THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST: Episode 65
The official podcast of THE AQUAMAN SHRINE and FIRESTORM FAN
Episode 65 - Killer Frost #1/Black Manta #1/Listener Feedback
It's Villains Month at DC Comics! Shag and I cover KILLER FROST #1 (by Sterling Gates, Derlis Santacruz, and Brett Smith) and BLACK MANTA #1 (by Geoff Johns, Tony Bedard, Claude St. Aubin, and Blond). We also spend time discussing Geoff Johns' upcoming departure from AQUAMAN, the return of a beloved character, and Listener Feedback!
Leave a comment on our sites:
THE AQUAMAN SHRINE -
http://www.aquamanshrine.net
FIRESTORM FAN -
http://firestormfan.com
FIRE AND WATER PODCAST TUMBLR -
http://fireandwaterpodcast.tumblr.com
This episode brought to you by InStockTrades - http://instocktrades.com
Custom Aquaman: Death of a Prince intro from The Aquaman Shrine: http://www.aquamanshrine.net/2011/07/aquaman-death-of-prince-introduction.html
Custom Aquaman: Death of a Prince intro from The Aquaman Shrine: http://www.aquamanshrine.net/2011/07/aquaman-death-of-prince-introduction.html
Subscribe via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-fire-and-water-podcast/id463855630
Opening theme, "That Time is Now," by Michael Kohler.
Closing music by Daniel Adams and Ashton Burge of The Bad Mamma Jammas! http://www.facebook.com/BadMammaJammas
Thanks for listening! Fan the Flame and Ride the Wave!
4 comments:
I miss how you guys used devote an entire episode to listener feedback instead of allocating the pertinent comments based on the episode's theme or topic. Oh well…
Interesting episode fellas. As you know I'm an old fogey who doesn't follow the New 52, but I still enjoy our recaps. The Killer Frost comic actually sounded like a good read, and Shag's recap and enthusiasm for it made me consider that this version of the character could support a mini-series at least.
Not keen on over-heroizing (is that a word?) villains like Black Manta. Johns seems to like doing that. I think it stems from his success in developing the Rogues Gallery in his very well-done Flash run. But I personally think he sometimes goes overboard making them TOO relatable and sympathetic. I haven't read the issue, so I can't really comment on it specifically, but I can see a common thread in much of Johns' work where he seems to build up the villains, at what I feel is the expense of the heroes.
It's funny that Rob mentioned how the Who's Who show seems more popular than the show it spun off from. Do you hear the cries gentlemen? The throngs of people chanting outside your windows? The people want Who's Who!!! C'mon guys, give us a fix, it's nearly a month overdue! ;-)
Chris, proud member of the family (THANKS!!!)
I get your were not a fan of Black Manta...but you said nothing about our two villainous ships passing in the night!
Rob touched on something during the Black Manta portion of the episode that struck me as I was reading FOREVER EVIL #1. To be fair I enjoyed the book for what it was. In fact I was rather surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. The problem I had with it is the same problem I have had with a lot of Geoff Johns' writing; the man loves his villains.
Now this in and of itself isn't a bad thing. A writer should make his antagonists and villains compelling and to some extent we should feel something for them as people. The thing is Johns seems to fall in love with his villains so much that they almost end up being heroes. Now I know the whole "everyone is the hero of their own story" thing but if you look at what he did with the Flash's rogues, with Sinestro, with Zod and with Black Manta he always seems to add that one element that justifies their actions and that bugs me. It kind of ruins the whole hero/villain dynamic and takes some of the fun out of the story. So when you add that to what Rob mentioned about the violence being upped just because they're villains and the stories do feel a bit "tainted" in a way. It doesn't ruin them but it keeps it from being what I really want to read in a super-hero comic book.
Post a Comment