Extra Sequential Podcast » extrasequential

ExSeq Ep.77-Habibi Review

extrasequential — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:08:07 +0000

45 mins. Our feature critique of Habibi, Craig Thompson’s long awaited follow-up to the critically acclaimed and widely adored Blankets. As well as exploring its intricately woven themes, we touch on the problems with writing Misery Porn, Orientalism, Religion, and whether or not Craig Thompson is a masochist. Also, Jurassic Park, and Robin Williams.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

From Pantheon, comes Craig Thompson’s Habibi. It’s black and white, it’s 672 pages, it looks great (even the ugly parts) and well, just listen to the show.

ExSeq Ep.76-Creative Differences

extrasequential — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:41:30 +0000

38 mins. Yes, it’s a short one, but it’s jam packed with writer/ artist teams that for various reasons have fallen out with one another and no longer work together. On the flip side, we also yak about great collaborative partnerships that work splendidly and just show is the Michael Bay of comics.

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2: 15 THEME – CREATIVE DIFFERENCES

The increase in public disputes these days, such as recent examples including Rob Liefeld and Robert Kirkman falling out over The Infinite, and writer John Rozum’s problems with the making of Static Shock.

Good creative unions and frequent collaborators:

Mark Millar and his usual team of artists

Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo

Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

Creative splits:

Alan Moore and Steve Bissette on 1963, and Dave Gibbons after Watchmen

Mark Waid and Alex Ross after Kingdom Come

The Image Comics founders

Mark Millar and Grant Morrison

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

Teams we want to see reunited:

Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle

Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan

Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove

Added bonus:

Megatokyo webcomic

ExSeq Ep.75-Young Romance Rvw

extrasequential — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:51:32 +0000

46 mins. Legendary creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby effectively created the romance comics genre which was surprisingly dominant during the 1940s and 50s. We look at Fantagraphics’ entertaining new collection of some of their work. Also, the awesomeness of The Golden Girls. Yes, you heard me.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

2: 40 NEWS

SOPA bill

Dc Comics cancellations and new titles

New DC Comics logo

David Wohl resigns as Radical EiC

CW orders Green Arrow TV pilot

12:44 YOUNG ROMANCE FEATURE REVIEW

We focus on Young Romance, Fantagraphics’ excellent collection of 21 romance comics from Simon and Kirby from the 1940s and 50s. We discuss this unique era in the history of comics, the roles of men and women at the time, the very entertaining and surprising nature of the mature storytelling, the pre and post Comics Code stories, and the extras of this book, including notes on the time consuming restoration and the labour of love behind this project. Highly recommended for comics history enthusiasts and those who appreciate dramatic stories.

Read the short stories Fraulein Sweetheart, and Shame right here for free.

ExSeq Ep.74-Tintin Review

extrasequential — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:56:45 +0000

46 mins. The boy reporter from the mind of Belgian writer/artist Herge finally comes to the big screen, with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson as his guides. We discuss what we liked and didn’t like and the questionable addition of the third dimension. Also, improper pronunciations and tough butlers.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

1: 06 NEWS

Alien cathouse in Nevada

Akira movie on hold

Bandai stops producing anime and manga

Pics of Superman and Batman: Earth One OGNs

Chip Kidd’s Batman: Death by Design talk

8:22 TINTIN MOVIE REVIEW

You get two perspectives in one review, with Mladen’s Tintin knowledge and my lack thereof. We also mention it’s troubled past, Indiana Jones, violence, lack of merchandising and the difference between action and adventure. Oh, and Super Ted.

ExSeq Ep.73-2011 Recap

extrasequential — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:50:00 +0000

59 mins. We chat about the comics events and trends that have shaped the last 12 months and grabbed the most headlines, including dead superheroes, digital shopping and more. Also, The Punisher as an angel. Ah, memories.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

THEME – 2011 RECAP

The New York Times Bestseller list, dominated by The Walking Dead and Scott Pilgrim

DC’s new 52 (of course)

DC’s RetroActive one-shots

Artists becoming writers

Retailer incentives

Webcomics:

Hark a Vagrant http://harkavagrant.com/

Hobo Lobo of Hamelin http://hobolobo.net/

The Abaddon http://abaddoncomic.com/

American Barbarian http://www.ambarb.com/

The Man of Many Shades http://www.themanofmanyshades.com/

Tune http://www.tunecomic.com/

The success of Kickstarter projects

Marvel’s cancellations

Fear Itself and X-Men: Schism

IDW’s Infestation zombie/licence x-over

The death of Ultimate Spider-Man and the intro of Miles Morales

Manga and European sales

Joe the Barbarian, and Chester Brown’s Paying For It

Movies and video games of 2011

A quick look ahead to 2012

Comics Christmas Cards

extrasequential — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:28:03 +0000

Every year there’s some great Christmas cards from comics publishers. Here’s an assortment of 2011′s.

From Sonny Liew, creator of Malinky Robot.

UK publisher Com.x (45, Seeds, Blue Spear)

Archaia (Mouse Guard, Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand – my fave OGN of 2011!)

Here’s a treat from nerdcore band Kirby Krackle. You can grab their new single, focused on a certain crimson nosed reindeer right here.

and here’s a fitting pic that I put on the Extra Sequential Facebook page (become our friend if you aren’t already!) from artist Mike del Mundo. I think it sums up mine and Mladen’s comics leanings quite well.

Finally, here’s Broken Frontier, a wonderful site that I write for and at that very site is where you can find more cards from other publishers and creators.

Merry CHRISTmas!

ExSeq Ep.72-Best Comics of 2011

extrasequential — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:22:25 +0000

60 mins. What a crazy good year it’s been for comics. We talk about what has impressed us the most from breakout talent, to new series to movie adaptation. Also, Star Trek: TNG’s Riker, and which superhero series resembles Breaking Bad.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

1:20 NEWS

The Hobbit, and The Dark Knight Rises trailers

Jail time for Wolverine movie pirate

6:20 THEME-BEST COMICS OF 2011

Reprint:

Mladen – Fantagraphics’ ‘Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes’

Kris – IDW’s ‘Artist’s Edition’ series

Film:

Mladen - ’Gantz’

Kris – ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’

Australian Comic

Mladen - Bobby N’s ‘Digested’ (Gestalt)

Kris - ‘The Deep: Here be Dragons’ (Gestalt)

Honorable mention - ‘Zorro’ (Silver Fox comics)

Foreign Language Comic (in English)

Mladen - ’The Drops of God’

Kris - ‘The Zombies that Ate the World’

Honorable mention – ’20th Century Boys’, ‘AX Manga Anthology’

New talent:

Mladen - Ian Bertram

Kris – Mike Huddleston

Honorable mention – Nick Spencer

Continuing series:

Kris – ‘Green Lantern’ (DC Comics)

New ongoing series or mini

Mladen - ’Blue Estate’ (Image comics)

Kris – ‘Who is Jake Ellis?’ (Image comics)

One-shot or OGN

Mladen - Joseph Lambert’s ‘I Will Bite You’

Kris – Jim Henson’s ‘Tale of Sand’

Best comic overall

Mladen - Anders Nilsen’s ‘Big Questions’

Kris - ‘Who is Jake Ellis?’

ExSeq Ep.71-Christmas Gifts

extrasequential — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:05:56 +0000

59 mins. Christmas is just around the corner so we recommend a few comics to buy for those who may be new to this wonderful medium. We cover the gamut of styles and genres. There’s something for everybody! Also, putting a crooner in your stocking, and which Futurama characters we most closely resemble.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

2:44 NEWS

New G.I. Joe and Men in Black sequel trailers

Justice League: Doom

An Austin Powers musical

DC’s November sales figures

Shaun Tan’s The Arrival at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre

Jay and Silent Bob come to Perth too! (Nope! Sold out!)

