After Sean Black swore to never read another issue of Age of Ultron last week, he is back in full force this week to review…Age of Ultron! Find out what made Sean B. change his mind. Also hear what Sean L. thinks about the indie relaunch of Drew Hayes Poison Elves. Jonas and Bryton also give each other high five. All this and more in another titillating episode of Fight for Comics.

Books reviewed include:

16:38 - Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law #1 (Blind Ferret)

Written by Joe Abercrombie, Chuck Dixon; Art by Andie Tong

21:13 - Age of Ultron #5 (Marvel Comics)

Written by Brian Michael Bendis; Art by Bryan Hitch

35:47 - Drew Hayes’ Poison Elves #1 (Ape Entertainment)

Written by Robb Horan, Keith Davidsen; Art by Montos, Shannon Ritchie

43:53 - Theramin #1 (Monkeybrain Comics)

Written by Curt Pires; Art by Dalton Rose

48:10 - Thor God of Thunder #7 (Marvel Comics)

Written by Jason Aaron; Art by Esad Ribic

52:51 - Uncanny Avengers #6 (Marvel Comics)

Written by Rick Remender; Art by Daniel Acuña

01:07:25 - Constantine #2 (DC Comics)

Written by Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes; Art by Renato Guedes

01:13:14 - Batman and Red Wing #19 (DC Comics)

Written by Peter J. Tomasi; Art by Pat Gleason, Mick Gray

01:27:59 - JSA: The Whistling Skull #1 (DC Comics)

Written by B. Clay Moore; Art by Tony Harris

01:29:47 - Corrections, Questions & Confrontations

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Episode #187 – Still FFC

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The Walking Dead mid-season premiere has finally happened and the Wednesday Warriors talk about their enthusiasm, or lack thereof, for the show. Warriors discuss their Valentine’s Day plans, or lack thereof. Jeff Lemire’s first issue of Green Arrow is reviewed as well as a plethora of other comics.

(13:40) Walking Dead S03:E09 (AMC)

(23:00) Arrow S01:E13 (CW)

Books reviewed include:

(27:39) Green Arrow #17 (DC Comics)

Written by Jeff Lemire; Art by Andrea Sorrentino

(33:26) Avengers #4 (Marvel Comics)

Written by Jonathan Hickman; Art by Adam Kubert

(44:02) New Avengers #3 (Marvel Comics)

Written by Jonathan Hickman; Art by Steve Epting

(47:42) Snap Shot #1 (Image Comics)

Written by Andy Diggle; Art by Jock

(54:58) Hellboy in Hell #3 (Dark Horse Comics)

Written and drawn by Mike Mignola

(1:00:53) Dia De Los Muertos #1 (Image Comics)

Written by Alex Link, Christopher Long, Dirk Manning; Art by Riley Rossmo

(1:51:52) Young Romance: The New 52 Valentines Day Special (DC Comics)

Written by Cecil Castellucci, Andy Diggle, Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins, Peter Milligan, Ann Nocenti; Art by Simon Bisley, Julio Ferreira, Julius Gopez, Sanford Greene, Emanuela Lupacchino, Jaime Mendoza, Inaki Miranda, Robson Rocha

(1:22:06) All-New X-Men #7 (Marvel Comics)

Written by Brian Michael Bendis; Art by Stuart Immonen

(1:28:31) Daredevil: End of Days #5 (Marvel Comics)

Written by Brian Michael Bendis; Art by Klaus Janson, Bill Sienkiewicz

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Episode #178 – Valentines Day Spectacular

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The Wednesday Warriors put the latest two superhero movies up together in the latest episode called The Amazing Dark Spider-Knight Rises. Batman vs. Spider-Man. Who will win the title for best summer movie? Listen and find out. Jonas shares his multiple encounters with violence this week while visiting the great city of Chicago.

Books reviewed include:

Planetoid #1 & 2 (Image Comics)

Written and drawn by Ken Garing

The Underwater Welder OGN (Top Sehlf Productions)

Written and drawn by Jeff Lemire

The Infernal Man Thing #1 (Marvel Comics)

Written by Steve Gerber; Art by Kevin Nolan

The Goon #40 (Dark Horse Comics)

Written and drawn by Eric Powell

The Amazing Spider-Man Movie

The Dark Knight Rises Movie

Fight for Comics Trivia Give-Away:

The Amazing Spider-Man #657 & 658 signed by writer Dan Slott and Batman #1 (Third Printing) signed by writer Scott Snyer.

