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For this season of Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex are talking about Everything. Well, not everything everything, but Everything by Christopher Cantwell and I.N.J. Culbard from Dark Horse Comics and Berger Books. The guys give a quick rundown of the of the creative team, including Cantwell's television work (like AMC's Halt and Catch Fire) and Culbard's many collaborations with writer Dan Abnett, as well as letterer Steve Wands (who we covered in our intro to The Underwater Welder, which you can find here) and editor Karen Berger (who we discussed in the the intro to The Seeds, here). Then they give a short, spoiler-free synopsis of the book and hit on why they picked it for the show.

Like a lot of a books we've covered recently, Everything is a "COVID book," meaning its publishing scheduled was severely effected by the disruptions in the comic industry in 2020. Issues #1-5 were published and collected in trade volume 1, but the remaining single issues that had been solicited were never printed. Instead, the remaining material, what would have been issues #6-10, were published all at once as trade volume 2. So if you're hunting down the single issues, you might still see entries for issues #6 and #7, but know that they don't actually exist.

Everything is a trippy, slow burn story that takes a little while to get going, so stick with it if you feel a little lost at first. Go find Everything Volume 1: Grand Opening (issues #1-5) and join us back here again next week to break it all down!

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"Only when you accept that one day you'll die can you let you and make the best out of life. And that's the big secret. That's the miracle."

Mike and Alex are closing out Death Month with a comic that's been on their to-discuss list since the earliest days of the show, Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba from DC Comics/Vertigo. A beautiful and emotional journey through the important moments in one man's life, the guys jump right in and try and get to the bottom of why *these* moments are the important ones, and it says about life and living life that the important moments aren't always the one we think they are. They dive into the storytelling mechanics of the comic and how their perception of the book might have changed had they read it in single issue versus in trade, and discuss what that says about the Moon and Ba as storytellers and creators, and how the themes and ideas presented land on multiple different levels. In the end, this is legitimately one of Alex's all-time favorite books, and the comic he's probably recommended the most to other people, which apparently includes Mike (I don't remember doing that, but it tracks as something I certainly would have done).

We've really enjoyed exploring the concept of death the past few weeks through these four disparate comics, and truly hope you did as well. Theme months will definitely be a thing we return to now, so if you have any ideas or suggestions, reach out and let us know. Until then, we'll be back next week to kick off the discussion of another great comic!

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"All things that live, die. This is why you must find joy in the living, while the time is yours, and not fear the end. To deny this is to deny life. TO fear this... is to fear life."

Death Month rolls on as Mike and Alex face down monsters with I Kill Giants (issues #1-7) by Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura from Image Comics. The guys start their discussion by covering all the ways someone might connect with this story, and how it facilitates multiple re-reads over time by allowing the reader to connect with different aspects and characters each time they return to it (probably contributes to the fact that the trade paperback has had multiple anniversary editions with multiples printings of each). Then they dive deep into the different themes and messages they take from the story, and do their best to break down the actions of a child without sounding like a couple of washed old men. There's a universality to this comic that goes beyond the character's struggle to cope with the idea of death and dying. It's about how it's hard to be a kid, regardless of whatever life factors may be in play, and the guys try and remember back to what they were like at 10 years old (spoiler alert- neither was all that great). What makes this book special is how Kelly and Niimura focus that kid perspective through the lens to death, and the result is an ideal book for our theme month.

Next week, we wrap up Death Month with one of the more weightier books we're ever covered, Daytripper (issues #1-10) by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba from Vertigo/DC Comics. This is literally one of Alex's favorite comics of all time, and it's one that if you have the time, maybe consider taking a short break in between issues and giving your thoughts time to marinate before moving on to the next chapter. It's a book that invites that kind of study, and we'll be getting into all of it next week, so go find Daytripper wherever you get your comics and join in on the conversation!

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"Who is to say exactly how things end? If there is one thing we have learned, it is that life's endings are bereft of answers."

