Paul's Picks - TMNT Action Figures (Playmate Toys)

As comic book readers and fans, we often face the scrutiny of the "grown-ups" out there in the real world. You know, the ones who go to their jobs, watch ESPN for at least 8 hours in the day, and spend their free time doing other manly, grown-up things. The look down at us with that lumberjack stare with a judging eye. Comics are for kids. Video games are for kids. And action figures are definitely for kids.

Yeah? That so? Well here's what I have to say to that!... You're right. There are comics for kids, video games for kids, and certainly action figures and other toys for kids. But this truth does not mean that adults have no place enjoying them just the same. In fact, I would daresay that we can enjoy some of these things to an even greater extent as adults, as grown-ups who fully comprehend the value of things like these. The fact of the matter is, while I may be a 26 year old married man with responsibilities, bills, and all kinds of kinds of other grown-up goodies, I love comics. I love video games. And yes, I love toys.

Are you a toy lover? Do you yearn to fill your top shelf with beautiful, colorful figurines of your favorite fictional figures? So do I. That's why this week's pick goes to, not a comic, but a set of TOYS!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Action Figure Set (Playmate Toys)

Paul's Picks!... Is Back! - November 2, 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...


Hello friends! Wow, it has been WAY too long since I found my way on here to share my weekly thoughts with you all... Life has been coming at me pretty hard with Student Teaching on the horizon. But no more excuses, I'm here today to bring you my pick of the week, and boy is it a doozy!

In a week of very few monthly comics and a stack full of annuals, I had all but given my pick of the week to TMNT #15 (Shocker, right? You can read more about it on this week's show, download it here.). And to be honest, that issue was certainly fantastic, and I would gladly recommend it to anyone, as it is still one of the most consistently great books on the market. With that being said, at the last minute my Pick of the Week was taken by a sleeper, so to say. It's a book that  I have been thoroughly enjoying, but that has never gone above "good" to achieve the greatness that I expect out of my Pick. And that book is...

Aquaman #13 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis

Weekly Roundup - June 20

Welcome to the Weekly Roundup, where I describe this this week’s pulled books in one paragraph or less!



This week proved somewhat disappointing. My favorite monthly of the lot, Wonder Woman, failed to deliver, but Splinter and Comedian helped prop up an otherwise mediocre array of books. The lesser anticipated titles managed to be solid as well. And now, the blurbs.

Before Watchmen: Comedian #1: An unexpected take on one of Watchmen’s most fearsome characters. The Comedian, Eddie Blake, is portrayed less as a psychotic killer and more as a tough anti-hero who, in his heart, is a caring person. This book also wins the most frightening cover of the week award.

Green Lantern Corps #10: John Stewart is sentenced to death by the ridiculous Alpha Lanterns. His lawful good acquiescence once again stands in stark contrast to Guy Gardner’s chaotic good brashness. This story has been done to death.

Nightwing #10: A man has been found murdered by one of Dick Grayson’s escrima sticks, and a corrupt detective leads a crusade to lay the crime on Nightwing’s shoulders. A solid reintroduction to the plot derailed by the Court of the Owls story.

Supergirl #10: Supergirl girl fights a Kryptonian dragon in the mindscape of an evil Irish warlock who absorbed her consciousness. The beautiful art provides a nice look into the culture of dead Krypton.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #5 Splinter: Splinter kicks Foot tail while pondering the meaning of honor in light of mistakes made hundreds of years in the past. The flashbacks to ancient Japan are an interesting look into the novel twist thrown into the Turtles’ origin in this latest TMNT series.

Wonder Woman #10: Wonder Woman shares the love in the most disappointing ending to a great arc in the New 52 so far. Azzarello draws material from the likes of Care Bears and My Little Pony to round out the story that made me care about Wonder Woman.


Next week is poised to be much better with such heavy hitters as Justice League, Flash, and my most anticipated, Batman Incorporated. The second issue of Bendis’ Spider-Men event should also make for some interesting content. Stay tuned!

Paul's Picks! - April 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 now for his much-anticipated pick-of-the-week...

Hello all! This was a big week for comics, with a slew of AvX tie-ins hitting the shelves, along with many of your typical favorites from DC, Marvel, IDW, Image, etc. I left my shop with a nice bag just full of books this week, anxiously waiting to dive in to some of my usual favorites from this week in comics. Since I'm certain that many of you are sitting there wondering which books are these "usual favorites," here's a short list: from DC, Flash and Aquaman, TMNT from IDW, not to mention my recent taking to New Avengers (although I'm not sure that one counts, as it's currently all about AvX, but who's judging?). Any way you look at it though, this is a big week for books. And so, with no more blabbering on, the definitive winner of this week's pick is...

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #9 by Eastman, Waltz, and Duncan.

Note: SPOILERS WILL BE PRESENT! I typically try to avoid them for the most part, but the key component to this issue can't be addressed well without them, so if you haven't read it yet and you're going to, WAIT TO READ THIS UNTIL AFTER! Thank you.

Podcast Episode 4: The One Where Seth Goes to Disney World

Hello friends! Episode 4 of the Ancillary Characters Podcast is live, and here's an embedded version. Don't forget to comment after listening in! IMPORTANT: if you're a subscriber on iTunes, our feed just changed so you may need to go in and resubscribe... And if you haven't subscribed yet, now's the perfect time! Go!

