This time, a Christmas-themed comic. Isn’t it a little late for that? A seasonal comic may be a rather odd choice, especially one that has more military maneuvers in it than good cheer. But it’s appropriate for kids, and looks great! It also raises the question “What makes a good cliffhanger?” Tim and Adam take off in a one-horse open sleigh to critique “Bric-A-Brac” by Ryan Haack, Rafael Sam, Toben Racicot, and Milton Aguiar.
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By the end of the 1960s, Jack Kirby had had enough of Marvel. He felt that the company had not treated him well enough for him to justify introducing the new characters and concepts he’d been toying with. When he got the chance to try out the concepts at DC Comics instead, he jumped at the chance.
Thus, we have the Fourth World saga. After reviewing the Tom Scioli bio of Kirby, Tim and Emmet decided to read the Fourth World for the first time. So this episode, we begin with the early issues of Kirby’s run on Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: issues 133-139 and 141. The issues show us how Kirby was digesting what was going on around him in the late “hippie” era. But wait a minute — what’s Don Rickles doing here???
Mark Evanier on the Rickles appearance
Vulture.com article on Fourth World, by Abraham Riesman
The reading order we’re following
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Weight training is very big in space. At least, on the planet Cankee, where Earth-style weightlifting has caught on like wildfire. That’s the setup for Second Place, by Ben Goldsmith, Ed Smith, and Jay P. Fosgitt. Ryan Cecil Smith joins Tim to discuss in which categories it gets the trophy, and in which ones it doesn’t even place.
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Thready is a comic about a week in the life of a character who is bipolar. That’s him in the picture, although we suspect that appearance is symbolic of how he feels. This time, Tim and Jason discuss the first issue of a promising comic.
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There were several landmark comics titles in the 1980s (do we really need to name them?), but unfortunately they tend to overshadow much of the other interesting work of the decade. Brannon Costello and Brian Cremins have edited a collection of essays on some of these overlooked works, called The Other 1980s. This time, Kumar and Emmet discuss some of the book’s essays, including chapters on Neil the Horse, Doug Moench, Trina Robbins, Elfquest, and more.
“R.U. a Cyberpunk?” ‘Mondo 2000’ magazine, no. 10, 1993
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The latest manga sensation is Koyoharu Gotouge’s Demon Slayer. Both the manga and the anime have broken records (including in theaters in Japan, during a pandemic) around the world, including in the U.S., where the film set all-time opening weekend record for a foreign language film. But Kumar’s son Ashwin, who reads manga like crazy, was slow to warm up to it. How does he feel about it now? Kumar and Emmet are joined by Ashwin to discuss the series.
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“Tim Catches Up with the MCU” moves on to the second Avengers movie, Age of Ultron, and Tim reveals something that’s been bothering him all along about one of the actors in these movies…
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After years of putting her life on hold to care for her father, her father passes on. How does she react? What about her son, who feels his grandpa’s death may be his fault? R. Kikuo Johnson’s No One Else is a subtly told story of grief with beautiful art and some humor as well. Tim is joined by graphic medicine expert Alice Jaggers to discuss the book and try to unlock some of the deep symbolism in its seemingly simple art.
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Chad Bilyeu, an American living in Amsterdam, has been a favorite of ours over on Critiquing Comics for the past several years. With the sixth issue of his Chad in Amsterdam series, we’ve promoted talk of his comics to the flagship, Deconstructing Comics. You’ve arrived, Chad! Seriously, this issue gives us more interesting storytelling that serves as food for thought. Mulele is even back to discuss the book with Tim!
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Epic Tavern’s Tales from the Fantastical Crimes Unit gives us a noir-type detective on the case of a kidnapped centaur woman. What’s that? You’ve never heard of Epic Tavern? You didn’t know it’s a video game? Then this comic may leave you scratching your head. And that’s just one of a number of reasons that this comic prompts Tim and Ryan Cecil Smith to urge these admittedly talented creators (writer Shawn French, artist Steve Mardo, colorist Steve Lavigne, and letterer Rob Jones) to up their game. Listen for our (hopefully) constructive criticism!
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