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Digital Strips Podcast 328 – Gunnerkrigg Court Book Club: Fifth Edition

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Shelob, a giant spider from the fantasy novels by J.R.R. Tolkien

Whatcha Been Readin’

The News

  • None … I’m fine … how are you?

Mentions

The Midshow Break

The Feature

All this, plus!

  • Steve is a drunken cheerleader
  • Jason hates plants in his salad
  • China eats all its nature, saddening Steve the Druid
  • Dogs pee on a lot of things (related to the salad bit)
  • Baby butts are like toilets (Editor’s note: What?)
  • Jason is cold and wet

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Digital Strips Podcast 327 – Our Yeti Continues (Horizons Watch feat. Our Adventure Continues and Yeti 4 Hire)

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bug-hallWhatcha Been Readin’

The News

Mentions

The Midshow Break

The Feature

All this, plus!

  • Jason falls asleep to action/RPGs
  • Steve has fallen asleep everywhere except for the .. throne
  • I hope, for your sake, your name is not Steven
  • Our talk about who actually has it worse than anybody else leads to a great comic idea, “Donald Trump and That Guy”
  • Steve brings me down to his level
  • Stay tuned for our new show: The DC Wank Hour!

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Digital Strips Podcast 325 – reMINDer: Catch Up With An Awesome Comic

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Garfield loves lasagnaJason shows just how little he and Garfield the Cat have in common and Steve gets schooled in comic book trivia. Also, webcomics.

Whatcha’ Been Readin’:

Other things we like, and news (or news outlets, as the case may be; Gary, let us know if you’d like to form a partnership or something):

Donkey Kong has received a lot of break music love lately, but why not give the Game Boy iterations a proper spotlight? “Banananaz” by Chiwalker (15:15) fits that bill nicely.

It’s good to take some time to catch up with great comics that have fallen off our radar, and reMIND by Jason Brubaker (19:35) is certainly a story worth experiencing. Multiple times. He creates a world that is both familiar and fantastical, bringing with it a sense of wonder and nostalgia. The story is scheduled to wrap up in October, so do yourself a favor, take an hour or so, and catch up with us.

Also, Steve thinks the hero’s body type is like that of Kilo Monster from Monster’s Garden (23:30). He’s not completely wrong.

For those interested in less comic-related topics, Jason finds yet another reason to hate Kid Rock, we wonder how many people AREN’T watching Strip Search, and yes, Steve stopped in the middle of a discussion about comics to relate a story about his son’s poop. Enjoy!

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Digital Strips Podcast 323 – Horizons Watch – Monster’s Garden and Bad Reputation

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Pork Chop Sandwiches!Few episodes take care of themselves as well as this one. Everything kind of falls into place and the segments just find their way, usually led by a webcomic or two. Our only news mention is of Table Titans (3:50), and the only news to note is that Twitter can be an awesome tool sometimes. I mentioned that the responsive design (web design term, Google it) for the site was breaking the viewing experience at certain dimensions to Scott Kurtz. Then, later that evening, I was going back and forth with whoever runs the Table Titans Twitter account.

Our featured comics for Whatcha Been Readin’ are both notable, one for its creator, and the other for its title.

In honor of the 25th anniversary of Mega Man 2 (widely regarded as one of the greatest games of all time), The Gameological Society (a sister site to The A.V. Club, itself a sibling to The Onion) did an entire day’s worth of content dedicated to the Blue Bomber. With the opening theme to the game shallowly leaping its way into my heart, I figured I could hunt down a remix for this week’s break. This one is brought to us by DaddyCat and features dubstep (10:37). Yep, another one.

Our Horizons are set on two promising up-and-comers:

Even the Rambletron rolls along, like a well-oiled, junky machine. Fueling its tanks this week: G.I. Joe PSAs, Star Trek is the same as Star Wars, Jason is a terrible hype man, Steve harbors some dark, furry secrets, and honestly, we really don’t care what you smell.

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Digital Strips Podcast 322 – Book Club – Gunnerkrigg Court, Fourth Edition

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We kick things off be talking about what I’m sure is one everyone’s mind: pineapple. Our insightful take on this most important issue for our day that could have changed the lives of millions was quickly derailed by a descent into what Steve, Jason and Steve’s son think of people who make different live choices. Steve mourns the lose of a potential good transtion.
We get in to Jason’s pick (Escape from Burgertown) which comes with no information beyond the name Zac Gorman. As usual, Steve’s pick (Moth City) is completely diffrent, has more information, but you have to put up with his nonsense, which usually isn’t worth it.
We ramble about cursing at work and how Steve’s company combats it as well as how long it’s been since Steve watched a commerical.
After that we jump junk deep into Part 4 of Gunnerkrigg Court. We talk about how many story threads we’re going through and what it takes to keep up with them.
It’s a good time. Enjoy.

