0:00:00the incomparable is sponsored by fairway
0:00:02solitaire
0:00:06the incomparable number 126 februari
0:00:18welcome back to the incomparable podcast
0:00:20this is jason smell your host and I am
0:00:22convening this edition of the
0:00:23incomparable to be a comic book club so
0:00:27we're going to talk about comic book
0:00:29club
0:00:30we're not going to wear so we're gonna
0:00:31talk about a comic and what I like to do
0:00:34is see if we can pick something that's
0:00:37available in a trade paperback so if
0:00:39you're not somebody who haunts your
0:00:40local comic shop every week that's okay
0:00:42you can run out and get a get the trade
0:00:46paperback and read it and it's just like
0:00:48a book club except it's got pictures you
0:00:50see that's the difference they make a
0:00:51comic book and our selection for this
0:00:55edition of comic book club is called
0:00:57lock and key and joining me to talk
0:01:01about locking key which is a series but
0:01:05it's not an open-ended series 2
0:01:07closed-ended series and we're going to
0:01:08talk primarily about the first volume
0:01:09and then we'll progress from there a
0:01:11little bit fire off the spoiler horn
0:01:13when necessary
0:01:14my usual compatriots on the comical
0:01:16clever here Lisa Schmeisser thanks for
0:01:18joining me
0:01:19it's a pleasure to be here glad to have
0:01:20you and Jason brightman is here with a
0:01:23shiny new microphone to be on the
0:01:25podcast
0:01:26hi Jason yeah it's great to be here it's
0:01:28great to have you and joining us a
0:01:30special new addition to the comma club
0:01:34its moist s2 jaan hai my SS hello Jason
0:01:37it's lovely to take a break from hosting
0:01:39two comics podcast to be on another
0:01:41comics podcast you like the wolverine of
0:01:44comics podcast member of every day
0:01:46anyway locking key is by joe hill and
0:01:51gabriel rodriguez and joe hill if you're
0:01:55not aware i keep saying this and and I
0:01:58he probably would roll his eyes at this
0:01:59is he stephen king's kid if you haven't
0:02:02heard of Stephen King what's wrong with
0:02:04you but I think he's a really good
0:02:05writer
0:02:06I'll say that out front but i have to
0:02:08say i think i think it's sort of
0:02:10relevant that he stephen king's kid only
0:02:11because his his writing is familiar it
0:02:15reminds me of Stephen King in some ways
0:02:16in and and this is definitely a horror
0:02:19edged comic in some ways and also it's
0:02:23set in in New England but proving that
0:02:26he is independent of his father it is
0:02:28largely set in the the town of Lovecraft
0:02:31mass
0:02:31the chusetts not name a few hundred
0:02:34miles to the south of castle rock maze
0:02:36huh that's right it's not made so it's
0:02:38very different from his fault yeah i was
0:02:42thinking about the similarities between
0:02:44stephen king's work in Joe Hill's and I
0:02:47was also thinking it takes a heck of a
0:02:49lot of nerve to be a child of Stephen
0:02:52King's and to go into basically the same
0:02:53line of work in mind the same genre is
0:02:56too especially when one of your parents
0:02:57is is the 20th century's answer to
0:03:00Charles Dickens you know until you
0:03:03mentioned that I had no idea Joe Hill
0:03:05was stephen king's kid you didn't know
0:03:07oh no III didn't know which just shows
0:03:09you how much Stephen King I've read
0:03:10about this podcast get out this as best
0:03:14you can
0:03:15it's a it's a good perspective because
0:03:17now that you mention that it makes sense
0:03:19and i can recognize some certain things
0:03:22in there there's a vibe there right
0:03:23there the fact there's a tone so i read
0:03:25i read actually 11 we're going to talk
0:03:28about maybe a little bit later but I
0:03:29read volume for of locking key first
0:03:32which is completely normal
0:03:34mostly because it was nominated for Hugo
0:03:35warden and as a hugo voter i got the
0:03:38packet with all the nominees including
0:03:40walking key and I just thought it was
0:03:42one of those I didn't realize it was so
0:03:44self-contained that it really was a
0:03:46story to be read from beginning to end
0:03:47but i had no idea who Joe Hill was when
0:03:49i read it and i was impressed enough at
0:03:51that point to say wow that was really
0:03:53good i don't understand half of what I
0:03:55read and I need to go back to the
0:03:56beginning and start with vol.1 welcome
0:03:59to Lovecraft available at your local
0:04:01local comics store from ID'd idw
0:04:05publishing and I've got my copy read my
0:04:08hot little hands here a paper copy of it
0:04:09I don't know where to begin this is the
0:04:11first volume is really interesting
0:04:13because over over the future volumes are
0:04:16set in this town but only one is is
0:04:19about setting a mood and introducing us
0:04:22to these characters and I was trying to
0:04:24explain in two sentences what this story
0:04:26is to my wife and the best I could I
0:04:28could kind of come up with is it's about
0:04:30these kids who are in California and
0:04:33their father is murdered and they have
0:04:36to move back to to this town in New
0:04:39England not mean and the murderer comes
0:04:42to get them because that's basically the
0:04:44story of the
0:04:45of welcome to Lovecraft I mean it at all
0:04:48and there's no their magic keys by the
0:04:50way
0:04:51well I thought that one of the the most
0:04:52chilling aspects of welcome to Lovecraft
0:04:54in a book that is just chock-full them
0:04:57is the realization that this brutal
0:05:00murder isn't even really the point of
0:05:03the story it's just an event meant to
0:05:06set the whole story in motion and that
0:05:08it only gets more horrific by the end
0:05:10when you realize that there is some
0:05:12malign force that's moving all of these
0:05:14people into place like so many bubbles
0:05:16chess pieces that's that set the murder
0:05:20itself is plenty horrific and if I close
0:05:22my eyes I can still see the comic-book
0:05:24panel where the daughter kenzie is
0:05:28holding boat is holding your hand over
0:05:30bodis mouth and and cowering something
0:05:32the axe murderer can't find them
0:05:33just just the way that panel is shot and
0:05:35composed and Incas is haunting it's
0:05:40incredible art and it's horrifying to
0:05:41look at the same time it's so effective
0:05:43and it you're right in one way it's not
0:05:46really representative of where the
0:05:48series is going but it's so evocative
0:05:53from the get-go because it's it's the
0:05:55thing that it sets the whole story in
0:05:56motion but it's not you know this this
0:05:59isn't a meditation on the impact of that
0:06:02act of violence on these children I mean
0:06:05it is sort of that but it's really about
0:06:07putting these kids on a trajectory and
0:06:09it almost reminded me of like a like a
0:06:12Narnia kind of dark dark Narnia kind of
0:06:15thing where there's magic and the kids
0:06:17to get to that to get to this house
0:06:19where where this magical you know
0:06:22magical keys where they're located
0:06:26there's this terrible tragedy like it's
0:06:28the blips in the case of narnia and here
0:06:30it's it's a murder right well one of my
0:06:31favorite books as a kid was james and
0:06:33the giant peach which it all begins with
0:06:36James's parents being horribly
0:06:38grotesquely killed in a animal attack
0:06:41escaped what is it like a rhinoceros or
0:06:43something escapes from thanks for a
0:06:44lovely disney movie right right well
0:06:46yeah about me but starts out really dark
0:06:49right one and then it kinda and he goes
0:06:51to his awful answer gets darker but they
0:06:53reminded me that a little bit too or
0:06:54there's this horrible moment that kicks
0:06:57off the
0:06:58a series of unfortunate events right
0:07:01yeah it'sit's by the way the panel i'm
0:07:03talking about is on page 45 for anybody
0:07:05who's playing along at home has the
0:07:06trade paperback and you see repeated
0:07:09again on page 61 in a lot more detail
0:07:12much much more recently so it's
0:07:17definitely this is one of the things
0:07:18about the series they do a great job of
0:07:19repeating visual motifs over and over
0:07:21again on without beating you over the
0:07:23head with it which I really appreciate
0:07:24it well I think the storytelling in
0:07:28particular though the first chapter or
0:07:30the first issue if you were doing it in
0:07:32the floppy way the way it opens up with
0:07:36just the the welcome mat in the door and
0:07:37then the the two murderers at the door
0:07:41with their you you see their weapons
0:07:45sort of hidden here and this is just on
0:07:47the the second page of the thing is
0:07:49already you know no good is going to
0:07:51happen but start setting this tone of of
0:07:53hidden motives hidden objects the bodies
0:07:57in the back of the truck really got me
0:07:58too
0:07:59there's a runaway refers shot where you
0:08:01see that did that although they're being
0:08:03you know sort of like posing as as
0:08:05reasonable people there are dead bodies
0:08:06in the in the back of the pickup she
0:08:08says I like your pickup it's from my
0:08:10uncle he doesn't mind in India it's
0:08:12readily apparent why and it's just that
0:08:16well it one of the themes that seems to
0:08:18be embroidered over the series is that
0:08:19that you don't know will kill you and
0:08:22they lay that out in the first nine
0:08:24pages of the above excuse me to the
0:08:25first three pages of the book so Joe
0:08:29hell does not mess around
0:08:31now I'm know I was thinking about this
0:08:34and like i said i think i think stephen
