Weekly Comic Recommends: Thanos , The Terrifics , Saga & more

This is Phil Lamar and you are listening to the

GeekCast Radio Network. to another episode of

The Comics Concierge, the podcast that believes

comics are for everyone, the key is finding the

right one. This is one of my weekly wrap up episodes

where I look back at the week of comics that

was, and I talk about some of the most notable

titles that came out last week. I do delve into

some spoilers, I'll try to stay away from the

key surprises or the key plot points, but if

you're a person that likes to know absolutely

nothing about the plot of an issue, Check the

show notes as I will be dictating the exact times

I'll be spending on each issue, so if you want

to skip a book here or there, that will be your

guide. I start each week with my recommendation

of the week, and my recommendation of the week

is a little bit different than some other podcasts

and videocasts that talk about their pick of

the week, as they tend to just go to their best

book of the week. Mine's a little bit different

because I also look for an ideal jumping on point,

so it's not just a great issue, it's an issue

that will work If you're a new reader, if you're

a veteran reader, if you've never read the series

before, overall it's a good jumping on point

that doesn't feel like a repetitive jumping on

point, which is kind of hard to do. This week's

pick of the week is Thanos number 16 by Donny

Cage and Jaff's jaw. This team bought us one

of last year's best comics in God Country, so

I was excited once they were announced to be

part of this title and to be taking it over after

Jeff Lemire left the book. And since both of

them took this book over, it's been a hell of

a lot of fun. And this issue may seem odd to

be a good jumping on point, but the biggest reason

that it works for someone who's never read an

issue before is because it catches us up on a

lot of the key story elements that have been

lingering since this arc began. especially learning

about the origin of the cosmic ghost writer,

where he came from, and also exactly how Thanos

won. We knew this was called Thanos wins. How

exactly did that happen? We see that with this

issue. So I would highly advise reading the previous

issues, but this one really works well if you've

never even know much beyond about Thanos, beyond

what we've seen in that movies. The way I would

describe this run so far is if you took a lot

of the different what -if storylines that Marvel

would do, you know, it's like what if the Punisher

was the Venom symbiote? What if what if Captain

America won the Civil War? What if the thing

became one of Galactus' heralds? It's all these

different ideas taking some high concept characters

and putting them in situations you would not

normally see in a general Marvel book because

of all the different ramifications that there

would be. With this being set in a possible future,

they can have a lot more freedom and it's just

a lot of fun. They take them up and they mix

them around and it's just insanity in the best

ways possible. I mean, just look at the covers

where you see Thanos on a throne room with Ghost

Rider on his side and having Hulk as like a gigantic

guard dog. It's so absurd, but in the best ways

possible. It's just like they have I don't know

what Marvel is doing in the sense of letting

them have this much freedom or just saying hey

go for it. But as someone that has always enjoyed

the cosmic level of Marvel that does not get

enough attention this works so well. Donny Cates

has the voice of Thanos down. It's a difficult

character to really do well. A lot of people

try to do Thanos and end up just having like

a generic version of Dr. Doom, which is this

bad guy, but there's more to him. And in this

book, we get two versions of Thanos, an older

one who is seen basically everything, who has

accomplished everything you would want Thanos

to accomplish, where you have the other Thanos

and how they interact. I don't know. It's one

of the most fun parts of the book is just seeing

the interaction between those two characters.

And in this book, too, we find out exactly why

Thanos is bringing his younger self to the future

because there is a foe that is lingering in the

background that he's yet to challenge and defeat,

and he only thinks the way that he can do it

is if he brings his younger self forward. And

for a book that's already been full of different

surprises, full of just different... Things that

I never think would be possible in the pages

of a general Marvel book The last page of this

issue was just like okay now things are just

getting to another level and I can't wait to

read the next book, which is exactly what you

want in an issue like this. So I've been really

enjoying what Donny Cage has been doing in a

number of Marvel series, including his independent

work. He's a name that I think has really been

blowing up in these last two years, and it's

because of the different content he's been able

to provide. And Jeff Shaw is also doing a wonderful

job. He can draw larger than life figures. We

saw it with the God Country, and we're seeing

it here, just the way he can design. Thanos and

some of the other characters they have that certain

quality about them that makes you that makes

them feel like those godlike Figures like they

should and not to mention I love the way he draws

Galactus in this situation in this comic even

includes is on the cover is a giant Galactus

with a enormous gun that even a Robly filled

design cable from the 90s would be jealous of

so if you're looking for a book that you just

want to dive in and start right away, this is

a good option. And I think for me, this accomplishes

a lot of what Metal's trying to do in DC, but

in the Marvel world. And I'm actually getting

a lot out of it, a lot more out of it than I'm

getting out of Metal. I know a lot of people

love Metal and more power to them, but possibly

because I'm more of a Marvel fan first and the

fact this is all self -contained, I get everything

I could possibly want in this one book. So I'm

not sure where he's going with this. In general

and if this is just one arc and done or if this

is there's more of a long -term plan But if you're

looking for a way to announce yourself to Marvel

readers that you're here and you're gonna be

making waves in the industry This is the way

to do it may only concern is I don't know how

you top yourself in this like where else you

go after this story I think the only other ways

the way to go is do the opposite and get a more

low -key personal storyline, but for now I'm

just enjoying this for what it is and it was

an easy choice for my recommendation of the week

for last week. Let's go to Donny Cage's other

book that came out this week, Doctor Strange

number 386, and this is a continuation or prequel

slash sequel to Doctor Strange's Damnation that

came out the week prior which was written by

Nick Spencer and Donny Cates. So it seems like

they're teaming up on this general storyline,

which was kind of weird at first because what

this does, it brings us back to the those events,

but prior to what happened and then we get some

story that kind of backtracks and gives you more

information regarding what happened in that title

and then just continues the story from there.

