Fred Van Lente's Blog: Maximum Fred

Heroes aren't born, they're made. I am excited to announce that all episodes of the podcast drama King Kirby, the audio adaptation of the New York Times Critics' Pick play I wrote with my wife Crystal Skillman, is available now for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and everywhere else you get your podcasts. You can also listen directly on the Broadway Podcast Network web site.

Full description, from BPN: Heroes aren’t born, they’re made. This is the epic tale of Jack Kirby, the most famous cartoonist you never heard of: Born in the Lower East Side slums, veteran of the battlefields of France, co-creator of CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE AVENGERS, THE X-MEN, Kirby had his biggest fight after his comic books became an international sensation: He had to fight for his name, and the recognition he was denied. An audio version of the New York Times Critics’ Pick play by award-winning Crystal Skillman and Fred Van Lente, starring the original New York cast of Steven Rattazzi, Amy Lee Pearsall, Nat Cassidy, Joseph Mathers and Timothy McCown Reynolds.

With the impending premiere of WANDAVISION on Disney+, I thought I'd try something a little different with my 13th Dimension column and run down my favorite issues of the two VISION & THE SCARLET WITCH miniseries from the '80s that were clearly a big inspiration for the show. Enjoy!

My latest for 13th Dimension: Take a cruise with me through the best stories of that Swingin' Sultan of the Seas, NICK CARDY! On his 100th birthday we look at the artist's top AQUAMAN tales and why they would make Jacques Cousteau poop his wet suit:

The wait is over! You can get this fast-break history of hoops by Joe Cooper and me everywhere books are sold—and you can get a signed copy by me at my web store on http://www.eviltwincomics.com while (very) limited supplies last.

To celebrate, over on 13th Dimension I did a deep dive on the greatest basketball comic of all time until mine: The one-page 1979 Spalding ad by the incomparable Jack Davis starring Dr. J and Rick Barry!

Happy 103rd Birthday to Jack Kirby, my favorite comics creator, and, statistically speaking, yours; not to mention the subject of a very well-received play by my wife and myself. In my latest for the fine folks at 13th Dimension I rank his greatest issues for his return to Marvel Comics in the 1970s, where he created such titles as 2001, The Eternals, Devil Dinosaur and, of course, Machine Man:

Happy Birthday to John Byrne, who turns 70 today! In celebration I penned a love letter to my favorite comic in my drug-store spinner-rack years—a comic I used to write!— his ALPHA FLIGHT:

Big news guys! My next non-fiction graphic novel is coming out Sept 1 from Ten Speed Press: THE COMIC BOOK STORY OF BASKETBALL with Joe Cooper! It's a fast-break history of hoops covering the NBA, WNBA, NCAA and all points in between! We've been working on this for a long time, and I am thrilled to share selections from it with you over the next couple weeks. Preorder by clicking here!

Real history! Fake jokes! FULL COLOR! The four irreverent-but-accurate volumes of Ryan Dunlavey's and my ACTION PRESIDENTS are out today! Preview the OGNs—George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy—at actionpresidents.com and order there!



Obligatory review quotes!

“A delightful, educational spin on history—and plenty of jokes.” -School Library Journal.

“Sheer joy!" -Booklist (starred review).

“[The authors] aim to contextualize historical figures who are often blindly lionized …a goal that comes through clearly amid a flurry of gags and jokes.” -Publisher's Weekly

“…sharply written history of America's first President, with hilarious artwork always keeping things lively - it's highly recommended.” - Comic Book Resources

Happy birthday to the co-creator of Batman & the Outsiders, Mike W. Barr! My Bat-gift to him is to Bat-listicle his Bat-books, because it is Bat-2020:

I had such a good time with my Denny O'Neil QUESTION tribute (see previous post), Dan at 13th Dimension and I decided to make this a semi-regular thing! Today is the birthday of Gardner Fox, co-creator of ADAM STRANGE, so here's his Top 13 Strange Tales (sic), ranked.