Before attending the Summit City Comicon last month, a fellow artist who attended the show named Adam Hicks was taking commissions.

After checking out his Deviant Art webpage and comments about his art via Twitter, I had to request a commission from him with one of my favorite characters from the Masters of The Universe, Evil-Lyn.

She truly owns over them all, as depicted in the piece. Adam truly turned this piece out and it was necessary to show the entire world. Hope you dig it. I’m hpoing that Adam & I can collabo in the near future on a webcomic if all goes well.

You can check out some of Adam’s art at gigatoast.deviantart.com (including this commission) and enjoy to your hearts content.

Come back tomorrow for the latest installment of Agents of C.O.L.T. featuring the art of Andrew Charipar! Peace.

-Shawn

As seen in the Mercury & The Murd “D is for Death, Sucka” storyline, Agent Frank Rincon seldom takes things seriously.

More Agents of C.O.L.T. next Friday! Come back this weekend for a weekend long marathon of Luke Foster’s The Gang From The Store.

Happy New Year to all of you. Peace.

-Shawn

Welcome back to another installment of the PKD Media Spotlight, shining a beacon out to indie creators, artists, comics, and various modes of pop-culture that you have been sleeping on.

This week is all about the works of Julian Lytle. Creator of the slanguistic and hilarious webcomic “Ants,” I’ve been following Julian’s work for a few years now. In fact, when I first hopped into world of self-publishing PKD Media comics, Julian hooked a brother up with a mad Mercury & The Murd pinup.

I have a lot of respect for this gentleman; his artwork and style is vivid and vibrant. You really need to check him out. Here’s what he had to say during our interview session.

Tell me what inspired you to create the Ants webcomic, and what it’s all about.

I’ve been toying with Ants since I was 14 years old. I started thinking of doing it as a comic in college. I put a couple in the school comic book and then did some for my senior project. Over the years I’ve tried to start this comic a couple of times since then but just got around to the way I want them to interact and talk earlier this year.

What defines your artistic style?

On Ants I’d say is rough and brushy. I keep it kind of kinetic and less refined on purpose. I think it’s like a visual feel of what mid 90s rap sounded like. Rough and wild yet fluid and smooth.

With my other work I use a more tighter style. Which I am more influenced by fashion illustrators of the past and of today. Also Pop Art and classic illustration. I also use a lot of typography.

When was the moment in your life that you made up your mind to step into the world of art?

It was a Dannon Ninja Turtles yogurt ad. I drew Donatello perfectly; like how he looked in the ad. Then I took it to school and everyone was impressed, from my friends to my school teacher, to the school officials. And 6th grade girls, see I was in second grade, pretty girls liking you for anything changes what you want to do for life.

Who are some of your favorite storytellers from either a writing or artistic aspect?

That’s a hard question because there are so many. But right now some of the ones I’m focusing on are what I’m enjoying regularly right now. One of my favorite storytellers is Grant Morrison. The older I get the more I like superhero books that push concepts or reuse older concepts that are told in a new way. Artistically Darwin Cooke, JH Williams III, Frank Quitely and Mike Allred are some of my favorite current working artists. My old Friend Ron Wimberly aka D-Pi. Naoki Urasawa, I think is the right now the best Writer/artist making comics in the world today. I really like Masashi Kishimoto who does Naruto, he has great action pacing and a great story that I have said is the best superhero comic in the world. I also enjoy Tite Kubo and his manga Bleach, its panel layout is designed really well, great pacing. I like Tex Avery and Chuck Jones. Dave Chappelle and Aaron McGruder influence my strip a lot along with Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock. I also really enjoy Quentin Tarentino films (at times I think he is in my head like Being John Malkovich) and the creators of The Wire who I feel made the best television show ever produced. Oh and I can’t forget the King, JACK KIRBY!!!!

What kind of music influences your artistic process?

Over the past couple of years it’s been Dance Music and 90s era Hip Hop and R&B. When I think up a comic most of the time it’s to a song, so it’s very much like a short film in my head. I have an idea to do a comic really focused on having it feel like a single and when all of them are released they are an EP then later a LP. I also think up pieces based on rap lines, they are like treasure trove of concepts.

