Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (00:04):
Hello and welcome to Comex Recent reads. Uh, this is a show about comics, of course not Comex Comics and what we’ve read recently. Um, I’m your host, siz. I’m the publisher at Comex Studio and our guests tonight, and I’m just gonna bring this up just even though I know what they are and what they do. I will forget in the pressure of talking, we have Kelsey who is, uh, known for Omens, a comic that is in production as we speak, um, being made. Yes. Uh, we have Shannon Browning, uh, transformers series. Oh, sorry. That’s not what he’s known for. Robo Tune <laugh> is, I’m reading the wrong line. Okay. So I’ve just spoiled what he’s talking about tonight. And Shaden j who is, uh, known for no man’s land. So yes. Hello all. And we’ve course we’ve got Ed on the buttons. Yeah, not me. That’s a big change. We’ve got Ed’s on the buttons and he’s known for comics such as Radical. Um, so yeah, so, um, I forget what we do next. <laugh>

Sheydin Dew (01:12):
<laugh> still testing it out. <laugh>,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:15):
So, yeah. Yeah, it’s still, I’m still getting used to the new show ’cause this is is our first time. And, um, I guess this is where we go to the guests and talk about a book each. So I’ll just go in the order that that boxes seem to be in. So, Kelsey, tell us about your book.

Kelsey Reynolds (01:35):
Okay. Oh God, I’m so nervous. I was hoping I was the last person to go so that I could just copy how everyone else did it. So <laugh>, you’re gonna be the the person on who not to copy when talking about their book. Um, <laugh>, luckily for me, I just finished a comic. Uh, that’s still technically ongoing, but, um, the print versions are like, they’ve only got two of them out at the moment, so I’ve been reading, which one is it? The Remarried Empress. So Cool. Those <laugh>, those of you who don’t know. Um, the Remarried Empress is a web comic that’s, um, is on web tune and got its own print in, um, I think a couple, like a year ago or something. But it only came to Australian, like my bookstore like a couple months ago. So obviously I got the, in, like the real copy ’cause I love the smell of it and it’s so nice to read it.

(02:33)
Um, it’s basically just a really fun manir romance Manir about, um, an empress who finds out she’s getting divorced because of her empress mistress, and no one knows that she knows. So she basically just plans around it while she’s waiting for him to kind of announce that he’s divorcing her to the public and chaos ensues basically. Um, because she arranges, and this is not a spoiler, actually, this is the first scene. What basically happens is that in the first scene you find out that he divorces her and he’s relieved, you know, you know, as, as he is. And then she remarries, uh, the emperor of the neighbouring country basically in the same breath that she accepts the divorce and freaks everybody out. And the whole series is just building up to the events that lead to that moment in the first scene. And it’s a lot of fun.

(03:29)
A lot of poli like political drama. Uh, there’s magic people turn to birds, um, <laugh> just randomly, which I love in a comic, obviously. It’s totally my thing. Um, and it’s just one of those books that you kind of, you think is gonna be a bit silly. Comics is a bit, I mean obviously all comics are a bit silly in some ways. That’s why we love them. But it, it’s just really interesting seeing all the like little intricacies and like setups for later down the track that have payoffs and it happens so quickly and there’s so many of them and I’m like, oh my God, I need to know what happens next. Um, so that’s what I just finished reading. I’m waiting for the next season to come out now. They just stopped and I’m dying inside <laugh>.

(04:13)
Oh gosh. How in depth do you want me to talk about this? S because if you let me, I’ll just not shut up. I have a question. I have a question. Who’s a five? Oh, that’s about to say. Okay. It’s five few different people because, um, it was originally written as a Korean like book, like a, like a love book. And then it got, uh, translated into a web comic and then by extension translated into English. So it’s originally written by a artist or a writer called LY or Healy. Um, and the story was by an a creator called Alpha Art. And then the actual comic book is illustrated by an artist called <inaudible>. They never have any of their real names. I’m sorry, it’s all handles. Um, but like, I’ll see if I can find a panel ’cause it’s just like, it’s just like one of the most stunning books.

(05:02)
Ah, me. Um, that’s nice. You know? Oh my gosh. It’s just beautiful. There’s like this really beautiful scene. I’m not gonna be able to find it now. I’m gonna look like an idiot where one of the characters transforms into a bird for the first time and you’re just like, oh. Like, it’s just so dramatic and beautiful. I’m not gonna be able to find it now. I’m so stupid. But, um, yeah, if you, if you’re looking to like read it technically for free to a point, you can still read it on Web Tune. Um, but I highly recommend buying the books because ah, they’re just yummy. <laugh> <laugh>. I have another type of question if I may. Oh, oh, sorry. Do do you have a question, ed?

E.D. Kearsley (05:47):
I just gonna say, uh, did you read it originally on WebToons or did you Yeah, find out the book first

Kelsey Reynolds (05:54):
I found it on WebToons and I loved the first season of it, and then I saw that it was coming to my bookstore, so I held off reading the rest of the season, um, until it came in in, and then I read, so I read the first one on, this is the first season. I read that all on web two. And then I’ve read this one all myself. Um, I know there’s more in on the web two now than the books have, but I’m kind of determined to just read the books because of the web. The experience is so much different. So yeah, <laugh>,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (06:25):
That’s really cool.

Sheydin Dew (06:26):
Yeah, that was my question.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (06:27):
No, I’m gonna read it. It sounds wicked. Sorry, trade

Sheydin Dew (06:30):
That, that was my question anyway, so Yeah. Sounds really interesting.

Kelsey Reynolds (06:35):
It’s kinda one of my guilty pleasures. Like these sorts of like romance memoir type comics. Yeah. Because like some of them are like the same story over and over again, which is usually a reincarnation story. I don’t know why. Um, they’re just really, really popular in this genre. But this one was one of the few ones where there wasn’t like someone had died and had wished they hadn’t died and had been reincarnated and brought back as an empress. It was like, she was just an empress. She was just, she worked really hard, like she was groomed as a child to be the empress from very young. So she’s super smart and analytical and she doesn’t really, like, she really struggles with like, intimate romantic moments. Like she feels a little bit silly and that kind of like leans into the reason why the emperor sort of has brings on this mistress out of nowhere ’cause they grew up together.

(07:20)
So it’s like a bit of a betrayal for their friendship as well as like their marriage. Um, even though it’s kind of like common practise or accepted for emperors to do that for them, she’s like, whoa. But you kind of find out that it’s because she struggles a lot with like feeling close and that sort of thing. And then she meets the prince who she ends up obviously remarrying and they like end up having like this really kind of unconventional friendship and they kind of bond over being sort of struggling with this sort of stuff. But it’s just, yeah, it’s just really fun kind of seeing like the, the real life really shines through on what is like otherwise a very fantasy driven like story and setting. And that’s kind of I think why I love it so much.

E.D. Kearsley (08:00):
Awesome. Cool.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (08:01):
Yeah. Well, I have a question. Mm-Hmm, <affirmative>, um, have you read anything else by the, the people who put this together?

Kelsey Reynolds (08:10):
Not this particular writer. I’ve read comics in the past by the same artist. Um Oh, okay. So I, I really like, I think they kind of work collaboratively to take I Okay. I’m gonna, I’m so longwinded guys. I read the Korean novel and this artist tends to work with similar writers by the looks of it. So I think there’s a, a theme of like, you find them doing these sorts of comics, but as far as getting this invested and reading this much, I’ve only read the Remarried Empress by this particular like, group of people who’ve kind of come together.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (08:43):
Oh, cool. Awesome.

Kelsey Reynolds (08:47):
Hello?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (08:48):
Hello. Will,

E.D. Kearsley (08:51):
That’s, will who we met at the Comic-Con, I

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (08:54):
Believe. Yeah. Supernova in Melbourne. Yep.

