Army of Crime - Comic & Film Bulletins

048. Providence

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 06:00:00 -0600

Few people cast as unlikely a literary shadow over pop culture as H.P. Lovecraft, the New England resident and author of weird fiction who has since inspired video games, plushies, key chains and innumerable books, short stories and comic books. Providence is acclaimed comics author Alan Moore's entry into the ever-expanding cosmos of Lovecraft stories and Moore endeavors to leave no stone unturned. This is not only a sort of pastiche of Lovecraftian stories, but a story about Lovecraft himself as well as a running commentary on weird fiction as a genre and the time/place that created it. Strap yourself in for a scenic tour of haunted and macabre New England!

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topic for this episode is Providence by Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: This will be the last episode of Season 2. We will back with Season 3 in the near future.

047. Duncan the Wonder Dog

Fri, 04 Mar 2022 06:00:00 -0600

The oldest relationships in the world might just be the relationship between animals and humans. Cattle, sheep dogs, horses, our animal buddies have always been there for us. But what would the animals say about it?

Duncan the Wonder Dog asks the deceptively simple question: What if animals were people? What would they say to us? How would society be warped and transformed by this simple but all encompassing twist? Duncan the Wonder Dog, an award winning graphic novel published in 2010, tries to answer these questions in a story of FBI agents, animal terrorists, and messiah figures using an impressive mixed media black and white art style.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topic for this episode is Duncan the Wonder Dog by Adam Hines.

046. Peplum

Fri, 25 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0600

Peplum, noun: a genre of Greco-Roman era costume adventure films, mostly made in Italy.

See also: Peplum, a phantasmagorical fool's journey taking place in a fantasy version of Imperial Rome written and drawn by Blutch. It's Roman! It's dreamlike and ambiguous! It has beautiful black and white art!

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topic for this episode is Peplum by Blutch.

045. The World of Edena

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0600

Few names stand out in European comics illustration like Moebius, known for his highly imaginative and highly detailed sci-fi and fantasy art. Edena is a story that only Moebius could tell, about old classic cars, the human subconscious, nose diseases, insanity, and love.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topic for this episode is Edena and World of Edena.

044. Pyongyang

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0600

There are few places more inaccessible in the world than North Korea, and while most of us will never visit the Hermit Kingdom, a handful of foreigners have gone there and back. One such account is the travelogue Pyongyang, written and drawn by cartoonist Guy Delisle. Pyongyang details his time working for a French animation studio that had a production office in the titular capital and the absurdities and oddities of living as a foreigner there.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topic for this episode is Pyongyang.

042. Yragaël & Urm The Mad

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0600

Somewhere between a psychedelic dream and an epic fantasy tale is Yragael and its companion story Urm the Mad. Beautiful visuals by French artist Philippe Druillet finds a pairing with a story that freely mixes myth, legend, and dream-logic. It's not every day you read a comic like this!

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topics for this episode include Yragaël by Philippe Druillet and Michel Demuth and Urm The Mad by Philippe Druillet.

043. Dune

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0600

Fear is the mind-killer! For fans of the science fiction novel Dune, there was no greater fear than another failed attempt at adapting Frank Herbert's un-filmable novel. Did Denis Villeneuve pull of the impossible? How does it stack up against the previous adaptations? Is the third time the charm for Dune movies?

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topics for this episode are Dune (2021), Dune (1984), Frank Herbert's Dune (2000), as well as the novel Dune by Frank Herbert.

041. The Hard Tomorrow

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0600

As the world spirals into political and economic chaos, many of us are faced with increasingly existential questions. How can we be happy in a violent and atomized society? Should anyone ever go on Reddit? How scared should we be of Facebook drones? These are the types of questions that The Hard Tomorrow, written and drawn by Eleanor Davis, grapples with in a near-future, slice of life setting.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topic for this episode is The Hard Tomorrow.

040. Judge Dredd: America

Fri, 19 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0600

What is Judge Dredd? Is it a cyberpunk dystopia action/adventure? A sci-fi satire? A cop story? The correct answer is "All of the Above". Join us in examining Judge Dredd: America, an acclaimed Dredd storyline from series co-creator John Wagner that tells a dystopian story about struggling for freedom in a totalitarian world that also doubles as a body horror sci-fi thriller.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topics for this episode are Judge Dredd and Judge Dredd: America.

