In this episode we have a chat with comics artist Rachel Dukes, who lives in Los Angeles, over skype, and boy what a fruitful chat it was! Rachel shares with us how she deals the with solitude of being an artist, working from home (and in the dead of night), how she stays productive, some lessons from a successful Kickstarter campaign, and oh so much more!

A special thanks to The Lodge Management group and Wingfest.net for sponsoring this episode, as well as The Chicago Podcast Coop!

We’d also like to give a shout out to Open Ended FM, a weekly podcast exploring digital humanity from the black perspective, which is hosted by our friend James T. Green and Cher Vincent. Cher and James cover a multitude of topics each week, but each topic they discuss is done in a very genuine and open way — they speak real, talking about the things we don’t always think are okay to talk about.

Rachel on the web:

MixtapeComics.com

@MixtapeComics

FrankieComics.com

The Ink Pit! podcast

Show Notes:

Boom! Studios

Image + Text Podcast

Spiral King Comics

Guy Thomas

Liz Prince

Go Comics

Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club

Beyond Anthology

Nerd Con San Diego

SF Zine Fest

Long Beach Comic Con

SPX

In this episode we interviewed the super funny and talented Chicago comics artist Gina Wynbrandt! We hung out with Gina in her room and workspace to talk about her process and what she does, what she’s been working on, and what’s ahead.

Today (the day the episode was released) is Gina’s birthday, so happy birthday Gina!

Thanks to Knowyourcompany.com for making this episode possible, and to the Chicago Podcast Coop for their support.

Gina on the net:

ginawyndbrandt.com

@gwynbr

‘Big Pussy’ at 2dcloud.com

Show notes:

Rapidograph pens

‘Someone Please Have Sex With Me’

Autoptic

Shinval Shoes

In this episode we had the pleasure of chatting with cartoonist and man of many talents, Nate Beaty, in his apartment as he prepared a homemade piñata for an upcoming birthday party (happy belated birthday Nate!). Nate talked about how he got into drawing and making comics, even showing us what might have been the first comic he ever made, and shared with us some of his influences and some insights about his process.

A big thanks to Emporium Arcade Bar for sponsoring this episode — they’ve got tons of awesome classic games, and even Twilight Zone pinball!

Nate around the web:

Natebeaty.com

@natebeaty

Nate’s Flickr

‘Don’t Cry Wolfman Chicago’

‘Piecemeal 4’

‘Look Around’

‘Bobomb-bap!’

Show Notes:

Brainfag

John Porcellino

Sam Henderson

‘Reunion’ by Pascal Girard

Jordan Crane

Jillian Tamaki

‘This One Summer’ with Mariko Tamaki

SuperMutant Magic Academy

Nate’s Brainframe process timelapse

Eleanor Davis

Trubble Club

Jeremy Tinder

Kyle T Webster’s Photoshop Brushes

Spit And A Half

Radiator Comics

In this episode we sit down with the very fun and talented Corinne Mucha, who is a Teaching Artist, Cartoonist and Illustrator currently based in Chicago. Corinne told us about her newest mini, Fixated: Three Fictional Stories About Obsession, talked a bit about her process and where she gets some of her inspiration, and taught us how to properly pronounce her name (myoo-cha).

We’d like to thank IronGalaxy for sponsoring this episode, as well as to the Chicago Podcast Coop for their continued support.

Corinne on the internet:

maidenhousefly.com

Buy her books

Corinne’s Tumblr

@corinnemucha

Show notes:

Classes Corinne teaches at Old Town School of Folk Music

MCA Chicago

Corinne’s book Get Over It!

Quimby’s Bookstore

In this episode we got on Skype in order to talk to writer, editor and co-founder of YetiPress, RJ Casey, in Seattle, Washington. RJ gave us a little back story about how Yeti was started with Eric Roesner, the origin of the name (you have to listen to find out!), answered some listener questions, and talked mascots (yeah, like sports mascots). If you’re going to be at CAKE (Chicago Alternative Comics Expo) this weekend make sure you stop by the YetiPress table and say hi to RJ (mention that you heard him on this podcast and he’ll give you a free hug!).

A big warm thank you to Maxistentialism for sponsoring this episode, as well as to the Chicago Podcast Coop for their continued support.

RJ around the web:

@rjcaseywrites

RJ’s I Like That Blog

RJ’s online bio

Music: It’s Still Falling by Life Long Laser

Show Notes:

Yeti Press Comics

Erik Nebel

Fantagraphics Books

The Intruder (Seattle Comics Paper)

The Stanford Tree (Stanford’s mascot)

FU Press (Fantagraphics Underground)

For this episode we talked to the multifaceted illustrator and comic book artist Kat Leyh. Kat let us interview her in her work space at her Chicago Apartment (that’s the Red Line passing by in the background), which we discovered would only be her apartment for just a few more days when she moves to San Diego! Anyway, Kat talked to us about the scary and complicated word of full-time freelancing, sharing some very insightful advice for anyone else contemplating making the jump, talked a bit acceptance in the comics world and on the internet, and filled us in on what she has been working on and what’s ahead.

