The Very Fine Comic Book Podcast

We discuss Kate Beaton's award-winning smash DUCKS, Justin reveals he's a "Baseball Guy" and Mike loves The Mummy.

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We discuss Ben Marra's hyper-violent and hyper sexual Terror Assaulter: O.M.W.O.T., discuss Marvel's TRANSFORMERS, Mike makes another summer vow, and Justin continues with his Spider-Man Clone Saga Summer.

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We are loving ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER, so we decided to check out TWO of his mini-series: The J. M. DeMatteis scriped MARTIAN MANHUNTER and... Another one... That we'd rather not say.

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The epic crossover they said was impossible! In 1996, both DC and Marvel Comics collaborated on a blockbuster summer event that saw the two universes clash and temporarily merge into one hybrid mashup -- the Amalgam Universe! THRILL to the exploits of The Dark Claw, Super-Soldier, Doctor Strangefate, X-Patrol, and more!

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It's ADVENTURE TIME! We grab our friends [really just each other] and head to distant lands to enjoy the first few arcs of the Adventure Time comic book series, written by Canada's Own Ryan North! His entire 35-issue run is now available in the "Adventure Time Compendium Vol. 1" from Oni Press!

Closing song "Pendleton Ward Is Talented Excellent" by Matt Farley AKA Papa Razzi and the Photogs, from the album "I Feel Compelled to Make Good Music Songs": https://op /episode/index/show/27c12fb3-e909-4613-a8d0-738cdc0fdd45/id/38649340

Who is Jack Of Hearts??

I'll do you one better: WHY is Jack Of Hearts?!??

Jack's popped in and out of Marvel stories over the past few decades, but has never quite gotten the spotlight he's deserved -- UNTIL NOW.

FINALLY, here it is, as teased way back in episode 1 -- a deep-dive into one of Mike's all-time favorite Marvel characters, Jack Hart AKA the Jack Of Hearts, as created by the legendary Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen in the pages of "Deadly Hands Of Kung Fu& /episode/index/show/27c12fb3-e909-4613-a8d0-738cdc0fdd45/id/38649345

𝘑𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘒𝘠𝘓𝘌 𝘏𝘐𝘎𝘎𝘐𝘕𝘚 & 𝘑𝘖𝘌 𝘊𝘓𝘈𝘙𝘒 (𝘙𝘈𝘋𝘐𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘉𝘓𝘈𝘊𝘒) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘓𝘓-𝘚𝘛𝘈𝘙 𝘊𝘈𝘚𝘛 𝘖𝘍 𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘐𝘚𝘛𝘚 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘐𝘟 𝘋𝘖𝘜𝘉𝘓𝘌-𝘓𝘌𝘕𝘎𝘛𝘏 𝘐𝘚𝘚𝘜𝘌𝘚 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦, 𝘫� /episode/index/show/27c12fb3-e909-4613-a8d0-738cdc0fdd45/id/38649350

Ho ho ho! In this year's very merry Christmas episode of The Very Fine Comic Book Podcast, we look at the Santa Claus origin story KLAUS by writer Grant Morrison and artist Dan Mora! Originally published as a 7-issue miniseries through BOOM Studios, Klaus later returned in four oversized one-shots titled "The Witch of Winter", "The Crisis in Xmasville", "The Crying Snowman", and "The Life and Times of Joe Christmas". The entire run is now collected in THE COMPLETE KLAUS Deluxe Edition hardcover!

Ha /episode/index/show/27c12fb3-e909-4613-a8d0-738cdc0fdd45/id/38649355

Mysteries, murder, and missing men abound in the fictional maritime community of Hobtown, Nova Scotia! Welcome to HOBTOWN MYSTERY STORIES VOLUME 1: THE CASE OF THE MISSING MEN by Kris Bertin & Alexander Forbes, available now from Oni Press in a newly-colored edition by Jason Fischer-Kouhi. Highly recommended for fans of Twin Peaks and Locke & Key, Mike in this episode called HMSv1 "the greatest new-to-me thing I've read all year."

