Strip Search with London + Chianca

Boston Kids Comics Fest art by LJ Baptiste. With comics and graphic novels being among the most challenged books during the recent upswing in complaints about what’s on the shelves at school and public libraries, some might forget the role the medium has played in turning millions of kids onto reading — not to mention providing joy, fun, and excitement to generations of readers. The Boston Kids Comics Fest — coming June 3, 2023 at Northeastern University — is here to remind you. Listen in (or watch) below as we devote a full episode to a discussion with fest COO Meena Jain, co-founder and creator liaison Tony Davis (owner of Harvard Square's The Million Year Picnic ), and comics scholar (and past Strip Search guest !) Hillary Chute talking about what to expect from the event, why gatherings like this are important for kids, and the explosion of comics as a medium and kids' comics in particular. Plus, lots of laughs! Spotify link here .   Boston Kids Comics Fest logo design b...

When Boston cartoonist Cagen Luse and fellow artist and comics fan Barrington Edwards headed to the Black Comic Book Festival at Harlem’s Schomburg Center back in 2015, they were inspired by seeing “a space for people of color to come and enjoy comics together,” Luse recalls. “We felt like Boston needed that,” he says. And now, eight years later — thanks primarily to their efforts during that time — Boston has that. April 29 will see the third free Comics in Color Festival come to the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury, billed as “New England’s first comic arts festival focused on stories by and about people of color.” This years version includes an all-star lineup of guests, including “Iron Man” and “Batgirl” artist Alitha E. Martinez, “X-Men” and “Ghost Rider” artist Larry Stroman, and comics historian and scholar Joel Christian Gill. Plus workshops, an artists alley, animated short films, music and dance performances, a cosplay contest, and even a fashion show. Not bad for something th...

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...

The inaugural chair of the Master of Fine Arts in Visual Narrative at Boston University, Joel Christian Gill recently talked to Strip Search about the exhibit he curated there, “ Comics Is A Medium, Not a Genre ,” running through March 24, 2023. It’s a free exhibit that covers a century and a half of American comic books, comic strips, graphic novels and more, in an attempt to show how comics can tell any kind of story to any age group or demographic. (Not just kids, in other words.) “It becomes this really pure art form,” Gill says, explaining that comics, with their unique blend of words and visuals, have a way of reaching readers that other media might not. “It teaches you things because it talks to you on this subconscious level,” he says. Gill talked about curating the exhibit, about his own work — including the great graphic novel series "Strange Fruit" — and about why comics sometimes scare people to death. Plus, learn about his new project with Ibram Kendi, " St...

Christopher Weyant (Photo by Helen McGuire) Christopher Weyant has not just one, but two of the best jobs in cartooning. First off, he’s a New Yorker cartoonist, where he’s spent 25 years making light of, well, anything and everything. He’s also an editorial cartoonist, often for the Boston Globe, skewering the powerful and pointing out the absurdity that seems to run more and more rampant in the halls of power these days. And that's just how he likes it! “So the New Yorker cartoons that we do for  The Daily  are very, very funny, often incredibly witty, they can be sharp. But they're not as pugilistic as a political cartoon,” he told us about his New Yorker work. “And I love being able to have that other venue. You’re there really to make fun of the king, to go after someone who's abusing power, and to make them look immoral or silly or ridiculous … I love that aspect of it.” Watch or listen below for our far-ranging discussion about Chris's dual career, how he got int...

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...

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...