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#855 Jack Kirby’s “Captain America” 214 & Annual 3: Cap vs the Space Vampire!
Jack Kirby wraps up his run on Captain America and the Falcon with issue 214, the rather underwhelming conclusion of the Night Flyer story. But wait! Kirby also did a couple of annuals, so we dig into annual #3 from 1976. Yeaahhhh, that’s the stuff! If you haven’t been getting enough PULSE-POUNDING ACTION in your comics, this is the issue for you!
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#410 Marvel Comics: Telling the Untold Story
FLASHBACK! If you’re into American comics at all, you undoubtedly know how Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others changed the industry with their work in the 1960s, and set the template for kinds of stories Marvel still publishes today.
That’s just part of the story that Sean Howe researched for his 2012 book Marvel Comics: The Untold Story. Through interviews, research of media reports, and of course tons of comics reading, Howe uncovered the backgrounds of many comics stories and rumors that longtime readers may have wondered about. There’s plenty of intra-creator acrimony to be found in its pages, yet Howe found that the book helped some of those involved to move on from decades-old wounds.
This week Tim talks to Sean Howe about the research, the reaction, and what this book has to say to aspiring creators. (Originally published July 7, 2014.)
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Critiquing Comics #246: “Roy Beckwith and the Cursed Continent” and “A French Expat in the U.K.”
Roy Beckwith and the Cursed Continent is a western series by Nick Patch, Jarret Katz, and Fabi Marques. It looks great but it runs at a breakneck pace and seems to be introducing a few too many elements. Tim and Jason discuss.
A French Expat in the U.K., by Agathe Montagnon, was sold through the LDC Online Comics Fair last summer. It’s a quick and evenhanded look at some of the differences between the British and French cultures, as experienced by the author herself. American expats in Japan Tim and Adam take a look.
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#854 “Superman” (2025): Its commentary on other supermen
Last summer’s Superman movie was a welcome improvement over many recent films featuring the character, and over much of the recent superhero film entries in general. Kumar and Emmet this week discuss how it comments on Zach Snyder’s take, on internet culture, anti-immigrant sentiment, and more. They also address such topics as how the film distinguishes between Superman and Clark Kent, Superman’s surprising vulnerability, and the Hall of Justice mural.
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#853 The strange history of “Robotech”
What if your first Star Wars movie were Return of the Jedi? You’d have questions! That’s how Tim felt once he got started reading Robotech II: The Sentinels volume 1, a comics continuation of the animated Robotech show that hit the U.S. in 1985. Robotech was a combination of three different anime — why?? And why is it that, after all these years, the Robotech story doesn’t really progress? Tim discusses with longtime Robotech fan Erik Amaya of Comicon.com.
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#369 “Krazy Kat”: Show me the bricks
One of the most highly-regarded English-language strips of all time is George Herriman’s Krazy Kat, featuring the odd love/hate triangle of Krazy, Ignatz, and Officer Pupp. Why was Krazy so gender-ambiguous? How did Herriman’s (somewhat mysterious) racial background influence the strip? Tim and Kumar discuss this and much more. (Originally published September 2, 2013.)
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#852 Dan Schkade and “Flash Gordon”
In 2023, King Features Syndicate decided to bring Flash Gordon, originally created by Alex Raymond and first published in 1934, back from rerun purgatory with new strips, written and drawn by Dan Schkade. Dan was also the artist on Dynamite Entertainment’s Will Eisner’s the Spirit Returns in 2016, and is also known for his original work Lavender Jack, which ran on Webtoon. This week, Tim talks with him about Flash Gordon and some of the trickier aspects of doing a newspaper strip, including refreshing readers’ memories and getting new readers on board while also moving the story forward a step every day. And, in 2025, how do you handle a great villain (Ming the Merciless) who’s also a terrible racial stereotype?
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#358 Carl Barks, “The Good Duck Artist”
From 1942 to 1966, many of the Donald Duck comic books published by Dell Comics were written and drawn by Carl Barks. Like most comic book creators at the time, his name was unknown; the Duck comics were all credited to Walt Disney. Fans only knew that his work was by the GOOD duck artist. Barks created Scrooge McDuck and many of the other duck characters that are taken for granted as part of Disney canon today.
What made Barks the standout Duck artist? Were they meant to be satirical, or simply enjoyable stories? Tim, Kumar, and Tom Spurgeon discuss Barks’ work, particularly the Fantagraphics volume Lost in the Andes. (Originally published June 3, 2013.)
Comics Journal review of Lost in the Andes
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#851 Jack Kirby’s “Cap and Falcon” 212-213: “I love you, baby!”
Captain America and the Falcon #212 concludes the Arnim Zola/Red Skull storyline in somewhat perfunctory fashion, and gives a living castle with big teeth much less P.R. than it deserved! In #213 we meet the strange and underutilized assassin the Night Flyer! (Underwhelming name? Must’ve been named by Jack Kirby!) Tim and Emmet discuss both issues in this episode.
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Critiquing Comics #245: “Joe Mallard” 4-6 and “Dream Machine”
Joe Mallard, a favorite of Tim and Jason’s from a year ago, is back! Creator Asante Amani has sent us issues 4-6 of this crime series. Did it go over with us as well as the first two issues did?
Ky Lawrence has created a trippy graphic novel about survivor’s guilt. In Dream Machine, our protagonist dreams he can sacrifice himself to bring his cancer victim twin back to life. Tim and Adam critique.
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