Strip Search, Episode 38

Strip Search, Episode 38 — Harry Bliss

It's not every day that Steve Martin calls looking for a new writing (or drawing) partner. And it's not every day we get to interview someone who got that call! But that's what happened with Harry Bliss.

Bliss is a longtime New Yorker cartoonist with thousands of gag panels and several dozen covers under his belt, and — more recently — he's the collaborator with the aforementioned comedy legend on a series of books: 2020’s “A Wealth of Pigeons,” and this year’s bestselling “Number One is Walking,” a series of comic book-style illustrated anecdotes about Martin’s film career.

Harry sat down with us to talk about how that partnership came about and what Steve is like to work with, along with a deep dive into his cartooning style, his favorite cartoons and cartoonists, and his early days in the cartooning biz.

(BTW, Harry contacted us later to identify the cartoonist behind one of his favorite gags, whose name escaped him when he mentioned it around the 35-minute mark — it was this guy.)

You can check out more from Harry on his well-curated and highly entertaining Instagram feed, or at his website, harrybliss.com. Meanwhile, listen and/or watch below (please excuse any errant snaps, crackles or pops — he was in New Hampshire, we're lucky we got a signal at all). And make sure to scroll down for some of the great work Harry did for "Number One is Walking"! (And you can also read Pete's Q&A feature with Harry at Boston.com.)

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Introducing Strip Search, the cartooning podcast

Hello all! Welcome to Strip Search, a new podcast where we'll be interviewing cartooning professionals and talk comic strips: their history, classic comics, the current state of the industry, and comics to watch out for. If you're a cartoonist or humorous illustrator and want to appear on the podcast with Dave and Pete, email us at petpeevescomic@gmail.com .

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