Deconstructing Comics

Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, following up on their appearance in episode 653, are back on the show to discuss their upcoming miniseries Dragon Age: Dark Fortress. How does the Dragon Age fan base compare with other ardent fan bases? How is Christina and Nunzio’s relationship with Dragon Age artist Fernando Heinz Furukawa? They discuss … Continue reading #690 “Dragon Age: Dark Fortress” and “Haha”

A German doctor treats amputee Confederate soldiers in 1864 Virginia. But then his secret is found out by a desperate Southern army that will go to any lengths to get the doctor to do what they want. In this episode, Tim and Patrick discuss Dave Swartz’s Confederate Monster.

In 1998, under the “Marvel Knights” banner, Christopher Priest began the first ongoing Black Panther title in nearly two decades. Panther was a relatively unknown character to many Marvel readers at the time. With the aid of “Emperor of Useless White Boys” Everett K. Ross, and artists like Mark Texeira and Joe Jusko, Priest (a.k.a. … Continue reading #689 Priest’s “Black Panther”

This week, from our archive of Patreon podcasts, Tim and Mulele discuss the movie Iron Man 3 in another edition of “Tim Catches Up with the MCU”!

In a world where a pandemic is causing people’s organs to fail, the company that makes synthetic organs wields a lot of power – especially if the patient doesn’t have the funds to pay for the surgery. In this episode, writer Jason McNamara joins Tim to talk about Duplicant, from Karla Nappi, Marianna Strychowska, Carlos … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #190: “Duplicant”

Candian Jed MacKay is rising through the ranks at Marvel with some stellar books starring secondary characters — the Black Cat, Taskmaster — and now the Avengers in mech suits (Avengers Mech Strike). In this episode he talks with Tim about why Taskmaster portrayals have become goofier, how he treats Black Cat as sexy but … Continue reading #688 Jed MacKay interview

Is it annoying or brilliant? A smart commentary on internet culture? Too trendy for the oldsters who make this podcast? Is it plausible enough to stand alongside the best in science fiction? Emmet and Kumar ask these questions and more in their review of Crowded  by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, Ted Brandt, Trina Farrell, and … Continue reading #687 “Crowded”

A story about a pot-smoking superhero taking on a villain whose henchmen wear KKK robes. Is this OK?! Tim is joined by Ryan C. to discuss Ben Perone and Jer Gordon’s FingerBang #4.  

Con Chrisoulis has been on the comics scene since 1996, releasing comics in his native Australia, in Greece, and in the UK, as well as comics on the web. He’s best known for Tales of the Smiths, Rebel Rebel: The Graphic Biography of David Bowie, and King: The Graphic Biography of Jack Kirby. In this … Continue reading #686 Con Chrisoulis interview

Hilary Barta has been drawing (and sometimes writing) comics for decades, for nearly any publisher you can name. He even worked with the great Alan Moore on “Splash Branigan.” In this week’s show he talks to Koom about working with Moore, his Plastic Man stint, and his new humor story with Doug Rice “When Monsters … Continue reading #685 Hilary Barta interview

We’ve discussed Joseph Hewitt’s work on the show before, and even met him at a comics festival. Now he’s back with a collection of well-chosen gems from his back catalog. DCP co-founder Brandon makes his first Critiquing Comics appearance as he and Tim try spreading some of these Jellied Feels.

Comics journalist Joe Sacco is back, with an up-close look at the Dene people, of the western part of Canada’s Northwest Territories. Like many native peoples, their way of life was shattered by contact with colonial Europeans, who made traumatizing efforts to assimilate them into Western culture. What happened in western Canada, and what is … Continue reading #684 Joe Sacco’s “Paying the Land”

There have been plenty of comics made about the current COVID-19 pandemic, both instructional and autobiographical ones. In this episode Tim talks about about some of these with graphic medicine expert Alice Jaggers, a contributor to graphicmedicine.org, as well as other comics on health issues… one of which is none other than Fullmetal Alchemist! The … Continue reading #683 COVID comics and graphic medicine

A retro-style daily strip about a talking bear! This time Tim is joined by comics colorist Jeremy Kahn to discuss Bob Scott‘s strip Bear With Me.

