Podcasts about Oeming

Oeming, Madita www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, Interview

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Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming are back for a fun free for all talk about comics film and TV 

God's Bones! The bookclub is back this week to check out the listener feedbag, talk about Lady Gaga for some reason and discuss anthopromorphic tales of the supernatural. Grab your a piece of cold iron as we discuss the tails (get it?) of William of Newbury by Michael Avon Oeming! Save me from this hell, my evil lady!  2:07 - Listener Feedback 9:32 - Whaddya See, Whaddya Say? 19:04- William of Newbury  Check out our interview with Michael Avon Oeming for the Hellboy Book Club Podcast https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-t7npa-162365c "Venus" by Lady Gaga from "Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuvOLQGS7rE opening and closing theme by https://onlybeast.com

Send us a Text Message.A creator so nice, they named him thrice! Michael Avon Oeming has been killing it the past three decades, first as an artist, then as a writer, and now as a full-on auteur with his new book William of Newbury! Starting with a Judge Dredd miniseries, Michael came out of the gate strong with stints on Atomic Robo, Bluntman & Chronic, and Bulletproof Monk, which was turned into a movie. Then he hit it out of the park with his pal Brian Michael Bendis on Powers, his superhero/law enforcement epic that continues to this day. Michael expanded to writing with Bastard Samurai, and continued with several projects in Marvel's Thor universe as well as Omega Flight, Red Sonja, and Six. Now, he's at Dark Horse, after having drawn Blue Book in 2023, with William of Newbury, the first issue of which is on out right now! So go get it, and if you want, follow Michael's work at michaelavonoeming.com or @Oeming on all the socials. _________________Check out a video version of this episode on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/dollarbinbandits.If you like this podcast, please rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. And if you really like this podcast, support what we do as a member of the Dollar Bin Boosters: buzzsprout.com/1817176/support.Looking for more ways to express your undying DBB love and devotion? Email us at dollarbinbandits@gmail.com. Follow us @dollarbinbandits on Facebook and Instagram, and @DBBandits on X._____________________Dollar Bin Bandits is the official podcast of TwoMorrows Publishing. Check out their fine publications at twomorrows.com.Past Present FeatureA filmmaker appreciation podcast hosted by Emmy-winning director...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the Show.

Woah! Hellboy artist and comics creator, Michael Avon Oeming, returns to the podcast! Oeming joins the bookclub gang to discuss some recent Hellboy events, his new book, "William of Newbury," and a new B.P.R.D. book! Thank you so much, Mike Oeming for hanging out with us. Pick up "William of Newbury" at your local comic book store on May 28th 2024! Check out Oeming's projects!  William of Newbury! https://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/3013-577/William-of-Newbury-1 After Realm Kickstarter https://t.co/bFYe9mGMkD Murder Inc (Vol. 3 out now!) https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/3009-408/Murder-Inc-Volume-3-Jagger-Rose-TPB Galaxy of Madness (preorder link) https://madcavestudios.com/product/galaxy-of-madness-1-cover-a/ Bluebook https://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/3011-879/Blue-Book-1947-4 Show Links! Check out Matt Strackbein (another Hellboy artist!) https://linktr.ee/TheLetterhack Subscribe to The Letterhack on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/TheLetterhack?sub_confirmation=1 BPRD Humble Bundle! https://t.co/DViwdUIv69 Hellboy 30th Anniversary Items from Dark Horse Direct https://www.darkhorsedirect.com/products/hellboy-hand-of-glory-candle https://www.darkhorsedirect.com/products/hellboy-loteria-game https://www.darkhorsedirect.com/products/hellboy-30th-anniversary-deluxe-vinyl-figure Kachka Restaurant https://www.kachkapdx.com/home Northwest Museum of Cartoon Arts https://nwmoca.org/ Time Team  https://www.youtube.com/@TimeTeamOfficial https://www.timeteamdigital.com/ Medieval podcasts (Recommended by Mike Oeming!) Medieval Death Trip https://www.medievaldeathtrip.com/ Medieval Madness  https://open.spotify.com/show/0vJdyMsDiqdHxzsck7FjQN Medivalists.net  https://www.medievalists.net/category/podcast/   opening and closing theme by https://onlybeast.com/   

Ihr kennt sie, wir kennen sie, alle haben schon mal einen gesehen: Pornos. Wahrscheinlich hat kein Filmgenre so einen schlechten Ruf wie der Porno. Aber wieso eigentlich? Liegt das wirklich daran, was dort gezeigt wird? Oder eher daran, wie wir Pornos sehen und was wir interpretieren? Darüber sprechen Ari & Kevin mit der Kulturwissenschaftlerin Madita Oeming, die sich auf Pornos spezialisiert hat. Sie sagt: Das was wir als "feministische Pornos" kennen ist oft genau das Gegenteil, nämlich antifeministisch!

On today's episode of the Occult Symbolism and Pop Culture with Isaac Weishaupt podcast we are joined by one of the greatest comic book writers and illustrators of ALL TIME: Michael Oeming! We'll talk about his latest comic "PROJECT MONARCH" which touches on conspiracies, Kubrick, MKULTRA and even has a shout out for yours truly! We'll start out with talk about occult symbolism being utilized in comics, Oeming's take on the Illuminati and a revelation of the INFAMOUS Area 51 caller on Art Bell's show from the 90s (HINT: Oeming is friends with the caller...). We'll talk red pills, avoiding black pills and even geek out on some comic book history! We'll get his take on super hero films and the creative process of comics. Great discussions on what it's like to create, tapping into the subconscious and of course- TWIN PEAKS! We'll even hear his paranormal experience at Snoqualmie!THEN...Stick around after we wrap up because we get a bonus talk about Twin Peaks (*SPOILERS GALORE- SERIOUSLY IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED SEASON 3 THIS IS NOT FOR YOU!).EXPLICIT LANGAUGE WARNING (roughly 3 F-bombs; not a big deal)Links:Get Michael Oeming's conspiracy-related comics on Amazon or wherever you get graphic novels! The ones he recommends is: Project MONARCH, Blue Book and Victories!Project Monarch- Stanley Kubrick and MKultra conspiracies: https://amzn.to/3HNh8ElThe Victories- Ancient Aliens meets Superheroes: https://amzn.to/42ltlJXCheck out his website for more: https://michaelavonoeming.comMichael Oeming's social medias:IG: https://www.instagram.com/oemingTwitter/X: https://twitter.com/OemingYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@OemingShow sponsors- Get discounts while you support the show and do a little self improvement!*CopyMyCrypto.com/Isaac is where you can copy James McMahon's crypto holdings- listeners get access for just $1*BetterHelp.com/illuminatiwatcher : This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try and get 10% off at betterhelp.com/illuminatiwatcher and get on your way to being your best self. WANT MORE?... Check out my UNCENSORED show with my wife, Breaking Social Norms: https://breakingsocialnorms.com/ GRIFTER ALLEY- get bonus content AND go commercial free + other perks:*PATREON.com/IlluminatiWatcher : ad free, HUNDREDS of bonus shows, early access AND TWO OF MY BOOKS! (The Dark Path and Kubrick's Code); you can join the conversations with hundreds of other show supporters here: Patreon.com/IlluminatiWatcher (*Patreon is also NOW enabled to connect with Spotify! https://rb.gy/hcq13)*VIP SECTION: Due to the threat of censorship, I set up a Patreon-type system through MY OWN website! IIt's even setup the same: FREE ebooks, Kubrick's Code video! Sign up at: https://illuminatiwatcher.com/members-section/*APPLE PREMIUM: If you're on the Apple Podcasts app- just click the Premium button and you're in! NO more ads, Early Access, EVERY BONUS EPISODE More from Isaac- links and special offers:*BREAKING SOCIAL NORMS podcast, Index of EVERY episode (back to 2014), Signed paperbacks, shirts, & other merch, Substack, YouTube links & more: https://allmylinks.com/isaacw *STATEMENT: This show is full of Isaac's useless opinions and presented for entertainment purposes. Audio clips used in Fair Use and taken from YouTube videos. 

Heute ist es einfacher als je zuvor, Pornos zu schauen. Warum das Genre feministisches Potential besitzt und oft missverstanden wird, erläutert Madita Oeming im Bücher-Podcast.

Madita Oeming hat es sich als Pornowissenschaftlerin zur Aufgabe gemacht, Pornomythen aufzudecken, Pornopanik abzubauen und Pornokompetenz zu vermitteln. In ihrem neu erschienenen Buch „PORNO - Eine unverschämte Analyse“ nimmt sie uns auf eine Reise quer durch die Pornogeschichte und zeigt uns mit ihrem Ansatz „Wissen statt Scham“, was wir gewinnen, wenn wir endlich offen über Pornos sprechen. Wir sprechen über die Entwicklung der Pornografie, den gesellschaftlichen Umgang und wie wir lernen können, Pornografie reflektiert und lustvoll zu betrachten, ohne die Schattenseiten aus den Augen zu verlieren. Link zu Maditas Buch: https://www.rowohlt.de/buch/madita-oeming-porno-9783499012334 Mehr zu Madita: https://www.maditaoeming.de/ Folgt uns auf Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getcheex/?hl=en Testet CHEEX 7 Tage kostenlos: https://social.getcheex.com/influencer/madita-oeming/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcastads&utm_campaign=Madita-Oeming&code=MADITA&utm_source=2312 Code MADITA

Wiese, Tim; Linß, Vera; Oeming, Maditawww.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, Breitband

Es sei wichtig, jungen Menschen früh Kompetenz im Umgang mit Pornographie zu vermitteln, sagt Kulturwissenschaftlerin Madita Oeming. Pornoproduzentin Paulita Pappel will die Produktionsbedingungen transparenter machen, um Scham und Angst abzubauen. Wiese, Tim; Linß, Vera; Oeming, Madita, Pappel, Paulita; Kogel, Dennis; Dreier,www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, Breitband

Wiese, Tim; Linß, Vera; Oeming, Maditawww.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, BreitbandDirekter Link zur Audiodatei

Es sei wichtig, jungen Menschen früh Kompetenz im Umgang mit Pornographie zu vermitteln, sagt Kulturwissenschaftlerin Madita Oeming. Pornoproduzentin Paulita Pappel will die Produktionsbedingungen transparenter machen, um Scham und Angst abzubauen. Wiese, Tim; Linß, Vera; Oeming, Madita, Pappel, Paulita; Kogel, Dennis; Dreier,www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, BreitbandDirekter Link zur Audiodatei

Wiese, Tim; Linß, Vera; Oeming, Maditawww.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, Breitband

Etwa 85 Prozent aller Männer und gut ein Drittel aller Frauen in Deutschland konsumieren Pornos. Die stimulierenden Filme sind Teil unseres Alltags und trotzdem immer noch ein Tabu - doch wieso eigentlich? Die Kulturwissenschaftlerin Madita Oeming analysiert in ihrem Buch "Porno. Eine unverschämte Analyse" welchen Platz Pornografie in unserer Gesellschaft einnimmt. Von Madita Oeming.

Tauche ein in eine faszinierende Gesprächsrunde im Podcast, in der Gastgeber Carel mit Madita Oeming, renommierte Pornowissenschaftlerin und Dozentin, die Welt der Erotik erkundet. Von den Anfängen der Pornografie bis zu ihrem heutigen Einfluss beleuchten sie die vielschichtige Natur von Pornos. Diskutiert wird, wie verschiedene Perspektiven die Wahrnehmung prägen, ob Bildung durch Erotik vermittelt werden kann und ob feministische Inhalte eine Antwort auf stereotype Darstellungen bieten. Die Episode stellt Fragen nach Grenzen und Normen von Fetischen und enthüllt, wie präsent Pornografie in unserer Gesellschaft ist. Ein aufschlussreicher Dialog, der Tabus bricht und Denkanstöße liefert. Maritas Buch "Porno - eine unverschämte Analyse" ist in nun in Buchläden erhältlich! Da geht sie noch tiefer auf die Themen aus unserer Episode ein. Timestamps: 00:00 - 10:30 Ursprung: Was sind Pornos? 10:30 - 20:37 Pornos und der Male Gaze 20:37 - 29:36 Race Play: Bis wo dürfen Fetische gehen? 29:36 - 55:00 Sollten Pornos einen Bildungsauftrag haben? 55:00 - Ende Wie lockern wir den Pornodiskurs auf? _________________  Lasst uns gerne eine Bewertung da! Instagram: @red_lektion Unterstützt uns finanziell über Steady: https://steadyhq.com/de/redlektion/about  Unterstützt uns finanziell über Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/ridalcarel?locale.x=de_DE  Wünsche, Anregungen, Kritik an: redelektion@gmail.com _________________ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/redlektion/message

Die neue Folge der EduCouch fällt unter die Rubrik "Pornversation" – oder vielleicht doch besser "Pornucation"? Denn heute geht es um eine ganz besondere (und zudem besonders wichtige), aber in der Schule weitestgehend ignorierte (Medien-)Kompetenz: die Pornokompetenz. Unsere Gesprächspartnerin Madita Oeming, Deutschlands führende Pornowissenschaftlerin und Mit-Schöpferin des Pornoführerscheins, klärt uns auf, worüber Jugendliche eher selten sprechen – schon gar nicht mit uns: ihren Pornokonsum. Madita gibt uns aber nicht nur “eine unverschämte Analyse” (so der Untertitel ihres gerade erschienenen Buches “P0rno*”) dessen, was die Forschung über die Rolle von P0rnos im Alltag von Jugendlichen weiß. Sie erklärt, warum Antworten auf die vielen unausgesprochenen Fragen, die diese haben, wichtig sind für einen souveränen, reflektierten Umgang mit diesen Medien – und hilft uns bei Überlegungen, wie sich auch Lehrkräfte dieses schulischen Tabuthemas annehmen können (und dürfen!). Ohne Scham auf beiden Seiten des Klassenzimmers. Ganz nach ihrem Motto: “Wissen statt Stigma”. Interview: Johanna Uhl-Martin *Warum wir “P0rno* hier besser mit einer 0 statt eines os schreiben, erklärt Madita auch im Podcast.

