Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (00:09):
Hello and welcome to Comics Recent Reads. Uh, this is a show about comics, of course. So, but it’s not just any, well, it is any comics. I was gonna say, it isn’t just any comics, but it is any comics, um, whatever we have read recently, hence the title Comics Recent Reads. Um, I’m your host Siz, a publisher at Comics Studios, and tonight we have Brad, who I’m gonna introduce as the Epic, uh, transformer artist, <laugh>, uh, what are you, um, gonna share tonight?

Bradley R Pickersgill (00:48):
Okay. Hi everyone. Yeah, so, uh, I’m

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (00:50):
Going into just the topic, just the topic, uh,

Bradley R Pickersgill (00:51):
Just the topic. Yeah. So I’m covers no great surprise to anyone. I’m sharing the latest, uh, image comics, um, transformers, uh, series that’s just been out since late last year.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:04):
Cool. And then we’ve got Janine, who is, um, the owner of Heroes hq. And, uh, she’s here to talk about

Jeannine (01:17):
The, the Phantom through publishers, the Phantom. Cool. That’s what my latest read is. Yeah. Going through my box and reading the earlier ones.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:29):
Cool. Then we’ve got Ryan Christopher, who is from, is it Corner Box? Sorry, I’ve just forgotten for a second. It’s

Ryan Christopher (01:36):
Corner Box Comic Art,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:38):
Corner Box Comic Art. There’s the full title. And tonight you’ll be talking about,

Ryan Christopher (01:45):
Uh, Magneto Testament.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:47):
I’m looking forward to this. I haven’t heard of this one.

Ryan Christopher (01:50):
Yeah. Exciting.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:52):
Cool. And Ed, do I do the same to you? Sure. We’re sort of on the fly here again, <laugh>. Okay. We’ve got Ed, who is the creator of, uh, radical Comics. And, um, he is talking about, he’s gonna put himself on the screen.

E.D. Kearsley (02:08):
You gonna be doing Cut Down by Rogerson and Dave di

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (02:13):
Ooh. Signed as well. Nice

Bradley R Pickersgill (02:15):
Noise.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (02:16):
So that’s everyone. That’s what, that’s what we’ll be talking about tonight. Uh, what about you? Me, I am actually doing something naughty because I was meant to read another book, but, uh, time got away from me, so I’m actually doing a book I read last week instead of this week, which is still in the rules. Still in the rules. Um, it’s called, uh, this is like a prototype, so Issue one’s not there. This is issue one. Um, so you can’t get into comic shop, so that’s really bad. You can’t get it anywhere. But I’m going to talk about this one because it will maybe be coming up one day, one day. So I’m the host, so I’m the one who’s meant to still talk. Okay. Um, I guess what we can do now is let’s talk about, I’m gonna pick on, yeah, we’re gonna, the same order we went on before, uh, Brad, tell us about Transformers.

Bradley R Pickersgill (03:15):
Yeah, no, I guess, um, obviously, uh, I mean, I’m not reading a lot of stuff at the moment, so this one, um, I kind of put off for a little while and, um, I guess there’s, there’s obviously been a, a lot of history with Transformers comics that go back to the eighties where, you know, obviously we had Marvel, uh, did their own thing, and then you had Marvel UK doing their own thing as well, which was, you know, obviously, um, you know, uh, you know, was, was quite a different thing that that really expanded on a lot of the, the law and things like that. Um, and then it was nothing for quite a while after the eighties. Um, and then it was revived probably in the late nineties, early two thousands maybe. Uh, I think Dream Wave were the guys that picked up the licence.

(04:05)
Okay. And, um, the guy that ran that company was a great artist, but not a good, um, guy running a business and paying your staff. And unfortunately that, that kind of fell over, um, after, you know, only maybe a year to 18 months. Um, but certainly the product at the time was what people wanted. Then it went over to, uh, went over to another company whose name alludes me for a while. Uh, but they brought back Simon Furman, uh, who’s, who was one of the great, uh, writers in the eighties, uh, particularly in the UK run. Uh, and they, they did like another kind of a reboot there. And that went for a while. And then, uh, and then it went over to IDW, which probably had the longest run, um, of Transformers comics for, for quite some time. And, you know, it was, it was extremely popular in that it, it, um, uh, you know, it, it, it was a couple of titles when, and one of them was the Lost Light by series, which was basically about a bunch of water bots that went off on this quest.

(05:12)
And it, it, it had a very, uh, justice League kind of John, you know, jaded Mattis feel about it. There was a lot of humour, but Oh, okay. A lot of darkness about it as well. And, um, you know, introduced a lot of characters that weren’t part of the G one stuff that went for quite a while. And, um, they had a really good run, but it kind of ran outta gas. Um, and they lo they ended up kind of relinquishing or losing the, the licence. Um, I think it might’ve been early last year. Anyway, after a little break, uh, it’s now fallen to, um, um, Robert Kirkman’s, uh, print his house and he’s teamed up with Image Comics to publish, uh, basically a reboot. And I’m always, you know, at the time I was kind of sceptical. I was like, you know, after such a long run on IEWI was thinking to myself, they probably need a break.

(06:09)
You know, let’s just give everybody a break for a couple of years. Let the battle, you know, like, let’s not, you know, rush back into things again. Um, and, and so I was interested, but I kind of stepped, you know, I just went, I’m just gonna sort of sit back and see how this goes. And, um, anyway, um, good, good mate of mine, Tony Nasser, you know, um, from, um, comic Empire up here, you know, um, you know, we talk weekly and he, he’s like, dude, you gotta, you gotta read this, you know? And I was like, yeah, I don’t know. Um, I kind of succumbed about a month ago to it, and I thought, yeah, I’m gonna, I’m gonna go check this out. And, uh, long story short, you know, it’s, um, I’m really into it. It’s, it’s a, um, it’s another reboot, but it’s, it’s very different to anything that’s gone before.

(07:08)
Um, it’s, I think the words though, it’s, it’s basically the first five issues were produced by one guy, Daniel Johnson. Uh, he’s done both the story and the artwork. And I think the three words that I’ve used to describe it to people is it’s bold, it’s visceral, and it’s dynamic. Uh, and that applies to both the story and the art. Um, I think there was a lot of initial flack with the, you know, the art style, because it is pretty rough, but it is very dynamic and, and I think what’s happened is people have have gone into it and gone, wow, this is, this is actually really good. Um, so if you like, um, ed, if you might be able to just bring up that, uh, picture there, that’s, that’s the first cover, so you get a feel for what the art style is. Right. You know, it’s, it’s not, it’s not, it’s not the IDW, uh, you know, where you can see every cog and wheel and, and, and, and piece of machinery.

(08:08)
Um, it, it, it, it’s, it’s pretty, you know, faithful to, you know, what you used to see in the cartoons in the eighties, um, like old school. Yeah. You know, and, and the, the, the funny thing that I’d also heard about it was that, you know, I used you, you know how you see snippets on the internet, right? And, and you see certain panels and you kind of go, oh man, that is brutal. You know, like, what the heck is that? You know? And, and I thought to myself, are they just going for shock value here? Like, is that gonna run out? Um, I mean, they’re basically, without sort of spoiling things, there’s, you know, two very well loved characters that just basically in the first issue get brutally executed <laugh>, you know, and it’s like, damn, it kind of sets tone for, for the story.