0:08:37king is basically the 20th century
0:08:38answer to charles dickens and that he's
0:08:40written a lot of fiction and actually
0:08:43created a lot of fictional troops that
0:08:44have become part of pop culture people
0:08:47always talk about problems and pig's
0:08:48blood the same way and the shining can
0:08:51certainly entered people's you know
0:08:54lexicons even if some of that can be
0:08:55attributed Stanley Kubrick and I thought
0:08:58about how challenging it has to be if
0:09:00you are a writer and you're trying to to
0:09:01pull together this whole narrative
0:09:03universe and you're like alright the
0:09:06stuff that I'm sorting through my head
0:09:07my imagination how much of that is
0:09:08coming from and how much of that is
0:09:10stuff that my dad was gassing
0:09:11about the dinner table vinegar sink oh
0:09:13you know how was your day uh wasn't that
0:09:16I i wrote a scene about a bunch of
0:09:18people living under a dome today
0:09:20oh you know how do you how do you find
0:09:23your own original voice in that and i
0:09:26would love to know how Joe Hill is done
0:09:27it because there's a lot of King
0:09:30influences for example i think a lot of
0:09:32naming a lot of the names he comes up
0:09:34with his characters have a very Stephen
0:09:35King feel to them because King has a
0:09:37gift for giving his characters very
0:09:38vivid and illustrative name's not that
0:09:41that's continued here but at the same
0:09:43time we don't you don't feel like he's
0:09:44doing he's not doing an impression of
0:09:46his father if I didn't know that he was
0:09:48stephen king's kid I would say that
0:09:50somebody was influenced by stephen king
0:09:51right clearly yeah but he's not a
0:09:53sentimental like he's always been a
0:09:55really broad street of sentiment running
0:09:56through Kings work almost mawkish this
0:09:58and places and this book is a little i
0:10:01wouldn't say nasty cuz that like I tend
0:10:03to think of your game is being kind of
0:10:04having a nice broad stroke of nastiness
0:10:06to his comic book writing but he'll
0:10:09seems to be a lot more clear-eyed a lot
0:10:10less sentimental about people's emotions
0:10:12and motives and the damage they do to
0:10:13other people and i find it refreshing
0:10:17yeah I think that kind of brewed brutal
0:10:20honesty about the characters motivations
0:10:22without the need to go back to the that
0:10:26kingfish sentimentality for
0:10:29sentimentality sake was one of the
0:10:32things that I found most arresting about
0:10:33it on on my first read-through of the
0:10:36first chair of the first volume of it
0:10:38welcome to Lovecraft and it's one that i
0:10:40reread even though i had the other for
0:10:43sitting right there and I was ready to
0:10:44plow right through them
0:10:45I had to become come to grips that with
0:10:48the fact that it was going to be just
0:10:50this uncompromising and that's that's
0:10:52what really hooked me in immediately men
0:10:56and made it so compelling for me I mean
0:10:57where they're dealing with issues of the
0:10:59other mothers substance abuse and
0:11:01post-traumatic stress disorder that that
0:11:04has resulted from this thing in the way
0:11:06that the kids are coping in different
0:11:08ways how the daughters trying to figure
0:11:10out not just who she is as a human being
0:11:12but as an adolescent girl wanting to you
0:11:16know start relationships with
0:11:18with with with girls as well as with the
0:11:21guys romantically and trying to navigate
0:11:24that on top of being the epicenter of
0:11:27all of this really terrible stuff and
0:11:29then the little kid trying to be a
0:11:31little kid and then the eldest brother
0:11:34trying to find his place in the whole
0:11:35thing and there isn't this there isn't
0:11:39this periodic kumbaya moment where
0:11:42everybody is
0:11:43yeah you know just holding hands and and
0:11:45sharing wore glasses of milk and graham
0:11:47crackers just doesn't happen
0:11:48yeah because you meet Zach at the end
0:11:50and you're like oh crap oh no so so that
0:11:54I mean that I think you're right there's
0:11:55so much here that because you eat there
0:11:57is this whole layer of it would plot
0:11:59alone right
0:12:00the kids parent their kid's father is
0:12:02killed they they basically flee to the
0:12:06other side of the country to the to the
0:12:07town where he grew up
0:12:08the mother is a wreck that would be that
0:12:10would be enough but the fact is that the
0:12:12killer escapes is basically killing his
0:12:16way across the country to get to them
0:12:18meanwhile they're trying to adapt to
0:12:20their new town so you've got all of the
0:12:22interpersonal dynamics of being a kid in
0:12:25a new town trying to trying to a plus
0:12:28its where their father grew up so there
0:12:31are some land mines about the families
0:12:33there too and then oh yes the killer who
0:12:36is being supervised by a supernatural
0:12:38forest is going to come to the house
0:12:41named and finish the job and also
0:12:45there's a voice in the bottom of the
0:12:46well saying bring me things right and
0:12:49the back in theirs right introduced at
0:12:53the end of the first chapter is that
0:12:54door that you walk through and you die
0:12:57yeah well that's a great moment where
0:13:01that that's our introduction to the
0:13:02magic keys is that there's there's a
0:13:04gateway that sets your astral self free
0:13:07but by all accounts what happens is
0:13:09basically your body collapses in the
0:13:11heat and it's like you died except that
0:13:12your ghost and you get to go around and
0:13:14see what's going on but it freaks out
0:13:16the people who find your dead body right
0:13:19mhm uh that with yeah yeah i mean which
0:13:22is really cool and that's that's that
0:13:24there there's our fantasy element I mean
0:13:25and there that's definitely here but
0:13:28it's interesting that it's playing with
0:13:29all these other things like the kids the
0:13:31kids story of
0:13:32fleeing after a traumatic event and
0:13:34trying to adapt to a town that would be
0:13:36a story that would be good story on its
0:13:38own about effectively going from having
0:13:40two parents to know parents as their mom
0:13:42for all intents and purposes is checked
0:13:43out yeah she's a drunk and basically yes
0:13:46i would argue she's big she's turned to
0:13:48the bottle for understandable reasons
0:13:49but the net result is that she can
0:13:51therefore she's she's she's not able to
0:13:53process
0:13:54no she's not able to parent right now
0:13:56and so these poor kids have gone from to
0:13:58parents to know parents have been thrust
0:14:003,000 miles across country and like you
0:14:04said that alone would actually make a
0:14:06really good comic comic but then you
0:14:08throw in escapes spree killer and in
0:14:11some certain supernatural elements and
0:14:14that the backstory of living in Dad's
0:14:15old house and the hints of the mysteries
0:14:17of them for example it's obvious and
0:14:20telling that they do the tempest is a
0:14:22senior play and and there are clues to
0:14:24future books in that shot of of the
0:14:26tempest and you're like a you know any
0:14:28taxes brought up the dad there's a
0:14:30there's a shot of the dad in the senior
0:14:32play and it's the gym mr. i wanted to
0:14:33talk about the dad a little bit because
0:14:34what one of the things that fascinates
0:14:36me about the series is that the dad is a
0:14:38pivotal figure and he's dead
0:14:43very very quickly right here
0:14:47oh yeah quite rapidly he is dead and yet
0:14:50his shadow hangs over everything because
0:14:53they end up in the town we see him as a
0:14:56kid in the in the high school play of
0:14:58the tempest and and over the course of
0:15:00time you know what the history of this
0:15:02house and the history of this town are
0:15:04matters a huge amount of the story but
0:15:08it is kind of fascinating a narrative
0:15:11trick that you know we know he's going
0:15:13to be important at the very beginning
0:15:14and he's immediately killed and that
0:15:15doesn't make him any less important it
0:15:17makes them kind of vitally important it
0:15:18makes it more mystery to unravel yeah so
0:15:21toward the end of of this volume there
0:15:24is a great dialogue that i have come to
0:15:26appreciate more and more as I've read
0:15:28more volumes of the series but it goes
0:15:31for this whole how the whole first book
0:15:33is designed howhow it's uh plotted which
0:15:36is 11 of the sinister character shall we
0:15:39say says you can't understand because
0:15:42you're reading the last chapter of
0:15:44something without having read the first
0:15:45chapter
0:15:46you're a little you're a little guy bode
0:15:48kids always think they're coming into a
0:15:50story at the beginning when usually
0:15:51they're coming in at the end and
0:15:53definitely you know there are two ways
0:15:56to read this story we we're reading it
0:15:59is the beginning of locking key this is
0:16:01this is going to be a six-part series
0:16:04that tells a whole big story and so for
0:16:06us it's the beginning but it's very
0:16:08clear as you're reading it that there's
0:16:10this whole undercurrent the story of the
0:16:12kids coming to the town is just
0:16:13beginning but they are inheriting all of
0:16:17this baggage that comes with their their
0:16:20family's history and this house and the
0:16:22where the magic keys came from and all
0:16:25of this stuff and and that really adds a
0:16:27wonderful i think layer of foreboding of
0:16:29you know god what are they getting
0:16:31themselves into their fleeing this
0:16:33horrible event into the arms of MOR
