Critiquing Comics #084: Bayne: Legacy Apocalypse

Bayne: Legacy ApocalypseBayne: Legacy Apocalypse, from Silver Axe Comics, features an axe-wielding Morpheus-from-The-Matrix type in a post-apocalyptic California battling mutants or vampires or what-have-you. Jay Reed’s art is much more than serviceable; it’s quite nice. Chyna McCoy’s script, however… well, listen to find out what Tim and Mulele have to say about it.

#310 Takehiko Inoue’s “Slam Dunk” and “Vagabond”

Slam Dunk/VagabondFLASHBACK! Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk is easily mistaken for a serious sports manga. Pick it up, though, and you’ll find instead a hilarious ensemble comedy that just happens to involve basketball. Still, the series is credited with basketball’s 90s popularity in Japan, and led Inoue to create several other basketball-related series. But is oeuvre isn’t all hoops; he’s also the creator behind Vagabond, a sometimes-violent but intriguing take on the life of 17th-century historical figure Miyamoto Musashi. Tim and Kumar dig into both series.

Originally published February 27, 2012

#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!

Critiquing Comics #083: The Shepherd: Apokatastasis

The Shepherd

A man’s son unexpectedly dies of a drug overdose. The father senses that his son’s spirit hasn’t passed over to “the other side” and needs help, and the father goes to great lengths to help him — and also to avenge his death. Does the father — and the comic — go a bit off the rails? Tim and Mulele discuss Andrea Lorenzo Molinari, Roberto Xavier Molinari, Ryan Showers, and Heather Breckel’s The Shepherd: Apokatastasis!

#098 Craig Thompson’s “Blankets”

BlanketsFLASHBACK! Tim and Brandon cover Craig Thompson’s award-winning Blankets. Also, we got an e-mail from this guy named (ulp) Larry Young…

Originally published October 22, 2007

Can podcasting be a career option?

Greetings!

PatreonI’m planning to make some changes in my employment situation this spring. It would be great if I could start to move podcasting from “hobby” status and make it part of the “employment” picture!
My options for doing that are limited, though, so I’m trying to make a go of it with Patreon. This is a form of crowdfunding where supporters pledge a set sum as a monthly donation.
I’m currently doing four podcasts (all available via iTunes and other outlets):

* Deconstructing Comics
* Critiquing Comics (twice a month)
* To the Batpoles! (1st, 3rd, and 5th Thursdays)
* Machigai Podcast (English study for Japanese)

I enjoy doing them, but I have bigger aspirations for them that I can’t fulfill when I’m doing other things to pay the bills.
Your support now, as I’m making employment decisions for this spring, would be especially appreciated. Pledge here. Thanks.

Tim

“The Peanuts Movie”: So, that happened

peanutsmovie
A couple of years ago, when BOOM!’s imprint for kids, KaBOOM!, announced they would be publishing a Peanuts comic book of new material, I vowed not to touch it with a fifty-foot kite string. Never mind if it was good or not; that wasn’t the point. I just had no more interest in reading Peanuts-not-by-Schulz than I did in reading Watchmen-not-by-Alan-Moore.

This wasn’t just because I assumed that a great creation carried on by someone other than its original creator was just not going to be the same. I also knew that Schulz did not want any more Peanuts strips created when he was gone. (The family agreed to the creation of the KaBOOM! series by splitting hairs: Sparky wanted no one to make further Peanuts STRIPS, but nobody said anything about Peanuts COMIC BOOKS. Um, OK.)

So when The Peanuts Movie was released last year, my first impulse was to go no where near that, either. At first.

Continue reading “The Peanuts Movie”: So, that happened