So I'm not sure with the choice behind doing

two titles at the same time that are covering

the same ground. I think for one issue, it's

fine to do this, but ever going to continue any.

doing one step forward and one step back, where

we're going to be going back and forth between

the two books, that can get old rather relatively

quick. For this, I think it's fine for this issue,

but I'm a little worried if that's going to be

the norm moving forward. The Damnation storyline

is coming out of the pages of the last big Marvel

event, which was Secret Empire, and for those

that didn't read it, one of the biggest things

that happened was Las Vegas was destroyed. So

they're trying to deal with that. in their own

way, or Dr. Strange is trying to deal with that

in his own way, by using magic. And, of course,

we know magic has consequences, and we're seeing

that, and the biggest consequence appears to

be the fact that Mephisto used that opportunity

to have his own casino in Las Vegas, and suddenly,

considering Las Vegas... He should fit right

in when you think about it. If anything, he's

probably not even the top five most evil people

in that city right now. So there you go, you

know, so it makes sense. I actually do like this

idea of Mephisto running a gambling or casino.

And, you know, you see that a lot with devil

-like characters where they like to play those

games. Obviously most famously done in Bill and

Ted's Excellent Adventure, where they face it

off against death in games like Twister and Clue.

I secretly - or Focus Adventure. It's hard to

keep track of all the Bill & Ten movies. But

anyways, back to this issue. We're seeing Donny

Cates find his voice with Doctor Strange and

as a character, there's a little bit of an arrogance

to him. Not Tony Stark level in the sense that

he's verbose and flamboyant in a way with his

catchy dialogue or sarcastic sense of humor.

He just feels like he can always win and... when

you're going against the devil, sometimes you

gotta use your old tricks to try to get some

things done. And here he faces off with Mephisto

in one of their classic duels. There are two

characters who have had a lot of interaction

in the history of comics, and this was a lot

of fun to see them go back and forth. It is odd,

though, in this issue, Mephisto is drawn just

like a normal Mephisto, where in Damnation, he

had a different updated look, he had more slicked

back carry, almost looked like a mob boss from

Goodfellas just with bad skin complexion. So

to see him just at normal Mephisto was a somewhat

of a drastic change. And I think, you know, some

better editing and some more consistency would

go a long way for making this title more cohesive.

It's been a lot of fun so far. I'm liking where

they're going with it. Donny Cage and Nick Spencer

seem to have a good sense of where they want

to take this story. So if you've been enjoying

what Jason Aaron did, you'd like Donny Cates'

last arc. There is a new artist and I wish the

same artist came along. This artist is fine.

It does the job. But overall, it doesn't have

that same type of unique look that the previous

artist did. But I'm just happy though that Magic

is back and it's just not Doctor Strange trying

to reclaim his magic again. It was announced

that Donny Cates will be out off of this title

very shortly with Mark Waid taking over. Not

sure what that's gonna lead. It's supposed to

be Doctor Strange in space. Like that idea, for

now I'm enjoying this for what it is and looking

forward to the next issue of this overall arc

that they're doing. Let's stay in the pages of

Marvel and go over to Deadpool for Deadpool number

295. Jerry Duncan has been quietly writing quite

a great Deadpool story these last few years.

I know Deadpool blew up and was overexposed and

has been in too many places, but Jerry Duncan

is doing something special with Deadpool since

Secret Empire and if anything he had the best

- issue that was related to Secret Empire where

Deadpool had to track down Agent Coulson and

the ramifications that ensued and those ramifications

are still being felt within this book and It's

putting Deadpool in a situation where you can

feel for him as a character He's not just this

one note over -the -top meta joke There's some

humanity to him in these pages and here the character

of strife is using his daughter against him to

get Deadpool to kill or attempt to kill a number

of different characters and it's caused a lot

of people to come try to stop him and try to

to confront Deadpool to see why is he doing what

he's doing and he is a character that has done

some evil things or some not so great things

in the past being a mercenary so they assume

the worst and he's stuck in a situation where

his sins of the past even the ones that he was

forced to commit are the ones he did for reasons

he thought were right are haunting him and i

don't know it's a side of Deadpool we don't normally

see i've been a fan of Deadpool since the 90s

i do think that you know it got to the point

where his character became redundant So I'm liking

the the direction they're taking him I don't

know This is something you can make the title

be from the long run because people still want

their Deadpool to have his comedy be a fun character

But for now, I think this this is good. It's

a good idea and I'm liking that Secret Empire

has some ramifications outside of just like the

Previously story we talked about with Dr. Strange.

There's some more personal stakes and it's odd

that the character that's feeling it the most

is not really Captain America at the moment in

time, but it's Deadpool, but it's good storytellings.