0:16:36horribleness said the I i love that line
0:16:39too and there's Pat I've only read the
0:16:42first volume and so there's there's
0:16:44clear kind of foreshadowing that the
0:16:47father was involved in in some of this
0:16:49stuff before when he was a kid and so
0:16:52are we starting deal with its a sins of
0:16:55the father sort of story as it plays out
0:16:57which is it is tough because you know
0:16:59the father is is killed at the beginning
0:17:01and so you feel really really bad and
0:17:03then as time goes on you're like what
0:17:05was he involved with this is not
0:17:06spoiling anything to say that that shot
0:17:08of everybody in that the photograph of
0:17:10every one of the tempest you learn over
0:17:12the next few volumes why it's so
0:17:14important to travel in there and what
0:17:16happens to everybody in it so it talks
0:17:18about how the fact that no one
0:17:20generation is insulated from another I'm
0:17:22getting chills just talking about this
0:17:24stuff
0:17:25I'm it literal Jill's well it is
0:17:28refreshing in in an industry with comics
0:17:31especially where how shall I put this
0:17:33delicately writers tend to make stuff up
0:17:36you get the sense sometimes they have no
0:17:39idea what they're doing and they're
0:17:40making it up as they go along and with
0:17:43lock and key
0:17:44the more I've read it the more I know
0:17:47that they this is a story that was
0:17:50planned out to the detail and its really
0:17:54refreshing to get that sense that you're
0:17:55in you know you're in the hands of
0:17:58somebody who is really in complete
0:17:59control
0:17:59all of where the story is going because
0:18:02there have been lots even though it's
0:18:03not it's not over yet and who knows what
0:18:05the ending will be exactly but having
0:18:08read a lot of a lot of this story now
0:18:10five-sixths of this story
0:18:12I don't feel at any point that I've
0:18:15gotten the sense that there's been a
0:18:17trick played on me that in order to
0:18:20figure out how the story goes the story
0:18:22is a you know the story of solid and and
0:18:26reading back to the first volume only
0:18:29reinforces it after i read more of it
0:18:31which I really love because that doesn't
0:18:32you know you might see that in a 6 or 12
0:18:34issue miniseries but this is something
0:18:36that's gonna last what is it going to be
0:18:3837 issues and it's going to be it i
0:18:41think solid all the way through
0:18:44yeah I'm very often now it's it's it's
0:18:46it's an incredibly well thought-out
0:18:48series and i think one of the things I
0:18:50like about it is that the art style that
0:18:54gabriel rodriguez has there's something
0:18:57almost playful about the way he he does
0:18:59a good job with the menace and all that
0:19:00too but but the lines remind you a lot
0:19:02of the the kind of playful almost anime
0:19:04aesthetic that began to hit comics in
0:19:07the late nineties early aughts the last
0:19:08time comic book stores decided the girls
0:19:10were paying attention to and then you
0:19:12have these books that were drawn with
0:19:13you know girls bouncing ponytails and
0:19:15people with big eyes and and bright
0:19:17shiny smiles and there's there's kind of
0:19:19an element of that in here to which we
0:19:21can get
0:19:22yeah and it underscores the horror so
0:19:24nicely because it points out that you
0:19:26know all these surface appearances are
0:19:28are showing you that things are are cute
0:19:30and no class and clean and and shiny and
0:19:34actually they're not everything is just
0:19:36kind of rotting from the inside out or
0:19:37being dragged down into pits of an
0:19:40Aimable evil bye-bye forces people don't
0:19:42understand but hey there hair looks
0:19:44great what's happening
0:19:46I have to get a lot of credit to give
0:19:48Rodriguez for um for being so consistent
0:19:52with a with the characters now some part
0:19:54of this is over over all of these issues
0:19:57it is just him doing the art which is
0:20:00great because II a lot of series you
0:20:03lose track of who's who
0:20:05because they don't look the same anymore
0:20:06and not only not only is it consistent
0:20:09but he's drawn a
0:20:13these characters that they are instantly
0:20:15recognizable I don't know how even know
0:20:17how to describe it other than to say
0:20:18that everybody looks like they look they
0:20:20don't look like who which one is that
0:20:23you know which guy is that which girl is
0:20:25that
0:20:25yeah you know you you know from the
0:20:28shape of their face from that did the
0:20:30big you know who's got the big chin it's
0:20:32not even like what they're wearing from
0:20:33their eyes or who bites your lip all the
0:20:35time exactly or or who hunches in a
0:20:38specific way and who sits easy and open
0:20:40and and he actually does a really great
0:20:43job in just a few lines conveying a lot
0:20:48this is a guy who the artist is
0:20:49obviously studied body language a lot
0:20:51because just the way people lean into
0:20:53each other or lean into or out of a
0:20:55frame is incredibly telling the body
0:20:58language that he uses for LA through the
0:21:00course of the series is heartbreaking in
0:21:04a way I feel terrible for that to her
0:21:06and Elly Elly is a character went to
0:21:09school with the kid's father and who's
0:21:12now gives the track coach of the school
0:21:14right yeah and we we get such a limited
0:21:19peek into her in the first volume the
0:21:22first few volumes actually and we don't
0:21:25know where this way without spoiling
0:21:29anything this this on Rails kind of
0:21:33complacency where it's you know you you
0:21:36wonder what could be compelling this
0:21:39behavior what what could be behind all
0:21:41of this fear that's driven her into
0:21:44almost Stepford ism yeah there's an
0:21:49answer
0:21:50there's an answer and it's horrifying
0:21:52there's an answer that is absolutely
0:21:53horrifying
0:21:54yeah that describes so much of the
0:21:56series one of the great things about le
0:21:58that she's the mother of Rufus who I
0:22:00think is my favorite character I'm Jason
0:22:02Jason be i should say when you get to
0:22:04vol.2 and beyond the only home talking
0:22:07about but it's one of those characters
0:22:09where you have to go back and and just
0:22:11kind of genuflect at the altar Joe Hill
0:22:13for how careful he's planned out the
0:22:16character and
0:22:17his specific personality traits and
0:22:20everything he says because it is encoded
0:22:22in like two or three layers of meaning
0:22:24so Jason you we've got it's great that
0:22:27we've got you here who's only read
0:22:28volume 1 and at some point we'll we'll
0:22:31let you will put you in the chamber of
0:22:32silence and and maybe discuss what
0:22:34happens after but i'm interested in your
0:22:35take having you know if you've got more
0:22:37to say about about what you think and
0:22:39where you think this is going having
0:22:40only read volume 1 because it's hard for
0:22:42me to think about this story especially
0:22:44since i started with vol.4 about what my
0:22:48take on it would have been because it
0:22:49does it does progress and change and
0:22:51shift gears over over the course of of
0:22:54telling this story so you know what's
0:22:56your take being a babe in the woods
0:22:57whose only read only one and i'm super
0:23:01excited listening to you guys you know
0:23:04talk about where it's going in the fact
0:23:05that it it it is satisfying because like
0:23:08we've talked about on previous podcast
0:23:10there's a lot of stories that you feel
0:23:11halfway through the writer sort of lost
0:23:13their way
0:23:14yeah and its net not a satisfying ending
0:23:17so I'm more anxious to read the rest of
0:23:19them now so I found the the first
0:23:24chapter a little difficult on the
0:23:29artwork side at getting in because the
0:23:31the first you know several scenes are it
0:23:35cuts between the present in the past the
0:23:39farmhouse and the city and you're just
0:23:43meeting the characters and so I had a
0:23:47very kind of closely read it and once or
0:23:48twice go back to be like oh is this
0:23:50character that one which i found it a
0:23:52little bit difficult to get into the
0:23:53story that they quickly went away by the
0:23:55end of the first issue I was thinking
0:23:57about that when you guys were talking
0:23:57about the artwork because I completely
0:24:01agree as it went on the the artwork in
0:24:04the simplicity of it in the sort of vary
0:24:06somewhat manga inspired style that was a
0:24:13nice contrast to the absolute horror of
0:24:15what was going on and made the horse
0:24:17stuff seemed more horrific yes because
0:24:21of its its cuteness
0:24:25I said I got a lot out of the first
0:24:27issue a lot of kind of foreboding you
0:24:29know bad things happened in the first
0:24:31issue and then they went away and they
0:24:35got to Massachusetts you're like oh ok
0:24:36now now it's gonna be a story about them
0:24:39getting their lives back together then
0:24:41right and then they'd be the you know
0:24:44evil sort of follows them and you didn't
0:24:48you see that the spirit in the the well
0:24:50is the same one that's been manipulating
0:24:52the the guy who killed their father and
0:24:54he's coming to get them and so there was
0:24:56you see that the impending doom of that
0:24:58coming as well as the hints particularly
0:25:02not a phrase that you mentioned Jason of
0:25:05kids always think they're coming in at
0:25:07the beginning of a story
0:25:09there's just so much foreboding that I
0:25:12think that's why i hadn't picked up the
0:25:13second issue yet in the sense that like
