Marvel by the Month

Chris Gethard is a very funny and talented comedian, actor, author, and podcaster, who you've seen in everything from The Office to The Other Guys. He's also the creative mind behind Wellness Together's Laughing Together program, which brings comedy workshops into schools as a low-impact, destigmatized entry point into conversations regarding mental health. Learn more at https://laughingtogether.org

For more than TWO HOURS of bonus content — including 45 minutes more of our conversation with Chris Gethard and 20 more Marvel comics in the Mighty MBTM Checklist — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. $5 a month gets you instant access to o...

The Comics Canon podcast, hosted by Kevin Moreau and Curt Holman, reads, reviews, and renders judgment on some of the best comic books of yesterday and today. It's one of our favorite comics podcasts and well worth your time!

For 80+ minutes of bonus content — including 24 more Marvel comics in the Mighty MBTM Checklist — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. $5 a month gets you instant access to our bonus feed of over 160 extended and exclusive episodes!

Stories Covered in this Episode: 

"If Asgard Should Perish...!" - Thor #250, written by Len Wein, art by Joh...

For 70+ minutes of bonus content — including 19 more Marvel comics in the Mighty MBTM Checklist — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. $5 a month gets you instant access to our bonus feed of over 150 extended and exclusive episodes!

Stories Covered in this Episode: 

"The Day of the Gods" - Eternals #1, written by Jack Kirby, art by Jack Kirby and John Verpoorten, letters by Gaspar Saladino, colors by Glynis Wein, edited by Jack Kirby and Marv Wolfman, ©1976 Marvel Comics

"Hammerhead Is Out!" - Amazing Spider-Man #158, written by Len Wein, art by Ross Andru and Mike Es...

Douglas Wolk is the Eisner Award-winning author of Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean and All of the Marvels: A Journey to the Ends of the Biggest Story Ever Told. Subscribe to his daily Marvel Comics book club, The 616 Society, and check out his story in the brand-new Giant-Size '63, a loving tribute to 1963 by Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, and Rick Veitch.

For 80+ minutes of bonus content — including an additional half hour of our conversation with Douglas, plus the Mighty MBTM Checklist — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. $5 a month gets you instant acce...

For nearly 60 minutes of bonus content — including our discussion of Amazing Spider-Man #156 and the Mighty MBTM Checklist — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. $5 a month gets you instant access to our bonus feed of over 150 extended and exclusive episodes!

Stories Covered in this Episode: 

"Introducing: Mind-Wave and His Fearsome Think Tank!" - Daredevil #133, written by Marv Wolfman, art by Bob Brown and Jim Mooney, letters by Ray Holloway, colors by Michele Wolfman, edited by Marv Wolfman, ©1976 Marvel Comics

"His Name Is Doctor Strange" - Tomb of Dracula #44, written by Marv Wolfman, art by...

Gerry Conway is one of the true legends of comics, having written just about every major Marvel and DC character over the last 60 years. At 19 years old, he was the third person to write Amazing Spider-Man, after Stan Lee and Roy Thomas, and he is the co-creator of the Punisher, the Jackal, the original Ms. Marvel, Man-Thing, and Werewolf by Night for Marvel Comics and Firestorm, Power Girl, Jason Todd, and Killer Croc for DC Comics.

For 80+ minutes of bonus content — including 20 more minutes of our conversation with Gerry Conway and the Mighty MBTM Checklist — support us at p...

Matt Fraction is about to become the new writer of Batman, and yes, we feel terribly betrayed.

For 90+ minutes of bonus content — including our coverage of Howard the Duck #2 and the Mighty MBTM Checklist and so much more nonsense — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. $5 a month gets you instant access to our bonus feed of over 150 extended and exclusive episodes!

Stories Covered in this Episode: 

"Omega the Unknown" - Omega the Unknown #1, written by Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes, art by Jim Mooney, letters by John Costanza, colors by Petra Goldbe...

For 65 minutes of bonus content — including our coverage of Marvel Chillers #3 and the Mighty MBTM Checklist — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. Subscribers at the $5/month level get instant access to our bonus feed of content that contains over 150 extended and exclusive episodes. 

Stories Covered in this Episode: 

"Blood In the Waters" - Ghost Rider #16, written by Bill Mantlo, art by George Tuska and Vince Colletta, letters by Karen Mantlo, colors by Janice Cohen, edited by Marv Wolfman, ©1975 Marvel Comics

"Re-Birth!" - Tomb of Dracula #41, written by Marv Wolfman, art by Gene Col...

Mark Evanier's  list of professional credits runs from Garfield and Friends to Groo the Wanderer. But he got his start as Jack Kirby’s assistant, and he’s the author of the definitive Jack Kirby biography, Kirby: King of Comics. Space Circus, his collaboration with Sergio Aragonés, has recently come back into print from Dark Horse.