Sheydin Dew (08:59):
Nice. Hey Dave.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (09:00):
Thanks. It’s Dave. Dave, I didn’t meet at the Supernova.

Shannon Browning (09:04):
Dave’s probably done like three more drawings in just the time. Um, Kelsey was talking

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (09:09):
<laugh>.

Kelsey Reynolds (09:11):
Uh, I’m longwinded, but yes. That’s impressive. <laugh>. Not

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (09:13):
At all.

Shannon Browning (09:13):
Not at all. I’m just saying Ed Dave’s really, really fast.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (09:17):
Dave fight <laugh> Dave’s machine. Cool.

Shannon Browning (09:23):
Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m just gonna, I’m just going to look Dave, I’m going to sing your praises at the moment. I just how fast he is and how quick, uh, and how talented he is as well. Like his drawings are amazing and he does ’em in like that. So Yeah, I

Kelsey Reynolds (09:39):
Love that. Like the ones that you can basically watch them do drawings live when they’re there. That’s how fast they are. I love this. Mm.

Sheydin Dew (09:46):
<laugh> love that guy.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (09:49):
Yeah. Yeah. I love that guy. Yeah.

Shannon Browning (09:52):
Ed,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (09:52):
Oh, back to me. Okay. I was about to ask you what happens next. Okay. This is where I asked the next person I take it. Okay. We’ll go with Shaden. I’m gonna mix it up a bit here. Oh. And I’m gonna ask you, what is your book and what I was meant to ask Kelsey, who is the team that put it together?

Sheydin Dew (10:13):
Um, so my book that I brought on today is Orange by Ichigo <inaudible>. Um, obviously it is a manga. Um, it’s a Japanese artist and writer. Um, this is probably my all time favourite manga now. Um, it’s like a romance sci-fi kind of, um, genre. And it really sparked my interest because not only did it have like the high school romance slice of life kind of thing, it had this really, really interesting science fiction plot. Um, essentially it follows the story of, um, a girl who’s 16. Her name’s <inaudible>, and she receives a letter in the post from herself 10 years in the future. And basically it has like a whole list of things that are going to happen. Um, and it’s basically a warning to help save someone. Um, it does have some really, um, triggering kind of, um, undertones to it. Um, so there, there are touches on, um, self-harm and things like that.

(11:27)
Um, but otherwise it is a really, really heartfelt book. Something that really like, um, yeah, really stuck with me. And essentially what happens is she reads this letter, um, and she kind of like throws caution to the wind. She’s like, oh, it must be a prank or something like that. And, um, obviously the letter warns her that there’s going to be an exchange student arriving in her class that day. Um, and she kind of just like pushes it to the back of her head and she goes into class. And lo and behold, there’s the exchange student, um, who she has been, um, warned to keep an eye on or protect. Um, and then throughout, um, the story, it’s two novels, two complete novels. So this is the first one, um, the first half. And, um, yeah, her and, uh, five others kind of start to like form this friendship.

(12:17)
Um, and I won’t give too much away, but essentially it kind of comes to fi Like they kind of come to find out that each five of these friends have also received a letter in the mail. Um, and it kind of like dives into this whole thing of like, um, trying to prevent a, um, a death in their, in their friendship circle, um, and really protect the ones that they love. And, uh, I guess it’s also kind of like a good way of like, noting like, how far can you change reality without altering, uh, like 10 years in the future kind of thing without it like buckling other friendships and other relationships. It’s really, really interesting and a really good read. So if that’s the kind of thing that you really enjoy whilst being like, intertwined with romance, um, I highly, highly recommend this. This book, this one really got me hooked.

(13:15)
Um, and I think the character developments in it is really, really, really well done too. Um, obviously it’s, it is like a high school slice of life, kind of silly in places. Um, but like, things like, they try and really make sure that each of the steps are fulfilled in these letters. Um, and each person has like their own role to play to try and protect this particular person. Um, and it comes so close. It comes so close. I don’t wanna give anything away, but it comes so close to like it all being like nothing kind of thing. Um, but it’s really, it’s really heartfelt in, in the end. So yeah, highly recommend. But yeah, that’s, that’s essentially my, my recommendation for the week. Did anybody have any questions at all? Yeah, Eck, can we have a look at some pictures? Yeah, absolutely. <laugh>. Um, so I’m a, I’m a major fiend for, uh, manga.

(14:08)
Lemme see if I can get a really cool, oh, actually, so the reason why I picked out the complete, um, the complete volume is that it has these wonderful like watercolour, oh no, it’s upside down. Oh no, that’s upside down. No, that’s <laugh>. Um, really, really wonderful like watercolour pictures, um, in this particular volume that he get. And obviously it’s the same in the other one too. So you get these really, really cool pictures. Um, this one is really good. This one’s probably a really good picture to show. So that’s, um, that’s characters 10 years in the future and then that’s there themselves in high school. Um, so it kind of draws those parallels and how much can actually change when, um, yeah, altering people’s, uh, lives so to speak. Um, but obviously I really enjoy manga and the way it looks. Um, I really like the fine lines and how they can only use, they can use black and white, so, so well with the contrasting. Um, lemme see if I can pull up another really cool one. Um, yeah, another, another parallel between, um, on this page here, um, between the 10 years, um, that go by, um, and how they’re kind of like in, in like connected with their, their future selves, so much like, so to speak, I guess. Um, but yeah, it’s, it’s a really enchanting, really, uh, heartfelt story that I think has some really, really good, um, issues involved around it. So yeah, that’s why I picked that one out. Yeah. Nice.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (15:50):
Well, I have a question. Oh, sorry. You go first Shannon.

Shannon Browning (15:53):
You first is,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (15:55):
Okay. All I was gonna say is, how’d you come across this book?

Sheydin Dew (15:59):
Uh, okay. So I was in, um, dims with a friend of mine who was looking at poetry. She’s like super into poetry, not really my thing, but that’s okay. And I was kinda like following her around and I was like, oh, like I always like look at, um, like the manga section and like, this was the only, only one of its, um, copy on the shelf. And I like, had a look at it. ’cause I was just like, oh, it’s like, you know, I really like the watercolours. And, um, it kind of looked like a slice of life romance. I was like, oh, it looks really like, cheerful and really nice. And I like picked up the cover and I was like looking through like all those other pictures inside. And then I flipped it over. I read the blurb and, and it like mentioned like things of like, like science fiction and I was, and something that I really particularly like was romance is that, that the romance is not just standalone. Like if it’s got something else to support, um, and it’s kind of like got this other element of like, you know, high stakes involved, then I’m really invested. So that’s one reason why I picked it up. And I actually picked up the second volume in the same swoop because I was like, Hmm, I’m invested so <laugh>.

(17:04)
But that’s how I came across it because otherwise I don’t think I would’ve found out about it. And if people are ask about to ask in the comments, yes, it is now an anime. Um, and they follow it really, really quite closely. Um, so, and it was yeah, really, really helpful her, um, heartfelt I should say. So, yeah.

Shannon Browning (17:23):
Nice.

Sheydin Dew (17:24):
What about you?

Shannon Browning (17:26):
I’m like, um, it’s obviously put the thought in your head. So if you could send a letter to yourself 10 years ago, what, what would you say to yourself?

Sheydin Dew (17:37):
10 years ago, I would be graduating from high school <laugh>. That is a great question. Um, I would say <laugh>. Uh, don’t be as surprised when you go back to Uni. <laugh>, <laugh> four, four years. You gonna, you know, you’re gonna get to your end of your four years in, in like the next four years. You know, I went straight to uni after high school. Yeah. Um, yeah, don’t be surprised when you go back to uni because you’ve gotta go. That’s probably what I’d say. Yeah. Yeah. And enjoy your, your early twenties. Don’t be so stressed out.

Shannon Browning (18:15):
Oh, very good advice. <laugh>.

