"Batman spends more time fighting the cops than helping them" - Leslie Lee III

"The most corrupt Gotham Police Department of any Batman media" -- Me...and I am here for that! 

Animated Batman is some of the best Batman. Does this new series from legends like Paul Dini, Ed Brubaker & Greg Rucka deliver?

Leslie Lee III of the leftist culture podcast Sruggle Session returns to talk about Batman Caped Crusader's aesthetics, politics and reinventions. 

Looking for ways to volunteer this election? There's https://keyboards.forkamala.fyi/  for keyboard warrior and I'm happy to connect folks to virtual phone banking or text banking opportunities --especialy ones supporting grassroots orgs, fighting voter suppression or working on local races. You an ping me https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social or even (for this purpose) https://x.com/Elana_Brooklyn  We all can do something to fight facism (even if you're reading this after the election).

"less about, China versus America..what he really believes is the power of community".  Award winning co-creator of The Good Asian, sak Pichetshote returns to talk about his visonary new project for Image Comics: a series of five one-shot comic books titled The Horizon Experiment. Each has a unique creative team inventing an original protagonist from a marginalized background set in genres such as horror or espionage, or inspired by icons like Indiana Jones or John Constantine.

Pichetshote's entry in the series, The Manchurian, is more than a James Bond who "just so happens to be Chinese"- he is a spy whose identity is core to the narrative. There's also Finders/Keepers from Vita Ayala and Skyler Partridge in which a Boricua archaeologist returns an artifact from a museum to the people from whom it was stolen.

The Manchurian, with artists Terry and Rachel Dodson is out now as is The Sacred Damned and more on the way from creative teams that bridge comics, literature, film and television. 

Here's my 2021 convo about The Good Asian with sak Pichetshote and Alexandre Tefenkgihttps://graphicpolicy.com/2021/05/18/the-good-asian-comic-with-creators-sak-pichetshote-and-alexandre-tefenkgi/

“The philosophy that leads to AI is the same philosophy as 19th Century imperialism and colonialism,” Kieron Gillen. Writer Kieron Gillen returns to reflect on the end of his time contributing to the X-Men's First Krakoan Age and the start of The Power Fantasy, his new series with Caspar Wijngaard for Image Comics. 

Subscribe to Kieron's delightful newsletter (especially if you're into TTRPGs) https://buttondown.com/KieronGillen

ICYMI Kieron and I spoke about the start of Immortal X-Men back in 2022  https://bit.ly/ImmortalX 

We spoke about his previous comic with Casper, Peter Canon Thunderbolt in 2021 https://bit.ly/DieCanon 

He's one of my favorite guests (and favorite writers) so you'll enjoy these! 

Psst hang out with cool comics folks on BlueSky -- I'm @ Levin https://bsky.app/profile/levin.bsky.social 

Kieron is @KieronGillen https://bsky.app/profile/kierongillen.bsky.social

"Alex Ross' work is really like outstanding community theater” - Steve Darnall and Alex Ross join me to talk about the rerelease of their groundbreaking policital graphic novel, Uncle Sam as well as Alex's Fantastic Four: Full Circle. 

"Timed for this year’s election, UNCLE SAM by Steve Darnall and Alex Ross makes its return after nearly a decade of being out of print. It's a vibrant, hallucinatory tour of modern America—the story of a star–spangled, ragged vagrant named Sam who is guided by the voices in his head and his own fractured memories. Absorbed by history–traveling visions of America’s dark past, Uncle Sam struggles to remember his true identity and piece together the scattered clues of his own experiences in this deep and thoughtful look at America’s checkered past."

Alex Ross studied illustration at the American Academy of Art, then honed his craft as a storyboard artist before entering the comics field. His miniseries Marvels opened a wider acceptance for painted comics. In 1996 he produced the equally successful Kingdom Come for DC Comics. Ross is the writer/artist of the award winning Fantastic Four: Full Circle.

Steve Darnall first worked with Alex Ross on the Human Torch story that served as the inspiration for the award-winning 1993 series Marvels. Steve served as a consultant on the movie Being the Ricardos and Ken Burns’s documentary Country Music. He is also the editor of Nostalgia Digest magazine, and the host of two weekly radio shows dedicated to the golden age of radio. Nostalgia Digest https://www.nostalgiadigest.com/

"I really want to protect my ability to keep making my gay little comics. That's the important thing to me."- Cartoonist Hazel Newlevant makes art that shows us how to protect our future and understand our past. Whether its their new anthology Becoming Who We Are: Real Stories About Growing Up Trans or their free zine, What's Up With Covid and How to Protect Yourself 2024 Edition (featuring advanced safety tips!) their work combines personal narative, diligent research, and charming art. 

