Deconstructing Comics

A man is being stalked by a child who wants to kill him. Who is the child? Or perhaps the question is, what does the child symbolize? Could this book be an autobiography in disguise? Koom and Mike discuss Alan Moore and Oscar Zarate’s underappreciated 1991 work A Small Killing— as well as Moore’s prose novel Jerusalem and simply the nature of Alan Moore.

That special, ’80s-movie moment in your life: What if you could bring it back? Writer Norm Harper and artists Val Halvorson and Bobby Timony explore this question in The Sequels #1: Curcuit Boarders. Metaphorical HER, by writer James Maddox and artist David Stoll, is a comic employing eye-catching visual metaphors and exploring the world of poetry. Why is there hardly any poetry in it? Tim thinks Mulele’s got it figured out. Together they critique both books.

Our own Koom recently attended the Toronto Comicon, leading to this episode’s two interviews! First, Denny O’Neil talks about his experiences and collaborations in the comics industry, why he imagines Gotham City to be in New Jersey, and more. Then cartoonist and animator Sam Agro talks animation, superhero movies, the evolution of comics conventions, and more.

This time we look at the second anthology from Tokyo Collective, called Monogatari. The title is Japanese for “story” and is made up of words meaning “thing” and “talk about,” and the stories in this book do indeed talk about things —  things that are found in Tokyo. We discuss our favorites, and others that we found less compelling. Also: Are America’s Big Two comics companies headed for a cliff? We look at recent articles by Matt McGloin on Marvel and DC‘s business woes, and consider what it might mean if the Big Two went under.

Daredevil: Born Again came out in 1986, when US mainstream comics were changing in ways that now are either taken for granted or now look a bit antiquated (so much story in so few pages!). Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli were making their mark. But does their storytelling style hold up 33 years later? How does it look alongside Miller’s contemporaneous The Dark Knight Returns? Koom and Rob discuss this classic story arc from Daredevil #226-233.

Days of Dark Fire (by Giovanni Smith and Mike Gaughran) is a somewhat lighthearted sword-and sorcery tale, about a screwup prince who’s trying to save his kingdom. Rage in the Shadows (by Ralph Henriquez and Emilio Utrera) is about a homeland security agent who’s been given a super-soldier type serum that’s killing her. Tim and Mulele discuss both comics, and give advice about how to make them better!

How one culture perceives aspects of another culture is always interesting to observe. Our old friend Patrick Iijima-Washburn has been looking at how American comics portray ninja warriors and, conversely, how Japanese comics portray cowboys. Tim gets his observations on the matter.

Last time, we started to review issue 2 of These Savage Shores by Ram V., Sumit Kumar, Vittorio Astone, and Aditya Bidikar, but we decided to wait and get ahold of issue 1. Now we have the first three issues, so we dig into this 17th-century story of India, including a vampire and a masked immortal.

Gorky and Izzy are partners in crime – literally – but Gorky’s been dumped by his girlfriend and he’s in a bad way. Izzy is struggling to deal with him in a way befitting a best friend. Tim and Mulele discuss Gorky and Izzy’s Trip to Mexico by F.E. Rahman and Jon Schwochert. Also in this episode… oh, wait, never mind. Next time.

Chris Onstad made webcomic Achewood from 2001 to 2016, a strange, offbeat strip that may not be for everyone, but seems to be for Kumar and Dana, who have spent some time catching up with the strip. They give us their thoughts on the humor, the change in social mores since 2001 that becomes obvious when reading the early strips, the strip’s keen observations about aging and depression, and more.

After, well, a slight delay, Deconstructing Comics continues its look at Alan Moore’s 1980s run on Swamp Thing— a run in which the title character met werewolves and vampires (as Moore and co. found a new way to use these old tropes), as well as new character John Constantine. Moore was aided by artists Stephen Bissette, John Totleben, and Alfredo Acala, among others. Koom and newcomer Darrell Epp discuss.

Tim and Mulele discuss more of the comics they picked up at the recent comics events in Tokyo, Comic Art Tokyo and Kaigai Manga Festa. 2:49 The Pig Sleep by Cory McCallum and Matthew Daley 16:26 Alethia chapter one by Kristina Stipetic 22:29 Square Comix #17 by Ian M

This week Koom interviews Rob Walton, who created the graphic novel Ragmop in the 1990s and is now releasing a sequel through Vault Comics. How does one approach continuing a series based in the morés and political situation of the ‘90s? Also, Rob’s love of old Marvel comics and how he fused those stories onto modern ideas in his own work; the development of his politics; his management style, and more.

Matt Kindt recently ran a Kickstarter project to realize his dream of doing an old-school book & record story, set in the MIND MGMT universe, featuring the voice of longtime radio host Clint McElroy. Did someone say “audio comics”? That means it’s time to (finally) bring back voice actor Kevin Horton to discuss the book, and Matt’s innovative use of the book & record mixed media experience.

Matt Kindt recently ran a Kickstarter project to realize his dream of doing an old-school book & record story, set in the MIND MGMT universe, featuring the voice of longtime radio host Clint McElroy. Did someone say “audio comics”? That means it’s time to (finally) bring back voice actor Kevin Horton to discuss the book, and Matt’s innovative use of the book & record mixed media experience.