We’ve essentially watched three Constantine pilots in the last couple of weeks. Firstly the original never-aired pilot which set up a series featuring Liv as a main character…
Then we watched the retooled pilot after hearing that there were a load of changes…wish we’d have realised we could just rewatch the last ten minutes.
Finally, since Episode 1 did nothing but set up and then immediately knock down a status quo, it was actually Episode 2 that would act as a pilot for what the show would be moving forward.
We give our opinions on all three.
Sigh…
Big shout out to Antonio of torgos.deviantart.com for providing the original pencils used in my Constantine slide for this weeks video.
A little while back we discussed the first issue of Grant Morrison’s insane DC Universe dream project Multiversity and now we’re back to discuss The second and third chapters in this epic saga.
It’s already messing with Jon’s head, as he seems to make the same “joke” about the comic being haunted in both reviews…cue spooky music.
Podcast: Batman #13 – 17 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and a whole bunch of other fine folk.
Because we only cover the most recent events in comics, we decided to return to the New 52 and take a look at Death of the Family.
What we have here is a fine example of how one carries a podcast when 50% of your presenting team seems to have nothing to say. To be fair, Jon does admit this pretty early on but his struggle to get through this is both obvious and pretty funny.
It shouldn’t be a struggle for you though dear listeners, because of Simon’s herculean efforts – he’s like the Shawn Michaels of podcasting, carrying a useless lump to something much greater than he deserves to be involved in.
Warning! We start off this week by discussing the sixth episode of Game of Thrones Season 2, “The Old Gods and The New”!
This week’s comic books discussion covers topics as diverse as the origin of King Arthur and whether Adrian Veidt is f*cking that weird cat thing of his.
We also have some fun with Rob Liefeld’s first issue of Deathstroke, catch up with those Demon Knights, come close to an argument while discussing Rupert Giles and have quite a long chat about the awesomeness that is the Rock of Ages arc from Grant Morrison’s JLA.
Show Notes for Ep. 35 – Bubastiality 00:00 – We start off with a discussion about Free Comic Book Week and some of the revelations therein before chatting about Game of Thrones S2E06. 16:52 – A couple of us weren’t too keen on SUICIDE SQUAD #9. 22:24 – But it wasn’t half as bad as DEATHSTROKE #9…oh dear. 28:42 – Looks like we had a handover issue with ULTIMATES #10 and it has left us tentatively optimistic for the future of this comic book. 37:28 – It’s one of the most consistently brilliant books around so the quality of DEMON KNIGHTS #9 should come as no surprise. 48:02 – BATMAN #9 brings us back to our theories about Alfred masterminding the Court of Owls (we called it first yo). Thankfully it seems like we’ll know one way or the other next month! 57:11 – We also disagreed on the quality of BATMAN AND ROBIN #9. 63:03 – Larold Hama wrote this week’s classic issue of BATMAN #578. 75:42 – It’s WATCHMEN CHAPTER X and the story is hurtling towards its dramatic conclusion. Chris has no idea what’s coming – this is going to mess with his mind! 86:36 – We read the awesome Darkseid storyline Rock of Ages from Grant Morrison’s legendary JLA run.
This week we kick off with a rant about the Machiavellian, headline-grabbing antics of Mark Millar, a man whose lack of shame seems to know no bounds. Did you know he WROTE THE PLOT for the Avengers movie? Us neither.
Then after catching up with the Game of Thrones chat it’s onto the week’s comic books, including a different type of Justice League Dark in Action Comics; more contrived, out-of-character punching in Avengers Vs. X-Men; and disappointing issues of Stormwatch and Swamp Thing.
We also continue to enjoy Ultimate Spider-Man and Animal Man, check out another classic Batman title, read Watchmen’s depressing ninth chapter and check out two completely new comics – Dial H by China Mieville and James Robinson’s Earth 2.
