Extra Sequential Podcast

ExSeq Ep.90-Our Grand Finale!

extrasequential — Sat, 05 May 2012 12:12:00 +0000

57 mins. Yes, it’s the big finish, our fond farewell, our last hurrah. In our most rambling episode yet, we talk about a bunch of comics, Turok, the master of sit-com theme songs, an awkward Italian song contest, David Bowie’s wife, Michael Jackson as Spider-Man, alternate cinematic realities, and much more! Fare thee well and thanks so much for listening!

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2:10 NEWS

Joss Whedon’s film Cabin in the Woods will actually get a limited theatrical run in Sydney and Melbourne

The Dark Knight Rises, and The Amazing Spider-Man trailers

Mark Waid’s comics website, Thrillbent launches

Charles Burns’ upcoming The Hive

Free Comic Book Day thoughts

14:33 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Buffy Season 8 motion comic. A must for fans of the TV series.

Perfect Strangers: The Video Game. ”Nothing’s gonna stop me now!”

Road to Perdition. Featuring a baddie Daniel Craig.

Archaia’s great Hard Cover freebie.

The Strange Talent of Luther Strode. Blood, and stuff.

Daredevil Volume 1. Mark Waid, Marcos Martin and Paolo Rivera bring the fun back to superhero stories.

The Cartoon Crier. Depressing, but free!

Showcase Presents The Spectre. 620 pages of righteous vengeance and criminals getting their gruesome comeuppance!

ExSeq Ep.89-Fave Comic Book Films

extrasequential — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 08:24:30 +0000

70 mins. How many movies based on comic books have there been in the last few years? Heaps. How many of them have been awesome? Far less. We offer our ten fave films, and not many of our selections feature superheroes! Also, Katrina and the Waves, and a dancing Emperor Palpatine.

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WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Eric Powell’s The Goon #39. Funniest superhero pardoy. Ever.

Star Wars: Blood Ties-Boba Fett is Dead #1 from Tom Taylor and Chris Scalf. A cool whodunit in space.

Joe Sacco’s journalistic comic Footnotes in Gaza.

Seizure magazine writing competition.

China Mieville’s Embassytown.

11:30 NEWS

Fox announced an Axe Cop animated series! Oh yeah.

Carla Speed McNeill’s Finder: Voice becomes LA Times’ Best Graphic Novel

Free Comic Book Day on Saturday May 5

15:28 THEME – BEST COMIC BOOK FILMS

We choose our 5 fave films each and offer a few surprises, as well as some that almost made our lists, guilty pleasures, and the worst comic films.

The Avengers. A fun, and funny superhero epic.

American Splendor. Curmudgeon Harvey Pekar’s life.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World. A charming video game aesthetic, and many pop culture references.

Blueberry. Based on Moebius’ Wild West adventure. Also known as Renegade, and also featuring great trippy sequences.

X-Men: First Class. Groovy baby.

Ghost in the Shell anime. A Sci-fi classic. Perty too.

30 Days of Night. Thrilling, and with truly scary vampires.

Ghost World. Two girls befriend a sad Steve Buscemi.

Justice League: Doom. Animated film in which Batman betrays the Justice League. Accidentally.

Persepolis. French animated film about coming of age in Tehran.

ExSeq Ep.88-Are Superheroes Relevant?

extrasequential — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 11:32:56 +0000

58 mins. We examine the role superheroes play, what stories they can tell, and how far they’ve come since their roots from the pulp era. Also, multiple Boba Fetts, and Jean-Claude Van Damme vs a pinata.

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WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

The Shadow #1

Alabaster: Wolves #1

America’s Got Powers #1

Marathon OGN

Supanova haul, and Milk Shadow Books

The end of this very podcast as of episode 90 : (

10:12 NEWS

Comiczone moving

Free Comic Book Day

Chris Roberson quits/get fired from DC Comics

16:13 THEME-THE RELEVANCE OF SUPERHEROES

We look at how superheroes have changed from their pulp roots and talk about how superheroes are viewed, and the kinds of stories that can be told with the genre.

ExSeq Ep.87-Long Lost Characters

extrasequential — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:03:05 +0000

64 mins. We dedicate this show to supporting cast members who had their day in the sun, but haven’t been seen for some time. It’s time for misty eyed fondness as we remember some of our favourite characters who never had their own series, but fulfilled a special role. Also Dr Marvin Monroe as Batman, the importance of butlers, and crotch sniffing.

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WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

The Shadow. Alec Baldwin as a superhero.

Robert Crumb’s respectful adaptation, The Book of Genesis.

5:07 NEWS

Kevin Eastman’s original TMNT art auction

Marvel’s meeting of their two Spider-Men

Jeffrey Brown’s Darth Vader and Son

National Comics revival for DC Comics

Alan Moore on TV

Painter Alex Ross does Star Trek and Jimmy Corrigan

15:44 LONG LOST CHARACTERS

Or characters who have vanished. Whatever happened to such and such, and why? Why?!

Peanuts’ Shermy, Violet, and Patty (not of the Peppermint variety)

Mickey Mouse’s pal Horace Horsecollar

Green Arrow’s grizzled buddy Eddie Fyers

Lex Luthor’s bodyguard Mercy Graves

Superman’s science advisor Emil Hamilton

Dubbilex, Rex and Roxy Leach from Superboy’s Hawaiian days

The troubled lives of Clark Kent’s old friends, Lucy Lane’s, Lana Lang, Pete Ross and Chloe Sullivan

Betty Brant and Robbie Robertson from The Daily Bugle

Batman characters such as Harold, Leslie Thompkins, Matches Malone, Sasha Bordeaux and Orpheus

ExSeq Ep.86-Image Comics

extrasequential — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 07:08:16 +0000

62 mins. It’s the 20th anniversary of Image Comics this year, so in honour of the young upstart publishing company, we look at our fave Image tales covering drama, comedy, adventure and more. Also, the wonder of ’90s fashion, and Aussie TV actresses.

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2:06 NEWS

Eisner Award nominations

April Fools’ Day shenanigans including Stephanie Brown, Mars Attacks!, and George Takei

Triplets (the Twins sequel), and He-Man at DC Comics

11:10 THEME – IMAGE COMICS

A brief history of the Marvel walkout that led to one of the most successful indie publishers and the giant steps they’ve made in the last two decades.

Broken Frontier’s Image Month

Sequart’s upcoming Image doco

San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum’s Image exhibition

Casanova

Underground

Flight anthologies

Chew

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol. 3

Girls

Orc Stain

Ratfist

The Nightly News

Term Life

ExSeq Ep.85-Race Relations

extrasequential — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 03:53:19 +0000

65 mins. We finally get to this topic! The history of minority characters within comics, superheroes who are replaced by minority characters, or changed when adapted to other media. We also throw a few gnarly questions at one another and lament the lack of catchphrases from today’s spandex brigade.

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1:05 NEWS

Marsupilami film

Katsuhiro Otomo returns to long form manga

Ralp McQuarrie’s He-Man film sketches

Warner Bros. vs the Superman creators’ heirs. Again.

Perth’s Swancon, featuring Extra Sequential’s own Kris Bather speaking at 2 panels!

WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING/ WATCHING

Hilarious Little League webcomic

Atomic Robo’s new series

2 foreign films – Cell 211, and Tais Toi

Hobbes and Bacon webcomic

IDW’s Locke and Key

David Boring

15:16 THEME – RACE RELATIONS

Replacement characters including:

War Machine

Steel

Ryan Choi as Atom

Miles Morales as Ultimate Spider-Man

History of minority superheroes including:

Black Panther and his wife Storm

Luke Cage

Falcon

Static Shock

The use of Black in character names, such as:

Black Manta, Black Lightning, Black Racer (he’s on skis!), and Black Vulcan

Asian characters like Amadeus Cho, James Woo, Green Arrow Connor Hawke, Batgirl Cassandra Cain, Katana, Lady Shiva and Nico Minoru from Marvel’s Runaways.

and many more characters.

As an added bonus, here’s the “Bruce Lee” film from 1977 that Mladen mentions.

ExSeq Ep.84-Strange Team-Ups

extrasequential — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 07:17:58 +0000

57 mins. Strange x-overs you never knew existed! Unusual team-ups you tried to forget! Dodgy pronunciations of ‘moustache’ and ‘oeuvre.’ This one has it all, including a detour involving celebrity cameos and Jeff Goldblum movies.

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WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

R.E.B.E.L.S Vol. 1: The Coming of Starro. Vril Dox is one manipulative, green skinned leader.

Killeroo: Gangwar. A cool Aussie comic starring a tough roo/human hybrid.

David Mack’s Kabuki: Metamorphosis. Read it slowly to get the full effect.

Justice: League: Doom. A fitting, action packed tribute to the late, great writer Dwayne McDuffie.

10: 35 NEWS

Teenage Mutant (or Alien?) Ninja Turtles!

Mark Waid’s new digital comic

15: 37 THEME – STRANGE TEAM-UPS

Lobo/ The Mask. Highly detailed scenes of ultra violence and lovely insanity.

Tarzan vs Predator: At Earth’s Core.

Muggsy Bogues vs Mothra. Um, I mean Charles Barkley vs Godzilla.

Superman/ Tarzan: Sons of the Jungle.

Superman meets He-Man in Eternia, and Sgt. Rock in WWII.

Spawn #10 featuring Dave Sim’s Cerebus. Also, a meta-comic.

Batman vs Predator III: Blood Ties. Featuring two Seinfeld easter eggs, and Mr. Freeze denying children ice-cream.

Upcoming team-ups such as Star Trek: TNG/ Dr Who from IDW, and team-ups that didn’t happen such as Cerebus and X-Men, a resurrected Princess Di in X-Statix, and Dr Who and Sherlock.

As an added bonus, here’s an excellent fan-made Prognosis: Negative film trailer.

ExSeq Ep.83-Female Creators

extrasequential — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:40:15 +0000

64 mins. It’s all about the ladies and the awesome comics they create. Mladen proves his immaturity and Kris reveals his love for Faith Erin Hicks. Also, missing Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt.

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WHAT WE’VE BEEN WATCHING

A hat trick of disappointing comic adaptations.

Dylan Dog. A Superman Returns reunion!

Gantz 2

Ghost Rider. Filmed in Melbourne!

7:12 NEWS

The death of legendary French creator Moebius

A Judge Dredd themed album from a producer of Portishead!

Bleeding Cool, and DC Nation Super Spectacular magazines on the way

Alan Moore’s thoughts on Before Watchmen

The Happytime Murders’ first look

18:58 THEME – FEMALE CREATORS

Posy Simmonds’ Tamare Drewe (also a film)

Carla Speed McNeil’s Finder

Colleen Doran’s A Distant Soil

Faith Erin Hicks’ Friend With Boys (read the first 20 pages here)

Also, Brain Camp, and The Wall at Ellsmere by Hicks

Kate Beaton’s Hark! A Vagrant

Karen Berger (Vertigo founder)

Sophie Crumb

Becky Cloonan

Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis (also a film)

Jill Thompson

Emi Lennox’s sketch diary EmiTown Volume 2

Naoko Takeuchi

Natsuki Takaya

Hiromu Arakawa

Australians:

Nicola Scott

Nicki Greenberg

Katie Houghton Ward

Sarah Howell

And a few more….

