Seconds with Matt aka Stormageddon
We’re back with another episode of Trade School! This time, we’re talking about Seconds! Our host this week is Matt aka Stormageddon!
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Check out the episode of Superpod that features Matt: https://superpodnetwork.com/channel/gaming-and-collecting-podcast-video-editions/video/gc-podcast-episode-248-discussing-seconds-by-bryan-lee-omalley-ft-matt-storm-video
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Edited by Case Aiken
Scored by Bret Eagleston
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⏱️ YouTube Chapters
00:00 – Intro to Trade School
00:07 – Matt Storm Returns
00:25 – From Scott Pilgrim to Seconds
00:49 – Reading Seconds for Shout Out Bill
01:10 – “This Became One of My Favorite Graphic Novels”
01:34 – Premise of Seconds
02:19 – The Mushrooms, the Notebook & Time Resets
03:03 – Trying to Erase the Past
03:51 – Why Matt Couldn’t Put the Book Down
04:22 – Slice-of-Life Stories & Hawkeye Comparisons
05:13 – Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Art & Scott Pilgrim Connections
05:52 – Why Seconds Is the Perfect Starting Point
06:29 – Avoiding Spoilers & Letting Readers Discover the Story
07:16 – Matt’s Plugs & Final Recommendation
07:59 – Fun and Games Podcast Promo
08:37 – CertainPOV.com Outro
Transcript
00:00
Welcome to Certain Point of View's Trade School, where each episode a different host talks about a comic book trade paperback that they loved and why they love it.
00:07
Hey folks, welcome to another brand new episode of Trade School. I of course, am still Matt, AKA Stormageddon, one of the co hosts of the Fun and Games podcast and the Reignite Podcast, both featured on this incredible podcast network. I'm so thankful to Case for having me back. And since in my first episode for this series I talked a lot about how much I love Scott Pilgrim and how much the those books mean to me. It only makes sense that I pick another book by the incredible Brian Lee o', Malley, but one that I read fairly recently. I recently guested on the gaming and collecting podcast Shout Out Bill. It's a great show and they cover a wide range of stuff from video games to comic books to pop culture stuff, movies.
00:49
And both Bill and I had never read the graphic novel Seconds by Brian Lee o', Malley, which was their follow up to Scott Pilgrim. It came out in 2014, the original edition at least, and we both decided, well, the way we'll get homework done is if we do it for the podcast. So we did it for that podcast. I'll send it to Case so Case can link it in the show notes down below. But this got me to read something that I'd had a copy of for many years but never got around to reading. And it instantly became one of my favorite comic books, I think of all time, one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. Like I might like it more than Scott Pilgrim. It's hard to say because they're very different, but there are some related through lines.
01:34
And so Seconds is a graphic novel written and drawn by the incredible Brian Lee o', Malley. And the story follows Katie Clay, who's the head chef of a prospering restaurant named Seconds. And in Katie's story, in the beginning, she's also trying to open a new restaurant because she's actually sold Seconds to her partner and she wants a new restaurant to kind of like start over without being a renowned chef and having a famous restaurant. She wants to just go independent and start small again. And over the course of the beginning of the book, and I guess if you don't want any spoilers for Seconds, go read it right now, but I'm only going to give minor setup spoilers. And so Katie is finding that she has a lot of problems as she's trying to launch this restaurant.
02:19
She's encountering conflict, she's runs into her ex who shows up at the restaurant kind of unannounced and she discovers through this seemingly ethereal being, Lys who just kind of starts showing up in her room, this white haired girl that she also gains access to this small cauldron filled with mushrooms and has instructions about if you take one and write something in this book, it will reset that moment. You can like kind of fix problems, try again. It's a time loop kind of thing. And so Katie engages in this and it seems to fix her problems, at least on the short scale. After a horrible accident and injury happens to a quiet waitress within her restaurant named Hazel.
03:03
And what's to follow after this, because I don't want to spoil the whole story, is Katie going on this journey trying to fix her problems before they start, and the kinds of things that happen when you try to erase your past. It's very much a time loop story. It's very much a kind of time and space timey wimey story. But it also has the kind of conceits that Scott Pilgrim has in the sense that this world is just matter of fact and the things that are happening, they become pretty believable pretty quick. And it explores the story in a really interesting way. I was sucked into it, I've said in many places. A reader who struggles to read. It's probably some kind of relation with just not being able to focus on stuff for a long time or where my hyperfocus lands.
