Weekly Comic Roundup: Luke Cage , Defenders , Batman , Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , The Brave and the Bold, Damage , James Bond: M & James Bond: The Body

This is Phil Lamar. You are listening to the

GeekCast Radio Network. Oh and welcome to the

Comics Concierge Podcast. This is the podcast

where I will be taking a look at last week's

comics, giving you my thoughts and opinions on

some notable titles, some titles you should be

checking out, perhaps some you should be avoiding,

and I'll be starting each episode with my recommendation

of the week. Before I get to my recommendation

of the week, I do want to put out the slight

warning that I might get into some spoiler territory.

I'm going to try to avoid the big surprises most

of these comics have. But in order to talk about

them in a coherent way, I will get into some

plot details that I think are important to understand

the concept of that book and why you may or may

not enjoy it. So if you're the type of person

that wants to know absolutely nothing about a

book, look at the podcast notes and I'll be putting

timestamps for every comic I'll be talking about.

So if there's a specific one you want to read

and you don't want to listen to that review until

you read it. check those out, come back, re -download

it, whatever you have to do, and get to it. And

my recommendation of the week is a little bit

different than some other podcasts or videocasts

that talk about comics. Usually they're mentioning

their favorite book or what they think is the

best book of that given week. For me, what I

am going to be trying to shoot for is a recommendation

in the sense of if you're going to the comic

book store and... Either you're a veteran who's

been going every Wednesday or you're someone

who hasn't read comics before or you're trying

to get back into them. A book that you can read

and enjoy fully without reading any of the previous

issues or you can just pick up and get everything

you need to out of that single issue. Obviously,

it's a quality book, but there's a little bit

more to it than that. You can't just be good.

You need to have a certain quality about yourself

that makes you both enticing to new readers and

old. This week's pick was actually quite easy.

I had a few that were in the running, but at

the end of the day after I read my books, the

one that kind of stuck out above the rest and

honestly is one of the better comics I've read

this past week in general was Luke Cage number

170. It is written by David F. Walker, artist

Gilmurro Santa and I'm hopefully I'm saying that

correct and David F. Walker has been doing Luke

cage empowerment and iron first for some time

and honestly, it's his work has been criminally

underrated. His Paramount and Iron Fist to me

when it was out was one of the best Marvel series.

I was disappointed to see that end, but I was

excited to see him take over the Luke Cage title.

And I think it took some time, but he eventually

I think got a hold of what he wanted to do with

this book. And unfortunately, this actually marks

the end of his run on Luke Cage as for now at

least with issue 170. What makes this book really

special is that it showcases what makes him such

a great writer. for this character and these

characters in general is that he understands

and he knows what makes him interesting. And

the story of this book is rather simple. It's

Luke Cage sitting down and telling his daughter

a story or attempting to tell his daughter a

story. And that ends up becoming more of a back

and forth. But what I love about it is the dynamic

you see with Luke Cage and his daughter. And

reading this, and it's also noted in David F.

Walker's letter at the end of the issue is what

you see is how Absent a lot of great parents

are in the world of comics in general really

in TV and film you know kind of often parents

are Getting killed and they're the the vehicle

that causes a hero to rise up or they're horrible

parents and it causes the Character to become

a villain or they're just more of a community

character or they're used as a vice to kind of

show how the parents just simply don't understand

as Will Smith once elegantly put but here Luke

Hitch is just a good dad He's just having a general

conversation with with his daughter and Jessica

Jones is in the background and I love their back

-and -forth He's trying to tell her the story

and he's going about it in certain ways and she's

obviously taking control You know as someone

who has has a only a two -year -old but I can

I can see where this is going like he's trying

to make her a princess in the story, and she's

not having it. And obviously, Jessica Jones's

influence as a mother is there. And it's just,

there are some really sweet moments. If I were

to just really label this with one single word,

the word sweet would be there. It's just, it's...

not high stakes, it's not, I love stories where

you get everything you need to know in one issue.

You know where these people are, you realize

how they relate to one another, you know. How

much they mean to one another ultimately and

it's just something about seeing superheroes

let their guard down and just be human in an

instance like this and it's a you know the ends

up being this kind of fantasy story with a lot

of fun elements and you know the daughter has

certain powers that she gives herself which are

kind of cool and you can tell that she certainly

lives in a world that is unlike the world that

we live in I mean seeing Luke Cage in a huggy

bear shirt alone is worth reading this book.

