There will not be a regular new episode this week due to John being sick as a dog, but there should be a mini episode with John, Robb and Cory . . . ya know, if our podcast host wouldn’t have technical problems all the damn time. Yep. So enjoy that awesomeness that is above, and read your damn books. Even the romance novels. Especially your comic books.
Bo has been reading plenty of prose as of late, and dives in heavily to “Joe Golem And The Drowning City” (without a ton of spoilerage) and his venture into the first book of Game of Thrones (very minor spoilers).
Also, not mentioned on the show, but there is a short story for Joe Golem you can find in digital distributors and the Dark Horse special edition called “Joe Golem And The Copper Girl”. It is available on Amazon for $.99
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So much awesome in this trailer for fans of the books. I now know how Harry Potter fans felt with that first snippet of a trailer (although to be honest, I guess I should have felt that with Lord of the Rings, Bourne Identity and dozen of other books 
)
The first thing I checked out this week was a book with no pictures. Blasphemy, you say.
This book written by Mr. Ray Bradbury was Titled “Fahrenheit 451.” I would recommend it to fans of “A Clockwork Orange”, or maybe “Brazil.” The story takes place in the future, about 50 years. Now that was 50 years ago, placing it right about current time. Society has given up on books and any independent thought is discouraged. The government is a twisted version of itself. The main topic of the story revolves around a Fireman who makes the mistake of reading one of the books he was meant to burn, and starting down the path of enlightenment. Society is brought crashing down in a terrible war, and all that is left, some wandering lost souls, and a group of intellectuals who have sworn to remember a book each to help society crawl back from the dark and remember the mistakes of the past.
Ray then goes on to hammer the point home, that he strongly disagrees with censorship, or painting over the past with newer, brighter, go fast stripes. Stating that he has been approached many times by groups petitioning him to amend old work, and he adamantly stands firm the he will not.
Up next on the list is a little number called “Venom” issue #1 from Marvel comics, Written by Rick Remender, pencils by Tony Moore. In this new series Flash Thompson has taken the mantle of Venom, wearing the symbiote while preforming covert ops for the U.S. Army. He can wear the Symbiote for up to 48 hours before it bonds with him. The mission he takes off for this time around involves capturing a scientist who has found a way to weaponize Antarctic vibranium. It just so happens that Jack ‘o’ Lantern is also on a similar mission. During the scuffle, Flash, offs the scientist rather than have him fall into the hands of the enemy, so that he has enough time to save a family. This does not sit well with his superiors, who let him know that they have their fingers on the fail safe, I. E. Watch out or we’ll blow you up. He is told to reign in his anger and ego, to keep from “Venoming out.”
Flash’s friends and family feel alienated from him and think that he is drinking again. This leaves Flash in a funk and wondering if it’s all worth it. And for some reason my spell check is telling me ‘symbiote’ is spelled wrong, but if it is, Marvel spelled it wrong too.
Next, is a comic called “Conan: Road of Kings” #3, or the 78th in a series. Written by Roy Thomas, and penciled by Mike Hawthorne. This section of the series takes up with Conan on a chaperone mission, escorting the Princess of Ophir home. In true Conan fashion he tussles up the wenches, fights the prehistoric monster, and sets of to retrieve his kidnapped Princess. Personally, I love this series of Conan. This issue is right in the middle of what will be the 11th trade, and seems to me, to be, the first time that Conan tales have been retold in chronological order. If your a fan of Conan I highly suggest this series, go back, start with Vol. 0 and enjoy the ride.
