Episode 055 “Make Mine Minty”

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Roll out the red carpet, break out the bow ties and pull on some Prada – it’s Minty Awards time! In the 5th Annual Minty Awards, we look back at the best comics, creators, characters and industry happenings of 2012.

It’s been a while since Ben & Josh stepped up to the mic so there’s lots of catching up to do before the awards get handed out. Skip ahead to the 32-minute mark to get right to the Mintys, but if you do you’ll miss our opening ramble in which we talk Oscar movies, academia, craft beer and giant monsters. With the initial pleasantries out of the way we open up the envelopes and dish out more comic talk than you can shake a fiddlestick at.

Minty Awards are given by each of our illustrious co-hosts in 23 categories across all areas of comicdom. Industry happenings, characters, creators and comics all get their dues but what who will be the big winners? Listen as we pack a year’s worth of shocks, surprises and spider powers into three awesome hours. If you only attend one fake awards show this year, the Minty Awards should be it!

  

Best Cover honors are just the beginning for Amazing Spider-Man and Saga in the 5th Annual Minty Awards.

Music in this episode by: The Who, Rage Against the Machine, Assembly of Dust, Lady Gaga

Episode 054 • NEAR MINTerview w/ Bill Willingham

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2013 is upon us and we’re kicking off the new year with one of our biggest guests to date. Bill Willingham is the Eisner Award-winning creator of Fables and he joined us for an in-depth conversation about the series and it’s ever-growing universe.

Willingham reveals his secret origin as an MP before breaking into comics as a penciler. Then, we discuss the latest Fables collection (vol. 18, “Cubs in Toyland”) and why you might need an english lit lesson before you read it. We also talk about the spinoff series, Fairest and the recent original graphic novel, Werewolves of the Heartland, and find out what character he couldn’t bear to turn over to another writer.

Later in the conversation we learn about Fabletown and Beyond, a 3-day convention coming to Minnesota, March 22-24 to celebrate Fables and other comics from the “mythic fiction” genre. Willingham gives his perspective on the departure of longtime Vertigo editor, Karen Berger and what it means for the future of the imprint. Finally, we wrap things up with a preview of the 2012 Minty Awards. What is Bill Willingham’s “Oh shit” Moment to the Year? Listen and find out.

Music in this episode by: Sara Bareilles

Episode 053 “Peace, Love and Whoopie”

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Rising from the ashes in the wake of human tragedy, we offer up a pre-Christmas episode filled with peace, love and good will towards mankind… that, and game shows.

In the holiday spirit, we open things up by announcing a new charitable endeavor. before launching in the the comics-related task at hand. Spilling over from last episode, we take up Matchmaking in Minnesota’s challenge to play the Newlywed Game geek-culture-style. Dark secrets are revealed as we find out how much Ben and Josh really know about each other.

After that, we launch into some comic talk with The Walking Dead, Venom, B.P.R.D and a thorough post-mortem on Bendis’ run on the Avengers. There’s Spider-Man talk, of course, as we hurtle towards the dramatic conclusion of Amazing Spider-Man. Marvel NOW! talk continues, fueled by our exclusive info-graphic tracking the origins of Marvel’s new titles.

Finally, it’s back to the Game Show set for a high-stakes game of way-too-difficult Marvel trivia, with the loser forced to read a book of the winner’s choosing for all of 2013. There’s twists, turns, surprises and a musical gift to all our listeners to close out the show!

Music in this episode by:
Al Green & Annie Lennox, Elvis Presley, The Shins, Tom Petty, Ben Peirce

Episode 052 “Pilgrim n’ Gritty”

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Need something to be thankful for this November? How about 2+ hours of Near Mint action to keep you company as over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house you go!

The appetizer is a very Josh-centric opening, as he recaps European travels, NASCAR and new academic endeavors. Then we dish up a Superman-sized portion of comic talk including Batman, Liberty Annual 2012, Uncanny Avengers, The Walking Dead TV series, The Dark Knight Returns animated movie and more. Plus, we get into a healthy conversation about the newly-minted Marvel NOW!

After that, it’s time to open up the Near Mint mailbag and answer some listener questions which take us down a dark and winding road beset by wardrobe interventions, disembodied voices and fight scenes, setting the stage for an exiting and high-stakes next episode.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone – DIG IN!

Music in this episode by: The Rolling Stones, Wiz Khalifa, Public Enemy, El Cuarteto De Nos, The Marvelettes

Editors Note: If you have questions for the next Near Mint mail-call, send them to nearmintcomicshow@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!

Episode 051 “Stan Lee Cup Champs”

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Don’t call it a comeback – we’ve been here for years! Despite all self-perpetuated rumors to the contrary, Ben and Josh are back for a 51st episode and doing so in championship style!

This one is all about comics, baby! No movie talk, no industry speculation, no random tangents …well, almost no random tangents). In the obligatory Catchin’ Up segment, we hear about Josh’s upcoming world travels and the digital release of Ben’s new film at pilotgroove.com. Then the boys take a brief interlude to see the Stanley Cup. But after THAT it’s all comics!

