We started to title this "Keeping Up with the Jones", but thought better of it...

Back in 1988, artist Kelley Jones got people's attention when he started doing Deadman stories in Action Comics Weekly. The way he interpreted the character was completely different from how he'd been done in the past. It was quite odd at the time.

Up until then, Neal Adams' version was considered the most popular, but even Neal's was still fairly conventional. Kelley took Deadman and drew him all skeletal and emaciatedâturned in on himself, he likes to call it. It was a brave experiment that absolutely worked. Fans (and editors) began clamouring for more as they realized they had something and someone, special on their hands.

Jones went on to shake things up on Neil Gaiman's Sandman, another Deadman project with Mike Baron ("Love After Death") and many a Batman graphic novel with his long-time collaborator Doug Moench. Oh yeah, and let's not forget the man's three year stint doing the monthly Batman series with Moench and inker John Beatty (over 36 issues in a row, I believe).

In our talk with Lil' Kel, we cover all of the above, his passion for the comics medium, some talented friends like Sam Keith, Marshall Rogers and Steve Niles, and of course his recent return to Batman with Niles on Gotham After Midnight.

Before we go though, allow Dwight and I to end things with something cryptic. There's a special reunion that takes place on this one, but you'll have to tune in to find out what that is! It's worth it, we promise. Embarrassing as hell, but worth it!

**For this episode, we played a snippet of Peter Gabriel's Red Rain in honor of Kelley's first Batman project with Doug.

Our introduction to this uber-talent's work came through very familiar channels. We're Spectrum guys and Stephan's work has been featured in the anthology several years in a row now. All of it awesome and most of it from his book covers for Tor Books (good lookin' out, Ms. Gallo). When you see the man's images, brace yourself, because you'll lose your mindâseriously! His dazzling city and spacescapes, and his far off worlds are so fantastic yet so familiar all at the same time. It may indeed be science fiction, but man, does it feel real to geeks like us!

Speaking of real, the accolades he's received from industry peers is absolutely real. Spectrum, Hugo, Thea, Chesley and many others have all honored Martiniere over the years with awards for his artistic excellence. They all know he's the mack man. And we do too, for that matter! That's why we shot him an email asking him to slum a bit by coming on the show for an interview. He accepted the invitation saying something about "never having done a podcast before and it might be fun." [Note to audience: We have no proof, but we suspect ours may be his last podcastâso listen in while you can!]

The conversation with him covers much, but just like the intro to this text, not everything. Dwight and I thought we had the best chance of not embarrassing ourselves by keeping it simple. So we got some stories from Stephan's art school days, a little concept design and illustration talk in there, nerded out on video games for a minute, and ended it with the good stuff. What is the good stuff, you ask? Hmm..? Well, you'll have to tune in and find out, now won't you?

**For this episode with the gentleman artist, we played a snippet of Sting's Send Your Love. The lyric about sending your love into the distant dawn just seemed so appropriate. [Also, as is my luck (Swain), I was very sick while recording this and you can hear me gently hacking in the backgroundâmy apologies!]

http://www.martiniere.com/

With a style that focuses on storytelling, mood and feel, Guy's able to convey a lot in his stories with his deceptively simple line work. To quote his friend George Pratt, "Everyone he applies his pen to breathes, and the hardness of life shows on their faces and in the slump of their shoulders. They're real people". We couldn't agree more.

Guy has been holding it down on BPRD for a few years now with the book's creator, Mike Mignola and writer John Arcudi. And hey, you have to give him creditâany artist with the guts (or balls) to jump on a bunch of characters designed by Mignola himself, must have the goods. Mike is renowned for his graphic style and beautifully bizarre images, and Davis picks up the ball running every month and scoresâbig time!

Hailing from the great state of Michigan, we talk a little about his roots with Arrow Comics, Caliber Comics and his first creator-owned book Baker Street, co-written with Gary Reed. We also get into his collaboration with Matt Wagner on Sandman Mystery Theatre, his current BPRD arc "The Warning", and a hint about the next installment in Guy's own book, The Marquis from Oni Press. As a matter of fact, there may be some Marquis news announced at San Diego, but don't tell anyone we told you.

Our thanks to Guy for chatting with us and being....well, such a good guy (pun intended...again!).

**For this epsiode, we played a snippet of Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street for obvious reasons.

http://www.guydavisartworks.com/

Finally, we ended up on the doorstep of one Mr. Shane Glines, another awfully nice and talented individual. He was our very first phone interview and we've pretty much been on the phone ever since.

Well, as life often dictates, there are times when you need to go back to basics. Back to the neighborhood. We've always wanted the show to be a clubhouse for us and listeners and guests to hang out and talk comics, art, TV, movies, big boy books, whatever. So here we go...

