Betty and Alex dig into their faves of 2025, and their reading resolutions for 2026!

Media Mentioned:

Tracking

• Storygraph
• Reading List

Non-Comics

• The Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkein 
• Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
• Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet
• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Cutest of the Year

• Cat Companions Maruru and Hachi by Yuri Sonoda
• Chi’s Sweet Home by Konami Kanata 
• Cat & Cat Adventures by Susie Yi

Favorite Indie/Small Press Title

• Testament by J. Marshall Smith
• Pushing Buttons! A Futuristic Workplace Kerfuffle by Ursula Blix

Favorite Kids Comic

• Miss Cat series by Jean-Luc Fromental and Joëlle Jolivet 
• Magda, Intergalactic Chef Volume 1: The Big Tournament by Nicolas Wouters and Mathilde van Gheluwe
• Creaky Acres by Calista Brill and Nilah Magruder

Favorite Book Club Read

• Cannon by Lee Lai
• Stone Fruit by Lee Lai
• Uzumaki by Junji Ito

Favorite YA Book

• Flip by Ngozi Ukazu
• All Princesses Die Before Dawn by Quentin Zuttion

Favorite New Manga Series

• Medalist by Tsurumaikada
• Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama
• Ping Pong by Taiyo Matsumoto
• My Love Mix-Up! by Wataru Hinekure and Aruko
• Hirayasumi by Keigo Shinzo
• Maison Ikkoku by Rumiko Takahashi

Favorite Marvel/DC and Trade Comics

• Absolute Superman by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval
• Absolute Batman by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta
• Absolute Wonder Woman by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman
• Absolute Martian Manhunter by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodríguez
• Absolute Green Lantern by Al Ewing and Jahnoy Lindsay
• Absolute Flash by Jeff Lemire and Nick Robles
• Minor Arcana by Jeff Lemire
• Robin & Batman: Jason Todd by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen

Favorite Overall

• The Corus Wave by Karenza Sparks
• Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me by Mimi Pond 

Biggest Surprise

• Raging Clouds by Yudori

Year-End Lists

• Peow Studio Publishing
• Gosh! Comics
• Farewell, Daisy: Jun Mayuzuki Story Collection by Jun Mayuzuki
• Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls
• Maus by Art Spiegelman

Wish We’d Read

• Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls
• Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance by Ben Passmore
• The One and Future Riot by Joe Sacco
• Palestine by Joe Sacco
• Safe Area Goražde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995 by Joe Sacco
• Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson
• Stop!! Hibari-kun! by Hisashi Eguchi
• More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey
• Drome by Jesse Lonergan

Currently Reading

• Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me by Mimi Pond 
• Absolute Wonder Woman by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman
• Neighborhood Story #4 by Ai Yazawa
• Testament by J. Marshall Smith
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
• The Will of the Many by James Islington

Rocket Ship-Grawlix Sandwich

• Moomin by Tove Jansson
• The Lord of the Rings film series

Next Time:

DC’s Absolute series

Betty and Alex dig into their anticipated releases coming out this Fall! Some have dropped already, and some are yet to come, but either way, our girls can't wait to read them.

Intro & outro music by Cullen Curth.

Media Mentioned:

• THE CORUS WAVE by Karenza Sparks 
• FLIP by Ngozi Ukazu
• ANGELICA AND THE BEAR PRINCE by Trung Le Nguyen
• DO ADMIT: THE MITFORD SISTERS AND ME by Mimi Pond
• BLACK ARMS TO HOLD YOU UP: A HISTORY OF BLACK RESISTANCE by Ben Passmore
• WITCHCRAFT by Sole Otero
• LOVE BULLET, VOL. 1 by inee
• SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES by Anaïs Flogny
• ROBIN & BATMAN: JASON TODD by Jeff Lemire & Dustin Nguyen
• ART OF WITCH HAT ATELIER by Kamome Shirahama
• ART OF RUMIKO TAKAHASHI: COLORS 1978-2024 by Rumiko Takahashi
• ABSOLUTE FLASH: VOL. 1 by Jeff Lemire; art by Nick Robles
• ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER VOL. 1: MARTIAN VISION by Deniz Camp & Javier Rodriguez 
• ABSOLUTE GREEN LANTERN VOL. 1: WITHOUT FEAR by Al Ewing & Jahnoy Lindsay
• ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN VOL. 1: LAST DUST OF KRYPTON
• ABSOLUTE BATMAN VOL. 1: THE ZOO
• ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN VOL. 1: THE LAST AMAZON 
• DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY THEORY VOL. 1 by Mayo Tsurukame
• WET SAND VOL. 2 by Doyak
• FAIRY CAT VOL. 2 by Hisa Takano
• CAT COMPANIONS VOL. 5 by Yuri Sonoda
• MORE WEIGHT: A SALEM STORY by Ben Wickey
• PHYSICS FOR CATS by Tom Gauld

