Comics Alternative

The Two Guys are back with the second half of their marathon interview with Evan Dorkin. This installment picks up where yesterday's segment left off, in a discussion of the Beasts of Burden series. Derek asks if this Dark Horse title has become a defining work of Evan's, if he's now known as the "Beasts of Burden guy" instead of the "Milk and Cheese guy." And Evan goes on to share some information on the next comic in the series, What the Cat Dragged In, and his continued working relationship with Jill Thompson. Also in this half, the conversation gets more superhero-y, with Evan discussing his work with DC's World's Funnest and Bizarro Comics and his creation of Fight-Man for Marvel. He also expresses his unfiltered thoughts on current superhero fan culture, including the ridiculous premises surrounding Peter Parker's Aunt May -- "I almost married Doctor Octopus. That’s how fucked up my life is" -- and the unlikely reality of today's box office hits: "Shit, it’s Ant-Man. I’m paying money to see Ant-Man…Fuck

Have you ever listened to an interview on The Comics Alternative and thought, "That was good, but I wish the Two Guys had talked longer with their guest?" If so, then this conversation will scratch that itch...and more. In this episode Gene and Derek have the pleasure of talking with Evan Dorkin, and getting much more than they bargained for. In fact, the interview lasted over two hours and forty-five minutes, so the guys decided to break up the conversation over two episodes. In this first half of the interview, Derek and Gene talk with Evan about The Eltingville Club, released last month from Dark Horse Books -- and reviewed by the guys a few weeks ago -- and how his experiences with comics culture all fed into the stories. Along with this, they discuss the pilot of Welcome to Eltingville and the twists and turns of creating the animation during the early days of Adult Swim. The guys also begin talking with Evan about his and Jill Thompson's Beasts of Burden series and how this has become one of his career-

For Will Eisner Week 2016, Derek talks with Eisner's authorized biographer, Bob Andelman. The second edition of his book, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life, was released last summer by TwoMorrows Publishing, expanding significantly on the 2005 edition in a deluxe, full-color volume. In the conversation, Bob discusses the genesis of the project and how he came to meet Eisner. He also shares several of his most memorable moments working with the legend, as well as some of the challenges in writing the biography. This recent deluxe edition, in particular, allowed him to expand his initial work and offer a more complete picture of the man. Derek talks with Bob about how the addition of brand new interviews, as well as archival material and legal documentation not available at the time of his first edition, rounds out the biography and makes Will Eisner more fully human and less of an abstracted icon. They also discuss the various stages of Eisner's life and the different tones he struck in his comics, such as the auto

On this interview episode, Gwen and Derek are pleased to have as their guest Sonny Liew, whose latest work, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, was just released from Pantheon Books. They talk with the author about his mock biography and how it engages with comic-book history, the tumultuous politics of Singapore, and his own creative influences. Sonny also discusses the genesis of the project and his strategic use of distinctive art styles reminiscent of Osama Tezuka, Walt Kelly, Harvey Kurtzman, Frank Miller, and Jack Kirby, among others. This mixture of styles and genre influences makes The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye a unique work that’s difficult to pin down. It’s different from anything else out there. Gwen and Derek also ask Sonny about his current work with Paul Levitz on Doctor Fate as well as the possibility of future Shadow Heroor Malinky Robot stories.

It’s time, once again, to take a look at the current month’s Previews catalog. This time around, Derek is joined by Paul Lai, the editor of The Comics Alternative‘s blog. Although he’s been working with the Two Guys since late last year, this is the first time that Paul has cohosted a podcast episode. And his first time out is a doozie! He and Derek take an extra-long, two-and-a-half-hour stroll through the March Previews solicits, highlighting upcoming releases from publishers such as Dark Horse Comics – Lobster Johnson: Metal Monsters of Midtown #1, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, Vol. 1, Mystery Girl, Vol. 1, and Wandering Island DC/Vertigo – Future Quest #1, Prez: The First Teenage President, and Flinch, Book Two IDW Publishing – Archangel #1, Weird Love: I Joined a Teen-Age Sex Cult, Cigarette Girl, and The Adventures of Dieter Lumpen Image Comics – Renato Jones: The One% #1, 3 Floyds: Alpha King #1, Plutona, and Pop Gun War: Gift Abstract Studios – Rachel Rising #42 AdHouse – Talk Dirty to Me

