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Jul 21, 2021

Spider-Rama: Amazing Spider-Man #146

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!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #146

Spider-Rama

by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, John Romita, and "The Gang"

The Jackal sends the Scorpion after Aunt May, indicating he may know who Spider-Man really is.

POINTLESS TRIVIA

BEN: Villain appearance count:

Doctor Octopus: 17
Green Goblin: 13
The Kingpin: 12
The Vulture: 9
Kraven the Hunter: 8
The Lizard: 7
Mysterio: 6
Professor Smythe/Spider Slayer: 6
The Jackal: 5
Hammerhead: 5
Sandman: 4
Molten Man: 4
Scorpion: 4
Electro: 3
The Enforcers: 3
The Rhino: 3
Man Mountain Marko: 3
Silvermane: 3
The Chameleon: 3
The Schemer/Richard Fisk: 3
Ringmaster: 2
Shocker: 2
The Beetle: 2
Morbius: 2
The Gibbon: 2
The Man-Wolf: 2
Jonas Harrow: 2
The Kangaroo: 2
Tarantula: 2
Green Goblin (Harry): 2
The Grizzly: 2
Mysterio 2: 2
Cyclone: 2

WHAT'S AGED THE BEST?

BEN: I shouldn't have chuckled, but I did.

DUY: It's just a fact that this happens. If one of you moves on with life and the other one remains in the same place, love goes away.

BEN: As a kid I was screaming, it’s Gwen, take her back! Also, I love when Peter really starts berating them:

WHAT'S AGED THE WORST?

BEN: This is beyond dumb.

DUY: Rotary phones have not aged well (but I do love this sequence. Look at how Andru shows Spider-Man left through the window without actually showing us Spider-Man left through the window).

NITPICKS

DUY: Gwen says she's been dead for two years, but the previous issue it's only been months.

BEN: There have been two Christmas’ since she died, but on a sliding timescale of never-ending adventures, there’s no way that timeline can work.

FAVORITE PANEL

DUY: That's a well-drawn skyline.

BEN: The Jackal’s look and coloring always creeped me out. He looks dirty.

DUY: He definitely has more texture than everyone else in the book, like he came from another comic even..

WHO WON THE COMIC?

DUY: Honestly, this issue is kind of filler. It advances the plot — Jackal sends Scorpion after May, and Peter may no longer be in love with Gwen — but the Scorpion/May stuff takes up too much time. So I'll say the Jackal because we'll have to name him at one point.

BEN: The Jackal for the way he jumps on Scorpion’s back here.

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!

May 25, 2021

Spider-Rama: Marvel Team-Up #34

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #155

Spider-Rama

by Gerry Conway, Sal Buscema, and Vince Colletta

Spider-Man and Valkyrie vs. The Meteor Man!

POINTLESS TRIVIA

BEN: Villain appearance count:

Doctor Octopus: 17
Green Goblin: 13
The Kingpin: 12
The Vulture: 9
Kraven the Hunter: 8
The Lizard: 7
Mysterio: 6
Professor Smythe/Spider Slayer: 6
Hammerhead: 5
Sandman: 4
Molten Man: 4
The Jackal: 4
Electro: 3
The Enforcers: 3
The Rhino: 3
Man Mountain Marko: 3
Silvermane: 3
The Chameleon: 3
The Schemer/Richard Fisk: 3
Scorpion: 3
Ringmaster: 2
Shocker: 2
The Beetle: 2
Morbius: 2
The Gibbon: 2
The Man-Wolf: 2
Jonas Harrow: 2
The Kangaroo: 2
Tarantula: 2
Green Goblin (Harry): 2
The Grizzly: 2
Mysterio 2: 2
Cyclone: 2

DUY: This is one of my first comics ever.

BEN: You have such random first comics.

DUY: So in the Philippines in the 80s, there was maybe a couple of comic stores, Filbar's and Comic Quest. But other than that, comics would just be sold in random book sale stores. (One chain itself was called Book Sale.) There would be no rhyme or reason as to which comics were available, but a lot of them would be the same comics. And this was one of them, for some reason. This is where I learned about Gwen Stacy. This issue was my actual introduction to Gwen Stacy, and it's her clone, because Gwen is dead. I must have been 7 years old when I read it, so you can always jump in in the middle of a story, everyone.

BEN: Shhh, it's the real Gwen.

