The Comic Panel Podcast

So...they made a manga of Assassins Creed...

Hello all! Welcome to our final book in the theme of "Comics based on video games". We hope you've been enjoying them half as much as we have recording them! Today's review is of the manga "Assassin Creed Awakening" based on the video game Assassins Creed Black Flag. 

The protagonist of our story is a young Sejin who's DNA is used to explore the life of one of his ancestors, Edward Kenway, a former english noble in the 18th century, who turned to piracy in order to strike it rich and provide for the love of his life. When Edward's ship crashes on an island everything he had worked hard to acquire was lost. As he shuffles through the wreckage he finds a man wearing fancy clothing who is about to die. Edward assumes his identity which starts him on a trajectory of meeting the Templars, a group dedicated to controlling humanity, and then the Brotherhood, a group dedicated to stopping the Templars.

Meanwhile in modern day, Sejin believes he is participating in beta testing for a new immersive video game created by Abstergo, the company that invented the Animus. In reality, the Animus is a device that unlocks the genetic memories of the user's ancestors, and Abstergo is really a front for the modern day Templars. Sejin wants to prove that this video game is terrible because his mom made it, the woman who left his family. It quickly turns out, though, that Abstergo isn't being entirely honest, this isn't a video game at all, and his mother could be a victim? 

Was this a good adaptation? Did it make us want to read more? Find the answers by listening to this episode of The Comic Panel!

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Our title is 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 retrospective on our theme of "Comics based on video games"!

A Prequel to a Video Game We Didn't Know We Needed? (Arkham Knight comic)

Hello all! Welcome to the next episode in our theme of "Comics based on video games". We hope you've been enjoying these episodes at just a fraction of the joy we get from making these episodes! 

Batman Arkham Knight (the comic) takes place in the Batman Arkham games universe and set between the end of Arkham City and before Arkham Knight. It begins right where the Arkham City ended with the death of the Joker after a climactic final battle with Batman and the subsequent chaos that ensues. Batman continues to juggle long nights as a vigilante and early morning meetings as his alter ego Bruce Wayne. While Wayne is bogged down in new plans of a brighter future for his city, Batman’s every step is shadowed by a more ruthless vigilante who is ruthlessly killing criminals. All while that is going on, Penguin, Harley Quinn, and Bane are all scheming to take over Gotham in the power vacuum left by Joker's death.

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Our title is 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 the next book in our theme of "Comics based on video games"!

The Comic People Waited Seven Years For (Team Fortress 2)

Hello all! We apologize for the terribly long time it took for this episode to come out. It seemed it took almost as long for this episode to come out as did this comic to finish! And just like when this comic was finished, we all rejoiced that there was finally an ending. 

All jokes aside, for our second book in the theme of comics based on video games, we are reviewing the Team Fortress 2 comics. These comics takes place in an alternate 1972 and focuses on a company called Mann Co. and the mercenaries who have been employed by that company over the years. Mann Co. is notable because they have a large stockpile of Australium, a golden metal that can be used to keep someone alive past their normal lifespan. After a hostile takeover of the company it is revealed that someone has stolen all of the Australium from the vault and it becomes a treasure hunt to find the remaining supply between the mercenaries (Soldier, Pyro, Demo-man, Heavy, Sniper, Spy, and Scout) working for the mysterious Administrator and their competitors, the Team Fortress Classic team, working for Grey Mann, the new CEO of Mann Co. All while the previous CEO, Saxton Hale, works to try and regain control of the company.

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Our title is 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 the next book in our theme of "Comics based on video games"! 

Music: "Chase the Sun" by Bel Tempo

He just a fast guy! (Sonic Scrapnik Island)

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the second episode in our theme "Comics based on video games"! We've been enjoying recording these episodes and we hope you've been enjoying listening to them. 
In today's episode we cover Sonic: Scrapnik Island. Sonic and Tails crash land on Professor Robotnik's abandoned lair known as Scrapnik Island. As they attempt to find their way off the island they are introduced to a community of robots made to resemble Sonic and many of his pals known as Scrapniks. As the Scrapniks help Sonic and Tails recover from the crash they meet a Scrapnik that is all alone. Turns out, this Scrapnik still has a lot of Professor Robotnik's programming running on his OS, so he turns on Sonic and tries transplant his brain into Sonic's body. Sonic, with the help of Tails and the rest of the Scrapnik's are able to escape and remove the programming from the loner Scrapnik. 

Is this comic good? What did we think of the art? Did it meet our expectations? Does it give us insight into what the games are like? Find out all this and more in our fantastic review of Sonic: Scrapnik Island!

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Our title is 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 the next book in our theme of "Comics based on video games"!

Oh, so this is what Street Fighter is (Street Fighter Alpha 2: Sakura Does Her Best)

Welcome everyone to our first review in our new theme of "Comics based on video games." For our first book we are reading Street Fighter Alpha 2: Sakura Does Her Best. 

 

Sakura is an aspiring street fighter. She has the will and the dedication to learn everything she can because ultimately, she wants to meet the man who inspired her, someone she doesn't even know the name of. In order to meet this man, however, she must win the tournament, which means having to street fight. Can she succeed over such skilled opponents? Will her best win her the opportunity to meet her hero? Find out all this and more in this fight-tastic review. 

