Perfect Bound Comic Book Podcast

Well, Hello!!

It’s been a minute, hasn’t it?

The PBP has returned to share a very special interview. Four-time Eisner Award-Winner Gene Ha recently informed us that his creator owned opus, Mae, will soon see a definitive edition published by Oni Press. He asked if we’d like to sit down and chat about it. We said yes, we’d love to! In addition to chatting about Mae, we talk with Gene about his life as an artist and past collaborators like Alan Moore, Kelly Sue DeConnick, and Gail Simone.

We also give Cole the levity to natter on about his decades – long personal history with Gene, their mutual friends in the industry, and how Gene gave Cole an ounce of immortality.

Mae: The Definitive Edition launches April 8, 2025. Keep up to date with Gene Ha at geneha.com.

With Gene, we discussed:

What prompted Gene to create his own series

How Gene tackled otherworld languages

How Gene uses live models as inspiration for his characters

The portal stories that have inspired Gene

Why Mae is a Young Adult story

How the Mae Definitive Edition fixes the numbering issue

Why Gene teamed up with Zander Cannon

How collaborative is the relationship between artist and writer

What’s next for Gene Ha

E-mail us: [email protected]

The Panel Jumper: thepaneljumper.com / Facebook / Instagram

Marc J. Palm

Today on the show, Cole and Ben welcome back to the show Marc J. Palm. Marc joins us today because the second volume of his indie hit The Fang is out now.

Tune in as we talk to Marc about:

• His inspiration for the character of Fang

• Plans for future volumes of The Fang

• Why physical copies of The Fang look the way they do

• His experience with the Short Run Launch Party

• The difficulty with marketing your own stuff

• Fractals!

• How being nominated for an Eisner award has affected him

• What he’s learned working on The Fang

• What creating has been like during the pandemic

• The upcoming Punch to Kill

• Whether or not he’s worried about infringing on IP

• What’s up next for Marc

Connect with Marc!

Etsy | Patreon | Instagram | The Fang Facebook

Today on a fresh show for a fresh new year, the gang reconvene via zoom (like ya’ do) and talk about topics such as:

• There’s a call for Marvel to retire the Punisher logo

E-mail us: [email protected]

Today on Book Report, Cole reviews The Eternaut and The Eternaut 1969 from Fantagraphics.

Nicole reviews Grant Morrison’s run of Justice League of America from DC.

And finally, Chris reviews Jay Stephens’ Dwellings from Black Eye Comics

2020 Year in Review

• Gerry Conway reclaiming The Punisher logo for BLM

We then mention our favorite comics that were released this year (we think…? It’s been a heck of a year), including; Mare Internum, Boy Maximortal, Decorum, A Gift for a Ghost, Magical Boy, and finally Money Shot.

And finally, we run down a brief list of our 2020 disappointments, and our hopes for 2021.

https://ia601500.us.archive.org/20/items/perfect-bound-ep-274/PerfectBound_Ep274.mp3

E-mail us: [email protected]

Today on Book Report, Cole reviews Tom Scioli’s The Epic Life of the King of Comics from Ten Speed Press.

Nicole reviews Batman / Catwoman from DC.

And finally, Chris reviews Suitor Armor from webtoons.

Today, we welcome musician, playwright, filmmaker and artist Matthew Southworth. Matt’s impressive CV includes uncredited re-writes on the film “Suspect Zero” (a story in and of itself); playing with his band The Capillaries, as well as with Harvey Danger, all around Seattle; and illustrating titles such as Spider-Man, Spider-Girl, X-Men, Thunderbolts and several stories for Dark Horse which he also wrote.

Matt also co-created Stumptown with Greg Rucka, which was picked up by ABC and ran for one season starring Cobie Smulders (the MCU’s Maria Hill).

Matt’s current project The Cloven, written by “The Art of Racing in the Rain” author Garth Stein is currently available from Fantagraphics.

