Between the Gutters Podcast

Inuyashiki by Hiroya Oku is a ten-volume manga series that we confidently recommend to anyone who enjoys a dark but also different take on superhero fiction. It's also an inspiring story about an average old man who wants to do some good. Briskly paced and full of the cinematic, "widescreen" traits we Westerners typically associate with influential superhero titles like The Authority, Inuyashiki i...

Sweet Tooth by Jeff Lemire is one of our favorite comics of the past 10-12 years. With the recent release of the Netflix live action TV series, we decided to take some time to sing its praises. Join us as we engage in a (mostly) spoiler-free discussion of the comic book series! (Dru spoils something that happens in issue 5 of a 40 issue series that's over ten years old, but it's not anything that'...

With the Loki television show set to begin on Disney+, we decided it'd be a good time to talk about the comic book Loki. In this episode, we discuss our opinions and observations of the character, and we speak about many of the various Loki and Loki-centric comics we've read. We also take a little time to talk about the MCU Loki, and what we expect to see in the show. What are your favorite Loki s...

It's time to continue our monthly readthrough of Invincible! In this episode, we discuss issues 48-59, which are collected in volumes 10 and 11 of the trade paperback editions, or in volume 5 of the "Ultimate Collection" hardcover edition. You can also find the series digitally on Hoopla and Comixology. Join as we discuss the myriad developments in this year's batch of issues. We also take some ti...

We're always on the hunt for cheap comics to read and to complete sets or full runs of stuff we wanna read. Longbox diving, bargain searching, and sale hunting are part of the quest. We have our fair share of hardcovers, trade paperbacks, and digital comics, but sometimes the cheapest way to read something is by tracking down the issues individually via quarter bins, three-for-a-dollar bins, fifty...

In honor and observance of AAPI Heritage Month, we're taking some time to discuss one of our favorite comics, American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (and colored by Lark Pien). This outstanding modern classic resonates deeply with both of us as Asian American readers, and we believe that it has a lot to say regardless of your cultural background or ethnicity. It's fifteen years old now and just a...

Girls' Last Tour is a six-volume manga series by Tsukumizu that we heartily recommend. In this episode, we discuss the entire run as well as the anime adaptation. A post-apocalyptic story about two young girls journeying through a bombed-out, empty wasteland while trying to scrounge for food and water, Girls' Last Tour is packed full of evocative moments that reach poetic heights, all in the servi...

We had a chance to watch the latest offering from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so join us as we perform an autopsy on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier! Our friend, ally, and recurring guest Alexander Sheynis joins us for (most of) this episode. We discuss our thoughts on various elements of the miniseries, from the comic book influences, the characters as they were depicted in the show, the soc...

In this month's installment of our Invincible readthrough, we discuss issues 36-47. These issues are in volumes 8 and 9 if you're reading the trade paperback collections. You can also find these issues digitally on Comixology or Hoopla. Invincible just keeps getting better and better, and the fourth year of the series definitely brings us a lot of fascinating developments in Mark Grayson's persona...

Have you ever felt a longing to be somewhere you can't seem to reach? That's kind of what Space Brothers volume 1 is about. Its narrative about a man who dreams of becoming an astronaut (just like his more successful younger brother) was something that resonated with both of us. Join us as we discuss the first volume of Chuya Koyama's long-running manga series!

Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius are two giants of comics, and The Incal is one of their most famous and significant works together. In this episode, we read The Incal volume 1 for the first time and discuss this landmark comic. We need to read more European comics. If you've got any recommendations for us, hit us up!

Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson is the classic indie graphic novel we discuss in this episode. It's one of the early works from an underrated but highly talented cartoonist, and it's a sprawling slice of life story featuring an ensemble cast. It's about finding your way in life, art versus commerce, doing what feels right, growing in maturity, and so much more. And if someone out there can help...

It's time for our monthly dive into Invincible! The animated series has finally begun streaming on Amazon Prime, but we've been doing our readthrough since January. This time around, we're talking about volumes 6 and 7, which comprise issues 25-35. You can find these issues at your local comic book shop or digitally on Comixology. It's a great time to read this series! After all, it's probably the...

