Archive for April, 2011
Ain’t No Power: Arthur Koestler – One
As it says in the first panel, this is a straight adaptation of an essay by the writer Arthur Koestler from the book, The God That Failed.
Related comics:1/28/2002 and Global Learning Systems.
TCJ Talkies
Some exciting news to announce: I’ve got a new podcast and it’s hosted at The Comics Journal! It’s called TCJ Talkies, which is a goofy name that I happen to love.
The inaugural episode went up today, and I was honored to have Evan Dorkin on as my first guest. As we discuss, a talk that Evan gave to a club I was a part of in college had a big impact on me in terms of broadening my awareness of different kinds of comics. I am a huge fan of Evan’s work, especially his run of Dork! comics in the late 90′s and early aughts.
Also, we discuss a letter Evan sent me in 2003 in response to a Gabagool! mini-comic I either mailed him or handed him at a convention. For those who are interested, here’s what he sent me:
Mike
My apologies for the long delay in replying to your letter — unfortunately, due to my heavy workload, the fairly large volume of mail I’m receiving nowadays and the occasional failed attempt to “have a life”, I’ve had very little “spare time” to reply to my reader mail, which is why it’s taken me weeks or even months to get back to you. I truly appreciate hearing from you regarding my work, and I thank you for your patience and support. And now that the annoying form letter part of this show is over, I’ll try to reply to what you actually wrote. Whew…
(Add to that my modem getting fried recently. )
ANYWAY — I have to admit I haven’t had the time to check out the webcomics, sorry, it’s just that I get sent a lot of links and don’t have the tiem to surf to everyone’s site. But, I did finally get to read through the Gabagool #1 you sent me eighty years ago in my pathetic attempt to get some of my snail mail answered. Wish I had time for a lengthy critique, sorry, I don’t — however, from the hip, I thought it read okay, dialogue was smooth and read decently, most folks write such dead dialogue it is noticeable when characters in minis sound anything like people. I didn’t really laugh, sorry to say, I have to say I’m kind of numb to pop culture gags/dialogue/references in comics these days because of how much I deal with that stuff in my own comics. Also, I’ve read a LOT of what I call “roommate comics” in my time, which Gabagool #1 falls into — slice of life, episodic, McJob, slacker, junk culture, booze, mooning over girls, etc , it’s a real staple in minis as well as “pro” comics, and even if done better than most it still feels like I’ve read it before. Art-wise, liked the body language and the simple, loose feel of the characters/linework. Didn’t like the sameness to it all, same line weight throughout to foreground and background, the lack of spotted black areas didn;t allow anything to “pop”, or any page to look different from another. Overall it produces a blurring effect, a monotonous effect. I thought pg 17 was the most succesful in the book, writing and layouit-wise, although, again, the monotonous line sets up a coloring book-like look that feels empty after a succesion of pages. You get points for putting the firggin’ Human Fly on page 3. Huh? Wish I didn’t know who that was.
Anyway, a breezy book, no surprises, but not drek like most minis people send me, which I can’t even get through and comment on. Of course, #1 was done a year and a half ago, so for all I know you’ve been working like fiends on honing your attack/material. Punch up the jokes, bring something to this material people haven’t seen before, work on backgrounds and line weights and varying visual approaches, and of course work on all sorts of stories and try different things out so you don’t fall into a rut. If I had the time I’d run thru the site, honest, but I barely have time to comment on what you actually sent me, a year and half later, and I have a box of mail and a long list of e-mail to burrow through. So, sorry for the late reply on dated material, hope this is of some help anyway, if not, mea culpa. I tried!
best,
evan dorkin.
Also, in case anybody is wondering, the intro/outro music is sampled from a song called “You Are Boring the Sh!t Out of Me”, by The Hanslick Rebellion.
The Ink Panthers Show! #90 featuring Noah Van Sciver
Blammo creator, Noah Van Sciver, calls into the Panther’s Lair from an undisclosed location out of the streets of Denver, Colorado, providing a heightened sense of tension for the entire episode, as we worry he may be struck by a speeding car at any moment. Speaking of cars, Mike’s just been to the International Car Show, and marveled at the new line of 2012 Fords and Chevys. Also, we respond to a listener question about whether we have pop-culture rules for our significant others. For example, could any of us really be with a lady who doesn’t like Peter Jackson’s Lord of The Rings? Is that a deal-breaker?
Comments welcome!
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The Ink Panthers Show! #89 Star Wars Minute
A while back, Alex was wondering if there was room in the show for a recurring “Star Wars Minute” feature. This week we find out the answer: NO. Any attempt to talk about Star Wars for one minute, clearly devolves into a half-hour segment about the quality of the prequels; the quality of Return of the Jedi; the quality of the action figures, and on and on… We can’t afford to do this every week! So, here’s the one and only Star Wars minute. But, don’t fret, non Star Wars fans, we’ve got The Desert Panther in the house, and before we get to arguing about nerd minutia, we have a follow-up on The Sexy Human chair story from episode 87, and a lively discussion about gift-giving.
Comments welcome!
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The Ink Panthers Show! Recorded live at MoCCA
Daniel Spottswood, John Kerschbaum, and Mike Lapinski joined us in the Mobile Panther Lair as we recorded a live episode of the podcast. Seeing’s as we were recording at the MoCCA Arts Festival, we made a conscious attempt to keep things comics-focused. Topics include: Conventions. What is the Point of Them?; Biggest Professional Regrets; Best Convention Celebrity Encounters; and more! Thanks again to Daniel, John, and Mike for joining us, and thanks to everyone who came out to see the show.
Comments welcome!
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PRO T.I.P.S! #5 with Dustin Harbin
I was happy to welcome Two-Time Ink Panthers Show guest Dustin Harbin into the Professional Panther’s Lounge for a chat about his comics career. Since getting to know Dustin, just a few short years ago, he’s made the transition from Comics-Dabbler, to Full-Time This-Is-How-I-Make-My-Living Cartoonist, and this was a nice opportunity to check in and see how that’s going. Spoiler Alert: Dustin reveals pretty early on that it’s not been great for the bank-balance, but towards the end of our chat he also reveals he’s been tapped to host the Ignatz Awards at this year’s SPX Festival, so it’s not all doom and gloom. Comments welcome!
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The Ink Panthers Show! Live @ MoCCA
Coming up: Sunday, April 10th, 3:30PM, at the MoCCA Arts Festival, we’ll be recording a Live Ink Panthers Show. Special guests include John Kerschbaum, Daniel Spottswood, and Danielle Corsetto. Planned topics include What Is the Point of Conventions, and What Are Your Biggest Professional Regrets. Lots of laffs, guaranteed!!
The Ink Panthers Show! #87 Sexy Human Chair
The Desert Panther, Tony Consiglio, joins us in The Lair to discuss a number of hot topics: First, Mike is now American, and we find out if his fellow Panthers really do consider him an equal now. Second: the strange case of the sexy man who turned into a chair. Third: Tony has to explain a complicated lovemaking position to his mother. Fourth: Why is it OK to laugh about Italian stereotypes? Tony doesn’t see the humor in it, but Mike and Alex are all like, aaaah, shaddap you face!
Comments welcome!
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