So if you're someone who's stayed away from Deadpool

for those last few years because of the fact

that they've kind of ran that character into

the ground, check out this issue and see if you

can reignite that flame for why you like this

character to begin with or maybe if you're someone

who hates Deadpool has always hated him. This

could also be a great issue just to see that

there can be Deadpool stories and he doesn't

have to be that one -note joke though, you know,

sometimes that one -note is very funny All right

moving over to Moon Knight now and Moon Knight's

one of those characters that he's not an A -list

character but for some reason he gets a lot of

A -list talent whether it's Warren Ellis or Jeff

Lemire to write some amazing arcs for him like

one of the if you look at the characters that

have had the most consistency with great runs

over the last five years or so. Moon Knight is

near the top of that list, which is not something

you would normally think of a character of his

nature. You know, people kind of label him as

a Batman knockoff. In some ways he is, of course,

like he has the similar look, he has similar

technology, or he used to, but they've really

expanded his lore and repertoire over the last

years to be much more than that, especially focusing

in on the different multiple personalities that

he's had and how that's impacted him as a character.

This current run by Max Benes and Jason Burrows

has had a lot to live up to and it's doing the

job. It's taking the character in a different

direction. There's a little bit more of a comedic

element to the series than we've seen with the

past and What they really tried to do since the

first issue since the first legacy issue they

took over was give him more of a major villain

to face off of or give him really a rogue's gallery

because this point he really doesn't have that

many major villains that he goes against so so

using the Egyptian god of Ra was a smart idea

and I like what they're going with it because

it's this parenting dynamic between Moon Knight

and his own daughter along with Ra and his connection

Kishnu and Mark Spector is put in a situation

where he doesn't have the right choice right

in front of him and when you consider the fact

that he has multiple personalities he can't really

trust himself. Now he can't trust the power source

or the person that has been granting him all

these unique abilities throughout these years.

So he's in a really no -win situation and this

issue it really confronts that and makes Moon

Knight into possibly not the hero that he thought

he was. My one complaint with this issue is that

the last book left off at this cliffhanger, and

the way they answer that, I'm still not 100 %

certain if I liked it or not, to be honest with

you. It certainly, yeah, it's playing with the

psyche of Mark Spector and the way he has to

try to understand the world and the insanity

that he deals with day in, day out, but I don't

know. It felt, to say cheap, I think would be

too far, but but it was a little groan -inducing.

Not enough to majorly detract from the title

by any means. This was another solid issue and

they're building something here that I liked

a lot. I wasn't sure about... What this book

would be like with the new writer a new team

that I honestly don't know much about before

this book started So far though, I've liked the

direction that they're taking it. The art looks

fantastic The action sequence that was in this

gigantic flight sequence on top of a boat was

phenomenally put together the paneling was really

great just highlighting certain action sequences

and really shows the Moonlight's ability to be

a fighter of that nature or someone who's like

wondering what can Moonlight bring to the table

outside of just his great personalities? That

was showcased there and I also love the way that

they showed the overall design of the Moonlight

costume. It's one of the best costumes in all

of comics and it's represented well here. Let's

move out of the pages of Marvel for now and move

over to Boom Studios with one of the best titles

they have going right now, even though it's only

two issues in, it's looking like this has potential

of being one of the best series of the year,

and that's Abbott, written by Saladin Amman.

and drawn by Sammy Cavella and I hope I pronounced

that somewhat correctly. I do apologize if I

did not get your names. So I absolutely loved

the very first issue of this series until the

last page because I thought it was getting a

70s era detective story that took place in Detroit

and had this really strong female lead character

that was delved deep into the social political

climate of the time and it just had that style.

It had that feel. And then I found out, okay,

there's also a supernatural element with it as

well. And I just was a little bit disappointed

because it was such a strong series without that.

