Midnight Grappler Animals

Lan went to the Toronto Comic Arts Festival this year, with a recorder, two mics, and a haphazard dream: To gather takes from the people exhibiting at the show. In this episode, Lan sits down with the likes of Aaron Losty, Allison O'Toole, Stefan Tosheff, Haus of Decline, and more to talk about a variety of topics related to comics (and the NBA). Want to support the show and get exclusive bonuses?...

We're ending Manga May the way we started it: talking about Naoki Urasawa. Keigen and Lan head back near the start of Urasawa's career to take a look at Master Keaton and delve into the many crazy things going on behind the scenes. Want to listen to this episode earlier than the public? Head over to our Patreon to find new episodes, as well as our extensive backlog of bonus content: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

This week, Salt and Serg sit down to discuss Gou Tanabe's adaptation of HP Lovecraft's Shadow Over Innsmouth! Streets are calling this our most efficient episode yet. Want to listen to this episode earlier than the public? Head over to our Patreon to find new episodes, as well as our extensive backlog of bonus content: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/MidnightGrapplerAnimals⁠⁠...

It's another round of Manga May, as Lan, Keigen, and Salt venture into the depths of Hokkaido to talk about Satoru Noda's Golden Kamuy. Like all good ventures into the forest, expect a detour into talking about North Korea. Want to listen to this episode earlier than the public? Head over to our Patreon to find new episodes, as well as our extensive backlog of bonus content: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠...

Manga May begins, as Keigen, Lan, and Salt dive into Naoki Urasawa's latest ongoing series Asadora! Hear our thoughts on what it means to be in the late stage of an artist's career, what artistic influences Urasawa has kept with him throughout the years, and what olympic sport we all think the average joe could moderately succeed at. Want to listen to this episode earlier than the public? Head ove...

In this instalment of Creator’s Corner, Salt is joined by filmmaker Lexi Alexander. Starting with Lexi’s career origins, Lexi shares the stories of her kickboxing accomplishments and her brief time on the Mortal Kombat stage show tour. Also covered are the creative choices behind Lexi’s work on Punisher: War Zone, and how a comic book printing production mistake led to the movie’s distinct colour...

Blind With Justice comes to an end, as Keigen, Serg, Salt, and Lan dive into Season 3 of Netflix Daredevil, the season oft-described as the best of the Marvel Netflix era! Does that mean it's actually a good season though...? See what controversial takes our hosts have about this season in this wrap-up to 47 episodes/hours' worth of television that we watched just for you. Want to hear the uncenso...

The last hope for Disney Star Wars on TV returns soon, and ahead of its release, Lan, Salt, and Keigen sat down to discuss the first season of the critically acclaimed Andor. What were our expectations? What divisive hot takes can we throw down to really rile up our fellow leftists? Things get heated in one of our longest episodes in months! Want to hear the uncensored version of this podcast earl...

Welcome back to Blind With Justice, where it's just Keigen and Lan this week, trudging through the muck of Netflix's Defenders miniseries for crumbs of Daredevil storytelling! It's about as good as you expect for a story featuring Netflix's version of the Hand, which is to say that Keigen and Lan had very complicated feelings about it. Tune into this penultimate episode to see if Salt made the rig...

This week, Salt, Keigen, and Lan take a detour and delve into an oft-overlooked part of Japanese history: Leftist movements. We watched The Red Army/PFLP: Declaration of World War, a 1971 documentary/propaganda film looking at the the interrelations between Japan's Red Army Faction and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. What does this film have to say about leftist worldwide solida...

Welcome back to Blind With Justice, our series covering the Netflix era of Marvel's Daredevil TV Show! This week, Salt, Keigen, Serg, and Lan delve into the second season of the show and come out of divided! Which of our hosts bites the Hand that feeds them? Did we really need Nobu back? Want to hear the uncensored version of this podcast earlier than the public? Head over to our Patreon to find t...

Salt, Keigen, and Lan return to the world of Green Arrow by looking at the first two volumes of Mike Grell's seminal run. With 12 issues comprising 5 arcs, there's a lot to discuss and a lot to retread...wait, is this going to be the only episode of this numbered series? It's up to you to tell us (i.e. pay us to read more). Want to hear the uncensored version of this podcast earlier than the publi...

