Comics Are Great! 56 – Mark Waid

It’s a spirited talk about the future of comics publishing and storytelling opportunities available in digital comics this time, as I’m joined by comics legend Mark Waid. Using his new project Thrillbent as a starting point, we explore how digital publishing and web culture are challenging us to re-think 20th Century ideas of publishing and distribution. We also have Paul Storrie in studio to help us explore how digital publishing presents some unique storytelling opportunities in comics without discarding what makes comics, well, comics. We’re joined at the end by Eli Neiburger of the Ann Arbor District Library for some thoughts on monetizing a digital comic as well as some great comics recommendations!

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting them!):

• The drama surrounding Mark Waid’s Thrillbent announcement
• Yves Bigerel’s Digital Comics Manifesto
• Walking Dead
• Scott Kurtz
• R Stevens
• Comics Are Great! 50 – A Tale of Two Cities
• Blind Ferret
• Atomic Robo
• iVerse Library
• Mark Waid’s Harvey Awards Speech
• Louis CK
• Aziz Ansari
• Residual Self Image
• Peter Krause
• Kurt Busiek
• Waid’s Thrillbent comic Luther
• Scott McCloud’s Zot! webcomic
• Responsive Web Design
• Insufferable
• Martin & Lewis
• Terry and the Pirates
• Upton Sinclair’s quote about people’s resistance to change
• Robot Butts (no, really)
• Ruben Bolling’s Inner Hive
• Ryan Estrada
• John Allison’s Subscription Plans
• The Long Form Web Comics Twitter discussion thread
• Deb Aoki

Comics and Book Recommendations:

• Grey is…
• Skin Horse
• Mark Waid’s Daredevil run

Upcoming Events and Appearances:

• Kids Read Comics July 6-8
• ALA Annual in Anaheim, CA

Here’s the video from this episode’s live stream (audio player at the bottom of this post):

Live streams every other Wednesday at Comicsaregreat.tv!

Audio hosting provided by Ka-Blam Digital Printing. This episode was recorded live at the Ann Arbor District Library.

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Comics Are Great! 55 – Who Needs Flying Cars?

Digital comics in libraries. Comics textbooks in schools. Has the utopian future finally arrived?

I’m joined this week by Eli Neiburger of the Ann Arbor District Library and Josh Elder of Reading With Pictures for a talk on the future of digital delivery and licensing in regards to comics. Josh’s new venture, the iVerse Media Comics+ Library Editions promises some new ways to think about how digital comics can find their audiences. Given that libraries account for nearly 40% of youth graphic novel sales, we talk about the leverage that they currently have and how comics makers might think of libraries as distribution points for their work. We close with some more thoughts on how the Internet “exposes the posers” and brings us up against the real challenge, to just make something awesome. But what does that even mean? It’s a fun talk about futurism with two intensely smart people.

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting them!):

• Video of Josh Elder explaining the origins of Reading With Pictures
• Comics+
• The Graphic Textbook, a Kickstarter campaign to create a comics textbook for schools
• Access, Schmaccess, a talk by Eli at the VALA 2012 conference
• C2E2
• Nyan Cat
• Cobra Commander
• Kobo Ereader
• BitTorrent
• Diesel Sweeties
• Michael Stackpole
• The razor blade sales model
• Sturgeon’s Law
• The 10,000 hour rule
• AADL’s music download collection
• Rob Stenzinger
• Borders book stores
• AADL’s telescope collection
• Jake Parker and his Kickstarter campaign
• Pottermore
• The 8 Billion Dollar iPod (TED talk)
• James Kochalka’s Tumblr
• The Back to Work podcast
• Free Comic Book Day

Comics and Book Recommendations:

• Sinfest
• The Eternal Smile
• Pinky & Stinky
• Dr. Horrible

Here’s the video from this episode’s live stream (audio player at the bottom of this post):

Live streams every other Wednesday at Comicsaregreat.tv!

Audio hosting provided by Ka-Blam Digital Printing. This episode was recorded live at the Ann Arbor District Library.

