Deconstructing Comics

Westron is about a private investigator who investigates crimes with supernatural elements. When a girl is murdered, he feels driven to solve the crime by the memory of a childhood friend who was killed. Tim and Jason look into the case of this comic by Shawn McBee, Maciej Jankowski, Nicolas Nieto, and Matia De Vincenzo! Westron on Kickstarter

At last we complete our look at Alan Moore ‘s Swamp Thing run, looking at Swampy’s battle with Gotham City, his seeming death, and his travels through space. Along the way, Tim and Kumar have totally different takes on a certain issue, and Tim finds a fact about it that scandalizes Kumar. Join us as we traverse The Saga of the Swamp Thing issues 51-64! What are those folks on Rann sayi...

Typical of the Jack Kirby comics we’ve read from the 1970s, the 1977 Black Panther series is a wild ride. Issues 5 and 6 feature a city of samurai (apparently nowhere near Japan), a yeti (nowhere near the Himalayas), and a nuclear missile (which is far too close to Wakanda). Wait, did we say “Wakanda” ?! At last the series is inching back to the familiar territory, literally and...

Adam Tierney , writer of the recent hit one-shot Romeo and Juliet and Godzilla , is a video game writer who dabbles in comics as a hobby — and it’s looking like a very successful hobby! This week he talks to Tim about choosing who Godzilla would cross paths with in his Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre issue, his love of horror and forthcoming horror comic for kids, how he got into...

Jim Steranko ’s Nick Fury stories from the late 1960s are lauded for the artwork, especially in the stories after Fury got out of Strange Tales and into his own book. The stories are wacky and kind of haphazard. The layouts are sometimes very innovative, but the storytelling is not always clear. Are these stories worth reading today? Tim and Kumar complete their review of Steranko’s Nick Fury. Als...

FLASHBACK! Why read a biography of a fictional comics artist? What if it’s also a history of Singapore — done in a style that apes more than a dozen seminal 20th century comics creators? Tim and Kumar take a look at the awe-inspiring (yet sometimes puzzling) Sonny Liew graphic novel The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye . (Originally published May 8, 2017.) Brought to you by: Full Manga Alchemists Our...

Black Panther continues his wild ride, courtesy of Jack Kirby — but filling a role that could have been played by virtually any character. With Abner Little and Princess Zanda, we see him fight various treasure protectors, drive an incredibly stylish ancient vehicle, take on a samurai who’s been transplanted to Africa, and more. Tim and Emmet try to keep up with the craziness. Brought...

Ian M is a Japan-based Canadian creator whose work we’ve discussed on this podcast before. His work is often about Japan, but not necessarily about himself. In  The Blossoming City part one , he begins the story (presumably true?) about a community garden in Sapporo, in a story that he tells in a variety of cartooning styles. Tim and Adam discuss. Eric Paul Johnson is a podcaster who is publ...

FLASHBACK! We continue our look at Alan Moore’s 1980s run on Swamp Thing — a run in which the title character met werewolves and vampires (as Moore and co. found a new way to use these old tropes), as well as new character John Constantine. Moore was aided by artists Stephen Bissette , John Totleben , and Alfredo Acala , among others. Koom and newcomer Darrell Epp discuss issues 38-50.  (Originall...

FLASHBACK! Even amidst the anything-goes craziness of the early Image years, Sam Kieth’s The Maxx was an outlier. While it included some superhero tropes, it wasn’t really a superhero book, nor was it like much of anything else on the market, then or now. While it definitely has its weaknesses, Kumar and Dana confirm this week that it was absolutely mind-blowing…and emotionally affecting. Marking...

Somehow it’s taken us 20 years of podcasting to get to Jim Steranko’s fabled run on  Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. But is the early stuff really so fabled? There’s lots of action and it’s exciting, but don’t dare think about it too much, because the seat-of-the-pants plotting is all over the map, and the anatomy drawing sometimes leaves something to be desired. Sti...

FLASHBACK! Due perhaps to the passage of time, poorly handled reprinting by DC, or some other reason, Alan Moore’s writing stint on Swamp Thing in the 1980s does not seem to get mentioned much today. Which is a shame, because it ranks with Moore’s best work. And the art by Stephen Bissette and John Totleben (and able fill-in artists) is worth the price of admission by itself, not to mention Tatjan...