Betty and Alex sit down to chat about SPORTS MANGA!! From their own history with sports, to what really defines the genre of "sports manga," to their faves, B&A get into it all.

Intro & outro music by Cullen Curth.

Media Mentioned:

• MEDALIST by Tsurumaikada

• SLAM DUNK Takehiko Inoue

• REAL Takehiko Inoue

• HAIKYU!! By Haruichi Furudate

• BLUE LOCK by Muneyuki Kaneshiro

• SHORT GAME by Mitsuru Adachi

• THE CLIMBER by Jirō Nitta & Shin-ichi Sakamoto

• THE PRINCE OF TENNIS by Takeshi Konomi

• PING PONG by Taiyou Matsumoto

• SAYONARA FOOTBALL by Naoshi Arakawa

• BLUE BOX by Kouji Miura

• THOSE WHO LEAVE AND THOSE WHO STAY by Elena Ferrante

• CAT COMPANIONS MARURU AND HACHI by Yuri Sonoda

• THE TWO TOWERS by J.R.R. Tolkien 

Betty and Alex talk BOOK CLUBS! From the store's iconic Graphic Novel Book Club, to celebrity book clubs, to past personal book clubs, our ladies cover it all.

Intro & outro music by Cullen Curth.

Media Mentioned:

• THE MYTHMAKERS by John Hendrix

• THE GULF by Adam de Souza

• ROAMING by Jillian & Mariko Tamaki

• ALISON by Lizzy Stewart

• SELF-ESTEEM AND THE END OF THE WORD by Luke Healy

• WITCH HAT ATELIER by Kamome Shirahama 

• SUPERMAN RED SON by Mark Miller & Dave Johnson

• THE NIGHT EATERS by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

• LAND OF MIRRORS by Maria Medem

• Local author Matt Kindt

• Radiator Comics

• PAST TENSE by Sacha Mardou

• PERSEPHONE by Loic Locatelli-kournwsky

• PING PONG by Taiyo Matsumoto

• BATMAN: EGO by Darwyn Cooke

• DUCKS by Kate Beaton

• THE MAGIC FISH by Trung Le Nguyen 

• BOAT LIFE by Tsuge Tadao

• REAL by Takehiko Inoue

• SLAM DUNK by Takehiko Inoue

• HARDCORE HAPPINESS by Reid Chancellor

Betty and Alex take a spin through some of their favorite children's picture books that are great for grownups and kids alike!

HEADS UP: After the main topic, Betty and Alex discuss a book during the "currently reading" segment that is not suitable for children. The rest of the episode is A-Okay!

Intro & outro music by Cullen Curth.

Media Mentioned:

