The Iron Age of Comics – Details, episodes & analysis

In what promises to be the snappiest episode of the podcast to date, we do a deep dive into the early years of Mike Allred’s signature creation, Frank Einstein (sometimes but not exclusively also known as “Madman” in the comics themselves) at Tundra Publishing and Dark Horse Comics. Born of a desire to fuse existentialism with costumed adventure, Allred mixes ‘50s sci-fi movies, Silver Age comics, David Bowie lyrics, a dash of Mary Shelley and J.D. Salinger, and a whole lot of other influences and ingredients. With heart-on-its-sleeve earnestness tempered by gonzo absurdity, Madman asks the big questions: What makes us human? Is evil necessary to define good? Does God exist? But most importantly: Isn’t it super-neat-o to have a girlfriend?

Discussed in this episode: Madman #1-3, Madman Adventures #1-3, Madman Comics #1-10, plus material from Creatures of the Id #1 (recently and conveniently collected as Madman Omnibus Volume 1 from Dark Horse Comics)

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Startup superhero universes were a dime a dozen in the Iron Age, but Comics’ Greatest World was $16 for 16! Each issue of this weekly miniseries introduced a brand new character theoretically poised to take the industry by storm, but while heroes like X and Ghost would go on to become the stars of ongoing series (and Barb Wire even made the leap to a major motion picture), most of them languished in obscurity. Dark Horse tried very hard to make their first foray into mainstream superheroes stand out amongst 1993’s oversaturated market by emphasizing worldbuilding and backstory, but to no avail. In this episode, we visit the fictional cities of Arcadia, Golden City, Steel Harbor, and the Vortex of Cinnebar Flats to check out what went right, what went wrong, the limits of “mystery box” storytelling, and why all of Team CGW’s carefully laid-out environmental storytelling just didn’t grab fans the way Image Comics did.

Justin rented and watched Pamela Anderson's Barb Wire for the sake of this podcast, and if that kind of commitment and dedication doesn't make you want to support the show at patreon.com/ironageofcomics, we don't know what will!

Jim and Justin are know-it-all comics guys normally, but in this episode they’ll enter unfamiliar territory for them: the 22nd century milieu of brutal supercop Judge Dredd…as well as the longrunning weekly comic 2000 AD and the British comics industry in general! The epic “Necropolis” storyline might seem like an unusual entry point to Dredd: genres clash as the sci-fi dystopia of Mega-City One is attacked by the supernatural horrors of the Dark Judges, and the title character doesn’t even appear for much of the story; Dredd has exiled himself to the wastelands of the Cursed Earth, leaving a younger, less experienced genetic duplicate to carry his name and badge. Will our intrepid podcasting Yankees be hopelessly befuddled by this arc’s British sensibilities and satire, or will the thrillpower writing of John Wagner and the gritty inks and paints of artist Carlos Ezquerra cross the cultural divide?

Discussed in this episode: Judge Dredd strips from 2000 AD progs 674-699

(Do not adjust the rabbit ears on your podcatcher app; sound quality in this episode is suboptimal due to a recording issue. It’s probably the Sisters of Death’s fault.)

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When Bryan Hitch took over as artist on WildStorm’s low-selling StormWatch title, writer Warren Ellis was inspired to ditch most of the characters and reinvent the book from the ground up. The resulting series, The Authority, pointed the way to the future of mainstream comic books and stands as one of the milestones marking the end of the Iron Age. It’s an important and influential comic, so we’ve invited writer and podcaster Cameron Kunzelman (last heard on our X-Men: The Animated Series episode) back to read the entire Ellis and Hitch run with us. We discuss the advent of “widescreen comics” and what it means for comic books as a medium to adopt a more cinematic storytelling language; the transition from StormWatch’s murky politics to the ends-justify-the-means justice of the Authority; and how the run attempts to comment on and close the book on the genre fiction of the 20th century.

CONTENT WARNINGS: The plot and story contents of this series prompt discussions of racism, terrorism, colonialism, genocide, sexual violence, and related topics. We also talk at great length about toxic and manipulative patterns of behavior from writer Warren Ellis, as extensively detailed by his accusers at SoManyOfUs.com.