It's just and it's not Called out. He's just

wearing it like nonchalantly if clearly it's

laundry day his yellow shirt is being cleaned

and they're just kind of launching around in

their sweats and I don't know it's it's a Interesting

choice to end a series with a with those issue

like this, you know It's not a huge action packed

and I pour if you do read this issue to read

Walker's letter in the back as he kind of explains

why that were how the story came a fold and how

The personal touch that's clearly there was able

to develop No, you could tell a portion of this

is taken straight from reality But it never feels

like done in a forceful way or it's never exploitive

and that can have been easily done and he mentions

that a big influence we seen Previous comics

like uncanny X -Men do this and there's a hint

of Princess Bride So there's a lot going on in

this one issue and it just you know I'm not gonna

lie at the end I just like it just kind of hit

me in all the fields like it it worked in all

those great ways and It's an issue that I would

give to someone who's like, well, I don't really

like superheroes nice and then you could show

them that Superheroes can be more than punching

and kicking and they can be more than hey, what

am I like trying to stop the world from ending

the the best parts of great superhero stories

are often just Seeing characters and how they

interact and I think that's what's really made

David F Walker's run on Luke Cage and permanent

if it's worked so well, he gets their dynamic

and You know, I I know Brian Michael Bendis is

leaving the fenders We'll be talking about his

last issue in just a moment and I don't know

who's taking over if anyone will be taking over

but if anyone should I really think it's David

F Walker and Personally, I hate it when great

books get cancelled and that's happening way

way too much with Marvel Marvel has been you

know hit hard a lot for their content and sometimes

it's rightfully so but within that people are

really missing some really great books and Because

of that some of those books are now getting cancelled.

So I would say read this if you like this issue

If you like what's going on, you feel like what's

being said Go back and read this entire series.

I love the way he writes Luke Cage. You can see

a very different type of personality between

Luke Cage in a moment with his family, compared

to when he's interacting with the assorted villains

that are coming across his plate. But they're

still the same person, and I think that's what

makes it work here so well. So yeah, again, I

went to read this and I didn't really I'm like,

okay, well, I like this series so far. I'm enjoying

what he's doing. I'll pick it up and keep going.

And it just came out of nowhere. And then the

fact that it's the last issue, it just it was

just it was an ultimate high forward followed

by an ultimate low. But, you know, a good comic

is a good comic. So there was an easy choice

for me when it came to this week in my recommendation

that anyone who's a fan of comics should read.

All right, so let's move over I talked about

defenders and let's move over to that direction

with defenders number ten Everyone knows that

Brian Michael Bendis is leaving Marvel and with

that a lot of his titles or Coming to an end

in some facet either completely or at least he

stopped writing them and that's the case with

Elise defenders number 10 and This issue in a

way feels more like an epilogue than and then

a final issue you're seeing kind of the ramifications

of everything that defenders did up to this point

start playing out and For a defender's issue,

the defenders are actually not in it a great

deal. It's really focused mostly on the hood

and his attempt to become the next kingpin. And

I guess in a way that led me to be a little bit

disappointed because I love how Brian Michael

Bendis writes characters like Luke Cage, Joshua

Giggijones, Daredevil, and Iron Fist. So for

them to be mostly absent... Made me kind of wish

that maybe this ended last issue or issue prior.

I'm not the biggest fan of the hood and Ultimately

his his interaction within the series Comes at

a really like a footnote and it feels a little

bit forced in I will I will give Brian Michael

Bendis credit in the fact that I feel like he

leaves this Book in a really interesting place

forever forever comes next There's a story here

that can still be explored and there's not a

specific way that it has to be It gets you excited

for the next issue, even though the creative

team that wrote this issue number 10 will not

be a part of it. There's a good cliffhanger that

leaves it open. It's one of those cliffhangers

that could be the signal of the end or the start

of a new beginning. And that's hard to kind of...

get those to work as well as this issue did.

And I know a lot of people tend to complain when

it comes to Brian Michael Bendis and the way

he ends stories. It often is his Achilles heel.

Something will start really great and then by

the end it will fizzle out. That happened in

the slightest sense. Like I mentioned, I felt

these last two issues, Issue 9 and Issue 10,

were probably the weakest of the defenders, but

still it's one of Marvel's best comics and often

because of the art and this was actually a pretty

low -key book for the most part there wasn't

much action it was just a lot of maneuvering

like I said of the hood so it's a hard book to

recommend if you're not one who's enjoyed the

defenders previously but if you enjoyed what

has happened in the past or if you're looking

for a good series to start with defenders has

been great even if you hated the Netflix series

it's nothing really like the Netflix series and

if anything it shows what can really be accomplished

when you have someone who gets these characters.