0:25:15you you feel like there's a car wreck
0:25:18coming and and it's hard to kind of want
0:25:21to pick up the next book to to see the
0:25:24rack
0:25:25yeah you know yes I I see what you're
0:25:30saying that it definitely there is a
0:25:32sense that this is going to be things
0:25:35are going to get worse right otherwise
0:25:36there wouldn't be a story there's going
0:25:38to be more here
0:25:39what surprised me without giving too
0:25:40much away is throughout the series the
0:25:45ability for for each not just even each
0:25:48volume but each issue to shift gears and
0:25:51tell stories almost it's almost Twilight
0:25:54Zone like we're while advancing his
0:25:57general plot or painting in some of the
0:26:01background to to explain what's going to
0:26:03be happening later on he can take these
0:26:06detours Joe hell does where where
0:26:09there's an issue that is aa little bit
0:26:13off format or even if its advancing the
0:26:15story it's it's it's weirdly
0:26:17self-contained it's like this is the
0:26:19issue where again not to give too much
0:26:21away
0:26:21this is the issue where they find the
0:26:23key that lets them become animals right
0:26:26that's like an issue and it's great and
0:26:30it does advance the story but it's great
0:26:32on its own and there's a there's the the
0:26:34issue that is the story is advancing but
0:26:37there's the issue with them
0:26:38the that the teacher the the black
0:26:43teacher who smokes a pipe and it's like
0:26:47you're flashing but when he was young
0:26:48and but he knew the kids and and so he
0:26:53he knows the bad the identity of the bad
0:26:55person looking right and and there that
0:26:58is advancing the plot but it's also got
0:27:00this beautiful internal story almost it
0:27:02reminded me of watchmen wear while
0:27:05advancing the story there's that there's
0:27:06some really artful self contained in an
0:27:09issue like I feel like by the end I it
0:27:13reference what happens at the very
0:27:14beginning and it's beautiful and it's
0:27:15sad and it's and and and there's a lot
0:27:18of that there's an issue with like big
0:27:20monsters fighting each other that's just
0:27:22like that's the issue so it that's
0:27:25that's the thing that surprised me about
0:27:26it is all the overarching story is rough
0:27:28and you know it is like evil trying to
0:27:31defeat the forces of good basically but
0:27:34inside it
0:27:35he doesn't you know it's not a
0:27:37relentless drive to that I guess is what
0:27:39I'm saying there are some really
0:27:40interesting things that are not quite
0:27:42diversions from the story because they
0:27:45all I think matter but you don't feel
0:27:48like you're just on this train track
0:27:49where it's just going to be every single
0:27:51issue is just boom boom boom hitting you
0:27:53with the latest painful plot development
0:27:56which supported that I i really enjoyed
0:27:58that that that in volume to volume 3 I
0:28:01didn't feel like I was just getting
0:28:02hammered with the latest terrible thing
0:28:04that the you know that the forces of
0:28:06evil were we're trying to achieve nice
0:28:08and i did like the the last panel of the
0:28:11the first story arc where you see all of
0:28:14the keys and yeah you sort of start
0:28:17looking at them guessing i wonder what
0:28:18that cadence I wonder what that kid
0:28:20oh yeah and some of them are a little
0:28:23more self evident than others but you
0:28:24still a boy
0:28:27there's a lot of kids going all the way
0:28:28down ya know that the progression of how
0:28:31they introduced us to these keys and
0:28:32what they do is really interesting to
0:28:34where Jason is saying that there are
0:28:36some keys that we get an entire issue
0:28:38dedicated to what they do some of them
0:28:40that we see and then they don't actually
0:28:42find the key for some time
0:28:45others that are talked about and then
0:28:46suddenly discovered and then
0:28:48there's a run i can't remember which
0:28:50volume it's in where we at one of my
0:28:53favorite bits of it i'll find it at some
0:28:55point uh during the discussion where
0:28:58they go through the month februari and
0:29:00we have discovered a bunch of different
0:29:01keys and we don't get a whole lot of
0:29:04information other than look here the
0:29:06kids covered in you know monsters
0:29:09fighting them and one of them's got
0:29:11wings now and you get you get these
0:29:14little vignettes with little other
0:29:17explanation just because you he he's got
0:29:21the economy of story down to where he
0:29:24doesn't have to give you the same kind
0:29:25of look they've discovered a new key
0:29:27like to liken it to anime you know
0:29:32here's another dragon ball let's spend
0:29:34eight hours on this you know because you
0:29:37just you don't you don't have to do that
0:29:39every time but there are some of them
0:29:41that it really it really does matter to
0:29:45know not just what they do but why they
0:29:49were created s williams in the chatroom
0:29:51says that's in look for in volume for i
0:29:54love us William and and that echoes to
0:29:58what i was saying earlier too thanks
0:29:59because i forgot mad at a that issue but
0:30:01that's another thing that's it's you
0:30:03know it's not it's off format got enough
0:30:05that the end of volume 3 is deeply
0:30:07awfully disturbing
0:30:08um there's a lot of disturbing to go to
0:30:11go along but but then then they mix it
0:30:14up right
0:30:15you know it's it's I'll i really like it
0:30:17I mean I i have to say just I've been
0:30:20very impressed with all of it and yet i
0:30:23read vol.5 today and you know afterward
0:30:28I felt kind of antsy and kind of
0:30:31disturbed like i need to i need to to
0:30:34calm down except you know and and not
0:30:37think about for a while you start going
0:30:38to do a podcast about later so right but
0:30:40but there it is affecting and I think
0:30:43it's a good I think a good way I think
0:30:44it's powerful but it's it's you know it
0:30:47can be tough stuff it's it's kinda
0:30:49unflinching this is not i have no great
0:30:51confidence that everybody is going to
0:30:53everything is going to end up ok at the
0:30:54end right number
0:30:57none known for its that impending doom
0:31:01thing
0:31:02yeah if he follows in his dad's
0:31:03footsteps there's always going to be a
0:31:05sacrifice because that's that's been a
0:31:06theme and in in stephen king's work is
0:31:10is that sacrifice is always required to
0:31:14lay down evil and even then it's usually
0:31:16temporary and i would not be surprised
0:31:18if joe hill if that resonates with him
0:31:21since from the three volumes I've read
0:31:24so far one of the things that seems to
0:31:25come up as if your glory and honor and
0:31:27privilege is a horrible price to be paid
0:31:29for it later and it seems to me that the
0:31:33balance is probably going to come due by
0:31:34the end of the book
0:31:35yeah yeah there will be an ending that
0:31:37I'm sure it's really satisfying on a
0:31:39storyteller level and I i think it
0:31:40applies a little bit heartbreaking an
0:31:42emotional level but i'm not sure happy
0:31:44will ever be like it to it probably yeah
0:31:47probably not
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0:33:12there's this brief stylistic detour
0:33:17where they actually pay tribute to Bill
0:33:19Watterson in this comic of all comics
0:33:22they they they do a little a little bit
0:33:26in tribute to Bill Watterson volume for
0:33:29that whereas you would not expect a a
0:33:33direct calvin and hobbes art-style
0:33:35dommage to go over with this subject
0:33:38matter it it kind of worked perfectly
0:33:41well Calvin and Hobbes and her friends
0:33:44are kind of a horror strip so it is it
0:33:50is it away when you think about it boy
0:33:52is going to get mauled by that tiger at
0:33:53any moment
0:33:55no it's that boy is going to be forced
0:33:57to take a lot of medication you know
0:33:58special school at any moment that's
0:34:00pretty much the better because the
0:34:02Tigers real no it's it's it's actually
0:34:06it's a great it's a great strip that
0:34:07emphasizes the imagine supporters of
0:34:09childhood and how freaking scary growing
0:34:11up is and since one of the themes
0:34:14through locking key is also that growing
0:34:16up even when you aren't dealing with
0:34:18homicidal maniacs and the fiendish fake
0:34:22fingers of the evil undead that the
0:34:23growing up is really tough
0:34:24um it's kind of in the same job it's
0:34:27kind of in the same sympathetic vein so
0:34:29it makes a lot of sense to me i can't
0:34:30wait to read it but i liked about the
0:34:32series was what i expected before i read
0:34:35it to that from the first couple of
0:34:37pages to the end completely changed and
0:34:41continue to change in the way you guys
0:34:42are talking about it now it seems like
0:34:45there's all these different levels
0:34:47beyond the foreboding doom
0:34:49yes in addition to before in addition
0:34:51yeah but in the fact they do the side
0:34:54trips and things like that you know the
0:34:56the comic series it's somewhat reminding
0:34:59me of is the Sandman perhaps not as
0:35:03pretentiously but the fact that there's
0:35:07there's you know in the Sandman they set
0:35:09up this mythology and in here locking
0:35:11key it's it's sort of the keys
0:35:13yeah that that provide a framework but
0:35:15there's it's more than that and then the
0:35:17that's just a platform for telling these
0:35:19other stories you know i still only read
0:35:22like the first 12 issues of Sandman I
0:35:24know that's sacrilege
