Crime Alley. The Dark Knight. Gotham. Yes, yes. It's all very dour. But not anymore. Now it's VERTICAL, and the whole gang is here! We've got bats and robins pouring out of every window of this mansion, and every single one of 'em has feelings.

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures is a slice of life Batfam book that is native to the vertical, scrolling webcomic platform, Webtoon. It's actually possible this is the most read Batman comic, ever.

• (00:00) - "Batman: Wayne Family Adventures" Season 1 by CRC Payne
• (00:46) - Front Matter
• (03:33) - What is Webtoon?
• (10:45) - History with the Batfam
• (17:35) - Impressions
• (20:34) - Print vs. Online
• (26:52) - The Look(tm)
• (31:35) - SPOILER ZONE
• (31:37) - Favorite Batfam members
• (39:41) - Callbacks and references
• (45:37) - Jason Todd
• (50:31) - Duke
• (53:28) - Family drama
• (56:15) - Silly things
• (59:18) - Further Reading
• (01:05:27) - Back Matter

- Our first episode on Nightwing: Leaping Into the Light!
- 52 Pickup from Alex Jaffe, Gita Jackson, and Aftermath
- DC's 52 (Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, and Greg Rucka)
- Gotham Central by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, and Michael Lark
- Batwoman: Elegy by Greg Rucka and JH Williams III
- Greg Rucka's new Batwoman run
- Wiccan: Witches' Road by Wyatt Kennedy, Andy Pereira, and Lucas Werneck
- Super Sons by Peter Tomasi, Jorge Jimenez, and Allison Borges
- Batman and Son by Grant Morrison and others
- Robin: Son of Batman by Patrick Gleason
- Batgirl by Kelley Puckett, Scott Peterson, Robert Campanella, and Damion Scott
- The Teen Titans cartoon and Batman: The Animated Series

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:
Matt

Scout

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Today, Robin guides Jillian and Scout through the fuzzy and merciless landscape of Mouse Guard by David Petersen. Come along with us on an adventure in woodland politics. Did you know the mice have swords now? It says so right here, on this leaf-paper scroll I retrieved from the backpack of a messenger beetle.

• (00:00) - “Mouse Guard” by David Petersen
• (00:26) - Front Matter
• (01:58) - Impressions
• (03:44) - On fonts
• (07:05) - How the art evolves
• (12:02) - These creatures’ culture
• (14:34) - Final pre-spoiler thoughts
• (18:35) - SPOILER ZONE
• (20:48) - Volume 1
• (35:09) - Volume 2
• (52:30) - Volume 3
• (01:01:30) - Further Reading
• (01:03:56) - Back Matter

- The Mouse Guard TTRPG
- Redwall by Brian Jacques
- Paws & Clause, a Warrior Cats podcast

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:
Robin

Scout

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Persepolis is a graphic novel memoir following Marjane Satrapi’s childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution -how her life and beliefs were affected by the political upheavel, and her eventual adolescence in Austria. Satrapi’s memoir covers the good, bad, and ugly of her life and those around her, and focuses deeply on the complexities of politics and belief.

Note: This episode was recorded before the attacks on Iran by the US and Israel. You will not hear us discuss these events, but Persepolis has only become more relevant in the weeks between recording and release.

If you'd like to help the people of Iran, it can be difficult to help given US sanctions. But here are a couple organizations that provide help to the people of Iran.

The Red Cross - https://www.icrc.org/en/where-we-work/iran
Norwegian Refugee Council - https://support.nrc.no/middle-east/

• (00:00) - A statement
• (03:55) - Front Matter
• (04:39) - This is a real person’s life
• (09:10) - This is almost too relevant
• (15:35) - This book is funny!
• (18:46) - The art style
• (22:36) - The film
• (25:11) - The Austria stuff is fine
• (26:08) - SPOILERS
• (26:44) - The Marx comic book
• (31:25) - The Key
• (34:35) - Girl be careful!
• (36:49) - Ads for the communist manifesto
• (37:25) - I’d never share that in my memoir
• (41:48) - Uncle Anoosh
• (46:10) - Aldi mentioned
• (48:03) - The oppression of the mind
• (52:46) - Parallel final pages
• (57:06) - Final thoughts
• (57:34) - Further Reading

- #IceOutComics on Bluesky
- Maus by Art Spiegelman
- March by John Lewis, Andrew Adin, Nate Powell
- Marx for Beginners by RIUS

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:

Matt

Scout

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Friend of the show Bluzo joins the panel to talk about Blue Period, volumes 1-6, by Tsubasa Yamaguchi. In our first long read of the year, we delve deep on the complicated ordeal of pursuing an art career, and the mortifying ordeal of being known. Oh and also rampant transphobia.

• (00:00) - “Blue Period” by Tsubasa Yamaguchi
• (01:05) - Front Matter
• (03:37) - Impressions
• (07:01) - It’s a sports manga
• (15:15) - It’s pretty didactic
• (20:49) - Real art in the manga
• (22:36) - That’s the stuff
• (25:47) - Accessibility
• (27:10) - Shouts out to the artist crediting
• (28:18) - SPOILERS
• (28:22) - Yuka-chan
• (43:23) - Better storytelling as it progresses
• (45:32) - More on Yuka-chan
• (49:49) - Making pastries with my boys
• (54:52) - This boy is masking HARD
• (57:45) - Hey. Scout is in this book.
• (01:03:27) - Love to not be a teenager anymore
• (01:03:46) - More Yotasuke
• (01:05:03) - Hashida
• (01:08:36) - The teachers!
• (01:11:48) - TUA complicates things!
• (01:13:45) - Mori
• (01:15:24) - I don’t “get“ art
• (01:16:38) - What is talent?
• (01:24:55) - Questions from Amet!
• (01:32:33) - Further Reading

- The Blue Period live-action movie
- She and Her Cat adapted by Tsubasa Yamaguchi
- Nude Model and Other Stories by Tsubasa Yamaguchi
- Look Back by Tatsuki Fujimoto
- Goodbye Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto
- Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey by Akiko Higashimura

Read Anniversary by Elle Shivers!

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:
Bluzo

Matt
Robin

Scout

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Today, your panelists wonder: what does it look like to tell a story about prejudice but divorced from real-world analogues? What does it mean to tie concepts of hunger and desire together inexorably? Just how much money is cow bathwater going for these days? And wait, is that-? Oh my god, it's Legoshi, my close personal friend Legoshi!

• (00:00) - “Beast Complex” by Paru Itagaki
• (00:43) - Front Matter
• (03:47) - Plot Overview
• (04:42) - Short stories
• (05:48) - The world of Beast Compkex vs Zootopia
• (14:14) - How the book improves over time
• (16:24) - What is doujinshi again?
• (17:48) - Is the mangaka a nepo baby?
• (19:26) - “Devouring”
• (25:45) - SPOILERS!
• (25:48) - Our top 3s
• (31:06) - The Tiger and the Alpaca
• (34:05) - The Pig and the Peacock
• (36:13) - ERROR ⚠️
• (43:17) - The Wolf and the Rabbit
• (54:02) - The Chipmunk and the (Mountain Hare)
• (01:01:08) - Relationships vs Events
• (01:03:39) - The Shiba Inu and the Shiba Inu
• (01:08:28) - The Alligator and the Cow
• (01:14:47) - The Wolf and the Seal
• (01:20:11) - Some of the stories that don’t work
• (01:26:29) - Final thoughts
• (01:27:37) - Further Reading
• (01:32:33) - Back Matter

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:

Matt

Scout

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Today your panelists talk Frontier, a French graphic novel written and illustrated by the artist of Citizen Sleeper and Citizen Sleeper 2! Join us as we discuss hope among dystopia and how pacing can let down an otherwise incredible story.

You can purchase Frontier in English here.

