Between The Gutters Podcast

True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee, a heavily researched and all-encompassing biography written by Abraham Riesman, is an elucidating examination of one of the most significant figures in modern pop culture. Originally released a little over a year ago, the recent release of the paperback edition precipitated our discussion of the book. It's a book we think that anyone who's remotely interested in learning about Stan Lee should read. For those who don't know too much about Stan Lee, there may be things in here you'll wish you would have remained ignorant of. Join us as we discuss this prose biography! (Please note that if we said anything inaccurate or misleading during the course of our conversation in this episode, that is the fault of our own subpar recollection of what we read combined with poor note taking, not the fault of the material in Riesman's book.)

Finally, White Base arrives at Jaburo, but at what cost? In this episode, we continue our exploration and analysis of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. We take examine volume four chapter by chapter and discuss the craftsmanship behind the storytelling, and we also talk about the character development and various plot developments. It's another exciting installment of this saga, and in this volume we really see the pain of youth who are forced to grow up fighting a war that their forebears caused. If you've been reading along with us, or if you're just a First Gundam/Universal Century fan, we'd love to hear your thoughts on this one!

Darryl Cunningham's recent biocomic, Putin's Russia: The Rise of a Dictator, is a particularly relevant piece of work, especially in light of current events. It's a comic published by Drawn & Quarterly in North America, and it was released earlier this year, just before Russia invaded Ukraine. In presenting a heavily researched laundry list of numerous transgressions against his rivals, detractors, journalists, the Russian people, the concept of democracy, and even the world in general, this scathing biography is quite educational in helping us understand the despicable character of Vladimir Putin. Darryl Cunningham has produced one of the most worthwhile non-fiction comics of recent memory. Also, on a lighter note, stick around after the ending theme music to hear Albert's report on WonderCon 2022!

With the advent of the Moon Knight streaming series on Disney+, we figured it was time to do one of our signature deep dives into an MCU character to coincide with his onscreen debut. In this episode, we share about the first Moon Knight comics we ever read, we discuss the fundamental core elements of the character, and we talk about what we like in Moon Knight stories. The bulk of this lengthy episode is an examination of just about every era of Moon Knight in comics, and we take the time to talk about the standouts that have captivated our attention. If you don't know too much about Moon Knight, but you're curious about the character, we invite you to check out any of the recommendations in this episode! Like many Marvel characters, Moon Knight's had a bunch of different series over the years, so feel free to hit us up if you're confused about which volume is which. And if you are a Moon Knight fan already, what are your favorite stories? Also, if you want to play a drinking game, drink a shot every singl

It's time for our continuing readthrough of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. In volume 3, we meet Ramba Ral, one of First Gundam's more honorable antagonists. We also get some more layered character development, a look at the rest of the Zabi family, and at least one major plot twist that recontextualizes what we've experienced so far. Yas delivers incredibly exciting and thoughtful storytelling. There's also plenty of sweet, sweet mecha action. Hang out with us as we inspect the various story elements of this masterfully crafted manga!

In recognition of Women's History Month, we read a pair of short comic book biographies. In this episode, the two works we discuss are Marie Curie: A Quest for Light (written by Frances Andreasen Østerfelt and Anja Cetti Andersen, and art by Anna Blaszczyk) and Seen: True Stories of Marginalized Trailblazers: Rachel Carson (written by Birdie Willis, line art by Rii Abrego, colored by Kieran Quigley, and lettered by DC Hopkins). Marie Curie and Rachel Carson are two important and influential women who have truly affected modern society with their scientific discoveries. The two comics we read provide great overviews of their lives and contributions to their respective fields. We both enjoyed and appreciated these comics not only for being informative and educational, but for taking advantage of the comics medium.

Last week, The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves, was released in theaters. We watched it and then dissected it. So here is our autopsy report. Here is our Bat-topsy. This is THEEEE Bat-topsy. We discuss the film from the standpoint of a pair of longtime comic book readers who are big Batman fans, and take into account the comic book stories that Reeves stated served as inspiration. We also talk about what we thought the film did well, what it didn't do well, and what we appreciated and didn't like about its handling of Batman. Also, listen closely and you can learn the difference between being a comic book purist and being a comic book elitist. For more of our Batman-centric episodes, check out episode 42 to hear us sing the praises of some of our favorite Batman stories, and check out episode 110 for our critique of The Long Halloween and Hush. Have you watched The Batman? What did you think?

Maus by Art Spiegelman is universally recognized as one of the best and most significant comics of all time. It absolutely deserves the acclaim. With Maus having been in the news recently, it returned to the forefront of our minds, so we decided to reread it and discuss it. Our friend, ally, comic book comrade, and recurring guest Alexander Sheynis joins us. Before we dive in the comic and celebrate its numerous merits, we spend some time talking about the school board in Tennessee that unanimously voted to ban Maus, so prepare yourselves for slightly more soapboxing than usual.

We're continuing our readthrough of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. Things get even more interesting in volume 2 as we start to see even more world building and characterization. We really get to see how Gundam is a story that's about more than giant robots fighting. The human drama is compelling, and that's what makes the story pop. Join us as we discuss and dissect the various plot developments, characters, emotional content, and subtext.

This week, out of respect for Black History Month, we're discussing the March trilogy by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell. This is an autobiographical work about the late John Lewis, specifically covering the period of his life as a young man, and his role as one of the "Big Six" in the American Civil Rights Movement. March contains important lessons for us all. It's both educational and inspirational. On top of that, it's exceptionally well-crafted as a comic book. March is truly an important work, something that's not only critically acclaimed within comics and in the world outside of comics, but it's also a great way to learn about an iconic American and a crucial period in American history. It is our sincere hope that you would give March a read if you haven't already.

