The Grail Hunters Comics Podcast

Grail Hunters Comics Podcast S03E01 - The Modern Comic Grails of 2050

After a few months break we are back, and if episode one is anything to go by, we have A LOT to talk about! In this episode we talk about how we survive our groundhog day of lock-down habits, after which we dive into Mike's pull list only to get severely side tracked by great movies The Prophecy and Power of One (Which became Mike's homework for our next episode!)

 

Neville talks about the hidden blessings of still being in lock-down, and how it results in more time scavenging the interwebs for bargains, and being able to refocus on collecting and scaling collection.

 

Then we get into the meat of the episode:

 

Which comics would be the "Modern Age" grails in 20 or 30 years from now, and what will drive value, demand and appeal in the long run. We touch on the "corporatisation" of comics by the big two and how that could mean they lose track against the creator owned uprising!

We close by spit balling what would make soccer more exciting, and Ben pitches his idea of a Train Carriage Gym to shark tank!! All while sinking a few beers, so grab one and get ready for a whole lot of laughs.

 

Grail Hunters Comics Podcast S02E07 - An Episode Named Barbara

Join Mike, Ben and Neville for another hilarious episode as they provide a recap on Supanova Melbourne (And GABS) right before the fourth wave of COVID lockdowns struck Melbourne! It quickly turns into a therapy session where they reflect on the crazy prices in the market and books going out of reach.

 They debate shows including Falcon and Winter Soldier, and upcoming Loki and trailers including Black Adam, Eternals before jumping into our recent Ebay successes and fails (Looking at you Ben!) 

They also field many members questions including:

- The much debated first App of Wolverine is it 180, or 181?

- A run down of their favourite underrated creators

- Updates on Spawn World

And then get terribly side tracked by UFO's (Due to Department of Truth obviously!)

Crack a beer and give us a listen!

Grail Hunters Comics Podcast S02E06 Wheeling and Dealing for bargains

In this episode talk about prepping books for signatures and then full into conversation about Ben Gee's weakest claim to fame! (Hint, it involved Keanu Reeves)

 

What a world we live in! We chat about the abundance of comic themed shows available to us including the Snydered Justice League, the magnificent Invincible, as well as Falcon and Winter Soldier (and how it compares to its predecessors) and the resulting spec books.

 

We reflect on our purchases since our last episode (Shuri, Nubia, and a few other specs), and how Ben's bending Neville's rubber arm, convincing him to spend thousands on non-comic related collectibles, but bottom line... pay-dirt! The tricky question came up, do you ask your partner for permission or forgiveness when making big collectible purchases??

 

We also mention our Podcast mascot Matt Sutton at least 3 times! Well worth a listen :D 

Grail Hunters Comics Podcast S02 EP05 Trading Cards Are A Thing Now?

Stage 4 lockdowns can't keep us down! We're back on Zoom for this jam packed episode, and it's packed with Comicy goodness.

 

We recap on our visit to Big City Comics and then dive into a few of the big topics for January including:

- DC's Future State books, are they finally doing something right?

- We share our thoughts on Marvel and Disney's TV Projects including Wandavision,

- We go on quite an elegant rant about Trading Card prices and speculation around market manipulation causing the price rises we are seeing.  

 

If that's not enough we move to Grail Hunters members questions (of which we had looooads) 

 

So grab a beer and join Neville, Ben and Mike for the lighter side of collecting 

Grail Hunters Comic Book State of Origin Mini Episode 6 - Great stories better read collected!

State vs. State - Member vs. Member - Who will win over the judge and score a point for their state?

 

Sam Cripps won Episode 5, and set the stage with a mighty challenge "Which stories are better read in a collected edition" It was a tough round, but the team brought their A game. Stories from DC, Marvel and many indie books were discussed, but we could only leave with one winner.

 

Episode 1: Modern Grails 

Episode 2: Iconic Covers

Episode 3: Best Antagonist

Episode 4: Indie Grail

Episode 5: So Bad, it's Good

Episode 6: Better Read As Collected Edition

After the first five episodes, we have South Australia in the lead on 2 points. Western Australia and New South Wales, and Queensland at one each, with only VIC still looking to get on the scoreboard.

 

How does it work? Each member have two minutes to pitch their book, after a round robin, each member gets one vote. Our grandmaster flash, and very own Wendigo Ben Gee casts the final judgement and one state walks away with a point tallied up across episodes to find the one state to rule them all!

Round six players are: Murray Jackson (WA), Bec Beetson (NSW), Michael Swindells (QLD), Sam Cripps (SA), Neville Howard (VIC) with Mike Speakman as chief heckler and time keeper - join us for  30 minutes of fun

 

Grail Hunters Comics Podcast S02 EP04 Featuring Big City Comics' Mark Catania

In our first face to face episode since start of lockdown Ben, Mike and Neville took the show on the road to the Big City Comics store in West Melbourne to talk to owner Mark Catania! 

