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22 Panels Episode #216 - Best of 2025 pt. i · 22 Panels - A Comic Book Podcast

0:00
Tad Eggleston: We are.
0:02
Tyler Johnson: Hey everyone, welcome back to 22 Panels. This is the podcast that aims to examine, explore, and elevate the medium of comics. I am Tyler, and across the interwebs.
0:16
Tyler Johnson: from me are Tad and Phil. Hey guys, I'm here!
0:20
Phil: Woohoo!
0:21
Tad Eggleston: I know! It's, like, crazy.
0:22
Phil: Merry Christmas!
0:24
Tyler Johnson: Merry Christmas!
0:27
Tad Eggleston: We only had to record late and stay up late.
0:30
Tyler Johnson: That was…
0:31
Tad Eggleston: Busy all the time.
0:32
Tyler Johnson: Was that…
0:33
Tad Eggleston: But I was blaming you.
0:34
Phil: this time.
0:36
Tyler Johnson: Okay, cause, like, I can do… It's fun to blame.
0:39
Tad Eggleston: It's totally morphed.
0:40
Tyler Johnson: This time on a Sunday night works.
0:43
Tad Eggleston: See? This is what I'm saying.
0:46
Tad Eggleston: So, Phil, you didn't have to cop anything.
0:49
Phil: Oh, I can, I can bend the knee to, to accommodate Tyler anytime.
0:53
Tad Eggleston: So, so,
0:57
Tad Eggleston: It's been a slow news week, so I'm gonna say the big news item is Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Festivus Day, Wookiee Life Day.
1:11
Phil: Merry winter solstice.
1:12
Tad Eggleston: We asked for that.
1:13
Tyler Johnson: the rest of us.
1:14
Tad Eggleston: I don't understand how any of them have been canceled just because other ones are acknowledged.
1:22
Tad Eggleston: That's my political statement of the day, before we get to what kind of week has it been.
1:30
Tad Eggleston: So…
1:30
Tyler Johnson: Yup, I ain't.
1:31
Tad Eggleston: I feel like I can't lead the next one.
1:34
Phil: You can't leave the next one? Well, I'll say that it's about damn time that, someone around here is recognized for their hard work by, those folks running a convention, C2E2, TAD, in… as… as…
1:48
Phil: An overeager beaver has submitted multiple panels to be considered for C2E2, and several have been accepted, so…
1:55
Tad Eggleston: Three have received early acceptance, so I know that we will have an indie comics panel, including Terry Moore, Greg Petrie from Santos Sisters, C. Spike Trotman from Iron Circus.
2:16
Tad Eggleston: Larry Stahl from, God.
2:20
Tyler Johnson: Luner.
2:20
Tad Eggleston: We're in the…
2:21
Tyler Johnson: He's from.
2:21
Tad Eggleston: Well, he works at Lunar, but I forget the name of his comic.
2:24
Tyler Johnson: Did he tell you that he and I are friends now? Yes, he did. It's so funny, what a small world.
2:30
Tad Eggleston: Yes, yes.
2:31
Tad Eggleston: And, Daria Faruhar, who did, Somebody Kill My…
2:39
Tad Eggleston: boyfriend's college roommate. So, we've got the whole gamut of indie comics on that.
2:44
Tad Eggleston: We also have a… a… from…
2:49
Tad Eggleston: creation to your hands. So, for certain, we have, Spike Trotman again as a publisher, we have
2:57
Tad Eggleston: the operations manager from Lunar, and
3:03
Tad Eggleston: Probably Patrick Brower and Tyler as store owners, possibly Tyler and Edgar as store owners? Lots of different options for store owners.
3:12
Tyler Johnson: So, I didn't… I was a little unclear before we started recording, like, am I, yes?
3:18
Tad Eggleston: No, you were, yes.
3:20
Tyler Johnson: you have.
3:20
Tad Eggleston: Yeah, you are, yes, dude.
3:22
Tyler Johnson: Okay, I wasn't sure what we…
3:24
Tad Eggleston: I just didn't know if you were gonna be able to get there.
3:27
Tyler Johnson: Yeah.
3:27
Phil: I don't know, you're gonna have to make our episode quota, Tyler.
3:30
Tad Eggleston: I mean, I will add cheese, period.
3:32
Phil: Wireless.
3:32
Tad Eggleston: Because again, like, same as I liked having the, the wide array of indie comics creators, I think it would be great to have a new shop owner and an established shop owner. So, like, that's kinda… kinda my goal.
3:50
Tad Eggleston: On the shop side, and then on the publisher side, I don't know if it'll be…
3:57
Phil: Tell me, you haven't called up Jim Lee to get him down there personally?
4:00
Tad Eggleston: I haven't.
4:02
Tad Eggleston: I don't have Jim's… I don't have Jim's number.
4:05
Tad Eggleston: I'm probably two steps from Jim.
4:10
Phil: No, I'm very excited. Keep them safely guarded.
4:13
Tad Eggleston: But then…
4:14
Tyler Johnson: Very excited and very happy to do it.
4:15
Tad Eggleston: No, the one that I am ridiculously excited for, and I thought there was a snowball's chance in hell that it was gonna get picked up. Remember our first book club?
4:27
Phil: That…
4:28
Tyler Johnson: Was… No.
4:29
Phil: 11 Rockets Book Club?
4:31
Tad Eggleston: Cool people talking about comics and stuff.
4:34
Tyler Johnson: Oh, yeah, I do remember that.
4:36
Tad Eggleston: There will be a Cool People Talking About Comics panel at C2E2 this year.
4:42
Tyler Johnson: No, really? Yeah.
4:45
Tyler Johnson: So cool!
4:46
Tad Eggleston: Yes! That is so cool. So, like, I've got a handful of people who are already in, and otherwise, I literally will be as any friend of… like, once I have the date and time, as any friend of mine pops up on the list of C2E2, it'll be, hey, can you drop in on this panel?
5:07
Tyler Johnson: Okay.
5:07
Tad Eggleston: I've got some ideas on how to do it, I haven't decided exactly how I'm gonna do it yet, so I'm not gonna give anything away yet, but, like.
5:13
Phil: Wow.
5:14
Tad Eggleston: This is the one that I'm psyched for.
5:16
Phil: watch this snowball as it fights its way through hell. Hell yeah, I'm all for it. I'm ready to be surprised.
5:23
Tad Eggleston: You know… I…
5:26
Tad Eggleston: There needs to be things that are just about the awesomeness of comics. Cons are so much about the awesomeness of so many things, but so little lately about just the awesomeness of comics.
5:36
Phil: Yeah.
5:37
Tad Eggleston: Even the comics panels tend to be more pointed than that.
5:42
Phil: synced up with, the Hollywood release schedule.
5:45
Tad Eggleston: Yeah, but even if they're not synced up with the Hollywood release schedule, they get into, like…
5:51
Tad Eggleston: process… and don't get me wrong, all stuff that I love.
5:54
Phil: Yeah.
5:55
Tad Eggleston: You know, they get into process, they get into what's hard, they get into, you know.
6:00
Tad Eggleston: I just want people who love comics to come together and share what they love.
6:05
Phil: about comics. That sounds like the most 22 panels panel possible.
6:10
Tad Eggleston: Exactly. And it has been approved.
6:13
Phil: amazing.
6:14
Tad Eggleston: That's awesome. Just watch. It'll be at 9am on Thursday morning. Wow, nice.
6:21
Phil: You're gonna…
6:22
Tad Eggleston: I just can't blame.
6:23
Phil: This one, kids.
6:24
Tyler Johnson: Nobody'll be there yet, buddy.
6:27
Tyler Johnson: So…
6:28
Tad Eggleston: Me and a projector!
6:32
Tyler Johnson: But yeah, do you know the deets for the, other panels?
6:35
Tad Eggleston: I know, no, I've been told that I've been given,
6:40
Tad Eggleston: early approval, and then I'll get more information in the new year. I know the next date… the next round of approvals, they've said, is January 16th, so I don't know if I should expect anything on…
6:53
Tad Eggleston: the panels that I have already before then, or not?
6:57
Tyler Johnson: Okay.
6:58
Tyler Johnson: Do you already have house guests at your place?
7:02
Tad Eggleston: I don't know yet, and, and that's an off-air conversation.
7:10
Tyler Johnson: Well, that's totally fine, I just needed.
7:11
Tad Eggleston: Yeah.
7:12
Tyler Johnson: if I should book a place.
7:13
Tad Eggleston: I mean, particularly if you guys are coming together, it's probably a better idea to look at booking a place. Yeah.
7:21
Tyler Johnson: Exactly, but probably it… I don't know, it's up in the air whether it'll be myself and Chris, or… Right.
7:26
Tad Eggleston: I mean, I might be looking at booking a place, just because last year I got to be down there, and it made it so much easier.
7:35
Tyler Johnson: That's a good night.
7:36
Tad Eggleston: I might also be running through all of my comics friends and going, so, did you get an extra bed in your bedroom?
7:42
Tyler Johnson: That's not a bad idea.
7:46
Tad Eggleston: Great, ride from the airport?
7:48
Phil: Bring, like, a blow-up mattress.
7:51
Tyler Johnson: In a backpack?
7:55
Tad Eggleston: But.
7:57
Phil: I say that having done so myself.
7:59
Tad Eggleston: No, no, I just, I mean, really, for me, it was just, like… Ha-having…
8:06
Tad Eggleston: having a place where I could go on-site when I hit sensory overload was nice.
8:11
Phil: Absolutely.
8:12
Tyler Johnson: You…
8:12
Phil: Absolutely. You and I, maybe, and a couple people should get, like, a suite.
8:16
Tad Eggleston: Yeah.
8:18
Tad Eggleston: Are you doing business that well that you can afford to buy us a suite?
8:22
Tyler Johnson: Oh, God.
8:24
Tad Eggleston: Bond weekend. I mean, if you are…
8:27
Phil: What do you have in that Nexus Vault, sir?
8:29
Phil: Gold, oil, more?
8:31
Tyler Johnson: No, okay, no, bring it down from a suite. Tad, would you be interested in us getting a room?
8:38
Tad Eggleston: We will definitely figure it out. This is, this is, again, better off-air questions.
8:43
Tyler Johnson: I, you know, I like to just put it all out there for people.
8:46
Tad Eggleston: You just like to put it all out there. Well, this is where I will remind people that, 22 Panels… Patreon? Patreon.com?
8:54
Tad Eggleston: slash 22 panels is a great place to pay for my hotel suites, or my PS5, or…
9:02
Tad Eggleston: Or any number of other things that go into making…
9:07
Tad Eggleston: Tad, a healthier, happier person, and giving you great comics content.
9:14
Tad Eggleston: So, anyway, what kind of week has it been?
9:18
Tad Eggleston: You know what I heard is the new Christmas tradition?
9:22
Phil: What is that?
9:23
Tyler Johnson: Crazy tweets, or, or, crazy.
9:25
Tad Eggleston: Truths. Truth.
9:27
Tyler Johnson: Truth, yep, yeah.
9:29
Tyler Johnson: Bruce.
9:29
Tad Eggleston: Yes.
9:30
Tyler Johnson: How many… how many truths.
9:32
Tad Eggleston: One?
9:32
Tyler Johnson: drop.
9:33
Tad Eggleston: 120 on New Year's, or on Christmas Eve. Wow.
9:39
Tad Eggleston: It just strikes me as somebody who's spending lots of time with family.
9:44
Tyler Johnson: My favorite part is when he was taking the calls from children, where he… he was, saying, Santa Claus better be nice to the United States, or something like that.
9:55
Phil: Wow. Alright.
9:58
Tad Eggleston: The way I put it in our notes, and it's only a little bit of a stretch, is, you know, deranged old man warning of bad immigrant Santas. Yes.
