AudioShocker

Doug De Rocher makes collage comics. No, that doesn't mean he's making comics out of photos from magazines -- he makes cut paper comics. It's like painting with colored paper, razors, and glue instead of paint and brushes. Doug joins Nick Marino and Shawn Atkins to discuss his approach to art. He shares about the creation process behind stories including Monarch Monkey, The Greatest Time of All Time, and more. After the end theme, Doug and Nick chat about appreciating all kinds of comics and maintaining the gesture of an illustration.

Kenny Riot goes solo to discuss a few old games he recently downloaded for himself, including Fighting Vipers, Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus, Marvel vs. Capcom Origins... ...and the newest throwback, Darkstalkers Resurrection, which includes Night Warriors and Darkstalkers 3 / Vampire Savior. There's also talk of an indie fighting game called Battle High: Elemental Revolt, and a possible new twitter account.

Nick's an Eleniak maniac!! He's been watching thrillers (some awkwardly erotic, some awkwardly un-erotic) starring Erika Eleniak... Second to Die and Betrayal. Neal's a BBC maniac!! He finished watching the 8th season (series?) of Peep Show on Hulu. And then he binged on Top Gear, a show which apparently made jeans uncool in the UK for two decades. Finally, Nick takes it back to Elekiak for a bit before Neal ends things with a brief discussion of the French Foreign Legion (Legionnaire! Lionheart!).

Kenny Riot and Nick Marino hop into the Hyper Combo Time Machine to explore the World Heroes series from ADK and SNK!! (Make sure to check out our World Heroes Tumblr post so you can see the images we talk about.) First up, Street Fighter II collides with Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure in the minimal debut of World Heroes. The roster expands in World Heroes 2, while the oddly named World Heroes 2 Jet sees the series at its conceptual peak. Finally, World Heroes Perfect smoothes out the gameplay... but at what cost?!? After the end theme, learn about Kenny's recent online encounter with video master Maximilian! Watch Kenny's sick moves with Spiral in this YouTube video.

If somebody gave you $500 to invest in your career as a cartoonist, how would you spend it? Brian John Mitchell of Silber Media joins Shawn Atkins and Nick Marino to discuss this tricky comics question that has countless answers! Would you spend it on technology? Advertising? Exposure? Printing? Distribution? Art supplies? A nude model? Listen as we weigh our myriad options... and don't forget to tell us your answer in the comments! ALSO: Shoutout to the Memory comics anthology on Kickstarter, featuring short stories by both Shawn and Nick. Produced by former Sequential Underground guest Jeremy Baum, it features a huge range of cartoonists from all over the world!

Heather and Michelle Nunnelly are joined by Ross Campbell to continue their conversation about self-esteem. Ross has done awesome comic books like Wet Moon, Glory, and Shadoweyes. The crew talks about their personal troubles in the art world and tries to come up with suggestions to overcome these problems. Shoutout to Neil Gaiman's inspiring speech at University of Arts. And apologies to anyone who gets bad-mouthed on the show. At the beginning, Heather talks about the VACANT update (seven new pages are up starting with Issue 4 Page 18), and Michelle and Heather drop a brief commentary on the video game Kentucky Route Zero.

Nick's found a new rival for The Room! It's called Octavia, and it's a delightfully stupid 1984 film about a young blind woman with dirty feet who runs away from home with a wanted criminal to go on a "journey of heedless exploration." Neal saw Woody Allen's To Rome With Love. While her generally likes Allen's movies and really loved Penelope Cruz in this one, he was underwhelmed by Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page. Then Nick talks about how he's decided to give his original digital comics away for free as eBooks instead of selling them. Learn more about his decision here. That turns into a conversation about how you can read Flash versions of a bunch of Kyle Baker's comics for free online now, including classics like The Cowboy Wally Show and You Are Here. So go do it!!

Michelle and Heather Nunnelly quickly go over the new VACANT website that's going to be uploaded onto the net soon (here's the current site). Right afterwards they butcher the title of the video game Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch... ...and then spew about how Dante's naked in his new game, DmC: Devil May Cry. Shout out to Two Best Friends Play for providing the video for the above screencap. After that, it's time to talk about writing scripts! Heather describes how she writes in a novel format rather than the traditional comic book style: Fan fiction is discussed in a kind light along with branching out and trying new things.

