"Alex Ross' work is really like outstanding community theater” - Steve Darnall and Alex Ross join me to talk about the rerelease of their groundbreaking policital graphic novel, Uncle Sam as well as Alex's Fantastic Four: Full Circle. "Timed for this year’s election, UNCLE SAM by Steve Darnall and Alex Ross makes its return after nearly a decade of…

"I really want to protect my ability to keep making my gay little comics. That's the important thing to me."- Cartoonist Hazel Newlevant makes art that shows us how to protect our future and understand our past. Whether its their new anthology Becoming Who We Are: Real Stories About Growing Up Trans or their free zine, What's Up With Covid and How …

"Mr. Sinister is obsessed with genetic purity and then this disaster bi bowling league shows up and stomps his ass," - Artist and Art Director Ethan Gould joins us to talk about the finale arc of Disney's X-Men '97 animated series. Episodes: Bright Eyes - Tolerance Is Extinction. We go deep on Bastian and Operation Zero Tolerance in the animated se…

Covering the X-Men ’97 TV series, episodes 3-6: Fire Made Flesh, Motendo, Lifedeath and Remember It with my Deep Space Dive co-host, education research consultant and former Shakespeare professor Sarah Daniel Rasher. We’ve got: 90's politics explained The love rhombus is really a hexagonEvery day the Shi'ar are Thinking About The Roman Empire What …

Space dads, space witches, and redemption arcs abound in the final season of Star Wars the Bad Batch and in the Tales of the Empire animated miniseries. Holly Raymond Phd, the poetess, professor, and reader of All The Star Wars Ever has returned to share her insights on these animated Star Wars shows on Disney + We cover a lot of ground in this spo…

This is an audio remastered version of an episode of The Venture Bros podcast originally recorded in 2016. One way we're memorializing my late friend and co-host Steven Attewell is by improving the audio quality of the earliest episodes of our podcast. Here's a favorite episode with new improved sound. * * * * * * Season 6 of the Venture Brothers: …

Award winning mystery writer Alex Segura is co-launching hardboiled 1930’s detective Dick Tracy’s latest incarnation. We discuss Chester Gould's iconic comic detective from Dick Tracy's roots in the funny pages, the character's surprising sci-fi twists to Segura's new comic book series. We even touch on Warren Beatty’s underrated 1990 movie adaptat…

One of my greatest friends and frequent collaborator Steven Attewell has died. Here are some thoughts about his work and his history that I wanted to share with the fan community. You can make donations in his honor to the Emergency Workplace Organizing Fund https://workerorganizing.org/ Maester Steven's Legendary Tumblr: Race for the Iron Throne h…

“Do not make me let you down” - Magneto From Henry Gyrich and the Great Replacement Theory to anti-mutant medical discrimination here's our conversation about the debut of the new X-Men '97 animated TV series. Steven Attewell brings a historian’s perspective to X-Men ’97 — the exciting revival of the animated X-Men show of our youth. We do a deep d…

Film Noir has been a cultural touchstone for nearly a century, and Deep Space Nine revels in it in season 2 episode 8. In "Necessary Evil" we flashback to Odo and Kira's very uncute meet-cute during the Occupation. Join us as we discuss Sarah Daniel Rasher’s favourite DS9 episode, unpacking all of its references and allusions while tackling some of…

"Everything you're doing is a perfectly logical way to save your own life" Horror author and cultural critic Jude Ellison S. Doyle returns to the podcast to talk about his new comic book series, The Neighbors with art byLetizia Cadonici and Alessandro Santoro. A queer family moves to a small town in this tale of folk horror published by Boom Studio…

Jadzia Dax is a woman in science, a member of a structurally gender fluid species, and a batleth swinging badass. She has one of the best coming out as trans scenes. She's lived many lives and she’s the emotional glue that holds the crew together. Dax is a beloved Star Trek Deep Space Nine character and she shares a name (and more) with a fanastic …

