Comics Rot Your Brain!
COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Chris Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) & Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) discuss favorite books, runs, and creators.
The Bronze Age is — for us — the greatest era in comics history. This time period was defined by a weird rift in the fabric of spacetime that allowed an industry in flux to reimagine what was possible. We all remember the eye-popping results: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, WATCHMEN, CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, LOVE & ROCKETS, MAUS, etc.
…But what of the lesser-known gems of this era: THRILLER, GRIMJACK, NEXUS, CONCRETE, MR. MONSTER, SCOUT, STRAY TOASTERS, and so many others!? These comics and their creators blazed radical new trails that changed the course of comics forever but often are left out of today’s discourse.
COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! exists to celebrate and reckon with the extraordinary legacy of 1980s American comics — all of it.
Join us!
Episodes
30 episodes
CRYB! Interview: LADRÖNN (Final Incal, Sons of El Topo, Metal Hurlant, Cable, The Inhumans)
Steven and Chris sit down with legendary Mexican comic book artist, Jose Ladrönn, for a lively discussion about his influences, his work with Alejandro Jodorosky on the FINAL INCAL and SONS OF EL TOPO, plus a whole host of indispensable advice....
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Season 2
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Episode 15
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2:18:04
The Greatest Comic of the 00s? - Lewis and Leon's Masterpiece
Steven and Chris vividly discuss John-Paul Leon and Brett Lewis' post-Cold War crime magnum opus, THE WINTER MEN (Image Comics, 2005). COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this ...
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Season 2
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Episode 14
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1:46:58
Cloak and Dagger Marvel Comics' Most Underrated Art Team of the 1980s - Rick Leonardi & Terry Austin
Steven and Chris discuss Marvel's brooding teen superheroes — CLOAK AND DAGGER — from the 1985 on-going series; they go over the first four issues written by Bill Mantlo with art by the wildy incredible and overllooked but influential art team ...
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Season 2
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Episode 13
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3:20:29
When The Wind Blows
Chris and Steven discuss Raymond Briggs's nuclear war nightmare WHEN THE WIND BLOWS, published by Penguin Books in 1982.
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Season 2
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Episode 12
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1:17:53
A Poetic Exploration of Fate, Power, and Cycles of Violence
n this CRYB! SPOTLIGHT, Chris and Steven discuss DC Comics' batshit-crazy SKREEMER (1988). This proto-Vertigo classic blends noir, cyberpunk, and family tragedy in a retro gangster apocalyptic fable created by Peter Milligan, Brett Ewins, and S...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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26:39
The Ultimate SciFi War Story/Space Opera - "Humanity" Explored in Thought Balloons
This week is a CRYB Spotlight episode on Marvel/Epic Comics' ALIEN LEGION, published in 1984, created by Carl Potts, Alan Zelenetz, and Frank Cirocco. This clip is taken from our epic (so to speak) deep dive into ALIEN LEGION (see earlier episo...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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12:03
Art Deco Retro-Futurism SciFi Mystery Noir and Flying Cars... Welcome to the World of Mister X
Steven and Chris discuss acclaimed graphic designer Dean Motter's science fiction opus, MISTER X (Vortex Comics, 1984); the first four issues were written & drawn by Los Bros Hernandez (Mario, Gilbert, and Jamie) of LOVE & ROCKETS fame ...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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1:43:01
Moebius, Druillet, and... Alex Nino - this Visionary Filipino Genius Is One of the Greatest Comic Book Artist of All Time!
In this solo episode, Steven takes a wild trip into the breathtaking visual world of legendary and visionary Filipino artist, Alex Niño, as seen in the unfortunately named graphic novel, SPACE CLUSTERS (DC Comics, 1986).Comics Rot Your ...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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1:24:55
Marvel Comics' Lost Space Bounty Hunter by Howard Chaykin
Chris discusses Howard Chaykin's MONARK STARSTALKER single-issue scifi story from the ultra-cool try-out book, Marvel Premiere. COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podca...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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45:01
Our Secret Origins
In the final episode of Season One, Steven and Chris reveal their own secret origins on how and why they came to discover the world of comics in their youth... way back in the '80s!
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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2:24:22
Jack Kirby + Osamu Tezuka = Scott McCloud's Insanely Fun SciFi Comics Book Classic
Chris and Steven put on their jet-packs and blast into issues one thru 10 of the wondrous sci-fi idea-bomb that is Scott McCloud’s ZOT! (Eclipse Comics, 1984), a slam-bang collision between the widescreen imaginations of Osamu Tezuka and Jack K...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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5:42:34
The O.G. Video Game system Births a Classic Interstellar SciFi Adventure Comic
In this episode, Chris -- in his first one-shot solo episode -- discusses the fan favorite scifi adventure comic ATARI FORCE (1984), written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. A special projects DC Comics' series took inspirat...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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1:23:29
DC Comics’ Absolutely Psychedelic SUPERMAN & BATMAN As Drawn By TREVOR VON EEDEN Will Blow Your Mind
In this “one-shot” episode, Steven offers a solo examination of Trevor Von Eeden's mind-expanding artwork from issues 305 & 307 of DC’s long-running Superman and Batman team-up series, WORLD'S FINEST COMICS.
