THE COMIX CLAPTRAP: Recent Episodes
The Comix Claptrap Podcast
We talk to cartoonist Sophie Yanow about her new book THE CONTRADICTIONS, plus her international comics education, old times in the Bay Area cartoonist scene, hitchhiking tips, Magic: The Gathering, and more!
Sophie's new book THE CONTRADICTIONS: https://drawnandquarterly.com/contrad...
Sophie Yanow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophieyanow
Rina Ayuyang Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/rinayay
Thien Pham Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thiendog
Josh Frankel Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jfhimself
We're happy to have Tom Scioli as our guest to gab about his new book JACK KIRBY: THE EPIC LIFE OF THE KING OF COMICS. Plus we squeeze in a little Transformers, G.I. Joe, McCloud masking, and the Pittsburgh comics scene.
The crew chats with Adrian Tomine about his wonderful new book The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist, plus finding a life-comics balance, and the late, great Richard Sala.
We very much recommend The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist: https://drawnandquarterly.com/loneliness-long-distance-cartoonist
Follow Adrian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adriantomine/
Rina Ayuyang Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/rinayay
Thien Pham Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thiendog
Josh Frankel Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jfhimself
We talk to cartoonist Ebony Flowers about her critically-acclaimed debut HOT COMB, what she's working on now, her "old boss" Lynda Barry, the intersection of academia and art, and more.
Get HOT COMB: https://drawnandquarterly.com/hot-comb
Ebony Flowers's New Yorker comic: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
Ebony Flowers on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ebonydraws
Rina Ayuyang Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/rinayay
Thien Pham Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thiendog
Josh Frankel Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jfhimself
FINALLY the Claptrap buddies have ensnared cartoonist T Edward Bak! We talk with him about his new book NO PLACE TO VISIT, his work on 18th century naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, how to condense libraries of info into the perfect set of lines on paper, and when to add a dash of autobio.
Get the book from Floating World: https://floatingworldcomics.com/shop/...
Bak's website: http://www.tedwardbak.com
Bak's Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/toddedwardbak
Rina Ayuyang Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/rinayay
Thien Pham Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thiendog
Josh Frankel Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jfhimself
The Claptrap goes guestless to check on each other in these tough times. Comics we've been reading, comics we've been making, trying to stay sane in quarantine isolation, and more.
The Claptrap crew chats with cartoonist Charles Forsman (THE END OF THE FXXXING WORLD, I AM NOT OK WITH THIS, REVENGER, AUTOMA) about comics process, collaboration, Netflix, Patreon, skateboarding, and more.
NOTE: We recorded this interview on May 22, 2020. Since then, we have been rocked by disturbing events in our country which have reminded us how crucial it is to tell our stories and to make our voices heard in whatever way we can, including comics, arts and writing. The Comix Claptrap supports Black Lives Matters, the protests, and ending police violence.
https://blacklivesmatter.com/
Charles Forsman's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/chuck
Rina Ayuyang Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/rinayay
Thien Pham Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thiendog
Josh Frankel Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jfhimself
Hey, we're back! In this episode we talk with author Lisa Brown about her new books The Phantom Twin and Long Story Short. We did things a bit different this time, via teleconference, and if you'd like to watch a bunch of beautiful cartoonists chat and snack you can do that at our new Youtube channel (search Comix Claptrap).
After a 2-year "hiatus", the Comix Claptrap gang is BACK! We kick off the season with a great interview with Tim Hensley about his latest comic "Sir Alfred," a humorous homage to Alfred Hitchcock and a stunning example of the publishing prowess of Alvin Buenaventura who passed away shortly before the release of this book. We talk to Tim about his inspirations, his meticulous comics process and working with Alvin. Also Rina, Thien and Josh celebrate the new and exciting comics coming out this year.
In this episode, Thien and Rina talk to amazing cartoonist and illustrator, Eleanor Davis, about her new book How to Be Happy. They discuss her illustration process, her history of painstakingly making mini-comics with die-cut covers, the talented cartoonist Drew Weing, and the inner-workings of social media. It was so much fun! Thien also shares his experience being an Ignatz Award judge (?!?) this year and some new comics he discovered through the review process, and Josh Frankel joins in to discuss new comics from Gabrielle Bell, Sam Alden, Ed Piskor and Tom Scioli. Give it a go! It's great!
Did you miss us? Thien and Rina interview Portland cartoonist and childrens book illustrator, Aron Nels Steinke. They had a fun time talking about his new book, The Zoo Box that he created with his wife Ariel Cohn, as well as his comic Mr. Wolf, loosely based on his experiences as a grade school teacher. Josh talks new comics from Jason Shiga, Farel Dalrymple, Pascal Girard, Zack Cannon and Josh Shalek.
