Deconstructing Comics

Tim and Mulele finish up their look at Irrational Comics’ 2018 PITCH page with L.J. Bell’s The Goodes (a superhero/kid-dealing-with-parents’-divorce tale) and Julian Dominguez’ Undergrown (exploring the idea of an earth with no humans on its surface). Irrational Comics gives each writer eight pages to rope readers into his or her tale; did these writers make the best use of the eight pages? Who won this year’s contest? Also, Mulele fills us in on his new Kickstarter project!  

This is the story of a very unusual project: a 250-page comic showing people talking about science. Not your cup of tea? Actually, the seeming lack of overlap between “comics people” and “science people” is part of this story. It was one reason this book took nearly two decades from inception to publication. In this episode, Ryan Haupt joins Tim to review this book, called The Dialogues; then, the book’s author, USC physics professor Clifford V. Johnson, explains the arduous journey of this book, which explains a topic that’s poorly understood by the public via a medium that’s also poorly understood by the public. Also including some actual science talk, including Ryan’s recommendations for other non-fiction comics about science!

Tim and Mulele progress through the 2018 Irrational Comics PITCH page in this episode with Tokyo Mime, featuring two cops going up against a monster that takes the form of the last person it ate, and Pantheon’s End, in which a superhero team is faced with an apparently unstoppable end to the world.

This week Koom interviews Prabal Purkayastha, author of Flirting with Death, about how he tried to use the structure of a comic to communicate music, and how his next project is just the opposite of this one. Then, what would you do if you found yourself on a park bench along a city street, and you knew where you were but you didn’t know who you were? Your home, friends, family, job, all forgotten. Tim and Eugenia review the French graphic novel Blank Slate, by Boulet and Penelope Bagieu, in which a young woman in Paris encounters exactly this problem.

Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia #1 presents a washed-up wrestler who, though he doesn’t know it yet, is about to have to defend his 15-year-old claim to being “the champion of the universe”! Is this comic by Ed Kuehnel, Matt Entin, and Dan Schkade also a champion, or another also-ran? Irrational Comics is again presenting its annual PITCH page, in which five writers submit eight-page scripts, drawn by the publishers artists, and then users vote for their favorite. In this episode, Tim and Mulele discuss the first of the five, Shaun Kang’s Dreamtime, in which a man uses the Aussie Aboriginal “dreamtime” state to solve murders. Attend the upcoming CANVAS Sequential Art Meetup on Comics & Visual Storytelling in Tokyo on February 15 at 7 pm, featuring Raul Trevino, and this podcast’s own Mulele Jarvis and Tim Young!

The Phantom was introduced by Lee Falk in 1936, and appeared in comic books and funny pages for decades. Now comes a new book by Kevin Patrick, The Phantom Unmasked: America’s First Superhero. In this episode, Kevin Patrick tells Emmet about the character’s global popularity, especially in Sweden, Australia, and India — and how “The Ghost that Walks” made his first appearance in all three countries in the same unlikely way. Why did the setting change in the early years from an urban situation to a jungle? What does it say about the situation in the former British colonies, especially in Africa? Why is the Phantom that Emmet remembers considered “wrong” by fans? All this and more. Attend the upcoming CANVAS Sequential Art Meetup on Comics & Visual Storytelling in Tokyo on February 15 at 7 pm, featuring Raul Trevino, and this podcast’s own Mulele Jarvis and Tim Young!

Tim and Mulele talk about four more comics they picked up at the recent Tokyo comics conventions, Kaigai Manga Festa and Comic Art Tokyo. Also, a response from the author of a Kaigai/CAT comic reviewed in a previous episode, and our take on what Erik Larsen’s recent controversial assertion about being successful in comics. Himawari Share #1, by Harmony Becker Teach English In Japan #1, by Jonathon Dalton and Jeffrey Ellis Spaboon by Chris Carlier Florida Folding Zine and Poster, by Natalie Andrewson    

Many Westerners feel a bit puzzled by Japanese comics — the subject matter, the art style, the pacing, etc. Koom has been trying for some time to grasp what he’s not “getting” about manga. Meanwhile, manga translator Kumar is about done with “explaining” Japanese comics to people, but he makes an exception for Koom (and the podcast). They discuss I Am a Hero by Kengo Hanazawa, and A Distant Neighborhood by Jiro Taniguchi — both translated by none other than Kumar!

Tim and Mulele talk about four more comics they picked up at the recent Tokyo comics conventions, Kaigai Manga Festa and Comic Art Tokyo: Bourbaki, by Adam Pasion     Run Boys Run, by Michiru Morikawa   Do You Remember Kobot? by Ian M   Haunted, by Natalie Andrewson    

In this special Monday edition of Critiquing Comics, Tim and Mulele take on a couple of comics by our listeners: First, Chris Calderon’s The Adventures of Rage drops us right into the middle of a battle. This is a time-honored approach, but is it being done well here?    Then, Andre Mateus and Rahil Mohsin’s The Big Sheep gives us funny animals in a noir setting. How does this compare with Andre’s previous submission to Critiquing Comics?

