The Incal, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius’ classic ’80s series (originally published in French magazine Métal Hurlant), was very influential on movies as well as comics. In fact, it contains a number of the elements Jodorowsky had intended to put in a Dune film “adaptation” (which bore little resemblance to Frank Herbert’s novel) that never got made. Tim and Kumar discuss this insane, unconventional story.

Louie Hlad review on ComicsBeat

Considering how much Mulele talked up Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira back in the early days of the podcast, it’s strange that it’s taken us more than 14 years to actually discuss it here. Perhaps because the story sounded heavy and off-putting to Tim — but is that a fair assessment? On the other hand, as great as it is, is it Otomo’s best work? This week Tim, Mulele, Chris, and Oscar discuss this classic manga.

Dragon Age has been a successful video game series for over a decade, and the title has moved into a number of other media — including comics, most recently from Dark Horse. Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir have written a number of these, including the current series Dragon Age: Blue Wraith. In this episode, Emmet talks to them about pitching Dragon Age ideas, watching their Academy X students get missiled out of existence, and more.

Also in this episode, Tim and Kumar appear as two oldsters reviewing a book aimed at college students who love Harry Potter, Sophie Goldstein and and Jenn Jordan’s An Embarrassment of Witches. OK, Gen Xers.

Uzumaki is a 1998 horror manga by Junji Ito, unique in its capacity to make the reader simultaneously laugh out loud at its audacity and feel profoundly disturbed. In this episode, Kumar and Dana recount some of the more bizarre stories in this book, and answer the question, “Is it a compelling read?”

A happy couple’s date is interrupted by a superhero’s fight with a purple monster. The boy is critically injured, and taken by the superhero to lab where he’ll be (painfully, of course) transformed into, presumably, another superhero. Wait, where’s the girl? And, beyond that, where’s the hook? Tim and Mulele critique Zener: Master of the Mind.

David F. Sandberg’s 2019 movie Shazam!, starring Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, and Mark Strong, was a a break from the relentless grimness of many recent DC movies, and yet, it did have horroresque scenes. Of course, Sandberg has a lot of horror on his resume, but is there any comics precedent for horror in Shazam!? Emmet is joined once again by Shazam! expert Brian Cremins to discuss the film, and why Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson should play Captain Marvel… if he hasn’t already.

This week, Emmet, Patrick, Tim, and Chuck Coletta talk about their favorite comics of the past decade! If you’re looking for good comics that you might have missed from the 2010s — from superhero to comedy, historical to horror — we’ll give you plenty of titles to look up!

(All titles below are linked to Amazon – to help support the show, pick up any titles you’re interested in through these links!)

EMMET

Finder: Talisman HC by Carla Speed McNeil

Love In Vain: Robert Johnson 1911-1938, The Graphic Novel by Jean-Michel Dupont and Mezzo

I Love This Part: Hardcover Edition by Tillie Walden

My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris (DCP 613)

Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui

Gast by Carol Swain

Giant Days and Steeple by John Allison

Providence by Alan Moore & Jacen Burrows

Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett

Julio’s Day by Gilbert Hernandez

 

Emily Carroll’s Through the Woods (2014) collects a number of her horror web comics. Kumar and Emmet review the book in this episode, and now they believe: a comic can be scary. And they wonder: Is the task of making a comic scary better suited to women?

Emily Carroll’s Through the Woods (2014) collects a number of her horror web comics. Kumar and Emmet review the book in this episode, and now they believe: a comic can be scary. And they wonder: Is the task of making a comic scary better suited to women?

In Second Coming, Mark Russell explores how Christianity has gone wrong, and that way of thinking where violence is the answer to everything. It certainly wasn’t what Jesus taught, and yet Russell’s disillusioned Jesus starts to think violence might be all there is. Will Weaver joins Tim to discuss this controversial series, and why it’s worth reading.