and knows what the strengths of them are and

what the weaknesses are and how to use each of

them to kind of hide those. And it's sad to see

this end and I'm excited to see what Brian Michael

Bendis has to do for DC. This is the book that

made me realize and made me remember why I enjoyed

his work for over the 17 years. There's been

some highs and been some lows, but I think ultimately

this has kind of refreshed his career in a lot

of ways. So there's some other books. I think

Jessica Jones still coming out. I think he still

has a few Ironman issues. but for looking at

the new series that he started or the series

that have been the most consistent, this has

been, in my opinion, the best thing he's done

for Marvel in some time. So it's a sad end, but

again, I'm excited to see who's taking this over

and what new direction that they're gonna take

these characters. All right. Well, let's travel

out of the world of Marvel and in for the moment

and enter the world of DC specifically Batman

and there were a lot of Batman related books

that came out of course because it's DC and you

know Batman is Ultimately the flagship character

but this week it seems like Batman's been huge

even without any really major metal tie -in coming

out this week. It's we have we had a Slew of

Batman titles some good some bad and some in

between as you expect I'm starting with Batman

number 41 Tom King and artist Michael Jan and

start a new storyline called everyone loves Ivy

and in this issue follows a format we see a lot

with Tom King in the sense of he likes to drop

you in a story and not give you a lot of specific

details over what's happening and kind of let

you figure things out or let the story kind of

play out in a way that is uh gives you the idea

to experience it in the same way the characters

are and all we really know at this point is that

Poison Ivy appears to be rather angley angry

and ultimately maybe the most powerful she's

ever been and somehow she has gotten the world

under her control except of course of Batman

and Catwoman So story wise, there's not much

here this year. This is clearly designed just

to be that set up, just to set the stage of,

okay, this is where we're going with the story

arc and let's you follow us along with it. And

really though, I think what Tom King does in

this issue that some art writers have trouble

doing is he gets out of the way. He lets Michael

Janin tell this story and the art is absolutely

gorgeous. There's a specific splash page of just

Ivy's face and it is... breathtaking and a lot

is said within that issue and it's a really quick

read in that sense and i know a lot of people

have trouble with tom king's batman because he

doesn't give you a lot personally i appreciate

that approach i like it when writers are able

to let the visual artist Tell the story when

they need to and allow me to fill fill in the

blanks where I need to not overwrite Where a

lot of comic book writers give you everything

and sometimes too much and you get like a book

That's nothing but exposition and this issue

like this could have easily been Just endless

exposition setting up what happened what what

the plan is what all this happens and maybe we'll

get that issues to come but for now it's not

tom king's best issue it's i didn't walk away

with thinking this is wow this is amazing but

it was got me excited for what's coming next

i get like i said it's beautiful to look at um

but it's it's an okay overall in in a sense of

what you take away. It's clear, like I said,

just to set up. It could have maybe used a little

bit more in the sense of giving an idea of what

exactly the goals are here or just the overall

stakes. I do love how she utilizes some superheroes

in unexpected ways. That was a lot of fun, but

I think a little bit more of that would have

gone a long way. So we'll see. I'm excited. I've

pretty much enjoyed everything Tom King has been

doing up at this point, and I love his Batman.

It's always been one of the best things. He's

been putting out since he took over the title.

So I again another solid issue for him This is

written by Scott Snyder Tom Patrick and drawn

by Tony Patrick a lot of Patrick's in this issue

Scott Snyder only has a story credit and I have

a feeling that he was more mostly helping with

the plotting here and Honestly, like this does

almost the opposite of what Batman 41 does and

I think maybe that's because Tony Patrick doesn't

have maybe the confidence in the sense of where

I feel like everything is on the page and to

the point where I found it tiresome by the end.

Like, I understand DC really wants the signal

to be this next big character, but I just don't

think it's working and he still just feels ill

-defined to me. I'm not someone who has read

We Are Robins, so I don't know if I did. I would

have a better context for him as a character.

but even with that we do have background and

things of that nature but personality wise he

feels like I still feel like he is lacking in

that area like he's not a character I get excited

about when I see him on screen or on the page

or within this story and I still don't feel like

I think he deserves his own issue at this point

like I don't know what exactly it is. I like

the idea of having a Batman type character that's

there during the day and is not a Robin, but...

I think what makes characters like Robin's work,

whether it be, you know, Tim Drake, what have

you, or even Damien is a relationship they have

with Batman and how that interplay works. And

I really wish we got more of that with Duke and

Bruce or Duke and Batman. And it doesn't help

us. It's kind of trivial. But the single is I

think is just a name that just does not really

let the appetite for more. What's more to come?

It's so bland and I know they explained where

it came from and why they named him that, but

it's a long way to go to get to a name that doesn't

really mean all that much. It's like, yeah, you

can give me all the reasoning behind it, but

the ultimate naming that you're giving them,

it's just, it sounds bad. It sounds like a name

that's only gonna be changed eventually. It feels

like, you know, naming a character, it doesn't

seem like it should be that important, but it

is. But ultimately the story, even if the name

was bad, I just feel the story itself, the comic

itself, is not all that exciting with the plotting

and the script is just kind of ho -hums your

stereotypical superhero story, where he's trying

to figure out who he is and the powers that he

has. And I don't know, I find myself dreading

reading this book, unfortunately. Now I if you

are a person who enjoys it, maybe I'm missing

something I'd be happy to hear what that is because

at this point in time It's just a book that I

find challenging to continue reading week in

week out So it might not be what I talked about

again on this podcast. There's a good chance

of that But of course there are still more Batman

to go to as Batman Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

number two number four which is not a title that

bounces off the tongue all that well was also

came out and this series has been a lot of fun

it's you know it's not rocket science you're

just taking the turtles and you're taking batman

and you're telling a good story and you know

as someone who did read comics in the 90s we

saw crossovers like this and most of them were

just bad just just plain bad the first batman

teenage mutant ninja turtles written by james

teeny and was fun and enjoyable i think it got

all the characters he has all the voices from

batman obviously being writer of detective comics,

but even the turtles distinctive. And I like

with this Batman Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

number two, the core of the story, really where

the heart of the story has been is with the character

of Donatello. You know, he's dealing with his

failures and a lot of the kind of undertaking

that. Happening is because of bad choices He

is make making anything can you continue to make

these bad choices? And as a kid Donatello was

always my favorite character. I don't know why

that is I think for some reason sticks as weapons

always makes me excited he was in the tech and

I kind of was in the tech as a kid, but Seeing

him having to do with the gramifications of his

failure. It's not something I remember Reading

or watching a lot. I mean, I have not read all

of the IDW turtles book. So Something like this

may have happened before but I just I've liked

what they've done some of some of the things

don't work as well like Damien playing video

games with Michelangelo and stuff like that.

