How do the Two Guys with PhDs celebrate America's Independence Day? Why, by using the July 4th holiday to launch their brand new monthly series devoted to European comics. That's right, similar to what the podcast already does with its monthly manga, webcomics, and young readers programs, The Comics Alternative now has a new series devoted to the discussion and appreciation of European works in translation. Cohosting this monthly effort with Derek will be Edward Gauvin (a prolific translator of ...
Jul 04, 2016•1 hr 27 min
On this episode of the interview series, Andy and Derek talk with Rich Tommaso about his recent publications from Image Comics, She Wolf #1 and the trade collection of Dark Corridor . Both were released last week. The guys begin by trying to wrap their brains around She Wolf , a surreal lycanthrope narrative with a 1980s flair. Rich reveals that this is a planned four-issue arc, and that if the interest is there he has plans to continue and expand the story. He contrasts this publication strateg...
Jul 01, 2016•58 min
This month Shea and Derek look at two tonally different works of manga. They begin with Yoshitoki Oima's series, A Silent Voice , the final (seventh) volume of which was released from Kodansha Comics at the end of May. It's the story of an elementary school bully, Shoya Ishida, and his attempts to atone for his past behavior after he enters high school. The object of his ridicule was Shoko Nishimiya, a deaf transfer student who was pulled out of her elementary school because of Shoya's insensiti...
Jun 30, 2016•1 hr 15 min
This week The Comics Alternative 's blog editor, Paul Lai, joins Derek to discuss three recent titles. They begin with Bryan Doerries's The Odyssey of Sergeant Jack Brennan (Pantheon). Illustrated by a variety of artists -- Jess Ruliffson, Joëlle Jones, Justine Mara Andersen, Dylan Macon's, and Nick Bertozzi -- the book brings Homer's classic into contemporary contexts. On the eve of their return home from Afghanistan, Marine Corps sergeant Jack Brennan shares with his men the epic tale by apply...
Jun 29, 2016•1 hr 19 min
Andy and Derek are pleased to have as a guest on their show Bill Schelly. A new edition of his book, Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary , was released earlier this month from North Atlantic Books. The guys talk with Bill about the legendary writer's work on the Captain Marvel and the Marvel family, his impressive run on Superman titles, and his role in the early science fiction pulps (mostly under the name he used when collaborating with his brother, Ear...
Jun 27, 2016•1 hr 11 min
In the last of The Comics Alternative 's four episodes created while at HeroesCon 2016, the Two Guys present a recording of panel discussion on which they participated, "The Comics Canon: Reloaded!!!! Fire!!!!" This event took place on the afternoon of Sunday, the last day of the convention, and it was organized and moderated by Andy Mansell. Others participating on the panel included Mark Englebrecht (from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Libraries), Craig Fisher (Appalachian State University), Tom He...
Jun 24, 2016•1 hr 38 min
While Andy and Derek were at HeroesCon last weekend, they talked briefly with a variety of creators in Artists Alley -- see last Tuesday's show for those conversations -- but they also had the chance to sit down for longer, more substantive interviews. And they made it a point to do so with Miss Lasko-Gross and Kevin Colden, the creators behind the new series from Z2 Comics, The Sweetness . The first issue has just been released, so the guys had the opportunity, thanks to Miss and Kevin, to read...
Jun 23, 2016•48 min
This past weekend, Andy and Derek attended HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC, where they had a table in Artists Alley. On each of the three days of the event they recorded brief segments about their experiences at the con, the people they met, the panels they attended, and the comics they were able to find. So for this week's episode, you'll hear those recordings and get to experience the 2016 HeroesCon vicariously through the unique perspectives of the Two Guys with PhDs Talking about Comics. Among th...
Jun 22, 2016•1 hr 30 min
In the first of four episodes created at this year's HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC, Andy and Derek talk with a variety of artists, writers, and editors. Well...Derek talked with everyone. By his own admission, Andy was a little lazy, sitting back and letting Derek do all of the work with the microphone. Regardless, the result is a series of brief interviews with diverse creators, some who have been on the podcast before (such as Andy Hirsch and Ryan Browne) and others whose work the guys have just ...
Jun 21, 2016•1 hr 44 min
This month, Gwen and Andy take listeners on a worldwide tour featuring adventures of various cultures in three books: Musnet: The Mouse of Monet by Kickliy (Uncivilized Books/Odod), Anne Szabla’s Bird Boy Volume 1: The Sword of Mali Mahi (Dark Horse Books), and Poppy! and the Lost Lagoon by Matt Kindt and Brian Hurtt (Dark Horse Books). Before they get to the books, Andy and Gwen both regret not being able to attend HeroesCon , but Gwen gives a brief (and very interesting) report from her recent...
