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Archives - October 2010

Interview: Erich Origen, author of The Adventures of Unemployed Man

Oct 18, 2010

At the age of 85, comic book illustrator Ramona Fradon is humble and self-deprecating, but there’s no denying her status as a legend in the industry. Fradon was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006 and has received an Eisner Lifetime Achievement Award and the Ink Pot award—and for good reason. Fradon is a trailblazer. As one of the first women in the industry, she began working for DC Comics in the 1950s and has illustrated thousands of pages, though she’s best known for cocreating the superhero Metamorpho and illustrating Aquaman and the iconic newspaper comic strip Brenda Starr. Despite retiring in 1995, Fradon still draws every day from the home she shares with her husband, New Yorkercartoonist Dana Fradon, in West Shokan, New York. Recently, Fradon contributed illustrations to the critically acclaimed graphic novel The Adventures of Unemployed Man.

Interview: Eric Hobbs, author of The Broadcast

Oct 15, 2010

Even decades later, the story of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds radio broadcast (and the widespread panic that ensued) is legendary. It was a pivotal event in American history, as well as an inspiration for many. That list includes writer and artist Eric Hobbs, who turned the bizarre and frightening real-life event into the springboard for his vividly entertaining and harrowing book The Broadcast. Here’s how he was inspired.

Interview: Gareth Hinds, author of The Odyssey

Oct 12, 2010

Writer and artist Gareth Hinds takes on one of the greatest stories of all time in The Odyssey, his graphic-novel adaptation of Homer’s classic. Here he discusses his inspiration, the challenges of adaptation, and more.

Interview: Alan Grant, author of Judge Dredd: Mega-City Masters, Vol. 2

Oct 12, 2010

Alan Grant was born in Bristol, England, in 1949. His family moved to Scotland when he was just one, and Grant has been Scottish ever since. He was expelled from school for smoking in the senior boys’ toilets and expelled from university for being unable, or unwilling, to learn Hebrew (he was reading Divinity). He’s been fired from almost every job he ever had—which has included bank teller, local government accounts assistant, magazine journalist, bus conductor, and agricultural laborer. He was almost 30 before he discovered a talent for writing, and since then, he has written Batman, Superman, Incredible Hulk, L.E.G.I.O.N. 89, Lobo, The Demon, X-Men, Silver Surfer, Dr Who, The Terminator, Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, RoboHunter, The Bogie Man, Dominator, Evil Ernie, and dozens of other characters in comics, books, and movies.

Interview: Sean Michael Wilson, author of AX Volume 1: A Collection of Alternative Manga

Oct 11, 2010

Ax is the new manga anthology series from Top Shelf that brings some of the most exciting and diverse works from Japan and translates them for a new American audience. If you’re looking for a good opportunity to sample the manga field and learn about what it can offer, Ax is your chance. We talked to series editor Sean Michael Wilson about Ax and its impact on the art form.

Interview: Anne Elizabeth, author of Pulse of Power

Oct 6, 2010

Anne Elizabeth has published in more than one field—from her monthly column in RT BOOKreviews to romance anthologies—but now she’s publishing her first graphic novel. As someone who’s loved comics and graphic novels from a young age, it feels that this was fate. Pulse of Power hits bookstores July 21, and Anne Elizabeth tells GraphicNovelReporterabout the story that’s been on her mind for so long and her future plans with it.

Interview: Jessica Abel, author of The Best American Comics 2010

Oct 5, 2010

For the past three years, the Best American Comics series, edited by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden, has profiled a diverse and eclectic group of comics work and honored it for its achievements. Also each year, Abel and Madden work with a guest editor to make selections. This year’s edition featured guest editor Neil Gaiman. We talked to Madden about the experience.