Giant Size

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Marvel Knights, we welcome Joe Quesada to tell the origin story of the imprint and contextualize it within Marvel history. One lucky break he got early in his career came full circle with the launch of Marvel Knights. That single opportunity he was given has continued to inform his creative career (and life) ever since. Without Marvel Knights, we would not have the version of Black Panther that just hit screens, and were it not for writer Christopher Priest (aka Jim Owsley), we would not have had Marvel Knights in the first place, either. "The chance that there's an open assignment? Not good, but I'll see." Interviews with Joe Quesada were recorded live onstage at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto in the fall of 2016.

John interviews Dean Haspiel pre-Election 2016 about what it is that he's afraid of and the infinite emptiness of the internet, while Moisés talks with Alex de Campi about the glorious darkness of certain fairy tales and the importance of being on a Science Ninja Team.Sponsored by Fracture: photos printed beautifully on glass to make those once-in-a-lifetime memories last you a lifetime. Made in the USA (with international shipping available). Visit fractureme.com/podcast and tell them we sent you to save 10% on your first order. Guests (in order of appearance) Dean Haspiel: website/Twitter Alex de Campi: website/Twitter Show Notes You can now read the entirety of The Red Hook on LINE. How do you like that for finite content on the internet? If you haven't already added Mayday to your pull list at your local store or aren't buying it digitally from ImageComics.com, then we'll send opposing teams of assassins for you. The Doug Stanhope memoir Dean is reading is Digging Up Mother John is performing sketch comedy with The New Movement

As a coda to our creator spotlight on Dan Slott, we look at the just-released Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy #1. There's a spoiler warning at the point where we start spoiling, so don't worry. In the outro, we tease some upcoming guests and episodes. Sponsored Exclusively by Fracture: photos printed beautifully on glass to make those once-in-a-lifetime memories last you a lifetime. Made in the USA (with international shipping available). Visit fractureme.com/podcast and tell them we sent you to save 10% on your first order. Show Notes The Clone Conspiracy #1 "Dead No More - Part One: The Land of the Living" written by Dan Slott pencils by Jim Cheung inking by John Dell color art by Justin Ponsor lettering by Joe Caramagna edited by Nick Lowe, Allison Stock, and Devin Lewis The Clone Conspiracy #1 "The Night I Died" written by Dan Slott pencils by Ron Frenz inking by John Dell color art by Edgar Delgado lettering by Joe Caramagna edited by Nick Lowe, Allison Stock, and Devin Lewis

Dan Slott injects danger and fear for our hero's life wherever he can, and that's why we love his work on Spider-Man. Those choices extends to how he has brought unexpected, sometimes-hated (and then loved), but always interesting changes to the status quo of various characters. We also hear from the man himself about not only his sensational and spectacular run on Amazing Spider-Man, but also his work on She-Hulk, The Thing, Silver Surfer, Ren & Stimpy, and Arkham Asylum: Living Hell. Sponsored Exclusively by Fracture: photos printed beautifully on glass to make those once-in-a-lifetime memories last you a lifetime. Made in the USA (with international shipping available). Visit fractureme.com/podcast and tell them we sent you to save 10% on your first order. Dan Slott Reading List A full listing of Dan Slott's comics bibliography can be found at ComicBookDB. She-Hulk: Complete Collection Volume 1 & Volume 2 The Thing: Idol of Millions Silver Surfer: issue #11 is the "moebius strip" issue discussed, and as of October 2016, Volumes One, Two, Three, and Four are out in trade paperback Arkham Asylum: Living Hell Spider-Man: Big Time (Volume One, Two, and Three), Superior Spider-Man (start with Volume One, 31 issues total), Spider-Verse (Omnibus)

Special Cameo Appearance by Stan "The Man" Lee! We waited until the second issue of Captain America: Steve Rogers came out to talk about the whole "Hail HYDRA" thing. How many people read comics versus read headlines about them? What is and isn't "a gimmick"? Are we on-board?

This is either a "Triple-Sized" One-Shot or a Regular-Sized regular episode (or both!) covering DC Universe Rebirth #1. There was confusion we were aware of before starting, and all-new, all-different confusion we discover while recording. We stay spoiler-free until the 37-minute mark. Sponsored by Mack Weldon: use GIANT at checkout to save 20% on modern, superhero-grade underwear and men's basics. Keep them coming back as sponsors and Moisés will do something embarrassing in public wearing their trunks.

Neither of us liked Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. We hadn't spoken to each other about it until we recorded this all-spoiler-filled discussion. Weeks later, neither of us can really tell you what the movie was about or trying to say other than "these characters all suck and need fixing." Well...now they sure as hell do. Brought to you by Mack Weldon: use GIANT at checkout to save 20% on modern, superhero-grade underwear and men's basics. Keep them coming back as sponsors and Moisés will do something embarrassing in public wearing their trunks.

Southern Cross co-creator Andy Belánger has done Big Two, licensed, and is now a loud-and-proud "creator-owned or GTFO" advocate who is all-in with Image Comics. We discuss his work, fandom, and wrestling. This live episode was recorded at Dallas Fan Days in February 2016. Special Guest Andy Belánger (Comic Book DB bibliography, twitter) Get the first volume of Southern Cross for $9.99, co-created by Andy and Becky Cloonan with coloring by Lee Loughridge Show Notes Mike Mignola: Wikipedia, website the Kickstarter for Kwanzaa Osajyefo's Black Andy's Reading Recommendation List Black Hole by Charles Burns Pretty Deadly Vol.1 and Vol.2 by friends-of-the-show Emma Rios and Kelly Sue DeConnick (the latter featured recently on this episode) The Complete Multiple Warheads by Brandon Graham Prophet Vol.3 by Brandon Graham Thor Vol.1: God of Thunder by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic The Enemy Ace Archives, Vol.1 by Joe Kubert and Robert Kanigher Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli The Long Tomorrow by Moebius Follow and Support Giant Size on Twitter on Facebook on Tumblr (we swear we'll start posting soon) Rate and Review us in iTunes and otherwise spread the word and you could win our Mystery Box of the Month, full of real, printed-on-paper comics! Mention our handle (@GiantSizeShow) on Twitter over the next week or so and you could win a double-autographed copy of Southern Cross Volume 1.

Storyteller artist Paul Ryan was more than just a "pencil guy". A consummate draftsman who came to comics work in his mid-30's, Ryan embodied a work ethic seldom seen then or now. The news of his sudden passing this past weekend took everyone by surprise this morning.The majority of this episode is comprised of a "Modern Marvel Masters" panel we hosted at Dallas Fan Days in October 2015. The panel includes Ryan, his friend and colleague Howard Mackie, and Val Mayerik. Rather than edit the panel down to only Paul Ryan's anecdotes, it's presented here uncut, uninterrupted, and followed by a few minutes of further appreciation by your hosts. We'd originally planned to run portions of this as two separate episodes, but considering the circumstances of the day, we hope you agree that this is the best tribute we could offer.Photo credit: Dallas Comic Con Fan Days 2015From left: Moisés, Howard Mackie, Paul Ryan, Val Mayerik, the side of John's headSpecial Guests Paul Ryan (Comic Book DB bibliography) Howard Mackie (Comic Book DB bibliography, Facebook) Val Mayerik (Comic Book DB bibliography, website, Facebook) Show Notes and Reading List Danny Fingeroth travels to various conventions each year when not the target of pranks, and we can vouch for his being a great panel moderator and con storyteller otherwise. Mark Gruenwald will be the focus of a future Creator Spotlight episode. We talked extensively about him in our truly Giant Size episode about Captain America, "Not Just a Boy Scout". With what we can assume are rare exceptions (if any), all of Paul Ryan's work for Marvel should be available on Marvel Unlimited. Paul's five-year run on Fantastic Four went from #356-#414 (September 1991-July 1996), and a great collection from within that run is called "Strange Days" and has stayed in print for some time. Iron Man #271-273 with John Byrne should be the three-issue run Ryan describes as a series of Fin Fang Foom fights. Ryan is the only artist who simulataneously drew both Avengers and West Coast Avengers. Imagine an artist drawing two ongoing, monthly, 30+page comics these days. The New Universe line's D.P.7, which Ryan co-created with Mark Gruenwald and drew every issue of, was one of the standout sales successes of the New Universe line. It is not generally reprinted, but its original issues are not hard to find in back issue sections of local comic shops. Paul Ryan's work on The Flash, with writing by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, is sadly not given equal billing to his now-superstar writer coworkers in the solicitation text for the April 2016 reprinted hardcover collection. Follow and Support Giant Size on Twitter on Facebook on Tumblr (we swear we'll start posting soon) Rate and Review us in iTunes and otherwise spread the word and you could win our Mystery Box of the Month, full of real, printed-on-paper comics!