Also this week I was able to check out “Elephantmen” #30. This was a very sexy issue. The art was fantastic, done by Medellin, and giving credit where it’s due, them there is some smokin’ ladies. In this issue we find that there has been discovered a way to “flip on” the Elephantmen. The man who figured this out tries to warn the Information Agency, but they would rather keep things the way they are. Sahara’s look-a-like almost has to sleep with Obadiah Horn, and Miki visits Hip Flask for a little booty call. I then did a little research on the math involved in this little tryst, and came up with some interesting results. It turns out that, True Fiction Fact:
Last but not least this week, I was able to check out “Freak Angels” Vol 5. Written by Warren Ellis, and art by Paul Duffield. Which is a collected edition of a web comic from Avatar Press. Now, it seems to me that things really took off in this volume. The Freak Angels figure out that they can upgrade their “packages”, and who doesn’t want that, by offing themselves. Several of the Angels have already upgraded, and they find themselves in a kind of “mexican standoff.” They also discover that their future selves are communicating with…well themselves while in trepidation and undergoing their upgrades. As always, I love the art for this series, the character development is first rate, and my overall enjoyment of the book has been reeled in even more.
So you want to win a hardcover copy of GOTHAM CENTRAL BOOK ONE: IN THE LINE OF DUTY?
All you have to do it is look at our timeline, find the tweet referring to the contest, retweet it and then make sure you are following us. It really is that simple. Contest will then run until Tuesday, Feb 22 at 5 PM central time.
http://twitter.com/burntweiners
Here are a few details:
1. One entry allowed per person. Feel free to re-tweet it as often as you like, but you will only be entered once into our random drawing.
2. We can DQ anyone at anytime for possible shenanigans (which we don’t expect, but just throwing it up there)
3. Burnt Weiners will try their best to ship it to anyone who wins, but if you win and live on the side of a mountain and the only way to get it to you is to have it dropped in by a helicopter mounted with a cannon, sorry chum, you are out of luck. All places it can reasonably be shipped to are eligible.
4. You look marvelous, you really do!
The Geek’s Grimoire is a blog run by a buddy of the show. Check it out by clicking on the banner above. And here is a sample of some of the geekery you should come to expect below:
It all started in a department store.
Pittsburgh, some time in the early 1980s
My brother and I have arrived at (probably) K-Mart. Both of us have fresh allowance money in our pocket, so we head directly to our favorite part of the store: the toy department.
Within moments, we’re in the action figures aisle, searching for the Star Wars figures. Unfortunately, Star Wars is already falling out of favor, and the only action figures that we can find already exist in our collection at home. As awesome as Darth Vader is, we really don’t need a third one.
Immediately adjacent to the Star Wars figures, something new and interesting has appeared. These newcomers are military action figures. They’re a bit different from our usual sci-fi toys, but they are about the same size, so they’ll fit in with our existing armies. After a little deliberation, we each select a toy and head for the checkout.
Little did we know, our young lives had just changed.
Present day
So, what was that pivotal purchase?
Over the next decade, my brother and I would invest a large quantity of our allowance in GI Joe action figures, vehicles, and even the occasional comic book. When the TV show surfaced, we immediately became devoted fans, and our backyard was filled with cries of “Yo Joe!”
My love for GI Joe faded into the fog of memory for quite a while, just as Star Wars had, until the Cartoon Network produced GI Joe Resolute. The cartoon that I had grown up with had grown up as well, and it was good.
Today, I’ve returned to the GI Joe universe. I’m a regular reader of several ongoing GI Joe comic books, I’ve got a handful of GI Joe action figures on my desk, and I’m re-reading the original Marvel Comics series. All because K-Mart was out of new Star Wars figures way back when.
I wonder how different life might have been if they’d had Zuckuss in stock…
I recently had the pleasure of checking out a book that combines two of my loves: blueberry muffins and big band music! But that is a tale and blog post for another time. Instead I am going to let you know about a pretty well done horror book that blends the western and zombie genres in a very intriguing way: Dead or Alive from author William Harms.
Dead or Alive follows two brothers, one as awnry as they come, and the one just trying to reign in his brother’s terrible misdeeds so they don’t end up in jail, or worse yet, dead. After losing their family farm several years back, and their father to suicide, the brothers have been migrating from one work farm to another, trying to scrap by a living, but things always run afoul for the two. Finally fed up with the way their life is going, the two brothers end up robbing a stage coach, killing several men in the process. Escaping after the cash grab, they stumble into some trouble, and unwittingly, bring it upon a small town . . . yep, as you can guess, a good ol’ case of the undead!