Fast alle schauen Pornos, wenig stehen dazu – vielleicht auch aus Scham, weil Porno ist ja tabu, schmutzig, ausbeuterisch, verfestigt alte Rollenbilder, ist, was das Aussehen der Darstellerinnen und Darsteller angeht, wenig vielfältig. Vieles davon ist Quatsch, sagt Madita Oeming. Sie forscht zum Thema Porno und hat auch ein Buch darüber geschrieben. Ein 1LIVE-Podcast, © WDR 2023 Von Catrin Altzschner.

Hey hey! Artist, creator, and all around cool guy, Michael Avon Oeming joins the bookclub gang this week! Check out a lovely chat with Oeming about his work on "B.P.R.D. The Soul Of Venice," "Abe Sapien: The Land of the Dead," "Hellboy: Mood Swings," and "Hellboy and the B.P,R,D, 1956!" Enjoy some fun video game side tangents as well!   Check out Oeming's projects Blue Book https://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/3011-871/Blue-Book-1 Takio https://www.amazon.com/Takio-Brian-Michael-Bendis/dp/0785153268 Murder Inc https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/711570/murder-inc-volume-1-valentines-trust-by-written-by-brian-michael-bendis-illustrated-by-michael-avon-oeming-and-taki-soma/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720204/murder-inc-volume-2-versus-america-by-written-by-brian-michael-bendis-illustrated-by-michael-avon-oeming-and-taki-soma/ https://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/3701/bendis-and-oemings-united-states-murder-inc-return  Oeming's art print shop https://oemingprints.com/ Follow Michael Avon Oeming https://twitter.com/Oeming https://www.facebook.com/MichaelOeming/ https://www.instagram.com/oeming/   Opening and closing theme by https://onlybeast.com/  

In the Dark Horse Comics book Blue Book, artist Michael Avon Oeming, writer, James Tynion IV, and editor Greg Lockard retell some of the most popular UFO and alien encounter accounts starting with the infamous Betty and Barney Hill abduction. Issue One of the book is available now, with Issue Two dropping March 22, 2023. Oeming and Lockard join host Aaron Sagers to discuss their interest in the UFO subjects, how to adapt these classic cases accurately, the artistic style, and future cases they will be tackling. _______________________________________________________________ Talking Strange Paranormal Podcast with Aaron Sagers is a weekly paranormal pop culture show featuring celebrity and author interviews, with a weekly "Small Talk" mini-sode with reader submitted letters and spooky tales. Sagers is a paranormal journalist and researcher who appears as host of 28 Days Haunted on Netflix, and on Paranormal Caught On Camera on Travel Channel/Discovery+, and Talking Strange is part of the Den of Geek Network. If you like Talking Strange, please subscribe, leave a nice review, and share with your friends. The Talking Strange Paranormal Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you check out spooky content. For more paranormal pop culture, head to Den of Geek, and follow @TalkStrangePod on Twitter. Email us with episode ideas, and guest suggestions, or for a chance to have your letter read on a future episode: TalkingStrange@DenOfGeek.com Follow Host Aaron Sagers: Twitter.com/aaronsagers Instagram.com/aaronsagers Facebook.com/AaronSagersPage tiktok.com/@aaronsagers Patreon.com/aaronsagers (For Q&As, livestreams, cocktail classes, and movie watches) Until Next Time: Be Kind. Stay Spooky. Keep It Weird. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Feminismus bedeutet für mich Gleichberechtigung. Und im Moment haben wir keine Gleichberechtigung der Orgasmen”. Madita Oeming ist Pornowissenschaftlerin und sexpositive Feministin. Sie spricht mit Salon5-Reporterin Nazra über die weibliche Lust. Für viele immer noch ein blinder Fleck. Die Wissenschaftlerin ist der Meinung, dass der weibliche Orgasmus mehr im Mittelpunkt stehen sollte: im eigenen Sexleben, in Pornos und in der Forschung.

Madita Oeming ist Pornowissenschaftlerin. Sie erforscht, welche Rolle Pornos in unserer Gesellschaft haben und fordert einen differenzierten Umgang mit den Filmen. Wir haben mit ihr darüber gesprochen, wie viele Pornos sie für ihren Job schaut, ob Pornos etwas Gutes oder Schlechtes sind und mit welchen Anfeindungen sie als Wissenschaftlerin zu tun hat.

Comics creator, Micheal Avon Oeming joins the program to talk Toth, Kevin Nowlan's Man-Bat, cubism, artistic development, blackspotting, digital comics, career and industry, and advice he received from Toth in correspondence. Check out his website & instagram links below.+++For a daily dose of Toth images, and updates on the program, Follow @alextothindepth on Instagram.+++Alex Toth In Depth is hosted by Paul Fricke, cartoonist and comics instructor at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design since 2012. Email: paul@opaulo.comLinks:• Alex Toth In Depth podcast• Alex Toth In Depth on Youtube• Micheal Avon Oeming website• Micheal Avon Oeming Instagram• Kevin Nowlan's "Secret Origin of Man-Bat" comic• opaulo comics, art & music Instagram• Prof Paul instagram• https://linktr.ee/opaulo+++Show bumper music - “Silver Summer” from the album “Hungarian Jazz Rhapsody” used with permission from Mihaly Borbely Quartet+++Audio an & video editing by Logan Beecher - Follow on Instagram @hotmecha

On episode 234 of SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES, we welcome Michael Avon Oeming. Oeming is a comic book artist and writer, currently working on a comic book series based on the files of Project Blue Book. "Blue Book" will recreate stories of real UFO encounters in comic book form, based on the true-to-life testimonies of UFO witnesses with the goal of not sensationalizing or editorializing those accounts. The first chapters explore the circumstances surrounding the 1961 abduction of Betty and Barney Hill. Oeming will discuss the series, his research process along with writer, James Tynion, and we'll hear about Oeming's other exciting projects both past and present, and why he believes the U.S. Government is getting involved with UFOs once again in a capacity that even outweighs the original Project Blue Book.Read 'Blue Book' at: http://www.readbluebook.comFollow Michael Oeming on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/OemingPatreon: www.patreon.com/somewhereskiesWebsite: www.somewhereintheskies.comYouTube Channel: CLICK HEREOfficial Store: CLICK HERESomewhere in the Skies Coffee! https://bit.ly/3mIAq2oOrder Ryan's book in paperback, ebook, or audiobook by CLICKING HERETwitter: @SomewhereSkiesInstagram: @SomewhereSkiesPodSomewhere in the Skies Subreddit: www.reddit.com/r/SomewhereSkiesPod/Watch Mysteries Decoded for free at www.CWseed.comEpisode edited by Jane Palomera MooreOpening Theme Song, "Ephemeral Reign" by Per KiilstofteSOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES is part of the eOne podcast network. To learn more, CLICK HERECopyright © 2021 Ryan Sprague. All rights reserved.Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/somewhere-in-the-skies. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Oeming talks about the legend of making The After Realm for Image Comics and Kickstarter. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theafterrealm2/the-after-realm-quarterly-3?ref=discovery&term=the%20after%20realm