For just under two hours of bonus content — including much more of our conversation with Mark Evanier, our coverage of Peter Quill/Starlord's first Marvel Universe appearance, and our Mighty MBTM Checklist feature — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. Subscribers at the $5...

Will and Kevin Hines are brothers, lifelong comics fans, and kind of comedians who host the Screw It, We’re Just Gonna Talk About Comics podcast, the only podcast in human history where two brothers talk about a thing that they like. 

For 115 minutes of bonus content (WHAT??!) — including our coverage of Amazing Spider-Man #151, Fantastic Four #164-165, and our Mighty MBTM Checklist feature — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. Subscribers at the $5/month level get instant access to our bonus feed of content that contains over 150 extended and exclusive episodes. 

Stories Covered in this Epis...

Michael Dean has been an editor at The Comics Journal since 1999 and is the co-author (with Tom Spurgeon) of the oral history of Fantagraphics Books, Comics As Art: We Told You So. He’s currently editing Fantagraphics’ Lost Marvels series, which restores forgotten Marvel classics in beautiful hardcover editions. Volume One reprints the never-before-collected 1969 horror and suspense series, Tower of Shadows. It hits shelves on April 29th and is available for preorder now from Fantagraphics' website and your local comics shop.

For 70 minutes of bonus content — including more of our conversation with Michael, our coverage of the Trial...

David F. Walker is the multiple Eisner Award-winning writer of Bitter Root with Chuck Brown and Sanford Greene. He picked up another Eisner Award with artist Marcus Kwame Anderson for The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History. Their latest collaboration is the Alex Award-winning and NAACP Image Award-nominated Big Jim and the White Boy. He just launched a Patreon and will be Kickstarting his next graphic novel, The Death of Bobby Hart, soon!

For more than 75 minutes of bonus content — including more of our conversation with David and our new Mighty MBTM Checklist feature — support us at p...

Stephanie Williams is a comic book writer and historian whose work has been featured on NPR, Rotten Tomatoes, SyFy Wire, the AV Club, Nerdist, and Den of Geek. Her comics writing has appeared in Marvel Voices: Legacy and Wakanda for Marvel Comics, and a number of Wonder Woman and Nubia titles for DC. She’s the co-creator of the webcomics Parenthood Activate with Sarah A. Macklin and But What If Though with Fabian Lelay. And her IDW trade paperback, My Little Pony Maritime Mysteries, was just released today!

For more than 70 minutes of bonus content — including our new...

Mark Russell is the Eisner Award-winning writer of Not All Robots, co-created with Mike Deodato Jr., as well as the writer and co-creator of Billionaire Island with artist Steve Pugh, Second Coming with Richard Pace, and the Eisner-nominated Traveling to Mars with Roberto Meli. Marvel fans know him as the writer of Fantastic Four: Life Story and the current writer of X-Factor, and his new book, Grimm and Grimmer: Classic Fairy Tales Rebooted, is out now!

For more than 70 minutes of bonus content — including coverage of Jim Starlin's epic bridge-burner "1000 Clowns" and our new Mighty MBTM Checklist fe...

Our Season 8 recap covers all of these issues, more or less: Amazing Adventures#14-17, Amazing Spider-Man #112-146, Astonishing Tales#14-30, Avengers #103-137, Captain America #153-187, Captain Marvel #22-39, The Cat #1-4, Daredevil #91-123, Defenders #2-25, Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #1-8, Fantastic Four #126-160, Incredible Hulk #155-189, Iron Man #50-76, Ka-Zar #1-10, Luke Cage, Hero for Hire/Power Man #3-25, Marvel Feature #5-12, Marvel Premiere #4-23, Marvel Preview #2, Marvel Team-Up #4-35, Marvel Two-In-One #1-10, Night Nurse #1-4, Shanna the She-Devil #1-5, Strange Tales #169-180, Sub-Mariner #53-72, Thor #203-237, Warlock #2-8, Special Marvel Edition #15-16, Creatures on the Loose #30-36, Adventure Into...

We return to the Marvel Monsterverse with Jennifer aka Comics Will Break Your Heart for a look at some of the key creepy comics of the summer of 1974, including Werewolf by Night vs. Frankenstein, and Satan vs. Ghost Rider and... Jesus?!

Thank you for supporting us on Patreon! This Patreon-exclusive extended episode contains one full hour of bonus content not found in the public version — including a swampy take on King Kong in Giant-Size Man-Thing #2, Blade vs. Dracula in Tomb of Dracula #24, the first appearance of Hannibal King in Tomb of Dracula #25, and our spooky recommendations. Listeners who suppo...

