Comic Book Herald

Zack & Dave continue their coverage of the Ultimate Marvel line of comics! Topics discussed include: * Should Sinister Six be more unforgiving of Nick Fury? * Dave and Zack don’t find Black Cat sexy, MARK! * Happy to report that Ultimate Fantastic Four has no writer! Phew! Comics covered in this episode: *Ultimate Spider-Man #46 *Ultimate Six #1-7 *Ultimate Spider-Man #47-53 *Ultimate Fantastic Four #7-12 Up Next for Episode Nine (02/01/21): *Ultimate X-Men #34-39 *Ultimate Adventures #1-6 *Ultimate Spider-Man #54-64 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ultimate-marvel-universe-reading-order/ Music for My Ultimate Year is credited to By Divine Right. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post MUY #8: Ultimate Sinister Six & Ultimate Doctor Doom! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1988. Captain America & Iron Man Armor Wars! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Captain America #337, 340 to 341, #345 Iron Man #225 to #231 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – 1989 Pt. 1 Inferno reading order. a zillion tie-ins. You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: The Complete Marvel reading order mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post 1988 Pt. 5: Iron Man Armor Wars & Captain America by Mark Gruenwald! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Zack & Dave cover your holiday questions and share their year-end favorites from 2020! Topics discussed include: Listener questions! Our favorite comics, books, games, & music of the year! Find the MMY shared universe Wiki here: https://my-marvelous-year.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Patron_characters Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Seven: 1988 Pt. 5 — Captain America #337, 340 to 341, #345 Iron Man #225 to #231 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post 2020 MMY Year-End Holiday Special! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

In late 1988 and 1989, Marvel’s X-Men line built to a decade in the making universe-wide crossover event, Inferno! The world outside your window became infested with a demonic takeover, literalizing Hell on Earth, and arguably the first and largest all-hands-on-deck Marvel Comics invasion, in what has now become an event staple, from Secret Invasion to Empyre to King in Black. While conceptually this may sounds simple, Inferno is anything but, with years of X-Men storylines and continuity woven into the saga that in so many ways marks the end of both the Chris Claremont and Louis Simonson corners of the X-Men Universe that dominate Marvel’s 1980s. Today I’ll answer: What is Inferno and what’s it’s legacy in X-comics today? What happens in Mister Sinister’s true debut and his obsession with the Summers/Grey bloodline? Is Inferno satisfying as the unofficial END of Chris Claremont’s time of X-Men? It all builds to this – does it work? A theory for how Inferno connects to Sinister’s secrets from House and Powers of X Much, much more Get the Inferno Omnibus Here (affiliate link): https://geni.us/x-men-inferno Taken on its own, Inferno is a fairly confusing, sprawling massive event, with enough standalone highlights – Mister Sinister’s star debut, Daredevil fighting a vacuum cleaner – to remain entertaining if a LOT. Plus, there’s enough star power across various tie-ins – The Michelinie/MacFarlane Amazing Spider-Man fresh off the debut of Venom in issue #300, Walt Simonson writing Avengers, Nocenti/Jr Jr Daredevil, Claremont and Alan Davis on Excalibur – to make Inferno Marvel’s best mega crossover event of the 1980’s (sure, the bar to clear is basically Secret Wars II, but still!). But really, it’s nigh on impossible to take Inferno on its own, and again, I think it’s far more accurate to view the event as the end of an X-Men era. And as with all moments in ongoing Big 2 superhero comics, every ending is also a beginning. There are effectively two primary threads that drive Inferno, Illyana Rasputin, aka Magik’s, full transformation into the Darkchylde and ruler of Limbo, and the revelations of Madeylne Pryor’s true origins, and the ramifications that knowledge has turning her into the Goblin Queen. In either case, women of the X-Universe turn to demonic allies for a full-on takeover of Earth, and desire to see the world burn in Hellfire. Both threads were impressively set in motion years earlier. Modern readers like to talk a lot about Jonathan Hickman’s ability to seed plots and storylines years in advance, and to effectively tackle them and give each seed its due much later in a grand tapestry of interlocking story. I actually think the 1980’s X-Office’s ability to do this same thing, but often without necessarily planning to, goes extremely underrated. Uncanny X-Men #160 by Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson plants the seeds for everything to do with Illyana Rasputin, Limbo, and Sy’m and the demons of that realm, and that was was released in August 1982, more than 8 years before Inferno. Over that time, Illyana’s journey continues across her own miniseries, and New Mutants written by both Claremont, and especially in the build to Inferno by Louis Simonson and Bret Blevins. Whether it’s something that was known right from the jump, Illyana’s story was always building to an event like Inferno. The saga of Madelyne Pryor is a bit different, although again, years in the making, just more adaptively so. Scott Summers first meets Maddy – the Alaskan redhead who looks a startling amount like the recently deceased Jean Grey – in Uncanny X-Men #168, the famous “Professor X is a Jerk!” issue, released in April 1983. Originally, Claremont has said in interviews that he intended this as a mysterious similarity, but ultimately just a bonkers coincidence that set the stage for Cyclops truly “graduating” from life with the X-Men, and starting a family with wife Madelyne and little baby Christopher. These plans were interrupted when the Jean Grey remains dead edict that followed “The Dark Phoenix Saga” was overturned – against Claremont’s wishes – in the 1986 Fantastic Four / Avengers two-part story that established Jean and the Phoenix Force as two distinct entities (effectively absolving Jean for the Phoenix’s genocide of the D’bari). All reports are that Claremont was furious, but ultimately he did one of his most underrated traits as the Head of X in the 80s’: he adapted. I’ve talked about this before, but when you look at situations where writers are sort of forced to connect their stories to some editorial linewide edict – Secret Wars II probably the most notorious – nobody is better at turning dung into gold like Claremont. Secret Wars II is literally one of my least favorite comics of all time, yet Claremont’s tie-in issues across Uncanny X-Men and New Mutants (especially New Mutants) are quite good, and utilized to great affect across each series.

