Episode 200: Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man

Posted on December 6, 2023 by Kevin Moreau

It’s our bicentennial episode, and we celebrate by going back to 1976 for a momentous match-up between comics’ two most popular characters: Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man, by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru, published by DC and Marvel Comics!

This first-ever inter-company crossover event finds the Man of Steel and Ol’ Web-Head going toe-to-toe (of course) before joining forces to combat the combined threat of criminal masterminds Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus!

 

Can the Man of Tomorrow and your Friendly Neighborhood Wall-Crawler rescue Lois Lane and Mary Jane Watson and thwart this dastardly duo’s perilous plan? And can our awesome allies win their way into that World’s Finest Two-in-One known as … The Comics Canon?

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Episode 199: Bone Vol. 5: Rock Jaw, Master of the Eastern Border

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Kevin Moreau

Happy Bonesgiving! In this episode, we celebrate our favorite(?) holiday with another excursion into the world of Bone, this time skipping ahead to Bone Vol. 5: Rock Jaw, Master of the Eastern Border, written and drawn by Jeff Smith, published by Cartoon Books and Scholastic!

Fone Bone and Smiley Bone are separated from the rest of the book’s main cast, attempting to set an adorable baby rat creature free into the wild, when they run afoul of the menacing mountain lion Roque Ja, who plans to turn them in to Kingdok, monstrous leader of the rat creatures and servant of the mysterious Hooded One!

 

Can the Bones, the possum kids and a menagerie of cute young orphans evade these dangerous predators? And can they find shelter in that literary lion’s den known as … The Comics Canon?

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Episode 198: Hellblazer: Newcastle (A Taste of Things to Come)

Posted on November 8, 2023 by Kevin Moreau

Content warning: sexual abuse and implied sexual assault

In this episode, friend of the show and John Constantine authority Tracy Tanoff joins us in unpacking a defining moment in the life and career of everyone’s favorite street-level mage (and con man) with a discussion of John Constantine, Hellblazer #11: Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come, by Jamie Delano, Richard Piers Rayner and Mark Buckingham, published by DC Comics!

10 years before the cataclysmic events of American Gothic, a young John Constantine and his band of occult amateurs investigates strange happenings at an abandoned rock club, only to quickly find themselves hopelessly out of their depth!

Can John and his friends survive the monstrous Norfulthing? Can John rescue a young girl named Astra from the clutches of the demon Nergal? And can he bluff his way past the bouncer and into that hellish hole-in-the-wall known as … The Comics Canon?

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Join us in two weeks as we return to the world of Jeff Smith’s Bone with a look at Bone Vol. 5: Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border!

Until then:
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And as always, thanks for listening!

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Episode 197 – Swamp Thing: American Gothic (Part 2)

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Kevin Moreau

One year (almost to the day) since we discussed the first half of American Gothic, we round out the scare-iffic month of October with a look at the final five issues (Swamp Thing #46-50) of this groundbreaking storyline by Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette and others, published by DC Comics!

First, Swamp Thing and John Constantine rub elbows with DC’s superhero elite in the midst of the Crisis on Infinite Earths! Then things really get cooking, with a shocking revelation in the Amazon rainforest, a not-so-shocking betrayal in Brazil, and a star-studded battle against Darkness itself as Heaven hangs in the balance! Oh, and Abby Arcane is arrested as a sex criminal!

Can the Avocado Avenger and his allies tip the scales in the climactic showdown of light vs. dark? And can this epic finale book passage on that prestigious Jungle Cruise known as … The Comics Canon?

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Comics Onscreen – Movie Mayhem!

Posted on October 11, 2023 by Kevin Moreau

Marvel Studios

Wait, where’s Swamp Thing: American Gothic, Part Two? Well, Curt and Kevin weren’t feeling so well this week, so they decided to take it easy and record a short mini-episode on the comics-related film and TV adaptations of the year so far.

(Except, of course, it turned out to be not so short after all.)

