The Secret Origins of Mint Condition: Comics, Movies, TV, Sports, Gaming and more

Join your hosts James, Chris, John and Adrienne as the sit in the Shire and start a conversation about the Lord of the Rings. In this first installment they talk about how they discovered the books and movies. Remember the times in the store playing the CCG and start talking about the cast of the movies. Sit back and get ready for the journey ahead.

Continuing our celebration of 60 years of Trek the crew of James, Josh and Jack start the conversation about Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Just in time for the release of Supergirl, James and Chris hop on an intergalactic space bus to talk about Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Spoilers ahead for both the comic and possibly the movie James and Chris breakdown the story, the characters, the art and go over some of the history of Supergirl.

In this special edition of the podcast James, Joe and Jack list and pay tribute to some of the great pop culture father's covering picks from comics, movie and TV.

In this week's episode Joe joins James as he recaps being at the recent Heroes Convention.

Show notes provided by Joe Peluso In the fall of 1941 a unique superhero was born to the nascent comic book industry. The creation of William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peters, and bowing in All Star Comics # 8 (cover dated January 1942), Princess Diana, the Amazing Amazon from Paradise Island, burst upon a world at war as--WONDER WOMAN! Armed with the powers of the Greek Gods, and the awesome c...

Show notes provided by Joe Peluso This trip to Joe's Comics' Corner transports us a thousand years into the future and then like sling-shooting around the Sun (Star Trek IV), way back to the sizzling sixties. If our heads are spinning, it's not so much from the voyage through time, but rather the joyful discovery of two classic comics that accompanied us on our journey! Yes, James and Joe are back...

Looking back at Green Arrow: Quiver

Show notes provided by Joe Peluso The two biggest FLASH fans in all of North America bring you their top ten Flash covers of all-time!! Yes, Keith and Joe have just extracted themselves from the Speed Force to show off some of the most beautiful covers The Sultan of Speed has ever graced. Silver, Bronze, Modern, Barry and Wally, are all on display for you the fleet-footed Flash fan to fawn over! A...

Show notes provided by Joe Peluso Arthur Curry--AQUAMAN--The King of the Seven Seas, and the brunt of bad superhero jokes for decades. But that all came to an end last January 2025 when superstar writer Jeremy Adams took the reins of Storm (Aquaman 1960's seahorse? One of the reasons for the bad jokes.) and turned Aquaman into a badass! No more Mr. Nice Guy who just "talks to fish",...

Happy May the 4th Star Wars fans! In this year's episode James, Chris and Josh dive into the world building that goes into Star Wars through series of questions provided by Chris who ask's which settings work best for Star Wars, who is a character you would like to see a story created around and finally what would be the break out side kick be from that story? This is a wide ranging creati...

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter, or as most comics fan know them as The Justice League. However, that wasn't always the case. In a post crisis world the Justice League of America was a much different group of heroes. It wasn't until writer Grant Morrison gathered the greatest heroes in the DC canon and put them together on one team to bec...

Show notes provided by Joe Peluso Well, Spring has sprung! It's time to throw open the back door to Mint Condition and let the fresh air in! Join your hosts James and Joe as they catch all the latest buzz that's wafting through the pop culture universe. And that vernal breeze carries a ton of topics to be discussed and disseminated:    Movie and TV trailers ranging from the streets of New York (Sp...

Join the crew of James, John and Josh as the head into the 32nd century to talk about the newest addition to the Star Trek universe Star Fleet Academy. The crew talks about why this newest edition is Star Trek, why you should check it out and some of there highlights from the season.

Show notes provided by Joe DC Comics has never shied away from telling BIG stories in their main titles. One of the very first was "The Search for Mera" in the spring of 1968 running through nine issues of the ongoing Aquaman book. A few years later at the start of The Bronze Age, "The Superman Sandman Saga" dropped, also running through nine issues of the hero's titular title. The flood gates wer...

Show notes provided by Joe No TV show hits the small screen (Can we still say that?) fully formed. Ideas, concepts, scripts need to be generated, and eventually come together in a "pilot" episode. The networks and advertisers need multiple reasons to put it on the air. TV is a business, and who is going to green light a program that doesn't make money? So the pilot has got to get it right the firs...

Show notes provided by Joe Peluso G.I Joe: A Real American Hero" premiered 44 years ago, published by Marvel Comics Group ! And I can say--unequivocally--that I did not read the book. Nor, in the intervening decades, did I ever read G.I. Joe. I was too busy reading Superman, Batman, The Flash, Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, and a slew of other comics that had nothing to do with fighter...

Looking back on Ultimate Spider-Man (2000)

Show notes provided by Joe Peluso Filling in the blanks. Adding texture and nuance. Answering those pesky questions. When characters like Batman and Robin have been around for the better part of a century there's a ton of established lore, but is it impossible or--perish the thought--needed to add something new to the mythos? Join hosts James, Richie, and Joe as they seek to answer those fanbo...

Show notes provided by Joe Peluso: Once again the top brass of Starfleet have gathered together at Command Headquarters in San Francisco to review the mission entitled: Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. The august assemblage consists of Admirals James, Josh, John and Keith, and Commodores Jack and Joe. Tasked with the responsibility of dissecting, disseminating, and declassifying (If deemed suitabl...

With Stranger Things recently ending the SOMC crew decided it would be a good time to talk about the series and why it made such an impact in pop culture. The gang talks about the things the show got right and areas where it missed. The conversation also gets thoughtful about the way TV is made these days and how that influenced the finale of this series.

Welcome to the 2026 Lunar New Year Edition of the Secret Origins of Mint Condition. This year we are spotlighting martial arts action super star Jackie Chan in the movie that brought him over to a US audience "Rumble in the Bronx". The back of the store crew of James, Chris and Josh marvel at what Jackie and his stun crew were able to do in this movie. How Jackie is able to balance comed...

Show notes provided by Joe Peluso This October 15th will mark the 75th anniversary of one the most influential TV shows in the history of the medium--"I Love Lucy".   Created and produced by its two stars--Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz--this all-time great sitcom became an overnight success, and went on to change the landscape of the fledgling TV medium. But more importantly, it brought un...

Show notes provided Joe Peluso Oh the weather outside is frightful--and the snow outside sure as heck ain't delightful! So if you're tired of shoveling the white stuff, or trying to warm yourself by a nice fire, join your fellow snowbound hosts Keith and Joe as they give their "warm" comments on all things current in the pop culture (or is that popsicle culture?) universe.    Fro...

Show notes provided by Joe Peluso In the late Summer of 1996 DC Comics decided to dim the lights by blowing out the Sun! A cosmic force known as The Sun-Eater (first seen way back in Adventure Comics #352 from November 1966!) came calling to snuff out all life on Earth! Chronicled in a weekly event, the story was entitled "The Final Night".And it sure as heck would've been, if not fo...