Shuzo Oshimi's Blood on the Tracks is an unusually paced psychological suspense about a young teenage boy and his overprotective mother. To say much more would probably spoil the surprise of discovery, but we recommend this story to mature readers who don't mind experiencing uncomfortable thoughts and emotions through fiction. We've read the first seven volumes that are currently available in English, and the first part of this episode is a spoiler-free overview. We'll warn you before we spoil specific story elements when we discuss the intricate facets of the series. If you've read Blood on the Tracks, what did you think?

Enigma by Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo is an exceptional piece of work that was ahead of its time. Originally published by Vertigo, it's recently been reprinted under Dark Horse's Berger Books imprint in a dignified hardcover edition that befits its status as a bona fide classic. In this episode, we give Enigma its due and try to dissect, analyze, and interpret the concepts and ideas within the story. Whether or not you've read it before, we invite you to listen! If you haven't read Enigma before, now's a better time than ever to check it out and discover why it's so highly regarded by all the right people.

This year, we're going to be reading through the entirety of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. It's twelve hardcover volumes, so we'll be reading and discussing one volume a month, just as we did for Invincible last year. In this episode, we shed some basic information and historical context about First Gundam (the original 1979 anime TV series) and the Gundam franchise as a whole, and then discuss Activation, volume one of The Origin. We encourage you to buy yourself a copy, or borrow it from the library, and join us as we embark on this journey to Jaburo. Or if you're on the fence about it, hopefully our enjoyment and enthusiasm for the series will motivate you to at least think about giving this first volume a shot! MSG: The Origin is an ideal entry point into the world of Gundam, even if you know absolutely nothing about the franchise.

Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Hush are two of the most prominent, acclaimed, and beloved Batman comics of the past 25 years or so. We acknowledge that, and we reread them recently as we continue our preparations for our DC Top 25 Comics of All Time list. The Long Halloween and Hush don't crack our list of honorable mentions, but they both make our dishonorable mentions. As we revisited both of these Batman books, we couldn't help but dissect the myriad flaws in the stories. Neither story holds up to any kind of critical scrutiny. The common denominator? Joseph Loeb.

Last month, we did a little dive into various Hawkeye comics. Now that it's been a couple of weeks since the Hawkeye series on Disney+ has concluded, it's time to dissect the show itself. Join us for our Hawkeye autopsy, where we attempt to think critically about something that probably was created primarily to entertain the masses. Thinking and talking about entertainment is our entertainment, so let's do this thing.

With the end of 2021, we decided to look at some of our favorite endings in comics, and what makes them work, or at least memorable. While there will obviously be some spoilers, for the most part we've done our best to discuss these endings without ruining the experience of discovery if you haven't read them yourself. The first chunk of this discussion is a general exploration of what makes a "good" ending, and then the comics we dive into are listed below. In vague, general terms, we briefly discuss Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina's endings. House of M #8 Wanted #6 Three Joe Casey comics: Cable #70, Wildcats Version 3.0 #24, and Butcher Baker #8 Batman: The Killing Joke Two Peter Milligan comics: Enigma #8 and X-Statix #26 Northlanders #28 (the end of "The Plague Widow" story) Two Jonathan Hickman comics: Fantastic Four #604 (the end of the "Forever" story arc) and Secret Wars #9 Fury: My War Gone By #13 Two Alan Moore comics: From Hell #10 and Watchmen #12

After a full year of reading, we have finally arrived at The End of All Things, the conclusion to Invincible. In this episode, we dissect the massive final story arc, look back at the series as a whole, and reflect on some of the ideas and concepts that stood out. Whether you've been reading along with us in 2021, or you've come across us in the future and wanted to find out what two relatively normal people had to say about Invincible, we hope you enjoy the conversation. (Heck, if you're crazy enough to have listened to our Invincible readthrough episodes without ever having read Invincible yourself, we salute you!) Feel free to hit us up and let us know what you thought of Invincible!

Three is the magic number! In this episode, we dissect the third MCU Spider-Man flick. We cut past the hype and examine the internal organs of this bad boy. The first portion of this episode is spoiler-free, and we warn you before we go into spoiler territory. Also, at the end of the podcast (around the 2:56:30 mark), Albert talks a bit about his experience at the recent Emerald City Comic Con. If you've had a chance to watch No Way Home, what did you think?

Hawkeye is the latest MCU show on Disney+, so we decided to talk about Hawkguy comics! In this episode, we shoot the breeze regarding our thoughts on Hawkeye as a character (Clint Barton and Kate Bishop) and as a concept. We discuss some of the most remarkable Hawkeye comics and what we enjoy about 'em. It's likely that in a few weeks we'll do an autopsy of the show, so stay tuned, true believers.

This week, we're looking at two seemingly disparate comics: Ryuko, by Eldo Yoshimizu, and I Am Not Starfire, by Mariko Tamaki and Yoshi Yoshitani. It's sort of a bookclub double feature, but we tried to find some points of comparison to keep the conversation as coherent as possible. (As coherent as we ever get, at least!) Ryuko, in particular, was a challenging manga for us to penetrate, but we tried. Tune in to find out why we decided to discuss two completely unrelated books that are polar opposites in tone and style, and to hear what we think of each of them! If you've read either Ryuko or I Am Not Starfire, what were your thoughts?