This is our Patreon-exclusive November 1973 Omnibus, featuring local Portland comics streamer and journalist Jennifer aka Comics Will Break Your Heart, and covering all 14 of the Marvel comics that we didn't get to last week, including:

Jennifer from Comic Books Will Break Your Heart joins us for a fifth helping of Marvel's monster comics! The Man-Thing saves a baby! Ghost Rider takes frequent naps between sick stunts! The Werewolf fights sharks and helicopters! Dracula time-travels through black mirrors! And we learn a valuable lesson about how dads are the true monsters!

Senior Florida Correspondent Jennifer aka Comics Will Break Your Heart talks comics on the internet every weekend on the Casually Comics Sunday Chat. Support her on Patreon and follow her on Instagram!

This Patreon-exclusive extended episode contains 55 minutes of extra content n...

Elliott Kalan is one-third of the hosts of the world's greatest podcast, The Flop House. He's also an Emmy Award-winning writer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and the Who Was? Show, as well as the comics writer behind Spider-Man and the X-Men and Maniac of New York.

This Patreon-exclusive extended version of this episode contains an additional 50 minutes of bonus content not heard in the public version. Don't want to wait until next week for the other half? Support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth at the $4/month level to get instant access...

Elliott Kalan is one-third of the hosts of the world's greatest podcast, The Flop House. He's also an Emmy Award-winning writer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and the Who Was? Show, as well as the comics writer behind Spider-Man and the X-Men and Maniac of New York.

This Patreon-exclusive extended version of this episode contains an additional 50 minutes of bonus content not heard in the public version. Don't want to wait until next week for the other half? Support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth at the $4/month level to get instant access...

Want to hear more of these extended episodes? Support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth! Subscribers at the $4/month level get instant access to our bonus feed of content that contains over 130 extended and exclusive episodes — with more being added every week!

Stories Covered in this Episode: 

"Betrayed!" - Amazing Spider-Man #130, written by Gerry Conway, art by Ross Andru, Frank Giacoia, and Dave Hunt, letters by Artie Simek, colors by Petra Goldberg, ©1973 Marvel Comics

"My Uncle... My Enemy?" - Amazing Spider-Man #131, written by Gerry Conway, art by Ross Andru, Frank Giacoia, and Dave...

Don't want to wait until next week to hear the second half of this episode? Support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth! Subscribers at the $4/month level get instant access to our bonus feed of content that contains over 130 extended and exclusive episodes — with more being added every week!

Stories Covered in this Episode: 

"When a Legend Dies!" - Captain America #169, written by Steve Englehart and Mike Friedrich, art by Sal Buscema and Frank McLaughlin, letters by Charlotte Jetter, colors by Petra Goldberg, ©1973 Marvel Comics

"J'Accuse!" - Captain America #170, written by Mike Fried...

Did you like this extended episode? Want to be able to listen to 130+ more of them? Support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth at the $4/month level to get instant access to our bonus feed!

Stories Covered in this Episode: 

"The Night Gwen Stacy Died" - Amazing Spider-Man #121, written by Gerry Conway, art by Gil Kane, John Romita, and Tony Mortellaro, letters by Artie Simek, colors by David Hunt, ©1973 Marvel Comics

"The Goblin's Last Stand!" - Amazing Spider-Man #122, written by Gerry Conway, art by Gil Kane, John Romita, and Tony Mortellaro, letters by...

Can't wait until next week to hear the second half of this episode? Support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth at the $4/month level to get instant access to our bonus feed of over 130 extended and exclusive episodes — with more being added every week!

Stories Covered in this Episode: 

"Paranoia Is: The Para-Man!" - Marvel Feature #7, written by Mike Friedrich, art by Craig Russell, Dan Adkins, and Mark Kersey, ©1972 Marvel Comics

"Prelude to Disaster!" - Marvel Feature #8, written by Mike Friedrich, Stan Lee, and Ernie Hart, art by Craig Russell, Jim Starlin, Jimmy...

Steve Lieber is the Eisner Award-winning comics artist responsible for the funniest parts of Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, One-Star Squadron, Superior Foes of Spider-Man, and so much more. On the first Friday of every month, he generously shares his three decades of industry expertise with aspiring artists who want to hone their craft at Portland's Books with Pictures.

This episode was made possible through the generosity of a brother, a lifelong comic book fan, and a kind-of comedian, Will Hines, who contributed to friend-of-the-show Jennifer's GoFundMe to help her in her battle against cancer. Donations are still...

Tom Brevoort is Executive Editor and Senior Vice-President of Publishing for Marvel Comics, whose current duties include relaunching the entire X-franchise in the post-Krakoan Era. Please buy and read all of it, so that we can continue to convince him that taking two hours to talk with us is a good use of his time! He's also got a must-read newsletter for anyone who has any interest in the past, present or future of Marvel Comics (which is probably you).

Once upon a time, Clint McElroy accepted an invite from his kids to play Dungeons & Dragons with...