What do you think is the best thing going for the comics industry right now?

Hmm, I think the growing area of webcomics. It’s starting to grow beyond just comedy. I think with how much printing costs and some of the changes in Diamond’s minimums for small press it seems that more and more people are moving toward this new avenue of distributing comics. Also with device’s like the iPhone / iPod Touch reading comics on go is very easy again.

Tell me why you feel that Kamandi is one of the greatest comic book characters on the face of the planet.

First it’s made by JACK KIRBY. Then it has the subtitle THE LAST BOY ON EARTH!!! Which when you read it just echoes over and over. The funny thing is I’ve read like one Kamandi comic ever. But it’s so awesome I want to read more, the concept is plantanas. It has Scientist Dogs, evil rats, and a Tiger with a cape and a sword and a gun. Ben Boxer is just awesome. It’s so many ideas in this comic that it just screams great.

What’s playing on your “Motherbox” (aka Julian’s iPhone) right now?

Well I have only about 300 songs on it at all times. So here is a sample.

Raekwon – Ice Cream and Criminology, Daft Punk Alive 2007 (the only full album that is on Motherbox), Drake – Best I ever had, November 18^th, Successful (all screwed and chopped), Rye Rye Featuring M.I.A. – Bang, ICE T – Power, BBD – Poison, Guy – Groove Me, Nirvana – Lithium, Wham – Careless Whisper, Hercules and Love Affair – You Belong, Kanye West – Paranoid, Queen – We Will Rock You, Mos Def – Casa Bey, N.E.R.D. – Everyone Nose, Michael Jackson – Off the Wall, Erykah Badu – Other Side of the Game, GZA – Liquid Sword, Pac Div – Pac Div, Beastie Boys – Sabotage, Apollonia 6 – Sex Shooter, Ghostface Killah – Daytona 500, UGK featuring Outkast – International Players Anthem, Notorious B.I.G. – Unbelivable, Sheila E – The Glamourous Life, Mint Condition – Pretty Brown Eyes, and Owusu and Hannibal – What It’s About. That’s a taste and one day if I get a cartoon, its soundtrack will be banaynays.

If there was a special comic book project that you could work on, what would it be?

Mainstream-wise I have a killer Dazzler Idea that I think is so bananas that it would work and all the people I tell it to thinks it hot. It’s totally out of the box.

Independent-wise my song based comic story I alluded to earlier in this interview.

Where can people find you on the web, and is there anything else that you would like to mention?

I’m all over the place. You can find me at my main site:

http://www.julianlytle.com

Please take time out of your week to read Ants each Thursday at http://ants.julianlytle.com

I’m also on Deviantart at http://julianlytle.deviantart.com and I’m on twitter at http://twitter.com/julianlytle

Special thanks to Julian for doing this interview. Get to know this artistic talent before he blows up the spot! I’m just sayin’…

And that concludes this weeks PKD Media Spotlight.

Come back tomorrow for Agents of C.O.L.T.! Peace and good times.

-Shawn

Hey everybody, welcome back to the PKD Media Spotlight, shining the light on independent creators, comics, and various bits of pop-culture you may be sleeping on. Stop sleeping!

Today we interview animator, artist, and all around nice guy Jim Miller, a.k.a. “Big Jim” to his friends and peers. Jim got his big break in the animation industry by working on the long-running Cartoon Network series “Ed, Edd, & Eddy” from its conception to its end, and recently provided the front cover artwork for “PKD Media Presents.”

His insights on the industry and where he’s headed in the future really interested me, so I hope that you enjoy this interview.

1) What is your favorite cartoon (or comic book) and why?

This is a tough question! It’s always hard to pick only one. Ever since I was merely Little Jim, my favorite hero has been Batman, and 99% of the time I’ve enjoyed him in whatever form of media he’s been presented in (F-you Batman and Robin by Schumacher!). That being said, the cartoons that I think had the most influence on me as an artist and as a person are the classic Warner Brothers Looney Tunes shorts. In my opinion, it really doesn’t get better than that. Awesome artwork and animation, zany AND cerebral humor, pop culture references that don’t beat you over the head, and a sense of timelessness that keeps them as fresh today as when they were first created. I think these shorts really colored my own sense of humor, and are still the yardstick of success I strive to attain (yet, obviously fall VERY short of!).

