David and John "Transformers Hall-of-Famer" Barber are joined by regular guest, Chase Marotz, for a deep dive into the wild and wonderful frontier of public domain. This is where expired copyrights mean anything goes (kind of)!

They wade through the murky rules of public domain reuse, highlight some exciting new and upcoming properties, and uncover David’s master plan to rejuvenate century-old comic book properties. Chase weighs in with wisdom derived from his extensive beer collection, and they all mourn the shrinking world of comic bookstores, one back issue bin at a time.

Timestamp Segments

• [01:21] David toots John’s horn.
• [04:08] Chase and the Tutu.
• [06:38] Stardust the 4th Most Super Wizard.
• [08:29] Public domain properties.
• [10:08] What is available now?
• [11:16] The next 10 years in comics.
• [12:50] The public domain rules.
• [19:25] Different renditions of properties.
• [26:44] The DC loophole.
• [27:48] How to make public domain properties interesting.
• [34:33] Chase’s current reading.
• [36:34] David reads pictureless comics.
• [38:08] Where to buy comics.

Notable Quotes

• “When we speak, it’s from a place of love and expertise.”
• “The level of fanfic that’s going to happen once this stuff is available is going to be insane.”
• “I suggest everybody just wait 95 years and then listen to this somewhere else.”

Books Mentioned

• Action Comics.
• All-Star Superman, by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Jamie Grant, Neal Adams, & Travis Lanham.
• The Bat-Man: First Knight, The Bat-Man: Second Knight, by Dan Jurgens and Mike Perkins.
• Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment, by Roger Stern, Mike Mignola, & Mark Badger.
• Dracula, by Bram Stoker.
• Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman.
• Dungeons & Dragons.
• Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley.
• Ginseng Roots, by Craig Thompson.
• I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets!, by Fletcher Hanks & Paul Karasik.
• Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, by Chris Ware.
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, by Alan Moore & Kevin O’Neill.
• The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett.

John and David put on their reading glasses and get into Jack Kirby’s Galactic Bounty Hunters, Steve Ditko’s Art, The Conan Revolution, The Return of Bill Schanes, and the Uncertain Future of the Will Eisner Library.

Timestamp Segments

• [00:33] John can see clearly now.
• [02:21] It IS possible to collect all of G.I. Joe.
• [05:01] Jack Kirby: Galactic Bounty Hunters.
• [13:29] How to get through Invincible.
• [18:59] Steve Ditko: The Commerce of Art.
• [22:50] The Conan Revolution.
• [25:26] Gabe Rodriguez makes his mark.
• [29:00] The Will Eisner Library.
• [31:08] The thing about The Spirit.
• [33:37] Who will buy it?
• [36:13] Bud Plant: The Return of Bill Schanes.
• [40:48] The best company for the Eisner Library.
• [44:18] The Public Domain.
• [45:25] This is just for David.

Notable Quotes

• “Congratulations, and welcome to getting old.”
• “Remember, we live in a world where Steve Ditko did Indiana Jones comics.”
• “You’ve just been Corner Boxed.”

Books Mentioned

• A Contract with God, by Will Eisner, Dave Gibbons, Denis Kitchen, & John Lind.
• Adventures of Superman (2013-2014).
• Amazing Fantasy, by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko.
• Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers, by Jack Kirby.
• Conan the Barbarian.
• Cosmochasm, by Alejandro Jodorowsky & Gabriel Rodríguez.
• Cyber Force, by Marc Silvestri.
• The Dreamer, Invisible People, by Will Eisner.
• Galactic Bounty Hunters (2006-2007), by Jack Kirby, Michael Thibodeaux, & Karl Kesel.
• G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.
• Groo the Wonderer, by Sergio Aragones.
• Guardians of the Galaxy (2008-2010).
• Hack/Slash.
• Indiana Jones: The Further Adventures.
• Invincible, by Robert Kirkman, John Rauch, & Ryan Ottley.
• Last of the Viking Heroes, by Jack Kirby & Michael Thibodeaux.
• Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, by Eric Shanower, Gabriel Rodriguez, & Nelson Daniel.
• Locke & Key, by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez.