On this week's comic book review podcast: GI Joe: Castle Fall IDW Written by Paul Allor Art by Chris Evenhuis Snow Angels #1 ComiXology Written by Jeff Lemire Art by Jock The Immortal Hulk: Flatline #1 Marvel Written and Art by Declan Shalvey HAHA #2 Image Comics Written by W. Maxwell Prince Art by Zoe Thorogood King in Black #4 Marvel Written by Donny Cates Art by Ryan Stegman Batman/Catwoman #3 DC Comics Written by Tom King Art by Clay Mann Savage #1 Valiant Comics Written by Max Bemis Art by Nathan Stockman Guardians of the Galaxy #11 Marvel Written by Al Ewing Art by Juann Cabal Stillwater #6 Image Comics Written by Chip Zdarsky Art by Ramón K. Perez Future State: Superman Worlds of War #2 DC Comics Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Brandon Easton, Becky Cloonan & Michael W. Conrad, Jeremy Adams Art by Mikel Janin, Valentin de Landro, Michael Avon Oeming, Siya Oum Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman #2 DC Comics Written by Becky Cloonan & Michael W. Conrad, L.L. McKinney Art by Jen Bartel, Alitha Martinez Future State: The Next Batman #4 DC Comics Written by John Ridley, Vita Ayala, Paula Seven Bergen Art by Laura Braga, Aneke, Emanuela Luppachino Future State: Catwoman #2 DC Comics Written by Ram V Art by Otto Schmidt Future State: Nightwing #2 DC Comics Written by Andrew Constant Art by Nicola Scott Future State: Shazam #2 DC Comics Written by Tim Sheridan Art by Eduardo Panic Thor #12 Marvel Written by Donny Cates Art by Nic Klein Excellence #10 Image Comics Written by Brandon Thomas Art by Khary Randolph Once & Future #16 BOOM! Studios Written by Kieron Gillen Art by Dan Mora X-Men Legends #1 Marvel Written by Fabian Nicieza Art by Brett Booth Aria: Heavenly Creatures Image Comics Written by Brian Holguin Art by Jay Anacleto with Brian Haberlin The Last Ronin #2 IDW Story by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and Tom Waltz Script by Tom Waltz & Kevin Eastman Layouts by Kevin Eastman Pencils & Inks by Esau & Isaac Escort, Ben Bishop and Kevin Eastman Black Widow #5 Marvel Written by Kelly Thompson Art by Elena Casagrande w/ Rafael De Latorre Sabrina: The Teenage Witch #5 Archie Comics Written by Kelly Thompson Art by Veronica Fish and Andy Fish SUBSCRIBE ON RSS, ITUNES, ANDROID, SPOTIFY, STITCHER OR THE APP OF YOUR CHOICE. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, AND FACEBOOK. SUPPORT OUR SHOWS ON PATREON. Full Episode Transcript Alex:                 What's up, everybody. Welcome to The Stack. I'm Alex. Justin:              I'm Justin. Pete:                I'm Pete. Alex:                 On The Stack, we talk about a bunch of books that have come out this week. Let's kick it off, because we got a packed stack. Justin:              Oh, yes. Alex:                 [crosstalk 00:00:19] G.I. Joe: Castle Fall from IDW, written by Paul Allor, art by Chris Evenhuis. I got to tell you, never in a million years would I have expected that a G.I. Joe book would be at the top of my personal stack, but that's where we are. This book is what a lot of what this book has been leading up to. Cobra has taken over the entire world. Finally, G.I. Joe gets an in to fight back. It doesn't go exactly how you think it's going to go. There's a big twist there. This book is great. Justin:              I got to say, I mean, I was not allowed to watch G.I. Joe as a child because they had guns in their hands. Pete:                Here we go. Jesus Christ. Can we talk about G.I. Joe one time without you dropping that? Justin:              What? I'm just saying. It was just sort of an introduction to say that I also love this book. I also wasn't allowed sugary cereals, which led me to enjoy a lot of Grape Nuts. Pete:                And you also had to drink well water, and your teeth are falling out. Alex:                 Don't spoil. The next book we're talking about is Grape Nuts #1, which is also very good. Justin:              That's going to be good. It's going to be good. Just put a little honey on it. No. This book is so good, and what I love about it is they've been building up to it over the course of all these smaller issues and books to get here, and each one, for the most part, has been excellent, and the fact that they're building this whole little universe around G.I. Joe is something that … Again, I don't know if I said. I never watched as a kid. Pete:                Oh, my god. Fuck, I hate you. I mean, this is great. I mean, you get to see Roadblock fucking pick up a fucking giant cannon of a gun and just fucking shoot. It was great. Yeah. The art's really good. The storytelling, the plot's impressive. It's a lot better than a lot of the cartoon's plot, but I thought this was- Alex:                 Not all of it. I would say like 50 percent of the cartoon's plots. Most of the cartoon's plots were very good, as we all know. Pete:                Sure. Sure. Because we all watched them as kids. Alex:                 I never watched it. Justin:              It must have been fun for you, Pete, to see your favorite Joes, like soup can, hub cap. Pete:                So far you haven't named one. Justin:              Dance party. Pete:                Nope. Justin:              Hat hair. Hat hair is so good in this issue. Pete:                No. Justin:              He's so good because he's like [crosstalk 00:02:30]- Pete:                Did you see? My favorite scene in the issue is when load-bearing beam really brings the hurt down. Justin:              That guy is so tough. Pete:                [crosstalk 00:02:39]. Justin:              He's got the weight of the world on his shoulders. Pete:                I'm the only one who knows the names, and you guys are still doing bits. It's just ridiculous. Alex:                 Well, what I love about this is I, again, I have no interest in G.I. Joe particularly because of the names, because they're so silly and over the top, but every character is so distinct, from the art, to the writing, to their motivations here, including the villains as well. The way that they fleshed out Cobra here and made them interesting rather than just going “I'm a serpent name, and I have a mask, and I'm evil,” and that's pretty much my whole impression of Cobra Commander. I think there's two of them, right? Pete:                Oh, my god. Justin:              No. There's more. You need 20 minutes. Alex:                 There's Destro and also Cobra Commander? I don't know how this works. Pete:                Okay. All right. Destro does not talk like that. Alex:                 Everyone's shit. Pete:                There's Serpentor. Alex:                 I'm Destro. Pete:                Oh, my god. All right. You are killing me. Alex:                 I'm the Baroness. Pete:                Okay. All right. First off, let's back up the truck. If you're going to do bits about their names, know the show, because one of the funniest things is they would do PSAs after the show, and there would be a character whose name is Barbecue, and he has a flamethrower on his back, and then he's like “Hey, kids. If you have a house fire, you should run away,” and it's like “Hey, Barbecue. How did that house fire start? You have a flamethrower, and you're standing next to a fire. This isn't cool, man. You shouldn't set people's houses on fire and then teach kids about fires.” Justin:              It's very funny to me that you were like “Justin, you're making fun of this by saying the names you said. If you said the name Barbecue,” who's the hero you like's name, because when I said hub cap, you were like “That's stupid,” but you said Barbecue, and you were like “That's good. Hub cap is bad, but Barbecue-“ Pete:                I mean, Snow Job's a real … That's a real name. Justin:              What about tippy toe? I really like tippy toe. Pete:                Oh, my god. Alex:                 This book is fantastic. Definitely pick it up, even if you don't know anything about G.I. Joe. Alex:                 Moving on to Snow Angels #1 from ComiXology, written by Jeff Lemire, art by Jock. I said this on the live show, but I'll stick with it. That team is on a book, and you're in no matter what, but thankfully this book is great and weird anyway. It's about a world, maybe a world, that has been covered in ice. All that exists is this snow trench. There's a family, a father, and two daughters who are skating through the trench for one theirs 12th birthday, and things get weirder and deadlier and more dangerous from there. This feels like the perfect gelling of these two creators' tastes. Pete:                It seems like it's Snowpiercer 2, where after the train's gone, now they're just living on the tracks. You know what I mean? And that's where this takes place. Justin:              Withering criticism from Pete LePage. Alex:                 But you say that about anything that involves snow. You said that when you saw the Michael Keaton vehicle Jack Frost as well. Justin:              Yeah. No. Pete:                The Michael Keaton vehicle. Justin:              When the Weather Report came out, Pete screamed at the TV. It's like “Snowpiercer. Get out of here.” I like this book a lot. You said it best, Alex. It's such a great combination of these two creators' work. A lot of great blood splatters on this, and very few snow angels, and ice skating is hard, and these characters do it constantly. Pete:                Yeah. Yeah. I mean, growing up in upstate New York, you needed to kind of … You might as well put skates on, because you're walking around so much ice, but I did really … All joking aside, I really love the last-page reveal. The art's unbelievable. This is a very unique, cool kind of world that we're kind of thrown into here. I thought it was an amazing first issue of getting you established with what's going on and then kind of raising the stakes. I thought this was really fantastic book. Alex:                 Next up, the Immortal Hulk: Flatline #1 from Marvel, written and art by Declan Shalvey. This is another, as you can probably tell from the title, spinoff of the Immortal Hulk doing one-shot stories about him here. Bruce Banner meets one of his old teachers. Things don't go that well over the course of the issue. How do you think this held up to the high standard of Immortal Hulk? Justin:              I like this a lot. Declan Shalvey has been talking about this book a lot online. There's a lot of pride and just love for this book coming from the creator. So I really appreciate that, and it's a great story. It feels like a classic Hulk story that we haven't seen in a while, because the main book has been so focused on just straight-up horrifying imagery. So this takes it back a little bit and really says “Hey. Be nice to your teachers, because they might come at you from some gamma-irradiated vision and really fuck up your life if you're not careful.” Pete:                Yeah. Teachers will haunt you for the rest of your life, man. You got to be careful. Justin:              Yeah. Alex:                 Totally agree. Haha #2 from Image Comics, written by W. Maxwell Prince, art by Zoe Thorogood. This is the second issue, of course, from the creator of Ice Cream Man. It is an anthology about clowns. Here, we're getting to meet a character who … It's not revealed until the end of the issue exactly what she's doing, but as a child, she ran away with her mom, who had a bit of a psychotic break and thought she was a clown, wanted to go away to a fun time happy land. Things do not end up fun time or happy. How'd you feel about this one? Justin:              So good. Haunting. We love W. Maxwell Prince's work on Ice Cream Man, and to see it sort of grounded in a weird way … I didn't expect this series ostensibly focusing on clowns to be the more grounded version of his storytelling, but it really is. It's sort of real-world stories of people going off the map a little bit with their choices, with clown imagery, and there's such a melancholy to all of this work, and I really like that. Alex:                 Pete? Pete:                Yeah. This is so haunting and messed up in ways that I wasn't ready for. This mother-and-child-like relationship was very scary to me, and I kept waiting there to be kind of fun moments, and so far it's just a fucking nightmare, and I'm scared to keep reading this comic, because it was like … I feel like Ice Cream Man kind of encouraged this, and I'm a little worried about what the payoff is going to be. Justin:              Encouraged it. Alex:                 I don't think there's going to be a payoff. I think it's just an anthology of stories. Pete:                I think maybe the people reading it will slowly start to go insane and then paint their faces like clowns and then die horribly. Justin:              I guess the payoff is when you show up to do the show in full clown, which honestly I think we're pretty close to. Alex:                 What if all of these people in this book joined together in some sort of book, all of these crazy people who are clowns forming a group together. It would be some sort of insane clown posse. I mean, just to throw something out there, I feel like that's maybe how it could work at the last issue. Justin:              Huh. That'd be quite a league of extraordinary clowns. As long as they aren't fueled by some sort of small-market soda, I think we'll be fine. Alex:                 King in Black #4 from Marvel, written by Donny Cates, art by Ryan Stegman. This is a big issue here where once again Donny Cates redefines the Marvel universe, does a little bit of the old retcon action to come up with an explanation for something that has not made a lot of sense. Eddie Brock is lying dying. Dylan Brock, his son, has been trapped by Knull, the King in Black. All of the heroes are trying to fight back, and they finally get a foothold here as we enter the endgame of this title. What'd you think about all the twists and turns? Justin:              I love the reveal at the end of the issue. When I first started reading comics, and I will spoil this sort of twist at the end right now, but Captain Universe was what was on the stands right then. Spider-Man had just had the Captain Universe powers, and he was recovering form that, being sort of de-powered. I think the first Spider-Man issue I ever read, he was shooting upwards into space, having just lost the Captain Universe powers, and trying to web himself to a passing airplane, and so to have that make sense and maybe join the Marvel universe with Eddie Brock at the helm I thought was great. It was crazy to see the heroes turn it around so hard in this issue. Pete:                Yeah. I really thought this was great. Lot of cool reveals in this issue. The good guys are getting their butts kicked for a long time now. It's nice to see what kind of cards we're going to play here. So I was really, really impressed with this issue, a lot of cool stuff, and I can't wait to see how this whole thing unfolds. I went from being like “What is this?” to really I'm bored with this kind of event. So I feel like it was really cool, and then the backup story, the Demon Days, was also really cool as well. Alex:                 That was very fun. That seems to be a title that we're going to see going forward that is a Japanese, I would say, art-style-inflected X-Men tale, which I thought was kind of neat. Justin:              Yeah. Pete:                Yeah. Alex:                 Next up, Batman / Catwoman #3 from DC Comics, written by Tom King, art by Clay Mann. We're continuing this time-hopping story of Batman and Catwoman as they fight a war on three different fronts. I like this one. I felt like I had a better handle on what's going on in this issue than I did necessarily in the first two issues. How'd you guys feel about it? Pete:                I love this. I thought this was really amazing. I love the kind of tone that's even set up in the beginning with the double play, the double-spread title page of Bat and Cat. I think this is such a cool area to explore. If the Bat and Cat are together, how do they exist? You know what I mean? Is Catwoman have to be more good? Does Batman have to try to be more bad? How do they exist? Pete:                I think this is a very interesting position to put Batman and Catwoman, and the kind of reveal of Joker in the money suit … I lost it. I thought that was so funny and hysterical, and that whole “Paul Fleischman is dead. Oh, god. No. Who's Paul Fleischman?” … I'm really having a lot of fun with this book. I'm very, very impressed with it. Yeah. I can't say enough nice things about the art and everything that's going on. Justin:              Yeah. The art is so stylized. It's so composed in such a specific way, especially a story that moves around so much. It's so nice to see the art really reflecting a meticulous design style, but yeah. This reminds me of, oddly, the last episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the jumping between- Alex:                 Oh, okay. I can see that. Justin:              … jumping between different eras, telling one story, because it almost feels like in this comic that the characters are aware of the time jumps. I don't think they actually are, but it feels like they're very complicit in telling the story in this particular way, and I think that's what allows it to hang together so well as opposed to … Because it's jarring, jumping between the different time frames in this. There's very little visual direction, but there's just so much emotional direction where we're seeing so much happen at once, and at the same time, we're introducing Mask of the Phantasm here, which is a horrifying character [crosstalk 00:14:58]. Alex:                 I got to say that's the one thing for me that is not quite working about this book is I really like the Phantasm. It just right now feels like this element that I don't quite get how it fits in and how it's part of the story. Pete:                Just wait for it. All right? Don't- Alex:                 I'm sure. Yes. I know. It will pan out, and it's fine, but the Joker stuff in both the past and the present seems to connect. I get that the Phantasm is this outside thing, but it's such an out-sized presence, perhaps given because of its real-world weight of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm being the best Batman movie, that I felt like “Oh. This is its own story. What is going on with the Phantasm? Why are we not telling this story? Why is this only one third of the book?” Pete:                Yeah, but- Justin:              I think that is that exterior pressure, because to me, and I'm someone that didn't … I didn't watch that when I was younger. So it's not something I revere maybe as much. So just seeing the imagery that's there to be scary as opposed to being like “Look. I'm this character you know,” … I think it's working. Alex:                 All right. Fair enough. Pete:                Yeah. I agree. Just because something was amazing, don't let it hurt this story before we get what it's about, but I understand what you're saying and it makes sense. I'm just so happy we're getting this story, because we got little teases of it, and then DC was like “No. We're kind of doing something else.” So I'm so glad that, in this Black Label thing, we get this story that we were kind of given a little bit and then taken away. So I'm just so happy right now with what's going on in this book. Alex:                 Next up, Savage #1 from Valiant Comics, written by Max Bemis, art by Nathan Stockman. In this, we are picking up with Savage, a wild little boy who was left in a dinosaur land and came to the present. Now he's a social media star. Don't worry. There's still dinosaur battles in this book. I thought this was a lot of fun. What did you guys think? Pete:                Yeah. I- Justin:              Yeah. This … Pete:                Go ahead. Justin:              This is a lot fun. It reminds me of back in the day, the Ultraverse line of comics. This feels like strong pitch, strong concept, mixing a classic sort of comic book trope with a modern spin on it, and then the story's just really fun. Pete:                Yeah. I agree. It's fun to see kind of Savage exist now and how that would kind of look a little bit, but I'm glad that we still get to kind of see Savage do what Savage enjoys doing- Justin:              What Savage do. Pete:                … and it was … Yeah. The art's unbelievable. This is a very visually pleasing book, and it really delivers. Justin:              Oh, pleasing. So pleasing. Pete:                Yeah. Alex:                 Pete's not having any of it tonight. Justin:              Yeah. Alex:                 All right. Let's move on, talk about- Justin:              He's displeased. Pete:                Also, I'm very excited. We talked to Cullen Bunn about Shadowman, and we get a little peak of this in this. So I'm very excited about what that's going to be like. Alex:                 There you go. Guardians of the Galaxy #11 from Marvel, written by Al Ewing, art by Juan Cabal. In this issue, this is the second-to-lat issue, I believe, of this run on Guardians of the Galaxy. They are facing down dark olympian gods. Star Lord has been through some very weird stuff that's affecting him here. I know we haven't really can keeping up with this book. So what'd you think about this issue? Justin:              I feel like the Guardians of the Galaxy are the most emotional team in comic books. They're an emotion-first team, and this book is it. All the characters are just wide open talking about what they're going through, and they're like “We have to fight, but I really want to talk about this,” and I appreciate that. They're fully therapeutic. They're getting it out there. They're telling it like it is, and the art's wonderful. It really is a ragtag group of characters. Just it's used very well. Alex:                 Yeah. Pete? Pete:                Yeah. I mean, it's a lot of fun. Art's unbelievable. Yeah. Alex:                 Great. Great stuff. Stillwater #6 from Image Comics, written by Chip Zdarsky, art by Ramón K. Pérez. This is a big flashback issue kicking off of the cliffhanger from the last issue where a bunch of military dudes were right outside the town where nobody dies. In this issue, we find out how they got there, what's going on with it. As we talked to Chip Zdarsky about on the live show, the danger and the action ramps up in a big way in this book really quickly, which I continue to find very impressive. Justin:              Yeah. He's really done a good job of setting up a very explosive environment, the politics of Stillwater. Now we have these military guys on the outside of town. Our main character sort of doesn't want to be there, is unsettled. That combined with Ramón Pérez's very pastoral art, I think, makes for just a nice juxtaposition, and I like this book a lot. Pete:                Yeah. I agree. Just when you think “Okay. This is what's going,” it really amps it up even more. Art is unbelievable, and the kind of going between times, the adjustments it makes there, but also just in its storytelling and its panel movement … I cannot believe “Okay. Oh, sure. Yeah. Nobody dies. Okay. Oh, yeah, but now we're going to deal with this thing.” It's like “Wait. What?” It just keeps kind of keeping the action going, and it's crazy in all the right ways. Alex:                 All right. Now it is time for our Future State block as we have been doing the past couple of weeks. We've read through every single issue that came out from DC in Future State this week. We're not going to talk about all of them, but we're going to talk about some highlights, but if you're wondering what came out, we got Future State: Superman: Worlds of War #2, Immortal Wonder Woman #2, The Next Batman #4, Catwoman #2, Nightwing #2, and Shazam #2. So let's call some stuff out. Pete just dropped something on the floor. I don't know what's going on. Pete:                Yeah. I just accidentally dropped a pencil. I- Justin:              A pencil? Pete:                Yeah. Justin:              Oh, no. Alex:                 Were you writing on your phone with a pencil? Pete:                No. Justin:              But Pete, what about your sketching? Pete:                [inaudible 00:21:27]. Alex:                 Not a lot of people know this, actually, but Pete does these very funny caricatures of us during taping The Stack, and it's a delight. Justin:              You got to release those, Pete, because honestly, you're like the Colossus, famously a painter, of the podcast. Pete:                Sure. Sure. Anyways, so I really liked The Next Batman #4. I mean, having a black Batman is a great idea, but the part where Batman's just like “Listen. I'm going to be real with you guys,” I was like “Oh, this is so much fun,” but I really like how this is different. You know what I mean? Because Batman in this book has parents and is willing to maybe stab his mom to get what he needs to get done and keep Gotham safe, and I don't know if our Batman would do that. Pete:                So it's nice to see this Batman really stepping it up and be like “Sorry, ma. Sometimes you got to stab somebody for your beliefs,” and I don't