#045 “99 Ways” and Character Design

99 WaysEarthFLASHBACK! Discussion of Matt Madden’s 99 Ways to Tell a Story and Tim’s character design process for the Boogie Knights! (Originally published October 16, 2006)

Boogie Knights sketches

The finished page

Critiquing Comics 019: “Black Snow” and “Electric 1937”

Tim and Mulele are back with two comics, submitted for critique by their creators:

I'm Famous/Black SnowMichael Balestreri & Alex Siquig have several comics at blacksnowcomic.com, all of them centering around a group of superheroes. We tap our feet on the non-existent floor, and invoke Chris Schweizer’s “Guide to Spotting Tangents.” (Chris appeared in Deconstructing Comics Episode 157!)

Electric 1937Michael Liggett’s “Electric 1937” is set in a fantastically imaginative alternate reality. The comic just needs to tell us about it a bit sooner.

Critiquing Comics 018: “Windmills”

WindmillsA submission from the Philippines! Josel Nicolas sent us four issues of his Windmills series. While Tim and Mulele have some fairly harsh words for it, at the same time, we can see definite issue-to-issue improvement.

See sample pages of Windmills

Available as an e-book from Amazon or FlipReads.

Josel Nicolas on Tumblr

Critiquing Comics 017: Yang Young-Soon

Yang Young-SoonMulele stumbled across a wacky, partially translated Korean comic. We’re not sure of the title (if it has one), but the creator’s name is Yang Young-Soon. Tim and Mulele discuss.

Critiquing Comics 016: “Sick”

SickWe’ve talked about Gabby Schultz’s (a.k.a. Ken Dahl’s) work before, when we discussed his books “Monsters” and “Welcome to the Dahl House”. He’s currently gradually publishing a comic on his Web site, called “Sick,” which moves from Gabby’s particularly hellish illness into his impressions of a seemingly hellish existence. Tim and Mulele discuss.

Sick, chapters 1-10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Critiquing Comics 015: Time-Travelling

Time-TravellingA short but mind-bending scientific/philosophical comic: “Time-Travelling” by Kevin Huizinga, who does some amazing things with the comics medium to make his points. We pull it up on the “What things do” site and discuss.

Critiquing Comics 014: Cross Hare

Cross HareCross Hare is a rabbit who’s a detective and a handyman, not necessarily in that order. How could it be improved? Tim and Mulele look for clues…

Critiquing Comics 013: Geist

GeistA society infested and defined by smokelike spirits, and high school factionalized by the issue, make up L.S. Zwarenstein’s “Geist”. Tim and Mulele critique.

#302 Mermaids and Aliens

A mermaid, the Hudson River, and 19th century riverboats are the focus of Mark Siegel’s Sailor Twain, a Web comic with a thriving online community. Tim and Mulele discuss. (read an interview with Mark Siegel on CBR )

Also, Tim talks to storyboard artist Michael Jasorka about his Kickstarter project, a graphic novel called December 3rd 1967: An Alien Encounter.

Critiquing Comics 012: “Mythica”

MysticaA brand new Web comic fresh out of the gate, Mythica starts out in Belgium in 1914, then jumps to a flashback. Tim and Mulele suggest flashing back to the development process of this comic, because the creators’ prep for this project leaves something to be desired…