Storied Arcs

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"But in my opinion, if they can travel between stars then we can invent as many laser guns as we want and it won't make a damn bit of difference."

Welcome to the new season of Storied Arcs, where Mike and Alex are diving into the political/sci-fi mash-up of Letter 44 by Charles Soule and Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque from Oni Press and Image Comics with Deluxe Volume 1 (issues #1-12, if you're reading in single issue or compendium). The guys start with a few nits to pick (no book is perfect) before jumping into the parts that really excited them. They survey the political landscape presented in the comic and then examine how the real world overlays map onto the story. The world of Letter 44 is just a slightly skewed version of our world, and the guys discuss how that story construction and presentation works (or maybe doesn't) in the book's favor. Finally, they wrap up by talking through which part of the story- the political drama or the sci-fi drama- has them more interested at this point.

The deep dive continues next week with Letter 44 Deluxe Volume 2 (issues #13-24). Go find it (or just read the next batch of issues in the compendium) wherever you get your comics and join the discussion!

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In this zero episode, Mike and Alex get you primed for Letter 44 by Charles Soule and Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque from Oni Press (originially) and Image Comics (currently). The guys start with a quick synopsis of the book (sci-fi thriller in space combined with political drama on Earth) and recount its publishing history, providing a little background of Oni Press along the way. Then, they dive into the creative team, including writer Charles Soule (who was covered more fully in the Eight Billion Genies zero episode) and artist Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque, along with a host of other collaborators (colorists Guy Major, Dan Jackson, and Sarah Stern, and letterers Shawn DePasquale and Crank!, plus guest artists Joelle Jones, Drew Moss, Ryan Kelly, Alise Gluskova, and Langdon Foss). Letter 44 is crazy mix of genres that seem like they shouldn't work on paper but when handled properly, mesh together perfectly.

It's likely that the most accessible way to read Letter 44 at the moment is the new (as of this recording) compendium recently published by Image containing all 35 issues. We'll be covering the book across three discussions, divided up as the Deluxe editions from Oni Press had them:

09/04: Issues #1-12

09/11: Issues #13-24

09/18: Issues #25-35

So, go read Letter 44 issues #1-12 wherever (or however) you can can find them, and join us back here next week to break it all down!

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"Mindset's advanced habitat helps us all become free from manipulative social media algorithms. Because when a person knows how they're being influenced, they have the power to break free and change their mindset!"

Welcome to the final entry in Social Media Summer! For this final discussion on the theme, Mike and Alex question who really is in control as they dive into Mindset by Zack Kaplan and John Pearson from Vault Comics. The guys break down how this comic still feels relevant and accurate to our relationship to technology and social media (which feels a little silly to say about a book that's only about 3 years old, but given how we've been tracking changes across the past 10 years, holding on for the past 3 years seems like an eternity), and also examine the ways in which it could still be predictive of what might be to come. Finally, they wrap up Social Media Summer with a wide-angle lens look at all four books they've covered and take a swing a making it all make sense somehow (and don't forget to share, like and subscribe!).

We hope you enjoyed this deeper dive look at the way social media and technology has been portrayed throughout the recent past. We had a blast working our way across the timeline and who knows, maybe this is episode construct we can return to again in the future. Until then, please join us here again next week as we get ready to jump into another great comic!

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This week, Mike and Alex are here to intro the final installment of Social Media Summer, Mindset by Zack Kaplan and John Pearson from Vault Comics. They start by covering the creative team behind the book (including mentioning letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, who's lettered seemingly every book they've covered that's been published within the last few years) before giving a spoiler-free tease for the comic. This books brings us to the very recent past along the decline of social media timeline (June 2022 to January 2023), meaning our relationship to social media and technology today is closer to what's depicted in Mindset than in any previous book we've covered thus far.

Mindset is another single volume story (issues #1-6) so find it where you get your comics and we'll see back here next week to discuss it and Social Media Summer as a whole!

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

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"I was showing everyone that technology is nothing but a monster." "Technology is just a tool. Human beings still do the heavy lifting."

Welcome to book three of Social Media Summer! This week, Mike and Alex dive into Thumbs (issues #1-5) from Image Comics by Sean Lewis and Hayden Sherman. They start by examining the slightly different angle this book takes towards technology versus the previous two books they've covered in this series, and how that almost agnostic view of tech muddies the focus on who are the good guys and who are the bad guys in the story (which kinda feels like the point). The guys also dig into how the timing of this book, released just before the COVID lockdowns of 2020, lends a meta quality to the themes presented, and how reading it post-2020, it could be mistaken as a reaction to that. Finally, the guys wrap by placing Thumbs in the larger conversation with Hacktivist and Unfollow in terms of how we are seeing ourselves and our relationship to technology across the timeline of social media.

