Comic Pants Podcast #53
Dan Grendell, Nick Budd, Dave Farabee and Randy Lander bring the funny this week, as they talk about humor in comics. From straight-up humor books to incidental humor in superhero comics and more, join the Panteon as they each offer up a selection of their favorite humor comics, humorous moments in comics and a woefully inadequate brief history of humor in comics. Plus another installment of Panteon Comics Audio Theatre, featuring Fantastic Four and Countdown to Infinite Crisis.
As always, commentary is welcomed and encouraged. Let us know what you thought of the podcast, and if you have suggestions for future podcast topics, leave us a comment or write in to the show!
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Kick-ass podcast guys. I’ll definetely look into Halo & Sprocket, and I’ve been curious about Club 9 since it was mentioned in an earlier podcast. I’ll check ‘em out.
But I gotta ask…no love for Sam & Max?
21 Apr 2008 at 9:26 am
Quotecould you do a “bad comic thertre with the SUperman/wonder woman Batman bit from infinite Crissis 1?
ps I will listen later.
21 Apr 2008 at 9:47 am
QuoteFunniest single moment in comics for me-
New Mutants Annual #3
All that build up for one gag.
21 Apr 2008 at 11:35 am
QuoteAh, perfect example of one that slipped through the cracks, even though I’m definitely a fan.
“Sam, there’s big trouble in Ancient Egypt!”
21 Apr 2008 at 1:06 pm
QuoteNo mention of Brian K Vaughn? I think I found as many laugh-out-loud moments in Y the Last Man and Runaways as any straight-up humor book I’ve read.
Nice to hear Ultimate Spider-man get some love too, as I think its humor is often overlooked. The moment that stands out in my mind is when Spidey meets Jean Grey for the first time and she thanks him for not picturing her naked, followed by him immediately picturing her naked and not being able to stop.
21 Apr 2008 at 2:38 pm
QuoteI think this has been my favorite podcast. I definitely have been turned on to a lot of new books. I’ll be picking up Scurvy Dogs, Empowered, and Cromartie High.
Also, the dramatic reading of Darkseid had me laughing out loud, which, I was in a public place when I listened to this, so it sparked a bunch of weird looks. Anyway, keep up the dramatic readings. I love them.
21 Apr 2008 at 3:57 pm
QuoteThose dramatic readings always crack me up. Darkseid is great.
I think Atomic Robo is rather funny at times but I think his webcomic 8-bit theatre is even funnier.
Cromartie High sounded really funny, I think I’ve seen it in some discount bins before. Halo & Sprocket & What’s Michael sound up my alley too. I’ve had the Bone one volume for a long time but never got around to reading it. I did read the Goon: Rough Stuff trade and never found that really that funny . I don’t think the series is for me.
Peter David’s a good funny writer for my money through the years with funny moments here and there with Captain Marvel to X-Factor.
Probably my all time funniest comic I’ve read though would have to be Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #9 with Bendis and Mahfood with the Fantastic Four’s computer (herbie?) and finding out Peter’s secret id and him trying to deny it. There are so many gags in that issue with the Skrulls, and the Marvel Offices. Mahfood’s artwork really sells that issue.
21 Apr 2008 at 4:27 pm
QuoteOne of my favorite manga is GTO. It can be laugh out loud hilarious. It’s not a total humor book though and it has some dramatic storylines.
Another of my favorite is Boneyard by Richard Moore. It’s about a regular guy who inherits a cemetary full of real monsters. It has quirky characters and off beat humor. It is all done by Richard Moore so he is really able to get the beats down right.
21 Apr 2008 at 8:57 pm
QuoteI listened all the way though, and unless I dozed off, I don’t think you guys mentioned Fraction.
Between PWJ, Casanova, and Five Fists of Science: the man knows the funny.
21 Apr 2008 at 9:08 pm
QuoteFunny? Comic Book?
One word.
Plop
21 Apr 2008 at 9:48 pm
Quoteok Darkside sits on Mary Marvel’s couch and nobody steals the couch and Clones darkside from dead skin? Well there’s my next pitch!
21 Apr 2008 at 9:54 pm
QuoteAnd Halo & Sprocket, right?
C’mon, how can you say no to this or this or this.
Halo & Sprocket. It will make you laugh, cure your cancer, and give you the strength of ten men. Even if you’re a woman!