Sheydin Dew (18:19):
What would, what would be, I, I know I’m curious now, what would, what would you guys send to yourselves 10 years?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (18:24):
Oh,

Shannon Browning (18:26):
I would, if I could do it, I’d send a letter to myself 30 years ago and say, don’t try and make art a career. <laugh>

Sheydin Dew (18:34):
<laugh>.

Kelsey Reynolds (18:36):
Oh no, no.

Shannon Browning (18:39):
Keep it as a hobby. Keep it as a passion. Keep it as the thing that keep you sane away from the rest of the world. But yeah, don’t do it as a career.

Sheydin Dew (18:48):
Fair enough.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (18:49):
Interesting.

Sheydin Dew (18:50):
Very interesting. What about you, Kelsey?

Kelsey Reynolds (18:53):
Ooh. I mean, that is a tempting one to do, but I might go the other way and be like, try to do it earlier. Or like, this sounds so bad, but like, part of me wants to see myself 10 years and go like, pull your finger out. Like stop just doing fan <laugh> <laugh>. So I pull that, that energy into like, building a portfolio and, and jumping on those opportunities. I feel like if I had started stuff like five, even five years earlier, a little than 10, I feel like I would be a lot in a much, I mean, I’m, I’m gonna place some happy, but I, you know, I would’ve liked to have like wasted all those school holidays, like watching Bones, guys. I could have done art. I just dunno what was wrong with it. But

Shannon Browning (19:36):
Bones was a good show.

Kelsey Reynolds (19:37):
Oh look, it just bang out. It’s a banger. I watch it every year just kind out myself, but I wish I didn’t do it. Like for six months straight <laugh> 10 years ago.

Sheydin Dew (19:50):
Yeah. I,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (19:54):
Yeah.

Sheydin Dew (20:01):
Patrick, me Nick.

E.D. Kearsley (20:03):
Yeah. We got a, a comment from Will, uh, William says, I really enjoy the use of colour in Courier, the adventures of Geraldine Baker. It feels both pulp and like an old painted fashion magazine.

Kelsey Reynolds (20:15):
Oh, out.

Sheydin Dew (20:19):
Absolutely.

E.D. Kearsley (20:19):
That’s true. That’s a good comic by Angie Spice in my gut, telling yourself not to get involved in that. Create you, uh, fade from the chat. Like back to the future, would you suddenly become an investment banker? Confused. And why you’re on a comic stream <laugh>,

Shannon Browning (20:37):
Because I did make art a

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (20:40):
Career <laugh>.

Sheydin Dew (20:42):
Um, what about Jason?

Shannon Browning (20:44):
Like the, my love for all of this stuff didn’t go away. You know, I, I pursued art as a career because I loved it. Um, yeah. But, oh God, true confession time. Um, it’s just, it hasn’t been very financially successful, which unfortunately took away from me trying to do art or getting the artistic stuff that I wanted to get done, done. So I, I part of me wishes that I’d done something else that would give me a regular income and allow me to make money, make money, um, make money so I could then go forward and do all the creative pursuits that I wanted to do, um, without stressing about them having to make you money. Um, and just have them as a thing rather than as a financial, uh, obligation.

Sheydin Dew (21:41):
Yeah,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (21:43):
I understand that.

Kelsey Reynolds (21:44):
Yeah. I tell Sam all the time, I wish I’d married a sugar daddy, so I could just draw comments with that <laugh> funny. But it’s true. I wish

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (21:55):
There’s your letter.

Shannon Browning (22:00):
Marry rich.

Kelsey Reynolds (22:01):
Marry rich. That’s the, that’s Shannon’s takeaways. I should have married Rich <laugh> <laugh>.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (22:10):
So Sean, ask me, are you?

Sheydin Dew (22:12):
I have, yeah. What’s your letter?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (22:14):
Mine’s kind of boring. Mine’s kind of boring. Um, and a little, um, yeah, very unfun. Uh, I would write a list on my current medications and say, take these, you idiot <laugh> these work, these not work important.

Sheydin Dew (22:29):
That’s

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (22:29):
Because it’s taken 20 years for them to figure out which medication worked for me.

Shannon Browning (22:34):
Wow. Oh wow. That’d

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (22:35):
Be nice to have gotten that right, right at the beginning. Yeah.

Sheydin Dew (22:38):
Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. My goodness.

Shannon Browning (22:41):
What about, yeah, put little yes at the bottom of mind that says, by the way, you have a DHD, go get it. Treated

Kelsey Reynolds (22:46):
<laugh>.

Sheydin Dew (22:49):
Um, what about Ed?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (22:51):
Uh, I’d just say to keep going.

Sheydin Dew (22:54):
Yeah. Nice, nice. Short and short and sweet. Yeah. Nice. But yeah, I think, yeah, that’s my recommendation for it tonight, <laugh>. And that sounds spurred on some good conversation, I think.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (23:07):
Oh, back to me. Awesome. Okay, well this brings us to Shannon, I guess. So Shannon, what are you gonna be talking about? And, uh, yours is a bit more complicated. I can’t really say who’s the creative team list that was the same people all the way through?

Shannon Browning (23:22):
Um, yeah. Okay. Well, I’m go, I’ve gone back to one of my nostalgic loves. Uh, it’s the current Transformers series, uh, that’s being done by Skybound through, uh, through Image comics. Um, it’s only about, uh, six or seven issues in so far. Um, it’s the, it’s part of, uh, Robert Kirkman from Walking Dead and Invincible. Uh, he got his hands on a lot of the Hasbro, um, properties and he is doing this, um, combined universe of Transformers and GI Joe, and I think he’s gonna bring some other stuff in later on. Um, so at the moment there’s four books, um, which are part of it. Uh, the first one, which I only found out about this afternoon, and I haven’t had a chance to write read it yet, uh, is something called Void Rivals, uh, which is actually written by Robert Kirkman himself. I dunno what that’s back at.

(24:23)
Um, there’s a series called Duke, um, which I think is a character from GI Joe, I don’t know GI Joe very well. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, um, uh, another book called Cobra Commander. Um, and then there’s the Transformers book. Now when, when the first issue came out, um, like six or seven months ago, or however long it’s been, I read the first issue. It basically seems to be picking up pretty much the same way as the 1984 cartoon was. So I thought, oh yeah, no worries, I’ll give it a chance. Um, it has gone in a completely different direction and it is dark as hell. Um, to give you, to give you an idea, um, like in the first, in the, in the first issue, and I, forgive me spoilers a little bit, but, uh, the transformers get woken up on earth like they do in the 84 cartoon.

(25:22)
Um, one of the first, um, robots that get get woken up is Star Scream. Um, and Star Scream immediately, uh, execute Bumblebee. So Bumblebee is dead. Wow. Um, and then it goes from there. Uh, you this, hang on, I have my notes here. I’m just gonna go through ’em. Uh, so you have Optimist Prime who has extreme PTSD. He is like very, very messed up from the war on Cybertron. Uh, he gets completely enamoured die earth, but then, uh, he starts feeling like regret at the fact that he’s brought his, uh, war to such a fragile planet. And the way they demonstrate how fragile the planet is, is that Optimus is admiring, um, the landscape that he’s in and accidentally steps on a deer who, you know, obviously killing it. Uh, that’s one of the pages I sent you, sis.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (26:26):
Yep. Yeah. I’m just going back to it. I remember that. I was looking through them.

Shannon Browning (26:33):
Keep going.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (26:34):
It’s executing.