Yeah, I get why that's there but it does feel

a little bit forced in and The setup that was

there was pretty obvious like I mean it seemed

like they were gonna be fighting and ultimately

they're playing a video game I don't think they're

really trying to fool anyone anyways, but And

then Bane being the main bad guy here, I do feel

like he writes Bane in a way that is maybe too

simplistic for my taste. He just seems like this

muscle bound, pure rage type of character where

I appreciate when Bane has a little bit more

context or he feels a little bit more sophisticated

than this. And I'm not a big fan of how he's

drawn. It's just, it looks like a Ralphie Leefield

drawing figure on steroids. I mean, like his

head and his shoulders are, I get that he is,

you know, this beast of a figure, but it gets

to the point where it's maybe a little bit too

far and it's hard to take seriously. But, you

know, if you are someone who enjoys Batman or

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and wants to read

something that combines them or is a fan of either

character, you know, if you grew up in the 90s

and these were like the biggest things ever,

I think it hits all the notes you wanted to.

It's not, you know, the best comic ever. It's

not, you know, transcending that genre. uses

the tools that it's given and it does it effectively.

It's simple as that. Lastly in the world of Batman

that I'll be talking about today is the Brave

and the Bold which is both a Batman story and

a Wonder Woman story. Some may hear Brave and

the Bold and they think Batman and Superman but

this is Batman and Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman

is for the most part the key figure here. It's

involving a lot of Celtic gods that come to Seek

the aid of Wonder Woman and also at the same

time Batman's trying to investigate why exactly

This country in this town seems to be running

ultra slowly There's something to be someone

seems to be this mystical force that is controlling

people and he's investigating it along with Wonder

Woman who is kind of involved so they're not

necessarily directly tied to one another but

they end up serendipitously, you know at the

same location and Of course will be somehow interacting

moving forward Liam Sharp both writes and draws

this issue and the first thing I think you have

to notice is just how gorgeous this book is like

some of the pages I'm like with the detail is

Phenomenal I can only imagine just the amount

of time that it had to take to make this issue

because there is it's just a Impressive looking

book don't necessarily expect to see that level

of detail in a comic the narrative side and the

script side I don't think it is that strong it

does the job but I do feel like it is overloaded

with a lot of exposition and if you're someone

who does like things like Lord of the Meringues

or other fantasy elements there's probably a

lot of that you'll enjoy because it does get

into a lot of like talk of that nature the getting

into the mystic elements and explaining like

all these things that are going on But it got

to the point where personally, I felt like it

was just overwhelming and it was really hard

to really comprehend the exact details of what

exactly was occurring. So this tighter script

would have made it a better story. But I think

it's adorable enough. And there are pieces here

that have me interested. And it's a type of characters

that we really don't see explored, like Celtic

gods. We see a lot of mythology in the sense

of... Thor and especially even Hercules in the

Marvel comics. But this is one that not really

is approached a lot in comics. So I've been seeing

it interact with Wonder Woman and knowing her

ties to the Athens. And I love stories that involve

theology in that sense. So it has me excited

for the next issue. But I do think some just

a little bit of a tighter script will go a long

way moving forward. Let's stay in the world of

DC but move over to their new age of heroes with

damage number two and These new age heroes books

have been trying to basically create new characters

for the world of DC that exists in the DC continuity

But are not your Batman Superman damage was the

first one This is the first second issue we're

getting and the other piece of this is that they're

meant to be Artist driven books where the artist

and the writer are really corresponding in the

fact that even in the credits It's credited as

storytellers Tony S. Daniel and Robert Vendetti

that they're kind of credited together and This

is a great looking book it you get why they're

pushing the artists here because it does look

amazing and damage is of course is basically

a Hulk and That's kind of the problem in the

way like it Marvel DC have done this forever.

