really Connecting the paranormal with like the

investigation journals piece of the character

of Abbott I will say this is probably the weakest

issue Just because the final third felt a little

clunky She comes face to face with someone that

may be the person behind all this and the resolution

to that seemed a little weird to me It seems

like okay. What was the purpose within this it

and then there's a big piece where I'm not gonna

spoil it also kind of to me came out of left

field but everything outside of that those pieces

I really love I love the atmosphere of this book

as I mentioned in previous episodes and the character

of Abbott is growing into one of my favorite

characters she's strong willed she she's a good

counter piece to the story that she's in because

there's this fantastical element is element of

magic but she's still this realistic character

that feels real world in a way that she still

feels of the time, despite the fact that she's

seeing centaurs and things like that. It's just

like a natural reaction towards her. But at the

same time, she keeps her newspaper hat on her

journalism hat on to try to find answers and

find out what is really going on. She doesn't

lose who she is in the sight of this craziness.

She really, if anything, doubles down. And that's

something you typically don't see with a book

like this. So that's really what I'm loving about

it. Also, when it comes to style, this book has

so much of it. It feels so much of the time,

everything from the pages to the style, the characters,

just a good looking book. And even though I didn't

love how this ended, curious to where it... goes

because some of the pieces that bothered me that

could be further explored within the next issue

or the next few issues. So I would highly recommend

picking up this book if you have not read it

already from Boom, similar to Highest House.

There's really nothing else I can compare it

to. And I love when you get a book like that

that really fills a void that was never really

there to begin with and causes to stand out and

reminds you just how great of a medium comics

are because they can tell so many different stories.

Alright, let's move over to Valiant Comics, specifically

XO Manowar number 13. This appears to be the

end of this giant epic storyline that Matt Kenton

has been telling since he relaunched the title

over a year ago, and so I'll be a soldier, a

general, a king, and now it's all kind of coming

to its natural conclusion in a way, and a lot

happens in this issue, and it comes to I think

a decent conclusion similar to some other books

where you feel like a some things are sped up

and maybe the bow or things are tied up a little

too nicely, but ultimately on a character standpoint,

I really appreciate what Matt Ken has done with

the character, Eric in Exo Manor War, the relationships

that he built between him and this world and

Eric and this armor, and we get a little bit

of background with this. really find out how

Eric has found himself on this planet to begin

with. And it seems like we're getting another

piece of his storyline moving next. And I felt

like it's come to its natural conclusion, as

I indicated, and ultimately, you know, has all

that insane action that has been part of the

series since its new beginning. Similar to how

I mentioned probably Michael Mendes allowed Jessica

Jones to develop and become a different type

of character I think that's somewhat what happened

here though It really would have felt like is

that Eric did came full circle in a way and got

back to the person he once was Although there

is this major piece that we see has kind of been

eating at him And it's one that he's been kind

of running from and led him to where he's been

and now I'm really excited to see where that

goes next you know this has been a story that's

been really epic in the sense of scale and this

massive battles it feels like what's coming next

will be a little bit more personal which I'm

really fascinated to see because like Matt Kent

you know knowing his writing and other books

it tends to be where he excels at though he's

been doing a fantastic job with this book overall

but overall you know this has been a really successful

relaunched with Exo Manor War. If you've not

read this book, go back to issue one and really

enjoy it. There's been a lot of different artists.

I think the art on this book, the artist, has

not been my favorite. There's just a lack of

detail that I missed from some of the other artists,

but it does the job. It's serviceable enough.

So, Valiant just continues to put out good stuff.

Exo Manor War continues to be one of their better

books. All right. Also coming out from Valiant

this week is Shadow Man number one, and this

is an issue I'm struggling a little bit with.

It's an overall solid issue. It does a good job,

a decent number one relaunch, but I do feel like,

unlike other Valiant number ones, that I don't

have as much understanding about the inner workings

of what's going on. In this situation, Shadow

Man was a character that was gone for a period

of time, five years or so, came back. and now

is trying to kind of rekindle different relationships

that have gone by and find out really what's

happening to this world land he once loved. And

some bad things have happened while he was gone.

