The Comic Panel Podcast

There is fiction in this work of fiction (The Department of Truth vol 2)

Welcome all! This is The Comic Panel, for those who are listening for the first time, we are a bi-weekly radio show/podcast comic book club covering any and everything regarding comics and manga. We have each co-host pick a book that follows a specific theme and review a book for each episode. Then we wrap up the theme with a postmortem episode covering our opinions and favorite moments from each of the books.

In this episode we are covering our fourth and final book in our theme of Continuations! For this theme, we have each cohost pick a book that is a continuation of a series we've already read. The books we've read so far have been The Magic Order vol 2, Something Is Killing the Children vol 2, and Invincible vol 3. 

Volume 1 of the Department of Truth introduces us to a world where every conspiracy theory you can think of is true, but there is a secret government agency whose job it is to keep those theories under wraps, The Department of Truth. Our mc is an investigative journalist turned Department of Truth rookie. Volume 2 continues with Cole gaining a mentor of sorts, agent Hawk Harrison. He’s an old timer and has been a long standing member of the Department. He is crass and jaded and claims to understand something no one else does about the world… magic is real. Reluctantly, Cole learns from what Hawk has to say. During their time together, Hawk takes him on a journey through the history of the Department and about the things he’s seen and done. Things like Vietnam, the Satanic Panic, and the dispatching of Tulpas. We end the volume contemplating one final thought, perhaps the Lee Harvey Oswald that is running the Department of Truth is himself a Tulpa.

To describe Invincible volume 3, it begins with a concerned Nolan as he struggles with what to tell his son. For those who don't know, Nolan Grayson is the human alias of Omni-man, known to the world as the world's greatest superhero, but his true intentions were far more nefarious. His son, Mark Grayson, only knows his father as the superhero and he aspired to be just like him. At this point the reader knows that Nolan murdered the Guardians of the Globe, a superhero team tasked by the U.S. government to protect the world. The reader is left assuming that Nolan is going to reveal to Mark who he really is. Before that happens though, two villains known as the Mauler Twins revive one of the members of Guardians known as The Immortal. The Immortal awakens and then flies off to beat Omni-man senseless. Much to his chagrin, Omni-man is much too powerful for him and he is killed again. Unfortunately for Omni-man, Invincible sees his father's brutal act and that's when Nolan decides to tell Mark who he really is. He tells Mark that he is a Viltrumite, an empire bent on conquering worlds. Omni-man came to earth on a mission to force the earth to submit to Viltumite rule. Omni-man thinks that by telling Invincible this that he would be on his side, but Invincible refuses and fights him instead. Let's just say the fight didn't end all too well. Hear about all this and more in this thrilling review!

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify, our at The Comic Panel Podcast. You can also listen to us on ksuaradio.com or 91.5 FM in Fairbanks, Alaska. Be sure to tune in two weeks from now for our retrospective covering our theme.

Music: "Sofa" by Dyalla

I think the show is better (Invincible vol 3)

Welcome all! Get ready to listen to our third review in our theme of Continuations! It's been a good theme so far and we are continuing right along into reviewing Invincible vol 3. And yes, we did cover Invincible volumes 1 and 2, but they were a radio exclusive back in 2021. 

To describe Invincible volume 3, it begins with a concerned Nolan as he struggles with what to tell his son. For those who don't know, Nolan Grayson is the human alias of Omni-man, known to the world as the world's greatest superhero, but his true intentions were far more nefarious. His son, Mark Grayson, only knows his father as the superhero and he aspired to be just like him. At this point the reader knows that Nolan murdered the Guardians of the Globe, a superhero team tasked by the U.S. government to protect the world. The reader is left assuming that Nolan is going to reveal to Mark who he really is. Before that happens though, two villains known as the Mauler Twins revive one of the members of Guardians known as The Immortal. The Immortal awakens and then flies off to beat Omni-man senseless. Much to his chagrin, Omni-man is much too powerful for him and he is killed again. Unfortunately for Omni-man, Invincible sees his father's brutal act and that's when Nolan decides to tell Mark who he really is. He tells Mark that he is a Viltrumite, an empire bent on conquering worlds. Omni-man came to earth on a mission to force the earth to submit to Viltumite rule. Omni-man thinks that by telling Invincible this that he would be on his side, but Invincible refuses and fights him instead. Let's just say the fight didn't end all too well. Hear about all this and more in this thrilling review!