039. Batmanga

Fri, 05 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0600

Batman has a comically huge cultural footprint, from SNES games, to animated cartoons, Hollywood blockbusters and children's underwear. Did you know that there was even Batmanga? Written and drawn by Jiro Kuwata, the three volumes of Batmanga tell sci-fi themed stories with original villains that have more in common with the Adam West TV show than Frank Miller. Should a curious Bat-fan check them out? I mean, do whatever you want, we're not the boss of you. We can help you make an informed decision though!

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topics for this episode are Batmanga volume 1-3 written and drawn by Jiro Kuwata.

038. X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 06:00:00 -0600

The X-Men were a sort of Lee/Kirby also-ran for many years, sitting awkwardly between the sci-fi family styling of the Fantastic Four and the superhero dynamics of the Avengers. Now the X-Men are a longstanding staple at Marvel, with innumerable spin-offs and series. What are they all about though?

In God Loves, Man Kills, Chris Claremont attempts to tell the quintessential X-Men story as a stand alone graphic novel. God Loves, Man Kills tells a story of prejudice, extremism, and organized religion that served as the basis for at least one blockbuster movie. Does it hold up? Is it good? Should you go read (or reread) it?

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topics for this episode are the X-Men franchise and God Loves, Man Kills.

037. Devil Dinosaur

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 06:00:00 -0600

Epic gods once strode the Earth in times of yore. I am, of course, referring to comics creator Jack Kirby. I could also be referencing the crimson hued tyrannosaur from Devil Dinosaur, a lesser discussed Kirby series from the late Bronze Age of comics.

After his return to Marvel, with the Fourth World in the rear view mirror, Kirby returned to some of his familiar concepts like human deep history, the interplay between myth and supernatural figures as well as a love of big splash pages, ancient aliens, and lost civilizations. This found it's most well known form in The Eternals, but Devil Dinosaur hit on many of the same themes right as The Eternals was wrapping up. How much juice did Kirby still have left? Does Devil Dinosaur deserve a place alongside Kirby's other creations, or is it just a weird oddity? Or maybe both?

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topic for this episode is Devil Dinosaur, written and drawn by Jack Kirby.

036. Usagi Yojimbo: Circles

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 06:00:00 -0600

When you think of samurai drama, what type of talking animal comes to mind? If the question sounds absurd, you may not be familiar with the long running Usagi Yojimbo series written and drawn by Stan Sakai. Combining funny animal characters with deep dives into Tokugawa era Japanese culture and samurai movies, Usagi Yojimbo is a masterfully crafted work of sharp swords and floppy ears, now going into it's third decade.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topics for this episode are Usagi Yojimbo and Usagi Yojimbo: Circles.

035. Perramus

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 00:45:00 -0600

As the world slides further into the 21st century the themes of political isolation, revolution and the absurdity of authoritarian violence look to stay as relevant as ever. Perramus is a comic about South America in the Cold War that takes it's reader to movie sets, circuses, quests for missing teeth, and is applicable in it's larger themes to many other times and places, including ours. There is also a tremendous amount of bird crap.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topic for this episode is Perramus: The City and Oblivion by Alberto Breccia and Juan Sasturain.

034. At The Mountains Of Madness

Fri, 27 Aug 2021 06:30:00 -0600

H.P. Lovecraft casts a long shadow over pop culture, in ways the author himself would never have been able to envision. A perfect example of this is At the Mountains of Madness, an adaptation of the titular Lovecraft novella by manga artist Gou Tanabe. Combining a fairly straightforward telling of the story with detailed black and white manga art, At the Mountains of Madness belongs to the unending tradition of re-inventing and refreshing works from the Lovecraft bibliography.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topics for this episode are At the Mountains of Madness and HP Lovecraft.

033. The Dark Knight Strikes Again

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 07:00:00 -0600

Frank Miller's story Dark Knight Returns has long been considered a masterwork in contemporary superhero comics, and has put a stamp on the character of Batman that is still felt to this day. Almost twenty years later, Miller returned to the same well with Dark Knight Strikes Again. DKSA is a wildly different take on the character and garnered a wide range of opinions, dividing readers instantly. Is DKSA a late career misfire for Miller, or something wholly dissonant from DKR that must be reckoned with on it's own terms?

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topics for this episode are Dark Knight Strikes Again and Frank Miller.

