Comics Discourse 114

Marvel Fanfare 10 kicks off a classic four-part Black Widow story!

While Nick Fury and the leadership of S.H.I.E.L.D. discuss the Black Widow’s complicated past and argue over whether to send her on a dangerous new mission, Natasha has problems of her own. She’s attacked in her own home, leading to an action-packed fight and one hell of a way to start this story!

The Black Widow story is written by Ralph Macchio and co-plotted by George Pérez, with art by Pérez, Bob Layton, Luke McDonnell, and Brett Breeding.

Then we head back into the jungle for “How Fear Came,” the third installment of The Jungle Book. Jo Duffy adapts Rudyard Kipling’s story, with Gil Kane on pencils and P. Craig Russell on inks.

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The stacks are full, and it’s time for another Top of the Stack, with a special focus on new #1s! We dive into our recent comic book reads from publishers including DC, Marvel, Abrams, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW, and many more. Plus, Hassan shares stories from Baltimore Comic-Con.

We bring plenty of books to the stack, with The Muppets Take the Marvel Universe, Doom Patrol, Teen Titans, Alex Ross’s Marvel Dimensions, Spawn ’77, Bug Wars, Superman: The Stranger, Six of Us, Hammerfist, Absolute Cassandra Cain, and more. Plus, Hassan brings two very different manga to the stack with Stop!! Hibari-kun! and Chiisakobee.

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Marvel Fanfare 9 has a giant sized Man-Thing, and Brian and Ants are exactly as mature as you would expect.

In “Rock ’n’ Soul,” a struggling rock band decides summoning a demon might be their ticket to success. Surprisingly, this turns out to be a bad idea. Luckily, Man-Thing is there to lend a…hand.

The backup takes us back to the jungle for the next chapter of Gil Kane and P. Craig Russell’s gorgeous adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.

And Butch Guice provides this issue’s portfolio, featuring Wolverine, Kitty Pryde, Power Man and Iron Fist, Gorgon, and Howard the Duck.

The Man-Thing story is brought to us by J. M. DeMatteis, Joe Brozowski, and Gray Morrow. The Jungle Book is adapted and penciled by Gil Kane with inks by P. Craig Russell.

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What would have happened to the DC Universe if Superman had never been adopted by the Kents?

We explore that question with special guest Shane from Comic Geek Speak, our resident Justice League expert, as we dive into the DC Comics Elseworlds classic Justice League of America: The Nail by the legendary Alan Davis.

#GreenLantern #Batman #WonderWoman #Flash #Aquaman

In Marvel Fanfare 8, an amateur occult ritual goes horribly wrong and unleashes the Slitherer in Shadow! Luckily, Doctor Strange is around to deal with the mess. The story is brought to us by Peter Gillis, with Carmine Infantino on pencils and P. Craig Russell on inks.

Then things take a very different turn as Gil Kane and P. Craig Russell bring us the first chapter of an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. Yes, The Jungle Book. In Marvel Fanfare.

And finally, we get the first Marvel Fanfare artist portfolio, with five gorgeous pieces by Bill Sienkiewicz featuring Dazzler, Doctor Strange, Hulk, Moon Knight, Shanna the She-Devil, and Thor. We may have found the real reason to buy this issue.

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Ignition Press Publisher Filip Sablik joins us to talk about the launch of Ignition Press, reflecting on their first anniversary, the current lineup of books, and what the publisher has planned for the future.

We discuss how Ignition Press came together, the approach behind building a new comic book publisher, and some of the books that have defined its first year, before looking ahead at Ignition’s new and upcoming books, including Prima Apparata, Dinner Date, 12-Foot Skeleton, Mad Science Division, and Rampant Swine.

In Marvel Fanfare 7, the Hulk stumbles across Blob and Unus the Untouchable at a circus. Unus’ powers have gone haywire, making him so untouchable he can’t even eat! Luckily, the Blob is the one person who can get close enough to help. Then the Hulk shows up. What could go wrong?

The backup takes a much darker turn as Daredevil promises a blind boy he will find his missing seeing-eye dog. Let’s just say this one does not end the way you expect a superhero story to end.

The Hulk story is brought to us by Steven Grant, Joe Barney, and George Freeman. The Daredevil backup is by Bill Mantlo and George Freeman.

And starting with this episode, you can watch Side Stack on YouTube! See our smiling faces as we share pages and art from the issue while we discuss it!

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The hosts are not lost, but deep into DC Comics’ Legion of Super-Heroes! Special guest Raj returns as we discuss the classic Legion Lost by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, with art primarily by Olivier Coipel.

In addition, we talk about the brand-new Legion of Super-Heroes #1 from DC Comics’ Next Level line by writer Joshua Williamson and artist Hayden Sherman. Long Live the Legion!

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Marvel Fanfare #6 is full of magic and amazing art packed inside one of the best covers ever!

The main story pits Spider-Man against the Scarlet Witch in a fantasy dimension. What has caused these two heroes to fight each other? Or maybe that should be who?

The magic continues in the backup story as a new magician challenges Doctor Strange for the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme.

The main story was written by Mike W. Barr and Sandy Plunkett, who did the pencils with inks by P. Craig Russell.

The backup was written by Roger Stern with art by Charles Vess.

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With Spider-Man: Brand New Day bringing Spider-Man and the Punisher together on the big screen, we take a look back at Peter and Frank’s relationship through the decades in Marvel Comics.

We start where it all began with Amazing Spider-Man #129 by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru, featuring the first appearance of the Punisher and the Jackal. Then we jump to Punisher War Journal #14–15 by Carl Potts and David Ross, Punisher #2 by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, and Amazing Spider-Man #577 by Zeb Wells and Paolo Rivera. Four stories across four decades featuring two of Marvel Comics’ most popular characters.

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