It's our NYCC rundown featuring Jun Bob Kim, Nathan Fox and Fluorescent Black, Art Thibert and Chrono Mechanics, Gabriel Hardman, Jim Cheung, Pim and Francie's Al Columbia, Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, Humberto Ramos, Gary Fields and Ren & Stimpy, Mahmud Asrar, Yildiray Cinar, Declan Shalvey, cosplayers, Archia, Top Shelf and AX: Alternative Manga anthology, Erik Larsen, Bergen Street Comics, Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul, Stan Lee, Jeff Lemire, Julian Lytle, Mike Norton and Tom Fowler, Mike Myers, Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit, A1 from Atomeka Press, Brian Pulido and Lady Death, Tricia Helfer, Kitchen Sink's Spirit Jam, Spawn, and a whole mess more!

NYCC looms large as David poses the question, "What moment in comics took you totally by surprise?" (incorporating Walking Dead, The Death of Jean DeWolff, Identity Crisis, the Teen Titans wedding, Susie's miscarriage, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Amazing Spider-Man, Hellboy, Starlin's Death of Captain Marvel and Dreadstar, Black Adam, Deathstroke and Terra, Kitty Pryde and the "N Word", Milligan and Allred's X-Force, the rape of Astoria in Cerebus, Preacher, Planetary, Squadron Supreme, I Kill Giants, and more). Plus, we find time to talk about the American Alan Moore, Skull Kickers #1, Boundless' Lady Death freebie, The Left Bank Gang from Jason and Fantagraphics, AX: Alternative Manga from Top Shelf, Darwyn Cooke's The Outfit, NYCC, Mort Drucker, the Street Angel short, Buscema's Conan, The Crusades from Image, Kelley Jones' Batman, Top Cow's Artifacts #2, Power Man #2, The Harvey Comics Treasury volume one from Dark Horse, Fred Van Lente, Shadowland, Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom volume one, and a whole mess more!

The countdown to NYCC begins as we enter into another one of our rare extended discussions focusing on one subject (give or take), in this case Bendis' recent comments on the state of comics journalism. Plus, we've enough time to tackle The Comics Journal, critical response to Blacksad, Ultimate X #3, Brightest Day, Jeffrey Brown (Sulk #1-3 and I Am Going to Be Small), Jim Rugg, Mike Mignola and The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Oddities from Dark Horse, Daken: Dark Wolverine (Oxymoron?), Namor: the First Mutant, Guarding the Globe from Image, Freedom Fighters, Taskmaster and Fred Van Lente, 7 Billion Needles by Nobuaki Tadano and Vertical, DC's placement of Bob Harras, Mark Waid, and a whole mess more!

In a rare episode with an honest-to-goodness direction, we wonder aloud which works we would present to that rare beast, the first-time comic book reader (incorporating Wolverine: Enemy of the State and Old Man Logan, Planet Hulk, Frank Miller's Ronin and Sin City, Secret Wars, New Frontier, Marvels, Cuba: My Revolution, Watchmen, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Mark Millar and Ultimates, The Authority, 28 Days Later, Buffy Season 8, John Byrne's Star Trek, Hack/Slash, Joker, The Mask, Bill and Ted's Excellent Comic Book, Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror, Thor: The Mighty Avenger, Asterios Polyp, Three Story, Jeffrey Brown, Locke and Key, The Stand and The Dark Tower, Parker, American Splendor, 30 Days of Night, Ashley Wood and Metal Gear Solid, and more)! Plus, we have enough time left over to talk up The Best American Comics of the Year, Not Brand Echh #3 and Jack Kirby, Marie Severin, recent news concerning Wildstorm and Zuda, Parker and Hardman's Hulk #25, NYCC, Wild Pig, The Stuff of Legend, Alpha Flight, Hulk #181, Desert Island's Smoke Signal #6, and even more! Weep not for the goat, for he has served the dark master well...

Jason returns to the fold as we launch erudite excursions into Incredible Hulks #613, Dark Rain: A New Orleans Story and Cuba: My Revolution from Vertigo, Fear Agent #29, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs and The Dead, Magnus, Robot Fighter from Dark Horse, Paul Gulacy, artists that fall out of favor, Image and Valiant's Deathmate crossover, Rob Liefeld, pruning the pull list and playing the mainstream game, Kurt Busiek and company's Avengers volume three, DC's new/old war titles, and a whole mess more!