11:46 THEME-CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE

What to buy (including James Jean’s sketchbooks) and not to buy (including the mammoth DCnU 52 Hardcover).

Dinosaur Comics’ oversized T-Rex beanbag

Superheroes – The Ultimates, All Star Superman, Batwoman, Secret Avengers, Batman and Robin

Action – Red, Who is Jake Ellis?, Image’s Blue Estate, The Last Days of American Crime by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini, The Losers, Jason Aaron’s Scalped

Indie - IDW’s Starstruck, Daytipper, The Nightly News, Drops of God manga, Blankets, and Habibi by Craig Thompson

Horror – Hellboy, The Occultist, The Strain, Baltimore: The Curse Bells, BPRD, Creepy collections, Gestalt’s Changing Ways and Rombies

Comedy – Wilson, Axe Cop, The Goon

TV adaptations – The Walking Dead, Buffy, Game of Thrones, Voltron, Transformers, and G.I. Joe from IDW

Fantasy – Mice Templar, the Sixth Gun

Older comic collections - Donald Duck Lost in the Andes, Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse, the very cheap Marvel’s Essentials and DC’s Showcase Presents

ExSeq Ep.70-Unread Stack

extrasequential — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 11:35:11 +0000

53 mins. We all have one – a pile of shame. In other words, comics that have been sitting, and gathering dust, on our bookshelves for far too long. We discuss our own examples, and the reasons why they’ve remained unopened. Also, Brigitte Nielsen’s body of work.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

1:44 NEWS

Brian Wood’s thoughts on digital comics

Jim Zubkavich’s thoughts on comics piracy

Brian Michael Bendis leaves the Avengers franchise

Chewbacca on Glee (yes, it’s true)

Alan Moore on Frank Miller

19:07 THEME-UNREAD PILE

The whys of our collecting habits, plus books on our stack we’ve finally read this week.

Kris’ stack:

Jack Kirby’s OMAC

The Rocketeer

Starman Omnibus

Elephantmen

Madame Mirage

Superman: Emperor Joker

Fray

Seeds from Com.x

Underground

Thor Visionaries Vol. 1 Walt Simonson

Hulk Visionaries Peter David Vols 1-4

(and recently read) Meltdown, and A God Somewhere

Mladen’s stack:

Spirou

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Epic Comics’ Interface

Moebius’ Blueberry

Peter Milligan’s Shade the Changing Man

Bonelli comic Ken Parker

Dragon Ball Z

Battle Angel Alita

Cerebus (after Minds)

(and recently read) Tintin and the Alph-Art, and Vic and Blood: The Chronicles of a Boy and His Dog

Plus, stuff we’d like to own, and hopefully read one day!

ExSeq Ep.69-’50s Sci-fi

extrasequential — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:04:55 +0000

58 mins. Don’t suffer from space sickness or hard radiation, but listen to our discussion about manly heroes, jetpacks, rayguns and the lost art of adventuring. From comic strips to comic books we look at some of the genre’s best tough guys and their unique tales. Also, Timothy Dalton and a tree.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

2:15 NEWS

Watch the Neil Gaiman The Simpsons episode (if you’re in the U.S)

Dark Horse going day and date digital on all their titles

Writer Mark Millar ain’t a fan of digital though

Nicolas Cage’s former copy of 1938′s Action Comics #1 sells for a record amount

7:20 THEME – ’50s SCI-FI

Race relations, strange aliens and thoughtful ambassadors in these grand and well constructed tales from the halcyon days of the 1950s.

EC’s Weird Fantasy

Al Feldstein & Joe Orlando’s “Judgment Day”

Wally Wood’s upcoming collection from Vanguard

Buck Rogers

Flash Gordon’s new series from Dynamite Entertainment (and read the first two issues of Ardden’s Flash Gordon series here)

Sky Masters of the Space Force

Jeff Hawke

Dan Dare

Trigan Empire

Rick Random

Tintin: Destination Moon & Explorers on the Moon

Astro Boy

Finally, here’s a clip of Flash Gordon ”fighting” Timothy Dalton in the 1980 film!

ExSeq Ep.68-Endings

extrasequential — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 03:26:04 +0000

50 mins. The opposite of origin tales is this week’s focus as we examine various superhero future stories, both classic and new. What happens to our favourite characters decades into the future when they’re older, greyer and grumpier? Also, Colin Firth in a fountain.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

1:46 NEWS

NY School of Visual Arts’ free magazine, INK

The Human Torch returns to life after a no-so lengthy absence

The Dark Knight Rises film info

Batman: The Brave and the Bold finale

SyFy orders Booster Gold pilot script

8:48 ENDINGS

Son of Superman

Kingdom Come, and Earth X

Old Man Logan

The Dark Knight Returns

Hulk: The End

Batman Beyond

New X-Men: Here Comes Tomorrow

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

Spider-Man: Reign

ExSeq Ep.67-Damsels in Distress

extrasequential — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:06:29 +0000

53 mins. We analyse the purpose of the love-interest character, how they play off of the heroic lead, and what makes the archetypal Lois Lane memorable while others are forgotten. Also, Jean Claude van Damme. Just because.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

2:10 NEWS

Neil Gaiman on The Simpsons

New Peanuts comics from BOOM! Studios

A few Marvel cancellations, including PunisherMAX

DC’s digital only Batman Beyond series

Frank Miller’s anti-Occupy Wall Street tirade

11:22 THEME-THE ROMANTIC LEAD

The female love interest/damsel in distress has a specific role to fill in the stories of comics, and most notably superheroes. We examine the following.

The pulp novels including Doc Savage, and The Shadow

Hollywood’s genre mashing of sorts

Female versions of male superheroes

Peter Parker’s loves, including Gwen Stacy, and his dissolved marriage with Mary Jane Watson

Bruce Wayne’s escorts

The complicated relationships in Crying Freeman, and Preacher

ExSeq ep.66 – War

extrasequential — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 00:39:11 +0000

55 mins. War. What is it good for? We dive into the battlefield and how it’s been represented in comics of yesteryear and today, and review Frank Miller’s new work “Holy Terror”. Plus, the wearing of shorts, head shapes and hammy thighs.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

1:17 NEWS

Neil Gaiman’s birthday

DC Comics licence plates

Cinebook publisher Olivier Cadic receives an Order of Merit

The new Asterix creative team

Akira film casting

7:13 THEME-WAR!

The failures of Frank Miller’s “Holy Terror”

The war journalism of Joe Sacco’s nonfiction “The Fixer”

The boycotting of the shortlived “Blazing Combat” from the late 1960s

Vietnam comics: psychological drama “The Other Side”, and the satirical “Guerillas”

Hans Von Hammer’s high flying and outlandish WW1 tales in “Enemy Ace”

Sgt. Rock, DMZ, The ‘Nam, Semper Fi, Commando Comics, Nick Fury (whose Howling Commandos appear in the Captain America films)

The relaunched DC Comics’ Men of War series (that we didn’t mention!)

ExSeq Ep.65-Chuck Dixon

extrasequential — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:04:16 +0000

62 mins. Our creator profile on underrated and prolific superhero writer, Chuck Dixon. His talent, writing style, and influence on superhero comics in the late 90s is discussed, as well as the controversial issues and personal politics which led to his blacklisting at both Marvel & DC. Also, Whoopi Goldberg’s love life and Billy Connolly as Dr. Who.

