Tag: Marvel

#689 Priest’s “Black Panther”

Priest's Black PantherFLASHBACK! In 1998, under the “Marvel Knights” banner, Christopher Priest began the first ongoing Black Panther title in nearly two decades. Panther was a relatively unknown character to many Marvel readers at the time. With the aid of “Emperor of Useless White Boys” Everett K. Ross, and artists like Mark Texeira and Joe Jusko, Priest (a.k.a. Jim Owsley) made Panther a must-read and brought the nature of his character into sharper focus. Kumar and Tim discuss the first 17 issues (the ones included in Black Panther by Christopher Priest: The Complete Collection Volume 1) and see if it still stands up 23 years later. (This episode was originally published March 10, 2021.)

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“Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2” (2017)

Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2

“TIM CATCHES UP WITH THE MCU” continues: Peter Quill (whose name we both blanked on while recording the show!) and the gang are back (yeah, BACK in 2017) and Tim (feeling encouraged by being a mere 2.5 years behind on MCU movies) and Mulele discuss the film. And Star Wars.

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#732 “The Immortal Hulk”

The Immortal HulkThe Immortal Hulk won a fair amount of praise, including for Al Ewing‘s writing (although also censure for the hate speech hidden in Joe Bennett‘s art). Is the praise earned? Or is the book interesting exactly because of the things that don’t work in it? Our own Emmet, and guest Dr. Matt Finch, are leaning a bit in the latter direction. Join them this time for a wide-ranging discussion, including how Ewing’s coming out as bisexual affected the direction of the story, how the zeitgeist of the 2010s is apparent in the comic, how this version of the Hulk compares to Greg Pak‘s, the humor in Ewing’s run, and more.

Kickstarter for The BeBop #2: Bao

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#715 Comics adaptations: “Dune” (1984) and “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992)

Dune and Dracula

Sometimes comics adaptations of movies can have as much, or more, significance than the films themselves. Marvel‘s 1984 adaptation of David Lynch‘s Dune film, for example, marked Bill Sienkiewicz‘s upgrade from the realistic art he did on Moon Knight, to the mind-blowing, weird work he became known for on New Mutants. It’s also arguable that Ralph Macchio‘s script is better than that of the film.

Likewise, Topps‘ 1992 adaptation of the Francis Ford Coppola film Bram Stoker’s Dracula, written by Roy Thomas, marks a turn for artist Mike Mignola from Batman to more supernatural work, leading straight into his magnum opus, Hellboy.

Kumar and Jordan, patiently awaiting the delayed Australian release of the new Dune film, decided to indulge their obsession by doing this week’s episode, discussing both films.

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#711 Tom Scioli’s “Kirby”

Kirby-Scioli

Tom Scioli’s Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics is a bio in comics form and written in the first person, from Kirby’s perspective. Why did Scioli handle it that way, and does it work? Why does Kirby look like a Tezuka character surrounded by normal humans? Was the tension between Lee and Kirby a case of Stan messing up Jack’s story, or modifying it to better connect with the reader? Tim and Emmet discuss those questions, some of the many revelations this book brought us, and more.

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#702 “Black Widow”: is the MCU losing the magic?

Black Widow

It’s been a long time since Tim “caught up with the MCU” in our Patreon podcast series with Mulele; certainly longer without an MCU film than anyone intended it to be! But at last, Black Widow is out. How does it stack up against the movies that have gone before? Tim and Mulele are back to sift through the Red Room wreckage.

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#692 “Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book”

Raphael/Spurgeon book on Stan Lee

Tim and Emmet begin a series on Stan Lee biographies with the 2003 book Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book by Jordan Raphael and the late, great Tom Spurgeon. What’s the tone of this book, and how does it portray Stan? How much of the Marvel Universe is he actually responsible for, and what were his motivations for taking more credit than he deserved? We discuss, and then Tim gets some background on the making of the book from co-author Jordan Raphael!

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#685 Hilary Barta interview

Where Monsters Smell

Hilary Barta has been drawing (and sometimes writing) comics for decades, for nearly any publisher you can name. He even worked with the great Alan Moore on “Splash Branigan.” In this week’s show he talks to Koom about working with Moore, his Plastic Man stint, and his new humor story with Doug Rice “When Monsters Smell” in Marvel #4. And, the utility of drugs to the creative process is debated.

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“THOR” (2011)

What do you do when you want to talk about the MCU movies, but no one around you has watched them? Bug your friends to watch them! That’s how Mulele finally got Tim to find time to “Catch Up with the MCU”! Having discussed the first two Iron Man films on Deconstructing Comics a decade ago, and lacking much interest in the Hulk, we began our Patreon-exclusive show with Thor in May 2019. Here, Tim gives his first impressions, while Mulele takes the chance to go back and see what led up to Avengers: Endgame.

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#665 Remembering Denny O’Neil

Green Arrow and Green Lantern

This week we take a look back at the career of Denny O’Neil, the longtime comics writer and editor who passed away June 11. Emmet discusses O’Neil’s legacy with Professor Jonathan W. Gray, author of such books as Civil Rights in the White Literary Imagination, and the founding editor of the Journal of Comics and Culture.

O’Neil was a force in the move to turn DC’s iconic but silly characters in a more serious direction — having substance, not only violence. What shaped his worldview? How much of his personal story was in evidence on the page? Was his editing a crucial component of Frank Miller’s best work? And more.

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