Comics Rot Your Brain!

This week, Steven and Chris begin their two-part exploration of Epic Comics' ALIEN LEGION, published in 1984, created by Carl Potts, Alan Zelenetz, and Frank Cirocco. Part One covers issues one through five; Part Two continues the series.

Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to get a look at some of the fantastic art discussed in our episodes.

COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Chris Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) and Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age of comics.


SHOW NOTES

0:15 - Intro to the ALIEN LEGION series

02:07 - How the floppies differ from the collected trade editions, in regard to THE OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE-style entries provided for the main legionnaires

08:55 - Issue One, "Survival of the Fittest!" Zelenetz and Cirocco’s specific way of approaching this sprawling space opera

28:15 - Issues Two: "Blind Trust!"

30:31 - Allusions to LOST — Did that classic TV series draw inspiration for its “bottle episodes” and their solo character flashback structures from ALIEN LEGION?

44:39 - Torqa Dun & Jugger Grimrod as sketchy legionnaires in the Wolverine and Punisher mold

58:12 - A detour into the challenges of creator-owned comics

1:08:38 - Issue Three, "Last Gamble!” and its Back-up Story

1:20:53 - Era of post-decompressed storytelling and Frank Cirocco’s exquisitely-designed cover art

1:25:19 - Issue Four: "The Killing Zone!” - the big Torie Montroc’s solo issue

1:40:21 - Zeerod’s Back-Up Story in Issue Four: “Conscience!"

+ Goodwin & Simonson's phenomenal ‘70s gem,  MANHUNTER

#alienlegion #scifi #thealienlegion #carlpotts #larrystroman #epiccomics #spaceopera

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Support the show

+ Check out our YouTube channel to get a look at some of the fantastic art featured in our episodes. Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts.

+ We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain

+ For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE




©2024  Comics Rot Your Brain!







#comicbooks #comics #graphicnovel

For ZERO EPISODE, the show’s debut, Steven and Chris sit down and gab about the genesis of this podcast, how the team was formed, and the CRYB! mission.

COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Chris Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) & Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age.

SHOW NOTES:

1:05 - The “Why?” behind this show

5:02 - Experimentation in mainstream comics in the ‘80s, specifically Jenette Kahn’s extraordinary, game-changing reign as Publisher of DC Comics

6:44 - Our thoughts on why the ‘80s were such a halcyon period to read American comics and the importance of examining the more obscure titles from that era

9:10 - DC’s much lamented horror anthology, WASTELAND, and other comics that leave a lasting mark on their audiences, regardless of commercial success

10:56 - Paul Chadwick’s CONCRETE from Dark Horse Comics and other once-acclaimed works that somehow slipped between the cracks of our collective memory

12:05 - Marvel, Ron Perelman, HEROES REBORN, and the birth of the modern comics mainstream as IP farm, first and foremost

13:37 - Epic Comics, EPIC ILLUSTRATED, DREADSTAR, ALIEN LEGION, GROO THE WANDERER, AKIRA

16:00 - SKREEMER, VIGILANTE, GRENDEL, and our raison d'être. Also: Chris’ love of big French words and the types of comics that inspired us

17:59 -  MR. MONSTER and revisiting the indie comics of our youth to see how well they hold up (spoiler: still dope)

19:43 - The list of comic books we want to cover: SCOUT, HAWKWORLD, AZTEC ACE, BROUGHT TO LIGHT, COYOTE, BWS’ STORYTELLER, WISE SON: THE WHITE WOLF, THE LIGHT & DARKNESS WAR, MARS, AMERICAN FLAGG!, THE SHADOW (Mike Kaluta, Howard Chaykin, Andy Helfer, Bill Sienkiewicz, Marshall Rogers, Baker)

23:10 - The pre-Vertigo era, Vertigo, AMERICAN CENTURY by Chaykin, Tischman, and Laming; BLACK KISS and the transgressive works of Howard Chaykin

28:00 - Tim Vigil and David Quinn’s FAUST: “If you’re not offending somebody with your work, you’re not doing it right.”

29:52 - The difference between mainstream comics then and now — the devolution of American genre comics. IP management versus creative stewardship — the work of Steve Englehart, Cary Bates and Carmine Infantino’s insane TRIAL OF THE FLASH, Ann Nocenti, JRJR, and Al Williamson’s DAREDEVIL. Today, Marvel and DC Comics feel like product; back then, at their best, they were zany expressions of quirky creators who were given actual creative freedom.

33:15 - THE MIGHTY THOR, BETA RAY BILL, and the brilliant Walt Simonson

35:56 - “Do you remember when First was publishing LONE WOLF & CUB?” reflections on the early days of US manga comics translation — MAI THE PSYCHIC GIRL, THE LEGEND OF KAMUI, Eclipse Comics, etc.

37:00 - EPIC ILLUSTRATED and HEAVY METAL MAGAZINE

38:30 - Why we feel deeply committed to the cause of this show: remembering and celebrating iconoclastic comics (featuring discussions of the great Tim Truman and his ouevre: GRIMJACK, SCOUT, HAWKWORLD, WILDERNESS). Remembering great old comics and WHY IT MATTERS

43:53 - Our idiosyncratic definition of “The Bronze Age” as it pertains to comics




 #theflash #americanflagg #themightythor #grendel #alienlegion #akira #eclipsecomics #betaraybill #lonewolfandcub #theflash #daredevil #hawkworld #mrmonster #skreemer

Drop us a line!

Support the show

+ Check out our YouTube channel to get a look at some of the fantastic art featured in our episodes. Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts.

+ We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain

+ For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE




©2024  Comics Rot Your Brain!







#comicbooks #comics #graphicnovel

They say the fabled history of American comic books is divided into four distinct ages — the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, and the Modern Age. In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Chris Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) and Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators (mostly) from the Bronze Age.

COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! invites you to take a deep dive into ‘80s comics (with a few notable exceptions). The podcast explores your hosts’ deep passion for and quirky takes on pivotal or semi-obscure comic series from their youth — groundbreaking and once-lauded titles that laid the foundation for their lifelong love affairs with the graphic storytelling medium. Tune in each week to hear Steven and Chris discuss extraordinary comic books that you forgot about or ones that you never knew existed.

…THRILLER, GRIMJACK, NEXUS, CONCRETE, MR. MONSTER, SCOUT, STRAY TOASTERS, and so many others — these comics and their creators blazed radical new trails that changed the course of comics forever but are often left out of today’s discourse.

COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! exists to celebrate and reckon with the extraordinary legacy of 1980s American comics — all of it.

In the debut episode (Zero Episode), the guys talk about why the hell they’re actually doing this! Don’t leave them alone in their fandom and fanaticism. Join in on all the ensuing mayhem!

Drop us a line!

Support the show

+ Check out our YouTube channel to get a look at some of the fantastic art featured in our episodes. Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts.

+ We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain

+ For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE




©2024  Comics Rot Your Brain!







#comicbooks #comics #graphicnovel