This week we give our giant-sized review of Batman v Superman.
March 30, 2016
March 29, 2016
The Homemade Silencer
Perhaps I’m just spoiled. With Star Wars, Batman v Superman, Civil War featuring Spider-Man and Suicide Squad, comic fans' movie calendar this year is an embarrassment of riches. That said, X-Men: Days of Future Past was an excellent return to form and I don’t anticipate this being a clunker. -Soss
March 27, 2016
Gint's 3-23-16 Pull-List Review
DC released their list of titles and creative teams this past weekend. There's at least a couple books I'll be trying out come the end of May. I'm sure we'll cover that on the podcast in a couple weeks. Until then, the Pull-List looks to remain fairly light.
First (and only) Place:
Star Wars #17
I'm not sure if its a rule for Star Wars writers that they need to split up the team. Heaven forbid we get to see the Big Three (Han, Luke and Leia) all in one place working together. I'm not too upset because at least we get some quality bro-time between Han and Luke. While they're out securing supplies for the Alliance, Luke gets a taste of the life of a smuggler Han's been leading. He's not a natural.
Meanwhile, Leia is dealing with an assault on Sunspot Prison. The design of this new mercenary by (I assume) Leinil Yu is sweet. It looks classic Star Wars. If you inserted this guy in Jabba's Palace in Return of the Jedi, he'd look like he's been there the whole time. Since I'm three seasons into The Clone Wars at this point, it's also neat seeing the use of the old thug droid design from the show.
These are the stories that need told between Star Wars movies, not other high stakes and unlikely encounters with Darth Vader. Leave that to the movies, guys.
Page of the Week:
Thug droids above and the new mercenary in the middle, all by Leinil Yu.
-Gint
March 25, 2016
Best Laid Plans
Batman v Superman opens this week, so you get... Skeletor and Megatron! Don't worry, there will be plenty of time for grandiose praise or a scathing indictment of the movie in the next few weeks. After all, I already have tickets for today and tomorrow showings. Two showings because I plan on being drunk for the first.
In the meantime I present some silliness with two of my favorite villains. There's no denying these two would work great together once they worked out some of the initial kinks. Its not everyday a perfect partnership just lands at your feet.
Seeing two of my favorite brands cross over with each other has always been a thrill. To the best of my knowledge, Masters of the Universe and Transformers never have. What's nice about doing our own webcomic is that we can make this happen all the time. Shit, I even dumped He-Man in the Pretty Little Liars mythology. No brand combo is safe at McSoss.
As for Batman v Superman... I'm pretty excited. Not balls-ass-crazy excited as to create a lofty standard it could never live up to, but pretty excited. I know early reviews have been pretty down the middle, but who the fuck cares. If I like it, that's all that matters. I want to see Zack Snyder and Warner Bros. continue (YES, continue!) do to my favorite heroes right.
We're gonna see Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and at least some portion of Aquaman, Flash and Cyborg. I say go whole hog and put Skeletor and Megatron in there too.
-Gint
March 23, 2016
McSoss Podcast Episode 145: Comic Gi
This week we give our recommendations for gateway books into comics.
March 22, 2016
The Ethnicity of Emojis
I DID make the discovery this week that you can alter the ethnicity of your emojis. While I doubt that this will change race relations in our culture my digital middle finger game has never been so diverse. Dr. King would be so proud. -Soss
March 18, 2016
A Convenient Excuse
Archie Comics is having a real renaissance. It made a big splash in the mainstream with the relaunching of Archie #1 featuring writing from Mark Waid and art by the incredible Fiona Staples. The new series refreshes and updates the exploits of the gang from Riverdale for a new millennial audience. I appreciate that it never goes overboard by completely changing the tone of the series. The heart of Archie is still wholesome and positive storytelling.
The CW also announced that they are creating a pilot for an Archie themed teen drama produced by current television golden boy Greg Berlanti. I'm sure this show will have a whole new generation of fans asking themselves the eternal question: Betty or Veronica? -Soss
March 16, 2016
McSoss Podcast Episode 144: Cite Your Sources
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March 13, 2016
Gint's 3-9-16 Pull-List Review
The last few weeks have been pretty busy, so schedules and books and when I can read them haven't really lined up. Fortunately, this week featured only one book, so it gets paired with one I missed last week.
Second Place:
Descender #11
Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen's Descender continues to explore new places, physically and figuratively. Nguyen's watercolors are insanely good. Watercolors, and paint in general, are a medium I never got comfortable with. I always felt they were too unwieldy. Maybe I should have tried harder? Regardless, I know what its like to use them, so to see what Nguyen is accomplishing is pretty impressive.
The last couple issues have felt a little slow. Lemire is setting up a few new characters and twists, and we finally get one of them this issue. But if you didn't know Tim-22 was a rotten piece of shit by now, you haven't been reading. I didn't want Psius to be the problem, but it sounds like most robots are bad news in this universe.
