Awesomed By Comics

SO, ONCE AGAIN...pardon our appearance as we try out a new logo, please give your yeas and nays in the comments... This very special episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by Fun Facts About Rochester, NY, where we have recorded the show on location at (a hotel a few miles away from) the Strong National Museum of Play. In addition to an exhibit on American Comic Book Heroes and the National Toy Hall of Fame, the museum houses a fully stocked '80s video arcade, a supermarket just for kids, a fantastic interactive Sesame Street exhibition, and enough wandering toddlers to feed a medium-sized nation. Big winners in the comics department this week include Detective Comics, Wonder Woman, Beasts of Burden, Ares, Dominic Fortune, Angela Robinson's The Web, and New Avengers, and hilarious, exasperated furor is reserved for the likes of Blackest Night and JLA. Be sure to peruse the exciting visual offerings below, as there is far more this week than the typical.

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.

Cover(s) of the Week

Aaron's picks (tie), from Unknown Soldier #14, cover by Dave Johnson, and Beasts of Burden #3, cover by Jill Thompson:


Evie's pick, from Invincible Iron Man #20, cover by Salvador Larroca and Rian Hughes:


Panels(s) of the Week

Evie's pick, from Dark Avengers: Ares #2, by Kieron Gillen and Manuel Garcia:


Aaron's pick, from New Avengers #59, by Brian Bendis and Stuart Immonen:


Bonus Crap of the Week Link: Here is way more than everything you will ever need to know in a thousand lifetimes about the film Lambada, relevant to this week's Crap of the Week discussion vis a vis Paco "Vibe" Ramone. God I want to die just writing all of that. Anyway, the link above is from something I wrote in 2004 after watching the movie, apologies for the hue and context and quality, etc. You'll know what I mean.

Choke on This Turktopus, Peter Parker: Lest you think Aaron and I are completely those crazy-comic-book-black-sheep-of-the-family types, here is what brother-in-law Chris spent several weeks and trips to Home Depot building for his Halloween costume this year, which we finally saw on Thanksgiving between potatoes and pie. Aaron's sister went as Black Cat, but we didn't ask her to put that on because Aaron would have thrown himself out the window, obviously.


Museum! Of! Play!

This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by something nonsensical and kind of awful. Incredible Hercules wraps up a heroic tale of yes, please, and Kieron Gillen declares sweet war on other new mainstream creators with a triumphant new Ares series for Marvel. We learn a lot about Batwoman's past, and Wonder Woman seems kind of screwed, but she'll probably figure it out. Also, KANG.

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.

Cover(s) of the Week

Aaron's pick, from Guardians of the Galaxy #19, cover by Alex Garner:


Evie's pick, from Detective Comics #858, cover by JH Williams III:


Panel(s) of the Week

Evie's pick, from Ms. Marvel #46, by Brian Reed and Sana Takeda:


Aaron's pick, from Unknown Soldier #13 by Joshua Dysart and Pat Masioni:

This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by How Grass and Trees Become Enlightened, because those crazy monks are at it again. In a week full of some top-notch comicbookery, mindblowing art hails from Batwoman and Horse Thor, Wonder Woman gets dumped, Herogasm gets serious, and Guardians of the Galaxy makes all of Aaron's teenage dreams come true. Also, we give Peter David a suggestion for how to pluralize "Jamie Maddrox," because it could obviously come in handy.

Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.

Cover(s) of the Week

Aaron's pick, from Unknown Soldier #11, cover by Dave Johnson:


Evie's pick, from Wolverine First Class #18, cover by Skottie Young:


Panel(s) of the Week

Evie's pick, from Detective Comics #856, by Greg Rucka and JH Williams III (click to enlarge):



Aaron's picks, from Female Force: Caroline Kennedy by Neal Bailey and Ryan Howe:


And Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #3, by Kieron Gillen and Kano:

This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by Funny Things That Happened To Aaron On the Way Home from Work on Thursday, as well as the Angel of Death, who's been a real insufferable prick this week. The stunning debut of Batwoman in Detective Comics faces off against the new Runaways creative team with glorious results, and Ms. Marvel is flying pretty high as well. Wonder Woman and Hercules both stand up to olympic-sized Greek god dickery, Aaron brags about his Canadar, and we talk some trash about colors. Happy Pride!

Download/subscribe to the show in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.

Cover(s) of the Week

Aaron's pick, from Unknown Soldier #9, cover by Dave Johnson:


Evie's pick, from Wolverine First Class #16, cover by Williams & Strain:

Panel(s) of the Week

Evie's pick, from Detective Comics #854, by Greg Rucka and JH Williams III:


Aaron's picks, from Ms. Marvel #40, by Brian Reed and Sana Takeda:

God, I'm so busy, for serious. Between work and a missing hallway floor and dropping rhymes, it's like, whoa. But I did want to jump on here for a sec and say that what are maybe my two most hotly anticipated series of the year, Greg Rucka's run on Detective Comics starring Batwoman and Kathryn Immonen's run on Runaways both arrived this week, and they both knocked it out of the proverbial motherfuckin park. J.H. Williams III's art on Detective is beyond stunning, Sara Picelli captures the glee and humor and sadness that Immonen nails, and I'm as happy as a kitten in a sunbeam. Well, there was the one horrible, awful, no good very bad turn of events in Runaways that made me throw shit, but it was still damn good writin.

O HAI. So the Con-SARS/plague/crud/deathbeast/whatever hasn't gone away, but I was back at work today, and after a few gallons of Starbucks Berry Chai (good tip, Heidi) and several dozen rounds of "Sunny" on repeat (seriously, it's like 2 minutes and 43 seconds of DayQuil a pop), I'm ready to share some tales!

1) My official round-ups of several Marvel/DC panels are here, the second, third and fourth news bullets. They're briefer than the Newsarama/CBR play-by-plays, but it's a different audience. And you've probably already read those. I'm not going to go into them here, beyond what I already said about DC Nation below, which has so far been the universal assessment. Marvel pretty much won this one hands-down, except I will say for the news that the Rucka/Williams Batwoman comic I was so worried would be some kind of placating mini is actually going to be a big long starring run in Detective Fucking Comics. So let's all raise a big hallelujah to that action.

2) The beard has definitively replaced the goatee in fanboy facial fashion. Which of course was replaced by bare skin in non-fanboy facial fashion about ten years ago, but you know whatever. Ok I take this back. With heightened awareness I did a little anthropological observation on my commute today, and unless 85% of the 25-42 year-old males in Manhattan read comic books, beards are apparently making quite a comeback in general.

3) Did I mention the Wonder Woman movie? Yeah, go buy it on March 3. It's tremendous.

4) The Beat's Art of Storytelling panel on Sunday was fascinating, especially for those of us who consider ourselves creative in some ways but do not at all get the kind of ideas that come to the minds of gifted creators (note I am speaking for myself, not Aaron--he gets those ideas all the time, he just needs to write one down some day). Moderated by Heidi MacDonald, it featured Marv Wolfman, Jim Lee, Carla Speed McNeil, Ben Templesmith and Terry Moore, so you know, people with big, crazy, awesome story brains.

5) Alright Lost is on now and I'm coughing up my spleen, so I'll give you the rest in some not-very-artful pictures:

Who chalks the Chalkmen!


The endlessly prolific Greg Rucka giving an interview to iFanboy's Ron Richards (whom I've spent more time talking with about Morrissey worship than comics, which is saying something)

Yeah you know I had to get Firestar's picture for Aaron, stat. She even has a Ms. Lion doll! (And did you hear? Ms. Lion is going to be a Pet Avenger!)

Hey, aren't pictures of panels the best? Greg Pak and Joe Quesada agree.

The girl in the Jessie outfit handmade these Team Rocket costumes (even though Team Rocket doesn't have a Furrett), and they made my day.


If you're going to go to karaoke at Sing Sing, get there early so your song wait time isn't three hours, which is too much. Laura knows this, and well. (From left: Popgun Vol. 3 co-editor Adam Knave, a girl whose name I didn't catch so sorry, the ubiquitous Jeff Newelt who took a knock-out turn on Shaggy's "Angel," Laura Hudson of Publishers Weekly/Comic Foundry/MTV.com/etc., Laura's friend Valery which I keep wanting to type as Valkyrie, Popgun co-editor Mark Andrew Smith, oh hi, Image Comics PR/Marketing emperor Joe Keatinge, who came down with the plague that Aaron and I are just now getting over about an hour after this picture was taken on Thursday).

More teasers for Greg Rucka and JH Williams' Batwoman series, here, here and here.

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Three years after the mainstream media made a big nudge-nudge hullaballoo over ZOMG LESBIAN SUPERHEROINE!1!11!, the Batwoman solo series finally approaches for reals, helmed by the only person that anyone really wanted to see touch her*. Greg Rucka has posted the first page of the issue one script on his blog, and it's a giant tease but who cares. Of course I'm terribly afraid that it will be a five-issue mini-series or some such injustice, but for now I'll just be thrilled.

*besides Renee of course