Comics journalist, blogger and industry professional Laura Hudson stops by to talk about professionalism in comics journalism, women in comics, and her personal history of being a cashier at a comics store. Also, Matt Wilson stops by again, as we talk about a very special 1990’s comic phenomenon.
The Show Rundown
- Our guest: please read Laura Hudson’s work at Comics Alliance. Check her out on twitter here. Also, be sure you check out her series, “Don’t Be That Guy” on Comics Alliance.
- Marvel Swimsuit Pic 1: The Wasp
- Marvel Swimsuit Pic 2: Dr. Strange
- Marvel Swimsuit Pic 3: Captain America
- Read Andrew’s dead on review of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 at his site, Armagideon Time.
- For more examples of the de-nudifying effect, like artists turning thongs to bike shorts, check out this post from Dave’s Long Box.
- Check out Awesomed By Comics and their response to “W.R.A.” The beef is on, EVIE AND AARON.
- Check out Matt’s website, The ISS, here. Check out Matt on twitter here.
- Make sure you read Chris’s hilarious ongoing “Worst of Netflix” series on Heavy.com.
- If you like interview shows, check out my other podcast, The People You Don’t Know.
- I cannot believe I got this episode edited and this post up on time with the SPX madness this weekend. If I forgot something in the show notes, I’ll be updating it throughout the week. I just wanted to get the show up in time. I am going to collapse now.
Another great episode all around. If you do continue the “boys of summer” swimsuit commentary, I’d love to here you reactions of the John Romita JR Tony Stark piece that was in one of the issues.
He made Robin Williams look manscaped. I still have nightmares about it.
Thanks!
I love you dudes and your podcast, but does it have to be so huge, filesize-wise? Have pity on those of us with small iPods; for proof of concept, I have a Penny Arcade one on my HD right now that’s an hour long and only 14.2MB. I mean, it’s just some folks talking — it doesn’t have to be encoded at a super-high bitrate. Oh shit — unless this episode is a cLuB rEmiX!!
-Jon – I’ll see what a reduced bitrate sounds like next time. I think we had it at that level b/c we originally intended the show to be about 30-40 min shorter, which would’ve put it in the 50-60MB range, but as the eps have gone on, they’ve obviously gone much longer. Sorry about it being so monstrously huge, hopefully I can get it down to a manageable level. Just be glad we don’t encode it as an AIFF like some other podcasts I’ve seen that exceed 100 MBs and shit. But thanks for the comment, I didn’t realize that I kept it at a higher bitrate from the first few eps.
-Steve – we are more than happy to continue the commentary. in fact, regardless of fan reaction, we may just do a whole ep on it b/c we enjoy it so much.
I vote for Banana-Hammock-Cast!!
Great interview, awesome show!
Word!
This isn’t some fly-by-night Penny Arcade podcast, Jon. This is THE BIG TIME
This podcast made me realize what Marvel’s next game should be.
Marvel Ultimate Swimsuit Alliance.
And you better believe it would sell.
Oh, and Laura Hudson was awesome! 🙂 nice how you guys continue to have a mix of guests both insightful and fun. I keep wondering when you’ll accidentally hit the next McFarlane or Mark Millar but I’m loving the guests so far.
Yes indeed. That swimsuit bit had me laughing so hard i couldn’t breathe. Making that a recurring feature would be amazing.
Sims has his Alternate Costume unlocked!
One of many alternate costumes, a feature that will be slashed to include only one (dubious) bonus costume in “War Rocket Ajax 2: Just Like the Last Podcast but Not Nearly as Good”
Please do more with the swimsuit issues , I had to listen twice because was laughing so hard at the pictures that i could even hear you guys the first time…
Great show, guys– best one yet.
You would be doing the world a disservice if you did not discuss the Colossus page. So much going on!
You have to continue reviewing swimsuit specials, if only to mention the colossus page, because the writing is just phenomenal.
Great podcast. I vote (blushing) for more swimsuit perorations.
I would pay money to listen to you guys talk about swimsuit issues all day. if you need help looking for some extra swimsuit issues there isa torrent out there that a friend told me about that Hypothetically has a couple hundred of them, but I wouldn’t really know cuz you know I haven’t seen it, just saying.
Count me in as another vote for more swimsuit commentary. I vote for the hulk shot, because I would just love to imagine the next scene where tries to be all suave and seduce betty in monosyllabic grunts.
“We’re not even noticing the beefcake” Yyyyyeah…
That was awesome. More swimsuit commentary!
I vote you do the one with the New Warriors where Turbo has that freaky African facemask-type helmet on while she’s sunbathing (which has to be a really distinctive tan line in the making), and in the background the oldest kid from Power Pack (13 or 14 years old) was jumping around – they really DID objectify everyone!
I’m pretty sure Cap is reading the Absolute Edition of the Constitution. It has all of James Madison’s annotations and fixed the coloring issues with the flag.
MODOK never appeared in any of these swimsuit specials, did he? Please say no.
Fantastic episode guys. I’d love to hear a special episode dedicated to these issues. I totally forgot they existed until listening to this.
I have felt bad hearing how female comic fans are given a hard time, or treated with surprise and shock, but in cases such as Laura Hudson, I think it has less to do with being female and more to do with being, well, hot. This applies to both male and female fans.
Comics, video games and fiction in general allow the user to experience another life in another world. This implies that this life in this world has not worked out as well as the user would have liked. Hot people, both male and female, tend to do pretty well in this world, so they have little use for alternate realities.
Hence, nerds (people who prefer fiction to reality by my definition) are not always hot. Of course, that does not need to be a purely physical thing. Some people just don’t interact well with others for one reason or another. And obviously, there are exceptions, such as Laura, and ideally they would be treated as equals and appreciated without jealousy or confusion getting in the way.
It’s pretty hard for me to see this as anything but insulting to almost any comic book fan, though of course I am one myself, I admit to certain flaws and have no intention of hurting anyone’s feelings, but it’s the way I’ve come to see things, and it applied to this excellent episode of Ajax. My apologies to all I offend.
Listening to the podcast while desperately sludging through work…would like to hear more swimsuit special goodness
Ben, I don’t think that’s offensive. Attractiveness is subjective, but I think any time you encounter someone you find attractive, they get automatic bonus points. And if they like the same things you like, double bonus points. Personally, I don’t encounter thaaat many hot guys who love comics, but when I do, they have my attention, because they are hot and that is how being hot works.
I think the surprise and/or fetishization that I encountered at comic shops was a combination of not looking entirely like a cave troll, female readers being less common, and conversely the vast majority of customers being hetero guys. (I wonder if a male manga fan would have a similar experience?)
Man, I should have mentioned some of the funnier incidents in the podcast, like the guy who tried to hit on me by telling me that pretty girls shouldn’t work in comic shops. And this one older guy who kept telling me these dreams he had about me and writing me into screenplays and bringing them up to the counter. Apparently he threw a tantrum after I left the store and never came back.
But you know, I was working retail in New York, and at the time walking home through a high-crime ghetto was far more threatening than noobs hitting on me ineffectively at work. On the whole I think people were more confused and intrigued than scary or rude. Fetishization can get old, but at least in terms of regulars and the people I worked with, after a while I earned their respect and they began to accept me.
I think it’s similar to how someone might react when meeting a female mechanic — some guys might be surprised or even skeptical, but if she fixes your car a couple times, you’ll probably get over it. (Or at least stop asking her if she’s REALLY a mechanic.)