In this episode we brave the Xtremely graphic world of late-80s outlaw comic FAUST by Tim Vigil and David Quinn!

it's Mike Mignola's HELLBOY!

Before launching the Valiant Universe with the likes of Turok Dinosaur Hunter, Magnus Robot Fighter, Harbinger, and more, Jim Shooter's Valiant Comics published a handful of Nintendo-licensed comics in 1990-91 based on Mario, Zelda, Game Boy, and Captain N. Is there enough discussion-worthy content within those issues to justify/fill an 82-minute episode? Nope! -- but 1990s game nostalgia / game-adaptation discussions abound!

He's the merc with the mouth, and makes piles of money for Disney Corp with every quip and quote and catchphrase! But, what IS a Deadpool?? WHY is a Deadpool??? We attempt to answer these world-shattering questions, and may never know the real answers.

In this episode we take a cruise to SPY ISLAND by way of writer Chelsea Cain, designer Lia Miternique, artist Elise McCall, and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg! This 1970s-y tiki-tinged colorsplosion of assassins, cryptids, and cocktails feels to us like a thematic followup to Cain's awesome MOCKINGBIRD series for Marvel, also discussed here!

The Rocketeer blasted onto the scene in 1982, created by writer/artist Dave Stevens as an homage to pulp-serial heroes of the 1930s! Despite producing only a handful of issues of The Rocketeer's adventures, the character and Stevens' work were an inspiration to readers and peers alike, and led to the cult-classic 1991 film by director Joe Johnston. Dave Stevens passed-away in 2008 due to complications with leukemia, but his body of work lives on in THE ROCKETEER: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES, availabl /episode/index/show/27c12fb3-e909-4613-a8d0-738cdc0fdd45/id/38649390

Long after the demise of humankind, birds roam freely around the moon complete with fruitful trees, sophisticated fungal networks, and an enviable socialist order. Take flight to this post-apocalyptic bird utopia by Toronto's Michael DeForge, published by Drawn & Quarterly in 2022!

HOW have we not yet discussed Batman in the year and half of this podcast?!?? This era-defining story THE COURT OF OWLS from 2011 by writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo was a phenomenal benchmark for the character, creators, readers, and lore as a whole, delving into the history of Gotham itself and setting the stage for an incredible years-long run by the same creative team.

Originally published in 2014, the incredibly acclaimed THIS ONE SUMMER by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki is a coming of age story about two teenage friends, Rose and Windy, during a summer in a small beach town they both frequent with their families annually.

In this episode, a spell is cast on us by WITCH HAT ATELIER [ とんがり帽子のアトリエ ], the magical manga series by Kamome Shirahama [ 白浜 鴎 ] published by Kodansha and currently up to 13 volumes as of this recording! In 2020, the series won the Harvey Award for the Best Manga category as well as the Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia.

Justin's back from his trip to Japan with a massive pile of manga, many of which have never been translated/localized!

It's our annual oversized episode on TCAF, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival held every Spring at the Toronto Reference Library!

One of the very first DC Comics characters of the Golden Age, THE SANDMAN - aka Wesley Dodds - fought crime and injustice in 1930s New York City armed with nothing but his wits, a gasmask, and a gun that fired nonlethal sleeping gas. Decades later, the first issue of Neil Gaiman's legendary "Sandman" series would reintroduce the world to Wesley Dodds, now explaining that his motivations and equipment were inspired by Dream himself. The Sandman spinoff series SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE from DC& /episode/index/show/27c12fb3-e909-4613-a8d0-738cdc0fdd45/id/38649430

They may be the most-mentioned yet never-spotlighted writer on The Very Fine Comic Book Podcast to date: Grant Morrison! Their graphic novel THE MYSTERY PLAY -- featuring painted art by Jon J Muth -- was published by Vertigo Comics in 1994, and featured a chilling theological twist on the classic UK smalltown murder-mystery trope.

Two comic creator legends of their respective eras collide in 1997's JUDGMENT DAY, written by Alan Moore, drawn by Rob Liefeld!

On this April 1 episode of THE VERY FINE COMIC SNACK PODCAST! --