On this week's episode, we're graced by an interview with Mark Russell, writer of the Ahoy Comics series "Billionaire Island" with artist Steve Pugh and the newly collected first arc of "Second Coming" with artist Richard Pace. Mark Russell talks with Paul about the origins of these sharply satirical but ultimately profound comics, one about the extremes of our contemporary wealth inequality and the other about Jesus returning to earth and becoming pals with a superhero. Russell digs deep into the origins of his ideas, his collaborations with publishers and artists, and how he employs humor and humanity to make wonderful comics. This conversation's a real treat!(Note: There's a brief audio gap about Then, our "Picks and Shovels" segment on what we're reading, including...“Almost American Girl” by Robin Ha (Balzer + Bray)“Shadow of the Batgirl” by Sarah Kuhn (w) and Nicole Goux (a) (DC Kids)"Daredevil” #1-19 by Chip Zdarsky (w), Mark Chechetto (a), Jorge Fornes (a), others (Marvel)“Folklords” #1-4 by Matt Kindt (w), Matt Smith (a), (Boom!)"The Golden Age, Book 1" by Roxane Moreil (w) and Cyril Pedrosa (a) (First Second)Let's dig deep!Find the Comics Syllabus at its home at Multiversitycomics.com: http://www.multiversitycomics.com/tag/comics-syllabus/Subscribe and follow the Comics Syllabus podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you find podcasts, or copy this RSS feed to your podcatcher: https://paulflai.com/feed/podcast/comicssyllabusJoin the discussion on the Comics Syllabus Facebook page: http://facebook.com/ComicsSyllabus or with Paul on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TwoPlai or Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twoplai/and Johnny on Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnnyhall3 or Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnnyhall_3/Thanks for listening!