This was a conversation we recorded at Dwight's crib and it begins with some painter talk, goes into a short commentary on the new Hulk movie and Wanted (Dwight had just seen bothâon the same day), and kinda ends up with me trashing the last three Star Wars movies. As you'll hear, I'm not the biggest Star Wars fan in the world and he absolutely is. It's all fairly innocent and hopefully entertaining, so try not to be bored to tears (I said try).

And fear not, 'Nationâmore interviews to come!

**On this episode, we played snippets of two songs: The Producers' Back to Basics and I Against I by Massive Attack ft. Mos Def.

Once Adi got his hands on ol' Shellhead, the look of the hero and the sales of his comics were never the sameâin the best way! Adi's redesigns made Iron Man's armor sleek, functional, tech-savvy and just plain kick-ass! So much so, that Jon Favreau eventually brought him on with the design team for the film, to make Iron Man really come off for the big screen (thank you, Jon!).

We became fans of Granov's art like the rest of the...well, fanboys. In 2004, as a cover artist, he put his special magic on many a Marvel character and fandom lost its mind! Nova, She-Hulk, FF, New Avengers, Inhumans and the Silver Surfer were just a few of the titles that year to recieve "Granovision". In '05, his covers and interiors for the Extremis series with collaborator Warren Ellis were a slam dunk. We thought "Hey, this guy is bringing the funk!" 

We chatted with the Bosnian-born artist at his home in the U.K. and got the skinny on his background working for Nintendo, his adventures at the 2007 Comic Con and being a big fish in the gargantuan pond of Hollywood.

**In the interview, Adi mentions meeting the great special effects wizard, Stan Winston, who passed away after this was recorded. We too are big fans of Stan's work and are saddened by his passing. He was a real pioneer and visionary, and he will be missed.

http://www.adigranov.net/news.php

Eric got his professional start working in animation when he was just a 17 year old kid, not even out of high school yet. He did "ghost work" for a guy on shows like X-Men and EXO Squad, and eventually got a regular in-house gig on Phantom 2040. When 2040 ended, he got an offer from Peter Chung in San Fransisco to come up and work on a little show called Aeon Flux. You may have heard of it...

While he was fortunate enough to get started young, Canete says his early days were not without their stumbling blocks. The Cliff Notes version of his past could go like this: he worked in animation for a while, left under pretty bad circumstances for his first loveâcomics, had a good time in comics, but really wasn't prepared for that world either, and finally got back to animation with hopes of rebuilding his reputation. And rebuild it he did!

Since 2002, E's done storyboards, backgrounds and designs for shows like He-Man, Justice League, Teen Titans, The Batman and Legion of Super-Heroes. His full-time day job is with Cartoon Network on the re-launched Ben 10 and he still does the occasional awesome comic book job at night. Check out his Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin series for Marvel with those funky, art deco covers (the hotness!). And after Comic Con, be on the lookout for Eric's upcoming run on The End League for Dark Horse with writer Rick Remender (more hotness!).

This L.A. native's story is an interesting one for a couple of reasons. One, he went back and repaired bridges that he himself burned. Not everyone does that. And two, he's had the support of many a superstar mentor and cheerleader along the way. Names like Peter Chung, Dustin Nguyen, Bruce Timm, Dave Johnson, Mark Chiarello, Skottie Young and Glen Murakami popped up often during the conversation.

In addition to all of the above, Dwight and I also get some insights into Eric's approach to storytelling, the origin behind his blog Discard, and the 4-1-1 on how he started doing those glorious 90 minute sketches of his.

Here's to a cool interview with an even cooler personâthanks, E!

http://kahnehteh.blogspot.com/

As the curtain goes up, we find our hero, Matt, still in a perilous stand-off with The Diabolical Siblings! Watch and listen, as he's coerced into confess his love of pulp and traditional flavor, his lack of love for too much continuity and a few secrets from his Sandman Mystery Theatre days.

"Herr Wagner, vee haff vays off makink you taaalk!"

He also lays out for the villianous duo the tale of Comico's demise and how it ended up affecting his ownership of Grendel. Plus a funny, but touching story about collaborating with one of his heroesâthe late, great Harvey Kurtzman.

OK, that was cheesy enough, but all in good fun. Many thanks to Matt for coming on with us today and being such a cool guest!

Take a bow, Matt!

http://www.mattwagnercomics.com/

Where do you really start with a guy like Matt? Mage, Grendel, Batman, The Demon, Sandman Mystery Theatreâit's all good. Let's just say we jumped in at the deep end with the guy and did our best to keep heads above water.

