Podcast 73 - Spinoffs and Franchises

Spin-off! Is there any word more thrilling to the soul and/or corporate wallet?

This week we read a bucket of franchise-extension comics. From flaccid extrusions of long-spent IP, to comics an actual person might actually want to read, we talk about whether spin-off comics can be any good (yes), how it all works (it's complicated), and which ones are just utter, utter shite (surprisingly: not Pokémon).

Find out more about the "beautiful teat filled with dollars".

Not gonna lie - there's about twenty minutes of Pokémon chat, and some hand-wavy theorizing about yaoi on this one. You love it. 

We covered:

• Tencount vol. 1 & 2 - Rihito Takarai
• Something City - Ellice Weaver 
• AD: After Death #3 - Scott Snyder, Jeff Lemire, Steve Wands
• Heirloom - Dave Barker & Hester Wells
• Hotblood! (the 'sexy horse' one) - Toril Orlesky
• Emily Carol's webcomics
• Mind MGMT - Matt Kindt

Spin-offs:

• Buffy (Season 8) - Brian K Vaughan, Georges Jeanty (also sometimes Joss Whedon)
• Aliens: Apocalypse - The Destroying Angels - Mark Schultz, Doug Wheatley
• The Flintstones (2016) - Mark Russell, Steve Pugh
• Simpsons Comics On Parade
• Simpsons Comics A Go-Go
• Simpsons Comics Unchained
• Pokémon Adventures #1-3 (Red, Blue, and Green) - Hidenori Kusaka
• Mass Effect: Redemption - Mac Walters, Jackson Miller, Omar Francia
• Portal 2: Lab Rat - Michael Avon Oeming, Jay Pinkerton
• Aliens vs Predator - various

So, uh, there's that?

We also reviewed Something City on the site.

Podcast 69 - Revisiting The Past

They say that the past is a foreign country, and as British citizens we are therefore left with an extremely limited window of opportunity to go there without a visa. We're looking back at books we loved, formative experiences, to see how they stack up now. Also: other comics! Is a hotdog a sandwich? More!

We read:

• Dirt - CJ Reay
• The Marionette Unit - Azhur Saleem, James Boyle,Warwick Johnson-Cadwell
• Paper Girls - Brian K Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson
• On the Wings of the World: Audubon - Fabien Grolleau and Jeremie Royer
• Motor Crush: Babs Tarr, Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart
• Immortal Iron Fist: Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, David Aja

We Revisited:

• V for Vendetta - Alan Moore, David Lloyd, Steve Whitaker, Siobhan Dodds
• Watchmen - Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
• Daytripper - Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba

And hey, why not listen to We Will Fix You? All the us, none of the comics, several jokes. Is good. You listen.

Podcast 67 - Best Comics 0f 2016

Hot dang folks, it's the end of the year, and that means Best Of lists. We're no exception to this cheap and easy content format, but we will at least give some lucky scamp a prize of each of our picks for the best comics this year.

Our spoilery results way below, hidden beneath this very professional advert for  affordable bookkeeping:

Problem Chimp Will Count For You

(Not an official Problem Chimp Enterprises advert, but I do work in marketing, so, y'know. Sorry.)

Each of Our Top Three Books:

• AD: After Death #1 - Scott Snyder and  Jeff lemire
• For The Love Of God, Marie - Jade Sarson
• The Nameless City - Faith Erin Hicks and Jordie Bellaire
• Rolling Blackouts - Sarah Glidden
• Unsounded - Ashley Cope
• March #3 - John Lewis, Nate Powell, Andrew Aydin
• Vision - Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Jordie Bellaire
• Plutona - Jeff Lemire, Emi Lennox, Jordie Bellaire
• 5000 KM Per Second - Manuele Fior

Still Good:

• Saga - Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
• Paper Girls - Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson
• Trees - Warren Ellis and Jason Howard
• Southern Bastards - Jason Aaron and Jason Latour
• Empty Zone - Jason Shawn Alexander
• Doctor Fate - Paul Levitz and Sonny Liew
• Giant Days - John Allison, Lissa Treiman, Max Sarin
• Harrow County - Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook
• Sixth Gun - Cullen Bunn and Bryan Hurtt
• Squirrel Girl - Ryan North and Erica Henderson
• Doctor Strange - Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo
• Injection - Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey, Jordie Bellaire
• Monstress - Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
• Check Please - Ngozi Ukazu

And also:

• Broken Frontier Anthology - Various
• The Spire - Simon Spurrier, Jeff Stokely, André May
• The Can Opener’s Daughter - Rob Williams

Podcast 60 - The Eisner Awards

This episode we look at the Eisner Awards, looking at recent winners and asking: "Awards, huh? What are they good for?" Stick with us to find out.

Sixty episodes! Where does the time go? I'm serious, where is it. ANSWER ME, PHYSICS.

