Today’s show is your Audience Questions!

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Dear Mr. President:

You’re awesome and I think you know it. Awesome on so many levels that are important to me. You’re a cool, likable guy. You’re a good husband and father. You value things like science, communication, transparency, and personal growth. You’ve got a sense of logic AND of humor.

You’re also very much in touch with popular culture. You are of the times, rather than a relic of some old broken system. You’ve name checked Spider-Man, Batman, and Conan the Barbarian as your favorite comic characters growing up. You’re in almost as many comics in 2009 as Wolverine. You’ve been made into more than one style action figure, with multiple points of articulation and a kung-fu battle grip. You kill flies like the Karate Kid. You sound like The Rock when you speak. Better than simply being “the president I’d want to have a beer with,” you’re the president who actually solves problems with beer. You truly speak for the people on the issues they care about. You look like you genuinely enjoy taking geeky photo ops like this one:

Guys, a HUGE tease was just put up on Newsarama, showing The Iron Patriot fighting Dr. Doom, with the title “DARK AVENGERS Meet Their DOOM In December!”

This is so exciting, because I can’t remember the last time the Avengers fought Dr. Doom!

Other than Mighty Avengers #9-#11, last Spring.

Oh, and Dark Avengers #1-#3, this past Spring.

So yeah, that’s only like, a good quarter of the Avengers stories in the past year, that’s it. Not too much.

[By the way, I'm not stupid... I realize the big news is this is kicking off the break-down of Normie's Cabal. I'm just pokin' fun at ya.]

Most obvious headline ever, huh? Anyway, just doing some catch-up on recent Dynamite titles (and some that come out today), so check ‘er out, and talk about what you liked, or didn’t like about these books in the comments!

Athena #1: If you like butt-shots, you’ll love this comic! Otherwise, I’ll have to say I was sorely disappointed… I’m a big fan of Greek myths, and no matter how many times I’ve seen it done, the Gods of Olympus in a modern setting always gets me giddy with excitement. But this? This book is not good. Actively, very intensely not good. The idea is a simple one: Athena wakes up in a modern day hospital in Greece, with no memory of her past life, being a God, or anything like that. Yet, over the course of the book, she — maybe? — gets her memories back, becomes a police detective (I think), moves to America, ends up in the hospital several more times, almost gets raped, and then gets powers. Or something. I’m all for anti-decompression, but this is like a different book every two pages. Plus, to make things worse, there’s a half-baked cash-in “Athena Meets Obama” story on the flip of the issue, that takes place after issue #4! That means, even for the very few people who will still be excited to see what happens with Athena after this first issue, all they have to do is flip over the issue and have almost every future plot point ruined for them. Dynamite has put a lot of stock in this book, and Fabiano Neves and Paul Renaud’s art-work is appropriately Frank Cho-ish, but this is a bad, bad comic book. And I very rarely say that.

Thulsa Doom #1: If you like butt-shots, you’ll love this comic book! Though, unlike Athena, there’s a lot more to like in this near perfect example of a first issue. Writer Arvid Nelson (Rex Mundi, Zero Killer) does the entire issue in basically two scenes. In the first scene, we meet Thulsa Doom, find out the status quo of his world, and what (generally) he’s about. In the second scene we meet Thulsa Doom’s antagonist, more about the status quo of Thulsa’s world, and find out what she’s about. And the issue ends with her about to go after Thulsa. That’s it. But Nelson makes the issue chock full of exposition without forsaking dialogue or characterization. Thulsa is already an enigmatic anti-hero, that much is clear, and the teases of events before the issue, and what is to come are appropriately teasey. The only criticism, and this is barely a criticism, is that since it’s a Robert E. Howard adaptation, it’s not like the book is breaking any new ground. If you’ve read Conan or Red Sonja, you’ve read this before, just with the pieces mixed up a little bit. But as I said before, Nelson is a great storyteller, and he makes this issue work. I’m definitely picking up the second.

Army of Darkness: Ash Saves Obama #2: Okay, no butt-shots here (and might I add, what a gross phrase?). Not only that but… This is an Obama cash-in done the right way. I found the first issue delightfully charming and funny, and writer Elliot Serrano continues that trend in the second issue, with nary an appearance by our Commander-in-Chief. It might be that I’m a total sucker for puns, but “Necro-Comic-Con” is probably the best turn of phrase I’ve read all week.

