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Erin, who is much nicer than Blake, told him to go ahead and post this week's episode despite a catastrophic recording error that chopped out her half of the conversation. So if you're up for it, here's an hour of Blake talking to himself about the new Doctor Who episode, some news from Wondercon, and the book Wool by Hugh Howey. If you don't want to listen to that, he doesn't blame you. Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!
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Oh boy! Somehow an episode of Archer involving the papacy makes several extremely nerdy jokes. The X-Man Cypher was name-checked! (Of course, he was dismissed as the “gayest” X-Man, although Archer has some lingering suspicions about Gambit.) Then there's an extended argument about midieval weaponry, a grammar joke, and a mention of both The Wiz and “jazz hands”. Nerdiest episode ever? Maybe, until the next one.

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When the Marvel Now! initiative started, I tried a lot of titles. Some of them I liked right away. Some of them I disliked immediately. Some surprised me with how good they are. But only one actually had me rocking back and forth, on the fence, and that was Matt Fraction’s Fantastic Four. As of today, I think Fraction has finally knocked me off the fence.
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Last week's entry contained a surprising amount of content, but, like anything worth pursuing, I needed to pour a lot of hard work into it. Everything that went into that piece was something I felt had to be said. With that, the continuing outcry against SimCity got a very interesting article posted about what a gamer's Bill of Rights might look like. It was a very thought provoking piece – insightful, intriguing, and almost completely missing the point.
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This Archer finally answers a question I’ve always wondered about: why isn’t Pam a field agent? Pam brings up the question herself in this episode of Archer, although it’s the B plot to the main story, which is surprisingly thin. I mean, it’s kind of fun, but a big chunk of its humor comes from a big, farty, barfing dog. Which isn’t really all that funny.



But Pam acing the agent test, and beating the holy shit out of all the male agents in the training exercise is, and really

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With this being the 20^th month of the initiative, the question has to be asked of DC’s “New 52” – just how long can they keep calling it “New?” The shine comes off of everything eventually. The unpacking is done, the appliances are plugged in, the junk drawers filled, the bubble wrap popped, the new car smell expunged, the metaphor stretched beyond all credulity. Sure, the name is catchy – it rhymes and everything – but can anything really be “new” forever?
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Reviewer: Andrea Speed andy@cxpulp.com
Quick Rating: Great
Title: Bad Apples, Chapter 2


The cult ramps up its violence … and someone discovers a traitor within the FDA.


Writer: John Layman
Artist: Rob Guillory
Cover Art: Rob Guillory
Publisher: Image Comics


This is an action packed issue of Chew, what with the Divinity of the Immaculate Ova taking their war against chicken eaters into the street, leaving the FDA and USDA struggling to keep up and keep control of the situation. Things are spiraling out fast, and who do they call for help? Well, Tony of course.
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This week’s Archer got down to doing what it does best, which is go into the spy action, while Pam and Cheryl share a scene off to the side, being vulgar and funny and in all other respects just amazing. I would watch a spinoff show with these two; in fact, I almost insist upon it.


To catch some North Koreans in town to buy uranium, Archer and Lana are forced to play a honeymooning couple in an expensive Tunt hotel, which lets Lana be on task while Archer is busy using his mother’s lifted black platinum
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As if I hadn’t given Comixology enough publicity last week, with their big “submit” announcement, this weekend they partnered up with Marvel for something that would pretty much dwarf anything else they announced for a while: free digital comics. Not a big deal in and of itself. Lots of publishers give away free books from time to time – heck, Marvel usually gives away three or four a week. But this wasn’t three or four. This was 700. Not an autocorrect, as I said when I texted Erin and Kenny about this. Seven. Zero. Zero. Virtually every #1 issues the publisher had in their Comixology catalogue was free for the taking.
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In a week where I was planning to bask in the sun and live the good life with a new game, this was not supposed to be the week where the crotchety old man made an appearance. Sometimes yelling at everyone from the front porch is not appealing. What's wrong with sitting down, enjoying some homemade fresh lemonade and reading the paper? For starters, well, that means I would not be playing video games. That, and I am pretty sure newspapers do not exist anymore. After all, I read that on the Internet.
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Reviewer: Andrea Speed andy@cxpulp.com
Quick Rating: Great

The lives of six queer female to male transsexuals is explored in biographical stories.

Writer & Artist: Dylan Edwards

Cover Art: Dylan Edwards

Publisher: Northwest Press



Yes, queer is the preferred term here, and it is not an insult or slur in this context. Many people who fall along genderqueer lines use it, as do some people of fluid sexuality, which is fine. I just wanted to inform people who might be unfamiliar with the use of the term. We good? Okay, let's move on.


The six people featured in the book may all have been born female while feeling male, but all come to this decision in different ways, and each has to resolve their attractions in similar but divergent ways. Some have fully transitioned surgically, some haven't or can't, and are simply
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