Comics Discourse 114

In Marvel Fanfare 12, the web tightens around the Black Widow! Natasha has six assassins trying to kill her, including Iron Maiden, and she’s going to have to fight her way through all of them! With a little help from S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jimmy Woo, the Widow turns the tables on her attackers, but another assassin is waiting in the wings. The Black Widow story is brought to us by Ralph Macchio and G...

Halloween season is here, and we’re diving into some new horror comics from Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Ignition Press! Find out which books we loved, which ones we liked, and which ones didn’t quite win us over. We kick things off with Marvel’s new Midnight line, featuring Midnight Fantastic Four by Benjamin Percy and Kev Walker, Midnight Spider-Man by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and ScieTronc, and...

In Marvel Fanfare 11, the Black Widow is back in the U.S.S.R.! Natasha goes undercover in Russia searching for Ivan, but this is the Black Widow, so things don’t exactly go according to plan. Before long she’s on the run from the KGB, heading to Hong Kong, and facing a colorful collection of assassins hired to take her out. The story is brought to us by Ralph Macchio and George Pérez, with Pérez o...

Sometimes a comic book character gets an extreme makeover and it works. Other times, it fails completely. And then there were the ’90s! Brian and Hassan look back at some of their favorite extreme makeovers from Marvel and DC Comics, along with some of the changes they would rather forget. You can follow us on Instagram, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Bluesky, & X https://linktr.ee/comics...

Marvel Fanfare 10 kicks off a classic four-part Black Widow story! While Nick Fury and the leadership of S.H.I.E.L.D. discuss the Black Widow’s complicated past and argue over whether to send her on a dangerous new mission, Natasha has problems of her own. She’s attacked in her own home, leading to an action-packed fight and one hell of a way to start this story! The Black Widow story is written b...

The stacks are full, and it’s time for another Top of the Stack, with a special focus on new #1s! We dive into our recent comic book reads from publishers including DC, Marvel, Abrams, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW, and many more. Plus, Hassan shares stories from Baltimore Comic-Con. We bring plenty of books to the stack, with The Muppets Take the Marvel Universe, Doom Patrol, Teen Titans,...

Marvel Fanfare 9 has a giant sized Man-Thing, and Brian and Ants are exactly as mature as you would expect. In “Rock ’n’ Soul,” a struggling rock band decides summoning a demon might be their ticket to success. Surprisingly, this turns out to be a bad idea. Luckily, Man-Thing is there to lend a…hand. The backup takes us back to the jungle for the next chapter of Gil Kane and P. Craig Russell’s gor...

What would have happened to the DC Universe if Superman had never been adopted by the Kents? We explore that question with special guest Shane from Comic Geek Speak, our resident Justice League expert, as we dive into the DC Comics Elseworlds classic Justice League of America: The Nail by the legendary Alan Davis. #GreenLantern #Batman #WonderWoman #Flash #Aquaman

In Marvel Fanfare 8, an amateur occult ritual goes horribly wrong and unleashes the Slitherer in Shadow! Luckily, Doctor Strange is around to deal with the mess. The story is brought to us by Peter Gillis, with Carmine Infantino on pencils and P. Craig Russell on inks. Then things take a very different turn as Gil Kane and P. Craig Russell bring us the first chapter of an adaptation of Rudyard Kip...

Ignition Press Publisher Filip Sablik joins us to talk about the launch of Ignition Press, reflecting on their first anniversary, the current lineup of books, and what the publisher has planned for the future. We discuss how Ignition Press came together, the approach behind building a new comic book publisher, and some of the books that have defined its first year, before looking ahead at Ignition...

In Marvel Fanfare 7, the Hulk stumbles across Blob and Unus the Untouchable at a circus. Unus’ powers have gone haywire, making him so untouchable he can’t even eat! Luckily, the Blob is the one person who can get close enough to help. Then the Hulk shows up. What could go wrong? The backup takes a much darker turn as Daredevil promises a blind boy he will find his missing seeing-eye dog. Let’s ju...

The hosts are not lost, but deep into DC Comics’ Legion of Super-Heroes! Special guest Raj returns as we discuss the classic Legion Lost by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, with art primarily by Olivier Coipel. In addition, we talk about the brand-new Legion of Super-Heroes #1 from DC Comics’ Next Level line by writer Joshua Williamson and artist Hayden Sherman. Long Live the Legion! You can follow us...

Marvel Fanfare #6 is full of magic and amazing art packed inside one of the best covers ever! The main story pits Spider-Man against the Scarlet Witch in a fantasy dimension. What has caused these two heroes to fight each other? Or maybe that should be who? The magic continues in the backup story as a new magician challenges Doctor Strange for the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme. The main story was wri...

