Once Upon a Geek

Join Michael Bailey and me this Sunday, January 17, around 10:30pm EST as we celebrate the 100th episode of the VIEWS FROM THE LONGBOX podcast!  We’ll be taking live callers through Skype so you can be part of the celebration.  It’ll pretty much be an open floor, so callers could share their thoughts about the show, an anecdote about Mike or I, ask a superhero-related question, or simply stop by to say “Howdy!”.  We’d love to hear from you!  For all the details on how to call in, please visit the VIEWS FROM THE LONGBOX web site.

If you are unfamiliar with the VIEWS FROM THE LONGBOX podcast, it’s a weekly superhero comic podcast hosted by Michael Bailey.  Typically the show focuses on older comics, hence the reference to “longbox” in the title.  Mike does a great job sharing his insight about comics, while sprinkling in personal anecdotes.  Mike has been kind enough to grant me a semi-regular co-host spot on the show.  We have a good time bantering back and forth and generally disagreeing about everything.  Give the show a try.  If you enjoy reading this blog, I think you’ll like Mike’s show.

Talk with you on Sunday night!

I’ve appeared on several podcasts in the past few months, but have been horribly negligent about giving them a shout-out here.  These were all podcasts hosted by my good buddy Michael Bailey (of Views from the Longbox and From Crisis to Crisis).  He’s been kind enough to invite me to participate a number of times, and I always enjoy bantering with him.  These were recorded some time ago, so please forgive if they are covering things from a while back.

Views from the Speed Force – Flash: Rebirth #3 – Mike and I discuss Flash: Rebirth #3 by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver.  Here we disagree about the middle part of this issue, talk more about Iris’ age and even go into how Diamond Previews can be used for good…and evil. We recorded this quite a while ago, but I’m just now getting around to telling you about it.  Also, DC isn’t in any hurry to get this series out, so why should we be any different?

Dragon*Con 2009 Review – Back in September while still at Dragon*Con, Mike and I discussed our experiences at the event up to that point.  Much fun was had and you get to hear all sorts of juicy stories about which comic pros and celebrities are nice and which ones kind of suck.  Also making appearances are our friends from THE UNIQUE GEEK, Ravenface and Race.

Mike has embarked on a fascinating 13-part journey reviewing comics from his first 13 years of collecting.  Each episode covers a single year, starting with ‘87 and working his way towards 2000.  In addition to covering the relevant comics from each year, Mike shares personal stories about his life and activities during these times. Mike was kind enough to invite me to join him covering 1992 and 1993 – two very important years for comics.

• The Year in Comics 1992 – One of the biggest years in comic book history! Not only do we discuss the creation of Image Comics but we also discuss the Batman books, a bit about Batman Returns, the 10 issue Justice Society of America title, Spider-Man’s 30th Anniversary, Marvel 2099, Eclipso: The Darkness Within, the Marvel Universe Series III card set, the Death of Superman, and more.   In between all of that we go into personal annecdotes, the art of the mixed tape, my career as a comic store manager, and more!
• The Year in Comics 1993 Part One and Part Two – The year the comics industry started to come off the rails. In this episode we cover: the end of Superman: Funeral for a Friend, how readers were reacting to the post-Death of Superman material, Destiny’s Hand from Justice League America, the Return of Barry Allen from Flash, the introduction of the Milestone Universe, Knightfall, Maximum Carnage, Reign of the Supermen, Lois and Clark TV show, and then some really personal stories. After that Mike and I get into the whys and hows the comic industry crashed in the nineties.

And still in post-production, but out soon… Views from Sector 666 Episode #3 – I join Mike and Thomas Deja (of DJ’s Comics Cavalcade and Better in the Dark) as we discuss last months crop of Blackest Night books.  Issues specifically discussed include: Blackest Night #3, Green Lantern #46, Green Lantern Corps #40, Blackest Night Superman #2, Blackest Night Batman #2, and Blackest Night Titans #2.  Watch the Views from the Longbox website for details on release.

