#364 Dime Dancing in a Cramped Space

dimeadanceMulele bought a print comic from one of his favorite online artists, the mysterious creator of the Tanglefoot page on Tumblr. The comic, Dime a Dance, is a fun silent story with dynamic art. Too bad it doesn’t have more room to breathe.

Tim and Mulele also look at:

#357 Expanding Comics’ Audience, pt 3: Newspaper strips

Comics that you buy in comics shops or bookstores are facing enough business challenges, but how about newspaper comics? Their traditional delivery system is dying out, with many printed papers ceasing publication. The comic strip faces a number of challenges, but there are positive trends as well. How are Web comics and other new technology changing the game? This week, Tim talks newspaper(-style) strips with Tom Racine, host of the Tall Tale Radio podcast!

Stephan Pastis interview (gigaom.com)

 

#352 “Lulu”: Staging a classic on paper

Many classics have been presented as comics, but Frank Wedekind’s “Lulu” plays have, as far as we know, not made it to the page until now; occasional Deconstructing Comics contributor John Roberson has recently released Book One of his adaptation. He talks to Tim about including the level of sexual frankness Wedekind may have intended, censorship, self-publishing, and more.

Critiquing Comics #045: “Yuki vs. Panda”

A Japanese girl has an altercation with a panda cub at the zoo! That’s the setup for this Asia-themed, mangaesque comic. Fresh off its successful Indiegogo crowdfunding project, Yuki vs. Panda faces its next test: a critique by Tim and Mulele! Will it survive?!

#346 Boston Comics Roundtable

The Boston Comics Roundtable is a thriving group of creators who have weekly meetings and put out anthology books of their work, including Show & Tell; a Collection of Comics about Teaching & Learning; and The Greatest of All Time. This week Tim talks to anthology co-editor (and comics creator) Dan Mazur, who publishes the books through his own imprint, Ninth Art Press; Norwegian artist Line Olsson; and first-time comics writer (and former English teacher here in Japan) Ben DiMaggio.

Critiquing Comics #043: “Order”

OrderIf you’re into conspiracy-theory comics, “Order” sounds good on paper: a secret society covering up the existence of a gate to Hell near Denver. Unfortunately, Tim and Mulele find the Truthful Comics take on this concept comes up short. Listen and find out why.

#341 Catching Up with ComiXology

ComiXologyWaaaay back in July 2010, Tim talked to David Steinberger of ComiXology about the emergence of digital comics. Since then, simultaneous release of digital with paper has become the norm. And, guess what – flying in the face of earlier fears of some in the industry, digital comics have actually helped, not hurt, the sales of paper comics. Tim talks to ComiXology co-founder John Roberts to find out why this is, and more.

Then we get the scoop on Mulele’s latest Web comic, a new version of Mindgator.

 

Critiquing Comics #039: “With the Earth Above Us”

Two astronauts battle their own ship’s computer. Sound familiar? No, it’s not 2001: A Space Odyssey, it’s Lee Milewski’s”With the Earth Above Us“. Not unlike Kubrick’s movie, this one strikes Tim and Mulele as being a bit hard to follow…

Critiquing Comics #035: “Fashionable Nonsense”

Benji Ratliffe sent us his four-year-old unpublished work Fashionable Nonsense for critique. It’s a somewhat supernatural tale with a Scott Pilgrim tone. He wrote the script and hired an artist. While it does indeed have some problems — with clarity of the story, as well as storytelling and inking — why not put it out anyway? Tim and Mulele extol the virtues of putting your work out, even if you’re not 100% satisfied with it.

Character sheets

Read pages 1-11

#337 Mulele, Jordan, and New York Comicon

Mulele is back from New York Comicon! While he can’t talk about what might have transpired in terms of getting work (which is a whole lot better than saying “nothing happened”!), he has plenty to say about the experience of being there & his impressions of the comics industry, how his thoughts about it changed, and about New York, the city.

While at the con, he ran into Jordan Kotzebue, creator of Hominids, who Tim met at Emerald City 2011. Tim calls him up this week to catch up on his progress, including how our own critique of Hominids changed his approach to the comic.