ConSequential

We're (most of us) back from a slight hiatus because it's NERD PROM again and we're at Thought Bubble 2017 in disconcertingly sunny Leeds. With special guests (probably) and new comics (yes) and ellipses (someone stop me)!

Southern gothic persists as a genre in all other mediums, so why is that deliciously swampy style so under-represented in comics? An investigation brought to you by big words, a fetish for Spanish moss, and that half-glimpsed face at the window of the ol' plantation house.

Spin-off! Is there any word more thrilling to the soul and/or corporate wallet?This week we read a bucket of franchise-extension comics. From flaccid extrusions of long-spent IP, to comics an actual person might actually want to read, we talk about whether spin-off comics can be any good (yes), how it all works (it's complicated), and which ones are just utter, utter shite (surprisingly: not Pokémon).Find out more about the "beautiful teat filled with dollars".

Don't call it a GodCast.Actually don't, that sounded far better in my head. We're talking gods and mythology in comics, with drive-by reviewing of Hamish Steele's Pantheon, a revisit of The Wicked and the Divine, and a bunch of other stuff along the way because we're good to ya.Benevolent, even.

Y'know that shade over half the population who make about ten percent of Big Two comics, probably about half of the rest, and whose work gets about five percent of the attention? Yeah, those folks: women?You remember women, right - the ones who don't get to say "I done made a comic" without some internet dickdribble making death threats.In the spirit of celebrating great work (and of not being that guy), this week we're spotlighting a bunch of comics with female creators. 

Back, back again to the stranger edges of sci fi. We ponder whether sci fi has preemptively shifted to reflect our garbage fire times, or whether our reading habits have just taken a turn for the cynical. Because of the garbage fires.

They say that the past is a foreign country, and as British citizens we are therefore left with an extremely limited window of opportunity to go there without a visa. We're looking back at books we loved, formative experiences, to see how they stack up now. Also: other comics! Is a hotdog a sandwich? More!

We really expected to just talk in gushing tones about our favourite comic shops and then come up with some great ideas for how we'd run our own. So of course we're ranting about the comics Direct Market. But also some other stuff! 

Hot dang folks, it's the end of the year, and that means Best Of lists. We're no exception to this cheap and easy content format, but we will at least give some lucky scamp a prize of each of our picks for the best comics this year.

Sincerity is an odd topic for three soulless husks to confront, but we'll give it a crack. What's up with the increase in comics that are just lovely? Where have they come from? Why now? And what are the good ones? We'll tell ya!

We're back from Thought Bubble and here to tell you about the exciting things we picked up - including several hideous diseases! But more than that we got some great new comics and interviewed some interesting creators. Let us tell you what you would have bought if only you had our impeccable taste. Also we're sorry about how wet this all sounds. Sorry. About. The. Wet.

It's that time of year again, so Roger and Dave are at Thought Bubble with special guests the people who could be lured back to their hotel room with cheap wine and a cocked eyebrow Dave Barker and Hester Wells (from heirloom-comic.com), and Clarrie Maguire (of ProblemChimp.com - specialist bookkeeping for all your starving artist needs). They're all drinking chocolate-flavoured British wine (as distinct from English wine, people on Twitter get very huffy if you confuse the two. So, what was the best of day one?

Just like he kinetically charges his playing cards, Gambit sexually charges this chunky Scandinavian-style knitwear, courtesy of artist and comics-doer Dave Barker. We're joined in this episode by Hester Wells, the only guest we've ever had who has her own biographical comic that she didn't draw herself (specificity, yo), to help us out with the thorny topic of objectification, particularly in mainstream comics. This episode is groaning with comics, throbbing with intellectual discussion and glistening with salty language.

Food! For most of us it's a sludgy nutrient paste we shove into the front of our withered forms to stretch their existence out for another grim and grey span. But did you know it can also be delicious? It's true! We found many comics on the topic, and now we're sharing their wisdom with you.

We bravely set out to find the very best in fantasy comics, but we got badly sidetracked and got eaten by a Groo, a monster from a videogame that shares its name with a fantasy comic we didn't actually cover. Will that do? I tried. There's a weird lack of fantasy comics, so we try to figure out why what Mr Hart so kindly refers to as "Elves and Swords and Bollocks" isn't as prevalent as other genres.

This episode we look at the Eisner Awards, looking at recent winners and asking: "Awards, huh? What are they good for?" Stick with us to find out. Sixty episodes! Where does the time go? I'm serious, where is it. ANSWER ME, PHYSICS.

This week we try to correct for our utter ignorance about manga, reading as much as we can in two weeks and then spouting opinions all over the place. A theme emerges in Roger's reading. Not a good theme.

This week we look at the Louvre's very own comics range in detail. Plus special guest Chris tells us about ELCAF, there's a diversion about Shakira, and Roger liberally marinades his crotch.

