Episode 163 - Our Third Annual Thanksgiving Show

The guys are back with their third annual Thanksgiving show. This a special episode of The Comics Alternative where Andy, Derek, and other cohosts get together to discuss what they're thankful for in the world of comics and comics culture. This year both Andy W. and Gene are able to join in, so for this special holiday week you get a special episode with extra stuff: Four Guys with PhDs Talking about Comics! Among the various things Gene, Derek, Andy, and Andy are thankful for are small-press publishers (like Kilgore, Uncivilized, Youth in Decline, AdHouse, Conundrum, Koyama, etc) who provide them with material for their podcasts, Chris Marshall of Collected Comics Library, who provided us with 17 years of insightful comics analysis (and whose podcast the guys will miss), Fantagraphics and their Complete Peanuts series, the many great projects they're backing on Kickstarter, the relatively new Librarians Assemble! podcast, this year's comics-related museum exhibits, special collections, such as the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum and the Comic Art Collection at Michigan State, as well as the librarians who manage them, Dean Mullaney, Craig Yoe, Chris Staros, and the incredibly helpful folks at IDW Publishing -- Dirk, Rosalind, and Mike -- who go out of their way to keep the guys informed and supplied, Chicago and the comics-related opportunities it provides, creators like Joe Ollmann, Tim Lane, and Seth, who have been very generous with their time this past year and participated in email interviews for the blog, fun Marvel properties, such as Ryan North and Erica Henderson's The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and the new Jessica Jones series on Netflix, Gwen, Shea, and Sean for helping on the various monthly podcast series, and our Patreon supporters who have helped make 2015 a successful year! Much like the yams with melted marshmallows served during Thanksgiving, this is an episode that you can pass around to friends and loved ones and taking a generous portion and then savoring the smooth, creamy goodness of every bite (byte?). There's plenty to go around. And if you're listening to this podcast in a non-US location, you can appreciate this episode knowing that Thanksgiving is more than just gratuitous Pilgrim references and obscene gluttony; it's also middle-aged guys with advanced degrees sitting around and talking about comic books.