It didn't need it. It felt like an additional

piece that it shouldn't be there. There's just

so many different supernatural books, so many

different type of fantasy stories. And I was

happy to get one that was just a general human

drama and didn't have that. But... as I'm reading

the second issue I see what they're doing and

what they're and they're not getting away from

those issues I was hoping they would tackle but

they are having somewhat of a supernatural twist

to them and Abbott is a great character she's

strong -willed and the chain -smoking piece of

her Is a major character piece. I love the way

it's depicted. This book has so much atmosphere

to it It's like watching a great 60s or 70s film

that was of the time and you could just see the

smoke in the air You could feel the atmosphere

you could feel like you were there it had kind

of a grimy look to it and this book has it even

the coloring has a little bit of a Age looked

to it to make you think that this is some sort

of book that they found in a time capsule that

has aged throughout the years and become the

book that we're seeing here. It feels very much

of the time as if it was written during that

time period. And what's really made this book

such a standout so far has been the ability to

really capture the character of Abbott, make

you understand where she's coming from, giving

her a cause to fight for and building a unique

world around her. And I do like the fact that

being a journalist, she's not jumping to conclusions

and she's trying to figure things out. She is

using logic and facts to drive her actions, not

just suspicion or why sales she thinks she's

being told. So I'm loving everything about this

book. I'm really excited to where it's gonna

go. If you're looking for a new series to jump

onto that you're a little bit out of the norm,

that has different type of perspective, this

is a great book to start reading. So great work

all around. So let's stay in the world of any

comics but go to a different publisher with Black

Mask and Cal Exit number two. The premise of

this book so far has been it takes place in the

future where an unpopular president has been

re -elected and it's led to California to succeed

from the union. Of course this succession is

not clean cut and it's caused a lot of chaos

certain parts of the California are still loyal

to the United States, other parts are huge wastelands,

some are occupied territory. It's, you know,

almost a Civil War II type of predicament that

everyone has found themselves in. So it's clearly

an idea that has been influenced by the current

current climate of today and how divided many

of the world and especially United States have

felt over many political and social issues. And

Black Mask as a publisher is known to published

books that have a political point to them they're

the series like black where it's a situation

where only black people have superpowers and

what that means so this is not out of the norm

for black mass the first issue that that came

out quite a while ago there's been some delays

and that's the other issue with black mass series

is that this is an indie publisher so you never

know when the next book is going to come out

because i mean you understand that these are

Creators that are not getting a lot of money

for this. This is typically not their day job

This is something they're doing on the side.

I didn't love the first issue of CalX that I

actually had some problems with it it felt like

an oversimplification of the problems and to

the point where the Message it was trying to

have was somewhat lost. It felt like a very one

-sided or a very Clumsy way to get to some delicate

topics, but I will say This issue turned me around

if anything actually some of the last few pages

turned me around to realize, okay You know what?

There's much more here than I realize and there's

a certain main character in this book who was

kind of the reason I hadn't Loved this series

so far. He just felt a little bit wouldn't know

it over the top and what we're seeing is that

there might be much more to him than this and

now I'm super excited to where this could go

and showing that you know sometimes it's good

to keep with a book when you think it has potential

because some of those problems you may have on

a first read or some things that might bother

you can get further explained or further developed

where they get into some of the best parts of

a series. The main story arc is this Story of

a courier or smuggler trying to take one of the

major resistance fighters Through all the different

checkpoints to a possible freedom to or to safe

haven and their dynamics been a lot of fun Seeing

him have to come up with different types of techniques

to get around the guards utilizing certain social

media platforms or using Disguises that are hiding

in plain sight. That's been a lot of fun. But

also this is showing a lot of loss and how much

this choice has destroyed major lives. There

is some loss on both ends and really no one is

winning. Everyone is just losing and no one's

really solving the problems that they were seeking

to solve. So there is I think a lesson here and

I'm looking forward to where this goes next and

I would highly recommend it if you're someone

who did not like the first issue like myself

and felt like it had some problems. Give the

second issue a try. Stay with it. till the end

and you might change your mind. So Black Mask

got another book that came out this week and

unfortunately it's not one I could strongly recommend

and it's The Wild's number one. The story is

about another dystopian future where a virus

has caused mutations throughout the world and

now people live in different safe havens and

some people have the job of a runner where they

go into different communities away from the safe

haven to get supplies and bring them back and

Kind of probably heard a story like this before

we've seen a lot of situations and not zombies

for those that are wondering there That's one

of the things that's I think making me want to

stay around for longer is the mutations that

are causing and The way the way it causes people

to look there's almost it's almost like a beautiful

look to it where they have these these rows hanging

off of them, but it's supposed to be causing

them to go crazy almost 28 days later. So that

part of it is not super clear yet, which has

me intrigued to see if we learn more about it,

but also makes me worry that we're gonna be seeing

a story that we've seen time and time again.

The characters so far are okay, the main runner.

We see that she has a sense of morality to her

in a world that has lost that. So you want to

root for her, but I also wasn't the hugest fan

of the art style in general. There's just a lack

of detail there that didn't really make the pages

pop like they should. So I hate saying that we've

seen this before, because I think that is a kind

of a lazy thing to say, because you can see that.

I mean, how many superheroes have stories that

we've seen before, but we have seen a lot of

this dystopian futures about it. certain set

up like this and the first issue doesn't really

do enough to make you think it is out of the

norm or doing something super special compared

to the other books that have stories like this,

like The Walking Dead or what I was wrong before.

I didn't love the first issue of Calixit and

the second issue turned me around so I will try

the second issue, report back to you, see if

it improves and if my apprehension was ill -founded

or if this is one you can stay away from but

for right now I can't really recommend it unfortunately.

One book I can highly recommend is Royal City

number 10 written and drawn by Jeff Flamir and

man I am a huge Jeff Flamir fan So I know some

people don't love his art style don't love his

story telling technique You need to know that

I am a huge Jeff Flamir fan if I look at my favorite

issues that are curling out on the sands He is

like six of them. It's just everything he's doing

right now It's working for me for the most part

and real city came out last year was one of my

favorite series of the year last year and it

continues to be hugely successful in fact recently

on an episode of comic con years. I spoke to

JD Rand about the first volume. You can check

that out in previous episodes. This current arc

though has gone back in time and given us the

story of Tommy. His presence has been felt in

the story so far mostly as a ghostly presence.

Now though we're seeing his actual life and what

led to his demise and what we're also seeing

though the brokenness of this family and how

Tommy's demise may have been the catalyst or

may not have been and maybe the fractures were

already there and his death just expedited things

further. I feel like when I talk about this book

I made it seem like a bucket of sadness and much

much more but if you've read Jeff Lemire previously

you know that he has the ability to get to Humanity

or the human soul like no one else and he does

it so effortlessly at least it seems so effortlessly

because he gets so much out of so little and

I Love what he's doing here. Just like this family

has me hooked. I root for them. I want to see

them succeed I want to see them see happiness

even though it seems absent from their life and

I don't know I love this book. It is such a strong

series and it continues to be issue number 10

It's just as good as the first issue, and the

story just keeps building momentum. We're seeing

that timely, untimely passing of Tommy unfold

right between our eyes. We don't know how or

why yet or what leads to it. We've been given

a lot of clues. I guess you can say it's almost

like the comic book version of This Is Us, but

not as melodramatic and a little bit more melancholy.

