Gobbledygeek

Don’t you just hate it when you’re a superhero who saves the world and then gets zapped to a shitty little farm town in another dimension that you literally cannot leave? In Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s Dark Horse series Black Hammer, Abraham Slam, Golden Gail, Barbalien, Talky-Walky, Colonel Weird, and Madame Dragonfly sure do. For this month’s Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo discuss the recently concluded “main” storyline of Lemire and Ormston’s ever-expanding creation, consisting of Black Hammer issues #1-13 and Black Hammer: Age of Doom issues #1-12. From a backwater farm to the furthest reaches of time and space, our heroes explore every facet of the superhero genre. Along the way, they confront the metatextual realities of comics storytelling--and the just plain textual fact of aging.   Next: we have no plans. THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 02:33:48 00:00:37  - Intro 00:02:14  - Black Hammer 02:29:10  - Outro / Next THE MUSIC “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” by R.E.M., Reckoning (1984) “How Y

No one, especially not Alan Moore, ever really wanted a Watchmen sequel. Which is exactly why handing the reins to Damon Lindelof, who has a history of disorienting and upsetting expectations, is a stroke of genius. Last year’s HBO series, spearheaded by Lindelof, is a bold, startling continuation of Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graphic novel masterpiece--so of course, after talking about the book, Paul, Arlo, and reformed podcaster Greg Sahadachny had to discuss the TV show. The gang talks about the ways in which Lindelof subverts and pays tribute to Moore and Gibbons’ work; how Lindelof built a writers’ room with people who were not like him; the show’s provocative exploration of race and authority; whether or not the show sticks the landing; and much, much more.   Next: due to one scheduling kerfuffle after another, we’ve got another Four-Color Flashback for you! Paul and Arlo will discuss Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s Black Hammer. THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 02:32:50 00:00:30  - Intro 00:05:40  - Sturg

After a year of pointedly discussing no superhero stories, Paul and Arlo revive Four-Color Flashback for a new decade with the big kahuna of all superhero stories: Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ 1986-87 maxi-series Watchmen. Aided by emotional sherpa Greg Sahadachny, once and future host of The Debatable Podcast, the boys openly admit there is no new light to shed on perhaps the most analyzed comic book of all time--then get to shedding. What’s it like reading Watchmen in 2020? In the wake of Damon Lindelof’s TV sequel? The gang finds that, like all great art, Watchmen has not changed in the 33 years since its run wrapped, but we have. In a world where fascism seems much more tangible, where superhero fiction reigns supreme, Moore and Gibbons’ work has taken on a renewed sense of meaning. The gang discusses the book’s formalist genius; our heroes’ utter contempt for those they claim to save; why, for a certain type of reader, Rorschach is a morally just idol; and plenty more.   Next: we continue watching the Wa

The geeks speak! Gobbledygeek has been resurrected via cloning or Force magic or some shit, and to kick off season 11, Broken Magic author and The Deli Counter of Justice co-creator Eric Sipple has lightspeed-skipped on over to discuss Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker. After adoring The Last Jedi, the gang approached this supposed final film in the Skywalker Saga with heavy amounts of skepticism--well-earned, depending on who you ask. They discuss the mystical, magical malarkey behind Palpatine’s return; how director J.J. Abrams and writer Chris Terrio are uniquely suited to not deliver a satisfying conclusion; the oodles of fan service; what the film’s final scene means for the legacy of Star Wars; and more. Plus, they talk about The Baby Yoda Show AKA The Mandalorian.   Next: it is January 29, 2020. Paul and Arlo are discussing Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen for a Four-Color Flashback. I am tired of this world; these people. THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 02:35:50 00:00:00  - Intro 00:

‘Twas the season 10 finale of Gobbledygeek, when all through the podcast, Zombies were shuffling, Scottish dancers aghast. John McPhail’s Anna and the Apocalypse was the topic du jour, In hopes that Paul and Arlo would discuss the songs, the jokes, and maybe some more. The movie does not foster too much discussion, alas; While instead, talking about Christmas plans and getting high, our hosts have a blast. Paul in his kerchief and Arlo in his cap, Have settled their mics for a long winter’s nap.   Next: merry Christmas and happy New Year. We’ll see you in 2020. THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:32:00 00:01:18  - Intro 00:04:32  - Main Topic 00:48:05  - Holiday plans / Season 10 wrap-up 01:28:50  - Outro / Next THE MUSIC “Break Away” by Ella Hunt, Sarah Swire & Malcolm Cumming, Anna and the Apocalypse (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2018) “It’s That Time of Year” by Marli Siu, Anna and the Apocalypse (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2018) “Human Voice” by Cast from Anna and the Apocalypse,

