£1 Comics (with Jamie Noguchi of ¥P)

While we were at MAGFest, we caught up with Jamie Noguchi, creator of Yellow Peril and Super Art Fighter extraordinaire.

Jamie, center, with his Super Game Face™ (image by Super Art Fight)

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We podcasted with Jamie about his comic back at Intervention, so this time we focused more on his involvement with Super Art Fight! However, it's a lesser known fact that Jamie is a master of all things viral video related. His "Shameful, Shameful Blog" is responsible for introducing most of the DCG staff to Gangnam Style, £1 Fish (who wasn't deported! Hooray!), and even Christmas Shoes. 

Based on that viral awesomeness, this episode has a few brilliant flash mob ideas that I hope will come to fruition at future events. Here's a spoiler: yaoiyodelers.tumblr.com (it doesn't exist… yet). Given that there is already some brilliant con panhandling or busking going on to entertain the tedious event lines at larger events, I think that the vendors room of all cons could benefit from singing/hawking. We weren't going to expect it from the already overworked artists, so I'm hoping some vigilante baritones will step up to the challenge.

Other unwise astounding ideas from this episode: bear-pit-style martial arts sparing where you're all holding martinis and if you spill, you lose. MAGFest should rent out the largest bouncy castle money can buy. There needs to be a DC location for Smash Shack (just realized the original has been closed for a few years - so now we need it even more). And something about ten-year-old viking kittens.

But, much more excitingly, this podcast is perfectly timed so that I can promote Super Art Fight's upcoming appearance at Macworld! Last year's performance is up on YouTube. Watch up close and personal as two artists battle for supremacy. Don't forget to heckle the livestream through Twitter and the Macworld site. The two bouts are Jamie Noguchi vs. Chris Impink and Dann Malihom vs. Jamie Baldwin. Digital art fights like this only come once a year so clear your schedule for 5pm EST Friday, February 1.

More links!

• Super Art Fight Website
• Super Art Fight Facebook
• Super Art Fight Twitter
• Keep an eye on the Macworld/iWorld site for the livestream.
• Feb 22 Super Art Fight Debut at the Black Cat
• Their Wheel of Death is open for suggestions through Feb 13.

Thanks, Jamie, for an excellent podcast!

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What's a Spink‽ (with Interrobang Studios)

This week, we interview Sarah and Kevin from Interrobang Studios!

I couldn't pass up Kevin's awesome expression here.
(images by Interrobang Studios)

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I actually first found Interrobang and their awesome comics through Spinks! Spinks are hyper-cute, blobbity mutes that go around being derpy and adorable. However, they're only one of dozens of comics and projects and books and games that Interrobang produces. For example, there's I'm My Own Mascot (a semi-autobiographical comic) and the archived comics A Girl Named Bob and Punker Darren.

Trigger Star has been on hiatus as the perfect ending is concocted and drawn up. Kevin has been working on the comic since high school, and I can't wait to see how everything gets wrapped up in the end. To top it all off, Potluck Comics is where they throw all the awesome story lines that can't find a home in the other comics. So it is the home of It Sucks to Be Weegie, Ensign Sue Must Die, Heeere's Satan, and WatchBabies.

Even if you don't think you're familiar with Interrobang, I bet you've seen Kevin's fabulous critique of misogyny in film marketing:

Butts. Lol. (image from Kevin's DeviantArt)

Then, we got into a deeply geeky discussion about art — brushes, line weights, tech pens, kerning, lettering — all of it. (I busted out those em-dashes, that's how excited I get about a good illustration and typography discussion). For the non-artsy, I promise there's tons of other content, but it's so much fun when any artist is willing to talk you through their entire creative process. They also have the most adorable origin story bar none. There's nice guys and the girl from the comic shop and happy endings and even cats.

If you'd like to show them some support:

• Interrobang Studios' Website (links to the comics are already in the text above)
• Here's the RSS feed you'll need to keep up with all the comics.
• Check out their convention schedule if you want to get some con-only like badges and prints!
• Like them on Facebook.
• Follow on Twitter.
• Interrobang has a new full-color book, The Red One, and it's full of the one-of-a-kind and out-of-print art that you can't find anywhere else (here's the free preview).
• Their store has lots of other books as well.

Remember, web traffic helps too, even if you're not buying merch. Thanks again to Kevin and Sarah for a great podcast!

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The Hidden World of Turtle Derby (with Carolyn and Joe)

By Aine

Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo joined us to talk about Curls Studio and to teach Aine valuable Truths (e.g. Turtles can make noise).

(image by Curls Studio)

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After getting a bit of advice on podcast editing from Joe, our theme for the episode became "Fuck it, we'll do it live!!" This gives you a peak into the tangents we often get into when recording good interviewees and fun conversationalists. Although we talk about our guests' podcast and their career as equal opportunity offenders, we also get way into My Little Pony, horrific fanfiction sub-genres, Meetup, Instagram, Tiny Tunes, and Batman. Oh, and that Eastern European chick who's trying to surgery herself into looking like Barbie.

It's easy to understand why we're all a bit ADD given how many different projects they have going on concurrently. They collaborate on the Carolyn and Joe Show (super easy to remember title, right?), but they're also keeping track of everything on the link list below. For those of you new to Curls Comic, I'd recommend starting up with the recent Turtle Derby story arc, which lead to our brainstorming a new reality series called Turtle Derby Moms and Dads. This really is one of our most quotable episodes.