032. Sunny

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 07:00:00 -0600

The coming of age story is a ubiquitous staple of film and television decade after decade. Sunny, however, is a story about coming of age in a very specific time and place, namely Tokyo in the 1970s at a group home with an old beat up car in the backyard. Despite it's particular location and setting, Sunny hits at something universal to the human condition. It is, at times, funny, heartwarming, and tragic.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topics for this episode are Sunny by Taiyo Matsumoto, The Methods of Freedom by Errico Malatesta and Charley's War by Pat Mills and Joe Calquhon.

031. Daredevil by Ann Nocenti & John Romita Jr.

Fri, 09 Jul 2021 07:00:00 -0600

The Man Without Fear started out as a second string Marvel hero, but over the years Daredevil has collected an impressive string of credited creators, including Frank Miller, Brian Michael Bendis, David Mack, Mark Waid, Bill Everett, Wally Wood, David Mazzucchelli, and a variety of others. Following after Frank Miller was a run of issues written by Ann Nocenti with primary art duties by John Romita Jr. that was only ever sporadically collected in volumes that quickly fell out of print. Nocenti was a relative newcomer to comics writing and brought a very different sensibility to the character, bringing in new characters as well as various social and political issues. Are these issues by Nocenti and Romita Jr. offbeat oddities or lost diamonds?

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topic for this episode is Daredevil issues 236, 238-245, 247-257 and 259-291.

030. Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi

Fri, 25 Jun 2021 07:00:00 -0600

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away the Rebel Alliance battled the Galactic Empire in Star Wars. The Tales of the Jedi comic series asks the question "What happened a long time before that?" Written by Tom Veitch and Kevin J. Anderson, these comics attempted to depict galaxy-wide battles between the Jedi Knights and the Sith, in a mix of sci-fi and fantasy, set thousands of years before the Star Wars films. Did they succeed? In an age bursting at the seams with Star Wars content, is Tales of the Jedi a lost classic or a rightly forgotten oddity?

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topic for this episode is the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi comic series.

029. Akira

Fri, 11 Jun 2021 07:01:00 -0600

What is Akira? Not only is this a question that characters in the eponymous story must decipher, it is a slippery question for a reader to answer. Is Akira a precursor to the cyberpunk genre, a landmark sci-fi manga, the basis for a much loved anime, or should we think of it more as Mad Max meets 2001: A Space Odyssey? Maybe all of these, and more besides. Our freewheeling tour of the Modern Age of Comics continues with Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at www.armyofcrime.com

Topic for this episode is Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo.

028. Watchmen

Fri, 28 May 2021 01:05:33 -0600

Army of Crime returns for Season 2! The theme for our second season is "Attack of the Modern Age", and what better place to start a freewheeling tour of the modern age of comics than with Watchmen, the New York Times bestselling comic that catapulted Alan Moore into the pantheon of all time great comics writers. Join us as we attempt to read Watchmen with fresh eyes and disentangle the comic from the cultural legacy that has grown up around it.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444.

Topic for this episode is Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins.

027. Army of Crime Season One Coda

Fri, 28 Feb 2020 06:00:00 -0600

All pods have been cast for Season One here at Army of Crime headquarters. Our retrospective episode looks at Hellboy, Nat Turner, Hellblazer, the upcoming Dune film and uh, cattle. Your interprid hosts are heading back to the workshop to get started on Season Two. Stay alive out there, kids.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 and on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include Hellboy, Hellblazer, Dune, Nat Turner, First Cow.

026. La Marseillaise + Wolverine/Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 06:00:00 -0600

La Marseillaise is a 1938 French film from director Jean Renoir about the French Revolution. Wolverine/Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection is a 1989 graphic novel by Archie Goodwin and Howard Chaykin.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 and on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include La Marseillaise, The Rules of the Game, Wolverine/Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection, Judge Dredd: Judgement Day and Copra.

025. Unconquered + Nat Turner

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 06:00:00 -0600

This episode we look at two starkly different takes on historical fiction. Unconquered is a Technicolor epic from 1947 directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard. This film represents an extremely Anglo-centric history of the United States, ostensibly telling the story of Pontiac's War from the perspective of a frontiersman and an indentured servant. Nat Turner is a four issue mini series written and drawn by Professor Kyle Baker about a violent slave uprising led by the titular enslaved man turned violent revolutionary and messiah. Nat Turner is both historically accurate and emotionally searing on a technical and thematic level.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 and on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include Unconquered, Nat Turner, Sign of the Cross and The Nightingale.

024. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 06:00:00 -0600

The Star Wars saga began over 40 years ago with the release of Star Wars (later re-titled A New Hope) in 1977. Now, decades later, Star Wars has spanned nine films in the main storyline, multiple spin offs and countless TV shows, video games, books, and comics. Rise of Skywalker certainly represents a technical and cultural achievement, but is it any good? Join us as we try to parse out the end of the Skywalker saga and decipher what exactly has made Star Wars such an unstoppable juggernaut of pop culture.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 and on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include Rise of Skywalker, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and Star Wars: Clone Wars.

023. Mort Cinder + The Terrorizers

Fri, 03 Jan 2020 06:00:00 -0600

This episode we look at the black and white historical fantasy comic book Mort Cinder and the Taiwanese New Wave film The Terrorizers. These works together show a variety of people's lives subject to the invisible gears of historical and social processes, as well as pirates, jail breaks and even the Battle of Thermopylae.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 and on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include Mort Cinder, The Terrorizers and Frank Miller's Sin City.

022. Unsane + Dr. Doom and Dr. Strange

Fri, 20 Dec 2019 10:04:42 -0600

Hell is other people. Hell is also ourselves. It is also, I suppose, a magical realm where evil creatures and the like live. This episode we examine the Steven Soderbergh joint Unsane, which is possibly about an insane person, corrupt institutions, and how awful people can be for twisted reasons. Then, we take a journey through the Roger Stern written and Mike Mignola drawn Marvel story Dr. Strange and Doctor Doom, which involves a titanic team up of gnarly neophyte necromancers into a mystic maelstrom against Mephisto.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 and on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include Unsane (available on streaming), Dr. Strange and Dr. Doom, available in print or digital, and The Limey, available on disc.

021. The Devils

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 06:00:00 -0600

Hell will no hold no surprises for you after listening to our episode about the 1971 film The Devils, directed by Ken Russell. Repeatedly censored and often out of print, The Devils is a searing and phantasmagorical look at early modern witchcraft trials, demonic possessions, church-state power and the depths of human viciousness. Fascinating, outrageous and offensive to many, The Devils is not a film easily forgotten.

Note: As this film is based on real events that happened in France in the early 1600s, we will be discussing the plot in full and getting into what might be considered spoilers.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 and on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include The Devils (available on streaming).

020. Coraline + Flight of the Raven

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 06:00:00 -0600

This episode we look at Other Mothers and other types of dangerous characters. From witch haunted American woods to the Nazi controlled streets of Paris, nothing is what it seems in Coraline and Flight of the Raven. Coraline is a stop motion animation film adapted from a Neil Gaiman novella and directed by Henry Selick. Flight of the Raven is a beautifully illustrated story of La Résistance written and drawn by French comics creator Jean Pierre Gibrat. Talking cats! Fast talking cat burglars! Jumping circus mice!

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 and on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include Coraline, (available on streaming or disc), Flight of the Raven by Jean-Pierre Gibrat (available in print), Anomalisa, directed by streaming or disc ), and Kubo and the Two Strings directed by Travis Knight (available on disc).

019. Hellboy Animated + Black Panther by Jack Kirby

Fri, 08 Nov 2019 14:14:06 -0600

Hellboy returns! Wakanda Forever! This episode we check out the Hellboy Animated films, featuring the voices from the 2004 live action film and an assortment of vampires, witches and monsters. Then the King of Comics gives a guided tour of Wakanda, home of the Black Panther. It's Bronze Age Kirby at his most artistically powerful in a lesser known run on the character he created decades earlier. Immortal samurai, vampires, monsters and punch ups abound!

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 and on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include Hellboy Animated, (available on streaming), Black Panther by Jack Kirby (available in digital or print), Newsboy Legion by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon (available in print or digital), and The Demon by Jack Kirby (available in print or digital).

018. A Walk Through Hell

Fri, 25 Oct 2019 07:00:00 -0600

In this Halloween adjacent episode, your brave co-hosts take a deep dive into the Garth Ennis written and Goran Sudzuka drawn horror comic book A Walk Through Hell. The pervasive existential nausea that resulted may take weeks to fully fade. Our most macabre episode is probably one to listen to with the lights on!

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 and on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include A Walk Through Hell volume 1 (available print and digital) and A Walk Through Hell volume 2 (available print and digital), Caliban by Garth Ennis and Facundo Pericio (available in digital or print), and Helllblazer written by Garth Ennis (available in an omnibus or as volumes 5-8 of Hellblazer).

