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FLASHBACK! Why read a biography of a fictional comics artist? What if it’s also a history of Singapore — done in a style that apes more than a dozen seminal 20th century comics creators? Tim and Kumar take a look at the awe-inspiring (yet sometimes puzzling) Sonny Liew graphic novel The Art of Charlie Chan … Continue reading #546 “The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye”

Black Panther continues his wild ride, courtesy of Jack Kirby — but filling a role that could have been played by virtually any character. With Abner Little and Princess Zanda, we see him fight various treasure protectors, drive an incredibly stylish ancient vehicle, take on a samurai who’s been transplanted to Africa, and more. Tim … Continue reading #871 Jack Kirby’s Black Panther #3-4: A Time Machine, a Sweet Ride, and a Samurai

Ian M is a Japan-based Canadian creator whose work we’ve discussed on this podcast before. His work is often about Japan, but not necessarily about himself. In The Blossoming City part one, he begins the story (presumably true?) about a community garden in Sapporo, in a story that he tells in a variety of cartooning styles. … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #248: “The Blossoming City” pt 1 and “Loon News: The Comic Strip!”

FLASHBACK! We continue our look at Alan Moore’s 1980s run on Swamp Thing— a run in which the title character met werewolves and vampires (as Moore and co. found a new way to use these old tropes), as well as new character John Constantine. Moore was aided by artists Stephen Bissette, John Totleben, and Alfredo … Continue reading #617 Swamp Thing meets the monsters

FLASHBACK! Even amidst the anything-goes craziness of the early Image years, Sam Kieth’s The Maxx was an outlier. While it included some superhero tropes, it wasn’t really a superhero book, nor was it like much of anything else on the market, then or now. While it definitely has its weaknesses, Kumar and Dana confirm this … Continue reading #319 “The Maxx” (RIP Sam Kieth)

Somehow it’s taken us 20 years of podcasting to get to Jim Steranko’s fabled run on Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. But is the early stuff really so fabled? There’s lots of action and it’s exciting, but don’t dare think about it too much, because the seat-of-the-pants plotting is all over the map, and the anatomy … Continue reading #870 Steranko’s “Nick Fury,” pt 1: Spy or superhero?

FLASHBACK! Due perhaps to the passage of time, poorly handled reprinting by DC, or some other reason, Alan Moore’s writing stint on Swamp Thing in the 1980s does not seem to get mentioned much today. Which is a shame, because it ranks with Moore’s best work. And the art by Stephen Bissette and John Totleben … Continue reading #325 Alan Moore’s “Swamp Thing”

We begin our look at Jack Kirby‘s Black Panther series from the 1970s, introducing a new Kirby character who’s a bit too similar to one who first appeared in Captain America! Panther has somehow gotten mixed up in the search for the mate to King Solomon’s Frog, an oddball time travel device. The mate is … Continue reading #869 Jack Kirby’s Black Panther #1-2: A Ribbit-ing Time Travel Story

Sometimes, achieving your dream can be kind of a nightmare, even though it’s also rewarding. Claudia, in Katriona Chapman‘s latest graphic novel The Pass, has started her own restaurant and enjoys creating in the kitchen, but everything else that goes with it wears her down. The book gives us a peek at the ups and downs … Continue reading #868 “The Pass”: Are you living the dream, or is the dream killing you?

Inio Asano’s Goodnight Punpun gives us what appear to be a family of ghostly birds living in a much more realistic-looking world. People within that world don’t see them that way, though. It’s a world where authority figures act like ADHD kids, where every parent seems to be abusive or alcoholic (or both), and all seem … Continue reading #867 “Goodnight, Punpun”

After “hunting” the Fantastic Four, the Black Panther reveals that he did it for practice, as he anticipated a battle against his father’s killer: Ulysses Klaw. Sure enough, Klaw shows up right on schedule, and the FF help Panther take him down. Tim and Emmet discuss Fantastic Four #53 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby! Brought … Continue reading #866 Fantastic Four 53: Black Panther meets Klaw

At some point, the idea that some comics should be for adults took over to the extent that it became hard to find good comics for kids. Cartoonist Harold Buchholz was involved in starting an organization called Kids Love Comics that encourages making comics for kids and does events to hook the kids up with … Continue reading #865 Harold Buchholz interview: Kids love comics!

Sixty years ago, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby presided over the debut of the Black Panther in Fantastic Four #52. The story presents the expectations of the average American for stories about Africa (Jungles! Natives! Africa is a country, right?) and defies those expectations by showing a rich, technologically advanced African nation. This time, Tim … Continue reading #864 Black Panther Debuts

Jimmy Gownley is the award-winning creator of Amelia Rules, Tanner Rocks, The Dumbest Idea Ever, and more, as well as a co-host of the Unpacking Peanuts podcast. This time, he talks with Tim about why the earliest stuff sells the best (never mind how much his art has improved since then), ergonomics, putting comics on … Continue reading #863 Jimmy Gownley interview

FLASHBACK! One of the most acclaimed Marvel runs of the 1980s was by Walt Simonson on The Mighty Thor. He began writing and drawing it with #337, continued through to #367 (with a quick break in the middle), then gave up art duties but continued writing through #382. This run set aside Dr. Don Blake, … Continue reading #627 Walt Simonson’s “Thor”