Who lives to tell the tale of our favorite queer pirate romance/comedy? OFMD returned for a second (and final?) season on HBO Max. Linda Codega, journalist (and sailor!) joins me to discuss: What’s up with Blackbeard tourism IRL?Is Buttons a sea druid?Can we make Calypso’s Birthday the new queer Halloween?The pirate polycule? Why we really need sea…

"Power doesn't shatter on impact with journalism," - Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Spencer Ackerman. Ackerman returns to talk about the thrilling conclusion of his DC comics debut, Waller Vs. Wildstorm, the role of journalism in social movements, blogging antiwar protests, why Tim Drake is the best Robin, and share some of his favorite Wildstor…

Deep Space Nine inspired us as nonbinary people. On this episode the hosts (we're both nonbinary) delve into DS9 characters read through a nonbinary lens, especially Ezri Dax, Jadzia Dax, Odo and Pel, the Ferengi. Find out: Is it nonbinary to be a Bajoran hawk? Odo's “I can't get the ears right” is extremely trans.If you’re a shapeshifter why not m…

"like a medieval manuscript full of demon sex...' but also written by an anime Mel Brooks." - H.A's stunning graphic novel is all this and more. H.A joins me to talk about his debut graphic novel, The Chromatic Fantasy available from Silver Sprocket Press. About the book: Jules is a trans man trapped in his life as a nun. The devil that the convent…

A fading genre actor and an obsessed fan meet. It's not Misery at all, it's Parasocial, the latest graphic novel from the twisted minds of Erica Henderson and Alex de Campi! Parasocial is this creative team's newest collaboration since their critically acclaimed Dracula, Motherf--r! both published by Image Comics. We talk about: What makes a horror…

Krakoa will never not exist. Will never not be an aspiration and an option. — Spencer Ackerman And do I have some news for Sebastian Shaw about civil forfeiture. — Kaetun Khlynne A journalist and a physicist join me to talk about The Fall of X, the 2023 summer X-Men comics event about the fall of Krakoa, the mutant homeland. The first part of the e…

The Velvet Underground didn’t sell many records at first but everyone who bought one went out and started a band*-- and now YOU can read a graphic novel about the Velvets! I interview cartoonist Koren Shadmi about his new graphic novel, All Tomorrow's Parties: The Velvet Underground Story. His book is about the formation and dissolution of one of o…

Pop culture and history experts Elana Levin and Historian Steven Attewell host a close watch of the Venture Bros series finale, Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart. We'll guide you through its numerous references and themes-- from NYC geography to 60's B movies to 80s New Wave music... so much 80s synthpop.... in this series finale! This is th…

"many singular people who feel alone, but together are at least feeling alone together" - Felicia T. Perez, Narrative Strategist and Zoe Tunnell, the co-creator of the comic Blade Maidens and official explainer of trans metaphor Gwen Stacy join me to discuss the latest animated Spider-Man movie, featuring Miles Morales, Spider-Man, Across the Spide…

#ComicsBrokeMe but organizing is the answer! The comics industry harms the artists, writers and editors who make the art we love. Building collective power is the strategy powerful enough to win. The Cartoonist Cooperative is a new vehicle for doing just that! I’m joined by one of this new organization’s founding members, Joan Zahra Dark, to talk a…

#ComicsBrokeMe but organizing is the answer. The comics industry has always harmed the artists, writers and editors who make the art we love. Building collective power is the strategy powerful enough to win. The Cartoonist Cooperative is a new vehicle for doing just that! I’m joined by one of this new organization’s founding members Joan Zahra Dark…

Possibly the most political comic on the stands, Justice Warriors is a brutal, hilarious and ornately drawn new satirical comic about policing, power and AI in the dystopian Bubble City. Join series co-creators Ben Clarkson and Matt Bors as we talk about their first trade paperback published by Ahoy Comics. Matt Bors is a cartoonist, writer, editor…

Star Wars newest animated series is both fascinating and frustrating. Dig into the Bad Batch’s big questions with guest Dr. Holly Schaeffer-Raymond. The Bad Batch reflects on the rise of fascism, biology as destiny and social programing. This episode's first 20 minutes are spoiler-free to help you decide if you want to watch. Then join us for: What…

