“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. * * * * * * 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/

One of my greatest friends and frequent collaborator Steven Attewell has died. Here are some thoughts about his work and his history that I wanted to share with the fan community.  You can make donations in his honor to the Emergency Workplace Organizing Fund https://workerorganizing.org/  Maester Steven's Legendary Tumblr: Race for the Iron Throne https://racefortheironthrone.tumblr.com/  https://racefortheironthrone.wordpress.com/ A People's History of the Marvel Universe - https://graphicpolicy.com/category/history/peoples-history-of-the-marvel-universe/ You can read the obit I wrote here - https://graphicpolicy.com/2024/04/11/steven-attewell-the-maester-of-fandom/ The Venture Bros Podcast https://graphicpolicy.com/the-venture-bros-podcast/  His Game of Thrones Vblogs with Scott Erik Kaufman (which are also available as podcasts under Lawyers Guns and Money Podcast)

“Do not make me let you down” - Magneto  From Henry Gyrich and the Great Replacement Theory to anti-mutant medical discrimination here's our conversation about the debut of the new X-Men '97 animated TV series.  Steven Attewell brings a historian’s perspective to X-Men ’97 — the exciting revival of the animated X-Men show of our youth. We do a deep dive into the show’s impressive politics and significant design choices. Learn about real world political parallels both past and VERY present, developments in evolutionary science, queer themes and crop tops. This episode opens with 9 minutes of spoiler free discussion till and then a spoiler-filled look at episodes 1 and 2. Read Steven's blog https://racefortheironthrone.tumblr.com/  and his A People's History of the Marvel Universe https://graphicpolicy.com/author/stevenattewell/  And our classic roundtable in which civil rights history experts prove that no, Professor X is not MLK Jr. MLK Jr was far more radical and visionary. https://bit.ly/MLKencore