017. Kanal + DC: The New Frontier

Fri, 11 Oct 2019 07:57:53 -0600

This episode takes us into the reaches of outer space and the depths of the Warsaw sewer system. First we examine the acclaimed comic New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke that celebrates the Golden and Silver Ages of DC comics, followed by the film Kanal, a harrowing saga about the Polish resistance in the last days of the Warsaw Uprising, directed by Andrzej Wajda.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 and on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include Kanal, (available on streaming), New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke (available in digital or print), Army of Shadows directed by Jean-Pierre Melville (available on disc or digital), and Ashes and Diamonds directed by Andrzej Wajda (available in digital).

016. Equinoxes + The Sword in the Stone

Fri, 27 Sep 2019 06:00:00 -0600

More King Arthur! This episode we are looking at the complex and critically accliamed French comic Equinoxes and the animated movie The Sword in the Stone, an animated adaptation from the novel The Once and Future King. This episode has it all! Time travel! Airports! Multi-level socio-political narratives! Talking animals!

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 and on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include Sword in the Stone, (available on disc or digital), Equinoxes by Cyril Pedrosa (available in digital or print), The Once and Future King written by TH White (available in digital or print), and Peplum by Blutch (available in digital or print).

015. Hellboy: The Midnight Circus + How I Live Now

Fri, 13 Sep 2019 06:00:00 -0600

More Hellboy! This episode we look at two "coming of age stories". The first is Hellboy: The Midnight Circus, written by Mike Mignola and drawn by Duncan Fegredo, in which a young Hellboy begins to glimpse the dark outlines of his cursed life. We also look at the love story/post-apocalyptic film How I Live Now starring Saoirse Ronan and directed by Kevin Macdonald. Evil circuses! Angst! Bildungsroman!

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include:

Hellboy: The Midnight Circus (available in print or digital) (written by Mike Mignola and drawn by Duncan Fegredo),

Hellboy Omnibus Editions, created by Mike Mignola and collected in Volume 1 (print or digital), Volume 2 (print or digital), Short Stories Volume 1 (print or digital), Short Stories Volume 2 (print or digital), Volume 3 (print or digital) and Volume 4 (print or digital),

How I Live Now, (available on disc or digital) and

Hope and Glory (available on disc or digital).

014. Hellboy in Hell + Excalibur

Fri, 30 Aug 2019 07:00:00 -0600

This episode we explore the Matter of Britain through the fantasy film Excalibur, directed by John Boorman. Then, we take a deep dive into the Matter of Hellboy, by way of Hellboy in Hell, the culmination of decades of storytelling by legendary comics creator Mike Mignola.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include Excalibur, directed by John Boorman, available on disc or digital. Hellboy in Hell, written and drawn by Mike Mignola, available in print and digtal in an omnibus format. Camelot 3000, written by Mike W. Barr and drawn by Brian Bolland, is available in print or digital. The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects by Mike Mignola, available in print and digital.

013. Hellboy 2 + Krazy Kat

Fri, 16 Aug 2019 09:13:18 -0600

Take a look at the steampunk/dark fantasy styling of Hellboy 2: The Golden Army with us, and then take a stroll through Krazy Kat, the comic by George Herriman that was chosen by Comics Journal as the best comic strip of all time.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444 or on the web at armyofcrime.com.

Topics for this episode include Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, directed by Guillermo del Toro, available on disc or digital. Krazy & Ignatz 1916-1918, written and drawn by George Herriman, available in print and digtal. Hellboy: The Crooked M an collected in Hellboy Short Stories Omnibus 2 in print or digit al. Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond, the first volume is available in print as well as the complete series.

012. Palestine + Solo

Fri, 02 Aug 2019 07:00:00 -0600

This episode we talk about what could have been and what might have been with the Star Wars spin off movie Solo, and then grapple with the complex and critically acclaimed work of comics journalism, Palestine, created by Joe Sacco.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on the web at www.armyofcrime.com and on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444.

Topics for this episode include:
Palestine, written and drawn by Joe Sacco (available in print),
Solo, directed by Ron Howard (available in digital, disc, and dvd),
Star Wars: Dark Empire, written by Tom Vietch, art by Cam Kennedy (available in print and digital) and
Death in Gaza, directed by James Miller (available on dvd).

011. Batman: Ego + Bitter Victory

Fri, 19 Jul 2019 07:00:00 -0600

This episode we are checking out Batman: Ego, a collection of Darwyn Cooke's Batman stories and the film Bitter Victory, a World War 2 film about divided loyalties and the fog of war directed by Nicholas Ray. Ego also features Selena's Big Score, a top notch crime thriller starring Catwoman.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on the web at www.armyofcrime.com or on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444.

