Classic Comics Cavalcade

Jason is a big fan of crime comics, so he was excited when friend of the pod Steven Brower approached him, asking for a chat about Brower's new book Crime Comics Confidential. Of course Jason agreed, and what resulted was a free-ranging chat about comics, great comic art, their shared love for Jack Kirby, and even some music recommendations!

It's a fun and entertaining 40 minute chat. Please let us know if you'd like to hear more interview style episodes, and if you enioyed please subscribe and leave feedback on iTunes.

This week Amir and Jason dig out another lost classic from their deep collection, Glyn Dillon's fascinating 2012 graphic novel The Nao of Brown. This realistic graphic novel tells the story of a woman with a form of OCD, the family and friends who surround here, and puts readers deep into her imagination. Dillon's art is immaculate, and Jason and Amir debate whether the story is as good as that artwork. 

It's a great 30-minute listen you should enjoy, whether you've read this book or not.

Corto Maltese is a legendary Italian comic. Jason and Amir had heard about it many times over the years but never read any of Hugo Pratt's famous creation. They finally di read it for the pod, and both of them were amazed by how great this comic was. Join them for 20 minutes whichj will presuade you to add a Maltese collection to your holiday wishlist!

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Carlos is back to chat about Marvel movies with Jason, and the next one on their list is Ant-Man and the Wasp. They both entered this watch with... well, medium hopes anyway for something fun and entertaining. Well, yeah, the movie is pretty fun but it's also lacking some real basics with logic and common sense. So join us and listen to the guys trash this movie, then you can skip it on your Marvel movie rewatch!

Amir and Jason get together again to look at another classic comic that's in their collection. This time they look at Marvel Treasury Edition #3 from 1974, which features two classic Conan stories by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith. In fact, this book is kind of a proto-graphic novel which features new coloring by Windsor-Smith over some exquite artwork by him. It includes the terrific "Rogues in the House" and the even more incredible "Red Nails", which has some of the most beautiful artwork in any Marvel Silver Age comic. 

Join us for a raptuous conversation about a great comic.

For years, Jason has been telling Amir how incredible The Love Bunglers by Jaime Hernandez is. Finally the pair get to get together and discuss the graphic novel and, if anything, they find it to be even better than they thought. Join them for a fascinating discussion of a work by one of the finest graphic novelists of his generation.

It's finally happened. Jason and Carlos have arrived at Avengers: Infinity War in their Marvel movie watch. One of the longest, and absolutely the biggest downer of a Marvel movie, the guys ponder if this movie transcends its sadness with good character moments or if it is finally just too depressing to really enjoy.

Neither Jason nor Amir had read Prince of Cats before the decided to cover it in this episode - and they had heard great things about Ron Wimberly's graphic novel - so this was the perfect time to finally check it out. But the book ended up being even better than either of them expected, and their chat shows how great they both thought this wholly original yet wholly derivative graphic novel is.

Jason and Carlos loved Thor Ragnarok when they first saw it, but was it indeed the best Marvel movie, as many critics have said? The guys explore that question, looking in detail at the complex world director Taika Waititi creates in this movie, a world much more complex than it seems to have on a first watch. Is it the best Marvel movie? Jason and Carlos answer that here. It's 42 minutes of some very interesting back-and-forth we think you'll enjoy.

Dr. Strange is both an oddball entry in the MCU and a completely traditional entry. On one hand, the story takes place in odd dimensions, outside of the world most other heroes experinece, and with a complex and hard-to-grasp cosmology. On the other hand, it's an origin story through and through, a classic kind of Marvel movie.

Carlos and Jason explore the odd contradictions at the heart of this movie and decide it's really a pretty dang good film.

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