Jun 20, 2016•1 hr 9 min
On this month’s webcomics episode, Sean and Derek have some fun things in store. They begin with two currently ongoing titles, The Abominable Charles Christopher and The Creepy Casefiles of Margo Maloo . The former, written and drawn by Karl Kirschel, is a long-running series that has been around since June 2007. The guys discuss the webcomic’s irregular schedule — Kirschel posts updates whenever his work for DC and Marvel, especially Gotham Academy , allows — and, more importantly, the artist’s...
Jun 17, 2016•1 hr 30 min
The Two Guys with PhDs Talking about Comics are back to give you another ear-full of good quality comics talk, and this week the focus is on noir weirdness. They begin with the collected trade edition of Limbo (Image Comics). Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard's six-issue limited series ran from November 2015 to April of this year, but last week the TPB was released. It's the story of Clay, a cynical and world-worn detective who finds himself stuck in a strange world whose origins are a mystery. A...
Jun 15, 2016•1 hr 10 min
Buckle up, because Andy and Derek are back behind the wheel. On this week's trip, they're taking you down a road that includes three very different titles. They begin with Paul Dini and Eduardo Risso's Dark Night: A True Batman Story (Vertigo Comics)...and yes, you did read correctly, the guys are discussing a book with "Batman" in its title. But while the Caped Crusader is a prominent part of the story, this isn't a standard superhero narrative, but an autobiographical account of a traumatic ev...
Jun 08, 2016•1 hr 20 min
The second volume of Josh Simmons's Jessica Farm was released recently from Fantagraphics, and now the artist takes the time to talk with Derek for another Comics Alternative interview. In the conversation, Josh shares his ideas behind Jessica Farm and the long, involved process of its creation. Beginning in January 2000, he began drawing one page a month with plans for publishing a collection of his efforts every eight years, and then doing all of this over a fifty-year span. What's more, he pl...
Jun 06, 2016•1 hr 14 min
In this episode of The Comics Alternative 's interview series, Derek talks with Zach Worton about his new book, The Search for Charley Butters , just out from Conundrum Press. This is the second in a planned trilogy, and one beginning with last year's The Disappearance of Charley Butters . As Zach describes it, this is a black comedy about depression and the way this condition manifests itself in isolation, addiction, and failed friendships. The narrative runs along two parallel tracks, one abou...
Jun 03, 2016•1 hr
It's the first of the month, and that must mean that it's time, once again, for the Two Guys with PhDs to take a conversational stroll through the latest Previews catalog. For the month of June, there is an inordinately large number of notable titles for Derek and Andy W. to discuss, making this a longer-than-average episode (a little over two hours). So strap in and get ready to boogie! Among the many solicits they highlight are from publishers such as Dark Horse Comics - Briggs Land #1, Lady K...
Jun 01, 2016•2 hr 6 min
On this interview show, Andy W. and Derek have the pleasure of talking with Jeremy Sorese. His book, Curveball , was published by Nobrow Press in late 2015, but it's up this year for a Lambda Literary Award in the "LGBT Graphic Novels" category. Those award winners will be announced in June, and the guys talk with Jeremy about the attention that Curveball has been receiving. This is his first long-form comic, and Jeremy describes it as a queer sci-fi romance. The story takes place in an indeterm...
May 31, 2016•53 min
For the month of May, Shea and Derek discuss two books that, at first glance, seem quite different, but whose similarities become more apparent upon closer examination. They begin with Masahiko Matsumoto's Cigarette Girl (Top Shelf Productions), a collection of eleven short comics originally published between 1972 and 1974. This is one of the few books by Matsumoto available in English -- another translation, The Man Next Door , was published by Breakdown Press in 2014 -- and the guys strongly a...
May 30, 2016•1 hr 24 min
Derek is back at his local comic shop, Collected Comics in Plano, TX, to talk with customers and store employees about a variety of comics-related topics. Joining in the discussion are regulars Craig, Matt, and Chris, along with shop manager Sabrina and her assistant, Stephanie. As is usually the case with these on-location episodes, the core of the discussion is on mainstream comics -- this is what most of the customers read, after all -- so this is an opportunity for the podcast to cover groun...
May 27, 2016•1 hr 23 min
Derek talks with Marnie Galloway about the publication of her first graphic novel, In the Sounds and Seas . This beautiful hardbound text was released earlier this month from One Peace Books, but her work on this project has a long and interesting history. The first third of the narrative was a 2012 Xeric Award winner -- and in the final year that the Xeric grant was given to comics artists -- and the entire story was originally released in three self-published volumes , the final one coming out...
