Digital Strips Episode 232 – Review – RatFist w/ Guest Co-Host Lucas Turnbloom

The good thing about doing only largely positive critiques is that our address book is full to bursting with names of enormously talented creators who are extremely eager to chat about the world of comics on the Internet. This week, I dialed up Lucas Turnbloom, the man who has crafted memorable, whimsical characters for Imagine This and 4G. And, according to our chat, it sounds like he has at least approximately 32, 458 more ideas bouncing around in his head.

… nope, make that 32, 459.

But before we explore these ideas, there are some news items, some Herdy Gerdy, if you will (and you will, at least until Steve gets back and tells me we can’t). Among the news items I’m cleaning up:

Once the business side is tended to, I take a few moments to ask Lucas about his beginnings in the biz, as well as his take on the convention-going side of being a responsible, responsive comics creator. We also delve into the divide between the new guard and the old, the differences that separate traditional creators from those who more readily embrace change and go with the Interflow. Sadly, we stop just short of solving the whole crisis. Ah well, maybe next time.

During our chat, we mention the following comics:

Leading us between segments is none other than Lucas’ own brother, whose band, Mrs. Magician, has a new 7″ dropping on March 1. This song, “The Spells” (31:28), is one of two songs on that record, so enjoy it more than once and stop by the band’s site to pre-order your copy to have forever and ever.

On the other side, Lucas and I peek into the shallow but rich waters of a comic that has blown up across the Web these last few weeks:

Also mentioned:

Like Molly and the Bear before it, this comic comes to us from one of the aforementioned old guard, or at least, older guard, a man whose portfolio more than speaks for itself. With credentials this solid, it’s hard to really critique the work before us, but with coloring this horrid and a story this agonizingly trite, you have to say something.

No, not really. This is a great start to yet another exciting comic, and it’s on the web, so it’s free! You can’t ask for more than that, but we’re also throwing in some conversation about that very comic, also, for free. All because we love our Digital Strippers.

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Digital Strips Episode 230 – Review – Molly and the Bear w/ Guest Co-Host Brock Heasley

We’re kicking off Digital Strips Guest Co-Host Week with a man who needs no introduction, but gets one anyways: Brock Heasley!

Though I do a terrible job of it on the podcast, I will gladly link to all of Brock’s online work, a portfolio that is sure to grow exponentially over the next few years. Watching his depth and creativity emerge since The Superfogeys began has been a joy, one that is now quickly and easily possible through the joy of delivering comics via the Internet.

If you like introspective thoughts behind the creation of a work of art and conversations with those who craft these stories, I hope you will at least be entertained by my attempt. After Thee Oh Sees take us to the break with their guitar-riffin’ romp, “Crack In Your Eye” (23:00), it’s time to get to what Digital Strips does best: a review.

The strip, and yes, it is very much a comic strip, that Brock and I took a look at exudes a timeless feel that is as deceptively simple as it is intelligent in the way it appeals to the kid in all of us.

Comic strips rarely have the life that Molly and the Bear does, but coming from a seasoned professional who has worked on the very best that Pixar (culling from our childhood dreams since Toy Story first dropped into our laps) has to offer, we’d expect nothing less. Truly, the characters in this strip look like they’ve jumped right off of a storyboard sequence for their next animated short.

Along the way, Brock mentions another children’s comic artist that brings incredible life to everything he touches, Mike Kunkel, most specifically his childhood daydream adventure:

It’s interesting having two artists of the visual leaning working on the critique and Brock comes up with some insights which are details that I wouldn’t have given a second thought about. It’s deep, it’s fun, and it’s well worth a listen or two.

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