Hey, we haven't seen Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War yet either! But Graphic Policy Radio is going on a journey to the center of Infinity to absorb the legendary comics that inspired Marvel movies' cosmic storylines. Today we focus on the comics of Jim Starlin, the artist and writer who co-created Thanos and who was the source of much of Marvel's psychedelic 70's cosmic opera, cooking up characters like Gamora and Drax. Joining us is James Hancock, the host of Wrong Reel: a Podcast for Hardcore Cinephiles that tackles everything from Jean-Luc Godard to Jean-Luc Picard. James is a serious fan of Jim Starlin's work and will be catching us all up on all the spaced out glory that sometimes makes it to the screen.  We'll answer questions like; who the hell is Adam Warlock, what is a Soul Gem and whether Starlin's Death is the precursor of jiggle physics. All this and more!

Jeremy Whitley, creator of Princeless and Unstoppable Wasp returns to Graphic Policy to talk about two of my favorite comics about pirates: Raven the Pirate Princess & the new series Sea of Thieves, based on the hit video game. Raven the Pirate Princess is full of humor, high seas romance and all the amazing diverse queer and feminist lady pirates I wish I had as a kid and I'm thrilled to read the exploits of today. So join us and hear all about the Piratical exploits in both series.

Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke may be the worst dad in DC Comics but the solo series he stars in, by writer Christopher Priest and artists including Larry Hama, Carlo Pagulayan, Cary Nord, Diogenes Neves and more, is one of the hottest comics today. Deathstroke is full of politics, violence, poor personal choices, byzantineplots and Episcopalian philosophy. Join us for a deep dive into the current series with our Esteemed Guests: Hub is the writer, producer, and co-host of Titan Up the Defense, a podcast that covers the two entirely unrelated Bronze Age series the New Teen Titans and the Defenders. It's one of Elana's favorite comics podcasts ever. Leslie Lee III is a writer and host of Struggle Session, a podcast that takes a leftist look at the reactionary wasteland of American pop culture. Spencer Ackerman is an aspiring comic book writer and a senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast. As the US national security editor for the Guardian, Ackerman was part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team reporting on Edward Snowden's NSA revelations, and as a senior writer for Wired, he won a National Magazine Award for reporting on Islamophobic counterterrorism training at the FBI.

DC Comics is revisiting Jack Kirby's Masterpiece, the Fourth World in a new Mister Miracle miniseries wirtten by Tom King and art by Mitch Gerads. It's being called the best comic of the year and a worthy tribute to one of The King of Comic's most personal works. Graphic Policy Radio is going into a deep dive discussing the first seven issues with two guest critics, Meg Downey and Anthony Otero. Meg Downey is a freelance comics journalist and historian who focuses on superheroes and fandom. You can find her work at CBR, Gamespot Universe, and http://DCComics.com. Anthony Otero is a two time novelist and a recent contributor to The Puerto Rico Strong Anthology. He is also the newest member of the BlackComicsChat podcast.

After a cataclysmic plague sweeps across America, survivors come together to form citystate-like communities for safety. Out beyond the settlement walls are innumerable dangers: feral animals, crumbling structures, and Abominations; those that were touched by the plague and became something other – something as beautiful as it is deadly. Welcome to The Wilds, a brand new comic series. We’re joined by the writer and the penciler of this hot series from Black Mask Studios. Vita Ayala spent years in comic and book retail, and night security at a one of the oldest museums in New York City before taking the plunge and entering the Thunderdome life-style that is pursuing a career in the arts. They have since written for DC Comics (Rebirth Wonder Woman Annual #1, Rebirth Supergirl #19), Dark Horse Comics (Secret Loves of Geeks), and Image Comics (Bitch Planet Triple Feature #4), as well as having a creator owned book, The Wilds, through Black Mask Studios. Before coming to Black Mask Studios to work on the Wilds, Emily Pearson attempted to studying art at her local Junior College. After deciding to drop out she took on commissions and learned how to draw comics. Since then she has illustrated : Vault Comic's "Cult Classic: Zero Short" written by Eliot Rahal, and "All Roads" for "Jacob" written by Jed McPherson.