10:10
Tad Eggleston: Oh, and ordering drone stripes on Nigeria. Because in the spirit of Christianity, we need to bomb terrorists that hurt Nigerian Christians. We don't care about Ukrainian Christians.
10:29
Phil: I think it has something to do with the, probably the minerals in Nigeria, the… used for, you know.
10:36
Tad Eggleston: Well, I mean, it won' I think he actually said that he was going into Venezuela alone.
10:42
Tad Eggleston: And I think… I think he meant the United States with.
10:45
Phil: God.
10:46
Tad Eggleston: out the rest of the world, but it came out as, I am going to.
10:50
Tyler Johnson: He was gonna march in there. He was gonna march in there.
10:54
Phil: Very sad, specific.
10:56
Tad Eggleston: But, like, Joe Biden had cognitive issues, and sleepy Joe.
11:04
Phil: Man, Joe Biden also had cancer, like, I mean, holy shit, he was going through a lot, you know?
11:09
Tyler Johnson: Yeah, he's a poor dude.
11:10
Phil: Yeah.
11:13
Tad Eggleston: Well, I was mostly saying that, like.
11:16
Tad Eggleston: as much as any of that was actually true, it was also a confession. Yes. Yes.
11:23
Phil: And…
11:24
Tad Eggleston: Oh, and by the way, did you read the perfectly redacted Epstein files? The ones that, like, if you read it…
11:30
Tyler Johnson: hurt.
11:30
Tad Eggleston: It says, Trump?
11:32
Phil: Yep.
11:32
Tad Eggleston: is good guy.
11:34
Phil: Oh, no, I didn't see that part. Really, it's Trump?
11:36
Tad Eggleston: I mean, this was just a meme. But it's Trump, blank, blank, black, black, black, black, is black, black, black, black, good, black, black, black.
11:44
Phil: Hi, Scott.
11:45
Tad Eggleston: Why? I see.
11:46
Phil: I did hear that it's entirely.
11:48
Tad Eggleston: Exonerated!
11:49
Phil: It's entirely possible that the redaction of the Epstein files was botched because, Doge canceled the Adobe Unlimited subscription.
11:58
Tad Eggleston: Yes.
11:59
Phil: So, yes, they were…
12:00
Tad Eggleston: real possibility.
12:01
Phil: Yeah.
12:02
Tad Eggleston: that the reason that the names of victims are out there?
12:07
Phil: That's because…
12:07
Tad Eggleston: As they, canceled their…
12:10
Phil: Oh, it's… Adobe Premium.
12:14
Tad Eggleston: Because we haven't made laws about, like, not having rental software.
12:19
Phil: Yikes. I mean…
12:22
Tad Eggleston: I mean, what the fuck is with rental software?
12:25
Phil: Oof, that's… that's, that's, it's a hot new thing.
12:29
Tad Eggleston: Session for another time.
12:30
Phil: It really is.
12:30
Tad Eggleston: Let's.
12:31
Phil: We're a non-comics podcast.
12:33
Tad Eggleston: let's… well, I mean, it has comics…
12:36
Tad Eggleston: comics crossover, because, like, all of our creators use this software to make our favorite things.
12:42
Phil: That's fair.
12:44
Tad Eggleston: But it's still a discussion for a different time, because we have a brand new catalog out, which means we got new shit to talk about, starting with…
12:52
Tad Eggleston: From…
12:54
Phil: What's that?
12:54
Tad Eggleston: Mad Cave Studios. 51, number 1, from Kurt Byers and Joke.
13:02
Tad Eggleston: What if all the secrets housed in Area 51 leaked out into the world? Who would be responsible for that mess? What… who would be responsible for cleaning it up?
13:12
Tad Eggleston: After the president's scrub son, Harvey, gets in trouble with the law, his dad calls in a favor and gets him assigned to THE real-life Area 51, aka Hangar 51.
13:25
Tad Eggleston: But it's not the thrill ride the conspiracy theorists would have you believe. Harvey spends most of his days cataloging items he's forbidden from even looking at.
13:34
Tad Eggleston: That all changes when Harvey and his coworkers decide to throw a rager and wake from their bender to find that every single item from Hangar 51 has been stolen.
13:46
Tad Eggleston: Now in the deepest trouble of his life, Harvey and his ragtag crew will have to go out into the world and put the genie back in the bottle, capturing rogue aliens, stolen formula for superpowers, experimental energy weapons, and conspiracy.
14:02
Tad Eggleston: Oh, and all manner of insane objects. All this while unraveling the simmering conspiracy behind who actually broke into Hangar 51, and the nefarious plans they have for using the objects they stole.
14:17
Tad Eggleston: Hires and Jock take you on the trip like you've never been to explore a conspiracy theory you won't believe.
14:24
Tad Eggleston: Final order cutoff is February 16th, in stores on March 11th, as I said, from Mad Cave Studios.
14:35
Phil: Alright, next up is the long-awaited return of Batwoman and her own new number one from Greg Rucka and Danny. They are bringing the next level for Batwoman, daughter, sister, soldier, hero, but since she was 10 years old, Kate Kane has lived in the shadow of a prophecy and the machinations of a religion devoted to the end of all things.
14:59
Phil: How do you fight the devil when the devil is real? And how do you win?
15:03
Phil: acclaimed writer and co-creator of the modern Batwoman, Greg Rucka, returns to the story of Kate Kane alongside visionary artist Danny for a DC next-level series that will redefine Batwoman and her mission for a new generation. Final order cut off.
15:18
Phil: February 16th, in stores, March 11th.
15:24
Tyler Johnson: Alright, Disney Villains, Gaston,
15:30
Tyler Johnson: At last, a series worth… worthy of the name Gaston. The unfortunate… unfairly, excuse me, malign antagonist of Beauty and the Beast will be the first to tell you that he's the greatest tracker in the land.
15:45
Tyler Johnson: A fact that has been confirmed by his totally unbiased sidekick, LeFoux. And who would know better than those two fine, upstanding citizens? So when a nobleman offers a sizable reward for the return of his runaway horse.
16:01
Tyler Johnson: Gaston pursues the escaping steed with a single-minded focus, directly into the king's private hunting grounds.
16:11
Tyler Johnson: Arrested for trespassing. Gaston faces a long stay in the royal lockup. Guys, this has got a huge description, but it's gonna be awesome.
16:22
Tyler Johnson: From Greg Pock, Fred Van Lenti, let's see, who else are they with? Milena, Ciccarello, and… that might be it. That's it. On that one. Yeah. Final order cutoff is February 2nd. I'll be in shops March 18th.
16:45
Tad Eggleston: Ayy.
16:49
Tad Eggleston: Was this one me?
16:50
Tyler Johnson: Yeah.
16:50
Phil: Oh, God.
16:52
Tad Eggleston: Zilla vs. America, Portland.
16:56
Tad Eggleston: Colleen Coover, Mark Russell.
16:58
Phil: your skin.
16:59
Tad Eggleston: and… Possibly more?
17:03
Tad Eggleston: Many more, it says. Godzilla continues its USA sight-smashing tour. Next stop, Portland. Specifically, Portland, Oregon. You're safe, Maine, for now. Rising out of the fog of the Pacific Northwest, Godzilla is about to turn Stomptown into Stomptown.
17:20
Tad Eggleston: Oregon? More like Oregon. Rip City? More like… Actually, that one already works.
17:27
Tad Eggleston: I'm going to be less concerned with keeping Portland weird and more worried about keeping Portland standing when Godzilla comes to visit.
17:35
Tad Eggleston: This is final order cut off of February 22nd in stores on March 11th.
17:41
Tad Eggleston: From IDW, and this has just been a fantastic series.
17:46
Tad Eggleston: And Colleen Coover, Mark Russell, Caitlin Yarsky. Do I have to say more than that? Those are 3 of my favorite people.
17:52
Phil: Honestly, that solicit text is probably the most fun I've seen in a while.
17:56
Tad Eggleston: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:58
Tyler Johnson: Hellboy in Love, Black Guys, one shot from, Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden and Alex Niedo.
18:06
Tyler Johnson: From Dark Horse, a cozy visit with retired BPRD agents Archie and Margaret takes a chilly turn when Hellboy and Anastasia investigate the local ghost whose once-only legendary whales have been disturbing their quaint village
18:24
Tyler Johnson: With more and more urgency.
18:26
Tyler Johnson: This is going to have a final order cut off of March 23rd, and will be in shops on
18:36
Tyler Johnson: April 29th, excuse me.
18:40
Phil: Alright, then there's Super Creepshow from Kieran Gillen, Ryan North, Rosie Gifford, and Derek Charm. A miniseries premiere Earth's Mightiest Superhero Horror Series assembles. The most star-studded superhero epic of the year begins with a pair of skin-crawling stories. First up, superhero comic icon Kieran Gillen and Rossi Gifford deliver a terrifying story that will have your spider sense tingling
19:06
Phil: Then, Eisner award-winning creators Ryan North and Derek Charm make the case that super speed is the most horrific power of all. Final order cut off February 23rd in stores March 18th for Uncle Witch Comics.
19:20
Tad Eggleston: Alright, some new-to-order graphic novels, starting with bitchy.
19:26
Tad Eggleston: The exasperating existence of Midge McCracken, from Roberta Gregory. Midge McCracken is an abrasive, self-destructive pessimist every office has. Not to mince words, she's a bitch. Bitter, mistrustful, racist, and completely unfiltered in her words and thoughts. But…
19:44
Tad Eggleston: She comes by it honestly. Growing up with a hateful, racist parent, suffering sexual abuse as an adolescent, experiencing an unwanted pregnancy, etc. Did we mention that this is a comedy?
19:55
Tad Eggleston: Roberta Gregory's unflinching sense of humor is the engine driving bitchy. This mammoth collection includes Gregory's bitchy Bitch stories, presented
20:04
Tad Eggleston: Presenting a life from childhood into middle age, following the character through multiple decades. Final order cutoff on this is…
20:15
Tad Eggleston: February 2nd, and in stores on March 4th from Fanta Graphics.
20:22
Phil: Next up is a series that I am very excited for, or I guess a graphic novel I'm very excited for, The Council of Frogs, written and art by Matt Emmons. A frog ventures out on a quest to find a warlock and save his family in this dark fantasy graphic novel. Set out by his father, kindly old Swamplich, one tiny frog must leave the safety of his home in order to deliver a message of
20:47
Phil: grave importance to a warlock in order to save the entire Council of Frogs. Aided by many unconventional friends along the way, this little frog discovers the dangers of the world beyond his beloved swamp grove. But the world is a big, harsh place, and he may need more than his dandelion hat and his tiny sword to make it back home before it's too late. Final order cut off of February 16th in stores.
21:11
Phil: March 25th.
21:14
Phil: And then…
21:15
Tad Eggleston: However, this is fungi.
21:16
Phil: Yes, we have Fungi by WatchTech, Wiskey?
21:23
Tad Eggleston: Probably.
21:23
Phil: Wojtek, thank you. Wojtek Waziski? Woztec. Woztec, sorry. And Tomas Lou Lesniak at Phantographics Underground. A family pushes through nearly impenetrable physical and psychic terrain in a metaphorical parable of life in the 21st century.
21:43
Phil: Family treks with purpose and tenacity through a dense, primeval jungle, searching for… a respite, a goal, a home? They have been trekking for a long, long time. The jungle is a wasteland of viscera, grime, and rot. Within every darkened crevice is something wanting to kill, unless they kill first. Fungay is a story of struggle, of violence, of cruelty. But it is foremost a story of family, of fathers wanting their
22:08
Phil: Sons to be strong, of mothers wanting me.
