Some Of My Friends Read Comics

The spookiest of seasons is upon us, so we decide to take a look at one of Marvel's spookiest comics: Tomb of Dracula! We know this character's not very well known, so we read issues #10-15 which include the first appearance of Blade, a much more popular character. Plus we get Dracula doing all of his trademark moves like steering a boat and calling his enemies up on the phone. Then we continue our Earth-2 journey with JLA #160 which features a panel where The Atom is lying on a giant hospital bed. That's all I remember about it. And dinosaurs. Next Time: Locke & Key, Vol. 3: Crown of Shadows

She-Hulk has her own show! And it seems to take a lot of inspiration from the Dan Slott run that we visited a while back. We dive back into it with Volume 3: Time Trials, which collects #1-5 from the 2005 She-Hulk series. There's cowboys, jealousy, and time cops: the three perfect ingredients in any story. Then we read our next Earth-2 book with a JLA/JSA team-up in Justice League of America #159. Next Time: Blade's Origins with Tomb of Dracula #10-15 + Justice League of America #160  

We haven't quite hit spooky season yet but we really wanted to get back into some Swamp Thing, so we're diving back into Alan Moore's run from the 80's with the 3rd collected volume which covers issues #35-42. The series takes on a bit of a different form with the first appearance of Constantine as he sends Swamp Thing on freak-of-the-week adventures around the US. Then we get into some multiverse shenanigans as we start a scattered new long-read focused on Earth-2 heroes. First up is DC Super-Stars #17, featuring the origin of Batman and Catwoman's daughter: Huntress! Next Time: She-Hulk (2005) #1-5 (Time Trials) and Justice League of America #159  

With the recent passing of Alan Grant, we take a look back at some of the 80's Batman he wrote alongside John Wagner in Detective Comics #583-586, which feature the first appearances of Scarface & The Ventriloquist in the first story and then The Ratcatcher in the next. They're two quick, fun Batman stories that go down smooth, with nice art by Norm Breyfogle too! Then we finish our read of Superman For All Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale with issue #4: Winter! Superman gets his groove back by making a snow angel and stopping a classic winter flood. Next Time: Saga of the Swamp Thing #35-42 by Alan Moore & Stephen Bissette

It's been a while since we read a Vertigo book, so with today's episode we take our first foray into Jason Aaron and R. M. Guera's Scalped, a Native American noir book with lots of rich history to play off of. It's a book filled with a bunch of assholes who all hate each other. Classic! Then we continue our read of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Superman For All Seasons with issue #3, the Fall issue, which takes a slightly different approach than the first two issues did. Next Time: We remember comics writer Alan Grant with Detective Comics #583-586.  

We've got Turtle Fever! The new TMNT game reminded us how great the Ninja Turtles are, so we go back to Eastman and Laird's original series to read the now classic Return to New York story from issues 19-21. Why is it so classic? There's a worm-filled Shredder. Nuff said. We then continue our long-read of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Superman for All Seasons with issue #2, the Summer issue. It's hot outside too! How topical! Next Time - Scalped: Indian Country by Jason Aaron & R.M. Guera  

A couple years ago we read the Ocarina of Time manga, so we thought we'd revisit the Zelda series with the sequel, Majora's Mask. Zelda's not even in this story and Link might be dead, or maybe dreaming, or maybe he just fell in a big hole. We're not sure, but we know there are monkeys and that's cool. We also start our next long-read: the 4-part Superman for All Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, in which we get a nice little retelling of Superman's origin. Next Time: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return to New York (#19-21)  

Our streak of non-superhero comics continues with one of the newest comics we've ever covered on the show: Neil Gaiman's Chivalry which was released just two months ago! Well, technically it's a short story he wrote in the 90's, but it was just adapted to comics by Colleen Doran and it's a real beauty. Plus it makes us fumble our way through Arthurian mythology, what's not to love? Then we move onto the finale of the Korvac Saga in Avengers 177 in which waaaaay too many Avengers get killed. Next Time: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask manga by Akira Himekawa and Superman: For All Seasons #1  

We're reading a bit of a different superhero team today with the first volume of Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neil's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which brings together British literary figures from the late 1800s. It's better than the movie! We promise! We're also very near the end of the Korvac Saga as the Avengers take a bus out to see him in Avengers #176. Next Time: Neil Gaiman's Chivalry  

We're getting a little burned out on superheroes, so to change things up we're reading an adaptation of a crime novel written by a prolific novelist under one of his many pseudonyms. That's right, it can only be Richard Stark's Parker: Slayground by Darwyn Cooke! Cooke adapted 4 of these stories and we're reading the final one where our protagonist uses an abandoned amusement park setting to elude some evil mobsters. Then we continue The Korvac Saga with Avengers #175 in which nobody is really sure what to do! Next Time: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen  