Descender continues to be inventive and unique. Lemire and Nguyen are really allowed to spread their wings with this one, and continue to deliver a great book.
First Place:
Captain Canuck #7
The second arc begins with Team Canuck (they don't really call them that) joining up with Equilibrium to track down and dismantle Mr. Gold's business. Enough time has passed for a new hierarchy to be put in place and this time its Captain Canuck, not his brother who is slightly out of control.
The flash forward picks up seamlessly from previous events. While there is a global danger aspect, Kalman Andrasofszky centers the focus on the good guys trying to find the bad guys: Canuck looking for Mr. Gold. Not every story needs to be a world-saving event, and if done right, like it is here, the more intimate story between characters with a history becomes more compelling.
At times, the Big Two have made me question whether or not I still like reading comics. Or whether or not I'm bored with the whole superhero genre. Captain Canuck reinforces the fact that I'm just tired of bad stories in the superhero genre.
Splash of the Week:
My man Dustin Nguyen knows his way around some watercolors.
-Gint
March 10, 2016
Proper Guidance
Why is Lionel Richie a better "Angel on Your Shoulder" than Batman? Plenty of reasons.
Batman is obsessed and driven with ridding the world of crime. He's got no time to tell you to "slow down, you're drinking too much." Lionel Richie on the other hand is a seasoned veteran of slingin' drinks, singin' songs and slayin' puss. If anyone has the experience to guide you through a labyrinth of alcohol so you still make the most of your night, its the Penny Lover.
Batman's emotional unavailability means he won't understand the urge to text someone at the witching hour. Lionel Richie's emotional spectrum out classes the Green Lantern color spectrum giving him ample knowledge to talk you off that ledge.
Batman is a strict taskmaster. That's why Dick Grayson and Jason Todd hate his guts. Lionel Richie understands the value of unwinding and letting your 'fro down. He'll give you just enough leash to "get loose," but not enough to hang yourself with.
So "as we go down life's lonesome highway," remember: Batman v Lionel Richie isn't much of a debate.
-Gint
McSoss Podcast Episode 143: Necromancy-Free
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March 7, 2016
The Other Side Of The Street
If I had to, I'd say Iron Man is more popular than Captain America, but not by a crazy amount. Chris Evans and the way the Marvel Cinematic Universe have treated Cap (with some inspiration from Ed Brubaker's work) have made Cap and Iron Man (led by Robert Downey, Jr.'s charms) nearly neck and neck. Batman and Superman have never had such a tight race.
I'd say maybe it was close in the 60s, when Supes was revitalized by the science fiction angle, and Bats was getting all that television pussy. But since, aside from a strong blip in Supes favor by Christopher Reeve, its been the Batman show ever since. Supes can't catch a break while Batman gets led by award winning video games and Christopher Nolan. All leading up to now, where its no contest.
Admittedly, this last panel above is indicative of my own desire for Superman to be as popular as Batman. I love most things about the character and if you've been reading this comic or listening to the podcast very long, you know why. So while Superman may not struggle with an inferiority complex, I'm certainly having one for him.
The comics haven't helped. Soss always says, "there are a million definitive Batman stories. How many definitive Superman stories are there?" He's right. Not too many. But when a writer can mine that gold properly, you get why Superman has lasted almost a hundred years of publication.
Man of Steel hasn't lit the fire under potential Superman fans, but I'm holding out hope that Batman v Superman is going to deliver something no one's expecting.
I have to because I love Superman and want the world to love him too... just as much as Captain America, Iron Man and Batman.
-Gint
March 6, 2016
Gint's 3-2-16 Pull-List Review
Due to a weekend of 5am boozing in Philadelphia, we're gonna keep this week's Pull-List short and sweet.
Spider-Man #2
I don't know if this book is for me. If Brian Bendis is aiming his dialog at teens, or what teenagers really sound like these days, maybe I need a different Spider-Man. All the dialog between Miles and his buddy, and the way the webgirl talks is positively irritating. If Bendis has done his due diligence and nailed what teens talk like, then kudos to him. What that means is I hate teenagers.
When Miles is around Peter Parker and the other "Avengers" he works great. He's the fish out of water learning what its like to be part of this larger world of legit superheroes. I also loved when Miles says he just wants to be "Spider-Man" not the "black Spider-Man." Its a genuinely honest scene that unfortunately gets swallowed up by the teenage-speak nonsense. Lets focus on more of what really makes Miles tick.
Sara Pichelli's art is lovely. Blackheart the demon is a beautifully designed character that sadly gets punked by Miles. I want to love this book. I will stick with it for a while, but the fact that I even said that doesn't bode well for Spidey.
Panel of the Week:
Pichelli's flashback scene is 100% adorable.
-Gint
March 4, 2016
Masters of Imagination
As an adult my imagination isn't as useful as it was as when I was growing up. Excel spreadsheets and TPS reports don't really grab my attention like the constant space battles that are running in my head- Soss
March 2, 2016
McSoss Podcast Episode 142: Paulnunciation
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