MilesThe Fanboys have returned and they’re back with a splash! In the wake of the big Spider-Man movie deal, controversy has flared online regarding race and the casting of the new cinematic Peter Parker. Unwisely, Brian has decided to wade into the fray, and he’s dragging poor Al along for the ride. Will he make a fine and nuanced point, or wind up covered in internet tar and feathers? The only way you’ll find out is to listen!

Cover005Some folks say that the 2014 edition of the (in)famous San Diego Comic Con was a bit of a letdown. But your faithful Four-Color Fanboys, Brian and Al, have been hanging on all the comic book announcements from the annual pop culture mecca, and they like a lot of what they heard! From DC’s Multiversity and Batman ’66 to Marvel’s Star Wars and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., they’ll go over all the Comic Con goodies that have them excited for the coming year of comics, plus their usual meandering digressions (into questions like: Why, exactly, is Dazzler on the cover of an issue of Uncanny X-Men in which she doesn’t appear? Is there anything written by Grant Morrison that Brian might actually like?) on this all-new episode of the Four-Color Fanboys podcast!

Four-Color FanboysThis episode we’re sharing the secret origins of our intrepid Four-Color Fanboys! Brian and Al step into their mental wayback machines to look at the very first comics they read, and how those comics turned them into lifelong comic book fans and shaped them as human-type people. The Hulk! Superman! Power Pack and the New Mutants! And lotsa lotsa Spider-Man! Join the Fanboys on a trip down memory lane in this all-new Four-Color Fanboys podcast!

 

 

Oh, and of course, we wouldn’t want to to keep all the Wasp-y goodness Brian leches over mentions to ourselves:

Wasp

Hubba! (From Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #105, Aug 1985)

Four-Color FanboysAl and Brian are back for more comic book talk and shenanigans! Brian missed Free Comic Day, so Al fills him on what he missed (and lends him one to boot!). The boys discuss the return of Saga, cool new developments in Justice League in the wake of the “Forever Evil” storyline, the classic JLA/Avengers crossover, the David Goyer/She-Hulk controversy and a whole lot more! Come on in—the comics are FANtastic!

(Note: The Spider-Man Clone Saga blog that Al couldn’t remember in this month’s podcast is The Life of Reilly.)

And, as promised by Brian, here’s an example of the unique inking of the late Matt Fox (a page from Journey into Mystery #101, cover dated February 1964; plot by Stan Lee, script and pencils by Larry Lieber):

From Journey into Mystery 101

Four-Color FanboysAl and Brian, your faithful Four-Color Fanboys, are back and waxing rhapsodic about the great stuff they’ve been reading—the recently-concluded Superior Spider-Man, the recently-launched Nightcrawler, and the gorgeously chilling Frankenstein Alive, Alive! just to name a few! Plus, the ‘Boys weigh in on the Janelle Asselin/Teen Titans controversy and the recent business moves by ComiXology. If you like comics, you gotta listen to this all-new Four-Color Fanboys Podcast!

All-New Ultimates 1

All-New Ultimates #1 (© 2014 Marvel Comics)

Something remarkable is happening the world of mainstream superhero comics this week. And one of the best and most remarkable things about it is that no one seems to think it’s remarkable.

I’m talking about All-New Ultimates, Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe team book written by Michel Fiffe, with art by Brazilian newcomer Amilcar Pinna. A spinoff of both the long-running Ultimate Spider-Man title and the recent Cataclysm event crossover, what makes All-New Ultimates remarkable in my book is the makeup of its titular team: Four women (Black Widow, Bombshell, Dagger, and Kitty Pryde) and two black men (Cloak and Spider-Man).

As near as I’ve been able to discover in my research, that makes this the first superhero team starring in a book by a major mainstream publisher without a white male in it.

Let me be clear: I’m not advocating the exclusion of white males from superhero teams. What I’m applauding is this concrete evidence that a white male is not a requirement for having a superhero team.

That’s a big step in terms of representation and diversity in superhero comics, but making it even niftier is that no one seems to be making a big deal about it.

Continue Reading

Four-Color FanboysHere it is, the first SENSES-SHATTERING issue of the Four-Color Fanboys Podcast! Join Al (of Resurrections—An Adam Warlock Podcast) and Brian (of the Podwits Podcast) as they talk about the latest and greatest in the world of comics. Al’s all over the New 52 debut of the Metal Men in Justice League, while Brian thinks the (All-New) X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy are two great tastes that taste great together. (No, he’s not eating the comics, people). All that, plus Witchblade, some personal backstories and exciting comic-related news—it’s all inside!

Welcome to Four-Color Fanboys, a comic-book podcast that takes a look at the world of… ahem, sequential graphic storytelling (thankyewverymuch) from the (occasionally divergent) points of view of two older more experienced aficionados. We may no longer be boys, but we’ll always be fanboys… Four-Color Fanboys! Watch this space — the first podcast is coming later this week!