While the characterization of Spidey in Amazing Spider-Man 2 is still spot-on, not much else in the movie is. Tim and Mulele discuss the myriad problems, and occasional strong points, of this 2014 film. (Originally published on Patreon July 4, 2020.)

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FLASHBACK! In 1970, four students died when national guardsman inexplicably opened fire during an anti-war protest at Kent State University. The craziness of 2020 has hindered planned observances of the craziness of 1970, but we do get this: Derf Backderf‘s Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio, a moving account of May 1-4, 1970, through the eyes of those who lost their lives.

In this episode, Tim and Kumar review the book, to be released September 8, and then Tim chats with Derf himself, answering our questions about the tragedy and the book. (Originally published September 2, 2020.)

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A number of interesting graphic novels have been brought to our attention recently — works with laugh-out-loud moments and deeper meanings as well. We review three of them in this episode:

• • Heaven by Katie Skelly is a Fantagraphics book about a haunted strip club. Jason joins Tim to discuss it.
  • Was That Normal? by Alex Potts (Avery Hill) gives us a neurodivergent main character and a vague threat from a crumbling tower. Adam and Tim review it.
  • John of the Night (Avery Hill) is a wild scifi epic by Darryl Cunningham. As Emmet and Tim will discuss, Cunningham normally publishes fact-based comics journalism, such as bios of Ayn Rand and Vladimir Putin, but this time he turns in a really enjoyable work of fiction.

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Superhero comics have been parodied for as long as they’ve existed. This time Tim and Kumar look at two books by comics insiders that satirized the predominant comics of their respective eras: Scott McCloud‘s Destroy! The Loudest Comic-Book in the Universe!! (1986) distills ’80s comics to their essence: superpowered guys punching each other; and Grant Morrison & a bevy of artists poke sharp satirical sticks at the comics of The Guys who Would Be Image in Doom Force Special #1 (1992), right down to the excessive speed lines, nonsense powers, and ankles that would never support an adult human’s weight.

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Emil Wilson is the author of the new graphic novel The Nightingales, about a family in 1985 who take in an AIDS patient. The book shows us the panic and misinformation that prevailed about the disease then, and government apathy about a disease that was mainly killing gay men. Wilson is a former advertising man who went to comics school in his 50s. Tim talks with him about the book.

Novelist William Bernhardt also joins Tim to talk about his exhaustively researched nonfiction book The Superman Wars, a history of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s battle over ownership of Superman and recognition as his creators. All superhero fans know the outlines of this controversy, but this book fills in all the details.

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This summer’s Supergirl movie, while not nearly as good as sliced bread, was compelling enough to make Tim curious as to how it compares with the comic it’s based on, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis Evely. Tim recruited Emmet to join in and consider questions such as: Why did this movie get made? How do we feel about the original comic? Is the movie a good adaptation? Did the story changes to the film hurt or help it? Here’s that discussion!

Comic Tropes video on Bilquis Evely

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Consider the Incredible Hulk. He’s often referred to as the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the Marvel Universe. But is he really Jekyll and Hyde on a deep level? Paul has been studying the early Hulk comics, looking at the various framings that were tried soon after the character’s debut. Does Banner turn to Hulk when the sun goes down? Can he become Hulk whenever he wants? Does Rick Jones have hypnotic control over the Hulk? These were all tried in the wacky six-issue run of Hulk’s book in 1962 and ‘63 before it was canceled. This week, a look at the struggle to arrive at the tropes of the Hulk!

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This week we finally return to Jack Kirby’s 1970s run on Black Panther, specifically issues 9 and 10. With Panther away during a crisis, his four relatives step up and become the Black Musketeers! Will they be comedically inept? Racially cringey? Or maybe they’ll turn out to be so great that everybody will forget about T’Challa! Also, Panther’s plight takes an amusing turn as he encounters a sci-fi film shoot in the African desert… hmmm…

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