Interviews - Dean Mullaney

On this episode of the interview series, Andy and Derek are happy to have as their guest Dean Mullaney, the editor of IDW’s the Library of American Comics and the EuroComics series. His most recent book, The King of the Comics: One Hundred Years of King Features Syndicate will be coming out next month, just in time for the world-famous syndicate’s centennial. Dean talks with the Two Guys about the process of gathering strips, his experiences digging through library archives, the importance of working with collectors and enthusiasts, and the challenges of culling the most representative selections for each of his volumes. His new King Features project is no exception, and in fact, Dean describes it as one of his most ambitious, and satisfying, collections to date. Coming in at over 300 pages, the book covers the entire history of the syndicate, even touching upon the early days of William Randolph Hearst’s newspapers. Derek and Andy also talk with Dean about a couple of his other recent works, Bravo for Adventure, Alex Toth’s magnum opus that has been collected in book form for the first time, and the second release in EuroComics’ definitive English-language editions of Hugo Pratt’s landmark series, Corto Maltese: Beyond the Windy Isles. Both speak to Mullaney’s passion for classic comics as well as his expertise as an editor/curator. Along the way, the guys also discuss Dean’s award-winning Genius Alex Toth series, the edited Terry and the Pirates volumes, and his seminal work at Eclipse Comics. This is a must-listen episode for anyone interested in comics strips, comics history, and comics preservation.