2) What was the moment in your life that you decided that animation and art would be your focus in life?

I had always drawn, as long as I can remember anyway. My dad use to bring home reams of used computer paper from work for me and my sister to draw on the back of. I remember thinking I was a genius, when drawing out Star Wars scenes, drawing in an image of Yoda super hard with the pencil, then erasing him to create a ‘ghostly’ image of his Jedi spirit form! But after seeing Tim Burton’s first Batman film, I became enamored with comic books. I was 13 at the time, and it became a dream of mine to be a professional comic book artist. I basically taught myself how to draw by first tracing images from artists I liked, and then moving on to doing some of my own. As I grew up, I still collected comics, but the idea of getting paid to draw seemed to move away from me. I spent a lot of time doodling, but concentrated mainly on my schoolwork. I enrolled in university and was going to be a genetics major. I was sitting in a lab one afternoon, and I had a moment where I just couldn’t picture myself sitting in a little room, wearing a lab coat and mixing solution A with compound B for the rest of my life. I had heard a friend of mine from high school was studying classical animation at film school in Vancouver. I gave him a call, and he encouraged me to try it out. I decided that, since it was only a one year commitment, that I’d put my science studies on hold. I could always come back if it didn’t work out, right? Anyway, I went to film school the following year. It was a very intensive course, and I made some awesome friends. I realized early on that this was a million times better than science (sorry science)! I got to sit in a little room, wearing a t-shirt and jeans, making character A fall on to prop B! It ruled! I’ve never looked back.

The Punisher by Jim Miller

3) You worked on the critically acclaimed Cartoon Network series Ed, Edd, & Eddy. What was that experience like, and what did you gain from it?

Wow. It was great. The Eds was essentially my first professional animation job right out of film school. I was hired, along with a few other guys I knew from school, to come in and do storyboards on this brand new animated series being done by Danny Antonucci. We’d all heard of Danny from his infamous ‘Lupo the Butcher’ short film, and his short lived ‘Brothers Grunt’ series on MTV. Danny was a bit of an imposing figure, but you really couldn’t have asked for a better chance to prove yourself. He really took a chance on the lot of us newbies.  a.k.a. Cartoon (the studio that made Ed, Edd, & Eddy) was essentially like a cartoon bootcamp. I think I learned more in my time there than I ever could have in school. It really was ‘trial by fire’. I had the opportunity to work with some of the most amazing artists in the animation biz, many of whom I’m lucky to call friends now. I really learned about the cartoon making process, and what it takes to make what I feel is a really great cartoon. I feel like my time on the show really helped to develop my ability as a graphic storyteller, and really made me step up my game in terms of my draftsmanship. I don’t think I’d be half as good an artist as I am now without having spent 10 years at a.k.a. I owe the Eds, the studio, and Danny a lot.

The Legion of Doom by Jim Miller

4) Are there major differences between the animation process now and how it was done a few years ago?

The biggest change is the incorporation of technology in to the whole process. While on the Eds, it was really stressed that we do as much of it ‘old school’ as possible. All the boards and props, the coloring for design, the painting for backgrounds, all of that was done by hand. It was animated by hand. “Ed, Edd n’ Eddy” also was the last commercially produced cartoon to be shot on film with hand painted cels. Everything nowadays is colored digitally in the computer. When I first started on the Eds, they were still editing on film as well. As far as I’ve heard, everything being done now is colored digitally, edited using an Avid computer, and outputted digitally. A number of studios are also starting to do storyboards digitally as well, using either a computer program called Flash, or a newer tool called a Cintiq, which is essentially a computer screen the artist can draw on directly. I, myself, have bought a Cintiq in the past year in order to better prepare myself for the new ‘paperless’ trend a lot of studios are taking. A large number of shows are also no longer ‘hand’ animated, but rather are done using Flash (primarily for 2-D shows), or other 3-D animation programs. I often lament the decline of a lot of the more traditionally produced shows. Technology’s great, and it can really help speed up a production, and can do some amazing things. Unfortunately, it can mean a transition in to shows produced more by technicians as opposed to artists, in my opinion. There’s just something to me about the purity of something drawn by a person that is intrinsically imperfect and unique. It’s one of my professional goals to try and keep hand drawn animation andcartoon series around in some fashion. I know I’m not the only one who loves them!