22:11
Phil: Wanting to nurture them in a hostile world. That is going to be a final order cutoff of February 9th, in stores, March 25th.
22:23
Tyler Johnson: Alright, I witnessed, from Andrea Debink and, Crystal Jamie?
22:30
Tyler Johnson: Aspiring investigative reporter Marilyn is in for an unforgettable trip when she sneaks aboard a Royal Mail train from Glasgow to London on the night of August 7th, 1963.
22:44
Tyler Johnson: While Marilyn's focused on her writing portfolio and convincing Dad not to ship her to boarding school, the night takes a turn when she witnesses more than a dozen masked men board the train.
22:56
Tyler Johnson: What Marilyn didn't know when she snuck aboard was that this mail train was transporting over 2 million euros.
23:05
Tyler Johnson: In cash, the robbers detain the crewmen, seize control of the train, and then have sconed into the night with their bounty. But thanks to Marilyn, they won't make it out scot-free.
23:17
Tyler Johnson: This is going to be, in final order, coming off February 16th, in shops March 18th.
23:26
Phil: And I just need to…
23:27
Phil: List a correction, that's gonna be 2 million pounds, because euros did not exist in 1963.
23:33
Tad Eggleston: That's true.
23:34
Tyler Johnson: That's awesome.
23:35
Tad Eggleston: I witnessed the Great Train Robbery of 1963, because Eyewitnessed is the series, I think.
23:42
Phil: But I could be wrong.
23:44
Tyler Johnson: Got it.
23:48
Tad Eggleston: The Rabagoo Race.
23:51
Tad Eggleston: The Rabagu Race, the most famous boat race in the world, sees contestants face certain death throughout its frantic stages, all in the impossible hopes of reaching that mythical finish line and winning everything their hearts desire. Only 3 ships have survived the 100 brutal stages of boat racing.
24:08
Tad Eggleston: Having fought mega-sea monsters, riptide hellstorms, and whip-smart competitors, they must now face each other in the final sprint to the finish line. Does the humble sailboat, the Booley Bear, have what it takes to beat out the slick van Vex and the indestructible solid slope?
24:25
Tad Eggleston: The Rabagu Race is the first graphic novel by the mononymous Garesh, a young Scottish artist.
24:32
Tad Eggleston: Who leverages complex gallery-worthing extraction and impeccable color and figurative work into comic pages of unsettling power.
24:42
Tad Eggleston: This is a final order cutoff of February 23rd, in stores March 25th.
24:49
Tad Eggleston: from uncivilized.
24:55
Tyler Johnson: Hey, Spider-Man Cosmic Chaos from… Mike Mayhawk?
25:01
Tyler Johnson: A third action-packed original story in the mighty Marvel team-up graphic novel series by celebrated cartoonist Mike Mayhack, featuring Spider-Man in the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man has ventured into space to return Silver Surfer's
25:18
Tyler Johnson: surfboard to the space-faring hero. But what starts as a simple mission quickly evolves into a new mystery involving a collection of rare talismans that can give their owner great and potentially dangerous cosmic power.
25:33
Tyler Johnson: This is gonna be, final order cutoff of January 26th, and in shops March 11th.
25:42
Tad Eggleston: Alright, some collections, I can't believe.
25:46
Tad Eggleston: That this one became one that I'm… I'm… I'm…
25:50
Tad Eggleston: I'm recommending, but this is what Jimmy Palmiati can do when he sells you.
25:56
Tad Eggleston: Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger Spawn. Gunslinger Spawn stands as one of the most mysterious figures in the Spawn universe, and Deadly Tales finally cracks open his legend.
26:07
Tad Eggleston: Created by Jimmy Palmiati and brought to brutal cinematic life by Patrick Reynolds, this series digs deep.
26:14
Tad Eggleston: into the origins of the deadliest of spawns. From his first appearance at Spawn 174 to his hell-bent journey across time, readers will ride through his blood-soaked past in the Old West and follow the twists
26:26
Tad Eggleston: twist that hurls him into the future. Raw, relentless, and viciously atmospheric, this is a frontier saga forged by two of the comic's finest. I will also toss out that anybody who liked Jimmy Hex's… er, Jimmy Palmiati's Jonah Hex run will be a fan of this.
26:46
Tad Eggleston: Lots of similarities, though also very, very squarely in the Spawn universe. Yeah, I,
26:58
Tad Eggleston: You know, I mean, Tyler, how many times have, like.
27:02
Tad Eggleston: those properties that I never had interest in, and never wanted to have interest in, and then somebody does something cool, it's like, god damn it, I like Spawn now.
27:11
Tyler Johnson: Yup, yup, now I'm gonna have to.
27:14
Phil: It's the Respondisance.
27:16
Tyler Johnson: Yup, we should think… think back to.
27:18
Tad Eggleston: I mean, most of the time, it's Kelly Thompson doing it to me.
27:21
Tyler Johnson: Yeah, that's true, that's true.
27:23
Tad Eggleston: G.I. Joe, Powerpuff Girls.
27:27
Tad Eggleston: Oh my gosh, girl.
27:28
Tyler Johnson: That's true, right?
27:29
Phil: I mean, if you had… if you had no interest in Powerpuff Girls, that was just, like, a gap in… well, you were probably too late for your childhood.
27:34
Tad Eggleston: I did actually have interest in power.
27:36
Tyler Johnson: Who's allowed.
27:37
Phil: Yeah, I was gonna say. I was gonna say.
27:42
Tad Eggleston: Anyway, final order cutoff is February 9th, and in stores on March 18th.
27:48
Tyler Johnson: Alright, this book, I've enjoyed the first issue so far, so this is gonna be great. Devil on My Shoulder, from Kyle Starks and illustrated by Peter Kolalsky.
28:00
Tyler Johnson: Alright. Something terrible has happened. For 40 days, she was tortured by 5 men and left for dead. That was just really graphic. But she will get her revenge on each and every one of them, and it will be bloody.
28:16
Tyler Johnson: An event that takes her on a strange and violent supernatural path of payback.
28:21
Tyler Johnson: Through bizarre encounters with ex-hitmen, sadistic art enthusiasts, and literal devils.
28:30
Tyler Johnson: This has a final order cutoff of February 2nd, and will be in shock.
28:35
Tad Eggleston: 23rd.
28:37
Tyler Johnson: Oh, I'm…
28:38
Tad Eggleston: Already.
28:38
Tyler Johnson: I read the wrong line. February 23rd and in shops, July 14th, so it's got a while.
28:45
Tad Eggleston: Yeah, I think it might have already changed from when I typed it in.
28:49
Phil: Oh, wow.
28:51
Tad Eggleston: No, no. Oh, okay.
28:52
Tyler Johnson: I read the… no, I read the wrong line.
28:55
Tad Eggleston: I was trying to cover for you, man!
28:58
Tyler Johnson: No, I'm not doing well tonight.
29:00
Phil: Oh, no.
29:02
Tyler Johnson: My eyes are…
29:03
Phil: Your eyes? Oh, just killing them.
29:05
Tyler Johnson: tired.
29:05
Phil: Oh, no.
29:07
Phil: Oh, no. Tad, do you want to click on to the next tab?
29:10
Tad Eggleston: No.
29:13
Tad Eggleston: her memory.
29:13
Phil: We're vampin'. I mean, it is escape from real.
29:16
Tyler Johnson: That was a good one, too.
29:17
Phil: Daniel Acuna, oh yeah, this is, this is definitely gonna be a trade waiter pick when, when it comes out. Shot down, hunted, out of time, set in a brutal, fully painted world of anthropomorphic animals, equal parts inglorious bastards, and watership down, escape. It's a gritty, bullet-riddled journey through war's scorched aftermath. It's about the violence we inflict, the souls we try to save, and the courage it takes to crawl out of the fire.
29:42
Phil: Again, from Rick Remender and Daniel Acuna reteaming from their, stint on Uncanny Avengers. It's gonna be a final order cutoff of February 2nd in stores, March 11th for ImageCommerce.
29:56
Phil: Always love the good Anthropomorphic comic story.
30:00
Tad Eggleston: Quick rundown of final order cutoff for Monday, January 5th.
30:05
Tad Eggleston: Archie X, The Army of Darkness, from Eric Burnham and Bill Galvin at Dynamite, February… in stores February 4th, Astro Quantum No. 1 from Andrea Moody and Arturo Fabra at Mad Cave, in stores January 8th.
30:19
Tad Eggleston: 28th, rather. Butch No. 1 from Peter Bagg at Fanographics In Stores February 4th. Crazy for you, Paul Theroux, and Steve Lafler from Fanographics In Stores on March 18th.
30:31
Tad Eggleston: Five Gears in Reverse, a criminal book from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, in stores on May 20th. The Girl Who Raised the Dead.
30:42
Tad Eggleston: from Kawashima Norakazu on Uncivilized Books, in stores January 8th, Beloved No. 1 from Justin Jordan and John Bivens, Philly-based Sobrero at
30:53
Tad Eggleston: Image Comics in stores January 28th. The Punk Taco Adventures, new friends, from Adam McKenna and Keola Valenta at Papercuts on January 28th. Queen of the Cosmos Comics Trilogy, Barbara Willie Mendez at Thanographics on February 11th.
31:10
Tad Eggleston: And Wolfsbane from Ryan Cady, and Morgan Beam at Rebellion on February 4th.
31:19
Tad Eggleston: Crowdfunding right now, we still have Freak Squeal.
31:24
Tad Eggleston: The Complete Chaos Curriculum from Florid Madhu at label 619 Magnetic Press on Kickstarter through January 2nd. Slice of Life, an anime character brought to life by Kat Kalamia, Phil Faco, Valeria Perry at Lifeline Comics on Kickstarter through January 8th, and from Chile to…
31:43
Tad Eggleston: The Edge of Imagination, a Jodorowski and Rodriguez dual bundle from Humanoids until January 14th.
31:52
Tad Eggleston: that has the option of Cosmo Pirates from Alejandro Jodorowski and Pete Woods, or The Chasm of Resurrection from Gabriel Rodriguez and Hiroshi, or…
32:02
Tad Eggleston: You can get both, and if you get both for a mere 50 extra bucks, you can get the Kickstarter exclusive autobiographical story from Alejandro Jodorowski, and illustrated by Gabrielle Rodriguez. Still on Humble Bundle is the Adventure Time Hundle Bundle, 18…
32:20
Tad Eggleston: Dollars will get you 25 items, to…
32:26
Tad Eggleston: Support the HERO Initiative and the Book Industry Charitable Foundation through January 8th.
32:37
Tad Eggleston: So… Anyway… I think it's time for 3 amazing books.
32:44
Tad Eggleston: Tyler, do you have any amazing books?
32:47
Tyler Johnson: I haven't got to this week's books yet.
32:50
Tyler Johnson: It's your.
32:51
Phil: I'm busy selling to read.
32:52
Tyler Johnson: Yeah, yeah. My pile of…
32:54
Tad Eggleston: Why did you sell them on Wednesday without reading them ahead of time?
32:59
Tyler Johnson: I… I faked it. No, this week, I was not here for new, comics, because I was, my dad's, my partner was handling it at the store, so I… I am very behind.
33:11
Tad Eggleston: Alright, alright, I suppose we'll forgive you.
33:14
Tyler Johnson: I do have them, but…
33:15
Phil: It's like there's a big family holiday or something.
33:18
Tad Eggleston: My top pick didn't actually come at the store, but it did arrive at my house on…
33:25
Tad Eggleston: Either Wednesday or Thursday, I forget which one. And that's, I Doppelganger from Shelley Bond, Imogen Mangle, and Art by Lid, Off-Register Press. It's the third of Shelly's editing trilogy.
