Friend of the show Bluzo joins the panel to talk about Blue Period, volumes 1-6, by Tsubasa Yamaguchi. In our first long read of the year, we delve deep on the complicated ordeal of pursuing an art career, and the mortifying ordeal of being known. Oh and also rampant transphobia.

• (00:00) - “Blue Period” by Tsubasa Yamaguchi
• (01:05) - Front Matter
• (03:37) - Impressions
• (07:01) - It’s a sports manga
• (15:15) - It’s pretty didactic
• (20:49) - Real art in the manga
• (22:36) - That’s the stuff
• (25:47) - Accessibility
• (27:10) - Shouts out to the artist crediting
• (28:18) - SPOILERS
• (28:22) - Yuka-chan
• (43:23) - Better storytelling as it progresses
• (45:32) - More on Yuka-chan
• (49:49) - Making pastries with my boys
• (54:52) - This boy is masking HARD
• (57:45) - Hey. Scout is in this book.
• (01:03:27) - Love to not be a teenager anymore
• (01:03:46) - More Yotasuke
• (01:05:03) - Hashida
• (01:08:36) - The teachers!
• (01:11:48) - TUA complicates things!
• (01:13:45) - Mori
• (01:15:24) - I don’t “get“ art
• (01:16:38) - What is talent?
• (01:24:55) - Questions from Amet!
• (01:32:33) - Further Reading

- The Blue Period live-action movie
- She and Her Cat adapted by Tsubasa Yamaguchi
- Nude Model and Other Stories by Tsubasa Yamaguchi
- Look Back by Tatsuki Fujimoto
- Goodbye Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto
- Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey by Akiko Higashimura

Read Anniversary by Elle Shivers!

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:
Bluzo

Matt
Robin

Scout

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Today, your panelists wonder: what does it look like to tell a story about prejudice but divorced from real-world analogues? What does it mean to tie concepts of hunger and desire together inexorably? Just how much money is cow bathwater going for these days? And wait, is that-? Oh my god, it's Legoshi, my close personal friend Legoshi!

• (00:00) - “Beast Complex” by Paru Itagaki
• (00:43) - Front Matter
• (03:47) - Plot Overview
• (04:42) - Short stories
• (05:48) - The world of Beast Compkex vs Zootopia
• (14:14) - How the book improves over time
• (16:24) - What is doujinshi again?
• (17:48) - Is the mangaka a nepo baby?
• (19:26) - “Devouring”
• (25:45) - SPOILERS!
• (25:48) - Our top 3s
• (31:06) - The Tiger and the Alpaca
• (34:05) - The Pig and the Peacock
• (36:13) - ERROR ⚠️
• (43:17) - The Wolf and the Rabbit
• (54:02) - The Chipmunk and the (Mountain Hare)
• (01:01:08) - Relationships vs Events
• (01:03:39) - The Shiba Inu and the Shiba Inu
• (01:08:28) - The Alligator and the Cow
• (01:14:47) - The Wolf and the Seal
• (01:20:11) - Some of the stories that don’t work
• (01:26:29) - Final thoughts
• (01:27:37) - Further Reading
• (01:32:33) - Back Matter

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:

Matt

Scout

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Today your panelists talk Frontier, a French graphic novel written and illustrated by the artist of Citizen Sleeper and Citizen Sleeper 2! Join us as we discuss hope among dystopia and how pacing can let down an otherwise incredible story.

You can purchase Frontier in English here.

• (00:00) - “Frontier” by Guillaume Singelin
• (00:42) - Front Matter
• (03:26) - Impressions
• (05:34) - Guillaume’s art style
• (08:05) - Chibi violence
• (11:37) - The density of Frontier’s space
• (15:13) - Singelin’s Rescue card
• (16:16) - Unfamiliar familiarity
• (17:42) - Little nubbin feet
• (20:23) - Variation in line weight
• (23:37) - Spoiler section!
• (23:48) - Similarities to Citizen Sleeper
• (27:59) - Finding meaning or a way out
• (36:08) - The opening structure of this book
• (37:43) - Pacing problems
• (38:13) - GOKU!
• (41:09) - More on pacing
• (44:04) - Hopeful science fiction
• (46:20) - How Camina is let down by utopian naivete
• (53:04) - Even more on pacing
• (54:09) - Our favorite characters
• (56:02) - Ji-soo’s retirement
• (56:54) - Favorite panels and pages
• (01:04:00) - Camina, trans icon
• (01:04:14) - A quote that is too real
• (01:05:05) - How this book was made
• (01:05:56) - Further Reading
• (01:07:31) - Back Matter