Fear Agent by Jim Miller

5) Do you ever think they’ll be another explosion of cartoons on television (or on other mediums) like we had a decade ago?

I definitely do. Like all things, I think cartoons are cyclical by nature. If you look back over the history of animation, particularly on tv, you can see their ups and downs in popularity. ‘Ren and Stimpy’ really helped to revive tv animation in the early 90s, and then things died down in the late 90s. They picked up again in the 00s when networks like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network came in to being, and they put out some really cool shows. While I’m really disappointed that CN has seemed to dump most of their animated programming in favor of live action reality and game shows, I do think that cartoons will make a comeback in some fashion. All it takes is the one break out hit that no one sees coming, and everyone will be back on board that train. Also, I need to hope for that, otherwise I’m outta work!

Daredevil by Jim Miller

6) I’ve heard industry people say that unless there are toys and ancillary products for a cartoon, there’s no way that a cartoon can be made. Is there any way to break this model?

I don’t think that that is intrinsically true. While it has been a very successful model for some shows, I think that ‘Ed, Edd n’ Eddy’ is a perfect example of a show that proved to be very successful DESPITE the lack of merchandise. Yeah, there were a few items produced, but nothing on the same scale as say ‘Ben 10′ or ‘Spongebob’. I think it’s folly to denote the success of a show based on the sales of its toys. I’d like to hope that people will always see the quality in the show, as opposed to what they can buy. If the quality isn’t there, the toys aren’t going to sell for very long. Unfortunately, the point of the cartoon, aside from entertaining folks, is to make money for the network. That usually means merchandizing in some fashion. But that being said, I don’t think there are as many cartoons being produced today that had the toys come first before the show, as opposed to in the 80s. When I go to the toy store here in Canada, I don’t see the shelves flooded with ‘Chowder’ and ‘Flapjack’ toys, but these shows managed to get made, and are still popular. Then again, I’m in Canada, so what do I know?

7) I know that you are currently expanding your horizons to touch other forms of the artistic medium. What other mediums are you hopping into?

Well, like I mentioned before, one of my dreams was to be a comic book artist, and still is! I’ve had a few chances to dabble in the medium, offered by very generous folks. I did the cover to PKD Media Presents (Thanks Shawn!), and I also designed and illustrated the first episode of a new webcomic series written by Zack Kruse called Mystery Solved! (http://www.mysterysolvedcomic.com). The first story should be up sometime in the next month or two, to be followed by ones done by other awesome artists by the likes of Dave Dwonch (http://www.spacetimecondo.com), Dave Wachter (http://www.gunsofshadowvalley.com), and Katie Cook (http://www.katiecandraw.com)! After that, Zack has asked me to come back and draw up a few more stories, which should be fun! I’d love to get on a comic series as a regular artist, but there doesn’t seem to be as much demand for my kind of ‘cartoony’ style at the moment. I also have been working on a cartoon series pitch of my own with my friend Paul French, which we’re hoping to show some networks in the very near future. I’d also like to try my hand at painting (my color sense needs work), or even doing design for video games. I’d like to try it all, really! But, who knows where I’ll end up in the future? As long as I get to draw, I’m sure I’ll be happy. I don’t think that there’s a better job in the world.

Mystery Solved by Jim Miller

8 ) I also know that you are currently taking commission requests as well. How would one get in touch with you in order to get a commission?

I just set up a new e-mail address where people can contact me about commissions and rates, etc. People can feel free to e-mail me at big_jim_commissions@shaw.ca if they’re interested.

9) Where can we find your artwork, and where can we find you on the internet?