The complete version of our Omnibus episodes are usually only available to Patrons who support us at the $4/month level at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth — but in preparation for next week's season finale covering GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1, we're dropping the full version of our April 1975 Omnibus, which covers all of the following issues:

The complete version of this episode is available to Patrons who support us at the $4/month level at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth — join today to hear us cover all of these issues:

Marvel fans know Jeff Parker as the writer of Agents of Atlas, Thunderbolts, X-Men: First Class, and Hulks of various colors. He’s also the co-creator of Meteor Men, Blighter, Underground and more. Check out his Negaduck series from Dynamite!

For 30 minutes of bonus content — including our in-depth discussions of Captain America #183-185 — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. Subscribers at the $4/month level get instant access to our bonus feed of content that contains over 130 extended and exclusive episodes — with more being added every week!

Stories Covered in this Episode: 

"Mind Cage...

The complete version of this episode is available to Patrons who support us at the $4/month level at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth — join today to hear us cover all of these issues:

Jordan Morris is the Eisner-nominated co-creator of the Bubble graphic novel (and the podcast that it was adapted from), as well as the co-host of the Maximum Fun network's Jordan, Jesse, Go! and Free With Ads. Pre-order his upcoming YA horror comedy graphic novel, Youth Group, at bit.ly/youthgroupbook!

For 30 minutes of bonus content — including our in-depth discussions of the Vision's origin and some ancient Kree history in Avengers #133-135 — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. Subscribers at the $4/month level get instant access to our bonus feed of content that contains over 130 extended and exclusive epis...

Chip Zdarsky is writing about 40 different things these days and drawing several of them as well. They're all great, and you can find out all about them by going to his website and signing up for his must-read newsletter.

Matt Fraction co-created Sex Criminals with Chip, which has just been released in a very reasonably priced single-volume collected edition. It might be the best comic ever made? You should check it out if you haven't already.

This episode was made possible by a generous donation from listener Richard Burgess to our friend Jennifer's GoFundMe to...

Jacob Balcom and Matt Howell are the hosts of Bronze-Age Monsters, the definitive podcast of the monster comics of the 1970s. Be sure to check out their Patreon, which delivers a horrific amount of frighteningly good content!

For 40 minutes of bonus content — including our in-depth discussions of a Lovecraftian vampire tale in Giant-Size Dracula #4 and some otherworldly high fantasy in Giant-Size Man-Thing #3 — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. Subscribers at the $4/month level get instant access to our bonus feed of content that contains over 130 extended and exclusive episodes — with more being added every week!

St...

Carl Sciacchitano is a Portland  writer and illustrator whose work can be seen in comics by Monkeybrain, Archie, and IDW, including The Army of Dr. Moreau with friend of the show David F. Walker. Carl's latest work is the extraordinarily moving The Heart That Fed, a graphic novel published by Simon and Schuster/Gallery 13 that recounts his father's experience in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive and the fall of Saigon. It's on sale June 4th at the best bookstores and comics shops, so add it to your stack next week!

The complete version of this episode is a...

Elliott Kalan is the co-host of The Flop House, the world's greatest podcast, the former head writer of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return, and most importantly (for the purposes of this blurb), the writer of Dynamite's new Disney comics series, Hercules!

For one full hour of bonus content — including our in-depth discussions of the first appearance of Gerald Ford in Incredible Hulk #185-186 and the first team-up between Spider-Man and the Punisher in Giant-Size Spider-Man #4 — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. Subscribers at the $4/month level get instant access to our...

The complete version of this episode is available to Patrons who support us at the $4/month level at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth — join today to hear us cover all of these issues:

Robert K. Elder is the president and CEO of Outrider Foundation, an award-winning author of 20+ books, including Hemingway In Comics. Find him online at robelder.com.

For 20 minutes of bonus content — including our in-depth discussion of the debut of the Headmen in Defenders #21 and the repercussions of the original Clone Saga — support us at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth. Subscribers at the $4/month level get instant access to our bonus feed of content that contains over 120 extended and exclusive episodes — with more being added every week!

Stories Covered in this Episode: 

"The Man's Name App...

The complete version of this episode is available to Patrons who support us at the $4/month level at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth — join today to hear us cover all of these issues:

Ben Saunders is an academic expert in comic and cartoon studies, pop culture and English literature who co-founded and directs the University of Oregon's minor in Comic and Cartoon Studies, the first undergraduate minor of its kind in the country. He's also the series editor of the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection and the curator of the Marvel: University of Super Heroes exhibition, which has appeared at museums in Portland, OR; Charlotte, NC; Dearborn, MI; Seattle, WA; and Basel, Switzerland.

For 90 minutes (!!!) of bonus content — including our in-depth discussions of Captain America #180, the presidents Cap has (and hasn't) me...

The complete version of this episode is available to Patrons who support us at the $4/month level at patreon.com/marvelbythemonth — join today to hear us cover all of these issues: