It’s about time we talked about the guy who introduces every episode: the one and only Merlin, who may not be so one and only. Our journey is guided by Bevan Thomas , a comics creator, teacher, and scholar with a keen interest in British and Welsh folklore. The joy of newborn lizard-dragon hybrids can’t keep us from having a few nuanced gripes about an issue in which too many pages are spent retconning stories we barely remember and not enough time is spent getting to know Cerise, Warrior of the...
Feb 05, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 50
Not a spoiler since it’s right there in the title—for the first time since Excalibur #2, Colin McKay is back in the 616 and out for revenge… on Kurt Wagner? In the bathroom?? While Kurt’s armed only with a cane and the world’s smallest towel??? We talk about that but spend the bulk of the episode exploring what’s up with Rachel Summers in general and Rachel and Meggan specifically with educator, PhD candidate, and lifelong Excalibur fan Alexa Lee-Hassan ! Our journey includes forays into what ma...
Jan 29, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 49
Is Kurt a good leader or is he just an expert in dressing the part? Anna, Mav, and Andrew debate this and other important questions with comics & pop culture scholar Matt Linton , discussing Excalibur #45, “Nightcrawler’s Technet”—a comic book in which most of the characters are dressed like Nightcrawler, but the story might actually be about Brian? But don't count out Rachel and Meggan, coming in strong with some complex and believable female bonding! We also spend entirely too much time (o...
Jan 22, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 48
Kurt’s got a cast but he’s not letting it cramp his style in an issue that compels Anna, Mav, and Andrew to question whether 1991 was a particularly sexy year for velvet (spoiler: it was). But Excalibur #44, “Witless for the Prosecution,” does more than establish the precise texture of Mr. Wagner’s fur. It also compels interesting—and sometimes troubling—questions about racial representation which our guest, Dr. Patrick Hamilton , co-author of All-New, All-Different?: A History of Race and the A...
Jan 15, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 47
This week, we're giving Anna's favourite issue of Excalibur the celebration it deserves, chatting with award-winning comics creator and educator Dr. Nick Sousanis about the very skillful, very complex, very sexy, very important visual storytelling of Excalibur #43, “Home Comforts.” We talk picturing dreams, Kurt’s fondest desire(s), and what Kurt and Brian are actually fighting about (is it Meggan, or something else…?). We also talk quite a bit about transformative circus fantasies, spending a g...
Jan 08, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 46
New Year, new era of Excalibur , as Alan Davis makes his triumphant return to the title he co-created to write and draw one of our all-time favourite breakfast scenes! But there's more than toast on the menu in Excalibur #42, “A Hatch is Plotted.” There's also explosive eggs and explosive shakeups of the team's status quo—within a much-appreciated return to form. Writer and music critic Quentin Harrison joins Anna, Mav, and Andrew to reminisce and gush about his first-ever issue of one of his mo...
Jan 01, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 45
The holidays are upon us, but GGW never rests. To celebrate the season and the first year(ish) of the podcast, we did a *special video episode* which you can watch now on YouTube ! This is the audio version, unedited, but not too messy (we hope!). We reflect on past issues and convos, including what we've learned and what surprised us. For the first time ever, we also answer listener questions! Plus! Results of the t-shirt drive for Planned Parenthood (thank you so, so much). And! Behind-the-sce...
Dec 25, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 44
In Excalibur #41, “At Last… The Reunion!” Nightcrawler and not-Wolverine have one on-panel conversation, which is all the excuse Anna, Mav, and Andrew needed to talk about the epic romance—sexual or otherwise—between Logan and his favourite elf with fan, artist, writer, con-organizer, and self-professed Mad Cat Lady Sue Whisterfield ! Plus! Tales of the 80s British fandom scene, feat. a certain Mr. Claremont and other familiar faces. We’ve also got words for the issue at hand, bemoaning the hugs...
Dec 18, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 43
It's time for a journey in rhyme/In spirit but static in time/Will Lockheed get back to his body/Before his rhyme schemes get too shoddy? In other words: Anna, Mav, and Andrew are cross-examining the decision to write most of an entire superhero comic in rhyming couplets, discussing Excalibur #40, "The Trial of Lockheed," with animal comics expert Dr. Daniel F. Yezbick ! We address a regular zoo of topics, including the history and conventions of funny animal comics, Kitty Pryde's complicated re...
Dec 11, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 42
This week, Anna, Mav, and Andrew are positively giddy about closing out “The Promethium Exchange,” chatting Excalibur #39, “The Heart of the Matter,” with editor, critic, and scholar Andrea Ayres , who’s allergic to kelp but addicted to trash. (She may have been sarcastic about the latter.) We talk the role of subjectivity in scholarship, how to deal (or not deal) with problematic people who make stuff, and debate whether Kurt's Bermuda shorts in the Marvel Swimsuit Special were justified or a t...
