The Oh Gosh, Oh Golly, Oh Wow! Podcast

In this episode, Anna, Mav, and Andrew are joined by monster hunter/lover Dr. Sam Langsdale (@s_langsdale), co-editor of Monstrous Women in Comics, to talk a little quantum mechanics and a whole lotta Meggan in Excalibur #9: “The Two-Edged Sword.” Topics include the gendered qualities of monstrousness, the subversive charge of ugliness, the particular power of shapeshifting, and when & why monsters are crush-worthy. Also, we trash Aristotle, and Anna makes a solid gold pitch for a Kurt/Meggan story that she’d definitely write into a fanfic if she wasn’t spending all her spare time on this podcast.  

In this episode, Anna, Mav, and Andrew are joined by specialist in superhero style Monica Geraffo (@monicamarveloux) to discuss the sartorial splendors of Excalibur #8, "Excalibur’s New York Adventure." We talk tracksuits, unstable molecules, impossible garments, and, as usual, lots of politics of representation in a story where Brian's gym togs nearly get him arrested and Meggan tries out a number of looks—and skin tones. Also, Kitty yells at the New Mutants, Kurt steals a jet, and Rachel doesn’t hug Jean, for reasons that infuriated us all. 

In this episode, Anna, Mav, and Andrew are joined by film and comics scholar and self-professed Kitty Pryde fanboy Matt Linton (@ABoyCalledMonk) of The Kino Club 313 Blog for another day in the Inferno, discussing Excalibur #7, "Goblin Morn." We celebrate Kurt’s healthy flirting with a (non-binary?) animate gargoyle, and talk Kitty as Final Girl/Cool Girl/Mary Sue, along with BDSM fashion and why throwing random ingredients and the recipe book into a fire doesn't usually make a cake (unless you're Nightcrawler).     

In this episode, Anna, Mav, Andrew, and special guest Laura Grafton (@llgrafton) of Masked Mom Review enter the Inferno with Excalibur #6, "Goblin Night." We talk temptation, seduction, demonic fashion, sexy pajamas (and when Kurt became the police of them), and why Kitty needing to pee is an all-time great moment in comicdom. Also, Laura coins a sexy new catchphrase for the pod.

In this episode, Anna, Mav, Andrew, and comics scholar Dr. Shawn Gilmore (@gipperfish), impresario of VaultofCulture.com, discuss Excalibur #5, "Send in the Clowns." We talk British comics influences, the rise and fall of Courtney Ross, the flexible roles of villains, and a whole lotta supersex, including a very queer, very creamy climax we can only assume the Comics Code Authority was too embarrassed to challenge.

In this episode, Anna, Mav, Andrew, and their special guest, romance comics expert Sydney Heifler (@romancecomicbks), discuss Excalibur #4, "Still Crazy After All These Years." We barely talk about Murderworld, but we do talk super-smooches, super-styles, super-symbolism, super-shapeshifting (that’s definitely not Freudian at all), and why it’s super important not to tickle people without their consent (looking at you, Kurt).

In this episode, Anna, Mav, Andrew, and special guest Brad Mendenhall of the Cosmic Geppetto Podcast discuss Excalibur #3, “Moving Day,” and fight about the Juggernaut (just kidding—everyone loves him). Other topics include the domestic texture of Excalibur, and why this might just be the Best Issue Ever. Also, Anna shuts down Mav’s assertion that Kurt is the Duckie of Excalibur’s central love triangle.      

In this episode, Anna, Mav, and Andrew discuss Excalibur #2, “A Warwolf Possessed.” Topics include how comics communicate agency within sexualization, the politics of retributive justice within fantasy spaces, the joys of long-form serialized storytelling, the depth of Rachel and Kitty’s time and space-defying bond, and Kurt Wagner’s Very Extra fashion sense.

In this episode, Anna, Mav, and Andrew discuss Excalibur #1, “Warwolves of London." Topics include Excalibur’s sophisticated (maybe even postmodern!) pacing, its revolutionary genre bending, its playfully mature sexuality, and why Meggan interrupting Nightcrawler in the bath to compare him to Joan Collins and bring him a hot chocolate he subsequently accepts with his tail is the single most important scene in the issue (it must be, based on how long we talk about it!).

In this mega-sized debut, Anna, Mav, and Andrew explore the origins of Excalibur in Marvel UK, the X-Men franchise, and Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn (1988). Come for Mav’s argument no one should re-read “Mutant Massacre”; stay for Anna’s argument everyone should always re-read Dave Cockrum’s 1985 Nightcrawler series; and thrill to Andrew’s argument that Excalibur is really a grief support group masquerading as sex farce.