11 O'clock Comics Podcast

Short on runtime, long on ideas as we pow-wow on Douglas Adams and Doctor Who, Art of Fiction's Dames in the Atomic Age by Christopher Ryder, Marc Sandroni, Mike Vosburg, Paul Little, Tony Fleecs, and company, Smoke and Mirrors by Mike Costa, Ryan Browne, and Jon Armstrong from IDW, 50 Girls 50 from Image, Vertigo's Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child by Selwyn Hinds and Denys Cowan, Rocketeer Adventures volume two #1 (Peter David, Bill Sienkiewicz, Stan Sakai, and more), three years of Captain America, The Naked Heroes' Demon the Whiskey Down and the great Benjamin Marra, B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs volume three and Hellboy, Avengers X-Sanction and Jeph Loeb, Tarot, Witch of the Black Rose #73 by Jim Balent, Haunt and Nathan Fox, Tim Seeley's Witchblade, Prophet and Brandon Graham, and a whole mess more!

Chaos is the name of the game this week as we kick the insanity up a few notches while talking about the 999 Challenge, Stan Lee's Mighty 7 from Stan Lee Comics, Alex Saviuk, and the fine folks at Archie (including the Spider-Man newspaper strip, Sonic, Archie, Mega Man, and more), an extended look at Jonathan Hickman's run on Fantastic Four (John Byrne, DOOM, the Waid/Wieringo run, etc.), The John Romita Amazing Spider-Man Artist Edition from IDW (Steve Ditko + Amazing Annual #1 with the Sinister Six, Ross Andru, Gil Kane, Romita Jr, Romitaman, Kingpin, ARch-nemeses, Morbius, and more), Dean Haspiel and Make Mine Me, The Believer #88 from McSweeney's, John Carter and the Gods of Mars, Cartoon Network's DC Nation block, Adventure Time, David Lapham's Age of Apocalypse, and a couple buckets more!

We jump in quick 'n' dirty on Gisele Lagace and Ménage á 3 (by way of Occupy Riverdale and Archie Comics), Brandon Graham and King City, Adventure Time, Saga #1 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples from Image, Moebius (Blueberry, The Airtight Garage, Arzach, Heavy Metal, and more), recent developments in The Walking Dead TV show, The Dead: Kingdom of Flies by Alan Grant, Simon Bisley, Glen Fabry (and more) from Berserker Comics, Watchmen/DKR and print, The Champions/The Order, Avengers: Childrens' Crusade and Avengers Vs. X-Men, Artifice by Alex Woolfson and Winona Nelson, The Manhattan Projects by Hickman and Pitarra from Image, Nathan Fox and Haunt, Jacques Tardi, Simone's Batgirl, Vertigo's Fairest, and a whole mess more!

Hold on to your hats, folks, because this one's a weird one even by our standards... While Skype wreaks havoc with a vengeance, we top off the tank in the rickety ol' Wayback Machine head out for a long, rambling ride through Amazing Spider-Man #300, Miller and Mazzuchelli's Born Again, Comic Confessions (including Cerebus, Camelot 3000, Black Dragon, Chris Claremont's First Flight, X-Terminators and Fallen Angels, Jon Bogdanove, and much more), Valiant both old and new, Ultraverse, Catwoman, Ted Mckeever's MONDO from Image/Shadowline, Justice League: Doom and Dwayne Mcduffie, Morrison and Quitely's Flex Mentallo (incorporating Doom Patrol, Teen Titans, Alan Moore and Don Simpson's Pictopia, Cliff Steele, and more), Rubber Blanket, Bongo Comics and the Ralph Wiggum one-shot (Sergio Aragones, Mike Kazaleh, Carol Lay, Ted May, and more), "Hawkeye's a dick!", listener email, Ghost Rider, the latest episode of the Walking Dead on TV, Rogue Trooper and Strontium Dog, Uncanny X-Force, and a whole mess more!

Once again bracketed by listener comments from the 11 O'Clock Hotline, we plunge our collective proboscises deep into the upcoming Wild Pig event (Peter David, Rudy Nebres, Lee Weeks, and many more), the Wally Wood Artist Edition from IDW (incorporating Frank Frazetta, Mark Schultz, John Romita, Wil Eisner, Chris Ryall, and more), Terry Moore's Rachel Rising, JLA and the Obsidian Age by Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke, and Yvel Guichet, more on Winschluss' Pinocchio from Last Gasp, The Intrepids from Kurtis J. Wiebe, Scott Kowalchuk, and Image, Paul Gulacy and Master of Kung Fu #19, Punisher Max by Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon, the forthcoming Frankenstein Alive, Alive! by Bernie Wrightson and Steve Niles and John Byrne's Trio from IDW, Planet of the Apes from BOOM!, Winter Soldier, Empowered by Adam Warren, and a whole mess more!

