Better Than Fiction

Episode #577! DC Finest Suicide Squad, Library Book Bingo and Dark! This week DL brings the first collected volume of the Suicide Squad under the DC Finest imprint to the table. Trial By Fire collects the earliest issues and crossovers of the 80's version of the Suicide Squad. Meanwhile, Scott tells us about his progress on his Metropolitan Library Winter Reading Book Bingo card. We also talk about a couple of TV shows. DL has The Girl Who Raised The Dead from Living The Line's Smudge imprint. Check it out!

Episode #576! Our Best of 2025! Better late than never. Our top 5 favorite things from 2025. This episode your hosts Scott Sackett and DLNelson count down their favorite pop culture items (mostly books) they enjoyed last year. Five items. Honorable mentions. Check it out!

Episode #575! From Shadow To Light, Hero At Large and Brain Damage! Welcome back! This episode Scott brings a couple of comic book creator biographies to the table. N.C. Christopher Couch's Jerry Robinson Ambassador of Comics focuses on the art and career of The Joker and Robin co-creator. From Shadow To Light The Life and Art of Mort Meskin by Steven Brower takes a look at one of the masters from the golden age of comics. DL bring Shintaro Kago's horror manga Brain Damage to the table. Also this week Scott has the 1980 John Ritter movie Hero At Large. Plus Fantagraphics Donald Duck vol's 3 & 4 from Carl Barks. Check it out!

Episode #574! Cryptology and The Fatal Bullet! This week we look at Cryptology magazine #1. This issue features articles on Bernie Wrightson, The Munsters, The Addams Family, pre-code horror comics and has classic horror movie reviews. Also this week we have Rick Geary's The Fatal Bullet which tells the story of the assassination of President James A. Garfield. And we talk about the first two seasons of Yellowjackets from Showtime and Pluribus from Apple TV. Check it out!

Episode #573! Do A Powerbomb, Taschen Fantastic Four and Tulsa! This week Scott talks about the gigantic Taschen Fantastic Four book. At over 12 lbs and 700 pages, this monster of a book collects the first 19 issues and annual #1. DL brings Daniel Warren Johnson's Do A Powerbomb to the table. And we talk about another road trip to check out the comic shops in Tulsa. Give it a listen!

Episode #572! The Fantastic Art of Roy G. Krenkel and The Giant! This week we look at three book on two creators. First up Scott has The Giant Orson Wells, The Artist & The Shadow. Written and draw by Youssef Daoudi, The Giant gives readers a nice looking fictionalized biography of Orson Wells. After that, DL brings two incredible art books to the podcast. First is Craig Yoe's The Fantastic Art of Roy G, Krenkel which focuses on Roy's Amra zine illustrations. And also at the table this week is the oversized tomb Roy G. Krenkel Father of Heroic Fantasy A Centennial Celebration. At over 300 pages, it's packed with hundreds of images including pencil drawings, inked work, roughs, colored illustrations and paintings. Check it out!

Episode #571! The Shadow and The Wicker Man! This week Scott has The Shadow vol. 5 which features the stories The Black Falcon and The Salamanders. DL has vol.2 Frozen Gold from The Complete Carl Barks Donald Duck Library. Also on this episode Scott has the books Will Eisner's Shop Talk and The Art of The Real Tom Sawyer. DL brings Death In Trieste the newest book from Norwegian cartoonist Jason and the Frank Frazetta Gallery Series book Terror from the Frazetta Museum. And this episode, Scott performs a dramatic reading from Les Daniel's Comix! Check it out!

Episode #570! THB, Daredevil and Drome! This week DL brings two NYCC purchases to the podcast. Finally after 10 years or more in the making, Total THB vol.1 is out. Originally produced as single issues, large format comics and con exclusives, those long out of print issues are finally collected into a standard size trade paperback, available now. Drome, by Jesse Lonergan, is visual treat that shows the birth and early struggles of humanity with demigods and elder beings inserting themselves into the their lives. Scott has his new copy of Marvel Premier Collection Daredevil Born Again at the table. Also this episode DL talks about the 80's movie Eating Raoul. Check it out!

Episode #569! NYCC '25, The Frazetta Art Museum and New York! This week we are back talking about our trips to the east coast. While in Pennsylvania, DL (and wife) had the absolute pleasure of a guided tour of the Frazetta Art Museum from grandson Frankie Frazetta. After that he talks about his NYCC '25 experiences. Scott also had a trip to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and NYC the same week. He gives us the details of his trip which intersected with DL's. Check it out!

Episode #568! Works by Carl Barks, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko! This episode we look at a number of books featuring the work of comic's top creators. Scott starts by bringing two very nice Vanguard sketchbooks to the table featuring John Romita and John Buscema. DL has Ditko's Shorts from Craig Yoe. We also look at Fantagraphics' Complete Walt Disney's Donald Duck vol. #1, Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold. Scott has two Jack Kirby collections from Pure Imagination. Plus plenty of extras!

The Horror! The Horror!, Disneyland and Elric! The week Scott talks about his recent trip to Disneyland while visiting southern California. He also talks about scoring a hard to find book while on his trip. DL looks at the wonderfully gruesome book The Horror! The Horror! In his book Jim Trombetta examines 1950's pre-code horror comics with many examples of comics and covers. Check it out!

Episode #566! The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics, The Night Stalker and a Rebellion 2000AD Masterpiece Edition! This week we have four books to discuss. First up is the Mighty Marvel Calendar Book which reprints the seven Marvel calendars from the 70's and 80's. Scott has Tom Alvarez' How To Create Action, Fantasy and Adventure Comics. DL sheds some light on 50's horror artist Howard Nostrand with the The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics #8 Howard Nostrand's Nightmares. DL also has the Rebellion 2000AD Masterpiece Edition: Judge Dredd By Brian Bolland focusing on his amazing art. All that plus Scott talks a little about Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Check it out!

Episode #565! Hercules Unchained, Dungeons & Dragons World & Realms and Cryptology! This week we talks Dungeons & Dragons with a book and a documentary. First, from Ten Speed Press is their next hardcover Worlds & Realms covering Greyhawk and more. Scott has the documentary Eye Of The Beholder The Art Of Dungeons & Dragons. Scott also has two Hercules movies and a movie starring Laurel and Hardy. DL brings Cryptology magazine #2 featuring an 18 page article on Don Heck to the table. Plus extras!

Episode #564! The Greasy Strangler and The Green Slime! This week we talk about several movies we've watched recently. Scott talks about The Gamma One Sextet: The Green Slime and The Mask of Fu Manchu from the Hollywood Legends Of Horror collection. Meanwhile DL has some Good, Bad and Ugly picks featuring Ballerina, On The Line and The Greasy Strangler. Check it out!

Episode #563! Jack Kirby bios, Cryptology and Kevin Smith in OKC! This week Scott tells us about the 1981 film Scanners. Kevin Smith was recently in OKC (without Jason Mewes). DL talks a little about the experience and what happened to Mewes. We also spotlight Cryptology issue #3 and a couple of Jack Kirby biographies. Check it out!

Episode #562! The Illustrated History of Warren Magazines and Monster Zoo! This week Scott brings three works from Earthworm Jim creator Doug Tennapel to the table. While he touches on Creature Tech and Ratfist his focus is on his new acquisition Monster Zoo. Next up is The Book Palace's Illustrators Special #14. Loaded with photos, this square-bound 152 page magazine covers the rise and fall of the Warren line of magazines. Check this episode out!