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 of comics.
Steven and Chris enlist in Epic Comics' ALIEN LEGION (1984), created by Carl Potts, Alan Zelenetz, and Frank Cirocco. Later issues are drawn by Larry Stroman and Randy Emberlin.
SHOW NOTES
00:00 - Opening pitch
OO:52 - Theme song
01:06 - Intro to the remarkable ALIEN LEGION
12:10 - How the floppies differ from the collected trade editions, in regard to THE OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE-style entries provided for the main legionnaires
14:26 - Issue One, "Survival of the Fittest!" Zelenetz and Cirocco’s specific way of approaching this sprawling space opera
28:15 - Issues Two: "Blind Trust!"
40:26 - Allusions to LOST — Did that classic TV series draw inspiration for its “bottle episodes” and their solo character flashback structures from ALIEN LEGION?
51:53 - Torqa Dun & Jugger Grimrod as sketchy legionnaires in the Wolverine and Punisher mold
59:55 - A detour into the challenges of creator-owned comics
1:18:00 - Issue Three, "Last Gamble!” and its Back-up Story
01:31:07 - Era of post-decompressed storytelling and Frank Cirocco’s exquisitely-designed cover art
01:36:27 - Issue Four: "The Killing Zone!” - the big Torie Montroc’s solo issue
01:57:55 - Issue 6: “Operation Nerve Center!” - The character of alien soldier, Dirge, and his all-too-human battle with an addiction to a performance-enhancing drug
01:41:24 - The use of thought balloons as an essential window into the deepest vulnerabilities of our traumatized cosmic battalion. “Soldiers in this insane crucible of battle.”
02:06:28 - Impostor syndrome in ALIEN LEGION -- the neurotic, inadequate, deeply insecure messes who are our main players, along with the increasingly expansive cast of characters in this world
02:25:18 - Issue 12: “Hollow Harvest!” The arrival of the great Larry Stroman brings a distinctly new visual flair to the book and some awesomely stylized hair!
02:43:21 - Issue 13: “Moonlilies for Cora Cora!” = FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON
03:07:22 - Issue 14: “Reprise!” - the devastating next chapter
03:19:51 - Issue 15: “The Official Death of Jugger Grimrod!” The title says it all.
03:34:11 - Issue 16: “Demons!” - Intro of Tamara, the first woman legionnaire
03:48:25 - Travis Charest & Larry Stroman both drawing DARKSTARS for DC! Discussion of Charest’s early work -- WILDCATS w/ Alan Moore and METABARONS
03:59:30 - You can tell every genre of story as a war story.
04:00:45 - ALIEN LEGION as the ultimate, hyper-compressed metaphor for life. “We’re all in the
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