FLASHBACK! Children’s book writer Mo Willems has been found out: he’s actually a comics creator! He talks to Tim about the state of American comics for kids, the effect of his animation background on his approach to creating books, and… just why does that pigeon want to drive a bus, anyway?! (Originally published Feb 2, 2009)
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Thinking of looking for work as a comics translator? What issues are you likely to face in doing the work? Our very own Kumar, translator of dozens of Japanese comics for Dark Horse, talks to Tim about translating puns, accents, sound effects, song lyrics, and more.
Plus: Farewell to Frank Frazetta.
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Ruben Bolling is a comic strip creator who admits that he’s less interested in drawing than he used to be. Known as the brains behind the hilarious, and sometimes absurd, weekly strip “Tom the Dancing Bug,” Bolling does want to continue the strip, but also concentrate more effort on writing, and to move into other types of creative pursuits. One such pursuit may be a movie project with New Line Cinema. In an interview with Tim, Bolling talks about the movie, his influences, his tools, and his characters, as well as answering questions from listeners!
Also in this episode, Tim, Mulele, and Kumar discuss the upcoming WeirdCrimeTheater.com and Tim’s ongoing paid drawing gig (see his finished works below the break).
Continue reading #228 Ruben Bolling
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Tim and Mulele set out to review dharbin.com, but “the gold of the site” is hidden. Mulele explains where to find Dustin Harbin’s best work.
Then an interview with (former) Tokyo resident Ed Siemienkowicz and a discussion of how to develop your own style. Tim continues to struggle with this as he is paid (!) (by an English school) to do some illustrations.
Finally, Mulele has a few words about WordPress plugin ComicPress, and why he’s switching to InkBlot — er, no, sorry, Webcomic 2.1
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Comics are being used increasingly to get messages across visually, even those aimed at the business world.
Doug Jackson, a Tokyo-based business consultant, was involved in adapting Patrick Lencioni’s “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” into a “manga version.” He talks to Tim about the challenges he faced in turning Lencioni’s “business fable” into a comics script, and the potential for using sequential art as a teaching tool.
Grant Brownrigg of Grantland.net sells usage rights to his business-themed comic strips and one-panel cartoons through the site, for use in everything from newsletters to presentations. He tells Tim about how the business started in 1984 and how it has evolved.
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Comics are increasingly read as bits and bytes, on PCs and handheld devices.
Blank creators Brothers of the Silence are publishing the comic in Flash on their site, and as image files on Facebook and several other sites. “Brothers” Ian LeWinter and Don Richmond talk about creating the comic and promoting it via social media sites.
Dale Wilson of DWAP Productions, making his second appearance on this podcast, discusses the ways his company is getting its traditional paper product out in handheld device formats.
Remember “Yon Kuma”? Tim and Mulele reviewed it a year ago. It’s now called “Bear Beater Bunyan,” and it’s an iPhone app. Artist Jorge Munoz talks about the path he and writer Josh Hechinger followed in making the comic available for handhelds.
“Bear Beater Bunyan” is just one of many comics available from Robotcomics.net. Robot Comics Deputy Director Dave Baxter fills us in on the state of the growing comics market for handhelds and how Robot does what it does.
Finally, Tim and Mulele review some of Robot’s output.
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If you think the area where you live is too isolated and lacks a comics scene, consider the Pacific island of Guam: Fewer than 200,000 people, only about half of whom use the Internet. Few comics outlets, and a small selection. And even ordering online can be problematic. Tim visited Guam recently and spoke with Carlo Cariño (creator of Its a Big Island) and Roland Miranda, political cartoonist for the Pacific Daily News (see his work here and here). They discussed their creative work and the difficulties of being an island-based artist.
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 Tim and Mulele are joined by Mike Kloran, a Deconstructing Comics listener and artist based in northern Japan. Creating educational comics is discussed, and Mike interviews Tim and Mulele. Also, what are Mike’s thoughts on this podcast itself? |
 Then Tim and Mulele discuss two books by Ken Dahl, “Welcome to the Dahl House” and “Monsters”. |
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Steph Godfrey, of San Francisco by way of Perth, Australia, recently made a comic called Panorama, based on a dream she had and how it affected her life. Tim talks to Steph about the background of the comic, and then reviews it with Mulele.
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Skim is a coming-of-age graphic novel written by Mariko Tamaki, and drawn by her cousin Jillian Tamaki. Jillian works primarily in the field of illustration; how does she find that different from drawing a comic? Is it wrong to say that a comic is “illustrated”? She also discusses her perhaps unorthodox collaboration with Mariko on Skim, and reviews of the book that see meanings in it that were completely unintentional, in this interview.
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