It’s January and Winter has finally come to Virginia! Sure, it was barely enough to cover the cars and bring down a tree into a power line here and there, but it came just the same. The first month of a new year also means it’s time to start another Book Club! Or something. Really, it all boils down to me (that’s Jason, so there’s no confusion) picking a comic that, while of a good quality (namely The Rack), did not lend itself well to the task of reading a couple hundred pages at a time in an effort to go through the back issues. So Steve is up this time with a pick he says will do the name Book Club proud. We’ll see.

First up, however, we must tell you what we’ve been reading! And my picks are those sent to us by the infinitely talented, always available Ryan Estrada, straight from his latest pay-what-you-want graphic novel collection, The Whole Story (6:14). If you haven’t already contributed to this wildly successful Kickstarter, then I can tell you that two of the stories chosen for the collection proper, The Dog’s Sins by KC Green, and Plagued by Ryan Estrada, are worth the price of admission alone (but you still get at least two other books on top these already high-quality stories!). Both are on the shorter side but offer wildly different and highly entertaining experiences for your eyes and mind to enjoy.

Steve, on the other hand, has been engulfed in the frivolity and whimsy that makes up Bearmageddon (9:02). It’s from one of the minds that brought us the soon-to-be-a-TV-series Axe Cop (9:45) and the title should be a dead giveaway as to the mindless fun you’re going to have with this one. Seriously, bears. It’s in the title.

In our first segment chatter, we also mention another of KC Green’s projects, the currently-running Gun Show (7:45). It’s thought-provoking, random, and at times randomly thought-provoking. Rarely not hilarious, too. Check it.

Ok, so normally I mention where you can find our midshow music so you can check it out for yourself. But this week, I urge, nay, demand, that you clicky the link and download all of “Dirty Coins” by bLiNd (Jordan Aguirre) from Overclocked Remix (11:07). I’m rocking to it right now as I write this post because I CAN’T GET IT OUT OF MY SYSTEM. AND I LOVE IT FOR THAT. Oh, and we talk about the Glee/Jonathan Coulton situation during the break as well. Women’s lib gets a nod as well, I think. Just listen.

We are going to get through this comic, come Hell or high water, but we encourage you, the listener, to participate with us and read along. We’ll be sending out Tweets and Facebook posts when we’re gearing up for the next edition, so keep an eye out and join us in this first (only?) Book Club of 2013. For our first edition with Harry Potter and the Illuminated Bridge … er, Gunnerkrigg Court, we dissect each chapter, page by page, and come to a consensus that, while incredibly derivative in a number of ways, this is a comic worth reading in its entirety. We read the first 200 pages (11 chapters, if you want to count that way) this time around, so catch up and let us know what you think! With Book Club, your thoughts are just as important as ours. Probably more so, since we’re tired of hearing ourselves speak/think.

For those into tangents, our Rambletron chokes on the following: Why are snow plows such dicks to people who live on side streets, the useless superpower that is pre-cognitive professional wrestling color commentary, Steve reminding us of his cockamamie Axe Cop conspiracy theory, science brooms, basil vs. basil, whether or not “artificial habitat” can be considered dirty, and the threat of death in Candy Land. Join us?

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