Between The Gutters Podcast

Happy Mother's Day to all who celebrate! In this episode, we're talking about Mothers, by Kusahara Umi! Mothers is a one-woman anthology published by Glacier Bay Books. It's got a dozen stories, and virtually all of them are hits. Seriously, find yourself a copy of this book if you don't already have one! We talk in-depth and discuss each story in this book, which is rich with meaning and ideas to unpack. The tales in this collection examine themes of motherhood, family, loss, and practically the whole gamut of human emotions. It was a true pleasure to read and discuss all of these stories! 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 Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats

Lois Lane: Enemy of the People by Greg Rucka and Mike Perkins is, in the grand scheme of eternity, a relatively recent 12-issue maxiseries that we wanted to read and discuss. It's also a chance for us to talk about the impact of the creators' works. Also, because this is a Lois Lane-centric episode, we took the time to talk about the 1986 Lois Lane two-issue miniseries by Mindy Newell and Gray Morrow, "When It's Raining, God Is Crying." These are two different Lois stories from different eras, but there are some fascinating commonalities in their characterization and portrayal of Lois. 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 Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats

As we continue our readthrough of DC's Solo, we now come to Howard Chaykin's issue. He's a very distinctive artist known for his edginess, but we've certainly read our fair share of his latter-period Big Two work. Join us as we discuss our thoughts on his writing and art in general, and as we examine his spotlight issue! For a handy Spotify playlist featuring all of our episodes on Solo, click here: open.spotify.com/playlist/5Cp7xN6…565b39d437214b89 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 Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats

We're back! Just like Superman coming back from the dead, Between the Gutters has returned to life! This week, we're discussing Superman vs. Meshi volume 1 by Satoshi Miyagawa and Kai Kitago. It's a delightful slice of life food manga featuring Superman and his appreciation for fast Japanese cuisine! This is a different type of cape comic for those who are accustomed to Western superhero comics, but manga readers know that comics about food are about as plentiful as comics about cats. (Maybe?) Join us as we discuss our experiences with Superman vs. Meshi and food-centric comics in general!

In issue three of Solo, Paul Pope takes the spotlight. This issue contains the Eisner Award-winning short story "Teenage Sidekick!" There are some other gems as well. Join us as we discuss Paul Pope's work and the bits of his career that we're familiar with. For a handy Spotify playlist featuring all of our episodes on Solo, click here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Cp7xN6T5JKdsqA2VvbUE1?si=565b39d437214b89 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 Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats

This is a story. This is a story about us podcasting about one of the best DC comics ever, and one of the last great Vertigo ongoing series. This is a story about the next entry in our top 25 DC comics countdown! Coming in at #22 on our list... Sweet Tooth by Jeff Lemire, Jose Villarubia, and more! This science fiction post-apocalyptic coming of age story about the boy and the big man is one of the most evocative and touching comics DC has ever published. This is a story. We discussed Sweet Tooth in broad terms back when the first season of the Netflix adaptation came out. See episode 82 of our podcast. We also discussed another Jeff Lemire comic, Joker: Killer Smile, back in episode 51. We also talked a bit about Trillium, a later Lemire/Villarubia joint, in episode 37. Like we did for our Marvel top 25 list, we applied a set of criteria and scored all the DC books we've read to create our list. Our criteria are as follows: CRAFT. Is the comic technically sound? Is it well-written? Is it well-illustrated

The Seeds by Ann Nocenti and David Aja is an ecological, post-apocalyptic, science fiction, romantic, techno thriller. If that sounds like a lot, it's because Nocenti and Aja stuffed this four-issue story chock full of ideas and concepts. Perhaps The Seeds isn't a perfect comic book, but it's absolutely an intriguing one. It's a comic that demands your active attention. We tried to figure it out - no idea if we've understood it properly - but we had a good time with it. It's refreshing to read a mainstream comic that has a high estimation of the intellect of its readers. What'd you guys think about The Seeds? 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 Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats

Richard Corben... The man, the myth, the legend. About twenty years ago, he did the second issue of DC's Solo. This anthology series showcased a special artist with every issue, giving them carte blanche to do whatever they wanted. In 2024, we're dedicating one of our episodes every month to talking about one issue of this series, and after tackling Tim Sale's issue last month, it's time to turn our attention to Corben. We're admittedly only directly familiar with a small portion of his later period work, so if you have more thoughts about his overall career, or if you have recommendations for specific Corben comics we need to check out, please feel free to hit us up! 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 Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats

Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane is an underrated and underappreciated gem of a series, and we're here to shine a spotlight on it. In this episode, we're covering all twenty issues of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, plus the two preceding four-issue miniseries. All of these comics are written by Sean McKeever, mostly drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa, colored by Christina Strain, and lettered by Randy Gentile and Dave Sharpe. David Hahn drew the last few issues of the run, Norman Lee inked some of Miyazawa's issues, and there's some additional art by Valentine De Landro and Rick Mays. This is a great MJ comic, a great Spidey comic, a great romance comic... It's just a great comic by Sean McKeever, an underrated writer who deserves more love and recognition. Discussing SMLMJ also gave us a chance to talk about his work in general. Of course, we also don't want to neglect the primary artists of the run, Takeshi Miyazawa and Christina Strain, whose warm and vibrant work bring wonderful energy and zest to this incredibly addictiv

After an unplanned bye week, we're back with the first episode of our 2024 readthrough! In 2021, we read through Invincible. In 2022, we read through Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. Last year, we read through Deadly Class. This year, we're reading through DC Comics' Solo! Once a month, we're dedicating one of our episodes to an issue of Solo, which lasted twelve issues. First up, we're discussing issue one, which was Tim Sale's issue. Join us as we provide a general overview of Solo as a series and then discuss Tim Sale's broader work in comics. After that, we take a look at every story in Solo #1. There's also a brief but very special interview audio included in this episode: Back in 2019, Albert met Tim Sale at a convention and asked him a few questions. Timestamps: 33:25 - Albert's brief interview with Tim Sale 35:53 - Solo #1 Discussion 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/betwee

We're back with a discussion about another recently published Image Comics book, Immortal Sergeant by Joe Kelly + Ken Niimura! It's the newest collaboration from the duo that brought us the legendary I Kill Giants. Immortal Sergeant is about the dysfunctional relationship between a grizzled, old-school, bigoted detective and his adult, socially liberal son. The two of them are forced to spend an inordinate amount of time together when the detective catches a break on the murder case that's haunted him for decades. Immortal Sergeant functions much like a companion piece to I Kill Giants, which focused on the relationship between a mother and daughter. Kelly + Niimura have put together another immaculately crafted comic that's worthy of our time and analysis. 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 Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out a

It was released in English a little over a year ago, but we've finally gotten around to reading Shuna's Journey by Hayao Miyazaki, a gem that was originally published in 1983. It's not a long read, but it's absolutely gripping and worth your time and contemplation. If you're a fan of Miyazaki's films, then Shuna's Journey will certainly be of major interest. It's kinda decent timing, by our standards, to talk about Shuna's Journey because Miyazaki's been back in the public discourse. As you probably know, his latest film, The Boy and the Heron, was recently released in U.S. theaters, and may still be playing at the time this episode drops (check your local listings). (They should have kept the original title of How Do You Live?, though.) 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 Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on v

Happy New Year! For our first episode of 2024, we decided to read and talk about a new series from 2023: W0rldtr33 by James Tynion IV, Fernando Blanco, Jordie Bellaire, Aditya Bidikar, and Dylan Todd (edited by Steve Foxe). This science fiction horror story is by one of the biggest writers in comics at this particular moment. We haven't really talked about any Tiny Onion books on our podcast before, so we figured we'd try to get with the times. In this episode, we discuss W0rldtr33 volume 1, which collects the first five issues of the series. Have you read it? Have you read many other Tiny Onion comics? What do you think? 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 Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats

As 2023 comes to an end, we decided to read and discuss a comic that's also about an ending, of sorts. Namor the Sub-Mariner: Conquered Shores by Christopher Cantwell, Pasqual Ferry, Matt Hollingsworth, and Joe Caramagna is a "The End"-type of story for Namor, one of Albert's most beloved superhero characters. Conquered Shores takes place in a far future after the Earth has endured massive trauma, which results in Atlantis becoming the dominant superpower as the planet is engulfed by the seas and melted ice caps. The superhero population has diminished, and Namor is one of the last remaining few with any agency. What choices will he make in this new world? Join us for our discussion of this five-issue miniseries! 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 Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here:

Twelve months, twelve volumes. We have finally completed our coverage of Deadly Class by Rick Remender and Wes Craig! As we have been doing throughout 2023, in this episode we provide our usual issue-by-issue synopses and commentary of the last trade paperback collection of the series, which contains issues 53-56. We also discuss our overall thoughts and feelings about the series as a whole. This has been our #Remendyear and what more fitting way to finish it off than with a long conversation about the end of Deadly Class? 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 Check our Linktree for a handy Spotify playlist containing all of our Deadly Class episodes! Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats

This week, we're continuing our top 25 DC comics countdown. We have Sleeper, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, at number 23 on our list! Nowadays, Brubaker and Phillips are household names for their creator-owned crime comics. Let's go back in time and take a look at this early work from the pair! Sleeper is a super powered espionage neo-noir thriller that contains a whole lot of tension and suspense. A creeping sense of dread permeates the narrative. It's also got a lot of heavy emotional, psychological, and thematic material that gives it that added element of depth. Here are some of the other episodes we've done in which we've featured these creators: Episode 6: Criminal Episode 8: Captain America Episode 20: Scene of the Crime Episode 155: Wildcats Episode 192: Gotham Central Like we did for our Marvel top 25 list, we applied a set of criteria and scored all the DC books we've read to create our list. Our criteria are as follows: CRAFT. Is the comic technically sound? Is it well-written? Is it well-ill

We're getting very close to the end of our readthrough of Deadly Class by Rick Remender and Wes Craig. This month, we're covering volume 11, which is comprised of issues 49-52. Join us as we provide our issue-by-issue recaps and commentary! 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 Check our Linktree for a handy Spotify playlist containing all of our Deadly Class episodes! Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats

We return from our bye week with our autopsy on The Marvels, the latest MCU flick! We've all heard the noise around this one. It's been a polarizing movie, especially if you spend time in online spaces. There's also the box office stats, which led to even more chatter. We're not too interested in the movie's financial success (or lack thereof). We're here to talk about the movie itself. Join us as we dissect this movie in another one of our patented autopsies! Some timestamps for y'all: 0:00:00 - Our intro discussion is about Albert's recent travels. 37:50:00 - The Marvels autopsy begins (spoiler-free) 1:03:40 - Full spoilers begin 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 Check our Linktree for a handy Spotify playlist of all of our Marvel Cinematic Universe autopsy episodes! Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on va

We're continuing our countdown of the top 25 DC comics of all time! Coming in at number 24 on our list, we've got Sandman Mystery Theatre by Matt Wagner, Steven T. Seagle, and Guy Davis! This mature-readers crime noir series set in the late 1930s is a grounded and realistic reimagining of a classic Golden Age superhero. It's more than just a gritty remix of an old character, though. This is a series that has it all: intriguing plots, complex and well-developed characters who grow and change, one of the most beautiful romances in all of comics, and compelling social commentary. Tune in and find out why SMT is one of the best things DC Comics has ever published! We previously discussed Steven T. Seagle in one of our honorable mentions - in episode 132 we covered It's a Bird... We forgot to mention it during our recording, but Guy Davis had a book on our Marvel top 25 list, too. We talked about Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules way, way back in episode 8. Like we did for our Marvel top 25 list, we applied a

This week, we're covering Deadly Class volume 10: Save Your Generation! This volume collects issues 45-48 of the series by Rick Remender and Wes Craig! As usual, we're providing recaps and commentary for each issue as we talk through the entire series, one volume per month. 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 Thanks again to Corey J. Beats for producing our theme music. Check out all of his music on various platforms here: linktr.ee/Coreyjbeats