Indefensible Ink

Hey, have you heard Indefensible Ink is over and there's a NEW PODCAST in town? Subscribe to THE IRON AGE OF COMICS now on your podcasting app of choice for future updates! Follow @ironageofcomics on Twitter and Instagram!  From 1985 to 1987, DC released three groundbreaking series that kicked off the Iron Age and changed comics forever: Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, and Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. We’ll eventually do a deep dive on each one in turn, but our debut episode takes a high-level look at these three books as a collective phenomenon and examines the impact they had on the next 15 years of comics up through to today.

Indefensible Ink has ended, but retro comics enthusiast and Jim Shooter apologist Justin Zyduck is not done podcasting. Check out this preview of his new show, co-hosted by recurring Indefensible Ink guest Jim Cannon: THE IRON AGE OF COMICS, a critical re-evaluation of comic books from about 1985 to 2000… including, of course, the boom and bust of the '90s! Go beyond the chromium covers and grim 'n' gritty cliches for a deeper look at one of the most divisive periods in comics history. (This episode, minus the opening introduction and with the addition of different theme music, will be bonus Episode #0 of The Iron Age of Comics on its own dedicated feed once the new podcast debuts on January 4.)

It's the final episode of Indefensible Ink! And what could be a more appropriate topic to cover than something called Final Crisis? Justin discusses Grant Morrison's divisive 2008 crossover event and why its title and marketing may have led to a chilly reception from many fans.  PLUS: An introduction to a new podcast! Stay subscribed to the Indefensible Ink feed for a preview, coming soon...

Part two of a conversation with original co-host Ryan McClure about continuity and canon in superhero comics. This episode covers cross-media adaptations and how they affect continuity, the concept of headcanon, and what should we do about this whole continuity/canon mess anyway? Also discussed in this episode: how Grant Morrison may have ended “the Marvel Universe,” the Claremont/Byrne Star-Lord and why he can't be Chris Pratt, the Big Two writer who says continuity is the devil, and scenes from Justin's protest against the term "Infinity Stones."

Original co-host Ryan McClure returns for the first of a two-part discussion about continuity and canon in superhero comics: the benefits, the downsides, and drilling down into what makes comics different from other longrunning narratives in other media. Also discussed in this episode: the many Atlantises (Atlanti?) of the pre-Crisis DC Universe, the Spider-Man-to-dinosaurs pipeline, and the wonders of Marvel Saga.

Our look at the two-year-long “Nightwing Gets Amnesia” storyline concludes as Justin and guest Jim Cannon get to the bottom of a sinister brainwashing scheme by the Court of Owls that ultimately results in the creation of…”Dickyboy”?! Plus wrap-up and speculation on how DC might have been able to make a halfway decent story out of Dick Grayson losing his memory. Also discussed in this episode: Blüdhaven’s thematically named bar and tavern scene, which of the Legion of Substitute Nightwings is the “Kenny” of the team, and Red Condor: The Sensational Character Find of NEVER.

Plenty of superheroes go through an amnesia storyline or two in their careers, but Dick Grayson spent around 25 entire issues of his Nightwing series from 2019-2020 with memory loss and a new identity as a cab driver named Ric. Justin taps Nightwing fan supreme Jim Cannon to explain why Dick Grayson is so beloved both in-universe and among comics fans and to discuss whether this meandering storyline had any higher purpose than trying to put an end to jokes about his first name. Also discussed in this episode: racist episodes of Star Trek, the questionable relevancy of supervillains named after Soviet institutions, and turkey dinners vs. robot dinosaurs.

There were dozens of TV shows trying to replicate the success of Friends in the late '90s, but only one of them was trying to do so with superheroes. If you're wondering how they could have made a Justice League movie on a television budget at the end of last century, the answer is "very inexpensively" and "with M*A*S*H's David Ogden Stiers in green makeup." Justin discusses the failed pilot of for a Justice League of America pseudo-sitcom and why it was doomed to be what celebrated comics writer Mark Waid may or may not have called "80 minutes of my life I'll never get back." Also discussed in this episode: An overview of the '90s superhero adaptation landscape, the sinister charm of Special Guest Star Miguel Ferrer, and the viability of the voice of the Cryptkeeper as a romantic lead.  

