House to Astonish 117 – The Homies
Welcome to 2014, a shiny new year of comics, and what better way to see out 2013 than to look back at the best it had to offer? Paul and I are naming our picks in a variety of categories, with the result of the listener vote also being revealed. We’ve also got a little news, regarding Star Wars moving to Marvel, Jim Starlin’s new Thanos graphic novel and Deadpool’s wedding celebration, but the emphasis is on the Homies as we hand out the gongs… or rather, have to watch them being handed out. There’s the best new series, best actually new series, pleasant surprises, cliffhangers and outstanding achievements, among others, so please do join us. All this plus Frankly Cock Cho, banana peels and seltzer bottles and the Five Interesting Things You Meet In Heaven.
The episode is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page.
And why not start the year by spending a little of that Christmas money on a lovely new t-shirt or hoodie? Christmas jumpers are for Christmas, but HtA merch is for life.
oh no – Frank Cho isn’t making another appearance is he ?
I’m going to be reading Avengers Arena when Mighty World of Marvel gets round to it (this over-a-year time delay on much of my comics reading is why I didn’t vote), but based on previous discussion in this space, my first reaction to Al’s Stiff Drink nomination was “Have they established definitively that any of these deaths are real?” Don’t answer that if it’s a spoiler.
When Kevin Smith announced the Glengarry Glen Ross award, did he have his hype guy and DJ?
Nothing for the digital Dandy? Man, aw that shortbread I sent tae Aly Cunningham wiz in vain.
Jamie’s comments on the nom thread got to me. You wanna believe that the numbers of women and girls entering the industry and the hobby of Comics has made things better by the sheer force of Because, but it’s not enough to just Not Be A Dick, is it?
UUURRRNNNKKKKWREEENNNNNCH’m glad I tried Sup’Foes. I wasn’t going to buy any additional Spidey comics – and I might even drop whatever new Miles-o-book comes our way, because balls to being taken for granted – but yeah. Actual characters with wrinkles and layers for the win.
Happy New Year, all. Bonne Podde, chaps.
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Steve Lieber might not have ever broken through, but how can you forget his immortal run on Hawkman in the mid-90s? HAWKMAN!!!!!
I should also point out that I’ve never considered Manara “sexy,” and I don’t know if he would, either. Yes, he draws a lot of naked women, but the giant “library” editions that Dark Horse has been putting out shows that he’s much more interested in satirizing society’s sexual mores rather than simply drawing “sexy” comics. I didn’t know who you were going to mention when you began talking about Sex Criminals, but it certainly wasn’t Manara!
It’s amazing what a difference a year or two makes. I remember when Nu-52 started and DC sales were up across the board — everyone was talking about how DC was eating Marvel’s lunch and Marvel had to do something to respond.
Marvel responded by relaxing editorial control and encouraging creators to find their own voice on their books. Even their events were more-or-less creator-driven. (Say what you will about Age of Ultron and Infinity, but it’s clear that they sprang from Bendis and Hickman, respectively, for better or for worse.)
Now DC looks staid and bland and out-of-touch with their top-down driven system, creators are fleeing, and interest in their line seems lower than I can remember. Aside from their behind-the-scenes trouble, no one seems *that* intersted in their product.
The Castle graphic novels (or the first one at least) werr actually promoted in an episode of Castle, which seemed like a pretty sensible idea really. They’d certainly be reaching their target audience with it. It was in their not too subtle “our network’s parent corporation also owns a comics company” real life super-hero episode where pretty much every character is given a favourite super-hero, plausibility be damned. Castle takes Beckett to a comic shop which just happens to be promoting the new GN adaptation.
FYI iPads (and iPhone s) have a screen lock option to keep the screen from rotating
And good call on Sif. The issue where she ends up back on earth during the berserker off was one of the best of what NOW had to offer.
Fyi your Italian pronunciation needs some work:)
SCHITI [skiti]
Ce, ci (chay, chee)
Che, chi (Kay,kee)
Same goes for g. Eg. Cello. Spaghetti. Etc
To be fair, we were calling her Jif until 2000.
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I rewatched Phantom Menace in 3D last year. It’s a surprisingly strange looking film by today’s standards. There’s something off looking about the staging of it. It’s hard to explain.
Al and Paul, you’re totally right.
It is MUCH WORSE that creators are leaving a company so that they can go create their own things, than the fact that the men who are still there are ruining the lives of women in the industry.
MUCH WORSE.
Uh, yeah. Before anyone wastes words on Jamie, you might want to have a gander at the nom thread and carefully reconsider.
Jamie, I don’t know if you heard it, but my choice for winner of that award was the sexual harassment in the industry and not DC.
Thanks for everyone who voted. TOUCHED I TELL YOU.
So, has there been an official word on the Essential collections? If they’re done, I for one will be a sad reader. I’ve been attempting to amass a complete collection over the past couple years and one of the joys of that has been discovering great stuff that I would have never read otherwise. I agree that they’ve tapped into the well pretty deep, but there’s still a lot of stuff I want to see.
And if they’re getting replaced, can someone point me towards some info on their replacements? Thanks!
I disagree with you, Jamie. I think the sexual harassment case is much worse than creators leaving for a different company. I understand that people feel different levels of outrage for different things, so I respect our differences in opinion.
Although, it’s a little silly to give out awards for doing something bad. It’s almost as if the entire award thing is just for a laugh and not a vehicle to discuss important issues plaguing modern society…
Chief, a digital subscription service not really be what you want, but Marvel Unlimited fills a lot of the place of Essentials for me — and though its selection is more ragged, it’s also got a lot that the Essentials wouldn’t have got to for a long time.