Whenever I do up something new, I usually post it up on my sketchblog. Anyone who is interested in seeing any of my artwork can got to http://bigjimsucks.blogspot.com to check it out! When you’re there, be sure to check out some of the other awesome artists I have links for on my page. You just might find someone super cool who you haven’t heard about yet!

Thanks again to Jim for the interview, and I wish him nothing but the best in all of his future endeavors. He’s a true artistic gentleman in every sense of the word.

Come back tomorrow as we start Chapter 4 of Mercury & The Murd in “The Cosplay of Doom!” More PKD Media Spotlight comes next Thursday.

Peace and good times.

-Shawn

Welcome back to the PKD Media Spotlight, which shines a light on creators, artists, and other forms of media you might be sleeping on.

Today we spotlight another member of the Bad Monkey Brain Studios crew, Rand Arrington. I met Rand at Heroes Con 2009 and not only was he a class act, but he’s a talented artist to boot. Read the interview below to learn more about Rand:

What lured or drew you to becoming an artist?

I’ve always been attracted to art and comics just took that interest to new heights. I can remember looking at my brother’s comics time and time again just being enthralled by the visuals on the page.  Fantastic Four #54 with Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott, Iron Man #100 with an amazing cover by Jim Starlin and a Marvel Team-up #75 with John Byrne and Al Gordon. Not to mention Byrne and Dan Green’s run on the Avengers.

Who or what are your influences?

I admire so many different artists from numerous artistic outlets and I believe that all of them have some sway over what I do. Some of my favorites are Frank Frazetta, Al Williamson, John Byrne, Gregory Manchess, Andrew Wyeth, N.C. Wyeth, Norman Rockwell, Drew Struzan, Mike Mignola, Josh Kirby, Howard Pyle, John Singer Seargant, Frank Cho, Neal Adams, Ryan Zook, Michelangelo, Da Vinci and the list goes on and on and on…

What would you call your style?

I would say that my style is pretty realistic although I’ve started to develop other styles where I can explore the more abstract side of illustration.  My ChipMonk property will have a style that mixes Mike Mignola and the traditional Disney style. The response to it has been very positive thus far so I’m really excited to get the story out there and see what everyone thinks.

How did you end up being a part of the Bad Monkey Brain Studios?

A great friend of mine, Robert Juif, was also friends with the creator of the BadMonkeyBrain Studio, Jerry Carr. We were introduced and started hanging out together and I became a member of BMBS through osmosis.

What do you enjoy most about the illustrated form?

I pretty much like the whole process. It’d be easier to tell you what I like the least which would be doing the research. This can be pretty tedious at times.

Are there any upcoming projects you would like to talk about?

The first project that I’m attempting to get out will be ChipMonks. There’s a war going on in the forest for survival. The animals all scramble to get control of the food sources but the chipmunk have a secret. It’s the society of ChipMonks that are empowered by their king to work off the radar to protect the chipmunk realm from internal and external threats.

You can also check out Rand’s artwork at randarrington.deviantart.com as well.

I hope you enjoyed the interview, and we’ll be back to shine the light on someone (or something) else next week.

Peace and good times.

-Shawn

And thus concludes the end of Chapter 3! I have no idea what Murd was thinking with these costumes, but hopefully everything works out for our two favorite Buddy-Cops.

Come back tomorrow for our PKD Media Spotlight on animator/artist Jim “Big Jim” Miller!

Peace.

-Shawn

Cue the dramatic theme music!!!

More to come on Monday. Thanks for stopping by this week, and have a great weekend!

Peace and good times.

-Shawn

Welcome once again to the PKD Media Spotlight, shining the light on independent creators, comics, and various bits of pop-culture you may be sleeping on.

On March 3^rd of 2008, a character named Mumblepuss was unleashed to the World Wide Web for all to see. The adventures of this misguided, yet free-talking stuffed bear cracks me up on the regular, so I thought it was only fitting to have the creator of Mumblepuss and Co-host of the N3rdcast, Jamie Fickes in the PKD Media Spotlight! Sit back and enjoy the interview.

