POPULARITY
We really cram a lot in this week, folks! And what a weird week of comics it was. No huge profile books or anything, not a “10” in the bunch. But that doesn't mean we don't make each other laugh and bathe in the shining light of illustrated fiction! Come along, won't you?00:03:30 - Well Well Wellmer Mail!00:08:13 - The Closet #100:15:00 - Justice League road to Dark Crisis00:22:51 - New Think #100:28:00 - Action Comics Annual 202200:32:30 - TRUTH OR TRAP!00:37:17 - The Phalanx #100:47:45 - Righteous Thirst for Vengeance #800:53:28 - Super Freaks #100:54:40 - Neverender #100:57:14 - Shadow War Omega00:01:27 - TV TALK!SPOILERS! Tread carefully dear listener, because we're going to talk about what happened in these books. So maybe pause this, read your books, and come back. We'll still be here!And an enormous thank you, as always, to Andrew Carlson for editing this mess into something listenable.Subscribe to us on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you like to get your podcasts.Email in questions at jeff@thecomicsplace.com ! We love hearing from you and there's a good chance we will read it on air!You can also join the Comics Place Discord here: https://discord.We really cram a lot in this week, folks! And what a weird week of comics it was. No huge profile books or anything, not a “10” in the bunch. But that doesn't mean we don't make each other laugh and bathe in the shining light of illustrated fiction! Come along, won't you?00:03:30 - Well Well Wellmer Mail!00:08:13 - The Closet #100:15:00 - Justice League road to Dark Crisis00:22:51 - New Think #100:28:00 - Action Comics Annual 202200:32:30 - TRUTH OR TRAP!00:37:17 - The Phalanx #100:47:45 - Righteous Thirst for Vengeance #800:53:28 - Super Freaks #100:54:40 - Neverender #100:57:14 - Shadow War Omega00:01:27 - TV TALK!SPOILERS! Tread carefully dear listener, because we're going to talk about what happened in these books. So maybe pause this, read your books, and come back. We'll still be here!And an enormous thank you, as always, to Andrew Carlson for editing this mess into something listenable.Subscribe to us on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you like to get your podcasts.Email in questions at jeff@thecomicsplace.com ! We love hearing from you and there's a good chance we will read it on air!You can also join the Comics Place Discord here: https://discord.
Jerzy Drozd is a cartoonist, teaching artist and prolific podcaster. In this episode, Jerzy returns to talk about the art of podcasting among other things. We spend the first half talking about podcasting and Jerzy's podcast roll call including Lean Into Art and 4 million Years Later. We talk about Jerzy's approach to teaching and how that informs podcasting, engaging with a podcast community, and podcasting as performance. As we discuss the building of online communities we take a turn towards the archetypal as we discuss the archetype of the Good King, when it is time for things to die, and what type of wizard you might want to be. Jerzy's current podcasts: Lean Into Art: https://www.leanintoart.com/ 4 million Years Later: https://anchor.fm/4my Some of Jerzy's legacy podcasts: Comics Are Great: http://comicsaregreat.com/ I don't normally do much with show notes, but we reference so much stuff here I thought listeners would appreciate it: The Emerge Podcast: https://anchor.fm/emerge Jerzy's Nerd Nite talk on 80's storytelling: https://youtu.be/_vxvcyhvlk8 Great Courses -- King Arthur: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/king-arthur-history-and-legend Rob Stenzinger's "Listening Like a Coach": https://www.skillshare.com/classes/Listening-Like-a-Coach-for-Creative-and-Design-Leaders/1249058671 Legacy of the Heart: https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Heart-Spiritual-Advantages-Childhood/dp/0671797840 This Jungian Life: https://thisjungianlife.com/ The Good King: https://thisjungianlife.com/episode-147-the-archetype-of-the-good-king/ Peace Pilgrim: https://youtu.be/6CAsjZqYPME