know. I just think this is … The Future State here, I'm still having a lot of fun with the choices that they're making with these heroes, and this, The Next Batman, I'm having a great time with. Justin:              Well, it wasn't my favorite of the week, but I want to throw it to Nightwing #2, just piggybacking on Pete's comment, because Nightwing #2 features of this new Batman and Nightwing, and I love the dynamic that's created here, where our new Batman is sort of deferential to Nightwing. He's like “I'm just sort of figuring this out right now,” and Nightwing's like “I get it,” but our new Batman refuses to leave his side despite the fac that Nightwing … It's a great flip of the dynamic of Batman usually being in the leadership role and Nightwing being more of a sidekick. I just hadn't seen that before, and it really caught me off guard in a good way. Alex:                 So what was your favorite of the week then, Justin? Justin:              Superman: Worlds of War #2. This story- Pete:                Oh, yeah. Can we talk about it? Justin:              This story by Phillip Kennedy Johnson at the front end of this book is so fucking good. He just boils down Superman and Clark Kent to just … I'll tell you about what happened if you haven't read it. There are these two kids are sort of in Smallville exploring the area. They walk to the original Kent farm. In this world, obviously Superman's revealed that he's Clark Kent. Justin:              So they're trying to find the original Kent farm, because everybody knows he's Superman, and the main girl is recounting an article she read that Clark Kent wrote about the town, and it's so good, so interesting, about a soldier that went to war and how it affected his life, juxtaposed with images of Superman on Warworld just fighting, sacrificing everything to free some people who have been captured on Warworld against Mongul, and it's just … It's beautiful. It's drawn beautifully. It's so smartly written. It's so good. Pete:                I want to take a moment just to talk about the art alone. I mean, unbelievable, just absolutely. The character designs, Mongul and Superman, their faces … Just it fits so well with the story in such a great way. The paneling, the art flow … It's really, really well done. I was really impressed with this book. Alex:                 I'm surprised, Pete, that you didn't call out Michael Avon Oeming's art on the Midnighter story towards the back of this book, because we get kind of a little Midnighter going through time, and that seems exactly your jam. Pete:                Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah. If we can talk about that for a little bit, I mean- Justin:              No. I'm so sorry. We just ran out of time [inaudible 00:25:19]. We don't have time to talk about it. Pete:                Yeah. I thought that was unbelievable. Obviously, I'm a huge Midnighter fan, but just what a cool concept, and Oeming … His art is just fantastic. Justin:              I particularly like the old and young Midnighter versions that Oeming draws here. Alex:                 Super fun. It was really hard for me to choose, this week. I think, again, this is a very strong week for the Future State books. I kind of want to go for Immortal Wonder Woman #2 just because- Justin:              Another great book. Alex:                 … I think it was a gorgeous story, Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad, art by Jen Bartel, of Wonder Woman being the, I guess, second-to-last person in the universe, and it's just, like a lot of these things, a mission statement on Wonder Woman and what she means, but the one that I kind of left until the end and that I was like “Oh, right,” … The first issue of this was awesome, Shazam #2- Justin:              I knew you were going to say it. Pete:                Yeah. Alex:                 … by Tim Sheridan and Eduardo Pansica. Fucking great. So good. Justin:              Dark. Dark take. Alex:                 Oh, so dark. This is like the darkest Shazam story I've ever read in my life, but I love it, and I love the cliffhanger that it ends off up on, the way that the characters are drawn, just terrifying throughout, of Shazam and Billy Batson being split apart, where it leaves off, where it's leading into this Future State Black Adam book. Just put it in my veins. I'm having a blast reading it. Justin:              I agree. I liked that too, and I know we weren't going to talk about all of them, but I got to throw it out to Future State Catwoman #2 as well- Alex:                 Great. Justin:              … because it's a great story. It's a train robbery. We get to see Batman, Bruce Wayne, show up. Everyone thought he was dead. Catwoman reunites with him, such a great moment, great action. Onomatopoeias there for some reason, but it's very cool. It was just great. Alex:                 Yeah. I've been reading this book. The fact that it's all set on a train, did you feel like it was more of a Snowpiercer kind of book? Justin:              Oh, yes. That's what. I was like “Where's all the snow? They should be just piercing each flake?” Pete:                I did want to ask. In Immortal Wonder Woman, the art is so amazing, and I was like “What is this reminding me of.” It reminds me a little bit of She-Ra: Princess of Power on Netflix. The way the art kind of jumps off the page is really impressive, and I really liked it. Alex:                 Good stuff. Justin:              It reminded me a little bit of the Green Lantern book that we love so much, Far Sector. Pete:                Oh, yeah. Alex:                 All right. Let's move on, because we have a lot of other books to talk about. Thor #12 from Marvel, written by Donny Cates, art by Nic Klein, another one of my favorite books of the month, because you got Throg and Lockjaw in a huge fight with Donald Blake, who has [crosstalk 00:28:03]. So much fun just fighting through dimensions, just a blast to read, also so dark, but great. Pete:                The art and the way Throg is drawn … Some of the action stuff is just so phenomenal, like him catching the hammer. I had so much fun with this book. I didn't know it would be this great. I was really, really impressed. This was such a great comic. Justin:              I mean, time to redo your frog power rankings- Pete:                Yeah. Dude, are you kidding me? Justin:              … because Throg's rise, overtaking the WB frog, Kermit the, really just jumping in here with a big hammer swing. Alex:                 I want to give a particular shout out though to the first double-page … I think it's a double-page [inaudible 00:28:48], or maybe it's a single page, which shows a dissected, cut-open frog- Pete:                Oh, no. Justin:              Yeah. It's the first page of the issue. Alex:                 … with Throg's narration, and it's talking about the legacy of Throg and all the things that he's done and how he'll always be remembered, and you're reading that, and you're like “No. What happened? What did I miss? This is terrible,” and then if you flip to the next page, it's like “But he will not die today,” and you're like “Oh, you son of a bitch, Donny Cates.” Great, just a great, fun little feint right there at the top of the book, just delightful to read. Justin:              Well, it's very fun to have Throg be such a badass but also Throg get his little tail-less ass kicked in the middle of the issue, but Donny Cates is having so much fun in all of his work, really, but this issue particularly, and then the last panel I thought- Pete:                Oh, man. Justin:              I thought it was so cool, and this is a shout out to anybody, I don't know, for maybe one person who listens to this podcast, but Odin at the end of this issue looks like Key lime pie Steve, who drinks in B61 back in the day, a bar I used to bartend at, so much that it took me out of the issue for a hot sec. Pete:                Wow. Alex:                 That's amazing. Let's move on to another book then, Excellence #10 from Image Comics, written by Brandon Thomas, art by Khary Randolph. We've been loving this book, which is a very different, very spectacular take on magic. In this book, our main character is still on the run, still in bigger trouble every single issue. As we talked about with the last couple, they not exactly stepped away from this, but sort of layered this in without explicitly saying how much this book was about race and racism, and now they're starting to hit it hard, and it is so good. Pete:                This is phenomenal. I mean, the art and the paneling and the storytelling is great, the action sequences. I mean, there's this one page where someone gets just Street Fighter punched and is like “Fuck what you thought.” I've wanted to do that to somebody for so long. It's just so great, so much fun. Justin:              Sonic boom. You want to sonic boom someone. Pete:                Oh, man, do I. Justin:              Yes. I mean, I agree. The way this comic approaches race is so smart, so good, but I don't want to lose the other side of it. The way this comic approaches magic is also just a philosophizing about it and really going deep on all of the subjects that are sort of on the table in this comic. It really just is such a smartly written book and beautifully drawn. One of my favorites. Alex:                 Next up, Once & Future #16 from Boom! Studios, written by Kieron Gillen, art by Dan Mora. Pete, there's a badass grandma in this one. You want to talk about this book? Pete:                I mean, if you're not- Alex:                 You love grannies. Pete:                If you're not reading this book- Alex:                 You've got a real grandma fetish, one might say. Go ahead. Justin:              Yeah. Pete:                If you're not reading this book at this point, I don't know what's wrong with you. This book is just magic. Every time, every issue, unbelievable art, unbelievable storytelling, action packed, twisting and turning stories that you know and love in different ways. Yeah. I cannot wait for this to be a movie or a TV show. I need more Once & Future in my life. Justin:              “If you're not dating a badass grandma at this point, what are you doing with your life,” Pete says and wonders. This is maybe the most consistent comic book on the stands right now, and I mean that in a good way. Alex:                 Yeah. I agree. This issue continues to be great, unfolding the mythology of the book. Super, super fun. Alex:                 Let's move on to one I'm very excited to chat with both of you about for very different reasons, X-Men Legends #1 from Marvel, written by Fabian Nicieza, art by Brett Booth. Here's what this book is. First of all, this is a new book that Marvel is launching which finishes or continues stories that are in continuity. This is an in-continuity X-Men story that Fabian Nicieza began almost 30 years ago and never got to finish about the third Summers brother, which, spoiler, we get confirmation here is in fact Adam X the X-Treme. Justin:              Finally. Alex:                 Finally. So the thing that I'm very curious about is this felt like the perfect synthesis of things that the two of you like about X-Men. Pete, it's a bunch of X-Men killing each other and fighting each other in classic style. Justin, Adam X the X-Treme is in it. What'd you guys think about this book? Justin:              I will not rest until Adam X the X-Treme is hanging out on Krakoa, because this guy's going to be the number-one get on fuck island. Alex:                 Didn't you like him? Am I wrong about that? Justin:              No. I mean, it's a very '90s character. He's a backwards- Pete:                It's Justin turned up to 11 is what it is. He's got his hat backwards. He's doing hand stands, wearing tight T-shirts. This is all Justin. Justin:              That's very funny, Pete, and maybe makes me rethink a lot of my self worth, but yeah. I mean, I do like the character. I liked the introduction of this character back in the day, and so I appreciate that they're going back and making it real, and also this comic looks like it happened already. This looks like it's straight out of the '90s. Pete:                Yeah. That's what I thought. Justin:              [crosstalk 00:34:20]. Alex:                 I got to tell you. When I was putting together the stack and sending stuff to you guys, I looked this is, and I was like “Is this a reprint? What's happening? Is this a reprint? What's going on?”- Pete:                Yeah. That's what I thought. Alex:                 … and I did way too much research for just sending you guys a comic to be like “I got to make 100 percent sure this is actually a new book and not something that came out 30 years ago.” Justin:              But let me say the meticulous dedication to the poses that Cyclops is in are straight out of the '90s. Cable shows up here for sort of no reason. The Starjammers are in this, and it's like “Oh, of course. Why not?” They're just hanging around. It's perfect. It's a perfect version of what it is. Pete:                I thought this was a reprint, and then I scrolled down. I was like “Oh. Jordan D. White. This is real. Let's go.” Alex:                 What'd you think, Pete? Pete:                This was just '90s, over-the-top stuff, and I was just like “You know, it's a fun blast from the past,” like “Oh, I remember when comics-“ Alex:                 What do you want, Pete? What do you want out of an X-Men book? Justin:              What makes you happy? Alex:                 I don't even understand at this point. Pete:                You know, I was like “Yeah, but we've evolved from this. Why would you go back here?” Justin:              What? Just because hub cap and tippy toe and the other Joes aren't in this, can't you enjoy this for what it is? Pete:                First off, G.I. Joe and X-Men are completely different. How dare you? Alex:                 Are they? They both have very stupid names. Pete:                Sure. Sure. That doesn't mean that they are stupid though. Justin:              That's true. The thing is, all the X-Men are named non-compound words, and all the G.I. Joes are named compound words. Pete:                Yeah. Yeah. Alex:                 Great. I'm glad we settled that. Let's move on and talk about Aria: Heavenly Creatures from Image Comics- Pete:                Oh, here we go. Alex:                 … written by Brian Holguin, art by Jay Anacleto and Brian Haberlin. This is a very Top Cow book. Pete:                What is this? What did you make us do here? Alex:                 It's a very Top Cow book. It's about- Justin:              Perhaps the most Top Cow book. Alex:                 Yes. It's a fairy teaming up kind of with a witchblade, but not exactly a witchblade, in Victorian times, and it's a little bit sexy, but not too sexy. So you can feel okay reading it but be like- Pete:                No. You shouldn't. Alex:                 … “Oh, this is sexy.” Pete:                You shouldn't feel okay reading it. Alex:                 I don't know. I enjoyed reading this. I was surprised how much by the end I was like “Yeah. This is silly, but I'm having a fun time.” Justin:              Alex has been missing watching soft core pornography, apparently- Pete:                Yeah. I think so. Justin:              … because that's very- Pete:                This is just fucking boob comics. Justin:              Alex, because you put this in the stack, you should have to go read this on the Subway right now. Pete:                Yeah. You should. Yeah. You should- Justin:              You should have to go ride the Subway and read this. Pete:                … [crosstalk 00:36:54] up and down the line. Yeah. Alex:                 Yeah. Watching a little Skinemax on my phone while I'm doing it. Justin:              Just listening. Just listening to the Skinemax. That's all you need. Alex:                 Yeah. Okay. Pete:                Yeah. Watching USA Up All Night. Alex:                 Great. Justin:              Pete. Alex:                 Thanks for the review, guys. Justin:              No. I mean, the heart of this book … This book is … It has such a vibe. Pete:                It's just boobs. Justin:              Well, but there is a lot of that, but it has such a vibe, which I recognize that, and the art is so specific to what it is. I liked reading it. I'm not shitting on it, but it's very funny that you're like “This is good,” because there's a lot of poses where people be showing off their bodies. Alex:                 Me? No. I'm not saying it's good, necessarily. I'm just saying I had fun reading it. Justin:              This is the- Alex:                 There's a big Victorian werewolf who eats people. What? Justin:              Yeah. That part's cool. This is the OnlyFans of comic books, if you want to get in on that. Alex:                 The Last Ronin #2 from IDW, story by- Pete:                Here we go. Alex:                 … Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, and Tom Waltz, script by Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman, layouts by Kevin Eastman, pencils and inks by Esau and Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, and Kevin Eastman. This is, of course, continuing the story of the last turtle left alive. We got a cliffhanger in the last issue that April O'Neil is also alive, and we find out a lot more about that here. Pete, over to you. Pete:                All right. So first off, you can't have enough varying covers. You need varying covers. you need tons of them, and you need like 20 pages of it. No. I'm just so happy that Eastman and Laird have teamed back up to give us another turtle book. I could give a shit if it's any good or not. This is good. I'm loving every single moment of it, and it goes back to the black-and-white stuff. I am just in heaven, and it's just so great. I feel like I'm back in time and a little kid reading this in my bed. So it's just glorious, and I don't care if anybody doesn't like it or not. This is just my jam. Justin:              It's very funny that you say you feel like you're a little kid reading this, because this book is about being old, the images of Michelangelo, no longer a party dude, where he's just super wrinkly, he's all wrinkles, and they're just like “Remember? Oh, it's so great to be alive. Now we're old. I have a robot hand.” It's a wild read, but it's good. Alex:                 Yeah. I like this a lot. Definitely when it got to the flashback portion and the old-school turtles title, I was like “Oh, Pete's going to like this.” Pete:                Oh, my god. It was so great. Alex:                 But it's good. Like you're saying, there's a lot of danger there. There's a lot of nostalgia there. It's definitely way better than it could have been for a story that they had sitting on the shelf for decades at this point, but a lot of fun. Alex:                 Let's move on, talk about Black Widow #5 from Marvel, written by Kelly Thompson, art by Elena Casagrande with Rafael de Latorre. This, hands down, these fives issues, is one of the best Black Widow stories I have ever read in my entire life. Justin:              A hundred percent. I have loved this series so much. My favorite issue of the week. The way that this took Black Widow, who has sort of really tread this ground of “Well, someone captured her and erased her memories and reset her in a way that is difficult for her to come to grips with,” took that premise, and just emotionally elevated it to a point where you really feel for these characters, all of them. Even we have Hawkeye in here, who is straight up killing people, which I didn't know he did all the time. Maybe that was a special. Alex:                 Do you think he just kind of tapped people with his arrows? Pete:                Yeah. How did you- Justin:              Well, he usually hits them in the shoulder or the knee. In this, he's just like “Sorry, dude. Right in your frigging eye.” But you get to see him- Alex:                 Your good eye too. Justin:              Your good eye, your shooting eye. You get to see him be emotional here. You get to see Winter Soldier, which I love the Black Widow Winter, Soldier relationship. I look back fondly on the Ed Brubaker days of that, and to have it be sort of touched on here is super sad, but really, Black Widow … You're just feeling so much for her. I love the setup of the multiple Black Widows going forward. Truly, pick up this series. Alex:                 Pete? Pete:                Yeah. I mean, it's really great. The art's unbelievable. Amazing story, very touching. I really hope the movie is exactly like this run, and I will be very happy. Also- Justin:              Pete, that movie came out last year. Did you not watch it? Pete:                I didn't. I didn't. I was- Alex:                 Oh, really? It perfectly set up Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which also came out last year. Pete:                Huh. I guess I just was born today then, I guess. Alex:                 I guess so. Justin:              That's true. Alex:                 Anyway, before we- Pete:                I just want to point out though, they're on a carousel for one panel here, and there's a cat with this fish in his mouth, and I was just on a carousel with a cat and a fish in his mouth, and I didn't know that was a thing. So that was weird seeing that it's a real thing. Did you know that was a thing? Alex:                 What? Justin:              I don't know that what you just said is a thing. I don't know the words you said is a sentence. Pete:                Well, usually when you go on a carousel, they got horses, you got different animals you can ride, but I was like “Why the fuck is there a cat with a fish in its mouth that you can ride? This is crazy.” I've never seen it before, and then I went from riding that cat with a fish in his mouth to then seeing it in this comic book, and I was like “Life is weird.” Alex:                 Why were you at a carousel in the middle of a pandemic? Justin:              That's the real question. Pete:                Valentine's Day, and we had the carousel to ourselves, motherfuckers. Justin:              I bet you took- Alex:                 Oh, that is very romantic. Justin:              Yes. I bet you took a lot of carouselfies. Alex:                 Nice. Before we wrap up here, let's finish up with an accidental Kelly Thompson block. Sara the Teenage … Sara. Justin:              Sara. Pete:                Sara. Alex:                 Goodnight. Goodnight. Justin:              Sara the Teenage Human. Alex:                 Sabrina the Teenage Witch #2 from Archie Comics, written by Kelly Thompson, art by Veronica Fish and Andy Fish. This is finishing up the Something Wicked arc. Pete, you are showing us pictures of this cat and fish, but we cannot see them. They are too bright. Justin:              Yeah. Pete- Pete:                Okay. Well- Justin:              … I don't want to see all these Valentine's Day pictures. I know you have an active love and sex life. Please keep it to yourself. Alex:                 This is a good wrap-up to this book. I've really enjoyed it. I think, like we've talked about before, it's the perfect fusion of the Archie Comics style and the TV show style. It hits the nice middle ground there, and that continues with this issue. There's also a nice cliffhanger here that made me very poignant for the end of the Netflix series. Pete:                Yeah. I love this. This is really great, and to me, sometimes when you have these characters that are way in over their heads and fighting these battles they don't really belong in, Sabrina really pulls it off in a way that you can get behind and don't think it's like “Oh, this is just weird.” I'm really impressed with the way that they do Sabrina, not only in this comic, but in this run. So great. The art's unbelievable. Really fun storytelling, and makes me miss the TV show. Justin:              Yeah. Talking cat, but still good. Pete:                Oh, yeah. The talking cat was great. That line was really funny. Alex:                 If you'd like to support our show, patreon.com/comicbookclub. Also, we do a live show every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM to Crowdcast and YouTube. Come hang out. We would love to chat with you about comics. iTunes, Android, Spotify, Stitcher or the app of your choice to subscribe and listen to the show, @comicbooklive on Twitter, comicbookclublive.com for this podcast and many more. Alex:                 Until next time, we'll see you at the virtual comic book shop. Justin:              Hub cap. The post The Stack: GI Joe, Snow Angels And More appeared first on Comic Book Club. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookclub See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Dec 30th. An epic artist hang out with proceeds supporting The Hero Initiative Featruing Cartoonists Dan Brereton, Ryan Dunlavey, Tom Fowler, Cully Hamner, Gabriel Hardman, Phil Hester, Ibrahim Moustafa, Michael Avon Oeming, Jules Rivera, Walt Simonson, and Taki Soma!