Paul's Picks! - Feb. 22, 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.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #7 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz and Dan Duncan


Wait, no Aquaman? No Flash #6? I've been waiting on those two issues all month, looking forward to some really cool stuff that the Manupal/Buccellato duo have promised us from the Fastest Man Alive! Not to mention the really cool new arc that Johns set us up for last month with Arthur being stuck out in the desert. Yes, I know, very true, but the facts are the facts people, and out of a pretty tall stack of issues this week, IDW won it by a landslide. Those of you that have been with us over the last few months are surely aware of my adoration for the Heroes in a Half Shell, but please don't think for a second that I'm handing out this week's pick based solely on some pizza loving banter from my favorite turtle in orange. The truth is, there are so many things to love about issue #7 that there was really no other option than to give praise where praise is due.

Buy This! - Feb 8th 2012 (and a quick rant about DC collected edition hardcovers)

Every Monday Seth picks out three items that are due to ship on Wednesday and directs you toward your best bets for a quality purchase. Some times it's a single issue of a comic, other times a massive omnibus edition of a beloved series, and occasionally a figure or shiny bauble that caught his eye. Read on to find the three items you shouldn't leave your comic shop without this week.
Sorry for the lateness of this week's column. My only excuse is that I've been stricken with a virus seeking my destruction since Sunday and other than a few hours at my place of employment today, I haven't done much other than sit on my couch watching Community and old episodes of the Office on Hulu. I also managed to read a Fables trade and work my way through one the Wolverine VS the X-Men story arc from Jason Aaron's Wolverine run.

Anyway, I wasn't sure if I'd work up the energy to plop this column down or not but I finally managed to psyche myself up on enough tea to get me going so here I am. Bed worn and slightly unaware of what I'm typing exactly. Due to the fact that I can, at a later date, claim I didn't realize I was ranting I'd just like to take a moment yet again to proclaim that DC really is taking things in the right direction with their collected editions while simultaneously continuing to frustrate me every time I crack a cover.

¡Paul's Picks!

I'm sure many of you faithful readers have recently been asking yourselves, "I wonder what books have been Paul's favorite this month?" Well, for all of you curious readers, I'm finally coming around with my weekly picks for this month! Okay, so maybe I'm a little behind on the "weekly" part, but going forward I will be faithfully posting my weekly favs and reviews for you all, starting now!

(Wednesday the 26th). When I grabbed my pulls for the day, I knew it was going to be a tough choice, with 7 great titles to read. With a lot of DC #2's like Flash and Superman, I was more than excited to get my stack home and power through them.

However, while Flash and Aquaman were both fantastic, I must admit they were beaten out by a very narrow margin by the one comic I'm pulling outside of the Big Two (*that's DC and Marvel, for those rare non-comic readers that happen to be reading this): Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #3 from IDW.

For those of you that may be skeptical, let me just say that this decision was not made on a whim. Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm typically a DC fanboy, but even with the incredible art by Ivan Reis and the really fresh look into Barry Allen's mind by Manupal and Buccellato, I had to give it up for the "Heroes in a Half Shell." (Alert: Some mild SPOILERS ahead!!)

I have loved the Turtles since my preschool days, and I am so thankful for what Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman have given us here. This is a teenage-mutant-ninja-origin-story for the ages! Many of us might ask, why do these guys need an origin? We've all seen the movies, we get it. Turtles go in the ooze, get big, and have a natural affinity for pizza and butt-kicking. But what Waltz and Eastman have created is much more than that. There is the skeleton of the original story, with all new twists, and a great look into what made them who they are today.

Throughout the first three issues, W & E have been weaving the story back and forth between present day and flashbacks to the when the Turtles and Splinter were mutated. They manage to work between three different points of view seamlessly, masterfully employing the "show-don't-tell" that others often fail to accomplish. A couple of reviews online stated that they found this issue confusing, and that they had trouble figuring out where the authors were going with this. Personally, I found this issue to be the best out of the first three easily. Where there was some uncertainty before about Raphael and why he is separated from the other three with no knowledge of who he is or where he came from, we finally get a good view of the story from this one.

The dialogue flows great, with some funny moments between Raph and Casey

Jones, off on their own vigilante spree. On the other side, we see some great characterization between Donnie, Leo, and Mikey. If there was a fault in the first two issues, it was the shortage of characterization for the turtles (apart from Raph, who doesn't even know who he is). W & E hit their stride in issue three, giving us some very sincere dialogue between the brothers, slowly revealing to the readers (both old and new) what makes them who they are.

Of course, any comic reader knows that a book can't stand on words alone: the art needs to ROCK. And Dan Duncan draws the TMNT like no one else! His art is gritty but beautiful, creating a world that is absolutely perfect for these characters. This is my first run around with the guy, but his art is reminiscent of some of the pencillers with a more distinct art, like Francis Manupal and Scott Kollins. As a matter of fact, I'd say he's kind of a blend between the two, but still making his own distinct print.

Even in a week with heavy hitters like Flash and Aquaman, TMNT #3 stands out as an issue that heralds an amazing story ahead of us. For the old fans, we have a rare opportunity to see this world reborn in a way that I've personally been wanting for years! Right now we're seeing their beginning, but what next? An origin for Rocksteady and Bebop? Baxter Stockman? Crang? And if you don't know any of these characters, now is the perfect time for a new reader to order a pizza, grab this fantastic book, and watch as these guys raise some shell.