Inkstuds

Nate Powell , joined me for a chat about his latest books, Silence of Our Friends , due out in the new year and his recent release from Top Shelf, Any Empire . This was a really interesting discussion on values and artistic representation. Nate is a very smart creator and puts together some fine books.

Geof Darrow’s work can be described as a forerunner of the  Fusion  that Frank Santoro and I like to talk about. His work is a mix of Moebius mixed with the frenetic energy of the finer Japanese Manga. I first got into his work, like most, with the excellent Hard boiled. He always grabs me with images that are full of the most ridiculous ideas that under most hands, would probably be a mes...

Canadian artist Jason Mclean is part of an amazing well of talent out of London, Ontario. Some of his contemporaries include Marc Bell , Peter Thompson , Keith Jones and more. Jason is currently exhibiting in a show called Not Bad for London along with Marc, Peter, Amy Lockhart , James Kirkpatrick , Jamie Q and Billy Bert Young . I very fond of Jason’s work and see a lot of cross over betwee...

Fellow podcaster Mike Dawson and I sat down for a chat about not only comics podcasting, but also his great book from those fine boys at Secret Acres. Troop 142 is a fine collection and shows Dawson’s growth as a cartoonist. Mike is doing a comic book club talk at Midtown Comics in Manhattan on Fulton on tonight, Friday the 18th of November.

  This week, we have two different interviews. The first is with Mark Atomos Pilon , Luc Latulippe , and Dacosta! to discuss the Moonbase Gallery art show opening tonight November 10th at the Interurban Art Gallery at 1 East Hastings in Vancouver. Second off, I am joined by Kelly Froh , Eroyn Franklin and Jenny Gialenes in regards to Saturday’s Shortrun Small Press Festival in Seattle....

Touring buddies , Joe Ollmann and Pascal Girard joined me for a team up talk from Joe’s mansion in Montreal. They both had excellent books out from Drawn and Quarterly over the last year; Midlife for Joe and both Reunion and Bigfoot for Pascal .

Blot cartoonist Tom Neely returned to the Studs to chat about his latest book The Wolf as well as his collaborative project, Henry and Glenn Forever. And don’t forget that awesome mixtape that Tom did a couple of years ago.

With the recent release of the massive Too Much Coffee Man Omnibus , Shannon Wheele r appears to not be slowing down at all with 20 plus years making funny books. His current and upcoming releases alsoinclude Oil and Water from Fantagraphics, I Thought You Would be funnier from Boom and much more. We cover a lot of ground in this conversation.

Canadian illustrator Oscar Cahen had a brief but impactful career in the 1940’s and 50’s before passing away at the young age of 40. Canadian art historian Jaleen Grove has been exploring his work and was involved in putting together a show of his work at Illustration House in New York. I was joined by Jaleen, Roger Reed from the Illustration House and Oscar’s son, Michael Cahen...

Here is an interview I did with Dylan Williams back in April of 2008. Dylan passed away this past weekend. I really liked Dylan and the work that he published and promoted with Sparkplug comics. He did a really great strip about Alex Toth for Austin English’s Windy Corner . I highly suggest reading that. It feel especially poignant right now.

Craig Thompson and I sat down for an extended conversation about his new book Habibi , as well as a larger discussion of comics in general. We also touch on his previous works including Blankets , Good-bye Chunky Rice and Carnet De Voyage

Americus author MK Reed joined me for a chat about her new book from First Second as well as her other work including About a Bull and Cross Country .

I had a rare week this week where I could actually be in the studio and do it live. I was joined by Rebecca Dart , Robin Bougie and Brandon Graham , who are all appearing at the Comix and Stories Smallpress conventio n in Vancouver this weekend. Rebecca discusses her amazing Battle Kittens book, Robin has a come great filthy books out and Brandon makes terrible puns, and talks about his story in t...

I really enjoyed doing this interview with Igort . The conversation was full of many great insights with a lot of material covered. Like many of his contemporaries, only a handful of his work is available in English. I first got into his work with the drawn and quarterly collection, 5 is the Perfect Number. More recently, you can find him in the Ignatz series, Baobab . Igort is also the editor of...

Here is an interview I did with Chip Kidd over the Christmas holidays and seemed to have escaped my mind. In this interview, we discuss the book on Captain Marvel memorabilia that he had put together, Shazam!

Vera Brosgol joined me for a chat about her debut book, Anya’s Ghost. It’s a great piece of work and shows a lot of promise for a creators first long form work.

Comix historian, Patrick Rosenkranz will be in Vancouver this Saturday at Lucky’s Comics for an art show and retrospective on the work of underground cartoonist, Rand Holmes. Rand’s work was a fixture of Vancouver, gracing the covers the Georgia Straight during the early years. He is also known for his Harold Hedd Comic series. Patrick joined me this week to discuss his book about Rand...

Gene Yang joined me to discuss his books and the art of collaboration. His latest book is Level Up illustrated by the infamously troubling Thien Pham . Gene’s American Born Chinese has won a plethora of awards and is just one of many great books he has done.

Black Eye editor Ryan Standfest brought Jeet Heer and Onsmith on for a chat about the anthology and other issues of dark dark humor. This is a smart bunch and a pleasure to chat with.

Sharon Rudahl was one of the founders of the great Wimmen’s Comix anthology in the 1970s. It since then, she has a produced a range of fascinating underground comix including Crystal Night, which was reprinted in full in Dan Nadel’s Art In Time Anthology. Recently, Rudahl put together Dangerous Woman: The Graphic Biography of Emma Goldman. Her work will also be featured in a number of...

Here is the recording of Saturday’s book club where we discussed Ronin. It was a great session with 8 participants. I am really enjoying these. It’s a great chance to discuss books with a group of smart thoughtful folks. Let us know what you thought of Ronin and we can continue the discussion here. Our next book will be Mat Brinkman’s classic, Multiforce . We will be meeting onli...

Colleen Frakes Island Brat is a great little story of her time growing up in a very unique location in the Pacific Northwest. Colleen is also a member of the first graduating from the Center for Cartoon Studies in picturesque White River Junction, Vermont. Thanks to Colleen for taking the time to chat with me.

Wilfred Santiago’s comic biography of Roberto Clemente is a great look at a specific time in not only baseball, but also touching on mid century american racial and political tones. Wilfred skillfully tackles a range of issues in this great collection. It was a delight to discuss this great book with him.

Dave Mckean is on that short list of cartoonists whose work really changed how I understand comics as a young teen many years ago. He has been creating some really fascinating and forward thinking work in books like Cages, Signal to Noise, Pictures That Tick and Violent Cases. His latest book is no exception. Celluloid , fresh out from Fantagraphics, is a remarkable work exploring pornography thro...

Welcome to the inaugural Inkstuds Book Club. I was joined by seven enthusiastic comics folk for a discussion of Jason’s Isle of 100,000 Graves. This is the first time we have tried it out, and I think it worked out. Thanks to Michael, Brandon, Steve, Roman, Nolan, Chris and Andrew for taking part. I would like us to be able to continue the discussion of the book here. If you had a chance to...