Speech Bubble

Rebecca Diem is a co-organizer of Comic Shop Ladies Night, a pop-up after hours social just for the ladies, held at a rotating list of comic shops across Toronto. She’s also the author of a series of popular, self-published steampunk adventure novellas titled Tales of Captain Duke. After running through the early influences and inspirations that got her into comics and writing, which range from Archie and Saved by the Bell to Neil Gaiman and the Sunday Funnies, her grandma sent her, we get into the process behind and inspiration for Captain Duke. This episode will also give listeners a very layered explanation as to what steampunk actually is. Here we explore its role in reclaiming progressive ideas in a romanticized past and how some with disabilities adopt the aesthetic for empowerment. Then we move on to Comic Shop Ladies Night and dispel the notion that comics were ever or always a male-dominated fandom. This episode is sponsored by Hairy Tarantula.

rebeccadiem.com

@kthnxbex - Twitter

@kthnxbex - Instagram

Rebecca's Goodreads profile

The Stowaway Debutante on Amazon

Bridgehead Coffee Shop

Comic Shop Ladies Night

Episode Sponsor: Hairy Tarantula

As Wonder Woman hits theaters this week, we present a woman who champions and embodies many of her best qualities as a great admirer of the character. Stephany Lein grew up as a child whose circumstances forced her to be almost completely self-sufficient, independent and strong in the face of familial adversity. She now passes on many of the lessons she learned and the coping mechanisms she had to the children who read her independent all ages comics work. There’s Strays, which is about a girl who finds the love of a dog after being kicked out of the house when she comes out to her parents. Then there’s Shelly, her upcoming project about a rebellious preteen girl who confronts heavy issues like bullying and a friend’s death from leukemia. As Stephany says, “Kids can handle it. We shouldn’t baby them.” This episode is brought to you by Hairy Tarantula.

@jupejuperocket

Stephany's Instagram

Stephany's website

Altered States Comics (Stephany's the artist in residence)

Shelly Patreon

Stephany's Deviant Art Page

Stephany's Comixology

Episode Sponsor: Hairy Tarantula

Even though he’s written horror comics and Batman: Legends Of The Dark Knight, J. Torres is known best for all ages Comics like Batman: Brave and the Bold, Teen Titans Go! and his current project The Mighty Zodiac. He has also written many Degrassi comics so he has more than a few Drake stories. In this conversation we drill down on why more kids are into comics than ever before, what DC and Marvel can do to attract new readers while keeping their diehard fans and what it took for this former ESL teacher to break into comics and live his childhood dream. Then we geek out even harder, learning why J thinks Cyborg doesn’t belong in the Justice League and that you should always be able to hug a superhero. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at Hairy Tarantula in Toronto, Ontario Canada for their 25th anniversary.

@jtorrescomics

J. Torres DC Comics profile page

Jtorrescomics.com

J. Torres' Facebook fan page

J Torres' Instagram

Episode Sponsor: Hairy Tarantula

Ally comes to Speech Bubble while her Kickstarter for volume 3 of her long-running webcomic Chirault is in full swing. Chirault is a high fantasy adventure akin to comic book fantasy classics like Elfquest and Bone. The comic stars Teeko, a girl hit with a wayward shrinking spell who enlists the help of a demon hunter named Kiran. As the two go on a quest to find a cure for Teeko, they uncover a vast conspiracy tied to Kiran’s past. Ally discusses the genesis of Chirault, her role as a member of the SpiderForest Webcomic Collective and her latest contribution to the Toronto Comics Anthology Volume 4.

Ally's Comixology

Ally's Website

Chirault Webcomic

Ally’s Patreon

@Varethane

Ally’s Tumblr

Episode Sponsor: Hairy Tarantula

Before he was comic industry iconoclast Chip Zdarsky, artist on Sex Criminals and writer on Kaptara, Jughead, Star-Lord, Howard the Duck and Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man (coming: June 2017), he was Barrie, Ontario’s Steve Murray. Growing up as a lonely geek with amazingly supportive parents, including a mother who let him and his brother make fun of his father at will, he would eventually become a cartoonist and humour journalist for The National Post newspaper. Then, an opportunity to watch Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau beat someone up in a boxing match, somehow led to his collaboration with Matt Fraction on Sex Criminals and the rest, as they say, is history … This episode was recorded in front of a live audience on location at Hairy Tarantula in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for their 25th anniversary celebration.

@Zdarsky

Chip’s Tumblr

Zdarsco Inc.

