Content warning: Sexual assault

It's finally happened! After 10 years and more than 250 episodes, we finally get around to discussing the elephant (or, rather, the aardvark) in the room: Dave Sim's 300-issue magnum opus, Cerebus! And to help us grapple with the weight of one of the longest-running, most creative and most controversial comics in the history of the medium, we're joined by longtime friend of the show Bryan Stratton of Marvel by the Month!

Self-published by Sim's Aardvark-Vanaheim, Cerebus paved the way for many other independent comics creators to self-publish their work. And its ambitious, experimental approach to comics storytelling expanded the artistic possibilities of the medium, as it grew from a parody of swords-and-sorcery comics into a complex, sprawling saga that would take on politics, religion, and other weighty issues.

But while there's a lot to recommend Cerebus, there's also a lot to give potential new readers pause—namely, Sim's contentious, divisive views on women, which ultimately begin to exert greater and greater influence over the series itself.

As the Will Eisner Comic Awards prepare to induct Sim (among other creators, including Gerry Conway and Rick Veitch) into its Hall of Fame at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, we take the opportunity to dive into this massive work, touching on topics including:

• What exactly IS Cerebus?
• Our personal histories with Cerebus
• The detailed background artwork of Gerhard
• The "Walking on the Moon" arc and the Cerebus creation myth
• Would we recommend that you read Cerebus?

We also share suggestions for other long-running, impactful series (in comics and otherwise) you might enjoy.

For further reading on the subject of Cerebus, we recommend:

Tom Ewing's great and insightful blog Aard Labour

Curt's 2004 Slate article on the endings of Cerebus and Bone

The Onion A.V. Club's notorious 2004 interview with Dave Sim

Join us in two weeks as we return to our regular format with a look at Sex Criminals Vol. 1: One Weird Trick, by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

In this episode, we conclude our two-part look at Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons with a discussion of Books 2 and 3, by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Gene Ha and Nicola Scott, published by DC Black Label!

The Amazons accept Hippolyta and other disenfranchised women into their ranks as they continue their mission to hunt down those who abuse and oppress women. But it isn't long before their activities catch the attention of a wrathful Zeus, sparking an all-out war between the Amazons and the gods of Olympus!

What is Hera's long game? Why is there a baby made of sand? And will the Amazons prevail and take their rightful place in that League of Their Own known as … The Comics Canon?

Also in This Episode:

• Curt makes a shocking announcement about A.I.
• Widow's Bay and Margo's Got Money Troubles on Apple TV
• Age of Bronze Volume 1: A Thousand Ships

Join us in two weeks as we take a hard left turn to discuss … Dave Sim's Cerebus! This is not a drill!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

In this episode, we kick off a two-part look at a book we've had our eyes on for some time with a discussion of Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, Book 1, by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Phil Jiminez, published by DC Black Label!

Phil Jiminez makes the artistic statement of his career to date with a visually arresting first issue that explores how and why the Greek goddesses (with the notable exception of Hera, Queen of the Olympians) come to create the Amazons, a race of women sworn to find and rescue women enslaved and mistreated by men.

Will Zeus redress the wrongs done to women by men throughout history? (Don't hold your breath.) Will Hippolyta escape a band of brutish brigands determined to cut out her tongue? What happened to that little baby girl she sent down the river? And will these maids of might prevail in that Fight Club known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

• Some complete random nonsense
• Zeus, God of Manspreading
• Shaq at the Parthenon
• The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
• Swamp Thing 1989 #1

Join us in two weeks as we continue our two-parter with Books 2 and 3, featuring art by Gene Ha and Nicola Scott!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

Note: This episode was recorded before the death of Gerry Conway, who wrote two of the stories we talk about.

The Punisher is gearing up for a busy summer on the big and small screens (with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Punisher: One Last Kill, respectively). So what better time to dive into some key early stories charting the evolution of everyone's favorite gun-toting vigilante?

We start with a look at the Punisher's pop-culture inspirations, including the Executioner and Dirty Harry, before discussing his first appearance in 1974's Amazing Spider-Man #129, where he joins forces with (wait, this can't be right, can it?) the Jackal to take down your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler!

Then it's on to Marvel Preview #2 from that same year, in which we learn the tragic backstory behind his one-man war on crime!

