Swan Songs by W. Maxwell Prince et al.
01/09/25 • 99 min
"The fact that we know things will end actually presents each of us with an amazing choice: What will you do with the limited time you get on this spinning rock?"
To kick off Death Month, Mike and Alex are looking into the W. Maxwell Prince-penned anthology comic Swan Songs (issues #1-6) from Image Comics. In each issue of the series, Prince collaborates with a different artist to explore the end of something- the world (Martin Simmonds), a marriage (Casper Wijngarrd), the end of the world (Filipe Andrade), a sentence (Caitlin Yarsky), anhedonia (Alex Eckman-Lawn), and the sidewalk (Martin Morazzo). The guys start by sharing their initial thoughts on the book and each giving a quick personal ranking of the stories, then they dive right into the issues, in order, breaking down the specific variation of the theme presented in that issue, the storytelling choices made to convey that theme, and the work of each contributing artist. They guys try and work through what does and doesn't work for them in each story and in the end, reassess their initial rankings. Each issue offers a fascinating perspective on the death, or ending, of a thing, and while it's unlikely that every story will resonate with every reader, we feel pretty confident that at least one of them will hit you in a way that'll make you stop and think a little longer.
Next week we move back to a more traditional narrative comic for our discussion, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (issues #1-5) by Ram V and Filipe Andrade from Boom Studios, but the specter of Death still looms. So go find The Many Deaths of Laila Starr wherever you get your comics and join us back her next week for another great discussion!
Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs
- Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
- Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
- Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
- Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com
Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!
"The fact that we know things will end actually presents each of us with an amazing choice: What will you do with the limited time you get on this spinning rock?"
To kick off Death Month, Mike and Alex are looking into the W. Maxwell Prince-penned anthology comic Swan Songs (issues #1-6) from Image Comics. In each issue of the series, Prince collaborates with a different artist to explore the end of something- the world (Martin Simmonds), a marriage (Casper Wijngarrd), the end of the world (Filipe Andrade), a sentence (Caitlin Yarsky), anhedonia (Alex Eckman-Lawn), and the sidewalk (Martin Morazzo). The guys start by sharing their initial thoughts on the book and each giving a quick personal ranking of the stories, then they dive right into the issues, in order, breaking down the specific variation of the theme presented in that issue, the storytelling choices made to convey that theme, and the work of each contributing artist. They guys try and work through what does and doesn't work for them in each story and in the end, reassess their initial rankings. Each issue offers a fascinating perspective on the death, or ending, of a thing, and while it's unlikely that every story will resonate with every reader, we feel pretty confident that at least one of them will hit you in a way that'll make you stop and think a little longer.
Next week we move back to a more traditional narrative comic for our discussion, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (issues #1-5) by Ram V and Filipe Andrade from Boom Studios, but the specter of Death still looms. So go find The Many Deaths of Laila Starr wherever you get your comics and join us back her next week for another great discussion!
Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs
- Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
- Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
- Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
- Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com
Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!
Previous Episode
Intro to Death Month: Swan Songs, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, I Kill Giants, Daytripper and their creative teams
Welcome to a new season (and year!) of the Storied Arcs podcast! Mike and Alex have returned with another theme month- DEATH. Or dying. But, living. Or ending. But, continuing on. It’s kinda all the same thing. Every story about death is really a story about life, and that’s the thing we’re hoping to explore with the books we’ve picked for our discussions. They’re a wide assortment of stories from a slew of amazingcreators that all examine the concept of death and dying from different angles and perspectives. Those books are:
-Swan Songs by W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Simmonds, Caspar Wijngaard, Filipe Andrade, Caitlin Yarsky, and Martin Morazzo, from Image Comics
-The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V and Filipe Andrade, from Boom Studios
-I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura, from Image Comics
-Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba, from DC Comics/Vertigo
That’s a lot of titles and creators to cover here, so in this episode, we’ll give a very brief synopsis of each book, how we think it fits into our overall theme, and some of the highlights from the creators’ comics resumes. We’ll talk more about each specific team when we cover that book.
We’re going to start off next week with the most unconventional book on our list, Swan Songs (issues #1-6) from Image Comics. It’s an anthology book with a single writer (Prince) working with a different artist for each issue (hence all of the names listed above), each focusing on a different kind of death or ending. It’s a fascinating look at the subject and one we’re eager to dive into. We know death can be a heavy topic, but we’re not looking to make our discussions all downers. We’re far more interested in the portrayal and usage of death as a storytelling device than we are in the actual idea of it (I think). So grab a copy of Swan Songs wherever you get your comics and join back here next week for as we start our journey into Death Month. TO LIFE!
Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs
- Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
- Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
- Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
- Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com
Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!
Next Episode
The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V and Filipe Andrade
"Who is to say exactly how things end? If there is one thing we have learned, it is that life's endings are bereft of answers."
Welcome to Week 2 of Death Month, where Mike and Alex head to Mumbai (in a storytelling sense) to discuss Ram V and Filipe Andrade's The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (issues #1-5) from Boom Studios. The guys jump right into the story and lay out how its specificity of place and culture is essential to the comic and how that's an invitation to readers into a world they may not be all that familiar with, and not a barrier. They also break down the pacing of the comic and the decision to tell the story in discreet moments from the character's lives, as opposed to a potentially more wide-ranging scope. Finally, the guys praise the incredible art in this book, including colorist Inez Amaro, and take a quick look at how this depiction/personification of Death compares to other stories that focus on similar themes and ideas. We both think this is a great comic that could, and should, be an evergreen title that you can give to anyone at anytime and they'll find something they connect with in it.
Next week, Death Month continues as we make a hard, buy important, perspective shift on the topic with I Kill Giants (issues #1-7) by Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura from Image Comics. Find it wherever you get your comics and join us here again next week to dive deep into it!
Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs
- Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
- Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
- Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
- Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com
Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!
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