Recently, the fellas and myself realized that this year, 2012, marked the 20th anniversary of Image Comics. In 1992, seven formerMarvel artists struck out on their own to make the kinds of books that they wanted to make, and inadvertently started a revolution.

Now I can imagine the eye-rolling going on from those of you who remember chromium covers and every other Image title called Blood (fill-in-the-blank). And that sort of derision is deserved to some extent. But putting aside all the gimmickry, it cannot be denied thatImage Comics changed the industry forever in ways, ultimately, for the better.

As you'll hear on the roundtable, back in 1993, it would have taken a triple gatefold cover to contain my excitement for that initial line ofImage books. That period was my personal 'Golden Age'. And Swain and Dwight both temper the conversation righteously with some great recollections of those days pulled from their memory banks.

From comic book millionaires to having an underground garage of exotic sports cars, to the direct market crash to becoming a respected independent publisher; we cover the gamut of Image's history — to the extreme.

-ADRiAN

If you listen to this show with any regularity, you know that 1) we are comic book fans, 2) we are art nerds, and 3) we are huge pop culture junkies with an unending fascination for TV and movies. So, of course, a conversation with filmmaker Ernest Dickersonwas right up our alley. 

Ernest made his name as a respected cinematographer for years before finally planting himself down in the director’s chair.Brother From Another Planet, Krush Groove and several of Spike Lee’s first feature films (Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X) all bear his lush but tasteful style. Dickerson and Leeactually met as students at NYU film school where they became friends and eventual collaborators. 

Ever since his 1992 directorial debut, Juice, which starred then unknowns Omar Epps and Tupac Shakur, Ernest has been “calling his own shots”. And over the last eight years, his presence as a director and storyteller have been felt exclusively on television shows like The Wire, Heroes and Dexter, and more recently on HBO’s Treme and AMC’s The Walking Dead.

Adrian and I chatted with Dickerson at length about his craft, choices, the business as a whole, and the kinds of projects that he would like to produce. And it was like that.

-SWAiN

**Our sincere thanks to Ernest for coming on the show with us. He was awesome! Also, many thanks to his managerJennifer Levine and storyboard artist Warren Drummond(BFAM) for making this interview happen.

And check for the Easter Egg at the end. We play some "Either Or" with our guest and it ends with a surpising Hollywood horror story.

For every whole, there is a better half. At least we’re sure that’s what that saying is supposed to imply. And that brings us to Spousal Support.

Over the last five years, we have talked to a ton of creators. During that time, we’ve heard tales of incredible triumph, and in some cases, incredible challenge — and everything in between. We thought it would be fun to see, well, how the other half lives. So, we did. We sat down with four women who are married to, and/or, committed to creators and geeks, and had a blast doing it. The chosen four (as it were) were very open, honest and forthcoming, and we think you’ll really enjoy hearing what they had to say. Here they are:

Kellie Warring of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia chatted about life over the last year and a half with her beau, Darren Yeow. Darren is a concept artist and has a company called Stylus Monkey Design. Janis Renzi of Charlotte, North Carolina shared some of her story. She’s married to colorist Rico Renzi, who is also the creative director of the Charlotte-based Heroes Convention. Atlantan Samantha Johnson talked to us about living with none other than our own, Adrian Johnson. Adrian is obviously one of the hosts of this podcast, but is also an artist himself. And last up is Monica Torres, a former New Jerseyian who now makes her home here in Atlanta. Monica is married to Wilfredo Torres, a working comic book artist whose star is on the rise.

Many thanks to these ladies for braving the geek waters and joining us on Spousal Support. We know we have a reputation for being silly and a bit cheeky, and we're pretty sure we maintained that rep solidly throughout all of these talks (ha).

- SWAiN