Dollar Bin Bandits

INTERVIEW: Equal parts artist and writer, Phil Hester has been doing the comic book thing for 30 years now! He broke into the mainstream via his work with Kevin Smith on an adaptation of the film Clerks . That connection got him noticed in the DC offices, and soon it was off to the races, penciling Swamp Thing and more. Phil's art is perhaps best known from a long run on Green Arrow , where he col...

INTERVIEW: Joe and Oren sit down with a king of coloring, Anthony Tollin! Anthony started with DC in the early 70s, and by the early 80s was coloring nearly all the covers in the DC line. Although the majority of his career was spent at DC, he's worked with other publishers as well, and has done a lot of work with The Shadow. The boys dig into his crazy work schedule, his favorite artists to work...

INTERVIEW: Like many of his peers coming up in comics in late 80s across the pond, Mike Collins fell in with the Marvel UK crew, drawing the likes of Spider-Man , Transformers , Doctor Who and Zoids . Of course, no UK comics career is complete without work on 2000 A.D. , so you'll find his work there too. But things really took off when Mike moved to the US in the 90s, where he tackled many of DC'...

Yes, THE Roger Stern! It took months of work to get this storytelling master to sit down for an interview, and we hope you agree that it was worth it. We dug into as much of his career as we could, starting with the fanzine CPL with Bob Layton, moving through the Charlton Bullseye , and on to his big break as editor and then writer at Marvel. And that's only the first 10 minutes! Of course, we had...

INTERVIEW: We welcome artist/creator Ray-Anthony Height, who is currently Kickstarting a collected edition of his creator-owned comic, Midnight Tiger. Midnight Tiger: The Complete Origin collects the first four issues (the origin story) of the series, providing a foundation for a saga that Ray has planned out for the next decade! You may also recognize his work from stints at Marvel ( Moon Girl &...

Considered a master in horror comic art, Stephen Bissette creates images that are haunting and beautiful at the same time. His celebrated run on Swamp Thing with Alan Moore helped establish his reputation, and since then his various works have been beloved by comic fans. Check out what he has to say about his career and craft today on Dollar Bin Bandits! _____________________ Dollar Bin Bandits is...

INTERVIEW: Prolific writer J.M. DeMatteis is back for another round of questions, this time focused on his new Magneto mini-series (with Todd Nauck ) that debuts today (8/2/23)! The story harkens back to a time in the X-Men's past when Professor X was absent, and Magneto took over as headmaster of the School for Gifted Youngsters, leading the New Mutants. We also get into J.M.'s character developm...

The Greek gods will always be seen as the archetypes on which most superheroes are based. Therefore, it's only natural that they get the full comic book treatment, and George O'Connor was the one to do it! Through the 12 graphic novels comprising his Olympians series, George brings the classic Greek myths to life. On this episode, we dig into everything Olympians, from how he pitched the huge proj...

The Spirit of Vengeance rides again, thanks to writer Howard Mackie, as a new Ghost Rider series is burning up the shelves at comic shops! The legendary writer talks about his inspiration for this new series and how he’s changed as a writer from the original run. _____________________ Dollar Bin Bandits is the official podcast of TwoMorrows Publishing . Check out their fine publications at twomorr...

Mike Grell is back! And he's brought his old editor, and co-founder of First Comics, Mike Gold along with him. That's right, it's a Jon Sable Freelance reunion hosted by Bandit Oren and past guest Jeff Messer! The group gets deep into the origins of the creator-owned title, what made it tick, and its influence on the "grim and gritty" comic stories of the 1980s. So, come reminisce with us about a...

Dan Johnson is a heck of a writer. Whether it’s writing independent comics or stories for TwoMorrows Publishing, his way with words set him apart from others. In his career, he’s had the opportunity to interview some of the biggest names in comic history. Check out what he has to say about the comics industry today, the independent scene and what it was like speaking to some of the best in the wor...

As one of the Brothers Hildebrandt (Tim passed away in 2006), Greg Hildebrandt long ago cemented his reputation as a preeminent fantasy/sci-fi illustrator of the past half-century. The brothers are best known for their Lord of the Rings calendars, paintings for Magic: The Gathering and Harry Potter card games, and an iconic early poster for Star Wars. We also get into Greg's work (with and without...

