Articles Published the Week of 15 April 2019

Today’s National Cartoonists Society: A Conversation with Steve McGarry. For The Comics Journal I spoke with the British cartoonist and former President of the NCS who is one of the people behind NCS Fest in May to talk about the festival, the society, and more.

Paul Constant’s Planet of the Nerds. I’ve been reading Constant for years but now the journalist has written the new comics miniseries from Ahoy about a group of jocks form the 1980’s who wake up today - and are horrified by what they find.

Omaha Perez: The Drude 2. I’ve talked with Perez a few times over the years and we spoke about his new graphic novel which he wrote, which besides having one of the most startling covers of any comic this year it’s a fabulous and strange magical ride.

Articles Published the Week of 25 March 2019

In Conversation with Tom Sleigh. Late last year I spoke with the poet and essayist about his two new books, one a collection of poetry and the other a collection of essays, some personal, others reported from conflict zones, and we spoke about writing, the Middle East, and lizards.

Chris Schweizer: Fix a Car. The cartoonist behind The Crogan Adventures, The Creeps and pother projects talks about his new graphic novel, Fix a Car, which is part narrative, part instruction manual.

Q&A with Alex Law. A great cartoonist who’s been putting out webcomics and minicomics for years tackling issues of sex and gender that are cute and funny and thoughtful. They’re also responsible for some great recent comics which went viral breaking down tropes around female heroines and villains and we spoke about all this work and trying to find an online home post-tumblr.

Articles Published the Week of 4 March 2019

Kwanza Osajyefo Q&A. Osajyefo has been doing incredible work in comics in recent years writing Black and other stories in the same universe. Now he’s launched a kickstarter for the direct sequel to Black, White. The second volume of a planned trilogy, we spoke recently about the new project, and his ambitions.

A Conversation with Cathy G. Johnson. I’ve long read and admired Johnson’s comics and we spoke recently about her new book, The Breakaways. Her first book for younger readers, it’s a great story of a middle school girls soccer team that manages to balance a large cast with different stories. We talked about the book, podcasting and teaching.

Articles Published the Week of 25 February 2019

Kel McDonald Is Kickstarting The Dead Deception

I’ve been reading Kel McDonald’s comics for years, but we’ve never spoken before. She’s currently running a kickstarter for her new book and she took time out to talk about this book and her approach to fantasy stories, which I love.

Talking with Liz Suburbia about Egg Cream

I talked with Liz years back when Fantagraphics published Sacred Heart, her incredibly punk tale of teenagers left alone in a small town after all the adults leave. Now she’s returned to that world, picking up some of the characters a decade later. That’s the lead feature in her new annual comic Egg Cream, the first issue of which was just released and we talked about the story and her work.

“I’m Ninety and Sometimes When I Think About It I Get Worried”: An Interview with Joe Giella

Over the years I’ve spoken with a lot of older cartoonists and late last year I sat down with 90 year old Joe Giella about his long career which started as a teenager, included a stint working for C.C. Beck, decades at DC Comics, drawing multiple comic strips, and working with almost everyone on just about every character and genre imaginable, from which he retired at the age of 88. There was a contented sigh when he talked about life with no deadlines, which I don’t think anyone could begrudge him

Articles Published the Week of 18 February 2019

Comics veteran Stuart Moore discusses his work for Ahoy Comics, Captain Ginger, the upcoming Bronze Age Boogie and more.

It seems strange that I’ve never interviewed Moore over the years. He’s been a writer and editor working in comics for decades and had an impressive career and right now he’s working as a writer and an editor at Ahoy Comics and I talked with him about his current projects

W.T. Frick, the creator of Ipsum Lorum discusses her issue of Ley Lines, which focuses on the writing of Ursula Le Guin.

The Ley Lines series has been one of the best projects in comics in recent years, a showcase for a wide range of artists. The new issue is from W.T. Frick and it’s a great issue, and a great introduction to her work.

Articles Published the Week of 11 February 2019

Jerry Craft on New Kid. A conversation with the cartoonist about his new graphic novel

Polar: How an Indie Webcomic Made the Leap to a Netflix Original. A conversation with writer and artist Victor Santos about his webcomic turned film Polar.

A Conversation with Julie Sondra Decker. I spoke with the writer, best known for her nonfiction book The Invisible Orientation, about writing and drawing two very different weekly and monthly webcomics.

“I Was Terrified – And Therefore, I Accepted”: An Interview with José Hernández. I spoke with the Mexican cartoonist about his most recent work, Che, based on Jon Lee Anderson’s biography.