The Comics Canon

Combining corporate intrigue, James Bond-style espionage and more than a hint of social relevance, it's perhaps the defining Iron Man storyline—and arguably informs Robert Downey Jr.'s mega-popular portrayal of the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this episode, we strap on the jet skates to discuss Demon in a Bottle—specifically, The Invincible Iron Man issues #123-128, by David Mich...

In this episode, we load up our rucksacks and make a long-overdue trip to the world of bande dessinées —and one of the most popular comics characters of the 20th century—with a look at Tintin in Tibet by Hergé! When Tintin learns of a plane crash in the Himalayas, a dreamlike vision convinces him that his friend Chang has somehow survived the crash. Joined by his faithful dog Snowy and the irascib...

In this episode, we're joined by Bryan Stratton and Robb Milne of the Marvel by the Month podcast to complete our first podcast crossover (you can hear the first part here)—and to discuss Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Death of Spider-Man, by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, published by Marvel Comics! Just when things are looking up for the Peter Parker of Earth-1610, life comes crashing down a...

We celebrate our fifth anniversary by finally tackling a seminal work by one of the biggest names in comics: Smile by Raina Telgemeier, published by Scholastic/Graphix! In this Eisner Award-winning graphic memoir, sixth-grader Raina suffers a dental injury that upends her entire world, kicking off a years-long succession of visits to various "odontists" involving surgery, braces, headgear and a re...

( Note: Due to some sound issues, we were forced to re-record a couple of spots in the first few minutes of the podcast.) In this episode, we kick off 2021 with one of the best-reviewed books of 2020: Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru, published by DC Comics! Taking inspiration from the 1940s radio serial The Adventures of Superman, this three-issue limited series follows th...

Explicit Warning! This episode contains strong language and is recommended for mature listeners. For the last episode of 2020, we segue seamlessly from Bucky Barnes to another iconic comics antihero, Buddy Bradley, with a discussion of five stories featuring the Bradley clan from Peter Bagge's 1980s anthology Neat Stuff, published by Fantagraphics Books! Specifically, we dive deep into "Rock 'n' R...

For decades, Bucky Barnes sat cooling his heels with Ben Parker in the exclusive club of characters Marvel Comics would never bring back from the dead. But all that changed in 2006, as chronicled in Captain America: Winter Soldier—specifically, Captain America issues 1-6. 8-9, and 11-14—by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Michael Lark and others. While chasing down a terrorist plot with S.H.I.E.L.D. age...

In this episode, we quack the case of everyone's favorite talking waterfowl with a look at Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck! Specifically, his appearances in Giant-Size Man-Thing issues 4-5 and Howard the Duck (Vol. 1), issues 1,2,3, and 5, published by Marvel Comics! Trapped in a world he never made, this irascible, cigar-chomping mallard became a breakout star following his debut in Man-Thing #1 a...

Bro! On this episode, comics writer and publisher Carlton Hargro (20th Place Media) returns as we take aim at "the breakout star of the blockbuster Avengers film" with a discussion of Hawkeye (2012), specifically issues 1-5 (as seen in Vol. 1: My Life As a Weapon) and 11 ("Pizza Is My Business"), by Matt Fraction, David Aja and Javier Pulido, published by Marvel Comics! This charming take on the W...

The second volume of Art Spiegelman's award-winning graphic memoir finds the artist grappling with the success of the first, and questioning his ability to pull off such an ambitious project. In doing so, he adds another layer to the book's metaphorical conceit of depicting various ethnicities as different animals, and creates a work more reflective and self-aware than its predecessor. Meanwhile,...

Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus had a profound effect on the public perception of comics as an art form when its first volume, serializing installments that had first appeared in the alternative comics anthology Raw, appeared in 1986. In it, Spiegelman's conversations with his father, Vladek—background for a comic the artist wants to write—serve as an entryway into the e...

The Cosmic Canon, our miniseries on space-faring epics, concludes with a look at Mike Baron and Steve Rude's Nexus, as seen in Nexus. Vol. 2, issues #13-16 and 18-19, published by First Comics! In the 25th century, Horatio Hellpop dreams of mass murderers, and is compelled to hunt those killers across the galaxy and kill them. When his efforts to free himself of this mission are thwarted, he winds...