33:41
Tad Eggleston: Covering the… the… the late vertigo and Black Crown years,
33:48
Tad Eggleston: Should I get creative in how she handled the story?
33:51
Tad Eggleston: And involving a certain someone.
33:54
Tad Eggleston: That was cool to have in the book when the story was written and illustrated, and very uncool to have in the book long before it was put out. Didn't want the artist's art to go to waste, had to figure out how to work around that, and did so with aplomb.
34:11
Phil: Nice.
34:13
Tad Eggleston: So, that was cool. And then both Chris Condon and Montos, with Green Arrow number 31, and John Lees and Sally Candorino, with Orla number 5, brought their current series to very satisfactory ends.
34:28
Tad Eggleston: So, Phil, take a walk.
34:30
Phil: Yeah, it's, you know, for all the public shame I give to Tyler for having not read comics this week, I also did a whole lot of not reading this week, it's Christmas time, you know.
34:42
Tad Eggleston: I bet you I played more MLB The Show than you, AND read more comics.
34:46
Phil: Absolutely, absolutely.
34:48
Tad Eggleston: Way less time with family.
34:50
Phil: Yeah, it's impossible, but, I'll…
34:53
Tad Eggleston: I spent way more time sick.
34:55
Phil: Oh, you know, and that's.
34:56
Tad Eggleston: So, you know what? You might… you might actually have the better life than me this week. I'm gonna shut up now.
35:01
Phil: It's okay, it's okay. I mean, I've, you know, I was a little, little sick. I mean, it's, you know, my sinuses have been, have been working up a storm, and believe it or not, I actually, I only threw, like, I think I did…
35:13
Phil: one inning worth of pitching in MLB The Show, I was gassing up my little nephew, who I found out his favorite team went ahead and picked his favorite team, booting up the game.
35:22
Phil: is the LA Dodgers, so…
35:24
Tad Eggleston: Shohei!
35:25
Phil: Yep, he is also a Shohei fan, so…
35:29
Tad Eggleston: Shohei.
35:29
Phil: Yep, yep, it was one of those where I was like, hey, I know who that guy is, I know who that guy is!
35:34
Tad Eggleston: Shohei!
35:35
Phil: Yep, yep. And yeah, my big, comic this year for Christmas was Drone by Jesse Longergan, that I'm gonna be excited.
35:44
Tyler Johnson: Yikes.
35:45
Phil: You know, hopefully in time.
35:46
Tad Eggleston: to place for…
35:48
Phil: trade paperback of the year, you know? I flipped it open to a page…
35:52
Tad Eggleston: Oh, good.
35:53
Phil: a giant crab on it, so I'm so excited to read it. I'm digging in.
35:57
Tad Eggleston: I mean, like…
35:59
Tad Eggleston: I think I've already said this before, so it's not news, but it's the first time that a book has made my list in two separate years, because it made my list as an unpublished book when he finished it on.
36:10
Phil: His patrons.
36:11
Tad Eggleston: agree on.
36:12
Phil: Nice. Nice.
36:13
Tad Eggleston: And it's absolutely making it again this year. Hell yeah.
36:17
Phil: Yeah, it was one where, at first, I was like, I don't want to copy Tad, I know he's gonna have this as number one this year. And it's like, yeah, but it's kind of too good to skip, so…
36:27
Phil: time… time to dig in, and once I finish reading that, it's gonna be time to… to charge my way through from hell.
36:33
Tad Eggleston: I mean, honestly, for original graphic novel this year, it was.
36:39
Phil: Right.
36:40
Tad Eggleston: For number 3, because it was.
36:41
Phil: 1.
36:42
Tad Eggleston: 2, and then, like, 6 miles.
36:46
Phil: Wow.
36:47
Phil: Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's… it's tough. It's so tough, picking only 3.
36:52
Tad Eggleston: I just love so much.
36:54
Phil: Yeah.
36:57
Tad Eggleston: Yeah, but, like, most years, it's hard to even pick the one.
37:01
Phil: Okay, really?
37:02
Tad Eggleston: Like, this year, I felt like there were two books that, to me, just stood head and shoulders above everything else I read. I just loved them.
37:14
Tad Eggleston: And actually, the third stands pretty, pretty far ahead everything else, too, but enough below… the first two…
37:24
Tad Eggleston: that since I only had 3 spots, I did spend a little bit of time thinking about it.
37:30
Phil: And Tad's… Tad's, rankings will be revealed in two weeks' time. Yeah. When we get… when we get to that segment of our… of our great responsibility. In the meantime, how… how's One Piece? Did you read any, get any One Piece? I did! You did? Nice? Okay.
37:46
Tad Eggleston: I'm up to 626 chapters. There we go. I wrapped up Volume 64.
37:51
Phil: Wow, that's the.
37:52
Tyler Johnson: Nice.
37:52
Phil: Tyler, have you… is One Piece on your radar anymore?
37:56
Tyler Johnson: We know.
37:57
Phil: Are you flagging back at, like, chapters… 487 or something like that?
38:03
Tyler Johnson: I ha- I think I have to officially drop out.
38:06
Phil: No.
38:08
Tyler Johnson: It can't be…
38:11
Phil: Yo!
38:11
Tyler Johnson: You gotta be…
38:12
Phil: start over.
38:13
Tad Eggleston: If you ever read One Piece?
38:16
Phil: Oh.
38:17
Phil: It is coming, again, from a guy.
38:18
Tyler Johnson: who read a quarter…
38:20
Phil: chapter of Mob Psycho 100.
38:22
Tyler Johnson: Why don't.
38:23
Phil: Well, you guys… Recording your ad bit before this episode.
38:27
Tyler Johnson: Funny.
38:27
Tad Eggleston: Alright, the part that we actually came for, or at least Tyler actually came for.
38:32
Tad Eggleston: How do we want to do great responsibility this way? I think, I think, I think we should count down…
38:39
Phil: Huh.
38:39
Tad Eggleston: through the board. So, I know I put mine in 3-to-1 order. I don't know if that's the order that you guys put them, because I know that the…
38:47
Phil: I put them in 1-3 order. I mean, you know, order… order is largely arbitrary at this point for me.
38:52
Tad Eggleston: Okay.
38:53
Phil: I mean, yeah.
38:55
Tad Eggleston: But, but I want, I wanna go round robin, so, like, It…
39:00
Tad Eggleston: You should pick the one that's your 3-spot.
39:03
Phil: Okay.
39:04
Tad Eggleston: I knew I was doing this, so my… on the spreadsheet, my one spot is my three spot, because there's a.
39:12
Phil: Very good.
39:12
Tad Eggleston: way to tell it to…
39:14
Phil: I see, yeah, yeah.
39:14
Tad Eggleston: Reverse the order of the numbers.
39:16
Tyler Johnson: Hey.
39:17
Phil: That's a, that's a pretty deep.
39:18
Tyler Johnson: So we're doing our third… we're gonna do that one first.
39:22
Phil: Yes.
39:22
Tad Eggleston: Well, I'll be doing my first first, but you, you.
39:25
Phil: We'll know for next time to go.
39:26
Tyler Johnson: Yours, yep, yeah, ours…
39:28
Phil: sending order.
39:29
Tyler Johnson: Yep, yep.
39:31
Tad Eggleston: Yeah, and your wild cards, so, so, so, wow, Tyler, these three are wild cards, they didn't make it into your miniseries? I can't wait to see your miniseries list.
39:42
Tyler Johnson: Yeah.
39:43
Tad Eggleston: Alright, so…
39:44
Phil: intense.
39:44
Tad Eggleston: We're starting out with the wildcard category, the three things that we love, that just, for whatever reason, we didn't manage to fit in.
39:54
Tad Eggleston: other categories. I have a great place to start with that.
39:59
Phil: Which is, flesh work by Pupil Slicer. It was really hard to fit into any other kind of…
40:04
Tad Eggleston: I don't even know what that is.
40:05
Phil: It's… it's an album. It's an album that contains references to comic books. It's my favorite album of the year, so it was, you know, it's just a way to… to shout out… again, it's wild!
40:16
Tad Eggleston: No, that's a good one.
40:17
Phil: Complete outside comics. They're apparently references to Chainsaw Man and, a few other manga in there as well.
40:23
Tad Eggleston: Nice.
40:23
Phil: It's really good. It's really good if you like that sort of thing.
40:27
Tad Eggleston: Available on Bandcamp for $9.
40:29
Phil: Hell yeah. Bam!
40:32
Tad Eggleston: $27 for the final.
40:35
Phil: And my wife has a new record player, so, you know, if I want to, commit a crime with it, I would put that on.
40:42
Tad Eggleston: There you go. Just tossing it out there. My, my number 3,
40:52
Tad Eggleston: This wasn't quite…
40:53
Tad Eggleston: good enough to make my best ongoing series, because there have been some good ongoing series, but I love the concept so much that I couldn't not mention it, and that's The Future Is
41:06
Tad Eggleston: Written by Fred Van Lenti, with art from Ennio Buffy, Mario D'Alessandro, colors from Andrea Maloney, letters by Taylor Esposito, edited by Joe Keating,
41:18
Tad Eggleston: With, with,
41:21
Tad Eggleston: covers so far from Jay Lee, Michael… Mike Huddleston, Rob Guillory, Jim Food, Brandon Graham, Nick Patara, Mike Allred. This is all from Rekka.
41:32
Tad Eggleston: Press, which is hacker backwards, because… In the… In the words of, of… Adam Freeman, their PR guy.
41:42
Tad Eggleston: On one level, this is like that Superman comic that you got at the Chevy dealership, only good.
41:52
Tad Eggleston: And they're committing to 60 issues.
41:55
Phil: Interesting.
41:56
Tad Eggleston: So, so it's like…
41:59
Tad Eggleston: So it's, like, equal parts, we're teaching you about internet security, we're giving you opportunities to learn and practice hacking, and we're telling a good story with amazing art that's, like, good comics.
42:16
Tad Eggleston: And that just makes it, to me, a very special artifact. That said, if it wasn't also a really good book, it still wouldn't have made this… this list, but… but, like…
42:27
Tad Eggleston: This is how you take a book that's probably one of my top
42:31
Tad Eggleston: 20 books that I pick up in a given month?
42:36
Tad Eggleston: and make it one that I have to talk about, because of…
42:41
Tad Eggleston: how cool the peripheral stuff is. Added bonus, there was a panel in the most recent issue
42:53
Tad Eggleston: Where, and I'm just gonna pull it out.
42:56
Tad Eggleston: Cuz… cuz it, it made me, made me smile, cry, and email Fred.
43:05
Tad Eggleston: Because there was a panel.
43:12
Tad Eggleston: That… had… One of my favorite characters say.
43:19
Tad Eggleston: Your biz site all but says you're trying to cure autism. The neurodivergent aren't a disease. No cure required.
43:30
Phil: Nice. Just…
43:31
Tad Eggleston: Care and understanding like everybody else.
43:38
Phil: That is awesome.
43:40
Tad Eggleston: Yeah.
43:46
Tad Eggleston: Yeah.
43:49
Tad Eggleston: So, thank you, Fred, Recca, etc.
43:52
Tad Eggleston: Tyler.
43:53
Tyler Johnson: Yeah.
43:54
Tad Eggleston: What's your… what's your third wildcard?
43:56
Tyler Johnson: Sleep. Have you guys.
43:58
Tad Eggleston: Awesome.
43:59
Tyler Johnson: sleep? Yeah.
44:00
Phil: I… I haven't read… I… I feel the need to.
44:03
Tad Eggleston: It's so good. I have no idea how he's wrapping. He's, like, one issue away from wrap-up, and I don't.
44:08
Tyler Johnson: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
44:09
Tad Eggleston: I don't know where…
44:10
Tyler Johnson: Where's, 7, right here.