May 26, 2016•1 hr 20 min
The nominees for the 2016 Eisner Awards were announced last month, and as the Two Guys with PhDs do every year, they use an episode of The Comics Alternative to discuss and speculate. Joining them in this year's conversation is Carol Tilley, a professor of information science at the University of Illinois and, more to the point of this episode, one of the nominating judges for this year's Eisner Awards. Carol is not a stranger to the podcast, having participated in last year's roundtable discuss...
May 25, 2016•1 hr 46 min
On May 25, the final issue of Rachel Rising will be released. This has been a landmark horror/gothic series, an intelligent and multifaceted narrative exploring the parameters of history, gender, community, morality, and the nature of violence...and doing so without following the usual generic conventions and formulas. To mark this publishing event, Derek has the pleasure of talking with the series creator Terry Moore. What began in August 2011 as an undead murder mystery will now come full circ...
May 24, 2016•1 hr 13 min
Sean and Derek are back for another month's-worth of webcomics talk, and for May they discuss three intriguing titles. They begin with Maritza Campos and Bachan's Power Nap . This is the second time the guys have focused on Bachan's art, the first occasion being his anthropomorphic humor/crime series, Vinny , back in September of last year. He provides the art on the Campos-scripted Power Nap , a story set in a dystopic future where everyone uses pharmaceuticals to stay awake 24/7 in order to pr...
May 23, 2016•1 hr 21 min
Over the past several years, the Two Guys with PhDs have reviewed a lot of books in translation. But what they've tended to overlook, more times than not, is the translator of the work, the individual who is responsible for taking the imagetext and re-presenting it in a linguistic context that is wholly other. This came to their attention back in February , when Andy and Derek discussed Ludovic Debeurme's Renée , and then afterwards received an email of appreciation from its translator, Edward G...
May 20, 2016•1 hr 33 min
Gwen and Derek are back with another publisher spotlight episode, this one on the UK press, Avery Hill Publishing. They begin their spotlight with a short interview with the people behind Avery Hill: Ricky Miller, Dave White, and Katriona Chapman. Derek talks with them about the origins of the press, the kind of creators that have come to define Avery Hill, their distribution and publicity outside of the UK, and their plans for fall releases and beyond. After that conversation, Gwen and Derek ge...
May 18, 2016•1 hr 40 min
For this interview episode, Derek talks with Arvind Ethan David about his current work on the IDW miniseries, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: A Spoon Too Short . He writes that title, working with Ilias Kyriazis on art, and he was the editor of last year's earlier Dirk Gently series . Arvind talks with Derek extensively about his fascination with this unorthodox detective, his association with the late Douglas Adams, and the curious road he traveled to get into comics. A Spoon Too Short...
May 16, 2016•1 hr 1 min
On this episode of the interview series, Derek is excited to talk with Jordan Crane. The latest installment of Jordan's series, Uptight , was released by Fantagraphics earlier this year, and the two begin by discussing its contents and how issue #5 is notably different from the previous ones. First off, this is a much longer issue than usual, and Jordan explains that since it's been three and a half years since issue #4, he felt the need to include more material in this latest release. In fact, ...
May 13, 2016•1 hr 17 min
The Dynamic Doctoral Duo is back for another action-packed episode promising thrills and chills! This time, Gwen and Derek begin by discussing Brecht Evens's Panther (Drawn and Quarterly), a book that gives a first impression of innocence but then becomes darker and increasingly disturbing as the story develops. Gwen is a scholar of children's literature, and she points out that Evens follows many of the tropes found in picture books, and his style -- what you'd find in his earlier works, The Wr...
May 11, 2016•1 hr 33 min
It’s Free Comic Book Day 2016, and to celebrate the event Derek is back at Collected Comics and Games in Plano, TX, to talk with customers and shop employees about the various offerings for this year. Some of the standout FCBD titles from those gathered around the discussion table are Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom (Arcana), We Can Never Go Home/Young Terrorists (Black Mask Studios), ROM (IDW Publishing), One-Punch Man/My Hero Academia (VIZ Media), Oddly Normal (Image Comics), Civil War...
May 09, 2016•1 hr 34 min
On this episode of the interview series -- the very first for cohost Paul Lai! -- the Two Guys with PhDs are pleased to have as their guest Mike Dawson. His latest book, Rules for Dating My Daughter : The Modern Father's Guide to Good Parenting , comes out on May 10th from Uncivilized Books, and our fearless cohosts talk with Mike about his project's journey from Tumblr, to Kickstarter, to finished book. One of the things they discuss early on is the fact that Rules for Dating My Daughter is not...
May 06, 2016•1 hr 20 min