With Spider-Man: Brand New Day bringing Spider-Man and the Punisher together on the big screen, we take a look back at Peter and Frank’s relationship through the decades in Marvel Comics. We start where it all began with Amazing Spider-Man #129 by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru, featuring the first appearance of the Punisher and the Jackal. Then we jump to Punisher War Journal #14–15 by Carl Potts an...

In Marvel Fanfare Issue 5, Clea’s nemesis, Nicodemus breaks into the Sanctum to steal the power of the Sorcerer Supreme! Since you’ve probably never heard of him, I bet you know how that works out. In the far fetched backup, Captain America fights Nazis in modern day America. The main story is brought to you by Chris Claremont, Marshall Rogers, and Craig Russel. The back up was by the recently dep...

We spotlight rising comic book publisher Ignition Press, exploring its growing lineup of creator-owned comics. We discuss Arcadia, Murder Podcast, The Patron, The Other/Half, Everyone Loves a Jewel Thief, Dispatched, Just Brutal, The Dogsitter, Bad Thoughts, Deluge, Voyeur, Minotaur, and more as we take a look at what Ignition Press has been building and which books have caught our attention. Feat...

In this episode of Side Stack, we cover Marvel Fanfare 4 and wrap up the Savage Land adventure with Paul Smith going all out on the art with Chris Claremont writing. Abs and glutes galore! Can Ka-Zar and Angel save the X-Men from the clutches of Sauron? Of course they can. Do they look amazing while doing it? Hell yes! The backup has scientists playing twisted mind games on a Deathlock, by David K...

It's time for Top of the Stack, where we go through our recent comic book reads, including Skybound’s big new launch, Terminal, by Robert Kirkman, Joe Casey, Andy Kubert, David Finch, and Art Adams. Books include Gotham Central, the Ghost Machine SDCC Ashcan, Trillion Dollar Kid, The Twilight Zone, Fort Psycho, Is Ted OK?, Moon Knight, Innards, Dark Knights of Steel, and many more from Image Comic...

In Marvel Fanfare 3, Spider-Man high tailed it out of the Savage Land, so Angel calls in his buddies from the X-Men; Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler! And Marvel called in famed X-Men artist Dave Cockrum to team up with Chris Claremont to continue this adventure! In the back up, Charlie Boatner and Trevor Bon Eeden gives us Hawkeye, Corporate Shill! You can follow us on Instagram, Thre...

Based on listener feedback, we dive into the first story arc of East of West, the creator-owned Image Comics series from the legendary creative team of Jonathan Hickman (X-Men) and Nick Dragotta (Absolute Batman). Joining us for the journey through this apocalyptic alternate America is special guest Russ from Gotham by Geeks. You can follow us on Instagram, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Blue...

Issue two of Marvel Fanfare is action packed! Where else are you going to see were-pterodactyls, Sabertooth tigers, mutates, giant spiders, and chickens? All brought to you by Claremont and Golden. And in the back up Reed Richards forgets his anniversary…again. But it’s for a good reason, he swears! That lost tale of the Fantastic Four was created by McKenzie and Von Eeden. You can follow us on In...

Before Injustice. Before The Boys. There was Destiny’s Hand, an incredible epic where the Satellite Era JLA members have become an authoritarian force that rules the world and only the newly formed Justice League, led by Wonder Woman in the aftermath of The Death of Superman, can stop them. Special guest Shane Kelly from Comic Geek Speak joins us to revisit this classic story by Dan Jurgens, origi...

In the inaugural issue of Marvel Fanfare, Spider-Man and Angel team-up for a trip to the Savage Land, brought to us by Chris Claremont and Michael Golden. Their mission, help a woman whose love is lost there. The problem, he is the alter ego of Sauron. What could go wrong? The backup story brings us the first published work of artist Paul Smith, where Daredevil saves Christmas! Marvel Comics. Comi...

We revisit two legendary Marvel Comics from two of the comic book’s most iconic creators: X-Force 1- 4 by Rob Liefeld and Spider-man 16 by Todd McFarlane. Join us as we explore the launch of X-Force from the ashes of The New Mutants, featuring Cable, Domino, Deadpool, Weapon X, Juggernaut, and a Spider-Man team-up. Plus, Bryan makes us all incredibly jealous as he shares stories from San Diego Com...

Join Brian and Anthony as they start their Marvel Fanfare journey. In this zero episode they discuss what Marvel Fanfare is, how it came to be, the editorial and creative teams behind it, and just why they are doing this! You can follow us on Instagram, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Bluesky, & X https://linktr.ee/comicsdiscourse114 Also, please leave us a 5-star review at your favorite p...