• KITTYBUNKPORT by Scott Rothman & Zachariah OHora

• PINK BLUE AND YOU by Elise Gravel

• BESSIE THE MOTORCYCLE QUEEN by Charles R. Smith Jr. & Charlot Kristensen

• WE ARE THE WATER PROTECTORS by Carole Lindstrom & Michaela Goade

• HOTDOG by Doug Salati

• MR. WUFFLES by David Wiesner

• MADELINE by Ludwig Bemelmans

• Author Sandra Boynton

• POLAR BEAR’S UNDERWEAR by Tupera Tupera

• INVISIBLE THINGS by Andy J. Pizza and Sophie Miller

• EVERYONE’S AWAKE by Colin Meloy and Shawn Harris

• A SUNDAE WITH EVERYTHING ON IT by Kyle Scheele & Andy J. Pizza

• I CAN BE ANYTHING by Shinsuke Yoshitake 

• I CAN OPEN IT FOR YOU by Shinsuke Yoshitake 

• COMET AND STAR by Lee Juck

• OCTAVIO AND HIS GLASSES Marc González Rossell

• URSULA UPSIDE DOWN by Corey Tabor

• IF YOU RUN OUT OF WORDS by Felicita Sala

• TO SEE AN OWL by Matthew Cordell 

• BODIES ARE COOL by Tyler Feder 

• PING PONG Vol. 1-2 by Taiyo Matsumoto

• FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING by J.R.R. Tolkien

• MISTBORN: THE WELL OF ASCENSION by Brandon Sanderson

• WALKING ON WATER by Jang Mokdan

Betty and Alex dig into their first batch of listener emails! Hit us up with any comments, questions, or recommendations at [email protected] to be featured in our next mailbag episode!

Intro & outro music by Cullen Curth.

Media mentioned:

• STAR WARS
• STAR WARS REBELS
• STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS
• ANDOR
• THE MANDALORIAN
• SKELETON CREW
• Seventeen (K-Pop group)
• Basically any movie Bucky Barnes was in
• Junji Ito
• Go Piss Girl! (meme)
• DOCTOR WHO
• J. Marshall Smith
• SEASON OF THE ROSES by Chloé Wary
• MINOR ARCANA by Jeff Lemire
• #DRCL by Shin-ichi Sakamoto
• MY LOVE MIX-UP by Wataru Hinekure & Aruko
• CAT COMPANIONS MARURU AND HACHI by Yuri Sonoda
• Steenz
• FUN HOME by Alison Bechdel
• LOVE LANGUAGES by James Albon
• HOT DOG by Doug Salati
• WOE: A HOUSECAT’S STORY OF DESPAIR by Lucy Knisley
• SEA LEGS by Jules Bakes & Niki Smith
• THE MYTHMAKERS by John Hendrix (Now Eisner-nominated!!!)
• PAST TENSE by Sacha Mardou
• WITCHES OF BROOKLYN by Sophie Escabasse
• FOREST HILLS BOOTLEG SOCIETY by Dave Baker & Nicole Goux
• BROWNSTONE by Samuel Teer & Mar Julia
• Taiyō Matsumoto
• SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW: by Tom King & Bilquis Evely
• HELEN OF WYNDHORN by Tom King & Bilquis Evely
• WITCH HAT ATELIER by Kamome Shirahama
• DOCTOR STRANGE: FALL SUNRISE by Tradd Moore
• THE ACCURSED VAMPIRE by Madeline McGrane
• Shawn Harris
• BLANKETS by Craig Thompson
• GINSENG ROOTS by Craig Thompson
• Dan Zettwoch
• Matthew Cordell
• THE MAGIC FISH by Trung Le Nguyen
• Michael DeForge
• Mariko & Jillian Tamaki
• Paige Hender
• Jeff Lemire
• Fiona Staples
• Kate Beaton
• Darwin Cooke
• Brian Lee O’Malley
• Drawn & Quarterly
• Silver Sprocket
• THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien
• WHEN TO PICK A POMEGRANATE by Yasmeen Abedifard
• PERSEPHONE by Loïc Locatelli-Kournwsky
• GIVEN by Natsuki Kizu
• MISTBORN by Brandon Sanderson

This time, Alex and Betty dig into works by one specific creator: legendary mangaka Rumiko Takahashi! Her works span decades and genres, and she's become somewhat of a cult classic at Betty's Books. So get ready to dig into the Takahashi universe with us!

NOTE: This episode was recorded in February, so apologies for outdated weather & event references...

Don't forget to fulfill all your comics & manga needs at http://bettysbooksstl.com !!

