Classic Comics Cavalcade

This week Amir wanted to talk about an anthology comic he picked up recently called Cry Punch , which includes stories and art by a slew of excellent younger cartoonists, including Cristian Castelo, Linnea Sterte and Al Gofa, as well as more experienced comics creators Nick Dragotta and David Brothers. Jason obliged, and both loved talking about this book which feels like an explosion of great art...

After the guys discussed Copra last week, it seemed the right time for them to start a dive into the comic that inspired Michel Fiffe's masterwork. So they checked out Suicide Squad #1 and 2 from 1987, by John Ostrander & Luke McDonnell. They found a lot to love in that series - not just its awesome '80s action movie vibe (though they loved that) but also the excellent characterization and won...

With the new Moon Knight TV series on the horizon, it seemed like a good time to look at a few classic Moon Knight stories. And since Amir is a huge fan of Kevin Nowlan's artwork, we figured we should explore a couple of issues illustrated by Nowlan. Join us for 20 minutes of discussion about proper inking styles, dated authoring styles, and some immaculate artwork. If you enjoyed, please subscrib...

This week Jason and Amir dig into Michel Fiffe's comic Copra , and are reminded just how great these comics are. They discuss how great Fiffe is at building character and story, how unique his artwork is, and how this comic never could have existed at any other time in comics history. It's 20 minutes of fun chat we're sure you will enjoy. If you did enjoy, please leave feedback on iTunes and subsc...

Just in time for the return of Saga , Amir and Jason revisit the first collected volume and find it to be amazing - brilliant in terms of plot, character, world building and so much more. Wow what a great story. Come listen to our thoughts on the book and celebrate its return with us!

The Marvelcast continues as Jason and Carlos look at The Eternals , a controversial and mostly disliked film. The guys try to find some love for the film, but unfortunately they discover the movie lives down to its reputation. It's a quick and fun 12-minute complaint fest. Is this the worst Marvel movie? Tune in to see what Jason and Carlos say.

Neil Gaiman's Sandman is an acknowledged classic of '90s comics, and issue #54, telling the story of Prez, the first teen President, is one of Jason's favorites. Amir is a big fan of artist Mike Allred, and the pair of them look at this story of Clinton-era utopianism that goes right... and wrong.

It's fair to say that Jaime Hernandez is one of the favorite cartoonists of both Amir and Jason, so both of them were excited to dig into Jaime's graphic novel Is This How You See Me . But neither of them was quite prepared for the emotional impact of the book, particularly since they recently read another Xaime classic, The Love Bunglers , recently. Goddamn, Hernandez is amazing. If you enjoyed t...

Terrific cartoonist Ryan Claytor joins Jason this week to talk about several topics. One is his very intriguing new kickstarter project, which is a kind of fascinating collaboration between Ryan and his grandfather, the bringing of a work of poetry into comics form. Ryan also teaches comics and comic art at Michigan State University, and he and Jason talk for a while about the boundless creativity...

Neither Jason nor Amir had ever read an issue of The Invisibles , so the pod seemed a perfect opportunity to scratch that itch. The guys read the first hardcover presentation of the epic Grant Morrison comic and were both intrigued and repelled by the main story - but both agree there are some gems in this book as well. Invisibles is obviously a comic that doesn't reward a reading of just one coll...

There are some definite patterns in the Marvel movies. One of them is that many films have a great setup, a mediocre middle, and a flat ending. Jason and Carlos agree that pattern fits Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 7 Rings , which starts out spectacularly, has an interesting middle, and a CGI-vs-CGI ending. But given that, is the movie worth watching? And do the fun elements overcome the boredom...

Spider-Man and his amazing friends travel to Europe in the latest installment of the Spider-Man Sony/Marvel franchise. But does any of the plot make sense, and do people actually act in ways that any human would actually act? I guess you can tell from the episode title that Jason and Carlos didn't like the seemingly endless waves of dumbness included in this movie. Bummer! If you enjoyed this epis...

