Marvel Civil War: Issue #1
03/28/23 • 81 min
In the season six premiere, Special Topics in Media host Garret Castleberry is joined by Kyle Hammonds in an effort to introduce readers to the best-selling comic book event series from Marvel Entertainment, Civil War (2006-2007). This seven-issue mini-series provided a competitive economic property in a decade where comic-publishing titans Marvel and DC Comics dueled for commercial supremacy. Marvel typically dominated monthly sales among the top 10 and top 25 single-issue releases, while DC held steady in the quickly growing graphic novel reprint market. Marvel's Civil War thus provides a meta-narrative that in some ways commemorates the industry-old sales tactics used to attract reader-consumers. Ultimately, Marvel succeeded at generating mainstream publicity for Civil War, primarily because the storyline suggested audacious key character shifts that allegorically reflected real-world anxieties in the post-9/11 cultural zeitgeist.
Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Kyle Hammonds
Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)
Recommended readings paired with Season Six "Marvel's Civil War":
Mark Millar & Steve McNiven. Civil War. Marvel Comics, 2006.
Chris Gavaler. Superhero Comics. Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2017.
Ways to Connect with us online:
Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podcast_topics.
"Like" to follow our Special Topics in Media Page on Facebook (search Special Topics in Media).
Join the Special Topics in Media Facebook Group and share your reviews of the film or this episode.
Follow Kyla Hammonds's wider media insights in the Facebook Group MovieTalk, with Kyle Hammonds.
Subscribe to Dr. Castleberry's academic YouTube Channel.
Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.
In the season six premiere, Special Topics in Media host Garret Castleberry is joined by Kyle Hammonds in an effort to introduce readers to the best-selling comic book event series from Marvel Entertainment, Civil War (2006-2007). This seven-issue mini-series provided a competitive economic property in a decade where comic-publishing titans Marvel and DC Comics dueled for commercial supremacy. Marvel typically dominated monthly sales among the top 10 and top 25 single-issue releases, while DC held steady in the quickly growing graphic novel reprint market. Marvel's Civil War thus provides a meta-narrative that in some ways commemorates the industry-old sales tactics used to attract reader-consumers. Ultimately, Marvel succeeded at generating mainstream publicity for Civil War, primarily because the storyline suggested audacious key character shifts that allegorically reflected real-world anxieties in the post-9/11 cultural zeitgeist.
Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Kyle Hammonds
Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)
Recommended readings paired with Season Six "Marvel's Civil War":
Mark Millar & Steve McNiven. Civil War. Marvel Comics, 2006.
Chris Gavaler. Superhero Comics. Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2017.
Ways to Connect with us online:
Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podcast_topics.
"Like" to follow our Special Topics in Media Page on Facebook (search Special Topics in Media).
Join the Special Topics in Media Facebook Group and share your reviews of the film or this episode.
Follow Kyla Hammonds's wider media insights in the Facebook Group MovieTalk, with Kyle Hammonds.
Subscribe to Dr. Castleberry's academic YouTube Channel.
Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.
Previous Episode
Marvel Civil War: Season 6 Preview
In this teaser episode, Special Topics in Media host Garret Castleberry introduces listeners to the new topic and recurring cohost joining the lecturecast for season six. In season six, two key shifts provide an opportunity to examine media from alternate angles. First, Special Topics season six shifts mass mediums away from film to focus on the literary medium of comic books. Specifically, season six focuses exclusively on the best-selling (yet also polarizing) superhero "event" storyline from Marvel Comics released from 2006 to 2007, writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven's Civil War. Comics scholar Kyle Hammonds joins Garret in this episodic-yet-analytically serialized season. A credentialed academic in communication studies with emphases in qualitative methods and critical media studies, as well as an all-around comic book aficionado and fan culture researcher, Kyle returns to the mic to provide his unique philosophical and rhetorical observations. Together, they will swap close readings as they seek to untangle the politically charged superhero-on-superhero graphic novel, Marvel's Civil War.
Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Kyle Hammonds
Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)
Recommended readings paired with Season Six "Marvel's Civil War":
Mark Millar & Steve McNiven. Civil War. Marvel Comics, 2006.
Chris Gavaler. Superhero Comics. Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2017.
Ways to Connect with us online:
Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podcast_topics.
"Like" to follow our Special Topics in Media Page on Facebook (search Special Topics in Media).
Join the Special Topics in Media Facebook Group and share your reviews of the film or this episode.
Follow Kyla Hammonds's wider media insights in the Facebook Group MovieTalk, with Kyle Hammonds.
Subscribe to Dr. Castleberry's academic YouTube Channel.
Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.
Next Episode
Marvel Civil War: Issue #2
In the second installation to our Marvel: Civil War season, cohosts Garret Castleberry and Kyle Hammonds dive deeper into the unfolding cultural clash at the heart of writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven's event mini-series. Issue #2 focuses on the political fallout that results from the explosive encounter facing the superhero community amidst the terroristic tragedy that unfolds in Issue #1. This second chapter merges allegorical allusions between Marvel's fictional contemporary setting and the real-world ramifications of the events of September 11, 2001 and the socio-political reactions that resulted in the U.S.'s declaration of a "War on Terror". One key point of fascination with Millar's controversial characterizations to serve the story's narrative structure in Civil War. This includes the pointedly oppositional perspectives that leaders like Steve Rogers (Captain America), Tony Stark (Iron Man), or Reed and Sue Richards (Mr. and Mrs. Fantastic) assume as the collateral toll of superhero violence destructively impacts the nation.
Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Kyle Hammonds
Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)
Recommended readings paired with Season Six "Marvel's Civil War":
Mark Millar & Steve McNiven. Civil War. Marvel Comics, 2006.
Chris Gavaler. Superhero Comics. Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2017.
Ways to Connect with us online:
Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podcast_topics.
"Like" to follow our Special Topics in Media Page on Facebook (search Special Topics in Media).
Join the Special Topics in Media Facebook Group and share your reviews of the film or this episode.
Follow Kyla Hammonds's hot-topic media insights in the Facebook Group MovieTalk, with Kyle Hammonds.
Subscribe to Dr. Castleberry's academic YouTube Channel.
Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.
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