#819 We catch up with “The Re-up” and “Amazing Tales”

The Re-up/Amazing Tales

This week we catch up with the work of two DCP favorites, Chad Bilyeu and David Dye! Chad’s series The Re-up, about his time as a pot dealer 20 years ago, continues and has overcome the skepticism Tim had of the series at the start. David has released three more issues of Amazing Tales and gone in various directions: a Beowulf adaptation, a Burroughs-esque time travel story commenting on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and an EC-type horror comic! We review The Re-up issues 4-6 and Amazing Tales issues 6-8!

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#134 “The R. Crumb Handbook”

Crumb HandbookFLASHBACK! A then-recent R. Crumb compilation is reviewed by a Crumb connoisseur (Kumar) and a Crumb newbie (Tim). The book features Crumb at his sweetest and his most shocking. But can this (or any book) claim to be the perfect Crumb compilation? (Originally published June 30, 2008.)

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#591 “Promethea”: A mind-bending, life-changing comic

PrometheaFLASHBACK! While Alan Moore and J.H. Williams’ Promethea, published from 1999 to 2005, is not one of Moore’s most remembered works, it’s not because the author wasn’t at the top of his game. Kumar and Emmet find it to be entrancing, even if you don’t buy into the various magical and spiritual elements that Moore built into it.

Also, inevitably, the incorporation of Promethea and other Moore creations into the DC Universe comes up; is it really just a business decision, or is the publisher singling out Moore’s work out of spite? (Originally published April 30, 2018.)

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#296 “Little Orphan Annie”

Little Orphan Annie

FLASHBACK! Harold Gray’s Little Orphan Annie debuted in 1924 and was a big success. FDR having not yet turned him against organized labor, Gray shows hardworking Annie going on strike in one of her many jobs. Tim and Kumar discuss the ’20s strips, their strengths and idiosyncrasies (one strip=one day?!), and how Gray’s outlook changed later. In observance of the strip’s 100th anniversary, we re-present this episode! (Originally published September 26, 2011.)

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#167 “City of Glass”: Adapting a Novel to Comics

City of Glass RIP Paul Auster

FLASHBACK! Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli’s comics version of City of Glass, a 1985 novel by Paul Auster, is an amazing adaptation of an unfilmable novel. Tim and Kumar assess the herculean task of adapting it, in probably the only medium capable of doing so: comics! We re-present this episode in observance of Auster’s passing on April 30 at age 77. Originally published February 16, 2009.

#799 “Berserk” v. 9 & 10 deep dive: Genre hopping

Berserk 9-10

Kentaro Miura’s Berserk can be confounding. Reading volumes 9 and 10 prompts us to ask “Just what genre IS this comic, anyway?” While it still has plenty of over-the-top action and violence, it also has gratuitous sex, comedy, and even some horror elements. And now we finally have hints toward why the “present” of volumes 1-3 had so many magical elements that have been mostly missing from the ongoing flashback. Tim and Kumar ask “Could it be the magic at last?”

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#689 Priest’s “Black Panther”

Priest's Black PantherFLASHBACK! In 1998, under the “Marvel Knights” banner, Christopher Priest began the first ongoing Black Panther title in nearly two decades. Panther was a relatively unknown character to many Marvel readers at the time. With the aid of “Emperor of Useless White Boys” Everett K. Ross, and artists like Mark Texeira and Joe Jusko, Priest (a.k.a. Jim Owsley) made Panther a must-read and brought the nature of his character into sharper focus. Kumar and Tim discuss the first 17 issues (the ones included in Black Panther by Christopher Priest: The Complete Collection Volume 1) and see if it still stands up 23 years later. (This episode was originally published March 10, 2021.)

Michael Hoskin’s 4-part article

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#798 “Delicious in Dungeon” yields a feast

Delicious in Dungeon

Ryoko Kui’s Delicious in Dungeon pokes fun at fantasy games and cooking manga tropes, exploring what it would really be like to be a character in a fantasy game, arranging your life in ways that wouldn’t really make sense in the real world. This week, Kumar and Emmet do a deep dive on this consistently enjoyable and beautifully plotted manga, the anime for which is now on Netflix.

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#782 Ninja Turtles: “Mutant Mayhem”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles first appeared in 1984 as a violent, gory homage to/parody of Frank Miller’s Daredevil, among other popular mainstream titles of the time (X-men, Teen Titans). The comic hit at the right time for Kumar, but for the younger Emmet, the 1987 TV cartoon was the business. Now, nearly 40 years later, both have attended the latest Turtles movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. This week, they review the movie and compare it with earlier Turtles iterations.

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#768 “Berserk” v. 1-4

BerserkBerserk abruptly ended when creator Kentaro Miura died two years ago, later resurrected by Miura’s assistants and his friend Kouji Mori. Neither Tim nor Kumar had read this violent, complex manga, but it lingered on our to-do list the past two years until a gag news story about who was going to wrap up Berserk (which Tim didn’t immediately recognize as a gag!) inspired us to take the plunge. What we found is an addictive manga that answers the question “What if Fist of the North Star were a fantasy “graphic medicine” comic about trauma?

Yup, Al Plastino did some “in case of emergency” Peanuts strips

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