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Some of My Friends Read Comics

SOME OF MY FRIENDS READ COMICS is a book-club format podcast about reading the great comic book stories for the first time. On each episode, your hosts will review a classic comic book story or run, examine how well it holds up, and figure out how it fits within the grand context of comics.
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Some of My Friends Read Comics
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Now displaying: Page 1
Oct 10, 2024

Spooky season is swampy season here at SOMFRC and we're back to Swamp Thing! We're reading volume 5 of Alan Moore's run with issues #51-56.

Swamp Thing has no more world-ending catastrophes to worry about, but his girlfriend's being persecuted for being into plants! Nothing to do but take over Gotham, get into a fight with Batman, and then spend a cool time in space.

Then we move onto Thunderbolts #7, where the team disobeys a direct order from Baron Zemo!

Next Time: We check out Garth Ennis's time with John Constantine in Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits (Hellblazer #41-46)
Sep 18, 2024

It occurs to us that we've never actually read an Iron Man comic, and with the recent dual-casting of Robert Downey Jr. as both Iron Man and Doctor Doom, we decided to take a look at Doomquest from Iron Man #149 & 150. The metal bros travel back in time to (friend of the show) the medieval era!

Doctor Doom rides a horse and that's enough reason to read this comic.

Then we move onto our long read of Thunderbolts with issue #6 which requires a periodic table to enjoy.

Next Time: The Saga of the Swamp Thing, Vol. 5 by Alan Moore (Swamp Thing 51-56)

 
Aug 1, 2024

Whelp, we tried to will a Dazzler movie cameo into existence, but Deadpool & Wolverine was unfortunately Taylor Swift-less.

Nevertheless, we still press on to read Dazzler: The Movie, the 12th in Marvel's Graphic Novel line from the 80s, in which Dazzler meets a lot of terrible men who promise her a fast track to stardom.

Then we continue our long read of Thunderbolts with issue #5, which has a dude in the shadows! Classic!

Next Time: Iron Man and Dr. Doom meet in DOOMQUEST (Invincible Iron Man #149-150)

 
Jul 3, 2024

Watch out crooks, there's a new Captain America in town. And he's got a gun! Steve Rogers is dead and Bucky is taking over as we pick back up with Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America in issues #31-36.

Then we continue reading the Thunderbolts with an interlude in the Thunderbolts '97 Annual as we learn all about how the team came together.

Next Time: Dazzler: The Movie (Marvel Graphic Novel #12) (in four weeks)
Jun 19, 2024

We haven't read nearly enough Hulk on this show, so we're looking at a couple different stories by Peter David.

First up is the wedding of Rick Jones from issues #417-419, in which Captain America gets very bashful about a bachelor party.

Then we check out The Incredible Hulk: The End, a one shot about the last days of the Hulk's life. We'll tell you why it doesn't feel like a comic book!

And of course, we continue our long read of the Thunderbolts with issue #4 in which they accidentally gain a new member!

Next Time: The Death of Captain America Pt. 2 (Captain America 2004 #31-36)
Jun 5, 2024

We're reading some detective comics this week! No, not the Bat. We're reading a lesser known PI published by Renegade Comics in the 80s: Ms. Tree, written by Max Alan Collins with art by Terry Beatty.

We jump into the middle of the book and read issues #18-23 in which Ms. Tree deals with the death of her archnemesis... and kills a ton of people.

We were expecting a little more noir and a little less Punisher.

Then we continue Thunderbolts with issue #3 in which the former Masters of Evil meet the current Masters of Evil!

Next Time: Hulk 417-419 (Rick Jones' Bachelor Party) & Hulk: The End
May 22, 2024

It's another classic X-Men story! We're reading God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson from 1982, which served as the inspiration for the X-Men 2 film.

We get to know the evil reverend, Stryker, who has made some... questionable life choices. But why didn't they make him a reverend in the movie? 

Then we continue our long read of Thunderbolts with issue #2, which contains the ugliest statue ever erected to honor a superhero.

Next Time - Ms. Tree: Heroine Withdrawal

May 1, 2024

It's time to go back to Fairyland! We loved the first volume of Skottie Young's I Hate Fairyland when we read it back in 2020, so we thought we'd check out volume 2.

Will the art still manage to simultaneously be cute and grotesque? You know it!