They've taken Stereotype characters from one

universe and brought them over to their there's

moon night. For example is very much like Batman

Gladiator and Marvel is very much like Superman

and now we have damage who's taking kind of the

Hulk overall concept and you know this scrawny

guy who becomes this hulking beast that is bent

on destruction and The ramifications that happened

afterwards. The difference here is that the big

kind of Concept or the piece that's designed

to make it a little bit different is that he's

only damaged for one hour that Idea has not really

been utilized within these first two issues in

a way that Has made it seem important like there

hasn't been a situation where oh that really

means something like if he's only Damaged for

one hour Look what what's gonna happen like it

just I don't necessarily feel like enough has

been done to make damage more than a generic

Hulk wannabe in a way like the story is fine

again. It's the same type of thing We've seen

with the Hulk he is just showing a lot of things

government's trying to stop him They send in

this team of heroes in the case of suicide squad

and a lot of fun action ensues in a pure entertainment

level It succeeds, but I just would like to see

them try to do something with damage to make

him more than make him a character that I feel

like is going to last outside of these first

four issues and will not just be something we

look back on, you know, 10 years from now and

say, remember that time they tried this new age

of heroes and everyone forgot about it and similar

to things that they've done like the new new

universal. characters with Marvel back in the

day. It has the feeling of something like that,

like these characters are not gonna have the

lasting power because at this moment in time,

outside of looking cool... I don't really care

all that much. It feels like a, you know, an

image villain or character from the 90s. There's

not much here that makes it more than just a

carbon copy of something that's got a longer

history and has more of a story to be told than

what's on the page here. So, you know, like I

said, if you're looking for something that's

just plain fun and entertaining and looks cool,

damage has it. And I know maybe people have been

disappointed with the current Hulk run. And if

you're not getting what you want out of that,

maybe this is coming at the right time. But I

just hope that more comes of this, so. Alrighty,

well, let's get out of the world of DC and jump

into the world of James Bond in Dynamite Comics.

Dynamite released two James Bond related books

and we'll talk about the first one, which is

James Bond M. That's how cool James Bond is that

even his boss. gets his own title or at least

his own one -shot story. You know, there's not

a lot of characters that get their own one -shot

story. We're not seeing Superman's boss. I guess

he doesn't really have a boss, but you know,

M in itself is a pretty cool character and there's

been different M's of course, Dame Judi Dench,

Ray Fiennes, you know, all different people kind

of taking that reign. And this is written by

Declan Shelby and... Drawn by PJ Holden and art

wise it's good. It's not great. I'm not really

Enamored that much with the overall art on this

book panel layout, which is kind of basic. The

story itself is works It's getting back to the

history of M and some things that Happened to

him in Belfast as they were dealing with kind

of the conflict in Northern Ireland, so Not used

to seeing bond In a way or bonds Lord tied to

real life events like usually it's not this heavy

of material but. For a comic, I think it could

work. And it plays out really well. It's a single

issue story. And for a single issue, a lot of

story is told. It gives you, fleshes out the

character of M, shows kind of the challenges

that he was facing and how he's formidable in

his own way. He's not just a guy behind a desk.

He knows what he's doing and he can utilize his

own skills both physically and mentally. So that

was a cool thing to see. So if you're like, if

you are a hardened James Bond fan and you want

to kind of see that world explored more or enjoy

like the history of, you know, Ireland and Northern

Ireland and the conflict that ensued, like this

could work with, if you remove the James Bond

pieces, this works, I think, just as a book by

itself, which is not something you can always

say in the realm of James Bond. So I was really

presently surprised by this. I didn't expect

much and it ended up walking away rather happy.

And I really like what. the Dynamite has been

doing with their James Bond titles over these

last few years. That includes the current James

Bond series, James Bond The Body. And the concept

of this is that each issue is showcasing an element

of the character of James Bond and how he utilizes

it to do his job. The first issue was his body.

This issue is his mind. And this was very close

to being my recommendation for the week. Until

I read Luke Cage, this was actually going to

be my recommendation of the week. And what's

crazy about that is that the story takes place

all in one room. It's James Bond using his mind

and he's having this interrogation with a suspect

in a possible terrorist attack and there's this

back and forth and the suspect is a clear genius

and James Bond is trying to utilize his own tactics

to try to. get certain information from her and

it's just it's again it is staged really well

and I give credit to the artist in here because

ultimately you're you're dealing with a book

that's just two people talking and that's a hard

thing to make exciting in a comic book when you're

just having two people talking it it's easy to

make action sequences look fun but when you're

trying to utilize conversation it can be difficult

to make it more than just kind of boring and

drab, but it works. The acting is really strong.

The panel's layout, I think, keeps it exciting,

even if it's just conversation. And ultimately,

it comes down to the script, just the conversation

that's been having, just the verbal chat that

is taking place. And the way it ends up, it doesn't

necessarily end up where you expect it. You feel

like James Bond is one that's always going to

come out on top and help you to victor. in some

ways you know that victory may not come the way

that you would uh think it would so that's what

happens here without even giving away a lot of

spoilers but uh i like how the panel layout really

isolated what james bond was looking at rather

being an eye or the face pieces that he was certainly

focusing on to try to Determine if this person

was telling the truth or not and a lot was being

told without it being verbally stated and also

like it gets to a scene where food is being served

and Maybe the best depiction of food. I've seen

in the comic like I never saw no food drawn in

a way outside of maybe the book starved that

I'm like, wow, that looks delicious. I want to

eat that. But it happened. So kudos to them in

this. So I like this idea of, you know, it's

maybe a gimmick. You can call it a gimmick, but

sometimes gimmicks work. And so far, you know,

James Bond, the body has maybe been my favorite

of all the James Bond series. And Warren Ellis

had a lot of fun when he took the title and really

made it feel like a James Bond movie. I like

how this is doing new things and each each issue

so far has its own feel that's different than

the last. So I'm really excited to see where

exactly they go next. You know, they have the

mind, they have the body. If there's another

issue, the legs, maybe, I don't know. I'm afraid

of where it could go knowing the different powers

of James Bond and certain body parts that maybe

get more action than others. And that might be,

you know, a rated NC -17 book. If they go that

route, they could, maybe, I don't know. But in

all seriousness, this is a really strong book

that I would highly recommend. And like I mentioned,

it came very close to making So I'm not sure

how to make this transition from James Bond to

the world of fencing, but hey, here it goes.

