Weeks ago, we told you to keep an eye glued [https://www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com/post/exclusive-john-j-pearson-macabre-valley-cover-art] to the Macabre Valley #1 Kickstarter from writer Zack Quaintance and artist Anna Readman. Now, you have only one week left to back the project and secure yourself a copy of this fiendishly fun comic. Based on Quaintance’s own experiences reporting along the American/Mexican border, Macabre Valley tells a viciously recognizable story, energized by Anna Readman’s gnarly creature designs and trippy sequential storytelling.

You can even support the project knowing you’ll receive your comic soon, as Macabre Valley has surpassed its funding goal spectacularly. To celebrate and encourage last-minute stragglers, we’re thrilled to have Zack Quaintance back on the podcast this week to discuss the werewolf priest at Macabre Valley’s center, and he’s even joined this time by his talented collaborator Anna Readman (making her podcast debut, no less).

We discuss what makes the best werewolves and how both creators relate to the real-life horror that surrounds the fantastical horror throughout Macabre Valley. The conversation considers uniforms, from the lawful to the hirsute, and the influence they have on those who wear them. Finally, it leaves the listener imagining a wild, wonderful alternate reality where Cormac McCarthy wrote for EC Comics.

Again, Macabre Valley #1 is currently seeking funding via Kickstarter [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zackq/macabre-valley]. It’s written by Zack Quaintance, illustrated by Anna Readman, colored by Brad Simpson, and lettered by Becca Carey. Please follow Zack Quaintance on Blue Sky [https://bsky.app/profile/zackquaintance.bsky.social]and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/zackq23], and follow Anna Readman on her Website [https://annareadman.com/] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/annareadman/].

This Week's Sponsors

Judge Dredd Megazine turns thirty-five years old this October, and it’ll be celebrating with a very special issue perfect for first-time readers! Featuring the return of the critically acclaimed series Dreadnoughts and Megalopolis, this 100-page issue is a brilliant way to jump into the crazy world of 2000 AD. You’ll also find incredible new stories featuring Judge Dredd, Judge Anderson, and much more inside! Get a print subscription to the Megazine and it’ll arrive through your American mailbox every month – or get a combi subscription and receive 2000 AD each week as well! If you subscribe digitally, you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com [http://2000ad.com/] and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!

Launching this October, it’s the latest entry in IDW Publishing [https://idwpublishing.com/]'s Kei-Sei line of Godzilla comics: Starship Godzilla, a cosmic adventure. It’s written by award-winning scribe Chris Gooch (of In Utero fame) and illustrated by inven

Zack Quaintance and Anna Readman on Macabre Valley

When Francis Ford Coppola shoots you an email asking you to transform his new movie into a comic book, you say yes and worry about the details later. Chris Ryall got the email. Once he got over the shock ot it, he immediately knew who to contact next: Comic Book Couples Counseling regular, Jacob Phillips. They couldn’t have possibly understood what an undertaking they were committing to during those early days, but nearly five years later, they have the Megalopolisgraphic novel in their hands. It’s something special.

As you’ll hear on this week’s podcast, Francis Ford Coppola wanted Ryall and Phillips to make the comic their own. If that meant chopping up the script or fabricating the designs, so be it. Jacob Phillips approaches the likenesses the way he would any corporate comic character. If he were on Batman, he’d do his version of Batman. So, he’d apply the same logic to Adam Driver. The actor is the design, but the pencils and inks belong to Phillips. The magic is in how the movie and the comic, crafted independently of each other, aligned so well together.

Chatting with Ryall and Phillips allowed us to celebrate both artistic mediums. We discuss the challenges of translating cinematic ideas onto panels, the need for repertoire stories, and the hope within Francis Ford Coppola’s humanism.

Before all that, however, we also discuss the new documentary, Shopping for Superman [https://shoppingforsuperman.com/]. Directed by Wes Eastin, the film travels across America, from one comic book shop to another. It’s a must-watch for every comic book reader, as it honors the industry while contemplating where it’s all going in the wake of Diamond Comic Distributors' destruction.

Megalopolis, the comic, is published by Abrams ComicArts [https://store.abramsbooks.com/products/francis-ford-coppolas-megalopolis] and arrives in shops on October 7th. Make sure you’re following Chris Ryall on his Substack, Instagram, and Blue Sky. Also, follow Jacob Phillips on Instagram and Blue Sky.

