The creative team behind the upcoming DC graphic novel This Land is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story, Jacoby Salcedo and Julio Anta, join the show to chat about that book and their careers to date, both together and separate. The team discusses convention experiences, the build up to This Land is Our Land's release, the pace of graphic novel releases, how they met, how well they really know each other, the impact of Sonic comics on Julio, what inspired Jacoby to draw, their biggest influences, how their friendship affects their collaborations, the origins of This Land is Our Land, their Blue Beetle backgrounds, Easter Eggs, the art and design of the book, tackling immigration, their collaborators, what they learned from the project, what they want next, and more.
It's time, folks! Comics critic Oliver Sava returns to the show for the seventh annual Superhero State of the Union! Sava joins for a discussion about his return to The AV Club, why we read superhero comics, leaning towards art, superhero comics outside the Big Two, following creators, art and arcs, where DC is right now, its hits and misses, DC editorial's moves, where Marvel's at, the new Ultimate universe, our Ultimate rankings, where Fantastic Four fits, the power of cool, the From the Ashes era for the X-Men, Jonathan Hickman's recent stretch, Marvel's safer path, what we'd like to see more from the Big Two, and more.
Writer/artist Declan Shalvey joins the show to talk about his rather considerable mix of projects. Shalvey discusses his busy dance card, the value of time, putting out fires, why he wanted to work on Mystique, cool versus good, writing and drawing an X-Book, what Mystique started with, how he's handling the character, how Old Dog Operations came together, what it's about, the creators of the project, what's next for Old Dog, the Thundercats explosion, becoming a licensed guy, the stigma around those titles, what he's missing, and more, before we close with a conversation about John Cassaday.
Writer/artist Caitlin Yarsky joins the show to talk about her upcoming Dark Horse Comics series Living Hell and what goes into soloing a comics project. Yarsky discusses her current slate, working on Black Hammer, how she engages with comics, influences outside of comics, overthinking art, the origins of Living Hell, the appeal of folklore and mythology, domestic life, writing for yourself, the different levels of ideas, the hook of the book, pulling from real life, her process, working with Dark Horse, the business side of comics, the Portland art community, and more.
Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick joins the show to talk about her upcoming Dark Horse Comics series FML and everything that comes with it. DeConnick discusses current stress levels, the origins of FML, its evolution, the glory of David López, FML's visual styles, her collaboration with López, building from her own life, FML's personal nature, embracing the pandemic, finding humor in the nightmare, relearning creator-owned, marketing comics, Dark Horse's fit, figuring out next steps, the human side of creation, and more.