Shannon Browning (26:36):
There we go. Yeah. And this, this is what truly motivates him, um, protect this new world that they’re on. Uh, meanwhile you have Star Scream who has woke woken up, uh, some more of the, of the Decepticons. Um, and he’s completely psychopathic. He loves how squishy everything is, and he demonstrates this by picking up humans and just squeezing them until they pop. Um, wow. Yeah. Uh, and like characters are dying. The w Wikis are in there, but I think Spike has died already. Um, what else have we got? It’s things like, you know, um, to stop Teleram one from fixing more of the Decepticons. He shoots it and destroys it, and then Star Screen gets his hands on it later and needs to re repair it, but they don’t have the parts. So Star Screen just executes another one of the Decepticon jet characters, and they use his parts to rebuild the computer. Um, in the latest issue, uh, there was a scene, there was a scene back on Cybertron that a lot of the main characters that were in the, um, the, the movie from maybe six, uh, they’re all on a mission and they, they all get killed in this, this mission. Um, so they’re not, they’re not messing around at all.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (28:04):
And

Shannon Browning (28:05):
It’s, it’s getting really interesting, especially because, um, you have things like, like Optimus, um, at one point, after the main battle, uh, he reaches out to, to sound wave and says, look, the war is over. Cybertron is over. We are stuck here. Now let’s just work together and stop this. And Sound wave tries to punch in. This is another one of those pages I sent you, mate.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (28:32):
Oh, okay. And

Shannon Browning (28:33):
Optimist stops the Punch. Um, that’s the one. Um, and says, I may want peace, but I’m not an idiot. Um, and I, I’m really interested to see where this is going because this is taking in a direction I’ve never seen before. This is the saving private Ryan of transformer stories where no one was safe. Um, it’s violent as hell and it affects everything.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (29:06):
Very cool. Hmm. I can’t even think of a question now ’cause I’m so, ’cause I’m huge Transformers fan, so this is like blowing my mind at the moment.

Shannon Browning (29:14):
Yeah. And, um, you can, you can get away not reading the other stories. Uh, but I’ve been reading them just to, just to check them out as well. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and they’re quite compelling as well, like, uh, I think both Cobra Commander and Duke, the two G Joe stories, uh, they’re both written by the same gentleman, a guy named Joshua Williamson. Um, art by different teams though. Um, Duke’s, the main story of Duke is that he was part of one of the battles and he saw star scream transform from a jet into a robot. And that’s completely screwed up his worldview. He thinks one of his enemies has built this thing, and he’s, uh, trying to track it down. But he’s also, this is the report he gave to his superiors and they thought he was nuts and they kicked him out of military. So he is out on his own trying to track this down.

(30:08)
Uh, same as Cobra Commander. Cobra Commander is, um, let’s see, like the Cobra organisation doesn’t exist yet. He’s part of, um, a secret city called Rela. And he’s, he’s a scientist there, and he’s doing these experiments that has the populist pissed off. And the leaders are saying, oh, you know, we’re gonna kick you out. Uh, and he basically says, look, I’ll prove it. I’ll prove what my experiments can do for this city and for us, and that sort of thing. And he goes back to his lab and you find out that his experiments all involve, all involve Megatron who is crashed and like chained up and missing his arms and that sort of thing. So he goes out, he’s in search of Enogen, which seems to have crashed in different places in the world. Um, so it’s, it’s, it’s quite nicely connected, but not so much that you read need to read everything to know what’s going on. It just gives you an interesting little tidbit. Um, if you read the other stories on top of the main story.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (31:11):
Wow. Cool. I wanna go and get this

E.D. Kearsley (31:14):
Now. I’ve been collecting this one. I’ve only read the first issue so far, but I got it because, oh, sorry. That’s all right. I’ll forget by the end of the show. But the <laugh>, uh, I got it because Daryl, uh, does it Hold on. Daniel Warren Johnson. Daniel Warren Johnson. Yeah. ’cause he drew it.

Shannon Browning (31:34):
Yeah, he’s writing it as well. He’s writing the Transformers book.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (31:38):
Mm. Oh wow.

E.D. Kearsley (31:39):
Cool. So he did that wrestling one as well, which is really good. And Murder Falcon,

Shannon Browning (31:44):
Uh, do a power bomb. Was it?

E.D. Kearsley (31:46):
Yeah. If you haven’t read that. And, um, murder Falcon, they’re really good too.

Shannon Browning (31:51):
Okay, cool. Yeah. Um, yeah, and like I said, like the other book called Void Rivals, I haven’t had a chance to read just yet, but, you know, I’ll probably have to check that out now. And I’m, I’m an old school Transformers fan. I was 10 years old when they came out and that, that hit me at exactly the right time. I’ve loved them my whole life, so I’ll always check out some, anything Transformers related. Um, but I’m, I’m really like surprised and interested in this book because it’s, it’s full on giving me PTSD, you know, <laugh>, I was, I read the last two and was a little bit thrown off because these, these main characters, these like toys that I remember playing with when I was a kid, instead of them just doing the usual, oh, it’s a flesh wound sort of thing. It’s just like, no, they’re dead. And they, they are so dead.

E.D. Kearsley (32:45):
Did you see the 86 movie when it came out?

Shannon Browning (32:49):
Not in the cinemas. I don’t don’t think so. I think I saw it on video, um, around the same time

E.D. Kearsley (32:55):
Because they killed off all the, all the first series guys so they could stop selling the toys.

Shannon Browning (33:01):
Yeah. And just to traumatise an entire generation of kids had to backpedal so much of it in the cartoon.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (33:08):
Yeah.

Shannon Browning (33:11):
And just like, no,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (33:17):
You’ve answered all the questions I could think of. So anyone else?

Sheydin Dew (33:23):
No, but I do wanna comment how like, I really, really enjoy all those colours used in, um, the examples that you showed. So that’s definitely piqued my interest. Um, I mean, considering I’ve only ever watched the Transformer movies, perhaps I might actually dip my toe in and have a look. So Yeah, it’s the Michael Bay ones, sorry?

Shannon Browning (33:41):
The Michael Bay ones.

Sheydin Dew (33:42):
Yeah. Yeah. Um, when I was, uh, late primary school is when I think they came out and I remember watching them with all my brothers. Um, so it was the only thing that we could really have in common, to be honest, <laugh>. Um, but I enjoyed them. I grew up watching Shy LaBuff on like a lot of other kids shows, so then watching him progress into Transformers and start his career there. Um, yeah, that was cool. But yeah, I think, yeah, you pick my interest, especially with all the colours, colours used in the book and whatnot. Everyone knows I love colours, so as soon as

Shannon Browning (34:17):
It’s good, like, especially like the way Daniel Warren Johnson sort sort of draws emotion in fight scenes, like this is some of the angriest fights I’ve seen in a comic in a while. It’s not sort of stylized, it’s not like perfectly sharp rendered rendered. It’s not mechanical or anything like that. But when they, when these robots are fighting, they hate each other and it comes out in the art and the colour and the stylization so much. It’s incredible. You know, I’m, I’m really enjoying that aspect as along with the story as well. So yeah. I hope you enjoy it.

Sheydin Dew (34:54):
Yeah, for sure. I’ll give it to us, that’s for sure.

Shannon Browning (34:57):
Can I please tell my Michael Bay story?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (35:01):
<laugh>,

Shannon Browning (35:01):
You were just talking, you were just talking about the movies. I, I love this story. I was working as a projectionist at a cinema, um, when the first Transformers movie came out. And we had the premier of Transformers, um, at that cinema. And Michael Bay was there, um, Megan Fox was there, uh, the blonde Aussie girl, whose name I don’t remember, she was there as well. But, um, we, we were showing in three, three different cinemas. And I was working, uh, one of the side ones. And we had our main cinema, which later on got turned into an IMEX cinema. And my boss was in there. And that was where Michael was actually watching the film. And from, he would, from where he was sitting, you could actually walk, walk around and like speak to people in the projection booth. Uh, it was designed so you could actually look in and see what was going on as you’re going to uc.

