Comic DNA

Aaron & Alex go against type and discuss the very recent X-Men series House of X/Powers of X by Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, and R. B. Silva. This lengthy 2 hour discussion starts with the loaded question, "Is this series pretentious?" and goes from there. They address the many things they liked and disliked about the series, how it breathes new life into a stagnant line of books, and weather or not it sufficiently lives up to it's lofty goals.  

Aaron is joined by comic creator Gabe Dunston to discuss their mutually favorite comic book, The Tick by Ben Edlund.  Multiple animated and live action TV shows all started right here!

Aaron and Alex are back to talk about We3, written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Frank Quitely. Published by Vertigo Comics in 2004. Morrison and Quitely deliver an elegantly violent story about three animals turned war machines trying to find their way home. It's Robocop meets Homeward Bound, what more could you want?

We're back with another Quickies review. This time, Aaron and Alex discuss a batch of new #1 issues including two beloved licensed properties and two issues from new publisher TSK Studios. Overall, we mostly liked all these books, especially the stuff from TKO Studios. As with all our Quickie reviews, we gave ourselves a 5 minute time limit to discuss each book, but we liked Goodnight Paradise so much that we give it an extra 5 minutes because the rules are made up and the points don't matter. Comics reviewed: Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho Tep #1 by Scott Duvall and Vincenzo Federici The Fearsome Doctor Fang #1 by Tze Chun, Mike Weiss, and Dan McDaid G.I. Joe: Sierra Muerte #1 by Michel Fiffe Goodnight Paradise by Joshua Dysart and Alberto Ponticelli

We here at Comic DNA are starting up reviews again in a new series called Quickies. Aaron and Alex will be doing short reviews of new(ish) comics still on the stands. We've imposed a five minute time limit on each book we review to keep from repeating ourselves and going off on tangents. Comics reviewed in this episode:Action Comics #1007 by Brian Michael Bendis & Steve EptingX-O Manowar #23 by Matt Kindt & Tomás GiorelloThe Wild Storm #19 by Warren Ellis & Jon Davis-HuntLivewire #1 by Vita Ayala & Raúl Allén We will start doing long form discussions about graphic novels and other larger works again, but they will be less frequent than the Quickies reviews.

Aaron and Alex discuss Michel Fiffe's superhero revenge comic, COPRA, a modern indie classic if there ever was one.  The discussion mostly revolves around Fiffe's artistic style, but we also talk about his refreshingly natural writing.  As Aaron once said to Michel Fiffe, "Copra is pure comics!"

This episode features Batman Year 100 by Paul Pope. In addition to gushing over Pope's art, we also discuss the ambiguity of the story and some of the politics that make up the foundation of the book, as well as the many ways it deviates from a traditional Batman story and why some fans might dislike it. Read Aaron's comics here:http://www.gocomics.com/american-chop-sueyhttps://tapas.io/series/Wreck-Lass

Aaron is joined by his good friends (and favorite husband/wife duo), Alex and Taryn to discuss the first volume of the freshly reprinted Battle Angel Alita. We spend more time talking about how important the manga was during our impressionable teenage years than actually discussing the content of the book, but we do try to dig into why it is considered to be such an underground classic.

Alex and Aaron have a short, final discussion about Stan Lee & Jack Kirby's X-men and then discuss what kind of new books they should read for future episodes. This episode also marks the debut of the webcam format we will be using for future YouTube videos.  

Aaron and Alex finish their series on Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's original X-men issues. Finally! Issues 17 and 18 are the last issues to be plotted and laid out by Kirby. These two issues feature the return of Magneto, who has another weird plan to take over the world. It should come as no surprise to learn that these issues are not very good, and by this point we are just glad to be finished with these books.  

Aaron and Alex continue with Stan Lee & Jack Kirby's X-men series with issues 14-16, introducing the famous Sentinels for the first time. Despite being overwritten with a loose and simple plot, this is one of the better stories of the era because it's actually about the X-men. The discussion mostly revolves around how well the issue handles the themes unique to the X-men mythos, such as the human versus mutant dynamic. This issue also features a continuity point that is referenced in Grant Morrison's New X-men series from the early 2000's. Aaron also goes into in impromptu critique of the more recent Captain America: Winter Soldier movie, using it as an example of a poorly written, one dimensional villain.  

