In this very special cut of RetConversations, Leia and Josh talk with guest Josh Lawrence about MAUS and book banning in the United States. This cut is meant for grades 9 and up and discretion is advised by the teacher.By Retconversations

On this very special episode, Leia and Josh welcome new guest Josh Lawrence to discuss MAUS. This episode is different from our regular format: less jokes, a lot more deference and, of course, discussions about the Holocaust and book banning. This is the regular edition, please look on this feed if you would prefer the Classroom Edition for teacher…

WELCOME TO EPISODE 50! Josh and Leia are joined by first-time guest Sarah Kennedy to discuss one of her favorite storylines - Annihilation! We work a little differently than normal to talk a lot of Space Marvel, nu-metal and Drax's Heartbreak Kid phase.By Retconversations

We are back with part 2. Leia and Josh are joined by special guests Dawn Baldwin and Jennifer Howland to finish out this story, answering the age-old question: how bad can time travel really be? The answer: bad enough Dawn apologizes profusely by the end for picking this story! Tune in now!By Retconversations

Leia and Josh are joined by special guests Dawn Baldwin and auditing GN partner, Jennifer Howland to talk about the 2013 comic Age of Ultron. In something that was meant to be a joke, this first part discusses the movie's impact on the MCU before diving into a world of villains with stupid names, white Nick Fury and time travel. Trust me, this was …

Josh and Leia welcome return guest, comedian Josh Staley for the most recent run of Nightwing! A delightful book with a lot of revelations about Dick Greyson, why Bludhaven is actually worse than Gotham and we all have a long overdue conversation about costumes vs street clothes.By Retconversations

Leia and Josh are in the studio with guest Jennifer Howland to discuss Kelly Thompson's amazing Black Widow graphic - The Ties That Bind! Experience one of Leia's favorite Black Widow comics which, if you have been paying attention, is Leia's favorite comic book character of all time! Not only a fantastic book, but Josh has a surprise waiting right…

In a topsy turvy season finale, Leia, Josh and auditing professor Jenn are joined (and taught!) by Friend of the Podcast Adam Witt about all things Fantastic Four! Why didn't the movies work? Is Ben Grimm a fine Jewish boy? What FF books are good for people who don't like the FF? Tune in to find out!…

Josh and Leia welcome back great friend and guest Matt Hirth to talk about Fray! We start with a long statement regarding Joss Whedon and then dive into the future slayer world. The story is super toy. Don't know what that means? Listen to find out!By Retconversations

If ever we had a NSFW episode, this one is it... Leia and Josh are joined by special guest JR Cillian Green to talk about Sex Criminals! What if you could freeze time every time you orgasmed? What if one person wouldn't stop making sex puns the entire time you explained a comic about it? This one goes way over the line - so much so that our guest q…

Leia and Josh are joined once more by the lovely Jennifer Howland to go through the conclusion of Tom King's amazing Human Target! Will Christopher Chance find his killer? Will he be able to find a cure for the poison coursing through his body? How much more of a dick can Guy Gardener possibly be? Answers to all this and more inside!…

Leia and Josh welcome back friend of the podcast Kyle Slack to talk about Hellboy Conqueror Worm! Leia's first Hellboy comic and one Josh has been interested in awhile. Homunculi, robot gorillas and killing Nazis. Everything you need for a relaxing afternoon!By Retconversations

Josh and Leia welcome very special guest Chris Wolf from @VillainSupport to explain the first of three Age of Apocalypse collections (not counting the prequel collection). Everything is topsy turvy, edginess is the name of the game and the 90's bleed through as the group loses their minds trying to make sense of all this.…

Leia and Josh sit down with Loki Variant and possible Skrull, Loki Lott to go through Secret Invasion! A direct follow-up to our first episode, Civil War, Secret Invasion has everything you could want in an event - intrigue, danger, mystery and, of course, Maria Hill being punked out because it's a Marvel event and they just can't help themselves. …

From beginning to end, this is a must-listen episode. Returning guest Scott Sinclair bring his son and our youngest Graphically Novel fan, Daniel, to hear all about TMNT: The Last Ronin! Leia, Josh and special guest Jennifer Howland are made to feel extremely old as all of their references fall on 11 year old ears and fail. Come for the schadenfreu…

Stop us if you've heard this one - Leia and Josh take someone through a Tom King written story about a C-tier DC character. No, it's not Mister Miracle again - it's the Human Target! We take special guest Jennifer Howland through Part 1 of this noir murder mystery and by the end she's asking for Part 2!…

Have you been waiting for an episode where our guest gets their sanity destroyed in real time? Then this is the episode for you! Josh and Leia finally catch up to Rob Liefeld and the era of big pecs and tiny feet rises! Listen as they turn special guest Jesse Letourneau's mind to mush and then afterwards deconstruct this series' effects on the MCU!…

