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Showing posts from December, 2022

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 — i

Strip Search, Episode 37 — Kellen Paul/Community Art Center

Kellen Paul draws "Spider-Kell" at the Community Arts Center in Cambridge, Mass. You may not have heard of the comic book “Kellen the Kid.” Yet. But odds are pretty good that someday you will. It’s one of several comic books and strips created by Kellen Paul, a 9-year-old cartoonist and illustrator who’s been plying his trade at the Community Art Center in his hometown of Cambridge, and whose work has taken the center by storm. Kellen — accompanied by the center’s director of programs, Sarah Winter, and Jada Alleyne, the center’s school-age program manager — joins us on Strip Search: The Comic Strip Podcast to talk about cartooning and what the center is doing to help hundreds of kids get in touch with their creativity every year. (And also to give us a few cartooning tips.) Also, in the intro: A discussion of #Schulz100 , the 100th birthday tribute to "Peanuts" creator Charles M. Schulz. Check out the podcast or, if you're the visual type, the video below, and