Comics Alternative Podcast: Brian Cremins Interview

Click here to listen, and for show notes!

I'm back on a very special (for me, at least) episode of The Comics Alternative! This week I join regular co-hosts Derek Royal and Andy Kunka for an interview with Brian Cremins, Harper College professor of English and author of Captain Marvel and the Art of Nostalgia (University Press of Mississippi).

Why is this episode special to me? Because Brian and I met as graduate students at the University of Connecticut more than two decades ago, and he's one of my closest friends. When I moved to the Chicago area a couple of years ago, Brian and his partner Allison Felus welcomed me to town and helped make me feel at home with their friendship and generosity (and their musical appearances!).

Plus, of course, there's Brian's book, which is thoughtful, articulate, and unexpected as academic monographs go. It's smart and engaging, and quite personal at the same time. Brian's answers in this interview will give you a very good idea of the wide-ranging ideas and topics you can expect when you read his book. And you should! 

As always, click the link above to stream the episode, or you can subscribe via iTunes or many other streaming services.

Comics Alternative Podcast: A Roundtable Discussion on Political Comics

Click here to listen, and for show notes!

I'm back to co-host another episode of The Comics Alternative! This week, Derek Royal and I host a roundtable discussion on political comics and cartoons, just in time for tomorrow's Presidential election.

Our guests are Richard Graham, author of Government Issue: Comics for the People, 1940s-2000s (Abrams ComicArts); Rafael Medoff, co-author (along with Craig Yoe) of Cartoonists against the Holocaust (Clizia Inc.); Kent Worcester, editor of Silent Agitators: Cartoon Art from the Pages of New Politics (New Politics Associates); and Fredrik Strömberg, author of Comic Art Propaganda: A Graphic History (St. Martin’s Griffin).

It's a wide-ranging talk covering history, culture, publishing, academia, and more. All of our guests brought unique insights to our virtual table. We hope you enjoy the discussion!

As always, click the link above to stream the episode, or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Comics Alternative Interview: Evan Dorkin, Part 2

Click here to listen, and for show notes!

It seems like just yesterday that I posted about a new Comics Alternative podcast, yet here we go again, with Derek Royal and myself presenting the second part of our epic, two-part interview with cartoonist Evan Dorkin. Today we continue on with Evan's discussion of Beasts of Burden, the animal "supernatural mystery" comic he co-creates with artist Jill Thompson. Read some older "Beasts" material online here, and watch for a new one-shot, "What the Cat Dragged In," in comics shops on May 4!

We cover a lot of other ground as well, including the new Lovecraftian "Calla Cthulhu" series he's co-writing with Sarah Dyer (with art by Erin Humiston) for the Stela app. Really, there's too much to try and summarize here; though if you listened to yesterday's show, you already have a sense of how wide-ranging Evan's interests and passions are. Give it a listen!

Oh, and just for the heck of it, here is some of my vintage Dorkinalia collection:

Milk and Cheese fridge magnets, and a die from the WIZARD board game!
And World's Funnest buttons!

As always, click the link above to stream the episode, or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Comics Alternative Interview: Evan Dorkin, Part 1

Click here to listen, and for show notes!

Today on The Comics Alternative, Derek Royal and I present the first part of our epic, two-part interview with cartoonist Evan Dorkin. We reviewed his recent collection The Eltingville Club just a couple of weeks ago, so we begin today's interview with Evan by discussing the "Eltingville" strips and TV pilot in some detail, before starting into Beasts of Burden, the absolutely wonderful series he co-creates with artist Jill Thompson.

Evan is just as funny an interview subject as he is a cartoonist, but he's also incredibly thoughtful about his own work. There's a lot of laughter in this interview, but also a lot of reflective commentary from him.

I've been a fan of Dorkin's work for over two decades now, and it was great to be able to spend so much time speaking with him about his career. As proof of my longtime fandom, here's a sketch he was nice enough to do for me at a comics convention back in 1996; my sketchbook's theme is "Draw one of your characters reading their favorite book," and Evan gifted me with this perfectly appropriate drawing of Milk and Cheese:

Be sure to click and read the TV GOD cover blurbs! © 1996, 2016 Evan Dorkin.

Check back tomorrow for Part Two of this interview, which gets into lots of Evan's other comics, plus broader issues of comics history, business, and culture

As always, click the link above to stream the episode, or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Comics Alternative Podcast: Tom Hart Interview

Click here to listen, and for show notes!

On this episode of The Comics Alternative, Derek Royal and I welcome cartoonist and educator Tom Hart. His graphic memoir Rosalie Lightning (St. Martin's Press) will be published tomorrow.