What is Mumblepuss and what inspired you to create him and its universe?

That’s an interesting question with an embarrassing answer.  Great way to start off the interview! I got the idea for Mumblepuss on vacation at the beach.  I had been dating my wife for a few months and we thought it would be cute to make stuffed animals for each other. We named them Mumblepuss and Futzy Muppins.  We went through the stuffing procedure and picked out outfits for them, Mumblepuss was dressed as a Halloween pumpkin and Futzy was a sparkly witch. We dressed them in their outfits and something just wasn’t right about how Mumblepuss looked.  I showed him to my wife and she noticed the same thing: the bear’s fur went over his eyes so that he looked surly and once we put him in a pumpkin outfit, he looked downright mad. We then started talking about how funny it would be to have a teddy bear who didn’t act the way teddy bear’s should. Mumblepuss is a teddy bear who does everything within his power to appear tough and mean, but in reality is a cute stuffed animal who’s filled with fluff.

From that original premise, my wife Caitlin and I started telling our friends stories about Mumblepuss.  Miraculously, they laughed and didn’t have us committed to an asylum. We grew the cast of players out of Mumblepuss and Futzy to include other stuffed animals we had aquired over the years. Jamie Superbear was actually a stuffed animal I had given my wife years earlier and Ducky P. McFatty was a stuffed animal I had kept because he is litterally a puffball with a lone tuft of hair (much like he appears in my comic). Skidoo is Caitlin’s childhood carebear that is about the raggediest stuffed animal I have ever seen.

The universe all the stuffed animals live in is one of imagination and pretend play.  Since they are stuffed animals, they are able to do things and make things happen that are outside the scope of reality.  All the characters are aware they are in a comic strip and often speak to the audience directly.

Do you have a favorite Mumblepuss storyline? If so, what is it?

Most of the time, my favorite strip is the one I am currently working on. I’ve been putting together my first “best of” book for Pittsburgh this year, and out of those strips, I think “Brown Lantern” is one of my favorites.  That starts right here:http://www.mumblepuss.com/2009/04/15/brightestday/

Personally, I see no issue with it, but I’ve heard people mention that your artistic style for Mumblepuss contrasts to the stories you tell. What do you say to such detractors?

That’s pretty interesting, I’ve never really thought of my style and storytelling as working against each other.  I use vector art because I am most comfortable with manipulating art digitially.  I can draw, but I let those skills atrophy over the years to where I am just starting to get my confidence level back where it should be to draw by hand. I’m pretty open to critique though, so to those detractors, I say: What style should I be doing the strip in? I’m open to suggestions. Mumblepuss has been something that I decided “no more excuses” and just started producing, and I’ve been holding on going 100 miles an hour since I decided to do this strip.  When I started, I was drawing by hand, then I adapted this vector art style to my strip several months later, and I’ll probably change it again as my skill and technology changes.

My idea for Mumblepuss can grow and adapt, I don’t feel I’m locked in to anything. Right now, I’m using this vector style and experimenting, the only limitation I’ve found is I don’t have an unlimited amount of time to craft the comic. If I did, I’d hand draw everything and spend hours upon hours tweaking and re-tweaking. I am a firm believer that the stuff I am putting out must go out on deadline. So many of my friends or artists in general, keep waiting until their skills are “there” and everything is polished and perfect.  Since they have such a perfectionist mentality, they end up producing nothing.  I didn’t want to be like that; I’d rather throw my work out into the world and refine it as I go along. Sure, I’m not as great an artist as Skottie Young or Brad Guigar, but at least I’m working on something that’s out there and not hidden in a sketchbook somewhere wasting away. I am a perfectionist, and I’m trying to break myself of that. I kinda like that my work is out there, blemishes and all.

Who are some of your favorite storytellers?