Our Best of 2025 continues! We find out which comics and artists made it on to the comics industry’s most prestigious (and accurate!) awards list: The Corner Box Best of 2025! This week's awards include Best Original Graphic Novel, Best Collection and Archival Collection, Best New Series, Favorite Comeback, Favorite Artist and Cover Artist, and Best Continuing Series.

Timestamp Segments

• [00:54] The Best Best Of List.
• [01:56] Recap of last week’s Bests.
• [01:58] Best Original Graphic Novel.
• [02:17] Best Collection.
• [02:32] Best New Series.
• [02:51] Favorite Artist.
• [04:39] Best Archival Collection.
• [08:53] The self-publishing movement.
• [13:46] John’s first publication.
• [14:27] David’s comics manifesto.
• [18:40] David’s 2024/25 Best Archival Collection.
• [22:47] Favorite Cover Artist.
• [28:30] Favorite Comeback.
• [39:39] Where does John buy his comics?
• [42:32] Best Continuing Series.
• [49:46] Honorable Mentions.

Notable Quotes

• “This is the only true, valid list of Best of 2025 that’s out there.”
• “This is what we wanted. As fans of comic books, people have been screaming for this, for a while.”
• “Fletcher Hanks froze to death on a bench.”

Books Mentioned

• Absolute Batman, by Scott Snyder & Nick Dragotta.
• Absolute Batman 2025 Annual.
• Absolute Wonder Woman, by Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, & Jordie Bellaire.
• Aquaman, by Jeremy Adams & John Timms.
• Assorted Crisis Events.
• Bacchus, by Eddie Campbell.
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, by Frank Miller.
• Batman: Hush 2, by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, & Alex Sinclair.
• Batman: The Long Halloween, by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale.
• Batman: Year 100, by Paul Pope & Jose Villarrubia.
• Blueberry, by Jean-Michel Charlier & Moebius.
• Bone, by Jeff Smith.
• Captain Marvel (2019-2023).
• Cerebus, by Dave Sim.
• Complete Megaton Man Universe Volume 1: The 1980s, by Don Simpson & Bill Morrison.
• Cornelius: The Merry Life of a

John and David bring us their BEST OF 2025! They take a look at the comics that took the world by storm, the stories that shaped the industry, the artists that made it all possible, and a few honorable mentions (some maybe not from 2025... the fellas got a little excited).

Timestamp Segments

• [00:38] The true 2025 review.
• [04:00] John’s Favorites: New Material.
• [08:10] The story of Prometheus.
• [09:36] David’s Favorites: New Material.
• [13:25] Favorite Interior Artist of the Year.
• [17:21] OGN of the Year.
• [25:10] Best New Ongoing Series.

Notable Quotes

• “We’re probably the only truly valid Best of 2025 List that’s really going to be out there.”
• “It’s the most David Finchy thing that’s ever been drawn.”
• “Keep on comic-ing, everyone.”

Relevant Links

TheCornerbox.Club

Books Mentioned

• 20th Century Man, by Stipan Morian & Deniz Camp.
• Absolute Batman, by Scott Snyder & Nick Dragotta.
• Assorted Crisis Events.
• Absolute Martian Manhunter, by Deniz Camp & Javier Rodriguez.
• Absolute Wonder Woman, by Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, & Jordie Bellaire.
• Batman and Robin: Year One, by Mark Waid & Chris Samnee.
• Invincible, Invincible Universe: Battle Beast, by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, & Annalisa Leoni.
• Copra, Death of Copra, by Michel Fiffe.
• Don’t Go Where I Can’t Follow, Tongues, by Anders Nilsen.
• Dreadstar, Gilgamesh II, by Jim Starlin.
• Drome, Hedra, Kaya, Man’s Best, by Jesse Lonergan.
• Fire Power, by Robert Kirkman & Chris Samnee.
• G.I. Joe.
• G.I. Joe: Real American Hero.
• Helen of Wyndhorn, by Tom King, Bilquis Evely, & Matheus Lopes.
• Hitman, by Garth Ennis & John McCrea.
• Little Bird,

Heroic Signatures Editor, Chris Butera, joins David and John to talk about all things Conan the Barbarian! They get into Jim Zub’s mastery of Conan lore, the expansion of the Howard-verse, the importance of a good writer-artist pairing, and fitting stories into a modern context, and David learns about comics without pictures.

