Deconstructing Comics – Page 54 – A podcast about the craft of comics

#506 Drawing, Translating, Podcasting

Podcast co-founder Brandon talks about building a daily drawing regimen, using Scott Robertson’s How to Draw.

Then Kumar tells us about each of the various manga titles he’s recently translated. Looking for some good manga to read? Here are some ideas!

Finally, Tim talks about attempting to make podcasting profitable, and his self-published English study book and comic.

Below: a timetable of the episode, and more art from Brandon.

Continue reading #506 Drawing, Translating, Podcasting

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Critiquing Comics #094: “Once Upon a Time in Morningside” and “PPPPMMHHSSSS”

Once Upon a Time in Morningside, by Sean Michael Wilson and Hanna Strömberg, is the latest book from Big Ugly Robot Press. The book shows how “OK” places become “great” in retrospect, based on the things you remember happening there years before, and also how looking back on those things can teach you something new.

At MoCCA, Tim picked up A.T. Pratt‘s Papa Pratt’s Popup Popout Miggy Mouse Horror House Super Secret Special Surprise and Miggy Mouse’s Sweets and Treats, two books with a great approach to constructing a book (see below), but how is the experience of reading them?

Tim and Mulele discuss.

(Click the images to enlarge)

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#505 Tiny Daredevil Hands and a Potato-Powered Bike

This week (and next), we turn the mic back on ourselves. What, in terms of comics, are we doing?

First up, Paul, To the Batpoles co-host and occasional DCP contributor, talks about his book Frank Miller’s Daredevil and the Ends of Heroism , which will be out soon! In it, Paul reflects on how Miller’s Daredevil changed comics — and Paul.

The Mindgator

Then, Mulele catches us up on The Mindgator — soon to be Kickstarting volume 2 — and the new edition of his black cat comic Elbis!

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#504 Kawai Shen: The Internet in comics, tabling for introverts, and more

On the Cute Juice Comics blog, Kawai Shen recently wrote a post about problems with representing the Internet in comics and other media. On this week’s show she talks with Tim about the Net in comics, this year’s TCAF, convention tabling for introverts, following up on convention contacts, the Dirty Diamonds anthology, and Canadian government grants for artists… even comics artists!

PLUS: Simon Fraser, co-creator of the Nikolai Dante series in 2000 A.D., talks about the Dare2Draw project, and the involvement of Mike Baron and Steve Rude’s Nexus in their proposed anthology.

Become a patron! If you pledge at least $3 a month through Patreon, you can access additional audio of Tim’s talk with Kawai Shen, on writing about members of marginalized groups — or simply about cultures the writer isn’t familiar with. Example: Fifty Shades of Grey!

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#503 “Concrete”

Concrete

Paul Chadwick’s Concrete first appeared in Dark Horse Presents #1 in 1986. While its hero is a human whose brain is transplanted to a huge stone body by aliens, the stories are otherwise very realistic and emotional, and often center on real-world problems. While the series had some success, and theoretically the next volume should still be on its way, Concrete does not seem to be so widely remembered.

This week, Kumar and Koom take a look at a couple of their favorite Concrete stories: Think Like a Mountain, which focuses on environmental issues; and The Human Dilemma, about overpopulation.

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Critiquing Comics #093: “Trista and Holt”

Trista and Holt is Andrez Bergen’s noir adaptation of the centuries-old love story of Tristan and Isolde. It’s also put together with “deliberately cut-up/dada/found objects.” Tim and Mulele take a look at issue #1 to see how well one comic can juggle all these influences.

(Note: Bergen has also done a prose version of this story)

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#502 “One Punch Man”

One Punch Man was originally a crudely-drawn Web comic by a guy calling himself “One”. But then the story, with art by slick manga artist Yusuke Murata, was picked up for publisher Shueisha’s Young Jump Web Comics website in 2012. It subsequently became an anime, and the manga is available in English from Viz.

This week, Tim and Kumar take a look, to discuss whether the story is really served by Murata’s typical manga art, and the good and bad points of the comic as it exists.

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#501 The Billy Ireland Museum

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, on the campus of Ohio State University, houses the world’s largest collection of comic strip tear sheets and clippings, and also archives original art, manuscript materials, and other comics-related items. This week Caitlin McGurk, Associate Curator at the museum, talks to Tim about Milton Canniff’s connection to the museum, the challenges of art preservation, some highlights of the museum’s holdings, and more.

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Critiquing Comics #092: Boy Zero

boyzero A police detective sees a psychiatrist, because something is bothering him about the case he’s been working on. Something happened in the past among a group of kids. Murder? Well, we read a pretty good chunk of Charles Chester and Shiloh Penfield’s Boy Zero, and we don’t feel any closer to finding out. We discuss what went wrong for us.

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#500 Stephen Bissette: Comics, Movies, and Creator Credits

Steve Bissette with Tim and Paul Five hundred episodes?! Where’d the time go? As has been typical of recent “landmark” episodes, a topic discussion is in order, this time among Tim, Paul, and famed artist, writer, and comics educator Stephen Bissette.

Steve talks about favorite film versions of comics; Mario Bava’s Diabolik; and what would have been a better way to make a Dick Tracy movie? How have certain films utilized “comics” language — even if they weren’t based on actual comics stories? What were some of our most traumatic moments in childhood TV viewing/comics reading?

Then we move on to the struggles that creators of Marvel and DC characters and storylines have had in getting proper credit for the film versions of their stories — especially focusing on Frank Miller and Daredevil. And, why do some fans have so much vitriol for Miller?

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