Year-end picks for the best comics of 2020! Zack Quaintance (Comics Bookcase, the Beat) and I share our picks for top 5 comics of the year, best single issue, best surprise, and biggest disappointment. For full lists from Zack and myself: Zack’s picks on Comics Bookcase My picks on Comic Book Herald ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Best Comics of 2020 (w/ Zack Quaintance)! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1988. Venom! Kross Time Kangs! Secret Wars III!!!! We’re joined by Brad of Comic Book Couples Counseling! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Amazing Spider-Man #300 to #301, #307 to #309 Punisher War Journal / Punisher Assassins Guild #1 to #2 / OGN Avengers #295 to #297 Fantastic Four #318 to #319 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Seven: 1988 Pt. 5 Captain America #337, 340 to 341, #345 Iron Man #225 to #231 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: The Complete Marvel reading order mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post 1988 Pt. 4: Venom Debuts, Kang Kangs, & Secret Wars III! (W/ Comic Book Couples Counseling!) appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

The conclusion of the X-Men’s X of Swords crossover event teased the upcoming Reign Of X, as the Hickman era of X-Men comics moves out of the Dawn of X and into the Reign. It’s a wonderful teaser, full of references and possibility, hot on the heels of a satisfying conclusion to the Dawn of X and X of Swords. Now, it’s worth noting that previous Marvel teaser images do NOT lock in stories or characters to come. The Mark Brooks promos for House/Powers and X of Swords tease things (like Professor X leaping into battle with a sword) that simply never come to pass. Nonetheless, it’s quite fun to think through what may come to pass in upcoming comics. Today I’ll answer: + Who is on Marvel’s Reign of X teaser image? + What do these clues & hints mean for the next era of X-Men comics? + Theories and predictions for all things X-Men! ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis, or Bensound. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com or https://www.bensound.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Krakin’ Krakoa #126: 17 Reign of X Theories, Pt. 1 — What’s NeXt for Hickman’s X-Men? appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

This week on Creannotators, I talked with comics writer Fred Van Lente about The Comic Book Story of Basketball, a history of the game and the global, societal, and political forces that have shaped it. We talk basketball, shaping non-fiction comics, and Fred’s various superhero comics like Taskmaster and MODOK’s 11. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics! The Comic Book Story of Basketball is: Writer: Fred Van Lente Art: Joe Cooper, Dave Swartz The post Creannotators #28: “Comic Book Story of Basketball” Interview With Writer Fred Van Lente! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1988. Excalibur & Wolverine ongoing launch! X-Men vs the Brood and Genosha! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn / Excalibur #1 / #1 to #3 Wolverine #1 to #3 Uncanny X-Men #232 to #234, #235 to #238 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Seven: 1988 Pt. 4 Amazing Spider-Man #300 to #301, #307 to #309 Punisher War Journal / Punisher Assassins Guild #1 to #2 / OGN Avengers #295 to #297 Fantastic Four #318 to #319 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: The Complete Marvel reading order mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Seven: 1988 Pt. 3 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Did X of Swords live up to the hype? What predictions did we nail? Was there anything missing that we wished would have been included? Where do we go from here? How do you feel about the ending of X of Swords and what it means for X-Men comics moving forward! I talk all things X of Swords with Ernie and Verno! Spoilers for discussed comics may follow! ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis, or Bensound. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com or https://www.bensound.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Krakin’ Krakoa #125: X of Swords Post-Game (Live w/ Blerd Without Fear and The Cerebros) appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Zack & Dave continue their coverage of the Ultimate Marvel line of comics! Topics discussed include: * Should you take Mark Millar’s Marvel work seriously? * Dave’s (embarrassing?) Y: The Last Man confession! * The question of if Marvel sexualizes teen girls. Comics covered in this episode: *Ultimate War #1-4 *Ultimate X-Men #26-33 *Ultimate Spider-Man #40-45 + 1/2 Up Next for Episode Seven (06/01/20): *Ultimate Spider-Man #46 *Ultimate Six #1-7 *Ultimate Spider-Man #47-52 *Ultimate Fantastic Four #7-12 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ultimate-marvel-universe-reading-order/ Music for My Ultimate Year is credited to By Divine Right. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post My Ultimate Year #7: Ultimate War & More! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

This week on Creannotators, I talked with comics writer Tate Brombal about Barbalien: Red Planet, a five issue miniseries in the world of Black Hammer, centered around Black Hammer’s queer Martian hero Barbalien, both on Mars and on Earth during the 80’s AIDS Crisis. We talk about what it’s like working in the Black Hammer universe, researching the AIDS Crisis, and delivering the many layers of Mark Markz identity. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics! Barbalien: Red Planet is: Story: Tate Brombal, Jeff Lemire Script: Tate Brombal Artist: Gabriel Hernandez Walta Colors: Jordie Bellaire Letters: Aditya Bidikar The post Creannotators #27: “Black Hammer – Barbalien: Red Planet” Interview With Writer Tate Brombal! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

