Tales from the Short Box

We conclude this season's manga series with Eiichiro Oda's smash hit, One Piece.  Get episodes like this early by joining our patreon! patreon.com/BraveNewWorldsComics

It's Official. RJ no longer has to force us to read Manga! Join us as we discuss the immeasurable influence of Akira Toriama's Dragonball Z.   

It's time for another round of "RJ makes us read manga." We kick off this season with the groundbreaking classic, Akira.     Support Tales From The Short Box by joining our Patreon! patreon.com/BraveNewWorldsComics

 For this extra spectacular season closer, we decided to invite our buddy @jayrollinsart on to talk about one of his all time favorite comics. And he straight up blew our minds into smithereens with ROBOCOP VS THE TERMINATOR by Frank Miller & Walt Simonson. It's over the top in all the best ways possible, truly capturing the nature of both franchises and throwing in a few extra nukes for good meas...

It's our last LWC of the season, and we've got some great comics to talk about! We've got weird alien body horror, an epic moster fight, and we talk about the finale of one of the first books we ever talked about.  Hope you enjoy it, and we'll see you next season!  Pull List (with spoiler time stamps): 00:13:35 - Dawnrunner #3 00:23:02 - Avengers Twilight #6 00:38:44 - Grommets #1 00:45:14 - Rise...

It's the penultimate episode of the season, and we're finally tackling an all time favorite and probably the most misunderstood comic character in pop culture THE PUNISHER! More importantly, we're diving headfirst into the darkly hilarious world of Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon with the iconic storyline "Welcome Back, Frank!" We dissect where mainstream zeitgeist got ol' Frank all wrong, as well as t...

It's Wednesday, which means it's time to talk about Last Week's Comics!  This week we just barely survive the american dream, a cruise on a liminal-space nightmare, and two guys with metal heads share a vision of the future that involves giant maggot spaceships.   Support Tales From The Short Box by joining our Patreon! patreon.com/BraveNewWorldsComics

It's time for part 2 of Adam's creator pick, and this time we're doing X-STATIX by Peter Milligan, Mike Allred, & Laura Allred! Or, more specifically, we did X-Force issues #116-129, after which the team changes their name to X-Statix because... ya know what, just listen to it, we break it all down! We loved looking back at this series with it's satirical take on reality TV and superheroes by way...

It is time once again to go back 7 days in the past and talk about our favorite comics.  This week we survive a car crash, a gang of cartoon coyotes with mail order catalogs, and the wild origin story of Skeletor.     Pull List (with spoiler time stamps): 00:06:17 - Ice Cream Man #39 00:14:42 - Uncanny Valley #2 00:24:06 - Masters of the Universe: Revolution 00:36:41 - Outsiders #7 Support Tales F...

It's Adam's turn to pick an all time favorite creator for us to dive into, and no surprise here: it's MIKE ALLRED! And to really dive right into the deep end immediately, we're swimming through the technicolor madness that is Madman Comics 1-11! It's simultaneously an ode to zany 60's superhero comics, a time capsule to the indie comics scene in the 90's, and a timeless pop-art masterpiece. We tal...

It has been a while! We're back from a two week hiatus due to the madness of Free Comic Book Day, so we have several week's of comics to catch up on.  Also Doom's Dracula contingency, a near-mint condition Flash Gordon, and a very strange wardrobe choice.    Pull List (with spoiler time stamps): 00:11:36 - Dark Age #2 00:22:13 - Blood Hunt #1 00:40:17 - Ain't No Grave #1 00:49:17 - FCBD Flash Gord...

RJ's random fav pick this season is 20th CENTURY MEN by Deniz Camp and Stipan Morian. This 6 issue mini drags you through the depths of the horrors of war, in a heightened fictionalized history where the Cold War was escalated with different weapons of mass destruction. Majority of this book takes place during the Afghanistan proxy war, and we get it from so many different perspectives. And while...

It's another short list of comics with a lot to say as we once again talk about comics from last week.  Thor takes on late stage capitalism, Wonder Woman smashes the patriarchy, and Cobra Commander fights..... Cobra.  We also try to answer one of the most difficult comics questions: where does one start on X-Men?    Pull List (with spoiler time stamps):  00:13:51 - Roxxon Presents Thor #1 00:33:22...

Part 2 of our Alan Moore series, we're jumping into 2000AD for the first time and reading THE BALLAD OF HALO JONES with art by Ian Gibson! This hyper-futuristic dystopia follows the titular lead as she tries to escape the "Hoop," and find her purpose somewhere among the stars. It's a sci-fi thrill ride with lots of Doctor Who, Clockwork Orange, and Judge Dredd in its DNA, but it's a masterpiece al...

It's Wednesday! Which means it's once agian time for week old comics. It's an action packed week with cartoon dads, noir Sue Storm, and Magneto is back in the classic purple outfit. Plus intergalactic biker guys falling from the sky!    Pull List (with spoiler time stamps): 00:13:01 - Uncanny Valley #1 00:21:10 - Fantastic Four #19 00:36:00 - Resurrection of Magneto #4 00:49:27 - Action Comics #10...

It's time for RJ's writer pick: none other than the incomparable, the indomitable, the immortal ALAN MOORE! And for his superhero pick, we went with WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW? This iconic 2 issue story tells the "final" Superman story, marking the end of Superman's pre-crisis continuity and the silver age itself. Plus, this deluxe hardcover collection includes the other 2 Sups issu...

It's time once again for the comics of yester-week!  An evil corporate Minotaur buys the publishing rights to everyone's favorite god, Poison Ivy's toxic past, and General Zod's embarrassing facial hair.  Tune in for all of this and more! Pull List (with spoiler time stamps): 00:04:55 - Immortal Thor #9 00:31:36 - Poison Ivy #21 00:47:33 - Kneel Before Zod #4 Support Tales From The Short Box by jo...

Shaun's personal favorite is the topic of this week's episode: FABLES by Bill Willingham, Lan Medina, and Mark Buckingham. Once upon a time, all the characters from all the fairy tales lived together in harmony in their own realm, until one day they were forced into exile in our world. In our new episode, we discuss the first 2 volumes: the murder mystery of who killed Red Rose, and the violent re...

It's the middle of the week, which means it's time for Last Week's Comics! We've got alternate Batman, regular Batman, and a whole toy box of GI Joes.  Also, what really killed Edgar Allen Poe?  Tune in and find out! Pull List (with spoiler time stamps):  00:08:31 - Duke #4 00:16:42 - Feral #1 00:25:17 - Batman Dark Age #1 00:39:52 - Penguin #8 Support Tales From The Short Box by joining our Patre...

Part two of our ED BRUBAKER double feature continues with CRIMINAL vol. 1 & 2, with art by Sean Phillips and colors by Val Staples. This one is a tried and true classic for a reason, and we had an absolute blast with it! It's the perfect vehicle for some hard-boiled crime noir, and Brubaker/Phillips really tap into the depths of the human condition in the best and worst ways

It's Wednesday again, which means more comics from last week! We've got some new indie sci-fi this week as well as expanding some old lore.  Also pets in space, proprietary robot design, and tripping off of the stuff that grows on Swamp Thing.    Pull List (with spoiler time stamps): 00:06:44 - Man's Best #1 00:14:07 - Dawnrunner #1 00:28:16 - John Constantine Hellblazer: Dead in America #3 00:42:...

We begin our two week double feature on none other than Ed Brubaker this week! We're diving into the beginning of his iconic run on Daredevil wtih art by Michael Lark. Matt finds himself in prison with his secret identity exposed.  Can he keep up the ruse that he's just a simple blind man? Can he track down Foggy's Killer from behind bars? Can he keep his cool and not betray his code of ethincs af...

Join us for another look back at our favorite comics from seven days ago! We've got new number ones this week from Tom King, Stephaine Phillips and Rick Remender.  Also, has Jim Steranko been Redskull this whole time? tune in and find out!   Pull List (with spoiler timestamps): 00:08:07 - Helen of Wyndhorn #1 00:22:19 - Black Widow & Hawkeye #1 00:31:29 - Avengers Twilight #4 00:45:47 - Napalm Lul...

This Week's deep dive is on All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, and Jamie Grant.  We explore all the reasons why this book is the definitive Superman story and all the ways that Morrison and Quitely elevate the character to his full potential.  Plus, it's just so dang much fun! We had a blast with this one. 

It's time for more 7-day-old comics! This week we have a Jed MacKay double header with Doctor Strange and The Avengers.  Also mutant sleep paralysis demons, D&D Jumanji, and a poorly timed parade.    Pull List (with spoiler time stamps): 00:11:06 - Ultimate X-Men #1 00:24:56 - Doctor Strange #13 00:35:35 - Kneel Before Zod #3 00:42:58 - Avengers #11 Support Tales From The Short Box by joining our...