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #125 is one of the best values you can find for a comic from the 1960’s. Spurred by a Nostradamus prophecy discovered under the sea (you read that correctly), Jimmy Olsen collects the tears of four people, including Superman in the hopes of obtaining superpowers. Brought to you by Comic Bento: The original graphic novel subscription box service. Get $5 off your first month by using GIANTSIZE at checkout. Show Notes and Links We are only covering the A story, “Superman’s Saddest Day!”. The backup story is a strict moralist thing that isn’t very entertaining. Creator credits on DC Wikia. Amazon listing eBay listing

Kelly Sue DeConnick has a massive, loyal, and deeply passionate following for a very good reason: she makes comics that mean something to people. In this Creator Spotlight episode, we discuss her body of work, and the distinct humanity of her voice as a writer. This episode features excerpts from a previously recorded interview with DeConnick. Kelly Sue portrait art by the amazing Christian Ward. Brought to you by Comic Bento: The original graphic novel subscription box service. Get $5 off your first month by using GIANTSIZE at checkout. Reading List Kelly Sue DeConnick's complete comics bibliography can be found at ComicBook DB (chronological version here). Below, we're listing work (hers and relevant work of others) Osborn: Evil Incarcerated by DeConnick, Ellis, and Ríos Planetary by Ellis & Cassaday, is Kelly Sue's go-to "I love this" reading recommendation. Supergirl (2005) #65, 66, 67 by DeConnick & ChrisCross & Deering Captain Marvel: The Enemy Within by DeConnick, Buffagni, Hepburn, and Andrade The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight by Martha Ackmann Ghost Vol.1: In the Smoke and Din by DeConnick & Noto Captain Marvel (2013) Vol.1: In Pursuit of Flight by DeConnick, Soy, Ríos Captain Marvel (2013) Vol.2: Down by DeConnick, Sebela, Soy, Andrade Captain Marvel (2014) Vol.1: Higher, Further, Faster, More by DeConnick & Lopez Captain Marvel (2014) Vol.2: Stay Fly by DeConnick, Lopez, Takara Captain Marvel (2014) Vol.3: Alis Volat Propriis The best way to support Pretty Deadly (or any creator-owned book) is by buying it in single issues, ideally at a Local Comic Shop. The week this episode is released, you can pick up the new-this-week issue #8 of Pretty Deadly as well as the #1 issue of Mirror, co-created by Kelly Sue's PD collaborator Emma Ríos and Hwei Lim. Pretty Deadly Vol.1: The Shrike by DeConnick, Ríos, Bellaire, Cowles Pretty Deadly Vol.2: The Bear by DeConnick, Ríos, Bellaire, Cowles The films of Alejandro Jodorowsky are worth getting weird with, especially El Topo (1970). Bitch Planet Vol.1: Extraordinary Machine by DeConnick, De Landro, Wilson IV, Peter, and Cowles Kelly Sue is working on another creator-owned project called Parisian White with the great Bill Sienkiewicz that we can't wait to learn more about.

Captain America gets a lot of Avengers Middle Management Work done! The Red Skull has (consensual) sex with a lady in a hot tub (how does she kiss him?)! Thor (Eric Masterson) is put on probation! Red Skull’s ancestral family house…drips dough! Show Notes and Links Captain America (1968) #395 Mark Gruenwald Doughboy Have you rated and reviewed the show in iTunes? Recommended episodes in Overcast? Sent us a feedback email? Promoted the show on social media or supported our sponsors? You could be the Giant Size Fan of the Show of the Month and win a box full of various comics including Captain America #395! Their first ad doesn't run until next week, but you can get $5 off of your first month of Comic Bento using the offer code GIANTSIZE at checkout. This is a great way to bribe your way to Fan of the Show of the Month, for what it's worth. ON THE NEXT FULL-SIZE GIANT SIZE... ...another Creator Spotlight episode! This time around, we are covering the work of Kelly Sue DeConnick, featuring intercut excerpts from an interview with the multi-faceted, multi-fascinating, and hyper-collaborative writer behind Pretty Deadly, Bitch Planet, the upcoming Parisian White, and oh yeah the big revamp of Captain Marvel, among many other great reads.

