Comics Are Dope (The Podcast)

Amid the campaign for Artificial #2 , Chris O'Hara stops by to talk origins, being inspired by cinema, and why Artificial is a story that HAD TO be told.  About Chris O'Hara: Chris, the founder of BentBox Comics, is not only a writer and graphic designer from SWF but also a creative soul. Since childhood, he seized every opportunity to create, from homemade movies to short stories, engaging everyo...

You guys know I'm a huge fan of the Dakota Universe. But Lamar Giles and Paris Alleyne's Static: Up All Night nearly slipped out of my radar entirely. When I noticed my mistake, I ended up reading the whole book in one sitting, and it leapfrogged into my Top Books of 2023 list. Somehow, my video review landed on the screen of the man himself, so we set up this fun conversation. Listen as we talk a...

Marcus Williams is many things. A creator. An illustrator. A role model. But if you ask him, the first thing he'll tell you is he's a Character Designer. Being able to mix and match the things we love to make something new has always served him well. And his latest project, Eye Lie Popeye , is an example of just that. Today, I speak with Marcus The Visual about his love for characters, the key to...

Looking at comic book credits online, you might mistake Greg Burnham for a young, up and coming comics writer. But the fact is, he's pretty accomplished already. After self-publishing comics for nearly 2 decades with partner Marcus Williams, the pair firmly established themselves when the hit series Tuskegee Heirs landed on Kickstarter in 2017. Since then, the duo have been a mainstay on the conve...

Few comics have smacked me in the face like When The Blood Has Dried #1.  It wasn't on my radar, but once it arrived in my inbox, I was HOOKED after page one. Ahead of the release of issue #2, writer Gary Moloney joins the podcast to talk about his inspirations, his love for epic fantasy stories, and just how much is riding on the success of his direct market debut. About Gary Moloney: Gary Molone...

Perhaps there's no better description of David Harper than the one given by superstar writer James Tynion IV back in 2023. "Frankly, I think David does the best work in the comics journalism space today, and I’ve always valued his insight into the comics industry. Beyond that, I think he’s the best interviewer currently working in our corner of the comics business." Today, I interview the best int...

Today, David Pepose stops by to talk about building up the courage to start a comic writing career, and why he's super excited to bring Space Ghost to a new generation of comic fans. A former crime reporter turned Ringo Award-winning comic book creator, David Pepose has written on hit titles such as Punisher , Moon Knight: City of the Dead , Savage Avengers , Fantastic Four , Hulk , Avengers Unlim...

Meet Will Robson! Writer and creator of OUTBREAKS . Will is a professional comic book writer and artist who has worked on BATMAN, STAR WARS, SPIDER-MAN AND DEADPOOL, THE FANTASTIC FOUR, SPAWN, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES and many more awesome titles! Will writes and letters every story in OUTBREAKS and draws the backup, DEAD EYE DICK! Back Outbreaks #1-3 on Kickstarter Here For More from Comics A...

Fixed Audio Reupload It's been an amazing 5 years for Stephanie Williams. From Kickstarting hilarious web comics to authoring the official encyclopedia of DC's strangest heroes;  Steph is carving out a lane all her own, and she's not slowing down any time soon. In a conversation 2 years in the making;  I spoke to Stephanie about her journey into comics, her approach to storytelling, and how she le...

Recently, my good friend BunkmastaB reached 500 subscribers on his YouTube Channel, just as Comics Are Dope was nearing 10k on our own. For some reason, he thought soliciting a conversation from me would be an entertaining celebration. Yeah, I don't know either. But I'm always happy to show up for my friends. The result was an introspective look at my first 3 years on Comics YouTube, my thoughts o...

Today I'm talking to Elliott Kalan. If you're like me, you've been living under a rock (or a stack of comics) for the past two decades, and may not have heard the name. Besides being a writer of hilarious comics, Elliott is the former Head Writer for T he Daily Show with Jon Stewart -- a job that earned him FOUR Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing. I spoke with Elliott about where his love for wri...

Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner's STRAY DOGS was my runaway favorite title of 2021. As they prepare to follow it up 3 years later with FERAL, writer Tony Fleecs sits in the guest chair to discuss what goes into making a follow up. For More from Comics Are Dope: Get This Week in Comics , our weekly e-mail newsletter: http://thisweekincomics.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://youtube.com/@comicsaredope...