Show Notes for Ep. 34 – Too Few Drugs 00:00 – We voice our displeasure at Mark Millar’s manipulative douchebaggery and catch up with Game of Thrones. 14:15 – After our hard fought match against the Grant Morrison comic book last month we give it another round with ACTION COMICS #9. 22:16 – AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #3 doesn’t show any signs that this is improving. 30:15 – We enjoyed DIAL H #1 but we are hoping for more from it. 34:00 – Chris was so annoyed by EARTH 2 #1 that he didn’t even finish it and therefore kinda missed the point. 39:16 – BATMAN #566 from June 1999 is the next to get the flashback treatment in our 24 year retrospective. 57:55 – Peter Milligan doesn’t get off to the greatest start with STORMWATCH #9. 63:29 – After a masterful build up for the first half dozen issues, SWAMP THING #9 continues its trend of fizzling out. 66:09 – David Marquez continues to knock our socks clean off with ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #10. 74:13 – WATCHMEN CHAPTER 9 sees us questioning the point of life. 81:03 – Jeff Lemire and Steve Pugh continue to impress with ANIMAL MAN #9.
The DC comics disappointed somewhat this week and we’re still not loving anything AvX related, so thank heavens we had another fun arc from Grant Morrison’s JLA, an interesting chapter of Dan Abnett’s The New Deadwardians and a bittersweet end to Jonathan Hickman’s Ultimates run.
Show Notes for Ep.33 – 45 mph 07:35 – THE NEW DEADWARDIANS #2 11:00 – AQUAMAN #8 13:45 – JLA #8/9 29:30 – JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #8 33:49 – I,VAMPIRE #8 36:52 – BATMAN #555 from June 1998 39:32 – AVENGERS vs X-MEN: VERSUS #1 48:44 – ULTIMATES #9
After the shambles that was last week’s listless show we find our mojo again (and some crack!) and compare and contrast the beginnings of the Avengers Vs. X-Men and Night of the Owls events with AvX #2, Batman #8 and in a surprise reappearance, Nightwing #8. In doing so we hit upon exactly what Marvel needs to do with Cyclops after this is all said and done.
We check out the week’s ongoing sci-fi awesomeness and insanity from Image Comics with Prophet and Manhatten Projects.
Simon reads another classic Batman comic and we cover the sad eighth chapter of Watchmen. Finally we enjoy Diana fighting demons and – along with the Justice League of America – angels in Wonder Woman #8 and the American Dreams arc of Grant Morrison’s JLA respectively.
Show notes for Ep. 32 – Batman and Rubbin: 00:00 – We talk some C2E2 news and catch up with GAME OF THRONES.
12:16 – AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #2 shows that even at this early stage, this event has become a clusterfuck. 24:21 – We go on a slight tangent about the charming town of Bracknell despite the awesomeness of WONDER WOMAN #8. 31:30 – It’s all change in PROPHET #4 – but does this make it any less incredible/weird? 41:53 – Faceless attacks in BATMAN #543 from June 1997! 58:07 – It’s not kicking our asses yet but MANHATTEN PROJECTS #2 is exceptionally well-written and illustrated. 65:25 – BATMAN #8 is probably the first time this comic has had anything other that unreserved praise on the show. But still… 75:25 – We picked up NIGHTWING #8 to see some owl action and find out if it’s improved since we dropped it at issue 3. 81:15 – WATCHMEN CHAPTER 8 ends on a really sad note as yet another owl gets in the fight of his life. 94:58 – Superman and his lieutenants take on the cherubim hordes of Heaven in the AMERICAN DREAMS arc of Grant Morrison’s JLA.
This week something happened in Demon Knights which we predicted way back in September after reading #1!
We also take a look at two new creator-owned books in the form of Jonathan Hickman’s Secret and America’s Got Powers by Jonathan Ross and Bryan Hitch. We continue to enjoy Watchmen and JLA, say good-bye to Kyle Higgins on Deathstroke and enjoy some fine sci-fi with Paul Cornell’s Saucer Country and BKV’s Saga.
