Jim Rugg on VEEFRIENDS, TYRANT, WEAPON X, & More!
Robots From Tomorrow!
Greg welcomes cartoonist/designer Jim Rugg back to the show for the first recorded conversation since 2014! Last time, Jim talked with Greg AND Mike about the return of Street Angel through AdHouse Books, among other things. But for 2026, Jim brings a whole slew of new projects to the discussion: Becoming a Creative Producer at VeeFriends Writing VeeFriends #11 + #12 Writing AND drawing VeeFriends #13 Joining the creator-owned distribution co-op Power Pulp Designing new collections of Stephen Bissette's long-out-of-print Tyrant Writing a monograph for Bloomsbury Publishing on Barry...
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Jim Rugg Talks STREET ANGEL (2014)
Robots From Tomorrow!
(This interview was originally published in an earlier form on July 21, 2014) From the original episode description: We usually follow up a spotlight episode with either a Previews exploration or a free-for-all. But this week is different because Jim Rugg himself stopped by our center-of-the-earth recording studio to drop some truth about Street Angel and his career. Jim is one of the most flat-out creative talents working in comics and design today, and we couldn't be more thrilled to bring you this wide-ranging conversation. His latest book is a re-release of his first published work: Street...
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Kit Anderson on SECOND SHIFT
Robots From Tomorrow!
Cartoonist Kit Anderson’s first graphic novel Second Shift was first mentioned on the back back in episode 817, where Avery Hill co-publisher Ricky Miller talked about working with her and bringing the book to his London-based company. But today’s episode dives into the book with the author herself, which is good news for Greg because he read the book multiple times getting ready for this interview and…he has questions. Second Shift was preceded by a number of short stories and mini-comics, including the Ignatz-nominated “Weeds”. “Weeds” and that other work has been collected in...
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Wes Eastin on SHOPPING FOR SUPERMAN
Robots From Tomorrow!
Today's guest is on the show to pick up a conversation we started last October when he screened his first feature film, SHOPPING FOR SUPERMAN, at Baltimore Comicon. He is a filmmaker - director / writer / editor / showman / dreamer / and many other things. His nearly 20 years in the film business has produced a CV too extensive to list here, so just take my word for it, this man knows his way around getting things out of the ether and on to the screen. SHOPPING FOR SUPERMAN, a documentary that took almost a decade to see to fruition, is a love letter to the friendly neighborhood comic...
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The Greatest Bronze Age Batman Stories, Part 2
Robots From Tomorrow!
Greg and continue their dive into gem after Caped Crusader gem of the best Batman stories of the Seventies to mid-Eighties! Come for the Archie Goodwin goodness, stay to find out more about the artistic evolution of Walt Simonson, which of the two hosts is coolest on Marshall Rogers, the correct length of the Bat-Ears, what happens when the Bruces of two different comic book universes collide, the one-stop-comicbooking-shop that is Jim Aparo, Joe Staton and the Justice Society, just how hard Dick Giordano is to pronounce, and much more. All that, and the man who stalks the most...
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JLU: "For The Man Who Has Everything" (Commentary Only)
Robots From Tomorrow!
Join Greg and Zach Wilkerson, one-third of the DC3Cast, as they delve deep into the Justice League Unlimited episode 'For the Man Who Has Everything,' adapted from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' classic Superman Annual #11. How deep you ask? Well, audio commentary-level deep!
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JLU: "For The Man Who Has Everything"
Robots From Tomorrow!
Join Greg and Zach Wilkerson, one-third of the DC3Cast, as they delve deep into the Justice League Unlimited episode 'For the Man Who Has Everything,' adapted from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' classic Superman Annual #11. How deep you ask? Well, audio commentary-level deep! The two's discussion topics range from major differences between the episode and the original comic, to continuity within the DCAU, to the story's emotional impact. Was removing Robin for the JLU episode a smart move? What could this story have looked like if it showed up during Justice League, when each story was a...
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Stan Sakai Spotlight @ BCC 2025
Robots From Tomorrow!
In this panel discussion Greg moderated from this year’s Baltimore Comicon, renowned cartoonist Stan Sakai discusses his celebrated career, particularly focusing on his iconic creation, Usagi Yojimbo. The conversation covers various aspects of Sakai's journey, from his early inspirations and the development of the character, to his unique storytelling techniques and processes. He also shares anecdotes about his collaborations, his publishing journey, and the importance of maintaining control over his work. Sakai offers insights into his meticulous research trips to Japan and hints at future...
