In part two of Tim’s interview with longtime comics writer Dan Mishkin, Dan talks about writing Warren Commission Report: A Graphic Investigation into the Kennedy Assassination
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Category: Interview
#635 Dan Mishkin talks “Amethyst”
Dan Mishkin has worked on many different superhero properties, especially for DC — big names such as Batman and Wonder Woman, as well as characters that he helped to create, such as Blue Devil and Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. Tim has been reading the original 1983 Amethyst series, and in part one of his talk with Dan, we get some of the background on the series: the development of the idea, the intended audience, death in the series, why the second series came to be, Amy Winston’s unpublished Jewish backstory, and, if Dan could do Amethyst again, would he do anything differently?
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#632 Johnny O’Bryant’s Noir Caesar
Pro basketballer Johnny O’Bryant has long been a fan of manga. But he wanted to see manga-type stories showing people of other races, with characters he could more closely identify with. So he created comics publisher Noir Caesar and hired creators to make his vision happen. Tim and Mulele talk with Johnny about balancing his two careers, his story ideas, and what’s coming next. Then, we read some of the comics and find out what the fuss is about.
See the Primus 7 video trailer
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#629 Mike Barr: My career with Batman
Mike Barr is perhaps best known for writing the late-’80s hit comic series Batman and the Outsiders. He also created Camelot 3000 and Katana, and wrote many other books for Marvel, DC, and other publishers.
On April 13, Mike Barr was a keynote speaker at the Bowling Green State University (Ohio) Batman in Popular Culture conference. Tim was there, and recorded the whole thing, including the Q&A session. So enjoy the insightful, sometimes hilarious, presentation in this episode.
Click the image to enlarge
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#625 Crowdfunding comics!
Comics are booming on Kickstarter.com, and this week Tim talks to three who have turned to it multiple times to get their comics out to fans:
- 01:30 Ron Randall has just launched his latest campaign, to fund the next volume of his long-running series Trekker.
- 22:23 Arledge Comics’ Natalie Cooper explains how the publisher crowdfunds nearly everything it publishes! Its current campaign is for an anthology of Shakespeare-themed comics.
- 33:39 Kelly Tindall, creator of the web comic Strangebeard, explains the challenges of duplicating your first project’s success.
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#623 Remembering Ed; Asking retailers
When someone you know, someone who had an impact on your life, leaves us too soon, it can be tough to process. Struggling to accept the 2017 death of comics creator and all-around renaissance man Ed Siemienkowicz (who appeared in DCP episodes 227 and 393) at age 43, Tim spent part of his recent visit to Chicago meeting some of Ed’s friends and family, to commiserate and share memories — and check the progress of Ed’s comic that his friends are finishing for him.
Also, Tim talks to Hamster Rage creator Brian Crowley about his ongoing Kickstarter and the state of the U.S. comics industry, and visits three Chicago comics retailers to see how healthy the comics market seems from their perspective, and how it could be better.
Ed’s cousin Kristen, drawing group friend Garry Vettori, sister Renee, brother Bob, Tim, aunt Carol, online gaming friend Darrell Degreve
Tim, Kristen, Carol, Brian Crowley
Ed carved this Cesar Romero Joker into cardboard, and then spray-painted it green!
Ed with a bus he designed when he was employed by the Golf Channel.
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#621 Denny O’Neil and Sam Agro
Our own Koom recently attended the Toronto Comicon, leading to this episode’s two interviews! First, Denny O’Neil talks about his experiences and collaborations in the comics industry, why he imagines Gotham City to be in New Jersey, and more. Then cartoonist and animator Sam Agro talks animation, superhero movies, the evolution of comics conventions, and more.
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#619 Cowboys and Ninjas in Comics
How one culture perceives aspects of another culture is always interesting to observe. Our old friend Patrick Iijima-Washburn has been looking at how American comics portray ninja warriors and, conversely, how Japanese comics portray cowboys. Tim gets his observations on the matter.
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#616 Rob Walton and “Ragmop”
This week Koom interviews Rob Walton, who created the graphic novel Ragmop in the 1990s and is now releasing a sequel through Vault Comics. How does one approach continuing a series based in the morés and political situation of the ‘90s? Also, Rob’s love of old Marvel comics and how he fused those stories onto modern ideas in his own work; the development of his politics; his management style, and more.
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#614 Rick Parker: An Energetic Interview
While the majority of Rick Parker‘s comics jobs have been lettering, he’s also known as an artist and writer, including on Marvel’s Beavis and Butt-Head comics in the 1990s and Papercutz’ Tales from the Crypt. In this episode, Koom asks Rick about the experience of working at Marvel in the ’70s (including that time he was in a physical altercation in the office!), working as a New York taxi driver pre-Marvel, what was involved in old-school hand lettering of comics, and more.
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