44:13
Phil: Wow.
44:13
Tyler Johnson: So, sleep is in this category, because to me, it's just…
44:18
Tyler Johnson: kind of bizarre. I mean, yeah, yeah, it could have gone in… in a miniseries, sure, but the… what sets it apart for me.
44:29
Tyler Johnson: Is how well he uses color.
44:33
Tyler Johnson: to make a, you know, make a point, right? This issue that I have at number 7 is…
44:39
Tyler Johnson: a lot of blue, and there's always red. Red is always in the book, you know, at some point. Check this out, so…
44:46
Tyler Johnson: It's just…
44:47
Phil: Oh, wow.
44:48
Phil: Yeah, yeah, I think, Zach Quintens might have mentioned that one to us, too, because that…
44:54
Tad Eggleston: Yeah.
44:55
Phil: Possibly, but yeah, it sounds… Sounds like a wild one, for sure.
45:01
Tyler Johnson: Yep. For sure.
45:03
Tad Eggleston: No, it's been great. I love Xander Cannon.
45:06
Phil: Oh, yeah. For my number 2 spot, this is… this is gonna be a bit strange, because this award is going to someone on this very show, on this very Zoom. It is…
45:19
Tad Eggleston: Buttering up the boss, I see how it is.
45:21
Phil: I am, it's… I am giving… I am giving Tad Eggleston himself the… the, number 2 spot for Wild Card of the Year for his performance as Alan Spectrum the Fool on our, 22 panelists memoir actual play of Die. I… I just… I… you tickle me, Tad. And not… not physically, which is, you know…
45:40
Phil: important, because I don't want to be physically tickled by you, no offense. But yeah, yeah, you're a wild one, sir. And I never know what you're up to, and and for that, you… you've earned yourself a wild card.
45:53
Tad Eggleston: Well, you know why you never know what I'm up to?
45:54
Tyler Johnson: really tickled.
45:56
Tyler Johnson: Can you imagine?
45:59
Phil: I mean, yeah, that's why I had to say, please note.
46:01
Tad Eggleston: There's a really, really good reason that you never know what I'm up to.
46:05
Phil: Cause you don't know what you're up to!
46:07
Tad Eggleston: Exactly.
46:08
Phil: It's the writer who's like, if I don't know who the murderer is.
46:12
Tad Eggleston: I generally figure out what I'm up to 5 or 6 seconds after it comes out of my mouth.
46:19
Phil: Yep.
46:20
Phil: It's… yup. It's… and it's a great time. It's… is very… is…
46:25
Tad Eggleston: Absolutely a blast to react to. I'm glad it doesn't just piss the hell out of you.
46:30
Phil: No, I seriously, I… I have laughed extremely hard at… at some of your… some of your polls, and have had an absolute blast.
46:41
Tad Eggleston: Because, yeah, no, I don't know how you put up with it, but thank you.
46:49
Tad Eggleston: You probably remember more of the things that I've done, too, because, like, I figure out what I'm doing 5 seconds after I've said it, and I forget it 10 seconds after that.
47:01
Phil: You gotta keep a clean ramp.
47:07
Tad Eggleston: I'm the fool. It seems like a good way to play the character, and it makes it more relaxing.
47:13
Phil: It definitely… it's…
47:14
Phil: It is… it is funny, because, as all over the place as you are, I feel like you've… you've set yourself up to where that's exactly where you need to be.
47:23
Tad Eggleston: Yeah.
47:23
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
47:26
Tad Eggleston: So, my number 2… And really, the problem here was…
47:33
Tad Eggleston: there were so many good OGNs, and there were so many good nonfictions, and it's a little bit of each, and…
47:42
Tad Eggleston: The solution was just throw it in the wildcards.
47:45
Tad Eggleston: Cartoonist Club.
47:46
Tad Eggleston: From Raina Telgelmeyer and Scott McCloud at…
47:50
Tad Eggleston: Scholastic, for teaching us that there are no rules to making comics.
47:55
Tad Eggleston: And… showing us… All sorts of cool stinks.
47:59
Tad Eggleston: stuff about how to do them, and be nice friends as well. Tyler, if you're not stocking this, order 10 copies as soon as we're off.
48:09
Tyler Johnson: Oh, I, yeah, no, I haven't. I've got a lot of Reyna Zilgemeyer books.
48:15
Phil: Do you have an ends cap or a wall display?
48:18
Phil: I actually imagine she's a hit.
48:20
Tyler Johnson: Yup. No, Cartoonist Club is… and I got to see.
48:24
Tad Eggleston: Reyna in conversation with, Lucy Knisely this year, and that was really, really fun, too.
48:31
Tad Eggleston: So… Yeah, that's my number 2.
48:35
Tyler Johnson: Cool.
48:37
Tyler Johnson: Orla, from, a buddy John Lease.
48:41
Tyler Johnson: And, Sally Cantorino. Okay, I always mispronounce your last name. From Mad Cave. This book is just bizarre, to say the least. Love the artwork, she does a great job on it. John is just a bizarre storyteller.
48:58
Tyler Johnson: Through and through.
49:01
Tyler Johnson: Have you guys been reading Orla?
49:03
Tad Eggleston: Oh, yes. Oh, yeah.
49:04
Phil: It's been on my radar, but I need to… I need to read it all at once. I brought it up as one of my amazing books this week, Tyler.
49:12
Tad Eggleston: Yes, you did, yes. Are you… are you treating this episode the way I treat die games?
49:19
Tyler Johnson: I'm just going on…
49:21
Phil: Bouncing along, bouncing through it.
49:23
Tad Eggleston: Yep.
49:24
Tyler Johnson: Whatever happens, happens. Yes, I know, I saw that you did. But, Orla… Orla's such a great, a great time.
49:34
Tad Eggleston: Since I'm assuming you haven't read issue 5, they stick the landing.
49:38
Tyler Johnson: Like I said, I'm behind on my books.
49:41
Tad Eggleston: said.
49:41
Tyler Johnson: I have issue 4 here, so…
49:46
Tad Eggleston: Issue 5 just came out.
49:47
Tyler Johnson: Yes, the landing.
49:49
Phil: one.
49:50
Phil: And, showed, like, the first 5 pages of my wife, and she said, I need to read that, so…
49:55
Tyler Johnson: Yeah.
49:56
Tad Eggleston: They're all on Global Comics, Phil.
49:58
Phil: Absolutely, that's… that's where… I just pulled it up, I just pulled it up from… from every but mentioned, so that's gonna be… that's… that's gonna be, you know, in my… in my last-minute reads.
50:07
Tad Eggleston: Yep, yep. You should.
50:09
Tad Eggleston: Alright.
50:11
Phil: Oh.
50:12
Tad Eggleston: Your number one wild card, Phil.
50:14
Phil: My number one wild card… This is a good one. It is! I mean, it was hard for me not to give, the wildcard award to a literal deck of cards. Ice Cream Man, the Mortal Quail Shuffle from Maxwell Prince, Martin Mrazzo, and maybe Chris O'Halloran?
50:30
Tad Eggleston: Yes, Chris O'Heart.
50:31
Phil: Yeah, well, I had to pull his name from one of the covers of a…
50:35
Phil: Yeah, but, yeah, and at Image Comics, it's so compelling to me.
50:41
Tad Eggleston: So, here's my question, have you read it out of order yet? Because I haven't read.
50:44
Phil: Not yet.
50:47
Tad Eggleston: As if it was truly designed.
50:49
Tad Eggleston: read in multiple different orders, and they insist that it's not, but also it's W. Maxwell Prince, so I don't.
50:56
Phil: Yeah. The way that I believe him. Yeah.
51:00
Tad Eggleston: then it would be more interesting, but that… I mean, and I loved it. Don't get me wrong, me too. I loved it.
51:06
Phil: Oh, yeah.
51:06
Tad Eggleston: But, like, being told that I was supposed to read it in a specific order was kind of disappointing to me.
51:12
Phil: I think… I think some of the fun of that… I mean, for one, of course, the fact, like, the inside of the lip says, careful, you can still not open this, you know, they're… they're playing with it, and, I… I think that… I think that it is meant to be shuffled. If it's not meant to be shuffled, I'm going to shuffle it at some point anyway.
51:31
Tad Eggleston: I know I will. I know I will.
51:33
Phil: yeah, breaking the rules is gonna be part of the fun. We might actually even, if a third person or more has a copy of the deck, it is going to come up in our die game. It's gonna be how we contact the, the God of the underworld.
51:45
Tad Eggleston: Nope.
51:45
Phil: Good to know. Yeah.
51:47
Tad Eggleston: Good to know.
51:49
Phil: ice.
51:50
Tad Eggleston: My number 3, I, I, like, had to spend some time to go through to just, like, put together some numbers. 43 issues.
51:59
Tad Eggleston: Across 11 titles.
52:02
Tad Eggleston: And 6 different publishers.
52:04
Tyler Johnson: So, Chad.
52:05
Phil: That's a.
52:06
Tyler Johnson: is…
52:07
Tyler Johnson: This is why I didn't, some of these titles from Chris, here is in a lot of my other picks.
52:17
Tad Eggleston: Hell yeah.
52:17
Tyler Johnson: So, that's why I didn't really have room for these ones in my list today for my…
52:22
Tad Eggleston: No, no, no, I understand. Whereas some of it, to me, is the reason he's not in my other picks is it was just too big not to. The reason he's my top wild card is Chris Condon, you know, has just been so all over the place, doing so…
52:42
Tad Eggleston: many great… things.
52:48
Tad Eggleston: that he just… he needed… he needed to be talked about. I mean, I remember when he was just breaking through, hoping that people were gonna like that Texas blood. You know, so… so this is… this is somebody whose career and 22 panels have moved along at… at…
53:03
Tad Eggleston: abreast of each other, though his at a much, much more meteoric pace.
53:11
Tad Eggleston: So, I'm happy to call him my friend, and… and he killed it this year, on 3… 3 diff… 4 different stories, in… in EC…
53:24
Tad Eggleston: anthology books with a story in the Marvel Black, White, Blood and Guts, Goddamn Tragedy One Shot.
53:34
Tad Eggleston: Miniseries, far down below, news from the Fallout.
53:40
Tad Eggleston: And,
53:42
Tad Eggleston: I haven't actually read his Three Worlds, Three Moons, because it's behind a paywall that I haven't paid for yet. That's the Jonathan Hickman thing.
53:49
Tad Eggleston: First issue of High Stranges was fantastic, but, like…
53:56
Tad Eggleston: News from the Fallout, Green Arrow, and Ultimate Wolverine just stand…
54:03
Tad Eggleston: high, high. And to do that kind of work while doing all of this other really good work is just…
54:12
Tad Eggleston: that, you know, like, my hat's off to Chris Condon this year, you know, again.
54:17
Tad Eggleston: 43, and I know that they don't all come out, but I also know enough about some of his deadlines to know that I bet you he wrote at least 30 issues this year.
54:29
Tad Eggleston: And I wouldn't be surprised if he wrote 50, because I wouldn't be surprised if, like…
54:33
Phil: Hmm.
54:34
Tad Eggleston: He wrote 35 of these and 15 that haven't been released yet.
54:38
Tyler Johnson: Yeah.
54:38
Tad Eggleston: You know, that sort of thing. I was literally there when he took time off of the convention floor to pound out the end of a Wolverine issue before going to dinner.
54:53
Phil: That's awesome.
54:56
Tad Eggleston: Yeah.
55:00
Tyler Johnson: That's awesome.
55:00
Tad Eggleston: So hats off to Chris Condon for an amazing, Amazing year of fantastic comics.
55:09
Phil: Yeah, that's a great spread.
