Small town boy makes good? or big city media conglomeration makes believe?Absolute Superman is an ostensible return to the character's origin as a voice (and fist) for the masses, but can we trust DC Comics (a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery) to deliver such a hero?More importantly, does the book's intent even matter?----------Special thanks t…

How many of your neighbors have you met?When was the last time you helped the homeless?Do you, as a worker, have the power to affect government policy?Organizing takes many forms, some immediate and some sustained. While the abilities of Superman would certainly be helpful, they're by no means necessary to build a world that protects the vulnerable…

What does it mean to be "super?" What does it mean to have "power?"The Death and Return of Superman has us asking these questions in an era when it was less and less appropriate to do so.It was also a time of deep unrest, being the first sprout from the seeds of counterrevolution the previous decade. The ostensible leaders of resistance to such rea…

IT'S A SAN DIEGO COMIC CON TAKEOVER, FOLKS! Many thanks to SDCC for hosting our panel "Revolutionary Comics: Revolutionaries in Our Comics!"Five wonderful creators, one amazing moderator, and some goofy schlub with a podcast came together to talk radical politics in comics we love, our visions for the future of comics, and how we engage with creati…

Today in Bonus Feed Land, the irrepressible Neil Kapit takes the stand as a character witness for that plucky upstart Tony Stark! Neil asserts that, while Iron Man might not be the most beloved superhero on the left, the pathos and self-sacrifice of this demon-haunted Avenger speak to a far more interesting human being than the movies or Mark Milla…

Thank you all for a wonderful three years of Collective Action Comics! Please find attached the answers to all your burning questions. I tried my best to answer each one with the appropriate proportion of sass and humility. Here's to the future! Very proud to be fighting for it alongside all of you.(Please don't X-communicate me for having once lik…

Today in Bonus Feed Land, friend of the show Shaun Corley takes Nat on a historical jaunt through a catalog of Marvel's earliest anticommunist stories and characters all the way up to some of their more recent racist depictions of dastardly foreigners.Find the full episode on the Patreon!(A contribution to MECA has been made in Shaun's name in appr…

To begin Season 3 of this podcast, Brian and Raines discuss the state of the action figure industry, the new Mattel Eternia Playset, Mcfarlane DC Multiverse and much more. Come join us for some badly recorded action figure conversation 2 years in the making. Cover Art by Jay Hilgenfeld.Av Each Sold Separately: Collect Them All!

Today in Bonus Feed Land, we laugh! We cry! The great critic and writer Elizabeth Sandifer walks Nat through Mark Millar from his earliest work (it might surprise you) to his most recent corporate gambit (it won't)! https://www.eruditorumpress.com/last-war-in-albionhttps://www.patreon.com/elizabethsandifer----------Email: collectiveactioncomics@gma…

From oil fields to poppy fields to killing fields, the United States lays claim upon the world. Overwhelming force in service of the export of capital requires constant presence and insistent justification. There is no excuse too craven nor apologia too callow for the media that abets these crimes. No matter how you costume it, the violence is beyo…

You asked, we delivered! We're finally doing it, folks! We're tackling the movies! In this sweeping interview, Walt from the Black Casebook breaks down what works and what doesn't about Whedon's two Avengers movies and how they compare politically and narratively to Millar's The Ultimates. Subscribe on Patreon to hear the whole thing! Listen to the…

Sometimes, you have to break a few omelettes to get to the eggs inside."Conventional wisdom" is a curious thing, and, in the United States, it's been deliberately constructed, shaped, and molded over the last 70+ years. Patriotic imagery and severely lacking history curricula have joined forces to warp the perception of the US, leaving its citizens…

Message delivered. The end of the mission draws near.Av Collective Action Comics

In this special bonus interview for season two, we get to hear from writer/artist Ben Becker on the first issue of his new anthology series "Paper Medicine" and follow him on the journey that led him to write about some very comradely goldfish piloting a mechanical man. Join us as we talk comics, cooperatives, and the aquatic liberation that only c…