And going to the world of boom comics for fence

number four. And it's odd that there is a book

about high school kids in a fencing school. One,

I don't know if fencing schools is a thing that

exists, but... to a book about fencing is not

something you would, you know, get super excited

about. Overall, though, I really kind of like

this book. It's taking it's very much a sports

cliche, but done effectively. Well, you have,

you know, your under your underdog character

who's coming from the wrong end of the tracks.

You're you're clear. Favorite who's this overpowering

machine that's possibly gonna win it all but

in that it's also this high school story of these

characters That and I just love the representation

that's here also like fencing Oddly enough and

I and I think it makes sense where you just have

back and forth between two characters works really

well in a comic I mean, you're basically guaranteed

a sword fight with each issue and never no fight

feels exactly the same I don't know a lot about

fencing But I feel like this gives you a lot

of that information, gives you an idea of what

needs to happen without feeling like I'm being

taught or ever feeling out of place. So I think

it's a really good book. It's an all -ages book,

too. And Boom has a lot of good all -ages series.

And I think this is a good starter comic for

a lot of kids if they want something that I think

is clearly written towards them or for that type

of audience. But I think adults can read it and

enjoy it as well. And just if you're someone

who does like sports stories or wants to read

something that has that. type of mentality it's

there it's not again rewriting the book on how

to do a series like this it's just taking recipes

we've seen before and taking those pieces and

giving it a little sense of its own flair and

more more so in a concept or a setting that is

different and i think that's what i think it

makes it such a standout so i think fence is

a book that i think some people may scoff at

just based upon the initial premise or judging

a book by its title but Give it give it an opportunity.

It's a little might surprise you so So I'd be

curious if you're reading fence what you thought

about it or if you had any into in if you think

i'm crazy I I don't know what the overall takeaway

of that series is, but I I think it's uh, one

that's maybe being overlooked so Alright, well

let's let's go a completely other direction and

get into image comics to talk about ice cream

man number two I I don't know how to exactly

describe this series so far and it's an anthology

series in a way where that what we're seeing

is the ice cream man is gonna be this character

that apparently just shows up within each issue

but each issue is more of self -contained because

the first issue and the second issue Seem to

have really nothing going together at all except

for the ice cream man piece of it and honestly

like this works better when i don't think about

the first issue because there was kind of this

piece where we see the ice cream man in the first

and issue one as possible like Werewolf type

character. It's the first issue I thought was

okay, but it was a little felt like it didn't

really know what exactly wanted to be in the

sense of like it kept telling all these different

stories and got bits and pieces here and there

but the hole didn't really make sense and Then

I thought okay. What's issue number two? Maybe

we'll fill in those holes and no we were actually

getting a completely different story that is

not at all like what came before and In the sense

seems to be just starting all over again, which

I guess I'm okay with because This issue was

leaps and bounds I think better than the first

issue and I think it's mainly because there was

really one story with one main character where

the other one had some some other pieces going

on and it's just this couple and uh they're junkies

and one of the junkies one of the the characters

is passed out and possibly overdosing the other

one's trying to find a way to help them and it

leads to this series of unfortunate events and

trying to get money and how those things end

up not going the way they were originally planned

and really the link someone will go to get their

next fix and the lives that could be destroyed

along the way so there is some sort of a moral

being told here but it's still ultimately a horror

book too so it was actually you know a pretty

strong issue by itself and I think if this is

what a better representation of what the series

is going to be I'm a lot more excited for it

than I was after that first issue and Ice Cream

Man is still somewhat of a mystery to me what

he is what he's meant to be his role in all this

Don't know I hope I don't know if we'll ever

know and maybe that's a good thing because if

the more you try to answer the Question the more

complicated it could be so I will be picking

up issue number three I usually get every new

series at least three issues if I can and You

know if it keeps improving like this, I think

image has another major hit on our hands Yeah,

so let's go back tomorrow. We talked about a

little bit of marble already and I talked about

how defenders was possibly Marvel's best book

for a period of time and maybe I spoke too soon

because really I think Marvel's best book since

Jason Aaron has taken over Thor has been Thor

rather be Thor God of Thunder or now mighty Thor

and the death of the mighty Thor storyline is

nearing its end and Man, oh man. I talked about

how Luke Cage hit me in the feels. So does this

issue this is just masterful storyteller putting

all the pieces together and like giving it this

has been a story that's been going on for a very

long time and I know some people feel that it

may be going on for too long I personally haven't

like and Jane Foster is given the ultimate choice

to make you know does she save the life of others

at the risk of ending her own Considering the

life that she lived up to this point like do

you can you even ask her to make that sacrifice?