We interview longtime Marvel editor and writer of titles like Uncanny X-Men and Daredevil Ann Nocenti! Ann talks to us about her time at Marvel in the 80’s, what it was like editing Chris Claremont on X-Men, the tricky things about memory, as well as her recent comics work like The Seeds and Ruby Falls. Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Seven: 1988 Pt. 3 (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn / Excalibur #1 / #1 to #3 Wolverine #1 to #3 Uncanny X-Men #232 to #234, #235 to #238 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: The Complete Marvel reading order mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post My Marvelous Year: Episode #100 – An Interview W/ Ann Nocenti! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Despite three chapters in X-Men X of Swords as the all hands on deck event hurls towards a conclusion, the biggest X-Men news this week likely came in the pages of Fantastic Four, over the course of only a few panels featuring Franklin Richards and Professor X. Today I’ll answer: + Why would Marvel make it so Franklin Richards is no longer a mutant? + Is this development real or is it a fakeout? + Why accusing Franklin of *faking* his mutant nature is a much bigger deal than some think? + Should creators outside Hickman’s X-Office be playing with mutants? + Theories and predictions for what’s to come in X-Men! Spoilers for discussed comics may follow!   ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis, or Bensound. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com or https://www.bensound.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Krakin’ Krakoa #121: Omega Level Retcon: Dan Slott’s Franklin Richards Isn’t a Mutant? appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Dave’s joined by world-renowned Stilt-fan David Harper (Off Panel, Sktchd) to talk about our favorite Stilt-Man stories of all time! Please note: Some Spoilers for future Marvel comics, ahead of where we’re at in the reading club, are likely included in this episode, as we cover Marvel stories from the 60’s to present day on My Marvelous Year! You can find David Harper at https://sktchd.com/ It’s a really fun bonus episode, so I hope you enjoy. To find the comics we discuss and more, check out my full “Best Stilt-Man Comics of All Time!” list on Comic Book Herald going live Thanksgiving day 2020: https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-best-stilt-man-comics-of-all-time/ —————————————————————————————————————- You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: The Complete Marvel reading order mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post My Marvelous Stilts: Special Edition #1 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

This week on Creannotators, I talked with comics writer Karla Pacheco about her first arc on Marvel’s Spider-Woman, preparing for the King in Black event, and what’s up next for her and Jessica Drew! On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics! Spider-Woman is: Writer: Karla Pacheco Artist: Pere Perez Colors: Frank D’armata Letters: Travis Lanham ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Creannotators #26: “Spider-Woman” Interview With Writer Karla Pacheco appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1988. Fall of the Mutants! Sara Century is our guest this week. You can find Sara: On Twitter On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Fall of the Mutants See the reading order: Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Seven: 1988 Pt. 3 Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn / Excalibur #1 / #1 to #3 Wolverine #1 to #3 Uncanny X-Men #232 to #234, #235 to #238 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: The Complete Marvel reading order mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Seven: 1988 Pt. 2 (With Sara Century!) appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

In 1988, Marvel Comics’ X-Men Universe combined to tell the Fall of the Mutants, a crossover event built around three major devastating separate events spanning the X-Men, X-Factor, and the New Mutants. Fall of the Mutants is the follow-up to Mutant Massacre, and part of the build to 1989’s Inferno, with some of the stranger and least discussed ideas and beats from the Chris Claremont era of X-Men. Today I’ll answer: What are the themes of Fall of the Mutants and what impact do they have on the X-Men of today? As the first major Apocalypse story, what does Fall of the Mutants establish about the longtime X-villain? Will we see elements from this stranger era of late period Claremont resurface in modern X-men? Theories and predictions about what Fall of the Mutants means for the Dawn of X! Spoilers for discussed comics may follow! ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis, or Bensound. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com or https://www.bensound.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Krakin’ Krakoa #117: Fall of the Mutants Event Legacy! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

This week on Creannotators, I talked with novelist Carrie Harris about her work X-Men: Liberty and Justice For All, the first entry in Aconyte Books line of Marvel’s Xavier School prose stories! We talk about Carrie’s history with X-Men comics, the specific era of X-Men and characters Harris is working with (right down to the in-continuity location in Marvel’s comics!), and much more. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics! For the full lineup of Aconyte Marvel Books: https://aconytebooks.com/?worlds=marvel According to Carrie, X-Men: Liberty and Justice For All occurs between Uncanny X-Men (2013 – 2015) issue #15 and #17. The post Creannotators #25: “X-Men Liberty and Justice For All” Interview With Writer Carrie Harris appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1988. Black Panther miniseries, Daredevil by Nocenti & Romita Jr, and Hulk by Peter David and Todd McFarlane! Joe Fixit! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Black Panther #1 to #4 Daredevil #254 to #257, 259, 260 Incredible Hulk #340, #343 to #345, #347 to #348 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Seven: 1988 Pt. 2 Fall of the Mutants See the reading order: You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: The Complete Marvel reading order mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Seven: 1988 Pt. 1 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

In general, Marvel event handbooks are a quick recap, a visual Wikipedia, of story details that can help readers understand the players, reasons, and storylines applicable to the event comic. While this is true of the X-Men: X of Swords handbook, there’s so much we still don’t know, and so many fascinating mysteries in the event and the Hickman era of X-Men at large, that I was deeply engaged with the handbook’s 50+ pages hunting for clues. Today I’ll answer: What are the most interesting secrets and ideas present in the handbook comic? What surprising character inclusions promise much more to come in X of Swords? Theories and predictions for what’s to come in X-Men! Spoilers for X-Men comics will follow! ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis, or Bensound. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com or https://www.bensound.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Krakin’ Krakoa #110: 8 Major Secrets in the X of Swords Handbook! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