Here it is, the comic so controversial it made George Clooney drop out of playing Nick Fury in movies and got Marvel publisher Bill Jemas fired! Or at least, that's what people say about Fury, Garth Ennis and Darrick Robertson's six-issue limited series from 2001 published by Marvel's mature-readers MAX imprint. Justin takes a look at the story behind the splashy headline and why it might be wise to bring a bit of skepticism--or at least a sense of perspective--to this juicy rumor. This episode is labeled Explicit because...well, it's a Garth Ennis comic, it kind of has to be, right?  Also discussed in this episode: How to use a parental advisory to market your comic books, Francis Fukuyama and Star Trek VI, and Stan Lee actually says something negative in public about a Marvel comic.

In part two of an examination of superheroes and the so-called "code against killing," Justin and Jim discuss how Hawkeye typifies a change of attitudes about lethal force in the genre, how Wolverine's natural tendency towards bezerker rage has made him the unlikely moral center of the X-Men, how the Punisher might break the Marvel Universe from a couple different angles, and how antiheroes entertain us despite being reprehensible people. All of this leads into the titular question of why Batman will never kill the Joker...and why the escalating stakes of superhero comics have forced us to consider this question in the first place. ALSO DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE: Justin's reservations about a certain element of his beloved Steve Englehart West Coast Avengers run, Jim's favorite issue of Grant Morrison's The Invisibles, how to better allocate Wonder Man and Tigra as Avengers resources, and those wonderful giant props in old Gotham City.

Superheroes don't kill supervillains...except for the ones who do. But it's a conceit of the genre that even if some heroes cross this line, they at least acknowledge the line exists. In this episode, regular host Justin Zyduck takes a break from critiquing specific comics to discussing the trope of the "code against killing" with returning guest Jim Cannon. They discuss the origins and general reasons for this rule of thumb—both philosophical and practical—and about Superman, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, and Captain America specifically.  ALSO DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE: The legal ramifications of Indiana Jones' activities, a definition of "kindergarten morality" by former Marvel honcho Bill Jemas, John Byrne's storytelling hand grenades, the trial of the Flash, and Xena: Warrior Princess.

The lead story of 1982's Superman #372 might look a little old-fashioned next to the cutting-edge superhero storytelling of Claremont's Uncanny X-Men, Miller's Daredevil, or the Wolfman-Perez New Teen Titans, but readers raved about the brain-bending plot twist in Cary Bates and Curt Swan's "Superman's History-Changing Mission!" What did comics fans see in this seemingly illogical Superman adventure? We're going back in time 40 years (and the Man of Steel is going back a bit further still) to investigate the curious charms of the Bronze Age Pre-Crisis Superman and the writer they called "Mr. Surprise"! Also covered in this episode: The perfect drink to compliment global blackmail, more uses for super-ventrioloquism, Superman's CIA contact, and humble advice to the head honchos at NASA. PLUS: Following up from the previous episode on LJN's Uncanny X-Men video game for the NES, Justin learns that the Sega Genesis had its own X-Men adventure with a counterintuitive secret to getting to the final level.

Has anyone ever done a podcast on...complaining about a video game? Probably not, in which case it pleases Indefensible Ink to break new ground and discuss 1989's Uncanny X-Men for the Nintendo Entertainment System, released by the notorious game publisher LJN. Regular host Justin Zyduck welcomes his brother Zach as a guest to discuss a punishingly difficult and frustrating game from their childhood that nonetheless has some pretty cool music. YouTube playthroughs seem to attest that it's possible to beat this game, but this episode reveals the unfair roadblocks the developers put in the player's way. Also discussed in this episode: Saving the space whales and how the X-Men's attempted sacrifice once made Justin tear up in the middle of traffic, how Cyclops' optic blasts work, how to identify Paul Smith drawings in instruction booklets, multiple invocations of the semi-forgotten NES game StarTropics, a bold proposal for a Superman video game, and what it would take for a digital character to be less popular t

Everybody knows an accident caused Captain America to spend decades in suspended animation after World War II. What this book presupposes is…maybe the U.S. Government froze him on purpose? But if that’s the high concept behind “Ice” by Chuck Austen (with John Ney Reiber) and Jae Lee, why is the comic mostly about a guy with an alien robot hand trying to test Cap’s sense of morality? By request, host Justin uncovers the complicated history of the post-9/11 Marvel Knights Captain America run on the way to defrosting this controversial (but ultimately inconsequential) storyline. Also covered in this episode: failed attempts at winning enemies to your point of view via hallucinogens, the irrationality of amphibious love interests, and the most conspicuous anagram in the history of superhero comics.