DUY: And it wasn't actually this issue, but the 1980 reprint in Marvel Tales 122, where the cover was very creatively changed by being flipped horizontally.

BEN: This is, believe it or not, the Scorpion's first appearance in this title since #29, when Ditko was drawing (and co-plotting) the book. Romita never pencilled him in his very long run. That makes this only his third appearance in Amazing Spider-Man (fourth if you count his appearance as Mac Gargan in #20)... which means that he actually at this point has more appearances in Captain America (122, 150, 151, 152). 150 is actually just a one-panel appearance, so you could say it's the same number of appearances.

DUY: He's also shown up in Daredevil a couple of times, because I guess Gene Colan enjoys drawing him.

WHAT'S AGED THE BEST?

BEN: Valkyrie sticking it to the man.

DUY: Valkyrie, because strong female protagonists are where it's at.

WHAT'S AGED THE WORST?

BEN: Okay, maybe Ditko’s greatest villain is sexist. We can still fix this.

DUY: She’s not a doctor!

BEN: Unwanted probing is never good.

DUY: Honestly, Brunnhilde. It's now 2021 and she's dead in the comics and, also, probably, the movies, as seen in Thor: Ragnarok. Valkyrie in the comics is now Jane Foster. Valkyrie in the movies is Tessa Thompson.

NITPICKS

BEN: "Ensure."

DUY: Maybe he wants to take a policy out of his future endeavors?

BEN: A world-famous figurine was in an antique store?

DUY: This is a ridiculous cliffhanger. This is the second issue we're building up to this villain named Jeremiah (yet another mind-controlling villain) and y'know, he's just there.

FAVORITE PANEL

BEN: Mine:

DUY: Mine:

WHO WON THE COMIC?

BEN: Valkyrie, smash the patriarchy.

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!

May 16, 2021

Spider-Rama: Amazing Spider-Man #145

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #155

Spider-Rama

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

As if the Tarantula weren't enough, Spider-Man now has to deal with The Punisher!

POINTLESS TRIVIA

BEN: Villain appearance count:

Doctor Octopus: 17
Green Goblin: 13
The Kingpin: 12
The Vulture: 9
Kraven the Hunter: 8
The Lizard: 7
Mysterio: 6
Professor Smythe/Spider Slayer: 6
Hammerhead: 5
Sandman: 4
Molten Man: 4
The Jackal: 4
Electro: 3
The Enforcers: 3
The Rhino: 3
Man Mountain Marko: 3
Silvermane: 3
The Chameleon: 3
The Schemer/Richard Fisk: 3
Scorpion: 3
Ringmaster: 2
Shocker: 2
The Beetle: 2
Morbius: 2
The Gibbon: 2
The Man-Wolf: 2
Jonas Harrow: 2
The Kangaroo: 2
Tarantula: 2
Green Goblin (Harry): 2
The Grizzly: 2
Mysterio 2: 2
Cyclone: 2

DUY: This is one of my first comics ever.

BEN: You have such random first comics.

BEN: Shhh, it's the real Gwen.

DUY: And it wasn't actually this issue, but the 1980 reprint in Marvel Tales 122, where the cover was very creatively changed by being flipped horizontally.

DUY: He's also shown up in Daredevil a couple of times, because I guess Gene Colan enjoys drawing him.

WHAT'S AGED THE BEST?

DUY: This is a pretty good offbeat take on doing a recap.

BEN: We know a lot about clones now, but how much was known in 1975? This must have been one hell of a cliffhanger.

WHAT'S AGED THE WORST?

BEN: May.

DUY: Dude, I get it, but calm down..

BEN: Yeah, he poured it on a little too much.

NITPICKS

DUY: Scorpion gets out of jail, opens his bag to reveal his Scorpion suit... and did they just give him his suit back?

BEN: No way it fits in a suitcase either.

FAVORITE PANEL

DUY: This is an iconic image in my mind, even if there's never been any reason for me to think it is:

BEN: That's my pick too.

DUY: Something about the Scorpion's tail makes for great visuals, and the way Spidey dodges him, very well-drawn:

BEN: Look how cute and small his tail used to be.

WHO WON THE COMIC?

DUY: Gerry Conway and Ross Andru. No frills, just solid, good comics.

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!

