Comics Alternative

This week on The Comics Alternative, the Two Guys with PhDs (who talk about comics) start off with a veritable love-fest of Paul Pope comics. They begin by looking at two recent titles, The Rise of Aurora West (First Second) and Escapo (Z2 Comics). The first, co-written with J.T. Petty and with art by David Rubín, is a follow up to last year's Battling Boy, although it is not a sequel to that earlier narrative, but a prequel. Here we are introduced to the exploits of the daughter, and young apprentice, of the adventuresome Haggard West. We see Aurora's early development, the origins of Acropolis' monster problem, and the full extent of Haggard's crime-fighting acumen. All of this is presented in Rubín's action-soaked black-and-white illustrations that, while distinct from Pope's style, reads as a visual relative to the earlier Battling Boy. Next, Derek and Andy discuss Escapo, stories and art that were originally created between 1996 and 1998 -- early Paul Pope, reminiscent of what you'll find in One Trick Ri