Episode 231: Assassination Classroom Vol. 1: Time for Assassination

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:
Continue reading

Posted in Episodes | Tagged , | Comments Off on Episode 231: Assassination Classroom Vol. 1: Time for Assassination

Episode 230: Pride of Baghdad

Content warning: Sexual assault, cruelty to animals

In this episode, We’re With the Banned, our miniseries on banned or challenged comics and graphic novels, continues with a discussion of Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon, published by Vertigo/DC Comics!

Based on a true story, this absorbing graphic novel follows four lions who escape from the Baghdad Zoo following a bombing by American forces in April of 2003. Filled with smart dialogue, sharp characterization and rousing action, it quickly makes you forget you’re reading a book about talking animals as it draws you into its vividly realized world and makes you care for its four protagonists.

Will Noor, Zill, Safa and Ali find food and safety on the deserted, shell-shocked streets of Baghdad? And will they at last roam free in that heavenly habitat known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

  • Curt’s no good, very bad day
  • Why don’t more people talk about Brian K. Vaughan?
  • Why has this book been challenged? It’s not because of the Iraq War
  • Three Kings
  • Four Lions
  • The New Gods by Ram V. and Evan Cagle

Join us in two weeks as We’re With the Banned continues with a discussion of Assassination Classroom Vol. 1 by Yusei Matsui!

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!

 

Posted in Episodes | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Episode 230: Pride of Baghdad

Episode 229: This One Summer

In this episode, we kick off We’re With the Banned – a miniseries on banned or challenged comics and graphic novels – with a discussion of This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki, published by First Second Books!

In this delightful, finely detailed coming-of-age story, friends Rose and Windy contend with their impending adolescence during a summer beach trip, set against a pair of contrasting conflicts revolving around pregnancy, communication and depression.

 

Will Rose get over her crush on store clerk Dunk and realize she’s backing the wrong horse? Will Windy ever slow down and take a breath? And can they prevail in that high-stakes game of Beach Blanket Bingo known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

  • Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
  • We welcome a surprise guest
  • Petit Maman
  • The Power Fantasy Vol. 1: The Superpowers

Join us in two weeks as We’re With the Banned continues with a discussion of 2006’s Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon!

Until then:
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!

Posted in Episodes | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Episode 229: This One Summer

Episode 228: Daredevil – The Devil in Cell Block D

In this episode, blind lawyer Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, is behind bars – but so are Hammerhead, the Kingpin, and a host of other hardened criminals in 2006’s The Devil in Cell Block D, by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark, published by Marvel Comics!

When someone close to him suffers a grisly fate, a spiraling Matt Murdock is bent on revenge!

And if that weren’t bad enough, Bullseye and the Punisher join the fun as simmering tensions come to a boil, resulting in an all-out riot!

 

Who is the mysterious figure manipulating things from behind the scenes? Who is the fake Daredevil patrolling the streets of Hell’s Kitchen while Matt cools his heels in the slammer? And can ol’ Hornhead win favor with that parole board known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:
Continue reading

Posted in Episodes | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Episode 228: Daredevil – The Devil in Cell Block D

Episode 227: Daredevil – Out

A mere 16 years after the Kingpin learns Daredevil’s secret identity in Frank Miller’s Born Again, that secret becomes front page news in 2002’s Out, by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, published by Marvel Comics!

Returning to his indie crime-comic roots, Bendis puts attorney Matt Murdock through the wringer in this compelling story grounded in street-level atmosphere by artist Maleev and colorist Matt Hollingsworth.

Is gaslighting your friends and loved ones okay if it means you can put on a costume and fight crime? Just how much are we supposed to root for a hero who doubles down on lying to the entire world? And can Matt Murdock get a fair shake from that sleazy tabloid known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

  • Homicide: Life on the Street
  • A few words from our sponsor
  • Some random podcast ideas
  • The Origin Story podcast
  • The Big Empty by Robert Crais
  • To Live and Die in L.A.
  • Daredevil: Underboss
  • Amazing Spider-Man: Civil War

Join us in two weeks as join ol’ Hornhead behind bars for The Devil in Cell Block D (issues #82-87), by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark!

Until then:
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!

Posted in Episodes | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Episode 227: Daredevil – Out

Captain America: Brave New World, Same Old Slop

Marvel Studios

Review by Curt Holman

When is a spoiler not a spoiler? Captain America: Brave New World builds to a revelation that would have been a delightful surprise had not the film been entirely sold on it in trailers and posters.

