Screw It, We're Just Gonna Talk About Comics

We continue our Keith Giffen coverage with a look at the creator-owner property he did in the 2000s, Hero Squared. Keith did this with his Justice League collaborator J.M. DeMatteis.  J.M. was kind enough to be on this episode!  We ask J.M. about Keith in general, his collaboration with Keith and then we get into the series Hero Squared. Hero Squared is the story of Milo Stone, an unproductive asp...

Keith Giffen does mainstream crossover event, and does it well. Here we cover the 2006 epic war story that is Annihilation. The brainchild of editor Andy Schmidt along with Giffen, this story features the "cosmic characters" in the Marvel lineup. Galactus and Silver Surfer? You know it. Thanos. Of course. Rohan? Yep. And a star turn for the main villain, who is not much of a surprise when you thin...

What if a superhero acted mostly like Bugs Bunny? We now take you to another Milksop favorite: The Heckler. Though it was cancelled after only six issues because of low sales, The Heckler has always been a beloved cult favorite, espeically for fans of Giffen. Kevin has loved this series since it first came out! Will didn't read it until after Kevin raved about it for the 100th time or so, but he a...

The THREE Milksop brothers (Will, Kevin and Brian) are home for the holidays and thus record an ep in person. They have a tradition of watching Batman movies together, which sprung out of their shared beloved experience of seeing the 1989 Tim Burton movie together on opening night in Danbury CT. Listen as we reminisce about lots of brother-bonding movie watching! Somehow we make a lot of Rodney Da...

 Part ultraviolent anti hero, part parody of ultraviolent anti hero, Lobo was a phenomenon. Originally a side character in the Omega Men, this creation of Keith Giffen went on to become one of the more recognizable characters in the DC universe. In the 90s, he led his own books and made appearances everywhere. He even showed up in the kid-friendly tv show The Adventures of Superman, which is sort...

We continue looking at the career of writer/artist Keith Giffen. This week we look at his "Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years Later" story. Starting from their creation in the late 1950s, the Legion of Super Heroes stories were sunny and optimistic. After all, these were teen heroes in the future who had been inspired by the (relative to their time) ancient story of Superman. Giffen had even been...

We begin our examination of acclaimed comics writer/artist Keith Giffen. Perhaps most famous as a co-creator of the 1980s run of Justice League (the "B players" era), Giffen also either created or massively influenced: Lobo, Legion of Super Heroes, Rocket Raccoon (and kinda sorta Guardians of the Galaxy), the modern Blue Beetle and much more. This episode, we're looking at Ambush Bug. Specifically...

THWIP! We go deep -- too deep? -- on the new Spider-Man 2 video game. The Milksops were big fans of the first one. In fact, they each bought Playstations in 2018 just so they could play it! They generally like the new one a lot. But there are shortcomings that kind of HAVE to come with the sequel --- the great stuff isn't new anymore. But there's also lots of new fun stuff. Highlights: playing as...

A special bonus ep, kind of, which is JUST the "loose screws" segment. This was recorded for next week's ep (in which re review the Spider-Man 2 video game), but we decided it was TOO long and hence you're getting it this week. Will talks about the "Dark Age" storyline from the comic Astro City. Kevin discusses the recent MCU film The Marvels and the Apple+ TV show Monarch. See you next ep! email...

FF 271 (which came out in the summer of 1984) is a hodge-podge of cool little stories. We've got a glimpse of the Fantastic Four in "family mode" as they celebrate Reed's unnamed (but 40th) birthday, then a flashback to a pre-FF adventure done very much in the style of pre-Marvel Kirby art, and finally a visit to Reed's childhood... estate? Yes, Reed was not just a Richards but also Rich. And ever...

What do you do with a problem like Terminus? Well, you treat him like a mini Galactus, because that's kinda what he is. The FF head out to the Southwest US where Terminus, a big alien in planet-devouring armor, has landed. Luckily Reed has invented something which he spent 2 pages explaining to us towards the start of the story. We also get: Sue working through depression, She-Hulk flirting with W...

We close out our coverage of the terrific Grant Morrison JLA run with this adventure that was released as its own graphic novel: JLA Earth 2. Done by Morrison and Frank Quitely  -- who would later do the sublime All-Star Superman series -- this story is about an alternate world where the JLA is evil (the Crime Syndicate of America) and Lex Luthor is good! CSA is not a Morrison invention -- it goes...