55:10
Tad Eggleston: So, Tyler, your top wild card.
55:14
Tyler Johnson: Have you heard about this, this book called You'll Do Bad Things?
55:18
Tad Eggleston: It's…
55:19
Tyler Johnson: Tyler Boss. Yeah, I didn't know if you'd heard about it. It's pretty.
55:22
Tad Eggleston: Yeah, I've heard.
55:23
Tyler Johnson: cool. I know you. I know you.
55:26
Tyler Johnson: I know, you know. But it's pretty sweet.
55:30
Tad Eggleston: Yeah.
55:30
Tyler Johnson: You'll do bad things, my Tyler Boss. And, Andreano, Turtleichi.
55:37
Tyler Johnson: from Image, is… is just killer. I have…
55:42
Tad Eggleston: breathe.
55:42
Tyler Johnson: We enjoyed the…
55:44
Tad Eggleston: True crime novelist who wonders if he's a true criminal.
55:51
Tad Eggleston: Maybe…
55:52
Tyler Johnson: That sounds very cool.
55:54
Phil: Very fascinating.
55:55
Tad Eggleston: Who knows?
55:56
Tyler Johnson: You just don't know.
55:58
Tad Eggleston: Yeah, yeah.
56:00
Phil: You gotta read the book to find out. Do you find out? Do they tell you? Do you… do they… do they…
56:05
Tyler Johnson: Do they compare that?
56:06
Tad Eggleston: Kelly!
56:07
Phil: I don't want to ruin things, Phil.
56:09
Tyler Johnson: I would be telling. I can't.
56:11
Phil: And I want to… again.
56:14
Tyler Johnson: But yeah, you'll do bad things, has just been.
56:19
Tad Eggleston: Awesome.
56:20
Tyler Johnson: there's murder, there's blood, there's… yeah, it's cool.
56:25
Tad Eggleston: There's bad things.
56:26
Tyler Johnson: Yep.
56:27
Tad Eggleston: with good art.
56:29
Tad Eggleston: And good writing.
56:30
Tyler Johnson: Very cool.
56:32
Tyler Johnson: Alright, so…
56:33
Tad Eggleston: Alright.
56:34
Tad Eggleston: There's some non-fiction work.
56:37
Tyler Johnson: Yep.
56:37
Tad Eggleston: Tyler, it looks like, dropped the ball entirely.
56:43
Tyler Johnson: Yes.
56:44
Tad Eggleston: Tyler's got a whole lot of, I'm not a teacher anymore.
56:50
Tyler Johnson: Right.
56:51
Tad Eggleston: read, I don't read that fiction.
56:53
Tyler Johnson: I ain'
56:54
Tyler Johnson: I don't want to say that I haven't read nonfiction, but I know that I've not read enough to make a good list.
57:02
Tad Eggleston: And Phil has trouble with both the words non and the words 2025.
57:10
Tyler Johnson: Okay, good.
57:11
Phil: I do, I do have trouble with the words. So, to be fair, to be fair, I did, I did… those are all books I, I read or re-read this year, so…
57:19
Tad Eggleston: Well, I understand, but there is a different category for… having…
57:25
Phil: And you might see some of these again there.
57:29
Phil: So this is… this is the point where… so I don't… I don't read nearly as much as you, Ted. I would love, as… as a new… a New Year's resolution, to read enough nonfiction to have a competitive selection this time next year, because I…
57:44
Tad Eggleston: Okay. Because this category's not going away. This is one of the locked categories.
57:49
Phil: And I… exactly, that's where I'm like, okay, I gotta… I gotta read more of this, you know?
57:54
Tyler Johnson: No, but it is tough, though, Ted, because, generally speaking.
57:59
Tyler Johnson: it's harder to know for me, now that I'm doing my own ordering,
58:07
Tyler Johnson: Yeah, it's… it's harder to… pick it out, and make sure I'm ordering.
58:13
Tad Eggleston: Man.
58:13
Phil: Well, it's…
58:14
Tyler Johnson: The right stuff.
58:15
Phil: I think part of that is because nonfiction… I mean, the easiest… the easiest way… you could also think of it as the memoir category, the graphic memoir category.
58:24
Tad Eggleston: Lots of auto-bio stuff.
58:26
Phil: Yeah, even though there is… there's so much more to nonfiction than just autobiography, the one that.
58:32
Tad Eggleston: I mean, one of the books on my list…
58:36
Tad Eggleston: Like, fudges the fiction line.
58:39
Tad Eggleston: Except that I know enough about how it was put together from both having talked to the artist and from…
58:46
Tad Eggleston: reading.
58:48
Phil: Well, and that's… that's even something that…
58:50
Tad Eggleston: You know what I mean?
58:51
Phil: Having taken a couple of creative nonfiction classes in college and talking to professors and writers about it, is that
59:00
Phil: I mean…
59:02
Phil: especially in a genre like memoir, you're talking about your own memories. Those aren't inherently perfectly truth, so there has to be a certain amount of artistic license and remembrance. Right.
59:13
Tad Eggleston: Right, and…
59:14
Phil: Perfect recall for anyone.
59:15
Tad Eggleston: And for that matter, like, I don't remember where I put it last year.
59:20
Tad Eggleston: But, like, I definitely would accept Big Jim and the White Boy as a nonfiction.
59:26
Tad Eggleston: historical books. So I guess nonfiction historical should probably be more of the category.
59:32
Phil: That's… That's… Interesting.
59:37
Phil: I would… Probably need to read the whole thing to… to…
59:41
Phil: To agree or disagree with that, but but yeah.
59:45
Tad Eggleston: I mean, it's not as clear-cut a case as when they did the Black Panther Party of the graphic novel history.
59:51
Phil: Fair, totally.
59:53
Phil: Totally understand, yeah. But, I mean.
59:55
Phil: also, I really enjoy the blurry line between fiction and nonfiction, and something that I like to do. I mean, I guess, I guess, I guess in a lot, a lot of what I'm looking for in nonfiction is…
1:00:13
Tad Eggleston: This is a story where you're supposed to learn something real.
1:00:17
Phil: Okay.
1:00:21
Tad Eggleston: But yeah, it's a blurry line, and it's even blurrier in comics.
1:00:26
Phil: Yeah, that, that is, that is to say.
1:00:28
Tad Eggleston: That being said, let's… let's hear your…
1:00:31
Phil: Oh, so this was… it's, it's…
1:00:33
Tad Eggleston: And particularly because you can't, you can't even spell Clayton's last name right. I have to fix it every damn time.
1:00:41
Phil: Damn it!
1:00:42
Tad Eggleston: Probably gonna pronounce it wrong, too.
1:00:44
Phil: You know, don't tell me ahead of time, because I'm… I've been trying to remember. Okay, so first up, first up, the number 3 slot for nonfiction goes to the reality-bending Dialoaded from Kieran Gillen, Stephanie Hans.
1:01:01
Phil: Latent colds?
1:01:04
Tad Eggleston: Yay! Oh, it is!
1:01:06
Phil: Clayton Coles and Ryan Hughes at Amish Comics. I, I say this, I say this tongue firmly in cheek, for a handful of reasons, but yeah, it's, it's, you know, honestly, with Kieran comparing…
1:01:20
Tad Eggleston: People aren't real.
1:01:23
Phil: Well, I mean… Sure, but,
1:01:29
Phil: Kieran comparing die to, Phonogram so much in… with the series returning, it kind of clicked into place for it. Because Phonogram… Phonogram is another series that I would facetiously, but 5% seriously, list as nonfiction, because it's… it's… it might be…
1:01:47
Phil: talking about fictional characters, but those are fictional characters based on real people, and all the music is real, and the way the music makes you feel is real. In the same way that Di might be talking about fictional characters, but about real games, and the way those games make you feel, and the way they make you feel is real.
1:02:01
Phil: And there might be a parasitic infection that is warping reality and slowly dragging us into hell. Who knows?
1:02:07
Tyler Johnson: You know, hey, Phil, I love your effort in God. This is great.
1:02:15
Phil: Again.
1:02:15
Tyler Johnson: Whoa.
1:02:16
Phil: This is, this is…
1:02:17
Tyler Johnson: Listen, this?
1:02:19
Phil: R.
1:02:20
Tad Eggleston: My number 3 nonfiction is Ben Passmore's Black Arms to Hold You Up from Pantheon, which is a great book.
1:02:27
Phil: What did I want to read?
1:02:28
Tad Eggleston: So, so good,
1:02:34
Tad Eggleston: We hear a lot about nonviolent resistance, and I'm a big fan of nonviolent resistance,
1:02:42
Tad Eggleston: Which doesn't mean that there hasn't been, at times, violent resistance, and…
1:02:47
Tad Eggleston: even at times, violent resistance that's been quite effective.
1:02:52
Tad Eggleston: That's a lot of what,
1:02:55
Tad Eggleston: Ben wrote about in this book,
1:02:59
Tad Eggleston: With an interesting sense of humor to it, and a nice framing device.
1:03:04
Tad Eggleston: So yeah, Black Arms to Hold You Up from Ben Passmore at Pantheon is my number 3 non-fiction book.
1:03:11
Tad Eggleston: So, Tyler, your number 3 is okay.
1:03:15
Tad Eggleston: Now, to fill your number 2.
1:03:19
Phil: number fiction book, which, yes.
1:03:21
Tad Eggleston: Which is neither nonfiction or 2025.
1:03:25
Phil: So, and this is where… where… and the book is… the book is, of course, Bitch Planet by Kelly Sudakonic, Valentin Delandro, don't remember his first name, Peter, and… Chris Peter? Is it Chris Peter? I don't remember, I'm so sorry. And…
1:03:40
Phil: Clayton Coles, at Image Comics. So… I reread the series for the first time since the most recent issue came out, before we talked to Kelly Sue this year, and my impression upon reading it was, holy shit, this book is now nonfiction. In the same way that.
1:03:57
Tad Eggleston: Well, I mean, here's the issue, though.
1:04:00
Phil: Yes.
1:04:01
Tad Eggleston: Issue… issue the first. We don't… we don't have… Any facilities on other planets?
1:04:12
Phil: I know, we're behind the curve.
1:04:13
Tad Eggleston: issue the second, hillary Clinton, A, was never president, and B, is still at large.
1:04:24
Phil: Yeah, yeah. This, this is…
1:04:27
Tyler Johnson: This, this is…
1:04:27
Phil: This is, of course, the weakest link in the joke, but it was… it was just… it was one of those series that I read, and it felt so pressing today. It felt like a book that
1:04:37
Phil: Wrestling, absolutely.
1:04:40
Tad Eggleston: Absolutely. See, nonfiction? Not quite.
1:04:43
Tyler Johnson: He's gonna include it.
1:04:44
Tad Eggleston: This is the type of thing that you… this is the type of thing you should think about when we're talking about, you know, we have 3 categories every year that we make up every year. You could have had one of those categories be incredibly too much relevance.
1:04:57
Phil: Yeah, that's true, that's true. This will be consideration for next year, and hopefully, not an ongoing issue if I can read enough nonfiction comics next year.
1:05:08
Tyler Johnson: This won't be an issue again, guys, come on.
1:05:11
Phil: Well, everything will be an issue eventually.
1:05:13
Tad Eggleston: My, my, second book is, Kayla is just,
1:05:24
Tad Eggleston: Artbreaking memoir, but done up in the style of, like… 50s kids comics?
1:05:34
Phil: That sounds great.
1:05:35
Tad Eggleston: Kind of makes it weird.
1:05:37
Tad Eggleston: It almost makes you pay more attention than you might have otherwise, as she talks about… Sexual abuse, and…
1:05:47
Tad Eggleston: Drug addiction, and…
1:05:49
Tad Eggleston: Homelessness, and all sorts of things that don't feel like they should go with the art that she uses.