The inaugural episode of How To Be An Artist, where podcasting veteran Jerzy Drozd helps to send H2BNA gently aloft. We talk about the main idea for the show, maturing as an artist, embracing your shadow, sin, motivations for making art, sacred spaces and Jerzy's favorite moment of Miracle on 45th street. Jerzy is a cartoonist, educator and comic arts advocate. He's also the host of multiple podcasts including Art and Story, Comics Are Great, Lean Into Art and others (too many to keep track!) http://www.jdrozd.com/p/home.html
In this episode of the Polytechnicast special guest Jerzy Drozd and I discuss tradeoffs and challenges with sharing creative process and personal perspective during Art Soundoff as a place where many blind spots exist for us AND how that creates an important focus for listening and learning from what others share. Related Links and Resources Jerzy Drozd (@jerzydrozd) • Instagram photos and videos Comics Are Great! ArtSoundoff Follow all the Art Soundoff posts on Twitter Lean Into Art Subscribe to the Polytechnicast RSS feed in your podcatcher
Is play as an activity inherently purposeful? In this episode of Art and Science Punks, Kate and Rob discuss play: playing in different contexts to relax, to be challenged, and to be inspired to make stuff. Kate and Rob also explore an art pick and science pick for some fun and useful resources to explore drawing with AI and Earth Day. Related Links and Resources "Chris Crawford describing the unique power of "games" or "play" or "interactivity"" Dragon Speech Part 2 of 5 (https://youtu.be/Ymu4A9861Ck?t=6m59s) Jerzy Drozd of Comics Are Great! (http://comicsaregreat.com/) and Lean Into Art (http://www.leanintoart.com/) Wild Rumpus | Books for Young Readers (http://www.wildrumpusbooks.com/) Pinboard (https://pinboard.in/) Bookmarklet - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookmarklet) Kate's Science Pick: How to be less of a jerk to the environment | Minnesota Public Radio News (https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/04/21/earth-day-tips) Rob's Art Pick: AutoDraw (https://www.autodraw.com/) Comics & Writing — Tory Woollcott (http://www.torywoollcott.com/comics/#/mirrormind/) Google's A.I. Experiments (https://aiexperiments.withgoogle.com/) Noun Project - Icons for Everything (https://thenounproject.com/) Art and Science Punks on Twitter (@artsciencepunks) (http://twitter.com/artsciencepunks) Art and Science Punks (@artandsciencepunks) on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/artandsciencepunks/) Kate Stenzinger on Twitter (http://twitter.com/katestenzinger) Rob Stenzinger on Twitter (http://twitter.com/robstenzinger)
In this episode of Art and Science Punks, Kate and Rob discuss the more challenging parts of balancing passion projects, work, and family. Sleep emerges as a major thread through exploring recharging, creative projects, and other recharging activities. Also: reframing strategies. Also: pie chart metaphors. Related Links and Resources Jerzy Drozd of Comics Are Great and Lean Into Art (http://www.jdrozd.com/) Sleep Cycle for iOS (https://www.sleepcycle.com/) Rob's Art Pick: Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild (http://www.zelda.com/breath-of-the-wild/) Nintendo Switch (http://www.nintendo.com/switch/) Kate's Science Pick: Art and Science Punks — Punks Super Bath Bomb (http://artandsciencepunks.com/post/158837555071/punks-super-bath-bomb) (a.k.a. bath fizzies) Art and Science Punks on Twitter (@artsciencepunks) (http://twitter.com/artsciencepunks) Art and Science Punks (@artandsciencepunks) on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/artandsciencepunks/) Kate Stenzinger on Twitter (http://twitter.com/katestenzinger) Rob Stenzinger on Twitter (http://twitter.com/robstenzinger)
Comics Manifest | Inspiring Interviews with Influential Creators in Comics
Jerzy Drozd is an illustrator, Cartoonist, teaching artist, and fellow podcaster. He is the creator of the popular webcomic Boulder and Fleet, Co-Creator of the Kids Read Comics festival, and the host of many comic-centric podcasts including, Comics Are Great! , Lean Into Art, and Kid's Comics Revolution.