One of my favorite authors right now is Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden files and Codex Alera. I absolutely love both of these series, and if you are in any way a fan of intrigue, fantasy or mystery; I recommend you check out his novels.  I love stories where characters have very defined and individual voices, and Mr. Butcher is one of the greats when it comes to characterization (in my opinion). I feel very cliché mentioning Neil Gaiman, as he’s such a legend in comics (and novels, I feel). I absolutely think he is a wonderful storyteller. http://www.jim-butcher.com/

All hail the Whedon, Joss Whedon is one of my favorite storytellers, ever. I’m a huge Buffy fan, a huge fan of Firefly and Dr. Horrible. I have Dollhouse in my DVR, and I hope it has enough of that Joss magic in it.  I love his work on the Buffy comics, in particular.

I have comic authors that I become aware of and follow ravenously.  I became aware of Dan Slott through a friend of mine recommending his run on the first She-Hulk series.  I started collecting his run on Shulkie, then Thing, then everything he’s ever written.  I love Dan’s ability to tell a complex story that is heartfelt and serious, while maintaining humor and pacing so effortlessly in his writing.  I feel his runs on Amazing Spiderman is some of the best written Spiderman stuff out there. One of my prized possessions is a Ren and Stimpy comic Dan gave me last year at WizardWorld Philly.  Dan loves sharing his work with people, and how can you not love that?

One of Dan’s fellow Spiderman writers, Joe Kelly, is rapidly gaining my interest. I met him in WW Philly this year, and he is definitely a cool guy with tons of great stories to tell.  I Kill Giants and The House of They are among some of the best stories I read this year: seriously great stuff. http://www.manofaction.tv/

I probably don’t need to hype Matt Fraction to any more people, the dude is on fire.  His run on Invincible Iron Man is (in my opinion) the definitive Iron Man. It’s perfect, note by note, to what I envision Tony Stark and his world to be in my imagination. His dialogue is some of the best out there! His X-men is wonderful, and I am glad to see the X-men be handled by someone who loves the X-men, respects their history, but can still move plots forward. I was a huge X-men fan in the late 80′s and 90′s.  Age of Apocalypse was the worst for me, sent me right out of collecting comics and I honestly hadn’t picked up an X-men comic since then.  Fraction brought me back into the fold of loving X-men again. http://mattfraction.com/

Geoff Johns is the Shakespeare of comics right now. I am pretty sure he could write a haiku on toilet paper about stocks and I’d find it interesting. Everything Johns touches is like comic gold to me. His Flash run, his Green Lantern: Rebirth, his run on Justice Society, Booster Gold, Blackest Night….the list goes on and on. I have never been a Legion of Superheroes fan, but John’s run in Action Comics actually had me interested and now I know the legion characters. Johns understands how to quickly establish a great story structure and allow for new readers or people who aren’t steeped in comics lore to jump in and have a great time with comics.

Lastly there are a few people I look up to in webcomics, but one in particular I’ve been looking up to for inspiration a lot to lately, Brad Guigar.  In my opinion, the guy is a master cartoonist.  His writing has a razor wit, and his cartooning skills are phenominal.  I just got current with all his books and am an avid reader of his webcomic Evil Inc. I hope to keep at it and one day be 1/160 the cartoonist Brad is.  Also, he really is a super nice guy.  I’ve met him a few times at cons and he’s got an infectious good nature about him that is really cool. I really admire the way he uses gag strips to tell an overarching story.  Check out his comic: http://www.evil-comic.com/

Tell me one thing you love about the comics’ medium and one thing you despise about it.

I love paring pictures and words together to tell a story.  When you have good artwork and good writing, there’s something magical about that.  There’s a synergy there that is really exciting. It’s the Golden Fleece that I am constantly striving for as a cartoonist.    I really love the community of comics/webcomics right now as well.  There is a large community out there and all you need to do is find YOUR audience for your project. It’s a great time to be a cartoonist, in my opinion, because there is such a huge amount of support out there if you are willing to get out there and network.  It’s really great.

I despise when you plunk down $4.99 for a comic, and find out that 1/2 the book is a reprint of something I already have.  I hate getting an 8 page story and 18 more pages of reprints. I have learned to be very cautious when buying books!

There are a high number of web comics across the internet; how do you make your comic stand out?

High number? There are literally thousands and out of those I read less than 20. I just want to keep improving, gaining steam and energy until I become a jugernaut of creativity and product.  I think the only way you can stand out in webcomics is staying true to your vision of your product. I looked around and I don’t see many vector art comic strips that are working the same way I do and I hope to expand on that.

