Interview: Talking Comics and ‘Knights of the 5th Dimension’ with Artist/Podcaster Walt Flanagan

I’m a huge fan of Walt Flanagan. For years, he has entertained me on the award winning podcast Tell Em Steve-Dave, as well as during the man years that AMC had the reality show Comic Book Men on the air. Most know Flanagan from one or both of those elements, though anyone sleeping on his comic book work is missing out. Whether it’s his Batman works with long time friend Kevin Smith or something completely original, his penciling is something to admire, especially from someone like yours truly, he can’t even do stick figures right. When you consider that he spent most of his life running Smith’s comic book shop, Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, it makes even more sense how much attention to detail he puts into his work. With a new book coming this summer, I reached out to see if he wanted to talk a bit about it. What follows is our nearly half hour chat. It’s a good one, too.

Below, you can hear my conversation with Flanagan. I think we both had a lot of fun, though I know for a fact that I did. As much as I would adore just talking about Tell Em Steve-Dave with him, I wanted to focus on comics with him. We discuss comic books somewhat generally for a bit, as well as sports (since we’re long suffering New Jersey Devils fans), before moving into the specifics of his passion project, Knights of the 5th Dimension. You can preorder the book from Blue Juice Comics here, though as Flanagan says during our chat, going to your local comic book shop is the ideal way!

For those wondering, Knights of the 5th Dimension is described as such on the Blue Juice Comics website:

KNIGHTS OF THE 5th DIMENSION is a love letter to Bronze Age comic books and an homage to the Jack Kirby creations that still adorn comic book shelves, movie screens, and TV sets everywhere. From the minds of artist Walter Flanagan (BATMAN: THE WIDENING GYRE, AMC’s COMIC BOOK MEN, TELL ‘EM STEVE-DAVE), Writer Casey Van Heel (PALOOKA, THE CIVIL FOUR), and Colorist Wayne Jansen (METRO, CRYPTOZOIC MAN), Edited by Thomas Mumme and published by Blue Juice Comics (THE ACCELERATORS, ANNE BONNIE, ÆTHER & EMPIRE).

Here now is my interview with artist, former reality TV star, podcaster, and all-around good guy Walt Flanagan. Enjoy:

Knights of the 5th Dimension can be preordered now here or at your local comic book store, while Tell Em Steve-Dave is available wherever you get your podcasts!