We get a lot of flashbacks to her past lives

and some horrible things that have happened to

her from What happened to her her own family

to her mother dealing with cancer? You know,

she's lived a really hard life and it seems like

it's been just tragedy after tragedy So you can't

necessarily would feel bad if she doesn't want

to become Thor again because she has this cancer

and knowing if she becomes Thor it could lead

to her or will lead to her death but at the same

time you have Mangog destroying Asgard like no

tomorrow so you have this great back and forth

going on and it really raises the stakes there's

a lot of emotional core to this ultimate destruction

story it's everything I would ever want in the

Thor book this is like I I'm hesitant to use

the word masterpiece, but if you look at what

Jason Aaron has done for Thor, I don't know.

It's been years. It is very close to that. It

has been a masterpiece of storytelling from beginning

to end. I'm sad to see this end. I don't know

where he's going to be taking Thor after this

end of the Mighty Thor storyline. I think it's

coming to its conclusion in the right way. But

this is not a book, if you have not read The

Mighty Thor after this, I would say go ahead

and pick up 704. I don't think you'd nearly appreciate

it on a level that you would if you've been reading

this series since Jane Foster or since The Mighty

Thor began. But uh, yeah, it's phenomenal. It

also looks gorgeous and it has money Thor has

had some of the best artists for Marvel and some

of the other Marvel titles have kind of slipped

her in there when it came to the art But money

Thor has always looked great every time I picked

up a Thor book no matter who was drawing I know

they're being in their endgame I don't know if

just simply because they know Jason Aaron is

person who's writing this and they want to do

him proud But whatever it is, it's always always

looks great. So Major kudos to this series and

I yeah, it's one of the best books on the shelves

and has been for some time All right Now taking

a little bit of a shift here and getting to IDW

or Black Crown to be specific with the new series

that came out this week, Punk's Not Dead. And

this book is, wow, you gotta, you gotta give

credit to comic book writers who were like, I'm

gonna try to come up with a concept you've never

seen before. And I think that is the case here

where it's a story about a teenage kid who is

haunted by the ghost of Sid Vicious. And no,

it's not because he's a huge fan and he got a

Ouija board and he was trying to communicate

with Sid Vicious It's a lot more simple than

that. Sometimes you just go into the wrong bathroom

with ghosts and suddenly Sid Vicious is there

and you strike up a conversation and become oddly

connected in a way, but it's it falls this kid

who has dealt with a lot of tragedy in his life

and He still seems to be doing it and the opening

Sequence is him basically getting in a fight

with some bully with King and getting advice

from said vicious at the same time So I don't

know exactly, you know where this is going. I

love the art style It's you know, it's got it

certainly has I think influences of that period

in time how seditious is drawn is pretty cool.

He's basically this All -black figure very great

out. He does look like a ghost in the real world.

So it's it's very You know different I guess

I keep saying that word different, but that's

truly the case of it and it's it's black crown

has Had a lot of like, you know weird titles

to simplify it and I think I was enjoying this

enough for the most part the dynamic between

The two characters has been the strength of the

series so far is the strength of the book So

I'll keep with it and you know, sometimes it's

just cool to see an idea like this and see where

it goes Speaking of taking ideas, how about taking

an old idea and bringing it back and making it

a new again? And that's what Mark Miller is doing

with his kick ass characters. Last week we got

kick ass number one, which took kick ass and

put it in a new direction. And this week we're

getting hit girl number one. The difference being

this is the same hit girl that we saw with the

kick ass series of old. And don't worry if you

don't remember much about the previous kick ass.

If you've never read a kick ass comic, you may

not get it. But if you've seen the movies, I

think you have. enough understanding of what

this this series or what this issue entails but

basically hit girl is getting bored and she's

trying to find a new partner she had a new kick

-ass for a while but he did not work out and

she's trying to find someone who will be a suitable

replacement and she's gonna going around and

killing people in order for that to happen and

involved in this too is this insane Mexican drug

lord who's captured and she finds a possible

Future partner with a crazy assassin and she

puts them basically in a situation where she

can't or where he can't Say no to her and what's

a little bit different about this series than

the previous hip Hit girl books or where I should

say kick -ass books is it's it's drawn in more

of an anime style not complete anime and How

it's the panel it are but action wise the the

figures the cartooning is much more that style

than you know Then the Romano Jr. book of the

past. I know that people don't love his art.