Comics creator Brandon Williams teams up with Nick Marino to talk about music, digital art, manga, anime, Tokyo, and more... including their Super Haters webcomics collaboration, "Manga Haters" (a.k.a. Brandon Williams Guest Week)! Brandon went all-out with his character designs for the Manga Haters. Brandon shares about his background as a musician and how it's informed the story of his ongoing series, Dedford Tales. Then Nick and Brandon talk about the genesis of their Haters collaboration, which leads Brandon to reveal that this five-page superhero story is the first time he's gone completely digital with his drawing process. Brandon used his own photo reference to create the Manga Haters's Tokyo. Brandon also discusses his visit to Tokyo and the how it yielded fantastic photo ref for the fight scenes in the Manga Haters story. Plus, Brandon gushes about his favorite tips and tricks for using PhotoShop and Manga Studio for comic art! Last but not least, Brandon is now open for commissions!! Check out his commissions ad on deviantART to get the skinny on his awesome offer.

A new podcast joins the hallowed halls of the mighty AudioShocker! Heather and Michelle Nunnelly start off the VACANT webcomics talk by discussing Hayze's hot body with their special guest, James Atwood. James talks a little bit about his work, and then they roll over to VACANT being translated into french, along with The Luminary's fashion. Next up, the crew chitchats about comic conventions from a creator's perspective, sharing tips on how to feel confident, organize your table well, and not scare costumers off with puppy eyes. Starting at 38:15, Half-Life 2 takes over part 2 of the podcast!! The characters, the environment, Gordon Freeman's dopey personality, and more get the VACANT Bits treatment. ALSO: The Half-Life drinking game explained! AND: Get hip to Half-Life: Full Life Consequences. Wanna send Michelle & Heather a question to discuss on the show? Email Heather!

NEW PAAAAAAGGGESSS!!! Heather Nunnelly talks about the latest update to the VACANT webcomic and Michelle comes along for the wild ride. Then Michelle and Heather list their top 10 hot fictional guys and girls. Plus, the Half-Life 2 drinking game!! Also... Heather and Michelle want your VACANT questions!! Email Heather or leave 'em below in the comments. This podcast was originally posted on Feb 03, 2013.

The VACANT webcomics talk starts off with an announcement -- NO MORE ASK MY CHARACTERS COMICS! Instead, Heather and Michelle Nunnelly are going to answer your random and weird VACANT questions on this podcast :D A question about Penepre's expressive side transitions into a conversation about writing female characters, especially for comics. The twins go into their personal pet peeves along with tips on how to avoid stereotypes. Finally, after the end theme, Michelle and Heather get personal and share their anxieties about working in the art world. This podcast was originally posted on Jan 27, 2013.

The VACANT webcomic conversation gets retro with a chitchat about Aex's 90s haircut. EXCELLENT!!! Then Michelle and Heather Nunnelly share their thoughts on drama in storytelling. What's too dramatic or not dramatic enough? And at 33:30 the twins talk about The Walking Dead video game and why it works! They discuss its pacing, characters, and interpretation of the zombie concept. This podcast was originally posted on Jan 20, 2013 as Part One and Part Two.

A new podcast about the webcomic VACANT! Michelle and Heather Nunnelly kick off off their first VACANT Bits episode with... teacup pigs?!? After that the sisters get into a deep discussion about romance in entertainment. Opinions are expressed! Knowledge is dropped! And shoutouts are shouted out... especially to Ross Campbell and his portrayals of romance in Wet Moon. But that's not all! Starting at 35:30 the conversation shifts to Resident Evil 6. Michelle and Heather rant about the game's characters, lack of establishment, horrid gameplay, sexism, and more. This podcast was originally posted on Jan 13, 2013 as Part One and Part Two.

Shawn Atkins sits at the mic with pen in hand and coffee in mug to catch you up on the latest and greatest goings on in the webcomics world of Gello Apocalypse, including this new bodacious pin up by Jared Catherine: ALSO: Shawn broke a Facebook spambot (Editor's note: from Nigeria, not Nicaragua) Shout out to Heather Nunnelly's Vacant and Vacant Bits (Editor's note: we've got a BIG Vacant announcement coming soon!) And PBS on YouTube (Editor's note: 1 2 3) Finally, Shawn reviews Richard Stark's Parker, Vol. 2: The Outfit by Darwyn Cooke. Verdict? He loves it!