On the February manga show, Shea and Derek look at a new title and an older title. They begin with a discussion of School Judgment 1, recently released by VIZ Media. Written by Nobuaki Enoki and with art by Takeshi Obata -- perhaps best known for his work on Death Note -- this is the first book in a series that has a unique premise. In fact, the guys comment several times on the wacky setup of School Judgment: a legal arbitration system established in Japan's elementary schools, where the students themselves try criminal cases serving as judge, prosecution, and defense. In this first installment, the protagonists Abaku Inugami (for the defense) and Pine Hanzuki (prosecution) battle over three strange cases, with the book ending by setting up a fourth. Shea and Derek discuss the weirdness and the social pertinence of the storylines, including arbitration concerning both drug use and pedophilic voyeurism. After that, they look at at Yoshihiro Tatsumi's A Drifting Life (Drawn & Quarterly). With an original Engli

On this week's review episode, Andy and Derek delve into two new and exciting titles. They start with Ludovic Debeurme's Renée (Top Shelf Productions), the followup to his 2011 release, Lucille. In fact, the guys begin their discussion by describing the earlier book and setting the stage for what they see in the recent narrative. Renée picks up on the story of Debeurme's young protagonists, Lucille and Arthur, and weaves within a third character, Renée Bruissiez, another troubled figure struggling with both family and relationship issues. Indeed, her dilemma thematically resembles those of both Arthur and Lucille, and Debeurme juxtaposes these storylines so that Renée reads somewhat like a psychological conversation. But the Two Guys also note the differences between the two graphic novels. Whereas the art in Lucille is more simple and iconic, Debeurme's illustrative style in the new book is more detailed and highly textured. In addition, there's a more surreal or dreamlike feel to Renée, and at times the sto

This week on The Comics Alternative Gene and Derek focus on the funny, the poignant, and the creepy. They begin with Evan Dorkin's The Eltingville Club (Dark Horse Books), a nice hardbound edition that collects all of the Eltingville Club stories published over the past twenty years. This is Dorkin's twisted, and at times acerbic, love letter to geek and collecting culture. Bill, Josh, Pete, and Jerry make up the Eltingville Comic Book, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Role-Playing Club, and their antics are as hilarious as they are painful to read. This is because Dorkin cuts to the bone of fandom, and readers will probably recognize these scenarios and contexts from their own lives. Indeed, in a short essay toward the end of the volume, Dorkin himself admits that many of the stories are based on his fan-obsessed experiences growing up, as well as on the darker side of the culture he's witnessed as a creator. Yet as uncomfortable as these stories can get at times, they are some of the funniest comics yo

For the February webcomics show, Sean and Derek explore three very different titles. They begin with Christopher Mills and Joe Staton's Femme Noir, a unique twist on the crime noir genre. This is series of tales surrounding a mysterious, unnamed crime-fighting PI who dons an iconic trench coat and fedora, but whose long golden locks and fishnet hose give her away as something wholly other. The guys describe this comic as a blend of Batman, The Shadow, and The Spirit, but with a female protagonist who is anything but a victim. One of the unique contexts of this webcomic, as Derek points out, is that the stories currently being serialized online have originally appeared in print. What Mills and Staton are apparently doing is using their previously published material to re-introduce their comic to a new audience -- and through an entirely different narrative delivery system -- and the guys hope that this will eventually spawn brand new Femme Noir stories. Next, they turn their attention to Farel Dalrymple's It W

It's Wednesday, which means that the Doctoral Duo return to share their recommendations of recent releases! And this week, Gwen and Derek focus on three exciting, yet quite diverse, new titles. They begin with Nick Dranso's Beverly (Drawn & Quarterly), a series of six stories set in a Midwest suburban landscape, where individuals grapple with friendships, alienation, and the uncertainties of growing up. Gwen notes the dark poignancy of these narratives, character studies that often make the reader uncomfortable and made all the more effective through Dranso's clean lines and simple illustrative style. What struck Derek was the book's construction. This isn't a "traditional" collection of separate stories -- something like you would find, for example, in Eleanor Davis's How to Be Happy or Adrian Tomine's Killing and Dying -- but a text more akin to a short-story cycle, a collection of discrete stories, each of which could stand on its own, but all interconnected in such a way that a fuller meaning is generated

