#661 Hydra Cap (pt 2)

Hydra Iron Cap

As leader of S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America has been put in charge of the U.S. military and law enforcement (and, seemingly, become president of the U.S.) following an alien invasion. But he then reveals that he’s also the leader of Hydra, and the evil organization quickly takes over the country. In this episode, Tim and guests Joe and Kendall (from the Wayne Manor Memoirs podcast) complete last week’s discussion with a walk through the Nick Spencer-penned Marvel crossover event Secret Empire!

Vulture.com on the Hydra Cap controversy

Polygon.com: Was Secret Empire worth it?

CBR: Why Kobik didn’t undo the casualties

CBR: Yes, Secret Empire was worth it

CBR: No, it wasn’t

ScreenRant.com: Did fan reaction affect the ending?

ScreenRant.com: How Secret Empire should have ended

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#660 Hydra Cap (pt 1)

Hail HydraThe last two words that anyone expected to see in Captain America’s word balloon were “Hail Hydra,” but sure enough, that’s what happened in Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 in 2016. The outcry Marvel heard back for this move was even bigger than they had anticipated.

Of course, it wasn’t a permanent change, but it wasn’t undone in the way we might have expected, either. How does it read a few years later, and what are the good and bad points of the event it led to, Secret Empire? Joe and Kendall from the Wayne Manor Memoirs podcast join Tim for the first of two episodes taking apart the controversy and a massive Marvel event.

IGN interview with Nick Spencer as Secret Empire began

Screen Rant’s take

CBR Nick Spencer video interview

Radd Titan Nick Spencer video interview

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#659 “Locke & Key”

Locke and Key

This week, Kumar and Emmet review Locke and Key, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. There are a lot of murders in it, but is it a horror comic? They also discuss the series’ missteps in dealing with race and sexuality. Plus, in the second half of the show: Have you read this book but ended up with lots of questions? Emmet is here to help.

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#224 Our Notes on “Death Note”

Death Note

FLASHBACK! A bored, punk-dressing god of death and a genius high school boy are the main characters in Death Note, written by Tsugumi Ohba and drawn by Takeshi Obata. The boy, Light Yagami, receives from the god a notebook with which he can kill people simply by writing their names in it. A plot with many twists and turns ensues. Tim and Kumar review — first without spoilers, and then, 38 minutes in, totally and utterly with spoilers.

(Originally published March 22, 2010)

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#658 John Allison talks “Giant Days” and more

Giant Days

John Allison has been a significant presence on the web comics radar for more than two decades. In 2013, he made the jump to traditional publishing with the fantastic Giant Days series from BOOM! Box, and also switched to only writing, while a selection of top-notch artists (for most of the series, Max Sarin) took over the visuals. Recently he put out the five-issue Steeple from Dark Horse, and started other projects—but now the printing presses, along with everything else, have ground to a halt in the COVID-19 era. The up side is that it means he has time to talk to us about his work, so this week, Tim calls him up!

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Critiquing Comics #170 “Moon You”

Moon You

You’re trapped on the moon and you believe that everyone on Earth is dead. Who’d have believed that was the setup for a gag manga? Cho Seok pulls it off in style with Moon You, a hilarious comic that also has heart and some tension, and, yes, a few missteps as well. Tim and Mulele discuss.

Also, what our Patrons said when we asked them what type of podcast content – critiques? superhero movie review? comics industry talk? – we’re the best at presenting.

 

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#657 “Berlin”

Berlin

Jason Lutes’ Berlin shows us scenes from the lives of many characters in Berlin as the Weimar Republic disintegrated and the Nazis rose to power. Historical events (including the fallout of World War I) affect the characters while the characters continue trying to control their own lives, or each other’s, and they cross paths in ways that are sometimes easy to miss. And the art is detailed and spellbinding. Tim and Kumar dig into this 542-page masterwork, more than twenty years in the making.

Jason Lutes’ presentation

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#656 “My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness”

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness

Kabi Nagai’s My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, while it does include lesbian sex scenes of a sort, is less about sex than you might expect. It’s more about mental health, and asserting the right to go against other people’s expectations. Tim and Mulele review, and find that, in spite of our being two straight guys, the story still resonates with us.

Also, could Diamond Comics’ COVID-19-related shutdown mean a simple pause in business as usual? A new era of non-monopolistic comics distribution? Or… the end of weekly “floppies” altogether?

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#655 “The Incal”

The Incal

The Incal, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius’ classic ’80s series (originally published in French magazine Métal Hurlant), was very influential on movies as well as comics. In fact, it contains a number of the elements Jodorowsky had intended to put in a Dune film “adaptation” (which bore little resemblance to Frank Herbert’s novel) that never got made. Tim and Kumar discuss this insane, unconventional story.

Louie Hlad review on ComicsBeat

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#654 “Akira”

Considering how much Mulele talked up Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira back in the early days of the podcast, it’s strange that it’s taken us more than 14 years to actually discuss it here. Perhaps because the story sounded heavy and off-putting to Tim — but is that a fair assessment? On the other hand, as great as it is, is it Otomo’s best work? This week Tim, Mulele, Chris, and Oscar discuss this classic manga.

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