#481 Digital comics!

Comixology & WebtoonThe digital comics universe continues to expand. This week, Tim looks at two different platforms.

If you’re into American comics at all, you no doubt know of Comixology. Since we last talked to company co-founder John Roberts, Comixology has joined the Amazon family, and their integration is starting to become visible on both companies’ sites. John talks about this, the penetration of digital in the market, how to get your comics into Comixology, and more.

South Korean Web giant Naver started Webtoon in that country back in 2004, and since then its reach has grown in Asia and around the world — the English version is called Line Webtoon. We meet Webtoon content manager David Lee and New Mexico-based creator Stephen McCranie (whose Space Boy is available through Webtoon) to discuss the site’s reach and business model, the differences between making a comic for print and making one that the reader scrolls through, and how to get your comics into Webtoon.

#480 (some of) the Best Comics from Kaigai

Best of Kaigai 2015You heard many of the artists who attended Tokyo’s International Comics Festival (Kaigai Manga Festa) back in November. But how are the comics themselves? This week Mulele and Tim read some of the comics they picked up at the festival and discuss some of the best!

Also, a quickie, spoiler-free review of The Force Awakens!

#478 We ask Question No. 6!

Question No 6

Inspired by the ’60s and a variety of British TV shows of a geeky variety (including The Prisoner), Japanese artist Question No. 6 is turning heads with her Dr. Who variant covers, and her drawings and articles on UK shows for Japan’s AXN cable network. This week Tim catches up with her to discuss her comic Cupcake and Astronaut, the reasons many Japanese creators use pen names, her plans for exhibiting and drawing in 2016, and more.

#476 Ten Years, Eleven Guests

DCP 10th AnniversaryYes, somehow it’s been ten whole years since Tim, Brandon, and Mulele sat down together and recorded the first episode of Deconstructing Comics! Rather than get the gang back together again, this time we present eleven past DCP interviewees all answering the same question: “Name an important development you see happening in comics now, good or bad, and say why you think it’s important.” Tim gets answers to this question from Stephen Bissette, Shaenon Garrity, Dan Jurgens, Chris Bachalo, Natalie Nourigat, and many more! (see entire list below)


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#475 International Comics Fest 2015, pt 2

Kaigai 2015

This week our coverage of Tokyo’s International Comics Festival concludes with creators from Finland, Brazil, France, Japan, Indonesia, and the U.S., including a chat with podcast co-founder Mulele on what he’s learned in the past year of convention tabling.

Continue reading #475 International Comics Fest 2015, pt 2

#474 International Comics Fest 2015, pt 1

Kaigai easelThis year’s International Comics Festival (Kaigai Manga Festa) in Tokyo was bigger than ever! Plenty of familiar faces from past years gave it a sense of community (long sought by many foreign comics creators feeling rather isolated in Japan), but there were plenty of new faces, too, many of whom flew in from Europe and North America to be here. Tim once again procured a media pass and went booth-to-booth gathering interviews! Photos and Web links for all interviewees are below.

Continue reading #474 International Comics Fest 2015, pt 1

#473 Matt Seneca on sports, hate, and religion

Matt Seneca from AffectedYou may have heard Matt Seneca on the podcast Comic Books are Burning in Hell (and, hey, he was on our show once, in the persona of a mild mannered comics shop manager!), but he’s also a comics creator in his own right. His comics are deep, dark, and very honest in expressing his opinions. This week he talks with Tim about the lack of sports in American comics, why he needs to feel hate for something to make a good comic, and more.

#473 Matt Seneca on sports, hate, and religion

Matt Seneca from AffectedYou may have heard Matt Seneca on the podcast Comic Books are Burning in Hell (and, hey, he was on our show once, in the persona of a mild mannered comics shop manager!), but he’s also a comics creator in his own right. His comics are deep, dark, and very honest in expressing his opinions. This week he talks with Tim about the lack of sports in American comics, why he needs to feel hate for something to make a good comic, and more.

#472 Brian Schirmer and “Black Jack Ketchum”

Black Jack KetchumBrian Schirmer, a comics educator in San Francisco and writer of Ultrasylvania and the forthcoming Image series Black Jack Ketchum, joins Tim this week to talk about the difference between writing screenplays and writing comics; how he turned his comics script into a for-credit class for artists; tips that have led him to have both successful crowdfunding projects and good sales at conventions; and more.

Critiquing Comics #079: Hipster Picnic

Hipster PicnicIn Patrick Yurick’s Hipster Picnic, being a zombie serves as a metaphor for… what, exactly? Having anger issues? Does the metaphor work? Tim and Mulele discuss.