Critiquing Comics #095: “The Nowhere Man”

The Nowhere ManA man with a fatal illness decides to end it all before the illness does. He finds himself in an Alice-in-Wonderland-like scenario full of social commentary. Tim and Mulele critique Jonny Bloozit’s The Nowhere Man.

#507 Excel Saga

Excel Saga

A fantastically undermanned operation is laying the groundwork to take over the world — starting with Fukuoka, Japan! That’s the premise of Rikdo Koshi’s Excel Saga, which ran in Japan from 1996 to 2011, and started in North America in 2003, where three volumes made it into the top 50 graphic novels chart. But now, with the manga boom long past, it seems to have faded to obscurity. Tim and Kumar take a look at the first three volumes to decide whether its current obscurity is fully deserved.

#506 Drawing, Translating, Podcasting

Brandon_dragonPodcast co-founder Brandon talks about building a daily drawing regimen, using Scott Robertson’s How to Draw.

Then Kumar tells us about each of the various manga titles he’s recently translated. Looking for some good manga to read? Here are some ideas!

Finally, Tim talks about attempting to make podcasting profitable, and his self-published English study book and comic.

Below: a timetable of the episode, and more art from Brandon.

Continue reading #506 Drawing, Translating, Podcasting

Critiquing Comics #094: “Once Upon a Time in Morningside” and “PPPPMMHHSSSS”

Once Upon a Time in MorningsideOnce Upon a Time in Morningside, by Sean Michael Wilson and Hanna Strömberg, is the latest book from Big Ugly Robot Press. The book shows how “OK” places become “great” in retrospect, based on the things you remember happening there years before, and also how looking back on those things can teach you something new.

At MoCCA, Tim picked up A.T. Pratt‘s Papa Pratt’s Popup Popout Miggy Mouse Horror House Super Secret Special Surprise and Miggy Mouse’s Sweets and Treats, two books with a great approach to constructing a book (see below), but how is the experience of reading them?

Tim and Mulele discuss.

(Click the images to enlarge)

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#505 Tiny Daredevil Hands and a Potato-Powered Bike

This week (and next), we turn the mic back on ourselves. What, in terms of comics, are we doing?

Frank Miller’s Daredevil and the Ends of HeroismFirst up, Paul, To the Batpoles co-host and occasional DCP contributor, talks about his book Frank Miller’s Daredevil and the Ends of Heroism , which will be out soon! In it, Paul reflects on how Miller’s Daredevil changed comics — and Paul.

 

 

The Mindgator

 

Then, Mulele catches us up on The Mindgator — soon to be Kickstarting volume 2 — and the new edition of his black cat comic Elbis!

#504 Kawai Shen: The Internet in comics, tabling for introverts, and more

Kawai ShenOn the Cute Juice Comics blog, Kawai Shen recently wrote a post about problems with representing the Internet in comics and other media. On this week’s show she talks with Tim about the Net in comics, this year’s TCAF, convention tabling for introverts, following up on convention contacts, the Dirty Diamonds anthology, and Canadian government grants for artists… even comics artists!

PLUS: Simon Fraser, co-creator of the Nikolai Dante series in 2000 A.D., talks about the Dare2Draw project, and the involvement of Mike Baron and Steve Rude’s Nexus in their proposed anthology.

Become a patron! If you pledge at least $3 a month through Patreon, you can access additional audio of Tim’s talk with Kawai Shen, on writing about members of marginalized groups — or simply about cultures the writer isn’t familiar with. Example: Fifty Shades of Grey!