Deconstructing Comics Podcast, published every Monday, features comics creator discussion and comics reviews.
A transgender person (identifying as a woman) attempts suicide in a bathtub. Then an angel appears! The woman’s wrists are healed and the angel shows her how her life could be better. A comic whose heart is in the right place, but could use some adjustment in its delivery. Tim and Mulele discuss Trans-planetarium, but Flip Knox, John Amberia, and Shallamar Muggott; and also look back on Mulele’s just-completed Kickstarter project.
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Helen Maier and Fil Barlow are longtime partners and collaborators who have turned out a number of comics, available mainly in their native Australia, and worked on animation and character design on a number of cartoons that millennials watched as kids, such as Extreme Ghostbusters and Tutenstein.
Since returning to Australia in 2010, they’ve gone all in on comics, and the first two chapters of their story “Yorris” appeared in issues 4 and 5 of Image’s rather mysterious 8House anthology series.
This week, a talk with Helen about Czech comics and the view from the animation trenches becomes a talk with both Helen and Fil about the meaning of (and Easter eggs in) “Yorris”, their attempts to turn some conventions of comics storytelling on their heads, and the pluses and minuses of the crowdfunding model.
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Alex and Ada is Jonathan Luna and Sara Vaughn’s critically acclaimed 15-issue series about human interaction with A.I. It raises some interesting issues, but does it handle them well? Have the same ideas been explored better elsewhere? Tim and Kumar open up the machine and take a look.
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Nick Marino and Arruda Massa are back with Holy F*cked, the follow-up to their highly irreverent comedy Holy F*ck, starring Jesus and Satan in a romantic relationship. Does this book hold a candle to the first? Tim and Mulele discuss.
Also, a progress report on Mulele’s ongoing Kickstarter project!
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Two interviews this week:
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First, Luke Lancaster and Orlando Caicedo on their comic “The Badguys.” How did they got together (without actually getting together) and get their comic into Webtoons? And, are Webtoons actually comics? |
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Then, UK-based artist and writer Sally Jane Thompson, author of the graphic novel “Atomic Sheep”, explains why a creator with South African and Canadian roots sees the UK as a better place to be, how comics can be used in conjunction with an art exhibit, and more. |
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If you’re listening to this podcast, you’ve probably at some point encountered (if not read) a history of DC or Marvel. But how about Harvey Comics? or Cracked Magazine? And if you’re into animation, perhaps you’d like a history of DePatie-Freling or Total Television Productions?
Comics and animation historian Mark Arnold has been compiling info on these companies and more. He also discusses Joe Edwards’ Li’l Jinx strip, that time when Blondie had a comic book, why Wonderful World of Disney seldom showed cartoons, and the storage challenges inherent in his chosen profession!
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Two years after critiquing volume one of writer Neil Gibson’s Twisted Dark anthology series, Tim and Mulele take a look at volume 5. The takeaway? An improvement… but a piece of advice: be aware of the difference between “End” and “To Be Continued”.
Also, we discuss Mulele’s Kickstarter project!
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Charles Schulz’s Peanuts is one of the most beloved comic strips of the 20th century. But while some prefer the hilariously cruel and despairing tone of the first half of the series, it seems that the public perception of Peanuts is more in line with the cute, commercial tone it took on in its second 25 years.
This week Tim and Kumar come back to Peanuts, more than seven years after reviewing the Schulz bio, to delve more into the strip itself. What is the nature of the Peanuts kids? What motivates them? How does Peanuts (especially in its first half) fit an existentialist view of the world?
Also discussed: the recent movie — what was good or bad. Was showing the Little Red Haired Girl a good idea? Plus, a nod to a few of Schulz’s more interesting panel compositions, and, what Peanuts strip does Tim want on his wall?
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The digital comics universe continues to expand. This week, Tim looks at two different platforms.
If you’re into American comics at all, you no doubt know of Comixology. Since we last talked to company co-founder John Roberts, Comixology has joined the Amazon family, and their integration is starting to become visible on both companies’ sites. John talks about this, the penetration of digital in the market, how to get your comics into Comixology, and more.
South Korean Web giant Naver started Webtoon in that country back in 2004, and since then its reach has grown in Asia and around the world — the English version is called Line Webtoon. We meet Webtoon content manager David Lee and New Mexico-based creator Stephen McCranie (whose Space Boy is available through Webtoon) to discuss the site’s reach and business model, the differences between making a comic for print and making one that the reader scrolls through, and how to get your comics into Webtoon.
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Bayne: Legacy Apocalypse, from Silver Axe Comics, features an axe-wielding Morpheus-from-The-Matrix type in a post-apocalyptic California battling mutants or vampires or what-have-you. Jay Reed’s art is much more than serviceable; it’s quite nice. Chyna McCoy’s script, however… well, listen to find out what Tim and Mulele have to say about it.
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