It took Brás de Oliva Domingos so long to find out, and he found out. What, if anything, he found out is the central question of Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá’s 2010 Vertigo series Daytripper, subject of our final Four-Color Flashback for 2019. You see, Brás writes obituaries for a São Paulo newspaper--and at the end of most chapters in this book, he dies. Twin writers/artists Moon and Bá pave the way for an existential journey along the many turning points of a life, from the imperceptible to the unmistakable. Paul and Arlo discuss Daytripper’s hint of magical realism; the coherent, airtight structure that grounds the book’s absurdity; how the series’ hopeful attitude brushes up against horrific tragedy; Moon and Bá’s distinctive (though not so distinctive we know who is penciling and/or inking what!) art style, accentuated by master colorist Dave Stewart; and more.   Next: on the Gobbledygeek season 10 finale, Christmas gets twisted with John McPhail’s 2018 horror-comedy-musical Anna and the Apocalypse. THE B

The Cloud burst, and for forty days and forty nights, all of our secrets rained down. In the not terribly distant future world of Brian K. Vaughan, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vicente’s 2013-15 series The Private Eye, the Internet is a distant memory and anonymity is now the foundation of American society. Of course, our hero is an amoral paparazzo-slash-private investigator whose job is to dig up those old secrets; of course, this leads him into a world of trouble. For the penultimate Four-Color Flashback of 2019, Paul and Arlo discuss Vaughan’s clever utilization of noir tropes in the post-Internet age, Martin’s dynamic pencils/inks, Vicente’s eye-popping colors (this is one noir that doesn’t hide in the shadows), their radical pay-what-you-want self-publishing platform Panel Syndicate, and the big philosophical question at the heart of the book: is the Internet worth it?   Next: for the final Four-Color Flashback of the season, we get existential with Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba’s Daytripper. THE BREAKDOWN T

Ever have a job so shitty, it haunts you years (or even decades) down the line? Paul and Arlo have, and it’s called Gobbledygeek! Hey-o! In all seriousness (?), Paul recounts a traumatic experience at Shakey’s Pizza and Arlo is filled with regret over his time at the right-wing call center InfoCision. Cue flashbacks to high school football teams ravenous for wings and evil televangelists separating the faithful from what little coin they carry. Speaking of the latter, Arlo laments Kanye West’s evangelical turn on Jesus Is King. Elsewhere, Paul watches TV, including Succession, Primal, Daybreak, Watchmen, and Modern Love; and braves crowds of drunken revelers at shows for Bastille, Joywave, Trampled by Turtles, and The Avett Bros.   Next: TBD.  THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:39:58 00:00:33  - Intro 00:01:12  - We are NOT sponsored by the Gobble meal delivery service 00:07:30  - Cold pizza and really, really hot wings  00:14:43  - Way too much about InfoCision 00:43:48  - Not nearly enough about some great

Our favorite thing is Gobbledyween, so to close out this year’s frightening festivities, Paul and Arlo are breaking from the norm to discuss Emil Ferris’ 2017 graphic novel My Favorite Thing Is Monsters. Joining them for this first Gobbledyween/Four-Color Flashback crossover is their The Deli Counter of Justice collaborator Eric Sipple. The gang marvels at Ferris’ stunning art (all done in ballpoint pen!), attempts to process the numerous threads in this first of two planned volumes (sexuality, duality, and reality, oh my!), draws unexpected parallels to Art Spiegelman’s Maus (a FCF entry just this past August!), and so much more (no parenthetical necessary!). We promise there are monsters.   Next: and I’m freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, free Gooooobbliiiiiiin’. THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:42:55 00:00:44  - Intro 00:03:20  - My Favorite Thing is Monsters 01:36:51  - Outro / Next THE MUSIC “Wild Thing” by The Troggs, From Nowhere (1966) “Good Monsters” by Jars of Clay, Good Monsters (2006) THE LINKS “The Ho

Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme: the rich have always sucked off the poor, and podcasting icon Greg Sahadachny has always joined Gobbledyween for the most ridiculous and outrageous pick of the season. This time, Paul and Arlo have chosen to torment Greg with Brian Yuzna’s 1989 satire Society, which is a dumb teen sex comedy until--well, until it isn’t. The gang discusses the film’s subtext and/or screaming neon text; Screaming Mad George’s “surrealistic makeup effects”; how the movie surprisingly rewards repeat viewings; and the film’s unlikely parallels to Lynch, Friedkin, Polanski, and a whole buncha other pretentious arthouse weirdos.   Next: Gobbledyween comes to a close as Broken Magic author Eric Sipple joins us to discuss Emil Ferris’ graphic novel My Favorite Thing Is Monsters. THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:14:44 00:00:45  - Intro 00:03:42  - Society 01:09:00  - Outro / Next THE MUSIC “The Eton Boating Song (feat. Helen Moore)” by A.D.E.W., Mark Ryder & Phil Davies, Society (Motio

It finally happened. After three long years of behind-the-scenes turmoil, Near Dark has made its way to Gobbledyween. A/V writer-director Joseph Lewis joins Paul and Arlo to discuss Kathryn Bigelow’s 1987 vampiric Western, which reimagined the creatures of the night as filthy, lowdown rednecks. The gang discusses the influence Near Dark has had on vampire fiction, the late great Bill Paxton’s immortal performance as Severen, the film’s surprisingly conservative stance on biological family, and how surprisingly difficult it is to get ahold of the movie these days.   Next: Gobbledyween lives in a society. Greg Sahadachny joins us to talk Brian Yuzna’s 1989 satire Society. THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:33:05 00:00:45  - Intro 00:03:44  - Near Dark 01:24:22  - Outro / Next THE MUSIC “Fever” by The Cramps, Songs the Lord Taught Us (1980) “The Cowboy Rides Away” by George Strait, Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind (1984) THE LINKS “25 Things We Learned from Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark Commentary” by Rob

Leaves are on the ground, blood is on the screen. It’s time once again for Gobbledyween, that most beloved of Gobbledygeek institutions--and one that has not reared its horrific head in full since 2015! All month long, Paul and Arlo will be discussing horror or horror-adjacent movies, starting with one they actually discussed seven years ago: Drew Goddard’s mega-meta 2011 genre critique The Cabin in the Woods. The boys reveal why they’re revisiting the film (hint: it involves sheer incompetence!), break down Goddard and co-writer/producer Joss Whedon’s refutation of horror stereotypes, compare Cabin’s prevailing sense of nihilism to the pragmatic hope on display in Buffy and Angel, and go nuts trying to name all the monsters we see on screen.   Next: the night, it’s deafening. A/V writer-director Joseph Lewis joins us to discuss--finally--Kathryn Bigelow’s 1987 vampire Western Near Dark. THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:43:03 00:00:35  - Intro 00:11:12  - The Cabin in the Woods 01:40:36  - Outro / Next TH

For another installment of this year’s non-superhero Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo look at the story of a real-life hero in Green River Killer: A True Detective Story, Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case’s loving tribute to Jeff’s dad, Detective Tom Jensen. Detective Jensen was instrumental in catching Gary Leon Ridgway AKA the Green River Killer, America’s most prolific serial killer. The boys discuss Paul’s connection to (and possible culpability in?!) the case, the comparisons or lack thereof to the father-son dynamic in Maus, Case’s beautiful character acting, and more.   Next: leaves are on the ground, blood is on the screen. It’s time for Gobbledyween. We kick off this year’s festivities with a(nother) discussion of Drew Goddard’s 2011 mega-meta horror film The Cabin in the Woods. This time, Paul and Arlo are joined by Michael Holland, post-production supervisor for American Horror Story.  THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:15:25 00:00:35  - Intro 00:02:00  - Green River Killer 01:09:47  - Outro / Next

For the latest installment of this year’s spandex-free Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo tackle a big one: Art Spiegelman’s Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, still the only comic book ever to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Joining them to discuss Spiegelman’s harrowing account of his father Vladek’s time in the concentration camps of Nazi-occupied Poland--and Art’s own tense relationship with Vladek--is Broken Magic author and The Deli Counter of Justice co-creator Eric Sipple. The gang discusses Spiegelman’s provocative choice to depict Jews as mice, Nazis as cats, Poles as pigs, etc.; how Spiegelman follows in a tradition going all the way back to Mickey Mouse; and why it’s specifically disturbing to read Maus in 2019.   Next: Paul and Arlo will return.   THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:32:45 00:01:52  - Intro 00:04:04  - Maus: A Survivor’s Tale 01:27:43  - Outro / Next

