Major Spoilers Podcast #1165: The Secret of the Swordfish

Flash Gordon returns, Darth Maul lurks in the background, Bill Schweigart talks Dirty 20, and we head into Euro-comics territory with Blake and Mortimer: The Secret of the Swordfish—great airplanes, dated politics, and a lot of weekly-serial energy.

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REVIEWS

STAR WARS: SHADOW OF MAUL #2

Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: Derrick Chew
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: April 8, 2026

THE UNDERWORLD EXPLODES WITH SCUM AND VILLAINY AS MAUL LOOMS IN THE SHADOWS! Ruthless mercenaries are looking to unload IMPERIAL treasure! Crime lord DEEMIS will stop at nothing to get it! Will CAPTAIN LAWSON be able to thwart the exchange of the smuggled fortune?

Rating: 4/5

You can purchase this issue via our Amazon affiliate link - https://amzn.to/4bXmIUI

FLASH GORDON #0

Writer: Dan Abnett
Artist: Manuel Garcia
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: April 8, 2026

A NEW ERA OF FLASH!

Bestselling writer Dan Abnett and veteran artist Manuel Garcia blast off into new worlds!

Flash Gordon has always been a maverick, on the football field and in the stars. But when he’s offered a job training the next generation of explorers, he’ll end up fighting for top gun! A “quick trip” around Neptune’s moons with Flash’s cadets turns into a deadly alien hunt – and one of the new recruits thinks they can save the day without the dusty instructor.

Introducing a new supporting cast – enemies and allies alike – and setting the stage for a swashbuckling new story, Flash Gordon #0 is a can’t-miss!

Rating: 3/5

You can purchase this issue via our Amazon affiliate link - https://amzn.to/3O4oJp4

DIRTY 20

Writer: Bill Schweigart
Release Date: May 12, 2026

Tommy Fugue never cared for the family business. But when his father—aka Big Al, aka King of the Denver Streets—assigns him the “summer job” of laundering money online, Tommy figures he can list some fake projects on FunFunder, pledge them with zombie accounts, and clean a dirty $20,000 in time for college in the fall.

Unfortunately for Tommy, he’s more creative than he thought. Just as he’s about to give his father’s capos a progress report, he sees that a roleplaying game he mocked up using his mom’s old artwork has been funded to the tune of $650,000… and counting.

The only thing scarier than an angry Big Al is a Big Al that smells cash and family bonding time. Voluntold by their mercurial boss to assist, various criminals and killers help playtest and produce Tommy’s 1,000 Blades of Tergivers RPG in the hopes they can truly turn a dirty twenty into legit millions.

At first Tommy sees game sessions with brothel owners, hit women, and a street captain with OCD as yet another example of why he needs to get out from under his father. But when Tommy realizes that being game master might help him uncover what these criminals know about his mother’s disappearance, it’s Game On.

Playing a game while making a game is tricky—especially when elements of the fantasy world keep blending into the players’ real lives. And when the streets declare the Family Fugue slipping, Big Al starts playing a new game, with rules only he knows.

Support one of your own! Bill has been a Spoilerite since 2010, and Major Spoilers references are often found in his books (including this one)!

You can purchase Dirty 20 via our Amazon affiliate link - https://amzn.to/41laCi4

TRADE DISCUSSION

THE ADVENTURES OF BLAKE AND MORTIMER

By Edgar P. Jacobs

At long last, a hardback collected edition of Blake & Mortimer is published in English! This first collection brings together the three episodes of our heroes’ very first adventure, The Secret of the Swordfish, introducing their nemesis Olrik, their habit of saving the world … and Jacobs’s love of airplanes!

You can purchase this issue via our Amazon affiliate link - https://amzn.to/4sVlf7k

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