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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 496 – “FCF: Boxers & Saints”

Art from Boxers & Saints (2013) by Gene Luen Yang & Lark Pien

Gobbledygeek episode 496, “FCF: Boxers & Saints,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

For this month’s Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo tackle a blindspot from one of their favorite writers. Gene Luen Yang, author of Gobbledyfaves like American Born Chinese and Avatar: The Last Airbender, tells the brutal story of the Boxer Rebellion in Boxers & Saints. The graphic novel duology delves into complex subjects like faith, spirituality, nationalism, and fascism; we cover ‘em all, hopefully in something resembling depth. Plus, Arlo returns to the city of Metropolis for more Superman comics, including mega-event The Death and Return of Superman and Grant Morrison & Mark Waid’s JLA run. 

NEXT: we find our inner Greenwich Village folksters with a Geek Challenge featuring Noah Kahan’s Stick Season and Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:30  –  Intro / Arlo’s Adventures of Superman
  • 00:36:45  –  Boxers & Saints
  • 02:20:14  –  Outro / Next

MUSIC

  • “The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkle, Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
  • “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City” by Bruce Springsteen, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledgyeek Episode 403 – “Normal People Like Peanut Butter”

Patrick Stewart does not deserve this, but we do.

Gobbledygeek episode 402, “Normal People Like Peanut Butter,” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

Another week, another reckoning with the apocalypse. As the country gears up to reopen, Paul and Arlo discuss how their home states of Alabama and Ohio are handling things. They are not optimistic! Crowds packed close, restaurants teeming with teens, maskless mugs–these things, and more, contribute to our hosts’ reluctance to get this society back on the road. After they’re done ruminating on our impending doom, Paul raves about Hulu’s Normal People; Arlo recommends two more Hulu series, PEN15 and Ramy; they’re both excited about the forthcoming Sandman audio drama; and the announcement of a much sooner release date for the filmed performance of Hamilton leads Arlo to go negative on negativity. Plus, bones slathered in peanut butter.

Next: senior British correspondent Wesley Mead updates us on life in Boris Johnson’s UK.

THE BREAKDOWN

Total Run Time: 01:37:20

  • 00:01:00  –  Intro? (Time has no meaning anymore…)
  • 01:34:30  –  Outro / Next

THE MUSIC

  • “Theme From Cheers (Where Everybody Knows Your Name)” by Gary Portnoy (1982)
  • “Peanut Butter Sandwich” by Raffi, Singable Songs for the Very Young (1976)

THE LINKS

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 381 – “Four-Color Flashback: Hip Hop Family Tree”

Art from ‘Hip Hop Family Tree’ by Ed Piskor.

Gobbledygeek episode 381, “Four-Color Flashback: Hip Hop Family Tree,” is a available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

Paul and Arlo are in the place to be, rapping about Ed Piskor’s Hip Hop Family Tree. For the latest Four-Color Flashback installment, our nerdy white heroes take on nerdy white cartoonist Piskor’s quartet (so far) of graphic novels discussing the history of hip hop culture. The boys discuss Piskor’s art, equally indebted to underground comix and superhero books of the ‘70s and ‘80s; how the physical editions beautifully replicate the aesthetics of the time period; how Piskor captures the rhythm and fluidity of DJs and breakdancers; and what in the hell he’s got against Russell “Rush” Simmons.

Next: Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is Family-friendly entertainment.

(Show notes for “Four-Color Flashback: Hip Hop Family Tree.”)

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Listen to ‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 315, “The Assassination of Jesse James: Don’t That Podcast Look Dusty?”

Gobbledygeek episode 315, “The Assassination of Jesse James: Don’t That Podcast Look Dusty?”, is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

135 years ago, Robert Ford put a bullet in the back of Jesse James’ head. 34 years ago, Ron Hansen put pen to paper for a literary retelling of this slaying, calling it The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. 10 years ago, Australian writer-director Andrew Dominik put to film his version of this novel. What gets lost over time and through multiple translations? What aspects of the legend become amplified, and what diminished? These are appropriately heady questions, as Dominik’s film tackles the very concepts of celebrity, idolatry, memory, and myth. The movie, met with decent reviews and zero fanfare upon release, seems like a classic in 2017. Paul and Arlo rave about the film, including Roger Deakins’ once-in-a-lifetime stellar cinematography, the spellbinding score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, and the haunting performances from Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt. They also discuss who’s the real coward, who really killed whom, and what the film has to say about masculinity and the Old West. Plus, that new Spider-Man game for the PS4 looks baller.

Next: the boys’ year-long Four-Color Flashback exploration of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s Y: The Last Man continues with Vol. 6: Girl on Girl.

(Show notes for “The Assassination of Jesse James: Don’t That Podcast Look Dusty?”)

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Listen to ‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 277, “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Records Your Podcast (feat. Matthew Jackson)”

hamilton

Gobbledygeek episode 277, “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Records Your Podcast (feat. Matthew Jackson),” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

After many months of mounting obsession, Paul and Arlo finally tackle Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway phenomenon Hamilton: An American Musical. (We hope you’ve been willing to wait for it.) Joining them is fellow Hamilton superfan Matthew Jackson, a contributing editor for Blastr.com and entertainment writer for Playboy.com. The gang discusses the impact Hamilton has had on them, its dizzying structure (both in terms of story and stage), the radical way it melds hip-hop with theater with history, and its new behind-the-scenes book Hamilton: The Revolution. Plus, there’s a remembrance of the late, great comics artist and writer Darwyn Cooke.

Next: Paul and Arlo continue their year-long Four-Color Flashback exploration of Matt Wagner’s Grendel with “Devil’s Legacy, Pt. 2,” collected in Grendel Omnibus: Vol. 2, pp. 247-370.

(Show notes for “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Records Your Podcast.”)

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Listen to Episode 196, “The Sandman: Vol. VI – Fables & Reflections”

Art from 'The Sandman: Fear of Falling' by Kent Williams and Sherilyn Van Valkeburgh.

Art from ‘The Sandman: Fear of Falling’ by Kent Williams and Sherilyn Van Valkenburgh.

Gobbledygeek episode 196, “The Sandman: Vol. VI – Fables & Reflections,” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

Rulers–whether they be corrupt, wise, or both–make rules. They establish boundaries, set parameters within which a person lives their life. Should those rules be broken, there will be consequences. Neil Gaiman explores some of those consequences, joined by an incredibly talented string of artists including Bryan Talbot and Jill Thompson, in The Sandman: Vol. VI – Fables & Reflections. Paul and AJ continue their year-long Four-Color Flashback exploration of The Sandman, discussing everything from barophobia to Greek myth, from the once-great city of Baghdad to the “Thriller” video. Plus, Donald Glover finally gets to be Spider-Man and AJ offers his thought’s on Netflix’s first animated series for adults, BoJack Horseman.

Next: on September 1, Paul and AJ kick off an epic podcrawl (see information on participating podcasts in the show notes) discussing the Alien and Predator films with a look back at Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic Alien.

(Show notes for “The Sandman: Vol. VI – Fables & Reflections.”)