So if you're someone who loves that show, maybe

this will give you some of the same. emotional

impact of that book. I personally enjoy this

much more, but I'm also not maybe the target

audience for This Is Us, which is an odd thing

to say. I did not expect to have that comparison,

but it certainly came out because that's the

world we live in. But anyways, Whirl City, great

book, continues a great book. Speaking of Jeff

Lemire, he's also writing for DC now, and he

has been given one of the new Age of Heroes titles

with The Terrifics. Terrifics number one came

out this past week. And man, is this book not

trying to shy away from the fact that it's taking

DC characters and making their own Fantastic

Four. It is right there, it's not hiding the

fact. Though I love the idea of Jeff Lemire doing

a Fantastic Four book, so if this is the closest

thing we get... I'm happy for it. As I mentioned,

I'm a huge Jeff Lemire fan, so I had high hopes

for this book, and as a first issue, I didn't

enjoy it nearly as much as I wanted to. Part

of it has nothing to do with the actual book

itself. It's the fact that this takes place after

Metal, a series that's still going on right now,

and I really dislike it when that happens, when

you have a series that is... propelled from an

event that is not unfinished yet. It hurts this

book because a lot of the things that really

will better explain where this series is going

haven't happened yet. It also kills a lot of

the hopes for the current major event because

now we know certain characters that will make

it. Some of the bigger elements are kind of revealed

in this. It's spoiling your own story. So it's...

I get that they have a schedule they need to...

go by and, you know, I think Metal was delayed

further than I expected. Still, it's not ideal

to see an editor's note to see. Read this series

that you can't possibly read right now to fully

comprehend what's going on here. It takes me

out of the book almost immediately, and I will

say the strongest thing of the series so far

is I do like the character dynamic that we have.

Mr. Terrific, Plastic Man, Metamorpho, and also

a fourth character has a very similar power set

and for a first issue, not much happens story

-wise in this book. You have Men of Warfoe, Plastic

Man, and Mr. Terrific get transported into this

interdimensional portal and are just trying to

figure things out for the most part. And it's

a very dialogue -driven first issue, which is

different for Jeff Lemire, because I'm used to

Jeff Lemire where... His scripts have more limited

dialogue. He lets the art tell the story where

it can. Here, it's driven by conversation between

characters and a lot of science talk. And I get

it because these are the characters, but as a

reader, it's not doing a lot to draw me in to

understand who these characters are, what's driving

them, and as someone who is not as up in DC lore

as many, Don't know it's personality wise. It

doesn't it doesn't have a hook for me yet to

make me really want to go out and get the next

issue There is a certain character that does

pop up at the end that does make me think oh

wow where is this going and You know, I trust

Jeff Slimer. I trust this creative team But there's

just a lot of problems already and I'm a little

concerned about where this book could go. So

I was hoping that this would be my favorite out

of the New Age of Heroes series or the New Age

of Heroes characters that they're putting together.

Well, this being the only time that they've actually

had established characters in this line and it's

okay. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. It

was it didn't really do what I was hoping for.

One of the new Age of Hero storylines I actually

am really enjoying is Silencer, written by John

Romita Jr. and Dan Abnett. The second issue came

out and I just like this setup. It's not revolutionary.

It's this situation where a woman is a former

secret agent. She formerly worked with Talia

Al Ghul, but she left that world. She created

a family. She has a husband and a kid. But as

things often are, they bring her back into that

world forcefully, and now she's trying to maintain

her family while showing some of the underground

world that she no longer wants to be part of

it, and sometimes she needs to do that by force.

And I like her overall power, which may not sound

like the most practical thing where she can kind

of create these cones of silence, although it

gets smart or what have you. But for a secret

agent, it actually makes a lot of sense. And

it may be a little bit of a contrivance to have

that type of power, so she can have these epic

fights with all these characters in her backyard,

basically, but keeping it quiet because she can

use this power. But I think it's different. You

know, we often see a lot of characters with the

same types of powers that are just the same.

Mold but this is brand new and the thing I kept

thinking about oddly enough is John wick reading

this because you're learning a lot about the

underworld of DC and this does take place in

a normal DC universe and different things they

do like the cleanup crews they try to use in

order to make it seem like nothing really bad

happen or to explain away things if it's telling

people that a Movie was going off and certain

stunts went wrong and that was causing all the

Rockets or what have you so it's I like what's

been building here I know for a lot of people

John Romina jr's art turns them off immediately

They see his name on a book and they just run

away screaming. I like his art in certain situations

I think what's great about it is it can? Depict

kinetic energy really well as well as brutality

saw a lot with his kick -ass series that he did

And we're seeing it with this. So this is a very

action -heavy book. So I feel like it works with

this. You're not getting the gruesomeness that

you would get with a kick -ass. There's no blood,

no chopping off of heads, but the action does

have a brutal sense to it. You can feel it. And

that is one thing that Romano Jr. does excel

at, in my opinion. So I know for some people,

it's a style thing, it's a taste thing. If you

don't love his art, if you hate his art, that

could really be a huge detractor for this book.

