Empire's Comics Presents: Cracking The Vault

.. in which we, Tony Asaro, Patrick Clarke, & Ryan Miller, celebrate the best in comics & comics-related media of 2019, in our fifth annual Vaulty Awards show!! Download EP_174_-_THE_2019_VAULTY_AWARDS_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Ryan Miller, Patrick Clarke, & Tony Asaro, celebrate Ryan's birthday in a town beset by evil, trying to fend-off the fury of Dracula, The Wolf Man, & The Mummy, in a round of Prospero Hall's Universal Monster-mash cooperative board game Horrified, out of Ravensburger Games!![Note: This episode is a tad noisy! 'Cause that's what happens when you put a mic on a table & then play a board game on that same table! Mistakes were made, lol. Regardless, we hope you enjoy the episode, because we had an absolute blast making it. Cheers.] Download EP_173_-_Horrified_FIN_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Patrick Clarke, Tony Asaro, & Ryan Miller, indulge in one of our longest-running annual traditions & take a look at how we did on our comics-related resolutions from 2019, before then making a whole batch of spectacularly-ill-advised new resolutions for 2020!![image from My Hero Academia by Bones/Funimation, created by Kōhei Horikoshi] Download EP_172_-_New_Years_Comics_Resolutions_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Ryan Miller, Patrick Clarke, & Tony Asaro, try our level best to wrangle, explain, & discuss, our feelings about the biggest comic event of 2019: Marvel's 12-part, showstopping, X-Men miniseries, House of X & Powers of X, by Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia, R.B. Silva, & Adriano Di Benedetto!![Note: We recorded this episode in November, just as the first wave of Dawn of X was debuting. Much has happened in those books in the meantime, & there have also been a great many exciting developments with Tony's flowerbed full of Krakoa Seeds. We will update you on these matters with all due haste.] Download EP_171_-_HOX_POX_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Tony Asaro, Patrick Clarke, & Ryan Miller, travel all the way back to The Bronze Age of Comics in honor of Tony's birthday, & rap about what was on the spinner rack in 1979!!(featuring reviews of Ghost Rider, Elfquest, & the original Marvel-era Star Wars comics) Download EP_170_-_The_Year_Was_1979_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Tony Asaro, Patrick Clarke, & Minnie Saucedo, (with additional contributions from Ryan Miller, & Ben Schwartz), helped celebrate Tony's birthday way back in September of 2018 by talking-out all our feels concerning The Big Blue Boyscout, himself, Clark Kent.*** This one sat buried in The Vault for an embarrassing length of time, which was unplanned & unintentional, & we're thrilled to finally put it out there, into the world. Thank you for sticking with us, thank you -as always- for listening, we hope you enjoy hearing this as much as we enjoyed making it, & we hope each & every one of you is having a warm & wonderful winter holiday season. Lastly but most importantly, a big thank you to Minnie for being such a vital part of our show for so many episodes. We remain deeply grateful to her, for her incalculable contributions to Cracking The Vault during her time with us. ***[cover image from Action Comics (vol 2) #37, drawn by the incomparable Darwyn Cooke] Download EP_169_-_Superman_FIN.mp3

.. in which Tony Asaro sits down with Ben C. Schwartz for a our debut rapid-fire-questionnaire mini-episode of 10-in-10 with Ben!! Download 10_in_10_w_Ben_SEPT_19_FIN_FIN.mp3 [cover image from Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man #309, by Chris Bachalo & Tim Townsend]

.. in which we, Patrick Clarke, Ryan Miller, & Tony Asaro, belatedly celebrate Patty's birthday by discussing one of his favorite-ever comics: Planetary, written by Warren Ellis, drawn by John Cassaday, & colored by Laura Martin!![Warning: We talk about the entire book, in this episode! Consider yourselves officially spoiler-warned!! Additionally, we had to keep the A/C on during recording, because it was a scorcher, & we apologize for the resulting slight background hum. Last but not least, we totally forgot to mention the great Laura Martin during this episode, but her colors on this book are remarkable (as her colors always are, see also, her work on Wonder Woman, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man, Black Panther, & heaps more beautiful comics over the course of her stellar & distinguished career), & we are collectively deeply embarrassed that we dropped the ball on saying so, on mic.] Download EP_167_-_Planetary_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Tony Asaro, Ryan Miller, & Patrick Clarke, gather to talk Eisner Award Winners, newly released movie & tv trailers, & the rest of the biggest announcements that dropped at this years San Diego Comic Con!! Download EP_166_-_SDCC_News___Reviews_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Tony Asaro, Patrick Clarke, & Ryan Miller, finally weigh-in on the 23rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Far From Home!![*Be-warned: This review contains spoilers from the get-go!*] Download EP_165_-_Spider_Man_Far_From_Home_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Ryan Miller, Tony Asaro, & Patrick Clarke, muse & speculate upon what the Marvel Cinematic Universe might look like, in the next few years, as it moves into Phase 4!! Download EP_164_-_The_Future_of_The_MCU_FIN.mp3

.. in which, at long last, we, Tony Asaro & Ryan Miller, reveal our thoughts & our feels on the 22nd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Endgame![This episode begins with Non-Spoiler talk, after which we issue a clear Spoiler Warning, before diving into a more detailed discussion of the film] Download EP_163_-_Avengers_Endgame_Review_FIN_SML.mp3

.. in which we, Tony Asaro, Patrick Clarke, & Ryan Miller, celebrate Cracking The Vault's 4th anniversary with our 4th-ever ramen bowl roundtable AMA special! Download EP_162_-_Fourth_Anniversary_Ramen_Bowl_Roundtable_FIN.mp3 [episode image from The Best of DC #16, by Rich Buckler & Dick Giordano, courtesy of DC Comics]