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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53:02
We Have Met The Enemy... And He Is Us! Archie Goodwin & Pepe Moreno's Lost Sci-Fi Classic
In this episode, Steve and Chris discuss the serialized story, GENERATION ZERO, from Marvel Comics' defunct Epic Comics flagship book, Epic Illustrated. A sci-fi story written by long-time comic industry luminary Archie Goodwin wi...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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3:31:45
Before DARK KNIGHT and WATCHMEN, DC Comics Published the Most Devilishly FUN Character of the 1980s!
Chris and Steven dive into the first five issues of BLUE DEVIL (DC Comics, 1984), a comic book scientifically proven to be the most outrageously fun title of the 1980s; the madcap insanity of it all was written by Dan Mishkin & Gary Cohn, p...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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2:29:49
After Writing BLACK PANTHER, This MARVELous Scribe Co-Created the FIRST AMERICAN GRAPHIC NOVEL!
Chris and Steven explore the first few issues of Don McGregor and Paul Gulacy's groundbreaking series, SABRE — a surreal, post-apocalyptic spectacle.COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few nota...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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1:55:52
Frank Miller's 1st Choice to Draw BATMAN: YEAR ONE? Meet This Unsung GENIUS ARTIST of '80s Comics!
Steven and Chris embark on the paradigm-shattering psychedelic trip that is the first seven issues of THRILLER — published by DC Comics in 1983 — and find themselves awestruck in its wake. One thing is certain: Trevor Von Eeden is a godd...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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4:06:56
The MOST DANGEROUS Comic Book Ever Published
In this episode, Chris and Steven confront highly disturbing revelations about the CIA and American global politics, courtesy of the explosive whistleblower comic, BROUGHT TO LIGHT (Eclipse Comics, 1988), written by Alan Moore and drawn by Bill...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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1:30:32
“DIRTY COMMIES!” DC Comics’ OG Superheroes Laid Low by The Red Scare & Rise Again in THE GOLDEN AGE!
Chris and Steven testify before you all, spilling their guts on how DC Comics’ OG Superheroes were laid low by the spectre of McCarthyism in “The Red Scare” era of post-WWII USA. This is their battle to rise again in THE GOLDEN AGE (1993), writ...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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2:31:44
Q: Who Was the Inspiration for RORSCHACH in DC Comics' WATCHMEN? A: This FACELESS Urban Vigilante!
Steven and Chris take a roadtrip back in time, eventually arriving on the pothole-riddled streets of Hub City, and man do they have a lot to say -- almost 4 hours' worth of comic book chatter! Steve Ditko's urban vigilante, The Question, is bol...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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3:54:01
The All-Time Wildest Most PSYCHEDELIC Brain-Exploding SciFi Time-Travel COMIC BOOK in Existence
Steven and Chris take a psychedelic voyage through time via the crackerjack indie comics team of Doug Moench, Mike Hernandez, Dan Day, and Nestor Redondo in AZTEC ACE (published by Eclipse Comics in 1984). The hallucinatory hijinx and tr...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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1:53:22
That time DC Comics gave HAWKMAN his own BATMAN: YEAR ONE… Katar Hol’s “Dark Knight” of the soul
Chris and Steven swoop in to the Downside of Thanagar to squawk about Tim Truman’s bold and impassioned re-imagining of Hawkman's origin story in HAWKWORLD (DC Comics, 1989). Is this Katar Hol’s BATMAN: YEAR ONE? …Or his DARK KNIGH...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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1:55:48
GRENDEL Comic Origins: Who wore the mask of the fiend in “Devil’s Legacy”? …SHE did!
Steven and Chris obsess over issues one through seven of Comico’s ongoing GRENDEL series (1986), the “Devil’s Legacy” story arc, pondering the lasting resonance of Matt Wagner’s extraordinary exploration of evil.SHOW NOTES:
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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2:06:42
What is DC Comics’ most BRUTAL GANGSTER noir dystopian scifi comic book of all time, you ask?
Chris and Steven descend into the futuristic cesspool of gangsterism and “a little of the old ultraviolence” that is SKREEMER (DC Comics, 1989), a noir-styled postapocalyptic science fiction comic that makes A CLOCKWORK ORANGE look G-rat...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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2:28:35
NEXUS (Capital Comics, 1981 & First Comics, 1983)
Steven and Chris tackle the mind-bending "superhero" space opera, NEXUS (1981, 1983), created by Mike Baron and Steve "The Dude" Rude.COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions)...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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1:52:30
