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.

This week on Creannotators, I talked with artist Leila Del Duca about Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed, her creator-owned work like Shutter and Afar, and the process of working on a DC graphic novel compared to monthly ongoing 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! Leila’s latest graphic novel, Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed, is a part of DC’s young adult graphic novel series, looking at a 16 year old Wonder Woman as she leaves Themyscira for the first time and tackles issues likes immigration, refugees, and child trafficking (among others) in her first visit to the world of humans. You can find Leila’s creator interviews via the Helioscope PDX channel. Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed Is: Writer: Laurie Hals Anderson Artist: Leila Del Duca Colors: Kelly Fitzpatrick Letters: Saida Temofonte ——————————————————————————————————- 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 #15: “Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed” Interview With Artist Leila Del Duca! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1986. Daredevil Born Again! Big Daddy Kingpin! Gruenwald Cap! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Daredevil Daredevil: Love and War graphic novel / #227 to #233 Captain America #320 to #323 My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Five: 1986 Pt. 5 Up Next: 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 Pt. 4 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

I was caught by surprise recently when Krakin’ Krakoa listener Xavier D pointed out the children sitting around Krakoa campfires led by longtime X-Men villain Exodus look like kid versions of omega level mutants. The more I’ve thought about the observation, the more potential I find, and now I’m convinced Hickman’s X-Men is secretly telling us exactly what Krakoa’s plans are for Omega Level Mutants. Today I’ll answer: Is there a secret school for Omega Level mutants on Krakoa right under our noses? Why would this be a part of Krakoa? What does the theory of omega level mutant children mean for X-Men comics moving forward? In X-Men #7, we are introduced to Exodus (one of the 12 members of the Krakoan council) and his very cultish campfire stories with Krakoa’s youth. It’s actually not the first time we’ve seen Exodus telling kids stories around a campfire (there’s a panel in House of X #6), but the details begin to matter here. Exodus takes on the role of teaching these children about the Krakoan way of life, but as a literal former Crusader, he naturally does so with zealotry, pomp and unwavering conviction. Whether you but it or not, he’s a minister of propaganda, indoctrinating these kids into what it means to be Krakoan, and to be mutant. Again in X-Men #11, we see Exodus back at the campfire, with many of the same children. And this is the point when the repetition of the same kids, and Hickman’s use of this framing device begins to raise a series of questions. Now, the simplest answer here is just that Exodus and these mutant kids is a way to show another aspect of Krakoan life, to breath some of the culture into comics that are otherwise focused elsewhere. Accepting that possibility, though, it feels like way too big of a coincidence to me that the children – especially the child with a wee pink mohawk and glasses – look like omega level mutants we already know. If Leinil Francis Yu and company were designing new mutant kids, they could make them look like literally anything. So the fact that I’m able to make these connections makes me wonder if that’s absolutely intentional and meant to tell us what’s really going on here. Before I run some side by sides to consider which Omegas might be involved, here’s what we know about Omega Level mutants in the Hickman X-Men era, and the full list of who we can consider. It’s the language in the Omega Protocol that really catches my eye in retrospect too. “All efforts are to be expended in order to secure the future of the state.” Compare that to the common refrain that “children are the future” and you can see the foundation laid for Krakoan protocols that would support creating and rearing versions of omega level mutants, perhaps even starting as children. So who are the kids we see, and how do they compare to their omega level counterparts? Again, we have two real visions of these kids, in X-Men #7 and X-Men #11, and only three of the children appear with any real frequency. So yes, I’m definitely stretching a bit in spots to make this theory fit, and I think it’s important to caveat throughout that some of these kids could not fall into the “omega babies” category, and maybe they’re not even supposed to. Alternatively, and I’ll talk about this as well, but we also should consider the very real possibility of Baby Chimeras via Mister Sinister, and the fact that this would distort the kids’ looks as well. Quentin Quire – Omega Level Telepathy Literal Kid Omega definitely feels like the strongest argument for omega level kids on the island. The hair, the glasses, the style, it all certainly brings to mind a young Quentin Quire. While the elder Q is off getting killed Kenny style every single issue of X-Force could baby Q be in training on Krakoa? Of course if this all turns out to not be the case, I also think it’s conceivable that the kids of Krakoa would hold up Omega Level mutants as their celebrities. This could explain dressing like poor Quentin, right down to the flathawk. Jean Grey / Hope Summers After Quentin, we pretty quickly get into wildly speculative territory, but with some solid clues. There are only three women among the Omega Level list, so our options are Jean Grey, Hope Summers, and Ororo Monroe. The young girl arguably looks a bit like either Jean or Hope, too! Jean Grey is an omega level telepath and Hope Summers is omega level at power manipulation. The most interesting connection for this possible Jean / Hope version, though, is to Mister Sinister. The prominent circle on the girl’s forehead doesn’t really match with Jean or Hope, but it is reminiscent of what we saw in Giant-Size Fantomex, in the very opening pages of the issue. The forehead circle and diamond are used to denote clones created in a Weapon Plus lab, and as many Krakin’ Krakoa listeners observed in that Fantomex issue, the diamond immediately signifies the presence and involvement of Mister Sinister. To be clear, I’m now theorizing based on a theory, or as I like to