Broxo! Ewoks! Shakespeare! Banjo music, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuLb6XdoQzs It’s time to unbox the age-old question of Talent vs. Effort on Comics Are Great! How does your comics work change when you shift your focus from “expressing yourself” to “putting in the effort?” Are these terms mutually exclusive, or does the focus oscillate between those poles […]
Talking about the special communicative power of the cartoon on Comics Are Great! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8PsQi99nok Anthropomorphic comics characters have enjoyed a wide appeal almost since the invention of the comic. Who doesn’t love Snoopy? Characters like Garfield have inspired an entire generation of professional cartoonists. Even the critically-acclaimed Maus featured talking animal characters. So what is […]
Gregg Schigiel! Laura Given! Erin Helmrich! Finding new audiences for your work, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAAzJsOrAys It’s the 100th episode of the Comics Are Great show, recorded live before a studio audience at the 2014 Kids Read Comics Celebration! I’m joined by guest co-host Gregg Schigiel of the Stuff Said Show, librarian Laura Given, and librarian […]
Talking about walking the line between eerie and cute on CAG! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNhieWXymL4 In this special unscheduled episode of the Comics Are Great! show I’ll be joined by Eric Orchard, cartoonist behind Maddy Kettle: The Adventure of the Thimblewitch, published by Top Shelf. Maddy Kettle is a plucky young girl who faces witches, vampire bats, and […]
Comics Are Great! returns with a battle between kid and adult authors! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2BmkddnAWE We grown-up cartoonists think we know what kids are and aren’t picking up on in our work. After all, we were kids once! But memory can be fickle testimony, so in the next Comics Are Great! I’ll be joined by 12-year-old cartoonist […]
Muppets Most Wanted, Perils of Retreading, and more! It’s another special audio-only “therapy session” of Comics Are Great! I’m joined by Dave Roman for a discussion on Muppets Most Wanted. Together we explore how this film scratched many of the itches we were left with after The Muppets movie, how revisiting a franchise almost demands […]
Talking about independent publishing on the Comics Are Great! show! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpX5d1IRI2Y This time I’m joined by Jamie Gambell, writer of The Hero Code, for a discussion on the various channels available to us when publishing our comics independently. With so many options like Kickstarter, Comixology, IndyPlanet, Patreon, and publishing on the web, how do you […]
Talking about getting out from behind the desk and reaching out to new fans on the Comics Are Great! show! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2bTGpTg1FU We all know that making the work is only half of the battle facing an author or cartoonist these days. Once the work is done you have to market the work, and for many […]
Talking about everyone’s favorite Dark Knight on CAG 97! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_f7EasqzHo You may have heard that 2014 is the 75th anniversary of the first appearance of Batman. So for this episode of the Comics Are Great! show we had a roundtable discussion on why the Caped Crusader remains such an enduring character. I’m joined by Dean Trippe, author […]
Talking about what cartoonists can learn from filmmakers on Comics Are Great! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olua0Ls4JiU Comics and film share a lot of DNA, though their strengths and weaknesses greatly differ. In the end they’re trying to do the same thing–convey ideas and explore narratives visually. So what might cartoonists learn about their own craft by studying the […]
The ultimate comics gift guide on this episode of Comics Are Great! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOx_Erz4ZzM The final CAG of 2013! I’m joined by Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, and Sharon Iverson for a list of our favorite comics and graphic novels of 2013 and which ones would make a great gift for that loved one who doesn’t consider […]
Talking about how to get your work seen on the Comics Are Great! show! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7lHY0oQBBU There are more ways than ever to share our work with our intended audience. Some solutions are as simple as pushing a button, while others may require a little bit of technical know-how. But how do you find the hosting/publishing/social […]
Character Design! Delilah Dirk! Tony Cliff, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFqQv8saTKA Comics may be a static medium, but the best cartoonist create an illusion of movement so convincing we’ll often forget that we, the readers, are creating the movement in our minds. How do they do they pull off this trick? And what’s the “secret” to writing […]
Working for money vs. working on spec, Ryan Estrada, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV9YJUh8VsA Is there anything wrong with agreeing to do some work for free? After all, it might catch on with the Internet, and you can cash in later. And this is the webcomics model, after all! You put out consistent and professional-quality work for […]
