Graphic Policy Radio

Sarah Horrocks does it all: she draws, writes, inks, letters and self-publishes her own comics and is a damn good critic too. We talk about how she makes comics and geek out about everything from the inks of Kyoko Okazaki to the queerness of Euripides to the inks and colors of Vertigo comics. Sarah Horrocks is an Eisner-nominated comic artist and critic from Oklahoma. She has done cover work for v...

Mutants talking economic policy at Davos! Cyclops/Wolverine/Jean: a throuple! Is Krakoa Israel or is it a gay bar? Jonathan Hickman leads a relaunch of X-men comics that X-Men fans call #HoXPox. What are the politics of the series? This looks like a job for:  Chingy Le Gay is a writer, comedian, advice columnist, and critically acclaimed ex-girlfriend. Her work focuses on queer dating, pop culture...

Steven Universe the Movie is Steven Universe The Musical so one of my guests writes musicals: AriDy Nox is a black femme storyteller and social activist with a variety of forward-thinking creative works under her/their belt including the documentary Flawless Feminism, the sci-fi operetta Project Tiresias, and the dark comedy Joy is Dead, as well as others. AriDy creates out of the vehement belief...

#WeAreAllOutsiders! I've got the perfect guests talking about the return of DC's beloved animated series, Young Justice Season 3, streaming on DC Universe. Ahmed Ali Akbar is a writer and host of the show “See Something Say Something.” He has worked as Staff Writer at BuzzFeed and has contributed pieces to Netflix, Catapult, Thrillist, Pushkin Industries, and more. He holds a Masters in Islamic St...

It's bi-week! Time to talk about She-ra and the Princesses of Power. What with all the queer teen heroes, and their queer parents, and their bi-pride flag colored hologram mentors and freedom fighting unicorns. Mey Rude returns for her second dive into the Dreamworks animated series. Mey is a queer, trans and fat Latina living in LA where she works as a trans consultant and a culture and entertain...

Daniel Kibblesmith is an Emmy-Nominated writer for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and the writer of comics like Marvel's "Loki" (2019), "Black Panther Vs. Deadpool" (2018) and others. He's also the author of picture books like "Santa's Husband" (2017) and the upcoming, "Princess Dinosaur" (2020). He was one of the founding editors of ClickHole (2014) and his humor writing can be seen in place...

Brenden Fletcher is a bestselling writer of comic books and animation. Current projects include the Eisner Award-nominated series ISOLA and MOTOR CRUSH for Image Comics as well as the upcoming ROBOTECH Remix series for Titan. Prevoius work includes: BATGIRL OF BURNSIDE and the YA mystery/adventure series GOTHAM ACADEMY. Learn: Of the creation of Catball: Nova Honda's cutest robot/cat/ballRobotech...

Artist Steve Lieber is one of the funniest artists in superhero comics today and his new series with Matt Fraction, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen is wild and wonderful. Steve Lieber's comics have been published by DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image, Valiant and many others. He’s known for his work on the Eisner-winning Whiteout, a graphic novel adapted by Warner Brothers as a feature film, and for Superio...

Comics writer/musician Carlos Giffoni joins us to talk about his series Strayed,a  sci fi story about the military industrial complex, staring a pet cat, with art by Juan Doe, and Space Riders: Vortex of Darkness with Alexis Ziritt, which is some seriously trippy stuff.  At 14 Carlos began singing in a punk band in his homeland Venezuela. Since then, he has been involved in experimental music with...

TV writer Tom Ciaccio and Cayden Mak of https://18millionrising.org/ webswing by to talk about the latest MCU movie. Wherein we discuss: The Post Blip EconomyWhat makes a Spider-Man storyUnionizing tech workersSeeing the world through weapons colored lensesGive the trans actor lines you cowards!"At every movie now people are always waiting for Sammuel L Jackson to pop out after the credits"Young J...

Danny the Street sprang into existence out of the first brick thrown at Stonewall. Facts. We loved Doom Patrol on DC Unlverse streaming and comics writer Ben Kahn & comics retailer John Arminio are here to tell you why. The Bureau of Normalcy is ICEYes you should watch Swamp Thing"My face is beat. My look is flawless. And I am dulcet from head to toe. The only thing I am not is scared of you."...

Even a bad movie can’t stop the return of the Phoenix! The Phoenix Saga is iconic but it shouldn't be the only Jean story you know. Josh Wilson of The Fabulist interviews me (Elana) for a change, as we talk about Jean Grey in comics and cartoons. How X-Men #28 made me fall for JeanJack Kirby's Jean is feminist. Stan Lee's is not. (via The Kirby Without Words Tumblr http://bit.ly/KirbyWOwordsJean )...