(35:54)
Um, and so Michael come running out to my boss and said, turn it up. And my boss was going, why? And he goes, yeah, just turn the volume up a little bit. And so my boss did and he ran back in, he came back out again, he goes, turn it up a little bit more. And he did this three or four times. And finally he’s come out and he again, he goes, turn it up just a little bit more, little bit more. My boss goes, Michael, look, I literally am cannot turn this up any louder. It’ll be too loud. He goes, no, no, no, it’ll be fine. Little bit more, a little more. Just turn it up a little bit more. My boss just turned it up a little bit more. And Michael’s run back in just as something’s blown up. And Michael very ishly walked back out and said to my boss, yeah, turn it down. <laugh>.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (36:37):
<laugh>.

Sheydin Dew (36:41):
That’s pretty funny.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (36:42):
That’s cool.

Sheydin Dew (36:45):
<laugh>.

Shannon Browning (36:46):
I love that story. I think it’s hilarious. I think that sums up the man beautifully.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (36:51):
I was gonna say, uh, I’d be getting into that comic for all the wrong reasons. The death and destruction sounds awesome. <laugh>, I don’t know what that says about me though. Um, yeah, <laugh>, I, you know, death of Optimist Prime, I’m desensitised to everything now. Um, <laugh>,

Shannon Browning (37:12):
You can’t break my heart anymore.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (37:14):
Yeah, you can’t break your heart anymore. So, uh, ed, do I get to go now?

E.D. Kearsley (37:18):
I was just gonna say in that 86 cartoon, they just shoot iron hide and he just dies when he’s supposed to have reflective armour.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (37:27):
Oh yeah, good point. But that would’ve, um, that would’ve had to keep that to,

Shannon Browning (37:32):
It was Black Armour and what Story Armour.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (37:34):
<laugh>

E.D. Kearsley (37:35):
Didn’t have plot armour. That’s the one. Mm-Hmm.

Shannon Browning (37:37):
<affirmative>, that’s the word. <laugh>.

E.D. Kearsley (37:40):
So do, do you wanna go sis or

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (37:43):
Yeah, I’ll go first if you want.

Sheydin Dew (37:44):
Let’s see what you got.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (37:46):
So I got this one outta my pile of many, many, many, many comics. I haven’t read that Witch. It’s by Morgan Quaid. That’s why I have it. And I’ll have to look inside David Luan, I think is how you pronounce the, uh, artist Lu. Oh, whatever. But this is a cool little story. Um, it’s a continuing story. Um, ’cause it does end with a, what the hell happens next moment. I won’t say what it is, of course. But, um, it’s about, it’s starts, it’s weird. It starts with this, um, girl and she’s in a, uh, like at a funeral and she lies about why she’s there. You can tell she’s lying. I don’t know how you tell, but I was like, yeah, that’s a load of crap. And then she snapped the finger off the corpse and runs out. I’m like, what was that all about?

(38:39)
So that straight away I’m like, okay, what’s going on? And she does something with the finger, um, and makes things, I don’t know, it’s hard to just, I will show you the interior art <inaudible>, but uh, she’s used, I think that’s what she uses the finger and blows it in that guy’s face. And all of a sudden she’s invisible. So I, I think you can kind of tell down there that she’s invisible ’cause you can see things through her and she investigates the um, uh, the body of a friend. Uh, her, I think she’s causing her guide into this not real world. So she keeps referring to what we call the world as the not real world. And she needs to get back to the real world. Um, and he’s dead. And then this weird ass creature comes out of his stomach and attacks her, um, her and the guy who can magically see him.

(39:40)
And he doesn’t know what’s going on ’cause he doesn’t realise she’s invisible to everyone else. Um, and this creature’s weird and I dunno what Morgan was thinking, but they’re attacked. There’s a big fight. She uses magic powers, she uses witch. I guess I need to ask Morgan, why, why is there a scene where the monster has his penis out? I don’t understand <laugh>. I’m just gonna throw that out there. Go Morgan. Why is that there? I don’t understand why that was necessary, but, uh, yeah, so it was a cool story. Um, it had a lot of moments where it pretty much caught me, um, wanting to know what the hell’s going on. So I would definitely be picking up the next issue because I wanna know, find out what the hell is going on because it’s, it’s told in a way that’s really interesting. So, um, Morgan well done.

(40:32)
Um, the artist’s cool as well. But it was definitely the story that caught me. Um, yeah, it was definitely wanting to know what’s going on because it was told in a good way. And it was drawn in a way that was really, like I said, you could tell this girl’s lying just by the way it’s drawn and everything. And it’s like, I’m not used to that. It’s usually like a little box saying she’s lying. It lets me know <laugh>, um, <laugh>. So that was really cool. So yeah, it’s a really cool story. Recommended, um, if you’re into that sort of stuff. But I am definitely waiting for number two now. So yeah, <laugh>,

E.D. Kearsley (41:08):
I’ll get another one from William rereading that Phoenix saga. And finally catching up on Tara Olympus. Two to four.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (41:16):
Yeah, they’re in that massive pile. <laugh> one day I’ll get to them for the show. I picked this also for tonight ’cause it’s on the top.

Shannon Browning (41:30):
<laugh>

E.D. Kearsley (41:34):
<laugh>.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (41:35):
Sorry, that’s, that’s how I picked it. It was on the top. So the next thing in the pile will be next fortnight. So <laugh>, I might have to read a bit faster than that because I’ve got 450 and if I do it every fortnight, that’s a couple of years, well, more than a couple of years

Sheydin Dew (41:52):
<laugh>.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (41:53):
So by then I would’ve probably bought another 400. So then I’m scrolling <laugh>. So carrying in the background and just said, I don’t think so <laugh>. So maybe I won’t be bought another 400 <laugh>.

E.D. Kearsley (42:09):
But it’s still faster than you were reading them, so

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (42:12):
Yeah. Well that is true. Yes, it is faster

Sheydin Dew (42:16):
I think. Um, it’s, it’s really, oh, just a comment, really just the fact that, uh, that you could tell that she’s lying in those illustrations. It must be like really, really well written and really, really well illustrated for that to be so clear to the reader. Um, so

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (42:33):
Yeah. Yeah. I seriously knew straight away.

Sheydin Dew (42:36):
Yeah.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (42:36):
It was just like, I don’t know what it was. There’s, I can’t put my finger on it, but I can just tell she was lying before she snaps the finger off and you’re like, okay, she’s not there for that. I was right.

Sheydin Dew (42:48):
Yeah. What’s the main character’s name?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (42:51):
Uh, good question. She has a weird name. Um, actually that might be why. I don’t know it. No one ever talks to her.

Sheydin Dew (43:02):
Ah, interesting. It’s not on the, is there a blurb or anything?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (43:10):
No.

Sheydin Dew (43:11):
How bizarre. Another mystery. Good old Morgan <laugh>.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (43:16):
Yeah, that’s <crosstalk>. I wanna look through this now and find out.

E.D. Kearsley (43:20):
I wish she was watching so it could be in the chat telling us all that.

Sheydin Dew (43:23):
Yeah.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (43:24):
Come well weren’t there. I’m gonna send him a personal message.

E.D. Kearsley (43:27):
What’s her name? Why is there wieners? What’s going on? <laugh>?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (43:33):
Oh, she’s just called D Witch in the, um, the picture in the back. No name. Okay,

Sheydin Dew (43:41):
Interesting.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (43:42):
Oh, and I’ll show, um, Morgan drawing a picture of himself. That was

Sheydin Dew (43:46):
<laugh>, that’s Morgan.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (43:49):
He’s always screaming. I dunno what’s going on in his life, but he’s always screaming

Sheydin Dew (43:53):
<laugh>. He, he always has pictures like that on his Instagram. I’m just like, yes, he does. That’s Morgan Classic. Morgan. No, that sounds really, really interesting. But yeah, that just, yeah,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (44:03):
It was a cool little story. I was surprised.

Sheydin Dew (44:05):
Yeah. That just stuck out.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (44:06):
Not because Morgan did it, but because the first one I picked was so good.