0:35:26I know it's not at all i'm saying is
0:35:28jason is a fantastic opportunity because
0:35:30we could totally do a reread and I'd
0:35:31love to get your opinion and there's a
0:35:33new Sandman story coming out in the next
0:35:34couple of months
0:35:36well we should we should get them on the
0:35:37calendar because then I can be your test
0:35:38case like Jason is our test case of what
0:35:40if you've only read one volume of lock
0:35:42and key i will be your new reader of
0:35:44Sandman i love Neil Gaiman to I really
0:35:47have liked his novels so I should
0:35:50probably read the thing that made him
0:35:51famous right probably you shovel you
0:35:54should and fruit for those who have been
0:35:55in Sandman withdrawal for a long while
0:35:59this is actually a really great antidote
0:36:01to that sickness i I'm gonna be
0:36:03sacrilegious and it into this is where
0:36:05the comic the comics community comes
0:36:07after the torches and i'll actually like
0:36:09this better than Sandman um but I think
0:36:12Jason needs to reach you for weeks i
0:36:14think that maybe people clutching their
0:36:16pearls and live to she had no taste but
0:36:18there's a lot of reasons for that and
0:36:20I'd be happy to either expand them on
0:36:22twitter or in private correspondence or
0:36:24something but i think there are like i
0:36:26said i think game is a brilliant writer
0:36:28and I like that he does the same thing
0:36:30Elmore does where they blindly
0:36:32re-appropriate and mix up elements from
0:36:35history and literature and there's kind
0:36:37of that hey that guy moment when you
0:36:38realize that they're dealing with you
0:36:39know ancient mythology and it's casual
0:36:42incorporate into modern life but I think
0:36:44there's a streak of nastiness and gaming
0:36:45score that that I find kind of
0:36:47off-putting so and although again I
0:36:51stand by my assessment that Joe Hill's
0:36:52not sentimental i think that he has a
0:36:55lot of compassion for the for the
0:36:57weakness of the human condition and I
0:36:59just empathize that a lot better than I
0:37:01do with with the game in that approach
0:37:05you know i can actually see that is the
0:37:07the there's a lot more heart in lock and
0:37:11key where the Sandman is good
0:37:14it always stays it's somewhat of an
0:37:15intellectual layer even when it has
0:37:18pretty compelling characters you know I
0:37:20would strike strikes me about it and
0:37:22again I need to read more Sandman but
0:37:23having read a little bit of it is that
0:37:25it struck me as being very kind of
0:37:27fantastical and removed and got this
0:37:29dark Kenneth kind of world of well it's
0:37:33very for voting and all of that in the
0:37:35butt lock and key you know is and this
0:37:37goes to again
0:37:39chill is a really good writer but
0:37:41thinking of him as as also in that in
0:37:43the Stephen King family
0:37:46stylistically not just literally stephen
0:37:50king and and lucky is like this too
0:37:52it's set in a in a real world that is
0:37:56then thats got this monday anity to it
0:37:58and then it's got this layer of kind of
0:38:00horror on top of it or weirdness and end
0:38:03and it doesn't feel like a magical world
0:38:06even though there's magic in it whereas
0:38:08the the Sandman that I've read anyway
0:38:11it feels like a you know magical
0:38:12fairytale world in its like you're
0:38:15almost like you're coming from a
0:38:16complete completely opposite direction
0:38:18to get to your story from the two of
0:38:20them this is like our world with magic
0:38:22in it and the Sandman always seem to be
0:38:24like a fairytale world yeah yeah which
0:38:28is not necessarily bad or good just
0:38:31different
0:38:32it's because the Sandman was told from
0:38:34that point of view right the main
0:38:35characters are the otherworldly
0:38:37characters writer the main characters
0:38:39are us are these kids yeah well these
0:38:41these kids having this at adventure
0:38:44Lisa your husband is an a's fan and
0:38:47those zones neighs hat to do ever did
0:38:49you have issues with the fact that one
0:38:50of our main characters whereas days had
0:38:52all the time I like I don't like the
0:38:54fact that it was said in a part of
0:38:55northern california that's not you know
0:38:57wall-to-wall millionaires or pixar
0:38:59employees or whatever to valley is where
0:39:01they started
0:39:02yeah why I thought it was a i thought
0:39:05was a north lisa Noah oh I think I
0:39:08thought it was like it was it was better
0:39:10was it like up in like chico or similar
0:39:11but anyway yeah it's not your usual
0:39:13Northern California several northern
0:39:14california and i just got back from
0:39:17spending two days of in door county so
0:39:19you know I drove through a lot of that
0:39:20area too
0:39:21it's nice to see a depiction of
0:39:22California that's not either
0:39:25stereotypical Southern California
0:39:27stereotypical san francisco bay area
0:39:30I don't know if the the creative team
0:39:32came out and actually spent some time
0:39:33knocking around the area or if it's just
0:39:36a lot of well educated guesswork apart
0:39:38but i think they really nailed it was
0:39:40nice to see ya know Jason breaking I was
0:39:43I hadn't thought about this series that
0:39:44may actually make your head explode
0:39:45since we've gone back and forth on
0:39:47preacher but how
0:39:49what was striking me is again since this
0:39:51is a really distinctive visual style for
0:39:53from both the characters and the artist
0:39:54as i thought you know the last time that
0:39:56I associated book this strong with the
0:39:58artist who is consistent all the way
0:39:59through with steve dillon although to be
0:40:01fair with dylan always characters look
0:40:03like because they all have the same
0:40:04shall copy the fish but but they're
0:40:07they're always there there is you have
0:40:09to beat the Dillon has this really
0:40:10distinctive style where you know you
0:40:12look like
0:40:13yep that's a steve dillon buck did to
0:40:16that consistency did you find that when
0:40:18you're going through the the first trade
0:40:20or yeah I i did i'll see I wouldn't
0:40:25compare it to dylan's stuff just
0:40:28stylistically my brain can go there
0:40:30gotten it but there was I mean the
0:40:36artwork was very consistent in the first
0:40:39issue but I think it was just the pacing
0:40:40of the first couple of pages made it
0:40:42difficult for me to get in and I'm not
0:40:44sure that was actually unintentional
0:40:46because then once you did work to sort
0:40:48of get in and understand then you're
0:40:49hooked
0:40:50yeah I can't see any preacher in sorry
0:40:51no because it was just basically maybe
0:40:55it was the square square jaw in the
0:40:57young man but no there was just kind of
0:40:59there was such a marvelous some
0:41:01aesthetic consistency that again the
0:41:03first thing I thought of was was they
0:41:05had that that same consistency of line
0:41:06and preacher but story-wise there no
0:41:09resemblance to each other whatsoever the
0:41:11i actually had to be on IDW's website
0:41:14right now on there they're locking key
0:41:16page and not only can you buy the books
0:41:18you can actually buy replicas of the
0:41:21keys
0:41:22oh of course you can oh my god that that
0:41:26uh that would frighten me actually I
0:41:27don't want those keys in my house now
0:41:29that somebody will come and kill me
0:41:31not even the gender key know you buy
0:41:33them just so that you can melt them down
0:41:35it doesn't the price is too high the
0:41:37price and I time machine there's a time
0:41:39there's a time machine key to the price
0:41:41as to why that the evil beings will come
0:41:44and oh no no no place in this keys are
0:41:49super creepy looking
0:41:51yes yeah they have the replica of the
0:41:53head key
0:41:54well that's good because it is key Oh
0:41:56Lord that's because it's made of diamond
0:41:57metal but you haven't read that part yet
0:42:00anyway
0:42:01maybe they're here surprise
0:42:02to see you you learn where the metal
0:42:04comes from that makes the keys
0:42:06that's how crazy this this this story is
0:42:09because unicorns have to poop somewhere
0:42:11right
0:42:13maybe i'm being misleading so I I'd like
0:42:16to ask before we go to ask everybody
0:42:17that music question what are you reading
0:42:20which i'm not going to sing it's not
0:42:21that musical because i always like to
0:42:23hear what everybody whatever is reading
0:42:25and if there's something that I should I
0:42:27should be looking for in the at the at
0:42:29the comic shop or as i call it the
0:42:31comics app in my ipad Lisa what are you
0:42:35reading
0:42:35I just finished up bryan woods run on
0:42:39Northlanders i don't know if i have
0:42:42talked about this series for or not i
0:42:46should also point out that i'm a big fan
0:42:48of brand was work in general but North
0:42:51lenders is it's a comic book series that
0:42:54vertical pushed out of course and
0:42:56basically it's about Vikings and it's
0:42:59not contiguous there's a number of
0:43:01distinct series arcs for example the
0:43:03first collection focuses around a guy
0:43:06named Spencer and the returned who comes
0:43:08back to take who wages organ somebody
0:43:12who kicked him out of a Viking
0:43:13settlement a long time ago they cover
0:43:15mission that they cover early Christian
0:43:18monks with the cross in the hammer on
0:43:20there is up the volume i just finished
0:43:24which is the Icelandic trilogy wrapped
0:43:25up the whole series and it's about five
0:43:29different generations of Icelandic
0:43:30sellers from the first Norwegians who
