Bix meets Louis Armstrong. from BIX by Scott Chantler. (C) Scott Chantler

I’m happy to welcome to the show for the first time cartoonist Scott Chantler (@scottchantler) to discuss his new book BIX and a number of his other books, along with some industry chatter.

BIX tells the life and times of Jazz great Bix Beiderbecke, from growing up in Iowa to playing with Louis Armstrong to his all-too-early passing. We discuss how Scott chose Bix as a subject for his book, separating fact from fiction and legend and some of the stylistic choices he made in designing the book.

We also discuss a number of his past projects, including Northwest Passage, Two Generals, the Three Thieves series, his Red Ensign strip in the True Patriot Canadian anthology projects, which features folks like J. Torres (@jtorrescomics) and Faith Erin Hicks (@faitherinhicks) and more.

The pod ends with a discussion of the comics business, comic shops and the book market. Scott talks the pros and cons of having books distributed in each one, while I tell some stories about working in both an indy friendly comic shop and as a clerk and manager at Borders (RIP). We mention how often one does not know the workings of the other (how many folks do not know Raina Telgemeier)) and how people like Jeff Smith paved the way for comics in the book trade.

Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the show.

The podcast is back and we’re happy to welcome two comics veterans folks should check out.

First up is Rob Walton (@robwaltoon), creator of the 1990s comic Ragmop. A few years ago, Rob decided to revisit his story about talking dinosaurs, conspiracy theories and slapstick comedy that was the hallmark of the original series (which was collected about 10 years ago. It’s out of print but you can get them straight from Rob himself). Now, he has taken those online stories and put them together as a new Kickstarter graphic novel: Ragmop. The World Needs Laughter. At the time of the episode’s recording, the project was 67% funded with a little over two weeks to go. During out chat, we talk about the book’s initial life as a small press book before becoming part of Image’s black and white boom in the mid to late 1990s. We recall some other great books from that era, including Replacement God by former podcast guest Zander Cannon (now of Kaijumax). We go through a lot of the book’s inspirations, including Jack Kirby, classic animation, the Marx Brothers and more. We also go into the history of Rob ended up writing Grendel Tales: The Devil’s Hammer back in 1993 (Now available in the Grendel Tales Omnibus Volume 1).

After that, we welcome back to the show Phil Hester (@philhester). The Wretch Omnibus from Ohama Bound (@omabound) is now out. We talked about it on the pod in 2017, but good things come to those who wait. We discuss the creation of the character, the name change, its move from publisher to publisher, how the trade came out, some of the most fondly remembered stories and more. We also talk about some of Phil’s current work. The first trade for Stronghold, written by Phil and drawn by Ryan Kelly (@funrama), is hot of the presses. And later this year, Phil is drawing Family Tree, written by Jeff Lemire (@jefflemire). We also discuss two of Phil’s favorite topics: DC’s Tattered Tatterdemalion Ragman and the pain and pleasure of buying original comic artwork.

Note: We know today (as the pod drops) is the start of hockey season. We were hoping to get some of our past puckhead pals on the show before the season started, but did not. Hopefully soon. And hopefully soon is another comics guest to discuss one of the biggest comic stories of the year. That is, actually discussing the stories, not stories about the business, although that will likely come up too.

Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode.

Episode Eighty-Seven - Jazz Hands

Episode Eighty - Arm It In Rags