Chris picks up a random issue of X-Men to look at how many dialog cliches pop up, based on Chris Claremont's recurring tropes.
Chris picks up a random issue of Preacher to count the recurring elements you were likely to find in any story.
Chris takes a look at Rob Liefeld's artwork in an issue of New Mutants, listing the tropes you would be likely to see in any of his comic books. Each time he sees a trope, he eats a hot pepper.
Chris takes a look at the recurring dialog and plot elements you're likely to find in a comic book written by Brian Michael Bendis and drinks various hard ciders each time he identifies a trope.
Chris uses Marvel Unlimited to read a 1940s issue of Captain America. If he finds 4 or less recurring tropes, he will review the 1990 Captain America movie. If he sees 5 or more, he'll set off fireworks. Includes an unboxing of the Marvel Unlimited membership package for 2016.
Chris and special guest Halley sit down to read an issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Whoever guesses the most tropes gets to choose which Ninja Turtles movie they'll sit through while drinking Ninja Turtle themed wine.
Chris discusses Frank Miller's cliches and hits a comic book store to buy a random back issue by Miller. Then he reads it and as he comes across each trope, he takes a shot of moonshine.
Chris reviews an issue of Pluto by Naoki Urasawa. As he comes across a trope he eats an unlabeled food from the Asian grocery store.
Chris reads an old issue of Fantastic Four by Stan Lee to see how many tropes he comes across. For each trope, he runs a mile. Includes a visit from "Stan Lee".
Chris reviews one of the best issues of Suicide Squad from DC Comics' run that started in 1987 by writer John Ostrander. He counts up the tropes in the issue and then sends a bad issue back an equivalent distance and shoots it up!
This episode, I visit London and go to Forbidden Planet to get a back issue of England's popular Judge Dredd comic book by 2000 AD. I list the tropes you could expect to find in a Dredd comic, read part of the Block Mania storyline and count up the tropes. Then I drink a British beer for every trope he encounters.
This week I visited Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. So I cover Canadian writer/artist John Byrne and his work on Alpha Flight, a Canadian superhero team. Includes a visit to Comicshop and I eat a Canadian snack for each trope I come across!
This episode I read a Chick Tract; a religious comic book meant to preach a southern baptist form of Christianity but which are usually over the top and offensive. This one is "Lisa". After counting the tropes found within the comic, I go out and feed some homeless people without preaching to them.
Robert Kirkman announced that his creator-owned superhero book, Invincible, will be ending. So I decided to review a random issue and see how many of its own tropes we come across. Invincible himself joins me.
Chris tackles the long-running alternative comic book Love & Rockets. Specifically, the tropes of the stories by Jaime Hernandez. Includes a visit to Fantagraphics Books.
I found a Saved by the Bell comic book series! It's set in the current day. Written by Joelle Sellner and illustrated by Chynna Clugston Flores, it's pretty close to the 90s Saturday morning sitcom. But does it share the same tropes? I take a look at one story and count up the tropes. I'm joined by two friends to help me either review the Saved by the Bell Wedding in Vegas TV movie or play the Saved by the Bell board game, depending on how many tropes we hit.
The Flash is about to start its 3rd season on the CW so I decided I wanted to cover the tropes of The Flash. But which run? There's so many good ones. I take a flash quiz to figure out which issue to review.
With the fifth season of CW's Arrow about to premiere, I decided to review a Green Arrow comic for tropes. So I set up a target in the woods with various Green Arrow runs and shot arrows at it.
This episode I visit Los Angeles and hit Meltdown Comics to pick up a book by Osamu Tezuka. My friend (and comic book editor) Jason sits in with me and we drink wine while reviewing the famous story The Greatest Robot on Earth.
G.I. Joe was hugely popular when I was growing up in the 80s. And it's still a comic book today! One man wrote more and helped Hasbro create more characters than anyone else: Larry Hama. Let's take a look at some tropes of a G.I. Joe comic book and also let some action figures fight each other.
We've covered all sorts of tropes for comic book writers and artists. Today we take a look at the tropes you can find in a comic con. After listing several things you could expect to find in any given comic con, my friends and I treat it like a scavenger hunt and see who can find the most examples!
For October I visit Midtown Comics in New York City to get an omnibus of EC's Tales from the Crypt. Then I recap three of my favorite short stories and mix up some Halloween cocktails.
Since season 7's premiere recently adapted issue #100 of The Walking Dead, I take a look back at that issue and make note of how many tropes the book includes. Also includes a quick look at The Walking Dead experience at Universal Studios. Happy Halloween!
This week was both the 89th birthday of Doctor Strange creator Steve Ditko and the release of the big budget Marvel Studios movie. So I visit JHU Comics in New York to pick up the weirdest issue of Doctor Strange I can find. After reviewing it, I try (badly) to do some magic tricks.
Luke Cage is a cool badass. When he was introduced in the 70s, the attitude was there but the execution was a little unintentionally funny. I take a look at one of the weirdest early issues where Cage spends the entire time trying to shake down Dr. Doom for $200.
Before 2016 ends, I wanted to celebrate the fact that this is Star Trek's 50th anniversary. I decided to review one of the weirder issues of Star Trek comics from the brief 1980s Marvel run. Includes a quick visit to St. Mark's Comics in the East Village, NY. Every time I come across one of the tropes of the show, I take a shot of "Romulan ale."
In 1991 Marvel and the NFL decided to team up to create a new superhero. No one really cared about it though and the result was a flop. NFL Superpro is not a cool or interesting hero. Everything about his book is forced. But what is more forced: the pro football references or groan-worthy dialog and dumb plotting? Well, that's what I examine in issue #1. The results are bizarre.
With a new Star Wars movie coming out shortly I decided it was a good time to look back at the Marvel Star Wars comics of the early 80s. These comics were definitely fun but often felt like Star Wars in name only. I picked up a really crazy issue to review - Darth Vader and Princess Leia go to a banking planet to get a loan and then things get even weirder.
Originally, I was thinking of doing a video simply listing the ten worst comic book Christmas issues. But the one for Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose was SO supremely awful I decided to focus on just that. It's utterly bonkers on multiple levels.
Last week's episode focused on a really bad Christmas comic so this week I take a look at a good one. Well, a fun one. It's still pretty crazy. Marvel Two-in-One #8 features The Thing and Ghost Rider teaming up to protect a new Jesus Christ. That's right, a Jewish and Satanic superhero protecting the birth of Jesus... who is also Native American.
For the final episode of 2016, I took a look at the top-selling comics of the past year. The single best-selling issue was Civil War II #1. So we take a second look at the tropes of writer Brian Michael Bendis and also discuss the tropes of crossover event comics. In fact, there's so much to say, that we'll be back in a week to look at the overall Civil War II story and will discuss story structure.
I take a close look at Marvel Comics' latest event, Civil War II, with the help of my robot squatter, Infotron. I believe there are some issues with the overall idea and structure of the story that prevent it from working. But your mileage may vary.