The Comics Syllabus by Paul Lai
Comics Syllabus
215 Mark Russell on SECOND COMING and BILLIONAIRE ISLAND
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On this week’s episode, we’re graced by an interview with Mark Russell, writer of the Ahoy Comics series “Billionaire Island” with artist Steve Pugh and the newly collected first arc of “Second Coming” with artist Richard Pace. Mark Russell talks with Paul about the origins of these sharply satirical but ultimately profound comics, one about the extremes of our contemporary wealth inequality and the other about Jesus returning to earth and becoming pals with a superhero. Russell digs deep into the origins of his ideas, his collaborations with publishers and artists, and how he employs humor and humanity to make wonderful comics. This conversation’s a real treat!

(Note: There’s a brief audio gap about 30:25 in the episode where Mark comments that he just drew inspiration from the renditions of the God of the Old Testament– apologies for the Skype error!)

Then, our “Picks and Shovels” segment on what we’re reading, including…

“Almost American Girl” by Robin Ha (Balzer + Bray)

“Shadow of the Batgirl” by Sarah Kuhn (w) and Nicole Goux (a) (DC Kids)

“Daredevil” #1-19 by Chip Zdarsky (w), Mark Chechetto (a), Jorge Fornes (a), others (Marvel)

“Folklords” #1-4 by Matt Kindt (w), Matt Smith (a), (Boom!)

“The Golden Age, Book 1” by Roxane Moreil (w) and Cyril Pedrosa (a) (First Second)

Let’s dig deep!

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Thanks for listening!

The Comics Syllabus by Paul Lai
Comics Syllabus
A comics and graphic novels appreciation podcast, where literacy educator Paul Lai (@twoplai) reads widely and digs deep in search of the socio-cultural, literary, and artistic significance of comic books, including superhero media, graphic novels, all-ages comics, and comic shop single issues. For comics fans, teachers, librarians and parents, and young readers alike.