Tune in to this episode as Cole and Ben speak with Matt about:

• Matt’s experience in the Seattle music scene

Connect with Matt: Website | Twitter

https://ia601405.us.archive.org/17/items/perfect-bound-ep-273/PerfectBound_Ep273.mp3

E-mail us: [email protected]

Battle of the Linguist Mages

Theatre highlights include his a cappella sci-fi musical Silhouette, which premiered at Annex Theatre, winning the 2018 Gregory Falls Award for Outstanding New Play, presented by Theatre Puget Sound.

His break-out sci-fi/horror novella “Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You,” was published by Tor.com in 2019, and today we come together to discuss Scotto’s eagerly anticipated debut Tor.com novel, “Battle of the Linguist Mages,” based on his stage plays Duel of the Linguist Mages and Balconies, which will be released in early 2022.

We’re also joined by Manager Mike Gilson, who has performed in Scotto’s play Balconies, and was a proof-reader for “Battle of the Linguist Mages.”

Today we talk with Scotto about:

• Adapting his own plays into a novel

Follow Scotto everywhere: scotto.org | twitter | soundcloud | The Coffee Table

https://ia601503.us.archive.org/22/items/pbp-ep-272/PBP_Ep272.mp3

E-mail us: [email protected]

Frank Gogol

The child of addicts, Frank’s a humble dude whose comics greatly reflect the world around him as he grew up. He spent much of his youth moving from place to place, with occasional stints in foster care and group homes as he dealt with his very complicated relationship with his mother. His first anthology collection, Grief contains short stories of addiction, betrayal and abandonment. Dead End Kids tells the tale of a group of Stephen King-esque outcasts as they try to solve the mysterious murder of one of their own, and No Heroine is about a woman trying desperately to stay clean – all the while doing her best to mend her relationship with her mother, find her place in this world, and kill as many vampires as she can. Volume 2 of Dead End Kids will be in stores in January, 2021.

Join us as we talk to Frank about:

• How he got involved with Source Point Press

Connect with Frank: website | twitter | instagram

https://ia601400.us.archive.org/32/items/perfect-bound-episode-271/PerfectBound_Episode271.mp3

E-mail us: [email protected]

Kurt Ankeny

• Writing his first book In Pieces

Connect with Kurt everywhere!

https://ia601501.us.archive.org/7/items/perfect-bound-ep-270/PerfectBound_Ep270.mp3

E-mail us: [email protected]

The Death of Retail

The topics we cover include:

• The health of the comics industry leading up to the pandemic

https://ia601501.us.archive.org/8/items/perfect-bound-ep-269/PerfectBound_Ep269.mp3

E-mail us: [email protected]

And check out Chris’s Trusty Henchman: trustyhenchman.com | Patreon | Facebook

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Perfect Bound Podcast is forced to take a hiatus. But before we shelter in place in order to weather this pandemic, we have one last show for you. This never-before-aired show, recorded in October of 2019, finds Chris, Cole, and Ben talking about horror comics. Specifically, COSMIC HORROR! Black Stars Above from Vault describes itself as “cosmic horror,” so we delve deep into this very specific horror sub-genre. And yeah, there’s a lot of Lovecraft.

If you’ve enjoyed listening to the show for the past five years, please consider donating to the Paycheck Security GoFundMe for Comics Dungeon and Corner Comics. We understand that everybody is having a hard time these days, but if you have anything to give, the employees of the Dungeon and Corner would certainly appreciate it.

And be sure to like the Perfect Bound Podcast on Facebook to stay up to date on when we’ll be back.

https://ia601508.us.archive.org/4/items/perfectboundep268/PerfectBound_Ep268.mp3

E-mail us: [email protected]

Today on Book Report, Cole reviews Kurt Ankeny’s Pleading with Stars from Ad House Books.

And Chris reviews Tasuku Karasuma’s No Guns Life from VIZ Media.