Podcast appearances and mentions of Donald Blake

Our annual tradition of talking Marvel movies and properties created by New World while it owned Marvel returns and two thirds of us are happy about it. We start Marc's Miserable Marvelous May 3: Tres Miserable with THE INCREDIBLE HULK RETURNS which brought back Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno for what would be a trilogy of TV movies, most of which would attempt to spin off a different Marvel character from it. This sees Dr. David Banner come across an old friend, Donald Blake who can summon Thor by yelling "Odin!" which we all know to be Thor's father, but does Dr. Banner? We discuss! We also discuss Banner's brand-new Malibu digs, his new work set-up and question why he is always on the run, while also diving into the competitive world of racquetball and Cajun accents. Does this movie have Cajun accents? We discuss! Where did THE INCREDIBLE HULK RETURNS land on the Nielsen ratings? We discuss! Which play did Lou Ferrigno do in preparation for this movie?  We speculate! Along for the ride is our good friend, writer and performer Peter Fluet, who you will remember from Episode 33: Star Crystal! Do him a favor and listen to that episode so it can get into our Top Ten! Peter explains his love of the original TV show and how devastated he was when it was canceled in the early 80's. We've got a whole lot to talk about including how miserable Marc is! Hint: it's a lot! For all the shows in Someone's Favorite Productions Podcast Network, head here:  https://www.someonesfavoriteproductions.com/   

Devon kicks off this week's episode with a marvelous account of his visit to the dentist for a root canal this past week and how it reminded him of how special the early days of The Marvel Cinematic Universe truly were. Sejohn picks things up from there by leading the discussion to the 2025 Best Animated Feature “Flow” and both of your host-companions have a lot to say about their time with it and why they feel it took home the highest accolades from the Academy and what that might mean for the medium going forwardThis leads to Devon dazzling us with a recap of the third episode of “Suits LA” and how while it ultimately was more fun than the second it does provide some insight into why criminal trials tend to be wrapped up in a single episode. Finally we examine the games we played to celebrate MARIO DAY on March 10th and the new speed running exercise one of your hosts will be embarking on beginning this week!

This week we head back into the archives to bring you the story of how Marvel Comics created Thor and Loki in 1962! Containing all the behind-the-scenes secrets of the Marvel Asgardians, like; how Jack Kirby had created TWO different versions of Thor YEARS before the Marvel Universe began! How Thor is heavily inspired by one of the biggest superheroes of the Golden Age, Captain Marvel! The complicated secret identity of Thor - who is Dr Donald Blake?! And how Thor went from being a copycat Superman story, to a wild tale of Norse mythology, cosmic Shakespearean drama, and Asgardian politics! Support the show and get awesome bonus episodes at https://www.patreon.com/marvelversusmarvel marvelversusmarvel@gmail.com https://www.instagram.com/marvelversusmarvel https://twitter.com/marvelversus https://twitter.com/robhalden https://robhalden.com https://will-preston.co.uk

In der neuesten Folge von Marvelade tauchen wir in zwei ganz unterschiedliche, aber faszinierende Ecken des Marvel-Universums ein! Tobi widmet sich diesmal Thor: König von Asgard – einer Serie, die in der Kritik gemischte Reaktionen hervorrief, aber mit der Rückkehr von Donald Blake ein einzigartiges Kapitel der Thor-Geschichte eröffnet. Trotz kritischer Stimmen erkundet Tobi die eindrucksvollen Momente und Wendungen, die diese Erzählung dennoch lesenswert machen. Parallel dazu nimmt uns Lennart mit zu den Runaways – eine jugendliche Superhelden-Truppe, die gegen die finsteren Geheimnisse ihrer eigenen Familien kämpfen muss. Hier entführt uns Lennart in die spannende Dynamik und die rebellische Atmosphäre der Runaways, die sowohl Fans als auch Neulinge mitreißt. Diese Episode verspricht eine vielseitige Mischung: Kritische Auseinandersetzung, faszinierende Einblicke und jede Menge Marvel-Leidenschaft. Ob als Comic-Fan oder neugieriger Entdecker, freut euch auf eine spannende Diskussion mit Tiefgang und neuen Perspektiven! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PODCAST-KAPITEL 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:39 Begrüßung & Marvel-Monat 00:10:58 Thor: König von Asgard 00:38:40 Pause 00:39:00 Die Runaways 01:18:30 Abmoderation & Outro - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Besuche uns auf dem Marvelade Disord-Server https://discord.gg/sxuwDnZ9aU - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Musik in dieser Episode: Titel: Dead Heroes Künstler/Produzent: Marc Walloch Lizenziert von: PremiumBeat Weitere Information und Lizensierung: www.premiumbeat.com

Season 2 Episode 10 Walter Simonson's Thor 337-340: Beta Ray Bill was a character Sean and Jim were very interested to learn more about so they decided to go back to his origins in the first of a two part discussion around the character. Podcast Legacy Number 732 We are on Threads! https://www.threads.net/@ragingbulletspodcast Sean is a cohost on “Is it Jaws?” Check it out here : https://twotruefreaks.com/podcast/qt-series/is-it-jaws-movie-reviews/ Upcoming: Dudley Datson and the Forever Machine, Superman House of Brainiac Future Topics : Batman Lonely Place of Dying, Upcoming X-men Relaunch, Summer events, Absolute Power, Miles Morales, Ultimate Marvel, Miracleman, The Boys, Radiant Black, the Bat-man First Knight and much much more because we are in constant planning. Contact Info (Social Media and Gaming) Updated 9/23: https://ragingbullets.com/about/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/401332833597062/ Show Notes: 0:00 Show opening, http://www.heroinitiative.org, http://cbldf.org/,http://www.DCBService.com, http://www.Instocktrades.com, show voicemail line 1-440-388-4434 or drnorge on Skype, and more.   3:15 Thor 337-338 1:31:55 Closing We'll be back in a week with more content.  Check our website, Twitter and our Facebook group for regular updates.

On another special episode of Hammer Time, presented by Hard At Work, Nick and T-Dog hammer out the details of "Journey Into Mystery" issue 84, starring The Mighty Thor and introducing "The Executioner"! Thor may have the strength to stand up to the deadly Executioner, but does Donald Blake have the courage to share his heart with the lovely nurse Jane Foster? In the tiny country of San Diablo, political leader The Executioner has developed an international reputation for curelty, can Thor fight through an entire country's miliary forces to save the day?  Other topics discussed include Peter Piper, pickles, Dr. Pepper, belching, gut health, THORections vs THORdendums, thongs, forgetful Stan Lee, Communism, doctors without borders, lameness, muscles and hair, firing squads, allergies, Planter's Dill Pickle Cashews, packaging sucks, propaganda, drinking and smoking in the office, Marvel recipes, T-Dog's sound effects, and of course, can a tent be used as a weapon?!  No longer Presented by The Pyramid: The Pyramid | creating podcasts | Patreon  Want to make suggestions for future topics or show segments? Join our Discussion Group: The Break Room | Facebook

On another special episode of Hammer Time, presented by Hard At Work, Nick and T-Dog hammer out the details of the first appearance of Thor in Marvel's "Journey into Mystery" issue 83, released on August 1st, 1962. On a trip to Norway, Dr. Donald Blake stumbles into a cave and discovers an ancient artifact that grants him the Powers of the Norse God Thor. Can he stop an Alien Invasion using his new found powers? Find out in "Thor the Mighty and the Stonemen from Saturn"! Other topics discussed in this episode include drinks with no fizz, whistling while saying whistle, Nick's a bad host, Milo's Zero Sugar Sweet Tea, Hammertime Tea, Larry Leiber, arrogant aliens, fisherman all look alike, does high in the sky = far away, NATO, the unbreakable thong, Chris Hemsworth's height, disintigration technology, hitting the silk, norse mythology, body holes, and of course, dong armor.  No longer Presented by The Pyramid: The Pyramid | creating podcasts | Patreon  Want to make suggestions for future topics or show segments? Join our Discussion Group: The Break Room | Facebook

Aujourd'hui, on va se pencher sur un pan tout à fait particulier de la bande dessinée américaine, à la fois politique, polémique et exotique : l'étrange habitude des auteurs de comics qui consiste à utiliser Adolf Hitler dans leurs histoires… Évidemment, au cas où vous en douteriez, il ne sera pas question de faire ici l'apologie d'un dictateur responsable de la mort de millions de personnes, ni du nazisme ou de l'intolérance sous toutes ses formes, mais bien de parler de comics. Pour recontextualiser un peu, Adolf Hitler est un dictateur ayant pris le pouvoir en Allemagne en 1933. Figure centrale de l'idéologie nazie, il instaure dans son pays un régime fasciste, raciste, homophobe et antisémite, avant de mener une campagne militaire à visée expansionniste dans une bonne partie de l'Europe, à l'origine de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. Responsable de l'extermination de dizaines de millions de personnes, le Troisième Reich dirigé par Hitler sera l'un des régimes les plus meurtriers et liberticides du XXe siècle, avant d'être définitivement renversé par les alliés en 1945.Évidemment, je vous la fais courte, premièrement car je ne suis pas prof d'histoire, et deuxièmement parce que j'ose croire que chacun et chacune d'entre vous est au courant des crimes atroces commis par l'Allemagne nazie et ses sympathisants. Mais il est quand même important de comprendre que pendant plusieurs années, Adolf Hitler, les nazis, et le Troisième Reich ont été une menace pour une grande partie des nations partout à travers le monde, y compris les États-Unis. Et cette époque coïncide justement avec l'explosion d'un genre à part entière au pays de l'Oncle Sam : le comic book de super-héros. Quand Superman apparaît pour la première fois dans le numéro 1 de Action Comics, en 1938, le monde n'est pas encore en guerre, mais la situation en Europe est déjà bien assez préoccupante pour que l'air du temps inspire les artistes de comics. Le monde a besoin de héros pour affronter des menaces toujours plus grandes, et l'invasion de la Pologne en 1939 va offrir des adversaires de choix aux super-héros américains qui se multiplient à vue d'œil. Rapidement, le régime nazi, ses soldats, et surtout ses espions, se révèlent être de parfaits antagonistes pour les histoires de justiciers costumés. Dès octobre 1939, le deuxième numéro de Marvel Mystery Comics nous raconte comment The Angel a sauvé la population polonaise des bombardements allemands. Puis en juin 1940, Adolf Hitler apparaît en personne, sans toutefois être nommé, dans la toute première, mais aussi l'unique aventure de Marvel Boy, créé par le duo formé par Joe Simon et Jack Kirby. Le début d'une très longue liste d'apparitions dans les pages de nos comic books préférés. Je vous le dis tout de suite : il me sera impossible d'être exhaustif, car Adolf Hitler apparaît littéralement dans plusieurs centaines de comic books, parfois le temps d'une case, parfois en tant qu'antagoniste principal, et ce qui est sûr, c'est qu'aucun autre personnage historique ne possède une carrière comparable dans la bande dessinée américaine, encore plus quand on se souvient que l'on parle quand même d'un dictateur génocidaire. La parution de Captain America Comics #1, en décembre 1940, a marqué l'histoire et les lecteurs en montrant sur sa couverture la sentinelle de la liberté en train de mettre une bonne grosse droite au Führer. Héros patriotique par excellence, inspiré par le succès de The Shield, un personnage de l'éditeur MLJ apparu quelques mois plus tôt, Captain America incarne le tournant pris par les États-Unis durant l'année 1941, alors que le pays prépare son entrée en guerre qui semble désormais inévitable. Ce tournant est particulièrement visible dans les comic books : une bonne partie des super-héros du Golden Age vont traverser l'Atlantique pour combattre les soldats allemands, et parfois Hitler en personne. C'est le cas du Captain Marvel de Fawcett, de Namor the Sub-Mariner, de Superman, de The Flash, de Blue Beetle, du premier Human Torch, mais aussi de Black Terror, ou encore du premier Daredevil publié par Lev Gleason. En parallèle, des magazines réunissant plusieurs super-héros, comme Young Allies, All Winners ou Master Comics, multiplient les interventions de leurs personnages sur le vieux continent pour tenir tête aux nazis dans des aventures qui verront naître quelques super-vilains aussi saugrenus que dans l'air du temps, comme Captain Nazi, et tout cela avant même que les États-Unis ne prennent part au conflit mondial pour de bon, en décembre 1941. Hitler et ses soldats seront aussi moqués et parodiés dans une quantité non-négligeable de titres humoristiques, ou ridiculisés par les alliés dans des titres publiant des histoires de guerre, alors qu'au même moment, certains artistes sont mobilisés en Europe pour affronter les nazis, dans des combats bien réels, cette fois. Si ces publications peuvent sembler naïves, elles sont pourtant  l'expression d'une tendance propagandiste absolument assumée par la bande dessinée américaine de l'époque, encourageant les lecteurs en âge de s'engager à aller combattre les nazis, et ceux qui ne peuvent le faire à soutenir l'effort de guerre, notamment en achetant des “war bonds”, équivalent des obligations de guerre en France, pour financer la campagne militaire contre les forces de l'Axe. Après la mort de Hitler et la victoire des Alliés en 1945, une page se tourne pour nos super-héros préférés. Si pendant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, le marché des comics était à son apogée, tout comme le genre super-héroïque, et que Adolf Hitler représentait de toute évidence le grand méchant idéal, ne pouvant être surpassé par une autre menace réelle ou fictive, l'après-guerre s'avère bien plus complexe. Le genre peine à se renouveler, le public se tourne vers d'autres types de récits de romance, de western, d'horreur ou de science-fiction. Plus légères, moins terre-à-terre, ces histoires tranchent de façon nette et définitive avec la propagande militariste de la première moitié du Golden Age et invitent à l'évasion, loin des champs de bataille. Oh, bien sûr, les super-héros ne disparaissent pas pour autant. Une poignée d'entre eux subsiste, mais ils rencontrent quelques difficultés quand il s'agit de trouver un adversaire à leur taille. Une aspiration qui mènera généralement les justiciers et justicières costumées sur le terrain de la science-fiction, et même parfois de l'épouvante. Durant cette période, les auteurs ont tendance à restreindre l'aspect politique des super-héros, tout du moins au premier degré, mais quelques exceptions confirment la règle, comme Captain America qui, en bon patriote, affronte le temps de quelques numéros des espions communistes dans des aventures inspirées par la chasse aux rouges encouragée par le Maccarthysme. Des histoires revues et corrigées par Marvel depuis, qui nourriront quelques arcs narratifs autour des individus ayant remplacé Steve Rogers durant son séjour dans la glace… En parlant de réécrire l'histoire, c'est à partir des années 1960 que l'utilisation d'Adolf Hitler dans les comics devient aussi intéressante qu'inattendue. Le dictateur est mort, sa dépouille a été détruite par les Soviétiques, mais son fantôme va faire les belles heures de la bande dessinée américaine.  Parmi les premières séries du Silver Age à utiliser de façon notable et régulière le personnage de Hitler, on peut mentionner Sergeant Fury and his Howling Commandos chez Marvel, dont le premier numéro paraît en 1963, et dans laquelle l'équipe d'élite de Nick Fury combat les nazis en Europe durant la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale. Sans en avoir l'air, les aventures du Sergent Fury et de ses hommes vont développer un riche background à l'univers Marvel, en donnant un passé de nazi à certains super-vilains que les Fantastic Four ou les Avengers affrontent en parallèle dans leurs propres séries. Car c'est toujours en 1963 que Hitler refait surface chez Marvel, et cette fois-ci dans une histoire de super-héros se déroulant à l'époque contemporaine de sa parution, dans Fantastic Four #21. On y découvre le personnage du Hate Monger, étrange individu encapuchonné haïssant les étrangers, et doté d'un rayon de haine lui permettant de transformer n'importe qui en forcené. À la fin de l'épisode, on apprend avec stupeur que ce fameux Hate Monger n'est autre que… Adolf Hitler ! Même si le mystère demeure, dans un premier temps, quant à l'authenticité de l'identité de ce super-vilain, on découvrira ensuite que le Hate Monger est en fait le fruit du travail du scientifique nazi Arnim Zola, qui est parvenu a transférer la conscience du dictateur dans le corps d'un clone juste avant sa mort. Une saga qui s'étend sur plusieurs années, puisque les détails du procédé ne seront révélés qu'en 1980, dans Super-Villain Team-Up #17 ! L'autre série Marvel qui réécrit l'histoire, c'est The Invaders, publiée à partir de 1975 et s'étalant sur quarante-et-un numéros dans sa première mouture. Équipe formée par Captain America, Bucky, Namor le Prince des Mers, l'androïde Jim Hammond, alias Human Torch, et son sidekick Toro, les Invaders revisitent les combats menés par les super-héros du Golden Age durant la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale. Affrontant également Hitler et divers super-nazis, tels que Master Man, les Invaders sont à l'origine de plusieurs retcons, des corrections de la continuité de l'univers de façon rétroactive, chez Marvel. On y verra par exemple le Führer invoquer Thor, le dieu du Tonnerre, pour combattre Captain America et ses coéquipiers, à une époque où ce dernier n'était pas encore devenu l'alter ego de Donald Blake. Dans What If ? #4, paru en 1977, l'un des rares What If ? considérés comme canoniques, on apprend par exemple que c'est le premier Human Torch en personne qui aurait tué Adolf Hitler dans son bunker avant qu'il n'ait le temps de se suicider. Une révélation qui pourrait se raccrocher aux propos passés de Jim Hammond, lors de son retour dans le vingt-quatrième numéro de Young Men, en 1953. Vous l'aurez compris, dans les comics, le puzzle formé par l'alliance de l'histoire et de la fiction est parfois très complexe. Bien que les séries de guerre ne soient plus franchement le genre dominant durant l'Âge d'Argent et l'Âge de Bronze de la BD américaine, on pourra aussi noter des apparitions du Führer dans plusieurs numéros de G.I. Combat et de Weird War Tales, chez DC Comics, durant les années 70 et 80. Le cinquante-huitième numéro de Weird War Tales, série mêlant très efficacement guerre et horreur avec des histoires à chute dans la tradition de EC Comics, nous raconte par exemple comment Hitler a en fait échappé à la mort en 1945 pour se réveiller un millénaire plus tard. Dans le numéro 89, c'est à une armée de primates conditionnés par les nazis que le lecteur doit faire face, tandis que dans le numéro 108, un camp de prisonniers tenu par les nazis est la cible d'un commando constitué d'un vampire, d'un loup-garou et du monstre de Frankenstein ! Tout un programme, qui sera recyclé bien plus tard par DC lors de l'événement Flashpoint, avec la mini-série Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown. Toujours chez DC Comics, le All-Star Squadron, qui compte dans ses rangs des héros comme Hawkman, Hawkgirl, le premier Atom, Johnny Quick ou encore Liberty Belle, va, au cours des soixante-sept épisodes parus entre 1981 et 1987, croiser à plusieurs reprises la route d'Adolf Hitler. Cette série sans doute inspirée du concept des Invaders chez Marvel, mais dans la longue tradition super-héroïque de DC Comics héritée du Golden Age, est une assez bonne démonstration de la façon dont la bande dessinée américaine va, d'une façon tout à fait méta qui lui est propre, réécrire à la fois sa propre histoire et l'histoire de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale dans le but de fournir un divertissement super-héroïque aussi efficace que détaché de toute forme de réalisme. À la même période, mais avec une approche pratiquement opposée, l'éditeur publie les aventures beaucoup plus dramatiques du Unknown Soldier, anonyme défiguré durant la guerre du Pacifique usant de ses talents en déguisement pour infiltrer les lignes ennemies. Dans le deux-cent-soixante-huitième et dernier numéro de sa série, le personnage ira jusqu'à s'introduire dans le bunker secret d'Hitler pour éliminer le despote et prendre sa place pour induire l'armée allemande en erreur aux dernières heures de la bataille de Berlin. Comme chez Marvel avec Human Torch, les super-héros américains s'attribuent ici le rôle de sauveurs absolus qui, plus qu'ayant contribué à la victoire des Alliés, ont carrément été débusquer le leader nazi jusque dans son repère pour le tuer de leurs mains ! Tout un symbole, mais aussi une vision très autocentrée du rôle des États-Unis dans le conflit. Comme je le disais, il m'est impossible d'être exhaustif, Adolf Hitler apparaissant dans une quantité astronomique de comic books, des années 1940 à nos jours. On le retrouve dans Hellboy, dans Savage Dragon, dans l'excellente série Über, mais aussi de façon plus surprenante sur la route des Tortues Ninja, et même le temps de deux épisodes complètement lunaires de la série Turok de Valiant Comics. Je vous épargne la lecture de la série éponyme en six numéros parue chez Elvifrance en 1978, “Hitler”, qui s'inspire des théories autour de la survie du tyran après la fin de la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale, sans prendre aucune précaution vis-à-vis des faits historiquement prouvés. Mais je vous recommande de jeter un œil au O.M.A.C. de John Byrne chez DC Comics, brillante mini-série de 4 numéros parue en 1991, dans laquelle le héros carbonise littéralement Hitler. Alors, est-il finalement possible de considérer Hitler comme un personnage de comics à part entière ? Difficile de le nier tant son rôle compte pour certains éditeurs. Le Baron Zemo, HYDRA, et bien évidemment le terrible Crâne Rouge sont autant de figures liées de près ou de loin à l'existence d'Adolf Hitler et des nazis dans l'univers Marvel. Tout ça soulève d'ailleurs plusieurs problématiques assez intéressantes : par exemple, est-il moralement acceptable de se promener dans la rue avec un t-shirt aux couleurs de l'organisation HYDRA ? Est-ce une bonne idée d'acheter une figurine de Red Skull à ses gosses ? Le divertissement a-t-il pris le pas sur le contexte et l'idéologie de ces personnages ? Adolf Hitler a, qu'on le veuille ou non, un statut unique. Il est incontestablement l'un des pires criminels de l'histoire moderne, si ce n'est l'incarnation du mal absolu pour plusieurs générations d'auteurs, de dessinateurs et de lecteurs partout à travers le monde. De ce fait, son utilisation dans la fiction ne possède pour ainsi dire aucun élément de comparaison valable et peut avant tout être vue comme une façon d'exorciser la douleur et la peine causées par ses agissements. En montrant Hitler frappé, ridiculisé et mis au tapis par un coup de poing bien placé donné par l'un de nos héros préférés ou l'une de nos héroïnes favorites, les artistes de comics dédramatisent à leur façon en reforgeant l'histoire de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale sous un jour moins sombre, tout en transmettant les valeurs de tolérance et de justice chères au genre super-héroïque. On peut aussi déceler dans tous ces récits de fictions l'expression d'une forme de crainte du retour du fascisme et des extrêmes sur le devant de la scène politique, et ça dès les années 1960, alors que certaines catégories sociales jusqu'alors réduites au silence parviennent enfin, et non sans mal, à avoir voix au chapitre. De toute évidence, aussi triste que cela puisse être, la libération de la parole de gens opprimés pour leur orientation sexuelle, leur religion ou leur couleur de peau, appelle généralement à des réactions toujours plus spectaculaires de la part de ceux qui cultivent l'intolérance et font en sorte que les discriminations systémiques persistent. Pour moi, c'est une partie de ce qui est symbolisé par le retour de Hitler dans la bande dessinée américaine du Silver Age. Quand, en 1963, le Hate Monger utilise son rayon pour pervertir la population, puis révèle son vrai visage une fois démasqué, celui de la haine débridée incarnée, on peut y voir la métaphore des défenseurs du ségrégationnisme qui militent pour le maintien d'une différence de traitement entre blancs et noirs à l'époque dans le pays. Quand Hitler émerge d'un long sommeil entouré de fidèles prêts à le servir par-delà la mort et les âges, dans Weird War ou dans les pages de Turok, c'est une nouvelle fois un message d'alerte qui est envoyé au lecteur : même lorsque le mal dort depuis très longtemps, on trouvera toujours quelques imbéciles pour le réveiller bien volontiers. Évidemment, je ne livre ici qu'une interprétation globale, et assurément un peu simpliste, de récits qui, en fonction de leur ton et de leur époque de production, mériteraient d'être décryptés un à un. Mais ce qu'il faut retenir, c'est que bien au-delà de l'aspect exotique, et parfois comique, de l'utilisation de Adolf Hitler comme personnage de comic book, il y a un fond. Un fond social et politique qui permet finalement de chasser quelques vieux démons tout en faisant en sorte que tout un chacun soit au fait de leur existence pour mieux les empêcher de revenir. N'hésitez pas à partager cet épisode sur les réseaux sociaux s'il vous a plu ! Merci pour votre soutien en tant que souscripteurs ! C'est aussi grâce à vous que cet article existe ! Get full access to CHRIS - POP CULTURE & COMICS at chrisstup.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss Reed Richards's invitation to speak at New York State University, where he studied many years ago. While he was giving his speech, the campus was attacked by Diablo and a robotic “Dragon Man”. Is it irresponsible to invite superheroes to public events given that they seem to be magnets for supervillains? Do superheroes have their own security like other celebrities, or is having superpowers security enough?Behind the comic:Marvel began like DC by using imaginary locations like Metropolis and Gotham, although Stan quickly pivoted to having the Fantastic Four based in New York City. But he still used imaginary locations for smaller cities, African and Eastern European countries, and in this issue, a university. We made the decision in the podcast to call Reed's alma mater “New York State University”, but in the issue Stan just calls it “State U”. The other interesting set of events that we do not talk about in the episode is Stan's use of cameo appearances. Apparently while Reed is touring the campus, so is Peter Parker, who is scouting future universities, and Charles Xavier and Scott Summers (Cyclops), who are interviewing students to find more mutants. None of these heroes get involved in the conflict. Perhaps they did not want to wait around for Reed's speech?In this issue:Fantastic Four #35The Fantastic Four land their Fantasticar at State University, as Reed has been invited to give a speech. He is warmly received. At the same time, Charles Xavier and Scott Summers are on campus, secretly looking for new mutants. Meanwhile, Diablo escapes his earthly imprisonment in Europe and heads straight to America to take his revenge on the Fantastic Four. He arrives at the university, and brings a robot that a university scientist created to life. The robot, which looks like a biped dinosaur and is nicknamed Dragon Man, battles the Four along with Diablo at the University, with the battle shifting out of town. The Four ultimately emerge victorious with the assistance of Dragon Man, who turned on Diablo and pulled him into an icy lake with him to their apparent doom.Journey into Mystery #113:Thor refuses to return to Asgard as his father, Odin, wants, as he has fallen in love with a mortal, Jane Foster. He returns to Earth and, in his Dr. Donald Blake identity, admits to Jane that he is actually Thor. Meanwhile, the Grey Gargoyle has returned and decided to search out and battle Thor. We return to Asgard, where Odin, having been manipulated somewhat by Loki, decides to depower Thor, which basically traps Thor in his Blake identity. The timing could not be worse, as Blake is unable to transform into Thor to show Jane who he really is; and because the Grey Gargoyle attacks Blake so that he can lure Thor out. Fortunately, Thor/Blake has friends in high places (Odin has secretly sent a warrior from Asgard to help his son), and he is helped out, and eventually his ability to turn into Thor is restored. He defeats the Grey Gargoyle, as Thor, and as Blake, he basically allows Jane to think he had made up the whole “I am the god of thunder” thing.Assumed before the next issue:People are starting to question the safety of being around superheroes. Oh, the irony.This episode takes place:After the Fantastic Four have defeated Diablo. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

