Some Of My Friends Read Comics

It’s our 3-year anniversary, so we had to continue the tradition by reading Batman: Year 3 from 1989 by Marv Wolfman with art by Pat Broderick. No really, we had to, we’re thankful there’s no Year Four. Originally from issues 436-439, it appears to be a story retelling Robin’s origin. And then they pasted the “Year Three” title on it. Then they changed “Three” to a "3" for some reason. Look, we don’t know. Next Time - Annihilation: Conquest

Has anyone even heard of Moon Knight? We read the first 6 issues from his ongoing series in 1980 and we’ve learned that he might be crazy or he might be dead. Or both. And he has multiple personalities. He also might have werewolf blood. There’s a lot to unpack here. Join us while we try! Next Time: Batman: Year Three (Batman 436-439)

The burning question on everyone’s lips: Would Batman have been able to solve the Jack the Ripper murders? Duh, obviously yeah. Gotham by Gaslight, an Elseworlds tale from 1989, covers the whole story with art by pre-Hellboy Mike Mignola. They even just made an animated movie out of it, which is different in A LOT of ways. Next Time: Moon Knight (1980) #1-6

We heard that Black Panther was kind of a big deal (btw, check out last week's spoilercast about the movie), so this week we're looking at his short-lived stint as the leader of the Fantastic Four. Written in 2007 by Dwayne McDuffie (Damage Control, Static Shock, much of the DC Animated Universe), Fantastic Four 544-550 finds the the titular team in disarray after Civil War.  Reed and Sue take a break from the team, so the newly-married T'Challa and Storm join up with Johnny and Ben to fight classic foes like the Silver Surfer and the Frightful Four. Doctor Strange, the Watchers, and Klaw also make guest appearances! Next Time: Gotham by Gaslight

Spoilers spoilers spoilers! We have a very special episode to talk about the biggest movie in the world, Black Panther!  Was Killmonger right?  How good of a performance did young Forest Whitaker give?  Are the Oscars for Costume Design and Original Song already locked up Special guest Marselles from The Blurred Nerds and Pixl Gods podcasts joins special guest Kimberly on this episode.  Bruce also chimes in with his favorite moments from Thor: Ragnarok Next week, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming covering Fantastic Four 544-550 (Black Panther & Storm join the Fantastic Four)!

Happy Valentine’s Day! We’re celebrating in the traditional way, which is to doubt all love right before your wedding, but go through with it anyways. At least that’s what’s Spider-Man did, yeesh. Don’t let that loser get you down though, there are some fun Marvel Weddings to be had! We read three of them: Reed Richard & Sue Storm (Fantastic Four Annual 3), Peter Parker & MJ (Amazing Spider-Man Annual 21), and Scott Summers & Jean Grey (X-Men 30). Next Time: Fantastic Four 544-550 (Black Panther & Storm join the Fantastic Four)

Anyone else ever been in a court room, representing a ghost or maybe Spider-Man, and just dying to change into She-Hulk? But you can’t because your boss really wants you to stay regular old Jennifer Walters? But then he screws up by letting a bunch of miniaturized super-villains escape from a high-tech prison? Yeah, me neither. Join us as we read She-Hulk 1-6 from 2004! Next Time: Marvel Weddings (Fantastic Four Annual #3, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, X-Men #30)

Aunt May. It’s really a miracle that she lived as long as she did. The woman was in her 70’s for about 30 years, always on the verge of death from some disease or another. In 1995, writer J. M. DeMatteis agreed and finally killed her off in Amazing Spider-Man #400. There were also a bunch of Spider-Clones running around. Don’t worry, we’ll talk about that. Of course we'll talk about that. Next Time: She-Hulk (2004) #1-6 by Dan Slott

Does it count as a spoiler if it’s in the title? Jim Starlin don’t care, he does what he wants. He and Marvel changed up their regular comic book format with The Death of Captain Marvel in 1982, the beginning of a line of original graphic novels intended to be richer stories for a more mature audience and published like traditional books. But what kills him?!?!?! Sorry, no spoilers. Next Time: Amazing Spider-Man #400: The Death of Aunt May

Happy Holidays! We’re embracing the spirit of togetherness by reading seasonal comics by both DC AND Marvel! For DC, we’re covering Gotham Central #12-15 about a murderous rampage from the Joker just days before Christmas. For Marvel, it's Uncanny X-Men #143 featuring Kitty Pryde alone at the X-Mansion while everyone is away on vacation. Join us and see if you can figure out who secretly got drunk on eggnog while we recorded. Next Time: The Death of Captain Marvel