ExSeq Ep.82-Jim Henson

extrasequential — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 03:35:30 +0000

55 mins. We look at recent work inspired by the late, great puppet pioneer Jim Henson including a Dark Crystal prequel, and a Storyteller anthology. Also, French midgets, VHS memories and the sentence, “Oh my God! Stuff happens before he plays his flute in the forrest?!”

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WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Submarine. Quirky indie film set in Wales in 1986.

Hell Yeah #1 from Image Comics. Superpowered teen Ben Day’s mysterious parents, and a good cliffhanger. Oh, and it looks great too.

Conan #2 from Dark Horse. Young Conan teaches us the proper archery technique.

Saga #1 from Image Comics. An interesting, though not yet entirely captivating sci-fi/fantasy mashup.

He Died with a Felafel in His Hand comic

Rocky Balboa. Go Sly!

13: 10 NEWS

Concept artist Ralph McQuarrie dies

Webcomics based on classic video game properties at ShiftyLook

50 million downloads on comiXology

DC Comics’ new site

Wolverine’s next film next year

David Mazzucchelli’s unhappy about the new Batman: Year One TPB

Two new Perth comics podcasts! Panel2Panel, and How I Got My Boyfriend To Read Comics

21:02 FEATURE TOPIC – JIM HENSON

The man behind the creatures of The Muppets, Sesame Street, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and more, and the recent Archaia OGNs inspired by his creations. See previews at the links below.

Jim Henson’s Storyteller. An anthology based on the first season of the TV show.

Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths Vol. 1. The first of a prequel trilogy to the 1982 film.

Fraggle Rock Classics Vol. 1. Recoloured tales of the original 1985 comics based on the TV series.

Jim Henson’s A Tale of Sand. A trippy, visually dazzling adaptation of an unproduced screenplay.

And keep your eye out on May 5 for Archaia’s sure to be popular Free Comic Book Day offering.

ExSeq Ep.81-Meta-Comics

extrasequential — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:11:24 +0000

56 mins. We go high-brow and examine meta-comics. In other words, stories in which the writers appear as themselves, characters know that they’re in a comic, and more rule breaking craziness. Also, the best pirate joke you’ll ever hear.

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WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

The adventurous and entertaining Lord of the Jungle #2

The disappointing Danger 5 TV series, and Reading Comics book by Douglas Wolk

The erotic Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie

9:35 NEWS

The upcoming Image Comics doco

11: 30 THEME – META-COMICS

Characters and comics that break the fourth wall.

Grant Morrison’s work on Animal Man, and The Invisibles

Planetary by Warren Ellis and John Casasday, including the Batman cross-over one-shot featuring different versions of the superhero

Bat-Mite in TV’s Batman: Brave and the Bold

Ambush Bug

Deadpool. Here’s 10 of his best fourth wall breaking moments.

Dave Sim’s Cerbeus

Andrew Drilon’s Supermaker webcomic

ExSeq Ep.80-Multi-discipline Writers

extrasequential — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:53:58 +0000

46 mins. These days there are more people writing comics from other disciplines than ever before. We discuss the whos and the whys, including examples of playwrights, TV and film writers, as well as novelists who spend their time writing comics too. Also, Darth Maul and why he was never cloned, and when celebrities embarrass themselves by thinking they know how to write comics.

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WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING/WATCHING

The Grey. Despite it’s minimal amount of wolf punching, it’s a good film.

Chronicle.

Archeologists of Shadows. A dazzling digital comic.

Road to Perdition, which became the film with a balding Jude Law.

4:57 NEWS

Bart Simpson’s pal Milhouse gets his own comic in April

2000AD turns 35 years old

The new, and free, Rations magazine

Trailer for the upcoming Comic-Con documentary

Nate Simpson’s Nonplayer goes to Hollywood

11:25 FEATURE TOPIC – MULTI-DISCIPLINE WRITERS

Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim

Kevin Smith

Joss Whedon

Jane Espenson

Writers of TV’s Lost - Bran K Vaughan, Damon Lindelof, Drew Goddard and Jeph Loeb

Robert Aguirre-Sacasa

Tom Taylor

Celebrities behind comics such as Rosario Dawson, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Mark Hamill and Tyrese Gibson and good examples like Rashida Jones and Gerard Way

Brad Meltzer

David Liss

Stephen King and Joe Hill

Peter David

Clive Barker

As an added bonus here’s an ad for Admiral Ackbar’s cereal from Robot Chicken.

ExSeq Ep.79-Unfinished Projects

extrasequential — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:40:30 +0000

51 mins. Advertised, but never released, or completed projects is this show’s focus, and there’s quite a few of them! We also present an unpopular viewpoint on the legal battles of Ghost Rider co-creator Gary Friedrich, and Mladen rails against Kevin Smith’s popular public persona. Also Oasis, Dolly Parton and Doctor Who.

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A brief return to What We’ve Been Reading including Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, B.P.R.D: Hell on Earth-The Long Death, and Love and Rockets.

4:45 NEWS

The legal case between Ghost Rider co-creator Gary Friedrich and Marvel, and The Walking Dead battle

DC relaunch sales figures

Kevin Smith’s new Comic Book Men reality TV show

21:05 FEATURE TOPIC – UNFINISHED AND UNRELEASED PROJECTS

Barry Windsor-Smith’s Superman

Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz’s Big Numbers

William S Burroughs’ Ah Pook Is Here!

All Star Wonder Woman by Adam Hughes

Batman: Europa

Kevin Smith’s mass of titles

Image United

Captain America: White by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, and Astonishing Captain America

Loeb’s and J. Scott Campbell’s Spider-Man

Bryan Singer’s Ultimate X-Men

Daredevil: End of Days

ExSeq Ep.78-Creative Departures

extrasequential — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:21:12 +0000

39 mins. This show is dedicated to comics creators who offer us projects that surprise us, projects that show a different side to their creativity. From manga to all-ages to, um, Frank Miller we discuss a few unexpected career turns. Also, Superman pyjamas and Grant Morrison’s exercise video.

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1:53 NEWS

The controversial Before Watchmen prequel series

The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man trailers

7:19 THEME – CREATIVE DIFFERENCES

Chuck Dixon writing The Simpsons comics

Jeff Lemire, from The Essex County Trilogy to Superboy and Animal Man

Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s Conan the Barbarian

Frank Miller and Geoff Darrow’s Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot

Frank Miller’s unrealised JESUS! project

Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Avon Oeming’s Takio

Junji Ito’s Cat Diary

Katsuhiro Otomo’s Hipira: The Little Vampire

Mladen on the Sequelcast

extrasequential — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:06:42 +0000

Extra Sequential’s own Mladen Luketin appeared as a guest (of honour) on American podcast, Sequelcast (the film podcast which reviews each film in a franchise, one film at a time), to discuss the woeful Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World, and the Jurassic Park comics from IDW.

Expect to hear unchecked cynicism, conspiracy theories, and goofy witticisms galore.

Why not get your ears in gear and head over to the Sequelcast website to hear more, says I?

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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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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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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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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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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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.

LISTEN TO IT HERE

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

GET IT ON iTUNES HERE

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.

LISTEN TO IT HERE

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

GET IT ON iTUNES HERE

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.

LISTEN TO IT HERE

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

GET IT ON iTUNES HERE

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.

LISTEN TO IT HERE

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

GET IT ON iTUNES HERE

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.

LISTEN TO IT HERE

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

GET IT ON iTUNES HERE

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.

LISTEN TO IT HERE

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

GET IT ON ITUNES HERE

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.

LISTEN 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.

1:54 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.

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: 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!

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.

2:15 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.

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.

2:24 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.

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.

1:22 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.

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.

1:19 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.

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.

4:30 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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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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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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

ExSeq Ep. 30-Strange Lands

extrasequential — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 12:52:01 +0000

70 mins. Good and bad horror flicks, Star Wars and our look at characters travelling to new worlds.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES

1:07 NEWS

Frank Miller’s DKR art auction

Diane Lane is Superman’s earthly mother in the reboot film

Floyd Gotfredson’s collected Mickey Mouse

Kabbom’s Peanuts film adaptation

X-Men anime trailer

Aussie Oscar winners

Oni Press Mixtape by nerdcore rapper Adam Warrock

14:05 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Evil Dead II

Killzone 3

The Making of The Empire Strikes Back book by J.W Rinzler

Digested by Bobby N

Brightest Day #21

The work of French artist Caza

The similarities between Image’s Carbon Grey #1 and Resident Evil: Afterlife

The excellent Ryan Reynolds stuck in a coffin film, Buried

37:50 THEME-STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND

We look at some of our fave comics in which characters discover new, and surreal, worlds.

Tintin, and Asterix and The Great Crossing

Air from G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker

Neil Gaiman’s The Books of Magic

Doug TenNapel’s Earthboy Jacobus

Guy Delisle’s Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea

ExSeq Ep. 29-Music

extrasequential — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 03:02:17 +0000

66 mins. We make beautiful music together. We talk about the unique intersection between comics and music and also discuss which of the Friends we resemble, William Shatner singing and True Romance.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, OR ON ITUNES OR DOWNLOAD IT HERE

2:22 NEWS

BOOM! Studios gets the Peanuts licence, DJ Caruso set to direct Preacher adaptation, Telltale Games brings the world Fables and Walking Dead games, writer Dwayne McDuffie dies

11:50 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Captain Wonder 3D

DMZ Volume 9

The Devil’s Trail #1 from Creator’s Edge Press

Burgerforce #4 and 5

26:30 MUSIC AND COMICS

Comics written by musicians such as Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance, Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Claudio Sanchez from Coheed and Cambria, Ghost Face Killa. Also comics based on Neil Young’s Greendale album, Alice Cooper, Prince, KISS , The Archies and Aerosmith.

Comic Book Tattoo based on the songs of Tori Amos

Belle and Sebastain anthology

27 from Image Comics

Paul Sizer’s B.P.M about a DJ called Roxy

Com.x’s hopefully upcoming Passions Requiem

Phonogram by Kieron Gillen and Jamie Mckelvie

Poseur Ink’s Side A and Side B

Matt Madden’s work

Mondo Urbano

20^th Century Boys

Alan Moore’s work including League of Extraordinary Getlemen

Kid Koala

The Amazing Joy Buzzards

And for the education of your auditory inputs, here are the songs in order as heard throughout this episode.

