#796 Stan Mack and “Real Life Funnies”

Stan Mack Real Life Funnies

If you read New York’s Village Voice newspaper between 1974 and 1995, you are probably familiar with Stan Mack‘s Real Life Funnies. If not, hold on to your hat! A forthcoming book from Fantagraphics collects many of the strips, all ripped from real life, and taking full advantage of the Voice‘s lack of content guardrails. In this episode, Tim gets the scoop from Mack about what went into making the strip, and into choosing the strips for the book. But first, friend of the show and New Yorker cartoonist Joe Dator, a native New Yorker who read the strip in the Voice, and experienced first-hand some of the events it covers, sets the context for understanding what the strip is and how it encapsulates a time in the city’s history that’s gone forever.

See the book on Fantagraphics’ site

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#776 Emily Carrington reveals “Our Little Secret”

Our Little SecretOpenly discussing being sexually abused, particularly if it was during childhood, is not easy. Emily Carrington has stepped forward with her memoir of being abused as a teenager, Our Little Secret, in the hope that others in her position will be moved to get help. The book recently won the Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize. This week, she talks with Koom about her struggle, making the book and getting it published, and what’s next. (This episode does contain references to childhood trauma and childhood sexual abuse, and may be triggering for some people.)

Emily on TikTok

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Critiquing Comics #230: “Thready” #2 and “Tales from the Interface” #4

"Thready" #2 and "Tales from the Interface" #4

Sometimes the topics of Critiquing Comics episodes come back for seconds – or thirds! We look at a couple of these repeat submitters this week:

    • Thready #2, “Tuesday,” by Brandon Hayes with art by James the Stanton, highlights the problem many bipolar people have with hypersexuality. Tim and Jason discuss
    • Tales from the Interface, Emmanuel Filteau’s look at a future world dominated by a computer system, is back with its 4th issue, discussed by Tim and Adam.

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#764 “Past Tense”, Tough Translation, and Audio Drama

Past Tense

In the year 2038, invisible drones are sent to the past to pick up any event you want to see, if you have the money to pay for it. One woman using the service discovers a secret that puts her in danger in the present. Our friend Jason McNamara, author of such graphic novels as The Rattler and The Martian Confederacy, is back with the forthcoming Past Tense, his first work from Dark Horse, with art by Alberto Massaggia. Jason joins Tim to talk about the book, and then Kumar and Tim review it.

Kumar also fills us in on how his resignation as translator of Cipher Academy, a nearly untranslatable manga, went viral.

Also, Alex Squiers tells Tim about his audio drama The StarWell Foundation, in which a company which recruits superheroes and other celebrities to meet sick kids and the like, deals with one kid’s unusual request: they want to meet a villain.

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Critiquing Comics #229: “Christiania”

Christiania

Christiania, a silent comic written by 13-year-old Abi Behe, is a take on the ills of social media by someone who has never lived in a world without online culture. But silent comics can be a storytelling challenge. How did artist Taka do on getting the story across? This time, Tim and Jason critique Christiania.

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Critiquing Comics #227: “Mayfield Eight” #1-#4

Mayfield Eight

“A biker revenge tale” isn’t a story pitch that appeals to everyone, but any kind of story can get a thumbs up if it’s well-done! This time Tim and Adam discuss the first four issues of Mayfield Eight, written and illustrated by Tim Larsen.

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Critiquing Comics #223: “Here 2 Cypher”

Here2Cypher

Here 2 Cypher is an anthology of stories written by Brandon Hayes, whose story Thready Tim and Jason enjoyed back in January. Does this set of stories stack up against that book? The guys evaluate the collection in this episode.

Here 2 Cypher‘s Kickstarter

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#754 “Peanuts”: Schulz’s Silent Sundays 1957-1961

Charles Schulz’s Peanuts is a master class in how to do a comic strip. This week Kumar and Tim are focusing on a five-year period of Schulz’s career, 1957 to 1961, and 25 Sunday strips that demonstrate Schulz’s skill at dialog-free comics. You might want to read the strips before listening; see below!

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Continue reading #754 “Peanuts”: Schulz’s Silent Sundays 1957-1961

#753 Kirby’s Fourth World: “Old Gods and New”

Old Gods and New

John Morrow is co-founder of Two Morrows Publishing, a company that owes its start to John’s interest in Jack Kirby. His Kirby fan newsletter grew into the company that’s now publishing his history of Kirby’s Fourth World, much of it told in Jack’s own words: Old Gods and New. This time, Emmet talks with John about Marvel’s fear that DC would end them after Kirby switched sides, how distribution quirks may have led to the premature end of the Fourth World books, how myth runs through all of Kirby’s work dating back to the ’30s, and more.

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#752 Shanti Rai’s “Sennen”

Sennen

What are the people like on the other side of the mountain? Are there any there? Where does the stuff, the objects, the food we enjoy in our daily lives come from? These questions are central to Shanti Rai‘s first graphic novel, Sennen. In this episode, Tim and Jason review the book, and then Tim talks to Shanti about how her bicultural background helped inspire the book, and the unexpected obstacle that slowed down its creation.

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