Collecting Issues-Comic Podcast

Mick and Ben open spooky season with Fault Lines, the debut comic anthology from Robert Cullen, the Irish animator who founded Boulder Media (Danger Mouse, Transformers, Wacky Races). It has three stories about guilt, grief and the Irish diaspora. They range from Twilight Zone strange to quietly devastating, and each turns on the moment a life breaks apart.

In this episode:

• The Vanishing Act: Blackpool, 1976. Kathleen, an Irish showgirl in Tommy Cooper’s variety act, takes work as the assistant to a sleazy magician whose disappearing trick sometimes actually works. We look at magical realism, women “staying in their places”, and an eight-page silent sequence that shows how much comics can do.
• How to Be a Ghost: Mick’s favourite. A grief story set in Canada with a twist you’ll want to reread straight away. We cover Cullen’s limited colour palette, his nine-panel grids, and why this story only works as a comic.
• Siren: Campbell, a deaf man in Glasgow, hears a sound for the first time in 40 years and is pulled back to Edinburgh and an old crime. We talk about one of the best depictions of deafness and sign language we’ve seen in a comic, and about how guilt gets handed down to the next generation.

Along the way: Cullen’s move from animation director to comic book creator, how he uses cinematic framing without making the pages feel like storyboards, and why independent Irish comics deserve your money. Spoilers throughout, so read it first. It’s a book club, not a review show.

Next time, for Halloween: A Guest in the House by E.M. Carroll.

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Buy Fault Lines from your local independent comic shop.

Time Stamps:

00:00 Intro and Premise

01:13 Support Indie Comics

01:51 What Is Fault Lines

03:26 Creator Background

04:24 Vanishing Act Setup

04:32 Kathleen in Blackpool

13:34 Break In and Loss

16:47 Great Dini Offer

20:07 Snuff Magic Audience

22:43 Escape and Rescue

29:03 Story One Wrap

29:52 Story Two Tease

30:54 Follow and Subscribe

32:44 Ghost Story Twist

35:22 Comics Medium Advantage

36:43 Cullen Interview Craft

38:56 Color Memory Motifs

42:49 Crash Site Grief Reveal

44:26 Restraint Happy Ending

47:06 Siren Call Deafness

52:03 Guilt Road Trip Edinburgh

55:47 Accident Backstory Unfolds

58:20 Fault Lines Aftermath

01:00:30 Wrap Up Next Episode

Tags / keywords: Fault Lines comic, Robert Cullen, Boulder Media, Irish comics, independent comics, horror comic anthology, graphic novel review, comic book podcast, comic book club, magical realism comics, Halloween comics, spooky season, Irish podcast, Collecting Issues

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What happens when a Justice League pastiche decides the only way to save the world is to run it? On this episode of Collecting Issues, the monthly comic book club podcast, Ben and Michael read Squadron Supreme #1–12 (Marvel Comics, 1985) by Mark Gruenwald, Bob Hall and John Beatty.

Hyperion, Power Princess, Nighthawk, Doctor Spectrum, the Whizzer and the rest of the Squadron Supreme wake up in a world wrecked by alien mind control, and their solution is the Utopia Program: disarm the population, fix hunger, cure death and, eventually, rewire criminals' brains with Tom Thumb's behaviour-modification tech. What could go wrong?

We get into the Squadron's origins as Marvel's answer to DC's Justice League, the grim secret lives of its heroes, the B-Mod debate that splits the team, Golden Archer's horrifying abuse of Lark, the bizarre Hyperion doppelgänger subplot, Nuke and Doctor Spectrum's fatal fight, and the brutal final showdown. We also ask whether this is an accidental first draft of the postmodern superhero comic, and how it stacks up against Watchmen, Kingdom Come and Identity Crisis.

Plus: eighties comic book dialogue, a whole lot of recap panels, and the famous story of Mark Gruenwald's ashes being mixed into the ink of the Squadron Supreme trade paperback.

Spoiler warning: this is a book club, not a review. Read the comic first, then come back.

Next up: Fault Lines, an eerie, Twilight Zone-style sci-fi anthology of three stories from Irish creator Robert Cullen.

