Graphic Policy Radio

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 adaptation that featured Steven Sondheim musical numbers and Madonna!  How is Dick Tracy like Riverdale? What are our dreams of a James Ellroy-verse? Whether you’re a Dick Tracy newbie, noir nerd or mostly know Segura from his popular runs on Poe Dameron, Spiderverse tales or his newest X-Men comics, don’t miss out!  The new Dick Tracy comic book series is co-written by Michael Morecci with art by Chantal Aimee Osman and Geraldo Borges, colors by Mark Englehart, lettering by Jim Campbell and published by Madcave Studios. Keep tabs on https://www.alexsegura.com/   

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 https://racefortheironthrone.tumblr.com/  https://racefortheironthrone.wordpress.com/ A People's History of the Marvel Universe - https://graphicpolicy.com/category/history/peoples-history-of-the-marvel-universe/ You can read the obit I wrote here - https://graphicpolicy.com/2024/04/11/steven-attewell-the-maester-of-fandom/ The Venture Bros Podcast https://graphicpolicy.com/the-venture-bros-podcast/  His Game of Thrones Vblogs with Scott Erik Kaufman (which are also available as podcasts under Lawyers Guns and Money Podcast) 

“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 dive into the show’s impressive politics and significant design choices. Learn about real world political parallels both past and VERY present, developments in evolutionary science, queer themes and crop tops. This episode opens with 9 minutes of spoiler free discussion till and then a spoiler-filled look at episodes 1 and 2. Read Steven's blog https://racefortheironthrone.tumblr.com/  and his A People's History of the Marvel Universe https://graphicpolicy.com/author/stevenattewell/  And our classic roundtable in which civil rights history experts prove that no, Professor X is not MLK Jr. MLK Jr was far more radical and visionary. https://bit.ly/MLKencore

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 its hard hitting substance. From Ferengi Casablanca and the mystery of Kira’s ponytail to Odo’s multitudes and the difference between a murder and a "casualty", this episode demands a rewatch whether you're new to noir or a buff like Sarah and I. Because after all: it’s the stuff that podcasts are made 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 Studios. The comic is rich with Celtic mythology. It wrestles with heartbreaking realities we face today —especially for trans and disabled readers. Our conversation ranges from the what makes a horror story resonate to the power of reassessing your own writing, while not trying to twist yourself for bad faith readers. Subscribe to Jude's excellent newsletter https://jude-doyle.ghost.io/ Get The Neighbors! https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Neighbors-The/Jude-Ellison-S-Doyle/9781608861071  

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 writer who joins as our guest: Jadzia Axelrod is the GLAAD award nominated comics writer of Galaxy: The Prettiest Star and Hawkgirl for DC Comics. She's the writer ofThe DC Book of Pride for DK, as well as The Battle of Blood and Ink for Tor. Obviously we needed to have Jadzia on to talk about Jadzia. You can listen to Jadzia talk about Galaxy and Hawkgirl on Graphic Policy Radio here: https://graphicpolicy.com/2023/02/21/creator-jadzia-axelrod-on-galaxy-the-prettiest-star-for-dc-comics Follow Jadzia here https://www.jaredaxelrod.com/ and as PlanetX on the socials https://twitter.com/planetx     

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 season 3! Linda H. Codega is an award-winning entertainment journalist who has written about science fiction and fantasy media for over five years. They were previously a staff writer for io9 where they covered film, television, books, and analog games. Much of their work covers a mix of tabletop roleplaying games, pop culture, fandom, and queer intersections.  Subscribe to their newsletter: https://clickbaiter.substack.com/  Listen to my pirate history deep dive for season 1, including a spoiler-free intro to the series.  https://bit.ly/OFMDpod  Linda’s coverage of the season 2 finale https://gizmodo.com/our-flag-means-death-s2-finale-izzy-hands-death-fandom-18509788

"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 Wildstorm comics.  For a spoiler-free introduction to the Waller Vs. Wildstorm miniseries, listen to our conversation back in March https://bit.ly/WallerVs.  Waller Vs. Wildstorm is Spencer's DC Comics Black Label mini series with co-writer Evan Narcisse, artist Jesús Merino, and color artist Michael Atiyeh. It's jawdroppingly good, even if you don't know Wildstorm. It's full of politics, espionage and Deathstroke on a jetski. This is an extremely Graphic Policy Radio series... Keep up with Spencers Journalism at https://foreverwars.ghost.io/  Spencer Ackerman is a Pulitzer Prize and National Magazine Award winning national security reporter and a new columnist for The Nati

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 make yourself a cooler shirt? The limits of language and when making things awkward is the point.What we saw in this show as teens figuring out our identities Vs. what we see in it now as adults reflecting back. Catch all our past episodes of Deep Space Dive podcast: https://graphicpolicy.com/deep-space-dive/

"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 guards against offers him a deal to escape: an illicit tryst and lifelong possession. Jules takes the deal, and begins his new life as a criminal who’s impervious to harm. He soon meets Casper, another trans man and a poetic thief, and together they steal, lie, and cheat their way through bewildering adventures, and develop feelings for each other along the way. But as Jules and Casper’s relationship deepens, so does the devil’s jealous grasp… A gorgeously drawn graphic novel reminiscent of stained glass and illuminated manuscripts, telling a story of queer transmasc romance, daring adventure, and (literally) fighting your demons.  Keep up with HA https://retrospr