We read:

• Deadpool v Gambit - Ben Blacker, Benjamin Acker, Danilo Beyruth
• Empty Zone - Jason Shawn Alexander, Darragh Savage, Luis Nct
• Mechanism - Raffaele Ienco
• Bad Machinery - John Allison
• Gunnerkrigg Court - Tom Siddell
• Giant Days - John Allison  and Lissa Tremain
• Doctor Strange - Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo
• Vision - Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta

Eisner:

• March - John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell
• Showa: A History of Japan 1953-1989 - Shigeru Mizuki
• Southern Bastards - Jason Aaron and Jason Latour
• Paper Girls - Brian K Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson
• Descender - Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen

You can find a full list of the Eisner Winners here.

John Barrowman as Squirrel Girl

Photo credit: John Barrowman MBE

MBE

Podcast 59 - Manga

This week we try to correct for our utter ignorance about manga, reading as much as we can in two weeks and then spouting opinions all over the place.

A theme emerges in Roger's reading. Not a good theme.

We covered:

• Bad Machinery - John Allison
• The Goddamned - Jason Aaron, R.M. Guera, Giulia Brusco
• Saga - Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
• The Sixth Gun - Cullen Bunn, Tyler Crook, Brian Hurtt, Bill Crabtree
• Filmish - Edward Ross
• A City Inside - Tillie Walden

Hey Kids! Manga!

• Abandon the Old in Tokyo - Yoshihiro Tatsumi
• Oishinbo: A la Carte - Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki
• Ode to Kirihito - Osamu Tezuka
• Angel Heart - Udou Shinohara
• Amakusa 1637 - Michiyo Akaishi (this isn't anywhere legit, sorry)
• Barefoot Gen - Keiji Kakazawa
• One-Punch Man - “One” and Yusuke Murata
• Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service - Eiji Otsuka
• Tekkon Kinkreet - Taiyo Matsumoto
• Project X Cup Noodle - Tadashi Katoh and Akira Imai

You might also like:

• Manga database - http://hidamari.moe/
• UK Anime Network

Podcast 54 - Politics

This week we tread into the murky waters of politics, which means we mostly talk about Transmetropolitan, because most other political cartooning out there is exclusively by and for crazy people, and that ain't us.

This episode has a bad word in it. A really bad one. Lucy done it.

As always, ConSequential is brought to you by fried starches, alcohol, and a lingering sense that something, something we can't even remember, has gone terribly wrong.

And of course, our title music is by Canon Hannon’s Ham Cannon.

We read:

• Transmetropolitan - Warren Ellis & Darick Robertson
• Citizen Jack - Sam Humphries & Tommy Patterson
• Opus - Satoshi Kon
• Paper Girls - Brian K Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson
• Doctor Fate - Paul Levitz & Sonny Liew
• Constantine: The Hellblazer - Ming Doyle, James Tynion, Riley Rossmo
• Martian Manhunter - Rob Williams & Eddy Barrows
• Bloom County - Berkeley Breathed

You may want to see The Many Cum Faces of George Osborne - and who could blame you?

Podcast 46 - Comics Continuity (Where To Start With Marvel and DC)

Do you want to get started reading the lycra-clad adventures that Marvel and DC peddle, but you're put off by the huge gnarled continuity that has built up over the best part of a century? Batman, X-Men, Superman - all have accreted a vast mythology full of plot holes, reboots, crises many and various, but fear not - we're here to help with some surefire techniques to get you past the initial confusion, and to make sure you find the good stuff. Thanks to Tom Howard on Twitter for the setup.

Leap straight to the 1 hour, 1 minute mark if it's just that that you're after, or stick around for: plenty of new things! A series of crimes done in Dave's house! An introduction to homebrewing! Haikus! The secret history of nutmeg! Who could want more? It's a bumper episode!

We covered:

• Check Please! - Ngozi Ukazu
• Fires Above Hyperion - Patrick Atangan
• Descender -  Jeff Lemire & Justin Nguyen
• Aama - Frederick Peeters
• Paper Girls - Brian K Vaughan & Cliff Chiang
• Space Dumplins - Craig Thompson & Dave Stewart
• Sex Criminals - Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky
• The Fifth Beatle - Vivek Tiwary, Andrew C Robinson
• Nathaniel's Nutmeg - Giles Milton

The suggestions for starting points:

• All-Star Superman - Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely
• Batman: Year One - Frank Miller & David Mazucchelli
• The Ultimates - Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch
• Astonishing X-Men - Joss Whedon & John Cassidy
• FF - Matt Fraction & Mike Allred
• She-Hulk - Dan Slott, Various
• Hawkeye - Matt Fraction, David Aja, Matt Hollingsworth
• Moon Knight - Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey, Jordie Bellaire
• DC: The New Frontier - Darwyn Cooke
• Daredevil - Brian Michael Bendis, various artists
• Spider-Man: Blue - Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale

Even Batman knows Cyclops is a dick.

Podcast 40 - Shiny! New!

Roger and Dave find themselves alone again this week, but rather than fighting to the death with sexy blades, they've thrown themselves into a vast raft of new releases (issue 1s and new trades) for your edification and amusement. If that's not enough, they still find time to get themselves a-frothy over Image Expo and the upcoming goodness. Onwards!