The little bit I have read about William Harms has led me to believe he is known for being a horror writer, but I will be damned if this guy should not be writing Western tales. The plotting and feel of the book for the first half is nothing short of nailing what the genre is all about, especially when you throw in some of the wicked characters that make the brothers’ lives a living hell (although who is to say two murderers don’t deserve what they got coming).
That all being said, the novel in the middle 50 pages or so for me hit a real dry spot, right when the breakout of the zombie plague begins to hit, and had me worried that a great book I was really enjoying was going to fall flat once the new element was introduced. It did for awhile, and I honestly wondered if it was the same author handling this section of the story, as everything I loved from the beginning seemed to go missing. But as quickly as the book took a down spin for me, it soared right back up to deliver punch after punch of what I can only describe as great horror story action!
So, with the rough patch aside, this is one book I can recommend to fans of both the zombie genre and the classic Old West tales, and it being a very enthusiastic recommendation at that! I will be checking out some of the author’s past work, and look forward to checking out future stories, including his 39 Minutes comic book coming out from Top Cow.
Score: 3.95/5 (For John’s enjoyment of the series)
Recommend for: Fans of Old West stories and zombie tales, fans of the movie Ravenous
Links:
http://williamharms.typepad.com/
Click the picture at top to be taken to the Amazon page where you can purchase this book.
Edit: How can I not check out his Impaler series when it has a page like this!
Recorded Attacks is a graphic novel offshoot from The Zombie Survival Guide, and it’s REALLY REALLY COOL! The stories pull you in; whether they are based even somewhat in reality or completely conjured up in Brooks’ overactive imagination, they seem easily believable… like rumors from the next town over that can never be verified.
The illustration artist is Ibraim Roberson, who’s style is absolutely fantastic! There is a very fine line to walk when illustrating zombie fiction, between too humorously cartoon-like and over-the-top gore-for-the-sake-of-gore (and shock value). Roberson’s style is perfectly balanced in this book; lifelike enough to be believable, while the grotesque horrors are precision-tuned to turn your stomach without completely overpowering the underlying ideas. Top notch stuff!
I would recommend this book for even the pickiest of zombie genre snobs! It’s also great for the weekend zombie enthusiast, your teenage sibling, conspiracy theorists, your undead grandma, or anyone who appreciates the relevance of zombies in the arts. Final grade: A (for Awesome)
This is a mirror entry: http://grungezombie.net/index.php?id=239
Available for pre-order from Lex Records, £50.00
Unearthing is an audio and visual project uniting legendary comic book writer Alan Moore, award-winning photographer Mitch Jenkins and a cast of high-caliber musicians. A bewitching story written and narrated by Moore set against an epic score from musicians including Adam Drukker & Andy Broder (aka. Crook&Flail) Mike Patton, Stuart Braithwaite, Zach Hill and Justin Broadrick.
Alan Moore is best known for his groundbreaking graphic novels The Watchmen, V For Vendetta, From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. These, along with work for 2000 AD and DC Comics, have established him as one of the most influential and important writers in the history of comics. His output has sold in the millions, lead to numerous awards and been adapted for feature films – Moore has even made a cameo appearance in The Simpsons.
The musical score for Unearthing is produced by Crook&Flail, a partnership between Andrew Broder and Adam Drucker. Broder is the multi-instrumentalist behind the band Fog whilst Drucker’s adventures under his Doseone solo guise – and within cLOUDDEAD, Themselves and Subtle – have seen him explore spoken word and the outer reaches of rap. Together the pair have enlisted an impressive array of talented collaborators, including; Stuart Braithwaite of Scottish post-rockers Mogwai, drummer Zach Hill from acclaimed experimental band Hella, the trailblazing and prolific Justin Broadrick of Napalm Death, Godflesh and Jesu and pioneering alt-rock hero and Faith No More frontman Mike Patton.
https://lexrecords.com/shop/pages/view.php?stockcode=LEX090BOX