ComicDorksCast Episode 008

Download Directly:
ComicDorkscastEp008.mp3
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Running Time: 00:48:25

• (just a note: sound quality on this episode could have been better and I take full blame - Scott)
  
• 00:00:55 - Who's That?
• 00:02:27 - We talk Daredevil #106, no surprise.
  
• 00:05:04 - Darren's Pick is the incredibly interesting Transhuman #1
  
• 00:09:44 - Rob totally digs Green Lantern #39
  
• 00:13:50 - Scott's Pick of The Week the totally underrated Blue Beetle #25
  
• 00:16:54 - We have stuck with Countdown all the way through and with #5 it's starting to be really worth it.
  
• 00:22:31 - Rob's Pick of the Week is Batman Confidential and he was so stunned by it that he forgot who drew the book.
• 00:27:46 - E-Mail time: John asks about Final Crisis
  
• 00:35:20 - E-m ... well ... sort of e-mail: Matt wants to know where to start with Thor.
  
• 00:38:10 - All the Best in Dork News
• 00:43:07 - Darren's anticipated books for April 2nd
  
• 00:43:47 - Rob's anticipated books for April 2nd
  
• 00:44:30 - Scott's anticipated books for April 2nd
• 00:48:25 - Stick around after the song for our first outtake worth sharing
  

you have any Questions or Comments drop us a line @ comicdorkscast@gmail.com.
Go To www.fantasyshoponline.com and check out the Message Boards.
Check Out our Website at ComicDorkscast.blogspot.com.
The Music at the opening and closing of the show was: "Run (I'm A Natural Disaster)" by Gnarls Barkley.

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: SOMETHING

is coming. I assure you it'll be fun.

ComicDorksCast Episode 007

Download Directly:
ComicDorkscastEp007.mp3
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Running Time: 01:10:13

No Show Notes This Week, too sick ... sorry ... and sorry for Darren's Echo-y-ness ... couldn't be helped.

If you have any Questions or Comments drop us a line @ comicdorkscast@gmail.com.
Go To www.fantasyshoponline.com and check out the Message Boards
Check Out our Website at ComicDorkscast.blogspot.com
The Music at the opening and closing of the show was: "White Riot" by The Clash

Getting To Know Darren O

Unlike my co-host, I have been in the comic world for a very short time. When I was young, I would read a comic here or there, but not as much as I do today. When I entered high school, I began to visit the St. Charles Fantasy Shop to play a card game (which I’m sure you have heard of) called Magic: The Gathering. As I entered this store on an almost daily basis, the several comic racks always caught my eye. Day after day, I would browse through these racks and everyday my interest in comics increased.
In 2005, I walked into the fantasy shop, and spotted what would become my first comic book Origin: The True Story of Wolverine. After reading this comic I was emerged into a world filled with great storytelling and eye-popping artwork. It was also at this comic shop that I met my co-host, Scott. For a year, I stuck mainly to only trade paperbacks, but upon going to Wizard World: Chicago, in 2006, I discovered how much the comic world had to offer. Immediately upon my return, I opened a pull & hold and delved into the world of single-issue comics. As weeks passed, Wednesdays became more and more exciting and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the books that came out that week.
I now go to school at the University of Missouri – Columbia and major in journalism. I currently shop at three comic stores: Rock Bottom Comics (Columbia), St. Charles Fantasy Shop, and Fairview Heights Fantasy Shop. Some of my favorite titles include: Preacher, Transmetropolitan, Bone, Watchmen (obviously), and Strangers In Paradise. With every passing week, I journey deeper into the world of comics and I invite you to join me.

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: Our Schedule, FYI

How we have decided to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the podcasts out there is pretty simple ... we just sort of throw it all at the wall and hopefully some sticks. And so I thought I would officially explain how we break down each month's podcasts.

-The first podcast of a month (the one that happens after the first week of comics for a month) we will talk about the best book we read the previous month.

-The second podcast of the month we talk about the best finished story arc or trade paperback/graphic novel that we read in the previous month.

-The third podcast of the month we will talk about the previous month's previews.

-The fourth week we talk about the mail and posts that we have received from listeners (or if we have nothing to talk about then we talk about a bunch of comics).

-And if there is a fifth week of comics for the month then we will use that podcast to explore topics like older stories, particular creator's bodies of work, and the general world of dorkery.

So there you go.

