We all know the Mighty Thor today, thanks to the MCU and of course his appearance with the Incredible Hulk on TV, but how did he start? The latest entry in our Secret Origins series has shown us that many of the most famous comic book characters were born with their fundamental DNA intact. Not so much with the Mighty Thor. 

In fact, in his first appearance Thor is visually recognizable... but that's about it! And maybe his first appearance isn't actually all that good, believe it or not. 

Plus: some Marvel and DC news. Plus: a mysterious piece of bread ends up on my windshield. 

Next week: The Flash #110 (1959), the first appearance of Kid Flash. Available on the DC Universe app, and likely easy to find elsewhere online. 

Thanks for listening!

The finale of Echo is here, and the show was better than we expected - but how much better? We do not agree on this particular point, but we do find ourselves in agreement on a lot of elements that we actually did like quite a bit.

And then there is the news - a lot going on in the world of comic book movies, including the groundbreaking news that Superman will have a sense of humor in the upcoming James Gunn film, and if you think that sent a certain segment of fandom into a rage spiral... well, you may be a prophet!

By the way, did you know we have a store, and there is merch in that store? Come visit at this link and get yourself some confusingly branded mugs, shirts, hoodies and more!

Also: join us at the Cinema Sangha Patreon by becoming a $5 a month member and gain access to our monthly superhero deep dive podcast, Watch Men. This month rather than do a movie based on a comic book, we're doing a movie that launched a comic book - Planet of the Apes, which spawned long-lived Marvel and Boom comic runs. That episode should be out this week at some point!

Thanks for listening. See you next week as we discuss Journey Into Mystery #83, the first appearance of The Mighty Thor!

This week I finally come clean about my serious case of John Krasinski Derangement Syndrome,  and we speculate about Pedro Pascal's schedule. Then it's on to the first three episodes of Echo, which showed up on Disney+ and Hulu this week. The whole series was released at once, but we're splitting it up because it would be a very, very long episode indeed if we did it all. 

The big takeaway? Neither of us hated this show the way we expected we would. Maybe the most shocking thing - we both agree the show could have used more episodes. When's the last time you heard that about a binge show?

Next week: the last two episodes of Echo season one!

You asked, we answer. This week we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a special Q&A episode. We asked your for your questions and you came through - so much so that we couldn't answer everyone! The questions range from the silly to the sublime, and if you listen you can find out why I would marry the Red Skull, who Derek's least favorite Flash is and whether we ever intend to do more podcasts on different subjects.

Next week we will be talking about the first two or three episodes of Echo, so don't miss that mature audiences conversation!

This week we are talking about all the episodes of What If...? season two all at once. That's partially because Disney+ dropped em one day after another and partially because I had COVID and we couldn't do this in two parts like we intended. 

Was this a bad season? One of us thinks so! Was this a 'whatever' season with a few good eps and one great episode? One of us thinks so! Is What If...? wasting the entire concept by just doing rehashes and being afraid of killing any characters? Everybody agrees!

Next week: your questions! Come join us on the Discord to leave your questions that we will answer. To join the Discord just become a subscriber at www.patreon.com/cinemasangha. Even a buck a month gets you in!

Trigger warning: someone farts on mic this episode. 

And if that's not bad enough, my mic was not set properly for the intro of the episode. But don't worry, the bad sound quality only lasts fifty minutes. We talk about all kinds of news and stuff, and also there's a recorded fart, but it sounds very bad. So if you don't want to suffer through it skip to 50:19. 

When we get to All-Star #8 we are faced with a stultifying Justice Society of America book-length epic before diving into Introducing Wonder Woman. Along the way we talk about what a weirdo William Moulton Marston, Wonder Woman's creator, was and we examine how very different modern warrior Wonder Woman is from the character's initial origins. 

We'll be covering What If...? in our next few episodes, and then Echo. Meanwhile we will be doing an episode of Watch Men about Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, available only to subscribers at the $5 and above level. Click here to subscribe!

A Cinema Sangha Special Presentation!

This week we are giving you a free glimpse at one of our other podcasts, The Bad Batch. That's our weekly Star Wars show, and this week we're talking about the new documentary A Disturbance In the Force, about the legendary Star Wars Holiday Special.

It's a pretty terrific documentary that gives you a good sense of the context of early Star Wars, of 1970s TV and just how the hell something as truly awful as the Star Wars Holiday Special even came to be. 

If you like this episode join the Patreon to get more! For just $1 a month you'll get The Bad Batch every week and access to our Discord, where we hang out and talk about movies, TV and all kinds of stuff. But get this - it's not toxic! For real!

Click here to join the Patreon!

This week it's a look back at the birth of the Marvel Age of Comics, and it's not completely what you might expect. It's weird, silly and not actually the Marvel Universe as we know it. For one thing, the Fantastic Four debut in a fictional city, not New York!

Before that we have some news, and some movie talk - Derek has caught up with Napoleon and The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, while I've been playing Baldur's Gate 3. Find out what we think about these, what we think about Sean Gunn playing Max Lord in Superman: Legacy, and a whole bunch more. 

Next week: All-Star Comics #8, the first appearance of Wonder Woman! Find it on the DC Universe app.

And by the way - we sell stuff now! Check out our web store and buy a shirt, a mug or a horrific sweatshirt. Click here to buy something nice for Christmas (no guarantee it arrives by Christmas).

Welcome to the debut of Batman... or should we say, The Bat-Man. In Detective Comics #27 Bob Kane and Bill Finger introduced a character who would impact the pop culture of the 20th century in ways nobody could have guessed. Hell, reading this entire comic book it becomes clear nobody would have guessed this stuff would still be around in ten years, let alone 80+ years later. 

We attempted to read all of Detective Comics #27, but the length and the general crumminess stymied us! Still, reading some of the other stories helped give some interesting context for just how samey and yet how different Batman is in comparison to these other detectives.

Also: what the hell is wrong with the movies? We go on a long digression and kind of an argument about the way that franchises - especially action franchises - have disappointed at the box office this year. Are we on the cusp of an inflection?

Thanks for listening! Join us on the Discord by becoming a member at www.patreon.com/cinemasangha!

This week we're back to reading comics, and we are continuing our origins project. It's Amazing Fantasy #15, the historic first appearance of Peter Parker, the spectacular Spider-Man!

You can find this comic on Marvel Unlimited or for free on the Kindle app; what's nice is that Marvel has reprinted the whole comic, which includes a bunch of frankly terrible back-up stories... which we also read and talk about!

How does this tale hold up? Did Stan Lee and Steve Ditko get it right the first time? Find out!

By the way - we have merch now! Hit up our merch store where you can buy one of two t-shirt designs, both based on Derek's iconic catchphrase "Aggressively Fine." All sales from the shirts go to Derek, who frankly does not get paid enough for these podcasts. Put some spending money in his pocket!

Click here to check out the merch.