• (00:00) - “Frontier” by Guillaume Singelin
• (00:42) - Front Matter
• (03:26) - Impressions
• (05:34) - Guillaume’s art style
• (08:05) - Chibi violence
• (11:37) - The density of Frontier’s space
• (15:13) - Singelin’s Rescue card
• (16:16) - Unfamiliar familiarity
• (17:42) - Little nubbin feet
• (20:23) - Variation in line weight
• (23:37) - Spoiler section!
• (23:48) - Similarities to Citizen Sleeper
• (27:59) - Finding meaning or a way out
• (36:08) - The opening structure of this book
• (37:43) - Pacing problems
• (38:13) - GOKU!
• (41:09) - More on pacing
• (44:04) - Hopeful science fiction
• (46:20) - How Camina is let down by utopian naivete
• (53:04) - Even more on pacing
• (54:09) - Our favorite characters
• (56:02) - Ji-soo’s retirement
• (56:54) - Favorite panels and pages
• (01:04:00) - Camina, trans icon
• (01:04:14) - A quote that is too real
• (01:05:05) - How this book was made
• (01:05:56) - Further Reading
• (01:07:31) - Back Matter

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:

Matt
Robin

Scout

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Today our panelists talk about women with swords - hey, wait a second, didn't we do this last time? Join us for a discussion of "Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 1: The Last Amazon," where we talk about big swords, literary analysis, and Eisner award-winning colors!

• (00:00) - “Absolute Wonder Woman”
• (02:01) - Front Matter
• (03:34) - What is the Absolute Universe?
• (09:22) - What does Scout know about Wonder Woman?
• (12:46) - No tone problems!
• (14:29) - The artists are delivering
• (19:21) - Circe and Diana
• (22:57) - Paneling
• (29:16) - Sherman’s Art vs de Iulis’s
• (31:04) - SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
• (31:07) - Even bigger sword
• (35:41) - Lettering the scream bomb
• (37:11) - The Lady and the Tiger
• (42:17) - The pomegranate seeds
• (46:01) - The biggest laughs
• (48:22) - Diana’s thoughtfulness
• (51:18) - Skeleton Pegasus
• (51:41) - The lassos
• (53:02) - Hades’ design
• (54:42) - Amazon in hell
• (58:08) - Further reading
• (01:00:44) - Back matter

- Kelly Thompson's work with Marvel - Jeff the Land Shark, Captain Marvel

- Hayden Sherman's art in Batman: Dark Patterns, written by Dan Watters
- Sherman is co-creator, penciller, and inker for Dark Spaces: Dungeon
- Jordie Bellaire is doing colors on Exquisite Corpses from James Tynion IV and Michael Walsh’s Tiny Onion imprint at Image. She is an artist in residence with Tiny Onion.
- Bellaire has done color work on the super popular Assorted Crisis Events which is written by Deniz Camp, who also writes Absolute Martian Manhunter.

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:

Matt
Robin

Scout

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

The panelists start off the New Year by celebrating women with swords! We journey alongside the titular "Blade Maidens," exploring romance, graphic design, identity, and the medium of webcomics!

You can read Blade Maidens here!

• (00:00) - "Blade Maidens" by Zoe Tunnell and Valentine M. Smith
• (01:14) - What is Blade Maidens?
• (02:22) - Impressions
• (04:07) - The note at the end of the Prelude
• (12:40) - "Webcomic-ness"
• (20:03) - Following along vs. catching up
• (23:29) - Favorite storybeats
• (34:26) - The art (and graphic design influence)
• (34:58) - The circles
• (38:11) - The use of color
• (40:10) - The werewolf depiction
• (41:18) - Fishmen and fantasy creatures
• (42:19) - It's just neat!
• (48:24) - Spare thoughts and gay shit
• (48:42) - When the blood is hot pink
• (49:16) - Back Matter
• (51:51) - Further reading
• (54:56) - Upcoming episodes!

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:

Matt

Scout

Robin

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.