The Collected Edition

“It's fan service above and beyond the call of duty.” Today on the program we discuss the absolute gloriousness that is the Marvel/DC crossover epic JLA Avengers written by Kurt Busiek, and art by the mighty George Pérez. It is a bonanza of comic book wonder, a masterclass by Pérez, and a pretty good story The post Collected Edition: Episode 85: JLA Avengers appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“…a well-told, layered story with complex ideas and themes about a guy in a mini-skirt who fights robots.” Today on the program we discuss the flagship title that launched Valiant Comics - Magnus Robot Fighter. This is the story of a man named Magnus …that fights robots …in a mini-skirt …which to be fair was The post Collected Edition: Episode 84: Magnus Robot Fighter appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“In 1985, with the publication of Beauty and the Beast, history officially died. ” Today on the program we wade into the infamous end of the pool. Beauty and the Beast by Ann Nocenti and "art" by Don Perlin. It tells the story of the love affair between Hank Mccoy's Beast and - the disco-inspired The post Collected Edition: Episode 83: Beauty and the Beast appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“...in Black Monday Murders Hickman actually out Hickman's himself.” Today on the program we discuss The Black Monday Murders by Johnathan Hickman and Tom Coker – which should be a breeze. It's...complicated. We have an interesting time trying to explain what is actually happening. Because the Black Monday Murders can be a bit daunting for The post Collected Edition: Episode 82: Black Monday Murders appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“A hero's journey writ small... with cosmic implications. ” Today on the program we discuss the classic run on Starman written by James Robinson and art by Tony Harris. This is a beloved run on the character (and deservedly so) with lots of phallic imagery. Also, Paul and Brian have differing ideas on the true The post Collected Edition: Episode 81: Starman appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“There are heavy ideas going on in this comic, but also this is a noir detective comic. and that's pretty cool. ” This time we talk about the grand epic, neo-noir detective comic about hybrid animal-human people, Elephanmen: Wounded Animals written by Richard Starkings and drawn beautifully by Moritat. Set in a world post-pandemic (yikes) The post Collected Edition: Episode 73: Elephantmen: Wounded Animals appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“...immerses the reader in nostalgia. A nostalgia for something that never happened. Or did it?” The year 2000 mini-series that introduced the very first and most important hero in the Marvel universe that you never heard of, or maybe did hear of but can't remember. That's right, it's The Sentry. The dark tale of false The post Collected Edition: Episode 72: Sentry appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“High space adventure awaits!” Journey back with us to the far-away time of the 1980swhere a new imprint - Epic - was being launched with the flagship title: Dreadstar! Written and drawn by the legendary Jim Starlin this tells the tale of Vance Dreadstar and his merry band of rogues. The battle despots, space armies, The post Collected Edition: Episode 71: Dreadstar appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“It is harmless fun that seems as if the creators were having fun creating it. And sometimes that's all that matters. ” Today on the program we will be discussing the absolutely bonkers series from Marvel back in the late 70s Godzilla: King of the Monsters written by Doug Moench with art (for the most The post Collected Edition: Episode 70: Godzilla: King of the Monsters appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“…a profoundly severe case of daddy issues comes roaring to the forefront with tragic consequences.” Today on the program we will be discussing Invincible – the inspirational story of a plucky bartender that gets to live his dream of playing football for the Philadelphia Eagles. Oh wait, that's not right. We will of course be The post Collected Edition: Episode 69: Invincible appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“…a tight storyline of espionage, politics, corporate dealings, and betrayal all shrouded in mystery.” Today on the program Captain America: Winter Soldier the epic story written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Steve Epting. The story arc consists of a complicated plot led by a Russian oligarch, armed with a mystical cosmic weapon, and aided The post Collected Edition: Episode 68: Captain America: Winter Soldier appeared first on The Collected Edition.

"...part soap opera, part cosmic adventure, part horror story, and part existential crisis." Today on the program we discuss Black Hammer: Secret Origins the introductory collection of the ongoing series from Dark Horse that is some of the best comics being produced today. Beautifully written by Jeff Lemire and drawn magnificently by Dean Ormston this The post Collected Edition: Episode 67: Black Hammer: Secret Origins appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“...a fun romp that borders on the ridiculous but also had surprising consequences for the Marvel universe still being felt today” Today on the program we discuss the 1985 12-issue mini-series The Vision and the Scarlet Witch.  Written by Steve Englehart with art by Richard Howell the series sees the titular characters resign from the Avengers The post Collected Edition: Episode 66: Vision & the Scarlet Witch appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“He opens up a brand new world of possibility, juxtaposing his own creations within a larger context..." Today on the program we discuss the 1989/1990 four-issue mini-series, The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman with art by John Bolton, Scott Hampton, Charles Vess, and Paul Johnson. This is a project that started as simply a The post Collected Edition: Episode 65: The Books of Magic appeared first on The Collected Edition.

"The narration is formed not simply as a recounting of events but as a kind of confession and at times almost as a form of prayer." Today on the program we discuss the 1993 on-shot Aliens: Salvation by Dave Gibbons with art by Mike Mignola. In the long, long history of the Alien franchise, Salvation is The post Collected Edition: Episode 64: Aliens: Salvation appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“Hate stands as a very singular piece of independent work. That is both deeply personal and excessively caricatured. ” Today on the program we discuss Hate. Peter Bagge's early 90s independent comic featuring the trial and tribulations of Buddy Bradly. Please note: the themes and content of this comic are for mature audiences. While we are The post Collected Edition: Episode 63: Hate appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“...a noir style murder mystery. It tells an epic story on a street-level scale ” A special Halloween edition! Today on the program Batman: The Long Halloween - the classic story written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale. There have been many iconic and influential stories in the history of Batman. It seems The post Collected Edition: Episode 62: The Long Halloween appeared first on The Collected Edition.

“New life breathed into old clay. Wonder Woman was wonderful again.” Today on the program we will be discussing the 2008 four issue Wonder Woman arc - The Circle. Written by Gail Simone with art by Terry and Rachel Dodson. In 2008, coming off her acclaimed run on Birds of Prey, Gail Simone was given The post Collected Edition: Episode 61: Wonder Woman: The Circle appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Listener Request Episode “Archie's spirit is remains simple and sincere. And that's just kinda nice.” Archie Comics is a mainstay of the comic book industry. It's been plugging away for decades telling simple stories of the joys of youth and the teenage experience through a colorful cast of characters that have become infused into the The post Collected Edition: Episode 60: Archie Americana appeared first on The Collected Edition.

"The ethereal vs the gritty... the common vs the fantastic." On this episode we discuss the first volume of Kurt Busiek's magnum opus - Astro City: Life in the Big City. In these six issues we get to know the titular city, it's super powered inhabitants, and the regular folk who have to deal with The post Collected Edition: Episode 59: Astro City: Life in the Big City appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Hello everyone and welcome to the Collected Edition. This is just a quick news episode to give everyone an update on what has been happening with the show. We haven't released episodes in a while and that is going to change real soon - next week in fact. But in the meantime we put together The post Collected Edition: Bonus Episode: Announcement & Other Stuff appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Today on the program we're going to do a quick, short episode to talk about a sad topic – and that is the recent death of comic book icon – Denny O'Neil. Denny O'Neil passed away recently at the age of 81. His contributions to comics are immense – and that is not an understatement. Denny O'Neil The post Collected Edition: Bonus Episode: Thoughts on Denny O'Neil appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Today on the program will be a short bonus episode to discuss some breaking news: DC has announced that it will be cutting ties with Diamond Distributors. In a statement from DC”: “After 25 years DC and Diamond Comic Distributors and are ending their long-standing relationship. Moving forward, comic book retailers can obtain their DC The post Collected Edition: Bonus Episode: Diamond in the Rough appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Hello everyone and welcome to the collected edition – a comic book podcast where we discuss the famous and infamous runs and story arcs throughout the history of comics. Today on the program: Squadron Supreme, the 1985 12-issue limited series by Mark Grunewald, with art by Bob Hall and Paul Ryan. The Squadron Supreme is The post Collected Edition: Episode 58: Squadron Supreme appeared first on The Collected Edition.

