Dollar Bin Bandits

Cartoons! You love them and so do we. The Fleischer Cartoon Studio created some of the most groundbreaking cartoons ever, and this week's guest, Ray Pointer, gives us the history behind them. An animator himself, Ray is the official historian of the Fleischer works and recently spoke at both San Diego Comic-Con and New York Comic Con about them and the evolution of cartoons. It was a true pleasure...

Dan DiDio's back. And for the first time in a while, the whole gang's here (even Joe, calling in from vacation)! This time, we dive deep into Dan's new prestige comics line with Frank Miller called, what else... Frank Miller Presents. How did this whole thing come together? How was Dan lured back in to running a comics company? What's the long-term vision for FMP? The answers to these and more wil...

From DC Comics intern to award-winning independent artist, Jamal Igle brings focus and creativity to his every project. After the internship and building his comics resume with small publishers, Jamal hopped into animation with a storyboarding stint at Sony Animation. New Warriors brought him back into the comics fold, and he's been steadily crushing it ever since. At Marvel, it was Iron Fist/Wolv...

Jamar Nicholas is in the house! And we couldn't be happier to have him. Creator of the hit kids' graphic novel, Leon: Protector of the Playground , Jamar kickstarted his cartooning career in 1997 with the self-published Jamar Chronicles. Following his creation of the webcomic Detective Boogaloo: Hip-Hop Cop, Jamar became an editorial cartoonist for the Philadelphia Tribune . His most acclaimed wor...

Another inker extraordinaire to add to our collection! It's Randy Emberlin, a prolific artist who embellished some of our favorite work around, including G.I. Joe, Doctor Strange, Alien Legion, and Dark Horse's Ghost. But we know him best from his work on the Amazing Spider-Man, primarily with Erik Larsen and Mark Bagley! He was a key part of the rise of Venom and Carnage in the 90s, and made the...

It's the simple story of a letterer-turned-cartoonist, who conquered the world of children's entertainment with the ongoing Ordinary People Change the World book series and the associated Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum cartoon on PBS. But how did Chris Eliopoulos climb this mountain, you ask? Well, listen to the episode. But if you want the Cliff's Notes version: he started out as a highly su...

Michael dialed in all the way from Israel to talk turkey with the Bandits on this bonus Friday episode. He started, as so many of our guests do, at Neal Adams' Continuity Studio, where he first worked on storyboards and advertisements. He quickly transitioned into comics work, primarily for DC on titles like Challengers of the Unknown , Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, and Wonder Woman , a...

Animation legend Tom Cook joins the Bandits for some cartoon craziness! Tom has done it all, from He-Man & the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: Princess of Power to the Smurfs , Super Friends , and Jetsons: The Movie . And he has a ridiculous comic book collection! So get prepared to relive your childhood as we dig into the characters and cartoons of Tom Cook. _______________________________ Ch...

Heeeeeeeee's back! That's right, co-creator of everyone's favorite Merc with a Mouth, Fabian Nicieza, returns to the DBB hot seat to run his own mouth. We dive back into some of the voids we left in the last interview -- New Warrior's Rage and X-Men crossovers like X-Cutioner's Song and Fatal Attractions -- and then get the scoop on his new novel, The Self-Made Widow . This is the second in his Su...

Ever heard of Howard the Duck? Of course you have! It just so happens that today's guest, Val Mayerik, co-created that filthy foul way back in 1973 while working on Man-Thing stories for Marvel's Adventure into Fear comic . While Howard eventually took on a life of his own, Val continued with Man-Thing, a bunch of other supernatural books, and some jungle adventures with Ka-Zar. After forming Upst...

It's two Butlers for the price of one as Steven Butler and his daughter Lily join the show! Steven is a penciller/inker who's worked on everything from Web of Spider-Man and Silver Sable for Marvel to The Badger for First Comics to Sonic the Hedgehog and others for Archie. While at Archie, he led a redesign of many of the classic characters away from their cartoony origins to a more realistic look...

Let's begin with a list. Here are some of the cartoons that today's guest, Buzz Dixon, contributed to: Heathcliff, Thundarr the Barbarian, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Dungeons & Dragons, Mister T, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Garbage Pail Kids, Jem, Chip n' Dale: Rescue Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Batman: The Animated Series . Are you kidding me?! He also served as an uncredited writer on t...

