Saturday, May 16, 2015

Episode 11: Conway's Corner Crossover

Reviewing the Green Arrow and Black Canary stories from World's Finest Comics #245 featuring the menace of the Man-Bear! Both stories are written by Gerry Conway, with art by Mike Nasser and Terry Austin.

Flowers & Fishnets is available for download on iTunes by clicking here, or you can check out the show's RSS feed by clicking here. 

This episode is part of the Conway’s Corner Crossover, a celebration of the work of comics writer Gerry Conway, and an effort by the podcasting community to bring greater attention to the issue of DC Comics and Creator Equity.

To read Gerry Conway’s thoughts on the subject, check out his Tumblr post right here:

And to follow other shows participating in Conway’s Corner Crossover, check out the following podcasts:


 Two True Freaks Presents: The Vault of Startling Monster Horror Tales of Terror Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/two-true-freaks-presents-vault/id652570784?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Sample pages from World's Finest #245:




Music this episode:
"Respect"
Aretha Franklin
Atlantic Records, 1967.

"Lawyers, Guns and Money"
Warren Zevon
Asylum Records, 1978.


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8 comments:

  1. AnjMay 18, 2015 at 7:39 AM

    Another great episode highlighting comics and stories I know nothing about. Bring on the education!

    Man-bear sounds like a standard villain. But the intern villain sounds more interesting to me. When you read the line with all the pauses, my first thought went to Peter Lorre too. But why Lorre as a mad doctor?

    Lastly, the art by Nasser/Austin is just stunning. Canary looks like a complete bombshell, no doubt. But the action sequences seem well rendered as well. So it isn't just cheesecake! Looking forward to hearing more.

    As for Conway, I have reviewed many issues of his on my site, Superman and JLA stuff. The stories I reviewed are some of my all time favorites.

    In terms of compensation, the circular logic of the Killer Frost discussion seems ridiculous, as you point out. The dreaded 'derivative' designation for some characters is also a weird thing to navigate. I don't know the $$ we are talking about to know how much skin is in the game for the corporations. But as you say, it is the right thing to do. If the big corporations don't reward the creators, the creators won't write for the big corporations. Hence, Image and it's recent re-explosion.

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  2. MetropolisKid41May 18, 2015 at 10:48 AM

    I have always had a real fondness for these Dollar Comics World's Finest issues, they are some of my all-time favorite DC Books. These definitely served as my first introduction to Black Canary as a character, and I really enjoyed the duality of the Green Arrow & BC solo features making one larger story.

    Nasser/Netzer's Art in this is fantastic, man he could draw a sexy Canary. That panel with some well placed hair, whew! As Shag would say, she's hot!

    I will say, even at an early age the whole Canary outfit change occurring while she was ko'd gave me an uneasy feeling. It's best not to think about what else may have happened when her captors changed her clothes. When I was a kid I really dig the Man-Bear as a monstrous villain, but since South Park introduced Man-Bear-Pig I just can't see him without busting out laughing now.

    Great episode Ryan! I've really dug your Canary coverage so far, thank you so much for recapping the 90's Canary series in past episodes so that we don't have to seek out and read those things ourselves.

    Fan the Flowers and Ride the Fishnets, or something like that.

    -Kyle Benning

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    1. Count DrunkulaMay 22, 2015 at 11:54 PM

      Oh man, now all I can think about is Man-Bear-Pig!

      I've got to finish off the last five issues of the '93 ongoing, as well as delve into the new ongoing launching next month and the remainder of these WF issues. Lots to cover in the future.

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  3. UnknownMay 18, 2015 at 11:37 AM

    Great episode Ryan. I picked this issue up in a back issue bin at some point, and man, it's a fun ride. Man-Bear is truly disturbing. Nasser draws a disgusting amalgam of man and beast. It looks like it hurts. His art in this period looks to be the lovechild of Neal Adams and Mike Grell...and that's just plain purty. Speaking of purty, Kyle (and by association, Shag) is right...Dinah is HOT. Smokin' hot. You know he didn't have to draw Dinah in that state of undress...but I for one am glad he did.

    Can you imagine a 70s GA/BC series written by Conway and drawn by Nasser and Austin? This stuff is too good for back-ups.

    Looking forward to you following this story, because it leads to the pivotal moment in my young comic reading career when we get buck-nekkid Dinah disrobing in front of a werewolf. I was only 3 when this comic was bought for me off the stands...but it made an impression.

    Chris

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    1. Count DrunkulaMay 22, 2015 at 11:52 PM

      Thanks, Chris! I can't wait to revisit that werewolf story.

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  4. Relatively GeekyMay 22, 2015 at 6:31 PM

    Among the many nice things about the Conway Xover event was my finding a bunch of new podcasts to listen to. I listened to this one, then immediately downloaded the rest of them, and am working my way through the back catalog.

    Have thoroughly enjoyed all the episodes I've listened to so far, including this one. I have a soft spot for dollar comics -- what a bargain! Keep up the good work.

    -- Professor Alan

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    1. Count DrunkulaMay 22, 2015 at 11:51 PM

      Thanks, Alan!

      I, too, have discovered a lot of other terrific shows because of Conway's Corner Crossover. I was excited (and jealous) that you covered JLA #188 because Dinah is featured so prominently on the cover. Good stuff.

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  5. Diabolu FrankAugust 29, 2015 at 6:12 PM

    I’ve fallen way behind on listening and responding to Flowers & Fishnets, so I’ll use the opportunity of my signing in to work on a Blogger post for the first time in a month to catch up. I do most of my podcast listening and replying on a tablet, which loses all ability to function on this type of site, so I have to comment on the Rolled Spine Wordpress blog then copy and paste it here.

    You’ll never hear me on a Zany Haney #FWPodcast episode covering the Martian Manhunter’s World’s Finest appearance. That story was the conclusion of a multi-part arc by an entirely different creative team that ran as a back-up in Adventure Comics. Not only is that a whole other thing to deal with outside the scope of Fire & Water, but it really needs to be handled in the Idol-Head show as it’s one of the few Alien Atlas tales from the ’70s in total.

    White hip huggers For The Ween! "I look at your pants and I need a kiss" I don’t know what is wrong with my brain, as Mike Nasser’s Dinah Lance makes me think inappropriate thoughts, but as soon as she goes blonde I’m all “meh.” Also, it makes me start paying attention to Gerry Conway’s script again, and that’s terrible. From ManBearPig to Casual Friday Crime Doctor, the tale(s) ate lead chips. I’m also resentful because Mike Nasser was the artist on the Manhunter from Mars strip until the final chapter, where he was replaced by Curt Swan, published in this same damned issue. Not cool, bro! Random thought: the posturing intern fake Doctor reminds me of the stock boys from Night of the Comet.

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