Episode 96 – Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984-85)

Posted on October 30, 2019 by Kevin Moreau

The all-powerful Beyonder transports some of Earth’s mightiest heroes and villains to a patchwork planet known as Battleworld, conveniently outfitted with high-tech ships and fortresses! His one command: “Slay all your enemies and all you desire shall be yours!” Thus begins one of comics’ first and most famous multi-part crossover epics: Secret Wars, written by Marvel Comics editor in chief Jim Shooter and drawn by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton!

Conceived to support a line of Mattel toys, this 12-part series pits members of the Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four against such heavy hitters as Doctor Doom, Magneto, and the Devourer of Worlds himself, Galactus! Alliances are formed, schemes are hatched, battles are fought, and many plotlines are brought up and then abandoned!

Join us as we answer the burning questions: Can Curt and Kevin find meaningful things to say about an overlong slugfest aimed squarely at young children? And can this landmark comics event emerge victorious in that Contest of Champions known as … The Comics Canon?

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Episode 95 – Emily Carroll’s Through the Woods

Posted on October 16, 2019 by Kevin Moreau

In this episode, we get into the spooky spirit of Halloween with a look at Through the Woods, a collection of unsettling horror stories by cartoonist Emily Carroll, as well as a trio of chilling and inventive webcomics: Margot’s Room, Some Other Animal’s Meat, and the Eisner Award-winning When the Darkness Presses!

Through the Woods weaves a dark fantasy setting that echoes the classic horror stories of fairy tales and folklore, grounded by Carroll’s gorgeous artwork and spidery lettering, while her web stories immerse the reader in fully realized worlds that take full advantage of the medium to scratch and claw at the back of the reader’s mind. But can these eerie tales safely make their way to that remote cabin in the woods known as … The Comics Canon?

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Does Joker Have Too Much Sympathy for the Villain?

Posted on October 4, 2019 by Kevin Moreau

Warner Bros.

Review by Curt Holman

Contemporary superhero movies tend to come with so many Easter eggs and references to character histories that even comics fans can feel burdened by all the footnoting.

Todd Phillips’ Joker turns a spotlight on Batman’s famous archnemesis but breaks the superhero formula by having its primary touchstones be not comic books, but two Robert DeNiro movies directed by Martin Scorsese. Batman references definitely abound, but Joker is primarily concerned with serving as a pastiche of Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, deliberately echoing those films’ visions of vigilante antiheroes, obsessed fans-turned-stalkers and New York City at its filthiest.

Phillips, who directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay, has an intriguing jumping-off point and an exhaustingly committed leading man in Joaquin Phoenix. A flawed but often compelling movie, Joker has become, fairly or not, a flashpoint for a host of contemporary controversies, including whether its depiction of the main character could incite violence in the film’s most toxic fans. Continue reading →

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Episode 94 – Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth

Posted on October 2, 2019 by Kevin Moreau

Just in time for the Oct. 4 release of Todd Phillips’ Joker movie, Curt and Kevin are joined by Atlanta actress and comics fan Jennifer Lee for a timely (and faintly explicit) discussion of the 1989 graphic novel Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean, published by DC Comics!

On April Fools’ Day, the inmates, led by the Joker, have taken over Arkham Asylum and taken the staff as hostages. Their one demand? That Batman join them for a lethal game of hide and seek! Meanwhile, the journal of founder Amadeus Arkham reveals the gruesome origins of Gotham City’s most notorious psychiatric facility!

Can the Caped Crusader survive a gauntlet of his deadliest enemies without going insane—if he hasn’t already? And can this strikingly illustrated tale check itself into that madhouse of sequential storytelling known as … The Comics Canon? Continue reading →

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Episode 93 – Bastard

Posted on September 18, 2019 by Kevin Moreau

In this episode, Crimewave!, our series on gritty crime comics, comes to a rollicking (and not entirely swear word-free) conclusion with the “Mommy and Clyde” graphic novel Bastard, written and drawn by Belgian cartoonist Max de Radiguès, published in America by Fantagraphics Books!

After taking part in a massive heist that targeted 52 different locations in the same city at the same time, May and her son Eugene are on the run, trying to stay ahead of the police while hiding duffel bags stuffed with cash. And if that weren’t difficult enough, they soon find themselves hunted by their fellow criminals!

After a deadly confrontation, May is forced to make a decision that will change everything Eugene thought he knew about their relationship!

Can our fleeing felons elude a pair of dangerous killers long enough for May to turn the tables on the traitor who wants them dead? And can they cross the border to that remote hideout known as … The Comics Canon?

