Storied Arcs

Send us Fan Mail

In this zero episode for the newest season of Stories Arcs, Mike and Alex discuss the creative team behind the recent Image Comics hit Eight Billion Genies, Charles Soule and Ryan Brown! They chat about the previous comic work published by the pair (with a fair amount of talk about Soule's Star Wars work, which is a must-read for any Star Wars fan), including their first comic team-up, Curse Words. Then as always, they preview Eight Billion Genies and pitch you on why you should go pick it up.

This is an unusual choice for us because a)the comic just finished its run and b)doesn't have a collected edition out yet. But fear not! Issues should be available at your local comic shop (good luck getting a 1st printing, though) and they are definitely available from your local library through apps like Hoopla. And since Amazon Studios has already optioned the rights to it, I guess you could get through comiXology as well. Anyway you do it, go read Eight Billion Genies and join us back here next week for another great deep-dive one-shot discussion!

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

• Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
• Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
• Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
• Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com

Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us Fan Mail

" I bet you're loving this. Hmm? The team at its best. It's just like old times. Best funeral ever!"

In this special bonus episode of Storied Arcs, Alex flies solo as he discusses (with himself) Netflix's adaption of The Umbrella Academy. He touches on what he thinks makes for a good comic book adaptation before diving in on what he thinks The Umbrella Academy show does well. Then he speculates on how the show could potentially influence the hypothetical Volume 4 of the comic that is definitely a thing that will be released someday. Definitely.

Mike's sitting this one out as he hasn't watched the Netflix show yet so everyone make sure he doesn't listen so he doesn't get spoiled. Until then, we'll be back next week with our regularly-scheduled discussions as we dive deep into another great comic!

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

• Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
• Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
• Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
• Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com

Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us Fan Mail

"While I fully support revenge, now is not the time."

In this week's episode, Mike and Alex take a look at Volume 3 of The Umbrella Academy, the final (for now) volume of Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba's comic from Dark Horse (The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion issues #1-7). They dive deep into what does and does not work for this in volume and how the long layoff between story arcs may have contributed. They also discuss the future of the comic speculate on what direction it could go with the as-announced-but-not-yet-real Umbrella Academy Volume 4 (please, Way and Ba, don't make us wait as long as we did between Volumes 2 and 3).

Thank you so much again for listening to another season of Storied Arcs! As mentioned before, if you enjoyed this crazy world created by Way and Ba, we recommend you check out The Umbrella Academy show on Netflix as a companion to the book. It's a lot of fun and just might hint at some future things to come in the comic. We'll see you back here again soon for our next deep dive discussion!

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

• Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
• Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
• Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
• Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com

Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us Fan Mail

"But this one's something special. He's an idea. And what you can't take down with bullets... you have to take down with words. That's why I needed her."

Welcome back to another episode of Storied Arcs! This week, Mike and Alex travel back to Dallas 1963 to discuss Volume 2 of Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba's The Umbrella Academy (The Umbrella Academy: Dallas issues #1-6). They once again talk about time travel (seems to be an underlying running theme for the show) and examine how its depiction here differs from some of the other books they've covered. They also go out of their way to praise every member of the creative team, all of whom do exception work on these issues. I heard a rumor that you'll dig this one.

Again, this episode does not cover anything beyond what's in this volume, nor does it breech the topic of the Netflix adaptation, so you're safe from any potential spoilers there. That said, if you haven't checked out the Netflix show, it's highly recommended. It's delightfully weird and different enough from the source that there really aren't any spoils there anyway. Besides that, go out and find The Umbrella Academy Volume 3 Hotel Oblivion and meet us here next week as we wrap up our discussion for this season!

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

• Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
• Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
• Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
• Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com

Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us Fan Mail

"Lacking in finesse, but... adequate. Can I interest you in destroying the world"

In this week's episode, Mike and Alex jump right into their discussion of Volume 1 of Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba's The Umbrella Academy (The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite issues #1-6). They pick up a couple of threads from last week's zero episode and examine how Gerard Way's solid and efficient character work quickly changed their opinion of him as a writer and how the Umbrella Academy falls in line with other "alternative" superhero books, like a Black Hammer or Astro City. They also go in on Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," as one normally does. Hold on to your seats.

As per usual, this episode does not spoil anything beyond what's in this volume. And specific to this book, there is also no in-depth discussion of the Netflix adaptation and any potential spoilers that may exist there. So you should be good either way. In the meantime, go pick up The Umbrella Academy Volume 2 Dallas wherever you get your comics and join us back here next week for another deep dig discussion!