Carlos and Jason went into Avengers: Endgame with a sense of dread. The movie is very long, very embedded in MCU continuity, and very tangled. But you'll hear their surprise in this episode when they decide that Endgame was just about the right length, with some good character details and compelling endings to MCU subplots. Somehow, some way, this actually is a pretty good movie which has enough h...

Sergio Toppi is one of the finest cartoonists of his generation, but neither Jason nor Amir had ever read anything by him. The guys discover that they had been missing out over the intervening years, because the first collection of his work in America is incredible Amir and Jason read the first few stories in The Enchanted World and find them to be utterly unique and thrilling. Join us for 20 minu...

Jason is a big fan of crime comics, so he was excited when friend of the pod Steven Brower approached him, asking for a chat about Brower's new book Crime Comics Confidential . Of course Jason agreed, and what resulted was a free-ranging chat about comics, great comic art, their shared love for Jack Kirby, and even some music recommendations! It's a fun and entertaining 40 minute chat. Please let...

This week Amir and Jason dig out another lost classic from their deep collection, Glyn Dillon's fascinating 2012 graphic novel The Nao of Brown . This realistic graphic novel tells the story of a woman with a form of OCD, the family and friends who surround here, and puts readers deep into her imagination. Dillon's art is immaculate, and Jason and Amir debate whether the story is as good as that a...

Corto Maltese is a legendary Italian comic. Jason and Amir had heard about it many times over the years but never read any of Hugo Pratt's famous creation. They finally di read it for the pod, and both of them were amazed by how great this comic was. Join them for 20 minutes whichj will presuade you to add a Maltese collection to your holiday wishlist! If you enjoyed this pod, please rate it on iT...

Carlos is back to chat about Marvel movies with Jason, and the next one on their list is Ant-Man and the Wasp . They both entered this watch with... well, medium hopes anyway for something fun and entertaining. Well, yeah, the movie is pretty fun but it's also lacking some real basics with logic and common sense. So join us and listen to the guys trash this movie, then you can skip it on your Marv...

Amir and Jason get together again to look at another classic comic that's in their collection. This time they look at Marvel Treasury Edition #3 from 1974, which features two classic Conan stories by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith. In fact, this book is kind of a proto-graphic novel which features new coloring by Windsor-Smith over some exquite artwork by him. It includes the terrific "Rogues...

For years, Jason has been telling Amir how incredible The Love Bunglers by Jaime Hernandez is. Finally the pair get to get together and discuss the graphic novel and, if anything, they find it to be even better than they thought. Join them for a fascinating discussion of a work by one of the finest graphic novelists of his generation.

It's finally happened. Jason and Carlos have arrived at Avengers: Infinity War in their Marvel movie watch. One of the longest, and absolutely the biggest downer of a Marvel movie, the guys ponder if this movie transcends its sadness with good character moments or if it is finally just too depressing to really enjoy.

Neither Jason nor Amir had read Prince of Cats before the decided to cover it in this episode - and they had heard great things about Ron Wimberly's graphic novel - so this was the perfect time to finally check it out. But the book ended up being even better than either of them expected, and their chat shows how great they both thought this wholly original yet wholly derivative graphic novel is.

Jason and Carlos loved Thor Ragnarok when they first saw it, but was it indeed the best Marvel movie, as many critics have said? The guys explore that question, looking in detail at the complex world director Taika Waititi creates in this movie, a world much more complex than it seems to have on a first watch. Is it the best Marvel movie? Jason and Carlos answer that here. It's 42 minutes of some...

Dr. Strange is both an oddball entry in the MCU and a completely traditional entry. On one hand, the story takes place in odd dimensions, outside of the world most other heroes experinece, and with a complex and hard-to-grasp cosmology. On the other hand, it's an origin story through and through, a classic kind of Marvel movie. Carlos and Jason explore the odd contradictions at the heart of this m...

Amir is a self-professed huge fan of Daniel Clowes, but he's never read David Boring before. Jason had read it before but was puzzled by the book. So this read was a revelation for both of them, as they revel in the complex plotline Clowes created and the artful way he delivered the story. The guys get intrigued by the book's mysteries and enigmas, its artful embrace of ambiguity, and its plain ex...