This wide-ranging discussion focuses primarily on Rosalie Lightning, an extraordinarily moving rumination on life, and death, and grieving, and memory, and celebration, and endurance, and art, and love. It chronicles how Tom and his wife, cartoonist Leela Corman, continued on after the sudden death of their daughter Rosalie Lightning just days before her second birthday. (You can read versions of the first two chapters here - and also, read Leela's hauntingly beautiful comics "Yahzeit" and "PTSD: The Wound that Never Heals.") Rosalie Lightning is a powerful and meaningful book. You'll be hearing a lot about it--and not just from comics-specific commentators, I'll wager.

We also talk a bit about some of Tom's earlier comics work, his hands-on process, and his general approach to art. And Tom tells us about The Sequential Artists Workshop which he and Leela established in Gainesville, FL, a training program a new generation of cartoonists. (SAW is currently holding a fundraiser which is worth your attention.)

On a personal note: I first "met" Tom over twenty years ago on an email list, and we met in person a few times at SPX in the late 1990s. I met Leela then, too. I grieved when I learned the news about Rosalie, though I had never met her. Just about two years ago, I got to see Leela and Tom again, along with their recently born daughter Molly Rose: Leela was one of the cartoonists featured in the "Graphic Jews" exhibit at Skidmore College's Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, and the family traveled up to Saratoga Springs so Leela could be a guest on a panel I co-moderated in conjunction with the exhibit. (Darling Molly Rose nibbled on my fingers a bit during the pre-panel dinner.) Tom and Leela are both wonderful people and amazing artists.

Comics Alternative Podcast Interview: @YoeBooks' Craig Yoe

Click here to listen, and for show notes!

It's the first installment of the Comics Alternative podcast for 2016! Derek Royal and I say "Happy New Yoe!" as we welcome back Craig Yoe for another interview. We discuss the most recent hardcover comic book reprint collections from Yoe Books, including Ghost and Girls of Fiction House, The Complete Voodoo vol. 1, Horror by Heck, Walt Kelly's Fairy Tales, and Weird Love vol. 2 (plus we sneak in a little talk about the upcoming Haunted Love title). We talk a good bit about the process of putting these books together: Collecting the materials; working with collaborators like Michael Price and Mike Howlett; and the editing, production, and design processes which Craig shares with Yoe Books co-founder Clizia Gossoni (who, I believe, makes a cameo appearance or two in the recording!).

I got a huge kick out of all of these books. The old horror comics are all over the map in terms of story and art types--if all you're familiar with are the old EC titles like Tales from the Crypt, these stories will surprise you with their variety. The romance stories in Weird Love most definitely live up to their billing. And the Walt Kelly book is truly a marvel to behold.

Craig's a longtime friend of the podcast, as well as a friend of mine in real life. It's always great to catch up with him and talk about cool--and often really, really strange!--old comics. In fact, after we stopped recording, we came up with an idea or two for future shows with Craig which would go in a very different direction indeed, and I hope we get to do them.

As always, click the link above to stream the episode, or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Comics Alternative Interview: Josh Fialkov and Kody Chamberlain of Punks the Comic

Click here to listen, and for show notes!

It's been about half a year (yikes!), but I'm back on an episode of The Comics Alternative! This time, Derek Royal and I interview Josh Fialkov and Kody Chamberlain, creators of Punks The Comic (Image). The title's a rollercoaster mishmash of joke-filled collage artwork, pop culture references, The Young Ones, and generally hilarious mayhem, starring Dog, Fist, Skull, and Abe Lincoln (of course). We talk to Josh and Kody about the new Punks collection (Volume 1: Nutpuncher), as well as about their collaborative process, creating humor in comics, and some of their other works.

Kody & Josh guest-star in one story.
My thanks to Kody for supplying this pre-dialog half-page image! 

Our conversation was a lot of fun, and I hope that comes through in the recording. (Note that some of the language here is NSFW - but hey, the comics is titled Punks after all!)

As always, click the link above to stream the episode, or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Comics Alternative Interview: Shannon Wheeler

Click here to listen, and for show notes!

On this episode of The Comics Alternative, Derek Royal and I have the pleasure of interviewing cartoonist Shannon Wheeler. Previously best known for his not-so-super hero Too Much Coffee Man, today Shannon is everywhere, from his one-shot Astounding Villain House (published by Dark Horse) to his cartoons for the Bible re-telling God is Disappointed in You (written by Mark Russell; from Top Shelf) to his cartoons in The New Yorker - out-takes from which are collected in I Thought You Would be Funnier, I Told You So, and I Don't Get It (Boom Town).

Derek and I had a blast speaking with Shannon - so much so that we all kept talking well after the recording had stopped. Unfortunately, you won't get to hear our plans for world comedy domination in the podcast itself, but you will hear about the widely varied career of a genuinely funny man.

