Bros Foes and Heroes

Happy Halloween, Batman!

What happens when the Joker decides greeting cards are the perfect way to commit crimes? Apparently, you get wedding-day disguises, stolen jewelry, a giant pumpkin coach, and bats equipped with searchlights.

This week on Bros, Foes, and Heroes, Zach and Mike travel back to Batman #46 (1948) for “Guileful Greetings,” also known as “The Joker Sends Regards!” It's a Golden Age Halloween adventure where the Joker turns rhyming greeting cards into a criminal master plan and Batman and Robin have to stop him before Gotham's Halloween festivities go completely off the rails.

Along the way, we ask some very important questions:

Why is the Joker so obsessed with greeting cards?

Why is the Joker stealing charity money with a vacuum cleaner?

Who thought giving bats tiny searchlights was a good idea?

And most importantly, why does Batman think somebody turning off the lights at a Halloween party is a reliable crime-fighting clue?

It's a delightfully ridiculous trip into classic Batman comics, complete with terrible rhymes, questionable disguises, and one very memorable Halloween showdown.

What's the strangest Batman story you've ever read? Let us know in the comments!

Like the video, subscribe to Bros, Foes, and Heroes, and join Zach and Mike as we explore the weirdest, wildest, and most wonderfully ridiculous corners of comic-book history.

Happy Halloween from Bros, Foes, and Heroes!

#batman #thejoker #dccomics #batmancomics #goldenagecomics #halloween

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Batman, werewolves, and vampires… oh my!

This week on Bros, Foes, and Heroes, we're traveling all the way back to 1939 for Detective Comics #31 and #32, featuring Batman's early supernatural adventure against one of his strangest foes: the Monk!

Before the Batcave, before Batman's modern no-killing rule, and before Gotham's Dark Knight became the hero we know today, the Caped Crusader was battling vampires, werewolves, hypnotism, and a whole lot of questionable decisions.

Join Zach and Mike as we revisit this two-part Golden Age Batman story and ask some very important questions:

Why is Batman so bad at keeping his fiancée safe?

Are these werewolves, vampires, or somehow both?

How does Batman's seemingly magical Batplane keep doing that?

Why is there a gorilla involved?

And just how do you make silver bullets with a candle?

It's classic Golden Age comic-book insanity, complete with bizarre plot twists, questionable science, and the kind of storytelling that makes reading old comics so much fun.

Have you read Batman's first encounter with the Monk? Let us know your favorite ridiculous Golden Age comic-book moment in the comments!

Like the video, subscribe to Bros, Foes, and Heroes, and join us as we explore the best, weirdest, and wildest stories in comic-book history.

#batman #dccomics #detectivecomics #goldenagecomics #comicbooks #halloween

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Is DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke a true masterpiece, or just a gorgeous love letter to a bygone era?

In Part 1 of our multi-part deep dive, we examine the transition from the Golden Age to the Silver Age of DC Comics. We break down the haunting and heroic fates of The Losers on Dinosaur Island, the early days of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, Martian Manhunter’s arrival on Earth, and an unforgettable moment where Wonder Woman completely shifts the paradigm in Indo-China.

Along the way, we somehow get completely sidetracked into an extensive discussion of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead, Bruce Campbell's best moments as Ash Williams, and whether or not any of us are related to Alexander Hamilton.

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What is the scariest part of the human body? The pelvis of justice? No... it's The Hand!

Welcome back to Bros, Foes, and Heroes! Join Zach and Mike as they take a hilarious deep dive into the Golden Age comic archives to explore one of the weirdest vigilantes ever created: The Hand (from Harvey Publishing's Speed Comics Issue 12).

In this episode, the guys break down how a literal, disembodied floating hand with superhuman strength, the power of teleportation, and a penchant for stopping Floridian card sharks dispenses swift, sure justice.

Watch as the Big Hand taps people on the shoulder, leaves sternly-worded calling cards, writes messages on walls in red ink, and brands criminals with sticky-hand-looking forehead stamps! Plus, we dive into his second appearance in Speed Comics issue 13, featuring FBI agents Nick and Randy (who looks suspiciously like Judge Reinhold in a red suit) taking on gangsters at a political forum.

And because no episode is complete without absolute chaos, the guys pepper in some vintage Honeycomb cereal commercials and deeply confusing 1980s anti-drug public safety announcements!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro & The Pelvis of Justice

1:35 - Speed Comics #12: Introducing "The Hand"

4:00 - Honeycomb Cereal Commercial & Sponsor Chaos

6:45 - The Floating Florida Gambling Palace & Card Sharks

11:20 - The Hand Writes on Walls & Unarms Crooks

15:10 - Red Forehead Brands & Scarlet Letter Logic

18:30 - Speed Comics #13: Enter FBI Agents Nick and Randy

24:00 - Bare-Knuckle Free-for-Alls & Wrap-Up

#comics #goldenagecomics #superhero #comicbookpodcast #retrocomics #comicbooks #geekculture

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What would it cost to marry Superman? Five dollars? No, try Superman money!

Welcome back to Bros, Foes, and Heroes! Join Zach and Mike as they dive into a hilarious and bizarre Silver Age classic: Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane Issue 61 (November 1965), featuring the story "Superman's Marriage Money".

When Mister Mxyzptlk tricks Superman into honoring a system of promotional deeds and coupons, including a coupon good for one super marriage. Lois Lane goes to absurd lengths to cash it in. But just when the wedding bells ring, Lana Lang shows up with a surprise loophole. Plus, the guys take a trip back in time to experience some classic, highly questionable 1970s PSAs about drug safety and stray dogs!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro & The Superman Marriage Contest

3:30 - Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #61 Overview

6:15 - Mister Mxyzptlk's Coupon Scheme & The Ice Cream Truck

9:00 - PSA Break #1: The Drug Scene

12:45 - Turning Coal into Diamonds & Super Squeezes

17:20 - Tricking Mister Mxyzptlk with Glue Soup and Jimmy Olsen

21:10 - PSA Break #2: Rabies and Stray Dogs

24:30 - The Super Wedding, Hillbilly Juliet, & Lana Lang's Loophole

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#superman #loislane #dccomics #comicbookpodcast #comicbooks #geekculture #comiccommunity #podcast #superheroes

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Nobody asked for a giant green stockbroker. 1940 gave us one anyway.

This week Zach introduces Mike to the Green Giant, not the vegetable mascot, a different one. A public domain Golden Age superhero from 1940 who works at a brokerage firm on Hall Street, fights counterfeit stock fraud, and gets big when he touches his belt. That is his entire power set. Why does he get big? Nobody knows. The comic never explains it. He just does. He also flies. That's also never explained.

New format alert: before Zach breaks down the story, he shows Mike the character and asks him to guess the powers, the alter ego, and the origin. Mike scores 2 whole points.

What happens in Green Giant #1: a man touches his belt, becomes enormous, lifts a car full of criminals, threatens to crush them in his hand until they talk, chases the boss to a ship headed for South America by swimming as a giant through the open ocean, punches the man unconscious mid-money-count, then flies the criminal and his money bag back to shore and drops both through the roof of the police station with a note in very pretty cursive.

From: Green Giant Comics #1 (1940) | Pelican Press / Kent Publishing | Public Domain

Also this episode: the Unknown Gathering — a live spooky horror event on October 10th. Stay tuned.

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FULL SPOILERS. If you haven't seen Supergirl yet , go see it first, then come back.

We went to the movies. We have thoughts. A lot of them.

Zach gives Supergirl a B/B+. Mike lands at B minus. Both agree: go see it. It's a fun ride. Not everything in it works, but Millie Alcock is perfect as Kara, Eve Ridley is great as Ruthie, the fights are great, there's a Modest Mouse needle drop, a Jimmy Eat World cover that Mike loved, and David Corenswet's Superman is still exactly what you want every time he shows up on screen.

Where they disagree: Lobo. Mike thinks Jason Momoa is fantastic in the role and completely unnecessary to this particular story. Zach thinks he's great and would love to see him again somewhere else.

The bigger conversation: We Covered Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. One of Zach's favorite comics, and he wrestled with what the adaptation kept and what it changed. The ending especially. If you've read the comic, you'll know exactly what he means.

Next week: we're going back to the Golden Age. New format. Zach has a new way to present obscure public domain superheroes to Mike that he is very excited about. Stay tuned.

Supergirl is in theaters now. Go see it.

#supergirl #dc #dccomics #brosfoesandheroes #dcu

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Before Jason Momoa shows up in Supergirl, here's everything you need to know about Lobo.

This week Zach and Mike dive into the 1990-1991 four-issue Lobo mini-series by Keith Giffen and Alan Grant, the run that created the version of the character most people actually know. The one with the space hog. The chain. The white skin and black hair. The one who is almost certainly showing up in the Supergirl film and who Mike compares, correctly, to "Wolverine if Wolverine were Deadpool."

Here's what Lobo actually is: a bounty hunter from a utopian planet so peaceful they didn't even have a word for fighting. He was born wrong, got worse, and eventually committed genocide on his entire species just so he could be unique. He is now the last of his kind. He did that on purpose. The story we're covering has him transporting a prisoner across the galaxy, his fourth grade teacher, who wrote an unauthorized biography about him and whom he very much wants to kill. While being chased by space fanboys, a paramilitary senior citizens' decency committee, and the planetary police force of every planet he's stopped at along the way. There is also a spelling bee.

Also this week: the Marvel Thanksgiving Day Parade float. RoboCop is in it. Hulk barely moves a clock tower. Captain America takes it very seriously. We watch the whole thing.

Plus: Supergirl movie excitement, the Dean Cain callout, a Mister Miracle animated series update, and the Lobo that DC tried to reboot in 2011 who Mike did not like the nipples of.

From: Lobo Mini-Series #1–4 (1990–1991) | Writer: Alan Grant | Plotter: Keith Giffen | Artist: Simon Bisley

#supergirl hits theaters this week. Go see it!

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#dc #lobo #dcu #dccomics #supergirl #superman #marvel #comics

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Happy 5th anniversary to us. We celebrated by reading a 1951 Batman comic that uses one specific word 37 times, and that word does not mean in 2026 what it meant in 1951.

This week marks five years of Bros, Foes & Heroes and for our anniversary story, Zach pulled "The Joker's Comedy of Errors" from Batman Issue 66 (August 1951). The plot: the Joker becomes a national headline after a botched robbery, and rather than lay low, he decides to recreate history's most famous mistakes. Military, architectural, aviation all as the basis for an entire crime spree. He researches them. He plans elaborate heists around them. The newspapers cover every single one with the same word in the headline, every time, for the entire issue. Zach explains why that word meant something completely different 75 years ago. Mike does not let it go for the rest of the episode.

The story itself involves a battleship run aground, a leaning bell tower built specifically to rob an oil tycoon, a Trojan horse used to smuggle a heist crew onto a movie set, and a directional beam that sends Batman to England by accident. Also: Bob Kane's actual headstone, which exists, and which the two of them read out loud.

Thank you for five years. Genuinely. We mean it!

Coming next week: Lobo, ahead of our Supergirl viewing.

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This week Zach and Mike cover "The Lady and the Lion" . A Silver Age Superman story in which the Man of Steel gets roofied by an alien sorceress named Circe who drugged his mineral water because he politely declined her marriage proposal. The serum turns him into a lion by dawn because, as Circe helpfully explains, Superman most resembles a lion by nature. Nobody questions this logic.

What follows is Superman, now a fully lion-headed man in a cape, trying to continue living his life. He takes Lois Lane to the theater. He performs for orphan children by letting them stick their heads in his mouth. He flies to Africa, breaks up a lion bully situation, and accidentally gets elected King of the Lions. He does all of this with a rope for a tail. He is very sad about it.

Also: Lois Lane kisses a lion. It doesn't work. Perry White sits on the scoop of the century because he's actually a decent guy. And Circe, who committed multiple crimes and fled the planet, faces zero consequences because Superman figured out the antidote on his own using Kryptonian library records. Circe is still out there.

#superman #dccomics #silverage #actioncomics #brosfoesandheroes #superhero #comics #loislane #comicbooks #dc 

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