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Comics Are Great! 54 – Hugo Tate and Evolution

It’s another audio-only episode featuring the return of Nick Abadzis, author of Laika, and the upcoming collection Hugo Tate from Blank Slate Books. Nick sits down with me to talk about Hugo and the project’s evolution, and throughout our discussion we use it as a metaphor for an artist’s evolution. How do you find the proper distance between you and your story so that you might refine it with brutal honesty? What are the payoffs of sticking with it and “muscling through” the tough parts? Does it ever get any easier to create? It’s a fun discussion full of terrific insights from a great storyteller.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Hugo Tate on Tumblr
• Hugo Tate on Facebook
• Eddie Campbell
• Paul Chadwick
• Bill Willingham
• Preacher
• Fast Fiction
• RAW
• Escape
• 2000 A.D.

Nick announces a contest at the end of this episode, where you can enter to win an original sketch of your favorite Abadzis character! Here’s how to enter:

1. Share this link to where you can purchase Hugo Tate on your favorite social media sites or blog. Say why you’re interested in reading it!
2. Post the link to your post in the comments thread below.
3. Each social media or blog post counts as an entry, so you can enter multiple times!
4. On May 12, 2012 one entry will be randomly chosen to receive an original sketch by Nick Abadzis.

Audio hosting provided by Ka-Blam Digital Printing.

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Comics Are Great! 53 – Talking Korra

It’s an eclectic mix of talents and opinions this time as I’m joined by Kevin Coppa, Faith Erin Hicks, and Paul Storrie for a talk about the new Avatar: The Legend of Korra cartoon series!

We share our reactions to the first two episodes, compare them to the original series, discuss some of the many things the series creators do to continually surprise and delight audiences, and close with some rumors about where the series is headed.

It’s a fun and lively talk with some stellar creators who happen to be big fans of the series. We’re joined at the end by Sharon Iverson of The Ann Arbor District Library for some book recommendations.

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting them!):

• Korra Nation: The TRUE Story (video)
• Korra Nation
• Kevin Coppa’s DeviantArt page
• First Second Books
• Straw Boaters
• Slash Fiction
• Faith No More
• A Whole New World (video)
• Kung Fu Hustle
• Shaolin Soccer
• Sparkly Sparkly Bush Man
• Bette Davis
• Sokka
• The Hunger Games
• Emo Philips
• Amon
• Beast Wars
• Katara
• NAFTA
• You Can’t Do That On Television
• Chester Brown
• Jannie Ho
• nemu*nemu
• Patbird & Galesaur
• College for Creative Studies

Comics and Book Recommendations:

• Cross Game
• The Lost Scrolls Collection
• Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise, Part 1
• Twisted Journeys: Nightmare on Zombie Island
• Teen Boat!

Upcoming Events at AADL:

• Drawing Lab: Sketching the Human Hand
• The Ann Arbor Comic Artists Forum with special guest Gale Williams
• Kids Read Comics

Here’s the video from this episode’s live stream (audio player at the bottom of this post):

Live streams every other Wednesday at Comicsaregreat.tv!

Audio hosting provided by Ka-Blam Digital Printing. This episode was recorded live at the Ann Arbor District Library.

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Comics Are Great! 51 – Mini-Comics Day

It’s an hour of talk about the wonderful and unique format known as mini-comics, as I’m joined by Dave Carter of the University of Michigan Art, Architecutre & Engineering Library, and U-M student Meggie Ramm for a wrap-up of Mini-Comics Day 2012! Together we discuss why the mini-comics format is a great entry point for beginners as well as why it serves as a great means for professional artists to play. We share some of our experiences at Mini-Comics Day and some of the work completed there, and close with a bunch of great mini-comics recommendations.

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting them!):

• The University of Michigan Video Game Archive
• Sega’s Dreamcast
• The Commodore Amiga
• Phoebe Gloeckner
• Calvin and Hobbes and Calvinball
• Vault of Midnight
• The Big Lebowski
• The Duderstadt Center
• The UGLI
• Opus
• 24-Hour Comics Day
• Mini-Comics Day
• Rocky Balboa (how you feel when you finish a mini-comic)
• Möbius strip
• Bedtime for Bonzo
• The A-Team
• Going Ape!
• NASA images
• Dave’s Yet Another Comics Blog
• The Black Hole Equation
• Too Close For Comfort
• Kids Read Comics
• La Bande Dessinee

Comics and Book Recommendations:

• Roger Langridge
• Bob: The Complete Series
• Kevin Huizenga
• Little League
• Ted Seko

Here’s the video from this episode’s live stream (audio player at the bottom of this post):

Live streams every other Wednesday at Comicsaregreat.tv!