The Amazon is burning and all anyone cares about is Spider-Man. Yay! Welcome to another exciting episode of Gobbledygeek! After nixing a fash-bashing Geek Challenge because Paul absolutely could not sit through three hours of The Sound of Music, he and Arlo decide to freestyle it and, well, all is not well! The world’s on fire, the government is imploding, and Spider-Man might not get to be an Avenger anymore! As for that last one, the boys have deeply conflicted feelings about their love for the character and the Marvel movies with their disdain for Disney the Evil Empire. Plus, Arlo still won’t watch all the things Paul says he should watch, and Marc Maron chimes in.   Next: for even more lighthearted family fun, the boys have asked their The Deli Counter of Justice co-editor Eric Sipple to join them for a discussion of Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, extremely depressing yet extremely essential, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale. THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:27:36 00:00:35  - Intro 00:02:30  - Us NOT

A long time ago in an industry far, far away...the end was nigh for Hollywood’s good ol’ days. Charles Manson had arrived, Family in tow, to disrupt the neverending Summer of Love. Quentin Tarantino’s ninth (and penultimate?) film, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, takes a look at L.A. in 1969, as Leonardo DiCaprio’s washed-up actor and Brad Pitt’s mysterious stuntman cross paths with rising star (and future Manson victim) Sharon Tate, here played by Margot Robbie. Joining Paul and Arlo to navigate Tarantino’s exploration of a half-century’s worth of pop culture detritus are former Smoke Gets in Your Ears co-hosts Joseph Lewis and Kenn Edwards. The gang discusses the film’s languid pace, how Once Upon a Time compares to Tarantino alternate histories like Inglourious Basterds or Django Unchained, the ways in which the film pointedly interrogates various problematic aspects of its writer-director, and--of course--the groovy soundtrack. Next: Nazis! We hate those guys. So do the heroes of The Sound of Music and

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. THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:22:35 00:00:35  - Intro / Main Topic 01:18:40  - Outro / Next

Paul cannot get his fridge under control because these damn restaurants keep serving him so much damn food. He and Arlo discuss the uniquely American problem of ever-expanding portion sizes, stopping at the Cheesecake Factory before taking a detour into canine conundrums, parental pondering, and nostalgic nightmares. You’ll never look at a Heffalump the same way. Featuring a cameo from Fatty Liver & The Teething Puppies!   Next: the Gobbledygeeks in the place to be, gettin’ busy with Hip Hop Family Tree. THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:16:05 00:00:58  - Intro / Portion Sizes 00:06:45  - Trigger Warning: IBS 00:14:48  - Heffalumps and Woozles Haunt My Dreams 00:18:40  - Feline Facts and Canine Cliches 00:32:11  - Let’s Have Kids...Or Not 00:48:15  - Teasing That Deliverse Podcast Thing 00:50:34  - NKOTB / Not Down With “Fluffer” Acts 01:10:00  - Outro / Next

Pack your unnamed dead uncle's bags, grab your favorite designer sunglasses (that can also level whole cities), and fly on over for a discussion of Spider-Man: Far from Home. GameZone editor-in-chief Cade Onder swings by to join Paul and Arlo, becoming simultaneously the biggest Spider-Fan and the youngest guest to ever grace the podcast. The gang debates the moral implications of EDITH, the gentrification of Peter Parker, whether or not Zendaya is the best MJ, and if we ever need to see that dang Iron Spider suit again.   Next: free the gobble. THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:42:45 00:00:30  - Intro / Guest 00:06:30  - Main Topic (Non-Spoilery) 00:22:07  - Main Topic (SPOILERS) 01:37:40  - Outro / Next

We’re tired. So tired. That’s what you want to hear when you’re about to fire up a podcast, right? You are reading this, aren’t you? Buried among such illuminating subjects as the coffee Arlo’s drinking, Paul’s underhanded behind-the-scenes manipulations, and the boys’ general unprofessionalism, there is indeed some pop culture palaver and parley. The boys are digging HBO’s troubled teens drama Euphoria despite being approximately 400 years too old to say things like “that’s a mood”; Arlo is losing faith in The Handmaid’s Tale; Paul remembers Yesterday; and they both are in awe of Toy Story 4 being so much more than a cynical cash-grab.   Next: Toby Maguire now vanquished, Jake Gyllenhaal finally makes his way into a Spider-Man movie, donning a fishbowl for Spider-Man: Far From Home.   THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time: 01:11:48 00:00:30  - Intro / The Dog Ate My Sleep 00:07:35  - We Never Talk About Pop Culture Anymore 00:09:49  - Euphoria 00:25:12  - The Handmaid’s Tale  00:36:33  - The Walking Dead Comic Series