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or ON iTUNES

You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

1:54 NEWS

Ted McKeever’s Mondo

The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman on TV show The View

6:53 THEME – CHUCK DIXON

Dixon is a master world builder and wrote a multitude of mainly Batman related titles in the ’90s and early 2000s. He expanded the lives of Tim Drake and Dick Grayson, co-created Bane and made an all-female series a huge success in Birds of Prey. His recent history, especially with the major publishers, is more controversial.

(show correction: Mladen was incorrect to say that Chuck Dixon “got his start in comics” with Robin, he meant to instead imply that he rose to recognition and some popularity with that title)

ExSeq Ep.64-Old DC Debuts

extrasequential — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:29:32 +0000

69 mins. We thought we’d turn back the clock to the some old debuts from DC Comics and compare them to the current blast of new series premieres, and discuss the trouble of new superhero concepts and the business of such. Also, Beauty and the Geek, Family Matters and Bruce Willis.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

1: 58 NEWS

Batman: Arkham City fan made costume

The new Punisher TV series

Superman’s co-creator’s auction

Watchmen 2 gets some movement

Sydney Zombie Walk, and a great zombie print from Silver Fox Comics

13:45 THEME – FORGOTTEN DC #1s

The Highwaymen. It’s like Red, but with added Bill Clinton and more innocent deaths.

Lab Rats from John Byrne. It’s like The Matrix, or tries to be. It fails.

Suicide Squad – old and new.

Hawk and Dove – old (hard rocking!) and new (zombies on airplanes!).

Firebrand featuring exploding mechanical legs.

How the storytelling and marketing approach varies between the old DC #1s and the 2011 versions.

ExSeq Ep. 63-Manga for Beginners

extrasequential — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:55:24 +0000

70 mins. Prepare for our mammoth manga episode filled with more astounding examples of Eastern comics that you can shake a katana at! Mladen teaches Kris all about manga and how it relates to, and differs from, superhero comics, plus lots, lots more. Also, naked pirates and 40 year old teenagers.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON iTUNES

You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

1:00 NEWS

Frank Miller on more Sin City

Mark Hamill retires as Joker’s voice

Writer Brian Wood (DMZ, Demo, Northlanders) to do Conan, and Wolverine!

Geoff Darrow brings back the whacky Shaolin Cowboy

Live action Akira film greenlit Die Hard 5 with a bad premise and worse title

Doco on Yoshihiro Tatsumi

Dexter comics written by its creator

Lots of new Dark Horse Star Wars series next year

13:10 THEME – MANGA FOR BEGINNERS

Genre diversity, cultural and thematic differences, pace and action, and the problems with art similarities. Relating them to western comics.

Manga artists of a different style:

Yuichi Yokoyama, Motofumi Kobayashi, Taiyo Matsumoto, Naoki Urasawa, Seiichi Hayashi, Akira Hiromoto, and Tsutomu Nihei

Shorter Manga:

Tekkonkinkreet (aka Black and White), Ghost in the Shell, Uzumaki (aka Spirals), Me and the Devil Blues

Action manga:

Akira, Battle Royale, Gantz, Basilisk, Vagabond

(bonus: Crying Freeman, Shaman Warrior, Fist of the North Star, Blade of the Immortal, Shigurui)

For fans of Vertigo (mix of action and thinking, high concept, intense, supernatural horror etc)

Dragon Head, 20th Century Boys, Ikigami,

(bonus: Monster, Billy Bat, MPD Psycho)

Science fiction manga:

2001 Nights, Saturn Apartments, Planetes, Blame!, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Astro Boy

(bonus: 5th Dimension Treatment, Stardust Memories)

Historical or period manga:

Vagabond, Lone Wolf and Cub & Path of the Assassin, Motofumi Kobayashi’s war comics, Joan of Arc by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko

Everyday topics:

Real, Prince of Tennis, Firefighter, Initial D, Oishinbo, Yakitate, Iron Wok Jan

Literary and Oddball comics:

New Engineering (Yuichi Yokoyama), The Drifting Life, The Push Man, Bury the Old in Tokyo (Yoshihiro Tatsumi), Human Clock (Tokunan Seiichiro), Tekkonkinkreet, Paranoia Star (Maruo Suehiro), Red Colored Elegy, Me and the Devil Blues

(bonus: Ooku, Sexy Voice and Robo, GoGo Monster, Gon, The Drifting Classroom)

Phew!

Extra Sequential on The C-List Podcast

extrasequential — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 11:38:29 +0000

This week Mladen and I had the honour of joining the hilarious C-List podcast to yak about a cavalcade of comics characters most people haven’t heard of. The C-List is hosted by Luke (who joined Mladen on the recent ES Star Wars episode) and Mike and, as the name suggests, puts the spotlight on background characters from well known movies.

It was a blast as the four of us made fun of some truly whacky superheroes and villains. Be warned that there’s more language than our usual ES shows though.

Catch the crazy episode right here.

ExSeq Ep.62-Arkham Asylum

extrasequential — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:33:06 +0000

72 mins. In honour of next week’s highly anticipated release of the Batman: Arkham City videogame, we discuss the best Arkham Asylum comics, the dark history of Gotham City and a few of its cruel and unusual inhabitants. Also, predictable superhero posing, Woody Allen as Batman and the ice-cold woman known as Frostbite McDonough.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON iTUNES

You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

1:23 NEWS

Avengers movie trailer

NoNoWriMo – write a novel in November. You can do it!

Vertigo to publish The Millenium Trilogy novels

DC relaunch sales figures

15:55 THEME – ARKHAM ASYLUM

Grant Morrison & Dave McKean’s “Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth”

Alan Grant & Norm Breyfogle’s “The Last Arkham”

Batman: The Animated Series: “Lockup”, “Trial”

Dan Slott & Ryan Sook’s “Arkham Asylum: Living Hell”

David Hine & Jeremy Haun’s “Arkham Reborn”

The characters that turn evil after visiting Arkham (and not as inmates) including Lock Up and Joker’s girlfriend Harley Quinn.

The little known ‘90s one-shots “Batman: Ghosts” and “Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet”, and Arkham as seen in Batman: The Animated Series.

ExSeq Ep.61-’30s & ’40s Heroes

extrasequential — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 02:44:56 +0000

64 mins. We wind back the clock to those halcyon days of the 1930s and 40s when comic books and superheroes were brand new. And they were stranger and wilder than you could imagine. Also, Orson Welles. Drunk.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON iTUNES

You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

2:37 NEWS

Beware the Batman - a CG animated series

The Simpsons’ future

New episodes of Beavis & Butt-Head

Grant Morrison writing a Rogue Trooper film

The Metal Hurlant Chronicles TV series

New Arrested Development episodes and film! Yay!

Short fan film inspired by Ben Templesmith’s Welcome to Hoxford

15:26 THEME – 1930s AND 40S COMICS

The diversity of genres, crude renderings, strange tales of justice, the crazy work of Fletcher Hanks, radio serials, the abundance of anthologies, superhero precursors and more. What a wild time in which the comics we know and love today were experimenting and finding their feet.

If you want to hear some great, free radio serials go here, and here’s an example of a crazy Captain Marvel comic from the time.

ExSeq Ep.60-Sex Scenes

extrasequential — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 05:34:04 +0000

75 mins. Put on the jazz and light some candles. It’s time for a look at sex scenes in comics. It’s our raunchiest episode ever! Actually, it’s more funny than raunchy as we realise how disturbing, hilarious and just plain strange sequential art sex can get. Also duck rude bits, cooking chicken and Andrew Ridgley from WHAM!.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON iTUNES

You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

4:18 NEWS

Mladen’s writing for the digital Find Magazine! Woo hoo!

