Comics Syllabus

A shorter episode: Multiversity's Mike Mazzacane comes on the Comics Syllabus's General Ed segment to break down his list of favorite comic book movies of 2017. Welcome to the Comics Syllabus podcast, where we read widely and we dig deep. Your host Paul, a literacy researcher and English teacher, introduces curious readers to a range of current and classic comics, and then engages in closer discussion and analysis of particular comics works. Apologies for this short episode, lacking a proper intro and without the usual deep dive into a particular comic. But we hope you'll enjoy this chat this week nonetheless: On this shorter episode of the Comics Syllabus (Apologies! Paul's fallen sick!), Multiversity's Mike Mazzacane http://www.multiversitycomics.com/author/mmazzacane/ comes on to talk about his favorite movies adapted from comics of 2017, a year that was replete with comic book movies... and the train isn't slowing down! Mike and Paul discuss Logan, Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, Profes

Images are at http://wp.me/p42KN3-IkQ Paul discusses the Catalyst Prime superhero sci-fi universe, published by Lion Forge, with titles like "Noble," "Accell," "Superb," "Astonisher," "The Incidentals," and "Kino," and featuring creators and editors like Joseph Illidge, Desiree Rodriguez, Joe Casey, Brandon Thomas, Alex De Campi, Christopher Priest, Sheena Howard, David F. Walker, Ray-Anthony Height, Damion Scott, Roger Robinson, Juan Fernandez, Marco Turini, Jessica Kholinne, and many others! Welcome to the Comics Syllabus podcast, where we read widely and we dig deep. Your host Paul, a literacy researcher and English teacher, introduces curious readers to a range of current and classic comics, and then engages in closer discussion and analysis of particular comics works. First, on the Wait List/Discussion Section ( 4:00 ), Paul lists various collections, trades, and graphic novels coming out in December that he's anticipating, while commenting on Marvel and

Multiversity’s Matt Lune joins Paul to talk about their year-end lists of favorite ongoing comics, original graphic novels, writers, artists, cover artists, and publishers… as well as the prospect of making and discussing these lists themselves! Welcome to the Comics Syllabus podcast, where we read widely and we dig deep. Your host Paul, a literacy researcher and English teacher, introduces curious readers to a range of current and classic comics, and then engages in closer discussion and analysis of particular comics works. First, in the introduction, ( 0:00 ) an apology that the promised discussion of Catalyst Prime titles will be postponed until next week because… well… this episode was already too long and Paul got plenty busy during the US holiday! But NEXT WEEK: Catalyst Prime, the Valiant universe, superhero universes, DCEU and MCU, and diversity! Then, at ( 4:00 ), Multiversity’s Matt Lune comes to talk to Paul about their favorites for 2017. Matt’s work at Multiversity can be found at http://www.m

Images are at http://wp.me/p42KN3-I1P ( 9:35 ) Brooklyn teacher Wolf Warner (on Twitter @drewarner) runs through his best miniseries of 2017. ( 20:02 ) Then Jason Shiga joins us to talk about his recently completed “Demon” series from 2017, including some SPOILER-FILLED TALK! (BEWARE!) NEXT WEEK: Lion Forge’s Catalyst Prime line. Welcome to the Comics Syllabus podcast, where we read widely and we dig deep. Your host Paul, a literacy researcher and English teacher, introduces curious readers to a range of current and classic comics, and then engages in closer discussion and analysis of particular comics works. Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Or download the podcast episode here. First, in the introduction, ( 0:00 ) a mention to Brooklyn’s Mama Says Comics Rock (http://www.mamasayscomics.com/), comic store of Wolf Warner, and a set up for the two pieces we fe

Images are at http://wp.me/p42KN3-HOA ( 16:45 ) Multiversity’s John Schaidler talks with us about empathy, literacy, and comics and graphic novels like “Spinning,” “Arab of the Future,” “American Born Chinese,” “Persepolis,” and “Nimona.” ( 1:24:26 ) Then we talk to John about his work in education and literacy, and how it leads to his part in the “Lake of Tears” comic project with writer Kwabena Ofei and artist Setor Fiadzigbey, in collaboration with Human Rights organization Challenging Heights. NEXT WEEK: Jason Shiga’s “Demon” (First Second) Welcome to the Comics Syllabus podcast, where we read widely and we dig deep. Your host Paul, a literacy researcher and English teacher, introduces curious readers to a range of current and classic comics, and then engages in closer discussion and analysis of particular comics works. First, in the introduction, ( 0:00 ) a shout out to “Plant Pathologist” for his Apple Podcasts review, and some of Paul’s comments on Bendis, Berganza, and podcast business. Mentioned:

