Some of My Friends Read Comics
SOME OF MY FRIENDS READ COMICS is a book-club format podcast about reading the great comic book stories for the first time. On each episode, your hosts will review a classic comic book story or run, examine how well it holds up, and figure out how it fits within the grand context of comics.
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227 - I Hate Fairylnd, Vol. 2 + Thunderbolts #1
05/01/2024
227 - I Hate Fairylnd, Vol. 2 + Thunderbolts #1
It's time to go back to Fairyland! We loved the first volume of Skottie Young's I Hate Fairyland when we read it back in 2020, so we thought we'd check out volume 2. Will the art still manage to simultaneously be cute and grotesque? You know it! Also, we begin our next long read with Thunderbolts #1 by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, with villains posing as heroes. How devious! Next Time: X-Men - God Loves, Man Kills
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226 - April Fool's Day 2024: Spider-Ham Fights Baron Zebro + Carol Danvers Dates Her Son + Earth X Finale
04/10/2024
226 - April Fool's Day 2024: Spider-Ham Fights Baron Zebro + Carol Danvers Dates Her Son + Earth X Finale
April Fools! We're doing some weird comics today, because that feels like it makes sense. We wanted to read Peter Porker and we only picked issue #16 because it had Baron Zebro in it. Then we read Avengers #200 because it's said to be one of the worst issues of all time, and it definitely deserves that accolade. And we finally end Earth X in issue #X, in which Spiders-Man wears a hard hat. The best thing in all these comics is the cool dinosaur that attacked Avengers Mansion. Next Time: I Hate Fairyland, Pt. 2
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225 - Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama + Earth X #12
03/27/2024
225 - Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama + Earth X #12
With the passing of Akira Toriyama, we wanted to take a look at his most famous work, and one of the most popular manga/anime series of all time, the Dragon Ball series. We go back to the first volume from 1986 and it's not what we expected! Then we continue Earth X with #12 in which... uhh... we can't remember anything that happened. Did anything happen? DID ANYTHING HAPPEN?? Next Time: April Fools Day where Carol Danvers marries her son in Avengers #200 + Spider-Ham meets Baron Zebro in Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham #16 + the Earth X Finale!
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224 - Avengers (1998) by Busiek & Perez + Earth X #11
03/13/2024
224 - Avengers (1998) by Busiek & Perez + Earth X #11
It's time for us to visit the late 90s with Kurt Busiek and George Perez's relaunch of The Avengers! Who will be on the new roster? Will we remember any of the history that Busiek digs up? And is it ever a good idea to relaunch a book with an alternate reality story? Then we go onto Earth X #11 where we say farewell to the character with the best one-liners. Next Time: Dragon Ball, Vol. 1
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223 - Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year One, Pt. 2 + Earth X #10
03/02/2024
223 - Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year One, Pt. 2 + Earth X #10
Superman's still a fascist and now his best friend, Lex Luthor, is here to help him change the world in the 2nd half of Injustice: Year One. Will Superman kill again? He will; he'll do it a lot. It's true Superdickery. Then we continue to Earth X #10 where the Skull continues to be a major asshole as Captain America and his forces attack. Next Time: Avengers (1998) #1-6 by Kurt Busiek & George Perez
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222 - Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year One, Pt. 1 + Earth X #9
02/14/2024
222 - Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year One, Pt. 1 + Earth X #9
When the Mortal Kombat team makes a video game based on DC comic book characters and you need to write the prequel story, what do you do? You turn Superman into a fascist, of course. We're reading the first half of Injustice: Year One from 2013, where Superman starts killing people, Wonder Woman supports him, and Batman don't like it. Then we move onto Earth X #9 in which the Red Skull has a pretty good line. Next Time: We finish Year One of Injustice (issues 7-12, or 19-36 digitally)
