Kirt Burdick joins hosts John and David to talk about Kirt’s new and extended Death of Power series, the problematic marketing of superhero comic tropes, how Batman memes will cause a nuclear meltdown, the future of digital art, and how extended copyright stifles creativity. Also, the podcast gets a new listener, Kirt dislikes musicals, David has his heart broken, and John takes down Diamond.

Timestamp Segments

• [00:39] Kirt’s new Kickstarters.
• [03:34] The El Santo rabbit hole.
• [05:00] Death of Power #6.
• [08:46] The problem with superhero comics.
• [11:42] A very likely AI future.
• [17:52] Concluding Death of Power.
• [22:08] The Expanded Death of Power Universe.
• [24:28] Kirt’s sales pitch.
• [29:18] Diamond’s bankruptcy.
• [35:24] David’s broken heart.
• [36:24] Making comics for kids.
• [39:43] What is Kirt reading?
• [41:49] Does digital art suck?
• [53:35] What else is Kirt reading?
• [55:35] Fair use in comics.
• [60:16] Evolving kids’ cartoons.
• [62:07] One more time, for those at the back.

Notable Quotes

• “That’s the equivalent of narrative fast food.”
• “Netflix will start owning nuclear power plants.”
• “I’m just not into musicals.”
• “Don’t put lyrics in your comics.”
• “When we’re protecting the rights of corporations, and not the rights of human beings, that way lies folly.”

Relevant Links

Cornerbox.club

Death of Power #6, Galacto Pit-Fighter | Kickstarter

Books Mentioned

• #DRCL, Innocent, by Shin-Ichi Sakamoto.
• Action Comics #466.
• All-Star Superman, by Grant Morisson, Frank Quietly, & Neal Adams.
• American Flagg!, Fargo: Hell on Wheels, Time² Omnibus, by Howard Chaykin.
• America's Best Comics, The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic, by Alan Moore & Steve Moore.
• The Batman's Grave, by Warren Ellis & Bryan Hitch.
• Beano.
• BRZRKR, Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt, Ron Garney, Rafael Grampá, & Clem Robins.
• Cobra Commander, by Joshua Williamson, Andrea Milana, & Annalisa Leoni.
• The Death of Superman.
• Dog Man, by Dav Pilkey.
• Doom Patrol.
• Duke, by Joshua Williamson, Tom Reilly,

John & David dive into the 1974 Famous First Edition facsimile reprint of Sensation Comics #1, the clumsy progressive attempts found in the book, and all the unhinged storylines. Then, John toots his own horn as we discuss the consequences of Diamond’s bankruptcy, and the damning Neil Gaiman report. Also, David finds a potential fart joke.

Timestamp Segments

• [01:21] John is Nostradamus.
• [02:28] The end of the Diamond era.
• [07:11] The Neil Gaiman report.
• [10:50] What to do with Neil Gaiman’s work.
• [16:49] Famous First Edition Sensation Comics #1.
• [22:13] The Wonder Woman art.
• [24:05] The unhinged story.
• [25:59] Walking through Wonder Woman.
• [35:36] The Black Pirate.
• [37:53] Attempting to appeal to a broader audience.
• [39:17] Mr. Terrific.
• [43:07] Defeating bad guys with math.
• [44:03] The Gay Ghost.
• [49:19] Gunner Godbee, a text story.
• [49:29] Little Boy Blue and The Blue Boys.
• [52:47] Fart jokes.
• [53:34] Wildcat.
• [55:26] Books and guns ads.
• [57:20] Progressive for the time.

Notable Quotes

• “It’s going to be chaos for the next couple of months.”
• “This whole story is unhinged.”
• “I’m explaining it badly, but I don’t know how to really explain it.”

Relevant Links

Late Pledges Are Open!
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

• Famous First Edition Sensation Comics #1.
• Action Comics #1.
• Captain Kidd's Cow, by Phil Strong.
• Detective Comics #27.
• The Invisibles, by Grant Morrison & Steve Yeowell.
• JSA.
• Preacher, by Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon.
• Starman, by James Robinson & Tony Harris.
• Transmetropolitan, by Warren Ellis & Darick Robertson.
• Watchmen, by Alan Moore & David Gibbons.
• The Yankee Captain in Patagonia, by Charles Finger.

The Corner Box goes INTO THE FUTURE (waver your voice and wiggle your hands when you read that)! John & David make their predictions for comics in 2025, talk about the different directions the big publishers are taking, the state of superhero movies, Rob Liefeld’s upcoming record-breaking comic, and the fall of Diamond! Also, John gets bleeped and David takes a vacation in the sun.

Timestamp Segments

• [01:26] John’s Nosferatu review.
• [02:07] John’s Christmas reading.
• [09:28] John reads 1000 pages of WildC.A.T.S.
• [14:48] David’s Christmas reading.
• [19:09] David’s Marvel prediction.
• [25:04] Marvel’s conservative approach.
• [29:30] John’s optimistic prediction.
• [34:14] David’s DC prediction.
• [43:28] John’s Superman prediction.
• [45:52] What’s happening with superhero movies?
• [48:44] David’s incredibly bold prediction.
• [53:26] John’s bold prediction.

Notable Quotes

• “We are the most qualified podcasters in the history of podcasting.”
• “I feel like, artistically, they’ve lost their way.”
• “Comic books are at their best, in my opinion, when they’re rock ‘n roll.”
• “You can’t predict what we’re going to do next.”

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

Some Books Mentioned

• Absolute Batman
• Absolute Superman
• The Amazing Spider-Man
• Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham
• The Collected Toppi Vol. 1: The Enchanted World
• Danger and Other Unknown Risks, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
• DC Compact Comics
• Deadpool Team-Up, X-Force, Youngblood
• GLEEM
• Here
• Hexagon Bridge
• Houses of the Unholy, Sleeper
• It’s Jeff!
• Justice League U

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.