Ancillary Characters' Podcast - Episode 26: Putting on a Podcasting Clinic

Here it is, Episode 26: Putting on a Podcasting Clinic!



Let us know what you think, tweet us @AncillaryTweets, @jollygreen05 (Paul), @SethBreedslove, or @kallenboone.

Paul's Picks! - August 15, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And now for his much-anticipated pick-of-the-week...

New Comics Day came, and I'm back to share with all of you my thoughts about the one book that arose victorious as Paul's Pick! This was one of the tougher weeks I've had in a while, as there were more than 3 books that were easily deserving of a "Pick." But don't worry, I'm here to make all of the tough decisions that must be made. All the books can't win, just one book (ok, so maybe I've split it in the past, but you get the point). And so, in a very interesting turn of events, my Pick of the Week goes to...

Green Lantern #12 by Geoff Johns and Renato Guedes

Paul's Picks! - March 14, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And in celebration of this weekly, well, celebration, Paul is here to give you his favorite book of the week.

Hello everyone! Wow, has it really been two weeks? Alas, it has, but don't worry, I'm back to provide all of the comic-loving goodness that you've become so accustomed too over the last few months. I was out of town last week on the Spring Break with some family doing a whole lot of nothing, but sadly that nothing kept me far away from my comic store, so there was no way for me to read my books and relay my pick to you all. I considered starting up a new column, which is still forthcoming, but as it turned out I was also without an internet connection. Yes, you guessed it: I was out in the hills of Kentucky living off of raw meat and dry vegetables!... Okay, maybe not, but I'm back in the land of Internet connections to give you my favorite book of this week, and I'm excited to reveal that my pick is...

Paul's Picks! - Feb. 29th, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And in celebration of this weekly, well, celebration, Paul is here to give you his favorite book of the week.

Justice League in Review


For those of you who may have already read the "epic" finale to Geoff Johns and Jim Lee's introductory arc on the best-seller from the DCnU, please don't roll your eyes when you see their title at the header for this week's pick. If I can be totally honest with you, this week's column is much less about my favorite stand-alone issue from Leap Day, 2012 and more so about the feelings that I was left with after reading the greatly anticipated conclusion to this first arc of Justice League. I'm going to try and make this as concise as humanly possible, but take into account that this article has been half-a-year in the making. So without any more build up, let's get down to the nitty-gritty, shall we?

Gotta admit, it's a cool cover.

My Expectations:


When I read the solicitations for the launch of the New 52, there is no hiding that this book was most likely sitting at the top of my most-anticipated list. I mean, get real people: a Geoff Johns/Jim Lee ongoing series? And not just any series, a Justice League book! Let's be honest DC fans, over the last few years, the JLA book had pretty much fallen off the deep end. It was stuck in Lamesville and couldn't get out. DC promised to return to us all the things that we could possible desire from a team-up book: an A-list writer, one of the most favored artists in the business, a line up of the best heroes that DC has to offer, and a villain of epic proportions. In theory, this was the perfect setup! And I couldn't have been more hyped.

Tales from the Long Box: Geoff Johns' Flash (or the rise of Geoff Johns)

In 2002, after an absence that lasted from my early teens into my twenties, I started reading monthly comics. I started with Batman, collecting every issue of No Man's Land and, despite not having a clue what had come before I enjoyed it immensely. From there I branched out into other corners of the Marvel and DC universes. Mostly I stuck to characters I knew like Spider-Man and Superman and the Justice League. I believe it was in a copy of Wizard magazine that I first read about this guy, Geoff Johns who was working his way up through the writing ranks on smaller characters. Stars and STRIPE and the Flash had already been overseen by him and he was knee deep in what would become one of my all-time favorite comics, the JSA. I read the article, liked what he had to say about superhero comics and decided to try out one of his books.

The first book I read with Johns name on the cover was a beat up trade paperback that I got at the library collecting a hand full of issues of the Flash. I remember being struck by the art of Scott Kollins and instantly recognizing that this Johns guy had something different than other writers. His Wally West was an easy guy to identify with, who worked a normal day job and struggled with everyday problems issue to issue. Under Geoff's pen Wally became DC's answer to Peter Parker in a lot of ways. Something I've always felt set the Johns earlier work apart from other guys is that he seemed to write like he had something to prove. He'd take on books like Stars and STRIPE and Flash or the JSA, characters who were second or third tier at best, and he'd turn them into best selling titles.

Paul's Picks! - January 25, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And in celebration of this weekly, well, celebration, Paul is here to give you his favorite book of the week.

Well it's time for another Pick of the Week, and I find myself on unsure ground. There are some weeks where the chosen pick is screaming at me, and then there are those weeks when everything runs together so much that I have trouble pointing out the "best" of them; this is one of those weeks. Don't get me wrong, there were some great books, and if I had to pick a favorite I'd go with The Flash #5 by Francis Manupal and Brian Buccellato, but I'm afraid if I spend this week's article outlining what I love about their incredible run on the series, I'll just be repeating what I've already made clear in weeks past. Instead, I want to talk about something other than a single issue that tickled my fancy. This week, my pick is Comics that Make an Impression.

Paul's Picks! - January 11, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And in celebration of this weekly, well, celebration, Paul is here to give you his favorite book of the week.

Green Lantern #5 by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke


Hey guys and gals! So the time has come for my weekly pick/review, sorry that it didn't get up until Thursday, but I've discovered that since I don't typically get my pulls until late on Wednesday, it's tough to get them all read and evaluated in time to have my article up by a decent hour... But either way, I know you've all been dying for some more of my comic blogging alongside my irresistible charm, so here I am with your weekly fix!

Ok, so maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but I like to thing we've got something kinda special started here at AC. Hopefully many of you are making our little fan site a regular destination. As for the week of January 11th, I'd be lying if I said I was overly impressed with any of my pulls. Don't get my wrong, Demon Knights was good as usual, as was Batgirl which has surprisingly become one of my favorite books out of the relaunch, but all of my books were only good, not spectacular. This left me with kind of a tough decision, as I'm apprehensive about giving my weekly award to just any book; I prefer them to be exceptional.