Transrealities
September 19th, 2017
About fifteen years ago, I had the idea to write a comic script about a shapeshifting superhero, and in particular to have that superhero be trans. Perhaps they could be one gender in their secret identity, and another as their superhero identity?
Thankfully, a trans friend quickly persuaded me that this would be a really, really, really bad idea and that I should instead not do that, and do literally anything else instead, because I am a cis man, and I’d have ended up writing the most grossly offensive thing possible, in the name of “dealing with the issues” and performative allyship.
However, I’ve been very surprised that in the intervening years, especially with gender being an increasingly controversial topic, no-one in the superhero comics world has decided to do exactly that, or something very like it. It’s all too easy to imagine the angry twitterstorms as some cis man called Mark or Nick attacks all the “trolls” who “abuse” him by asking him “why are you doing this bad thing?”
Thankfully, we now have the first serious attempt to present a trans superhero, and rather than being that kind of hateful pseudo-wokeness, it’s actually rather good.
SILENCE! #236
August 31st, 2017
MY NAME IS CHIP AND I’M DIFFERENT
Bit of a change of pace here dear listenoids. While Gary Lactus tutors Little Barry Lactus in the ways of cosmic righteousness, The Beast takes a solo sojourn into the 4-colour wastelands outside your window, till he finds himself knee deep in the comics slurry. There he encounters none other than Tom Oldham, of Breakdown Press and Gosh Comics.
The two proceed to have a nice long chat about the origins of Breakdown Press, and their newest release, the long awaited Good News Bible: The Complete Deadline Strips of Shaky Kane. It’s a rambling, yet laser-focused conversation taking in Deadline, 2000AD, Brett Ewins, Nick Abadzis, Bulletproof Coffin, Connor Willumsen, Fort Thunder, Michel DeForge, Steve Cook, music and comics, Beserker Magazine, Jonathan Chandler, Antoine Cosse, the comics virus, David Quantick, Richard Short, David Hine, Crossed, Worthing and a whole heap more.
It’s two hours of high qualidee chad, and you know you want it.
WARNING: Contains no discussion of My Two Dads
@silencepod
@frasergeesin
@thebeastmustdie
@bobsymindless
@kellykanayama
silencepodcast@gmail.com
This edition of SILENCE! is proudly sponsored by the greatest comics shop on the planet, DAVE’S COMICS of Brighton. It’s also sponsored the greatest comics shop on the planet GOSH! Comics of London.
SILENCE! #235
August 22nd, 2017
JUST ONE TIME I’D LIKE TO SEE EVERYONE SMILE, I GUESS IT WON’T HAPPEN, NOT FOR A WHILE
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water…you realised that you’d only just finished eating quite a stodgy lunch and if you went for a swim there’d be a good chance that you’d get a jolly nasty stitch. At best you’d have a very uncomfortable swim, at worst things could get dicey.
Oh and there’s a f*ck off great big shark in there with a grudge. Might want to give that one a swerve.
<ITEM> You lucky lucky people. You get not one, but TWO goshdurned podcasts today!
<ITEM> Firstly there’s the SILENCE! section. Just good old Gary Lactus and The Beast Must Die shooting the breeze. Terrible shots they are though so once again the breeze gets away free. Plus – who’s that there? A very special new guest…
<ITEM> My Two Dads – the comic
<ITEM> A review of the Defenders? Sort of…
<ITEM> A sideways jaunt into the Reviewniverse, dealing with Mister Miracle and Joe Matt’s Peep Show. Plus Squirrel Girl (spoiler = he liked it, it was good)
<ITEM> Then, for part two you get a bonus new podcast Walker’s Crisps, aka Trisps aka In The Bag, wherein Gary Lactus and special US guest Michael Walker eat crisps together. For humanity’s soul.
YOU WANNA GET INTO IT BOY!
@silencepod
@frasergeesin
@thebeastmustdie
@bobsymindless
@kellykanayama
silencepodcast@gmail.com
This edition of SILENCE! is proudly sponsored by the greatest comics shop on the planet, DAVE’S COMICS of Brighton. It’s also sponsored the greatest comics shop on the planet GOSH! Comics of London.