Crowdfunding! Kickstarter! Self-Publishing! Getting the Word Out! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJquIvm1rwg Hooray! Thanks to services Kickstarter and Indiegogo, we finally have a mechanism to fund our dream project! But is it as easy as just asking your friends or audience to support your thing? It sounds like a lot of work. And how do you avoid annoying everyone […]
Copyright! Public Domain! Fair Use, and More! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu31d8Jx5KI What is the benefit of working with public domain characters and stories? Is it just fun to play in “someone’s sandbox,” or is there a larger cultural benefit to authors building on and expanding the works of those who came before? What might happen if more creative […]
Superheroes! Batman! Superman! Dean Trippe! Dan Mishkin, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJwfPCQK3eQ Over the past years we’ve seen more and more summer blockbusters featuring superhero characters and stories. Are they just fashionable again, or is there something to these kinds of stories that connects us to them? What characterizes an effective superhero story? I’m grateful to be […]
Pacific Rim! Jaegers! Kaiju! Dave Roman! and Spoilers! I’m joined by Dave Roman for a talk on how the author’s analytic eye affects his or her enjoyment of media. What happens when you can’t stop picking at story when reading a book or watching a film? Besides making you insufferable at parties, are there any […]
Designing characters with appeal, G-Man, writing from life, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MRbB5tkYs0 It’s hard enough to learn how to draw, but things get even dicier when we start talking about what it takes to create appeal. Fortunately I’m joined by Chris Giarrusso of the eminently appealing G-Man series and Dave Carter of the University of Michigan […]
He-Man! Zeus! Posedion! Olympians rule! George O’Connor, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W7VJZ5PW1s What better medium than comics to capture the majesty and mayhem of Greek Mythology? Especially in the hands of celebrated cartoonist George O’Connor, creator of The Olympians series from First Second books. Together we talk about kid logic, how an author must get to the heart […]
Chris Houghton! Shane Houghton! Tony Cliff! And more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlGWrGYj7co How do you design awesome action sequences? What’s the secret to writing scenes that make the audience roar with laughter? I know I couldn’t answer these questions on my own, so I’m grateful to be joined by the perfect roundtable for the job: Tony Cliff, author […]
Editing, writing, graphic novels, First Second Books, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=R10AAaL7zKc I’m excited to talk with Calista Brill, Senior Editor at First Second Books, about the entire process of developing and publishing a graphic novel. What does a good pitch look like? What qualities are editors looking for in a graphic novel proposal? Once the book […]
Mini-Comics, Sumo, Tumblr Comics, Thien Pham, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-5uYdsO0jI This time we discover that Sumo wrestling can be a metaphor for the creative life thanks to the work of Thien Pham, author of Sumo from First Second Books. Together we explore how the philosophy of “every moment is the moment of truth” applies to just […]
Finding your venue, loving parody, Broodhollow, Kris Straub, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvrE75Cv5kQ Stick to your knitting. Specialize. Find your niche. Operate in your wheelhouse. And a zillion other clichés that get thrown around. It’s been accepted as common wisdom that one should find the one thing they have some talent in and pursue that to the […]
Finances, Poorcraft, Polterguys, Mini-Comics, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNn3bKSHu8Q The hard fact of it is, few people make a ton of money at this comics jazz. And while we’ve talked about creating various streams of income in past shows, we’ve yet to talk about how to get more out of less of our financial resources! We’re joined […]
Spongebob, work-for-hire, the importance of comics podcasting, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSR9RzdRqfg We’re thrilled to have Gregg Schigiel, the artist behind many of the ever-present images of Spongebob Squarepants in comics and on products, for a talk on working on a beloved children’s character. Is it all fame and candy-eating, or is there a certain work ethic […]
Author visits, marketing your book, Mal and Chad, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3LX1AXR1cs Whether you’re self-publishing or working with a publisher, a cold hard reality we cartoonists face is getting the word out about your book. This time I’m joined by author Stephen McCranie for a discussion on how he used a special promotion on his site […]
Drama! Smile! Baby-Sitters Club! Raina Telgemeier! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO0bjO1XETI We close out the 2012 broadcast schedule with a special event! I’m joined by guest co-host Cassie, who helps me interview Raina Telgemeier about her latest graphic novel Drama. Together we talk about how Drama is a “spiritual sequel” to Smile, how an author might use their own […]