Tracker – Flurry Part 2 (from the Blankets soundtrack)

Tori Amos – Cornflake Girl

Kid Koala – Nufonia Must Fall pg 165

Alan Moore, Downtown Joe & The Retro Spankees – You Are My Asylum

ExSeq Ep.28-Romance

extrasequential — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 10:43:23 +0000

52 mins. It’s our look at romance comics, though we use the term “romance” loosely.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE, LISTEN TO IT BELOW OR ON ITUNES

1:20 NEWS

TV’s new Wonder Woman, Akira film cast, the Spider-Man reboot has a title, Marvel vs Capcom 3, Shane Black to direct Iron Man 3, The Golden Age film adaptation, Darren Aronofsky’s Noah comic, Michel Gondry to adapt Philip K. Dick’s Ubik novel, a new venture from the stars of King of Kong.

14:05 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

The Lethal Weapon films, Art Spiegelman’s Breakdowns, hip hop magazine Find.

22:00 ROMANCE COMICS

Superhero lovers, Love The Way You Love, Blankets, Shortcomings, and Moving Pictures.

38:30 FEATURE REVIEW

Ivy from Sarah Oleksyk and Oni Press.

ExSeq Ep. 27

extrasequential — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 12:45:12 +0000

63 mins. Another rambling, yet informative episode. We discuss a bunch of comics and film stuff, plus tedious fantasy movies, interstate travelling, water pistols and what Batman’s up to these days.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES

1:13 NEWS

The upcoming Red Sonja film starring Amber Heard, Comic-Con 2011 is all sold out, the new Thor, Captain America, Cowboys & Aliens, and X-Men: First Class trailers, Lois Lane and Ursa in the Superman reboot, the most popular comics website, and theDreams Come True Disney exhibit in Melbourne.

25:35 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Weird zines such as Modern Gentlemen #3, and the far cuter Summer Tears#1, the disappointing Dinner for Schmucks film, Brightest Day #19, Thorgal by Jean van Hamme and Grzegorz Rosiński, the supporting cast spotlighting Superman 80 Page Giant 2011, Raymond Briggs’ nuclear drama When The Wind Blows, Batman and Robin #20 with the new creative team of Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason and finally Deus Ex: Human Revolution #1.

Episode 26-Action

extrasequential — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:59:54 +0000

74 mins. We dissect how action is portrayed in comics, and also talk about the questionable manliness of Jude Law, and the cost efficiency of choking vs lightsabers.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE, ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD

1:17 NEWS

Brit actor Henry Cavill cast as the next big screen Superman

5:30 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Alternate ending of Scott Pilgrim vs the World, the classic spaghetti western Once Upon a Time in the West, Darth Vader and the Lost Command, and WE3

19:04 ACTION (IN) COMICS!

We define Subjective and Objective action and examine such things as:

Joker killing the 2nd Robin, Jason Todd

Frank Miller’s work as seen in The Dark Knight Returns and Daredevil, Alan Moore’s work in the Batgirl crippling Killing Joke

the explosion of pointless, and long, fight scenes in superhero comics in the ’90s

how motion is portrayed and the influence of manga

the importance of sound effects

and the lack of car chases in American comics

Episode 25-1986

extrasequential — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 09:47:56 +0000

69 mins. It’s our 25th podcast and we celebrate the occasion by looking at the 25th anniversary of the year 1986, and what a year it was. We talk about the comics of the time plus power ballads, being born, multiple Sheens, the popularity of the high-five, and the shock of seeing Transformers dying.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE, ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD

1:32 NEWS

Death of the Comics Code and the upcoming doco about it, death of the powerful comics magazine Wizard and Shaun Tan’s Oscar nomination.

11:22 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Arrested Development, and the whacky shenanigans of Axe Cop Vol. 1 TPB.

21:30 1986-THE YEAR THAT WAS

We kick off with the year’s Top Ten grossing films, talk about dying Transformers, Steve Guttenberg, and then get to comics of the time.

John Byrne’s Superman: Man of Steel that revamped and streamlined Clark and co.

Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, that showed an aged Bruce Wayne putting on the cowl once more in a mad future that put Batman back into the darkness, where he belongs.

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

The British Invasion that saw English creators (such as Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman) getting huge success in America, particularly DC Comics.

The rise of the independent publisher such as Dark Horse Comics and Slave Labor Graphics.

Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize winning Maus.

The formation of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

A few long running characters debuted including Booster Gold, Kilowog, Sodam Yat, Apocalypse and Eddie Brock (Venom).

For non-superheroes, 1986 saw the debut of Dylan Dog, Tintin and Alph-Art, Golgo 13, Area 88, Lone Wolf and Cub, Crying Freeman and Spirit of Wonder.

Episode 24-Talking Animals

extrasequential — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:06:24 +0000

75 mins. Our anthropomorphic special. That’s talking animals and we talk about a wide variety of comics containing them. Also – Spock, corporate branding, bell bottoms and annoying movie scores.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE, ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD

2:37 NEWS

Pics of the Spider-Man, and Captain America films. X-Men: First Class and Priest too. Also, the WAI-CON anime convention in Perth.

12:45 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Viking collection from Ivan Brandon and Nic Klein. Large format old timey action.

Casanova Vol. 1. Spies, multiple dimensions and hip zaniness from Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba.

The Infinite Vacation #1 from Nick Spencer and Christian Ward. Handy, though dangerous iPhone application that allows you to buy and sell alternate universe lives of yourself.

Star Trek New Frontier Book One. A novel by prolific scribe Peter David.

30:15 ANTHROPOMORPHIC READING LIST

Early Mickey Mouse from Floyd Gottfredson

Lions, Tigers and Bears

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Cerebus

Elephantmen

Elmer

WE3

Maus

Blacksad

Sam and Max

and more!

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK (Yes, it’s been a while)

Lackadaisy

Episode 23-Star Wars, Alan Moore and Stuff

extrasequential — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 13:05:31 +0000

59 mins. Our most rambling episode yet in which we hardly yak about comics, but do talk about all the different versions of Star Wars, and the good years of The Simpsons, plus wearing scarves, Johnny Mnemonic, Cheers, crying at Spock’s death, Liz Hurley and more ramblonic nonsense.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD HERE, OR ON ITUNES ORMIXCLOUD

1:45 NEWS

Star Wars on Blu-Ray in September, writer Neil Gaiman as himself on The Simpsons, the Batman teen toon that could’ve been in Gotham High, casting truth for Judge Dredd and casting rumours for Dark Knight Rises.

23:15 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Steel #1, zombies in the Wild West series Rotten, and the classic run on Swamp Thing from Alan Moore and Stephen Bissette.

41:50 FEATURE DISCUSSION

It’s the battle of the beards as writer Alan Moore vs writer Jason Aaron. Actually they don’t fight as such, but Aaron talks about a recent Moore interview and then we dissect it as only geeks can.

We finish by talking about Star Wars games and podcaster vanity.

Episode Twenty Two-Best Comics of 2010

extrasequential — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:31:48 +0000

68 mins. We have returned, with our best comics of 2010. Now before you groan about yet another list like this, you may be surprised by some of our choices. Also, George Clooney’s beard, Christmas presents and correct work attire.

LISTEN BELOW, DOWNLOAD HERE, OR ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD

3:55 NEWS

Stan Lee’s Hollywood star, Neil Gaiman’s wedding, Carl Barks’ work finally collected, trouble at Borders bookstores, even more trouble in the land of the Spider-Man musical.

12: 15 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Viz Media’s Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind manga, unique spy caper Who is Jake Ellis? #1, 27 #1 from Image Comics, and Deadpool Team Up #886 written by local (to Perth anyway) Shane McCarthy.

21:00 OUR 2010 FAVES

Webcomics - Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton, and Axe Cop

Reprint - The Horror! The Horror! collection of pre-Comics Code horror comics

Film Adaptation - Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Breakout Talents – Writer Tom Taylor (The Authority, Star Wars) and Rafael Grampa (Mesmo Delivery, Strange Tales II)

Best OGN - Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour from Oni Press, 45 from Com.x and X’d Outfrom Pantheon Books

Honourable Mentions – The Last Days of American Crime, Action Comics, Batman and Robin, Strange Tales II, Scalped

Best Australian Comic - Changing Ways from Justin Randall. There’s also two new Aussie publishers - Black House Comics and Silver Fox Comics

Best Comic - The Light from Nathan Edmondson and Brett Weldele and the Billy Batmanga from Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki

As an added bonus, we also present our Worst of 2010!

ES On Holidays For A Week And A Bit

extrasequential — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 05:57:25 +0000

Mladen and I will be having a break between now and a few days after New Year, but will be back with our weekly podcast as per normal in early January. Until then, you can check out my humble blog, Comic Book Jesus. Thanks for listening!

Episode Twenty One-Christmas Comics

extrasequential — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:17:18 +0000

35 mins. No news, and no what we’ve been reading. It’s our most streamlined, aerodynamic episode yet, and it’s all about Christmas themed comics. Also, singing cats, Angelina Jolie’s tattoos, Under Siege and a dodgy Christopher Walken impersonation.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE, ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD.

Fables #56 in which Santa Claus is a natural fit, and he explains just how he visits kids the world over all in one night!

1980′s DC Super Star Holiday Special. Large format, 5 stories.

Vertigo’s 3 issue Winter’s Edge mini-series. Now re-printed!

JLA #60 which shows Plastic Man recounting a tale in which Santa Claus joins the Justice League.

The classic Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special. Poor, poor Santa. And yes, there was a two issue Lobo/The Mask cross-over a decade ago.

The Tick Big Yule Log Special from 1997. Spoooon!

Batman Returns. Yes, it’s a festive superhero film, with lots of snow, nose biting and awkward speeches.

Dear Dracula. It’s a kids’ book showing young Sam writing to his hero Dracula instead of Santa. From Silverline Books.

Episode Twenty-Tron Legacy

extrasequential — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 11:31:03 +0000

70 mins. Our Tron: Legacy special in which we dissect the 3D sequel to the classic 1982 film and the latest comic news and reviews. Also, sexy angst, inner beauty and the Star Wars planet naming method.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE, LISTEN TO IT BELOW OR ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD.

1:10 NEWS

Your chance to appear as an artist in Udon’s upcoming Mega Man tribute book, Japanses creators band together in protest against new ratings, Crossgen comics launch from Marvel in March, Mark Waid leaves BOOM! Studios, BOOM! to publish Michael Moorcock’s Elric series, the first Marvel TV series to focus on spy/mother Jessica Jones.

18:10 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

The bad Jonah Hex film, Dexter Season 5, Sandman: Book of Dreams short story collection, Magus #1 from 12 Gauge Comics and Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #513.

39:15 FEATURE REVIEW – TRON: LEGACY

Episode Nineteen-Christmas Gift Guide

extrasequential — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 09:35:02 +0000

61 mins. It’s Christmas time! Well, almost. Mladen and I throw out a few suggestions for present buying. Let’s call it our Generous Geek Goodies Giving Guidelines. Or something. We also yak about the manga 2001 Nights, two titles from GG studio and a lesser known character from the creator of Conan.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE, ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD.

