#208 Apollo’s Song

11/30/09 Apollo’s Song

Osamu Tezuka’s “Apollo’s Song” came out in 1970, about the same time as “Ode to Kirihito”. It explores issues of love, sex, and death. How does this “adult” work of Japan’s God of Comics stack up against the masterwork “Kirihito”? Tim and Kumar review.

#207 Magical Mystery Podcast

11/23/09 Magical Mystery Podcast

Tim and Mulele sit in a restaurant in Shinjuku, turn on the recorder, and see what develops. Topics include: Creator time management, Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto, Hope Larson’s Gray Horses, Caveman Science Fiction, the casting of the Popeye movie, podcast promotion, Mulele’s epiphany about his slow productivity the past three years, and the status of his current comic Elbis.

#206 Web comics portfolio sites

11/16/09 Web comics portfolio sites

Dresdencodak & 8et8

Another Web comics discussion, this time looking at two artists’ portfolio sites: Jordyn Bochon’s 8et8.net, and Aaron Diaz’s Dresdencodak.com. Both have their awesome points, but neither is perfect. Tim and Mulele weigh the good and not-so-good points.

#205 What is “good coloring”?

11/9/09 What is “good coloring”?

If you’ve been feeling like mainstream comics coloring is sometimes over-rendered, hyper-realistic, and/or muddy, you’re not alone. Ron Richards has been very vocal in, er, expressing his displeasure with it on the iFanboy podcast. Ron joins Tim and colorist Brian Miller of Hi-Fi Design to discuss the reasons the color turns out that way, problems that colorists should learn to avoid, and, well, just what is “good coloring” anyway?

#204 Hellboy

11/2/09 Hellboy

In the beginning, there was Hellboy. Well, the beginning of Deconstructing Comics, anyway. Brandon and Mulele are both longtime connoisseurs of Mike Mignola’s work, and in early episodes, the work being discussed was often held up to Hellboy for comparison. And yet, until now, we’ve never actually reviewed Hellboy! Tim and Mulele rectify that by looking at Seed of Destruction, Wake the Devil, and The Conqueror Worm. What really worked in those stories, and what probably could have been better? And what connection does Tim make between Hellboy and the band REM?

Plus: A Mulele update!