Episodes
Wednesday Jun 19, 2024
Sean Phillips and Jacob Phillips: Every Comic is an Emergency
Wednesday Jun 19, 2024
Wednesday Jun 19, 2024
What's the ideal environment for making a comic? We toss the question to Sean Phillips and Jacob Phillips, and they ponder it for a moment. They've never experienced it, and they're not sure it's possible, or if it was, that they'd want it. Deadlines loom over all, making every comic an emergency. This urgency helps them accomplish their craft, and it must be working since, undoubtedly, everyone reading these words is craving their next collaboration, Houses of the Unholy (out August 14th from Image Comics).
The father/son duo first worked together on the Criminal novella, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies, written by longtime writing partner Ed Brubaker. Initially, Sean was set to color the book, and he knocked out a couple of pages, but the deadline demanded an alternative strategy. He called on his son for assistance, and since then, Jacob Phillips has colored all the Brubaker/Phillips joints.
For Father's Day, we asked Sean Phillips and Jacob Phillips to sit down with us and discuss their creative origins, collaborator origins, what Ed Brubaker expects from them these days, their need for affirmation, and why every book must be a race to the finish. Also, has Sean Phillips read The Enfield Gang Massacre yet?
We begin this week's podcast by interrogating the dad holiday, relating our recent parental celebrations, and discussing our attendance at Washington, D.C.'s second annual DC/DOX Film Festival, where we saw Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, which included a moving and memorable conversation with Reeve's daughter, Alexandra Reeve Givens. Somehow, the recent season of MasterChef factors in as well.
Please ensure you're following Sean Phillips on Instagram, Twitter, and his Website and Jacob Phillips on Instagram, Twitter, and his Website.
As always, Omnibus, the Digital Comic Store and Reader, sponsors our Referrals segment. This week, we selected two comic book titles on the site that satisfy this episode's themes. We won't spoil what they are here, but if you click the links below, you'll be immediately escorted to those books.
Other Relevant Links:
Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):
Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY
Join us at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia, on 5/19 at 4:00 PM for our Green Lantern screening, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies.
Watch the latest episode of The B&B Show, where Brad and Bryan Review the Hottest Cinematic Releases.
And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts.
Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Wednesday Jun 12, 2024
Jordan Morris on Youth Group
Wednesday Jun 12, 2024
Wednesday Jun 12, 2024
We get serious with Jordan Morris, whether he wants us to or not. He returns to the podcast with his new graphic novel, Youth Group, done in collaboration with artist Bowen McCurdy. It's a wickedly winky narrative about a young goth girl named Kay reluctantly following her mother's instructions to join a Christian youth group and discovering that they actually battle demons. Morris returns to the nineties in an effort to better understand his brief flirtation with religiosity, which left him with warm but complicated feelings.
Youth Group arrives from First Second Books on July 16th, and it's packed with jokes, we promise. However, Jordan Morris has found himself once again trapped with Comic Book Couples Counseling, and we need to work out the weird feelings and memories his book awoke in us. Where does the metaphor begin and end with God? The question has been on our minds a lot lately, and we take it to Morris as filtered through Kay's clash with Hell's best betas.
In this week's episode, we travel back in time, exploring Jordan Morris' past youth group experiences as well as our own. We consider the anxious feeling ignited when connecting the personal with the absurd and the shocking healing that can occur on both sides of the page. For the artist and for the reader.
You can track down Jordan Morris via his Twitter, Instagram, and Website.
As always, Omnibus, the Digital Comic Store and Reader, sponsors our Referrals segment. This week, we selected two comic book titles on the site that satisfy this episode's themes. We won't spoil what they are here, but if you click the links below, you'll be immediately escorted to those books.
Other Relevant Links:
Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):
Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY
Join us at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia, on 5/19 at 4:00 PM for our Green Lantern screening, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies.
Watch the latest episode of The B&B Show, where Brad and Bryan Review the Hottest Cinematic Releases.
And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts.
Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Tuesday Jun 04, 2024
Maria Bamford and Scott Marvel Cassidy Are Hogbook and Lazer Eyes
Tuesday Jun 04, 2024
Tuesday Jun 04, 2024
How you define your relationship determines its trajectory. If you see your romance as a triumph over adversity, you will triumph. This is one of the many lessons we took from our long ago exploration of Drs. John and Julie Gottman, and we discuss their philosophy thoroughly on this week's podcast with Maria Bamford and Scott Marvel Cassidy. Their new graphic novel from Fantagraphics, Hogbook and Lazer Eyes, details their complicated coupling, all told through the eyes of their various elder pugs.
When Maria Bamford and Scott Marvel Cassidy were at their lowest, they signed up for the dating website O.K. Cupid, using the handles "Hogbook" and "Lazer Eyes." One date became two, which became three, then four. Their compatibility was less than a sure thing, but as they persisted, their connection solidified. Something about the other stirred understanding in themselves, and witnessing that epiphany through their canine housemates cleverly, maybe magically, creates profundity.
After the Gottmans, we discuss the other classic texts that shaped our understanding of relationships: Dan Slott and Michael Allred's Silver Surfer. As we've previously covered on the show, entering a marriage is to engage with "The Infinite All-In." In a best-case scenario, one of you will leave the other to wallow in grief. As you'll hear, for Maria Bamford and Scott Marvel Cassidy, "the 50/50 risk" gives value to the partnership.
As longtime admirers of Maria Bamford's standup comedy and television work and Scott Marvel Cassidy's comics and artistry, it was more than a joy to chat with them about Hogbook and Lazer Eyes. Discussing romance and collaboration with another creative couple helped us more clearly define our desires and wants for the future. Is a puppy on the horizon? Possibly.
To continue this conversation online, follow Maria Bamford on Twitter, Instagram, and her Website. Follow Scott Marvel Cassidy on Instagram and his Website. Hogbook and Lazer Eyes is now available from Fantagraphics. Find it wherever fine comics are sold.
As always, Omnibus, the Digital Comic Store and Reader, sponsors our Referrals segment. This week, we selected two comic book titles on the site that satisfy this episode's themes. We won't spoil what they are here, but if you click the links below, you'll be immediately escorted to those books.
Other Relevant Links:
Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):
Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY
Join us at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia, on 5/19 at 4:00 PM for our Green Lantern screening, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies.
Watch the latest episode of The B&B Show, where Brad and Bryan Review the Hottest Cinematic Releases.
And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts.
Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Tuesday May 28, 2024
Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives! with Ram V and Dan Watters
Tuesday May 28, 2024
Tuesday May 28, 2024
The Gill-man just does it for us. Or Lisa, more specifically. You can have your Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, Wolf Man, and Invisible Man; we'll take the wet and wild one off your hands any day of the week. Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives! And no more ravishingly than in our hearts.
Where other Universal Monsters stem from rich, lurid literature and folklore, the Creature is a far more contemporary cat...er, fish. His origins are chained to the 1954 film, its few sequels, and the morality of that brief timeline. While we've seen artists offer some spins on the design here and there, for the most part, it's been a long time since anyone's properly played in the Creature's intoxicating fish tank.
As part of Skybound Entertainment and Universal's recent partnership, writers Ram V and Dan Watters (The One Hand, The Six Fingers), along with artist Matthew Roberts, colorist Dave Stewart, and letterer DC Hopkins, continue the Gill-man's saga, some indeterminate time after the movie climaxed. Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives! begins with a journalist tracking a serial killer to the Amazon.
We're so darn pleased to have Ram V and Dan Watters on the show this week, talking about Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives!, what the Gill-man represents culturally and thematically, and why we have a Kate this time around and not a Kay. Also, which Universal Monster is the most sexy? We get into it whether anyone else wants to or not.
The first two issues of Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives! are currently available from Skybound. The third issue will land in comic shops on June 26th.
To continue this conversation with Ram V, follow his Twitter, Instagram, and Website. To keep chatting with Dan Watters, follow his Twitter and Instagram.
As always, Omnibus, the Digital Comic Store and Reader, sponsors our Referrals segment. This week, we selected two comic book titles on the site that satisfy this episode's themes. We won't spoil what they are here, but if you click the links below, you'll be immediately escorted to those books.
