Two Brothers starts this episode off, which leads into The Umbrella Academy, The Airtight Garage and Where The Wild Things Are. The second half covers the 1966 version of the MLJ superheroes The Mighty Crusaders and other lighthearted comic books. We enjoyed recording the second half so much that we did it twice.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Disperse • Jakub Zytecki
Two Brothers By Gabriel Bá And Fabio Moon.
Here Is Their Word Balloon Interview.
Al and Don cross the bay into Tampa to search through the dollar boxes at Comics & Stuff. Rondo Hatton, The Mighty Thor and Blade Runner are discussed as well.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Greymarket
This episode is so packed we didn’t stop for a music break. But we did talk about Pee Wee Herman, playing Dungeons And Dragons with Lego, Disney comics, comic book adaptations and outright swipes of other artist’s work. It ends with talk of The Sandman by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon.
The conversation begins with dollar box finds, then goes into color theory, high contrast and happy Batman. The world needs more happy Batman.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Steve Connelly And The Lesser Gods
While in Virginia, Don meets up with Scott Conner, who is one of our first listeners. As the conversation flowed, they decided to record a show, and here it is.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Colossus
The Goon By Eric Powell.
It is Free Comic Book Day so it is another road trip to Yancy Street Comics.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: hitomi
Don Thought Free Comic Book Day Started In The Nineties.
But It Began In 2003.
Moebius and The World of Edena is discussed in great detail. Nod Away, The Undertaking Of Lily Chen, Prince Of Persia and Doom Force are covered as well,
but not as much.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Pierre Legault
Throwing caution to the wind Al and Don leave St. Petersburg and go to Tampa in search of comic books. They tell you what they got on the way back.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Sonic Graffiti
Nerd Out Comics • Tampa, Florida
Rereading comics that sit in the box or on the shelf for long periods of time, binge reading, single issue stories, Valerian and Moebius being available in English start this one off. Pullapalooza finishes it out.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Thin Lizzy
Akira By Katsuhiro Otomo.
Al brings Frank Frazetta’s The Adventures Of The Snow Man to the table. Dallas talks about Injection and Don brings up The Vision (again). Sex Criminals, little hamburgers and the many versions of The Incal finish out the rest.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: The Shadow Moses Incident
Al starts it off talking about a movie he has no interest in seeing, and Don talks about comic books from previous episodes. We also discussed this Howard Chaykin interview.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Brian Eno featuring Snatch “R.A.F”
Filling in the blanks, comic images that scared us as kids and horror comics from Harvey start things off. Madame Xanadu, Batman Vs. Grendel, Valerian and the fact that AL HAS NEVER SEEN The Fifth Element finishes it.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: The Masons
Fill In The Blanks From Understanding Comics By Scott McCloud.
Dallas is back, but no Al and no Rook. Free Comic Book Day at Yancy Street Comics are discussed, along with digital comics and The Comic Book History Of Comics, all wrapped up in poor sound quality.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Adrien Belew And The Prophet Omega
Al, Dallas and Don get together on this supersized episode to discuss comic artists who not only had fantastic drawing abilities, but were masters of graphic design as well.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Samaria
Alex Toth.
Seminal Works. Creepy Presents Alex Toth, Genius Isolated, Genius Illustrated, Genius Animated, Setting the Standard: Comics by Alex Toth 1952-1954 And Zorro.
We start off with a discussion of influences, mention the difference between creation and contribution, and artists who work with a sketchy line style. Old Daredevil comics, the New Wonder Woman of the early seventies, Dial H For Hero and finish off with the Fantastic Four as always.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Ruby Sting
Conan By Gary Gianni.
Don, Al and Dallas talk comics. What comics? These comics:
She Hulk, The Winter Soldier, Sienkiewicz’s Voodoo Child and New Mutants, Robert Crumb’s Heroes of Blues and Kafka, All Star Superman, Whoa Nelly!, Fables, Walking Dead, Preacher, Howard the Duck and The Beatles.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Robert Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders
Winter Soldier By Rick Remender and Roland Boschi.
Al and Don start off talking about John Severin, then go into humor magazines of the seventies, rising paper costs of the nineties, the evolution of brick and mortar bookstores and the return of vinyl records.
Comic book artists streamlining styles as they progress, color work and uninked pencils are discussed, as well as comic book heroines, French comics and muck monsters.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Steve Robinson
John Severin Cover For Cracked.
Amazing as it sounds, Dallas and Rook are absent, but somehow Al keeps Don from talking over the hour. The show starts off mentioning the Bill Wray episode of Sidebar: Four Color Conversations, then goes into comic book editors, which is a subject that they have thought very little about.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Deloris Telescope
Giant Size Avengers 1 By Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler And
Dan Adkins But Don, Proving That He Needs An Editor, Said
That It Was Written By Gerry Conway.
Once again, the whole gang is present, and thanks to Al we discuss letterers and the art of typography. What’s better.. digital fonts or traditional lettering?
We reminisce about some of the old school lettering masters such as John Workman, Moebius, and Tom Orzechowski. Don finds a way to slide in a Carl Barks comment,
and Dallas gushes about Dave Sim’s typographical masterpiece, Cerebus.
We then discuss “event fatigue” in the DC and Marvel universe, and Rook tastefully bags on DC’s New 52 concept. We talk about how boring the superhero “status quo” can be,
and how refreshing books like Spider-Man’s Brand New Day and Morrison’s New X-Men can be. There’s some creator-owned rights talk, and Don brings up symphonic music
to hammer home his point on artistic “innovators” and “cultivators”.
Oh, and Rook sticks up for Aquaman.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: The Brilliant Green
Not Only Could No One Draw Or Design Like Alex Toth,
No One Could Letter Like He Could As Well.
Yet, We Missed Talking About It On This Episode.
We’ve made it to episode 25! Who would have thought?
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: In The Dim (half of them anyway)
Al and Dallas struggle to get a word in edgewise as Don goes on and on and on about his Top Ten Favorite Artists.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Don’s Brother, Larry Moore, of course.
10. Steve Rude.Some people say that Don is the glue that holds this show together. If that’s the case, then this episode is a hot mess. It’s Dallas and Al this time around, and we continue our multi-episode discussion on our favorite artists. We discuss the giants of the comic book industry, Neil Adams (duh!), Paul Smith, Al Williamson, John Buscema, Winsor McCay, Steve Rude, and Will Eisner.
