Gobbledygeek

It's happened again. Paul has become obsessed with another movie, necessitating a bonus episode that simply couldn't fit in the regular Gobbledygeek schedule. This time, Paul is wild about Disney's Zootopia, which tells the story of bunny cop Judy Hopps and con fox Nick Wilde, who team up on a case that goes to surprising lengths in uncovering systemic oppression in the animal kingdom. Paul and Arlo discuss the film's take on racism and sexism, debate its effectiveness in shedding light on those subjects, and discover some truly hideous "fan art."

Spring has sprung, which means it's time for another Four-Color Flashback! In years past, Paul and Arlo have explored the dream worlds of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and the cartoonish fantasy of Jeff Smith's Bone. They'll be devoting 2016 to Matt Wagner's magnum opus Grendel. There's a wealth of material out there, but the boys will attempt to stick to the original series, which has been collected in various formats. For this introductory episode, they turn to the first Grendel story, "Devil by the Deed," which can be found in Grendel Omnibus: Volume One - Hunter Rose, pp. 7-45. What's it about? Good question! You see, there's this wealthy playboy named Hunter Rose who writes bestselling novels while also masquerading as Grendel, who seeks control of the mob underworld. In his downtime, he fights an Algonquin werewolf called Argent. Paul recalls what initially drew him to Grendel, while first-time reader Arlo finds it...interesting. The boys discuss Wagner's manga-meets-Art Deco style, his experimental storytelling, and how he inverts the whole hero/villain thing. Plus, there's talk of Daredevil season 2.

Next: after a week off, it's Paul v Arlo: Dawn of Kenn.

When the apocalypse happens, wouldn't you want to wake up in an underground bunker, shackled to a wall and pricked with a makeshift IV by none other than American screen luminary John Goodman? Well, cult icon-in-the-making Mary Elizabeth Winstead isn't thrilled by her new circumstances, while the amiably bearded John Gallagher Jr. just wants everyone to get along. Paul and AJ, meanwhile, contemplate 10 Cloverfield Lane's connection to 2008's found footage monster mash Cloverfield, debate its effectiveness as a psychological thriller, and stick up for child killers (wait, no, that's just Paul). Plus, AJ's dying. Again.

Next: Four-Color Flashback 2016 kicks off with a look at the first story arc of Matt Wagner's Grendel, "Devil by the Deed."

Later this month, Paul and AJ will begin a new Four-Color Flashback series exploring Matt Wagner's Grendel. Before they do, though, they're making a return trip to the Dreaming for another look at Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, which they pored over in 2014. Their The Deli Counter of Justice collaborator Eric Sipple joins the boys to discuss The Sandman: Overture, which takes place both before and after Gaiman's original 75-issue opus. The gang raves about J.H. Williams III's mind-expanding artwork, discusses how Overture fares as a prequel, questions its additions to the mythos, and compares the Dream we met in the first chapter of The Sandman to the one we know by the final chapter of Overture.

Next: after a week off, the boys visit their neighbors down at 10 Cloverfield Lane.