Comics Alternative

On this month’s webcomics episode, Sean and Derek have some fun things in store. They begin with two currently ongoing titles, The Abominable Charles Christopher and The Creepy Casefiles of Margo Maloo. The former, written and drawn by Karl Kirschel, is a long-running series that has been around since June 2007. The guys discuss the webcomic’s irregular schedule — Kirschel posts updates whenever his work for DC and Marvel, especially Gotham Academy, allows — and, more importantly, the artist’s obvious love of his subject matter. Margo Maloo, a more recent webcomic, is Drew Weing’s fun all-age story about a monster-filled underworld outside of adult awareness. The June episode wraps up with a trip down memory lane. Breakfast of the Gods is a completed webcomic tapping into the history of breakfast cereals. Its creator, Brendan Douglas Jones, uses the mascots of General Mills, Kellogg’s, Post, Quaker Oats, Ralston, Nabisco, and other breakfast cereal producers for an epic tale pitting the vitamin-packed forces

The Two Guys with PhDs Talking about Comics are back to give you another ear-full of good quality comics talk, and this week the focus is on noir weirdness. They begin with the collected trade edition of Limbo (Image Comics). Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard's six-issue limited series ran from November 2015 to April of this year, but last week the TPB was released. It's the story of Clay, a cynical and world-worn detective who finds himself stuck in a strange world whose origins are a mystery. Andy W. and Derek liken this book to a voodoo-infused version of Videodrome, and the guys are particularly struck by by Wijngaard's neon palette and his occasional metafictional page layouts. And while Limbo injects more than enough weirdness into its noir, it's easily rivaled by the Lovecraftian flair of Fred Van Lent and Guiu Vilanova's Weird Detective #1 (Dark Horse Comics). The first issue in this miniseries introduces us to Detective Sebastian Greene, a heretofore mundane investigator whose recent display of uncan

Buckle up, because Andy and Derek are back behind the wheel. On this week's trip, they're taking you down a road that includes three very different titles. They begin with Paul Dini and Eduardo Risso's Dark Night: A True Batman Story (Vertigo Comics)...and yes, you did read correctly, the guys are discussing a book with "Batman" in its title. But while the Caped Crusader is a prominent part of the story, this isn't a standard superhero narrative, but an autobiographical account of a traumatic event in Dini's life. The guys discuss the manner of Dini's narration, especially as it's represented by Risso's art. In fact, it's the latter that consumes much of the conversation, as they highlight Risso's diversity of style to reflect shifts in the storytelling. Next they look at the first in a five-issue limited series from Howard Chaykin, Midnight of the Soul (Image Comics). This is a story that Chaykin has been wanting to tell for some time, and the guys are happy to see it finally coming to fruition. It's the ta

The second volume of Josh Simmons's Jessica Farm was released recently from Fantagraphics, and now the artist takes the time to talk with Derek for another Comics Alternative interview. In the conversation, Josh shares his ideas behind Jessica Farm and the long, involved process of its creation. Beginning in January 2000, he began drawing one page a month with plans for publishing a collection of his efforts every eight years, and then doing all of this over a fifty-year span. What's more, he plans to reissue the previous volumes of Jessica Farm each time he publishes a current volume. For example, the first installment of Jessica Farm was published in 2008, but Fantagraphic re-released that book, and in a new edition, along with this year's Jessica Farm, Vol. 2 so that the design of the two books matched. Josh explains that he wants to do this about every eight years so as to offer new editions that will reflect current design and publication practices. As a result, this long and evolving narrative is not ju

In this episode of The Comics Alternative's interview series, Derek talks with Zach Worton about his new book, The Search for Charley Butters, just out from Conundrum Press. This is the second in a planned trilogy, and one beginning with last year's The Disappearance of Charley Butters. As Zach describes it, this is a black comedy about depression and the way this condition manifests itself in isolation, addiction, and failed friendships. The narrative runs along two parallel tracks, one about the titular character, a painter from the 1950s who becomes an eccentric recluse, and the other about the present-day Travis who becomes obsessed with Butters's story as revealed in his diaries. This obsession begins to break down the relationships in Travis's life, and as the story unfolds he finds himself going to a personal dark place that is not entirely dissimilar from that the artist's. Zach talks with Derek about origins of this project, his reasons for serializing it over three volumes, and his rough plans for w