Here's how to find them on the inter webs:

•       Podcast: The Carolyn and Joe Show

•       Indie Comic Book Publisher: Curls Studio (and blog)

•       Webcomic: Curls

•       Curls on Facebook

•       Carolyn's Twitter

•       Carolyn's Tumblr

•       Joe's Twitter

•       Buy their stuff: Etsy

•       Joe's film production work: Astray Productions

•       AwesomeCon

Let them know if you'd like to add drop off places for her free newspaper, or if interested in having print ads! Thanks again, Carolyn and Joe, for joining us this week.

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Gay Porn And Space Opera (Podcast with Starseed)

For this podcast, we have our usual three hosts and the creators of the webcomic Starseed:

"... You either perked up or you didn't." (promotional image from Starseed's Website)

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Low class tagline with high class execution. In Starseed, amazing art and excellent writing come together to create beautiful and complex storylines. This episode, we spoke with Sarah Palaszynski and RM Rhodes about their latest comic. We also asked about their inspirations, and they offered us a unique look into the world of self-publishing.

Starseed is a black and white webcomic, with full-color versions available in print. Sarah draws, inks, zipatones, colors, letters, and rocks a mustache finger tattoo (it breaks my heart that I forgot to get a picture, but here are a few similar ones). Rhodes writes and self-publishes comics, and he's been in the business for half a decade. Their latest collaboration is so much fun. I have to agree with the assertion that the comic sells on concept alone. Did I mention gay porn space opera?

I won't spoil too much about the world, but I'll say that Sarah's done a great job of creating a futuristic setting that isn't all angles and chrome. The spaceship computer system is based on a living tree, and the decision to use organic technology helps soften the aesthetic, and opens all kinds of plot possibilities. Psychotropic pollen, anyone?

If you want to get in the mood before starting into the archives, here's a nod to Sarah's sordid (in a good way) fanfic past. Check out this fan video of Kirk/Spock set to NiN's "Closer."

Link list!

• Comic Website
• Sarah's Website (Art and Slashfic!)
• Sarah's DeviantArt
• Sarah's Orenda Studios
• Sarah/Starseed's Twitter
• Rhodes' Website (Olethros)
• Rhodes' Twitter
• Another comic of Rhodes, Emo Galactus

Thanks again, RM and Sarah for joining us on the podcast.

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Podcast - Danielle Corsetto (Girls With Slingshots)

Thank you all for your patience! Here it is, our long-awaited podcast with Danielle Corsetto! <3 Probably our most ADHD/NSFW podcast ever! It has to be awesome; why else would I have all these exclamation marks!?

Danielle's self-portrait
(from GWS)

Mp3 here

I'm not going to lie, the final podcast in our Intervention line-up was our hardest to edit. I… There… I hope you like it. Here's a preview: Danielle's sex toy reviews lead to Warren Ellis' "Conan" posts which brought up a story of how not to show off body mods. I also explained to Danielle how one, single, line of text of hers has haunted me for months. 

The podcast quickly escalated into "how best to horrify Danielle," or, perhaps more accurately "We know Aine will have to edit all of this second by second, so let's whip out all the worst stories we can think of interspersed with legitimate interview questions." ಠ___ಠ 

Although we did get to hear about how Danielle is at winning Twitter ("Anyone free for dinner?" can turn into a 40+ fan meetup), and how badass her hometown is, Danielle also revealed a few secrets. For example, although she writes about the hilarious antics of Hazel's alcohol-induced hallucinations, the comic is far less autobiographical than most people assume. But hey, no one's going to turn their nose up at free liquor, which is evidently an unanticipated side effect of creating McPedro.

My protestations aside, this is hands-down one of the most fun conversations I've had in months. I need to find a way to stalk hang out with Danielle sometime when we're not all run into the ground by convention sleep dep and pounding five-hours. Oh, and the podcast has given me a new life goal: discover the hidden West Virginian utopia.

Link list!

• Girls With Slingshots (Read it. Read all of it. Keep an eye out for hover text in later comics).
• Book seven is out!
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Awesome Kickstarter Danielle did the cover for: Benign Kingdom

I'll leave you with Puppy Cow and McPedro's 50 seconds of terror:

Podcast - Interview with Jennie Breeden (Devil's Panties)

This *should* be the MP3 link.We totally earn that explicit rating this week. I'm not saying that as a warning;

I'm saying it because to assure you that this week is far, far from boring.

Listen to our podcast, then go pick up
Volume 6 (image by Jennie Breeden)

Thanks to all of you DCG, Intervention, and Devil's Panties fans for being so patient! This week's episode is with Jennie Breeden! A wonderful lesson in randomness, we talk about everything from a proposed Gloom card ("Poisoned by Platypuses/Platypi/Platypodes") to how best to test a kilt to how chunky milk can be used in baking on hardcore mode. As always, we devolve into about five minutes of overlapping Archer quotes/spoilers.

Devil's Panties is a semi-autobiographical webcomic with some awesome boots, although Jennie assures us that the stuff that's made up isn't the stuff you'd expect. She's got the best honeymoon arc I've ever read (here) - too few honeymoons involve homemade explosives. Then, she's got What Not to Say comics that sum up the worst things you could hear from an SO after the lights go out.

Speaking of sexy bedroom moments, check out Jennie's comic on Filthy Figments, Id (probably NSFW). Jennie describes the all-female-created comics on Filthy Figments as sex positive stories with "plot sold separately" that get right to the parts you're really there to read. Which leads to a hilarious "I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going" moment or three in the podcast. 

Jennie's Links!

• Devil's Panties (still not satanic porn!)
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LiveJournal
• DeviantArt
• YouTube
• The Devil's Panties: Vol. 6 (for physical books click here)
• The Store
• NSFW: Id on Filthy Figments 

Thanks for chatting with us about Gangnam Style!

Remember kids, Auntie Jennie says, "Just say no to con nookie."