This week on View from the Gutters our topic work is Alias, by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos. Released in 2001 and running for 28 issues, Alias kicked off Marvel's MAX line of comics for mature readers which abandoned the Comics Code for the first time. It follows the adventures of Jessica Jones, a one-time superhero who retired from the powers game to become a private eye.

The term "gritty and realistic" has been vastly overused, but is an accurate description of this series, which attempts to look at the Marvel universe in the same serious light as contemporary TV series such as The Wire or Homicide: Life on the Street did for TV cop dramas. It deals with both real-world topics like homosexuality, sexual assault, and drug-use; as well as more traditionally superhero elements like maintaining secret identities.

In our recommendation section our hosts nominated Here, The Fuse Vol. 2, Journey into Mystery: Fear Itself Vol. 1 & 2, Ring of the Nibelung, 5 Ghosts, and Stumptown for discussion on our next episode, and our selected title is Stumptown, Vol. 1-3.

Our hosts for this episode are Andrew Chard, Tobiah Panshin, Brant Gillihan-Eddy, Kayleigh Fleeman, and Cade Reynolds.