#466 Roland Mann, ’90s survivor

Cat and MouseRemember the ‘90s? Remember gold foil covers and mutants with huge guns and toothpick feet? If so, then perhaps you also remember Malibu Comics, the company that originally served as Image Comics’ publisher. After Image broke off on its own, Marvel bought Malibu, only to shut it down when the comics industry imploded. Roland Mann was an editor at Malibu (on the Ultraverse titles, among others) and has also written a number of comics (including Cat and Mouse). This week Tim talks with Roland about the ‘90s and what he’s been doing since then, including a new comic, Citizens, that he’s working on with Terra Kaiju artist Joe Badon!

#465 Stephen Bissette talks scary comics!

TyrantArtist Stephen Bissette is best-known for his work on Swamp Thing in the ’80s with Alan Moore and John Totleben, as well as 1963 and his solo project Tyrant. Currently he’s teaching at the Center for Cartoon Studies, and this week he joins Tim and Kumar for a wide-ranging discussion, including:

  • The difference between comics schools in the ‘70s vs today
  • What it was like growing up as the first Fantastic Four and Spider-Man comics were hitting the stands and why he liked the new FF movie
  • Is the current state of Image Comics a new paradigm in creator rights, or is it more of the same?
  • Making things scary in comics vs. media that include movement and sound
  • His original plan for “Tyrant”, which ceased with the ‘90s comics industry implosion. Will we ever see more of Tyrant?
  • Time management for comics creators

Steve’s list of artists who have taught at CCS

Continue reading #465 Stephen Bissette talks scary comics!

#447 Rob Guillory: The other CHEW drops

Tony Chu in love

This week Rob Guillory joins Tim to give his side of the genesis of Chew (following on John Layman‘s side a few weeks ago), describe how he had trouble finding anyone who wanted him to draw in his own style, recall the shock of realizing that drawing could actually be a paying job, and more.

#438 John Layman gives us something to Chew on

PoyoAs John Layman and Rob Guillory’s Chew passes the 3/4 point, major characters (including badass galline fan favorites) get maimed and even killed — yet the story somehow retains a lighthearted tone! This week, John Layman (who’s also writing Cyclops for Marvel) talks with Tim about nonsequential storytelling, the one thing Rob Guillory can’t draw, Tiger Beat posters of Robert Kirkman, and much more.

#417 Rus Wooton wrote us some letters

Rus Wooton lettering

We turn our attention to comics lettering this week, and longtime letterer Rus Wooton. Rus worked on a lot of Marvel books in the 2000s, and his work can currently be seen on numerous Image titles, including Black Science (left). Tim talks with Rus about what makes lettering good or bad, how to get lettering work, the pluses and minuses of all-caps lettering vs “sentence case,” comics written and drawn by Rus, and more.

#382 “Chew”: Disgusting and Delightful

chew_02Is there any other book quite like Chew? So minutely plotted by John Layman, so compellingly rendered by Rob Guillory, so disgusting (blood, vomit, cannibalism) and yet so much fun (mock-scientific names for the various types of food-based powers, wacky character names, the sheer volume of stuff packed into each issue… and of course, the world’s most badass rooster).

Ryan Haupt (from the Science…Sort Of podcast) is back to help Tim wade through the icky loveliness that is Chew.

#375 “The Manhattan Projects”: Is science bad?

manhattanprojectsThis week, another comic involving science — Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra’s The Manhattan Projects — and thus another visit from comics-and-science-loving podcaster Ryan Haupt! He and Tim speculate on the meaning of Hickman’s tag line “Science. Bad.”, examine which parts of the story are fact and which are extrapolation from fact (or just plain made up!), some facts that Hickman got wrong, and more. Plus: how can the writer of such a wacky book turn around and write such dark, funless Avengers stories?

Read issue-by-issue analysis at Multiversity Comics

#319 “The Maxx”

Even amidst the anything-goes craziness of the early Image years, Sam Kieth’s The Maxx was an outlier. While it included some superhero tropes, it wasn’t really a superhero book, nor was it like much of anything else on the market, then or now. While it definitely has its weaknesses, Kumar and Dana confirm this week that it was absolutely mind-blowing…and emotionally affecting.

REVIEW: Nonplayer #1 (of 6)

by Nate Simpson

Image Comics, April 2011

I’m going to have to spoil this  comic to talk about it, but let me say this first: think about the context in which we normally hear the word “Nonplayer” used, and also consider the fact that Nate Simpson has a background in video game design, and I think you can guess what the twist on page 20 is going to be. It’s issue 1 of 6 anyway, so you might as well find out.

Continue reading REVIEW: Nonplayer #1 (of 6)

#200 Draw me in St. Louis: Super Spy, Lackadaisycats, and more!

10/5/09 Draw me in St. Louis

A 200th episode extravaganza!

Super SpySt. Louis resident Matt Kindt, creator of Super Spy, has been hard at work on several new titles, set at various points in the 20th century. Matt tells us what’s coming up and answers a few questions about Super Spy.

 

LackadaisycatsTracy Butler, also of St. Louis, shares Matt’s interest in comics set in the past — in particular, St. Louis in the 1920s. Her Web comic Lackadaisycats (now available as a book) is beautifully drawn, interesting, and hilarious.

 

 

ChewThen Tim and Mulele respond to some recent mail from listeners, and Mulele gives his impressions of the Image series Chew!