Today the panelists discuss Scott McCloud's classic, Understanding Comics, a book that purports to be a lecture but in many cases comes off as a manifesto. We discuss Scott's messy definition of the medium, his genuinely good insights, and also his strong creative biases.

This book is impossible to spoil so there is no spoiler section.

• (00:00) - "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud
• (03:18) - Front Matter
• (05:22) - Impressions
• (10:18) - We’ve moved past this
• (13:10) - The mechanics of comics
• (20:20) - Part lecture, part manifesto
• (22:15) - Another opinionated textbook
• (33:15) - The definition of comics
• (41:11) - This about video games
• (42:41) - Scout has a callout
• (46:34) - Dude predicted emoji
• (47:36) - Great iconography
• (49:29) - A short biography
• (50:58) - Gutters!
• (53:23) - Pacing
• (55:27) - Public discussion
• (59:49) - Further Reading

- Reinventing Comics by Scott McCloud
- Making Comics by Scott McCloud
- Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner
- The Comic Book History of Comics by Fred Van Lente & Ryan Dunlavey
- Inventing Comics (from Comics Journal #234, June 2001) by Dylan Horrocks

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:
Scout
Matt
Robin

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

The panelists discuss "Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou", an incredibly slow-paced slice-of-life about a robot named Alpha living in a world deeply shaped by climate change. Despite that dark-sounding premise, the book is very calm and beautiful to look at, dealing mostly with the mundanity of Alpha's every day as she learns about the world around her. Also the persimmons are huge!

• (00:00) - "Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou" by Hitoshi Ashinano
• (01:02) - Front Matter
• (03:43) - Our experience
• (05:47) - Impressions
• (12:15) - Art!
• (17:40) - A question from stevefm
• (24:36) - Spoilers! (If you can spoil this manga)
• (25:55) - How the world gets bigger
• (27:55) - A unique coming of age story
• (30:23) - Time and memory
• (38:24) - Kokone
• (44:46) - Androids connection with machines
• (48:44) - What are spot blacks?
• (51:42) - They’re so gay
• (51:56) - The cryptids as androids
• (58:58) - Alpha’s quirks
• (01:01:00) - Translation and dialect
• (01:03:35) - Where we left off
• (01:08:30) - Big persimmons!
• (01:10:25) - Further Reading

• Nothing else by Ashinano has an official English translation ¯\(ツ)/¯
• Two YKK OVAs (not streaming anywhere but not hard to find)
• Thematically similar:
  • Super Cub
  • Apocalypse Hotel (anime)

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:
Scout
Matt
Robin

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Today, the panelists discuss "Run Away With Me, Girl" by Battan. We're back with another yuri manga! Robin, Scout, Jillian, and Matt talk about the unique aspects of Midori's and Moko's relationship, the gendered tropes of yuri vs yaoi, the strange incel arc of the manga's antagonist, and the joy of seeing a story about the child of queer parents.

Content Warning: Domestic abuse

• (00:00) - “Run Away With Me, Girl” by Battan
• (00:38) - Front Matter
• (01:29) - Impressions
• (04:46) - Midori & Momo
• (06:25) - Art thoughts
• (09:14) - Fashion Corner
• (09:55) - Yuri vs Yaoi Gender Tropes
• (10:53) - SPOILER ZONE
• (10:56) - CW: Domestic violence
• (11:16) - Spoilery summary
• (12:35) - Dude SUCKS
• (19:53) - The girlcel
• (21:48) - Tazune’s incel arc
• (25:31) - This is just how things are
• (26:58) - Using the medium well
• (27:59) - Why are they acting like she’s married?!
• (30:14) - Momo
• (32:30) - Momo’s mom & homophobia
• (33:53) - The hostel owner
• (36:43) - The time skip
• (44:28) - Final thoughts
• (44:39) - Further Reading

- And Then There Were No Heroines by Battan
- The Golden Fly by Battan
- Secondhand Sisters by Battan
- Fatale Game by Battan

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:
Scout
Matt
Robin

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.