Robots From Tomorrow!

Greg welcomes comics historian/curator Paul Gravett back to the show to discuss his QUEER AS COMICS exhibit at the newly opened Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in London. Paul goes deep into not only the exhibit's Tom of Finland origins, but the origin of the Centre as well. He spotlights forgotten cartoonist Barb Kutzner, one of the queer artists this show is finally getting proper recognition for. He talks broadly about comics as a queer medium, neither this nor that, as well as where the show's title came from (it's not where you think!). Paul lays out his curated approach designed to invite unprepared visitors, and its survey of queer comics with a UK emphasis while including wider work; he highlights how comics' hybrid, often self-published nature has enabled queer expression, from Tom of Finland onward. They discuss feedback, exhibition design choices that let visitors handle select comics, and the important role of the advisory board in making the show what it is.

From there the discussion goes to Tove Jansson, one of Paul's other perpetual interests and someone with their own important place in queer comics, and Windsor McCay, before shifting to Paul's own background in comics. Greg gets the man with no nostalgia, no loyalties, and no limits to at least indulge in a little retrospection on their own career. How ESCAPE Magazine helped build a community of 'indivisualists' and what advice he has for a Paul Gravett of 2026 looking to follow his example. All that, plus some Bill Sienkiewicz fanboy-ing, an ARE YOU BEING SERVED explanation, and more!

[This episode is number 843 in a series.]

00:00 - Intro 07:36 - Quentin Blake and Illustration and Tom of Finland 10:33 - Finding a New Home 14:28 - What's in a Name? 17:07 - Comics as a Queer Medium 21:48 - Curating Tone and Access 25:58 - Finding the Lost Barb Kutzner 33:46 - It Takes a Village: The Advisory Board and Scope 44:19 - Windsor McCay's Earliest Drawing 47:06 - Tove Jansson 53:32 - ESCAPE Magazine and UK Comics Finding Their Place 1:00:37 - Building a Comics Community 1:06:31 - Anthology Craft and Flow 1:09:07 - Indivisuality and Influence 1:15:27 - Comics for These Times 1:20:45 - Questioning Manga and Markets 1:22:31 - Knowledge in the Aggregate 1:26:42 - Outro

Aditya Bidikar came onto the show to talk about the first issue of his mainstream comics writing debut, In Your Skin, from Image Comics. Now that the Bollywood body horror identity and parasociality exploration In Your Skin has reached its conclusion, writer Aditya Bidikar is back to talk about the story as a whole, free to spoil as necessary to get to the heart of what he was going for...and he brought backup: Som, his Mumbai-based artist & collaborator who brought In Your Skin to life. While he has worked primarily in film, animation, and VFX, SOM has done comics work before, most notably with Philip Kennedy Johnson on BOOM!'s Crocodile Black. But In Your Skin doesn't read like a book from early in someone's career. It reads as a work of confidence from all sides, and this episode peels back a layer (or three) on its life and legacy.

[This episode is number 842 in a series.]

00:00 - Intro 08:22 - Serialization and Reader Confusion 14:55 - Coffee Shop Sketching Method 19:31 - Key Poses 25:23 - Coloring Collaboration 29:39 - The Physics of Skin 34:31 - Unlocking the POV 37:34 - The Epiphany 40:38 - Issue 4 Reveal 48:38 - The End Mirroring The Beginning 53:34 - Where Reader Sympathy Lies 58:23 - The Dude Playing The Dude Playing The Other Dude 01:03:26 - Realism and Art Influences 01:06:44 - Decisions and Options 01:12:56 - That Last Page 01:17:40 - The Necessity of Hope? 01:26:11 - Outro

Sierra Barnes returns to the show to discuss the next collection of her antifascist fairy tale webcomic Hans Vogel is Dead. She details her webcomic-to-print workflow, frequently intense production pace, delays, and outlining Volume 3 amid uncertainty about the publisher. Things hinted at in the 2023 interview are now discussed openly, including a major theme Sierra has literally been waiting years to be asked about! The conversation also explores horror as catharsis, comics versus prose from a writer's standpoint, the role of perception and animal imagery connecting to Nazi dehumanization tactics, and just what might be sitting on Sierra's creator bookshelf to the right of Hans Vogel v3 a few years from now..

[This episode is number 841 in a series.]

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Intro 06:51 – Pitching at SPX 15:07 – Horror Humor and Anxiety 18:40 – Is Horror Practical 28:56 – History Research and Truth 32:34 – Keeping It Fresh 43:09 – Folklore Disguises Perception 48:16 – Fairy Tales and Fascism 52:32 – Hunting Lodge Horrors 58:30 – Kobolds and Klabautermann 01:05:05 – Working with Writers 01:15:07 – Future Projects and Prose 01:19:52 – Outro

(Originally published on January 26, 2023)

Sierra Barnes is a cartoonist whose work combines such varied influences as history, folk lore, mythology, fascism, anti-fascism, war, and foxes that might not actually be foxes. Her webcomic exploration of these topics, HANS VOGEL IS DEAD, was just announced as having its first volume of strips collected with updated content by the folks over at Dark Horse Comics. She uses her degrees in History and German Studies, as well as an MFA in Comics from California College of the Arts, to bring to every page Hans Vogel's death to life.