Digging deep into “Southern Bastards” with DC3Cast and Multiversity Editor Brian Salvatore; Best of 2017 with Multiversity’s Kevin Gregory. Images are at http://wp.me/p42KN3-HvT starting Tuesday 6 AM EST Welcome to the Comics Syllabus podcast, where we read widely and we dig deep. Your host Paul, a literacy researcher and English teacher, introduces curious readers to a range of current and classic comics, and then engages in closer discussion and analysis of particular comics works. On our Multiversity’s Best of 2017 chat ( at 5:00 ), we talk with Multiversity’s Kevin Gregory ( http://www.multiversitycomics.com/author/kgregory/ ), host of the new “Make Mine Multiversity” podcast ( http://www.multiversitycomics.com/tag/make-mine-multiversity/ ) covering Marvel Comics. But today, Kevin’s here to discuss his Best of 2017, in a series of chats the Comics Syllabus is having with Multiversity contributors about their picks for the best comics of the year in various categories. (Pardon some minor sound hiccups i

Images will be at http://wp.me/p42KN3-Hpf Studying "Silver Surfer" (Marvel Comics) by Dan Slott and Mike and Laura Allred; Multiversity's Kent Falkenberg picks some of his favorites of 2017. Welcome to the Comics Syllabus podcast, where we read widely and we dig deep. Your host Paul, a literacy researcher and English teacher, introduces curious readers to a range of current and classic comics, and then engages in closer discussion and analysis of particular comics works. On the General Ed segment ( at 5:00 ), we welcome back Multiversity's Kent Falkenberg to talk about some of his picks for Best of 2017. Kent's favorites of 2017 include: Best Mini-Series: (tie) Swordquest (Dynamite) and God Country (Image) Best New Series: Mister Miracle (DC) by Tom King and Mitch Gerads Best Series: Dept H (Dark Horse) by Matt and Sharlene Kindt Best Publisher: DC Comics Best Single Issue: (tie) Over the Garden Wall #17 (Boom!) and The Kamandi Challenge #9 (DC) Our deep dive this week (at 50:21 ) is a look a

Images are at http://wp.me/p42KN3-HfG We dig deep with cartoonist Katriona Chapman about Katzine, her self-published comics, and her upcoming graphic novel; and we talk to Multiversity and Geeks OUT's Kate Kosturski about her favorites of 2017 in our first installment of Multiversity Best of 2017 chats. Welcome to the Comics Syllabus podcast, where we read widely and we dig deep. Your host Paul, a literacy researcher and English teacher, introduces curious readers to a range of current and classic comics, and then engages in closer discussion and analysis of particular comics works. On the General Ed segment ( at 5:00 ), the first of a series of chats with Multiversity contributors about some of their Best of 2017 picks. Paul is joined by writer for Multiversity and Geek Out (geeksout.org) Kate Kosturski to discuss her favorite ongoing comics, graphic novels, publishers, artists, cover artist, and new series from 2017. Kate can be found on Twitter at twitter.com/librarian_kate and her great writing at Mult

Images to go with this episodes at http://wp.me/p42KN3-GZ2 Avery Hill Publishing's intriguing lineup with Katriona Chapman and writer Ram V takes us to the heart of upcoming Image Comics series "Paradiso" about a future city come to life. Welcome to the Comics Syllabus podcast, where we read widely and we dig deep. Your host Paul, a literacy researcher and English teacher, introduces curious readers to a range of current and classic comics, and then engages in closer discussion and analysis of particular comics works. On the General Ed segment ( at 5:00 ), Paul is joined by Avery Hill Publishing's Katriona Chapman to talk about the UK publisher's intriguing comics lineup, its history as a comics press, and its upcoming releases. We touch on works like Tillie Walden's "End of Summer," Rachael Smith's "Artificial Flowers," and Steven Tillotson's "Epic Adventures of Untitled Ape." Find out more about Avery Hill at http://www.averyhillpublishing.com/ and B. Mure's book at http:/

Images for this episode are at http://wp.me/p42KN3-GQ4 It's a family affair this week: "Peanuts" by Charles Schulz (Fantagraphics collections) with Cohost Kid and the Wait List segment with Cohost Brother Sonny! On the General Ed segment ( at 5:00 ), Paul talks to his brother Sonny for their monthly "Wait List" segment, about the trades and collections coming out in October they're looking forward to. Sonny is Paul's "trade waiting" brother who also happens to have drastically different comics tastes from his older (yet not wiser) brother. Hear them discuss "Detective Comics" (DC), "Baking with Kafka" by Tom Gauld (Drawn + Quarterly), "Power Rangers" (Boom), and why Sonny is not looking forward to the Fantagraphics Jaime Hernandez Studio Edition. Then, (at 43:31 ) the Close Read features a special guest... Cohost Kid! Paul is excited to have on his own daughter to talk about some "Peanuts" comic strips, as they pick one volume from the entire collecti

