Cover B Podcast

Coming into this film, we knew it was going to be a challenge to try and top the original, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. But hot damn, they achieved. Incredible art, an engaging storyline, cameos and references and fan service, oh my! It's like watching the live-action world blend with the comic world in a majestic symphony. Well done, Sony (but don't get comfortable, we still know what you did to Morbius...). 

Graphic Novelties: Cuckoo Oh snap, we've got another Joe Sparrow graphic novel, and this one is quite a bit thicker and meatier than Homunculus, but still in the same sci-fi vein. Our main character, Dorothy, goes through something strange and unexplainable when she's a child, and it isn't until much later, when she's struggling with college and her future and what she really wants to do with herself, that it comes back to have a significant impact. Less of a coming-of-age, and more a coming-to-terms-with, being an adult is hard and no one articulates some of those weird feelings better than Dorothy. It's supernatural, it's weird, it's beautifully drawn - this book hits on some heavy topics in a powerful way that feels relatable and inspiring. Go get this book! 

It's weird, it's creepy, it's kind of gross at times - it's very Junji Ito. Early in 2023, Netflix launched a new anime dedicated to the story-telling style you know and love from the horror king himself. Featuring some familiar faces, as well as some stories you may not know, it's a compilation of macabre with some hits, some misses, and some icky bits to keep you up at night. If you're into his style, it's definitely worth a watch. 

Graphic Novelties: Homunculus There's been a lot of talk about AI lately - some exciting, some scary, some that seems straight out of a science fiction novel. What's so interesting about Homunculus by Joe Sparrow is that it tackles AI head-on, but not in the "what happens when we get overtaken by robots and they enslave us all" angle we see so frequently, but more in a "what happens when humans inevitably destroy themselves, and leave all this AI behind?" It's a deeply emotional, but also uplifting and hopeful take on our relationship with artificial intelligence that left me all up in my feels. 

In all honesty, Marvel hasn't felt quite on their game lately. The majority of the recent films have felt just okay and a couple even outright disappointed us (looking at you Thor... sigh...). Not this one. An emotional rollercoaster that can absolutley wreck your tear ducts, this one is well written, well directed, well acted, and serves as an incredible finale to the Guardians' storyline. Definitely go see it, but also come well prepared with a box of tissues. 

Powered Gaming: Marvel Snap RIGHT, SO, we took a bit of a break because we MOVED! We weren't totally planning on taking a break, but between the busy-ness of it all, and the lack of internet for multiple weekends in a row, it just sort of worked out that way. ANYWAY, Tee got all wrapped up into Marvel's fancy TCG, and decided to spend an episode trying to convince Chris to play it. Is she successful? Probaably not. But you'll have to listen to know for sure! 

Graphic Novelties: The Passageway Beautiful, ethereal, metaphorical - it's not a very long book, and it doesn't say a ton, but the vagueness adds to the eerie strangeness. A new tale in the Bone Orchard mythos from Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino, the endless depths of a hole on an island by a lighthouse leaves way more questions than answers. Of course, this all adds up to some quality creepy horror. 

Sometimes, a movie that has smaller ambitions gives us a bigger payout, and that's exactly how it feels with Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Rather than trying to build a whole new universe, this movie is telling a straightforward story with a relatively contained cast, and it makes all the difference for the fun, relatable narrative. 

Children's programming can be really hit or miss; sometimes it leans too crass and silly, sometimes it leans too adult and isn't entirely appealing for kids. Moon Girl, on the other hand, nails the balance perfectly. Beautifully animated, brilliantly acted, and a killer soundtrack, we are anxiously awaiting season 2! 

Graphic Novelties: Jenny Finn It's Industrial England, heavy topics, and a bunch of fish people. Sure, not something you pick up every day, but this read has that distinct Mignola flavor that brings wide-spanning themes altogether. The story isn't necessarily ground-breaking, but it's a quick, interesting read that is as much an ambience piece as anything else. 

You know, it feels really good to be able to come here and talk about a Marvel movie and actually feel really happy with the outcome. After a couple real bummer-inos, this new installment of Ant-Man introduced some really great characters, some long-lasting villain implications, and a good bit of depth to a majority of the established heroes. Heck, Marvel, it's almost like you DO know how to make a movie. 

