Process Party – Episode 58 – Jason Thompson & Jumana Al Hashal!

Cartooner art used in episode cover image by Konstantin Pogorelov

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, some 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: Jason Thompson & Jumana Al Hashal

Jason Thompson and Jumana Al Hashal are a husband/wife cartoonist & project manager duo who have turned to collaborative game design. Their first game, Mangaka, was a pictionary-esque take on the Japanese comics industry, and their new game Cartooner looks to both skewer and explore the US version of the comics art form. We talk about the game, of course, but we also get into what it’s like to collaborate with your significant other, getting “civilians” excited to draw comics, the mechanics of getting your game (or comic) out there in the world, and of course Manga. Jason is the author of Manga: The Complete Guide & was an editor at the US version of Shonen Jump, among other things. The life of a manga editor is something we haven’t had the opportunity to get into before, so we found that to be pretty interesting & maybe you will too.

But First!  Mike & Zack talk about their history with non-video gaming & RPGs before getting into their SECRET ORIGINS! As in, key moments of their path to becoming cartoonists. SECRETS REVEALED: Early influences (John Byrne, really. It’s just John Byrne), first comics, Predator, first collaborations, and how meeting their first real life professional cartoonists (Eric Vincent for Zack & Evan Dorkin for Mike) crystallized something they may or may not have already known: Cartooning was a potentially depressing but also exciting thing that they too could do!

PS: DON’T FORGET! We’ve finally launched our super cool Process Party Patreon! If you enjoy the pod and want to help support us in what we do, now is your chance to kick in. There’s a few reward tiers available, including the low low $1/month, but if you subscribe at the $3/month level, you will get access to an exclusive Patreon-only weekly podcast feed! That’s a whole extra podcast for less than 1$/episode of the main feed!

If the main Process Party podcast is like being in the mix chatting with cartoonists at a convention party, Process Party: Real Talk is the afterparty, when the walls come down and the real talk, advice and gossip flow freely!  Every week we ask our guests to impart a little *extra* bit of wisdom, some nuts & bolts how-to info or philosophy, and of course a heavy dose of every cartoonist’s number one concern: GETTING PAID IN COMICS! These minisodes contain exclusive content not included in the regular podcast!

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