Pick of the Week Podcast Episode #106: Astonishing X-Men #23

[conorkilpatrick]

It's our 106th episode and Josh is back!

We discuss Conor's Pick of the Week for November 9, 2007:

http://www.ifanboy.com/images/pickoftheweek110707-thumb.jpg
Astonishing X-Men #23
by Joss Whedon & John Cassaday

Running Time: 00:58:22

Click here for download info and show notes! (http://www.ifanboy.com/archive/weblog/josh_rises_like.html)

Click here to read the Pick of the Week review! (http://www.ifanboy.com/archive/pickoftheweek/11072007_astoni.html)

[labor_days]

Lower Regions sounds completely awesome. Good looking out, Ron.


Edit: Um, I didn't find the bath scene in this week's Buffy gratuitous.

Faith & Gigi were relaxing. The only sexual tension exist in the minds of male readers. I don't think women are quite as hung up on being naked in front of each other as men are. Generally speaking.

[kahunablair]

Edit: Um, I didn't find the bath scene in this week's Buffy gratuitous.

Faith & Gigi were relaxing. The only sexual tension exist in the minds of male readers. I don't think women are quite as hung up on being naked in front of each other as men are. Generally speaking.

I actually agreed with Ron. I didn't squirm or feel uneasy, but I did remark out loud, "Really?".

[labor_days]

I actually agreed with Ron. I didn't squirm or feel uneasy, but I did remark out loud, "Really?".

Well, guess I just didn't find it all that strange or without reason. I've known women who shower with their girlfriends without any sexual overtones.

I didn't get that vibe in Buffy either. Faith was enjoying the luxury. Her conversation with Gigi was all business, aside from the Stone Roses bit.

[paper]

I felt that it was totally in character for Faith. It'd be weird if the bath scene were written for Buffy, but it does make sense for Faith.

[projektidiot]

This issue of Astonishing was the first time I agreed with the Fanboys on the greatness of Chris Eliopoulos.

TRANSPARENT LETTERING!

[esophagus]

This issue of Astonishing was the first time I agreed with the Fanboys on the greatness of Chris Eliopoulos.

TRANSPARENT LETTERING!How can you dislike a letterer? There've been times where I disliked lettering in an issue, but I don't think I've ever disliked an actual letterer.

[projektidiot]

I didn't mean I disliked him previously, I only mean that I never really cared much about lettering, it hardly registered in my mind and this is quite possibly the first time I've ever really appreciated the lettering in a book.

[klwinters]

Nice choice of Immigrant Punk by Gogol Bordello! I absolutely love those guys! Great show as well, like always.

[esophagus]

Nice choice of Immigrant Punk by Gogol Bordello! I absolutely love those guys! Great show as well, like always.Now I'm really stoked to listen. I love that song.

[kahunablair]

I felt that it was totally in character for Faith. It'd be weird if the bath scene were written for Buffy, but it does make sense for Faith.

Guess that's where my lack of Buffy-knowledge shows then, huh?

[jgg0610]

Great episode guys. Glad you were able to soldier through Josh.

[conorkilpatrick]

Josh won't stop showing me his scars.

[dave-accampo]

Ha! I love the mention of the odd coincidences in the forums leading up to Josh's surgery.

And I'm very glad that Ron mentioned Fantastic Four. I picked it up because of McDuffie, and it's been surprisingly entertaining. And I'm not an FF fan by nature.

Good show, guys.

[dave-accampo]

Nice choice of Immigrant Punk by Gogol Bordello! I absolutely love those guys! Great show as well, like always.

Yeah, I love that song.

[jaflanagan]

Josh won't stop showing me his scars.

Who wants pictures?!

[labor_days]

Please, don't.

[dave-accampo]

I think...Josh, was it you who mentioned Peter Milligan this week...and whether or not he had ever written anything good?

Dude, I'll tell you -- he's one of those frustrating writers for me. He CAN be really good, but just as often, he can be utterly crappy. Usually anything he does that's straight super-hero is just NOT good.

My favorite works of his are Vertigo's SHADE with Chris Bachalo (which is uneven at times, but overall very good) and ENIGMA with Duncan Fegredo. There are some other good titles he's done, but they're all usually Vertigo (or early indie work). Anything he's written in the mainstream has been...less than satisfying.

Oh, except maybe X-statix. I really did like that book. Just remembered that.

[cam-]

Yeah I really liked his X-force X-statix stuff, but I think the guys mentioned it wasn't for them in an earlier episode.

[jaflanagan]

I liked X-Statix in the beginning, but I got tired of it before too long. I don't think it should have been an ongoing series so much.

[dave-accampo]

I liked X-Statix in the beginning, but I got tired of it before too long. I don't think it should have been an ongoing series so much.

I can agree with that. I think it was great at first, and then it didn't seem to sustain the concept.

Honestly, that might be a fair assessment of Milligan's work on the whole. He seems to do much better in finite stories. Though I still have a real soft spot for his SHADE series.

Also: His Animal Man run is probably the only run post-Morrison that was worth reading.

[racemccloud]

Has anyone explained to our hosts yet that, in "NA: Illuminati #5" the Black Bolt Skrull was actually an Illuminati-based Super Skrull (as opposed to the traditional FF based Super Skrull) which therefore had all of the powers of the Illuminati (which is why it was able to psychically smackdown Prof. X). Then, you had the Avengers-based Super Skrull, and the X-Men-based Super Skrull. Yes, I know someone will now redirect this post to the "Illuminati" thread, but I'm putting this in the thread for Ep. 106 because this comment came directly out of my Ep. 106 listening experience, where I wanted to shout an explanation at our usually well-informed hosts as they stumbled through trying to figure out which Skrull was impersonating which hero. (The X-Skrull, for example, had a Nightcrawler tail, the steel arms, and optic blasts.) I thought it would seem pretty strange to the other patrons at CVS if I was standing in the middle of the store screaming to the voices in my head, "He had optic blasts! Optic blasts! He's a new Super Skrull! Don't you get it?" So, there you go. Love the show, guys!

[kahunablair]

Isn't that what Ron said?

[conorkilpatrick]

Has anyone explained to our hosts yet that, in "NA: Illuminati #5" the Black Bolt Skrull was actually an Illuminati-based Super Skrull (as opposed to the traditional FF based Super Skrull) which therefore had all of the powers of the Illuminati (which is why it was able to psychically smackdown Prof. X). Then, you had the Avengers-based Super Skrull, and the X-Men-based Super Skrull. Yes, I know someone will now redirect this post to the "Illuminati" thread, but I'm putting this in the thread for Ep. 106 because this comment came directly out of my Ep. 106 listening experience, where I wanted to shout an explanation at our usually well-informed hosts as they stumbled through trying to figure out which Skrull was impersonating which hero. (The X-Skrull, for example, had a Nightcrawler tail, the steel arms, and optic blasts.) I thought it would seem pretty strange to the other patrons at CVS if I was standing in the middle of the store screaming to the voices in my head, "He had optic blasts! Optic blasts! He's a new Super Skrull! Don't you get it?" So, there you go. Love the show, guys!

That's what we said. An X-Men Skrull and an Avengers Skrull. We just didn't use the word "super". Well, Ron did once.

[racemccloud]

That's what we said. An X-Men Skrull and an Avengers Skrull. We just didn't use the word "super".

Yes, sir, you as usual were on your game. HOWEVER, you DIDN'T say "an Illuminati Skrull". You said "a Skrull with Black Bolt's muted powers", when OBVIOUSLY, he was a Skrull with ALL of the Illuminati's powers. Ron even went so far as to say it was a Skrull with both Black Bolt's and Mr. Fantastic's powers (meaning, I assume, that it was a Super Skrull + Black Bolt), when he also demonstrated the powers of Dr. Strange and Prof. X, at least. Bottom line, who gives a baboon's left teet? Great issue, great show. I'm more disappointed you didn't comment on the presented visual of myself screaming at the iFanboy podcast in the middle of CVS. Would it help if i said I was holding baby food? Because I was.

[racemccloud]

Isn't that what Ron said?

I don't think so. I was pretty clear at the time that they were pretty unclear.

[conorkilpatrick]

HOWEVER, you DIDN'T say "an Illuminati Skrull". You said "a Skrull with Black Bolt's muted powers", when OBVIOUSLY, he was a Skrull with ALL of the Illuminati's powers.

Seriously?

[racemccloud]

Seriously?

Seriously. Go look.

[kahunablair]

Seriously?
Haha. You guys do run a comic book podcast.
You guys have to get a lot of stuff like this each episode, right?

[racemccloud]

Haha. You guys do run a comic book podcast.
You guys have to get a lot of stuff like this each episode, right?

Oh, I'm sure he does. I'm also sure that if he didn't see what I just pointed out, he just ran and checked his book.

Also, if the "Seriously?" was meant to imply that, "Seriously? You care this much?", my response would be, "Hey, man, YOU'RE the one with the comic book podcast (that I listen to religiously every week.)" Like I said, who give a baboon's left teet? Great issue, great show. I can never go back to that CVS now, of course...

[conorkilpatrick]

Oh, I'm sure he does. I'm also sure that if he didn't see what I just pointed out, he just ran and checked his book.

Also, if the "Seriously?" was meant to imply that, "Seriously? You care this much?", my response would be, "Hey, man, YOU'RE the one with the comic book podcast (that I listen to religiously every week.)" Like I said, who give a baboon's left teet? Great issue, great show. I can never go back to that CVS now, of course...

No, no - I definitely meant the latter. Using the phrase "super skrull" and not "Illuminati super skrull" has no bearing on the relative strength or weakness of the story being told, which is why we talk about books on the podcast.

:)

[racemccloud]

No, no - I definitely meant the latter. Using the phrase "super skrull" and not "Illuminati super skrull" has no bearing on the relative strength or weakness of the story being told, which is why we talk about books on the podcast.

