Best of the Rest, An Indie Comics Podcast, is a reflective but not pedantic look at Alternative/independent comics both current and past. Hosts Dennis Chandler and Jay Loving delve into works from publishers such as Vault, Scout, Lion Forge, Fantagraphics, Oni Press, Hard Case Crime, Drawn and Quarterly and others. The cast is for everyone, whether you’re a reader of alternative comics, want to get started or just a curious onlooker. Listen in for Dennis and Jay’s lively discussion mixed with humor (they hope) about the wide-ranging world of Independent comics. 

Dennis and Jay discuss Dept. H, the mind-bending series from Matt Kindt and Dark Horse Comics. Miles below the ocean surface, in an underwater research laboratory, Mia must find out who murdered her father. But a dizzying amalgam of suspicious circumstances, intriguing characters and bizarre sea creatures make this a complex and intricately woven story. If you think you know what Kindt will do because of his other writings, you may be surprised.

In this episode Dennis and Jay discuss the new ongoing series The Damned from Oni Press. Creators Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt weave an intriguing tale that combines the paranormal with prohibition era crime noir. Demonic crime families an mob bosses fight to control bootleg liquor and the souls of their "customers." Caught up in this is a man who just can't seem to avoid getting his throat cut from time to time!

Dennis and Jay discuss Black Summer and No Hero, two series by Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp, that deconstruct the Superhero genre and ask hard questions.

Where does heroism end and vigilantism begin?

Or is there even a separation of the two?

if given a choice, would you choose to be a superhero?

Really?    

As a bonus, Dennis gives some advice on speculative comic book collecting.

Do you like independent/alternative comics?

Do you like listening to two knuckleheads discuss them?

Then we have the podcast for you! 

In this first episode of Best of the Rest, Dennis and Jay lay out their definitions of indie comics, discuss various publishers, tease the first books they will cover and offer suggestions for appropriate libations to accompany indie comic reading. 

Give it a try!