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 story deeply scary Who is Luke Indiana and the power of pseudonymsThe economics of fandom and genre celebrity95% of fandom is a wonderful transformative force, it's the other 5%....The power and perils of fandom and social media"A color scheme for the lies they tell themselves and a color scheme for the lies they tell other people"DraculaMaking fan art of your artAnd the Medici family's sexy bible fan art Erica Henderson is a NY Times best selling and Eisner award winning artist and writer. You've read Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. Her latest is Danger and Other Unknown Risks. Buy her merch https://ericafails.threadless.com/  Alex de Campi is a writer of best selling

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 episode is spoiler free. We are very clear when we go on to spoilers. We discuss series including: The Hellfire Gala, Immortal X-Men, X-Men, X-Men Red, Uncanny Avengers, Dark X-Men, Alpha Flight, Realm of X and Jean Grey: Flames of Fear. Spencer Ackerman is a Pulitzer Prize and National Magazine Award winning national security reporter and a new columnist for The Nation. His book, REIGN OF TERROR: HOW THE 9/11 ERA DESTABILIZED AMERICA AND PRODUCED TRUMP, won an American Book Award and was rated a 2021 book of the year by the Washington Post, the New York Times and the PBS NewsHour. Along with Evan Narcisse, he’s the co-writer of the new DC/Black Label miniseries WALL

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 our favorite bands, and one of the most important rock bands of all time. Eisner-nominated Koren Shadmi joins me to talk about The Velvet Underground's importance, why we love them and his process in making this new work of music history in comics form. Koren Shadmi is an American-Israeli, Award-winning illustrator and cartoonist. He studied illustration at The School of Visual Arts in New York where he now teaches. His books have been published internationally and include The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television, and most recently Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula. All Tomorrow's Parties is published by Humanoids https://www.humanoids

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 the 20th anniversary of the Venture Bros show and our seventh year doing a Venture Bros podcast. Listen to past coverage here https://bit.ly/VbrosPod or on this playlist https://bit.ly/vbroscast  The striking entertainment unions gave us the all-clear to do this podcast. Here are some ways to support the Writers and Actors on strike that we shared on the show.  Donate: https://entertainmentcommunity.org/ DSA Snacklist for picketlines https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/the-snacklist-support-striking-workers  Show support at a picketline near you: https://www.wgacontract2023.org/  https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ Reading bonsu: ROB BASE & DJ E-Z ROCK, “IT TAKES

"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 Spiderverse.  Covering: Diverse spidersonas, migrant roots, 'have you considered not being a cop?', and why Spider Punk doesn't listen to the Sex Pistols.  Plus: PAY YOUR DAMN ARTISTS. Check out Felicia T. Perez narrative strategy, arts and activism projects at https://www.feliciaperez.com/  Zoe Tunnell is a trans lesbian writer and co-creator of Blade Maidens a queer fantasy adventure comic that's online for free but is being published in print with Dark Horse. And she has other new comics projects! Read https://www.blademaidens.com and read the CNN interview with Zoe https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/11/entertainment/spider-verse-gwen-stacy-trans-cec/index.html  Support the

#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 about the organization’s goals and how readers can support it. We also talk about some cool very queer comics with gay robots and what not.  Learn more about the Cartoonist Cooperative  https://cartoonist.coop/ Read about Ian McGinty, may his memory be a blessing and a revolution. https://www.comicsbeat.com/artist-ian-mcginty-has-passed-away-at-age-38/ Keep up with Joan online here-- https://www.instagram.com/whoaitsjoan

#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 to talk about the organization’s goals and how readers can support it. We also talk about some cool very queer comics with gay robots and what not.  You can learn more about the Cartoonist Cooperative Here https://cartoonist.coop/ You can read more about Ian McGinty, may his memory be a blessing and a revolution. https://www.comicsbeat.com/artist-ian-mcginty-has-passed-away-at-age-38/ Keep up with Joan online here-- https://www.instagram.com/whoaitsjoan

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, and the founder of The Nib. He was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for his political cartoons in 2012 and 2020  His cartoons were collected in the book We Should Improve Society Somewhat.  Ben Clarkson is an artist, animator, filmmaker and writer based in Montreal. His work has appeared on Adult Swim, Time.com and been featured in GQ. Justice Warriors is his first comic series.  I want to credit Justice Warriors colorist Felipe Sobriero for his work too. Petition on alogrithmic justice I mentioned https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/algorithmic_accountability 

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 the show has to say about about workers’ rights.Is Rhea Pearlman's Cid a Yoda? Why Omega is a good kid character.Can 3D animation be good, actually? Dr. Holly Schaeffer-Raymond is an adjunct professor of English who holds an MFA in Poetry and a PhD in English at Temple University, where she also teaches. She’s the author of two poetry collections, Mall is Lost and Heaven’s Wish to Destroy All Minds, and has been included in We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics and The Bedfellows Little Black Book. Her writing about comics has appeared on Shelfdust, and her writing about poetry has appeared at The Poetry Project, The Volta, and elsewhere. Visit htt

"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. Spencer Ackerman discusses his debut comic, a Year One look at the career of future Suicide Squad boss Amanda Waller. His miniseries, with co-writer Evan Narcisse, artist Jesús Merino and color artist Michael Atiyeh weaves together Wildstorm & DC Comics espionage lore through the lens of Cold War geopolitics--as only they can. First 43 minutes of this episode are spoiler free.  Be sure to subscribe to Spencer Ackerman's newsletter https://foreverwars.ghost.io/ where he shares thoughts about this series as well as reporting and essays that "chronicle, investigate and interrogate the continuities, departures and permutations of the War on Terror." That gorgeous cov