Comic Relief Podcast

So Marvel has announced that Steve Rogers will be returning to the role of Captain America. But that’s not really a surprise to anyone, right? With the next Marvel movie, Captain America: Civil War coming out, it seems almost natural that Marvel would switch Steve Rogers back into the role of Captain America; in the event they pick up some new comic book readers after seeing the movie… After all, if someone picked up an issue of Captain America and saw Sam Wilson as Captain America, and they’re not familiar with what’s going on in Marvel – they’re going to be thoroughly confused. (“Hey, isn’t Sam Wilson actually Falcon in the movies? Why is he Captain America in the comics?”) Don’t worry movie goers – even if you are familiar with what’s going on in Marvel, you still might be confused as to what’s going on!

So where does that leave Sam Wilson. Does that mean he’s headed back to being Falcon and hanging up the Ol’ Red, White and Blue?

Not quite. Ensuring that Marvel doesn’t upset anyone, Sam Wilson is going to remain Captain America… also. Yes, also. So now there’s going to be a series called Steve Rogers: Captain America and a series called Sam Wilson: Captain America. So there will be, effectively, two Captain America’s running around in the Marvel Universe. Steve Rogers will have a new costume and a new shield (not even circular, according to the preview; more in line with his original looking shield… so does that mean no more cool tossing of the shield? You know, pretty much what Captain America is known for – other than the Red, White and Blue?) Sam Wilson will continue to use the standard Captain America circular shield and remain in the costume he adopted when he took on the Captain America mantle.

This is beginning to remind me of the days of the Thor Corps… where we saw various “versions” of the Thor character (Thor, Beta Ray Bill, Dargo Ktor {future Thor; which is odd, since Thor should be immortal} and Thunderstrike)… Is a “Cap’s Corps” that far off in the future featuring Steve Rogers Captain America, Sam Wilson Captain America, Bucky Barnes Captain America and USAgent? Time will tell.

 

Marvel dropped a big hint, when they released this image:

This generated speculation who it might be. The most obvious choice would have been Wolverine, somehow coming back from the dead (despite we have an “Old Man Logan” walking around the Marvel Universe). But that certainly has never stopped Marvel from making this ultraconfusing by having multiple versions of the same character, walking around through time/displaced means.

Well, the speculation it might be Wolverine ended, when Marvel released this image a little while later:
Now the obvious choice was probably going to be Wasp. Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) – I won’t go into the whole story – but the long and short of it, during the Skrull (Secret Invasion), one of the Skrulls had tricked Jan into using a growth serum that essentially turned her into a living bomb. Thor had to strike her down and swore vengeance. But, as it turned out, she wasn’t killed – but thrown into the Microverse (What? A super hero didn’t actually die? Say it isn’t so!)

Now what’s annoying is – several sites are incorrectly reporting that the name Wasp is getting a new mantle – for the first time in 53 years. These folks who have written these articles are forgetting that Hank Pym (her former husband) adopted the name “Wasp” for quite some time, in honor of Janet’s death (before they realized she wasn’t dead).

Long story short, they end up finding Jan and rescuing her, and she became a part of the Uncanny Avengers and apparently developed a relationship with the former X-Men, Havok, who was also a member of the team. During the Axis event (where some folks became evil, others became good; through means of a magical spell – just… don’t ask…), Janet was drained of all her “Pym Particles” by Captain America.

So is this really a new Wasp? Or has Janet returned? Time will tell.

UPDATE!

This was a GREAT thing to wake up to today! And my faith is restored in the folks at MyComicShop.com! Check out the message I got from them today:

I’m sorry for the difficulty you had with our customer service department regarding this issue. Once we got in this morning we had a meeting regarding our policy on wrong items and have decided to change it so that this sort of thing doesn’t happen. From now on, if you receive an incorrectly labeled item, you will be credited for the cost of the book as well as the cost of basic shipping so that you’ll be able to reorder the item with no additional charge. I’ve gone ahead and sent you out a copy of issue 12 so that you can continue your run. Happy reading!

As I said, it’s when a company makes a mistake; in that moment, how their customer service will be determined; and this shows, that they do care, and they do listen! Thank you again, MyComicShop.com!

ORIGINAL POST:
So maybe because it was Monday when I found this out; and no one’s ever happy on a Monday, right? But this really bugs me. So, lately, I have been re-ordering a bunch of older comics, typically from the 80’s, that I remember reading in my youth. Comics, that to me, had left an impression – some good, some bad – some, because it made me laugh. I typically get these comics from my favorite local comic shop, Southern California Comics, but even their vast stock doesn’t always have what I look for. So when that happens, I turn to the one place, I have found to be pretty reliable – MyComicShop.com – heck, I even inquired with them and made a partner thing (which, if you order comics from their site using our link over to the right, we get a small percentage of credit from your total sales, which helps out). Well, after this post, you may or may not wish to order from them – so let me make one thing clear – I have ordered from them many times before and never had an issue. The comics always come bagged and boarded, in the condition/grade I ordered them in.