Dec 04, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 41
Join Anna, Mav, and Andrew plus special guest Lisa , Nocturne's BFF and co-host of the Nightcrawler-centric Simply Amazing podcast, to talk Kurt/Wanda, Wanda/Vision, histories of fandom, Wolverine & the X-Men , Nightscrawlers, Talia Josephine Wagner, Dave Cockrum's saucy stash, Real Housewives , “Age of X-Man,” Earth-2182, Exiles , roleplaying games, Days of Our Lives , Chuck Austen dramas, and maybe, just maybe, a little “Promethium Exchange” in this episode that is technically sorta kinda ...
Nov 27, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 40
The sages foretold: lo, there will come a story, told in three parts, in which jokes are stale and motives are baffling. Nobody likes it; nobody wanted it. Yet it exists. And thus, Anna, Mav, and Andrew must discuss it. But the sages also foretold a savior: a shining beacon of righteous insight destined to cleave "The Promethium Exchange" in twain, and create from the sum of these parts something better, worthy of the mantle of Excalibur . That savior is Nola Pfau , two-time Eisner Award-winning...
Nov 20, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 39
We're (still!) back and so's our first returning guest, Dr. Michael Hancock , talking what makes a bad comic re: Excalibur #36, "Xs and Os!" It's a teamup/throwdown with Silver Sable and the Outlaws, featuring dubious understandings of civil rights, Rachel's sexuality, and nuclear power (it involves clones and monsters, right?). We didn't love this comic as much as Brian Braddock loves nuclear power, but we have a lot of fun anyway, parsing the mess and setting up Anna for a lengthy tangent abou...
Nov 13, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 38
We're back! And debating the merits of punchable problems in Excalibur #35, "Heartbreaker," with comics scholar Dr. Jocelyn Sakal Froese ! With their help, we apply a graphic medicine framework to an issue in which a kidnapped girl and a despair-hungry demon named—naturally—D'Spayre force Rachel to revisit her defining trauma (again), with some new and not-always-welcome twists, including the first appearance of Father Kurt Wagner. We talk visualizations of grief, medicalized gazes, and intersec...
Nov 06, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 37
Well, this is it. The end of "Girls' School from Heck" and the Claremont era of Excalibur . But we're going out with a bang and our pom-poms raised high, as Anna, Mav, and Andrew are joined by Dr. Julia Round , an expert in all things gothic and girls' comics, to talk exploitation vs character growth plus memories, hopes, and regrets in Excalibur #34, "School Spirit." In which the Fenris Twins prove they're no match for a motivated Phoebe Huntsman with a field hockey stick and Anna's job is easy...
Oct 23, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 36
This week, Anna, Mav, and Andrew are going back to school (again) with Excalibur #33, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” part two of “Girls’ School from Heck!” And now that we’re here, talking leather, lingerie, kung fu, jelly donuts, and why Kitty’s always mad at hot girls with artist extraordinaire Valentine M. Smith —we may never want to leave. Plus, Kurt spends a bunch of pages wearing a speedo. We talk about that, too—and how it's all connected and extremely character-driven!...
Oct 16, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 35
A little late for "Back to School" but just in time for the comics studies + girlhood studies + Excalibur matchup of your dreams, it's Anna, Mav, and Andrew discussing Excalibur #32, "Someone Will Die for This!" with comics scholar Dr. Charlotte Johanne Fabricius ! We're bringing our A-game (and our very best penmanship) to the opening salvo of the "Girls' School from Heck" storyline, talking aim at the power, possibility, and danger of Kitty's journey out of (or into?) girlhood. Plus soft men, ...
Oct 09, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 34
Don't let the title fool you—some men are islands, and those islands claim Krakoa as a father and have sworn revenge on Nightcrawler! That's right—it's time to talk Kurt Wagner vs Vega-Superior, The Son of Krakoa! And also, the X-Men...??? Anna, Mav, and Andrew are joined by superhero scholar John Darowski to talk adventure story tropes, Kurt's investment in problematic fantasies, and the multilayered objectification of monstrous/beautiful male bodies in a comic where most of Kurt's blue fur is ...
Oct 02, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 33
Sink your teeth into an early Halloween spectacular as vampire expert Dr. Cait Coker, editor of The Global Vampire , joins Anna, Mav, and Andrew to talk Excalibur #30, “‘Twas a Dark and Stormy Night,” in which Meggan's got new fangs and birthday boy Alistaire forgets Kurt's always had them. We talk gender, sexuality, magic, and—yes!—vampires, sorting through the significance of Meggan biting Kurt, Kurt being locked in the closet, Meggan making it to the end, and Brian being confused about everyt...
Sep 25, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 32
It's a dreamy pod-friends reunion as the multitalented Wayne Wise , co-founder and co-host of VoxPopcast , joins Anna, Mav, and Andrew to say "weird" a dozen plus times about Excalibur #29, "Dream a Little Dream," in which the dreams are nightmares and the nightmares involve anthropomorphic horse assemblages with very human breasts. It's not the Excalibur + Power Pack crossover of our dreams, but we make the most of what we've got, discussing Kurt's insecurities and Meggan's desires, plus good, ...