Also, we begin our next long read with Thunderbolts #1 by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, with villains posing as heroes. How devious!

Next Time: X-Men - God Loves, Man Kills

 
Apr 10, 2024

April Fools! We're doing some weird comics today, because that feels like it makes sense.

We wanted to read Peter Porker and we only picked issue #16 because it had Baron Zebro in it. 

Then we read Avengers #200 because it's said to be one of the worst issues of all time, and it definitely deserves that accolade.

And we finally end Earth X in issue #X, in which Spiders-Man wears a hard hat.

The best thing in all these comics is the cool dinosaur that attacked Avengers Mansion.

Next Time: I Hate Fairyland, Pt. 2

 
Mar 27, 2024

With the passing of Akira Toriyama, we wanted to take a look at his most famous work, and one of the most popular manga/anime series of all time, the Dragon Ball series.

We go back to the first volume from 1986 and it's not what we expected!

Then we continue Earth X with #12 in which... uhh... we can't remember anything that happened. Did anything happen?  DID ANYTHING HAPPEN??

Next Time: April Fools Day where Carol Danvers marries her son in Avengers #200 + Spider-Ham meets Baron Zebro in Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham #16 + the Earth X Finale!
Mar 13, 2024

It's time for us to visit the late 90s with Kurt Busiek and George Perez's relaunch of The Avengers! Who will be on the new roster? Will we remember any of the history that Busiek digs up?

And is it ever a good idea to relaunch a book with an alternate reality story?

Then we go onto Earth X #11 where we say farewell to the character with the best one-liners.

Next Time: Dragon Ball, Vol. 1

Mar 2, 2024

Superman's still a fascist and now his best friend, Lex Luthor, is here to help him change the world in the 2nd half of Injustice: Year One.

Will Superman kill again? He will; he'll do it a lot. It's true Superdickery.

Then we continue to Earth X #10 where the Skull continues to be a major asshole as Captain America and his forces attack.

Next Time: Avengers (1998) #1-6 by Kurt Busiek & George Perez
Feb 14, 2024

When the Mortal Kombat team makes a video game based on DC comic book characters and you need to write the prequel story, what do you do? You turn Superman into a fascist, of course.

We're reading the first half of Injustice: Year One from 2013, where Superman starts killing people, Wonder Woman supports him, and Batman don't like it.

Then we move onto Earth X #9 in which the Red Skull has a pretty good line.

Next Time: We finish Year One of Injustice (issues 7-12, or 19-36 digitally)

 
Jan 31, 2024

We've been building up to the Death of Captain America for a few years now, and it's finally time to read the most memorable moment from Ed Brubaker's run in issues #25-30! 

Find out if Cap's supporting characters can sustain the book without him! Also learn a lot about how secret psychic activation codes work.

Then, we move on to Earth X #8, which continues to improve and also prominently features a werewolf astronaut. Coincidence?

Next Time: Injustice #1-6 (or digitally #1-18 - the first half of Year One)

 
Jan 17, 2024

Let's do some more Spider-Man. Why not?

It's The Owl-Octopus War from 1982 in Spectacular Spider-Man #73-79 by Bill Mantlo and Al Milgrom.

The Owl gets beat pretty badly, but we also have some great guests in the form of Black Cat, Boomerang, Biff Rifkin, Deb Whitman, Deb's terrible psychiatrist, Peter's weird professor, and Peter's decaying mental state as he falls passionately in love.

And then we move on to Earth X #7 in which stuff actually happens! Someone was secretly evil, and The Thing returns to his rightful place as the true star of this book.

Next Time: We finally get to The Death of Captain America with Captain America (2004) #25-30 

Dec 13, 2023

Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way first. We're reading Superior Foes of Spider-Man for this episode, but Spider-Man just isn't in this book.

is the star of this short-lived comedy series and he's got a new Sinister Six that he's formed with four other D-list villains (that's right - these five make up the Sinister Six.).

Join us as we follow the lives of these losers, and stay with us as we read Earth X #6 where Chewbacca joins the X-Men maybe!

Next Time: Spider-Man - The Owl/Octopus War (Spectacular Spider-Man #73-79)

 

 
Nov 30, 2023

It's been a while since we read something from the Marvel Graphic Novel series, so we're going back to read Emperor Doom, a story where Dr. Doom steals Purple Man's powers and takes over the world. 