What is the aftermath of two of the biggest of Big Two Mega-Event Crossovers in comics history? Are our buying habits…FOREVER CHANGED??? (Yes.) How or can we justify $5 cover prices? Find out in a truly 80-ish-“page” (minute) Giant episode of the show! Crossovers Epic Event: Second Epilogue (No, For Real This Time) Special Guest Jim Shooter, former Marvel EIC and writer of Secret Wars (1984) and Secret Wars II Brought to you by Sanebox: Take control of your inbox by ignoring things you don’t need to see until later. Moisés saved literal hours this week. Crossover Crisis Infinity Canonical Series Episode Checklist Now that Convergence and Secret Wars (2015+2016) are over, this episode serves as the true finale to Crossover Crisis Infinity, our 2015 multi-part series on All Big Two Crossovers Ever…which, like Secret Wars, ends the following calendar year and ends up longer in terms of installments than was ever advertised. Prelude - All-New Secret Age of Infinity Crossover War CrisisPoint Convergence 1 - #24: Your World is Going to be Destroyed! (DC pt1) 2 - #25: End of the Universe (DC pt2) 2.5 - #25.5: A Game for Children (Non-Canonical Trivia Game tie-in) 3 - #26: Heroes Punching Each Other (Marvel pt1) 4 - #27: The Experience Has Been Consummated! (Marvel pt2) 5 - #28: Chain Mail and a Bomber Jacket (Marvel pt3) 6 - #29: Doctor Strange Explains It All (Marvel pt4) tie-in A - The Incomparable #140: The Sublime Magicks of Exposition tie-in A deleted scenes - The Incomparable #140b: No More Merlins 7 - #30: Beyond Continuity Porn (Marvel pt5) 8 - #31: This Hero Must Die! (Marvel pt6) Marvel NOW! tie-in A - ORIGINS #9: Illusion of Beginning/Middle/End Marvel NOW! tie-in B - ORIGINS #10: Heavy Metal Album Cover Epilogue - #32: Every Flavor is Chocolate Prelude to Final Aftermath - One-Shot #2:Issue 10 Out of 8 RetConned Final, True Epilogue - #42: No Children Were Murdered Reading List Grab the current Image Humble Bundle (ends 26 january 2016), it’s a ridiculous deal. 40+ issues (each!) of Invincible and Stray Bullets and much, much more! Oni Press KaijuMax “New Vertigo” Art Ops Red Thorn Lucifer DC Prez Cyborg Martian Manhunter “Valiant” X-O Manowar Harbinger Ninjak (yes, seriously. It is great) Unity Faith (#1 out this month) Death-Defying Dr. Mirage Marvel The Mighty Thor Ms. Marvel Captain Marvel Ultimates Howard the Duck Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Silver Surfer Dr. Strange Scarlet Witch The VISION Titan Surface Tension Image Monstress Citizen Jack Black Magick Plutona Paper Girls We Stand on Guard The Private Eye God Hates Astronauts (going back to no-publisher independent) Boom!-Archaia Toil and Trouble Dark Horse The Steam Man NEXT, IN A GIANT SIZE ONE-SHOT We finally tackle Captain America Vol.1 #395, better known to longtime listeners as Captain America and Bearded Not-Original Thor vs. ”The House that Dripped…DOUGH???”, the Mark Gruenwald-written issue from 1994 wherein The Red Skull has sex with Viper in a hot tub (no, really!)! JIM SHOOTER WILL RETURN

