Penny Men

Penny Men
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Penny Men is the podcast starring Ben, Tom, and Gregory: three experts on cartooning, storytelling, and having a good time! We give a penny for our thoughts, and throw in our two cents, as we tackle new topics and writing pitches every week!

  1. 4h ago

    #133 - Fantasy Draft Lineup: 'The Magnificent 7' of Video Game Characters (Part 1)

    This week, the Penny Men saddle up for a special Fantasy Draft Lineup episode inspired by one of the greatest ensemble stories ever told! Starting with Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and its legendary Western remake, The Magnificent Seven, the guys break down what makes the perfect seven-person team! Greg walks through each member of the Magnificent Seven, exploring the unique role every hero fills—from the calm strategist and loyal second-in-command to the muscle, the sharpshooter, the reluctant veteran, and the eager rookie! Along the way, the conversation branches into: Star WarsThe Lord of the RingsDigimonDungeons & DragonsJohn Ford westernsTV Tropes, and the surprising influence these classic films have had on pop culture for decades!If you've ever wondered why so many great teams feel strangely familiar, this episode uncovers the timeless formula behind the "seven-man band" and challenges the hosts to build a Magnificent Seven of their own!

    #133 - Fantasy Draft Lineup: 'The Magnificent 7' of Video Game Characters (Part 1)

  2. Sep 7

    #132 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: The Fantastic Four (Part 2)

    The Penny Men continue their Fantastic Four Rogues Gallery Roll Call and things immediately spiral out of control! The boys discuss the Wizard and the Frightful Four, debate whether Paste-Pot Pete is the greatest supervillain name of all time, and somehow end up comparing Medusa to Godiva! Along the way: Rama-Tut, Kang, Immortus, and Doctor Doom all become the same guy somehowGalactus arrives to eat the planetSilver Surfer discovers feelingsAnd Alicia Masters accidentally saves humanity!Elsewhere: The Red Ghost unleashes his communist super-apesThe Watcher refuses to interfere while constantly interferingPsycho-Man weaponizes emotionsDiablo throws evil chemistry capsules like a Hanna-Barbera villainAnd Dragon Man earns sympathy points as the world’s saddest artificial dragon!The conversation then explodes into: SkrullsKreeRonan the AccuserCaptain Marvel loreSpace cancerRoy Thomas continuity madnessAnd the revelation that the Hate-Monger is literally Adolf Hitler!Also: Zordon vs. MODOKSauron vs. Dragon ManAnimorphs connections nobody asked forGalactus herald rankingsAnd the important scientific question of whether planets need nutrients to be delicious!

    #132 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: The Fantastic Four (Part 2)

  3. Aug 31

    #131 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: The Fantastic Four (Part 1) / Aquaman

    The Penny Men blast off into the cosmic chaos of the Fantastic Four’s legendary rogues gallery! Tom guides Ben and Gregory through the history of Marvel’s First Family, from cosmic rays and family dysfunction to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and the birth of the Marvel Universe itself! Along the way they break down: Reed Richards’ galaxy-brain detachmentJohnny Storm’s cartoon-level impulsivenessSue Storm holding the entire team togetherAnd why Ben Grimm is somehow more unhinged than Wolverine!Then it’s villain time: Doctor Doom’s tragic quest to rescue his mother from HellHis burned maskRobot armiesTime platformsAnd absolute belief that he should rule the world “for everyone’s own good”!The boys also dive into: Namor the Sub-MarinerAtlantis Monster whales with armsSilver Age weirdnessFantastic Four toy linesThe 90s cartoonTim Curry casting discussionsAnd why the Thing really needed a second action figure just to fit inside the Fantasticar!Featuring: Herbie the RobotBlackbeard canonically being The ThingFred Flintstone meeting a different ThingAnd the eternal question: who is Marvel’s Batman anyway?