(08:57)
Yeah. It would, um, it, the other points I’d make about it is, um, it does follow the original sort of G one, uh, ruffle storyline where they, they crash on earth, you know, both the daughter, both sort theon in the arc, and they’re slowly getting reactivated, but they, there’s only a minimal cast, so there’s only like, you know, four or five on each side at the moment. Um, you know, some of the really big hitters haven’t been seen yet. Um, oh, wow. So, you know, it’s, it’s, it does, does a lot with a very minimal cast and for such a wide palette of, you know, there’s God, how many bloody characters there are in that, in that franchise. It, it does it really well. Um, so, you know, that that’s one thing that I really noticed about it. Um, but yeah, it’s, it’s, um, I’ll see if I can, um, share another picture. Um, there’s a, um, the style is, is is quite interesting. Um, just, uh, see if I can find another one here that I’ve got. Um, alright.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (10:12):
I’ll dance to fill some time.

Bradley R Pickersgill (10:14):
Yeah. Sorry mate. Um,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (10:16):
All good, all good. Don’t, don’t look good dancing. Get the picture.

Bradley R Pickersgill (10:18):
Yeah. <laugh> it. There’s another one. Um, it, um, it doesn’t take itself too seriously in that, um, you know, the, um, I’m a big fan of the old school sort of on a Mat P Right. You know, like the old Pow Sam crash, you know, and this, this does it really, really well. Um, you know, you could even see where, I don’t know, maybe not the whole picture very well, but there’s a panel there that it’s got prime running towards the camera, you know, and, and, and in the background they, they’ve written, you know, the song <laugh>. That’s awesome. Which is, you know, like some people would go, Ooh, that’s dumb. But I think it’s cool, you know, and, and as you can see, there’s a lot of, on a matter p going on in there. And, um, I love that in comics. I just think that’s, you know, really great and, um, you know, it, it just adds kind of that old school feeling to it.

(11:15)
But yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s a really interesting read, you know, it’s the, the mm-Hmm, <affirmative>, the art style, uh, the, the, the writing. Um, yeah. It’s, it’s got something going for it. And I think the last thing I’d probably say about it is you don’t need to be a fan of the, the, the law. You don’t need to have a full understanding of, of the whole thing. You know, you can, you can basically pick it up and, and read it, and you don’t need to know the backstory or the history or any of that kind of stuff. So, um, yeah. You know, it’s, that’s, that’s what I’m reading, uh, at the risk of over speaking, I’ll leave it at that, but, um, but no, that’s what I’m reading and I’m enjoying

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (11:52):
It, so. Yeah. Yeah. Sounds awesome. Cool. So should I go to the Cat Struggler <laugh>?

Jeannine (12:05):
I’ve got, they’re not wanting to, I

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (12:08):
Think I’ve seen two colours so far.

Jeannine (12:11):
Oh, that’s Possum and, and Bruce. And they’re, they’re, um, not shearing.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (12:17):
Oh.

Jeannine (12:18):
So nevermind Bruce.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (12:20):
Um, just, I’d just like to put it out there, uh, max, if you are watching her cat’s name called Bruce, that’s a human name. Oh, <laugh>. He has a real problem with me calling Doug, Doug, so, oh, really? Still put it out there. Someone else does this, not just me.

Jeannine (12:37):
He’s, um, Bruce Wayne. He’s Bruce Wayne when I, him Bruce

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (12:40):
Wayne. Oh, that’s even better.

Jeannine (12:42):
So that’s even better. When, when I got him, he, he had these, this mask on, you know, so we named and, and Possum came in as, as a Catwoman, but Oh,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (12:52):
Okay.

Jeannine (12:52):
She didn’t, she didn’t come to Selena. So she comes to Possum <laugh>.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (12:57):
Oh, that’s a shame. <laugh>.

Jeannine (12:59):
So, um, I, I chose and have read Oh, okay. When you, when you asked me, um, you know, what books have I read recently as I’m filing comics, as I’m going through the, um, the old stock that I’ve got, you know, the 60-year-old comics, I’ve just stopped and read a few of those is I’ve gone. But my most favourite comment, the one that I read, um, more often is The Phantom. So the latest one, the latest one that’s come out, um, and we’re nearly up to issue 2000 with The Phantom. So it’s been going, um, that’ll be a really neat book. But the replicas, I, as I was going through boxes, I, um, I came across some of the replicas. I, I’m not lucky enough to have the early, early comics, nor can I afford them. Um, but they brought out a whole heap of replicas, uh, which I’ve put down and can’t find now. Um, <laugh>, but I <laugh>,

(14:08)
But I, I read, and I love the, uh, and I remember reading them when I was a child, so, oh, you know, my grand grandfather had them, those, along with, you know, the war stories and a lot of other things. So, way back in the, in the sixties, I was reading them, um, and the Algiers story is the one, um, where the Phantom goes to New York to see and ask Diana to marry him. So when Lee Fork, um, started writing them and bringing them together, um, he, um, it was, it was gonna be <laugh>, not today, <laugh> disagreement. <laugh>. It’s possum, she’s a lot of noise. Um, so when, when he started, uh, you know, it was done by it’s king syndicated. It’s owned by an American company. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and, and then, uh, about 1942, I think maybe 1936 to 42, it was, it was done in America, and then it came, came here, it was printed here somewhere in those early war years.

(15:25)
And, um, and then, you know, it, it was, it was not very gender specific. And it, and it certainly was colonialistic in its way of, um, of, um, you know, white bloke going into Bengali and, and teaching these, these savages how to behave, you know, <laugh>. It wasn’t the best. But we’ve come a long way, and it’s certainly not written that way now. Um, yeah, that’s good. But when I, I love the story of, of Diana, you know, her mother doesn’t approve, so takes her outta New York and then she doesn’t meet up with the Phantom and he can’t ask him to ask her to marry him, and she wants to live with him. She’s an Olympic swimmer, you know, so she’s done really, really well and a socialite, um, always up there with the fashion. And it was in a woman’s magazine when it was first printed.

(16:20)
So, you know, it, it sort of, it was, it was, you know, what to do and how to be and, and all the rest of it. So that’s the sort of books that I read when I was younger and, you know, this particular one with a mother interfering and ripping up letters from him and, and her not being asked at that time and being taken outta the country and, you know, so that they don’t meet up. ’cause that he wasn’t the per person that she was gonna marry by the parents. And then there’s a little one, there’s one book later on that I really, really love, and it’s where, um, he, she gets married and goes to live in the jungle and skull rock and all the rest of it, and all the local people build a tree house for her. And she has twins, but, um, the mother has the vapours and she’s, you know, this books about the s mother having the vapers <laugh>.

(17:23)
It’s, I read them now and I think, oh yeah, no, I don’t think so. But, um, you know, your kids have gotta be happy and can marry whoever they like. But, you know, it sort of set the, the whole scene of, of this hero, and of course the Girl Phantom as well. People think that for all these generations and the Chronicles have been around for thousand 400 hundreds of, and, and, you know, the Ghost Two walks has been out there and it’s been the same person. But whenever the Phantom got injured, you know, got stabbed or shot or whatever, the girl Phantom came into it and she had to make her own costume and everyone was anti it and all the rest of it, so, oh, wow. You know, the, the, um, she’s, she sort of was a hero there too. She went out and, and fought the bad guys as well.

(18:17)
So it’s, it’s had a lifetime of, um, colonialistic background and, um, you know, male privilege stuff and girls with the Vapers <laugh>, um, so <laugh> and how to dress properly and put your makeup on and how to, how to make your husband tea before he gets home and take your curlers out in those early years. But, you know, it’s gone on and it’s got better. And, you know, there’s Australians doing the artwork and it’s, it’s done here in Sydney, um, and it’s in newsagent and comics books, and we should be supporting them to keep going and Yeah. And buying it and, and enjoying it and supporting them, um, in their new endeavours and which, you know, which, where they’re going to. So that’s my read. And I love the LG is one, I can’t, I can’t, um, I did find it and then the cats fought. So <laugh> can’t find it again. Put it up in front of the screen. Dunno what I’ve done with it.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (19:30):
That’s okay.

Jeannine (19:31):
Mm Oh, they’re all over the floor, that’s why.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (19:36):
No, that’s why <laugh>,

Jeannine (19:37):
Yeah.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (19:38):
Nice to run Bruce and Celine. Who doesn’t answer to Celine?

Jeannine (19:41):
No <laugh>. That’s, that’s possum. So this is another one that I love. I dunno if you can see it. That’s an original. The Tigers is one of the, and these are all replicas. Um, but if you ever come across one that is called lgs, that’s the one you should read. If you want to see a mother interfering with a, with a young daughter’s love, I can’t find it. Okay. That’s me over and out. <laugh>

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (20:27):
Back to me, I guess. So, um, I’m looking forward to this one because I am a massive X-Men and Magneto fan, so I’m looking forward to hearing about this story that Ryan has. And Ryan, cool. Over to you, my friend.

Ryan Christopher (20:43):
So I wanted to talk about this one, ’cause Magneto’s sort back in the spotlight as a character for everyone who, uh, has been watching X-Men 97. He’s been a humongous part of the first season, um, as well as, uh, through the, the finale of the cre Coen era of comics, which has been the most recent run of X-Men that started with Jonathan Hickman and his house and powers of x slash 10, however it’s pronounced. Um, and I guess to start with like, just a tiny bit of background. So when Magneto first comes into comics in X-Men, number one, he’s very much a cartoon cookie cutter villain. He was intended to be a villain of the week. He wasn’t intended to be someone that would have a lasting and substantial impact on the X-Men and on comics. Um, so he appears in a handful of issues across multiple titles, including X-Men Avengers Journey into Mystery, um, through the first 10 years of comics.

(21:53)
And then he sort of disappears. Then we get into, uh, Chris Claremont taking control of the X-Men universe. And we see Magneto come back in a really big way as the primary villain for the X-Men. And more and more of his background starts to get fleshed out. Uh, we find out that he is a, a German Jew, a survivor of the Holocaust, and we find out about his, um, sort of lifelong friendship and rivalry with Charles Xavier. Um, and then he gets put on trial for his crimes, et cetera, before coming full circle and basically being an ex man himself. Um, but none of that’s the beginning of what makes Magneto Magneto. Um, it all comes down to this wonderful story written by Greg Pack, um, who is famous for, uh, world War Hawk that he did with John Eda Jr. Um, and the art on this book is by ca Carmine, uh, Gian Doo, who did Spider-Man noir, and the, uh, rebirth series of the Flash by Joshua Williamson, which is phenomenal. Uh, and it’s this, this book here, it’s called Magneto Testament.

(23:17)
Ah, this book covers a time period in Magneto’s life from, um, sort of November, 1935 to October, 1944. Um, so during this time, he’s between nine and 18 years of age, uh, and it comes about, uh, the, the, the book opens that he’s just living a normal life as a child with his mother, his uncle, um, and his grandfather in Germany. Uh, but the Nazi party is on the rise. Um, so things start to very quickly change and shift for the Eisenhardt family, trying to figure out, um, where they belong in this new Germany that is arising. Um, like so many Jewish people at that time, uh, there was a real sense of confusion as what was to what was going on. And it’s represented the way that that, that this story of this family is represented is as close to a real life factual account as you’ll find in a lot of literature.

(24:34)
Um, I have read a lot of literature that classifies itself as holocaust literature that mm-Hmm. <affirmative> takes, uh, exorbitant liberties with the facts and figures around who was doing what at what time. Um, this is one of the most heavily researched, uh, comics that’s probably ever been put out. Um, it has it been done in collaboration with Holocaust survivors, Holocaust Museums, um, and a combination of firsthand accounts to form something that is as authentic as possible to the point where it is a very hard read. Um, we see, uh, a 9-year-old boy who has not come into his powers. He doesn’t come into his powers through the entire book. Uh, we get a suggestion that there may be something about him that is different. Um, he seems to have luck with finding metallic items such as coins, uh, when it comes to finding enough money for the family to eat when they’re in the, the ghettos.

(25:42)
Um, but we, we see a, a, a child slowly have his entire world ripped apart by the rise of Nazi Germany, um, and it forges him into the person who would, I mean, if you want to know why he’s so protective of mutants and mutant kind, why he’s so against prejudice, um, why he’s so quick to use his power to defend people who are powerless. This is the book that will give you all the reasons, um, wow. Yeah. It’s, it’s where he meets, uh, the mother of his children, um, who, uh, they, they, they work together to try and survive the horrors horror of being put into Auschwitz now concentration camp. Um, it details his accounts working as a sonder commando. Um, a Sonder commando was, uh, a handpicked fit, able-bodied Jewish male whose job was to, uh, take the bodies from the gas chambers and, uh, dispose of them.

(27:04)
So to burn them in pits to, um, basically aid the Nazis in the covering up, uh, the crimes that were, were happening throughout Eastern Europe during that time. Um, and it deals with close calls, uh, it deals with reuniting with, with friends from before the camps inside. Um, so it, there’s, there’s a lot of hope there, but there’s an incredible amount of despair. Um, and I think it’s sort of, it’s a must read because I think that the visuals enhance the narrative so well. Um, Greg P’s written an amazing story that could stand alone as say, a novella, um, but Carmine’s artwork, um, it’s coloured by Matt Hollingsworth, who coloured preacher. He coloured, um, the Eisner Award-winning death, uh, high cost of living. Um, and he did the Matt Fraction and David Ahas Hawkeye. Um, so the entire book just has a, a fantastic, um, but sombre tone throughout.

(28:28)
Um, and it doesn’t shy away from putting the atrocities on the page. Um, so for someone like me who is, uh, a fanatic about the X-Men, much like Ciz, um, and Magneto is, um, as, as, as someone who’s grown up with a disability. So being part of a marginalised community for my whole life, Magneto and his ideologies have always been, um, quite appealing to me. And it’s, uh, it, it gives it another level to the character. Like, if you think you love Magneto now or you think that he’s a character that deserves attention when you read this book, like your heart breaks for the character and it gives immense weight to going back and reading those stories and everything that occurred in his life after that age. Um, yeah. So I, I I couldn’t recommend <inaudible>. That’s really cool.

