On this interview episode, Derek talks with Tom Manning, whose most recent work, Runoff , was released late last year from One Peace Books. They discuss the genesis of the project -- how it began as a self-published serial and then eventually evolved into a massive 450-page tome -- and its ambitious scope. Tom describes it as a mashup of genres and styles where he wanted to exploit the full range of the comics medium. Runoff is a horror sci-fi mystery set in small Washington state town resemblin...
Feb 09, 2016•1 hr 13 min
Shea and Derek are back with their January episode of the manga series. But isn't this the first of week of February? Yes it is, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the guys had to postpone the recording of their January episode and had carry it over into this week. But no worries! They still bring you the same great quality manga analysis, and, in addition, this means that listeners will get a double dose of Shea and Derek's manga talk for the month of February! They begin with Hiroaki Samura'...
Feb 05, 2016•1 hr 5 min
It’s the beginning of the month, so that must mean that it’s time for the Two Guys with PhDs to take a visual stroll through the latest Previews catalog. And Andy W. and Derek find a lot to highlight in the February issue. Despite a few frustrations — Derek doesn’t have a hardcopy of Previews and is at a disadvantage with the solicits — they have a fun and productive conversation discussing upcoming releases from Dark Horse Comics – Dept. H #1, How to Talk to Girls at Parties , Poppy and the Los...
Feb 03, 2016•1 hr 56 min
It's time for another round of insightful reviews, and this week Gwen and Derek have just what the doctored ordered. In fact, the first two books they discuss are part of Penn State University Press' Graphic Medicine series . Peter Dunlap-Shohl's My Degeneration: A Journey through Parkinson’s is the author's account of living with Parkinson's disease. It's not exactly a memoir, although it does explore the impact that the disease has had on Dunlap-Shohl's life over the past decade. My Degenerati...
Jan 27, 2016•1 hr 25 min
On this episode in the interview series, Gwen and Derek are pleased to have as their guest Theo Ellsworth. Back in the fall he completed his trilogy, The Understanding Monster (Secret Acres), and he talks with the cohosts about that series as well as his process of creation. Similar to the work in Theo's earlier mini-comic, Capacity , this narrative is a journey into the artist's subconscious, where the dreamlike and (at times) non-linear nature of his storytelling becomes an exercise in discove...
Jan 26, 2016•1 hr 4 min
It's been six months since he last did so, but Derek is back at his local shop, Collected Comics and Games, for another on-location episode. As usual, he talks with several of the shop customers and employees about the kinds of comics that they've been reading. And since it's the first month of the year, everyone used the opportunity to discuss the titles that stood out for them in 2015 as well as the comics that they're looking forward to in the coming months. For this recording Derek is joined...
Jan 21, 2016•1 hr 19 min
This week on The Comics Alternative podcast, Derek and Andy W. get back into the regular swing of things by discussing three recent titles, one book and two single issues. They begin with something that was published late last year, Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López’s The Eternaut (Fantagraphics). This is a legendary text, and not just within the realm of comics history. The Eternaut is a post-apocalyptic tale of alien invasion, originally serialized in the Argentinian weekly, ...
Jan 20, 2016•1 hr 32 min
Sean and Derek start off the new year of the webcomics series with three exciting titles. They begin with Delilah Dirk and the King's Shilling , Tony Cliff's follow up to Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant . The latter began life as a webcomic, but then was published by First Second in 2013. Cliff is doing something similar with his second Delilah Dirk book, although this time he is serializing the narrative in webcomic form only until early March, the release date of the hardcopy (again, b...
Jan 19, 2016•1 hr 37 min
On this interview episode, Derek talks with Isaac Cates and Michael Wenthe about their creator-owned series, Cartozia Tales . In what will be a ten-issue run, the series is centered on the fantastical realm of Cartozia, complete with diverse terrain, detailed histories, and a multifaceted population. As Isaac and Mike reveal in the interview, what began as an exercise in map-drawing turned into an extensive storyworld. Each issue of Cartozia Tales features multiple narrative segments by a variet...
Jan 18, 2016•1 hr 16 min
For their first publisher spotlight of 2016, Andy and Derek focus on the new wave of titles from Vertigo, those being launched between October and December of last year. As you might expect, this is an extra long episode of the podcast because the guys discuss twelve new series, and some of them already with three and four issues released. These include: The Twilight Children , by Gilbert Hernandez and Darwyn Cooke Survivors' Club , by Lauren Beukes, Dale Halvorsen, and Ryan Kelly Clean Room , b...