This Week's Sponsors

Launching this October, it’s the latest entry in IDW Publishing [https://idwpublishing.com/]'s Kei-Sei line of Godzilla comics: Starship Godzilla, a cosmic adventure. It’s written by award-winning scribe Chris Gooch (of In Utero fame) and illustrated by inventive artist Oliver Ono (I mean, come on, did you read their Godzilla: Monster Island Summer Camp? Insta-Classic). The Kai-Sei Era is the only ongoing Godzilla story of its kind, crafted for comics readers who have never bought a Godzilla book and Godzilla fans who have never read a comic. Starship Godzilla #1 is out now wherever rad comic books are sold.

Judge Dredd Megazine turns thirty-five years old this October, and it’ll be celebrating with a very special issue perfect for first-time readers! Featuring the return of the critically acclaimed series Dreadnoughts and Megalopolis, this 100-page issue is a brilliant way to jump into the crazy world of 2000 AD. You’ll also find incredible new stories featuring Judge Dredd, Judge Anderson, and much more inside! Get

Jacob Phillips and Chris Ryall: Making Megalopolis with Francis Ford Coppola

Not again! Chip Kidd and Michael Cho are the latest comic book creators to find their way, literally, into comics. The Avengers in the Veracity Trap, published as part of the Marvel Arts imprint of Abrams ComicArts [https://store.abramsbooks.com/products/the-avengers-in-the-veracity-trap], propels the titular superheroes from their dimension into ours, revealing that Kidd and Cho control their free will. The oversized original graphic novel is a stunning-looking comic, thanks to Michael Cho making magic with sequentials, taking a short break from his usual stellar cover work.

What is it about comics? Read enough of them, and suddenly you want to be in them. The medium invites invasion, calling folks like Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Grant Morrison, Brian Michael Bendis, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and others to throw themselves upon the panels. Maybe it’s because, as children, we wrap this flatland universe around us like a blanket. It’s comfy and protective. It’s where we want to go when the third dimension reveals itself as too damn physical with our soft little bodies.

Chip Kidd joins the podcast this week to discuss how he once again wormed his way into comic book panels (yeah, this is not his first offense. See also, Batman: Death by Design and Alex Ross’s Marvelocity). We discuss how "The Veracity Trap" has become a valuable concept for us personally as we struggle with the strings that direct our movements these days. As usual, the conversation gets philosophical, breaking down free will and the troubled waters between artist and audience.

The Avengers in the Veracity Trap is now available wherever rad comics are sold. Make sure you follow Chip Kidd on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/chip__kidd/].

This Week's Sponsors

Looking for sci-fi comics that go further than you’ve ever been before? Then you need  2000 AD – it’s the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic [https://2000ad.com/]! Whether you’re a new or returning reader, September is the perfect time to try out 2000 AD, with the launch of 2000 AD issue 2450 -- a jump-on issue with a fresh start for every story! Featuring a terrifying new Judge Dredd story by Rob Williams and Henry Flint, the issue also has a major new Rogue Trooper story from the team of Alex de Campi and Neil Edwards! Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive through your letterbox every week, and your first issue is free. Or, subscribe digitally and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10!

For thirty years, Street Sharks has remained a fan-favorite franchise, but the fearless Bolton Brothers have been cruelly absent from comic book shops. Until now. This September, IDW Publishing [https://idwpublishing.com/products/street-sharks-1-2025-sdcc-exclusive-sampler?variant=52472220844396] launches a brand new five-issue Street Sharks mini-series from writer Stephanie Williams and artist Ariel Medel. The new series celebrates the JAW-SOME characters you already love while exploring new depths to their souls and universe. So, get ready to return to the chaotic street

Chip Kidd in the Veracity Trap

Every few months, the discourse turns to comics journalism. What is it? What’s its value? Does it even exist anymore? Of course, if you read SKTCHD [https://sktchd.com/] or listen to Off Panel [https://sktchd.libsyn.com/] every week, these questions are easy to answer. For years, David Harper has been our go-to source for what’s happening within the comics industry, and due to recent events in his own life, he’s upped his game and committed to comics journalism in a fashion he previously has not. Can the industry sustain him? That all depends on us.

This week, we chat with David Harper about his total immersion into SKTCHD/Off Panel. We confront him about his pivot to video, the state of comics journalism, and how he ignores the recurring Chicken Little screams of “The sky is falling.” It’s not all so dire, though. We also discuss his ideal comic book shop and the books he’s absolutely loving in 2025.

