We Read Comics Podcast discusses Archer Coe

By Joe Gordon on May 24, 2019

The fourth episode of the We Read Comics podcast was recorded this week and is now live on the Radio Summerhall website. As we mentioned in a previous post, this new podcast is a monthly series, roughly following a book group style format, where a different graphic novel is picked and discussed each month by a small group consisting of Jenny Mayhew, Martin Zeller-Jacques, John McShane and myself (although sadly John couldn’t attend this month).

For May’s episode it was Jenny’s turn to choose, and she selected Archer Coe: the Thousand Natural Shocks, by Jamie S Rich and Dan Christensen, published by US independent Oni Press. It’s an intriguing, very noir-ish tale of a stage hypnotist who moonlights a consultant for those who can afford it.

In true noir fashion a seemingly straightforward task – a rich husband asks Archer to see if his mental approach can help his young wife overcome a form of sexual frigidity – is anything but, and soon he finds himself trapped into a conspiracy where he can’t trust anyone, including his own mind. It also boasts some rather charming talking cats! (warning, slight spoilers can be heard during the show).

You can find the latest episode of We Read Comics here on Radio Summerhall, with previous shows also on the site – episode one discussing Kelly and Niimura’s I Kill Giants is here, episode two, discussing Black Hammer Volume 1 by Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston can be found here, and episode three, where we talked about DeConnick and De Landro’s Bitch Planet, is available here.

In June’s show we are planning to discuss Jean-Pierre Filiu and David B‘s remarkable graphic history of US-Middle East relations with Best of Enemies, so don’t touch that virtual dial!

• Find the latest episode of We Read Comics here on Radio Summerhall

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Joe Gordon

Joe has been a bookseller since the early 1990s, with a special love for comics, graphic novels and science fiction. He has written for The Alien Online, created & edited the Forbidden Planet Blog and chaired numerous events for the Edinburgh International Book Festival. He’s more or less house-trained.