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:

Matt
Robin

Scout

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Today our panelists talk about women with swords - hey, wait a second, didn't we do this last time? Join us for a discussion of "Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 1: The Last Amazon," where we talk about big swords, literary analysis, and Eisner award-winning colors!

• (00:00) - “Absolute Wonder Woman”
• (02:01) - Front Matter
• (03:34) - What is the Absolute Universe?
• (09:22) - What does Scout know about Wonder Woman?
• (12:46) - No tone problems!
• (14:29) - The artists are delivering
• (19:21) - Circe and Diana
• (22:57) - Paneling
• (29:16) - Sherman’s Art vs de Iulis’s
• (31:04) - SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
• (31:07) - Even bigger sword
• (35:41) - Lettering the scream bomb
• (37:11) - The Lady and the Tiger
• (42:17) - The pomegranate seeds
• (46:01) - The biggest laughs
• (48:22) - Diana’s thoughtfulness
• (51:18) - Skeleton Pegasus
• (51:41) - The lassos
• (53:02) - Hades’ design
• (54:42) - Amazon in hell
• (58:08) - Further reading
• (01:00:44) - Back matter

- Kelly Thompson's work with Marvel - Jeff the Land Shark, Captain Marvel

- Hayden Sherman's art in Batman: Dark Patterns, written by Dan Watters
- Sherman is co-creator, penciller, and inker for Dark Spaces: Dungeon
- Jordie Bellaire is doing colors on Exquisite Corpses from James Tynion IV and Michael Walsh’s Tiny Onion imprint at Image. She is an artist in residence with Tiny Onion.
- Bellaire has done color work on the super popular Assorted Crisis Events which is written by Deniz Camp, who also writes Absolute Martian Manhunter.

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:

Matt
Robin

Scout

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

The panelists start off the New Year by celebrating women with swords! We journey alongside the titular "Blade Maidens," exploring romance, graphic design, identity, and the medium of webcomics!

You can read Blade Maidens here!

• (00:00) - "Blade Maidens" by Zoe Tunnell and Valentine M. Smith
• (01:14) - What is Blade Maidens?
• (02:22) - Impressions
• (04:07) - The note at the end of the Prelude
• (12:40) - "Webcomic-ness"
• (20:03) - Following along vs. catching up
• (23:29) - Favorite storybeats
• (34:26) - The art (and graphic design influence)
• (34:58) - The circles
• (38:11) - The use of color
• (40:10) - The werewolf depiction
• (41:18) - Fishmen and fantasy creatures
• (42:19) - It's just neat!
• (48:24) - Spare thoughts and gay shit
• (48:42) - When the blood is hot pink
• (49:16) - Back Matter
• (51:51) - Further reading
• (54:56) - Upcoming episodes!

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:

Matt

Scout

Robin

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

In this special holiday episode, the panelists take a journey through the comics of Christmas past, present, and future. We recap our favorite reads of the year, talk about some great comics from the Shortbox Comics Fair, and pick some exciting new reads for the new year.

Happy holidays!

