The Comics Canon

One of our co-hosts is quarantined at home, so we’ve decided to postpone our next proper episode until we can be together in person! Meanwhile, Curt surprises Kevin with a pop quiz on quotes from books we’ve covered on the podcast. How good is Kevin’s recall? (Spoiler: It’s bad! Very, very bad!)

Content warning (death by suicide) Our reexamination of Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns continues! How good IS this story, really? Will things go differently than they did in our fourth episode way back in 2016, allowing this universally acclaimed 1986 miniseries to avoid nuclear winter and score a ticket to that David Endocrine Show studio audience known as ... The Comics Canon? In This Episode: · The only Bartleby the Scrivener reference you’ll hear in a comics podcast this week! · What’s the deal with the flying bomber Garbage Pail Kids? · The 99% Invisible Power Broker Book Club · Robert Caro’s The Path to Power · Douglas Wolk’s Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean · Some Fantastic Four movie talk Join us in two weeks as we discuss Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith, by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook, Bluesky or The Platform Formerly Known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

Explicit (a few swears scattered throughout) and content warning (brief mentions of death by suicide and attempted sexual assault) This isn’t a podcast—it’s an operating table, and we’re the surgeons! This time, we revisit one of our most controversial episodes (okay, pretty much our only “controversial” episode) with the first installment of a two-part, in-depth reexamination of Frank Miller’s 1986 landmark miniseries Batman: The Dark Knight Returns! Does this paradigm-shifting, game-changing series hold up to scrutiny nearly 40 years since its publication? And what are its chances of finally gaining entry into that Home for the Emotionally Troubled known as ... The Comics Canon? In This Episode: · Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg · Buy-ins you have to make when reading a Batman comic · What’s the deal with the Mutant gang? · Curt gets something off his chest · Late Night With the Devil · Aard Labor, Tom Ewing’s breakdown of Cerebus, on Freaky Trigger · Christine by Stephen King · The unique terror of calling girls back in the landline era Join us in two weeks as we conclude this two-part look back and once again render judgment on The Dark Knight Returns! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook, Bluesky or The Platform Formerly Known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

On this episode, it’s the return of “Miller March,” featuring a month of Frank Miller comics! First up is the 1982 miniseries Wolverine by Chris Claremont and the aforementioned Mr. Miller, published by Marvel Comics! The very first comic series to feature Wolverine’s name in the title takes Logan to Japan, where his lady love Mariko has entered into an abusive marriage arranged by her father, the crime lord Shingen. His heart broken by Mariko, humiliated by Shingen, Logan spirals into a dark night of the soul as he’s pursued by the deadly ninja clan known as the Hand! Will Logan’s new friend Yukio stop trying to make “Gotcha!” happen? Can Logan redeem himself, defeat his enemies and regain Mariko’s love? And can this miniseries fight its way ino that House of Flying Daggers known as ... The Comics Canon? In This Episode: · There sure are a lot of ninja in 1980s Japan · Does the Hand recruit from Cobra? · Avengers: The Impossible City · Shōgun · X-Men Epic Collection: The Fate of the Phoenix · Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Anthology · Curt’s appearance on The Origin Story Podcast Join us in two weeks as we revisit our most controversial episode with a FRESH NEW LOOK at Batman: The Dark Knight Returns! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook, Bluesky or The Platform Formerly Known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

On this episode, we take a long-overdue look at one of the most influential manga of the last 50 years: Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima! Specifically, selected stories from Vol. 1: The Assassin’s Road, as published by Dark Horse Manga! Who is this taciturn assassin known as Lone Wolf and Cub? Why does he push his young son across feudal Japan in a wooden baby carriage with a banner that reads “Son for Hire, Sword for Hire?” How did he get to be such a proficient killing machine? And can father and son survive their harrowing journey along that Road to Perdition known as ... The Comics Canon? In This Episode: · “I’m Ogami Itto, and this is Jackass!” · Daigoro’s tricked-out baby cart · The return of everyone’s vampire-slaying pig! · Dune: Part Two · Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 1 · House of R on the Lone Wolf and Cub trope Join us in two weeks as we discuss the 1982 Wolverine miniseries by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook, Bluesky or The Platform Formerly Known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