Catwoman’s unimpressive new film costume

Justice League: Doom animated film premieres next year

Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts doco

The hugely negative response to DC’s new version of the sexed up Starfire

Uderzo’s Asterix successors

14:06 SEX SCENES

Catwoman #1

Green Goblin and Spider-Man’s first girlfriend, Gwen Stacy

Superman and Wonder Woman having sex while flying through volcanoes. The earth literally moves.

Watchmen’s 2 scenes, including Dr Manhattan’s multitasking

Dave McKean’s artful “Celluloid”

The amazing hallucination/sex scenes in “Swamp Thing”

“The Boys”, and whether Garth Ennis’ has issues with women in authority

Last Gasp Publishing’s yearly anthologies: “Best Erotic Comics”

Milo Manara’s “Bolero”

Ignacio Noe’s “The Piano Tuner” and “The Convent from Hell”

Caza and Paul Lamontellerie’s “Planet Terror”

Serpieri’s “Druuna”

Vittorio Giardino’s Little Nemo sex romp, “Little Ego”

Hentai, and the troubling subculture of Lolicon

The gratuitous sex in “Gantz”

The mature sex and violence in “Crying Freeman”

The mechanics of mutant sex and superhero kids

The numerous, and disturbing scenes in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series

ExSeq Ep.59-DuckTales

extrasequential — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 11:21:55 +0000

55 mins. Don’t cry fowl, but we discuss the whacky and funny Fantagraphics collection of Carl Barks’ much loved 1940s Donald Duck stories, and compare them to BOOM! Studios’ current DuckTales…tales. Also, Ninja Turtles, Mythbusters and capitalism.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON iTUNES

You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

2:53 NEWS

Amanda Waller gets retconned to a thin woman!

Marvel is no longer publishing any of French publisher’s Soleil’s great comics

Batman: Year One animated clip

John Dies at the End cast pics

9:43 THEME – DONALD DUCK AND DUCKTALES

We tell you why creator Carl Barks is loved for his storytelling prowess and surprisingly funny and absurd humour in his Donald, Scrooge, etc tales and compare it with the modern equivalent in BOOM! Studio’s latest DuckTales mini-series.

You can get Fantagraphics’ Donald Duck in Lost in the Andes in November.

The 4 issues of BOOM!’s DuckTales series, Rightful Owners, are available now.

48: 02 A FEW QUICK THOUGHTS ON THE DC #1s WE’VE READ

ExSeq Ep.58-Star Wars

extrasequential — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 04:36:38 +0000

74 mins. Kris is frozen in Carbonite this week, so Mladen is joined by Luke Milton, Perth comic artist/photographer (that’s one of his photos below) and host of the “C-List” and “The Book Was Better” podcasts, to discuss Star Wars! The mythic stature vs the actual quality of the films, blu-ray deleted scenes and changes, the original and prequel trilogies, and the expanded universe and Star Wars Comics. Also: Lando Calrissian, Yaddle, and an awkward story about meeting Jake Lloyd. Your ears can’t repel podcasting of this magnitude!

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON iTUNES

You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

As for the comics we mention:

Star Wars: Infinities – The Star Wars version of Elseworlds/What If…

Star Wars Empire: The story of Biggs Darklighter

The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn

Star Wars: Droids comics

Dark Empire

Star Wars Tales with Tony Millionaire and Peter Bagge

Archie Goodwin’s 1970s Star Wars comics

ExSeq Ep.57-Aquatic Characters

extrasequential — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:20:23 +0000

64 mins. Our maritime message is that you listen to this aquatic adventure for your audio canals, as a tidal wave of seafaring superheroes and stories washes over you. Also, six-packs, Eddie Murphy and arm wrestling and our attempt to mock Aquaman’s harpoon hand, and lustrous hair. He’s the King of the Seven Seas! He demands respect people!

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

2:15 NEWS

Extra Sequential announcement: Perth comic artist and fellow podcaster Luke Milton of the C-list podcast will be joining us next week for our feature topic of STAR WARS. Check out their podcast while you’re at it!

“Oumpah-pah”, the first comic by the co-creators of “Asterix”, finally returns to print in its entirety!

Chuck Norris and Van Damme in The Expendables 2

Another Beetlejuice film is coming our way

Top Shelf’s huge sale

Seth and Daniel Clowes tour

Writer J.M. DeMatteis’ weekend workshop

“Fables for Japan”, a digital comics anthology to be released September 10th with all proceeds going to the victims of the March 11th Japan earthquakes

11:29 THEME – AQUATICNESS

The massively popular One Piece by Eiichiro Oda

The whacky Seaguy from Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart

Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese

Asterix and Obelisk and their battles against pirates

Gestalt’s The Deep – with a sequel now on the way!

Freakangels by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield

Michael Turner’s Fathom from publisher Aspen

Cartoon Snorks

Tales of the Black Freighter – the pirate story within Watchmen. Also an animated film.

Namor

Aquaman (Read more about him on page 30-37 here at the digital ES mag). Preview of the relaunched #1 here.

Ian Churchill’s Marineman

Jay Piscopo’s The Undersea Adventures of Cap’n Eli and its spinoff Sea Ghost

Abe Sapien

Cursed Pirate Girl

Popeye

Steve Pugh’s Shark Man

ExSeq Ep.56-Comics We Wanna See

extrasequential — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:52:00 +0000

77 mins. After a few brief news items we launch into comics we’d like to see some day. This involves dream projects, concept variations and fond memories of 80s cartoons and forgotten 90s TV shows. We also sing. A lot and mention Gerard Depardieu, She-Hulk and Mad Max.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

2:24 NEWS

Brian Wood at Marvel

Alpha Flight ongoing series

Superman film costume pics

Conan’s failure at the box office

17:14 THEME-COMICS WE WANT TO SEE

HBO’s cancelled “Carnivale” series

Nowhere Man

ThunderCats

Star Trek comics NOT based on any of the movie/series characters, and New Frontier

Bionic Six

Asterix and Obelix from new creative teams, ala Spirou and Lucky Luke

Marvel and DC combining forces into one mega-publisher

Peter David returning to Hulk

(good) Indiana Jones comics

Original Phantom stories from Australia

Different iterations of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, such as this great ’80s one

The Ultimates Volume 3 by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch

Hard science fiction comics

Tom Neely for a new Popeye series, like his surreal “Popeye: Doppelganger”

More Elseworlds tales from DC Comics

Also, comics that do exist but that you may not know about, such as Dark Crystal, X-Men Forever, X-Factor Forever and Buckaroo Banzai.

Also, check out Project Rooftop and Superman 2000.

ExSeq Ep. 55-Read Comics in Public

extrasequential — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 08:26:31 +0000

53 mins. It’s International Read Comics in Public Day so we discuss the hows and whys of doing so. Also, the definition of geeks, Dan Brown, and cheering superheroes.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

1:22 NEWS

Superman’s film costume loses his red undies

Rolling Stone talks to Grant Morrison

Hero Complex talks to Dan DiDio

A freaky Korean webcomic

Comics documentary on Kickstarter

Shaun Tan wins a Hugo Award

22:37 THEME-INTERNATIONAL READ COMICS IN PUBLIC DAY

We talk about reading comics in public – the what to read, what not to read and general suggestions into making new comics friends. Handy hints galore! Also comics that we’re too embarassed to read, the novels that we see people read on public transport.

Here is a collection of pics all over the world of people participating last year.

