If you haven’t heard it before The Incomparable is a great podcast about geeky consumables: comics, books, movies, TV, games. Sometimes they review a single movie, and sometimes they do really entertaining drafts of characters or movies to form a new show or idea.
That they’re reviewing media also means that typical episodes are removed from the constraints of keeping up with the daily stream. You can listen (and re-listen) to the Raiders episode with no idea that it was recorded four years ago. Some episodes I save for many months until I read or watch what they’re talking about, because I know that whatever the mix of panel they’ll always have something insightful and funny to say.
I’m pretty sure there’s some sort of magic involved for the people to be able to watch and read so much and have lives – with jobs and spouses and kids, even! Do they live in a hotel with room service? I feel like I’m decently disciplined with my time and getting through podcasts during commuting and housework, plus a book or two a week, is a lot. And that’s with zero movies or TV.
Anyway, there are a few things I’d love for them to talk about. In no particular order:
1. Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher. I’ve been re-reading these recently and I think there’s a wealth of meaty things to talk about. Free will, change over time, the consequences of choices large and small, trust in others, corruption of power, and much more.
The only problem is that at this point in the series there are a lot of books (the most recent is the 15th), and if they were going to talk about the series I think most of them would want to read them all. Big investment, but worth it.
2. Along similar lines the Dark Tower books by Stephen King represent another mountain. I was really into these for a while, and still hold the first three in high esteem. But the fourth was okay and I dropped off after a while. And then one day I picked up the last book in a bookstore, intending to finish the series. Idly flipping through I found a drawing of what looked like King, read around there, put the book down and refused to invest any more time in it. (No spoilers, not even sure if that qualifies though.)
That said, I know John Siracusa has read them all and probably has a lot to say. He could definitely sway me to pick them back up.
3. Coen Brothers movies. I’m pretty sure they’ve mentioned Fargo, and possibly others, but I feel like the whole body is worthy of an hour or two. The recent overview is a good jumping off point.
4. Revisiting Locke and Key. Episode 126 turned me on to the comic, and I’m incredibly grateful for it because I think it’s one of the best series I’ve read. But it came out while the series was still going on. Hearing them talk about the arc and finale of the series and characters would be great.
5. A few authors - Brian K. Vaughan and Greg Rucka. They’ve talked about Vaughan a bit with the Saga episode but I’d love to hear them discuss Y: The Last Man or Ex Machina. And Greg Rucka touches a lot of different genres in both comics and novels. And he’s written a number of comics with strong female leads – Stumptown, Lazarus, and Queen & Country – the last of which is a series of novels as well.
UPDATE - @theincomparable graciously pointed out that a Brian K. Vaughan episode already exists!