The Bullpen

[VinceB]

Much doom and gloom and all-around depressing stuff the first hour as we wade hip-deep into The Walking Dead volume 14 from Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard (NOTE: If you want to skip ahead, you'll be fine if you jump to the 47:20 minute mark!), after which we elevate with elaboration on Falling Skies, Will Pfeifer and Jill Thompson's excellent Finals under the Vertigo Resurrected banner, Baltimore: The Plague Ships by Mignola and Ben Stenbeck from Dark Horse, the I...Vampire! serial by J. M. DeMatteis and Tom Sutton from the pages of House of Mystery, Wolverine and Jubilee, Rogue's X-marks, Deathmate, Joe Casey's Butcher Baker #3 and Marijuanaman from Image and Infantry under the DDP Aftermath imprint, 28 Days Later, Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth volume three, Avengers Academy Giant-Size, Aspen's Executive Assistant Iris Volume 1 from David Whol and Eduardo Francisco, Hickman's Red Wing, Scarlet, Gladstone's School for World Conquerors by Mark Andrew Smith and Image, and a whole mess more!

Direct Link

Intro/Outro: Dodo/Lurker by Genesis

[thefreakytiki]

Careful. Everybody who's not yet caught up on Walking Dead, Chris drops a pretty major spoiler around 44:18. The Walking Dead talk doesn't really stop until around 47:20.

thanks for the warning SM.  This episode is scaring me.  I may have to skip it or postpone it for a week.

Damn you guys!  



the Tiki

[Wood]

thanks for the warning SM.  This episode is scaring me.  I may have to skip it or postpone it for a week.

Damn you guys!  



the Tiki

I could've sworn we stopped once Vince and I talked about the blackout, but seems like we had another 10 minutes in us. We really do stop talking about WD at that point though.
 

[thefreakytiki]

I could've sworn we stopped once Vince and I talked about the blackout, but seems like we had another 10 minutes in us. We really do stop talking about WD at that point though.
 

No worries.

First rule of Walking Dead Club...


the Tiki

[Stupendous Man]

Oh really? We come back to it after we move on to the blackout talks? OK, thanks for the heads up and sorry for the confusion.

Yeah, you guys circle back around. Don't sweat it.

[Lawrence]

Oh really? We come back to it after we move on to the blackout talks? OK, thanks for the heads up and sorry for the confusion.

Yeah, I didn't want to say anything but yes that does happen. Its more a vague spoiler than a specific thing but its all good in the hood.

[Wood]

Thanks for being good sports guys, I updated the sticky post with the new time stamp.

 

[scott_H_pdx]

Red Wing comes out July 13. Stoked!!!

Thanks for the great episode guys. Also, funny story about Marijuana Man. The week it came out I was chatting with my LCS owner and I asked him if he'd sold a lot of copies of Marijuana Man. He misunderstood and thought I was asking if he was selling a lot of "Marijuana, man?".

I got the weirdest look. Hilarious.

[Julian Lytle]

I liked her scene in New Warriors where she meets up with Wolverine and eventually asks him "are we cool?" and he smirks and says to her "who says we weren't?"

Could they not have just kept going with the New Warriors version of her? I thought it was a nice way to go with her now that they've gone ahead and depowered her.

That was fine. The only issue I had with that book was that the artist drew her. Her bust size was too big in that title.

[leafinsectman (Dan)]

That was fine. The only issue I had with that book was that the artist drew her. Her bust size was too big in that title.

Side effects of Night Thrasher's tech.

Just kidding, blame Paco Medina

[Gordo]

That's right!  The Pirates have officially achieved the level of "average" at this point in time... and to be honest, I couldn't be happier! 


the Tiki

.500 average and 3 games out is pretty damn good.   Whoops, this is turning into baseball talk. Sorry.

[Wood]

.500 average and 3 games out is pretty damn good.   Whoops, this is turning into baseball talk. Sorry.

If we're going to talk baseball, we have to start with my son's Rookie League Champion Kinnelon Marlins. 

Won the title 4-3 against the previously undefeated Dodgers. Bases were loaded in the bottom of the 6th, when the poor Dodger batter struck out (in coach pitch). Felt awful for him, but giddy for our kids.