Stories and storytellers are vital to human existence, but for various, always frustrating, reasons, we must continually be reminded of this. You, dear listener, are already fighting the good fight, but how do we get others to join us? Share, baby, share. Below you’ll find links not only to David Harper’s good work, but also to the good work of others working within the field of comics journalism. Give them your clicks, give them your eyes, and maybe, just maybe, if you can afford to do so, give them your dollars.

Support Comics Journalism

 * Subscribe to SKTCHD [https://sktchd.com/subscriptions/]

 * Become an Off Panel Patron [https://www.patreon.com/c/OffPanel/posts]

 * Become a Patron of The Beat [https://www.patreon.com/comicsbeat]

 * Become an AIPT Patron [https://www.patreon.com/aiptcomics]

 * Get Your Copy of The Comics Courier [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tiffanybabb/the-comics-courier-a-comics-criticism-journal-issue-3]

 * Support a Journalist on his Journey to Creator [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zackq/macabre-valley]

 * Become a Comic Book Couples Counseling Patron [https://www.patreon.com/c/cbccpodcast]

This Week's Sponsors

Looking for sci-fi comics that go further than you’ve ever been before? Then you need  2000 AD – it’s the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic [https://2000ad.com/]! Whether you’re a new or returning reader, September is the perfect time to try out 2000 AD, with the launch of 2000 AD issue 2450 -- a jump-on issue with a fresh start for every story! Featuring a terrifying new Judge Dredd story by Rob Williams and Henry Flint, the issue also has a major new Rogue Trooper story from the team of Alex de Campi and Neil Edwards! Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive throug

Can David Harper Survive on Comics Journalism?

Toward the end of this week’s episode, Jesse Lonergan says, “With Drome, it feels like I’ve done...something.” Since he arrived on the scene, the cartoonist has bashed upon the medium, seeing if he’d be the one to break comics. The art form didn’t shatter; it became stronger under Lonergan’s pressure. Books like Hedra, Faster, Planet Paradise, and Man’s Best [https://www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com/post/mans-best-pornsak-pichetshote-jesse-lonergan]electrified readers, showcasing what could only be done in comics. Now, in Drome, Jesse Lonergan whales harder upon the medium than he ever has before, and the result is a smashing celebration of comics and creation. Jesse Lonergan has done...something. He is not the artist who started Drome. We are not the readers we were before the first page.

A quick flip through Drome and you’ll witness a civilization with champions of order raging against champions of chaos. The visuals recall Jack Kirby and Robert E. Howard. Gods watch their toys in their sandbox. Violence everywhere because life is a violent act. It’s the best-looking, sword-and-sandal fantasy adventure you can find at your local comic shop.

To begin and end your conversation about Drome with its plot is a catastrophic mistake. With Jesse Lonergan, process is the theme. The color story matters. Form is the point. So, let’s get real damn nerdy about it.

On this week’s episode, we excitedly welcome back Jesse Lonergan and, together, tear our way through one of the year’s best comic books. We discuss the first images that eventually became Drome. We talk about the CMYK color model. We embarrassingly reveal the names we gave his characters, and celebrate those other artists, such as Geoff Darrow and Matt Lesniewski [https://www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com/post/matt-lesniewski-new-york-comic-con], who seem to give everything they have to comics.

Drome is now available from 23rd St Books [https://23rdstbooks.com/]. Make sure you follow Jesse Lonergan on Blue Sky [https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:77qdefn5idvmefya2t5tzsv3?ref_src=embed], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/jesse.lonergan], Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/c/jesselonergan/posts], and his Website [https://www.jesselonergan.com/].

This Week's Sponsors

Looking for sci-fi comics that go further than you’ve ever been before? Then you need  2000 AD – it’s the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic [https://2000ad.com/]! Whether you’re a new or returning reader, September is the perfect time to try out 2000 AD, with the launch of 2000 AD issue 2450 -- a jump-on issue with a fresh start for every story! Featuring a terrifying new Judge Dredd story by Rob Williams and Henry Flint, the issue also has a major new Rogue Trooper story from the team of Alex de Campi and Neil Edwards! Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive through your letterbox every week, and your first issue is free. Or, subscribe digitally and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10!

