Some Of My Friends Read Comics

We finally read about the mutant menace as our friends, Scott and Richard, join us to discuss Giant-Size X-Men #1 from 1975, one of the most important X-issues ever! Not only was it the first new X-Men story in 5 years, but it also marked Wolverine’s 1st time with the X-Men as well as the 1st appearances of fan favorites Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus. We’ll also meet Sunfire and Thunderbird and figure out why nobody remembers them (and no, it’s not just because they’re huge jerks.) Also, Banshee is there but nobody cares about Banshee. And, if you'd like to get a jump on next episode, we'll be reading Superman: Red Son!

If you've ever heard of The Clone Saga before, you probably know that it’s one of the most controversial storylines in Spider-Man’s history, and with good reason. Originally planned to be a year-long event in the 90’s, it got muddled with so many loose plot threads among different writers that it ended up as a 3-year, 174-issue story that’s generally recognized as a stain on Marvel’s history. In this week's episode, the gang takes a look at 2009’s The Real Clone Saga which attempted to distill the story to the key points and tell it in the way it was originally meant to be told. But is it any good? Well we're obviously not gonna tell you here, listen to the dang episode!!  

Time travel & alternate universes, robot Josef Stalins, and triceratopses -- all the silly staples of any good Fantastic Four story. On today's SOMFRC, the gang reads Fantastic Four #343-346 - written and drawn by the great Walt Simonson (Thor, Detective Comics).  But is this story as fantastic as our eponymous foursome?? Find out on SOME OF MY FRIENDS READ COMICS!!

75 years ago, if you had told us that a guy who runs around in clown makeup stealing jewels would one day become the most iconic supervillain in comics, then we're afraid we wouldn't have heard you because we weren't born yet. In this very special episode all about The Joker, we take a look back at his first appearance in Batman #1 and then read what has been called the greatest Joker story of all time, Alan Moore's controversial The Killing Joke. Join us, won't you?

The Scientist, The Criminal, and The Sexist Douchebag! Primetime sitcom? Nope! It’s the three different guys that have been Ant-Man. In this episode, we sort through them and discuss *cue dramatic music* THE MANY ORIGINS OF ANT-MAN!

Ready for some trippy 60's comic book art? We sure are, and you can bet your American flag that Steve Rogers is too! For only three issues in 1969, Jim Steranko infused Captain America with a dose of Salvador Dali and delivered some of the coolest, most surreal, early Marvel issues we've ever seen. Join us as we talk about the (first) time Cap faked his own death in Captain America 110, 111, and 113.

In 1997, frustrated with struggling sales, DC cancelled all four of their Justice League titles and brought the original "Big 7" back to the team for the first time in a decade. But that wasn’t enough, they also brought on superstar writer Grant Morrison to turn the reboot into a huge bestseller. In this episode of SOMFRC, Vince, Chris, and Kia take a look at JLA #1-4 to see what the hype was all about, compare the JLA to the Avengers, and explore Morrison’s jump from writing counter-cultural indie comics to superhero icons.

Remember that time in the 70’s when Godzilla was shrunken down by Ant-Man, fought the Fantastic Four and the Avengers as he grew large again, traveled through time twice, and even had his photo snapped by good ol’ Spider-Man? You don’t?!?! Well it’s true! Not only did Godzilla have his very own 24-issue Marvel comic, but it’s ALL in continuity. So come join Vince, Chris, and Kia as they relive the finale of this insane series and see just how our big green dino-friend fit himself into the Marvel Universe.

There’s more than one way to skin an evil murderous robot. Vince, Chris, and Kia took a look back at a couple of classic Ultron stories written 30 years apart to see just how things have changed in the comic book world. LISTEN in amazement as they discuss differences between the movies and the comics and try to wrap their heads around exactly what the heck is going on with the Avengers. This episode: Avengers Vol. 1 #66-68 [1969], Avengers Vol. 3 #19-22 (Ultron Unlimited) [1999] Next episode: Marvel's Godzilla: King of the Monsters #20-24 [1979]

Big bad nurses, stabby Santas, and bowling balls to the head. It’s all right here in Born Again, a classic Daredevil story by the master of superhero noir himself, Frank Miller. We follow Matt Murdock as he gets more paranoid than we’ve ever seen him before and falls into a deep pit of depression. But hey, can you blame the guy? You’d be a wreck too if the Kingpin discovered your secret identity and dismantled your entire life. Chris, Vince, and Kia go through this story and discuss classic villain tropes, comparisons to Batman, and decide once and for all whether it really deserves to be called a classic. All without giving away any spoilers for the new Netflix series, we promise!