And some of the relationship pieces I didn't

fully get or some of the inner workings of what

exactly happened, who he's fighting against,

the people that show up, I was a little confused

by and not completely comprehending of it. But

I think ultimately what I did like were the general

characters within it. The other challenge with

a book that's based in magic is knowing the rules,

knowing how things work. Magic is a tough thing

to get right and you have to think understand

how the work world operates to understand the

stakes really to get what's really occurring

yet at the same time you don't want like endless

amounts of exposition where you learn about different

wand walls and how that all works. This really

goes on the end of really not telling you much

of anything gives you some little pieces like

they're you know the situation where you think

they're making pancakes but you find out they're

actually diving into voodooism and so there are

elements that kind of hint at what they're trying

to do but for a first issue you don't get a lot

of that but again as a first issue ultimately

I think it's really trying to establish the characters

and the concept and it does that well enough

to keep me interested in coming back for more.

I also think the art, unlike X -Men and more,

was really strong and told the story really well.

They utilized the magic and the look of Shadowman

Effectively, although this doesn't impact the

quality of the book all that much, the cover

though is great. The contrast of the black and

white with the look of Shadow Man is one of my

favorite covers of this weekend of this month

in general. So, if you're looking for a new series

to get into, I think, you know, it's one I can

somewhat recommend, but as I indicated, if you're

not all that up to with the world of Shadow Man

or the character in the past, you may not fully

enjoy it as you would with other Valiant series.

Alright one more series for did they and his

rough riders ride or die number two and if you're

a person who loves history Especially us history

The series of Rough Riders will give you a lot

to love. Ride or Die is the second installment

of this book and we're kind of learning a little

bit of what this new team or really new team,

old team with new members will be kind of going

up against, going up against the more magical

elements compared to the last issue. And for

those that don't know, it's a team of made up

of people like Teddy Roosevelt as the leader

who is currently the US president, Harry Houdini,

Thomas Edison, And in this series HP Glovecraft

has joined the team and we find out why that

is by the end of this book But what I love about

this book is just ultimately the interactions

between all these different characters from these

different pieces of US history and then placing

them into like comic book like scenarios and

see how it works. This specifically has a certain

moment with Thomas Edison that I think is pretty

hilarious when considering what they're doing

with one of the most notable people in all of

history and all the things that he has accomplished

and you know how he's really changed well perceivably

changed the world. Obviously there's some people

that claim that he gets a lot of credit for things

that he didn't really do but that's besides the

point but ultimately this person that you would

not necessarily expect to see in the pages of

comic book and what would his reaction be if

he saw what could be possibly zombies or the

walking dead and we see that so it's again a

light book similar to that of something like

lockjaw but i just love the approach of it it's

a lot of fun it's you know crazy science fiction

concept That said hey what if we took some stories

that you would expect to see in the pages of

Justice League or the Avengers but made of team

of real -life people that are Notable in US history

and that's exactly what this series has done

And it just opens up the door for you thinking

like who else could they go to who else will

they run into? The story itself isn't all that

fantastic, but I think it's an idea that works

well and never overstays its welcome. And this

new Rider Dive series is a good jumping on point

even if you've not read the previous Rough Riders

series or Rough Riders stories that it's connected

towards. But that will bring us to the end of

this week's episode. Shorter episode this week

had little less time to talk about some other

books I wanted to get to, but don't worry as

I also be putting out some articles including

what are my top 30 comics of March. And there's

some books I didn't get to talk about on this

show that I was able to highlight. on that article,

so look forward to that on Geocast Radio relatively

shortly. Also, if you've not checked it out,

I talked about Black Hammer with Greg Bepler

the last two episodes and upcoming this week

we'll also be talking with DJ Valentine from

The Simplistic Reviews. podcast about the first

volume of Gotham Central. So a lot of fun things

planned. We'll hopefully be able to announce

some new things relatively shortly as well. But

if you want to get in contact with the show,

there's a lot of ways to do that. You can contact

me on Twitter at Movie Revolt. You can also email

the show at movierevolt at geocastradio .com.

The Comic Concierge is also on Twitter and Instagram.

Just search Comic Concierge Podcast and you'll

be able to find it. Ultimately, also go to the

episode post at geocastradio .com or nerdy .co

.uk and leave some comments there. We'd love

to interact with you that way. And if you're

listening, please give us an iTunes review. I

would love to be able to get some feedback. on

that level would be really helpful for the show

and put the word out there as there's a lot of

comic book podcasts out there trying to do something

a little bit different with these different episodes

we'd love to hear what people are thinking but

ultimately remember that comics are for everyone

the key is finding the right one until next time

thanks for listening