This week on Creannotators, I talked with comics writer Mark Russell about Billionaire Island and Second Coming from Ahoy Comics, as well as his DC Comics career including Flintstones, and what comes next! On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics! Russell’s work often tackles massive systems, the way capitalism, religion, and ultimately human nature dominate our lives and our cultures. With Billionaire Island I was yet again impressed to find that while the six issues tackle wealth inequality, there’s also a heavy focus on the impending gradual apocalypse of climate change and population growth, not to mention a real dig into the nature of human survival instincts. Billionaire Island is: Writer: Mark Russell Artist: Steve Pugh Colors: Chris Chuckry Letters: Rob Steen The collected edition of Billionaire Island will be available in comic shops November 11, 2020, and available in bookstores and elsewhere November 24. The post Creannotators #24: “Billionaire Island” Interview With Writer Mark Russell appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Zack & Dave cover your questions, poll results, and recap the Marvel Comics of 1987 parts 3 & 4! Topics discussed include: Listener questions! More MMY shared universe heroes & villains! Find the MMY shared universe Wiki here: https://my-marvelous-year.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Patron_characters Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Seven: 1988 Pt. 1 — Black Panther #1 to #4 Daredevil #254 to #257, 259, 260 Incredible Hulk #340, #343 to #345, #347 to #348 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Six: 1987 Variant Cover B appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1987. X-Men Fever! Fall of the Mutants here we come! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): New Mutants 48 to 50 Uncanny X-Men #217, 221 to #222 X-Factor #19, #21 to #23 Classic X-Men (new story backups) #10 to #12 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Seven: 1988 Pt. 1 Iron Man #225 to #231 Incredible Hulk #340, #343 to #345, #347 to #348 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: The Complete Marvel reading order mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Six: 1987 Pt. 4 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Zack & Dave continue their coverage of the Ultimate Marvel line of comics! Topics discussed include: * Ooh boy, if you like digressions, this is the ep for you! * Is Jean Grey a vessel for an unfathomably old cosmic entity or just a surly teen? * Man, Cyclops is a narc. * Podcast Boy Sweat Water, now for sale! Comics covered in this episode: *Ultimate Fantastic Four #1-6 *Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #9 *Ultimate Spider-Man #33-39 *Ultimate X-Men #21-25 Up Next for Episode Seven (06/01/20): *Ultimate War #1-4 *Ultimate X-Men #26-33 *Ultimate Spider-Man #40-45 + 1/2 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ultimate-marvel-universe-reading-order/ Music for My Ultimate Year is credited to By Divine Right. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post My Ultimate Year #6: Ultimate Fantastic Four Launches (And More)! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Who are the missing mutants in the Krakoa era of X-Men? In part 2 of this series, I explore 5 more major missing mutants from the Hickman era of X-Men, and count off some listener picks that could be considered for a part three. Spoilers for X-Men comics will follow! ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis, or Bensound. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com or https://www.bensound.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Krakin’ Krakoa #107: Missing Mutant Mysteries of Hickman’s X-Men (Pt. 2)! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

This week on Creannotators, I talked with comics creator Kazu Kibuishi about the incredibly successful all ages series Amulet, the impending 9th and final book, and some teases and revelations about what’s next! On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio/visual annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics! Amulet is published by Scholastic Books, and is one of the biggest YA graphic novel series in America. Jeff Smith’s Bone is a logical and common comparison point (augmented by Smith’s endorsing quote on the cover of many Amulet books!), and Amulet is destined for a similarly long shelf life in the comics canon. ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Creannotators #23: “Amulet” With Creator Kazu Kibuishi appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1987. Simonson Thor slaps! Cap makes a choice! FF vs. X-Men! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Thor #376, #379 to #382 Fantastic Four vs X-Men #1 to #4 Fantastic Four #300 Captain America #332 to #335 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Six: 1987 Pt. 4 New Mutants 48 to 50 Uncanny X-Men #217, 221 to #222 X-Factor #19, #21 to #23 Classic X-Men (new story backups) #10 to #12 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: The Complete Marvel Reading Order Guide mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Six: 1987 Pt. 3 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Who are the missing mutants in the Krakoa era of X-Men? Spoilers for X-Men comics will follow! ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis, or Bensound. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com or https://www.bensound.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Krakin’ Krakoa #104: Missing Mutant Mysteries of Hickman’s X-Men (Pt. 1)! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

This week on Creannotators, I talked with novelist and comics writer Victor LaValle about his Boom Studios work on Destroyer, a modern sequel to Frankenstein! We talk about writing for comics vs. novels, upcoming comics work from LaValle, and the increasing social relevance of Destroyer among many other topics. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio/visual annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics! Victor LaValle’s Destroyer Is: Writer: Victor LaValle Artist: Dietrich Smith Colors: Joana LaFuente Letters: Jim Campbell Character Design: Dan Mora, Dietrich Smith ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Creannotators #22: Victor LaValle’s Destroyer Interview! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Zack & Dave cover your questions, poll results, and recap the Marvel Comics of 1987 parts 1 & 2! Topics discussed include: Listener questions! More MMY shared universe heroes & villains! Find the MMY shared universe Wiki here: https://my-marvelous-year.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Patron_characters Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Six: 1987 Pt. 3 — Thor #376, #379 to #382 Fantastic Four vs X-Men #1 to #4 Fantastic Four #300 Captain America #332 to #335 https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Six: 1987 Variant Cover A appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