Don't need money, don't take fame. Don't need no credit card to ride this train. It's strong and it's sudden and it's cruel sometimes, but it might just save your life. That's the POWERS of love!    This week Jeff and Dan will be talking Jimmy into the comic book series Powers by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming. To read along with us check out Powers Volume One, issues 1-6: Who Killed Retro Girl?   On the next episode Dan is talking Jimmy into the HBO series Euphoria! To watch along with us check out Season One episodes 1-4.   Please remember to subscribe, rate and review or send us an email (talkmeinto@gmail.com) and we will read it on the next episode. For updates and generally joyful humor, follow the show (@talkmeinto) or the hosts (@sonnavafitch @danny_breakdown @JEFFFFF27) on Twitter. Artwork provided by Twitter user @wikirascals. Theme provided by Hostage Calm. Additional music provided by Olde Dogs (www.oldedogsmusic.com). 00:00 - Intro 04:40 - Talking Ourselves Into 12:25 - Preread: Powers 20:20 - Postread: Powers 56:35 - Next Episode: Euphoria 58:45 - Outro

"Porno-Konsum ist ein großer Teil meines Jobs", sagt Madita Oeming im ZEIT-ONLINE-Podcast Frisch an die Arbeit. Die 36-jährige Kulturwissenschaftlerin erforscht als wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin der Universität Paderborn die Rolle von Pornografie in der Gesellschaft und hält Seminare dazu. Um wissenschaftlich arbeiten zu können, sichtet sie fast täglich pornografische Inhalte. "Wenn ich einen Vortrag halte, brauche ich gutes Material. Gerade wenn ich spezielle fünf Sekunden suche, um mein Argument zu belegen", sagt Oeming. Oeming schrieb ihre Masterarbeit zu Moby-Dick-Pornos, "was eine große Freude war", wie sie sagt. Weshalb Oeming sich dann den Porn Studies, den Porno-Wissenschaften, verschrieben hat, dazu aktuell promoviert und Seminare anbietet. Einfach sei es jedoch nicht, zu Pornografie und ihrer kulturellen Rolle in der Gesellschaft zu forschen: "Es gibt genau eine englische Fachzeitschrift zu Pornografie. Die ist in Deutschland ausschließlich an einer Universität zugänglich." Mit der Bezeichnung "Porno-Wissenschaftlerin" habe sie sich gut arrangiert, sagt Oeming im Podcast: "Ich identifiziere mich sehr stark mit meinem Forschungsgebiet." Doch manches irritiere auch: "Menschen schicken mir manchmal interessante pornografische Aufnahmen. Das ist schon komisch, weil das ja heißt, dass sie beim Masturbieren an mich denken!"

Sie ist Pornoforscherin an der Universität Paderborn. Porn in Paderborn? Ja, das geht. Die Literaturwissenschaftlerin, Jahrgang 1986, stieß bei der Lektüre von Herman Melvilles berühmtem Roman "Moby Dick" immer wieder auf Porno-Verweise und einschlägige Anspielungen im Internet. (Wdh. vom 09.03.2020)

The creators of Powers join me for a spoiler free discussion about their final OGN on the series and a retrospective of the comic and tv shows. How does it all end?

Oeming talks about the legend of making The After Realm for Image Comics and Kickstarter. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theafterrealm2/the-after-realm-quarterly-3?ref=discovery&term=the%20after%20realm   Feel great with FEALS CBD Products available at https://feals.com/sandman Heavy Metal's new twisted anthology podcast Wonderwerk is available now! https://www.heavymetal.com/wonderwerk/

More of Mainframe Comic Con's Preview night featuring a loose conversation with Brian Bendis David Mack Mike Oeming Taki Soma Matt Fraction Kelly Sue DeConnick and David Walker

Featuring: Tom King, Julie Benson, Shawna Benson, Liam Sharp, Dan Slott, Shelly and Philip Bond, Mike Oeming, Taki Soma,Tim Seeley, Chris Cantwell, Robert Venditti Vita Ayala, Ben Percy, Amy Chu, Phil Jimenez, Franco! and more...!

This episode is a testament to the generosity and the collaborative nature of the pornography studies community. When I was browsing Twitter one day, I saw that a previous guest on the show, Madita Oeming, was going to be at the Berlin Porn Film Festival hosting a live interview with pornography start extraordinaire Jiz Lee! I messaged her immediately and asked if she would be kind enough to record the interview for the podcast, and she agreed to do so. I’ve personally never been to the Festival, so I was very happy to be able to hear what’s going on across the pond and I’m even happier to be able to bring this special exchange to all of you. This podcast wouldn’t exist without Madita and and Jiz’s kindness. The focus of this talk is about how Jiz straddles the divide between pornography and academia. They’re uniquely qualified to address this topic considering that they’re not only one of the biggest queer porn stars in the world, but they’ve also been published in a multitude of academic books and journals. Jiz is the editor of Coming Out Like a Porn Star (ThreeL Media, 2015), a contributor to the Feminist Porn Book (Feminist Press at CUNY, 2013), the co-editor along with Rebecca Sullivan (another former guest on the show) of Porn Studies’ special issue titled “Porn and Labour.” This is a thoughtful and funny interview where Jiz talks about the special privileges afforded to porn performers who engage with academia, the similarities between pirating both pornography and academic articles, and what it’s like to have one of your campus visits covered by Fox News!     JizLee.com Jiz Lee’s Twitter Coming Out Like a Porn Star Feminist Porn Book An excerpt from "Uncategorized: Genderqueer Identity and Performance in Independent and Mainstream Porn" Lee’s contribution to the Feminist Porn Book  Other writing “Porn and Labour” issue of the Porn Studies journal co-edited by Jiz Lee and Rebecca Sullivan Pink Label TV Transparent Madita’s work about the fallacy of “porn addiction” mocked in the National Review Girls Do Porn Case   facebook.com/AcademicSex @PornoCultures Help Support the Podcast! More info about Brandon Arroyo

Reviews: Angel #1, Dick Tracy Forever #1, Ignited #1, Jughead's Time Police #1&2, She Said Destroy #1, Usagi Yojimbo #1   We haven't done many comic reviews over the last couple of months, so we thought we'd dedicate a couple of podcasts to it! Once again, Jimmy recruits some of his favorite audio reviewers.  Thanks to Melissa, Barry, Courtney, Heidi, Emily and Jon! SPOILERS ABOUND FOR EVERY TITLE!!! Tune in to hear everyone's thoughts on all of these comics. Good/bad/in the middle? Check us out! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Also, get a hold of us!   Thanks for listening!

In this episode, Anthony and I discuss the first story arc of Powers, "Who Killed Retro Girl?" Created by Bendis and Oeming, this story follows detectives Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim as they try to solve the murder of one of the super-powered heroes of the city, Retro Girl.

