vertigo comics

by

Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 443 – “FCF: Sweet Tooth: Deluxe Edition – Books Two and Three”

Art from Sweet Tooth: Deluxe Edition – Book Two by Jeff Lemire & José Villarrubia

Gobbledygeek episode 443, “FCF: Sweet Tooth: Deluxe Edition – Books Two and Three,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Nature is healing. For this month’s Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo conclude the post-apocalyptic journeys of  The Boy and the Big Man with Jeff Lemire’s Sweet Tooth: Deluxe Edition – Books Two and Three. The remnants of humanity fight tooth and nail for survival against the paws and claws of the human/animal hybrid children, who only seem to be increasing in number. Which begs the question, Whose apocalypse is this, exactly? The boys discuss the obvious influence of Lost on the book, whether or not Lemire should have thrown back a certain Fish, the series’ beautiful finale, and how horses are just really tough to draw.

NEXT: could be Loki, could be low-key.

CORRECTION

Paul and Arlo rave about Jeff Lemire’s use of watercolors throughout Sweet Tooth. That praise should actually be reserved for brilliant colorist José Villarrubia. Sorry, José!

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:55  –  Intro / Guest
  • 00:04:40  –  Main Topic
  • 01:47:23  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “(Nothing But) Flowers” by Talking Heads, Naked (1988)
  • “Nature Trail to Hell” by “Weird Al” Yankovic, In 3-D (1984)

GOBBLEDYCARES

by

Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 440 – “FCF: Sweet Tooth”

Art from Sweet Tooth: The Deluxe Edition – Book One (2009) by Jeff Lemire & José Villarrubia

Gobbledygeek episode 440, “FCF: Sweet Tooth,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Imagine a world where a global pandemic killed millions and changed society forever. Spooky stuff, huh? Well, take a break from reality with this month’s Four-Color Flashback: Sweet Tooth: The Deluxe Edition – Book One, comprising the first 12 issues of Jeff Lemire’s offbeat breakthrough about a little deer boy and the post-apocalyptic hell that awaits him in the wilds of Nebraska. Along the way, he meets a Frank Miller-style tough guy named Jepperd, who seems to be the grizzled protector to Gus’ naive innocent. It’s a little more complicated than that, of course. Paul and Arlo discuss Lemire’s weird, idiosyncratic artwork; the way he uses the faces and especially the eyes of his laconic characters to convey so much; and how the new Netflix adaptation is radically different.

NEXT: dust off that mail robot, it’s time for The Americans season 2 with British secret agent Wesley “Wezzo” Mead.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:47  –  Intro / Banter
  • 00:19:38  –  Sweet Tooth: The Deluxe Edition – Book One
  • 01:37:00  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “My Father’s House” by Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska (1982)
  • “Out of the Woods” by Taylor Swift, 1989 (2014)

GOBBLEDYCARES

by

Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 428 – “FCF: Prince of Cats”

Art and dialogue from Prince of Cats (2012) by Ronald Wimberly

Gobbledygeek episode 428, “FCF: Prince of Cats,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Two hosts, unalike in dignity, in fair Gobbledygeek, where we set our podcast. For this month’s Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo pull out a boombox blasting Romeo and Juliet side B. In Prince of Cats, Ronald Wimberly passes the mic to Juliet’s cousin Tybalt, a sideways entry point into the events that lead to and inform the soapy classic. Oh, and did we mention this version stars a Black cast living in an ‘80s NYC where everybody participates in an underground samurai swordfighting ring? The boys discuss Wimberly’s ingenious distortion of Shakespearean language; his manga-influenced art; how the book enriches (perhaps even improves upon?) the play; and what it means to tell this story from a race-conscious perspective.