I think it works well with kick -ass. This, I

think, works for her girl. It at least separates

her book and makes her her own because it gives

it her own look. And considering that this is

like a teenage girl, I get why they went with

more of this motif or more of this look because

it kind of corresponds with maybe her attitude

or it speaks to that character more. So, you

know, it was again, it's an OK. Retelling of

this book. I don't know if hit girl can carry

her own series She she was obviously the most

fun part of the kick -ass books I actually went

back and we read a lot of the kick -ass books

and I still like them But I'm a much different

person now is and then I was when I first read

those books back in you know early 2000s and

yeah, I was Been talking about like high school

college age now a lot Older and some of that

humor didn't work as well for me and I thought

mark miller. I think as a writer some different

place, too I think he is not kind of Relying

as much on the shock value or the crudeness And

even you get some flashbacks to big daddy in

this issue, which I think we're cool to see So

if you are a huge fan of kick -ass you and you

enjoyed the previous books I think you'll get

kind of exactly what you want with this series.

So I'm curious to go where it's gonna go now

knowing that Kick -Ass has a new partner who

is maybe a little bit more skilled. But that

also loses some of the fun about the Kick -Ass

books, which was it was this guy or these characters

that were kind of inept or not superhuman. Now

it's kind of leaving that idea and just basically

becoming another book about these. crazy assassins

or well -trained characters. It's just like another

superhero book. So it's, I don't know, you end

up losing what made that book special with a

series like this. That's a possibility. So if

there was one concern, and that would be my biggest

one, is that ultimately this undoes a lot of

what made Kick Ass special. So, there you go.

And last this week, but of course not least,

is Quantum and Woody number three. And man has

this series been a lot of fun since it first

came out like even when it was just being announced

and some of the ideas that they were coming up

with with the special, you know foil covers really

hooking fun poking fun of the 1990s with all

their different ideas and You know, it's I don't

you know as someone who gets books digitally

I that doesn't really know impact my enjoyment

of a book But I just love a comic book that is

so willing to make fun of itself and comics in

general like that, but So this issue actually

displays everything you kind of need to know

about Kwan Manwudi. First, it doesn't even bother

to try to pick up where the last story ended.

This last story ended with him going to Australia,

but it shifts focus to get into another story

element. let's just say that involves a goat

giving birth to their father. And it sounds odd,

and if you're a quantum money fan, you know exactly

why it works the way it does. And it's got a

lot of great humor, and I also just love the

panel layout it's been using. There's been a

lot of really clever ideas, specifically this

issue. There's kind of a page in which... Like

the panels are designed like Polaroids to do

a montage and I did what ultimately happens is

like they find out quantum and Woody that their

dad Has a limited time to live and there's they're

trying to deal with that in our own ways You

know Woody is trying to just have fun with his

dad where quantum is not accepting it and trying

to find an answer to that problem So it's just

seeing the dynamic of those two characters kind

of played out with this situation Sure, it's

a situation that yields a lot of comedy seeing

Woody trying to get his dad drunk or quantum

having to fight off robots that are still programmed

from the 1990s and saying those classic sayings

like to the max and it's you know, it's certainly

not shortchanging you on the comedy, but there

is a little bit more of an emotional core to

this book than there was in the previous issues

where you see them actually have to wrestle with

the fact that they may lose their father who

they just got back. for forever now. It ends

up being kind of a sweet moment in a series that

is not built upon those or never tries to really

hit you in the face with emotional beats, but

in a way that's why it works. So, I'm just really

impressed with what they've been doing with Quadman

Woody. Valiant, in my opinion, has been the most

consistent publisher in comics. They don't put

out a lot of comics, but when they do, they really

shoot to provide high quality. Books that I think

entertain the fans that they've really been growing

over these last few years They're ultimately,

you know why I tend to recommend their books

to a lot of people rather be this quantum and

money series XM manor war bloodshot Every time

I pick up a valiant comic. I feel like I'm getting

something of quality I may not love everything

they do but I think they really know what makes

them work as a publisher and Quantum and what

he's a good example of that So it's if you've

liked these characters in the 90s or you never

even heard of them I don't know if this is an

issue. You'd want to pick up straight out of

them blue and maybe start with issue number one

and build from there or read some of the stuff

that came out in early 2010 to see this because

this very much ties back to a lot of that so

it may not be as uh meaningful to you so and

a lot of that is actually available on ComiXology

Unlimited if you're a subscriber to that or most

of you know Valiant's comics can be gotten online

i think the usually the first issues of every

volume is only like 10 bucks so it's not a high

investment to see if you'll like it and like

I said, I think they have a lot of different

characters that hit different notes from Ninja

K to Which is more of a James Bond type of character

the quantum and more either more comedic Exo

Manowar is more of this right now currently like

a Conan in space type of situation. So a Lot

of love but yeah, it was a busy week in comics.

Honestly this there's a lot more I could even

talk about I tried to limit it to the books I

felt like I had the most to say about or ones

that probably would interest people. in one way

or another but if there's a certain book i'm

not talking about that you would like to know

about or if there's something you feel like i

should be reading that i'm not you know leave

a comment below at geekassreader .com you can

send an email to geekfeedback at geekassreader

.com coming up this thursday will be our concierge

episode where i'll be talking with jd duran up

in session film on the first volume of royal

city great conversation i really look forward

to people hearing that one but That's it for

this week. Thank you for listening and remember

comics are for everyone. The key is finding the

right one. Thanks everyone. You need a strength

most don't possess Or has it ever come down to

do or die You've got to rise above the rest