[War Rocket Ajax artwork by Rusty Shackles]
When I talked about comic book podcasts in my post about the House To Astonish podcast, I mentioned that there was another one I listened to: War Rocket Ajax.
War Rocket Ajax is hosted by Eugene Ahn and Chris Sims (of The Invincible Super-Blog notoriety). It came about when Eugene first interviewed Chris for Eugene’s original podcast, called People You Don’t Know, and they obviously enjoyed it so much they started their joint version.
War Rocket Ajax (the name comes from the film Flash Gordon) sees Chris and Eugene chatting about comics stuff in the news (as well as their own news), reviewing some comics (more Chris than Eugene), talking about their haters, and interviewing creative types. They started off impressively, chatting with Matt Fraction in their first podcast, and they’ve chatted with the likes of Tom Peyer, Jeff Parker, Colleen Coover, Matt Sturges and Bryan Lee O’Malley, as well as the likes of noted comics annotator Jess Nevins. They have musical stings – Eugene even did a rather good rap – and a good rapport, and the podcast lasts a good 90 to 120 minutes.
It works pretty well – Eugene leans towards the producer side, keeping things on track, being structured; Chris brings the comic book knowledge and the passion for the medium, as well as a great sense of humour, although he can lose focus occasionally. They have a good rapport, they create a fun atmosphere and their enthusiasm shines through. Interestingly, Chris comes across even more naturally when he’s not doing the interviewing – he was on another comic book podcast where he was the guest, talking about Blackest Night, and being allowed to be the talker allowed his natural showmanship to shine through. Another interesting aside – Eugene is a lawyer, like Al and Paul on House To Astonish; is it some sort of connection?
The website is a good adjunct to the podcast, with show notes for all links and sites mentioned in the podcast, as well as the great art of Rusty Shackles (he produced the image at the top of this post for the very first podcast, as well as for each subsequent podcast), which shows a dedication and enthusiasm that matches the quality of the podcast itself.
I really enjoy War Rocket Ajax – it’s a lot of fun, they talk to some interesting people, such as the Twisted Toyfare Theatre guys, and the different things the two men bring to the mix make for a good combination (even if they have an over-fondness for the reggaeton horn, which I don’t really get). If you like comic books and fun, I’d highly recommend this podcast.