A special thanks to Iron Galaxy Studios for providing support for this episode, and to The Chicago Podcast Cooperative.

Kat on the web:

katleyh.com

katlay.tumblr.com

SuperCakes Debuting at CAKE

Music: Gravity by Stephen Kellog

Show Notes:

Japanese KFC Mascot

KaBOOM! Stuios

Yeti Press Comics

Geek Girl Illuminati

CAKE Chicago

Ladies Night at Graham Crackers Comics

Geek Show Podcast

Challengers Comics

In this episode Kevin was joined by Isabella Rotman. The Two of them recorded Izzy’s interview in the car on the drive to and from the Toronto Comics Arts Festival. We talk about Izzy’s work, what to expect out of a convention like TCAF, and the world of independent comics in general.

Show Links:

Danielle Chenette Music – http://djchenette.bandcamp.com/

Danielle Chenette Comics – http://daniellechenette.tumblr.com/

CAKE (actually June 6th and 7th) http://www.cakechicago.com/

Cathy G. Johnson – http://cathyboy.tumblr.com/

Ley Lines – http://leylines.storenvy.com/

Czap Books – http://czapbooks.bigcartel.com/

Sloane – http://sloaneshutup.tumblr.com/

Charles Burns – https://www.fantagraphics.com/artist-bios/artist-bio-charles-burns.html

Eleanor Davis – http://doing-fine.com/

Sex Criminals – https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/sex-criminals

Isabella Rotman – http://thismighthurt.tumblr.com/

This episode we got to chat with killer illustrator Pam Wishbow in her Seattle apartment (via Skype). After a few minutes of getting a little political we got down to talking about Pam’s process and hearing a little bit about how she works and what influences her. Among many other things Pam shared with us that a Kickstarter project that she’s a part of just launched the day of our recording — check out “Where Is Home” on Kickstarter and show your support if you can!

You can find Pam around the internet here:

PamWishbow.com

Pam’s Tumblr

Pam’s Etsy Store

@pamwishbow

Special thanks to Jackbox Games and The Chicago Podcast Coop for making this episode possible

In this episode we took a trip up to the Northwest corner of the city to visit artist and designer Lauren Jordan. Lauren told us about the work she does at Hey Chickadee, her own creative endeavors in the many mediums she creates with, and talks about the Indiegogo campaign for the upcoming release of the Comfort Food Zine, a collection of food-positive illustrations and comics by over 30 artists (definitely check it out and show your support by making a donation to the campagin, here’s the link again: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/comfort-food-zine–2).

The music from the episode is a song by James Roach that he recorded especially for Lauren, but you can find more of his music at hames.bandcamp.com

Where you can find Lauren:

LaurenJordan.net

@loremjay

Laruen’s page on Hey Chickadee

Lauren’s ASMR YouTube Channel

Show notes:

Hey Chickadee

Pusheen the Cat

Jess Fink at Hey Chickadee

Yuko Ota at Hey Chickadee

Emmy C at Hey Chickadee

Lauren’s Tea For Two Earings

Lauren’s Beekeeper’s Necklace

Lauren’s Food Zine

The Comfort Food Zine Indiegogo page

TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival)

VanCAF (Vancouver Comic Arts Festival)

Urban Threads Studio

This was another special episode — we were joined by John Wawrzaszek (aka Johnny Misfit) and Alex Nall, and a group of folks who came out for the monthly Drink and Draw that Alex runs, at ChiPRC (Chicago Publisher’s Resource Center). People drew on a big roll of register tape that Alex brought in while we recorded the episode. We chatted to Johnny about ChiPRC and the many other initiatives he’s a part of, and talked to Alex about his involvement in the project as well as his experience teaching comics to kids. A fun time was had by all! We wanted to apologize for the particularly low quality audio in this week’s episode, but if anyone has so suggestions for live audio recording, please let us know!

You can find the work and info of our guests here:

Johnny Misfit: johnnymisfit.com

Alex Nall: alexnall.tumblr.com, @alexnall0

The music from this episode is Not For Rebecca by Johnny’s band, Kitchen Experiment

Show notes:

ChiPRC

Linda Barry

Jeff Zwirek’s Burning Building Comix

Nate Beaty

Jeffrey Brown

Quimby’s Bookstore

Chicago Zine Fest

Cake (Chicago Alternative Comics Expo)