The pandemic has caused a variety of entertainment content to go unreleased or even unmade. Unfortunately, that extends to the recent series John Constantine: Hellblazer by Simon Spurrier and Aaron Campbell, canceled after issue 12 when Spurrier had expected to get six more issues. Kumar and Jordan are big fans of the series, and this … Continue reading #682 “John Constantine: Hellblazer”

The Law of Equivalent Exchange: We’ve arrived at the chapter that knocks us from our seats and tells us “This ain’t no ordinary manga!” It’s the shocking Chapter 5: The Alchemist’s Suffering! Mangaverse newsletter: Patrick will become editor Don’t Assume podcast: Tim appears in episode 10 Join us on Patreon! Follow DCP on Twitter! Follow … Continue reading LOEE: Fullmetal Alchemist ch. 5

If you’re an American who grew up in a certain era, you may have a story about that time you ended up at a presentation about how “backmasking” was being used in your favorite music to subliminally deliver satanic messages. Artist Rachelle Meyer, whose work we’ve encountered once before in Chad in Amsterdam #4, presents … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #106: “Holy Diver”

The time for “setup” is over! At last, Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, and Captain America meet! Tim and Mulele discuss 2012’s “Marvel’s The Avengers.” Join us on Patreon! Follow us on Twitter!

Film buff Mulele prods Tim to get caught up on alllll the Marvel movies he’s missed. This time, they watch and discuss the first MCU appearance of Captain America. What changed from the comics, and why? What worked, and what’s hokey?

Liz Wynter isn’t special. She’s exactly like thousands of other people who have lived, with the same DNA, and she thinks in the same ways that they did, so the government can predict her every move. The same is true of everyone else in her world. Wynter #1, by Guy Hasson and Aron Elkes, isn’t … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #105: “Wynter”

What do you do when you want to talk about the MCU movies, but no one around you has watched them? Bug your friends to watch them! That’s how Mulele finally got Tim to find time to “Catch Up with the MCU”! Having discussed the first two Iron Man films on Deconstructing Comics a decade … Continue reading “THOR” (2011)

The Law of Equivalent Exchange: Tim and Patrick discuss Fullmetal Alchemist chapter 4, which features both scary violence and violence for laughs. Why is Ed sleeping at his desk on the splash page? Plus, volume 1 back matter explained!

Way back in 2014, Tim and Mulele discussed the first volume of R.u.N. (Remember Ur Nature), a comic in shonen manga style about the sport of parkour. Now, at last, volume two is available, and Tim is joined by a new voice, Ryan Carey of SOLRAD, to discuss the book (by Kariofillis Chris Hatzopoulos, Rafail … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #184: “R.U.N.” volume 2

Isekai is a genre, named in Japan, in which a character from our earth is suddenly transported to “another world.” This concept goes back at least to Alice in Wonderland, but these days the “other world” is often the inside of a computer game. Although it’s not explicitly stated (so far), that seems to be … Continue reading #681 “The Last Tide” and “Breakwater”

Is it comedy or violent action? Delivering fan service or gross-out scenes? Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? Perceptions and expectations are constantly flipping in Q Hayashida’s Dorohedoro. Kumar and Emmet review.

Chad Bilyue is on a roll! No sooner had he released issue 4 of Chad in Amsterdam than he was releasing issue 5 on its coattails. CIA 5 turns out to be a theme issue, on a bizarre and rather offensive aspect of Dutch culture. It’s about what happens when an entire country convinces itself … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #183: “Chad in Amsterdam” #5

Mark Russell has been one of the standout comics writers of the past five years, in part because he’s possibly the only mainstream comics writer doing satire (or, he would argue, fables). Since he burst on the scene with Prez and The Flintstones, he’s written a number of comics for several publishers that aren’t just … Continue reading #679 Mark Russell

Tim and Patrick discuss the third chapter of Fullmetal Alchemist, “The Mining Town.” Why are alchemists hated as “the dogs of the military”?

Telling a story without dialogue can be difficult. Telling your story entirely with pictures takes excellent storytelling skills. What are the stakes? What are the characters’ motivations? What, exactly, is going on here?! Tim and Mulele discuss two submitted comics which partially or entirely rely on wordless sequences: After the Fall, by Jacqueline Goldfinger, Keni … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #182: “After the Fall” and “Organic But Not Mental”

We’ve talked about several of Rumiko Takahashi’s manga series over the years, but this time we go back to the beginning with her first big hit, Urusei Yatsura, sometimes known in English as Lum. Tim and Kumar discuss the history of the strip, the gags you wouldn’t get without knowing Japanese, and what’s odd about … Continue reading #678 Rumiko Takahashi’s first comedy, “Urusei Yatsura”

