Deconstructing Comics

Oct 23 2024 100 ep. 58 mins 3.2k
Deconstructing Comics Podcast artwork

Deconstructing Comics is a podcast about the craft of comics. Tim, Kumar, Emmet, and guest reviewers discuss a variety of comics (both recent work and classics) and present interviews with a variety of comics creators -- mainstream, indy, and even international! And in our occasional "Critiquing Comics" episodes, We'll even critique YOUR comic!

Whether you’ve got a comic going and you’re trying to promote it, or you haven’t even started yet and need some help getting rolling, we hope you’ll come here for inspiration and tips. And there’s plenty of interest for the casual comic book or graphic novel fan, as well!

"Tim is probably the hardest working podcaster in the community. He's an insightful and articulate comic reviewer and somebody I always enjoy talking to." -- Jason McNamara, writer, "The Rattler"

“Some of the best interviews I’ve ever heard! You guys review the type of comics I love and that’s really hard to find. So thanks for unique and knowledgeable.” -- Jack Wallace, Disposable Fiction Comics

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#437 “Real” is a slam dunk

Oct 23 2024 60 mins  
FLASHBACK! Sports have rarely been subject matter for comics in the US; perhaps comics’ inherent static-ness has seemed antithetical to an activity with so much movement. But Japan has seen comics about various sports, and some of them have been quite popular, even iconic. Takehiko Inoue’s Real is not only about basketball, but about physical handicaps, relationships, and more

Critiquing Comics #240: “The Night Brigade” and “Joe Mallard”

Oct 16 2024 34 mins  
Most Americans know little about the Crimean War (1853-1856). Adam McGovern and Bruno Letizia’s The Night Brigade may go some way toward filling us in on that conflict, and it does give us several historical figures, including Florence Nightingale – but it also features a werewolf. Tim and Adam critique. Asante Amani‘s Joe Mallard gives us short detective stories tha

#817 Jack Kirby’s “Eternals”, 1977 Annual + #13: Fun “Eternals” stories with few Eternals

Oct 09 2024 78 mins  
We left the Eternals joined together in the Unimind. The 1977 Annual doesn’t clearly fit into continuity, but features only one Eternal, Thena, together with Deviants Karkas and the Reject against a time-traveling threat! Back in the regular series, issue 13 gives us exactly two Eternals, trying to stop a Deviant attack on the Celestials. In spite of the lack of Eternals, th

#816 Chester Brown interview: “Paying for It,” the movie

Oct 02 2024 93 mins  
Chester Brown’s work has come up on this show a number of times over the years. We’ve discussed Ed the Happy Clown, Louis Riel, and Paying for It. He’s actually published 10 graphic novels since 1989, some of which are collections of his comics series. In connection with the recent premiere of the movie version of Paying for It at the Toronto International Film Festival, our

#593 “Reading ‘Nancy’”, plus “Cat and Mouse”!

Sep 25 2024 93 mins  
FLASHBACK! A comic strip gag can be a deceptively simple thing. Once you take it apart — “deconstruct” it, one might say — you find that it actually has many moving parts. Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden‘s How to Read “Nancy” takes a close look at each of those parts — as well as arguing persuasively for Bushmiller’s underrated

Critiquing Comics #239: “Let’s Go, Coco” and “Digital Bardos”

Sep 18 2024 40 mins  
What does an 11-year-old do when her “only friend” moves away? In Coco Fox’s “sorta” memoir Let’s Go, Coco, she joins the basketball team. But when you’re a pre-teen, everything’s fraught with challenges. Tim and Adam discuss this book – aimed at middle schoolers, but recommended for all ages. As far from that world as possible

#338 Everything’s Archie!

Sep 11 2024 52 mins  
FLASHBACK! It’s been more than 70 years now since the debut of Archie comics, featuring (though not quite from the beginning) America’s favorite love triangle of Archie, Veronica, and Betty. Along with Jughead, Reggie, and the rest of the gang, these characters keep us coming back for more, changing with the times while still presenting an idealized America where drugs, booze,

#815 Jack Kirby’s “Eternals”, #9-12: Judging books by their covers

Sep 04 2024 88 mins  
Eternals are only human, I guess! In Eternals issues 9-12, many of the Eternals exhibit a segregationist attitude toward the Deviants, and just about everybody assumes Karkas is going to kick the Reject‘s butt in a fight based solely on how they look. Meanwhile, are the Celestials kind, or sadistic? Tim and Emmet discuss Jack Kirby‘s statements on prejudice, as well as

#134 “The R. Crumb Handbook”

Aug 28 2024 46 mins  
FLASHBACK! A then-recent R. Crumb compilation is reviewed by a Crumb connoisseur (Kumar) and a Crumb newbie (Tim). The book features Crumb at his sweetest and his most shocking. But can this (or any book) claim to be the perfect Crumb compilation? (Originally published June 30, 2008.) Brought to you by: * To the Batpoles! podcast * Our supporters on Patreon

Critiquing Comics #238: “Jane Jet” and “The Fog Within”

Aug 21 2024 54 mins  
Once again we take a look at some comics submitted by their creators; we talk about what we liked about them and what could have been better. Jane Jet book 1: Nuclear Shadows, by writer Amal Desai and artist Paul Essenson, recalls Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer — the art, the jet-pack concept, the time period — but it deals with a woman getting out of an abusive relationshi