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Holy smokes! How did we get this interview?!?!?! (We honestly have no idea…)

We can’t believe our good fortune as modern master and (multiple) Eisner award winner J.H. Williams III joins us for a chat in The Basement! One of the greatest artists in the world, we talk to J.H. about his groundbreaking work in Promethea, Detective Comics, Desolation Jones, and more!

We discuss with him the awesome rumor about Hank Williams, J.H.’s break into the comic business (with some help from some fella named HOWARD CHAYKIN!), his process, choice of artistic styles for different moods/scenes, and about how DC should (hopefully) give him a little breathing room! We get the requisite Alan Moore question out of the way, and also talk about his upcoming work on Batwoman (in which he will be co-writer as well).

You’ve all seen his work on Detective Comics, so you now how incredible it is. So go buy Batwoman: Elegy, the hardcover collection of the Detective Comics run. The colors, the art – the presentation – is so much more incredible in this collection than it was when it was published. Can you fathom such a thing!?! It’s true. Check it out.

We can’t thank J.H. enough. We had some technical difficulties (imagine that), and we had to call him back and reschedule the interview for another time, and J.H. was cool as a cucumber about the whole thing. He didn’t have to be, and we really appreciate it. What a pro, and what a talent. Thank you, J.H.!

And sorry folks, no regular episode after that! You’ll have to tune in next time for our idiocy.

Musical selection: “The Hardest Part” by Blondie

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Once again, the TPB gang is forced to leave the basement! Squinting at the sunlight, screaming in fear at flies and bugs, vainly trying to keep a fire going – it’s back to the great outdoors! In our second annual camping episode we – minus the sadly absent Cally – broadcast from next to the fire as we talk about HORROR comics! As if being outdoors talking about scary stuff wasn’t spooky enough, it was Friday the 13th when we recorded! We were even by a large-ish body of water – not quite Crystal Lake, but it was enough for us. (And mutant creatures were even reported to be in there by Spence’s wife! Yiiiiiiikes!)

Once again Ryan waxes nostalgic for old comics, Spence provides fine historical background info, and Jim loves X-Files/ 30 Days Of Night! We talk about all the horror out there for you, the discerning reader/listener. Whatever kind of horror you are into, we talk about it!

Thanks for our fine pals at Darkhorse, we were able to review two new awesome titles – B.P.R.D. : Hell On Earth – New World #1 and Buzzard #3. (Cally, you missed out!) After that, Ryan (with some help from Spence) does a very rushed Cold Storage – with a few new intros! Then, something awful happens. It is a true horror story. Listen to see if the boys make it out alive.

We had a wonderful time, despite being outdoors. Sadly, we didn’t get yelled at by Santa Claus this year, and there was no “Boner Anus” like last time – but we did at least have an offensive hot dog/marshmallow roaster! We hope you enjoy it, cuz we ain’t leaving the house till next year!

Reviews for this week: B.P.R.D. : Hell On Earth – New World #1 and Buzzard #3
Cold Storage Review: Creepy #1
Musical Selection:  “Where did you sleep last night” by Lead Belly

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Wonderful writer/artist/gentleman Martin Flink drops by the basement for a quiet chat in this episode! (Good thing our basement is so close to Denmark….) We talked/gushed about Martin’s new book “The Man Of Glass” – from our wonderful pals at Accent UK  – a few issues back, and the gushing continues as we talk to Martin about “Man Of Glass” as well as his past work including Utopia, The Troll and much more! We also get soft and sentimental as we discuss children and how they affect you, and how this plays into “Man Of Glass”. We are then treated to a small description of Martin’s upcoming work “Lizard”, which promises to be awesome.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Do yourself a favor and go to your local comic shop and demand that they order “The Man Of Glass”. It’s a simple story, but it is beautiful, heart-breaking, and it will haunt you – not in a bad, creepy way, but in a way soul-searching kind of way. You won’t regret it.

Thanks Martin! We appreciate it!

After the interview, Cally, Ryan, and Spence power-trio it out, old-school style. First of all we talk about comic news…… depressing comic news. More Bendis rage from Ryan (Ryan, shut up already!), Red Hulk, Kevin Smith hate, Thunderstrike returns and more! The news picks up with some goodness about our pal/TPB alumni Francis Manapul! Hooray!