ExSeq Ep. 54-Genre Mash Ups

extrasequential — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 08:38:22 +0000

61 mins. We focus on genre mash-ups in comics. The movie trailer marketing for the DC 52 Relaunch, writer Brian Wood leaving DC, the workings behind film-rights at Vertigo, the Death of Hellboy, and our quick thoughts on the new Conan the Barbarian & Iron Man: Extremis motion comic. Also floating moustaches, zombie cows and Herman’s Head.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

1:19 NEWS

The DC Comics ad at cinemas

Why Brian Wood’s DMZ didn’t become a TV show

Colleen Doran speaking at Sydney in November

Farewell Hellboy! (sort of)

Cola-Con - Comics and hip hop together at last

Ridley Scott directing another Blade Runner film

16:29 THEME: GENRES MASH-UPS

We yak about various properties that either ‘meet’ or ‘vs’ each other. Superman, Batman, Aliens, Predator, Tarzan, Judge Dredd, Frankenstein, Abbott and Costello, zombies, robots and many more.

Image’s Cowboy Ninja Viking

Geof Darrow’s Shaolin Cowboy

Abraxas and the Earthman

Heavy metal film - submit your ideas!

Robots vs Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Antarctic Press’ Pirates vs Ninja

ExSeq Ep.53-The Deep & Century: 1969

extrasequential — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:14:54 +0000

50 mins. We focus on two very different comics this week, in Gestalt’s The Deep and Top Shelf’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1969. Also, comic shops in Sydney, ping pong balls, The Rock and more.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

4:30 NEWS

The Annotated Sandman Volume 1

The White Rabbit Batman villainess

Robert Crumb cancels his Australian visit

Tanarus, the new Thor

13:16 FEATURE REVIEWS-THE DEEP & CENTURY: 1969

From Tom Taylor and James Brouwer comes this fun all-ages adventure about the Nekton family.

Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill bring us the latest, and certainly not all-ages, instalment in their increasingly strange League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series.

Extra Sequential Podcast Trailer

extrasequential — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 07:25:15 +0000

Seeing as we’ve now approached our one year anniversary, Mladen and I thought we’d do something a little special, so here we have a trailer for our podcast. As always for the show, the groovy music is by Mladen (he with the long hair). It was pretty fun to make this, as I haven’t done any editing in years.

ExSeq Ep. 52-Cats

extrasequential — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 03:44:19 +0000

58 mins. Celebrating World Cat Day, we take a feline focus on some our favourite cat-themed characters. Catwoman, Black Panther, Doraemon and oh, so many more. Also, DC’s controversial approach to female creators, and race within superhero comics.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

1:50 NEWS

George Lucas loses the rights to the Stormtroopers design

Bane from The Dark Knight Rises

Batman: Arkham City game costumes

First pic of the new Superman

Laurence Fishburne is the new Perry White

Miles Morales, the new Ultimate Spider-Man

DC’s reaction to female creators

He-Man documentary

The Vault, and Nonplayer have been picked up for potential films

Our very own trailer!

21:58 THEME-CATS

Black Panther

Catwoman, and Catgirl

Catman

Hellcat, Tigra and Cheetah

Blacksad

Apocalypse Meow

Cat Eyed Boy

Doraemon

Hello Kitty

Marsupilami

Krazy Kat

Catbert (from Dilbert)

Garfield

Hobbes (from Calvin and Hobbes)

Horse (from Footrot Flats)

The X-Men’s Beast

Black Cat

2 in We3

Fritz the Cat

ThunderCats

Streaky the Super Cat

(SHOW CORRECTION: Not all furries are into the sexual content, we used the term ‘furries’ to refer to the sexual subgroup as we couldn’t recall the word for it at the time. No offense intended to Furries, and sorry for the false characterisation. Thanks for catching the error, ES listeners!)

ExSeq Ep.51-Eisners & Old City Blues

extrasequential — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 06:13:59 +0000

49 mins. We discuss this year’s Eisner Award winners, including some surprises and a few faves, plus examine the recent OGN from Archaia, Giannis Milonogiannis’ sci-fi mash-up Old City Blues. Also, Home Alone 2, Garfield, the exclusion of Jedis and more.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

3:26 NEWS

The rather subtle DC Relaunch protest at Comic-Con

New Judge Dredd film images

Marvel gets the film rights back to Blade and Punisher

Nerdcore duo Kirby Krackle’s new album, Super Powered Love is now out

Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga

New DC animated films

Jack Kirby’s estate loses court case to Marvel

Captain America: The First Avenger is awesome. Here’s my full review

19:07 EISNER AWARD WINNERS

See the full list here

27:03 FEATURE REVIEW – OLD CITY BLUES

Set in Greece after a devastating flood, this sci-fi tale wears it influences proudly on its sleeve.

More info here and behind the scene commentary from writer/artist Giannis Milonogiannis here.

ExSeq Ep. 50

extrasequential — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 12:34:03 +0000

60 mins. Join us as we celebrate our first milestone episode and talk about heaps of Comic-Con news, and a few recent reviews. We also answer some fanmail and talk about bad Robin Williams’ films, MacGyver, Klingons, Jarvis Cocker, and invisible pants.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

6:54 NEWS

IDW’s Popeye comic

Vertigo’s House of Mystery is ending

Trailers for next year’s Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man

Marvel’s Season One newbie friendly OGNs

Tom Morello, Guillermo del Toro and P.C Cast working with Dark Horse

The dissolution of Superman’s marriage to Lois Lane

DC’s comic based on the game, Uncharted

Star Trek and Legion of Super-Heroes cross-over

Spider-Man and X-Men titles go digital

25:33 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Osama Tezuka’s little known Apollo’s Song

Conan: Island of No Return

Taiyo Matsumoto’s Gogo Monster

DC Retro-Active – Wonder Woman – The ’70s. 2 tales starring a powerless, judo loving WW.

Big Baby, another weird comic from Charles Burns

Harlan Ellison’s collection of reviews, Watching

X-Men: Schism #1 by Jason Aaron and Carlos Pacheco

ExSeq Ep #49-Bad Taste Comics

extrasequential — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 12:52:34 +0000

59 mins. We’re joined by Dave Jackson and Pierre of Melbourne comic book Modern Gentlemen to discuss how comics have become the last bastion of Bad Taste in popular art.

We also look at objectionable content in comics, censorship, sex and violence, how far is too far, the indie sub-genre of hardcore sleaze comics as well as the mainstream, and dig into some key creators of the genre.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

Find the teaser for Fever Dreams, the guy’s upcoming TV show on Channel 31 here.

ExSeq Ep #48-July Previews

extrasequential — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 11:22:23 +0000

46 mins. We look at the goodies in the latest Previews monthly catalogue, for September releasing comics. Also, Mladen guesses the identities of the new Justice League International, plush toy that reminds us of Kevin Bacon, Ice Man’s clothing choices and the Dead Block zombie game.

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You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.

1:20 NEWS

Marvel’s Facebook popularity

Dark Horizons’ best comics films list

The upcoming animated film Batman: Year One trailer

Warren Ellis and D’Israeli’s unique, ultraviolet comic, SVK

Harvey Award nominees

Read Orc stain #1 for free

Heroes and Villains comics exhibition

11:52 THEME-JULY PREVIEWS

We recommend stuff from a gamut of publishers including Dark Horse, IDW, Alterna, BOOM! Studios, and Fantagraphics. We check out comics such as a few of the DC relaunches, Ghostbusters #1, classic Flash Gordon, Jim Henson’s A Tale of Sand, Daniel Clowes’ The Death Ray, Michael Zulli’s The Fracture of the Universal Boy, Frank Miller’s Holy Terror!, Korgi, James Jean’s Rebus art book, Star Wars comics art, and blueprints books, and some possibly alluring Halloween costumes. Phew.