0:43:32came over escaping a political about
0:43:35political situation on a around one
0:43:38thing around AD 1000 possible before and
0:43:41it goes down to the success of five
0:43:43generations and how they basically come
0:43:45to rule the island throught through
0:43:47terror and ignorance and the writing is
0:43:51it again not a sentimental series the
0:43:53writing is often for a pitiless but it
0:43:55one of the things he returns to over and
0:43:57over again is how civilization that the
0:43:59the trappings of civilization that we
0:44:02all take for granted were kindled and
0:44:04stops and starts during a period of time
0:44:07when life was very harsh and the weather
0:44:09was terrible and and the culture was was
0:44:11very much an honor
0:44:12honor driven one and the things people
0:44:14do to survive and thrive and the balance
0:44:18between the atavistic impulses that will
0:44:19keep you alive verses from the more
0:44:23abstract human intellect it intellectual
0:44:25impulses are sentiments that have come
0:44:28to define humanity as well the concept
0:44:30and at end of civilization and again i
0:44:34repeat Vikings so no biking's right no
0:44:37one kind of like through line with with
0:44:39it sort of sort of automatically linked
0:44:42they're all about Vikings but sort of
0:44:43different stories being told about
0:44:45tonight yes
0:44:46yeah there's one that set the Faroe
0:44:47Islands there's another one that said
0:44:49there's some other set in Iceland there
0:44:50are some that are settin on during the
0:44:52period the periodic sackings of the
0:44:54British Isles things like that
0:44:55oh there's one about set called the
0:44:58plague window which is set in Russia and
0:45:00deals with what happens to a woman who
0:45:03who is widowed again during a plague in
0:45:05what she has to do to survive and fend
0:45:06off the attentions of the vigilantes who
0:45:09have taken over the village in the wake
0:45:11of every figure of authority dying
0:45:13during a plague
0:45:14well they do return to spend in one
0:45:16volume send the immoral where he has to
0:45:18fend off a challenge to our that he ends
0:45:20up settling but there's no one main
0:45:22character I mean if anything the
0:45:23characters kind of the the Viking ethos
0:45:26and it the earliest story i think is
0:45:31setting about 780 ad and that it usually
0:45:34runs to about 1,100 so it's it's a
0:45:36really bloody really brutal period of
0:45:38history and it's also fascinating one
0:45:41because you're talking about a culture
0:45:43that had rammed up repeatedly against
0:45:46the Roman Empire and this is another
0:45:49Roman parking spot was also be to
0:45:50crumble and so this is about what
0:45:52happens to people who are kind of
0:45:53whipsawed between all of these these
0:45:54different forces scrambling to to grab
0:45:58grab resources in a really dark attic
0:46:01time
0:46:02alright so it's 5050 issues collected as
0:46:06seven trade paperbacks i have from
0:46:09right-handers yeah I have like I have
0:46:12like to them on hand i think of another
0:46:13five bird in my collaborator fibroid in
0:46:15my collection somewhere and i really
0:46:18like bryan woods work in general because
0:46:21he also wrote
0:46:23I think he did he do that
0:46:26let's c MZ he got black sure you don't
0:46:29want which one I really like is local
0:46:30um yea which was done with ryan kelly
0:46:34and actually jason i think you would
0:46:37really like that Jason you would really
0:46:38like local because it follows the
0:46:40adventures of one woman through about a
0:46:41decade of her life from college through
0:46:44to about age 30 and she bounces around
0:46:47the country and what happens to her and
0:46:50and what happens around her and um the
0:46:52theme within the theme of that series is
0:46:54is I mean that the overall morale is
0:46:57there's no such thing as a geographic
0:46:58cure because wherever you go there you
0:46:59are
0:47:00but under the but another one of the
0:47:01themes is that place can shape you more
0:47:03subtly than you can imagine and you
0:47:05often don't realize that until you
0:47:07actually the place but yeah Brian would
0:47:09also does DMC which i was reading for a
0:47:11while um I don't remember why I stopped
0:47:13you picked up again but he's a he's a
0:47:17he's got a for lack of better he's got a
0:47:19really nice fresh modern sensibility and
0:47:23keep he doesn't bring that to bear on
0:47:25the vikings but he does do a great job
0:47:28of casting their societal arms into a
0:47:31perspective that modernize connection
0:47:33modern eyes and anna and mentalities can
0:47:36understand and rock and I think that's a
0:47:38real gift for any storytelling to be
0:47:40able to take a history to be able to
0:47:42take any historic period and put into
0:47:44context for somebody who's coming at it
0:47:45from from their own you know many many
0:47:48centuries removed perspective so yeah I
0:47:50would end and again best of the series
0:47:52is totally done so there's no need to
0:47:54worry about having to sort through 20
0:47:56years of continuity your backstory
0:47:57yeah yeah yeah yeah and it's and i also
0:48:02have anything the vikings are pretty
0:48:04under represented in popular literature
0:48:05anyway so you might as well there's the
0:48:08big boom in Viking comics and that no
0:48:10that never happened
0:48:11now now something something I should
0:48:14throw in the just got announced as Brian
0:48:15Wood is is taking on the adjective lists
0:48:18x-men title and and it's going to start
0:48:21in an all tea all uniting is so excited
0:48:24about that yeah
0:48:26x-men misleading title come on really
0:48:30get to be fairly accusing him of
0:48:31innovation the sixties where you know
0:48:33men was it seemed to stand for Humanity
0:48:35in general Charles Xavier was a horrible
0:48:38horrible sexist or not
0:48:41okay that's great that's I things i have
0:48:44never even heard of i love it i love
0:48:46being completely surprised by what are
0:48:48you reading Jason brightman what are you
0:48:49reading
0:48:50well I'll go in the opposite sort of
0:48:52direction and the book i'm most enjoying
0:48:55now is matt fraction's Hawkeye I've
0:48:58heard such good things about that but it
0:49:00is so good and we can talk about it on a
0:49:02upcoming podcast because i think the
0:49:03trade comes out in a month or two
0:49:05yeah it comes I i want to say that comes
0:49:07out early februari buddy everything
0:49:09fractions been touching his turn to
0:49:10absolute gold
0:49:12yeah the so this Hawkeye story every
0:49:16issue is self-contained uh no real
0:49:19continuity between the issues and it's
0:49:23sort of as the kind of preamble of the
0:49:25book says this is what Hawkeye does when
0:49:29he's not saving the world with the
0:49:31Avengers which is mostly hanging out in
0:49:34his apartment and getting into trouble
0:49:37loop there's a beautiful scene where a
0:49:40Tony Stark is over his house and I can't
0:49:43even remember why but during the entire
0:49:45conversation Hawkeyes trying to get his
0:49:47his stereo system hooked up and failing
0:49:50miserably to the point that a stark says
0:49:54look I'll just buy you a new one forget
0:49:55it let's go
0:49:57it's a really really funny serious they
0:50:00did just have a aa2 issue event that
0:50:05wasn't self-contained because it was two
0:50:07issues but the artwork was so beautiful
0:50:09and the the cover of one was a VHS tape
0:50:11and the cover of the second one was that
0:50:13VHS tape chattered and blood everywhere
0:50:16as it was a a tape that showed Hawkeye
0:50:22murdering somebody and this was a shield
0:50:26tape it was a VHS thing not even a
0:50:28digital tape and then it got stolen and
0:50:30was out for auction and Hawkeye had to
0:50:32get it back and it was a really really
0:50:37funny started and that's the thing that
0:50:39stories are so kind of light-hearted and
0:50:41funny with a lot of heart and the
0:50:44artworks beautiful and it's unlike any
0:50:46other book on the Shelf right
0:50:48now I'm reading an article here that
0:50:50refers to it as the Avenger who is just
0:50:53a dude and says that the plot of issue
0:50:56number one is that his lair landlords
0:50:58have something about the rent and his
0:51:00dog needs to go to the vet
0:51:02wow wow that's all if it was a cat i
0:51:06think the dramatic statement be up
0:51:08dramatically with me out tremendously in
0:51:10the latest issue of Captain Marvel
0:51:12that's what Captain Marvel has to do is
0:51:14take her cat to the vet now will be
0:51:18seated during the pivotal sticking
0:51:20cramming your cat carrier secrets are
0:51:22with that our vets funding secretly
0:51:25funding Marvel now or like pet insurance
0:51:27secretly behind Marvel Comics know
0:51:30so besides that i'm also reading and
0:51:31enjoying the new value into books
0:51:33oh yes all my god they're so good which
0:51:37is surprising you know I was a big fan
0:51:38of them back in the early nineties and
0:51:41you have to remember that in the early
0:51:44nineties was more like the late eighties
0:51:46automatically it was before the image
0:51:48comics and the the big capes and badly
0:51:52drawn characters and it was still about
0:51:54story and it really feels even though I
0:51:57everything in the new valiant comics
0:51:59have all the modern sensibilities the
0:52:03the stories feel very much like those
0:52:06original valiant issues its they're
0:52:08doing a really great job and there you
0:52:10go changing stuff and making it more
0:52:11modern but keeping the spirit of the
0:52:13characters so much intact