Assuming all is well with air travel, I should be in Atlanta this morning!!! Me and 30,000 of my closest friends all weekend long! Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US.  It’s the 6th largest convention in the city of Atlanta, has over 500 guests (actors, authors, artists, bands, etc),  and offers over 2,750 hours of panels, seminars, demonstrations, and workshops. Check out the DragonCon website for details on the event!

Below are a few snapshots from Dragon*Con 2008.  I typically take about 400 pictures each event.  While these aren’t really the best quality shots, they do give you an idea of some the diverse things going on.

Click here to view all my Dragon*Con photos on Flickr.  Also, for some of my favorite Dragon*Con shots click here and click here.  Finally, you can read about my 2008 Dragon*Con exploits by clicking here, here, here and here.

Shag and Captain America.  Check out my t-shirt.  Eat that, Steve Rogers!

Shag and Iron Man.  Again with the t-shirt backing up Tony Stark’s Civil War position.

Gareth David Lloyd & James Marsters from the Torchwood panel

Comic writer Peter David

Comic writer Mike Baron

The Convention Vixens

You never know who you’ll run into at Dragon*Con.  Race and Serv with Axl Rose.  … yeah, right.

The Unique Geek Board of Directors dinner

Iron Man!

Adam West and the Batmobile in the parade

Speed Racer’s Mach 5 in the parade

This Marvel vs. DC shot shows you just a tiny fraction of comic book costumes to be found at Dragon*Con

Talk with you sometime next week.  Assuming I recover.  

Just a heads-up, I appeared on a recent podcast of THE UNIQUE GEEK.  This time out the crew was reviewing the zombie book World War Z by Max Brooks.  On the podcast was Jon (The Unique Geek), Cary, Widge (NeedCoffee.com), Ron, and myself.  I’m not normally a fan of zombie stories (unless we’re talking George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, Marvel Zombies, or Night of the Comet), so I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable World War Z was.  In fact, I was addicted.  I couldn’t put the book down!  If you’ve read the book, check out this podcast.  If you haven’t read the book, go read it now!  We’ll wait for you.

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Additionally, if you’ve been reading Flash: Rebirth, I’ve been helping Michael Bailey over at VIEWS FROM THE LONGBOX review that series.  Our reviews of issues #1 & #2 are already posted, with our review of issue #3 to be posted on Wednesday, July 29.  You can check these out over at VIEWS FROM THE LONGBOX.

BLUE DEVIL WEEK concludes here at ONCE UPON A GEEK…

Today we’ve got a very special treat – the first creator interview from ONCE UPON A GEEK!  Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn, creators of the DC comic book characters Blue Devil and Amethyst Princess of Gemworld, were kind enough to spend some time with Ravenface and I discussing their creations.

Dan Mishkin & Gary Cohn both have been professional writers for nearly 30 years.  Their writing credits go on for miles, whether writing as a team or independently.  They are probably best known together for creating Blue Devil and Amethyst Princess of Gemworld, but they have also written a great deal on their own.  Just to name a few items… Dan wrote the Wonder Woman comic from 1982 through 1985, and more recently published a children’s book entitled The Forest King: Woodlark’s Shadow;  Gary wrote Shi for Crusade Comics and the Masters of the Universe action figure mini-comics.

Dan and Gary are true professionals and a joy to talk with.  We truly appreciate how generous they were with their time.  They indulged all our fanboy questions and explained a lot of the inner-workings of the comic book industry.   We talked about the characters, artists, the writing process, creator rights, proposed action figures, crossovers, and much more! I believe any comic book reader, even if you aren’t a fan of Blue Devil or Amethyst, would genuinely enjoy this interview.

Dan and Gary did a fantastic interview about Blue Devil for Back Issue magazine two years ago. In that interview they discussed things such as: how they came together as a writing team; what inspired them to create Blue Devil; and what was it like working with artist Paris Cullins. It’s the holy grail of Blue Devil interviews, so we did not re-tread those same questions here. If you haven’t read that excellent interview, issue #21 of Back Issue is available as a digital download from TwoMorrows Publishing.  Normally the digital download would cost you about $3, but they are running a special right now and this particular issue is FREE in PDF format. Go check it out!