Can you tell the people what N3RDCast is, and how did you become a part of it?

The N3rdcast is a podcast I’ve been doing for close to four years now. It literally started because Kwip wanted to get his childhood friend, Happyjack, and me together to talk comics.  Kwip had started podcasting, and had done I think 2 episodes before I joined them. From that meeting, it kind of took off from there. We record close to every week, and literally just plunk down a recorder and go. If I had to classify us, it would be potty-mouthed comic nerds talking about their lives with each other.

We are friends who just hang out, swear a lot and are extremely passionate about things we love: gaming, comics, movies and zombies. We interview creators we’d like to talk to.  We won’t do interviews with someone whose work we can’t stand, that gets awkward. We have opinions and are generally loud mouths who like to get riled up and passionate. I have a lot of fun doing the N3rdcast, but it’s not for everyone and we are okay with that. I think the closest podcast to what it is we do is the Geek Savants, which is another great podcast of kindred spirits. I often think of ourselves as the bizarro version of Comic Geek Speak: they are professional, knowledgeable and entertaining…everything we, as the N3rdcast, aren’t.

Where can people find you and Mumblepuss on the web, and is there anything else that you would like to mention?

Mumblepuss is on Facebook, so please join FOM: Friends of Mumblepuss, which is the fan page. Mumblepuss has his own twitter account at twitter.com/mumblepuss/. He does answer his twitter often, and interacts with the fans. Once I get my book, Mumblepuss: Dark Rain, out for Pittsburgh, I hope to go back to updating 3 times a week again. For right now, I update at least once a week on Mondays (which I have begun to refer to as #MumblepussMonday on twitter) at www.mumblepuss.com.

Thanks Shawn, you rock!

jamiefickes@gmail.com
webcomic: www.mumblepuss.com
podcast: www.neenerneeener.net

Thank you Jamie for participating in the PKD Media Spotlight!

Come back tomorrow for more Mercury & The Murd, yall. Peace and good times.

-Shawn

In case you forgot, Lt. Lori Paint is hardcore.

But where is she? Why is she dressed in a bikini? What is this madness that’s going on here?

Find out more on Friday, and stop by tomorrow for the PKD Media Spotlight!

Later!

-Shawn

Welcome again to the PKD Media Spotlight, focusing on creators, artists, publishers, podcasts and more that you may not be familiar with, but will be soon.

This week I’m focusing on a podcast that I listen to on the regular: Half Hour Wasted.

First airing in March of 2007, Half Hour Wasted is a pop-culture podcast that focuses on comics, movies, discussions with creators and artists, and very, very random things.

The hosts of the show, Brad Milyo, Frank Rincon and Bill McGonnell (aka The Voice) have a way of always making you feel at home when you listen to an show. Recently, they have interviewed artists such as Ethan Van Sciver (Episode 130), deconstructed the entire Indiana Jones films (Episodes 69, 71, 73, 75),  and Crisis on Infinite Earths (Episode 111), discussed grammar with “Grammar Girl” Mignon Fogarty (Episode 93), and had a conversation with comics writing veteran Steve Englehart (Episode 66). They’ve even brought me on to the show a couple of times as well.

HHW Episode 100 Recording (From Left to Right: Random Child, Frank Rincon, Bill McGonnell, and Brad Milyo)

When the show first began, the time range for each episode would range between a ½ hour to 45 minutes, but now the show has no time limits, with episodes varying in length and time, and is good romp through and through. Their reasoning of why the show is still called “Half Hour Wasted” is listed on their site as follows:

“Due to lack of organization and self-control the show sometimes runs over 30 minutes. They seriously considered changing the name of the show, but they already bought the URL and had a bunch of business cards made.”

Episodes premiere every Monday, so if you get a chance, give them a listen. HHW is a all-ages podcast that can be found at www.hhwlod.com

And thus wraps up this week’s PKD Media Spotlight!

More Mercury & The Murd to come tomorrow!

-Shawn