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

• Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
• Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
• Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
• Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com

Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome to another season of Stories Arcs! In this zero episode, Mike and Alex take a look at Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba, the creators behind the Dark Horse comic The Umbrella Academy. They discuss how Gerard Way's previous day job (being an internationally-famous rock star) may have colored they opinion of the book before ever reading it and how those preconceived notions were quickly proven false. They also praise the work of Gabriel Ba and Greatest Comic Colorist of All Time(tm) Dave Stewart, who really make the comic sing. If you only know The Umbrella Academy from the Netflix adaptation, now's the perfect time to dive into the original story.

Hit up your local comic shop or public library for The Umbrella Academy: The Apocalypse Suite and join us back here next week to jump right into the discussion!

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

• Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
• Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
• Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
• Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com

Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us Fan Mail

"Do you still cling to such binary oppositions? Do you believe everything must be wholly real or wholly imagined?"

In the Season 8 finale of Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex talk about the apocalypse, aka The Unwritten Volumes 10 and 11 (issues 1-12 of The Unwritten: Apocalypse). How does it all end? What does it all mean? Does the ultimate payoff feel satisfying and earned? Can we still not read the actual Tommy Taylor books? The guys discuss it all and then some before bidding farewell to the world of The Unwritten. 

This concludes the most ambitious season of Storied Arcs to date. We hope you enjoyed this deep dive and we'll see you back here next week to start another journey into another great comic!

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

• Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
• Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
• Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
• Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com

Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us Fan Mail

"They're Fables from another place, another world. Stories told by stories made up by the stories to whom we are only stories."

In this penultimate episode of Season 8 of Stories Arcs, Mike and Alex dive head-first into the world of Fables and the crossover that isn't really a crossover in The Unwritten Volume 9 (issues 50-54) and the original graphic novel The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Ship That Sank Twice. Alex does his best to concisely explain all of Fables for those who have never read it and Mike counters by claiming that it's not completely necessary to follow The Unwritten Fables (and he's right). The guys talk about the extra level of meta these two volumes share, from Tom falling into the story of another Vertigo comic to the dual stories of Wilson creating Tom/Tommy and the first book in the Tommy Taylor series, and discuss how the timing of these sojourns work (or don't) in the overall story delivery of the comic. 

Next week, we wrap up this season of Stories Arcs with Volumes 10 and 11 of The Unwritten aka The Unwritten: Apocalypse #1-12. Don't know why they had to go and give the book a new title and new #1, but in the end, it's all the same story. Go out and read the final volumes and join us here again to discuss how it all ends.

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

• Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
• Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
• Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
• Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com

Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us Fan Mail

"But in the end-- without story-- without the ability to step sideways from fact into hypothesis-- human life is untenable."

In this episode, Mike and Alex discuss how everything finally comes together in The Unwritten Volumes 7 and 8 (issues 36-49). Random details and story beats that have been sprinkled throughout the entire run thus far all begin to converge here, whether that's in Brisbane, Australia or in the land of the dead (or in a story about the land of the dead; it's unclear). What happens to the world if we don't have stories? Where do we turn to to guidance and what is there to believe in if not the stories we tell ourselves every day? It takes going to Hell/Hades/wherever to find out, but we're up for the journey. Just don't look back on your way up the steps. 

Things get a little weird next week, as we'll be covering The Unwritten Volume 9 and the OGN The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor & The Ship That Sank Twice. We don't spoil anything beyond what we've covered through each episode, but as a heads up, Volume 9 is a quasi-crossover with another Vertigo title, Fables! You don't have to have read Fables to follow along in the story (Alex has; Mike hasn't), but if you want to check it out, it's really not that much: 157 issues (and counting), one of them being the length of a full trade paperback, a handful of one-shots, a half dozen or so spinoff series running anywhere from 6 to 50 issues, prose novels and short stories, video games adaptations- okay, maybe it is a bit of commitment. But if you're enjoying The Unwritten, Fables is a great companion piece. A second cousin in the genre of meta-fiction stories about stories.

Go read Volume 9 and the OGN (and maybe all of Fables, who knows) for next week and we'll be back right here to dive deep into all of it!

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

• Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
• Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
• Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
• Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com

Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us Fan Mail

"No honest man need fear cartoons."

In this episode, Mike and Alex get ready for war as they delve deeper into the world of The Unwritten with Volumes 5 and 6 (issues 25-35 plus 31.5-35.5). Finally, approximately halfway through the run, it feels like the story is on solid ground and it's clear to both the reader (and the characters) what is going on, why it's happening, and what Tom/Tommy's role in it is. So why does it also feel like it could have been the end of the story? The guys get into all that, plus they discuss Tommy Taylor Version 1.0 aka The Tinker (which makes them just want to read "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" again) as well as the secret origin of both Pullman and the Cabal. And why is Madame Rausch still hanging around the story?

As usual, we don't discuss anything about the story beyond what's presented in the first 6 volumes. Go out and read The Unwritten Volumes 7 and 8 and join us again next week as we continue our deep-dive discussion.

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

• Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
• Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
• Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
• Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com

Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!