Sheydin Dew (44:10):
Um, but yeah, kudos to the, to the illustrator for Yeah. Illustrating so clearly. ’cause yeah, it’s just not a, an easy feat, that’s for sure.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (44:18):
No.

Sheydin Dew (44:19):
Yeah. Very interesting.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (44:22):
No one else wants to know anything. No. Okay. Swap us over Ed.

E.D. Kearsley (44:29):
Oh, no.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (44:31):
<laugh>.

E.D. Kearsley (44:35):
I’m doing, uh, battery Hen by Ryan Bella and edited and led by Rob Lyle. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, um, battery Head. It’s, um, some classic Ryan Vela stuff, if you’re familiar with his work, but it’s also got a lot of mixed media. Yeah, I love that about the first one. I can’t tell if that’s like pastels or, or painted or what he’s using, but it, it looks really good. And so it’s, um, it’s battery hen she’s a bounty hunter who bounty hunts are superheroes and it’s, um, it’s got like the feel of a, of a nineties early image comic or the, the violence and the, the story just goes like, it doesn’t mess around. Like the setup is in the first couple of pages and then, uh, it just, uh, everything set in motion. So like, that looks like a mix between there. Maybe computer colours with the watercolour background.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (45:54):
Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.

E.D. Kearsley (45:55):
There’s lots of cool, uh, stuff like that. And, uh, it’s like a, a mix between, uh, a nineties comic or the best stuff from nineties comics and the best stuff from like, uh, underground comics. Yeah, like the, the uh, the graph mania, sort of just tonnes and tonnes of lines everywhere and there’s so much detail and stuff to look at Cap and what else? Oh, there’s a, there’s a weird collage of psychedelic moment. There’s so much stuff that’s super creative and there’s, um, tonnes of ideas being thrown out. There’s, I’d say at least 10 super villains that she fights during the comic. Mm-Hmm. That, that like, uh, he is not afraid to, to burn characters. Like he’s, he’s got so many you just keep throwing ’em at the, the protagonist. And it was fun too. It was really good.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (46:58):
Yeah.

E.D. Kearsley (46:59):
Like all the stuff that I like in comics, like the, the underground el elements, the, the nineties energy. Um, yeah, it’s really good. I suppose the, the best way to sum it up would be there’s a lot of energy and it, it’s even, um, not so much in the art style, but in the, the way that he’s throwing out ideas is almost like Jack Kirby with the, the just introducing stuff constantly and it’s, um, it’s really cool and I’m looking forward to shoot two as well. And the, there’s like some like the underground elements, like the creepy and grotesque stuff that he draws that’s really good. He very good. <laugh>

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (47:41):
<laugh>.

Sheydin Dew (47:43):
I’ve, um, I’ve always heard about Battery hen I’ve heard it quite a bit and so now like talking about it. Yeah, it’s definitely piqued my interest now seeing the artwork and what’s actually inside of it. Yeah. It seems really, really cool. Very different as well to what, um, I expect it to, so, yeah. Yeah. Very interesting.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (48:03):
I really like the mixed media approach that he had. Yeah. To that one because he doesn’t do it in the second one, but, uh, that one just, he just goes crazy and just, oh, what about this? And I’ll throw this in here. And I like you said, a collage. I love that one where he, um, uses a photocopier and moves the page.

E.D. Kearsley (48:20):
Oh yeah.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (48:22):
To get a, an effect. That’s the one that’s an old

E.D. Kearsley (48:25):
Old school check. Oh,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (48:26):
No way.

Sheydin Dew (48:28):
That’s so creative.

Shannon Browning (48:34):
It kind of reminds me, it looks like a cross between um, like Tank Girl and uh, the max with that sort of experimental like sort of nontraditional art style.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (48:46):
Yeah, I can see that.

E.D. Kearsley (48:48):
Yeah. It has a lot of the, like the punk rock energy from Yeah. Ko as well.

Shannon Browning (48:53):
It’s got a little bit of Robert Crumb in it as well.

E.D. Kearsley (48:56):
There’s a, there, there is a bit of that in some of the lines that he does as Yeah. Mm-Hmm. So he is, he is pulling from like everywhere and just smashing it all into this awesome piece of art.

Shannon Browning (49:08):
Nice.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (49:09):
Yeah, it’s a good comment. I enjoyed that one. I guess I don’t get to talk about that one next week, next quarter.

Shannon Browning (49:15):
Put that baggage back in the bottom of the pile.

E.D. Kearsley (49:18):
<laugh>. You have to do issue two

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (49:21):
<laugh>.

E.D. Kearsley (49:23):
Is that out yet?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (49:25):
No, no, no. He’s still doing it. He’s still doing it. He’s drawing it as we speak. Um, sick. At least I think it’s non, it’s just one style, like just him doing a comic this time without experimenting with stuff. Um, but you know, he might change his mind halfway through, who knows

E.D. Kearsley (49:43):
Because

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (49:43):
He, who knows with Brian, who knows, he’s a random fellow.

E.D. Kearsley (49:47):
He normally draws it like black and white. The

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (49:50):
Yeah. <crosstalk>

Sheydin Dew (49:53):
Wow.

E.D. Kearsley (49:56):
That’s framework. And he also draws really fast too.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (50:00):
Mm.

E.D. Kearsley (50:01):
Like I

Sheydin Dew (50:02):
Was, I also kind of drew a like, um, it reminded me of someone here in sa it it gives the same kind of vibe as Dana King’s artwork as well.

E.D. Kearsley (50:12):
Yeah. A little bit. Oh, energetic rock and roll stuff. Yeah,

Sheydin Dew (50:17):
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That’s awesome. I’ll definitely have to pick it up now because I’ve got all of Dana’s work. So if it’s um, anything of the, of the similar kind of vibe, then yeah. I’ll have to give that one as us too.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (50:30):
Cool.

E.D. Kearsley (50:32):
Alright.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (50:32):
So Ed

E.D. Kearsley (50:34):
Got Uncle’s

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (50:36):
Rock up evening, uncle <laugh>, Chris Hunt. How you going back to me? Okay. This is where we do the, uh,

E.D. Kearsley (50:48):
The Quick

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (50:48):
Had a really cool name for it.

E.D. Kearsley (50:50):
The, is it the Quick Shots or the quick recommendations?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (50:54):
Quick recommendations. Uh, should I start or should I go at the end? Ed, how’s this gonna work?

E.D. Kearsley (51:00):
Um, you start us off.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (51:02):
Okay. I’ll start off so everyone knows what we’re doing. Okay. So this is not a recent read. This one I read in my early twenties and it blew my mind at the time. Um, I am curious to read it again to see if it stands up, uh, with, to Time or where the expression is Kingdom come. Um, loved that, uh, comic, it was so different from anything I’d read back then. Um, the story was, it was simple. It it, but not in a bad way. It was like, it was just very straightforward. It was like, you know, here are the, the new good guys who are all violent. Here’s the old good guys who aren’t so violent and it just, they collide and cause a big mess I guess without spoiling it for anyone who hasn’t read it. ’cause it’s, um, very cool. There’s, there’s a, I remember when I read it, there is a nuclear bomb, uh, that’s probably all spoiling it to a degree, but, uh, I wasn’t expecting that when I read it, so that was a like a Oh, whoa. Wow. So I wasn’t used to comics with so much death. So yeah, that’s my favourite. One of my favourites, I should say. Not my favourite. It’s one of my favourites. I have many favourite comics.

(52:24)
So who to now?

E.D. Kearsley (52:26):
So that’s, uh, Dave Dies saying Ryan’s invited a group of artists to create a page each for the upcoming

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (52:32):
Release. Oh yeah, I’ve heard about that.

E.D. Kearsley (52:34):
That’s for, uh, battery Hen three, so I’ve got a page in that too.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (52:41):
Nice.

