Inkstuds

Austrian cartoonist Nicolas Mahler , joined me for a transatlantic phone call about his comics, including the newest from Fantagraphics, Angelman . We also had an interesting discussion about the current state of the mainstreaming of “graphic novels”, comparing between North America and Europe.

Ninja Turtles co-creator and Heavy Metal bigwig joined me to discuss a range of different comics topics. He has recently returned to drawing the green guys that made him famous and is celebrating the 35th anniversary of Heavy Metal publishing in the North American market. I was a huge Ninja Turtle fan as a kid and lately, I have been reading a lot of Heavy Metal editions of translated European wor...

Ryan Sands is one of the most progressive indy comics publisher’s going right now. In his anthology, the Thickness, co-edited with Michael Deforge, they have brought together some of the most vital cartoonists and some of their most personal and forward thinking work, all in the pages of a porn comic. The 3rd issue will be debuting this week, and will be well worth checking out. I am always...

Baby’s In Black creator, Arne Bellstorf joined me to discuss his latest and longest work, looking at the relationship between Astrid Kirchherr and Stuart Sutcliffe. It is really beautifully put together book.

It’s time for another roundtable, and that means 2 hours of studs. I was joined by a heavy weight crew of comics critics. To be honest, that there were points in this conversation where I lost track of where I was, because I was so into the others and what they had to say. This time I was joined by Tom Spurgeo n, Paul Gravett and the always scrappy, Joe McCulloch . Each guest chooses 2 title...

Toronto illustrator and cartoonists, Maurice Vellekoop joined me to talk about his new book from Koyama Press, Gloria Badcock. It’s a filthy good time to be had. Maurice’s work is very lush and beautiful.

I moderated a panel at the inaugural Vancouver Fan Expo . It was hilariously called the Rock Star Comic Creator Super Panel, which I am still struggling to find out what that means. It basically featured a bunch of headliner guests talking about comics. It sounds very much like other panels I have done, except for the name. The guests were Greg Rucka, Kathryn and Stuart Immonen, Yanick Paquette an...

Sammy the Mouse cartoonist/publisher/printer, Zak Sally joined me for a comics talk that goes into some interesting directions. We cover his latest book, as well as variety of funny book topics.

Jesse McManus is doing some fantastic work that is exciting, dynamic and full of so much energy. His latest work is the Spider Monkey collaboration with Austin English and Violence Valley from Floating World Comics .

Leela Corman came on the Inkstuds to chat about her new book, Unterzakhn .

Derf returned to the Inkstuds for a conversation about his latest work, a retrospective of his time during his teens, as an aquaintance to the notorious serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer. The book is a really great character study, capturing a specific place and time, evoking some specific emotions.

Professor and editor of a multitude of comics releases, Paul Buhle came on the show to discuss a handful of his most recent work, including the Yiddishkeit anthology as well a plethora of other like the very recent Port Huron Statement with Gary Dumm.

Evan Dorkin is one of the under appreciated thinkers/writers in comics. He has a unique take on the form and speaks quite passionately about it. It was great to catch up with Evan in an attempt to talk about his latest Milk and Cheese collection, in a conversation that quickly sidestepped in a million directions. This is Evan’s third time on the Inkstuds, and he is always welcome back.

The most attended panel I moderated at Emerald City Comicon last month, was the Comics Influencing Comics panel featuring Brandon Graham, Mike Allred, Nate Powell and Moritat. I had never done anything with so many people watching. It was kind of surreal. Unfortunately, I think half of them were there to see the Jhonen Vasquez panel that was following ours.  

One of my favorite moments at Emerald City Comicon 2012, was being able to do a spotlight panel with Bill Sienkiewicz . I have been a massive fan of his for years and was excited for the chance to talk to him. It was a revealing conversation that touched on a number of artistic interests.

One of the most prolific cartoonists of the underground generation, Bill Griffith , joined me to chat about his new collection, Lost and Found . It is an interesting conversation that touches on a number of different topics, ranging from his Zippy the Pinhead work, to discussing his contemporaries like Rory Hayes.

Montreal illustrator and cartoonist, Matt Forsythe  returned to the studs house for a chat about his latest books, Jinchalo and Comics Class. Matt has been doing some great work and seems to always be getting better.

I was lucky enough to moderate a panel of some comics heavy weights.   Adam Warren , Brandon Graham and Bryan Lee O’Malley . Here is a description of the panel. The panels were listed before Bryan was announced, so that’s why he doesn’t appear announced here. ECCC Spotlight Series: Brandon Graham and Adam Warren in Conversation The Emerald City Comicon Spotlight Series is design...

Canadian artist Gary Taxali joined me for a chat about his new books, art and coins.

Toronto cartoonist, Kagan McLeod , joined me for a discussion of his giant collection Infinite Kung Fu . It’s a massive tome that was many years in the making.

Twisted Sisters co-founder Diane Noomin joined me to discuss her new book, Glitz-2-Go . We had some interference on the line, so the first 10 minutes, has warble in Diane’s voice. It is fine after that. I am really sorry about that. Technology is great and a pain at the same time. Diane will be appearing on Monday in New York. Come and get it, indeed!  Be one of the very first people to get...

After having such a blast doing my year end review show with some fantastic critics of comics, I decided I want to try and do these more often. This episode serves as a bit of a pilot project, to see how many titles, take how much time. We came up with a relatively small list of work to discuss and ended up talking for nearly 3 hours. I really enjoyed this talk, and will be doing this again in the...

Brooklyn based cartoonist and publisher, Austin English , joined me for a lively talk about his new publishing effort, Domino Books . Austin is also the editor of Windy Corner magazine and his latest work is The Disgusting Room, both out from Sparkplug comic books . Austin is always an interesting person to talk to and one of my favorite thinkers on comics.

Gay Genius editor Annie Murphy  joined me to discuss her Kickstarter funded anthology that explorers the wide world of queer culture. It is a really great collection that touches on some topics that aren’t really covered in most contemporary anthologies.

Frank Santoro joined me and Brandon Graham in the studio for a lively discussion of all things comics.