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Episode 92 – Fatale Volume 1: Death Chases Me

Posted on September 4, 2019 by Kevin Moreau

In this episode, Crimewave!, our series on gritty crime comics, rolls on with Death Chases Me, the first volume of the James Ellroy-meets-H.P. Lovecraft occult noir Fatale, written and drawn by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, published by Image Comics!

In 1950s San Francisco, reporter Dominic Henry Raines meets with the mysterious and attractive Josephine, girlfriend of corrupt police detective Walt Booker. As Raines investigates Booker, he falls under Josephine’s spell, unaware that there’s more to his feelings for her than puppy love. And a dying Booker, investigating a series of occult murders, makes a deal with the devil. Meanwhile, in the present, Nicolas Lash meets the alluring and secretive Jo, and finds himself pursued by some familiar-looking sinister goons!

Will Raines and our sympathetic femme fatale evade the demonic forces on their trail? And will they survive their ordeal at those mountains of madness known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode!

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Episode 91 – Torso: A True Crime Graphic Novel

Posted on August 21, 2019 by Kevin Moreau

In this episode, Crimewave!, our series on gritty crime comics, continues with a fictionalized account of the real, ripped-from-the-1930s-headlines case of the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run, co-written and “executed” by one of the biggest names in comics before he was one of the biggest names in comics: It’s Torso, by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko, originally published by Image Comics!

Between 1935 and 1938, a mysterious figure murdered, dismembered and decapitated at least 12 victims in Cleveland, Ohio, preying on the city’s growing transient population. Against the backdrop of a corrupt city reeling from the Great Depression, Cleveland’s new safety director—former “Untouchable” Eliot Ness himself—and a pair of homicide detectives find themselves investigating a new kind of criminal: America’s first serial killer!

Can our intrepid and all-too-human protagonists solve this unsolved mystery, or will their quarry prove truly Untouchable? And can Bendis and Andreyko make it into that lineup of killer crime stories known as … The Comics Canon?

On the docket:
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Episode 90 – Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter

Posted on August 7, 2019 by Kevin Moreau

In this episode, Crimewave!, our series on gritty crime comics, continues with Darwyn Cooke’s crackling adaptation of The Hunter! Beautifully illustrated in black, white and teal, this stylized revenge tale from IDW Publishing is the first in a four-part series adapting novels about the career criminal Parker by the late Donald E. Westlake, writing as Richard Stark.

Physically imposing and intense, the man known only as Parker storms into New York City in 1962, where he confronts the wife who shot him and left him for dead before hunting down the man who betrayed him.

 

Can our laconic lawbreaker survive a one-man war against the nationwide criminal syndicate known as The Outfit? And can he break into that impenetrable vault of graphic excellence known as … The Comics Canon?

Things Discussed in This Episode:
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Episode 89 – Sin City: The Hard Goodbye

Posted on July 24, 2019 by Kevin Moreau

In this hard-boiled episode, we kick off Crimewave!, a series of episodes on gritty crime comics, complete with its own theme song! And for our money, there ain’t no better way to get things rolling than by jawing about Frank Miller’s bare-knuckled Sin City: The Hard Goodbye, published by Dark Horse Comics, see?

Here’s the thing about Basin City—it’s the kinda place where a hulking bruiser like Marv can spend a once-in-a-lifetime night of passion with an angel like Goldie, only to wake up the next morning to find she’s been murdered—and the cops are on their way to take him down for the crime!

Can our problematic protagonist prevail against crooked cops, tough-as-nails sex workers, a smirking serial killer, and the most powerful family in Sin City—not to mention his own faulty faculties? And can this black-and-white valentine to noir fiction muscle past the bouncers and make it into that den of iniquity known as … The Comics Canon?

Things Discussed in This Episode:
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Episode 88 – New Mutants: The Demon Bear Saga

Posted on July 10, 2019 by Kevin Moreau

In this episode, our look back at 80s mutant mania continues with The Demon Bear Saga from The New Mutants Vol. 1 #18-20, and the follow-up double-sized story Slumber Party from #21, by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz, published by Marvel Comics!

Danielle Moonstar, haunted by visions of the monster that killed her parents, summons it to a showdown on the snow-covered grounds of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. It doesn’t go well. As she lies near death, her fellow students find themselves in the mystical Badlands, the only ones standing between this savagely powerful entity and the rest of the human race! And if and when they finish with the Demon Bear, they’ll face off against the bizarre techno-organic alien known as Warlock!

Can the X-Men’s inexperienced junior varsity prevail against these larger-than-life, out-of-this world threats? And can they crash that swingin’ superhero sleepover known as … The Comics Canon?

Things Discussed in This Episode:
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