May 5, 2021

Jeff Smith Interview: 30 Years of Bone, and TUKI: Fight for Fire

Straight out of Boneville, Jeff Smith talks to Duy Tano about Bone (pretty much the whole interview), Carl Barks' Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge (1:56), Walt Kelly's Pogo (6:50), self-publishing in the 80s vs now (11:20) and how Bone has stood the test of time, the status of the Netflix show (28:36), Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil (32:18), RASL (38:12), and his new graphic novels, Tuki: Fight for Fire (39:55). The Kickstarter is here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tuki/tuki-fight-for-fire?

ref=m88imj

And here's the official word on TUKI: Fight for Fire: For Immediate Release

Jeff Smith’s TUKI: Fight for Fire Makes Debut on Kickstarter!

Creator of BONE and RASL Launches Third Self-Published Comic Series During 30th Anniversary Celebrations

Key West, FL – May 3, 2021: Jeff Smith’s third creator owned and self-published comics project, TUKI, is making its graphic novel debut on Kickstarter on May the 4th! TUKI, some may remember, was a short-lived online comic experiment in color, but now Smith has completely rebuilt the world of two million BCE into two full blown original black & white graphic novels set to ship this Summer and Fall. This Summer also marks the 30th anniversary of the first issue of BONE #1. View the Kickstarter campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tuki/tuki-fight-for-fire

The story takes place at the dawn of the human race, and pits Tuki against a rival species of humans, the Habiline, who view the making of fire as a dangerous blasphemy and hunt those found using it.

“I’ve always been fascinated with human evolution, especially the point two million years ago when more than one species of human existed at the same time,” said cartoonist Smith, “this was also the moment we conquered fire. Definitely our best party trick!”

“I started to play around with TUKI before COVID hit,” he continued, “but once the lockdown happened, I decided to dive in and focus on straightening out the story. I ended up with enough material for two books! It was friends from the old self-publishing days, the Tucci's and the Pulido's, who turned my wife Vijaya on to Kickstarter and persuaded us to give it a go. If all goes well, this could be the beginning of a new series! Come check us out! We have rewards that are super high on the neat-o scale!”

The Kickstarter campaign covers both graphic novels. The first book, TUKI: Fight for Fire, if the campaign is successful, will ship to supporters in July, 30 years to the month the first issue of BONE was released. The second book, TUKI: Fight for Family, will ship in October.

Both volumes will be oversized, and landscape formatted (11.375” x 8.875”) with approximately 144 pages each with a bonus material stretch goal. The return to black & white line art is in keeping with the initial runs of both BONE and RASL. The first book is 100% complete and ready to go to the printer.

About TUKI: At the dawn of humanity, during a period of tremendous change and drought, three lost children meet a mysterious traveler named Tuki. Together, their search for the Motherherd of all Buffalo leads them far north through the dangerous territory of a rival species called the Habiline. The Habiline hunt and kill anyone found using fire. Tuki's reputation precedes them and soon they find themselves at the center of unwanted attention not only from Habiline warriors, but of gods and giants!

About Jeff Smith: Jeff Smith is the writer & artist of comics and graphic novels like BONE, RASL, SHAZAM: The Monster Society of Evil, ROSE and Tall Tales. Both BONE and RASL were self-published and are New York Times Bestsellers. BONE won 41 national and international awards including 10 Eisner Awards and 11 Harvey Awards, and has been translated into over 30 foreign languages. RASL won an Eisner for Best Graphic Novel. The short lived webcomic version of TUKI won the National Cartoonists Award for Best Online Comic in 2014.

For more information or if you would like hi res images, contact

Kathleen Glosan

e-mail: kathleen@boneville.com

phone: +1.614.224.4487

May 3, 2021

The Comics Cube Channel Recap: May 2, 2021

Tom Peyer broke into comics working with Roger Stern in the 80s and has worn many hats since then! We talk about why he loves comics (1:30), working with Roger Stern (10:35), working on Vertigo with Karen Berger (14:56), editing people like Neil Gaiman, George Perez, and Jill Thompson on Sandman and Wonder Woman (17:43), working on Batman 1966 and The Simpsons (31:06), kicking off Ahoy Comics (32:15), Second Coming and Mark Russell (36:54), and The Wrong Earth with Jamal Igle (45:50). Jeromy Cox has colored comics starting with Paul Smith on Leave It to Chance (9:30), and is probably best known for his work on Alan Moore and JH Williams III's Promethea (11:26). He talks Promethea #12 (where every page connects to the next) (23:30), working with Jose Villarrubia (25:15), Todd Klein (26:46), and his current kids' comic, Skink and Skunk (34:34)!