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Boy, we (meaning, I, Philip) really neglected this Tumblr. In addition to a bunch of episodes from season 1 that weren’t posted here, we’re coming back for a second season. Here’s the promo, and the first episode, covering Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, is already available on both Philip and Adam’s Patreons. 

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New episode! 

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A new episode of What Mad Universe?!? is now live. In this one, Jess Nevins joins us to discuss African American author Pauline Hopkins’ Of One Blood - a 1903 novel about a lost kingdom in Africa that’s been untouched by the horrors of colonialism.

Here’s preview of a page from an upcoming story in my webcomic The Apex Society that will feature Telessar - the aforementioned African city-state (which is a sort of proto-Wakanda, at least in theme).

Listen to the episode here: http://neversleepsnetwork.com/podcast/chapter-twenty-one-out-of-africa/

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Barbarians By Day

Art by Gene Day And Paul Schliesser

From Savage Sword Of Conan #061

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Cyborg Jesus of Nazareth fighting Cyborg Siddhartha (The Buddha), a scene that takes place in 10 Billion Days and 100 Billion Nights - a 1967 Japanese scifi novel and the subject of a recent episode of What Mad Universe?!? I drew it in Anime style, because how could I not? 

Listen to it here: http://neversleepsnetwork.com/podcast/chapter-nineteen-when-gods-collide/

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Haven’t been doing art for What Mad Universe?!? episodes lately as I haven’t had any free time, but now that Kaijune is over I’ll be able to get back to things as usual (including comics).

Anyway, here’s a digital painting I just did depicting the world of Capella IV, AKA New Texas, and its resident “supercows” from the 1957 novella Lone Star Planet (also published as A Planet for Texans) by H. Beam Piper and J. Joseph McGuire. Said novella is the subject of the latest episode, where we discuss Space Westerns, politics, and how the novel defies genre expectations. Listen to the episode here: http://neversleepsnetwork.com/podcast/chapter-twenty-lone-star-planet/

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A new episode of What Mad Universe?!? is up. In this one, we discuss the 1957 Space Western novella A Planet For Texans by H. Beam Piper and J. Joseph McGuire.

The original cover to the novel, featuring a slightly inaccurate depiction of the book's giant Supercows.

An old 3D model Philip did of said Supercows.  They're described in-book as "a big mammal looking like the unsuccessful attempt of a hippopotamus to impersonate a dachshund and about the size of a nuclear-steam locomotive."

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​Want to hear 3 nerds talk about a 1967 Japanese novel featuring Cyborg Buddha and Cyborg Jesus battling it out in the ruins of Tokyo? Of course you do. 

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New episode of What Mad Universe?!? is now up! This is part 2 of our look at The Illuminatus! Trilogy. 

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We just learned there was a an Italian Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comic that was a full parody/adaptation of Saturnin Farandoul published in 1959!

There was also an unrelated Italian comic parody of Robida's book put out in 1979. (link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzolino_Tarantola) 

Seems that Farandoul was exceedingly popular in Italy (rightfully so) long after it declined in popularity in France (boo!). 

Listen to our episode on The Adventures of Saturnin Farandoul here: http://neversleepsnetwork.com/podcast/chapter-seven-conquest-of-the-monkey-king/

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What Mad Universe?!? Chapter 17: The Eye in the Pyramid! (The First Trip) is now available! You dig?

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http://neversleepsnetwork.com/podcast/chapter-sixteen-old-habits-die-hard/

Terrorists have seized the building! The police are clueless! People are in danger! Only one man can save the day! That man is…Joe Leland.

It’s explosive action and political turmoil in this episode of WHAT MAD UNIVERSE?!? as we take a look at NOTHING LASTS FOREVER, the book that was adapted (loosely) into the movie DIE HARD. What, you didn’t think 80s action movies were literary?

Theme song by Jack Feerick

Special thanks to Alex Ross

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A new episode of What Mad Universe?!? is up. In this episode, we discuss the literary origins of the movie Die Hard. You heard me. http://neversleepsnetwork.com/podcast/chapter-sixteen-old-habits-die-hard/ This is a quickly-done Photoshop joke that only makes sense in context. Listen to the episode to find out what this means.

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http://neversleepsnetwork.com/podcast/chapter-fifteen-the-coming-race/

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The symbol of the supposed Vril Society alleged to have existed in pre-Nazi Germany according to some conspiracy theories. 

Listen to our episode on Vril here: http://neversleepsnetwork.com/podcast/chapter-fifteen-the-coming-race/

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It was a dark and stormy podcast. A new episode of What Mad Universe?!? is up. Adam Prosser and I are joined again by Jess Nevins to discuss Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s influential Hollow Earth novel The Coming Race.

“There’s an energy coming from the underground…it’s the strange and wonderful power known as Vril, as documented in the book Vril: A Story of the Coming Race by the infamous Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Bulwer-Lytton’s left huge mark on pop culture, and in this episode we sit down with guest Jess Nevins to see whether his reputation doesn’t deserve a bit of rehabilitation…”

http://neversleepsnetwork.com/podcast/chapter-fifteen-the-coming-race/

My art depicting one of the Vril-ya.

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A couple weeks ago, we at What Mad Universe?!? posted an episode about the Little Baron Trump series of novels. http://neversleepsnetwork.com/podcast/chapter-thirteen-the-adventures-of-the-little-baron/

I finally got around to doing a painting of the main character from those books: Wilhelm Heinrich Sebastian von Troomp, commonly called “Little Baron Trump.”

This is a digital painting I tried to make look like an Oil painting as much as possible. It’s based on a description of his portrait from the second book, Baron Trump’s Marvelous Underground Journey (1893) and the somewhat crude ink illustration accompanying the novel.