This weekend I was joined by musician & podcaster Open Mike Eagle to talk all things X-Men on a special episode of Krakin’ Krakoa #100! You can check out the full conversation via podcast, or via the Youtube recording here! Spoilers for X-Men comics will follow! Krakin’ Krakoa will continue with X of Swords coverage this week. In the meantime, check out Open Mike Eagle’s new album “Anime, Trauma & Divorce.” For Krakin’ Krakoa X of Swords Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbUTT7Ae14QsIgZXPNlagDtkZhOdqQogU For all Comic Book Herald X-Men videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbUTT7Ae14QsfMq3Uz8bNnnzpiUwXHgJ- ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Krakin’ Krakoa #100 LIVE With Open Mike Eagle! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

This week on Creannotators, I talked with writer Johnnie Christmas about his work on Tartarus, a science fiction series full of supernatural mythology from Image Comics. We talk about coordinating massive worldbuilding, the balance between writing and illustrating comics, and future plans for Tartarus among other topics! On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio/visual annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics! Tartarus Is: Writer: Johnnie Christmas Artist: Jack T Cole Letters: Jim Campbell Editor: Stephanie Cooke Design: Ben Didier Logo: Rian Hughes ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Creannotators #21: “Tartarus” Interview With Writer Johnnie Christmas! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1987. Spider-Man All the Time! Kraven’s Last Hunt! Spidey Gets Married! Matt Draper is our guest this week. You can find Matt: On Twitter On Youtube On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Spider-Man vs. Wolverine / Amazing Spider-Man #1 / #289 Amazing Spider-Man / Amazing Spider-Man Annual #290 / #21 Kraven’s Last Hunt See the reading order: Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Six: 1987 Pt. 3 Thor #376, #379 to #382 Fantastic Four vs X-Men #1 to #4 Fantastic Four #300 Captain America #332 to #335 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: The Complete Marvel Reading Order Guide mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Six: 1987 Pt. 2 (With Matt Draper!) appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

This week on Creannotators, I talked with writer Alex Sanchez about his work on You Brought Me the Ocean, a YA Aqualad graphic novel from DC Comics. We talk about the importance of representation in comics, what it’s like writing a DC graphic novel, and much more. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio/visual annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics! You Brought Me the Ocean Is: Writer: Alex Sanchez Artist: Julie Maroh ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Creannotators #20: “You Brought Me the Ocean” Interview With Writer Alex Sanchez! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1987. Todd McFarlane / Peter David Hulk! Avengers Under Siege! Jim Starlin on a Hulk/Thing OGN! Tiffany Babb is our guest this week. You can find Tiffany: On Twitter On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Avengers #273 to #277 Incredible Hulk #331 to #333, #336 to #337 Hulk/Thing – The Big Change OGN Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Six: 1987 Pt. 2 Spider-Man vs. Wolverine / Amazing Spider-Man #1 / #289 Amazing Spider-Man / Amazing Spider-Man Annual #290 / #21 Kraven’s Last Hunt See the reading order:   You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: The Complete Marvel Reading Order Guide mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Six: 1987 Pt. 1 (With Tiffany Babb!) appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Zack and Dave read & discuss every single issue of Marvel’s Ultimate Universe! Topics discussed include: * Is critiquing Mark Bagley’s actual human face fair game for a couple comic podcasters? * Whose face does Zack like? * Should Zack have to face consequences for his opinions on Bagley’s art? On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): *Ultimate Spider-Man #22-32 *Ultimate Spider-Man Super Special #1 *Ultimates #7-13 Up Next for Episode Six: Ultimate Fantastic Four #1-6 Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #9 Ultimate Spider-Man #33-39 Ultimate X-Men #21-25 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ultimate-marvel-universe-reading-order/ Music for My Ultimate Year is credited to By Divine Right. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post My Ultimate Year #5: Ultimates Season One Concludes + Spider-Man! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