It's the first of the month, and that must mean that it's time, once again, for the Two Guys with PhDs to take a conversational stroll through the latest Previews catalog. For the month of June, there is an inordinately large number of notable titles for Derek and Andy W. to discuss, making this a longer-than-average episode (a little over two hours). So strap in and get ready to boogie! Among the many solicits they highlight are from publishers such as Dark Horse Comics - Briggs Land #1, Lady Killer 2 #1, Moebius Library: The World of Edena, and Terminal City: Library Edition DC/Vertigo - The Hellblazer #1 and Survivors' Club IDW Publishing/Top Shelf - The Adventures of Augusta Wind, Vol. 2 #1, Superf*ckers Forever #1, The Killer Inside Me #1, March: Book 3, and Ditko Unleashed Image Comics - The Black Monday Murders #1, Kill or Be Killed #1, Demonic #1, Prince of Cats, and Solstice Abstract Studios - Rachel Rising Omnibus AfterShock - Animosity #1 Alternative Comics - 23 Skidoo, At the Shore, F

On this interview show, Andy W. and Derek have the pleasure of talking with Jeremy Sorese. His book, Curveball, was published by Nobrow Press in late 2015, but it's up this year for a Lambda Literary Award in the "LGBT Graphic Novels" category. Those award winners will be announced in June, and the guys talk with Jeremy about the attention that Curveball has been receiving. This is his first long-form comic, and Jeremy describes it as a queer sci-fi romance. The story takes place in an indeterminate future, but the generic elements take a backseat to character relationships. At the same time, Jeremy talks with the guys about how science fiction is an appropriate platform to explore facets of identity. Derek and Andy also ask their guest about the series for which he's more popularly known, Stephen Universe, and the other work he's done for BOOM! Studios. They also discuss his interests in short narratives, the unbelievable mileage he's gotten out of his early comic, "Love Me Forever! Oh! Oh! Oh!", and what pr

For the month of May, Shea and Derek discuss two books that, at first glance, seem quite different, but whose similarities become more apparent upon closer examination. They begin with Masahiko Matsumoto's Cigarette Girl (Top Shelf Productions), a collection of eleven short comics originally published between 1972 and 1974. This is one of the few books by Matsumoto available in English -- another translation, The Man Next Door, was published by Breakdown Press in 2014 -- and the guys strongly advocate for more attention on this mangaka. Shea and Derek recall their earlier discussion of Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life, where the figure of Matsumoto is central to Tatsumi's autobiographical narrative. The stories in Cigarette Girl demonstrate the artist's style storytelling, which he referred to as "komaga" (or "panel pictures" in English), with its emphasis on a cinema-influenced panel breakdown and a more adult subject matter. Along with this, all of the stories end ambiguously or "obscurely," without any

Derek is back at his local comic shop, Collected Comics in Plano, TX, to talk with customers and store employees about a variety of comics-related topics. Joining in the discussion are regulars Craig, Matt, and Chris, along with shop manager Sabrina and her assistant, Stephanie. As is usually the case with these on-location episodes, the core of the discussion is on mainstream comics -- this is what most of the customers read, after all -- so this is an opportunity for the podcast to cover ground that it normally doesn't. The show begins with conversation over the various comics folks have come in to pick up, and this week the standout is DC Universe Rebirth #1. Derek asks everyone if they think Rebirth will change the way they think about DC, and for the most part, the guys are cautiously optimistic about the relaunch...or the rebranding, or the renumbering. Whatever label is being used for this event. And Stephanie proves herself to be a wealth of superhero history, mapping out how DC's new universe will ta

Derek talks with Marnie Galloway about the publication of her first graphic novel, In the Sounds and Seas. This beautiful hardbound text was released earlier this month from One Peace Books, but her work on this project has a long and interesting history. The first third of the narrative was a 2012 Xeric Award winner -- and in the final year that the Xeric grant was given to comics artists -- and the entire story was originally released in three self-published volumes, the final one coming out in early 2016. Marnie discusses with Derek her decision to complete her story in this manner, even after receiving a contract from One Peace for the collected edition. They also talk about the challenges of telling a compelling story through a wordless text, the question of her art as visual poetry, and the various literary references woven into her narrative. Along the way, they take the time to discuss her various other comics and why she particularly enjoys writing in the short-story form. In the Sounds and Seas debu