Ron Huddleston, Chief Partner Officer at Twilio, joins the AppChat Podcast to discuss the importance of building out ecosystems and the differences he has seen building multiple ecosystems for various companies. Other subjects include breaking down various ecosystem models, how Huddleston's previous experience prepared him for working at Twilio, and the importance of trust and credibility in the industry. Here are the key topics, with timestamps, as well as the full interview transcript: Key Topics 00:00-01:58 Introducing the AppChat and our guest, Twilio's Chief Partner Officer Ron Huddleston 1:59-3:28 The challenges of indirect software sales 3:29-8:43 The importance of software companies building out an ISV and/or SI ecosystem 8:44-12:34 The differences in building out an ecosystem for Salesforce and Microsoft 12:35-17:10 The differences between a pure, cloud-based ecosystem, and a hybrid model including cloud and on-premise 17:11-20:02 How much Huddleston uses his previous experiences building ecosystems for Twilio, and how much he has to continue to discover and invent 20:03-25:54 The importance of trust and credibility when building out ecosystems 25:55-29:06 Building an app and sticking to the commitment you made to your ecosystem 29:07-30:22 Closing out and how to get in touch Full Transcript Intro: 00:01 You're listening to the AppChat, a podcast focused on SaaS growth strategies, plus successes in the Salesforce ecosystem, and beyond. Here's your host, CodeScience CEO, Brian Walsh. Brian Walsh: 00:14 All right. We're back on the AppChat Podcast. And today, I'm joined by Ron Huddleston, who, Ron, you have an incredible background when it comes to building out ISV ecosystems. Let me get this right. So you're currently the Chief Partner Officer at Twilio. Ron Huddleston: 00:31 Yeah. Brian Walsh: 00:32 Before that, CVP, One Commercial Partner organization at Microsoft. Ron Huddleston: 00:35 Yeah. Brian Walsh: 00:36 SVP of the AppExchange at Salesforce. Ron Huddleston: 00:38 Yep. Brian Walsh: 00:39 And started the OEM, ISV program at Oracle, where you were vice president. Ron Huddleston: 00:44 Yes. Brian Walsh: 00:45 Are there any bigger partner programs in the world to run than that? Ron Huddleston: 00:51 Amazon, maybe, now? Brian Walsh: 00:53 Maybe now, yeah. Ron Huddleston: 00:54 Yeah. Yeah, they're breaking new ground. But the Microsoft thing was definitely a big one. They've all been really fun. I do think that the folks at companies that get to build ecosystems, ISV, or SI, or any type of partner ecosystem, I think that it's probably the most fun job you can have at a bigger technology company, because you get exposed. It's not the same thing over and over. You get to really understand how to work with other folks and understand what's important to them. And so I stuck with it -- it was probably my 20th job at Oracle -- and when I found it and started building it, I just realized it was the most fun, like exciting, interesting, technically satisfying, from a business perspective, satisfying thing you could really do. So just from a personal perspective, I think it's probably the most fun you can have in cloud technology for a job. Unless you're like the CEO of a startup, or doing what you're doing, like building things. But if you're going to work for somebody else, I think it's a great job. Brian Walsh: 01:59 But I mean, I find that sometimes indirect sales, especially indirect software sales, can be extremely challenging. Like you're not actually doing that final license sale. You're lining up the partners and enabling them. I mean, is there something wrong in your head? Ron Huddleston: 02:14 No, there's not. It does carry its own set of complexities. But the strange thing is, whether it was on-premise or the cloud, those complexities repeat each other over, and over, and over again. So there really, after 20-odd years of doing this, there's not much you haven't seen, because where things get complicated is around human behavior, not necessarily around bringing really great solutions, and great partners, and technology together to solve problems. That's kind of the easy part, just to like address customer problems. Where things get a little crunchy is how human start, where things can get complicated, is when you're aligning different people, different organizations, different teams. That's where things get a little more complicated. I think everything up to that is not as complicated. But again, it's a pattern. And the patterns tend to repeat themselves. So you can sort of see around corners, the longer you do these kind of things, which makes it easier every time. This is, what, my third, fourth- Brian Walsh: 03:18 Fourth one. Ron Huddleston: 03:19 It kind of makes it a little easier every time you do it because you know, I probably made 10,000 mistakes. And you only make the same mistake three or four times. Brian Walsh: 03:29 Eventually, you get it right. So why an ecosystem? I mean, there's a huge amount of effort and investment. Why is it important for a software company to actually build out an ISV and/or SI ecosystem? Ron Huddleston: 03:44 Yeah. There's a lot of reasons. It depends on, are we talking about the technology company themselves that want to build an ecosystem? Brian Walsh: 03:51 Yeah. Ron Huddleston: 03:52 So you have to be a bigger company in order to do that, obviously. It's really hard to do it, otherwise. You can certainly build a small, little portfolio of folks that you work with if you're a smaller company. But there's nothing better than a broad ecosystem because it does a couple things. First things first is, if there's any way, shape, and form you're trying to prove out the sort of platform nature of the technology that you're trying to provide, the long road to get to that level of credibility is trying to do it yourself; trying to hire all the people in the world with the right expertise to sit down with a customer and explain to them, "No, bet on us. We're future-proofed. And you can do all of these things with us. We're a platform," it is really hard. The easier way to do it is to work with an ecosystem of technology, or IP, ISVs, and SIs; and the ones that are trusted in the space, that are maybe already trusted by the customers that you want to serve, and work with them to have them understand how your platform can help. And then build what's essentially, if those are the ingredients, then you know, the recipe book is how all those ingredients come together to help essentially cook a meal, like serve a beautiful meal for the customer, right? And so that's why it's a cool job. You get to be the chef, kind of. That's a good analogy, I'm going to use that analogy -- 20 years, I just discovered a new analogy. But you know, if you think about it that way, as ecosystems, as, you know, sure, you can call it one broad ecosystem, but really, it's a bunch of small solution maps, or what I was just calling recipes. It's a group of technologies, partners, companies, expertise, that solve particular problems. And no one company can really solve anything complicated on their own, really. Like it is just hard to do that over, and over, and over, and over again. You know, if you want to be broad-based, it makes it ... If you want to be a broad solution, like a platform, it makes it really hard to also solve problems, complicated problems, by yourself, right? If you want to stay really narrow and be like a really verticalized application or SI- Brian Walsh: 06:12 You can go super deep. Ron Huddleston: 06:13 You can go super deep. You can solve things on your own. But if you want to be big and broad, it's just the permutations of options are almost impossible. That's why ecosystems are so important. They drive credibility, but they also are the only way to solve really hard, complicated problems if you're trying to solve a lot of them. Those are the two reasons that it's great for the partner, or the platform, but it's great for all these companies that are sort of looking. It's great for cutting-edge companies. Like in the cloud, it was a wonderful thing. People actually all start relational databases. Like there were a lot of companies that were building up relational database practices back in the day. And there were these little, small startups that were building relational databases, or were driving Java for, like J2EE or something. Brian Walsh: 07:05 Yep. Ron Huddleston: 07:05 And I know this is going to sound really old. Brian Walsh: 07:07 We, you and I sound ancient right now. But keep going. It's great. We're reminiscing. Ron Huddleston: 07:10 Yeah. But the point was these companies, these smaller companies that would never have -- it was going to be a long time until they were big enough to where people really get exposed to them. Having an ecosystem, being part of a partner's ecosystem, of a vendor, a big platform's ecosystem, helped the companies that were the best, the most innovative, had the best technologies, sort of punch above their weight class, and could help change the market really quickly. So it's this symbiotic relationship between these platform players that need partners for the two, you know, for lots of reasons, but the two reasons I highlighted; but it's also great for partners, for ISVs and SIs, because it helps the best rise to the top. It helps the best innovate. And you know, it also, if you are the type of SIs or ISVs that are specialized in a particular place or industry, it helps you get access to customers where you might not get access before. So it's a real symbiotic thing when it's working really well, and nothing stands in the way, and there's no friction. And it's really just about sort of, you know, matchmaking. Like, you know, you're a cook. All your ingredients are great. You cook the best stuff. Everything, your oven works. Your waiters are awesome. I guess waiters would be sales in this analogy, right? Brian Walsh: 08:31 Yeah. Ron Huddleston: 08:32 Yeah. The waiters understand stuff. Brian Walsh: 08:35 Sales ops are your line chefs, right? Ron Huddleston: 08:37 Right, there you go. I'll work this analogy out at some point. I think it has legs. I'm thinking about it. Brian Walsh: 08:44 There's always an interesting thing, like if I compare where Microsoft has embraced their ecosystem, and I look at where Salesforce has, around capital efficiency, right? Because in the Salesforce world, there was almost no investment, outside of VC investment, almost no investment of, "Hey, let's invest in you to bring this product to market." Whereas we've seen, even on the Oracle and Microsoft side, lots of investment into ISVs to help them get started with an ecosystem. Ron Huddleston: 09:09 Yeah. I think Salesforce would argue, particularly back in the day when they were building it up, when we were building it up, where we didn't really have as much market presence. There are two things that companies can do to invest in you. They can certainly invest time or technology, but they can also -- I'm sorry, they can certainly invest money or technology, but they can also invest time and access. And at Salesforce, the way I pulled the AppExchange together was, you know, there were limitations around technology, and dollars, and investment dollars, which eventually got solved in one way, or shape, or form. But there was really very little limitation to time and access that could be provided. And so the big strength that Salesforce had at the time was, they were leading in the cloud. So they had, they were innovators, had access and had a sales organization. So a lot of the beginnings of that ecosystem were built around people receiving essentially go-to-market support, help, and guidance from Salesforce, in return for their technical investment in building something with Salesforce. And that was the trade-off that they made. Microsoft is a different beast, and they grew up through partners, and they always had partners. But they'd gotten to such a point where they were so dominant in the marketplace that they'd essentially become demand fulfillment. The partner channel was super optimized for really educated customers to come in and want to buy something. And they would go to very specific partners that would then fulfill that. And it was very educated demand fulfillment to a very educated market, which is entirely different than what we were setting up the One Commercial Partner team to do, which was to create demand. So, instead of having 1,000 points of connection with super-specialized partners, have partners that could show up in front of customers and say, "What problem do you have? What question do you have for my answers?" And then they could represent the full cadre of everything that Microsoft could do. You know, it's a huge technology portfolio. So they were just really limited historically because partners had to sort of pick their lane and stick with it. And so one of the things that's a great thing we did there, was break that down and only create very few lanes. So partners were expected to really lead the way and create demand. But in order to do that, we also had to change the finances. We had to change economics. We had to create a lot of incentives for the direct sales organization to work with them, which is a big part of it, too, because selling stuff, versus taking orders, is expensive. And so we had to make sure the partners could make money doing it. And so in that particular case, you know, the trade-off was, being able to represent Microsoft across the board is a tough thing to do, but if they'd invest their time, and energy, and attention, in learning how to sell and create demand, we made the economics work so that they could get a payback, which is a little different. It's almost the opposite of what Salesforce was doing. And so they're just very different situations. Brian Walsh: 12:29 Got it. Ron Huddleston: 12:30 But like I said, you know, you do this long enough, you've seen almost everything. Brian Walsh: 12:35 Well, let's actually study one more difference within that, which is you had a pure, cloud-based model. And then within Microsoft, you actually had this hybrid. You had cloud, right, like this emerging cloud ecosystem with Office 365 and Dynamics. You also had this gigantic on-prem, you know, basis of licenses. Is there a huge difference between those two types of ecosystems? Or are they basically the same? Ron Huddleston: 12:59 No. There really isn't. I mean, the economic models are different. But enough folks, I would say 8 years ago, 10 years ago -- God, 10 years ago, 15? I don't know ... Like 2008, 10 years ago, 2007, 2006, '07, '08, that's when the financial model differences, forget the technical differences, the relationship differences, the functional selling -- Brian Walsh: 13:24 Customer success, all that stuff. Ron Huddleston: 13:25 All that stuff, the actual financial models of how people expected to generate revenue and make a living, being a technology company or a consulting company, they were so different between cloud and on-prem that moving financial models was the primary thing holding people back from taking the step to the cloud. People liked the technology, but they couldn't take the jump. Like a lot of companies failed because they tried to put a foot in both camps, and you just couldn't. There's one financial model, on-prem, it's very short-term focused; one financial model, cloud, is very longterm focused. And if you're trying to serve both masters, you'll make bad, suboptimal decisions. And so I had a bunch of rules about the cloud. One of them was, you have to pick one or the other. You have to like, divest to one or the other. I think those days have changed, where even if people are doing a lot of on-prem stuff, like there's even the Microsoft SIs, or resellers, they've worked it out in such a way, through financing, through managed services, through something that they're emulating software as a service, financially. And so the technological flip is just a matter of time and opportunity. It wasn't a matter of this big burden, I'm sorry, barrier, an obstacle which is changing their whole financial model, which is really hard. I mean, I literally had sought out, the same way you guys were product development outsourcers, I'd sought out financial development outsourcers, as well, that helped to finance companies through the gap, like the two or three-year revenue gap when they make the transition, because the financial model transition was a lot harder than the technical transition, back in the day. Now, I don't think it's as hard. At Microsoft, it's, you know, some of the companies are so big, I think that the inertia is probably harder than the finances, you know? Just the daily grind, inertia of things makes things tough. Brian Walsh: 15:17 And I think some of your work in there really paid off; the Lighter Capital helping with MapAnything. Ron Huddleston: 15:22 Oh, yeah, I bet they made a crushing at that. Yeah. Brian Walsh: 15:26 Yeah. And now, I think Series D, and they're gigantic. Ron Huddleston: 15:29 Is Lighter Capital doing pretty well? I haven't talked to those guys in a while. Brian Walsh: 15:32 I think they're doing great. Ron Huddleston: 15:34 It's a great business model, I mean. Brian Walsh: 15:35 It is. Ron Huddleston: 15:35 Yeah. Brian Walsh: 15:36 It's interesting. They were so far ahead on that non-equity based funding for it. And now, I see Indie.vc. I see a lot of players coming in. Ron Huddleston: 15:44 Yeah. No, it's a good way to do it. Here at Twilio, there's so much. The funny thing is, it really feels a lot like the initial cloud, call it, revolution in 2007-08. Brian Walsh: 15:57 Yep. Ron Huddleston: 15:58 It's just in communications. And there's a lot of folks that are in the exact same spot; not that they're in financial, a big financial difference, model-wise. But telecommunications is like a different financial model, in a weird way. It's very like, usage oriented. It's got spikes. It's got a lot of weird things they're not used to, particularly if people are selling cloud seat kind of stuff. It's just a different sort of world for them. And a lot of folks don't have specialization in a lot of these things. And so, you know, building things like PDOs and financial development outsourcers are things that we're going to have to do here at Twilio as well, because there's thousands and thousands of ISVs and SIs that, whether they know it or not, are going to be using Twilio in the next couple years, because it just fits. Everybody who's moved to the cloud, there's probably an opportunity -- and touched a customer in some way, shape, or form -- there's an opportunity for them to work with Twilio. And you know, we've just got to make it easier. That was one of the things that, you were around at Salesforce when we did that, too. We just made it easier for people. Brian Walsh: 17:04 Totally. Well, let's jump into Twilio while we're here. You're assembling an amazing team. Ron Huddleston: 17:10 Yeah. They're good people. Brian Walsh: 17:11 It seems like you're applying all of your lessons from the past, you know, experiences building an ecosystem. How much do you have to continue to discover and invent? How much of this is just pulling out your playbook and running with it? Ron Huddleston: 17:24 You know, a lot of it is playbook stuff. I will say, the difference between communications technology, like it carries a lot of legacy with it. Like there is, you know, a whole lot of underlying technology that, if you're unfamiliar with it, which I am, you know, like the seven layers. That's just, there's a bunch of crazy stuff. Brian Walsh: 17:45 Yep. Ron Huddleston: 17:45 If you're unfamiliar with it, there's a lot going on there that has significant material impacts on business models that could work or couldn't work. So you bring the same playbook, and then you have this set of realities, constraints, and the technology as it exists, that then make things viable or not viable. And it is, you know, it's fundamentally a bit of a different thing, because it's a very API-forward company, which leads people down a lot of weird roads. Like what is an SI? What is an ISV? Which, by the way, we can get philosophical on this. Brian Walsh: 18:23 How do you differentiate? Ron Huddleston: 18:26 Like at Salesforce, people would just like get their heads wrapped around an axle, because you know, back in the day, when we were creating the partner program, I always tried to explain reselling, and OEMing, and trying to get like, I think, Veeva kept it on their first contract to sell Salesforce underneath their technology set. People were like, you know, "The technology is staying here. These are ours, it's in our -- this isn't the Salesforce," what do they call those things? I'm sorry. Do you remember those, at Salesforce, they have a name for the PODs that- Brian Walsh: 18:59 The ORGs? Ron Huddleston: 19:01 Not the ORGs, but whatever. It's Salesforce property. We're running it in our own data centers. Brian Walsh: 19:07 Right, in a POD. Ron Huddleston: 19:07 So how are you reselling anything? I'm like, "Well, it's, you know," even, and then licensing, which is just a human, you know, construct. It's not real. Like all these things, applying them to the cloud, it's semi-nonsensical, but it is a way to put these constructs together, and rules together, that help enable ecosystems to exist and thrive. There's something that they can sell, that they can put margin on, that they can build a business on. There's something that they can learn about, and then configure, and then leave with the customer. If you don't have the concepts of ownership, and passing ownership, and control, which don't make a lot of sense when you think about like a multi-tenant cloud, but if you don't have those things, you can't build businesses. And so, you know, a lot of it is building the faith that these human constructs exist, and that you can sell them, which for API companies, is a new thing. Like, I don't think AWS even does that yet. Brian Walsh: 19:59 No. But- Ron Huddleston: 20:00 It's weird, I know that I'm like waxing philosophical, but it is a- Brian Walsh: 20:03 But I mean, it all comes down to trust, right? Ron Huddleston: 20:06 Yeah. Brian Walsh: 20:07 You have to build trust with this partner that you will create these things, that you gave them your word, that they can actually invest millions of dollars to go forward with it. Ron Huddleston: 20:16 Yeah. Trust and credibility, in this space, is kind of what it's all about. And it's a thing about companies, too, is you know, they can, over time, their perspective on the importance of ecosystems and what the value is can change. But if you're leading up those ecosystem efforts, like you've got to try hard as hell to live up to the commitments, and consistencies, and visions that you put out there -- to the point where you're willing to sort of, you know, throw yourself in front of a train to make sure that like, you know, people don't change the philosophies you put in place, because people are betting their lives, their businesses, on what you're laying out as the vision and value of the partner program you're putting out there. And you're making these commitments, and anything that drives inconsistency, anything that's not committed, anything that violates trust in those things is a huge, huge problem. Like you know, you can spend years building up the trust that's required to build an ecosystem. And in one day, you can blow it. So that's, by far, the most important thing that you need people to understand who are setting up partner programs, or building teams, or you know, maybe looking to hire someone to build up their organization. Make sure that she or he, you know, the first thing out of their mouth needs to be like trust and consistency because without that, none of the rest of this really matters. Brian Walsh: 21:48 Yeah. And it's also, I think, the confidence that these larger organizations are actually going to stay in it, right? Ron Huddleston: 21:54 Yeah. Brian Walsh: 21:55 You know? This is not going to be a one-year test, then we're going away, because we're asking the likes of major companies to actually invest their future in this opportunity. Ron Huddleston: 22:04 Yeah. And you know, a lot of them don't take the jump and wait a year, wait two years, to see. I mean, the cloud took forever. It took four or five years for the bigger companies to jump. Brian Walsh: 22:15 Yep. Ron Huddleston: 22:15 But now, things are happening a lot faster. But there'll still be some companies that'll wait a year or two to jump. But you'll recall this, the ones that made it first in the cloud, the ones that were really successful were all the first ones, the people who moved fast. The consulting companies that moved fast, the ISVs that moved fast, the companies that jumped in there and took the risks were the ones that succeeded in the end. The ones that played on the sidelines, unless they were super dominant, they were playing catch-up, and still are. Brian Walsh: 22:44 And you watch the outcomes and success of those. ServiceMax, I mean, that was coming about when Service Cloud wasn't even fully baked, and almost a billion dollar exit. Veeva went public. DocuSign just went public. Ron Huddleston: 22:56 Yeah. Those were all the early ones, yeah. Brian Walsh: 22:58 Yep. They all came in. All right. So there is a PayPal Mafia: Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Reid Hoffman. Ron Huddleston: 23:06 I don't know any of them very well. Brian Walsh: 23:08 Yeah, I know, but that's your social circle, I'm sure. You go surfing with them. I propose that there's actually an AppExchange Mafia as well now. We have you out there, Avanish at ServiceNow, Leyla took back over of the AppExchange, Todd Surdey is now at FinancialForce, Sean Hogan at Nintex, Brian Snyder at GE. That original crew, those people who were there on those early, Wild West days, are out there in the SaaS ecosystems. Ron Huddleston: 23:36 Yeah. Ross Eberhart's over here. Mike Rosenbaum's running product over there. Like, yeah, and a lot of trust amongst all those people. And we will, I'd love to work with any of those people. Avanish and I are always trying to figure out how we can do stuff. That's just a great group of people that, I think a lot of them learned a ton through that phase. There's even some folks that were from Oracle that are still in the Mafia, if you're going to call it that. Like, because Molly Bellero Fischer is still doing it. Ross is still doing it. Anders is still doing it. Ryan Begin's still doing it. Annie Heppberger, I think, runs partners now for Oracle. Brian Walsh: 24:23 Brent Floyd. Ron Huddleston: 24:24 Yeah. There's a lot going on; Kevin Walsh is still doing it. He's an Oracle person. Yeah. There are- Brian Walsh: 24:30 Joanne Pantuso is still doing it. Ron Huddleston: 24:32 That's right. Once you get a taste of working in ecosystems and partners, you don't really want to do other stuff, just because it's so fulfilling to help companies do something new, and grow, and to be part of their story. It's really fun. Like I said in the very beginning, in the opening when we were talking, if you could, you know, I had a lot of, I probably had 15 different jobs at Oracle. And this was by far the most fun. And I was a young man back then. And I had decided like, this is the thing I wanted to do. If I was going to work for somebody else, this is it, because there's no beating it. Like there's nothing, there's really not beating it once you get it going. That's why Twilio is so exciting, by the way. It's like the new Wild West. Brian Walsh: 25:13 Yep. Ron Huddleston: 25:13 It just reminds me of like the cloud. And a lot of those people are the same people, the Mafia you just mentioned, there's a lot of those same people that all recognize the same thing I do. Which means like, you're not running around saying, "Oh, trust me. This happened before." There's a bunch of people here that have lived it and are like, "Oh, my God. This is so interesting. It's exactly the same. And let's-" Brian Walsh: 25:34 We get to do it right the first time, this time. Ron Huddleston: 25:35 Yeah, yeah. Here's the thing -- we did it right before. I think I'd argue the Microsoft One Commercial Partner is set up the right way. We'll do it right here, it's just things are happening much faster. Instead of taking three or four years, it's happening in like 12 months. Brian Walsh: 25:52 Wow. Ron Huddleston: 25:53 It may be faster. It's crazy. Brian Walsh: 25:55 Well, and strategically, like technology-wise, adding in the whole serverless infrastructure, so you can host code now. You've got Flex, so you can start building out sort of UIs and the whole thing. Ron Huddleston: 26:05 Yeah, it has a face. Yep, that's a real thing. You'd be surprised how much having a face matters to LOB leaders, versus developers. Brian Walsh: 26:12 And I bet it also adds to some of the defensibility of it, right? Like, there's less attrition as you start adding even more and more layers, people can get deeper into your system, rather than just an API. Ron Huddleston: 26:23 Yeah. The thing about Flex, the most interesting part about Flex is the underlying technology. I don't want to give percentages, but I'd say a vast majority of the underlying technology has been around, you know, started 10 years ago, and it's been enhanced ever since. The moment that Flex came out, where it was a way to put a face, a UI, on what was possible in Twilio, the interest was a thousandfold, because it opened up people's minds to what Twilio was. Versus an API, which is a very difficult thing for non-developers to understand. You put a UI on it and explain what it is, you've just cracked open a huge market that should have been already there. It's just, people didn't understand what this, what Twilio could possibly do. And Flex wrapped that up nicely. Now the challenge is, when a platform, an API platform, which is a beautiful offering for SIs and ISVs, because it's like the cookbook that you need to do anything, which is just perfect for a partnering system. Brian Walsh: 27:21 And it's so damn easy to use at Twilio. Ron Huddleston: 27:23 Yeah. When you build an app, though, you, no matter what, unless you're picking exactly the right space, are probably going to bounce up into some elbows of people that have already built on your platform. And so, same problem at Salesforce, same problem at Microsoft, when you start expanding what you do and putting, you know, faces on things, and making new applications, like you mentioned Service Cloud and ServiceMax, that is a, you've got to tread very slowly, and know what you're doing, and make very considered decisions, because the chance that you are violating a commitment that you made to your ecosystem is probably very high. Now Twilio had never had a partner program, and really made a ton of commitments in that direction. But understanding the effects of things like this, and what's important, and what's not, is critical to our business going forward. And George and Jeff totally get it and understand. And so the idea of having governance, like a buy-build partner governance, and the impact that doing any of those actions, besides partner, if you buy or build, taking all that into consideration is one of the reasons why I feel really good about being here. Because they're super dead serious about it. And what they're focused on is, if they do buy or build, they're doing it underneath, like on the platform layer. Like even Flex, sure, it's a face. It's a UI. But if you really look at it, it's like an SDK for a UI. You know what I mean? It's not really a -- you could technically use it out of the box, but no one will. Brian Walsh: 29:02 Right. It's just the starting point. "Here, let me help you imagine this." Ron Huddleston: 29:06 Right, yeah. Brian Walsh: 29:08 That's fantastic. Well Ron, thank you very much for joining us. What's the best way, if somebody either wants to find a great job in an ecosystem, or they're looking to partner with Twilio, for them to get ahold of you and your team? Ron Huddleston: 29:20 If people want to do either of those things, the best way to get partnering going is to go online, and go to "become a partner," and go to the community. And then you'll get routed to like the person that you'll, you know, one of the 50-odd people that you'd be dealing with in to learn and become a partner. And there's people that are there just to quickly follow up and make sure you know how to do it and what's important. But if you're interested in getting a job, you can email me at rhuddleston@twilio.com, because we're hiring. We're going to hire another, you know -- lots. We're in super hiring phase right now. Brian Walsh: 29:59 Fantastic. Well, Ron, thank you very much for taking the time today, and glad we got this scheduled, and finally do it. Ron Huddleston: 30:04 Yeah, no. I'm very, very impressed by your fancy equipment and the level of professionalism in putting this podcast together. Brian Walsh: 30:11 Hey, look, I've grown up just as much as you have, okay? Ron Huddleston: 30:15 Yes, clearly you have. Brian Walsh: 30:18 All right, Ron. Thank you so much, everybody. Ron Huddleston: 30:20 All right. I'll see you around the water cooler. Bye. Outro: 30:22 Thanks for listening to this episode of the AppChat. Don't miss an episode. Visit AppChatPodcast.com, or subscribe on iTunes. Until next time, don't make success an accident.