It's time to take our first trip to Marvel's 2099 universe and meet Miguel O'Hara aka Spider-Man 2099. He's ruder than OG Spider-Man and he has a drug addiction problem to boot (technically not his fault). We read the first 6 issues of this series from 1992 before continuing our Korvac Saga long read with Avengers 174. Korvac actually shows up! And he explodes Benicio del Toro!!! Next Time: Slayground by Richard Stark adapted by Darwyn Cooke  

We're back in the Age of Apocalypse! This time we're reading the 4-issue Factor X miniseries that heavily focuses on Scott & Alex Summers, aka Cyclops and Havok. Turns out Havok is a real jerk who wants to kill his brother. Rude! We also get to know the evil mad scientist version of Beast who just wants to run genetic experiments on everything. Major creep. Then we continued the Korvac Saga with Avengers #173. Michael Korvac actually makes an appearance in this one! Next Time: Spider-Man 2099 (1992) #1-6  

For today's episode, we're diving into one of the most poorly received Batman comics of all time from the "All-Star" creative team of Frank Miller and Jim Lee.   We had a good time reading All-Star Superman a while back, so how bad could this be? Embarrassingly bad? Offensively bad? Incomprehensibly bad? Maybe all of the above.   It's so bad that we needed our friend Nick from the Your Stupid Minds podcast to help us wade through it.   Join us as we read All-Star Batman & Robin #1-6, and then continue our long read of the Korvac Saga with Avengers #172.   Next Time: We return to the Age of Apocalypse with Factor X #1-4!  

We're getting into April and we had the idea that we would read some... not great comics this month. Because April Fools Day or something. It's gonna be the worst tradition ever. We're starting with Fear Itself, a Marvel event from 2011 which is basically Thor vs a snake. We have issues with it. We then continue our read of the Korvac Ultron Saga with Avengers #171. Next Time: All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder #1-6 by Frank Miller & Jim Lee  

For today's episode, we're entering one of the most lore-heavy comic book universes out there... a world we've never delved into before... Sonic the Hedgehog. We're specifically reading the Endgame storyline from issues #47-50 in the original Archie Comics run so that we can get a nice little taste of everything the universe has to offer. It's a lot. We then continue our read of the Korvac Saga with Avengers #170, in which it doesn't feel like the Korvac Saga has really started yet because we're busy dealing with Ultron. Next Time: Fear Itself by Matt Fraction & Stuart Immonen

In this week's episode, we check out the origin of Batman's famous sidekick, Dick Grayson aka the first Robin! Wait, I thought we were reading the 2nd half of Batman: Dark Victory... this episode was supposed to be issues 7-13. We were gonna find out who the Hangman Holiday killer was and how it relates to Batman, Two-Face, and all the Gotham mob families. Oh, that all happens too, I see. We also continue the Korvac Saga with Avengers #168 in which Captain America acts like a major asshole. Next Time: Sonic the Hedgehog: Endgame (Sonic (1993) #47-50) + The Korvac Saga #4 (Avengers #170)

Remember about 6 years ago when we read Batman: The Long Halloween about a serial killer who strikes on major holidays? Well it's time for the sequel, Batman: Dark Victory, which is about a serial killer... who strikes on major holidays. Cool. It's a 13-issue series, technically 14 since there's a little prequel issue, but we start off by just reading #0-6. Then we go onto The Korvac Saga in Avengers #167, which includes a fashion show! Fun! Next Time: We finish up Dark Victory!  

It's time to dive into our first Age of Apocalypse miniseries with the Astonishing X-Men! We meet Blink, Morph, a Sabretooth that acts a lot like Wolverine, a Rogue that's married to Magneto, and Apocalypse's first horseman.   We also start our long read of the Korvac Saga with a little bit of backstory from Thor Annual #6 where we jump into the 30th century and meet the original Guardians of the Galaxy. You'll probably recognize Yondu, he's there. And the villains have a cute blob you might like too.   Next Time: Batman - Dark Victory #0-6

It's been quite a while since we caught up with Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America. Last time around we discovered that the Winter Soldier is Bucky. And this week we read the next part of that run in Captain America #15-17 and then the Captain America 65th Anniversary Special. There's a big cool robot in it. And then it's finally time for the last chapter of The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck where Huey, Dewey, and Louie finally get to meet their great uncle! Next Time: We return to the Age of Apocalypse with Astonishing X-Men (1995) #1-4  

We haven't read nearly enough Hulk for this show, so we thought we'd read Future Imperfect by Peter David and George Perez. The Hulk has to stop an evil old version of himself from ruining the future. In just 2 issues, The Maestro manages to make a strong name for himself as a serious villain.   Afterwards, we continue The Life & Times of Scrooge McDuck with part 11 in which Scrooge unfortunately also establishes himself as a serious villain.   Next Time: Captain America by Ed Brubaker Pt. 3: Red Menace Pt. 1 (Captain America (2004) #15-17, Captain America 65th Anniversary Special)