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.)

Comments

Strip Search, Episode 45 — Pat Sandy & Ruben Congratulations

It's ironic: We'd never want the Deweys as our next door neighbors, but as for Pat Sandy — creator of the Deweys in the comic strip "Next Door Neighbors" — we could talk to him all day! Join in as Pat joins Dave and Pete discuss past "Peanuts," Pat's drawing style, and what went into his new collection " Block Party ." Also, we revisit past interviews with two 2023 Ruben Award winners , the New Yorker's Christopher Weyant, who took home the prize for Gag Cartoon, and Will Henry, whose "Wallace the Brave" took home the award for Newspaper Comic Strip! Watch or listen below, and check out more "Next Door Neighbors" at GoComics and on Facebook .

Strip Search, Episode 41 — Jimmy Craig

When most comic strip animals talk, they don’t exactly scream “realism.” It was hard to imagine that Garfield was speaking for most cats when he declared his hatred of Mondays or his love for lasagna. But the animals that populate “They Can Talk,” the wry, brilliant weekly webtoon by cartoonist Jimmy Craig, don’t just sound authoritative — they’re downright relatable. And fans of both comics and animals are clearly listening to what Craig’s creatures have to say. In the seven years since he launched the strip, it’s amassed 615,000 followers on Instagram, 658,000 on Facebook, and has spawned two books; the latest, “Are You Gonna Eat That?” from Ulysses Press , hits shelves this month. Listen or watch below as we catch up with Craig to talk about talking to the animals, and them talking back. You'll find samples of his work at the bottom of this post, and for more you can visit Jimmy's website, theycantalk.com , or his Facebook and Instagram feeds. (Plus, for his standalone New

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 .

Strip Search with London + Chianca

Search This Blog