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221 - The Death of Captain America Pt. 1 + Earth X #8
01/31/2024
221 - The Death of Captain America Pt. 1 + Earth X #8
We've been building up to the Death of Captain America for a few years now, and it's finally time to read the most memorable moment from Ed Brubaker's run in issues #25-30! Find out if Cap's supporting characters can sustain the book without him! Also learn a lot about how secret psychic activation codes work. Then, we move on to Earth X #8, which continues to improve and also prominently features a werewolf astronaut. Coincidence? Next Time: Injustice #1-6 (or digitally #1-18 - the first half of Year One)
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220 - Spider-Man: The Owl/Octopus War + Earth X #7
01/17/2024
220 - Spider-Man: The Owl/Octopus War + Earth X #7
Let's do some more Spider-Man. Why not? It's The Owl-Octopus War from 1982 in Spectacular Spider-Man #73-79 by Bill Mantlo and Al Milgrom. The Owl gets beat pretty badly, but we also have some great guests in the form of Black Cat, Boomerang, Biff Rifkin, Deb Whitman, Deb's terrible psychiatrist, Peter's weird professor, and Peter's decaying mental state as he falls passionately in love. And then we move on to Earth X #7 in which stuff actually happens! Someone was secretly evil, and The Thing returns to his rightful place as the true star of this book. Next Time: We finally get to The Death of Captain America with Captain America (2004) #25-30
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219 - Superior Foes of Spider-Man + Earth X #6
12/13/2023
219 - Superior Foes of Spider-Man + Earth X #6
Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way first. We're reading Superior Foes of Spider-Man for this episode, but Spider-Man just isn't in this book. is the star of this short-lived comedy series and he's got a new Sinister Six that he's formed with four other D-list villains (that's right - these five make up the Sinister Six.). Join us as we follow the lives of these losers, and stay with us as we read Earth X #6 where Chewbacca joins the X-Men maybe! Next Time: Spider-Man - The Owl/Octopus War (Spectacular Spider-Man #73-79)
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218 - Emperor Doom + Earth X #5
11/30/2023
218 - Emperor Doom + Earth X #5
It's been a while since we read something from the Marvel Graphic Novel series, so we're going back to read Emperor Doom, a story where Dr. Doom steals Purple Man's powers and takes over the world. Doom actually does a pretty good job, until the Avengers screw everything up. It's really all Wonder Man's fault that world hunger is still a thing. Then we move onto Earth X #5 in which Uatu continues to be very mean to X-51. Next Time: The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #1-6
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217 - Spider-Girl + Earth X #4
11/15/2023
217 - Spider-Girl + Earth X #4
We love our Spider-Comics here at SOMFRC, but we've somehow never covered Spider-Girl at all, so today we took a look at the birth of Marvel's alternate future MC2 universe to see what it's all about. Little did we know, we would become Spider-Girl Mayday Parker ourselves, and we would truly feel the relationship between her and her parents, MJ & Peter. Then we go back to our other alternate future storyline with Earth X #4. Hope you like vibranium! Next Time: Emperor Doom
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216 - Captain Marvel (2012): In Pursuit of Flight + Earth X #3
11/01/2023
216 - Captain Marvel (2012): In Pursuit of Flight + Earth X #3
It's only been about 10 years, but the Captain Marvel redesign of Carol Danvers has already become the most iconic version of the character. With a new movie on the way, we're looking at the first volume of Kelly Sue DeConnick's run where the new image was introduced, titled In Pursuit of Flight. It's not what we expected. At all! Then we continue Earth X with issue #3 and... well... at least Spider-Man is in it. Next Time: We got to the MC2 with Mayday Parker in What If #105 + Spider-Girl (1998) #1-5
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215 - Harrow County, Vol. 2 + Earth X #2