Jesse Lonergan on Drome

“Do you see?” We never imagined discussing an Event Horizon comic on the podcast, but the moment the notion was floated, we were enthralled. The original 1997 movie, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, struck a chord back in the day, but it was also a movie that was obviously jumbled about and fumbled in the editing room. And since the story relied on the device of a spaceship lost in a black hole/literal hell for decades, it so easily allows for prequel expansion. All that’s required are the perfect creators to expand the material. Maybe even mend some of it.

Christian Ward and Tristan Jones are the perfect creators for Event Horizon. If you’ve read their work, especially Ward’s time on Batman: City of Madness [https://www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com/post/batman-city-of-madness-christian-ward-spoilers-interview] and Jones’ time on Aliens, you’re probably already subscribed to the new prequel series from IDW Publishing. Event Horizon: Dark Descent tells the story of the original starship crew who ignited the Gravity Drive, popped into the space between spaces, and found their damnation in the abyss.

It’s always a pleasure to have Christian Ward on the podcast, but this week, that’s especially true because we’re all geeking out about the original movie, discussing how it influences all of his work, and why prequels are a damn good narrative delivery system. Yes, we talk about trauma and therapy, but also demons and personifying hell in the most joyful comic booky fashion. Event Horizon: Dark Descent is the best book you didn't expect in 2025. Let’s all go to hell together.

Event Horizon: Dark Descent is written by Christian Ward, illustrated by Tristan Jones, colored by Pip Martin, and lettered by Alex Ray. Variant Covers by Jeffrey Alan Love. Issue 1 is now available from IDW Publishing, and FOC for Issue 2 is Today (9/1/25). Call your shop and get subbed. Also, continue this conversation with Christian Ward by visiting his Website [http://www.cjwardart.com/] and following him on Blue Sky [https://bsky.app/profile/cjward.bsky.social] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/cjwardart/].

This Week's Sponsors

Looking for sci-fi comics that go further than you’ve ever been before? Then you need  2000 AD – it’s the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic [https://2000ad.com/]! Whether you’re a new or returning reader, September is the perfect time to try out 2000 AD, with the launch of 2000 AD issue 2450 -- a jump-on issue with a fresh start for every story! Featuring a terrifying new Judge Dredd story by Rob Williams and Henry Flint, the issue also has a major new Rogue Trooper story from the team of Alex de Campi and Neil Edwards! Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive through your letterbox every week, and your first issue is free. Or, subscribe digitally and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10!

For thirty years, Street Sharks has remained a fan-favorite franchise, but the fearless Bolton Brothers have been cruelly absent from comic book shops. Until now. This September,

Christian Ward on Event Horizon: Dark Descent

Early on in Tillie Walden’s Clementine: Book Three, which represents the concluding chapter in her The Walking Dead trilogy, an expectant mother grabs our hero’s arm and gasps through the pain, “It’ll never end.” She’s so right, and we should all take those words to heart. Pain is never done with you. Run if you care to, but the worst life has to offer will always find you. The trick is acknowledging your relationship with it and fortifying yourself as a means of surviving until you don’t. Pain never ends. You will. Find your community and love them while you can.

We’ve adored Tillie Walden’s comics for quite some time. One of our earliest episodes was a deep dive exploration of her exceptional science fiction teen romance, On a Sunbeam. Her work is deeply personal, and Clementine: Book Three is no exception, with the narrative extending from recent events in her life.

In today’s podcast, we dig into the Clementine trilogy with Tillie Walden. We discuss how she finds herself in Clementine and how Clementine may find herself in Tillie. We talk about The Walking Dead franchise, how Clementine evolves from the Telltale game, and why horror is the most emotionally honest genre.

Clementine: Book Three is written, drawn, and lettered by Tillie Walden. Grey Tones by Cliff Rathburn. All three books are now available from Skybound Entertainment [https://www.skybound.com/clementine/comics/book-3] and Image Comics. Follow Tillie Walden through her website [https://www.tilliewalden.com/] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/tilliewalden].

This Week's Sponsors

We're sponsored by 2000 AD [https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/subscriptions], the greatest comic you're not reading! Within its pages is a whole universe of characters, from Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog to Rogue Trooper, Shakara, Halo Jones, and the poor sods slogging across the Cursed Earth in The Helltrekkers. Get a print subscription at your door every week - and the first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, get free back issues, and download DRM-free copies of each issue for just $9 a month. That's 128 pages of incredible monthly comics for less than $10.