Audio hosting provided by Ka-Blam Digital Printing. This episode was recorded live at the Ann Arbor District Library.

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Comics Are Great! 50 – A Tale of Two Cities

For the sort-of anniversary show, I was lucky enough to be joined the old roundtable (plus one) for a follow-up discussion to CAG 48! So, to quote Kermit the Frog, it really makes me happy to introduce to you:

From L to R:
Dave Roman, Kasey Van Hise, Brandon Dayton, and Tony Cliff

Together we start out with some talk covering Tony’s experience at Angoulême, but at around the 26-minute mark we dive into a meaty and layered revisiting of the topic of “Comics for Girls.” Listen along as we discover that the subject seems to be inextricably wound into issues endemic to the North American comics history and the great divides between the direct market, web, and trade publishing industries. Ultimately we conclude “it’s complicated,” but it’s a fun and stimulating conversation along the way!

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Strong Female Characters by Kate Beaton, Carly Monardo, and Meredith Gran
• Friends of Lulu
• Sequential Tart
• Kasey’s list of comics with female leads
• Nico Nico Douga
• Comics Are Great! Episodes 11, 42, and 48
• Bone
• Buzzboy
• The Big Sexy Problem with Superheroines and Their ‘Liberated Sexuality’
• The Making of a Blockbuster
• Thunder Punch Daily 146 – on cheating

Audio hosting provided by Ka-Blam Digital Printing.

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Comics Are Great! 49 – Fear and Courage

This time I’m joined by cartoonist and children’s book illustrator Dan Santat for a discussion on the fear of failure most of us artists face at various times during our careers. Does the fear of failure drive us to do better? Does it prevent us from enjoying where we are? Or worse yet, can it drive us away from even being creative? Can we ever be “ready for success,” and if so, what does that mean?

We address all of these questions as Dan shares experiences in art school, the video game industry, animation, children’s book illustration, and comics. The big takeaway? There’s no escape from the fear of failure, but we can find the courage to face it!

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting them!):

• Dan’s post on how the fear of failure affected his career
• Sidekicks, a Graphic Novel and the Sidekicks trailer
• Vote for Sidekicks in the Children’s Choice Book Awards!
• Video highlighting the many, many books Dan has coming out in 2012
• The Replacements (Dan Santat)
• The Replacements (Drozd and Turner)
• Lunch Lady Comics
• Amulet
• Teen Boat!
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
• Biological Cell
• The Academy of Art
• The Fight-or-Flight response
• Maya
• Treyarch
• Arthur Levine books
• Jake Parker
• ALA Conference
• Icon Illustration Conference

Comics and Book Recommendations:

• Around the World
• Astronaut Academy
• Teen Boat!
• Smile
• Lunch Lady
• Stitches
• The Unsinkable Walker Bean
• Empire State
• Same Difference
• Level Up
• Missile Mouse
• 18 Minutes

Here’s the video from this episode’s live stream (audio player at the bottom of this post):

Live streams every other Wednesday at Comicsaregreat.tv!

Audio hosting provided by Ka-Blam Digital Printing. This episode was recorded live at the Ann Arbor District Library.

Follow Jerzy and Dan on Twitter!

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Comics Are Great! 48 – Writing for Girls

Is writing adventure fiction for girls really all that different than writing for other audiences? If so, can such a story be characterized? Tough questions, so this time I went to the best sources for answers! We’re joined by Dan Mishkin, co-creator of the legendary comics series Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and Blue Devil (and co-organizer of the upcoming Kids Read Comics celebration at AADL), and Brianne Drouhard, animator, character designer, and storyboard artist whose credits include Teen Titans, Transformers: Animated, Batman: Brave and the Bold and the new DC Nation shorts. Along with Paul Storrie we try to get to the bottom of what differences, if any, can be found in storytelling created specifically for girls.

We’re joined later by Eli Neiburger of the Ann Arbor District Library for another round of book recommendations!