• (00:00) - A Comics Christmas Carol
• (01:37) - Comics of Christmas Past
• (15:41) - Comics of Christmas Present
• (16:45) - Exo
• (33:40) - Spaghetti Western
• (44:39) - Dead Horses
• (01:04:28) - Dream Loop
• (01:19:38) - Comics of Christmas Future
• (01:20:22) - Jillian’s Short Read
• (01:21:33) - Robin’s Short Read
• (01:22:05) - Scout’s Short Read
• (01:23:07) - Matt’s Short Read
• (01:24:33) - Jillian’s Long Read
• (01:27:05) - Robin’s Long Read
• (01:29:08) - Scout’s Long Read
• (01:33:21) - Matt’s Long Read
• (01:36:57) - Back Matter

SPOILERS FOR THE EPISODE
VVV
VVV
VVV

Shortbox Comics Fair Reads:

• Exo by Jaye Fabel
• Spaghetti Western by Ian T Bisbal
• Dead Horses by Freya JN
• Dream Loop by Inkpangur

Short reads:

• Absolute Wonder Woman Vol 1 - Jillian
• Blade Maidens - Robin
• KOH-BOKU - Scout
• Batman: Wayne Family Adventures - Matt

Long reads:

• Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - Jillian
• Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou - Robin
• Fullmetal Alchemist - Scout
• Blue Period vol 1-6 - Matt

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:

Matt

Scout

Robin

Jillian

Editing by Matt Horton and AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Today, our panelists venture into Veil by Kotteri. We discuss the "will they, won't they, are they already?" romance, unique storytelling, and most importantly, the fashion and design present in the first two volumes of this manga.

• (00:00) - “Veil” by Kotteri
• (00:37) - Front Matter
• (02:09) - What we thought
• (06:17) - Read digital if you can!
• (07:51) - Piano key dress
• (08:09) - A summary
• (09:03) - Manga in full color
• (12:38) - This unique structure
• (14:56) - Alexander as Auron
• (16:00) - Dior ribbon Emma
• (16:55) - Not really friends or lovers
• (21:55) - Just posting her OCs
• (24:38) - The phone booth
• (26:49) - Pictures of sounds
• (27:45) - A book about hands
• (32:23) - The dialogue
• (36:00) - The art of not explaining a damn thing
• (42:24) - Fashion corner
• (44:24) - L O O K
• (45:11) - Veil over her eyes
• (46:29) - Watches in her hair
• (47:14) - Just their legs
• (48:06) - Connecting covers
• (48:52) - Drawing touch
• (50:59) - We love Veil
• (52:15) - The depiction of blindness
• (55:55) - Further reading
• (01:03:27) - Back matter

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:

Matt

Scout

Robin

Jillian

Editing by Matt Horton and AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Join our panelists today for their longest read yet! We dive into the magical world of Witch Hat Atelier to discuss the magic of creating, the pitfalls of power, and what it means to be a mentor. Take our hands and follow us down the winding path - there's more to magic than meets the eye.

• (00:00) - Witch Hat Atelier
• (01:26) - Impressions
• (05:42) - Front Matter
• (11:50) - The mangaka
• (14:02) - Diversity in this series
• (20:40) - The art
• (26:31) - The primary conflict
• (37:17) - Class consciousness
• (42:56) - Middle schooler syndrome
• (48:15) - The adults and their responsibilities
• (49:40) - Olruggio and Qifrey
• (57:43) - Sinister Qifrey
• (01:04:28) - Class divide & abuse
• (01:08:18) - CW: sexual abuse
• (01:15:26) - The responsibility we have to children
• (01:19:45) - Different approaches to magic
• (01:22:56) - Shirahama’s approach to the medium
• (01:29:43) - Drapery
• (01:31:23) - Portmanteaus
• (01:33:58) - The brush buddy
• (01:35:28) - The Knights Moralis
• (01:36:13) - Listener Questions
• (01:36:29) - “How are you finding the forbidden magic?” - Yuki
• (01:39:56) - “Witch Hat as a video game?” - mbrodz
• (01:43:56) - “Magic as a creative process” - Ghost of Josei
• (01:52:28) - “Which character benefits from Qifrey being on ice?” - full metal Steve
• (01:57:48) - Further Reading

You can find the first three chapters of Witch Hat Atelier on KManga for free!

And check out both trailers for the upcoming anime adaptation of Witch Hat Atelier here and here!

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:

Matt

Scout

Robin

Jillian

Editing by Matt Horton and AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.