Do you want in on the biggest secret in comics today? IDW Publishing’s Godzilla [https://idwpublishing.com/collections/godzilla?srsltid=AfmBOop48tBBfgs3Dp1MkBmM030nLZShxOHBGxZY_SiqyRipV6fbs4sv] line of books is comics' greatest secret weapon. They’re constantly snagging rockstar creators like James Stokoe, Tom Scioli, Andrew MacLean, Louie Joyce, Jake Smith, Eric Powell, Rosie Knight, and Oliver Ono to unleash their talents on cinema’s most significant kaiju universe. And this July, IDW is taking their Godzilla books to the next level by introducing the Kei-Sei era. This new shared universe line begins with Godzilla #1 [https://www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com/blog/hashtags/1] by Tim Seeley and Nikola Čižmešija. There’s a new Godzilla design, a mess l

Tillie Walden on Clementine: Book Three (The Walking Dead)

Toward the end of our conversation with Matt Fraction, he mentions how his upcoming Batman book with Jorge Jiménez represents where his Hawkeye series would have gone if he and David Aja had continued. What does that mean, exactly? It’s complicated, and you’ll just have to listen to this week’s podcast to fully understand. And that’s what we call in the biz, a big ol’ tease.

Our chat with Matt Fraction concludes our San Diego Comic-Con International coverage, and we’re so frickin’ excited that we get to do so with this writer and this creation. As longtime listeners know, Batman is one of our boys, and the character has never been in as many good hands as he is right now at DC. Beyond this new Batman relaunch with Fraction and Jiménez, we have stellar titles in Absolute Batman, Batman and Robin, Batman and Robin: Year One, Batman: Dark Patterns, and probably a half dozen books we’re forgetting about at this moment.

Batman, created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, first appeared in Detective Comics #27, published on March 30th, 1939. The character’s longevity makes him indestructible. He won’t break, no matter what Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez do to him. This comes with tremendous freedom, allowing Fraction and Jiménez to throw everything of themselves into the character, and their longevity on the line will ultimately be determined by us, the readers.

Having read the first two issues in the new series, we can happily report that Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez’s take on the character is very much our jam, and rather unique from the other excellent flavors you can find on the stand every month. Their Batman operates in a semi-one-and-done structure, embracing the medium of comics while still satisfying those who crave long-haul storytelling. Mostly, it’s a fun as hell ride that looks slick. These are superhero comics that are not afraid to be superhero comics. They’re damn proud of it, in fact.

However, before we dive into all the Batman talk with Matt Fraction, we must regale you with our recent comic shop road trip to Richmond and Virginia Beach, Virginia. We did it, gang. We’ve already completed our mission to visit fifty comic book shops in fifty-two weeks. We’ve learned a lot from this experiment, and we need to discuss both the wonderful and not-so-wonderful aspects we've observed in these stores. Strap in for some serious retail talk.

Batman #1 is written by Matt Fraction, illustrated by Jorge Jiménez, colored by Tomeu Morey, lettered by Clayton Cowles, and published by DC. The first issue arrives in comic book shops on September 3rd.

Our SDCC Coverage:

 * Eric Powell and Harold Schechter on "Dr. Werthless" [https://www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com/post/dr-werthless-harold-schechter-eric-powell]

 * Alex Segura on Star Wars [https://www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com/post/alex-segura-star-wars-interview]

 * 

Matt Fraction on Batman

The great thing about the zombie sub-genre is that every time you think it’s played out, a new creative team arrives to inject some fresh life into it. Everything Dead and Dying, the new Image Comics [https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/everything-dead-dying-1-of-5] series by Tate Brombal and Jacob Phillips, imagines the last living farmer on the planet, sitting satisfied on his homestead, surrounded by his dead and rotting loved ones. The corpses he once called friends and family are trapped in the routine of their last living day, performing mundane tasks such as delivering the mail and receiving a bedtime story. If he squints hard enough, the farmer, Jack Chandler, can soldier on as if each new day is as good as the old ones were.

Everything Dead and Dying is a deliciously, satisfyingly sad zombie story, and like the best entries in this sub-genre, it has a lot on its mind and heart. The first issue is easily one of our favorites of the year, and demands attention from those already fond of walkers or those who’d rather avoid them. Brombal and Phillips have constructed a perfect zombie gateway comic.

