Strip Search with London + Chianca

It's two (two!) guests for the price of one in this month's episode of Strip Search, when we welcome Cagen Luse of Comics in Color , talking about this year's all-in-person festival in Boston, coming April 23; and Pat Sandy , the cartoonist behind the hilarious "Next Door Neighbors," discussing his new comic strip collection .  Cagen was here last year when the festival launched with a half online, half in person format, but this year the entire shebang will be held face-to-face at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. You'll hear from Cagen about what to expect , who'll be there — cartoonists Robb Armstrong (“Jump Start”), Joel Christian Gill (“Strange Fruit”), Ben Passmore (“Your Black Friend”), Ronald Wimberly (“Prince of Cats”), and Stephanie Yue (“Katie the Catsitter”), just to name a few — and why events like this are so important. You'll also hear about Cagen's own work — including his new strip " The Market ," about the real-world c...

David Sipress, the author in repose. (Photo by Nina Subin) In this episode of "Strip Search: The Comic Strip Podcast," we had the great fortune to interview David Sipress — one of The New Yorker magazine’s most well-known contributors — about his wonderful new memoir “ What’s So Funny ,” a cartoonist’s origin story that delves into tortured family dynamics and hard-learned life lessons that can make you cringe and chuckle all at once. (The best kind of cringing, in our humble opinion.) Given our Boston base-of-operations, we of course chatted David up about his time at the Boston Phoenix, along with the seminal moment in Harvard Square that presaged his entrance into the world of professional cartooning. But we also got into his creative process, his influences, what makes a New Yorker cartoon a New Yorker cartoon (spoiler alert: there is no such thing, at least not anymore), and why cartoonists (and other creative folk) have an advantage over, well, everybody else: "F...

  Comics scholar Hillary Chute stands in front of a stained-glass image of an Art Spiegelman drawing, in a photo taken by cartoonist Alison Bechdel. How's that for synergy? So we're used to talking to people smarter than us here at Strip Search: The Comic Strip Podcast — but maybe not THIS MUCH smarter. Yes, "Strip Search" was truly honored to welcome Hillary Chute , a Distinguished Professor of English and Art & Design at Northeastern University who’s written numerous books on the comics art form — and edited one, due in November, called “ Maus Now ,” analyzing the far-reaching impacts of "Maus," Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize winning, seminal work about his father's experience in the Holocaust. To say she was delightful is an understatement, but don't take our word for it — you can listen to or watch the podcast below. Her expertise about "Maus" in particular offered the perfect opportunity to delve into the recent controversy over i...

  Cagen Luse, right, is one of the creators of the first Boston Comics in Color Festival. If you read DigBoston (and if you don't, you should! ), you've probably seen Lunchtime Comix , the hilarious autobiographical comic strip about a mixed-race family by Boston area cartoonist Cagen Luse. In addition to that strip and his book, the " Racially Ambiguous Guidebook ," Luse is also one of the masterminds of Comics in Color , a Boston comics meet-up that has evolved into the first-ever Comics in Color Festival, coming to the internet AND to the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston April 22-24. (In a COVID-safe way, of course.) Luse joined us on Strip Search: The Comic Strip Podcast to talk about  Comics in Color ,   "Lunchtime Comix"  and its new book collection, " The New Normal ," what this watershed period for racial justice has meant for the world of comics, and what the future holds. Plus, hear about " More Social Than Distant ," the new Pet ...

"Starling" author Sage Stossel (upper right) was Pete and Dave's guest on the latest Strip Search. In the latest episode of Strip Search: The Comic Strip Podcast, Dave and Pete welcome back Sage Stossel , author of the " On the Loose " book series, who's currently re-introducing her superheroine character "Starling" via Go Comics . (Also available at starlingcomic.com .) Sage gives us the scoop on "Starling," her latest current events cartoon commentary in The Boston Globe , and life amid the pandemic as she joins Strip Search via Zoom. Plus, in our introduction we tackle the return of Gary Larson, the merits of Disney+, and Pete shows off his comics-related pandemic facewear. Watch the zoom podcast below or on YouTube , or listen to the audio podcast under that. And make sure to catch up on Strip Search episodes you missed (how dare you?) at Apple Podcasts .

Pete Chianca (top right) and Dave London (bottom left) welcomed Pat Sandy, Tim Jones and Steve McGinn to Zoom for a quarantine chat earlier this month. Just when we thought we'd be getting back to regular episodes of Strip Search, the coronavirus pandemic came along and threw us for a loop. But never fear: We're back, and our time in quarantine actually inspired our latest effort. That's right, it's a super-special episode of the comic strip podcast, as Dave and Pete chat up cartoonists Pat Sandy (" Next Door Neighbors "), Steve McGinn (" Toons by Stev-O ") and Tim Jones (" Sour Grapes ") about how they've used their cartoons to shine a light on pandemic living. But it's not just any chat: In keeping with the times, we recorded this month's podcast on a Zoom video call, and you can watch the noises coming out of our very own mouths in the video below: < Audio more your speed? You can listen or download in trad...

Duane Abel We're back! After a brief hiatus, we've returned with a new episode of "Strip Search: The Comic Strip Podcast," featuring our very special guest Duane Abel . (That's him up there.) Duane calls in from the great state of Ohio to discuss his comic strip "Zed," and the way he uses his cartooning and performing backgrounds as a motivational speaker. Also, "Three's Company" comes up. Because when doesn't it? Meanwhile, we review the recent book " The Peanuts Papers ," break some news about Comic Strip Cartoonist magazine, and share some new "Pet Peeves" developments as well. Listen below: Duane and Zed.