A listener request! Today on the program we will be discussing Doom Patrol: The Painting That Ate Paris written by Grant Morrison with art by Richard Case. This is our second listener request, this one was requested by Herman Louw of the Into the Weird and Longbox of Darkness podcasts – go listen to them The post Collected Edition: Episode 57: Doom Patrol appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Today on the program we will be discussing the Avengers classic and highly influential epic space adventure The Kree Skrull War. This is 70s comics at its crazy, goofy best. Plus there's a smattering of political and social commentary for good measure. Written by written by Roy Thomas, with art by Sal and John Buscema The post Collected Edition: Episode 56: The Kree Skrull War appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Its a Star Wars-centric episode! Today on the program we will be discussing Doctor Aphra Volume one – by Kieron Gillen with art by Kev Walker. Dr. Aphra was the breakout character from the original Darth Vader run and became so popular a spinoff series was created. Doctor Aphra is an archeologist/adventurer – much like Indiana The post Collected Edition: Episode 55: Dr. Aphra appeared first on The Collected Edition.

And we're back... And this week we are discussing King Arthur...in spaaaaaaaace! That's right we'll be tailing about the first maxi series Camelot 3000 from DC Comics written by Mike W. Barr and Brian Bolland. This is a highly influential comic that paved the way for things like Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns and many The post Collected Edition: Episode 54: Camelot 3000 appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Today on the program we discuss the 1996 Elseworlds event comic Kingdom Come. This is the classic mini-series written by Marc Waid with magnificent art by Alex Ross. It is an alternate future where old heroes have retired and new heroes are running amok. So an aging Superman needs to come back to get them The post Collected Edition: Episode 53: Kingdom Come appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Satire! Parody! 1970s weirdness at its finest! Today on the program we discuss the 1978 Judge Dredd story-arc The Cursed Earth originally published in 2000AD (the magazine not the year).  Loosely based on Roger Zelazny's novel Damnation Alley the story finds out titular anti-hero traveling across a nuclear fallout wasteland on a mission to save The post Collected Edition: Episode 52: Judge Dredd – The Cursed Earth appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Happy Halloween Everyone! Today on the program we talk horror comics from the 1970s! Specifically the Living Mummy. In the 1950s the Comic Book Code all but killed the horror comic. But in the 1970s restrictions were eased a bit allowing horror to come back to comics – Marvel was quick to capitalize on this The post Collected Edition: Episode 51: The Living Mummy appeared first on The Collected Edition.

This is the 50th episode! We've done 50 of these bad boys. There should be fireworks and John Phillip Sousa music or something. I want to thank our listeners, those that have been with us from the start and new listeners just joining us – it is so great to have you all here and The post Collected Edition: Episode 50: Swamp Thing: A Murder of Crows appeared first on The Collected Edition.

First of all sorry for the delay! This was almost a lost episode. There were some technical difficulties and we thought possibly re would need to rerecord. But with some patience, diligence and a few late nights we were able to recover the files. So I hope its worth it. On the program we will The post Collected Edition: Episode 49: Moon Knight appeared first on The Collected Edition.

On the program we discuss Superman Red Son – the 2003 Elseworlds mini-series written by Mark Millar and art by Dave Johnson. This three issue series imagines a world where Superman landed in a field in the Soviet Union realer than on a farm in Kansas. It is a fascinating idea and is held up The post Collected Edition: Episode 48: Red Son appeared first on The Collected Edition.

On the program we discuss Monstress - the fantasy comic from Image Comics written by Marjorie Liu with art Sana Takeda. It is filled with intricate world-building, complex characters and stunning art that is some of the best being produced in comics today. It is set in a world of magic and war, populated by The post Collected Edition: Episode 47: Monstress appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Content warning: we want to issue a warning...we use some pretty harsh language on the episode both in describing the content of the comic as well as expressing our opinion of the material. This is something we try not to do but with this comic it was...it keeping with what was being discussed. In addition The post Collected Edition: Episode 46: The Boys appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Today on the program we will be talking about the 2003 Vertigo series The Losers written by Andy Diggle with art by Jock. The discussion will cover book one that consists of two story-lines “Ante Up” and “Double Down” in which we get to know the characters, we learn of their situation and a little The post Collected Edition: Episode 45: The Losers appeared first on The Collected Edition.