NEXT: oh hey, it’s that Christopher Plummer Geek Challenge we promised. Mike Nichols’ Wolf and Michael Mann’s The Insider go head-to-head.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:48  –  Intro / Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet
  • 00:23:00  –  Prince of Cats
  • 01:03:45  –  (Interlude: Paul reads NSFW Shakespearean dialogue from Prince of Cats)
  • 01:55:08  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Step Off” by Grandmaster Melle-Mel & The Furious Five (1984)
  • “Sucker M.C.’s” by Run-DMC, Run-DMC (1983)

GOBBLEDYCARES

by

Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 422 – “FCF: Sandman Mystery Theatre – Book One (feat. Vickie Willis Navarra)”

Art from Sandman Mystery Theatre: Book One (1993) by Guy Davis and David Hornung

Gobbledygeek episode 422, “Sandman Mystery Theatre – Book One (feat. Vickie Willis Navarra)”, is available for listening or download right here and on Apple Podcasts here.

For the penultimate Gobbledygeek of the year, Paul and Arlo return to an institution they dropped like a bad habit at the start of the pandemic: the Four-Color Flashback! Vickie Willis Navarra, board member of the Comics and Popular Arts Conference at DragonCon, joins the boys to discuss Sandman Mystery Theatre: Book One. Matt Wagner’s resurrection of DC’s Golden Age hero Wesley Dodds, with art by Guy Davis, John Watkiss, R.G. Taylor, and David Hornung, explores the dark dreams of 1938 New York. The gang discusses the art’s sketchy, shadowy noir qualities; Vickie interrupts her praise of Dian Belmont long enough to wonder if Dian falls into the “exceptional female” trope; Paul and Arlo ponder the series’ connection to Neil Gaiman’s Sandman; and more.

NEXT: season 11 comes to a close with a Geek Challenge featuring Thunderheart and Dead Man.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:55  –  Intro / Guest
  • 00:00:00  –  Main Topic
  • 00:00:00  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Begin the Beguine” by Artie Shaw (1938)
  • “I’ve Got a Pocketful of Dreams” by Bing Crosby (1938)

GOBBLEDYCARES

by

Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 392 – “Four-Color Flashback: Daytripper”

Art from ‘Daytripper’ (2010) by Gabriel Bá, Fábio Moon & Dave Stewart.

Gobbledygeek episode 392, “Four-Color Flashback: Daytripper,” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

It took Brás de Oliva Domingos so long to find out, and he found out. What, if anything, he found out is the central question of Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá’s 2010 Vertigo series Daytripper, subject of our final Four-Color Flashback for 2019. You see, Brás writes obituaries for a São Paulo newspaper–and at the end of most chapters in this book, he dies. Twin writers/artists Moon and Bá pave the way for an existential journey along the many turning points of a life, from the imperceptible to the unmistakable. Paul and Arlo discuss Daytripper’s hint of magical realism; the coherent, airtight structure that grounds the book’s absurdity; how the series’ hopeful attitude brushes up against horrific tragedy; Moon and Bá’s distinctive (though not so distinctive we know who is penciling and/or inking what!) art style, accentuated by master colorist Dave Stewart; and more.

Next: on the Gobbledygeek season 10 finale, Christmas gets twisted with John McPhail’s 2018 horror-comedy-musical Anna and the Apocalypse.

THE BREAKDOWN

Total Run Time: 01:32:47

  • 00:00:42  – Intro
  • 00:06:30  – Daytripper
  • 01:26:40  – Outro / Next

THE MUSIC

  • “Day Tripper” by Sergio Mendes & Brasil ‘66, Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ‘66 (1966)
  • “Circle of Life” by Carmen Twillie & Lebo M, The Lion King (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1994)

THE LINKS

by

Listen to Episode 196, “The Sandman: Vol. VI – Fables & Reflections”

Art from 'The Sandman: Fear of Falling' by Kent Williams and Sherilyn Van Valkeburgh.

Art from ‘The Sandman: Fear of Falling’ by Kent Williams and Sherilyn Van Valkenburgh.

Gobbledygeek episode 196, “The Sandman: Vol. VI – Fables & Reflections,” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

Rulers–whether they be corrupt, wise, or both–make rules. They establish boundaries, set parameters within which a person lives their life. Should those rules be broken, there will be consequences. Neil Gaiman explores some of those consequences, joined by an incredibly talented string of artists including Bryan Talbot and Jill Thompson, in The Sandman: Vol. VI – Fables & Reflections. Paul and AJ continue their year-long Four-Color Flashback exploration of The Sandman, discussing everything from barophobia to Greek myth, from the once-great city of Baghdad to the “Thriller” video. Plus, Donald Glover finally gets to be Spider-Man and AJ offers his thought’s on Netflix’s first animated series for adults, BoJack Horseman.

Next: on September 1, Paul and AJ kick off an epic podcrawl (see information on participating podcasts in the show notes) discussing the Alien and Predator films with a look back at Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic Alien.

(Show notes for “The Sandman: Vol. VI – Fables & Reflections.”)

by

Listen to Episode 189, “The Sandman: Vol IV – Season of Mists (feat. K. Dale Koontz & Ensley F. Guffey)”

Art from 'The Sandman' #21 by Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III.

Art from ‘The Sandman’ #21 by Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III.

Gobbledygeek episode 189, “The Sandman: Vol IV – Season of Mists (feat. K. Dale Koontz & Ensley F. Guffey),” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

Just taking a guess here, but you probably don’t want to go to Hell. Probably don’t want to rule it, either. And neither does Lucifer, the original fallen angel himself, which sets in motion the events of The Sandman: Vol IV – Season of Mists. Pop culture academics (and Wanna Cook? authors) K. Dale Koontz and Ensley F. Guffey join Paul and AJ for another installment of their Four-Color Flashback series exploring Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. The gang finds much to discuss, whether it be the assortment of mythological envoys sent to The Dreaming, Dream’s reunion with one-time lover Nada, or even, uh, the Merkin. Plus, Dale and Ensley went to Slayage, which was the opposite of Hell. Though the squirrels might beg to differ.

Next: we’ll be chatting about independent film and local business with Kurtiss Hare of Akron, Ohio’s brand new Nightlight Cinema.

(Show notes for “The Sandman: Vol IV – Season of Mists.”)

by

Listen to Episode 188, “The Sandman: Vol. III – Dream Country (feat. Greg Sahadachny)”

sandman3

Art from The Sandman #19 by Charles Vess.

Gobbledygeek episode 188, “The Sandman: Vol. III – Dream Country (feat. Greg Sahadachny),” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

A dream is a wish your heart makes, or so the song goes. What happens when that wish is fulfilled? Neil Gaiman has a few answers in The Sandman: Vol III – Dream Country, wherein a writer finds his muse, cats rule the world, Shakespeare puts on a play, and an immortal prays for death. Paul and AJ get back on track with their year-long Four Color Flashback exploration of Gaiman’s masterpiece, this time joined by The Debatable Podcast host Greg Sahadachny. Plus, Joss Whedon turns 50, Tim Burton’s Batman turns 25, and How to Train Your Dragon 2 has something to say about strong women.

Next: doubling down on our Four-Color Flashback with another trip to The Dreaming, as Eric Sipple joins us for a discussion of The Sandman: Vol. IV – Season of Mists.

(Show notes for “The Sandman: Vol. III – Dream Country.”)

by

Gobbledygeek Gift Guide 2011

On the new episode of Gobbledygeek, Paul and AJ told you about all the things you should buy this Christmas season, and now here’s a comprehensive guide! (Including a few items that weren’t even mentioned on the show.)

Note: Most links and prices are from Amazon.

BOOKS/COMICS

READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline
$14.33

Hands down one of the best science fiction books I’ve read in recent memory. It’s like my admittedly overdeveloped nostalgia gland were milked and distilled onto the page. This book is my geeky, pop-culture DNA printed in ink. ~ Paul

Continue reading →

by

Comics 201: More Recommendations

In our latest episode, Paul and I mentioned a number of comics recommendations for beginners in a variety of genres. However, we also mentioned that we had to pare down our lists significantly so that the topic would even approach being manageable. Here, as promised, are our other selections.

SUPERHEROES

FANTASTIC FOUR #232-293 (John Byrne)

After his legendary Uncanny X-Men run, John Byrne took over Marvel’s first family, the Fantastic Four. Cinematic storytelling, emotional character shake-ups, shocking betrayals. And he grew up Sue Storm, taking her from the Invisible Girl to the Invisible Woman.