010. Spawn of Mars + Chicken Run

Fri, 05 Jul 2019 07:00:00 -0600

In our tenth episode we look at an EC comics archive, Spawn of Mars and Other Stories, and an animated movie about chickens escaping from a POW camp, Chicken Run. Spawn of Mars features the top shelf sci-fi art of comics legend Wally Wood and Chicken Run is directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park, co-creators of Wallace and Gromit.

Music is by Free Rap Beats.

Find us on the web at www.armyofcrime.com or on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444.

009. The Goddamned + The Raven

Fri, 21 Jun 2019 07:00:00 -0600

Join us as we take a look at the 2017 comic series The Goddamned, written by Jason Aaron and drawn by R.M. Guera, a sort of post-apocalyptic Bible story, and the 1963 Roger Corman directed horror film The Raven, which features an all star cast of Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and a young Jack Nicholson. Music is by Free Rap Beats. Find us on the web at www.armyofcrime.com or on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444.

008. The Eternals + The Witch

Fri, 07 Jun 2019 10:58:42 -0600

In this delicious episode we took a look at the Bronze Age Jack Kirby series The Eternals, about immortal super beings and ancient alien gods, and The Witch (or VVitch, if you prefer), the acclaimed 2015 horror film about goats.

Music is by Free Rap Beats

Find us on the web at armyofcrime.com or on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444

007. Spirit Archives + Agora

Fri, 24 May 2019 09:41:15 -0600

The seventh episode features Agora, the 2009 film about the philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria that highlights the struggle between Christianity and paganism in the Late Roman Empire, and Will Eisner's Spirit Archives, the hardcover collection of Will Eisner's classic Spirit strips.

Music is by Free Rap Beats

Find us on the web at www.armyofcrime.com or on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444

006. Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo + The Death of Superman

Fri, 10 May 2019 07:25:54 -0600

Episode six features two epic struggles, the battle between Superman and Doomsday in Death of Superman and the crossover fight between Toshiro Mifune's Yojimbo character and Shintaro Katsu's Zatoichi in Zatoichi meets Yojimbo.

Music is by Free Rap Beats

Find us online @ armyofcrime.com and Twitter @armyofcrime @dustin44444

005. Superman: Past and Future + The Most Dangerous Game

Fri, 26 Apr 2019 05:15:56 -0600

In the fifth episode we look at the trade paperback Superman: Past and Future, collecting a variety of Superman's time travel adventures from the Golden, Silver and Bronze Ages and the 1932 film adaptation of the classic short story The Most Dangerous Game.

Music is by Free Rap Beats

Find us on the web at armyofcrime.com or on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444

004. MW + Superman

Fri, 12 Apr 2019 09:03:18 -0600

In the fourth episode we read the manga about human evil created by Ozama Tezuka and watch the elder statesman of the superhero movie, Superman, directed by Richard Donner and starring Christopher Reeve.

Music is by Free Rap Beats

Find us on the web at armyofcrime.com or on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444

003. Ronin + Warriors of the Rainbow

Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:29:46 -0600

In our third episode we look at Ronin, Frank Miller's comic about time traveling samurai, and Warriors of the Rainbow, a Taiwanese epic about resisting colonization.

Music is by Free Rap Beats

Find us on the web at armyofcrime.com or on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444

002. Planetary + Alexander Nevsky

Fri, 15 Mar 2019 08:56:25 -0600

In the second episode of Army of Crime we look at the Wildstorm comic Planetary and the film Alexander Nevsky. Planetary is a genre bending sci-fi team comic from Warren Ellis and John Cassaday. Alexander Nevsky is a Soviet propaganda film depicting the Northern Crusade, directed by Russian master filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein.

Music is by Free Rap Beats

Find us on the web at armyofcrime.com or on Twitter at @armyofcrime and @dustin44444

001. First Kingdom + Justice League

Wed, 27 Feb 2019 20:14:41 -0600

In the premiere episode we look at the independent comic epic The First Kingdom and Justice League. The First Kingdom is written/drawn by Jack Katz and is widely considered a precursor to the contemporary graphic novel. Justice League is a film about brightly colored people who fight flying monkeys from Hell.

Music is by Free Rap Beats

Find us online @ armyofcrime.com and Twitter @armyofcrime @dustin44444