Collective Action Comics

People deserve heroes. People deserve aspirational stories.

People also deserve the truth. All time and forever.

In this episode, we discuss the modern myth making of the Bush administration and its complicit media and how this may have manifested itself in the Ultimates - a cinematic trudge through the mud of nationalism and the lionization of the US response to terrorism.

(Ultimate Celebrity Sighting Count: 2)

Follow the show here:

https://twitter.com/cacomixpod

https://www.instagram.com/collectiveactioncomics/

Broke my dang microphone.

It's a brand new season here at Collective Action Comics!

Last time, we cringed as Ronald Reagan molded the world for a capitalistic and mean-spirited Justice League to thrive in.

Now, we must stare horrified into the storm of war.

New York has been attacked.

An oil-rich scapegoat has been chosen.

All that's left is for George W. Bush to whip the country into a frenzy of bloodlust, and he knows just the costumed heroes for the job...

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Be sure to follow the show at https://www.instagram.com/collectiveactioncomics/

or

https://twitter.com/cacomixpod

Setup: What do cannabis and kryptonite have in common?

Punchline: Comics publishers and US Presidents have no idea what they actually do to people.

Today we sit down with senior staff writer for ScreenRant Shaun Corley( https://twitter.com/CorleyonthShore )as he hits some key notes on the history of superhero comics and their often antagonistic relationship with illicit drugs and their subsequently cozy partnership with US law enforcement propaganda.

You can find Shaun's interview with comics creator Zack Kaplan here:

https://screenrant.com/metal-society-zack-kaplan-new-scifi-comic-robots/

As an idea, Superheroes are inherently right wing - at least in some regards and with only a cursory investigation.

Foremost recipient of this criticism is Batman, and generally rightly so.

But is there more to him than the surface-level misuse of capital?

The Black Casebook is in the studio with CAC to present Batman as the shifting reflection of many philosophies and many, MANY personal masks.

In this bonus episode, we get to hear from J.R. Hughto and Curt Merlo, the creative team behind the fantastic dystopian sci-fi comic "That Distant Fire."

We sit down to talk about comics, corporate crunch, and the crafting of a conscious narrative.

I also have the pleasure and privilege of making a special announcement for the comic!

As promised in the episode, here's a link to sign up for Black Eye Books' newsletter.

https://www.blackeye.ca/

Go ahead and add your name there and follow them on Instagram!

Are things really as bad as they seem? No.

They're so much worse.

In this season finale, we conclude our deep dive into power and influence. We see how the Reagan era truly marks the point of no return for the capitalist world. We'll learn just why we're made to believe that other countries are evil, despite the United States doing everything it accuses our "official" enemies of and far more.

Our travels this season have taken us from New York (or possibly Gotham or Metropolis?) to the Middle East to Russia to a small Vermont town with one weirdly prominent cinema marquis and back again. Oh and also we're going to space in this one.

They've also taken us through electoral politics, international warmongering, the militarization of the police, and ultimately the complete handover of power from the people to corporations. Not to mention the complicity of for-profit media in normalizing all this unspeakable horror.

We've seen this all through the dirty, broken window into the era that is the Justice League of J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen. We could not have asked for a better example of the toxic effect right-wing politics has on even the most "liberal" outlets of pop culture and, eventually, on the most fundamental aspects of our lives.

Thank you for joining along the way. We couldn't have done it without you.

You filthy animals can get the rest if you subscribe to the Patreon!

What makes a country "free?" Is it the right to do whatever you want all the time? Some of the time? Within reason?

The United States fails to meet any of these arbitrary qualitative plateaus.

Is it the right to food? to housing? to basic dignity?

The US is lightyears from approaching this definition.

Is it the right to be physically subdued by a mind controlled child of unspeakable magical power?

Because the US is a nation under the thrall of big business, that's the closest to the truth, unfortunately.

***LINKS TO ACTIVIST ORGS TO FIGHT LA MUNICIPAL CODE 41.18***

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https://nolympicsla.com/

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https://streetwatchla.com/

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https://cangress.org/ (LA CAN)

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https://ktownforall.org/

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https://dsa-la.org/

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https://www.pslweb.org/

Y'ever get the feeling you're just screaming into the void? Have you ever felt like you can only ever express your dissatisfaction by breaking something? Or possibly by performing an ancient ritual to give you an all-seeing eye and the power to shape reality?

Your feelings are valid! In this episode, we tackle the idea of the utility of rage and protest, and (importantly) we cover why anger isn't just useful but is also very often *necessary.*

Also there's some magic and some punching and a child gets his feelings hurt. The Justice League, baby!

Head's up - there's BIG content warning on this one for police violence.

Check out the show's instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveactioncomicspodcast/

Our much less active Twitter account (we really should get on that) here:

https://twitter.com/ColComix/

Send us comics you like or hate, and we'll find a way to relate them to radical politics somehow!