Someone or something is out to steal Thors strength, and the God of Thunder isn't having any of it. It's Thor versus the Crypto-Man! Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirts at Redbubble and TeePublic https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box http://tee.pub/lic/vBbIJZ4eLQ0c

It's a three-ring circus as Thor takes on Ulik, the Ringmaster, and the Circus of Crime. Will Thor be able to escape this funhouse? Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirts at Redbubble and TeePublic https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box http://tee.pub/lic/vBbIJZ4eLQ0c

No longer under the protection of Donald Blake, Jane Foster finds herself vulnerable to a blackmailing scheme by billionaire Kornin Krask. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirts at Redbubble and TeePublic https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box http://tee.pub/lic/vBbIJZ4eLQ0c

After the shooting of a civil rights activist, Thor springs in ot action... as Donald Blake! But will Dr. Blake be able to save his life while The Wrecker is on the loose? Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirts at Redbubble and TeePublic https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box http://tee.pub/lic/vBbIJZ4eLQ0c

Thor returns to Earth to help the Warriors Three and Balder defeat the Thermal Man. Unknown to them, Karnilla casts a spell to help them win the battle. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirts at Redbubble and TeePublic https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box http://tee.pub/lic/vBbIJZ4eLQ0c

Thor, always honorable, is deemed worthy to hear the orgin of Galactus. Out of mortal death, comes a rebirth of cosmic energy. The history of Galactus, as told by Galactus. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirts at Redbubble and TeePublic https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box http://tee.pub/lic/vBbIJZ4eLQ0c

Last week, due to human error, we published both of our two weekly episodes on Monday instead of Monday and Thursday. We will try not to let it happen again. Apologies.In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss the Avengers Emergency Fund. Thor created a shockwave damaging the structure of buildings across half the state. He has admitted to the damage and directed those concerned to the emergency fund. But how does the fund work? Who decides who gets the money and when? Do you fill out a form? Do you have to sue? Do you need a lawyer? Mike walks Ed through the legal questions as we ask: “Are we now at the point where we need super-lawyers?” Behind the comic:This is the first meeting of Thor and Dr. Strange. At this point, Stan Lee has managed to guest his heroes in each other's stories with regularity, but Strange is still the odd man out. Having the sorcerer battle Loki makes a ton of sense. Also interesting here is that when Strange needed surgery, it was performed by Dr. Donald Blake.In this issue:Thor strikes the ground with his hammer, causing damage halfway across the state. All to save Billy from getting run over by a truck (the hammer strike caused a runaway truck to move, avoiding a clueless Billy chasing a ball across the street). Thor volunteers that he will reimburse the city for the damage he caused (which, again, extended halfway cross New York State) by accessing the Avengers Emergency Fund. He then flies away to see Dr. Strange, who has hailed him through his astral form. Strange is taken to the hospital and operated on by Thor in his mortal guise of Dr. Donald Blake. Later on, Loki appears, separates Blake from his cane (which he uses to turn into Thor), and kidnaps Blake's nurse/love interest Jane Foster. Blake then goes to Dr. Strange for help finding his cane, which he does. This allows Blake to transform into Thor, track down Loki, and rescue Jane.Assumed before the next episode:Thousands of people are trying to figure out how to make a claim to the Avengers Emergency Fund.This episode takes place:After Loki has been defeated by Thor once more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss the heroism of Dr. Donald Blake, who single-handedly defeated the French supervillain, the Grey Gargoyle. What defines a superhero? Do you need superpowers, or is it enough to take on supervillains? And why was Blake on his own to begin with? Was he left out to dry by Thor because of his recent betrayal? Is the god of thunder a petulant god? Also: Why was one news agency in particular given access to the battle footage? What did they have to agree to in order to have exclusivity? Is it fair for a government-funded organization to negotiate that way? And what does it feel like to be turned to stone? Behind the issue:This issue introduces the Grey Gargoyle - the first super from France. Lee also uses the trope of “Avengers” and “StarkCorp” resources to allow his heroes to get access to any sort of extraordinary equipment the plot needs - in this case a portable holographic projector. But the most impactful element of this issue was requiring Donald Blake to be the hero. The idea that “being a hero is not about your powers, it is about stepping up and doing the right thing” is a common plot line in many modern re-tellings - perhaps most memorably in the film Iron Man 3, where Tony Stark needs to save the day with just his own brains and courage without being able to rely on his armored suit. This was one of the first issues to explored that idea.In this issue:Thor learns that Jane loves his alter ego, Dr. Donald Blake, which leads him to fly through the city like a lovesick teenager. Meanwhile, the Grey Gargoyle has landed in New York City. He has the ability to turn people to stone for an hour at a time, and it doesn't take much for him to show of this terrifying ability. He had developed this power through a lab accident, which is fairly common for superpowers these days. He decides to use his powers for crime, and to also challenge the Mighty Thor. He gets his wish and battles the god of thunder, but is ultimately defeated by Thor's alter ego Dr. Donald Blake, who uses a holographic projector to trick the Gargoyle into following a projection of Thor to the river, where the Gargoyle sinks to his apparent demise.Assumed before the next issue:People have forgiven Dr. Donald Blake for his past betrayal of Thor.This episode takes place:After Blake has defeated the Grey Gargoyle. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss Dr. Donald Blake's betrayal of Thor. Why did he do it? Was it purely Machiavellian? Did they plan it? How does Thor feel about Blake now - is he still going to act as his bodyguard, or does Blake need a new Avenger to protect him? Also: Cobra seems to have shifted strategies from turning the world into Cobras to smash and grabs. Why the reduced ambition? And what will we learn now that he is in custody?Behind the Comic:This was part two of a series. At this point in the continuity, Stan Lee has decided to both (1) Start re-using villains, and (2) Bring the villains together in team-ups to raise the stakes. It combines this new idea with many familiar Thor tropes: Thor's hammer is taken away by a machine turning him into Donald Blake; and Blake appears to betray Thor (discussed in the episode), which drive him further apart from his love, Nurse Jane Foster.In this issue:Thor battles Cobra and Mr. Hyde. During the battle, he transforms into his mortal guise of Dr. Donald Blake and is separated from his cane, which prevents him from turning back into Thor. The villains threaten the crowd and, in an effort to save them, Dr. Blake tells the villains that he will take him to Thor. The crowd is angry about this betrayal by Dr. Blake. But it's all a ruse to allow Dr. Blake to get back to his cane, tap it on the ground and turn back into the mighty Thor. Having transformed once more into a superpowered god, Thor battles the villains and defeats them. Unfortunately, the world, including in particular his beloved Jane, believes that Dr. Blake betrayed Thor, not knowing that they are one of the same. It is a sad state of affairs for Dr. Donald Blake/Thor.Assumed before the next episode:Dr. Donald Blake is public enemy numero uno. Or at least, he's certainly not well liked as people think that he betrayed Thor.This episode takes place:After Dr. Donald Blake apparently betrayed Thor, who was still able to defeat Cobra and Mr. Hyde. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

Minute Sixty-Six: From Loki Leaving to Erik Lying Joining us to discuss Loki's departure from Midgard and Erik's struggle to convincingly lie to Agent Coulson to free Thor is Bryon Lockhart, host of the Marine Corps Movie Minute and Co-Host of the Marvel Events Timeline Podcasts. In the sixty-sixth minute of Kenneth Branagh's 2011 film Thor... Loki looks up at the sky. Is he imagining he's looking at Odin or Heimdall? And how interesting that this is a moment Branagh doesn't cut to a god's eye view shot for this moment. It's interesting that they opt to just have Loki walk out of the shot instead of showing him depart in some magical way. We debate if it works or if we'd rather see him using one of his back doors. Did Loki really hope he could pick up the hammer? Or was it just for fun on the off chance he could have lifted it? Agent Coulson watches Erik lying through his teeth to free Thor, but does he believe it? Before that, Agent Sitwell moves into the room to talk to Coulson, and he goes from dark to light. Is there a chance they were already thinking about him being a HYDRA agent at this point? It sure feels that way. The SHIELD Crater Base is currently under repair, and was that the 1st Assistant Director we hear call “Set”? Sitwell lets Coulson know he has a visitor, and it's Erik. Why is it Erik who comes? Why not Jane? Or both of them? Perhaps Erik worries that Jane is too hot-headed. Did Jane have Donald Blake's driver's license lying around with his clothes when they broke up? Or did Darcy whip up this whole license? How funny that the New York driver's license actually has Excelsior on it. Is that why they went with it? Coulson clearly doesn't actually believe Erik lying, but seems to know he can use the situation to get more information out by following them. Erik lying about steroids is hilarious, but his comedic bit about ‘Donald' being upset about SHIELD's jackbooted thugs is great and really shows his feelings about SHIELD. Matthew takes a deep dive on the address on Donald's address. It's a kooky rabbit hole he went down. The photo of Thor on the driver's license? It's the photo Darcy took of him in Isabela's Diner. It's a comedic minute watching Erik try to spin lies to Agent Coulson so that they'll release Thor, and Bryon Lockheart's here for it all. Tune in! Join the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel's Discord channel! Film Sundries Watch this film: iTunes • Amazon • Netflix • YouTube • Disney+ Join the conversation on Discord Script Transcript Trailer #1 Trailer #2 Poster artwork Original Material Marvel Events Timeline Podcast on the web, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

This week the boys take a look at the history behind Donald Blake, Thor's alter ego, along with the anatomy of the mystical Mjolnir. This episodes covers Journey into Mystery #83 (1962), Thor #159 (1968), Thor Annual #11 (1983), and Mighty Thor #12 (2016). 

Minute Thirsty-Eight: From Healthy Muscles to a Healing Massage Joining us again is Jessica Plummer, author and contributing editor at Book Riot. We discuss more about thirst, Thor's attitude, how he speaks to people, and the Asgardian healing room. In the thirsty-eighth minute of Kenneth Branagh's 2011 film Thor... The thirst factor is still high as we kick off this minute with Jane still having a hard time not blatantly staring at Thor. Meanwhile, he gets ready to put the shirt on that she loaned him, only to find a Hello, My Name Is... sticker still attached. Turns out, we have another Easter egg buried in the name on that sticker – Donald Blake M.D. Marvel enjoys dropping Easter eggs in their films, which is a different perspective than the DC films use, where they largely avoid dropping them. But why? This shirt, however – does this mean Jane's had it for a long time but hasn't washed it? Or was it a recent break-up? Does the fact that this Thor fits perfectly so well imply that Jane has a type and Thor fits it perfectly? There was a point in development where the Donald Blake persona would be in the film and they were talking about Kevin McKidd playing him. Despite his hotness and Jane's (and our) thirst for him, Thor is rude. He clearly acts like royalty and treats everyone as if they're servants or commoners. Thor's comments about needing sustenance come off sounding like he's having an out of body experience. His mortal form? Could it be that he hasn't had a golden apple from Asgard in far too long and is actually feeling more mortal than he's ever felt before? Thor is hungry. Darcy is thirsty. But she and Erik share a look when Thor speaks the way he does. Clearly, they're tuned in to his crazy jabberings. We leave the thirst behind to journey to Asgard where we visit the Healing Room. It's Asgard at night! So they do flip around like a pancake in space! The striking difference between the rural and rundown look of Puente Antiguo and the opulence of Asgard stands out strong with this transition. Bo Welch's incredible production design gives so much weight to this scene. And did you know that's an enormous ram's head over the fire? We lay out what Hogun is actually doing here because it's never quite clear. Volstagg, Sif, and Fandral discuss why they shouldn't have let Thor go, but also how Thor saved them. Fandral seems the one we should be thirsty for but are we? Is there any thirst factor for him sitting here with his vest on and no shirt underneath? They know now that a guard told Odin where they were going but there still seems some debate if their journey was a smart idea or not. Loki seems to only be focused on the fact that his hand had turned blue earlier. With all his planning, Loki clearly struggles with this new information. Again, the opulence here – both in the production design and in the costumes – stands out as something to pay attention to. Meanwhile, in the MCU... We're still on June 10th and we talk a bit about what's happening in both The Incredible Hulk and in Iron Man 2. It's a conversation about hot bodies and the thirst that goes along with them, royal attitudes and how people react to them, and discussions in the healing room. Tune in! Join the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel's Discord channel! Film Sundries Watch this film: iTunes • Amazon • Netflix • YouTube • Disney+ Join the conversation on Discord Script Transcript Trailer #1 Trailer #2 Poster artwork Original Material Jessica at Instagram, Twitter and BookRiot Jessica's podcast Flights and Tights: A Superman Movie Podcast Buy Sword Stone Table at Amazon or BookShop