In the first half of the show, we count down our top 5 comic stories of all time and dive into what makes each one desert-island-worthy. To see Ben’s top 50, click here. After that, we get current with Marvel NOW! and a tour of the 616, through the lens of Josh Nason. Then, Ben takes us on a tour of the comics world outside the big 2, including the Rocketeer, Saga, Dark Horse horror and more.

If you’ve been waiting 50 episodes for us to actually talk about comics, this will be our finest hour… or two!

Music in this episode by: Pilotgroove, Queen, Tyler Trautmen,
Reel Big Fish, Eminem

Episode 050 “Near Mint No More”

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This is the one you’ve all been waiting for. Recorded four years to the day from our first episode, we celebrate our silken anniversary with the much-anticipated, giant-sized, earth-shattering EPISODE 50!

Packed inside this overstuffed audio gift box is our in-depth analysis of all three comic book summer blockbusters – The Avengers, The Amazing Spider Man and The Dark Knight Rises. Ben defends the honor of the Boy Wonder, Josh get’s soft on Supes and we display our dismay over the recent “Marvel Now!” announcements.

There’s comic talk of course, including Tale of Sand, new books from Millarworld, The Court of Owls and and a double-shot of Darwyn Cooke. Along the way, Ben & Josh count down some of their top 5 favorite things in the world of entertainment. Gifts are bestowed, emotions run high and announcements are made that will shake you to your very core!

Music in this episode by: Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, Hans Zimmer, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Van Halen, the Beatles, Amy Adams, The Doors, Pearl Jam, Stan Bush

Episode 049 • NEAR MINTerview w/ Cullen Bunn

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From his brain to your ears, Ben Peirce steps inside the mad mind of Cullen Bunn in the latest NEAR MINTerview! The Eisner-nominated writer of The Sixth Gun joins us to talk about that, along with a myriad of other projects including Wolverine, Venom, Spider-Man: Season One, Captain America and a few more teases of things to come.

Along the way, we talk about Cullen’s approach to writing, the never-un-changing-forever world of superhero comics, the perils of the continuity trap, and creator-owned comics vs. bucket list characters. It’s an hour+ of awesome with one of the top writers in comics!

Music in this episode by: Ween, Stereophonics

Episode 048 “Spoiled Milk”

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We’re back after taking some time off for Ben to have a baby and Josh to learn how babies are made. After some brief catch up, we dive right into some long-awaited comic talk.

We recap Free Comic Book Day and the recent Boston Comic Con. Battle lines are drawn as we react to the first 3 issues of A vs. X and speculate about the rumored X-Bendis regime. Josh mourns the loss of Moon Knight, Ben get’s lost in the Night of Owls and we weigh in on Before Watchmen.

Later, we debate the etiquette of TV spoilers before launching into a longer-than-expected discussion on The Walking Dead TV series. In the obligatory summer movie discussion, we make our demands of The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man. Finally we wrap things up with some rapid fire reviews and recommendations including Venom, Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth, Tom Strong and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

It’s a cornucopia of comic talk to kick off the season of summer blockbusters!

Music in this episode by: Steve Miller Band, Dropkick Murphys, Phish, The Hooters

Episode 047 • NEAR MINTerview w/ Matt Kindt

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Ben Peirce is back with another NEAR MINTerview! Joining us this month from St. Louis, Missouri is Matt Kindt. Matt is a Harvey Award-winning writer and artist who made a name for himself with his breakout hits, Super Spy and 2 Sisters, from Top Shelf Publications. Since then, he’s produced a number of graphic novels, including 3 Story: the Secret History of the Giant Man, from Dark Horse, Revolver at Vertigo, and The Tooth with Cullen Bunn from Oni Press. He recently took the reigns on Jeff Lemire’s Sweet Tooth, where he penciled a pivotal story arc in the series.

We touch on many of those works over the course of the interview as well as some new projects Matt has coming up. His new ongoing series from Dark Horse, Mind MGMT is generating a lot of excitement. And in the coming months, he’ll be taking over as the regular writer on Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. There’s a lot to look forward to from Matt Kindt and we cover it all, as well as thoughts on the Watchmen prequels and predictions for the Oscars – don’t miss it!

Music in this episode by: Johnny Rivers, MGMT

Episode 046 “Minty Fresh”

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Happy New Year! It’s the first show of 2012, but this episode is all about 2011. Join us as we honor the best comics, creators, characters and more in the 4th Annual Minty Awards! Hear what Ben, Josh and you the listener picked as the best of 2011. Find out who the biggest winners were. Listen as a favorite title is raised to the rafters of the Minty Hall of Fame. Gaze into the crystal ball with bold predictions for the year ahead.

All this, plus Ben schooling Thomas Vokoun, Josh’s week of movies, the New DC Logo discussed, and the films of P.J. Huot. It’s a fitting send-off for the year that was, and the perfect start to 2012.

Music in this episode by: Mac Miller, Gashammer, The Beatles, Cee Lo, Timbuk 3, Harold Faltermeyer & Steve Stevens, Michael Bublé, Fred Rogers

  

These Cover-of-the-Year Winners were one of several honors bestowed upon Amazing Spider-Man and Venom in the 2011 Minty Awards.