.. in which we, Tony Asaro, Ryan Miller, & Patrick Clarke, take a look back at the best in comics from last year, & announce the winners *including your Listener's Choice picks* in all 21 categories celebrating our favorite comics, characters, & creators, of 2018, in our 4th annual Vaulty Awards! Download EP_156_-_2018_Vaulty_Awards_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Patrick Clarke, Tony Asaro, & Ryan Miller, take a look back at how we did on our 2018 comic book resolutions, & then look forward to what comics-related goals we're hoping to accomplish this year!![image from Batman Adventures Holiday Special #1, by Paul Dini, Dan Riba, & Bruce Timm, courtesy of DC Comics] Download EP_157_-_Comic_Book_Resolutions_for_2019_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Ryan Miller, Tony Asaro, & Patrick Clarke, celebrate Ryan's birthday by finally devoting an entire episode to one of our most beloved characters, & most-favorite comics on the stands: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. Download EP_158_-_The_Unbeatable_Squirrel_Girl_FIN.mp3 [image from The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #9, by Ryan North, Erica Henderson, & Rico Renzi, courtesy of Marvel Comics]

.. in which we, Ryan Miller & Tony Asaro, review the first season of Netflix's adaptation of the Gerard Way, Gabriel Ba, & Dave Stewart, Dark Horse comic, The Umbrella Academy!![Please be aware: The first 20 minutes or so are our spoiler-free impressions, after which we give a clear spoiler warning, & then proceed with loads of spoilers for both Season 1 of the show, & for the first two volumes of the comic!] Download EP_159_-_The_Umbrella_Academy_Review_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Tony Asaro, Patrick Clarke, & Ryan Miller, review the latest blockbuster from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain Marvel!*Please note: We do discuss spoilers for the film, in this episode!* Download EP_160_-_Captain_Marvel_FIN.mp3 [image from The Life of Captain Marvel #4, by the great Jen Bartel, courtesy of Marvel Comics]

.. in which we, Tony Asaro, Patrick Clarke, & Ryan Miller, dive into our annual sneak-peek of the creator line-up, festivities, sale info, & some of the array of FCBD 2019 books that will be available at Empire's Comics Vault, on Saturday, May the 4th, aka Free Comic Book Day 2019!! Download EP_161_-_FCBD_2019_Preview_FIN.mp3 [official FCBD 2019 t-shirt image by Derek Charm, of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Jughead, & Star Wars Adventures, among other delightful & adorable things]

.. one of our long-lost summer specials has finally surfaced(!), in which we, Minnie Saucedo, Patrick Clarke, & Ryan Miller, discuss how we go about introducing non-comics readers to our favorite four-color medium! Download EP_155_-_INTRODUCING_PEOPLE_TO_COMICS_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Patrick Clarke, Ryan Miller, & Tony Asaro, offer up a smorgasbord of comics chatter, including-but-not-limited-to what we've been reading & enjoying recently, & whether or not Disney/Marvel will have a tough time working The Fantastic 4 into the MCU!! Download EP_154_-_Hot_Takes_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Ryan Miller, Patrick Clarke, & Tony Asaro, don our warmest woolens & have a fire-side chat about our favorite wintery or rainy-day comics! Download EP_153_-_Welcome_to_Winter_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Tony Asaro & Ryan Miller, do our level best to say farewell to the face, voice, & soul, of American comics: Smilin' Stan Lee. Download EP_152_-_Stan_The_Man_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Patrick Clarke, Ryan Miller, & Tony Asaro, gather to profess so much love for one of our very favorite books, Brian Clevinger's, Scott Wegener's, & company's, brilliant action-adventure comic Atomic Robo!![You can read Atomic Robo in print, available through IDW at your friendly local comic shop & everywhere else comics are sold, & also on their page, in full, starting right here!!] Download EP_151_-_Atomic_Robo_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Tony Asaro, Ryan Miller, & Ben Schwartz, celebrate ye annual Turkey Day by talking about what we're thankful for, in comics![episode image from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Peanuts was created by Charles Schulz] Download 2018_Thanksgiving_Day_Special.mp3

.. in which, to celebrate the landmark, we gather 'round once more with some of our favorite people for an evening of custom-baked comic-book-trivia, to see who is worthy enough to take home Mini-Mjölnir (& also a giant homemade cookie, thank you very much)!!Emceed, Gamesmastered, & Written By Ryan Miller!& starring our three teams of hopeful contestants:* Tony Asaro & Alex Dres as "Peanuts & The Revolution"!* Minnie Saucedo & Stephanie Groce as "The Mighty Bifrosty"!!* Patrick Clarke & Amy Nunag as "The Rescue Rangers"!!!* & our roving all-time quarterback Ben Schwartz as "The 3rd Wheel"!A massive & wholly heartfelt thank you to everyone who celebrated our 150th episode with us, & to all of you out there who have listened to & supported the show, over the last three & a half years. It really means the world to us. Cheers!! Download EP_150_-_FINAL.mp3

.. in which we, Patrick Clarke, Tony Asaro, & Ryan Miller, kick off our October celebrations with a special episode all about our favorite villains!![episode image from The Mighty Thor #3, by Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman, Matt Wilson, & Joe Sabino, courtesy of Marvel Comics] Download Oct_Special_Ep_1_-_Villains_FIN.mp3

.. in which we, Minnie Saucedo, Patrick Clarke, Ryan Miller, & Tony Asaro, celebrate the season by discussing some of our favorite & least-favorite horror genres & October-appropriate movies!![episode image from Secrets of Haunted House #5, drawn by the great Bernie Wrightson, courtesy of DC Comics] Download Oct_Special_Ep_2_fin.mp3