Gobbledygeek

Imagine a world where a global pandemic killed millions and changed society forever. Spooky stuff, huh? Well, take a break from reality with this month’s Four-Color Flashback: Sweet Tooth: The Deluxe Edition - Book One, comprising the first 12 issues of Jeff Lemire’s offbeat breakthrough about a little deer boy and the post-apocalyptic hell that awaits him in the wilds of Nebraska. Along the way, he meets a Frank Miller-style tough guy named Jepperd, who seems to be the grizzled protector to Gus’ naive innocent. It’s a little more complicated than that, of course. Paul and Arlo discuss Lemire’s weird, idiosyncratic artwork; the way he uses the faces and especially the eyes of his laconic characters to convey so much; and how the new Netflix adaptation is radically different.

NEXT: dust off that mail robot, it’s time for The Americans season 2 with British secret agent Wesley “Wezzo” Mead.

BREAKDOWN

00:00:47  -  Intro / Banter

00:19:38  -  Sweet Tooth: The Deluxe Edition - Book One

01:37:00  -  Outro / Next

LINKS

• Sweet Tooth Filmmaker Jim Mickle on Reimagining the Apocalypse by Matthew Dessem, Slate

• Why Sweet Tooth Created a Friendlier Apocalypse by Alec Bojalad, Den of Geek

MUSIC

• “My Father’s House” by Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska (1982)
• “Out of the Woods” by Taylor Swift, 1989 (2014)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ 

• Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate
• Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/
• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Advocate for writers who might be owed money due to discontinuance of royalties: https://www.writersmustbepaid.org/ 
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

On a new freestyle episode, Paul and Arlo spend the whole podcast telling you about other podcasts you should be listening to instead (and one you should not). You see, Paul has descended into true crime madness, his paranoia reaching heretofore unseen levels as he falls asleep to the sounds of violence. There are also serial killers following him. Elsewhere, Arlo’s vestigial nose twin stalks the night, plotting his revenge. Oh, and Arlo provides a really detailed recap of an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia for some reason.

NEXT: everybody gets a sweet tooth now and then. We’ll have 12 of them as we discuss the first two volumes of Jeff Lemire’s Vertigo series Sweet Tooth for this month’s Four-Color Flashback.

MUSIC

• “Murderer” by Buju Banton, ‘Til Shiloh (1995)
• “Every Breath You Take” by The Police, Synchronicity (1983)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ 

• Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate
• Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/
• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Advocate for writers who might be owed money due to discontinuance of royalties: https://www.writersmustbepaid.org/ 
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

The Four-Color Flashback, that most venerated non-Gobbledyween tradition, has been around in some form for nearly all of this podcast’s 11 years. And yet--we’ve never discussed manga, the world’s most popular comics format. Paul and Arlo have decided to rectify that with the first volume of Inio Asano’s Goodnight Punpun, the surreal exploration of one young boy’s troubled adolescence. Punpun Punyama has a crush on the new girl at school, stays with his hipster uncle because of his abusive dad, hears the voice of God, and is beginning to familiarize himself with the art of self-pleasure. Oh, he and his whole family are also rendered as simple little cartoon bird and/or ghost people, while the world around them is drawn in gorgeous detail by Asano. The boys share their limited experience with manga, Arlo enjoys weird vagina monsters, and Paul has an epiphany.

Next: free(style) as a bird(boy).

BREAKDOWN

00:00:55  -  Intro / Guest

00:04:58  -  Main Topic

01:16:40  -  Outro / Next

LINKS

• Goodnight Punpun: A Masterpiece of Millennial Fiction by Jamie Redgate, Books & Bao
• Goodnight Punpun and Good Morning Depression by John Smith, Ani-Gamers
• Manga Review: Goodnight Punpun by Jack Poskus, NEIU Independent
• Goodnight Punpun is the Strangest Manga of the Year (and One of the Best) by Tom Speelman, Comics Alliance
• The Depths of Despair: Oyasumi Punpun Manga by Lumi(?), Lumi Reviews Things

MUSIC

• “Baby Blue” by Fishmans, Kuuchuu Camp (1996)
• “Iko Iko” by The Dixie Cups, Chapel of Love (1964)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ 
• Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate
• Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/
• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/