Brian Schirmer, a comics educator in San Francisco and writer of Ultrasylvania and the forthcoming Image series Black Jack Ketchum, joins Tim this week to talk about the difference between writing screenplays and writing comics; how he turned his comics script into a for-credit class for artists; tips that have led him to have both successful crowdfunding projects and good sales at conventions; and more.
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Why draw in a manga style? Why are zombies popular? How can you represent the comics creation experience in a card game? These questions and more as Tim interviews Jason Thompson, author of Manga: The Complete Guide, the Web comic The Stiff, and Kickstarter project card game Mangaka.
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You know that feeling when you love an artist’s work, but then you get their next one, and feel like… ehh, the magic’s gone? Tim was afraid that would be his reaction to Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Seconds but, as he discusses with Cassey this week, his fears were completely misplaced!
Also this week, a discussion with Kenneth Kit Lamug. His picture book A Box Story won a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, Pinnacle Book Achievement Award, a Children’s Literary Classics Seal of Approval, and was a National Indie Excellence Book Award finalist, all in 2012. Now trying his hand at comics, he recently funded a Kickstarter project for The Tall Tales of Talbot Toluca: Quest for the Ore Crystals. Tim talks with him about the Kickstarter, moving from illustration to comics, not quitting his day job, and more.
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While the phrase “’90s comics” tends to elicit some eyerolls nowadays — Foil covers! X-men with huge guns and lots of pouches! — there was still some good comics work done in that era. What was it like to be in the business back then? Joe St.Pierre drew some Spider-man Clone Saga-related comics, so let’s ask him! (See his Marvel covers here)
St.Pierre’s work for Marvel back then springboarded him to storyboarding and commercial art gigs, but (naturally) he still loves doing comics. For the past few years he’s been publishing his Web comic The Liberaider through his site AstronautInk, and now he has launched a Kickstarter project to publish a hardcover edition. This week he talks with Tim about that and more.
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Tim Across America, part nine! When it comes to Big Two comics these days, there’s a lot to complain about. Marvel characters changed to look like the actors who play them in movies; nearly the entire DC line subsumed into a grim-and-gritty muck. And yet… we still like some of these books! Superior Spider-man, anyone?
In a cafe in Berkeley, California, Tim discusses this and more with three past guests who all live in the East Bay area, but had never previously met: Deb Aoki, John Roberson, and Jason McNamara! Conversation also swung to whether Image can eclipse the Big Two, comparison of black and white comics vs. color, doing a Kickstarter project for your comic vs. doing print-on-demand, and more!
Jason’s Kickstarter page for The Rattler
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Tim Across America, part 7! Gordon McAlpin has put in more than a decade on the popular Web comic Multiplex, about kids who work at a movie theater — a concept he had originally thought was stupid! What changed his mind? How has he successfully funded two Kickstarter projects to print books of his comic? He talks with Tim about this in a Minneapolis restaurant, as well as using Patreon for funding, his tools for making the strip, and the good and bad points of letting your characters age.
Plus, a clip from Tim’s appearance on the KFAI Minneapolis radio program True Brit!
DCP In Touch: Read Ian’s full comments about R. Crumb
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Tim Across America, part six! Having worked in mainstream American comics for three decades now, Dan Jurgens has seen a lot of change. The number of publishers, the type and amount of fan interaction (thanks to the Internet), the method of comics distribution, and the way the Big Two search for new talent have all changed greatly in that time. And, the Big Two now actually discourage the creation of new characters. Why? This week, Jurgens reflects on those changes — some good, some bad — in a talk with Tim.
He also discusses his work on Superman and Thor, how technology has helped film steal some of comics’ storytelling edge, and more.
Also, in the Minneapolis edition of Ask a Retailer, Tim talks to Paul Miller at Comic Book College!
AND, our new feature DCP In Touch, and a talk with Kumar and Mulele about their successful Kickstarter project!
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In the early ’90s, Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s From Hell, based on the true story of Jack the Ripper, was published in issues, and collected in 1999. Kumar and Dana find that, upon re-reading (or re-re-re-reading), new questions still arise. What’s the story about? Why does the killer sometimes come off as a wise prophet? Many scenes are simply puzzling and need sufficient time to unpack. And then there’s the Star Wars reference…
Also this week, Kumar and Mulele discuss their upcoming Kickstarter project for Weird Crime Theater!
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Waaay back in episode 250, Tim talked to Thomas Negovan about the Kickstarter project for a comic called Cursed Pirate Girl. Negovan was the publisher of the single issues of the series, and was handling media inquiries while the comic’s creator, Jeremy Bastian, put all his time into the comic’s insanely detailed art.
The first three issues are now out in a fancy hardcover from Archaia, and this time Jeremy himself comes on the show to talk to Tim about what’s happened since the successful 2010 Kickstarter project, and what to expect from here.
Plus, Tim and Brandon review the book!
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A maligned magician steps up in a time of crisis to become a hero! Tim and Mulele discuss Jason Love’s Kickstarter-funded Madman of Magic.
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