1:35 NEWS

No Two-Face or Joker in The Dark Knight Rises, Tron: Legacy soundtrack is now available, the trailer for Transformers 3, Anthrax’s Scott Ian is writing The Demon for DC Comics, superheroes become samurai in Marvel’s 5 Ronin mini-series due in March.

17:20 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Twilight: Eclipse, Hard Candy, the original Spartacus film, Kull: The Hate Witch #1 from Robert E. Howard, manga 2001 Nights from Viz Media, A Skeleton Story and The One from Italian publisher GG Studio.

42:34 GEEK CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Mladen and I give you some guidelines for Christmas purchases. If you want to buy something for the fanboy/fangirl in your life, or if you’re a fanboy/girl who wants to get something for the comics curious person in your life, then have we got some great tips for you?! Yes, yes we do.

Episode Eighteen-Xenozoic, Marineman and Definitions

extrasequential — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 02:09:16 +0000

66 mins. Now old enough to vote, here’s our 18th podcast! We discuss the new all ages book Marineman, the visually striking Batwoman, a funny manga about an aspiring artist and talk about the terminology of comic books and graphic novels.

Listen to it below, download it here, or on iTunes or Mixcloud.

1:05 NEWS

The continuing woes of the Spider-Man musical after it’s mixed debut performance, the death of director Irvin Kershner, Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons working together on a secret project.

6:44 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

I’ll Give It My All…Tomorrow by Shunji Aono, Secret Origin doco on the history of DC Comics, early vertigo one-shot Mercy, new all-ages series Marineman by Ian Churchill, Batwoman #0 by J.H Williams III (otherwise knwon as J.H Williams the 3rd), Flesk Publications’ new collection of Xenozoic tales by Mark Schultz and Arnie’s first film Hercules in New York.

38:20 THEME – DEFINITIONS

We attempt to define the difference in terminology between comics and graphic novels. Mladen and I have different thoughts on just what term should be used for what type of sequential art. Is it related to format? Theme? Who knows? We do, or so we think. Let the lively debate begin!

Episode Seventeen-Firebreather, Vampirella

extrasequential — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 06:21:17 +0000

49 mins. We both review the new Firebreather series debut, and the relaunch of classic fanged heroine Vampirella as well as the new Black Ops game, the funny and creepy El Borbah and manga Ooku.

Because WE demanded it! Two podcast episodes in one week! Actually, we’re just changing the day on which we record our show, so we can have more time to properly digest new comics. After our sweet sixteenth episode, comes our sour seventeenth episode. It’s not that sour really, but we do run the gamut of topics as usual. Apart from comics, films and manga news and reviews, we also discuss Mladen’s dodgy pronunciation of “news,” the Back to the Future game and unfunny Ricky Gervais films.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE, ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD.

2:25 NEWS

Pretty boy actor Matthew Goode as a possible Clark Kent/CGI Superman, the Locke and Key TV series based on the hugely popular horror comic, San Diego Comic-Con online registration crashes again and the film based on Daniel Clowes’ Wilson.

11:40 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Manga Ooku by Viz Media set in feudal Japan, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Star Trek II and III, El Borbah by Charles Burns, the fun, time travelling Rift Raiders OGN, Dynamite’s relaunch of Vampirella and Firebreather Vol.3 #1 from Image Comics.

45:38 CONCLUSION

Episode Sixteen-Detectives

extrasequential — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 13:00:28 +0000

78 mins. During the increasing heat, Mladen and I yak about a plethora of awesome Batman comics showing Bruce Wayne starting his crusade to build an army of international Batmen, the Green Lantern film trailer, our look at detectives in comics, how reading comics and novels differ and unusual eBay items.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE, OR ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD

2:45: NEWS

Dennis Leary as Captain Stacy in the upcoming Spidey film, the Green Lantern film trailer, Ninja Turtle’s co-creator Kevin Eastman’s fire sale and the first photo of Karl Urban as Judge Dredd.

17:50: WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Batman Inc. #1, Batman: The Return, Batman #704, Superman/Batman #78. As for non-Bats titles, we discuss manga horror Parasyte, Assassin’s Creed, Dungeons and Dragons, Nikopol (videogame), and the huge collection Sundays with Walt & Skeezix.

36:05: FEATURE THEME: DETECTIVES

We talk about the different categories of detectives as seen in comics, including the private investigator, the supernatural detectives, and the quirky genius obsessive.

We mention Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics, Batman in Hush, The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, classic Dick Tracy, Hairbutt the Hippo / Elephantmen, Dylan Dog, Hellboy, Image Comics’ hit Chew, Death Note, Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, new Aussie series The Dark Detective: Sherlock Holmes, the gorgeous looking Blacksad and Max Allan Collins’ intelligently written female detective Ms Tree.

Episode Fifteen-Talking With Gods

extrasequential — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:53:10 +0000

77 mins. A whole bunch of stuff as usual including a first look at next year’s Tintin movie, our thoughts on the documentary focused on Scottish writer Grant Morrison involving his magic and drug use, some new all ages comics such as Toy Story and Atomic Robo, the weird and brutal 676 Apparitions, the power of stories in The Unwritten and more.

Listen to it below, download it here , on iTunes or Mixcloud.

1:22 NEWS

The sale of the hugely popular San Diego Comic-Con tickets go live on Nov 22 for July 2011, writer JMS is off monthly comics to focus on the sequel to Superman: Earth One, the new DC Comics digital store, Spider-Man’s death, just released pics from the Tintin film, the success of the Walking Dead TV series, Batman Live World Arena Tour, a classic Fran Drescher and Robin Williams film and I also mistakenly credit Haley Joel Osment from The Sixth Sense instead of Freddie Highmore as the voice of Astro Boy. Phew, that’s a lot of news!

25:0 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING/WATCHING

The Nikita film, (in which I make one more film error and get Tcheky Karyo and Jurgen Prochnow and U-571 and Das Boot mixed up!), Russian flying car film Black Lightning, the new Predators, the latest season of Dexter.

And for comics we yak about the wild Mesmo Delivery from Rafael Grampa, the new Atomic Robo series, 676 Apparitions of Killoffer, Toy Story: Tales from the Toy Chest #2 from BOOM! Studios, Vertigo’s series The Unwritten, Image’s Halcyon #1.

And yes, I mix up the title of another film!

56:30 FEATURE REVIEW

The new doco Talking With Gods on writer Grant Morrison of JLA, We3, The Invisibles and more fame.

1:10:45 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Our Valued Customers – real things said by geeks and crazies in a comic book shop.

Episode Fourteen-Superman Earth One

extrasequential — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 11:55:04 +0000

74 mins. We’re joined again by Gianni from retailer Quality Comics, and the 3 of us yak on about a bunch of films and comics as well as evil transvestites, Lois Lane with a Tommy Gun and more.

An in depth discussion of the new look at the origin of the Man of Steel in the Superman Earth One graphic novel, horror series Abattoir, the weird dreamscape of X’ed Out, new British comics magazine Clint and the much delayed comic about a beloved Serenity character.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD

1:00 NEWS

The new Thunder Cats cartoon, upcoming films including Mission Impossible 4, and the 3D Spider-Man and Tron: Legacy, Legendary Pictures launches Legendary Comics and the return of webcomic The Perry Bible Fellowship.

12:00 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING/WATCHING

Classic Van Damme, classic Arnie and classic Belushi, horror prequel Paranormal Activity 2 and the film everyone’s talking about, The Social Network.

As for comics, we review Abattoir #1 from Radical Publishing, Kick Ass 2 #1, the Viking era of Northlanders Volume 4, British comics magazine Clint, X’ed Out from Charles Burns, the whimsicalReturn of the Dapper Men, the great Fleischer Superman cartoons from the 1940s and the long awaited Serenity: The Shepherd’s Tale.

51:30 TRADE/SWAP

We all moan about the updated Man of Steel as seen in graphic novel Superman: Earth One from DC Comics.

70: 00 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

The very cool movie/music remixes of Perth’s own Pogo.

Jim McCann and Janet Lee Interview

extrasequential — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 06:07:12 +0000

This interview, conducted with the writer and artist of the unique OGN, Return of the Dapper Men (now available from publisher Archaia) was scheduled for the print version of Extra Sequential. This is the last interview from the recent final days of ES, but you can see the rest of our almost-to-print articles right here. Now, read on to discover more about this gorgeous looking book.

A group of men in sartorial elegance floating to the floor like feathers. It’s an unusual impetus for a new fantastic tale, but inspired by said image, writer Jim McCann couldn’t help himself, as he and artist Janet Lee reveal about their new original graphic novel for Archaia, Return of the Dapper Men. The book exists in a world called Anorev, a world where adults do not exist, and books are used for standing upon, not reading, or as Archaia describe it, “a tale of a world in between time, where children have played so long it’s almost become work, machines have worked so long they have begun to play, and all the clocks have stopped at the same time.”

“I’ve known Jim for about 15 years, I think,” Lee reveals. “He’s one of my closest friends. We met socially when he was still living in Nashville, worked at the same company for a while, lived less than a mile from each other. At one point, we had a mad scheme to go on Trading Spaces together. Eventually Jim sold his house in Nashville and moved to New York, but we’ve always kept in touch. He visits me when he’s in town to see his family, and I visit him when I’m in NYC.” The pair admit that it was three images in particular that set off the creative chain of events that would be the creation of these very well-dressed gents and the world in which they live. “A couple of years ago, Jim was visiting for the holidays; while in Nashville, he came to see one of my gallery shows,” Lee elaborates. “He saw three particular pieces: a six-foot-tall, Magritte-inspired image of men in bowler hats and striped suits raining over the rooftops of Paris; a tiny image of a steampunk boy with goggles; and a small illustration of a robot girl. About a month later, he sent me an email with what turned out to be the opening lines to Return of the Dapper Men and a note asking if I wanted to do an OGN. Of course, I said yes!” McCann aggress with Lee’s assessment of the project’s genesis in that it, “was born from three pieces she had created for different gallery shows but in my strange mind formed this story that I had to write. And every time she’d send me a sketch or I’d come across a doodle, more story would spring to mind. It’s truly a collaborative process, inspiring each other.” The writer also admits that in a broader sense, he finds inspiration in many corners of the world. “I love fairy tales and the fantastical. Anything that transports you away from the cabs and crowds and bills or changing cat litter, the things we all do or deal with as part of daily life. I want to remind myself (and others) of that overwhelming sense of wonder you feel when you see something new and exciting for the first time. In approaching Return of the Dapper Men, I looked back at my own youth and the worlds I would create with action figures or on paper or acted out in my backyard with an imaginary legion of characters. I thought about the feelings I had when I first saw Empire Strikes Back. The first time I read Shel Silverstein aloud. Acting like a Wild Thing or building a pillow and blanket fort. And the 50th time I saw Empire Strikes Back. All of that is what I wanted to bring to this, but also the perspective of the adults that are now my peers and the man-child I sort of have become by not letting go of dreams and instead making them destiny and reality.”