ExSeq Ep #47-Swamp Thing

extrasequential — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:53:50 +0000

50 mins. We go green and delve into the murky depths of DC’s classic monster/ hero Swamp Thing, including his great cartoon theme song, film appearances, superhero cross-overs, and much-loved reinvention from writer Alan Moore.

Also, leaping Superman, ostracizing Martians and non-human love.

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You can email us at kris(at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the ES Facebook page.

0:56 NEWS

Iron Man anime clip

DC’s Relaunch video

Comic-Con protest against DC Relaunch

New Justice League

12:16 THEME-SWAMP THING

Our look at Swamp Thing, including his great cartoon theme song, film appearances, superhero cross-overs, and much-loved reinvention from writer Alan Moore.

ExSeq Ep #46-Liar’s Kiss & The Homeland Directive

extrasequential — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 08:33:59 +0000

47 mins. We review two impressive new OGNs from Top Shelf . We also discuss our mutual appreciation of almonds, Keanu Reeves, and diamond earrings.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE, LISTEN TO IT BELOW OR ON ITUNES

1:37 NEWS

Legendary artist Gene Colan dies

Commando Comics turns 50

Gary Groth from Fantagraphics on DC’s relaunch

Powers TV show casting

Robin as a playable character in Batman: Arkham City

A documentary on publisher Gestalt

The new Captain America trailer

13:07 Ramblings including the Green Hornet film and comic, and Batman’s bladder.

16:45 LIAR’S KISS from Eric Skillman and Jhomar Soriano. Black and white noir goodness with a scruffy P.I and a tangled web of intrigue.

29:10 THE HOMELAND DIRECTIVE from Robert Venditti and Mike Huddleston. A visually dazzling, and complex tale involving a doctor on the run, the rogue government agents who aid her and a vast conspiracy involving politics and medicine.

ExSeq Ep #45-Green Lantern

extrasequential — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 10:15:18 +0000

57 mins. Don’t know who or what a Green Lantern is? Fear not, we have it covered. Also, superhero love and just how Smurfs manage to reproduce.

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1:20 NEWS

Avenging Spider-Man kicks off in November. A new ongoing series.

Two new X-Men titles coming soon.

Russel Crowe is set to play Superman’s Kryptonian father. If that ain’t bad enough, the Man of Steel will no longer be married to Lois Lane.

IDW’s new Star Trek movie series.

Frank Miller’s Holy Terror also coming in September.

Movie studios pulling out of the massive San Diego Comic-Con.

Neil Gaiman’s American Gods’ TV series.

14:10 THEME-GREEN LANTERN

Panel Plays returns! Kissing involved.

We give the lowdown on some of the Green Lanterns over the years, including some whacky ring slingers, and some comics you should grab to know more.

Read more GL issues here with this handy app and go here for a perty rundown on all the other colours of the Lantern Corps.

ExSeq Ep #44-X-Men

extrasequential — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 11:11:55 +0000

95 mins. Yes, it’s our longest episode ever, but with good reason. It’s our X-Men special, in which we focus on the films, the cartoons and some forgotten TV appearances. Joined by Mat from popular podcast, Sequelcast we discuss the highs, lows and more of the merry mutants. Also, Jake Busey’s teeth, Paul Hogan and a heap of useless X-Men trivia to impress your friends.

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0:54 NEWS

Kevin Smith’s comic book shop reality show

Writer Mark Millar is done with Marvel

The cancellation of Northlanders

8 clips from the Green Lantern film released online

Yes, more DC relaunches including new Action Comics and the controversial return of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl

14:48 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Shade, The Changing Man Vol. 1. He’s like Doctor Who!

Flashpoint’s Abin Sur: The Green Lantern #1. Yes, it’s an alternate world but it’s a good set up for next month’s film.

Sanctum. Don’t watch it.

Starship Troopers prequel comic.

Chris Claremont’s and Frank Miller’s classic Wolverine.

21:35 THEME-X-MEN

1989’s Pryde of the X-Men animated pilot, starring an Australian Wolverine

The much loved ‘90s cartoon

The live action Generation X TV movie

X-Men Evolution, and Wolverine and the X-Men

Astonishing X-Men motion comic

Wolverine anime

The X-Men trilogy

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-Men: First Class

ExSeq Ep.43-DC Comics Relaunch

extrasequential — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 09:31:11 +0000

55 mins. We focus on the hottest topic, the talk of the town, the big news that has superhero comics readers everywhere yakking – the relaunch of the entire line of DC Comics’ superhero line. We attempt to gather all the tidbits released so far and chime in with our opinions. Also, leg warmers, eye patches, and our mutual affection for April O’Neil.

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1:20 NEWS

Well, there’s not really much else to talk about in DC’s shadow, apart from a new convention dedicated to He-Man and ThunderCats. Woo hoo!

5:06 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Duncan Jones’ great Source Code film

The visually dazzling and epic Hellboy: The Fury #1, by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo. Preview here.

The classic, detailed and violent Hard Boiled OGN from Frank Miller and Geof Darrow

The mature approach of toys in The Stuff of Legend Book 1 from Th3rd World Studios

15:15 DC Comics’ Relaunch

DC’s whole superhero line is relaunching in September, with new costumes and series for some of the world’s favourite spandex clad characters. There’s not heaps of official info released so far, but we break it down for those new to the…news.


As an added bonus, here’s the George Lucas Strikes Back trailer.

ExSeq Ep. 42-Terry Pratchett Comics

extrasequential — Sat, 28 May 2011 14:33:04 +0000

54 mins. We focus on the sparse comic adaptations of the popular Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. We also discuss whether we should be offended by the possible embarrassment of Geek Day. Also, Mladen’s legs, Kris’ musical tastes and Spider-Man on American Idol.

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NEWS 1:42

Ninja Turtles relaunches at IDW

Smallville’s finale and the joyous response it has yielded

The award winning Changing Ways OGN from Justin Randall and Gestalt

The Penguin in the Arkham City videogame

WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING 11:00

The goofy horror of DC’s Batman: Gotham After Midnight

IDW’s Rocketeer Adventures new anthology series

Vertigo’s brand new debut sci-fi anthology Strange Adventures #1

The Doctor’s Wife episode of Dr. Who, as penned by comics writer and novelist Neil Gaiman (he’s on the left in the photo below)

Kirby Genesis #0 from Dynamite, using Jack Kirby’s undeveloped character concepts

Alan Moore’s sex-obsessed exploration of the Cthulhu mythos in Neonomicon

35:45 TERRY PRATCHETT COMICS

In honour of Terry Pratchett Day we check out the rare comic adaptations of some of the many Discworld novels.

ExSeq Ep.41-BlueSpear Interview

extrasequential — Sat, 21 May 2011 12:02:06 +0000

54 mins. Our interview with two lovely gents from English publisher Com.x. Also wrestling, the fake apocalypse and yes, Arnie’s love child.

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NEWS 1: 21

Tintin on the big screen

Supanova Pop Culture Convention in Perth and Sydney in June. Get your tix now.

Batman villain Bane as played by Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises is revealed. Well, some of him anyway.

EDDIE DEIGHTON AND ANDI EWINGTON INTERVIEW 9: 35

Our first ever interview via the wonders of Skype. English creators Eddie Deighton (co-publisher of Com.x and co-writer of BlueSpear) and Andi Ewington (co-writer of BlueSpear and writer of 45-whcih we talked about here) talk to us about the 45 spinoff one-shot BlueSpear, which comes out in July.

The chaps talk about the business behind publishing Original Graphic Novels rather than monthly issues, what they look for in a story pitch, how they find new talent, advice for new writers and publishers, and a lot of laughs.