10/18/2023
215 - Harrow County, Vol. 2 + Earth X #2
Spooks! Haints! Evil twins! Shrek! They're all here (except Shrek) in the second volume of Harrow County. We all enjoyed the first volume when we read it a few years ago, so we decided to jump back in to continue the story and see more of the excellently horrific art. Then we continue Earth X with issue #2. Are we on board with this series yet? Will we ever be? Only time will tell. Next Time: Captain Marvel (2012): In Pursuit of Flight
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214 - One Piece, Vol. 1: Romance Dawn + Earth X #1
10/04/2023
214 - One Piece, Vol. 1: Romance Dawn + Earth X #1
It's manga time! Until now, we've only covered manga adaptations of video games, but we're jumping into our first long-form manga with the wildly popular One Piece by Eichiro Oda. We read the first volume to figure out just who this straw hat kid is and why this book has spawned a whole media empire. Then we get into the meat of Earth X with issue #1, in which we try to determine if Spider-Man is a cop now. Next Time: Harrow County, Vol. 2: Twice Told
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213 - Swamp Thing by Alan Moore, Vol. 4 + Earth X #0
09/20/2023
213 - Swamp Thing by Alan Moore, Vol. 4 + Earth X #0
Swamp Thing! Do you still make our heart sing? We return to Alan Moore's classic series with Volume 4: A Murder of Crows, which collects issues #43-50 where we get some nice redesigns of Swamp Thing's flora. We also tie into the Crisis and meet lots of other heroes, plus we get some more insight into what John Constantine is like. Then we move onto our next long read with Earth X #0, which is set in the future... we think. It's hard to tell after this introductory issue. Next Time: One Piece Vol. 1: Romance Dawn
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212 - Fantastic Four by Walt Simonson + Knightfall #19 (Finale)
08/30/2023
212 - Fantastic Four by Walt Simonson + Knightfall #19 (Finale)
It's a time travel story! This week on the show, we're reading some Fantastic Four from the early 90s in issues #350 & 352, written and drawn by the great Walt Simonson (don't worry about issue #351). We dip our toe into the FF status quo from this era to see a new Thing? And then another new Thing?!?! Then we move onto the finale of Knightfall in Batman #500 where our new replacement Batman has his final fight against Bane. Next Time: Saga of the Swamp Thing, Vol. 4 by Alan Moore (Swamp Thing #43-50) + Earth X #0
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211- Nightwing by Tom Taylor & Bruno Redondo + Knightfall #18
08/16/2023
211- Nightwing by Tom Taylor & Bruno Redondo + Knightfall #18
The Eisner Awards have come again, so we thought we'd dip our toe into some modern comics with the winner of the best ongoing series, Nightwing by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. They're a few arcs into the book at this point, so we're starting with their first volume, Leaping into the Light, when the new creative team took over with issues #78-83. In this episode, we will also reveal the secret to creating the perfect Eisner-award winning comic. Then we near the end of Knightfall with chapter 18 in Detective Comics #666, in which we get a pretty great batprank on some goons. Next Time: Fantastic Four #350-352 by Walt Simonson
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210 - The Simpsons/Futurama: Crossover Crisis + Knightfall #17
08/02/2023
210 - The Simpsons/Futurama: Crossover Crisis + Knightfall #17
Bongo Comics has been publishing Simpsons and Futurama comics for decades. With the release of the new season of Futurama, we take our first look at this corner of the comic book universe with the Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Crisis collection, compiling two different 2-issue crossover events from 2002 and 2005. But how do these gag comics compare with some of the others that we've read? And will we be the next voice cast for the Groening-verse? Kia or Chris? The answers lie within. And of course, we continue our long read of Knightfall with Chapter 17 in Batman #499, in which nobody bothers to tell Robin anything at all. Next Time: The Eisner Award-winning Nightwing: Leaping Into the Light by Tom Taylor & Bruce Redondo!