E.D. Kearsley (52:43):
And it was pretty anti image comics.

Shannon Browning (52:46):
Oh, that was Kingdom come. Yeah.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (52:47):
Kingham come. Yeah, I think that’s what

E.D. Kearsley (52:49):
Go at.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (52:50):
I didn’t see story was, but I see it now.

E.D. Kearsley (52:53):
Yeah. Because it’s the, the old school heroes have trying to stop their, the younger violent lashy heroes who they just kill and don’t care about anything.

Shannon Browning (53:03):
Yeah. It’s, yeah. Superman sort of like, he comes back and he tries to um, basically instruct the new, the new heroes with the ideals of the old. And nobody’s really that interested because the public isn’t interested in old school ideals either. And it’s sort of, it kind of comes along and bites them all in the ars. Like Superman can’t really get his head around the modern world, but the modern world can’t really get its, its head around the, the simple compassion that the old heroes used to have.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (53:44):
Sorry, I was reeling the comment. Not You’re

Shannon Browning (53:46):
Alright mate.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (53:48):
Yeah. Not what you were saying.

Shannon Browning (53:51):
No, it was, it was, I, I remember the hype of that coming out and the excitement of like, it was only four issues and one, it was one a month. Um, but the excitement of waiting for those to come out,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (54:03):
I never heard of it

Shannon Browning (54:05):
Really?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (54:06):
So I stumbled across the trade

Shannon Browning (54:08):
Oh my God.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (54:10):
Yeah. Serious. Yeah, I got them when they came out. Yeah. Yeah. I stumbled across the trade and I was like, what’s this? And read it and went, oh my God, how did I miss this?

Shannon Browning (54:19):
Yeah. Because Alex Ross had blown up because he did the series called Marvels, which was the ginning of the Marvel universe. Um, and that’s really what brought into the fore. And then like Kingdom come, it wasn’t really his follow up, but it was his big DC project that followed his big Marvel project. So yeah, I mean like for, oh God, probably 18 months, every single issue of Wizard had at least one article about Kingdom coming.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (54:47):
Hmm. How did I miss this? I don’t know. I don’t know. <laugh>, it might’ve been just said. It was the painting art. And I was like, yeah, it’s not a comic. And I finally read it and I was like, holy crap. That’s the best comic ever. So yeah.

Shannon Browning (54:59):
Yeah. I refuse to ring. Um, dark night returns for the longest time. ’cause I thought the art wasn’t very good.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (55:05):
<laugh> cool. Uh, cool.

Shannon Browning (55:08):
Yeah, I was an idiot. I was an idiot. 19-year-old. Gimme a break. But anyway.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (55:13):
So who’s next? Who are we just gonna go around the room? Sure. Lucky Kelsey <laugh>.

Kelsey Reynolds (55:23):
Ah, okay. I’m waiting for that. Uh, okay, quick recommendation. Uh, um, I’m rereading a, uh, another comic on Manta called Under the Oak Tree. I recommend that because I’m rereading it and I just read the book, um, which I read the comic for first, and now I’ve read the book and now I’ve gone back to the comic. It’s another romance because this is a trope for me apparently at this point in my life. But it’s just like, again, it’s about the psychological elements of these characters. It’s like the, the romance is like, almost like secondary to the reason why I’m enjoying ’em so much. It’s basically about this young woman who was married off by her father to like this kinda lowly night for like a political reason. And then he disappears to war for like three years and she has no idea what’s going on.

(56:08)
And then all of a sudden he comes back from like this massive campaign and he’s suddenly like this decorator hero because of his feats. And she’s like, he’s gonna divorce me. My life is over. Like, this is the worst because he’s too, too good for me now. It’s very period piece. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. But the whole story is about her basically realising that that’s all coming from a place of her basically being like abused by her father and her family and basically told that she’s worthless and her only worth is because she’s a woman to be married off basically. And so she meets this, you know, her husband again of the first time and it’s very tense and weird and she’s a thinking in her head the whole time, all this stuff. And then you see his perspective in his head the whole time being like, oh my God, she’s a goddess.

(56:52)
This is the most amazing woman ever. And then he whisks her off to his, like land basically against her father’s wishes because he’s like, well, you’re my partner now. Like I, we we are going home. And the whole story is basically unfolding about how she realises that she’s not worthless, she’s not useless. Like she’s got this person who’s now her family and that he’s got all this trauma that he’s grown up with. And then they’ve found each other and she, you know, she starts to realise that she’s, she can help her, her, her land now she’s not just a, you know, a meek woman who’s gonna sit in a room and look pretty. She’s like, I’m gonna go out and I’m gonna help people in monster raids. I’m gonna help, I’m gonna learn how to heal people. She like throws up because she learns how to sew a, uh, like a wound.

(57:38)
And then she realised that she can start learning magic if she wants to. Like, it’s this whole like thing of like taking this again, it’s very, this is must be just a thing for me, taking this very fantasy centric to the story that has like all these expectations of like a, a, a woman and a man in those sorts of periods and kind of subverts ’em a little bit. I really like that she’s just coming into her own and she’s just got all these exciting things that she never thought were possible. And, but it’s really like the focus is really on her inner turmoil as she’s doing these. Like she’s having all these doubts, like the psychological abuse, it has a lot of, uh, weight in this comic, in this story. And I like that it’s treated like that. Um, it’s not just kinda like she gets away from her abuser and she’s like, I’m a hero and I’m gonna like punch everyone.

(58:24)
We love that. But I like the work that has gone into this development of her as a character. Like I think we’re in like, oh God, like season three or four now and she’s only just starting to kind of feel confident standing out for herself in front of people. And that’s really satisfying to read from when we first saw her where she could barely, she, she has like an impediment where she stutters. So that’s where a lot of her insecurities come from. And then her kind of working through like not only accepting that she stutters and that’s just reality that she has to live with, but even starting to overcome a little bit of it just by like, you know, having, you know, purpose in her life a little bit. And it’s just, yeah, it’s just a fun, it’s a fun story that sounds like it’s just a fun lighthearted story. It’s not, but it’s like, it’s so cathartic and enjoyable and I’ve read it like, you can read it like three or four times and it still hits. So it’s ongoing, but it’s like I’m waiting for the next season again. I just dunno. I’d do this to myself. Um, and yeah, it’s a really nice story. I’m trying to find a physical copy of it, but I don’t think it’s out yet, but just amazing. That’s my, that wasn’t a quick recommendation, but <laugh> <laugh>. Good one, nonetheless. Yeah, it was a good one. Yeah, it’s good stuff.

Shannon Browning (59:37):
That’s great.

Kelsey Reynolds (59:38):
All righty. So who next,

Shannon Browning (59:42):
Megan? Okay, so my quick recommendation quick, um, is Supreme Story of the Year. Um,

(59:55)
Yeah. Um, now as much as I hate to plug anything that Rob Feld had a hand in, he did one incredibly smart thing and he hired Alan Moore to update a character that he, that Rob Lofo was already doing. Uh, Alan took it and ran with it. He basically scrapped everything that happened before. Um, and the story sort of starts after kind of a crisis on infinite earth sort of thing. But he’s also sort of taking the Mickey out of, um, comic tropes as well. Um, but he, this is kind of, it’s almost a love letter to Superman stories from the Silver Age. Um, he, and it’s done in this wonderful way that since this is the latest revamp of Supreme, um, all of his memories aren’t filled in yet. So every issue, he has a, a new memory come back to him, but the way he visits that memory is that it’s done in an art style and a story style that’s reminiscent of the 1950s and the 1960s.

