This week, we’re joined by Frank Barbiere and Morgan Beem (Five Ghosts, You Belong Here) as we discuss being in relationships with other comics creators, death of the author, their new Image Comics series The Author Immortal, and more!
IDB is an all-new weekly podcast presented by Ashcan Press and featuring Matthew Rosenberg, Ethan S. Parker, sometimes Griffin Sheridan, and wonderful guests from the world of comic books!
Our theme song is “Where’s the Poison” by Summer People.
Enjoy!
I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. Frank is literally the first person I ever met “in comics”. I put that in quotes because he was only marginally more in comics than I was, as a person who wasn’t in comics at all. But marginally is more than 0, so we began chatting so I could pick his brain. Since then we’ve roadtripped thousands of miles to signings together, eaten hundreds of disgusting meals, slept on dozens of strange floors, and we’ve rooted for each other on every book we’ve put out. Since then he’s put out a ton of books that I love like FIVE GHOSTS, WHITE SUITS, VIOLENT LOVE, BROKEN WORLD, and so many more and I’m always learning about the business and the art of making comics from him.
But this time it feels extra exciting because Frank’s new book is with an artist whose work I have been a fan of for a while, but didn’t personally know. Morgan Beem’s style is so instantly recognizable and really sucks you into the page in a way that most artists I know would kill to be able to do. Her work on books like THE FAMILY TRADE, SWAMP THING: TWIN BRANCHES, CRASHING, and YOU BELONG HERE is really something to behold.
And now together both of them are maybe doing the best work of their careers in THE AUTHOR IMMORTAL. It’s a hard book to describe in some ways. And that’s because it’s a character first story full of huge ideas and rich textures. The appeal of a book like this isn’t something that you can easily distill into “it’s Cannibal Holocaust meets the Gummi Bears cartoon” or “Saló meets Dora The Explorer”. But if you want to read about complex characters, moral compromises, separating the art from the artist, and the power that art has over us, I can’t recommend THE AUTHOR IMMORTAL enough. So I was thrilled to get the chance to speak with both of them this week. Hope you like it.
And seriously, THE AUTHOR IMMORTAL is the kind of book we don’t get enough and I’d urge all of you to give it a try. Final Order cutoff is next Monday, so please let your local comic shop know you want a copy today. I think you’ll really dig it.
Here’s a not so fun one. Last week Get Ready Comics in the UK almost burned down. It seems someone tried to light the store on fire which, if you haven’t spent a lot of time in comic shops you might not know, sucks. Getting open again and repairing the fire damage damages isn’t cheap and many comic shops operate on really thin margins. Big repairs and loss of sales can have effects that a shop feels for years, or even be a deathblow. Even just the time to deal with stuff like this can be more than a regular small business can easily handle. So there is a gofundme set up to help Get Ready get back on their feet.
If you value comic shops, the services they provide, and the community the build, please consider giving them a few bucks. And if you’re near Kent stop in and buy too much stuff. Or oder online from their site.
That’s it for me.
Stay safe. Take care of each other. Stop lighting places on fire, okay?
A weekly podcast where hosts Matthew Rosenberg, Ethan S. Parker, and Griffin Sheridan talk to guests from around the world of comic books. It's fun. It's short. Why not give it a listen?
A weekly podcast where hosts Matthew Rosenberg, Ethan S. Parker, and Griffin Sheridan talk to guests from around the world of comic books. It's fun. It's short. Why not give it a listen?
