Pick of the Week Podcast Episode #76: Fell #8

[conorkilpatrick]

It's our 76th episode!

We discuss Josh's Pick of the Week for April 11, 2007:

http://www.ifanboy.com/images/pick_041107-thumb.jpg
Fell #8
by Warren Ellis & Ben Templesmith

Running Time: 01:05:19

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

Click here to discuss the show! (http://www.ifanboy.com/archive/pickoftheweek/04072007_fell_8.html)

[six-gun]

great show, I was a little worried about length just because it was such a light week, but this show didn't dissapoint in that area!

[steve-m-]

I'm just starting the shwo but already bummed because the notes said Loners #1 was great--my store was sold out by the time I got there!!

[jimski]

If the "iFanboy canon" secret for the next video show is what I think it is, I couldn't be more delighted.

[404error]

Great podcast guys. I especially liked the voicemail from the guy that was frustrated with the JLA #7 issue. I'm also going to make sure that I catch around comics when josh is there.

Oh and I have to agree with Ron, Nova #1 was awesome. I loved it so much, I had never really been a fan of that character but this comic blew me away. I think this series has the potential to become a big hit. But I also like Two gun aswell. I think it was a good read. But Nova still owns.

[darron]

I was so glad to hear the Fell talk. Since I just read issues 7 and 8 about an hour before I listened, having the podcast immediately after was great, as you guys touched upon a lot of the points I dug.

Alright, more Kyle Rayner love! I didn't know Ron was a Rayner fan as well, good to know. Conor, how much of Kyle's stint as Green Lantern did you read? I ask because I just can't quite put my finger on what your stance on Kyle Rayner is. (And Ion was an alright read, got much better towards the end....promise).

I'm probably gonna grab Nova #1 based on Ron reccomendation. He seemed almost giddy while talking about it. Although I'm a bit worried because I know absolutely NOTHING about Nova. What Ron talked about on the show is my entire knowledge of the character, but I really doubt that it will hamper my experience of the book.


GREAT podcast guys, I really enjoyed it. And congratulations on the Netflix sponsership. That's a big deal. Does that mean I can stop donating now?

;-)

[darron]

If the "iFanboy canon" secret for the next video show is what I think it is, I couldn't be more delighted.

Screw 52! I wanna know what's up!

[itsbecca]

I almost passed on After the Cape #2 after reading the #1. I bought the first one because I'd saw on Image's site a news bit about it selling out, read the synopsis and it sounded intriguing. I got it online even, since my LCS was sold out (or didn't get it in the first place). I was completley underwhelmed really. I liked the concept but the writing didn't grab me. But I thought the second issue got to the meat of the story a lot more, I dug it. To bad it's ending rigth as it hits it's stride...

[alexg]

Great show as always guys--

And thanks for being fair to the Hellboy fans and acknowledging we're pretty rational in our enthusiasm for the series.

[itsbecca]

On that note Hellboy isn't the only thing coming out of Darkhorse. :(

I've dug a lot of their different horror series, minis and continuing both.

[paper]

Like Ron, I really enjoyed Nova. Not so much with the Loners though. 1 out of 2 aint bad. 2 out of 3 if you count the previous week's Avengers the Initiative.

[conorkilpatrick]

Alright, more Kyle Rayner love! I didn't know Ron was a Rayner fan as well, good to know. Conor, how much of Kyle's stint as Green Lantern did you read? I ask because I just can't quite put my finger on what your stance on Kyle Rayner is. (And Ion was an alright read, got much better towards the end....promise).

None. Zero. Zip.

Dropped Green Lantern as soon as DC dropped Hal.

[darron]

None. Zero. Zip.

Dropped Green Lantern as soon as DC dropped Hal.

Well when you put it that way....

So you've only read Kyle when he's been in other people's books then, I take it. Alright...what did you think of him in Morrison's JLA run?

[conorkilpatrick]

So you've only read Kyle when he's been in other people's books then, I take it. Alright...what did you think of him in Morrison's JLA run?

Funny you should ask. I just recently bought all the trades of Morrison's run on JLA and reread them straight though.

I didn't hate Kyle in the run, but I did find his constant "wow, what am I doing here?" schtick to be annoying. It was every single issue.

You don't see Hal whining like that. ;)

[benjaminsimpson]

Funny you should ask. I just recently bought all the trades of Morrison's run on JLA and reread them straight though.

I didn't hate Kyle in the run, but I did find his constant "wow, what am I doing here?" schtick to be annoying. It was every single issue.

You don't see Hal whining like that. ;)
I did like how Morrison advanced him in the Starro/Dream issues, and then especially at the end in World War III. That was character development you weren't even getting in the regular GL book.

[mister-s]

I also really liked Nova. And New Avengers. And Fell. It was a good week.