In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss the impersonation of Thor by Mr. Hyde. We believe Thor because he has built up credibility and reputation over time. But how long are we going to accept these excuses or explanations for criminal behavior? Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm do NOT have Thor's credibility, and yet they are claiming that they are not responsible for their fight (with each other) which destroyed not insignificant parts of the city because they were “mind controlled”. Are we expected to believe this as well? Also, Thor's impersonator and the Fantastic Four's mind controller have escaped and are still at large. Should that factor into our decisions on credibility?In these issues:Journey into Mystery #100The public is unhappy with Thor, and the police actually fire their guns at him. Thor figures out that Mr. Hyde has been impersonating him while committing crimes. Thor then transforms to his mortal guise of Dr. Donald Blake, and as Dr. Blake, he takes his nurse Jane Foster out for dinner. Mr. Hyde kidnaps Donald and Jane, ties Donald up, and then takes Jane with him to steal a submarine. Donald transforms to Thor and battles Dr. Hyde, although Dr. Hyde escapes. The police then tell Thor that they had figured out that Mr. Hyde was impersonating him.Strange Tales #116The Puppet Master is back. He creates a Human Torch puppet and controls him to hit on his stepdaughter Alicia Masters, who is the Thing's girlfriend. The Torch and the Thing fight, causing serious property damage in the city. Alicia figures out that her stepfather is behind the mayhem and intervenes, causing the Puppet Master to lose focus and thus control over the Torch, which causes the Torch to allow a flame fall out of the sky and burn the Torch puppet that the Puppet Master was using.Assumed before the next episode:The public has forgiven Thor but are not too sure about the Human Torch and the Thing.This episode takes place:After Mr. Hyde and the Puppet Master have been defeated. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss apparent Thor's turn to crime. The city seems to have a plan that they are putting into effect to stop the pagan god, but is it enough? This seems like the perfect opportunity to test superheroes against one another, and maybe even to use Donald Blake's anti-Thor android against the real deal. Also, was Thor planning to break bad? If so, was that why he was allowing the military to test their weapons on himself?In this issue:The villainous Mr. Hyde waits for Thor to leave the city before he puts his evil plan in motion. Previously, Mr. Hyde was Calvin Zabo, a con man who tried to rip of Dr. Donald Blake, who fired him before he had the chance to do so. This frustrated Zabo to the point of inventing a serum which gave him super strength, and a monstrous appearance. As Mr. Hyde, he breaks into Blake's office and threatens the good doctor, before pushing him out the window to his certain death. Blake is, of course, the mighty Thor, and he changes into his godly persona to rescue himself. Mr. Hyde is disappointed to learn that Thor saved Blake (in a manner of speaking), and decides to seek revenge. Thor then, uncharacteristically, robs a bank, leaving New York City in the grip of terror.Assumed before the next episode:People are afraid of their former hero, Thor.This episode takes place:After Thor robs a bank. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

The task of finding Galactus has fallen to Thor. How long will it take to find Galactus in all of the cosmos? Meanwhile on Earth, Balder enlists the help of the Warrior's Three to stop the Thermal Man. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirts at Redbubble and TeePublic https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box http://tee.pub/lic/vBbIJZ4eLQ0

Thor accepts his punishment at the hands of Odin for giving into Warrior Madness. But that's not all. Using Balder as bait, Loki attempts to take the hammer from Thor by way of Donald Blake. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirts at Redbubble and TeePublic https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box http://tee.pub/lic/vBbIJZ4eLQ0

After Him takes off with Sif, Thor picks up his hammer and vows vengeance! Will Thor be able to stave off what Asgardians call "Warrior Madness?" Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirts at Redbubble and TeePublic https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box http://tee.pub/lic/vBbIJZ4eLQ0

As Balder continues to resist the feminine wiles of Karnilla, she decides to call in help. Meet Haag, a morally-dubious sorceress who has mastered the power of persuassion. As all this is happening, Sif gets abducted by Him. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirts at Redbubble and TeePublic https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box http://tee.pub/lic/vBbIJZ4eLQ0

Trapped in an apocalyptic future with Pluto, Sif and Thor find themselves in dire need of back-up. Struggling with his thoughts of Karnilla, Balder seeks the help of Odin, who inturn sends him to help Thor. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirts at Redbubble and TeePublic https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box http://tee.pub/lic/vBbIJZ4eLQ0

What's better than Norse mythology gods? Adding in Greek and Roman mythology as well! Thor faces off against Pluto because he doesn't have enough of his own to fight. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirts at Redbubble and TeePublic https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box http://tee.pub/lic/vBbIJZ4eLQ0

In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss the invasion of New York City by the “Lava Man”. There is apparently an entire race of lava-based humanoids beneath the Earth's surface who can cause dormant volcanos in the Adirondacks to explode. We should be entering diplomatic negotiations with this society as soon as possible. Also, why was Thor the last line of defense instead of the first? And where were the other nine New York-based super heroes?In this issue:Thor saves a jet pilot from his plane as it spirals out of control over New York City. All in a day's work for the god of thunder, Thor! He seems somewhat agoraphobic when the city media approach him, leading him to flee and return to his mortal guise as Dr. Donald Blake. Meanwhile, people are terrified to learn that a Lava Man is causing dormant volcanoes to erupt, leading many to leave the city. Lava Man defeats the military with his intense heat, and he gives Thor a run for his money. After a ferocious battle, Thor defeats Lava Man, returning him below the Earth's surface.Assumed before the next episode:People slowly return to New York City, now that Lava Man has been defeated.This episode takes place:After Lava Man has been defeated. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

Donald Blake es el maldito lisiado en la relación del Dios del Trueno con la realidad, y en este episodio revisamos un poco de su historia y nos preguntamos qué onda con el regreso ñaca ñaca del doctor favorito de Asgard. Redefinimos el universo del podcast gracias al apoyo que recibimos en www.patreon.com/dstripando¿Nos quieren ver? Pueden hacerlo en nuestro canal en YouTube en https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwoSYsiDieXiJNbLuoBY4PAEpisodio traído gracias a nuestros comandos estelares:Sargento: Ramos, CarolinaSargento: Nieto, MauricioSargento: Hernández, ErickSi comparten este episodio ganarás poderes cósmicos. Tenemos playeras, disponibles en la tienda de DC (quien se queda con el total de las ganancias por que gandalla) directamente en https://printome.mx/tienda/100875fb2c7f3821995.57759414

Graeme McMillan (of Wait, What?) joins Douglas to discuss Doctor Doom's appearances in Thor #182-183. Topics include Stan Lee's curious ideas about how jobs work in the real world, what surgeons do, the world's smallest political demonstration, the identity of the scientist in "This Man, This Monster," the background behind O'Bengh from "What If?," Doom's taste in furniture, which country Thor would be most likely to allow to have missiles, and exactly how terrible a doctor Donald Blake is.

We return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time in 191 episodes for a look at Kenneth Branagh's 2011 franchise starter Thor! Join in as we discuss the arrival of Chris Hemsworth, the Odinsleep, the secret history of Donald Blake, and the franchise-dominated 2011 box office. Plus: Why did Anthony Hopkins take the role of Odin? How long has Jane had Dr. Blake's old shirt? What's the difference between the MCU's two glowing blue boxes? And, most importantly, what's the gayest Marvel movie? Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe! Next week: Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/we-love-the-love/message

It's a new episode of Rundown Reviews, as we watch The Incredible Hulk Returns from 1988. We see the return of David Banner trying to rid himself of The Hulk once and for all. So how does Thor play into it? Listen and find out. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by the other member of the Sex Turtles (Cam Malidor) Find our t-shirts at Redbubble and TeePublic https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box http://tee.pub/lic/vBbIJZ4eLQ0

In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss the implications of the original Merlin from the 4th century coming back to life in the modern day. As more and more of the ancient legends appear to be true, can we say there is some sort of cycle where every 1,500 years of so magic comes back into the world? Also, was the Thor/Merlin battle some sort of turf war? A battle of the “gods”?In this issue:The sarcophagus of Merlin, “famed wizard of King Arthur's Court”, is delivered to New York City. Inside, the body of Merlin remains remarkably preserved, to the amazement of all. It turns out that Merlin is alive and well - he was just in a form of suspended animation - and awakens, fully intent on taking advantage of his emergence into the modern world. It turns out that Merlin actually does have magical powers, and murderous intent. Merlin quickly decides that the best way to get the world's attention is to cause an experimental rocket to misfire. Thor bursts into action to correct the misfire. Undeterred, Merlin travels to Washington D.C. to meet the President. Thor intercedes and battles the mad magician. They do battle across the city until Thor changes to his human alter ego Dr. Donald Blake and then convinces Merlin that his magic is ten times more powerful than that of Merlin. Stunned, Merlin surrenders to Tho, and agrees to return to his crypt. And so endeth the tale of Merlin and his criminal adventures in 1963.Assumed before the next episode:People are intrigued by the introduction of Merlin to the world, long thought a purely fictional character. Who else will come to life in the modern age?This episode takes place:After Merlin has been defeated. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss Dr. Donald Blake. He has been kidnapped twice (once by communists and once by aliens), and he is a world leader is germ warfare who also makes time to work as a surgeon and a family doctor. Most recently, he invented an android that is strong enough to withstand Thor's hammer. Is Thor guarding Dr. Blake for his protection, or is he keeping an eye on him in case he “goes bad” like so many other geniuses? Also, is the android meant to protect us from superheroes gone bad?In this issue:Thor is secretly Dr. Donald Blake. As Dr. Blake, he has invented an android which Professor Zaxton demonstrates to a crowd at a science convention with the assistance of Thor. The android is amazing - he is able to solve the world's most complicated mathematical problem and also withstand a strike from Thor's hammer. The android malfunctions, and Thor disposes of it before it can do serious harm to anyone. Thor returns to his secret identity as Dr. Blake, and heads to his office. Professor Zaxton is waiting for him in his office, and he fills in Dr. Blake on his fiendish plan. You see, Professor Zaxton has invented a machine that can create copies of anything, and he wants Dr. Blake to help him use this technology to create copies of the android that he had invented. He has kidnapped Dr. Blake's nurse Jane Foster to solicit his assistance. Dr. Blake turns into Thor, and before you know it Professor Zaxton uses his invention to duplicate Thor. He creates an exact copy who also has the opposite of Thor's personality, and he remains under Professor Zaxton's control. Thor battles his doppelgänger in the skies above New York City. Thor prevails over his evil copy, and returns to deal with Professor Zaxton, who makes a copy of himself and then falls to his death. Conveniently, the Zaxton copy is the opposite of the original - kind and benevolent. Thor then rescues Jane, and our tale comes to an end.Assumed before the next episode:People are wondering what makes Dr. Blake so special.This episode takes place:After Thor has defeated his evil doppelgänger. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

In this episode:In this episode, Mike and Ed discuss the Radioactive Man, a super-powered scientist working for the Chinese Government. The Radioactive Man's attack on Thor appears to be a response to Thor's recent attack on the Chinese military near the China-India border. Is China's response proportionate? Or is it the first step towards an all-out nuclear and super-powered war?In this issue:Dr. Donald Blake is on an American medical mission in Asia that is suddenly attacked by the Chinese military. Fortunately for the Americans, Dr. Donald Blake is actually Thor. Blake turns into Thor and repels the attackers. The Chinese military deliberate on a response. Military scientist Dr. Chen Lu experiments on himself and turns himself into the Radioactive Man. Now super-powered, and radioactive, the Radioactive Man lands on the shores of the U.S. and, for some reason, decides to go through Customs, where he demonstrates his fearsome power. Showing a flair for the dramatic, the Radioactive Man stands on Broadway and challenges Thor to battle him. Thor meets the challenge but finds that he may be outmatched. Defeated, Thor leaves the field of battle and then figures out the best way to defeat the Radioactive Man, who is bent on blowing up New York City. Thor's solution? He creates a private tornado that whisks the Radioactive Man back to China, where he blows up.Assumed before the next issue:People are wondering if the Chinese government is behind the Radioactive Man's invasion.This episode takes place:After the Radioactive Man has been defeated. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

In this episode:In this episode, Mike and Ed discuss the ramifications of Johnny Storm lying about his death. Was it really necessary to defeat this villain? Also, Thor is starring in a new movie. Will “movie star” become a right of passage for every hero?In this issue:Strange Tales #108Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, breaks up a robbery and helps put the criminals behind bars yet again. The criminal underworld is frustrated by the Torch's heroic efforts. Just when they are about to give up hope on their morality free life, a strange man with the ability to bring his paintings to life shows up and offers his services. The Painter then battles the Torch with his strange and powerful paintings-come-to-life and seemingly kills him. The world mourns the young hero's passing. Then, just when the Painter and his gang have let their guard down, the Torch re-appears, having faked his death. He destroys the Painter's magic paints and brings the criminals to justice.Journey into Mystery #92Loki grits his teeth while imprisoned in Asgard. Meanwhile, a couple of thugs bring their injured colleague to see Dr. Donald Blake after hours and threaten him into removing two slugs from their friend. Blake secretly turns into Thor and captures the criminals. Thor then goes to Norway to work on a movie as himself. Loki, watching all of this happen, somehow causes Thor's hammer Mjolnir to veer off course and head from Norway to Asgard, where it shatters the chains keeping him imprisoned in Asgard. Thor is afraid that he will revert to Blake after being apart from his hammer for more than 60 seconds. Fortunately, Odin hears Thor's silent prayers and scoops his son up and transports him to Asgard, where he will remain Thor despite having lost his hammer. Thor figures out that Loki must be behind his hammer going missing, and hunts for his brother. He recovers his hammer, and Loki is captured once more.Assumed before the next episode:The world learns that Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, is not dead - it was all a cruel and unnecessary ruse. Also, people hear that Thor is filming a movie as himself.This episode takes place:After the world has learned that the Human Torch faked his death to capture a B level villain, and after they have heard about Thor's attempted transition to movie stardom. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

Mike and Nick dig into the first introduction of the God of Thunder, Thor. Marvel's first mythological film in which we see the 9 realms and the Bifrost. We also discuss Thor's redemption to becoming worthy and Loki who lusts for power and his adoptive father's love. They also discuss how this film is underrated and deserves more praise due to the fact that Donald Blake wields Jonathan.

In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss the third attempted large scale alien invasion in as many weeks. These aliens seem as powerful as the Impossible Man, but there were a lot more of them in this invasion. They debate whether Thor was only involved because he was acting at Donald Blake's bodyguard, and whether any of these shape-changing aliens are still among us.In this issue:Aliens from the planet Xarta decide to travel from another galaxy to invade the Earth for some reason. The Xartans can change their shape to impersonate others, and they use these abilities to replace various highly placed people in New York City and have them act erratically, thereby throwing the city into chaos. Thor notices that people are acting strangely and decides to investigate. He finds a Xartan ship, and he is then separated from his hammer for more than 60 seconds, which causes him to revert to his Donald Blake form. Thor, as Blake, is captured by the Xartans, who explain their invasion plan to him. First, they cause chaos through a complicated body snatching plan; and second, they invade with their space ships. The Xartans are tricked by Blake into letting him secretly turn into Thor, who then battles the two leading Xartans and defeats them, which leads to the mighty Xartan fleet hovering above Earth's atmosphere to leave. Thor then commands the remaining four Xartans from the landing party to turn into trees, condemning them to long, dull lives as non-sentient plants.Assumed before the next episode:The world has learned of this latest alien invasion and are left to wonder why the Xartans didn't just invade with their superior galaxy-hopping technology.This episode takes place:After the failed Xartan invasion. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss how Thor may be acting as a “bodyguard” for important American scientists such as Dr. Donald Blake. Also, has Ant-Man not done as good a job as we have been told about eliminating the NYC mafia?In this issue:Thor recounts his own origin story to himself, while Jane Foster fantasizes about dating Thor. Meanwhile, a mob leader is freed by his gang before he can be taken to prison. He is shot while escaping, and his gang takes him to Dr. Donald Blake's office for treatment under the radar. Blake saves the mobster and is about to be executed by the gang, but before that can happen, he transforms into Thor and takes the gangsters down.Assumed before the next episode:People are starting to notice that Thor is connected with mild-mannered Dr. Donald Blake.This episode takes place:After the mob leader Thug Thatcher has imperiled the life of Dr. Blake and been laid low by the might of Thor. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss the return of Loki, and how New York City seems to be the central focus on superhuman activity.In this issue:The issue begins with Loki being punished by his father Odin with confinement to the paradise which is Asgard. While luxuriously imprisoned, Loki casts a spell and, through that magic, figures out that Thor has an alter ego, Dr. Donald Blake, and that he must hold his hammer to maintain his godly persona. Loki escapes Asgard and heads to Earth, whereupon he challenges Thor to a public battle. They meet, and Loki puts a magical force field around Thor's hammer Mjolnir, which prevents Thor from touching it. Thor reverts to his Blake persona, and Loki then leaves to wreak mischievous havoc on the city. Blake finally figures out how to trick an eternal trickster god into removing the magical force field - he stations a plastic dummy that looks like Thor near the hammer, and Loki, believing this is the brother he has known for eons, removes the force field to see if the hammer is still where he left it. Once the force field is removed, Blake grabs Mjolnir and transforms into Thor, who thereafter soundly defeats Loki.Assumed before the next episode:People are buying into the idea that Norse gods have returned to Earth,and are spending most of their time in New York City.This episode takes place:After Loki has been captured again, and his destruction has been magically repaired. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss the return of scientists kidnapped by the Soviets. Unfortunately, Bruce Banner was not one of them. Thor rescued the scientists, although he didn't bring them all of the way home - which seems odd. Also, why didn't the Fantastic Four get involved - it could have been a public relations coup for them!In this issue:Scientist after scientist defect to the USSR, and no one can figure out why. Dr. Donald Blake, mild mannered doctor volunteers to work with Army intelligence to act as bait. His plan? Proclaim to the world that he has invented a new biowarfare weapon. The plan works, and he is kidnapped by a Soviet agent and stolen away to the USSR. There, he meets with the other US scientists, who were similarly kidnapped. Fortunately for all concerned, Dr. Blake is also the mighty Thor, god of thunder. Blake transforms into Thor, busts the scientists out, and in a strange bid to preserve his secret identity, returns to his Blake form so that he can make his way back to the west with the other scientists.Assumed before the next episode:The public is rightly worried about the number of Russian spies on American soil.This episode takes place:After the scientists have safely travelled by plane, train, and automobile back to America. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

In this episode:Mike and Ed discuss the latest super powered individual to appear: The Mighty Thor! The duo debate whether he is tied to Norse mythology or whether the name is just a gimmick. Also: is Thor working with the US government to prevent Communist intrusions into western countries?In this issue:This is Thor's second appearance. He first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83, which for background, was a tale about aliens made of rock landing in Norway intent on taking the Earth over. We are introduced to Dr. Donald Blake in this issue, who was vacationing in Norway at the time. Dr. Blake stumbled across a cave and found a nailed wooden stick that, when struck on the ground transformed the stick into a war hammer (which we come to know as Mjolnir) and Dr. Blake into the legendary God of Thunder, Thor. Blake/Thor learned that he transforms from Thor back to Blake if he is away from his hammer for more than 60 seconds. Thor defeats the aliens and, returned to the form of Dr. Donald Blake, returns to America. Assumed before the next issue:People are wondering if Thor is truly the Norse god of myth, or just a bleached blond musclebound self-promoter with a fancy hammer.This episode takes place:After the events in the issue, including Thor's appearance and the regime change in San Diablo, have been reported. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.superserious616.com

