Aditya Bidikar on IN YOUR SKIN
Robots From Tomorrow!
Aditya Bidikar, back on the show after 4 years, is a man of letters in the most literal sense. In the more than a decade he has been plying the lettering trade, he has worked with every major North American comics publisher and formed strong collaborations with several groups of creators, none more so than with writer Ram V and artist Anand K. In the words of Multiversity Comics alum and SKTCHD guru David Harper, it is a career consisting of “all bangers”. But he is on the show today to talk about IN YOUR SKIN, his first major work as a comics writer. IN YOUR...
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John Workman & Aditya Bidikar on The (in)Visible Art of Lettering, Part 2
Robots From Tomorrow!
(From the original episode description from April 21, 2022.) Now you can hear the second half of the two-part chat Greg had with letterers extraordinaire Aditya Bidikar and John Workman! The shop talk continues, as well as thoughts on more recent work like John’s take on the HBOMax Doom Patrol series (after lettering almost the entire Morrison run back in the day) and Aditya’s review of Barry Windsor-Smith’s Monsters! [This episode is a remastered version of number 776 in a series.] CHAPTERS 00:00 – Intro 02:32 –...
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John Workman & Aditya Bidikar on The (In)Visible Art of Lettering, Part 1
Robots From Tomorrow!
(From the original episode description from April 14, 2022.) Today's show has two of the best letterers in comics on for a two-part chat about their craft: Multiversity Comics's 2021 Favorite Letterer winner Aditya Bidikar and legendary letterer/cartoonist John Workman! The generation gap evaporates immediately as the two fellows start talking about digital vs analog approaches, collaboration amongst a creative team, visible vs invisible lettering, being the responsible one in the group, artist integration, and much more! [This episode is a remastered version of number 775 in a series.] ...
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Steve Bissette on TABOO and Publishing Horror
Robots From Tomorrow!
In part two of their discussion, Steve Bissette lays out the late-1980s self-publishing moment after his run on Swamp Thing, tracing how Dave Sim’s Mid-Ohio Con outreach and critique of corporate profit flows led Bissette and John Totleben to launching the horror anthology Taboo and all points in-between: the Cerebus/Diamond Distribution "phone book" controversy, the Puma Blues fallout, the Creator Summits and the Bill of Rights that came from them. From there to topic focuses on Taboo itself and the creative pitfalls he had to navigate to get out even the short run that eventually saw...
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Joana Mosi on PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Robots From Tomorrow!
Joana Mosi is an award-winning Portuguese cartoonist whose work is only recently becoming available in English. And that timing matters — because until Pow Pow Press started publishing her books, The Mongoose and now Physical Education, internationally, there was basically no way for English-language readers to come across it unless they happened to be at the right European festival at the right time. She is part of the growing Lisbon comics scene in Portugal. Paul Gravett called her previous book, The Mongoose, a “formally experimental yet powerful affecting narrative” She draws,...
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Henry Barajas on DEATH TO PACHUCO
Robots From Tomorrow!
Reading today's guest's interviews, listening to his podcasts, and looking at his resume, already packed with highlights at a relatively young age, it becomes clear that he does not shy away from conflict or controversial opinions because he does the research to back up his words. He leans into the smart side of smart-ass and we're all much better for it. This Tucson-native has already been a banker, bill collector, marketing manager, jazz festival co-organizer, pizza delivery guy, radio DJ, stand-up comedian, and Director of Operations at Top Cow Productions. But it's the jobs of...
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Steve Bissette on TYRANT and Comics in Vermont
Robots From Tomorrow!
Cartoonist / writer / scholar / educator (and now Comics Laureate) Stephen R. Bissette joins Greg for the first part of their two-part talk about all things Tyrant and more as the Kickstarter campaign to bring his long out-of-print series back to life has roared past its funding goal and continues to smash any stretch goal in its path! Bissette goes into why Vermont is such a good place to be a cartoonist, what his plans are for his tenure as the state's sixth Comics Laureate, why repressive eras seem to spur on transcendent works of horror, and how Zap Comix #0 changed his life. He dives...
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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...
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/