A huge part of making Dapper Men a reality was finding a publisher that would understand the unique book and trust the vision of the duo behind it. Janet recalls that during a trip to New York for a trade show, she and McCann, “spent about a week hashing out the story line and character concepts. We also came up with a short list of publishers we thought would be a good fit for the book. Archaia was at the top of that list. Later that year at San Diego Comic-Con, Jim pitchedReturn of the Dapper Men to Mark Smylie [Archaia’s Chief Creative Officer] and Stephen Christy [Archaia’s Editor-In-Chief], and the rest is history!”

Speaking of history, creating the background for Anorev and its uniquely enchanting world was one of the first challenges for the tale. “I remember our early discussions as being the time where we really fleshed out the world of Anorev,” Lee recalls. “What did it look like where the robots lived, where the children lived? What did the children and robots look like; what did they wear? I spent a week in New York making character sketches and bouncing ideas off Jim. Initially, my thought was that the city would look a lot like my neighborhood in Nashville, which is filled with Victorian and Craftsman-style homes, lots of trees. We ended up with a cross between Paris and East Nashville with a fairy-land of gears beneath the streets for the children to play in.”

McCann mentions that the scope of Dapper Men can not necessarily be contained in one book. “It’s also large in scale in that this is actually the first in a trilogy of books. Wait until you see what’s planned for the future.” He describes the tale as, “both incredibly large and universal in scope, and at the same time a very personal and microscopic story. At its center, there are three main characters and their actions determine their fates, and also the fate of the world even though two of them don’t know it. It deals with larger themes of clockwork universe and some theology if you dig deep enough, but then if you just read it as a story with no analysis, it’s a tale about kids not wanting to go to bed (for the first time in as long as any of them can remember) for fear of change. But without sleep, you can’t dream, and without growing up, there is no such thing as destiny. It’s about discovering that, and learning that first step of growing up and embracing what you are meant to become.” Within this steampunk/fantasy/sci-fi realm exists Ayden, the sole boy to possess curiosity, a cherished robot girl named Zoe and a Dapper Man referred to as 41. These three must discover why time has frozen and come to grips with who they truly are in their world. The aforementioned 41 is just one of the many Dapper Men who fall upon Anorev. McCann refers to Lee as his “amazing co-creator and artist” and reveals that she “finds it large in scope when I tell her that there are 314 Dapper-Looking men raining down from the sky. She loves me for that, don’t believe otherwise.”

As an artist Lee’s hands on collage approach couldn’t be more different from the slick renderings most comics readers are accustomed to, but its visual approach is key to cementing the inherent dream-like nature of the book. “When Jim talked to Mark and Stephen at SDCC, he showed them images of some gallery pieces,” Lee reveals. “For the past several years, I’ve been working in a sort of “original collage” technique where I draw images on vellum, cut them out and then layer them onto wood or canvas or paper with other components (like art papers, or pages from old books). It’s a type of decoupage—very ’70s. Archaia was always completely clear that they wanted me to illustrate the pages my way using my style, so that’s the way I’ve approached it. Now that being said, I did discover pretty quickly that paper wasn’t heavy enough to support the number of layers I was using and that I wanted to build each page as a single board rather than making individual images which we’ve brought together during Photoshop layout.”

Going from the art gallery to the comic book shelves is a transition for the artist, but hopefully one that others will also continue to make as the line between art forms, whether sequential or otherwise, continues to blur. Lee reveals, “After Roy Lichtenstein, I’m not sure anyone can possibly claim that the art world at large is unfamiliar with comics. I suspect that the percentage of gallery artists who read comics is probably pretty similar to that of the general population, a little higher number amongst the forms that respond to contemporary culture, a little fewer amongst the more traditional forms. That last part’s a guess, but comics are so pervasive now, anyone relating to pop culture must be aware. Lee continues, “In some cases, it’s probably true [that gallery artists don’t recognize or value sequential art] but heck, the oil painters look down at people working in acrylics. Old-school painters wouldn’t even draw their own figures, but would call in “draftsmen” to take care of that chore. My first teacher wouldn’t let me sketch out a piece on canvas with a pencil, but insisted we only use a brush and paint. In any type of artistic venture, people seem to want to classify something as “better or worse.” The trick is in realizing that all true artistic merit comes from how effectively the artist communicates with his/her audience.”

Considering this is Lee’s first foray from the gallery to the comic shop, the artist admits that she’s, “never been a “normal” gallery artist, and I’ve always been a huge comics geek, so in a sense it’s been surprisingly easy. I’ve been experimenting for a while with things like sequential portraits where I incorporate images and stories of the person’s life into their portrait. I’ve also played a bit with things like “sequential shows” where the individual pieces tell a story as you walk through the gallery. I find art to be a narrative medium, but it’s all well and good to produce a limited series of related images, and another thing entirely to phrase them on page after page in a way that’s interesting and supports the narrative. In that sense, the learning curve has been incredibly steep. I read just about every sequential book I can get my hands on to get ideas and, hopefully, become better.” The key to any good comic is a good collaboration, as Lee freely admits. “Fortunately, Jim has a great way of letting me know (kindly) when something sucks, and letting me bounce ideas off him. That’s one of my favorite things, so far, about sequential art: it’s wonderfully collaborative. The team works together to build something that’s better than the sum of its parts.”

McCann is not new to the process of working with other creative types however. Originally working as a script writer on the popular ABC drama One Life To Live, he moved to New York in 2004 and soon stared working for Marvel in their PR department before gradually writing their characters in stories such as Dazzler and New Avengers: The Reunion, featuring archer Hawkeye and the recently resurrected Mockingbird, two former Avengers team-mates and their life and death love life.

“The amazing thing about Marvel,” he reveals, “is that they always knew I wanted to write, and when it came time for that to happen, they helped me make that happen. I’d written for the stage and TV, and am a massive comic book fan, so it came as no surprise that the writer in me would finally say, “OK, time to get to work on THIS part of my life.” McCann has not left Marvel behind completely though, as his writing chores on crime-fighting lovers Hawkeye and Mockingbird prove, as does his new relaunch of Alpha Flight, focused on Canada’s foremost superhero team. “I love the Marvel offices and miss being a part of it. Fortunately, I am local, so I can pop over any time,” McCann mentions. “That said, I still miss being on the super-duper inside track. However, that has freed me up to explore and really work out my writing more than I imagined.” McCann is also aware that sitting behind the keyboard means, “I have more time to write, which means I HAVE to write! This is my source of income and it’s also what I’ve said I’ve wanted to do for all my life, literally. So, time to DO it.”

McCann’s scripts dedicated to long-time lovers with a generous dose of superhero action in the monthly series Hawkeye and Mockingbird are a great delight to fans of adventure and the scribe reveals that, “it was originally pitched as the Mr. and Mrs. Smith of the Marvel U, but I recently discovered the incredible show Burn Notice, which I watch faithfully now. The characters of Hawkeye and Mockingbird have a very human aspect as well, and for that I look to Nick and Nora Charles (of The Thin Man), Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, and many other classic film pairings.”

With his TV past and current comic book scripting there’s not necessarily a lot of difference in the approach to scripting for the writer. “Not really in the form of storytelling; they are both serialized mediums, dealing with years of continuity and existing characters, and have vocal fan bases. With an original graphic novel like Return of the Dapper Men, it’s more like a pilot or a film, where you put something new out there and hope people buy.”

Speaking of which Dapper Men was inspired not only by his co-creator (“Janet’s art continues to inspire me.”) but also those darker tales and fables that all good parents read to their kids, despite their darkness that some may not embrace in today’s sensitive world. “I went back and re-read the texts of Grimms, Barrie, Carroll and they all had dark overtones that have been glossed over in today’s cartoon adaptation world or pop-up book incarnations. They had real lessons there, some were deeper and hidden, something left for you to discover when you re-read them as adults. As a child, you take away one level from the story—the face value. That’s what’s become the modern way of remembering these classics. But they were intended to educate the adult as well. I love that, and I hope that Dapper can achieve something remotely close to that.”

As for his own status as a dapper men McCann reveals, ”I am the least Dapper Man you’ll meet (on the outside, at least). I’m a t-shirt and jeans (or shorts) guy. All the time. I don’t know that I have a suit…I’ll have to check,: and as for his favourite garment in his wardrobe? “There is a t-shirt two sizes too big that I’ve had for 15 years now. It’s been washed so many times that it’s like a blanket. It’s nothing special, a drab green/brown shirt. But it is my “serious writing” shirt. I always make sure it’s washed and if I’m wearing it, then it means I am in the zone or have a deadline. I only wear it when writing (but not every time I write) and I can’t imagine ever getting rid of it.”

One man who knows a thing or two about sartorial elegance is a certain Tony Stark, and the man who plays him on the big screen. McCann met the stylish man himself at Comic Con and relates an awkward tale about the encounter, though he does admit that when it comes to conventions, “I see something new and funny at every one of them. Personally, my most embarrassing moment was when I almost pushed Robert Downey Jr. in a pool at a party in SDCC trying to get to Katee Sackhoff and Joss Whedon to introduce them to each other (they had not met yet). I jumped over a stanchion at the corner of the pool and there he was—RDJ! I stammered out, “So sorry, Mr. Downey Junior!” and kept running.”

The 4 part Widow Maker storyline begins in December and runs through both Black Widow #9-10, written by Duane Swierczynski and Hawkeye and Mockingbird #7-8, written by McCann.

The luscious Return of the Dapper Men hardcover is out now from Archaia, containing 120 pages of whimsy, fantasy and very well-dressed gentlemen, as well as introduction from fashion guru Tim Gunn and a diverse and dazzling gallery from some of the industry’s best artists.

Episode Thirteen-Superman and Captain America film costumes and more

extrasequential — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:24:50 +0000

69 mins. Could this be our funniest and most rambling episode ever? Why yes! Batman 3 details, zombies around the world, Star Wars memories, spooky vampire film Let The Right One In, our choices for January goodies and more. Also Medal of Honor, Judge Dredd from the 1990s and True Blood.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR LISTEN ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD

1:27 NEWS

Batman 3 has a title and who won’t be the villain, world wide flashmobs to promote the just premiered Walking Dead TV series, The Essex County trilogy from Jeff Lemire wins Canada’s respect, the wild costumes from the thankfully-never-made Superman film involving Tim Burton and Nicolas Cage and Chris Evans’ buff physique and Captain America film costume.

19:00 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING/WATCHING

The unnecessary Nightmare on Elm Street remake, Let The One Right In, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the short Medal of Honor game, the entertaining My Best Friend Is A Wookiee memoir, a Judge Dredd special from 1994, Spider-Man vs Vampires and the latest issue from Dark Horse’s Creepy series.

37:35 POTENTIAL PREVIEWS PURCHASES

We scan the pages of the new catalogue showing a whole bunch of January releasing goodies.