"How the carceral state seeks to manipulate and dispose of its rogues, its dregs, its captives and put them to deniable use by intelligence agencies... It would be malpractice of me, for what I cover, if I wasn't interested in that!" - Spencer Ackerman, co-writer of Waller vs Wildstorm for DC Comics and award winning national security journalist. S…

What if the attack on the US Capitol succeeded? 1/6 is a 4 part comics series written by Alan Jenkins and Gan Golan and illustrated by Will Rosado. Prof. Jenkins and Golan joined me on the podcast to talk about their comic which combines comics journalism, speculative fiction and activism. Drawing on real-life events, 1/6 travels the road that led …

“Being normal was never going to save me,” says Galaxy the trans space princess protagonist of GLAAD Award Nominated graphic novel Galaxy: The Pretiest Star. “That’s my 'with great power comes great responsibility' moment. That's [Galaxy's] superhero moment,” says co-creator, writer Jadzia Axelrod. Jadzia is the author of Galaxy: The Prettiest Star…

Swift fan organizing gets the goods! Dungeons & Dragons planned to change how independent content creators could monetize their D&D-related work, but backlash caused the Hasbro-owned company to change the controversial plan. Hear what this Gargantuan news from the world of tabletop role playing games means for comics fans and fandom at large with t…

Shelfdust.com asked 150 comic book critics to list our favourite event storylines, "You know the type – something big, dramatic, crossing over a dozen different comics across the course of a few months, with everybody being effected by whatever it is that happens at the end of the story. Whether it be a Crisis or War of some kind, or just the lates…

Rebel organizer Charles Lenchner and Jedi Master Klaudia Amenábar return to cover the second half of Andor season 1, showrunner Tony Gilroy's revolutionary Star Wars show-- which airs, somehow on Disney+. In part 1 of my podcast's Andor coverage (listen to that episode first https://bit.ly/ComradeAndor) we joked about a Star Wars reimagining of "Th…

From the sound of Mayan spoken in a Marvel movie, to the beauty of wearing a mask to breathe, Ryan Coogler’s new Black Panther movie, Wakanda Forever has a lot to say. And so does my panel of experts: Moji Alawode-El, Feminist Buzzkills Podcast https://www.aafront.org/fbklive/ Marcus Pinn, Zebras in America podcast / Pinnland Empire film blog http:…

Comrade Nemik isn't alone in developing a revolutionary analysis of the world of Star Wars. My expert guests bring a knowledge of the history of revolutions, the huge Star Wars mythos and real world activism to their analysis of the first 7 episodes of the series, Andor. "I do love when Star Wars is like, yes, I know they're Nazis, but did you know…

From Bajor to the Bronx we're joined by State Senator Gustavo Rivera, a tried and true Trekkie. Serving in the New York Senate since 2010, Gustavo has beaten the odds, facing down real world Kai Winns, negotiating soil reclamator disputes and championing New York's Medicare for All bill. We talk about communities, real and fictional alike, pulling …

Blade Maidens is a fantasy adventure romance comic starring two disaster mercenaries trying to get by. Read it online for free at https://www.blademaidens.com/ The serie's creators joined me to talk about their fantastic debut series. Also, the X-men, a little. Valentine Smith is a writer, illustrator, and comic artist. They were shaped by a love o…

DS9's Mirror Universe episodes: simultaniously campy and tragic, we love these episodes' windows into other possible Star Trek worlds. Join us as we recalibrate the transporter polarity for a journey through the looking glass. Deep Space Dive is a Star Trek Deep Space Nine podcast where we examine the serie's social and artistic themes and characte…

Let's Do the Time Warp Again as we cover a classic episode of The Venture Bros animated series: Season 1 finale, Return to Spider-Skull Island, aka that Easy Rider episode. Professor Steven Attewell and I (Elana Levin) will walk you through a classic Venture Bros episode. We'll explain the film history, music and all the themes and references in th…

As Neil Gaiman wrote, "The price of getting what you want is getting what you once wanted." So what of the new Netflix TV series based on the groundbreaking comics series we grew-up on, The Sandman? Join Sandman fans as we talk about the comics we loved and our thoughts about the first four episodes of the new series. The first part of the episode …