But we’re all human. Even the folks who work at MyComicShop.com – and thus, they’re bound to make an error.

So there I was, pretty much caught up on all my retro comic reading, and all of my new comic reading; when I thought, “What should I pick up next for some retro reading?” I took a journey through my memory and became 11 years old or so, when I suddenly remember an iconic cover with Doctor Fate and Specter fighting on a cover… I closed my eyes, concentrated, and it came to me. All Star Squadron. I went onto MyComicShop.com and saw that they had all of them – and for very reasonably price (as most comics from the 80’s generally are). So I ordered #1 through #30. They, along with Team America #1 through #12 (who remembers them?) arrived after $60 and some change was spent between all the books and shipping. I read through Team America first, and it was just like I remembered; overly campy and overly silly situations, but still, over all, a fun trip down memory lane.

Then I began reading All Star Squadron, I realized pretty early on, that I had not read these earlier issues, but was enjoying them; even though they were written in the fashion of the 1960’s comics, with respect to dialogue, costumes, campy’ness, and the general story dealing with World War II. I read all the way through issue #11, then picked up issue #12, or what I thought was #12 – and was confused as to what was going on. Different members, different costumes, what happened to the events at the end of #11? Then I looked at the cover and saw that it said “#21.” Thinking I must have put that in the wrong order, I went and grabbed #21 (which I thought must have been #12) – only to find, it had the same cover. So someone at MyComicShop.com had mistakenly labelled #21 as #12.

Here, take a look:
No problem, I told myself. We’re all human. We all make mistakes.

So I wrote them a letter, explained what had happened – and even attached the above photo so they could see what I mean by the mix-up of giving me two #21’s because someone at their store mislabeled the issue.

They kindly wrote back (and pretty promptly, I might add) –

We apologize for the mistake. Your account has been credited for the book. Please do not worry about returning the other item.

So I kindly replied back:

The problem is I still need issue #12. I would rather return the incorrect one and get the correct issue. And ideally not have to pay for S&H again, since that’s more than the cost of the issue.

And so they replied back with:

We’re sorry, but we do not ship replacements. If you do not plan on placing any further order in which you would use the credit to include the book, you may request a refund.

Now my first thought is – Wait a minute, this isn’t a replacement. You shipped me the wrong comic!

I admit, I was a little annoyed. So I replied back:

So because someone there – labelled issue #21 as #12 on the sticker and sent that to me – I am stuck with an issue I didn’t need – due to an error on MyComicShop’s behalf? I am thankful for the refund, but would rather have the correct issue – considering I ordered issue #1 – 30 of the series to read. I mean, I could understand if _I_ had accidentally ordered #21 twice – then it’s on me. But I didn’t. I ordered #12. And someone at MyComicShop.com – slapped a #12 sticker on issue #21. So now I am without something I ordered. And if I want it – I will need to order just that issue, and pay $6 for shipping (which is two or three times the worth of the issue) to “fix” a mistake by someone who did inventory at MyComicShop.com – hardly seems fair or good customer service.

Having clearly read my email, they replied back with:

If you do not plan on placing any further orders in which you would use the credit to include the book, you may request a refund for the amount instead.

This was going nowhere; so I opted for the refund (a whole 2 bucks). I feel like this was some pretty poor customer service. An error on their behalf and they don’t make the easiest effort of correcting this (simply sending All Star Squadron #12 to me). As I said, I was more than willing to send back the extra #21 they had given me. (Probably due to it’s low value they were not concerned about getting it sent back to them – this was, after all, no New Mutants #98 or something, where they’d never say, “Oh, just keep the extra.”)

While I have had, as I said, repeated past success with them; the true test of a company, and it’s customer service, is when it does something in error and how it reacts to fix that error. To me, this was a very poor example of customer service, and makes me hesitant of using them going forward.

Are you looking for these issues? (Or any comics?) – Consider using our Affiliate Link to help keep the site ad free: Shop Here.

We are finally back! There was a long hiatus in there thanks to work trips, vacations, and a general lack of time! But we’re back baby! And back with a vengeance! This is perhaps, the best episode we’ve done! This one, as you might have guessed from the banner above deals exclusively with STAR WARS The Force Awakens! So if you have not yet seen the movie – keep this page bookmarked and do yourself a favor and go see the movie! Because this podcast is FULL of spoilers! Nothing held back here! So. Go. See. The. Movie. Seriously.

