In part two of Tim’s interview with longtime comics writer Dan Mishkin, Dan talks about writing Warren Commission Report: A Graphic Investigation into the Kennedy Assassination
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Category: Making comics
#635 Dan Mishkin talks “Amethyst”
Dan Mishkin has worked on many different superhero properties, especially for DC — big names such as Batman and Wonder Woman, as well as characters that he helped to create, such as Blue Devil and Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. Tim has been reading the original 1983 Amethyst series, and in part one of his talk with Dan, we get some of the background on the series: the development of the idea, the intended audience, death in the series, why the second series came to be, Amy Winston’s unpublished Jewish backstory, and, if Dan could do Amethyst again, would he do anything differently?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Critiquing Comics #164: “Collapse” and “Evil Witch Allie”
In this episode, Tim and Mulele critique:
- Collapse v 1: “Isolation,” in which a group of people emerge from an underground bunker 19 years after an apocalyptic war. By RP Foster, Russ Pirozek, Pablo Lordi, Jake Isenberg, and Eduardo Camacho.
Buy issues of Collapse - Evil Witch Allie v 2: We revisit this series about a little girl who, apparently, really is a witch, and find that creator Kristin Tipping has upped her game since we read v 1 a couple of years ago.
Evil Witch Allie site
Plus, when it comes to Spider-Man in the MCU, we just… have to… let go. And, an update on Mulele’s comics career.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
#632 Johnny O’Bryant’s Noir Caesar
Pro basketballer Johnny O’Bryant has long been a fan of manga. But he wanted to see manga-type stories showing people of other races, with characters he could more closely identify with. So he created comics publisher Noir Caesar and hired creators to make his vision happen. Tim and Mulele talk with Johnny about balancing his two careers, his story ideas, and what’s coming next. Then, we read some of the comics and find out what the fuss is about.
See the Primus 7 video trailer
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Critiquing Comics #161: “Dog vs. Ultra-Dog” and “Chad in Amsterdam #3”
In this episode, we discuss:
- Dog vs. Ultra-Dog, by Troy Wilson and Clayton Hanmer. Where does it come down on the children’s book – children’s comic continuum?
- Chad in Amsterdam #3 by Chad Bilyeu. The latest issue from one of our favorites.
Plus, some creepy movie CGI in “cute” films.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
#629 Mike Barr: My career with Batman
Mike Barr is perhaps best known for writing the late-’80s hit comic series Batman and the Outsiders. He also created Camelot 3000 and Katana, and wrote many other books for Marvel, DC, and other publishers.
On April 13, Mike Barr was a keynote speaker at the Bowling Green State University (Ohio) Batman in Popular Culture conference. Tim was there, and recorded the whole thing, including the Q&A session. So enjoy the insightful, sometimes hilarious, presentation in this episode.
Click the image to enlarge
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Critiquing Comics #159: “A Book for Sad Pets” and “Spencer and Locke 2”
In this episode, Tim and Mulele discuss:
- A Book for Sad Pets, by Kristin Tipping. Is it a comic? Is it for kids, or would it go over their heads? Is it cute, or dark?
- Spencer and Locke 2, by David Pepose and Jorge Santiago, Jr. The noir version of Calvin and Hobbes is back, but does this version take the joke too far?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
#625 Crowdfunding comics!
Comics are booming on Kickstarter.com, and this week Tim talks to three who have turned to it multiple times to get their comics out to fans:
- 01:30 Ron Randall has just launched his latest campaign, to fund the next volume of his long-running series Trekker.
- 22:23 Arledge Comics’ Natalie Cooper explains how the publisher crowdfunds nearly everything it publishes! Its current campaign is for an anthology of Shakespeare-themed comics.
- 33:39 Kelly Tindall, creator of the web comic Strangebeard, explains the challenges of duplicating your first project’s success.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Critiquing Comics #155: “Raptor Cop” and “Equilux”
A policeman splashed with chemicals turns into a reptilian human: that’s the idea for J. Pedicini’s Raptor Cop. While it has accomplished art, we find some problems that make it hard to follow the story.
Equilux, by Karterpiller, aims to present a real-time story of people living in a futuristic apartment building. The series is just on the edge of being considered a comic rather than illustrated prose. That’s fine, but Tim and Mulele have some suggestions for aspects that may need to be rethought.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
#623 Remembering Ed; Asking retailers
When someone you know, someone who had an impact on your life, leaves us too soon, it can be tough to process. Struggling to accept the 2017 death of comics creator and all-around renaissance man Ed Siemienkowicz (who appeared in DCP episodes 227 and 393) at age 43, Tim spent part of his recent visit to Chicago meeting some of Ed’s friends and family, to commiserate and share memories — and check the progress of Ed’s comic that his friends are finishing for him.
Also, Tim talks to Hamster Rage creator Brian Crowley about his ongoing Kickstarter and the state of the U.S. comics industry, and visits three Chicago comics retailers to see how healthy the comics market seems from their perspective, and how it could be better.
Ed’s cousin Kristen, drawing group friend Garry Vettori, sister Renee, brother Bob, Tim, aunt Carol, online gaming friend Darrell Degreve
Tim, Kristen, Carol, Brian Crowley
Ed carved this Cesar Romero Joker into cardboard, and then spray-painted it green!
Ed with a bus he designed when he was employed by the Golf Channel.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download