Finally, we jump ahead a few years to Daredevil #183-184 and a gritty, street-level take on the character that's closer to the version we're all familiar with.

Is our (anti)hero just a poor judge of character? What type of story suits him best? And can our surly sentinel of the streets survive a frontal assault from that Whack Attack known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

• What happened to Curt on our April 1 episode?
• The Spotmaker
• Punisher War Journal #19
• Punisher: Circle of Blood (1986)
• Daredevil Born Again Season 2
• Questions about the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot

Join us in two weeks as we delve into the acclaimed three-part series Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Phil Jiminez, Gene Ha and Nicola Scott!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

On this episode, we revisit that bygone era when Detective Comics Comics would use any excuse to feature gorillas on its covers with a furry foursome of titanic Silver and Golden Age tales: "The Gorilla Boss of Gotham City" (Batman #75), "Titano the Super-Ape" (Superman #127), "Menace of the Super-Gorilla" (The Flash #107) and "The Brotherhood of Evil" (Doom Patrol #86)!

Can DC's greatest (and strangest) heroes prevail against these powerful, petrifying primates? And can these heavy-duty hominids take up residence in that Gorilla City known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

• The super-timely name on everyone's lips!
• Curt and Kevin's last meals
• Superman's foolproof plan
• Great Scott! It must be … THE GORILLA!
• Robotman? Total LOSER
• Turok, Son of Stone
• Amazing Spider-Man #130 "Betrayed!" and #136 "The Green Goblin Lives Again!"
• The Flash: The Silver Age Vol. 1
• The Doom Patrol #89 "The Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Menace" and #90 "The Enemy Within the Doom Patrol"
• King Sorrow by Joe Hill

Special thanks to Robb Milne of Marvel by the Month for co-hosting on our special April 1st podcast crossover episode. And if you haven't already, check out Curt's crossover appearance on Marvel by the Month alongside Will Hines of Screw It, We're Just Gonna Talk About Comics, and MbtM's Jamie Wenger crossing over on Screw It!

Join us in two weeks as we look back at the early days of the Punisher, including his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #129 and his origin in Marvel Preview #2!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

For our first episode of April, Kevin and Robb go into full-on geek mode as they look back at THE superhero crossover event of 1982: Marvel and DC Present The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans, by Chris Claremont and Walter Simonson!

This hotly anticipated team-up pits Marvel's X-Men and DC's New Teen Titans against the tyrannical space god Darkseid, as well as the deadly assassin Deathstroke the Terminator (yes, that's really his name) and … Dark Phoenix?!!

Will these two teams engage in the customary fight that's all just a big misunderstanding? Will we get a satisfying matchup between Wolverine and Deathstroke? And can the combined might of the two biggest titles of the first Reagan administration propel this action-packed adventure into that Clash of Comic-Book Titans known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

·

• The artistic heir to Jack Kirby's cosmic space god vibe
• That first page though…
• The origin of one of Huey Lewis' biggest hits REVEALED!
• DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock vs. the Army of the Dead
• Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga

Join us in two weeks as we put the "ape" in the month of April with a collection of stories pitting DC superheroes vs. Super-Gorillas!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

We're dropping into your feed a day early for this St. Patrick's Day episode, as we look ahead to the August debut of HBO Max's Lanterns and discuss the first appearances of Green Lanterns Alan Scott and Hal Jordan -- followed for no particular reason by a couple of Tales of the Green Lantern Corps written by Alan Moore!

First, in "The Green Lantern!" from 1940's All-American Comics #16, construction engineer Alan Scott meets a talking lantern that used to be … a meteor in ancient China? It's a whole thing.

Then, in "S.O.S. Green Lantern!" and "Secret of the Flaming Spear!" from 1959's Showcase #22, test pilot Hal Jordan is selected to succeed dying space cop Abin Sur and become an intergalactic lawman!

Last but not least, Green Lantern Tomar Re explains to his colleague Arisia just why "Mogo Doesn't Socialize" in 1985's Green Lantern #188! And we get a glimpse into Abin Sur's final moments in "Tygers" from 1986's Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2!

