Giant Size #35: Neal Adams on The Shallow Seas

In what is definitely the most unique interview-focused episode of the show, I speak with comics legend Neal Adams. John and I spend a few minutes giving a primer as to who Adams is and why new readers should know, because the interview itself is off in its own solar system, barely talking about comics at all. Click on the cover art to order recommended reading material listed further down.

Rather than pepper him with the same series of Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow questions he's been asked for decades, I handed him the reins to explain his beliefs regarding the nature of the Earth and the universe, and how he believes they are growing (not "expanding"!).

Conducted at Dallas Comic Con's Fan Days show, I left in multiple interactions with fans who paid him for signatures at his table. I feel it adds some color in general, on top of how laser-precise Adams' mind is, such that he can pick up right where he left off from essentially every time. Mid-interview, there is a special appearance by Toadies drummer and Buzzkill co-creator Mark Reznicek.

John and I will double back on some of Adams' most prominent work in a near-future episode that will include an already-recorded interview with his collaborator Dennis O'Neil, one of the most important living legends in comics.

Recommended Reading

Green Lantern/Green Arrow
Until I read these, I didn't really care about Green Arrow. This run from the 1970's is one of the most iconic in terms of directly focusing a comics narrative on social justice issues of the day on top of intergalactic threats and so on. Some of the writing, as quoted by John toward the end of the episode, is a bit creaky now, but at the time, was extremely progressive. They make t-shirts of some of these covers, and I would wear them all.

Batman: Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 2
The redefinition of the character to counter the Adam West TV series' camp tone occurred on the watch of publisher Carmine Infantino, with the look coming from the pencil of Neal Adams. The reason I recommend skipping the first and starting with this one is that this is where the real gold from his Batman work begins, the stuff that is most-fondly remembered, including his work on some absolutely gorgeous issues of The Brave and the Bold (which undoubtedly is part of the creative influence on the recent Brave and the Bold animated series). Grab Volume 3 while you're at it, which picks up roughly just after the issues found here.

Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (Deluxe Hardcover)
Even if it were just for the novelty value of the Last Son of Krypton boxing The Greatest, the ~$15 you pay for this is pretty reasonable. There's some really outstanding background detail in Adams' art here, and the hardcover has extras in the form of development sketches and additional content of that sort. This is one of the coolest "X Meets Y" crossover one-shots of its kind not just due to historical significance, but because it's some of Adam's absolute best artwork.

The Art of Neal Adams (Hardcover)
If you are into art books, this is a pretty solid collection of a cross-section of Adams' work, runs under $40, and makes a good gift if there's an Adams art fan in your life. His Conan covers are still to die for.

Steel Resolve (#158)

I re-watched Man of Steel with my wife last night. It's a movie that I tried to defend and found myself disliking more as I talked about it on The Incomparable. I should have been a bit more forthright in my stance on a few things. I've been proven quite right since we recorded in June, in that Man of Steel was literally the foundation for expanding their DC Cinematic Universe and Goyer has publicly alluded to exactly the Lex Luthor framing I guessed. I would still defend the character choices Kal-El makes, but I'm more emboldened that the destruction porn was overboard.

I've also examined the respective retailer exclusive extras available (from Target and Walmart) in the US, just as I did Star Trek Into Darkness. I'm angry again, too. "Disappointed" may be a better choice of words. Guess what I'm posting about either later tonight or in the morning...

Giant Size #26: "Magical and Transcendent" featuring J.M. DeMatteis

Welcome to "The New 26", "Crisis on Infinite Formats", or "Format Reborn"! Our first foray into the new format is now available for your downloading pleasure (subscribe in iTunes/RSS). Sorry for the late posting of this Reading List installment. Reboots are a lot of work!

This past week's primary topic covers "Superan Origin Retellings" and Man of Steel. Joining me and co-host John Gholson is Justin Korthof, die-hard Super-fan who previously ran BlueTights.net.

Comics legend J.M. DeMatteis, one of my writing heroes, is this week's interview. He will return in future on the show, including in an episode this summer that will focus on Doctor Strange.

The weekly chat with Austin Books and Comics returns this week, in episode #27.

If interested in more Superman jumping-on points, check out the Reading List for episode #28 of the now-retired Comic Shack.

Reading recommendations from Giant Size #26: 

From the Panel Discussion

John Byrne's Man of Steel   Vol. 1
TPB: $10
 ComiXology: $2 per issue

One of the biggest, most long-lasting overhauls to the Super-mythos, John Byrne's revamp was the foundation of many modern readers' perception of Kal-El/Clark.

Superman: Birthright 
TPB: $16
ComiXology: $36 ($3 per issue)

Whether outright acknowledged as such or not, the bones and a lot of the meat in Man of Steel the movie come from this outstanding 12-issue run by Mark Waid.

Superman: Secret Origin
 TPB: $15
ComiXology: $18 ($3 per issue)

This re-revision of Superman's origin came less than ten years after Birthright, only to itself be undone by The New 52 wiping the slate clean.

Action Comics: The New 52
Vol. 1/2 TPB: $13/$19
ComiXology issues #1-12: $36 ($3 per issue)

John has really enjoyed Grant Morrison's run on Action Comics. I trust John's taste.

Superman: Earth One 
Vol. 1 TPB: $11
Vol. 1/2 Hardcover: $14/$16
Vol. 1/2 Kindle: $10/$13

There are a lot of major detractors of this "Superhoodie" origin reboot, which I wish they had used to signal a separate line of "Earth One"-universe comics, in the mold of Marvel's Ultimate line. In a separate Earth One continuity, DC could actually full-on kill major, iconic characters and leave them dead. Since Volume 1's publication, they've done a Batman: Earth One and a second volume of Superman.

Superman: Secret Identity
TPB: $16
ComiXology: $12 ($3 per issue)

Kurt Busiek's re-imagining of the Clark Kent of Earth Prime really grabbed me, and is a nice afternoon-worth of reading. Earth Prime is essentially our real world, where all the heroes we know are found in the same comics Earth Prime people know them from. There are no super beings until a Kansas farm kid named (as a joke) Clark Kent discovers he has the powers of Superman.

Superman: Speeding Bullets  (OOP)
TPB: used from $22

Unfortunately out of print, J.M. DeMatteis' brilliant reconnection of the Super-myth alters the landing site of the Kryptonian capsule to Gotham City, where Thomas and Martha Wayne find baby Kal-El and name him Bruce Wayne. DeMatteis and I talk about this briefly in this week's interview segment. Somebody help me find a decently-priced copy of this one.

Superman: Red Son
 TPB/Kindle: $14/$11
ComiXology: $9

Whether Mark Millar was directly inspired by DeMatteis' earlier "what happens when the capsule lands somewhere else?" story or not (my bet is that he was), having Superman raised in the workers' rights-centric Soviet Union is another fascinating twist on the concept DeMatteis pioneered with Speeding Bullets. This one is in print, and readily available all over the place.

It's a Bird
TPB: $9

Briefly mentioned on the show by Justin, writer Steve T. Seagle put together an autobiographical tale focusing on his juggling the various hardships of life with...writing Superman. A different kind of origin story for sure (the origin of a retelling), but very interesting in the context of the discussion, and added to my enormous "to read" list.

From the Interview with J.M. DeMatteis

The aforementioned Speeding Bullets

Moonshadow
"The Compleat" TPB: ~$30

A personal story with fantastical elements, it tells the story of a half human, half alien trying to find his way in the world. 

Brooklyn Dreams
Hardcover: $28
ComiXology: $10

As I put it, DeMatteis' followup to Moonshadow could be considered his telling of his own origin story. It was recently reprinted by IDW, and shouldn't be hard for your LCS to find if they don't already stock it.

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Paperback/Hardback: from $7/$14

One of Bradbury's best works, it explores the joys of a boyhood summer.

From the After Dark (#391) 

Doctor Strange: Into Shamballa  (Out Of Print)
TPB: used from $15

It will take a great deal to unseat this as my favorite Strange "tale". It contains so much of what I consider the undiluted essence of the character. As DeMatteis so eloquently puts it, that he boils down to "the moment of surrender" in the face of his shortcomings. It features gorgeous painted art by Dan Green, and can be found secondhand for under $20 in general.

Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts Vol. 1 #54

Co-written by DeMatteis and Roger Stern, this was his first touch on the character that he's returned to nearly as often as he has the Justice League. Unfortunately, there's no in-print collection I could find, nor is it available on any digital service, including both ComiXology and Marvel Unlimited.

The Defenders: Indefensible 
TPB: used from $8

A lighthearted, different take on both Doctor Strange and the Defenders team that's relatively recent, and not too hard to find.