But as someone who enjoys it in the right...

Location or enjoys it with the right story It's

really working for me and of all the different

new age of heroes books that are out right now

This oddly ends up being my favorite so far I

feel like it has strong art a strong story then

I'm in John Romita jr. Doing something special

the book that I keep thinking about reading this

is Lady killer done by Dark Horse written and

drawn by Joel Jones she's written some Batman

books recently and it's the same idea where you

have a mom housewife who is also this deadly

assassin that is trying to be hidden from the

rest of her family. Same idea here. It's one

we've seen a lot. History of Violence is another

story. This is not, you know, revolutionary in

its design or its concept, but as someone who

likes this kind of idea where you have that person

who's kind of split between two different worlds

trying to leave one but finding it more and more

difficult, it's been effectively done so far.

So hopefully this, of all the New Age books,

sticks around for some time. Let's stay in DC

but move over to Wonder Woman for Wonder Woman

number 41 and with this we get a little bit more

of what Darkseid is currently doing and his plan

is that is slowly unfolding. What the book of

the story is between Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor

as they have a conversation with one another

regarding how their day went and I like this

idea of taking an abnormal Couple and putting

them in a normal situation that oh, how was your

day, honey? And that leads to a conversation

about how they each were saving the world fighting

off demons fighting off different superheroes

The issue is it did get redundant at a point

and this entire issue felt a little bit redundant

of Catching everyone up regarding events that

were already happening it I don't know to say

a villain issue is a little bit more but as an

overall story Felt like everything went on just

a tad too long and Wonder Woman had all these

different stories she was telling and by the

third or fourth one it was challenging just to

keep interested in it. It's like they took the

first page of a comic that just designed to tell

you everything that's happened up to that point

and stretch it out into an entire issue. Like

I think you can skip this issue and you're not

missing much. So... This arc in general, this

run in general on Wonder Woman, I've not been

enjoying as much as I would really want to. I

think we really need a great Wonder Woman comic,

and at this point, this is not it. They're using

huge figures, Darkseid, bringing in the fact

that Wonder Woman has a long -lost brother. And

I don't know, it just seems like the character

woman is actually getting lost in all this, and

the overall direction seems aimless at times,

so... I can't really recommend this arc or their

series. I don't know if there will be a new creative

team coming on this book anytime soon. But looking

at all the major DC books right now, if anyone

needs an injection of life or something just

to get the momentum going, where it isn't currently,

it's Wonder Woman, right now it's at a standstill.

So I'm hoping that things can improve. Right

now it's not nearly up to par compared to what

DC is putting out in some of the major books

like Batman, Superman, even Green Lantern. And

talking about Green Lantern, let's go there next

with Green Lantern number 39, or Hal Jordan in

Green Lantern, of course, number 39. And this

arc has been a lot of fun and really portraying

what's been great about Rebirth when it comes

to the character of Hal Jordan. Of all the characters

that have really benefited the most from DC doing

a Rebirth, there's Tim Drake, I think, in Detective

Comics, and Hal Jordan with this title. He was...

Meandering for some time, but now he feels like

he's back to being himself with this storyline

We've been seeing the Green Lanterns and Zod

and his family face off toe -to -toe and what

I like about this is that Zod has a point with

what he's Criticizing the Green Lantern Corps

about he's getting in going after them in large

part due to their ineptitude With krypton and

how they were not able to save krypton or they

were not there To protect them like they should

have been and which is a legitimate argument.

It's like where were you? You're you're here

to save the galaxy. You're here to do all these

things But when it came to my people you failed

and now green lanterns are dealing with that

Also has that classic green lanterns Politically

going on as the guardians are refusing to help

because of what they're seeing the CC seeing

it as a lost cause where the other Green Lanterns

have to rebel and fight anyway. It's like you

would expect with any Green Lantern Corps comic.

So it's, Guy Gardner has a focal point here and

what we see is he's impacted by the fact that

he's using Hal Jordan's ring. And I don't know,

this is just a really great Green Lantern Corps

comic. It's Green Lanterns. Doing new things.

They're not just fighting different color rings.

I love it when we see these different characters

fight off against villains They don't normally

see you know. It's like Joker taking on the Flash

or Batman taking on Lex Luthor Getting out of

your rogues gallery can lead to a lot of great

storytelling and this has happened here And I

love it when you have an antagonist that has

some sort of a moral high ground and again that's

happening here So this has been and it looks

fantastic as well. So I've been loving where

they bring going with this book It's been one

of DC's to think best titles this year so far

So it continues here and I highly recommend picking

this up staying in space What a different universe

and a different publisher with XO man award number

12 Now we are a full year into Matt Kent's relaunch

of this book and Looking back at what he was

able to do with these 12 issues. It was rather

impressive You know, he had the soldier storyline.