In this episode, The Cosmic Canon, our series on space-faring epics, rockets all the way to the 30th century as we discuss The Great Darkness Saga from Legion of Super-Heroes #290-294, published by DC Comics! As chronicled by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen, the early '80s Legion isn't your daddy's teenage superhero space club! Combining space opera and soap opera, it features a large cast of super-p...

On this episode, The Cosmic Canon, our series on cosmic tales, soars from peaceful New Genesis to pockmarked Apokalips to Earth as we discuss Jack Kirby's epic saga of space gods, galactic wars and skiing avatars of Death: New Gods Vol. 1, issues 1-11, published by DC Comics! The flagship title of Kirby's ambitious Fourth World line, New Gods introduced a head-spinning mixture of science fantasy,...

On this episode, The Cosmic Canon, our series on cosmic comics stories, rockets from Coast City to the sentient planet Mogo to the anti-matter universe as we get embroiled in Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War Vol. 1, by Geoff Johns, Dave Gibbons, and various artists, published by DC Comics! The intergalactic peacekeeping force known as the Green Lantern Corps is rocked to its core when the ren...

On this episode, we launch a new miniseries on cosmic comics stories called (what else?) The Cosmic Canon! First up: the historic Kree-Skrull War, specifically Avengers issue #93-97, by Roy Thomas, Neal Adams and John Buscema, published by Marvel Comics! Can you call a storyline the Kree-Skrull War when there's no actual Kree vs. Skrull combat? And can this character-stuffed epic achieve victory i...

Phil Sheldon is just your average man on the street—except that his career as a freelance photographer uniquely positions him to chronicle several key events in the history of the Marvel Universe, as depicted in the 1994 miniseries Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, published by Marvel Comics! Can our workaday shutterbug overcome his feelings of inferiority in the face of superpowered beings? C...

Atlanta actress Jennifer Lee joins us for the conclusion of our Sandman two-parter to discuss The Sandman: Dream Country (issues 17-20), as well as Tales in the Sand (#9) and Men of Good Fortune (#13), by Neil Gaiman and a dream team of artists, published by DC Comics! Will the lord of Dreams rescue his former flame, the muse Calliope, from a reprehensible author? Can a thousand dreaming cats tran...

On July 15, Audible is releasing a star-studded audio production of the first three storylines of the beloved DC/Vertigo series The Sandman—giving us the perfect excuse to book a two-part return trip down the River of Dreams. First stop: The Doll's House, by Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Chris Bachalo, and others! Taking stock of his realm after decades away, Morpheus, the Lord...

Today's episode was supposed to be about The Sandman: The Doll's House. But we felt that we just couldn't ignore the protests taking place around the United States and across the world over the needless, senseless deaths of George Floyd and many other black Americans. So instead we're discussing the historic but little-known Martin Luther King and The Montgomery Story, published in 1957 by a group...

Over the years, the Hulk has been a rampaging behemoth, a Vegas enforcer, and a gladiator-turned-warlord on a far-flung alien planet . And the Green Goliath gets another incarnation in The Immortal Hulk Vol. 1: Or Is He Both?, by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett, published by Marvel Comics. When Bruce Banner dies (which happens a lot), he awakens at nightfall as The Immortal Hulk, a cunning, brutal and fe...

Paul Chadwick's Concrete has the trappings of a superhero story—a quiet, somewhat nebbishy man finds his brain transplanted into a giant stone body that allows him to do great things. But like a number of other similar titles from the early 80s like Nexus and Zot!, it spins this well-worn concept into something new, intelligent and wholly original. In his first four issues (as reprinted in Concret...

Comic book worlds don't come any more vividly imagined or painstakingly detailed than Astro City. The metropolis that gives this anthology series its title isn't all that different from the one outside your window—you know, except for all the high-flying heroes, insectoid invaders and mystical menaces that share the sidewalk with everyday citizens like you. Life in the Big City, collecting the fir...

It's hard out here for a C-list supervillain. You've got the basic lack of respect, your super-powered parole officer ... and then there's the constant bickering and backstabbing that threaten to tear your crew apart faster than your not-so-friendly neighborhood Spider-Man ever could! At least, that's the problem facing the five members of the Sinister Six in the hilarious Superior Foes of Spider-...

It's April Fools' Day, and while most of us aren't in the mood for pranks given the current state of affairs, we could all use something a little light and fun. And what's more fun than ... Mister Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite deconstructing (okay, detroying) the entire DC multiverse? That's why we're discussing Superman and Batman: World's Funnest, by Evan Dorkin and an all-star cast of artists, publishe...