On today's program we will be discussing the 1987 classic Spider-Man arc: Kraven's Last Hunt. This is the outstanding and frankly amazing 6 issue story written by J.M. DeMatteis and art by Mike Zeck. Both are at the top of their game here - the writing is fantastic and the art is some of the The post Collected Edition: Episode 44: Kraven's Last Hunt appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Today on the program – a classic story the has touched the heart of almost every comic book fan throughout history...just kidding it's the one where Captain America becomes a werewolf. Written by Mark Gruenwald at the tail end of his epic run on Cap this story is bonkers. I mean Captain America is turned The post Collected Edition: Episode 43: Captain America: Man & Wolf appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Hello and welcome to the Collected Edition – a comic book podcast where we explore celebrated story-arcs from comics and creators throughout the entirety of history. Today on the program – a classic story by a legendary creator. We'll be talking about DC: the New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke. This is a nostalgic look at the Gold The post Collected Edition: Episode 42: DC The New Frontier appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Hello and welcome to the Collected Edition – a comic book podcast where we explore celebrated story-arcs from comics and creators throughout the entirety of history. Today on the program we are discussing Lone Wolf & Cub: The Assassin's Road, the Dark Horse collected edition of the classic Manga by legendary creators Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. It The post Collected Edition: Episode 41: Lone Wolf & Cub appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Hello and welcome to the Collected Edition – a comic book podcast where we explore celebrated story-arcs from comics and creators throughout the entirety of history. Today on the program we are discussing Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil – the 2007 4 issue reinterpretation of Captain Marvel by Jeff Smith of Bone fame. This is a The post Collected Edition: Episode 40: Shazam! appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Today on the program we are discussing 2014 run on Captain Marvel by Kelly Sue DeConnick and David Lopez. In 2014 the title was relaunched - surprisingly for Marvel - with a new #1 (sarcasm detected). In this run Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel is freed from the confines of New York City and finds her The post Collected Edition: Episode 39: Captain Marvel appeared first on The Collected Edition.

BWAH-HA-HA! Its Justice League International! Today on the program we are discussing the fabulous, wonderful, glorious Justice League International written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, with outstanding art by Kevin Maguire. Spoilers: we like this one. A lot. This of course is 1980s classic run of the Justice League filled with D-listers and The post Collected Edition: Episode 38: Justice League International appeared first on The Collected Edition.

This time on the program we discuss Black Panther by Christopher Priest: The Complete Collection Volume 1. In 1998 when writer Christopher Priest reintroduced the hero as part of the slightly more adult “Marvel Knights” line, in this critically acclaimed series that ran until 2003. The stories we will be discussing today are half political thriller, half The post Collected Edition: Episode 37: Marvel Knights Black Panther appeared first on The Collected Edition.

...aaaaannnnnnddddd we're back! After an extended hiatus that was exacerbated by some logistical issues Brian and Paul have returned for a lively discussion on Sandman Mystery Theater. Specifically the story arcs Dr. Death & Night of the Butcher, written by Matt Wagner & Steven Seagle with art by Vince Locke and Guy Davis. This was a Vertigo The post Collected Edition: Episode 36: Sandman Mystery Theatre appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Happy holidays everyone! On this episode we discuss two holiday issues: Batman Adventures: Holiday Special The 1994 collection of five holiday stories based on the classic Batman Animated Series. Written by Paul Dini and illustrated by several artists it is a collection of short vignettes that range from slapstick to tender. It also features the The post Collected Edition: Episode 35: 2018 Holiday Special appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Hello and welcome to the Collected Edition – a comic book podcast where we explore celebrated story-arcs from comics and creators throughout the entirety of history. On this episode we discuss the 1970s darker take on Aquaman - The Death of a Prince. This was an attempt to make the character more mature and to deal with The post Collected Edition: Episode 34: Aquaman – Death of a Prince appeared first on The Collected Edition.

On this episode we discuss the 1960s psychedelic spy extravaganza Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. written and drawn by Jim Steranko. This is a series that is visually stunning and narratively...interesting. Look, Steranko was doing some truly innovative and unique work that feels really modern, at the same time there is some - let's say stumbles The post Collected Edition: Episode 33: Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Behold! A Podcast! Yes, we will be discussing the 2016 series The Vision written by Tom King with art by Gabriel Hernandez Walta. This is the 2016 12 issue solo run for the character of the Vision that has been acclaimed by some as a modern classic. It is a well-crafted meticulously told story that is The post Collected Edition: Episode 32: The Vision appeared first on The Collected Edition.

Today on the program we will be discussing the iconic Iron man story Demon in a Bottle by primarily David Michelinie and John Romita, Jr. This is of course the somewhat legendary arc that deals with Tony Stark's decent into alcoholism and subsequent redemption. Does the story still hold up? Does it deserve its reputation? The post Collected Edition: Episode 31: Iron Man, Demon In A Bottle appeared first on The Collected Edition.