He had the general storyline and now the Emperor

storyline and to give Matt Kent a lot of credit

He is doing some things with his main title as

a titular character that a lot of characters

won't or a lot of creators one I should say and

and that's actually being rather critical of

the hubris of a character like Eric or like Exo

Manor War and how the idea of being headstrong

and jumping in the battle and taking out all

your enemies does not necessarily lead to the

peace that you wanted as this world is falling

into chaos now that the former leader that was

holding things together even though doing some

evil things is no longer there now everyone that

is trying to grab for power and it's just a Conflict

that just keeps going and going there seems to

be the piece that they're looking for is not

there and now Eric Exo Man of War the person

that was looked as a leader looked as the the

Savior is being criticized and people are worried

he is becoming the thing he fought against causing

some of his closest friends his closest allies

to even put things in place to try to fight against

him and Eric has made mistakes. He has, I think,

not listened or not been opened up enough and

those mistakes are kind of coming in the forefront.

And we're also seeing him putting situations

where he can't no longer just rely on his armor

and he can't just think that it's going to be

there to save the day. We saw that to begin with,

but it was more a choice on his part not to use

the armor. Now he's in a situation where he needs

it, but he can't utilize it because of his past

mistakes. So this has been quite a journey. For

this character and this arc that's been going

on now for 12 issues and continues to go and

for the first time There seems to be a major

threat and play that can endanger the life of

Eric and the world he's trying to create here.

So this has been a phenomenal series. If you're

someone who has not really got into Valiant Comics

or not read Exo Manor War, this series is a good

jumping on point. This issue isn't, but if you

start at issue one, there's only 12 issues go

back and it's really been progressing into something.

I don't know where this is going. It does feel

like it's nearing its conclusion. And at least

in this. Part of eric's story. Um, my guess is

he will shortly return back to earth sometime

soon But for now, I uh, you know, I look forward

to this book every month and then valium is putting

out a lot of great books We'll probably be saying

that a lot exo man o 'war has been one of their

best and I was worried when they relaunched it

because it felt like it didn't need to be relaunched

Overall though. This has led to a great story

that has really made me more of an exo man o

'war fan So kudos to matt kent and all of his

artists All righty, one thing I do love about

comics is that you can take something that should

be ridiculous network or just be plain awful

and it ends up being a lot of fun and a really

good comic and that happened with lockjaw number

one everyone's favorite oversized alien slash

inhuman dog that can teleport and I know a lot

of people hated that inhumans tv series I have

not watched it the only thing I heard that was

positive was that lockjaw was a big bright spot

and maybe because of that he's getting his own

series I don't know or maybe because some Marvel

editor thought it'd be funny if Daniel Kibble

Smith wrote a book about a giant dog I'm not

sure but whatever the case may be this was a

lot of fun and like how do you write a book about

a giant dog that doesn't talk nor plays basketball

like airbud the answer is he's not the main really

story here he's really in the background for

the most part a lot of the narrative actually

is taking place or focus on the character of

D man if you don't know who D man is don't worry

most people don't he's this you know, D -list

or E -list Marvel hero who is kind of a combination,

an amalgamation of a lot of different characters.

He kind of looks like a Deadpool and Wolverine

combined their costumes into one, but now he's

no longer a hero. He doesn't have his powers

anymore. He's kind of sulking around the house.

But serendipitously, he runs in the lockjaw.

They get attacked by different things like hamsters.

plastic balls. I don't know. I don't know how

you would explain it, but it was it was endearing.

It was sweet. It, you know, it had some heart

to it. And I love where it's ending. It seems

like it's going to be this continuous, continuous

adventure of of D -Man and Lockjaw going to different

places where it ends up in the with another character

who is again not used a lot in Marvel comics.

And I love it when Marvel can take a series and

focus in some of their oddball characters that

are not seen that much. There used to be this

book called Marvel Team Up not too long ago that

would do that a lot. And if that's it, and if

this is, you know, kind of a gateway into another

Marvel teammate book, but Lockjaw is that connecting

piece, hey. Give me more of it. So Daniel Kimball

Smith He is also writing currently quantum and

woody which was a big reason why I picked this

book up and gave it a chance and He is he's quite

a witty writer He's has a good sense of humor

to him If you like that book or if you're looking

for something new to jump on that You don't need

to know anything about any other Marvel books

You just want something fun or if you're just

simply a dog lover lockjaw number one is a good

jumping on point Alright, let's talk about Saga.

Yes, Saga is back. They tend to go away every

six months and then come back. So we're in for

another run. Hopefully this lasts some time.

And I know a lot of people feel like Saga is

not as good as it once was, that it used to be

one of the best series, but it's kind of been

meandering, or that it's not as high level of

enjoyment as it was with its first few volumes.

Now we're nearing issue 50. I kind of get that,

but I also feel like it's a situation where we

don't credit enough Series that are just consistently

really good over and over every month every time

you pick up an issue You know, it's gonna be

really solid. You can take it for granted, right?

It's like that a plus student that always gets

a's and you just come to expect it So it's no

longer an achievement when you do something great

You have to keep topping yourself and but it

gets to the point where you can no longer do

that There's you know, there's only so far you

can go This issue hit like right away Brian cave

-on knows you gets into like what he's trying

to do with this book if you're someone who is

uh Say not a big fan of nudity in your comics

if you are you're probably not reading so I'm

gonna begin with but right on the first page

all Everything left and left there right on the

page when we see the will and everything he has

to offer But but this has everything I want in

a good saga book some good character moments.

