Collecting Issues

About Collecting Issues

Welcome to Collecting Issues, the monthly comic book club podcast for readers who want to talk about comics properly. Each month, Mick and Ben choose a single graphic novel and invite you to read along with us. Share your thoughts, theories and favourite moments on our Discord or on social media with us, and join the conversation while you read. At the end of the month, we record a full episode on that book: the story, the art, the panel construction, the things it gets right and the things we argue about. We cover the whole range of comic book glory, from Batman and X-Men to indie, literary and creator-owned work. Expect close readings rather than recaps. We dig into character development, comic history, story analysis, art styles and the way comics do things no other medium can. Whether you're a seasoned collector or you've just picked up your first trade, Collecting Issues is a place to find great reads and talk about them with people who care about good comics. Let's celebrate the world of comics together. New episodes monthly. We also dip into our archive, remastering older episodes with new context recorded around them, and publish longer comic critical essays on our Substack. Read along with us on Discord, find us on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, and follow wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

Mick and Ben

Category

arts · arts · comedy

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

22 May 2019

Latest episode

15 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

103 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   15 Oct 2026

   Fault Lines (2026) by Robert Cullen

   Mick and Ben open spooky season with Fault Lines, the debut comic anthology from Robert Cullen, the Irish animator who founded Boulder Media (Danger Mouse, Transformers, Wacky Races). It has three stories about guilt, grief and the Irish diaspora. They range from Twilight Zone strange to quietly devastating, and each turns on the moment a life breaks apart. In this episode: The Vanishing Act: Blackpool, 1976. Kathleen, an Irish showgirl in Tommy Cooper’s variety act, takes work as the assistant to a sleazy magician whose disappearing trick sometimes actually works. We look at magical realism, women “staying in their places”, and an eight-page silent sequence that shows how much comics can do. How to Be a Ghost: Mick’s favourite. A grief story set in Canada with a twist you’ll want to reread straight away. We cover Cullen’s limited colour palette, his nine-panel grids, and why this story only works as a comic. Siren: Campbell, a deaf man in Glasgow, hears a sound for the first time in 40 years and is pulled back to Edinburgh and an old crime. We talk about one of the best depictions of deafness and sign language we’ve seen in a comic, and about how guilt gets handed down to the next generation. Along the way: Cullen’s move from animation director to comic book creator, how he uses cinematic framing without making the pages feel like storyboards, and why independent Irish comics deserve your money. Spoilers throughout, so read it first. It’s a book club, not a review show. Next time, for Halloween: A Guest in the House by E.M. Carroll. 🎧 Listen and subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Acast Find us Join the Discord and read along (https://discord.gg/CTKJr3j2jp) Read Our Substack (https://collectingissuespodcast.substack.com/) Follow us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/collectingissues/) Follow us on Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@collectingissues?lang=en) Watch us on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4JTsT8MXJtk5jr4sJxUpXQ) Buy Fault Lines from your local independent comic shop. Time Stamps: 00:00 Intro and Premise 01:13 Support Indie Comics 01:51 What Is Fault Lines 03:26 Creator Background 04:24 Vanishing Act Setup 04:32 Kathleen in Blackpool 13:34 Break In and Loss 16:47 Great Dini Offer 20:07 Snuff Magic Audience 22:43 Escape and Rescue 29:03 Story One Wrap 29:52 Story Two Tease 30:54 Follow and Subscribe 32:44 Ghost Story Twist 35:22 Comics Medium Advantage 36:43 Cullen Interview Craft 38:56 Color Memory Motifs 42:49 Crash Site Grief Reveal 44:26 Restraint Happy Ending 47:06 Siren Call Deafness 52:03 Guilt Road Trip Edinburgh 55:47 Accident Backstory Unfolds 58:20 Fault Lines Aftermath 01:00:30 Wrap Up Next Episode Tags / keywords: Fault Lines comic, Robert Cullen, Boulder Media, Irish comics, independent comics, horror comic anthology, graphic novel review, comic book podcast, comic book club, magical realism comics, Halloween comics, spooky season, Irish podcast, Collecting Issues Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

2. 

