The Comics Alternative

Time Codes:

• 00:00:26 - Introduction
• 00:02:17 - Panel context
• 00:04:01 - "How to Read Nancy" panel
• 01:04:50 - Wrap up
• 01:05:19 - Contact us

This past weekend was HeroesCon 2018, and while there Derek was a part of two different scholarly panels. One was about the relationship between print and digital comics texts, “Between Pen and Pixel,” a recording of which was released earlier this week. The second was a panel based on the book by Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden, How to Read Nancy: The Elements of Comics in Three Easy Panels. Andy Mansell, who oversees the programming every year at HeroesCon, wanted to pull together a panel of scholars to discuss the significance of How to Read Nancy and its potential place in the classroom and in scholarship. In addition, he wanted the panelists to discuss other important books about comics, comics history, and formal aspects of the medium. Other panelists included the former cohost of The Comics Alternative, Andy Kunka, Craig Fischer, Jennie Law, and the new cohost for the podcast's bi-monthly on-location episodes, Michael Kobre. The resulting panel, “How to Read Nancyand Other Indispensable Books about Comics,” is part of the ongoing series of panels that Andy Mansell organizes every year, which he calls the “Comics Canon.”

A big thanks to Andy Mansell, not only for pulling together this panel, but for all of the hard he does every year in overseeing the programming at HeroesCon.

Time Codes:

• 00:00:25 - Introduction
• 00:03:07 - Listener mail!
• 00:05:44 - Michael Chabon's The Escapist: Amazing Adventuresand Michael Chabon's The Escapist: Pulse-Pounding Thrills

This week, Pascal (of the Euro Comics series) joins Derek on the weekly review show to discuss the two omnibi collections of The Escapist from Dark Horse Books. They look at both Michael Chabon's The Escapist: Amazing Adventures (which was released this past February) as well as the latest collection, Michael Chabon's The Escapist: Pulse-Pounding Thrills, published in wide release this week. The two guys discuss the faux history that Chabon and a variety of writers and artists have created, wedging this narrative into our recognizable comic-book history. They're not able to discuss all of the selections in these two collections -- between both volumes, there are almost 50 Escapist stories, some never before published -- but they focus on many of the pieces that stand out to them. Among the Escapists stories they cover are those by such notable creators as Will Eisner, Eduardo Barreto, Jeffrey Brown, Howard Chaykin, Paul Gulacy, Jeff Parker, Marv Wolfman, Thomas Yeates, Brian K. Vaughan, Kyle Baker, Gene Colan, Matt Kindt, Kevin McCarthy, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jim Starlin, among many others.

Time Codes:

• 00:00:27 - Introduction
• 00:02:27 - Aaron Kashtan provides context
• 00:07:11 - "Between Pen and Pixel" panel
• 01:08:58 - Wrap up
• 01:09:55 - Contact us

This past weekend at HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC, Derek was on a panel based on a recent book by Aaron Kashtan, Between Pen and Pixel: Comics, Materiality, and the Book of the Future (Ohio State University Press). Aaron pulled together several comics scholars -- in addition to Derek, his former cohost, Andy Kunka, and Craig Fischer -- along with Matt Kindt, whose work Aaron sites extensively in his book. This episode is a recording of that panel, which explored what comics can tell us about the future of the printed word (as well as the digital text), the book industry, and comics as an art object.

Stay tuned over the next week for more HeroesCon episodes!

Time Codes:

• 00:00:25 - Introduction
• 00:02:10 - Setup of episode
• 00:03:16 - Rich Tommaso

This past weekend was HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC. It was a great convention, organized by the folks at Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find. And as Derek likes to do every year, this past weekend he walked around Artists Alley talking with various creators about what they’re doing, what they’ve recently published, and what they may have in the works. The result is a series of short interviews with various creators, some of whom have been on The Comics Alternativebefore, others that Derek met for the very first time.  In this episode are brief conversations with, in order, Rich Tommaso, Steve Conley, Milton Lawson, Naomi Franquiz, Dave Chisholm, James F. Wrightand Jackie Crofts, Scott Wegener, Natalie Andrewson, and Michael Eury.

Stay tuned over the next week for moreHeroesCon episodes!

Time Codes:

• 00:00:27 - Introduction
• 00:05:33 - Adamant

This month Sean and Derek look at three very different webcomics. They begin with Mike Exner III, Ian Waryanto, et al.'s Adamant, a superhero narrative that spins the genre in fascinating, and parodic, ways. After that they turn to a beautifully rendered tale, Mac Smith's Scurry. While the story is solid, the guys point out that the art is this webcomic's biggest draw. Finally, they discuss the already-completed webcomic, Sarah Ellerton's The Phoenix Requiem. This is a Victorian-inspired supernatural narrative of love and mystery that, as both Sean and Derek point out, is quite substantive.