There's a specific moment where we see how sometimes

Being close to someone can lead you to say things

that are hugely hurtful in a way how you get

can get murdered by words more so than actual

weapons and the major conflict or at least the

Big plot device that will probably be the focal

point of this current arc or these next few issues

is brought up and involving print robot and perhaps

the The links he will go to get what he wants

or the love he that he would want so I know I

like saga. I love these characters. I love this

world. You know, like I said, it may not be as

amazing I may not be simply as blown away as

I once was but I still am happy every time I

read a saga book it's still one of the most consistently

good stories that are that comics is putting

out and Brian K Vaughn and You know staples are

two of the best names in comics It's still still

to be a gorgeous book and I think it still should

be recognized Is it my favorite or the ultimate

best book of that's currently going on right

now? Maybe not but I still have yet to read a

bad issue of Saga and I think a lot of comics

would wish they were as good as Saga is on its

worth worth day So alright one more final comic

to go over for today and that is GI Joe Versus

the six million dollar man, man IDW certainly

loves to combine their different license property

if you're seeing G .I. Joe and Transformers and

now G .I. Joe and the six million dollar man

The six million dollar man was well before my

time. I never watched an episode of the show

I know they did a reboot pretty long ago. I don't

think that would actually might be over a decade

ago Never watched that either. So I know about

six million dollar man as most do just through

osmosis and just the sound effects as they become

popularized in culture. I am a huge DI Joe fan.

Grew up on it as a kid. Loved the toys. I don't

read a lot of the comics. I do try to find comics

here and there that do start DI Joe to see if

I will like it. So that's why I picked this up

because it's a new series. Considering it's a

crossing over two universes, I was thinking that

we didn't need to know a lot about. different

worlds and you don't for the most part it's the

classic GI Joe characters are there and what

we see is a six million dollar man is brainwashed

and used to go off and fight against the Joes

and what ensues after that and you know your

classic set up when it comes to heroes versus

heroes in a comics they fight each other then

they I'm assuming will eventually team up to

take on the bad guys and it's the over the top

things you would expect with a GI Joe comic it's

it's fun it's not High -level artistic vision

when it comes to a book. I mean, I don't think

you're expecting that when you're seeing IGIGO

in the six million dollar man You're not thinking

like oh, this is an ice ringer winner waiting

to happen. You have Cobra taking over the world.

They just take over this Hotel throw their flag

on it and then do their plastic over salute So

if you're like me and you enjoy the GI Joe books

in Previously or you want something that like,

you know can spark that nostalgia feel you have

for GI Joe this works They make the six million

dollar man look like the ultimate badass, which

I think is kind of cool. I never thought he would

be a a foe for GI Joe. I thought he was just

like a dude, but he has some moves to say the

least. So I like this. It's not saying it's one

of those good palate cleanser when it comes to

comics, nothing that is going to really, I think,

have a lasting impact. And by the end, you kind

of know where it's going by by the first page

of the first issue. But if you like these characters,

you love this world and you just want to get

something to read that is worth your time. I

think it's that it's uh... it's possible it does

what it's supposed to do Which is something I

could say that sometimes these books don't work

I remember one reading GI Joe versus Street Fighter

and not liking that at all because none of the

characters were used that I really cared about

like all the main characters were Pushed aside

and it was these Street Fighter characters and

GI Joe characters that I've never heard of this

has a lot of the characters I'm aware of a lot

of the GI Joe's that I've come to love So if

you just want to see you know snake eyes Duke

and all those people in a comic This will give

you what you want. So yeah overall a pretty solid

week in the world of comics There's a lot that

came out that I didn't get the chance to talk

about there are some books that I'm not currently

Keeping up with so if there's something that

you feel like I'm should be reading that I'm

not If you think I'm crazy about certain opinions

that I have, like I know there was a lot of people

who loved The Terrifics, number one. So if you're

one of those people, I would love to hear from

you. What about it did you love? What am I missing?

I'm all open to having that conversation regarding,

you know, different people's takes on different

comics. I'd like to see that. I'd like to see

and hear about different series I don't know

about or read them all about. It's a learning

experience to me when it comes to comics. I think

we get kind of too bogged down in... our opinions

and thinking that just because i didn't like

something will mean that you won't like it or

that it's not good it's only my personal taste

it all comes down to that i think so it's good

to have that conversation to see hey maybe there's

a book that i like the wonder woman book for

example that i gave a middling review for if

you loved it and you have a reason for it i'd

love to hear that i think that it's a good way

to have a conversation regarding comics it's

such an open medium it's important i think to

understand what people with different people

get out of comics. For myself, I love characters

and craft. If a book has that, I can overlook

a lot of things like maybe a redundant plot,

because it's never something I care all that

much about. Some marketing notes before we leave.

I did put an article up on Geocast Radio with

my top 30 comics of February. So if you're a

person that is looking for new books to get into,

check that out. It was a great month and some

great titles to talk about. Also coming up will

be the next Conte Years episode. I'll be speaking

with Kevin Optimus Solo regarding the Neil Gaiman

series from Marvel 1602. That was a fun conversation,

so looking forward for people to hear that. And

if you want to follow me on Twitter, you can

do so at MovieRevolt. You can email us at feedback

at geekcastreader .com or go to geekcastreader

.com and comment on the episode post. But that's

it for this week. Join us next week as I talk

more comics. For now, remember comics are for

everyone. The key is finding the right one. Thanks

for listening, and we'll see you next time. To

town I can't stop it with the wind