House to Astonish Episode 146
In which Paul and I promise not to spend time chewing over the massively-masticated topics of Captain America’s Hydra cliffhanger and DC Rebirth’s unexpected additions to the DCU, then proceed to spend 15 minutes doing exactly that. We also chat through the Cinemax-optioned Scarlet; the Civil War II #3 midnight openings (and the candidates for the “big surprising death”); the director of the Flash movie and Superman’s upcoming guest spot on Supergirl. We’ve also got reviews of Detective Comics: Rebirth and Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe has bad gas. All this plus Piemaker pasty variant covers, Mark Millar suplexing Dan DiDio through a table and how they choose the Pope in the Marvel Universe.
The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available through the embedded player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page.
Remember we have a Redbubble page, where you can avail yourself of this summer’s hottest fashion items (our shirts), and as I mentioned on the show, I made a SPECIAL GUEST mini-crossover appearance on SILENCE! issue 190 and The Winter Palace episode 34, so feel free to check those out too.
Huh, I always look at Comixology new books by company.
Basic strategy is this: Indie books I search for by name, usually subscribe to anything I like. Marvel books I browse under new Marvel books and try to figure out what I might like to read — here I’m apt to quickly drop a title if it’s not impressing me.
I admittedly was multi-tasking at work while listening, but no Kevin Smith jokes when discussing Dogma?
Given that Deadpool has sometimes been interpreted as a looney tunes character, I can see the potential in teaming him up with Slapstick.
…I typed that, then went, oh right, that’s exactly the underlying premise of the whole book, that each of the Mercs for Money have some trait that makes them at least a minor Deadpool foil.
I’m inordinately proud of my level 250 12 cover Nick Fury and yet vaguely shameful of the time I spent to get him, so I am exactly the audience for a podcast talking about Puzzle Quest.
I wasn’t going to buy Detective Comics, but I really liked B&R Eternal, so I might have to.
I hadn’t even heard there was going to be a big surprising death in CW3 until this podcast. I assume it’s separate from the She-Hulk death that the solicitations heavily foreshadow?
Agree with Al about Rebirth. Johns even managed to sour me on the return of one of my favourite character. Bringing back Wally West when there already is a New 52 Wally West – and moreover positioning him as the “proper” Wally West who belongs in both universes somehow – strikes me as problematic, to say the least.
“Most controversial” and “Best reviewed” strike me as very nearly antonyms – “It’s the book that everyone’s aghast by, but no-one says a bad word about!”
Wouldn’t the Superman Problem also apply if they just moved Supergirl to the Arrowverse? Only it’d be the Supergirl Problem.
(Personally, I think if they want to expand the Supergirlverse, forget Clark; have Kara make a trip to Burnside.)
Clayface was a member of a sort of team Kate had in the latter issues of Batwoman, along with Etrigan and Ragman, so there’s a precedent there. (Does it get mentioned? My shop didn’t have it in last week.)
I remember Paul’s review of that Wolverine story. He thought it might be more interesting and coherent if the writer had anything to actually say about Catholicism. The following year, of course, Chuck Austen proved him wrong.
(Jack Chick, I must point out, would never team up with a Catholic, however unorthodox Dogma’s dogma might be.)
And, yeah, the possibility of a cultural boycott of America alarms me: “In today’s podcast we’ll be reviewing 2000 AD and, um, the Beano, I guess…
Good Lumberjanes/GA review. I’ve loved Chynna C. Flores since I first read Blue Monday ages ago, and I’m delighted to see her doing this. If she takes over the Gotham Academy monthly ever, I’d happily pick it back up, since I had to drop it once it switched to an anthology title. (The main thing I learned from buying Batgirl, GA, and Black Canary during DC You is that Brenden Fletcher is a writer who likes all the same concepts/character types I do, but who sorely lacks the skill and creativity to pull them off well.)
[Spoilers for the CW superhero shows, especially The Flash]
Arrow already has its version of the Superman Problem and expects its viewers to ignore it – it has the Flash Problem.
But I think that incorporating Supergirl into the Arrow/Flash world would not be a terribly good idea, because it would have negative effects on things about both established worlds that support the themes of all three shows. The alternate universe thing works fine: it allows crossovers, but it also allows both worlds to keep their integrity for storytelling purposes.
I don’t think they’ll do it, either – I’m pretty sure that any Flashpointesque effects of The Flash finale will be confined to that show. After all, one can apparently have a nuclear missile explode on US soil without anyone in Central City really noticing,
@Daihbid
He pointed out that the story had nothing to say about Catholicism, which is not the same thing as saying it would be more interesting if it did.
I would encourage other MPQ players to check out the Puzzle Warriors 3 podcast, done by guys in the same alliance as Al and I.
Yeah, the oddball direction choices for these big action movies are based on budget.
And the assumption these guys will listen to the studio and not make a fuss.
So many jokes about Scarlet not coming out, when three issues have come out in the last six weeks, completing the second story arc (though it is apparently going back on hiatus again until “next year”).
In one of his last Batman Adventures issues, Ty Templeton told a story that was essentially the death of Clayface.
It involved a Grey Ghost film shooting in Gotham, and Batman eventually discovers that Matt Hagan is the actor playing the lead. Hagan then reveals that this role was so important to him that he had auditioned *multiple* times for it, each time wearing a different face and adopting a different identity, until they finally cast him.
The issue ultimately ended with Clayface getting mixed with cement intended for the celebrity walk of fame (after Batman draws him out by destroying his Matt’s square), and choosing to take the form of a Grey Ghost statue before he freezes in place.
I thought of this because, as you say, it captures how Clayface’s defining characterization isn’t as a *criminal*, in the regular sense. He uses his powers not merely for wealth or power, but for fame and to pursue his career dreams.
Since I actually remember Paul’s evisceration of that ridiculous Wolverine story, I couldn’t resist digging up the reviews on Archive.org, for the enjoyment of others:
https://web.archive.org/web/20021223172205/http://www.thexaxis.com/reviews/160602.html#wolverine
https://web.archive.org/web/20021223162041/http://www.thexaxis.com/reviews/300602.html#wolverine
Loved those Usborne Puzzle books.
Batwoman’s recent history with Clayface does indeed get a token mention in Detective.