Welcome back to Make Mine Paperback! PolitiComix continues! Our October of political comics focuses on comics that make political statements. Graham’s selection for the month hits close to home with Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland . A lifelong Cleveland resident, Harvey Pekar pioneered autobiographical comics, mining the mundane for magic. In a month full of books with big political messages, this week we focus on the politics of the everyday with a book that relates more closely to politics as the way...
Oct 18, 2023•1 hr 7 min
Welcome back to Make Mine Paperback! PolitiComix continues! Our October of political comics focuses on comics that make political statements. In what’s shaping up to be a month in homage to Alan Moore, Steven selects Watchmen. This classic graphic novel in twelve parts has spawned countless discussions and debates. Set in 1985, in an alternate history United States where superheroes are real and the country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union, Watchmen asks questions surround...
Oct 13, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Welcome back to Make Mine Paperback! The start of a new month can only mean it is time to introduce a new theme. October is all about political comics, where the discussion will focus on comics that make political statements. To kick off the month is one of the most well-known politicomics, V for Vendetta. This classic dystopian tale was written by one of the most prolific comic creators in the world, Alan Moore. Following an allegedly devastating war, the citizens of England are forced to live ...
Oct 08, 2023•1 hr 10 min
The story follows the life of Saitama, a superhero who has become so powerful that he can defeat any enemy with a single punch. The series is set in a world where superheroes and villains exist, and follows Saitama's journey as he becomes a professional hero and joins the Hero Association, an organization that ranks heroes based on their abilities. Despite his incredible strength, Saitama is often overlooked and unappreciated because of his unimpressive appearance and lack of ambition....
Sep 28, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Jimmy Olsen must die! Wait, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Jimmy Olsen lives! Superman’s best friend and Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen tours the bizarre underbelly of the DC universe in this new miniseries featuring death, destruction, giant turtles and more! It’s a centuries-spanning whirlwind of weird that starts in Metropolis and ends in Gotham City. And then we kill Jimmy.
Sep 20, 2023•1 hr 13 min
Back in 1984, a rebellious, 17-year-old, punked-out Ulli Lust set out for a wild hitchhiking trip across Italy, from Naples through Verona and Rome and ending up in Sicily. Twenty-five years later, this talented Austrian cartoonist has looked back at that tumultuous summer and delivered a long, dense, sensitive, and minutely observed autobiographical masterpiece.
Sep 13, 2023•54 min
Scott Pilgrim's life is so awesome. He's 23 years old, in a rock band, "between jobs," and dating a cute high school girl. Everything's fantastic until a seriously mind-blowing, dangerously fashionable, rollerblading delivery girl named Ramona Flowers starts cruising through his dreams and sailing by him at parties. But the path to Ms Flowers isn't covered in rose petals. Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends stand in the way between Scott and true happiness. Can Scott beat the bad guys and get the ...
Sep 07, 2023•51 min
After saving the world in The Storm and The Fury, but sacrificing himself and Great Britain, Hellboy is dead, cast into Hell, where he finds many familiar faces and a throne that awaits him. Mike Mignola returns to draw Hellboy's ongoing story for the first time since Conqueror Worm. It's a story only Mignola could tell, as more of Hellboy's secrets are at last revealed, in the most bizarre depiction of Hell you've ever seen. * Mike Mignola writes and draws the next phase of Hellboy's story. * D...
Aug 31, 2023•1 hr 9 min
10,000 years ago, Morpheus condemned a woman to Hell! Hell's ruler has sworn to destroy him, but maybe not in the way you think. What happens on the road to Hell? Does Morpheus rescue his lost love? Will we see any other fabled individuals make their mark on this journey to the underworld? Find out this and more in this weeks show!
Aug 24, 2023•1 hr 18 min
ALex needs to stop picking weird books. The Swords of Heaven, The Flowers of Hell takes place in a world divided into three regions: "Hell", "the Dream Marches" and "Heaven" (despite the theological connotation attached to these terms, they are not meant to be literal portraits such as found in Dante or Milton). Hell is a wasteland dotted with the ruined remnants of various dwellings and populated by relatively uncivilized "barbarians" and marauders. Hell is in such a decrepit state because duri...