Secret Wars (2015) is complete as of this, the second week of 2016. Since we did a mega-event-scale series on crossovers last year that was kicked off by the announcement of Secret Wars, we dig into our spoiler-filled thoughts on the final issue, as well as the event as a whole. Show Notes Header image from Secret Wars Too (2015) #1 Jonathan Hickman’s run on Fantastic Four (1963) runs from issue #570-611. It then continues in FF (2011) from issue #1-23. Then comes his simultaneous Avengers and New Avengers run, for which the reading order (through Secret Wars) seems to be the following: Avengers #1-3 New Avengers #1-3 Avengers - #4 New Avengers #4 Avengers #5 New Avengers #5-6 Avengers #6-13 New Avengers #7 Avengers #14-17 New Avengers #8 Infinity #1 Avengers #18 New Avengers #9 Infinity #2 Avengers #19 New Avengers #10 Infinity #3 Avengers #20 Infinity #4 Avengers #21 New Avengers #11 Infinity #5 Avengers #22-23 Infinity #6 New Avengers #12 Avengers #24 New Avengers #13-15 Avengers #25-28 New Avengers #16-17 Avengers #29-34 New Avengers #18-23 Avengers #35 New Avengers #24 Avengers #36 New Avengers #25 Avengers #37 New Avengers #26 Avengers #38 New Avengers #27 Avengers #39 New Avengers #28 Avengers #40 New Avengers #29 Avengers #41 New Avengers #30 Avengers #42 New Avengers #31-32 Avengers #43 New Avengers #33 Avengers #44 Secret Wars #0-9 NEXT, ON A FULL-SIZE GIANT SIZE The true, delayed-like-a-crossover conclusion to our multi-part crossover series explores the aftermath of the Big Two’s 2015 Mega-Events on our buying and reading habits. Are our pull lists…forever changed? Will anything be the same again? The answers may surprise you!

A primer on Star Wars comics from 1977 forward, covering everything in general from early movie adaptations to the lengthy Dark Horse work in the Expanded Universe to the "New Marvel Era" and speculation on what is (and we hope) to come.Show Notes Jek Porkins Snap Wexley Jaxxon Bucky O’Hare did, in fact, appear all of a sudden in the wake of Jaxxon in the Star Wars comics Luuke Skywalker happened in the first installment of Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy books …and so did Luuuke Skywalker Mara Jade first appeared in Heir to the Empire, and was such a good and enduring character that people often forget about Luuke and Luuuke. Trioculus made his first appearance in The Glove of Darth Vader The Wookiee Storybook by Eleanor Ehrhardt is the “Chewbacca family” book John mentioned Star Wars: 1313 was in development at LucasArts just before they were acquired by Disney and it was cancelled. Watch the limited in-game footage released and weep if you like good things. Reading List: The “Legends” Era All of these are available on Marvel Unlimited, along with all the rest of the nearly 40 years of pre-Disney Star Wars comics. Dark Empire I (1991) written by Tim Veitch, drawn by Cam Kennedy Dark Empire II (1994) also Veitch & Kennedy Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (1995) written by Terry Austin and drawn by Chris Sprouse, adaptation of the first “EU” book ever, written by Alan Dean Foster Rogue Squadron (1995) arc “The Phantom Affair” (issues #5-8) written by Michael A. Stackpole & Darko Macan, drawn by Edvin Biukovic the Shadows of the Empire (1996)) comic leaves out chunks of story covered in the novel, but is some of the most attentively produced EU projects, much like all other parts of the incredibly well-coordinated Shadows of the Empire multimedia campaign The Star Wars (2013), written by JW Rinzler and drawn by Mike Mayhew, with covers by Nick Runge, and based on George Lucas’ original treatment Star Wars Infinities, alternate histories of the Original Trilogy various Boba Fett miniseries), many drawn by Cam Kennedy Star Wars: Legacy (2013) written by Corinna Bechko & Gabriel Hardman, (get hooked on their Invisible Republic from Image, it's great), drawn by Hardman, color by Rachelle Rosenberg Believe it or not, Dark Horse reprinted Star Wars 3-D (1987) written by Len Wein, penciled by Glen Johnson, and inked by Jim Nelson as part of 2013’s Omnibus: Wild Space, Volume 1, which included other obscure and off-the-beaten-path Star Wars comics. Many of the comics in it and Volume 2 are on Unlimited, but as far as we know, 3-D is not. Reading List: The “New Marvel” Era All of the following comics (and those to come) are considered fully in-canon content. Everything before them “doesn’t count” (and according to LucasFilm never did or would) as relates to the new movies and media. Star Wars (2015) written by Jason Aaron, drawn by John Cassaday and Stuart Immonen and others (so far), is the “core” book Star Wars: Darth Vader (2015) written by Kieron Gillen, drawn by Slavador Larocca and Leinil Yu (so far) Star Wars: Princess Leia (2015) written by Mark Waid, pencils by Terry Dodson, inks by Rachel Dodson Star Wars: Lando (2015), aka (to Moisés) Lando ’n’ Lobot’s Bogus Journey, written by Charles Soule and drawn by Alex Maleev Star Wars: Chewbacca (2015) written by Gerry Duggan, drawn by Phil Noto Star Wars: Shattered Empire (2015) written by Greg Rucka, drawn by Marco Checchetto and Angel Unzueta and Emilio Laiso Star Wars: Kanan (2015) written by Greg Weisman, drawn by Jacopo Camagni and Pepe Larraz Vader Down (2015) crossover between the “core” book and Darth Vader that totals seven issues of story ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF GIANT SIZE The State of Our Union (with Comics): what have mutually massive, continuity-restarting/recharging events at the Big Two, what do we still read there, and how does that affect our mutual reading piles? The answer(s) may change the fabric of our fandom…FOREVER.

