While on the road, Al and Don discuss the Archie newspaper strip and the Archie Library Series. Bootleg recordings and obscure items found through mail order, comic shops and dollar boxes come up as well. Dallas comes on for ten minutes and talks about RASL Then Al asks about the Marvel imprint Star Comics, And Don Showed How Little He Actually Knew.
Tag Archives: Al Val
182 | Back-Up Stories, Alan Moore And New Versions Of Old Series
Talking about back-up stories led into Alan Moore and Swamp Thing, Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye, Shade The Changing Girl, Groo Fray Of The Gods and Love And Rockets. Then Pullapalooza closes it out.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Harry Nilsson
Flesh And Bones Featuring Dalgoda 3
By Jan Strnad And Dennis Fujitake.
181 | Len Wein, Comics Timeline And Steve Ditko
The core four return to discuss Len Wein, the Golden, Silver, Bronze and the never ending Modern Age of comics. Pullapalooza and Strange And Stranger: The World Of Steve Ditko finishes it off.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Groovy Cool
180 | Reading List, Pullapalooza And Injection
The core four are back and keep asking why. Why hasn’t Rook made his reading list available? Why hasn’t he ever mentioned No Hero? Why haven’t we heard of Batman / Doc Savage? And why haven’t we EVER talked about Len Wein? Why?
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Red Club
Locke & Key By Joe Hill And Gabriel Rodrigues.
177 | Reprints, Formats And Pullapalooza
Miracle Man and hard to find comics start the show, which unfolds into classified ads, game shows, cartoon hosts and Sunday comics. Steve Rude and Pullapalooza brings it to a close. Al asked “Why did old comic books have colored rectangles near the top borders of the page?” and just to let you know, he was right, and Don was wrong. Again.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Lets Active
176 | On The Road And Dollar Boxes
Throwing caution to the wind Al and Don leave St. Petersburg and go to Tampa in search of comic books. They tell you what they got on the way back.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Sonic Graffiti
Nerd Out Comics • Tampa, Florida
175 | Rereading Comics, Binge Reading, Valerian And Pullapalooza
Rereading comics that sit in the box or on the shelf for long periods of time, binge reading, single issue stories, Valerian and Moebius being available in English start this one off. Pullapalooza finishes it out.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Thin Lizzy
Akira By Katsuhiro Otomo.
174 | Halloween, Bernie Wrightson And Doom Patrol
Join Don, Al and Dallas as they reminisce about Halloweens past! The gang fumbles over their knowledge of the origins of Halloween, and Al relishes over Creepy Presents: Bernie Wrightson and explains the Egyptian tradition of a beetle on a string.
Then Don discusses DC’s new YOUNG ANIMAL imprint, including Doom Patrol and Shade the Changing Girl. After that, we plug Slow Robot a Go-Go and DaddyMindTricks.com
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett
173 | Uninterrupted Numbering, Alex And Ada, Alex Toth And The Sculptor
The core four are joined again by Dallas’ daughter and begin the discussion by trying to think of great single issue and standalone stories. Rook and Don gush over Alex + Ada, specifically volume 2, Al reviews “Bravo for Adventure” by the legendary Alex Toth, and Don reviews “The Sculptor” by the near-legendary Scott McCloud.
The gang starts randomly bashing variant covers in mainstream comics and Al finishes everything out saying goodbye to Herschell Gordon Lewis.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Ed Woltil
172 | Rebirth Overload, Organic Growth Comics, Fantastic Four Movies And James Robinson
The core four return with Baby Emily to talk shop about comics! Don gives the gang rose rocks from Oklahoma, Dallas considers his multiple attacks by animals this past week, and Rook *finally* swears off DC’s exhausting Rebirth series.
Big event books are compared to popular series that grew organically are discussed, along with the lackluster Fantastic Four movies, Ang Lee films, Lady Snowblood, and James Robinson.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Purity Ring
Rook Says Goodbye To DC Rebirth.
171 | Outer Space Spirit, 70s Comic Magazines And More
Al and Don are back and start it off with The Outer Space Spirit, Will Eisner, comic magazines of the seventies and Barney Google. Johnny Hazard By Frank Robbins leads into the influence of Milton Caniff and Noel Sickles on the newspaper adventure strip, and finishes with books by François Rivière and Marguerite Abouet.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Red Club
The Outer Space Spirit By Will Eisner, Wally Wood And Jules Feiffer.
169 | DC Rebirth, Current TV Style Comics And Reprint Copies
The core four are together, with Rook showing interest in the DC Rebirth titles. Crossover fatigue, the many Captain Marvels, The Vision and other television show style comics are brought up among other things.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: The Runaways
168 | Charles Vess, Rick Veitch, Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson And Win Mortimer
Starting out hating an artist only to change your mind two months later is the first topic, then early projects we didn’t like from creators we did follows it up.
Love for golden age artists Matt Baker, Reed Crandall and Raymond Kinstler is shown, along with a whole lot of talk about Howard Chaykin. A whole lot. Then Chris Samnee, Walt Simonson and the first issue of Bob’s Burgers plus Al’s love for Win Mortimer converts Don over to his side. It gets dark. Really dark.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: The Masons
167 | Fist Of Fury, Fanzines, Butchering The Beatles, Graphic Ink And Valerian
Al begins the conversation with a spillover from Kung Fu Theater On Radio St. Pete, and then moves into the art of comic book script writing and fanzines. The Beatles Revolver is brought up along with the question of why songs were removed from each album for the American audience. Don brings Darwyn Cooke: Graphic Ink and Valerian to the table, then we stop.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: The Jam
Bruce Lee: Fists Of Fury (aka Chinese Connection In The USA).