03:51
But reading books, even graphic novels, my mind tends to wander, but with seconds I was locked in. I read it over the course of two days, which might seem like a long time for some people, but for me I was just locked in and couldn't put it down. I was obsessed with Katie. I also really like slice of life stories. I think I talked about this in the first episode, but I know I've definitely talked about this with Keis Shout out to Case, the creator of the series. I like superhero books, but I think slice of life stuff, manga and graphic novels especially tend to pull me in more.
04:22
It's why I like the stories that some of my favorites are like the Matt Fraction Hawkeye Run is because it's just as much about the action in that run as it is the moment to moment. Clint Barton is kind of a jackass storyline and trying to get through these day to day challenges along with Kate. And so I really like a story like this and it's got an incredible cast of characters. It has, you know, themes of friendship, learning from your mistakes, you know, not trying to Change the past. It's just a very. It's a very cohesive book that is really interesting. It's also some of Bryan Lee OMalley's best art. Like there are a ton of cameos of Scott Pilgrim characters and inside jokes that come back.
05:13
It's really a love letter to fans of that series who want something new and something a little different. And it comes in one hardcover. I think there's a paperback version maybe now. Also, it's relatively inexpensive and again, I think it's absolutely something worth reading. I'm a huge fan of Bryan Lee o', Malley and I will laud their work till the end of time. I'm absolutely ecstatic about Scott Pilgrim Ex the first original new actually, not first original new, the next original new storyline in the Scott Pilgrim world. But it's all a video game. You can bet your ass that Case and I are going to find some way to talk about that somewhere.
05:52
But I think if you're a fan of Brian's work, or even if you're not, if you've never even read Scott Pilgrim before, this is a great starting place for Bryan Lee o' Malley's work because it's one book. It's not multiple volumes. It's a complete story with a beginning, middle and end. And I think it's really got a lot to chew on as far as the writing, the art, the characters, the storytelling. And like I am remiss to go on too much longer. Remiss? Is that the right use of remiss? Who the hell knows. I don't want to go on much longer because I really do think this is something worth reading while knowing as little as possible.
06:29
I know some of these episodes, mine included, have been more summary heavy given the large breadth of the story because it's for people who have read it. But especially over on SideQuest, which inspired the series, I tend to lean more on the side of leave the mystery and let people go discover it. And people can really nod along with this stuff if they've read it before, but if they haven't, it might intrigue them to go read it. And I know a lot of folks like me who loved Scott Pilgrim who hadn't read this yet, and I willing to bet there are still a bunch of y' all out there who haven't. And so please go check out Seconds by Brian Lee o'. Malley. It's really an awesome book and I can't recommend it enough. And with all that said, I am Matt, AKA Stormageddon.
07:16
I am one of the hosts of Fun and Games Podcast and the Reignite Podcast. You can find them wherever you get your podcasts or@ certainpow.com if you want to find me. I am most active on blue sky. Djstormageddon.com is my username over there. That URL also dj stormageddon.com is the greatest place to go to find both of my podcasts, my Twitch page, all of my socials. Everything's there if you want to interact. And please if you read this book as a result of this episode, post in the Discord where I'm sure there's a link down below or on certainpow.com or find me on socials and tell me because I want to hear about it. I love this book so much. I want more folks to read it. And with all of that said, all that's left to say is happy reading.
07:59
Video games are a unique medium.
08:01
They can tell stories, immerse us in.
08:03
Strange, fantastic worlds, blur the very boundaries of our reality. But at the end of the day, video games are fun. Whatever fun is to you.
08:13
And on Fun and Games we talk about the history, trends and community of video games.
08:18
It's a celebration of all the games we've played play and all the fun we find within them.
08:23
And there's so many more games out there, so we hope you'll share in that conversation with us.
08:27
Fun and Games Podcasts with Matt and Jeff find us on certainpov.com or wherever.
08:32
You get your podcasts and happy gaming.
08:37
Certainpov.com.