We’re deep into July, so that means it’s time for the monthly visit to Collected Comics and Games in Plano, TX. And this is the second month in a row that the shop’s manager, Jennifer, has coupled The Comics Alternative‘s on-location show with their monthly Collected Talks (an opportunity for customers and staff to get together and share the kind of comics they are reading). The event is a success, with there being more participants than last month. Joining Derek on the podcast this time around ...
Jul 14, 2014•1 hr 30 min
On this special episode of The Comics Alternative, the Two Guys with PhDs bring you a recording of the “Teaching Difficult Texts” panel that was held at HeroesCon a couple of weeks ago. One of the Two Guys, Andy, was a participant on this panel. Joining him in the discussion were Mike Kobre from Queens University and Dana Hayward from HarperCollins. Shawn Daughhetee served as the panel moderator. It’s an engaging panel, focusing on teaching comics and methodological approaches to using controver...
Jul 11, 2014•1 hr 7 min
On this episode of The Comics Alternative Interviews Andy and Derek are pleased to have on the show Liz Plourde and Randy Michaels, the creative team behind the new self-published series, How I Made the World. Liz and Randy are winners of a 2012 Xeric Award — the last year, in fact, that the Xeric Foundation gave out grants for self-publishing comic books – and they share their experiences applying for the grant, complete with last-minute postage anxieties, and how the award helped to propel the...
Jul 10, 2014•1 hr 10 min
It’s that time of the month for the Two Guys with PhDs…that is, it’s time for the July Previews catalog! On this episode, Andy and Derek take their monthly gander at some of the great comics being solicited in Previews and due out in the next couple of months. All of the major publishers, and many, many of the smaller ones, are represented here, and the guys comment on how this is a particularly fat month when it comes to new and upcoming comics. They begin the show by looking at some of the tit...
Jul 09, 2014•1 hr 49 min
Andy and Derek are proud to have Gene Luen Yang on the podcast. With the upcoming release of his new book from First Second, The Shadow Hero (illustrated by Sonny Lieu), the Two Guys thought this would be the perfect opportunity to talk with one of their contemporary creator heroes. In this engaging conversation, Gene talks with the guys about the genesis of his Green Turtle, and how the original – an obscure ethnically ambiguous crime fighter from the pages of 1940s’ Blazing Comics — inspired h...
Jul 07, 2014•1 hr 33 min
It’s the week of July 4th, and so on this episode of The Comics Alternative the Two Guys with PhDs pay homage to the stars and stripes…in comics! Yes, that’s right dear patriotic listener: this week Andy and Derek are focusing only on American-themed comics, new as well as not-so-new. They begin by looking at new recent books where the American project stands front and center. First, they discuss Manifest Destiny, Vol. 1: Flora and Fauna, by Chris Dingess, Matthew Roberts, and Owen Gieni (Image ...
Jul 02, 2014•1 hr 33 min
On this episode of The Comics Alternative Interview, Derek and Andy W. talk with Ben Hadke, creator of the Zita the Spacegirl series. Of course they discuss Ben's signature works -- Zita the Spacegirl, Legends of Zita the Spacegirl, and The Return of Zita the Spacegirl (the latter of which was just published by First Second) -- but they also delve into some of his other work, including his upcoming picture book, Julia's House for Lost Creatures (also from First Second). Along the way they discus...
Jul 01, 2014•1 hr 15 min
On this special episode of The Comics Alternative, Andy shares his experiences last week at the 2014 Heroes Convention in Charlotte, NC. Derek couldn’t make it this year, so Andy fills him in on what he missed and shares his thoughts on the many people he met and the many adventures he had at the event. Most notable are his interviews with various writers and illustrators in Artists Alley, and presented on this podcast. You’ll hear Andy’s conversations with Brian Clevinger, Andy Hirsch, Kyle Sta...
Jun 27, 2014•54 min
On this week’s show, Derek and Gene review three new titles. They begin with an unusual story from Conor Stechschulte, The Amateurs (Fantagraphics Books). The guys aren’t entirely sure about the narrative cohesion or the connecting events in this story — and they’re okay with that — but they’re mesmerized by the absurdist, and at times violent, paths this comic takes. This novella-length work is a strange combination of slapstick comedy, slasher horror, and existential angst. Think of Laurel and...
Jun 25, 2014•1 hr 37 min
It’s time for another on-location show at Derek’s comic shop, Collected Comics and Games in Plano, TX. For the June visit, he is joined by a variety of shop employees and customers for a comics discussion free-for-all. This month the store manager, Jennifer Wait, arranged the shop’s monthly “Collected Talks” meeting — where customers come in and talk about the kind of comics they are reading and would like to recommend to others — to take place along with The Comics Alternative‘s monthly visit. ...
