In this episode of Pod Culture Oz we are once again joined by author and game designer Christian D. Read from Crow Land Publishing as we discuss the politics of superheroes (part 2).

We discuss a time when superheroes were playful, the concept of adult superhero stories with consequences, and explore if superheroes are an inherently fascist genre.

“America keeps telling itself the story of powerful individuals who can change the world and who will not be changed by it.”

Christian D. Read, author

You can listen to this episode on our website, or you can subscribe on on Anchor.FM, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Guest Host:

Christian Read – Author & Game Designer

• Author Profile
• Crow Land Publishing Facebook
• Crow Land Publishing YouTube

Timestamps:

• 0:00 – Introduction
• 1:19 – When superheroes were playful (or: Thor and the Frogs)
• 9:45 – Character, drama and consequences
• 17:42 – The sad story of Watchmen prequels
• 20.51 – Is this an inherently fascist genre?
• 32:56 – Which countries get Superheroes?
• 40:26 – The good stuff – recommendations
• 50:45 – Outro

Books we discuss:

• Amazing Spiderman – Dr Doom cries at NY Ground Zero
• Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition
• Batman comics
• Bauerman, Zigmund. Modernity and the holocaust
• Black Panther comics
• Delaney, Joseph. The Last Apprentice series
• The Flash comics
• Foucault, Micheal. Security, Territory, Population.
• Friedman, Milton. The social responsibility of business to is to increase its profits
• Green Lantern comics
• Hayek, Friedrich. Road to Serfdom
• Jack Flag comics
• Kirby, Jack. New Gods
• Moore, Alan. Batman: The killing joke
• Moore, Alan. Marvelman
• Moore, Alan. V for Vendetta
• Moore, Alan. Watchmen
• Morrison, Grant. The Invisibles
• Rand, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged
• Read, Christian. Nil-Prey
• Read, Christian. The Eldrich Kid
• Read, Christian. The Lark Case Files
• Read, Christian. Unmasked
• Shazam (Captain Marvel) comics
• Supergirl comics
• Superman comics
• Thor comics – Thor turned into a frog
• Wertham, Frederic. Seduction of the Innocent
• Waldrop, Harold. ‘Five minutes over Broadway’, in Martin, George RR (ed). Wild Cards.
• Williams, Jon Walter. ‘Witness’, in Martin, George RR (ed). Wild Cards.
• Wonder Woman comics
• Zenith

Movies & TV shows we discuss:

• Akira
• Arrow
• Aquaman
• The Avengers
• The Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Batman
• Batman Returns
• Batman Forever
• Batman & Robin
• Batman Begins
• Battle Beyond the Stars
• Black Lightning
• The Boys
• Captain America (1990)
• Captain America: The First Avenger
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Conan the Barbarian
• The Crow
• The Dark Knight
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Daredevil
• The Defenders
• Dr Strange
• The Flash
• Gotham
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Heroes
• The Hulk (2003)
• Indianna Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Iron Fist
• Iron Man
• Iron Man 2
• Jessica Jones
• John Wick
• Legion
• Luke Cage
• The Matrix
• The Punisher
• The Secret World of Alex Mack
• Sense8
• Supergirl
• Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show
• Superman
• Superman Returns
• Superman: Red Son
• Tenet
• Titans
• Thor: Ragnarok
• V for Vendetta
• Watchmen (2009)
• Watchmen (2019)
• Wonder Woman

Games we discuss:

• Champions
• Champions Online
• DC Heroes
• DC Universe Online
• Marvel Super Heroes Roleplaying Game
• Sentinels of the Multiverse
• Superworld
• The Secret World MMO
• Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade
• World of Warcraft

Other links:

• Comic Code Authority
• Grater, Tom. Alan Moore Gives Rare Interview: ‘Watchmen’ Creator Talks New Project ‘The Show’, How Superhero Movies Have “Blighted Culture” & Why He Wants Nothing To Do With Comics, in Deadline.
• Joest, Mick. The Time Watchmen’s Alan Moore Brutally Slammed Superhero Movies, in Cinema Blend.
• The Motion Picture Production Code (aka the Hays Code)
• Nissen, Dano. Tessa Thompson Say Valkyrie is Bisexual – in Variety.
• Sharf, Zack. ‘Watchmen’ Creator Alan Moore Condemns Superhero Movies: ‘They’ve Blighted Cinema and Culture’, in Indiewire.
• Walter Lippman Colloquium (1938)
• The Wicked Wallflower Club: Episode 79 V.E. Schwab: Villains, A Darker Shade of Magic, and Addie La Rue
• Patrick (H) Willems: What’s the point of R-rated superheroes?

