Ex Machina #1, Fables #1
So here we go - our first conversation - you can pretty much bet all of our posts on the actual books we are reading are gonna go like this - we tend to wander (although to be fair we tried hard to stay on topic for this first one. .) Any way - I dont have much of an intro other than that - i'll let our words speak for themselves .. Oh - and in a later post in the week i'll explain what all the <cock>'s are about :) -- So without further ado - let's do it.
THOS:
3:53
Ex Machina
go
3:54
I liked Ex Machina THOS:
3:54
yes
an interesting start
my guess is - if we had read it when it was first published it would have resounded more with us
when did #1 come out? JOB:
3:54
I think the whole one-tower thing probably came off as a little pandering when the thing came out 5 years ago or so
it just finished with #50, so it's been about 5 years, i think THOS:
3:55
04 according to wikipedia JOB:
3:55
fucking wikipedia
I like that it's overtly political, but not as a platform for one party or another necessarily THOS:
3:56
yeah - a little nitpick but did the black guy have to have dreadlocks? JOB:
3:56
it came off a little less preachy than West Wing for instance (realizing that you love west wing and I don't) :)
progressive black guys had dreadlocks in 2002, i guess THOS:
3:57
lets just make him crippled in a wheel chair and smart with computers if we're gonna have a stereotypical sidekick JOB:
3:57
heheheh
for that role, we have Kremlin, who's kinda awesome THOS:
3:57
heh - yeah - that and the police lt. - JOB:
3:57
right. it's set up right from the start to be a TNT show THOS:
3:58
although - does EVERY fiesty reporter in comics have to be a gal?
granted - we are one issue in - but she has "lois lane" stamped on her as far as im concerned JOB:
3:58
heh
or His Girl Friday, if you've seen that movie THOS:
3:58
.. now your just trying to look smart for the blog JOB:
3:59
feisty male reporters just look like assholes, so maybe one tries to avoid that
fine, edit that out if you like. but i've seen a movie made before 1950
like six or seven of them
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Girl_Friday ) THOS:
3:59
heheheh JOB:
4:00
can Iuse another big word?
aptronym
when your name reflects your job or personality THOS:
4:00
overall a good 1st issue - set up a lot of stuff - but gave us enough backstory to not be left in the dark JOB:
4:00
Like Journal THOS:
4:00
an interesting thing that you rarely see in comics - they actually did his origin in 2 pages or less
didnt drag it out- JOB:
4:00
hehe. yeah, you pretty much get the idea THOS:
4:01
he grabed some crazy thing in the water - and boom - talks to machines JOB:
4:01
in 50 years, that'll all be compressed into one paragraph on teh splash page that nobody reads anyway, so you might as well not dwell on it THOS:
4:01
yeah
<cock>
Fables JOB:
4:02
are we editing out <cock> or explaining it? THOS:
4:02
im interested in hearing your thoughts
I think we should explain it
I dont want it edited
a) there’s a reason behind it
b) it makes us look hip and edgy JOB:
4:02
you edit too much cock, and you're no better than hotel porn THOS:
4:02
... JOB:
4:03
don't pretend like you don't know what i'm talking about THOS:
4:03
heh
so
again
<cock>
Fables JOB:
4:03
right
Fables THOS:
4:03
your thougts?
thoughts
fuck it – I’m spell checking this before I post it JOB:
4:03
again, it's a good set up. To me, it came off a little too....
