Call for Comments: How do you read?

From Wayne: I’m a reader. I read a lot. I learned to read early from comics and children’s books and have never really stopped. Books have been my most constant companions and best friends. I grew up in a very rural place, with few opportunities. We never lived in poverty, but we also never really…

Call For Comments: Does Pop Culture Matter? (LIVE show at Wizard World Pittsburgh)

From Mav: Well, this is kind of exciting. We’ve been invited to do a live panel at Wizard World Pittsburgh this week. We’ll be joining together with our good friend Danny Anderson of the Sectarian Review to talk about why pop culture matters on Sunday, July 28th at 12:30 in room 315 at the Wizard…

Call for Comments: Transcosplaphobia?

From Mav: A funny “think” happened on my way to the Internet the other day… I was very much wanting to do SOMETHING having to do with Pride Month on our show and had been thinking of a couple of ideas. Well, if you’ve ever heard the show at all, it should be pretty clear…

e61. Narrative REMIX!

We seem to like stories we already know. Not just rereading or rewatching an old favorite. We seem to derive some sort of pleasure in seeing a new version of an old story… a version with a “twist.” What if Superman was a horror story? Well, lets explore that in Brightburn! What if Lizzie Bennet…

Call For Comments: Cinematic Franchise “Endgames”

From Mav: (No worries, no spoilers in this post) Well, it’s finally time… we’re in the endgame now… and all that. In a couple hours, Avengers Endgame opens in theaters, and I assume a large number of our listeners are going to go see it (please, NO SPOILERS in the comments of this post). By…

Call For Comments: The PCA/ACA Preview Special

From Mav: We’re doing something a little different on the next show. One of the reasons we started VoxPop was because as academics we end up doing a lot of academic conferences… and we had the idea that the kinds of discussion we have at them would make for an interesting show, especially since my…

Call For Comments: The (super)Power of Fashion and Symbols

From Mav: In one of my favorite recent comics, Batman #37 by Tom King, Batman and Superman are discussing the crests on their shirts. Superman tells Batman that S on his isn’t really an S. It’s a Kryptonian symbol and it stands for hope. Batman responds that “the bat stands for a bat.” I love…

e46. Black Superheroes and Representation

(Note: This episode initially contained a corrupted audio file. It has been cleaned up and reuploaded. The current uploaded version should have better sound. Sorry for the inconvenience) As we close out February and Black History month, we thought that it would be a fun idea to talk about the importance of representation, diversity and…

Call For Comments: Black (Superhero) History Month

From Mav: For better or for worse, one of my most popular articles I ever wrote on my personal blog was a post explaining my reasoning for being AGAINST Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, being named Captain America back in 2014. I was actually somewhat hesitant to write it, because I knew, even back then…

Call For Comments: I Hate Continuity (and so do you)

From Mav: We haven’t really done an episode that focused on comics in while. This one doesn’t entirely FOCUS on comics, but that’s where we started. It’s also academic… or at least, it’s a part of my dissertation, so let’s just say it is. And maybe it’s a little controversial… at least to comic book…