Lone Ranger #18: Why is this book so good? Why? Is it Brett Matthews earnest and sparse writing, which perfectly captures the dialogue and cadence of the Lone Ranger and Tonto? Is it Sergio Cariello’s cinematic art, and well delineated characters? It’s certainly both of those things, but for this issue, I want to single out Marcelo Pinto’s gorgeous colors. There’s a cut from one panel, showing the villain under a dark purple night sky, to the Lone Ranger and Tonto under the same sky far away that gets across the sense of closeness of the danger without a single line of dialogue or stroke of the pencil. Also, because I just got a scanner, I want to show off this brilliant page that happens towards the end of the issue:

It’s hard to properly convey how well this works out of context, but suffice to say the whole issue is building up to the Lone Ranger about to run head-on into two antagonists that want him dead. No dialogue, again, but the action is perfectly explained, and the danger implied in three simple panels. This is a great book.

Galactica 1980 #1: Hey! That’s not Edward James Olmos. EPIC FAIL. Kidding, of course. For those of you not in the know, there’s a much maligned sequel series to the original Battlestar, which found the crew finally on Earth, in 1980. Hence, you know, the title. By all accounts, the series was terrible, and this is Marc Guggenheim’s chance to do the thing right. This reads, tone-wise, like halfway between original and Nu-Battlestar, with a touch of Guggenheim’s own Resurrection thrown in the mix. Which is to say, pretty darn enjoyable. I haven’t been too into Dynamite’s Battlestar comics, which felt like they were re-hashing the plot points we already knew, but this feels like something fun and new.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly #3: I could break this review up into “what’s good,” “what’s bad,” and “what’s ugly,” but let’s just make this easy and say it’s nearly incomprehensible. For the life of me, I have no idea who any character is, what they’re doing, where they are, and what their relationship to each other is. Or how the action connects from panel to panel. And for the record, I did read the first two issues.

Army of Darkness #24: The art is not nearly as good her as previous issues (though it does contain the flattest werewolf ever captured in a comic book), but hey, this continues to be a silly lark. As it should be, Ash. As it should be.

Previously in Pop on Pop: Baby went to the museum of play.

I was married in a Church and had my daughter baptized.

Channukah and Passover dinner at my Aunt Janet’s house are official family gatherings.

Christmas is probably the highlight of our calendar year, though for reasons more Hallmark than holy.

Dogma is my favorite Kevin Smith movie.

I agree with just about everything Bill Maher says about organized religion.

I wear a t-shirt that says “Jews Kick Ass” and features pictures of Captain Kirk, Fonzie, and Jesus Christ (Alexa has a matching onesie).

I am not a religious person in any traditional sense. Maybe not even in a nontraditional sense. But with 12 years of Catholic schooling under my belt and with a family comprising active and lapsed members of two faiths (my mother was Jewish before she became Catholic…go figure), there’s no denying that religion plays a big part in my life.

I know that this is going to become a thing with Alexa…eventually. There ought to be some context for all these disparate traditions, or else any positive secular take-aways will be lost on her, and her ability to make her own decisions, judgments, and choices about religion later in life could be compromised. I think I am a good person. In no way am I a perfect person, or even a particularly moral person, but I know right from wrong and my instincts are very much in synch with the greater good and best intentions. I wouldn’t be this way without the moral guidance I received in Religion class, or even in Math and English classes taught in my parochial school setting. My wife and I talk about this all the time when considering what to do with Alexa for school. It may be more expensive than public school, but if we can swing it and provide some perspective and open-mindedness with her about what she learns, sending her to a Catholic grade school doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

But then again, maybe it wasn’t Saint Gabriel’s or Cathedral Prep that gave me my wings. I’m sure all that “love thy neighbor” stuff helped quite a bit, but I’ve had other teachers through those years who have taught me just as much as any of the prophets…

For instance, Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben told me that “with great power comes great responsibility.” Without learning that lesson and seeing it serve as Spidey’s mantra over my 30+ years, would I really understand humility or charity? Would I know what it meant to use my own “powers” to help other people?

