Deconstructing Comics Podcast, published every Monday, features comics creator discussion and comics reviews.
 Tim and Mulele are joined by Mike Kloran, a Deconstructing Comics listener and artist based in northern Japan. Creating educational comics is discussed, and Mike interviews Tim and Mulele. Also, what are Mike’s thoughts on this podcast itself? |
 Then Tim and Mulele discuss two books by Ken Dahl, “Welcome to the Dahl House” and “Monsters”. |
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Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist combines the “steampunk” aesthetic with well-developed characters and a story that explores themes of war and hope, and highlights how any skill and any belief system can be used for good or ill. Tim and newcomer Hiroyuki (our first-ever Japanese guest!) roll up their sleeves, go through the first 19 volumes, and give this manga the scholarly treatment it deserves.
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Emily the Strange began life as a character that appeared on merchandise, but lately she’s been fleshed out with a Dark Horse comics series and much more. Tim and Mulele talk about the first two trade paperback collections, and the controversy surrounding her origins.
Also, if you’re looking for a comics-creator “scene”, what’s the best city to go to? Some possibilities.
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Steph Godfrey, of San Francisco by way of Perth, Australia, recently made a comic called Panorama, based on a dream she had and how it affected her life. Tim talks to Steph about the background of the comic, and then reviews it with Mulele.
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Skim is a coming-of-age graphic novel written by Mariko Tamaki, and drawn by her cousin Jillian Tamaki. Jillian works primarily in the field of illustration; how does she find that different from drawing a comic? Is it wrong to say that a comic is “illustrated”? She also discusses her perhaps unorthodox collaboration with Mariko on Skim, and reviews of the book that see meanings in it that were completely unintentional, in this interview.
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Darrin Bell, creator of the strip Candorville, talks about dealing with the expectations of a newspaper audience (and the thought processes of newspaper editors), the dynamic between characters Lamont and Susan, why he published his new book, Katrina’s Ghost, via Lulu, and, by the way, what’s up with the vampires?!
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Osamu Tezuka’s “Apollo’s Song” came out in 1970, about the same time as “Ode to Kirihito”. It explores issues of love, sex, and death. How does this “adult” work of Japan’s God of Comics stack up against the masterwork “Kirihito”? Tim and Kumar review.
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FLASHBACK! Osamu Tezuka is Japan’s “God of Manga.” Ode to Kirihito may be one of the reasons. Tim and Kumar review.
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11/23/09 Magical Mystery Podcast
Tim and Mulele sit in a restaurant in Shinjuku, turn on the recorder, and see what develops. Topics include: Creator time management, Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto, Hope Larson’s Gray Horses, Caveman Science Fiction, the casting of the Popeye movie, podcast promotion, Mulele’s epiphany about his slow productivity the past three years, and the status of his current comic Elbis.
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