We read every Marvel Comic… In a Brand New Way
Mike and Ed are starting at the beginning of the Marvel Universe: Fantastic Four #1, November 1961. But rather than just talking about the issue from the outside, the hosts act as if they are “in the comic book world”. They observe the events of the issue that would be “public facing”, and then they discuss what the ramifications these comic-book events would have on the everyday world.
“What would it be like to live through the original Marvel Universe as it was happening”.
The hosts speak in modern vernacular, but otherwise live in the world of the early Silver Age of Marvel Comics. The first episode takes place in November 1961. The Thing and the Human Torch have just been spotted in the city, but no one knows who or what they are. Soon more heroes and villains begin to appear. Ancient myths come to life. Secret civilizations are discovered. The commentators know as much about what is happening as any intelligent outside observer. And a lot starts happening. Very fast!
The hosts talk about the real world consequences of super human action (like when Giganto destroys lower Manhattan) and theorize on what is going on that we do not know about (“If these people got super powers by going into space, shouldn’t we send more people into space to create a super human army? If we don’t, won’t the Russians do it?). The shows explores issues the comics do not normally cover (“Is Iron Man joining the Avengers a good use of Stark Corp shareholder capital?”) and predict what could happen next (“Unstable molecules are likely to be the next big fashion trend!).
Show notes cover the big themes discussed in the issues, as well as cover art and a short summary of the action the hosts might not be aware of. You can read the issue before listening to the shows, but generally it is not needed (nor recommended).
All audio is dropped through email, but you can also listen through any podcast player (the text of the emails are in the show notes, but the formatting can get a little weird, so we recommend reading in your email browser).
If you use a different player and you can’t find the show, you should be able to add it manually through this link: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/295684.rss
If you are looking for a specific episode - or episodes about a specific character - we maintain a (somewhat) regularly updated index of all the episodes recorded sorted by character and theme.
In the meantime, tell your friends!
As a great man once said…
Excelsior!
Edward and Michael