Today "The Panelists" discuss The Summer Hikaru Died, a queer coming-of-age horror manga. "We" discuss themes of queerness as contagion, Mokumokuren's digital art process, and horrifying moments of tenderness that we can't look away from.

You'res̵̼̟̰̭̲̬̽̇͠ṫ̴̳̲̯̘͙͉̟̣̟̆i̴̡̡̧̧̧̧͙̝̣͉̯̱̰͕͋̾͊̒̀͂͑̿̀̅̚̕͝͝l̶͙͍͚̝̘̠̺̦͇̺̋͂̾͒͑̑̀̇͌̎̏̚͝l̶͕̦̠̞͙̈́͋̑͊̿͛͒̎̈́ ̷̧̤̖̳̼̫̝̻̜̖͚̲̫͇̓̑̈́̑̋̈́̔̆́͋̔͠ͅr̸̙̻͋͗̂͘e̴̥̳͓̜̫̣͊͜͜ả̶̳̥̞̉͋̐̓̌̽̍̕͜͝ḑ̸̢̭̮͓͓̺̣͙̭͔̥͊̑̋̉̀̀ị̶͍̓̾̇̌̿͂̄n̴̼͉͔͓̤͂̽͂͊͜g̴̨̦̲̍? You should go. There's ņ̴̯̳̘̗̲̺̓͗̓͑̄̈́̋̆̓͌̒́o̷̧͇̦̩̪͖̰͈̰͉̎t̸͓̬̼̳͓͇̩̮̭̺̥̀̎͐̅̌͠h̵̡͕̝̜̠͔̟̦̻̯̋̇̓̿̾̿̿̈͝ͅȉ̴̘̼͕͍̱̜̓̄́̓̈̆̄͗̒͐͘n̷̨̩̮͔̲̪̳̽̿͒̓̈́̾̈́̏͘͠g̶͈̈́̔ ̷̧̨̨̢̧͇̯͚̣̞̐͂͌̓̑͒̎̋̇̎̓͝ę̸̨̛̳̤̮͓̻̗̻̥̣̰̮́̉̒͊̓͒̎̚͜͝l̶͎̟̦͍͉̟̣͈̮̩͗͒̇͊͘ͅͅs̷͚͐͐̇e̴̠̜͗ ̴̡̡̛͎̯̩̗̻̺͖͍̟̖͉̃̇̈́̒͜͝ͅf̴̣̔̎̀͗̋̏̐̂͝ǫ̸͙͇̬̗̠̯̭̭͍͗̔̀̉̐̔̀̐ͅŗ̴͖̬̼͉̹̫̻͕̺͔̱͂̎͆̕ ̷̢̯̟͓̲̪͋̉̀̈͊̀̀̾̐̌̀̊͝ͅỵ̸̥͇̎̔͒̈̌̂͂̀͒̀̉͊͝o̵̲͕̯̪̥̹̗̗̮̼̦̬͇̙̓̎̉͑͐̚͝͝͝u̵̧̦̻̟̎̇̈́͛͑̃̀̚͠ ̵̰͍̇́h̴̢̘̑̒̅͋͐̚̕e̷̡̛͉͈͍̖̹͐̓̆̀̉̇̀́̒̓̑̅͠ř̸̛̤͖̾́́̀̽́̏͝͠e̶̗̠̳̠̦͇̐̀̆̌͌̇̽̌̿͆͠. Do you feel that? It feels like r̶̛̯͚̦͙̠͕̩̠̭̣̾̎̈́́͊̂̈́͐͆̀̚a̷̢̟̺̖̲͖͍͓͍̽̒͗́̂̑̏͘ẃ̴̗͇̠͍͔̪̹̺̣̬̝͋̏͝ ̸̡̫͒̌̄͋͆̃͠c̸̺̻̹̭̝̳̲̥̬͍͖͕̀͗h̵͉͉͎͋i̸͍̠͈͈̬͇̠̯̖̰͈̤̱̬͉̓̈́̽́̅̉͒̊c̶̺̮̈́̿͂̈́̚k̵̫̬͖̱̗͍͎̜̗͂̂͊͑̀͘̕͝ḝ̴͔̱̫̼̘̳̥̆͌̒͂̎̒͒̈͛͆͠͝n̵̮̳̺͕̤̓.

• (00:00) - “The Summer Hikaru Died” by Mokumokuren
• (00:36) - Front Matter
• (00:44) - Non-Spoiler Summary
• (01:23) - Impressions
• (14:08) - The horror of this art
• (23:29) - Mokumokuren’s privacy
• (25:48) - Master + Master
• (29:02) - How adults are drawn
• (32:17) - SPOILER ZONE
• (32:54) - The reveal is so fast
• (35:13) - Queerness as contagion
• (40:13) - CW: Homophobia
• (41:01) - The locker room scene
• (43:16) - The moment in the classroom
• (47:15) - Wtf is up with everyone else?
• (50:22) - The anime
• (51:54) - Is it a BL?
• (59:32) - The joke comics
• (01:00:07) - Swamp Man
• (01:00:52) - Further Reading

• The manga is ending with Chapter 51 on October 20th. Looks like it will be about 10 volumes.
• The Summer Hikaru Died on Netflix
• Mokumokuren’s other work is largely one-shots and Doujinshi that I had a hard time finding. Look for titles like “Period” and “Classmate Who Will Do Anything For you”
• Uzumaki by Junji Ito
• Your Hand From the Other Side by Wata Rainy & Kajii Fuku

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:
Scout
Matt
Robin

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

Today the Panelists discuss a book that is more of a collection of Instagram posts than a narrative. We discuss our love for Mackesy’s finished but unfinished-looking art and our mixed opinions on the words and narrative in this book. And at the end, there is a reveal that changes everything.

• (00:00) - “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy
• (01:03) - Front Matter
• (01:59) - Impressions
• (08:14) - Kids don’t talk like this
• (08:54) - The art style
• (13:19) - The Structure
• (19:19) - Metatextuality
• (21:42) - Further Reading

• The animated adaptation and the documentary on Apple TV+
• A continuation titled Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm was released in 2025, if you want more of this!
• Apparently other Macksesy art might just Be Around You. He’s done political cartoons, a lot of art for charity work, and a lot of art for public spaces, especially in London.
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:
Scout
Matt

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.

The Panelists are back with episode 2 of our Fullmetal Alchemist readthrough. In these volumes, we learn so much about how the world of Fullmetal Alchemist works behind the scenes, the darkest plans of our villains, the atrocities committed by our heroes, and which characters make for the best horny fanart.

We spoil volumes 1-9 in this episode. Check out our episode on those volumes here!

• (00:00) - “Fullmetal Alchemist” by Hiromu Arakawa
• (02:33) - Spoiler-free summary
• (03:21) - Impressions vs last time
• (07:59) - Spoiler Zone
• (11:52) - Spoilery Summary
• (15:13) - Matt was late on his reading
• (15:45) - The Pride Reveal
• (17:30) - There’s a lot of war crimes going on here
• (30:25) - The openness of the big bads
• (35:14) - Brotherhood differences
• (37:35) - Arakawa loves big boobs
• (38:33) - Some FMA ships
• (41:42) - The chess pieces
• (43:38) - Scout’s favorite Elric brothers moments
• (47:55) - BIG ENVY
• (53:56) - 2003 differences
• (55:36) - Al’s body
• (56:13) - Hughes!
• (57:02) - Greedling
• (01:01:24) - Sloth’s transmutation circle
• (01:07:15) - Arakawa’s planning
• (01:09:22) - The human sacrifices
• (01:12:33) - Winry and Scar
• (01:22:12) - Dr. Knox
• (01:26:29) - Listener Questions
• (01:31:51) - Further Reading

• You can find more of Hiromu Arakawa’s work in her completed series Silver Spoon and ongoing series Daemons of the Shadow Realm (second of which has recently begun airing its anime adaptation!)
• If you find yourself thinking “man, these fight scenes are pretty cool, I wonder what they’d look like if someone animated the hell out of them,” Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood can be found on many streaming services
• If you find yourself thinking “wow, I’m really enjoying how this shonen adventure story is also about the horrors of war and government corruption”, I would recommend Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi

A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network.

Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr.

This week’s panelists can be found at:
Scout
Matt

Jillian

Editing this week by AJ Fillari.
Cover art by Scout Wilkinson.
Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.