A farewell… for now. Paul is redirecting his podcasting energies to start "Mother Box: A New Gods and Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Podcast" with Matt Lune, as well as to appear weekly on the Comics Alternative and pursue other endeavors. This episode is a fond farewell as the Comics Syllabus podcast goes on indefinite hiatus, with heartfelt thanks to all the guests, listeners, friends, and Multiversity colleagues who’ve made this podcast a total joy for the past two years.
Comics Syllabus may be back in the future or on occasion, but for now, Paul’s signing off. Look for "Mother Box" to come soon (and fill in this every-other-Tuesday slot at Multiversitycomics.com), and look for Paul and his friends at Multiversity, as well as on the Comics Alternative podcast weekly review episodes.
And thanks for listening! Let’s keep reading.
(Track art is a drawing of Paul by wonderful artist Max Sarin)
On today’s Comics Syllabus, Paul and brother Sonny discuss "Green Lantern Earth One Volume One," Gabriel Hardman, Corinna Bechko, and Jordan Boyd’s DC graphic novel retelling of Hal Jordan Green Lantern’s origin story in the Earth One universe. "Green Lantern Earth One" is a dash of Sonny’s favorite stuff– Green Lantern Corps and Green Lantern lore–filtered through the cinematic stylistics of Hardman and Bechko, some of Paul’s favorite creators.
Then, Sonny and Paul pick upcoming trade collections on their wait list:
Sonny picks "Batman Detective Comics TP Vol 06 Fall Of The Batmen Rebirth" by James Tynion IV and Joe Bennett and artists (DC), the fall of Clayface and nearing the end of the Tynion Detective run.
Paul recommends "Fantastic Four Epic Collection TP New Fantastic Four" (Marvel) by various writers and artist, notably (for Paul) Art Adams art, collecting "Fantastic Four" #347-361 and Annual #24, a 90s run that includes Wolverine, Spiderman, Hulk, and Ghost Rider subbing for Marvel’s first family.
Finally, a new wrinkle to the "Wait List with Sonny" segment. The brothers try out three "number one" issues, and Sonny decides if he’ll add any to his trade wait list. They discuss "Detective Comics" #982 (the first post-Tynion issue), "Thor" #1, and "By Night" #1 (Boom).
Chad Sell, the creator and artist of the wonderful new all-ages graphic novel, “The Cardboard Kingdom” (Penguin Random House), joins Paul to tell the inspiring origin story of the book, co-written with a team of contributors. Just as Chad and many other contributors lent their talents and perspectives to the craft of this book, the book itself is a tribute to the diverse imaginations and explorations of a neighborhood of kids, having fun and finding themselves through an extended universe of play. The kids take on roles like The Sorceress, the Big Banshee, and The Gargoyle, fashioning costumes and castles from cardboard and creativity. The graphic novel’s assembled short stories amass into an overarching tale of childhood fun, community formation, and identity development, enjoyable for young readers and adults too. Chad shares about the craft and process of putting together “The Cardboard Kingdom”… its inspiration from kids comics, drag queens, and coloring book contests. It’s a great conversation… don’t miss it!
Jacob Semahn on 'No. 1 with a Bullet' (Image Comics)
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Writer Jacob Semahn joins Paul on the Comics Syllabus podcast to talk about “No. 1 with a Bullet,” the Image Comics series he co-created with artist Jorge Corona, colorist Jen Hickman, and writer Steve Wands. “No 1 with a Bullet” is collected in a trade that comes out June 6, 2018. It’s a thrilling near-future story about Nash Huang, a TV personality’s assistant who must survive the brutal public exposure of our social media age… and worse! Jacob and Paul talk about the big ideas and cultural trends that prompted the book’s creation, and the craft behind his and his collaborators’ creation of this dynamic book. Let’s dig deep!
(Note: Swears and content warning– with respect, Jacob and Paul discuss issues of harassment and violence, though not graphically. Separately, heads up for some adult language in this one.)
On today’s Comics Syllabus podcast, Cohost Kid comes on to talk about Elise Gravel’s “The Mushroom Fan Club” from Enfant/Drawn and Quarterly. Let’s dig deep!
Mother Box a New Gods by Jack Kirby pod pilot w Matt Lune pt 1
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A special, slightly different episode: Paul and "That’s the Issue" host Matt Lune embark on a podcast journey, as they launch "The Mother Box: A New Gods by Jack Kirby Podcast" project, a read-through of the "Fourth World Omnibus" by Jack Kirby. Together, Matt and Paul aim to learn about the New Gods universe, characters, and stories in anticipation of the planned "New Gods" movie directed by Ava Duvernay. They will read through and discuss Kirby’s New Gods work issue by issue. And they’ll invite on experts and other readers to inform them along the way.
This episode is a pilot, of sorts, for "The Mother Box," as well as a briefing about Jack Kirby, the New Gods, and what we hope to do with the project. Next week, on "That’s the Issue," we will continue with a closer reading of the first issues of the "Fourth World Omnibus," the first three issues of Jack Kirby’s work at DC on "Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen."
Let us know what you think!
Some primer articles you might check out:
Multiversity’s Jonathan O’Neal’s piece:
Today’s Comics Syllabus podcast looks at BE PREPARED by Vera Brosgol (First Second), colors by Alec Longstreth, a wonderful autobiographical summer camp story for all ages.
Spoilery McSpoilers Avengers Infinity War Reflections
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In typical Comics Syllabus fashion, Paul has the most niche of niche solo discussions (with YOU!) about AVENGERS INFINITY WAR. This conversation features SPOILERS but then again kind of doesn’t because, as usual, Paul explains very little, kind of hoping that you’ve not only already seen the movie but consumed the recaps and reviews abounding everywhere. So it’s more of a reflective piece, thinking about ideas and themes provoked by the movie. Listen only after you’ve joined the throngs of people who’ve already seen the film, cool?
