Critiquing Comics #025: “Ugli Studios Presents” #1

Ugli Studios Presents” #1 gives us two stories: One about a cat (well, much more than a cat) who supports her “consort”, The Necromancer, in battle — “and my God, that artwork is epic!” — followed by a science fiction story with a twist ending. Tim and Mulele critique.

#323 Frank Miller’s “Daredevil”: A Scholarly Analysis Begins

DaredevilMore than 30 years ago, Frank Miller set the comics world on fire by turning Marvel’s swashbuckling Daredevil title into a noir series with ninjas. More importantly, he took a serious look at some issues of crime and punishment, and his conclusions tended to veer left politically. Fast forward to his later career, and the views he expresses would be right at home on Fox News. What happened?

Tim’s brother Paul isn’t sure he can answer that question, but he finds that early Daredevil run to still be very worthy of notice today, so much so that he’s writing a book, for an academic publisher, about it. He fills Tim and Mulele in on his thoughts as he prepares to write…

Review: Culture Vultures

By Tom Roberts and Jim Siergey
Iconografix 1993

I was in a comic shop in a small town outside of Madison, Wisconsin, digging through the back issue bin when this caught my eye. It cost me a whole 50 cents.

Culture Vultures is a black and white comic published in the comics high tide year of 1993. I’ll spare you a capsule review and just quote the propaganda from Caliber Comic’s Website: Continue reading Review: Culture Vultures

#322 Harvey Pekar’s “Cleveland”

Harvey Pekar's ClevelandHarvey Pekar’s latest (posthumously published, but perhaps not his final work) is “Cleveland”, telling the story of Pekar’s hometown and his place in it. While perhaps lacking in some of Pekar’s strong points, it’s nonetheless a compelling read. Joseph Remnant’s art is by and large a great take on Pekar’s vision. Tim and Kumar discuss.

Comics Reporter interview with Joseph Remnant

#321 Exhibition and Inspiration: Katsuhiro Ootomo

A retrospective exhibit of the art of Katsuhiro Ootomo was recently held in Tokyo. Ootomo‘s work Akira is what inspired Mulele to come to Japan and learn to draw manga, so the exhibit was a chance to soak up inspiration and reflect on his current state of affairs. Patrik W, also an Ootomo fan from way back, attended and enjoyed. For Tim, not an Ootomo reader, it was a chance to see what he’s been missing. Discussion ensues.

#320 The Nine Lives of “Elbis”

Over the years, Mulele has mentioned his Elbis project several times on the show. Created for Illustration Friday, developed for (but rejected by) Kodansha, the spiritual kittycat’s story has found a home on paper thanks to DWAP Productions. This week, Mulele explains how the project started and developed, and where he’s headed from here.

Buy “Elbis”

Then, we catch up with DWAP‘s Dale Wilson, about how he picked up Elbis, as well as his new site BuyIndieComics.com, and the state of indie comics in the States.

Critiquing Comics #024: “Dreamkeepers”

Dreamkeepers is an epic teen-furry-fantasy-adventure comic, clearly influenced by anime and/or Disney. Those are both its strong and weak points. Tim and Mulele examine examine volume 1 (and a bit of volume 2) of this tale by David Lillie, Liz Thomas, and David Higgenbotham, and ask the question: how does one differentiate between unwarranted publisher meddling with one’s project, and useful advice that should be heeded? (Available on Graphicly, but the first volume can be read online for free!)