Gweek 13: Viktor Kalvachev, creator of Blue Estate

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Welcome to Gweek episode 13, for August 22, 2011. Gweek is where the editors of Boing Boing and our guests talk about comic books, science fiction & fantasy, video games, board games, tools, gadgets, apps, and other neat stuff.

A few weeks ago on this podcast, I talked about an amazing comic book called Blue Estate. It's a hardboiled crime series that takes place in modern day Los Angeles. It's got a sleazy action hero actor with a passing resemblance to Steven Seagal, the Russian Mafia, the Italian Mafia, a geeky fanboy private eye in his 40s, a B-movie actress, drugs, alcohol, strippers, hookers, and seedy establishments. It's dirty and gritty and a lot of fun, in an LA Confidential way.

Comicbuzz.com called Blue Estate is "one of the best comics on the racks today, not to mention one of the best crime comics ever."

Our guest on this episode is Viktor Kalvachev, the creator of Blue Estate.

In a recent interview Kalvachev described Blue Estate as a combination of "Pulp Fiction, Snatch, and Get Shorty with a splash of It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World." Kalvachev paints the covers and they are beautiful. The interiors are drawn by as many as five different artists including Kalvachev.

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I spoke to Viktor from his home in Walnut Creek California.

Show notes:

Blue Estate trade paperback anthology

Blue Estate comic book website

Viktor Kalvachev's website

Black Kiss, by Howard Chaykin

The art of Robert McGinnis

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