#d20radio

We kick things off this week, as is our custom, our burden, our glorious purpose, with what we've been up to since you last indulged yourself of our dulcet tones. I'm up to episode 9 of The Leftovers on HBO, and it's something I have enjoyed immensely so far, especially the performance of and writing for Christopher Eccleston; Eli plugs the heck out of East of West and Southern Bastards (which, let's be real, at this point, an episode of OPUB is pretty much structurally obligated to contain a plug for Snyder, Hickman or Jason Aaron), and has an update for us on his previous prediction regarding Peter Capaldi's Doctor Who performance; Max, while a bit behind on his monthly floppies, has reread the extraordinarily popular graphic memoir Maus by Art Spiegelman and has read for the first time Bryan Lee O'Malley (he of Scott Pilgrim fame)'s Seconds, calling it the best long-form graphic story he's read all year, shying away from any spoilers; and Colby is ready to tackle the first issue of Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples's smash hit success Saga from Image, and he's being preemptively let down by some of the early press on Star Wars VII from J. J. Abrams.

Stappit.

After that, we do a deep-dive discussion of Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky's Sex Criminals from Image Comics. We read the first trade paperback, and while there's a fair amount of controversy associated with this book, we seem to agree that overall, it succeeds brilliantly at a lot of what it sets out to do, regardless of a few stylistic and tonal misfires that we point out. We get up to some discussions of mature-content work in general (trying not to get stuck in the easy chair of MPAA-bashing... the big, comfy, rich Corinthian-leather chair that calls to us like a siren), some bits about the work on its own merits, and how we all, in our own way, viewed the infamous bathroom scene from issue 1.

You know, the bathroom scene.

Then we harken back to our pilot episode for our first ever POP CULTURE MELEE! Each of us picks a topic to defend in a completely farcically-structured debate judged by friend of the show Steve Sunkel. In This match, we all go to bat for the first season of one of our favorite Fox animated sitcoms- Family Guy vs. King of the Hill vs. The Simpsons vs. Bob's Burgers. WHO will be the champion? DID I already give it away at the start of the recap? YOU'LL have to listen to find out!

That crossover episode really was as disappointing as it looked...

Break out the crayolas and color us Tickled Pink, because we just couldn't be happier to bring you this, our tenth-est episode ever, rated "E" for "Everyone to whom an M rating would normally apply." Colby's Fraction-fanboy fun is rather infectious, and I must say I have an appreciation for Sex Criminals I wouldn't have if I'd just walked away from it after the first read. There are some really interesting points that we hit on as well- let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, or our (newly constituted) forums on d20Radio.com! Shower us in your delicious, decadent praises for the grand scope of our achievement, or belittle us and drown us in shame for our sinful crime of hubris. Either way, we’d love to hear from you!

Possibly one of the best variant covers ever created.

Stay tuned for our next episode, a detailed discussion of the works of Nerd Culture darling and Master of Your Wallet Joss Whedon- how the heck is it possible that everything this guy has ever produced is held in such unanimously high regard, with only one or two notable exceptions? We'll try to pinpoint the enduring appeal of Joss Whedon before discussing our favorite endings in pop culture- join us for another week of geeky goodness!

-Patrick