“Meanwhile, Back in Helium” (John Carter: Warlord of Mars #18, November 1978) – MCC097
Tars Tarkas battles alone against a contender for his leadership!...
Dec 21, 2016•21 min
Marvel's Cosmic Comics: Star Wars, John Carter, ROM, Micronauts, and Beyond!
Using Star Wars as a guideline, we’re exploring comic books based on licensed properties that Marvel Comics published from 1977 to 1986.
Episodes
“The War in the Washington Monument” (The Human Fly #15, November 1978) – MCC096
The Human Fly grapples with two Vietnam vets who have turned to terrorism to get the word out about the shoddy care wounded veterans are receiving....
Dec 16, 2016•31 min
“The Great Godzilla Roundup” (Godzilla #16, November 1978) – MCC095
In part two of what could be called the "Godzilla Goes West" story arc, Godzilla proves himself to be one tough dude....
Nov 13, 2016•29 min
“Crucible” (Star Wars #17, November 1978) – MCC094
This month's Star Wars is a fill in issue, meant to fill in the gap for scheduling purposes as the regular team worked on the series, but also meant to fill in the gap on some of Luke Skywalker's past!...
Nov 06, 2016•28 min
Machine Trees and Machine Men! (Ben’s Bullpen Bulletin, October 1978) – MCC093
Ben takes a peek at the ads and editorial material in the Marvel comics cover dated October, 1978 and also takes a look at two comics related to Jack Kirby's 2001: A Space Odyssey: Machine Man #7 and Devil Dinosaur #7....
Nov 04, 2016•21 min
“What Price Victory?” (John Carter: Warlord of Mars #17, October 1978) – MCC092
The "Claremont era" of John Carter: Warlord of Mars continues with part 2 The Assassins of Mars! How does it stack up to Wolfman's first half?...
Oct 17, 2016•32 min
“Live from New York, It’s Saturday Night!” (Marvel Team-Up, October 1978) – MCC091
NEW EPISODE! It's Spider-Man in one of his most outlandish team-ups: the cast of Saturday Night Live? It all makes sense, in a comic book sort of way...although the question remains: how in the world did this happen? Guest starring: Stan Lee!...
Oct 10, 2016•34 min
“Roam on the Range” (Godzilla #15, October 1978) – MCC090
NEW EPISODE! Go west, young kaiju! It's cowboys vs. kaiju and one side is WAY outmatched. (Spoiler: it's not the kaiju!)...
Oct 06, 2016•25 min
“Death Rides the Big Balloons” (Human Fly #14, October 1978) – MCC089
NEW EPISODE! Balloons! Tight ropes! Mute orphans! This one has it all... All except suspense, logical plots, and character decisions that make sense....
Oct 02, 2016•30 min
“The Hunter” (Star Wars #16, October 1978) – MCC088
NEW EPISODE! A delightful "birthday" surprise for Ben, as new characters are introduced and old characters are revisited and MOVIE characters are almost forgotten! Almost. Bounty hunters and droid hatred abound in "The Hunter"!...
Sep 24, 2016•30 min
Ants and Aliens! (Ben’s Bullpen Bulletin, September 1978) – MCC087
Ben wraps up his coverage of September 1978's cover dated comics by taking a look at Machine Man and Devil Dinosaur #6 and the ads and copy found in this month's comics....
Sep 17, 2016•35 min
“The Master Assassin of Mars” (John Carter: Warlord of Mars #16, September 1978) – MCC086
The beginning of a new era: Chris Claremont is the new writer; Ernie Colon is the new artist; and a master assassin is the new antagonist! But who is the assassin?...
Aug 25, 2016•16 min
“The Super Beasts” (Godzilla #13 September 1978) – MCC085
It's Godzilla vs. three giant sized kaiju from another world...and the fate of the earth hangs in the balance. Fortunately, the Big G isn't alone...Dum dum Dugan and Gabe Jones are there! But are they enough?...
Aug 21, 2016•21 min
“Slope of Death!” (The Human Fly #13, September 1978) – MCC084
There's a stunt! Something goes wrong! Human Fly has to rescue people! So bad it's good? So bad it's bad? Or so mediocre it's mediocre? There's a LOT of comics in the world...and this is one of them....
Aug 18, 2016•22 min
“Star Duel!” (Star Wars #15, September 1978) – MCC083
It's a duel of the scoundrels as Han Solo faces off with the pirate Crimson Jack to wrap up the remaining plot threads from issue #7!...