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify, our at The Comic Panel Podcast. You can also listen to us on ksuaradio.com or 91.5 FM in Fairbanks, Alaska. Be sure to tune in two weeks from now for our review of The Department of Truth vol 2.

Music: "360 No Scope" by The Soundlings

 

Well that was abrupt (Something is Killing the Children vol 2)

Welcome! This our second episode in our theme of Continuations! For this episode, we are reviewing Something is Killing the Children vol 2 by writer James Tynion IV and illustrated by Werther Dell'Edera. Erika and James have defeated the monster...or so they thought. Turns our the monster had children, and now they are on the hunt for food: children. The news of a monsters killing children reached the public and because of that The House of Slaughter sent Erica’s superior into town to run damage control. He attempts to get Erica to leave this case alone and let him cover it up but she is committed to finishing what she started before any more children die. Will she kill the monsters before they take any more children's lives? How many will die in the process? You'll get to find out all this and more in today's riveting and insightful episode!

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify, our at The Comic Panel Podcast. You can also listen to us on ksuaradio.com or 91.5 FM in Fairbanks, Alaska. Be sure to tune in two weeks from now for our review of Invincible vol 3.

Music: "Jungle Trip" by Quincas Moreira.

Our *not so* favorite wizard mafia are back! (The Magic Order vol 2)

Welcome everybody to our first review in our theme "Continuations"! In this theme, we will review the next volume in a series that we've already reviewed. If you don't already know, The Comic Panel is a bi-weekly radio show/podcast comic book club covering any and everything regarding comics and manga. We have each co-host pick a book that follows a specific theme and review a book for each episode. Then we wrap up the theme with a retrospective episode covering our opinions and favorite moments from each of the books. 

Since we've already reviewed volume 1 in this series, we are reviewing the second volume of The Magic Order. This book has creatives such as Mark Millar as writer, Stuart Immonen on the art, with Sunny Gho and David Curiel as colorsits, and Clem Robins as letterer. 

The Magic Order vol 2 introduces us to a new group of villains led by a wizard named Victor Korne. These villains seek to take back the power that Victor believes is rightfully theirs. See, a thousand years ago, Soren Korne was ruler over the earth, but a group of wizards fought and overthrew him and went on to establish their protection over the earth. This group would form what is now called The Magic Order. Victor Korne wants to restore the earth to the way it was when his ancestor was in power, where humans were fearful of the dark because of the monsters that walked among the earth. His plan is to call upon a powerful demon, Othoul’endou, which gave Soren Korne his power. They summoned this demon by gathering the pieces of an artifact called the Stone of Thoth which takes the demon from any place in the world and in time straight to the summoner. The Magic Order has to stop this band of evil wizards with a powerful ancient demon on their side, a threat they’ve never faced before. 

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify, our at The Comic Panel Podcast. You can also listen to us on ksuaradio.com or 91.5 FM in Fairbanks, Alaska. Be sure to tune in two weeks from now for our review of Something Is Killing the Children vol 2. 

Music: "For the Win" by Everet Almond

 

When a cult is behind the zombie apocalypse (The Gravedigger's Union)

Welcome all!

 

In this episode we are reviewing The Gravedigger's Union vol 1 by writer Wes Craig and artist Toby Cypress. This is our third book in our Comics Roulette theme. In a world with witches, cults, yuppie vampires, steroid-zombies, and other monsters, who will be there to defend the world? The Gravedigger's Union. They are a government sanctioned CBU tasked with fighting against the apocalyptic horror show that exists on the Earth. We follow a group of employees within this organization who decides to go off-book so they can put a stop to this once and for all. They go after a cult called the Black Temple which is tied to this crisis. For the b-plot, we follow someone considered to be the "true prophet" of the Black Temple, by some, a woman named Morgan. She is highly scrutinized by the board of the cult, who are uncertain that she is indeed a prophet. Despite that she is on a mission to find the one thing the cult needs to end the world: the third seal.

If you enjoyed our review of The Gravediggers Union vol 1 be sure to follow us on X/Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of our episodes. In our next episode, we will be doing our Comics Roulette post mortem.

