Usagi Yojimbo celebrated a 30th Anniversary in 2014. In our first single-creator spotlight episode, we celebrate Miyamoto Usagi and his creator, Stan Sakai.

Special Guests

• Stan Sakai created Usagi Yojimbo, and is at once a master storyteller as well as holding the title of the "nicest man in comics".
• Diana Schutz has been Stan's editor at Dark Horse for years, and moderates the San Diego Comic-Con panel excerpted here.
• Kim Jung Gi (twitter) is a world-renowned Korean artist whose website, Facebook, and Tumblr are full of jaw-dropping, no-sketch finished art (as seen in motion here).
• Andy Ihnatko (twitter) is generally best-known as a writer who covers technology, but his not-so-secret identity is that of a man with a marvelous appreciation for great artwork across a variety of media.
• Sergio Aragonés, a legend in his own right, created Groo the Wanderer, which Stan still letters to this day.

In our version of an Annual issue, we deconstruct end-of-year lists by just talking about comic-related topics, happenings, and trends that we're thankful for in 2014. No rankings or slideshows: just fun and variety you can only spoil by reading ahead.

Pictured above (top to bottom): The Private Eye, The Bunker, Black Science, Minimum Wage

Brought to you by

• IDW's Little Nemo - Return to Slumberland is an all-ages title that looks great, reads well, and that deeply respects the original classic work of Winsor McCay.

Special Guest

• Doug Hazlewood inked Superboy in the 90's, and worked on Grant Morrison's classic Animal Man run, but he was a big comics fan before that. Jack Kirby and stand-out cover design were his portals to comics discovery as a kid.

John and Moisés hosted two "sketch duels" at Dallas Fan Days this fall. One of them lent itself nicely to a light "creator sampler" episode. The other was an unmitigated, glorious, and hilarious disaster.

Left-to-Right: Crain, Raney, Banks

Audio levels and quality are a little dicey in a few places due to multiple not-as-reliable-as-we'd-like source files. This episode has gone through more post-production than any episode of any ESN show yet.

Marvel announced their movie slate through 2019, and it's full of characters that you may not know very well. John and Moisés blow through a ton of rapid-fire reading recommendations to the extent we can predict (or not) what parts of comic lore the movies will use. We've got five years of reading ahead of us, so pace yourself.

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• IDW Publishing: Edward Scissorhands (written by Kate Leth) and TMNT/Ghostbusters are both selling good and fast. Check them both out.

Related Episodes

• Artist Edition 2: Punch Holes in the Sky (Kelly Sue DeConnick) is one of many vintage "Volume 1" Giant Size interviews that are finally making their way into the Artist Edition feed.
• Extras 18: post-show musings and idle speculation full of spoilers for Marvel's Infinity Gauntlet.
• Giant Size Origins 4: Taste the Hulk Rainbow was the first full episode of the show that you now know as Giant Size that John and Moisés did together.

"Batman (Without Batman)" comics, especially Gotham Central and Arkham Asylum: Living Hell, the brand-new Gotham Academy and Arkham Manor, as well as great collected series from the last two decades and a light primer on the work of Ed Brubaker.

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• IDW Publishing: Check out Ripley's Believe It or Not!: The Classic Cartoons and Wonder Woman: The Classic Cartoons.

Special Guests

• Ed Brubaker (comic book db/twitter/wikipedia) Did some of the most-acclaimed writing of the last ten years at The Big Two before recently signing five-year exclusivity with Image. His co-creation of The Winter Soldier and massive run on Captain America were covered lovingly on the longest episode of Giant Size that'll ever exist.
• David Loehr is playwright-in-residence at Riverrun Theatre, radio playwright-in-residence for The Incomparable, and is @dloehr

Related Episodes

• Extras 17: after-show discussion of Marvel/DC movie slates
• Bonus episodes like the above post a day or so later than the episode they correspond to. If you subscribe to the Giant Size Channel Feed, you get everything in one feed.

Among other things, Kevin Maguire talks with John and Moisés about his "signature shot", how Godzilla began and ended his movie career (for now!), the frustrating logic that drives internet insta-controversies in comics, and what he's driven to do next in his career.

