The Flash TV series proved that it was possible to do superpowers well on the small screen, so this week Andrew, Mick and Producer Rob are looking at other comic-book possibilities for television. We’ve got a whole range of possibilities that include Suicide Squad as Mission Impossible, B.P.R.D. in the style of The X-Files, an Expanse-like version of Rick Remender's Low, Tank Girl as a low-budget surreal comedy (in the style of The Mighty Boosh or The IT Crowd), a goofy buddy-comedy starring Boo...
Feb 11, 2019•1 hr 7 min
Fans of DC's Teen Titans franchise have generally been well served when it comes to TV adaptations of the adolescent hero team. From the much-loved anime-esque cartoon series from 2003, to Young Justice and the current Teen Titans Go! - there aren't many superheroes that have that kind of popularity. With the release of Netflix's new Titans series, will the darker take on these youthful do-gooders convince the die-hard fans, or will it be another Inhumans? But the history of the team is a lot la...
Feb 06, 2019•1 hr 7 min
The second season of The Punisher has finally landed on Netflix, and to celebrate our half-boiled comics and manga detectives from the 4-Panel agency decided to investigate some of the weirder things that have happened to Frank Castle over the decades. From his brief stint as an African-American in the early ‘90s and his resurrection as an “angel”, to his other “resurrection” as a monster and the bizarre manga replacement, it’s been a very odd ride for old Frank thus far … After that it’s time f...
Jan 28, 2019•1 hr 7 min
4-Panel returns for a new year, and after a refreshing break for the holidays our intrepid explorers of comics and manga return with an abundance of things that they’ve read. So what do Andrew, Mick and Rob have in store this week? Well, there’s Killtopia by Dave Cook & Craig Paton, Hellboy: The Wild Hunt, Ant-Man & The Wasp: Lost and Found, The Second Coming of Krent Able, Star Wars: Lando - Double Or Nothing, Hiro Mashima’s Playground, Badlands by Steven Grant & Vince Giarrano, and...
Jan 16, 2019•1 hr 5 min
Here we are, not only is this the last 4-Panel of 2018 - it is also the last podcast from the geek show of 2018. Before that though, we have a mini-episode to tide you over, and in this one Andrew, Mick, and Rob go over some of the other highlights from the comic book world that aren't comic books from the last 12 months. Mmm, saucy. See you all again in 2019. If you've enjoyed this podcast then please share us with your friends or leave us a rating on your podcast app of choice. You can also fo...
Dec 30, 2018•23 min
The 4-Panel gang are taking a break during Christmas and New Year's, but we've recorded some extra treats to tide you over till we return in January. On this first mini-episode the fantabulous (fantastic and fab were already taken), four of Andrew, Mick, Producer Rob and Editor Rob look back over the previous year to talk about the comics and manga that they've discovered. Some of the titles are surprising, others are less so as we've dropped some very obvious "hints" for months about how good s...
Dec 17, 2018•31 min
It's the last full-length edition of 4-Panel for 2018, and in the spirit of the season Andrew, Mick and Producer Rob take a look at some Christmas comics. What could possibly go wrong? We mean well. Honest, we really do. So what comics did Santa leave under the tree for us? Well, there's Marvel Two-in-One: Silent Night … Deadly Night! (starring The Thing and Ghost Rider), What The--?! X-Mas Special (Milk and Cookies, Santa Doom, Chaplain America), Evil Dead 2: A Merry Deadite Christmas, The Lobo...
Dec 11, 2018•1 hr 6 min
With the new year looming and the dust from the fourth Avengers movie (no pun intended there), finally settling and the loss of James Gunn at the helm of Guardians of the Galazy, Andrew, Mick and Producer Rob get together once again to discuss the possible futures for the MCU. So where does the Marvel Cinematic Universe go now, and which heroes can we expect to appear in movies and TV shows? Join us as we speculate the possibilities ... After that it's time for our usual round-up of the comics, ...
Dec 03, 2018•1 hr 2 min
The 4-Panel wagon rolls into town again and this time they're dragging along a whole heap of comics and manga, so join Comics Sage Andrew and Producer Rob as they talk about some of many interesting (and some less so), titles that they've somehow managed to stockpile. So what's in store this week? Well, there's the third volume Kyouta Shibano's spin-off series Fairy Tail: Lightning Gods, The New Mutants: Dead Souls, Incognegro: Renaissance by Matt Johnson & Warren Pleece, The Avengers: The F...
Nov 26, 2018•1 hr 4 min
We lost one of the kings of pop culture, a much beloved creative force, and one of the people who was responsible for making comic books what they are today. He made us believe in characters who were larger than life, but somehow still down to earth, and shone a light on prejudice (X-Men), diversity (Black Panther, Luke Cage, Jean Grey, Black Widow, She-Hulk), mental health (Hulk, Ant-Man), and physical disability (Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Iron Man), at a time when such issues were ignored or ...
