For some reason Netflix, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the proper way for everyone in the world to spend their winter Holidays of American Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Years was to focus on concluding the — wow... ten year — Stranger Things saga. And somehow, even with all of our various holiday things going on, we did manage to catch it. Maybe we're devoted... or maybe we're just lame, who's to say. So on today's episode, join Mav, Hannah, Wayne and returning guest Josh Stroud to break down the final season of Stranger Things, how it related to the rest of series and overall cultural power of the show and what it says about a dying vestige of both 1980s and 2020's popular culture., Citations and Links: Our...
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Excalibur #32: “Someone Will Die for This!”
Excalibur #32 “Someone Will Die for This!” Writer: Chris Claremont Pencils & inks: Ron Wagner Colours: Glynis Oliver Letters: Tim Harkins Editor: Terry Kavanagh Original publication date: December 1990 A little late for “Back to School” but just in time for the comics studies + girlhood studies + Excalibur matchup of your dreams, it’s Anna, Mav, and…
Call for Comments: All the Draculas, er, All the Draculi
From Hannah: Dracula (1897, Bram Stoker) is a novel about reproduction. (And not just the reproduction of the heteronormative family/biological reproduction or the reproduction of the nation-state or even those disruptions through the infiltration of and reproduction of the vampire. Although, yes that, and so much more. But I’ll save that for the actual episode.)…
Excalibur #31: “No Man is an Island”
Excalibur #31 “No Man is an Island” Writer: Scott Lobdell Pencil: David Ross Inks: Al Milgrom Colours: Brad Vancata Letters: Ken Lopez Editor: Terry Kavanagh Original publication date: November 1990 Don’t let the title fool you—some men are islands, and those islands claim Krakoa as a father and have sworn revenge on Nightcrawler! That’s right—it’s time to…
e181. Entertainment and Other Unions — IATSE Solidarity
Over the past year, our viewing consumption habits have changed a lot. We spent months indoors streaming everything — including new release films — largely through new media platforms like Netflix and Disney Plus. These new production models have drastically changed box office results, profit models, and production budgets that reverberate across the industry —…
Excalibur #30: “‘Twas a Dark and Stormy Night”
Excalibur #30 “‘Twas a Dark and Stormy Night” Writer: Dana Moreshead Pencils: David Ross Inks: Al Milgrom Colours: Brad Vancata Letters: Brad Joyce Editor: Terry Kavanagh Original publication date: October 1990 Sink your teeth into an early Halloween spectacular as vampire expert Dr. Cait Coker, editor of The Global Vampire, joins Anna, Mav, and Andrew to…
e180. So, You Say You Wanna Host a Pseudoacademic Pop Culture Analysis Podcast (with Drinking and Swearing)
Oddly enough, for a show that is devoted to talking about pop culture, one of the things we don’t talk about so much is podcasts. In a way, podcasting might very well be the epitome of pop culture in the current cultural moment… and also… we are one! So, on today’s very special meta episode,…
Excalibur #29: “Dream a Little Dream”
Excalibur #29 “Dream a Little Dream” Writer: Michael Higgins Pencils: Chris Wozniak Inks: Josef Rubinstein Colours: Glynis Oliver Letters: Tom Orzechowski Editor: Terry Kavanagh Original publication date: October 1990 It’s a dreamy pod-friends reunion as the multitalented Wayne Wise, co-founder and co-host of VoxPopcast, joins Anna, Mav, and Andrew to say “weird” a dozen plus times about Excalibur #29,…
Call For Comments: Let’s Talk About Film Unions
From Monica: When a movie ends, do you stay for the credits? Not the cutscene at the end, Marvel. But do you actually read the scroll of names that represent the hundreds of people who worked to bring that project to theaters? Or, if you tuned in at home, the nature of television flow means…
Call For Comments: All of the Marvels
From Wayne: As a comics retailer for twenty-three years, one of the questions I was asked most frequently by new readers of Marvel Comics was, ‟Where do I begin?” It’s a fair question. With decades of history, thousands of characters, and tens of thousands of pages of intertwined stories and continuity it can be more…