166 | Jack Davis, Future Quest 3, Valentina And Black Canary
The conversation starts off recommending these 21 San Diego Comic-Con Panels. We say goodbye to Jack Davis and discuss the incredible body of work he left behind. Everything finishes out with Future Quest 3, Valentina and Black Canary.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Van Morrison
165 | Future Quest, Basil Gogos, Double Albums And Jim Aparo
It starts off with Future Quest, moves into Famous Monster Movie Art Of Basil Gogos, then runs off into heavy metal drummers and double albums on vinyl. Jim Aparo and Saturday morning cartoon ads finish it out.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Blue Cheer
Future Quest 1 By Jeff Parker, Evan Shaner And Jordie Bellaire.
164 | Vampirella B Reel From 163
If you liked us talking about Vampirella last episode, here is some more that we didn’t think was good enough to include. Enjoy!
Vampirella By Enric And José González.
163 | Vampirella, Filipino Artists, Barbarians, Golden Age Jungle Women, Señorita Rio And Tarzan
We start off with Vampirella, move into the Filipino artists who did American comics in the seventies and end up talking about barbarian titles from the same era. Heroines of the golden age and Tarzan finish it out.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Steve Robinson
Vampirella 2 Cover By Bill Hughes.
160 | Injection, Hilda, Jonah Hex 33, Catwoman And Pullapalooza
Dallas starts it off talking about Injection, then Al and Don come in and look at the Free Comic Book Day issue of Hilda, Jonah Hex 33 and Catwoman 17, 18 and 19. Then it goes into a massive pullapalooza.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Be Bop Deluxe
Injection By Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey And Jordie Bellaire.
159 | Following Creators Or Characters, Mad Paperbacks, And Pullapalooza
Even though Al starts off with a certain question, the conversation turns to following creators or following the characters, Mad paperbacks, Jeffrey Catherine Jones documentary and pullapalooza finish it out.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: The Replacements
Although Al Hasn’t Read The Current State Of Captain America,
He Talks About What He Has Heard.
157 | Darwyn Cooke, Mooncop, Scarlet Witch, Giant Size Comics And Jack Kirby
The episode opens saying farewell to Darwyn Cooke and give an appreciation to the fantastic work he left behind. Tom Gauld’s Mooncop, Scarlet Witch, Giant Size comics, Jack Kirby’s later work and Squirrel Girl finish it out.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Adrian Belew • The Cadets
Goodbye Darwyn Cooke. Thanks For All The Work.
156 | Free Comic Book Day, The Autumnlands, Archie Digest, Color Or Black And White
Free Comic Book Day, The Autumnlands, Archie Comics Digest, the missing element of fun and color or no color are the topics of this on the road show. Enjoy!
155 | Black Widow, Early Work, Missed Opportunities, Flash Gordon And Starman
Fast reading comics starts it off, along with early work we may not have liked as kids. Artists we missed out on meeting, Flash Gordon, remaking movies and James Robinson’s Starman finishes it out..
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Blue Ash
Black Widow By Chris Samnee And Mark Waid.
154 | Frazetta’s Snow Man (Again), Peter Max, The Mighty Blue And Gilbert Hernandez
Frank Frazetta: The Adventures Of The Snowman is finally discussed, along with artists simplifying their styles. Jack Kirby’s Fourth World is mentioned, Peter Max somehow comes up, Dallas’ The Mighty Blue is reviewed and Gilbert Hernandez’ Sloth is recommended.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: The Jezabels
153 | Frazetta’s Snow Man, Injection, The Vision, Sex Criminal And The Final Incal
Al brings Frank Frazetta’s The Adventures Of The Snow Man to the table. Dallas talks about Injection and Don brings up The Vision (again). Sex Criminals, little hamburgers and the many versions of The Incal finish out the rest.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: The Shadow Moses Incident
152 | The Vision And Nailbiter
Al and Don get together and actually talk about comic books without slipping into any other topic. Even stranger is the fact that they only discussed two titles.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Van Duran And Jody Stephens
The Vision By Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez Walta And Jordie Bellaire.
151 | Batman v Superman, Valerian Movie, Ambient Music, Dinosaurs And Howard Chaykin
Al starts it off talking about a movie he has no interest in seeing, and Don talks about comic books from previous episodes. We also discussed this Howard Chaykin interview.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Brian Eno featuring Snatch “R.A.F”
Explicit 150 | Too Many Comics, Variant Covers And Other Comics We’ve Forgotten Or Haven’t Read
The Core Four burn through the first part of the show talking about how they met, then learn how Hashbrowns got his name. The question of are there too many comics these days? is brought up, and Al discusses the return of variant covers. Dallas gives a lukewarm review of Fantastic Four 352 after Don pushed it on him and Rook reviews Super Zero. And at the end Poison River, Chrononauts 1, Black Science and The Nevermen were talked about, but not very well. Enjoy!
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: The Horribles • Prince Whipper Whip

Are There Too Many Comics These Days?
Continue reading149 | Required Reading, Deadpool Movie And Captain America 2.
Chris begins employment at Yancy Street Comics, and Rook asks the crew to assign required reading. Then Dallas and Rook talk about the Deadpool movie as well as Captain America 2: Civil War.
Now That He Is Working There, What Comics Should Chris Read?
148 | Discovering Comic Books In The Sixties
There were a lot of technical difficulties on this one, so please excuse the poor sound quality. Al is joined with Pat and discuss the comic books they were exposed to in the early sixties and what brought them into the fold.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Palehound













