outcast_cinemax_posterThis week, The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman had an interview published in Rolling Stone where he chided George R. R. Martin for revealing the ending to A Song of Ice And Fire to the producers of HBO’s Game of Thrones. And it caused the predictable Internet uproar, but it also got us to thinking: we had six out of seven Fear The Walking Dead episodes unwatched on our TiVo. We’d been complaining for years that The Walking Dead comic’s pacing had been untenably slow. We’d been getting Kirkman’s Outcast in our pulls since it started, but we actually hadn’t been reading it, so we had no intention of checking out the comic’s new adaptation on Cinemax.

So we asked ourselves: have we reached peak Robert Kirkman? Has his work lost its mojo, at least for us? And we decided to test the question by burning through the remainder of Fear The Walking Dead season 2, re-reading the first issue of Outcast, and checking out the first two episodes of the adaptation. And having spent the weekend binging on Kirkman (eww!), the answer might surprise you!

We also discuss:

  • Wonder Woman: Rebirth #1, written by Greg Rucka with art by Matthew Clark, Liam Sharp and Sean Parsons,
  • The Flash: Rebirth #1, written by Joshua Williamson with art by Carmine Di Giandomencio, and:
  • Daredevil #8, written by Charles Soule with art by Goran Sudzuka!

And, the disclaimers:

  • This show contains spoilers. If you listen, you will learn how many Fear The Walking Dead characters Rob wants to hit with a chair (Hint: It’s a non-zero value).
  • The show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. We talk about Superman’s dickie. Get some headphones.

Thanks for listening, suckers!

walking_dead_153_coverWe have been fans of The Walking Dead since the seventh issue of the comic book. That means that we have hung in with Rick Grimes and company, and their doomed world, for literally almost twelve years. We’ve stuck with them through prisons, and horrors performed in Woodbury, and the semi-friendly takeover of Alexandria, and All-Out War, and The Whisperers. For more than a quarter of our lives. Which meant we were surprised last week, after the conclusion of season six of The Walking Dead series, the opening of Fear The Walking Dead season two, and the release of the comic’s 153rd issue, when Rob said he might not have the wherewithal to watch these people take a beating anymore.

So this week, we examine the state of The Walking Dead. From the TV show’s introduction of Negan and the extended beating that probably means for Rick and company, to Fear The Walking Dead and how its prequel nature means that we will be spending 18 episodes with people we know are doomed to wind up in the world of The Walking Dead no matter what they try, to the comic and its reintroduction not only of Negan, but his “costume” and weapon. And we discuss whether the story, in all its incarnations, has finally become so bleak, depressing and hopeless to want to follow. And we talk about whether the comic book has been transformed from a story into a property, making it impossible to ever end in a satisfying manner.

We also discuss:

  • Moon Knight #1, written by Jeff Lemire with art by Greg Smallwood and Jordie Bellaire, and:
  • Jackpot! #1, written by Ray Fawkes with art by Marco Failla!

And, the disclaimers:

  • This show contains huge spoilers for the end of The Walking Dead season six, the opening of Fear The Walking Dead season 2, and big ol’ chunks of the Walking Dead comic. While we try to shout out warnings ahead of time, be aware the we will ruin the fact that the world of The Walking Dead is a stone cold bummer.
  • This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. You want your boss to learn about “The Thighs of Death”? Then get some Headphones of Continued Employment.

Thanks for listening, suckers!

walking_dead_dead_insideAfter a long week of hunting for possible new locations for the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office, we were finally able to sit down and watch the premiere episode of the new AMC spinoff to The Walking Dead, Fear The Walking Dead.

We had reservations about the show going in, such as fears that this might be where we discover what caused The Walking Dead‘s walkers to start walking, or that a show about the beginning of a zombie apocalypse would be nothing but a new take on a story we’ve seen in Night of The Living Dead, Dawn of The Dead, and about two dozen different video games, or that a show about the beginning of the end would inevitably become a story about what happens after the end… and we already have that show.

Thankfully, none of those failure were evident. Unfortunately, many others, including inconsistent direction and writing, and a reliance on horror movie tropes of the kind you see on Netflix at 3 a.m. when you’re drunk and bored. And we talk about all of them… as well as the stuff that we liked, and gave us hope that there’s more to this show than the flaws in its pilot.

We also discuss:

  • Lando #3, written by Charles Soule with art by Alex Maleev, and:
  • Hank Johnson: Agent of Hydra, written by David Mandel with art by Michael Walsh!

And, as always, the disclaimers:

  • We record this show live to tape, with minimal editing. While this might mean a looser comics podcast than you are used to, it also means that anything can happen. Like learning the secret ingredient in Amanda’s hummus, and why it would offend Cthulhu.
  • This show contains spoilers. While we try to shout out warnings ahead of time, consider this your alert that Lando Calrissian was not eaten to death by a space vagina.
  • This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. Once your mom hears the Sarlacc described as a space vagina, she will never be able to unsee it. So get some headphones.

Editors’ Note: We are currently not planning to release a new episode on Sunday, September 6th (although if our schedule changes for the better, we may). Regardless, we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming on Sunday, September 13th.

Thanks for listening, suckers!