Insert ranting and raving about Usagi Yojimbo here. The more I think about it, the more I can see similarities between Usagi and Fell. Hmm...

[mister-s]

Oh, and I agree completely with COnor about Kyle. Not Hal = not a purchase, and he was probably the worst thing about Morrison era JLA (other than the Superman costume change).

[conorkilpatrick]

Oh, and I agree completely with COnor about Kyle. Not Hal = not a purchase, and he was probably the worst thing about Morrison era JLA (other than the Superman costume change).

I actually think that Super-Mullet was way, way worse than Electric Superman.

[jaflanagan]

If the "iFanboy canon" secret for the next video show is what I think it is, I couldn't be more delighted.

I'm curious for your theory.

[mister-s]

As a mullet enthusiast, I was rather proud to see Supes sporting.

[sparks]

Picked up New Avengers and loved it, I'm always glad to see Iron Fist in action.

[benjaminsimpson]

I'm curious for your theory.
My guess is the first appearance of the iFanboy significant others. I'm still just trying to figure out when the shows are recorded.

[jgg0610]

My guess is the first appearance of the iFanboy significant others. I'm still just trying to figure out when the shows are recorded.
My guess is the long awaited cribs episode.

[labor_days]

Perhaps we'll finally find out what's on the iFanboy bookshelf?

[jaflanagan]

My guess is the first appearance of the iFanboy significant others. I'm still just trying to figure out when the shows are recorded.

It's usually in the afternoon.

My guess is the long awaited cribs episode.

I hate to burst the bubble and all, but our apartments are pretty far from interesting. Cribs is because the folks are rich and famous. We are certainly not.

"Uh, so here's the fridge...there's a, uh, batman magnet on there...."

Perhaps we'll finally find out what's on the iFanboy bookshelf?

Well, we've been talking about what books we've been reading for while now. It's a not a big secret.

So, that's not it either. ;)

Btw, the place with the green walls and the Who poster, that's my apartment. I don't even have a fake Shakespeare bust to open up a passage behind the bookcase.

[alexg]

The more I think about it, the more I can see similarities between Usagi and Fell. Hmm...

This is an interesting comparison, I'm trying to think what these similarities are...I've got none..what do you think some of them are?

[the-screw-on-aaron]

Hey guys once again a solid show, you guys are really eased into it now and I feel you are continuing to grow and expand healthily in the world of podcasting.

The Fell talk was very heartfelt and I really got the feeling you guys like this book for this book! What I mean is it wasn't because it was Wolverine or Superman or Batman or Avengers is also a reason why you like it felt like you like it because it was well done. Good writing, good art, good lettering all around good book which is fantastic to see.

Totally agree with Ron about Nova really solid start as a fan of Annihilation I felt like it kept the spirit of that going really well and am psyched for the next issue, am curious though if Ron liked the Nova miniseries that came out of Annihilation? I thought it was great and this is continuing that spirit really well.

I totally agree with the Hellboy/BPRD fan and am really excited to hear that all of you are reading some soon, as a massive Hellboy universe fan i'm really interested to hear what you all think:D

And of course it was awesome to hear my voice on the podcast. I only heard it recently as I went to bed around the same time the podcast went live, I have lots of friends in the state's so I have a special phone deal that allows me to call long distance so that solves that. I love that you guys thought I had a French accent lol! Be expecting the French phone call sooooooooonnnnnnn!;)

I'm going into London tomorrow until Friday for some additions for drama schools so I'll pop by ‘Plug-Forbidden Planet-plug’ Torso, Goldfish, and some of The Losers books like you said hell! I think my parents will even pay for a bit of it I've never read them either so this will be an experience for me too, thanks again I really appreciate the recommendations.:)

Thanks guys overall a really good episode can't wait for Wednesday!:D

[404error]

After hearing what everyone had to say on Fell #8 I decided to pick it up. I flipped threw it at the store and the art does look nice. To be honest I had no idea this book was around. I think i'm going to enjoy it as a read on the ride home from work. Another book to add to my list of things to pick up from now on lol.

[mikegraham6]

Guys, there is no way that 52 is an event. Its just a weekly series. World War three is an event though. I defines event as something that is spread over multiple books and 52 is mearly a weekly series that came out of One Year Later (another event).
Why do you guys think 52 is an event?

[labor_days]

I didn't think of 52 or The Initiative as events either. They were just happening.

Should have known better though. If there's a checklist involved it's probably an event.

[mikegraham6]

I didn't think of 52 or The Initiative as events either. They were just happening.

Should have known better though. If there's a checklist involved it's probably an event.

the Initiative (the header not the book itself) is definitely an event in the same vein as Decimation. I'd call it a mini event just due to the fact that it's fallout from the previous event......this gives me a headache:confused:

[labor_days]

the Initiative (the header not the book itself) is definitely an event in the same vein as Decimation.
Such was the checklist I was referring to.

