Victoria based cartoonist, Lisa Maas, joined me to talk about her debut graphic novel, Forward. It's a really effective look at recovering from loss and how to move on and make connections. it's a very personal work that holds a lot of heart.
Today I interviewed Sloane Leong. Sloane is no stranger to the Inkstuds, helping out with many excellent guest interviews in the past. Sloane's latest work is Prism Stalker which comes out in the first collection from Image comics next month. Sloane is a really interested and thoughtful creator, making work that challenges and subverts genre tropes.
I had the pleasure of talking with Paul Kirchner about his work. It’s a really great conversation that covers a lot of breadth. His most recent release is collection of a range of his comics work called Awaiting the Collapse. French publisher, Tanibis, released it both in French and English. You can also find editions collecting his great the bus comic strip that was featured in the powerful early days of Heavy Metal Magazine. Probably the oddest entry in series of breakthrough work during that time in Heavy Metal, the bus has a great surreal quietness to it. Fantastic work. Paul’s work sits in a unique place in comics, bridging underground and overground traditions with an undercurrent of the greats like Wally Wood. You can buy Paul’s work directly from him on ebay.
Nate Powell joined me to talk about his new book, Come Again. His first personal/solo work after the extremely powerful March series with John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, Come Again is a really fantastic book that continues his tradition of thoughtful important work.
Fiona Smyth has been making great important comics for the past 30 plus years and most of them can be found in the recent collection from Koyama Press, Somnambulance. It’s an amazing way to get a deep understanding of one of Canada’s important pioneering small press cartoonists. Her work is radical, engaging and vibrant. I am really happy to have had the time to talk to Fiona about her comics appreciative to have this book in my hands.
Tommi Parish joined me to talk about their latest book from Fantagraphics, The Lie and How We Told It. It's a really fantastic book about people, relationships and finding our place. I really loved this book, same with their previous work, Perfect Hair from 2D Cloud.
After many years of reading and enjoying his mini-comics, I finally sat down with Max Clotfelter to talk about his wide ranging of works. Max’s main series of odd shaped minis is Snake Meat Comics. Max has an amazing style of Southern post underground dystopia. The best place to buy Max’s work is here through John Porcellino’s great distro site.
Chris Reynolds joined me to talk about his book, The New World, from New York Review Books. It’s an amazing collection of work that he had done from about 1985 – 1992. Edited and designed by Seth, Reynolds work holds a really unique place that fits well on the shelf sitting next to Beto’s more introspective works. I really enjoyed this collection, like pretty much every other comic that NYRB puts out.
Eric Reynolds has spent his entire adult life at Fantagraphics, starting as an intern and returning to work as an ace reporter, news editor, Hate inker, marketing muckamuck, and even, occasionally, cartoonist. These days his jack-of-all-tradesness has seen him clamber to the broad title of Associate Publisher, and he’s currently editing his third major anthology series for the company. Dirty Stories ran from 1997 to 2002 on the Eros imprint, featuring filth, fannies and fingering. Mome brought the more highbrow side of Fanta’s nature to bookstore audiences and alt-comix readers from 2005 to 2011. NOW is a dense full-colour bundle of new work largely from artists under-represented in the direct market, publishing three times a year in a comic-book format.
The second issue of NOW is out as of this week in comic shops, and substitute ‘stud Kit Brash spoke to him before its release.
NOW can be purchased in print and digital via Fantagraphics. If you like this podcast and want to hear more, please consider supporting Inkstuds on Patreon
Last Fall, I moderated a panel at FanExpo in Vancouver featuring Ken Steacy, Paul Chadwick and Gerhard. The theme was legends of indie comics. I just used that as an excuse to have a fun conversation with some memorable voices in comics. Paul Chadwick is probably most known for his work on creator owned series Concrete and his latest book, Best Wishes, a collaboration with publisher Mike Richardson. Gerhard from his years of work his the laborious draftsman on Dave Sim’s Cerebus and lastly, Ken Steacy, an active figure in the west coast Canadian comics scene, running his own post secondary comics school program and a career of solid work. These guys were a blast to talk to.