 

Be warned, it's jam packed with great content! The origins of his shop, how comic stores compare to other retail businesses, how he evolved his business during COVID, and overcame the distribution challenges in 2020! Think that's it? Far from it! We talk hot comics, comic trend and collecting habits and hint at a not-so-hostile take-over of floor space to return to the shop in the future for more episodes.

 

Mark and Big City were amazing hosts, and it was a blast chatting with him. Check out their facebook page, and online store:

https://bigcitycomics.com.au/

https://www.facebook.com/bigcitycomicsAU

 

and if you're not already a member of Grail Hunters Australia Facebook group, you should be: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Grailies

 

 

Grail Hunters Comic Book State of Origin Mini Episode 5 - A book so bad, it's good!

State vs. State - Member vs. Member - Who will win over the judge and score a point for their state?

 

We all have those comic books in our collection. At times worthless, at times controversial, at times actually wothe a few dollars but they are just plain bad!  Sometimes the bad is so bad, that it comes full circle and is actually good, whether infamous or famous this episode explores some of these books. 

It's definitely worth a disclaimer too! If you don't leave this episode offended by at least one book, you are dead inside. Or the ideal listener :)

 

Episode 1: Modern Grails 

Episode 2: Iconic Covers

Episode 3: Best Antagonist

Episode 4: Indie Grail

Episode 5: So Bad, it's Good

After the first four episodes, we have Western Australia and New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland at one each, with only VIC still looking to get on the scoreboard. Each member have two minutes to pitch their book, after a round robin, each member gets one vote. Our grandmaster flash, and very own Wendigo Ben Gee casts the final judgement and one state walks away with a point tallied up across episodes to find the one state to rule them all!

Round four players are: Murray Jackson (WA), Bec Beetson (NSW), Michael Swindells (QLD), Sam Cripps (SA), Neville Howard (VIC) with Mike Speakman as chief heckler and time keeper - join us for  30 minutes of fun

 

Grail Hunters Comic Book State of Origin Mini Episode 4 - Indie Grail

State vs. State - Member vs. Member - Who will win over the judge and score a point for their state?

Over the past 40 years, the Indie Comic industry have added a world of flavour to the publishing landscape! Many creator owned properties have changed our childhood, inspired our dreams, and formed our personalities. This episode's challenge is to bring to the table a Indie Grail which have already, or have the potential to inspire readers for years to come.

Episode 1: Modern Grails 
Episode 2: Iconic Covers
Episode 3: Best Antagonist

Episode 4: Indie Grail

After the first three episodes, we have Western Australia and New South Wales and Queensland at one each, with all other states still looking to get on the scoreboard. Each member have two minutes to pitch their book, after a round robin, each member gets one vote. Our grandmaster flash, and very own Wendigo Ben Gee casts the final judgement and one state walks away with a point tallied up across episodes to find the one state to rule them all!

Round three players are: Murray Jackson (WA), Bec Beetson (NSW), Michael Swindells (QLD), Sam Cripps (SA), Neville Howard (VIC) with Mike Speakman as chief heckler and time keeper - join us for  30 minutes of fun

Grail Hunters Comic Book State of Origin Mini Episode 3 - Best Antagonist

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

State vs. State - Member vs. Member - Who will win over the judge and score a point for their state?

Episode 1: Modern Grails 
Episode 2: Iconic Covers
Episode 3: Best Antagonist

After the first two episodes, we have Western Australia and New South Wales at one each, with all other states still looking to get on the scoreboard. 

Each member have two minutes to pitch their character, after a round robin, each member gets one vote. Our grand master flash, and very own Wendigo Ben Gee casts the final judgement and one state walks away with a point tallied up across episodes to find the one state to rule them all!

Round three players are: Murray Jackson (WA), Tad Pietrzykowskie(NSW), Michael Swindells (QLD), Sam Cripps (SA), Neville Howard (VIC) with Mike Speakman as chief heckler and time keeper - join us for  30 minutes of fun

Grail Hunters Comics Podcast S02 E04 - You're dead to me Sutton!!

With no guest this episode, Neville, Mike and Ben use the opportunity to vent about COVID Stage 4 restrictions and it's impact on shipping with packages being stuck in no-mans land.

But fear not, We swiftly tackle more fun topics like recent comic and toy scores and comic characters in the public domain. We chat about new movie and TV  trailers and somehow land on South Africa creating their own Sesame Street because they were to cheap to buy the US episodes

 

You find out which podcaster will likely be eaten first if we get lost in the woods, and also why Neville had a 50/50 chance of being stabbed by Chopper Read.

 

If you don't listen, you will never find out how to pronounce Fokken Prawn!