We begin our look at Jack Kirby ‘s Black Panther series from the 1970s, introducing a new Kirby character who’s a bit too similar to one who first appeared in Captain America ! Panther has somehow gotten mixed up in the search for the mate to King Solomon’s Frog , an oddball time travel device. The mate is used to return people to their proper point in time. Tim and Emmet discuss...

Sometimes, achieving your dream can be kind of a nightmare, even though it’s also rewarding. Claudia, in Katriona Chapman ‘s latest graphic novel  The Pass , has started her own restaurant and enjoys creating in the kitchen, but everything else that goes with it wears her down. The book gives us a peek at the ups and downs of running a restaurant and the relationships that form behind...

Inio Asano’s  Goodnight Punpun gives us what appear to be a family of ghostly birds living in a much more realistic-looking world. People within that world don’t see them that way, though. It’s a world where authority figures act like ADHD kids, where every parent seems to be abusive or alcoholic (or both), and all seem to be fighting relentless depression. It’s well done,...

After “hunting” the Fantastic Four , the Black Panther reveals that he did it for practice, as he anticipated a battle against his father’s killer: Ulysses Klaw . Sure enough, Klaw shows up right on schedule, and the FF help Panther take him down. Tim and Emmet discuss  Fantastic Four #53 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby! Brought to you by: Checkered Past podcast Our supporters on Patr...

At some point, the idea that some comics should be for adults took over to the extent that it became hard to find good comics for kids. Cartoonist Harold Buchholz was involved in starting an organization called Kids Love Comics that encourages making comics for kids and does events to hook the kids up with good comics aimed at them. Harold joins Tim this week to talk about that, as well as his inv...

Sixty years ago, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby presided over the debut of the Black Panther in Fantastic Four #52. The story presents the expectations of the average American for stories about Africa (Jungles! Natives! Africa is a country, right?) and defies those expectations by showing a rich, technologically advanced African nation. This time, Tim and Emmet discuss the Panther’s debut. Brought...

Jimmy Gownley is the award-winning creator of Amelia Rules , Tanner Rocks , The Dumbest Idea Ever , and more, as well as a co-host of the Unpacking Peanuts podcast. This time, he talks with Tim about why the earliest stuff sells the best (never mind how much his art has improved since then), ergonomics, putting comics on Substack for free , and, of course, Peanuts ! Brought to you by: Doomspeak po...

FLASHBACK! One of the most acclaimed Marvel runs of the 1980s was by Walt Simonson on The Mighty Thor . He began writing and drawing it with #337, continued through to #367 (with a quick break in the middle), then gave up art duties but continued writing through #382. This run set aside Dr. Don Blake, focused on mythical threats rather than earthly ones, and injected some humor into what had somet...

A love triangle. One member feels jilted and goes off the deep end. A gun is involved. Tim and Adam talk about the thriller Lovers Quarrel by Rob Capili, Ikos Karimlan, and Joy Mateo. Lovers Quarrel Kickstarter Buy the book on Amazon.com Meanwhile, Digital Bardos has returned! Hippie “digital god” Darren is selling the people on a technology that puts their minds in endless bliss while...

Ed Subitzky did a lot of cartooning for National Lampoon back in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Much of his work revolves around comics done under certain conditions or showing a certain situation (“Fortune-Telling Comics” “Dull Comics” “Poor Reception Comics”). Neither Kumar nor Tim were familiar with his work until picking up the collection Poor Helpless Comics! The carto...

While it seems a bit odd to see Captain America fighting Magneto , they do have something in common: Jack Kirby had a hand in creating both! The battle takes place in Captain America Annual #4 , from 1977; the story is titled “The Great Mutant Massacre” — but no, not  that one. It’s an X-men – adjacent story with some very Kirbyesque bizarre concepts. Tim and Emmet di...

FLASHBACK! Autobiographical comics are par for the course, but in 1972, Justin Green broke ground for the genre when he published Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary . Some of that broken ground hasn’t been trod since; how many autobiographical comics about a battle with mental illness have you seen done as wacky parody comics? Lightning-quick pace, phalluses everywhere, and a helpful instructi...

Daredevil: Born Again , by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, is one of those comics stories that continues to attract attention decades after it was published. Chris Ryall, co-founder and current publisher at Image imprint Syzygy Publishing, is the author of a new book on that story. He talks with Koom in this episode about the arc’s religious symbolism, Ben Urich as the story’s mag...