Having recently visited the Monroeville Mall in Pittsburgh, the site where George R. Romero shot the classic Dawn of the Dead, we were eager to chat with Tate Brombal and Jacob Phillips about what drew them to this particular story engine. What do the undead offer us as metaphors, especially in a culture so near its own global catastrophe?

On this week’s podcast, we discuss their connection to zombies, why they previously never considered contributing to the sub-genre, and how Jacob Phillips built an entire town from scratch. Final Order Cutoff for Everything Dead and Dying#1 is Today (8/11), so call your comic book shop asap so you won’t miss out on reading this story when it arrives on September 3rd.

Make sure you're following Tate Brombal on Blue Sky [https://bsky.app/profile/tatebrombal.bsky.social] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/tatebrombal/], as well as Jacob Phillips on Blue Sky [https://web-cdn.bsky.app/profile/thatjacobphillips.bsky.social] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thatjacobphillips/].

This Week's Sponsors

We're sponsored by 2000 AD [https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/subscriptions], the greatest comic you're not reading! Within its pages is a whole universe of characters, from Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog to Rogue Trooper, Shakara, Halo Jones, and the poor sods slogging across the Cursed Earth in The Helltrekkers. Get a print subscription at your door every week - and the first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, get free back issues, and download DRM-free copies of each issue for just $9 a month. That's 128 pages of incredible monthly comics for less than $10.

Do you want in on the biggest secret in comics today? IDW Publishing’s Go [https://idwpublishing.com/collections/godzilla?srsltid=AfmBOop48tBBfgs3Dp1MkBmM030nLZShxOHBGxZY_SiqyRipV6fbs4sv]

Tate Brombal and Jacob Phillips on Everything Dead and Dying

For the past year, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has been as exciting and essential as DC’s Absolute Universe [https://www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com/post/scott-snyder-nick-dragotta-absolute-batman-bane-interview] or Skybound’s Energon Universe [https://www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com/post/transformers-volume-1-daniel-warren-johnson-interview]. Writer Jason Aaron and artist Juan Ferreyra have built an unmissable monthly comic, not to forget the numerous other splinter titles and crossover minis. Shortly before San Diego Comic-Con International, The Hollywood Reporter announced [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-gets-new-creative-team-1236324892/] Aaron and Ferreyra’s departure, and we were a little heartbroken. Their time on the book was too brief, but if they must go, the news that cartoonist extraordinaire Gene Luen Yang and lifelong Turtle maniac Freddie E. Williams II eased the pain some.

One of our missions for this year’s San Diego Comic-Con was to return with more news regarding the TMNT baton pass between Aaron and Ferreyra and Yang and Williams. After moderating IDW Publishing’s “The New Era of Turtle Power” panel, we retreated to the Hilton Bayfront, where we had a lengthy conversation with Gene Luen Yang about his passion for the Turtles and how he would apply it to the series, starting with issue thirteen.

Also discussed at San Diego Comic-Con, Andrew Joustra, the script coordinator for the animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, will write an arc for the newly announced Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, bringing the iconic Fugitoid character to the latest iteration of the TMNT universe. As passionate fans of Fugitoid ourselves, we had to trap Joustra in a media room for a deep dive into his take on the character and why he put so much of himself into the troubled fugitive android.

Today, you get two podcasts for the price of one. With Gene Luen Yang, we discuss where we find the Turtles when his story begins, how they’ve grown throughout the Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra run, and why a certain new antagonist was necessary for his story. With Andrew Joustra, we explore the Fugitoid concept, his relationship with the Turtles through the various franchise incarnations, and why this story is so deeply personal.

Be sure to follow Gene Luen Yang on his website [https://geneyang.com/], Blue Sky [https://bsky.app/profile/geneluenyang.bsky.social], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/geneluenyang/], and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@geneluenyang]. Also, follow Andrew Joustra on his website [https://www.andrewjoustra.com/], Blue Sky [https://web-cdn.bsky.app/profile/did:plc:hzb2ck4ekmzmwhqfbs4zr23y], and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/joustragram].

Our SDCC Coverage:

 * Eric Powell and Harold Schechter on "Dr. Werthless" [https://www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com/post/dr-werthless-harold-schechter-eric-powell]

 * Alex Segura on Star Wars [https://www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com/post/alex-segura-star-wars-interview]

Gene Luen Yang and Andrew Joustra: A New Era of Turtle Power

Join married couple Brad and Lisa as they explore the various dynamics of comic book relationships throughout pop culture and publishing history.

Comic Book Couples Counseling Podcast