Chapters

00:00 Intro & Spoiler Warning

04:24 What Is Squadron Supreme?

31:27 Secret Lives & Character Backstories

38:57 The B-Mod Debate

42:57 Golden Archer & Lark

50:54 Hyperion's Doppelgänger

58:34 The Civil War Showdown

01:11:46 Outro & Next Episode

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Squadron Supreme, Mark Gruenwald, Bob Hall, Marvel Comics, Hyperion, Power Princess, Nighthawk, Justice League, Watchmen, Kingdom Come, Identity Crisis, Bronze Age comics, superhero deconstruction, comic book podcast, comic book club, graphic novel review, Irish podcast

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In this remastered archive episode, first recorded in 2019 and reissued with new context and commentary, Mick and Ben dig into Mister Miracle (2017-2018) by Tom King and Mitch Gerads, the Eisner Award winning 12 issue series from DC Comics.

The episode covers:

• Jack Kirby's Fourth World and why the New Gods were born out of Kirby's experience as an army field artist in World War II
• Darkseid as inevitability rather than brawler, the Anti-Life Equation as a proof that free will does not exist, and how "Darkseid Is" moves from a Grant Morrison and Howard Porter phrase in Rock of Ages into a formal storytelling device
• Scott Free and Big Barda as one of the most realistic relationships in superhero comics, and how nature versus nurture plays out for two people raised on Apokolips
• Depression, PTSD and the "stand / standing" mantra, plus the recurring shower motif and the comic's critique of push-through-it advice
• Mitch Gerads' art, the post-eighties nine-panel grid, and a rendition of Apokolips inspired by burning oil wells in Iraq
• Granny Goodness, Lightray, Orion, Highfather, Funky Flashman and the Stan Lee parody nobody quite agreed on
• Is any of it real? Metron, the offer to return to continuity, and that final "will not be continued" panel

Plus a disagreement about whether Tom King can write an ending, and recommendations if you liked this one: The Vision, God Country, Invincible.

Timely too, with Mister Miracle newly announced as its own DC Animated series.

(No relation to Michael's friend Tom King, who does jujitsu.)

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Tags / keywords

Mister Miracle, Tom King, Mitch Gerads, Scott Free, Big Barda, Darkseid, New Gods, Fourth World, Jack Kirby, DC Comics, Anti-Life Equation, Granny Goodness, Apokolips, New Genesis, comic book podcast, comic book review, nine panel grid, Eisner Award, depression in comics, Collecting Issues

00:00 Archive Episode Setup

01:28 Premise and Darkseid Context

02:45 Tom King Not Your Friend

04:03 Kirby Fourth World Basics

05:41 War and Anti Life Origins

09:19 Scott and Barda Home Life

10:19 Unreliable Reality Question

11:44 Humanizing Gods and Morality

17:22 Nature Versus Nurture Trauma

18:49 Mitch Gerads Art Breakdown

20:47 Continuity Constraints Critique

22:17 Shock Deaths No Stakes

22:30 Tom King No Consequences

23:42 End Of Fourth World

24:17 Messy Structure Endings

25:01 Darkseid Is Device

26:49 Inevitable Darkseid Dread

29:10 Funky Flashman Critique

30:30 Depression PTSD Themes

31:17 Stand And Shower Metaphors

34:05 Choice Happy Ending

36:23 Symbolism Silver Age Love

37:50 Stakes Alternate Reality

38:35 What Else To Read

41:24 Final Thoughts And Outro

42:04 Reissue And Animated News

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Collecting Issues is a monthly comic book book club. We have read the thing, you have read the thing, and there are spoilers all the way down.

This month Ben and Michael take on Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, collecting issues 1 to 8 of the 2021 DC Comics series by Tom King, Bilquis Evely, and Matheus Lopes.

King has been open that the pitch was True Grit in space, a mentor and mentee bound together by revenge, and the book delivers exactly that: Ruthye, a farm girl whose father is murdered by the mercenary Krem of the Yellow Hills, hires the most dangerous gun in the galaxy, and the most dangerous gun in the galaxy turns out to be Kara Zor-El.

