FF #250 has the FF vs Gladiator, plus the X-Men (kind of) and the Skrulls, in a double-sized fight-tastic story. Then #251 sets up what is going to be a run of stories set in the Negative Zone. Your hosts, the Milksops, like it all. Plus we've got mail. Sop it up!

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The character that we refer to many times as "Guardian" is actually "Gladiator."

Three more John Byrne FF issues! We've got "This Land Is Mine" which makes the argument that Latveria might be better off when Doom is in charge. The Milkshops are not convinced, but also can see that Byrne is trying to give nuance to the main FF nemesis. We've got an Inhumans one-and-done story where the FF are trapped (and.. murdered?) by a huge alien. And finally a big battle against The Guardian (super-powered "knight" of the Shi'ar royal family) who thinks the FF are Skrulls! Makes sense, right? Plus we go through our mail which includes another "must read in full" letter from Chris Gethard.

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Kevin makes a really good case that this first appearance of Daredevil is one of the strongest first issues we've read. This is in contrast to the sort-of "second tier" status Daredevil will have for much of the 60s and 70s. Even after Frank Miller and Klaus Janson brought the title to the top of the sales charts in the early 80s, there have been almost no "bad runs" on Daredevil. Has he quietly been one of the best Marvel characters this whole time? Will perhaps unfairly compared this issue to the dark brooding stories he knows are coming in the title's future. It's also interesting that this issue is drawn by Bill Everett, creator and artist of the Sub-Mariner! He came out of retirement to do this one issue but had trouble hitting his deadlines. We also talk about the Guardians and the Galaxy video game a bit!

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Milksops Assemble! We go over Avengers #1. It's crazy and also good in the way a lot of early Marvel stuff is both crazy and good. Kirby's art is great. The inventiveness is BIG. The leaps is logic to justify the plot are .... ALSO VERY BIG. Big jumps. Why Hulk decides to "hide out" by posing as a robot in a circus is never going to make sense. Never mind that he... doesn't look like a robot when he's in disguise, He just looks like the Hulk with the smallest amount of clown makeup on. Or why Loki uses his power of illusion to lure the Hulk, rather than just... make an illusion of the Hulk. Or the fact that Thor doesn't really need the others. Or that the Wasp rides a flying ant across the country, or ... at all. But you know what? This issue is somehow really fun? Make mine Marvel!

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We cover the first appearance of a group of heroes that would change Marvel, superheroes and all of comics forever: The X-Men. And we find the issue: really rushed! Like, no backgrounds, crazy powers (even for 60s Marvel standards), a lot of panels with the team simply freaking out that a pretty girl is joining the team (Marvel Girl) and Magneto writes in the sky in surprisingly legible cursive. It's Jack Kirby, so even a rushed Kirby is dynamic and inventive and good, but there's a long way to go before the X-Men become the force we know of them.

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We cover the first appearances of Iron Man and Dr. Strange. We find Iron Man has a pretty solid story. Extremely problematic depictions of the Vietnamese? Yep. But the character of Tony Stark is well-developed, and much like he will remain right up until his rise to the top of the MCU. And you know we visit the 4-page introduction of the classic red and yellow armor, designed by Steve DItko. Speaking of Ditko, Dr. Strange has a slower start. It has the the terrific Ditko art. But since the initial few stories are just 5 pages each, it takes a few chapters until we have much more than Dr. Strange entering ghost form and punching other ghosts. But soon we have some beautifully designed villains and surreal nightmare dimensions. The Marvel Universe is starting to feel like a full place.

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We continue our examination of Marvel First Issues with the Ant-Man and Thor. We talk way more about Ant-Man than we expected to. But Ant-Man has a way of surpassing people's expectations. Who would have guessed that the hero of "The Man in the Ant Hill"  or whatever it was called in Tales to Astonish #27 would go on to be Marvel's second-ever super-hero? Not the Milksops. But that is exactly what he is. And that's despite: odd powers, a shifting origin story, a complete lack of logic within his strategies, and aliens made of (drum roll) formic acid. We eventually move onto Thor's first apperence. The art is far superior and the story... mostly superior. But still a long ways to go in terms of how important the Mighty Thor will become to the Marvel Universe. But for all the craziness of these stories, they ARE fun. We kinda want to read more Ant-Man!

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We start a new season analyzing the number 1 issues of all the original Marvel Comics series. Today we start with the big three: Spider-Man, FF and Hulk. Known informally (to us) as "the good ones" this discussion gives us an excuse to again celebrate the special alchemy of creativity, recklessness and just plain goodness that made these issues such milestones. We also discuss Alan Moore's new short story collection "Illuminations" and the recent DC movie "Black Adam."

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The Milksops were guests on the terrific comics podcast Marvel By The Month to discuss the Alan Moore penned series 1963. This is that episode presented here in our feed for the convenience of our listeners / laziness of us. "1963" was published in 1993 by then-new Image Comics. It was Alan Moore's homage to the superhero books of the early 60s, basically the birth of the Silver Age. We have a Captain America-like person, a Fantastic Four-ish group, a Spider-Man sorta fella, and lots more. And it wouldn't be an Alan Moore book without 2 or so pages of straight prose in impossibly small type. Part love letter, part satire, all fun.

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On the FF side of things, we start with the fate of Galactus and Frankie Raye, and we end with the beginning of a Dr. Doom story ("Too Many Dooms!"). Both fine issues. But in the middle we have one of the best FF issues ever, and certainly one of the signature issues of John Byrne's run - #245 "Childhood's End." It's Byrne's thesis statement on Susan RIchards, The Invisible Girl. What makes her special, powerful, indispensible? It is demonstrated masterfully in this tale, where Susan takes on a mysterious enemy so powerful he dispenses with Reed Ben and Johnny with little more than a thought. Two Milksops up! On the correspondence side, we get into some corrections on more Will Hines factual errors, a request for a no-prize (denied, for the first time ever) and a discussion of the inimitable Forbush Man.

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