Welcome to the FIRST episode of the Action Comics Weekly Podcast! Joining Host Chad Bokelman are guest hosts Mark Marble, Jay Jones, Ben Avery, Michael Bailey, Doug Zawisza, and Alan Middleton.
CHARACTERS THIS EPISODE: Green Lantern – Wild Dog – Secret Six – Superman – Deadman – Blackhawk
Listen in for an introduction to your host, an explanation of the podcast, and MOST IMPORTANTLY reviews of the first issues worth of stories from the Action Comics Weekly series itself!
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The Action Comics Weekly Podcast 
It’s truly a Golden Age of Podcasting when we get an Action Comics Weekly show, and I’m not even being sarcastic! I discovered ACW when I was going backwards to filling in my Post Crisis Superman run, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I pretty much skipped over them. As Michael Bailey stated, there’s really no way to fit this into the chronology, so I thought that It would be better to not even try.
I really enjoyed this episode and, while I’m not going to run out and try and find these issues, I can see that I’m going to have a good time listening. All of the guests were really good, even if the various strips didn’t all grab my attention. (I’m looking at you, Wild Dog.) I’m looking forward to 602 in a couple of weeks!
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I’ve got a habit of sometimes, not ALL the time but sometimes, putting things in such a way that people go, “Well that sounds right to me! Moving on!” So I’d be curious at your opinion after reading an issue or two. See if I’m exaggerating or not. Thanks for listening Gene!
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Wild Dog is all downhill from here.
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Great 1st show! Really enjoyed it. Just a few things about Wild Dog and the Quad Cities: The Quad Cities is an actual place along the IA/IL border, just a short drive west of Chicago, and that area is considered one of the most dangerous in Iowa and Illinois (http://wqad.com/2014/12/12/report-lists-most-dangerous-cities-in-iowa-and-illinois/). In fact, Rock Island (one of the cities) hosted the 1st ever NFL game.
As far as Wild Dog not being a DC-type character because of the violence he displays, I suppose you guys were forgetting characters/series such as Vigilante, Checkmate, Suicide Squad, who killed on a regular basis. Also, at the time this came out, you had Green Arrow longbow-hunting dudes in the Seattle streets and The Question collapsing bad guys’ skulls up in Hub City. Wild Dog was no more violent than they. Nor do I think you can “murder” terrorists when you are saving hostages. Using deadly force to save someone from immenent death or great bodily harm is perfectly legal in most states, including IA and IL, and, I would think, applies in this situation. He was just not written to be a sympathetic character (and, IMO, not really written well at all). Last note: I’ve always assumed that the dog on his jersey (though it says it is from “State U”) represented the Western Illinois University Leathernecks’ mascot (with the color scheme changed to protect the innocent, I suppose): https://www.nmnathletics.com/pics33/400/IE/IEQWAACGULXLABU.20130429155844.jpg
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Also forgot to mention that Max Allan Collins was from Muscatine, Iowa, which is just down-river from the Quad Cities.
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The artist Terry Beatty was also from Muscatine. I actually knew that. It just didn’t come up for some reason.
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Now, I said it wasn’t *my* DC Comics cause I didn’t read those other books you mentioned. The stuff I leaned toward at that age was a bit more saccharine. Except I did read Suicide Squad… so maybe I’m full of it. Or forgot.
When the Wild Dog mini-series first hit the shelves, I was 15 years old and quite sheltered. I wasn’t allowed to watch much television as a kid so I found escape in books like Green Lantern and Superman. I was so naive, I didn’t even know the Quad Cities was a real place. Also there was no internet. I think Wild Dog must have excited me because it was so different from what I read (except Suicide Squad).
I don’t dispute that violence ran rampant in DC Comics. It even infected my precious Captain Atom with the arrival of Major Force. I suppose I just always wore blinders. You make a good point. I am chagrined. Also, yeah, it wasn’t well-written. Which is unfortunate.
But I still think he murdered those people, terrorists or not.
Man, Suicide Squad was super violent. I have to rethink my whole childhood now.
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I wholeheartedly agree. The darkening of the DCU in the late 80’s is what drove me to leave comics for over a decade. If I wanted killing and angst, I would’ve read Marvel.
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It was a great first episode, Chad. I would’ve loved it even if I hadn’t been a part of it. I look forward to hearing more. Maybe not so much the Wild Dog stuff, though.
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Yeah, yeah, I’m way behind but August is my busiest month, and who cares if this comment is too late for the podcast?
I remember liking the idea of DC trying a big fat anthology but resented it from Day One for demoting Superman … Action is HIS comic, he should get the lead strip, not two measly pages. Green Lantern as lead? He’s from an entirely different family of books!
It didn’t help that this is the nastiest story ever to appear in Green Lantern, removing one character and ruining another forever. As you asked, I was a longtime reader, I liked Carol, and hated seeing her become the vessel used to slice apart Katma Tui … I don’t know about bludgeon, to me, she was dicing her. How John Stewart, to this day, can stand to even be in the same space sector as Carol, I’ll never know; I’d love it were this story Rebirthed away. I’m really not a fan of Owsley/Priest – he’s clever, but his work always seemed to have a mean-spirited edge.
Wild Dog was just rubbish on every level – a boring murderous vigilante with a stupidly mundane look and no gimmick to speak of. Not so much a ‘Created By’ character as a ‘Created For the NRA’. I liked Collins and Beatty on Ms Tree but here they were firing blanks.
You guys were spot on, tying the new Secret Six to the originals was a mistake, meaning there were too many characters no one cared about in too little space. I actually have the first of the original Secret Six series, it has a great cover by Frank Springer. I always get King Savage confused with King Faraday, not that this comes up much.
I’m all for Deadman in space, as I was for Swampy in space. It makes a change. I agree that Boston moans at Rama far too much.
It was a shame to see Curr Swan back on Superman but with no room to breathe. I’d love to have seen Swan put those lessons in more adventurous layouts Gil Kane supposedly gave him a few years before intro practice. The idea of a Superman cult didn’t grab me – I’d prefer he went looking for McGurk.
The Blackhawk story didn’t interest me at all – I wonder what our Grell Fans Supreme Ruth and Darrin thought of it.
You know, this podcast would be perfectly placed over at Fire and Water, you could have a gallery page and everything…
Congratulations on a fine first instalment, and here’s to 41 more!
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Oh, forgot to say how much I hate what they did to the logo, could that re-angled
‘A’ (cue Chandler Bing tome) ‘BE’ more wrong?
And if you need a volunteer for Dogkiller Dee…
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Hey – listening now – this comic came out during the time I wasn’t buying comics, so I missed this all. Is the show ‘ over’?
Also – wonder if I can get these issues in the quarter bins… 🙂
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The show is DEFINITELY not over. Just on hiatus while I figure out how to proceed. Quite a bit on my plate as of late so I need to figure out a new “schedule”. It may become a quarterly show or bi monthly.
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