Flash Gordon. Has there ever been a cooler name or a cooler action hero anywhere? I can’t remember exactly when during the 1960s I first saw the old Universal serials repeated on television featuring Buster Crabbe as Flash, but I was hooked for life. As I grew older, I was a sucker for any... Continue Reading →
From Headrack to Stuck Rubber Baby, still Howard Cruse, still gay! PODCAST INTERVIEW
I met cartoonist Howard Cruse in March 2004 at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. He was one of the featured guests at the college’s “Comics Summit on Diversity,” an event that included Mary GrandPre, illustrator of the Harry Potter novels and American master Will Eisner, whose biography I was... Continue Reading →
In Pajama Diaries, Terri Libenson draws Kaplan home chaos! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: Terri Libenson, cartoonist, "The Pajama Diaries" My mother’s maiden name was Kaplan. My favorite person in the whole world—after mom, of course—was my grandfather, Sam Kaplan. I even convinced my wife to give my son “Kaplan” as his middle name. So I must admit a touch of prejudice in reading cartoonist Terri Libenson’s daily... Continue Reading →
Wednesday Comics gets different look by DC’s Mark Chiarello! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: Mark Chiarello, art director, DC Comics When I was a teenager growing up in North Brunswick, New Jersey, I was one of three guys who organized a loose-knit band of like-minded comic book lovers into a club called the Fans of Central Jersey. We had monthly meetings, published a monthly newsletter, and... Continue Reading →
Get Syncopated with King Features comics editor Brendan Burford! PODCAST INTERVIEW
If you read the comics in your daily newspaper, my guest today has probably touched your life. Spider-Man, Hagar the Horrible and Curtis all report to him at his day job as comics editor for King Features Syndicate. But by night—and weekends, no doubt—Brendan Burford is himself a cartoonist dedicated to the notion that... Continue Reading →
Digital cartoonist Jonathan Rosenberg brings Goats to life! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: Jonathan Rosenberg, creator of the digital comic strip "Goats." Jon Rosenberg, you had me at the gray-skinned alien who said, “On our planet, people worship pancakes.” That’s the point—it was page three, I believe—that I realized that Goats: Infinite Typewriters was spinning out of control and I loved it. This first print... Continue Reading →
Fantagraphics guys defend the art of criticism! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guests: Gary Groth, Kim Thompson, editors, The Comics Journal, Fantagraphics They are probably the best-known good cop/bad cop team in comics today. “They” are Gary Groth, the founder of The Comics Journal, and his partner in Fantagraphics—and fellow editor—Kim Thompson. Fantagraphics is a preeminent publisher of comics –related books and magazines, including the... Continue Reading →
PS Magazine editor remembers Will Eisner’s US Army days! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: Paul Fitzgerald, former editor of the US Army's PS Magazine, author of Will Eisner and PS Magazine. In my life, it seems all roads lead back to Will Eisner. In 2002, I met the American master artist and writer for the first time over lunch and embarked on a three-year project to... Continue Reading →
Erotic Comics editor Tim Pilcher sees what you’re thinking! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Tim Pilcher has a dirty mind! That’s what some people think, no doubt. He did just publish the second edition Erotic Comics: A Graphic History and it is filled with cartoon images of men, women, aliens and even a cat dancer engaged in all manner of physical intimacies. (If you have sensitive ears or... Continue Reading →
Writer Trina Robbins revives the art of Nell Brinkley’s Girls! PODCAST INTERVIEW
This is my third year of being the ringmaster of the Mr. Media radio show and I’m starting to see previous guests return with new projects. And that is certainly the case tonight, as cartoonist and historian Trina Robbins returns to the show to talk about her new project about Nell Brinkley's Girls, The... Continue Reading →