#22 (Brains, Brawn, Special Skill)

Issue 22
“The Tri-Man Lives” (November, 1966)
Released: September 1, 1966
Written by Stan Lee
Drawn by Gene Colan
Inked by Frank Giacoia and Dick Ayers
Lettered by Sam Rosen
Cover drawn by Gene Colan

The only thing more annoying than the idiotic storyline of the last two installments is the fact that Stan and Gene can’t even be bothered to give it a proper conclusion. Instead, they slapdash together a pointless ending and thrust us headlong into the midst of the story they interrupted to present the nonsensical garbage they’ve unsuccessfully passed off as “narrative” for two consecutive issues.

That’s right! Masked Marauder and Gladiator are back! With them, are Mangler, Dancer, and Brain, three low-level criminals whose unique abilities will be combined through confusing technology to form Voltron. Understand that by “Voltron” we mean “The Tri-Man”, but we’re not fooled. It’s Voltron.

Episode 22 is available now on Buzzsprout here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2021691.rss

Episode 22 is also available for streaming! You can find it on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/42GINDXqBqGKIT49FZCyz9?si=EdeD4WaIQZ6RoK0RNzPWcA&utm_source=copy-link

Check behind the cut to see our individual grades and Gene Colan’s incredible design for Voltron! Dammit. The Tri-Man. Gene Colan’s incredible design for The Tri-Man!

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#21 (Ranking Stacks of Shit)

Issue 21
“The Trap Is Sprung” (October, 1966)
Released: August 2, 1966
Written by Stan Lee
Drawn by Gene Colan
Inked by Frank Giacoia, Dick Ayers, and Bill Everett
Lettered by Artie Simek
Cover drawn by Gene Colan

Gene Colan is back! Unfortunately, so is every James Bond villain ever, all wrapped up in a package that looks suspiciously like Owl.

Issue 21 presents us with an opportunity to have a discussion that we haven’t really had before. We were all three in agreement that the previous installment of Daredevil was kind of stupid, but that Gene Colan’s breathtaking artwork elevated the issue and saved it from being total garbage. Well, issue 21 is just as (if not more than) dumb. Why doesn’t the art save it this time?

Check out episode 21 on Buzzsprout here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2021691.rss

Stream the episode on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/42GINDXqBqGKIT49FZCyz9?si=EdeD4WaIQZ6RoK0RNzPWcA&utm_source=copy-link

Check behind the cut to see our individual grades and artwork from the issue!

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#20 (The Witness)

Issue 20
“The Verdict Is: Death” (September, 1966)
Released: June 30, 1966
Written by Stan Lee
Drawn by Gene Colan
Inked by Frank Giacoia
Lettered by Artie Simek
Cover drawn by John Romita

Issue 20 marks the premiere of comic book legend Gene Colan in the pages of this book. Gene Colan is good. And by “good”, we mean really, really good. Gene Colan is so good, in fact, that Aaron pulls no punches in pronouncing this new artist as his favorite comic book artist of all time. Even Kyle’s impressed, and we all know that says something.

What’s not so impressive is the confusion of dropping the story we had in progress at the end of issue 19 for this absolutely bonkers hot mess of a tale that features a villain we didn’t need to see return.

Check out episode 20 on Buzzsprout here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2021691.rss

Stream the episode on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/42GINDXqBqGKIT49FZCyz9?si=EdeD4WaIQZ6RoK0RNzPWcA&utm_source=copy-link

Check behind the cut to see our individual grades and artwork from the issue! Trust us when we say that you definitely want to check out the artwork. Gene Colan is really, really good!

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#19 (No-Prize)

Issue 19
“Alone–Against The Underworld” (August, 1966)
Released: June 2, 1966
Written by Stan Lee
Drawn by John Romita
Inked by Frank Giacoia
Lettered by Sam Rosen
Cover drawn by John Romita

The final issue of John Romita’s run on Daredevil presents us with the opportunity to discuss the answers to many pressing questions: Does Foggy Nelson finally redeem himself for the idiocy of the last several issues? Are Matt and Foggy the same age? Has Daredevil become too quippy and sarcastic? Does the relative lameness of two not-so-great villains eventually balance each other out?

All of which leads to Rodney and Aaron explaining the concept of a “No Prize”, a unique fan incentive started in the 1960s by Marvel Comics and continued for several decades. Kyle thinks they’re fucking with him.

Check out episode 19 on Buzzsprout here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2021691.rss

Stream the episode on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/42GINDXqBqGKIT49FZCyz9?si=EdeD4WaIQZ6RoK0RNzPWcA&utm_source=copy-link

Check behind the cut to see our individual grades and artwork from the issue!

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#18 (Little Person Sidebar)

Issue 18
“There Shall Come A Gladiator” (July, 1966)
Released: May 3, 1966
Written by Stan Lee and Denny O’Neil
Drawn by John Romita
Inked by Frank Giacoia
Lettered by Sam Rosen
Cover drawn by John Romita

A new villain!

A guest writer!

An embarrassing amount of supporting character fat-shaming!

Do we really have to discuss issue 18?

