Author Archives: Elana Levin

The Cartoonist Cooperative: Cartoonists of the World, Unite!

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#ComicsBrokeMe but organizing is the answer! The comics industry harms the artists, writers and editors who make the art we love. Building collective power is the strategy powerful enough to win. The Cartoonist Cooperative is a new vehicle for doing just that! I’m joined by one of this new organization’s founding members, Joan Zahra Dark, to talk about the organization’s goals and how readers can support it. We also talk about some cool very queer comics with gay robots and what not. 

Learn more about the Cartoonist Cooperative  https://cartoonist.coop/

Read about Ian McGinty, may his memory be a blessing and a revolution. https://www.comicsbeat.com/artist-ian-mcginty-has-passed-away-at-age-38/

Keep up with Joan online here– https://www.instagram.com/whoaitsjoan

Justice Warriors with cartoonists Matt Bors and Ben Clarkson

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Possibly the most political comic on the stands, Justice Warriors is a brutal, hilarious and ornately drawn new satirical comic about policing, power and AI in the dystopian Bubble City. Join series co-creators Ben Clarkson and Matt Bors as we talk about their first trade paperback published by Ahoy Comics.

Matt Bors is a cartoonist, writer, editor, and the founder of The Nib. He was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for his political cartoons in 2012 and 2020  His cartoons were collected in the book We Should Improve Society Somewhat. 

Ben Clarkson is an artist, animator, filmmaker and writer based in Montreal. His work has appeared on Adult Swim, Time.com and been featured in GQ. Justice Warriors is his first comic series. 

I want to credit Justice Warriors colorist Felipe Sobriero for his work too.

Petition on algorithmic justice I mentioned.

Star Wars The Bad Batch: An Animated Dirty Dozen of Space Dads

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Star Wars newest animated series is both fascinating and frustrating. Dig into the Bad Batch’s big questions with guest Dr. Holly Schaeffer-Raymond.

The Bad Batch reflects on the rise of fascism, biology as destiny and social programing. This episode’s first 20 minutes are spoiler-free to help you decide if you want to watch. 

Then join us for:

  • What the show has to say about about workers’ rights.
  • Is Rhea Pearlman’s Cid a Yoda? 
  • Why Omega is a good kid character.
  • Can 3D animation be good, actually?

Dr. Holly Schaeffer-Raymond is an adjunct professor of English who holds an MFA in Poetry and a PhD in English at Temple University, where she also teaches. She’s the author of two poetry collections, Mall is Lost and Heaven’s Wish to Destroy All Minds, and has been included in We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics and The Bedfellows Little Black Book. Her writing about comics has appeared on Shelfdust, and her writing about poetry has appeared at The Poetry Project, The Volta, and elsewhere.

Visit https://unwhitewashthebadbatch.carrd.co/ for perspective on white washing in the series and actions to take.

Cartoon of “Sheev” is by Holly herself.

Waller vs. Wildstorm: Spencer Ackerman’s DC Comics Debut

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“How the carceral state seeks to manipulate and dispose of its rogues, its dregs, its captives and put them to deniable use by intelligence agencies… It would be malpractice of me, for what I cover, if I wasn’t interested in that!” – Spencer Ackerman, co-writer of Waller vs Wildstorm for DC Comics and award winning national security journalist.

Spencer Ackerman discusses his debut comic, a Year One look at the career of future Suicide Squad boss Amanda Waller. His miniseries, with co-writer Evan Narcisse, artist Jesús Merino, and color artist Michael Atiyeh weaves together Wildstorm and DC Comics espionage lore through the lens of Cold War geopolitics–as only they can.

First 43 minutes of this episode are spoiler free. 

Be sure to subscribe to Spencer Ackerman’s newsletter https://foreverwars.ghost.io/ where he shares thoughts about this series as well as reporting and essays that “chronicle, investigate and interrogate the continuities, departures and permutations of the War on Terror.”

That gorgeous cover in the preview is by Jorge Fornes.

1/6 : A What If? comic about The Insurrection

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What if the attack on the US Capitol succeeded?
1/6 is a 4 part comics series written by Alan Jenkins and Gan Golan and illustrated by Will Rosado. Prof. Jenkins and Golan joined me on the podcast to talk about their comic which combines comics journalism, speculative fiction and activism. 

Drawing on real-life events, 1/6 travels the road that led from back-room meetings, white supremacist rallies, and the Four Seasons Landscaping parking lot to a violent attack on the Capitol that left several Americans dead and shook our nation to its core. It imagines a world in which the events of that day turned out very differently. Through a diverse cast of characters 1/6 builds towards a story of how we might organize and fight for democracy.

Buy the comic AND check out their forthcoming action guide – http://onesixcomics.com/ 

Creator Jadzia Axelrod on Galaxy The Prettiest Star for DC Comics

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“Being normal was never going to save me,” says Galaxy the trans space princess protagonist of GLAAD Award Nominated graphic novel Galaxy: The Prettiest Star. “That’s my ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ moment. That’s [Galaxy’s] superhero moment,” says co-creator, writer Jadzia Axelrod.