    #131 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: The Fantastic Four (Part 1) / Aquaman

  4. Aug 24

    #130 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: Iron Man (Part 2) / 'The Totally Tubular Trivia...Today!' Quiz

    The Penny Men complete their descent into the armored madness of Iron Man’s rogues gallery with a journey through communist unicorns, mafia counts, microwave men, giant robots in loincloths, and dragons from space wearing pants! Naturally, this somehow leads to discussions about: Bomber jacketsHawkeye’s fake movie familyGalactus’ skirt situationAnd whether Stilt-Man could defeat Kite-Man in honorable combat!Featuring: Count Nefaria stealing powers like he’s building a custom characterMadame Masque waging soap opera warfare against Tony StarkThe tragedy of the UnicornMODOK’s most disgusting abilityArmor Wars/Stark Wars confusionAnd the revelation that Fin Fang Foom may secretly be the greatest Marvel name of all time!Also: Stan Lee stops by repeatedly to remember absolutely nothingJar Jar breaks into the apartment againNorm reveals the funniest thing about Iron ManAnd the gang ranks Iron Man’s villains against Spider-Man, Batman, Flash, Hulk, and the rest of comicdom’s finest weirdos!Upper-mid-tier rogues gallery! Elite-tier nonsense!

    #130 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: Iron Man (Part 2) / 'The Totally Tubular Trivia...Today!' Quiz

  5. Aug 17

    #129 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: Iron Man (Part 1)

    This week's Rogues' Gallery Roll Call crashes into the armored world of Iron Man, and the Penny Men immediately derail into catchphrases, Smurf psychology, Rankin-Bass discourse, and the eternal mystery of why Tony Stark ever needed a nose! Ben, Gregory, and Tom dig through the tangled continuity of 90s Marvel cartoons, debate whether the Spider-Man Unlimited future counts as “the future,” and somehow connect MODOK to a floating science war against communism! Along the way: The tragic emotional life of Pepper PottsThe rise of War MachineWhy the Mandarin is basically “Chinese Doctor Doom”And a surprisingly detailed breakdown of how the original Smurfette comic handled bullying, gaslighting, and makeover culture!Also discussed: The SilmarillionSwamp ThingThe Clone SagaBriefcase armor toysForce WorksBlackest NightAnd the realization that every Marvel hero eventually becomes a guy introspectively brooding about his situation!A Penny Man saved is a Penny Man earned...probably!

    #129 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: Iron Man (Part 1)

  6. Aug 10

    #128 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: X-Men (Part 2)

    In the second hour of Rogues Gallery Roll Call, the Penny Men descend even deeper into the X-Men villain ecosystem—where powers are less “cool super abilities” and more “how annoying would this be in a fight if you actually had to animate it properly”! We return to the Mystique-era Brotherhood of Evil Mutants: Re-evaluating Pyro’s extremely conditional fire management jobAvalanche’s controversial “I guess I cause earthquakes?” combat philosophyBlob’s unsettling status as either an immovable man or a walking physics problem depending on which comic you read lastAnd Destiny is remembered, briefly, emotionally, and then immediately dismissed again, as is tradition!From there, the episode fractures into a full mutant taxonomy seminar: Why writers love laser beams but hate earthquakesHow “absolute defense” powers like Eunice the Untouchable break storytelling mathAnd why certain villains feel less like characters and more like walking encounter design!Then things spiral—intentionally—into Mojo’s dystopian TV universe, where reality is just content, suffering is ratings-driven, and X-Men are basically unionized reality show contestants trapped in a cosmic Vince McMahon experiment! Naturally, this leads to: The Brood (space horror bugs that politely interrupt your main plot)Apocalypse (evolutionary ideology with a gym membership),And Mr. Sinister (doing science crimes because it’s Tuesday)!The conversation then folds time in on itself with Age of Apocalypse, where one teenager’s psychic breakdown accidentally deletes Professor X and reorganizes reality into competing mutant philosophies: Magneto’s rebelsSinister’s experimentsAnd Apocalypse’s “survival is a group project” curriculum!By the end, the Penny Men are no longer ranking villains so much as stress-testing the entire concept of superhero storytelling under the weight of too many teleporters, too many psychic teenagers, and at least one man who is literally just television! It’s X-Men lore, but filtered through three guys trying to decide if earthquake powers are narratively lazy or just spiritually offensive!