After that, we get a Comic-Con recap from Spence, our man-on-the-scene! He talks costumes, being crop-dusted by fat nerds, the Boom party, our boy Dan Fraga, and our other boy Brian Churilla! (Give him $5, you stupid nerds!) Spence met tons of folks, and then talks about a few! Ryan does a Cold Storage review of Oni Press’s great book “Love Buzz” because he’s a big fat softie, and then Spence does Nate’s Corner! What the?!?!?!?! It’s true! (Somebody has to do it…..) Luckily, the Nate’s Corner segment gives us a chance to gush about Joelle Jones, which you know we love to do.

We hope you enjoy!

Cold Storage Review: Love Buzz (from Oni Press)

Nate’s Corner Review (by Spence!): Trouble Maker

Music Selection: Happy Trails by Van Halen

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It’s back to basics, basementators! No fancy, wonderful or insightful interviews this time – just our regular douchebaggery, tomfoolery, and jackassery! Enjoy!

Ryan starts things off with some apologies – always a good time! Then we talk about our loyal Korean fans (email us!), our iPhone app, get more Bendis bashing from Ryan, and then get down to some news: including Harvey Pekar (R.I.P.), Mark Waid hatin’ on super-hero comics, and Hastings finally getting comic books – after about 20 years of having them already…..

The gang also gets into an interesting discussion about writers who just want to make “their mark” on the character instead of just serving the character and writing a good story – for crying out loud, stop it!

After our regular reviews, we are treated to a review by Spence of the gorgeous “Blacksad”, and then he does a Cold Storage review that doesn’t have any
rhyming?!?! What the? (You’ll see what I’m talking about)

Thanks for joining us again! We really do appreciate it.

Reviews for this week: Northlanders #29 and Stuff Of Legend Vol. 2 – The Jungle #1

Cold Storage Review: The Demon #1

Music Selection: Am I Demon by Danzig

John Siuntres is a legend. Godfather of comic podcasting, amazing interviewer – John is The Man. We are extremely proud to present to you our interview with Mr. Siuntres. In this great discussion, we get to talk to John about his radio days, sports, podcasting in general, Al Williamson, and a variety of other topics.

We usually are quite verbose in our descriptions of our interviews (look at any past interview on our site to see) – but we’re just kind of speechless about this interview. Just listen to it for yourself and see why.

John has been an inspiration to us all since day one. He is truly the best in this business. Like Spence mentioned to us, it was like having our iPods talk back to us after all these years…it was really quite amazing.

It was a great honor to talk to John. He’s the absolute best at what he does – and what he does is kick ass. Thank you so much, John.

Check out the great John Siuntres at:

http://wordballoonpodcast.wordpress.com/
http://wordballoon.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/johnwordballoon

After the wonderful interview, we try to keep the awesome ball rolling….. and fail miserably, of course. We talk about movies, some comics news including the Green Hornet, surprising comic sales numbers and The Phantom for Dynamite, and the Jonah Hex movie.

Spence single-handedly saves this portion of the show with an amazing review of the amazing Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli, Ryan does the Indie 500 segment about the good folks at Corrosive Comics, and then we move onto reviews!

We hope you enjoyed yourselves! We sure did.

Reviews for this week: Joker’s Asylum – Mad Hatter #1 and New Avengers #1

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Phil Hester is a REAAAAAAALLY busy guy. (Don’t believe us? Check this out: http://www.comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=1614 ) That’s why it was so awesome that he would take a few minutes and talk to us! The Eisner-nominated Mr. Hester is a very very talented man – he’s not only a helluva writer but a tremendous artist as well! We chat with him about The Anchor (with our pal Churilla), Black Terror, his run on The Darkness, Gen13, Swamp Thing, Firebreather, his relationship with Kevin Smith, being a writer vs. being an artist, Green Arrow AND Green Hornet, and much more.

We get some info on his upcoming work, his dream job, Cartoon Network, and him dissing Cally with the most awesome book dedication EVER. As you will hear, Phil is an extremely nice guy and he loves his comics. Like we mentioned, he’s an extremely busy and prolific guy – so do yourself a favor and go pick up some of his stuff! He rules.

http://twitter.com/philhester

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Hester_%28comics%29

After the wonderful interview, it all goes down the tubes – as usual. We talk about the new Blue Beetle live-action show, Al Williamson (R.I.P.), behind the scenes of the Thor movie, the Walking Dead tv show, the new Spider-Man video game, and more news. Best of all……. Spence impressions! Hooray! Then Spence talks about Batman #700, and him and Cally go back-and-forth with Mike Mignola love/hate. (Well, pretty much all love and some anger about his career decisions – that’s a more accurate description, I guess)

Thanks for joining us!

Phil Hester’s Choice for outro music: Analyse by Thom Yorke

We are delighted to present to you our wonderful interview with the amazingly-talented Eisner-nominated artist extraordinaire, Fiona Staples! If you listened to our podcast at all during 2009 you heard us gushing about her beautiful art in Wildstorm’s “North 40″, and we get to talk to her about upcoming projects, artistic process, favorite drinks, influences, the delightful Aaron Williams, DV8, The Mystery Society, Northlanders, and much much more! Check it out!

We’re all big fans of Fiona, and it was really cool to be able to talk to her. Even cooler, this is the second time we’ve talked to her! (The first one was lost due to technical issues. Woe is us.) We really appreciate her forgiving us and letting us do another interview. Please check out her amazing work at:

http://fstaples.blogspot.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Staples

Thanks again, Fiona! We owe you some booze.

After the interview, the TPB gang continue to bring the podcast down with enough dick jokes and crude humor to make a sailor uncomfortable!

Fiona was kind enough to pick our musical selection this time and boy, it is a tasty auditory treat. Link Wray: 5-10-15-20

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Seriously?!?!?! Seriously.

Not to “toot his dick” too much, but Rick was super-cool dude, and we really really appreciated the chance to talk to him. Cally has been harassing him for a long time, so we’re very glad that he finally caved in. Check Rick out at:

http://www.rickremender.com/new/
http://www.myspace.com/remender
https://twitter.com/Remender

After the interview, things get down to regular business – we talk about dirty stuff! (The Batman XXX porn, to be exact) There’s lots of news including the Eisner nominations, a new Green Lantern cartoon, and awesome Batman figures from DC Direct! Ryan talks about the Avengers stuff going on right now (and has harsh words for Doc Savage?!?!?!), Nate has a Nate’s Corner segment, and all of us lovingly adore the newest offering from our pals across the pond, Accent UK!

Review for this week: The Man Of Glass from Accent UK

Nate’s Corner Review: Invincible Vol. 1

Music Selection: Out Of Step by Minor Threat

Download the issue here !

We start things off with a bang! We have a great interview with the wonderful Mike Raicht, co-author of “Stuff Of Legend”! Mike talks about the excellent “Stuff Of Legend” from Third World Studios, his past work as an editor at Marvel, chillin’ with N’Sync and our boy Fraga, and how he is NOT a letterer! Mike has tons of cool stuff coming out, including Finding Nemo (for BOOM!), a Joker’s Asylum: Killer Croc special, an Army Of Darkness – League Of Light trade paperback – and more Stuff Of Legend! (Woo-hoo!)

Mike was a great guy, and we enjoyed our discussion with him. Check out Stuff Of Legend – you won’t regret it!

Check out Mike at:

http://twitter.com/mikeraicht

and

http://www.th3rdworld.com/

After the interview, the TPB gang talks about Rush Limbaugh and his joyless life, our pals at Accent UK, Frank Frazetta (R.I.P.), how Seattle is awesome for helping out a kid, and then we go parental as we discuss kid’s comics! We talk about Tiny Titans and other comics that we think your kids would dig.

Check this out – a new Nate’s Corner segment! Nate talks about Star Wars, and then we have our Indie 500 segment! We discuss and review Robot 13, Gigantic, Sir Edward Grey, I Zombie, Hellboy In Mexico, and more! Then Ryan talks about Siege #4 and totally ruins the ending for Spence.

Review for this week: Uncle Scrooge #391

Nate’s Corner Review: Star Wars Omnibus

Music Selection: I Like To Dance by Yo Gabba Gabba!

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Podcast favorite author Jamie S. Rich phones in from Portland for this wonderful interview! You should know Jamie from his work on “12 Reasons Why I Love Her”, “You Have Killed Me” and many more – including the brand-spankin’ new “Spell Checkers” from Oni Press!

(You can check out a 22 page sneak-preview here:  http://www.onipress.com/preview.php?bid=416&pid=211 )

In this great discussion we talk about living in Portland among the other comic creators (some of which makes Cally very very jealous), Jamie’s past experience as an editor with Darkhorse and Oni, karaoke, his working relationship with the incredible Joelle Jones, great pop music, writing and genre-hopping, writing novels vs. writing comics, noir, and much much more!

Jamie is a great guy, and a hell of a writer. (He’s also a real snappy dresser) You should definitely go pick up some of his stuff. Check him out at:

http://www.confessions123.com/jamie/mainpage.html

http://confessions123.blogspot.com/

Thanks for joining us!

Musical selection: “Fuck You” by Lily Allen