He's the quintessential writer and artist in our opinion, from the very beginning, establishing himself with creator-owned projects (he's not new to this, boys and girls). His start with Comico is well chronicled, so we won't go into it here. His present and his past work with DC are also equally well known. Currently, he has two irons in the fireâZorro for Dynamite Comics, in stores now, and Vertigo's upcoming Madame Xanadu, due out June 25th. Plus, he's in the midst of a Grendel run for Dark Horse, that started late last year to commemorate the character's own 25th anniversary (damn Matt, slow down!).

As mentioned above, Wagner is a man of many talents and he rocks at all of 'em. As a writer, it's terrific seeing him collaborate with great artists like Francesco Francavilla on Zorro and Amy Hadley on Madame Xanadu. As both the artist and writer, it's even more exciting watching him get back to Grendel and Hunter Rose after a 10 year hiatus from the series.

We had a great time talking with Matt and he was nice enough to put up with our nonsense. Do yourselves a favor and check out his many projects wherever you can find 'emâthey really are all good. And look for his appearance at the Heroes Convention in Charlotte, June 20-22. The Con has a terrific guest list this year and by far, he's one of their heavy hitters!

**This is only Part I with Matt and for it, we played a snippet of Santana's incendiary Black Magic Woman. In honor of Matt's new...umm, madame.

http://www.mattwagnercomics.com/

Amy got her professional start in comics by winning Tokyopop's "Rising Stars in Manga" competition in 2002. Shortly thereafter, she wrote and drew an OEL manga series for them called Fool's Gold. Gold is the story of an artsy high school student named Penny and her social revolution against jerky boys and conformity.

Hadley's editor on the book, Brandon Montclare, eventually left Tokyopop and took a job up at DC working with Bob Schreck. When Scheck moved over to Vertigo and the Madame Xanadu opportunity arose, Brandon reached out to his former T'pop creator. The rest is...well, you know.

Our conversation with Amy covers much of the above and a whole lot more, so do check it out. She's a super person with a very different story to tell.

Oh yeah, and she can SING too!

Madame Xanadu hits stores June 25th.

**For this episode, we played a small portion of Ryan Adams' Amy for obvious reasons.

http://www.tentopet.com/

** For Part II with Skottie, we played a snippet of David Ryan Harris' Change 'cause it is good for you.

http://skottieyoung.blogspot.com/

And he's not just family, we're also big fans of the guy's work too. He's an incredible artist with an edgy and raw style, and he wraps it up nicely in this great design sense. Allow me to steal a quote about him that I read on-line once. The blogger said "Skottie's work, like that of Katie Cook's, impresses me because of the obvious fun that he has while drawing. It's in everything he does". I tend to agree. I don't get the feeling he labors over his artwork like so much "render porn", but instead, tries to have a good time with it. Go look at his run on New X-Men or any of his coversâyou'll see it.

And quite honestly, I thought dude's covers were crazy good before I even knew who he was. Being a fan of other podcasts, when he joined my beloved Around Comics as a regular, I was like "Who the..?" Then I checked out his site and was like "Oh." Then when I saw he was responsible for the Cable & Deadpool covers I'd been secretly digging, I was like "Oh, damn!"

We met Skottie exactly a year ago at the Heroes Convention in Charlotte, NC. We gave him a business card on a humbug, told him how much we liked AC and asked him to check out our podcast. He was polite and gracious enough, and that was that. After the Con, I emailed him and asked him again to listen in when he had timeâhe finally did. Since then, he's sent us a dozen or so very nice notes about our show, telling us how much he likes it and offering his help in any way. There's usually cursing involved too, but we got used to that...

Oh yeah, and he told everybody he knew to check us out! We got more emails and comments than a little bit from people who said Skottie Young told them about SiDEBAR. And that crossed the line for Dwight and I. We couldn't go back to just friends or acquaintances or even fellow podcasters with the guy at that point. For us, it's been family and brothers ever sinceâand that's the way we'll keep it.

**This is only Part I with Skottie 2 Hottie, and for it, we played a snippet of Public Enemy's Brothers Gonna Work It Out.

http://skottieyoung.blogspot.com/

We met Sanford at last year's Dragon Con and after grabbing a copy of his beautiful sketchbook, Deadlines 2, we knew we wanted to have him on the show. His covers and interiors on Batman Strikes for the Johnny DC imprint were awesome and we started checking for Wonder Girl as soon as we heard he was the penciler.

Being influenced by guys in and out of comics, Greene's style definitely showcases his love of animation. He recently had the pleasure of finding out that animators Bruce Timm and James Tucker, of Batman and Justice League fame, are both fans of his work too. 