Nov 19, 2018•1 hr 9 min
4-Panel returns for our regularly scheduled weekly chat about comics and manga, so join Andrew (the Comics Sage), Mick (Old Man Comics), and Producer Rob as they discuss the third season of Daredevil from Netflix, along with a side order about the future of the characters we've come to know and love in the street-level MCU show. Given that it's on TV though, should it be the Marvel Television Universe? The Marvel Netflix Universe? The Marvel Connected Universe? Let us know what you think in the ...
Nov 12, 2018•1 hr 4 min
Welcome to 4-Panel - the comics and manga podcast where Halloween just keeps on going. Hey, if Christmas advertisements can start on the 1st of November then we can have two Halloween Specials! Anyway, join Andrew (Comics Sage), Mick (Old Man Comics) and Rob (Erstwhile Producer), for a Halloween ComicFest (in other words, a Free Comic Book Day), episode that absolutely definitely didn't take some of us by surprise. So what's on this cavalcade of spooky and supernatural comics and manga? Well, we...
Nov 05, 2018•1 hr 3 min
It's Halloween, so we're using that as an excuse to talk about some spooky scary comics and manga. There are plenty of suggestions for the discerning horror and supernatural fan including little known Eric Powell's Hillbilly from Albatross Comics (which Producer Rob covered many moons ago), Mike Mignola's Hellboy and B.P.R.D., the works of Junji Ito (Comics Sage Andrew's go-to horror mangaka), Kazuo Umezu's Drifting Classroon, Katsuhiro Otomo's Domu: A Child's Dream, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Hellb...
Oct 29, 2018•1 hr 8 min
It's time for another episode of 4-Panel, so join Andrew (Comics Sage), Mick (Old Man Comics), and Producer Rob as they investigate the history of the latest villain to go up against Daredevil as the Netflix series enters its third season. So who is Bullseye? Suffice to say that he's a bad, bad man - as the gang quickly find out … After that it's time for our featured comics and manga which this week include World War Hulk II, the first volume of the Eternal Edition of Naoko Takeuchi's Pretty Gu...
Oct 22, 2018•1 hr 7 min
If you've been reading comics for long enough you'll have the first-hand experience of cross-over events, ranging from the good (The Infinity Gauntlet, Crisis on Infinite Earths), the strange (Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad), the bad (Civil War II), and the truly awful (Secret Empire). Join the Comics Sage (Andrew), Old Man Comics (Mick), and Producer Rob for an adventure with where worlds, and even realities, collide. After that serious discussion devolves into the usual chuckling at silly na...
Oct 16, 2018•1 hr 17 min
4-Panel - your friendly, neighbourhood comic-book and manga show - floats into town once more like a … erm … podcast, in the wind. This week the Comics Sage (Andrew), Old Man Comics (Mick), and Producer Rob venture into the confused history of Venom in its many, many guises - just in time for the release of the movie starring Tom Hardy. After that it's time for our featured comics and manga, which this week are The Suit by Dennis Calero, The Silent Invasion: Red Shadows by Larry Hancock and Mich...
Oct 08, 2018•1 hr 10 min
It's time for another episode of everyone's favourite comics and manga podcast, so join the Comics Sage (Andrew), Old Man Comics (Mick), and Producer Rob as they discuss the good, the bad, and the sometimes particularly ugly realm of "mature" comics - which does not mean porn! When should a comic or manga be labelled "mature"? What topics or themes would it include? Welcome to a "serious" house of "serious" comics on a "serious" podcast. After that it's back to business as usual with some comics...
Oct 01, 2018•1 hr 4 min
While Producer Rob trudges back from the realm of video games in the midlands that he voluntarily got trapped in, it's up to the Comics Sage (Andrew), and Old Man Comics (Mick), to run the show, so after a discussion about the trailer for Captain Marvel they explore the history of the character - from the original blond-haired, blue-eyed very-much male Kree warrior Mar-Vell to the current human female iteration (and apparently closet fascist if Civil War II is anything to go by), of Carol Danver...
Sep 25, 2018•56 min
After being inspired by the barnstorming success of the recently released Spider-Man on the PS4, Andrew and Producer Rob decided to have a chat about video games based on comics and superheroes, and why the reverse is becoming more prominent in recent years. Seriously, the new Spider-Man game is that good. That said, this is not a video games podcast - we'll leave it to Press X to deal with that particular pastime. This is a comics and manga podcast which means, as always, that we also discuss s...
Sep 18, 2018•1 hr 5 min
Club Med for Mutants Sometimes you can accumulate too many comics, manga and graphic novels, and when that happens then it's time for a good old-fashioned blowout, so join Andrew, Rob and Producer Rob for a special episode where there's a little less conversation and a little more action. So what's in store on this episode that's chock-full of graphic literature goodness? There's inhales Tales of Suspense Featuring Hawkeye and The Winter Soldier, Rogue & Gambit: Ring of Fire, Legion: Trauma,...
