Sept. 3: Image Moves to PDX, Rose City Comic Con Preview, Kelly Sue DeConnick on Bitch Planet & More

Gather ‘round, True Believers. We’re getting all geeked up for the Rose City Comic Con, Sept 10–11. It’s always a hot ticket, given the critical mass of comics creators making their home around these parts now, but we were especially charmed by this year’s crop. Image Comics Moving to Portland - 1:10 We start things off with some breaking news. Rumors have been flying that we were the first to confirm: Image Comics is moving to Portland. Image is the third largest publisher in the industry with annual sales around $50 million. Relocating is kind of a no-brainer, given the pool of high-powered Image creators already living here. We explore what sets Image apart (and makes it a prime team-up with Portland), before sitting down for an exclusive interview with the company’s publisher, Eric Stephenson. Bandette Steals Hearts, Jewels, Awards - 10:53 The husband and wife creative team of Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover are getting ready to publish “The House of the Green Mask,” the third volume of their effervescent creation, “Bandette.” The series won two Eisner awards for best digital comics series in 2013 and this year. Bandette is a pert, teen-aged thief living a barely-closeted life of crime — the Audrey Hepburn of master thieves. She steals to delight herself, leaping across the rooftops of the city to tweak the noses and egos of the real bad guys. We talk with Tobin and Coover about the pleasures of fleshing out the world around a different kind of action heroine. Blast Off For Bitch Planet - 19:07 Kelly Sue DeConnick is riding high with a comic series she created that made a lot of best-of-the-year lists for 2015, and continued going strong this year. “Bitch Planet” is about an all-female, interstellar prison colony in a not-too-distant future. Society sends women there for a variety of crimes — collectively categorized as non-compliance. We talk to Kelly about how she handles the series’ satirical edge, and chat with artist Taki Soma, who did a single-issue story for the series last winter. If you like what you hear in this week’s show, the extended version is right here on our Soundcloud feed. The Loveliest Horror Story of the Year - 27:30 Portland comic book artist Tyler Crook and writer Cullen Bunn are behind the series “Harrow County,” a tale of a gentle teenage girl named Emmy, whose coming-of-age is overshadowed by her realization that she’s connected to a deceased witch named Hester Beck and a wide range of ghosts and spirits. We talk to Crook and Bunn about the gorgeous watercolors and heavy psychodrama they use to bring the story to life. “Harrow County” was nominated for an Eisner award for Best New Series, and it’s been optioned for development as a TV series on Syfy Channel. Comic City USA - 38:09 Oregon’s comic book community is part of a much wider mosaic of creative work — animation, political cartooning, comic strips. Think Out Loud recently talked to some of the minds behind the Oregon Historical Society’s new exhibition covering artists in all these disciplines, Comic City USA. We hear from long-time creators on the Portland scene Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett and OHS curator Lori Erickson. You can hear the entire conversation here. Good Guys Win: Ibrahim Moustafa - 43:08 We listen back to our February interview with artist Ibrahim Moustafa. He’s racking up a string of solid titles, including his widely-read Himalayan thriller, “High Crimes”, with Chris Sebela. He also shares some news about his brand-new series for Stela Comics — a spy thriller called “Jaeger”, about a French-Algerian agent hunting down Nazis in a post-World-War-II setting. Stella series are designed specifically for smart phones, which posed new kinds of challenges.