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"I pretend to be your friend... just like I pretend to be a robot assassin or any other role. And in return, you pretend I'm a better person then I am."

For this week's entry in Fandom Month, Mike and Alex are digging into Parasocial by Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson from Image Comics. The guys start with the Misery of it all, acknowledging what the book acknowledges, and discussing how that expectation is actually beneficial for the pace at which the story moves. They chat about the fringe percentage of fandom portrayed in the comic and touch on how the post-COVID lockdown setting specifically fuels the narrative. The guys also hit on the pairing of music with comics, the shifting art style throughout the book, and some of their own experiences meeting celebrities at conventions.

We close out Fandom Month next week with Rogues' Gallery (issues #1-4) from Image Comics, so find it wherever you get your comics and join back here again to break it all down!

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"What we do is all that's important. In the end, any life, any culture, any convention-- it's just people."

On this episode of Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex take a trip through the history of comic conventions as they crack open Con & On by Paul Cornell and Marika Cresta from Ahoy Comics. The guys dive right into the book's depiction of cons past and break down how the creative team has chosen to show the evolution of conventions through the eyes of all the people you're likely to see at a show. They discuss how their own con experiences map onto the experiences shown throughout the comic, and attempt to drill down on what the creators are trying to say, if anything, about comics, the comic book industry, convention culture, or the idea of conventions themselves.

Fandom Month takes a hard left turn next week as we transition into a more focused story about fandom, Parasocial (it's an OGN) from Image Comics. Find it wherever you get your books and we'll see you back here next week!

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"I love the smell of Con in the morning. It smells like... better than it will in the afternoon."

Welcome to Fandom Month! To kick things off, Mike and Alex are diving into The Long Con by Dylan Meconis, Ben Coleman, and EA Denich from Oni Press. The guys can't help but bring their own convention experiences to the table while discussing this book, and they found a lot of fun and joy in seeing some of those micro moments reflected back to them in silly and absurd ways throughout the comic. They chat about how some of the deeper flaws that exist in fandoms are mined and explored here, and what that says about fandoms in general that something so specific can apply across the board. The guys also break down how it reads in 2026 to have an A.I. entity at the center of your story, and how that does or doesn't age well.

The convention madness continue next week with our second entry in Fandom Month, Con & On (issues #1-5) from Ahoy Comics. Find it wherever you get your comics and join us back here again to be a part of the discussion!

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On this season of Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex are diving back into a theme month, this time covering a topic that hits fairly close to home: Fandom. Conventions, meet ups, interactions with creators and celebrities- comics love taking meta looks in the mirror, and nowhere is that more prevalent than when there's a comic about fans, creatives, fandom, and conventions. For this month, we have four very different comics that all approach the idea of fandom from very different angles:

-The Long Con by Dylan Meconis, Ben Coleman, and EA Denich from Oni Press

-Con & On by Paul Cornell and Marika Cresta from Ahoy Comics

-Parasocial by Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson from Image Comics

-Rogues' Gallery by Hannah Rose May, Declan Shalvey, and Justin Mason from Image Comics

We've covered a few of these creators in the past, but most of them are new to us, as are publishers Oni Press and Ahoy. We'll touch briefly on each creative team in this episode as well as give a quick synopsis of each book and a little explainer as to how we think it fits into our overall theme.

We're starting off next week with The Long Con (issues #1-10) from Oni Press. The entire series is 10 issues/2 TPBs, but we're gonna cover it all in one go. So find it wherever you get you comics and join us back here again to kick off Fandom Month!

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"It's space. There are, like, a billion ways for the universe to screw us."

On this week's Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex reach the actual end of Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra's The Manhattan Projects with Volume 6: The Sun Beyond the Stars (issues #1-4 of The Manhattan Projects: The Sun Beyond the Stars). The guys dig into how they should view this final volume of the comic in relation to the main story, as it serves as an accidental stand-alone coda and a vision for what we could have gotten down line. Then they discuss why they think this storyline was the first one Hickman and Pitarra wanted to explore post-main series, and if it's any sort of commentary on the preceding 25 issues. Finally, the guys share some thoughts about the (as of yet) unrealized other potential Manhattan Projects miniseries and the kinds of things they would have liked to have seen for them (it's never to late, Hickman and Pitarra!).