E.D. Kearsley (29:33):
Can we get a look at some of the artwork?

Ryan Christopher (29:36):
Yeah, for sure. Oh, yeah. I don’t have, um, any slides, but some of the pages are quite dark, so I’m trying to find something that might present. Well,

E.D. Kearsley (30:08):
No, it’s good artwork. Oh, thanks. It looks a bit like Tim Seal,

Ryan Christopher (30:12):
There is that sort of quality to it. Yeah, but I think it’s, um, if you’ve, if you read some of Carman’s other work, like his work on The Flash, because the colour palette is so different, um, it almost looks like a different artist has drawn the book.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (30:29):
Oh, wow.

Ryan Christopher (30:30):
Yeah. But it, it’s look at like, look at these pages drawn in the snow.

E.D. Kearsley (30:43):
Wow, that looks good.

Ryan Christopher (30:50):
Yeah. So I reckon, um, and if you buy the 2014 second printing, it also comes with additional essays. Um, it comes with an additional short story that is another true to life account of a Jewish artist who, uh, was commissioned by Mangola to paint pictures of gipsies in the Gypsy camp. Um, she, uh, basically kept people alive by taking her time because they were so obsessed with their art that they wanted each piece to be finished. And she’s thought, well, the longer I take to paint these people, the more chance they’ve got of surviving the war. Um, and it talks about her battle to try and have her paintings returned, um, by the, uh, Auschwitz Holocaust Museum, which has been an ongoing battle since, uh, the early two thousands, I believe. Um, but it’s got additional lectures. Um, and this is an addition which is also recommended for schools. So it’s got a whole bunch of, um, pieces to, to structure like a learning curriculum around this particular book. Um, wow. So yeah, it’s, it’s, this is the cover. It’s the 2014, uh, second edition print. Um, you’ll know if it’s the one you’re after. ’cause on the back here it’s got a little blurb about the additional content.

(32:22)
Ah, yeah. Yeah. So that’s the one you want to get if you want to get all the additional content. Cool. Thank you. Back to

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (32:33):
Me. I guess, well, one unfortunate thing about

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (32:38):
That is I now have another comic that I wanna buy, so Yeah. So adding to my list. Thanks a lot, Ryan.

Jeannine (32:51):
I think I have copy of that in my bank issues. Oh, well, I’ll to you <laugh>.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (33:00):
Cool. Well, um,

Bradley R Pickersgill (33:01):
Yeah, it’s definitely, definitely made me wanna go out and get

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (33:03):
It now. Yeah, same, same. Um, ed, do you wanna go first or me?

E.D. Kearsley (33:07):
Um, yeah, I’ll go.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (33:08):
You okay. Okay, cool.

E.D. Kearsley (33:12):
Okay, so I’ve got cut down by Stit and Dave Dye, and it’s a, like a one shot book. It’s really good. One of the things I really like about it is the, um, the minimalist style with this. There’s nothing on the inside covers just the indu, and there’s nothing in the out the, the back inside cover. Wow. That’s kind of neat. And then the, uh, the drawing on the back, it matches the story panel of the story as well.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (33:51):
Oh, okay. Cool.

E.D. Kearsley (33:52):
Cool. Wanted to read it like that. So it’s, um, obviously Dave and I really great artwork. It’s a really good cartooning, and there’s stuff like, there’s repeated motifs, you see the, the truck with fingers. It, that one there that repeats through the, through the story. And, um, what else have I got? I wrote some notes. So there’s the, um, the panel to panel flow. You see like the, uh, the side, everything’s, it’s like, it’s moving. There’s not too Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, like, everything’s a different size. Like it’s really good and the use of, see how Dave, uh, not every panel has a full background. Mm. It’s a really good use. Oh yeah. When to use minimal backgrounds and when to use four ones. And this motif of the, like, the spotlight, like on the cover is used a lot and it’s really effective. And there’s a lot of stuff, like I was saying before, like the visual callbacks, um, where is it? There’s, um, like there’s a picture of that girl there, and that comes back later. And so it’s like a Twilight zone story of this guy who’s a, like a scumbag. And he, um,

(35:33)
He gets his come up and lemme put that thing up there from Nick

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (35:41):
<laugh>.

Jeannine (35:41):
I, I, I like Dave’s artwork, you know, where he, he doesn’t make the background messy, you know, it’s about the story that he’s telling at the time, and that he doesn’t fill in that area where you can see the bookcase. You just imagine it’s there, you know, sort of thing. Yeah. It’s,

Bradley R Pickersgill (35:57):
It’s really dangerous, Dave. Uh, he never fails to deliver. Right. And, and his style is very reminiscent of these old commando books from back in the day, which goes to his pedigree. Right. But it, it, it’s, it’s a, it’s a winning style, you know? Yeah. It’s

Jeannine (36:09):
Great.

E.D. Kearsley (36:10):
It does have a more of a British style than a, like an American style.

Ryan Christopher (36:16):
Yeah. Dave is just a phenomenal visual storyteller. And I think that is a, a great example. And it’s, uh, from my experience with reading Dave’s stuff, it doesn’t matter if you give him six pages or 60 pages, he knows how to pace and plot a story. Mm. And

Jeannine (36:36):
Yeah,

Ryan Christopher (36:37):
Thank you for sharing that.

E.D. Kearsley (36:39):
Cool. And there’s, um, there’s some really good tempo builds and, uh, the way Rogers, uh, Stit has scripted it and, um, like structured the story, it works really great and he does this really cool thing, if I can find it. But there’s a lot of, um, the, the radio’s playing through the background and the, the song lyrics are like allegorically telling the story as well.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (37:11):
Ah.

E.D. Kearsley (37:12):
So that’s really clever, pleased on that. And when he goes into this mysterious fog and then there’s a, like a radio serial on with the, the darkness is descending like a filthy blanket, and it’s kind of, it’s reinforcing the, the story of what’s happening, which is very clever. It’s really, um, it’s, it’s a very well made comic book. It’s a really good example of when the, the artist and the writer are writing in the pocket with each other. It’s all in sync and it’s all working really well. And it’s, um, it’s just, it’s good comic books. Very good. So that’s my one.

Bradley R Pickersgill (37:54):
Where, where’s that available? Um, ed, do you,

E.D. Kearsley (37:57):
That comment that is to, we

Bradley R Pickersgill (37:59):
Can get

E.D. Kearsley (38:00):
On the comic shop.

Bradley R Pickersgill (38:01):
Okay. It’s on comics. Yeah. Cool.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (38:03):
Yeah. Okay. So it’s now my turn. Um, or is that a cue to do the ad? I don’t know how it works. Ed,

E.D. Kearsley (38:12):
Do one first, then we’ll

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (38:14):
Do, I’ll do mine first. Okay, cool. Um, well, I’m doing a book because I have read it recently. Um, probably isn’t the best choice because it is, this book is a prototype, I’ll put it there. This is a prototype. It’s not even a proof. We haven’t even made a proof for this one. Um, this is like printed and chopped up and all that’s, you know, by the, the writer better have expenses <laugh>, sorry, dude. <laugh>. So, um, yeah, it’s Twisted Fate. Um, it is written by Josh Elliot and the artist is Jeff Cramer. Um, uh, he’s the artist. Like he does the, the, the pencils inks, the colours, the lettering, everything. Um, and um, when I first read this as well as when I just read it again last week, just to double check that, um, it was everything I remembered it to be.

(39:13)
I don’t have that technical knowledge that Ed has, so I can’t point out things like that. But what I, what I can, like, it wasn’t the art’s good, the art’s good, don’t get me wrong. The art’s good. I dunno if I picked a good page or not, but the art is good, but that’s not what sucked me in. Um, it was the concept, uh, maybe it’s been done before and I just never come across it before. Uh, but these are, the ferries are actually, they, they’re like, they’re called Faye, sorry. Um, they’re like ferries and they’re been, they’re in this world with us, but they’re in the food chain. Um, so cats like to eat them rats like to eat them owls bats. Um, apparently their blood is ridiculously tasty. Uh, and there’s also, if that’s not enough, uh, there’s these demon, quite type creatures called the Soce who also love to eat them.

(40:11)
Um, so, and they have this ridiculous craving for sugar. So they put their life at risk to get sugar. And that’s what this, this is, this book is more of like an introduction to that whole concept, um, where they are just going from house to house, trying to get snacks and, you know, Mars bar feeds them all that kind of thing. And they’re just avoiding being eaten and yeah, being killed by pretty much everything out there at night. Um, and I just, I just, yeah, just the whole idea because I’m used to ferries being these magical, wonderful things. Um, and in this, they’re being slaughtered, like half the cast is dead by the end of this issue. <laugh>. Um, so basically

Bradley R Pickersgill (40:57):
You’re saying it’s, it’s basically fairy watership down, is what you’re saying, <laugh>

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (41:01):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, pretty much. And, and you introduced, uh, I’m told that he introduced to the, the whole tribe or whatever afterwards in the next issue. Um, but this one’s just to introduce that whole concept that yeah, they, they’re, they’ve got a pretty tough life. Um, one of ’em, a rat eats them another, another three I think are eaten by the solace. Um, another one, a cat gets, um, I can’t remember how they all all died, um, of them. Oh, oh, that’s right. One of them got chopped in half when a, a glass fell on them. So yeah, it’s pretty full on. Um, it, I went into it thinking it was a fantasy story, but I think it’s better classified as a horror, um, because it’s got that fantasy element to it, but they just keep being slaughtered and dying and blood everywhere and arms being eaten off and Yeah. Yeah. That was, that’s one I read last week. Um, I have read it a couple of times now and I don’t know what else to say. Um, it might be coming out, it might not. There’s a lot of confusion about that. So for that factor alone, I probably shouldn’t have picked this one.

(42:14)
You book, we’re not

Bradley R Pickersgill (42:15):
Gonna be able to get Whatcha doing

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (42:18):
<laugh>, but, um, it’s, uh, in the, I’m pretty bad about that. Um, you’re,

Bradley R Pickersgill (42:25):
You’re a tease. You’re,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (42:26):
Yeah, I’m, I’m <laugh>, but in the, in the last couple of weeks, that’s the only thing I’ve read. So, which is really bad because I have this giant pile of 400 indie comics that I’m meant to read that I should have actually gone into and read some comics this week. But, um, yeah, such as life. There you go. I’ve put it out there. A comic you may never be able to get <laugh>, also <laugh>.

Jeannine (42:53):
Wonderful. Have I got, have I got time to show you the panel of, of Mother interfering?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (42:59):
Yep. Oh,

Jeannine (43:02):
See if you can read this. Trying hard not to bend my spine.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (43:11):
Unfortunately we can’t, um, zoom in.

E.D. Kearsley (43:15):
Can we put

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (43:19):
The software doesn’t allow for it. I can get the whole page that way. Nice one.

E.D. Kearsley (43:26):
<laugh> can write a much better note <laugh>.

Jeannine (43:30):
So Mother says, this is goodbye, and Diane is saying, darling, you know, I’m, I’m just heading away. Mother’s not, well, well, there’s nothing wrong with Mother, but, um, <laugh>,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (43:42):
That mom, <laugh>,

Jeannine (43:44):
That’s, that’s in this is a replica of the original, um, that way

Bradley R Pickersgill (43:52):
Classic mom

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (43:53):
Manipulation camera’s, always fun to work. Mm.

Jeannine (43:56):
So that’s the actual replica of one of those early books.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (44:00):
That’s really cool.

Jeannine (44:01):
Mm. So that’s from about the two thou 2007, I think they were brought out on the back of things. Yeah. So, sorry, that was just me finishing it after your horror non-book.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (44:16):
<laugh> non-book. My horror non-book. Yes, I like that. I’m sticking with that one. Um, and oh God, I’ve got so many windows open here.

E.D. Kearsley (44:28):
<laugh>,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (44:31):
No, that’s not it. Where? Oh, where’d it go? Oh, there it is. I’ve got too many tabs on my computer. <laugh>. Um, so this is the part where we, um, we’ve done the ad, so I no, we haven’t have,

Jeannine (44:46):
We haven’t seen yet.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (44:49):
No. Do you

E.D. Kearsley (44:50):
Sis do you have the link for the, the application form for if anyone wants to come on the show? Who’s watching?

Jeannine (44:57):
Uh,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (44:58):
Did I put it into the banners? Um, I might not have been that smart.

E.D. Kearsley (45:04):
Well, I’ll play the ad while you have a look at that. And this is for the Oz, uh, for the comics shop shop. And if you wanna get a copy of Cut Down and a bunch of other stuff, there’s tonnes of stuff on there. Aussie comics. Um, this is where you get it from.

Voice Over (45:22):
Are you feeling a little down, tired of reading the same old books again and again looking for something different? Why not head over to the comic shop now and pick yourself up some freshly inked inspiration

E.D. Kearsley (45:51):
Today.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (45:51):
You can Now what I’m doing is testing the link I just wrote out ’cause I just realised is it actually the link? Yes it is. Look at that. Okay, so I will put it up. This is it here. So Comex Show, um, slash interest. There’s a form there to fill out to say that you’re interested in any of our shows, but this is one of them that you can tick and there’s little tick boxes, which one you wanna come onto. Uh, the beauty of this show, unlike the other shows which have a few rules, this show is you’d need to have read a comic in the last week or two that you are willing to talk about two weeks. Yeah. Um, that’s pretty much it. Um, you can be a fan of the show, you can be an artist, you can be a shop owner, you can be a, a dude doing entrepreneurship type stuff. Uh, you can be a great artist who likes to smoke up in the corner or you can just be Ed. Um, <laugh>,

Jeannine (46:52):
Just <laugh>.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (46:55):
You don’t get approach in that, my friend. Um,