The next episode of Giant Size is the first in a two-parter that checks in on the state of Marvel NOW!, an initiative six months old and, in some cases, twelve months worth of issues in.

Death of Comic Shack & Rebirth of an All-New, All-Different Giant Size

For a while, there have been two comics-focused podcasts on 5by5: Giant Size and The Comic Shack. 

We cancelled The Comic Shack last night, and in the same breath, we relaunched Giant Size. 

I teased the cancellation/reboot on Twitter and got a pile of dismayed, upset tweets in response. Many moaned "but I liked Comic Shack better than Giant Size!"

I'm an awful person for toying with the emotions of those wonderful human beings. 

The good news for those listeners is that Comic Shack is dead...so that its panel discussion format can merge into Giant Size and open each show.

This is the version of Giant Size I've wanted to do since the beginning, and it's how the show was originally developed. With my pal Jim starting 'Shack almost simultaneously to GS (which I wasn't aware of), I didn't want to step on his toes or "flood the market", so to speak.

Equally if not more problematic was that I needed more time and infrastructure to support the more complex, ideal Giant Size show format. This infrastructure included a regular co-host.

Except on rare occasion, that co-host is John Gholson, who has joined me for the final few Comic Shacks while we hammered out a rhythm and feel for the "All-New All-Different" Giant Size.

Last night, we recorded the opening of Giant Size #26, in which we discussed Man of Steel and Superman origin story retellings. The Giant-Size-traditional chat with Brandon from Austin Books and Comics will get wedged in after, and the show will close with the also-regular creator/industry interview.

The logic behind this format is that the tightly-moderated panel/jumping-on-point discussion is the welcome mat, which leads into "what's cool/new/new-to-you this week", and closes with an interview with a creator whom you may or may not be interested in at first. As often as possible, the guest will be directly tied to the panel discussion. This is a dastardly trick designed to turn you into a fan of these people before you even hear their voice(s).

Extra-long interviews will get chopped, with the overage going in the After Dark feed. Each show will be under 90 minutes, ideally hitting around 75 minutes, but this will vary as we break in the new structure.

The goal is for all segments to be open to the widest possible audience of listeners, whether you know how many times and in what issues Jean Grey died, you hate superhero comics, or have never read a single comic book. This is the comics show I've been wanting to do since day one, and it should hopefully appeal to everyone who liked either previous show.

The goal of Giant Size remains the same: we want to bring new and lapsed readers into reading, enjoying, and discussing comics. There are some fun comics-dedicated podcasts out there already, but none of them hit this precise cross-section, nor do many (if any) seem geared toward new or non-readers.

I also think we can achieve three shows worth of content in the time usually taken up by one. 

No one needs one more podcast just like six others to listen to each week, especially one that runs two or three hours. This is something All-New and All-Different, and I hope you like it.

I mentioned that Screen Time is getting an overhaul too, right?  More soon.

Daily Grab 134: Kara and Kal

Better than the first Supergirl-related DCU movie, Batman/Superman: Apocalypse. More on it tomorrow.

Daily Grab 132: Truth and Justice

Superman Unbound is a pretty stellar adaptation of Geoff Johns' source story, adding and enhancing the narrative of essentially six issues of comic book into something feature length. I'm most thrilled to see a new Superman animated project that finds him punching robots.

Finished Steel

What Zack Snyder has done with Superman feels markedly different than what Bryan Singer did within the self-created trap of his own choosing. Snyder's Man of Steel feels unchained from what is expected or what has come before, either from the Superman franchise or his own filmography.

A major difference I've felt is in overheard conversations: sometimes in movie theaters, sometimes (more rarely) when just out and about. I very distinctly recall the first weekend that Superman Returns trailers were playing in cinemas across the country. I was in a half-full screening of something or another. The audience collectively groaned, and then a woman behind me said in full voice "are they kidding us with this shit?". The below is how you sell even the most jaded audience on a new Superman.

Daily Grab 54: The Super-Real America

Like the first part, released late last year, The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 looks, sounds, and plays note-perfect. I'm hoping to have voice director Andrea Romano return to Screen Time this week to discuss all things Batman with me. Things are looking positive. UPDATE: Tune in at 4:30pm CST Thursday right here.

With the distance of time, Superman's employment by President Reagan as his human WMD is funny but not entirely unrealistic or farcical.