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Special Live SquadCast: Women in Comics History – Part 3 – Shade: The Changing Girl Reunion

Special Live SquadCast: Women in Comics History – Part 3 – Shade: The Changing Girl Reunion

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Part 3: Shade: The Changing Girl Reunion

We held the third of our series of Live Broadcasts celebrating Women’s History Month last night on March 22nd. This week’s broadcast featured most of the creative team for one of the most undercelebrated comic series of the past decade. Shade: The Changing Girl and subsequently Shade: The Changing Woman was part of the initial offering from the DC Comics’ Young Animal imprint that was curated by creative whirlwind Gerard Way.

Shade ran for a total of eighteen issues plus some appearances in the Milk Wars crossover event. The writer/artist team was intact all the way through as well as the colorist, letterer, and main cover artist. The comic is a true evolution of what has come before with the character that was created by Steve Ditko in the seventies and revamped in the eighties by Peter Milligan and Chis Bachalo. It is a story about what it means to be a human.

We were able to bring four of those women together last night and talk to them about their remembrances of their time on the book as well as their careers in comics. The result was a truly joyful celebration of an excellent comic book. The admiration and respect for each other as well as what they produced came through in the interaction that these women had with each other.

Our Guests

Continue reading “Special Live SquadCast: Women in Comics History – Part 3 – Shade: The Changing Girl Reunion” →

With Further Ado #241: SXSW Part 1 – Vault Unbound

With Further Ado #241: SXSW Part 1 – Vault Unbound

Posted on by Ed Catto

My head just about exploded at the South by Southwest Conference and Festivals (SXSW) this past week. This is an amazing event- kind of like the love child of San Diego Comic-Con and a musical festival and a business conference with a ton of forward-looking panels. There’s so much to dissect and analyze. I’ll be doing a deep dive in next week’s column.

But to give you a taste of it, I will focus on the lone comic panel at the SXSW this year – the Vault / Def Leppard / Kajabi panel.

This was a high-profile event that was designed, on the surface of it all, to celebrate Vault’s upcoming Hysteria project with Def Leppard. Phil Collen of Def Leppard was on the stage, along with Vault CEO Damian Wassel and Kajabi’s Sean Kim as part of the new Headshell imprint. Continue reading “With Further Ado #241: SXSW Part 1 – Vault Unbound” →

Continued After the Next Page #022: Planning Panels and Conventioning in the Windy City and Ithaca

Continued After the Next Page #022: Planning Panels and Conventioning in the Windy City and Ithaca

Posted on by Bob Harrison

In the “before times”, people would come to the gathering place and wander the concourse taking in the sights purchasing shiny wares with no fear of deadly disease. That was three years ago. Are we back to that point? Probably not, and probably not for a while still, but we are getting closer.

Comic convention season is back in full force. That break in con scheduling that we normally have from before the December holidays until late February didn’t really happen this year. Most people seems to be willing to return to the circuit with little concern for the pandemic creating coronavirus. The best part of this is that my social media feeds are not filling up with tales of infections or even the dreaded con-crud.

All of this has me even more excited to begin my 2023 convention season in a couple of weeks. Your intrepid correspondent will be part of the press contingent at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, more commonly known by its geek friendly acronym C2E2. I will be walking the floors all three days talking to exhibitors and fans and checking out some of the interesting panel programming.

However, the most exciting panels, in my not so humble opinion, will take place on Sunday April 2, 2023. I will be hosting two panels a Reed event for the first time in my career, and I am beyond excited. Continue reading “Continued After the Next Page #022: Planning Panels and Conventioning in the Windy City and Ithaca” →

Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Russell Nohelty and Laurie Foster about Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell

Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Russell Nohelty and Laurie Foster about Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Our latest SquadCast interview takes place with a pair of comic creators working to fund their latest project, and it is a great concept.

For several years now, writer and editor Russell Nohelty has been working on the multiple volumes of his anthology series Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell for a few years now, and as the project transitions to the next phase he has partnered with Laurie Foster and Unlikely Heroes Studios to repackage the books in an even more accessible format with added material.

The crowdfunding campaign for this special release is running on Backerkit until March 21st.

We spoke with both Russell and Laurie about the project, H.P. Lovecraft and the challenges that his legacy presents in the current social climate, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff.

Russell is an author with credits such as Ichabod Jones: Monster Hunter, The Godsverse Chronicles, and The Obsidian Spindle Saga, as well as being the editor for the Cthulhu is Hard to Spell anthology series. He has also contributed to a bunch of anthologies including:  Cthulhu Invades Oz, Monsters and Other Scary Shit, Parallel Worlds, The Edgar Allan Poe Chronicles to name a few.

Laurie is an editor, inker, publisher, cosplayer, and pretty much everything else that you can think of. She runs Unlikely Heroes Studios and if the day has a Y at the end, she is probably running a crowdfunding campaign somewhere.

This conversation focused on the campaign for the excellent Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell, but it also ventured into the realms of the horror genre in general, representation in publishing, and nerdy favorites.

We hope you enjoy the conversation:

What is Cthulhu is Hard to Spell?

Continue reading “Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Russell Nohelty and Laurie Foster about Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell” →

So Long and Thanks for the Fish, Man #083: Creative Devolution

So Long and Thanks for the Fish, Man #083: Creative Devolution

Posted on by Marc Alan Fishman

In a few short weeks, Unshaven Comics kicks off our 2023 convention season with a trip… home. After applying and failing to gain admittance to C2E2’s Artist Alley, our FOMO kicked in, and we grossly overpaid for a small press booth. For those coming out to the show who’d like to rub it in? We’ll be at SP12 — in the small press area between Artist Alley and the autograph lanes. 

Here’s the funny part — to me at least. I was the one who felt the biggest pangs of pre-regret when the small press table contract was sent to us. I was the one who all but told my Unshaven mates “we’re doing this show even if we break even”. This knowing we’re still a few months away from a new Samurnauts issue being ready. This knowing all we have new is the awesome Blooms: Heist on the Magical Girl Vault that Kyle completed last year with Stephanie Mided. 

Nerf gun to our collective heads? Unshaven feels like this show won’t feel like some amazing homecoming. Especially because Blooms did debut in Chicago… Last year. At the massively underwhelming Fan Expo Chicago (the mutated carcass of the original Chicago Comic Con, aka Wizard World Chicago). We moved 43 copies at that show, and honestly, that was pretty good all things considered. So, we waltz into C2E2 praying that the fans walking in did not attend Fan Expo last year — or if they did, they somehow missed us.

So, knowing that we’d need to hit decent-to-awesome revenue numbers at the show to make back our booth cost, enter desperation! 

With limited time and maximum flop sweat, I looked to my personal cash cow — PokeMashups — to hopefully give us a little buzz.. Since I started offering these silly things, I’ve personally seen continuous exponential growth. 

Before I talk about our hail Mary for success…A bit of backstory for the uninitiated. Continue reading “So Long and Thanks for the Fish, Man #083: Creative Devolution” →

Special Live SquadCast: Women in Comics History – Part 2 – Letters to the Editors

Special Live SquadCast: Women in Comics History – Part 2 – Letters to the Editors

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Part 2: Letters to the Editors

Welcome to the second of our series of Live Broadcasts celebrating Women’s History Month. We will be bringing you a different group of women creators and professionals each week to talk about their experiences, as well as their inspirations and hopes for the comics industry.

This week’s broadcast has a group of women who have curated some of the best comics of the last thirty years. They are best known for editing comics from Grendel to Fables to Bitter Root. There impact on the industry is massive and we are excited to have them on the show.

Our Guests

Continue reading “Special Live SquadCast: Women in Comics History – Part 2 – Letters to the Editors” →

Brainiac On Banjo: The Wolfe In Creep’s Loathing

Brainiac On Banjo: The Wolfe In Creep’s Loathing

Posted on by Mike Gold

A brave man once requested me to answer questions that are key. Is it to be or not to be? And I replied, oh why ask me? — “Suicide Is Painless,” lyric written by Michael B. Altman (age, 15)

For 89 years, one of the more reliable cultural stalwarts in the global pop culture has been the adventures of private detective / gourmand / orchid-raiser / fussbudget genius Nero Wolfe. His fictional history encompasses 33 novels and 41 novellas and short stories written by mathematician and pro-labor, pro-New Deal, pro-Roosevelt, anti-fascist Rex Stout through 1975. Wolfe has been featured in a gargantuan number of movies, radio shows, television series, stage plays and postage stamps produced all over the world.

As careful readers of Brainiac On Banjo (et al) may be aware, I am among Rex Stout’s many rabid fans. What appeals most to me is the dialogue between Wolfe and his assistant / legman / tormentor Archie Goodwin — quite frankly, I have found these particular scenes (of which there are many in each novel) to be among the best and more entertaining exchanges of words in the English language. A decade after Stout’s death the Wolfe series was and has been continued by Chicago Tribune journalist Robert Goldborough, who, to date, has written 16 more Wolfe novels including an origin of the Wolfe/Goodwin “team.” Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: The Wolfe In Creep’s Loathing” →

Pop Culture SquadCast Live with Special Guest Dean Haspiel

Pop Culture SquadCast Live with Special Guest Dean Haspiel

Posted on by Bob Harrison

In the latest live episode of the Pop Culture SquadCast, our hosts Mike Gold and Bob Harrison will talk with writer, artist, cartoonist, playwright, filmmaker, and heck of a good guy, Dean Haspiel.

Our Guest:

Dean Haspiel is well know for his web comic The Red Hook Saga on Webtoon.com. He has worked with Harvey Pekar on the American Splender comic and Jonathan Ames on The Alcoholic. He was an early adopter of the mass appeal of online comics and used it to cultivate projects like his Billy Dogma stories. He is currently working on Covid Cop which is a kickstarter campaign that is still going on.

You can watch the stream below, and we are also broadcasting live on our Facebook and YouTube pages.

Special Live SquadCast: Women in Comics History – Part 1 – Legendary Ladies of Comics

Special Live SquadCast: Women in Comics History – Part 1 – Legendary Ladies of Comics

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Welcome to the first of our series of Live Broadcasts celebrating Women’s History Month. We will be bringing you a different group of women creators and professionals each week to talk about their experiences, as well as their inspirations and hopes for the comics industry.

Our first group of women helped to create the backdrop for many a young person growing up in the 1980s and beyond. They are masters in their craft and continue to excel while showing the younger generations how it is done.

Our Guests

Continue reading “Special Live SquadCast: Women in Comics History – Part 1 – Legendary Ladies of Comics” →

With Further Ado #238: Pippi to Ripley

With Further Ado #238: Pippi to Ripley

Posted on by Ed Catto

Katharine Kittredge is one of those people who inspires me. Wait, that’s not right, she’s one of those people who inspires everyone she meets. She’s smart, passionate and a fearless warrior. More than that, she’s quick with a smile and loves hockey. What’s not to like?

Her title is Professor, Literatures in English at Ithaca College and she is an expert at Eighteenth Century British Literature, Children’s Literature, Science Fiction and Gender Studies. She is also the editor of Lewd and Notorious: Female Transgression in the Eighteenth Century and the author of numerous articles on the work of Melesina Trench.

She paved the way for me teach the ITHACON course (more on the 2023 version of that soon) and now focuses her time on things like the Pippi to Ripley conference. Continue reading “With Further Ado #238: Pippi to Ripley” →