Steven and Chris take a roadtrip back in time, eventually arriving on the pothole-riddled streets of Hub City, and man do they have a lot to say -- almost 4 hours' worth of comic book chatter! Steve Ditko's urban vigilante, The Question, is boldly re-imagined by Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan as a Zen crimefighter for the ages. Check it out; here we cover issues #1-#8 of THE QUESTION (DC Comics, 1987).

COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comic books (plus a few notable exceptions) in a weekly podcast format. Screenwriters Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) and Chris Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) & discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age.


SHOW NOTES:

00:30 - Intro to Vic Sage a.k.a. The Question (covering SteveDitko and Ayn Rand, Denny O’Neil and Denys Cowan)

02:57 - THE QUESTION & SWAMP THING as “Proof of Concept” for Vertigo Comics

24:14 - Vic Sage’s relationship with “Tot” a.k.a. Aristotle Rodor

35:53 - Denys Cowan’s smart, efficient page compositions

1:27:30 - An urban vigilante story written by... a metaphysically minded, left-leaning zen hippy?!

1:34:17 - Drawing Black characters in comic books

1:47:24 - Cowan’s skill at conjuring real-looking people who don’t all fit into cookie cutter, visual molds 

2:08:18 - Giving Denny O’Neil his flowers as a writer and noticing his evolution on THE QUESTION vs. GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW; an exsmination of his intricate, multi-character storylines

2:40:05 - Cowan’s lively, kinetic, uniquely gestural linework

2:55:55 - The “generosity of content” of ‘80s comic books -- more story pages, denser stories, letter columns, editorials, etc.

#dccomics #vertigocomics #alanmoore #comicbooks #new #content

+ Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to get a look at some of the fantastic art discussed in our episodes and to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. Check out our YouTube channel. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts.

+ We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain

+ For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE

©2024 Comics Rot Your Brain!


#alanmoore #80scomics #indiecomics #scificomics #dccomics #marvelcomics

Steven and Chris take a psychedelic voyage through time via the crackerjack indie comics team of Doug Moench, Mike Hernandez, Dan Day, and Nestor Redondo in AZTEC ACE (published by Eclipse Comics in 1984). The hallucinatory hijinx and trippy time-travel scifi-of-it-all leave their heads spinning!

COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Chris Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) and Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age.

SHOW NOTES:

1:17 - Attempting to describe AZTEC ACE in a nutshell

6:17 - A story so weird it could only ever exist as a comic book (touching on THE ADVENTURES OF LUTHER ARKWRIGHT)

7:44 - A more expansive attempt at discussing the sprawling, non-linear time travel narrative of AZTEC ACE (touching on QUANTUM LEAP, DOCTOR WHO, APOCALYPTO, and noir private-eye stories)

15:08 - The shockingly dense prose poetry of Doug Moench

22:45 - Wait, AZTEC ACE is actually... a love story?!

32:20 - The immensely text-heavy density of AZTEC ACE; wildly overwritten or wildly immersive?

33:39 - Giving it up for the book’s trio of super impressive artists: Michael Hernandez a.k.a. Michael Bair, Dan Day, and Nestor Redondo

56:19 - Walt Simonson, THOR, and Beta Ray Bill

1:12:29 - Howard Chaykin and AMERICAN FLAGG!

1:18:09 - “The level of mystery of what was happening kept drawing me in...” The intriguingly puzzle-like nature of AZTEC ACE

1:33:19 - THE INVISIBLES by Grant Morrison

1:46:37 - The changing nature of what we expect from comic books; why the “velocity of ideas” in ‘80s comics was so intoxicating -- “batshit wild imagination exploding on the page... on a deadline!”

#alanmoore #80scomics #scificomics #doctorwho #sciencefiction #grantmorrison

+ Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to get a look at some of the fantastic art discussed in our episodes and to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. Check out our YouTube channel. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts.

+ We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain

+ For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE

©2024 Comics Rot Your Brain!


#alanmoore #80scomics #indiecomics #scificomics #dccomics #marvelcomics

Chris and Steven swoop in to the Downside of Thanagar to squawk about Tim Truman’s bold and impassioned re-imagining of Hawkman's origin story in HAWKWORLD (DC Comics, 1989). Is this Katar Hol’s BATMAN: YEAR ONE? …Or his DARK KNIGHT RETURNS? …Or both?

COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comic books (plus a few notable exceptions) in a weekly podcast format. Screenwriters Chris Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) & Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age.


SHOW NOTES:

00:36 - Introduction to HAWKWORLD

6:30 - The singular career of visionary artist/writer Tim Truman — SCOUT, GRIMJACK, WILDERNESS and, of course, HAWKWORLD

13:36 - The ahead-of-its-time themes of HAWKWORLD: imperialism, subjugation, and cultural appropriation

27:16 - The dirty, lived in, alien worlds of Tim Truman — touching on Joe Kubert and the Kubert School

36:46 - STIG’S INFERNO + KELVIN MACE by Ty Templeton and Klaus Schonefeld

39:35 - NIGHT FORCE by Gene Colan & Marv Wolfman

42:55 - “The haunted, super sad feeling” of HAWKWORLD

45:30 - Tim Truman on the genesis of HAWKWORLD

1:00:01 - Tim Truman’s unique artwork and speculation on his chief influences

1:10:42 - How the success of WATCHMEN, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, and MAUS encouraged ambitious big swings from comic book artists in the late ‘80s

1:11:33 - Katar Hol’s exile on the island and the unrelenting, unapologetic brutality of HAWKWORLD

1:15:20 - The prescient nature of certain science fiction stories (including MINORITY REPORT)

1:17:07 - Metaphorical commentary embedded within HAWKWORLD: the outsourcing of American labor and industry

1:32:24 - Katar Hol leaves behind the lies he has been taught about Thanagar’s history, confronting the horrific reality of the actual history

1:40:37 - Tom King; THE SHERRIFF OF BABYLON, BATMAN

1:54:19 - COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! exists for this reason

+ Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to get a look at some of the fantastic art discussed in our episodes and to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. Check out our YouTube channel. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts.

+ We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain

+ For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE

©2024 Comics Rot Your Brain!


#alanmoore #80scomics #indiecomics #scificomics #dccomics #marvelcomics