John & David wrap up 2024 with their Top 3s (or 8s), and talk about John’s uncanny impressions, the new version of Jonathan Hickman, John’s disappointment in non-sex comics, the end of David’s Dog (Man) Days, and John revives a “classic” Corner Box joke.

Timestamp Segments

• [00:50] Kraven the Hunter.
• [03:39] John has fallen behind.
• [05:00] A spin on Top 3s.
• [05:58] All-time Top 3 Comics.
• [12:47] Top Image Books.
• [20:47] Top Marvel Issues.
• [30:03] A new version of Hickman.
• [31:59] Top DC Books.
• [38:12] Top One-Shot Reprints.
• [40:08] Top Artists.
• [45:36] John wants to quit comics.
• [48:03] Top Kickstarters.
• [54:21] David’s sad moment.
• [57:39] Surprise guests.

Notable Quotes

• “The villain of the next Spider-Man movie ought to be whoever green lights the Spider-Man Villain movies at Sony.”
• “I’ve never seen a worse title for something in my entire life.”
• “I should not be this entertained by a Sonic the Hedgehog movie.”

Relevant Links

LAST DAY TO BACK!
Super Kaiju Rock n Roller Derby Fun Time Go Book #2 | Kickstarter

David's Fun Stuff!
Did Someone Say Fun Time? Let's GO!

John is at PugW!
Pug Worldwide

Books Mentioned

• Absolute Batman, by Scott Snyder & Nick Dragotta.
• Absolute Superman, by Jason Aaron & Rafa Sandoval.
• Absolute Wonder Woman #1, by Kelly Thompson & Hayden Sherman.
• Alien, by Walter Simonson & Archie Goodwin.
• Aliens, by Mark Verheiden, Mark Nelson, Dan Beauvais, & Sam Keith.
• Aliens vs Avengers, by Jonathan Hickman & Esad Ribic.
• American Flagg!, by Howard Chaykin.
• Arzach, by Moebius.
• The Authority.
• Avengers, by Jonathan Hickman.
• Batman: Three Jokers, Rook, by Geoff Johns & Jason Fabok.
• Birds of Prey, by Kelly Thompson & Leonardo Romero.
• Blueberry, by Jean-Michel Charlier & Moebius.
• Bronze Star, by Mike Baron & Pat Broderick.
• Corto Maltese, by Hugo Pratt.

This week on The Corner Box, hosts John & David do a deep dive into some Famous Firsts, and talk about navigating the racism in some very old stories, the most appropriate ways to solve crimes, skipping comics with no pictures, what an anthology would look like today, and the crazy original gun ads in the books. Also, David launches another successful Kickstarter campaign, the podcast listeners get visuals, and John teases the next Sensational episode.

Timestamp Segments

• [01:59] The Famous First Editions.
• [04:26] David is very stressed.
• [07:56] 10,000 $1 tips.
• [11:00] David becomes a historian.
• [12:42] Original comic book formats.
• [15:58] Does crime pay?
• [16:52] Racism in Detective Comics.
• [19:13] The Batman art.
• [22:36] The greatest Batman story.
• [24:26] Superman vs Batman origin stories.
• [26:37] How to solve crimes.
• [27:42] Batman’s cool costume.
• [30:00] Speed Saunders, Ace Investigator.
• [31:05] Buck Marshall, Range Detective.
• [36:59] Crimson Avenger.
• [37:24] Death on the Airwaves.
• [37:34] All the gun ads.
• [37:48] The Bruce Nelson art.
• [39:27] Dr. Fu Manchu.
• [41:00] Collecting stamps.
• [41:38] Cosmo, The Phantom of Disguise.
• [43:06] Plain Clothes Pete.
• [44:06] The concept of the book.
• [45:41] David’s new favorite curse.
• [47:35] Ads at the back of the book.
• [50:00] A teaser for the next episode.

Notable Quotes

• “Crime never pays.”
• “You never see the lower half of the horse.”
• “There’s a reason why you’ve never heard of a lot of this stuff.”

Relevant Links

Super Kaiju Rock n Roller Derby Fun Time Go Book #2 | Kickstarter

David's Fun Stuff!
Did Someone Say Fun Time? Let's GO!

