TCJ Talkies

In this episode, Mike speaks to the creator of Minimum Wage.

This week I'm talking to four graduates from The Center for Cartoon Studies: Lucy Knisley, Melissa Mendes, Joe Lambert, and Steve Seck. The Center for Cartoon Studies is a school in White River Junction, Vermont, which offers an MFA in cartooning, as well as one and two year certificates. I talk to each of the graduates about how they decided to attend CCS, what their experience there was like, and how things are going now that they're out in the real world. I also admit my intense jealousy that I can't spend two years up up in a remote location doing nothing but drawing comics.

Howard Cruse is my guest this week. Howard is the creator of Barefootz and Wendel, as well as editor of the anthology series Gay Comix, published by Kitchen Sink Press in the early 1980s. He is probably best known, however, for his stand-alone graphic novel, Stuck Rubber Baby, which was published by DC Comics Paradox Press imprint in 1995. Howard and I spend a good amount of time discussing this book, and how it came to be written. We talk about the editorial process, and how that played out with Howard's own writing habits, and we also get into some interesting questions about writing gay, black, women, and minority characters.

Jessica Abel joins me on the TCJ Talkies podcast this week. Jessica is perhaps best known for two Fantagraphics series, Artbabe and La Perdida, the latter of which was collected into graphic-novel form by Pantheon in 2006. Most of this interview is spent discussing her comics-making textbook Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, which she co-wrote with her husband, the cartoonist Matt Madden. We also talk about her experiences in the classroom, teaching comics at the School of Visual Arts, and a little bit about her work as a co-editor of the annual Best American Comics series. Also joining me this week is Jessica's Life Sucks co-writer, Gabe Soria, who stops by for a brief chat about the experience of creating that book.

Welcome to the second episode of the TCJ Talkies podcast. This time I’m pleased to welcome cartoonist Josh Cotter as my guest. Josh is probably best known for his books Skyscrapers of the Midwest and Driven By Lemons, both published by AdHouse books. Recently, Skyscrapers of the Midwest was adapted into a stage play in Columbus, Ohio. In this episode, Josh discusses his reactions to that show, and his feelings about the play’s inclusion of sections of a very frank Robot 6 interview.

Welcome to the inaugural episode of TCJ Talkies, a brand new and biweekly interview podcast. My first guest is Evan Dorkin, creator of Hectic Planet, Milk & Cheese, Dork!, and Beast of Burden, among many other projects. We have a lengthy chat about his writing process, comics history, his relationship with fans, the state of comic-book stores, and the realities of freelancing.