01:00 – THE SHADE #7 05:13 – JLA – THE WOMAN OF TOMORROW 14:51 – AMERICA’S GOT POWERS #1 26:10 – SUICIDE SQUAD #8 31:20 – SECRET#1 34:30 – WATCHMEN CHAPTER 7 40:11 – BATMAN & BATMAN #8 47:04 – BATMAN #531 – June 1996 52:42 – SAUCER COUNTRY #2 59:45 – DEATHSTROKE #8 62:32 – DEMON KNIGHTS #8 69:00 – SAGA #1
This week we randomly decided to take a look at something that wasn’t in the plan. As well as checking out Avengers Vs. X-Men #1, we saw that Mark Waid and Stuart Immonen promised that something called Avengers Vs. X-Men: Infinite was the future of digital comics. As digital devotees, well we had to check that out didn’t we?
Question: How can you be the future of a category you don’t even qualify for?
Also in this week’s packed show, we finally get around to something we’ve been threatening since Episode 1 – Grant Morrison’s JLA! We check out Game of Thrones Season 2, Ultimate Spider-Man, the next chapter of Watchmen, another classic Batman story and the best of the week’s DCnU titles.
And of course we get in the ring with Grant Morrison’s Action Comics. This is the first week it has become eligible for The Drop. Can we land our patented finisher?
Show Notes for Ep. 30 – Thwipping Boys Vs. Action Comics
10:39 – There were some twists and turns in the pages of STORMWATCH #8!
18:46 – We check out the start of the year’s big event with AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #1 and follow it up by looking at AVENGERS VS. X-MEN: INFINITE #1.
31:01 – BATMAN #519 from June 1995 was the subject of this week’s 24 year retrospective.
45:50 – We gazed at WATCHMEN CHAPTER 6 and hoped it wasn’t gazing back at us.
54:59 – ANIMAL MAN #8 was brilliant and horrible. As usual.
61:31 – Can SWAMP THING #8 match up to the brilliance of last month?
67:21 – We owe an apology to the guy who provided the stunning art in ULTIMATE-SPIDER MAN #9 – that idiot Jon thought it was Pichelli! David Marquez we are sorry – also: you are awesome.
73:02 – We check out NEW WORLD ORDER, the first arc of Grant Morrison’s JLA. Chris has had this in his pile for months, but the podcast got in the way…now there’s no excuse!
98:23 – It’s the main event! Thwipping Boys Vs. Action Comics as we take on ACTION COMICS #8.
The Thwipping Boys tackle the pick of the week’s comics, including Ultimate Ultimates and an intriguing new creator-owned Vertigo series from Dan Abnett with The New Deadwardians.
We continue our retrospective looks back at Watchmen, Batman and Identity Crisis, check out the horror side of the DCU with Justice League Dark & I,Vampire and get ready for Avengers Vs X-Men with #0. It ain’t off to a good start folks.
Show Notes for Ep. 29 – The Order of Dumbass 00:33 – Comixology were giving it away for free, so we checked out the first part of THE CURSE OF SHAZAM BACKUP. 05:15 – From Vertigo and Dan Abnett comes THE NEW DEADWARDIANS #1. Socio-political commentary featuring the undead? Yes please. 12:27 – We weren’t sure what the point of an Issue Zero was before this week. Reading AVENGERS Vs. X-MEN #0 didn’t really change that. 25:21 – Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic continue to wow with ULTIMATE ULTIMATES #8. 36:35 – If AQUAMAN #7 is any indication this series is on something of a slide. 42:24 – BATMAN #508 from June 1994 featured Azrael. 51:25 – We thought reviewing Alan Moore’s masterpiece might be hard work and WATCHMEN CHAPTER V is where we start to be proved right. 63:42 – JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #7 started the first part of a crossover with a certain DC title. 71:01 – I,VAMPIRE #7 features an appearance with a certain “Dark Team”…who could that be? 81:07 – As Jon has said before, he knew who killed Sue Dibney despite never having read IDENTITY CRISIS #7. Or did he?
This week we randomly decided to take a look at something that wasn’t in the plan. As well as checking out Avengers Vs. X-Men #1, we saw that Mark Waid and Stuart Immonen promised that something called Avengers Vs. X-Men: Infinite was the future of digital comics. As digital devotees, well we had to check that out didn’t we?
Thwipping Boys 