Episodes
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Tim gets ever closer to catching up with the MCU! Tim and Mulele discuss Avengers: Endgame‘s time-travel explanation (and problems), Captain Marvel’s relative irrelevance to the film, how this movie set the stage for the upcoming TV shows, and much more. (Originally published on Patreon March 14, 2020) Brought to you by: Bat Bits podcast … Continue reading “Avengers: Endgame” (2019)
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FLASHBACK! Sports have rarely been subject matter for comics in the US; perhaps comics’ inherent static-ness has seemed antithetical to an activity with so much movement. But Japan has seen comics about various sports, and some of them have been quite popular, even iconic. Takehiko Inoue’s Real is not only about basketball, but about physical … Continue reading #437 “Real” is a slam dunk
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Episodes manquant?
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Most Americans know little about the Crimean War (1853-1856). Adam McGovern and Bruno Letizia’s The Night Brigade may go some way toward filling us in on that conflict, and it does give us several historical figures, including Florence Nightingale – but it also features a werewolf. Tim and Adam critique. Asante Amani‘s Joe Mallard gives … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #240: “The Night Brigade” and “Joe Mallard”
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We left the Eternals joined together in the Unimind. The 1977 Annual doesn’t clearly fit into continuity, but features only one Eternal, Thena, together with Deviants Karkas and the Reject against a time-traveling threat! Back in the regular series, issue 13 gives us exactly two Eternals, trying to stop a Deviant attack on the Celestials. … Continue reading #817 Jack Kirby’s “Eternals”, 1977 Annual + #13: Fun “Eternals” stories with few Eternals
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Chester Brown’s work has come up on this show a number of times over the years. We’ve discussed Ed the Happy Clown, Louis Riel, and Paying for It. He’s actually published 10 graphic novels since 1989, some of which are collections of his comics series. In connection with the recent premiere of the movie version … Continue reading #816 Chester Brown interview: “Paying for It,” the movie
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FLASHBACK! A comic strip gag can be a deceptively simple thing. Once you take it apart — “deconstruct” it, one might say — you find that it actually has many moving parts. Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden‘s How to Read “Nancy” takes a close look at each of those parts — as well as arguing … Continue reading #593 “Reading ‘Nancy’”, plus “Cat and Mouse”!
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What does an 11-year-old do when her “only friend” moves away? In Coco Fox’s “sorta” memoir Let’s Go, Coco, she joins the basketball team. But when you’re a pre-teen, everything’s fraught with challenges. Tim and Adam discuss this book – aimed at middle schoolers, but recommended for all ages. As far from that world as … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #239: “Let’s Go, Coco” and “Digital Bardos”
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FLASHBACK! It’s been more than 70 years now since the debut of Archie comics, featuring (though not quite from the beginning) America’s favorite love triangle of Archie, Veronica, and Betty. Along with Jughead, Reggie, and the rest of the gang, these characters keep us coming back for more, changing with the times while still presenting … Continue reading #338 Everything’s Archie!
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Eternals are only human, I guess! In Eternals issues 9-12, many of the Eternals exhibit a segregationist attitude toward the Deviants, and just about everybody assumes Karkas is going to kick the Reject‘s butt in a fight based solely on how they look. Meanwhile, are the Celestials kind, or sadistic? Tim and Emmet discuss Jack … Continue reading #815 Jack Kirby’s “Eternals”, #9-12: Judging books by their covers
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FLASHBACK! A then-recent R. Crumb compilation is reviewed by a Crumb connoisseur (Kumar) and a Crumb newbie (Tim). The book features Crumb at his sweetest and his most shocking. But can this (or any book) claim to be the perfect Crumb compilation? (Originally published June 30, 2008.) Brought to you by: To the Batpoles! podcast … Continue reading #134 “The R. Crumb Handbook”
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Once again we take a look at some comics submitted by their creators; we talk about what we liked about them and what could have been better. Jane Jet book 1: Nuclear Shadows, by writer Amal Desai and artist Paul Essenson, recalls Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer — the art, the jet-pack concept, the time period — … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #238: “Jane Jet” and “The Fog Within”
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FLASHBACK! While Alan Moore and J.H. Williams’ Promethea, published from 1999 to 2005, is not one of Moore’s most remembered works, it’s not because the author wasn’t at the top of his game. Kumar and Emmet find it to be entrancing, even if you don’t buy into the various magical and spiritual elements that Moore … Continue reading #591 “Promethea”: A mind-bending, life-changing comic
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FLASHBACK! Harold Gray’s Little Orphan Annie debuted in 1924 and was a big success. FDR having not yet turned him against organized labor, Gray shows hardworking Annie going on strike in one of her many jobs. Tim and Kumar discuss the ’20s strips, their strengths and idiosyncrasies (one strip=one day?!), and how Gray’s outlook changed … Continue reading #296 “Little Orphan Annie”
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Back in Critiquing Comics 154, Tim and Mulele discussed 2019’s Captain Marvel; Tim enjoyed it, Mulele did not. Now that we’ve arrived at the time to give it a full review as part of “Tim Catches Up with the MCU,” another viewing has helped us both to clarify our positions and see things we didn’t … Continue reading “Captain Marvel” (2019)
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FLASHBACK! Twenty years after the first collection of Hicksville was released, creator Dylan Horrocks talks to Emmet about how the comic looks to him now. Some of the work’s commentary on the comics industry turned out to presage subsequent developments, and in some cases he ended up not going far enough! Also, his source for … Continue reading #598 Dylan Horrocks looks back at “Hicksville”
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Reading the original Jack Kirby iteration of The Eternals shows that the MCU movie based on the title was rather dour, where Kirby’s version veers into wackiness! Sersi shows quite the sense of humor. SHIELD agents appear who just can’t seem to accept that they can’t get the upper hand on giant space gods! People … Continue reading #814 Jack Kirby’s “Eternals” 5-8: As wacky as they wanna be
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Mitsuru Adachi’s Cross Game is a baseball manga for people who don’t care about baseball. A tragedy early in the story helps to shape the narrative, but there’s also a good dose of unexpected comedy, and sequences that really make us want to cheer for Ko and his friends as they work toward the goal … Continue reading #813 “Cross Game”: Baseball manga that’s not about baseball (much)
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Jonah Lobe, after many years designing characters for video games, has recently turned his attention to comics. He’s the illustrator of Marvel Anatomy: A Scientific Study of the Superhuman, in which we can finally learn just what’s going on inside characters like Wolverine, Venom, and Modok. He’s also on the verge of his first Kickstarter … Continue reading #812 Jonah Lobe on character anatomy and “Quiet: Level One”
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On the surface, Sammy Harkham’s Blood of the Virgin is about an editor of b-movies in 1970s L.A. who has greater artistic aspirations, but it’s also rich with unexpected explorations of character and narrative approaches, themes about the creative process, responsibility, and being an immigrant, and Harkham’s best art and writing to date. Over a … Continue reading #811 “Blood of the Virgin”: About much more than filmmaking
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Batman meets Italy’s humorous horror icon Dylan Dog in a beautiful three-issue series, originally published in Italian and recently released in English from DC. Tim and Emmet could recommend it on the art alone, but the story gives us a lot to discuss as well, including very rich conversations between characters and an interesting take … Continue reading #810 “Batman/Dylan Dog”: Dark Knight meets Nightmare Investigator
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