Inkstuds is a collection of thirty interviews with North American alternative comic artists taken from the impressive archive that Robin McConnell has built up over the past 5 years on his radio show of the same name. The interviews focus on the creative process and influences, but the subjects discussed often branch off in surprising and interesting directions. The artists chosen cover the range from the older generation of underground cartoonists to the new generation of the comics avant garde. This book is an invaluable resource, not just for comic enthusiasts but anyone interested in the artistic process.
This is a dandy collection of interviews from the eponymous radio show/podcast, with a wide array of cartoonists, all alternative comix types, including many heavy hitters (Chester Brown, Seth, Gary Panter, Kim Deitch etc.)--with many more heavy hitters missing, which makes me hope for a second volume some day. It's a canadian show, so Canadian cartoonists are well represented. The interviews are generally short and breezy, not Comics Journal-style inepth explorations, but they're fun and insightful. And there are alot with cartoonists I'd either never heard of or knew little about, so that offered some interesting new possibilities for exploration.