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!

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

The Goodes - UndergrownTim 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!

 

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

Tokyo 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.

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

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!

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

 

 

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 Haunted, by Natalie Andrewson

 

 

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?

Critiquing Comics #123: Selected comics of Kaigai & CAT 2017, pt 1

This time, Tim and Mulele talk about some of the comics they picked up at Kaigai Manga Festa and CAT in November!

Critiquing Comics #122: “A Brief History of Feminism”

A Brief History of Feminism

This time we take on a rather unusual Critiquing Comics submission, a book from MIT Press called A Brief History of Feminism, written by Antje Schrupp and drawn by Patu. Yes, it’s a book on feminism reviewed by two dudes — same ones as always, Tim and Mulele — but since it’s Critiquing Comics, we’re mostly concerned with the technical aspects: Is this book actually a comic? How could the lettering have been better? But also: Swiss women got the vote when?!

 

Critiquing Comics #121: “Void Trip”

Void Trip

Ryan O’Sullivan, whose writing on Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War we discussed a few months back, returns with a new Image book called Void Trip, with art by Plaid Klaus. The story features a couple of stoners traveling through space, with a mysterious pursuer. But what, exactly, is it about? Tim and Mulele ponder.