When Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles become one of the most successful cartoons / toy lines / brands of the late 1980s, the creators' own Mirage Studios decided to put out a cartoon-inspired spinoff comic targeted at a more all-ages audience than the original gritty black & white series was. The monthly TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ADVENTURES -- spearheaded by Mirage artists Ryan Brown and Stephen Murphy -- wound up running for 72 issues over the next 7 years, and featured a phenomenal amount of lore and worldbuilding rarely seen in tie-in comics of the era.

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Everyone knows Robert Oppenheimer did NOT have an evil twin brother who murdered him, ate his brain, stole his identity, and took his place in the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. What THIS comic presupposes is... maybe he did? Years before Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" hit the big screen, writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Nick Pitarra detailed the secret superscience wonders and horrors happening at Los Alamos in their [intentionally-pluralized] "THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS" series from Image Comics!

Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/theveryfinecomicbookpodcast/ and send us questions to potentially read on-air via IG DM or via email at [email protected]

If you're enjoying The Very Fine Comic Book Podcast, don't forget to Rate it, Follow/Subscribe, and tell a friend! Listen to this episode for details on our new 5-star-review contest running through the end of September 2023!

They're the Oscars of the comic scene -- the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards! In this episode, we run through / share thoughts on this year's nominees and winners, the list of which can be read in full here: https://www.thepopverse.com/eisner-awards-comic-award-will-industry-2023-nominees-winners-graphic-novel-ogn-novels-comics-book-books

"You Won an Award. Congratulations!" by The Motern Media Holiday Singers, from the album "Congratulations Songs" -- https://open.spotify.com/album/1eCTrcvwml4Jr2fT73a5hV

In 1992, Don Rosa set out to chronicle the backstory of Uncle Scrooge, as originally detailed by breadcrumbs scattered throughout the many earlier stories by Scrooge's legendary creator Carl Barks. The end result was the twelve-chapter "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck", considered since then to be the definitive canonical history of the character.

"Just a Duck" by Moes Haven, from the album "Songs from Deep in the Vault (1996-2010), Vol. 2" -- https://open.spotify.com/album/4YqeNQo6wa5iccbg6GpvaU

Long before serving as the villain in James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3", the High Evolutionary was the chief antagonist in one of Marvel's biggest crossovers to date -- THE EVOLUTIONARY WAR event, which ran through all Marvel Comics Annuals in the Summer 1988 (including the confirmed-canonical ALF Annual #1). We take a look at all 12 chapters, warts & all!

"Charles Darwin: Good Scientist Guy!" by Papa Razzi and the Photogs, from the album "Somebody Needed to Make These Songs" -- https://open.spotify.com/album/04MJaDnCij30NCfgBzJb4b

Years before being adapted into the hit 1997 film of the same name, THE MEN IN BLACK was originally an independent 6-issue comic series written by Lowell Cunningham and illustrated by Sandy Carruthers, published by Aircel Comics in 1990-91!

Also discussed in this episode:

- Mike loves issue #1 of "Superman: The Last Days Of Lex Luthor" by Mark Waid and Bryan Hitch!

- Justin loves the hard-to-find "Bad Idea Comics" line!

- other film adaptations of fairly-obscure comics!

- the mysterious rivalry between screenwriters Scott Frank and Ed Solomon! (Somebody, please put the MIB on this case.)

"The Men in Black Song" by The Paranormal Song Warrior, from the album "Believe: Exciting Songs About Shockingly Mysterious Stuff" -- https://open.spotify.com/album/77jKIpJH0mDrqiEPZJr8EI

Right before "Watchmen" in the mid-1980s, legendary comic writer Alan Moore wrote an assortment of incredibly-enduring Superman stories for DC Comics. In this episode we discuss Moore's "For The Man Who Has Everything" and "Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?"

A reporter travels to the Amazon Jungle to investigate a missing worker and sabotage at a logging site in "The Amazon" by writer Steven T. Seagle and artist Tim Sale! Originally published as a three-issue miniseries by Comico in 1989, "The Amazon" has since been re-collected in a new hardcover edition from Dark Horse Comics.

"Welcome to the Jungle" by The Passionate & Objective Jokerfan, from the album "Songs Song Sing Songs Onion Llama" -- https://open.spotify.com/album/1qPmKfh8Jksmqd4zmpFFJj

On a remote island in the South Pacific lies Zander Cannon's KAIJUMAX, a maximum security prison for giant monsters! This senpai-tacular series is available in 6 six-issue TPBs from Oni Press! -- https://onipress.com/collections/kaijumax

"Going to Prison!" by The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man, from the album "Stuff That Happens" -- https://open.spotify.com/album/2bRzzuOZzwLj0zpCGN38v3

FLASH! AHH-ahhhhhhh!

Barry Allen wakes up in a changed timeline and is the only one who can set things right in FLASHPOINT, the 2011 DC Comics miniseries by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert!

This iconic story was the basis for the 2013 DC animated feature "THE FLASHPOINT PARADOX" as well as the 2023 live-action "THE FLASH" film.