The Comics Canon

In this episode, Curt and Kevin answer the eternal question "Why the last man?" with a discussion of Unmanned, the gripping first volume of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's post-apocalyptic series Y: The Last Man, published by Vertigo/DC Comics! After a catastrophic event kills seemingly every mammal with a Y chromosome, only two living males remain—unemployed escape artist Yorick Brown and his m...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin gear up for the upcoming release of Deadpool 2 with a look at one of the Merc With a Mouth's most popular adventures: the time-traveling tale With Great Power Comes Great Coincidence from Deadpool vol. 1 #11, by Joe Kelly and Pete Woods, published by Marvel Comics! But first, they take a quick detour to Forest Hills, Queens, circa 1967, to dissect a (let's be honest...

In this special bonus episode, Curt and Kevin welcome writer and artist Ed Piskor ( Hip-Hop Family Tree ) to discuss X-Men: Grand Design , his six-issue "remix" of Marvel mutant history through the end of the Chris Claremont era! (A "Marvel Treasury Edition" collecting the first two issues is available now.) Things discussed in this episode include the Twitter conversation that started this ambiti...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin welcome filmmaker and author C.D. Brown as they wrap up their preparations for Avengers: Infinity War with a look at the landmark limited series The Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin, George Perez and Ron Lim, published by Marvel Comics!  Oh, crap! Thanos the mad Titan has the six infinity gems, granting him dominion over the mind, the soul, space, time, power and re...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin make a left turn at Albuquerque to discuss a pair of stories featuring crossovers between DC Comics heroes and Looney Tunes characters: Batman/Elmer Fudd Special #1 by Tom King and Lee Weeks, and Grant Morrison and Chas Truog's The Coyote Gospel from Animal Man #5, published by DC Comics! First, a fearsome hunter tracks his prey through the mean streets of Gotham Ci...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin conclude their trilogy of Marvel origins episodes with a look at the comic book beginnings of everyone's favorite mutants! Then, they gear up for the new season of FX's Legion with a look at the issue that inspired a key moment from the show! First, the comic that started it all: X-Men #1! Who are these mysterious teenagers with bizarre super-powers? Who is their st...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin look forward to the April 27 release of Avengers: Infinity War by reviewing the first appearances of the original lineup of Marvel Comics' Avengers!  It's a whirlwind lightning round of takes on Phase One of the comic-book Avengers: "The Man in the Ant Hill!" (Henry Pym, Tales to Astonish #27) "The Hulk" (The Incredible Hulk #1) "Thor the Mighty and the Stone Men Fr...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin once again set aside their "clean" rating as they prepare for the second season of Netflix's Jessica Jones by snooping around Alias Vol. 4: The Secret Origins of Jessica Jones, collecting issues #22-28 of Alias, published by Marvel Comics! (Please be advised: Mature subject matter is discussed.)  First, as the title implies, the origins of everyone's favorite super-...

In this Valentine's Day episode, Curt and Kevin discuss a tale of love, longing and murder: Heartbreak Soup (or Sopa de Gran Pena) and its prologue, Chelo's Burden, written and drawn by Gilbert Hernandez, from the long-running series Love and Rockets, published by Fantagraphics Books. In the small Latin American town of Palomar, a violent breakup finds dazed, drunken Tip in' Tip in' taken under th...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin look forward to the highly anticipated Black Panther film with a look back at the late 90s storyline Black Panther: The Client, collecting Black Panther vol. 3 #1-5, the start of the groundbreaking run by Christopher Priest, published by Marvel Comics. T'Challa, king of the African nation of Wakanda, leaves his homeland in the middle of a refugee crisis for an urgen...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin celebrate their two-year podcasting anniversary with a special birthday two-fer, as they discuss the classic Superman birthday story For The Man Who Has Everything by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons from Superman Annual #11, published by DC Comics, as well as its animated adaptation from Justice League Unlimited! Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman arrive at Superman's arcti...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin return to Gotham City to unwrap the riddle of Batman: The War of Jokes and Riddles, by Tom King, Mikel Janin and Clay Mann, published by DC Comics! The Dark Knight Detective has popped the question to his "purr-fect" match, the beguiling cat burglar known as Catwoman. But before his feline foil can answer, he must unburden himself of a terrible secret—an especially...

In this last episode of 2017, Curt and Kevin welcome Collider.com senior TV editor and critic Allison Keene for a fun, spirited discussion of the big comics adaptations from the second half of the year, including Thor: Ragnarok , Marvel's The Defenders and Justice League ! Spoilers are (mostly) avoided in this non-canonical episode, which also touches on the CW's Crisis on Earth-X crossover event;...

In this episode, worlds collide as Curt and Kevin take aim at Marvel's the Punisher and the hit CW series Riverdale with a discussion of the epic 1994 crossover Archie Meets the Punisher (or The Punisher Meets Archie), published by Archie Comics and Marvel Comics! Written by Batton Lash (Supernatural Law) with art by comics legends John Buscema and Stan Goldberg, this most unlikely of mashups find...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin take the midnight train going anywhere, joined by Collider.com senior editor Matt Goldberg , as they mark the debut of Hulu's new Runaways series with a discussion of Runaways: Pride and Joy by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, published by Marvel Comics! All kids think of their parents as villains on occasion. But Alex Wilder and his adolescent friends have just...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin prepare for the long-awaited release of Justice League with (what else?) a discussion of a kinda/sorta Justice League story: the acclaimed 1996 battle-of-the-superheroes miniseries Kingdom Come , written by Mark Waid, painted by Alex Ross, and published by DC Comics! In the not-too-distant future, a new generation of super-powered beings has taken the place of the J...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin bring the mighty month of #Ragnaroktober to a thunderous conclusion, wrapping up their preparation for Thor: Ragnarok with a discussion of Ragnarok and Roll, the cataclysmic climax to Walt Simonson's Surtur Saga from The Mighty Thor #349-354, published by Marvel Comics! As a winter storm sweeps across the planet, the giant fire demon Surtur marches toward Earth with...

In this special episode, #Ragnaroktober rolls on as Curt and Kevin travel back two years before the release of the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok—all the way to the halcyon days of November 2015! Yes, it's the oft-mentioned, never-before-unveiled Comics Canon "beta" episode, a discussion of Walt Simonson's The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill (The Mighty Thor #337-340), published by Marvel Comics! While confronti...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin prepare for the Nov. 2 release of Thor: Ragnarok with the first of three action-packed installments! The month of #Ragnaroktober kicks off with a spirited discussion of Greg Pak's swords, sandals and sci-fi epic Planet Hulk … specifically, The Incredible Hulk # 92-95 and 103-105, published by Marvel Comics! Exiled into space by the brain trust known as the Illuminat...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin take a break from superhuman battles of good and evil to discuss a harrowing look at a very human form of evil, and one young man's unsuccessful struggle against the darkness within: Derf Backderf's graphic novel memoir My Friend Dahmer , published by Abrams ComicArts. In recounting his experiences and relationship with Jeffrey Dahmer through high school in the 1970...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin convene in secret to decide the fate of that clandestine conclave of Marvel Universe movers and shakers known as the Illuminati, as seen in New Avengers: Illuminati: Road to Civil War and New Avengers: Illuminati #1-5 , published by Marvel Comics! Iron Man! Reed Richards! Professor X! Black Bolt! Prince Namor! Doctor Strange! Together, they're one of the most powerf...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin analyze the most violent mental health professional this side of Hannibal Lecter! We're talking, of course, about psychologist turned psycho Harley Quinn – and more specifically, her origin story in the Eisner Award-winning one-shot The Batman Adventures: Mad Love, published by DC Comics! Poor Harley Quinn! She just wants to settle down with her psychopathic paramou...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin prepare for the Netflix debut of Marvel's The Defenders by… not discussing a Defenders comic! Instead, they book a return trip to Hell's Kitchen as they discuss the death and resurrection of Elektra , as seen in Daredevil #181 and #187-191, published by Marvel Comics! Elektra Natchios is a deadly assassin in the employ of the Kingpin of Crime – and she's also Darede...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin welcome special guest Alonso Duralde of the Linoleum Knife podcast, The Wrap and What the Flick?! to discuss three stories—The Seven Cities of Cibola, The Lemming With the Locket, and Tralla La—by classic Uncle Scrooge creator, writer and artist Carl Barks ! The world's wealthiest mallard, joined by his nephews Donald Duck and Junior Woodchucks Huey, Dewey and Louie...

In this episode, Curt and Kevin temporarily put aside their "clean" rating for a bracing look at the dark side of nerd culture (just in time for Comic-Con ) with a longer-than-usual discussion of Evan Dorkin's The Eltingville Club , published by Dark Horse Comics! Bill, Josh, Pete and Jerry are four nerd culture-obsessed teens who'll go to any lengths to score that ultra-rare collectible—and asser...