We throw a whole mess of stuff at the fan in this old-school EOC episode, including Invincible Iron Man by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca, Scott Snyder, Scott Tuft, and Attila Futaki's Severed #6 and 7 from Image, Critical Millennium: The Dark Frontier by Andrew E. C. Gaska, Dan Dussault, and Archaia (incorporating Jim Henson's Tale of Sand, The Dapper Men, and more), Gates of Gotham by Snyder, Kyle Higgins, and Trevor McCarthy, Avengers Vs. X-Men, superstar writers (including Alan Moore, Jason Aaron, Gail Simone, Bendis, Roy Thomas, Ed Brubaker, Morrison, The New 52, and more), Fantastic Four, Alan Davis and Captain America, Brian Wood's DMZ, and a whole mess more!

Two hundred down and a lot more to come! This week, we cram a whole lot into our bicentennial episode, including Criminal: Last of the Innocent and Fatale by Brubaker and Phillips, Dennis Hopeless and Kevin Mellon's Lovestruck from Image, American Barbarian by Tom Scioli from AdHouse, the Gary Friedrich Marvel fallout, The Mask from John Arcudi and Doug Mahnke from Dark Horse, John Severin, Skinner: Every Man Is My Enemy from Gingko Press, Critical Hit, and ZeroFriends, Jonathan Ross and Tommy Lee Edwards' Turf from Image, Smoke Gignal #1 (Ben Marra, Michael DeForge, Bill Griffiths, Harvey Pekar, Tony Millionaire, Charles Burns, Sam Henderson, and more), Sleeper, Venom: Circle of Four, Peter Panzerfaust from Kurtis Wiebe and Tyler Jenkins, and a whole mess more!

The roster for this week includes Peanuts, the John Romita Artist's Edition from IDW, Strikeforce: Morituri by Peter B. Gillis, Brent Anderson, Whilce Portacio, and others, Astonishing Tales #12 and 13 (incorporating Ka-Zar and Man-Thing, Roy Thomas, Len Wein, Neal Adams, Gil Kane, Barry Windsor-Smith, Savage Tales #1, Big John Buscema, Rich Buckler, and more), the World's Collide DC/Milestone event (Static, Blood Syndicate, Superman, Icon, Hardware, Dwayne McDuffie, and others), American Vampire volume three by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque, and Sean Murphy, Rub the Blood by Secret Prison and Yeah Dude Comics (Jim Rugg, Benjamin Marra, Ian Harker, Pat Aulisio, Josh Bayer, Victor Cayro aka Bald Eagles, William Cardini, Mickey Z, Bloodwulf, Image, Extreme, Herb Trimpe, and a whole mess more), Prophet #21 from Brandon Graham, Scott Roy, and Extreme, Adventure Time, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Weird War, and original art, Crossed: Psychopath by David Lapham, Raulo Caceres, and avatar, The Boys from Dynamite!, Bon

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! It's almost an all Alan Moore episode as we spend a nice stretch talking about The Courtyard and Neonomicon from Avatar and DC's recent release of cover art and creative teams for the forthcoming suite of Before Watchmen prequel miniseries! After the dust settles, we manage to scrape together enough time to cover Spider Island, Shaky Kane's Monster Truck from Image, Heavy Metal: Iron Man Vs. X-O Manowar from Marvel and Valiant, Jeff Lemire and Sweet Tooth, Avengers: Childrens' Crusade, Matt Kindt on Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E., and a whole mess more!

Back to business as usual as we cover Spider Island, TMNT, Jim Henson's Tale of Sand by Henson, Jerry Juhl, and Ramon K. Perez from Archaia Entertainment, more on Winshluss' Pinocchio from Last Gasp, Ryan Stegman and Chris Yost's Scarlet Spider, Julian Lytle's ANTS, The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm from Flesk, Daredevil #8, Fantastic Four 1234 by Grant Morrison and Jae Lee, the art of Rafael Gallur (incorporating Mexico's Ghetto Librettos, Daniel K. Raeburn and the Historietas Perversas of The Imp #4, and much more), John Byrne's IDW Next Men run, Who Is Jake Ellis?, Scott Snyder and Papi Capullo's masterful Batman #5, The Town, recent developments in Liefeld and Kirkman's The Infinite, The Last Battle by Tito Faraci and Dan Brereton from Image, One Piece: Color Walk 2 by Iichiro Oda and Shonen Jump, Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows' Neonomicon from Avatar, Brubaker and Davis' Captain America, Sonic the Hedgehog from Archie, and a whole mess more!