Our two-part look at Hulk/Thing fights wraps up with a look at one of the twosome’s more recent titanic tussles in Fantastic Four Vol. 6, issues 12 and 13, by Dan Slott and Sean Izaakse, published by Marvel Comics! But first, because this episode drops on Valentine’s Day, we discuss the wedding of Ben Grimm and Alicia Masters in Fantastic Four Vol. 6 issue 5, most notably the story “4-Minute Warning” by Dan Slott and Aaron Kuder! Then it’s time for the main event, as the Immortal Hulk interrupts Ben and Alicia’s honeymoon, with a little help from Alicia’s father, the pernicious Puppet Master! Is this really our last episode discussing these Marvelous melees? (Who knows?) Can the Thing keep the Immortal Hulk from endangering an entire seaside resort before he reverts back to all-too-human Ben Grimm? And can either of them prevail against that titanic tag team known as ... The Comics Canon? In This Episode: · Kevin responds to Curt’s song from last episode · We talk about whether we should talk about Cerebus · Curt’s article on the ends of Bone and Cerebus · Point of Origin from Fantastic Four Vol. 6, issues 14-19 · Do A Powerbomb · The Thing Vol. 1 #6, “Mindscape” Join us in two weeks as we make a long-overdue return to the world of manga to discuss Lone Wolf and Cub Vol. 1: The Assassin’s Road! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook, Bluesky or The Platform Formerly Known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

In this episode, IT’S CLOBBERIN’ TIME as we kick off a two-part look at one of Marvel Comics’ most storied traditions: epic slugfests between the Hulk and the Thing! Specifically, the first two face-offs between these fearsome foes in Fantastic Four #12 and #25-26, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby! First, everyone’s on their worst behavior as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross enlists the FF’s aid in subduing the Hulk, who’s accused of sabotaging a military experiment! Then, with his teammates sidelined, it’s up to Ben to stop the angry green goliath from rampaging across New York City, in a knock-down drag-out brawl guest starring the Mighty Avengers! Can the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing prevail against the jade giant? And can these stories go the distance in a title match against ... The Comics Canon? In This Episode: · A literal card-carrying communist · How pretty young ladies can help their men · “Aunt Petunia was pretty hardcore!” · Giant-Man’s pill problem · What If? Season 2 and Echo · Doctor Who: The Angels Take Manhattan · Marvel Two-in-One #46 · Curt introduces an unscheduled order of business Join us in two weeks as we polish off this two-parter with a matchup of more recent vintage: The Thing vs. The Immortal Hulk from Fantastic Four (Vol. 6) #12-13! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or The Platform Formerly Known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

Content warning: Mentions of suicide; general gaslighting, psychological domestic abuse. In this episode, we look back at one of the best-reviewed books of 2023: A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll, published by First Second! Shy, awkward Abby is newly married to widowed dentist David and adjusting to domestic life with him and his pre-teen daughter Crystal. But David’s stories about his past wife, Sheila, don’t add up. And there’s more to Abby than meets the eye, as well – as becomes apparent when she strikes up a halting friendship with Sheila’s ghost! Can this gripping story survive a night in that haunted mansion of horror stories known as ... The Comics Canon? Recommended in This Episode: · Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein · Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller: The Man Who Created Nancy, by Bill Griffith Join us in two weeks as we kick off a two-parter looking back at historic matchups between the Hulk and the Thing! First up: Rounds 1 and 2, from Fantastic Four #12 and #25-26! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or The Platform Formerly Known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

In this not-so-mini mini-episode, we look back on the last episodes, each ranking our 10 favorites. How many titles did we agree on? We also discuss Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the Transformers movies, the current state of the Big Two publishers, comic strips, some things we’d like to cover in the coming year, and a possible reconsideration of one of our most controversial decisions! Plus: Curt opens a present live on-air! Join us in two weeks as we resume our regular programming with a look at Emily Carroll’s A Guest in the House! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on The Platform Formerly Known as Twitter or Facebook! And as always, thanks for listening!