Jun 20, 2014•1 hr 29 min
On this episode of The Comics Alternative, Andy and Derek review three new and unique titles. They begin by looking at Miracleman, Book 1: A Dream of Flying, the first trade in Marvel’s current reprinting of the early series by Alan Moore…AKA, “The Original Writer.” While Andy had read its first run in the U.S. through the Eclipse line, this was Derek’s first time actually reading Miracleman. (It’s one of those titles that he knew about and always intended to read, but never got around to…especi...
Jun 18, 2014•1 hr 42 min
The Two Guys are back with another roundtable discussion, this one with John Mayo of The Comic Book Page podcast. For this special episode, the topic concerns readership: the various strategies publishers use to get and retain comics readers. Andy, Derek, and John speculate on the kind of marketing maneuvers that that seem to work, which ones are reader-friendly, which strategies undermine or at least don’t bode well for the industry, and which are just downright annoying. The guys discuss every...
Jun 17, 2014•2 hr
The Two Guys with PhDs (talking about comics) are back with another Publisher Spotlight episode. This time they are focusing on Dynamite Entertainment, specifically the new Gold Key comics that they have been reviving: Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, by Greg Pak and Mirko Colak; Magnus: Robot Fighter, by Fred Van Lente and Cory Smith; Solar: Man of the Atom, by Frank J. Barbiere and Joe Bennett; and Doctor Spektor: Master of the Occult, by Mark Waid and Neil Edwards. They discuss the new series in the o...
Jun 11, 2014•1 hr 26 min
On this special episode of The Comics Alternative, Andy and Derek are joined by the guys at the podcast Comics for Fun and Profit for a lively discussion on trade waiting. They discuss the pros and cons of buying single comic-book issues, the reasons why you may want to wait for a trade instead of getting the monthlies, which current titles work well serialized and which are much better presented in one longer story, and how their personal buying and reading habits affect their preferences for t...
Jun 06, 2014•1 hr 35 min
It’s the beginning of the month, and that means it’s time again for Derek and Andy to take a gander at the latest Previews catalog. In June, the guys notice a whole slew of upcoming releases to anticipate, including new series and books from Dark Horse (the new Dark Horse Presents series, Edgar Allan Poe’s Spirits of the Dead, and Pop), DC/Vertigo (Multiversity and Punk Rock Jesus: Deluxe Edition), IDW (Cerebus: High Society, Digital Audio/Visual Experience), Image (The Fade Out, Imperial, and D...
Jun 04, 2014•1 hr 35 min
For this interview show, Andy and Derek go down the rabbit hole in another conversation with the ever-talented, ever-entertaining Craig Yoe. They primarily discuss Craig’s latest projects, Alice in Comicland and the new Weird Love series (both from IDW Publishing), but they also bring up his other books (such as Comics about Cartoonists, Haunted Horror, The Best of Sexology, and Little Penis: Oh, the Places You’ll Grow!). They spend a lot of time talking about the various comics in the new Alice...
May 30, 2014•1 hr 47 min
It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for your weekly visit from the doctors! This week on the show the Two Guys with PhDs review two new titles. First, they look at the latest in Titan Books’ Simon and Kirby Library series, Simon and Kirby: Horror! This beautiful volume collects all of the Black Magic and The Strange World of Your Dreams (Prize Comics) stories that Joe Simon and Jack Kirby had a hand in, in one form or another, published between 1950 and 1954. Many of these comics have been col...
May 28, 2014•1 hr 32 min
On this episode of The Comics Alternative, Andy and Derek discuss three new titles, and boy, do they have great time! They begin with Box Brown’s new graphic biography from First Second, Andre the Giant: Life and Legend. While neither of the Two Guys are big professional wrestling fans, they did grow up in an era where Andre the Giant was a significant cultural figure, covered in news programs, starring in films and television series, and appearing on The Tonight Show and Late Night with David L...
May 21, 2014•1 hr 35 min
For this special episode of The Comics Alternative, Derek is back at the Dallas Comic Con talking with a variety of artists, writers, publishers, and even animation voice actors. Among his guests are Yanick Paquette (artist on the new Swamp Thing), Jimmy Palmiotti (creative force, behind Harley Quinn and Painkiller Jane), Joe Eisma (artist on Morning Glories), Andy Hirsch (illustrator of Garfield, Adventure Time, and Regular Show), Robert Wilson IV (artist on Knuckleheads), Tim Harris (publisher...
May 19, 2014•1 hr 24 min
On this episode of The Comics Alternatives Interviews, Andy W. and Derek talk with Nathan Hale, a writer/illustrator and the genius behind the Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series from Amulet Books. They begin with Nathan’s brand new volume about World War I, Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood, and the meticulous work that went into it. As the Two Guys point out, this is perhaps Nathan’s most ambitious book to date, not only in terms of the intricate and detailed art, but also because of its vas...
