Storied Arcs

Send us a text This week, Mike and Alex are thrilled to be joined by writer and co-creator of The Bunker, Joshua Hale Fialkov! They start with the origin of The Bunker and how the idea came to be, from the initial germ of a story idea to how Joshua linked up with Joe Infurnari. Joshua then takes up deep into the business and commerce side of comics, discussing how his initial experiences working at DC and Marvel led him and Joe to self publish The Bunker digitally at first before finding a home at Oni Press, and how circumstances eventually lead him away from writing comics and into working in television for several years (he also answers our question about the placement of issue #10 in Volume 3). He lets us in on the many attempts at making a Bunker television adaptation, and how each of those (failed) attempts would have related to and affected the comic. It's a fascinating look at the way one story could been woven and told across different media. Finally, Joshua gives his thoughts on The Bunker a decade-plus on, and how its themes and ideas fit into the world today and inform the work he's doing currently as a teacher. We can't thank Joshua enough for being so generous with his time! You can follow Joshua at his website as well as on Instagram and Bluesky. Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text "Your job, your purpose is to tell people why they matter. To tell them the truth. Always. If you spend your life lying to the people you love, hiding who you are, and what you want... then we lose. Mike and Alex wrap up their deep dive into The Bunker by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Joe Infurnari this week with Volume 4 (issues #15-19). The guys jump right into the ending, breaking down the final revelations and consequences presented in the book from meddling with time, and discussing their thoughts about the story's ultimate message. What does it say about someone who's capable of developing time travel that they always believe that they're the only ones who can fix the problems they created by traveling through time? It's a common time travel theme, and the guys take a long examination into how The Bunker comments on it. It's a compelling book, inviting the reader to ask themselves how they might handle things, and if their choices would be any better or worse than the characters' in the story. We hope you enjoyed this look at The Bunker. Next week, we are excited to share an exclusive interview with writer Joshua Hale Fialkov, where we dig into the origins of The Bunker and so much more. Be sure to check it out! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text "This is about TRYING to make things better. Listen, the best part about all of this is that if we're wrong, we just start over again." In this episode, Mike and Alex break down the penultimate volume of Oni Press' The Bunker by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Joe Infurnari with Volume 3 (issues #10-14). The guys jump right into things, exploring how the three-month time jump in the story was handled, and how the "backward" issue plays as a storytelling device. And as they are attempting to heap some praise on Joe Infurnari's art, they get waylaid by the real-time discovery that the trade collection re-orders the issues so that issue #10 (the peek-at-the-future interstitial story drawn by Brahm Revel and colored by Jason Fischer) is presented as the final chapter in this arc (as Alex read it) as opposed to the first (as Mike read it), and go into a discussion of how that shifts the readers' perspective on the remaining issues of this volume. Mike goes so far as to reach out to Joshua Hale Fialkov mid-discussion to try and get some clarity (more on that later). Join us next week as we wrap up our look at The Bunker with Volume 4 (issues #15-19). Find it wherever you get your comics and join the discussion! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text "-How do we know that we aren't the ones who killed these people, and started this whole thing? How do we know that we didn't do this all already? -We don't. And we never will." This week, Mike and Alex continue their exploration of Oni Press' The Bunker by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Joe Infurnari with Volume 2 (issues #5-9). With some further examination of the time travel rules by the book itself, the guys dive a little deeper into what they think might and might not be possible to accomplish by traveling into the past, then take a larger existential look at free will versus fate and how that debate is presented on the page. What does it mean to make a choice if you know how that choice will play out? Is it even still a choice at that point? Finally, they discuss who the good guys and bad guys are of the story (if there even are any of either), and who they may be focused on heading into the back half of the story. We head into the penultimate story arc with The Bunker Volume 3 (issues #10-14), so grab it wherever you get your comics and we'll see you here next week! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text "We wrote these letters to tell you that its not too late. To inspire a future we hope can be made. That is a lie. If this works, and you are reading this, you need to understand something. This NEEDS to happen. The world HAS to die." This season on Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex are delving deep into The Bunker by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Joe Infurnari from Oni Press, starting this week with Volume 1 (issues #1-4). The guys start by revisiting the topic of time travel stories (see: Paper Girls, Time Before Time) and discuss what kind of time travel rules apply (or appear to apply) to The Bunker. Is it a closed loop, or can things be changed? They also examine the trope of "trauma as character trait" as it's presented in these issues, and as it is used throughout popular media today. What would you do if you received a letter from your future self? And what would you write to convince your past self that it's really you? And would you even trust yourself either way? These are the questions The Bunker offers up. The timey-wimey-ness continues with The Bunker Volume 2 (issues #5-9), so find it wherever you get your comics and join up back here again next week! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text This week on Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex crack open The Bunker from Oni Press by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Joe Infurnari. In this spoiler-free introduction, they shine the creator spotlight on Fialkov and Infurnari, exploring their past comic work, then set the stage for what makes this time-bending thriller worth your attention. Along their way, the guys discuss how they came across this book, how its initial digital-first publishing strategy was a sign of the times, and why time-travel stories remain a fruitful storytelling well. Whether you’re brand new to the series or just curious about the creative minds behind it, this episode gives you the perfect jumping-on point. So go find The Bunker Volume 1 (issues #1-4) wherever you get your comics and and join us back here next week to break it all down! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text "We can set down our tools and, at last, rest. The next generation is no longer our concern. Because we are the last." Mike and Alex contemplate the end (question mark?) of human civilization as they dive into the final issues of Charles Soule and Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque's Letter 44 with Deluxe Volume 3 (issues #25-35) from Oni Press/Image Comics. The guys start at the end of the story and go deep into the final issues, debating the ending notes of the comic and the feelings they were left with at its conclusion. They also discuss the ways in which this book was prescient about the future (aka the present, as this episode was recorded) and how, once again, it was seemingly all the bad things that came true. That's probably something we should sit with a little longer. We really enjoy taking a look at an early work from a now-more established creator (like Charles Soule), and we hoped you enjoyed it as well. We'll be back next week to get you ready for our next deep dive into another great comic! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text "You're in command, sir. Everything you do is the right thing. Even when it's not." This week on Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex continue their exploration of Letter 44 by Charles Soule and Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque with Deluxe Volume 2 (issues #13-24). The guys start by discussing the escalation in the storylines, both on Earth and in space, and dive into the decision of a world leader to unilaterally inform the planet that alien life exists and it's on its way here (spoiler alert- it goes poorly; World War III, anyone?). They once again examine the real world parallels/allusions presented in the book, and how those overlays effect the reader's relationship to the story. Then the guys break down how the space portion of the story has gained more traction and speculate how the two storylines might converge at the comic beings to draw to a close. We wrap up our look at this political sci-fi mashup next week so go read Deluxe Volume 3 (issues #25-35 aka all of the remaining issues) and join us here again to see how it all ends! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text "But in my opinion, if they can travel between stars then we can invent as many laser guns as we want and it won't make a damn bit of difference." Welcome to the new season of Storied Arcs, where Mike and Alex are diving into the political/sci-fi mash-up of Letter 44 by Charles Soule and Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque from Oni Press and Image Comics with Deluxe Volume 1 (issues #1-12, if you're reading in single issue or compendium). The guys start with a few nits to pick (no book is perfect) before jumping into the parts that really excited them. They survey the political landscape presented in the comic and then examine how the real world overlays map onto the story. The world of Letter 44 is just a slightly skewed version of our world, and the guys discuss how that story construction and presentation works (or maybe doesn't) in the book's favor. Finally, they wrap up by talking through which part of the story- the political drama or the sci-fi drama- has them more interested at this point. The deep dive continues next week with Letter 44 Deluxe Volume 2 (issues #13-24). Go find it (or just read the next batch of issues in the compendium) wherever you get your comics and join the discussion! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text In this zero episode, Mike and Alex get you primed for Letter 44 by Charles Soule and Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque from Oni Press (originially) and Image Comics (currently). The guys start with a quick synopsis of the book (sci-fi thriller in space combined with political drama on Earth) and recount its publishing history, providing a little background of Oni Press along the way. Then, they dive into the creative team, including writer Charles Soule (who was covered more fully in the Eight Billion Genies zero episode) and artist Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque, along with a host of other collaborators (colorists Guy Major, Dan Jackson, and Sarah Stern, and letterers Shawn DePasquale and Crank!, plus guest artists Joelle Jones, Drew Moss, Ryan Kelly, Alise Gluskova, and Langdon Foss). Letter 44 is crazy mix of genres that seem like they shouldn't work on paper but when handled properly, mesh together perfectly. It's likely that the most accessible way to read Letter 44 at the moment is the new (as of this recording) compendium recently published by Image containing all 35 issues. We'll be covering the book across three discussions, divided up as the Deluxe editions from Oni Press had them: 09/04: Issues #1-12 09/11: Issues #13-24 09/18: Issues #25-35 So, go read Letter 44 issues #1-12 wherever (or however) you can can find them, and join us back here next week to break it all down! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text This week, Mike and Alex are here to intro the final installment of Social Media Summer, Mindset by Zack Kaplan and John Pearson from Vault Comics. They start by covering the creative team behind the book (including mentioning letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, who's lettered seemingly every book they've covered that's been published within the last few years) before giving a spoiler-free tease for the comic. This books brings us to the very recent past along the decline of social media timeline (June 2022 to January 2023), meaning our relationship to social media and technology today is closer to what's depicted in Mindset than in any previous book we've covered thus far. Mindset is another single volume story (issues #1-6) so find it where you get your comics and we'll see back here next week to discuss it and Social Media Summer as a whole! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text "I was showing everyone that technology is nothing but a monster." "Technology is just a tool. Human beings still do the heavy lifting." Welcome to book three of Social Media Summer! This week, Mike and Alex dive into Thumbs (issues #1-5) from Image Comics by Sean Lewis and Hayden Sherman. They start by examining the slightly different angle this book takes towards technology versus the previous two books they've covered in this series, and how that almost agnostic view of tech muddies the focus on who are the good guys and who are the bad guys in the story (which kinda feels like the point). The guys also dig into how the timing of this book, released just before the COVID lockdowns of 2020, lends a meta quality to the themes presented, and how reading it post-2020, it could be mistaken as a reaction to that. Finally, the guys wrap by placing Thumbs in the larger conversation with Hacktivist and Unfollow in terms of how we are seeing ourselves and our relationship to technology across the timeline of social media. Next week, we get you prepped for the final entry in Social Media Summer, Mindset! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text Social Media Summer continues this week as Mike and Alex jump a little further forward on the decline of social media timeline (June to August 2019) to introduce Thumbs by Sean Lewis and Hayden Sherman from Image Comics. As usual, the guys give a quick rundown of the creative team's comics history, as well as whatever projects they may be working on now (like maybe one of the best superhero comics on the stands as we record this). Then they wrap with a spoiler-free intro to Thumbs and chat a little as to how and why they see it fitting into the overall theme. And Alex references another movie from the 80s that Mike hasn't seen. Because of course. Thumbs is just a single volume (issues #1-5) so go find it wherever you get your comics and be a part of the discussion next week! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text "It is no longer white noise. It is a deafening crescendo. News flits by in a millisecond. Who can tell what is truth? Every moment of every day... we are besieged." Mike and Alex close out book two of Social Media Summer this week with a dive into Unfollow Volume 3: Turn It Off (issues #13-18) from DC Comics/Vertigo. The guys grapple first with the ending of the story, parsing what they think Rob Williams and Michael Dowling may have been trying to say (or not say) about society given the comic's nihilistic finale, and discuss how it ultimately felt consistent with the overall vibe of the book. They also break down how of all the ideas and themes presented, the quasi-deep fake, generative-AI speech model of Akira that only gets a passing glance within the story might have been the more prescient one. And finally, the guys wrap their discussion by examining how this story has aged now in 2025 and compare/contrast that with book one of the theme, Hacktivist. The two books overlapped a bit in publication but their perspectives couldn't have been more different. Next week, we jump ahead a few years along the social media timeline and get you primed and ready for book three of Social Media Summer, Thumbs! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text "I mean, what's the point of doing something unless you can tell the whole world?" This week on Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex continue to make their way through Social Media Summer with Unfollow Volume 2: God Is Watching (issues #7-12) by Rob Williams and Michael Dowling from DC Comics/Vertigo. The guys discuss how narrowing the story into two or three main threads works to its advantage as it allows the book to more easily juggle the number of characters it wants to follow. They touch on all the main characters and break down which ones appear to be set up for interesting and/or satisfying arcs, and which (if any) still maybe feel underserved. Finally, the guys discuss the plot twist that isn't really treated like a plot twist, and what they think it means for the story as it rounds towards the finale. We wrap up our look at Unfollow next week with Volume 3: Turn It Off (issues #13-18), so pick it up where ever you get your comics and join us back here again to dive into it! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text "The great terror comes form the universe's actions that do not have a cognizant mind behind them. What if all we are is swept away by something that wants nothing? That means nothing?" Welcome to book two of Social Media Summer! This week, Mike and Alex begin their look at Unfollow by Rob Williams and Michael Dowling from DC Comics/Vertigo with Volume 1: 140 Characters (issues #1-6). The guys dive right into the comic, breaking down the overall narrative setup (a tontine established by a dying billionaire tech genius involving 140 randomly-chosen social media users) and the deployment of certain story beats. They discuss the various characters among the 140 who seem to get a spotlights in this volume but without any real depth (yet), and how that affects their focus on the story. The guys' level of investment in these characters varies greatly after one volume, and they agree that there was just a lot of table setting to get ready for what the comic is actually going to be about. It hasn't been a huge jump forward in publication time along the social media timeline from our previous book, Hacktivist, but the cracks in the technological veneer are already showing. So go read Unfollow Volume 2: God Is Watching (issues #7-12) wherever you get your comics and join us here again next week! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text This week, Mike and Alex setup the next book in their Social Media Summer series, Unfollow from DC Comics/Vertigo by writer Rob Williams and artist Michael Dowling. They guys first give some background on the creative team, including colorist Quinton Winter and letterer Clem Robins, as well as acknowledge the handful of guest artists brought on the pinch hit for an issue here and there (more on them when the discussion reaches those issues). Then they give a spoiler-free preview of Unfollow and discuss briefly how it fits into the decline of social media timeline they have been tracking (November 2015 to April 2017 in this case). Unfollow is on the more mature side of things, but hey, that's just how it goes with comics sometimes. So find Unfollow Volume 1 (issues #1-6) wherever you get your comics and join us next week to jump into Social Media Summer Book Two! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text "I put the gun in their hands and I trusted them to use it wisely. Just like Tunisia. Just like Sirine. And they used it to kill. I have to stop them. There's no other choice, this is my responsibility. It's on my hands." This week, Social Media Summer continues with Hacktivist Volume 2 (issues #1-6) from Boom Studios by Alyssa Milano, Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, and Marcus To. Mike and Alex start by airing some of things that they bumped on in this volume with regards to some of the specifics in the storytelling choices before discussing the overall theme of actions and consequences, which they quite liked. They dive deep into the underlying naivety present in this volume (a product of it's 2015 publication), where our tech bro protagonists learn an important lesson but are still shown to be righteous in their beliefs, and how that aged like milk over the past decade. Social media in real life hadn't plummeted to the depths of despair yet when this book came out, but you can already see the signs of what could, and would, come in its pages. Another example of a comic foreseeing the future, but not the good parts. Our journey through social media's history in comics continues next week as we intro the next book in our series, Unfollow! See you back here next week as we get you primed for our next discussions! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!

Send us a text "It's Moore's Law. Every two years, transistors double on integrated circuits. This is a constant since 1958. That means that we the people, the ones with the technology, we're getting more powerful by the day." Welcome to the first entry in Social Media Summer! This week, Mike and Alex are jumping back to 2014 to dive into Hacktivist Volume 1 (issues #1-4) by Alyssa Milano, Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, and Marcus To from Boom Studios. The guys reminisce about social media's stature and place in society in 2014 and discuss how different it looks now through a 2025 lens. They examine the main thesis of the book- what if tech billionaires were actually the good guys?- and look at how that desirable, and maybe even believable, fantasy a decade ago is now so farcical, it wouldn't make it past the pitch meeting. They guys also praise the visuals throughout the comic, from Marcus To's art to Ian Herring's colors to Deron Bennett's lettering (which I think is some of the best depictions of foreign languages I've ever seen). Social Media Summer is just getting started. Next week, we're finishing up Hacktivist before introing the next book in our series, so go find Hacktivist Volume 2 (issues #1-6) wherever you get your comics and join is here again to be apart of the conversation! Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs https://linktr.ee/storiedarcsBlueSkyInstagramFacebookThreadsTwitter/Xwww.storiedarcs.com Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!