In our first-ever, short-length, One-Shot episode, John relates the personal and historical significance of Marvel's Star Wars: Special Edition #1. Coming on Giant Size #41, a full episode covering all of Star Wars in comics.

“Breaking in” stories from Steve Epting, Jim Cheung, and Val Mayerik. Neal Adams tells us why people call him an idiot and end up calling him a genius. We also look at how this convention in particular marked an artistic turning point for your hosts. Believe it or not, we aren’t running as late as Secret Wars. Fan Expo Dallas 2015 Special, Part 2 of 2 Brought to you by IDW: Check out the wide array of comics from IDW including Val Mayerik’s work on the first arc of Zombies vs. Robots. SaneBox: Stop “Hulk-ing out” over your email. Get a no-credit-card-required, 2-week free trial and $25 off your new membership when you sign up by visiting SaneBox.com/esn. Special Guests (in order of appearance) Steve Epting: ComicBookDB/Tumblr/Twitter/Wikipedia Jim Cheung: ComicBookDB/Tumblr/Wikipedia Neal Adams: ComicBookDB/website/Twitter/Wikipedia Val Mayerik: ComicBookDB/website/Facebook/Wikipedia Related Episodes Giant Size 12: The Duck in the Room is Val’s first appearance on the show. Giant Size 37: Color Theory is one of our personal favorite episodes we’ve done to date, focusing on comics coloring and featuring a great array of guests. Reading List Captain America: The Winter Soldier Velvet Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 Avengers: The Children’s Crusade Green Lantern/Green Arrow by Dennis O’Neill and Neal Adams Man-Thing by Steve Gerber, Vol. 1 Flagler’s Few Buzzkill The Paybacks from Dark Horse Comics ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF GIANT SIZE… A recap of things we’ve seen, experienced, and enjoyed in the months since last we did one of these! Teases of exciting upcoming interviews with the likes of Jim Shooter! We honestly don’t know because we haven’t recorded it yet!

"Yoda as a superhero" by Nick Bradshaw In the first installment of our 2-part Fan Expo Dallas Special, we are joined by some very special guests to discuss the importance and impact of Archie, working with material that is well-known in other media, and the vital importance of major publishers staying the course when investing in new voices and audiences. Part 1 of 2 Brought to you by IDW: Walt Simonson's first arc of Ragnarök is now complete, and you can pre-order the hardcover (or get the Limited Edition version from your Local Comic Shop). Also new from IDW: Drive (continuing the story of the movie) and Star Trek/Green Lantern: The Spectrum War. To win a signed-by-Simonson copy of the first printing of Ragnarök #1, just email, tweet, or just plain contact us to let us know what you want to hear more of on the show. SaneBox: Stop "Hulk-ing out" over your email. Get a no-credit-card-required, 2-week free trial and $25 off your new membership when you sign up by visiting SaneBox.com/esn. Special Guests (in order of appearance) Tom Kenny has no social media presence whatsoever, so if you see something, it's fake. Dan Parent: ComicBookDB/website/Twitter Fernando Ruiz: ComicBookDB/website/Twitter Georges Jeanty: ComicBookDB/website/Twitter Nick Bradshaw: ComicBookDB/website/Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr Jimmy Palmiotti: ComicBookDB/website/Twitter/Facebook Amanda Conner: ComicBookDB/website/Twitter/Facebook Chad Hardin: ComicBookDB/website/Twitter/Facebook Related Episodes Electric Shadow 25: Behind the Microphone features a good deal more Tom Kenny, alongside Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario. Giant Size 37: Color Theory is one of our personal favorite episodes we've done to date, focusing on comics coloring and featuring a great array of guests. Show Notes and Links A great Newsarama article on Nick Bradshaw's path to Wolverine and the X-Men The Mary Sue talks with Jimmy and Amanda about writing Harley Quinn and Starfire ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF GIANT SIZE Fan Expo Dallas Part 2! More from Steve Epting! The Super-Shy Jimmy Cheung! More from Neal Adams! Friend-of-the-show Howard the Duck co-creator Val Mayerik! Secrets revealed! Nothing will ever be the same!