Continuing our series on Stan Lee & Jack Kirby's original X-men series, Aaron and Alex discuss issues 12 and 13 in a single episode. This two part stories introduces us to the famous X-men villain The Juggernaut and tells us the origin of Professor X. These are the first issues where Jack steps down from full time pencil duties and just delivers layouts, with the pencils on issue 12 by the legendary Alex Toth, and issue 13 by Jay Gavin. Ironically, despite not having full Jack Kirby art, they are the best issues in the series since the debut issue. In this lengthy episode we share our love for the Juggernaut as a villain and, like many of these episodes so far, have a lengthy discussion about the collaborative style of Stan & Jack and the production history of this series.

Aaron and Alex continue their discussion of the classic Stan Lee & Jack Kirby X-men comics.  Issue #11 features The Stranger and is about the most uninteresting story in the series so far.  We spend way too much time complaining about this issue.   Your time is better spent reading my new comics American Chop Suey and The Uncontrollable Wreck-Lass!

Aaron and Alex return after a short hiatus to talk about the classic Stan Lee and Jack Kirby X-men series.  Issue #10 takes the X-men to the Savage Land and introduces the characters of Ka-Zar and Zabu.  The discussion revolves around the competent, albiet simplistic story, and Stan Lee's penchant for crowding dialog into panels where Jack Kirby may not have intended it to be.

I take a break from the boring old X-men discussion so I can have another creator hangout.  This time, I talk with Christopher Michael, another St. Louis area comic writer.  Chris and I talk shop a bit about writing, working with artists, tabling at conventions, navegating social media, and share stories about the nicest comic creator either of us has ever met (Joshua Dysart).Check out Christopher's comics at www.headmetalcomics.com.

Alex and Aaron return to discuss Stan Lee & Jack Kirby's X-men series. Issue 09 guest stars The Avengers in what promises to be an exciting "Hero versus Hero" fight in the classic Marvel manor. The story also follows up on Professor X's mission to find Lucifer, as teased in the previous issue. We enjoyed this issue, despite all the things we complain about.  

Alex and I return for our discussion of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby's classic X-Men issues. Issue #8 sees the introduction of Unus the Untouchable. We have fun discussing the kitschy elements of the story and are happy to see that the fundamental themes of intolerance are used well, despite some lazy plot mechanics and cheap tension.

Carlos Gabriel Ruiz joins me to discuss The Flash: Time Flies, written by John Rozum and drawn by the underrated artist in all of American comics, Seth Fisher. Time Flies is a short story about The Flash traveling to a strange and distant future in order to save an Air Force test pilot and prevent him from destroying the entire universe. We spend most of the conversation talking about Fisher's incredibly unique and detailed line work and quirky artistic vision. Check out Carlos' comics here:https://www.braincloudcomics.com/http://inkanddrinkcomics.com/

We continue our discussion about Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's X-men with issue 07, featuring the return of the Blob and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.  Alex and I don't have much to say about this issue as we both agree that stagnation is setting in for this series.  While the art and storytelling are technically well done, characters and stories are starting to feel stale.  We do a brief comparison to the first seven issues of Fantastic Four and Spider-man to compare the exciting and progressive nature of those books to the X-men's general repetitiveness. 

Comic creator, film director, and all around goofy guy Christopher Ochs joins Aaron for a creator hang out. We talk about a few movies (I do a terrible job of remembering Art School Confidential, but Chris sells me on 10 Cloverfield Lane) and complain about directors JJ Abrams and Joss Whedon. We gush about Ash vs. Evil Dead and also complain about the increasingly annoying nature of nerd culture. Plus, I tell a story about a group of Deadpool cosplayers that got threatened by a comic professional. We end the scattered conversation with Chris talking about the short film he's currently making. Check out Chris' comics here: http://www.fantasticcrapcomics.com