Podcasts – Trip City

Jef UK talks with writer Fred Van Lente about his work on Amazing Spider-Man, Incredible Hercules, Archer & Armstrong, G.I.JOE, his craft, and how he broke into professional comics. Then, playwright Crystal Skillman discusses her play Geek!, and the New York City, Off-Broadway scene. This episode of the Trip City Podcast was produced by Chris Miskiewicz and Jeffrey Burandt. Subscribe for free on iTunes, comment, and rate us 5 stars!

Trip City Northwest correspondent Ryan Alexander-Tanner talks to Pulitzer-Prize nominated, nationally syndicated political cartoonist Matt Bors, who recently released his first collection of comics, Life Begins at Incorporation, after a successful Kickstarter campaign.  The discussion includes Bors’ early life as a fanboy, his growing political awareness, his obsessive work ethic, future career plans, and how he may or may not rather be penciling X-Men. The Trip City Podcast is produced by Chris Miskiewicz, Seth Kushner and Ryan Alexander-Tanner

Seth Kushner talks to Gregory Benton, who has has been making comix since 1993. He cut his teeth on the political anthology World War 3, moving on to writing and drawing stories for Nickelodoeon, Vertigo, DC Comics, Disney Adventures, Watson-Guptil, Entertainment Weekly, as well as contributing to numerous alternate-press comix anthologies. A graphic novel, Hummingbird, was published by Slave Labor Graphics in 1996. Gregory has also produced numerous limited-edition mini-comix. Hopefully you have some. His illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice and Fortune, among others. Most recently, his book B+F was awarded the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art’s inaugural Award of Excellence at MoCCA Fest 2013. An expanded version of B+F will be published in the autumn of 2013 through Adhouse Books in the USA and Editions ça et la in France. [Gregory Benton and his art for B+F] Seth also chats with Eric Skillman, a Brooklyn-based graphic designer, who mostly designs DVD packaging at his day job with The Criterion Collection.  He also deigns books, including Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics by Christopher Irving and Seth Kushner for powerhouse Books and Tales of Sand by Jim Henson and Ramon Perez for Archaia, for which he won an Eisner Award.  Eric also writes comics, including the graphic novel Liar’s Kiss, drawn by Jhomar Soriano for Top Shelf and the webseries SUCKERS, drawn by Jorge Coelho and appearing in monthly installments here on TRIP CITY. [Eric Skillman reflects] The Trip City Podcast is produced by Chris Miskiewicz, Seth Kushner and Dean Haspiel. Photography by Seth Kushner

  Dean Haspiel talks to Danny Fingeroth, who edited and wrote many Marvel Comics from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, which included Spider-Man, The Avengers, Iron Man, Daredevil, What If?, Darkhawk, and Dazzler. Danny also wrote several books such as Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and The Creation of the Superhero, and The Stan Lee Universe (with Roy Thomas). They also discuss Danny’s career as a comics writing teacher, curator, and organizer, and his new series of Comic Book Roundtable’s at the Soho Gallery of Digital Art launching April 10th. This episode of the Trip City Podcast was produced by Dean Haspiel, Chris Miskiewicz, and Seth Kushner Fingeroth photos by Dean Haspiel   (Danny Fingeroth drew BATMAN in Dean Haspiel’s sketchbook on April 7th, 2013)

Chris Roberson’s career as a comics writer and founder of the digital comics publisher MonkeyBrain is sometimes overshadowed by his controversial exit from DC Comics over creative differences and his well-documented moral aversion towards the Before Watchmen project.  TRIP CITY Northwest correspondent Ryan Alexander-Tanner was all too willing to ask about these intriguing subjects of controversy during their interview but ultimately left with a clear understanding of Roberson as a creator who would much rather focus on his love of producing innovative and high quality work.  Roberson’s wife and business partner, Allison Baker, sat in on the conversation and occasionally chimed in to demonstrate that she’s the brains behind the monkey. The TRIP CITY Podcast is produced by Chris Miskiewicz, Ryan Alexander-Tanner and Seth Kushner Photo by Kevin Church  

    TRIP CITY Northwest Correspondent Ryan Alexander-Tanner interviews cartoonist Zack Soto, curator of the popular webcomics collective studygroupcomics.com and writer/artist of The Secret Voice.  Their conversation covers a range of topics, including the benefits of working on short stories, digital illustration programs like Manga Studio and drawing digitally vs. drawing on paper, Soto’s fine arts and printmaker backgrounds, the formation of the study group web comics collective, and Soto’s complex and ever-evolving relationship with the sprawling narrative of THE SECRET VOICE. The Trip City Podcast is produced by Chris Miskiewicz, Seth Kushner and Ryan Alexander-Tanner.  