John is at PugW!
Pug Worldwide

For transcripts and show notes!
www.thecornerbox.club

Books Mentioned

• Action Comics #1.
• Detective Comics #27.
• Sensation Comics #1.
• Area 88
• Batman and Me
• The Bat-Man: First Knight
• Ben Webster
• Blondie
• Blueberry
• Mutt & Jeff
• Reg’lar Fellers
• Spider-Man: Chapter One
• Superman #1
• Tintin
• Tippy Teen

On this episode of The Corner Box, hosts John & David gather round the fire to reminisce about the past year in comics, and get into the reinvigoration of older properties, how different publishers approach existing properties, DC and Marvel’s Absolute and Ultimate Lines, DC’s $10 books, and PRH’s disruption of the industry by purchasing Boom! Studios. Also, most definitely not in the spirit of the Season, David is mean to several people.

Timestamp Segments

• [02:07] David’s thoughts on Prince.
• [04:08] The success of GI Joe and Transformers.
• [05:38] Properties moving to new publishers.
• [09:01] The new GI Joe launches.
• [14:09] ThunderCats.
• [14:47] The changing perception of comics properties.
• [16:08] Relaunching properties out of their time.
• [19:59] Marvel’s Ultimate Line.
• [21:16] David’s take on Donny Cates.
• [23:47] DC’s Absolute Line.
• [27:12] What’s up with Zatanna?
• [28:40] DC’s $10 Compact Comics.
• [36:36] Boom! goes to PRH.

Notable Quotes

• “He was the B-average student in a room of D-average students.”
• “I’m looking forward to seeing how they completely screw it up and dismantle it all.”
• “Marvel movies didn’t start making a billion dollars until Disney started distributing them.”

Relevant Links

David's Fun Stuff!
Did Someone Say Fun Time? Let's GO!

John is at PugW!
Pug Worldwide

For transcripts and show notes!
www.thecornerbox.club

Books Mentioned

• Absolute Comics.
• Absolute Superman
• Absolute Batman
• Absolute Wonder Woman
• Catwoman
• DC Compact Comics.
• Dog Man
• GI Joe: A Real American Hero
• Green Lantern
• Invincible
• RoboForce
• Sectaurs.
• Shonen Jump.
• The Moon is Following Us
• ThunderCats
• TMNT.
• Transformers
• Ultimate Comics.
• Ultimate Spider-Man
• Venom
• Watc

John & David wrap up their deeper dive into Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.! The guys make a noble attempt at trying to explain The Captain’s drunken origin, Machine Man’s dark origins, Elsa’s childhood training origins, Forbush Man’s pot, the magic of the Warren Ellis/Stuart Immonen collaboration, the Crayon Butchery Variant, Nextwave’s crazy covers, fun Easter eggs in each issue, and the greatest line in all comics. Also, David makes yet another shocking (to him) discovery.

Timestamp Segments

• [01:48] The origin of The Captain.
• [02:25] Kicking cops?
• [03:57] John’s favorite Dirk Anger scene.
• [06:09] The Crayon Butchery Variant.
• [08:53] Machine Man’s origins.
• [10:02] Crazy characters.
• [11:24] Nextwave goes down?
• [12:40] The greatest line in comics.
• [15:02] Elsa’s childhood origins.
• [16:30] Forbush Man’s pot.
• [19:17] Where’s Tabitha?
• [21:25] Nextwave’s covers.
• [22:49] Stuart Immonen’s 6 double-page spreads.
• [24:54] The big finale.
• [26:26] A few extras.
• [27:43] Nextwave’s legacy.
• [28:46] David’s shocking discovery.
• [29:21] Marvel continuity.
• [30:26] Stuart Immonen’s changing styles.

Notable Quotes

• “Nextwave doesn’t work, at all, if Stuart Immonen isn’t drawing it.”
• “I don’t think issue 2’s were planned, at all, when issue 1’s were written.”
• “Mark Millar licks goats.”
• “You must buy 6 copies of this comic now.”

Relevant Links

David's Fun Stuff!
Did Someone Say Fun Time? Let's GO!