In the mid-90s, Lucasfilm decided to fill in the Star Wars gap between episodes 5 and 6 with Shadows of the Empire. There was a game, a book, a soundtrack, a junior novelization… pretty much everything except a movie. There was even a comic book! And we read it! All 6 issues! What’s gonna happen? Is Luke gonna die?! (no) Is Boba Fett gonna die?! (no) Is Han gonna get delivered to Jabba?! (yeah) Is Leia going to be the victim of sexual assault?! (omg, what the hell did we just read).

Geoff Johns has been one of the important modern writers for DC, so it’s about time we talked about him. Before becoming one of the main architects of their universe, he made a name for himself by writing The Flash in the early 2000’s. He capped off his first year of that run with a one-shot called Iron Heights, drawn by Ethan Van Sciver, set in the prison where The Flash’s rogues’ gallery is kept. We heard it was great, but did we hear correctly? Join us to find out! Next Time: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire!

Justice League’s almost out, but we had the brilliant idea of reading about the FUTURE JLA from Alex Ross and Mark Waid’s Kingdom Come in 1996. A beautifully painted miniseries where the only characters that matter are Superman and Batman. Turns out it’s barely about the Justice League. Whoops! But hey, at least it’s pretty. Next time: The Flash: Iron Heights by Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver

If we’ve learned anything from this show, the best way to make a cool Thor comic is to take a non-human character and put Thor clothes on it. It worked with Frog Thor and it totally works with Beta Ray Bill. We read his 1st appearance at the beginning of Walt Simonson’s classic run from the mid 80s in issues 337-343. Thor also fights a dragon and changes his secret identity situation from unnecessary to still unnecessary. Next Time: Kingdom Come

Sabrina the Teenage Witch, once a beloved TGIF star, has finally received a reboot. And believe it or not, it’s one of the best horror comics we’ve ever read. Sure, her aunts Zelda and Hilda are still there, but they quite enjoy eating people and making sure that Sabrina completes her satanic rituals. Salem the talking cat is there too, along with a host of other animal familiars. And blood. Lots of blood. Join our coven as we read Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1-5. Next Time: The Mighty Thor #337-343 by Walt Simonson, starring Beta Ray Bill!

Marvel goes back to space! After several decades of neglecting some of their outer space properties, they decided to bring it all back to the spotlight with a big cosmic event in 2006 called Annihilation. There were a lot of aliens we hadn’t met before, but a few familiar faces (even if Star-Lord did have a weird cybernetic eye). We read the main event in issues 1-6, but we’ll also discuss all the other event comics that went along with it so we can try to sort through this gigantic cast of characters. Next Time: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1-6

For this episode, we’re reading Marvel’s comic about all their street-level heroes teaming up, The Defenders! … wait…no, Marvel Knights! It’s like the Defenders TV show except all the characters are different. Well that’s not totally true, Daredevil is there. And The Punisher fights a weird giant spider-person. Just listen to the episode, it’ll all make sense.

Not sure what to read? There’s always more Moore! We continue our tour of Alan Moore’s ABC imprint with Promethea, his take on a female warrior goddess hero. But if you’re expecting Wonder Woman, think again. In classic Moore fashion, we end up with a story that pushes the boundaries of the imagination with artwork by J.H. Williams III bringing that vision to life. Join us as we read Promethea #1-6. Next time: Marvel Knights 1-6

The Tick has had one heck of a ride. From black and white indie comics, to Saturday morning cartoon, to prime time sitcom, to a new streaming series on Amazon. We thought we’d check out how it all started with Ben Edlund’s first 6 issues from 1988. Little did we expect to find parodies of Superman and Elektra, wise-cracking minions, and French bread. Next Time: Promethea by Alan Moore

It’s a tale as old as time. Or the 60’s, really. Spider-Man’s villains all team up to fight him. They call themselves the Sinister Six because it sounds cool (alliteration is ALWAYS cool). Then they have a million reunions because Spider-Man’s not dead yet and why not? We read the first two incarnations of the SS in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 and then in issues #334-339. Come for the rogues’ gallery, stay for Aunt May and Doc Ock flirting. Next time: The Tick!