The front end of our conversation details the funny series of events that lead to Sanford collaborating with hip-hop superstar, Method Man and writer, David Atchison on this new project. Later, we cover some of his background growing up in Charleston, SC, a few valuable lessons he's learned along the way and a hint at what his future holds.

**On this episode of the show, we played Jah Freedom's Give Up 'cause Sanford has his own theme musicâjust like Shaft!

http://www.sanfordgreene.com/

We've known Steve Scott for about a year now since the very first Atlanta Comics Expo back in 2007. After meeting him at the Con, we went back and took a look at some of his terrific past work. His skillful hand can be seen on books like Razor, New Warriors, Shadowpact, Creeper and Legends of the Dark Knight. Plus, currently on Marvel Adventures, episodes of the hit TV show, Smallville and of course, the upcoming Indy series.

Chatting with Steve in passing, two things stand out about himâhe prides himself on good storytelling and he works harder than your average to meet all of his deadlines. Sometimes surviving on only three hours of sleep or staying up for 48 hours straight. Or even buying coffee by the keg (OK, we're exaggerating on that last part, but you get it).

At any rate, there's a reason why Steve's pal, inker Nathan Massengill, refers to him as the night walker and the day walker. We're just happy the guy had an hour to spare to talk with us period.

Our conversation with Scott covers his early days growing up in Gulf Port and Biloxi, Mississippi, his first exposure to comics, breaking into the biz by way of firefighting, and his exodus and return to comics after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. He also tells us about he and his wife Sharon's adventures on The Dr. Phil Show (yes, that Dr. Phil) and how he's recently gotten to know comics great, Gene Colan.

Steve's a true Southern gentleman and a heck of an artist, and it was a pleasure speaking with him.

Indiana Jones and The Tomb of the Gods hits comic shops everywhere June 25thâgo check him out!

http://stevescott.deviantart.com/

http://acosmicodyssey.com/

When we started this show over a year ago, the very first podcast we made, praised and extolled the virtues of The Dreaded Marko (mispronouncing his last name, of course). We also used one of his X-Men First Class covers for the blog entry featuring his daring redesigns. I've (Swain) been enamored with the guy's style since he started doing covers exclusively for Marvel. Dwight's been a fan since he met him at the Concept Art Workshop in San Francisco back in 2005âwearing a beautiful hand-painted Elektra jacket, no less.

The super abbreviated version of Marko's path is this: he was born in Germany, started drawing, got work at 17, posted on Concept Art.Org in his early twenties, and took the world by storm minutes later. With a few...umm, embellishments on our part, that pretty much sums it up.

Check out the guy's handiwork and you'll be convinced like we were. X-Men First Class, Daredevil, Blade, Super Villain Team-Up, Marvel Illustrated, Wolverine Origins, Thunderbolts, Mystic Arcana, What Ifâthe list literally goes on and on. Plus, tons of design stuff on Concept Art and they're all badass and all immaculately rendered by Mr. Djurdjevic. This man is the truth and YOU know it.

He recently made the excursion into doing interior pencils for the new Thor series written by J. Michael Straczynski and the book is a solid hit. He was filling in for the talented Olivier Coipel and just knocked it out.

OK, back to the cost. We tried several times in the past to reach the man, but to no avail. And all jokes aside, it wasn't him, it was us, going through the wrong channels (duuhh). Finally, after getting the accurate contact info straight from the source at the NY Comic Con (all thanks to the FANTASTICALLY TALENTED AND GRACIOUS, PAOLO RIVERAâPAINTER EXTRAORDINAIRE HIMSELF), we made it happen. 

Throw in three calling cards, six redials and bad sound coming out of Dwight's microphone, and you've got yourself one nice little Marko Djurdjevic interview. And we loved every minute of it!

**For this episode with Marko, we played a small portion of Depeche Mode's I Feel You, because we do!

These are inspiring words from the great Helen Keller. We thought they rang especially true in the wake of our conversation with artist and art visionary, Jason Manley. His journey has not been without its obstacles, but talent, perseverance and the help and support of his friends has brought him far. And he's gonna go much farther.

We first heard about Jason like everyone else did, through his affiliation with Concept Art.Org and Massive Black. He's not only a co-founder of both companies, but also serves as their President.

Concept Art was started six years ago by Manley and two of his friends, artists Andrew Jones and Coro Kaufman. The three of them met and became buddies in their early twenties and kept in touch via the Internet. Creatively, there was a mutual respect and the interest to work and learn togetherâthat's really how the ball got rolling. Jason got the idea of setting up a site where they could all share their projects and ideas, meet new artists, exchange information and the thing just took off from there. To date, there are 110,000 plus artists signed on as members of the CA community, posting over 1,000,000 images.