We want our Cap TV! Leia and Josh take special guest Michael Garrity through one of the strangest Captain America stories on Leia's shelf - Captain America: Castaway in Dimension Z! We like this comic like we like our orange juice - brimming with pulp!By Retconversations

Let's start Season 4 off right - with Josh and Leia's chickens coming home to roost. This is a storyline THEY ASKED FOR so now it's time to take special guest Cory Peter through the event Sins of Sinister! Snark, glam and clones, clones, clones!By Retconversations

In the last (for now) episode of RetConversations, Leia and Josh are joined by return guest and voice actor Royal Hebert to talk about Cable & Deadpool! A lot of questionable science, wacky fun and what character you should never, ever end your graphic novel with. Additionally, the entire Graphically Novel crew talks their favorite episodes of both…

Leia and Josh are joined by special guest Patrick Stout Gerrity to talk about Devil's Reign! So many weird choices in this one. Matt Murdock's twin brother has been resurrected via magic crystal and his identity has been wiped from the minds of the world by the Purple Man's children and all of this somehow leads to a storyline involving Wilson Fisk…

Leia and Josh are joined by first time guest, Tony Van Dyke to talk about Superman: Red Son! Lex Luther plus Reed Richards = chess playing douchebag, sunflower seeds for Doomsday's pockets and could this be a Superman story both the hosts really liked?!?By Retconversations

Happy Halloween from RetConversations! Leia and Josh welcome Graphically Novel host Bear to talk about Absolute Carnage! Like wow, this story. Why is Norman Osborne in *every* story? Is Knull really just a Lovecraft Elder God? And what is up with not identifying characters in your comic? Tune in for this plus legit Spider-Man fan Josh has absolutel…

Josh and Leia are back with special guest Jesse Letourneau to talk the second half of Onslaught. In order to avoid discussions about this storyline, they talk about the nature of man, fear versus hate and the philosophy of X-Men.By Retconversations

Josh and Leia are joined by returning guest Jesse Letourneau to delve into one of X-Men's most infamous stories - Onslaught! Too much fun to keep to just one episode, in part 1 we set up that no one likes Cyclops, Professor Xavier is a TERRIBLE father figure and we get real deep and real off topic with talks about the current states of nerd culture…

Josh and Leia are joined by special guest Dawn Baldwin and auditing Graphically Novel host Jennifer Howland to talk about the very 90's Dawn by Joseph Michael Linsner. Lingerie as a common fashion choice, a bit of religious talk on a Sunday and Josh's nostalgia is violently shattered by three women in real time. Come for the comic and stay for the …

Josh and Leia are joined by Bear and Jennifer from Graphically Novel and return guest Jason Taylor to explain Old Man Logan! A Kurosawa-esque post-apocalyptic romp with betrayal, tragedy and hillbilly inbred Hulks!By Retconversations

Josh and Leia are joined by Josh's wife and Graphically Novel co-host Jennifer Howland to learn about Frank Miller's saga, The Death of Elektra. Antics, bear traps and possibly Matt Murdock's worst girlfriend.By Retconversations

Josh and Leia are joined by special guest Kyle Slack to go back in time to the early 2000's with Chuck Austin's X-Men run. Leia forensics knowledge is put to the test as she is asked about proper behavior on a dig site and if someone dies if their blood runs backwards. Come check out this very telenovela episode!…

Leia and Josh are joined by guest Alan Pursell and audited by GN's Jennifer Howland and Bear to witness the grand Nazi wet dream that is Secret Empire, the storyline best known for Nazi Captain America. We are not kind. Nor will we be. This was a lesson in patience and self control. If you like train wrecks, this is the episode for you. #AlwaysPunc…

We kick off Season 3 with a favorite of Josh & Leia's - The Wicked + The Divine! We take special guest Justin Stacy through the world of gods, rock & roll and finger snapping murder! If you've never heard of this amazing graphic novel, this is a great opportunity for an introduction!By Retconversations

In our Season two finale Leia and Josh are joined by Dawn Baldwin to discuss Thor and Loki Blood Brothers! Dawn brings her therapist background to talk about all of the trauma, Josh forgets the world consent and we blame the entire plot on an innocent child!By Retconversations

Young Avengers PART TWO: Leia, Josh and Joe Witkowski continue through Young Avengers in which Joe flip-flops on Loki again, the three start a support group for LARPers and "you wanna get forgiven? You better work, bitch!".By Retconversations