This week on Creannotators, I talked with cartoonist Derf Backderf about his work on Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio, an investigation and accounting of the events that took place on the campus of Kent State in 1970, leading to four college students shot and killed (and more wounded) by the US National Guard. We talk about the emotional resonance of the student’s stories, the harrowing modern parallels around protests across America, and whether we’ve learned any lessons from Kent State. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio/visual annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics! You can find Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf: ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Creannotators #19: “Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio” Interview With Derf Backderf! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Swords! In my coverage of X of Swords Creation, I asked if you’d all be interested in a follow-up Krakin’ Krakoa ep on the history of the swords in this event, and the answer was a resounding YES. Swords! More Swords! Today I’ll answer: What are the 10 swords mutantkind will use in their battle against the forces of Amenth in X of Swords? What’s the Marvel history of each blade and what can it tell us about the story to come? What small clues do we have about the Arakkan forces named swords? Theories and predictions for what’s to come! *Spoilers for discussed comics may follow!* In X of Swords, Creation, the event’s first part, Saturnyne, the Omniversal Majestrix, freezes the Krakoa vs Arakko mutant war to set them up for a tournament of champions in which each side will wield 10 majestic blades. All the swords get named, and based on Marvel’s promotional art we can align the blades to characters. On the X side of things we have: Muramasa – Wolverine The Sword of Might – (Brian Braddock) The Starlight Sword – (Betsy Braddock) Grasscutter & Godkiller – Gorgon Warlock – Doug Ramsey The Soul Sword – Magik The Scarab – Apocalypse The Light of Galador – Cable Skybreaker – Storm One thing you’ll notice about a majority of the known swords is that they tend to be broken, missing, or in some way altered prior to their re-emergence here in X of Swords. There are exceptions of course – for example, we’ve already seen both the Sword of Might and the Light of Galador return in the Dawn of X – but otherwise I’m expecting some early parts of X of Swords to deal with the gathering and retrieval of these weapons, or at least the explanation for how they are already in hand. Epic quests should ensue! 1) The Muramasa Blade While it’s probably most well known at this point as a sword that can shut off Wolverine’s healing factor and very much kill him (or anyone with a healing factor), Muramasa is actually the surname of an immortal Japanese swordmaker, who came to prominence (in the real world, and in Marvel history) in the 1500’s! Again, this is very much based on a real person, but Marvel’s Muramasa fully leans into myths around the swordmaker, categorizing him as both immortal and increasingly mad with obsession over making the perfect, sometimes demonic blades. The first reference to Muramasa’s blades actually runs back to Wolverine’s second solo series, and first lengthy ongoing, the Wolverine title that launched in 1988 with Chris Claremont writing and John Buscema on pencils. In the first three issues of the title, we encounter Muramasa’s “Black Blade,” a cursed weapon that controls its wielder. First, Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman is possessed by the blade on Madripoor, and then Wolverine. Ultimately the Silver Samurai collects the blade and is not possessed in a super Big Time move. The swordmaker returned to prominence following the events of Marvel’s House of M event, when Wolverine recovered all his memories in the event’s aftermath. We learn that after the slaughter of his wife and unborn child (at the hands of the Winter Soldier no less!), Wolverine turned to Muramasa to make him a blade fully for the purposes of revenge to, and I quote with a Metallica riff behind me, “Kill ‘em all.” Thus, the Muramasa blade with fragments of Wolverine’s soul was created, and it’s this blade that has posed a danger to mutants with healing factors ever since. Indeed, at one point Daken integrated the sword into his claws in order to kill his father (Logan cut them out of his hands), and Wolvy used the sword to cut off Sabretooth’s head (although like so many Marvel deaths, “it got betta”). Most recently, in the pages of All-New Wolverine, Laura Kinney, Wolverine, and Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, were tricked into giving up the location of the Muramasa blade, which was then turned into Wolverine killing bullets by the Orphans of X. The bullets are used to shoot through Daken in a wound that won’t heal, but surgeons can cut around the wound to let his healing factor take effect for a larger wound (comics science!). To combat this threat, Laura visits Muramasa himself, and had a new Muramasa armor forged from soul fragments of Logan, Daken, and herself. This will come up later, but there’s also a brief connection between Muramasa and Gorgon here, with Gorgon owing the swordmaster a piece of himself for a new blade. This could come up again given Gorgon’s inclusion in this event! One of the highlights of the named Arakko swords is that a Murumasa blade exists on both sides of the aisle. The assumption I’m making is that one is wielded by Wolverine and the other by his arch-enemy in the making, Solem (anagram for “Moles” which means nothing, but makes me laugh at the idea of that being his name instead). There’s a possibility this could mean one of them begins wielding the Murumasa blade, and then the other obtains it for a time – effectively that it switches hands. 2) The Sword of Might The Sword of Might ha

Zack & Dave cover your questions, poll results, and recap the Marvel Comics of 1986 parts 5 & 6! Topics discussed include: Marvel super-hero documentaries! Finally understanding Zack’s mind! More MMY shared universe heroes & villains! Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Six: 1987 Pt. 1 — Avengers #273 to #277 Incredible Hulk #331 to #333, #336 to #337 Hulk/Thing – The Big Change OGN You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Five: 1986 Variant Cover C appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