Doom actually does a pretty good job, until the Avengers screw everything up.

It's really all Wonder Man's fault that world hunger is still a thing.

Then we move onto Earth X #5 in which Uatu continues to be very mean to X-51.

Next Time: The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #1-6

 
Nov 15, 2023

We love our Spider-Comics here at SOMFRC, but we've somehow never covered Spider-Girl at all, so today we took a look at the birth of Marvel's alternate future MC2 universe to see what it's all about.

Little did we know, we would become Spider-Girl Mayday Parker ourselves, and we would truly feel the relationship between her and her parents, MJ & Peter.

Then we go back to our other alternate future storyline with Earth X #4. Hope you like vibranium!

Next Time: Emperor Doom

Nov 1, 2023

It's only been about 10 years, but the Captain Marvel redesign of Carol Danvers has already become the most iconic version of the character.

With a new movie on the way, we're looking at the first volume of Kelly Sue DeConnick's run where the new image was introduced, titled In Pursuit of Flight.

It's not what we expected.

At all! 

Then we continue Earth X with issue #3 and... well... at least Spider-Man is in it.

Next Time: We got to the MC2 with Mayday Parker in What If #105 + Spider-Girl (1998) #1-5

 
Oct 18, 2023

Spooks! Haints! Evil twins! Shrek! They're all here (except Shrek) in the second volume of Harrow County.

We all enjoyed the first volume when we read it a few years ago, so we decided to jump back in to continue the story and see more of the excellently horrific art. 

Then we continue Earth X with issue #2. Are we on board with this series yet? Will we ever be? Only time will tell.

Next Time: Captain Marvel (2012): In Pursuit of Flight

 
Oct 4, 2023

It's manga time!

Until now, we've only covered manga adaptations of video games, but we're jumping into our first long-form manga with the wildly popular One Piece by Eichiro Oda. 

We read the first volume to figure out just who this straw hat kid is and why this book has spawned a whole media empire.

Then we get into the meat of Earth X with issue #1, in which we try to determine if Spider-Man is a cop now.

Next Time: Harrow County, Vol. 2: Twice Told

 
Sep 20, 2023

Swamp Thing! Do you still make our heart sing?

We return to Alan Moore's classic series with Volume 4: A Murder of Crows, which collects issues #43-50 where we get some nice redesigns of Swamp Thing's flora.

We also tie into the Crisis and meet lots of other heroes, plus we get some more insight into what John Constantine is like.

Then we move onto our next long read with Earth X #0, which is set in the future... we think. It's hard to tell after this introductory issue.

Next Time: One Piece Vol. 1: Romance Dawn
Aug 30, 2023

It's a time travel story!

This week on the show, we're reading some Fantastic Four from the early 90s in issues #350 & 352, written and drawn by the great Walt Simonson (don't worry about issue #351).

We dip our toe into the FF status quo from this era to see a new Thing?

And then another new Thing?!?!

Then we move onto the finale of Knightfall in Batman #500 where our new replacement Batman has his final fight against Bane.

Next Time: Saga of the Swamp Thing, Vol. 4 by Alan Moore (Swamp Thing #43-50) + Earth X #0
Aug 16, 2023

The Eisner Awards have come again, so we thought we'd dip our toe into some modern comics with the winner of the best ongoing series, Nightwing by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo.

They're a few arcs into the book at this point, so we're starting with their first volume, Leaping into the Light, when the new creative team took over with issues #78-83.

In this episode, we will also reveal the secret to creating the perfect Eisner-award winning comic.

Then we near the end of Knightfall with chapter 18 in Detective Comics #666, in which we get a pretty great batprank on some goons.

Next Time: Fantastic Four #350-352 by Walt Simonson

Aug 2, 2023

Bongo Comics has been publishing Simpsons and Futurama comics for decades. With the release of the new season of Futurama, we take our first look at this corner of the comic book universe with the Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Crisis collection, compiling two different 2-issue crossover events from 2002 and 2005.

But how do these gag comics compare with some of the others that we've read? And will we be the next voice cast for the Groening-verse?  Kia or Chris?

The answers lie within.

And of course, we continue our long read of Knightfall with Chapter 17 in Batman #499, in which nobody bothers to tell Robin anything at all.

Next Time: The Eisner Award-winning Nightwing: Leaping Into the Light by Tom Taylor & Bruce Redondo!

 
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