ComicDorksCast Episode 006

Download Directly:
ComicDorkscastEp006.mp3
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Running Time: 01:02:21

• 00:02:51 - We talk the Time Traveling wonder that is: Booster Gold #7
• 00:09:14 - It started during Greg Rucka's run and continues through today Scott LOVES Wonder Woman
• 00:09:14 - We are starting to see a deeper meaning from The Boys with issue #16
• 00:12:26 - Darren's Pick of The Week - Punisher #55
• 00:20:38 - Scott's Pick of The Week - Superman #674
• 00:27:00 - Green Arrow & Black Canary #6 is another thrill ride for us both
  
• 00:31:56 - Scott's Trade of the Month is: Fear Agent Vol 3 The Last Goodbye
  
• 00:36:05 - Darren's Trade of the Month is: Y: The Last Man Vols 1-6
  
• 00:45:12 - Brief Mentions of a few books that caught our eyes this week
  
• 00:47:51 - Possibility of a special edition all about online comics gets teased
  
• 00:51:13 - All the Best in Dork News
• 00:56:47 - Darren's anticipated books for March 19th
• 00:57:35 - Scott's anticipated books for March 19th

you have any Questions or Comments drop us a line @ comicdorkscast@gmail.com.
Go To www.fantasyshoponline.com and check out the Message Boards
Check Out our Website at ComicDorkscast.blogspot.com
The Music at the opening and closing of the show was: "The Sporting Life" by The Decemberists

ComicDorksCast Episode 005

Download Directly:
ComicDorkscastEp005.mp3
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Running Time: 01:02:30

• 00:03:17 - Resurrection #3 features a letter from Scott
• 00:04:43 - Darren predicts that Scott wants to talk about Northlanders #4
• 00:09:14 - We are starting to see a deeper meaning from The Boys with issue #16
• 00:14:01 - Scott predicts that Darren's Pick of The Week is Terry Moore's Echo #1
• 00:22:15 - Scott's Pick of the Week is The All-New Atom #21
• 00:29:17 - The ComicDorksCast will never feature specific grades or scores for books
• 00:30:00 - Helen Killer gets mentioned again
• 00:30:31 - We talk briefly about Vinyl Underground #6
• 00:32:45 - Darren's Pick of the Month for February is Vinyl Underground #5
• 00:40:19 - Scott's Pick of the Month for February is Daredevil #105
• 00:47:30 - Scott wanted to mention Young Liars #1 quickly and recommends it highly.
• 00:50:57 - All the Best in Dork News
• 00:56:30 - Darren's anticipated books for March 12th
• 00:57:25 - Scott's anticipated books for March 12th
• 00:58:13 - Plans are starting to firm up about KC's Planet Comic-Con

If you have any Questions or Comments drop us a line @ comicdorkscast@gmail.com.
Go To www.fantasyshoponline.com and check out the Message Boards
Check Out our Website at ComicDorkscast.blogspot.com
The Music at the opening and closing of the show was: "Brother Lee" by Citizen Cope

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: Incognegro

Written by: Mat Johnson
Art by: Warren Pleece

Comics are a great form of escapism and provide great, imaginative stories that feature breathtaking art, awe inspiring characters, cinematic action and heroic characters. Most of them just happen to wear spandex costumes and have secret identities. So most of the time reading comics leaves you with a smile on your face and something to think about for 5 minutes.
However, sometimes you read a comic that makes you proud to be associated with the industry. Be it creator, retailer, customer, artist, truck driver, distributor, writer, columnist,reviewer, clerk, casual fan ... Sometimes a book just makes you sit up and take notice of the wonderful things you can do with this medium. Maus, Fax from Sarajevo, Last Day in Vietnam, Contract With God, Another Chance to Get it Right, and few others. Sometimes comics just floor you. Add to the list: Incognegro. Written by relative comics newcomer Mat Johnson (Hellblazer: Papa Midnight) Incognegro is a story that delves into an embarassing time in our history as Americans. It is all in the opening lines:
"Between 1889 and 1918, 2,522 negroes were murdered by lynch mobs in America. That we know of.
"Now, since the beginning of the '30s, most of the white papers don't even consider it news."

That's something to think about.

Really.

Take a second to think about it.

Now that you are awash with the uncomfortable feelings that most humans would be shake it off. Incognegro isn't a story to make us all feel bad for what happened, it's, instead, a story of a hero. A hero with a secret identity and a disguise and everything. Zane Pinchback is "Incognegro" light skinned African American journalist who can pass as white and does so to get all the information he can on these lynchings to see justice done. And he is a hero. This is a story of Zane's efforts to rescue his darker complected twin brother from being framed for the murder of a white woman in the deep south.
Mat Johnson has penned a really brilliant script that sets you through the paces of a brutal murder and the cover-up that follows. Here Johnson has also created really dense characters who have just as many features as they have flaws, truly three dimensional characters. Partnered with Johnson is comics Veteran Warren Pleece who creates characters just as multi-dimensional as his counterpart. In a book that is full of just plain old people, devoid of familiar costumes to designate who is who Pleece makes each character incredibly unique.
This is a book we should all be proud of and is, as well, a book we should all, each and everyone of us, own. I have mine.

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: A Bit About Scott

It was 1988 when I bought my first comic. Green Lantern Special #1, $1.50 for 52 pages of all kinds of fun. That was before my co-host was born. I immediately became fascinated with the colorful characters and interesting concepts that were held withing the pages of these books. I had the truly great benefit of really supportive parents. My mom made me a deal that changed my life in a lot of ways and made me the man I am today, for better or for worse. The deal was simple: As long as I was willing to read she would always buy me reading material. It served to make me the avid (to one degree or another) reader that I have been at certain points in my life, and the aspiring author that I am today.

I sort of drifted and flitted from character to character, title to title, for the next several years and it wasn't until 1990 that I came upon a cast of characters that I knew I had to follow. The Guardians of the Galaxy was my first love in the world of comics. For several years I even subscribed to the title. It was the first and only book I ever subscribed to. I became an impassioned (or as impassioned as a ten year old can be) fan of Jim Valentino and while everyone else was falling heads over heels for Jim Lee, Rob Liefield, and Todd McFarlane (though I was certainly a fan of creators like Jim Lee, Erik Larsen, Ron Lim, the Kuberts, and others) I was was becoming fascinated with Valentino's mix of old school sensibilities and fresh takes on layouts, pacing, and style. I would even wind up following Valentino to Image comics even though I became disenchanted with ShadowHawk pretty quickly (being a much bigger fan of team books) I would find new creators to follow. As an eleven year old I was into Image comics in a big way. I read pretty much every title that they released. Until about the era of Prophet and the influx of the true second wave of Image creators.

I took a year or so off of comics until about 1996 when I was volunteering at the local library and I wandered into the comic store down the street (The Antiquarium, great store, check them out if you ever find yourself in the Jefferson City, MO area) and my eyes fell upon Kingdom Come #2. Shortly thereafter I began rekindling my interest in comics, a little at a time until I started to make friends with other comic geeks in High School and then I began again in full force. I read Nightwing, Robin, Starman, Heroes for Hire, and a few others here and there.

By the time I was headed off to college (2000) I was hungry to try new things and I started checking out the beginnings of the CrossGen line among other things, it was then that I started shopping at The Fantasy Shop in Saint Charles, MO. By 2002 I had gotten hired on at the brand new O'Fallon, MO location and have (off and on) worked here since. Now I manage the Fairview Heights/O'Fallon, IL store and my pull list has ballooned to somewhere in the vicinity of 80 titles a month. So now you know.

ComicDorksCast Episode 004

Download Directly:
ComicDorkscastEp004.mp3
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Running Time: 01:02:30

• 00:03:33 - We talk about Criminal vol. 2 #1
  
• 00:15:12 - We both loved Justice Society of America #13.
• 00:21:26 While we had no e-mails the podcast that references the comics that came out the 4th Wednesday of the month will also be when we answer e-mails.
  
• 00:23:45 - Darren's Pick of the Week is RASL #1
  
• 00:32:25 - Scott's Pick of the Week is JSA Classified #35
  
• 00:40:10 - We can't say enough about Daredevil #105
  
• 00:48:22 - Scott just briefly mentions The Megas #1
  
• 00:50:25 - Scott liked Archaia Studio Press' The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury #295
  
• 00:52:35 - Darren mentions a newfound love for Hellblazer
• 00:53:19 - Darren tips his hand about his favorite book of the month but saves the best of Vinyl Underground #5 for next week
  
• 00:54:20 - We briefly talk about the always good Captain America #35
  
• 00:55:42 - We talk about This Week's Comic News

If you have any Questions or Comments drop us a line @ comicdorkscast@gmail.com.
Go To www.fantasyshoponline.com and check out the forums
Check Out our Website at ComicDorkscast.blogspot.com

The Music at the opening and closing of the show was:
"Smoke Detector" by Rilo Kiley