Deconstructing Comics

Nov 20 2024 100 ep. 59 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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#820 Jack Kirby’s “Eternals,” #14-16: The Coming of…. The Editor!

Nov 20 2024 78 mins  
Jack Kirby‘s The Eternals was not a conventional superhero book. It didn’t even seem to take place in the Marvel Universe. By issue 14, it appears that Marvel editorial must have been pressuring him to make it more Marvel Universe-y, which would account for the appearance of the Hulk in issues 14-16… except it’s not really the Hulk, leaving plausible deniab

#819 We catch up with “The Re-up” and “Amazing Tales”

Nov 13 2024 57 mins  
This week we catch up with the work of two DCP favorites, Chad Bilyeu and David Dye! Chad’s series The Re-up, about his time as a pot dealer 20 years ago, continues and has overcome the skepticism Tim had of the series at the start. David has released three more issues of Amazing Tales and gone in various directions: a Beowulf adaptation, a Burroughs-esque time travel story comm

#818 Requiems: “Ghost Band” and “Grimm’s Assistant”

Nov 06 2024 48 mins  
If you’ve ever felt like your city left you before you left your city, Jason McNamara’s Ghost Band is for you. Tim and Emmet discuss this post-apocalyptic look at San Francisco. Jason then taps in to explain the inspiration for the book and what happened to artist Vincent Gladnick 2/3 of the way through. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the Grim Reaper has an apprentice, and he

“Avengers: Endgame” (2019)

Oct 30 2024 63 mins  
Tim gets ever closer to catching up with the MCU! Tim and Mulele discuss Avengers: Endgame‘s time-travel explanation (and problems), Captain Marvel’s relative irrelevance to the film, how this movie set the stage for the upcoming TV shows, and much more. (Originally published on Patreon March 14, 2020) Brought to you by: * Bat Bits podcast on Patreon, featuring our re

#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