Category: Webcomics

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Exploring Webcomics With the Pros – The Video SquadCast

Exploring Webcomics With the Pros – The Video SquadCast

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Hey Everyone!!

Welcome to the Video SquadCast! This is the recording of the panel we hosted at Baltimore Comic-Con on October 20, 2019. The panelists are Steve Conley, Katie Cook, Dean Haspiel and Thom Zahler.  The video is hosted on our YouTube Channel and the audio version of the SquadCast can be found at the bottom of this post.

Be sure to check out this great conversation about webcomics and how these professionals work their craft. The will tell you the techniques they use for developing story and rendering it into art.


Continue reading “Exploring Webcomics With the Pros – The Video SquadCast” →

Kickstarter You Should Be Backing: The Middle Age: Volume 2 – Hardcover Collection

Kickstarter You Should Be Backing: The Middle Age: Volume 2 – Hardcover Collection

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Hey folks. It’s that time again. If it’s Friday, it must be time to tell you a about a Kickstarter that you should be backing. We search the current Kickstarter campaigns, and when we find one we feels needs a little boost, we let you know about it.

This week we are spotlighting The Middle Age: Volume 2 – Hardcover Collection.

Continue reading “Kickstarter You Should Be Backing: The Middle Age: Volume 2 – Hardcover Collection” →

Baltimore Comic-Con 2019 Is Here And Pop Culture Squad Will Be There

Baltimore Comic-Con 2019 Is Here And Pop Culture Squad Will Be There

Posted on by PCS Staff

The twentieth anniversary celebration of the Baltimore Comic-Con will be taking place this weekend. It will be held at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, MD from Friday, October 18, 2019 – Sunday, October 20, 2019.

This is one of our favorite conventions of the year, and various members of Pop Culture Squad will be on-site for it.  You can find our sage-in-chief Mike Gold at booth 118 with the great folks from Insight Studios. Evelyn Kriete and Adriane Nash will be there as well.  If you stop by, you may find that they have some exclusive PCS swag (stickers and buttons).

Our photographers will be out and about getting pics of some of the fantastic cosplay that is sure to be on the floor of the show. Stay tuned to PCS, here and on our social media, and we will bring you the great costumes that we see. Continue reading “Baltimore Comic-Con 2019 Is Here And Pop Culture Squad Will Be There” →

Spotlight Interview with Dean Haspiel

Spotlight Interview with Dean Haspiel

Posted on by Bob Harrison

One of the earlier interviews that we had in this series on Pop Culture Squad was with cartoonist and auteur Dean Haspiel. He was talking last year about his collected edition of The Red Hook for Image Comics. This year his second volume in that universe, War Cry, is about to hit stores October 9th.

War Cry is the continuing adventures of Sam Brosia and the characters created in The Red Hook. We have seen the story on Line Webtoon, but we have also seen a preview of the collected print edition, and it is fabulous.

We were able to have a conversation with Dean, and, as usual, it went far afield into storytelling techniques, comic making process, the anatomy of a sentient city, and his mom.

Below is a transcript of the majority of our interview.

Continue reading “Spotlight Interview with Dean Haspiel” →

Kickstarter You Should Be Backing: Return of the TOE TAG RIOT!

Kickstarter You Should Be Backing: Return of the TOE TAG RIOT!

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Hey folks. It’s that time again. We search the current Kickstarter campaigns, and when we find one we feels needs a little boost, we let you know about it.

This week we are spotlighting The Return of the Toe Tag Riot. It is a comic story that will be released digitally in four individual issues and then printed in a collected edition.

What is Toe Tag Riot?

That is a great question. This is the second installment of this series. It was originally given life on Kickstarter back in 2014, and was subsequently distributed by Black Mask Studios. You can also find the original on Comixology. Creators Matt Miner and Sean Von Gorman are back with a new story about their cursed band of Punk musicians. Rounding out the creative team is colorist Gab Contreras and letterer Taylor Esposito.

Continue reading “Kickstarter You Should Be Backing: Return of the TOE TAG RIOT!” →

Webcomics: They Are Out There, Now Go Read Them!!!

Webcomics: They Are Out There, Now Go Read Them!!!

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Comics are changing. You can’t find single issues of comics at the newsstand or in the convenience store anymore. On the plus side, there are multiple outlets for creative talent to deliver amazing comics to the public.

While traditional single issue comic books continue to be a great source of visual narrative no matter if the delivery platform is physical or digital, there are other formats that have evolved into some incredible comic material. With the advent of internet comic platforms, creative talent can deliver their stories in strip form without having to rely on newspaper syndication.

Webcomics have sprung up pretty much since the dawn of the internet. You can find comics in narrative form, slice of life strip form, individual single panels, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Most are even designed for mobile delivery and can be read on phones and tablets using apps.

There are many webcomics that we look forward to updates from on a regular basis. We want to bring you some of the most amazing webcomics that we have found and think people should be reading.

Click on the images or the website listings below to check out each of these wonderful comics. Also we recommend thenib.com for fantastic satire comics.

Continue reading “Webcomics: They Are Out There, Now Go Read Them!!!” →

Spotlight Interview with the Creators of Grumble: Mike Norton and Rafer Roberts

Spotlight Interview with the Creators of Grumble: Mike Norton and Rafer Roberts

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Hey! Welcome back to our special feature Spotlight Interview column. When we are fortunate enough to get to talk to creative professionals, we love to bring those conversations to you folks.