Classic Batman origin re-telling by Len Wein and Jim Aparo, a rundown of recent reads from DC, Valiant, Boom, and Kelly Bastow, and how Paul learns to talk about comics art! Images are at http://wp.me/p42KN3-Gxn starting 9am EST on 10/3/2017 On this week's Comics Syllabus podcast, an ultra-long-solo-droning of Paul talking comics! First, in a General Ed segment change-up, we start with the "Discussion Section," (at 4:54 ) where Paul tackles listener Mike McQuillian's question of how he learns to talk about comics art! He makes reference to a Multiversity piece by Mike Romeo: http://www.multiversitycomics.com/longform/a-guide-to-discussing-comic-art/ as well as to various sources where this amateur critic has learned to be a fraction less amateurish in discussing art in comics. Then, (at 28:55 ) in a new segment called "The Pull Call," Paul runs through comics he's read recently and discusses how the visual work in each contributes to their thematic and narrative potency. He tackles the foll

On this week’s Comics Syllabus podcast, two super interesting guests! First, on our General Ed segment, we learn about the Latino Comics Expo ( http://www.latinocomicsexpo.com/ ) taking place November 11-12, 2017 at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California, from one of its cofounders and executive director, Ricardo Padilla. We discuss the origins of the show, the community of creators and fans that LCX brings together, and Ricardo’s own story as a convener of Latino creators. We mention Javier Hernandez’s vital role in founding the Expo, Daniel Parada’s ZOTZ at http://www.zotzcomic.com/, and many more awesome creators. (At 27:50) Then, we are treated with a conversation with Falynn Koch ( http://www.falynnk.com/ ), cartoonist and illustrator, creator of two books in First Second :01’s “Science Comics” series, the recent “Plagues: the Microscopic Battlefield” and last year’s “Bats: Learning to Fly.” Paul is joined (partly) by Cohost Kid to talk to Falynn Koch about how she turns informative

Images at http://wp.me/p42KN3-Gbt On this week's Comics Syllabus podcast, Paul has the pleasure of speaking with Paul K. Tunis, comics poet (find him at http://paulktunis.com/) and an editor for InkBrick (at http://inkbrick.com/), the poetry comics journal, for a General Ed segment (at 4:58) to look at how comics do poetry, with the example of Tunis' own beautiful and troubling work (see "Paper Mice" above, as well as many examples on his website). More artists and stuff listed in the links below... (At 1:01:00) Then, Paul discusses two Ignatz Award winners from this past weekend at Small Press Expo (SPX), "Your Black Friend" by Ben Passmore (available at https://store.silversprocket.net/products/your-black-friend-comic-book-by-ben-passmore) and "Say Her Name" by Bianca Xunise (available at https://southsideweekly.com/say-her-name/). Paul explores cartooning and racial discourse in these times, touches on criticism and comics art, and sings kumbaya with more than a little hesitation

Images available at http://wp.me/p42KN3-G1p starting 9/12/17 9am EST (4:58)On this week’s Comics Syllabus podcast, Paul is honored to be joined by Dr. Elizabeth Coody ( https://twitter.com/ecoody ) of Sacred and Sequential ( http://www.sacredandsequential.org/ ) for a General Ed segment to talk about how comics take on the Bible. Dr. Coody describes how a New Testament scholar ended up studying comics, and breaks down different ways that comics interface with the Bible. Check out the list of references at the bottom of this page for the titles they discuss. (49:06) Then, after some announcements, Paul offers a reading of “Barrier” by Brian K. Vaughan, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vicente from Panel Syndicate, available at http://panelsyndicate.com/ and recently completed in 2017. Paul talks about this pay-what-you-want web-based comic’s take on immigration, language, and fascinating violence. Finally… a new segment! (1:48:55) The Discussion Section today features the long list of comics that Paul’s been read

Images at http://wp.me/p42KN3-FOb starting 9/5/17 9:00am EST. On this week's Comics Syllabus podcast, Paul's digs deep with good friend and Multiversity's own Greg Matiasevich, one of the hosts of the Robots from Tomorrow podcast. They discuss the 1985-1986 "Squadron Supreme" 12-issue maxi-series written by Mark Gruenwald and drawn by various artists, notably Bob Hall and Paul Ryan (not THAT Paul Ryan). Squadron Supreme is Marvel's version of the Justice League (and perhaps this series is Marvel's version of "Watchmen"... before "Watchmen"!) An overlooked treasure that Mark Gruenwald poured all of himself into (literally!), "Squadron Supreme" stands as one of the most underrated all-time great comics...or at least, so Greg and Paul boldly proclaim. Before that, our "General Ed" segment is the monthly "Wait List," where Paul talks to his trade-waiting brother Sonny about collections, trade paperbacks, and hardcovers coming out in the month of September. Paul po