You wanna talk cartoons? Let's talk Christy Marx cartoons. There's The New Fantastic Four , Spider-Man , Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends , G.I. Joe , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , and X-Men: Evolution , to name but a few. Then there's Jem , in which she was not only head writer, but a co-creator. Same for Conan the Adventurer and Hypernauts . And if all that isn't enough, Christy is also a com...

Perhaps best known for American Flagg! at First Comics, artist Howard Chaykin broke into comics under the tutelage of three masters: Gil Kane, Wally Wood, and Neal Adams. He only dabbled in the world of superheroes, preferring instead more less costumed genres, like sci-fi, horror, and adventure. His most mainstream work includes the first ten issues of the adaptation of Star Wars , the World of K...

Talk about an eclectic career! JayJay Jackson started out as a cartographer, drawing street maps in the days before GPS. She also did schematics and production design for various outfits, including Texas Instruments. Somehow, she parlayed this into a gig as a designer (and later art director) at Marvel Comics. She also colored comics and ads, including those for Spider-Man, Punisher, and Alien Leg...

How many people can say they worked on She-Hulk and Tales from the Crypt ? Mike Vosburg can! The immensely talented artist has done comics, animation and storyboards for numerous popular shows. He has also created his own highly popular Lori Lovecraft series, which is a salute to the noir early days of comics. To find out more, visit vozart.com/vozcomix . _____________________ Dollar Bin Bandits i...

The legend is back! Longtime Phantom artist Sy Barry (and his son David) returns to discuss his Draw for Life charity and upcoming art auction benefiting the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute / Jimmy Fund in Boston, MA. We also talk more about Sy’s storied career! You can find info about the auction at drawforlife.org . It takes place July 1–8 on eBay, and for those artists out there, you still have ti...

All hail the King of Fonts! That's right, Richard Starkings is in the hot seat today, answering all of our questions about lettering, font design, Marvel UK, Comicraft, Doctor Who, and his Elephantmen universe. Richard got into comics in his native UK, where he started lettering for 2000 AD , Warrior , and various Marvel UK titles. After moving stateside, he founded Comicraft , a lettering and des...

Like many of the artists we have on the show, Jeff Johnson has more than one arrow in his quiver. You may know him from his work on comics as diverse as Wonder Man , Amazing Spider-Man , and Weapon X at Marvel; Solitaire from Malibu's Ultraverse; Crossgen's Way of the Rat ; and Green Lantern and others for DC. But you may also know him from his animation work in popular shows like Boondocks , Spec...

J.C. Vaughn is the President of Gemstone Publishing , which among other things, publishes the legendary Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide . Their recent guides to grading comics have also become indispensable to collectors and traders. But, as the commercials say, that's not all! J.C. is also an accomplished indie comics writer, having created or co-created titles like Zombie-Proof , Vampire, PA ,...

JMS: three letters that stand for inventive comic book storytelling. Not that he's a slouch in film, TV, or animation, mind you. J. Michael Straczynski may be best known as the creator of the 90s sci-fi show Babylon 5 , but for our purposes, he's a comic writing genius who's worked on some of the most iconic characters for the past 30 years. Before breaking into the industry with his epic Rising S...

Year 2 of the Dollar Bin Bandits is in the books! So we're celebrating with a look back, forward, and all around the DBB universe. First, we reveal our new partnership with TwoMorrows Publishing! Then, we get a video greeting from past guest Greg Goldstein and answer questions from our amazing community. Finally, the Bandits interview each other. It's fun, it's funky, it's a rollicking good time! ...

When it comes to chronicling comic book history, there are few better than Alex Grand. His YouTube page and Facebook group, Comic Book Historians, is the go-to source for stories and interviews about our favorite industry. Alex also has a book coming out called Understanding Superhero Comic Books , which should be a must-read for all comic fans.  Check out Comic Book Historians here: https://m.you...

Jeff Messer is Mr. Comics. Why? Besides being a comics creator, he's also a historian and gets to work with comic book legend Mike Grell. Jeff talks to the Dollar Bin Bandits about his career, including the creation of his book Sex, Spies, & Rock 'n Roll, which has become a big hit amongst comics fans. He's also interviewed a number of comic book royalty and works with Mike Grell setting up signin...

Are you ready for Graham Nolan? We hope so, because the artist is bringing his unique style to today's episode. Graham broke onto the comics scene in the late 80s, and got early notice for his runs on DC's Power of the Atom and Hawkworld series. He really hit it big with writer (and past guest) Chuck Dixon with epic storylines in Detective Comics and the introduction of Bane. Later, he took up the...