The Comics Cube!

Feb 21, 2021

The Comics Cube Channel Recap: February 21, 2021:

Busy week for the channel, and we started with the full JH Williams III interview:

Karla Pacheco then came on to talk about her time writing Spider-Woman so far and what we can expect from Jessica Drew in the future:

ChrisCross came on to talk about Milestone, Captain Marvel, Slingers, the Jason Rusch Firestorm, and his most recent Vixen story that starred the Global Guardians:

Duy, Paul, Ben, and LaMar discuss Batman 1989 and Batman Returns, the universe of which was announced to continue in the comics:

Danny Fingeroth then talked about Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk #1, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Spider-Man of the 90s. Along the way, we talked Spider-Man thoughts, Will Eisner Week, and Stan Lee:

Duy, Ben, and Justin recapped King in Black 4 from Marvel this week:

And we close it off on Dwayne McDuffie's birthday with a clip from Denys Cowan remembering Dwayne:

Feb 19, 2021

Spider-Rama: Marvel Team-Up 31

Welcome to Spider-Rama! Every Monday and Wednesday, Ben and Duy will look at a Spider-Man issue from the very beginning, in chronological order, and answer questions for various categories, inspired in large part by one of our favorite podcasts, The Rewatchables by The Ringer. Our goal is to make it to Amazing Spider-Man #200. Will we make it? Grab your Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus or crank up your tablet to Marvel Unlimited, and then tune in every Wednesday to find out!

MARVEL TEAM-UP #31

Spider-Rama

by Gerry Conway, Jim Mooney, and Vince Colletta

Spider-Man and Iron Fist vs. Drom the Backwards Man!

POINTLESS TRIVIA

BEN: The first appearance and death of Drom the Backwards Man.

WHAT'S AGED THE BEST?

BEN: I like that the universe is still young enough that Peter can see a new hero and compare them to a hero he recently met.

DUY: Are they fighting Benjamin Button?

BEN: I wonder if Brad Pitt would sign on for a Benjamin Button vs Spider-Man movie. BBvS.

WHAT'S AGED THE WORST?

BEN: Brad Pitt would never dress like this.

DUY: There's really no reason they need to show us what Benjamin Button is saying. Just tell us to read it backwards.

BEN: Did they ... just kill him?

DUY: Isn't that the same as the Silvermane ending?

BEN: Yes, but with Brad Pitt.

NITPICKS

BEN: I don’t know that Iron Fist’s karate chops could break manacles that are holding Spider-Man and his superstrength captive. Also, a load of webbing?

DUY: I don't get it. They forget everything, but Peter recorded it. What's their memory of that night then?

BEN: Everybody was kung-fu fighting.

FAVORITE PANEL

BEN: Mine:

DUY: Mine:

WHO WON THE COMIC?

BEN: The eventual Benjamin Button universe.

Leave us a comment below or on our Facebook page. And be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel! Go watch our Spider-Rama videos!

Feb 14, 2021

The Comics Cube Channel Recap: February 14, 2021

Dave Chisholm came back to the Cube to talk to Duy and LaMar about Chasin' the Bird: Charlie Parker in California:

We finish our interview with JH Williams III where he talks about Echolands with W. Haden Blackman, being inked by Mick Gray, and affecting lives, including a story about Batwoman. Also, does he really not do thumbnails?

Kwanza Osajyefo came on to talk about Black, White, and the X-Men:

And Paul, LaMar, and Duy ranked the top 10 Superman writers ever:

Feb 7, 2021

Spider-Rama: Amazing Spider-Man #142

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #142

Spider-Rama

by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, Frank Giacoia, and Dave Hunt

Spider-Man vs. Mysterio! Except Mysterio is dead? And so is... someone else?

POINTLESS TRIVIA

BEN: The return of Gwen Stacy?

DUY: JJJ is revealed to be bankrolling the new Mysterio Daniel Berkhart (an old friend of Quentin Beck's) and he runs off to Paris. This is also not the last time Berkhart will replace an already established villain.

BEN: Wait, Ned and Betty weren't married yet?.

DUY: Why is MJ crying? They're not close.

WHAT'S AGED THE BEST?

BEN: Sizing each other up.

DUY: Love it. Good dynamics.