Greg sits down with Sierra to talk about the long road in getting Hans Vogel out of her head and on to the screen and page, the differences between mythology, folklore, and history, how she learned to stop worrying and love the art of lettering comics, what tales scarred her for life, her take on the age-old question "Walt Disney: Threat or Menace?", and much more!

[This episode is number 787 in a series.]

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro 02:56 - HANS VOGEL Pitch 07:31 - HELLBOY and Influences 08:59 - History vs Art Origins 16:41 - Folklore vs Mythology 24:41 - Germany Identity and Propaganda 31:29 - Valkyries and Wagner Revenge 32:39 - Research Into Storytelling 35:31 - Workflow and Deadlines 42:40 - Digital Meets Traditional 43:23 - Pencils vs Inks 47:28 - Lettering as Storytelling 56:11 - Why Comics Fit History 01:02:59 - Walt Disney: Threat or Menace? 01:08:53 - Roasting History Movies 01:18:01 - Outro

One of the benefits of doing a show for as long as I've done this is not only meeting and talking to new folks, but checking back in with previous guests to see what they've been up to since we last talked. Today's episode is one of the catching up variety.

My guest was last on the show back in April of 2022 for his miniseries, Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton, with collaborator, fellow cartoonist, and studio mate Kyle Starks. Do yourself a favor and check that out if you haven't done so already because it was, and still is, a hoot to listen to. He is a multiple Eisner, YALSA, and Stumptown Award-nominated cartoonist.

He has also been, at one time or another, according to the internet, takes a deep breath, a hotel manager, movie theater projectionist, martial arts instructor, set builder, church music leader, process server, bartender, sixth grade social studies teacher, janitor, speakeasy proprietor, video store clerk, field hand, deckhand, kids TV puppeteer, muralist, kickboxer, pancake mix factory line worker, and, dramatic breath, a professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design, teaching narrative theory, comics theory, and character environmental design.

His published works include The Crogan Adventures graphic novel series from Oni Press, the nonfiction graphic novels The Roanoke Colony: America's First Mystery, and Maker Comics' Fix a Car! with an exclamation point at the end, and other collaborations with the aforementioned Kyle Starks, including a shockingly good Mars Attacks miniseries.

At the end of his last appearance on this show, he mentioned just starting on pencils for a comic he was intending to serialize called Outlaw's Apprentice. And it's that comic and the Kickstarter campaign for its first volume that brings Chris Schweitzer back on the show today.

[This episode is number 840 in a series.]

00:00 – Intro 05:50 – Series Pitch and Setting 10:12 – Legacy and Creative Stakes 14:50 – Appalachia as Foundation 19:16 – Character Craft and Monologues 24:35 – Lessons from Crogan 34:06 – Tools Paper Sizes and Materials 37:27 – Serialization Feedback and Editing 47:24 – Art Style Shifts 56:12 – Why Swords Fascinate 01:03:02 – Ethics Of Violence 01:16:53 – Libraries And Access 01:23:20 – Outro

Hazel Newlevant is a Brooklyn-based cartoonist known for creating and editing comics about queer history, bisexuality, polyamory, and reproductive rights. Their cartoonist CV highlights start off with the Xeric Grant-funded mini comic Ci Vediamo in 2012 and the Prism Comics Grant-funded biography of Harlem Renaissance blues singer Gladis Bentley called If This Be Sin in 2013.They decided to branch out into anthology editing in 2016 with Chainmail Bikini, which collected experiences of female and nonbinary gamers in a male-dominated space. The success of that led them to keep a foot in both worlds moving forward. The anthology side racked up co-editing titles like 2017's Comics for Choice, 2019's Puerto Rico Strong, and 2024's Becoming Who We Are: Real Stories About Growing Up Trans. Back on the strictly cartoonist side, they put out the 2017 graphic novella Sugar Town and the 2019 graphic novel No Ivy League. This body of work over the first decade of their career, give or take, has earned them the Ignatz Award, the Eisner Award, and the GLAAD Media Award. But that is all prelude to their new book, released last month, which brings them here today. Queer and How We Got Here: A (Personal) History blends the creator's personal history with their growing understanding of the larger landscape of queer identity THAT history is unfolding in. By sharing both parts of that journey equally in such a clear and effective narrative, they have made a book that belongs in every library, bookstore, and home.

[This episode is number 838 in a series.]