Jan 13, 2016•2 hr 16 min
Gene and Derek start off the week presenting a powerful interview with Tom Hart. His new book, Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir , is being released this week from St. Martin's Press, and it's an honest and heartrending work. It chronicles the days following the unexpected death of Tom's daughter, Rosalie, as he and his wife anguished over the loss and tried to make sense of what had happened. In addition to their grief and feelings of emptiness, they also had to continue struggling with the f...
Jan 11, 2016•1 hr 23 min
On this episode of The Comics Alternative Interviews , Derek has the pleasure of talking with Dara Naraghi and Brent Bowman, the creators behind Persia Blues (NBM/ComicsLit). The second volume of the projected trilogy, subtitled Love and War , was just released last month, and Derek talks with the two about their efforts in getting it to print. They discuss the genesis of the story and its complex narrative structure. Persia Blues is composed of two different storylines, one a realistic thread t...
Jan 08, 2016•1 hr 14 min
Welcome to January! As the guys do at the beginning of every month, they use this time to discuss the solicits in the latest Previews catalog. And there's a lot packed into the January issue, starting with a rundown of the 50 titles that will be featured this coming Free Comic Book Day. Gene and Derek are particularly looking forward to the FCBD comics coming out from Fantagraphics, Archie Comics, First Second Books, Image Comics, Drawn & Quarterly, Top Shelf, VIZ Media, and Nobrow. After th...
Jan 06, 2016•1 hr 49 min
It's a brand new year, and for their very first podcast episode of 2016, the guys have as their guest the great Craig Yoe! This may become a tradition on The Comics Alternative , having Craig start off the new year, much as they did in 2015 . In fact, this is the fifth interview appearance that Craig has made on the podcast (not counting the brief segment recorded at HeroesCon last year ). Usually when the Yoemesiter comes on the show, he has one or two new books to discuss. But this time around...
Jan 04, 2016•1 hr 42 min
For their December manga episode, Shea and Derek discuss two very different works. They start off with Makoto Yukimura's Planetes Ominbus, Vol. 1 , just released from Dark Horse Books. This is the first of two large editions of the Japanese series that originally ran from 1999 to 2004. It's the story of a space debris removal crew -- orbital garbage collectors -- whose job is to clear out all of the man-made trash floating around the earth so as to make space travel safer. Taking place in the 20...
Dec 31, 2015•1 hr 36 min
As has become an annual event, Andy and Derek use their penultimate show of the year to discuss the current volume of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's The Best American Comics . The series is overseen by Bill Kartalopoulos -- whom the guys interviewed on the show last year -- and this year's collection is edited by novelist Jonathan Lethem. The entries collected in The Best American Comics 2015 represent what both Lethem and Kartalopoulos consider to be the most outstanding comics published between S...
Dec 21, 2015•1 hr 37 min
On this episode in The Comics Alternative Interviews series, Derek is pleased to have as his guest Alex Robinson. His latest book, Our Expanding Universe , was released earlier this month from Top Shelf. It's the story of three middle-aged friends going through life changes -- kids, careers, and relationships -- and how their friendships, and their marriages, weather those experiences. Readers already familiar with the author's earlier works, specifically Box Office Poison and Tricked , will rec...
Dec 18, 2015•1 hr 35 min
For this week's review show, Gene and Derek are back with an extra long episode jam-packed with nougaty comics goodness. They begin with Adrian Tomine's Killing and Dying (Drawn and Quarterly), his new book collecting issues twelve through fourteen of Optic Nerve . (Be sure to check out the guys' previous reviews of Optic Nerve #13 and Optic Nerve #14 .) The text contains six separate short stories, and the guys start by trying to find any connective tissue binding the pieces together. Derek obs...
Dec 16, 2015•2 hr 7 min
For the month of December, Sean and Derek are back to discuss three very different, very distinct, webcomics. They begin with Brennan Lee Mulligan and Molly Otertag's Strong Female Protagonist , a title that has been going strong since 2012. As described by its creators, the story concerns "the adventures of a young middle-class American with super-strength, invincibility, and a crippling sense of social injustice." Although that may roughly encapsulate the premise, the webcomic is much more sop...
Dec 15, 2015•1 hr 20 min
One of the things that has defined 2015 for The Comics Alternative has been the number of Publisher Spotlights it's presented -- seven, up until today. This week, the Two Guys are back with their eighth and final spotlight of the year, one on the fall releases out of Locust Moon Press . They begin their critical focus with a brief interview Derek conducted with Josh O'Neill, the publisher of Locust Moon Press. In that conversation, Josh shares the background and history of Locust Moon, first as ...