Also mentioned are subjects as diverse as our lack of sporting knowledge, amusing convention tales, the classic Marvels, I Kill Giants, Kingdom Come, and creator Bryan Talbot.

ExSeq Ep. 40-Drugs

extrasequential — Sat, 14 May 2011 12:37:37 +0000

72 mins. Our fave hallucinations and drug inspired, and induced, tales of sequential art. Also, attractive people in poor countries and more.

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1: 36 NEWS

A doco for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s aborted Dune film

Rombies #0 free online

Sydney Opera House’s Graphic event in August

Fanboys rejoice in NBC’s decision to drop the Wonder Woman TV pilot

Spider-Man musical retool

Kevin Smith’s Six Million Dollar Man comic

Neil Gaiman gets picked on, and so does Batman

13: 20 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Locke and Key from Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

Mythbusters and Eurovision

Devil from the mind of M. Night Shyamalan. 5 strangers in a lift start dying.

Daytripper from Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba, about death and the beauty of life

Shaolin Cowboy by Geoff Darrow and its detailed art, a talking mule and a vengeful crab

27: 30 DRUGS!

Fictional drugs, hallucinations and superheroes who owe their existence to drugs, such as Captain America, Luke Cage, Cloak and Dagger and Karen Page.

Batman and Bane and their use of the drug Venom, and Scarecrow’s fear toxin.

Spice from Dune – the do-it all drug.

Drunkeness in Tintin and the surprising violence it brings, including an attempted decapitation of the lead character.

Tony Stark’s love of booze.

Pain pill hallucination in X’ed Out by Charles Burns.

Drugs in Marvel and DC Comics in the ‘70s.

The sordid, yet award winning, tale of Speedy/Arsenal.

Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing’s trippy potatoes, and Superman’s bad birthday dreams.

The Mask Strikes Back by John Arcudi and Doug Mahnke.

Preacher, and writer Grant Morrison.

ExSeq Ep.39-Free Comic Book Day

extrasequential — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:37:47 +0000

67 mins. In honour of the awesome annual tradition of Free Comic Book Day around the world, we discuss some of our faves – what you should definitely pick up and what you should avoid. Also, our usual rambling shenanigans.

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0: 32 NEWS

Green Lantern Animated Light Up Display is a fire hazard

More details about the Star Wars Blu-Ray

The new Conan trailer

Cobra: The Space Pirate film

8: 58 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING/WATCHING

Low budget, but great film Monsters by Gareth Edwards

Red starring Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, etc

The Punisher from 1989 starring Dolph Lundgren and a Ms. Pac Man mention

The Mighty Thor #1

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 video game

Alastair Graham’s Full Moon Soup picture book

Koren Shadmi’s The Abaddon webcomic

23: 08 FEATURE TOPIC – FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

FCBD is on Saturday May 8. Yay! We read a whole bunch of the many free comics on offer this year and give a rundown of what we like and don’t like this year.

SOME PRETTY GOOD FREEBIES

Bongo Comics’ Bongo Free-For-All, featuring a few The Simpsons stories, including cool ones by Evan Dorkin and Sergio Aragones

Dark Horse’s Avatar: The Last Airbender/ Star Wars: The Clone Wars flip book

Ape Entertainment’s Richie Rich/ Kung-Fu Panda flip book. This ain’t your daddy’s Richie Rich!

Drawn and Quarterly’s classic reprint collection, John Stanley’s Summer Fun

12 Gauge’s I.C.E/ Loose Ends crime tales

FREEBIES TO AVOID

Bluewater’s The Misadventures of Adam West (the actor who played Batman in the ‘60s TV series)

FREEBIES THAT ARE OK, BUT NOT AWESOME

2000AD. The classic U.K magazine style format with a bunch of sci-fi stories inside, including a great Judge Dredd tale

Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man is good for fans who may have been away from the web slinger for a while and want to know what he’s up to these days

DC Comics’ Green Lantern Special Edition. Same as above, except for Green Lantern AKA Hal Jordan

OUR TOP PICKS (GET THESE IF YOU SEE THEM!)

Fantagraphics’ Walt Disney Mickey Mouse. A dog walking a dog. Yes, that’s right. Floyd Gotfredson’s rascally Mickey.

Archaia’s Mouse Guard/ Dark Crystal flip book, with mature fantasy stories and also Season of the Dapper Men and A Tale of Sand by the legendary Jim Henson

Marvel’s Captain America/ Thor: The Mighty Fighting Avengers! A fun, time travelling adventure featuring the two cinematic superheroes in ye olde Camelot

Super Dinosaur Origin Special from Image. Another fun adventure for kids and adults with a kid, his heroic T-Rex, a secret base and evil mutant dinosaurs

Jake the Dreaming from Radical. An illustrated novel, not a comic. Like most Radical books, it looks superb. For fans of Narnia and Harry Potter

Red 5 bring us the always amusing Atomic Robo at the National Science Fair. Also previews of ’50s heroine Moon Girl, and Foster Broussard: Demons of the Gold Rush

Elric: The Balance Lost #1 from BOOM! Studios. Michael Moorcock’s pale swordsman returns to comic. I liked it much more than Mladen though

CHECK OUT PREVIEWS OF ALL THESE FREEBIES AND MORE, RIGHT HERE AND THE EXCELLENT ROMBIES IS NOW ONLINE FOR FREE FROM GESTALT COMICS. YAY!

ExSeq Ep.38-Body Image

extrasequential — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 11:57:31 +0000

67 mins. This week we talk about body image in superhero comics, plus the Spice Girls, the Royal Wedding and sagging shelves.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE, LISTEN TO IT BELOW OR ON ITUNES

2:45 NEWS

Dark Horse Comics’ Digital Store

Shannon Wheeler ‘s I Thought You Would Be Funnier can now be read for free online

Captain America and The Avengers film info

Free Comic Book Day on May 7

8: 28 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Portal 2

Brightest Day #24 – John Constantine and Swamp Thing travel from Vertigo to the DC Universe

Avengers #12.1 – Spider-Woman gets captured by the evil smarty pants team, The Intelligencia. The Avengers rescue her and meet Ultron, who then vanishes. Not for newbies but great art by Bryan Hitch.

Action Comics #900 – The controversial landmark issue in which Superman renounces his American citizenship, plus some other cool tales.

The Complete Peanuts Vol. 1 1950-52 – Charles Schulz’s classic and funny work with Charlie Brown and co.

A Lesson Is Learned But The Damage Is Irreversible – an experimental webcomic

34:15 FEATURE TOPIC – BODY IMAGE

We look at the sexy spandex brigade and how male and female characters are treated differently.

ExSeq Ep. 37-Thor and Kingdom Come

extrasequential — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 09:18:22 +0000

70 mins. We talk about Thor and bicker about the classic superhero epic Kingdom Come. Also The Big Bang Theory, Star Trek: The Next Generation and hiding Easter eggs.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES

1:20 NEWS

Stan Sakai, the creator of Usagi Yojimbo gets honoured

John Constantine, AKA Hellblazer come sto the mainstream DC Universe

6:25 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

The fun, all-ages debut of Super Dinosaur by Robert Kirkman and Jasonn Howard

The lukewarm return of the Dark Horse Presents anthology

Patrick McEown’s experimental No Escape

23:20 THOR MOVIE REVIEW

Kris saw the film in unnecessary 3D and was slightly underwhelmed by the god of thunder’s cinematic adventures. The action is loud, but the romance is well handled.

