“Maw” by Jude Ellison S. Doyle & A.L. Kaplan

Robin, Jillian, and Scout visit a building called AMARS and the half-dozen wonderfully weird women who live there in today's episode on the first three volumes of "Princess Jellyfish" by Akiko Higashimura (or, if you're like us, the first 1.5 English-language omnibus volumes). With enthusiasm that nearly matches Banba's love of trains, the panelists discuss gender, neurodiversity, classism, fashion...and even their budding interest in Three Kingdoms-era China.(00:00) - "Princess Jellyfish" Vol. 1-3 by Akiko Higashimura (00:22) - Front Matter (01:58) - Spoiler-Free Summary (02:39) - Impressions (06:58) - Fashion & Art (12:09) - The humor (14:48) - Spoiler-y Summary (18:32) - Every neurodivergent friend group (20:59) - Our two main characters (27:43) - Gender stuff (33:48) - Running bits (37:38) - Putting our autism glasses on (42:32) - The auto-bio parts (46:56) - The real estate agent (50:23) - Will we read more? (51:33) - Further Reading Further ReadingBy Akiko Higashimura - Tokyo Tarareba Girls and Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s JourneyVeil (for fashion)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:ScoutRobinJillianEditing this week by AJ Fillari.Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Just in time for Halloween, Robin and Scout read Maw, written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle and illustrated by A.L. Kaplan; a comic about becoming something fantastically monstrous to get back at the everyday monsters lurking among us. Our conversation goes deep on feminism, misogyny, violence against women, and the ways this story does and doesn't deliver on its feminist horror label. Turns out the true terror of the season might've been gender essentialism all along.(00:00) - “Maw” by Jude Ellison S. Doyle & A.L. Kaplan (00:26) - Front Matter (00:41) - Content Warnings (01:18) - Spoiler-Free Summary (01:54) - Familiarity and Impressions (06:30) - Pigeonholed Stories About Women (09:21) - Art! (12:03) - Spoiler Summary (14:33) - The early issues (18:15) - “The girl cult” & TERF Island (29:24) - The limits of this book’s view on misogyny (49:44) - The body horror stuff (55:38) - Further Reading Further ReadingTrainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear . . . and WhyDead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female PowerThe NeighborsMs. 45, Jennifer’s Body, Raw, Under the SkinA 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:ScoutRobinEditing this week by AJ Fillari.Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Today "The Panelists" discuss The Summer Hikaru Died, a queer coming-of-age horror manga. "We" discuss themes of queerness as contagion, Mokumokuren's digital art process, and horrifying moments of tenderness that we can't look away from.You'res̵̼̟̰̭̲̬̽̇͠ṫ̴̳̲̯̘͙͉̟̣̟̆i̴̡̡̧̧̧̧͙̝̣͉̯̱̰͕͋̾͊̒̀͂͑̿̀̅̚̕͝͝l̶͙͍͚̝̘̠̺̦͇̺̋͂̾͒͑̑̀̇͌̎̏̚͝l̶͕̦̠̞͙̈́͋̑͊̿͛͒̎̈́ ̷̧̤̖̳̼̫̝̻̜̖͚̲̫͇̓̑̈́̑̋̈́̔̆́͋̔͠ͅr̸̙̻͋͗̂͘e̴̥̳͓̜̫̣͊͜͜ả̶̳̥̞̉͋̐̓̌̽̍̕͜͝ḑ̸̢̭̮͓͓̺̣͙̭͔̥͊̑̋̉̀̀ị̶͍̓̾̇̌̿͂̄n̴̼͉͔͓̤͂̽͂͊͜g̴̨̦̲̍? You should go. There's ņ̴̯̳̘̗̲̺̓͗̓͑̄̈́̋̆̓͌̒́o̷̧͇̦̩̪͖̰͈̰͉̎t̸͓̬̼̳͓͇̩̮̭̺̥̀̎͐̅̌͠h̵̡͕̝̜̠͔̟̦̻̯̋̇̓̿̾̿̿̈͝ͅȉ̴̘̼͕͍̱̜̓̄́̓̈̆̄͗̒͐͘n̷̨̩̮͔̲̪̳̽̿͒̓̈́̾̈́̏͘͠g̶͈̈́̔ ̷̧̨̨̢̧͇̯͚̣̞̐͂͌̓̑͒̎̋̇̎̓͝ę̸̨̛̳̤̮͓̻̗̻̥̣̰̮́̉̒͊̓͒̎̚͜͝l̶͎̟̦͍͉̟̣͈̮̩͗͒̇͊͘ͅͅs̷͚͐͐̇e̴̠̜͗ ̴̡̡̛͎̯̩̗̻̺͖͍̟̖͉̃̇̈́̒͜͝ͅf̴̣̔̎̀͗̋̏̐̂͝ǫ̸͙͇̬̗̠̯̭̭͍͗̔̀̉̐̔̀̐ͅŗ̴͖̬̼͉̹̫̻͕̺͔̱͂̎͆̕ ̷̢̯̟͓̲̪͋̉̀̈͊̀̀̾̐̌̀̊͝ͅỵ̸̥͇̎̔͒̈̌̂͂̀͒̀̉͊͝o̵̲͕̯̪̥̹̗̗̮̼̦̬͇̙̓̎̉͑͐̚͝͝͝u̵̧̦̻̟̎̇̈́͛͑̃̀̚͠ ̵̰͍̇́h̴̢̘̑̒̅͋͐̚̕e̷̡̛͉͈͍̖̹͐̓̆̀̉̇̀́̒̓̑̅͠ř̸̛̤͖̾́́̀̽́̏͝͠e̶̗̠̳̠̦͇̐̀̆̌͌̇̽̌̿͆͠. Do you feel that? It feels like r̶̛̯͚̦͙̠͕̩̠̭̣̾̎̈́́͊̂̈́͐͆̀̚a̷̢̟̺̖̲͖͍͓͍̽̒͗́̂̑̏͘ẃ̴̗͇̠͍͔̪̹̺̣̬̝͋̏͝ ̸̡̫͒̌̄͋͆̃͠c̸̺̻̹̭̝̳̲̥̬͍͖͕̀͗h̵͉͉͎͋i̸͍̠͈͈̬͇̠̯̖̰͈̤̱̬͉̓̈́̽́̅̉͒̊c̶̺̮̈́̿͂̈́̚k̵̫̬͖̱̗͍͎̜̗͂̂͊͑̀͘̕͝ḝ̴͔̱̫̼̘̳̥̆͌̒͂̎̒͒̈͛͆͠͝n̵̮̳̺͕̤̓.