Kazuo Umezu’s horror manga series The Drifting Classroom is a taboo-busting series: it was aimed at kids and employs kid logic and exaggeration to a story depicting outrageous violence being done to and by kids. Even if you’re into horror, that description may have you asking: “Is this for me?” In this episode, Kumar and … Continue reading #677 “The Drifting Classroom”

Over the years there have been some attempts at augmented reality comics — where a smartphone app pointed at a comics page will reveal a bit of animation. One issue with these projects is that they’re labor-intensive, and require several different skill sets to produce. Sam Noir and Andrew Dorland are Kickstarting an augmented reality … Continue reading #676 “Ballyskillen”: An augmented reality comic

The latest installment of our beloved Chad in Amsterdam is here! As always, Chad combines some incisive but casual observational and philosophical discussion with the work of his great artist friends, but this time the focus is less on Amsterdam and more on Chad himself. Where is he from? What makes you “from” a place? … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #181: “Chad in Amsterdam 4”

This week we present the second installment in a proposed new podcast series: The Law of Equivalent Exchange, a chapter-by-chapter discussion of the manga Fullmetal Alchemist. Tim and Patrick discuss chapter two of the series; while we remembered it as not having much of an impact on the overall story, the chapters in volume 1 … Continue reading The Law of Equivalent Exchange: “Fullmetal Alchemist” chapter 2

Last episode, we mentioned how writing a short, tight story can be more challenging than writing a sprawling epic. Right on cue comes Spider Forest Webcomic Anthology 4, an engaging collection of short comics by 17 creators of web comics. Tim and Mulele discuss which are the best (and which are merely good!), and whether … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #180: “SpiderForest Webcomic Anthology 4”

This time, two books by Neil Gaiman: Black Orchid, with art by Dave McKean, and The Books of Magic, drawn by John Bolton and other artists. The challenge of Black Orchid can be to simply figure out the backstory, and how Gaiman changed it! The Books of Magic‘s Tim Hunter character is Harry Potter before … Continue reading #675 Gaiman’s “Black Orchid” and “The Books of Magic”

In a flooded New York City of the future, a corporate whistleblower is in a hurry to skip town. Tim and Mulele wish they understood more about the plot of The Solar Grid issue 1, by Gazeer, but this issue is more concerned with the comic’s world than its plot. So we critique what’s there!

Zoe Thorogood is a young British woman whose first graphic novel, The Impending Blindness Of Billie Scott, will be released in October. It’s the story of a young woman who’s just gotten her big break, being asked to paint ten works for a gallery show, when an injury causes her to gradually lose her eyesight. … Continue reading #674 Introducing Zoe Thorogood!

This week we present the first installment in a proposed new podcast series: The Law of Equivalent Exchange, a chapter-by-chapter discussion of the manga Fullmetal Alchemist. Tim and Patrick discuss what alchemy was in the real world, and the manga’s creator Hiromu Arakawa, then walk through the first chapter of the story. If you’d like … Continue reading The Law of Equivalent Exchange: “Fullmetal Alchemist” chapter 1

Terminal Velocity is a comic by Barry Corbett in which he reminisces about his life, centering around extreme sports and a family tragedy. While there is an overall story, the book can seem a bit disjointed. Tim and Mulele discuss the pros and cons of the book; then Mulele challenges himself and his friends: Let’s … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #178: “Terminal Velocity”

He first appeared in 1944, the Algerian super-hero who fought for the World War II Allies: Kismet, Man of Fate! The first known Muslim superhero, he appeared in all four issues of a series called Bomber Comics. Then the series was cancelled and Kismet was forgotten, until 2014 when the character, freshly out of copyright, … Continue reading #673 Kismet, Man of Fate

The words “Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips” have essentially become the name of a genre, a certain kind of noir-ish crime story. The latest entry in this “genre”, an original graphic novel called Pulp, is in this vein but also features elements of the western. b joins Tim to review the latest by this renowned … Continue reading #672 “Pulp” and Publishing Your Book

Back in the early days of the podcast, artist Jun-Pierre Shiozawa was one of our first interviewees. He recently resurfaced as artist on a comic written by sitcom writer and producer Vali Chandrasekaran called Genius Animals?, a comedy story about conspiracy theories. In this episode, Tim talks to the two of them about how they … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #177: “Genius Animals?”

Fifty years ago, four students died when national guardsman inexplicably opened fire during an anti-war protest at Kent State University. The craziness of 2020 has hindered planned observances of the craziness of 1970, but we do get this: Derf Backderf’s Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio, a moving account of May 1-4, 1970, through the eyes … Continue reading #671 Derf’s “Kent State”

Seemingly every time a horror comic comes up on our show, it seems to have some kind of connection to H.P. Lovecraft. In this case, it’s Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows‘ Providence, part of the Lovecraftian “Cthulhu Mythos.” Kumar, Emmet, and Dana discuss whether you need to have read Moore’s other Lovecraft-inspired comics (or any … Continue reading #670 Moore and Burrow’s “Providence”

Chad Bilyeu’s Chad in Amsterdam series has been a favorite of ours on our Critiquing Comics spinoff show. In this episode, Chad talks to Tim about what it’s like living in Amsterdam, how he puts together his comic, and what’s coming up next from him!

This time our comic is Miskatonic High, by Mike Shea and Ryan Mendoza. The comic features high school students who have creepy adventures. If you’re into H.P. Lovecraft, you’ve probably recognized that this comic is referencing his work. Does the comic do enough to bring the non-Lovecraft-fan onboard?

A couple of past guests return to the show with new material! Mike Baron, best known as writer of the Nexus series, talks about his comedy graphic novel (with artist Todd Mulrooney) Florida Man, and Jason McNamara has reunited with artist Greg Hinkle for a slightly creepy comedy series, Nocturnal Commissions. Both writers share with … Continue reading #668 Baron and McNamara: Writing and Crowdfunding Comics in the “Corona” Era

This time we look at some of the latest work by one of our favorites, David Dye: The forthcoming Bush Fire, and two stories written by Roger Stitson, Tales of the Blue Sage and Cut Down.

Many of us have dreamed of getting paid to make comics. Except in rare cases, working in American comics means being a freelancer. While a creative career can be rewarding, there are plenty of downsides, too. First, there are the day-to-day problems. Tim talks to Howard Simpson, a freelancer in Los Angeles, about time management, … Continue reading #667 Freelancer problems

Grant Morrison‘s DC Comics debut in 1988 was a run on Animal Man. Originally meant to be a four-issue mini, the series became an ongoing, prompting Morrison to turn it into a discussion of spirituality and the nature of reality — which, if you’re a comics character, means that you live your life enclosed in … Continue reading #666 “Animal Man”: Grant Morrison Plays God

This week we take a look back at the career of Denny O’Neil, the longtime comics writer and editor who passed away June 11. Emmet discusses O’Neil’s legacy with Professor Jonathan W. Gray, author of such books as Civil Rights in the White Literary Imagination, and the founding editor of the Journal of Comics and … Continue reading #665 Remembering Denny O’Neil

A couple of years back, we critiqued Caravaggio: A Light Before the Darkness, written by Ken Mora. This time, Ken is here on the show, talking to Tim about his latest (with artist Gianluca Testaverde), Caged Birds. Then, Tim and Mulele critique the first two issues.

Starting in 1999, Dave Cooper (accompanied at first by Patrick McEown) had a collection of work published by Fantagraphics as a magazine called Weasel. The magazine featured Cooper’s story “Ripple”, later published in one volume. “Ripple” is a disturbing story, masterfully told; we hope Cooper is not lying that it’s “not autobiographical,” but for fiction … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #173: “Weasel”

Matt Baker, one of the earliest African-American comics artists, worked in the 1940s and ’50s mainly on what’s known as “good girl” art. Good girl art went away with the comics code, and unfortunately Baker passed away young in 1959 and never got a chance to shine in the Marvel age. English prof Chris Gavaler … Continue reading #664 Matt Baker’s Art of Glamour

It’s been some time since Moon Knight came anywhere close to being considered a top-tier Marvel character in terms of popularity. But in the early ’80s, he was riding high in a popular series by Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz. In this episode, Tim and Paul look at the runup to that series, when the … Continue reading #663 Moon Knight Begins

All comedy comics about God are not created equal! Teo and Corey’s Adventures of God is funny at times, but does it measure up to the hilarious, irreverent Holy F*ck? Comparisons aside, does it live up to its potential? Tim and Mulele discuss. Also: Is Deconstructing Comics doing enough to promote diversity in comics?

Warren Ellis’ Black Summer, No Hero, and Supergod are three separate stories, but if you put them together you’ve kinda got all the elements of Alan Moore’s Watchmen. But was Ellis really writing these books in response to Marvel’s Civil War? Kumar and newcomer Jordan evaluate all three books.

Last year we discussed Rene Pfitzner‘s comics Sneaky Goblins. Now Rene is back with Mythic Creature Trainer, a new series that he’s currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter. In this episode, Tim and Mulele discuss the new comic, and Mulele talks about his other podcast.

As leader of S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America has been put in charge of the U.S. military and law enforcement (and, seemingly, become president of the U.S.) following an alien invasion. But he then reveals that he’s also the leader of Hydra, and the evil organization quickly takes over the country. In this episode, Tim and guests … Continue reading #661 Hydra Cap (pt 2)

The last two words that anyone expected to see in Captain America’s word balloon were “Hail Hydra,” but sure enough, that’s what happened in Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 in 2016. The outcry Marvel heard back for this move was even bigger than they had anticipated. Of course, it wasn’t a permanent change, but it … Continue reading #660 Hydra Cap (pt 1)

This week, Kumar and Emmet review Locke and Key, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. There are a lot of murders in it, but is it a horror comic? They also discuss the series’ missteps in dealing with race and sexuality. Plus, in the second half of the show: Have you read this book but … Continue reading #659 “Locke & Key”

FLASHBACK! A bored, punk-dressing god of death and a genius high school boy are the main characters in Death Note, written by Tsugumi Ohba and drawn by Takeshi Obata. The boy, Light Yagami, receives from the god a notebook with which he can kill people simply by writing their names in it. A plot with … Continue reading #224 Our Notes on “Death Note”

John Allison has been a significant presence on the web comics radar for more than two decades. In 2013, he made the jump to traditional publishing with the fantastic Giant Days series from BOOM! Box, and also switched to only writing, while a selection of top-notch artists (for most of the series, Max Sarin) took … Continue reading #658 John Allison talks “Giant Days” and more

You’re trapped on the moon and you believe that everyone on Earth is dead. Who’d have believed that was the setup for a gag manga? Cho Seok pulls it off in style with Moon You, a hilarious comic that also has heart and some tension, and, yes, a few missteps as well. Tim and Mulele … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #170 “Moon You”

Jason Lutes’ Berlin shows us scenes from the lives of many characters in Berlin as the Weimar Republic disintegrated and the Nazis rose to power. Historical events (including the fallout of World War I) affect the characters while the characters continue trying to control their own lives, or each other’s, and they cross paths in … Continue reading #657 “Berlin”

Kabi Nagai’s My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, while it does include lesbian sex scenes of a sort, is less about sex than you might expect. It’s more about mental health, and asserting the right to go against other people’s expectations. Tim and Mulele review, and find that, in spite of our being two straight guys, … Continue reading #656 “My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness”

The Incal, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius’ classic ’80s series (originally published in French magazine Métal Hurlant), was very influential on movies as well as comics. In fact, it contains a number of the elements Jodorowsky had intended to put in a Dune film “adaptation” (which bore little resemblance to Frank Herbert’s novel) that never got … Continue reading #655 “The Incal”

Considering how much Mulele talked up Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira back in the early days of the podcast, it’s strange that it’s taken us more than 14 years to actually discuss it here. Perhaps because the story sounded heavy and off-putting to Tim — but is that a fair assessment? On the other hand, as great … Continue reading #654 “Akira”

Dragon Age has been a successful video game series for over a decade, and the title has moved into a number of other media — including comics, most recently from Dark Horse. Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir have written a number of these, including the current series Dragon Age: Blue Wraith. In this episode, Emmet … Continue reading #653 An Age of Dragons, and a Book of Magic

Uzumaki is a 1998 horror manga by Junji Ito, unique in its capacity to make the reader simultaneously laugh out loud at its audacity and feel profoundly disturbed. In this episode, Kumar and Dana recount some of the more bizarre stories in this book, and answer the question, “Is it a compelling read?”