We revisit one of the most memorable comics of our youth and talk about Spider-Man: Revenge of the Sinister Six by Erik Larsen. It's not the best Spidey story ever, not even close - it's debatable whether these issues are even "good" comics - but it was something key in our formative comics reading years. As adults, almost thirty years later, we can appreciate it as an artifact of the past while a...

Here's a bonus mid-week episode for all y'all. It's our preview of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which is slated to start on Disney+ on March 19th. In this episode, we discuss the various characters that are known to be in the show, the potential influences, and the possible plots. We also speculate on ideas and thematic concepts we suspect the show may address to some degree. No clickbaity g...

It turns out that the real House of M was always the House of Mouse. We've had a little time to digest the Disney+ series as a whole now, so now we've gotta do a deep dive into WandaVision. Join us as we examine the various facets of the show, from the comic book influences, the thematic content, the plot, the characters, and other extraneous nonsense (like whether the Hulk became a mass murderer...

In this episode, we review and discuss two different indie comics that creators have sent us: Parallel, by Jason Douglas and Ferris, and Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia, by Ed Kuehnel, Matt Entin, Dan Schkade, and Kendall Goode. We love checking out comics from indie creators, and this was a long-overdue episode. Reading these comics expanded our horizons, and hopefully you'll be inspired to che...

We return for our monthly trek into Invincible, by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Bill Crabtree, and Rus Wooton! Hey, it's probably the best superhero comic book in the universe! In this episode, we dive into issues 14-24, which are collected in volumes 4 and 5 of the trade paperbacks. The issues are also in volume 2 of the ultimate collection hardcovers, and also in the first compendium. Of course,...

In this episode, we talk about all of the comics we've backed on Kickstarter since the pandemic began. From webcomic collectives to smaller niche publishers to completely independent creators doing their thing, there's a lot of great stuff out there. Join us as we explore the comics we've discovered through the magic of crowdfunding. We're always down to check out new comics, so if you have any co...

What have you read lately? Our buddies Zach and Sheynis return to the show for a catch-up session where we talk about some of the comics we've read recently. The main comics highlighted are A Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong, Ales Kot's Secret Avengers run, Jack Kirby's Fourth World comics (specifically The New Gods and Mister Miracle), and Plutona by Jeff Lemire and Emi Lenox. Those are the startin...

Way back in episode 23, we dissected and discussed Akira, the seminal manga by Katsuhiro Otomo. Occasionally, we do enjoy talking about film or television adaptations of comics, and this week we decided to tackle the Akira anime film, which is rightfully hailed as a landmark classic. We talk about cyberpunk, various things we appreciated about the movie, and some of the differences between the man...

Join as as we begin our complete read-through of Invincible by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley, and Bill Crabtree! Once a month, we'll do an episode covering approximately a year's worth of issues of the series. Invincible went for 144 issues, so that'll probably take us to the end of the year if all goes according to schedule. In this episode, we cover issues 1-13. (These issues are cont...

In this second addendum to our recently-completed Marvel top 25 comics countdown, we talk about a bunch of Marvels that we love, but just couldn't include in the final list. Hey, just because we have a lot of favorites doesn't mean we can't be objective! The list is the list. We also take the time to discuss most of the prominent Marvel comics that most people would have expected to find on a top...

One of the long-running recurring features of our podcast has been our Marvel top 25 list. Recently, in episode 58, we finally completed our countdown. In this episode, we provide additional commentary and context on our list, and we also discuss the comics that just missed the cut based on our four criteria (craft, originality, impact, and withstanding the test of time). Our friend, ally, and sem...

What's up, In-Betweeners! With WandaVision coming out very soon, we thought it would be timely to examine and discuss The Vision by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta, seeing as how it's one of the most obvious points of influence. There's a spoiler-free review, and then we'll warn you when we get to our spoiler-full analysis. After we discuss the book, we take some time to shoot the breeze abou...