This week on Creannotators, I talked with artist Gisele Lagace about her work on the Image Comics series Exorsisters, her creator-owned webcomics careers, and the benefits of funding comics through Kickstarter. 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! Exorsisters is the story of two “sisters” with a connection to hell, demons, and a business helping people out with those pesky exorcisms they may need. It’s a light-hearted supernatural look at heaven, hell, and family. You can find more from Gisele’s webcomics at https://www.pixietrixcomix.com/. Exorsisters Is: Writer: Ian Boothsby Artist: Gisele Lagace Colors: Pete Pantazis Letters: Taylor Esposito Editor: Branwyn Bigglestone Production: Carey Hall ——————————————————————————————————- 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 #14: “Exorsisters” Interview With Artist Gisele Lagace! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1986. X-Men: The Mutant Massacre. On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Mutant Massacre See the reading order. My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Five: 1986 Pt. 4 Up Next: Daredevil Daredevil: Love and War graphic novel / #227 to #233 Captain America #320 to #323 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. 3 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

I get a fair amount of Krakin’ Krakoa sleuths sending me theories and links about X-Men, which is a really fun way to see that people are engaging with the comics and with my own obsessing about them. In response to my X-Men FCBD 2020 video review, and theories about X of Swords and the mysterious Swordbearers of Arakko, a listener sent me their theory on the “Classified” apparent leader of the bunch. I stored the link away for later, but now that I’ve looked into it, I’m 98% certain their theory is spot on – I can’t for the life of me determine exactly who sent me this, so I just want to be clear I take zero credit for unearthing this, and want to thank everyone who sends me wild X-men theories to get my wheels spinning! X of Storms In my X of Swords Chapter 1 video, I theorized that the Swordbearer since titled “Classified” (for the record, it would be hilarious if that’s just her Swordbearer name) was Storm. My rationale was first that the half visible personage of the character on the “Eight of Cups” is a black woman with all white eyes, but second that the text ties to Storm’s journey: “That which was once the harmonious lifting of voices is now a mocking echo –then silence.” In House of X #5, as we learn about Krakoa’s resurrection capabilities, it’s Storm who introduces the resurrected X-Men team to the island of mutants. This to me signifies her “harmonious lifting of voices,” literally leading the island in a chant of “Mutant!” with each new lineup introduction. We’ll know more for sure following Giant-Size X-Men: Storm #1, but the “mocking echo” potentially signifies the Children of the Vault corruption of Storm taking place across the “Giant-Size” specials. A bunch of listeners have been asking why it’s a big deal that Storm has 30 days to live following Giant-Size X-Men: Jean Grey & Emma Frost, since mutants can just be resurrected. Aside from the flippant, it still probably sucks to die, I think the bigger problem here is that Storm is threatened with a kind of infective transformation *like* death, but not equal to it. It’s conceivable to me that the Vault’s infection could take root, and Storm could be transformed into an “enemy,” which given her commitment to the X-Men and mutantkind throughout her life, would be a kind of waking death. Plus, given that the now fully revealed cover of Marauders #14 is an incredible Russell Dautermann and Matt Wilson depiction of Storm dancing with Death (of Apocalypse Horsing fame), it remains very possible that my gut instinct was correct and good ol’ “Classified” is, in fact, Ororo Monroe. Of course this could also just be a fun allusion to the adage “a dance with death,” but I’m sticking to my theory! X of Storms Past Like I said at the start, though, there’s a literally related theory that works even better! And it’s that “Classified” is Ashake! If you’re not familiar with the character Ashake, don’t worry, I didn’t know her by name either. Ashake first appeared in New Mutants #32 in 1985, during a saga that found Magik and Mirage, aka Dani Moonstar, transported approximately 5,000 years into the past in Ancient Egypt (unrelated to this theory, but the issues through around #34 are pretty interesting for my renewed interest in Shadow King!). For approximately 1 page and 1 panel, a mysterious sorceress named Ashake appears to the time-lost New Mutants and provides them sanctuary. Illyana and Dani are struck by how similar Ashake looks to their X-Men mentor Ororo Monroe, Storm, and Ashake is able to divine across time that Storm is a future descendant of hers! Wildly, this entire meeting is over in a flash, and Ashake helps Magik and Dani travel back to the future (naturally, they overshoot the present, and hijinX ensue). This is an extraordinarily brief appearance, and would be even more of a deep cut reference if that’s all we had, but Ashake actually made a return 23 years later in the 4 issue 2008 miniseries Mystic: Arcana. This is where things *really* get compelling, in a flashback story written by Louise Simonson, set during the events of the aforementioned New Mutants #32. Mystic Arcana: Magik #1 explores the full-fledged adventure Magik and Ashake experience in the past in an untold tale. A couple thoughts right off the bat — Tarot Cards play a major role throughout Mystic Arcana, which pretty seamlessly connects possible relevance to the Tarot based upcoming crossover event X of Swords. Indeed, the term Arcana is used in the “Major Arcana” which references the 22 trump cards (for our non card players, no, this has nothing to do with American politics, thank heavens) in a standard 78 card Tarot pack. Ashake quite literally makes her own Tarot cards with p

I had the chance to talk with writer Kirsten Thompson about her Kickstarted ongoing comic book I Am Hexed! We talk about the book’s world of magic, how it fits topically in so much of 2020, and tips for Kickstarting comics. I Am Hexed Is: Writer: Kirsten Thompson Artist: Amagoia Agirre Letters: Taylor Esposito Support the Kickstarter Here! ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— 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 I AM HEXED Interview with Writer Kirsten Thompson appeared first on Comic Book Herald.