Key Issues: Navigating Fanship Around Problematic People We hate to bring in the raincloud, but we really felt this was something that needed to be discussed. There's been a lot of discourse around how to handle loving an IP or a book or movie when it becomes unfortunately connected to someone problematic. In today's Key Issues, we share where we draw the line for our own ethical consumption. 

News Brief: The Gunnening 2: DC Boogaloo Holy heck, James Gunn just dropped a LOT of information on us about where the DCU is headed in a recent social video drop, and we've taken the time to process what it all means, decide what we're most excited about, and most importantly, pinpoint exactly which things we TOTALLY CALLED in our Coverspiracy from last December! 

Powered Gaming: Munchkin Presents Batman There are a LOT of types of Munchkin - some work better than others, for sure, but this one is a pretty solid iteration of the fan-favorite game. With custom art, the traditional playful silliness, and a deep understand of what makes Batman so weird, this is a version definitely worth picking up. 

Graphic Novelties: Chronophage This book, while definitely on the spicier side, is an excellent deviation from the more traditional sci-fi romps we've taken in recent comic titles. It's time travel, it's aliens, it's pocket universes - but also, none of those features feel like they overwhelm what's ultimately a story about love, family, and being honest to oneself. It gets pretty deep, but it's worth it, we promise. 

Powered Gaming: Marvel Dice Throne If you listened to our end of the year "Best of" episode, you know that Chris's favorite board game of the year was Marvel Dice Throne. Well, now you get to find out why it's so great! From its portability, to its quick pace, to its easy to grasp gameplay, this is one of those games you'll want to pick up for the family ASAP! 

Key Issues: The Best of 2022 It's the end of the year, and we're looking back on the best of the best in comics, graphic novels, movies, TV shows, video games, board games, and episodes. Let's get down and dirty on our top picks from 2022!

Coverspiracy: The Gunnening of DC Boy howdy, there's been a LOT of speculation around the future of the DCU! Rumors about who's in, who's out, who hates who, and what random characters may get introduced have been whirling wildly all over the internet, with only limited confirmations or denials coming from the Gunn-man himself. We're here to help clear up what's true, false, and undecided, along with our theories about what's next for the DC Cinematic Universe. 

So, this movie came out almost 3 years ago at this point, but because of the dreaded panini, it really fell under the radar for most folks. We recently had a chance to check it out, and decided to share our thoughts on this pretty decent Vin Diesel flick that should have gotten way more love than it did. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong company, wrong circumstances. 

Reel Extra: The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special We're not saying this short flick is going to replace your yearly rewatch of A Christmas Story, but it is a holly jolly joyful little romp to brighten your season. With the focus on Mantis, we get a delighfully goofy and heartwarming tale about saving Christmas for Starlord. Oh, and Kevin Bacon is awesome, even if he IS just a stupid actor.

Powered Gaming: Gotham Knights Gotham's missing a Batman in the new DC video game, but that's not the only thing this game is lacking. A very mid- experience; it has some high points in interesting crafting & crime-stopping, but some really low points in villain development and boss fights. Should you spend a lot on it? Probably not. But it might be worth a pick up on a steep Black Friday sale. 

Reel Extra: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever There was a lot of speculation around how they would incorporate the loss of Chadwick Boseman and his rendition of T'Challa into the MCU, but it was done gracefully and with a lot of empathy. Beyond that, the movie itself is well done - great acting, beautiful visuals, and a solid story - even though there were some small but pronounced holes that could have made the film better with a little more fleshing out. More than anything, we're just proud the MCU has started to really figure out how to mix up the tone of their movies; we've come a long way from the Tony-Stark-ization of every character, and that's something to be celebrated, for sure.  

Reel Extra: Black Adam I wouldn't say that the rock has brought something hugely new and different to the genre, but I would say he's helped create a super fun, action-packed popcorn movie that's definitely worth seeing on a big screen. Oh, and it DOES have some implications for the rest of the MCU so, you know, be ready for that. 