Part the second of the 11 O'Closcars for 2011! (Show notes shelved to preserve the element of surprise.)

Part one of the 11 O'Closcars for 2011!(Show notes shelved to preserve the element of surprise.)

Far more laid back than usual, we countdown the days to the 11 O'Closcars with talk on Red State, Jason Aaron and Wolverine's Revenge, Star Trek and the Legion of Superheroes from IDW (incorporating Spaced, Sherlock, and Doctor Who), Jim Woodring's Weathercraft and Congress of the Animals from Fantagraphics, Steve Rude and NEXUS (including Rob Liefeld, Matt Wagner, John Byrne and Cold War, and much more), Frank Miller and Sin City, Walking Dead, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1969, Scott Snyder and Severed, Skyrim and Skylanders, and a whole mess more!

X-Mas gifts are opened and subjects are spoken such as Skyrim, High School of the Dead Color Omnibus volume one, Parker: The Martini Edition, Nexus, the Kindle Fire, Ryan Stegman, Deadpool, Pat Loika, Jim Woodring's Congress of the Animals, Jack Kirby's OMAC, MetaMAUS from Pantheon Books, John Byrne's Fantastic Four Omnibus, Mercy Heights, Looking for Group, Doctor Who, Jacques Tardi (Like a Sniper Lining up His Shot, Adele, Arctic Marauder and more!), Pertograd, Pokemon, Shawn Pryor and M.A.S.K, the Craftsman circular saw, Matt Wagner's Mage, Magik: Storm and Illyana, Tintin, Alien Legion: A Grey Day to Die, the Kamandi Omnibus, The Ocean of Time by Jon Strongbow, Mudtown, Theo Ellsworth's Sleeper Car, The Stumptown Files, The Uncouth Youth, Neil Gaiman's Instructions, Stupid Tales of Wolverine, The Gangsta Rap Coloring Book, The Bad Azz Mofo Book of Blaxploitation, Meanwhile..., Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Book of th' Dead, Destroy all Monsters, Too Much Coffee Man coffee, La Mano del Destino a

It's our Twelve Questions of Christmas episode, touching upon topics like The Punisher, One More Day, Wolverine: Evolution, Sins Past, Secret Wars II, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Rob Liefeld, Dazzler, Fear Agent, Vigilante, Howard the Duck, Cable, King Mob, Secret Invasion, Valiant, Wildcats, Watchmen, Miracleman, Runaways, Power Pack, Gene Colan, Mike Allred, Carmine Infantino, Dave Cockrum, Jack Kirby, George Tuska, Neal Adams and Batman: Odyssey, Peter David's X-Factor, Stryfe, Strangers in Paradise, Alpha Flight #12, Amazing Spider-Man #400, Norman Osborn, Mar-Vell, Savage Dragon, Strikeforce: Morituri, Elfquest, PLOP!, DarkStars, Matt Wagner, Joe Kubert, Moebius, The Crew, ROM, Micronauts, Archer and Armstrong, TMNT, Pat Boyette, DnA, Jaime Hernandez, Keith Pollard, Chris Sprouse, Tom Fowler, Sal Buscema, Tony Bedard, Gabriel Hardman, Mahmud Asrar, Bongo Comics, Greg Rucka's Punisher, Fables, and a whole mess more!

Picking up where we left the Frank Miller discussion last week, we cap off the second half ouf this episode with a jump into the murky waters of The DarK Knight Strikes Again and another extended and heated discussion on art, perception, expectation, and crazy creators with little more than contempt for both their medium and audience. Or is it? You decide. Plus, we fill the first hour full to the brim with banter on Fantomex, the Dark Horse Archive Editions, TFAW, omnibus editions (incorporating Evan Dorkin's Milk and Cheese, Wolfman and Perez's Teen Titans, Simonson's Thor, Morrison and company's New X-Men, Acts of Vengeance, Secret Wars II, Avengers: The Crossing, Too Much Coffee Man, and more!), 100 Bullets, Azzarello and Risso's Spaceman, Jack Kirby's stint on Our Fighting Forces and The Losers, Kirby inkers, Defenders #1 by the Dodsons and Fraction, Hellboy: House of the Living Dead from Mignola and Corben out of Dark Horse, Animan Man and Swamp Thing, the New52, Image's Haunt #19 by Casey and Fox, Actio

