Everything But Imaginary #328: Kicking Off With a Bang

With all due respect to The Office and How I Met Your Mother, I think I’ve realized that The Big Bang Theory is the funniest show on TV. This week I tell you why. Also, my pick of the week — Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love #1.

Everything But Imaginary #328: Kicking Off With a Bang

Everything But Imaginary #310: What Does it All Mean?

Six hundred issues of Captain America! And Amazing Spider-Man! And the Hulk (kinda)! And even Archie! But will the events of any of these specials live up to the hype machine that’s buzzing around them? Does the hype machine ever do any good? Plus, an update on the Boom! Studios/Disney Comics deal!

Everything But Imaginary #310: What Does it All Mean?
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2 in 1 Showcase Episode 122: Battle For the Cowl and the NEW Batman Family

Back in Episode 106, when Battle For the Cowl was yet to begin, the Showcase boys looked at the possible candidates for the Batman mantle and the state of the Batman family as a whole. With Battle For the Cowl over, the guys give their impressions of the story, the spinoffs, the new Batman and Robin team, Neil Gaiman‘s Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader, and their thoughts on the new comics that are about to comprise the Batman universe! Plus — you want picks of the week? We’ll give you picks of the week! Mike gives us Supergirl #41, Chase takes X-Force #15, and Blake presents Muppet Robin Hood #1 and this week’s graphic novel pick, Static Shock: Rebirth of the Cool. Write us with comments, suggestions, picks of the week, “Ask Chase Anything” questions, or anything else at Showcase@comixtreme.com!

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 122: Battle For the Cowl and the NEW Batman Family
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PLUS:The boys go through a lot of stuff this week, beginning with the sad passings of a pair of Davids, the first issue of Batman and Robin, major announcements from E3, and the television returns of Torchwood, Doctor Who, the Muppets, and Conan O’Brien (and his mysteriously familiar set)! Then, the guys get into it with the Captain America #600 controversy! All this and more in your Week in Geek!

Week in Geek #23: Captain America, Muppets, and More!

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 120: The Terminator

The movie season is in high gear now, and this week’s big release is Terminator: Salvation. To prepare for the movie, the Showcase gang converged on the home of Mike “I Left My Heart in 2029” Bellamy for a marathon of the first three Terminator movies and the pilot episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The boys talk about the films and show, discuss the property in comics, and pre-hash the new movie. Come back on Tuesday for our review of Terminator: Salvation! In the picks this week, Blake enjoyed the first issue of Olympus and Chase provides the graphic novel pick, Hellblazer: Original Sins. WARNING: This podcast contains frequent terrible Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonations. Parental Discretion is advised. Write us with comments, suggestions, picks of the week, “Ask Chase Anything” questions, or anything else at Showcase@Comixtreme.com!

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 120: The Terminator
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PLUS:Week in Geek returns! This week, the guys pick apart the season finale of Lost, “The Incident.” People who want to remain Lost-free can skip from 6:10 to 42:20 on their iTunes, and join us as we discuss the end of the TV season, which shows got picked up, and what some of our new favorites are. Plus: the winner of the Battle For the Cowl wager is revealed (in a spoiler-free fashion)! Special thanks to Monty for the new Week in Geek logo!

Week in Geek #21: Blake and Chase’s Big Ol’ Incident

A family wedding, a Kindle suggestion, more reviews

Best Wishes, Chase

This first blurb today isn’t for my Good Buddy Chase, he of the 2 in 1 Showcase fame, but rather for my cousin Chase, who is getting married today. I really wish I could be at the wedding, but Chase is getting married in Germany because Andrea, his fiance (actually, considering the time difference, she’s probably his wife by the time I write this) is a German native and they’re going to be living there, at least for the next few years. Much as I’d like to be there, if I could afford a trip to Germany I’d already have that Amazon Kindle I keep rambling about. Anyway, Chase, we wish you all the best, we hope to see you back home soon, and please don’t cause any international incidents while you’re over there. That message really applies more to your brothers, but they’re both over there for the wedding, so pass it along.