On this week's comic book review podcast: GI Joe: Castle Fall IDW Written by Paul Allor Art by Chris Evenhuis Snow Angels #1 ComiXology Written by Jeff Lemire Art by Jock The Immortal Hulk: Flatline #1 Marvel Written and Art by Declan Shalvey HAHA #2 Image Comics Written by W. Maxwell Prince Art by Zoe Thorogood King in Black #4 Marvel Written by Donny Cates Art by Ryan Stegman Batman/Catwoman #3 DC Comics Written by Tom King Art by Clay Mann Savage #1 Valiant Comics Written by Max Bemis Art by Nathan Stockman Guardians of the Galaxy #11 Marvel Written by Al Ewing Art by Juann Cabal Stillwater #6 Image Comics Written by Chip Zdarsky Art by Ramón K. Perez Future State: Superman Worlds of War #2 DC Comics Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Brandon Easton, Becky Cloonan & Michael W. Conrad, Jeremy Adams Art by Mikel Janin, Valentin de Landro, Michael Avon Oeming, Siya Oum Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman #2 DC Comics Written by Becky Cloonan & Michael W. Conrad, L.L. McKinney Art by Jen Bartel, Alitha Martinez Future State: The Next Batman #4 DC Comics Written by John Ridley, Vita Ayala, Paula Seven Bergen Art by Laura Braga, Aneke, Emanuela Luppachino Future State: Catwoman #2 DC Comics Written by Ram V Art by Otto Schmidt Future State: Nightwing #2 DC Comics Written by Andrew Constant Art by Nicola Scott Future State: Shazam #2 DC Comics Written by Tim Sheridan Art by Eduardo Panic Thor #12 Marvel Written by Donny Cates Art by Nic Klein Excellence #10 Image Comics Written by Brandon Thomas Art by Khary Randolph Once & Future #16 BOOM! Studios Written by Kieron Gillen Art by Dan Mora X-Men Legends #1 Marvel Written by Fabian Nicieza Art by Brett Booth Aria: Heavenly Creatures Image Comics Written by Brian Holguin Art by Jay Anacleto with Brian Haberlin The Last Ronin #2 IDW Story by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and Tom Waltz Script by Tom Waltz & Kevin Eastman Layouts by Kevin Eastman Pencils & Inks by Esau & Isaac Escort, Ben Bishop and Kevin Eastman Black Widow #5 Marvel Written by Kelly Thompson Art by Elena Casagrande w/ Rafael De Latorre Sabrina: The Teenage Witch #5 Archie Comics Written by Kelly Thompson Art by Veronica Fish and Andy Fish SUBSCRIBE ON RSS, ITUNES, ANDROID, SPOTIFY, STITCHER OR THE APP OF YOUR CHOICE. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, AND FACEBOOK. SUPPORT OUR SHOWS ON PATREON. Full Episode Transcript Alex:                 What's up, everybody. Welcome to The Stack. I'm Alex. Justin:              I'm Justin. Pete:                I'm Pete. Alex:                 On The Stack, we talk about a bunch of books that have come out this week. Let's kick it off, because we got a packed stack. Justin:              Oh, yes. Alex:                 [crosstalk 00:00:19] G.I. Joe: Castle Fall from IDW, written by Paul Allor, art by Chris Evenhuis. I got to tell you, never in a million years would I have expected that a G.I. Joe book would be at the top of my personal stack, but that's where we are. This book is what a lot of what this book has been leading up to. Cobra has taken over the entire world. Finally, G.I. Joe gets an in to fight back. It doesn't go exactly how you think it's going to go. There's a big twist there. This book is great. Justin:              I got to say, I mean, I was not allowed to watch G.I. Joe as a child because they had guns in their hands. Pete:                Here we go. Jesus Christ. Can we talk about G.I. Joe one time without you dropping that? Justin:              What? I'm just saying. It was just sort of an introduction to say that I also love this book. I also wasn't allowed sugary cereals, which led me to enjoy a lot of Grape Nuts. Pete:                And you also had to drink well water, and your teeth are falling out. Alex:                 Don't spoil. The next book we're talking about is Grape Nuts #1, which is also very good. Justin:              That's going to be good. It's going to be good. Just put a little honey on it. No. This book is so good, and what I love about it is they've been building up to it over the course of all these smaller issues and books to get here, and each one, for the most part, has been excellent, and the fact that they're building this whole little universe around G.I. Joe is something that … Again, I don't know if I said. I never watched as a kid. Pete:                Oh, my god. Fuck, I hate you. I mean, this is great. I mean, you get to see Roadblock fucking pick up a fucking giant cannon of a gun and just fucking shoot. It was great. Yeah. The art's really good. The storytelling, the plot's impressive. It's a lot better than a lot of the cartoon's plot, but I thought this was- Alex:                 Not all of it. I would say like 50 percent of the cartoon's plots. Most of the cartoon's plots were very good, as we all know. Pete:                Sure. Sure. Because we all watched them as kids. Alex:                 I never watched it. Justin:              It must have been fun for you, Pete, to see your favorite Joes, like soup can, hub cap. Pete:                So far you haven't named one. Justin:              Dance party. Pete:                Nope. Justin:              Hat hair. Hat hair is so good in this issue. Pete:                No. Justin:              He's so good because he's like [crosstalk 00:02:30]- Pete:                Did you see? My favorite scene in the issue is when load-bearing beam really brings the hurt down. Justin:              That guy is so tough. Pete:                [crosstalk 00:02:39]. Justin:              He's got the weight of the world on his shoulders. Pete:                I'm the only one who knows the names, and you guys are still doing bits. It's just ridiculous. Alex:                 Well, what I love about this is I, again, I have no interest in G.I. Joe particularly because of the names, because they're so silly and over the top, but every character is so distinct, from the art, to the writing, to their motivations here, including the villains as well. The way that they fleshed out Cobra here and made them interesting rather than just going “I'm a serpent name, and I have a mask, and I'm evil,” and that's pretty much my whole impression of Cobra Commander. I think there's two of them, right? Pete:                Oh, my god. Justin:              No. There's more. You need 20 minutes. Alex:                 There's Destro and also Cobra Commander? I don't know how this works. Pete:                Okay. All right. Destro does not talk like that. Alex:                 Everyone's shit. Pete:                There's Serpentor. Alex:                 I'm Destro. Pete:                Oh, my god. All right. You are killing me. Alex:                 I'm the Baroness. Pete:                Okay. All right. First off, let's back up the truck. If you're going to do bits about their names, know the show, because one of the funniest things is they would do PSAs after the show, and there would be a character whose name is Barbecue, and he has a flamethrower on his back, and then he's like “Hey, kids. If you have a house fire, you should run away,” and it's like “Hey, Barbecue. How did that house fire start? You have a flamethrower, and you're standing next to a fire. This isn't cool, man. You shouldn't set people's houses on fire and then teach kids about fires.” Justin:              It's very funny to me that you were like “Justin, you're making fun of this by saying the names you said. If you said the name Barbecue,” who's the hero you like's name, because when I said hub cap, you were like “That's stupid,” but you said Barbecue, and you were like “That's good. Hub cap is bad, but Barbecue-“ Pete:                I mean, Snow Job's a real … That's a real name. Justin:              What about tippy toe? I really like tippy toe. Pete:                Oh, my god. Alex:                 This book is fantastic. Definitely pick it up, even if you don't know anything about G.I. Joe. Alex:                 Moving on to Snow Angels #1 from ComiXology, written by Jeff Lemire, art by Jock. I said this on the live show, but I'll stick with it. That team is on a book, and you're in no matter what, but thankfully this book is great and weird anyway. It's about a world, maybe a world, that has been covered in ice. All that exists is this snow trench. There's a family, a father, and two daughters who are skating through the trench for one theirs 12th birthday, and things get weirder and deadlier and more dangerous from there. This feels like the perfect gelling of these two creators' tastes. Pete:                It seems like it's Snowpiercer 2, where after the train's gone, now they're just living on the tracks. You know what I mean? And that's where this takes place. Justin:              Withering criticism from Pete LePage. Alex:                 But you say that about anything that involves snow. You said that when you saw the Michael Keaton vehicle Jack Frost as well. Justin:              Yeah. No. Pete:                The Michael Keaton vehicle. Justin:              When the Weather Report came out, Pete screamed at the TV. It's like “Snowpiercer. Get out of here.” I like this book a lot. You said it best, Alex. It's such a great combination of these two creators' work. A lot of great blood splatters on this, and very few snow angels, and ice skating is hard, and these characters do it constantly. Pete:                Yeah. Yeah. I mean, growing up in upstate New York, you needed to kind of … You might as well put skates on, because you're walking around so much ice, but I did really … All joking aside, I really love the last-page reveal. The art's unbelievable. This is a very unique, cool kind of world that we're kind of thrown into here. I thought it was an amazing first issue of getting you established with what's going on and then kind of raising the stakes. I thought this was really fantastic book. Alex:                 Next up, the Immortal Hulk: Flatline #1 from Marvel, written and art by Declan Shalvey. This is another, as you can probably tell from the title, spinoff of the Immortal Hulk doing one-shot stories about him here. Bruce Banner meets one of his old teachers. Things don't go that well over the course of the issue. How do you think this held up to the high standard of Immortal Hulk? Justin:              I like this a lot. Declan Shalvey has been talking about this book a lot online. There's a lot of pride and just love for this book coming from the creator. So I really appreciate that, and it's a great story. It feels like a classic Hulk story that we haven't seen in a while, because the main book has been so focused on just straight-up horrifying imagery. So this takes it back a little bit and really says “Hey. Be nice to your teachers, because they might come at you from some gamma-irradiated vision and really fuck up your life if you're not careful.” Pete:                Yeah. Teachers will haunt you for the rest of your life, man. You got to be careful. Justin:              Yeah. Alex:                 Totally agree. Haha #2 from Image Comics, written by W. Maxwell Prince, art by Zoe Thorogood. This is the second issue, of course, from the creator of Ice Cream Man. It is an anthology about clowns. Here, we're getting to meet a character who … It's not revealed until the end of the issue exactly what she's doing, but as a child, she ran away with her mom, who had a bit of a psychotic break and thought she was a clown, wanted to go away to a fun time happy land. Things do not end up fun time or happy. How'd you feel about this one? Justin:              So good. Haunting. We love W. Maxwell Prince's work on Ice Cream Man, and to see it sort of grounded in a weird way … I didn't expect this series ostensibly focusing on clowns to be the more grounded version of his storytelling, but it really is. It's sort of real-world stories of people going off the map a little bit with their choices, with clown imagery, and there's such a melancholy to all of this work, and I really like that. Alex:                 Pete? Pete:                Yeah. This is so haunting and messed up in ways that I wasn't ready for. This mother-and-child-like relationship was very scary to me, and I kept waiting there to be kind of fun moments, and so far it's just a fucking nightmare, and I'm scared to keep reading this comic, because it was like … I feel like Ice Cream Man kind of encouraged this, and I'm a little worried about what the payoff is going to be. Justin:              Encouraged it. Alex:                 I don't think there's going to be a payoff. I think it's just an anthology of stories. Pete:                I think maybe the people reading it will slowly start to go insane and then paint their faces like clowns and then die horribly. Justin:              I guess the payoff is when you show up to do the show in full clown, which honestly I think we're pretty close to. Alex:                 What if all of these people in this book joined together in some sort of book, all of these crazy people who are clowns forming a group together. It would be some sort of insane clown posse. I mean, just to throw something out there, I feel like that's maybe how it could work at the last issue. Justin:              Huh. That'd be quite a league of extraordinary clowns. As long as they aren't fueled by some sort of small-market soda, I think we'll be fine. Alex:                 King in Black #4 from Marvel, written by Donny Cates, art by Ryan Stegman. This is a big issue here where once again Donny Cates redefines the Marvel universe, does a little bit of the old retcon action to come up with an explanation for something that has not made a lot of sense. Eddie Brock is lying dying. Dylan Brock, his son, has been trapped by Knull, the King in Black. All of the heroes are trying to fight back, and they finally get a foothold here as we enter the endgame of this title. What'd you think about all the twists and turns? Justin:              I love the reveal at the end of the issue. When I first started reading comics, and I will spoil this sort of twist at the end right now, but Captain Universe was what was on the stands right then. Spider-Man had just had the Captain Universe powers, and he was recovering form that, being sort of de-powered. I think the first Spider-Man issue I ever read, he was shooting upwards into space, having just lost the Captain Universe powers, and trying to web himself to a passing airplane, and so to have that make sense and maybe join the Marvel universe with Eddie Brock at the helm I thought was great. It was crazy to see the heroes turn it around so hard in this issue. Pete:                Yeah. I really thought this was great. Lot of cool reveals in this issue. The good guys are getting their butts kicked for a long time now. It's nice to see what kind of cards we're going to play here. So I was really, really impressed with this issue, a lot of cool stuff, and I can't wait to see how this whole thing unfolds. I went from being like “What is this?” to really I'm bored with this kind of event. So I feel like it was really cool, and then the backup story, the Demon Days, was also really cool as well. Alex:                 That was very fun. That seems to be a title that we're going to see going forward that is a Japanese, I would say, art-style-inflected X-Men tale, which I thought was kind of neat. Justin:              Yeah. Pete:                Yeah. Alex:                 Next up, Batman / Catwoman #3 from DC Comics, written by Tom King, art by Clay Mann. We're continuing this time-hopping story of Batman and Catwoman as they fight a war on three different fronts. I like this one. I felt like I had a better handle on what's going on in this issue than I did necessarily in the first two issues. How'd you guys feel about it? Pete:                I love this. I thought this was really amazing. I love the kind of tone that's even set up in the beginning with the double play, the double-spread title page of Bat and Cat. I think this is such a cool area to explore. If the Bat and Cat are together, how do they exist? You know what I mean? Is Catwoman have to be more good? Does Batman have to try to be more bad? How do they exist? Pete:                I think this is a very interesting position to put Batman and Catwoman, and the kind of reveal of Joker in the money suit … I lost it. I thought that was so funny and hysterical, and that whole “Paul Fleischman is dead. Oh, god. No. Who's Paul Fleischman?” … I'm really having a lot of fun with this book. I'm very, very impressed with it. Yeah. I can't say enough nice things about the art and everything that's going on. Justin:              Yeah. The art is so stylized. It's so composed in such a specific way, especially a story that moves around so much. It's so nice to see the art really reflecting a meticulous design style, but yeah. This reminds me of, oddly, the last episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the jumping between- Alex:                 Oh, okay. I can see that. Justin:              … jumping between different eras, telling one story, because it almost feels like in this comic that the characters are aware of the time jumps. I don't think they actually are, but it feels like they're very complicit in telling the story in this particular way, and I think that's what allows it to hang together so well as opposed to … Because it's jarring, jumping between the different time frames in this. There's very little visual direction, but there's just so much emotional direction where we're seeing so much happen at once, and at the same time, we're introducing Mask of the Phantasm here, which is a horrifying character [crosstalk 00:14:58]. Alex:                 I got to say that's the one thing for me that is not quite working about this book is I really like the Phantasm. It just right now feels like this element that I don't quite get how it fits in and how it's part of the story. Pete:                Just wait for it. All right? Don't- Alex:                 I'm sure. Yes. I know. It will pan out, and it's fine, but the Joker stuff in both the past and the present seems to connect. I get that the Phantasm is this outside thing, but it's such an out-sized presence, perhaps given because of its real-world weight of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm being the best Batman movie, that I felt like “Oh. This is its own story. What is going on with the Phantasm? Why are we not telling this story? Why is this only one third of the book?” Pete:                Yeah, but- Justin:              I think that is that exterior pressure, because to me, and I'm someone that didn't … I didn't watch that when I was younger. So it's not something I revere maybe as much. So just seeing the imagery that's there to be scary as opposed to being like “Look. I'm this character you know,” … I think it's working. Alex:                 All right. Fair enough. Pete:                Yeah. I agree. Just because something was amazing, don't let it hurt this story before we get what it's about, but I understand what you're saying and it makes sense. I'm just so happy we're getting this story, because we got little teases of it, and then DC was like “No. We're kind of doing something else.” So I'm so glad that, in this Black Label thing, we get this story that we were kind of given a little bit and then taken away. So I'm just so happy right now with what's going on in this book. Alex:                 Next up, Savage #1 from Valiant Comics, written by Max Bemis, art by Nathan Stockman. In this, we are picking up with Savage, a wild little boy who was left in a dinosaur land and came to the present. Now he's a social media star. Don't worry. There's still dinosaur battles in this book. I thought this was a lot of fun. What did you guys think? Pete:                Yeah. I- Justin:              Yeah. This … Pete:                Go ahead. Justin:              This is a lot fun. It reminds me of back in the day, the Ultraverse line of comics. This feels like strong pitch, strong concept, mixing a classic sort of comic book trope with a modern spin on it, and then the story's just really fun. Pete:                Yeah. I agree. It's fun to see kind of Savage exist now and how that would kind of look a little bit, but I'm glad that we still get to kind of see Savage do what Savage enjoys doing- Justin:              What Savage do. Pete:                … and it was … Yeah. The art's unbelievable. This is a very visually pleasing book, and it really delivers. Justin:              Oh, pleasing. So pleasing. Pete:                Yeah. Alex:                 Pete's not having any of it tonight. Justin:              Yeah. Alex:                 All right. Let's move on, talk about- Justin:              He's displeased. Pete:                Also, I'm very excited. We talked to Cullen Bunn about Shadowman, and we get a little peak of this in this. So I'm very excited about what that's going to be like. Alex:                 There you go. Guardians of the Galaxy #11 from Marvel, written by Al Ewing, art by Juan Cabal. In this issue, this is the second-to-lat issue, I believe, of this run on Guardians of the Galaxy. They are facing down dark olympian gods. Star Lord has been through some very weird stuff that's affecting him here. I know we haven't really can keeping up with this book. So what'd you think about this issue? Justin:              I feel like the Guardians of the Galaxy are the most emotional team in comic books. They're an emotion-first team, and this book is it. All the characters are just wide open talking about what they're going through, and they're like “We have to fight, but I really want to talk about this,” and I appreciate that. They're fully therapeutic. They're getting it out there. They're telling it like it is, and the art's wonderful. It really is a ragtag group of characters. Just it's used very well. Alex:                 Yeah. Pete? Pete:                Yeah. I mean, it's a lot of fun. Art's unbelievable. Yeah. Alex:                 Great. Great stuff. Stillwater #6 from Image Comics, written by Chip Zdarsky, art by Ramón K. Pérez. This is a big flashback issue kicking off of the cliffhanger from the last issue where a bunch of military dudes were right outside the town where nobody dies. In this issue, we find out how they got there, what's going on with it. As we talked to Chip Zdarsky about on the live show, the danger and the action ramps up in a big way in this book really quickly, which I continue to find very impressive. Justin:              Yeah. He's really done a good job of setting up a very explosive environment, the politics of Stillwater. Now we have these military guys on the outside of town. Our main character sort of doesn't want to be there, is unsettled. That combined with Ramón Pérez's very pastoral art, I think, makes for just a nice juxtaposition, and I like this book a lot. Pete:                Yeah. I agree. Just when you think “Okay. This is what's going,” it really amps it up even more. Art is unbelievable, and the kind of going between times, the adjustments it makes there, but also just in its storytelling and its panel movement … I cannot believe “Okay. Oh, sure. Yeah. Nobody dies. Okay. Oh, yeah, but now we're going to deal with this thing.” It's like “Wait. What?” It just keeps kind of keeping the action going, and it's crazy in all the right ways. Alex:                 All right. Now it is time for our Future State block as we have been doing the past couple of weeks. We've read through every single issue that came out from DC in Future State this week. We're not going to talk about all of them, but we're going to talk about some highlights, but if you're wondering what came out, we got Future State: Superman: Worlds of War #2, Immortal Wonder Woman #2, The Next Batman #4, Catwoman #2, Nightwing #2, and Shazam #2. So let's call some stuff out. Pete just dropped something on the floor. I don't know what's going on. Pete:                Yeah. I just accidentally dropped a pencil. I- Justin:              A pencil? Pete:                Yeah. Justin:              Oh, no. Alex:                 Were you writing on your phone with a pencil? Pete:                No. Justin:              But Pete, what about your sketching? Pete:                [inaudible 00:21:27]. Alex:                 Not a lot of people know this, actually, but Pete does these very funny caricatures of us during taping The Stack, and it's a delight. Justin:              You got to release those, Pete, because honestly, you're like the Colossus, famously a painter, of the podcast. Pete:                Sure. Sure. Anyways, so I really liked The Next Batman #4. I mean, having a black Batman is a great idea, but the part where Batman's just like “Listen. I'm going to be real with you guys,” I was like “Oh, this is so much fun,” but I really like how this is different. You know what I mean? Because Batman in this book has parents and is willing to maybe stab his mom to get what he needs to get done and keep Gotham safe, and I don't know if our Batman would do that. Pete:                So it's nice to see this Batman really stepping it up and be like “Sorry, ma. Sometimes you got to stab somebody for your beliefs,” and I don't know. I just think this is … The Future State here, I'm still having a lot of fun with the choices that they're making with these heroes, and this, The Next Batman, I'm having a great time with. Justin:              Well, it wasn't my favorite of the week, but I want to throw it to Nightwing #2, just piggybacking on Pete's comment, because Nightwing #2 features of this new Batman and Nightwing, and I love the dynamic that's created here, where our new Batman is sort of deferential to Nightwing. He's like “I'm just sort of figuring this out right now,” and Nightwing's like “I get it,” but our new Batman refuses to leave his side despite the fac that Nightwing … It's a great flip of the dynamic of Batman usually being in the leadership role and Nightwing being more of a sidekick. I just hadn't seen that before, and it really caught me off guard in a good way. Alex:                 So what was your favorite of the week then, Justin? Justin:              Superman: Worlds of War #2. This story- Pete:                Oh, yeah. Can we talk about it? Justin:              This story by Phillip Kennedy Johnson at the front end of this book is so fucking good. He just boils down Superman and Clark Kent to just … I'll tell you about what happened if you haven't read it. There are these two kids are sort of in Smallville exploring the area. They walk to the original Kent farm. In this world, obviously Superman's revealed that he's Clark Kent. Justin:              So they're trying to find the original Kent farm, because everybody knows he's Superman, and the main girl is recounting an article she read that Clark Kent wrote about the town, and it's so good, so interesting, about a soldier that went to war and how it affected his life, juxtaposed with images of Superman on Warworld just fighting, sacrificing everything to free some people who have been captured on Warworld against Mongul, and it's just … It's beautiful. It's drawn beautifully. It's so smartly written. It's so good. Pete:                I want to take a moment just to talk about the art alone. I mean, unbelievable, just absolutely. The character designs, Mongul and Superman, their faces … Just it fits so well with the story in such a great way. The paneling, the art flow … It's really, really well done. I was really impressed with this book. Alex:                 I'm surprised, Pete, that you didn't call out Michael Avon Oeming's art on the Midnighter story towards the back of this book, because we get kind of a little Midnighter going through time, and that seems exactly your jam. Pete:                Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah. If we can talk about that for a little bit, I mean- Justin:              No. I'm so sorry. We just ran out of time [inaudible 00:25:19]. We don't have time to talk about it. Pete:                Yeah. I thought that was unbelievable. Obviously, I'm a huge Midnighter fan, but just what a cool concept, and Oeming … His art is just fantastic. Justin:              I particularly like the old and young Midnighter versions that Oeming draws here. Alex:                 Super fun. It was really hard for me to choose, this week. I think, again, this is a very strong week for the Future State books. I kind of want to go for Immortal Wonder Woman #2 just because- Justin:              Another great book. Alex:                 … I think it was a gorgeous story, Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad, art by Jen Bartel, of Wonder Woman being the, I guess, second-to-last person in the universe, and it's just, like a lot of these things, a mission statement on Wonder Woman and what she means, but the one that I kind of left until the end and that I was like “Oh, right,” … The first issue of this was awesome, Shazam #2- Justin:              I knew you were going to say it. Pete:                Yeah. Alex:                 … by Tim Sheridan and Eduardo Pansica. Fucking great. So good. Justin:              Dark. Dark take. Alex:                 Oh, so dark. This is like the darkest Shazam story I've ever read in my life, but I love it, and I love the cliffhanger that it ends off up on, the way that the characters are drawn, just terrifying throughout, of Shazam and Billy Batson being split apart, where it leaves off, where it's leading into this Future State Black Adam book. Just put it in my veins. I'm having a blast reading it. Justin:              I agree. I liked that too, and I know we weren't going to talk about all of them, but I got to throw it out to Future State Catwoman #2 as well- Alex:                 Great. Justin:              … because it's a great story. It's a train robbery. We get to see Batman, Bruce Wayne, show up. Everyone thought he was dead. Catwoman reunites with him, such a great moment, great action. Onomatopoeias there for some reason, but it's very cool. It was just great. Alex:                 Yeah. I've been reading this book. The fact that it's all set on a train, did you feel like it was more of a Snowpiercer kind of book? Justin:              Oh, yes. That's what. I was like “Where's all the snow? They should be just piercing each flake?” Pete:                I did want to ask. In Immortal Wonder Woman, the art is so amazing, and I was like “What is this reminding me of.” It reminds me a little bit of She-Ra: Princess of Power on Netflix. The way the art kind of jumps off the page is really impressive, and I really liked it. Alex:                 Good stuff. Justin:              It reminded me a little bit of the Green Lantern book that we love so much, Far Sector. Pete:                Oh, yeah. Alex:                 All right. Let's move on, because we have a lot of other books to talk about. Thor #12 from Marvel, written by Donny Cates, art by Nic Klein, another one of my favorite books of the month, because you got Throg and Lockjaw in a huge fight with Donald Blake, who has [crosstalk 00:28:03]. So much fun just fighting through dimensions, just a blast to read, also so dark, but great. Pete:                The art and the way Throg is drawn … Some of the action stuff is just so phenomenal, like him catching the hammer. I had so much fun with this book. I didn't know it would be this great. I was really, really impressed. This was such a great comic. Justin:              I mean, time to redo your frog power rankings- Pete:                Yeah. Dude, are you kidding me? Justin:              … because Throg's rise, overtaking the WB frog, Kermit the, really just jumping in here with a big hammer swing. Alex:                 I want to give a particular shout out though to the first double-page … I think it's a double-page [inaudible 00:28:48], or maybe it's a single page, which shows a dissected, cut-open frog- Pete:                Oh, no. Justin:              Yeah. It's the first page of the issue. Alex:                 … with Throg's narration, and it's talking about the legacy of Throg and all the things that he's done and how he'll always be remembered, and you're reading that, and you're like “No. What happened? What did I miss? This is terrible,” and then if you flip to the next page, it's like “But he will not die today,” and you're like “Oh, you son of a bitch, Donny Cates.” Great, just a great, fun little feint right there at the top of the book, just delightful to read. Justin:              Well, it's very fun to have Throg be such a badass but also Throg get his little tail-less ass kicked in the middle of the issue, but Donny Cates is having so much fun in all of his work, really, but this issue particularly, and then the last panel I thought- Pete:                Oh, man. Justin:              I thought it was so cool, and this is a shout out to anybody, I don't know, for maybe one person who listens to this podcast, but Odin at the end of this issue looks like Key lime pie Steve, who drinks in B61 back in the day, a bar I used to bartend at, so much that it took me out of the issue for a hot sec. Pete:                Wow. Alex:                 That's amazing. Let's move on to another book then, Excellence #10 from Image Comics, written by Brandon Thomas, art by Khary Randolph. We've been loving this book, which is a very different, very spectacular take on magic. In this book, our main character is still on the run, still in bigger trouble every single issue. As we talked about with the last couple, they not exactly stepped away from this, but sort of layered this in without explicitly saying how much this book was about race and racism, and now they're starting to hit it hard, and it is so good. Pete:                This is phenomenal. I mean, the art and the paneling and the storytelling is great, the action sequences. I mean, there's this one page where someone gets just Street Fighter punched and is like “Fuck what you thought.” I've wanted to do that to somebody for so long. It's just so great, so much fun. Justin:              Sonic boom. You want to sonic boom someone. Pete:                Oh, man, do I. Justin:              Yes. I mean, I agree. The way this comic approaches race is so smart, so good, but I don't want to lose the other side of it. The way this comic approaches magic is also just a philosophizing about it and really going deep on all of the subjects that are sort of on the table in this comic. It really just is such a smartly written book and beautifully drawn. One of my favorites. Alex:                 Next up, Once & Future #16 from Boom! Studios, written by Kieron Gillen, art by Dan Mora. Pete, there's a badass grandma in this one. You want to talk about this book? Pete:                I mean, if you're not- Alex:                 You love grannies. Pete:                If you're not reading this book- Alex:                 You've got a real grandma fetish, one might say. Go ahead. Justin:              Yeah. Pete:                If you're not reading this book at this point, I don't know what's wrong with you. This book is just magic. Every time, every issue, unbelievable art, unbelievable storytelling, action packed, twisting and turning stories that you know and love in different ways. Yeah. I cannot wait for this to be a movie or a TV show. I need more Once & Future in my life. Justin:              “If you're not dating a badass grandma at this point, what are you doing with your life,” Pete says and wonders. This is maybe the most consistent comic book on the stands right now, and I mean that in a good way. Alex:                 Yeah. I agree. This issue continues to be great, unfolding the mythology of the book. Super, super fun. Alex:                 Let's move on to one I'm very excited to chat with both of you about for very different reasons, X-Men Legends #1 from Marvel, written by Fabian Nicieza, art by Brett Booth. Here's what this book is. First of all, this is a new book that Marvel is launching which finishes or continues stories that are in continuity. This is an in-continuity X-Men story that Fabian Nicieza began almost 30 years ago and never got to finish about the third Summers brother, which, spoiler, we get confirmation here is in fact Adam X the X-Treme. Justin:              Finally. Alex:                 Finally. So the thing that I'm very curious about is this felt like the perfect synthesis of things that the two of you like about X-Men. Pete, it's a bunch of X-Men killing each other and fighting each other in classic style. Justin, Adam X the X-Treme is in it. What'd you guys think about this book? Justin:              I will not rest until Adam X the X-Treme is hanging out on Krakoa, because this guy's going to be the number-one get on fuck island. Alex:                 Didn't you like him? Am I wrong about that? Justin:              No. I mean, it's a very '90s character. He's a backwards- Pete:                It's Justin turned up to 11 is what it is. He's got his hat backwards. He's doing hand stands, wearing tight T-shirts. This is all Justin. Justin:              That's very funny, Pete, and maybe makes me rethink a lot of my self worth, but yeah. I mean, I do like the character. I liked the introduction of this character back in the day, and so I appreciate that they're going back and making it real, and also this comic looks like it happened already. This looks like it's straight out of the '90s. Pete:                Yeah. That's what I thought. Justin:              [crosstalk 00:34:20]. Alex:                 I got to tell you. When I was putting together the stack and sending stuff to you guys, I looked this is, and I was like “Is this a reprint? What's happening? Is this a reprint? What's going on?”- Pete:                Yeah. That's what I thought. Alex:                 … and I did way too much research for just sending you guys a comic to be like “I got to make 100 percent sure this is actually a new book and not something that came out 30 years ago.” Justin:              But let me say the meticulous dedication to the poses that Cyclops is in are straight out of the '90s. Cable shows up here for sort of no reason. The Starjammers are in this, and it's like “Oh, of course. Why not?” They're just hanging around. It's perfect. It's a perfect version of what it is. Pete:                I thought this was a reprint, and then I scrolled down. I was like “Oh. Jordan D. White. This is real. Let's go.” Alex:                 What'd you think, Pete? Pete:                This was just '90s, over-the-top stuff, and I was just like “You know, it's a fun blast from the past,” like “Oh, I remember when comics-“ Alex:                 What do you want, Pete? What do you want out of an X-Men book? Justin:              What makes you happy? Alex:                 I don't even understand at this point. Pete:                You know, I was like “Yeah, but we've evolved from this. Why would you go back here?” Justin:              What? Just because hub cap and tippy toe and the other Joes aren't in this, can't you enjoy this for what it is? Pete:                First off, G.I. Joe and X-Men are completely different. How dare you? Alex:                 Are they? They both have very stupid names. Pete:                Sure. Sure. That doesn't mean that they are stupid though. Justin:              That's true. The thing is, all the X-Men are named non-compound words, and all the G.I. Joes are named compound words. Pete:                Yeah. Yeah. Alex:                 Great. I'm glad we settled that. Let's move on and talk about Aria: Heavenly Creatures from Image Comics- Pete:                Oh, here we go. Alex:                 … written by Brian Holguin, art by Jay Anacleto and Brian Haberlin. This is a very Top Cow book. Pete:                What is this? What did you make us do here? Alex:                 It's a very Top Cow book. It's about- Justin:              Perhaps the most Top Cow book. Alex:                 Yes. It's a fairy teaming up kind of with a witchblade, but not exactly a witchblade, in Victorian times, and it's a little bit sexy, but not too sexy. So you can feel okay reading it but be like- Pete:                No. You shouldn't. Alex:                 … “Oh, this is sexy.” Pete:                You shouldn't feel okay reading it. Alex:                 I don't know. I enjoyed reading this. I was surprised how much by the end I was like “Yeah. This is silly, but I'm having a fun time.” Justin:              Alex has been missing watching soft core pornography, apparently- Pete:                Yeah. I think so. Justin:              … because that's very- Pete:                This is just fucking boob comics. Justin:              Alex, because you put this in the stack, you should have to go read this on the Subway right now. Pete:                Yeah. You should. Yeah. You should- Justin:              You should have to go ride the Subway and read this. Pete:                … [crosstalk 00:36:54] up and down the line. Yeah. Alex:                 Yeah. Watching a little Skinemax on my phone while I'm doing it. Justin:              Just listening. Just listening to the Skinemax. That's all you need. Alex:                 Yeah. Okay. Pete:                Yeah. Watching USA Up All Night. Alex:                 Great. Justin:              Pete. Alex:                 Thanks for the review, guys. Justin:              No. I mean, the heart of this book … This book is … It has such a vibe. Pete:                It's just boobs. Justin:              Well, but there is a lot of that, but it has such a vibe, which I recognize that, and the art is so specific to what it is. I liked reading it. I'm not shitting on it, but it's very funny that you're like “This is good,” because there's a lot of poses where people be showing off their bodies. Alex:                 Me? No. I'm not saying it's good, necessarily. I'm just saying I had fun reading it. Justin:              This is the- Alex:                 There's a big Victorian werewolf who eats people. What? Justin:              Yeah. That part's cool. This is the OnlyFans of comic books, if you want to get in on that. Alex:                 The Last Ronin #2 from IDW, story by- Pete:                Here we go. Alex:                 … Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, and Tom Waltz, script by Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman, layouts by Kevin Eastman, pencils and inks by Esau and Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, and Kevin Eastman. This is, of course, continuing the story of the last turtle left alive. We got a cliffhanger in the last issue that April O'Neil is also alive, and we find out a lot more about that here. Pete, over to you. Pete:                All right. So first off, you can't have enough varying covers. You need varying covers. you need tons of them, and you need like 20 pages of it. No. I'm just so happy that Eastman and Laird have teamed back up to give us another turtle book. I could give a shit if it's any good or not. This is good. I'm loving every single moment of it, and it goes back to the black-and-white stuff. I am just in heaven, and it's just so great. I feel like I'm back in time and a little kid reading this in my bed. So it's just glorious, and I don't care if anybody doesn't like it or not. This is just my jam. Justin:              It's very funny that you say you feel like you're a little kid reading this, because this book is about being old, the images of Michelangelo, no longer a party dude, where he's just super wrinkly, he's all wrinkles, and they're just like “Remember? Oh, it's so great to be alive. Now we're old. I have a robot hand.” It's a wild read, but it's good. Alex:                 Yeah. I like this a lot. Definitely when it got to the flashback portion and the old-school turtles title, I was like “Oh, Pete's going to like this.” Pete:                Oh, my god. It was so great. Alex:                 But it's good. Like you're saying, there's a lot of danger there. There's a lot of nostalgia there. It's definitely way better than it could have been for a story that they had sitting on the shelf for decades at this point, but a lot of fun. Alex:                 Let's move on, talk about Black Widow #5 from Marvel, written by Kelly Thompson, art by Elena Casagrande with Rafael de Latorre. This, hands down, these fives issues, is one of the best Black Widow stories I have ever read in my entire life. Justin:              A hundred percent. I have loved this series so much. My favorite issue of the week. The way that this took Black Widow, who has sort of really tread this ground of “Well, someone captured her and erased her memories and reset her in a way that is difficult for her to come to grips with,” took that premise, and just emotionally elevated it to a point where you really feel for these characters, all of them. Even we have Hawkeye in here, who is straight up killing people, which I didn't know he did all the time. Maybe that was a special. Alex:                 Do you think he just kind of tapped people with his arrows? Pete:                Yeah. How did you- Justin:              Well, he usually hits them in the shoulder or the knee. In this, he's just like “Sorry, dude. Right in your frigging eye.” But you get to see him- Alex:                 Your good eye too. Justin:              Your good eye, your shooting eye. You get to see him be emotional here. You get to see Winter Soldier, which I love the Black Widow Winter, Soldier relationship. I look back fondly on the Ed Brubaker days of that, and to have it be sort of touched on here is super sad, but really, Black Widow … You're just feeling so much for her. I love the setup of the multiple Black Widows going forward. Truly, pick up this series. Alex:                 Pete? Pete:                Yeah. I mean, it's really great. The art's unbelievable. Amazing story, very touching. I really hope the movie is exactly like this run, and I will be very happy. Also- Justin:              Pete, that movie came out last year. Did you not watch it? Pete:                I didn't. I didn't. I was- Alex:                 Oh, really? It perfectly set up Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which also came out last year. Pete:                Huh. I guess I just was born today then, I guess. Alex:                 I guess so. Justin:              That's true. Alex:                 Anyway, before we- Pete:                I just want to point out though, they're on a carousel for one panel here, and there's a cat with this fish in his mouth, and I was just on a carousel with a cat and a fish in his mouth, and I didn't know that was a thing. So that was weird seeing that it's a real thing. Did you know that was a thing? Alex:                 What? Justin:              I don't know that what you just said is a thing. I don't know the words you said is a sentence. Pete:                Well, usually when you go on a carousel, they got horses, you got different animals you can ride, but I was like “Why the fuck is there a cat with a fish in its mouth that you can ride? This is crazy.” I've never seen it before, and then I went from riding that cat with a fish in his mouth to then seeing it in this comic book, and I was like “Life is weird.” Alex:                 Why were you at a carousel in the middle of a pandemic? Justin:              That's the real question. Pete:                Valentine's Day, and we had the carousel to ourselves, motherfuckers. Justin:              I bet you took- Alex:                 Oh, that is very romantic. Justin:              Yes. I bet you took a lot of carouselfies. Alex:                 Nice. Before we wrap up here, let's finish up with an accidental Kelly Thompson block. Sara the Teenage … Sara. Justin:              Sara. Pete:                Sara. Alex:                 Goodnight. Goodnight. Justin:              Sara the Teenage Human. Alex:                 Sabrina the Teenage Witch #2 from Archie Comics, written by Kelly Thompson, art by Veronica Fish and Andy Fish. This is finishing up the Something Wicked arc. Pete, you are showing us pictures of this cat and fish, but we cannot see them. They are too bright. Justin:              Yeah. Pete- Pete:                Okay. Well- Justin:              … I don't want to see all these Valentine's Day pictures. I know you have an active love and sex life. Please keep it to yourself. Alex:                 This is a good wrap-up to this book. I've really enjoyed it. I think, like we've talked about before, it's the perfect fusion of the Archie Comics style and the TV show style. It hits the nice middle ground there, and that continues with this issue. There's also a nice cliffhanger here that made me very poignant for the end of the Netflix series. Pete:                Yeah. I love this. This is really great, and to me, sometimes when you have these characters that are way in over their heads and fighting these battles they don't really belong in, Sabrina really pulls it off in a way that you can get behind and don't think it's like “Oh, this is just weird.” I'm really impressed with the way that they do Sabrina, not only in this comic, but in this run. So great. The art's unbelievable. Really fun storytelling, and makes me miss the TV show. Justin:              Yeah. Talking cat, but still good. Pete:                Oh, yeah. The talking cat was great. That line was really funny. Alex:                 If you'd like to support our show, patreon.com/comicbookclub. Also, we do a live show every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM to Crowdcast and YouTube. Come hang out. We would love to chat with you about comics. iTunes, Android, Spotify, Stitcher or the app of your choice to subscribe and listen to the show, @comicbooklive on Twitter, comicbookclublive.com for this podcast and many more. Alex:                 Until next time, we'll see you at the virtual comic book shop. Justin:              Hub cap. The post The Stack: GI Joe, Snow Angels And More appeared first on Comic Book Club. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookclub See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here it is! Our favorite moments, comics, and more of 2020! Winners are bolded, below. Let us know your favorites on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook! Favorite Supporting Character – Batgirl, Patsy Walker, Sigurd (7 Secrets) Favorite Villain – Donald Blake, Doctor Doom, Knullified Santa Favorite Hero – Caspar (7 Secrets), Damian Wayne (DCeased), Thor Favorite […]

