This Is Who I Am

In this episode I talk with writer/artist couple, Caroline and Graham Johnson. We discussed dungeons and dragons as a source of creative learning, and story and world building, what part sci-fi plays in their story telling, and how creative teams work together. We also talked about webcomics. It was a hot day, and the fan was needed in the garage.

In this episode I talk with web-developer, history buff, and illustrator, Michael Dambold. We discuss ancient history, language, aliens, religion, story telling formats and systems...you know, the usual.

In this episode I chat with writer, sketch comedian, and designer, Eric Grissom about growing up in New Jersey, writing comedy, and then comics, finding a voice, and wikipedia pages (citation needed). His publishing imprint is Frankenstein's Daughter. We talked Dr Who. I was 4 when I met Tom Baker. I'm a really lame researcher.

This episode I talk with John Lees about being an independent comic book writer, his love of Grant Morrison and David Lynch, and the state of comics in the UK and Scotland specifically. We shared our collective shame of growing up in the UK and pretending not to be geeks, and I got the name of And Them Emily Was Gone wrong several times (sorry!)

In this episode I talk with the independent comic book publisher, Noel Burns about his early life as a Manga fan, his passion for indie comics, and his desire to help creators get their work out into the world. He sees the shift from floppies to larger format stories as the way to go.

In this episode I talk with punk rock illustrator, Pat Higgins. We talk process and politics, and a little about his music work in the two bands, Disaster Committee, and Feral Ponies.

In this episode I talked with Oakland based cartoonist, Joey Alison Sayers. We discuss her work, the death of newspaper strips, and the current political climate for female and LGBT creators. I was fighting a head cold.

In this episode I talk with artist and creator, Nathanial Osollo about his growing up in the Inland Empire, and how spinner rack comics and street artists influenced his work. We also talk about underground and DIY comics. He brought beer, I was very tired.

In this episode I talk with tech web-cartoonist, Krishna Sadasivam over Skype. We talk about the changing face of strip cartoons, and how social media has changed the format of story telling with gag strips. We also talk about the bronze age of comics, and how Krishna sees now as a great time for independent and creator-owned comics. I completely forgot to mention Jimi Hendrix.

In this episode, I talk with Game Designer and illustrator, Dan "Smif" Smith about his process, the importance of working for oneself, and how finding a game engine is only half the battle. TSR stands for Tactical Studies Rules.

In this episode I talk with comic book writer, Giulie Speziani about her work, learning how to write comics having come from a script writing background, where her story ideas come from, how she fits writing into a schedule with a full time job, and the importance of a good cover, a good first issue, and self publishing books. We sing the praises of Brian K Vaughn, Black Mask, Chew, Copra, and The Black Monday Murders. A neighbor's game of basketball was happening in the background.

In this episode I talk with beat poet and writer, Johnny Evans about his work, the poetry community in Los Angeles, and his growing up in Pittsburg. The garage was really cold on this one!

In this episode I talk with comic book artist and colorist, Jules Rivera about her work, starting with webcomics in Florida, her engineers approach to story telling, and her current work in Los Angeles. We had black tea and biscuits afterwards.

On this episode I talk with garage punk publisher, Ken Epstein, artist director of the Nix Comics self publishing line. We discuss underground comics, the comic scene in Ohio, and using Kickstarter as a pre-order mechanism. (Issue 6 was the issue of Nix Comics Quarterly that featured the story I worked on with Ken, for the record)

Part two of the interview with animator and VFX artist, Jesse Mesa Toves. In this episode we talk about his work on Battlestar Galactica, Defiance, and Aquarius. We also touch upon his current work on Girl Boss, how his work has changed, and how much he likes working in a higher resolution in both VFX and his artwork. He also mentions Nassim Taleb, and we barely scrape the surface of his comic work!