On this interview episode, Derek talks with Tom Manning, whose most recent work, Runoff, was released late last year from One Peace Books. They discuss the genesis of the project -- how it began as a self-published serial and then eventually evolved into a massive 450-page tome -- and its ambitious scope. Tom describes it as a mashup of genres and styles where he wanted to exploit the full range of the comics medium. Runoff is a horror sci-fi mystery set in small Washington state town resembling the one that Tom grew up in, and it's equal parts dark, humorous, and head-scratchingly confounding. Manning employs an ensemble cast of eccentrics, reminiscent of Berke Breathed's Bloom County, but who reside within a Lovecraftian landscape. Indeed, the cthulhu of this narrative is an enigmatic floating obelisk or headstone-looking entity with moe type eyes. And if that's not disturbing enough, you have a vigilante group of monsters by way of the Universal lot, but whose zombie member is a polite soul who goes by the

Shea and Derek are back with their January episode of the manga series. But isn't this the first of week of February? Yes it is, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the guys had to postpone the recording of their January episode and had carry it over into this week. But no worries! They still bring you the same great quality manga analysis, and, in addition, this means that listeners will get a double dose of Shea and Derek's manga talk for the month of February! They begin with Hiroaki Samura's Die Wergelder, Vol. 1 (Kodansha Comics). Those familiar Blade of the Immortal will instantly recognize Samura's style and know that they're in for a dynamic narrative punctuated with what some might feel are scenes of gratuitous sexual violence. In fact, Shea addresses this issue toward the beginning of their discussion, wondering if Die Wergelder might put off some of its readers. Derek argues that these kind of scenes serve a legitimate narrative purpose, especially as it regards one of the book's protagonists, Tr

It’s the beginning of the month, so that must mean that it’s time for the Two Guys with PhDs to take a visual stroll through the latest Previews catalog. And Andy W. and Derek find a lot to highlight in the February issue. Despite a few frustrations — Derek doesn’t have a hardcopy of Previews and is at a disadvantage with the solicits — they have a fun and productive conversation discussing upcoming releases from Dark Horse Comics – Dept. H #1, How to Talk to Girls at Parties, Poppy and the Lost Lagoon, and House of Penance #1 DC/Vertigo – Dark Knight: A True Batman Story, Twilight Children, Unfollow, Vol. 1 IDW Publishing – Micronauts #1, Apocrypha Now, and LOAC Essentials Presents King Features Volume 1: Krazy Kat 1934 Image Comics – Black Road #1, The Fix #1, Aloha Hawaiian Dick #1, Criminal 10th Anniversary Special Edition, and Airboy Deluxe Edition AfterShock Comics – Rough Riders #1, Jackpot #1, and Black Eyed Kids #1 Alternative Comics – Chainmail Bikini: An Anthology of Women Gamers, Hawd Ta

It's time for another round of insightful reviews, and this week Gwen and Derek have just what the doctored ordered. In fact, the first two books they discuss are part of Penn State University Press' Graphic Medicine series. Peter Dunlap-Shohl's My Degeneration: A Journey through Parkinson’s is the author's account of living with Parkinson's disease. It's not exactly a memoir, although it does explore the impact that the disease has had on Dunlap-Shohl's life over the past decade. My Degeneration is more of an instructional text, or perhaps a survival guide, on how to navigate the debilitating straits of his condition. As Gwen and Derek reveal, the book is an informative, no-nonsense look at Parkinson's, and while it posses a hopeful and even upbeat tone, it is anything but a Pollyanna narrative. The second book from the Graphic Medicine series is Aliceheimer’s: Alzheimer’s through the Looking Glass, Dana Walrath's account of confronting her mother's Alzheimer's disease (and which will be released in April).

On this episode in the interview series, Gwen and Derek are pleased to have as their guest Theo Ellsworth. Back in the fall he completed his trilogy, The Understanding Monster (Secret Acres), and he talks with the cohosts about that series as well as his process of creation. Similar to the work in Theo's earlier mini-comic, Capacity, this narrative is a journey into the artist's subconscious, where the dreamlike and (at times) non-linear nature of his storytelling becomes an exercise in discovery and imaginative excavation. Gwen and Derek also talk with Theo about his highly detailed art style and marvel at its intricacies. It's difficult to think of a contemporary creator whose work is as elaborate, as meticulously textured, and as richly colored as Ellsworth's. As Derek points out, engaging with The Understanding Monster is an immersive experience, where the reader is swept into Theo's visual terrain and must navigate the storyworld according to its own rules. They also discuss his solo show (in February) a