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Episode #153 – The Amazing Dark Spider-Knight Rises

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The Underwater Welder
Written and drawn by Jeff Lemire

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
Pages: 224
Price: $19.95

I love Jeff Lemire, but I never thought he would be able to come close to writing anything as beautiful and well crafted as the award-winning Essex County. Essex County took years to write and draw and now Lemire is under contract with the machine that is DC and cranking out multiple stories to meet deadlines as fast as he can. Not that that is bad since his creator owned Sweet Tooth and the half a dozen other books he writes (Animal Man, Justice League Dark, etc.) are such top notch. I just know to really create a masterpiece it needs to be a passion project that is free from rushed deadlines. Luckily for us The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire is just such a book.

The story follows an young underwater welder named Jack Joseph who lives in a small town off the coast of Nova Scotia. He lives there with his wife and they are expecting their first child. Jack is scared about the possibilities of becoming a father and uses his work on the oil rig to run away from his fears. But as he dives he begins to find his fears are much bigger than he can hide and has something he can’t explain happen that leads him on a path of discovery that teaches him about life, memories, and his relationship with his own father.

I was not surprised at all to learn Lemire spent four years between projects working on writing and drawing this book. Reading The Underwater Welder I was amazed at how well crafted it was. Lemire fills his characters with so much emotion and truth that any reader could find multiple things to relate to. Lemire also goes back to his roots and abandons color in favor of black-and-white. His line work is really on display here and I forgot how much I loved his brush strokes and the way he renders his characters. He also uses an ink wash on certain pages as a story telling device which really help create a specific tone for his story.

The Underwater Welder is filled with everything fans of Essex County will love. While Essex County might always be the work that Lemire is most remembered for, it is nice to know Lemire is still doing work that is really close, if not equal to, the caliber of rich and layered storytelling he won so many awards for. Everyone owes it to themselves to check out The Underwater Welder.

-Sean Leslie

Order The Underwater Welder from instocktrades.com.

Sean Black is in town and joins in the studio for a rant on Prometheus. The Warriors find out just why Alan Scott is awesome with the help of a loyal listener and we talk about why librarians have it out for children.

Book reviewed:

Harbinger #1 (Valiant Comics)

Written by Joshua Dysart; Art by Khari Evans

Incredible Hulk #8 (Marvel Comics)

Written by Jason Aaron; Art by Steve Dillon

Before Watchmen: Minute Men #1 (DC Comics)

Written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke

Legends of the Dark Knight: The Butler Did It web comic (DC Comics)

Written by Damon Lindelof; Art by Jeff Lemire

Fight for Comics Trivia Give-Away:

Defenders #1 signed by writer Matt Fraction and artists Terry & Rachel Dodson. Also a Defenders preview book and poster signed by all three.

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The Warriors return with a podcast of presidential proportions.

Books reviewed:

Peter Panzerfaust #1 (Image Comics)
Written by Kurtis J. Wiebe; Art by Tyler Jenkins

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth – The Long Death #1 (Dark Horse Comics)
Written by Mike Mignola & John Arcudi; Art by James Harren

The Brave and The Bold #198 (DC Comics)
Written by Mike W. Barr; Art by Jim Aparo, Chuck Patton & Rick Hoberg

Batman #6 (DC Comics)
Written by Scott Snyder; Art by Greg Capullo & Jonathan Glapion

Animal Man #6 (DC Comics)
Written by Jeff Lemire; Art by Travel Foreman, Jeffrey Huet & John Paul Leon

Daredevil #9 (Marvel Comics)
Written by Mark Waid; Art by Paolo Rivera

Prophet #21 (Image Comics)
Written by Brandon Graham; Art by Simon Roy

Supergirl #6 (DC Comics)
Written by Michael Green & Mike Johnson; Art by Mahmud Asrar

Baltimore: The Cursed Bells (Dark Horse Comics)
Written by Mike Mignola& Christopher Golden; Art by Ben Stenbeck

Trivia Contest: Afrodisiac hardcover and Rambo 3.5 by Jim Rugg.

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