Comics commentary from our podcast regulars.
What do you do when your town monster just doesn’t bring the scary? Hire someone to get the big red guy out of his funk. Rob Harrell breaks out of the funny pages with his first graphic novel, Monster on the Hill; Tim & Mulele review.
Meanwhile, much scarier monsters lurk in the background of Justin Randall’s Changing Ways, Book 2. Tim & Brandon take a look and compare with Book 1. The monsters are scary, but is the book?
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From 1942 to 1966, many of the Donald Duck comic books published by Dell Comics were written and drawn by Carl Barks. Like most comic book creators at the time, his name was unknown; the Duck comics were all credited to Walt Disney. Fans only knew that his work was by the GOOD duck artist. Barks created Scrooge McDuck and many of the other duck characters that are taken for granted as part of Disney canon today.
What made Barks the standout Duck artist? Were they meant to be satirical, or simply enjoyable stories? Tim, Kumar, and Tom Spurgeon discuss Barks’ work, particularly the Fantagraphics volume “Lost in the Andes.”
Comics Journal review of Lost in the Andes
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Comics that you buy in comics shops or bookstores are facing enough business challenges, but how about newspaper comics? Their traditional delivery system is dying out, with many printed papers ceasing publication. The comic strip faces a number of challenges, but there are positive trends as well. How are Web comics and other new technology changing the game? This week, Tim talks newspaper(-style) strips with Tom Racine, host of the Tall Tale Radio podcast!
Stephan Pastis interview (gigaom.com)
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In more than seven years of doing this podcast, our coverage of European comics has been, um… underwhelming. This week, Tim tries to change that, discussing two European comics with European co-reviewers!
First, Nemi, the overzealous goth girl from Norway, whose eponymous strip by Lise Myhre has become popular in numerous European countries. Norwegian Line Olsson (of the Boston Comics Roundtable) joins Tim to discuss.
Then, the second Blacksad installment, “Arctic Nation”, by animators Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido. Is racism the point of this noirish “furry” tale, or is it just the framing device for something else? Eugenia Koumaki in Athens co-reviews with Tim.
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The 2000s have been thought of as a “manga boom” in the US. Well, that’s true in comparison to the ’90s, but North American manga sales have never come close to the numbers in Japan. Sales of manga — and books in general — have dropped the past few years, but there are signs that the market has stabilized.
Deb Aoki, who writes about manga for About.com, joins us again this week to discuss the reasons why publishers hesitate to put out new manga titles, why Jmanga died and Manga Reborn’s business model is imperfect, and what bright spots there are for the future.
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Yet again, Kumar and Dana go all nationalistic to discuss another Canadian icon: the best there is at what he does, th’ ol’ Canucklehead, Wolverine, bub. First on the chopping block is Wolverine (1982) by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, a comic which tries to not be paint-by-numbers, but ends up being little else. And, Barry Windsor-Smith’s Weapon X, which was apparently spawned from a universe in which neither paint nor numbers exist.
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If you haven’t read The Sixth Gun, by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt, you may think it’s just a Western. Well, it’s a 19th-century western U.S. setting, but the crux of the story is less “High Noon” and more “Hellblazer”. Tim is joined by Eugenia to discuss this ongoing Oni Press series. We also take note of Brian Hurtt’s source of photo reference, Shorpy.com.
We’ll also hear about what Eugenia‘s doing lately, and this weekend’s Comicdom Con
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Recently asked on our Facebook group: What would you do if you controlled Marvel and/or DC? This led to another question: How can comics, particularly in the US, gain a larger audience?
No one’s really sure of the answer to the second question, but its a good springboard for podcast discussion of comics evangelism and the state of the industry in general. What role will digital comics play? In the first installment of an occasional series, Tim bounces these questions off our friend Tom Spurgeon.
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Shotaro Ishinomori was a very prolific creator of manga, a number of which became staples of live-action children’s TV, such as the Power Rangers and Kamen Rider. Many of his series deal with the relationship between technology and humans, and this week Tim and guest reviewer Deb Aoki discuss two such series, Cyborg 009 and Kikaider — both recently released in English via Comixology.
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FLASHBACK! Fletcher Hanks created some bizarre, sadistic superhero comics in 1939-1941. Tim and Kumar discuss the Hanks collection I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!, edited by Paul Karasik.
Also: Comic Book Comics #2!
(Originally published October 27, 2008)
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