Good news: There's very little of The Ultimates in this episode.Bad news: That means we have to fill air time talking about ways in which the US government infiltrates and shuts down left wing movements, how the working class needs to learn to come together, and how other countries are good, actually. Hooray.----------Email: collectiveactioncomics@…

Tony Stark knows you better than you know yourself. In this age of sensors, cameras, and speculative markets, everything we do is catalogued and sold to the highest bidder.Unlike the Earth in this issue, our privacy isn't being invaded. We're giving it up willingly. (Ultimate Celebrity Sighting Count: 23)----------Email: collectiveactioncomics@gmai…

Old jokes and old terrors. New jokes and new meanings. Does the United States of America care about you? Of course not. As a project at large, the United States is a vehicle for consumption and destruction, and even its most ardent defenders get thrown into the fuel tank. We explore that here. Also, Hank Pym's anatomy. I'm a Doofus Update: I missed…

Why does the United States of America keep children at its southern border? Why did Ronald Reagan give millions of dollars a day to fascists in El Salvador? Why does the Black Widow want a fake ID?It's all for Tony Stark.For the current count of children held at the US border:https://healthdata.gov/widgets/ehpz-xc9nErratum: The Trump administration…

CW: Violence and anti-Muslim racismYou are not you. You are you plus others. You are you plus others plus your environment.When this you is split, the consequences are almost beyond imagining. Almost. Through the Ultimates' manipulation of the media and the narrative, we imagine them here. ----------Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveac…

CW: Discussions of assaultBetween commodifying relationships and driving the need for imperial expansion, capitalism sure has done a number on this world. While all workers are victims of it, there are those upon whom the blows fall more heavily. Concurrently, there are those who, by the very nature of capitalist occlusion (and exclusion), are eith…

Found on 1/25/23Is this a message? A warning? Who left this for us?If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of the subject of the recording, please email collectiveactioncomics@gmail.com.Solidarity.Av Collective Action Comics

[Heads up for this one: The intro contains a real 911 call that some might find disturbing. I certainly did.]Do you have an adequate support structure in times of crisis? Beyond your family or your personal savings (if you've even got any)?Social safety nets are being taken from us every day. Some more rapidly and violently than others. This is del…

In the corporate-funded presentation of politics, the actions of a "destined" few among the "everyday" many are highlighted and made to seem necessary and inevitable. This is reinforced by an entertainment industry that delivers these narratives in flashy and convincing ways.This trope of the "heroes" being removed from or above the masses serves o…

Things are being taken from us. Even many who have been systemically shielded from the violence of this decay are beginning to notice. What is there to do about this rot from the right? Who can save us from it?Don't go looking to the Ultimates for answers.(Ultimate Celebrity Sighting Count: 3)Follow the show here:https://twitter.com/cacomixpodhttps…

People deserve heroes. People deserve aspirational stories. People also deserve the truth. All time and forever.In this episode, we discuss the modern myth making of the Bush administration and its complicit media and how this may have manifested itself in the Ultimates - a cinematic trudge through the mud of nationalism and the lionization of the …

Broke my dang microphone.Av Collective Action Comics

It's a brand new season here at Collective Action Comics! Last time, we cringed as Ronald Reagan molded the world for a capitalistic and mean-spirited Justice League to thrive in. Now, we must stare horrified into the storm of war. New York has been attacked. An oil-rich scapegoat has been chosen. All that's left is for George W. Bush to whip the c…

Setup: What do cannabis and kryptonite have in common? Punchline: Comics publishers and US Presidents have no idea what they actually do to people. Today we sit down with senior staff writer for ScreenRant Shaun Corley( https://twitter.com/CorleyonthShore )as he hits some key notes on the history of superhero comics and their often antagonistic rel…

As an idea, Superheroes are inherently right wing - at least in some regards and with only a cursory investigation.Foremost recipient of this criticism is Batman, and generally rightly so.But is there more to him than the surface-level misuse of capital?The Black Casebook is in the studio with CAC to present Batman as the shifting reflection of man…

In this bonus episode, we get to hear from J.R. Hughto and Curt Merlo, the creative team behind the fantastic dystopian sci-fi comic "That Distant Fire."We sit down to talk about comics, corporate crunch, and the crafting of a conscious narrative.I also have the pleasure and privilege of making a special announcement for the comic! As promised in t…

In this episode, Brian and Raines discuss the Masters of the Universe action figure line.Av Each Sold Separately: Collect Them All!

