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Category: Podcast
Deconstructing Comics Podcast, published every Monday, features comics creator discussion and comics reviews.
#821 The Fantastic Four on Film: “The Fantastic Four” (1994), a Roger Corman production (part one)
By the early ’90s, Superman and Batman were blockbuster movie franchises, but Marvel had yet to find a way to get a big-budget film made based on their characters, let alone succeed at the box office. Bernd Eichinger of Constantin Film owned the film rights to the Fantastic Four, but those rights were soon to expire. So he teamed up with B-movie producer Roger Corman to bang out an FF film — which, for somewhat unclear reasons, never came out. This week, in a crossover with the Comic Book Movie Oblivion podcast, Tim is joined by Kumar and Jordan; some early FF comics are evaluated, and then we begin a two-part discussion of the film, what’s good and bad about it, and the (apparent) reasons it never hit screens.
Watch Doomed: The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four on YouTube
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#820 Jack Kirby’s “Eternals,” #14-16: The Coming of…. The Editor!
Jack Kirby‘s The Eternals was not a conventional superhero book. It didn’t even seem to take place in the Marvel Universe. By issue 14, it appears that Marvel editorial must have been pressuring him to make it more Marvel Universe-y, which would account for the appearance of the Hulk in issues 14-16… except it’s not really the Hulk, leaving plausible deniability to the fact that this is really happening in the MU. But, along with New York City, the Pseudo-Hulk also smashed the direction of the series. Tim and Emmet sift through the damage.
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#819 We catch up with “The Re-up” and “Amazing Tales”
This week we catch up with the work of two DCP favorites, Chad Bilyeu and David Dye! Chad’s series The Re-up, about his time as a pot dealer 20 years ago, continues and has overcome the skepticism Tim had of the series at the start. David has released three more issues of Amazing Tales and gone in various directions: a Beowulf adaptation, a Burroughs-esque time travel story commenting on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and an EC-type horror comic! We review The Re-up issues 4-6 and Amazing Tales issues 6-8!
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#818 Requiems: “Ghost Band” and “Grimm’s Assistant”
If you’ve ever felt like your city left you before you left your city, Jason McNamara’s Ghost Band is for you. Tim and Emmet discuss this post-apocalyptic look at San Francisco. Jason then taps in to explain the inspiration for the book and what happened to artist Vincent Gladnick 2/3 of the way through.
Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the Grim Reaper has an apprentice, and he saves a girl’s life — temporarily. Grimm’s Assistant, by Mamode Ogbewele and Chigozie Amadi, might be a little too stingy with important story info, but sharp art and interesting ideas make it worth Tim and Jason’s time reviewing it.
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“Avengers: Endgame” (2019)
Tim gets ever closer to catching up with the MCU! Tim and Mulele discuss Avengers: Endgame‘s time-travel explanation (and problems), Captain Marvel’s relative irrelevance to the film, how this movie set the stage for the upcoming TV shows, and much more. (Originally published on Patreon March 14, 2020)
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#437 “Real” is a slam dunk
FLASHBACK! Sports have rarely been subject matter for comics in the US; perhaps comics’ inherent static-ness has seemed antithetical to an activity with so much movement. But Japan has seen comics about various sports, and some of them have been quite popular, even iconic.
Takehiko Inoue’s Real is not only about basketball, but about physical handicaps, relationships, and more. Kumar and Ilango find a whole lot to like about it — including the satisfying ways in which it translates sports action to the comics page. (Originally published February 16, 2015.)
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Critiquing Comics #240: “The Night Brigade” and “Joe Mallard”
Most Americans know little about the Crimean War (1853-1856). Adam McGovern and Bruno Letizia’s The Night Brigade may go some way toward filling us in on that conflict, and it does give us several historical figures, including Florence Nightingale – but it also features a werewolf. Tim and Adam critique.
Asante Amani‘s Joe Mallard gives us short detective stories that feel a bit like Matt Kindt’s work. Tim and Jason are hoping for more!
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#817 Jack Kirby’s “Eternals”, 1977 Annual + #13: Fun “Eternals” stories with few Eternals
We left the Eternals joined together in the Unimind. The 1977 Annual doesn’t clearly fit into continuity, but features only one Eternal, Thena, together with Deviants Karkas and the Reject against a time-traveling threat! Back in the regular series, issue 13 gives us exactly two Eternals, trying to stop a Deviant attack on the Celestials. In spite of the lack of Eternals, these are two of the most fun issues Tim and Emmet have read yet!
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#816 Chester Brown interview: “Paying for It,” the movie
Chester Brown’s work has come up on this show a number of times over the years. We’ve discussed Ed the Happy Clown, Louis Riel, and Paying for It. He’s actually published 10 graphic novels since 1989, some of which are collections of his comics series. In connection with the recent premiere of the movie version of Paying for It at the Toronto International Film Festival, our own Koom got a chance to interview Brown for this week’s show!
Check out Koom’s novel, Killing Shakespeare
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