#130 “Scott Pilgrim” and “Paul Has a Summer Job”

FLASHBACK! With the Scott Pilgrim movie coming soon, we re-present Tim and Brandon’s review of two Canadian coming-of-age comics: “Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life” by Bryan Lee O’Malley, and “Paul Has a Summer Job” by Michel Rabagliati (originally presented June 2, 2008)!

#238 Laika

In 1957, the Russians were winning the space race. After the successful launch of Sputnik, the Russian space program was under pressure to further embarrass the U.S. by launching a living thing — a dog — into orbit. This is the story of Laika, who made a historical splash big enough to get a vague mention in Peanuts. Nick Abadzis’ graphic novel on the topic reaches even higher thematically, and delivers. Tim and Brandon review.

#096 “Super Spy”

10/8/07 “Super Spy”

FLASHBACK! Top Shelf, publisher of Alex Robinson’s Tricked and Box Office Poison, has published another masterpiece: Matt Kindt’s Super Spy! Also: Tripwire magazine’s list of top graphic novels, and an impromptu discussion of Steve Canyon! (Plus: thrill to Tim’s undeveloped editing skills circa 2007!)

#188 Our local comics, and “Local”

7/13/09 Our local comics, and “Local”

Morning Comics Who is Company President Shima, and why do some committed Japanese fans try to imitate his life? Why on earth would anyone create a wine-tasting comic? The answers to these questions and more as Mulele and Tim flip through the latest issue of Japan’s Morning Comics.
Local Love her, hate her, or… don’t really care about her, Megan McKeenan’s North American journey in Local, by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly, is worth discussing. Was there a point to the exercise? Tim and Brandon ponder.

#017 Newspaper strips

04/03/06 Newspaper strips

Rex Morgan logoFLASHBACK! The first time Mulele mentioned his co-creation Weird Crime Theater on the podcast, leading into a discussion of newspaper comic strips.

#185 “The 99” and “Persepolis”

6/22/09 The 99 and Persepolis

The 99 An interview with Naif al-Mutawa, creator and co-writer of “The 99,” a comic based on Islamic archetypes and with a target audience of “the world”!
Persepolis Tim and Brandon review the book “Persepolis 2” and the movie “Persepolis”, both by Marjane Satrapi. How does the movie, as an adaptation of a comic, compare with “The Watchmen”?

#112 Matt Silady and “The Homeless Channel”

1/28/08 Matt Silady and “The Homeless Channel”

The Homeless ChannelFLASHBACK! Our first encounter with San Francisco’s “Writer’s Old Fashioned” comics cooperative was when Tim called first-time graphic novelist Matt Silady “lazy” during a review of his book. Matt e-mailed us in protest, and we had him on the show!

#022 World building and Joseph Campbell

05/08/06 World building and Joseph Campbell

Heros JourneyFLASHBACK! Tim reads some postings from a comics writers’ e-mail list about building a new world for your characters. One poster recommends reading Joseph Campbell‘s books; another poster can’t stand Joseph Campbell. Brandon, our resident Joseph Campbell expert, critiques that poster’s critiques.

#175 Drawn to the Road: Travel memoir graphic novels

4/13/09 Drawn to the Road: Travel memoir graphic novels

Burma Chronicles/Red Eye Black eyeAfter a long time away, Brandon is back to discuss with Tim the travels of Guy Delisle (“The Burma Chronicles”) and K. Thor Jensen (“Red Eye, Black Eye”).

#014 It’s a Bird, Spider-man Blue, Hulk Gray

3/13/06 It’s a Bird, Spider-man Blue, Hulk Gray

It's a BirdFLASHBACK! Way, way back to the early days of the podcast: three guys sitting in a room, talking comics. Tim, Mulele, and Brandon discuss Steven T. Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen’s “It’s a Bird”, and Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s “Spider-man Blue” and “Hulk Gray”. (Regarding sound quality: in those days, I purposely downgraded the sound to keep the MP3 file small!)