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting them!):

• Sugar and Spike
• Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and why everyone who loves comics should read it
• Amethyst’s upcoming appearance on DC Nation
• DC’s Amethyst collection coming soon
• J.K. Rowling
• My Little Pony
• DC Nation Shorts
• Modesty Blaise
• Starfire and the big controversy of 2011
• Raven
• Superboy
• Sports Night
• Pinkie Pie
• Princess Celestia
• Perfect Strangers
• Captain Marvel
• Billie the Unicorn

Comics and Book Recommendations:

• Eli’s Comics for Girls list
• Alison Dare

Here’s the video from this episode’s live stream (audio player at the bottom of this post):

Live streams every other Wednesday at Comicsaregreat.tv!

Audio hosting provided by Ka-Blam Digital Printing. This episode was recorded live at the Ann Arbor District Library.

Follow Jerzy, Paul, Dan, Brianne, and Eli on Twitter!

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Comics Are Great! 47 – The Voice

We’re joined by a very special guest on this episode to help us find a new angle to come at the topic of writing characters! Neil Kaplan (Digimon, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Power Rangers) joins us for a discussion on writing characters from the standpoint of a voice actor. How do you find that unique turn of phrase or affectation to make a character’s inner life show? What considerations might a cartoonist keep in mind when building a character from the ground up?

It’s a fun and lively discussion with Neil and Paul Storrie, followed by some more comics recommendations with Sharon Iverson of the Ann Arbor District Library. Sharon also drops the news about the new comics website at AADL, where you can subscribe to the video episodes of this show!

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting them!):

• Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It’s Like Behind The Mic
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
• StarCraft
• Starcraft II: Heaven’s Devils
• I, of the Wolf
• Power Morphicon
• Star Wars Original Opening Crawl
• Optimoose Prime
• The Birth of Optimoose Prime
• Back to the Future
• Mel Blanc
• Dick Gautier
• Billy West
• Skadge
• The Mouse and the Monster
• Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy
• Neumann Microphones
• Dan Gilvezan
• Transformers: Prime
• Audio Theater For Our Troops
• Braille Institute
• The Making Comics podcast

Comics and Book Recommendations:

• Alison Dare
• Saturday Morning Webtoons
• The Story of Roberto Clemente
• Marzi
• Daisy Kutter
• Iron West
• Winters in Lavelle, Vol 1

Here’s the video from this episode’s live stream (audio player at the bottom of this post):

Live streams every other Wednesday at Comicsaregreat.tv!

Audio hosting provided by Ka-Blam Digital Printing. This episode was recorded live at the Ann Arbor District Library.

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Comics Are Great! 46 – Manga Studio

This episode is packed to the gills as I’m joined by a full house of great people who are all eager to talk about comics!

First up is a discussion on drawing digitally in Manga Studio with Stephen McCranie, who leads a demonstration of how he draws his comics in the program while Paul Storrie and I watch and comment with baited breath.

We’re then joined by Sharon Iverson of the Ann Arbor District Library and David Carter of the University of Michigan Art, Architecture, and Engineering Library for some great book recommendations and some talk on Mini-Comics Day in Ann Arbor, March 10.

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting them!):

• The Mal & Chad contest!
• Stephen’s Doodle Alley essays on sustainable creativity
• The Parable comics anthology
• Mike Maihack
• Dave Carter’s Ignite Ann Arbor Talk, Awesome Comics You Should Read
• More Ignite talks on comics
• The Watchmen prequels
• Jeff Smith
• Eric Orchard
• Dave Gibbons’s webinar on using Manga Studio
• Ghostopolis
• The Wacom Cintiq
• nemu*nemu
• Matt Feazell (check out his appearance on CAG 23)
• Suzanne Baumann
• Sean Beiri
• XKCD
• Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School

Comics and Book Recommendations:

• Lunch Lady Comics
• Cross Game
• Orange Road

Upcoming events:

• Mini-Comics Day at the Duderstadt Center, March 10

Here’s the video from this episode’s live stream (audio player at the bottom of this post):

Live streams every other Wednesday at Comicsaregreat.tv!

Audio hosting provided by Ka-Blam Digital Printing. This episode was recorded live at the Ann Arbor District Library.

Follow Jerzy, Paul, Stephen, and Dave on Twitter!

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