Welcome to Week 2 of Death Month, where Mike and Alex head to Mumbai (in a storytelling sense) to discuss Ram V and Filipe Andrade's The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (issues #1-5) from Boom Studios. The guys jump right into the story and lay out how its specificity of place and culture is essential to the comic and how that's an invitation to readers into a world they may not be all that familiar with, and not a barrier. They also break down the pacing of the comic and the decision to tell the story in discreet moments from the character's lives, as opposed to a potentially more wide-ranging scope. Finally, the guys praise the incredible art in this book, including colorist Inez Amaro, and take a quick look at how this depiction/personification of Death compares to other stories that focus on similar themes and ideas. We both think this is a great comic that could, and should, be an evergreen title that you can give to anyone at anytime and they'll find something they connect with in it.

Next week, Death Month continues as we make a hard, buy important, perspective shift on the topic with I Kill Giants (issues #1-7) by Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura from Image Comics. Find it wherever you get your comics and join us here again next week to dive deep into it!

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"The fact that we know things will end actually presents each of us with an amazing choice: What will you do with the limited time you get on this spinning rock?"

To kick off Death Month, Mike and Alex are looking into the W. Maxwell Prince-penned anthology comic Swan Songs (issues #1-6) from Image Comics. In each issue of the series, Prince collaborates with a different artist to explore the end of something- the world (Martin Simmonds), a marriage (Casper Wijngarrd), the end of the world (Filipe Andrade), a sentence (Caitlin Yarsky), anhedonia (Alex Eckman-Lawn), and the sidewalk (Martin Morazzo). The guys start by sharing their initial thoughts on the book and each giving a quick personal ranking of the stories, then they dive right into the issues, in order, breaking down the specific variation of the theme presented in that issue, the storytelling choices made to convey that theme, and the work of each contributing artist. They guys try and work through what does and doesn't work for them in each story and in the end, reassess their initial rankings. Each issue offers a fascinating perspective on the death, or ending, of a thing, and while it's unlikely that every story will resonate with every reader, we feel pretty confident that at least one of them will hit you in a way that'll make you stop and think a little longer.

Next week we move back to a more traditional narrative comic for our discussion, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (issues #1-5) by Ram V and Filipe Andrade from Boom Studios, but the specter of Death still looms. So go find The Many Deaths of Laila Starr wherever you get your comics and join us back her next week for another great discussion!

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Welcome to a new season (and year!) of the Storied Arcs podcast! Mike and Alex have returned with another theme month- DEATH. Or dying. But, living. Or ending. But, continuing on. It’s kinda all the same thing. Every story about death is really a story about life, and that’s the thing we’re hoping to explore with the books we’ve picked for our discussions. They’re a wide assortment of stories from a slew of amazingcreators that all examine the concept of death and dying from different angles and perspectives. Those books are:

-Swan Songs by W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Simmonds, Caspar Wijngaard, Filipe Andrade, Caitlin Yarsky, and Martin Morazzo, from Image Comics
-The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V and Filipe Andrade, from Boom Studios
-I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura, from Image Comics
-Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba, from DC Comics/Vertigo

That’s a lot of titles and creators to cover here, so in this episode, we’ll give a very brief synopsis of each book, how we think it fits into our overall theme, and some of the highlights from the creators’ comics resumes. We’ll talk more about each specific team when we cover that book.

We’re going to start off next week with the most unconventional book on our list, Swan Songs (issues #1-6) from Image Comics. It’s an anthology book with a single writer (Prince) working with a different artist for each issue (hence all of the names listed above), each focusing on a different kind of death or ending. It’s a fascinating look at the subject and one we’re eager to dive into. We know death can be a heavy topic, but we’re not looking to make our discussions all downers. We’re far more interested in the portrayal and usage of death as a storytelling device than we are in the actual idea of it (I think). So grab a copy of Swan Songs wherever you get your comics and join back here next week for as we start our journey into Death Month. TO LIFE!

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"It became this giant spectacle. The more attention it got, the more money it raised. Because it dumb or funny or stupid. Who cares why. People wanted in."