    #128 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: X-Men (Part 2)

  7. Aug 3

    #127 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: X-Men (Part 1)

    Welcome to The Penny Men: Cracking open the adamantium vault and immediately getting sidetracked inside it! In this episode, Ben, Gregory, and Tom kick off a “Rogues Gallery Roll Call” focusing on the world of the X-Men—specifically the villains who define the franchise as much as the heroes do! What starts as a structured breakdown of iconic antagonists quickly turns into a free-associative mutant philosophy seminar with jokes, detours, and occasional comic book accuracy! The crew dives deep into Magneto as both ideological foil and recurring almost-hero, unpacking his shifting portrayals from world-conquering villain to Holocaust survivor shaped by trauma, mutant separatist, reluctant ally, and occasional full-on war criminal depending on the writer’s mood! Along the way, they: Debate Professor X’s moral gray zonesThe MLK/Malcolm X parallels in mutant ideologyAnd the X-Men’s infamous tendency to turn every villain into a future teammate!From there, things escalate in classic Penny Men fashion: The unstoppable force of Juggernaut enters the chat (and cannot jump, canonically)Black Tom becomes part plantAnd Sentinels loom as the towering symbol of humanity’s robotic fear response to mutants!The discussion frames them not just as enemies, but as reflections of the same core question: what happens when groups decide the only solution is control? Also featuring: X-Men lineup confusionBrotherhood of Mutants relationship mapsMarvel vs. Capcom triviaExistential toy nostalgia (yes, the Sentinel action figure with flying limbs gets its flowers)And at least one moment where the podcast threatens to become an architecture podcast again!It’s part character study, part comic book archaeology, part late-night “wait, does Juggernaut have knees?” energy—and entirely The Penny Men!

    #127 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: X-Men (Part 1)

  8. Jul 27

    #126 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: Superman (Part 2)

    The Penny Men continue their journey through the bizarre depths of Superman’s rogues gallery, leaving behind the famous villains and diving headfirst into radioactive weirdos, magical nuisances, and whatever exactly Lobo is supposed to be! This episode covers the physical powerhouse villains like Parasite, Metallo, and Doomsday, while also somehow finding time to discuss evil Phantom Zone cats, a kryptonite-powered dog, and a cowboy outlaw with a robot horse and alien laser guns! The gang breaks down; Why Parasite is one of Superman’s most dangerous enemiesHow Metallo keeps reinventing himself every decadeAnd why the famous “Death of Superman” storyline mostly boils down to two guys punching each other until editorial says stop!Along the way they explore: Silver Age oddities like magical books from spaceSuperman revenge clubsAnd villains whose entire motivation is “your existence is medically inconvenient for me”!Meanwhile, the animated series gets a surprising amount of love with discussions of: LivewireVolcanaAnd how the 1990s cartoons quietly created some of Superman’s best modern supporting villains!Also featured: Malcolm McDowell robot body horrorThe strange appeal of MaximaAnd why James Gunn apparently dug deep enough into Superman lore to resurrect Lex Luthor’s horrifying protoplasm experiment!Additional topics include: Why every alternate dimension conveniently weakens SupermanThe tragedy of being a supervillain named “Master Jailer”Comparisons to Rogue and Multiple ManThe merits of Black AdamAnd the realization that Silver Age Superman comics may have contained every possible idea anyone could ever have!Equal parts comic book history lecture and three friends desperately trying to remember obscure alien names from 1978 comics!

    #126 - Rogues' Gallery Roll Call: Superman (Part 2)
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About

Penny Men is the podcast starring Ben, Tom, and Gregory: three experts on cartooning, storytelling, and having a good time! We give a penny for our thoughts, and throw in our two cents, as we tackle new topics and writing pitches every week!

Information

  • Creator
    Penny Men
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    133
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Penny Men
  • Show Website
    Penny Men