OK, maybe not. But it *will* make you laugh.
I laughed a lot at that issue when it came out as well. That story (along with the Punisher story with Sienkiewicz art) is the primary reason that I own the Ultimate Marvel Team-Up hardcover.
True enough. Fraction does snarky funny very well, and his writing for online ‘zine Savant was always witty and fun as well.
Also funny? There’s an ad on the side of our site for “Royal Purple Synthetic Oil” tied into Iron Man. I mean, motor oil, Iron Man, it’s not a completely crazy tie-in…
But it’s damned weird to think of comic characters selling motor oil. Comics have really gone mainstream, haven’t they?
22 Apr 2008 at 1:13 am
QuoteDon’t forget Mantooth too, his first book. That was damn funny.
22 Apr 2008 at 3:18 am
QuoteDan Slott’s She Hulk made me laugh out loud a bunch of times. I most remember the Constrictor suing Hercules for assault, and Herc launching into him again right in the lawyers’ office. That cracked me up, and got me to hunt down the rest of the issues.
Haven’t heard of a lot of the books mentioned, definitely will look for some.
22 Apr 2008 at 5:00 am
QuoteOkay, the hiccup comic from Halo & Sprocket won me over. It’s on the list.
22 Apr 2008 at 5:18 am
QuoteMaybe I’m just coming from a different place here, but no mention of Fred Hembeck or Not Brand Ecch or any of the pun-ridden stupid funny comics like Fantastic Four Celebrity Roast?
No mention of the once-great-but-now-a-shadow-of-its-former-self Mad magazine?
I don’t know if any of you are familiar with B. Kliban’s work, but he is a direct link influence-wise between the underground comics of the 60s and absurdist gag strips like ‘The Far Side’ in the 80s.
And, for the hoity toity crowd, there are always the gag comics in the New Yorker. A lot of these are single-panel and not a strict McCloud-definition comic, but quite a few of them are laugh-out-loud funny.
And my favorite early Dennis the Menace strip is the one where they tell Dennis’s babysitter that as long as she doesn’t use a closed fist against Dennis, anything goes.
Just adding to the impressive list you’ve compiled.
22 Apr 2008 at 8:44 am
QuoteThanks for giving the Goon the respect it deserves. It is my favorite book, between the great balance of humor, art, and the occasional tears - it is the best.
22 Apr 2008 at 6:03 pm
QuoteI love many of the books named by the Panteon, but I’ll add a few of my own:
*Johnny the Homicidal Maniac/Squee: Jhonen Vasquez is a sick puppy, but that’s what makes it worth reading. He also did an animated series called Invader Zim which is well worth checking out.
*Knights of the Dinner Table: The art is pretty crude and the humor is aimed mostly at gamers, but this book consistently makes me laugh out loud every month.
*My Monkey’s Name is Jennifer: A hilarious miniseries about a psychotic male ape who is forced to be a little girl’s pet.
*The 4-Fisted Misadventures of Tug & Buster: How can you resist a comic with a character named Genital Ben?
23 Apr 2008 at 3:11 pm
Quotewouldn’t it have been funny if that “Darkseid dares all” quote was uttered as Mary Marvel came through the door to find Darkseid stealing a cookie out of a cookie jar or something?
As far as funny comics, Baker’s Plastic Man, as you mentioned, is pretty darn funny.
And though it is not a book known for humor, there is a sequence in Simonson’s Thor run stretching over a couple of issues were Volstagg takes aside a young warrior bent on challenging Balder to fight to the death. He basically casually beats the crap out of this young kid while he explains why its a bad idea, and the pay-off line of “But Hogan the Grim? Hogan was never young. He would never forget…or forgive” is a classic. Basically any scene with Volstagg in Simonson’s run is comedy gold.
23 Apr 2008 at 8:43 pm
QuoteLoved this podcast! Will definitely have to check out Halo and Sprocket.
I know he’s not your favorite author, but Judd Winnick’s The Adventures of Barry Ween: Boy Genius (way back when) were outright hilarious. I don’t have them on hand, but there were so many good gags and jokes. Between Barry himself and his best-friend/moron Jeremy it was comedy gold
25 Apr 2008 at 5:35 pm
QuoteThis podcast got me thinking. How about a comic stips podcast? Clearly there is enough material out there, but how about interest?