This wraps up another season of Storied Arcs. We'll be back next week to intro our next comic and kick off the discussion!

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"Does abandoning society- humanity- for science make you a sociopath? Was I better than the other because I could still ask such a question? Should I even ask such a question?"

This week on Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex come to the end (question mark?) of Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra's The Manhattan Projects that isn't actually the end, with Volume 5: The Cold War (issues #20-25). They start with Hickman's letter at the end of issue #25, in which he lays out his and Pitarra's plan for the future of the book, and dissect how influences their views on this volume. Does this volume still work as an ending to the first phase of the comic if the next phase barely makes it out of the gate? With those thoughts in mind, the guys take a look at all of the story lines laid out in this volume and speculate some on what kinds of books we could have gotten out of them. Along the way, the address yet another depiction of the Kennedy Assassination in a book they've covered here and perhaps the greatest interpretation of LBJ ever put on page.

We wrap things up for real on The Manhattan Projects next week with Volume 6: The Sun Beyond the Stars (issues #1-4 of The Manhattan Projects: The Sun Beyond the Stars), the one and only (as of now) follow up series in the previously announced new anthology format. Find it wherever you get your comics and join us back here to see where this crazy ride ends!

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"But I think it's time for something new- truly radical thoughts. To ze underbelly of what we call science- into ze abyss and out towards ze unknown."

Mike and Alex are back to dive deep into The Manhattan Projects Volume 4: The Four Disciplines (issues #16-20) by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra. The guys discuss how this volume feels like the closing of the first chapter of this story (aka Oppenheimer) and the beginning of the next (aka Einstein), even though that's not exactly what's happening with the comic. They talk about the narrative risks Hickman and Pitarra take in this volume and what those risks communicate about where they think the story might be headed. How does knowing that the comic effectively "ends" next volume effect how we look at the choices the creators made here? And is that hindsight totally fair?

The Manhattan Projects both ends and don't end with the next volume, and if that's confusing, we'll explain next week. Grab Volume 5: The Cold War (issues #21-25) wherever you get your comics and join us back here again to make sense of it all!

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"It seems, in winning, that we have become afflicted with ze malady called responsibility."

This week on Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex continue their exploration into The Manhattan Projects by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra with Volume 3: Building (issues #11-15). The guys discuss the escalation in the absurdity of the book (compliment) and how Hickman and Pitarra are managing an anthology-esque story across an on-going comic. Then they dive deep into Jordie Bellaire's colors, with specific attention paid to how those colors are utilized as storytelling hacks for the reader.

This comic only continues to get wilder and weirder, and we'll be back next week to jump into The Manhattan Projects Volume 4: The Four Disciplines (issues #16-20). Find it wherever you get your comics and join us then!

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"Wait... so we now have unlimited funding to try and discover how to do things we've already discovered how to do."

This week on Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex continue their trip through the alternate history of Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra's The Manhattan Projects with Volume 2: They Rule (issues #6-10) from Image Comics. The guys examine the anthology-like nature of the narrative, and discuss how expanding the cast of characters and scope of the story hits differently with this book (and why that's a feature, not a bug). They also breakdown Ryan Browne's turn as guest artist for issue #10 and how Jordie Bellaire's consistency on colors helps sell the story. Finally, they give some love to the cover design work done by Jonathan Hickman, which is both subtle and obvious at the same time.

This book's only getting weirder from here, so pick up The Manhattan Projects Volume 3: Building (issues #11-15) wherever you get your comics and we'll you see you back here next week!

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"Most people cannot tell ze difference between a genius and just ze highly intelligent."

Kicking off this new season of Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex crack open Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra's The Manhattan Projects from Image Comics with Volume 1: Science Bad (issues #1-5). The guys start with a broad look at how wild this comic is right out the gate, from Hickman's writing to Pitarra's art, and how it immediately sets the tone for what you're about to read. Then they discuss the level at which the book does and does not intersect and interact with known history, and how reading it post-Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer has a radical influence on how you receive the material (in a good way, mostly). Finally, the guys discuss where they think a story like this can go, given the anthology-like nature of the comic and the apparent lack (as of now) of a main narrative through line.

The book only gets crazier from here, so go pick up The Manhattan Projects Volume 2: They Rule (issues #6-10) wherever you get your comics and join us here again next week to dive into all of the madness!

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