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209 - Captain America by Ed Brubaker, Pt. 4 + Knightfall #16
07/19/2023
209 - Captain America by Ed Brubaker, Pt. 4 + Knightfall #16
It's been a long time, but we're finally getting back to some of Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America. We've been building up to the big death scene... it's gonna happen soon! We swear! Just not in this episode. We read issues #18-24 where Cap takes a trip to the UK and fights a giant robot with Bucky, and then the Civil War event breaks out and we spend some time with the ensemble cast. After that, it's back to some more of Knightfall with Chapter 16 in Detective Comics 665, where Bruce Wayne learns he can't fight thugs quite as well while he's in a wheelchair. Next Time: The Simpsons/Futurama - Crossover Crisis!
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208 - Spider-Gwen + Knightfall #15
06/21/2023
208 - Spider-Gwen + Knightfall #15
It's time to enter the Spider-Verse once again, as we revisit a world where Gwen Stacy became Spider-Woman. It's Spider-Gwen! We already read the introductory issue back when we covered Edge of Spider-Verse, but now we dive into the first 5 issues of the ongoing series from 2015 (before it got relaunched with a new #1 later in 2015). Then, we get back into the main story of Knightfall with Chapter 15 in Batman #498, where Bane takes over the city while Robin & Alfred tell lies and beat up cars. Next Time: We're taking a short summer vacation, but we'll be back in 4 weeks to march toward the Death of Captain America with Captain America (2004) #18-24.
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207 - X-Men: Days of Future Past + Knightfall #14
06/07/2023
207 - X-Men: Days of Future Past + Knightfall #14
This show's been going for over 200 episodes and somehow we've never covered Days of Future Past? It's only two issues too, a nice little self-contained story by Chris Claremont and John Byrne in Uncanny X-Men #141-142 (but we talked about the whole trade which contains #138-143). Then we continue our long read of Knightfall with Chapter 14 in Showcase'93 #8, in which Two-Face holds a legally accurate mock trial. Next Time: Spider-Gwen (2015) #1-5
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206 - Catwoman by Ed Brubaker & Darwyn Cooke + Knightfall #13
05/24/2023
206 - Catwoman by Ed Brubaker & Darwyn Cooke + Knightfall #13
It's noir time again as we revisit some Ed Brubaker! This time, we're covering his Catwoman run with artists Darwyn Cooke and Mike Allred which starts in The Dark End of the Street, a collection that contains two whole stories! The first is Slam Bradley on the hunt for Catwoman which originally ran as backups in Detective Comics 759-762, and then we jump into Catwoman #1-4 from 2002. And then it's more Batman as we continue Knightfall Chapter 13 with a strange Two-Face tie-in from Showcase '93 #7. -- Don't forget, Chris & Nick will be doing a live recording of the Your Stupid Minds podcast at Comicpalooza in Houston, TX on Friday, May 26 at 4:30 PM central. They'll be covering the 2004 Catwoman movie! -- Next Time: X-Men - Days of Future Past (Uncanny X-Men 138-143)
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205 - Aliens vs Predator 2: War + Knightfall #12
05/10/2023
205 - Aliens vs Predator 2: War + Knightfall #12
Aliens! Predators! Robots! Androids! Monkeys! Asshole Businessmen! Nerds! Marines! They're all here as we revisit Dark Horse's AvP crossover universe with 1995's Aliens vs Predator: War by Randy Stradley. We check in with Michiko again now that she's lived with the Predators for a year, and apparently she doesn't like it! Then we see the fallout of Batman's broken back with Knightfall Chapter 12 in Detective Comics 664. Next Time: Catwoman: Dark End of the Street by Ed Brubaker & Darwyn Cooke
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204 - Cosmic Ghost Rider + Knightfall #11
04/26/2023
204 - Cosmic Ghost Rider + Knightfall #11
Ok so Frank Castle (The Punisher) is imbued with the Spirit of Vengeance (Ghost Rider) and he goes back in time to kill Baby Thanos, but instead decides to kidnap and adopt him. Also, Frank was the herald of Galactus for a bit, and THEY FIGHT SPACE SHARKS. Hell of a premise in 2018's Cosmic Ghost Rider by Donny Cates and Dylan Burnett. After that, we finally get to the famous bat-back-breaking issue in Knightfall, when Bane scores a big victory in Batman #497. Next Time - Alien vs Predator: War (1995)
