Benji Ratliffe sent us his four-year-old unpublished work Fashionable Nonsense for critique. It’s a somewhat supernatural tale with a Scott Pilgrim tone. He wrote the script and hired an artist. While it does indeed have some problems — with clarity of the story, as well as storytelling and inking — why not put it out anyway? Tim and Mulele extol the virtues of putting your work out, even if you’re not 100% satisfied with it.
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Mulele is back from New York Comicon! While he can’t talk about what might have transpired in terms of getting work (which is a whole lot better than saying “nothing happened”!), he has plenty to say about the experience of being there & his impressions of the comics industry, how his thoughts about it changed, and about New York, the city.
While at the con, he ran into Jordan Kotzebue, creator of Hominids, who Tim met at Emerald City 2011. Tim calls him up this week to catch up on his progress, including how our own critique of Hominids changed his approach to the comic.
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Remember David and Goliath? (Hint: Bible, 1 Samuel, ch 17!) The original story decidedly takes David’s side, but what’s Goliath’s story? Tom Gauld has recently released a graphic novel called Goliath, told from this alleged villain’s point of view. Tim and Mulele review. (Spoiler alert: Watch out for that rock!)
When we last touched base with Matt Silady, he was teaching at California College of the Arts, in the San Francisco Bay area. Well, he’s recently been involved in developing CCA’s new Master of Fine Arts in Comics, and has been appointed Chair of the program. Tim talks to Matt about developing the program, being locked in a jail cell for your art, and much more.
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Back in April, Tim talked to Brian Mitchell about his matchbook-sized comics. Recently, he sent us some samples, so Tim and Mulele have read through them and are here with their thoughts.
Brian’s site, where you can order his comics
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First up this week, an interview with Brandon Easton, creator of Shadowlaw and also writer of an episode of the new Thundercats series. Shadowlaw took well over a decade to come to fruition due to the nearly endless difficulties Easton had with finding a reliable artist. He shares his advice for finding a collaborator for your own project.
Our own Mulele had some problems as the hired artist for a couple of comics projects when he tried his luck in Los Angeles six years ago. The experience was a harrowing one — more so than we realized at the time. Mulele tells all, and also talks about his next career steps — including a trip to a convention!
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This week, Tim talks to three guys who participated in San Diego Comicon earlier this month, to see what their objectives were for being there, how it went, and their advice to SDCC newbies.
Dale Wilson, who wrote up his experience at BuyIndieComics.com, on why he left “unfulfilled” in some ways, but enjoyed it in other ways;
Justin Hall, who we last talked to in March of last year, on promoting his Fantagraphics book “No Straight Lines” and Prism Comics, as well as the sideline indie comics gathering Trickster; and
Robert Roach, a veteran of San Diego tabling, on his Japanese influences, networking, and more.
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Does “giving a critique” mean “stating an opinion”? Or, as some fans of a comic we discussed a few weeks ago imply, does it demand total objectivity? Is that even possible? And, by the way, what’s the difference between a critique and a review? Tim and Mulele discuss these questions before going on to critique Super Haters by Nick Marino and Justique Woolridge.
Critique vs. Review:
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Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee, is a great-looking book, all cloth binding and gold foil. It has an unusual feel for a comic, being a work of decoupage. And the story… um… iFanboy book of the month, you say? Eisner Award winner, you say? Um… Tim and Brandon just ain’t seeing it. Why is it so lauded?
Also, Tim is joined by Mulele and Paul to critique a small stack of mini-comics, sent in by our friend Dale Wilson:
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Over the years, Mulele has mentioned his Elbis project several times on the show. Created for Illustration Friday, developed for (but rejected by) Kodansha, the spiritual kittycat’s story has found a home on paper thanks to DWAP Productions. This week, Mulele explains how the project started and developed, and where he’s headed from here.
Then, we catch up with DWAP‘s Dale Wilson, about how he picked up Elbis, as well as his new site BuyIndieComics.com, and the state of indie comics in the States.
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It pays to advertise! In episode #311, Tim asked Matthew Forsythe to contact him for an interview, and Matthew responded! This week he tells us about his two books that are informed by Korean (and other) folktales, Ojingogo and Jinchalo; about his tools, influences, and developing a style; and much more.
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