We’re back! Tim and Mulele sit down for some pizza and a football-related comic with an emotional gut punch: Adam Pasion’s “Wins and Losses”.
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#331 The End of the Road for “Cul de Sac”
FLASHBACK! Richard Thompson passed away on July 27, 2016. As his strip Cul de Sac ended four years ago, Tom Spurgeon joined Tim to bid it a fond farewell, and this week we re-present that episode in memory of Thompson.
We discuss some favorite moments of Cul de Sac, compare it with other classic strips such as Peanuts, examine what Thompson (and any other relatively new creator of newspaper strips) was up against as technology and economics teamed up against print media, and — Hey! Watch out for the UH-OH BABY!!
Originally published September 17, 2012
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#512 “Queen Emeraldas”
The epic space opera Queen Emeraldas from Kodansha is the first release of manga in English by legendary cartoonist Leiji Matsumoto since 2002. Kumar and fellow Matsumoto advocate Ryan Cecil Smith dig into the recently-released first book of the 2-volume series and discuss Matsumoto’s relative obscurity in the West, the brutal morality of life in space, and potato heads on the sea of stars.
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#120 “Pyongyang”, “New Frontier”, and more
FLASHBACK! Tim and Brandon give their thoughts on Guy Delisle’s Pyongyang, DVD movie Justice League: The New Frontier, Spider-Man One More Day, and Writing for Comics with Peter David!
Originally published March 24, 2008
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#511 Photo Reference Dos and Don’ts
Most comics artists use photo reference at some point. But some artists can make it melt into their work fluidly, while others end up with stiff drawing or a glorified fumetti. They might also end up with a copyright lawsuit if they don’t choose their reference wisely.
One source of photo reference is Buddy Scalera, who has published several reference books, including Comic Artist’s Essential Photo Reference: People and Poses. Buddy joins Tim to talk about how he got into making photo reference books, choosing poses to shoot, and more.
Then, Stephen Bissette joins us with plenty of examples of the use and misuse of photo reference, the ups and downs of casting celebrities as your characters (Sting, anyone?), and more.
- Amy Grant on Dr. Strange cover
- A classic Val Lakey Vampirella page
- Keiren Smith on photo reference
- Frank Santoro skewers stiff photo reference
- James Coburn “cast” in Master of Kung Fu
- Warren’s Blazing Combat
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#510 “The Boxer”
Late-1940s boxer Harry Haft learned his trade under harrowing circumstances: he was a Jew who was made to box other prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp. The former Hertzko Haft showed a determination to get through the experience alive, no matter what, and Reinhard Kleist shows this beautifully in his biographical graphic novel The Boxer. Tim and guest reviewer Juan Mah y Busch discuss.
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#097 “Kid Intense”
FLASHBACK! Once upon a time, nobody sent us their comics to critique. Then finally, in the fall of 2007, our call was heard! Listener Vincent Morris sent us his comic, Kid Intense. All three of us weighed in.
Originally published October 15, 2007
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#509 Comic Art Tokyo 2016!
Comic Art Tokyo (CAT), organized by Adam Pasion of Big Ugly Robot Press and James Stacey of Black Hook Press, was held at 3331 Arts Chiyoda in Tokyo on July 31, 2016. Tim was there, recorder in hand, talking to tablers!
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#508 A Fading Murder, a Fracturing Convention
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The Fade Out is Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and Elizabeth Breitweiser‘s nuanced, subtly told, complex story of Hollywood in 1948, revolving around a secret deal between a writer who can’t write because of PTSD sustained in the war and another writer who’s been blacklisted as a communist. We touch on some of our favorite little-noted details in the story.Why is Brubaker repeatedly attracted to “noir”-type stories? While Sean Phillips’ art is great, and he digests photo reference into his art better than some do, do some of the limitations of that method still show through? Tim and Brandon discuss. |
| Kumar journeyed so San Diego for the Comic-con this year, for the first time in twelve years. How has the event changed in that time? Who did Kumar get to meet this year? How did he work around the crowds? We get his report. | |
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Critiquing Comics #095: “The Nowhere Man”
A man with a fatal illness decides to end it all before the illness does. He finds himself in an Alice-in-Wonderland-like scenario full of social commentary. Tim and Mulele critique Jonny Bloozit’s The Nowhere Man.
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