Timestamp Segments

• [01:14] This is the Barbarian.
• [02:51] How Chris fell into comics.
• [04:15] Jim Zub is made for success.
• [08:37] Starting on Conan.
• [11:47] Into the Howard-verse.
• [16:38] Finding new artists.
• [17:37] The Rob and Roy comic magic.
• [21:51] Why writer-artist pairings are so important.
• [28:12] Dealing with Solomon Kane.
• [37:35] Robert E. Howard’s prolific output.
• [39:34] Staying true to Conan while gaining new readers.
• [43:46] How Conan stands the test of time.
• [47:17] What’s in-store of Conan in 2026?

Notable Quotes

• “Prose is comic books without pictures.”
• “Let the artist cook.”
• “We have this goldfish memory, culturally, sometimes, where we forget how acceptable certain things were, how recently, and then cast back 100 years from that, and expect those values to have been in place 100 years earlier…”

Relevant Links

www.ChrisButera.com

www.HeroicSignatures.com

Books Mentioned

• Alter Ego, by Roy Thomas & Ron Harris.
• Conan, Shadows in Zamboula, The Dark Man, by Robert E. Howard.
• Conan the Barbarian.
• Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone, by Jim Zub & Jonas Scharf.
• Conan the Barbarian: Frozen Faith, by Jim Zub & Doug Braithwaite.
• Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent, by Jim Zub, Ivan Gil, & Joao Canola.
• Corto Maltese, by Hugo Pratt.
• Dungeons & Dragons.
• The Frost-Giant’s Daughter, by Robert E. Howard & Raymond West.
• Head Lopper, by Andrew MacLean.
• The Invincible Iron Man (2004-2007).
• Popeye.
• Savage Avengers (2019-2022).
• Savage Sword of Conan.
• Transformers.

Challengers Comics + Conversation’s Patrick Brower joins John and David for part 2 of this year-end conversation about all things comics in 2025. They get into why David can’t get all the variant covers, the Marvel/DC crossovers, what made the Absolute Line so successful, the good and the bad of 2025, and looking ahead at the comics industry in 2026, and Patrick makes a prediction – will it come true?

Timestamp Segments

• [00:57] Excitement for 2026.
• [04:38] The variant covers headache.
• [08:03] Marvel and DC do different books together.
• [09:59] The average customer.
• [11:09] The DC/Marvel solution.
• [12:29] DC K.O.
• [14:22] What makes the Absolute Line work?
• [17:56] Was 2025 a good year for comics?
• [19:10] PRH’s payment portal.
• [21:28] Book distributors vs comic distributors.
• [23:31] Making more money – still broke.
• [25:06] What’s coming up in 2026?
• [29:09] Patrick’s prediction for 2026.
• [30:21] Patrick mentions wrestling.
• [30:40] Warner being bought, again.
• [31:35] The longest-running comic shop.

Notable Quotes

• “I'm not saying any names, whatsoever.”
• “Your average customer isn't the expert customer you're hearing from on the internet.”
• “I'm just disappointed that Time Warner rejected the Blockbuster video bid from the early 90s.”