In our Comicpalooza 2015 Special, we discuss childhood influences and the importance of licensed properties in comics with a wide array of guests: World Champion wrestler (and comic creator) Booker T, Katie Cook, Peter David, J.M. DeMatteis (albeit briefly), and returning guest Walt Simonson. Our featured guest this week is the great Louise Simonson. Louise Simonson will be the focus of an upcoming Creator Spotlight episode. We'll get to Walt eventually...we suppose. Brought to you by IDW: Katie's My Little Pony comics continue to tear up the sales charts, and you can now get a lovely hardcover edition of J.M. DeMatteis' Augusta Wind from your local shop (along with tons and tons of other great comics from IDW). SaneBox: Stop "Hulk-ing out" over your email. Get a no-credit-card-required, 2-week free trial and $25 off your new membership when you sign up by visiting SaneBox.com/esn. Guests Booker T (Reality of Wrestling website/Twitter) Katie Cook (website/twitter) Peter David (website/Twitter) J.M. DeMatteis (website/Twitter) Walt Simonson (Facebook fan page/Twitter) Louise Simonson (Facebook fan page) Uncut, isolated, and extended interviews in the Artist Edition feed post in the days following the main episode. Subscribing to the Giant Size Channel feed gets you all Giant Size episodes plus Artist Edition interviews and extras. Katie Cook (extended and uncut) Peter David (isolated) Walt and Louise's uncut interviews will post after their respective Creator Spotlight episodes later in 2015. Reading List You only get a small (probably surprising) taste of Booker T Huffman's autobiography here. From Prison to Promise reveals a more fascinating life story than you knew. Katie Cook not only writes My Little Pony, but she's also done Fraggle Rock. She also does a great, kid-friendly strip called Gronk. Peter David's novel Artful may soon become a comic. John likes Vendetta, Peter's Star Trek book billed on its cover as a "giant novel". Walt Simonson's work on Alien with Archie Goodwin is absolutely gorgeous, and his Raiders of the Lost Ark features material in the script cut from the movie before release. Louise Simonson created a great team of kids called Power Pack among many, many other things. Try out the first volume of those stories in advance of our digging further into her work in an upcoming episode. Show Notes and Links G.I. Bro: The Comic made its debut at Comicpalooza. El Rey Network runs a Kung Fu marathon each Thursday that enrages Booker's wife. Katie, like all right-thinking humans, loves Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo. Check out our Creator Spotlight episode on Stan. Peter David grew up loving the Adventures of Superman TV show, which introduced him to the fact there were also comics made of the man in tights. Peter recently didn't rip the new Fantastic Four movie to shreds, one of the more reasonable takes on the internet. ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF GIANT SIZE Fan Expo Dallas! Nick Bradshaw! More from Steve Epting! The Super-Shy Jimmy Cheung! Amanda Conner! Jimmy Palmiotti! More from Neal Adams! So so so much more...oh god we were so tired by the end!