We're back on the Grant Morrison JLA run which means we are back to COMPLICATED RECAPS. This time we have a relatively simple 2 issue story of the JLA vs a corrupt general and his Ultramarines! There's only like 6 new characters in this, so --- not too complex! But whoops then we have the 4 part story "Crisis TIme Five." In this story, there is an invasion from the fifth dimension which somehow le...

The Milksops realize that it's episode 250 and they should do something special. So we take a break from JLA and do these things: read promotional blurbs suggested by our listeners, force Kevin to answer trivia, go over an old collection of "imaginary" Superman stories from our childhood, and remember our favorite moments of the first 250 episodes. Also because we are dumb we thought it was 200 ep...

Two relatively "simple" stories are up next for the Grant Morrison JLA run. First we get new supervillain Prometheus -- a sort of anti-batman, whose criminal parents were gunned down by police -- invading the JLA headquarters. He makes quick work of the JLA before suddenly becoming stupid and then losing immediately. Then we have a two part story where the Lord of Dreams, Sandman, needs help from...

Plot complexity level: you have been MORRISSONED. The issues remain extremely fun but the story becomes very hard to summarize. Unless you keep it simple like this: Lex Luthor finds a magic crystal to destroy the JLA, but instead lets an alien enslave Earth, until the good guys use time travel to undo everything. Except add in: hard light holograms, New Gods technology so advanced it ruins your mi...

We're gonna rock down to... electric Superman?!!! Yes, Electric Superman has entered the chat. So has Tomorrow Girl, a few angels from Actual Heaven,  Connor Hawke (son of original Green Arrow) and Starro. We cover a lot in this segment! We talk about how Superman is still Superman, even with new powers. We talk about how the "Green Arrow vs Overpowered Villain" story is still good in its own righ...

Sometimes when you read superhero comics you want Actual Superheros doing Actual Superhero things. That's what you get in Grant Morrisson's 1990s JLA run. Extraordinarily powered beings battling the highest stakes villains. Creative uses of physically impossible abilities. The triumph of good over evil. And Superman being a great Superman. We cover the first 4 issues they wrote, the "Hyperclan" ar...

Dr. Doom is on the loose! Wait, no, actually it's just his mask. But still! It's a fearsome powerful mask! We also talk about Spider-Man: Blue (which Will just read). In our mailbag, we do another quiz from Keith! We also get emails about Superhero Movie Fatigue, Epic Collections and our fantasy FF Movie.+ __ SHOW INFORMATION  Twitter:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@ScrewItComics⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Inst...

The Milksops review a tragic event in the lives of the FF. How did we feel about it when this issue came out? How about now? Is She-Hulk gonna get to do anything? We also get a collection of the greatest scientists in the Marvel Universe (Reed, Banner, Morbius and.... Sasquatch) who decide that what they need is... another scientist. Can Dr. Michael Morbius look any weirder? We dig into the mail,...

The Milksops discuss the issue where it's announced that She-Hulk has replaced The Thing in the FF! A momentous occasion, that is barely explained in this issue. Instead, we spend much of the issue on a very fun story where the Trapster fails to infiltrate The Baxter Building. Yes, it is fun! The Milksops also start to catch up on their mountain of mail.  We get lots of proposed names for segments...

Our final Catwoman arc is a happy one. Selina and Holly heal their hearts by hitting the road and taking a tour of the DC universe. We visit: Wildcat, Captain Cold, Starman (kinda), Hawkman and make a phone call to a Flash! All while a mysterious band of middle eastern robbers chase Selina in a storyline that we do not continue! Next ep: Cosmic Rays and Correspondence! __ SHOW INFORMATION  Twitter...

We cover "No Easy Way Down," an emotional and creative high point for this series. After the traumatic events of "Relentless" three three issues show us Selina, Holly and Slam all dealing with their feelings. The action is moved into the background as we hear the characters thoughts, see their dreams, and feel their pain! It's an incredible trio of books and a must read for anyone who likes good c...

We go over a dark, moving arc in the Brubaker Catwoman run: "Relentless." Selina learns that she can't buy redemption. We learn that the Black Mask is a creative psychopath. But Slam gets a happy ending, sort of, maybe? __ SHOW INFORMATION  Twitter:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@ScrewItComics⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@ScrewItComics⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   Email: ScrewItComics@gmail.com  Subscribe...