1:05:59
Phil: That's honestly one of my favorite things that Kayla can do. I'm really looking forward to talking to Kayla about this. We had to reschedule because she, she.
1:06:08
Tad Eggleston: Came down with something.
1:06:10
Tad Eggleston: The week we were gonna talk.
1:06:12
Tad Eggleston: But we've got her on the schedule again. This book is so good. It deserves all accolades it has received, and it's received a number. I forget if it actually wasn't one in Eisner, or if it was just up for one.
1:06:25
Tad Eggleston: Just… just… outstanding, outstanding book from Kaylee at Fanta Graphics.
1:06:34
Tad Eggleston: Tyler, you're number 2.
1:06:36
Tyler Johnson: By number 2, it… Yeah.
1:06:39
Tad Eggleston: Alright, Phil! Phil, you're number one!
1:06:42
Phil: My number one, of course.
1:06:43
Tad Eggleston: My… big air quotes! You're number one!
1:06:46
Phil: Yes, yes, I know. My number one… my number one, nonfiction pick of the year is, of course, Lazarus from.
1:06:54
Tyler Johnson: Okay, I gotta hear this.
1:06:56
Phil: arc, Santi Arca.
1:06:57
Tad Eggleston: I mean, once again, similar to Bitch Planets.
1:07:01
Phil: Yeah. In terms of…
1:07:01
Tad Eggleston: Like, very relevant and whatnot, but.
1:07:03
Phil: Yeah.
1:07:03
Tad Eggleston: The country has not been split in half.
1:07:06
Phil: No, I mean…
1:07:09
Tyler Johnson: Holy crap, is Lazarus true?
1:07:13
Tyler Johnson: Wait…
1:07:14
Tad Eggleston: I mean, it…
1:07:15
Tyler Johnson: Sorry, I missed it.
1:07:16
Tad Eggleston: I am not at all ruling out the possibility that either Bitch Planet or Lazarus could read as histories during our lifetime.
1:07:25
Phil: Yes.
1:07:26
Phil: I, I'm, I'm…
1:07:27
Tad Eggleston: We're not quite there yet. I'm hoping… At best, we're, like, year X plus 3 of last year.
1:07:33
Phil: And that's… and that's where… and that's where with Lazarus, I'm hoping that these picks age better with time than they go over right now.
1:07:39
Tad Eggleston: Wait a minute, you're hoping they age better with time? You want us to wind up in that world, Phil? Just so you could have your picks age well?
1:07:54
Phil: Let me correct myself.
1:07:57
Phil: First of all, ending up in the world of Lazarus would probably be an improvement from where we've headed, right, where we're heading right now.
1:08:06
Phil: Oh.
1:08:07
Phil: Bitch Planet, not so much.
1:08:10
Phil: That's, again, that's tongue firmly in cheek. I guess that, again, this was for nonfiction, when seeing that category and knowing it was a staple, my first reaction was, damn, I don't think I've read any nonfiction comics this year. My second reaction was, oh, it's kind of funny that Lazarus, you know, talking…
1:08:27
Phil: that year X has come and gone. So I guess it's… it's more of…
1:08:32
Tad Eggleston: For the listeners out there, I wanna say that we, we locked in our categories at the beginning of October.
1:08:39
Phil: Yeah!
1:08:40
Tad Eggleston: We locked in our categories right before Tyler left us.
1:08:44
Phil: I mean… I feel like he would know. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, this is… this is…
1:08:50
Tyler Johnson: Hey, just gotta… I have to pee, so… Okay.
1:08:55
Tad Eggleston: Well, I mean, that works out well, because even with you not here, you can do your top nonfiction, no problem, so you just run, and I'll talk about my top nonfiction, and then you can talk about your top nonfiction.
1:09:07
Phil: Oh, he's got…
1:09:08
Tad Eggleston: And Phil will talk about his top translation, I'll talk about my top translation, and… oh, you're perfect! You can talk about your top translation, too.
1:09:18
Phil: I got, like, 4… 4 slides.
1:09:19
Tad Eggleston: So, yeah, we'll see you, Tyler.
1:09:22
Tad Eggleston: I'm certain you'll make it back in time.
1:09:24
Tyler Johnson: Okay.
1:09:27
Tad Eggleston: So, my top nonfiction… Just because it's hauntingly beautiful.
1:09:36
Phil: Another book I like.
1:09:37
Tad Eggleston: crafted.
1:09:38
Tad Eggleston: is, carol Tyler's Ephemerada, The Exquisite Nature of Grief. Just… Ugh.
1:09:50
Tad Eggleston: And, like, to be able to see her exhibit that included some of the full-size things that she put together while she was working on the book.
1:09:58
Tad Eggleston: at the Billy Ireland.
1:10:00
Tad Eggleston: To, I didn't just mute myself, did I?
1:10:06
Phil: No, I hear you.
1:10:07
Tad Eggleston: Okay, good.
1:10:10
Tad Eggleston: To have gotten to read the book ahead of time, and then get to read it again, physically,
1:10:18
Tad Eggleston: This is not an easy read, but it's a real read.
1:10:23
Tad Eggleston: There comes a time in our life, and, and…
1:10:29
Tad Eggleston: I mean, for some of us, it's too much of our life is defined by loss, but there certainly comes a time in your life where more and more of your benchmarks are loss.
1:10:40
Tad Eggleston: Rather than… Gain, or joy, or whatever.
1:10:46
Tad Eggleston: And it's her doing her best to kind of make sense of… of… that time.
1:10:55
Tad Eggleston: And, and, and, and…
1:10:59
Tad Eggleston: Feel the pain and the hardness, while still also seeing the joy and the beauty and, like.
1:11:05
Tad Eggleston: Yeah, I don't even… don't even know how to put all the words to it, so I'll just say, Tyler, your top nonfiction book!
1:11:13
Tyler Johnson: Okay, so my top non-fiction book is…
1:11:16
Phil: Perfect!
1:11:17
Tad Eggleston: Wait a minute.
1:11:19
Tyler Johnson: Holy crap.
1:11:20
Tad Eggleston: Phil! Phil, your number 3 translation is…
1:11:24
Phil: Show Me Your Bust by Team Ganji, a, romance comic, Natasha Alterici's top pick of 2025, if not all time. It's great, it's hilarious, it is heartfelt, it is spicy.
1:11:38
Tad Eggleston: for Show Me Your Bust.
1:11:39
Tad Eggleston: type of bus that… that I think it is.
1:11:42
Phil: Probably, yeah.
1:11:42
Tad Eggleston: Or are we talking about sculptors, and they're supposed to show their… No.
1:11:48
Phil: No.
1:11:49
Phil: No. So yeah, so it is… it is saucy, but it is… it is heartfelt, it is emotional, it's… it's really great. It's honestly, like, it's super compelling. I… I'm rooting for, Kang Ji-ho to end up with Woo Hui, as opposed to, Yoon Seong, but, we will see. The… the back and forth is thrilling.
1:12:10
Tad Eggleston: Yes, but are they handing out beads?
1:12:13
Phil: No. No beads.
1:12:14
Tad Eggleston: No. No beats.
1:12:16
Phil: No. It's not that kind of… it's not that… it's not that kind of, you know…
1:12:19
Tad Eggleston: Not that kind of…
1:12:20
Phil: No, thankfully, this is, this is, this is, this is thankfully, a, tale of sapphic romance, and, pretty much the only reason men ever appear is, to be mocked, or, make things awkward, or be, kind of shitty people.
1:12:36
Tad Eggleston: I mean, beads would be part of that.
1:12:38
Phil: They would. They would.
1:12:41
Phil: Thankfully, this is… this is not… this is not a bead-filled land.
1:12:45
Tad Eggleston: It tells you how good, translations have been this year. My number 3 translation is, Jason's Death in Trieste.
1:12:56
Tad Eggleston: From Phanographics, which was… amazing!
1:13:00
Tad Eggleston: Like, Jason continues to just be ridiculously solid. I cannot wait for the next issue of American Nature Presents to hit the shelves, and people get to see my interview with him. I had so much fun doing it.
1:13:20
Phil: Wasn't that… did you conduct that by email?
1:13:22
Tad Eggleston: Yeah.
1:13:23
Phil: Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so it was like a… it was like a classic-style interview.
1:13:26
Tad Eggleston: Right, right, right.
1:13:28
Tad Eggleston: So yeah, Death and Trieste is my number 3. Tyler, your number 3 translation.
1:13:36
Tyler Johnson: My number 3… oh, shoot.
1:13:39
Phil: You can't even say one piece? You can't even put one piece down there?
1:13:44
Tyler Johnson: One Piece, yes.
1:13:46
Tad Eggleston: After, like, half of this year. I did. Now, you didn't read any One Piece FROM this year.
1:13:52
Tyler Johnson: No, no, I wasn't even close.
1:13:54
Phil: Clearly, clearly, my understanding of time in relation to awards needs work.
1:14:02
Phil: My, my number 2 pick for this year is, The Color Out of Space by Go Tanabe, from Dark Horse. This is… also goes to pretty much the whole, the whole line of, Gotanabe's, H.P. Lovecraft stories that, of course, you know, are now being translated back into… that's… that's an important thing to note with these, is that it's not like…
1:14:24
Phil: someone is just taking the text of H.P. Lovecraft's stories and overlaying it onto comics. No. This was translated in Japanese when Gotanabe made it, you know, originally, and now it is being translated back in English, and I find that exchange fascinating.
1:14:42
Phil: And the art is fantastic. It is absolutely incredible. I am going to be excited to continue digging into this line of selection throughout the year.
1:14:54
Tad Eggleston: My number 2 translation book is Comfortless from Miguel Vila at Phantographics.
1:15:02
Tad Eggleston: It's just a really cool slice of life.
1:15:05
Tad Eggleston: Suburban… I think Italy?
1:15:09
Tad Eggleston: I feel like it was Italy. It's been a little while.
1:15:12
Tad Eggleston: I had a great conversation with him, it was really, really nice talking to him.
1:15:16
Tad Eggleston: But, but it was, it was…
1:15:20
Tad Eggleston: We don't get enough translations of… Things that aren't of some… Epic or quirky, or…
1:15:33
Tad Eggleston: I mean, this was essentially, like… take… Take your average…
1:15:40
Tad Eggleston: U.S. autobiocomic and translate it into French. You know, here's a French autobiacomic.
1:15:48
Phil: Nice.
1:15:49
Tad Eggleston: Oh, yeah, I really enjoyed Comfortless by Miguel Villa.
1:15:57
Phil: Nice.
1:15:58
Tad Eggleston: Annographics.
1:15:59
Phil: Can… can I… can I amend my… my top pick for nonfiction? This… because I actually remembered a nonfiction book that I did read.
1:16:07
Phil: Which is, suddenly, once.
1:16:08
Tad Eggleston: Please!
1:16:09
Phil: Hell, by… by Shelley Bonds.
1:16:11
Tad Eggleston: Hey, hey!
1:16:13
Tad Eggleston: Yay!
1:16:14
Phil: Yeah, that, because that was awesome. I enjoyed that book. It was. Chili Bond, and then the artist.
1:16:18
Tad Eggleston: Shelley Bond and Liz Prince.
1:16:20
Phil: Yes, I wouldn't have got, thank you for that idea.
1:16:22
Tad Eggleston: Yeah, I am. I could picture her face.
1:16:23
Phil: and her love of turkey.
1:16:24
Tad Eggleston: So, sorry, Kelly Sue, your book from Not 2025 just got knocked off of Phil's 2025 list.
1:16:33
Phil: I'm gonna make it up to her with some later selections, I think she'll understand.
