kurt busiek

Some of My Friends Read Comics 134 – I Hate Fairyland by Skottie Young + JLA/Avengers #3

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It’s a scientific fact that stories about maniacal ax-wielding children are always entertaining. I Hate Fairyland is no exception, although I guess technically it’s about a woman who just looks like a kid because she’s spent 27 years stuck in a sugary wonderland.

We read the first 5 issues of writer/artist Skottie Young’s recent Image series and then we continued JLA/Avengers with issue #3.

MP3: https://bit.ly/3gwevaL

Next Time: Marvel Assistant Editor’s Month 1984 (Avengers #239, Dazzler #30, Defenders #127, Marvel Team-Up #137, Thing #7)

Some of My Friends Read Comics 132 – Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Travelin’ Heroes + JLA/Avengers #1

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This week on the show, we remember Dennis O’Neil with a look back at his run with Neal Adams on Green Lantern from 1970, in which he explored a few topics that superheroes didn’t often tackle.

Green Lantern shared the spotlight with Green Arrow to start their “Hard Travelin’ Heroes” Era, and we read issues 76-81. After that we jumped into another DC/Marvel team-up with the first issue of JLA/Avengers from 2003.

MP3: https://bit.ly/2AJgskM

Next Time: Aliens vs. Predator (1990)

Some of My Friends Read Comics 127 – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Manga, Vol. 1 + Marvels: Epilogue

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Some of My Friends Read… Manga?!?!? And Play Video Games?!?!?!

After 5 years, we finally delve into some content from Japan: The Ocarina of Time manga adaptation from the Legend of Zelda series. Did we get confused reading right to left? Were we able to switch back for the Marvels Epilogue? (Yes, it was fine.)

MP3: https://bit.ly/3aLpg5q

Next Time: We close out The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time with Volume 2 + we start reading DC vs. Marvel issue by issue.

Some of My Friends Read Comics 121 – Birds of Prey by Gail Simone + Marvels: Eye of the Camera #1

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In my headcanon, Birds of Prey was always 3 members: Oracle, Black Canary, and Huntress. Turns out Huntress didn’t even join the team until Gail Simone took over in 2003. Turns out Harley Quinn was definitely not on the team.

We read the first few issues of Simone’s run from #56-61 and then we continued our read of Marvels with the 1st issue of the followup miniseries, Marvels: Eye of the Camera.

MP3: https://bit.ly/2RzLZuP

Next Time: Archie gets rebooted in 2015 by Mark Waid & Fiona Staples!

Some of My Friends Read Comics 120 – Superman by Alan Moore + Marvels #4

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We’ve got more Moore than you can handle, as we take a double dose of Alan Moore’s Superman from the 1980s!

First up, Alan Moore teams up with his future Watchmen collaborator Dave Gibbons with 1985’s “For the Man Who Has Everything”, where Batman & Wonder Woman try their darndest to find a good birthday present for Superman, while Superman imagines a world where Krypton did not explode and he never came to Earth.

Then, we check out the final story of the pre-Crisis Superman with Alan Moore and Curt Swan’s “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” As Bill Hader’s Stephon would say, this book has everything: Krypto the Superdog, superbabies turning coal into diamonds, Jimmy Olsen & Lana Lang getting superpowers, and Superman defending his friends against all his foes. It’s a classic story you don’t want to miss!

And finally, we conclude Phil Sheldon’s journey through the early days of the Marvel Universe with Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross’s “Marvels #4”! (That’s not really true, we start the sequel “Marvels: Eye of the Camera” next episode.)

MP3: https://bit.ly/35XlcN4

Next Time: Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds by Gail Simone (Birds of Prey #56-61) + Marvels: Eye of the Camera #1

Some of My Friends Read Comics 117 – Marvel 1602, Pt. 2 + Marvels #1

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It’s time to continue Marvel 1602! In the last 4 issues of the miniseries, we make our way to America and find out how this universe connects to our regular 616 universe.

But will Gaiman’s 1602 survive? (Spoiler alert: nothing ever dies).

And we also get our long read of Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross really rolling with issue #1.

MP3: https://bit.ly/2OQ02ek

Next Time: Donald Duck in “Christmas on Bear Mountain” (Scrooge McDuck’s first appearance) and “A Christmas for Shacktown”

Some of My Friends Read Comics 103 – Avengers Forever Pt. 2 + Secret Wars Epilogue

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It’s the 2nd part of our Avengers: Forever read! This time it’s less about time travel and more about pulling in Avengers from every timeline. See also: The Kree Supreme Intelligence, Rick Jones, and Kang all pile into a car and drive/fly through space together.

We also unpack Secret Wars a bit more by reading Uncanny X-Men 138. An epilogue issue where Colossus, Wolverine and Nightcrawler talk about their feelings at a bar.

MP3: https://bit.ly/2DOzpAU

Next Time: We spoil Endgame with Batman: Endgame (Batman (2011) #35-40)

Some of My Friends Read Comics 102 – Avengers Forever Pt. 1 + Secret Wars 12

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Have you ever heard of the Avengers? Well they’re FOREVER. They fought dinosaurs in the wild west and they tried to stop Skrull Nixon in the ‘50s.

Kurt Busiek chronicles their foreverventures in Avengers: Forever, a 12-issue limited series from the late ’90s.

As far as I can tell, it’s about 2 Hank Pyms stopping 3 Kangs, or something like that. We read the first 6 issues of Forever + the finale of Secret Wars with issue 12! We’ll miss that floating suburb of Denver!

MP3: https://bit.ly/2GEK8Q3

Next Time: Avengers Forever 7-12 + Uncanny X-Men 183 (Secret Wars epilogue)

Some of My Friends Read Comics 033 – Past Eisner Award Winners

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It’s our 2016 Eisner Pre-Show Spectacular! As we gear up for the awards, we take a look at three past winners of the “Best Single Issue” award. Astro City #4 from 1996, Tom Strong #1 from 2000, and Hawkeye #11 from 2014.

We also read one of this year’s nominees, Silver Surfer #11, and we would have read them all but indie comics can be hard to find sometimes!

We talk about all four of these very different stories and decide if they were indeed worthy of the coveted Eisner award. And we don’t agree!

MP3: http://bit.ly/29XeY7B

 

Some of My Friends Read Comics 002 – Ultron Double-Feature

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Elton John and Tim Rice with awards for song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" - 1994 (67th)

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]