A happy couple’s date is interrupted by a superhero’s fight with a purple monster. The boy is critically injured, and taken by the superhero to lab where he’ll be (painfully, of course) transformed into, presumably, another superhero. Wait, where’s the girl? And, beyond that, where’s the hook? Tim and Mulele critique Zener: Master of the … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #169: “Zener: Master of the Mind”

David F. Sandberg’s 2019 movie Shazam!, starring Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, and Mark Strong, was a a break from the relentless grimness of many recent DC movies, and yet, it did have horroresque scenes. Of course, Sandberg has a lot of horror on his resume, but is there any comics precedent for horror in Shazam!? … Continue reading #651 “Shazam!”: the movie

This week, Emmet, Patrick, Tim, and Chuck Coletta talk about their favorite comics of the past decade! If you’re looking for good comics that you might have missed from the 2010s — from superhero to comedy, historical to horror — we’ll give you plenty of titles to look up! (All titles below are linked to … Continue reading #650 Our favorite comics of the 2010s

Emily Carroll’s Through the Woods (2014) collects a number of her horror web comics. Kumar and Emmet review the book in this episode, and now they believe: a comic can be scary. And they wonder: Is the task of making a comic scary better suited to women?

In Second Coming, Mark Russell explores how Christianity has gone wrong, and that way of thinking where violence is the answer to everything. It certainly wasn’t what Jesus taught, and yet Russell’s disillusioned Jesus starts to think violence might be all there is. Will Weaver joins Tim to discuss this controversial series, and why it’s … Continue reading #648 A Fresh “Second Coming”

In our December 25 episode, we reviewed two more comics from David Dye. While we’ve generally been very positive about his work, there was one bit that Mulele called “Racist AF” and Tim was also uncomfortable with (see below). David’s email in response to the episode made clear to us that the intent wasn’t racist… … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #168: David Dye interview

Tom Spurgeon, a comics advocate, historian, and journalist, passed away on November 13, 2019. Tom was a frequent guest on this podcast, and had a huge impact on comics in general. In this episode, Tim and Kumar discuss his effect on the comics industry and his appearances on DCP. Then, Tim talks to three people … Continue reading #647 Tom Spurgeon Remembered

While Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s New Teen Titans (1980-1988) goes over the top with purple-prose narration and unsubtle plot points, it represents a turning point for DC Comics in a number of ways: it introduced many heroes and villains who are still around today; it was set in New York City, rather than some … Continue reading #646 “New Teen Titans”: a turning point for DC

For more than 40 years, Rumiko Takahashi has been one of Japan’s premiere manga creators. Many of her titles center around “yokai” – Japanese ghosts and monsters. While some are specifically modeled after mythical beings well-known to Japanese, some are original creations. Patrick I-W has been looking into Takahashi’s monsters for one of his comics-themed … Continue reading #645 Rumiko Takahashi’s ghosts and monsters

David Dye’s first issue of Amazing Tales caught our eyes a couple of months ago, so David sent along the next two issues. While they’re artistically good, an aspect of one story made us very uncomfortable… Also, Tim has a question about the course of Mulele’s comics career, and Mulele has some thoughts about the … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #167: Amazing Tales 2 & 3

    Bob Budiansky was a writer, artist, and editor for Marvel in the 1980s and ’90s, after starting out majoring in civil engineering. How did that change of direction come about, and how did his civil engineering background help him write Transformers comics? In this episode, he talks to Koom about that plus the … Continue reading #644 Bob Budiansky

Ann Nocenti is a journalist and filmmaker who also has had quite a career in comics. She wrote Daredevil for several years and created the character of Typhoid Mary. In this interview with Koom, she talks about why writing ol’ horn head was difficult for her at first, and why she created Typhoid Mary, as … Continue reading #643 Ann Nocenti

Klaus Janson has a long and storied career, working for both Marvel and DC as a writer, penciller, and inker, including some famous collaborations with Frank Miller and John Romita Jr. His latest series, Sacred Creatures, is a creator-owned collaboration with artist Pablo Raimondi. In this extended-length episode, he tells Koom about the ideas explored … Continue reading #642 Klaus Janson and “Sacred Creatures”

Horror writer H.P. Lovecraft understood that it was more upsetting to let the reader imagine the horrific thing, than to actually show it. So, can one really do Lovecraft in comics effectively? In volume 1 of his comics adaptation of Lovecraft’s H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness Volume 1 (Manga), Gou Tanabe (so far) … Continue reading #641 A Manga “At the Mountains of Madness”

This week, Critiquing Comics favorite Kristin Tipping talks about the background to Evil Witch Allie and A Book for Sad Pets. Why did her art style change on Evil Witch Allie, and why did volume two seem more confident than volume one? Why is the tone of A Book for Sad Pets so desperate? Plus, … Continue reading #640 Kristin Tipping

Roger Casement is known in the UK and Ireland as a British diplomat who joined the Irish Nationalists and, in 1916, was convicted of treason and executed. But the rest of the world is less familiar with his name. Enter Fionnuala Doran, who has released a graphic novel about him called The Trial of Roger … Continue reading #639 Fionnuala Doran talks “Roger Casement” and more

Jorge Munoz has been a favorite of ours for a while. Recently he sent in several recent works (Longdog, Quin Reyes and Hao Delivery, a sketchbook, Yon Kuma, Sea), and this episode we sit down and take a look at them. Also, Mulele recounts his visit to a New York exhibit called Illustrating Batman. (switch … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #166: Jorge Munoz and Illustrating Batman

In the manga world. Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira has Watchmen-like status. But, as with Alan Moore, the work that caused a sensation overshadows the creator’s excellent previous work. In this case, that’s Domu: A Child’s Dream, originally published in Japanese in 1980-81, and (criminally) out of print in English for nearly two decades now. In this … Continue reading #638 “Domu: A Child’s Dream”

Critiquing Comics returns to discuss the following comics: Gabriel Dunston’s Purgatory Pub presents an angel and a devil having a philosophical discussion. Tim and Mulele have very different levels of tolerance for that concept, and yet come to the same conclusion about this story. David Dye’s Amazing Tales gives us “stories of an Australian nature,” … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #165: “Purgatory Pub” and “Amazing Tales”

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 … Continue reading #637 “Ghost World” haunts us still

In part two of Tim’s interview with longtime comics writer Dan Mishkin, Dan talks about writing Warren Commission Report: A Graphic Investigation into the Kennedy Assassination with artists Ernie Colon and Jerzy Drozd; explores the reasons for Marvel’s breakout success in the 1960s, and compares working for DC vs working for Marvel; explains the concept … Continue reading #636 Dan Mishkin on “Warren Report,” “Amazon Academy,” and Ernie Colon

Spider-Man is back in the MCU! Is it a coincidence that this announcement came out just days after it was revealed that MCU mastermind Kevin Feige has been named the producer of an upcoming Star Wars movie? Mulele tells Tim about his theory of the case.

Dan Mishkin has worked on many different superhero properties, especially for DC — big names such as Batman and Wonder Woman, as well as characters that he helped to create, such as Blue Devil and Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. Tim has been reading the original 1983 Amethyst series, and in part one of his talk … Continue reading #635 Dan Mishkin talks “Amethyst”

In this episode, Tim and Mulele critique: Collapse v 1: “Isolation,” in which a group of people emerge from an underground bunker 19 years after an apocalyptic war. By RP Foster, Russ Pirozek, Pablo Lordi, Jake Isenberg, and Eduardo Camacho. Buy issues of Collapse Evil Witch Allie v 2: We revisit this series about a … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #164: “Collapse” and “Evil Witch Allie”

Last July, with issue 193, Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and company abruptly ended The Walking Dead. In this episode, Emmet is joined by Bobsy (of the podcasts Shadow Trap and Diane, and an occasional guest on Silence) to examine the series and how it ended. What is the deeper meaning of the series, and was … Continue reading #634 The End of “The Walking Dead”

In this episode, we discuss: Read More Comix, by Robb Mirsky, James Spencer, and David Craig, a series featuring hilarious, weird, and sometimes disturbing comics, long and short Antfarm, story and art by Alberto Melendez, working on a concept created by his late brother Tony “War” Melendez. Anthropomorphized ants in battle gear for a start, … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #163: “Read More Comix” and “Antfarm”

Eileen Gray: A House Under the Sun is a slim graphic novel by Charlotte Malterre-Barthes and Zosia Dzierzawska, about the titular famous Irish architect that most people have never heard of. Kumar and Emmet found it beautiful and intriguing; here’s their review.

It’s been a topic of discussion all week: Is Sony really refusing to let Marvel/Disney handle Spider-Man in the movies anymore? What looked like a shocking middle-finger to the mouse now looks to have been a case of negotiating via the media. Tim and Mulele discuss the latest, and also touch on the newly announced … Continue reading MCU update: Spidey in, or out?

Pro basketballer Johnny O’Bryant has long been a fan of manga. But he wanted to see manga-type stories showing people of other races, with characters he could more closely identify with. So he created comics publisher Noir Caesar and hired creators to make his vision happen. Tim and Mulele talk with Johnny about balancing his … Continue reading #632 Johnny O’Bryant’s Noir Caesar