Will Alan Scott and Hal Jordan prevail in their strikingly similar first adventures? Will Bolphunga the Unrelenting ever find the mysterious Mogo? Why does Abin Sur need a spaceship when his ring has the power of flight? And can these stirring tales of heroic space patrolmen survive the Blackest Night and break on through to that Brightest Day known as … The Comics Canon?

In This Episode:

· What can we call this radiation-sending device?

· Green Lantern's archnemesis – The Yellow Lamp!

· Plop!

· Curt punches up the Green Lantern oath

· Revenge of the Green Lanterns

· Roy Thomas's interview with Golden Age Green Lantern creator Mart Nodell in Alter Ego

Join us in two weeks as we discuss the 1982 inter-company crossover The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

We asked for questions, and you … asked them! In this, our second of two out-of-format episodes marking our 10-year anniversary, we answer the questions on your mind, including:

• Are there any episodes we'd like to do over?
• What are our favorite classic comic-book ads?
• Which comic had the worst movie adaptation?

But first, Curt gives his first-ever State of the Canon address, breaking down the characters, creators and comics publishers most represented in that body of great comic-book works known as The Comics Canon!

Join us in two weeks when we return to our regular format with a look at the first appearances of Green Lanterns Alan Scott (in All-American Comics #16 from 1940) and Hal Jordan (Showcase #22 from 1959) -- as well as two fun stories by Alan Moore: Tygers and Mogo Doesn't Socialize!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

There's still time to submit questions for our upcoming March 4 episode, which features an Ask Us Anything segment as well as something Curt cryptically refers to as "The State of the Canon!"

If you've ever wondered how we choose the books and storylines we cover, whether we've ever changed our minds about something we've covered on the show, or just want to cast a vote for something you'd like to see discussed on the podcast, send us your emails at [email protected] or drop us a line on Facebook or Bluesky by the end of the day on Friday, Feb. 27, and we'll answer as many as we can!

Also in this mini-episode, Kevin and Curt answer sample questions from each other with absolutely no preparation or advance warning! Who says this isn't the Comics Canon Age of Value-Added Content?

We hope you enjoy it, and we look forward to answering YOUR questions next week!

Got a burning question for The Comics Canon? Submit a question for our upcoming Ask Us Anything episode, airing Wednesday, March 4! Send us an email at [email protected] or hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky no later than Friday, February 27!

After 10 years and 250 episodes of rendering judgment on the greatest comic book stories of yesterday and today, we decided it's finally time to record an episode for newcomers to the podcast – or to comics themselves!

In this super-accessible jumping-on point, we walk listeners through a typical episode of The Comics Canon and offer our recommendations for anyone interested in exploring comics, broken into 10 helpful categories:

Comics for Kids Comics for All Ages YA/Young Adult Comics Memoirs Humor Comics Crime Comics Horror Comics Superhero Comics Cosmic Comics and the 800-pound gorilla of superhero graphic novels: Watchmen!

Also in This Episode!

· What ARE comics, anyway?

· Who we are and how we came to be

· The creative comics boom of the 1980s

· "Your son is hooked on Micronauts."

· The one book we'd hand to anyone interested in the comics medium

Join us in two weeks for the second in our two-part anniversary series, as we answer questions from listeners, look ahead to possible future episodes and discuss … The State of The Canon!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!

On this milestone episode, we tackle our white whale of show subjects: Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud's fascinating and thought-provoking exploration of the comics medium, how it works, and what it can do – told in the comics format!

Join us as we ask the burning questions:

What ARE comics, anyway? How long has this particular form of communication been around? (Hint: Longer than you think!) How many different ways can it illustrate the passage of time or the concept of movement? What are the six steps of the creative process? How far down a nerd rabbit hole can Curt and Kevin go? (Pretty far!)

And will this landmark textbook make the grade and go the head of that comics classroom known as … The Comics Canon?

Also in This Episode!

· You mean this ISN'T what Scott McCloud looks like?

· Ooh, bar graphs!

· Inconsistent bullies are the worst kind of bullies

· Reinventing Comics

· The Mighty Avengers vs. the 1970s: An Exploration, by Paul Cornell

Join us in two weeks as we mark our 10-year anniversary with "The Gateway Episode" – highlighting comics and graphic novels for newcomers to the comics medium!

Until then:Please consider donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Facebook or Bluesky!

And as always, thanks for listening!