0:52:15that's cool i remember you talking to me
0:52:17about the old value stuff and then now
0:52:19they're now there's new family and stuff
0:52:21new value stuff end of them uh elegant
0:52:25i'm really liking Shadow Man and it's
0:52:27almost embarrassing to say but a
0:52:28bloodshot is really really good
0:52:32I didn't expect to like it at all no me
0:52:34neither and the bloodshot the name it's
0:52:36just so stupid and it's kind of a
0:52:37cliché of a a character now even back
0:52:42then it really wasn't where the the
0:52:43characters got these nanites that you
0:52:46know can rebuild them from any injury
0:52:48but they've done a really sort of
0:52:50interesting take on that as well as it's
0:52:53the the character who doesn't know who
0:52:55he is and he's got to figure out his
0:52:57past and it's been pretty exciting and
0:53:00drawn really well and I did not expect
0:53:02to like it at all which then makes it so
0:53:04much sweeter when you do
0:53:05cool is what are you reading way too
0:53:09much map the new value books I've been
0:53:13catching up on the one that i was most
0:53:15delinquent on his Harbinger which is
0:53:17kids with powers but not where everybody
0:53:21gets together in a happy-go-lucky team
0:53:23and they have a nice mansion and their
0:53:26own jet and everything its you're
0:53:29bringing me down man
0:53:30yeah you know it the it's a different
0:53:33take on superhero tropes what what
0:53:35they're doing across the valiant line
0:53:37and I've been I've been really impressed
0:53:39with it and at first i was like a value
0:53:42books are back aren't well that's
0:53:43interesting they're going to make more
0:53:45crappy video games
0:53:47oh wait no these are people who actually
0:53:48care okay great we have an episode
0:53:51giant-sized we talk about that plug 47
0:53:55ronin has been really good even though
0:53:57I've missed you so Jimbo for a number of
0:54:00months as stan sakai has focused on
0:54:02telling what is considered in terms of
0:54:06ancient culture one of the definitive
0:54:07great Japanese myths in comic form i
0:54:12don't think it's getting a whole lot of
0:54:13attention because it's the guy who does
0:54:15use audio Jimbo doing an ancient
0:54:17Japanese feudal myth but it's a really
0:54:20good book and it's it's a limited run it
0:54:23only be around for a little while and
0:54:24then I'm catching up on all kinds of
0:54:26stuff I'm digging back story i'm gonna
0:54:29start back at amazing spider-man 600
0:54:31work forward and see if they really are
0:54:32full of crap when they say they've been
0:54:34playing this for nearly 10 years to do
0:54:37things that raised and Benjamin's blood
0:54:39pressure
0:54:40what else there's something there are 0
0:54:43new avengers now New Avengers i'm
0:54:46reading because i'm totally nuts for
0:54:48Doctor Strange and we'll pick up just
0:54:50about anything that he's in if if
0:54:54anything just to to to cast a
0:54:57disapproving glare at it because I think
0:55:01he's the the most underused
0:55:03cool character that Marvel has but New
0:55:06Avengers takes the conceit of this
0:55:08Illuminati group that he and Professor
0:55:10Xavier and Ireland Richards down for me
0:55:13Reed Richards Reed Richards name or
0:55:15these guys got together and decided they
0:55:18were going to be the secret Council of
0:55:20superpower do that we're going to rule
0:55:21earth and Black Bolt showed up and was
0:55:23like yeah i'm i'm in um I'll just hang
0:55:25out in the back
0:55:26well he didn't say that he wrote it on
0:55:28oh yeah he said it with his eyes with it
0:55:31because got a lot and signing
0:55:36interpretive dance then at some point
0:55:38these guys came into possession of the
0:55:40infinity gems which are very important
0:55:43thing in the Marvel Universe going back
0:55:45to infinity gauntlet and the New
0:55:47Avengers are one of the many Avengers
0:55:51plus adjective books but it's it's the
0:55:54one that I find the most interesting
0:55:56compelling alongside what I would argue
0:55:58is is is is starting to be a pretty
0:56:02compelling run on the core Avengers book
0:56:03by jonathan hickman where the core
0:56:06vendors book they're gonna have like 80
0:56:08Avengers or something they've got guys
0:56:10like manifold who I forgot even existed
0:56:12whose powers to essentially create a
0:56:15door to go from point A to point B
0:56:17that's all he does is literally all he
0:56:19does is it he's a really good plot
0:56:21device
0:56:22how is that any different than close
0:56:24though of cloak-and-dagger that's like
0:56:25clothes whole thing as he runs around
0:56:27his hot girlfriend and you have this
0:56:29less dark this guy just has a door and
0:56:31when you go through cloak and heat you
0:56:32know the darkness tries to each you so
0:56:35it's less than effective door this is
0:56:37just this is just a guy opening a door
0:56:39and on the other side is where you need
0:56:40to go now he's literally the Avengers
0:56:42doorman it's all the jagers early
0:56:44literally is i think i do improve a day
0:56:47so where would you like to go there you
0:56:49go have a good day
0:56:51you know animal the that the writing on
0:56:53him and some of the other characters
0:56:54stuff that people that they haven't
0:56:57messed around with that much they
0:56:59they're bringing some X x-men or former
0:57:02x-force people in like cannonballing
0:57:03rector and they've the the cast of this
0:57:06book three issues in is about 20 people
0:57:09but there's some big threat that they've
0:57:11all got a fight but but New Avengers is
0:57:14the Illuminati guys facing a bigger
0:57:18threat that is is kind of on the scale
0:57:21of cascading quantum chaos threatening
0:57:25to end the universe and so they say well
0:57:27III guess we're gonna have to agree to
0:57:30reassemble the infinity gauntlet and I'm
0:57:33sure that this is going to go really
0:57:35well yeah ultimate power really never
0:57:37corrupts at all it'll be fine
0:57:42no my go-to book overall though is is
0:57:45Deadpool which has consistently
0:57:46entertain me in the four issues that
0:57:49we've gotten since they relaunched it
0:57:50without a bunch of weird stuff Daniel
0:57:53was doing with it the is he still the
0:57:56fighting dead presidents
0:57:57yes he's still finding dead presidents I
0:57:59think I think he fights Abe Lincoln in
0:58:02the next one big one that's a big one
0:58:05that's a big it's a big milestone I told
0:58:07i told the the guys riding it that if if
0:58:09they didn't have something interesting
0:58:10in store for military Millard Fillmore
0:58:13I that was it i'm just going to drop the
0:58:16book but now they're there's so much
0:58:18good stuff out there i recently tried
0:58:20catching up on a bunch of the new 52
0:58:21stuff which a lot of which I dropped one
0:58:24or two months in just because it wasn't
0:58:26doing it for me now going back and you
0:58:28know looking back issues i realize
0:58:30exactly why I dropped 99.9 percent of
0:58:34these books because either editorial was
0:58:38you know running roughshod over the over
0:58:41the writers or it just been they didn't
0:58:44gel very few of them still work i'm glad
0:58:47that I stuck with the Batman books i'm
0:58:48glad that i stopped pouring needless
0:58:51piles of money in the green lantern
0:58:52family of Lucky Charms books
0:58:55beeping red LED screen letters we what
0:58:58me landed Zoolander we got lanterns for
0:59:00every color in the rainbow
0:59:02I got all the legends here rainbow
0:59:04Lanterns have a good like my little pony
0:59:07kind of competitor rainbow lanterns
0:59:09yeah yeah frankly I would read at this
0:59:12point i would rather read the my little
0:59:14pony friendship is magic book then any
0:59:16of the green lantern books because I i
0:59:18feel like i'm getting one line of book
0:59:21worth of story spread across
0:59:23five different comics which is just that
0:59:25I'm sure that it probably does some good
0:59:28things for their balance sheet but i'm
0:59:29just i'm not into that kind of crap
0:59:31anymore
0:59:31well you're you're you're reading a lot
0:59:33of stuff I gotta say way too much I i'm
0:59:36not i'm not reading so much and much of
0:59:39the stuff that I'm reading is boring
0:59:40because I've talked about before you
0:59:42know still reading ultimate spider-man
0:59:44now Jason if they had the gender key
0:59:46then they could take Ultimate Spider
0:59:48Woman and turned her back in 2 Peter
0:59:50Parker there you go would solve
0:59:53everything so walking key mash-up with
0:59:55the Ultimate Universe and then we'll
0:59:57then finally there would be a peter
0:59:59parker who was a lot
0:59:59parker who was a lot
1:00:00I've again that'd be nice speaking of
1:00:03which i did read amazing spider-man 700
1:00:05and there's a whole podcast a me
1:00:08complaining about that I refer you to
1:00:10that podcast for more i'm enjoying
1:00:13all-new i'm enjoying all-new x-men which
1:00:16is again Bendis and that is the kind of
1:00:18ridiculous and yet a delightful premise
1:00:20of the original x-men being thrown into
1:00:22the modern-day world that we live in or
1:00:25at least the Marvel Universe equivalent
1:00:26and being kind of horrified and dealing
1:00:28with the fact that what happened to them
1:00:30when they all got all ball with a that
1:00:33all growed up or in some people's cases
1:00:36got all megalomaniacal and died jun Greg
1:00:40not naming names Phoenix anyway uh huh
1:00:43i'm enjoying that I think that that's
1:00:44actually exploiting that premise really
1:00:48well and it's a it's all about the
1:00:51characters and and and how they interact