Visit https://newlevant.com/ 

Get a copy of the free zine https://newlevant.com/covidzine

My video on how to get your mask to fit you better https://bit.ly/BendNoseWire

Take action against mask bans and more -- https://covidadvocacyny.org/

"Mr. Sinister is obsessed with genetic purity and then this disaster bi bowling league shows up and stomps his ass," - Artist and Art Director Ethan Gould joins us to talk about the finale arc of Disney's X-Men '97 animated series. Episodes: Bright Eyes - Tolerance Is Extinction. 

We go deep on Bastian and Operation Zero Tolerance in the animated series and comics. The original 1992 animated series was a huge influence on Ethan's work so we discuss it at greater length here than I have so far on the podcast.

Don't miss my conversation with the Great Steven Attewell on the X-Men '97 premier:  https://bit.ly/X97 

Sarah Daniel Rasher on the mid-season episodes https://bit.ly/xmen97actup 

Check out Ethan's art and design for the Stillfleet TTRPG https://stillfleet.com/  where you will soon be able to check out The Sometimes Kingdom on Twitch etc. 

Portfolio: https://cara.app/gouldiniart and https://www.instagram.com/spectralhouse/

Get your Magneto Made Some Valid Points T via X-Plain the X-men podcast's Teepublic.

Covering the X-Men ’97 TV series, episodes 3-6: Fire Made Flesh, Motendo, Lifedeath and Remember It with my Deep Space Dive co-host, education research consultant and former Shakespeare professor Sarah Daniel Rasher.

We’ve got:

90's politics explained The love rhombus is really a hexagonEvery day the Shi'ar are Thinking About The Roman Empire What makes a good InfernoSuggestions for the X-Men’s PR strategyNonbinary people having Morph feelingsReferences you might have missed

Don’t miss my conversation with the late Steven Attewell about the series first two episodes: https://graphicpolicy.com/2024/04/03/x-men-97-premiere-getting-animated-with-steven-attewell-phd/

Space dads, space witches, and redemption arcs abound in the final season of Star Wars the Bad Batch and in the Tales of the Empire animated miniseries. 

Holly Raymond Phd, the poetess, professor, and reader of All The Star Wars Ever has returned to share her insights on these animated Star Wars shows on Disney +

We cover a lot of ground in this spoiler-filled episode:

Animation stylesBiology is not destiny is also true about midi-chlorian countsBeing choosy about trans narrativesDepicting war in a family-friendly showAmbiguously ethnic Jedi cultural practicesProject Necromancer, Sniper Clone X2 and the rest of the show's conspiracies"the intrinsic lesbian desire to have Asajj Ventress in every show." 

If you missed it, Holly and I covered Bad Batch Seasons 1 and 2 here: https://graphicpolicy.com/2023/04/27/star-wars-the-bad-batch-an-animated-dirty-dozen-of-space-dads/

This is an audio remastered version of an episode of The Venture Bros podcast originally recorded in 2016. One way we're memorializing my late friend and co-host Steven Attewell is by improving the audio quality of the earliest episodes of our podcast.

Here's a favorite episode with new improved sound.

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Season 6 of the Venture Brothers: "Tanks for Nothing" and "It Happening One Night."

Your hosts, Elana Levin and Steven Attewell, Phd. explore The Venture Bros show as a historian and an art history geek. We break-down the themes and references present from cinema, histotry and pop culture. While Steven is a Professor of US history. Elana has a BA in Studied Warhol A Lot (which came in handy for episode 6).

Expect more then 15 minutes of famous references. 

* * * * 

Learn more about Steven Attewell: https://graphicpolicy.com/2024/04/11/steven-attewell-the-maester-of-fandom/

The Venture Bros Podcast archives https://graphicpolicy.com/the-venture-bros-podcast/ 

Steven's blog: https://racefortheironthrone.wordpress.com/

Award winning mystery writer Alex Segura is co-launching hardboiled 1930’s detective Dick Tracy’s latest incarnation. We discuss Chester Gould's iconic comic detective from Dick Tracy's roots in the funny pages, the character's surprising sci-fi twists to Segura's new comic book series. We even touch on Warren Beatty’s underrated 1990 movie adaptation that featured Steven Sondheim musical numbers and Madonna! 

How is Dick Tracy like Riverdale? What are our dreams of a James Ellroy-verse? Whether you’re a Dick Tracy newbie, noir nerd or mostly know Segura from his popular runs on Poe Dameron, Spiderverse tales or his newest X-Men comics, don’t miss out! 

The new Dick Tracy comic book series is co-written by Michael Morecci with art by Chantal Aimee Osman and Geraldo Borges, colors by Mark Englehart, lettering by Jim Campbell and published by Madcave Studios.

Keep tabs on https://www.alexsegura.com/