:)

Okay, sure, but here's the thing (and apparently I DO give a baboon's left teet about it). Ron specifically said, "that's a Skrull with the powers of Black Bolt and the Fantastic Four", which it was not. He said it as a point of clarification to Josh about what was going on in the book in that segment, and you never jumped in and corrected that piece of erroneous information. Therefore, the three of you, in your comic book podcast, misidentified a character as one thing when Bendis clearly created it to be another, and character is one of the four key elements of any story being told (the others being plot, setting and theme). So, in this case, the misidentification of that individual character may have some bearing on your future discussion of the story that Bendis and Marvel are telling, because since we've seen an Illuminati Super Skrull fighting alongside an Avengers and X-Men Super Skrull, we can assume now that we may see more team-based Super Skrulls in the future (although we are running out of important Marvel teams). So I was only trying to do you guys a service and point out a place where you seem to have misinterpreted the appearance of a new character in the first chapter of next year's major Marvel event. I know this whole thing has now become very Comic-Book Guy of me, but come on. I've heard you spin DC minutae at us on the 'Cast all the time; is this so different? Just trying to help. As I've said, love the show.

Oh, I almost forgot my smiley face.

...

Oh, I almost forgot that I don't know how to do smiley faces.

Smiley face!

There.

Does anyone know a good drugstore, the name of which does not contain the letters V, S or C? Thanks in advance!

[jaflanagan]

Seriously?

Illuminati skrull? There appears to be a hair to split.

[conorkilpatrick]

Okay, sure, but here's the thing (and apparently I DO give a baboon's left teet about it). Ron specifically said, "that's a Skrull with the powers of Black Bolt and the Fantastic Four", which it was not. He said it as a point of clarification to Josh about what was going on in the book in that segment, and you never jumped in and corrected that piece of erroneous information. Therefore, the three of you, in your comic book podcast, misidentified a character as one thing when Bendis clearly created it to be another, and character is one of the four key elements of any story being told (the others being plot, setting and theme). So, in this case, the misidentification of that individual character may have some bearing on your future discussion of the story that Bendis and Marvel are telling, because since we've seen an Illuminati Super Skrull fighting alongside an Avengers and X-Men Super Skrull, we can assume now that we may see more team-based Super Skrulls in the future (although we are running out of important Marvel teams). So I was only trying to do you guys a service and point out a place where you seem to have misinterpreted the appearance of a new character in the first chapter of next year's major Marvel event. I know this whole thing has now become very Comic-Book Guy of me, but come on. I've heard you spin DC minutae at us on the 'Cast all the time; is this so different? Just trying to help. As I've said, love the show.

I have to admit, that was an impressively worded paragraph.

[esophagus]

Seriously?

Illuminati skrull? There appears to be a hair to split.
I heard you mention there's a hair to split, but you failed to mention whos hair you were splitting.

[racemccloud]

I have to admit, that was an impressively worded paragraph.

It's a little unfair. I AM an English teacher. Impressively worded paragraphs are about all I can do.

[projektidiot]

AHA!

*proves nothing*

(*makes no sense*)

[thomas-katers]

Nice Josh LMD. I am impressed with both your foresight in creating a duplicate of Josh and being able to perform such a seemless change.

[six-gun]

I have to admit, that was an impressively worded paragraph.


yes, but resorting to absurdity to make an argument does nothing but weaken said point ;)

[dave-accampo]

yes, but resorting to absurdity to make an argument does nothing but weaken said point ;)

To be totally fair, *I* never picked up on the fact that the skrull had all the specific Illuminati powers until it was pointed out here.

It may be splitting hairs, and probably not necessary for the guys' podcast, but I have to give him credit for pointing out a nuance that I didn't get on my read.

:)

[ronxo]

I'll chime in here and admit that I didn't realize the Black Bolt Skrull actually had the powers of the Illuminati - that's a very cool idea. The fact that he had Black Bolt's powers and showed Mr. Fantastic's powers made me think more along the lines of the Super Skrull plus Black Bolt. I have to go back to the issue to see if there is clear "Prof. X" or "Dr. Strange" or "Namor" powers...so I'm not 100% sure you're right - but I acknowledge its a good idea and probably what was happening...

But either way, I don't really think it matters as much as the effort put forth on this thread ;)

[labor_days]

I thought it was fairly clear it was an Illuminati Skrull. Blackbolt's powers, Namor's strength, mind powers to overwhelm Prof. X and the ability to overcome the magical powers of Strange. His costume had elements of the Illumanti too.

When the Avengers and X-men Skrull showed up, it confirmed it for me.

[six-gun]

To be totally fair, *I* never picked up on the fact that the skrull had all the specific Illuminati powers until it was pointed out here.

It may be splitting hairs, and probably not necessary for the guys' podcast, but I have to give him credit for pointing out a nuance that I didn't get on my read.

:)

I was just giving him a hard time

[racemccloud]

yes, but resorting to absurdity to make an argument does nothing but weaken said point ;)

Ah, yes, but one man's absurdity is another man's crystal-clear logic. Or some such nonsense. Either way, I just wanted the opportunity to type the words "baboon's left teet" again. Which I just did. Huzzah! Victory is mine!

(psitwasanilluminatisuperskrullendofps)