(00:00) - “The Summer Hikaru Died” by Mokumokuren (00:36) - Front Matter (00:44) - Non-Spoiler Summary (01:23) - Impressions (14:08) - The horror of this art (23:29) - Mokumokuren’s privacy (25:48) - Master + Master (29:02) - How adults are drawn (32:17) - SPOILER ZONE (32:54) - The reveal is so fast (35:13) - Queerness as contagion (40:13) - CW: Homophobia (41:01) - The locker room scene (43:16) - The moment in the classroom (47:15) - Wtf is up with everyone else? (50:22) - The anime (51:54) - Is it a BL? (59:32) - The joke comics (01:00:07) - Swamp Man (01:00:52) - Further Reading Further ReadingThe manga is ending with Chapter 51 on October 20th. Looks like it will be about 10 volumes.The Summer Hikaru Died on NetflixMokumokuren’s other work is largely one-shots and Doujinshi that I had a hard time finding. Look for titles like “Period” and “Classmate Who Will Do Anything For you”Uzumaki by Junji ItoYour Hand From the Other Side by Wata Rainy & Kajii FukuA 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:ScoutMattRobinJillianEditing this week by AJ Fillari.Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Today the Panelists discuss a book that is more of a collection of Instagram posts than a narrative. We discuss our love for Mackesy’s finished but unfinished-looking art and our mixed opinions on the words and narrative in this book. And at the end, there is a reveal that changes everything.(00:00) - “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy (01:03) - Front Matter (01:59) - Impressions (08:14) - Kids don’t talk like this (08:54) - The art style (13:19) - The Structure (19:19) - Metatextuality (21:42) - Further Reading Further ReadingThe animated adaptation and the documentary on Apple TV+A continuation titled Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm was released in 2025, if you want more of this!Apparently other Macksesy art might just Be Around You. He’s done political cartoons, a lot of art for charity work, and a lot of art for public spaces, especially in London.The Arrival by Shaun TanA 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:ScoutMattJillianEditing this week by AJ Fillari.Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

The Panelists are back with episode 2 of our Fullmetal Alchemist readthrough. In these volumes, we learn so much about how the world of Fullmetal Alchemist works behind the scenes, the darkest plans of our villains, the atrocities committed by our heroes, and which characters make for the best horny fanart.We spoil volumes 1-9 in this episode. Check out our episode on those volumes here!(00:00) - “Fullmetal Alchemist” by Hiromu Arakawa (02:33) - Spoiler-free summary (03:21) - Impressions vs last time (07:59) - Spoiler Zone (11:52) - Spoilery Summary (15:13) - Matt was late on his reading (15:45) - The Pride Reveal (17:30) - There’s a lot of war crimes going on here (30:25) - The openness of the big bads (35:14) - Brotherhood differences (37:35) - Arakawa loves big boobs (38:33) - Some FMA ships (41:42) - The chess pieces (43:38) - Scout’s favorite Elric brothers moments (47:55) - BIG ENVY (53:56) - 2003 differences (55:36) - Al’s body (56:13) - Hughes! (57:02) - Greedling (01:01:24) - Sloth’s transmutation circle (01:07:15) - Arakawa’s planning (01:09:22) - The human sacrifices (01:12:33) - Winry and Scar (01:22:12) - Dr. Knox (01:26:29) - Listener Questions (01:31:51) - Further Reading Further ReadingYou can find more of Hiromu Arakawa’s work in her completed series Silver Spoon and ongoing series Daemons of the Shadow Realm (second of which has recently begun airing its anime adaptation!)If you find yourself thinking “man, these fight scenes are pretty cool, I wonder what they’d look like if someone animated the hell out of them,” Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood can be found on many streaming servicesIf you find yourself thinking “wow, I’m really enjoying how this shonen adventure story is also about the horrors of war and government corruption”, I would recommend Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro TogashiA 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:ScoutMattJillianEditing this week by AJ Fillari.Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Come along with the panelists as we venture back to the mythical, long-ago land of 2012. Cape comics are on the show once more with Marvel's Hawkeye, as written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by a large team of artists (David Aja chief among them). The story of oft-ignored Avenger Clint Barton and his protege Kate Bishop takes us coast-to-coast and through half a dozen different art styles, but at the heart of it lies the question...Just how far can the lone wolf archetype actually get you?(00:00) - “Hawkeye” by Matt Fraction & David Aja (00:20) - Front Matter (01:19) - Non-spoiler summary (01:46) - Impressions (04:49) - Structure & time (06:40) - Art! (14:08) - Do you need to know the characters? (20:44) - Understanding this comic (24:29) - Some soul-searching (31:58) - SPOILER ZONE (32:46) - Bro (34:18) - The humor (39:01) - The women in Clint’s life (42:58) - Some great paneling (46:55) - The LA stuff (52:29) - RIP Encounter Restaurant (52:58) - The gay couple (55:18) - Madame Masque’s design (56:43) - When Clint loses his hearing (59:26) - Pizza is my business (01:06:59) - Issue 10 (01:08:26) - Kate’s shirt (01:09:23) - Kate’s car (01:10:22) - The color script (01:14:27) - The last 2 pages (01:19:10) - Further reading Further Reading- Matt Fraction’s “Batman”- David Aja’s “Immortal Iron Fist”- Mark Waid’s “Daredevil”- Jimmy Corrigan the smartest kid on earth - Chris Ware- Gillen and McKelvie’s “Young Avengers”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:ScoutMattRobinJillianEditing this week by AJ Fillari.Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Today the Panelists discuss the young adult horror novel Hello Sunshine by Keezy Young. This one's got everything you could want. Secret gay boyfriends. 60's fashion and art inspiration. An amateur murder investigation. Demons. And a cute dog.Content Warning: self-harm, suicide, murder, mental illness, psychosis, and homophobia(00:00) - “Hello Sunshine” by Keezy Young (00:35) - Front Matter (01:09) - Content Warnings (01:27) - Impressions (04:12) - The pace of the book (07:16) - Noah ❤️ (09:00) - Jamie (10:20) - Sky (10:34) - Izzy (12:41) - Keezy’s art (13:36) - Color scripting (15:31) - Faces! (17:16) - Fashion Corner (19:51) - SPOILER ZONE (20:44) - Mrs. Danner is innocent! (21:29) - Sky getting told off by her mom (22:39) - Horror & Mental Health (31:33) - A personal experience of psychosis (34:02) - This story works best as a comic (36:35) - This book is scary! (40:11) - Madame Rainbow is [REDACTED] (44:14) - Informative but not Didactic (46:12) - Noah and Alex in the field of flowers (48:16) - Trans rep (52:11) - Speech patterns of the kids (52:58) - Read the Afterword (54:34) - Further Reading Further Reading- Just Going For a Walk by Keezy Young- Sunflowers by Keezy YoungA 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:ScoutMattRobinJillianEditing this week by AJ Fillari.Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

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 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 HorrocksA 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:ScoutMattRobinJillianEditing 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 Further ReadingNothing else by Ashinano has an official English translation ¯\(ツ)/¯Two YKK OVAs (not streaming anywhere but not hard to find)Thematically similar: Super CubApocalypse 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:ScoutMattRobinJillianEditing 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 Further Reading- And Then There Were No Heroines by Battan- The Golden Fly by Battan- Secondhand Sisters by Battan- Fatale Game by BattanA 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:ScoutMattRobinJillianEditing this week by AJ Fillari.Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.