35:52 FEATURE REVIEW-KINGDOM COME

We pleasantly argue about this 1996 mini-series from DC Comics by Mark Waid and Alex Ross that features a retired Superman in the future returning to teach a careless younger generation of “heroes” a thing or two about justice. Dramatic art, biblical undertones and a massive cast of well known and new characters ensue.

ExSeq Ep. 36-Rombies and Peanuts

extrasequential — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:56:38 +0000

54 mins. Some DC reviews and a discussion about Rombies #1 and the new Peanuts OGN. Also Joss Whedon’s apparent foot fetish, Snoopy’s cousins and Mladen plays Kris’ former sidekick. It’ll make sense once you listen to the ep.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES

1:50 NEWS

Green Lantern’s toes (yes, you read that correctly).

Batman Live World Arena Tour has a press day with costumes and video. And confetti.

Michael Shannon cast as General Zod.

Tokyopop closes.

14: 44 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Brightest Day #23. Swamp Thing returns to the DC Universe and a few characters get turned into elementals.

Fear Itself #7. The Red Skull’s daughter Sin picks up a Norse hammer and brings madness upon the earth!

Batman: Arkham City game.

Tron Legacy: Reconfigured soundtrack.

28:05 The return of Panel Plays (because we demanded it!)

30: 40 FEATURE REVIEWS

Happiness Is A Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown. A Peanuts OGN from BOOM! Studios. We both liked it and found it rather funny, with a consistent visual style. Peanuts purists and newbies will enjoy its charms.

Rombies #1, an awesome new series from Tom Taylor, Skye Ogden and Gestalt Publishing. Zombies in Old Testament times. A father’s love brings death. This promising start to the new series is a great looking and highly entertaining comic.

ExSeq Ep.35-Parodies

extrasequential — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 05:52:32 +0000

59 mins. We chat about some of our fave comic book parodies, including poking fun at superheroes. Also the Star Wars episode of That ’70s Show, the beauty of modern video games and Scream 4.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES

1:00 NEWS

Swancon and Natcon convention in Perth

Next DC animated film based on Tower of Babel JLA storyline

DC’s Retro-Active series of one-shots

Supernatural: The Anime Series to be released in July

The 4 minutes of the Green Lantern film that have been officially released

13:43 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Kris - Action Comics #899 filled with Lex vs Braniac and madcap action

Who Is Jake Ellis? #3 by Nathan Edmondson and Tonci Zonjic

Undying Love #1 by Tomm Coker and Daniel Freedman. Another winner from Image Comics about a human in love with a Chinese vampire.

Mladen – Crossing Midnight Volume 1 from Mike Carey and Jim Fern about twins born just before and just after midnight. Strange abilities, greedy demons and more ensue.

Digested #4 by Bobby N.

27: 27 FEATURE TOPIC-PARODIES

Red 5′s Abyss mini-series

The classic Justice league International

Ape Entertainment’s Super Human Resources by Ken Marcus and Justin Bleep

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen

Tank Girl: The Odyssey by Peter Milligan and Jamie Hewlett

James Turner’s Rex Libris

Plus, as an added extra, we answer some fanmail!

ExSeq Ep.34-Elephantmen and Nonplayer

extrasequential — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 12:43:30 +0000

0 mins. Mladen and I occupy the same space once more as we talk about 2 new Image comics debuts we liked plus Ninja Turtles, April Fool’s Day office pranks, iPad 2 queues, and animated Plastic Man.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES

00:56 NEWS

Writer Jonathan Hickman’s new creator owned series

Justice League film set for 2013

Amy Adams has been cast as Lois Lane in the Superman reboot

Wonder Woman’s TV costume changes. Now with less shininess!

6:40 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Kris - IDW’s Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters

FF #1, the new Fantastic Four relaunch. Spider-Man joins the team and it’s black and white costumes all round!

Mladen – Sequelcast film podcast

20:14 FEATURE REVIEWS

Elephantmen: Man and Elephantman by Richard Starkings and Axel Medellin. We find it to be a good intro for new readers, love the art and its effective colour palette and just the general noir vibe of the whole tale.

Nonplayer #1 by Nate Simpson. A very entertaining genre mash-up of a sci-fi world and a fantasy virtual world, with art that you’ll fall in love with. See a preview here and an interview with Simpson here.

Our rambling and amusing conclusion.

ExSeq Ep. 33-Tie-in Comics

extrasequential — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 02:22:35 +0000

54 mins. We shall not let minor technical issues stop us from talking about comics! No sir! Gianni joins us again to form the geek trio in our special on comics related to video games and other pop culture products. We discuss all the below, plus Boston Legal, CSI guest stars, how to be a “pack leader” and more.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES

1: 15 NEWS

Kevin Costner as Pa Kent in the Superman remake

Marvel’s deal with Starbucks

Wonder Woman’s shiny new TV costume

The new DC Nation TV show to be shown on the Cartoon Network

12: 05 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Kris watched Battle Los Angeles and read the TPB of Image’s fun fantasy series Skullkickers and Erik Larsen’s amusing Herculian one-shot.

Gianni’s been reading the Dead Space mini-series based on the game as well as the new Mass Effect.

Mladen has been watching The Dog Whisperer. Yes, we laughed at him too. He also read Asterix and the Falling Sky, and Price Valiant Volume 3.

25:30 THEME-TIE-IN COMICS

Phew. Tomb Raider, Sonic the Hedgehog and more have been produced over the years, and continue to be made, for video game fans to become comic book fans, and vice versa. There have been many more video game tie-ins recently too, such as Dante’s Inferno, Prototype, Infamous, Halo, God of War, Batman: Arkham City, World of Warcraft, Warhammer 40, 000 and more. Plus, anime and novel tie-ins and movie adaptations, including Tron.

ExSeq Ep. 32-Comics Are Cool

extrasequential — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:44:23 +0000

67 mins. Joined by our buddy Gianni we discuss the how, why and when of the coolness of comics and their popular acceptance. Also, the correct pronunciation of Ben Affleck, replacing beer with soda pop and the differing meanings of the word jocks. Plus, as an added bonus after the end song, hear some Skype shenanigans.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES

2:00 NEWS

David Slade set to direct the Daredevil reboot

Australia’s Supanova convention is not far away

Batman: Arkham City game trailer

The wispy Conan teaser

14:40 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Mladen’s been reading Metabarons and likens it to Dune. It has nuns that fly in whales. So there.

Kris has been reading Superman/Batman #81. It has an armoured Superman, a bad future and Detective Chimp, who is a character who is exactly that. He also read Venom #1 starring a legless former Spider-Man bully.

Gianni saw Matt Damon and Emily Blunt run around in The Adjustment Bureau.

35:00 THEME-COMICS ARE NOW COOL. DISCUSS.

Which we do, despite me dropping off Skype occasionally.

ExSeq Ep. 31 – Buying Habits

extrasequential — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:15:46 +0000

70 mins. One of our most fun episodes yet, filled with rambling asides and pop culture recollections. Our brief theme this week is all about buying habits, ie, how, where and why we buy our comics. It’s more interesting than it sounds. Also – Jerry Maguire, singing actors and the street cred of How I Met Your Mother.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES

3:13 NEWS

Charlie Sheen gets his own biographical comic.

Amazing Fantasy #15 solds for a record $1.1 million.

Not the Spider-Man musical again?! Yep, director Julie Taymor has left the show.

Rombies, from Perth publisher Gestalt, is just about to launch and your face can feature in its pages!

21:00 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Thorgal, and The Chimpanzee Complex Volumes 1 and 2 from Cinebook

The disappointing All-Star Superman animated film

35:30THEME – BUYING HABITS

Mladen and I have different comic purchasing habits. We look at how ours, and others, have changed over the last few years and talk about digital distribution.