The nominees for the 2016 Eisner Awards were announced last month, and as the Two Guys with PhDs do every year, they use an episode of The Comics Alternative to discuss and speculate. Joining them in this year's conversation is Carol Tilley, a professor of information science at the University of Illinois and, more to the point of this episode, one of the nominating judges for this year's Eisner Awards. Carol is not a stranger to the podcast, having participated in last year's roundtable discussion on libraries and comics, but this time around she's back to share her experiences and answer questions that Andy and Derek have about the Eisners. She doesn't give away any private deliberations nor does she disclose secrets, but she does help demystify the nomination process and provides insight into many of the award categories. After their conversation with Carol, Derek and Andy go on to share their own thoughts on this year's nominations, separating their personal tastes from the kind of broader, critical analy

On May 25, the final issue of Rachel Rising will be released. This has been a landmark horror/gothic series, an intelligent and multifaceted narrative exploring the parameters of history, gender, community, morality, and the nature of violence...and doing so without following the usual generic conventions and formulas. To mark this publishing event, Derek has the pleasure of talking with the series creator Terry Moore. What began in August 2011 as an undead murder mystery will now come full circle as we learn in the final issue, according to Terry, the identity of Rachel's killer and the connections that inextricably bind the two. In their conversation, Terry talks with Derek about the genesis of Rachel Rising, the functions of its various actors, the philosophies that propel the narrative, and how his organic style of storytelling has come to define the series. Terry also places the title within the context of his other work, most notably Strangers in Paradise and Echo, and discusses his evolution as a write

Sean and Derek are back for another month's-worth of webcomics talk, and for May they discuss three intriguing titles. They begin with Maritza Campos and Bachan's Power Nap. This is the second time the guys have focused on Bachan's art, the first occasion being his anthropomorphic humor/crime series, Vinny, back in September of last year. He provides the art on the Campos-scripted Power Nap, a story set in a dystopic future where everyone uses pharmaceuticals to stay awake 24/7 in order to produce more for their corporations...except if someone is allergic to the drug. Drew Spencer, the story's protagonist, is just such an individual. Sean and Derek enjoy the webcomic's strange melding of reality and dreamscape, although there are occasions when the storyline becomes unnecessarily fractured. Sean believes that this is the result of the sporadic scheduling of the updates, with long stretches between some story events. Next, the Two Guys check out Jake Wyatt's Necropolis, a webcomic that is fairly new and in i

Over the past several years, the Two Guys with PhDs have reviewed a lot of books in translation. But what they've tended to overlook, more times than not, is the translator of the work, the individual who is responsible for taking the imagetext and re-presenting it in a linguistic context that is wholly other. This came to their attention back in February, when Andy and Derek discussed Ludovic Debeurme's Renée, and then afterwards received an email of appreciation from its translator, Edward Gauvin. In fact, the guys never mentioned Edward at any point during their discussion, which was not only an unfortunate oversight, but also says something about the invisible art of comics translation. As a response to that experience, they wanted to pay homage to translators by speaking with a couple for the podcast. So on this interview show, Derek has the pleasure of talking with two prolific translators of comics art, Jamie Richards and Edward Gauvin. Each has had two translations recently published. For Jamie it's

Gwen and Derek are back with another publisher spotlight episode, this one on the UK press, Avery Hill Publishing. They begin their spotlight with a short interview with the people behind Avery Hill: Ricky Miller, Dave White, and Katriona Chapman. Derek talks with them about the origins of the press, the kind of creators that have come to define Avery Hill, their distribution and publicity outside of the UK, and their plans for fall releases and beyond. After that conversation, Gwen and Derek get into the nitty gritty of the publisher's current offerings. They start by looking at the most recent issues of two ongoing series from Avery Hill, Reads #4 and Metroland #3. The former is an anthology periodical currently in its second volume, and the two discuss its various serialized storylines. Gwen is particularly fond of Owen D. Pomery's "The Megatherium Club," but they also discuss Reads other historically based stories -- Ricky Miller and Tim Bird's "Hitchcock and Film" as well as Bird and Luke James Halsall'