Leia and Josh are joined by Joe Witkowski to discuss Young Avengers! A story just too good for one part, this two-parter sees the kids we have been getting to know in the MCU come together for an epic run. Enjoy as Joe decided if he's on Team Loki or off Team Loki and come back in two weeks for part 2!…

Josh and Leia welcome theologian Jesse LeTourneau to talk about the 2014 crossover event Original Sin! Bible references aplenty, discussions of sins and Leia faces her largest test - a story with Nova, the moon and clones!By Retconversations

Josh and Leia are joined by voice actor extraordinaire Royal Hebert to discuss Neil Gaiman's 1602! With an in-depth lead-in about Elseworlds in comics, comic books and their relationship with the moon and Leia points out how Nat finally got revenge for Matt Murdock hitting her in the 70's.By Retconversations

In an extremely special episode, Leia and Josh are joined by famed video game composer Ryan Ike (When the Water Tastes Like Wine, West of Loathing) to talk about Arkham Asylum! We go deep into the psychology of the Batman rogue gallery, Arkham Asylum's economic impact on Gotham, Penguin's publishing dynasty and David Bowie as a Batman villain.…

Josh and Leia are joined by TWO TIME guest and friend of the pod, Jason Taylor to explain one of their favorite comics of all time - Transmetropolitan! How is this comic still so relevant?!? We explore this 1990's gem and teach Jason why he should "trust the fuckhead".By Retconversations

Jingle-brained Josh and the dizzy dame Leia are joined by Dan Schaeffer to talk about Marvel: Noir, specifically to go through Luke Cage and talk about the rest. We promise not to talk in 1930's slang though it's tough. A deep dive into noir, the difference between noir and hard-boiled and by the end, Josh is telling you why you should watch Agents…

Leia and Josh are joined by theologian and therapist JR Cillian Green to talk about Leia’s top pick of 2019 – Mr. Miracle! Funky Flashman, a super obscure God/Popeye joke and Batman kills babies! If you haven’t read this one – and Josh hadn’t – you’re in for a ride!By Retconversations

Josh and Leia are joined by special guests Jason Taylor and Alysen Cassaccio to explain the superhero bangup Avengers vs. the X-Men! Once again, the importance of therapy in the 616 is discussed, some new mutants are discovered and Everyone Hates Cyclops.By Retconversations

Josh and Leia are back for season 2 with special guest Ryan Brown and they are explaining Flashpoint! Is this Batman the best Batman? What broke Leia's brain reading this? And what the $#%@ is a Canterbury Cricket? Tune in to find out the answers to these questions and more!By Retconversations

THE LOST EPISODE! Josh and Leia explain World War Hulk to the Brothers Weez in this episode so nice we had to record it twice. We struggle bus through this for the second time - now recording it - to point out how dumb the smartest superheroes are, who is the Sentry and Leia correctly points out that you can't ask people why they aren't black.…

Part 2 of our coverage from last time, Josh and Leia still have Mike Tomasek of Little Twin Publishing held hostage as they complete their explanation of Civil War 2! The season finale happens here, folks. How does Mike handle the Hawkeye verdict? Is this the story that might convince him to become a True Believer? Also, Leia and Josh count down th…

Josh and Leia welcome back Mike Tomasek of Little Twin Publishing to finish what they started with Civil War 2! We name every Marvel character that is a sweet, cinnamon bun and too pure for this world, talk about how Tony Stark needs therapy and Mike experiences a true comic book nerd moment.By Retconversations

Josh and Leia are joined by special guest Mark Paar to explain Secret Wars! God Doom, 616/1610 madness and once again, we pledge our undying love to Mr. Sinister.By Retconversations

Leia and Josh are joined by special guest Scott Sinclair to discuss House of X/Powers of X! Need a quick primer to jump into modern X-Men comics? This is...kind of that! a tl;dr on Emma Frost, we all love Mr. Sinister, Leia explains several times why humanity was largely a mistake and we start the RetConversation Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pizza Club f…

Leia and Josh tackle their first DC storyline with special guest, Meredith Gerber! The highest selling comic book of all time - Death of Superman! Why are teens assholes? Is Doomsday a wrestling mark? And god, why more clones?!? Tune in for these answers and more!By Retconversations

Josh and Leia are joined by Josh's wife and co-host of Graphically Novel, Jennifer Howland to talk about the final storyline in the Spider-Man three-peat - One More Day! Why doesn't Peter think any of this is weird? Doesn't Aunt May get a say in any of this? And what would happen if Josh traded his marriage to keep his Abuela alive?…

Leia and Josh are joined by Will Azbill to talk about the second in our Spider-Man three-peat, Sins Past. Banging your friend's dad, preventing identity theft and Leia teaches us the proper procedures to collect DNA from a grave. At least there are no clones!By Retconversations