#318 “Sky Doll”: Sex and Religion Mix!

Sky DollImagine a Disney movie with tons of cheesecake and commentary on how religion can be used to control a society. It would look an awful lot like Sky Doll, by Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa. Originally published by Soleil in France starting in 2000, it came out in English from Marvel in 2008. While there has been an anthology book and a sketchbook, the main series has apparently never been completed, but don’t let that dissuade you from reading this very compelling (not to mention gorgeously drawn) volume. Tim and Rashad explore.

Another take from Charley Parker

Critiquing Comics 021: “War Within” and “Zombie Headhunter”

Critiquing Comics returZombie Headhunterns! Along with it, the work of Guy LeMay (“Z-Blade XX”) also returns, as he gives us a look at his more recent work. Listen to find out how Tim and Mulele evaluate “War Within” (written by Marcus Jones) and “Zombie Headhunter” (written by Guy and Tamey LeMay), both released under Guy’s Strong Guy Comics imprint!

#317 “Lost Girls”

Lost GirlsAlice from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Wendy from Peter Pan, and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz meet in a hotel in Austria in 1913 and perform almost every sex act conceivable with each other, animals, objects, relatives, consenting and non-consenting minors, and numerous combinations thereof (it’s all just lines on paper, folks!) nearly non-stop for 240 pages. Close to 20 years in the making, Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie’s Lost Girls is perhaps the most ambitious, lavish, and beautiful project of Moore’s career. And yet, does it all amount to mere slash fiction? Or, on the contrary, is it so intelligent that it sabotages its own pornographic objectives? Or is it, in fact, impervious to criticism? Kumar and Dana turn up their trenchcoat collars and slink into the grimy back room to discuss.

REVIEW: Johnny Cash – I See A Darkness

Written and drawn by Reinhard Kleist.

Abrams ComicArts, 2009.

This book is part graphic biography and part lyrical interpretation.

There were two major pieces of media that I enjoyed that had a strong impact on how I experienced this book. One was the 2006 film Walk The Line. The other was The Man In Black: His Own Story In His Own Words, his autobiography published in 1983. Cash would later revisit the autobiography, but Man In Black ends with the acceptance of sobriety, quitting smoking and returning to his Christian background with renewed faith.

I See A Darkness overlaps material from those two pieces. It deals mainly with the early years of Cash’s career, climaxing with his performance at Folsom Prison. There is some material set after the death of June, his wife, in the last year of his life while he is recording an album produced by Rick Rubin.

What this book offers is some interesting visual interpretations of Cash’s songs. Of particular note is Cocaine Blues from the Folsom Prison performance. The story of the song is played out over several pages, the lyrics recounted as text that weaves through the panels. The song A Boy Named Sue is also developed with this method, and to great effect. In a way it was able to do things which a song could not by providing images to accompany the text of the lyrics. In a way it Continue reading REVIEW: Johnny Cash – I See A Darkness

#316 Matthew Forsythe

It pays to advertise! In episode #311, Tim asked Matthew Forsythe to contact him for an interview, and Matthew responded! This week he tells us about his two books that are informed by Korean (and other) folktales, Ojingogo and Jinchalo; about his tools, influences, and developing a style; and much more.

#315 Catching up with Rashad and Jarrett

It’s been a while since we caught up with Rashad Doucet (“My Dog is a Superhero”, “Nadia’s Jewelry Box”) and Jarrett Williams (“SuperPro K.O.”, “Lunar Boy”), two graduates of the Savannah College of Art and Design who have been on the podcast several times apiece. This time Tim takes them on together, and hilarity — not to mention some great conversation about building a comics career — ensues!

#314 Tiny Comics, Novel Manga, and Manga Translation for India

Okashi na FutariBrian John Mitchell talks about his Kickstarter project to fund the making of his matchbook-sized comics. Two of these books involved a collaboration with Dave Sim!

Rook Bartly” (US Air Force active duty member Jason) tells us about “Okashi na Futari”, the Japanese novel series whose author has hired him to draw a manga version of the story.

Then, Kumar returns to tell us about a couple of his recent manga translation projects, “Stupid Guy Goes to India” (which landed him an interview in the March 25 Mumbai Sunday Mid-Day, pg 38-39) and Osamu Tezuka’s “Adolf”.

All this, plus the announcement of the winning “what do you like about Deconstructing Comics” entry!