In this episode of Pod Culture Oz we are joined by author and game designer Christian D. Read from Crowland Publishing as we discuss the politics of superheroes (part 1).

We discuss Alan Moore’s recent controversial interviews and criticism about the state of superhero movies, consider the concept of ‘privatising world peace’, and look at the point of R-rated superheroes.

“The current extended hero universes are one long, embarrassing response to 9-11.”

You can listen to this episode on our website, or you can subscribe on on Anchor.FM, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Guest Host:

Christian Read – Author & Game Designer

• Author Profile
• Crowland Publishing Facebook
• Crowland Publishing YouTube

Books we discuss

• Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition
• Bauerman, Zigmund. Modernity and the holocaust
• Clarke, Susannah. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
• Delaney, Joseph. The Last Apprentice series
• Foucault, Micheal. Security, Territory, Population.
• Friedman, Milton. The social responsibility of business to is to increase its profits
• Hayek, Friedrich. Road to Serfdom
• Kirby, Jack. New Gods
• Moore, Alan. Batman: The killing joke
• Moore, Alan. V for Vendetta
• Moore, Alan. Watchmen
• Morrison, Grant. The Invisibles
• Muir, Tamsyn. Gideon the Ninth
• Read, Christian. Nil-Prey
• Read, Christian. The Eldrich Kid
• Read, Christian. The Lark Case Files
• Read, Christian. Unmasked
• Schwab, V.E. Vicious
• Wertham, Frederic. Seduction of the Innocent

Superhero romances (a sample of titles)

• Brooks, Liana. Even villains fall in love (Heros and Villains #1)
• Colgan, Jenny T. Spandex and the city
• Estep, Jennifer. Bigtime series
• Pechercyzk, Lana. The Deadly Seven series. (Vigilante Superhero Romances)

Movies & TV shows we discuss

• Akira
• Aquaman
• The Avengers
• The Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Batman
• Batman Begins
• Battle Beyond the Stars
• The Boys
• Captain America: The First Avenger
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Conan the barbarian
• The Dark Knight
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Indianna Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Iron Man
• Iron Man 2
• John Wick
• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell
• Legion
• The Matrix
• Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show
• Superman
• Superman Returns
• Superman: Red Son
• Taboo
• Wonder Woman

Games we discuss

• Champions
• Champions Online
• DC Heroes
• DC Universe Online
• Marvel Super Heroes Roleplaying Game
• Sentinels of the Multiverse
• The Secret World MMO
• Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade
• World of Warcraft

Other links:

• Comic Code Authority
• Grater, Tom. Alan Moore Gives Rare Interview: ‘Watchmen’ Creator Talks New Project ‘The Show’, How Superhero Movies Have “Blighted Culture” & Why He Wants Nothing To Do With Comics, in Deadline.
• Joest, Mick. The Time Watchmen’s Alan Moore Brutally Slammed Superhero Movies, in Cinema Blend.
• The Motion Picture Production Code (aka the Hays Code)
• Nissen, Dano. Tessa Thompson Say Valkyrie is Bisexual – in Variety.
• Sharf, Zack. ‘Watchmen’ Creator Alan Moore Condemns Superhero Movies: ‘They’ve Blighted Cinema and Culture’, in Indiewire.
• Walter Lippman Colloquium (1938)
• The Wicked Wallflower Club: Episode 79 V.E. Schwab: Villains, A Darker Shade of Magic, and Addie La Rue
• Patrick (H) Willems: What’s the point of R-rated superheroes?
• Wright, Jim. Scabs (2019) on Stonekettle Station. (Essay on 911 trauma.)

Special Thanks:

To all at the Wicked Wallflowers Coven, for their help with compiling the Superhero Romances list. You are all fantastic.