from Velvet, by Brubaker/Epting/Breitweiser We look at the vital role of the more-precise-than-ever art of comics coloring, shining a spotlight in particular on the work of Elizabeth Breitweiser and featuring special guests Neal Adams, Steve Epting, and Walt Simonson.NOTE: audio gain as well as clarity are less than ideal in some places (totaling under a minute). We've done our best in post to make this episode as listenable as possible at a consistent volume level.Brought to you by IDW: a new TPB from Katie Cook's run on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic just hit the stands, alongside the collected edition of Eric Shanower and Gabriel Rodriguez's Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland. Neal Adams' Superman vs Muhammad Ali, one of his many recolored classics Guests (listed in order of appearance)Neal Adams (twitter/comicbook db/website/store) Superman versus Muhammad Ali is a great first-read if you'd like a taste of Adams' (various) signature work(s). Neal can be found at a convention many weekends of the year. He has a thousand stories worth telling. Spotlight Guest Elizabeth Breitweiser (twitter/comicbook db/tumblr) Breitweiser is doing color work that goes beyond taking advantage of now-standard digital tools. She draws upon her background in studio painting and the eye of a cinematographer to create something that lives in the bleed between the old and new schools. We cannot over-sell how great her finished work looks and feels like it moves. Steve Epting (twitter/comicbook db/website) Of late, Epting has solely been working and focusing on Velvet with Elizabeth Breitweiser and writer Ed Brubaker, doing occasional variant covers on the side. Walter ("Walt") Simonson (twitter/comicbook db/facebook group) Walt just had a new issue of his creator-owned Ragnarök hit the stands. You'll hear more about it on the next episode of Giant Size. from The Crooked Man, by Hardman/Bechko/Breitweiser Reading List Elizabeth Breitweiser You can now pre-order The Crooked Man (teaser image above) from your local comic shop or Amazon. Colored by Elizabeth and co-written by Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko (with art drawn by Hardman), it finds an ex-pat returning to San Francisco to exact revenge...in 1906, just in time for the earthquake. Velvet is an old-school spy action series where the desk-bound "Moneypenny" character turns out to be a formidable field agent herself, partly inspired by Modesty Blaise. It's a great showcase of both Epting and Breitweiser's considerable talents, along with writer and previous Giant Size guest Ed Brubaker's fantastic script. The second trade just recently hit stands (v1/v2). from The Fade Out The Fade Out, also written by Brubaker, is drawn by Sean Phillips, and whereas still full of dark corners of people's lives in a film noir/Golden Age of Hollywood setting, Breitweiser's colors lend this its own distinct feel as compared to Velvet. The first trade came out a few months ago. from Fatale Fatale, also from Brubaker+Phillips+Breitweiser, is a now-finished crime-noir-meets-Lovecraft series that you can pick up in four or five-issue TPBs or the new Deluxe Edition hardcovers, the first of which collects the first ten issues of the series. from Outcast Outcast, written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Paul Azaceta, tells the story of a guy who's been possessed by a demon his whole life. When he goes for answers, it puts the entirety of life on Earth in danger. The comic is already set for TV adaptation, so it isn't disappearing any time soon. The first trade, like all Image trades, is under $10. Take a look at Elizabeth's full comics bibliography at comicbook db and check out even more of her work, going back to 2008. from the remastered, re-colored Star Slammers by Simonson Walter Simonson Every last bit of his Star Slammers has been completely remastered and collected in hardcover by our friends at IDW, the patron saints of comics preservation (they didn't pay us to say that, it's how everyone who cares about this stuff feels). Star Slammers goes back to Walt's college days, and through its multiple iterations, it's a valuable foundational work in getting a broader perspective on him as a creator (aside from being a lot of fun and featuring some great early (earliest, even!) professional Simonson art. Walt's Thor Omnibus is out of print, but the recolored issues are all available in TPBS starting with this one and digitally too, as far as we know. They look amazing, and are a testament to what good digital "remastering" can do. Moisés is kicking himself for not grabbing a copy of the Omnibus before they went out of print. That's what Amazon Wish Lists are for, right? from the re-colored Thor by Walt Simonson Omnibus Additional Show Notes and Links The io9 article that effectively just copied and pasted some of John's tweets, which doesn't entirely represent his actual, nuanced stance on the whole topic of re-coloring. Steve Oliff (website/comicbook db) is cited by John right at the beginning of this episode, and Walt Simonson later on, in discussing Oliff's direct involvement in remastering and recoloring the legendary "Simonson run" of Thor. Oliff is someone else we should send an email and ask to talk with for the show. Superman comes up in multiple conversations (and not by design) on our next episode ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF GIANT SIZEOur Comicpalooza 2015 Special, featuring... Five-time WCW Heavyweight Champion, Houston native, and now comics creator Booker T, talking about his Shaw Brothers fandom as well as his new comic G.I. Bro, based on his first wrestling character gimmick. Peter David, who reveals both the spark that ignited his fandom and his exasperation at the internet outrage culture that seems to run most of social media. We confirm that Katie Cook does indeed fuel herself with male tears when she makes Moisés choke up a bit! J.M. DeMatteis, who conclusively settles a huge comic geek argument once and for all! More from Walter Simonson! An excerpt of a chat with Louise Simonson in advance of this summer's full-on Creator Spotlight episode that focuses on her under-recognized, massive contribution to superhero comics.