Quarantined Comics

Holy (Bi)Robin! Tim Drake Comes Out

Since it's Pride Month and we're taking a week off to paint ourselves in rainbows, we figured we'd feature a super easy conversation about sexual identity in mainstream comics (from Raman's OTHER podcast Modern Minorities). Recently, Batman's partner, Robin discovered his own queer identity on my other podcast, modern minorities. We feature minority voices for all of our majority years. So we decided to have a conversation about Robin's queer identity over the years in pop culture, with a little help from our friends.

Lately all the news has been about Superman’s son Jonathan Kent coming out recently as bi-sexual in the comics - and the not so_-nice reception it’s has gotten in the real world (WTF...Louis Lane?!?). But just weeks before that, ROBIN - one of the most recognizable (Queer?) icons ALSO came out as Bi-sexual. This matters. It represents as big a pop culture moment as when Miles Morales & Kamala Khan were introduced to the world. And while Robin (aka Tim Drake) is not the FIRST comic book hero to come out as Queer, he represents the most important hero to do so. Because Robin has been all of us all along. From kids envisioning themselves as him, to Queer’s taking ownership (#representation), to the “Seduction of the Innocent” (+those other 1950s fear-mongering hearings) — Robin has always had us envisioning, and questioning things. There has been celebration and pushback, and we wanted to talk about what it all means. So we brought together past guests Karl Preissner (Equity / Inclusion Ally & Advocate) and Steven Wakabayashi (Yellow Glitter Podcast host ), along with Ainsley Waller (Bisexual designer AND fellow comics geek) to unpack this moment and challenge our assumptions about the evolution of some of our most beloved characters...

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From 1998 to 2013, the French writer Matz and the illustrator Luc Jacamon told an epic story of an unassuming man who kills people for money. But as he does so, he begins to question what he's doing and why he's doing it.

In this week's episode, we'll take a look at the entire saga of "The Killer." Overwhelming in scope and ambition, Matz and Jacamon aren't content with just detailing their eponymous killer's inner workings. In fact, it seems as if they quickly bore of what seemingly starts as a psychological portrait of a man lacking in all empathy. As the narrative unwinds, Matz and Jacamon use the assassin's jobs as a way to ruminate on man's adherence to violence. The result is as frustrating as it is intriguing.

while Raman & Ryan are off saving the multi-verse, here's Raman's Modern Minorities conversation with award-winning comics creator Gene Luen Yang...

Gene Luen Yang’s (comic book) American dream

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PALESTINE is Joe Sacco's seminal work of cartoon journalism - which we're reading to commemorate Al Nakba*

First published in 1993, PALESTINE covers Sacco's travels thru occupied Palestine territory - and Israel - to embed himself with the Palestinian people - hearing their stories first-hand to understand how they lived their every day lives. Sacco wanted to get around the sanitized story the Western Media was potraying — to emphasizes the history and plight of the Palestinian people, as a group and as individuals. In PALESTINE Sacco positions himself as the westerner confronting a reality unfamiliar to most Americans at the time - concentrating on his personal experience and perspective, as well as the stories of the people he encounters, with some light history thrown in for good measure. Conversations are documented over tea, roadblocks, police action, taxis and checkpoints - which become all too familiar set pieces in Sacco's narrative journey..

The book was published as 9 issues by Fantagraphics from 1993 to 1995, with a graphic novel published later to a much wider audience. Palestine is the recipient of the American Book AWard, and was named as one of the Top 100 English-Language Comics of the last Century. Sacco has since gone on to publish numerous other works of cartoon journalism - covering the Middle East, Bosnia/Serbia, and the Native American plight. for which he's received recognition from TIME Magazine, the Eisners, the Harveys, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize

*Al Nakba literally translates to "the Catastrophe" — referring to the destruction of the Palestinian homeland in May of 1948, leading to the mass exodus of at least 750,000 Arabs from Palestine. While for many historians the process began decades earlier, to many in the region it refers to the ongoing persecution, displacement, and occupation of the Palestinians, both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — as well as in Palestinian refugee camps throughout the region.

Did you know Dr. Doom had a mom? He did! She made a pact with Mephisto (Marvel's version of the Devil) and now she's in hell. And Doom needs Dr. Strange's help to free her.

In celebration of Mother's Day and the release of "Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," we'll check out "Triumph and Torment" by the writer Roger Stern and the illustrator -- a very young Mike Mignola, before he went on to create Hellboy.