Graphic Novelties: Dissolving Classroom It's our last episode for spooky season, and we're capping off with a goopy, gross, funny, and poignent title in Dissolving Classroom - the most recent anthology from one of Cover B's favorites, Junji Ito. It's weird and over-the-top, but still does a great job of calling out the ongoing trend of disingenuous apologies we see and experience a lot of the time. Get your candy, light your pumpkin, and join us for another spooky time! 

Reel Extra: Werewolf By Night It's a Halloween spooky special from your fright-night friends at Cover B! This week we're covering the recently released Werewolf By Night, a Marvel & Disney+ short horror film that does an incredible job stylizing itself after the old-school genre films. You know, except randomly for the "not-TVA" folks. Which... well, we'll tell you all about it. Time for some spooks! 

Key Issues: The Troublesome Journey from Comic to Screen It's been flop after failure-to-launch after cancellation when it comes to comic adaptations lately, and boy has it left some pretty big sticks in our collective craws. Today, we're talking about the three things that keep blocking the paths of comic IPs to the big or silver screens: a lack of marketing, good writing, and advocacy. 

Graphic Novelties: Leone: Notes on a Life As two English majors talking about media on a weekly basis, it is super exciting when we get a graphic novel like this one that gives us something to really sink out teeth into. This book is beautiful, creative, subjective, and leaves so much up to the reader. From the use of color, to the nonsequential storytelling, to the subtle weaving of music the whole way through, this title has so much to offer. Definitely not one to miss! 

Reel Extra: Paper Girls This episode is both necessary and super sad. You may have heard that the Prime Video adaptation of Paper Girls has already been cancelled after just one season. While it may not have been the best new show to drop this year, it was a solid rendering of the story and a lack of renewal is a huge loss of potential. Just another hit to comic-based TV... sigh. 

Reel Extra: Revealer Grab your pumpkin spice lattes and Halloween soundtracks - it might only be September, but we're going full spooky season with this Shudder original, Revealer. Released with a comic promo/tie-in from Vault, get ready for an apocalyptic romp through the 80s, packed with religious zealotry and exotic dancers. This movie was super fun and we are REALLY hoping Shudder does more titles like this! 

Graphic Novelties: The Girl and the Glim It's back to school season, so we thought we'd pick up a family-friendly graphic novel this time, and BOY did it deliver! A story about new schools, bullies, magical glowing wisps and evil shadow monsters, this book might be a little scary for the smallest of readers, but it offers a lot of joy and beautiful graphics for a younger age group.   

Key Issues: The Power of Family The long-standing trope in comics has always been the death or demise of family - from Spider-Man's tragic loss of Uncle Ben, to Superman's whole dang planet exploding, a lack of family has often been a crutch for plot development. But lately, superheros are not only situated within happy families, but those relationships help provide major forward momentum for their heroism. We are BIG fans of keeping it in the family.   

Graphic Novelties: Summer Fires Summer may be winding down for us, but in Summer Fires, by Giulia Sagramola, we get to start the summer all over again... the summer of two-thousand-(insert mumbled date here). But in all fairness, this story of youthful awakening, sisterhood, and learning to drive is a beautiful story set to beautiful color shading. The fires burn hot, but nothing burns hotter than adolescence.     

Reel Extra: The Sandman From beautiful visuals, to incredible effects, to brilliant casting and dynamic portrayals, this is one of those adaptations we'll be talking about for a LONG time. Hey, HBOMax, if you need some advice... maybe you should be chatting up Netflix? 

Cover B 2022 State of the Union  This may not be the episode you were expecting, but we promise only good will come of it! We're changing things up with a format change, added blogs to our website, and even more content to our socials. It's an exciting time for Cover B! 

Reel Extra: Thor: Love and Thunder This movie had one heck of a hype train behind it! Now that it's here, we've taken it upon ourselves to step out of summer break just to tell you that it's.... fine. Yep. It's... a movie... Damnit, Taika. 