It's two for the price of one. We touch on the first appearance of Thor, which we already have done in past Thor episodes so go find that for a deeper dive, and Doctor Strange. Do you have a story arc you'd like us to cover? Send us your ideas. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: @comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero and Ron Hanes Edited by Joe Janero Theme song provided by one of the Sex Turtles (Joe Cubas) Find our t-shirt at https://www.redbubble.com/shop/comic+book+rundown?ref=search_box

This week we focus on all things Donny Cates! His Thor run starts a new story arch with an obscure character for newbies, so we try to help unpack his history. Then, the main event! We discuss one of the most hotly anticipated independent first issue releases in a long time... CROSSOVER, from Image Comics. 

It starts off a little rough, and there is concern about Josh's mental state. Further, we never promise it will get better from there. But onward, we forge, with a lot of Donald Blake and John Walker confusion. There's also comics talk and plenty of it, with a surprising Marx Brothers diversion. Running Time: 01:17:40 Pick of the Week: 00:02:28 - Hellblazer: Rise and Fall, Book Two Comics: 00:12:52 - Thor #9 00:20:30 - U.S.Agent #1 00:26:35 - Black Widow #3 00:36:47 - Sweet Tooth: The Return, Book One 00:41:19 - That Texas Blood #5 00:44:04 - Red Atlantis #1 00:49:19 - Young Justice #20 Patron Pick: 00:50:54 - Crossover #1 Patron Thanks: 01:00:39 - Emmet Golden-Marx 01:02:43 - Jesse Golden-Marx Brought To You By: • Mack Weldon - Mack Weldon makes fantastic premium men's underwear and essentials. Go to MackWeldon.com and get 20% off your first order using promo code IFANBOY • iFanboy Patrons - Become one today for as little as $3/month! Or make a one time donation of any amount! • iFanboy T-Shirts and Merch - Show your iFanboy pride with a t-shirt or other great merchandise on Threadless! We've got eight designs! Music: "Devil's Whorehouse" The Misfits Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's comic book review podcast: Crossover #1 Image Comics Story by Donny Cates Art by Geoff Shaw Sweet Tooth: The Return #1 DC Comics Creator, writer, artist Jeff Lemire Wolverine: Black, White & Blood #1 Marvel Comics Written by Gerry Duggan, Matthew Rosenberg and Declan Shalvey Art by Adam Kubert, Joshua Cassara and Declan Shalvey Origins #1 BOOM! Studios Created by Arash Amel, Lee Krieger and Joseph Oxford Script by Clay McLeod Chapman Art by Jakub Rebelka Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons #1 Dark Horse Comics/IDW Written by Jody Houser & Jim Zub Line art by Diego Galindo Backtrack #8 Oni Press Written by Brian Jones Art by Jake Elphick U.S.Agent #1 Marvel Comics Written by Priest Art by Georges Jeanty That Texas Blood #5 Image Comics By Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips Mighty Morphin' #1 BOOM! Studios Written by Ryan Parrott Illustrated by Marco Renna Spy Island #3 Dark Horse Comics Written bye Chelsea Cain Art by Lea Mitternique Web of Venom: Empyre's End #1 Marvel Comics Written by Clay McLeod Chapman Art by Guiu Villanova Batman #102 DC Comics Written by James Tynion IV Art by Carlo Pagulayan Dryad #6 Oni Press Written by Kurtis Wiebe Illustrated by Justin Barcelo The Goddamned: The Virgin Brides #4 Image Comics Written by Jason Aaron Art by r.m. Guéra Thor #9 Marvel Comics Written by Donny Cates Art by Nic Klein Wicked Things #6 BOOM! Box Created and written by John Allison Art by Max Sarin DCeased: Dead Planet #5 DC Comics Written by Tom Taylor Art by Trevor Hairsine Inkblot #3 Image Comics Written by Emma Kubert Art by Rusty Gladd X-Men #14 Marvel Comics Written by Jonathan Hickman Art by Mahmud Asrar and Leinil Yu Marauders #14 Marvel Comics Written by Gerry Duggan Art by Stefano Caselli SUBSCRIBE ON RSS, ITUNES, ANDROID, SPOTIFY, STITCHER OR THE APP OF YOUR CHOICE. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, AND FACEBOOK. SUPPORT OUR SHOWS ON PATREON. Full Episode Transcript: Alex:                 What's up, everybody? Welcome to The Stack. I'm Alex. Justin:              I'm Justin. Pete:                I'm Pete. Alex:                 And on The Stack, we talk about a bunch of comic books that have come out this week. Pete:                We sure do. Justin:              Yeah. Alex:                 This is the main thing people are concerned about right now is new comics. That's what we're all talking about on this Wednesday morning. So let's get into it. Let's talk about new comics. Let's just chill out and have a good time and not stress about absolutely anything else going on in the world. Kick it off with Crossover #1 from Image Comics, story by Donny Cates, art by Jeff Shaw. This is a highly anticipated comic. And I got to say, I feel like it was worth the wait. If you didn't pick it up, mild spoilers here. But the idea of the book is it takes place in a world where a comic book crossover suddenly pops up in the real world, in Colorado, essentially changing the entire world. And a bunch of things reverberate off of there years later, as we meet various characters who have been affected by this comic book crossover. What did guys think about this book? Pete:                Well, from the cover, I really wanted to get blasted in the face with a rainbow. And I'm glad that they took the time to make sure that happened in the comic, so- Justin:              So you felt like you got blasted in the face? Pete:                Yeah, yeah. I felt like they did a good job of getting that across. Justin:              I like this book a lot as well. It's one of those like, bang bang premise books where it's just like, this is it. And then it's like you slowly then start to meet the characters. And I do think in this book specifically, you don't really get too much of a sense of the characters by the end of the first issue. But the premise is such a sort of satisfying idea that I think it sells it on that alone. Pete:                Can I just be the guy who says the thing we're all thinking? That little girl in the comic, shitty artist, she's probably not going to be able to get any work. Justin:              Wow. Because she's got dots. Alex:                 No, no she draws- Pete:                No, because of her artist skills. Alex:                 Yeah, she draws a not so great drawing by the end of the book. Justin:              I see, I see, I got you. Oh at the end, yes. Alex:                 What I really appreciate about this, like you're saying Justin is, there's so many things that are nicely set up in this book beyond the central concept of the book. It's such, as usual, smart writings from Donny Cates. It also really stretches Jeff Shaw, in terms of multiple comic book styles. The promise here is that Donnie and Jeff have gotten characters that we know. This isn't just them, creating a world whole cloth. This is also them bringing in characters from Image from other comic book companies, that this is legitimately a actual comic book crossover. And we haven't quite gotten there yet. Because most of it, we're spending outside of Colorado and the ground zero zone where it all goes down. Alex:                 But the promise is, we're going to get there soon. And I would be shocked if we don't get things like Rick Grimes walking in front of a comic book store, Savage Dragon popping through. At least all of these Image Comics characters, and potentially some DC and Marvel characters through as well. As long as it stays grounded in those characters, the main characters of the book, I think it's going to be a wild ride to take. Justin:              Yeah, and the revelation at the end of the first issue was like, “Oh, shit, can they do this?” And I think that's a great feeling to have at the end of an issue. Like, can they pull this off? And feeling like, “Well, this issue is good.” So yeah, they probably can. Alex:                 Yeah. Pete:                It'll be interesting. I think it does a good job of being like, “Here is something that… We all know what a crossover means. Like, here's the title that's going to grab you and then kind of try to put a twist on it.” And it is that will they be able to pull this off? And that's very exciting for a first issue. Alex:                 Let's talk about another book that probably shouldn't work. But I think of course totally does. Sweet Tooth: The Return #1 from DC Comics creator, writer and artist, Jeff Lemire. As you can figure out from the title, this is Jeff Lemire, returning to a almost perfect comic book series, Sweet Tooth years later, that was about a young animal boy that pairs up with an old man journeys through a post apocalyptic world try to find Safe harbor. They eventually kind of found it. And this picks up as happens in the first panel of the first issue, 300 years later, except things are happening again. As they say in old Twin Peaks, it is happening again. And that's definitely a lot of the vibe that I think we get here. Man, I loved this book and the audacity of it and the fact that I have no idea where it's going to go. Particularly by the end, how'd you guys feel? Justin:              I agree with you like the idea of setting the premise like, oh, the story is starting over and we're hitting very similar beats, but in a totally different world, means they're going to just like totally throw that out of whack. Like very quickly, I think. And I love Sweet Tooth. It's such a distinct book, and to be able to see it back on the shelves in a limited series though. Right. So that's a totally different thing. Alex:                 Yes. Pete What do you think about this one? You're a big Sweet Tooth fan. Pete:                Yeah, this was- Justin:              You got a real sweet tooth. Pete:                Yeah, it just… Don't get me started, I eat so much fucking candy. Alex:                 Hey Pete you got the sweetest teeth I've ever seen. Justin:              Hey it's Sweet Pete. Who's here? It's Sweetie Petey. Looking for his little sugar lick. Alex:                 Sweet Pete you want one of your meat treats? Pete:                When you guys are done. Alex:                 Never. Justin:              Never done. Pete:                So Black Label's putting this, which is interesting. It means they can kind of get a little crazier. So it'll be interesting to see how much they push on that side. But I thought like the art was great. It really felt like Sweet Tooth. I thought it was very kind of weird world that he kind of woke up in. This inside, but kind of outside world. So I think they did a good job being like, “Hey, remember everything you love still here? New-ish kind of scenario. Come along for this ride.” And I think yeah, it does a great job of getting you excited for another story, with this team with this kind of gang that we know and love. So I think they did a great job of kind of returning to the well on this. Alex:                 Yeah, I agree. Let's move on to another one that I'm sure you like Pete. Wolverine Black, White and Blood #1 from Marvel Comics written by Gerry Duggan, Matthew Rosenberg, Declan Shalvey, art by Adam Kubert, Joshua Cassara and Declan Shalvey. As you could probably figure out from the title, I think this is an anthology all about Wolverine that uses black, white, and blood and that's pretty much it. So- Justin:              Actual blood. Alex:                 Yeah. Justin:              Human blood is what it's printed in this book. Pete:                So, this is just the story that I need right now. With all the insane shit going on I just want a Wolverine story. Okay, I don't want to have to think about Fuck Island or how many swords, whatever, who's got and read a bunch of fucking menus or articles or whatever the fuck in between panels. Just give me a fucking comic book about Wolverine. Thank you. Yes, this is my favorite pick from the week. I loved it. Great use of red, and then the black and white coloring. This is just a lot of fun and good times. Justin:              Exactly. Pete, you're right. It's so simple. The first story is just a simple story about a man from the 19th century who is born a mutant, has a healing factor he falls in love with the red haired woman. Later he is absorbed into a Weapon X program which is run by a secret government organization. He's experimented on, adamantium is added to his claws for some reason, in his skeletal system. He is then trained to fight using magnets, fight other monsters, that are built in this thing, and that people eventually feel pity for him because he does have some sort of conscience. It's a simple story. Pete:                Yeah it's simple. Just give me a Wolverine story. All right. Alex:                 Classic. It's like Dick and Jane, basically. Justin:              Yes. Exactly, you're talking about of course, the Jim Carrey movie. Alex:                 As usual with this sort of thing I think. Gerry Dugan and Matthew Rosenberg, Declan Shalvey, all good storytellers. Pete:                The Dugs. Alex:                 The Dugs. So they're all solid stories. For my money, the Declan Shalvey- Pete:                Rosenberg's great. Alex:                 … The third story is easily the best one. And I think part of that is that Declan Shalvey, as both the writer and the artist understands the challenge here and creates a story that plays to the strengths of the panels. It's simpler, it's more straightforward. It plays to those splashes, the small splashes both of blood but also the splash of the paddles. And I like that one quite a bit. Personally. Justin:              Interesting. I really like the Weapon X story from Gerry Dugan. Pete:                I loved the Rosenberg story the most. The Wolverine and a baby, I don't need to see that. But [Zaubs 00:09:40] you do you. But what's nice is three stories. If you pick this book up, probably like one of them. I thought this was great. You what you're getting and it delivers. Justin:              One of my favorite movies was Three Claws and a Little Baby. So I get it. Pete:                I thought you were going to say and a little lady, but you didn't. Justin:              No, I preferred baby. Alex:                 That's the sequel. Justin:              The sequel, yeah. Alex:                 Origins- Justin:              One claw's played by Steve Gutenberg, one claw's played by Ted Danson… Pete:                Come on, The Gute- Alex:                 What do you prefer? Do you prefer Three Claws and a Baby or Claws Academy? Justin:              That's though, or the Santa Claws? We're getting to that season. Alex:                 Origins #1 from Boom Studios created by Arash Amel, Lee Krieger and Joseph Oxford, script by Clay McLeod Chapman and art by Jacob Rebelka . I got to tell you I probably should have done some research here because I was very confused about the credits. Is this a video game or was this a previous property Why are there so many creators and a different script writer? What's going on? But as it is the hero here I think is Jacob Rebelka's art which is weird, set in a post-apocalyptic world, there's a bunch of people wandering through. It seems very close to the Museum of Natural History but clearly isn't. They pick up those strawberries but the strawberries are very bad for you. I needed more information personally in this first issue, but I still like the art quite a bit. Justin:              The strawberries are just filled with worms. It's not like they're… Alex:                 Oh, okay. Gotcha. So normal strawberries. Justin:              A normal strawberry. Alex:                 Yes. Justin:              I agree with you, the art in this book is amazing. I'm very intrigued by the story. I don't know exactly what's happening. It feels like there's a some sort of clone baby, but they talk about the baby, who is then later somewhat more of an adult, is named David. But they make it seem like he's famous somehow. Is there a David that you think it is, like David Beckham? Alex:                 Copperfield? Justin:              Oh, yes. When I was five, David Copperfield made me disappear. Pete:                Yeah, you've told us that story. Alex:                 Yeah, we know. Justin:              Have I told you that story? Yeah, well, just letting me know, it's available- Alex:                 Not to interrupt but when I was five, David Beckham made me disappear. Pete:                Wow. Justin:              He bent you out of reality. Alex:                 Pete, what do you think about this one? Pete:                I think the art's are unbelievable. I love the kind of like, seeing the subway entrance in the middle of the grass was kind of really cool. Justin:              It's lush. Pete:                Yeah, it's very creative. It's a cool story. I'm excited to see where this goes. But as of now, it's like, there's this baby named David. And so it's like, is this… Justin:              Oh, David Schwimmer. Pete:                Oh, it's a friend's reference. Because David Schwimmer did have that scene where he got it on in the museum. Justin:              Yes, he worked in a museum and it's in New York. Pete:                Yeah. So that's it, right there. Justin:              And if you're going to need to clone a human to restart the population. You're going to want a Schwimmer. You're going to want to get a Schwimmer. Pete:                Yeah, you're going to want a Schwimmer. Alex:                 You got to yell “Get me the pall bearer.” Justin:              Yes, definitely. Iconic film. Alex:                 Stranger Things Dungeons and Dragons #1 from Dark Horse Comics and [crosstalk 00:13:16]- Pete:                Yeah. Alex:                 Written by Jody Houser and Jim Zub. Line art by Diego Galindo. This is something that Jim Zub plugged on our live show many, many weeks ago at this point. I still kind of didn't know what to expect going in this. But I was surprised how much I enjoyed this. There are less of the Stranger Things and more as an homage, a loving tribute to the history of Dungeons and Dragons is what kind of comes through here. And that's kind of nice. Pete:                Yeah, that's what the Zub-hub was talking about. Like he was really talking about how this really is a love letter to D&D, and kind of really gets into it. And I thought that was a cool kind of way to come at it. You can tell from this, the passion kind of just comes through in the pages. At first when he was telling us on the show, I was like, “Okay.” But this really works in this comic, I thought this was a lot of fun. And I love the kind of little pages at the end where you can kind of start your own. I thought this was great. I thought this was a lot of fun. Justin:              It felt like regular things. It felt like, just things. They were just going about their business as kids. That's not a criticism per se it's just I think this is a hard prequel to the TV show Stranger Things. Bringing in how they got into D&D, which is very cool. And I like this book a lot better than the other Stranger Things book that we read, I think last week, because it feels a little more true to the characters and it feels like in line with the story of the TV show. Pete:                It's going to get strange. All right, they're just kind of starting things out first. Alex:                 Yeah, they've started with Dungeons and Dragons. They're going to move to Advanced Dungeons and Dragon and that's when things are going to get real fucked up. Pete:                Real strange. Justin:              That's crazy. Alex:                 Let's move on to Backtrack #8 from Oni Press written by Brian Joines and are by Jake Elphick. This is, as we've plugged in many, many times, about a Cannonball Run style race but through time. Here mysteries are slowly starting to unfold about the racers who are all tied to the race in different ways. They also end back in pirate times, which is a fun era to put them in. I, as usual, had quite a blast reading this issue. How'd you guys feel about this one? Justin:              It's fun. We're getting into a lot of like, specific character, small moves. And I feel like we're building up towards sort of some big revelations here pretty soon. And yeah, I like them being in pirate times. It's a fun, iconic place for them to be. Pete:                Yeah, it's interesting, because it's like this crazy race throughout time. So you're like, “Oh, Fast and Furious meets Back to the Future.” But like, what's great is we're getting as we're in this insane race, we're getting little kind of windows into people's backstory, why they're here, why they are the way that they are. And it's nicely layered, like some comics issues are more focused on the race. This one's a little bit more focused on the kind of story, which is good. This comic continues to be really great, the art is fantastic. And it really adjusts to what time period it's in such a great way. Alex:                 I also like that we've finally gotten to a point with this book where it feels like Well, you can't eliminate any of these characters. But of course, they're going to and that's going to make it hurt that much more. We're not quite there yet, but in the next couple of issues, it feels like that's coming. And that's a good emotional place for the book to be in. Still a blast to read. If you haven't read it, definitely pick it up. Alex:                 Next up US Agent #1 from Marvel Comics written by Priest, art by George Jeanty. I was very excited personally to see George Jeanty on this book. I've really liked his art a lot since he was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other things. He's good stuff. Of course priest, always reliable. And this is a bonkers book about the asshole Captain America going through the heartland, fighting who even knows why. But I really really enjoyed this quite a bit just for how best up it was. How'd you guys feel about it? Justin:              Yeah, if you're looking for sort of a Hawkeye style comic. I feel like this has some strong like Hawkeye vibes back when he was living in Brooklyn with the Russian tracksuit dudes. That whole thing feels very much in line with what this book is. Except he's a little bit more of a shit head. Sort of in the Scott Lane Ant Man style and constantly being mistaken for Captain America which that's going to burn. Pete:                Yeah, I was really happy when that one pizza delivery guy kicked the shit out of them. That was great. Justin:              It is a weird… Like the story, like USA Agent. There's a pizza delivery man who becomes his sort of sidekick. He's keeping all these other pizza delivery people in the basement. Like I don't quite know what the whole thing, the whole deal is here. But it's fun. And it's super unique, I feel like. Alex:                 Yeah, that feels like typical Priest stuff to be where it's just these details thrown in. Where you're like, “What I can't quite get a handle on this, but it's still fascinating at the same time.” Let's move into a very dark turn for a book that we've been enjoying quite a bit. That Texas Blood #5, from Image Comics by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips. Again, when we had Chris Condon on the show a couple of weeks back, he promised that things were going to get real bad real soon, and oh, boy, they got real bad as our main character is losing his mind down in Texas doing some very dark stuff. In the name of his brother being killed. This is definitely the most brutal issue of this yet. I would say. Justin:              Yeah, I like this book a lot. I feel like the art in this issue specifically is so good. Some hard boiled crime I'm sure this book gets compared to Criminal a ton. And if you're a fan of that, like this is right in line. I do think it's strange that they use the same interior monologue lettering as a Criminal. And Jacob Philips is Sean Phillips' son. I would move away from that because I think this book really stands alone on its own right. It doesn't need to feel like it's drafting off of Criminal's success. Alex:                 How do you feel about Pete? Pete:                Yeah, I think the art's unbelievable. This is some real great storytelling, very intense. This book moves at a very interesting pace. It's sometimes very fast, sometimes it seems like slow. But this is a really kind of great storytelling. Great character stuff. I'm very much enjoying myself. Alex:                 Let's move on then and talk about Mighty Morphin #1 from Boom Studios, written by Ryan Parrott, illustrated by Marco Renna like that Texas blood This is a brutal issue for the Power Rangers. Just devastating, it's a lot of blood. Justin:              Devastating. Oh, Power Rangers. That makes sense, now. They must have left the other two words off the title. Alex:                 Yeah, well, that's how you know they're being serious. Unlike the other actually very dark Power Rangers books that we've been reading recently. This is a return to form. This is like classic Power Rangers. The Green Ranger is evil is he not? We don't even know who he is. Doesn't matter. You got all the villains here. You got all the Power Rangers. But with a slightly more modern style. How did you people feel about this one, particularly given that we've been quite enjoying the other Power Rangers books that have been coming out from Boom. Justin:              This book felt like when you're at a party, when we used to go to parties, and you end up talking to someone you don't really know. And they tell you a very long story and you're like, “I don't know you. Why are you telling me this crazy involved story about your life? Like where are we going with this?” It felt like, “Oh yeah, I guess I see how that relates. Oh, the mighty Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Yeah. Oh, I see like we're dealing with Zed and all this stuff.” But I will say I enjoyed reading. Despite the fact that it's definitely feels like not my wheelhouse. Pete, how did you feel? Got to shoot your Bulk and Skull? Pete:                Yeah, I mean, this is great. This is just fun. This, to me was like a animated version of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers kind of like the new update of Voltron. I very much had a lot of fun. We got some great fighting, some badass panda stuff. It was fun to see them talk about making the villains and that kind of stuff. Yeah, I thought the reveal at the end was great. I think this was just fun, Mighty Morphin comic stuff. Justin:              It checks out. That's the title and he said stuff at the end. So that's what it is. Alex:                 I did like the reveal at the end. I think what I have been responding to and the other Mighty Morphin books that have been set in this post apocalyptic world where the Power Rangers mostly lost in the villains that are trying to just kind of hold on to what they have, is this idea of playing with the continuity. Which the shows could never do because they're mostly working off of what the Japanese versions, right? Of Power Rangers then remixing them. So they're all very kiddy and very silly and badly dubbed on purpose and all of these things. That just I never liked, this splits the difference between those two things. So to your point Justin, I also actually had a fun time reading this even if it is not quite my thing. But definitely more of my thing is those other books I would personally lean towards those. Justin:              I agree and obviously I've always been a Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog. But it's especially funny the way that… I was surprised by how all their animals, the animal machines they ride are like saber toothed tiger and all that. I was like, “They all look exactly the same, but they're all different.” The mythology of the Power Rangers is so weird and convoluted. Alex:                 Yeah, I just can't get a handle on it. Pete:                Yeah, if that stuff made sense to you won't be pulled out of the story like that I think. Alex:                 I'll tell you, not to pull back the curtain too much but at my day job I got offered this exclusive clip for I want to say Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Dino Thunder or something like that. Pete:                Oh, wow. Alex:                 Yeah, I know. And they sent it to me. And it was the casts from like four different Power Rangers shows all getting together. So clearly we've done enough stuff that I could watch it I was like, “Okay, this is like Avengers: Endgame for Power Rangers.” But it was such a deep dive to understand what they were talking about at any point in that clip. Normally a clip I'm like, all right, I could write this up and half an hour tops. That's it. But this one I was like opening up wikis and looking at casts, and debut dates and everything. I was like “What is happening here? This is weird.” But there you go. Deep dives. Alex:                 Let's move on to another one. Which is a one of my favorite books that is coming out right now, Spy Island #3 from Dark Horse Comics written by Chelsea Kane art by Lia Miternique. So this is set on an island in the Bermuda Triangle that is filled with spies of different types. In this issue our mean spy is starting to figure out that her father, who is also on the island hiding out as a mime may have a bigger plan at work. We also find out more about what happened to the first two issues in terms of what she laid down. This book is fantastic. In my mind, it is like a perfect mix between Mind Management and Superior Foes of Spiderman with a flavor of his own. And I am loving every single issue of it. How are you guys feeling? Justin:              Pete? Pete:                Well, I was waiting for you to go. This is really kind of crazy, but it's also a lot of fun. I also like the kind of art. The way the art changes throughout the book. The whole like a series where she's dating different dudes and the kind of like the way the father sees the dudes, very interesting. Yeah, I think this is a very creative, cool book and the art matches it perfectly in such a cool way. Yeah, I'm not always understanding what's happening, but it's very interesting and very creative. So yeah, I think this is a great book. Justin:              Yeah, I agree. It's really funny. It reminds me a bit of Mark Russell's Flintstones, I guess all of Mark Russell's stuff. If you're a fan of that, like this book is like legitimately funny, it has sort of an irreverent tone. The way they do full page sort of jokes, visual jokes is really awesome. But it's still has like some… I'm very interested in the story as well. Like, these characters are fun. Like I don't quite know what's happening with the mystery