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203 - All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder #7-10 + Knightfall #10
04/12/2023
203 - All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder #7-10 + Knightfall #10
It's time. Time to revisit one of the worst comics we've ever read on the show... Frank Miller's All Star Batman & Robin, the famously crass and unfinished alternate universe version of "The Goddamn Batman." Our friend Nick (from the Your Stupid Minds podcast) joined us back when we read the first 6 issues, so of course we had to invite him back to talk about issues 7-10. We were all desperate for some classic Batman after that, so Nick also joined us as we continued our long read of Batman: Knightfall with Chapter 10 in Detective Comics #663. Next Time: Cosmic Ghost Rider (2018) + Knightfall #11 (The Breaking of the Batman)
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202 - Secret Invasion + Knightfall #9
03/29/2023
202 - Secret Invasion + Knightfall #9
April is nearly upon us, and that means we're about to hit our favorite holiday, April Fools Day, when the world famously decides to all read bad comics together. For our first bad comic this season, we're reading Secret Invasion, the 2008 Marvel event by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu. Which heroes are really Skrulls? Does it matter? Is this comic as bad as we remember? After answering those questions, we continue our long read of Knightfall with Chapter 9 in Batman #496. Next Time: All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder Pt. 2 (Issues #7-10)
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201 - Fantastic Four: Full Circle by Alex Ross + Knightfall #8
03/15/2023
201 - Fantastic Four: Full Circle by Alex Ross + Knightfall #8
It's been a long time since we read any Alex Ross but today we decided to take a look at his newest book, Fantastic Four: Full Circle, a story exploring some of the FF's past with the Negative Zone. Alex Ross abandons his painterly for something a little different, and he also wrote this book too! Then we continue our long read of Batman: Knightfall with Chapter 8 in Detective Comics 662, a story that focuses on The Riddler while Batman hangs out with a monkey. Next Time: Secret Invasion #1-8
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200 - 1963 by Alan Moore + Knightfall #7
03/01/2023
200 - 1963 by Alan Moore + Knightfall #7
It's our 200th episode! And we're celebrating by reading an unfinished comic that can't be purchased anywhere, Alan Moore's 1963 -- A 6-issue Image comic from 1993 that is one big homage to the silver age of comics, with art from frequent Moore collaborators Rick Veitch, Steve Bissette, and Dave Gibbons. We meet a bunch of brand new heroes who miiiiight tie back into the present day somehow. Then we move onto Chapter 7 of Knightfall with Batman #495 where Poison Ivy tries to kiss a bunch of rich people! Next Time: Fantastic Four: Full Circle by Alex Ross
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199 - Young Avengers, Pt. 2 + Knightfall #6
02/15/2023
199 - Young Avengers, Pt. 2 + Knightfall #6
It's time for the 2nd half of our Young Avengers two-parter! We dive into issues #7-12 and learn more about Teddy's birthright while also speed-running the secret of Billy's speedster twin brother (because they gotta wrap this series up ASAP). Then we continue Batman: Knightfall with Chapter 6 in Detective Comics #661, where we learn to NEVER mess with the firefighter's union. Next Time: Our 200th Episode Celebration with Alan Moore's 1963.
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198 - Young Avengers, Pt. 1 + Knightfall #5
02/01/2023
198 - Young Avengers, Pt. 1 + Knightfall #5
We're jumping back to mid-2000s Marvel with a 2-part look at Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung's Young Avengers, a brand new teen superhero team starring Kate Bishop, Cassie Lang, and some other friends from the MCU! We also get to spend plenty of time with Jessica Jones, Captain America, and Iron Man as they try to figure out just who the Young Avengers are and why Kang is involved. Then the Joker hires a Scarecrow-knockoff in Chapter 5 of Knightfall in Batman #494. Next Time: We finish Young Avengers with issues 7-12!
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