As time went on, acclaimed film artists, Chris Hatala and Pete Konig joined the group and they formed their second company, Massive Black Inc.  After spending time learning from each other and sharing previous art school and industry production experiences, they agreed that working together professionally, under their own banner, was their next step. A couple of partners came and went and the team eventually settled in nicely with the addition of Executive Producer, Melissa Lee and 3D Director, Dan Staton. 

Started on a meager $6000 budget, Massive Black is now one of the highest profile art studios in the entertainment industryâdoing work for advertising, games, toys, comics, TV and film. It offers a full line of services to its clients: green light pitch development, concept design, storyboards, illustration, rigging, animation, textures, 3D modeling, product co-development and IP creation. Since the company's inception, they've completed over 175 projects for over 125 major companies working in the fieldâincluding 18 of the top 20 video game publishers. The MB teams are located in San Francisco, Shanghai and Bangkok.

While Concept Art.Org is a non-profit educational institution serving the international community and local students at the Concept Art Atelier, Massive Black is certainly its professional and practical other side. The two companies are essentially independent, yet supportive brothers when it comes to the world of art.

We caught up with Jason in Austin, TX right in the middle of a big move and talked about all of the above and a lot more. We also get into the terrific workshops they started doing around the world and some future plans for both companies.

Oh yeah, and Jason's over the whole "not doing art" thing, so watch out!

http://www.conceptart.org/

http://massiveblack.com/

We stayed on top of it for a couple of months, got his cell number before he left Cali (Thanks, Gary) and showed up Thursday night for the start of SCAD-Atlanta's Comics & Illustration Forum. That evening, James and artists Yuko Shimizu, Andrew Robinson and Eric Canete sat in the round with about 150 people and shared their stories and professional insights. Dwight and I had a great time and afterwards, much schmoozing was had.

The next day at noon, we met up with the man at SCAD and had a wonderful talk about his career and background, his time as a student at SVA, Fables and of course, art. We also touched on his participation in the West coast art event, Baby Tattooville and his upcoming 2009 gallery show in NYC.

And yes, James does love art. And art history. And jazz. And pizza too (he eventually got sustenance from Rick Lovell, one of the event's organizers).

The interview ran just under an hour and we couldn't have been happier with the outcome. Many thanks to SCAD for bringing these amazing artists to our cityâit was terrific meeting them all. And a special shout of thanks to the "fairly reclusive Mr. Jean" for squeezing us into his hectic scheduleâit was like that.

**This episode of the show features a snippet of CocoRosie's Rainbowarrior in honor of life in the Brew.

http://www.processrecess.com/

First up is Mike Kunkel, an artist, writer and animator who's done work for companies like Sony, Disney, Universal and Pixar. Mike also runs his own company, The Astonish Factory, where he produces all ages books like The Land of Sokmunster and his Eisner award-winning Herobear and the Kid. Herobear is the story of a boy named Tyler and his pet polar bear, and the lessons they learn on their journey together.

Kunkel's been a champion of kid-friendly reading for some time now and he's well known for his mantra, "Remember your childhood...and pass it on".

Next in line is Andy Runton. Andy is an Atlanta native and the writer and artist behind his own award-winning creation, Owly. Owly tells the tale of a lonely, yet friendly little owl who many say could be Runton's alter-ego. Published by Top Shelf, Owly won an Ignatz award in 2006 for Best New Series and an Eisner for Best Publication for a Younger Audience. Double honors and well deserved!

Andy works full-time on his graphic novels and every year he produces a new chapter in this wonderful little bird's adventures.

Then there's our good friend, artist, writer and character designer, Ragnar. Brandon Ragnar Johnson has an extensive background in animation like Mike and he too has some great all ages books you can find through Baby Tattoo Publishing. Got Your Nose and Izzy's Very Important Job are two special projects he created and dedicated to two of his children (a third is in the works now for his youngest son).

Back in '06, Ragnar wrote and drew a love letter to his time of traveling abroad called Kings of the Road. Celebrating if you will, hobo culture, Kings is a beautifully crafted book for older audiences.

The discussion in this one is pretty open and honest, and offers some real encouragement to creators who may be thinking of telling their story. And like all the other panels at ACE, it was a lotta fun for us to be a part of. Our thanks once again to the guests, attendees and promoters of the Atlanta Comics Expo for putting up with usâwe had a blast, you guys!

http://www.theastonishfactory.com/ 

http://www.andyrunton.com/

http://www.littlecartoons.com/

What's up and welcome back for more with artist and illustrator, Celia Calle. This is Part II of a lengthy, but hilarious talk we had with her and it's chocked full of artsy goodness!

