Al Ewing talks about “Everything” (and Minecraft) for new Decompressed podcast with Kieron Gillen

By John Freeman on September 6, 2016

Ultimates Squared by Travel Foreman © Marvel

After a long absence – and host and comic creator Kieron Gillen says we’re not to call it a comeback – his Decompressed podcast has an interview with 2000AD and Marvel writer Al Ewing, who talks about, well, everything, we’re told – but mainly Minecraft.

“There’s lots of rambling there, drifting off the point etc,” Al, whose credits include Mighty Avengers, Loki: Agent of Asgard and Doctor Who (with Rob Williams) admits via Twitter, who is making at the Rose City Comic Con this weekend (10th – 11th September) alongside the XplainTheXMen podcast team .

“I decided it’d be funny to get a bit of Minecraft in while I podcasted. “Listen out for the bit where I take shelter from the night in a hole and a little baby zombie jumps in.”

Al is currently writing Ultimates² for Marvel with Immortal Iron Fist artist Travel Foreman and covers by Christian Ward, which debuts in October.

Along with writing Wicked + Divine plus countless other great books, Kieron interviewed a number of creators between 2012 and 2014, such as Adam Cadwell, Paul Cornell, Antony Johnston, Matt Fraction, David Hine, Si Spurrier, Mark Waid, including this item – Kris Anka, Ming Doyle and Jamie McKelvie, talking about the art of character design. Most shows are accompanied by show notes on Kieron’s workblog.

As well as reviving Decompressed in “a more casual format”, Kieron has been promoting the return of his comic series for Avatar, Uber. Avatar are running a Kickstarter to support it, which has already gained over 400 per cent of its target funding, over $38,000, reflecting fans’ enthusiasm for what Kieron describes as a “serious-mode alternate-history superhero comic” that tries to explore the ramifications of Germany having invented an army of superhumans right at the close of the war.

“It’s primarily a Germany-Invents-The-Bomb story, but through a metaphorical filter,” he encapsulates, noting acclaim for the series from folk such as Alan Moore and others. “We did five trades of material previously, and are coming back to finish the story with a whole second volume.”

• Direct download: Decompressedv2_001.mp3

• Follow Al Ewing on Twitter @Al_Ewing

• Kieron Gillen’s workblog | Decompressed archive

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.