"The Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead of the DCU"-- John Arminio. Secret Six is easily one of the 5 best cape comics of the 21st century. Staring a diverse team of D-List supervillians, the series was created by Gail Simone working with artists including Nicola Scott, Jim Calafiore and Brad Walker. The true heir to the legendary 1980s' Suicide Squad, this comic lovingly depicts mercenaries fu...

"The Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead of the DCU"-- John Arminio. Secret Six is easily one of the 5 best cape comics of the 21st century. Staring a diverse team of D-List supervillians, the series was created by Gail Simone working with artists including Nicola Scott, Jim Calafiore and Brad Walker. The true heir to the legendary 1980s' Suicide Squad, this comic lovingly depicts mercenaries fu...

Steven Attewell is the founder of Race for the Iron Throne, covering A Song of Ice and Fire chapter-by-chapter from a historical & political angle. He's published 2 collections of chapter-by-chapter essays and the book "Kings, Hands, and City-States," focusing on the political structures of GRRM's world. He's on twitter @StevenAttewell, Tumblr & has a Patreon for his ASOIAF work. Reuben “T...

Ben's not writing a dystopia, they're writing a catharisis! "Like the Hulk!" but with a pink queer undercut.  Ben Kahn is a comic book writer based in New York. Their latest series, Gryffen: Galaxy's Most Wanted, is their third collaboration with artist Bruno Hidalgo after Shaman and Heavenly Blues. Gryffen is a genderqueer, anti-fascist space opera published by SBI Press exclusively on ComiXology...

"Kids have stopped being kids in the time you've made them wait for queer representation... "We won’t metaphorize these things away.”-- Anthony Oliveira is a writer, film programmer, pop culture critic, and PhD living in Toronto. He’s written comics for Dark Horse, Steven Universe “Fusion Frenzy” and for Marvel “My Drag Brunch with Loki” in War of the Realms:War Scrolls. He tweets @meakoopa and ho...

Brandon Wilson is an L.A. based filmmaker and educator. He has made two microbudget features, the most recent one -SEPULVEDA which he co-directed with his wife Jena English- is streaming on Vimeo. A former LAUSD teacher, he currently teaches graduate and undergraduate film courses at UCLA, Columbia College Hollywood. He's been reading comic books off and on for almost 40 years. Tea Fougner is the...

Discussing the Game of Thrones S8 Premiere with uniquely qualified experts: Steven Attewell is the founder of Race for the Iron Throne, which covers A Song of Ice and Fire chapter-by-chapter from a historical and political angle. In addition to two published collections of the chapter-by-chapter essays, Steven is also the author of "Kings, Hands, and City-States," an collection of essays focusing...

In the 1940s this hero’s comics outsold Superman and his movie debut sure is better than the recent Superman movies. We discuss the film, the comics that inspired it and, the City of Brotherly Love that it’s set in. My guests are: Anthony Otero: a two time novelist and a contributor to The Puerto Rico Strong Anthology. He is also a member of the #BlackComicsChat podcast. Berry Grass has lived in r...

Writer Cecil Castelluccidiscusses how Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Saga powers her new comics series The Female Furies. Female Furies depicts Big Barda’s own feminist awakening on the hell planet Apocalypse--a world so much like our own. Cecil Castellucciis the award winning and New York Times Bestselling author of books and graphic novels for young adults including Shade, The Changing Girl, Boy Proo...

Without his left wing politics Green Arrow is just Batman! Our guests this episode certainly know, having just finished a three-issue run on Green Arrow to close out the series. That's right, our guests are comics most dynamic duo. The New Blue and Gold: Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly. Jackson and Collin are screenwriters and New York Times Bestselling comic book creators, known for Joyride, G...

Jay Edidin is half of the podcast Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men (“because it’s about time someone did”). He writes comics, short fiction, and narrative nonfiction; and edits comics, transmedia, and genre fiction. Jay was named comicbook.com's 2017 Comics Person of the Year for his investigative coverage of harassment issues at D.C. Comics and his work to foster diversity and inclusion in comics...

Captain Marvel merits a conversation that can celebrate it’s feminism and anti-Imperialist themes while criticizing its Air Force propaganda packaging. Queer subtext? 90s throwbacks? We’ve got you covered: Chelsea Manning is Captain Marvel! How we're shapeshifters (Elana's essay about feeling like a Skrull for Wired.com )Monica is the hero“Top Gun is why I almost enlisted, Don't Ask Don't Tell is...

DC's new high concept streaming TV series is based on the cult classic comics. The show is exclusively available on DC's streaming platform DC Universe. Is the show good? Is it worth subscribing to the platform? We discuss the service and the show's first two episodes in depth (first part is spoiler-free). We also geek out on the brilliant comics that inspired it all and when or how to read them....