itself. But it's just a smart world and universe this book creates in every issue. Alex:                 Yeah. I just wanted to reiterate what you said Pete about Lia Miternique's art which collages in so many different styles throughout the book, it's so impressive. Pete:                Very impressive. They're straight flexing. It's unbelievable in this. Alex:                 It's great. Yes, straight flexing is actually a really good way to put it. It's definitely a book to be like, “Here's what we could do. Here's what we can show off.” It's awesome. Definitely pick it up. Next up Web of Venom: Empyres End #1 for Marvel Comics, written by Clay McCloud Chapman, art by Guiu Villanova. This is as you can probably tell from the title, following up on the End of Empyre as a bunch of the Skrull and Cree leave Earth at run directly into the King in Black, the next event, and have literally like a crossover, while one of them is heading one way the other is heading the other. And ends up like aliens on a Skrull ship. I like this, I was a little hesitant, just because it wasn't Donny Cates ready to get and he's been such a mastermind behind this event. But I thought this was a very good, scary book. Justin:              That's such a funny way to put it, Alex. Because it really does feel like it's we're backstage at Marvel and one event is like, “Hey, we finished our performance. Thank you so much.” And another event is like, “Oh, we're up next. We're going to… Sorry. Oh, did we sorry, we bumped into you and made a big mess with all of our symbiont juice. So sorry.” Because it is like, when I saw this I was like, “Empyre. No way.” But it is actually a great story and it does have that sort of Aliens. Like it's game over man for everybody in this issue. And the King in Black is terrifying. Like I'm excited to see this event the more I see of sort of the insanity. Reminds me of the insane Adam Warlock from back in Infinity Gauntlet days, as the villain here. And it's a good read even though it feels unessential from the title. It's worth picking up. Pete:                Yeah, I mean, they got some space vampire bats in here. This is just some crazy, fun stuff that's going on. Yeah, I mean, it's just kind of like alright, space aliens. Cool. There's not too much more going on but it's definitely a cool comic and worth checking out. Alex:                 Next up Batman 102 from DC Comics written by James Tynion IV in art by Carlo Pagulayan. This is the intro of Ghost-Maker who of course, is the guy who builds ghosts. We all know that in the DC Universe. Justin:              Yes. Pete:                No, no, because when he makes ghost by killing you and then you're a ghost. That's how that's… Justin:              Oh no, I think he makes the ghost in the original Pac Man game. He made Inky, Blinky, Dot. Pete:                And also just in case you're wondering he doesn't like crochet little ghosts either makes them. No. Okay, he kills people turning them into ghosts. Justin:              I guess we have different takes. Alex:                 So this introduces that character. And Ghost-Maker, well, he got introduced before, but this is his official introduction. He is going directly for Clownhunter. So we got two new additions to the Batman mythos, going head to head with Batman, of course stuck in the middle. As it turns out, though, Ghost-Maker has a deep tie to Batman's origin. Pete you got to like this right? There was a lot of fighting. Pete:                Yeah, this was a great issue. I love the action. Also fun reveal. Well, all right, let me back up the truck a little bit. Love the Batman like punch entrance. Nice when you can like make your entrance and punch someone in the face. I mean, that's like- Justin:              Yes. I've seen you walk into a lot of weddings. Pete:                Yeah, anyways. But I think this was a ton of action, which is great. But also the way they kind of knew each other, the way it was like, “Ghost-Maker.” “Batman.” And like right into it. It was really cool. Also very interesting how Clownhunter is still hanging on like still a thing. I thought Clownhunter would have kind of like faded away after Batman gave him his talking to. But not the case. And now we're also dealing with Grinners which is interesting. Talking to Oracle on the old earpiece there “Okay, that's cool.” But I think that they also had some funny moments like when Knife Guy was like, “I hate teenagers.” That was hilarious. Justin:              Because you hate teenagers? Pete:                No, no, I just think that it was like a funny line, where he's like, “Teenagers.” But yeah, I think there's some interesting stuff happening in this. And instead of kind of like a cool down from such a big event that we just had. The fact that they kind of ramped it right back up into that it's very kind of interesting. And also cool name, Ghost Stories part one. Justin:              I feel like James Tynion got sort of his first big story out of the way. And now he can really settle in and create his bat universe. And I think Clownhunter, Ghost-Maker are a big part of that. Really leaving his mark on Batman as a character and the whole world there. And I like that. I'm excited that we're sort of in that point in his arc here. Pete:                And it's also interesting to have a villain that's like, “Yo, Batman, do your fucking job. Gotham is a shit show. It's constantly on fire. Like What's your deal?” That's an interesting way to come at it. Alex:                 A lot of the discussion in this book is about what Gotham is now that the Joker War is done and what it's going to become next. I'm excited for what's going to become next. And I trust James Tynion enough to bring it there. But to your point, Justin, he thought he was only going to be on until Issue 100 and he's continuing from there. So in my mind definitely feels like “Oh, okay, I'm going to keep going. Alright, I'm going to set up the next 15, 20, 30 issues, however long I'm on for.” Versus what I was doing before, which was my definitive Batman story. Alex:                 So I'm curious to see what this sets up and where it goes. Because again, I trust James Tynion's storytelling, he has certainly proved himself more than capable. Let's move on to Dryad #6 from Oni Press written by Kurtis Wiebe, and illustrated by Justin [Barcello 00:33:49]. This issue our main family is still hanging out in cyberpunk Tech City, trying to figure out what's going on. Trying to figure out if they should help the kids who are currently in a coma. Turns out they don't need help, they do wake up by the end. We find out another huge revelation about our family. I got to tell you, I was not totally into the cyberpunk stuff in this issue. But I definitely turned around by the end. Love the twist there. I thought that was so great for the series going forward. What was your guys take on it? Justin:              I agree. I love the way the story is unfolding. I think the way they're able to capitalize on this two pronged like fantasy side of the story and the technological side of the story. In a way that it's a tough trick to pull off. And I think it is working on both fronts. I like the sort of Blade Runner vibe to the front end of the book. And then when we shift generations to the kids for the back end, I like all these characters. I'm curious to hear… It feels like this is sort of like a mission went bad a long time ago and we're dealing with the fallout is what this series is actually about. So I want to know What that is. I feel like that was a reveal in this issue that we didn't really know from before. Pete:                This book continues to be very, very creative. Each issue kind of comes at things a little differently. It's fun to see what you're going to get with every issue. Yeah, and we keep getting deeper into the story. They're doing a good job of kind of piecemealing information while still giving us a lot of action. Fun reveal at the end. I think this is very interesting. And also it's cool the way they kind of swap around styles. So I continued to be impressed by this book. Alex:                 Cool. Next up The Goddamned: the Virgin Brides from Image Comics written by Jason Aaron and art by R.M. Guera. Pete, I know what you're going to say it's creepy. So Justin, what did you think about this button? Justin:              This is a book you want to leave out for your grandparents, they're going to love the fighting, they're going to love the very short tops that expose all of your breasts. It's a good stuff for the older generation. But I like this book a lot. The R.M. Guera art is unbelievable. It's so detailed. It feels like it's in the style of Prince Valiant, but with a exciting, much more irreverent story. And the twists and turns, it's also written from the point of view where like, I don't know… We have our protagonists who are on the run. They're virgin brides who are supposed to mate with this like monster basically, that is the god here. And they escaped, we're on the run. And then things aren't going well, basically. And I feel like this book could be very harsh with its character, so I really don't know what's going to happen next. Alex:                 Yeah, I agree. That's one of the biggest things about the book is it's very dark, and it's a super gritty, I hesitate to say realistic but that probably gives the best sense of it take on the Bible and biblical mythology. But if you look at the Bible, lots of people dying all the time, or almost dying or horrible things happening to them almost constantly. So it's actually very- Justin:              Not a fun read. Not a fun read. Alex:                 Yeah. Not a beach… I don't usually take the Bible to the beach, to be honest, like to read it, to just chill out. But like you said, R.M. Guera's art is fantastic. This is very dark. I don't know what's going to happen in the next issue at all. But there's a crazy cliffhanger that happens that was awesome. Good stuff. Let's move on to talk about Thor #9. Pete:                I just wanted to say. Alex:                 Yeah, yeah. Pete:                I agree with you. The ending was really kind of amazing. Justin:              You do like it, you love it. Pete:                No, it's creeptastic in all the wrong ways. Justin:              But do you like the art Pete? Because this is R.M. Guera, same artist on Scalped? Which you like. Pete:                Yeah, amazing artist. Alex:                 Would you say it's worth it for the art alone? Pete:                Nope. Justin:              Wow. Alex:                 You're very wrong. Justin:              Can't get past it. Alex:                 Yeah. Thor #9 from Marvel Comics written by Donny Cates art by Nick Klein. So this is kicking off a new crazy story arc. Donny Cates doing his Donny Cates Marvel thing as he goes back to an old part of Marvel continuity, lifts it up again and makes it as fucked up as possible. In this case, we're exploring what happens to Donald Blake when Thor comes out. Something that we haven't touched out in years. Where does he go? And it ends up being pretty messed up. But I love where the storyline is going. And Nick Klein's art of this book is phenomenal. So good. What did you guys think? Justin:              Totally agree. Like I love… This is my favorite book of the week, the way that finding this little bit of Thor mythology that has been just legitimately ignored. Dr. Blake was the character that was Thor's human form and he would tap his walking stick and become Thor. And Thor just hasn't transformed out of him. It's like Bruce Banner has been the Hulk for so long that like what's Bruce Banner up to? And we get to explore that side of that here. And it is fucked up. And it's super smart the way we get there and to have Donald Blake become this new aspect of the Thor mythology I think is super exciting. Pete:                I don't know man. Like this is to me, it's like, it's okay if we're out of ideas, guys, we can just maybe… Justin:              Jesus. Alex:                 Wow. Justin:              Harsh take. Pete:                What it's like, “Hey, remember how I turn into this guy? Well, when I turn into him, he just kind of walks the earth. What if he got angry about that?” And it's like “Wait, what is happening? What are we doing right now?” Alex:                 That's what's happening, you just described what's happening. Pete:                Yeah, I know, but that doesn't make it a good idea. Justin:              It's fun though. It's like when Wolverine when he died he had to fight a sword dude. Like that was cool. Pete:                Okay. Alex:                 Was it? Pete:                Yeah, I don't know if it was. Justin:              I liked the fighting this sword dude. I didn't like the fact that he came back from just a little speck of blood Lobo-style. Alex:                 I do love… I don't know, just I love the visual of what happens when Donald Blake finally comes out of his reverie, the way that Nick Klein draws him. I don't know if Nick Klein specifically designed him Pete:                The art's unbelievable. Alex:                 What? Pete:                The art's unbelievable. Alex:                 Yeah, it's great. It's worth it for the art alone, I would say. Pete:                Wow. Justin:              Wow. Alex:                 The that Nick Klein designs the new Dr. Donald Blake is great. Justin:              What a cool turn of phrase. Alex:                 It's a great new villain for the Marvel Universe. Spoiler, obviously, but I think in the same way that Donny introduced Cosmic Ghost Rider. And it immediately became like, “Oh, it's this thing. Like that exists. That's fun. That is a fun thing to look at.” Yeah, it's the same thing with whatever Dr. Donald Blake has become. It's a fun clear visual and I love it. And I'm excited to see what this means, it ties into the overall mythology that he's building for Thor, with what's happening with Mjolnir. It just feels very smart across the board. Justin:              100%. Alex:                 Next up, Wicked Things #6 from Boombox created written by John Allison and art by Max Sarin. We've been very complimentary of this book, which follows a teen detective who is framed, probably for murder, as she ends up teaming up with the police department in I believe London. Not 100% sure, but I'm going to say yes. And she is pretty much smarter than him. This is a weird ending for this book I got to say. It feels like there were supposed to be more issues. And then it got cut short, personally, which is disappointing, even though I enjoyed this issue as well. Justin:              Well, that may be true. It does feel… It could also just be a cliffhanger that they're really pushing. I think the last page makes it feel like there was truly like a page ripped out of the back of the book. And I was like, “Wait, what?” I wanted to know how this conversation ends. But in general, it's fun. This main character is such a fun… I love her energy. I like the world this is in which is like this detective, 14 to 16 years old, the best detective in the world. And there's a moment where she's being held hostage and you expect her to like elbow the guy and get away. But it doesn't happen because she's just a regular teen detective. And I think that's fun that they're really keeping within the storyline. Pete:                Just a regular teen detective? Justin:              Yeah, like a… Pete:                Like a normal teen detective. Justin:              Because like, surely you were a teen… You solved some crimes in your small town, right Pete? Pete:                Oh definitely. Definitely did. Yeah, I agree. This is a ton of fun. Alex:                 Sorry, Pete, what did they call you? They called you Thesaurus LePage? Pete:                No they didn't. Justin:              He was really good with saying other words that were like words. Pete:                Yeah. Justin:              He didn't solve a lot of mysteries but he was like, “Oh, I think you mean sweaty.” Alex:                 Yeah. Pete:                Yeah, I think it did feel a little rushed. Every issue up until this issue didn't feel that way. But man, this is still a great story. Really creative, fun, main character. I could definitely see a lot more with her. I hope they keep going in some iteration or whatever. But yeah, this has been a lot of fun and I hope this doesn't end. Alex:                 I agree with definitely worth picking up in trade whenever it's collected and hopefully we'll get a second series of it. Moving on to DCeased: Dead Planet #5 from DC Comics, written by Tom Taylor and art by Trevor Hairsine. In this issue John Constantine is launching a desperate mission to fight back against the anti life plague. And it's predictably dark but with moments of real humanity and humor, everything that we've come to expect from this series I think so far. Justin:              This book has really migrated to the top of my stack like I love reading a book. It's a good book. The characters are fun. The Damian Wayne Batman is great. Constantine still a dick. Just a straight up dick. Pete:                Oh man. Justin:              There's some fun jokes here. Pete:                Constantine is great in this book, this book continues to impress. And I think this was a really great Constantine, hilariously messing with Dr. Fate and Swamp Thing even getting in on the joke. Batman doing father jokes, I don't know. I don't know how I feel about that. But Batman getting a punch in at the end, liked that. That was good. But yeah, this continues to be a very creative, very funny, well done comic that does like a lot of cool things. The Shazaam moment in this is so badass. That was so cool. Yeah, I thought this was a great, great issue. Justin:              And there's a lot of dread here still where like any character could die and everything could go wrong at any moment. And I believe on the last page at the bottom they say things get worse. Alex:                 There we go. Next up Inkblot #3 from Image Comics written by Emma Kubert, art by Rusty Gladd. I got to tell you I keep throwing this book in the stack because I can't wait to figure it out. Like what's going on here. There's a little bit more of a hint in terms of this is a cat that can jump through universes? Pete:                That's the thing. Alex:                 I guess that's the idea of the book that they establish at the beginning here. Pete, you've been enjoying this book. What did you think about this issue? Pete:                Yeah, I don't know what it is. It's just the two eyes are so adorable. It gets me. Justin:              You're a cat guy. Pete:                I'm a cat guy now. So like I get it, cats are very mysterious. They have a lot of things going on that they don't share with us. And yeah, I think that this makes sense of how the Loch Ness Monster came into fruition. I think this is just a crazy kind of creative book. And the art is phenomenal, some adorable storytelling. This is just fun. Alex:                 I just wanted to mention Justin before you get into your comments if you are a cat who would like to share something with us. Please email us at ComicBookClublive@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you. Justin over to you. Justin:              Yes. I always pick up after the cat call out. Pete:                After the cat plug. Justin:              Cat plug. We're looking to meet some single cats. There's something about this book. The art is really cool. And I think changing gears a little bit with this issue, for the few issues it was like what's the big story here? But I think reading this issue it was like, oh maybe it's just like fun little romps with this cat. Alex:                 Yeah, yeah I think so too. I felt a lot better about this one that I did for the first two because I was trying to figure it out. But I had the same sense as you did Justin. I reserve the right to be robbed with issue #4. But the art is so good and it is a fun little pirate adventure with a cat and the Loch Ness Monster, enjoyable stuff. Justin:              I reserve the right to be wrong. Alex:                 Last thing here we're going to end with our X of Swords, X of Swords block, talking about two issues that came out from Marvel. We got X-men #14, written by Jonathan Hickman art by Mahmud Asrar and Leinil Yu. Marauders #14 written by Gerry Dugan and art by Stefano Caselli, two very different issues. So I do think actually, if anything, we kind of need to talk about them differently. But so far, the champions of Arakko and the champions of Krakoa and they gathered in Otherworld for a dinner. In the first issue and X-men we find out about Apocalypse and his wife, what went on there we find out about her secret history. Pete's got to love that one because there was a lot of text and confusing things that happened. Alex:                 And then in Marauders everybody gets together for dinner and things go predictably badly. Would you think about these chapters of X of Sword? And Pete I know you're upset they're not fighting with swords yet. That aside, how'd you feel about these books? Pete:                Alright, so first off you know what's better than having a huge battle that we've been building to taking the time out to have a dinner first. Alex:                 Agreed, agreed. Pete:                And let's just talk at the dinner table. Justin:              When you're hungry. Pete:                And really just kind of talk things out and have a walk? “Hey, Apocalypse, why don't we hold hands and talk about the past and not fight. And get into a giant action sequence like maybe some people would enjoy?” Justin:              Well, let me give you a quick breakdown of the way the story. They teleport to this strange dimension. Dinner, dinner, sleep, midnight snack, brunch, coffee, sword sharpening and shining. Alex:                 You're forgetting something in the middle there Justin, there's several times when they get handed cards. Pete:                What's not to love. Justin:              That's right. Let's not forget about the… Pete:                [crosstalk 00:49:38]. Justin:              So I feel like there's some like magic happening, some light table magic. I think someone's going to eventually have a yo-yo and other like juggling tricks. It's just a fun day out. Anyway, where was I? Okay, then it's going to be lunch. And then they're going to have like a baseball game. Pete:                Don't forget to show the menu. They're going to show the menu a couple times. Alex:                 The menu was fun. It was a fun menu. Justin:              The menu was very fun. Well, let me say so Pete's criticisms aside, and let's put them far, far aside. I love this. I think that the X-Men issue by Jonathan Hickman is a full take down of Apocalypse. It's like a subtle takedown of Apocalypse. Apocalypse went to earth and he like had these like piddling battles with the X-Men, claiming that he was like survival of the fittest. We need to all be better. The mutants must rise. Justin:              Meanwhile, the world he left behind had everyone literally fighting for their lives, constantly. They became the fittest and he has to come back hat in hand, sword in hand with this woman that he left behind that he maybe still loves and be like, “Oh, you've been literally becoming the best fighters in the universe while I have been shitting the bed on Earth. Okay, cool, cool, cool. Let's go have a little day off.” And then the Marauders issue I feel like is a little bit more focused on the Wolverine side of it, but I do think this series- Pete:                Had time for a nice dance. Did you like the dance? Justin:              Some dancing. Wolverine likes to get fucked up. And I think he feels like he really gets to drink in this issue, which he never really… He's always like, I drink. But then the healing factor eradicates everything. Pete:                Yeah, Wolverine gets real fucked up in this issue. Justin:              Yeah. But I do think a lot of this arc, this whole storyline is about repositioning Apocalypse and I'm curious what the landing point of that is. And I do feel like the Marauders issue definitely had that sense of dread. Like an Agatha Christie story where you're like, “Fuck, some of these people are going to die.” Alex:                 Yeah, it really does feel like… And this is something that was a big point of conversation when the X-men introduced resurrection. It feels like these people are a danger. It feels like all of these characters are not actually going to make it out of this or at least in the same way at the end of the day. And that's great that they went in what has it been, a year, something like that. From everybody being like the exploiter just come back to life whenever, to positioning them into a place where they are in actual danger. And bad things may happen to them maybe for the first time at a really long time. That's super smart. Alex:                 And the Marauders issue in particular plays with that with Storm dancing with the literal personification of death, and mentioning “Hey, you've never actually died. You're one of the few X-men that has not died and come back. So let's talk about that. Isn't that interesting?” I thought there was such smart character work in the Marauders thing, the X-men issue as well. Both with Apocalypse and Annihilation I love as usual the insane world building. I do know where he pulls it out from with Jonathan Hickman there. Alex:                 I do think there are touches of East of West going on with the apocalypse, Annihilation stuff. Particularly in the relationship that's popping up there. But that's fine. That's a great book. So I'm okay to skim some of those ideas a little bit. And of course, the art. Mahmud Asrar, Leinil Yu, Stefano Caselli. Awesome. I know I said this the last time. But this is one of, not just with Marvel, but one of the best crossovers I've read in years. At this point. Pete:                Oh shut up. That's just… Shut up. Alex:                 Years. Pete:                Awful, just awful. Alex:                 Years. Decades. Pete:                First off- Alex:                 Millennia. Justin:              Lifetimes. Pete:                … X of Swords, are we even going to get 10 individual issues, like we got to see how they fought… If we don't get to see like 10 issues of fighting after all this fucking lead up. Oh, if we get no… I'm worried, we're getting close. We're past halfway, we still don't have any fighting yet. Justin:              Would you be disappointed Pete if we only got this fighting from the source perspective? Like it was just like metal banging another metal. Pete:                Just clang clang? Justin:              Clang, clang. Alex:                 And you don't actually get to see it. It's just the interior monologue of the swords. “Wow this hurts.” Pete:                I got to say in the Marauders ep, seeing magic like sizing everybody up. That was pretty cool. Justin:              She's a badass. Alex:                 Super fun. Justin:              You mentioned it before, but the menu at the top of the Marauders issue was super fun. Like I love that, the detail there was great. Pete:                Waste of a page. Justin:              I'd eat that shit. Alex:                 Pogg Ur-Pogg, very fun character. I'm just- Justin:              Marinated in urine. I'm here for it. Alex:                 Yeah, all of the Arakko characters also, I think are great and super fun. They're just… I don't know, I don't know if it's Jonathan Hickman in conversation with other people. I don't know if he's necessarily driving the rest of the X-Men team to this but it's just he comes in just and he's like, “Here's these new additions to Marvel continuity. They totally make sense. You love them know.” They are just these perfect things that absolutely work. And the greater part about all of these new additions from Arokko is only one or two of them are completely black and white, which I think is very cool. And a way of Jonathan Hickman really stretching himself as a creator. Justin:              Yeah. Wow, what a blistering takedown. That's the harshest I've ever heard you speak, Alex. Alex:                 These issues are great at that same for The Stack. If you'd like to support us, patreon.com/comicbookclub. Also we do the live show every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM to crowdcast and YouTube. Come hang out. We would love to chat with you about comics at Comic Book Live on Twitter, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or the app of your choice to subscribe and listen to the show. Also leave us comments on iTunes. Those help out quite a bit. Comicbookclublive.com for this podcast more. Until next time, we'll see you at the virtual comic book shop. Justin:              And remember the door is always open for any stray cat looking to wander in. The post The Stack: Crossover, Sweet Tooth And More appeared first on Comic Book Club. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookclub See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sorry for the delay of this weeks episode, We had some technical difficulties. While almost done editing the episode my son borrowed my lap top and deleted the episode. Welp better late than never, Join us as we bring you some Comic news like the return of Donald Blake to comics in Thor issue 9. We Talk about new collectibles announcements like the Diamond Select Boba Fett and the first form Frieza in this pod. We shift over to anime like the newly announced Godzilla series for 2021. We get into videogame news like the new fighter pass for Mortal Kombat starring Rambo and the new introduction of Deadpool in a new way to marvel Puzzle Quest. Lastly we close out the podcast on entertainment news such as the still of the MODOK series coming to Hulu and the news of Pixar animation's Soul going straight to Disney+ in time for Christmas. We talk about all this and much much more, till next time STAY GEEKED UP AND GEEK OUT!!!You can follow The Geek Out Show on different social media platforms at the following links:IG: https://www.instagram.com/thegeekoutshow/?hl=enFB: https://www.facebook.com/TheGeekOutShowPodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegeekoutshow1You can follow all the hosts of the show on IG at the following links.Gil: https://www.instagram.com/blackholecomicz/?hl=enJade: https://www.instagram.com/jrutoyz/?hl=enMatt: https://www.instagram.com/majorreaction_ig/?hl=enJuan: https://www.instagram.com/cfaddicts/?hl=enKeenan: https://www.instagram.com/strwbryflds4evr/?hl=en