If you have already seen the movie – then proceed forward with this podcast!

A very special note – the beginning music in this podcast was done by Taylor Davis. Please check out her video right over here. She has an amazing assortment of musical pieces she’s done – so it’s probably a good idea to subscribe to her Youtube channel. And if you need more Taylor Davis – please, by all means check out her website or check out her online store!

All right – with that said and done, let me tell you – this was the funnest podcast I have had the pleasure of being a part of and editing! I had a lot of fun with this one! Throughout the podcast you will hear various Star Wars sound effects, thanks to the official Star Wars Dot Com – Soundboard. For example, normally I simply “beep” out any cuss words; this time I used the droid from Cloud City that 3PO calls “Rude.” There’s also mention, at times of when we’re talking about various ships, where you will hear them fly by in the background of the podcast! Seriously. This one was so much fun.

One thing I would love you for – seriously – is, if you enjoyed listening to this podcast – please post it somewhere (Facebook, Twitter, etc). Word of mouth does so much and costs nothing. And it would really help get our podcast more recognition.

Now, on to the show! You can stream it from here:

[audio:http://comicreliefpodcast.com/podcasts/Comic%20Relief%20Podcast%20-%20Issue%20%2316%20-%20The%20Podcast%20Awakens.mp3]

Or you can click here to directly download or stream the MP3 file if the above does not work: The Podcast Awakens MP3.

Now on iTunes!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

So I just got back this weekend (Sunday) from Stan Lee’s Comikaze Comic Book Convention. First, I have to say, despite a few bumps, I had a very good time, as I typically do hanging out with my life long friend, and brother in all but blood, Charles Stevens, and his son Matt.

When we first got there, we immediately noticed a higher population of people from just two years ago when we went. (Maico, Amiee and I went last year, and also noticed a higher density of people). This year, they opened it up to three different halls, which was nice, considering I think there was an estimated 75,000 to 80,000 people expected (and it certainly felt like they were all there!)

After a quick view of the area, the first thing I did was stand in line for Rob Liefeld’s autograph on the first appearance of Cable and also for Deadpool. It cost me a pretty penny to acquire such autographs, but I am alright with that.

It was a shame on how they handled the lines for autographs. They had Todd McFarlane (probably most known for Spawn), Rob Liefeld (most known for creating Cable and Deadpool), Jim Lee (well known for his work in Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, and creating WildCATS) all signing at the same time; all right next to each other. Ideally, you’d think they’d make one line, and they’d line them up on the same table, so you could get several books signed at once. But that’s not what they did. They were all right next to each other, but at three different tables, staggered out – so they had not three – but six – individual lines, because they had VIP lines, as well as lines for people who stood in line early for a bracelet; and anyone who didn’t get a bracelet was out of luck. So all the lines were shoved in the same general area, and caused complete chaos. The Comikaze Security were trying to keep things orderly, and for the most part, considering the amount of people there, they did a pretty solid job. But this could have definitely been handled much better. I would have suggested, either making it two lines (the VIP line) and another line behind them, for one single long table. Or, better yet, stagger the times they would be signing – why have all three big artists/writers signing at the same exact time, in the same exact area? There was virtually no way of getting all three signatures, even if you came back later, because they were handing out those bracelets to whomever you stood in line for in the beginning and that was it. So folks had to chose whose autograph they wanted.

I had also brought books in hopes of having Len Wein (creator of Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, Thunderbird, and the rest of the initial new X-Men) – but I could never find any information where he was signing or what time – not even on the website (which, otherwise did a good job listing where to find everyone. I also brought some stuff in hopes of getting Arthur Adams to sign it; but could never find where he was signing. (I also think after waiting 3 hours in line for Rob’s signature because I was trying to get there early, I admit my patience for waiting and finding something was cut extremely short).

I admit, had it not been for Nicholas (Infinity8Loafers on InstaGram), I would have probably been a lot more frustrated. Nicholas and I at least got to sort of know each other in those three hours waiting. The irony being, that neither one of us recognized the other; that we were actually already following one another on InstaGram. He had spotted one of my post Con photos at the bar, and commented how he was the guy behind me in line – and I checked his photos and realized – it had been the very guy I had spent three hours talking to. (Talk about a small world – even in the land of the Internets!)