So it seems fair game for a review to mention that in the last act of the film, President “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford) transforms into the Red Hulk and runs amok on the White House lawn. Keeping the Red Hulk, a creation of Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness, an audience secret would have made Brave New World a more entertaining experience. But you can appreciate the marketers falling prey to that temptation, since Brave New World, with its stale premise and muddled execution, has so little to offer as an entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Continue reading

Posted in Movie Reviews | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Captain America: Brave New World, Same Old Slop

Episode 226: Thunderbolts – The Great Escape and Like Lightning

Our six-episode, six-decade overview of the Thunderbolts and the Masters of Evil comes to a close (for now, at least) as we discuss two time-hopping tales from 2011 and 2012: The Great Escape from Thunderbolts #163-165 and Like Lightning from #172-174, published by Marvel Comics!

Following the events of the Fear Itself crossover event, most of the Thunderbolts manage to escape their prison home, only to end up in World War II Austria, side-by-side with Captain America and Prince Namor, fighting the Nazi forces of Baron Zemo! Then, we skip ahead a few issues (and decades) as they find themselves confronting the original Thunderbolts, led by (Son of) Baron Zemo!

Can these temporally tossed antiheroes repair the timeline before they cease to exist? And will these issues be deemed an excellent adventure or a bogus journey by that Time Variance Authority known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:
Continue reading

Posted in Episodes | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Episode 226: Thunderbolts – The Great Escape and Like Lightning

Episode 225: Thunderbolts – Burning Down the House

Our decade-by-decade series on Marvel Comics’ Thunderbolts rolls into the 21st century as we discuss Burning Down the House, collecting Thunderbolts #126-129 and #132 by Andy Diggle and Roberto de la Torre, published by Marvel Comics!

After saving the Earth from the Skrulls’ Secret Invasion, Thunderbolts director (and Green Goblin) Norman Osborn is headed for bigger and better things … but not before he turns the Thunderbolts against each other on his way out the door!

Then, it’s high-flying mayhem aboard Air Force One as we meet an all-new T-Bolts squad led by Black Widow (no, not that one – the other one) and Osborn protects President Not Barack Obama from … the Green Goblin???

Will Songbird survive against the combined might of Moonstone, Venom and Bullseye? And will this new black-ops hit squad succeed against that Wild Covert Action Team known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode: Continue reading

Posted in Episodes | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Episode 225: Thunderbolts – Burning Down the House

Episode 224: Final Cut

In this episode, we look back at one of the best-reviewed graphic novels of 2024: Final Cut by Charles Burns!

When Brian, a shy, socially awkward artist, meets Laurie, the soon-to-be star of his new amateur sci-fi horror movie, she quickly becomes his muse, sharing space in his drawings and his mind with the film’s giant, pod-spewing aliens.

Like him, Laurie is an outsider, wrestling with her own inner demons.

But as his obsession with her grows, his grasp on his mental health weakens.

 

This vividly drawn tale of longing – to create and to connect – is part love-triangle teen romance and part love-letter to the science fiction creature features of a bygone era. But is that enough to make the cut with that Invasion of the Body Snatchers known as … The Comics Canon?

 

In This Episode:

  • Curt and Kevin’s 8mm adventures
  • We have to talk about Tina
  • The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn
  • Curt’s existential crisis
  • Brief thoughts on Madam Web and The Northman
  • Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 1: Married With Children

Join us in two weeks as we return to our decade-by-decade look at the Thunderbolts with a look at 2007’s Faith in Monsters!

Until then:
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!

Posted in Episodes | Tagged | Comments Off on Episode 224: Final Cut

Quizzical Canonical 6: Bring on the Good/Bad Guys!

You read that right – it’s time for another installment of our recurring comics-themed quiz! As we briefly pause our miniseries on Marvel Comics’ Thunderbolts, Kevin grills Curt with a series of questions loosely related to the theme of comics villains turned heroes!

We’ll be back in two weeks with a look at one of the best-reviewed graphic novels of 2024, Charles Burns’ Final Cut! Then on Jan. 29 we return to the Thunderbolts with a look at 2007’s Faith in Monsters arc by Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato!

 

 

Posted in Quizzical Canonical | Comments Off on Quizzical Canonical 6: Bring on the Good/Bad Guys!