This time, Tim and Mulele talk about some of the comics they picked up at Kaigai Manga Festa and CAT in November! * Citizen Spaceman 2 – Jeremy Lambros * Raiders from the North 1 – Felipe Kolb Bernardes * FE&JUada Comics 1-5 – Felipe Kolb Bernardes and Julia Nascimento * Ink and Dead – Raul Trevino * Minimal Comics 2 – Graeme McNee * Sketchbook vol 6: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara  – Jonathan Edwards * Lakes Festival anthology comic “Starting” — Chris Gooch, Marc Jackson, Luke McGarry, John Martz, Mikiko, Jake Phillips.

Tim attended CAT 2017 on November 25, with job one being a talk with Scott Pilgrim and Seconds creator Bryan Lee O’Malley! O’Malley answers some lingering questions from those books, and discusses the inconsistent censoring of cursing in Snotgirl, giving characters body language, why autobio comics are so popular, and what, if anything, he would change about his published work. Tim also talked with a couple of other creators (many of the denizens of Artist’s Alley were the same ones we met at Kaigai Manga Festa in the past two episodes) and covered a workshop on Risograph Printing presented by Natalie Andrewson, Ryan Cecil Smith, and Grame McNee. Also in this episode, we’ll hear from CAT co-organizer Adam Pasion about how this year’s event went, and lessons learned for next year. 2:13 John Gehron John Gehron 4:38 Erica Ward Erica Ward   6:40 Riso Workshop excerpt — Ryan Cecil Smith talks about how a Risograph machine works A result of Risograph printing   8:46 CAT co-organizer Adam Pasion talks about this year’s event and looks forward to next year 22:20 break 24:31 Bryan Lee O’Malley Bryan Lee O’Malley  

This time we take on a rather unusual Critiquing Comics submission, a book from MIT Press called A Brief History of Feminism, written by Antje Schrupp and drawn by Patu. Yes, it’s a book on feminism reviewed by two dudes — same ones as always, Tim and Mulele — but since it’s Critiquing Comics, we’re mostly concerned with the technical aspects: Is this book actually a comic? How could the lettering have been better? But also: Swiss women got the vote when?!  

This week, part two of the Kaigai Manga Festa 2017 roundup, recorded in Tokyo on November 23 at Tokyo Big Sight. 1:48 Adoor Yeh and Champignonlin Adoor Yeh and Champignonlin 9:09 Natalie Andrewson Natalie Andrewson   13:14 Ryan Cecil Smith Ryan Cecil Smith (r)   17:17 Graeme McNee Graeme McNee   21:16 saicoink saicoink   22:37 Koyama Press Ed Kanerva   23:50 Andrew Wheeler Andrew Wheeler   25:46 Ramon Perez Ramon Perez   27:20 Jason Fisher and Freddy Carrasco Jason Fisher and Freddy Carrasco   30:54 Rupert Bottenberg Rupert Bottenberg   33:19 Christine Wong and Emily Carroll Christine Wong and Emily Carroll   36:06 break 39:07 Mulele Mulele (l)   43:47 Matt Loux Matt Loux   45:45 Johny-san, Coh Miyazaki, and Gabriele Pala Johny-san and Coh Miyazaki (Neko Studio), and Gabriele Pala   51:08 Alti Firmansyah Alti Firmansyah   53:45 Shoko Kimura and Tania Vicedo Tania Vicedo and Shoko Kimura   1:00:17

It’s time for another Kaigai Manga Festa roundup! This year’s international comics festival in Tokyo was held on November 23 at Tokyo Big Sight, alongside the Comitia festival as always. Tim caught up with some familiar faces and met some new ones as well! 3:26 Ario Anindito Ario Anindito 6:37 Raul Trevino Raul Trevino   8:43 Steven Cummings Steven Cummings   10:22 JL Mast JL Mast   13:33 Mokutan Angelo Mokutan Angelo (r)   17:13 Wai On and Wah Kee Wai On and Wai Kee   19:08 Howard Chan (Comic Gravitation) Howard Chan (l)   21:11 Eric Chen Eric Chen   22:25 Ryo Katagiri, Fiona Ostby, and Mutsumi Kanzawa Mutsumi Kanzawa, Fiona Ostby, Ryo Katagiri   26:40 Ian Herring and Moo Moo and Ian Herring   29:35 Harmony Becker Harmony Becker   33:02 break 34:04 Moemai Moemai   35:41 Ruki Kotobuki Kotobuki Ruki   39:17 Nao Yazawa Nao Yazawa   42:24 Petar Tasev Petar Tasev (r)   44:47 Felipe Kolb Bernardes and Julia Nascimento Felipe Kolb Bernardes and Julia Nascimento   47:43