In the conversation, Celia covers: going from fashion to illustration, life drawing class, being cruel to your schoolmates, ADs vs. Editors, Will Dennis and the SDCC, AMERICAN VIRGIN AND THOSE AWESOME COVERS, her opinion of the series in general, criticism of her palette, people jacking her images, more Wuthering Heights, "Why is there no book of your art available..?!", kissing Storm Troopers, why Darth Vader is hot (...he is?), the NYCC and more.

Again, it was awesome having Miss Calle on the show and we can't wait to do it againâhope you dig it too!

**On this episode, we played a snippet of The Kills' What New York Used to Be 'cause it's in heavy rotation in the Circle.

http://celiacalle.com/

http://cofcircles.blogspot.com/

For months, we've been blown away by her American Virgin covers for Vertigo and her unique and individual style. We think comics is always best served by creative people bringing other elements into the medium and stirring up the mix. Celia does that ten fold!

For those of you just being introduced to her work through AV...trust, she's really a big deal in the commercial art world with clients like ESPN Magazine, Calvin Klein, Nike and Gautier. Of course, you'd never know that by talking to her, she's much too chill a person to brag. Minutes into our conversation, we were smitten by her down-to-earth charm and humor, and she was our new best friend. Celia's personality is a lot like her artâplayful, energetic and well, kinda sexy. But with that, she's also warm, thoughtful and has a real sincerity that comes from the heart. She's the best of many worlds, we suppose.

As is our way, we went off the rails a bit just having some fun (there's maybe 25 minutes of hardcore art talk in the whole interview). But fear not, true believers, you can always go to CC's site and blog for the full skinny on this NY girl and what she's up to. Plus, this is only Part I of our talk with her, so heyâstay tuned!

**Celia's interview features a small portion of Portishead's Strangers 'cause that's how we started out. Now, it's friends.

http://www.celiacalle.com/

http://cofcircles.blogspot.com/

His company, The Astonish Factory, was established in 1999 to serve as an umbrella for all of his projects. No matter what the mediumâcomics, books, toys, TV or film, Astonish will usher those properties into the marketplace. That way Mike can stay hands on with every aspect of the process and nothing gets lost in translation.

In the panel, Kunkel discusses his beginnings in the creator-owned world and some of the challenges of self-publishing. He also shares his thoughts on juggling business and family, and the joys of creating for yourself.

This was a short one, but there were lots of great questions from the attendees and a wealth of information dropped by Mike, too. And our thanks to him for holding it down all by himself. Two of the other panelists got the convention flu and couldn't be there, so Mike braved it alone. We were well served!

http://www.theastonishfactory.com/

Gina Biggs of the Strawberry Comics line and Greg Carter of UpDown Studios have taken up the challenge of web comics and understand the rules of surviving and thriving in this new frontier. They both attended the Atlanta Comics Expo in February and I (Dwight) had the pleasure of moderating a panel with them on this very subject.  

Gina spoke to us about her successful endeavors with the all-female comics group, Strawberry Comics. Her current works include Erstwhile, an adaptation of "hidden gems" from the writings of The Brothers Grimm and Red String, a coming-of-age story about a teenager named Mirahu Ogawa. 

Greg discussed his own UpDown Studios, an on-line collective of creators and artists who work in different media types and formats. UpDown's members not only represent comics, but photography, painting and fine arts. The studio also serves as a publishing imprint for the group on titles like Abandon: Borrowed Tale and Tombstone Sword Slinger.

In the panel, both these trailblazers cover much about their own projects and their growing industry. Included are some of the ins and outs on promoting and marketing, how to keep expenses down, effective site designs and some costly mistakes new web creators can avoid.

http://www.strawberrycomics.com/

http://www.updownstudio.com/

Phil's only been in comics a short time really, but he's attracted a legion of fans with his sexy, vintage spy girls and classic approach. He has his contemporary influences like J. Scott Campbell and Adam Hughes, but most of the illustrators Noto digs worked in the 50's and 60's. Guys like Robert McGinnis, Coby Whitmore and the great Bob Peak are all inspirations to this Florida native. 

As an ex-Disney clean up artist, Phil brings that experience, plus his appreciation for golden and silver age illustration to all of his comics work. Check out his skills on Birds of Prey, Beautiful Killer, Danger Girl and Scarlett: Declassified, and you'll see what we mean. 

In this quick sit-down, we discuss his schooling at Ringling and his past with Disney, his style and growth as a storyteller, plus the unusual way he got into comics. We also touch on Phil's first book of art, Jet Seven, his friendship with Howard Chaykin, being Mr. 4400 and his new Image project, The Infinite Horizon with writer, Gerry Duggan. Our thanks to him for stealing a few minutes away from the show to chat with us.

