Join Jam, Jeff, and JD for another episode of the TradeWaiters. This time we read "Roaming" by Canadian paragons of cartooning Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki. It’s a story of three young women visiting New York and discovering themselves, and in true Tamaki fashion, pushes the medium of comics to its limits. We’ll discuss our own adventures, the genre of comics that I GUESS we’re officially calling “mumble-core” now, and also the “Darryl Ayo method” of how the comics industry should work. Music by Sleuth. Our next episode will be on "My Aunt Is a Monster" by Reimena Yee

For today’s episode we look at the winners of the Cartoonist Co-op 2024 Mini-Comic Awards: "Fancies" by Alex Cara, "Marrow A.K.A. Rodney’s Law" by Sloane Hong, "Crossed Signals" by Narrenstrich, "Bottom’s Up!" by Barbara Benas, and "The Bird Daughters" by Madeline McGrane. We’ll talk about the unique magic of minicomics, turning dreams into comics, and how to choose which bird hybrid assassins you want as your overlords. Music by Sleuth. Our next episode will be on "Roaming" by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

The TradeWaiters are back and ready to join the Nancy Renaissance! We read the first print collection of "Nancy" by Olivia Jaimes, and weigh in on the new artist who has taken over an ancient but venerated comic strip. Spoiler: Olivia Jaimes is lit, and you’re wrong if you think otherwise. We discuss the fraught circumstances of rebooting legacy newspaper comics, and have a lot to say about what makes "Nancy" #relatable. Music by Sleuth

After much delay, we can finally bring you episode 101 of the TradeWaiters. This time we’re putting ourselves on the spot, and talking about our hopes and fears for the present and future state of comics. This is a continuation of our discussion from last episode on Scott McCloud’s "Reinventing Comics," and we are once again joined by Kathleen Gros. Our topics of discussion will include AI comics, fragmentation and discoverability, Webtoon convergence, the YA and New Adult audience, creators’ rights, libraries, bespoke comics, and experimentation. The future of comics, like its past, promises to have its highs and its lows. Music by Sleuth.

It’s episode 100! Special guest Kathleen Gros rejoins the TradeWaiters to help us celebrate our anniversary, and we read Scott McCloud’s "Reinventing Comics." This book made bold predictions of what the future of comics could be. More than twenty years later, we revisit Scott’s ideas to see where they’ve been prescient, where they’ve changed the landscape of comics, and where they’ve proven incomplete. We’ll talk about creators’ rights, the birth and death of the independent webcomic, the return of the middlemen, and whether or not we can declare the Great American (and Great Canadian) Graphic Novel. Music by Sleuth. Our next episode will be continue the discussion on the future of comics!

For this episode our intrepid TradeWaiters read "Dragman" by Steven Appleby. This hefty graphic novel cloaks a story about gender identity, predatory capitalism, and being true to yourself in a brightly-coloured superhero costume and sends it out to patrol the streets of London. Join us and listen in as we go TRANSatlantic. Music by Sleuth Our next book will be "Reinventing Comics" by Scott McCloud.

Today the Tradewaiters got lost in a fantasy manga with the first two volumes of "Witch Hat Atelier" by Kamome Shirahama. We’ll break down what’s great about this comic, a few things that are maybe not as great, but mostly have a good time reading a book about kids who learn magic, and the magic makes sense. Music by Sleuth. Our next book will be "Dragman" by Steven Appleby.

For this episode we read the first two volumes of "Barefoot Gen," Keiji Nakazawa's semi-autobiographical account of surviving the bombing of Hiroshima when he was six years old. "Barefoot Gen" is the best book about the worst thing. Be prepared for it to be super traumatic, but no other book is doing what this one does. Music by Sleuth For a complete change of pace, our next book will be the first two volumes of "Witch Hat Atelier" by Kamome Shirahama.

The TradeWaiters return like the rising sun to bring you "All-Star Superman" by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. This limited series turned trade paperback takes us deeper into DC lore than we’ve ever gone before, and we bring you back tales of the unimaginable, opining on pacing, and the magic of character body language. If you ever wanted to know the secret formula for a really good Superman story, or to uncover what superheroes and Pokemon have in common, look no further. Music by Sleuth Our next episode will be on "Barefoot Gen" volumes 1 and 2 by Keiji Nakazawa.

"Sparks" artist Nina Matsumoto joins our panelists to talk about "The Batman Adventures: Mad Love" by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. This was the first appearance of Harley Quinn in a comic and the origin story of one of DC’s most iconic characters today. We talk about the behind the scenes story of Harley Quinn’s creation, the mainstream comics debut of two of superherodom’s most influential creators, and what goes into making a really good Batman story. Music by Sleuth On our next episode will be on "All-Star Superman" by Greg Morrison and Frank Quitely

Are you ready for a tale of tragedy and unrequited love (probably)? Come, sit down, and gather round as we read "Descending Stories" by Haruko Kumota. This series is “manga on hard-mode,” and is our first introduction to the Japanese art of rakugo, or “falling stories.” Join us as we struggle to grasp the key ideas of an art form none of us have any prior connection to, untangle some (possible) triangles, and discuss the life and death of art forms generally. Music by Sleuth On our next episode we will be joined by Nina Matsumoto to read "Mad Love" by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm.