During our interview we reference two different Amethyst-related works of art.  Here are links to both of those:

• Early Amethyst art by Ernie Colon
• Superman and Batman: World’s Funnest comic page by Ty Templeton featuring Gemworld

Our interview with Dan and Gary lasted an astonishing one hour and forty-one minutes (101 minutes).   You may play the interview right here on the ONCE UPON A GEEK site with the handy-dandy player below! I apologize for not offering the interview in text format, but transcribing an interview that long would have taken months.

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Alternatively, you may download the file and listen to it on an MP3 player or your computer. You may download the interview by right-clicking here, choosing “Save Target/Link As”, and selecting a location on your computer to save the file (48.5 MB).

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the interview.  If you are in the Michigan area, please try to attend the Kids Read Comics event in Chelsea, Michigan on June 12-13.  Dan has been heavily involved with this event and it sounds really special.  You can read more about the Kids Read Comics event on their website.

This will do it for BLUE DEVIL WEEK!  Thanks to everyone for reading!   Long live Blue Devil and Amethyst!

Michael Bailey (of the Views from the Longbox podcast) and I recently teamed-up to record our thoughts about Flash Rebirth #1 and the 1994 mini-series Zero Hour.

Our Flash Rebirth #1 review went about 27 minutes and can be found by clicking here.  For the next five months or so, we’ll be recording episodes to talk issue-by-issue about the Geoff Johns/Ethan Van Sciver fueled Flash: Rebirth. In this review we give our thoughts on the first issue of a series, the writing, theories about what is to come, what we liked, what we didn’t like, the art and even give a shout or two.

Our Zero Hour review can be found by clicking here.  Both Mike and I were firmly entrenched into the DCU back in 1994 when DC published their world-shaking crossover, Zero Hour.  So this mini-series really meant a lot to us both.  Our Zero Hour review went a mammoth 1 hour and 46 minutes, but it’s jam-packed with serious Way-Back-Machine material and we had a blast recording it.  We cover the mini-series from all angles: the lead up, the story, the bad, the good and the ramifications.

Also, feel free to drop by the Views from the Longbox Forums to discuss these episodes and other comic related matters.  Thanks for listening!

Over the last year, a few people have suggested I do a regular feature on upcoming comic books.  While I love the idea of sharing my commentary on upcoming projects, typing all the things in my head would likely break my keyboard (and my fingers).  So instead, I once again teamed-up with Michael Bailey to record a preview of upcoming comics for THE UNIQUE GEEK.  To be specific, comics shipping in May 2009.

Michael Bailey is the host of the wonderful Views from the Longbox podcast and the author of the fantastic Fortress of Baileytude blog.  In a fit of insanity, Mike was kind enough to give me a semi-regular co-host spot on his podcast a while back. So you may have heard some of our banter in the past.  This is more of the same, but with a focus on upcoming books.

Mike and I chatted for well over an hour about the comics shipping in May 2009.  We covered DC and Marvel in great depth, and then touch on several independent companies.  We talk about what to buy, and what not to buy.  If you enjoy the episodes of VIEWS FROM THE LONGBOX featuring both of us, or are just curious about what is coming out next month, then check out this podcast. We think you’ll like it.

You can listen to it right on THE UNIQUE GEEK website, or download it from the same place.  Enjoy!

Back in July 2007, the gang from THE UNIQUE GEEK got together to discuss the Watchmen graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. On the call was Jon, Patrick, Todd, Holly, Cary, Maria, Sterling, Michael Bailey, and myself. We discussed the themes, characters, and who is hotter – Dr. Manhatten or Night Owl.

You can play the podcast right here on the ONCE UPON A GEEK  site with the handy-dandy player below! Running time 1 hour and 21 minutes.

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If  you’re unable to play the file above, please visit PodcastDirectory.com.

Here are a few podcast recommendations for geeks everywhere…

2-in-1 SHOWCASE

2-in-1 Showcase episode #103 features Blake and Chase chatting about the king of the seven seas, DC’s Aquaman! The boys talk about the character’s various eras, best stories, how they’d fix him up and make him viable again, and why he gets less respect than Rodney Dangerfield. Then, getting a bit more serious, the guys discuss the new Diamond Distribution policy and why it may spell death for smaller comics.