Dec 09, 2015•2 hr 12 min
In yet another of the Two Guys' interview series, Derek is back to talk with one of the hardest working people in comics today, Ed Brisson. The first issue of his and Adam Gorham's new series, The Violent , will be released tomorrow, and Ed shares with Derek the story behind this new ongoing title from Image Comics. In fact, Ed reveals that the genesis of the narrative actually springs from his earlier webcomic (and later Dark Horse title), Murder Book . The protagonists, Mason and Becky, are a ...
Dec 08, 2015•1 hr 16 min
Tomorrow the Two Guys with PhDs Talking about Comics will release a Publisher Spotlight episode devoted to the fall releases from Locust Moon Press. As part of that show, Derek talks briefly with the Locust Moon publisher, Josh O'Neill, about the history of the press, it's recent output, and its success with Kickstarter campaigns. In fact, Josh shares in detail Locust Moon's latest Kickstarter, The Lost Work of Will Eisner , which will wrap up on December 10th. As a way of teasing tomorrow's epi...
Dec 08, 2015•24 min
On this interview episode, Derek is pleased to have as his guest Jon Morris, the author behind The League of Regrettable Superheroes (Quirk Books). This is a book devoted to the heroes throughout comic-book history who just never made it to the big time...and for good reason. As Jon discusses on the show, his work chronicles some of comics' weirdest and wackiest superheroes, complete with backstories, publication history, and colorful vintage art. In the pages of The League of Regrettable Superh...
Dec 07, 2015•1 hr 35 min
As the end of 2015 draws near and the holiday shopping season is in full swing, Andy and Gwen have drawn up their lists of their favorite comics for young readers released during the last year. Although their choices run the gamut from texts for early readers up through to texts for teens, every text mentioned creates a fine balance between serious subject matter and engaging artwork and writing. Many of these comics would be great choices for parents and kids to read together. Andy’s List: Astr...
Dec 04, 2015•1 hr 36 min
As Andy and Derek do at the beginning of every month, they use this first week of December to flip through the latest Previews catalog, highlighting upcoming series and notable new releases that capture their attention. Among the many soon-to-be-released titles they discuss on this week's show are comics from Dark Horse Comics - King's Road #1, Neal Adams' Blood , and I Am a Hero Omnibus , Vol. 1 DC/Vertigo - The Dark and Bloody #1 IDW Publishing - Wynonna Earp #1, Archie's Americana Box Set , a...
Dec 02, 2015•1 hr 33 min
Another month, another healthy dose of manga! For November, Shea and Derek make it a themed episode, one whose binding tie is an unlikely and infamous historical figure. To coincide with the 70th anniversary of the start of the Nuremberg Trials, the guys discuss two masters of manga and their takes on Adolf Hitler. They begin with Shigeru Mizuki's Hitler , released earlier this month from Drawn and Quarterly. Since 2011, the Canadian publisher has been introducing English-speakers to the incredi...
Nov 30, 2015•1 hr 36 min
The guys are back with their third annual Thanksgiving show. This a special episode of The Comics Alternative where Andy, Derek, and other cohosts get together to discuss what they're thankful for in the world of comics and comics culture. This year both Andy W. and Gene are able to join in, so for this special holiday week you get a special episode with extra stuff: Four Guys with PhDs Talking about Comics! Among the various things Gene, Derek, Andy, and Andy are thankful for are small-press pu...
Nov 25, 2015•1 hr 12 min
Over the past three and a half years, the Two Guys with PhDs Talking about Comics have interviewed a variety of artists, writers, editors, publishers, educators, and scholars, but in all this time they have not yet interviewed someone from the retail side of comics culture. Until now. In this episode, Derek talks with Christina Merkler, the co-owner of Discount Comic Book Service, one of the largest online retailers of comics (and, in the spirit of full disclosure, an official sponsor of The Com...
Nov 24, 2015•1 hr 18 min
On this interview episode, Andy and Derek talk with Joe Keatinge and Nick Barber, the creators behind the new Image series, Ringside . The first issue will be released this week, and so the guys wanted to get the lowdown on what promises to be a fascinating and different title. Joe gets things rolling by laying down the premise of the first narrative arc, introducing us to Danny Knossos, the once-famous wrestler called Minotaur. In classic noir fashion, the protagonist in this first issue return...
Nov 23, 2015•1 hr 14 min
Jennifer Hayden comes to The Comics Alternative to talk about her new book, The Story of My Tits , released last month by Top Shelf Productions...just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She discusses with Derek the context surrounding the memoir and, along with that, the story of becoming an artist and comics creator. As Andy and Derek pointed out a couple of weeks ago in their spotlight on Top Shelf , The Story of My Tits much more than a breast cancer survivor narrative. It's a chronic...
Nov 20, 2015•1 hr 7 min