Jeannine (46:58):
No Crazies. No crazies. Please, please.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (47:01):
Um, no. So yeah, so that’s where you go, uh, fill out the form. All that gives us is your email, your name, all sort of stuff. So, so I can get in contact with you and we can talk about it. Um, again, that is for other shows as well, but this is the one that has the least restrictions on what you need to do to get into it. You just need to have read a comic in the last two weeks that you are willing to talk about. You can’t just have read it and then come on and go, yeah, I read this <laugh>

(47:28)
And come on, take me off the screen. Um, yeah. So yeah, that’s it. Um, I’ll take that off the screen now. Uh, another thing about that link though, COMEX show, um, all our shows have their own websites now. Um, well <laugh>, funnily enough, except this one, but that’s only ’cause we’ve only had one episode, so I wasn’t able to make a site around one episode. So once we’ve had about two or three of them, I’ll be able to make a site. And this one will have its own site as well. But your drink and draw your, uh, chinwag your, it’s even got the old, um, spotlight show in there if you wanna check that out. Um, that doesn’t run anymore, but it was still a very interesting show. It talked about technique. Um, I’m gonna forget a show. I just know it. Um, uh, wednesday’s com, uh, Aus Comex Show, which is all about, um, talking about someone’s new book or a book they’ve just brought out or they’re about to bring out or in the case of a show that we’ve got coming up in a couple of weeks for books that they’re about to bring out.

(48:33)
So that will be an interesting episode. Um, so yeah, chin, I think that’s all said Chin, thank God.

(48:44)
Um, oh, let’s make a comic books in there as well. I’ve got Ed sitting in front of me and I forgot that that’s a separate show that the two shows I do with Ed and not just one show. Let’s go to comic books in there. Um, I think I finished it because I was trying to think of a way to present it. Um, I think I got lazy. Sorry about that, ed, and just It’s alright. Put the episodes there and wrote it a little bit about each one. So yeah, so this one will be in there in another couple of weeks. This will have its own website and you can check it out. Um, each website has a little bit of information about the people who appeared on it, so that’s also pretty cool. Um, some have transcripts which are written by Box, so they are a good laugh because they are about one in every 10 words are wrong. So they’re interesting to read. And um, I dunno if they’re ai, oh, I should probably check that ’cause that’s a naughty evil thing. But

Bradley R Pickersgill (49:45):
Don’t, don’t, don’t tell Dean, don’t tell Dean Rankin about that, mate. He’ll

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (49:48):
Yeah. Yeah. I was gonna say, he’ll, he’ll go slipping

Bradley R Pickersgill (49:51):
Over on you <laugh>.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (49:53):
Well, these, I was getting transcripts from these guys long before the word AI was heard anywhere. So I think it’s just software that hears words and puts it out there. Um, preach to text very badly, especially the Australian accent. It’s really bad with the Australian accent. Um, so I just put that in there for fun ’cause it gives me a little giggle reading them. And now that I’ve wasted a lot of time, we can go to the part of the show where each person recommends something from any time in their life. A book that they, they think that everyone should read. Um, or just that they really loved you. You don’t even have to recommend it, it just something that you just stayed with you. So we’re gonna go backwards. Start with you, ed, just to really throw it out.

E.D. Kearsley (50:46):
Okay. I got bug and stump the Australian Classic from nine three. I got this one signed in 96 by Mark Sexton and John Trois. So it says a really great black and white, um, book from the nineties. Really sharp inking on this. I think they, um, like the, the old Ninja Turtles, early Ninja Turtles, they swapped over and drew it and pencilled different parts. They might’ve even drawn a, like each one did the, the different character and stuff. Oh, cool. But that’s a really great classic Aussie comic. It was really important for me when I was a kid to see that there was, uh, Aussie people putting out books. That’s great. At least

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (51:41):
One of us knew this guy. Didn’t know those was Aussie books. No idea. No idea.

E.D. Kearsley (51:49):
<laugh>.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (51:50):
I only learned four or five years ago. I think it worked. I don’t know what the birthday is anymore. Um, Ryan, I’ll just go straight to you.

E.D. Kearsley (52:01):
You’re muted.

Ryan Christopher (52:05):
I am muted. Wonderful. You Well, <laugh> <laugh>, um, the book I’m gonna recommend, uh, goes back to the, uh, foundation of Vertigo, imprint of DC Comics. It was the second, uh, original series brought out by Vertigo. Um, the first one being connected to Magneto Testament, which was, uh, death, the High Cost of Living. That was the first ever, uh, new series, uh, by Vertigo. I’m going to recommend Enigma.

E.D. Kearsley (52:41):
Yeah.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (52:41):
Oh, I’ve heard that by

Ryan Christopher (52:43):
Peter Milligan, uh, Duncan Freto and Coloured by Shely Van Berg. Um, so this one is about, uh, a young man who, uh, he sort of, his life is in a bit of a, a spiral. Um, and then he finds himself confronted by a super villain who is supposed to not exist. ’cause he’s supposed to just be, uh, from a comic book. Um, sounds cool. And then, uh, enigma, the hero of that book comes to his rescue and they sort of get caught up in a, uh, a bit of a chase around the world to try and figure out why all these super villains all of a sudden popping up, um, out of comic books into the real world.

(53:40)
Again, it’s, it’s not a, like, there’s some heavy, heavy themes in this book, so it’s not for everyone. Um, why was Vertigo says technically like ma I guess like when it comes to like, rating. Um, but it’s available in this great hardcover called the Definitive Edition. Um, I ended up getting this just through my local comic bookstore, so I believe it’s still available, uh, to order. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Um, but yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s wonderful. It’s sort of a bit of a self-discovery, um, type of book. Um, yeah, jump into it. It’ll, it’ll take you on a pretty wild ride. And the artwork is like nothing that I’ve ever seen in a book before. Like, it is nuts.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (54:36):
Oh, cool. Wow.

Ryan Christopher (54:39):
Yeah. Yeah, it’s great. Yeah, I definitely, I tried to, I tried to think of something that I knew that a lot of people probably wouldn’t have read, so, um, nice. Yeah. Jump on board. You won’t be disappointed, especially if you like, um, you know, preacher and all those sort of, uh, more mature aged titles that were coming out of Vertigo at that time. This just slots straight in there. Yeah.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (55:10):
I’m gonna mix it up a bit now and I’m gonna do it myself, <laugh>. Um, just so people realise I’ve sold almost my entire comic collection other than the Indie, so a lot of the things I’ll be talking about I don’t have. Um, also this is gonna get hard ’cause me and Ed have to recommend something every fortnight <laugh>, but that’s not what I, I’m not saying that ’cause of this choice. Um, I’m just saying that, that just putting it out there, this is gonna get hard. So give me some leeway like a couple of months from now, ed. No. Okay. There’s tonnes of stuff. <laugh> damnit Damnit. Okay. So the one that, um, well, a comic book that really affected me when I was a bit younger. Um, I wasn’t a lot younger ’cause it didn’t come out until I was in my twenties, I think.

