The Comics Canon

All My Xs, our decade-by-decade miniseries on Marvel's merry mutant franchise, rolls into the 1970s with a look at The Phoenix Saga from X-Men #101, 104-105 and 107-108, published by Marvel Comics!

Superstar writer Chris Claremont starts coming into his own in these issues, which introduce the Phoenix, reestablish Magneto as the X-Men's primary big bad, and inject a healthy dose of space opera (and more than a few Star Trek shoutouts) into this once-moribund title! And if that weren't enough, artist extraordinaire Dave Cockrum hands the book off to blockbuster artist John Byrne, kicking off one of the most impactful writer-artist runs in comics history!

Join us as we ask the burning questions: Do you think this Phoenix character will catch on? What's the deal with Eric the Red's costume? And can these pulse-pounding issues survive an encounter with that M'Kraan Crystal known as … the Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

· Sean Cassidy, 70s pop superstar

· Spoiler alert for 1986's X-Factor #1

· Star Wars and The Phoenix Saga: a timeline

· Wolverine: Old Man Logan Vol. 0: Warzones! and Vol. 1: Berzerker

· A specific moment from the first season of X-Men 97

· "No More Critics" from Matt Goldberg's Commentary Track newsletter

· Imperial #1

· Kevin's shocking confession about Fantastic Four: First Steps

Join us in two weeks as we forge ahead into the 1980s and the X-Men graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

In this episode, we kick off All My Xs, a decade-by-decade look at everyone's favorite Marvel mutants, the X-Men! First up, it's the swingin' 60s – 1969, to be exact, and X-Men #57-61, by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams, published by Marvel Comics!

Adams's creative and energetic artwork enlivens these issues, in which Scott Summers' brother, Alex, gets a cool costume to go with his new codename, Havok, and Larry Trask revives his late father's mutant-hunting robots, the Sentinels! And before they can catch their breath, the X-Men find themselves facing off against the energy-draining half-man, half-Pteranodon known as … Sauron!

Did Larry Trask program these Sentinels with extra snark? Was Karl Lykos bitten by a radioactive Pteranodon? And can our young mutant heroes survive that Danger Room training session known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

· Cyclops uses an unfortunate slur

· A highly sketchy use of Cerebro

· What if Karl Lykos had been reading Portnoy's Complaint?

· X-Men #62-63: Strangers … in a Savage Land! and War in the World Below!

· The new Fantastic Four movie

· Cow Tools Daily on Bluesky

Join us in two weeks as we revisit the birth of the Phoenix with a look at X-Men #101, 104, 107 and 108!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

Galactus makes his big-screen debut this week in Fantastic Four: First Steps*, which means it's the perfect opportunity to discuss his second-ever comics appearances in The Mighty Thor – specifically, issues #160-162 and 168-169, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, published by Marvel Comics! (For his comics debut, we humbly direct you to our very first episode from 2016!)

First, it's the war to settle the score, the brawl to end it all, as the Devourer of Worlds squares off against none other than Ego the Living Planet! And the Son of Odin and the Rigellian robot known as the Recorder are caught in the middle! It's classic 60s Lee/Kirby space opera at its most grandiose!

Then, we get a … somewhat disjointed look at Galactus' origin, including a rap session between Big G and the God of Thunder!

PLUS: We discuss James Gunn's Superman!

Does Thor stand a chance against this most colossal of foes? Will Odin act in a frustrating manner? (Spoiler: Yes!) And "Shall a God Prevail" against that sentient bioverse known as … The Comics Canon?

(*No, we're not counting the purple space cloud in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Would YOU?)

In This Episode:

· Actual sound footage of the Recorder!

· You should never have to see Galactus' knees

· Hush now! Odin's stories are on …

· How DO you pronounce Ra's al Ghul?

· Thor God of Thunder Vol. 4: The Last Days of Midgard

· Fantastic Four #171-175: Galactus vs. the High Evolutionary

Join us in two weeks as we kick off a miniseries on everyone's favorite Marvel mutants with a look at 1969's Uncanny X-Men #57-61 by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

On this episode, the upcoming Superman movie has us in a Justice League frame of mind, which is as good an excuse as any to discuss the classic Tower of Babel storyline, as collected in JLA #43-46 by Mark Waid, Howard Porter and Steve Scott, and JLA Secret Files #3, by Dan Curtis Johnson and Pablo Raimondi, published by DC Comics!

Batman's longtime nemesis Ra's al Ghul unleashes a plan to cull the world's population, and to ensure his success he proactively incapacitates the members of the Justice League! How does he do that? Funny you should ask! Turns out the Dark Knight Detective has been keeping files on his teammates, complete with ways to take them out! AWK-ward!

Can the JLA stop Martian Manhunter from bursting into flame, help Aquaman get over his deathly fear of water, and put a literally shattered Plastic Man back together again? And can this high-stakes tale of trust betrayed gain entrance into that Himalayan retreat known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

· J'onn J'onzz and those darn apostrophes

· What about the F-Sharp Bell?

· Is the best issue in the bunch the one not written by Mark Waid?

· Is Batman really, you know … wrong?

· Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

· JLA: American Dreams

Join us in two weeks as we prepare for Fantastic Four: First Steps with a look at The Mighty Thor issues #160-162 and #168-169! (Just go with us on this one!)

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

On this episode, we're getting ready for the July 11 big-screen debut of Krypto the Super-Dog in James Gunn's Superman with a look at the Silver Age origins of Krypto and his fellow members of the Legion of Super-Pets, as collected in Tails of the Super-Pets, published by DC Comics!

First, Superboy is reacquainted with his childhood pet and uses him to gaslight Lana Lang in "The Super-Dog From Krypton!" Then, Superbaby, the Toddler of Steel, butts heads with another denizen of his former homeworld in "The Super Monkey From Krypton!"

Not to be outdone, Supergirl gets in on the act when she meets Streaky the Supercat in "Supergirl's Super Pet" before embarking on the absolutely bonkers origin of Comet in "The Super-Steed of Steel" and "The Secret Origin of Supergirl's Super-Horse!"

Will Krypto's star turn usher in the SPCU – the Super-Pet Cinematic Universe? And are these Krypto bros ready for their close-up in that Amazing Zoo Crew known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

· The troubling male/female dynamic in Silver Age comics

· We have to talk about Superbaby

· Superman's questionable marketing tactics

· Big Girls by Jason Howard

· The Secret Life of Bat-Hound

· Companion

Join us in two weeks as we discuss JLA: Tower of Babel (JLA #43-46) by Mark Waid, Howard Porter and Steve Scott!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

On this episode, we discuss a Swamp Thing story that we're surprised didn't qualify for our recently wrapped We're With the Banned miniseries on banned and challenged comics -- Rite of Spring from Saga of the Swamp Thing #34, as well as its sequel, Windfall from Saga of the Swamp Thing #43, by Alan Moore and various artists, published by DC Comics!

First up, Abigail Cable finally professes her love for our sentient vegetable man. And in lieu of sexytimes, he offers her communion via a bite of one of the tubers growing on his body, sending her on a consciousness-altering trip that shows her the interconnectedness of all things.

Next we meet Chester Williams, an affable hippie who finds one of Swamp Thing's discarded tubers in the bayou. Part of the yam finds its way to Sandy, a woman dying of cancer. Another part of it ends up with Chester's unpleasant acquaintance Milo, and … let's just say things don't work out very well for one of them.

Like, does this mean Swampy and Abby are going out? Does the yam as a kind of cosmic litmus paper? Do kids today even know what litmus paper is? And are these two stories good enough to embark on that long, strange trip known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

· Curt's first experience with Rite of Spring

· A little heads-up would be nice, Swampy

· Kevin recounts an acid trip

· We know what the ellipsis means …

· The 1982 Swamp Thing movie

· Have we mentioned our recent appearance on Marvel by the Month?

· X-Men 97

· (We Could Be) Diving for Pearls from Swamp Thing #65

Join us in two weeks as we look ahead to the upcoming Superman movie by discussing (what else?) some stories about the super pets of the Silver Age!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

We're With the Banned, our miniseries on banned and challenged graphic novels, concludes (at least for now) with a stop at Daniel Clowes' Ice Haven, a "narraglyphic picto-assemblage" published by Pantheon Books!

A collection of comic strips covering a variety of styles and perspectives, this peek behind the curtain of suburban America introduces us to an absorbing cast of characters including bitter would-be poet Random Wilder, lovesick teen Violet Van Der Platz, her young stepbrother Charles, clueless detective Joe Ames, aspiring writer Vida Wentz, and … (ahem!) comic book critic Harry Naybors.

How does the abduction of uncommunicative tot David Goldberg affect our cast? What do Leopold and Loeb have to do with any of this? And can Ice Haven find itself welcome in that idyllic small town known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

· What's the deal with Blue Bunny?

· Is one of our cast an unreliable narrator?

· "Planting the Seeds of Divorce"

· We need to talk about Harry Naybors

· What does Daniel Clowes have against critics?

· Transformers Vol. 1: Robots in Disguise

· "The Falls" by George Saunders

Join us in two weeks as we discuss a pair of controversial Swamp Thing stories from the Alan Moore era: Rite of Spring (#34) and Windfall (#43)!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense FundImpress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

We're afraid you'll have to wait another week for our episode on Daniel Clowes' Ice Haven. But that doesn't mean you'll have to wait a whole week to hear Curt and Kevin talk at length about comics. In fact, you can hear them render judgment on some fun comic-book stories of yesteryear this very day! Confused? Kevin's here to explain.

On this episode, We're With the Banned, our miniseries on banned and challenged graphic novels, takes on the most banned book of the past several years – Gender Queer: A Memoir, by Maia Kobabe, published by Lion Forge Comics/Oni Press!

We discuss some fairly personal topics and fumble a bit (although not as much as we may have feared) with the author's preferred pronouns (e, em, and eir) as we discuss Kobabe's account of eir struggles with gender dysphoria and other issues on the road to identifying as nonbinary.

It's an important work, especially in our current cultural moment. But is that enough to guarantee entry into that bastion of One Direction fandom known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

· The Spivak pronouns

· A brief discussion of Barbarian

· Bad news from the future

· How did we end up talking about typing class?

· Curt's review of Thunderbolts*

· Gamemasters: The Comic Book History of Roleplaying Games

Join us in two weeks as We're With the Banned continues with a discussion of Daniel Clowes' Ice Haven!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

We're With the Banned, our miniseries on challenged comics and graphic novels, rolls on with a discussion of Yusei Matsui's manga Assassination Classroom Vol. 1: Time for Assassination, published by Viz Media!

Consider this a big ol' content warning, as this charming and bizarre story contains many scenes of attempted murder inside a school, as the underachieving students of classroom 3-E are charged with assassinating their teacher!

Oh, and that teacher, Koro Sensei, just happens to be a tentacled creature with a giant smiley face for a head, who's already destroyed most of the moon -- and threatens to do the same thing to the planet Earth unless our hapless junior high students can assassinate him before the school year ends!

This may be the silliest book we've covered on the podcast – far sillier than Ambush Bug for sure. But will that be enough to win a seat at that cool kids' table known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

· Why was this book banned?

· Voice casting Koro Sensei

· Sinners

· The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss

· Deadly Class Vol. 1: Reagan Youth, by Rick Remender and Wes Craig

Join us in two weeks as We're With the Banned continues with a discussion of Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense FundImpress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!