Today’s show has reviews of Dark Reign: The List: Avengers, Models Inc. #1, and Punisher MAX #74!

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Out in stores tomorrow and this week, is The Beasts of Burden, a four-issue mini-series published by Dark Horse, written by Evan Dorkin (Milk and Cheese) and with painted art by Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother) featuring a band of neighborhood pets who get in supernatural adventures. Beasts of Burden was introduced in four Dark Horse Book of anthologies (Hauntings, Witchcraft, the Dead, and Monsters).

Pop Culture Shock tracked Thompson down at Comic-Con International, on the day before she would win another Eisner Award, this year for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist on Magic Trixie, Magic Trixie Sleeps Over. She first caught the attention of the masses with her work in the early 90′s on Sandman, Swamp Thing, Invisibles, and Wonder Woman, then began paving the way for her own creation, Scary Godmother (1997-2000), a series of children’s books and her love of Halloween. Other highlights include Finals (1999), The Little Endless Storybook (2001), Death: At Death’s Door (2003), The Dead Boy Detectives (2005) amongst countless other works. She has branded a whimsical, cartoony art style that’s filled with emotion, drama, and most of all, fun. Ernie Estrella caught up with Jill to discuss the truth about cats and dogs, reading oversized comics, and of course, painting The Beasts of Burden.

I have been a big supporter of Hasbro’s Super Hero Squad toy line since it launched. An extension of the super-cute Star Wars Galactic Heroes figures and the gateway to additional expansions in the same style featuring assorted awesome from my childhood–Indiana Jones, G.I. Joe, Transformers–conveniently being reintroduced to a new generation’s childhood, the Squad figures have been a hit, wave after wave for what seems to be at least a dozen waves now.

My daughter only just reached the age where I can give her little figurines like these, so the target of my geeky good will has been my nephew, for whom I’ve been buying Squad figures since the first set. He’s swayed a little more toward the Star Wars set, but the kid has definitely got a little Marvel running through his veins thanks to Uncle Matt. Here he is with my girl Alexa to prove the point:

And here’s a sampling of his collection of “guys”–an admittedly mixed lot, featuring more than just Squad toys, but still, you get it:

So I was excited for Mason as much as for myself when I heard that Marvel was putting together an animated series featuring the Super Hero Squad, and the show premiered last night on the Cartoon Network!

Previously in Pop on Pop: Baby watched too much TV.

It’s summertime, so what better subject to tackle here than the geek family vacation?

But don’t expect me to cover the easy or obvious pop friendly choices, like the San Diego Comic Con, Disney World, or Universal Studios; or even the not-so-obvious geek getaways, like Niagara Falls’ Adventure City, a Marvel Comics-themed arcade on the ground floor of a hotel at the end of a strip that includes multiple fun houses, candy shops, and even a ferris wheel.

There’s apparently even a geek-family friendly cruiseline, for those of ou who want to get your nerd on while at sea(thanks to Wired’s own “Geek Dad” for that tip)!

These are all great destinations for the pop-minded family on holiday. But that’s not where I’m sending you, dear reader. I’m sending you to Rochester, New York.

WOO HOO!!!

Honestly, I don’t know that there is much to “woo” — or even to “hoo” — about in Rochester. It snows a lot. The city is famous for a dish called “The Garbage Plate,” which looks like this. But the main draw for me (Pop on Pop), my wife (Mom on Pop? Wait, that sounds dirty), and little miss Alexa Sunshine is family.

At least that was the reason.

But that all changed when my brother and sister-in-law introduced us to the coolest place I’ve ever been — The Strong Museum of Play.

Laura Hudson, former muscle behind the short-lived (but highly influential to scaring Wizard Magazine into stepping up its game) Comic Foundry and always a presence on the comic info tubes, pulled together an adorable list over at Comics Alliance:

The 21 Awesomest Superhero Mods for My Little Pony

As the father of a 2-year-old girl, I feel it is my duty to scout out and support this sort of girl-friendly geek ingenuity. Good looking out, Laura Hudson…and well played, custom toy people. Now let’s butch up some Care Bears!

Click the link up top for plenty more.