196: Just Another Fanboy - Firsts: Thor This is the episode in which I talk about Thor's first appearance in Journey Into Mystery #83 by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, Stan Goldberg, and Artie Simek. "Introducing... the Mighty Thor! The most exciting Super Hero of all time! When the Stone-Men from Saturn invade Earth, only Dr. Donald Blake can stop them -- but he stands no chance, not until he strikes a wooden stick on the ground and finds himself transformed into Thor, God of Thunder! Watch as Thor learns how to wield his hammer in battle! Only this new hero can save the Earth from being conquered!" Published by Marvel Comics in August, 1962. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . More stuff: The theme song used in each episode is Night Drive by The Oldfield Victory. Find them and their music at theoldfieldvictory.bandcamp.com Want to help support the show? You can do that in a number of ways: First, just spread the word. Tell a friend, tell two friends, tell your father, mother, sister, brother, neighbor, coworker, plumber, and even the guy or girl who cuts your hair. Beyond that you can support Steeven and the show for as little as a dollar a month on Patreon: www.patreon.com/steevenrorr Or, if the idea of a monthly payment doesn't appeal to you and you just want to throw the show a one time payment, visit ko-fi.com/steevenrorr and buy Steeven and the show a coffee for as little as $3, but as high as you want to go. Ask me questions, tell me stories, lie to me, speak your truth, make suggestions, or even complain right here: feedback@steevenorrelse.com Check out Steeven's blog at steevenrorr.com Just Another Fanboy is a proud member of the Comics Podcast Network. Find it and more great comic book podcasts at comicspodcasts.com

