Process Party – Episode 32 – Tom Spurgeon!

Study Group Comics has a podcast! Join hosts Zack Soto (Secret Voice, Power Button) & Mike Dawson (Rules For Dating My Daughter, Troop 142) as they discuss their own creative processes, comic art, family life, and a ton of other stuff.
Each episode finds a new guest from the world of comics joining Mike & Zack for an in depth conversation, and occasional guest segments from their pals around the world. Subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher, or a podcatcher of your choice, or via the embedded audio in the posts themselves.  (Yes, many of those links below are Amazon Affiliate links that kick a little bit our way if you click through to buy them. Mea Culpa)  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and check out Mike & Zack’s personal Patreon pages.

This episode: Tom Spurgeon!

It’s not every day that you get one of the most respected and beloved comics journalists and critics to come on your podcast. But today is such a day! We welcome Tom Spurgeon, the man behind the long-running comics blog The Comics Reporter, Festival Director of Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, former editor of The Comics Journal, author of Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book and We Told You So: Comics As Art.

This mega-interview with the driving force behind the 696 page tome chronicling the 40 year history of essential alt-comix publisher Fantagraphics is one for the record books! Tom gets right into the nitty gritty of it with behind the scenes tales of Fanta in the 90s and memories from the good old days of production mishaps and (amicable) screaming matches with your boss. We delve into the winding road of We Told You So, from conception to a lengthy period where the book seemed on the road to being one of those great “lost projects” of comics publishing, to eventually being picked up by other editorial hands and finally published in its current handsome edition.

Fanta in the 90’s

Tom is also candid about his current plans and hopes for his long-running site The Comics Reporter, aspirations for CXC’s place in the world of comics and what it could possibly become, we try to trick Tom into rating his Top 5 TCJ Editors, and he calls himself a “shithead” at least once. It’s a really fun, rollicking conversation!

BUT FIRST: Mike & Zack talk about their bedtimes! When are your “best” hours? Your “worst” hours? Zack’s trying something new: going to bed early like a “normal.” We also get a little into our personal histories with TCJ in preparation for the interview.

Episode 32 – Tom Spurgeon! – We meet with the Comics Reporter himself! Tom Spurgeon comes to the party floor to talk the recent Fantagraphics oral history “We Told You So: Comics As Art.” It’s a book we loved digging into and Tom brings a wealth of behind the scenes magic to the story OF THE STORY (of the story?), very high concept this is. We also cover Tom’s work at CXC and the future of The Comics Reporter! PLUS: Mike & Zack talk about their bedtimes!

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