It begins! The 60+ page “Creation” kickoff to X-Men: X of Swords is here, marking the epic beginning to the 22 part X-Men event of 2020. The launch book is fantastic, effectively a Lord of the Rings for the Krakoa era of X-Men, with plenty to dig into. Today I’ll answer: How does Creation kick off Ten of Swords, and what do we learn about the event? What major or minor revelations are given, and what X-Men characters are most impacted? What are the secrets of Otherworld and S.W.O.R.D.? Theories and predictions for what’s to come! X-Men: X of Swords – Creation #1 Writer: Jonathan Hickman & Tini Howard Art: Pepe Larraz Colors: Marte Gracia Letters: Clayton Cowles Related Reading Orders: Hickman’s X-Men X of Swords event Video Script Notes! We open with the first horsemen pounding on the gates of Otherworld, approaching the Starlight Citadel, on their ultimate march to Krakoa. As we learned in X-Men #12 last week, these first horsemen are the children of Apocalypse, and have been trapped in the dimension of Amenth of generations. The first horsemen leading an assault on the tower of Del Di’Lorr. The speak exactly like Hickman’s East of West horsemen. What is the Starlight Citadel? The Starlight Citadel is summarized nicely as “the most literal representation of the conjunction of all realities.” It is the nexus of all realities. As we’ve learned in the pages of Tini Howard’s Excalibur, the Citadel is without it’s customary Captain Britain Corps defense, which has left it to Opal Luna Saturnyne, Omniversal Majistrex to protect the Citadel – and by proxy, reality. Hickman’s back on his Wheels within Wheels grind here, a frequent refrain back in his work on Marvel’s Secret Warriors, and a decent metaphor for plots seeding plots and the constant motion of story found in his superhero work. In Krakoa, Summoner comes busting through the External Gate on the back of a huge Demon, with a dying Banshee. It’s far from shocking that Apocalypse’s plan to send Banshee, Unus the Untouchable (poor Unus) and Summoner into Arakko alone came up wanting, and if you aren’t already getting Summoner skepticism at this point, you’re a little behind the curve my Krakoan pal. This is generally applicable throughout the entire book, but DAMN do I love Pepe Lararz and Marte Gracia’s ability to bring demonic and supernatural creatures to life. Apocalypse brings his schemes to the Quiet Council, and Krakoa acknowledges he gave Apoc approval for all this. Apocalypse doesn’t really have council approval for all this though, with Magneto in particular deeply questioning his actions. Again, Summoner giving us his account of what happened with no backup (banshee is in a coma in the healing gardens) should raise some eyebrows. Small detail but weird that Professor X calls Apoc En Sabah Nur, and not his mutant name For the most part, the Council is opposed to Apocalypse leaving the External gate open and maintain access to alternate realms (and in this case near direct access to the Starlight Citadel of Otherworld). As Kate points out – for the first time we’ve seen in a council meeting! – they still have access to Avalon. I did also find it interesting here that the enemies of Krakoa that are named – Homines Verendi, The Flower Cartel, Xeno, and Orchis – leave out The Children of the Vault, who have been named the most dangerous threat to mutants by Professor X himself. Hell yeah Krakoa: Council votes to destroy the External Gate since it leaves them vulnerable, but Krakoa tells Doug “You need to understand you are guests here. Our coexistence is collaborative and wonderful. It’s a union of shared interests, but I am the land. And the land is mine.“ This was actually something I brought up in the Live Krakin’ Krakoa X of Swords prediction party, but we have not gotten a lot of insight into how Krakoa feels about mutants! This is a great start. Apocalypse has to gather volunteers, leading to an interesting hodgepodge team, which has been one of the more interesting components of Krakoa – since all the mutants are together all the time, the team’s are less standardized than they’ve been in the past. The fellowship: Apocalypse, Summoner, Rockslide, Rictor, Siryn, Beast, Angel, Polaris, Havok, Monet There’s a really nice quote about what’s coming for Apocalypse in “Memory is long. History is longer. And the truth will outlast both.“ One of the joys of the Dawn of X is given the scale of mutants that can be in any story, there are all kinds of long lasting relationships that still haven’t been explored more than a year into the Hickman era. One such is Angel and Apocalypse. In the midst of this build-up, we have even more exciting news: We’re Hickman/Mueller mapping Otherworld baby! This is quite fun, and I think going to go a long way to making Excalibur even more interesting, as one detractor I’ve felt in that book is a chaotic sense of place as the Mutant team makes its way through t

This week on Creannotators, I talked with cartoonist Kyle Starks about his work on Old Head, one of my favorite graphic novels of 2020, a comedic masterpiece about a retired NBA player taking on Dracula and the monsters in his neighboring castle. Oh, also we talk NBA. Like, a lot. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio/visual annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics! Old Head Is: Cartoonist: Kyle Starks Colorist: Chris Schweizer ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Creannotators #18: “Old Head” Interview With Cartoonist Kyle Starks! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

This weekend marked the first ever Comic Book Herald Youtube livestream, and it went pretty well! I got to talk X-Men with Verno of The Cerebros podcast, and Ernie of Blerd Without Fear, and we dove into our X-Men: X of Swords event theories before kickoff on 9/23/2020! If you’re excited for the X-Men event, check out the (spoiler heavy!) conversation below. Spoilers for discussed comics will follow! It was a lot of fun and I hope to have more livestreams on the Krakin’ Krakoa youtube work coming in the future. Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Krakin’ Krakoa #91 Live! X-Men: X of Swords Prediction Party (with Blerd Without Fear & The Cerebros!) appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1986. Squadron Supreme! Chris from Chrises on Infinite Earths is our guest this week. You can find Chris: On Twitter Via Podcast On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Squadron Supreme #1 to #12 My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Six: 1987 Pt. 1 Up Next: Avengers #273 to #277 Incredible Hulk #331 to #333, #336 to #337 Hulk/Thing – The Big Change OGN You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Five: 1986 Pt. 6 (With Chrises on Infinite Earths!) appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

