Comic Book Time Machine

Yesterday saw the release of TWO comics that are related to the MCU . . . if not part of the MCU proper.  The Inifinty Watch #1 continues the event from last summer and spring, which featured the return of Coulson from the dead to take on the role of …

The Comic Book Time Machine takes on something a little different from its usual fair of fanciful fantasy and artful action adventure . . . this time exploring a thoughtful and touching slice of life, with a graphic novel about parenthood, trauma, and dealing with the previous generation while raising …

Coulson’s story continues in comics as he gets brought back to life and the newest Infinity Stone gives him some sort of death power . . . what does it mean? We find out a little bit more in the final six pages of the following annuals:Ms. Marvel Annual #1 …

All four of this episode’s comics came in bags, but not blind bags. Still, Ben had no idea what to expect from these three IDW Transformers comics and one original Dollar Tree comic based on their original action figure line Final Faction. What Ben found inside:* A Transformers comic that …

Philip Coulson died in the comics. Then he returned as an evil creation of Mephisto. And now he’s back again! This episode is being posted to both Comic Book Time Machine and Welcome to Level Seven since it deals with both the worlds of Agents of SHIELD and the comic …

Ben digs into his stash of blind bags for some blind bag comics fun, opening a bag he doesn’t remember buying that reveals: The question is: even if one of these comics is something he has read before in another blind bag episode, with the Annual’s extra length will this …

Seven months ago or so, Ben took a look at the first two issues of a Marvel franchise crossover and a DC franchise crossover. He pitted the two debut issues against each other then, but now he’s BACK to follow up on these series not that they have concluded. And …

For the first time in Comic Book Time Machine history, Ben reviews a comic from THE FUTURE! This basically means that thanks to Mad Cave, publishers of today’s comic book topic, Ben was able to read an advanced reader’s copy of GATCHAMAN #1 and GATCHAMAN – KEN: DEATHMATCH! So not …

Ben reads the smallest comics he has ever seen! And by “reads”, we mean “looks at and tries to read but they’re so small”! Join us for an unboxing of tiny figures with tiny comics!!!

In the days after the fall of the Galatic Empire, one man stands to seek justice for Emperor Palpatine.  Kir Kanos the last Imperial Royal Guard, seeks vengeance on all those who killed the Emperor as the last act of his sacred oath.  Daniel delves into this story and chronicles why he …

It’s a battle royale of battle royale comics! Predator vs Wolverine verses Justice League vs Kong vs Godzilla!!! Which comic book will win? Which has the better art? The better story? The better price? The better covers? And when it comes down to it, which ones will Ben continue reading???

Ben opens another blind bag, this one purchased from a store that purchased it from a Wal-Mart to resell it. Ben rescued it from a table filled with random items from Wal-Mart. The comic books inside are not anything that Ben would read on his own, but since he purchased …

No, your ears aren’t deceiving you! This episode is going out on THREE different feeds! We recording this episode for WELCOME TO LEVEL SEVEN (Ben’s podcast about the Marvel Cinematic Universe), and his co-host Stewart agreed to let him repurpose it over here, because SWAMP COMICS!!! Here we have the …

Recently, Ben was a guest on The Baron Earls Show, and he had the chance to chat with them about his comic book career, current projects, and other fun things. You can find The Baron Earls Show here:https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBARONEARLSShow You can find SuperSonic Pod Comics here:http://supersonicpodcomics.com

A mini-series Ben learned about almost accidentally became a pleasant surprise. It was self-contained, all the parts were well written, and it referenced the past and present in ways that were accessible and easy to understand. This is a “lost episode” in the sense that it was recorded and then …

In the 1960s, Doctor Who’s enemies enjoyed some popularity among the youth of England. Because of contractual ownership, Terry Nation, as the Daleks’ creator, was able to license the characters for a number of things, including the comic strips contained in this collection. And what a collection! In this episode, …

So while at an antique store with my wife, I came across a box of comics. Amidst the too-expensive for what they were back issues, was a packet of comics that had an original price tag of $14.95 and that included a graphic novel with a cover price of $13.95 …

An unexpected find at the comic book shop! Alone, on a shelf off to the side, was an unusually formatted book: large format, saddle stitched, on cheaper cardstock. It was a Star Trek graphic novel in a decidedly un-graphic novel format. Purchased on a whim, it turned out to be …

Drawn by two primary things – the alternate Marvel universe and Phil Coulson – Ben gave Heroes Reborn a chance. Ben hated the Coulson part, but the series itself was so good that he went all in and got all the tie-ins. This episode covers the main series – the …

NOTE: This episode was SUPPOSED to be episode 163 . . . but I screwed up! So we’re posting it NOW, as episode 169. Sorry!!! (~ Ben) Disney+ is six months old, so Matt interviewed our resident Disney expert, Daniel Butcher, to get his thoughts on how the new streaming …

Daniel and Matt list their Top 10 favorite characters from Marvel Comics!

Daniel and Matt list their Top 10 favorite characters from DC Comics!