Fresh perspectives on Taika Waititi's latest for Marvel. Let's see how Thor Love and Thunder applies the organizing addage: "closer to the problem = closer to the solution". Jeanne is a Queer Biracial Tongan media critic and author known for sharing her unique perspective on popular media on Twitter, guest appearances on podcasts, and arguing in ba…

"I want Ms.Marvel to give us the kind of personal fuel to continue to do this work and keep our eyes on the campaigns we're trying to win." —Sabiha Basrai. Ms. Marvel, the MCU's latest on Disney+ gets a close read from our expert panel. We open with a spoiler-free pitch of why we enjoyed the show then cover the full TV series. Darakshan Raja is a P…

Fish people thruples & critiques of the space prison system abound as DC's Young Justice animated series returns on HBO to conclude its 4th season. Guests that helped me cover the first half of this season have returned to update our DCAU mood boards with the Emerald Empress and some Fourth World worthy art. Dr. Khaliden Nas is a writer & researche…

NY's 1st Socialist State Senator in 100 years, get's the graphic novel treatment in Sofia Warren's new graphic memoir -- Radical: My Year With a Socialist Senator. New York, Socialism, community organizng and COMICS are near the top of my list of interests so I'm excited to have cartoonist Sofia Warren on the show to talk about her book. Reading th…

DC Comics Pride Month anthology features an all ace creative team telling a story of now canonically ace Green Arrow, Connor Hawke! Artists/Writers Ro Stein and Ted Brandt join me to discuss their work. Also, for Marvel Voices Pride they’ve co-created Shela Sexton (Escapade) and Morgan Red, Marvel's newest trans woman and transmasc nb mutants respe…

Neal Adams was a giant: from his art to his fight for artists' rights we'll talk about his legacy and work. This roundtable is for Neal Adams newbies and experts alike. You'll even hear some new personal stories about Adams' unique status as The Dad of Comics. Joining me are: Bryan Stratton is a writer, digital consultant, and co-host of the Marvel…

"A diagnosis should set somebody free. It should be a descriptor, not a definition" - Emmett Hobbes. Royale: The Prussian Blue is a Lupin III-meets-Pan’s Labyrinth caper. A renowned white-hat burglar stumbles into London’s supernatural underbelly to win his target back from an untouchable (and mysterious) art collector. It's a very queer and extrem…

Deep Space Nine's handling of religion is unique in Star Trek. While other Trek treats faith with skepticism and suspicion, DS9 depicts a variety of religious characters who explore faith in their own ways. Our guest: Anthony Oliveira is a National Magazine award and GLAAD award-winning author (his comics "My Drag Brunch with Loki" and “X:Men Early…

"[Blackbeard] is presenting as a queer character, not just within our time, but within his own time" - Tea Fougner. "It's historical fiction about pirates if the executive producers were all tumbler users" - Cayden Mak. Pirate Tea and First Mate Cayden Mak have boarded the show to talk about Taika Waititi and David Jenkins' glorious new show on HBO…

Embrace the Neo-Claremontism and "warped Mutant Catholicism" as writer Kieron Gillen returns to X-Men comics as the writer of Immortal X-Men with artists Lucas Werneck & David Curiel. He's revisiting Mr. Sinister and Hope Summers, two characters he's left an indellible mark on, who have new prominance in the Krakoan Era of X-Men. There's politics, …

Comics critic Harry Kassen guides a jounrney through the many phases of Moon Knight's Marvel comics series from 1975 through today -- just in time for his big Disney + TV debut. Moon Knight isn't just a source of absurdist memes -- he reflects changes in the comics medium. We'll look at some of the best runs of Moon Knight with an especially close …

Anthony Award-winning writer Alex Segura talks about his new book Secret Identity, a rollicking literary mystery set in the world of comics. The book combines comics and prose for a vivid1975 NYC featuring new protagist, writer Carmen Valdez. We discuss our shared love of the noir genre and his time writing Archie meeting The Ramones and Blondie an…