In this atypical extravaganza, we engage in two extended discussions -- the first concerns the X-Men: Asgardian Wars collection (incorporating Paul Smith, Terry Austin, Art Adams, Mike Mignola, X-Men/Alpha Flight, the New Mutants Special, Chris Claremont, Uncanny X-Men Annual #9, Longshot, Todd McFarlane, Michael Golden, and a whole lot more), and the second spotlights the book Chris and Vince deem the greatest Batman story of all time: Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley's The Dark Knight Returns! Plus, we have enough time left over to talk about the Parker Martini Edition, X-Men Vs. Avengers, Rick Remender, IDW's G.I Joe books and the Cobra Civil War crossover, the second volume in Craig Yoe's Chilling Archives of Horror Comics featuring Bob Powell's Terror from IDW, Gingerbread Girl, Percy Crosby's Skippy, Daredevil by Waid, Rivera, and Martin, Ennis and Batista's Jennifer Blood from BOOM!, and a whole mess more!

In this post-Thanksgiving King-Size gorgefest, we tickle the giblets of Grant Morrison's Action Comics, Dave Frank's Saucy Jesus and the Gun of Sod from Cactus Comics, Tom Scioli, Secret Prison, Action Lab, Doug Moench and Mike Ploog's Terror on the Planet of the Apes (soon to be reprinted from BOOM!), Universal Orlando and Harry Potter, Jack Kirby's Kamandi Omnibus volume one, the first volume of IDW's Grimjack Omnibus by John Ostrander, Tim Truman, and company (including Tom Sutton, Steve Pugh, Demon Knight, Nexus, Badger, Crossroads, Total Eclipse, Flint Henry/Henry Flint, and more), Airboy and Eclipse Comics, the TMNT Omnibus from IDW, Jacques Tardi's masterful Arctic Marauder from Fantagraphics, Superman: Birthright from Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu, and Gerry Alanguilan, Jughead Double Digest #175 from Archie (incorporating Rich Koslowski), ADD comic reading, Scud: The Disposable Assassin - The Whole Shebang from Image, Astro City: The Dark Age volume one, Legion of Monsters by Dennis Hopeless and Juan

Happy Thanksgiving! Franky DeJesus and Alan White help us give thanks for Comic Book Comics by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey, Bill Mantlo (incorporating David Yurkovich and Mantlo: A Life In Comics, Micronauts #1 and Micronauts Annual #1, ROM, Steve Ditko, Questprobe, Pat Broderick, Michael Golden, Jack of Hearts, Jackson Guice, and more), Paul Grist and Mudman #1 from Image, many issues of Amazing Spider-Man including the Spider Island event, John Severin, Joe Kubert and St. Johns Publishing (including 3D comics, TOR, Strange Terrors #7, Matt Baker, Comics Journal, and the prototypical "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust), the Mid-Ohio Comic Con, Marc Sumerak and All-Ghoul's School from IDW, Back Issue #38, 48, and 52 from TwoMorrows Publishing (touching upon Bernie Wrightson, Sergio Aragones, PLOP!, EC Comics, Vampirella, John Byrne, Charlton Comics, Madame Xanadu and Michael Kaluta, and a whole mess more), Low Concept: The EOC Community Anthology, Mahmud Asrar and Supergirl #3, Skottie Young and Magneto

We spend a nice chunk of time pulling apart Greg Rucka, J. H. Williams III, and Dave Stewart's Batwoman: Elegy (incorporating the New 52 Batwoman series, the Question, Pipeline, Five Books of Blood, Queen & Country, 52, and more), after which we take a detour into TV Land, taking long, hard looks at Young Justice, Green Lantern Animated, and Walking Dead (including Beast Wars, Joss Whedon and Buffy, and more). Plus, we still have enough slack to hang ourselves on Archie's Mega Man, Will Pfeifer, Dan Clowes and Eightball #23/Death Ray, Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlevy's Comic Book Comics #6, the New 52 Deathstroke by Kyle Higgins, Joe Bennett, and Art Thibert, the DC Universe Legacies hardcover, Marvel's Point One #1, Uncanny X-Force, Adam Glass and Suicide Squad #3, and a whole mess more!