(01:01:09)
Um, and, but what happens in that story always leads into the main story as well. Uh, it’s fantastically done. Uh, the artwork in it, in both, in both the current and in the, um, the classic stuff is beautifully drawn. Um, I think, I think Eric Glasson actually wound up like getting the rights to this and trying to continue it on at one point. I don’t think he got very much done. Uh, and there’s a couple of stories that were done that didn’t actually made it into this trade. Um, I don’t even know if this is available anymore. This has been like literally floating around in my collection for about, probably about, oh, I hate to say it, 15, 20 years, um, since the goddamn nineties, put it that way. Um, but it’s one of those things like I, I pick it up and

Kelsey Reynolds (01:02:02):
<laugh> <laugh>,

Shannon Browning (01:02:05):
Um,

Kelsey Reynolds (01:02:06):
<inaudible> William.

Shannon Browning (01:02:07):
Yeah, this is something, yeah, I, I probably pick up every two or three years and reread all over again. ’cause the stories are just, the stories are great. They really are. Like you can tell Alan Moore, um, um, is having a lot of fun with it and is really exploring like an era that he truly loved. Um, yeah, so that’s, that’s my quick recommendation is Supreme Story of the year.

E.D. Kearsley (01:02:35):
Nice. We’ve got a, a comment from William that was for Kelsey. Uh, it’s like Bernadett from Fire from Three Houses was main character by the sounds of it.

Shannon Browning (01:02:51):
It goes completely over my head. Oh wait, is that about Kelsey or is that about this?

E.D. Kearsley (01:02:56):
I think it, it came in just after Kelsey’s one, but I didn’t wanna interrupt you. That sounds like the part of a video game.

Kelsey Reynolds (01:03:07):
It, it, yeah. I don’t know that video game, but Yeah, it kind of does. Yeah. <laugh>,

E.D. Kearsley (01:03:14):
There you go. So Shaden,

Sheydin Dew (01:03:18):
Um, my quick recommendation is actually a, my very first point of reference that I had when I created No Man’s Land back in 2018, and it is Slam, um, it is, uh, illustrated by Veronica Fish. Um, and one, something that really grabbed me with this is that the front cover actually matches the inside pages quite well. Um, so there was a really good, um, bit of continuity there. And it was actually my main point of reference of why I chose the Colours for No Man’s Land. Um, it’s obviously about roller skating, so that was another point of why I picked it up. Um, it follows two girls, Jennifer and Maisie. Um, which is really funny because one of the characters in my book is called Maisie. And I picked this up like just as I was writing it, and I already had the character Maisie fleshed out and I was like it was meant to be.

(01:04:09)
Um, and they kind of meet at the orientation fresh meat trials for one of their local, um, roller derby, um, uh, teams. Um, they, it’s safe to say they get, they both get on, um, respective teams, but they actually end up being, um, rivals. Um, but they became, they become like really good friends in the beginning. Um, so Jennifer is a uni student and Maisie, um, recently has just gotten out of a really bad breakup and that’s why she comes to these, um, roller derby trials meets Jennifer. They become really good friends and then eventually they end up on rival teams. Um, and yeah, they get, they get up into like a lot of shenanigans. Um, there’s really good, um, commentary on like friendship and how, um, how much, uh, friendships mean to people, uh, even when you compete against them. Uh, yeah, it’s just a really fun story and I can’t remember, I, I really at the time I really wanted to get the second one, which was labelled as Slam the Next Jam. Um, I’m not where they are up to with their volumes now, but otherwise it’s really fun, very vibrant. Um, and yeah, it’s a really good story about friendship, especially with, um, female ri rivalry, um, so to speak. So yeah, that’s my quick recommendation.

E.D. Kearsley (01:05:33):
Oh, nice.

Shannon Browning (01:05:35):
Was it made into a film?

Sheydin Dew (01:05:38):
Um, not that I know of. You might be thinking of, um, one with Ellen Page in it, perhaps whip it. Are you

E.D. Kearsley (01:05:48):
Thinking it? I think

Shannon Browning (01:05:49):
That might have been it. Yeah.

Sheydin Dew (01:05:51):
Yeah. I think that movie came out way before this comic did, but it’s very similar kind of vibes. I have a few.

E.D. Kearsley (01:05:58):
Yeah.

Shannon Browning (01:05:59):
Okay, cool.

Sheydin Dew (01:06:00):
Yeah, highly recommend Good Colours, lovely artwork,

E.D. Kearsley (01:06:03):
<laugh> and it’s me. So I’m gonna quickly recommend Battle for Bustle. Oh,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:06:13):
Nice.

E.D. Kearsley (01:06:14):
Number one by Lee Chaka and very much like, um, um, ve stuff. Highly detailed, black and white. Um, also from Queensland. And, uh, this, this first issue is one of the best, uh, first issues that I’ve ever read. Like out of any comic books ever. Like it’s excellent. Wow. And, um, there’s four of them and you can get them all at the comic shop, I believe. And number five is coming out soon.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:06:49):
Actually four. All four of ’em are sold out.

E.D. Kearsley (01:06:52):
Well, you can’t get them.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:06:53):
They’re very popular. I’m sorry to say so, but, uh,

E.D. Kearsley (01:06:57):
Too bad for you then.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:06:58):
Yeah, too bad I think. I think they’re being rereleased or PDFs or something’s going on, so people who’ve missed them get to see them still,

E.D. Kearsley (01:07:07):
It’s um, there’s a great story setting up a lot of world building. Mm. Um, sets up a whole new world and the the heroes, uh, sets out on his journey. It’s like just amazing creativity. It’s um, it’s crazy and it’s so great to see such a diverse of interest. Yeah, it’s good. Um, yeah, this is an excellent book and all four of them are great and number five is coming out soon. So that is my one, my quick recommendation

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:07:45):
Back to me. Okay. So what I’m gonna do is I was Kingdom come, uh, Kelsey was,

Kelsey Reynolds (01:07:54):
Is this the first recommendation or second one?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:07:57):
The second one where you recommended

Kelsey Reynolds (01:07:58):
Oh, the re, uh, no, uh, under the Oak Tree. Sorry. <laugh>

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:08:03):
Shannon. I’m doing that wrong.

Shannon Browning (01:08:06):
Yep. Supreme Story of the Year.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:08:09):
Yep. And I can’t point past Shannon <laugh> over to you, Shannon

Sheydin Dew (01:08:14):
Slam five. Veronica.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:08:17):
Yes. Last of all, ed, which is that way. Battle

E.D. Kearsley (01:08:20):
Battle, battle Bus.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:08:24):
Nice. That’s our show, I think.

E.D. Kearsley (01:08:28):
I believe it is.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:08:30):
I believe it is. So thank you very much to our three guests, Kelsey, Shannon, and Shaden, and, um, thank you to our button Pusher who also got involved in the story. Uh, ed Kersley, <laugh> <laugh>. And um, yeah, thank you to everyone who watched. Thanks for all the comments and I’m looking forward to doing this again in a fortnight. ’cause I was freaking out only an hour and 10 minutes ago, but, um, yeah, this, this was fun. So I’m looking forward to a fortnight from now, so this will be great.

Shannon Browning (01:09:03):
Yeah, thanks.

E.D. Kearsley (01:09:03):
And also No worries, thanks for coming. Also, if anyone take, uh, William or uncle, anyone in the chat wants to be on the show, uh, everyone’s welcome to come on and talk about comics because they’re great.

Shannon Browning (01:09:21):
Thanks.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:09:21):
They are

Sheydin Dew (01:09:25):
Pleasure to be on the show.

Shannon Browning (01:09:27):
See you Dave. I’m starting to feel like the end of the Musketeers <laugh>.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:09:33):
<laugh>.

E.D. Kearsley (01:09:36):
Is that it, sis?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:09:38):
Yep. You can press the button, my friend. Oh, once you press those buttons, <laugh>.

E.D. Kearsley (01:09:46):
Okay. Bye. Thanks for watching everyone.

Shannon Browning (01:09:49):
Bye.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:09:51):
Like share and subscribe. Thank you very much.