John is at PugW!
Pug Worldwide

For transcripts and show notes!
www.thecornerbox.club

Errata & Shout Outs
sktchd.com
Dave Harper's article

Books Mentioned

• Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., by Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen.
• 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Jack Kirby.
• The Authority, by Warren Ellis, Paul Neary, Laura Depuy, & Bryan Hitch.
• Civil War, by Mark Millar & Steve McNiven.
• Elektra: Assassin, by Frank Miller & Bill Sienkiewicz.
• Groo The Wanderer, by Sergio Aragonés & Mark Evanier.
• Hawkeye
• Hellboy
• Marvel Comics Presents #8 (Machine Man)
• The Monarchy
• New Suicide Squad
• Not Brand Echh
• Superman: Secret Identity

On this episode of The Corner Box, hosts John & David do a deep dive on Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., and get into where this series came from, the original creators’ thoughts on the meaning behind the series, how the project got greenlit in the first place, the sales numbers that should’ve been, and Nextwave’s Marvel controversies, and David has an emotional moment with a monster.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of The Corner Box vs Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.

Timestamp Segments

• [01:20] David’s favorite comic book series.
• [03:37] Shout out to sktchd.com.
• [04:49] Nextwave origins.
• [05:43] Warren Ellis’s original Nextwave pitch.
• [10:31] The timeless quality of Nextwave.
• [11:31] What is the book about?
• [12:58] Nextwave’s influences.
• [14:52] Putting together the creative team.
• [18:46] The Nextwave squad.
• [21:10] Nextwave launches.
• [22:45] What happened to the sales?
• [25:40] The cold open of Issue #1.
• [29:47] Re-introducing Fin Fang Foom.
• [31:54] Nextwave controversies.

Notable Quotes

• “Nextwave: healing America by beating people up.”
• “One of the few mainstream comic books people are still going to be talking about 15 years from now.”
• “The reason he’s angry is because he has no genitals.”
• “Is this in Marvel continuity?”

Relevant Links

David's Fun Stuff!
Did Someone Say Fun Time? Let's GO!

John is at PugW!
Pug Worldwide

For transcripts and show notes!
www.thecornerbox.club

Errata & Shout Outs
sktchd.com
Dave Harper's article

Books Mentioned

• Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., by Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen.
• (Next Wave).

---------------------

• The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, by Earl Mac Rauch.
• The Authority, by Warren Ellis, Paul Neary, Laura Depuy, & Bryan Hitch.
• Batman: Year One, by Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli.
• Civil War, by Mark Millar & Steve McNiven.
• Iron Man: Extremis, by Warren Ellis & Adi Granov.
• New Avengers, by Brian Michael Bendis.
• New Mutants, by Chris Claremont & Bob McLeod.
• Planetary, by Warren Ellis & John Cassaday.
• Runaways, by Brian K. Vaughan & Adrian Alphona.
• Star Trek: New Visions, by John Byrne.

John & David get together to celebrate the season of giving THANKS by discussing the comics that they’re thankful for! Then, keeping with the spirit, they discuss some comic book TURKEYS that weren’t quite what they should’ve been. Along the way, the guys talk about how to monetize a comics podcast, the Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight, and the importance of access to comics. Also, John has an incredible skill, and David finishes off another book.

Timestamp Segments

• [01:09] John’s incredible skill.
• [02:11] David’s exciting book news.
• [06:46] How to monetize a comics podcast.
• [08:59] Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul.
• [11:12] Social media marketing attempts.
• [17:43] John’s Turkey: Donna Matrix.
• [25:07] David’s Turkey: Conan: Ravagers Out of Time.
• [32:25] John’s Thankful: The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told.
• [36:41] Access to comic books.
• [41:31] David’s Thankful: Savage Dragon.
• [48:45] Comics that age in real time.

Notable Quotes

• “You can never take back quotes.”
• “Everybody comes into stuff with different perspectives.”
• “I don’t really watch The Simpsons, but I’d be sad if it went away.”

Relevant Links

DAVID's NEW BOOK IS KICKSTARTING!
Oh My Kirby! It's Happening! IT'S HAPPENING!

John is at PugW!
Pug Worldwide

For transcripts and show notes!
www.thecornerbox.club

Books Mentioned

• Amazing Spider-Man
• Aquaman
• Batman: Digital Justice
• Cerebus
• Conan the Barbarian
• Conan: Ravagers Out of Time
• Defenders
• Donna Matrix, Iron Man: Crash, Shatter
• Doom Patrol
• The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told
• Invincible
• Marvel Comics Presents
• New Mutants #98 3D Edition
• Nova
• Savage Dragon
• Savage Sword of Conan
• Shadowhawk
• Spawn
• Watchmen
• Wetworks

Episode Summary

On this episode of The Corner Box, hosts Ultimate John Barber and Absolute David Hedgecock return for the much-anticipated sequel to The Corner Box vs Marvel and DC’s Ultimate and Absolute comic lines, to talk about the logic of the Multiverses, the visual art experiences, the backstories to the new stories, how the world has changed, and how the new lines could fall apart, and David has strong feelings about the Multiverses, John and David propose unique solutions to keep the stories running, and John thinks about Ultimatum.

