Inkstuds Radio

Our last interview on the first leg of the roadtrip was a special one for me. I have been a fan of JH Williams III since I was a young man working in a comic store. It’s been really exciting to see how is work has grown. Not just visually, but as a writer, JH has crafted some really heartfelt work that shows amazing understanding and nuances that may not be as easily found in contemporaneous mainstream work. I highly recommend reading his writing for the great illustrator Seth Fisher in Batman: Snow.

JH and his wife Wendy were wonderful hosts for a carload of tired travelers, providing Brandon with coffee and me with a bottle of mexican coke. I really wish we could of spent more time with them, but the road was calling and we needed to make our way back up to Canada. Wendy joined us in the interview as well, which I really appreciated. She has an amazing insight into his work and process, that only a partner can.

You can find his most recent work in the pages of Sandman Overture and the Tales of the Batman collection of all of his Batman related work. I am personally looking forward to seeing what he writes next, as his amazing skills as an artist over-shine his exceptional writing.

This episode is brought to you by the fine folks at LifeSpan Society.

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Ed Brubaker was the last interview during our time in LA. He’s probably the perfect person to end our time in Los Angeles with. From his early days in alternative comics to current mainstream acclaim, Ed is in continuing to make personal work that speaks to his strengths as a writer. He just finished his Fatale series with collaborative Sean Phillips, with new work continuously on the way.

This episode is brought to you by the fine folks at LifeSpan Society.

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Our LA journey brought us to the home of one of the most Memorable characters in comics. There’s not much for me to say about Rob Liefeld that you probably don’t already know. He was an artist at Marvel for his early career, creating characters such as Cable and Deadpool and the poly-bagged X-Force #1. Left Marvel to cofound Image Comics. Created Youngblood and a whole bunch more there, including Prophet(which Brandon and roadtrip buddy, Simon Roy, are both current creators on).

Rob was a very welcoming host, chatting with us for several hours about the highs and lows of comics. It was probably the most energetic part of the LA roadtrip, thanks to Rob’s infectious loves of pictures and words on paper.

This episode is brought to you by the fine folks at LifeSpan Society.

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Here is the defining event of the LA trip. As promised in our Kickstarter, we would record a live Inkstuds with some great guests at the excellent Nerdmelt space at Meltown Comics. Brandon and I were joined by Bryan Lee O’Malley, Jaime Hernandez, Tom Herpich and Pendleton Ward. It was a weird and interesting conversation that somehow devolved into some odd directions. I am a huge fan of all four of our guests and was really happy to be able to shoot the shit with them. It was a big personal highlight for me.

The image above was drawn during the recording. A viewer in the front row ripped out a page from his notebook for them to draw this.

This episode is brought to you by the fine folks at Robots From Tomorrow.

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Toronto cartoonist, Georgia Webber stopped by my office during her west coast tour, to sit down for an interview. Georgia’s series, Dumb, is a fascinating work documenting her life, navigating through a severe vocal injury.

Georgia will be in Portland doing a silent comics event at Floating World on July 30th, and events at Fantagraphics in Seattle on August 6th and Luckys in Vancouver on August 8th. Be sure to check her out if you are in any of those towns.

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Bryan Lee O’Malley joins me and co-host, Brandon Graham for a talk about his excellent new book, Seconds. Bryan is probably most known for his Scott Pilgrim series of comics. This is his first release after finishing off that series, taking his work in an excited new direction.

This episode is brought to you by the fine folks at Robots From Tomorrow.

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One of the things on the trip that stuck out for me and Brandon, was almost everyone shared a key influence on the work they made. Jaime Hernandez has had an immeasurable influence on comics creators. His work in Love and Rockets continues to make waves for it’s depth in characters and storytelling. His latest collection, Love Bunglers has received an immense amount of critical praise, all very much deserved.

This is my third time talking to Jaime, and also probably my favorite interview I have done with him. This was also Brandon’s first time meeting Jaime, and he was very very excited. I don’t know if it shows in the interview, but we were very happy to have this opportunity. Thanks Jaime for coming to downtown LA and spending the afternoon with us.

This episode is brought to you by the fine folks at Robots From Tomorrow.

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Swiss cartoonist, Frederik Peeters joined me to talk about his work, including new book, Aama, the first in a series. There is a fair amount of wide ranging work of Peeters available in English. The story of his the beginnings of his relationship with his ladyfriend, Blue Pills has gotten a lot of acclaim on this side of the ocean, but his work is diverse, it’s only one side of what he has out there. His other work available in English, includes solo work Pachyderme, collaborative works, Sandcastle and Koma. I am a big fan of his work and happy to have had a chance to discuss it with him.

This episode is brought to you by the fine folks at Robots From Tomorrow.

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Brandon and I were very excited to chat with Steve Wolfhard. Steve is a former Vancouverite that has since moved to Los Angeles to become a storyboarder on Adventure Time. Together with his writing partner Tom Herpich, they create some of the most amazing thoughtful introspective and odd shows I have ever seen on tv. Whenever a new episode by them is on, it’s an immediate watch in my house.

Steve’s comic work in Cat Rackham is very much loved and excellent. During the interview, Steve mentions losing the files for the comics, but thanks to his wife, Leslie, his site is back up with of his lost comics work!

This episode is brought to you by the fine folks at Robots From Tomorrow.

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