I think Jamie was attempting sarcasm.
I feel like an asshole for saying this, but it should be obvious that it doesn’t really matter who wins any of these. The whole awards thing is really just a hook to hang the end of year talk on.
Lieber also a run in the 90s on the Bat books, if i remember right.
Got caught up on Saga today. People were right.
I’ve just checked out the preview for the latest issue of Larime Taylor’s book. Holy Moley: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=19711
Now that’s impressive.
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I just realized that if Deadpool was Marvel’s last big character, that means they haven’t scored a major character hit since Image was founded. Hmm…
What would be DC’s last marquee character then? Wholly original though, I mean. Not a legacy hero. Lobo maybe?
If Private Eye isn’t Marcos Martin’s best work, what would you guys say is?
I really have loved his stuff generally, but I’m not sure I know anything he’s done that’s better…
@halapeno
I’d say Harley Quinn.
@Suzene
Hmm, well she’s undeniably popular, but at the end of the day she’s “She-Joker”, isn’t she? Along the same lines as Spider-Girl and X-23. I’m trying to think of a character who wasn’t spun out from another.
Even Deadpool spins off of Wolverine. The Weapon X groundwork was already in place.
@Max: Deadpool wasn’t part of Weapon X when he was created, and is not an ersatz Wolverine character. I think he counts as “original.”
I can’t think of any “new” Marvel characters since Deadpool who could carry their own title for 12+ issues, unless you count Jessica Jones. On the other hand, Marvel has done a great job of reviving old characters who were in the dustbin. Power Man, Iron Fist, Carol Danvers, to name a few.
Marvel also had two “new” team properties with a lot of promise that fell by the wayside: Runaways and NYX. The former, though without a “marquee character” had a good, long run. The latter was cut too short, but had a lot of promise. Runaways, at least, could have been a tentpole franchise.
@Johnny K: Not saying they’re better comics overall (meaning story-wise), but I’d say Martin’s work at Marvel over the last few years (i.e. Amazing Spider-Man, Daredevil) is on a par with Private Eye, and in some cases even more impressive. That’s largely down to the vertical panel orientation, which gave more freedom in terms of layouts. Landscape format is definitely the way to go for digital comics, but Martin has said in interviews that it’s been an adjustment. He’d been working a decade in the traditional portrait format before reaching the heights of those S-M/DD issues, so it’s little wonder the new format would take some getting used to.
So, off the top of my head, some exemplary extracts: There’s a page at the start of the Waid-scripted S-M two parter where Peter Parker races down the stairs to the subway that’s as dynamic and joyful and brilliantly composed as you could imagine. The sequence in Daredevil #1 where Murdock plays the violin in the subway, or the two-page spread of his sense experience walking down the street (other DD artists this run have continued Rivera’s “radar vision” contour drawing trick, but Martin introduced about three or four other visualizations of Murdock’s unique senses in his few issues). Even those Stan Lee-scripted Sunday-comics-style Spider-Man two-pagers, completely disposable as far as plot, led to some spectacular use of the page to convey space and sequence, as in the one showing Parker’s movement around his apartment in one large image, with inset panels and repeated figures that turn what would otherwise be an architectural cutaway into sequential art.
I’m not sure Private Eye has had this sort of show-stopping formalist displays. But again, these are just extracts from what are overall probably less interesting works.
It’s funny you should mention Valerio Schiti and Mighty Avengers, he takes over art from Greg Land in February.
@Chief: No official word, but then it took a long time for official word to come out on the Premiere Classics being cancelled too. The “replacement”, though it’s not a one-for-one, would be the Epic collections – about 500 pages, in colour, with the intention of collecting a title in its entirety up until around the early 90s, starting with Iron Man, Thor, Spidey, Cap, FF and Avengers. I’ve bought a few, they’re pretty good for the price ($40).
Jonny: I’d say his Daredevil, though I love his Doctor Strange mini too.
Glen: This is fantastic news, particularly as I’ve been ordering it without apparently looking at who’s on art.
What’s the paper quality on those Epic collections, Al? Compared to a regular trade/old Essential collection, I mean.
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@ Glen Newman and now there is cause for much rejoicing. But what Marvel book must bear the curse of Greg Land now?
Halfway through the episode, some minor comments:
1. I hadn’t realized the Essentials had ended; this makes me sad. The two big omissions are the Silver Age runs of Sub-Mariner and Nick Fury–other than that, pretty much all the Marvel Silver Age superhero books had been Essentialized. (Some short runs like the Black Widow, Ka-Zar, Dr. Doom, and Inhumans serials from Astonishing Tales and Amazing Adventures are also missing, but those were always a long shot.) And I really wish they’d done a volume of NOT BRAND ECCH—I’m not sure it holds up, but it’s definitely something I would have loved to have owned for $18.
2. Fred van Lente isn’t the writer on Quantum and Woody; James Asmus is. Easy mistake to make, but no-one at Valiant is writing 2 ongoing books except Greg Pak (Eternal Warrior and Unity). Josh Dysart is credited as co-writer on Bloodshot, but he’s made it clear that’s primarily Christos Gage’s baby.
I think FVL will have two ongoing a at Valiant when Magnus relaunches.
I really want some sort of Not Brand Echh collection (ideally a Marvel Masterwork). Some shorts from the series are collected in other Masterworks (Silver Surfer 1 for example) and I found them pretty enjoyable.
Matt Kindt is writing Unity, and the Gold Key characters are coming out of Dynamite, not Valiant.
Dan,
Yes, I just realized I was wrong about the author of UNITY. So every book at Valiant is by a different writer, except for Dysart’s contribution to BLOODSHOT. For some reason, that strikes me as admirable.
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