This week we're covering the Broken Frontier anthology, a recent collection of sci-fi treats. Plus! English wine! Corn! And guess who does an impression of a "Wizard's Stairlift"? It's not actually a sex act! #persuadethebunn Apologies for the sound quality in this episode - English wine degrades the nervous system, it was the best we could manage.

With the sad news that Darwyn Cooke has died, we look back at the best of his career.

Disease and a lack of free time have delayed our return - if your time is as obviously precious as ours, let us steer you through the murky, yaoi-filled waters of webcomics and onto the safer shores of whatever weird porn it is that you like instead. Also learn which version of Doctor Who is sexually attracted to! Listen to us talk ourselves out of joining the CIA! More!

This week we tread into the murky waters of politics, which means we mostly talk about Transmetropolitan, because most other political cartooning out there is exclusively by and for crazy people, and that ain't us. This episode has a bad word in it. A really bad one. Lucy done it. As always, ConSequential is brought to you by fried starches, alcohol, and a lingering sense that something, something we can't even remember, has gone terribly wrong.

How angry is it possible to be about Tintin, a comic where a boy and his dog solve mysteries and occasionally assert the supremacy of Belgium? Really quite, it turns out. That's right, we're covering the comics of France and Belgium (in rage-spittle). Plus! Learn who's an alcoholic (it's Captain Haddock, and Roger). Which Franco-Belgian comic character has "bad trousers"? What are good names for the Cornish? We'll tell you. You'd better believe we'll tell you.

We're staring down those books we should have read already, tackling them like mighty colossi and devouring our shame. But not only that! You probably want to know which cross-channel ferry service has the best buffet. We can help. You probably want to know what Medieval nuns masturbated to. We can help. You probably want to know just how much anxiety jam shopping can cause. Fuck yeah we can help.

Like a glorious phoenix that just properly could not be bothered for a bit over Christmas, we're back! We're covering some indie comics we picked up last year, and a load that were in a slightly wet bag in Roger's house. Pretty good stuff. Plus: watch a sad man's life disintegrate before your very ears when he learns that never again will he get to taste the sweet, sweet nectar of a Panda Pop. Also: learn which member of the team accused a small local police force of being child abusers on local TV news show Look East!

Here at the old Consequential.net, we like to think that we cover the very best comics week on week. So it stands to reason that our selections for the best of the year are a rarefied breed indeed, yes? Yes. We're not saying these books will get you laid, but they probably won't get you sent to prison either. Great! Plus, someone wins a prize! Could it be you? Yes!* *Accuracy dependent on competition entry. We apologise for the occasional high-pitched noise in this episode. It was caused by a particularly acute case of The Clanks. Roger is being exorcised and deloused and it won't happen again.

Roger and Dave are back from Thought Bubble, and they brought gifts! For Lucy, not for you. That would be weird. Listen on as we fight for approval in the inaugural Lucy Boyes £5 Challenge. Also: the best stuff we picked up at the festival. If that wasn't enough, we have interviews with Dan Watters & Caspar Wijingaard, Tillie Walden, Comic Book Slumber Party, Julia Scheele with One Beat Zines and Mat Barnett of Alien in the Outfield. Hey, it's competition time! Our end of the year show is coming up, and we want you to pitch us a comic. The ones we like best will be reviewed on the show as though they existed, because we're horrible, judgemental people. The one we unanimously decide we like the most will win one of our favourite books of the year, and probably some bespoke slash fiction*! Send a brief comic pitch to [email protected], and good luck. You know what we like.

It's that time of year again, where two-thirds of our intrepid podcasting team head to The North for Thought Bubble. What have we seen? What's good? We'll tell you.

It's Halloween (hypothetically), and that means time for spooky comics. We'll lure you into a false sense of security with dazzling insight into a range of comics before shitting you right up with the jump scare that is our horror roundup.

Do you want to get started reading the lycra-clad adventures that Marvel and DC peddle, but you're put off by the huge gnarled continuity that has built up over the best part of a century? Batman, X-Men, Superman - all have accreted a vast mythology full of plot holes, reboots, crises many and various, but fear not - we're here to help with some surefire techniques to get you past the initial confusion, and to make sure you find the good stuff. Thanks to Tom Howard on Twitter for the setup. Leap straight to the 1 hour, 1 minute mark if it's just that that you're after, or stick around for: plenty of new things! A series of crimes done in Dave's house! An introduction to homebrewing! Haikus! The secret history of nutmeg! Who could want more? It's a bumper episode!

This week, Dave was off in the America doing a business travel, or gentrifying Portland or something. We're not quite sure. Apparently there were food trucks. This left Lucy and Roger to go feral in the best way they know: by eating an enormous fancy cheeseboard and talking about queer comics. We delve into the origins of lesbian & gay cartooning, eat a "cute brie", pontificate on structural inequalities, and feed Rogger his first Cheesestring. That part ain't pretty, but the rest is comics.

