Category: Making comics

Critiquing Comics #153: “The Sequels” and “Metaphorical HER”

The Sequals and Metaphorical HER

That special, ’80s-movie moment in your life: What if you could bring it back? Writer Norm Harper and artists Val Halvorson and Bobby Timony explore this question in The Sequels #1: Curcuit Boarders.

Metaphorical HER, by writer James Maddox and artist David Stoll, is a comic employing eye-catching visual metaphors and exploring the world of poetry. Why is there hardly any poetry in it? Tim thinks Mulele’s got it figured out. Together they critique both books.

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#621 Denny O’Neil and Sam Agro

Denny O'Neil (r) and Sam Agro
Denny O’Neil (r) and Sam Agro

Our own Koom recently attended the Toronto Comicon, leading to this episode’s two interviews! First, Denny O’Neil talks about his experiences and collaborations in the comics industry, why he imagines Gotham City to be in New Jersey, and more. Then cartoonist and animator Sam Agro talks animation, superhero movies, the evolution of comics conventions, and more.

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Critiquing Comics #152: “Monogatari”

Monogatari

This time we look at the second anthology from Tokyo Collective, called Monogatari. The title is Japanese for “story” and is made up of words meaning “thing” and “talk about,” and the stories in this book do indeed talk about things —  things that are found in Tokyo. We discuss our favorites, and others that we found less compelling.

Also: Are America’s Big Two comics companies headed for a cliff? We look at recent articles by Matt McGloin on Marvel and DC‘s business woes, and consider what it might mean if the Big Two went under.

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Critiquing Comics #151: “Days of Dark Fire” and “Rage in the Shadows”

"Days of Dark Fire" and "Rage in the Shadows"

Days of Dark Fire (by Giovanni Smith and Mike Gaughran) is a somewhat lighthearted sword-and sorcery tale, about a screwup prince who’s trying to save his kingdom. Rage in the Shadows (by Ralph Henriquez and Emilio Utrera) is about a homeland security agent who’s been given a super-soldier type serum that’s killing her. Tim and Mulele discuss both comics, and give advice about how to make them better!

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#619 Cowboys and Ninjas in Comics

Cowboys and Ninjas

How one culture perceives aspects of another culture is always interesting to observe. Our old friend Patrick Iijima-Washburn has been looking at how American comics portray ninja warriors and, conversely, how Japanese comics portray cowboys. Tim gets his observations on the matter.

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Critiquing Comics 150: “These Savage Shores”

Last time, we started to review issue 2 of These Savage Shores by Ram V., Sumit Kumar, Vittorio Astone, and Aditya Bidikar, but we decided to wait and get ahold of issue 1. Now we have the first three issues, so we dig into this 17th-century story of India, including a vampire and a masked immortal.

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Critiquing Comics #149: “Gorky and Izzy’s Trip to Mexico”

Gorky and Izzy

Gorky and Izzy are partners in crime – literally – but Gorky’s been dumped by his girlfriend and he’s in a bad way. Izzy is struggling to deal with him in a way befitting a best friend. Tim and Mulele discuss Gorky and Izzy’s Trip to Mexico by F.E. Rahman and Jon Schwochert.

Also in this episode… oh, wait, never mind. Next time.

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Critiquing Comics #148: Tokyo comics shows 2018, pt 2

CAT and Kaigai pt 2

Tim and Mulele discuss more of the comics they picked up at the recent comics events in Tokyo, Comic Art Tokyo and Kaigai Manga Festa.

2:49 The Pig Sleep by Cory McCallum and Matthew Daley
16:26 Alethia chapter one by Kristina Stipetic
22:29 Square Comix #17 by Ian M

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#616 Rob Walton and “Ragmop”

Rob Walton

This week Koom interviews Rob Walton, who created the graphic novel Ragmop in the 1990s and is now releasing a sequel through Vault Comics. How does one approach continuing a series based in the morés and political situation of the ‘90s? Also, Rob’s love of old Marvel comics and how he fused those stories onto modern ideas in his own work; the development of his politics; his management style, and more.

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Critiquing Comics #147: Tokyo comics shows 2018, pt 1

Comics from CAT and Kaigai 2018 pt 1

In this episode, Tim and Mulele discuss some comics they picked up at the recent comics events in Tokyo, Comic Art Tokyo and Kaigai Manga Festa.

2:05 Cicada by Shaun Tan
7:49 A Ticket to Nowhere by Nunumi
16:27 Detective Jones books by Felipe Kolb Bernardes
20:02 Mad Girl by Natalie Andrewson

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