(56:00)
Um, which is still a long time ago. <laugh>, um, it was, it was called The Ultimates. Um, oh yeah, yeah. And I loved it. Um, I’m a big sucker for swells, um, and variant universes and all that sort of stuff. Um, so that probably made me a fan straight away. But I only had a basic knowledge of the Avengers. I never got into the Avengers, but I knew enough to know this was way different. Mm. Um, that it was similar but way different. Um, and the fact that it was an adult type book as well when Avengers was very much a kid’s book. Um, I mean the best way to sum it up is Hulk is horny and he’s going to kill his girlfriend’s part, uh, date. So, I mean, that tells you straight away where, where it is compared to normal Avengers. Um, and he eats his enemy and so that’s just, it kills him and the needs him.

(57:04)
And that’s the Hulk I’m talking about. Oh yeah. So it’s pretty full on, um, a d different version of them all. It’s, it is definitely adult. I mean there’s things like, um, domestic violence is in there, all sorts of stuff. Um, and I just loved it ’cause I wasn’t used to stuff like that. Um, I just read mostly X-Men and, and New Mutants and um, justice League and all that sort of stuff to that date. So I hadn’t seen anything that had tackled, I mean, I’ve seen adult topics tackled in those books, don’t get me wrong, but not in your face like this was. Um, so it was really cool and it was a really cool read. I’ve heard that goes bit downhill after the first year or two, but I dunno if that’s true or not. That’s just what I’ve heard. I’ve only read the first trade and it was awesome. So that’s my thing. If you wanna read something really cool where a take on the Avengers is just like, what the hell? Um, that’s a cool book. And on that note, I will pick on Dr. Evil, oh sorry, I just saw the cat. I got confused.

Jeannine (58:19):
<laugh>, Janine, the star, the real star of the show. <laugh>. Okay. So, um, look, I really have always enjoyed Dean Giles books, the super under Indian books. I can never say it. Um, and I loved his Christmas one that, so his first book, but his Christmas book, the Third Issue, this, this last Christmas, truly, truly the best evil, um, reindeer I’ve ever seen. And I don’t think I’ll ever be able to, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to, to do Christmas without knowing that there’s a truly evil reindeer out there <laugh>. So thank you. Me. But, um, this one, I don’t, I I’m sure it’s, it’s only been out a few years. So, um, the Last Sun and what it is, is, um, a mixture of, of a lot of, um, back stories and death. The death of Superman. Um, I think he’s died about, I don’t know, a dozen times or something, um, out there. So, um, there’s, it’s just a mixture of, of, um, a whole heap of, um, I dunno if you can see, see this, lemme take the slip cover off it.

(59:50)
It’s hard to see, but it, it gives you, it just gives you all the different, different books, um Oh, okay. That are in there, that are in the thing. So it doesn’t, doesn’t follow through in any sequence at all. They’re different, different storylines, different batches of books. But there’s a bizaro. I love it. Every time I read, um, this particular bizaro, it, it just makes me chuckle when I turn the page and I see it. ’cause he’s, he’s on an alternative, um, universe that he’s made himself. Of course p does things like that. Um, of course. And he’s, he’s trying, he’s trying really hard. Whoops. He’s trying really hard to, um, um, bring in things on his world that Superman does on, on, uh, earth. But when you get to this particular page, it just, it’s his version of, um, the Justice League fucking ever get the book open at the proper place. Here we go.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:01:00):
I think I’ve seen this picture.

Jeannine (01:01:02):
Yeah,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:01:04):
<laugh>, that’s the one <laugh>

Jeannine (01:01:07):
Makes me chuckle

Bradley R Pickersgill (01:01:09):
Every time that reminds that, that reminds me of a super friends episode from the eighties

Jeannine (01:01:13):
<laugh>. And of course, um, flash goes to run and he, he lays down and says, oh, I’m too tired. You know, and, and, um, <laugh>, it’s just so that particular one, I mean, you know, Superman, it’s been around all my life and I did weep at the one of the movies where I thought he was dead. Um, I was weeping so hard that I forgot to see that the, he wasn’t dead, but <laugh>, you know, so through the last, um, that’s, it’s about, you know, his death and who’s hurting him and who’s gonna do this and who’s gonna do that, and how he comes back and his reinvention. So I really have enjoyed, that’s my probably one of the things of, that I’ve been able to read that I’ve enjoyed re you know, over the last few years, especially Bizaro. So that’s me. I’m over.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:02:10):
Don’t love Bizaro man. Mm. You just misunderstood. I love that. Additions to Bizaro <laugh>. I love the Lan shooting himself in the face by accident <laugh>. That’s classic.

Jeannine (01:02:21):
I know. And of course they, they go on to fight. They go on to fight the different, you know, the, all the, the evil, like the Joker and all that sort of stuff that Sarah’s made. I’ll see if I can find a, a picture of the,

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:02:38):
Would he be the serious fellow or something? I know.

Jeannine (01:02:41):
Oh, no, no. They’re, they’re Ros aim of, of, um, yeah, covering it, the Hulk and, and all that. So it’s sort of

Bradley R Pickersgill (01:02:57):
<laugh>,

Jeannine (01:03:03):
So Wonder Woman, um, wonder Woman’s Robe <laugh>. That’s awesome. It’s just, so I’ve, I’ve always loved Bizaro, but, and it was just a, an added, um, an added best thing to have it in here, you know, in this book. That’s cool. So yeah.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:03:20):
Nice.

Bradley R Pickersgill (01:03:22):
Awesome.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:03:23):
I’m just gonna skip Brad. No. Um, yeah, <laugh>. So Brad, what would you re what would you recommend buddy?

Bradley R Pickersgill (01:03:28):
Uh, well, okay, uh, when I was in, this is probably one that’s been well trodden and probably everyone’s like, uh, duh. But, um, I <laugh>, uh, when I was in Melbourne Foris last Supernova, I had the honour of meeting, uh, Mike, Zack, uh, ex Marvel and DC and, um, he was a really lovely gentleman. And, um, um, like pretty much everyone there, you know, we were all there to get, um, the issues of, um, fearful symmetry, Craven’s last Hunt, um, signed, you know, and you know, like I was talking to these young blokes behind me in the queue just saying, man, this, this is like one of the greatest, if not the best Spider-Man story ever told. It’s just for its day. It was so bold and, and just, uh, it went somewhere that, no, it had never been before. And, and he piped, he was a quiet guy, but he piped up and he said, oh, that makes me feel really, really, that really pleases me to hear that.

(01:04:27)
He goes, you know, it just, um, he said, I knew when I read the script, it was something that was, uh, was, was really different and, and pretty heavy. And, um, you know, he, he, he said that, you know, Craven, up until that point, Craven was a pretty much a B grade Spider-Man villain that just, no one really got him. Like, he’d never really been defined until, you know, um, Jim Mattis did this story and, uh, he knew he had to, to do this story. And, um, Mike’s X artwork is incredible in it. Um, it’s actually, uh, better off buying it as a trade because it was, um, it was running through the three Spider-Man titles. So it was amazing. Then spectacular, then we Spider-Man, and then it did, it repeated it. So it was a stick issue series. Um, and it kind of deals with Craven’s, you know, just inability to ever actually beat Spider-Man.