My one big disappointment lies with the situation with Melendy Britt (she voiced She-Ra) and Alan Oppenheimer (who voiced Skeletor). I lugged this massive book with me (which I had just gotten!) I was hoping to have them each sign in; I went by the booth that they were supposed to be at, right after getting Rob’s signature; and two other people were at the booth (also voice actors, but not who I was looking for). Made my way back there a few times, and they were not there. So Charles finally asked for me, and the guy running the booth said that they both packed up 20 minutes after the Con started on Saturday and left – and then never came back. Never provided the guy who was hosting their booth any explanation or reason for their sudden departure and never communicated with them after the fact either. I was disappointed, because I am a He-Man junkie; I admit it. And I had just got the book and thought, “Wow! This is perfect timing that the guy who voiced Skeletor and the woman who voiced She-Ra are going to be at this event!” In the end, I hope their reason for their departure was not because of some family emergency or something like that (so I hope everyone is doing all right) – but it was a bit heart breaking not to get this book signed! (Mostly because the difference of hauling that massive book all day in my backpack made a night and day difference in terms of weight!)

I did manage to run into Chad Cavanaugh (good friend who does The Map Comic Book) who was doing some work with Dreams in the Witch House. I also managed to find Joie Brown (follow her Facebook Page!), as well as Twitter, and check out her website here and especially her website over here. She has a new web comic called Clucked! coming out soon.

There was a lot of amazing Cosplay to be found at ComiKaze this year:

These are just some of the photos. You can check out the Photo Album on our Comic Relief Podcast Facebook page (you don’t need to be a member of Facebook to see the photos). If you happen to know who some of these cosplayers are or if they’re actually you and you stumbled across our little corner – (either on InstaGram, Twitter, Facebook, etc), please comment on the photos on Facebook, so we can properly credit them for their amazing outfits!

After Comikaze, we went to our Hotel (The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suite), which was very nice, and very beautiful – but it was also like a maze (or as I said, “It’s like Hogwartz – the stairs keep moving! And some don’t even have a way to access them!”)
We finally found our way to the bar (a drink to numb the ol’ bones!)
We got up, sore and aching (the old men, that we are, except Matt) and headed back home!

Are you looking for these issues? (Or any comics?) – Consider using our Affiliate Link to help keep the site ad free: Shop Here.

So, it’s been awhile since we’ve released a new issue of the Comic Relief Podcast -… well, podcast! Last time, as a matter of fact, was March, 2015. That’s right, we’re talking just about 7 months ago. (I can’t even believe it’s been that long!) Well, as it would turn out, we actually attempted to do something a little different in April of 2015 – and do a Video Podcast. However, the kids were there, the television was on in the background – and no amount of editing was going to make this do-able (mostly because I try to make these sound and be every bit as professional sounding as possible; and still have fun!) Well, there was just a lot of background noise and interruptions, so the video went into the back burner. Well, just the other day, I realized how long it had been since we put out a podcast, and I thought, “I should dig out the video we did; edit the video, put it on Youtube, and then rip the audio from the video and just make that a podcast – with interruptions, poor sound quality, and all! Just – let it go! It’s October (and tomorrow is Halloween!) – so why not unleash a spooky sounding episode?”

We have not had the chance to record, due to things happening at our job (that took Maico away for several business trips, for quite a few weeks!) – and just drastic things happening all around! But things are beginning to find their pace again, and we hope to record a proper podcast where we can talk about all these shows that have just started their new season – and including some new shows, such as Supergirl!

In the meantime, here’s the audio from the video podcast, back in April 2015 – keep an eye on our Youtube channel (I will link it here too when it finishes uploading!) for the actual video itself!

[audio:http://comicreliefpodcast.com/podcasts/Comic%20Relief%20Podcast%20-%20Issue%20%23%2015%20-%20Welcome%20(Back)%20To%20The%20Podcast%20Hope%20You%20Survive%20The%20Experience.mp3]

If you don’t want to stream it – and want to download and treasure the MP3 forever – you can download it right here. (Right click and SAVE AS…)

Now on iTunes!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

With some, I am not surprised (Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Drax, etc.) – but some of them – I really wonder what they’re doing? What are your thoughts? Stop by our Facebook or our Twitter and share your thoughts.

So when I initially colored this B&W image, I thought about how Jean Grey emerged from the lake after the plane crash, with the Phoenix Force all around her. (Many, many, many years later, the story would be retold that she was cocooned at the bottom of the lake, and that it wasn’t Jean who surfaced from the lake, but rather the Phoenix Force itself, taking on her appearance and personality, when X-Factor was launched). Anyway – all of that aside, I initially colored this as Jean Grey – with her classic green and yellow/gold type costume. However, my favorite costume of Jean Grey (and perhaps the only time I ever even liked Jean Grey was when she was in her Dark Phoenix persona). So this led to me doing a version of this photo where Jean Grey is in the Dark Phoenix costume, which is that more reddish and yellow/goldish costume.