Sherlock Holmes, Rick Leonardi, Brandon Perlow, Paul Mendoza, and more! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=P89-0ftkE2s This time we talk with the team behind the new Watson and Holmes comic about iterating on public domain stories, new publishing strategies, and how a cartoonist might think about “acting” through their characters. And we’re joined once again by Sharon Iverson of the […]
Writing horror with Jon David Guerra, Paul Storrie, and Dave Carter. //www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OifG9ih9pk It’s a Halloween-themed episode with a talk on what characterizes a scary story, and we’ve got a full roundtable of people well-suited for the job! I’m joined by Jon David Guerra, Paul Storrie, and Dave Carter, who help to draw the line between […]
World building! Backstory! Writing! With Dave Roman, Brandon Dayton, and Paul Storrie. //www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIB_QGw57GQ What’s the difference between story and backsory? It’s a tricky question, so I was lucky to assemble a rather impressive roundtable of comics people to help sort this one out. Brandon Dayton, Dave Roman, and Paul Storrie all return to the show […]
Publishing, Pitching, First Second Books! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_CBtrV8wGk Some of us have come face-to-face with the grim reality of getting our work published. It’s not quite as glamorous and easy as the fantasy we might have constructed as a kid. But Gina Gagliano of First Second Books stops by the show to lend a bunch of great […]
Chad Sell, Sally Carson, and the Small Press Expo! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMZclwsMJuA I’m back from the Small Press Expo and ready to share some of the exciting things that happened while I was there. I’m joined by two other SPX 2012 exhibitors, Chad Sell and Sally Carson. Together we talk about the unique tone the convention has, […]
It’s the never-before-seen-on-the-Internet live CAG show recorded at the Ann Arbor District Library during Kids Read Comics 2012! //www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRL770fuwcE I’m joined by a live studio audience and a panel of excellent guests of KRC including: Dave Roman Raina Telgemeier Rob Stenzinger Joe Foo Sharon Iverson We start out with some reflections and stories from KRC […]
Topics: Writing, sketching, and finding your voice as an author. //www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Qh8IZt3sU As counter-intuitive as it may seem, illustration is only one small part of the overall effort in making comics. What really defines what a graphic novelist, cartoonist, or comics artist does happens at the thumbnail level. It’s there that you decide on the panel […]
Topics: The Legend of Korra, cartoons, writing, storytelling //www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdAyA4TqGoE Spoiler alert! If you haven’t finished watching the first season of The Legend of Korra, you might want to do so before enjoying this episode. But even if you’re not a Korra fan, there’s some fun storytelling talk and analysis on this edition of CAG, as […]
Topics: Find new audiences through libraries, publishing, and self-promotion //www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUkNhqhUc8M Many of us agree that web publishing is a terrific way to build an audience for your comic, graphic novel, or comic strip. It’s an easy, low-risk way for audiences to try before they buy. And the same is true for getting your books into […]
Guest: Ryan Estrada Topics: Photoshop, Art Automation, ProcessMaking comics takes a lot of time. We all understand this. But Ryan Estrada shows us that it doesn’t have to take as much time as we think it does! This time we’re treated to what is essentially an online workshop in automating much of the comics process […]
Whether or not one should make any special considerations when writing for kids is a topic that goes round and round on the twitters. Is it better to shield young people from the difficulties and terrors of adulthood, or should we be preparing kids for this? Are there advantages to both? It’s a philosophical episode […]
This time we’re joined by Eric Orchard for a talk about his new kids’ horror comic Marrowbones. What are the special parameters one must consider when making a scary story for kids? How do you walk that line in a visual medium like comics? Also, a contest! For the folks who tuned in during the […]
It’s a spirited talk about the future of comics publishing and storytelling opportunities available in digital comics this time, as I’m joined by comics legend Mark Waid. Using his new project Thrillbent as a starting point, we explore how digital publishing and web culture are challenging us to re-think 20th Century ideas of publishing and […]
Digital comics in libraries. Comics textbooks in schools. Has the utopian future finally arrived? I’m joined this week by Eli Neiburger of the Ann Arbor District Library and Josh Elder of Reading With Pictures for a talk on the future of digital delivery and licensing in regards to comics. Josh’s new venture, the iVerse Media […]