Episode 304


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I know of Valiant and X-O Manowar only because Iron Man and X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal was one of the worst games ever made for the original Playstation.

Acclaim fucked the comics up too.

To think they bought the whole company basically to make that video game...

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Great episode guys! Mike, Tomorrow I'm going to my LCS and Im going to look for the spiderman issue. Im also trade hunting. Im still working on collecting every trade of civil war, But I also want some Ultimate Spiderman. Any one have any suggestions? I also might pick up watchman and DC: The NEw Frontier.

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I cannot recommend Watchmen enough, Doug. Really. For my money, it's the best damn comic ever published.

EDIT: Kingdom Come hits on a lot of similar themes, with much better art, but I think Watchmen is written so much better.

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Man, I really enjoyed this episode. I hope you two do more in the future. I know it can't be a weekly thing, but I hope you all have enough topics to cover to at least do one of these episodes a month or something. Really great discussion.

The one thing you left off was the Cliffhanger stuff. Crimson from Humberto Ramos is the book that got me to go back into a comic shop.

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Great episode guys! Mike, Tomorrow I'm going to my LCS and Im going to look for the spiderman issue. Im also trade hunting. Im still working on collecting every trade of civil war, But I also want some Ultimate Spiderman. Any one have any suggestions? I also might pick up watchman and DC: The NEw Frontier.

Definitely pick up DC: The New Frontier. Easily one of the best comics of the decade.

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Fantastic episode! I started reading in the nineties so I've always had a soft spot for the decade, despite it's reputation. Don't feel too bad about putting Wizard on your list Mike, we all read it. Good point about the mag's efforts to spotlight lesser known books like Strangers in Paradise and Akikko. They really don't get enough credit for that.

My own list is:

1) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures The book that got me hooked on comics. Anyone who wants to write all-ages comics needs to read this series to see how it should be done. It was fun, exciting and smart. The stories tackled issues like environmentalism, apartheid and death. A memorable stretch of issues in the twenties and thirties had the turtles traveling asia learning about various religions, like Buddhism and Islam.

2) !mpact comics A short-lived imprint where DC writers revamped Archie super heroes. The idea was to create a line of kid friendly comics to lure in new readers. It failed to catch on but succeeded in hooking me. 3) Mike Parobeck's Fly was a particular favorite. TMNTA got me interested in comics but !mpact is what got me to stay.

3) Hawkworld People complain that this series screwed up Hawkman's continuity, but as long as you don't worry about how it fits with all previous Hawk stories, it holds up. Truman and Ostrander's Katar Hol is an intriguing character but their revamp of Hawk Woman is the main reason I love this series. The level headed housewife of the silver age is gone. In her place is as a hot head with a heart of gold who is torn between duty to her homeworld and the man she loves. Sound familiar? Every JLU fan should check this book out.

4) L.E.G.I.O.N. Yes, the first few issues come out in 1989. Yes, the last year and a half was pretty weak. Yes it gave us Lobo. In its heyday L.E.G.I.O.N. was the best team book on the stands. A sort of Farscape meets Homicide: Life on the Streets. The main cast consisted of heroes, egomaniacs, everymen, whiners and at least one dangerous psychopath. Characters died, disappeared mysteriously, ascended to near-godhood and changed genders. And that was only in the first year. You never knew what was going to happen.

5) Bone `nuff said.

6) Bat Books from roughly fall 1996 - spring 1998 After an avalanche of events (Knightfall, contagion etc.) Denny O'Neil decided the Bat family needed a break. For over a year there were no crossovers (except the line wide ones), no story ran for more than three issues, and every month at least one book featured a self contained story intended to act as a jumping on point for new readers.

7) Untold Tales of Spider-man For a time known as the "good Spider-man book".

8) Understanding Comics

9) Martian Manhunter: American Secrets The first time J'onn really worked for me as a solo character. IIRC DC held a contest asking readers to vote for the character they most wanted to see in a regular series. Death won, and somehow ended up with a standard format three issue mini series while runner up J'onn J'onzz got a prestige format mini. It's a dense, paranoid period piece about J'onn uncovering a conspiracy in the 1950's. The good guys are on the run, the enemy is everywhere and before it's over J'onn'll have to relive the worst moment of his life. The twist at the end has by this point become a Manhunter cliche, but that doesn't detract from the overall quality. I wonder if Darwyn Cooke read this. in many ways it's reminiscent of New Frontier but with fewer heroes and a more pessimistic POV.

10) Heroes Reborn Admittedly the reborn books themselves weren't great. Their effect on Marvel, however, was fantastic. With the publicly approved heroes gone, several third tier characters rushed to fill the void. This resulted in a line of terrific books like Ka-Zar, Alpha Flight, Heroes for Hire, and the shocking first issue of Thunderbolts. Plus, when the heroes finally returned the creative teams used Reborn to wipe away dreck like teen Tony Stark.

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I can't really say anything about how right/wrong you guys were, but this was a great show. I really hope the return of the IIWY seg isn't too far off because I love hearing Mike & Des talking about comics. Not to say I don't enjoy Waiting For The Trades, but you get much more argument out of IIWY, and conflict is podcasting awesome, which is why I co-present my podcast with a woman-hating electronic music-loving madman.

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....you weren't subscribed already? :cry:

Also Sean Connery ftw

Pfft, Scottish people are overrated......

Not my words, those of Adham Fisher. Who rarely comes here, so I feel no qualms in slandering him.

On topic, if I was to buy ONE trade paperback from the 1990s, what should I go for?

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I don't think you need it for Kingdom Come, either. A strong understanding of the chracters helps, but it's not totally needed. I mean, everyone knows Bats, Supes and Wonder Woman.

Marvels is easier though because Kingdom Come require knowledge of some lesser known characters like Sivanna, The grown up Titans, Spectre, etc. Marvels is a little more tailored to the newcomer.

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