Today’s episode comes directly from this year’s HeroesCon in lovely Charlotte, NC. Greg had the opportunity to host a few panels this year; the first of which was this spotlight on cartoonist/illustrator Colleen Doran. As described in the show programing guide:

Her work has garnered more nominations and awards than we have space to list here, but trust us, it’s a looong list.

Eisners, Bram Stokers, Harveys, Hugos, inclusion in the Best American Comics series… when discussing COLLEEN DORAN’s career as a cartoonist and illustrator, there are so many highlights only the bravest of souls would try and host a panel looking to take stock of them all. T

hankfully for HeroesCon, GREG MATIASEVICH (Multiversity Comics) has taken up the challenge. Come see how he does in conversation with one of the best artists working in comics, or any other field, today!

[This episode is number 816 in a series.]

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CHAPTERS

00:00 – Preamble

01:26 – Intro

02:52 – How has it been adapting Gaiman’s prose work to comics?

08:41 – What’s your process like when you’re working from someone else’s material?

21:48 – What is the status of A DISTANT SOIL, and how different do you think your career would have been if you hadn’t had a creator-owned project like it to start your career with?

22:51 – Which word is more important for a creator to know – yes or no?

24:12 – What are some working tips from your freelance career that you think every creator should know?

39:53 – Remembering Keith Giffen

42:23 – Who was the last big art revelation you had?

44:06 – Is it possible to divorce illustration from storytelling?

45:19 – Do you think the American market will ever appreciate how much of comics ‘writing’ is done by the artist?

51:15 – Outro

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Go to the episode page at: https//robotsfromtomorrow.net/colleen-doran-hc24

"The cycle of renewal in art is peddled by the periodic influx of stuff from somewhere else. That’s why you need a man at the crossroads… He will be the purest, most fresh faced wee fellow you have ever met. His ingenuous enthusiasm will beam from his cheery countenance." -- Eddie Campbell on Paul Gravett, Alec: How To Be An Artist

Today’s guest is Campbell’s Man at the Crossroads, and he has been observing, studying, and directing comics traffic for over 40 years.

As this fellow’s understanding of its ebbs and flows has grown over that time, so has his endeavors in making sense of it for himself. And thankfully, Comics fans around the globe. 

He’s written at least seven books, including Mangasia: The Definitive Guide to Asian Comics, which has been transformed and translated into reality as the touring exhibition: ASIAN COMICS: EVOLUTION OF AN ART FORM.

The Barbican website describes the exhibit at The Bowers Museum in Los Angeles, CA as "with a team of more than 20 international advisors, ASIAN COMICS features over 500 works, the largest selection of artworks from the continent, including Japanese woodblock prints, Hindu scroll paintings, digital media, printed comics, and contemporary illustrations. This unique exhibition is a gateway to an unexplored world of graphic storytelling and its artistic value."

He’s also an accomplished editor and anthology curator. Among the books he’s assembled have been 2011’s 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die, which is a fantastic title, and The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics. He’s contributed to countless periodicals and documentaries about comics.

He’s published one of the best comics magazines of the 1980s, Escape, with partner Peter Stanbury, giving a platform to such creators as James Robinson, Dave McKean, and Neil Gaiman.

He started Comica, the London International Comics Festival with John Harris Dunning in 2003.

He gives lectures, he hosts panels, and he continues to be one of the most respected comics patrons of his generation. Frankly, it’s been exhausting just narrowing down his endeavors to a reasonable summary for this blog post.

He's Paul Gravett and he joins Greg today to talk about comics in all their wonderful forms and many varied locations.

[This episode is number 815 in a series.] 

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CHAPTERS

00:00 - Preamble

02:50 - Intro

05:40 - “I want to know about everything…”

06:17 - What was the first thing you learned that gave you your paradigm shift of what comics could be?

08:28 - Shonen Magazine / Fishing Crazy Senpai

10:32 - “No nostalgia, no loyalties, no limits”

12 36 - How do you keep all these perpendicular lines of comics in your head?

17:52 - "An unlimited multiversity to comics"

19:53 - Photo comics & Gregory Crewdson

22:11 - Jayme Cortez

24:18 - Comics 1964-2024

27:20 - Sawwaf Collection

29:31 - Lusanne / Taiwan

32:27 - Lodz Poland

33:19 - Posy Simmonds

35:40 - ASIAN COMICS

37:10 - Talk about your growing understanding of Asian comics as you were working on the books and the exhibition.

41:38 - Is the diversity of Asian comics and inspiration to you about the future of comics?

44:05 - Comics preservation in the Philippines and Mexico

50:41 - How important is humility (or lack thereof) when putting together an anthology or exhibition?