MEDIA MENTIONED:

The following works by Rumiko Takahashi:

• URUSEI YATSURA
• MAISON IKKOKU
• MERMAID SAGA
• RANMA ½
• INUYASHA
• MAO
• RUMIC THEATER
• ONE-POUND GOSPEL
• RIN-NE
• THE LAUGHING TARGET

Other media mentioned:

• Mangaka Kazuo Koike
• Mangaka Kazuo Umezu
• NOT ON DISPLAY: A GRAPHIC NOVEL ABOUT FEMALE NUDES IN THE LOUVRE by Zelba, Translated by Alice Yang
• CATS OF THE LOUVRE by Taiyo Matsumoto
• TOKYO ALIEN BROS by Keigo Shinzo
• Hirayasumi by Keigo Shinzo

Was this episode recorded in February--two months ago? Well, yes. But, better late than never, Alex and Betty chat about their most anticipated Spring releases, their current reads, and--of course--the Rocketship Grawlix Sandwich.

Media Mentioned:

• SEA LEGS: A GRAPHIC NOVEL by Niki Smith and Jules Bakes
• BATCAT: COOKING CONTEST by Meggie Ramm
• CASSI AND THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES by Dean Stuart
• DETECTIVE STANLEY AND THE MYSTERY AT THE MUSEUM by Hannah Tunnicliffe
• HOW TO TALK TO YOUR SUCCULENT by Zoe Persico
• MAGDA INTERGALACTIC CHEF: THE BIG TOURNAMENT by Nicolas Wouters
• SQUEAK CHATTER BARK: AN ECO-MYSTERY by Ali Fitzgerald
• A SONG FOR YOU AND I: (A GRAPHIC NOVEL) by K. O’Neill
• CRUMBLE: A GRAPHIC NOVEL by Meredith McClaren and Andrea Bell
• OASIS by Guojing
• RANMA ½ by Rumiko Takahashi
• CARTOONIST CLUB by Reina Telgemeier and Scott McCLoud
• PAPILLO by Ben Clanton, Corey R. Tabor, Andy Chou Musser
• CRUMBLE by Meredith McClaren, Andrea Bell
• SPEECHLESS: A Graphic Novel by Aron Nels Steinke
• BEETLE & THE CHIMERA CARNIVAL by Aliza Layne
• PIZZA AND TACO: DRAW YOUR OWN COMIC! By Stephen Shaskan
• THE DEADLIEST: SPIDER by Eleanor Spicer Rice, Max Temescu
• STAR WARS COMPLETE LOCATIONS NEW EDITION by Jason Fry, et. al
• BROWNSTONE by Samuel Teer, Mar Julia

Head to http://bettysbooksstl.com to fulfill all your graphic lit needs!

Heads up! This episode contains some explicit content not suitable for younger listeners.

Happy Valentine's Day, listeners!! What better way to celebrate than with a bloody lineup of vampire comics? Alex & Betty dig into an array of graphic novels featuring blood suckers of all types, perfectly suited for this romantic holiday. <3

Media Mentioned:

• DRACULA by Bram Stoker (duh)

• #DRCL: MIDNIGHT CHILDREN by Shin’ichi Sakamoto

• WHEN I ARRIVED AT THE CASTLE by Emily Carroll

• DC VS. VAMPIRES VOL. 1 by James Tynion IV & Otto Schmidt

• AMERICAN VAMPIRE by Scott Snyder & Rafael Albuquerque

• VAMPEERZ by Akili

• FANGS by Billy Balibally

• THE ACCURSED VAMPIRE by Madeline McGran

• VLAD THE FABULOUS VAMPIRE by Flavia Z. Drago

• KILLADELPHIA by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander

• FANGS by Sarah Anderson

• GARLIC AND THE VAMPIRE by Bree Paulsen

• DRACULA THE IMPALER by Matt Wagner and Kelly Jones

• STRANGE BEDFELLOWS by Ariel Slamet Ries

• HAPPY ENDINGS by Lucie Bryon

Alex and Betty chat about their most anticipated Spring releases, their current reads, and--of course--the Rocketship Grawlix Sandwich.

Media Mentioned: