Nerdy Content / Myriad Perspectives

Trade School

The Tick: The Naked City - with Case Aiken

This week on Trade School, Case Aiken dives into The Tick: The Naked City, the collection that first showed him just how weird, smart, and funny The Tick could be on the comics page. Ben Edlund’s original series is not just a superhero parody; it is a gleeful dismantling of capes, secret identities, ninjas, publicity-hungry heroes, and the entire idea of what a superhero world is supposed to look like. Listen to the episode, then go read the book. Spoon!

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Marvels - with Alan Kistler, Keith Lehtinen, and Case Aiken

For Trade School’s 50th episode, Case Aiken, Alan Kistler, and Keith Lehtinen revisit Marvels, the Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross masterpiece that asks what the Marvel Universe looks like to the people on the ground. By filtering iconic moments through photojournalist Phil Sheldon, Marvels turns continuity into lived history and spectacle into something emotional, terrifying, and beautiful. It’s one of the best arguments ever made for why superhero comics matter.

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