Other Relevant Links:
Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):
Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY
Join us at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia, on 5/19 at 4:00 PM for our Green Lantern screening, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies.
Watch the latest episode of The B&B Show, where Brad and Bryan Review the Hottest Cinematic Releases.
And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts.
Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Monday May 20, 2024
The Ultimate Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees Interview
Monday May 20, 2024
Monday May 20, 2024
It's been a week. You've had a minute. The sixth and final issue of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees is out there, living its life, rattling around our collective imaginations. We need to talk about it. You need to talk about it. Let's talk about it together. And drag cartoonist Patrick Horvath into the chat, crack his melon open, and root around in all of his delicious secrets. Yep, it's time to go full spoilers with this comic.
When Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees first landed in shops, it hooked its first readers in a profound way. The elevator pitch was beyond infectious; it was powerful. Mesmeric, maybe. The first issue transformed us into evangelists, preaching the good (grotesque) word of Sam the Bear and her sleepy Woodbrook community. Perhaps we glimpsed ourselves within her, as troubling as that was, and that caused us to seek new readers to share in our compelling confusion.
Half a year later, with the whole story inside us, we can confidently declare that we had no real idea where Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees would take us. Go back and listen to our first conversation with Patrick Horvath. We had an inkling but not a clue. Now, our perceptions are (semi)clear, and we need to run them through Patrick Horvath himself. Plus, go on a rant about Australian Traitors season two and make a few parallels between Sam the Bear and Sam the Sheriff.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees was a smash hit for Patrick Horvath and IDW Publishing. Each of the sixth issues caused a stir, and we're extremely excited about how its recent Eisner Awards nomination and upcoming trade paperback release (September 17th) will attract even more new, unprepared readers. Hopefully, folks will also run toward Patrick Horvath's current Zoop campaign for Free For All, his Eat the Rich, dystopian, gladiatorial relationship drama. (CLICK HERE NOW)
Continue this conversation with Patrick Horvath by following his Twitter, Instagram, and Website.
As always, Omnibus, the Digital Comic Store and Reader, sponsors our Referrals segment. This week, we selected two comic book titles on the site that satisfy this episode's themes. We won't spoil what they are here, but if you click the links below, you'll be immediately escorted to those books.
Other Relevant Links:
Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):
Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY
Watch the latest episode of The B&B Show, where Brad and Bryan Review the Hottest Cinematic Releases.
And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts.
Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Tuesday May 14, 2024
Kyle Starks on Karate Prom
Tuesday May 14, 2024
Tuesday May 14, 2024
He's back—like you've never seen him before. Kyle Starks, the writer behind I Hate This Place, Peacemaker Tries Hard!, and Where Monsters Lie, just released an original graphic novel at First Second that's all-ages and without swears. Karate Prom is a heart-forward action adventure about two teens who find love in the ring, or after it, when Sam knocks Don "TheDragonWilson" Jones out cold.
As Starks puts it in our conversation, he's entered his "two people who just love the sh*t out of each other phase." And how could Comic Book Couples Counseling not celebrate? Conflict is necessary and inevitable, but it's nice to witness a couple find it outside their relationship and in the forms of terrifying exes, a global crime cartel, and an onslaught of ninjas.
Karate Prom also offers us an opportunity to relive our squidgy high school rituals and force Kyle Starks to do the same. Who was the biggest player in high school: Brad, Lisa, or Kyle? The answer may surprise you. Or not...probably not.
Be sure to stay current on all things Kyle Starks by following him on Twitter HERE, on Instagram HERE, and by visiting his Website HERE.
As always, Omnibus, the Digital Comic Store and Reader, sponsors our Referrals segment. This week, we selected two comic book titles on the site that satisfy this episode's themes. We won't spoil what they are here, but if you click the links below, you'll be immediately escorted to those books.
Other Relevant Links:
Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):
Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY
Join us at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia, on 5/19 at 4:00 PM for our Batman 35th Anniversary Screening, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies.
Watch the latest episode of The B&B Show, where Brad and Bryan Review the Hottest Cinematic Releases.
And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts.
Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Monday May 06, 2024
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Special
Monday May 06, 2024
Monday May 06, 2024
March 5th, 1984. Forty years ago, three thousand copies of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 hit the newsstands. The title was impossible to ignore. Born from a joke between fresh collaborators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, it sparked an instantaneous passionate response. Many quickly dismissed the concept or rolled their eyes, but those who actually read that first issue recognized the love for the medium within. Eventually, cartoons and toys would follow, and a phenomenon occurred that truly has not been replicated in the comics space since.
This week's podcast is our "Thank You" to Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. We return to those Mirage Studios' early years, examining three critical comics that would shape and define the characters: the Leonardo micro-series one-shot and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issues ten and eleven. These stories would form the climax of the 1990 movie adaptation and propel the brothers into a momentous clash with The Shredder in "Return to New York" and its "City at War" aftermath.
No Love Expert guides our hands this week as we draw lessons directly from the comics. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird poured so much life into their stories, and the result is a beautiful mirror reflecting our hopes and fears. In these pages, the reader exists already; they merely must find themselves.
Mirage Studios published these comics between December 1986 and June 1987. They were written and penciled by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, inked and toned by Eastman, Laird, Stephen R. Bissette, Michael Dooney, and Ryan Brown, and lettered by Steve Lavigne. You can currently read them via IDW Publishing's massive Compendium Vol. 1.
As always, Omnibus, the Digital Comic Store and Reader, sponsors our Referrals segment. This week, we selected two comic book titles on the site that satisfy this episode's themes. We won't spoil what they are here, but if you click the links below, you'll be immediately escorted to those books.
Other Relevant Links:
Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):
Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY
Join us at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia, on 5/19 at 4:00 PM for our Batman 35th Anniversary Screening, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies.
Watch the latest episode of The B&B Show, where Brad and Bryan Review the Hottest Cinematic Releases.
And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts.
Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Sunday Apr 28, 2024
Daniel Warren Johnson on The Nam
Sunday Apr 28, 2024
Sunday Apr 28, 2024
For this week's podcast, we're digging out a treasure from the CBCC Patreon Feed: our deep-dive conversation with Daniel Warren Johnson about The Nam # 9. This thorough discussion launched our "Married to Singles" Patreon exclusive series, where we examine the favorite single issues of various comic book creators and critics. It's one thing to dissect an artist's work alongside or in front of them, as we often do, but it's an entirely different thing to scrutinize an artist's work with another artist.
Daniel Warren Johnson is a can't-miss cartoonist. If he's on a book, you want that book in your pullbox. Extremity, Murder Falcon, Do a Powerbomb!, and Transformers are essential reads for those obsessed with the comic form. If you want to understand what DWJ does so well, our conversation with him about his passion for Michael Golden gives you another angle.
As Johnson remarks in our chat, Michael Golden in The 'Nam # 9 does things he would never do, and those choices mystify and compel him. Johnson came to the Marvel series late in his comic reading history, picking up the first two issues and enjoying them but only coming across the rest of those Golden books years later at C2E2. He profoundly appreciates all those early 'Nam issues, but the ninth one just hits differently. Why? We get into it.
After you enjoy our conversation with Daniel Warren Johnson, consider digging into the rest of our "Married to Singles" episodes. We have thorough inspections with Jason Ayers on Uncanny X-Men # 183, Christian Ward on Arkham Asylum, and more. The CBCC Patreon costs as little as $1 a month or $12 a year. You can also purchase these episodes individually, without joining the Patreon, for $3 an episode via our Online Shop.
The 'Nam # 9 was originally published by Marvel Comics on May 19, 1987. It was written by Doug Murray, penciled by Michael Golden, inked by John Beatty, and lettered and colored by Phil Felix. G.I. Joe mastermind Larry Hama served as editor, while Jim Shooterwas Editor-in-Chief.
You can continue this conversation by following Daniel Warren Johnson on Twitter, Instagram, and his Website.
Other Relevant Links:
Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):
Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY
Join us at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia, on 5/19 at 4:00 PM for our Batman (1989) screening, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies.