1:00:54with the world and then they put kids
1:00:55sort of Kitty Pryde is their babysitter
1:00:57which is hilarious that give you
1:00:58practice the authority figure over the
1:01:01original x-men so I I've been enjoying
1:01:04that and and and i continue to enjoy
1:01:07extreme x-men by Gregg Popovich just got
1:01:09canceled which makes me very sad
1:01:11so we're gonna officially have the wake
1:01:12for extreme x-men because I was
1:01:15following it to such a great book
1:01:17alternate universe hopping x-men
1:01:19alternate Wolverine alternate micro kid
1:01:21Nightcrawler led by the dazzler from the
1:01:24main marvel universe who now apparently
1:01:26is available to be in that other x-men
1:01:28book with all the other women x-men I
1:01:30suppose so
1:01:31somebody should give dazzler call she's
1:01:33she's free she's still dating Sam got
1:01:35three
1:01:35no no no she's been she's been busy
1:01:39yeah she's been she's been hopping
1:01:40hopping from from alternate reality to
1:01:42alternate reality great book going to be
1:01:44very sad to see it go but but I'm that
1:01:49reading currently two x-men books that's
1:01:51a record for me since the days when i
1:01:53was reading x-men new mutants in high
1:01:55school so
1:01:57oh I wanted to mention also that I
1:01:58signed up for Marvel's digital comics
1:02:00unlimited who which is now if you if you
1:02:04pay whenever is fifty dollars for a year
1:02:06it will actually write work on the ipad
1:02:08and it's not too bad
1:02:10surprisingly it used to be flash based
1:02:12entirely and it
1:02:13basically like Netflix for Marvel Comics
1:02:15it won't give you anything current but
1:02:18it does have a 10,000 comics they go
1:02:22back they got a lot of classics from the
1:02:25sixties a lot of stuff from about sort
1:02:27of 225 years ago and then kind of
1:02:30sporadic throughout that other error
1:02:32other issues that they've digitized but
1:02:35it's actually if you've got you know if
1:02:38you if you got a lot of time and want to
1:02:40read lots of old Marvel Comics it's
1:02:43probably a pretty good deal certainly
1:02:44better than buying you will get the
1:02:46current stuff but if you're not really
1:02:47focused on the current stuff and and
1:02:49reading spider-man 600 would be just as
1:02:51easy as reading spider-man 700 might be
1:02:54worth checking out its some still in
1:02:57beta I get that I get the distinct
1:02:58impression that they have more work to
1:03:00do it would really benefit from being
1:03:02inside a nap instead of just being in
1:03:03the browser and I can't believe they
1:03:06aren't going to do that but but it does
1:03:07work in the browser so you can't you
1:03:09can't view offline then no no it's it's
1:03:11a it's definitely like I said it's the
1:03:13netflix of comics you basically need to
1:03:15be online and you watched in in the
1:03:18browser and it but it does work which is
1:03:20great because before it was only on a
1:03:21computer with flash and I wasn't very
1:03:25good and once it's on the ipad it
1:03:27changes the game a lot it makes it a
1:03:29much more valuable thing so I've got
1:03:31some get some old issues of strange
1:03:33tales I need to catch up with maybe that
1:03:35will be the way I was reading old old
1:03:37Marvel events where I I don't have to
1:03:39get upset about about their continuity
1:03:43decisions or anything like that i can
1:03:44just sort of read the miniseries and you
1:03:47know i can read house of them and be
1:03:48like that was ok that's what that was
1:03:50all about and not worry about like what
1:03:53does this mean and you know it just let
1:03:55it's like it and I can't believe they
1:03:57did that it's just I don't
1:03:58it happened in the past they reset it
1:04:00all anyway it doesn't really matter and
1:04:01I can you know I have to do is just wave
1:04:03your hands around it's done
1:04:05yep that's right I said no mutants
1:04:08why are there more mutants I said did
1:04:10was I not clear
1:04:11no more mutants are you reading those
1:04:15old advancing going boy that really did
1:04:18change everything
1:04:19yeah yeah that happens all the time who
1:04:21I can't believe he died wow that really
1:04:23did change comics fundamental
1:04:25in every way forever it's hilarious to
1:04:27read it's becoming more character is
1:04:29dying and know that they've already come
1:04:30back and died and come back multiple
1:04:33times since then but and and been reborn
1:04:35as a child and I would love to do a
1:04:38comic book club on house of them because
1:04:40looking back
1:04:42oh gods animals 10 years since that
1:04:43thinking about you you have to admire
1:04:45that the scope of the ambition and this
1:04:47year batting insanity that was it
1:04:51many of that of of the twists and turns
1:04:54and that I'm and for what is essentially
1:04:57an imaginary yes it probably is
1:05:00essentially basically like Bobby in the
1:05:02shower at dallas i know i told i told i
1:05:06told my wife that i was rid of what the
1:05:07plot wasn't and she said why why would
1:05:09they turn it back was everybody happy I
1:05:11said yeah well then why would they
1:05:13because it wasn't real she's like but it
1:05:14was real they changed it to be real why
1:05:16would they know that's the thing that
1:05:17kills me is is there's nothing in that
1:05:19that's that holds up i mean sure Steve
1:05:21Rogers gets hosed but you know demanded
1:05:24the hosted marble company we look at it
1:05:26but you know everyone else is super
1:05:29happy and fulfilled them and I I field
1:05:32understand what the caustic to this
1:05:35universe is better
1:05:36let's keep it and instead it's all know
1:05:39you hear you're crazy and imagining
1:05:41things through everything has to ruin it
1:05:43for everyone again
1:05:45well there's this out there there's so
1:05:46many different ridiculous plot lines
1:05:48they've done like days of future past
1:05:49age of apocalypse
1:05:51I would be believed to a podcast and age
1:05:52of apocalypse just to talk about the
1:05:54hair alone and you know where we're
1:05:57living in the year of days of future
1:05:59past right
1:06:00it's set in the year 2013 wow that's
1:06:02great and they're making and they're
1:06:04making that as as a as a movie here and
1:06:07they're merging the the x-men movie
1:06:09universes from the patrick stewart era
1:06:11and the first class Sarah it's all it's
1:06:14all colliding
1:06:15oh yeah somehow like the star trek
1:06:16universe is do exactly i was sort of
1:06:19kind of my gues exactly we good right I
1:06:25guess
1:06:26well I'm I'm glad that I'm not the only
1:06:28one crazy enough to to love all-new
1:06:30x-men it's it's been a lot of fun and I
1:06:33thought well maybe this will work for
1:06:35six issues but i think i think there is
1:06:37an enduring
1:06:38concept for at least a little while in
1:06:40that book I i think it comes down to
1:06:42brian michael bendis being you know
1:06:46focused on he's here he's focused more
1:06:49on the characters and trying to take the
1:06:52concept and following it to some
1:06:53interesting logical interesting places
1:06:55and you know I that is why i love
1:06:59ultimate spider-man and it's the same i
1:07:01feel like it's the same kind of tricks
1:07:02which is he's got these young x-men and
1:07:04they've been thrown forward in time and
1:07:06what would you do if that was you and
1:07:08then you know he's explored all that and
1:07:10i think yeah it's still it's still plus
1:07:14the stories he writes or so decompressed
1:07:16that five issues like one story so he's
1:07:18got lots of stories lots of issues left
1:07:20in him even if he was like five stories
1:07:22to tell that's going to take him two
1:07:23more years about worth worth noting and
1:07:26plugging and you know this is what
1:07:27happens when you bring a guy with comic
1:07:29book shows on your show
1:07:30it's got a new artist as of this latest
1:07:32issue and he's the guests Ongina size 10
1:07:34which will be like weeks and weeks ago
1:07:36when this X weeks ago little have been
1:07:38weeks ago weeks in the distant past
1:07:41yes jump into your time machine built by
1:07:44Forge and and jump into the past and
1:07:47listen to that episode just insert the
1:07:49time machine key
1:07:50oh it does not go into the 21st century
1:07:53it only works with because its analog
1:07:56yeah it's a y2k problem with the
1:07:58analogical internal well so this is
1:08:00great so we caught up on some comics and
1:08:02we talked about locking key which i
1:08:04recommend to everyone I think you should
1:08:06check it out check it out the trade
1:08:08paperbacks are available
1:08:09it's really good so I'd like to thank my
1:08:11esteemed guests for the comic book club
1:08:15jason reitman thank you for being here
1:08:17it's good to have you back
1:08:18thank you we have all the technology set
1:08:20up so we can do this more often i know
1:08:21i'm looking forward to it it's gonna be
1:08:23good
1:08:23Lisa Schmeisser thank you as always for
1:08:26being here it was my pleasure as always
1:08:27and voice s too jaan you are you are on
1:08:32my show for once instead of me being on
1:08:35your show thank you for being here but
1:08:37thank you for having me and and i look
1:08:39forward to
1:08:40a talking down off of alleged regarding
1:08:42spider-man again sometimes you have well
1:08:44we're all a lot of us are out on that
1:08:46ledge
1:08:47let me talk to the spider-man ledge and
1:08:49thanks to everybody out there for
1:08:50listening to this edition of the
1:08:52chemical club until next time on the
1:08:53incomparable this is jason snow
1:08:55goodbye