Our Comic Book Club tackles the topic of #1 issues, especially those in DC’s recent relaunch. We recommend some books and talk about some of our favorite Number Ones. Also we touch on a few of the controversial #1 DC issues and question whether DC is really trying to reach a new audience or just pander to the old one.

Episode 61 (60 minutes, 27 MB MP3) is live and direct on 5by5.tv.

The Incomparable participants: Jason Snell with Lisa Schmeiser, Jason Brightman, and guests Dan Benjamin and Faith Korpi.

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The Incomparable Theme Song composed by the incomparable Christopher Breen.

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Strap on your jet pack and locate your pet monkey. Our Comic Book Club reconvenes to discuss works by writer Brian K. Vaughan, who excels at the high-concept premise. In the spotlight: “Runaways,” “Y: The Last Man,” and “Ex Machina.” With plenty of digressions along the way, about feminism, parenting, sexism, and (once again) how hard it is to write an ending.

Episode 54 (65 minutes, 26.5 MB enhanced AAC)

The Incomparable participants: Jason Snell, Lisa Schmeiser, and Jason Brightman.

Works Discussed

• “Runaways” - Start here in paperback or hardcover or digital

• “Y: The Last Man” - Start here in paperback or hardcover or digital

• “Ex Machina” - Start here in paperback or hardcover or digital

Spoiler Horn Data

We fire off the horn a couple of times as we get in deep for the three discussed works. Feel free to skip to the next work if you are so inclined.

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The Incomparable Theme Song composed by the incomparable Christopher Breen. An MP3 version of this episode is available.

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DC decides to stick a fork in continuity and reboot its universe. Publicity stunt, bold creative move, or both? Andy Ihnatko joins Lisa, Jason, and the good Jason to discuss this latest attempt to save the comics industry.

The incomparable download: Episode 44 (57 minutes, 25 MB MP3 file)

The Incomparable participants: Lisa Schmeiser, Jason Brightman, Andy Ihnatko, and the goateed evil twin (apparently this is a running thing now?) of Jason Snell.

Spoiler Horn

Jason Brightman spoils several twist and turns in recent issues of Flashpoint, the miniseries that might or might not lead up to the destruction of the DC universe. If you don't want to know what Bruce Wayne's pop has been up to, or what DC hero managed to grotesquely burn himself, don't listen from minute 30 (first horn) to about minute 33.

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The Incomparable Theme Song composed by the incomparable Christopher Breen.

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After long delays, our Comic Book Club discusses Warren Ellis and John Cassaday’s “Planetary,” which is only fitting given that the 27-issue series took 10 years to be released. We also talk about how hard it is to write a satisfying ending to any fictional work.

The incomparable download: Episode 40 (52 minutes, 22 MB MP3 file)

The Incomparable participants: Jason Snell, Jason Brightman, and Lisa Schmeiser.

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The Incomparable Theme Song composed by the incomparable Christopher Breen.

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An entire hour devoted to The CW’s “Supernatural.” Can you imagine it? Brr. Fortunately, that’s not what this podcast is about. It’s about stuff we think is funny. Only one of likes “Supernatural.” To find out who, you will need to listen.

Download Episode 31 (57 minutes plus five minutes of extra stuff at the end, 23 MB AAC file)

The Incomparable Participants: Steve Lutz, Scott McNulty, Dan Moren, Glenn Fleishman, Serenity Caldwell, and Jason Snell. An MP3 version is also available.

Show Notes

Here’s what we talked about.

• Diana Wynne Jones: Tough Guide to Fantasyland, Dark Lord of Derkholm, Year of the Griffin.

• Terry Pratchett: Good Omens (with Neil Gaiman)

• Galaxy Quest

• Jasper Fforde: One of Our Thursdays is Missing, The Big Over Easy, The Fourth Bear, Shades of Grey

• Supernatural

• Achewood. And as the possibly final strip is indescribably bizarre, here are some classic Achewood strips of yore.

• An Idiot Abroad

• Bored of the Rings

• George Lucas in Love

• The biography of Douglas Adams that is in its increasingly accurate fifth edition (or beyond), originally written and revised and re-revised by Neil Gaiman, is Don’t Panic. Glenn got it wrong as “Wish You Were Here,” a different biography.

• Futurama

• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in printed book form, the original BBC Audioplay, and on TV.

• Garfield Minus Garfield

• 3eanuts

• Darths & Droids

• Red Letter Media’s Phantom Menace critique

• The Curse of Fatal Death

Warning

The last outtake gets a little blue. Only a little, though.

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The Incomparable Theme Song composed by Christopher Breen.

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Zombie, Spaceship, or Wasteland? We explore the reasons Geek Culture exists, what it means, and if it really exists. Also: are nerds just as awful and exclusionary as jocks? Why will Oprah sit astride the apocalypse? Find out what happened when Scott McNulty met Kitty Pryde. And most importantly, learn the deadly secret about how Dungeons and Dragons relates to nuclear submarines.

Download Episode 28 (62 minutes, 22 MB AAC file)

The Incomparable Participants: Lisa Schmeiser, Scott McNulty, John Siracusa, Jason Snell. An MP3 version is also available.

Links

• “Wake Up, Geek Culture, Time to Die” Wired piece by Patton Oswalt

• Oswalt’s book is “Zombie Spaceship Wasteland”

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The Incomparable Theme Song composed by Christopher Breen.

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Comic Book Club returns with a discussion of comic-book “special events,” and why they are (in most cases) amazingly disappointing. We discuss our favorite and least-favorite events, from Crisis on Infinite Earths to Civil War to that time that Superman fought Spider-Man.

Download Episode 21 (55 minutes, 20 MB AAC file)

The Incomparable Participants: Jason Snell, Jason Brightman, and Lisa Schmeiser. An MP3 version is available.

To subscribe to this podcast, add http://feeds.feedburner.com/incomparablepodcast to your podcast tool of choice, or click here to subscribe in iTunes.

The Incomparable Theme Song composed by Christopher Breen.

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The Fantastic Four is the topic of this installment of our Comic Book Club! We talk “Unstable Molecules,” a strange mini-series about the fictional “inspiration” for the Fantastic Four. Also: the bad movies and worse TV shows, Ultimate Fantastic Four, and more.

Download Episode 10 (57 minutes, 19.6 MB MP3 file)

The Incomparable Participants: Jason Brightman, Lisa Schmeiser, and Jason Snell. The Incomparable Theme Song composed by Christopher Breen. Edited by Greg Knauss.

Congratulations to Lisa and her husband on the birth of their baby on October 25. Mother, father, and daughter are all fine and back at home.

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Links

• Buy Unstable Molecules from Amazon.

• See the “Thing Ring, Do Your Thing” video on YouTube. Must be seen to be believed.

• Buy Ultimate Fantastic Four on Amazon.

• See the Lee and Kirby collection on Amazon.

• The Mark Waid run on Amazon.

• The Millar and Hitch run on Amazon.

• The John Byrne run on Amazon.

Comic Book Club returns! This week we talk about TV adaptations of comic books, TV shows inspired by comic books, comic books that would make good TV shows, and more. Plus, random discussion of X-Men Annuals, the Micronauts, and why Reed Richards is a douche (in X-Men Annual #5, anyway).

Download Episode 6 (62 minutes, 26.3 MB AAC file)

The Incomparable Participants: Jason Brightman, Lisa Schmeiser, and Jason Snell. The Incomparable Theme Song composed by Christopher Breen. Edited by Greg Knauss. An MP3 version is available.

To subscribe to this podcast, add http://feeds.feedburner.com/incomparablepodcast to your podcast tool of choice, or click here to subscribe in iTunes.

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Spoiler Horn Data

Skip the Spoiler chapter if you don’t want to be spoiled about “The Walking Dead.”

Book list

Books discussed in this podcast:

• “The Walking Dead” is available in many formats. Try the 48-issue compendium, the 12-issue hardcover, or the six-issue trade paperback.
• “The Sandman” is available in trade paperback, among other formats.