Technical difficulties prevent a West-coast Wooooode from joining us in discussion on The Mighty, our attachment to paper, Cameron Stewart, Frank Miller, Dark Horse Presents #100, Tom Grummett, Trencher, Tim Seeley's Hack/Slash, Vampirella, the EC Archives, Warren Publications, Gil Kane, John Buscema, Pat Broderick, Paul Pope, James Jean, Brave and the Bold, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Astonishing X-Men, David Finch and Brightest Day, Brand New Day, Humberto Ramos, the damage caused by Civil War, House of M, Peter David's X-Factor, JMS' Thor, editorial decisions, Shadowland, Daredevil, Coreyyy S. Lewis' Seedless, and a whole mess more!

A simple start -- discussing Ike Turner, Batman: The Brave and the Bold Season One, Part One DVD and Bruce Timm's take on the character, THB: Comics from Mars #2 from Paul Pope and AdHouse Books, our preliminary, off-the-cuff picks for the forthcoming 2010 11 O'Closcars (Earth One, Afrodisiac from AdHouse, Batman: Odyssey, The Sixth Gun from Oni Press, Action Comics, Walking Dead, American Vampire, Daytripper, Asylum Press' Fearless Dawn from Steve Mannion, Top Cow's Artifacts and Ron Marz, Fred Van Lente, Greg Pak, First Wave, Solar: Man of the Atom, G.I. Joe: Hearts and Minds, The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects, Wood and Templesmith's Spawn: Hellspawn, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo, and more...), Magnus: Robot Fighter #1 by Shooter and Reinhold, Image's Nancy in Hell #1 by Juan Jose Ryp and El Torres, The Abominable Charles Christopher, White Wolf's Mage: The Awakening and Michael William Kaluta, Vertigo Crime: Fogtown, Matt Kindt's Revolver, The Alcoholic, Shadowland: Power Man, and Daredevil -- all, like Nancy, goes to hell in a handbasket once the subject of Spider-Man and Batman's rogues galleries is broached. Complete and utter chaos...

Jason is back and bettah than evah as he helps us suss out the second volume of the Sam Kieth Sketchbook from IDW, Bill Sienkiewicz, Wizard World Chicago 2010, buying original art, Jim Rugg, The Beats: A Graphic History by Harvey Pekar, Ed Piskor, et al from Novel Graphics and Hill and Wang, Spider-Man: Fever, the Walking Dead trailer from AMC, Scott Pilgrim, Haunt, Science Dog, Guarding the Globe, Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer and Kenneth Roquafort, the David Choe monograph from Chronicle Books, vampires and the X-Men, Jeff Lemire's Superboy, Teen Titans, Mike Mignola, Rick Remender, Hickman's Fantastic Four, and much, much more!

Tom Katers sits in for a vacationing Wooooode, wringing his trademark blend of wry humor out of topics like Brightest Day, The Smurfs from Peyo and Papercutz, One Piece and Silver Age sensibilities, Paul Grist's The Weird World of Jack Staff, Queen and Country, Dexter, Tom Defalco and Archie: The Man from Riverdale, Simpsons Comics #168 from Bongo, Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft and Keys to the Kingdom from Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez, Showcase: Enemy Ace and Essential Man-Thing volume one, Howard Chaykin, Angelus #1-4 from Top Cow, The Luna Bros' and The Sword, Bakuman volume one from Shonen Jump/Viz Media, The Return of Bruce Wayne, JMS, Kanigher's Wonder Woman, and a whole mess more!

In this colon-infested commentary, we touch upon Predators, Ken Meyer Jr's awe-inspiring Ink Stains for Comic Attack, CLiNT, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Batgirl Vol. 1: Batgirl Rising, Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plain #2, Morning Glories #1 from Image, Baltimore: The Plague Ships #1, Fear Agent: Out of Step part one from Dark Horse, Pilot Season: Stellar, The Sixth Gun from Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt from Oni Press, Steve Pugh (with Warren Ellis) and Hotwire: Deep Cut #1 from Radical (with a bit of Legends: The Enchanted for not-so-good measure), Thor, the Mighty Avenger by Chris Samnee and Roger Langridge, Vertigo's Unknown Soldier, Hack/Slash: My First Maniac, Officer Downe from Joe Casey and Chris Burnham, Scarlet #1, The Sword (part the first) from Image, and much, much more!