(01:05:20)
And, you know, basically his, his quest to, you know, fulfil his destiny, you know, knowing that at the end of it, he’s, he’s not gonna, he’s not gonna come out of it. Um, it also, I mean, um, it, it dealt with, it deals with suicide, uh, so, you know, um, trigger warning, if you’re doing a tough out there ring beyond Blue and Lifeline and you are loved, um, all of that. Um, but they, they copped a lot of stick for it at the time. Um, but it was, uh, it’s an amazing, amazing story. It stands up the test of time. Um, the artwork’s still amazing. The story’s great. Um, six issues just, um, still, I think people will still be talking about it in a hundred years. Um, so yeah, I was just, you know, it’s a well trodden one, it’s one everyone knows, but I just, for me, it was brought back to my, uh, consciousness because of meeting Mike and, and hearing his thoughts on it. Um, so that was, that was really nice. So yeah, I highly recommend if you haven’t read it, go out and get it as a trade baby back. It’s out there, you know, you can do it

E.D. Kearsley (01:06:32):
If you, uh, look at the level of detail he puts into the, the Craven story, the where, um, versus like Secret Wars where he has to draw 10 guys on each panel.

Bradley R Pickersgill (01:06:45):
Yeah.

E.D. Kearsley (01:06:45):
It’s, it’s kind of simple, but then when he is just drawing two or three people Yeah. Like, it goes in on the pencils. It’s so detailed.

Bradley R Pickersgill (01:06:52):
It does. Yeah. And the ha and the entire story, it’s raining, you know, like, it’s just, it goes through a lot of detail of the, the cityscape. Um, a lot of great imagery of spiders and rats and, you know, just all sorts of stuff. It’s, it’s, it’s like when I first got to the news agent, you know, the point you made earlier, Janine, about, you know, like just, you know, getting stuff from the news agent. I think it’s one of the greatest tragedies now that we kids can’t walk into a news agency and buy a comic, you know, um, like, like that. Right. You know, like it’s just, um, you know, it’s one of the worst things that’s ever happened when they, they got rid of that. Um, because that’s how we most of us started back in the day. So Yeah. Anyway, news agent saying, yep.

Jeannine (01:07:38):
So that’s what comic book shops are for now. Um, you know, supporting the comic book shops. But I think the hardest thing about, um, uh, the news agency, even then, they’re not being supported, you know? No. So, um, and, and one of the things I, I hate to see is, is, um, our comics in places like w or Woollies that are, you know, red on the red on the aisle, you know, so it’s good that they’re being read <laugh> and they, and they’re being carried around each old by the kids while they’re, while they’re, you know, parents are, are buying their, their weekly shop and then they’re put back on the shelf. It’s not the library.

Bradley R Pickersgill (01:08:26):
Yeah.

Jeannine (01:08:26):
You know,

Bradley R Pickersgill (01:08:27):
So,

Jeannine (01:08:29):
But yeah, my kids, we used to do a, a news agency every week.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:08:35):
Well, I was gonna say where I grew up, that was all there was to get comics was Oh yeah. That was news agent and there was the secondhand books shop. That was it. Yeah,

Bradley R Pickersgill (01:08:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was great ’cause you could get these three packs where you’d just, like, you’d buy it for one, but inside there’d be two others and you wouldn’t, you’d pull it out and go, oh, I didn’t expect to get this, but like, you know, I’m gonna go and try and get more of these, you know, so yeah. It’s how it all started. Eh, you

Jeannine (01:08:59):
Know, I met a Kori guy, um, once who sort of pulled out of his back pocket a, a comic that it was folded in half and that was up in the, you know, um, Northern Territory. And he, he sort of, um, was sit sitting, you know, in the street and I was in a coffee shop and, and, um, he pulled out this comic from his back pocket. It was red dust covered and well read and everything, and he just sat down and reread it again. And you sort of thinking that’s, you know, it’s worth gold that book, and yet people won’t buy it now. It’ll be a dollar or it’s not worth anything, but it has been so loved, you know?

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:09:43):
Yeah.

Ryan Christopher (01:09:46):
Here’s another thing too, is, um, there’s so much out there that, you know, it’s just not possible for everyone to, to buy everything, um, that they could possibly wanna read. But there’s something that you can do that kind of hits two nails on the head at the same time. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, you can support your local library. Um, you can borrow comics from your library. Um, the more comics you borrow from your library, the more comics they will buy. Uh, because all across Australia, that section of, of local libraries is being gutted. Every year more and more is getting taken away, and the budgets is shrinking for, for visual media in your library. Um, but you can actually also go to your library if there’s a comic book that you wanna read and they don’t stock it. This is, I mean, we’re talking about graphic novels rather than just, uh, like single issues

Jeannine (01:10:36):
Yeah. Issues. Yeah.

Ryan Christopher (01:10:37):
Go to your local library and request them to purchase a copy of that book. Most of the time your local library will have funds set aside specifically for those sort of purposes. And a lot of the time they will buy that stock from their local comic book shop. Um, so you can support your, uh, library and you can support your local comic book shop, uh, in that way.

Bradley R Pickersgill (01:11:05):
That’s a really good message, right?

Jeannine (01:11:07):
Yeah. Sometimes they do, sometimes they do. Sometimes they get a better discount from, from their main, um, purchases. So I think some of the books, um, school, some of the schools buy through through, um, comic bookshops. But I, I, my experience, my experience was the library had their own access to those things.

Ryan Christopher (01:11:33):
Your mileage may vary when it comes to who your purchaser is for that specific library as an individual. Yeah. Some of them have quite invested into, um, ensuring access and supporting local businesses and then some of them, like any other business, um, not gonna care. Yeah,

Jeannine (01:11:50):
Absolutely. It depends on the council, I think. Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s true. I think that’s true.

Shane ‘Sizzle’ Syddall (01:12:00):
Well, um, this is the part where we come to the thank yous, um, where I get to say thank you, ed, for pushing the buttons. I get to say thank you to our guests, Janine Bradley and Ryan, uh, for letting us know about what they’ve read recently and what they, um, recommended as well, uh, from their lifetime of reading comics. And I’m just gonna put this up again just to remind you if you are watching, and thank you for watching. Um, if you want to come onto the show, this is where you go. Uh, I can’t put my hand over there ’cause Ed’s in the way. Um, but we’re under Ed, the show Comex show interest with slashes and dots and all that sort of stuff. Um, I should probably say it properly in case this goes onto a Spotify or something. So Comex show slash interest and that’ll take you to a page which has a form. You give us some information. I’ll get in contact with you personally and we’ll talk about getting you onto the show.

(01:13:03)
Thank you Nick. And, uh, thank you everyone else who was watching. Thank you everyone who watches the show later. And I’d like to thank you for liking the video. I would like to thank you for subscribing to the channel and I’d like to thank you for sharing it. Um, and if you didn’t do all those things well, here’s your chance to <laugh>. So, yeah. So thank you. Or just, just thank you. I’ll just, I’ll do this every show ’cause I’m horrible at doing the thank you part, so I’ll just say thank you. Thank you to everyone. And, um, over you to Ed, do the outro. Oh.

Voice Over (01:13:42):
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