Between The Gutters Podcast

Quantumania was a movie that was released in February 2023. This is our autopsy of that movie. Do you have love for the Ant-Man family of characters? Do you have love for Kang the Conqueror? Do you have love for formulaic, paint by numbers, middle of the road, expensive Hollywood blockbuster action movies featuring the typical stylings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? If so, there's a chance you may have watched Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, a movie that exists. We watched it. We recorded our thoughts. This is our autopsy. Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

We're continuing our readthrough of Deadly Class with volume two of the trade paperback collections, which collect issues 7-11 of this series by Rick Remender, Wes Craig, Lee Loughridge, and Rus Wooton. This is our first time reading the entire series, and we're discussing it as we go through it. Each month in 2023, we'll cover one of the volumes until we finish the series! Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

The Men Who Created Gundam by Hideki Ohwada is a fictionalized version of the real story around the creation of Mobile Suit Gundam, the 1979 anime series that spawned a multi-billion dollar franchise that endures to this day. It's a gag manga that takes numerous creative liberties with real stories of the production history and key creatives (specifically, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, and Kunio Okawara), and exaggerates things for comedic effect. Of course, depending on your sense of humor, your mileage may vary. There are definitely some things in this book that are a bit questionable. We thought it would be worthwhile to cover this book, seeing as how we read the entirety of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko last year. Think of this as a sort of postscript to our Origin coverage! If you want to check out our coverage of The Origin manga, we have a Spotify playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3IEJYdVyNUan4qtqiDrLgv Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our t

Flashpoint by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert was a significant event comic that affected DC's entire publishing line back in 2011 as it led into the New 52 era. It's a comic book event that has been adapted into various other mediums and seems to be regarded as a major Flash story. In this episode, we take a critical look at this miniseries and try to figure out why we hate it. Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

A Zoo in Winter by Jiro Taniguchi is an engrossing semi-autobiographical coming of age story about breaking into the manga industry. It's a one-volume manga that we warmly recommend. In this episode, we talk a bit about Taniguchi's work and our familiarity with him before going into our book discussion. This is an excellent comic that we hope you check out! It's another episode for our #mangamenagerie! The Taniguchi obituary written by Zack Davisson and published on The Comics Journal website, which is referenced in our episode, can be found here: https://www.tcj.com/jiro-taniguchi-1947-2017/ Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

Each month in 2023, we'll be devoting one of our episodes to covering one volume of Deadly Class by Rick Remender and Wes Craig! As we begin with volume 1, we also spend a chunk of the episode discussing our familiarity with the works of the different members of the creative team, particularly Rick Remender. From there, we go into our issue commentaries. Deadly Class was collected into twelve trade paperback editions, so that's what we're reading. The corresponding issues for volume one are issues 1 through 6. We hope you join us on this readthrough! In 2021, we did a readthrough of Invincible. Last year, we read Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. For handy Spotify playlists featuring our full coverage of those series, click on our Linktree below! Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! W

Murder Falcon by Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer, and Rus Wooton is under the scope in this week's episode! It's an exuberant piece of work that has earned a unique kind of praise from Albert. Tune in to hear our commentary and analysis of this exceptional comic, and laugh at our struggles to properly describe metal music due to our pitiful lack of knowledge. Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

One of our favorite writers is J.M. DeMatteis. In this episode, we examine one of his more recent works, The Girl in the Bay. The comic features lineart by Corin Howell, colors by James Devlin, and letters by Clem Robins! It's published by Berger Books, an imprint of Dark Horse Comics, and maintains that Vertigo spirit. Not to shortchange DeMatteis' talented collaborators, but both of us have read a significant chunk of his works and it's primarily through that lens that we discuss this comic, picking apart recurring themes and, perhaps, his pet interests that we've seen crop up in some of his other stories as well. Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

Wildcats volume 2 and Wildcats Version 3.0 by Joe Casey, Sean Phillips, and Dustin Nguyen (and their other collaborators) took a moribund property that had the reputation for being lowbrow and transformed it into something truly exceptional. With enough creative freedom, Casey and his artistic collaborators were able to turn the WildC.A.T.s concept on its head and leave a mark on the landscape of American superhero comics. The passage of time cannot diminish the potency of their work, and we're here to encourage everyone to reread and re-examine this run - or read and discover it for the first time. Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our new music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

To memorialize the end of 2022, we decided to look at a comic that's intended to serve as an ending of sorts. This week, we're discussing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Waltz, Esau Escorza, Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, Luis Antonio Delgado, Shawn Lee, Samuel Plata, and Ronda Pattison. The Last Ronin was released amidst great fanfare (and idiot speculator hype), but how does the comic itself hold up? We also spend the first chunk of the episode providing a general overview of the TMNT franchise, and we talk about our own personal histories and perspectives on the Turtles. Our book discussion begins at about the 1:03:25 mark. Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our new music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

This is it. It's the culmination of all things as we complete our yearlong readthrough and discussion of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko! In this White Base-sized episode, we not only provide our commentary of volume 12, but we also take the time to discuss the intriguing bonus features in the book. Plus, because this is the final episode of our coverage of the series, we also share some reflections on the series as a whole. At the end of the episode, we even have a few recommendations for you all. Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our new music. Check out all of his music on Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, etc. linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats?fbclid=P…wB8nO66vFoKtc6NAF-0c If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