In this episode we’re trying something different! This is our first “roundtable” episode featuring four guests. And instead of talking with established scholars in the field, we’re actually talking with four up-and-coming graduate students who will soon be making their mark within pornography studies. As pornography studies grows within academe, it is becoming increasingly possible to build a support network of fellow students that share your interests. And considering how much resistance there still is toward studying pornography, these networks can be a crucial part of one’s survival throughout graduate school. This episode is our small attempt at fostering more supportive networks. In this episode you’ll hear stories about professors urging students not to pursue the study of pornography, and even hear about professors that are openly hostile to students working on this topic. Also, studying pornography within different cultural contexts means that students often have to utilize alternative methodologies, which typical film departments are sometimes ill-equipped to accommodate. Like when your research leads you to branch off into urban history and city-planning, or when you have to use anthropology methods to find out how pornography is thought about within different transnational contexts. These are the type of issues we’ll be talking about with our guests in this episode: John Paul Stadler of Duke University, Darshana Sreedhar Mini of the University of Southern California, Ben Strassfeld from the University of Michigan, and Madita Oeming of Paderborn University in Germany. Each of them has their own compelling story about how they found themselves studying this topic, and harrowing tales about how they’ve endured through the suspicion and anger that is aimed at pornography scholars both within America and outside it. Be sure to keep listening after the interview is over because there’s a little bonus where Madita gives all of us a lesson in German dirty talk. Believe me, you’re not going to want to miss that!  More info about John’s book PREHISTORIC John’s Twitter Madita’s Twitter Ben’s Twitter Darshana’s Twitter Darshana talking about her SCMS Student Writing Award for the essay “The Rise of Soft Porn in Malayalam Cinema and the Precarious Stardom of Shakeela.” pornocultures.podomatic.com facebook.com/AcademicSex @PornoCultures https://concordia.academia.edu/brandrroyo

On this week's episode of Off Panel, Michael Oeming and Taki Soma join the show to discuss their new webcomic, The After Realm. Oeming and Soma discuss idea creation, the origin story and development of The After Realm, their background and experimention in webcomics, embracing fantasy, Patreon, managing workload, the process behind the comic, Soma's colors, how reader engagement changes approach, foods from yesteryear, their long-term goals for the comic, and more.