Puerto Rico Strong is a comics anthology that explores what it means to be Puerto Rican and the diversity that exists within that concept, from today's most exciting Puerto Rican comics creators. All profits will go to towards Disaster Relief and Recovery Programs to Support Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico Strong is available in comic shops:,March 14, 2018 and bookstores March 27th. Pre-orders are still open via Amazon, and the anthology will be available digitally as well as in the UK. Joining us on Graphic Policy Radio to discuss this exciting comic anthology is two of the individuals behind it, Marco Lopez and Desiree Rodriguez. Marco Lopez is the creator of the webcomics Massively Effective A Shot of Whiskey and Orion's Belt. Which lead to his working with Lion Forge Comics and Zenescope Entertainment. He recently returned (briefly) to Lion Forge bringing them Puerto Rico Strong and in the coming months, he will be working with a couple of indie comic publishers on a variety of projects. Desiree Rodriguez is a pop culture critic who has written for Women Write About Comics, The Nerds of Color, and has covered various topics on race, Latinx identity, and sexuality. In her spare time she is one of the co-hosts for the DC TV Classics podcast. Desiree currently works for Lion Forge Comics as an Editorial Assistant.

Christina Strain is the writer of the new Generation X series for Marvel Comics as well as a staff writer for The Magicians which airs on SyFy. She joins the Graphic Policy Radio crew to talk her career, merry mutants, and more! Strain was born and raised right outside an Army base in Seoul, South Korea where she devoured comics and manga as good nerds do. She began her career as a colorist working at Cross Gen & later on Marvel’s beloved series Runaways. At 32, Christina retired from coloring to go the American Film Institute for a degree in screen writing and at 34, she landed a staff writing job on Season 2 of Syfy’s THE MAGICIANS. And she’s been there ever since!

On Graphic Policy Radio, we're talking about the social implications of Black Panther with an expert and highlight some of the many examples of fans using Black Panther for real world activism. Joining the team to talk about activism and entertainment is Alan Jenkins. Alan Jenkins is President and Co-Founder of The Opportunity Agenda, a social justice communication lab dedicated to the idea that our nation can and should be a place where everyone enjoys full and equal opportunity. Jenkins is a lifelong fan of comics and sci-fi. The Opportunity Agenda released the report “The Power of Pop: Analyzing Portrayals of Immigrants in Popular Television,” which evaluated the portrayal of immigrants in 40 leading TV shows — including The Walking Dead, NCIS, Orange is the New Black, the Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation and Scandal.

Black Panther is dominating movie theaters with a record setting debut, the best for any movie released in February, and the second best opening for a film that's a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie is receiving praise form critics, comic fans, and average viewers alike, combining action with deep themes that create a thought-provoking adventure. Graphic Policy Radio is joined by two guests to discuss the film, Clarkisha Kent and returning guest Charles Pulliam Moore. Clarkisha Kent is a Nigerian-American, bisexual blerd, a snark mage and a culture critic. She has written for The Root, The Establishment, BET, Into, and, based on her superhero persona, her nemeses include Lena Dunham, Frank Grillo, and Taylor Swift. https://twitter.com/IWriteAllDay_ Charles Pulliam Moore is a staff writer at io9 where he covers comics and genre culture with a focus on race, representation and queer identity. https://twitter.com/CharlesPulliam

Critically acclaimed writer Alex de Campi teams up with some of comics' most distinctive talent to create tales of love gone wrong, right, and everywhere in between. A new issue of Twisted Romance is released by Image Comics each week in February. Joining us on the podcast are: Alex de Campi: an Eisner nominated writer for her graphic novel Smoke and beloved by GP for her series like Grindhouse, Mayday, No Mercy, and Archie Vs the Predator. Alejandra Gutierrez: a "human" woman from Colombia who makes comics, usually sexy ones, sometimes sad ones, and sometimes both. Her page with Emma Houxbois in the Eisner winning Love is Love anthology is Elana’s favorite. Katie Skelly: an award winning cartoonist whose work includes My Pretty Vampire, Nurse Nurse, Operation Margarine, and Agent 8 for Slutist.com. Trungles (Trung Le Nguyen): a comic book artist and illustrator whose work includes Adventure Time: Marshall Lee Spectacular, the highly adult coloring book Fauns and Flora, and Beauties in Fresh Romance.