60:00 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Comics Comics

64:20 Rambling conclusion involving Jean Claude Van Damme.

Episode Twelve-Halloween Special

extrasequential — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:28:59 +0000

77 mins. We present a brief history of horror comics in the last few decades and we look at some of our scary and disturbing favourites including books such as the funny The Goon, weird manga like Domu and Spirals, Strange Embrace by David Hine, the genre bending Hotwire and new Australian book Changing Ways.

As it’s Halloween this weekend (not that we even care here in Australia) we thought we’d mention our fave horror comics. We go through the history of Japanese and American comics (including burning comics!), I sing Cher and of course, we discuss some truly frightening things that only comics can get away with.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD

1:40 NEWS

A new Asterix animated film in 3D

A new film on the dark manga Pluto to be made by the studio behind Despicable Me

The new Lynd Ward comics prize

Anime characters go on the European stage and sing and dance or something

Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti set to star in a film adaptation of cult novel John Dies at the End to be helmed by the director of cult fave Bubba Ho-tep

10:40 OH, THE HORROR!

Four Colour Fear from Fantagraphics which reprints some crazy tales from the ’50s

Senate hearings, Frederic Wertham’s book Seduction of the Innocent and the link between reading violent comics and juvenile delinquency

How Frankenstein inspired Stan Lee’s creation of Hulk

The Drifting Classroom

Marvel’s black and white Tomb of Terror one-shot

The once lost Batman: Hidden Treasures from DC Comics

Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, Sandman and the birth of DC’s Vertigo imprint

Mike Mignola’s Hellboy, Eric Powell’s hilarious The Goon, Pinnochio The Vampire Slayer from Slave Labor Graphics

The creepy manga Spirals, the collaborative and surprising Pixu and Katsuhiro Otomo’s Domu

Strange Embrace and FVZA by David Hine

The gorgeous Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead

Justin Randall’s very moody and effective Changing Ways

1:10:18 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Good Show Sir - only the worst sci-fi/fantasy book covers

Episode Eleven-The Outfit, Superior, 45

extrasequential — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 13:23:30 +0000

70 mins. Joined by special guest Gianni from comics retailer Quality Comics we discuss the new Marvel TV series, Spider-Man’s next big screen villain, cheap Japanese comics, Iron Man’s variant armours, the crime tale The Outfit, Lady Mechanika, Superior, the latest mini series featuring Hellblazer and unique graphic novel 45.

This week we have a special guest as we’re joined by Gianni from comics retailer Quality Comics. We discuss all the below, plus drawing telephone poles, Mel Gibson’s revenge films, The Losers and thanks to Gianni, lots of cool insights about what’s selling and why and how the American dollar will effect comic prices in Australia.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE, LISTEN TO IT ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD, OR BELOW.

1:23 NEWS

Tom Hardy on Batman 3, possible Hulk and Cloak and Dagger TV series, who’s playing The Lizard in the next Spider-Man film and the final issue of the Extra Sequential magazine.

11:54 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING/WATCHING

Extremely affordable phonebook-sized comics direct from the streets of Japan, Darwyn Cooke’s gritty The Outfit based on Richard Stark’s crime novel, Scott Pilgrim Volume 1, the new and funky Outre art gallery in Perth, the diverse Iron Man by Design, the surprisingly enjoyable Lady Mechanika #0 from Aspen and Hellblazer: City of Demons #1.

51:55 TRADE/SWAP

45 by Andi Ewington and UK publisher Com.x, in which a journalist interviews 45 different superpowered individuals in an intriguing presentation.

1:00:15 COMIC SHOP INSIGHTS

What’s selling, how people find their local comics retailer, reactions of comic book newbies, ages of readers, The Phantom fans and more.

1:04:53 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

She Has No Head-Ladies Comics Project – female readers, both new and not to comics, pick a comic of interest, read it and give commentary. A lot more interesting than it sounds.

NEXT WEEK – OUR FAVE HORROR COMICS!

Extra Sequential #4

extrasequential — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 12:11:02 +0000

It’s a long story. Actually, it’s not that long. Late in 2008 myself and Dave Lapsley, a mate from work decided to start an on-line magazine because we wanted a creative project to do together. Dave’s not a fanboy like me, but he does have an eye for good art and is a whiz with Adobe software.

We called the mag Extra Sequential and created our first issue mostly during our one hour lunch breaks from work. After 3 issues in 7 months, we helped an international comics publisher with the new mag they were launching. It was fun and a great opportunity. It did happen but in a different way than we expected.

Nevertheless we were happy we got those 3 issues out there and achieved Rising Star status onIssuu and over 17 000 subscribers on Scribd. We did look into self publishing, but working in a company facing downsizing meant it wasn’t a wise move.

We then received interest from another publisher and well, “circumstances beyond our control,” and all that, so 2 strikes was enough for us.

A lot has happened in the 18 months since we started the mag. Dave and no longer have the benefit of working at the same place, and we live 2 hours apart, so there won’t be any more issues of Extra Sequential. This is the last one, and it comes with a note: it ain’t perfect. Think of it as a Raw Edition. A collection of articles and interviews that were destined for print, some of these pages are unfinished, but not many. To be honest, our motivation to see this issue to its final version is pretty much non-existent, after a year of false starts into print. However, it’d be a shame to at least not put it online, so here it is.

Dave and I hope you enjoy it. Yes, some of the interviews are dated, but it’s certainly a nice way to say goodbye. We believe there’s still a place for an accessible, arty mag that reveals to the curious, and the dedicated reader, how awesome comics can be.

I still write for Broken Frontier and am a co-host of a new, weekly Extra Sequential podcast so I’m not, and probably never will be, out of the talking about comics “profession” though and I do recall fondly the hours and hours of creating Extra Sequential.

You can read our final issue below or here. Thanks for reading!

View this document on Scribd

Episode Ten-Ultimate Thor, Biomega, Wonder Woman On TV

extrasequential — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 13:27:08 +0000

65 mins. The Wonder Woman TV show in the works, the director of Superman’s upcoming film, the comic adaptation of The Fountain film, new Thor and Uncanny X-Force debuts and we browse through the latest Previews catalogue for a world full of goodies.

We’re now in triumphant double digits! This is what we discuss in our tenth episode, as well as Phil Collins, angry badgers, why Hugh Jackman doesn’t fly economy class and so much more.

Listen to it below, download it here or on iTunes or Mixcloud.

1:05 NEWS

Wonder Woman on TV- the new series by Ally McBeal and Boston Legal creator David E. Kelley

Watchmen and 300 director Zack Snyder is now officially on the Superman reboot

Marvel and DC’s lower comics prices starting in January

Also the highest selling book this week in France is a comic, and good and bad comics trailers

16:30 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky and Kent Williams based on Aronofsky’s wild and arty film

Ultimate Thor #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Carlos Pacheco

Biomega Vol. 3 by Tsutomu Nihei

Uncanny X-Force #1 by Rick Remender and Jerome Opena

Winter World by Chuck Dixon and Jorge Zaffino. Not a Kevin Costner film.

39:58 PANEL PLAY

We act out some dialogue from a recent comic. You guess which one it is, then we reveal the answer at the end of the show.

41:52 POTENTIAL PREVIEWS PURCHASES

Every month the Previews catalogue comes out letting retailers and consumers know what’s coming out in 2 month’s time. We pick our fave products from the October catalogue.

1:03:03 PANEL PLAY’S ANSWER

1:03:53 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Dark Horizons – the latest in a wide array of film news, trailers and interviews.

Episode Nine-The Punisher Returns, Alien Worlds of Moebius

extrasequential — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 11:47:52 +0000

63 mins. Frank Castle says goodbye to his monster status and reclaims his skull chested vigilante status, more news from the shake ups within DC Comics, Chloe Sullivan and Death sort of team up with Lex Luthor in Action Comics, some wonderful and alien worlds from French masters and a 1980s animated epic.

Also, besides the topics below we talk about the future of Star Wars films in 3D, Captain Kirk’s alien romantic tendencies, Shrek’s snarkiness and more.

Download it here, listen to it below or on iTunes or Mixcloud.

1:00 NEWS

Updates on the DC shuffling/moving/retrenching, director Darren Aronofsky on the Preacher film, X-Men 3, Batman 3 and pensioners who read comics.

14:00 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

The Punisher returns to his status quo in Franken-castle #21 by Rick Remender and Dan Brereton

Lex Luthor battles a spoon wielding Gorilla Grodd in Action Comics #893, and Smallville’s Chloe Sullivan shows up

Jean Giraud’s rich alien landscapes in Moebius 4: The Long Tomorrow & Other Stories

The Six Voyages of Lone Sloane by Phillipe Druilet

45:00 WHAT WE’VE BEEN WATCHING

The stop motion work of Coraline reminds us of the dark tales from our childhoods, the menace in David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence and the classic animated sword and sorcery film Fire and Ice.

55:00 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Guess which film these classic battles are from on The Great Showdowns.

Episode Eight-French Peter Pan, Skullkickers, EmiTown

extrasequential — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 10:53:42 +0000

68 mins. The DC Comics moves and the state of both the animated and live action Superman films. The French and slightly raunchy Peter Pan series, the sleeper hits of Sea Bear and Grizzly Shark and Skullkickers. We also chat about the new direction for Thor and Emi Lenox’s upcoming sketch diary EmiTown based on her daily life.

The eighth episode of our podcast is now online. Myself and my co-host Mladen chat about Spider-Man bedsheets and all manner of comic book-ery goodness. Hear it below, download it here or find us on iTunes or Mixcloud.

2:18 NEWS

The big shake ups at DC Comics, the outrageous prices of floppies at Borders, the diverse list of possible directors for the upcoming Superman film and our opinion on the All Star Superman animated trailer. Also, Ghost Rider 2 and Fantastic Four Reborn.

18:58 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

First up – video games, including Halo Reach and Scott Pilgrim.

Thor #615. The first issue from the new creative team of Matt Fraction and Pasqual Ferry.

Peter Pan by Regis Loisel. A French, and mature, prequel to the classic tale.

Skullkickers #1. The sleeper hit from Image by Jim Zubkavich, Chris Stevens and Edwin Huang. Lethal Weapon via Lord of the Rings.

Gon, “the little dinosuar with the heart of coal,” by Masashi Tanaka.

41:41 Trade Swap

Sea Bear and Grizzly Shark. A one-shot Image story that is insane and entertaining.

EmiTown by Emi Lenox. A cute and largely amusing visual diary.

1:00:40 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Kick Starter. If you have an arty idea and need funding, or would like to fund others’ ideas, this is the place for you.

Episode Seven-Wordless Wonders

extrasequential — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:19:35 +0000

76 mins. Comics without words and without boundaries. From comedy such as Spy vs Spy and Perry Bible Fellowship to the weird like the time travelling whale in Leviathan and the Japanese New Engineering to deep themes in Aussie books Vowels and The Arrival. Also the new Daredevil, Sherlock Holmes via The Muppets and Watchmen writer Alan Moore leaves a message for aliens.