If you've been at a con in the south in the last 10 years, you've likely seen each of the gentlemen in today's episode at least 5 times. Known more for their singular accomplishments (and Tik Tok antics); Danny J. Quick, Morgan Iverson, Ro Lamb and Wolly McNair have teamed up to form a new studio, Bequest, which they say is a perfect combination of Milestone Media and the Wu-Tang Clan. Their debut...

Over two decades, Greg Pak has built a career in comic writing by taking on such titans as Hulk and Darth Vader. With a special knack for bringing forth the humanity that unites all of us, he's now taking on another temperamental monster in the pages of Lilo & Stitch. Today, I'm talking to Greg about how he got into comics, how he feels storytelling can change the world, and the common thread he's...

Morgan Hampton has always wanted to write comics. When he had opportunities to speak to established writers at meet & greets, or through his freelance writing role at Black Nerd Problems, he always took full advantage, using the time to soak up as much as he could about the industry. Now he's got six issues of Cyborg under his belt, and is working on Sons of Star Trek , a comic based on his favori...

If today's episode feels like a private chat among friends, that's no accident. I became acquainted with Nikolas Draper-Ivey shortly after he was announced as the series artist for Static: Season One -- the title that kicked off the Milestone Returns line at DC Comics. We've been building a solid rapport ever since, but I could never get him to sit for an interview -- until now. In this conversati...

I'm excited to present the third and final portion of my conversation with Christopher Priest. We've had a great time talking about his 45 year comics career, but today is all about his latest writing project -- Vampirella. As Priest relaunches Vampirella with issue #666, we talk about his approach to the character, balancing creativity with personal convictions, and what he hopes to add to the my...

There aren't many in the industry with a career as legendary and storied as that of Christopher Priest. The first Black writer at both Marvel AND DC Comics, he's written or edited on every superhero you can name. Our interview spans three hour-long episodes, the second of which I'm excited to present here. In Part 2 of our conversation, we dig into Priest the writer. How does he decide what to inc...

There aren't many in the industry with a career as legendary and storied as that of Christopher Priest. The first Black writer at both Marvel AND DC Comics, he's written or edited on every superhero you can name. Our interview spans three hour-long episodes, the first of which I'm excited to present here. We talk about A LOT including: Being Hired by Marvel in the late 1970's The Role of a Comic B...

When I asked Roger Langridge about the legacy he'll leave, he said "My tombstone will probably say 'Wrote the Muppets, then died.'" But the fact is, Roger is continuing the tradition of some of the greatest storytellers in history. We talked about his love for Carl Barks, newspaper strips, and the approach he brings to his own works -- including The Muppet Show , and the upcoming Justice Ducks min...

Greg Weisman is an American novelist, writer, producer and voice actor. He is best known as a creator of the animated series Gargoyles , The Spectacular Spider-Man and Young Justice . This year marks the 30th anniversary of Disney's Gargoyles, and Greg and the team at Dynamite Entertainment are celebrating in a major way, by bringing classic Gargoyles comics back into print for the first time in o...

Today, I'm joined by writer Matt Mair Lowery to talk about THOUGHTSCAPE, the Sci-Fi anthology he's been self-publishing for 3 years. Issues 4 and 5 are being Kickstarted now, but they need your help to meet the goal! Listen to our talk, then visit http://thoughtscape2024.com to back the campaign. "ThoughtScape Comics is an anthology series serving up sci-fi action, thrills and chills in the tradit...

I recently had the pleasure of talking with comic artist and writer Sweeney Boo  ahead of the premiere issue of Disney Villains: Cruella De Vil. Listen as the Eat and Love Yourself creator talks writing for Disney, scripting for other artists, and how her love for art and animation drove her into the career of her dreams as a cartoonist. Order Disney Villains: Cruella De Vil  at http://dynamite.co...

Last week, we lost a dear friend in the comics community, and the co-host of this podcast. Curtis Fisher, aka Skipntosh, was like a big brother to me. I enjoyed telling him as much when we would record our podcast episodes together. I don’t know how he found the channel or our community, but he immediately made his presence felt. Always there to plug awesome indie comics and challenge us to think...

Since I got into comics, Skipntosh has been beating the indie drum as loudly as he can. In this issue of Comics Are Dope, I give him an audience and allow him to state his best case for why indies should take over your comic book reading experience. For More from Comics Are Dope: Get This Week in Comics , our weekly e-mail newsletter: http://thisweekincomics.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://youtub...