What we argue about:

• Whether the morality holds. The inciting incident is one dead father and one poisoned dog, but by the midpoint Krem has been implicated in a galaxy's worth of genocide. Does the personal revenge story survive that escalation, or does the scale swallow it?
• The Norman Rockwell segregation planet, and whether a comic can plausibly frame selling out your neighbours as the truest evil in a story this full of atrocity.
• Ruthye as unreliable narrator. She writes like a Victorian novelist, talks like a Western, and behaves like an Arthurian knight. She also does not witness the two biggest set pieces in the book, which raises the question of what we are actually looking at when Supergirl fights a space dragon.
• Comet the Super-Horse, first appearing in 1962, who is not a horse but a centaur named Byron, cursed by a wizard, gifted telepathy by Circe, and later beaming half-naked dream visions at a teenage Kara. Tom King brings him back and kills him off. We have questions.

The Art:

Bilquis Evely and Matheus Lopes, and why this book does not work without them. Evely designs a costume that sidesteps the miniskirt exploitation that has defined the character since Action Comics #252 in 1959, and she renders alien worlds that feel genuinely alien rather than Guardians of the Galaxy shorthand. If you only credit the story to Tom King, you are missing the comic.

We close on James Gunn's Supergirl film with Milly Alcock, why "Woman of Tomorrow" got stripped from the title, and what the adaptation loses when it turns Krem from an ordinary man into a Hellraiser reject with plot armour.

Next month: Squadron Supreme (1985), issues 1 to 12. Old-school Marvel madness.

Next Month's Book: We are shamelessly riding the cinematic hype train! In preparation for the upcoming movie, we’ll be reading Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s incredible Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.

Read our Absolute Green Arrow Essay

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Time Stamps:

00:00 Welcome to Collecting Issues

00:36 Spoilers and Banter

02:54 Tom King and Continuity

04:27 True Grit in Space

09:09 Meet Ruthye and Krem

10:48 Revenge Versus Responsibility

15:01 Racism Town and Rockwell Vibes

17:30 Krem and the Brigands Escalate

22:37 Supergirl History and Redesign

27:56 Tom King MacGuffins

32:34 Meta Finale and Ruthye Narration

34:59 Ruthye’s Unreliable View

36:58 Capturing Krem at Last

37:55 Temptation on the Beach

41:23 Comet’s Bizarre Backstory

46:28 Dog Lie and Moral Mess

51:24 Art That Elevates It

58:45 Final Verdicts and Themes

01:04:04 Movie Adaptation Changes

01:07:36 Wrap Up and Next Read

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Welcome back to Collecting Issues, your monthly comic book book club!

This month, Mick and Ben are strapping in (and trying not to burst out of identical tight t-shirts) to review Assorted Crisis Events, Volume 1, collecting issues #1-5 of the hit 2025 Image Comics series. Created by the powerhouse team of Deniz Camp (20th Century Men, Absolute Martian Manhunter) and artist Eric Zawadzki, with breathdtaking colours by Jordie Bellaire, this book asks the ultimate question: What happens when timeline-shattering multiversal events happen to ordinary, everyday people instead of A-list superheroes?

It’s The Twilight Zone meets Black Mirror, but deeply grounded in the grim, weird, and human reality of 2026.

• Issue #1: Apocalypse Now – We follow Ashley Cargill through a chronally displaced city where reality is stranger than fiction, blending pop-culture commentary with an impending nightmare around every corner.
• Issue #2: Slaughterhouse Nine to Five – A devastating, visceral look at the immigrant experience, generational trauma, veganism... and velociraptors. Plus, we rave over Eric Zawadzki's savant-level panel layouts.
• Issue #3: Crisis on Hearth 2 – A brilliant Crisis on Infinite Earths homage that serves as an unflinching metaphor for displacement, immigration, and how quickly society fractures when doppelgangers move into town.
• Issue #4: Time Flies – Mikey has made some terrible choices (like some really terrible choices), but is he just an adrenaline-junkie leaping through time, or is this a tragic look at regret and impulse decisions?
• Issue #5: Strange Loops – The world-building issue (kind of)! We meet Anna, a woman who survives a 60-second time loop that lasted 30 million years. We trace the Easter eggs, time-loop tropes, and finally start piecing together the overarching mystery of the jetpack hobo.

Next Month's Book: We are shamelessly riding the cinematic hype train! In preparation for the upcoming movie, we’ll be reading Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s incredible Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.

Listen to the Absolute Martian Manhunter Episode

Listen to our 20th Century Men Episode

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Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro

00:32 Spoiler Warning Banter

02:02 Multiverse Fatigue Explained

03:32 What This Series Is

04:33 Deniz Camp Track Record

06:40 Anthology Shared World

09:49 Personal Crisis Metaphor

15:46 Issue One Breakdown

21:37 Art Layout Praise

31:43 Issue Two Slaughterhouse

35:10 Gore Vegan Subtext

37:19 Panel Layout Color Work

42:20 Crocodile Trauma Origins

43:43 Blood Fear and Family Cycles

46:33 Crisis on Hearth Two

48:00 Doppelgangers and Displacement

53:06 Chaos Camp and Panel Mirrors

56:33 Time Flies Bad Choices

59:40 Unreliable Narrator Debate

01:05:02 Strange Loops Worldbuilding

01:11:08 Medium Tricks and Rereads

01:12:07 Final Thoughts and Next Read

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In this episode, Michael and Benjamin are wading deep into the gutters of Marvel’s latest Spider-man reboot to discuss Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) Volume 1 (Issues 1-6) and Volume 2: The News (Issues 7-12) by Jonathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto, and David Messina.

Is this 2024 reimagining a light snack or a massive epic?

We look at everything from Peter Parker’s 35-year-old power fantasy to Harry Osborn’s consistently dreadful decision-making skills. no matter how old he is. Spider-Man might not be a dweeby 16-year-old anymore, but the classic Parker luck. and the looming threat of the Sinister Six, is still alive and well.

Spoilers ahead for all 12 issues!

Episode Highlights:

• The 35-Year-Old Power Fantasy: How Hickman shifted the target demographic from tween nerds to millennials dealing with mid-life crises. Peter has the supermodel wife, the great kids, and a steady job; so why does he still feel like he's destined for more?
• A World Without Aunt May: Exploring the fascinating alternate timeline where Ben Parker lives to start a his own newspaper with a surprisingly not-terrible J. Jonah Jameson.
• The Iron Man Ex Machina: Breaking down the "Picotech" (or McGuffin-tech) suit gifted by Tony Stark and how this tech-heavy, adult Spider-Man differs from the analogue, web-fluid-mixing teenager we all know.
• Accidentally Creating Venom: Why giving your advanced super-suit a sentient AI personality so you have someone to talk to is a fundamentally terrible idea.
• The Dinner Party of Doom: Reviewing the bizarrely brilliant, non-superheroic issue dedicated entirely to the social anxiety of Peter, Mary Jane, Harry, and Gwen Stacy awkwardly navigating a double date.
• The Not-Sinister Six: Analysing the shadowy cabal running the five boroughs, featuring Kingpin, Mr. Negative, Mole Man, Mysterio, Kraven, and Black Cat.
• Harry Osborn’s Daddy Issues: Why programming Norman Osborn's voice (we all heard Willem Dafoe) into the Green Goblin suit is the single worst decision Harry makes in the entire run.

Coming Up Next Month

May is a month of many comics! Make sure to subscribe and tune in next time as the lads cover:

Assorted Crisis Events (Volume 1) by Deniz Camp: Our main read for May, featuring an alternate timeline, timey-wimey chaos anthology!

Enjoyed the episode? Give us a subscribe on YouTube, follow us on Spotify (where you can now watch the video version!), and check out our newly remastered archive episodes, including our deep dive into Kraven's Last Hunt, linked down below!

