The Comics Canon

We kick off True Stories, a series on autobiographical and nonfiction comics, with a look at Harvey Pekar's American Splendor!

While not the first comics work to chronicle the real-life exploits of its creator, American Splendor broke ground as an ongoing series that told an impressively diverse range of stories within the confines of an autobiographical, slice-of-life title. Along the way, it also made him a minor celebrity—first through a series of appearances on Late Night With David Letterman and later via a 2003 feature film starring Paul Giamatti as Harvey.

From observational musings about everyday moments to warts-and-all depictions of Pekar's obsessions, grudges and personal foibles, American Splendor helped to redefine what comics could be and do. But is that enough to help it survive on those mean streets known as ... The Comics Canon?

In This Episode!

• "You're doing a bit!"
• "This guy's a huge JERK!"
• What can Wallace Shawn do for ME?!!
• American Splendor, Crumb and Ghost World
• Our Cancer Year

Join us in two weeks as True Stories continues with Lynda Barry's emphatically punctuated One! Hundred! Demons!

Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook!

And as always, thanks for listening!

Join us as we ask the burning questions: Why hasn't the Fist of Khonshu broken into the A-list of Marvel heroes? And can any of these stories break into that subterranean tomb of the comic-book gods known as ... The Comics Canon?

In This Episode!

• The worst Moon Knight premise EVER
• A note about Warren Ellis
• The Midnight Mission and Lunatic
• Makhno: Ukranian Freedom Fighter
• Doc Savage Vol. 2 (1975-77)
• The Shadow: Blood and Judgment
• Synchronic
• Once Upon a Monster of the Week

Join us in two weeks as we kick off True Stories, a new miniseries, with a look at selected works from Harvey Pekar's American Splendor!

Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook!

And as always, thanks for listening!

Our Batman two-parter concludes with a discussion of Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, published by DC Comics! This popular miniseries serves as a de facto sequel to Batman: Year One, despite marked differences in size, tone and style, as a serial killer known as Holiday terrorizes Gotham City's underworld over the course of a tumultuous year, providing the backdrop for a shift in the city's criminal power balance from organized crime toward garish supervillains like the Joker, Scarecrow and Poison Ivy.

Can District Attorney Harvey Dent bring down Carmine "The Roman" Falcone with his sanity intact? (Spoiler alert: No.) And can this influential tale survive a night in that haunted house of crime capers known as ... The Comics Canon?

In This Episode!

• The January Man
• The Godfather and other movie reverences
• Solomon Grundy not have salad fork!
• Batman: Dark Victory and Batman: Joker War
• The Penny Plunderers
• The Big Heat
• Tales of the Batman: Steve Englehart

Join us in two weeks as we get ready for Moon Knight on Disney+ with: The Moon Knight Episode!

Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook!

And as always, thanks for listening!

We're back, baby! Just in time for the March 4 release of The Batman, we discuss Batman Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, published by DC Comics!

Following on the heels of 1986's acclaimed The Dark Knight Returns and DC's post-Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot, this four-part origin story (originally published in Batman #404-407) is steeped in the hard-boiled atmospherics of pulp, noir and gritty 70s crime flicks.

Will grizzled police detective Jim Gordon prevail against Gotham City's corrupt police force? Will a newly returned Bruce Wayne become the Dark Knight Detective we all know and love? And will this bare-knuckled take on Batman's beginnings take flight in that dimly lit back alley known as ... The Comics Canon?

In This Episode!

• Was the bat all in Bruce Wayne's head?
• The Roman: A missed opportunity
• Selina Kyle's apartment
• Daredevil: Born Again
• The City of Glass graphic novel adaptation
• The Batman: Year One animated movie
• Curt likes The Batman

Join us in two weeks as we extend our stay in Gotham City with a discussion of Batman: The Long Halloween!

Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook!

And as always, thanks for listening!

(Content warning: Sexual assault)

Our two-parter on comics legend George Perez continues with a look at The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect, published by Marvel Comics!

Eisner Award-winning writer Peter David brings a light touch to this alternate-future tale set in the appropriately named Dystopia, where a warlord known as The Maestro rules with an iron fist. A band of rebels travels to the past (and our present) to bring back the one "studly" who can take down the Maestro—the Hulk! Oh, and did we mention that the Maestro and the Hulk are one and the same?

Can Future Imperfect overcome outdated future slang and some rather problematic elements to leap feet-first into that shining citadel of post-apocalyptic periodicals known as ... The Comics Canon?

In This Episode!

• Can we make the "Perez Pebble" a thing?
• RAKOVLAM!
• Jim Valentino's Guardians of the Galaxy
• A Peter David/Mark Millar Venn diagram
• Curt gets a surprise visitor
• Hulk: Heart of the Atom
• The Immortal Hulk

Join us in two weeks as we look ahead to the March 4 release of The Batman with a story we've been wanting to do forever: Batman: Year One!

Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook!

And as always, thanks for listening!

(Content warning: Sexual assault)

In the first of a two-part series on George Perez, we discuss one of his most famous runs as a creator, the 1987 reboot of DC Comics' Wonder Woman!

Spinning out of the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths (also drawn by Perez), the series redefined the character in ways that are still felt today, from the comics to the recent Wonder Woman movies. And as plotter as well as penciller, Perez was the driving creative force behind these changes.

These groundbreaking comics gave Wonder Woman new depth and cemented her ties to Greek mythology. Can they also lasso their way into that Paradise Island known as ... The Comics Canon?

Discussed in This Episode!

• "Snakebeard makes a lot of sense!"
• A Wonder Woman/Watchmen connection?
• Kevin's Great Shame
• Peacemaker on HBO Max
• Wonder Woman Vol. 2: Challenge of the Gods
• Two Moons Vol. 1: The Iron Noose

Join us in two weeks as we discuss Peter David and George Perez's alternate future two-parter The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect!

Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook!

And as always, thanks for listening!

In N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell's Far Sector (from DC Comics' Young Animal imprint), Green Lantern Sojourner "Jo" Mullein is assigned to the City Enduring, a sprawling megalopolis of some 20 billion souls at the far end of space, where she becomes embroiled in a twisty plot involving politics, corruption and murder.

Can this timely sci-fi thriller, with its scenes of voter suppression and peace officers firing on protestors, blast off to that galaxy far, far away known as ... The Comics Canon?

Discussed in This Episode!

• Green Lantern/Green Arrow
• Forget it, Jo, it's The City Enduring
• Chekhov's armory
• Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke
• Usagi Yojimbo: Grasscutter
• Maniac of New York Vol. 1: Death Train
• My Bad

Join us in two weeks as we visit one of the seminal works in the career of legendary artist George Perez: The 1987 reboot of Wonder Woman!

Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook!

And as always, thanks for listening!

Larfleeze Navidad! Just in time for the holidays, we unwrap not one but TWO tales featuring everyone's ... favorite? ... DC Comics ring-slinger, Larfleeze, with a look at Green Lantern Vol 4 #39-42 and Green Lantern: Larfleeze Christmas Special!

First, Hal Jordan struggles to wield the blue light of hope as he and the rest of the space cops in the Green Lantern Corps face off against the menacing (and somewhat comical) Larfleeze, wielder of the orange light of greed!

Next, in a lighthearted change of pace, Larfleeze seeks vengeance on Santa Claus when the jolly old elf skips his house on Dec. 25!

Can Hal Jordan unlock the sinister secret of his avaricious new adversary—and teach him the true meaning of Christmas?

And can these salmon-tinged stocking stuffers find their way under the tree of graphic goodness known as ... The Comics Canon?

Discussed in This Episode!

• Larfleeze and a certain Lord of the Rings character
• Don't get Hal Jordan for your Secret Santa
• Larfleeze by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis and Scott Kolins
• L'il Santa by Thierry Robin and Lewis Trondheim
• George Perez's recent cancer diagnosis
• New Teen Titans Vol. 4
• Glen Weldon's beautiful appreciation of George Perez

Join us in two weeks as we ring in 2022 with a look at another Green Lantern story: Far Sector by N.K.Jemisin and Jamal Campbell!

Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook!

And as always, thanks for listening!

Author and podcaster Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics; Voice of Latveria) joins us to discuss his excellent new book, All of the Marvels, which examines the Marvel Universe as one single connected narrative that unfolds over six decades and 27,000+ issues.

We also look at a pivotal moment in Marvel Comics history from three different vantage points: Avengers (1963) #16, Thunderbolts (1997) #9 and Avengers (2016) #1.1!

Issues Addressed in This Episode:

• The surprising central character of the Marvel Universe
• The Life of Reilly
• The prescience (and odd timing) of Dark Reign
• How will we look back on the comics of 2021?
• New Avengers Vol. 6: Revolution
• Radioactive Man comics
• The French Dispatch
• House to Astonish and The Lightning Round
• The Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Yildiray Cinar
• Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons #1

Join us in two weeks as we ring in the holiday season with ... wait, this can't be right, can it? What's that? It is? Okay. Join us in two weeks as we ring in the holiday season with Green Lantern: Larfleeze Christmas Special #1 and Green Lantern: Agent Orange!

Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook!

And as always, thanks for listening!

In an exclusive deleted scene from last week's Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? discussion, Curt surprises Kevin with a pop quiz covering the first 150 episodes of The Comics Canon!