We read:

• The Spire - Si Spurrier and Jeff Stokely
• We Stand On Guard - Brian K. Vaughan, Steve Skroce, Matt Hollingsworth
• Arclight - Brandon Graham and Marian Churchland (part of 8House)
• Autumnlands - Kurt Busiek and Benjamin Dewey
• Rumble - Greg Arcudi and James Harren
• Supreme: Blue Rose - Warren Ellis and Tula Lotay
• Wytches - Scott Snyder, Jock, Matt Hollingsworth
• Kaptara - Chip Zdarsky and Kagan McLeod
• #WicDiv
• Starve - Brian Wood, Danijel Zezelj, Dave Stewart
• Empty Zone - Jason Shawn Alexander
• The Art of Flying - Antonio Altarriba
• The King in Yellow - I.N.J. Culbard, adapted from Robert W. Chambers
• The Case of Charles Dexter Ward - I.N.J. Culbard, adapted from H.P. Lovecraft

Podcast Episode 33: She Makes Comics

This week we watched Marissa Stotter's documentary She Makes Comics, a history of women in comics creation and fandom. We also run down some recent comics that we've been reading.

I've got to level with you, Lucy says "anus" repeatedly in this episode for no discernible reason. Also you can find out what swimming certificates we each have. Shall we?

This week we read:

• Saga - Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples
• Wytches - Scott Snyder and Jock
• Friends With Boys - Faith Erin Hicks
• I Don’t Like My Hair Neat 2 - Julia Schiele
• The Side Effects of the Cocaine - Sean T Collins/Isaac Moylan
• Satellite Sam - Matt Fraction and Howard Chaykin
• Velvet - Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Elizabeth Breitweiser
• Sex Criminals - Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
• Casanova: Acedia - Matt Fraction, Michael Chabon, Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon
• Miss Don’t Touch Me - Hubert and Kerascoet
• The Sculptor - Scott McCloud
• Nameless - Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham, Nathan Fairbairn
• Trees - Warren Ellis and Jason Howard

And that Matt Kindt comic Roger was talking about was Divinity.

Podcast Episode 30 - Best Comics of 2014

2014, eh? Prick of a year. Still, there were plenty of great comics out there, and we've rounded up our favourites. One lucky soul will even win our two top picks, if you booked yourself a Bullshit Bingo card. All you have to do is listen for certain key phrases and mark them off when you hear them. The first person to yell "house" at us on

Twitter

or over

email

walks away with this fantastic prize*.

We have a winner! Thanks to those who joined in the Dionysian

bingo frenzy

Our combined longlists are way, way below, so as not to ruin the surprise.

• Mulp: Matt Gibbs and Sara Dunkerton
• Blacksad: Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido
• TJ & Amal: E.K Weaver
• Trees: Warren Ellis and Jason Howard
• Will O The Wisp: Megan Hutchinson and Tom Hammock
• Moon Knight: Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey, Jordie Bellaire
• Pretty Deadly: Kelly-Sue DeConnick, Emma Rios, Jordie Bellaire
• Beautiful Darkness: Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoet
• The Motherless Oven: Rob Davis
• The Wrenchies: Farel Dalrymple
• This One Summer: Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki
• Through the Woods: Emily Carroll
• Hip-Hop Family Tree: Ed Piskor
• Just So Happens: Fumio Obata
• The Wicked and the Divine: Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie
• Moonhead and the Music Machine: Andrew Rae
• The Collector: Sergio Toppi
• Shoplifter: Michael Cho
• Silver Surfer: Dan Slott, Michael Allred, Laura Allred
• Saga: Brian K Vaughan, Fiona Staples
• Hawkeye: Matt Fraction, David Aja, Annie Wu
• Mind MGMT: Matt Kindt
• Poorly Drawn Lines: Reza Farazmand

...and our special treat at the end, A Naughty Boy for Krampus.

Podcast Episode 16 – Myth (Part Two)

We're back on myth this week, looking at comics that create their own myths and discussing 19th century vs. contemporary mythic theory while swearing like troopers. Tell us you get that anywhere else. Liar.

We also set about tackling new some new releases, and generally being terrible people.

• Blacksad - Juan Díaz Canales (writer) and Juanjo Guarnido
• Secret Avengers - Ales Kot & Michael Walsh
• Saga - Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples
• Sex Criminals - Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarksy
• Young Avengers - Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie
• Phonogram - Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie
• Chimichanga - Eric Powell
• The Auteur - Rick Spears and James Callahan
• The Black Project - Gareth Brookes
• Just So Happens - Fumio Obata
• Nextwave - Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen
• Planetary - Warren Ellis & John Cassaday
• Jack Kirby's Fourth World - Jack Kirby
• Grandville - Bryan Talbot
• The Hero - David Ruben

And if you're into actual books:

• The Hero With a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell
• Mythopoeisis: Mythic Patterns in the Literary Classics - Harry Slochower
• A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller