This week, the crew takes a secret portal through Emily's hair to the Green, the home of the most popular DC Comics character of all time: The Swamp Thing. Ok, that may not be true. But good ol' Swampy has loomed large over Jean-Luc's comic book experiences, and so he's curated a sampler of issues to introduce Alex and Emily to the character. Those issues are:

House of Secrets #92, the origin of Swamp Thing

Swamp Thing (1984) #34, a pivotal issue of the iconic Alan Moore run

Swamp Thing (1984) #145, the first issue of Mark Millar's run on the character

Swamp Thing (2001) #2, written by host-favorite Brian K Vaughan

Swamp Thing (2011) #10, from the New 52 run that got Jean-Luc into the character

and The Swamp Thing (2021) #4, from the most recent Ram V run on the character

Next, on Crying in the Book Club: I hope you liked hearing about BKV, because we're talking about him for the entirety of the next episode as we flashback to one of the most blatant 9/11 trauma comics, Ex Machina.

Our theme music was composed by our wonderful friend Gwyn. You can find their work on Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/hopefullynotbadlib.Our podcast art was done by everyone's favorite co-host Emily.

Follow us on Twitter:

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@alexhandziuk

This week, we hosted the book club in an atelier, which is "A workshop or studio used by an artist." And what is podcasting, if not an art form? It definitely isn't but comics are and we're here to talk about one of the comics of all time: Witch Hat Atelier.

The bulk of our conversation focused on the incredible world building of the first three volumes; the rules of the world, how those rules were developed, and the implications for the characters. The hosts also discuss the adorable cast of characters, the various hijinks they get up to, and Jean-Luc's distaste for such trivialities.

Next, on Crying in the Book Club: We're heading back to the warm embrace of DC comics for a look at the history of the one, the only The Swamp Thing.

Our theme music was composed by our wonderful friend Gwyn. You can find their work on Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/hopefullynotbadlib.

Our podcast art was done by everyone's favorite co-host Emily.

Follow us on Twitter:

@cryingbookclub

@mtdewliker

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@alexhandziuk

The book club is up a member on this episode, as first time returning guest Chad comes back to talk about Colin Lorimer's The Hunt an urban fantasy/Irish folk horror from a few years back. It's got some creepy monsters, which apparently is the #1 thing we all remembered about it! Rather than a trip down memory lane, this episode is closer to a rediscovery of... well I'll leave it open-ended as to whether we think it's a classic or not. We do kind of disagree what it's actually ~about~ though, so look forward to some spirited (mild) debate.

Also everyone had a cough on this episode for some reason? You probably won't notice because I edited them out but it does lead to a couple wonky audio moments so hopefully it's all fine!

Next, on Crying in the Book Club: Emily's introducing to another new manga: Witch Hat Atelier. Do y'all know what Atelier means? I sure don't!

Our theme music was composed by our wonderful friend Gwyn. You can find their work on Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/hopefullynotbadlib.

Our podcast art was done by everyone's favorite co-host Emily.

Follow us on Twitter:

@cryingbookclub

@mtdewliker

@empandanada

@alexhandziuk

What's up bro. The book club is back bro, hope you did your reading for this episode, bro. Hopefully you did, bro, because otherwise these notes will just be really annoying to you, bro. (It's a reference to the tracksuit mafia from the comic book series Hawkeye)

Anyway, we're once again heading back to the nostalgia mines for Alex and Jean-Luc as the crew discusses Matt Fraction, David Aja, Francesco Francavilla, Javier Pulido, and Annie Wu's seminal run on Hawkeye. It's a total blast of a book, and a breezy episode to match the fun tone of the series. Of course, there's some heavier talk to: is Clint and Kate's relationship weird? (yes!) Is Clint really a superhero? (No!) and much, much more.

Next, on Crying in the Book Club: Chad is coming back to chat about another of our favorite books from the halcyon years of 2016/17, an Irish horror book called The Hunt.

Our theme music was composed by our wonderful friend Gwyn. You can find their work on Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/hopefullynotbadlib.

Our podcast art was done by everyone's favorite co-host Emily.

Follow us on Twitter:

@cryingbookclub

@mtdewliker

@empandanada

@alexhandziuk