And we'll also read "Dr. Strange: The Oath," which is like the movie "Quest for Fire." Except replace cavemen with Marvel superheroes and fire for cancer cure.

This week for Ramadan (~kinda?) we are reading SQUIRE by Sara Alfageeh and Nadia Shammas - a comic set in an alternate history Middle East and North Africa. Squire follows Aiza, a 14 year old girl training to become a knight for a war-torn empire while hiding her true background as a girl from conquered lands...which could be any major world civilization. Born Ornu - a second-class citizen of the once-great Bayt-Sajji Empire, Aiza dreams of a better life of glory and citizenship - by leaving her family to enlist in the empire's military. She must navigate friendships and rivalries, train rigorously and confront the bitter societal truths...and lies...being told to ALL of the people of the empire. SQUIRE is informed and inspired by many actual elements of Islamic culture and history.

And since Ryan is off working on a final draft of his Junji Ito // One Direction fan fiction - Raman teamed up with one of HIS favorite indie geek podcasts - GROUNDED GEEKS - with sibling co-hosts Lena & Aman Shareef. https://anchor.fm/grounded-geeks

EXTRA CREDIT: for Raman's exclusive chat with SQUIRE co-creator Sara Alfageeh - head over to Modern Minorities, where we're talking to top Muslim American creators for the entire month of Ramadan - modmypod.com

The Drifting Classroom is part Lord of the Flies, part Lost in Space, and wholly weird and unexpected. At once funny, absurd, and horrific, Kazuo Umezu's epic will transport you to a seriously odd place, where children are crucified or turned into bugs, janitors lurk the hallways like monsters out of a slasher movie, and grieving mothers smuggle bubonic plague medicine across space and time via mummified bodies.

Yes. All that happens.

Miyamoto Usagi is not a bunny who delivers eggs. He is a bunny who delivers justice across the wilds of Edo-era Japan. In this episode, which also features recurring guest Penn Genthner, we'll get into the poetry of Stan Sakai's writing and why, despite an insanely high body count, Usagi Yojimbo is an epic for nearly everyone.

Happy Easter!

This week marks the 100th episode of Quarantined Comics — so we wanted something SO epic, but instead we just picked TWO comics with the number 100 in the titles: 100% + Batman Year 100 - by Eisner-award-winning wunderkind Paul Pope

In 2006 - DC decided to tell yet another tale of Batman in a far off dystopian feature - with Batman Year 100. The year is 2039 in Gotham City, but NOT the Gotham we know and love from the mainstream DC Universe, but rather Paul Pope's universe of continuity from his hit series Heavy Liquid. The Batman, is but a a forgotten icon from the past, is wanted for the murder of a federal agent. Amid the chaos Gotham City Police Detective Gordon, grandson of the former commissioner, discovers that the man they are chasing shouldn't exist at all.

And before that, 2002 - Paul Pope released 100% - re-visiting his same Heavy Liquid Universe of his previous work - in an alternate future New York. But gone are the criminal conspiracies — 100% simply focuses on the intertwining struggles and relationships of six characters — surrounding a seedy strip club, no holds bar boxing matches, and a manipulative art scene...with tea kettles?

Across much of his indie, alternative work - also including books like Heavy Liquid and Battling Boy - Paul Pope has become known for a unique, emotionally charged style. His stories often present a futuristic world where everything is seedy, technology is ubiquitous, and privacy is pretty much a thing of the past

Soooo...contemporary historical fiction

This week we are reading 1983's RONIN by comics superstar Frank Miller and longtime colorist and collaborator Lynn Varley. This 6 issue mini-series was ground-breaking in many ways, as Miller, and then relative newecomer and rockstar hot off the heels of Daredevil, was recruited by DC to do...pretty much whatever he wanted - paving the way for creator-centric works like the Dark Knight Returns and many more of comics greatest works

Ronin tells the story of a disgraced samurai warrior and his sworn demonic enemy Agat - awakened from a centuries-long slumber trapped inside a magical sword. The two are reincarnated in a near future dystopic NYC run by a benevelont technology corporation and their friendly sentient AI. The Ronin finds himself in the body of an armless, legless telekinetic named Billy, and creates cybernetic limbs, and Agat possesses the corporate head of the aforementioned company, also known as Aquarius. Also, there's a badass head of security whose storyline does not pass the Bechdel test. A beautiful book, where like Elsa said, you just gotta let it go.