Graphic Policy Radio

Our roundtable of historians, cultural critics and comics bloggers came together for a Martin Luther King Day episode 5 years ago. The world of X-Men and criticism has changed since but our panelists rocked and listeners loved it. So we brought this Classic episode out of the archives. Our guests:  Steve Attewell: He is the founder and writer of Race for the Iron Throne and writes People's History...

"BOWIE: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams is a graphic novel from legendary artist Mike Allred and writer Steve Horton. It chronicles the rise of David Bowie's career from obscurity to fame; paralleled by the rise and fall of his alter ego Ziggy Stardust. As the Spiders from Mars slowly implode, Bowie wrestles with his Ziggy persona. The outcome of this internal conflict will change not only D...

What better collapse of the Disney vs auteurism fight then Werner Herzog talking to a Muppet? I'm joined by experts in the show's influences from High Noon to Lone Wolf and Cub. Learn about darksabers and other stuff you missed by not watching the Clone Wars cartoon. Guests: Brandon Wilson is a filmmaker and lecturer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he attended UCLA where he took a B.A. in African...

Experts at pop culture storytelling, social movements and fan organizing joining me to discuss the final Star Wars movie, Rise of Skywalker. Porshéa Patterson-Hurst is the public opinion research associate for The Opportunity Agenda, a social justice communication lab in New York. She consults with allies in the field to identify and obtain pertinent research needs in the areas of immigration, cri...

4 critics share our favorite comics of the year. We've got all-ages comics any kid will love, comics about Watchmen, comics about sex workers fighting for their rights, comics about Archie vs Predator. Hear which series had the best endings and find out the books we can't wait to read in 2020. You'll leave with a big reading list (or gift list). Nea aka Chingy L Gay is a writer, comedian, and crit...

NY City Councilman Ben Kallos https://twitter.com/BenKallos grew up collecting comics, watching anime and reading science fiction as a Manhattan kid. While most of his time is now spent passing progressive reform legislation, getting trashcans installed across his Upper East Side district or taking care of his daughter, he still loves comics and scifi for the powerful stories they tell about the w...

Creative team Liana Kangas & Joe Corallo discuss their comics merging music, horror & scifi fantasy: She Said Destroy: The witches of Fey are the last believers of The Morrigan, Goddess of Death, Brigid's sister and the only other God left. As Brigid's forces prepare for one final battle, The Morrigan prepares to do what she does best: Destroy! Dead Beaths: The Dead Beats music shop is filled with...

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." Thi...

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 "Tihi" Hay...

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...