   10 Sept 2026

   Squadron Supreme (1985) by Mark Gruenwald, Bob Hall & John Beatty

   What happens when a Justice League pastiche decides the only way to save the world is to run it? On this episode of Collecting Issues, the monthly comic book club podcast, Ben and Michael read Squadron Supreme #1–12 (Marvel Comics, 1985) by Mark Gruenwald, Bob Hall and John Beatty. Hyperion, Power Princess, Nighthawk, Doctor Spectrum, the Whizzer and the rest of the Squadron Supreme wake up in a world wrecked by alien mind control, and their solution is the Utopia Program: disarm the population, fix hunger, cure death and, eventually, rewire criminals' brains with Tom Thumb's behaviour-modification tech. What could go wrong? We get into the Squadron's origins as Marvel's answer to DC's Justice League, the grim secret lives of its heroes, the B-Mod debate that splits the team, Golden Archer's horrifying abuse of Lark, the bizarre Hyperion doppelgänger subplot, Nuke and Doctor Spectrum's fatal fight, and the brutal final showdown. We also ask whether this is an accidental first draft of the postmodern superhero comic, and how it stacks up against Watchmen, Kingdom Come and Identity Crisis. Plus: eighties comic book dialogue, a whole lot of recap panels, and the famous story of Mark Gruenwald's ashes being mixed into the ink of the Squadron Supreme trade paperback. Spoiler warning: this is a book club, not a review. Read the comic first, then come back. Next up: Fault Lines, an eerie, Twilight Zone-style sci-fi anthology of three stories from Irish creator Robert Cullen. Chapters 00:00 Intro & Spoiler Warning 04:24 What Is Squadron Supreme? 31:27 Secret Lives & Character Backstories 38:57 The B-Mod Debate 42:57 Golden Archer & Lark 50:54 Hyperion's Doppelgänger 58:34 The Civil War Showdown 01:11:46 Outro & Next Episode Find us Join the Discord and read along (https://discord.gg/CTKJr3j2jp) Read Our Substack (https://collectingissuespodcast.substack.com/) Follow us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/collectingissues/) Follow us on Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@collectingissues?lang=en) Watch us on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4JTsT8MXJtk5jr4sJxUpXQ) Tags / keywords Squadron Supreme, Mark Gruenwald, Bob Hall, Marvel Comics, Hyperion, Power Princess, Nighthawk, Justice League, Watchmen, Kingdom Come, Identity Crisis, Bronze Age comics, superhero deconstruction, comic book podcast, comic book club, graphic novel review, Irish podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

3. 

   6 Aug 2026

   Mister Miracle (2018) by Tom King and Mitch Gerads- Archive Episode

   What happens when the man who can escape anything cannot escape himself? In this remastered archive episode, first recorded in 2019 and reissued with new context and commentary, Mick and Ben dig into Mister Miracle (2017-2018) by Tom King and Mitch Gerads, the Eisner Award winning 12 issue series from DC Comics. The episode covers: Jack Kirby's Fourth World and why the New Gods were born out of Kirby's experience as an army field artist in World War II Darkseid as inevitability rather than brawler, the Anti-Life Equation as a proof that free will does not exist, and how "Darkseid Is" moves from a Grant Morrison and Howard Porter phrase in Rock of Ages into a formal storytelling device Scott Free and Big Barda as one of the most realistic relationships in superhero comics, and how nature versus nurture plays out for two people raised on Apokolips Depression, PTSD and the "stand / standing" mantra, plus the recurring shower motif and the comic's critique of push-through-it advice Mitch Gerads' art, the post-eighties nine-panel grid, and a rendition of Apokolips inspired by burning oil wells in Iraq Granny Goodness, Lightray, Orion, Highfather, Funky Flashman and the Stan Lee parody nobody quite agreed on Is any of it real? Metron, the offer to return to continuity, and that final "will not be continued" panel Plus a disagreement about whether Tom King can write an ending, and recommendations if you liked this one: The Vision, God Country, Invincible. Timely too, with Mister Miracle newly announced as its own DC Animated series. (No relation to Michael's friend Tom King, who does jujitsu.) Follow the Podcast: Join the Discord and read along (https://discord.gg/CTKJr3j2jp) Read Our Substack (https://collectingissuespodcast.substack.com/) Follow us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/collectingissues/) Follow us on Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@collectingissues?lang=en) Watch us on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4JTsT8MXJtk5jr4sJxUpXQ) Tags / keywords Mister Miracle, Tom King, Mitch Gerads, Scott Free, Big Barda, Darkseid, New Gods, Fourth World, Jack Kirby, DC Comics, Anti-Life Equation, Granny Goodness, Apokolips, New Genesis, comic book podcast, comic book review, nine panel grid, Eisner Award, depression in comics, Collecting Issues 00:00 Archive Episode Setup 01:28 Premise and Darkseid Context 02:45 Tom King Not Your Friend 04:03 Kirby Fourth World Basics 05:41 War and Anti Life Origins 09:19 Scott and Barda Home Life 10:19 Unreliable Reality Question 11:44 Humanizing Gods and Morality 17:22 Nature Versus Nurture Trauma 18:49 Mitch Gerads Art Breakdown 20:47 Continuity Constraints Critique 22:17 Shock Deaths No Stakes 22:30 Tom King No Consequences 23:42 End Of Fourth World 24:17 Messy Structure Endings 25:01 Darkseid Is Device 26:49 Inevitable Darkseid Dread 29:10 Funky Flashman Critique 30:30 Depression PTSD Themes 31:17 Stand And Shower Metaphors 34:05 Choice Happy Ending 36:23 Symbolism Silver Age Love 37:50 Stakes Alternate Reality 38:35 What Else To Read 41:24 Final Thoughts And Outro 42:04 Reissue And Animated News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Who has been a guest on Collecting Issues

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Ram V
• Dan Watters
• Laurence Campbell
• Sumit Kumar

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

12,403

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 40 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

34

Social presence

90

YouTube

72

Engagement

0

Contact Collecting Issues

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Collecting Issues