  TRIP CITY Northwest Correspondent Ryan Alexander-Tanner interviews comics creator Farel Dalrymple about his life and times as a professional cartoonist. Dalrymple discusses his progress on his ambitious next graphic novel, The Wrenchies, to be released by First Second upon its completion. They also discuss attitudes towards collaboration, work-for-hire, print vs. digital, serializing work vs. premiering it as a completed graphic novel, Dalrymple’s artistic origins as a student at SVA and a founder of the Meathaus comics movement, his collaborations with Jonathan Lethem on Omega: The Unknown and with Brandom Graham on Prophet, and the subjective nature of success, and lots more! The TRIP CITY Podcast is produced by Chris Miskiewicz, Seth Kushner, Dean Haspiel and Ryan Alexander-Tanner Farel Dalrymple photo by Arther Smid   Farel Dalrymple illustration by Ryan Alexander-Tanner

At this past fall’s Baltimore Comicon, Dean Haspiel had the great fortune to talk to Mark Waid, one of his favorite genre writers in comic books, the day after he won several Harvey Awards for his brilliant revamp of DAREDEVIL for Marvel Comics. Accompanied by Seth Kushner and Christina Whalen Blanch, they discuss Mark’s now infamous controversial 2010 Harvey Awards keynote speech about the future of digital comics, putting his money where his mouth is with the digital comics platform Thrillbent, and Christina’s upcoming web-series. They also discuss what makes a Mark Waid comic, his relaunch of THE HULK for Marvel Comics, and on which franchise characters Mark would like to collaborate with Dean. Seth Kushner sits with cartoonist Stephen Destefano at his home in Hoboken, NJ, where they have a casual conversation about Stephen’s work on the revered ‘Mazing Man for DC Comics in the 80s, his career in animation where he worked on such shows as Ren and Stimpy, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and many more.  Also discussed were Stephen’s 2010 Fantagraphics graphic novel Lucky in Love, and the recent collaboration between Stephen and Seth on Seth’s webcomic series SCHMUCK.  Finally, Seth grills Stephen on current comics and his reactions are frank and hilarious. This episode of The Trip City Podcast was produced by Dean Haspiel, Seth Kushner, and (Mark Waid’s Nemesis) Chris Miskiewicz. Photography by Seth Kushner [Christina Whalen Blanch & Mark Waid]

  On Friday, December 7th, 2012, Dean Haspiel had a great conversation with fellow Brooklynite and artist, Michael Arthur, the heir apparent to Al Hirschfeld, who was America’s premiere theater & arts caricaturist and a major influence. They discuss how they first met, the impact of the brush pen, and a fascinating overview of Michael’s career, which includes being a research assistant to theater historian Oscar G. Brockett, drawing intimate rehearsals for American Ballet Theater, and the Martha Graham Dance Company (among others), meeting Stan Lee, getting published in the NY Times and Vanity Fair, his role as “Toxy Goodwater” with indie-rock folk art collective, Balthrop, Alabama, becoming the archival artist for Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater in NYC, and the confirmation that Whoopi Goldberg gave to him. Please be sure to check out the Live Reaction Art of Michael Arthur, too! –Dean Haspiel Photographs by Dean Haspiel This episode of the TRIP CITY Podcast was produced by Dean Haspiel, Chris Miskiewicz, and Seth Kushner.

At this past fall’s Baltimore Comic Con, Dean Haspiel had the great fortune to talk to Frank Quitely, one of his favorite comic book artists of the 21st Century, while he drew a “Robin” commission. They discussed what other franchise characters Frank would give the same treatment he gave to ALL-STAR SUPERMAN [answer: HULK], what informs and influences his work, isolating the perfect graphic moments to obtain narrative suspense, his desire to write and delve into memoir, his love for symmetry and balance, abandoning ink for digital finish, and his upcoming collaborations on JUPITER’S LEGACY with Mark Millar, and PAX AMERICANA with Grant Morrison. Alas, the conversation was cut short when Harvey Award winning colorist and mutual friend, Jose Villarrubia, swung by to steal Frank away for their panel. [Joe Keatinge photo by Stephanie Cooke] Cartoonist and new Trip City northwest correspondent Ryan Alexander-Tanner interviews comics writer Joe Keatinge about his experiences as a comics writer.  Their conversation covers his range of work both as an independent writer of books like HELL YEAH and GLORY for Image comics and his more mainstream efforts for Marvel comics, MORBIUS and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.  Their exchange addresses the ins and outs of a career in comics and the shifting attitudes of a working professional in the field as a career develops, plus much more! The TRIP CITY Podcast is produced by Dean Haspiel, Ryan Alexander-Tanner, Seth Kushner, Chris Miskiewicz Photos by Seth Kushner  

      On Friday, November 9th, 2012, Dean Haspiel sat with cartoonist, filmmaker, provocateur, Josh Simmons to discuss THE FURRY TRAP, his new collection of psycho-sexual-horror stories published by Fantagraphics Books. They also talked about Josh’s comix career which includes his book projects HAPPY, HOUSE, and JESSICA FARM. Plus, sharing beds with other cartoonists, sexual circus acts, erections, exploitation films, the strategy and importance of surreal pornography, the evocative powers and value of horror, and his commitment to comix. Watch Josh Simmons horror movie, THE LEADER.   This episode of the Trip City Podcast produced by Dean Haspiel, Chris Miskiewicz, and Seth Kushner.

Seth Kushner sits with pornstar Stoya.  The interview was conducted with Seth in a chair and Stoya laying in her bed next to him,  Listen for Seth getting understandably flustered, as they discuss her career in porn and having sex on camera, the business and realities of porn, and on how she provides advice about sexual myths and body image through social media.  Also, be sure to view Seth’s CulturePOP Photocomix profile on Stoya. Listen for the chirping birds in the background as Seth also interviews artist and Mistress of Magic Katelan Foisy at NY’Cs Gramercy Park.  They talk about Katelan’s gypsy nature, her paintings, her history with witchery and tarot, her artistic crew, her role in Cynthia Von Buhler’s Speakeasy Dollhouse and the recent collaboration between Katelan,  Seth and Chris Miskiewicz.  View at gallery of Katelan’s work at La Gitana: The Art of Katelan Foisy. The TRIP CITY Podcast is produced by Chris Miskiewicz Photography by Seth Kushner

Seth Kushner sits down with Sean Howe, author of the new book, Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, from Harper.  The two long-time comics fans talk about Sean’s years of exhaustive research into Marvel Comics history, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, the their favorite comics and creators growing up, the comics they enjoy today and much more. [Bryan Lee O’Malley photographed at Chinatown Fair arcade] Jef UK has a short and sweet talk with Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley, who was in town for New York Comic Con.  Bryan talks about the Scott Pilgrim movie, the new Scott Pilgrim color editions from Oni Press and more.  The interview was conducted at a Chinese restaurant and listen for when Seth Kushner causes the waitress to spill Bryan’s soup! [Jef UK interviews Bryan Lee O’Malley] The TRIP CITY Podcast is produced by Chris Miskiewicz Photography by Seth Kushner  

   In this episode of The Trip City Podcast Chris Miskiewicz sits with British cartoonist, writer, and graphic novelist Nick Abadzis for an in depth interview about his twenty-five years of working in comics, including his graphic novel Laika which has, to date, been translated into eleven different languages around the world, and his latest book, Hugo Tate, which has been described as “a road movie from Hell.” Nick currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. For more info, visit: http://www.nickabadzis.com/ To read more of Nick’s work on Trip City click the following links: Subterranean Stories on Trip City Perfect Imperfect on Trip City Soviet Psychedelia on Trip City This weeks featured closing track is “Refrigerator” by the multi-media award winning artist Haik Kocharian. Go to iTunes to download more of Haik’s music. Photo by Seth Kushner      

This week on the Trip City Podcast, Jef UK and filmmaker Amy Finkel talk to legendary musician and outsider artist Daniel Johnston about his first ever graphic novel, Space Ducks: An Inifinite Comic Book of Musical Greatness, available now from BOOM! Studios. [Jef UK and Amy Finkel interview Daniel Johnston. Photo by Seth Kushner.] Continuing the music meets comix mashup, Chris Miskiewicz talks to Jef UK and JTR3, members of the sci-fi rock group Americans UK, and the three discuss the band’s upcoming musical releases, their comic books, and crack wise about a variety of topics. [Jef UK portrait by Seth Kushner.] This episode of the Trip City Podcast was produced by Chris Miskiewicz, Jeffrey Burandt, and Seth Kushner. Subscribe for free on iTunes, comment, and rate us 5 stars! [To The Rescue by Daniel Johnston, from the personal collection of Jef UK.]