I'm a great admirer of Jim Ottaviani, who may well be producing the best science-related comics in the world today. Jim is a bright guy, a good storyteller (both in print and in person) and he brings an unusual skill set to his work, as his biography attests.
Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Jim at his table in 'Artist's Alley' during the 2008 San Diego ComicCon. Jim was gracious with his time, and so I hasten to say that the quality of the videos below rests with me. This is the most ambitious usage of my Flip Video Cam yet, and I had to break it into smaller chunks so that it could be uploaded to YouTube. Also, I'm afraid that I (gulp) mispelled his name in the brief blurb at the beginning of each video, but it took me so long to make this with my feeble resources, that I'm just going to let it go. It's OTTAVIANI, folks, and the big point is to draw attention to the work. Here Jim talks about the potential of comics as a medium:
In this segment Jim talks specifically about some aspects of his work, particularly Fallout, his treatment of the events surrounding the Manhattan Project:
In this final segment, Jim challenges my preconceptions about one's academic background and either creating or appreciating science-related comics. Good stuff!
I would be remiss if I didn't point out that Jim has an entire web site where you can learn more about his works, not to mention buy them:
Despite my softball (even sophomoric) questions in the video above, his work really is accessible. We've purchased several of his comics for our high school library. Please consider these as good gift ideas for your friends who may or may not know much science, but are open to fresh presentations of new ideas.I've just learned that Jim was interviewed by Skepticality (the official podcast of Skeptics magazine) back in October of 2006. You can listen to this interview in their archives here.
Other stuff:
Another interview on YouTube.
A business-oriented conversation with Jane Irwin.
An interview with Carol Fox of Sequential Tart.
The Comics Reporter interview, from back in 2005.
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