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Deconstructing Comics is a podcast about the craft of comics. Tim, Kumar, Emmet, and guest reviewers discuss a variety of comics (both recent work and classics) and present interviews with a variety of comics creators -- mainstream, indy, and even international! And in our occasional "Critiquing Comics" episodes, We'll even critique YOUR comic!
Whether you’ve got a comic going and you’re trying to promote it, or you haven’t even started yet and need some help getting rolling, we hope you’ll come here for inspiration and tips. And there’s plenty of interest for the casual comic book or graphic novel fan, as well!
"Tim is probably the hardest working podcaster in the community. He's an insightful and articulate comic reviewer and somebody I always enjoy talking to." -- Jason McNamara, writer, "The Rattler"
“Some of the best interviews I’ve ever heard! You guys review the type of comics I love and that’s really hard to find. So thanks for unique and knowledgeable.” -- Jack Wallace, Disposable Fiction Comics
Whether you’ve got a comic going and you’re trying to promote it, or you haven’t even started yet and need some help getting rolling, we hope you’ll come here for inspiration and tips. And there’s plenty of interest for the casual comic book or graphic novel fan, as well!
"Tim is probably the hardest working podcaster in the community. He's an insightful and articulate comic reviewer and somebody I always enjoy talking to." -- Jason McNamara, writer, "The Rattler"
“Some of the best interviews I’ve ever heard! You guys review the type of comics I love and that’s really hard to find. So thanks for unique and knowledgeable.” -- Jack Wallace, Disposable Fiction Comics
452 Episodes
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Sometimes, achieving your dream can be kind of a nightmare, even though it’s also rewarding. Claudia, in Katriona Chapman‘s latest graphic novel The Pass, has started her own restaurant and enjoys creating in the kitchen, but everything else that goes with it wears her down. The book gives us a peek at the ups and downs … Continue reading #868 “The Pass”: Are you living the dream, or is the dream killing you?
Inio Asano’s Goodnight Punpun gives us what appear to be a family of ghostly birds living in a much more realistic-looking world. People within that world don’t see them that way, though. It’s a world where authority figures act like ADHD kids, where every parent seems to be abusive or alcoholic (or both), and all seem … Continue reading #867 “Goodnight, Punpun”
After “hunting” the Fantastic Four, the Black Panther reveals that he did it for practice, as he anticipated a battle against his father’s killer: Ulysses Klaw. Sure enough, Klaw shows up right on schedule, and the FF help Panther take him down. Tim and Emmet discuss Fantastic Four #53 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby! Brought … Continue reading #866 Fantastic Four 53: Black Panther meets Klaw
At some point, the idea that some comics should be for adults took over to the extent that it became hard to find good comics for kids. Cartoonist Harold Buchholz was involved in starting an organization called Kids Love Comics that encourages making comics for kids and does events to hook the kids up with … Continue reading #865 Harold Buchholz interview: Kids love comics!
Sixty years ago, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby presided over the debut of the Black Panther in Fantastic Four #52. The story presents the expectations of the average American for stories about Africa (Jungles! Natives! Africa is a country, right?) and defies those expectations by showing a rich, technologically advanced African nation. This time, Tim … Continue reading #864 Black Panther Debuts
Jimmy Gownley is the award-winning creator of Amelia Rules, Tanner Rocks, The Dumbest Idea Ever, and more, as well as a co-host of the Unpacking Peanuts podcast. This time, he talks with Tim about why the earliest stuff sells the best (never mind how much his art has improved since then), ergonomics, putting comics on … Continue reading #863 Jimmy Gownley interview
FLASHBACK! One of the most acclaimed Marvel runs of the 1980s was by Walt Simonson on The Mighty Thor. He began writing and drawing it with #337, continued through to #367 (with a quick break in the middle), then gave up art duties but continued writing through #382. This run set aside Dr. Don Blake, … Continue reading #627 Walt Simonson’s “Thor”
A love triangle. One member feels jilted and goes off the deep end. A gun is involved. Tim and Adam talk about the thriller Lovers Quarrel by Rob Capili, Ikos Karimlan, and Joy Mateo. Lovers Quarrel Kickstarter Buy the book on Amazon.com Meanwhile, Digital Bardos has returned! Hippie “digital god” Darren is selling the people … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #247: “Lovers Quarrel” and “Digital Bardos” #2
Ed Subitzky did a lot of cartooning for National Lampoon back in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Much of his work revolves around comics done under certain conditions or showing a certain situation (“Fortune-Telling Comics” “Dull Comics” “Poor Reception Comics”). Neither Kumar nor Tim were familiar with his work until picking up the collection Poor Helpless … Continue reading #862 “Poor Helpless Comics”
While it seems a bit odd to see Captain America fighting Magneto, they do have something in common: Jack Kirby had a hand in creating both! The battle takes place in Captain America Annual #4, from 1977; the story is titled “The Great Mutant Massacre” — but no, not that one. It’s an X-men – adjacent … Continue reading #861 Jack Kirby’s Captain America: Cap vs Magneto!
FLASHBACK! Autobiographical comics are par for the course, but in 1972, Justin Green broke ground for the genre when he published Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary. Some of that broken ground hasn’t been trod since; how many autobiographical comics about a battle with mental illness have you seen done as wacky parody comics? … Continue reading #372 “Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary”: Painful Personal Memoir as Wacky Comedy!
Daredevil: Born Again, by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, is one of those comics stories that continues to attract attention decades after it was published. Chris Ryall, co-founder and current publisher at Image imprint Syzygy Publishing, is the author of a new book on that story. He talks with Koom in this episode about the … Continue reading #860 Chris Ryall on “Daredevil: Born Again”
Jason Shiga is creator of the four-volume series Demon as well as many interactive comics. This week, Koom interviews Jason about his page layout strategy, his connections to Adrian Tomine, the pros and cons of comics where the reader gets a choice of paths through the story, his intriguing new project, and more. Jason: Shigabooks.com … Continue reading #859 Jason Shiga: Choosing his own path
Our first episode was released on December 5, 2005. After 20 years of changes in focus, format, and personnel, as well as Tim self-teaching audio editing, this time we look back at some of what’s changed. Also: In our first episode, Tim, Brandon, and Mulele discussed the teaser trailer for Superman Returns; this time, Tim, … Continue reading #858 Celebrating 20 years by reviewing a 20-year-old film (“Superman Returns”)
Longtime comics creator Carol Tyler went through a horrific stretch in her life where she lost numerous loved ones, from her parents, to a neighbor, to her dog, in just a six-year stretch. Many other things of varying levels of horribleness happened within that time, too. Her response is not so much to tell us … Continue reading #857 Carol Tyler’s “The Ephemerata”: Making sense of the worst of all possible stretches
Jim Keefe is a longtime comics creator who has worked on the Flash Gordon (art and story) and Sally Forth (art) newspaper strips as well as being King Features’ staff colorist. He has also done lettering and retouching for English editions of various manga, and more. This week he talks with Tim about all of … Continue reading #856 Jim Keefe interview
Jack Kirby wraps up his run on Captain America and the Falcon with issue 214, the rather underwhelming conclusion of the Night Flyer story. But wait! Kirby also did a couple of annuals, so we dig into annual #3 from 1976. Yeaahhhh, that’s the stuff! If you haven’t been getting enough PULSE-POUNDING ACTION in your … Continue reading #855 Jack Kirby’s “Captain America” 214 & Annual 3: Cap vs the Space Vampire!
FLASHBACK! If you’re into American comics at all, you undoubtedly know how Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others changed the industry with their work in the 1960s, and set the template for kinds of stories Marvel still publishes today. That’s just part of the story that Sean Howe researched for his 2012 book … Continue reading #410 Marvel Comics: Telling the Untold Story
Roy Beckwith and the Cursed Continent is a western series by Nick Patch, Jarret Katz, and Fabi Marques. It looks great but it runs at a breakneck pace and seems to be introducing a few too many elements. Tim and Jason discuss. A French Expat in the U.K., by Agathe Montagnon, was sold through the … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #246: “Roy Beckwith and the Cursed Continent” and “A French Expat in the U.K.”
Last summer’s Superman movie was a welcome improvement over many recent films featuring the character, and over much of the recent superhero film entries in general. Kumar and Emmet this week discuss how it comments on Zach Snyder’s take, on internet culture, anti-immigrant sentiment, and more. They also address such topics as how the film … Continue reading #854 “Superman” (2025): Its commentary on other supermen
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