Short stories on the Kindle?

Speaking of the Amazon Kindle, something occurred to me earlier that’s yet another reason for me to pine for one. It seems to me that it would be an excellent way to read short stories. I don’t read many short stories, which is something I actually feel sort of bad about because it’s a dying art form that I’d like to support. The thing is, how do you get a new short story? Well, you have to buy a book of short stories, which (let’s face it) is a crapshoot. If it’s an anthology full of different authors, you know perfectly well that there will be some stories in there you like and some that you don’t like at all. Even if it’s a book of stories all by the same author, say Stephen King or Neil Gaiman, you lose that impetus to keep reading every time you hit the end of a story. Rather than chugging along to the end like you will with a novel, when you finish a short story it’s rather easy to put it aside and get distracted by something else.

I think it would be brilliant if Amazon established a short writing store, similar to the iTunes music store, where writers and publishers alike could submit short pieces of writing (both fiction and non-fiction) for a cheap download. I may be reluctant to spend even the $9.99 Kindle asks for a whole book if I’m unfamiliar with most of the contributing writers, but if you give me a first paragraph as a sample and I like it, I’d be inclined to spend 50 to 99 cents to download just that story and read it. I think this would be a hit, and may help to revive the short story format if only people would listen to my brilliance.

Termination

As you may have heard, there’s a new Terminator movie out this weekend. We at the 2 in 1 Showcase podcast, being shameless hangers-on to popular culture, always like to do an episode to coincide with a major genre film. So today, we’re converging at Mike “The Internet is a Bunch of Tubes” Bellamy’s house to watch the first three films in the series and record the episode. Then, tomorrow, we’re going to catch the new movie and do our review. If you’ve already seen the film, don’t spoil it for me. I hear the reviews are mixed, but I’m genuinely excited for this flick, and if I’m going to be disappointed, I’d rather be disappointed on my own terms.

Reviews

Finally, how about a few more Comixtreme.com reviews for you guys? Here are some comics I’ve reviewed since the last time I did one of these posts:

• Astro City: The Dark Age Book Three #1: Dual review with Walt Kneeland
• Fables #84: Part four of The Great Fables Crossover
• Secret Six #9: A Battle For the Cowl tie-in
• Trinity #50: Closing in on the end
• Done-in-One Reviews for May 16: In which I review House of Mystery #13, Sonic the Hedgehog #200, Super Human Resources #4, The Unwritten #1 and The Walking Dead #61
• Done-in-One Reviews for May 23: In which I review Cars: The Rookie #2, Doctor Who: The Time Machination #1, Olympus #1, The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks #2, Tiny Titans #16 and Zorro #13
  

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 115: Wolverine’s Multiple “Origins”

In a few weeks, X-Men Origins: Wolverine will come to your local cineplex. This week, the guys discuss the characters’ origins, some of their favorite stories, the new cartoon show, and their hopes and fears for the upcoming movie. In the picks this week, Mike goes with Batman: Battle For the Cowl #2, Blake recommends 3 Geeks: Slab Madness #3, and Chase is a fan of Crossed #4. This week’s graphic novel pick: American Jesus Vol. 1: Chosen. Write us with comments, suggestions, picks of the week, “Ask Chase Anything” questions, or anything else at Showcase@comixtreme.com

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 115: Wolverine’s Multiple “Origins”
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PLUS: In this week’s Week in Geek, the boys set the record straight about everything. Chase tells you how to survive in Disney World (don’t bring kids), an e-mail corrects both the guys about blunders in the Wonder Man/Beast episode, and Chase explains why he watches shows (and reads comics) he doesn’t like. And somewhere in there, they get around to discussing Lost, Heroes, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, the Green Lantern movie, and some announcements this week from DC Comics.

