#463 Bat in Time

Is this the sixties, or 2039?

Batman Year 100In a time without superheroes, Batman sightings are reported. But isn’t he an urban legend? Paul Pope brings his unique, inventive style to the Batman of 2039 in Batman Year 100. While new characters stand in for Robin and Oracle, is there a reason there’s no Alfred analogue? Why do Paul Pope characters have big lips? Tim and Brandon discuss this and more.

Batman '66: The Lost EpisodeFrom Batman 2039, we move to Batman 1966! When production of the Adam West Batman series was gearing up, Harlan Ellison (writer of the Star Trek episode “City on the Edge of Forever”, and much else of note) submitted a treatment for an episode featuring Two-Face. While the treatment was accepted, it never made it to the script stage. Finally, in 2014, DC released a comics adaptation of this story, Batman ’66: The Lost Episode, scripted by Len Wein and drawn by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (cover by Alex Ross). Does it feel like the show? Who might have played Two-Face? What does this book tell us about the differences between making a TV show and making a comic? Tim and Paul slide down the Batpoles for a closer look.

#462 Usagi Yojimbo

Usagi YojimboOriginating out of the same ’80s black-and-white/anthropomorphic boom that brought us the Ninja Turtles, Usagi Yojimbo is one of the few comics of that batch that are still going today. Stan Sakai’s work combines historical drama, understated violence, light comedy, and even some explanations of 17th century Japanese culture — and he can pack a surprising amount of story into a few pages. Tom Spurgeon joins Tim and Kumar to talk about the long-eared samurai.

#460 Poe-faced Corben

PoeRichard Corben has repeatedly adapted the works of Edgar Allan Poe — in fact, he’s drawn some of the same stories several times! Most recently he’s done the work collected in Dark Horse’s Edgar Allan Poe’s Spirits of the Dead.

How do his different versions of such works as The Fall of the House of Usher compare to each other? How has Corben enhanced Poe’s stories? Is reading Poe adapted as a comic a substitute for straight-up reading Poe? In general, is it harder to be scary in comics compared to other media? Kumar and Dana discuss.

#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.

#452 Joe Matt’s “The Poor Bastard”

poorbastardJoe Matt was one of ‘The Toronto Three’ in the 90’s; he was a no-holds barred autobiographical cartoonist who, with his friends Chester Brown and Seth, ushered in the first wave of Drawn and Quarterly work. Matt drew attention for his sense of humor as well as exposing the depraved corners of his life, including porn addiction, excessive cheapness, and an increasingly destructive relationship with his girlfriend Trish. Kumar and Koom discuss The Poor Bastard and reflect about encountering Matt’s work, the interaction between real life and representation, and the connection between humor and depravity.

LINK: Did the woman Frankie was modeled after demand to be left out of Joe’s comic?

#451 Frank Santoro and comics geometry

PompeiiThis week, an interview with Frank Santoro, who writes for the Comics Journal, teaches comics creation (mostly through the Web), and has published several graphic novels, including Storeyville and Pompeii. We discuss using geometry to design a comics page, the artists he draws attention to on his Comics Workbook page, the reason Pompeii is in such a rough drawing style, and more.

#450 “My Friend Dahmer”

My Friend DahmerHow would you feel if someone you went to high school with showed up on the news as a murderer? That’s what happened to the cartoonist Derf Backderf, who was acquainted with future serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer when they were teenagers in the ’70s.

Backderf looks back on this experience, and the warning signs missed by all, in his 2011 graphic novel My Friend Dahmer. It’s more than just a memoir — Backderf did a lot of research and includes a lot of things he had no way of knowing about when they happened back in the ‘70s. Matching up his own Dahmer experiences with information that came to light after Dahmer’s arrest makes for a book that’s both chilling and thoughtful, and one that Kumar and Tim couldn’t put down! This week, our review.

#448 “A Drifting Life”: Memoir and manga history

A Drifting LifeYoshihiro Tatsumi, although he was a somewhat influential figure in the manga of the 1950s and ’60s, is largely forgotten in Japan today. However, within the past 10 years he has gained some belated fame in the West, thanks largely to the efforts of Adrian Tomine and Drawn & Quarterly.

Tatsumi passed away last month, prompting Tim and Kumar to finally pull his comics memoir (which also includes considerable amounts of 1950s manga history) A Drifting Life off the shelf and do a review! And here it is.

#445 Secrets of “The Sculptor”

sculptor

By now you’ve no doubt read or listened to several reviews of Scott McCloud’s The Sculptor — and perhaps you’ve read the book itself. Mainstream-media and average-Amazon-user reviews have been adulatory; reviews in the comics media have ranged from a hesitant thumbs-up to vitriol-fests. But, it seems to us, all of those reviewers are missing some things — both about the book’s intended message and how that message looks in light of McCloud’s own purpose in making the book.

Should comics people be concerned about the impression this book from the lionized McCloud might make on new comics readers? Is it a book about “living in the now”? Does it really read like a book for teens? Tim discusses these questions and more with Loyola Marymount University Associate Professor Juan Mah y Busch.

#444 “Scott Pilgrim”, Reconsidered

Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour

Years ago, when the Scott Pilgrim series was only half-finished, Tim and Brandon discussed it on this show. Since the series was completed, we’ve discussed Bryan Lee O’Malley’s other books (Lost at Sea and Seconds), causing Tim to reconsider Pilgrim, what O’Malley did right (and wrong) in the series, and what it all means.

This week, Tim and Kumar take on the whole six-volume series. Was it really necessary for Ramona to have so many exes? Did Scott end up with the right girl? These questions and more!