1:16:37
Tad Eggleston: She's a…
1:16:38
Phil: She's… she was very, very kind and understanding to talk to, so I think… I think she'll be okay with this correction.
1:16:45
Tad Eggleston: I'm certain that she will.
1:16:48
Tad Eggleston: You know, and I'm actually glad, because, It was a tough… A tough,
1:17:00
Tad Eggleston: It's just all one word.
1:17:02
Phil: Oh, thank you.
1:17:02
Tad Eggleston: It was a tough cut for me.
1:17:06
Tad Eggleston: for my nonfiction, and for that matter, with iDoblganger coming in.
1:17:12
Tad Eggleston: just under the wire, I had to really consider… whether I was gonna…
1:17:18
Tad Eggleston: slide her in over one of the three that I already have.
1:17:23
Tad Eggleston: So yeah, Shelly Bonds continued to do great work this year.
1:17:28
Phil: Oh, yeah.
1:17:30
Tad Eggleston: It was earlier in the year, and this was… It was. Every year, I say I'm gonna keep a running list to make it easier.
1:17:38
Phil: We have that, it's the whole podcast!
1:17:41
Tad Eggleston: It is, but then you gotta go back through all sorts of notes.
1:17:44
Phil: Yep. So one day, I'll do better.
1:17:50
Phil: In the meantime, my actual number one pick for translation is, again, a little bit of a cheat. It originally came out late last year, but it had a paperback come out this year, and that is Anzuelo by Emma Rios from Image Comics.
1:18:04
Tad Eggleston: See, I guess I didn't realize that it needed to be translated.
1:18:08
Phil: Well, so that's one thing that it didn't have a translator specifically listed.
1:18:14
Tad Eggleston: from.
1:18:14
Phil: following David Brothers, on Blue Sky, he's mentioned a couple things about translation and the creation of this book, because Emma is from Spain, and I believe speaks Spanish.
1:18:24
Tad Eggleston: So, if the actual text wasn't translated for an English edition.
1:18:30
Phil: there was an aspect of translation in the creation of the book. It's even something kind of mentioned in the story.
1:18:36
Tad Eggleston: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:18:37
Phil: It felt close enough, it felt closer than Bitch Planet, okay?
1:18:40
Tad Eggleston: Nakal.
1:18:40
Phil: That's fair.
1:18:41
Tad Eggleston: That's fair.
1:18:43
Tyler Johnson: So…
1:18:44
Phil: But it is, it is absolutely stunning. It is a book that I will recommend to anyone and everyone. If you don't like it, if you don't think it's beautiful, what is wrong with you? And I want to shake you.
1:18:56
Tad Eggleston: Alright.
1:18:56
Phil: That's how fantastic.
1:18:57
Tad Eggleston: Now, everybody… oh, wait, no, I get to go before Tyler.
1:19:02
Tad Eggleston: I think this is actually my top translation of last year, too, even though it was actually really fresh last year. But a year into it, it's still my favorite translation, and it's Magina Into the Deep.
1:19:14
Tad Eggleston: Inio Asano's current book at Viz, which I think is actually getting Simultaneous release, U.S.
1:19:21
Tad Eggleston: Japan.
1:19:23
Phil: known.
1:19:24
Tad Eggleston: You know, it's kind of one of those,
1:19:30
Tad Eggleston: one of those all-too-real things, where you've got a not-so-distant future Japan, where you can lose and or sell off your human rights?
1:19:40
Tyler Johnson: I don't know.
1:19:42
Tad Eggleston: Which makes you ineligible for all sorts of things, but, as an added bonus.
1:19:48
Tad Eggleston: Also makes you outside of the law.
1:19:52
Tad Eggleston: Wow. We're not human…
1:19:56
Phil: Huh.
1:19:56
Tad Eggleston: You can't actually be a prostitute.
1:19:59
Phil: Wow.
1:20:00
Tad Eggleston: Or an assassin.
1:20:02
Tad Eggleston: Because… The laws involve humans not killing humans.
1:20:12
Tad Eggleston: So, yeah, there's some… there's some shit going on, and it's really good. And Ineos Ano's just brilliant, and…
1:20:22
Tad Eggleston: And yeah, I look forward to the new chapters.
1:20:27
Phil: Yeah, that sounds fascinating.
1:20:29
Tad Eggleston: Regina into the deep.
1:20:31
Tad Eggleston: You can get it with your Viz subscription, but it's also online-only Viz subscription, because it is very, very much not PG-13.
1:20:41
Phil: So it… there's… is there no, physical English release yet?
1:20:46
Tad Eggleston: Oh, there are. I think there are. I think there's at least 3 volumes physical now?
1:20:49
Phil: Yes.
1:20:50
Tad Eggleston: Oh.
1:20:50
Phil: Third one just came out, like, 2 weeks ago.
1:20:53
Tad Eggleston: But the, the, the… the apps, you can only read… like…
1:21:03
Tad Eggleston: YA and lower, you can't read.
1:21:07
Tad Eggleston: adult titles on.
1:21:09
Phil: I see.
1:21:10
Tad Eggleston: Yeah. So sometimes, like, another book that I love, by Ayazawa called Nana.
1:21:17
Phil: I think, like, the first…
1:21:19
Tad Eggleston: 4 or 5 volumes are available to read on the app, and then it goes online only?
1:21:26
Tad Eggleston: That sort of thing. Interesting.
1:21:29
Tad Eggleston: Alright, you ready? Drum roll, please.
1:21:34
Tad Eggleston: Tyler! Your top translation.
1:21:37
Tad Eggleston: 2025 is…
1:21:39
Tyler Johnson: My top translation of 2025 is…
1:21:44
Tyler Johnson: Are we doing this today? I don't have anything, I'm so sorry.
1:21:51
Tad Eggleston: Anyway…
1:21:54
Tad Eggleston: We'll have our next three categories next week. Now let's jump into three books we hope will be spectacular, which was actually really hard this week.
1:22:03
Tyler Johnson: Yeah, it was.
1:22:04
Tad Eggleston: This coming week, there are… four books that I am currently reading come in.
1:22:11
Phil: hand.
1:22:11
Tad Eggleston: out.
1:22:14
Tad Eggleston: So, my top.
1:22:16
Phil: Summary.
1:22:17
Tad Eggleston: And actually, my apologies to Mary Sue, because I have a feeling that Mary Sue number 3 should be on my list, but somehow I haven't gotten my copy of Mary Sue number 1 yet, and Mary Sue number 1 is the only one that's also not available digitally. You can get Mary Sue 2 digitally, but you can't get Mary Sue 1 digitally.
1:22:36
Phil: I've been noticing a lot of that through Hoopla lately, which I'm.
1:22:39
Tad Eggleston: Right.
1:22:39
Phil: Coping is just, like.
1:22:41
Phil: oversight on Summergaard, and not just an actual obstacle to reading complete miniseries and stuff like that.
1:22:47
Tad Eggleston: No, I think it's oversight. I think… I think it has to do with… with the changing landscape and whatnot.
1:22:55
Phil: Bahamas.
1:22:57
Tad Eggleston: But, yeah. So, my top 3, and they are 3 good series, so I am kind of happy to get an opportunity to talk about them, because they often fall by the wayside, because they're really good, but not my top 3 for the week.
1:23:12
Tad Eggleston: Feral Number 19 from Tony Fleeks and Trish Forstner, continues to be the cat zombie book you didn't know you needed.
1:23:21
Tad Eggleston: Lucky Devils number 6 from Charles Sewell and Ryan Brown is the, the… the devil's trying to…
1:23:33
Tad Eggleston: Get points in heaven by doing good, kind of, yeah, just weird, awesome…
1:23:38
Tad Eggleston: From the creators of 8 Billion Genies, it works. I like it.
1:23:42
Phil: And curse words.
1:23:44
Tad Eggleston: Alright. And then,
1:23:47
Tad Eggleston: Tin Can Society number 9, the final issue from Peter Warren and Francesco Mopili at Image Comics.
1:23:55
Tad Eggleston: Are my three of the week.
1:23:58
Tad Eggleston: I already know that Charlie the Funniest Man in the world, Charles Chaplin from Seymour Truast, and Stephen Brower at Phantographics is amazing. We may have already talked about the amazing Chris Condon, and Far Down Below, his book with Gege Shawl and Nathan Kampf at Mad Cave.
1:24:17
Tad Eggleston: Also comes out in a collective diction this week.
1:24:21
Tad Eggleston: So, Phil? Or, well, first, Tyler, do you have… do you have anything this week that you're excited about?
1:24:29
Tyler Johnson: As always, there's X-Men books. We're wrapping up the Age of Revelation, so there.
1:24:36
Tad Eggleston: Are there X-Men books coming out this week?
1:24:39
Tyler Johnson: Age of Revelation books, yeah.
1:24:41
Tad Eggleston: Okay, okay.
1:24:42
Tyler Johnson: Yeah.
1:24:43
Tyler Johnson: Fair. And then, the X-Men…
1:24:46
Phil: sleep, apparently.
1:24:47
Tyler Johnson: They don't. It's literally… it takes up my whole life, you guys. I need help.
1:24:55
Phil: Oh, and my, giant-sized trade waiter graphic novel pick of the week is The Pale Night by Peter Milligan and Val Rodriguez at Mad Cave. I… I haven't read enough Peter Milligan.
1:25:09
Tad Eggleston: I haven't either, and he got lots of nice writing in…
1:25:14
Tad Eggleston: He both said nice things and had many nice things said about him in My Doppelganger by Shelly Pond.
1:25:21
Phil: Yeah, I've… there's… he really is, like, a creator's creator. There's… I've heard so much more of people loving him that end up making.
1:25:28
Tad Eggleston: I…
1:25:29
Phil: and.
1:25:29
Tad Eggleston: I definitely, definitely, definitely need to do some more Peter Milligan. I think this is the year where I finally read Shade the Changing Man.
1:25:37
Phil: You know what the biggest obstacle that is? Is a lack of it being collected from DC, though, you know, so yeah…
1:25:43
Tad Eggleston: Just put out both volumes in… in… Two volumes of, of…
1:25:50
Tad Eggleston: omnibus size, but also it's all on DC Universe.
1:25:55
Phil: Nice. Okay, yeah.
1:25:57
Tad Eggleston: You have the app.
1:25:58
Phil: channel.
1:25:59
Tad Eggleston: But yes, that has been the issue.
1:26:03
Tad Eggleston: So… I think… I think that's it, so.
1:26:08
Phil: True.
1:26:09
Tyler Johnson: Holy crap.
1:26:09
Tad Eggleston: We forgot to mention, we need to get better at mentioning when we get done reading our, our… are…
1:26:18
Tad Eggleston: new-to-order highlights, that the full new-to-order list can be heard at the end of the episode on the next page, so I'll.
1:26:26
Tyler Johnson: Oh, yeah.
1:26:27
Tad Eggleston: Yeah. The full no-to-order list can be heard,
1:26:32
Tad Eggleston: At the end of the episode, on the next page.
1:26:36
Tad Eggleston: So, for Tyler… So glad to have you back.
1:26:42
Tad Eggleston: And we might have to… This is fun! We might have to do more Sunday nights, if that's what it takes to get you back.
1:26:47
Phil: Hey, hey!
1:26:49
Phil: 22 panels after dark?
1:26:50
Tad Eggleston: Alright, alright. For Tyler, for Phil, this has been…
1:26:54
Tad Eggleston: Episode number 216 of 22 Panels, our first
1:27:01
Tad Eggleston: Our first of three weeks of Best of 2025 discussion. We will see you after the next page.
1:27:11
Tad Eggleston: 6, 7, 8.
1:27:15
Phil: Stephan.
1:27:16
Tyler Johnson: 6, 6…