Classic Comics Cavalcade

Matt Wagner's Grendel Cycle is one of the longest running independent comic books in history. It's about time we did a systematic reread of the series. Nick Hanover and Eric Hofffman join Jason to discuss the first several storylines, from the original black-and-white Grendel up to the much more sophisticated Comico series. It's an hour and twenty minutes of smart, in-depth analysis we hope you'll...

This week, Jason and Amir Talk New Gods #8, "The Death Wish of Terrible Turpin" and discover yet more brilliant Jack Kirby comics mastery. In a way this issue acts as a kind of summing up of Kirby's career, because it includes moments which could have appeared in Kirby's crime romance and war comics whole transcending superhero comics. We think you'll enjoy this and more insights during this 35-mi...

New Gods #7, "The Pact", is generally considered to be one of the greatest comics Jack Kirby ever created. in this 28-minute podcast, Jason and Amr talk about Kirby's technological sublime, the terrors of World War II, and the religious transformation of Izaya into Highfather. It's a great listen and we hope you enjoy.

New Gods #6 is one of Jason's all time favorite comic books, and he and Amir spend an hour talking about "The Glory Boat", its approach to transcendence and heroism, the nature of violence, and the meaning of true transcendence. Please join us as we discuss why this comic is so brilliant.

Jason and Amir are back to continue their breakdown of perhaps Jack Kirby's greatest comic book, New Gods . This week they discuss New Gods #5, "Spawn", the first issue inked by Mike Royer, the last issue with Orion's human sidekicks, and another issue with brilliant Kirby stage settings. It's a fun 45 minute chat this week that any Kirby fan will enjoy

Eric Hoffman and Jason Sacks, 2 of the editors of Steve Gerber: Conversations (published by University Press of Mississippi) are joined by writer and critic Nick Hanover to discuss three of Steve Gerber's late  '90s and early 2000s comics: Hard Time, the revival of Howard the Duck and a two-part Superman Elseworlds story by Gerber. The team delves deep into Gerber's work, exploring the ideas...

Lev Gleason was one of the most important American comics publishers of the 1940s and 1950s, releasing key comics such as Kid Comics, the original Daredevil and the legendary Crime Does Not Pay. But comics were only a small part of Gleason's life. As his nephew Brett Dakin discusses in his new book American Daredevil: Comics, Communism, and the Battles of Lev Gleason (and on the podcast), Gleason...

"O'Ryan Gang and the Deep Six" is yet another amazing issue of Jack Kirby's New Gods . Jason and Amir discuss Kirby's amazing cosmology, the weird coloring choices between different versions of these comics, Kirby's passion for youth, the redemption of Claudia Shane and Victor Lanza, and much more.

"Death is the Black Racer!" But as Jason and Amir discuss Jack Kirby's New Gods #3, they ponder if a flying skiier is as cool and interesting as a certain silver skinned guy on a surfboard. Also, they talk much more about Jack Kirby's astonishing storytelling, the mysterious purpose of the Black Racer, and Darkseid's latest infernal plans.

The Fourth World is Jack Kirby's cosmic sublime. Amir and Jason continue their reading of Jack Kirby's New Gods with a discussion of New Gods #2, "O Deadly Darkseid!" It's a fun and lively conversation we think you'll enjoy!

Jack Kirby's New Gods is one of the greatest comic series of all time. Jason has read these comics many times but Amir is completely new to them. Together they decided to work their way through Kirby's sublime cosmic series together. Join them for part one of what we think is a very interesting discussion about this great comic.

Eric Hoffman and Jason Sacks, 2 of the editors of Steve Gerber: Conversations (published by University Press of Mississippi) are joined by writer and critic Nick Hanover to discuss three of Steve Gerber's 1990s comics: Foolkiller , Sludge and Nevada . The team delves deep into Gerber's work, exploring the ideas and motivations behind those often brilliant comics. This is the second part of a multi...

Eric Hoffman and Jason Sacks, 2 of the editors of Steve Gerber: Conversations (published by University Press of Mississippi) are joined by writer and critic Nick Hanover to discuss four of Steve Gerber's great 1970s comics: Morbius the Living Vampire, Son of Satan, Shanna the She-Devil and Guardians of the Galaxy. The team delves deep into Gerber's work, exploring the ideas and motivations behind...

