#784 Jack Kirby’s “Kamandi”: Wipeout

Kamandi 38

There’s a new sheriff in town in post-Great Disaster Earth: Gerry Conway took over as writer in Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth issue 38. Jack Kirby stayed on as artist for issues 38-40 before leaving D.C. So while the interior art looks the same as always (aside from covers by Joe Kubert), everything feels a little “off”. It doesn’t help that Kirby left Kamandi in a rather uncomfortable plotline (although Tim and Emmet disagree as to what level of “ick” is implied). Our look at Kirby’s Kamandi ends as Kamandi motorboats off to disappointing horizons.

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#783 Jack Kirby’s “Kamandi” #35-37: Off the deep end

Kamandi 35

Jack Kirby reaches the end of his writing run on Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth. After top-shelf stories about a Soviet spacecraft and an “eviction battle” in a resort hotel with crocs in the pool, Kirby’s swan song leaves something to be desired, with an … uncomfortable plot point, and myriad threads dangling. Tim and Emmet discuss the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.

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#782 Ninja Turtles: “Mutant Mayhem”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles first appeared in 1984 as a violent, gory homage to/parody of Frank Miller’s Daredevil, among other popular mainstream titles of the time (X-men, Teen Titans). The comic hit at the right time for Kumar, but for the younger Emmet, the 1987 TV cartoon was the business. Now, nearly 40 years later, both have attended the latest Turtles movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. This week, they review the movie and compare it with earlier Turtles iterations.

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#781 “The Hard Switch” and “Pet Peeves”

"The Hard Switch" and "Pet Peeves"

This time we look once again at new books coming from British publisher Avery Hill Press. Owen D. Pomery’s The Hard Switch is a nice slice of indy sci-fi; Tim and Kumar review. Then, Emmet joins Tim to discuss Nicole Goux’s Pet Peeves: Emmet loves it, but Tim needs some convincing.

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#548 Jaime Hernandez interview

Jaime Hernandez

FLASHBACK! Love and Rockets continues to impress, and in this episode Koom asks creator Jaime Hernandez some burning questions. Hernandez talks about writing Maggie and Hopey, the dynamics of working on something with your brother, why he gravitates toward female characters, his influences and art style, and more.

Also, Tim and Mulele discuss the current state of the US comics market and Marvel’s recent problems.

Originally published May 22, 2017.

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#780 Jim Shooter interview

Secret Wars

Jim Shooter was Marvel Editor-in-Chief from 1978 to 1987, the era of Frank Miller’s Daredevil, Chris Claremont’s X-men, Secret Wars (written by Shooter himself), the West Coast Avengers and more. This week he talks with Koom about his take on modern-day Marvel, the early days of Frank Miller and Ann Nocenti’s careers, why “Little Miss Muffet” is a tool to teach good writing, and more.

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#440 “The Love Bunglers”

FLASHBACK! Did you think Love & Rockets was over?! Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez continue to release new work about once a year, and in this episode Kumar and Matt sit down and discuss some of it, with particular attention paid to Jaime’s The Love Bunglers. (Spoiler warning!)

Also: the tension between indy creators who want to do single-issue type comics, and the economic realities shoving them toward larger collections…

Originally published March 9, 2015.

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#305 “Love & Rockets”: Gilbert Hernandez

FLASHBACK! In episode #300, we took a look at the sometimes wacky and cartoony Love & Rockets work of Jaime Hernandez. This week, Tim and Kumar are again joined by Tom Spurgeon to look at the somewhat darker, more violent and yet rather hard-to-pin-down work of Gilbert Hernandez in his stories of (or, sometimes merely tangentially related to) the isolated Mexican village of Palomar.

Originally published January 2, 2012

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#300 “Love & Rockets”: Jaime Hernandez

FLASHBACK! The series Love & Rockets, featuring individual works by the Hernandez brothers, started in 1981 as a self-published magazine, but was quickly picked up by Fantagraphics. Over the last 30 years, the brothers’ work has continued to develop & astound. This week Tim and Kumar take a look at the Love & Rockets work of Jaime Hernandez, with special guest (and former Fantagraphics employee) Tom Spurgeon!

Originally published October 24, 2011.

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Critiquing Comics #233: “The World of Tomorrow” and “Prism Stalker”

World of Tomorrow - Prism Stalker

In this edition, we rejoin The World of Tomorrow, a comic we discussed the first issue of five years ago! This is the one about an actor in, roughly, the 1950s, who stars in a space ranger TV show that’s on the verge of cancellation. Now writer Giles Clarke has sent us the second and third issues, and Jason and Tim take a look at them.

Then, Adam joins Tim to discuss the first volume of Prism Stalker by Sloan Leong. It’s kind of a psychedelic science fiction book that touches on immigration and other issues, and it’s a bit difficult to get into at first. In this episode you can hear us warm up to the comic even as we’re reviewing it!

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