#381 It’s A Matter of Life! What the Heck?

matteroflife_heck

Two new books from Top Shelf this week, both of which touch on themes related to Christianity — but in VERY different ways…

Jeffrey Brown’s latest, A Matter of Life, centers on Brown’s growing up in a religious family, yet not feeling that interested in religion, and coming to terms with the feeling that he must believe, yet doesn’t really want to. Yet, parts of the book seem unrelated to this theme. Does the focus wander too much?

Then, in Zander Cannon’s Heck, the discovery of a portal to Hell in his late father’s basement leads Hector Hammarskjold to make visits to the underworld a career choice. His journey leads to a lot of interesting philosophical food for thought — for us, at least, if not for him.

Tim and Brandon discuss both books.

Critiquing Comics #058: “Pale Dark”

Pale Dark

A man is kidnapped from his home and taken to a secret facility, where a mysterious pale man tells him he’s in deep trouble for supposedly committing serious crimes. In fact, a fellow prisoner tells him, he — and they — “fit the profile.” For what? Is keeping your audience in the dark, as in Chuck Amadori and Ruvel Abril’s Pale Dark, about the plot the best way to draw them in? Tim and Mulele discuss.

#380 A Severe Case of Punisher-itis

punisherIn one of our longest episodes ever, Kumar discusses at length Garth Ennis’s epic run on The Punisher, the greatest comic book series of the 2000s. Dana listens and nods politely.

How did Ennis define the character like no other writer? Is Punisher crazy? Should comics cover topics like human trafficking? All this and more.

Critiquing Comics #057: “Sortafellas”

sortafellasSortafellas, a comic submitted to us by Ed M., is set on the mean streets of 1970s New York; a police “bag man” goes to “Junkie Central” to pick up bribe money for his superiors. Having seen only 10 pages, Mulele & Tim aren’t quite sure where it’s going, but would like to see more!

“Attack on Titan” fun, has great tone

by Kory Cerjak

Title: Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin)
Author: Hajime Isayama
Publisher: Kodansha

Attack on TitanAttack on Titan is, as I know it, an anime that took the (anime) world by storm upon its release on April 6 of 2013. Newly formed Wit Studios (created by former members of Production I.G) took up the task (with the help of I.G) to make what has the potential to be the biggest title that the US anime market has seen since Fullmetal Alchemist hit the scene in 2001 (manga) and 2003 (anime). Kodansha has said on tumblr and Twitter that the numbers for the manga have gone up and up and up and they’re just riding the waves of success until—or should I say if—it slows down.

Simply put, Attack on Titan is really, really fun. I’ll admit that, through volume eight, it doesn’t have the depth that Fullmetal Alchemist did at the same point in its run. But that’s not to say that Attack on Titan is without depth. The titans represent fear incarnate. The innate fear that each human being holds within him or herself that Continue reading “Attack on Titan” fun, has great tone

#379 Jason McNamara: Read, Write, and Rattle

ShorthandJason McNamara, last seen in a San Francisco Italian restaurant, returns to the podcast! He talks with Tim about his latest comics, Shorthand and The Rattler, publishing through Comixology, The Martian Confederacy, and Superior Spider-Man, and we also discuss the art of writing.

Critiquing Comics #056: Bounty Hunter #0

Bounty Hunter

You wake up to discover that the zombies have attacked, and you now have super powers! Lots of other stuff has also happened, but some of it stays frustratingly off-panel in Bounty Hunter #0, by Sean Koury and Scott Twells!

#378 International Comics Fest pt 2

Tim with Juanjo GuarnidoOur report on the October 20 International Manga Festival (Kaigai Manga Festa) at Tokyo Big Sight concludes, with analog cloud computer support, an unexpected Boston Comics Roundtable connection, a young boy in strange lands, talk of censorship, Bulgarian comics, and finally, the artist behind Blacksad, Juanjo Guarnido!

Info on all the exhibitors we talk to in this episode is below!

 

Continue reading #378 International Comics Fest pt 2