Brian and Raines discuss all of the new fall action figure releases, Haslab fiascos, He-man and the Masters of the Universe and much more.Av Each Sold Separately: Collect Them All!

Are things really as bad as they seem? No.They're so much worse.In this season finale, we conclude our deep dive into power and influence. We see how the Reagan era truly marks the point of no return for the capitalist world. We'll learn just why we're made to believe that other countries are evil, despite the United States doing everything it accu…

You filthy animals can get the rest if you subscribe to the Patreon!Av Collective Action Comics

What makes a country "free?" Is it the right to do whatever you want all the time? Some of the time? Within reason? The United States fails to meet any of these arbitrary qualitative plateaus.Is it the right to food? to housing? to basic dignity?The US is lightyears from approaching this definition. Is it the right to be physically subdued by a min…

Y'ever get the feeling you're just screaming into the void? Have you ever felt like you can only ever express your dissatisfaction by breaking something? Or possibly by performing an ancient ritual to give you an all-seeing eye and the power to shape reality? Your feelings are valid! In this episode, we tackle the idea of the utility of rage and pr…

So you want to be a billionaire.That's gonna cost you. But not really. In fact, you'll make money just for having money! And then you'll make even more money by stealing from the labor of everyone who works for you.But where are you going to put this money? Who's going to keep an eye on it for you? What are you going to do to the people who try to …

It's pretty convenient that all of the enemies of the United States happen to be very strong and also very weak at the same time, right? It's also pretty cool that they're definitely not normal people like we are, because they all like the same things and have no opinions, agency, or autonomy. Or is that...us? In this episode, your host discusses s…

Brian and Raines catch up on what has happened in the world of toys since they took their long hiatus from the show in 2020.Av Each Sold Separately: Collect Them All!

Long-term nuclear warnings substantially lose their sting when you consider that this Justice League series might be around for the rest of human history. Speaking of history...we do just that in this episode. We're trotting out the worst villains of all time - Saddam Hussein, the East India Company, and of course, the New York Times.…

On this first episode of the pod, your host gibbers and howls about how neoliberal alienation resulted in a very bad superhero team and some even worse jokes.Av Collective Action Comics

So many new toys!!!! Brian and Raines dicuss HasCon and the glut of new toys that have come out from Hasbro, Super 7, Mattel, Etc in the past couple of months.Av Each Sold Separately: Collect Them All!

It is a New World and there are New Toys and New Stupid Preorders! Brian and Raines discuss all of the early news from the SDCC Stay-at-home Con!Av Each Sold Separately: Collect Them All!

In this episode, Brian and Raines welcome the G.I. Joe Expert/Nerd Brian Wilkes to chat about our memories of G.I. Joe and our Top 10 most wanted G.I. Joe Classified figures.Av Each Sold Separately: Collect Them All!

Thank god for little plastic men! In this episode Brian and Raines discuss living with toys during a pandemic and what is going to happen to all the toys that are supposed to come out this year!Av Each Sold Separately: Collect Them All!

Av Each Sold Separately: Collect Them All!

Raines and Brian discuss the their Holiday Toy Wish List and their toy hopes for 2020.Av Each Sold Separately: Collect Them All!

In this episode, we get know more about Brian and Raines, who they are, what they do, and how they feel about their work that helps provide for their toy obsessions.Av Each Sold Separately: Collect Them All!

Brian and Raines discuss their Top 10 most anticipated new releases and Brian trip to NYCC. We talk Mezco, Mattel, NECA, Hasbro, Super 7, Etc. and all of the exciting new figures coming from these companies.Av Each Sold Separately: Collect Them All!

Raines and Brian discuss their Top 15 Marvel Legends of All Time!Av Each Sold Separately: Collect Them All!