Critiquing Comics 004: “Burnt”

BurntTim and Mulele try to get “Burnt” — Thane Benson’s graphic novel. With only a ten-page preview available, they only manage to get singed, but it’s not an unpleasant experience! Is it any wonder that his Kickstarter project got funded?

#279 Do your comics skills match your ambitions?

Just starting your comics career? Got a story to tell? Are you starting big — maybe too big? Or are you starting really, really small — say, a comic about guys who like to get small?

Tim and Mulele discuss comics from listeners that go to these extremes: City of Walls v. 1 by Shaun Noel and Abede Lovelace, and Hippy Jonny by Ryan S. Dodd.

UPDATE 6/2/11: Here’s a PDF with selected pages from City of Walls. Thanks to Shaun Noel for providing!

#276 Two Emerald City Exhibitors: A Closer Look

Hominids and Over the SurfaceNot wanting to leave Emerald City Comicon behind without giving a closer look to at least a few of the creators he met there, Tim chooses Web comics by two of those creators to critique with Mulele: Hominids by by Jordan Kotzebue, and Over the Surface by Natalie Nourigat. Plus: Panels for Primates (link is to Tim’s favorite selection), and the Web comic creator Tim regrets overlooking at Emerald City!

#273 Make the reader care about your characters!

More critiques of self-published comics! Tim and Mulele discuss getting the reader involved in your story, and your characters, from the get-go. If the first issue reads like a cliche, don’t expect the reader to come back for issue two.

Also, in case you needed us to tell you this: Show, don’t tell.

Comics under our magnifying glass: “41” #1 by Bob Frantz and Pablo Peppino; “Tape Song” by Banjo; and “Myriad” #1 by Steve Higgins and Nick Main.