Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!

Today on the program we discuss what can best be described as a “completely bonkers” comic…The Brave and the Bold #148: The Night the Mob Stole Christmas written by Bob Haney and drawn by Joe Staton and Jim Aparo. In this epic holiday tale, we find Batman and Plastic Man teaming up to foil the nefarious plot of cigarette smugglers (buttleggers) to steal a holiday display from downtown Gotham and thus ruin Christmas. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say it would be a dark night if that happened!

In addition, we give our annual list of “Best Of” comics. They are as follows:

As always, thanks for listening and have a very happy holiday with those you love!

WE STILL WANT YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS!

And if you’d like to contact the show, you have options:

Email: [email protected]

Go to any or all of those places, leave a comment, and let us know your thoughts.

And as always thanks for listening everyone!

Keep reading comics. Be well. Cheers.

Music played on the episode:

Music by Maksym Dudchyk from Pixabay

The post Collected Edition: Episode 116: The Night the Mob Stole Christmas appeared first on The Collected Edition.

On this episode, we discuss The Scarlet Witch by James Robinson. This is a beautiful book with a rotating roster of artists that takes Wanda Maximoff on a world tour to redo/retcon/reimagine her origin story and find redemption. She also gets to be a bad-ass witch.

In addition, we discuss the finale of Agatha All Along and the first few episodes of Creature Commandos.

As always, thanks for listening.

WE STILL WANT YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS!

And if you’d like to contact the show, you have options:

Email: [email protected]

Go to any or all of those places, leave a comment, and let us know your thoughts.

And as always thanks for listening everyone!

Keep reading comics. Be well. Cheers.

The post Collected Edition: Episode 115: The Scarlet Witch appeared first on The Collected Edition.

On this episode, we discuss the epic that is The Dark Phoenix Saga. There are certain works that we call “seminal” “iconic” or “classic” but none truly live up to those monikers like this story.  Written by Chris Claremont and drawn by John Byrne, this is the big one, the story that dwarfs all others. It is the culmination of years of storytelling and soap opera narrative. Does it live up to its reputation? Yes, its really good.

In addition, we talk about the greatness that is Chris Claremont.

As always, thanks for listening.

WE STILL WANT YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS!

And if you’d like to contact the show, you have options:

Email: [email protected]

Go to any or all of those places, leave a comment, and let us know your thoughts.

And as always thanks for listening everyone!

Keep reading comics. Be well. Cheers.

The post Collected Edition: Episode 114: X-Men The Dark Phoenix Saga appeared first on The Collected Edition.

On this episode we talk about we talk about a horror crossover that launched and entire sub-genre: Afterlife with Archie by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla. The Archie gang meets zombies. It is an unlikely horror comic that is genuinely horrific and genuinely moving.

In addition we talk about Agatha All Along (again) and the relaunch of Vertigo. Both great things.

As always, thanks for listening.

WE STILL WANT YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS!

And if you’d like to contact the show, you have options:

Email: [email protected]

Go to any or all of those places, leave a comment, and let us know your thoughts.

And as always thanks for listening everyone!

Keep reading comics. Be well. Cheers.

Music played on the episode:

The post Collected Edition: Episode 113: Afterlife with Archie appeared first on The Collected Edition.

On this episode we discuss The Suicide Squad: Trial By Fire by John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell – the seminal run that pretty much defined the Suicide Squad right up till this very day. Lots of moral ambiguity and pragmatic decisions.

In addition we talk about Marvel and DC losing the trademark for Super Heroes. Related note: did you know Marvel and DC losing had the trademark for Super Heroes? Also, we discuss the first few episodes of Agatha All Along. Spoiler: its good!

As always, thanks for listening.

WE STILL WANT YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS!

And if you’d like to contact the show, you have options:

Email: [email protected]

Go to any or all of those places, leave a comment, and let us know your thoughts.

And as always thanks for listening everyone!

Keep reading comics. Be well. Cheers.

The post Collected Edition: Episode 112: Suicide Squad appeared first on The Collected Edition.

