A story originally conceived as an Incredible Hulk tale in — really — the 1980s, Barry Windsor-Smith‘s Monsters has finally seen the light of day. How is it? Kumar and Dana find it a joy to look at, and containing a number of astonishing scenes and mind-blowing plot points, but also to have some serious drawbacks. Does the good outweigh the bad? Here’s their review.
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In this episode Kumar Sivasubramanian (psst our Eisner nominated member of the Deconstructing Comics team) and Emmet O’Cuana discuss Eleanor Davis‘s comics. Focusing mainly on her collection How To Be Happy and one-shot Libby’s Dad, the comic creator’s use of subtle sadness and surreal humor inspires a wide- ranging conversation (including how to be happy during a plague!).
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Daniel Clowes’ 1990s series Ghost World became a movie in 2001. Will Weaver, a professor at John Carroll University, says that each version of the story was what it needed to be for that medium. Why did those choices, such as adding Seymour, make sense for the movie? Could a film version have worked without Seymour? And what’s the deal with that bus, anyway? Will joins Tim to discuss these questions and more.
Comic Journal review of the movie, by Michael Dean
Daniel Clowes interview in Salon
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My Favorite Thing is Monsters is a horror-movie-influenced graphic novel set against the tumult of the U.S. in the 1960s. What’s stunning is that it’s the first published work for Emil Ferris, but it’s very accomplished. Kumar and Emmet review.
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Why does Ho Che Anderson, who has had several projects (including his latest, Godhead) published by Fantagraphics, call himself a “failed” comics creator? What does he wish he’d done differently, early in his career? In this episode, he talks to Koom about going to art school vs. making your comics mistakes in public (and how Frank Miller succeeded despite doing the latter), Godhead, his film work, and more.
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Peter Bagge’s HATE was an amazing hit for a ’90s indy comic, outselling some Big Two titles. Tim, Kumar, and Tom Spurgeon talk about some of the amazing aspects of this strip, and discuss whether it’s accurate to classify it as a comic about slackers.
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Love and Rockets continues to impress, and in this episode Koom asks creator Jaime Hernandez some burning questions. Hernandez talks about writing Maggie and Hopey, the dynamics of working on something with your brother, why he gravitates toward female characters, his influences and art style, and more.
Also, Tim and Mulele discuss the current state of the US comics market and Marvel’s recent problems.
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Dan Clowes’ 2016 graphic novel Patience has elements of science fiction, mystery, and psychedelia. It’s an interesting mix, but… was the sci-fi part really necessary? Kumar and Dana give it their usual thorough review.
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The ninth issue of Kramers Ergot is finally available. This week, Kumar and Ryan discuss the feel of the book overall (does it feel a bit more scattered than past editions?), as well as discussing individual stories by the likes of Adam Buttrick, Kim Deitch, Dash Shaw, Baptiste Virote, Abraham Diaz, Andy Burkholder, Manuel Fiore, Steve Weissman, Gabrielle Bell, and Michael Deforge.
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Originating out of the same ’80s black-and-white/anthropomorphic boom that brought us the Ninja Turtles, Usagi Yojimbo is one of the few comics of that batch that are still going today. Stan Sakai’s work combines historical drama, understated violence, light comedy, and even some explanations of 17th century Japanese culture — and he can pack a surprising amount of story into a few pages. Tom Spurgeon joins Tim and Kumar to talk about the long-eared samurai.
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