like a parody, like Hoodwink'd THOS:
4:04
I can see that JOB:
4:04
let's run all this fable shit out there right away, so we can get past it
which is as good a way to start as any, I guess
but I questioned why I needed to have it all explained right up front
they didn't dwell on it too much, though, and you get the idea that there's a lot more to it than just the 8 or 9 characters you meet in #1 THOS:
4:05
bare in mind Fables started in 02 JOB:
4:05
yeah, you can really tell the difference in the way the book is put together, I thought THOS:
4:05
so really before all the parodying of the Shrek movies, hoodwink'd etc. JOB:
4:06
yeah, I suppose THOS:
4:06
I’m just sayin - don't hold that against it JOB:
4:06
no I don't. it was an interesting setup THOS:
4:06
I love that Prince Charming is a leach JOB:
4:06
yeah, that's pretty awesome THOS:
4:07
"dont ask about the dwarves"
I hope we get THAT story soon JOB:
4:07
heheh. was that supposed to be Little Boy Blue of the hornblowing fame? THOS:
4:07
yeah I think so JOB:
4:07
I have to be honest, I don't know fairy tales all that well
so hopefully it won't get too obscure THOS:
4:08
if I remember correctly I don’t think so
cheer up - this could be one of those books that keeps sending you to wikipedia - I know how you love that JOB:
4:08
well, I do kind of appreciate the effort that goes into that
doesn't make it any easier though THOS:
4:09
as far as art goes - nothing spectacular from either book - but that’s not necessarily a bad thing JOB:
4:09
I really liked the look of Ex Machina
I think i'd read that the artist (who's the artist?) used live models a lot THOS:
4:09
it could just be that I was reading it on the ipod - but it seemed kind of dark
I did like how they differentiated him talking to machines and humans
rarely do you get to see a letterer showcase their talent JOB:
4:11
yes. they also did a good job with the coloring separating the different time periods THOS:
4:11
yeah - I don’t know - I hope every book isn’t like that -
jumping back and forth in time
a guy can only read so many Tarantino comic books JOB:
4:11
I usually don't like that, but it seemed to be more with a purpose than just to fuck with a reader THOS:
4:12
yeah JOB:
4:12
you get the bits of the story you need as you need them THOS:
4:12
oh - we should mention the language JOB:
4:12
English? THOS:
4:12
not that I was against it - just caught me off guard JOB:
4:12
really? I didn't even notice, I guess THOS:
4:12
seemed like there were more shits and fucks etc thrown in simply because they could
maybe I’m just a prude JOB:
4:13
hehe. a side of you we don't see too often
I guess I read a lot of vertigo and other mature reader type books, so I didn't even flinch
but if you're used to the marvel-style #$@@ whitewashing, I could see it being jarring THOS:
4:13
yeah - unless its "The Boys" I don’t really see swearing in the books I read JOB:
4:14
Alan Moore said mature readers labels were just an excuse for "tits and innards"
should've probably added "f-bombs" to the list THOS:
4:14
although it'd be awesome to see Cyclops blurt out a "FUCK!" once in a while
(you know he's got it in him) JOB:
4:14
hehe. I will look for that if they ever let Warren Ellis off the leash at marvel
the art for Fables was maybe supposed to look .... fable-y? THOS:
4:15
I think so JOB:
4:15
just going from memory, it seemed kind of chicken-scratchy
sketched out, I should say THOS:
4:15
as it goes on - the artist really branches out
does some awesome border work framing pages etc JOB:
4:16
ah
how far have you read on that? THOS:
4:16
it should be noted that although we are reading Fables from #1 i've actually read the first 30 or so
so i'm biased
but I read them as they came out
so 6 years ago JOB:
4:16
yeah, I read the first couple arcs of Ex Machina when they were new too, but I never kept up THOS:
4:17
no 6 yrs is EM -- fables I read in 02
8 yrs ago
fuck im old JOB:
4:17
heh
kids these days, with their baggy pants and their hippety-hop music THOS:
4:17
they just don't understand
no wait
that's parents
oh now I really dated myself JOB:
4:18
so are we ending with a letter grade or something definitive? THOS:
4:18
yeah I think so JOB:
4:18
how about THOS:
4:18
A = Dark Knight JOB:
4:18
"diseases or maladies I would rather have than miss the next issue" ?
A = sniffles
through F = ass cancer
i'm too lazy to come up with any more than that, though THOS:
4:19
heh
I was gonna just grade it on past books JOB:
4:20
yeah, you're probably right
don't want to offend any ass cancer survivors
so A is Dark Knight. fair enough
can F be the last two or three years of JLA? THOS:
4:21
Heh
yeah JOB:
4:21
regardless of your signposts, I'd put both of them at a B THOS:
4:22
yeah'
id say thats fair too -
Ex Machina = B with a lot of potential for awesome
Fables = solid B
(I know that it has potential) JOB:
4:23
ok. sounds good THOS:
4:23
wait
b's for both
but I want to lower the bar for F JOB:
4:23
ok THOS:
4:23
id put JLA at a D
Youngblood = F JOB:
4:23
heheheh THOS:
4:23
(yeah I went there) JOB:
4:24
I haven't read youngblood since I was in high school THOS:
4:24
me either - but damnit i'm still pissed that I shelled out hard cash and stood in line for it JOB:
4:24
heh. ok. fine
actually that's probably about right, cuz what the hell are you doing reading things that you're rating an F? THOS:
4:25
heh - exactly JOB:
4:25
are signing off on this then? THOS:
4:25
yeah - I think that’s a good first post
even though its 6 hours late - that's my bad JOB:
4:26
you'll do better next week
are you posting it? THOS:
done.