This is the first time we've recorded an entire episode "table-side" at a convention. Let us know what you think.

Brought to you by

• Harry's: they're already disrupting the entire shaving industry. Use code GIANT for $5 off. John made a Vine of his first Harry's shave.
• IDW Publishing: Check out Popeye Classics #27 and the new volume of the classic Chester Gould Dick Tracy strips out this week.

Special Guest

• Kevin Maguire (comic book db/twitter/wikipedia) in addition to having illustrated a wide range of superhero comics for DC, Marvel, and others, he has also drawn some of the most memorable, "well-acted" covers seen from both publishers over his career. We'll dig deeper into his work itself on a future episode. If you see he'll be at a convention, go see him and spend some money.

We discuss the "origin stories" of how John came to love Swamp Thing, Howard the Duck, and The Thing. From movies on cable and Saturday morning cartoons to reprints and recommendations from friends, we get to better know John's tastes and his "human experience" as "this fan, this podcaster."

Brought to you by

• Drobo: use coupon code MOISES at checkout to get $50 off Drobo 5D or 5N.
• IDW: Ghostbusters #20 ends the long, great run we've recommended over the life of the podcast, and Weird Love might be the "Trojan Horse" read that'll get a friend or loved one into trying comics in the first place.

Related Episodes

• Extras 12: "Mister Belvedere on a Tablet", the post-show ramblings for this episode.
• (depending on audio quality) Artist Edition: "Steve's Voice", the pre- and post-show Q&A with Val Mayerik from our Giant Size Presents screening of Howard the Duck (1986).
• Electric Shadow 13: "I'll Never Be Venkman", where John and Moisés talk all things Ghostbusters with Eric Vespe.
• Giant Size 14: "With a Magic Word", not-essential listening to "get" this episode, but it dovetails nicely into this week's discussion.

The Power of-, Trials of-, and Magic of Shazam are all on the table this week, as we look at one of John's favorite characters. Old-school fans may know Billy Batson's alter-ego better as The Superhero Formerly Known As Captain Marvel.

Exclusive Sponsor

• IDW has a great array of Ghostbusters comics that are coming to an end with the direct-sequel-to-the-movie-canon Mass Hysteria. Were you a fan of The Maxx (comics or on MTV)? Try their The Maxx: Maxximized "director's cut".

Related Episodes

• Giant Size Origins 7: Men of Iron and Steel, originally an episode of The Comic Shack, found us discussing good Iron Man and Superman jumping-on points in the wake of Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel.
• Giant Size Origins 8: Superman Wearing a Superman Shirt is an all-Superman show, and marked major milestones in "Volume 1", aka All-Old Giant Size, including the shift to the intended-all-along panel format and the first appearance of John Gholson.
• Slightly-extended Donny Cates and Mark Reznicek interviews can be found in Artist Edition 55: Superpowers from Drinking

How to get into Batman, with both older and newer modern-era takes on the Caped Crusader. It's probably best to start with Year One instead of The Dark Knight Returns. This is "Volume 1" in a series of Bat-shows to come.

A version of this episode originally ran as episode #27 of The Comic Shack on 5by5 in March of 2013.

Go back in time to witness the origin of our terrific twosome team as perfect podcasting pals...right before your very ears!

Exclusive Sponsor

• IDW Publishing: What if a legendary spy had a bunch of illegitimate kids that had to team up to save their moms...? New this week is a hardcover collecting The Illegitimates, written by SNL's Taran Killam and comics vet Mark Andreyko. Also out this week: the third issue of Super Secret Crisis War, a Cartoon Network Universe mega-crossover written by Louise Simonson!

This is the "Big Damn" Frank Miller episode. We look at his entire body of work while at once barely touching on Sin City or 300. In particular, more attention should be paid to his collaborations with David Mazzuchelli, Geof Darrow, Chris Claremont, Dave Gibbons, Klaus Janson, and Bill Sienkiewicz.

Meanwhile, John culls his collection by hundreds of comics, and we discuss the hard choices we make going digital.