Just in time for Christmas, Emmy-winning writer (and co-host of The Flop House) Dan McCoy joins us to unwrap a trio of Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge stories by the late, great Carl Barks! In “Only a Poor Old Man,” Uncle Scrooge’s first full-length adventure, everyone’s favorite spats-wearing billionaire fights to protect his fortune from the Beagle Boys in a rollicking heist tale! In “Luck of the North,” Donald drags his nephews to rescue his insufferable cousin Gladstone Gander in a madcap, Tintin-esque adventure. And in “A Christmas for Shacktown,” Donald, Daisy and the boys try to raise money to give the denizens of Duckburg’s poverty-stricken neighborhood a memorable Christmas celebration. Can Donald and company prevail against industrious thieves, a polar bear and a bottomless pit? And can these tales safely find their way to that Island of Misfit Toys known as ... The Comics Canon? In This Episode: · There’s a lot to admire about the Beagle Boys · Isaac Asimov’s iCarly · Kevin shares an embarrassing story · Pogo by Walt Kelly · I Must Be Dreaming by Roz Chast · Eat the Rich by Sarah Gailey and Pius Bak · Iron Man # 215-216 Join us in two weeks as we pause to take a look back before plunging ahead into 2024! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or the platform formerly known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

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? In This Episode: · Great moments of 1976 · Curt’s beef with Superman · The Flying Octopus! · Our shirts are marvelous—a reader says so! · Godzilla Minus One · Monarch: Legacy of Monsters · JLA/Avengers · My Effin’ Life by Geddy Lee Join us in two weeks as we make a return visit to Duckburg (and Carl Barks) for a special Christmas-themed episode! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or the platform formerly known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

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? In This Episode: · J’accuse, Smiley Bone! · Curt reads some love poetry · That time Lassie committed murder · Bone Vol. 6: Old Man’s Cave · The Marvels · Loki Season 2 · That Madame Web trailer · The Righteous Gemstones, Season 3 · Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner Join us in two weeks as we commemorate our 200xth episode (!!) with one of the most important comic book stories of all time: Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or the platform formerly known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

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? In This Episode: · Curt comes hard at Sting · Legends of Tomorrow: Bad Blood · Hellblazer: Rise and Fall · Carmilla: The First Vampire · Dracula Vol. 1: The Impaler · Mucous Membrane is having a moment · Your Band Sucks, by Jon Fine 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: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or the platform formerly known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

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? In This Episode: · Aren’t we over the Phantom Stranger’s shtick by now? · Curt comes after Mufasa of “The Lion King” · Double Walker by Michael W. Conrad and Noah Bailey · The Fisherman by John Langan · Reservation Dogs on Hulu · The Replacements’ Tim: The Let It Bleed Edition on Rhino Records Join us in two weeks as we visit a key moment in John Constantine’s past with a look at Hellblazer #11: Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or the platform formerly known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

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)!

(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? In This Episode: · Spidey’s relationship with Catwom—we mean, the Black Cat · The true villains of this story · Six Degrees of Peter Parker · Beef on Netflix · Why Curt’s interested in the Thunderbolts movie · Amazing Spider-Man #44-45: “Where Crawls the Lizard!” and “Spidey Smashes Out!” · Amazing Spider-Man: Civil War · Becoming Superman, by J. Michael Straczynski Join us in two weeks as we return to Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing: American Gothic arc with a look at Swamp Thing #46-50! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or the platform formerly known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

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!

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? In This Episode: · Seriously, why does the Juggernaut need a force field? · Assistant Editors’ Month at The Daily Bugle · 1977’s Iron Fist #11-12 · Silver Surfer: New Dawn and Worlds Apart, by Dan Slott and Mike Allred · Doctor Who: School Reunion · Nothing can kill the Grimace Join us in two weeks as we wrap up our Spidey Super Stories miniseries with Shed from Amazing Spider-Man #630-633! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or the platform formerly known as Twitter! And as always, thanks for listening!

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? In This Episode: · The Turtles Generation · The part of the Turtles’ origin that requires suspension of disbelief · “What if Ultron was a chicken?” · The 80s rash of Turtles “parodies” · Usagi Yojimbo · The Last Ronin · Lynda Barry's Poodle With a Mohawk · The Police Story trilogy · Batman: Failsafe Vol. 1 · Check out Matt’s Substack, Commentary Track Join us in two weeks as we swing back into Spidey Super Stories with a Juggernaut two-parter from Amazing Spider-Man #229 and 230 and The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man from Amazing Spider-Man #248! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook! And as always, thanks for listening!

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? In This Episode: · Wait! What happens to Carson Daly??! · The Archie Comics era of Spider-Man · Zot! #35: The Conversation · Spider-Gwen Vol. 1: Most Wanted · Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 3: Double Trouble · Fantastic Four (2022) Vol. 1: Whatever Happened to the Fantastic Four? Join us in two weeks as we temporarily pause Spidey Super Stories for a look back at the origins of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook! And as always, thanks for listening!