Images for this podcast will be at http://wp.me/p42KN3-FDJ starting 8/29/2017 9amEST On this week’s Comics Syllabus podcast, Paul’s guest for the “General Ed” segment is Matthew Noe, medical librarian and specialist for graphic medicine, the use of comics for health care purposes. Matthew joins Paul to talk about what graphic medicine is and where it came from, offers some sources and resources in the field (see below), and discusses a few comics exemplifying graphic medicine in practice. Then, on the centenary of Jack “King” Kirby’s birth, Paul offers a discussion of the “Jack Kirby’s New Gods Artist Edition” from IDW. (Confession: this is a replay of an episode recorded last year.) Subscribe and follow the Comics Syllabus podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or Soundcloud, or copy this RSS feed to your podcatcher: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:235183739/sounds.rss or you can find archives for this podcast (previously named “Study Comics with Paul”) here: http://studycomics.club/ Join the di

Images with this episode are at http://wp.me/p42KN3-FsY starting 8/22/2017 On this week's Comics Syllabus podcast, Paul is joined by fellow Multiversity contributor Matt Lune to discuss the classic "Astro City" by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson from DC/Vertigo and Image Comics. But first, in the "General Ed" segment, Paul recommends comics to inform, educate, and inspire in the wake of white supremacist violence and action, and the counteraction on different scales in response. In the General Ed segment, Paul mentions a past episode of this podcast discussing March by Lewis, Powell, and Aydin: https://soundcloud.com/twoplai/paul-list-2016-08-05-march-book-3-by-lewis-aydin-powell-top-shelf Subscribe and follow the Comics Syllabus podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or Soundcloud, or copy this RSS feed to your podcatcher: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:235183739/sounds.rss or you can find archives for this podcast (previously named "Study Comics with Paul") here: http

Images to go with this episode available starting 8/15/17 at http://wp.me/p42KN3-Fhz Welcome to the Comics Syllabus podcast, where we read widely and we dig deep. Your host Paul, a literacy researcher and English teacher, introduces curious readers to a range of current and classic comics, and then engages in closer discussion and analysis of a certain title with comics critics, creators, scholars, and teachers. On this week's Comics Syllabus podcast, Paul digs deep with fellow Multiversity contributor Kent Falkenberg about "Dept H" by Matt and Sharlene Kindt from Dark Horse. (Images and links to go with our conversation are below!) Then in the "General Ed" segment at ( 02:07:05 ), Kent holds forth about some comics related to "Dept H," including "Grass Kings" by Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins (Boom!), "Royal City" by Jeff Lemire (Image), and "The Wake" by Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy (Vertigo). He also recommends "Mister Miracle" #1 by Tom King and Mi

Images can be found at http://wp.me/p42KN3-F9w On this week's Comics Syllabus podcast, Paul chats with comics creator Declan Shalvey about writing "Savage Town," an upcoming original graphic novel from Image Comics (out September 20, 2017). Shalvey, who broke out as an artist for his work on Marvel's "Moon Knight" and "Injection" from Image, has written comics before, but in "Savage Town" he presents a distinctive writing voice to a crime story set in Limerick, Ireland, this time drawn by artist Philip Barrett, with colors by Jordie Bellaire and letters by Clayton Cowles. Paul talks to Declan about finding just the right amount of dialect to depict in dialogue, the crime and gangster story inspirations for his tale and why crime is so effective a genre, and how "Savage Town" represents the Irish comic he's always wanted to see. Declan also touches on why Philip Barrett was perfect for this book, how he works this time with colorist-extraordinaire/Red Cube Studio-mate/p

Images and links to go with our conversation are at http://wp.me/p42KN3-F2L On this week’s Comics Syllabus podcast, I caught up with creator Sonny Liew about “The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye” (Pantheon) just a few days after he and the book won Eisner Awards for Best Writer/Artist, Publication Design, and International Material from Asia. After setting the scene and giving context to our conversation, I present my discussion with Sonny about the Eisners and San Diego Comic Con; the artistry, themes, and politics of “Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye;” and which of the book’s homages to comics masters he found most challenging to create. Let’s dig deep! (Apologies for the sound quality of the interview– explanation is in the episode introduction.) Then afterwards, in the “General Ed” segment, we feature “The Wait List” for August, joined by the podcast brother to look at upcoming collections and trade paperbacks this month. I’m Paul, and I’m inviting you to join us for another episode of The Comics Syllabus