[Chris Campbell]

If we're going to talk baseball, we have to start with my son's Rookie League Champion Kinnelon Marlins. 

Won the title 4-3 against the previously undefeated Dodgers. Bases were loaded in the bottom of the 6th, when the poor Dodger batter struck out (in coach pitch). Felt awful for him, but giddy for our kids.

that is awesome.    Can't wait for Christopher to start T-ball.

And I just started watching Jericho.   That show is dope!  I'm 8 episodes in, and loving it.  I thought the first 2 episodes would've made an awesome 2 episode premiere.

[Julian Lytle]

Thanks guys fro talking about Walking Dead. After the last trade I had a feeling that I don't want to read it anymore but I wasn't totally sure. Now I am. I am not in the right mind to find this story enjoyable. Some things in the story ring false for me. My logic can't wrap around it. So thanks for this good long talk about it and breaking that unspoken internet embargo.

[Chris Campbell]

I'm curious about Falling Skies, and I'll try to catch in VOD or in replay.

Regarding the timing:

"One of the big differences I think with 'Falling Skies' from many other invasion shows is that we're actually starting six months after the main 'shock and awe' invasion has happened. So our survivors have had six months for the shock to fade and now they're faced with a series of choices. They're essentially under occupation from this alien force, which is very strange," Verheiden said.

[Wood]

Thanks guys fro talking about Walking Dead. After the last trade I had a feeling that I don't want to read it anymore but I wasn't totally sure. Now I am. I am not in the right mind to find this story enjoyable. Some things in the story ring false for me. My logic can't wrap around it. So thanks for this good long talk about it and breaking that unspoken internet embargo.

We aim to please.

Now I'm off to read the latest Ants strip. 

[Wood]

that is awesome.    Can't wait for Christopher to start T-ball.

And I just started watching Jericho.   That show is dope!  I'm 8 episodes in, and loving it.  I thought the first 2 episodes would've made an awesome 2 episode premiere.

Jericho was a total gem for me, but admittedly because of low ratings and a quicker-than-planned cancellation, it does off the ropes at the end. Fun ride while it lasts though. 

[Jeppe]

I'm not reading Walking Dead (and am not planning to pick it up), but I did really enjoy your discussion of it. Thanks for takin up the topic!

As for the whole post-apocalyptic society issue, I'm pretty much on the same page as Vince. While it makes for a great fictional setting, I don't buy into the Hobbesian vision of man's state of nature as a predatory and savage world, at least not to the degree that it is usually depicted. Sure, there are many examples of things breaking down and violence erupting when the regular confines of society  are stripped away, but there are just as many examples of the opposite. I don't believe that human nature is inherently wicked or evil or savage, but I do believe that the history, culture, and experience of any given setting will influence how the inhabitants react to such an event. There is no convincing psychological evidence to suggest that people automatically become brutal and violent when given the opportunity, and the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment has pretty much been debunked by now.

Sorry for being overly wordy on such a non-comics topic, but I found the discussion really fascinating.

[thefreakytiki]

NOTE: My next statement has nothing to do with the fact that our Boys talked about WD...

  I have been curious for some time, has the unspoken rule of "No one talks about WD" been one of the largest contributors to the book's success?  I think so:

•  Kirkman has cultivated over years this "say nothing" mantra with his WD ad copy.

• This creates an allure to readers not in the know.  By default it makes one want to see why everyone is so respectful to the story.

• Because no one says anything, there is never a bad word spoken even if one dislikes it.  in turn there is never a reason to not give it a try.


Considering we live in an era where EVERYTHING seems to be explained (:cough: Wolverine's backstory :cough:) all that is "unknown" about WD is once again a story's strength.


the Tiki

[john_k]

and the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment has pretty much been debunked by now.

it has?

[Jeppe]

it has?

Maybe debunked is too strong a word, but it has certainly seen pretty severe criticism from psychological academia. Here's a pretty good overview of the criticism, put together by Brian Dunning. Here's a more contemporary critique by Erich Fromm