It's been six months since he last did so, but Derek is back at his local shop, Collected Comics and Games, for another on-location episode. As usual, he talks with several of the shop customers and employees about the kinds of comics that they've been reading. And since it's the first month of the year, everyone used the opportunity to discuss the titles that stood out for them in 2015 as well as the comics that they're looking forward to in the coming months. For this recording Derek is joined by on-location episode regulars, Craig, Matt, and Chris, as well as store associate Stephanie and the shop's new manager, Sabrina. (Sabrina has been at Collected in Plano for a long time, but she's just recently become its manager.) So after getting reacquainted with the preliminaries, everyone jumps into a recap of the most notable comics from last year. It's no surprise that, for many, Marvel's Secret Wars and its many ancillary tales received the lion's share of commentary (along with the publisher's seemingly endl

This week on The Comics Alternative podcast, Derek and Andy W. get back into the regular swing of things by discussing three recent titles, one book and two single issues. They begin with something that was published late last year, Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López’s The Eternaut (Fantagraphics). This is a legendary text, and not just within the realm of comics history. The Eternaut is a post-apocalyptic tale of alien invasion, originally serialized in the Argentinian weekly, Hora Cero Semanal, between 1957 and 1959. It was revised and expanded in 1969 and 1975, respectively, and it’s notable for its politically informed subtext. Many have read Oesterheld’s text allegorically in light of Argentina’s history of dictatorship, its Dirty War, and United States imperialism. Indeed, the writer was “disappeared” in 1977, making The Eternaut even more of a poignant read. Although the collected series, originally titled El Eternauta, has been translated in a variety of different languages, it wasn’t

Sean and Derek start off the new year of the webcomics series with three exciting titles. They begin with Delilah Dirk and the King's Shilling, Tony Cliff's follow up to Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant. The latter began life as a webcomic, but then was published by First Second in 2013. Cliff is doing something similar with his second Delilah Dirk book, although this time he is serializing the narrative in webcomic form only until early March, the release date of the hardcopy (again, by First Second). And although King's Shilling may not ultimately be a complete webcomic, what is there is well worth reading and has you anticipating the release of the new book. After that, the guys turn to Reckstar, Joey Cruz and Michelle Nguyen's mashup of sci-fi and comedy with all of the trappings of a classic buddy story. In fact, Sean likens the tale to a space-based Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis team-up, with the immature Finn Wyoming playing the Lewis role in this volatile relationship. The webcomic is just into i

On this interview episode, Derek talks with Isaac Cates and Michael Wenthe about their creator-owned series, Cartozia Tales. In what will be a ten-issue run, the series is centered on the fantastical realm of Cartozia, complete with diverse terrain, detailed histories, and a multifaceted population. As Isaac and Mike reveal in the interview, what began as an exercise in map-drawing turned into an extensive storyworld. Each issue of Cartozia Tales features multiple narrative segments by a variety of creators -- Mike and Isaac being just two -- and as the series evolves, each writer/artist contributing to a particular storyline builds upon the elements laid down by its previous creators. The result is a collection of tales told by a community of artists, giving the title a true participatory feel. And with each successive issue, the various storylines rub up against and even combine with one another, with different strands weaving into a larger and thicker thread. During their conversation Isaac and Mike share

For their first publisher spotlight of 2016, Andy and Derek focus on the new wave of titles from Vertigo, those being launched between October and December of last year. As you might expect, this is an extra long episode of the podcast because the guys discuss twelve new series, and some of them already with three and four issues released. These include: The Twilight Children, by Gilbert Hernandez and Darwyn Cooke Survivors' Club, by Lauren Beukes, Dale Halvorsen, and Ryan Kelly Clean Room, by Gail Simone and Jon Davis-Hunt Art Ops, by Shaun Simon and Michael Allred Unfollow, by Rob Williams and Mike Dowling Slash and Burn, by Si Spencer, Max Dunbar, and Ande Parks Red Thorn, by David Baillie and Meghan Hetrick Jacked, by Eric Kripke and John Higgins Sheriff of Babylon, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads New Romancer, by Peter Milligan and Brett Parson Last Gang in Town, by Simon Oliver and Rufus Dayglo Lucifer, by Holly Black and Lee Garbett Both Derek and Andy enjoy almost all of these