Category: Making comics

Critiquing Comics #173: “Weasel”

Starting in 1999, Dave Cooper (accompanied at first by Patrick McEown) had a collection of work published by Fantagraphics as a magazine called Weasel. The magazine featured Cooper’s story “Ripple”, later published in one volume. “Ripple” is a disturbing story, masterfully told; we hope Cooper is not lying that it’s “not autobiographical,” but for fiction it’s remarkably detailed and heartfelt. In this episode, Tim and Mulele explore the first five issues of Weasel.

WARNING — ADULT CONTENT

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#657 “Berlin”

Berlin

Jason Lutes’ Berlin shows us scenes from the lives of many characters in Berlin as the Weimar Republic disintegrated and the Nazis rose to power. Historical events (including the fallout of World War I) affect the characters while the characters continue trying to control their own lives, or each other’s, and they cross paths in ways that are sometimes easy to miss. And the art is detailed and spellbinding. Tim and Kumar dig into this 542-page masterwork, more than twenty years in the making.

Jason Lutes’ presentation

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Critiquing Comics #168: David Dye interview

In our December 25 episode, we reviewed two more comics from David Dye. While we’ve generally been very positive about his work, there was one bit that Mulele called “Racist AF” and Tim was also uncomfortable with (see below). David’s email in response to the episode made clear to us that the intent wasn’t racist… but then, what was it?

To find out, we invited David on our show, and he joins us from his home in Australia to discuss where his portrayal of space-terrorists went sideways, and to talk about his comics career so far.

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#643 Ann Nocenti

Ann Nocenti

Ann Nocenti is a journalist and filmmaker who also has had quite a career in comics. She wrote Daredevil for several years and created the character of Typhoid Mary. In this interview with Koom, she talks about why writing ol’ horn head was difficult for her at first, and why she created Typhoid Mary, as well as her two new comics “Ruby Falls” and “The Seeds.”

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Critiquing Comics #166: Jorge Munoz and Illustrating Batman

Quin Reyes and Hao Delivery

Jorge Munoz has been a favorite of ours for a while. Recently he sent in several recent works (Longdog, Quin Reyes and Hao Delivery, a sketchbook, Yon Kuma, Sea), and this episode we sit down and take a look at them.

Also, Mulele recounts his visit to a New York exhibit called Illustrating Batman. (switch to grid view to browse)

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#636 Dan Mishkin on “Warren Report,” “Amazon Academy,” and Ernie Colon

Warren Commission Report

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 with artists Ernie Colon and Jerzy Drozd; explores the reasons for Marvel’s breakout success in the 1960s, and compares working for DC vs working for Marvel; explains the concept of his web comic with Jerzy Drozd, Amazon Academy; and remembers working with the late Ernie Colon.

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#635 Dan Mishkin talks “Amethyst”

Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld

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?

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Critiquing Comics #164: “Collapse” and “Evil Witch Allie”

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.

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#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

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Critiquing Comics #161: “Dog vs. Ultra-Dog” and “Chad in Amsterdam #3”

Dog vs Ultra-Dog + 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.

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