Watch the latest episode of The B&B Show, where Brad and Bryan Review the Hottest Cinematic Releases.
And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts.
Friday Apr 19, 2024
Daniel Warren Johnson on Transformers: Robots in Disguise
Friday Apr 19, 2024
Friday Apr 19, 2024
When people dare to complain about modern Transformers stories, they often single out the human characters and how they drag the spotlight away from the glorious Cybertron titans they paid their money to see. Optimus Prime is enough. Bumblebee is enough. We don't need Spike or Sparky to stretch the narrative. Just give us the 'bots.
And yet, Daniel Warren Johnson, the virtuosic cartoonist behind Extremity, Murder Falcon, and Do a Powerbomb!, could not imagine telling his Transformers story without Spike and Sparky. Why? The humans are at the forefront of this week's podcast as we reflect on Daniel Warren Johnson and colorist Mike Spicer's first six issues and their catastrophic climax.
Johnson sees Optimus Prime as the ultimate dad, and he wants to tell his ultimate dad saga while simultaneously reintroducing the Autobots and the Decepticons to Image Comics readers. His Transformers create a significant branch in Skybound's ever-expanding Energon Universe, which includes other titles like Void Rivals, Duke, and Cobra Commander. Telling an emotional and singular story while supporting the most exciting event in comics is a herculean task, and thankfully, for all his readers, Johnson is absolutely up for it.
After we pour ourselves over Transformers issues one through six, we invite Daniel Warren Johnson onto the show for a hearty debrief. We discuss the humanity at the core of his story, why Sparky was always Optimus Prime's parallel figure, and what we can expect after the heroic and tragic events of the sixth issue.
Transformers 7 is currently on comic stands, while the trade paperback collecting the first story arc will arrive on May 21st. Catch a preview of Transformers 8 on Skybound's website. You can continue this conversation by following Daniel Warren Johnson on Twitter, Instagram, and his Website.
As always, Omnibus, the Digital Comic Store and Reader, sponsors our Referrals segment. This week, we selected two comic book titles on the site that satisfy this episode's themes. We won't spoil what they are here, but if you click the links below, you'll be immediately escorted to those books.
Other Relevant Links:
Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):
Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY
Join us at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia, on 4/21 at 4:00 PM for our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II screening, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies.
Watch the latest episode of The B&B Show, where Brad and Bryan Review the Hottest Cinematic Releases.
And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts.
Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Tuesday Apr 09, 2024
Man's Best with Jesse Lonergan and Pornsak Pichetshote
Tuesday Apr 09, 2024
Tuesday Apr 09, 2024
How many words belong on a page? How many panels? In this week's podcast, we uncover the answers by chatting with Pornsak Pichetshote and Jesse Lonergan about their new Boom Studios series, Man's Best. It's a radically personal work about three emotional support animals lost in space, and it forced its creators to rethink their collaborative impulses to achieve the best comic possible. And we're excited to report they pulled it off. Man's Best is, without doubt, one of the year's best comics.
In our conversation, before we dig into the craft and math behind the comic, we challenge the themes Pichetshote and Lonergan are exploring with Man's Best. It's a saga born out of crisis, and it required the artists to adopt one of the most tried-and-true fictional devices: anthropomorphization. We consider the intrinsic value of placing animals in harm's way and how it immediately - and perilously - heightens an audience's emotions. One dog dies, and we're happy to watch John Wick eradicate a hundred goons. It's not a vice-versa situation.
The first issue of Man's Best is out now, and the second issue will arrive in comic shops on April 24th. You can continue this conversation online by following Pornsak Pichetshote on Twitter and Instagram, as well as Jesse Lonergan on Twitter and Instagram.
As always, Omnibus, the Digital Comic Store and Reader, sponsors our Referrals segment. This week, we selected two comic book titles on the site that satisfy this episode's themes. We won't spoil what they are here, but if you click the links below, you'll be immediately escorted to those books.
Other Relevant Links:
Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):
Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY
Join us at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia, on 4/21 at 4:00 PM for our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II screening, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies.
Watch the latest episode of The B&B Show, where Brad and Bryan Review the Hottest Cinematic Releases.
And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts.
Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.