#531 “Little in Japan” & “Cucumber Quest”

littleinjapan-cucumberquest

When webcomics creators aren’t creating webcomics, what are they reading? This week we check in with a couple of creators whose work we’ve looked at previously — Victor Edison and Maya Kern — and get their recommendations: Chris Carlier’s “Little in Japan” and G.G. Digi’s “Cucumber Quest“!

#530 Wren McDonald makes “SP4RX”

sp4rx

SP4RX is Wren McDonald‘s first full-length graphic novel, a cyber-punk story that fondly remembers “the future of the past”. This week Wren talks about world building in SP4RX, his process, work-life balance, and more. Support Deconstructing Comics on Patreon to hear more of this interview!

#068 “Black Hole”: That OTHER time we discussed it

Black Hole

FLASHBACK! Recently our podcast covered Charles Burns’ Black Hole for the second time. So what did the first time sound like? Here it is, featuring Tim and Brandon. In the style of the early episodes, we spend part of the show analyzing Burns’ book through the lens of Scott McCloud’s Making Comics, chapter three: The Power of Words.

Originally published March 26, 2007

#527 Tom Spurgeon’s “We Told You So”

wetoldyouso

Fantagraphics is a comics publisher that got by on a shoestring for decades, in service of its mission to prove that comics could be equally as literary and adult as film, novels, or any other storytelling medium. Eventually, Fantagraphics’ flagship publication, The Comics Journal, became the go-to magazine for reviews of noteworthy comics and hard-hitting interviews of their creators.

After more than a decade of work, Tom Spurgeon and Michael Dean have published (through Fantagraphics, of course) a history of the company, called We Told You So: Comics as Art. This week Tom, himself the former Managing Editor of The Comics Journal, is here to talk about Fantagraphics and the work and decisions that went into writing its history.

Critiquing Comics #100: Comics from Conventions!

Comics from conventions

Somehow, Critiquing Comics is up to 100 episodes! Tim and Mulele mark this occasion by discussing a bunch of comics picked up at New York’s MoCCA Festival and Tokyo’s Kaigai Manga Festa.

Continue reading Critiquing Comics #100: Comics from Conventions!

#521 Kaigai Manga Festa 2016, part two!

Kaigai Manga Festa 2016

Part two of our roundup of creators who tabled at this year’s Kaiga Manga Festa, including talks with Graeme Mc Nee, Matthew Forsythe, Karl Kerschl, and our own Mulele!

Creators show their work to editors at Comitia, the larger festival alongside Kaigai on October 23, 2016

Continue reading #521 Kaigai Manga Festa 2016, part two!

#520 Kaigai Manga Festa 2016, part one!

Kaigai Manga Festa 2016

It’s time for another Kaigai Manga Festa roundup! This year’s international comics festival in Tokyo was held on October 23 at Tokyo Big Sight, alongside the Comitia festival as always. Tim caught up with some familiar faces and met some new ones as well!

Continue reading #520 Kaigai Manga Festa 2016, part one!

# 519 “Bizarro” creator Dan Piraro

Bizarro

When Dan Piraro started his cartoon “Bizarro“, some of the factors you might expect were involved in the decision, but the Superman character wasn’t one of them! Dan wasn’t into superhero comics; in this episode we hear the rather, er, bizarro story of how he learned of his strip’s non-namesake (it involves Jerry Seinfeld!); how The Far Side blazed a trail for Bizarro (not in the way you might think!); if having a syndicated comic is still a good deal (if, in fact, it ever was); his forays into fine art, vaudeville, and coloring books; and much more.

#516 Irene jumps in the freelance (Gwen)pool

gwenpoolIrene Strychalski makes her fourth appearance on the podcast — this time as a full-time freelancer getting work from Marvel! We’ll talk about her depressing early comic, drawing from her own scripts vs. someone else’s, things people say to her when she draws in cafes, and more.

#120 “Pyongyang”, “New Frontier”, and more

New FrontierFLASHBACK! Tim and Brandon give their thoughts on Guy Delisle’s Pyongyang, DVD movie Justice League: The New Frontier, Spider-Man One More Day, and Writing for Comics with Peter David!

Originally published March 24, 2008