Len Wein, Valiant-O-Rama: Divinity #0 by Matt Kindt, and Renato Guedes, and Ninjak #0 by Matt Kindt, Francis Portela, Christos Gage, and Tomas Giorello. Deathstroke #1-23 by Christopher Priest and company, Arrow, Aleister & Adolf by Douglas Rushkoff and Michael Avon Oeming from Dark Horse, Image-O-Rama: Spy Seal #2 by Rich Tommaso and Redlands #2 by Jordie Bellaire and Vanesa Del Rey, The Strain, Sabrina #8 by Roberto Aguirre Sacasa and Robert Hack from Archie, Astro City #47 by Kurt Busiek and Mike Norton, Legacy Marvel-Two-in-One, Fables, Secret Empire, Classics Illustrated: Moby Dick by Bill Sienkiewicz from First, Made Men #1 by Paul Tobin, Arjuna Susini, and Gonzalo Duarte from Oni Press, Little Pierrot: Get the Moon by Alberto Varanda from Lion Forge, plus a whole mess more!

Time Codes: 00:00:27 - Introduction 00:02:46 - Comics Alternative news! 00:07:53 - Doom Patrol 00:42:28 - Shade the Changing Girl 00:59:45 - Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye 01:17:47 - Mother Panic 01:34:30 - Wrap up 01:41:55 - Contact us This week the Two Guys with PhDs Talking about Comics discuss DC's Young Animal titles. They begin with Gerard Way and Nick Derington's Doom Patrol, the maiden voyage of the new imprint. There have been three issues released so far, and the guys really like what they've seen. Way definitely takes a cue from Grant Morrison's legendary run on the title, referencing many of Morrison's original additions to the Silver Age series -- most notably Danny the Street and Flex Mentallo -- yet at the same time making Doom Patrol uniquely his own. After that, Andy and Derek discuss the first four issues of Shade the Changing Girl. This is Cecil Castellucci and Marley Zarcone's revamping of the old Steve Ditko creation (and best popularized in the early 1990s by Peter Milligan and Chris Bachelor), Shade the Changing Man. Their emphasis on the lives of young high school women promises to be a curious spin on the property. Next, the guys turn to what Andy calls his favorite of the Young Animal line, Jonathan Rivera, Gerard Way, and Michael Avon Oeming's Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye. As they point out, Cave Carson is a character from the early 1960s appearing in both Brave and the Bold and Showcase, but unlike his contemporary Rip Hunter, he never received a title of his own. Way, Rivera, and Oeming are now giving him that opportunity. The Two Guys conclude their episode with a very different kind of Young Animal title, Jody Houser and Tommy Lee Edwards's Mother Panic. This is the only one of the four series not to be based on Silver Age properties, and it's the only one to be deeply enmeshed into the DC Universe. For that reason, Derek is less enamored with Mother Panic -- at least in terms of the first two issues so far -- feeling that it takes itself too seriously and wonders why this wasn't a regular DC title. Andy has no problem with this Gotham-drenched series.

Recorded before Christmas Booked has a lot of comic movie and TV casting and news for you, as Stevil is joined by original Booked co-founder Jenosaur! Yes, it's a wonderful and warm reunion filled with, well, everything else that the League covers. No worries though, Stevil tries to tie it all back to comics. Stevil gets to ask Jenosaur, a PS4 owner, if she's seen any ads for Powers on the Playstation Network, if there's a release date and if we're going to get them week to week or binge style like Netflix. They also geek out over the Michele Forbes/Retro Girl and Eddie Izzard production photos   Then they get into some good, bad and ugly talk of casting confirmations, rumors and plot rundowns floating around on the net. What's going on with Fantastic Four dumb plot outline? Are all the castings in Suicide Squad ones we can get behind? How hopeful are we for a well done DC cinematic universe now that we have confirmations for the Wonder Woman film?   The cast is ended with a special thank you to AMC for continuing to give us gold and greenlighting a spin off to The Walking Dead called Cobalt and also a little series called PREACHER!!!!! OMG WE'RE GETTING PREACHER! FINALLY!!   Ahem, also please stay tuned for our special message about Constantine and keep reading those panels, people!

I am joined by Ryan Malo, and this episode is about Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming's classic, Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl. We had fun recording it, so you should have fun listening to it!

Over a year ago, we had the great pleasure of having one of my favorite artists Michael Avon Oeming on our show. At the time his book The Victories had just released it's first trade paperback, Powers Bureau was in it's first few issues and we also got some great stories from the FX pilot for Powers that never was.   Well, this week on Booked, Mike returns along with Taki Soma to talk with me (The Stevil Dead). A lot of new stuff to talk about as Mike and Taki have just released their first issue of their new book wit Image Comics, Sinergy, a bad ass demon hunter book. I ask them how the idea for the book came about and how the experience differed from working with Taki to working with Brian Michael Bendis on Powers or Bryan Glass on Mice Templar. We also get into the age old question of who would be on their zombie survival routine.   I also asked every question I could think of pertaining to the December release of the Playstation Network's first ever TV show, Powers. How does it differ from the FX pilot? What was the trailer unveiling experience at New York Comic Con and what was it like meeting comedian, actor, marathon runner and linguist Eddie Izzard, because, believe me, I'm damn jealous.   There's so much more that we talked about, so check it out, then head to your local comic shop and pick up Sinergy #1, on shelves now!

Jimmy sat in on the roundtables for the upcoming TV show Powers. He chatted with Eddie Izzard, Susan Heyward, Michael Avon Oeming, Noah Taylor, Olesya Rulin and Logan Browning. Based on the hit comic book series by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, the new show will debut on the Sony PlayStation network this December. Get some exciting tidbits before it airs! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Thanks for listening!

Reviews: Lady Zorro #1-2, Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman #1, Outlander (on Starz) Jimmy is joined in studio by podcast wife Erica Schultz! Been too long since the podcast marriage came together and they have lots to chat about. Erica talks about her recent appearance at Boston Comic Con, Jimmy was a guest on friends Brea Grant and Zane Grant's podcast Mystic Party (Episode 22), and they get excited over the rumored Blu-Ray release of the original unaltered Star Wars trilogy. It's the last of our San Diego Comic Con interviews as well and we go out with a bang of comic book goodness. Jimmy chatted with the amazing Lucy Knisley about her new work and had a great convo with awesome UK comic writers/pals Yomi Ayeni and Corey Brotherson about their latest outputs. News includes: Marvel tests the Wal-Mart waters, Valiant brings free comics and a new non-revival comic, Dustin Harbin will draw anyone for $50 and Sony's Powers TV show casts the leads. Come back this weekend to hear the Francesco Francavilla panel that Jimmy moderated at SDCC! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Thanks for listening!

Thats right kids, Michael Avon Oeming is joining Stevil, Katie and Robster for an exciting episode of Booked! Of course we're talking about his body of work, including The Victories and Powers. We touch on the Powers TV pilot, the problems with Man of Steel, and we even throw some spoilers at Taki Soma. So put a bird on it, get your hipster on and listen to Booked! Big thanks to Michael Oeming for skyping in to chat with us, it was a pleasure! 

Welcome to Optic Blast! - Episode 03This month the crew opens a big old can of Super-Worms as we discuss:Jack Kirby launches a KickStarter from beyond the grave.S.H.E.I.L.D. and Man of Steel get shiny new trailers.Catwoman and THE FRIDGE!In a new segment that we are calling The Dirtbin, Mig gives us the rundown on his latest dollar bin find: The Badger #17Just because we care, here are some lovely panels from The Badger #17 by Mike Baron and Jeffrey Butler! Reviews:The Victories #1 by Michael Avon Oeming, colors by Nick FilardiThe Dream Merchant #1 by Nathan Edmonson, art by Konstantin NovosadovThe Wake #1 by Scott Snyder, art by Sean Murphy, colors by Matt HollinsworthYoung Avengers #5 by Kieron Gillen, art by Jamie McKelvie & Mike Norton, colors by Matthew Wilson …And finally, the crew answers some listener mail and goes on a magical journey to Tangent Land!Opening Music:The Life Equation by Akira the DonClosing Music:Summertime is Gone by  Slime Girls

Reviews: A-Babies vs X-Babies #1, Alan Roberts Killogy #1, Lets Play God #1, Talon #1, Untold Tales Of Dog Mendonca & Pizzaboy One Shot, Wolverine MAX #1 Due to the hurricane, the podcast is late and Jimmy's co-host had no transportation to come do the show. Alas, Sandy can't stop CNI! News includes: Disney buys Lucasfilm, Matthew Vaughn out/Bryan Singer in for X-Men sequel, G4TV cancels Attack of the Show and X-Play, Li'l Gothamcomes to DC Digital, and Monkeybrain Comics to donate all November proceeds. As always, listener feedback, Top 3 and more! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Thanks for listening!

Jimmy had several drinks late night at a bar and convinced Michael Avon Oeming, Taki Soma and Emma Vieceli that it would be a good idea to do some podcasting at said bar. We chat mostly abot Oeming's career with Taki and Emma commenting in at their leisure. Super fun, informative, and at times silly...but mostly SUPER FUN! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love!

Reviews: The Victories #1, Expendables 2 Jimmy flies solo for a quickie this week as guest co-host canceled at the last minute. And believe it or not, there is no more San Diego Comic Con coverage! Jimmy gets a late night visitor, gets some inside scoop on the X-Men: First Class sequel, remembers director/producer Tony Scott and thanks Producer Joe for all of the San Diego Comic Con episode producing. News includes: Colleen Doran is adapting a Neil Gaiman short story into a graphic novel for Dark Horse, the Robot Chicken DC Comics Special is coming, The Avengers sequel gets a release date, The Boysends in November with a super-size issue, Warner Bros. and WWE Studios announce a Scooby-Doo/WWE animated feature, and Whilce Portacio returns to creator-owned comics with Non-Humans.  As always, listener feedback, Top 3 and more! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love!

Reviews: Earth Two #1, Smallville Season 11 #1, Worlds Finest Vol 3 #1, The Avengers film Still recovering from the epic 400th episode last week, Jimmy flies solo to bring you a MoCCA recap and lots of reviews! He gives out his thanks for all the episode 400 love, thoughts on Free Comic Book Day, more Stated Magazine interviews released (Natali Morris, Live Prude Girls), being part of a piece in The Awl, and sadly remembers Maurice Sendak and Adam Yauch. No news as he reviews many of the books he picked up at MoCCA and goes over the awesomeness of the festival. Also, The Beat's Heidi MacDonald leaves a message on the hotline to give her TCAF recap. As always, listener feedback, the Top 3 and more! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love!

Reviews: Avengers vs X-Men #0, Bloodstrike #26, New Deadwardians #1, Geek & Sundry channel, Nerdist Channel Jimmy does his best Han Solo as he's sans co-host this week. He discusses some TV returns including Game of Thrones and The Avengers cartoon. Quick news bits from Emerald City Comic-Con about upcoming comic book releases Roundeye from Image, Sunset from Top Cow/Minotaur and a bunch from Dark Horse including a new Ghost series by Kelly Sue DeConnick/Phil Noto, webcomic hit Bucko gets printed, The Victories by Michael Avon Oeming and more! As always, listener feedback, the Top 3 and more! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love!

The gang continues their replacement host roundtable and welcome back the most downloaded lady in Paperkeg history: Superfan Beth Corto. #ripmark. Setlist goes something like this: news, comic chatter, book club, and letters! Special thanks to YOU for our iTunes reviews and/or ratings so far; they help spread the word about the show. Topics included, but were not limited to: Opslimus Prime   Beth Corto returns in this week's Reign of the Replacements! #ripmark John Carter of Mars lawsuits, Great Grand Crappy RIP Powers on TV. #rippowers Jonesy doesn't know how to pronounce "Oeming" Beth Corto breaks hearts Comics chatter. (11.35)  Science Dog, Peter Panzerfaust, Legends of the Dark Knight, and Infestation: D&D Lighting Round™. (25.48) Planetary, Wolverine and the X-Men, Too Much Coffee Man, and Uncanny X-Force Daytripper. (27.39) Your letters! (47.07) Sandman bookclub(?), Titus's's as the new host?, and Jonesy spoils everything ever. This show was sponsored by the fine folks over at  The Comic Book Shop in Wilmington, Delaware. Are you a digital comics person? They've got you covered with their  Digital Strorefront! Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr

February 28, 2011 - Created by Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Oeming and Olivia Bendis (Bendis' 8 year old daughter), Takio is a creator owned entry into the all ages comics market. Telling the tale of two sisters who get super powers, Takio is an original graphic novel that could be the springboard for an all ages series. Does it click with kids? Check out Jim's review where he teams up with his own daughter to gauge it's success. Sure enough be it from Bendis' daughter's schoolmates or Jim's daughter, it looks like Bendis and Oeming have another great creation on their hands.

Rock-solid proof that what goes up must inevitably come down as we wander through Warren Ellis and John Cassaday's mighty Planetary, Hunter S. Thompson, Scott Pilgrim, IT!, the Terror from Beyond Space from IDW's Midnite Movies line, the Absolute and Omnibus format, X-Force: Sex and Violence #1, Brendan C. Leach's Pterodactyl Hunters in the Gilded City, Michael Avon Oeming and Mice Templar, Robert Kirkman's Skybound imprint and AMC's Walking Dead, characters and series that have lost their luster, Vertigo and the miniseries format, listener goodies, and much more!

On this edition of Word Balloon, we present audio coverage from this weekend's Baltimore Comicon. Marvel scribe Brian Michael Bendis gives us details on The Siege story arc, which begins in December and runs through the start of 2010. The story as reported from the retailer summit features a major shift in all the Avengers titles, The Secret Warriors and Young Avengers, and the need for Marvel's hero trinity, Iron Man Thor and Captain America to finally re-unite. We also present audio from the Powers Panel, where Bendis and Powers Co-Creator Michael Avon Oeming discuss the first 10 years of the Powers comic, and look ahead with the new volume starting in November, the Powers Encyclopedia, and new details on where the future of The Powers TV series stands, at the FX Network.

Cops.  Superheroes.  Bendis.  Oeming.  It's as good as you've heard.  Click on the link for the full story.

Around Comics welcomes Michael Avon Oeming for part one of our two part interview with the creators of The Cross Bronx. Join us as we discuss Michael's new project, his relationship with Alex Toth, The return of the God of Thunder, and much more. Look for part two of our Cross Bronx interview with Ivan Brandon later this week.Support the show