Mild spoilers abound as Curt (and occasionally Kevin) opines on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, The Flash, Secret Invasion, among others.

Join us in two weeks as we no-really-this-time-we-mean-it return to Moore’s much-heralded American Gothic storyline with a look at Swamp Thing #46-50 (and revisit our episode on the first half to refresh your memory)!

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Episode 196 – Amazing Spider-Man: Shed

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Kevin Moreau

(Note: You may just ever-so-faintly hear a neighbor’s barking dog occasionally adding his two cents in the background for the first half or so of the episode.)

A perennial Spider-Man foe gets a horror-monster makeover (and our Spidey Super Stories miniseries concludes) with 2010’s Shed from Amazing Spider-Man #630-633, by Zeb Wells, Chris Bachalo and Emma Rios, published by Marvel Comics!

After a long struggle, scientist Curt Connors loses control of his scaly alter-ego, the Lizard, who’s clearly been working out during the offseason! The reptilian rogue immediately embarks on a killing spree, and Connors’ young son Billy is his next target!

Can Ol’ Web-Head keep this cold-blooded criminal from turning all of New York into a mindless horde of murderous, lizard-brained zombies? And can he tip the scales in favor of inclusion in that tangled web known as … The Comics Canon?

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Quizzical Canonical 4: Nothing Can Stump the Juggernaut!

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Kevin Moreau

Despite popular demand, our recurring comics-themed quiz returns! This time, Curt surprises Kevin with a pop quiz on everyone’s favorite unstoppable X-Men villain, following last week’s episode on Amazing Spider-Man: Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut!

 

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Episode 195 –Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut! and The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man

Posted on September 13, 2023 by Kevin Moreau

In this episode, we swing back into our Spidey Super Stories miniseries with a pair of acclaimed Spider-Man tales from the early 80s: The two-part Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut from Amazing Spider-Man #229-230, and The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man, from Amazing Spider-Man #248!

First, everyone’s favorite wall-crawler races to stop the X-Men villain Juggernaut from kidnapping the psychic Madame Web, only to find that such a task is easier said than done as the relentless behemoth leaves a trail of destruction in his wake!

 

Then, Spider-Man pays a nighttime visit to his biggest fan.

Join us as we ask the burning questions: Why does ol’ web-head reveal his greatest secret to young Tim Harrison? Can our overmatched, outclassed hero prevail against an unstoppable force as the Juggernaut? And can these stories make a dent in that immovable object known as … The Comics Canon?

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Episode 194 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (With Matt Goldberg)

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Kevin Moreau

Media critic Matt Goldberg returns as we temporarily pause our Spidey Super-Stories miniseries to discuss the unstoppable cultural phenomenon known as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with a look at the book that started it all—Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (and also #2) by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird!

Before the seven different movies (including the well-received new “Mutant Mayhem”), the animated series, the video games and the action figures, there was just a self-published black-and-white comic riffing on Frank Miller’s Daredevil run with a brilliant title.

 

How did this modest 40-page comic spawn a decades-spanning multimedia juggernaut? And does it have what it takes to enter that Forbidden Kingdom known as … The Comics Canon?

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Episode 193 – Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 2: Learning Curve and Confessions

Posted on August 17, 2023 by Kevin Moreau

In this episode, Spidey Super Stories swings into a different gear as we examine yet another version of everyone’s favorite wall-crawler with a look at Ultimate Spider-Man: Learning Curve, with a special emphasis on issue 13, Confessions, by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, published by Marvel Comics!

We discuss the ways in which the Ultimate Universe Peter Parker and his supporting characters differ from their Marvel Universe counterparts, the sharp contrast between this title and Spider-Man comics from the 1960s through the 90s, and a conversation with Mary Jane more monumental than supervillain slugfest—especially when Aunt May barges in!

Can this Peter Parker make it through his first meeting with this universe’s Kingpin? And more importantly, will he survive the scrutiny of … Your Friendly Neighborhood Comics Canon?

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