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Zach Hazard Vaupen joined me to talk about his new book from Retrofit, Combed Clap of Thunder. Zach’s other work includes Pearlescent Gray posted on Study Group. I really enjoyed Zach’s book. He’s come into his own with these 2 most recent works. He’s got a great style at evoking horror and near future existentialism.
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I picked up this print as part of a collection of drawings from a Canadian illustrator from 70s and 80s at flea market. All the other work is either tight pen work or children's magazine water colours. But this thing is from another world in comparison. I don't think it's the same artist. If anyone has any ideas as to who the artists is, please let me know. Likely west Canadian.
Chris Ware joined me to chat about his new book from Rizzoli, Monograph. I have been a huge fan of Chris’s for a number of years. When I get a new book by him, I inhale it right away. In preparation for this interview, I reread the majority of his work, and got new perspectives and insights.
Monograph is a really fantastic document in understanding Chris Ware and how his work is created. I’m not going to say too much, just take a listen and enjoy the book.
Addendum from Chris – The fading non-photo blue lead is “Pilot 0.7 Color Eno Soft Blue,” not Uniball
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This week I was joined by the creative team behind Shade the Changing Girl from Young Animal/DC Comics. Cecil Castellucci, the writer behind the book, has been very active on a number if different fronts with new works like Soupy Leaves Home (with Jose Pimienta), The Plain Janes (with Jim Rugg), Year of the Beasts (with Nate Powell) and the novel, Don't Cosplay with My Heart.
Marley Zarcone is someone who's work I have been watching for quite a while. I think she has really come to her own with this book, allowing her art to breathe and move taking on the inherent madness in Shade. I really enjoyed the book and enjoyed talking to them both in person.
Shade the Changing Girl continues on some of the idea's of the original series but Ditko, Milligan, Bachalo and more, but takes it in its own personal direction, feeling fresh and living on it's own from the previous works.
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Australian cartoonist, Campbell Whyte joined me to talk about his new book from Top Shelf Comics, Home Time. It's a really delightful read and I was really blown away by the artwork. Campbell gots some really good chops for his first graphic novel.
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Sophia Foster-Dimino has slowly been releasing these amazing Sex Fantasy mini comics. I have been able to get a couple of them, but always got jealous from friends that were able to get copies. They are amazing personal nuggets of work. Sophia creates comics in a really amazing space, developing satisfying exploratory work. I am really excited that Koyama Press just released a giant collection of Sophia's Sex Fantasy mini comics. It's well worth checking out and I am delighted to have the opportunity to chat about it.
You can also find her work in the Comics For Choice Anthology, as well as the spectacular cover.
Sophia will be debuting this collection at SPX this weekend.
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This is my second interview with Jerry Moriarty. We first talked back in 2010 for the rerelease of his might Jack Survives collection. Jerry first got notice in the comics community being printed in Raw magazine. His work stood out for his bold line work capturing a simpler time. Raw (aka Art Spiegelman and Francois Mouly) published a collection of Jack Survives back in the 80s. Alvin Buenaventura's edition was a high water mark for production quality and presenting an important comics work. In the meanwhile, Jerry has been continuing to create and paint. His latest work, Whatsa Paintoonist, from Fantagraphics, is a great next step in Jerry exploring himself and his world. Jerry has spent most of his adult life from the 1960's, living in the same amazing loft in the middle of Manhattan, he recently relocated back to his childhood home in Binghamton, New York, after seeing it for sale.
Jerry is one of my favorite people to talk to. After our first conversation, I was fortunate to visit him in New York a couple of times. He's a creative force that always leaves me energized and excited. You can find Jerry's current work on youtube, accompanied by his own music. He was also in the most recent Kramers Ergot collection with more work to come.
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