#330 “Doonesbury”: Polarizing and Unifying

Doonesbury castWhen Doonesbury started nearly 42 years ago, Garry Trudeau was a hot young property, the undergrad student cartoonist who spoke the language of “today’s youth”. Now age 64, Trudeau can hardly make that claim, but instead he can take credit for a monumental strip chronicling the lives of his many cast members and their lives growing old in the social and political environments of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Tim and Kumar assess the strip’s legacy, discuss Brian Walker’s Doonesbury and the Art of G. B. Trudeau, and review the past year’s worth of strips.

#329 “Flex Mentallo” and related issues

Flex MentalloIs Flex Mentallo just a superhero story or is it something far more? Does it speak only to comic book fans or can it say something for everyone? Is it about childhood, adulthood, drugs, loss, hope, despair, the comic book marketplace, pain, healing, or all of these at the same time? And do you have to be on acid to understand Grant Morrison, or does it just help? Writer Troy Belford and indie cartoonist John Linton Roberson go on and on about all of this, and it’s a bit beyond the usual. Have a listen to this special mega-length episode…IF YOU DARE.

John blogs about Flex

#328 “Shadowlaw” and finding a collaborator

ShadowlawFirst up this week, an interview with Brandon Easton, creator of Shadowlaw and also writer of an episode of the new Thundercats series. Shadowlaw took well over a decade to come to fruition due to the nearly endless difficulties Easton had with finding a reliable artist. He shares his advice for finding a collaborator for your own project.

Our own Mulele had some problems as the hired artist for a couple of comics projects when he tried his luck in Los Angeles six years ago. The experience was a harrowing one — more so than we realized at the time. Mulele tells all, and also talks about his next career steps — including a trip to a convention!

#327 Two Tales of the Near East

Prince of Persia and HabibiCall it Orientalism, but Middle Eastern culture still carries a hint of romance in the Western imagination. This week, Tim and Brandon discuss two books in that vein:

Prince of Persia, by Jordan Mechner, AB Sina, LeUyen Pham and Alex Puvilland, coasts on notions of romance and intrigue in ancient Persia; meanwhile,

Habibi, by Craig Thompson, takes hold of Arabian Nights-type notions — as well as Islam — and uses them to express more universal themes.