This week we read "Space Boy" by Stephen McCranie. Discussion (and spoilers) for the episode will cover either volumes 1 and 2 of the tankobon-sized graphic novels, or up to episode 32 of the Webtoon. We’ll spend half of the episode talking about the Webtoon format, and then get into this soft scifi story about a girl from space (also there is a boy). We’ll talk about netgear, high school, and also learn that the antithesis of “manic pixie dream-girl” is in fact “moody emo dream-boy.” Music by Sleuth. Our next episode will cover volumes 1&2 of "Descending Stories" by Haruko Kumota.

This week we read "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist" by Adrian Tomine, diving deep into the most negative parts of one cartoonist’s psyche. We talk about the important place of “sad old man” comics in comics history, mumblecore, lonely book signings, and how cilantro salad is cringe (but only metaphorically). Also how important format is to the storytelling in this book. Music by Sleuth Our next episode will cover volumes 1&2 of "Space Boy" by Stephen McCranie.

Jam, Jeff, and JD return to Alberta for the rest of Kate Beaton's "Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands." We still have lots to talk about as Kate survives her own journey of being metaphorically trapped in a tailings pond. We'll talk about resource extraction, Canadian history, late capitalism, misogyny, and (be warned) sexual assault. Music by Sleuth. Our next episode will cover "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist" by Adrian Tomine.

Today’s episode takes Jam, Jeff, and JD to northern Alberta with Kate Beaton’s "Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands." Kate is better known for her comics making jokes about history, but "Ducks" IS history. This first-hand account of the time Kate spent working in, and surviving, the oil industry will likely be a primary source for readers for years to come. This is not an easy story, so be ready for it to go to some dark places. Although we’ve saved the conversation about sexual assault for the follow-up episode. Music by Sleuth.

This week Jam, Jeff, and JD read and talk about "Mare Internum" by Der-Shing Helmer. This is a character-driven sci-fi webcomic turned graphic novel that goes to some dark places in the belly of Mars. We’ll talk about dying climates, extraterrestrials, and our panelists’ complete lack of pioneer spirit. Be aware that this book travels deep into depression and a bunch of other content warnings. #abillionyeardepressiveepisode #justMarsthings Music by Sleuth. Our next episode will cover "Ducks" by Kate Beaton.

This year our panelists returned to their first convention in a very long time, VanCAF 2022, and walked away with some books worth sharing. We discuss "Prince of Cats" by Ronald Wimberly, "Mmm Syrup" and "Prayer of the Ninth House" by Tajliya Jamal, "Swim Team" by Johnnie Christmas, "Science Ghost" by Christian Haruki Lett, "You Can’t Get There from Here" by Shannon Kao, "Where Have You Been?" by Ivana Filipovich, "Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong" by Prudence Shen and Faith Erin Hicks, "The Year 50 Project" by Jason Turner, and "Our Little Secret" by Emily Carrington. We also get into the past and future of comics conventions and comics infrastructure, cosplay, -bounding, and Comics Prom. There’s a lot to talk about! Music by Sleuth. Our next episode will be on "Mare Internum" by Dershing Helmer

This week Jam, Jeff, and JD read "Yotsuba&!" by Kiyohiko Azuma, for a breath of fresh air and a story with the lowest stakes imaginable. We get into reliving childhood, the importance of a good translator, top tier comedic pacing, and ask who this comic is actually supposed to be for (Is it us? Is it made for us three?) We’re not going to ignore some of the gross ecchi, but we’ll also have a hard time not just laughing all the way through the episode. Music by Sleuth. Our next episode will be on VanCAF 2022.

The TradeWaiters return with part two of "The Golden Age" by Roxanne Moreil and Cyril Pedrosa. Hannah Myers rejoins us after our long absence, and we check in on how Tilda is doing in her war to reclaim the throne of Antrevers. It turns out, she’s not doing great! Join us as we talk about what’s in the magic box, what’s in a revolution, and the importance of both good government and good panel composition. Music by Sleuth. Our next episode will be on volumes one and two of "Yotsuba&!" by Kiyohiko Azuma.

This is part two of "Hawkeye" by Matt Fraction, David Aja, and Annie Wu, which is included in the trade paperbacks "Hawkeye: LA Woman" and "Hawkeye: Rio Bravo," or else the second half of "Hawkeye: The Saga of Barton and Bishop." It’s also by Matt Hollingsworth, Javier Pulido, Francesco Francavilla, and Chris Eliopoulis. We finally get a chance to go deeper into the story of the two Hawkeyes, as Kate moves to LA to hang out with Columbo and Clint goes from futzing around to finding out. We’ll also talk about strategies for writing tricky content and the complications of writing legacy characters. Music by Sleuth. Our next episode will be on volume two of "Golden Age" by Roxanne Moreil and Cydril Pedrosa.