Category: Interview

#860 Chris Ryall on “Daredevil: Born Again”

Daredevil: Born Again

Daredevil: Born Again, by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, is one of those comics stories that continues to attract attention decades after it was published. Chris Ryall, co-founder and current publisher at Image imprint Syzygy Publishing, is the author of a new book on that story. He talks with Koom in this episode about the arc’s religious symbolism, Ben Urich as the story’s magic ingredient, and more.

Marvel Fanfare 40

Mazzucchelli art for Marvel Fanfare #40 (Oct 1988) cover, as seen on Koom’s wall

Coppola loan application

Coppola loan application

Chris:

Koom:

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#859 Jason Shiga: Choosing his own path

Demon

Jason Shiga is creator of the four-volume series Demon as well as many interactive comics. This week, Koom interviews Jason about his page layout strategy, his connections to Adrian Tomine, the pros and cons of comics where the reader gets a choice of paths through the story, his intriguing new project, and more.

Jason:

Koom:

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#856 Jim Keefe interview

Jim Keefe is a longtime comics creator who has worked on the Flash Gordon (art and story) and Sally Forth (art) newspaper strips as well as being King Features’ staff colorist. He has also done lettering and retouching for English editions of various manga, and more. This week he talks with Tim about all of this, as well as his time as a student at the Kubert School, dealing with technological change, and more.

The November 16, 2025, Sally Forth strip, with Jim’s color guides at the top. Note the appearance of Gregory and Janine from Abbot Elementary in the first panel!

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#410 Marvel Comics: Telling the Untold Story

FLASHBACK! If you’re into American comics at all, you undoubtedly know how Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others changed the industry with their work in the 1960s, and set the template for kinds of stories Marvel still publishes today.

That’s just part of the story that Sean Howe researched for his 2012 book Marvel Comics: The Untold Story. Through interviews, research of media reports, and of course tons of comics reading, Howe uncovered the backgrounds of many comics stories and rumors that longtime readers may have wondered about. There’s plenty of intra-creator acrimony to be found in its pages, yet Howe found that the book helped some of those involved to move on from decades-old wounds.

This week Tim talks to Sean Howe about the research, the reaction, and what this book has to say to aspiring creators. (Originally published July 7, 2014.)

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#852 Dan Schkade and “Flash Gordon”

Flash Gordon

In 2023, King Features Syndicate decided to bring Flash Gordon, originally created by Alex Raymond and first published in 1934, back from rerun purgatory with new strips, written and drawn by Dan Schkade. Dan was also the artist on Dynamite Entertainment’s Will Eisner’s the Spirit Returns in 2016, and is also known for his original work Lavender Jack, which ran on Webtoon. This week, Tim talks with him about Flash Gordon and some of the trickier aspects of doing a newspaper strip, including refreshing readers’ memories and getting new readers on board while also moving the story forward a step every day. And, in 2025, how do you handle a great villain (Ming the Merciless) who’s also a terrible racial stereotype?

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#849 “Almost Sunset”: Wahab Algarmi on growing up Muslim in America

Almost Sunset

This week, Koom interviews Wahab Algarmi, author of Almost Sunset, a graphic novel about a Muslim American boy’s search for balance between his family traditions and the demands of life in Middle School. Koom and Wahab discuss their international family backgrounds as well as the merits or demerits of 1990s Image comics!

Almost Sunset on Amazon

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#848 “More Weight”: Ben Wickey talks Salem witch trials

More Weight

Ben Wickey has created a graphic novel, More Weight: A Salem Story, that gives us a very deep dive into the Salem witch trials: why they happened, who was to blame, and how the city has dealt with their legacy. This week Koom gets the scoop on what inspired Ben, why his art style seems to vary depending on what point in the past he’s writing about, and more.

More Weight: A Salem Story on Amazon.com

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#780 Jim Shooter interview

Secret Wars

FLASHBACK! Jim Shooter, who was Marvel Editor-in-Chief from 1978 to 1987, passed away on June 30. He wrote a number of comics published by Marvel (including the original Secret Wars series) and by a number of other companies. Two years ago, Koom interviewed Shooter to find out what he thought about Marvel in its current incarnation, get his recollections of Frank Miller and Ann Nocenti’s respective starts in the comics industry, hear his theory that the nursery rhyme “Little Miss Muffet” can be a tool to teach good writing, and more. We re-present the interview this week in observance of his passing. (Originally published August 23, 2023.)

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#841 Ken Krimstein on Einstein, Kafka, and comics in general

Einstein in Kafkaland

Ken Krimstein‘s Einstein in Kafkaland: How Albert Fell Down the Rabbit Hole and Came up with the Universe builds on the fact that these two stars of the early 20th century were part of the same friend group at one point and builds it up into what NPR described as “Alice in Wonderland meets The Lives of the Poets meets Krazy Kat.” This week Emmet talks with Ken about the book, the two historical figures featured in it, and the nature of comics itself.

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#385 The Legacy of “Starman”

Starman

FLASHBACK! The 1990s DC series Starman is one of comicdom’s most fondly remembered series. Interestingly, says series author James Robinson, it seems to be more popular now than it was when it was actually in production! James joins Tim and Ryan Haupt this week to look back on various aspects of this iconic series, including the theme of “legacy”, a sneaky crossover with another series, a story arc that never happened, the differences in how the Big Two have dealt with their Golden Age characters, and much more. (Originally published January 6, 2014)

James Robinson on Science…Sort Of in October 2009

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