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 62 - Food

Food! For most of us it's a sludgy nutrient paste we shove into the front of our withered forms to stretch their existence out for another grim and grey span. But did you know it can also be delicious? It's true! We found many comics on the topic, and now we're sharing their wisdom with you.

We covered:

• Self-Obsessed - Sina Grace
• Wolf - Ales Kot and Matt Taylor
• On a Sunbeam - Tillie Walden
• Southern Bastards - Jasons, Various
• Andre the Giant - Box Brown
• Check Please - Ngozi Ukazu

Food

• Oishinbo  Vol 1: "Japanese Cuisine" - Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki
• Oishinbo Vol.2: "Sake" - Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki
• Oishinbo Vol.3: "Ramen and Gyoza" - Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki
• Rutabaga: The Adventure Chef - Eric Colossal
• Cook Korean - Robin Ha
• Banchan In Two Pages - Robin Ha
• Modern Fried Snake - Ryan Armand
• I Think You’re Sauceome - Sarah Becan
• Cooking Comically - Tyler Capps
• Drawn Butter - L. Nichols
• Chew - John Layman/Rob Guillory
• Wonton Soup - James Stokoe
• What Did You Eat Yesterday - Fumi Yoshinaga
• Food Baby - Lucie Byron

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.