The Oh Gosh, Oh Golly, Oh Wow! Podcast

Excalibur #86: “Back to Life”

This is a no-smoking podcast but Pete Wisdom’s coming in hot whether we like it or not. That’s right—it’s time for the debut of the asshole/heartthrob/irritating author surrogate (opinions vary!) mound of teen angst who walks like a man and loves a torn trench coat but loves smoking even more. We talk about that plus Warren Ellis and accountability and a Genosha metaphor or two with writer, activist, and podcaster Elana Levin!

Note: since we recorded this episode, SoManyofUs.com has released an update on discussions with Ellis. You can read their statement here. 

Excalibur #85: “Edge of Night”

This week, we’re slashing (and snikt-ing!) our way to the conclusion of the “Soulsword Trilogy” in Excalibur #85, “Edge of Night,” co-starring Wolverine + Wolverine afficionado Dr. Justin Wigard! Our discussion digs into retributive violence, Final Girl tropes, 90s maximalism, and the complexity of loving a guy whose main thing is being extremely stabby. Plus, we discover a new unit of comics time involving cigars and how long it takes to smoke them while going to stabby town/proving your mutant manhood.

Excalibur #84, “Dark Adapted Eye,”

We’re still adapting to this brand-new era in which Excalibur sucks less. But supernatural transformations are better with great company, and we’ve got that in spades talking demons, magic swords, and the girls who wear them best in Excalibur #84, “Dark Adapted Eye,” with returning guest Dr. Cait Coker! Plus Cait does Supernatural, Anna quotes Lucifer, and we contemplate hard-hitting questions like—why do so many demonic possession stories feature bad dancing and karaoke?

Excalibur #83: “Bend Sinister”

We’re (still) back from the winter break and reeling from term prep, but that doesn’t mean we’re not excited (positively possessed!) by the start of a brand-new era for our beloved British-y mutants, with a new regular writer (Warren Ellis) who brings lots of baggage but definite skill at scripting. Dr. John Edward Martin helps us slice through atmospheres of horror in a story that sharply exploits tropes in the service of something truly uncanny! Who’ll get to Kitty first—the evil sword, the demon weed, or the fashion police??

Excalibur #82: “Life Signs (Part 3): The Light of a Tainted Dawn”

We’re back from the holidays and eager to discuss the very important symbolism of robot Velociraptors in wizard capes in the bafflingly titled Phalanx Covenant crossover issue Excalibur #82, “Life Signs (Part 3): The Light of a Tainted Dawn,” in which Nightcrawler saves the world through the power of life-coaching and everyone’s hair looks fabulous. But we’re focusing on the Forge of it all, discussing race, representation, and Indigenous Futurism with comics scholar Dr. Jeremy M. Carnes!

Holiday Special 2022!

New VIDEO episode! Feast your eyes & ears upon our 2nd annual Holiday Special, featuring reflections on the year that was, too much talk about essay plagiarism, a few technical difficulties, revisiting the top eps of '22, and a draw for PRIZES!

Note: This is the unedited audio version. 

Excalibur #81: “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings”

This week, we reckon with change and cosmic constants like the fact Charles Xavier is still a jerk in Excalibur #81, “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings,” in which Brittanic and Meggan rekindle their bonds, Kitty and Douglock forge new ones, and Charles and Moira cheat on their partners. (Maybe? It's complicated.) Joining us on this jolly journey through melodramatic tropes is comics scholar Bryan Bove, who's ready to forgive a romantic cliché or two and so are we, because some of us are loopy from end-of-term burnout and some of us were up all night reading Lucifer fanfiction.

Excalibur #80: “Out of Time”

Excalibur #80 might be “Out of Time,” but we’ve got all the time in the world to talk about a bunch more cyberpunk (and a little cybersex!) in and around the conclusion of the Douglock Chronicles with returning guest Dr. Clare Wall! THRILL to our analysis of capitalism’s appropriation of cyberpunk. WONDER at our cogent analysis of the politics of otherness in the Legacy Virus plotline. And MARVEL as we ask important questions like: can it actually be called surgery if you operate blind in the middle of a laser gun fight with no idea what you’re doing?

Excalibur #79: “Twisted Logic”

What twisted logic brought us here, to Excalibur #79, “Twisted Logic,” in which the main characters aren’t member of Excalibur and child-size flatscans are more open-minded than a queer-coded Jewish mutant who’s sometimes a robot but hates them, apparently? We try to puzzle it out with the help of our returning guest, comics scholar Matt Linton! Plus—cultural contexts of the Legacy Virus and cyberpunk and how this comic might actually be about the humans of 1994 being really freaked out about Y2K.

Excalibur #78: “Fire in the Wild”

Things got tecno-organic so quickly, we didn’t notice until it was too late to separate our Dougs from our Warlocks. That’s right—it’s the debut of Douglock in Excalibur #78, “Fire in the Wild,” and we’ve got a great guest to help us sort out this epic/tragic romance (or lack thereof) between selfsoulfriends turned selfsoulmates! Jim Roberts, aka the very unofficial, very knowledgeable PR Manager to one Douglas Ramsey talks us through Cypher’s cyber history and why Douglock isn’t quite what any of us wanted, but he’s here so we’re going to make the most of it. Plus! Entirely too much discussion of a scene that spent entirely too much time talking about toilet paper.