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Time Stamps:

00:00 Ultimate Spider-Man Setup

01:02 Book Club Rules

05:47 Why Spider-Man Works

08:31 Adult Power Fantasy

15:36 This New Ultimate World

19:32 Iron Man Box Origin

23:17 Learning Spider-Man Late

27:16 Costumes and Tech Debate

31:12 Bullseye and Kingpin

32:52 Awkward Dinner Party

36:31 Ensemble Shift

37:51 Stormwatch Vibes

40:00 Podcast Plug Break

41:37 Zeitgeist Retelling

42:23 Paul Saga Detour

43:11 Volume Two Tech

45:18 Oscorp And Otto

46:25 AI Voices Venom

49:41 Sinister Six Setup

52:52 Ultimates Tie In

53:33 Christmas Venom Twist

58:42 Power Responsibility Bingo

01:00:36 Final Thoughts Highlights

01:04:16 Next Reads And Archives

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Welcome back to Collecting Issues, ladies and gentlemen! This week, Mick and Ben are looking into an absolute titan of comic book history: Marvel’s The Dark Phoenix Saga (collecting Uncanny X-Men #129-137), first published in the bloody 1980s by the legendary creative team of Chris Claremont and John Byrne.

Join us as we tackle a comic run that is somehow marginally older than both of us and infinitely more packed with leather corsets than we remembered. We’re digging deep into the cosmic epic that has been adapted by almost every X-Men cartoon and movie timeline (with wildly varying degrees of success).

In this episode, we cover:

• The Big Bait-and-Switch: Why does a legendary "cosmic" space saga spend three-quarters of its time messing around with the Hellfire Club in New York fetish wear?
• The Claremont Aesthetic: We break down the sheer amount of psychosexual tension, BDSM aesthetics, mind-control weirdness, and female subjugation. It's an '80s trope fest featuring "frail, unstable female minds," plus a whole lot of shirtless, hairy Wolverine and a suspiciously "thick" Sebastian Shaw.
• The Birth of Modern Wolverine: We pinpoint the exact, legendary sewer panel that transformed Wolverine from a grumpy 24-year-old kid into the definitive, scrappy, badass mutant we know and love today.
• Creative Explosions & Hokey Dialogue: From Banshee's questionable Irish catchphrases to Colossus screaming about Lenin's ghost, we look past the dated tropes to appreciate the absolute sheer volume of character building and world-defining concepts introduced in just eight issues.

Whether you're here for the definitive tragic tale of Jean Grey, the introduction of Kitty Pryde and Dazzler, or just to watch Cyclops stumble around in a gimp hood, this is a veritable smorgasbord of juicy X-Men goodness.

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Time Stamps:

00:00 Archive Episode Setup

00:32 Dark Phoenix Overview

01:50 Adaptations and Legacy

04:20 Plot Kicks Off Muir Island

05:24 Wyngarde and Hellfire Club

07:49 Hellfire Battles and Big Twist

09:58 Claremont Kinks and Controversy

14:30 Young X Men and Early Wolverine

17:54 Modern Wolverine Born

19:10 Trade Extras And Covers

20:02 Dialogue And Stereotypes

20:58 Low Powered Early X Men

22:22 Cyclops Melodrama Era

23:06 Why This Run Matters

26:21 Hickman Era Comparisons

28:43 Dark Phoenix In Space

30:29 Byrne Art And Origins

31:51 Recommendations And Wrap

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Welcome back to Collecting Issues, the monthly comic book club! This month, Michael and Ben are stepping away from the usual superhero capers to explore an absolute titan of the indie comic world: Jeff Smith’s Bone Vol. 1: Out from Boneville (collecting issues #1-6).

What starts as a seemingly harmless, 1950s Saturday-morning cartoon romp starring three weird little cousins; Fone Bone, Phoncible P. Bone, and Smiley Bone, quickly plummets off a cliff into a sweeping, Lord of the Rings-style dark fantasy epic.

Is it a kids' comic? Is it an adult fantasy? We’re breaking down the incredible bait-and-switch that made this 1,300-page saga a generational masterpiece.

(Warning: Major spoilers ahead! Go read the comic, hop in the Discord, and then come back and listen!)