Time Codes:

• 00:00:25 - Introduction
• 00:02:26 - Setup of interview
• 00:03:56 - Interview with Max de Radiguès

Arthur Fellig, better known as Weegee, was a street photographer for New York's popular press during the 1930s and 1940s. He worked primarily in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and he developed a signature style that captured a gritty, unflinching view of urban life. What’s more, he was, famous, or rather infamous, for adjusting his tableau, in particular the position of dead bodies at crime scenes, in order to capture an image that was to his liking. Max de Radiguès, along with his co-creator Wauter Mannaert, has decided to take on this historical figure as the subject matter of his latest book, Weegee: Serial Photographer. In this interview, Derek talks with Max about his fascination over Weegee, the origins of this project, and the challenges of writing such a condensed graphic biography.  But we also cover Max’s previous work, Moose, and what we might expect from his upcoming book, Bastard, being released this fall from Fantagraphics.

Paul and Derek are back with another look at the latest Previews catalog. And for the month of June, they find a variety of fascinating title...and several of which they even resist mention on mic, in the interests of keeping the show containable and relatively short. Among the many publishers and titles that they focus on are:

• Image Comics - Leviathan #1, Perdy, Vol. 1, Crowded#1, Hey Kids! Comics!#1, and Lil' Donnie, Vol. 1

Time Codes:

• 00:00:24 - Introduction
• 00:02:55 - Setup of interview
• 00:04:07 - Interview with Dean Haspiel

Gene and Derek are happy to have Dean Haspiel on The Comics Alternativeto discuss his new book from Image Comics, The Red Hook, Vol. 1: New Brooklyn. This is the first in a planned trilogy introducing readers to his universe of New Brooklyn. The Red Hook is a reluctant hero. Once a super-thief, his unlikely encounter with the legendary superhero, The Green Point, bequeathes unto him The Omni-Fist of Altruism. This transform him into a hero, where he cannot resist helping others in distress, despite his better judgment. In this role, The Red Hook becomes a major player in New Brooklyn, a borough whose heart had been broken by commerce and real estate speculation, and, as a result, secedes from New York, and America. Sound unlikely? Well, listen to Dean as he explains the premise and his plans for future New Brooklyn narratives. The guys talk with Dean, asking him a variety of questions not only about his new book, but about his other publications, as well. But then Dean turns the tables and begins interviewing Gene and Derek. It's a wild experience with an indefatigable Haspiel.

Time Codes:

• 00:00:32 - Introduction
• 00:02:47 - Broken promises
• 00:04:09 - Dead Dead Demon's De De De De Destruction, Vol. 1

On the last episodein The Comics Alternative's monthly manga series -- a show that was supposed to be the May episode, but was actually a late April show -- Shea and Derek promised that they would provide an additional manga episode at the very end of May, and that thatshow would be the realMay show. As reality unfolded, the two guys had problems in coordinating their schedules and being available at the same time. And as a result, you get this episode. But it's an extra-long episode, one that includes discussions of not two but three recent manga releases.

They begin with the first volume in a the latest series from one of their favorites, Inio Asano. Dead Dead Demon's De De De De Destruction (VIZ Media) is an unusual work that, in many ways, reminds the guys of Goodnight Punpun they reviewed in March 2016, a title that they especially loved. And they appreciate this new work at least as much. This new book begins as a realistic narrative of Tokyo schoolgirls and their everyday interactions at school. Soon, though, the reader discover that this is not a normal environment, but one where the city is, literally, living under the shadow of a giant mysterious spaceship that visited them three years previously.

Next they turn to a notable new release from Retrofit/Big Planet Comics, Baron Yoshimoto's The Troublemakers. Translated and edited by Ryan Holmberg, this is a collection of six short works of gekiga that vary in narrative approach, theme, and (to a lesser degree) style. All of these pieces were originally released between 1966 and 1974, and in a variety of publications. The volume ends with a magnificent essay, providing history and context, by the book's editor. This book marks the first translation of Yoshimoto's into English.

The guys conclude with a completely different kind of book, Fujita's Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 1(Kodansha Comics). The title is a series of episodes -- think of a sitcom -- of a small group of young workers, all of whom are otaku (those with obsessive interests in very specific, especially fan-based, media and culture) and interact in everyday scenarios, at work and otherwise. The guys aren't near as enthusiastic about this work as they are with the others reviewed in this episode. However, Derek is more open to Wotakoithan Shea. In fact, Shea even wonders if the emphases in this series may not even be counterproductive, if not harmful, to consumer health.

Time Codes:

• 00:00:23 - Introduction
• 00:02:22 - Setup of interview
• 00:03:31 - Interview with Karl Stevens

Derek first talked to Karl Stevensin February of last year, and during that discussion he had mentioned that he was working on a new project for Retrofit/Big Planet called The Winner, and now we have the book out, being released on May 23. The two discuss Karl's new work, its very autobiographical quality -- no masking any identities here -- and it’s curious structure and fantastical interludes. But they also talk about Karls others works, as well, including the Xeric Award-winning Guilty(2004), his series of books that followed, all published by Alternative Comics -- Whatever(2008), The Lodger(2010), and Failure (2013)-- as well as his Pennystrips that ran in the Village Voicebetween November 2016 and March 2017. Karl is wonderful guy to interview, as you’ll hear from the conversation.