The gang has finally gotten off its lazy butt for a new episode of the Comix Claptrap. The theme of this episode is "Getting Old" as we talk about the recent announcement of the 2013 Ignatz Awards nominees. Surprisingly, Thien is a lot mellower this time around. We also talk new comics with our number one buddy, Josh Frankel. Then we round the 1 hour and a half with a fun discussion with Bay Area cartoonist, Ben Catmull, about his new stunning art book, "Ghosts and Ruins" and tales from the ole Bay Area comics scene in the 90s.
It's been too long, and the new year has turned everyone's personalities in the Claptrap studios upside down! Thankfully we have Brit cartoonist's, Nick Abadzis' soothing voice to calm us down (and ease the ringing in your ears from Thien's selection of intro music. He edited the podcast this time!) Nick leads us in an engaging and thoughful conversation about his comic strip, Hugo Tate now collected by Blank Slate Books, thoughts on the rise in popularity of British comics in the U.S., his move to NY, TV sitcoms, and his exciting upcoming project that involved Orson Welles! Also new comics with Josh! What a difference a year makes! We've missed you and we're so happy we're together again!
P.S. Errata Stigmata - Nick's book was released in May 2012, not 2013, HA! And the new season of the claptrap is season 6, not season 7, but who cares! Enjoy!
Thien and Rina were delighted to talk to exciting and innovative cartoonist,printmaking extraordinare and pal, Dan Zettwoch. Dan took time out from watching the Cardinals game to discuss his new book Birdseye Bristoe, his intricate hand-made minicomics, and our favorite -- reality TV programming. We had lots of fun! Also Josh talks new comics such as Gabrielle Bell's latest book, July Diary,while Thien and Rina recap their experiences at the ALA and CAKE shows this past June! Celebrate the July 4th fireworks while listening to this great episode!
Thien and Rina are happy to talk to one of their favorite artist, cartoonist, zinester, Souther Salazar, who talks about his ambitious art and community-inspired traveling project, The Trading Tortoise. If you haven't donated to the project's kickstarter campaign, do it now! His perspective on making art was inspiring to us and I think it will make you go out and start making zines right now too. We also talk to Josh about exciting new comics from Retrofit Comics and crazy stuff from Image Comics. Give it a whirl!
We begin the new year with a thoughtful interview with Tom Hart, creater of Hutch Owen and founder of the Sequential Artists Workshop (The SAW!), a new comics school in Gainsville, Floria. Tom talks more about the school, the move to Gainsville and his upcoming projects with a new Hutch Owen collection and Daddy Lightning with Retrofit Comics. We also talk to Josh about comics we are looking forward to in 2012. Welcome back everyone!
Errata Stigmata: Tom wanted to point out that he mistakenly credited Richard Outcault for creating The Happy Hooligan. The author of The Happy Hooligan is actually Frederick Opper while Outcault is the creator of The Yellow Kid. Thanks, Tom. He's so hard on himself.
Just in time for your thanksgiving holiday, we bring you an ever so delightful interview with funny and talented, Lauren Weinstein. We talk about the new comics she's been posting on her blog, exciting upcoming projects, the crazy experiences of parenthood and how that all has affected her comics process, storytelling and her sanity! Also Rina gives us the scoop on her time at the Minneapolis Indie Expo and Josh finds a surprise inside the new Love and Rockets: New Stories #4! A great episode to listen to while traveling to your various turkey/tofurkey dinner parties! Gobble! Gobble!
In this episode, Thien and Rina have the great pleasure of talking to exciting and extremely talented comic artist Michael DeForge. We talk to him about all of the projects he's busy working on these days, his comic "Lose #3" published by Koyama Press, co-editing smutty comic anthology "Thickness #2" with Ryan Sands, and pigging out in Canada. Also, Thien and Josh talk about their time at the Alternative Press Expo and all the exciting comics they got at the show! This one was fun! So listen!
Dylan Williams was a talented comic artist, a passionate publisher and above all else our great dear friend. Dylan passed away this weekend. There are not enough words in the world to say how much we will miss him and his enthusiasm for comics, creativity and life in general. Last year at APE, Thien moderated a panel about the Bay Area comics scene then and now. Dylan, along with Bay Area comic artists Susie Cagle, Ben Catmull, Andrew Farago and Hellen Jo talked about their beginnings and participation in the indie, small comics community. The interview gives just a tiny glimpse at how influential and important Dylan was to comics and the many lives he touched.
Dylan would post about the Comix Claptrap on the Sparkplug Comics blog. He lovingly compare us to Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and say that Thien's podcast personality resembled the likes of Henry Rollins, Bill O'Reilly and Alger Hiss. Against his better judgement, he would sometimes actually listen to the show, and say that his favorite parts were when Finn would cry or scream in the background.
Dylan, we love you and we thank you for your heart, laughter and generosity.