May 16, 2014•1 hr 23 min
It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for another regular episode of The Comics Alternative! This week, Andy and Derek really strut their alternative creds by focusing on three titles that keenly define “alternative.” First, they discuss the recent Dark Horse/Kitchen Sink book, The Best of Comix Book. This is a collection of comics culled from the original five-issue run of Comix Book, Marvel’s ill-fated attempt to partner with the underground comix movement of the early 1970s. The project was o...
May 14, 2014•1 hr 39 min
It’s the beginning of the month, which means it’s time for Andy and Derek to flip through the latest Previews catalog. In this issue, they highlight a variety of books and comic-book series that will be coming out later this year, including new titles from Dark Horse (The Goon: Occasion of Revenge #1, Red Moon, and Sally Heathcote, Suffragette), DC/Vertigo (Bodies #1 and Trillium TP), Image (Low #1, Supreme: Blue Rose #1, Black Kiss 2: XXXmas in July Special, and Murder Me Dead), Adhouse Books (...
May 07, 2014•1 hr 27 min
Part two of The Comics Alternative‘s coverage of Free Comic Book Day 2014. In this episode, Derek visits a couple of his local shops, Madness Games and Comics and Collected, both in Plano, TX, where he takes the opportunity to interview several creators at the shops for FCBD. First, he talks with illustrator and designer, Matthew Warlick. Derek had interviewed Matthew previously at last October’s Dallas Comic Con when he was there with the rest of the crew from Space Gun Studios, but this time a...
May 06, 2014•46 min
On this special episode of The Comics Alternative, Derek is on location at Collected Comics in Plano, TX, talking with customers, cosplayers, and critical readers during Free Comic Book Day 2014. Joining him via the wonders of Skype (and despite some sound issues) is Andy Wolverton, who, unfortunately, was unable to take part in FCBD at his own local shop, Third Eye Comics, in Annapolis, MD. Instead, he joins in the FCBD activities from a distance, enjoying the fun virtually. He and Derek discus...
May 05, 2014•1 hr 29 min
This week on The Comics Alternative, Derek and Gene put on their happy faces to review three titles concerned with the positive and uplifting sides of life. First, they go through Loïc Dauvillier and Marc Lizano’s Hidden: A Child’s Story of the Holocaust (First Second), a new graphic novel focusing on genocide. A translation of the 2012 French album, L’enfant cachée, this is the story of a survivor telling her young granddaughter the traumas she underwent in 1940s France. Perhaps even more signi...
Apr 30, 2014•1 hr 43 min
On this episode of The Comics Alternatives Interviews, Andy and Derek talk with Liana Finck, a New York-based artist whose first book, A Bintel Brief: Love and Longing in Old New York, has just been released through Ecco Press. In their conversation, the Two Guys ask Liana about the idea behind her project — based on the “Bintel Brief” section BintelBriefthat appeared in Der Forverts (The Forward) under Abraham Cahan’s editorship — how she discovered Cahan’s work and what it meant to her, and th...
Apr 28, 2014•1 hr 6 min
Derek is back at his local shop, Collected Comics in Plano, to discuss comics with the folks who frequent their aisles. Joining him this month are the assistant store manager, Freddy Ruiz, and loyal Collected customer and good friend of the shop, Laura Rogers. Together they cover a variety of topics and titles — from Garth Ennis’s violence to Brian K. Vaughn’s imagination, from individual buying habits to customer trends, from Star Wars to Big Trouble in Little China — and have a fun time doing ...
Apr 25, 2014•1 hr 11 min
On this episode of The Comics Alternatives Interviews, Derek talks with Bob Fingerman, a man who knows what it’s like to work for Minimum Wage. They discuss Bob’s decision to bring back this landmark series though Image Comics, as well as the task of pulling together last year’s Maximum Minimum Wage (also from Image). In the interview, Derek asks Bob about any autobiographical links between him and his protagonist, Rob Hoffman, and he tries to corner Bob on whether or not Rob’s recently divorced...
Apr 24, 2014•1 hr 16 min
In this episode of The Comics Alternative, the third of what promises to be an unprecedented five consecutive shows for a single week, Derek and Andy W. discuss four new #1 and one-shot issues. First, they look at Christopher Sebela and Chris Visions’s Dead Letters (BOOM! Studios), focusing on the story’s clever use of narrative gaps and art-driven action. Then they turn to Shutter (Image Comics), a new series from Joe Keatinge teams up with debut artist Leila del Duca. The guys love the initial...
Apr 23, 2014•1 hr 39 min
The guys are back with another great guest for The Comics Alternative Interviews. This time, Gene and Derek talk with Shannon Wheeler, the creator of Too Much Coffee Man (Dark Horse Comics) and last year’s Astounding Villain House (Dark Horse Comics), as well as the illustrator of God Is Disappointed in You (Top Shelf). The conversation gets going by jumping into the Bible and how both Shannon and Mark Russell re-present the Old and New Testaments — and with strict fidelity of content — with a h...
Apr 22, 2014•1 hr 27 min
