Deconstructing Comics

Jonah Lobe, after many years designing characters for video games, has recently turned his attention to comics. He's the illustrator of Marvel Anatomy: A Scientific Study of the Superhuman, in which we can finally learn just what's going on inside characters like Wolverine, Venom, and Modok. He's also on the verge of his first Kickstarter campaign, for Quiet: Level One, about a skeleton named Quiet who's up against an evil Conan the Barbarian-type called Galahorn. He talks with Tim about his inspiration for Quiet, the difference between making video games and making comics, whether anatomy is important in cartoony drawing styles, and more. Brought to you by: To the Batpoles! podcast Our supporters on Patreon

On the surface, Sammy Harkham's Blood of the Virgin is about an editor of b-movies in 1970s L.A. who has greater artistic aspirations, but it's also rich with unexpected explorations of character and narrative approaches, themes about the creative process, responsibility, and being an immigrant, and Harkham's best art and writing to date. Over a decade in the making, the book was finally released in a collected volume last year, and the work shows. Matt E. and Kumar can't help but heap praise on it. Brought to you by: The Law of Equivalent Exchange: A Fullmetal Alchemist manga podcast Our supporters on Patreon

Batman meets Italy's humorous horror icon Dylan Dog in a beautiful three-issue series, originally published in Italian and recently released in English from DC. Tim and Emmet could recommend it on the art alone, but the story gives us a lot to discuss as well, including very rich conversations between characters and an interesting take on the Caped Crusader. Brought to you by: Checkered Past podcast Our supporters on Patreon

Paul Pate releases his third "Detective Perez" graphic novel, called Autotropolis, a turned-to-eleven detective story that doesn't take itself too seriously. Tim and Jason find a lot to like and not too terribly much to advise on -- though of course almost any work can still be improved! Right? Griz Grobus, the latest from Simon Roy, is about a robot advocate for eating your veggies on a planet where humans have settled just in the past few hundred years. It's also about how the spirit of a war god ends up in the body of... well, that would be telling. Tim and Adam discuss whether, in this case, maybe a work can't possibly be improved! Brought to you by: The Quarter-Bin podcast Our supporters on Patreon

Sure, comics are great for fantastical stories, but they can tell intimate, personal stories as well -- or sometimes the personal and the fantastical mix well. Artist and writer Pidge is the creator of the series Infinite Wheatpaste, which employs this method. Avery Hill has just published a collection of the series, called Infinite Wheatpaste vol 1: Catalytic Conversions. This week Pidge talks with Emmet about her attraction to the comics medium, but concern that it doesn't cover all the aspects of life that it could: "Having coffee with your friend is worth putting in a comic." Brought to you by: To the Batpoles! podcast Our supporters on Patreon