On this week’s Comics Syllabus podcast, Paul and writer/poet/teacher/podcaster Rachelle Cruz talk about “Uncomfortably Happily” by Yeon-Sik Hong (translated by Hellen Jo), out recently from Drawn + Quarterly. After an introduction to Rachelle and her work, they delve into this autobiographical tale of a period of Korean manhwa artist Hong’s life when he and his wife moved out of big-city Seoul and into the mountains, maintaining their marriage, life in the countryside, and the travails and triumphs of a creative life together. Rachelle helps to shed light on why this deceptively simple work has been celebrated by Korean audiences and yet speaks to widely appealing themes.
[audio: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/333677106-twoplai-006-uncomfortably-happily-by-yeon-sik-hong-with-rachelle-cruz-and-wait-list.mp3]But first, in the opening “General Ed” segment, part 2 of this month’s “The Wait List” segment, where Paul discusses some of the hardcovers, trade paperbacks, and collections coming out over the next couple weeks with “trade-waiter” and casual comics fan Sonny (who also happens to be Paul’s brother). Paul and Sonny mention releases from the 3rd week of July (19th): “Mighty Thor Premium HC v3” ‘Asgard Shi’ar War’ (Marvel), “Ms Marvel v7” ‘Damage per Second’ (Marvel), “Palookaville” #23 by Seth (D+Q), and “Punisher v2” ‘End of the Line’ (Marvel); and releases from the 4th week of July (26th): “By Chance or Providence” by Becky Cloonan (Image), “Flash Rebirth Deluxe Collected HC” (DC), “Kill or Be Killed v2” by Brubaker and Phillips (Image), and “Street Angel Gang HC” by Jim Rugg (Image).
I’m Paul, and I’m inviting you to join us for another episode of The Comics Syllabus, a comics analysis podcast. Our mantra is, we read widely and we dig deep. Each week, we choose one work from a wide breadth of current and classic comics, including superhero fare, comics from independent publishers and small presses, global comics, newspaper strip archives, and various collected editions. We spend time digging deep into the work from various perspectives, sometimes in actual live conversation with others, sometimes with just me on a mic surrounded by a pile of comics studies and academic books. It’s like a comics seminar, where the only prerequisite is that you love comics.
Download the podcast episode here.
NEXT WEEK on the Comics Syllabus: Paul is joined by comics scholar and #BlackComicsChat podcaster Grace Gipson to talk about “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” and “Black Panther: World of Wakanda” from Marvel. Subscribe to the podcast or keep it locked here at Multiversity for that conversation.
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Thanks for listening!
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Rachelle Cruz on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rawqeli
Blood Jet Writing Hour: http://thebloodjet.wordpress.com/
IMAGES DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:
Note: All images featured below are from “Uncomfortably Happily” by Yeon-Sik Hong, translated by Hellen Jo (Drawn + Quarterly)
Out of Proportion on the Mountainside Land
Hitting Rock Bottom, and the Silence the Morning After
(note: Not consecutive pages in the book)
Speed Line Tree Violence and the Dog Side-Ear