Welcome to the latest of MGA's multi-part miniseries, Blind With Justice! We'll be covering the Netflix era of live-action Daredevil, and this week, Lan and Keigen dive into the first season! Lan thinks it's a perfect season, but does Keigen agree? Don't forget to check out our Patreon-exclusive sister series Hornography, where we cover Marvel TV's Daredevil: Born Again! Want to hear the uncensore...

This week, Salt and Serg get REAL French as they delve into the world of the Three Musketeers. From Dumas' history to the various adaptations (including the one that Volodymyr Zelenskyy starred in), the lads run the whole gamut of all things musketeer-y. Want to hear the uncensored version of this podcast earlier than the public? Head over to our Patreon to find them: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

The Offseason finally comes to a close, as Keigen and Lan sit down to discuss The Good Asian Effect, which definitely is a real thing and not just the result of four years' worth of rambling between friends. What book should become the metanym for this effect? What is the next Good Asian? Find out here! As for what comes next? You'll have to tune in to find out... Want to hear the uncensored versi...

All my homies hate Barry Allen. Welcome back to the Offseason, where Lan, Salt, and Keigen sit down to discuss the state of legacy superheroes in modern comics, and find themselves radicalized on a warpath against Barry Allen. Can you tell how much Lan hates Barry Allen, to the point where he made a custom thumbnail just for this episode? Want to hear the uncensored version of this podcast earlier...

Welcome to Hornography, our new weekly Patreon-exclusive series where we cover Marvel's latest (and hopefully greatest) TV series, Daredevil Born Again. Ahead of the series' debut, Lan and Keigen decided to sit down and discuss Daredevil and Kingpin's appearances in the MCU. Did Keigen like She-Hulk? Did Lan think Echo is a hidden gem forced into obscurity on Hulu? Tune in next week as we cover th...

Lan and Keigen sit down and discuss whether or not it's actually okay to let people enjoy things. Can Lan mount a defense for Zeb Wells' Spider-Man? Does Keigen regret his Spider-Man: No Way Home review? Find out in this critique-filled smorgasbord of an episode! Want to hear the uncensored version of this podcast earlier than the public? Head over to our Patreon to find them: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

This week, Salt, Lan, and Keigen talk about pilot episodes of TV shows. Which ones are good, which ones are bad? What makes for a good television pilot episode? We really wring this topic dry of discussion, mainly so that we don't have to redo this pilot episode in our main season. What's that? This isn't even the first episode about first episodes that we've done? Want to hear the uncensored vers...

In this Very Special Offseason episode of Midnight Grappler Animals, we're joined by special guest Guilherme Presse to discuss the most pressing question facing our youth today: Should the Game Awards still exist? We also end up going on a whole tangent about why Keigen really dislikes the 2024 Comics Beat Year-End Top 50 list. Want to hear the uncensored version of this podcast earlier than the p...

Keigen and Lan sit down to discuss the act of remastering comics in the episode that people are calling the Pax Americana of Podcasts! Join us as we figure out what actually qualifies as a remaster of a comic, and what it means for the world of comics preservation at large. Want to hear the uncensored version of this podcast earlier than the public? Head over to our Patreon to find them: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

This week, Salt and Keigen sat down to discuss the most pressing topic plaguing filmgoers in the modern era: Fourth films. Whether they be the bastard step-child added after a trilogy of movies, the first in a new trilogy, or just movie that just so happens to be movie #4, there's a lot to say about fourth movies, and we're here to prove it to you! Want to hear the uncensored version of this podca...

This week, we pulled a topic that's been sitting in the backlog for quite some time and talked about soundtracks in movies. Serg, Keigen, Salt, and Lan, the whole team's here for this one, and we ran the whole gamut of discussions about music in film off the dome. Are you impressed? You better be. Want to hear the uncensored version of this podcast earlier than the public? Head over to our Patreon...

With Zdarsky & Jimenez's Batman run coming to an end and H2SH taking over for the time being, we took it upon ourselves to figure out who the lynchpin of the next era of Batman comics would be. Serg, Keigen, and Lan looked deep into the history of Batman comics to pull out obscure villains from years past and pit them against each other to see who'd make for a compelling villain. Which Z-list...

It's our very first episode of 2025! We hosted a gameshow live last month where Lan quizzed Salt and Keigen on their knowledge of all things 2024! It went about as well as you'd expect. Listen to the chaos and mayhem and try playing it yourself to see how many points you get. Let us know how many you got right! Thanks again for sticking around with Midnight Grappler Animals in 2024, and we wish yo...