FLASHBACK! Art Spiegelman’s Maus was one of the major ’80s works that began to break American comics into the mainstream, as well as waking the industry up to the potential of the medium. Tim and Brandon discuss in our May 28, 2007 episode.

Tim shoots some iPhone video of the American Comics Exhibition, including appearances by both Patri(c)ks, and an interview with bigtime Japanese animator Sonic!

You’ve heard Tim talk about the American Comics Exhibition; now hear the viewpoints of some of the other artists. Cassey Bradley talks about her take on the Joker; Jim Reddy discusses his influences; and Patrick Gannon, our favorite cut-paper artist, explains the differences between galleries in Japan and galleries in the U.S.

We asked for mail from a listener in Sweden, and Gunnar listened! Tim and Kumar discuss his observations and questions. Then, a look at the popular Web comic The Adventures of Dr. McNinja by Christopher Hastings. Comedy, bizarreness, and lots and lots of fighting. Does the fighting work as comedy? Finally, a (spoiler-filled!) look back […]

Brian Michael Bendis has been the dominant writer at Marvel for a number of years now. While his books — including Ultimate Spider-man, New Avengers, Avengers, and event books like Seige — sell well, they have also generated a fair amount of controversy and just plain complaints. Some people like his work, others don’t. For […]

The 1994 release of Marvels took comics by storm. The four-issue miniseries established the places of both hyperrealistic painter Alex Ross and continuity maven Kurt Busiek in the industry. There’s still plenty here to make it a standout story 16 years later, but has some of the shine come off? And, is making a logical […]

From 1985 to 1995, Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes challenged newspaper readers with imaginative stories, beautiful art, philosophical discussions, and ROTFL gags. Watterson famously eschewed commercialism, not only in the strip, but in real life, approving no C&H tie-in products other than books of strips and a calendar or two. Tim and Kumar discuss this […]

EC Comics are primarily remembered as gruesome horror stories, but the company published in other genres as well. One EC staple was war comics, which enjoyed great popularity during the Korean War. One such title was Frontline Combat, the comic that dared to admit that “Marines retreat!” The now-huge names behind the series — Harvey […]

Oglaf appears on the Web uncredited, with no merch store, and with plenty of well-written, well-drawn raunchy comedy. Very, very raunchy. Tim, Mulele, and Kumar dig on this comic (platonically). The trailer for the upcoming “Thor” movie, though, does not impress. What were we expecting? Is Marvel starting to make their movies as inaccessible to […]

Though the highly influential manga series, and resulting TV show, are known for non-stop action and fighting, Dragon Ball started out as a comedy strip reminiscent of Akira Toriyama’s early work, Dr. Slump! Viz’s English versions have gone through various levels of censorship over time to adjust to the low level of sexuality that most […]