This week, Mike and Alex wrap up their look at Crowded by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, and Ted Brandt with Volume 3: Cutting-Edge Desolation. They get right to it and start at the end, breaking down everything surrounding the final reveals and revelations the story gives you. Seeing how it all played out, the guys discuss some of the storytelling decisions made throughout the series to get them to this end, and ponder how releasing this final volume as a completed collected trade (versus returning with single issues) may or may not have affected said storytelling. This is a super fun book that we really enjoyed taking a deeper look at, and hope you enjoyed it as well.

And with that, we come to the end of another calendar year for the Storied Arcs podcast. We cannot thank you enough for listening, and we'll see you in 2025, ready to dive head first into some more incredible comics!

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"Charlie, from what I've seen in the last four days, the fact that he knows you doesn't mean he's not gonna try to kill you."

In this episode, the action heats up in Crowded Volume 2: Glitter Dystopia (issues #7-12) by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, and Ted Brandt, and Mike and Alex are ready to break it all down. They start with some stand-out moments from this volume (spoiler alert- it involves a heist that goes wrong but also still somehow goes kinda right) and discuss how an increased focus on the relationship between Charlie and Vita helps fuels both the action and the comedy of the story. They also touch on some of the new satirical elements shown in this volume, and what that might be saying about our society. The guys end by examining some different panel and page layout decisions in these issues that really enhance the storytelling experience for the reader.

If you were reading Crowded in single issue as it was being published, you would have gotten to the end of issue #12 and thought, "wait, is that it?!?" And it was, for nearly TWO YEARS before the creative team was able to reassemble and finish out their story. We'll get into all of next week with Crowded Volume 3: Cutting Edge Desolation (no single issues this time), so find it where you get your comics and join us back here again!

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"You Just pretend to be people's friends. You don't have feelings. I didn't start the campaign, but I wish I could thank whoever did. You deserve this."

Mike and Alex are here to kick off a new season of Stories Arcs by diving into the action-comedy-romance-question mark comic Crowded Volume 1: Soft Apocalypse (issues #1-6) from Image Comics by writer Christopher Sebela and artists Ro Stein and Ted Brandt. The guys jump right in and talk about how the book builds its slightly-skewed version of our world through the various apps and websites utilized by the characters, and discuss the various layers of satire and commentary they present. Then they look at how Crowded works as a tried-and-true buddy cop/odd couple story and try and break down why the trope continues to work so well (and lament why it isn't used more). Finally, they praise the entire art presentation, from the lush colors by Triona Farrell to the distinctive lettering by Cardinal Rae. This is a fun kickoff to a very fun story.

The discussion continues next week as we dive into Crowded Volume 2: Glitter Dystopia (issues #7-12), so go find it wherever you get your comics and come be a part of it!

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On this season of Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex are backing the campaign for Crowded from Image Comics by writer Christopher Sebela and the art team of Ro Stein and Ted Brandt. The guys start with a quick synopsis for the comic (crowded funded assassinations, anyone?), their histories reading it (don't judge a comic solely by its cover), and why they're interested in discussing it (over-the-top action mixed with sharp social commentary). Then they give an overview of the full creative team behind Crowded, including Sebela, Stein and Brandt, colorist Triona Farrell, and letterer Cardinal Rae (who we originally discussed a few seasons back during our intro to Eat The Rich/Know Your Station, which you can find here). No spoilers for the comic here, just a tease of what's to come.

If you look up Crowded on any comic app, you'll see that it ran for twelve issues and there are three trade paperback collections. This, however, doesn't tell the full publication story. Issues #1-12 are collected in trade volumes 1 and 2, and then trade volume 3 was published as a single-volume nearly two years after issue #12 was released. So if you're searching for single issues (a pursuit much encouraged by the hosts of this podcast), know that you'll still need that final trade to complete the story.

Crowded is a super fun, kinda outrageous comic, and we can't wait to dig into it with everyone. So go find Crowded Volume 1: Soft Apocalypse (issues #1-6) wherever you get your comics and join us here next week to kick off the discussion!

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

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