Zdarscon

@senatormurray

Steve Murray’s National Post archive

The Applebee’s Exchange

Episode Sponsor: Hairy Tarantula

On the last day of his Kickstarter for Heroes of Homeroom C, First Hero creator Anthony Ruttgaizer takes aspiring comic creators school. He explains why some creators need a reality check when it comes to their skill level and how being unable to receive such honest feedback from the professionals who know is detrimental to their success. He also explains why the history, legacy and structure of DC and Marvel will always hinder their ability to produce anything authentically diverse. We also touch on his pro wrestling career, why he started his own comic company, Aristocrats Comics and what it feels like to fail at one Kickstarter campaign only to come back and build another one. This episode is sponsored by Hairy Tarantula.

AristocratsCmx

Aristocrats Comics

Heroes of Homeroom C

First Hero

Anthony’s Website

Marvin Law’s first few years as a comic fan were pretty traumatic. As a single digit age kid, he watched Batman beat Superman to a pulp in Dark Knight Returns, his favourite character, The Flash, died in Crisis on Infinite Earths and he read Watchmen way too early. Meanwhile, his father who trained in Wing Chung Kung Fu under Ip Man at the same time as Bruce Lee, exposed him to Hong Kong comics. All of it influenced Marvin’s later career as a comic artist. Somewhat of a local legend in the Toronto comic book scene as a script doctor. He once mentored artist Adrian Alphona (Ms. Marvel) on how to layout the first few issues of the critically-acclaimed Runaways as the editor-in-chief of the now defunct Bright Anvil Studios. These days he is drawing self-published indie comics like Kronk the Neanderthal with writer Phil McClorey and now Zip Kramer. Thanks to a special in-studio appearance from Zip writer Sam Noir, the two discuss the genesis of the project, which is now looking for funding on Kickstarter until May 11, 2017. This Episode is sponsored by Hairy Tarantula.

Marvin Law’s Facebook Page

Marvin Law’s Deviant Art Page

Zip Kramer Kickstarter

@HeySamNoir

Shawn Daley came to comics through the unlikely path of music. As an audio intern at a recording studio, he was exposed to his boss’s comic book collection. While powering through classics like Chester Brown’s Louis Riel, Watchmen and The Walking Dead, he quickly became inspired to create his own comics. Enter TerraQuill, a continent Daley created where his ongoing webcomic of the same name takes place. Completely self-taught, he learned everything he knows about comics making TerraQuill Collected – a collection of short stories all taking place in the TerraQuill universe. Meanwhile, he never completely abandoned music, but these days he composes chiptune soundtracks for 8-bit independent video game projects. Now, he occupies a unique space, as a bridge between Toronto’s large indie comic and indie gaming communities. This episode sponsored by Hairy Tarantula.

@ShawnDaley

Shawn’s website

Shawn’s Chiptunes

TerraQuill

Samurai Grandpa

Danny Zabbal was living a largely directionless life until getting the sh— beat out of him, while defending the honour of the girl he was dating inadvertently awakened his true potential. There’s nothing quite like getting punched in the face to make you reevaluate your priorities, so he broke up with the girl, moved to Toronto and met his wife who would eventually become the inspiration for the main character for his comic series Life, Death and Sorcery. Published by and edited by past Speech Bubble guest Allison O’Toole, the critically-acclaimed series follows a teenager who becomes the steward of a magic power at the centre of a conflict between two families of sorcerers that spans across time, space and alternate realities. This episode is sponsored by Hairy Tarantula.

Danny Zabbal

Chapterhouse Comics

Danny Zabbal’s Instagram

Life, Death and Sorcery on Comixology

Episode Sponsor: Hairy Tarantula

Scott Sawyer is the writer and artist behind North – an independent comic chronicling the adventures of Canada’s newest superhero team. Think of North as the Justice League if the Justice League were made in Canada and on their first adventure together, they found themselves dangling from the CN Tower. Scott explains why he decided to take unrelated characters he doodled in a sketchbook years ago and use them to turn the typical first issue of any team book – the recruitment – on its head. Then, we talk about his failed pilot for a Canadian superhero show, Split City, starring The Kid’s in the Hall’s Scott Thompson and Geri Hall from This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Plus, if you’ve often wondered why historically there has been more bad than good on Canadian television, Scott may have some answers for you.

This episode is sponsored by Hairy Tarantula. Join Speech Bubble from 2-3pm on location at Hairy T (6979 Yonge Street Toronto, ON.) April 7-9, 2017 to celebrate Hairy Tarantula’s 25th anniversary as we record our first live episodes with guests Chip Zdarsky on Saturday, April 8th and J. Torres on Sunday, April 9th. Signings will follow each appearance, so bring your comics and get them signed by these two Eisner award winning industry behemoths. Chip will sign from 3-5pm on Saturday and J. will sign from 3-4pm on Sunday. Also, the first 25 people in line for the J. Torres signing will get a free comic signed by the man himself.

North’s website

Scott’s Twitter

Scott’s IMDB