#540 Jim Zub

Wayward

Jim Zub loves Japan. He visited twice last year, including in October for the Kaigai Manga Festa. He set his Image series Wayward in Japan; it’s drawn by Yokohama resident Steven Cummings. In this week’s show, Jim talks about the effort to make Wayward‘s Japan feel as close to the real one as possible; playing in the sandbox of Marvel’s Thunderbolts, the harsh realities of the North American comics market, making yourself known in the industry, and more.

#534 Oscar’s “Kai”, self-publicity, and book design

Kai

Many of us are good at making our work (comics, podcasts, what have you), but not good at putting it out there, letting people know it exists. Mulele has been advising his friend Oscar, creator of the comic Kai (discussed in Critiquing Comics #100), on using social media and on choosing the best presentation style for a given book. This week, Tim talks with Oscar about his opening foray into comics, and Mulele talks about designing books and finding printers that can produce what he envisions.

#531 “Little in Japan” & “Cucumber Quest”

littleinjapan-cucumberquest

When webcomics creators aren’t creating webcomics, what are they reading? This week we check in with a couple of creators whose work we’ve looked at previously — Victor Edison and Maya Kern — and get their recommendations: Chris Carlier’s “Little in Japan” and G.G. Digi’s “Cucumber Quest“!

#529 “The Summit of the Gods”

The Summit of the Gods

An old camera found in a shop in Kathmandu starts up a sometimes exasperating, but ultimately engrossing, story of climbing Mt. Everest, with one of the most satisfying endings you’ll ever see. Kumar (who translated the story into English for Fanfare/Ponent Mon’s edition) and Tim discuss Baku Yumemakura and Jiro Taniguchi’s The Summit of the Gods.

Critiquing Comics #100: Comics from Conventions!

Comics from conventions

Somehow, Critiquing Comics is up to 100 episodes! Tim and Mulele mark this occasion by discussing a bunch of comics picked up at New York’s MoCCA Festival and Tokyo’s Kaigai Manga Festa.

Continue reading Critiquing Comics #100: Comics from Conventions!

#521 Kaigai Manga Festa 2016, part two!

Kaigai Manga Festa 2016

Part two of our roundup of creators who tabled at this year’s Kaiga Manga Festa, including talks with Graeme Mc Nee, Matthew Forsythe, Karl Kerschl, and our own Mulele!

Creators show their work to editors at Comitia, the larger festival alongside Kaigai on October 23, 2016

Continue reading #521 Kaigai Manga Festa 2016, part two!

#520 Kaigai Manga Festa 2016, part one!

Kaigai Manga Festa 2016

It’s time for another Kaigai Manga Festa roundup! This year’s international comics festival in Tokyo was held on October 23 at Tokyo Big Sight, alongside the Comitia festival as always. Tim caught up with some familiar faces and met some new ones as well!

Continue reading #520 Kaigai Manga Festa 2016, part one!

#509 Comic Art Tokyo 2016!

CAT

Comic Art Tokyo (CAT), organized by Adam Pasion of Big Ugly Robot Press and James Stacey of Black Hook Press, was held at 3331 Arts Chiyoda in Tokyo on July 31, 2016. Tim was there, recorder in hand, talking to tablers!

Continue reading #509 Comic Art Tokyo 2016!

#502 “One Punch Man”

One Punch ManOne Punch Man was originally a crudely-drawn Web comic by a guy calling himself “One”. But then the story, with art by slick manga artist Yusuke Murata, was picked up for publisher Shueisha’s Young Jump Web Comics website in 2012. It subsequently became an anime, and the manga is available in English from Viz.

This week, Tim and Kumar take a look, to discuss whether the story is really served by Murata’s typical manga art, and the good and bad points of the comic as it exists.