Excerpted Interview

• Bill Sienkiewicz (website, wiki, comicbookDB) will be the focus of a future episode. He spoke with Moisés for a total of over half an hour. The uncut version of that interview will eventually be available as an Artist Edition extra.

Sponsors

• NEED: Place an order and send an email to hello@neededition.com mentioning ESN in some way to get 25% off your next order and extras freebies sent your way in the meantime.

• Harry's: they're already disrupting the entire shaving industry. Use code GIANT for $5 off. John made a Vine of his first Harry's shave.

• IDW Publishing: Check out the new Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland by Eric Shanower (Marvel's Oz books) and Gabriel Rodriguez (Locke and Key). Also out this week, the TPB of Monster and Madman by Steve Niles and Damien Wyrm and Star Slammers Remastered #6 by Walt Simonson.

Val Mayerik (co-creator of Howard the Duck) discusses his career, work with friends like Steve Gerber and Bill Mantlo, untold tales of "The Duck", and his interest in getting back into comics. Cameo appearance by Larry Hama!

To contribute to the ongoing care of Bill Mantlo, go here.

This episode immediately spoils the post-credits sequence for Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy.

Original Howard the Duck art above by Val Mayerik.

Brought to you by

• IDW Publishing: Regular recommendations Haunted Horror and Popeye Classics both have new issues this week, as well as the milestone issue #205 of Larry Hama's G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series. If you read G.I. Joe in the 80's and loved it, that universe continued right where it left off! Check out the TPBs and catch up .

Special Guests

• Val Mayerik (website, comicbook db) has been an actor, martial artist, horseman, and just so happens to have co-created various characters and series over the course of his career.
• Larry Hama (facebook, comicbook db) has also been an actor, martial artist, soldier, editor for Marvel and DC, and man of many hats. He's left an indelible stamp on the world of G.I. Joe in particular, down to the fact files on the original action figures.

Post-Show

• Extras 11: Mad Max on Roller Skates

In this year's San Diego Comic-Con special, we further meditate on the balance of forces in fandom. The mainstream has fully invaded comics via TV and movies. Could it be that's how women (both characters and creatives) have gained traction in recent years?

Featuring an interview with legendary designer and author Chip Kidd and the majority of the audio from this year's "Superheroines" panel, with Faith Erin Hicks, Marjorie M Liu, Jules Rivera, Joanna Estep, Dr. Andrea Letamendi, Marguerite Bennett, and moderator Dariane Nabor.

Brought to you by

• Harry's: they're already disrupting the shaving industry by offering a much better shaving experience at a much better value. Use promo code GIANT for $5 off.

• IDW Publishing: Jump into Super Secret Crisis War, a Cartoon Network Universe mega-crossover by the great, wise, and powerful Louise Simonson! It's seven-year-old safe, for those looking for more that's ok for kids.

Special Guests

• Chip Kidd (twitter) is an author, designer, editor, and one of the sharpest comics theorists in the history of the medium. Check out his TED Talk.
• Faith Erin Hicks (twitter) just won an Eisner Award, makes Super Hero Girl, and makes Twitter a more fun place to be.
• Marjorie M Liu (twitter) is a novelist in addition to her work in comics. She has written X-23 and Black Widow, among many, many others, including the issue featuring the first gay marriage of an X-Man (Northstar) in her brilliant run on Astonishing X-Men.
• Jules Rivera (twitter) makes the online graphic novel Valkyrie Squad. It's just as badass as it sounds.
• Joanna Estep (twitter) has drawn everything from mega-franchise characters (Fantastic Four) to cult favorites (The Thrilling Adventure Hour), among all sorts of gorgeous work.
• Dr. Andrea Letamendi (twitter) is both a brilliant academic and fan. She co-hosts The Arkham Sessions, a "re-watch" podcast unique even within its field. "Deep-dive" is an understatement.
• Marguerite Bennett incited massive controversy with her take on the "new/old/real/fake" Lobo in DC's New52. She also cosplays a mean Thor.
• Dariane Nabor (twitter) just finished a year-long, round the world trip documented here and volunteers with Racebending.