On this episode we talk about The Smurfs. Yes, the Smurfs. The original comics from the 196s written and drawn by the Belgian author Peyo. Specifically we will be discussing four stories: Purple Smurfs, The Smurfette, King Smurf, and Smurf vs Smurf. This was meant to be a frivolous conversation about a kid’s comic but surprisingly there were deeper themes hiding under the surface. Who knew?

In addition we talk about comic book smells, ramble for a while about what a kid’s comic really is, and we mention our lunch.

As always, thanks for listening.

WE STILL WANT YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS!

And if you’d like to contact the show, you have options:

Email: [email protected]

Go to any or all of those places, leave a comment, and let us know your thoughts.

And as always thanks for listening everyone!

Keep reading comics. Be well. Cheers.

Music played on the episode:

The post Collected Edition: Episode 111: The Smurfs appeared first on The Collected Edition.

On this episode we talk about the one and only Canadian super team Alpha Flight written and drawn by John Byrne. This is a very 1980s comic – that can be a good thing and a bad thing. In this case more good than bad. Lots of new situations, new heroes, a new country, and a very daring choice for a particular character’s lifestyle. John Byrne took some chances.

In addition we talk about the new X-Men reboot/relaunch. Is this the new “jumping on” point that we’ve been waiting for? Maybe. Will the uncomplicated narratives last. Probably not.

As always, thanks for listening.

WE STILL WANT YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS!

And if you’d like to contact the show, you have options:

Email: [email protected]

Go to any or all of those places, leave a comment, and let us know your thoughts.

And as always thanks for listening everyone!

Keep reading comics. Be well. Cheers.

Music played on the episode:

The post Collected Edition: Episode 110: Alpha Flight appeared first on The Collected Edition.

On this episode we talk about The Crow written and drawn by James O’Barr. First off…content warning. This comic deals with extreme violence, self harm, and sexual assault. This might not be for everyone. The Crow is of course the Goth classic (?) that has spawned multiple movies and a TV show, and pretty much epitomized the Goth look and feel for many. Is it any good? Well, we’ll tell you.

In addition we talk about Roy Thomas being kind of a dick, as well as DC’s new All-In and Absolute initiatives. Will they be good? Sure, why not?

As always, thanks for listening.

WE STILL WANT YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS!

And if you’d like to contact the show, you have options:

Email: [email protected]

Go to any or all of those places, leave a comment, and let us know your thoughts.

And as always thanks for listening everyone!

Keep reading comics. Be well. Cheers.

Music played on the episode:

The post Collected Edition: Episode 109: The Crow appeared first on The Collected Edition.

After a long hiatus we are in fact back baby! And to kick it off its a good one, Howard the Duck by the legendary Steve Gerber and the equally legendary Gene Colan. And not just any old story either, but the time Howard ran for President in 1976! It was a tumultuous time in America’s history with extreme partisan politics, underhanded campaign tactics, and general distrust in government. Glad we’re past all that now. *sigh* Anyhoo, its a fun comic.

In addition we talk about the comic from 2024 we’ve been enjoying so far. Hey, we go a lot to catch up on!

As always, thanks for listening.

WE STILL WANT YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS!

And if you’d like to contact the show, you have options:

Email: [email protected]

Go to any or all of those places, leave a comment, and let us know your thoughts.

And as always thanks for listening everyone!

Keep reading comics. Be well. Cheers.

Music played on the episode:

The post Collected Edition: Episode 108: Howard the Duck appeared first on The Collected Edition.

After a long, unplanned hiatus The Collected Edition will be back with brand new episodes starting in July 2024. This is just a brief announcement episode to explain where we’ve been and what will be coming. Thanks, everyone for your patience while we’ve been gone and I hope you will join us again for new and exciting conversation about famous and infamous comics!

And as always, thanks for listening.

WE STILL WANT YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS!

And if you’d like to contact the show, you have options:

Email: [email protected]

Go to any or all of those places, leave a comment, and let us know your thoughts.

And as always thanks for listening everyone!

Keep reading comics. Be well. Cheers.

The post Collected Edition – New Episodes Coming Soon appeared first on The Collected Edition.