[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyPDQpel8bI]
Mailbag Mondays is a weekly feature of Made of Fail Productions. Send in your questions, comments, and thoughts to made_of_fail@yahoo.com! Kevin takes your letters this week.
The holidays are just around the corner. They’ve been just around the corner since November 1st, according to stores and that one radio station that blasts Christmas music 24/7 for two months. But if you don’t go shopping often and you avoid that radio station – like I do – it means you’re able to attune to the holiday spirit at your own pace, and not get burned out about it.
Hence, I’ve been queueing up the Vince Guaraldi Trio a lot this week. And making plans to telecommute Hanukkah with my mother this year since I won’t be able to stop at my parents’ house after work. Lighting the candles over Skype? We live in the future!
What do you guys do to prepare for the holidays?
Benjamin writes:
Hopefully you guys aren’t sick of me by now, but I had another bit of free time and another idea (as I get here and there), and, well, sometimes you get the urge to create something. So this one’s for the Deconstructing Moya site…I must admit to knowing next to nothing about Farscape (although it’s on the horizon to check out), so I hope this passes muster with the MoF Farscape fandom. In other words, hope you all like it. Thanks again for the continued awesomeness.
Wow. That is absolutely fantastic, man. You continue to impress me with everything you’ve been doing for us. It almost makes me want to tell everybody to take a look at your site, your other artwork, and your main projects.
I’ll need to play with themes for Deconstructing Moya this week so’s we can display it properly.
Carlo writes:
I hope all of you are doing well in both personal and professional lives. Made of Fail productions has been really fun to follow and I look forward to seeing what else comes out. With that in mind, I’m really gonna miss you on the show, Kevin. Your snark, laugh, and lively outlook on whatever topic was talked about on the show (yes even twilight) helped suck me in when I started listening. However, it’s nice to know you’ll be doing so much to keep MoF productions running from backstage.
Thank you. I’ll still be in the foreground, too – Dayna has plans to bring me back on as a guest whenever she wants, so you’ll hear me on the show every so often. And I’ve got my fingers in pretty much every project we’ll be doing.
Carlo also writes:
Speaking of episodes, let me talk about the DC relaunch stuff discussed in episode 47. Of all the changes, I agree with Dayna and Linkara’s statements on That’s all I’m Saying, about Starfire’s new sex pot persona in Red Hood and the Outlaws. It’s a complete 180 that goes against her character as well as the work Marv Wolfman and several others did in developing her. It’s just in issue one either, in 2 and 3 she just comes off as stuck up. So yeah, it pissed me off a lot. But that change is tied in stupidity with what happened in Suicide Squad. No, not Harley Quinn’s costume, but that is ridiculous. For some reason, DC decided to make Amanda “the wall” Waller, one of the few comic characters who a was full-figured woman but could easily control a gang of villains and talk back to Batman, skinny. Now she’s just a model who thrives on violence. I don’t want to make a big deal, but it feels like DC is now setting an unnecessary standard for female physicality. Not to mention most of the new DC universe isn’t as fun as the original. Some stuff is too dark and moody for its own good, like Superboy.
On a lighter side, Kevin, I feel so sorry for you in terms of reading Green Lantern. The current story takes place right after the story arc, War of the Green Lanterns. At the end of it, Sinestro was chosen to a be green lantern by a random ring to help fight, and hal jordan was expelled from the corps by the guardians for working with other lantern corps leaders, and killing the rouge guardian, Krona. Get the trade if you can, it’s a good story but a lot to take in. Also, here’s my short opinion to some of the other comics talked about: Batgirl was great and is still going strong, Batwoman has a nice story enhanced by J.H. Williams III’s incredible art, GL: New Guardians #1 was a great setup story and good lantern introduction for new readers along with a good 2nd and 3rd issue, and JLI tries a do a lot in a little time but is intriguing to follow and has some good artwork from Aaron Lopresti.
Also, for Kevin and other interested listeners, here are some comics with an origin story and/or good jumping on point with a complete story.
- Animal Man. This comic is awesome! This is one of my favorites and probably one of the best in the relaunch. Tells everything you need to know right on the first page of issue 1. You can tell that Jeff Lemire knows and respects the character. It’s great for new readers and long time fans.
- Aquaman. Out of the three comics being written by geoff johns (other two are GL and Justice League) this one is his best, and just great overall. Establishes the character and the important parts of his backstory, and it shows how awesome Aquaman can be and always has been.
- Batman (fun fact: Scott Synder is awesome. See American Vampire and his 11 issue run on detective comics for elaboration.)
- Batwing (Though he was introduced in Batman inc., he’s still technically a new character so he gets a good introduction as a superhero.)
- Blackhawks (old DC concept with new characters, so it works well with new characters and gives a good introductory issue. Fun, too.)
- DC Universe Presents: Deadman (to a degree. Depends on what you’re into.)
- The Flash. It gives the origin in a very classic intro format. Art is great and the story has a lot of potential.
- Green Lantern: New Guardians
- And, of course, Demon Knights. This comic is lot of fun, introduces the main characters pretty well, and almost reads like a classic fantasy story meets a D&D game. In terms of best comic each Week of the month, I’d say it goes like this: 1st week, Animal Man, 2nd week, Demon Knights, 3rd, Batman, and 4th, Aquaman,
Wonder Woman and Captain Atom give good demonstrations of their characters in issue 1, but they don’t give a direct origin story until issue 2. Though depending on how perceive Wonder Woman, issue 3’s reveal may make you facepalm in how her new origin is done. I did. Which is sad because aside from the origin change, it’s a great fantasy story and the art is really nice.
Along with all these opinions, I attached some pictures of my time at the NYC comic con this year.
Thanks so much, Carlo! We’ve definitely all been keeping an eye on the DC relaunch as it’s been unfolding (some more than others *cough not really me at all cough*). Thanks also for the list of good jumping off points; I hope our readers find it useful.
I’ve put your pictures in a seperate gallery; I love the baby Dalek, the Bizarro Supergirl, and the Ivy/Robin fight in particular.
Alina asks:
Is Noel Dayna’s new co-host?
No. But this guy is!