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Digital Strips Podcast 319: Horizons Watch feat. Project Ballad and The Untold Tales of Bigfoot

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Chili cheese tater tots ... mmmmmm ...Before we kick into our usual shenanigans, we must take a moment to remember the passing of Roger Ebert. No matter the size of the impact we make in this world, our critical eyes have been informed by his knack for taking criticism and analytical thinking to another level and he will certainly be missed. Now then, do you like your comics whimsical or do you enjoy being forced to wear your thinking cap for every single, last panel? Good news for you then, because this is Horizons Watch, and we have plenty of both on tap! Before we get to those promising young comics though, let’s delve into What We’ve Been Reading:

Also, news, wherein we find out about two promising comics that are so far away on the horizon, we can’t even see them yet:

The midshow break probably seems like a rerun, but I promise it is original, Digital Strips content. You can groove to a remix of the underwater theme from Donkey Kong Country by The Distortionist titled, “Submerged in Ambiance” (11:25, a tune that I featured in that same spot several shows back) and hear me (Jason) talk about what a bad idea it is to eat chili cheese tater tots twice in one day. What is not in our usual toolbox, however, is me bringing the more serious comic to our Horizons Watch while Steve finds a more whimsical comic to show off. So savor the flavor, because it’s not likely to happen again:

And Bigfoot reminded us of a few other comics as well:

All this, plus: Jason finished Bioshock Infinite in (his) record time, why you shouldn’t travel all the way to Utah just to do a drive-by on Steve, what in the Lord’s name is a “chalking blot”, why mercantile is not a word which should ever be spoken, and the exciting follow-up to Bigfoot, The Untold Tales of Hairy Bowling Pin! Enjoy!

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Digital Strips Podcast 317 – Review – Loading Artist

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loading-artist-img1Happy Digital Strips Day, Digital Strippers! It’s time for that Digital Strippiest of Digital Strips podcasts, Digital Strips! If everybody else is claiming days left and right, who’s to say we can’t do the same? After all, we are the oldest, currently updating webcomics podcast in the world (come at us, bro!).

Do you like webcomics? Good, because we talked about some!

We come back with more comics after the break, but not until I present to you “Jason Sigler, Electronics A-hole.” As always, a sweet video game tune backs our inane chatter. This time, it’s “Spelunking in Space” from Kirby Super Star (15:30), remixed by Hylian Lemon (man, the crew who do music on Overclocked Remix have the raddest names).

As promised, we bring the volume with mentions surrounding this week’s great find:

A slew of mentioned comics does not a bad comic make. Evidence to the contrary is of ample supply in this case, as Loading Artist is a great comic in its own right.

Further inane chatter: Jason takes what he can get, Happy Star Wars Day from Steve’s mom, we put the word “nerd” in front of every possible state of mind and/or being and coming soon to the Digital Strips Podcast Network: Audio Gigolo.

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Digital Strips Podcast 315 – Horizons Watch – Broodhollow and Muscles Diablo

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You know when we talk about both reality TV and Dr. Strangelove in the same episode that we have the makings of something discordant and chaotic. Luckily, we agree on the things that matter. The others, not so important (if you don’t know which is which in that scenario, then I feel sorry for you).

dr_strangelove

Should this feel dirty? Because it feels dirty.

Speaking of disagreeing, it’s time once again for Horizons Watch! We pick two fresh-ish comics and bring them before our two-man tribunal (hush) for judging, mockery and entertainment. Before we get to those more in-depth looks, we have other comics that have crossed our paths recently:

(5:39) The Sundays
(7:26) Rocket Robinson and the Pharaoh’s Fortune

The big news this (past) week was the launch of Penny Arcade’s much-anticipated reality competition series …

(9:10) Strip Search

While Steve has long since sworn off shows like this that don’t involve sweaty dudes rolling around together and 30 Rock parodies, I watched the first episode and came away feeling like it was a show that was produced by a production company (Bionic Trousers Media). More thoughts can be found in the podcast proper. During our discussion, we couldn’t help but pick out one contestant who we’ve previously talked about and reviewed on the show:

(11:03) Skadi

I read an article recently about the purpose of video game reviews in the modern gaming culture, specifically with regards to setting discourse. Many reviewers find themselves tasked with establishing the faults and/or strengths of a particular property and leaving it for the audience to judge whether they are right or wrong. While it can debated whether or not this should be the goal of a critic, it is certainly true that I have set the discourse for this series and the remainder of its episodes will have to work to change that. For me, at least, I hope you will tell us if your experience was different.

One of our featured comics has the word “diablo” in the title, so naturally I picked something from the game series of the same name for our midshow chat.

(15:30) ‘Wet Grass Inspired’ by AmIEvil

Two great comics come over our Horizons this time, both wildly different, and showing how things should be done in comics while also displaying some missteps in their lives on the Web. First up, Kris Straub’s newest comic confection:

(19:34) Broodhollow

If you want a comic that looks like Starslip (a previous, now completed Straub creation) but has a sinister undertone, Broodhollow has what you’re looking for. Protagonist Wadsworth Zane represents the everyman while also possessing demons, both figurative and (possibly) literal. It makes for a fun read that offers just enough mystery to keep you coming back for more.

