Comics Rot Your Brain!

Steven Bagatourian & Christopher Derrick
  • 4.9 (8)
  • Leisure
  • Updated Weekly

COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Chris Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) & Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) discuss favorite books, runs, and creators.The Bronze Age is — for us —  the greatest era in comics history. This time period was defined by a weird rift in the fabric of spacetime that allowed an industry in flux to reimagine what was possible. We all remember the eye-popping results: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, WATCHMEN, CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, LOVE & ROCKETS, MAUS, etc.…But what of the lesser-known gems of this era: THRILLER, GRIMJACK, NEXUS, CONCRETE, MR. MONSTER, SCOUT, STRAY TOASTERS, and so many others!? These comics and their creators blazed radical new trails that changed the course of comics forever but often are left out of today’s discourse.COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! exists to celebrate and reckon with the extraordinary legacy of 1980s American comics — all of it.Join us!   

  1. 8h ago

    Manhunter: The Loudest Silent Goodbye in Comics

    In this episode, Chris gives a eulogy to Archie Goodwin and the final MANHUNTER story, the one Goodwin plotted but never lived to script. Walt Simonson drew it anyway. Every page. Without a single word.  "The Final Chapter" first appeared in 1999's MANHUNTER: THE SPECIAL EDITION, collecting the Goodwin/Simonson run from DETECTIVE COMICS no. 437-443.   COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) and Christopher Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age.   Join our CRYB! Family for only $2.99 a month on YouTube - once you’re a member, you’ll unlock awesome bonus videos… Don’t sleep!   SHOW NOTES 00:00 - Cold Open 00:30 - Intro 01:49 - History of Manhunter 06:30 - Simonson's Decision 08:15 - What Happens In The Story 18:13 - Inspiration and Impact 20:05 - Final Thoughts   #dccomics #dccomicsuniverse #bronzeagecomics Drop us a line! Support the show + Check out our YouTube channel to get a look at some of the fantastic art featured in our episodes. Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts. + We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain + For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE ©2024  Comics Rot Your Brain! #comicbooks #comics #graphicnovel

    Manhunter: The Loudest Silent Goodbye in Comics

  2. Apr 14

    17-Year-Old Wunderkind Artist Gives Musty Superhero AWESOME New Costume!

    Drop us a line! Support the show + Check out our YouTube channel to get a look at some of the fantastic art featured in our episodes. Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts. + We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain + For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE ©2024  Comics Rot Your Brain! #comicbooks #comics #graphicnovel

    17-Year-Old Wunderkind Artist Gives Musty Superhero AWESOME New Costume!

  3. Apr 9

    STEPHEN R. BISSETTE Interview! Tyrant, Swamp Thing, Taboo, Kubert School, and More!

    https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxONuw60a0sJXul6nw7-lmlyjgB-lkn5C&si=nqCc-4aNAl6ZsKid The legendary Stephen R. Bissette joins Chris and Steven us for a CRYB! interview discussion spanning the breadth of his historic career as a writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Topics covered include SWAMP THING, TABOO, the Kubert School, and countless other things, all on the occasion of the first-ever collection of Bissette’s landmark indie classic, TYRANT (1994, Spiderbaby Grafix). Lighthouse Press and its publisher, Chris Stevens, have just launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring this magnificent work back into print, with the help of design guru extraordinaire, Jim Rugg! Everybody, please go and support this Kickstarter here…  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/comicslighthouse/bissette-tyrant-deluxe-editions …and enjoy our nearly three-hour discussion with one of the true living legends of the comic book art form! COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) and Christopher Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age. STEPHEN R. BISSETTE Interview!  Tyrant, Swamp Thing, Taboo, Kubert School, and More! SHOWNOTES/TIMESTAMPS 🎙️ 00:00 - The Trance 01:14 - Theme Song 01:28 - Episode Intro 06:22 - ‘80s American Comics 14:15 - Mainstream Comics Today 21:06 - Jenette Kahn & Paul Levitz 28:26 - How ‘80s Comics Were Made 33:31 - Working with John Totleben 48:21 - Creating TYRANT alone 01:01:54 - TYRANT as VR Experience 01:16:57 - Putting Creators on the “Right Comics” (Joe Kubert, Lee Elias, Russ Heath, Doug Wildey) 01:30:25 - Steve Perry & TIMESPIRITS 01:35:35 - Horror Comics in the ‘70s & ‘80s (CREEPY, EERIE, TWISTED TALES, TABOO) 01:44:37 - Keith Giffen/José Muñoz controversy  02:05:40 - Teaching at the Center For Cartoon Studies 02:17:10 - The TYRANT Kickstarter! 02:29:34 - The Font Lettering Plague in Modern Comics Drop us a line! Support the show + Check out our YouTube channel to get a look at some of the fantastic art featured in our episodes. Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts. + We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain + For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE ©2024  Comics Rot Your Brain! #comicbooks #comics #graphicnovel

    STEPHEN R. BISSETTE Interview! Tyrant, Swamp Thing, Taboo, Kubert School, and More!

  4. Feb 16

    This Artist Made The Most Shocking Marvel Comic Ever, Then Disappeared - UNTAMED (Epic Comics, 1993)

    Join Steven as he goes on a ride-along with an odd couple of hyper-violent cops, braving the squalid urban underworld of the futuristic, philosophical crime story that is UNTAMED (Epic Comics, 1993) ; written and drawn by Neil Hansen, this comic is a madly ambitious and profoundly bizarre piece of mainstream comic art that was somehow willed into existence by the passionate vision of one man. COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) and Christopher Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age. This Artist Made The Most Shocking Marvel Comic Ever, Then Disappeared - UNTAMED (Epic Comics, 1993) Drop us a line! Support the show + Check out our YouTube channel to get a look at some of the fantastic art featured in our episodes. Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts. + We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain + For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE ©2024  Comics Rot Your Brain! #comicbooks #comics #graphicnovel

    This Artist Made The Most Shocking Marvel Comic Ever, Then Disappeared - UNTAMED (Epic Comics, 1993)

  5. 12/07/2025

    The X-Men Comic That Changed Everything: LifeDeath

    Uncanny X-Men #186 — “LifeDeath” — remains one of the boldest creative swings in Marvel history. Instead of battles and villains, Chris Claremont and Barry Windsor-Smith deliver a quiet, emotionally devastating story about identity, trauma, and the cost of rebuilding yourself after everything is taken away. COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) and Christopher Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age. In this video, Chris examines why LifeDeath is such a groundbreaking moment in the X-Men's long, fabled canon — from Storm’s loss of her powers, to Forge’s haunted past, to the painterly visual language Windsor-Smith used to redefine what superhero comics could look like in the 1980s. If you love the X-Men, Storm, Forge, Claremont’s writing, Windsor-Smith’s art, or deep-dive comics analysis, this issue is essential, and its legacy still echoes today. #XMen #MarvelComics #comichistory Drop us a line! Support the show + Check out our YouTube channel to get a look at some of the fantastic art featured in our episodes. Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts. + We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain + For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE ©2024  Comics Rot Your Brain! #comicbooks #comics #graphicnovel

    The X-Men Comic That Changed Everything: LifeDeath

  6. 11/28/2025

    You Will Believe A Man Can DIE… Again & Again

    Chris and Steven journey to the surreal realm of the undead with the zombie-esque trapeze artist extraordinaire, DEADMAN (DC Comics, 1986), in this four issue mini-series written by Andrew Helfer and drawn by the incomparable Jóse Luis Garcia-López. COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) and Christopher Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age. You Will Believe A Man Can DIE… Again & Again Drop us a line! Support the show + Check out our YouTube channel to get a look at some of the fantastic art featured in our episodes. Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts. + We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain + For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE ©2024  Comics Rot Your Brain! #comicbooks #comics #graphicnovel

    You Will Believe A Man Can DIE… Again & Again

  7. 10/19/2025

    Before The Terminator came Marvel's KILLER CYBORB | Captain America - The Deathlok Saga

    See how this run reframes Cap’s identity through the lens of a cyborg from the future. The Deathlok Saga | CAPTAIN AMERICA #286 – 288 (DeMatteis & Zeck). In this first episode of CRYB!  Season 3, Chris dives into one of Marvel’s most haunting time-travel/identity stories.  He examines how J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck transform a sci-fi popcorn thriller into a meditation on what makes a hero human. COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) and Christopher Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age. 👉 Like, comment with your theories about Deathlok, and subscribe for more episodes! Support Our Patreon -   / comicsrotyourbrain  Drop us a line! Support the show + Check out our YouTube channel to get a look at some of the fantastic art featured in our episodes. Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts. + We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain + For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE ©2024  Comics Rot Your Brain! #comicbooks #comics #graphicnovel

    Before The Terminator came Marvel's KILLER CYBORB | Captain America - The Deathlok Saga

  8. 09/06/2025

    The Most Influential Superhero You've Never Heard Of | Milligan & McCarthy's PARADAX!

    https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxONuw60a0sJXul6nw7-lmlyjgB-lkn5C&si=KOQWYJLqYpDi04O2 In this solo episode, Steven excavates the tomb of the ‘80s most obscure proto-influencer/superhero, the weirdo wonder himself, that achingly irreverent NYC hipster super dude… PARADAX! (STRANGE DAYS #1 - 3, Eclipse Comics, 1984). COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) and Christopher Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age. Support Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/c/ComicsRotYourBrain The Most Influential Superhero You've Never Heard Of | Milligan & McCarthy's PARADAX! 🎙️ Show Notes ✨ #comics #comicbooks #bronzeagecomics Drop us a line! Support the show + Check out our YouTube channel to get a look at some of the fantastic art featured in our episodes. Visit ComicsRotYourBrain.com to sign up for our newsletter, Letter Column. You can also find us wherever you stream your favorite podcasts. + We appreciate your support of the show via Patreon: ComicsRotYourBrain + For even more cool shit, read Chris's Substack (cinema, comics, and culture) - THIN ICE ©2024  Comics Rot Your Brain! #comicbooks #comics #graphicnovel

    The Most Influential Superhero You've Never Heard Of | Milligan & McCarthy's PARADAX!
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COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions). In this weekly podcast, screenwriters Chris Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) & Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) discuss favorite books, runs, and creators.The Bronze Age is — for us —  the greatest era in comics history. This time period was defined by a weird rift in the fabric of spacetime that allowed an industry in flux to reimagine what was possible. We all remember the eye-popping results: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, WATCHMEN, CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, LOVE & ROCKETS, MAUS, etc.…But what of the lesser-known gems of this era: THRILLER, GRIMJACK, NEXUS, CONCRETE, MR. MONSTER, SCOUT, STRAY TOASTERS, and so many others!? These comics and their creators blazed radical new trails that changed the course of comics forever but often are left out of today’s discourse.COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! exists to celebrate and reckon with the extraordinary legacy of 1980s American comics — all of it.Join us!   

Information

  • Creator
    Steven Bagatourian & Christopher Derrick
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    42
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Comics Rot Your Brain!
  • Show Website
    Comics Rot Your Brain!