• The Saturday Morning Illusion: How Jeff Smith uses influences like Peanuts, Pogo, and Harvey Comics to lull you into a false sense of security before unleashing the Rat Creatures.
• Character Deep-Dives: We break down Fone Bone's "Ishmael" energy, Grandma Ben's Popeye-esque tank build, the Jack Kirby-inspired Great Red Dragon, and why Phoney Bone is the absolute worst (think Scrooge McDuck with zero redeeming qualities).
• The Indie Publishing Miracle: The fascinating, against-all-odds publishing history of Bone. Learn how Jeff Smith refused to compromise his vision, survived the 1990s comic speculator crash, got a massive unexpected bump from Neil Gaiman, and accidentally revolutionized the collected graphic novel format before dominating the Scholastic book fair market.
• The Tonal Cataclysm: Analysing the exact panels where the art and story shift from goofy cartoon hijinks to sinister, high-stakes fantasy.

Get your single issues ready we are returning to our superhero roots to tackle Jonathan Hickman’s triumphant return to Marvel with Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 1!

Matttt's Video Essay on Bone

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00:00 Welcome and Spoiler Warning

01:35 Kids Comic or Not

03:02 What Is Bone

04:24 Cartoon Style Influences

05:56 Jeff Smith Origins

08:23 How the Comic Reads

11:20 Tone Shift Teased

13:17 Meet the Bone Cousins

14:51 Old Strip Inspirations

19:00 Rat Creatures and Danger

21:27 Time Jumps and Seasons

23:16 Dragon and Thorn Reveal

26:13 Publishing History Begins

28:53 Indie Breakthrough Moment

32:29 Neil Gaiman Boost

34:17 90s Speculator Context

35:04 Speculator Boom Memories

35:46 Bone Goes Graphic Novel

37:27 Wizard Magazine Feud

38:42 Market Crash Fallout

39:27 Scholastic Saves Bone

43:40 Dark Fantasy Turn

45:45 Worldbuilding And War Hints

49:37 Phoney Bone Scams

50:59 Star Mark Confusion

53:38 Why Bone Works

57:14 Favorite Moments Talk

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Welcome back to Collecting Issues, the monthly comic book club where we assume you’ve done the reading (and we will judge you if you haven't). This week, Mick and Ben dive into the beautiful, mind-bending melange that is DC's runaway 2025 hit: Absolute Martian Manhunter Volume 1 (Issues #1-6).

Written by Deniz Camp (20th Century Men) and illustrated by the masterful Javier Rodriguez (Zatana: Bring Down the House), this modern masterpiece takes everyone's favourite green shapeshifter and strips away any trace of humanity, leaning heavily into his pure, unabashed alienness.

From Darkseid's hobo bindle full of malice to fourth-dimensional telepathic smoke, we are breaking down everything that makes this comic a massive, psychedelic triumph.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The DC All-In Universe: How Darkseid separated from main continuity to create a gritty alternate universe where classic heroes are stripped of their greatest advantages.
• A New Take on John Jones: Exploring John as an emotionally avoidant, chain-smoking FBI stochastic agent who finds himself bonded with a bizarre, non-linear alien entity.
• The Mimetics of "Bad Ideas": We tackle the philosophical core of the comic: viral thoughts, "Bad Idea Zero," and whether the world can really be boiled down to just good and bad ideas.
• Mind-Blowing Comic Art: Javier Rodriguez puts on an absolute masterclass. We talk about synaesthesia-inspired telepathy, fourth-wall-breaking page layouts, and physical "hold-to-the-light" gimmicks that elevate the medium.
• Echoes of Comic Legends: How this run perfectly blends the bizarre 1955 Silver Age origins of Martian Manhunter with the abstract, conceptual mind-fights of Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles and Doom Patrol.

Next Month's Book: Get ready for a trip to the Valley! We will be reading the absolute, seminal 90s classic Bone by Jeff Smith. Grab your copies and get reading!

Read our Martian Manhunter essay!