Visit RangedTouch.com to listen to the podcasts Cameron co-hosts. You can also check out his book Everything Is Permitted on the Assassin’s Creed video game franchise here:

https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517914943/everything-is-permitted/

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A listener asked us some time ago if we’d consider reading some Moon Knight; instead, we read a lot of Moon Knight. We used Moon Knight Epic Collection Volume 3: Butcher’s Moon to take a broad survey of a Bronze Age character’s transition to the Iron Age. In these pages, the multiple-personalities angle of the character is de-emphasized, and multiple creative teams try to crack the character of Marc Spector in their absence. The Fist of Khonshu goes from a  silver-suited urban vigilante to a supernatural avenger decked out with gold accessories, then back to a gritty and grounded international action hero (this time, with an unwanted sidekick). We’ll compare these very different iterations of the character, ask ourselves why Chuck Dixon and Sal Velluto’s take was more popular than Alan Zelenitz and Chris Warner’s, and try to figure out whether all these phases of the Moon Knight have a common denominator.

Discussed in this episode: Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #1-6, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #1-7, plus Marvel Team-Up #144, Marvel Fanfare #30 and #38, and Solo Avengers #3

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Hey, remember when they used to make official comics adaptations of major motion pictures? Hellboy auteur Mike Mignola drew one for the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula! We look at this unusual gem from Topps Comics and weigh in on how the subject matter plays to Mignola's strengths and how it functions as an adaptation of the film. Plus, history and context for the novel that started it all.

Listen to the rest at patreon.com/ironageofcomics

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Ghost Rider was something of an also-ran character in the 70s and 80s, so when editor-turned-writer Howard Mackie was invited to pitch a revival in 1990, Marvel didn’t have high hopes. But, with a brand new human host created by Mackie and a gritty and powerful redesign by artist Javier Saltares, the Spirit of Vengeance soon became a massive commercial success. We figured the first Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch - Vengeance Reborn Epic Collection would be seasonally appropriate reading for Halloween, but there’s very little of the supernatural in these pages (except for the flaming-skull-headed biker himself). Instead, mysteries layered on top of mysteries are the order of the day, so your hosts will try to untangle what it all means (and whether it matters). We’ll also uncover Mackie’s personal connection to Danny Ketch’s neighborhood and debate how to pronounce "Zarathos"!

Discussed in this episode: Ghost Rider #1-12, Doctor Strange #28, and selected material from Marvel Comics Presents #64-71

Justin and Jim spent all their money on leather jackets covered in spikes and chains, so they don’t have any money left over to buy comics! Help them out at patreon.com/ironageofcomics

The Halloween season is upon us again, so we’re revisiting our favorite horror hero, Mike Mignola’s Hellboy, in the next batch of adventures following his debut in ”Seed of Destruction.”

We open with four short stories. In “The Wolves of St. August,” Hellboy investigates a town torn apart by werewolves and an ancient curse.  Next, “The Corpse” and “The Iron Shoes” both detail conflicts with the fae folk of Ireland. Finally, we investigate the origins of Hellboy himself in “The Chained Coffin.”

Then it’s onto the main attraction: “Wake the Devil,” the second Hellboy epic, which entangles the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense in a conspiracy involving a billionaire industrialist, the return of Rasputin and his Nazi cronies, a Romanian vampire, and lots more mythological monsters. 

Becoming a supporter of the Iron Age at patreon.com/ironageofcomics may not ward off evil spirits like actual iron, but it probably couldn’t hurt. (Supporters will also get access to more Mignola goodness in a bonus episode later this month.)

Following the triumph of Marvels and from the ashes of a proposed sequel that fell apart, Kurt Busiek launched Astro City with Brent Anderson on interior art and Marvels collaborator Alex Ross on covers and character designs. On the series’ 30th anniversary, we look at the complicated development of the series and its first six stories. We also ask some conceptual questions. Should Astro City be considered part of the larger superhero deconstructionist movement of the Iron Age, or something else entirely? Are the series’ familiar-but-different superheroes “analogues” or “archetypes”? Is there such a thing as including too many Easter eggs? And what’s the difference between “superheroes in the real world” and Astro City?

Discussed in this episode: the first volume of Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #1-6, published by Image Comics (as originally reprinted in the Life in the Big City trade paperback and other subsequent collected editions)

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SUMMER CROSSOVER SPECTACULAR CONCLUDES! Where were you when the lights went out? Your hosts were reading DC’s 1996 crossover, The Final Night, in which the Earth’s sun is blotted out, robbing Superman of his powers. A somewhat somber alternative to the traditionally bombastic action-packed crossover, writer Karl Kesel with artists Stuart Immomen with Jose Marzan, Jr. craft a crossover without a main villain (except for the ones trying to help out), focusing instead on how superheroes cope with what looks like the end of the world. This issue also features the final fate of Hal Jordan/Parallax, giving Ron Marz the opportunity to send off the character he so radically upended (and putting a nice neat bow on all our recent Green Lantern coverage).

Discussed in this episode: The Final Night #1-4, plus Parallax: Emerald Night.

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