Aug 18, 2023•58 min
This month we turn our focus to the characters and stories revolving around the pearly gates of heaven or the eternal flames of hell! This week, we cover Hellraiser and John Constantine as he is... dying?!? Does he survive? Can Colin's beverage of the week do enough to cure our sorrows/calm our surprise? Find out in this weeks show!
Aug 10, 2023•1 hr 6 min
It's a class of a titan vs a relative unknown: The Joker vs Alanna! These two characters go toe to toe to see who reigns supreme in this month's championship round! Will the Clown Prince of Crime take the lead, or will Alanna from Saga rule the month? Alex and Graham defend their characters, and go to blows! Tune in to find out who our champion of 2023 will be!
Aug 02, 2023•1 hr 24 min
We are in our semi-final round and things are heating up! It's the Joker vs Superman and Alanna vs Daredevil and things are intense! Can Graham get both of his characters into the next round? Can Alex and Steven get their characters to a championship? Is Colin mad he doesn't have a character in the semis? Find out in this weeks show!
Jul 26, 2023•2 hr 4 min
After a great week last week, we round out the first round with John Constantine vs Daredevil and Captain America vs Alana (Saga). Some great battles to send two contestants to the semi-finals, who wins this round?
Jul 14, 2023•1 hr 24 min
This month, with a new co-host, the boys dive into their comics and state their case for why their characters should be tournament champions! This weeks episode features Omni-Man vs Superman and The Joker vs Harley Quinn! Who advances to the next round? Find out now!
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr 30 min
Welcome back, to another informative issue of Make Mine Paperback! As the month of June continues, so does the discussion of historical events. Proving that comics can be educational and not just for entertainment. To highlight that point, the focus this week is on Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans, written and drawn by Don Brown. Drowned City presents the facts of Hurricane Katrina, and unlike the previous selections this month, does not focus on a person. Instead of following a...
Jun 29, 2023•59 min
Welcome back to Make Mine Paperback, and this week's book: Persepolis. Using powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entw...
Jun 21, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Welcome back to Make Mine Paperback! The podcast is hopefully going to teach you something new this month. Continuing the discussion of Living History is Graham’s selection: They Called Us Enemy, written by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott and art by Harmony Becker. They Called Us Enemy follows George Takei’s experience in an internment camp as a child. At only four years old, George was sent to a notorious prison for Japanese-Americans during WW2 when the United States declared war o...
Jun 14, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Welcome back, to Make Mine Paperback! For the new month, the theme will focus on living history - comics about historical events. June will undoubtedly be a shift in tone as some of the selections will feature more serious subject matter. The first comic book up is March, written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin with art by Nate Powell. March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the da...
Jun 07, 2023•1 hr 17 min
Yes, we skipped 82, due to some technical errors with the recording rendering, our apologies! BUT! Thanks for tuning in to the conclusion of the Sci-FI month here on Make Mine Paperback! The final discussion on the topic is on Heavy Liquid, written and drawn by Paul Pope. No discussion on science fiction would be complete without mentioning cyberpunk, so this comic was handpicked to fill that void. Paul Pope is an expert at using artwork to tell a story, and this comic is a perfect example of hi...
May 31, 2023•48 min
Welcome back! And thanks for choosing to listen to Make Mine Paperback, where the discussion on fictional science continues. You’ll have to forgive the lack of cocktails as our mixologist is down with the sickness. This week the focus is on Universal War One, which is a French comic written and drawn by Dennis Bajra, but adapted for an English-speaking audience. In a riveting story, a mysterious black wall appears at the edge of our solar system. It is up to a team of court-martialed scientists ...