Wordless wonders is the name of the game in the seventh episode of the new Extra Sequential podcast by myself and my mate Mladen Luketin. Besides the below topics we ramble onto subjects as diverse as Buster Keaton, Garfield, annoying dinosaurs and superhero evidence in court.

Download it here, hear it below or on iTunes or Mixcloud.

1:16 News

Black Panther is the new Daredevil, cheap comics from publishers Top Shelf and Drawn and Quarterly, and retailer Mile High, Back to the Future game, Atlas Comics returns, Watchmen writer Alan Moore talks to aliens (or at least leaves them a message), the possible return of cinematic slackers Bill and Ted, 24 Hour Comics Day and Australia’s Reel Anime festival.

13:54 Panel Plays

We re-enact a scene from a classic comic. You guess which one, and we’ll tell you at the end!

16:07 What We’ve Been Reading/Watching

Transformers: Drift from Perth writer Shane McCarthy, Wilson from Daniel Clowes, Thor: First Thunder by Bryan J.L Glass and Tan Eng Huat, Muppet Sherlock Holmes, ’60s TV series The Prisoner and Smallville Season 8.

36:55 Wordless Wonders

Comics without words? Insanity!

The Graphic Witness collection of pioneers of wordless storytelling, anthology World War 3 Illustrated from Top Shelf, Chris Ware’s Acme Novelty Library, The Arrival by Aussie writer/artist Shaun Tan, Vowels by Skye Ogden and Gestalt Comics, Moebius’ Arzach, Matotti’s Chimera, German Jens Harder’s weird large whale tale, Leviathan and New Engineering by Yuichi Yokoyama.

On the comedic side of things we discuss Spy vs Spy, Mad magazine, Perry Bible Fellowship, the little dinosaur Gon by Masashi Tanaka and Andy Runton’s cute Owly. As an added bonus, G.I Joe #22 and Marvel’s ‘Nuff Said issues from 2002.

70:25 Website of the week and the Panel Play answer

Cereal Geek – a PDF and print magazine all about the wonders of ’80s cartoons.

Episode Six-Comics From Our Childhood

extrasequential — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:55:05 +0000

76 mins. Nostalgia reigns supreme as comics from the 1970s to the 90s are discussed and we laugh at some extremely amusing ads. Superman vs Muhammad Ali, Beavis and Butthead, X-Factor, X-Men and X-Babies show up as does Spidey and his fake face.

We get all misty eyed in this week’s podcast when, amongst a bevy of other things, we discuss our fave comics from our past or as my co-host Mladen describes it:

We show each other the comics from our childhood. We also find time to talk about gay men’s interests magazines, Juggernaut’s Butt, and envelopes filled with hair.

Listen to it below, download it here or get it on iTunes.

1:10 – NEWS

A forgotten graphic novel from beat writer William S. Burroughs, a possible new Vertigo TV series, next year’s Comic Con tickets and more.

10:15 – WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING/WATCHING

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo film, disappointing sci-fi flick Pandorum, Oishinbo (a food focused manga), love-Indian style in Viminarama, Blazing Combat classic war tales, the sketchbook story of Joshua Cotter’s Driven by Lemons, documentaries on classic Spider-Man artist and current recluse Steve Ditko and French artist Moebius. We also yak about the luscious looking Thor: For Asgard mini-series, Wolverine’s relaunch, and finally a new paranormal/spy series from Archaia called Lucid.

30:54 - COMICS FROM OUR CHILDHOOD

First up we hear voices from the past when classic Marvel creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby before we move onto comics from the ’70s to the ’90s. Classic Spider-Man adventure, hilarious ads involving facial hair, and cheap triangles. Also – Mladen as Gwen Stacy. The geographical education from Asterix, dodgy covers, expensive jackets, licensed comics, passing fads, X-Babies, Beavis and Butthead’s juvenile comedy, the confusion of time-travelling superheroes, and an unlikely Superman team-up with Muhammad Ali.

68:55 – MISCELLANEOUS

The teaser trailer for The Avengers film, and my Thor impression.
72:00 – WEB-COMIC OF THE WEEK

Hark! A Vagrant!

Episode Five-Father’s Day Special

extrasequential — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:14:57 +0000

71 mins. This ep is all about the variety of dads in comics from superheroes such as Hulk, Batman, Wolverine and Superman to bad dads like Lex Luthor and Norman Osborn and those in indie and manga books as seen in Jimmy Corrigan and Lone Wolf and Cub. We also chat about the Batman Brave and the Bold cartoon and the French series XIII.

Listen to it below, download it here or get it on iTunes. So many choices.

In our introduction, we briefly discuss the zombie craze, Poland and The Rolling Stones.

4:38 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING/WATCHING

The zany animated adventures of Batman: The Brave and the Bold including The Drew Carey Show, jazz, glow in the dark covers, the number of stretchy comics characters, Lost in Translation. We also chat about Lethal Weapon, stuntwomen, Eric Clapton and Doc Savage. The French series XIII and its similarities to the Jason Bourne novels and the reality of Ghostbusters’ Stay Puft marshmallows are also mentioned.

22:42 FATHER’S DAY

There sure are a lot of dads in comics, so we break them down into 4 categories.

Absent Dads – Superman’s Kryptonian father Jor-El, the various Phantoms and their exclusive mating policies, the Image series Invincible, Bruce Banner’s son Skaar and Jimmy Corrigan.

Bad Dads – Lex Luthor, David Cain (father of the mute Batgirl), Norman Osborn (Green Goblin) and his son Harry, Jango Fett and Boba in the new Blood Ties series and the Lone Wolf and Club manga.

Surrogate Dads – Alfred and Bruce Wayne, Chris Kent, 20th Century Boys, Maus.

Great Dads – Commissioner Gordon, The Flash Wally West, Three Shadows, Road to Perdition and Preacher.

Miscellaneous – Cable and Cyclops, Wolverine and Daken.

1:08:35 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK - Coolvibe – daily great art from comics, video games and more with a healthy focus on sci-fi and fantasy.

Episode Four-Marvel Film News,The Darkness And More

extrasequential — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:31:07 +0000

63 mins. We talk about The Darkness: Four Horsemen, Superman/Batman #75, French action films, Catwoman, James Bond and Monkey Island 2. We also get to Nathan Schreiber’s indie drama Power Out original graphic novel and the life and works of legendary creator Winsor McCay including his Little Nemo in Slumberland. Of course, our usual pop culture ramblings pop up too!

My buddy Mladen and I have now released our fantastic fourth episode focused on comic books and pop culture. Listen to it below or download it right here.

Also check us out on iTunes!

1:35 NEWS

We yak about the possible closure of famed Japanese anime production company Studio Ghibli and the latest updates for a few Marvel films including Iron Fist and X-Men: First Class. Kevin Bacon, Halle Berry, Vin Diesel and bland rom-coms are also mentioned for some reason.

20:15 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING/WATCHING

The Darkness: Four Horsemen #1, Gaston Lagaffe, the American Splendor film, Superman/Batman 75th Anniversary issue, cartoon series King of the Hill, action film From Paris With Love, District B13, James Bond new and old, and the Monkey Island 2 Special Edition and Killzone 2 games. As an added bonus the term “lazy doofus” is mentioned twice and the Fantastic Four are compared to a ’70s rock band.

42:40 TRADE SWAP

Indie black and white OGN Power Out, and Winsor McCay’s groundbreaking Little Nemo in Slumberland from early last century.

57:50 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK www.io9.com

Extra Sequential Podcast Episode Three

extrasequential — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:22:42 +0000

90 mins. New magazines from writers Alan Moore and Mark Millar, novel Eifelheim and Image series The Light, The Phantom and lots of Scott Pilgrim goodness as well as our rundown of best political moments in comics which includes Ex Machina, Cerebus, Lex Luthor as President and voting for the life of Robin.

While people were escaping their suburban existence and voting for the future of our country (Australia), my mate Mladen and I were recording the latest episode of our Extra Sequential podcast. In episode three, we talk about The Phantom (both old and new), everything Scott Pilgrim, our Top Ten political moments in comics, recent Eisner Award winners and more outlandish geeky indulgences.

Listen to it below, or download it right here.

2:17 NEWS

Batman Beyond DVD boxset, Mark Millar’s new magazine.

5:30 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING/WATCHING

Cop Out, ”Aquaman’s” appearance in Clash of the Titans, Alan Moore’s underground mag Dodgem Logic, Lucky Luke: The Dashing White, sci-fi novel Eifelheim, Image’s The Light. Also – a Nicolas Cage impersonation.

20:11 The Phantom

Reminiscing about Lee Falk’s classic character during our youth and its brand new series from Dynamite Entertainment. Billy Zane, the origin of The Ghost Who Walks, Larry Walker: The Almost Phantom, Seth Rogen and more.

28:23 SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD

The film, the Oni Press series, the game and even the soundtrack. Full of Pilgrim-y goodness. The great TV series Spaced, including slow-mo gun fights, Princess Peach from the Mario games, Seinfeld, and yes, lots of Canadian hero Scott Pilgrim.

46:48 THEME OF THE WEEK – POLITICS

Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jack Black, voting and our Top Ten Comics/Politics X-Overs.

10. Lex Luthor as U.S President

9. Cerebus: Church and State

8. Transmetropolitan: Year of the Bastard

7. Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers

6. J. Jonah Jameson as New York Mayor

5. Everyman: Be The People

4. Asterix and the Caesar’s Gift

3. Ex Machina

2. DMZ: Blood in the Game

1. Voting for the death of Robin!

69:30 EISNER AWARDS AND HARVEY NOMINEES

See the full list of Eisner winners here and Harvey nods here.The comic book equivalent of the Oscars. We talk about David Mazzuchelli’s Asterios Polyp, the black, white and blue of Darwyn Cooke’s The Hunter (based on the crime novel by Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark), and David Small’s Stitches.

84:45 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

www.thecurfewgame.com an on-line game set in a future London.

Extra Sequential Podcast Episode Two

extrasequential — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:58:46 +0000

82 mins. We review Elvis the zombie killer in KING, the return of a dead Robin in the Batman: Under the Red Hood animated film, Hellblazer, Black Hole and Asterix. Plus in our vanity projects theme we bring up Frank Miller, Neal Adams, Alan Moore, Mark Millar and more.

Just to prove that we’re not a one hit, or one podcast, wonder, myself and my good friend Mladen are back for round two of our comic book/pop culture podcast! Now with improved audio and funnier jokes! Chapter times below.

Listen to the episode below, or download it here.

1:23 NEWS

The much delayed Spider-Man Broadway musical, how Star Wars could’ve ended, Neil Gaiman vs Todd McFarlane about Spawn characters, record breaking One Piece sales and the Reel Anime festival in Australia.