As always, click the link above to stream the episode, or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Comics Alternative Podcast: Interview with Brian Joines (Imagine Agents, Krampus)

Click here to listen, and for show notes!

On this episode of the Comics Alternative, Derek Royal and I interview Brian Joines, writer of the current miniseries IMAGINE Agents from BOOM Studios (think Men in Black meets Ghostbusters, tracking wayward childhood imaginary friends), and Krampus from Image (eastern European Christmas mythology à la Escape from New York). We talk with Brian about how he developed these new series, how they might possibly connect, his thematic concerns, the ways in which artists Bachan and Dean Kotz contribute to these titles, and more.

As always, click the link above to stream the episode, or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Comics Alternative Podcast: Interview with Zak Sally (Sammy the Mouse)

Click here to listen, and for show notes!
Also: Bonus videos!

On this episode of the Comics Alternative, I join Derek Royal and Andy Kunka to interview cartoonist, publisher, musician, and educator Zak Sally. We spend much of the time discussing his current book series Sammy the Mouse as well as his Recidivist and other comics collected in Like a Dog, but that doesn't mean that we don't also cover other important topics as well--Zak, Andy, and I share roots in the Midwest, so that leads to some...extracurricular conversation. Join us for this talk with a unique voice in comics.

As always, click the link above to stream the episode, or you can subscribe via iTunes.

With a Short Straw Farmhouse Red Ale from Blue Moon.

Comics Alternative Podcast: Interview with Vivek J. Tiwary (The Fifth Beatle)

Click here to listen, and for show notes!

On this episode of the Comics Alternative, Derek Royal and I interview Vivek J. Tiwary, writer of The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story. Even during the hectic opening week of his book tour, Vivek was an enthusiastic and engaging subject, eager to talk about the impact the Epstein has had on his own life (he's is a film, television, theater, and music producer) as well as the importance of illustrators Andrew C. Robinson and Kyle Baker to this biography.

I only regret that I didn't get to ask him about his work with Bruce Springsteen. Maybe next time!

As always, click the link above to stream the episode, or you can subscribe via iTunes.

With a Mountain Abbey Ale from Blue Moon.

Comics Alternative Podcast : Interview with Craig Yoe (Yoe Books)

Click here to listen, and for show notes!

On this episode of the Comics Alternative, Derek Royal and I interview comics editor, historian, and creator (and my pal) Craig Yoe. Craig is the co-CEO of Yoe Books, purveyors of classic comics reprint projects, but we speak with him about his whole career, including his time as Creative Director of Jim Henson's Muppets. Craig's story of introducing Jim Henson to Steve Ditko is worth the price of admission alone! But there's lots of other great stuff here. Bonus: Listen and score along with Craig as my critical fortunes fall and rise!

As always, click the link above to stream the episode, or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Comics Alternative Podcast : Interview with Jeremy Whitley (Princeless)

Click here to listen, and for show notes!

I return to the Comics Alternative podcast today to join Derek Royal in interviewing Jeremy Whitley, writer of the all-ages fantasy series Princeless. In Princeless, a fairy tale princess realizes that she doesn't need a prince to rescue her but can do quite nicely on her own - and have adventures, to boot! Jeremy talks about the need for comics featuring girls with agency, as well as his roles with the publisher Action Lab, including his new position as "Educational Outreach Director," a position that I'll be curious to learn more about as it develops.

As always, click the link above to stream the episode, or you can subscribe via iTunes.

Interview with Me at The Gatekeepers Post

I was recently contacted by The Gatekeepers Post ("the leading social media book publishing community on the web") to do an author interview, and I happily obliged. You can read my thoughts on writing, ebooks, social media, and more here. Thanks to editor Jeff Rivera for the invite!

Talking Tintin: Gene on the Radio This Thursday

This Thursday, I'll be a guest (possibly the guest along with Alex Buchet) on the Wisconsin Public Radio show Here on Earth, for an episode entitled "The Adventures of Tintin." That's right, the world-famous Belgian boy reporter gets his own hour-long radio show here in the States. Tune in from 3:00-4:00pm Central Time to get the low-down on the stories, the controversies, and more, in anticipation of next year's Steven Spielberg-directed adaptation. The show will also be available on-line as an MP3 podcast after the broadcast.

Interview at Super I.T.C.H.

Beth Davies-Stofka of Super I.T.C.H. (International Team of Comics Historians) interviewed me about comics (what else?), and the results are posted here. Read about Spider-Man, Peanuts, Winsor McCay, the Smokey Bear comic book, and more. Thanks for all of the too-kind words, Beth!

Craig Yoe Talks about Joe Shuster's Fetish Art on Yesterday's "Fresh Air"

On last night's broadcast of "Fresh Air," NPR's Terry Gross interviewed my pal Craig Yoe, author of the new book Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster. I got a peek at the book a few months back at the New York Comic Con, and it looks great! I can't wait to get a copy of my own. Much of this work has laid "undiscovered" for decades; Craig's done a great service by presenting and discussing this work, showing us another side of the artist who's best-known (possibly only known) to the general public for having created, with Jerry Siegel, that obscure comic book character Superman.

Listen to Terry Gross' interview with Craig Yoe here.

I've heard rumblings from a (very) few comics fans who lament the book's existence, saying that it sullies Joe Shuster's memory. I couldn't disagree more; the book adds to our knowledge of Shuster, revealing where his opportunities lay once DC Comics had no more use for his services and showing us how his art "matured" (in more than one sense) after he drew the Man of Steel. I've also heard fans say that the art in this book will "overshadow" his work on Superman. Honestly, could that really happen? Will people now remember only this work and forget his co-creation of Superman? Hardly. Or, to put it another way, it's simply inconceivable.

For more information on the book, check out ComicsResearch.org's feature page for Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s co-creator Joe Shuster. We also have info on some of Craig's other books, like Clean Cartoonists' Dirty Drawings and Modern Arf: Artists + Models: The Naked Truth. And no, Craig doesn't just write books with nekkid ladies in them - check out his website for a complete list. Obviously, I need to add - and OWN - the rest of his books!

Addendum: As everyone who's met him or read his book-blog knows, Craig Yoe is one of those shy, retiring types, never one to toot his own horn without painful prodding. I'm not sure who was holding a gun to his head, but somehow he was convinced to create an image promoting his radio appearance:
Very clever, Craig! But I know your secret. You stole - er, appropriated - that face from the original version of your new book's cover.Image credits: Top - cover to Secret Identity, probably Copyright © 2009 Abrams ComicArts. Middle: Copyright © 2009 Craig Yoe. Bottom: A "yoe-toe-shopped" mash-up of the two by moi.

Interview at Sequential Tart!

This week's installment of Sequential Tart (one of the top American comics webzines) features an interview with yours truly, with an eventual focus on my new book, 500 Essential Graphic Novels. Rebecca Buchanon, my intrepid interviewer, starts off with biographical questions; readers will learn quite a bit (too much?) about me as well as about the book.

This was my first real interview, and I thank Rebecca and the Tarts for their wide-ranging interest!

Yikes, I almost forgot: Here's the link to the interview. Enter freely, and of your own will.

I've got another interview coming up soon-ish (I'm working on it right now, Tim!), and I'll alert all 22 of my readers once that one's live.

Our Thoughts on Superheroes are World-Famous in Dubai

"Man and Uber Man" is a fairly lengthy think-piece on superheroes, published on July 2 in the 4Men section of Gulf News, a newspaper out of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Nitin Nair, the researcher, asked some interesting questions and ended up using a lot of what I'd said. I'm in pretty good company too; he also spoke with Douglas Wolk (whose Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean I still need to add to ComicsResearch.org) and Gotham Chopra, the chief creative officer of Virgin Comics (and son of mega-selling author Deepak Chopra).

Note: At present, the article's first three paragraphs appear to have come from an unrelated piece, The actual article starts "For a minute, let's assume that you grew up without having known the world of superheroes."

Publication: Conversations with Art Spiegelman

In 2002 I was invited to interview Art Spiegelman at the International Comic Arts Festival; the event was co-sponsored by the Small Press Expo. I admit to being a bit nervous at the time: It was the first time I'd interviewed anyone, let alone someone I'd written about in my dissertation. Doing so in front of a large crowd didn't help, either. But Spiegelman certainly did; he's not just a ready speaker, but very articulate about his (and others') work.

I made sure to record the interview (thanks for the help, Mark Nevins!), which was fortunate. Joseph Witek, author of Comic Books as History, later contacted me about including a transcript of the interview in his upcoming volume for the University Press of Mississippi entitled Art Spiegelman: Conversations.
The book was published earlier this year, and it's quite an impressive volume. It'll prove to be a valuable book to scholars, of course. But Spiegelman's gift for analysis (and of gab!) makes the book a great read for anyone interested in comics as an art form. It's a worthy addition to UPM's essential Conversations with Comics Artists Series. (Naturally, I'd say all of this even if I hadn't contributed to it.)

Click here for ComicsResearch.org's listing for
Art Spiegelman: Conversations.
Image: Photo from The Comics Journal's coverage of ICAF/SPX. Although I had written for TCJ for many years, the caption-writer obviously felt that given the choice between identifying me or Spiegelman's cigarette, the smoke was the more well-known participant.