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Pop Culture Happy Hour: Comics, More Comics, Free Comics And Keanu

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in <em>Keanu</em>.
Steve Dietl
/
Warner Bros.
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in Keanu.

One of the best things I've gotten to do while hosting PCHH is have Glen Weldon introduce comics to me. I often don't have time to keep up with even ones I like, but I regularly get the chance for him to show me things I wouldn't otherwise have seen and remind me of just how much there is out there that I'm missing. And our best opportunity to do that is Free Comic Book Day.

This week, we're joined by Petra Mayer of NPR Books for a review of some of the stuff that's available this weekend at your local comics shop (they'll help you find a participating one). If you want the full rundown of everything, you'll want to check out the blog post Glen prepared, which is both enormously informative and hugely entertaining. (I can say that, because I didn't write it.) We each talk about several books Glen gave us to check out, covering ground from Doctor Who and Grumpy Cat to a new take on Archie.

We then turn our attention to Keanu, the Key & Peele movie that follows the duo on an all-night quest to get a kitty back. As we mentioned on the show, if you want to understand one of the main threads of humor in the film, you should make sure you've read what our friends at Code Switch have had to say about K&P's work in the past, like here and here and also when Gene Demby was on last year when we covered their sketch show. But there's also a lot to say about cameos, pacing, the inherent unevenness of most sketch-to-screen translations, and lots more.

As always, we close with what's making us happy this week. Stephen is happy about a movie (which was not Keanu) that he enjoyed with his kids. Glen is happy about a graphic novel and a YA book. Petra is happy about a play she was able to see at the beginning and end of its run. And I am happy about a trailer that was funnier than I was expecting.

Find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter: the show, me, Stephen, Glen, Petra and producer Jessica.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for NPR and the host of Pop Culture Happy Hour. She began her professional life as an attorney. In time, however, her affection for writing, popular culture, and the online universe eclipsed her legal ambitions. She shoved her law degree in the back of the closet, gave its living room space to DVD sets of The Wire, and never looked back.