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Time Stamps:

00:00 Meet Martian Manhunter

00:56 Welcome to the Book Club

02:36 DC All In Explained

04:15 Darkseid’s Twisted Universe

07:01 The New Hook for J’onn

08:20 Leaning Into Alienness

12:31 Big Art Energy

15:21 Story Themes and Bad Ideas

20:11 What Is a Meme Really

22:10 Bad Idea Zero Darkseid

26:21 FBI Agent as a Trope

29:15 Telepathy as Smoke Visuals

32:13 Ideas Over Superheroics

35:00 Johnny Thunderbolt Lore

35:31 Silver Age Origin Story

37:28 Powers And Weakness

39:01 Retcons And White Martians

41:21 Psychedelic Morrison Vibes

42:52 Ideas As Combat

44:18 Javier Rodriguez Spotlight

46:28 Mind Fights And Metaphors

49:32 Comics As A Medium

51:44 Family Rage Metaphor

54:20 Politics And Moral Absolutes

01:02:10 Best Scene Little Damascus

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 The Beauty (Image Comics) vs. FX’s Adaptation: Ozempic, Body Horror, and Ryan Murphy

What if an STD could make you the most perfect version of yourself? This week on Collecting Issues, Benjamin and Michael read The Beauty (Vol. 1, Issues #1-6), the 2016 hit by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley.

We compare the original "buddy cop" police procedural comic against the new 2026 FX on Hulu adaptation produced by Ryan Murphy. From the eerily prescient social commentary on modern beauty standards (GLP-1s, Ozempic face) to the explosive consequences of the virus, we break down why this story hits harder in a post-COVID world.

• The Elevator Pitch: Imagine a sexually transmitted disease that guarantees physical perfection for two years—before you spontaneously combust.
• Comic vs. TV: How the comic functions as a tight "90-minute action movie" versus the sprawling, body-horror-heavy miniseries.
• Cultural Prescience: Reading a 2016 comic in 2026; how The Beauty predicted the toxic positivity and division of modern weight-loss culture.
• The Ryan Murphy Treatment: A look at the FX adaptation’s star-studded cast (Evan Peters, Ashton Kutcher, Rebecca Hall) and the controversial decision to use "recasting" as a plot device.
• Character Deep Dive: Why Detectives Vaughn and Foster work as grounded leads, and why the villainous Carves feels like a comic book archetype dropped into a gritty drama.

We are reading Absolute Martian Manhunter Vol. 1 by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez. Join us as we explore this dark, conspiratorial reimagining of J'onn J'onzz in the new DC "All In" universe.

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Time Stamps:

00:00 Welcome to Collecting Issues + why we're covering The Beauty (and the FX show)

01:53 Spoiler warning & how to follow along (read Vol. 1, watch eps 1–2)

03:04 The elevator pitch: an STD that makes you beautiful

04:37 Worldbuilding: 800 days, stigma, and the ‘burn from the inside’ twist

09:26 Who made this? Jeremy Haun & Jason A. Hurley origin story

11:16 Publishing & rights: Image, Ignition Press, and the FX tie-in reprint

14:07 Why Vol. 1 feels like a tight ‘movie’ + anthology series after issue #6

17:41 Pre-COVID vs post-COVID reading: stigma, Ozempic parallels, and ‘earned’ beauty

28:54 Meet the cast: Vaughn & Foster, the Beauty Task Force, and the conspiracy setup

30:55 Stock characters done well? Buddy-cop structure, Caris the hitman, and what works/doesn’t

34:59 Caris the Masked Henchman: Grounded World vs Over-the-Top Villainy

36:24 Best Scenes & Twists: The Celebrity Spokesperson Hit and Foster’s Mirror Reveal

38:49 Consequences Escalate: Collateral Damage and the Air-Traffic Controller Disaster

39:19 Art That Serves the Story: Same-Face Syndrome, Visual Clarity, and Comic Fundamentals

40:43 Covers, Character Design & Horror: Mannequin Imagery and ‘Non-Beauty’ Markers

43:48 The Cure Ending: Body Horror, Consent, and the Ethics of Forcing a ‘Solution’

48:26 Cathartic Payoff: Vaughn Takes Down Caris (and Why Characters Act Smart)

50:37 Netflix/FX Adaptation Talk: Ryan Murphy, Casting, and How the Show Changes the Premise

01:04:36 Final Verdict & Wrap-Up: Comic vs Series, Where to Comment, and Next Book Club Pick

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