We wrap up our rambling take on architecture in comics this time looking at city as place, and also go over some stuff we've enjoyed lately. Not in this episode: a rambling conversation about Twix. You're welcome.

Buildings! Pretty great, huh? Personally, we all live in one. One each, this isn't like Rainbow where we all live in our pyjamas and hang out with a sexually ambiguous hippo. If only. Comics and architecture are natural allies, buildings being where stuff often happens, and comics being images of stuff happening. But there's more to it than that, and we look at some of the most interesting and informative takes on architecture in comics. We also go into which each of our favourite metro systems are. Regular listeners will wonder what took us so long, frankly. We apologise for the noisiness of this episode. Sometimes we just need our air really conditioned.

This week we tackle travel, the subject of a surprising number of comics of surprising breadth. We read a ton of other comics too, and we took some time out of our busy lives to worry if Roger's penis is haunted. And now we're taking that time from your life too.

In the run-up to Warren Ellis' James Bond comics launch, we look at the espionage highlights of Weird Uncle Warren. The man writes about the fallout and faded glory of the intelligence agencies with a weird panache. Plus new releases and the end of Hawkeye, because we're good to ya.

Roger and Dave find themselves alone again this week, but rather than fighting to the death with sexy blades, they've thrown themselves into a vast raft of new releases (issue 1s and new trades) for your edification and amusement. If that's not enough, they still find time to get themselves a-frothy over Image Expo and the upcoming goodness. Onwards!

We return, having read those classics of the comics canon that we had shamefully missed out on, deliver our reports, and discuss whether a critical canon is even a useful thing. Also: find out our thoughts on whether or not we'd shelter Nazi war criminals! What happens when there should be a human femur in a box but then you can't find femurs? Drinking with Tom Paulin! Other things!

No matter how well read you are (and we're all amazingly well-read, clearly), there are always blind spots. We talk about the big hoary beast comics that we've been avoiding, tell you why, and vow to go away and improve ourselves. It's going to be a journey. But hey, it's not all brutal introspection. We also talk about a ton of exciting new comics!

With Daredevil on screens courtesy of Netflix, we take a look at the convoluted history of the character and pick out the must-read comics. Also: superheroes in gritty crime drama - can they have their cape and eat it too? BOOM

While independent comics are a home for diverse creators and stories, the mainstream hasn't dealt so well with representing a range of races, sexualities, viewpoints or much beyond white people hitting other white people. We shout about this for a while. Maybe we figure out how to solve it? (SPOILERS: NO JUST YELLING)

Last time we did sci fi comics, we looked at the psychedelic end of things. Now we're looking at the current batch of sci fi comics. We're the complete package, is what I'm saying here. Also: Trago Mills! Colonoscopies! Beauty and the Beast visit Ikea! Limericks! The velvety softness of hamsters' testicles! And more!

This week is a roundup of indie comics - coincidentally about 90% of what we were reading anyway. Think of us as Newsnight Review for comics, if Bonnie Greer was shitfaced and Tom Paulin had figured out how to hide his obvious depression behind overlong foul-mouthed tirades. What's that? You already do? Excellent! Let's crack on.

Or pornographic comics, if you're nasty. We take a broad overview of smutty books, try not to say anything too awful about Sonic The Hedgehog fan art, and rate various pornoglyphs on "wankability". Or Roger does. He's very forward. Goes without saying that there are some bad swears in this one.

This week we watched Marissa Stotter's documentary She Makes Comics, a history of women in comics creation and fandom. We also run down some recent comics that we've been reading. I've got to level with you, Lucy says "anus" repeatedly in this episode for no discernible reason. Also you can find out what swimming certificates we each have. Shall we?

This week we're giving something back to the people. As Agony Ant-Man, we take listener questions and pump out good advice and comics-related wisdom at a frankly disturbing volume. As in quantity. If it's too loud, turn it down. We can't do everything for you.

This week we try to give you a Cliff's Notes on mythology and a bit of a close reading of The Wicked and the Divine, and we would have got away with it too if it weren't for those pesky booze-sodden minds.

2014, eh? Prick of a year. Still, there were plenty of great comics out there, and we've rounded up our favourites. One lucky soul will even win our two top picks, if you booked yourself a Bullshit Bingo card.

We're back from Thought Bubble and we're bringing the fruits of our work - specifically several interviews - to you. Plus we wrap up all the lovely comicky things we loaded the car with.

We're (most of us) at Thought Bubble, and we're joined by cartoonist Lucy Bellwood as we run down the best of the show. Fewer dick jokes than usual, but not none.

Comics have always been violent, and while early comics broadly focussed on Hitler getting punched on the jaw or lovesick cats being pelted with bricks, extreme violence has gone through peaks and troughs and sparked the odd moral panic along the way. We look at how violence is portrayed in comics, and where it works and doesn't.