Sorry, Quick Muppets Tangent

Sorry, Quick Muppets Tangent

Author: Stephen Bradford April 16, 2024 Duration: 1:11:24
An odd double-feature this week, covering issues of Mockingbird and Hulk. What do the characters have in common? How about deep psychological themes? Folks are into that sort of introspective storytelling nowadays, right?

There's a particular kind of magic in watching someone discover something you love for the very first time. That's the genuine, often hilarious, energy at the heart of Make Mine Manga!. Host Stephen Bradford, along with Aldo, has finally convinced their friend John to step out of his lifelong superhero-comic comfort zone and into the vast, sometimes bewildering, universe of manga. Each conversation in this podcast feels like pulling up a chair at a lively bookstore cafe. You'll hear John's initial skepticism and growing curiosity as he grapples with reading right-to-left, encounters unfamiliar cultural nuances, and stumbles upon genres he never knew existed. Stephen and Aldo act as enthusiastic guides, offering context and personal favorites, but the real joy comes from the unscripted reactions and the shared journey of exploration. It’s less a formal review show and more a chronicle of a friendship built around storytelling, where the panels of a graphic novel become a springboard for humor, debate, and genuine discovery. Whether you're a seasoned manga veteran who enjoys seeing the medium through fresh eyes, or someone who, like John, is curious but doesn't know where to start, this series offers a uniquely personal and engaging point of entry. The discussions are deep enough for fans but remain entirely accessible, capturing the simple pleasure of passing a great book to a friend and waiting for their verdict.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Make Mine Manga!
Podcast Episodes
New Whitest Thing I’ve Done [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:21:10
Almost since the beginning of this podcast, Stephen has looked for a way to have the boys review the classic 90s event comic, the Age of Apocalypse. Finally, we decided to rip the Band-Aid off and just dive in. We start…
Fill-In: Wizard’s 100 Greatest Villains [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:29:42
Since John’s away, Stephen decided to break out an old issue of Wizard magazine - that giant of pop-culture reporting back in the early 2000s - to spark a conversation with Aldo over who the best villains of all time are…
King, Kang, Mojo [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:29:54
No, it isn’t a crossover between malefic monkeys King Kong and Mojo Jojo. Rather, we’re exploring some curious side stories featuring everyone’s favorite villains. Kang! Kingpin! Mojo! …well, Stephen likes Mojo.
What You Love Sucks [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:21
Two thirds of our little group have never played Marvel Rivals. Will the comic adaptation (tie-in? advertisement?) convince them to join the bandwagon? We’ll find out right after we check in with where we left the Runawa…
That’s Barely a Name [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:38
The Marvel Mangaverse is one of the weirder artifacts of early-2000s comicsdom. Is it a back-issue bizarrerie, or a buried gem? Also, Iron Fist was one of the stars of the post-Civil War Marvel universe. How does this Fr…
Dave-agar Boltagon [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:19
It’s the joke that won’t die! When Medusa appears in the replacement roster for the FF, of COURSE we see it as an opportunity to dunk on our favorite weird superhero name. Also… Star Wars! You know Star Wars, right? But…
Fill-In: MCU Top (and Bottom) Five [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:29
With the others out of commission, Stephen takes the bold stand of declaring that some of the MCU films aren’t very good, while others are pretty great. Yes, we’re still talking about this in 2025. Come for the bad takes…
Nunchucks from Betsy Ross’s Femurs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:22:57
Well, none of us are feeling particularly patriotic at the moment. Luckily, neither is Cap, which makes Ta-Nehesi Coates’s “Captain of Nothing” an appropriate read for the moment. ”Cosmic Cooties,” featuring both Moon Gi…
Distinct Lack of Scuttlebutt [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:39
With the earth looking so bleak these days, we turn our eyes to the stars… only to see the Annihilation Wave headed for us? What the crap, stars?!!? It’s Annihilation: Scourge and the origin of Spider-Woman on this week’…
Okay Boomer…ang [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:42
Way back in 2014, the Superior Fors of Spider-Man took the world by storm. [checks notes] Excuse me… I’m reading here that they got up to a lot of mischief and… peed themselves a lot. [clears throat] Awkward. Anyway, how…