The Bandits wade into controversial waters as artist/writer Chris Wozniak joins the show. His career bona fides are not in question: he started right out of school at DC as an inker, soon switched to pencilling, and worked on all manner of titles, including Who's Who in the DC Universe, The Spectre, Justice League, Blue Beetle , and Excalibur . Somewhere along the line (1990 to be exact), Chris wr...

Who's ready to break some backs?! That's right, Jim Valentino, the man behind our favorite maiming vigilante ShadowHawk is here to talk to the Bandits about his career and creations. Having started out on small press and indie projects, Jim found his groove on the normalman limited series. Next, it was on to Marvel, where he revived the Guardians of the Galaxy, and redefined the team and book in a...

Get ready for a wild one, folks! In another "Oren Only" exclusive, the solo Bandit talks to Bill Leff, host of the MeTV cartoon show, Toon In with Me. It's a fun-filled conversation complete with tangents, asides, and "off the rail" topics. If you can watch it or collect it, Oren and Bill chat about it! You can check out Bill doing his thing on Toon in with Me weekdays at 7:00 am on MeTV. ________...

A writer and editor par excellence, Bob Greenberger started out just like you and me: as a fan. After cutting his editorial teeth at Starlog Press, Bob joined DC, where he initially worked with luminaries Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and Dick Giordano on universe-wide projects like Crisis on Infinite Earths and the Who's Who guidebook. He went on to edit titles such as Suicide Squad and Doom Patrol , b...

You may know Bob Wiacek's name from the many other artists he's worked with: Carmine Infantino, Paul Smith, John Byrne, past guest June Brigman, past guest Walt Simonson, John Romita Jr., and past guest Bob Layton. But Bob's a legend in his own right as acknowledged by his recently received Inkwell Awards Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award for lifetime achievement in the art of inking. Just like there...

Despite having worked (written and/or illustrated) for most of the major comic publishers, Kevin VanHook is probably best known for his work at Valiant in the early 90s. He co-created Bloodshot, and contributed to books like The Visitor , Eternal Warrior , and Solar: Man of the Atom , among many others. But comics are only part of his career. Kevin also has a successful film career, working as a w...

Best known for co-creating the Black series of comics, Kwanza Osajyefo began his comics journey at Marvel, where he worked with Bandit Mike and past guest John Roberts (ComiXology) in the early 2000s. From there, he moved to DC, where he co-founded and managed the digital comics imprint and contest, Zuda. After a brief stint at DC headquarters in California (where he continued in the realm of digi...

Are you ready for some more Oren Only action? This time, our solo star goes head to head with artist Howard Bender. Howard started his comics career as a production artist and letterer, both with Marvel and DC. He moved into full pencils with "Dial H for Hero" backups  in The New Adventures of Superboy , and illustrated quite a few Superman stories for  Action Comics . He's also known for his work...

The man behind one of the most enduring independent characters of all time, Captain Canuck, brings his maple leaves to the Dollar Bin Bandits! That's right, Richard Comely joins Oren and special guest host Sean McMillan to reflect on the genesis of our super neighbor to the north. The Captain made his debut in 1975 and became an immediate sensation, with the first issue outselling all other comic...

Joe and Mike remember the comics work and careers of three all-time greats that left us in recent months. We dig into Neal Adams' defining art on Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow , as he brought a healthy dose of realism to our four-color friends. We talk about our personal favorites within George Perez's huge body of work, appreciating the expressive detail he brought to The New Teen Titans a...

It's the stuff of legend. Barbara Randall Kesel writes a 10-page letter to Dick Giordano, DC's head honcho in the 80s, explaining why the publisher was failing both its female character and readers. Next thing you know, she's offered a writing gig (taking on a Batgirl backup feature in Detective Comics ) and enters the male-dominated comics industry as a new voice for equality. She goes on to beco...

Once an editor at DC and Dark Horse, Michael Eury is now a historian and promoter of the comic book medium and pop culture in general. Since 2003, he's edited Back Issue! (TwoMorrows Publishing), a magazine dedicated to the comics of the 1970s through today. He's also published a number of books, including ones dedicated to Captain Action, Dick Giordano, Krypton, and the Justice League. Mike gets...

Dan Brereton is an artists' artist. Skilled as much with a paint brush as a pencil, he broke onto the comics scene via Eclipse Comics and the Black Terror limited series. He then hooked up with DC, where he brought his painterly style to titles like Batman: Thrillkiller , Superman and Batman: Legends of the World's Finest , and JLA: Seven Caskets . He's perhaps best known for his own series, The N...