Week in Geek #17: Setting the Record Straight

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 112: Kurt Busiek

The boys are back with another creator spotlight, this time on writer Kurt Busiek! From his early days on Justice League of America and Power Man and Iron Fist, through his career-making work on Marvels and Astro City, right through to his current work on the weekly maxiseries Trinity, the guys break down all of his work, talk about their favorites and least-favorites, and discuss the next project he’s going to be involved with, Wednesday Comics. In the picks this week, Blake recommends Batman: Battle For the Cowl #1, Mike dug Action Comics #875, and Chase is all about Thor #600. This week’s graphic novel pick: American Flagg Vol. 2! Write us with comments, suggestions, picks of the week, “Ask Chase Anything” questions, or anything else at Showcase@comixtreme.com!

Episode 112: Kurt Busiek
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PLUS: It’s Week in Geek time again! This time out, Blake and Chase discuss Lost: He’s Our You. Chase gives his thoughts on the final episode of Battlestar Galactica and last week’s South Park, Blake talks about the episode of Dollhouse that rescued his interest in the show, and both boys dish on recent episodes of Smallville, Heroes, and Kings.

Week in Geek #14: Battlestar Galactica finale, Dollhouse “game-changer,” and more!

Yes, I still write reviews

It’s been some time since I updated you guys with my recent reviews over at Comixtreme. I am still writing them, though! Not as many as I used to — we don’t do the Marvel advance reviews anymore, which reduces my workload considerably. Now I’m only reviewing the books I volunteer for. It’s still quite a bit, though. This week, for instance, I reviewed the first issue of The Muppet Show from Boom! Studios. This book is really good — the writing is sharp, funny, and perfectly mimics the TV show. Even the musical numbers are still intact. I love it.

Other recent reviews from yours truly have included…

• Batman: Battle For the Cowl-Commissioner Gordon #1
• Fables #82
• Hack/Slash #21
• The Incredibles: Family Matters #1
• Secret Six #7
• Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade #4
• Superman #686
• Superman/Batman #56
• Trinity #42
• Done-In-One Reviews: March 28, 2009 — Including reviews of Batman: the Brave and the Bold #3, Jack of Fables #32, The Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks #1; Star Wars: Legacy #34 & Super Human Resources #2

And of course, you can always shuffle through my past reviews at the terribly incomplete and constantly-being-updated Comic Reviews Archive Page right here at Evertime Realms.

Everything But Imaginary #299: What We Want in an MMO

Now that Marvel Comics is rolling out their own massively multiplayer online roleplaying game, competing with the long-in-development DC Universe Online, the question arises — what do we WANT in an online game based on a superhero universe? Here are my thoughts. Pick of the Week for March 11: Batman: Battle For the Cowl #1!

Everything But Imaginary #299: What We Want in an MMO
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2 in 1 Showcase Episode 106: The Batman Family

With Bruce Wayne MIA (as opposed to RIP), Gotham City is descending into chaos. Soon, the Sons of the Bat will go head-to-head for the right to claim his mantle. Before that happens, though, Blake and Chase break down the Batman Family — the four sons, the assorted daughters, the fathers, the lovers, and the assorted hangers-on. The guys also discuss the eight Batman-family comics recently announced beginning after Battle For the Cowl ends, and they place their bets on who will be wearing each costume. But what are the stakes of their wager? That, friends, is where you come in. Also, in the picks this week, Blake bids farewell to Fables cover artist James Jean, and Chase is all about G.I. Joe #1. Write us with comments, suggestions, picks of the week, “Ask Chase Anything” questions, or anything else at Showcase@comixtreme.com!

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 106: The Batman Family
Inside This Episode

PLUS: In your Week in Geek, the boys get together just seconds after the credits roll to discuss LOST episode 5-5: This Place is Death! Then they chat about recent episodes of Heroes and Battlestar Galactica, and talk over some recent announcements from the New York City Con, including Vertigo‘s $1 first issues and Brett Ratner‘s Youngblood: The Movie! (And why is Blake not as disgusted by the idea as you would think?)

Week in Geek #10: Lost, Heroes, Vertigo’s $1 #1s, and Youngblood: The Movie