This week on Creannotators, I talked with creator Dave Chisholm about his work on the excellent Chasin’ The Bird, a graphic novel about the life of jazz legend Charlie Parker. We talk jazz history, bringing Parker’s mythology to this moment in time, and the distinct visual challenge of conveying music in comics. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio/visual annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics! Chasin’ The Bird is easily one of my favorite graphic novels of 2020, and one I expect we’ll be seeing on a lot of year-end best-of lists. Chasin’ The Bird Is: Creator: Dave Chisholm Colors: Peter Markowski You can find more from Dave Chisholm here: Thomson Heller Detective Interstellar Tyranny of the Muse ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Creannotators #17: “Chasin’ The Bird” Interview With Creator Dave Chisholm! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1986. Elektra Assassin by Frank Miller & Bill Sienkiewicz! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Elektra: Assassin Elektra Assassin #1 to #8 My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Five: 1986 Pt. 6 Up Next: Squadron Supreme #1 to #12 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Five: 1986 Pt. 5 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Following my review of 2020’s X-Factor #1, I saw a fair amount of commentary from listeners and readers wondering why there’s all this focus on character sexuality in the book, specifically with queer X-Men. Hot on the heels of Marauders #12 and Kate Pryde’s same-sex kiss, the question is of course resurfacing, making it a good time to really dig into the relevance and importance of sexuality in the world of Marvel’s X-Men. Up front, I’ll admit this is a sensitive issue and I don’t pretend to have all the answers. This is my own attempt to wrestle with these recurring questions, and dissect them in the context of X-Men comics. While I think it would be nice, I don’t anticipate this conversation will change hearts and minds regarding perceptions of sexuality and gender in our world, but I do hope it will specifically address how these issues are integrated into Marvel’s X-Men comics, and why, at the end of the day, it makes sense and is a substantial net positive. The Question: Why All This Focus On Sexual Identity? First, it’s useful to clarify what readers mean by “all this focus on sex.” Notable examples from the Dawn of X, the era of X-Men comics following writer Jonathan Hickman’s return to Marvel with House of X / Powers of X, include the following: The implication that Jean Grey / Wolverine / Cyclops may be in a polyamorous relationship (and the confirmation that Jean and Wolverine are in a relationship). Reiterating Mystique and Destiny’s same-sex relationship, with Mystique angrily yelling “Give me back my wife!” at Professor X and Magneto. A majority queer cast of mutants in the Leah Williams written X-Factor series launch Emma Frost including “Trans” among the oppressed minorities she references in Marauders #10, and Kate Pryde kissing her female tattoo artist in Marauders #12. As you can likely gauge from the examples, the conversation is less around the general horniness of the X-Men on their Krakoan island paradise (although certainly that gets a lot of discussion as well!), and more targeted toward queer or minority identity now being included in the pages of these comics. A Brief History of Sex The fact of the matter is that members of the LGBTQIA+ community in particular have been long withheld from X-Men Comics, and Marvel comics. Historical reasons to avoid making queer relationships explicit are due to societal pressure, and for Marvel Comics specifically, due to editorial pressure. According to an article on “Prism Comics,” during Jim Shooter’s late 70’s into 1987 tenure as Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief, there was an alleged “No gays in the Marvel Universe” policy. This can partially be assumed to reflect the desire to follow the Comics Code Authority, the Red Scare/McCarthyist propaganda directive that arose out of Frederick Werthem’s “Seduction of the Innocent” in 1954. According to History.com, it wasn’t until 1989 when the Code would allow for an openly gay character in Marvel or DC superhero comic books! There are creators who work in characters coded as gay prior (JM Dematteis work with Arnold Roth in the pages of Captain America comes to mind), but Marvel’s Northstar was the first to come out as openly gay in 1992’s Alpha Flight #106, a momentous declaration that was then largely ignored for years. Even after this, equating queerness with “sexual perversion” persisted, as Marvel has often labeled any books featuring actual queer characters as “adult” or “for mature audiences only.” This was the case in 2002 when Marvel announced the Rawhide Kid would come out as gay in a Marvel MAX comic. Following this announcement, in a (far from perfect) appearance on Crossfire in 2002 with host Tucker Carlson (for real), the strongest argument Stan Lee could muster was the following Seinfeldian point: “Let me just mention that Marvel Comics, we are entertainers. And we do books for everybody. And the characters in our books represent everybody. In the “X Men,” we have characters from all nationalities. We have both sexes. I didn’t write this book. I only learned about it yesterday. But I think it’s fine. Among us today, there are gay people. We have one gay hero. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m sure there are gay heroes who exist.” Fear of accepting queer characters on the page is historically met with cowardice, to the everlasting failure of Marvel and the industry at large. Even the aforementioned Rawhide Kid’s coming out party (and I don’t want to oversell the importance of that book because it stinks!) was walked back only a few years later. That’s very recent history, and it’s far from the progressive uncompromisingly agenda-driven radical Marvel gets painted as by some of the angrier voices in this conver

This week on Creannotators, I talked with creator Sloane Leong about A Map To The Sun, the graphic novel’s incredible colors, studying the game of basketball, and her sci fi Image series Prism Stalker. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio/visual annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics! A Map to the Sun from First Second books is one of my favorite new comics of 2020, a poetic exploration of five girls of color forming a women’s basketball team in their underprivileged high school. Sloane Leong’s expressive artwork and inventive use of color creates a vivid emotional journey well worth reading. ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Creannotators #16: “A Map To The Sun” With Sloane Leong appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Zack & Dave cover your questions, poll results, and recap the Marvel Comics of 1986 parts 3 & 4! Topics discussed include: The great Mutant Massacre Mayhem! Why is Marvel’s Ultimate Universe more grounded? More MMY shared universe heroes & villains! Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Five: 1986 Pt. 5 — Elektra: Assassin Elektra Assassin #1 to #8 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ mymarvelousyear.com Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Five: 1986 Variant Cover B appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Zack and Dave read & discuss every single issue of Marvel’s Ultimate Universe! This episode Ultimates launches, and more from Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men! Topics discussed include: * How much can Doc Ock bench? * Is Professor X manipulating our minds into enjoying Ultimate X-Men? * How squeamish should we feel about liking the Ultimates so much? On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Ultimate Spider-Man #14-21 Ultimate X-Men #15-20 Ultimates #1-6 Up Next: Ultimate Spider-Man #22-32 Ultimate Spider-Man Super Special #1 Ultimates #7-13 mymarvelousyear.com You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: Ultimate Marvel Universe Reading Order Music for My Ultimate Year is credited to By Divine Right. Support for My Ultimate Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. If you like the show, please subscribe to My Ultimate Year and consider leaving a rating and review! The post My Ultimate Year #4: Ultimates by Millar & Hitch Begins! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.