#575 Helioscope: Karl Kesel and Dylan Meconis

This week we begin our visit with the creators at Helioscope, a comics studio in Portland, Oregon!

Karl Kesel has been in mainstream comics for 30 years and has worked on some of the most popular characters from the Big Two. How has the industry changed in that time, for good and bad? Why is his fingernail always broken? How is inking therapeutic for him?

 

 

 

Then graphic novelist Dylan Meconis (Bite Me!: A Vampire Farce; Family Man; Outfoxed) gives us a lot of thoughts and tips for promoting a comic online, as well as why foxes are thought of as tricksters in numerous cultures, and how we’ll know when comics have really “arrived”.

 

 

#574 Thumbnailing pages, and a collaboration gone wrong

Irene and Jason

This week, a couple of old friends stop by to give us their thoughts and advice on comics creation.

First, artist Irene Strychalski (Gwenpool) talks about her 10 tips for thumbnailing a comics page. At this stage, your main concern is clear storytelling technique. Listen for some guidelines!

Then, writer Jason McNamara (The Martian Confederacy, The Rattler), now creative consultant for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, talks about recognizing when a comics collaboration isn’t gelling, and knowing when to let go.

#573 Bryan Talbot

Grandville

UK creator Bryan Talbot (The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, Heart of Empire, Grandville series) talks with Koom about co-founding the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, the difference between a “comicon” and a “festival”, working with Alan Moore on “Nightjar”, and much more.

#572 Barbara Schulz on MCAD’s Comic Art Program

Barbara Schulz

The number of schools offering comic art programs in the US is small but increasing. This time we look at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD). John Bivens and Eliot Rahal give us some background, and then we talk to one of the primary faculty members teaching in their comic art program, Barbara Schulz. She gives us her thoughts on choosing the best comic art program for you, challenges facing anyone trying to get started in comics (such as self-promotion, unscrupulous publishers, and more.

Critiquing Comics #120: “1985 Black Hole Repo #1”

1985 Black Hole Repo

It’s 1985, but the space race never slowed down, so space is busy with human activity. 1985 Black Hole Repo #1, by Seth M Sherwood, Michael Moreci, and John Bivens, is full of punk rock aesthetic and references to the real 1980s. Unfortunately, it can be a little tough to tell what’s happening in they story. Tim and Mulele explore this space.

#571 Minneapolis’ World Monster Headquarters

This week we double back to the beginning of Tim’s summer trip around the US, and meet three of the many creators at the World Monster Headquarters studio in Minneapolis. We’ll meet Peter Wartman, creator of the graphic novel Over the Wall and currently working on the sequel, Stonebreaker. He talks about why Over the Wall is still on his web site, even though the book is out.

Then, Sean Lynch, currently working on his graphic novel The Zoo, which asks the question, does “choice” really exist?

Finally, Lupi McGinty, creator of the web comics Lolly Poppet and Bantam Returns. She tells us about the live action Calvin and Hobbes movie she made as a kid!

#570 Body Positivity and Free Speech

This week, Tim presents two interviews from his time in Portland, Oregon!

First, Lacy Davis and Jim Kettner talk about their first graphic novel, Ink in Water: An Illustrated Memoir (Or, How I Kicked Anorexia’s Ass and Embraced Body Positivity), about Lacy’s battles with anorexia. They talk about the process of making the book, the challenges of collaborating with your spouse, and the nature of eating disorders, which have both physical and mental effects.

Then, a front-porch chat with Charles Brownstein, Executive Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. What is the organization’s mission and how did it come to be based in Portland? What have been its biggest victories and defeats? What’s the difference between censorship by the government or by private companies? The difference between comics that show drawings of kids in sexual situations, versus actual child pornography? Also, the rise and fall of the Comics Code. Were comics EVER really “just for kids”?