 

Which was your favorite version of Jean Grey? Come by our Facebook or Twitter and let us know!

I’ve always enjoyed the early issues of ROM. Wasn’t until the last few years, that I actually went back and recollected the entire run of ROM comics (having sold them many, many, many years ago so I could afford moving from one state to another). I took this B&W ROM image that was posted and colored it, giving ROM a sort of silverish (my attempt at looking metallic) look, and giving his mortal enemies – the Dire Wraith, their deep, blood red like color. Shame that Marvel no longer has the rights to ROM (IDW recently gained the rights after many years of ROM being in Limbo). Curious to see what IDW will bring to the table in ROM, since there’s elements that remained copyrighted to Marvel (essentially everything that wasn’t ROM specifically). So for example, the Dire Wraith are copyright to Marvel still. IDW also got the rights to Micronauts which was also contracted by Marvel to do (ironically both written originally by Bill Mantlo).

If you don’t know about Bill Mantlo, let me share this:

On July 17, 1992, Mantlo was struck by a car while rollerblading. The driver of the car fled the scene and was never identified. Mantlo suffered severe head trauma. His activities of daily living are severely curtailed and he resides in a healthcare facility where he receives full-time care.

Mantlo’s brother describes the injury; “Bill is, and has been, trapped in a world of confusion and despair since his accident. The cognitive deficits he suffered have left him unable to reason or understand his situation, and he struggles daily to maintain any control over his own mind. For someone with his intellect and imagination, this was the absolute worst type of injury that could ever have happened to him.”

In 2007, Yurkovich released the benefit book Mantlo: A Life in Comics, with all proceeds from the book donated to Mantlo’s brother and caregiver, Michael Mantlo, to help toward the costs of maintaining Mantlo’s care. In addition, on December 6, 2007, the Portland, Oregon, comic-book shop Floating World Comics sponsored “Spacenight: A Tribute to Bill Mantlo”, an art show consisting almost entirely of various artists’ interpretations of Rom, to help raise funds for Mantlo’s care. Throughout December 2010, Floating World Comics sponsored “Spacenite2”, also featuring artists’ interpretations of Rom, with all proceeds going to Mantlo’s care and an art auction at the end of December 2010.

In 2014, Mantlo was granted a private preview screening by Marvel Entertainment and Walt Disney Pictures of the critically acclaimed and successful Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Guardians of the Galaxy, which prominently features his creation, Rocket Raccoon, as a principal character. According to his brother, Michael Mantlo, Bill was pleased with the adaptation (which credits him by name as the character’s co-creator) and considered the occasion a happy day for himself and his family.

Cards, letters or donations to Bill Mantlo can be sent to:
Mike Mantlo
26364 East Pintail Road
Long Neck, DE 19966
Please make out any checks to “Michael Mantlo” — Bill’s legal guardian.

The photo is of Bill Mantlo and his sister-in-law Liz, August 10, 2013. Courtesy of Bill’s brother Mike Mantlo.

Edit 5/19/2025 – While discussing Alpha Flight on Reddit, I became aware from Unky on Reddit, that the above address has changed to:

Bill Mantlo
329 Beach 59 ST
Unit 920756
Arverne, NY 11692

I just dug these up from the old archives. So here’s a little back story. When Batman was coming out, around the same time the first Avengers movie was coming out – a co-worker (Mike W) and I placed a friendly wager of a few dollars, as to which one would do better in the box office after one week, or maybe it was just opening weekend. I said Avengers would do better than Batman, and he said Batman would do better than Avengers.

Anyway, one must not let me have any free time, or the following happens… All of these were (very quickly!) created in Microsoft Paint (because that’s the only paint program available to me at work) and posted on my co-workers cube, adding each one as the days went on…

Good ol’ Captain America, always has something to say!

 

 

 

 

Are you really going to argue with a Norse God?

 

 

 

 

This one was probably my favorite one that I did…

 

 

 

Hawkeye, he’s always on the mark!

 

 

 

 

Don’t argue with Hulk; you’ll just make him angry! And his pants are barely hanging on as it is!

 

 

 

Cubical art continues on the glass!

 

 

 

 

That Tony Stark sure is mean to poor, ol’ Batman!

 

 

 

 

The glass art continues!

 

 

 

 

Iron Man’s opinion is worth about 3 billion dollars, you should really listen to him!

 

 

 

And finally Batman realizes, he has no friends!

 

 

 

 

In the end, thanks to the unfortunate shooting that happened during the screening of Batman, the friendly wager was called off.