Godzilla vs The Marvel Universe. From Godzilla 24 by Doug Moench, Herb Trimpe, et al. (c) 2023 Marvel Comics.

After seven long years, we’re happy to welcome Zander Cannon (@zandercannon) to the pod to discuss the mad monster party, officially known as Godzilla Minus One. We basically go through the entire film plot point by plot point, so if you haven’t seen it yet, save the pod for after you’ve watched it. Short version: it’s as good or better than all the buzz you’ve heard about it. We talk about the main characters, both the humans and Big G himself, compare it to the original 1954 film (with and without Raymond Burr in the American version), the call-backs to previous movies, the drama at the heart of the movie and what very nerdy fan service thing I would have loved to see in the movie, even if most viewers may not have gotten the reference.

From there, we discuss the 1979 Godzilla comic from Marvel. Zander only read a couple issues as a kid, but I reread all 24 issues for the show. So, we discuss the creators and art style, which Marvel super heroes appear in the book and, of course, the giant Mattel Godzilla toy from that era (you know, the one with the spring-loaded fist you could shoot).

That’s a natural segue into Zander’s comic Kaijumax, which finished up last year and the third of three hardcover collections is coming out soon (it may be out when you hear this) from Oni Press. We talk about the evolution of the series over its 30 issues, the lack of monster vs monster splash pages in the series, all the tropes that got turned on their heads in the series and more.

We end with what could a general talk abou the comics industry, largely about original art, prices these days for older pages, creating comics digitally vs the old pen and ink days, color guides and how cool they are to see, retro technology and a bunch of other topics.

It was great to talk to Zander again on the show and hopefully it won’t take seven years to invite him back.

The podcast is back and we’re happy to welcome two comics veterans folks should check out.

First up is Rob Walton (@robwaltoon), creator of the 1990s comic Ragmop. A few years ago, Rob decided to revisit his story about talking dinosaurs, conspiracy theories and slapstick comedy that was the hallmark of the original series (which was collected about 10 years ago. It’s out of print but you can get them straight from Rob himself). Now, he has taken those online stories and put them together as a new Kickstarter graphic novel: Ragmop. The World Needs Laughter. At the time of the episode’s recording, the project was 67% funded with a little over two weeks to go. During out chat, we talk about the book’s initial life as a small press book before becoming part of Image’s black and white boom in the mid to late 1990s. We recall some other great books from that era, including Replacement God by former podcast guest Zander Cannon (now of Kaijumax). We go through a lot of the book’s inspirations, including Jack Kirby, classic animation, the Marx Brothers and more. We also go into the history of Rob ended up writing Grendel Tales: The Devil’s Hammer back in 1993 (Now available in the Grendel Tales Omnibus Volume 1).

After that, we welcome back to the show Phil Hester (@philhester). The Wretch Omnibus from Ohama Bound (@omabound) is now out. We talked about it on the pod in 2017, but good things come to those who wait. We discuss the creation of the character, the name change, its move from publisher to publisher, how the trade came out, some of the most fondly remembered stories and more. We also talk about some of Phil’s current work. The first trade for Stronghold, written by Phil and drawn by Ryan Kelly (@funrama), is hot of the presses. And later this year, Phil is drawing Family Tree, written by Jeff Lemire (@jefflemire). We also discuss two of Phil’s favorite topics: DC’s Tattered Tatterdemalion Ragman and the pain and pleasure of buying original comic artwork.

Note: We know today (as the pod drops) is the start of hockey season. We were hoping to get some of our past puckhead pals on the show before the season started, but did not. Hopefully soon. And hopefully soon is another comics guest to discuss one of the biggest comic stories of the year. That is, actually discussing the stories, not stories about the business, although that will likely come up too.

Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode.

Episode 126 - Tokyo Giant

Episode Eighty - Arm It In Rags