Kray Z Comics And Stories

Cory found an old issue of Amazing Heroes in his vast files and sent Joe a copy of the top 100 selling comics list. Joe and Cory!! Go over the sales, what surprised them, what they bought, and some behind the scenes information on the comics named.

They also discuss:

• Joe and Cory give their “Five things they did at their jobs last week” report
• Cory has a trip to buy Previews and FAILS
• How did the comic Groo give us the phrase “Marvel Zombies”
• Cory!! Finding out about Alan Moore early on in his Swamp Thing run in the 1980’s
• We find a comic right outside the top 100 that NEITHER CORY NOR JOE KNOW ABOUT!! 
• Cory!! Talks about when DC comics bought ads in college newspapers in 1986.

A retro review of Amaing Spider-Man 178

All of this, the usual shenanigans and much, much more!

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We have a NEW Segment:  Diamond Watch as we go over the news coming out of Diamond’s bankruptcy

After that, Cory and Joe discuss their Fave Five Comic Series Crossovers!  The stories they discuss are:

• Spider-Man 171/Nova 12
• The Avengers/Defenders War
• Peace on Earth Thor 371/Thor 372/Avengers 296/Avengers 297/Fantastic Four 350 – 354
• Acts of Vengance – Marvel
• Tomb of Dracula 41/Doctor Strange 14
• Fantastic Four Annual 11/Marvel Two In One Annual 1/Marvel Two in One 20
• Superman Family 190
• Avengers Annual 8/Marvel Two In One Annual 2

All of this, the usual shenanigans and much, much more!

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Every month, Joe and Cory!! go through Previews to highlight comics coming in the future. This time, they go through Previews for comics shipping in March 2024 and beyond, point out the new, the collected and the interesting for YOU to bother your comic shop about!

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Joe and Cory!! read a LOT of comics, and this week, they will review a big batch fo them, including:
-Dog Moon and Hell Eternal (Vertigo)

-Mad Magazine 44 (DC Comics) 

-Smarg – A local Minnesota comic 

-The Little Stooges (American Entertainment)

-Astro City Metrobook 6 (Image)

-Epitaphs From The Abyss 7 (Oni)

They also discuss:
-Cory!! hypes his Gwandanaland subscription and they don’t even pay him to do it.

-Joe talks about how he would watch The Monkees at 3 am when Twin Cities TV went 24 hours

-They wander off onto a rabbit trail about syndicated TV packages of the 1970s

All of this, the usual shenanigans, and much, much more!

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It’s our 15th anniversary as well as Epiusode 666, so we have TWO things to do. Our secret origin and then the history of Marve;’s Son of Satan!  We also discuss:

• Why was the show ALMOST called Travelling Geeks?
• Where did freaking and geeking come from?
• What is the “push and pull” of the show?
• Joe still wants the podcast to be live on video.  
• What was the FIRST version of Son of Satan Sta Lee recommended
• And then there was a SECOND series name before Son of Satan
• How Son of Satan had to deal with 1970’s Marvel “Revolving Door” or artists
• A sideline into the Marvel Fill In series
• How the write when Son of Satan went from Marvel Spotlight to his own book was…problematic
• What happened to Son of Satan after his 70’s hayday? 

Joe’s Retro Review is the first issue of Hogan’s Heroes

All of this, the usual shenanigans, and much, much more!

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Diamond Comics Distribution has declared bankruptcy, which means they are going to reorganize under Chapter 11. This is a HUGE change in the industry, so Joe and Cory!! Have to talk about it. In doing so, they discuss:

• Cory gives a history lesson on how comics distribution got to where it is today.
• He starts with 1957. Wait, what?
• The start of the direct market in the 1970’s.
• The black and white comics collapsed in the 1980’s.
• Comics distribution in the early 1990’s
• Why the Twin Cities went with Capital City Distribution instead of Diamond in the 80’s and early 90’s.
• Marvel buying Heroes world and the comics distribution collapse of the 90’s.
• Joe talks about the weird things you had to do when ordering comics to get special discounts and rare items.
• Issue with Diamond over the years.
• How the pandemic was the last nail in Diamond’s coffin
• What is the fallout going to be

All of this, a Retro Review, Freaking and Geeking, and much, much more!

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Every month, Joe and Cory!! go through Previews to highlight comics coming in the future. This time, they go through Previews for comics shipping in February 2024 and beyond, point out the new, the collected and the interesting for YOU to bother your comic shop about!

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It’s the year 2025, and man is still alive, as is this here podcast!  For YOU it’s only been a week, but for US it’s been nearly a MONTH so Joe needs to catch us up on what he has been up to and Cory!! Has comics news!  They also discuss:

• Joe discusses passing gas for about three minutes, which is the high quality discourse that we are known for and makes us a national treasure. 
• What did Joe and Cory!! do on New Year’s Eve?
• Joe talks about upcoming comic conventions
• Cory goes over the issues with Diamond Comics Distribution the last few months.
• Previews shipping issues as well
• How comics sales turned around in 2024 according the retailers
• One of the local shops that does NOT get new comics hit its year anniversary!

Joe’s Retro Review is Showcase #1

All of this, the usual shenanigans and much, much more!

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It’s the second part of Cory!! And Joe’s review of the Marvel/DC Crossovers omnibus. They discuss what makes a good crossover, what could the future hold, and a discussion of these stories

• Batman/Punisher
  • In this story it’s the time when Azreal has replaced Batman
  • What they thought of it at the time and how it holds up now
• Punisher/Batman
  • This was written by Chuck Dixon, who was writing both characters at the time.
  • Why philosophical differences between characters makes for a better story than just two heroes fighting
• Spider-Man/Batman
  • What was the story gimmick that made this different
• Silver Surfer/Green Lantern
  • This is the first Marvel/DC story where there is a connection between their universes because it was setting up for Marvel vs DC
  • Written by Ron Marz, who had also written both characters
• Silver Surfer/Superman
  • Written by George Perez
  • This one had great comedy bits between all of the characters.
• Batman/Captain America
  • Set in the 1940’s
  • By John Byrne
  • And it was an Elseworlds
• Daredevil/Batman
  • When the crossovers started to become less of an event and more of a formula
• Batman/Spider-Man
  • A great sequel to the first team up between the two
• Fantastic Four/Superman
  • Was originally tabloid size
• Incredible Hulk vs Superman
  • This is Cory!!’s favorite because it was drawn by Steve Rude
• Batman/Daredevil
  • The last of the crossovers until Avengers/JLA

All of this, ma retro review, the usual shenanigans and much, much more!

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