A Fantastic (4) Cast

This entry was cross-posted to the Book Guys blog.

love the idea that blogs and podcasters (and sometimes even academics) can dig into older comics and offer review, commentary and analysis from a modern perspective. Of course these books were considered disposable items when they were produced, and were never intended to be investigated as closely as they can be now. One of my favorite venues for this type of analysis is the Fantasticast, where a pair a veteran podcasters from Britain are reviewing early Fantastic Four comics. New episodes of the podcast appear every fortnight (as the Brits say).

Steven Lacey (host of the 20 Minute Longbox podcast) and Andrew Leyland (co-host of the Hey Kids! Comics podcast) join forces to try to figure out exactly what Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were trying to pull off in creating and presenting the FF stories from the early 1960s. Their most recent episode covered issue #14, and many key aspects of the storyline have already appeared in these early stories — the “soap opera” nature of the family drama is a centerpiece, and Doctor Doom, the Puppet Master, and Namor have all showed up to battle Marvel’s first family.

The podcast hosts bring a love for the material, and have a great sense of humor. They realize how inherently silly some of these stories and characterizations are, and are not shy about sharing the silly parts with their listeners. The inconsistencies in these early stories is an endless source of delight to the hosts. They also cover the Human Torch adventures from the Strange Tales comics, which are even crazier than the stories from the FF comic.

There are many comic podcasts out there, and lots of them are very good. But the Fantasticast is one of my favorites.

Another Book Guys appearance

I made a return visit to the Book Guys podcast, episode 43. Despite some Skype hassles along the way, we manages to talk to author Sean Austin, about his YA techno-thriller Echo's Revenge.  Audio book narrator Johnny Heller (of the Richard Castle novels, among many others) also joined us, as we covered book news, comic books, and a few other related topics.

Here is a link to the episode. Check it out!

Book #32

Cursor's Fury, by Jim Butcher.

 This entry was cross-posted to The Book Guys blog.

This is the third book in the Codex Alera, Butcher's high fantasy epic. I am a fan of the series and especially the setting, a land that very closely resembles Ancient Rome. Except for the "furies," the elemental spirits of Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Wood, and Metal that inhabit all aspects of the land.

A few years have passed in the land of Alera since book two, and war (both civil and with the hated Canim) is even closer. Tavi has become a legionnaire, and is growing into the young man of courage and strength that has been hinted at in prior books.

The Canim do eventually attack, but Tavi recognizes that something more is happening here than their regular incursions. Seeds planted in this plot will no doubt bear fruit in future novels. Butcher is able to avoid the typical "middle book" problems that some epic series fall into, as this novel moves both the plot and the characters fully along.

And as should happen at the halfway point of an epic series worth it's salt, the last few scenes contain a revelation that should change the course of the series from this point on.

Who-casts

The TV show is almost 50 years old, and geeks love it, so of course there are tons of podcasts dedicated to Doctor Who. I have barely made a dent in the huge list of Who-casts, but of the ones I have listened to, these are a few that stand out.

The Doctor's Companion. Two Americans, one of whom is actually named Matt Smith (but he's not that Matt Smith), produce mostly-weekly episodes that each cover one story. When the show is airing new episodes on BBC America, the duo covers those shows. But when the show is not airing new episodes (which is most of the time), they cover shows from prior incarnations of the Doctor. They are super-fans of the show, but never fall into the "fanboy" mistake of defending the show when it doesn't deserve to be defended. One of their strongest episodes was #71, which covered the end of New Who series 6, They titled this show "Loss of Faith." I thoroughly enjoyed a recent episode, #96, covering Tom Baker's first adventure. The title of the podcast episode was (of course) "The Scarf Man Cometh."

The Doctor Who Book Club. When I was a young person, I remember reading Doctor Who paperback novels. My memory is a bit fuzzy of those years, but this may have been before I ever saw an episode of the television show. I have no specific memories of the particular books, except that I remember enjoying them. Novels have always been a part of the Doctor Who expanded universe, and Sean and Erik dig into one novel per month, covering it in detail. Their coverage is very detailed, and their reviews are very evenhanded.

Radio Free Skarro. One of the longest-running Doctor-related podcasts, the RFS team has put out over 300 episodes since they hit the Web in the middle of 2006. The generally cover Who-related news in a loose magazine format, covering production events, conventions, and new products. They have had numerous interviews over the years, and have also put out some delightful episode commentaries. They also have the coolest Who-related podcast name ever.

Books 29-31

Left Behind: The Kids, books 23-25, by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye (and Chris Fabry, uncredited). These are among the better in the series (especially 24 & 25), although that could be construed as faint praise. There is some real drama, some page-turning moments, and some actual character development.  Yes the dialogue is clunky at points, and the action slows down numerous times for (literal) preaching, but the scope of the action is epic, and the pacing on these two is strong.

Book #28

The Pocket Muse 2: Endless Inspiration, by Monica Wood. Hardcover.

I was in a writers' group a few years ago, and got to know some great people through that. One of them sent me this beek a few weeks ago, and I was glad to read it.

To be fair, reading this book start-to-finish may not be the best way to read it, and probably won't be how I read it next time. It is a collection of inspirational quotes, writing prompts, writing advice, and creativity jump-starts. It is designed to be read at random, as needed.

I found the book to be insightful, and anticipate that it will be helpful when I am back in "writing mode." It is also beautifully put-together.

Book #27

The Big Book of Martyrs, by John Wagner & various artists. Graphic novel.

There are many entries in the "Big Book" series, from Factoid Books, an imprint of DC Comics. These black-and-white comic-style books have covered Conspiracies, Urban Legends, Hoaxes, Weirdos, and Thugs. And so despite the religious nature of the stories in this volume, there is enough weirdness, drama, and blood for this topic to fit the series.

The 50+ martyrs who are profiled here range from the biblical (John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul) to the modern (Maximilian Kolbe and Edith Stein), the famous (Joan of Arc and Thomas More) to the obscure (Phocas and Wilgefortis). But what they all have in common is that they died for their Christian faith. And most of these deaths were quite grisly.

In addition to the wild and crazy stories, the art in the book is interesting, as a different artist was used for each of the stories, so every four pages or so there is a definite change in the art style. For me, the work of Lennie Mace, Joe Orlando, Colleen Doran, and Dave Devries stood out, although much of the work was very strong.