Last month on March 24, 2019, we were able to get together with the creative team behind the hit comic series Grumble, published by Albatross Funnybooks.

We interviewed artist Mike Norton, and writer Rafer Roberts at their tables on the floor at C2E2.  The pair have previously worked together on Valiant’s Archer and Armstrong.

Mike is a veteran comic artist, having also done work for DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, and Devil’s Due. He is also well-known for the multiple award winning webcomic BATTLEPUG that he both writes and draws. Last year, he published a collected edition of his web comic strip Lil’ Donnie which is a satire of a certain orange infant that resides in a big white house.

Rafer is a writer and artist who has done a lot of work for Valiant, including Harbinger Renegade, and also wrote Modern Fantasy that was published by Dark Horse.

Grumble is a comic about a guy that magically gets turned into talking pug, and with his companion Tala, is on the run from multiple entities that are out to get him. It is fun and action packed. The writing and art are top notch, and the colors by Marissa Louise and lettering by Crank! make this an excellent book all around.

Pop Culture Squad: Where did the idea for Grumble come from?

Rafer Roberts: It started with Mike.

Mike Norton: I’ve always got pugs on the brain. That is not like a hidden thing about me, but I really was longing for a “Howard the Duck” sort of thing. I love those adventures with a character that you can sort of relate to, but it’s a completely alien sort of creature. I don’t know how it happened in my head, but one day I said out loud to the other guys in the studio, “What if John Constantine was Howard the Duck?”  Everybody hates John Constantine, but what if people didn’t want to be around him, not because he was bringing the devil or he was dangerous, but he was just an asshole. Continue reading “Spotlight Interview with the Creators of Grumble: Mike Norton and Rafer Roberts” →

Spotlight Interview: Talking about Cupid’s Arrows with Thom Zahler

Spotlight Interview: Talking about Cupid’s Arrows with Thom Zahler

Posted on by Bob Harrison

We recently had the opportunity to talk to writer and cartoonist Thomas F. Zahler about his current projects, his thoughts on his craft, and Pop Culture topics.

If you are not familiar with his work, Thom, a graduate of The Kubert School, has had a successful career in comics as a writer, artist, letterer and cartoonist. He has also written for television, including the Ultimate Spider-Man show on Disney XD. He has published a lot of his creator owned comics through IDW Enterprises, including Love and Capes, Long Distance, and Time and Vine.  Thom has also worked on comics for other licensed properties, notably My Little Pony from IDW. You can find some links to Thom’s work at the end of this interview.

Beginning in 2017, Thom published a weekly episodic comic strip on Line Webtoons, called Warning Label. He then collected that story in a printed edition that was funded through Kickstarter last year.

We wanted to catch up with him about his latest project, Cupid’s Arrows, which is set to premiere on Line Webtoons next week.

About Cupid’s Arrows:

Pop Culture Squad: Can you tell us what Cupid’s Arrows is about?

Thom Zahler: It re-imagines Cupids as two-person hitman teams. The idea is that both Cupids on the team have to shoot their targets to get a couple to fall in love, and the story follows a particular team of Cupids named Rick and Lora, who we see go on a number of missions. We also see that they may have a budding relationship with each other, which is not permitted among Cupids.

PCS: What is the inspiration behind this project? Continue reading “Spotlight Interview: Talking about Cupid’s Arrows with Thom Zahler” →

Spotlight Interview: Talking Web Comics and the Red Hook with Dean Haspiel

Spotlight Interview: Talking Web Comics and the Red Hook with Dean Haspiel

Posted on by Bob Harrison

At Baltimore Comic-Con this year, we were able to catch up with comic artist and writer Dean Haspiel. Dean, a New York City native,  grew up in the comic industry working with luminaries such as Howard Chaykin and Harvey Pekar. He has produced award winning work in both television and web comic media. He is know for works such as Billy Dogma, The Quitter, American Splendor, Beef with Tomato, Bored to Death, The Alcoholic, The Fox, and his current epic saga, The Red Hook.

The Red Hook is a webcomic that was original released on the LINE WEBTOON platform and won the 2017 inaugural Ringo Award for Best Webcomic. It was released this year in a collected print format by Image Comics.

The second season of the Red Hook was released as War Cry, also on LINE WEBTOON in 2018. It was also nominated for a Ringo Award.  The third season titled StarCross is expected to be released early 2019.

Webcomics: You can’t avoid it. You can’t deny it. Start to embrace it!

PopCultureSquad: Hi Dean. Thanks for doing this. Let’s start with, “When are we going to get to see StarCross, the third volume of the Red Hook saga?”

Dean Haspiel: The initial date that we decided on was Valentine’s Day 2019. It is a very ambitious project for me. Ideally, I would like to have about sixteen chapters in the can before we launch. I hope to have that done by mid-February. If not, then we may push it until March or April, and then it will run for about five and a half months consecutively.

PCS: There are times when things get announced on LINE WEBTOON as “Coming Soon”, and then it takes quite awhile before we get to see them. Continue reading “Spotlight Interview: Talking Web Comics and the Red Hook with Dean Haspiel” →