#457 Tokyo Artists Talk, vol. 2: Stop worrying, keep drawing

Grace, Yu, PeiWhat are some advantages and disadvantages of comics as a medium? How can you show lack of motion in a comic? Is the lack of sound in a comic ever an advantage? How do you keep yourself going when you’re afraid that your work isn’t good enough? This and more this week with three Tokyo-area artists: Grace Mineta, who’s having considerable success with her Texan in Tokyo comics and YouTube channel: Pei-in Wu, a Taiwanese artist who’s juggling comics with a day job; and Yu Ohmura, who self-publishes comics about his travel experiences.

Some samples of Yu Ohmura work:
YuOmura01

On the left side of the photo below is the girl falling in the snow, described by Yu during our discussion of showing movement (or lack thereof)

YuOmura02

#456 Dakota McFadzean: What’s eating him?

Don't Get EatenThe daily strips on Dakota McFadzean‘s site are darkly humorous, or sometimes just dark. (Folks gets eaten!) On this week’s show, Dakota talks about how doing daily strips has helped him as an artist, surviving Cartoonist Boot Camp at the Center for Cartoon Studies, why kids stop drawing at a certain age (and why we should encourage them not to stop!), and more.

Critiquing Comics #074: Holy F*ck

Holy F*ckA ribald, drug-using, bi-sexual Jesus who hangs out with Satan and a gun-toting nun — together they’re out to save Earth from the apocalypse! If this sentence titillates rather than offends you, Tim and Mulele have good news — the execution is as good as the concept in Nick Marino and Daniel Arruda Massa’s “Holy F*ck“!

#455 Streetwise

Streetwise

When Kumar was in Toronto in May and met up with Koom, one topic that came up was a 2000 anthology book called Streetwise, featuring autobiographical stories by a number of well-known comics artists (including Jack Kirby, Sergio Aragones, Paul Chadwick, Joe Kubert, John Severin & Roy Thomas, Walter Simonson, Rick Veitch, and Barry Windsor-Smith). This week, with Kumar back in Australia, they chat via Skype/phone about an overlooked book that’s worth a look.

Critiquing Comics #073: The Non-Seen

The Non-SeenIn John W. Allie’s The Non-Seen Chapter 1, a little girl finds an old book at the Salvation Army store, written in a strange language. Eventually she figures out how to read it and meets an earless cat. Tim and Mulele’s ears detect an interesting story here, but it’s a bit hard to hear over the needless noise.

Critiquing Comics #072: Lifehacks

LifehacksLifehacks, by Ovi Demetrian Jr and Jen Hickman, is “a modern noir detective story about a hacker turned private investigator.” While the story idea and the art seem solid, Tim and Mulele have to put in some on-mic detective work to understand just where it is our main character works…

#454 Kumar Across Canada

Kumar at ECCE Kumar reports on the three comics shows he attended while in Canada last month: Toronto Comic Arts Festival (where he spoke on a manga translation panel), East Coast Comics Expo (where he had a table), and Vancouver Comic Arts Festival. (Click below for photos)
Sithra Then Tim and Mulele discuss Jason Brubaker’s “Sithra: Book One”. Brubaker recently quit DreamWorks — yes, that’s right, QUIT DREAMWORKS — to follow his muse, which prompts Tim and Mulele to think about their own career hopes, in comics or otherwise.

Continue reading #454 Kumar Across Canada

#453 Tokyo Artists Talk, vol. 1

Nao and AngeloNao Yazawa and Mokutan Angelo join Tim in what will hopefully be the first in a series of group discussions with Tokyo-based comics creators! Topics include Tokyo’s annual International Comics Festival, comics in Brazil, things an artist asks the audience to overlook, effects of traditional Japanese drama on manga and anime, and more!

Critiquing Comics #070: Terra Kaiju

Terra KaijuCritiquing Comics returns! Tim and Mulele dust off their neglected pile of submissions and look at Terra Kaiju, by Joe Badon and P.B. DeBerry — a comic with Japanese (and Chinese?) ideas, run through a Western filter.