Sep 18, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 31
There's a reason they say you can't go home again—because sometimes, the crowd at your old college bar doesn't remember you, and your girlfriend has to shapeshift into your twin brother and shotgun a pint to convince the locals you're not a "sissy." All of which can only mean one thing—Anna, Mav, and Andrew are talking about Excalibur #28, "The Night They Tore Down the Gilded Lady" with specialist in gender & superheroes and newly minted Excalibur fan, Dr. Esther De Dauw ! In which we’re eac...
Sep 11, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 30
In this episode, Anna, Mav, and Andrew are joined by Connor Goldsmith , literary agent and host of the Cerebro podcast , to talk films inside comic books inside famous film studios in Excalibur #27, “Reel People.” We talk through some common Excalibur themes, including sex and gender transformations, reality-warping, and self-reflexivity, and debate good and bad marriages—between Excalibur and Larry Hama’s Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja , and between Barry Windsor-Smith’s pencils and Bill Sienkiewi...
Sep 04, 2021•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 29
In this episode, Anna, Mav, and Andrew recruit author Darby Harn to help them make sense of some less-than-stellar storytelling in Excalibur #26, “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” It’s another Higgins/Lim joint, and while the art’s a bit better, the writing’s a bit worse, recycling multiple past and present traumas. But we still find plenty to talk about, exploring different interpretations of Rachel’s sexual and romantic affinities, unpacking sexual violence tropes, and cringing our way through ...
Aug 28, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 28
The Cross-Time Caper is still over... or is it? Resolution careens into crisis into conversations about both as Anna, Mav, and Andrew welcome author and critic Steve Sellers of Omen Comics and Comic Crusaders to talk loose threads and cosmic consequences in Excalibur #25, "Guess Who's Coming for Phoenix?" (Spoiler: it's Galactus!) When we're not getting lost in an extended rumination on the neglected psychological complexity of everyone's favourite herald Frankie Raye, we contemplate the Phoenix...
Aug 21, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 27
Anna, Mav, and Andrew are joined by professor, poet, literary and cultural critic, and friend-to-all-mutants Dr. Stephanie Burt to celebrate the not-so-epic conclusion of the Cross-Time Caper, plus Kitty turning 15 (again). We all swoon hard for an issue in which Kitty goes glam, Rachel becomes Kitty, Meggan becomes Kurt, and Brian... is just kinda there? We also bring to bear multiple gazes on the deeply problematic, but also deeply complex, relationship between Kitty and Sat-Yr-9. *Content war...
Aug 14, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 26
Here comes the Judge Dredd homage you've been waiting for, with Scott Weatherly , editor of the recent anthology Judging Dredd , joining Anna, Mav, and Andrew to talk all things Mega-City One-inspired in Excalibur #23, "Here Comes the Judge." Defying the fascist rule of the Justicers, everyone finds something to do—and someone to love—in a jam-packed issue featuring action, heartbreak, comedy, and social commentary, plus AU Darkchylde Illyana Rasputin and Kurt's first confrontation with a too-hu...
Aug 07, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 25
Anna, Mav, and Andrew are joined by Dr. Safiyya Hosein , whose research focuses on representations of Muslim and Arab characters in superhero comics, to talk about those very things in Excalibur #22, "Shadows Triumphant?" When we're not working our way through deeply problematic Orientalist stereotypes and caricatures related to supervillain Amahl Farouk/Shadow King, we're doing a whole lotta griping about an issue where continuity, characterization, and cross-time capering all left something to...
Jul 31, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 24
Anna, Mav, and Andrew are joined by Dr. Martin Zeller-Jacques to tackle Excalibur #21, "Crusader X," which Mav describes as "definitely, technically a comic." The players and pencils are new, but the plot is intentionally—though not always enjoyably—familiar, as we revisit Rachel revisiting her trauma (again) in an issue that restages the Dark Phoenix Saga with new masterminds (but also the same old Mastermind). We also talk serialization, sexy Pietàs, and the further transformations of Nigel Fr...
Jul 24, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 23
It's out with the Claremont/Davis, in with the Higgins/Lim with Excalibur #20, “The Eye of the Beholder,” a flashback issue we’re charitably describing as “What If Excalibur was Set in the Silver Age?” Literature professor and recovering Gambit fan Dr. Asha Jeffers joins Anna, Mav, and Andrew to talk villains of the week, a suffusion of thought bubbles, Meggan’s hairy elbows, Kitty and Rachel’s witchy date, and Demon Druid’s luscious locks. Plus, we check in with the team’s sexy pajamas, Asha gi...
Jul 17, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 22
We've pulled the strings of reality to create another epic podcast team-up as Justin and Alicia of The X-Wife Podcast join Anna, Mav, and Andrew to talk Excalibur #19, "Madripoor Knights!" But the team-ups don't end there! Chris Claremont teams up with celebrated penciler Rick Leonardi, Jamie Braddock teams up with Jamie Braddock, Kurt teams up with the Dirty Angels, Rachel teams up with Meggan, and no one teams up with the X-Men in a story about fraternal betrayal and finding new ways to win. A...
Jul 10, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 21