The end of 2020 and beginning of 2021 featured two comic book events with Swamp Thing, and this week had a couple swamp related surprises in the comics world. As usual, Ben judges these swamp based comics using the following paradigm:CONTENT – is the story good?COVER – is the cover …

Ben takes a look at a blind bag comic set that Wal-Mart had earlier this summer, set to be released to coincide with the Wonder Woman sequel. Now that the movie is actually being released, Ben pulled out the “bag” and opened it to read the Wonder Woman tie-in and …

It’s the 70s! And it’s a serial killer! And it’s Santa Claus!?! It’s a Christmas miracle that I found this comic on Christmas Eve when I was waiting for my kids to fall asleep and it’s an audacious framing story that allows Cain and Abel to tell some middling horror …

It’s the Christmas season! Who’s up for a good murder mystery? Well, if you are up for a good murder mystery, you’re going to have to settle for this . . . Three stories. One hundred pages. And a LOT of groaning. It’s not ALL awful, but it’s close. Merry …

Wal-Mart and DC Comics are done with the 100-Page Giants, and have now moved to a blind bag style of comics. Each blind bag isn’t really BLIND because they are packaging the same four comics in each of the five different packages, and t’s not really new because they’ve been …

Back in 2013, Daniel and Matt recorded a long conversation discussing every single series released as part of the first wave of The New 52!

An overview and review of the new Allegiance Comics publisher’s output, with their four “pilot episode” comics: Bass Reeves, an historical fiction biography western; Red Rooster, a superhero period piece; Norah’s Saga, a young adult geared adventure series set in modern day Canada, but featuring vikings; and The Futurists, an …

After receiving a gift of a sealed set of comics from the 80s, Ben of course opens the set and immediately destroys the collectible value! But what does he find inside? Well, he wasn’t surprised by the issues (the packaging revealed that much), but he WAS surprised when he read …

The full team of the three comic book time travelers is together again to talk about a comic book series that none of them had read and none of them new what to expect! The never before collected GREEN TEAM: TEEN TRILLIONAIRES (and the ONLY uncollected series from the first …

The world is on lockdown! Millions are stuck inside their homes! Yet quarantine has led to Daniel and Matt reuniting to discuss comic books from yesterday, today, and tomorrow!

The world is on lockdown! Millions are stuck inside their homes! Yet quarantine has led Ben to read some comics that he may not have read, because it led him to make some purchase he may not have made. The comic shops Ben talked about are:BuyMeToys.com and Tom’s Vintage Toy …

It’s the 70s! And it’s a serial killer! And it’s Jack the Ripper! And it’s based on a story by the writer of PSYCHO and that Jack the Ripper episode of Star Trek! It’s time to Journey into the Mysterious House of Terror’s Vault of Astonishing Suspense!!!

One of Ben’s favorite comics of all time is Hercules: Prince of Power #1, for a number of reasons. And for a number of reasons he has not devoted an episode about it. But when he was asked to come up with his favorite comic for a YouTube show he’s …

Ben opens a Wal-Mart exclusive blind bag and gets a number of surprises, including a series that he wants to read, some #1 issues that actually AREN’T, and a lot more unwrapping than he expected.

Ben goes to his neighborhood comic/collectibles shop and gets some free comics and buys some comics. This episode, he talks about his “haul”. And while he didn’t plan to record a review of what he got, he did get around to reading some of the comics . . . and …

In this episode, we present to you a Christmas time comic conversation that Daniel and Matt had during an afternoon of fun they shared together.

Matt is reading through the historic maxi-series, Crisis on Infinite Earths, for the first time.  The original Crisis was released during 1985 and 1986, and was ultimately used to reboot the DC Universe.   This is the finale of Matt’s coverage of this event, as he tackles the last 3 …

In every episode of The What If Challenge, Matt will review three comics from the “What If…?” series, and then rates and ranks those issues.  Which “What If…?” will be the best?!?  Find out here!  Excelsior!

Ben takes a look at Infinity Wars Prime, Infinity Wars 1-3, Infinity Wars: Soldier Supreme, and Infinity Wars: Iron Hammer. Ben bought the comics on a whim, and not knowing what to expect he was surprised at the twists and turns the story had.

Matt is joined by special guest host, Evan David, to discuss all sorts of comic books in this free-flowing conversation.

Matt is joined by Evan David as they review the classic Superman Elseworlds story, “Red Son.”

Ben takes a look at the exclusive 100 page anthology books that DC Comics has made to be exclusively carried by Wal-Mart. These books are: Featuring: Wonder Woman in “The Conversion” (original story) Justice League (2011) #1 The Flash (2011) #1 Aquaman (2011) #1 Featuring: Batman in “One More Chance” …

Ben reads a BUNCH of #1 issues from the last month or so…and ONE from a LONG time ago. In this episode: Captain America #1 Amazing Spider-Man #1 (and the Free Comic Book Day issue) Superman #1 (and Man of Steel issues 1-6) Superman Giant #1 Batman Giant #1 Justice …

This is not a review of Action Comics #1000, but Daniel and Matt do celebrate the release of this milestone book by meeting two “Superman” writers, Dan Jurgens and Patrick Gleason.

Ben finds a gem of a comic from his childhood at a comic shop near the camp where he’s working and that comic book becomes in itself a comic book time machine. This anthology contains stories featuring Superman, Green Lantern, the Marvel Family, and soldiers and dinosaurs! It also contained …

With the Cloak and Dagger TV show around the corner, Ben takes a look back at Cloak and Dagger’s early appearances, from their first appearances in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man to their own four issue mini-series to their team-up with Spider-Man in a Marvel Team-Up Annual to a one …

Ben travels back in time by cracking open another “rainy day” comic book grab bag from Target! This one features: Ultimate Fantastic Four #43 Starman #43 Legionnaries #13 The Mighty Thor #248