**And for those who haven't heard yet, Jet Seven is officially sold out!

http://www.notoart.com/

First up is Sanford Greene, penciler for DCâs Wonder Girl mini-series and the new Method Man/Wu Tang graphic novel. Sanford's done designs for companies like Sony Animation, Hasbro, SEGA and Nickelodeon, and was a member of the collective known as Artxilla Studios.

Then there's Stephanie Gladden, a wonderful character artist and designer who currently works for Cartoon Network. She's drawn tons of licensed characters like Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Ren & Stimpy and The Simpsons, but you may know her as the creator of Hopster's Tracks for Bongo Comics.

Next is Ragnar, a designer and illustrator who's done development work for people like Disney, Nickelodeon and Warner Bros. Ragnar directed a five minute short film for Disney based on one of his own all-ages books, Got Your Nose.

And finally, Derek Yaniger, an artist with a delightfully retro style who's done work for Marvel Comics and Cartoon Network and event shows like Tiki Oasis and The Wild Weekend. You can also see his art featured in magazines like Atomic Barracuda and Car Kulture Deluxe. 

This was an eclectic blend of backgrounds and perspectives and I really appreciate everyone's candor. The discussion includes topics like working on established characters vs. working in development, trying to stay on model, pleasing a client (or not!) and responding to the Bat-Phone. I had a blast moderating this panel, folks and this time I even remembered to introduce everyone (yaay)!

http://www.sanfordgreene.com/

http://www.stephaniegladden.com/

http://www.littlecartoons.com/

http://www.derekart.com/

Our panelists were Ragnar, a California based artist and illustrator with a background in character design and animation. Ragnar has a tremendous following for his beautiful prints and art books, and his work's been featured in the prestigious pages of Spectrum. Then, there's Tony Shasteen, a talented illustrator with a commercial background, but who many comics fans know from 12 Gauge's, Occult Crimes Task Force. Tony's had work in Spectrum as well and he's a new member of Gaijin Studios. Next is Brian Stelfreeze, an artist and painter you know from his terrific covers for Shadow of the Bat and Fallen Angel through DC Comics. Brian is the art director for 12 Gauge and a founding member of Gaijin. And last up is Jim Burns, the creator behind books like Detached and Daemon Process and a comic artist who works completely in the digital realm. Jim does a weekly web and newspaper comic called Grumbles and also does work for local publisher, Terminus Media.

All the guys were candid, insightful and full of opinions, and the panel was a lot of fun to be a part of. My thanks to ACE for having me (Swain) and to the great panelists for participating.

**This episode features a small snippet of Roger & Zapp's Computer Love 'cause it's all about the digital love, baby. And a shout out to John Burns for supplying the group image!

http://www.littlecartoons.com/

http://www.theillustrator.com/

http://www.gaijinstudios.com/

http://www.jamesburnsdesign.com/comics/index.html

Many only remember her as the free spirited Freddie from NBC's A Different World, but this lady has quietly kept very busy since that time. She's a gifted singer-songwriter and her 1999 Work Records release, Street Faerie, introduced the world to Cree, the musician. In our talk, we cover all of the above, plus her love of comics, poetry, her sisterhood of the seas, The Pirates and a whole lot more.  This was an easy one, folks, as we felt right at home talking to this down-to-earth, but very talented performer. 

Speaking of uber-talented, we have to give a special shout of thanks to our best friend in the world, Mr. Phil LaMarr for hooking us up with Honey Brown. And likewise to her manager, Larry "One B" Robins for helping out with the details - thanks, guys! 

**This episode features three snippets of Cree Summer's music from Street Faerie: Revelation Sunshine, Mean Sleep and Miss Moon. Also, Aretha Franklin's version of the A Different World theme.

I (Swain) stumbled upon Juan's art by accident while surfing and was knocked out by his version of The Flash. I forwarded a few things to Dwight and he was struck too. Soon we found Superman, some X-men 198 stuff, then we went to Deviant Art and got blown away! He had an entire gallery on DA that went from animation to underground to classic superheroes to just about whatever.

Doe agreed to come on with us after hearing we'd talked to one of his favorite people, DC Editorial Art Director, Mark Chiarello (who also happens to be one of our favorite people). We covered a lot in the conversation including his one-shot Fantastic Four story called Isla De La Muerte, a peek into his background and why he loves not having an identity. So, ladies and gents, do yourselves a favor...meet Juan Doe...sort of.

**This episode of the show features a snippet of Mos Def's Ghetto Rock in honor of keeping your paint hand strong!

We first became aware of Scott through his one-shot, Batman: Room Full of Strangers and Plastic Man run for DC, then we quickly went nuts. Soulwind, Volcanic Revolver, The Barefoot Serpent, Spaghetti Western, the Elektra mini-series and his recent tome of "fast art", Scrap Mettle are all terrific. In 2008, he offers three new Magic Pickle books, a bio book featuring a certain tiger and another Ancient Book too, this time it's Sex & Science.

Our chat with Morse runs the gamut from his recent trip to Italy, growing up in California and going to CalArts, working in animation and just how he gets it all done. Plus, some family talk, a few tips on dealing with publishers and a little bit about his favorite uncle. It was a lot of fun chopping it up with Scott, he's an amazing talent who never stops and he's also a really good guy. Check him out everywhere!

http://scottmorse.blogspot.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Pickle-Planet-Grapes/dp/0439879965/ref=pd_sim_dbs_b_img_2/103-6141880-9280629

He and Dwight delve into their mutual experiences from the Concept Art Workshop in '05, Jon talks about teaching and being a late bloomer, and how maturity plays a large part in an artist's development. Then we shift gears into some personal stuff like dads vs. sons, fixing things and being the man, and couples working together. Finally, we end on Jon's comic book work, some geeky Star Wars and art questions, plus the back story behind his wonderful book of art, Revolution. Enjoy!

http://www.jonfoster.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Revolution-Art-Jon-Foster/dp/1599290030

**A special thanks to Tim Underwood and the Fenners for helping us find the elusive Mr. Foster.

After a month or so of serious stalking (our dedication knows no boundaries), we finally got in contact with him and Foster agreed to come on the show. Our conversation is, at times, all over the place, but we think it stands as a wonderful and intimate glimpse of the artist and the man. Rarely do you find his kind of talent matched with his kind of humility, but then again, Jon is rare. 

This is Part I of an interview that took place in late December of '07 and Jon was our last guest of the year. It was the best Christmas present everâthanks, Jon!

http://www.jonfoster.com/ 

Shortly after the amazing success of Tribe #1, selling over 1,000,000 copies, Larry and his writing partner Todd Johnson, left Image and continued to publish the book through other venues. There were follow ups to Tribe's debut and a few free lance jobs here and there, but eventually, Stroman left comics altogether. Now that he's back, we tracked him down through Marvel editor, Justin Gabrie and invited him on to share a little bit of HISstory.

In our talk, Larry recalls his early interests in art, breaking into comics with some help from Howard Chaykin, X-Factor and the creation and future of Tribe. We also find out what he's been up to these last 10 years and what's next for him.

**This episode features a small portion of John Sebastian's Welcome Back in honor of the Tribe guy.

Plus, his cover art for Vertigo's American Virgin and Bite Club, and celebrating a Big One in January. Very interesting stuff!

Since hitting the scene in the mid 90's, Frank Quitely's been doing stellar work on titles like JLA: Earth 2, New X-Men, We3 and of course, All-Star Superman. With a style that's clearly adored by many a fanboy, he's amassed a large and dedicated following and deservedly so. Dynamic figures, sprawling landscapes and sharply detailed backgrounds are all staples of Frank's beautiful handiwork. He's the kinda guy that not only makes it look good, but makes it look easy too.

Just before Christmas, he came on the show to talk about all things All-Star and what's next for him after his run on the series ends. We also chatted a bit about scripts and storytelling ideas, Quitely's "fashion sense" on the book and his popular, but somewhat controversial time on The Authority with writer Mark Millar. This is Part I of II with FQ!

http://members.cox.net/nowlanink/63.html

**Our good friend Eric Nolan-Weathington did a great book on Kevin's art for TwoMorrows Publishing, go check it out!

http://twomorrows.com/

**This episode features several snippets of music: Jethro Tull's Aqualung, Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale, Science Fiction/ Double Feature from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and U2's Vertigo. And we have to give props to Schreck's Assistant Editor Brandon Montclare for suggesting the Amy Hadley hotness for Madame X...turn it up loud, Captain!

http://www.wendyandlisa.com/

**This episode features several snippets of music Wendy & Lisa either wrote and/or performed on. All of their CDs can be purchased on-line and we highly recommend our favs, Eroica and The Girl Bros.

http://www.ludovicotechnique.com/

**Part II with Rob contains a snippet of Prince's Partyman because we just let go and had fun. Also, big thanks to Mary Forrest for the use of her pics.

http://www.ludovicotechnique.com/

**This episode features a snippet of Prince's DMSR and that sound you hear in the background is us killing water bugs in my basementâsorry!