Weekly Pull Highlights Sins of the Black Flamingo #1 Public Domain #1 Mindset #1  We're about to go on summer break for a month, but we're wrapping up this season of standard episode with three fantastic books, including a flamboyant noir, an attack on the MCU, and a venture capitalist getting offed with a fire extinguisher. What a week to go out on! 

Graphic Novelties: Azimut This is one of the most clever, creative, inventive titles we've read in a very, very long time. A fantasy story that's not afraid to play with surealism, post-modernism, and utter chaos, this book has a little something for everyone. It's a big chongus of a read, too! Go get it! Go get it now!! 

Weekly Pull Highlights Do A Powerbomb #1 A Calculated Man #1  We're working so hard to get back to a normal schedule, but as you can tell from Tee's voice, it's been easier said than done. But this week has a couple excellent new books, both with constant surprises around every page turn. Boom - necromancy out of nowhere! This is why we love comics. 

Weekly Pull Highlights Astronaut Down #1 The Ballad of Ronan #1 Aquaman: Andromeda #1 Poison Ivy #1 Alright, so we might sound raspy and kind of groggy... but it's only because we are. Despite the illness among us, we're powering through because this week had some excellent comics we didn't want you to miss out on, including TWO whole books from DC worth mentioning! 

Weekly Pull Highlights Triskele #1 Neverender #1  We're back, baby! And with a couple excellent indie titles about being swept onto adventure without ever seeing it coming. 

Weekly Pull Highlights Spectro (One-Shot)  Sorry we've been away for a while, off fighting transportation woes and technical difficulties, but we're BACK with an excellent vignette-style anthology of sci-fi, horror-y goodness. 

Key Issues: Over-Powered Characters in Comics TO PREFACE we love Darth Vader and Doctor Aphra and Wolverine and Batman and Superman and all these folks as much as the next loud-mouthed podcast team. However, when a character is OP, or they constantly overcome challenges just by *being themselves* - their stories start to become predictable, and worse, boring. Let characters be good at stuff, but maybe not the BEST at everything they touch, okay? 

Reel Extra: Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness It's got a really long name, but between some excellent acting, tasty horror vibes, and pure Sam Raimi goodness, there's a lot to enjoy about this movie. Do we have our qualms?... yeah, we do. What, did you think this was a Spider-Man movie or something? 

Weekly Pull Highlights Quests Aside #1 Metal Society #1 Twig #1 Starward #1 Past the Last Mountain #1  Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day, but we can't even think about that right now with the huge load of excellent titles that already dropped this week! You've got some great reading ahead of you, folks!

Graphic Novelties: Children of the Woods There is something very -novel- about a book that subverts horror tropes and expectations to make something new and different. And yes, that was a pun, and no, I don't feel bad about it. 

Weekly Pull Highlights Blood Stained Teeth #1 Vermillion #0 At this point, there have now been so many bad vampire books that the only ones left to make are good ones. At least, that's the theory we're going with. 

Weekly Pull Highlights Dark Beach #1 Corollary #1 Cancelled (One-Shot) Please disregard the innevitable lawnmower noises in the background - we couldn't evade them, and now neither can you! But that didn't stop us from covering some very excellent space-age books this week. 

Weekly Pull Highlights Breakout #1 Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country #1  Tee may have no voice left, but the comic show must go on! Cover books from last week that we weren't able to share thanks to technical difficulties, this scary/scifi fare was not something to be missed. 

Powered Gaming: Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga The newest edition to the Lego game saga is here, and it's a new take on old classics with the definitive Skywalker collection. Fun, family-friendly, and plenty of variety, this game has something for everybody. 

Weekly Pull Highlights STRGRL Ep. 01 West of Sundown #1 The Ocean Will Take Us #1 Look, comics don't HAVE to be bleak and depressing and drab. They can be colorful and playful and feature young people with powers and drama and OKAY, THERE'S ANOTHER VAMPIRE BOOK. SUE US. 

Reel Extra: Morbius So, it's not the worst movie we've ever seen. In fact, it might even be better than Venom: Let There Be Carnage... but that doesn't mean it's good. Or even, really, okay. It's just sort of... well, it's kind of bad. Sony, why do you keep doing this to us?