Episode 18 is available on Buzzsprout here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2021691.rss

You can find us on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/42GINDXqBqGKIT49FZCyz9?si=EdeD4WaIQZ6RoK0RNzPWcA&utm_source=copy-link

Check behind the cut to see our individual grades and artwork from the issue!

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#17 (Dirigible)

Issue 17
“None Are So Blind . . .” (June, 1966)
Released: April 5, 1966
Written by Stan Lee
Drawn by John Romita
Inked by Frank Giacoia
Lettered by Sam Rosen
Cover drawn by John Romita

Spider-Man is back!

Foggy’s a conniving liar!

Aaron knows a big word!

Same villain. Same story. Same gorgeous art. Issue #17, the sixth installment in John Romita’s run doesn’t offer much new for us to discuss, but it does make us ponder how much cocaine the editor of The Daily Bugle might be doing to streamline the duties of his job.

Episode 17 is available on Buzzsprout here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2021691.rss

You can find us on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/42GINDXqBqGKIT49FZCyz9?si=EdeD4WaIQZ6RoK0RNzPWcA&utm_source=copy-link

Check behind the cut to see our individual grades and artwork from the issue!

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#16 (This Isn’t Spider-Man)

Issue 16
“ Enter . . . Spider-Man” (May, 1966)
Released: March 3, 1966
Written by Stan Lee
Drawn by John Romita
Inked by Frank Giacoia
Lettered by Artie Simek
Cover drawn by John Romita

This issue premieres the John Romita version of Spider-Man, the version that, for some collectors, is the ultimate vision of Steve Ditko’s original design. Reactions to this guest appearance are varied: Aaron is pretty excited about it. Kyle is confused by it (revealing that he doesn’t know as much about Spider-Man as he thinks he does). Rodney is stunned by the beauty of the visual aspect.

None of these reactions, ultimately, matter, though, because the last two pages are so flabbergasting and stupid that we’re led to believe that John Romita had never read a Spider-Man comic before penciling his visage.

Episode 16 is available on Buzzsprout here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2021691.rss

You can find us on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/42GINDXqBqGKIT49FZCyz9?si=EdeD4WaIQZ6RoK0RNzPWcA&utm_source=copy-link

Check behind the cut to see our individual grades and artwork from the issue we discuss in the episode!

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#15 (Poignancy)

Issue 15
“ . . . And Men Shall Call Him . . . Ox” (April, 1966)
Released: February 3, 1966
Written by Stan Lee
Drawn by John Romita
Inked by Frank Giacoia
Lettered by Artie Simek
Cover drawn by John Romita

Ox is back, with a new intelligent brain, courtesy of Dr. Karl Stragg. The cast of The Devil’s Archive would like to celebrate this plot element by way of an open letter to the comic book’s artist and plotter:

Dear John Romita, Sr.,

Thank you for finally not plotting a story that sucks.

Sincerely,

Aaron, Kyle, Rodney

Episode 15 is available on Buzzsprout here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2021691.rss

You can find us on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/42GINDXqBqGKIT49FZCyz9?si=EdeD4WaIQZ6RoK0RNzPWcA&utm_source=copy-link

Check behind the cut to see our individual grades and artwork from the issue we discuss in the episode!

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#14 (Dildo Cosplay)

Issue 14
“If This Be Justice . . .” (March, 1966)
Released: January 4, 1966
Written by Stan Lee
Drawn by John Romita
Inked by Frankie Ray
Lettered by Artie Simek
Cover drawn by John Romita

Parnival Plunder makes his full transition from scurvy pirate to incomprehensibly-armored super-villain. Kyle thinks he looks like a sexual-enhancement device. Aaron and Rodney find it hard to disagree. Finally, this terrible story arc comes to an anti-climactic close!

Episode 14 is available on Buzzsprout here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2021691.rss

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Check behind the cut below for our individual grades and images from the issue we discuss in this episode! See for yourself. Kyle isn’t wrong.

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#13 (Dan Brown Sucks)

Issue 13
“Sightless, In A Savage Land” (February, 1966)
Released: December 2, 1965
Written by Stan Lee
Drawn and inked by John Romita
Layouts by Jack Kirby
Lettered by Sam Rosen
Cover drawn by Jack Kirby

Full disclosure before you even start listening to this episode: we spend a good amount of time talking this week about things that have nothing to do with #13. It’s not that this issue is utter garbage. It’s, at the very least, better than #12, but those of you who listened to last week’s episode know that the bar was very low.

In addition to giving an honest review of John Romita’s second attempt at bat, we discuss internet conspiracy theories that revolve around animated Disney films, whether Captain America could whip Wolverine’s ass in a fight, and why a twelve-year-old would start talking like an infant just because he’s left to fend for himself in the jungle. Rodney also insults best-selling novelist Dan Brown.

Episode 12 is available on Buzzsprout here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2021691.rss

You can find us on Spotify as well! https://open.spotify.com/show/42GINDXqBqGKIT49FZCyz9?si=EdeD4WaIQZ6RoK0RNzPWcA&utm_source=copy-link

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Finally, check behind the cut for our individual grades for this issue and take some time to view the artwork and images that we discuss in the episode!

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