Music: "Immortal" by Neffex

So all this is about a girl? (Sin City)

Hello all, welcome to our third book review in our theme of Comics Roulette. For those who are just joining us we are a biweekly radio show/podcast comic book club, where four friends discuss anything and everything regarding comics and manga. The way we do our show is we have one person choose a theme and then for the next four episodes, we each take turns choosing a book that fits that theme. For Comics Roulette, we each chose five books ranging from books we wanted to read and books we really didn't want to read.

 

In this episode we are reviewing Sin City written and drawn by Frank Miller of The Dark Knight Returns fame, and many others. Sin City is a place where the rotten lives and and breathes, a place you would dare let your thoughts drift towards. It's dirty and perversion is rampant, but for one night, the ex-con Marv, experiences pure bliss in the form of a woman. They have a night that shall not be spoken of, but then Marv wakes up next to her and she's dead. Marv's angel is dead and he's determined to figure out who killed her. Stay tuned for our reveiw of this noir classic!

 

If you enjoyed our review of Sin City vol 1 be sure to follow us on X/Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of our episodes. In our next episode, we will be covering the Gravediggers Union written by Wes Craig.

 

Music: "Doc and Wyatt" by Everet Almond

Well there goes the suspense (Heroes in Crisis)

Hello all, welcome to our second book review in the new theme of Comics Roulette. For those who are just joining us we are a biweekly radio show/podcast comic book club, where four friends discuss anything and everything regarding comics and manga. The way we do our show is we have one person choose a theme and then for the next four episodes, we each take turns choosing a book that fits that theme. For Comics Roulette, we each chose five books ranging from books we wanted to read and books we really didn't want to read.

For this episode, we are reviewing Heroes In Crisis written by Tom King with artists such as Clay Mann, Travis Moore, and others. Shouldn't heroes be able to get counseling in peace? Why does there have to be a fight every time they congregate? What happens in this book is even worse than that, there was a massacre at the counseling center. There are two suspects Harley Quinn and...Booster Gold? What happened out there? Were they the ones responsible? Find out all that and more in this exciting episode. 

If you enjoyed our review of Heroes in Crisis be sure to follow us on X/Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of our episodes. In our next episode, we will be covering Sin City by Frank Miller.

 

Music: "Win The Battle Win The War" by Everet Almond.

 

Who knew time traveling could be so confusing (Cable Classic)

Hello all, welcome to our first reivew of the new theme of Comics Roulette. For those who are just joining us we are a biweekly radio show/podcast comic book club, where four friends discuss anything and everything regarding comics and manga. The way we do our show is we have one person choose a theme and then for the next four episodes, we each take turns choosing a book that fits that theme. For Comics Roulette, we each chose five books ranging from books we wanted to read and books we really didn't want to read. 

 

For this episode, we are reading Cable Classic vol 1 featuring talent by writers Fabian Nicieza and Louise Simonson and artists Rob Liefeld and John Romita Jr. Cable is a time-traveling mercenary who makes it a habit of forming teams and then promptly leaving them to fend for themselves. Needless to say, he has few friends and even those friends don't exactly trust him. In his past and in the future, he routinely encounters a foe by the name Stryfe who he can never seem to defeat. Cable now has to deal with his failures past and future. Will he defeat Stryfe? How many people will be harmed along the way? This collection contains New Mutants #87, Cable: Blood & Metal #1-2, and Cable #1-4.

 

If you enjoyed our review of Cable Classic vol1 be sure to follow us on X/Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of our episodes. In our next episode, we will be covering Heroes in Crisis by Tom King. 

Music: "Everybody Get Up" by Everet Almond

How hard is it to find Plant comics? (Botony Postmortem)

Welcome everyone! Yes, we are wrapping up the Botony theme in this episode. For this theme we reviewed Man-Thing by Steve Gerber, Swamp Thing Green Hell by Jeff Lemiere, Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death by Amy Chu, and Groot by Jeff Loveness. In this episode you will find riveting discussions on books that, quite honestly, we didn't find all that riveting. You'll find laughter and thought-provoking commentary that will leave you laughing as well and asking yourself "do I want to read these books?"

 

Listen to new episodes of the show before they are published on the podcast on the radio every other Monday 5-7pm AKST on KSUA 91.5 FM Fairbanks, Alaska. You can find it locally, by visiting the KSUA website, or by finding KSUA on the RadioFX app. You can also find us on X/Twitter @thecomicpanel1

I am Groot (Groot)

I am Groot