John and David go undercover in search of the answer to the ultimate question: Why? They get into the magic of great creators and their stories, do a deep dive on the recent Batman/Deadpool comic by Grant Morrison and Dan Mora, and discuss David’s unchecked comics spending. Also, John has a revelation.

Timestamp Segments

• [01:06] Why?
• [02:07] David’s Why? Salvation Run.
• [05:46] John’s Why? Youngblood #1.
• [09:04] The most Garth Ennis of Garth Ennis books.
• [14:00] The thing about Hitman.
• [19:05] The DC One Million controversy.
• [20:34] Grant Morrison writes the comic book of the moment.
• [22:11] Batman/Deadpool.
• [23:11] All the Morrison layers.
• [31:15] Marvel vs DC stories.
• [34:36] The magical Carlos Ezquerra.
• [36:45] The Stainless Steel Rat.
• [40:43] John’s revelation.
• [44:15] Spawn: The Dark Ages.
• [49:24] The return of the Swat Kats.
• [54:01] Spending too much on comics.

Notable Quotes

• “In general, he’s just too smart for me.”
• “I take it all back, man. He’s great.”
• “I think I may have spent more money in comics than I’ve made.

Books Mentioned

• Animal Man (1988-1995).
• Back to the Future: Untold Tales & Alternate Timelines.
• Batman: No Man’s Land.
• Batman & Robin (2009-2011).
• Bloodstrike, by Rob Liefeld, Dan Fraga, Danny Miki, & Thomas Mason.
• The Boys, by Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson.
• Conan the Barbarian.
• Crisis on Infinite Earths, by Marv Wolfman & George Perez.
• DC K.O.
• DC/Marvel: Batman/Deadpool.
• DC One Million.
• The Demon Annual #2: Introducing Hitman, Dicks, Hitman, Troubled Souls, by Garth Ennis & John McCrea.
• Ernest & the Dream Stone, by Corey Perkins, M. Arief Russanto, Mariam Yasser.
• Final Crisis, by Grant Morrison & J.G. Jones.
• For a Few Troubles More, by Garth Ennis, John McCrea, & Wendy Simpson.

Rob Worst cheats death once again and joins John and David to talk about the art of collecting comics, the value of original art, the rise of AI and digital comics, and the importance of artists supporting other artists.

SUPPORT THE SHOW! DO FUN THINGS!

John has a Kickstarter | Behind the Panels of Marvel’s Secret Wars

Rob Worst has a podcast | Not Near Mint

Timestamp Segments

• [00:00] Check out This Secret Wars Kickstarter!
• [02:03] The show gains a new listener!
• [02:39] Rob’s origin story.
• [03:33] Rob cheats death.
• [05:59] To slab or not to slab?
• [13:34] Signed comics.
• [16:45] The rise of digital comics.
• [21:01] The Mark Spears phenomenon.
• [23:26] AI comics.
• [24:46] David’s Dan Mora story.
• [27:34] 3D comics.
• [31:37] Collecting CG comics.
• [32:48] The true value of original art.
• [35:58] Artists supporting artists.
• [41:07] Not Near Mint.

Notable Quotes

• “Rule #1: don’t die.”
• “You can’t smell digital.”
• “One day, today will have been 20 years ago.”

Books Mentioned

• Batman: The Man Who Laughs, by Ed Brubaker, Doug Mahnke, Patrick Zircher, Tim Sale, Aaron Sowd, Steve Bird, & David Baron.
• Daredevil: Born Again, by Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli.
• Detective Comics (1937-2011).
• Dungeons & Dragons.
• Faust, by David Quinn & Tim Vigil.
• The Forever People, by Jack Kirby, Vince Colletta, Frank Giacoia, Mike Royer, Tom Ziuko, & Jim Amash.
• G.I. Joe.
• Gold Digger.
• Grips, by Kris Silver & Tim Vigil.
• Hexed, by Michael Alan Nelson, Dan Mora, & Emma Ríos.
• Iron Man: Crash, by Mike Saenz.
• Justice League Unlimited, by Mark Waid & Dan Mora.
• The Monster and the Wolf, by Mark Spears.
• New Champions (2025- ), by Steve Foxe, Ivan Fiorelli, & Gleb Melnikov.
• New Mutants (1983-1991).
• Nightwing (1996-2009).

Former Marvel editor and Behind the Panels writer, Ellie Pyle, joins John and David to talk about the upcoming Behind the Panels of Marvel’s Secret Wars! They get into Ellie’s career path through every known form of media, the ins and outs of working at big companies, the process of creating the Behind the Panels book, and collaborating with the nicest people in comics.

Relevant Links

Women of Marvel

Behind the Panels of Marvel’s Secret Wars

Timestamp Segments

• [00:00] Check out This Secret Wars Kickstarter!
• [02:18] Ellie is too impressive.
• [04:24] The most fun Marvel summit ever.
• [07:58] What it’s like to develop a book at Marvel.
• [12:05] Making comics at Riot Games.
• [19:57] Marvel Television.
• [21:13] Women of Marvel.
• [23:31] Ellies favorite project, Spider-Boy.
• [28:31] Getting back into publishing.
• [31:36] Creating a space for theatre.
• [33:27] What’s Secret Wars?
• [35:52] Behind the Panels.
• [44:22] Creator-owned books.
• [46:22] Knowing when to trust a writer.

Notable Quotes

• “Sales are the only thing that keeps this business alive.”
• “If it weren’t for Ron Lim, Paco Medina would be the nicest guy in comics.”
• “You need to not be the reason that someone else can’t do their job.”

Books Mentioned

• 1872, by Gerry Duggan, Nik Virella, & Leonard Kirk.
• Aliens vs Avengers (2024- ), Secret Wars (2015-2016), by Jonathan Hickman & Esad Ribic.
• Amazing Spider-Man (1999-2013).
• American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, & Rafael Albuquerque.
• Carnage (2023- ), by Torunn Gronbekk, Pere Perez, Juan Ferreyra, & Paulo Siqueira.
• Daredevil (2011-2014).
• Deadpool (2024- ), by Cody Ziglar, Gerry Duggan, Roge Antonio, Andrea di Vito, & Taurin Clarke.
• Fearless Defenders, by Cullen Bunn, William Sliney, & Mark Brooks.
• Jem and the Holograms, by Kelly Thompson & Sophie Campbell.
• Lucifer, by Mike Carey, Peter Gross, & Ryan Kelly.
• Spider-Boy (2023- ), by Dan Slott & Paco Medina.
• Spider-Woman (2023- ), by Steve Foxe, Ig Guara, Leinil Yu, & Carola Borelli.