00:00 – Intro 04:36 – Queer History or Personal History - Which Came First? 07:03 – Choosing The Moments 11:44 – Who This Book Is For 20:02 – Identity Categories and History 25:51 – Color Palette Choices 29:05 – Workflow and Archival Process 33:05 – Outlining and Structuring the Puzzle 43:04 – Outro

Going into the 2024 US presidential election, a group of close to 50 comic book creators got together and put out the STOP PROJECT 2025 webcomic -- a non-fiction anthology that broke down the 900-page conservative wishlist that was Project 2025's MANDATE FOR LEADERSHIP into understandable chunks and readers know what they were really voting for if they supported it, or why they needed to vote against it if they didn't. Organized by Scott Dunbier and Steve Lieber, contributors included folks like Jen Van Meter, Lila Sturgis, Gene Ha, Cully Hamner, Greg Pak, Matt Fraction, Mark Russell, Sarah Ryan, Zoe Tennant, Rick Veitch, Greg Rucka, and more.

Unfortunately, the comic's goal of stopping Project 2025 was not successful, but there are lessons to be learned from it, and today's episode has two guests (political scientist/pollster Dan Cassino and comics writer/STOP PROJECT 2025 contributor Greg Pak) to help Greg and listeners do exactly that.

[This episode is number 838 in a series.]

00:00 – Intro 01:00 – Preface 09:35 – Project 2025 Explained 14:04 – A Crisis of Information 25:36 – Comics as Instructions 28:11 – AI and Apathy Atrophy 31:08 – Action Absorbs Anxiety 37:20 – The Zine Tradition 40:40 – Four Page Storycraft 45:38 – Comics Community and Comics in the Community 50:57 – Outro

Readers go to the comic shop to get their comics, but the road those comics take from the creator's drawing tables to the shops has changed a lot in the last 100 years or so. Greg talked with documentary filmmaker Wes Eastin back in February about the comic shop/retailer side of things, but today he's flipping the dial and going to the creative side because this episode features two members of the POWER PULP Comics Collective and Distribution -- CEO Chris Anderson and cartoonist Corinne Halbert --and dives right in to how Power Pulp is their growing answer to the question every creator has to face in their career: "How do I get my work out there?"

Josh Dysart returns to the show for a third time to talk about his newest miniseries from Bad Idea, The Hab. Created with David Lapham, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jacob Phillips, colorists Matt Hollingsworth and Crabtree, and letterer Simon Bowland, and printed on old school newsprint-esque paper, The Hab shows us all what happens when a billionaire and his circle of family and staff survive a nuclear holocaust in his high-tech bunker…only to find a worse fate waiting for him.

Find out about this something-for-everyone horror story fits in today's climate, where billionaire Tuttle Barrows sits on the continuum of characters from his career to this point, horror's necessity as a genre, how all these production pieces fit together, why letterers should be valued more across the board, and what Hong Kong action pillar gets another off-the-cuff watch guide from Josh himself.

[This episode is number 836 in a series.]

00:00 – Intro 04:25 – From Bad Idea to The Hab 18:36 – The Bad Idea Dilemma 24:29 – Lettering & Post Production 32:42 – Pitching The Hab 34:18 – Why Horror Now 37:34 – Comics Horror vs Prose Horror 41:47 – Satire and Tuttle Barrows 46:41 – Catharsis vs Horror 50:20 – Humanizing The Villains 56:33 – Why Harada Doesn't Work Anymore 01:04:07 – Comics For Peace Fallout 01:07:44 – John Woo Starter Guide 01:17:29 – Hollywood vs Hong Kong 01:23:18 – Outro

[This episode is a remastered version of number 664 in a series, originally released on April 30, 2020.] The last time writer Josh Dysart was on the show, back in 2017, the conversation focused on his run as ongoing writer for Swamp Thing. But for this deep-dive talk, the topics range from his latest book with TKO Studios (Goodnight Paradise), his Eisner-nominated work on Vertigo's Unknown Soldier, his relationship with both books' artist Alberto Ponticelli, how much fear and panic is a part of his work process then and now, why new publisher Bad Idea is actually a good idea, traveling the world, and why Jackie Chan is such a comfort in these trying times!

00:00 - Intro 06:45 - Freelance life in lockdown 09:41 - Joining TKO Studios 11:54 - Goodnight Paradise 28:42 - Enlisting the Unknown Soldier 37:04 - Fear-driven craft 40:16 - Working with Alberto Ponticelli 47:51 - Guest artists and authenticity 53:05 - Real-world inspirations 58:48 - Could the war have continued? 01:05:26 - Vertigo's creative wave 01:12:53 - Why Bad Idea works 01:14:26 - Comics For Peace Pakistan 01:18:25 - Mentorship and travel 01:21:33 - Jackie Chan essentials 01:26:05 - Hong Kong action DNA 01:36:53 - Art as conversation 01:37:34 - Outro