Timestamp Segments

• [00:41] David’s thoughts on Multiverses.
• [01:47] How the Multiverses connect.
• [03:10] The Absolute DC launches.
• [04:00] The edgy art talent.
• [06:04] The Ultimate line origins.
• [09:31] The Absolute line origins.
• [12:13] Will it work long-term?
• [18:32] How the world has changed.
• [20:38] Solutions for success.
• [26:42] John’s Ultimatum.
• [27:21] Absolute vs Ultimate.

Notable Quotes

• “It is the laziest conceit.”
• “There’s no way for me to build loyalty to a brand line like this, if that’s what’s going to happen.”
• “My world of alternate Batmans is pretty full without even touching a Batman comic.”
• “Comics have rotted your brain, completely.”

Relevant Links

David's Fun Stuff!
Did Someone Say Fun Time? Let's GO!

John is at PugW!
Pug Worldwide

For transcripts and show notes!
www.thecornerbox.club

Books Mentioned

• Absolute DC, Ultimate Comics (2023- ).
• Absolute Batman (2024- ), by Scott Snyder & Nick Dragotta.
• Absolute Superman (2024- ), by Jason Aaron & Rafa Sandoval.
• Absolute Wonder Woman (2024- ), by Kelly Thompson & Hayden Sherman.
• Ultimate Black Panther (2024- ), by Bryan Hill & Stefano Caselli.
• Ultimate Spider-Man (2024- ), by Jonathan Hickman & Marco Checchetto.
• Ultimate X-Men (2024- ), by Peach Momoko.
• Ultimates (2024- ), by Deniz Camp & Juan Frigeri.

---------------------

• East of West, by Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta.
• Incredible Hulk (2023- ), by Phillip K. Johnson & Nic Klein.
• Marvel Zombies, by Mark Millar, Robert Kirkman, & Reginald Hudlin.
• New Avengers, by Brian Michael Bendis.
• U

Episode Summary

On this episode of The Corner Box, hosts Ultimate John Barber and Absolute David Hedgecock get into the Ultimate and Absolute comic lines at DC and Marvel, the differences between Marvel and DC characters, how the new launches compare to the originals, and what does and doesn’t work in each new line, and John says something interesting.

Timestamp Segments

• [00:46] The Big Two’s new lines.
• [02:48] John’s inside knowledge on the Ultimate line.
• [04:03] DC characters vs Marvel characters.
• [09:05] Mark Bagley retires.
• [13:09] John says something interesting.
• [13:19] John joins the Ultimates line.
• [15:05] Why the Ultimate line was successful.
• [18:37] The conceits of the Ultimate line.
• [25:00] DC’s iconic miniseries.
• [26:01] Marvel’s miniseries.
• [28:42] The coherency of the Marvel and DC universes.
• [30:35] Marvel’s new Ultimates line.
• [33:53] Old vs New Ultimate Universe.
• [35:22] Spider-Man is like Shakespeare.

Notable Quotes

• “Accidents happened.”
• “There’s an iconic version of Batman. There’s not an iconic version of Spider-Man in the same way.”
• “This is like Shakespeare.”

Relevant Links

David's Fun Stuff!
Did Someone Say Fun Time? Let's GO!

John is at PugW!
Pug Worldwide

For transcripts and show notes!
www.thecornerbox.club

Books Mentioned

• Absolute DC, All-Star Comics, Ultimate Comics.
• Absolute Batman (2024- ), by Scott Snyder & Nick Dragotta.
• Ultimate Black Panther (2024- ), by Bryan Hill & Stefano Caselli.
• Ultimate Spider-Man (2024- ), by Jonathan Hickman & Marco Checchetto.
• Ultimate X-Men (2024- ), by Peach Momoko.

---------------------

• All-Star Superman, by Grant Morrison & Frank Quietly.
• Batman: Arkham Asylum, Dark Knight Returns, Gotham by Gaslight, No Man’s Land, The Cult, The Killing Joke, Year One.
• Astonishing X-Men.
• Daredevil, by Frank Miller.