Jace, Manny and Jay talk about some of the titles hitting stands the week of February 17, 2021. Stillwater #6 ratchets up the action all the way as the first arc comes to a close. The Last Ronin #2 picks up where #1 left off, but the guys wonder how much the long delay between issues hurt the series. Future State Catwoman #2 ends one of the best titles DC has put out during this peek into the future so you should give it a look. Savage is indicative of that kinds of books Valiant is putting out and the guys can't help but feel a little let down over the quality of what was once a top publisher. Shadow Doctor #1 is another incredible debut from AfterShock and Declan Shalvey's take on the Immortal Hulk in Flatline #1 should not be missed. Spider-Woman continues to impress from writer Karla Pacheco and may go down as the definitive run for Jessica Drew. We end of with three books of the week this time, Haha #2 from Manny, Jay gives his nod to Black Widow #5 which finishes off the first arc of Kelly Thompson's run that has humanizes Natasha and Jace gives his nod to Iron Man #6 as Tony Stark reaches his breaking point and is about to show Korvac he shouldn't have messed with Stark! We also give a rundown of some other titles you may want to be on the lookout for!

Jace is joined by Peter Marinari, better known as Krisis from the Crushing Krisis website It's an incredible resource for reading order & other comic book data about chronology, characters & more. We use it ourselves & if you follow our Marvel Chronology: Thanos Reading Order you probably already know that. Jace chats with Krisis about how he discovered comics and his first steps towards establishing his website. The guys also talk about balancing reading content, creating data for the website and injecting personality into coverage. Their a lot of great info here for fans of comics whether you want to learn the history of your favorite characters or catch up on current storylines.

Jace and Jon-Paul take a look at Powers of X #3 as we learn the plan that Apocalypse has for the few remaining Sol Mutants. Why have they stayed behind on earth and just what have they been fighting the machine-man alliance for? It's all revealed in this issue and the stakes have never been higher. Can they succeed and what will the cost be? Also why are the humans giving so much of themselves and the control of the human race to the machines? We certainly know how Nimrod feels about the human species and if there was any doubt, this issue clears it up for sure.

Jace chats with writer Steve Orlando about his upcoming AfterShock title Patron project. What happens when the world's most beloved superhero seemingly returns being killed by a terrible foe, but that return is actually a conspiracy to trick the world into thinking the hero survived? That question only scratches the surface of the complicated & intriguing premise Steve is exploring in this upcoming AfterShock title. Plus Jace and Steve talk about the AfterShock original graphic novel Steve co-wrote with Phillip Kennedy Johnson featuring art by Alec Morgan, Kill A Man. A powerful and personal story, the guys get into the collaborative process with Steve explain how the ending was specifically a part of that collaboration. Finally, Steve talk about his Commanders in Crisis series from Image and how it celebrates comics while exploring some relevant themes.

Jace is joined by Trevor from Dark Knight Nation and Rocky from ComicBoom! to discuss week five of Future State from DC Comics. This week takes a bit of a down turn in quality, which the guys weren't really happy about. The second issues are starting to be released and they are supposed to wrap up these storylines and give us some conclusions to the threads that have run throughout Future State. Unfortunately it seems many of the titles may have a less than satisfying conclusion. That being said, it's now all bad and some of the books are definitely worth your time.

Jace chats with comic creator Steve Bryant about his new Athena Voltaire Kickstarter campaign. They talk about the early days of Athena and how Steve has remastered her over time. We touch on the inspirations Steve pulled from in bringing Athena to life and how visually he wanted her to look feminine but not over the top. We follow Athena's journey to various publisher's and talk about the current logistics of the campaign and distributing with Action Labs. There's tons of great Athena information in this one so take a listen!

Jace, Manny and Jay talk about some of the comics they have read for the week of February 10, 2021. It's not the best week in comics, but there are a few titles that really stand out. Scout's Honor #2 shows that this title from AfterShock is going to be a wild ride from start to finish. Also from AfterShock Red Atlantis #4 is still giving us that action movie feel with plenty of spy and espionage story beats as well. Knock 'Em Dead, also from AfterShock gets a Book of the Week nod from Manny and Jace as this story really hits its stride in issue #3. Jay gives his Book of the Week to Radiant Black, which is not only the biggest launch of the week, but the biggest launch of the year so far. Shades of early Spider-Man or Invincible, with great artwork and colors. Don't miss this one!

Jace is joined by Behind the Panel producer, writer and host, Mike Avila. A life long comics fan Mike shares with us his early love of the medium and how it expanded his vocabulary and started a life long love of reading. We also talk about comic distribution and how things have changed over time. Jace and Mike talk about some of the nuts and bolts of comic's journalism and finding the balance between being an outlet for publishers to market their books and staying true to journalistic integrity. Mike recounts some of his favorite creator and convention moments and let's us in on what he spent 2020 catching up on in comics (Hint: he's friendly and may live in your neighborhood). Finally Mike makes a bold statement on the single greatest non-powered character in the Marvel Universe. Think you know who it is? You will have to listen to find out for sure.

Jace and Jon-Paul continue to break down the re-launch of the X-Men corner of the Marvel Universe from the mind of Jonathan Hickman. In the second issue of Powers of X, we see the real world consequences of the lives Moira MacTaggert has lived. It spurs an unlikely alliance that changes everything and sets the stage for what's to come. Hickman gives us plenty of glimpses into those futures starting with seeing Cyclops with a confidence and swagger we can't recall him ever having before, but we like it! Further into the future we see Apocalypse showing confidence as well, but his confidence may be crossing the line into arrogance and could cost his team dearly. Finally as we glance over a thousand years into the X-Men's future it's time for everyone to put on their thinking caps, because Hickman's going to Hickman. By this we mean, he gives us some wild, esoteric and theoretical concepts that take a bit of brain power to understand.

Jace takes a look at Uncanny X-Men #15. Captain America shows up to give the X-Men some advice and offer some help, but Scott & Logan aren't sure they can trust him. Meanwhile it seems like Dark Beast may be the one they should worry about because he seems to be plotting something. Our heroes don't find out what it is until after they are called into action to face off against the MLF who now count Banshee and Hope Summers among their members. Confronting his granddaughter doesn't exactly go the way Cyclops might want or expect, but luckily Wolverine is there to be sure she doesn't get away with it. It's a different side of Hope and only time will tell if Scott can reconcile what Hope has done to him.