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Lettering: Drawing in a Different Way @ HeroesCon 2024
Robots From Tomorrow!
In this panel moderated by Greg at HeroesCon 2024, veteran comic book letterers Rick Parker, John Workman, and Kevin Nowlan, as well as coloring guru and production master Steve Oliff share their experiences and techniques as cartoonists working in the art of lettering. Here's how the show described the panel: GREG MATIASEVICH (Multiversity Comics) sits down with letterers JOHN WORKMAN, KEVIN NOWLAN, and RICK PARKER to talk about a job that involves much more than just typing with a pen. Listen to them swap stories about balancing their own careers as cartoonists; while placing word...
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Tools of the Trade @ BCC 2025
Robots From Tomorrow!
In this panel discussion Greg moderated from this year’s Baltimore Comicon, cartoonists Zoe Thorogood, Jeff Smith, David Petersen, and Stan Sakai talk about the tools they use to bring their Eisner-winning comic book stories out of their heads and on to the page. From scouting art shops for discontinued pens to building architectural models to using school supplies and family members (two-legged or four-legged) and all points in-between, these four go far and wide with their advice on what helps them keep bringing the comic booking goodness to us all, page after page, and year after year....
info_outline"The cycle of renewal in art is peddled by the periodic influx of stuff from somewhere else. That’s why you need a man at the crossroads… He will be the purest, most fresh faced wee fellow you have ever met. His ingenuous enthusiasm will beam from his cheery countenance." -- Eddie Campbell on Paul Gravett, Alec: How To Be An Artist
Today’s guest is Campbell’s Man at the Crossroads, and he has been observing, studying, and directing comics traffic for over 40 years.
As this fellow’s understanding of its ebbs and flows has grown over that time, so has his endeavors in making sense of it for himself. And thankfully, Comics fans around the globe.
He’s written at least seven books, including Mangasia: The Definitive Guide to Asian Comics, which has been transformed and translated into reality as the touring exhibition: ASIAN COMICS: EVOLUTION OF AN ART FORM.
The Barbican website describes the exhibit at The Bowers Museum in Los Angeles, CA as "with a team of more than 20 international advisors, ASIAN COMICS features over 500 works, the largest selection of artworks from the continent, including Japanese woodblock prints, Hindu scroll paintings, digital media, printed comics, and contemporary illustrations. This unique exhibition is a gateway to an unexplored world of graphic storytelling and its artistic value."
He’s also an accomplished editor and anthology curator. Among the books he’s assembled have been 2011’s 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die, which is a fantastic title, and The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics. He’s contributed to countless periodicals and documentaries about comics.
He’s published one of the best comics magazines of the 1980s, Escape, with partner Peter Stanbury, giving a platform to such creators as James Robinson, Dave McKean, and Neil Gaiman.
He started Comica, the London International Comics Festival with John Harris Dunning in 2003.
He gives lectures, he hosts panels, and he continues to be one of the most respected comics patrons of his generation. Frankly, it’s been exhausting just narrowing down his endeavors to a reasonable summary for this blog post.
He's Paul Gravett and he joins Greg today to talk about comics in all their wonderful forms and many varied locations.
[This episode is number 815 in a series.]
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CHAPTERS
00:00 - Preamble
02:50 - Intro
05:40 - “I want to know about everything…”
06:17 - What was the first thing you learned that gave you your paradigm shift of what comics could be?
08:28 - Shonen Magazine / Fishing Crazy Senpai
10:32 - “No nostalgia, no loyalties, no limits”
12 36 - How do you keep all these perpendicular lines of comics in your head?
17:52 - "An unlimited multiversity to comics"
19:53 - Photo comics & Gregory Crewdson
22:11 - Jayme Cortez
24:18 - Comics 1964-2024
27:20 - Sawwaf Collection
29:31 - Lusanne / Taiwan
32:27 - Lodz Poland
33:19 - Posy Simmonds
35:40 - ASIAN COMICS
37:10 - Talk about your growing understanding of Asian comics as you were working on the books and the exhibition.
41:38 - Is the diversity of Asian comics and inspiration to you about the future of comics?
44:05 - Comics preservation in the Philippines and Mexico
50:41 - How important is humility (or lack thereof) when putting together an anthology or exhibition?
57:25 - Talk about your working relationship with your partner Peter Stanbury.
1:02:25 - Comica
1:06:00 - Outro
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Go to the episode page at: https://robotsfromtomorrow.net/paul-gravett-at-comicas-crossroads/