Jadzia is the author of Galaxy: The Prettiest Star, a new YA graphic novel illustrated by Jess Taylor and published by DC Comics. Jadzia joins us to talk about creating this new trans (and not just metaphorically trans) superheroine, her creative process, some DC Comics queer history, why David Bowie works in a contemporary graphic novel and Hawkgirl’s favorite football team.

“Taylor Barzelay has the perfect life. Good looks, good grades, a starting position on the basketball team, a loving family, even an adorable corgi. Every day in Taylor’s life is perfect. And every day is torture.

Taylor is actually the Galaxy Crowned, an alien princess from the planet Cyandii, and one of the few survivors of an intergalactic war. For six long, painful years, Taylor has accepted her duty to remain in hiding as a boy on Earth.

That all changes when Taylor meets Metropolis girl Katherine “call me Kat” Silverberg, whose confidence is electrifying. Suddenly, Taylor no longer wants to hide, even if exposing her true identity could attract her greatest enemies. From the charming and brilliant mind behind the popular podcast The Voice of Free Planet X, Jadzia Axelrod, and with stunningly colorful artwork by Jess Taylor comes the story of a girl in hiding who must face her fears to see herself as others see her: the prettiest star.”

Dungeons & Dragons and IP Law: Getting Lawful Neutral with Linda Codega

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Swift fan organizing gets the goods! Dungeons & Dragons planned to change how independent content creators could monetize their D&D-related work, but backlash caused the Hasbro-owned company to change the controversial plan. Hear what this Gargantuan news from the world of tabletop role playing games means for comics fans and fandom at large with the TTRPG reporter who broke the story, Linda Codega.

Keep up with Codega’s reporting here https://gizmodo.com/author/lcodega

http://lindahcodega.com/ 

Listen to the GP Radio guide to getting into TTRPGs – https://bit.ly/ttrpgGP 

Graphic Policy Radio: X-Men and the MLK Legacy Roundtable

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One of our most listened to episodes of Graphic Policy Radio discussed the X-Men and their use as an allegory of the civil rights, it covered the series throughout its many incarnations and writers. The discussion also veered into the depiction of minorities in “comic” entertainment and Marvel’s continuity. In honor of MLK Day, we present that podcast discussion.

Guests joining in on the conversation were:

  • Steve Attewell – A political & union activist, Steve holds a PhD in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the founder and writer of Race for the Iron Throne as well as The Realignment Project
  • David Brothers – David works for a comics publisher, blogs about stuff at 4thletter.net, & tweets about everything at @hermanos. Find his life story at iamdavidbrothers.com.
  • Gene Demby – Gene Demby is an American writer and journalist & the lead blogger for NPR’s Code Switch team.
  • Emma Houxbois – Emma is a queer blogger for hire out of Vancouver, BC most recently attached to Girls Read Comics. Follow her @emmahouxbois
  • Kendra James – a blogger who writes on race, comics, television & more for Racialicious, follow her @wriglied

You can listen to the archive above or go here and download it for on the go.

What are the top 50 comic book events of all time?

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Shelfdust.com asked 150 comic book critics to list our favorite event storylines, “You know the type – something big, dramatic, crossing over a dozen different comics across the course of a few months, with everybody being effected by whatever it is that happens at the end of the story. Whether it be a Crisis or War of some kind, or just the latest in an annual routine which sees Earth invaded by some kind of bigger and badder threat than any that Earth has seen for, well, at least six months or so.”- Steve Morris, founder of Shelfdust.

Critic Steve Morris joins us to talk about the results of the critics poll, what makes for a great event and what even counts as an event anyway!

Read the lists of top 50 comics events: https://shelfdust.com/tag/top-fifty-comic-book-events/

Support Shelfdust – https://www.patreon.com/shelfdust

My essay on OMAC for Shelfdust’s notorious Infinite Crisis series https://shelfdust.com/2020/10/08/infinite-crisis-with-elana-levin-who-or-what-is-omac/

Andor S1 part 2: “The Internationale” Goes Intergalactic, Star Wars Style

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Listen to this on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.

Rebel organizer Charles Lenchner and Jedi Master Klaudia Amenábar return to cover the second half of Andor season 1, showrunner Tony Gilroy’s revolutionary Star Wars show– which airs, somehow on Disney+. 

In part 1 of my podcast’s Andor coverage (listen to that episode first https://bit.ly/ComradeAndor) we joked about a Star Wars reimagining of “The Internationale”. I loved the idea so much, that we made one. Original melody composed by Pierre De Geyter, Star Wars-ified lyrics by Katie Unger. Vocals by me while I was sick with COVID but didn’t know it yet (hence the delayed release of this podcast and my less than polished singing). 

Check out Klaudia’s podcast: RuPalp’s Podrace: A Queer Star Wars Podcast https://rupalps-podrace-a-queer-star-wars-podcast.simplecast.com/ and find more of her writing and Star Wars resources https://linktr.ee/kaludiasays

Follow Charles Lenchner on twitter (for now – https://twitter.com/clenchner ) 

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