This week we cross over with Shortbox Showcase, of the Relatively Geeky podcast network! Professor Alan and daughter Emily join Tim to fill us in on their comics-reading and podcast-making background, and then to discuss Power Man and Iron Fist v.1 by David Walker, Sanford Greene, and Flaviano — with digressions into differences between Marvel and DC, how society surely must work in the Marvel Universe, and more!
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Jim Zub loves Japan. He visited twice last year, including in October for the Kaigai Manga Festa. He set his Image series Wayward in Japan; it’s drawn by Yokohama resident Steven Cummings. In this week’s show, Jim talks about the effort to make Wayward‘s Japan feel as close to the real one as possible; playing in the sandbox of Marvel’s Thunderbolts, the harsh realities of the North American comics market, making yourself known in the industry, and more.
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Brian W. Cremins, author of Captain Marvel and the Art of Nostalgia, discusses the Big Red Cheese as a symbol for the innocence of childhood and how creators Otto Binder and C.C. Beck expressly used the character we know as “Shazam” to explores these themes.
Cremins also discusses with Emmet O’Cuana the use of nostalgia, both in the original Fawcett comic books and in our remembering of the series, drawing on the theories of Svetlana Bohm and the writing of W.G. Sebald. In this wide-ranging discussion, Cremins addresses the Fawcett v National trial, Binder’s science fiction career, Alan Moore’s “Marvelman”, and the casting of The Rock in the upcoming “Shazam” movie.
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This week, Tim talks with with cartoonist Joey Alison Sayers. She’s done work for MAD magazine, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the Nib, GoComics and more, plus a couple of books about her coming out as transgender. Why did she disappear for a few years? Why did she come back to comics? Plus the best advice she knows for new creators, and more.
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Since we often don’t see the people who make the comics we read, we may not realize just how many African-American comics creators there are. Craig Rippon is gathering their thoughts and opinions in a documentary film called Black Ink. This week, Tim gets the scoop from Craig on who has been interviewed so far and the plan going forward, the pros and cons of publishing a “multicultural” line of comics, the state of black heroes at Marvel, his motivation to keep going on the film, and more.
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The comedy/sci-fi web comic Power Nap takes place in a future where people take drugs to stay awake, and falling asleep isn’t socially acceptable. So what happens if you’re allergic to the drug? This week, Tim talks to writer Maritza Campos and artist Bachan about the comic, as well as the state of comics in their native Mexico, how the comics industry is likely to change, and more.
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Many of us are good at making our work (comics, podcasts, what have you), but not good at putting it out there, letting people know it exists. Mulele has been advising his friend Oscar, creator of the comic Kai (discussed in Critiquing Comics #100), on using social media and on choosing the best presentation style for a given book. This week, Tim talks with Oscar about his opening foray into comics, and Mulele talks about designing books and finding printers that can produce what he envisions.
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Over the decades, Captain America has changed his name, changed his costume, changed his mission, and been temporarily replaced by others. These changes, and other story developments, have often reflected changes in the national mood, such as post-Watergate malaise or the struggle to understand why 9/11 happened and how the U.S. should respond to it.
In this episode, Emmet O’Cuana talks with Neal Curtis, of the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Neal recently presented the paper “Captain America: Patriotism, Nationalism, Fascism” and is the author of the book “Sovereignty and Superheroes“. He talks here about how Cap has reflected changes in America, from World War II to the age of Trump.
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When webcomics creators aren’t creating webcomics, what are they reading? This week we check in with a couple of creators whose work we’ve looked at previously — Victor Edison and Maya Kern — and get their recommendations: Chris Carlier’s “Little in Japan” and G.G. Digi’s “Cucumber Quest“!
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SP4RX is Wren McDonald‘s first full-length graphic novel, a cyber-punk story that fondly remembers “the future of the past”. This week Wren talks about world building in SP4RX, his process, work-life balance, and more. Support Deconstructing Comics on Patreon to hear more of this interview!
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