 

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Our title is 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 next book in our theme of "Comics based on video games"!

Music: "Stake Out" by Alex Jones/Xander Jones

How are cults represented in comics?

Hello everybody! Welcome to our retrospective to our theme of Cults. For those who don't know we do this at the end of our themes. We take a look back at the comics we've read and compare them and give any final thoughts we have on them. The books we revewed for this theme have been 20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa, Ultimate X-men by Peach Momoko, Loving, Ohio by Sam Beck and Matt Erman, and Luna by Maria Llovet. It has been a lot of fun recording these episodes and we hope you have enjoyed listening to them. 

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Our title is 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 final book in our theme of cults!

Music: "Why Why Why" by Ryan Stansik and Kanika Moore

The Woman Who Exposed a Blood Cult Turns Out to Be a Goddess (Luna)

Welcome all to our last book in our theme of Cults! We hope you've been enjoying this series of episodes as much as we've enjoyed recording these episodes. In today's episode we are reviewing "Luna" by Maria Llovet. 

Teresa is a young woman plagued by prophetic dreams that connect her to something powerful. Something divine. She finds herself among the company of the Family of the Sun, a cult formed around Lux, a troubled man who inducts his members by using his blood to get them addicted to him. Her time at the cult brings her to the truth of herself, the entity behind her dreams, and the entity's connection to this cult.

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Our title is 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 final book in our theme of cults!

 

Music: "Claim to Fame" by The Grey Room / Clark Sims and "60s Underground Organ Rock" by Julius H. from Pixabay 
Sound effect: "Page Shuffle Transition" by AFX_Photography from Pixabay

How Can Teens Find Themselves in a Town Owned by a Cult? (Loving, Ohio)

Welcome everyone to another striking review by The Comic Panel! In today's episode we are reviewing a comic titled "Loving, Ohio" by Matt Erman and Sam Beck! This is our third episode around the theme of cults. 

Loving, Ohio is a small town that is completely run by a new age cult known as the chorus. And four high-school kids, Sloan, Elliott, Cameron, and Ana, are trying to graduate and get out. But when their friend Jesse mysteriously commits suicide, they grieve and become the center to a bigger murder plot of young people. After surviving a mass killing they take it upon themselves to kill the killer who is a tool of the chorus.

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Our title is 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 final book in our theme of cults!

Music: "Strange Way" by Christopher from Pixabay

Welcome to the Children of the Atom! (Ultimate X-Men (2024))

Welcome all, to our newest episode in our theme of Cults! Today we are reviewing Ultimate X-Men 2024 Vol 1 and 2 written and drawn by Peach Momoko. This is part of Marvel Comics new ultimate universe that re-contextualizes the Marvel Universe by having its history and geopolitical landscape altered by a nefarious Reed Richards called The Maker.

Ultimate X-Men follows Hisoako Ichiki, a young girl in Japan that has just graduating middle school and entering high school. A recent tragedy in her life was the death of her best friend Tsubasa to suicide. At her middle school graduation, she gets a note to meet a mystery person at a local temple. At the temple she is confronted by a shadow figure who starts telepathically stalking her and attempts to convince her that she's to blame for her friend's death. The shadow figure gives her a charm that belonged to Tsubasa, reminding her of how kind he was and how he gave that charm to Hisaoko as a gift. She runs away but then falls into oncoming traffic but then a psionic exoskeleton is formed around her crushing the oncoming car. It was this moment that changed her life forever. Find out even more by listening to this review of the ages!

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Our title is The Comic Panel Podcast. You can also listen to us on ksuaradio.com or 91.5 FM in Fairbanks, Alaska. Be sure to catch the next episode on January 3rd where we cover Loving, Ohio, by Matt Erhman and Sam Beck!

Music: "Brain Implant (Cyberpunk Sci-Fi Trailer Action Intro)" by Vasil Yatsevich from Pixabay

Is It Worse Not Knowing the Purpose of The Cult? (20th Century Boys)

Welcome back everybody! We are happy to present to you another great review from The Comic Panel! This episode is the first review of our new theme of Cults! The book we are reviewing is 20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa (Monster, Pluto). 

20th Century Boys is a comic about a group of friends and their time as adults in a changing Japan interspersed with scenes from their childhood in the 1970s. Little did they know that as kids when they created a secret base to hide out and read manga, peruse inappropriate magazines and just goof off with a radio that they were planting the seeds for a terrifying future. The main character Kenji Endo is too caught up in taking care of his mother, his abandoned niece Kanna and their struggling convenience store. However Kenji can’t help but notice a familiar symbol popping up around the same place as mysterious disappearances. The friends from childhood he still keeps in touch with try to brush the weird coincidences aside but when one friend jumps to his death and leaves behind an ominous message about the symbol they’re forced to take notice. Soon it becomes apparent that the symbol, a gloved hand with an eyeball behind it, has been co-opted by a potentially cultish group of people.

If you liked this episode be sure to follow us on Twitter @thecomicpanel1 and listen to more of us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Our title is 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 next book in the theme of Cults!

Music: "At All Costs" The Grey Room/Golden Psalms