What say you fellow Pantsers? Krazy and Ignatz, Charlie and Snoopy, Calvin and Hobbes? I think it would be a lot of fun
25 Apr 2008 at 8:14 pm
QuoteThere were actually a few cute humorous moments in Watchmen. The two I’ll never forget: when Nite-Owl desperately drives his jet up to Ozymandias’s fortress, and Rorschach warily tells him, “The engine just stopped”. The other one is at the end of the first issue; Nite-Owl and Silk Spectre are reminiscing about a crazy villain they used to fight named Captain Carnage (I think), who got off on superheroes beating him up. Silk Spectre wonders alound whatever happened to him, and Nite-Owl replies, “Uh, well, he ran into Rorschach and Rorschach dropped him down an elevator shaft”. It’s just darkly funny, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
I’ll give Bendis the medal for being the king of Spidey banter, and I’ll give Stan Lee in his early years the close second. I still cracked up at some of the stuff in the first few Essential Spidey volumes.
Usagi Yojimbo can be hilarious when the story calls for it. The character banter between Usagi and Gen may be the best “buddy banter” in comics, period. Stan also usually manages to make me laugh when he serves up a story that’s generally suited for humor, like when the cranky old woman hires Usagi as her bodyguard.
25 Apr 2008 at 11:34 pm
QuoteI’m ready to second that. Now that we’re getting reprints of stuff like “Popeye”, with plenty of rave reviews for them, I’d like to hear more about that stuff.
26 Apr 2008 at 5:25 am
QuoteI’m going to mention “Love and Capes” because I’m, well, relentlessly self-promotional plus to plug the fact that the first six issues will be traded up by IDW in November, as well as out for Free Comic Book Day this week.
26 Apr 2008 at 9:14 am
QuoteYou should. It’s one of the books that I slapped myself after the podcast for not mentioning. I have all the issues, but I’ll be picking that trade up, and I’m really looking forward to the FCBD issue.
26 Apr 2008 at 1:52 pm
QuoteNo, we mentioned those… remember how we talked about humor comics that weren’t actually funny?
More seriously, I do have a fondness for Hembeck, but the pun-ridden stupid funny is the kind of book where I’m like “OK, I see that this is *meant* to be funny, but it never rates more than a grin.”
Only that part early on where we talked about Mad Magazine.
I was shocked at how funny the Hank Ketcham stuff was. Like Peanuts, a little goes a long way for me, so I only bought the first hardcover, but I really did enjoy it.
I bought a few years worth of KODT, but for me, the gag wore a bit thin. It’s definitely long-lived, though. In the same vein, I got occasional chuckles from Nodwick and Order of the Stick.
I love this book. Ken Knudtsen’s unusual artwork is great, and the psychotic monkey and clueless, sweet little girl’s reactions to it are hilarious.
This would be a great, informative, well-informed podcast. From Dave Farabee. The other three of us would sit around nodding.
Saw that news on the IDW trade, that’s cool! And yeah, we forgot Love and Capes… it is a very fun book.
26 Apr 2008 at 2:39 pm
QuoteI’m not sure if this was really that funny, but when i was a kid i used to love Deathshead - the miniseries that ran for 10 issues. Maybe it was the way my mate, Baraoni, used to read the dialogue out , - oh how we laughed. Was it funny or were me and my friends just high?
.
01 May 2008 at 7:47 am
QuoteCromartie High. Freddie Mercury in the school and riding a horse to school, I am totally sold. I’ve seen the book in previews and on the racks and assumed I wouldn’t like it based on the art, glad to know the art is a spoof and I will be checking this out.
Were any comics missed?
While I’m not too high on the Boys, there have been a couple funny moments in the book. A lot of stuff that felt juvenile and telegraphed as well, though.
Glad to hear PS238, Bone, Ennis’ Hitman and Fortune and Glory.
I thought the Kevin Smith stuff from Oni (that mini he did with Duncan Fegredo) had some funny moments. I don’t generally enjoy Smith’s stuff now but that was pretty good.
Did you mention Barry Ween? Wait, I didn’t laugh at those, maybe a smile at best.
Were the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League issues funny? I don’t know, I haven’t bought the hardcover yet.
Unintentionally funny: WorldWatch. I know, it sucks to kick a guy when he’s done but you know. Had to be said.
03 May 2008 at 9:27 am
Quote