Next week, we get you prepped for the final entry in Social Media Summer, Mindset!

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

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Social Media Summer continues this week as Mike and Alex jump a little further forward on the decline of social media timeline (June to August 2019) to introduce Thumbs by Sean Lewis and Hayden Sherman from Image Comics. As usual, the guys give a quick rundown of the creative team's comics history, as well as whatever projects they may be working on now (like maybe one of the best superhero comics on the stands as we record this). Then they wrap with a spoiler-free intro to Thumbs and chat a little as to how and why they see it fitting into the overall theme. And Alex references another movie from the 80s that Mike hasn't seen. Because of course.

Thumbs is just a single volume (issues #1-5) so go find it wherever you get your comics and be a part of the discussion next week!

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
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• Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com

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"It is no longer white noise. It is a deafening crescendo. News flits by in a millisecond. Who can tell what is truth? Every moment of every day... we are besieged."

Mike and Alex close out book two of Social Media Summer this week with a dive into Unfollow Volume 3: Turn It Off (issues #13-18) from DC Comics/Vertigo. The guys grapple first with the ending of the story, parsing what they think Rob Williams and Michael Dowling may have been trying to say (or not say) about society given the comic's nihilistic finale, and discuss how it ultimately felt consistent with the overall vibe of the book. They also break down how of all the ideas and themes presented, the quasi-deep fake, generative-AI speech model of Akira that only gets a passing glance within the story might have been the more prescient one. And finally, the guys wrap their discussion by examining how this story has aged now in 2025 and compare/contrast that with book one of the theme, Hacktivist. The two books overlapped a bit in publication but their perspectives couldn't have been more different.

Next week, we jump ahead a few years along the social media timeline and get you primed and ready for book three of Social Media Summer, Thumbs! 

Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs

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"I mean, what's the point of doing something unless you can tell the whole world?"

This week on Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex continue to make their way through Social Media Summer with Unfollow Volume 2: God Is Watching (issues #7-12) by Rob Williams and Michael Dowling from DC Comics/Vertigo. The guys discuss how narrowing the story into two or three main threads works to its advantage as it allows the book to more easily juggle the number of characters it wants to follow. They touch on all the main characters and break down which ones appear to be set up for interesting and/or satisfying arcs, and which (if any) still maybe feel underserved. Finally, the guys discuss the plot twist that isn't really treated like a plot twist, and what they think it means for the story as it rounds towards the finale.

We wrap up our look at Unfollow next week with Volume 3: Turn It Off (issues #13-18), so pick it up where ever you get your comics and join us back here again to dive into it!

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"The great terror comes form the universe's actions that do not have a cognizant mind behind them. What if all we are is swept away by something that wants nothing? That means nothing?"

Welcome to book two of Social Media Summer! This week, Mike and Alex begin their look at Unfollow by Rob Williams and Michael Dowling from DC Comics/Vertigo with Volume 1: 140 Characters (issues #1-6). The guys dive right into the comic, breaking down the overall narrative setup (a tontine established by a dying billionaire tech genius involving 140 randomly-chosen social media users) and the deployment of certain story beats. They discuss the various characters among the 140 who seem to get a spotlights in this volume but without any real depth (yet), and how that affects their focus on the story. The guys' level of investment in these characters varies greatly after one volume, and they agree that there was just a lot of table setting to get ready for what the comic is actually going to be about. 

It hasn't been a huge jump forward in publication time along the social media timeline from our previous book, Hacktivist, but the cracks in the technological veneer are already showing. So go read Unfollow Volume 2: God Is Watching (issues #7-12) wherever you get your comics and join us here again next week!

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This week, Mike and Alex setup the next book in their Social Media Summer series, Unfollow from DC Comics/Vertigo by writer Rob Williams and artist Michael Dowling. They guys first give some background on the creative team, including colorist Quinton Winter and letterer Clem Robins, as well as acknowledge the handful of guest artists brought on the pinch hit for an issue here and there (more on them when the discussion reaches those issues). Then they give a spoiler-free preview of Unfollow and discuss briefly how it fits into the decline of social media timeline they have been tracking (November 2015 to April 2017 in this case).

Unfollow is on the more mature side of things, but hey, that's just how it goes with comics sometimes. So find Unfollow Volume 1 (issues #1-6) wherever you get your comics and join us next week to jump into Social Media Summer Book Two!

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
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• 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!