Episode Notes This is the episode in which I talk about Thor's first appearance in Journey Into Mystery #83 by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, Stan Goldberg, and Artie Simek. "Introducing... the Mighty Thor! The most exciting Super Hero of all time! When the Stone-Men from Saturn invade Earth, only Dr. Donald Blake can stop them -- but he stands no chance, not until he strikes a wooden stick on the ground and finds himself transformed into Thor, God of Thunder! Watch as Thor learns how to wield his hammer in battle! Only this new hero can save the Earth from being conquered!" Published by Marvel Comics in August, 1962. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . More stuff: The theme song used in each episode is Night Drive by The Oldfield Victory. Find them and their music at theoldfieldvictory.bandcamp.com Want to help support the show? You can do that in a number of ways: First, just spread the word. Tell a friend, tell two friends, tell your father, mother, sister, brother, neighbor, coworker, plumber, and even the guy or girl who cuts your hair. Beyond that you can support Steeven and the show for as little as a dollar a month on Patreon: www.patreon.com/steevenrorr Or, if the idea of a monthly payment doesn't appeal to you and you just want to throw the show a one time payment, visit ko-fi.com/steevenrorr and buy Steeven and the show a coffee for as little as $3, but as high as you want to go. Ask me questions, tell me stories, lie to me, speak your truth, make suggestions, or even complain right here: feedback@steevenorrelse.com Check out Steeven's blog at steevenrorr.com Just Another Fanboy is a proud member of the Comics Podcast Network. Find it and more great comic book podcasts at comicspodcasts.com

97 Thor Odinson Today we talk about Thor Odinson, who is sometimes a Doctor named Donald Blake but mostly he's Thor, a super powerful alien from Asgard that the Norse god is based off of. He has a very powerful magic hammer and he has a... strained family dynamic.Media specifically mentioned in today's episode: -Journey Into Mystery (1952) #83 -Avengers (1963) #1 -Thor (1966) -Civil War (the official Marvel suggested reading order) -Avengers (1963) -Seriously, it's stuff like this that makes it So Good -Check, Please! -Batman (2016) Annual #4 -Nightwing (2018) Annual #2 -No Ivy League Thanks to Victoria Watkins for our icon! Support Capes and Japes by: Checking out our Patreon or donating to the Tip jarFind out more on the Capes and Japes website.

Inspired by a Twitter conversation, Kurt dives into the strange and twisted history of Donald Blake, the original secret identity of Thor. Who was he, and where did he go?

This time on the Couch: Mike, James, and Shée once again visit the terrifying imagination of Jack "King" Kirby with 1967's The Mighty Thor no. 140! Returning to Asgard after killing a bunch of trolls, Thor asks his dad to turn him back into enfeebled doctor Donald Blake and let him go protect the morons of Earth again, because someone has to be the dumbest Avenger. It's a good thing Odin agrees, because Kang the inter-dimensional warlord has left a challenge that only a jock God who solves all his problems by smashing them with a hammer can deal with: A purple-helmeted guy that gets bigger the more you hit him! ...Huh. How about that? Also, is Thor getting sexually involved with a human the equivalent of bestiality, and why doesn't that seem to bother him even a little bit?Find out more at http://darkseidscouch.com

When the threat that is Galactus sets his eyes and appetite on a planet, it's damn near impossible to stop him. But that won't stop Tana Nile, a Colonizer from the planet Rigel, from enlisting Thor to help. Do you have a story arc you'd like us to cover? Send us your ideas. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero, Ken McFarland and Brittni McFarland Edited by Joe Janero Opening theme edited by Pete Piekarski, Jr. Music by Peter McIssac Music and can be found with tons of other amazing tracks at Premiumbeat.com

Thor's origin gets expanded upon when Odin reveals that he created Donald Blake when he exiled Thor from Midgard down to Earth. Do you have a story arc you'd like us to cover? Send us your ideas. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero, Ken McFarland and Brittni McFarland Edited by Joe Janero Opening theme edited by Pete Piekarski, Jr. Music by Peter McIssac Music and can be found with tons of other amazing tracks at Premiumbeat.com

We are heading back to the Thor books and this picks up shortly after Thor stopped the Mangog. He is having a crisis of conscience, and in doing so remembers when Donald Blake became Thor. It's an origin story ya'll! Do you have a story arc you'd like us to cover? Send us your ideas. Twitter: @comicrundown Instagram: comicbookrundown Email: comicbookrundown@gmail.com Hosted by Joe Janero, Ken McFarland and Brittni McFarland Edited by Joe Janero Opening theme edited by Pete Piekarski, Jr. Music by Peter McIssac Music and can be found with tons of other amazing tracks at Premiumbeat.com

Far beyond the fields we know, SyfyWire.com contributing editor Matthew Jackson joins Paul and Arlo for another installment of this year’s superheroic Four-Color Flashback. This time, they venture to the land of Asgard on their loyal steeds to discuss Thor Visionaries: Walter Simonson - Vol. 1. Simonson’s legendary run defined many cornerstones of Marvel’s Thor Odinson, from the deep ties to Norse mythology to the doing away of mortal identity Donald Blake. The gang discusses why his run is so definitive, Simonson’s vibrant art, his long-game storytelling, what makes Beta Ray Bill so cool, and the deadliness of McBurgers. Plus, The Big Bang Theory is finally ending, Veronica Mars is finally coming back, and Paul is Forged in Fire. Next: we’ll be back! At some point! We’re working on a book, kids!   THE BREAKDOWN 00:00:00 - 00:21:05  - Intro / Banter 00:21:05 - 01:48:07  - Main Topic 01:48:07 - 01:53:47  - Outro / Next Week

Thor! The Post Watch! Part 1! At least 1 of the Four Color Flashback Team thinks Thor is a 5 but is there a dissent? Write to us at 4colorflashback@gmail.com Music: www.bensound.com Bonus: Cainim's notes from his Post Watch: Act 1 Thor, Odin Asgardian Coronation Assault on Jotenheim-Cast out of Asgard Thor not an origin story Norway 965 AD  Frost Giants Versus Asgardians Exposition  Asgard like OZ Kid Thor and Loki Born to be kings Cornation Thor winks at Mom, Mjoyiner Arrogant and idiot Table flip Loki Silent StudyHeart-to-Heart Obvious ploy Storm Action Scene Asgard Reveal Frost Giants Attack Destroyer Leaving Bridge open would destroy Jotenheim Jotenheim, Epic Music, College Road Trip, Little Princess Cowards, House of Odin , Know your place brother, Marty McFly Chicken. Raarch, Hammer demo, power display, Odin to the rescue, reminds me of Myst That’s Pride and Vanity Talking Argument with Dad/Unworthy Oath Act 2 Erik, Darcy, Jane Fish Out of Water The Hospital, The town, The cafe Excalibur!  The Loki Reveal No This is Earth line, Hammer in the Ground Hospital, Thor, Hit with Car, Donald Blake, Tasered  Einstein Rosen Bridge Thor in the Image Coffee Smash Going on Face Book 50 Miles west of here Meow Meow Colson takes it all away Hanging out on roofs, Bruce  Loki and the Warriors 3 conference, Odin into the Odinsleep The Reveal about Loki The suspect mischief/Half frost giant, Laufey’s son, Odin’s sick Tiny Town Adventures Hawkeyes Assault on Mjoliuer at the crater Stan Lee  

Move over Wonder Woman because The Incredible Hulk Returns and his pent up anger has been seething for 6 long years. Its the original Thor and Incredible Hulk made for TV movie The Incredible Hulk Returns 1988. On the verge of curing his Hulk condition, David Bruce Banner's old colleague Donald Blake shows up with a mystic hammer linked to Thor. And yes we know John Voight drove a LeBaron.

Diagnosis: Moider! Hello, and welcome to episode 243 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. This week, we're heading into hospital with The Thing, The Human Torch, Dr Donald Blake, Thor, half of Black Sun, and Seth. It's Marvel Two-in-One #22, which features the only available doctor in New York and the Egyptian god of death stalking the hall of the hospital in which he works. Bill Mantlo, Ron Wilson, and Pablo Marcos join forces for the first of two consecutive Two-in-One issues to feature the same credited guest star. Then we're off to the realm of Andy's nightmares to take a look at our first ever TV tie-in comic. The Electric Company comes to Marvel comics in Spidey Super Stories #20, in which Spider-Man, the Human Torch, and the Invisible Girl, to defeat Mysterio and his hateful hate ray of hate. You know, like Mysterio always has. Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us. The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network. Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Cockamamie Fan Club Hello, and welcome to episode 188 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. With Spider-Man taking a month off, the Johnny Storm steps up to lead this issue of Marvel Team-Up, joining forces with the God of Thunder to investigate a Hawaiian volcano and a set of fiery bootprints, as both a forgettable Avengers storyline and a forgettable Marvel Team-Up plot get a follow-up. It's Thor and the Human Torch against the Lava Men in the abandoned kingdom of the Mole Man! As if all of this doesn't excite you enough, we can also promise you a moloid with a six pack, and a hard-hitting investigation into the medical ethics of Donald Blake, MD. It's these kind of shenanigans that make the podcast what it is - almost the best Fantastic Four podcast on the internet! Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us. The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network. Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

What is the final act that brings Thor and Donald Blake together in order to defeat Loki and where is Odin? To help us discuss the issue and the series as a whole, writer Bryan J.L. Glass and Judy Glass join us live in the CGS studio! (1:00:31)

End of September 2007. Notes and Reviews: 1. Shout out to Bridge City Comics. 2. Jonathan reviews Silver Surfer: Requiem. 3. Comics/movies synergy? 4. Superman/Doomsday reviews. 5. Interview with Lori Petty. News: 1. Iron Man Trailer reviews. 2. Wolverine shooting in November in Sydney Austrailia. 3. Incredible Hulk shooting photos. 4. Showrunner change on Bionic Woman. 5. Blade pilot on DVD. 6. Spectacular Spider-Man series order extended from 13 to 26 episodes. 7. Season Finale of 4400 review. 8. Spiderman 3 getting full court press from Sony Oct 30th. First High Def release with all HD extras. Rumors: 1. Kevin McKidd possible for Thor or Donald Blake. 2. Iron Man not flying?. 3. Introducing the Gyllenhal scale for rumors.