Our second pick:

(28:02) Muscles Diablo

In the fun and nothing but category, Muscles Diablo stands second to none. Muscles is, as described by creator Pat N. Lewis, “a tough guy with a shady past who punches a lot of things”. No mystery there! The only question we had is why would you host such a great comic on such a terrible template for Tumblr (re-reading comics is a chore, though this may not affect non-reviewing types). We’ve encountered this problem before, and speaking of that, here are the comics that naturally came up in our conversations:

(24:51) Lovecraft is Missing
(24:56) Sin Titulo
(27:39) Epicsplosion (still no idea if this currently has a home on the Web, if you find it, please let us know!)
(30:41) Little League (now JL8?)

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Digital Strips Podcast 313 – Review – Dead Duck

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It’s time for Episode 313 of The Digital Strips Podcast, where we review the comic, Dead Duck, and I have more comics to talk about than Steve. What.

I’d also like to extend a hearty, warm welcome to Steve’s wife, who has now had her first Digital Strips experience. Unfortunately, it was probably also her last due to copious amounts of weiner talk. Whoops.

On the webcomics front, we’ve got a full docket of news and opinions. If you want to catch up with us on we’ve been reading, you should check out these comics:

We also have a news item, that of Kazu Kibuishi being chosen as the artist to do new covers for the 15th anniversary of Harry Potter (9:14). Even with all Kazu has accomplished in his illustrious career, that is pretty cool news. Congrats, Kazu!

On more of a downer note, our final, pre-review mentions come courtesy of a couple of creators who have gotten out of their creative rhythm. Sure, this happens all the time, but when I see two higher-profile people laying out their woes for all to see, it feels like something to talk about. Their comics are:

If you’re a fan of either creator and have a moment, why not drop them a line and remind them how much you love their stuff? For that matter, why not take a moment and write your favorite creator, regardless of medium, and tell them you like their work? If there’s one thing creative people need more than money, it’s validation. Also cupcakes.

The midshow break/chat is complimented by a mix from Super Mario Galaxy by Guifrog called “Little Glockenspiel”. I chose it because I love that game. We talked about urinary infections because that’s what we do.

Our reviews system is based on finding smaller, off-the-beaten-path gems that might otherwise go overlooked in this massive comics ecosystem we inhabit. Steve can take credit this week for finding a true diamond in the rough.

  • (18:47) Dead Duck

I’ll go on record as saying this didn’t impress me much from the get-go. Actually, Steve will  as well. But by the time the final, archived strip is finished, you come to root for this band of underdogs and their tattered, broken relationships. That creator Jay P. Fosgitt can drive us to have emotional reactions to these cartoonish heroes is a credit to his abilities. Some other comics that came to mind in our discussion:

I won this one, so I’m going to go savor the flavor of this victory and come back again next week to defend my title. Later!

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Digital Strips Podcast 311 – Horizons Watch – Civilian and Sidekick Quests

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The Webcomic Beacon featuring Steve and Jason from Digital StripsSHAMELESS PLUG: Fes of The Webcomic Beacon was kind enough to feature both Steve and I on his show, which you can listen to here. Show some love to a fellow comic podcaster and give it a spin or something.

In an effort to be true in our resolution to bring you more Horizons Watches in 2013 than we did in the year prior (by our count, five, four and a half if you don’t fully count the unprecedented episode where I failed to bring one to the table), we bring you the first one of the year. With our first effort posted just before the 1st of February, that chance is alive and well. But before I get carried away, the bits that come before that are just as compelling.

In Whatcha Been Readin’, I found an entire site that houses not one, not two, not three but four different comics, all by the same creator. Visit Scott Ferguson’s sites (this link will take you to one of them, from which you can get to the other three) and enjoy what appears to be high-quality work in a variety of genres (6:08). Steve, on the other hand, presents us with a comic that he admits may not be able to wholly support some otherwise good writing. Check out The Monkey and the Mouse (7:43) and decide for yourself.

Never one to leave the public spotlight too soon, Ryan Estrada doles out the updates on his Kickstarter for The Whole Story (9:53) in a nearly daily fashion. The latest news informed us that this collection has been so popular, Estrada has decided to make The Whole Story a year-’round entity, housing some of the biggest and brightest names in comics today. So go get your pick from this selection and then wait for more to come, apparently very soon and very frequently.

Want to hear about the oddest take on Pac-Man in that game’s illustrious, storied history? How about a hauntingly minimalistic take on the admittedly simple theme of that game? Then our chatter, backed by Israfel’s “Glass Cage” (14:00), should be right up your pellet-filled alley.

Civilian by Dustin Parker (19:22) and Sidekick Quests by James Stowe (27:44) are both comics which stand on their own as early, yet promising comics with hopefully bright futures. Each has their challenges to mount in the future, but the solid foundations they share in various fundamentals bring them that much closer to realizing their potential.

Man, that makes a good summation for the intention behind our Horizons Watch feature. Summarizing other, less focused elements of the podcast, we talk about They Might Be Giants by way of Tiny Toon Adventures, why it’s important to remember that everything good has already been done before, and why I’m worried that Steve had a little birdhouse put in his soul when he was young. Forget about the fact that comics have “other thinged” his body parts in the past. If you want the incredibly loose context, you’ll have to listen in!

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