Damn checklists.

[mikegraham6]

Such was the checklist I was referring to.

Damn checklists.

checklists are the spawn of the devil hisself!
so here's the rule: no checklist = no event:D

[conorkilpatrick]

the Initiative (the header not the book itself) is definitely an event in the same vein as Decimation. I'd call it a mini event just due to the fact that it's fallout from the previous event......

That's exactly how you could describe 52. It just doesn't have a cover label. It came out of Infinite Crisis.

[mikegraham6]

That's exactly how you could describe 52. It just doesn't have a cover label. It came out of Infinite Crisis.

but it's a series that stands alone, while the initiative is a storyline that crosses over multiple books. i've found any ties within 52 and the rest of the DCU have been pretty minimal. isn't the whole point of an event is to make you buy multiple books that you wouldn't already buy?

[conorkilpatrick]

but it's a series that stands alone, while the initiative is a storyline that crosses over multiple books.

Event =/= Crossover Event

i've found any ties within 52 and the rest of the DCU have been pretty minimal. isn't the whole point of an event is to make you buy multiple books that you wouldn't already buy?

If you're in marketing, probably. I didn't pick up any extra books due to Infinite Crisis. Does that make it any less of an event?

[mikegraham6]

Event =/= Crossover Event



If you're in marketing, probably. I didn't pick up any extra books due to Infinite Crisis. Does that make it any less of an event?

okay well if we are going to distinguish between an event and a crossover event, then i concede and would say that 52 is an event, but then so would any book that spins out of another event right? Avengers: The initiative, Wolverine: Origins (came out of House of M and Wolvie getting his memories back), even the OMAC mini that came out after Inifite Crisis. I think it becomes more of a grey area. but are you saying 52 is an event because it's hyped due to the fact that its weekly or because it spun out of inifite crisis?

[conorkilpatrick]

okay well if we are going to distinguish between an event and a crossover event, then i concede and would say that 52 is an event, but then so would any book that spins out of another event right? Avengers: The initiative, Wolverine: Origins (came out of House of M and Wolvie getting his memories back), even the OMAC mini that came out after Inifite Crisis. I think it becomes more of a grey area. but are you saying 52 is an event because it's hyped due to the fact that its weekly or because it spun out of inifite crisis?

What I'm really saying is what I said on the podcast is that there is no good definition for "an event", it's too big of a tent. Almost anything can fall under it.

52, as a company-spanning limited-series that spun out of one "event" mini-series and will be spawning another company-spanning limited series "event" seems like an "event" no-brainer to me. It's even got it's own internal mini-event in World War III.

[labor_days]

So, let me get this straight; 52 is an event spun from another previous event, Infinite Crisis. Which is now being spun into it's own internal "mini" event, World War III, right?
Ok, someone get me a checklist.

[conorkilpatrick]

..........................World War III
........................ /
Infinite Crisis -- 52 -- Countdown
.................\
..................One Year Later

(Ignore the stupid dots)

[paper]

Good goin' with the Netflix sponsorship. Thanks to Netflix I am able to devour whole seasons of ER like so many Skittles. That's a bad analogy because I've never actually liked Skittles. And I do like the ER.

Sadly when they got to season 3 they went to single-sided DVDs, so my devouring is going to slow down a bit.

Oh, Dr. Green. When will you ever catch a break?

[mikegraham6]

Ok, someone get me a checklist.

NICE! full circle;)

[labor_days]

..........................World War III
........................ /
Infinite Crisis -- 52 -- Countdown
.................\
..................One Year Later

(Ignore the stupid dots)

Wait a second. Countdown is an event too?

I thought Countdown was merely counting down to some future event. /confusion is sex*


*sonic youth ref. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confusion_Is_Sex)

[mikegraham6]

Wait a second. Countdown is an event too?

I thought Countdown was merely counting down to some future event. /confusion is sex*


*sonic youth ref. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confusion_Is_Sex)

see this is why i have a headache!
i think what we can all agree on is that there are different events, regular ones and company wide crossovers, those that affect other titles and those that don't

[conorkilpatrick]

..........................World War III
........................ /
Infinite Crisis -- 52 -- Countdown -- Unknown Event
.................\
..................One Year Later

(Ignore the stupid dots)

[six-gun]

..........................World War III
........................ /
Infinite Crisis -- 52 -- Countdown -- Unknown Event
.................\
..................One Year Later

(Ignore the stupid dots)

I think that the iFanboy's talents are being wasted, they should totally be doing Marvel/DC Handbooks

[darron]

..........................World War III
........................ /
Infinite Crisis -- 52 -- Countdown
.................\
..................One Year Later

Cant wait to see what spins out of Countdown.

