Storied Arcs
Welcome to Storied Arcs! A read-along deep dive into comics, one story arc at a time...
In each episode, we will discuss one story arc, typically in the form of a trade paperback, for a completed comic series. In general, we will be avoiding ongoing or continuing series so that we can discuss a work in its entirety.
We’ll also be avoiding the “big two” (Marvel and DC.) While we love those comics, there are plenty of podcasts covering characters like Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and so on. Instead, we’re excited to explore some of the great creator-owned stories. We’ll deep dive into the story while evaluating the prose, art, and all the easter eggs we can find.
Learn more at www.storiedarcs.com
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 75 minutes
- Episodes
- 174
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2025
The Unwritten Volumes 03 & 04
"Some symbols become more real than what they stand for. Like they're part of a truth that's beyond the regular kind of truth."
In this episode, Mike and Alex are back to discuss The Unw…
The Unwritten Volumes 01 & 02
"Stories are the only thing worth dying for."
Welcome to The Unwritten and the magical world of Tommy Taylor, who is definitely not a total ripoff of that other orphan boy-turned-wizard …
Creator Spotlight: Mike Carey and Peter Gross & Intro to The Unwritten
Welcome to the most ambitious season of Stories Arcs to date!
In this zero episode, Mike and Alex discuss the comics history of creators Mike Carey and Peter Gross and provide an introdu…
The Nightly News - Complete Edition
"If you believe in nothing, how can you accomplish anything."
In this one-shot episode, Mike and Alex dive right into The Nightly News from Image Comics, superstar writer Jonathan Hickma…
Creator Spotlight: Jonathan Hickman & Intro to The Nightly News
Mike and Alex have another one-shot deep dive lined up for discussion but before they do, they have a chat about the creative team behind that comic, The Nightly News from Image Comics-…
The Seeds TPB
"Repeat a lie often enough, it takes on the illusion of truth."
In this one-shot episode, Mike and Alex dig deep into The Seeds by Ann Nocenti and David Aja from Berger Books. They break…
Creator Spotlight: Ann Nocenti, David Aja, and Karen Berger & Intro to The Seeds
In this episode, Mike and Alex take a look at the creative team behind their next one-shot deep dive, The Seeds. They discuss the influential career of Karen Berger and the name-brand p…
Annual: 2023 Preview & Holiday Wishlist
You'll find all kinds of goodies in this oversized holiday episode which we've dubbed an "annual." In true comic fashion, we ran out of stories to cover by a week so we've compiled an a…
Not All Robots Volume 01
"And I suppose this has been the problem from the very start. The fundamental crack in civilization that has always set us against each other- mistaking productivity for value."
In the f…
The Flintstones Volume 02
"If civilization is going to last, if it's going to amount to anything more than must a place to watch TV and get cheap snake meat, it will only be because we've learned to do one thing…
The Flintstones Volume 01
"No offense, but it seems like the whole point of civilization is to get someone else to do your killing for you."
Welcome to Bedrock and a new season of Storied Arcs! Mike and Alex trav…
Creator Spotlight: Mark Russell with Steve Pugh and Mike Deodato
This is a big one! Not only do we dive deep into the work and themes of Mark Russell, we also examine the art of Steve Pugh (Flintstones) and the storied career of Mike Deodato (Not All…
The Flintstones Introduction Read by Mark Russell
In this mini-episode, you get to hear the introduction from the deluxe edition of The Flintstones written and read by Mark Russell. This book has a particular context and speaks distinc…
Kill Or Be Killed Volume 04
"How did it all get so bad? And when did we lose hope that it might ever get better... instead of worse?"
In the final episode of Storied Arcs Season 4, Mike and Alex are here to wrap up…
Kill Or Be Killed Volume 03
"Fear is a weird thing. Sometimes it's a survival mechanism... like the instinct that made our ancestors flee from saber-tooth tigers. But a lot of the time it's the handcuffs that we p…
Kill Or Be Killed Volume 02
"I don't believe in fate, but you can't deny that things in life sometimes fall together like there actually is some big cosmic plan at work. Which would suck for about 95 percent of us…
Kill Or Be Killed Volume 01
"It's so easy for the guys in those old vigilante movies to find their targets... they just walk around waiting to get mugged. Or they listen for screams and arrive just in time. In rea…
Creator Spotlight: Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips & Intro to Kill Or Be Killed
In this episode, Mike and Alex take a look at Alex's favorite creative team in all of comics- writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips. They discuss the duo's long history of incredi…
The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire
"The most spectacular episode of The Twilight Zone that was never produced." - Damon Lindelof, from the introduction to The Underwater Welder
In this oversized, one-shot episode, Mike an…
Creator Spotlight: Jeff Lemire & Intro to The Underwater Welder
In this episode, the guys discuss Mike's all-time favorite comic creator: Jeff Lemire (Alex is a big fan, too, just not quite on the buy-every-Jeff-Lemire-variant-cover-published-regard…