Sep 10, 2018•56 min
All-new (yet still somehow same-old), 4-Panel returns and this week Comic's Sage Andrew joins Producer Rob to continue their discussion from the previous episode, but this time the focus is on The Fantastic Four. What will the MCU version look like, when could Marvel's first family finally fight alongside the Avengers and The Guardians of the Galaxy, and who could possibly play the roles of Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben? Conjectures abound as our hosts postulate the possibilities before coming up wi...
Sep 03, 2018•55 min
Yes, you read that right. This really is the first episode of the second season of 4-Panel, which means we've completed what may be the longest first season in podcast history. Now that we're in a new series you can expect some teeny, tiny differences here and there … Kicking things off this week, Andrew and Producer Rob discuss what the X-Men might look like once they finally join the MCU while offering up a few ideas of their own - which leads to some some interesting possibilities. After it's...
Aug 27, 2018•1 hr 6 min
The Monkeys Have Unionised? The Prodigal Mick rejoins Andrew and Producer Rob for this week's episode of the comics and manga podcast that can only be spoken about in hushed whispers (preferably somewhere reasonably deserted and covered in heavy fog). So what's in store for these agents of graphic literature mayhem? Well, there's casting news for both the Batwoman movie, Daredevil's arch-nemesis Bullseye will make the jump to TV as well, the live-action adaptation of Ys: The Last Man will featur...
Aug 13, 2018•1 hr 7 min
Venom's Killer Joke Book It's our 150th episode and you'd expect us to have organised something grand to commemorate this landmark episode … Nope, you must be thinking of another podcast. This is 4-Panel, and long-time listeners will know that we never have a plan. What we do have is an Andrew and a Producer Rob who discuss the latest trailer for Venom and how the Disney purchase of Fox will affect properties like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. After that we move on to the main reason why you...
Aug 06, 2018•55 min
Hellboy's Lucha Libre Holiday The comics and manga merry-go-round returns for more shenanigans, and this week things have been happening! Kicking things off this week is the news that James Gunn has been fired from Disney Marvel as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 for tweets he made years ago that they already knew about and that he'd already apologised for - make of that what you will. In other news, Chelsea Cain returns to Marvel for a new Vision series, and also teams up with Kate N...
Jul 30, 2018•1 hr 9 min
Special Werewolf Chocolate It's time for your weekly trip into the confusing and argumentative wonderland of comics and manga, so join Andrew and Producer Rob as they drag the other Rob along for another 4-Panel outing. So what's been happening lately? Well, Duncan Jones is planning to dip into the pages of 2000 A.D. to make a Rogue Trooper movie, there's news about Spider-Man: Far From Home, This week, on our comics and manga podcast, we talk about Duncan Jones planning a Rogue Trooper Movie (2...
Jul 24, 2018•1 hr 3 min
The Creeper in my Sock drawer This week on our friendly neighbourhood comics and manga podcast, Andrew and Producer Rob are joined by the other Rob (yes, we know it's going to get rather confusing). It's a rather sombre opening this week as the gang remember the work of the legendary Steve Ditko, with time enough for a chat about the second season of Netflix's Luke Cage before it's time to dig into the big pile of comics and manga. So what did we fish out from that magical heap of words and pict...
Jul 16, 2018•1 hr 4 min
Captain Harlock’s Synth Pop Album After a week off it's time for the phoenix-like return of Andrew and Producer Rob as 4-Panel rides again! So, after a collective and half-hearted "Yeehaa" our the dastardly dashing dynamic duo dissect Kevin Feige's news dump during the Ant-Man press tour before they find out what the DC universe has in store for everyone going forward. We also have the worst news ever (again), but this time it's in relation to bloodsucking Eurotrash and man who doesn't glitter a...
Jul 09, 2018•1 hr 4 min
Beware of the Bizarro-Dorkin It's time for another bout of hot comics and manga action, but before Andrew and Producer Rob start wallowing in their piles of graphic literature there just enough time to have a chat about Iron Fist headlining Marvel’s presentation at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, Netflix saving Lucifer from cancellation (and thereby potentially proving that they are in fact satanists), DC's new streaming and online comics services, the fact that Superman IV’s Nuclear Man is now...
Jun 25, 2018•1 hr 4 min
Tango & Cash in SPAAAAACE! Your weekly guide to all things comics and manga is back for another folly-filled episode, so join Andrew and Producer Rob as they investigate Batman: White Knight - which will apparently feature the first nude Joker and Harley sex scene (urk. Sorry, we kind of threw up in our mouths a bit there), along with the birth of DC's "sexy" new Black Label line. After that somewhat harrowing start we find out that Marvel are bringing back The Unstoppable Wasp and Iceman (w...
Jun 18, 2018•56 min