57:25 - Talk about your working relationship with your partner Peter Stanbury.

1:02:25 - Comica

1:06:00 - Outro

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Go to the episode page at: https://robotsfromtomorrow.net/paul-gravett-at-comicas-crossroads/

Today's guest is making his SIXTH appearance on the show, which means he's the most returned non-Multiversity guest in the history of the show. Previous episodes have had us talk about various aspects of his almost-30-year career in comics, from intern to editor at such publishers as Valiant, Humanoids, Heavy Metal, A Wave Blue World, and of course, DC Comics.

But Joseph Illidge is here now as the writer of that company's Milestone Universe: The Shadow Cabinet #1, a four-issue limited series bringing him back to Milestone Comics, where his professional journey began. Issue #1 debuts on November 20th with art by Darryl Banks and Artigun Ilhan. 

[This is episode 814 in a series.]

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CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro

02:10 - The Shadow Cabinet Pitch

02:57 - The Shadow Cabinet Working on Shadow Cabinet

05:52 - What brought you back in the Milestone fold?

08:38 - What was it like being back?

13:27 - What kind of script / art collaboration do you prefer?

16:51 - How was working with editor Marquis Draper, aka your generational echo?

23:48 - For writing Rocket, how do you dial into her and speak for her?

28:27 - Anything you want to tease about the rest of the mini?

30:33 - Outro

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Go to the episode page at: https://robotsfromtomorrow.net/joseph-illidge-on-the-shadow-cabinet/

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Today we're talking about Copra, the indie comics darling that fuses 80s mainstream comic sensibilities with modern execution to give us an adventure story that looks familiar... up until it doesn't.

In the 12 years since its inception, Copra has taken readers on a journey both on the page and off.

This year saw the publication of Creating Copra, the definitive guide to making and self publishing comics. A 64-page reference guide to... well, you know.

But all things must come to an end, and Copra is no exception. The four-issue limited series titled Death of Copra starts on January 8th of next year, with final order cut off on December 2nd. To cover this comic's beginning and probable end, we have cartoonist/creator Michel Fiffe in the studio to talk about all things Copra.

[This episode is number 813 in a series.]

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CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro

01:48 - How do you pitch Copra?

04:08 - Are you done with the series yet?

11:44 - Have you always had this work ethic?

13:08 - How did working on other comics during Copra help?

15:06 - Who is Annie Koyama and how did she help Copra out?

23:03 - If someone else had published Copra singles, how do you think that would have changed your experience? 

35:20 - How has having to engage with retailers directly helped you? Or has it?

39:29 - Lettering

43:47 - How do you keep your creative & publishing mindsets separate?

48:32 - What does life after Copra look like?

52:12 - Outro

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Go to the episode post at: https://robotsfromtomorrow.net/fiffe-copra/

Neither your eyes nor your ears are deceiving you -- we're back! Rested, reconfigured, and ready to return to ongoing Robot-ing! Listen to this byte-sized bonus episode to find out where we were and where we're headed!

The topic of today's episode is Brownstone, the new YA graphic novel from writer Samuel Teer and artist Mar Julia, about a 14-year-old girl spending the summer with a father she's never known as they fix up the titular dilapidated brownstone. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Samuel was just on the show last episode talking about the trials and tribulations of bringing this story  from his head to our bookshelves. 

Now we get to hear from the other side of the Brownstone creation equation. Mar's work is absolutely in the wheelhouse of the type of comicbooking we love to see here on this show. When we read Brownstone, we saw Tillie Walden, we saw Carla Speed McNeil, we saw grounded situations portrayed with enough exaggeration to make this comic an engaging story being told rather than a mere rendition of plot points. Greg was thrilled to get the opportunity to talk to them about their process for this book and their work in general. And maybe ask the writer a question or two, if there was still time...

[This is episode 812 in a series.]

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Go to the episode page at: https://robotsfromtomorrow.net/julia-teer-brownstone/

Returning to the show today after a nearly eight-year absence is comics writer Samuel Teer. His new book, Brownstone, about a teenage girl connecting with her Latin heritage and her estranged father without speaking a word of each other’s language as they renovate the title structure, hits shelves on June 11th. The road from his last OGN, 2015’s Veda: Assembly Required and this one is the topic for today’s conversation.

Samuel & Greg talk about collaboration, the differences between the two different markets for this thing we call comix, the importance of context, breakout panels, ominous texts, and a detailed look into the relationship between a comics creative and the agent (or agents) they pair up with to help bring their ideas to market.  

[This is episode 811 in a series.]

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Go to the episode page at: https://robotsfromtomorrow.net/the-road-to-brownstone/