Aug 14, 2016•22 min
Home! (Ben’s Bullpen Bulletin, August 1978) – MCC082
Taking a look at Machine Man #5 and Devil Dinosaur #5, Ben also looks at the ads and editorial copy of Marvel's August 1978 cover dated books!...
Jul 05, 2016•21 min
“Mad Dogs and Dinosaurs” (Man from Atlantis #4) – MCC081
Using Star Wars as a guideline, we’re exploring comic books based on licensed properties that Marvel Comics published from 1977 to 1986. It’s the final issue of Man from Atlantis! Ben wraps up his coverage of the comic and the TV show with an issue of the comic that goes from …...
Jun 22, 2016•38 min
The History Holocaust! (John Carter: Warlord of Mars #15 August 1978) – MCC080
This issue: it's John Carter: Warlord of Earth? It's the power of SCIENCE vs the power of love as John Carter finds himself home...sort of....
May 19, 2016•22 min
“Triax” (Godzilla #13 August 1978) – MCC079
As two alien races war using giant monsters, earth and Godzilla are pulled into the conflict!...
May 15, 2016•31 min
“Arnie’s Story” (The Human Fly #12, August 1978) – MCC078
Flashback...to that time when Human Fly's PR guy was a down on his luck out of work reporter and got his current job by jumping out of a plane to save Human Fly's life!...
May 05, 2016•25 min
“The Sound of Armageddon” (Star Wars #14, August 1978) – MCC077
The water planet story arc ends here as Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie and the droids help when a war breaks out between the inhabitants of the planet!...
May 02, 2016•21 min
Alien Invasions! (Ben’s Bullpen Bulletin, July 1978) – MCC076
Taking a look at Machine Man #4 and Devil Dinosaur #4, both featuring invading aliens and big battles! Also, looking at the ads and editorial copy of Marvel's July 1978 cover dated books!...
Apr 15, 2016•22 min
Tonight is the Night Helium Dies! (John Carter Warlord of Mars #14, July 1978) – MCC075
The walking dead are marching on Helium and the plot marches off the rails! Lots of cool stuff happens, strung together by a story that struggles to make sense of its plot. But is it still awesome?...
Apr 11, 2016•20 min
Latitude: Ninety! (Man from Atlantis #6, July 1978) – MCC074
It's a lost world, complete with dinosaurs and ancient civilizations and treasure! Mark Harris faces danger and discovery unlike anything he;s ever seen...because most of what he has seen was done on a TV budget....
Apr 07, 2016•24 min
Sudden Death! (Human Fly #11, July 1978) – MCC073
What happened on the day Human Fly tried to jump twenty-six buses in 1977? What happened after he failed? Find out here, as the comic book and real life meet in tragedy...and triumph?...
Apr 03, 2016•37 min
The Beta-Beast! (Godzilla #12, July 1978) – MCC072
The Big-G vs. the Beta Beast, with two worlds hanging in the balance! With aliens, monsters, and kaiju battles, is this the most movie like of the Godzilla comics?...
Mar 31, 2016•34 min
Day of the Dragon Lords! (Star Wars #13, July 1978) – MCC071
It's space opera fantasy adventure fun as the back story of the water world society is revealed and war is engaged! The old new adventures of the Star Wars universe continue!...
Mar 27, 2016•24 min
Triceratops Head! (Ben’s Bullpen Bulletin, June 1978) – MCC070
Using Star Wars as a guideline, we’re exploring comic books based on licensed properties that Marvel Comics published from 1977 to 1986. June 1978 brought aliens from the other side of the universe and a giant with a triceratops skull for a helmet — from the head and hand of Jack …...
Mar 20, 2016•24 min
March of the Dead! (John Carter #13, June 1978) – MCC069
Marv Wolfman continues his fantastic run on the pulp-tastic sci-fantasy all new adventures of John Carter!...
Mar 14, 2016•29 min
Close Encounters of the Third Kind! (Marvel Super Special #3, June 1978) – MCC068
It's the comic book adaptation of Stephen Spielberg's sci-fi classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind! How does it hold up compared to other adaptations? How does it hold up compared to the movie? And what compliment does Ben pay to it? The answers to these questions and more will be revealed!...
Feb 25, 2016•30 min