SPIDER-MAN CRAWL SPACE 

Over at the Spider-Man Crawl Space, they recently finished up a three-episode tribute to the comic book artist Sal Buscema. Sal just celebrated his 40th year at Marvel Comics. He also holds the record for the longest penciling stint on any Marvel comic. He drew 104 issues straight of the Spectacular Spider-Man title.  This is a great run of podcasts.  Even if you aren’t a Spider-Man junkie, these are good times.

Podcast #55 – To honor Sal for this accomplishment, the Crawl Space invited a few of his friends along. On the first part they have Stan Lee, Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, Roy Thomas and Danny Fingeroth. If you’ve ever wanted to hear Stan Lee curse, this is your podcast! 

Podcast #56 - The Crawl Space continues their interview of legendary Spider-Man artist Sal Buscema. He’s joined by writer Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz as they answer questions live from people around the world. They talk about artistic tips, spider-clones and Spider-Girl!

Podcast #57 – The conversation with artist Sal Buscema wraps-up. In this last half hour they answer written message board questions. Some of the questions range from Sal’s thoughts on Amazing Spider-Girl getting canceled, funny experiences at comic book conventions, and why the Hulk is his favorite character to draw.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

Technical Difficulties Episode #4 is now available.  In this one, Jon, Ed, Todd & Terry discuss recent news, hard drives, virtual machines, and smartphones. 

THE UNIQUE GEEK

The Unique Geek Issue #81 features a review of 2008. The year blew by and it is time to look back at what they thought was the best this rollercoaster of a year had to offer. The cast for this issue is Michael Bailey, Ron, D, Jon, and special in-studio guest Serv.

CHUCK VS. THE PODCAST

Chuck vs. the Podcast episode 14 features part 1 of their writers series, featuring Phil Klemmer, who also wrote for Veronica Mars. They also discuss the 3D return of Chuck (which hadn’t aired yet when they recorded this).  As always, there is news, spoilers, and more.  If you like Chuck, you’ve got to listen to these podcasts.

You know I couldn’t give you a list of podcast recommendations without plugging one that I appeared on…

VIEWS FROM THE LONGBOX

Views from the Longbox Episode #71 features Michael and I conclude our look at what is coming down the pike from the Big Two this year. In this episode we tackle Marvel Comics in 2009. Topics range from Secret Invasion to Dark Reign to War of Kings to the supposed 70th Anniversary of Marvel, and surprisingly we stick to the subject at hand.

Happy listening!

Just a heads-up… I appeared in a couple recent episodes of the Views from the Longbox podcast.

Views from the Longbox Episode 66 was the 2008 Christmas Spectacular! My apologies to Michael as I should have mentioned this episode long before now.  It was a blast to record the Christmas episode of Views from the Longbox!  On this episode was Brad (from the Spider-Man Crawlspace), Big Honkin’ Steve (from Geek Out Online), Michael (from Views from the Longbox), and myself.  Good times and Christmas fun!

Views from the Longbox Episode 70 features Michael and I covering what’s coming up from DC comics in 2009.  It also includes my prediction of the secret identities of the new Nightwing and Flamebird in the Superman books.  Check out the cover of Action Comics #875 with Nightwing and Flamebird, then listen to the podcast.  You’ve got to hear it to believe it!  Just a warning, we really went for the throat on this podcast.  We were pretty negative and brutal.  Sorry if we said anything to offend.

This coming Wednesday, you should be able to get part two of our conversation where we tackle Marvel in 2009.

A new podcast worth checking out is “Technical Difficulties“.  It’s done by my crazy tech friends at The Unique Geek; Jon, Ed, Todd, and Terry.  While I’m not on this podcast, they have managed to make fun of me at least once.  With friends like these…

In all seriousness, I recommend you check out this podcast.  I’m not much of a techie; maybe a 4 on a scale of 10.  I found everything in these podcasts easy to understand and very interesting.  Give ‘em a try!