Atom: The Beginning by Tetsuro Kasahara is a prequel to Osamu Tezuka's beloved classic Tetsuwan Atom, known as Astro Boy in America. Titan Comics recently published the first volume of The Beginning and we decided to give it a shot! We also spend some time discussing our general thoughts on Astro Boy. Also, we have a brand new theme song! Thanks to Corey J. Beats for producing our new music. Check out all of his music on Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, etc. https://linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats?fbclid=PAAaYbC0zOMVVBD-59agjIoSe7mBAzBPuR8HNITKrwB8nO66vFoKtc6NAF-0c If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna is an important comic that we want to spotlight in this episode. It's a nonfictional account of the cartoonist's family and their experiences in the wake of the Khmer Rouge taking control of the country in the wake of the Cambodian Civil War. It's a story about family and survival against a brutal communist regime. At times heart-wrenching and brutal, it's also balanced with a sense of hope and perseverance. Year of the Rabbit is a powerful piece of work that educated us about events that the American public education system relegated to a footnote. It's worth your time. If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

Identity Crisis by Brad Meltzer and Rags Morales was a major superhero comic of the mid-2000s, one that left a pretty big impact in the landscape of DC Comics. It's a comic that sold very well at the time, and is still kept in print. Plenty of readers had a lot of love for this DC event back when it was new, and it still seems to have its fair share of fans even today. You can probably see where we're going with this. We don't disrespect Identity Crisis because it was popular, but we disrespect it because it's an insult to our intelligence as readers. In this episode, we break down its many faults and explain why, despite its significance, it was never anything we considered for our our top 25 DC comics list. If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

Major events happen one after another in the penultimate volume of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko! It's not just plot developments that we see, but also some truly meaningful character work, including the culmination of several character arcs. There's always so much to discuss when we cover a volume of this book and, as usual, we provide our chapter-by-chapter commentary. Even as we near the climax of the series, we're blessed with some gorgeous Yas art. There are some beautiful color pages that are truly befitting of this volume's title, A Cosmic Glow. If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

This week, we're discussing the latest MCU movie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, directed by Ryan Coogler. This is a movie we were anticipating ever since the first trailer dropped. With Namor finally introduced in the MCU, you know Albert had to check this out! And of course, the passing of Chadwick Boseman made things feel heavy. We start the episode sharing some spoiler-free thoughts, so even if you haven't watched the movie yet, feel free to listen. We'll clearly warn you in the audio before we begin talking in detail about the movie. If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

This week, we're talking about Scalped, by Jason Aaron and R. M. Guéra, the gritty and emotionally intense (but also controversial) crime series published by Vertigo. Spoilers do abound in this episode, so be aware of that. However, even if you haven't read Scalped, we hope that our discussion will give you insight into whether or not the series could be something you'd be interested in checking out. At some point in the relatively near future (the word "relatively" is doing a lot of work here, depending on when the world ends), we'll present our DC Top 25 countdown on our podcast, much like how we did our Marvel Top 25. Before then, there's a small plethora of other DC books that didn't really make our final list but we still have enough love for, and we basically just made up an excuse to talk about the comics we wanna talk about. If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutte

This week we're discussing Fury: My War Gone By, a superb piece of work by Garth Ennis and Goran Parlov. Eschewing the traditional lore of the mainstream Marvel Universe's conception of Nick Fury, Ennis and Parlov take the basic fundamental nature of Fury - a man addicted to war - and tell a realistic, compelling Cold War-era story that doubles as a painful parable of post-WWII America and a grim character study of Fury himself. Originally published in 2012-2013 as thirteen issues under Marvel's MAX imprint, it's now somewhat tough to find, as the physical trade paperbacks and hardcover are out of print. If you don't want to dive into the back issue bins, it's available digitally on Comixology. However you obtain it, this is a story absolutely worth your time. At this point in time, it's a bit of a hidden a gem of Marvel, but we've wanted to shine a light on it for a while now because it's a comic we really dig. We do spend a few minutes at the beginning of the episode talking about the new Black Adam movie

The chess pieces are moving into position for the final act of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. We've also got some notable emotional beats as well as some political theater. Also of note, before we dive into the book discussion, we spend some time discussing the recent Yasuhiko-directed film Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island. Finally, we apologize for the sound quality in this episode. Due to a technical issue, Albert's audio is much softer than usual. Time stamps: General nonsense, banter, and spoiler-free Cucuruz Doan's Island discussion begin at the start. 31:40 - Cucuruz Doan's Island spoilers begin 56:35 - Our book discussion and commentary for The Origin volume 10 begins. If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or corrections, we're here. Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters

With the completion of the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, it is now time for one of our patented autopsies! Consider this our Shulktopsy. We discuss some of the online discourse/chatter regarding the show and share our own thoughts on it. Listen closely and you'll even hear a couple of vocal cameos from Albert's dog Pepper in this episode! What did you think of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law? Feel free to hit us up on our socials, or email us! We also have a Linktree here: linktr.ee/betweenthegutters