March 20, 2011

ABC Podcast #131 Plus (wha-huh?)

This episode of the Awesomed By Comics Podcast is brought to you by Comics Alliance, no matter which member of their team is joining is. This week, Chris Sims sits in for Laura Hudson, who was feeling under the weather and couldn't sit in for Evie, who is in Austin, sitting in her hotel room writing a zillion articles about SXSW. Lots of sitting in, is what I'm getting at. Also, you may notice the audio quality is a little less than usual - I accidentally encoded the final mix at a lower frequency than we usually use, and I didn't save the session, so I would have had to recreate it from the raw files and IT'S NOT THAT BAD JUST DEAL. The Unwritten gets subtextually Biblical, Knight and Squire get whimsically serious, and Archie and the gang (which this week includes Spidey, Korvac, Santanna, Dueling Cyclops/Hope relationships, a plastic dart-shooting hammer and Joey's Rattata) are celebrated. Also Sims gives an award to a book that won a different award last week. I WONDER WHICH ONE THAT COULD BE?!?!

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, and feel free to suggest your own winners for our categories. Also if you've ever considered supporting the show, this would be the time to do so with a donation of your choosing over there at the top of the right sidebar.

(Pictures later. Meeting tomorrow, sleep now.)

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

"whelmed" by pokemon.

Anonymous said...

Come on- critiquing the Flintstones?

Really?

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4462493&006=7688512006&007=Search&005=22883946526&004=2073800086&camp=PPC%3A780761783&002=2194806

Anonymous said...
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Evie said...

FYI I'm deleting the anonymous derogatory comments. That's not how we play around here, friends.

Ethan Hoddes said...

Since there's no dissent to it on the podcast, I'd like to go ahead and say that I think you're straight, 180 degrees wrong on the Wonder Woman costume. There is absolutely no sense in which its a worse costume than the golden age Green Lantern costume, for one thing, it doesn't feature violently clashing colours. It has a simple and elegant colour design, its 'overview' is distinct enough to make it instantly recognizable in long or group shots, and its got multiple familiar identification points for dramatic close-up identification shots (the tiara, the eagle/w, the bracelets). As to it being physically impractical: a) you're a Batman fan, b) you're also a Superman fan, c) ALL OF COMICS and d) she owns an invisible plane. Aesthetically the swimsuit/corset design obviously was largely inspired by sex appeal, but also suggests armour once the golden fittings are added. I'm agnostic on the skirt vs. swim-suit bottom issue, but pants are a bad idea if you're going to use the standard top, it unbalances the whole thing.

On the character herself. I recently got the first WW Chronicles collection, and I think its pretty interesting reading. One thing that jumps out at you is how rooted in World War II the character concept really is. I think that that's one major things some later interpretations miss. Not that she has to be in WW2, but Wonder Woman comes to Man's World to FIGHT something, and I think it does have to be something more grounded than aliens and bigger than crime. Whatever the historical truth or the politics are, I think that WW2 still serves in the common imagination as THE great Liberal military struggle, and the old Wonder Woman stories seem to be quite consciously building on that by portraying women's rights as an indivisible part of the freedom and advancement of humanity. Like all of the Golden Age stories, they're pretty crude, but there's an interesting, if difficult, core there and Rucka, Perez and Simone have all found interesting ways to build on it.

Plus, I actually can't think of anything as Batman-like in awesomeness from the Golden Age Batman as the thought bubble "Ah ha! He's speaking Burmese with a Japanese accent!" Of course he is, Diana, of course he is.

Anonymous said...

Hey guys,
Any update on the date and location for the Ampersand and Adam Warrock show?

Anonymous said...

Is it mean if I say "ALL OF COMICS" is my new meme? If it is, please delete this post. I know you'll be doing it with a smile. :)

aaron said...

It's at Littlefield's in Brooklyn on May 19th. And there MIGHT be even more exciting comic-related news regarding that show... STAY TUNED!

Sean said...

Awesome. A double dose of Chris Sims in voice form this week. ABCP & WRA forever!

Kyle said...

The gyrados/pidgey strip that you guys talk about is actually from Brawl in the Family, not Manly Men Doing Manly Things. (Both good strips, but credit where credit's etc.)

Aaron said...

In the episode you mentioned an Aquaman run that was excellent, i think you said "The Deep" but im having a hard time locating that. was that it or is there a particular episode #'s run i should look for. Never been into aquaman but if there is some i should check it out id like to find it! Love the show, keep up the great work!

aaron said...

Hey other Aaron - I think the book you're referring to was "Sub Mariner: The Depths" by Peter Milligan and Esad Ribic, which I cannot recommend highly enough if you like thick, dramatic tension (but not much else) in your comics.

(Also, I have never read a solo Aquaman comic in my life)

Aaron said...

Ah Sub Mariner, that makes more sense. I should have known it wasn't Aquaman, although i was kinda excited for the possibility of a serious and intense Aquaman comic. Found the TPB for The Depths, cant wait to read it, thanks!

Martin Gray said...

Hey Aaron, great podcast with Chris this week. Here's a suggestion, given how much you two know about the fascinating game of Pokemon, how about spinning the Pokemon chat off into its own monthly podcast? OK, we'd miss the detailed discussion on ABC, but think of the fun of an all-Pokemon podcast.

I love Pokemon, it's my favourite board game.

Anonymous said...

derogatory comment

Aaron said...

Just an update. read Submariner yesterday. You we're right (of course) what a great story. Art was really great too. So intense. Everyone should check it out!

Christian O. said...

Chris' suggestion of a hard limit to available Pokémon and Pokémon Black/White's animal rights storyline made me think of a, if not the most, uncomfortable possiblity regarding the combination between game mechanics and story: Pokécide.

Anonymous said...

Does Chris snort Smilex before each podcast?