In the year 2000, the comic book Captain Marvel belonged to Genis-Vell, a novice superhero trying to to live up to his father's name and keep up the momentum gained by his appearances in the popular Avengers Forever series. But series writer Peter David may have been more interested in chronicling the sitcom antics of Genis' odd-couple partner, longtime Hulk supporting character Rick Jones. David and artist ChrisCross' Captain Marvel (vol. 4) is fondly remembered by fans as a great series cut down in its prime, but does it hold up? Genis is headed back to comic store shelves this month in a new miniseries, and to mark the occasion, regular host Justin Zyduck and guest Jim Cannon revisit the original.  Also discussed in this episode: PAD's possible similarities with Garth Merenghi, an unnecessarily elaborate scheme involving the Wendigo, a potshot at Wild Wild West that's taken on a strange resonance 22 years later, angling for Tom Brevoort's job, and the unsettling possibility that Bill Jemas might have been

Remembering the New Coke of Superman storylines 25 years later, when a desperate DC Comics tried to get people excited about the Man of Steel again by giving him new powers and a '90s X-Men-style costume. But can absolute mastery of the electromagnetic spectrum counteract event fatigue, a flagging comics industry, and a morass of subplots? Indefensible Ink takes a look back at the "Triangle Era" of Superman books and offers an opinion about why depowering the character isn't the quick fix people assume it will be. Also discussed in this episode: the benefits of super-USB-drive fingers vs. invulnerable toes, a thinly veiled Rush Limbaugh whining that his co-workers don't like him, and strategies for playing Connect Four with small children. BONUS: Where is Metropolis? Where is Gotham City, for that matter? Justin takes a look at the implications of the DC Universe having three New York Cities and considers a possible solution.

We will not see his like again.

Today, many comics artists work completely digitally, but in 1988, creating a comic book using a computer was a noteworthy novelty. Is Mike Saenz's cyberpunk thriller Iron Man: Crash--billed on its cover as "The First Computer-Generated Graphic Novel"--just a gimmick, or is there a story behind the low-rez bitmaps? And if there is a story...is it any good? Justin takes a look at what could either be described as "The Dark Knight Returns, but for Iron Man" or as "Popular Mechanics, crossed with Tales of Suspense." Along the way, this episode attempts to examine anti-Japanese xenophobia in American media of the '80s and also--improbably--contains spoilers for Hercule Poirot's character arc in Kenneth Branagh's Death of the Nile. Also discussed in this episode: naked sauna days, undercover robots at the post office, and the possible re-exposure of Pentagon secrets that have been buried for 30 years.  BONUS: Who are the creators of Venom? It's a tangled web of what constitutes "creation" and when, but Justin offe

Comic book titles don't get much bloodier than Youngblood: Bloodsport...but there's even more types of bodily fluids to worry about in this unfinished miniseries by Mark Millar and Rob Liefeld! What happens when you let a then-up-and-coming Scottish provocateur off the leash and turn him loose on an excitable artist's flagship team? Your host Justin grimaces through some more immature and tasteless nonsense from these goofballs so you don't have to. WARNING: Some reptition of salty language and sexual content. Also discussed in this episode: supper club decorum, every generation's belief that its celebrities are the worst, an extremely questionable attempt at doing an accent, and Stan Lee's least prestigious cameo. BONUS: What exactly constitutes a character's "first appearance"? Inspired by a recent blog discovery (remember blogs?), Justin shares some instances where the answer to this question is more of a matter of philosophy than simple publishing dates.

So many podcasts have already weighed in on Matt Reeves' The Batman, but only Indefensible Ink asks the most important question of all: Is the Penguin in this film actually penguin-y enough to merit the name? Host Justin Zyduck welcomes back his recurring guest and brother, Zach, to discuss what they liked about this film and whether a lifetime of monklike dedication to the field of Batman Studies has ruined Justin's ability to enjoy it even further.