WHAT'S AGED THE WORST?

DUY: Peter is really dumb sometimes. Batman wouldn’t fall for these tricks.

BEN: First of all, Danny Berkhart sounds like the name of a ‘70s teen idol. But what was it about Spider-Man villains that writers are always trying to replace the guy inside the cool costume?

DUY: The next guy he would replace isn't going to be as cool, but that's like, way later on.

BEN: The next guy Danny Berkhardt would replace?

DUY: Yes, he's gonna be someone else later on.

BEN: Does he replace Eric Forman on That 70s Show?

DUY: No, that guy didn't have facial hair.

NITPICKS

BEN: Two things. No way he doesn’t notice that camera on his chest sooner, and Mysterio would not know about Mindworm.

DUY: Yeah, there's no way Mysterio would know about Mindworm or even Morbius, really. Those aren't public enough. Were they trying to make Mindworm a thing? I will point out the Jackal is in there, and if I remember right, that's going to be a thing because Mysterio wouldn't know him either. But it's undercut by Mindworm being there.

BEN: Stop trying to make Mindworm happen.

FAVORITE PANEL

DUY: Okay, if Ditko was the master of motion and weirdness and Romita was the master of just putting out a classic Spider-Man image, Andru has been the master of perspective play.

WHO WON THE COMIC?

DUY: J. Jonah Jameson, because this is the funniest he's been the entire Conway run.

BEN: Seems like he finally got a handle on him.

Leave us a comment below or on our Facebook page. And be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel! Go watch our Spider-Rama videos!

The Comics Cube Channel Recap: February 7, 2021

We're gonna be doing a weekly recap of what happened in our YouTube channel (to which you should subscribe) hopefully every Sunday instead of doing a post on each now.

To start, on January 23, Duy, Paul, and Ben each counted down our five favorite Spider-Man artists.

Then Maria Laura Sanapo joined the show to talk about drawing fierce women, like Zatanna, Wonder Woman, Red Sonja, Vampirella, Betty and Veronica, and the revitalized Golden Age superhero Miss Fury, with Billy Tucci.

Michael Penick talked about the artistic process and also about his comic on Kickstarter, Recovery Inc., starring Mia Raven, the thief who became a detective who became a thief.

Then Sal Abbinanti talked about comic book art history and his comic on Kickstarter, The Hostage, about a medieval spirit in Brazil who gets summoned by children in poverty to take care of their problems.

Bruno Redondo, who is doing the new Nightwing run with Tom Taylor, discussed his visual approach to Nightwing and setting him apart from previous Nightwing runs (and from Batman).

Then Duy, Paul, and Lizzy reacted to the Sandman casting news.

And Ken Quattro joined the show to talk about his book, Invisible Men: The Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books, perfect for Black History Month.

And finally, Ben, Joe, and Justin ranked the top 10 X-Men characters of all time.

Let us know what you think in the comments and be sure to subscribe!

Jan 27, 2021

Spider-Rama: Marvel Team-Up #30

MARVEL TEAM-UP #30

Spider-Rama

by Gerry Conway, Jim Mooney, and Vince Colletta

Spider-Man teams up with the Falcon to fight Midas.

POINTLESS TRIVIA

BEN: The first and only appearance of Midas. Per our policy, we skipped the previous Marvel Team-Up because it didn’t have Spider-Man. It featured Iron Man and the Torch against Infinitus, in his only appearance.

WHAT'S AGED THE BEST?

BEN: Good ole fashioned fan demand. And anytime you have a character that became a major part of the movie universe, like the Falcon, it’s going to age well.

DUY: Glory just got introduced and is already here, so this was definitely an attempt to make Marvel Team-Up "matter", because up to this point it definitely does not feel like it has. Sadly, tying in an urban racial story to drugs is still relevant today.

WHAT'S AGED THE WORST?

BEN: The Falcon was great, but that costume is not. Picture that on a real person, there’s no way.

DUY: You may not be able to take that costume seriously, but no ladies would complain if Anthony Mackie wore it.
.

BEN: Yes they would!

DUY: We’ve never seen this before or since.

BEN: Death traps, just shoot them while they’re captive. Also, how long did it take to bolt them down like that? These are practical questions people.