(Extra points to whomever can create a graph, like the one above, for the Marvel U. over the past 7 years)

[acomicbookgirl]

(Extra points to whomever can create a graph, like the one above, for the Marvel U. over the past 7 years)

I so want to see that one..

[alexg]

So--will reading WWIII make any sense if we haven't read 52?

[labor_days]

..........................World War III
........................ /
Infinite Crisis -- 52 -- Countdown -- Unknown Event
.................\
..................One Year Later
So, 52 is going to lead to Countdown? Must have missed that when it was announced. I am slightly less confused now.

Glad we got iFanboy to explain this stuff to us poor readers.

there are different events, regular ones and company wide crossovers, those that affect other titles and those that don'tHmm. But aren't regular non-crossover events just regular series stories?

Was Planet Hulk an event? It lead to a future event. However, it was self contained and was told in the main title itself.

It seems to me, and I could be wrong, that a comic event needs to tell some kind of unified story that impacts an particular comic universe/characters. See: Infinite Crisis, Civil War, House Of M, etc

[mister-s]

This is an interesting comparison, I'm trying to think what these similarities are...I've got none..what do you think some of them are?

I M O

Both books are the singular vision of their creators. It just so happens that Usagi is all one person.

Both books use the personality of the protagonist to move the story - not just the events that unfold and how they react. The stories are told one issue at a time (again, usually w/Usagi), yet there are overarching/recurring plot lines and themes. The idea of being alone/solitude/lonliness seems to be emerging as one of these. Is Fell the ronin detective of Snowtown?

[sk0pe]

Is Fell the ronin detective of Snowtown?

I wouldn't call him a Ronin as he still works for the police department, it's just that nobody bothers doing any detective work except for Fell himself. He's bucking the trend in actually carrying out a certain amount of law and order which is having big impacts on Snowtown, simply because stuff goes down and the law can't be bothered.

EVENTS -
I think this word has spun out of the 90s when everyone expected a crossover with another book for a few issues due to some major villainous thing happening and some fall out due to that. They were the regular Summer events.
These days it's impercievable what an event is. I mean even the single issue of Cap 25 is an event because you get repurcussions accross all the books that he was involved with.

There were heaps of events within books or book families like Age of Apocalypse, The Clone Saga. (However all the DC events seem to be universal crossovers).

The only Marvel Universe event I bought was Onslaught but only picked up the major books through wich the main story ran rather than those that were just effected. From what I can understand, House of M and Civil War were also big crossover events.
Planet Hulk was not an event, it was a Hulk story.
World War Hulk seems to be a crossover event but more just hyping up the return of the Hulk and the Hulk book needing to interact with the Illuminati members.
The Initiative is the aftermath of Civil War. I'm not picking them up because I don't read those books, I just picked up the main Civil War book.

Lets just say an "Event" is a universal cross over of books with aftermath.

[sinclairtyler]

Hi, great show. I have been watching since around December. I used to be more active on the rev3 boards before you guys got here but I haven't posted in a while.

I want to give Usagi Yojimbo a try but I have no idea what trade to start at. should I try to go all the way back Fantagraphics stuff? or should i try to jump in around the Mirage and dark horse stuff? has the story continued from publisher to publisher or has it restarted with each change? thx for the help

[mister-s]

Looking at my shelf, I really liked book 3 from the early stuff. And book 5 and 6 were also standouts. The first trade of the old run is the origin story though.

Honestly, just go pick up issues 101 and 102. You can jump on anywhere, and issue 102 was especially good.

[fred]

welcome to the forum sinclairtyler

[kevmann16]

Hi, great show. I have been watching since around December. I used to be more active on the rev3 boards before you guys got here but I haven't posted in a while.

I want to give Usagi Yojimbo a try but I have no idea what trade to start at. should I try to go all the way back Fantagraphics stuff? or should i try to jump in around the Mirage and dark horse stuff? has the story continued from publisher to publisher or has it restarted with each change? thx for the help

I'm no expert but I picked up Demon Mask Usagi Yojimbo, book 14 first at my LCS it was random but I wanted to check out some Usagi and I found that it was really easy to get in to without knowing anything that went before it.

Most of the books are easy to jump on with I think, Usagi seems to be wrote like that, if you want to start with the first "big event" I believe that was Grasscutter collected in Usagi Yojimbo, Book 12 (http://www.amazon.com/Grasscutter-Usagi-Yojimbo-Book-12/dp/1569714134/ref=sr_1_14/002-7179706-8571225?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177069840&sr=8-14) it is an amazing story. That said Book 10 was the start of the Dark Horse run so if you want a starting point that would be pretty good.

Hope that helps a bit.