13:15

Manga sales compared to comic sales in the West

15:55 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING/WATCHING

Inception, KING! #1, Batman: Under The Red Hood, Battlestar Galactica, Hellblazer: Hooked and Black Hole and detours into the multitude of Robins, Batman Beyond, dead superheroines and the unfunny Bubba Ho-tep film.

39:22 Trade Swap

Asterix! The hugely popular French series is new to myself, but is very familiar to my cohort Mladen. We discuss its origins, success and the animated and live action films. Also – suede pants, theme parks, French puns and dogs in catapults.

50:43 Theme – Vanity Projects

Sometimes creators get so successful that their name alone can be a selling point, regardless of the quality of the content. Not all such projects are bad though. We yak about the recent work of Alan Moore, Dave Sim, Frank Miller, Neal Adams and a few more.

77:25 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Comic Twart – a different character each week, drawn by a variety of artists. Check it out here. We also meander to Antarctic Press’ Time Lincoln: Fists of Fuhrer, Sandman, different types of triangles and next week’s topics, which will be the Scott Pilgrim comics and film, Eisner Award winners and Harvey nominees including our looks at Darwyn Cooke’s Hunter and Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World Review

extrasequential — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:25:50 +0000

Man, oh man, what a great film. I’ve been a fan of the great series of graphic novels by creator Bryan Lee O’Malley since I picked up Volume 1 last year. Since 2004 there have been 6 of the enchanting black and white digests, with the final volume, entitled, Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, having just been released.

The books, from publisher Oni Press, centre on slacker Scott Pilgrim, who in his own words remarks,”I don’t need fun to have a good time.” Basically the story is like a manic soap opera that wears its much loved influences boldly on its sleeve. Those influences include pop culture, from comics to video games and classic TV series, and O’Malley manages to weave all that and more in his seemingly rambling, but not really, tale of Scott and his numerous friends as he must defeat the 7 evil exes of the new love of his life, Romana Flowers. Perhaps the trailer can explain it better than I can.

There couldn’t be a better director for the film version than Edgar Wright. The British director has proved his love of pop culture is as evident as O’Malley’s in his TV series Spaced, and showed that he knows how to combine heartfelt drama, comedy and wild action with his first two films, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

This was always going to be a hard film to make, not merely because there’s over 1000 pages of source material, but also because it’s not a straight forward tale, with its ever growing cast of characters and a concept that may be hard to grasp for some. As a loyal reader, I can honestly say that the movie exceeded my expectations. Michael Cera (TV’s Arrested Development, Juno) was the only logical choice for the confused, yet dedicated man-boy that is Scott Pilgrim, while Mary Elizabeth Winstead lays on quiet charm and beauty as the object of his affection and relative newcomer Ellen Wong is great as Knives Chau, the immature teenager that Scott is dating at the film’s beginning, and who is also a huge fan of Scott’s average band Sex Bob-Omb.

The evil exes don’t appear for long, as there are seven to get through after all, but thankfully they are played very well and the battles that are sprinkled throughout the film are unique and visually remarkable. Comic book fans have more reason to see this film, as Chris Evans, who has played The Human Torch in Fantastic Four and is currently acting as Captain America in next year’s film shows up as ex-skateboarder/current hammy action star Lucas Lee, while Superman Returns’ Brandon Routh is a mindreading Vegan and Jason Schwatrzman arrives at the climax as mastermind Gideon Graves, the man behind the League of Evil Exes. Thomas Jane (The Punisher) and Clifton Collins Jr. (Star Trek) also show up as Vegan cops.

With its cast of sometimes selfish friends and a world charmingly placed in fantasy land, in which fights resemble something from a frantic video game, it won’t be for everybody, and the first half is more concerned with hilarious jokes and visual gags, while issues of love and maturity are the focus of the second half.

You’ll get more out of it if you’ve read the comics, and don’t mind going with the rich and hypnotic world in which Pilgrim is set. This is not a film for those who like cinema to reflect reality. However, it does have a surprisingly emotional centre (more so than even the comics) and an unashamed sense of child-like, and often childish, fun. Filled with a hectic pace, yet never seeming rushed, it explodes onto the screen like a multicoloured volcano and entices you to pay attention lest you miss a joke. There are plenty of those here, whether it be a running gag about Pilgrim’s haircut or a scene complete with the Seinfeld theme and a laugh track. Yep, charming nonsense has a new name and it is Scott Pilgrim.

Oh, and this is what I’d look like in Scott Pilgrim’s world. See yourself right here.

New Marvel Comics App Goodies

extrasequential — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:21:14 +0000

Hey there True Believers, here’s your official list of comic books, hitting the Marvel Comics app on August 11, 2010. Now fans can experience their favorite Marvel heroes bursting into action on your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch! With a wide array of titles already available there is something for everyone! Stay tuned each week for a brand new list of Marvel releases so that you’ll never miss your favorite heroes in action!

To download the Marvel Comics app, visit: http://www.marvel.com/marvelcomicsapp

Digital Comics On-Sale Today:

CAPTAIN AMERICA : THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA : BURDEN OF DREAMS

(Captain America #43-48)

HIT-MONKEY #2

MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN #8

MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #8

MARVELS

(Marvels #0-4)

NEW X-MEN BY GRANT MORRISON: IMPERIAL

(New X-Men #117-121)

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR: DOOM

(Ultimate Fantastic Four #7-12)

VENOM: DARK ORIGIN

(Venom: Dark Origin #1-5)

FREE This Week On The App:

ATLAS #1

If you enjoyed this issue, pick up the current series in comic shops now!

To find a comic shop near you, call 1-888-comicbook or visit www.comicshoplocator.com

CAPTAIN AMERICA #43

HULK: PLANET HULK #1

MARVELS #0

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #7

VENOM: DARK ORIGIN #1

Wolverine’s Family Affair In September

extrasequential — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:37:56 +0000

Previews below of the new series in which Wolvie goes to hell, and the new series of his daughter/clone X-23 and bad boy son Daken.

Your New Look at WOLVERINE GOES TO HELL

Marvel is proud to unveil your new look at Wolverine’s journey to hell in Wolverine #1, X-23 #1 and Daken: Dark Wolverine #1.

Beginning in September, these three all-new series set Wolverine and his family on their deadliest journey yet, as the Avenger and X-Man finds his soul banished to hell…and his body used to terrorize those closest to him! Wolverine must claw his way up from hell before his son and protégé find themselves the victims of a berserker barrage unlike any other! Can X-23 step up and fill Wolverine’s shoes with the X-Men? And will Daken choose to save Wolverine…or damn him?

Marvel’s hottest writers and rising star artists team up for the event of the fall, as Wolverine Goes To Hell! You can’t miss Wolverine #1, X-23 #1 and Daken: Dark Wolverine #1!

WOLVERINE #1 (JUL100629)

WOLVERINE #1 MCNIVEN VARIANT (JUL100630)

WOLVERINE #1 SMITH VARIANT (JUL100631)

WOLVERINE #1 DJURDJEVIC VARIANT (JUL100632)

WOLVERINE #1 LEE SKETCH VARIANT (JUL100633)

WOLVERINE #1 BLANK VARIANT (JUL100634)

Written by JASON AARON

Penciled by RENATO GUEDES

Cover by JAE LEE

Variant Cover by STEVE MCNIVEN

Variant Cover by PAUL SMITH

Variant Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC

Sketch Variant Cover by JAE LEE

Parental Advisory …$3.99

FOC—8/12/10, On-Sale—9/1/10

DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE #1 (JUL100638)

DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE #1 DJURDJEVIC VARIANT (JUL100639)

DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE #1 DELL’OTTO VARIANT (JUL100610)

Written by DANIEL WAY & MARJORIE LIU

Art & Cover by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI

Variant Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC

Variant Cover by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO

Parental Advisory …$3.99

FOC—8/19/10, On-Sale—9/8/10

X-23 #1 (JUL100635)

X-23 #1 DJURDJEVIC VARIANT (JUL100636)

X-23 #1 DELL’OTTO VARIANT (JUL100637)

X-23 #1 WOMEN OF MARVEL VARIANT (JUL100509)

Written by MARJORIE LIU

Penciled by WILL CONRAD

Cover by DANNI SHINYA LUO

Variant Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC

Variant Cover by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO

Women of Marvel Variant by JELENA KEVIC-DJURDJEVIC

Parental Advisory …$3.99

FOC – 8/26/10, On-Sale – 9/15/10

Episode One-Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Oversized Comics And More

extrasequential — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 12:00:00 +0000

72 mins. We review the animated Superman/Batman film and oversized comics including the classic Prince Valiant and newer Wednesday Comics and Pood. Top Cow’s violent Berserker series, Wonder Woman’s new costume and more are also discussed.

On the wonderfully sunny Saturday morning just gone, my mate Mladen and I launched our very first podcast! It’s something we’d been talking about for a while now, and sure, we know there’s quite a few comic book/pop culture podcasts out there already, but hardly any in Australia, and especially in Perth, Western Australia. In fact, I think we are the only one. Most of the American podcasts are superhero centric, but Mladen and I have quite different tastes and rarely agreee on matters of the spandex brigade, so we thought we’d give it a shot. I must say, it went rather well. Both of us have had stints on community radio in the past few years so it was quite an easy experience, but tell us what you think dear listeners/readers!

We’ll be chatting it up weekly, and like the Extra Sequential magazine our aim is to make diehard fanboys and girls, and comic book newbies feel at home, so fear not if you’re not a regular comics reader!

You can listen to it our first episode through the player above or download it right here . It goes for just over 70 minutes and is broken down in to segments, if you want to skip through to the parts that may interest you more. So what did we talk about exactly? Well, here goes…

2:55 NEWS

Will Eisner’s A Contract With God film adaptation

Broken Frontier’s free, fortnightly digital mag now on iTunes

The death of Superman: The Movie and Superman II writer Tom Mankiewicz

The Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon

Also…Arkham City, the sequel to the excellent Arkham Asylum game

17:40 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

(Mladen) 20th Century Boys, Vagabond, Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant, Bouncer

(Kris) Brightest Day, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, Franken-castle

Also…impressive vocalisation of the names of foreign creators, Kill Bill, how DC is like Twilight, Alien vs Predator and more.

32:30 SUPERMAN/BATMAN: PUBLIC ENEMIES

We talk about the animated film, the comic that inspired it, the upcoming sequel and what we liked and didn’t like about it and somehow manage to discuss orphans, Superman’s exercise regime, baldness and craving for power.

52:48 TABLOID SIZED COMICS

We discuss oversized comics in the large newspaper style format, focusing on DC’s Wednesday Comics experiment and the indie anthology Pood #1 and also bring up 3 new TPBs from Top Cow, Rocky Balboa, Hawkman’s business card and cadmium.

1:05 WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Project Rooftop We also chat about Wonder Woman’s new costume.

1:08:34 NEXT WEEK’S TOPICS

For episode two we’ll discuss vanity projects, Eisner Award winners and Asterisk. Oh and for some reason we mention Vegemite.