Midnight Myth Time Machine | Episode 14: Cha-Ching | Marvel, Patronage, Art & Commerce

Welcome to the Midnight Myth Time Machine! This episode originally aired in May 2017. Do you know what’s better than watching the Incredible Hulk smash aliens and robots? Listening to Derek and Laurel talk about it! Seriously, we talk about the emergence of the comic book movie genre, in all of its glory, splendor, wonder, and pitfalls. We discuss the point where art meets commercialism, and how the influence of big capitalist money alters the direction of art. To achieve this, we take a time machine and travel back to the Middle Ages, The Renaissance, and Victorian England. We attempt to understand modern artistic decisions through the prism of Medieval Patronage, and how this applies to our (well at least’s Derek’s) favorite movie (film if you went to film school) genre, the comic book— as well as Hollywood at large, the nonprofit arts sector, and politics today. Buckle up.