Critiquing Comics #130: “Jynx” and “Dark Soul”

Jynx and Dark Soul

Two manga-influenced titles are up for critique this time. First, in Kyle Fast’s JYNX, a white-furred monkey takes off to find adventure, leaving his guardian in the lurch. Then, organized crime gangs face off in Kitito Minami’s Dark Soul. Tim and Mulele give their opinions and advice.

Check out Mulele’s Kickstarter project!

#588 We love “HATE”

HATE

Peter Bagge’s HATE was an amazing hit for a ’90s indy comic, outselling some Big Two titles. Tim, Kumar, and Tom Spurgeon talk about some of the amazing aspects of this strip, and discuss whether it’s accurate to classify it as a comic about slackers.

Critiquing Comics #129: “The Goodes” and “Undergrown”

The Goodes - UndergrownTim and Mulele finish up their look at Irrational Comics’ 2018 PITCH page with L.J. Bell’s The Goodes (a superhero/kid-dealing-with-parents’-divorce tale) and Julian Dominguez’ Undergrown (exploring the idea of an earth with no humans on its surface). Irrational Comics gives each writer eight pages to rope readers into his or her tale; did these writers make the best use of the eight pages? Who won this year’s contest?

Also, Mulele fills us in on his new Kickstarter project!

 

#587 Science in a comic: Dialogue about “The Dialogues”

This is the story of a very unusual project: a 250-page comic showing people talking about science. Not your cup of tea? Actually, the seeming lack of overlap between “comics people” and “science people” is part of this story. It was one reason this book took nearly two decades from inception to publication.

In this episode, Ryan Haupt joins Tim to review this book, called The Dialogues; then, the book’s author, USC physics professor Clifford V. Johnson, explains the arduous journey of this book, which explains a topic that’s poorly understood by the public via a medium that’s also poorly understood by the public.

Also including some actual science talk, including Ryan’s recommendations for other non-fiction comics about science!