May 18, 2023•57 min
Thanks for tuning in to Make Mine Paperback! The podcast that is always about comics, and sometimes cocktails. Although this time we don’t have a cocktail, we do have a great book and a new theme! This month we will focus on Science-Fiction. To start the month off we have East of West Volume 1: The Promise, written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Nick Dragotta. The Promise collects the first five issues of this intriguing Image Comic series. Although the world seems to be on the edge of the apoc...
May 11, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Welcome back to Make Mine Paperback! The podcast that helps you get a great buzz while listening to the world’s #1 authority on nothing! Seeing as how April ends this week, it seems fitting that this episode would wrap up the April shower theme. The final comic for this month is Murder Falcon! Written and drawn by none other than podcast favorite Daniel Warren Johnson. Although not as scary as the name may suggest, this book still delivers a powerful message. Murder Falcon reminds us to enjoy ev...
Apr 26, 2023•44 min
Our month of sadness continues with The Sculptor. The boys follow the life of David Smith, in a deal with the devil, who is granted the supernatural ability to sculpt anything he can imagine...but he soon realizes that time is running out and his personal relationships are put to the test. This week's book focuses on themes of love, ambition, mortality, and the pursuit of artistic greatness. If given the chance, what would you sacrifice for the opportunity to achieve greatness in your chosen fie...
Apr 19, 2023•1 hr 12 min
Welcome back to the newest issue of Make Mine Paperback! Pour yourself a cocktail as the gang discusses Game of Thrones Book One: A Song of Ice and Fire Issues 1-3 (2011), based on the groundbreaking novel by George RR Martin. Author Daniel Abraham and illustrator Tommy Patterson expertly adapt the masterpiece for comic book panels. This week’s featured cocktail is the Black Manhattan. A simple drink that pairs well with a complex story! What makes Game of Thrones a sad tale? Does the story foll...
Apr 13, 2023•1 hr
This week the fellas discuss the Noodles Arc! Diving into our month of sad comics, Usagi Yojimbo depicts the journey of animals who have replaced humans! Miyamoto Usagi wanders the land on a warrior's pilgrimage, occasionally selling his services as a bodyguard. Our story this week deals with Usagi’s meeting and eventual parting with Spot, the Wonder Lizard. What tragedy do we find in these pages? Are they happy sad, or a deeper sad? Find out that much and more on this week's episode!...
Apr 06, 2023•56 min
Let's get Hulky!!! (Or Steve Rogers...y?) The boys sit down this week and discuss Planet Hulk, the green man of the Avengers, and Marvel Comics! What do we learn from this planet of hulks in this Secret Wars universe? How does Doctor Doom factor into all of this? Is this really "our" Hulk? All this and more in this weeks episode of Make Mine Paperback!
Mar 29, 2023•56 min
Welcome back to Make Mine Paperback, where the discussion on all things green continues in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. This week, the discussion is on Infinite Frontier Swamp Thing (2021) #1-4, written by Ram V with art by Mike Perkins. This story follows Levi, an Avatar of the Green, as he struggles to understand his own destiny. Follow along and see how Ram V’s contribution to Swamp Thing compares to his work on Layla Starr. How does Ram V change his style to fit DC? Find out how Ram V i...
Mar 22, 2023•48 min
Welcome back fellow comic book and St Patrick’s Day fans! Listen in, as the discussion on all things green continues during the month of March. This week, the focus is The Green Lantern Vol. 1: Intergalactic Lawman (2019), written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Liam Sharp. The story follows well-known Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, as he attempts to save Earth from being sold to the highest bidder. Hal soon finds out that the Lantern Corps may not be altruistic as it seems, as he finds himself unabl...
Mar 09, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Welcome back to Make Mine Paperback! This week starts a new month and a return to classic comic books. To celebrate St Patrick’s Day, coinciding with Spring approaching, the gang is talking about all things green! Kicking off the new theme is Green Goblin #1-4, written by Tom DeFalco with art by Scott McDaniel. This comic is best described as an amalgamation of all things the 90s. From the super slammin’ slang to the chaotic panels, this will give listeners a dose of 90s nostalgia. Although this...
Mar 01, 2023•56 min