Relevant Links

Challengerscomics.com

Books Mentioned

• Absolute Batman, by Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, & Frank Martin.
• Absolute Green Lantern, by Al Ewing & Jahnoy Lindsay.
• Absolute Martian Manhunter, by Deniz Camp & Javier Rodriguez.
• Absolute Superman, by Jason Aaron & Rafa Sandoval.
• Absolute Wonder Woman, by Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, & Jordie Bellaire.
• Batman, by Matt Fraction & Jorge Jiménez.
• The Cull, by Kelly Thompson & Mattia de Iulis.
• DC K.O., by Scott Snyder, Xermanico, Javi Fernandez, & Alejandro Sanchez.
• DC/Marvel: Batman/Deadpool.
• G.I. Joe.
• Ice Cream Man, by W. Maxwell Price, Martin Morazzo, & Chris O’Halloran.
• Marvel/DC: Deadpool/Batman (2025- ).
• Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. (2006-2010), by Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen.

Challengers Comics + Conversation’s very own Patrick Brower joins John and David for a 2-part year-end conversation about all things comics in 2025. They get into how Diamond’s fall reshaped the entire industry, what it takes to run a comic bookstore, the disappearance of customer service, and a week in the life of a Challengers comic book.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of The Corner Box vs Patrick Brower!

Timestamp Segments

• [01:13] The podcast peaks.
• [05:00] The fall of Diamond.
• [13:53] Navigating smaller margins.
• [16:57] Where is customer service?
• [19:05] Heroes World.
• [20:46] Delivery headaches.
• [25:09] David gets a card.
• [27:06] The shelf-life of a Challengers comic book.

Notable Quotes

• “Not being able to access customer service and talk to a real-live person in 2025, there’s nothing that makes me more angry than that.”
• “It’s not a New Year’s card. It’s a Christmas card.”
• “If you want people to look through stuff, hide it.”

Relevant Links

challengerscomics.com

Books Mentioned

• Kamen Rider, by Shotaro Ishinomori.
• Transformers.
• Transformers: Optimus Prime, by John Barber & Kei Zama.

The one and only real Jim McCann joins John and David to talk about his secret careers in music and flower arranging, the truth behind the success of the podcast, a peek the behind-the-scenes in comic book publishing offices, and how to put a double-page spread to good use. Also, David wets himself, Jim wets his comics, and John gets a rock.

Timestamp Segments

• [00:48] David’s leaky pipes.
• [04:28] Jim loses comics.
• [05:12] David finds comics.
• [06:16] The third best Jim McCann.
• [06:53] Jim is algorithm-optimized.
• [08:37] The world, summarized.
• [10:16] The best office locations.
• [17:53] The Other/Half.
• [19:30] Setting up a double-page spread.
• [22:33] The perfect page turn.
• [32:01] Working with Ignition Press.
• [42:11] Jim’s other secret projects.
• [43:25] John and G.I. Joe.

Notable Quotes

• “I was there for, if I recall correctly, about another 435 years.”
• “Sometimes, rocks are bad. Sometimes, they’re good.”
• “I’m responsible for more failed relaunches of G.I. Joe than any other human being.”

Books Mentioned

• Avengers #800, by Brian Michael Bendis, Jed Mackay, Mark Bagley, Farid Karami, & Russell Dauterman.
• Avengers Disassembled.
• Civil War.
• Conan the Barbarian.
• Dazzler, by Jim McCann & Kalman Andrasofszky.
• Deluge, by Cullen Bunn & Marika Cresta.
• G.I. Joe.
• Green Lantern: Ganthet’s Tale, by John Byrne & Larry Niven.
• Green Lantern Mosaic, by Gerard Jones & Cully Hamner.
• Hawkeye & Mockingbird, by Jim McCann, David Lopez, & Paul Renaud.
• House of M.
• Mind the Gap, by Jim McCann.
• Morning Glories, by Joe Eisma, Nick Spencer, & Rodin Esquejo.
• Murder Podcast, by Jeremy Haun, Mike Tisserand, & Nick Filardi.
• Mutant Massacre.
• New Avengers: The Reunion, by Jim McCann, David Lopez, & Jo Chen.
• New Teen Titans.
• Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann & Janet Lee.
• Something is Killing the Children, by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera, & Miquel Muerto.
• Star Trek: Year Five.