For this interview episode, Derek talks with Arvind Ethan David about his current work on the IDW miniseries, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: A Spoon Too Short. He writes that title, working with Ilias Kyriazis on art, and he was the editor of last year's earlier Dirk Gently series. Arvind talks with Derek extensively about his fascination with this unorthodox detective, his association with the late Douglas Adams, and the curious road he traveled to get into comics. A Spoon Too Short isn't an outright adaptation of any of Adams's novels, although its title springs from an alternative title the writer had been considering for a book he was working on at the time of his death. And fans of Douglas Adams will recognize in the comic plenty of allusions to novelist's body of work. Arvind also shares some inside information -- at least, what he's able to disclose -- about the new Dirk Gently BBC series that will begin this fall, where he will work with Max Landis to bring the Adams character to television

On this episode of the interview series, Derek is excited to talk with Jordan Crane. The latest installment of Jordan's series, Uptight, was released by Fantagraphics earlier this year, and the two begin by discussing its contents and how issue #5 is notably different from the previous ones. First off, this is a much longer issue than usual, and Jordan explains that since it's been three and a half years since issue #4, he felt the need to include more material in this latest release. In fact, there are four stories, or segments of stories, that compose Uptight #5, one of the most significant being an update of Jordan's serialized narrative, "Keeping Two." They spend a good deal time discussing this project and the various ways in which Jordan represents consciousness through visual means. Derek also asks his guest about the somber nature of the stories "Wake Up" and "The Dark Nothing." Jordan admits that while some of his previous work has a similarly dark tone, there's something about this latest issue of U

The Dynamic Doctoral Duo is back for another action-packed episode promising thrills and chills! This time, Gwen and Derek begin by discussing Brecht Evens's  Panther (Drawn and Quarterly), a book that gives a first impression of innocence but then becomes darker and increasingly disturbing as the story develops. Gwen is a scholar of children's literature, and she points out that Evens follows many of the tropes found in picture books, and his style -- what you'd find in his earlier works, The Wrong Place and The Making Of -- may even lead readers to see this as one. But she argues that Panther is anything but a text for younger readers. Evens's penchant for watercolor and his borderless panel style make this a most sophisticated narrative, one with no easy answers and ending in ambiguity. Next, Derek and Gwen transition into yet another portal narrative, Gene Ha's Mae #1 (Dark Horse Comics). In this new creator-owned series, which began last year as a Kickstarter, the titular character's older sister, Abbie

It’s Free Comic Book Day 2016, and to celebrate the event Derek is back at Collected Comics and Games in Plano, TX, to talk with customers and shop employees about the various offerings for this year. Some of the standout FCBD titles from those gathered around the discussion table are Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom (Arcana), We Can Never Go Home/Young Terrorists (Black Mask Studios), ROM (IDW Publishing), One-Punch Man/My Hero Academia(VIZ Media), Oddly Normal (Image Comics), Civil War II (Marvel Comics), The Phantom (Hermes Press), and Serenity/Hellboy/Aliens (Dark Horse Comics). Artist and friend-of-the-show Andy Hirsch joins the conversation for a while and talks about some of his favorites, including Science Comics (First Second) and Love and Rockets (Fantagraphics). He also shares some behind-the-scenes information about his work on the miniseries The Baker Street Peculiars and his new book, Varmints, coming out this fall from First Second. And Derek also highlights some of his favorite FCBD sel

On this episode of the interview series -- the very first for cohost Paul Lai! -- the Two Guys with PhDs are pleased to have as their guest Mike Dawson. His latest book, Rules for Dating My Daughter: The Modern Father's Guide to Good Parenting, comes out on May 10th from Uncivilized Books, and our fearless cohosts talk with Mike about his project's journey from Tumblr, to Kickstarter, to finished book. One of the things they discuss early on is the fact that Rules for Dating My Daughter is not one of those gun-hugging "hurt my daughter, and I will hurt you" kind of books you'd expect from the cover image. In it, Mike lays bare his thoughts on the responsibilities of fatherhood (and not just for his daughter) and how those concerns relate to larger-world issues. The book is episodic in nature, comprising fifteen short strips focusing on such topics as gender roles, violence in America, religious observance, global warming, carnivorism, and cultural intolerance...and all filtered through parental concerns. Paul