critiques – Page 12 – Deconstructing Comics

Critiquing Comics #132: “A Light Before the Darkness”, “The Satsuma Rebellion”, and publishing contracts

Tim and Mulele critique a couple of history-based comics:

A Light Before the Darkness by Ken Mora and Cyrus Mescarcia tells the story of an artist named Michelangelo — but no, not that one. It’s about Michelangelo Da Caravaggio Di Merisi, often known simply as “Caravaggio”. Mora seems to have done his homework, but has he given us a reason to buy into his subject?

The Satsuma Rebellion is Sean Michael Wilson and Akiko Shimojima’s retelling of the titular event in Japanese history. We found it interesting — but then, we live in Japan.

ALSO: Mulele’s “PSA” about what to look for when signing (or, perhaps, NOT signing) a contract with a publisher.

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Critiquing Comics #131: “Vengeance, NV” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Pizza”

A woman with glowing eyes enters a home, tells the cat that she’s there with Kristen. A man is dying after a superhero battle; after he’s recognized, he tells an acquaintance “Don’t tell Kristen.” Question: Who is Kristen!? That’s just one of the many things we have trouble figuring out about Vengeance, Nevada, by BJ Mendelson and Piotr Czaplarski.

One thing we had no trouble figuring out: Daniel Arruda Massa and Nick Marino are on a roll. After wowing us with their irreverent but undeniably skillful Holy F*ck and Holy F*cked, they’re back with Teenage Mutant Ninja Pizza, a comic that totally shouldn’t work, but does. Tim and Mulele open the box and dig in.

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Critiquing Comics #130: “Jynx” and “Dark Soul”

Jynx and Dark Soul

Two manga-influenced titles are up for critique this time. First, in Kyle Fast’s JYNX, a white-furred monkey takes off to find adventure, leaving his guardian in the lurch. Then, organized crime gangs face off in Kitito Minami’s Dark Soul. Tim and Mulele give their opinions and advice.

Check out Mulele’s Kickstarter project!

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Critiquing Comics #129: “The Goodes” and “Undergrown”

Tim and Mulele finish up their look at Irrational Comics’ 2018 PITCH page with L.J. Bell’s The Goodes (a superhero/kid-dealing-with-parents’-divorce tale) and Julian Dominguez’ Undergrown (exploring the idea of an earth with no humans on its surface). Irrational Comics gives each writer eight pages to rope readers into his or her tale; did these writers make the best use of the eight pages? Who won this year’s contest?

Also, Mulele fills us in on his new Kickstarter project!

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Critiquing Comics #128: “Osaka Mime” and “Pantheon’s End”

Tim and Mulele progress through the 2018 Irrational Comics PITCH page in this episode with Tokyo Mime, featuring two cops going up against a monster that takes the form of the last person it ate, and Pantheon’s End, in which a superhero team is faced with an apparently unstoppable end to the world.

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Critiquing Comics #127: “Planet Wrestletopia” and “Dreamtime”

Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia #1 presents a washed-up wrestler who, though he doesn’t know it yet, is about to have to defend his 15-year-old claim to being “the champion of the universe”! Is this comic by Ed Kuehnel, Matt Entin, and Dan Schkade also a champion, or another also-ran?

Irrational Comics is again presenting its annual PITCH page, in which five writers submit eight-page scripts, drawn by the publishers artists, and then users vote for their favorite. In this episode, Tim and Mulele discuss the first of the five, Shaun Kang’s Dreamtime, in which a man uses the Aussie Aboriginal “dreamtime” state to solve murders.

Attend the upcoming CANVAS Sequential Art Meetup on Comics & Visual Storytelling in Tokyo on February 15 at 7 pm, featuring Raul Trevino, and this podcast’s own Mulele Jarvis and Tim Young!

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Critiquing Comics #126: Kaigai and CAT 2017, pt 3

Kaigai and CAT pt 3

Tim and Mulele talk about four more comics they picked up at the recent Tokyo comics conventions, Kaigai Manga Festa and Comic Art Tokyo. Also, a response from the author of a Kaigai/CAT comic reviewed in a previous episode, and our take on what Erik Larsen’s recent controversial assertion about being successful in comics.

	Himawari Share #1, by Harmony Becker
	Teach English In Japan #1, by Jonathon Dalton and Jeffrey Ellis
	Spaboon by Chris Carlier
	Florida Folding Zine and Poster, by Natalie Andrewson

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Critiquing Comics #125: Kaigai and CAT 2017, pt 2

Kaigai and CAT pt 2

Tim and Mulele talk about four more comics they picked up at the recent Tokyo comics conventions, Kaigai Manga Festa and Comic Art Tokyo:

	*Bourbaki*, by Adam Pasion

	*Run Boys Run*, by Michiru Morikawa
	Do You Remember Kobot? by Ian M
	Haunted, by Natalie Andrewson

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Critiquing Comics #124: “The Adventures of Rage” and “The Big Sheep”

In this special Monday edition of Critiquing Comics, Tim and Mulele take on a couple of comics by our listeners:

	First, Chris Calderon’s The Adventures of Rage drops us right into the middle of a battle. This is a time-honored approach, but is it being done well here?
	Then, Andre Mateus and Rahil Mohsin’s The Big Sheep gives us funny animals in a noir setting. How does this compare with Andre’s previous submission to Critiquing Comics?