This week noted comic historian Frank Young joins Jason to discuss ELMO, a classic lost comic strip which Frank describes as "like David Lynch created Li'l Abner. As the conversation reveals, ELMO was a unique comic full of dark humor and strange characters, a fascinating portrait of post-WWII America and a hell of a great read. Even if you haven't read it, I think you'll enjoy the conversation --...

First Second Books editor Robyn Chapman joins Jason this week to discuss Stuck Rubber Baby , one of the finest graphic novels of the 1990s and a brilliant exploration of LGBTQ awakening, the civil rights movement and much more. As Jason and Robyn discuss, this is a graphic novel of rare beauty and depth, the product of a brilliant cartoonist at the absolute top of his skills. Hope you enjoy and pl...

The Comics Cavalcade Book Club is back in session as Daniel Elkin and Keith Silva join Jason to discuss a surprising choice for books: 2019's House of X/Powers of X. It's surprising because Daniel and Keith are not huge superhero fans, but like the pros they are, Daniel, Keith and Jason dig deep into Jonathan Hickman's magnum opus to tease out depth, symbolism and just what was up with Professor X...

Legendary designers Seymour Chwast and Steven Brower have created a charming and fascinating graphic biography called The Mighty Elvis which celebrates the life and times of the King. They join Jason for about 35 minutes of conversation about the complicated life and legacy of Elvis Presley, the pleasures of working as a designer, the importance of education, their shared love for comics and much...

Steve Ditko was one of the most unique creators ever to work in the comics industry. You probably know him as the creator of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, but a lot of his work is more obscure and much harder to find than the early appearances of Doctor Octopus and the Green Goblin. Jason and Mark talk Ditko's complex and fascinating career and approach to his work in this fun, breezy and fast-mo...

Nate Powell is one of the most insightful cartoonists in comics, a man whose honest and heartfelt work reflects his inner sensibilities, search for deeper meaning, and his deep connection to his past. In this 2015 interview, conducted shortly after his short story collection You Don't Say , we delve into all those areas as well as have a really pleasant and interesting talk. 

Continuing Jason's obsession with classic fanzines, writer/artist/columnist Ken Meyer joins Jason to talk about some of the classic yet under-known fanzines of the 1960s, '70s and '80s, including RBCC, The Collector and Ultrazine. They also talk about some of the classic fan artists of that era, which includes John Byrne, George Perez and Dave Cockrum as well as John Fantuccio, Don Rosa and the gr...

My guest today is Tom Peyer, longtime comics writer and editor. In the coming hour, we discuss his Ahoy Comics Hashtag: Danger, High Heaven and The Wrong Earth, the way heroes are perceived in different eras, the birth of Vertigo Comics, his acclaimed (but under-known) series Hourman, a strange and little-known proposal to revise Superman, the late '90s version of Magnus Robot Fighter, future plan...

My guest today is Stuart Moore, longtime comics writer and editor. In the coming hour, we discuss his Ahoy Comics Bronze Age Boogie and Captain Ginger as well as his love for 1970s style comics, his transition from the book press to comics, the pre-history and birth of Vertigo Comics, the birth of The Invisibles and Preacher, Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck, Stuart's own writing, including his seri...

In part six of the epic interview Dominick Grace, Eric Hoffman and I conducted with famed comics writer/editor Jim Shooter, we discuss why John Byrne hates Shooter, Chris Claremont's commitment to characters, the corrupt practice of lapping, freelancing later in life.

This is part five of the epic interview Dominick Grace, Eric Hoffman and I conducted with famed comics writer/editor Jim Shooter. This time we discuss Frank Miller's meteoric ascent as comics' greatest artist, the way Walt Simonson explained to Shooter that Thor would be turned into a frog, the secret origin of Epic Comics, the evolution of Marvel between different generations, Shooter's time at D...

In part four of this epic six-part interview with Jim Shooter, the legendary writer and editor tells the behind the scenes story of the birth and rise of VALIANT Comics, VALIANT's strange beginnings publishing Nintendo comics, the reasons Shooter left VALIANT, the strange stories of DEFIANT and BROADWAY Comics, Secret Wars II, the power of paying attention to fundamentals, and much more. Come back...