In his ongoing comic, Reel Politik, Nathan Gelgud harnesses the daily gag strip to explore cinema through the lens of radical politics (or radical politics through the lens of cinema??). The strip is peopled with a goofy but determined cast of characters hell-bent on fomenting Marxist-Leninist revolution by whatever means are available to them, having turned a small-town theater into a radical cell. The first collection of the strip has recently been released by Drawn & Quarterly.

In this episode, Nathan and I talk about his relationship to film and politics, and how these became the main focus of his comics-making. We also dive into essay-comics, Godard, sci-fi, the joys of a daily comic practice, and Nathan's revulsion at the word "practice."

Thanks as ever to Jason Butler, our heroic producer & sound engineer!

Links

Nathan's website

Nathan's instagram

Reel Politik at D&Q

Miami Review of Comics on instagram

Drew's free patreon

Jason Butler's website

Jason Butler's instagram

This past spring, cartoonist Katie Lane had two books come out right at the same time: Single Camera Sitcom (Comics Blogger Books) and Girls Gone Wild #1 (2DCloud). In both works, Katie explores the struggles at the heart of our most intimate relationships and choices, with wit and sensitivity and candor. But the first thing the reader is likely to notice is the extreme visual shift from one book to the next.

Single Camera Sitcom, composed between 2019 and 2022, relies on bright digital collage and a variety of textual levels to tell a post-college picaresque. Girls Gone Wild #1, composed in 2025, unspools its more claustrophobic stories in spidery text and inky figure drawings.

It was a pleasure to have Katie on to chat about both of these works, how they were made, and what inspired such a radical change in her approach to cartooning.

Thanks as always to Jason Butler for producing the episode!

And thanks to Katie's friend Walter for providing the theme from Single Camera Sitcom, which you can hear at the end of the episode.

Links

Single Camera Sitcom at Comics Blogger

Girls Gone Wild #1 at 2DCloud

Katie's instagram

Katie's shop

Piece ft. Katie and Angela Fanche at TCJ

Miami Review of Comics instagram

Drew's instagram

Drew's free patreon

Jason Butler's website

Jason Butler's instagram

What's the relationship between comics and folk tales? Are cartoon characters and folkloric figures made of the same eternal shape-shifting goop? And what happens when they show up at different historical moments ... in the English Midlands, say?

Today's guest, Michael Kennedy, is the author of Milk White Steed, a grandly ambitious collection of comics that explores history and narrative genre with equal fervor, making it the perfect springboard to have a good ol' think on all these questions and more.

Thank you to Jason Butler, as always, for producing this episode.

Xylophone outro by Roman Muradov X Tana Oshima -- thx frens! (Our wholesome intro music lives to fight another day.)

Links

Michael Kennedy website

Michael Kennedy instagram

Milk White Steed at D+Q

Miami Review of Comics instagram

Drew's instagram

Drew's free patreon

Jason Butler's website

Jason Butler's instagram

It's Sammy Harkham Day at the Miami Review of Comics!

In this marathon episode, Sammy and I dive deep into long form vs. short form comic-making -- epic graphic novels, standalone one-pagers, and everything in between.

We talk Kramers Ergot, Blood of the Virgin, and the past and future of Crickets! Will the next issue of Crickets be 48 one-pagers?! Listen to find out!

A few apologies:

First, despite my note early in the episode that we would be switching up the intro music, we have not, in fact, found or created a replacement track, so, despite Roman Muradov's best efforts to the contrary, we are all stuck with this "wholesome jingle" redolent of a "millennial retirement home" for at least one more month. It seems my millennial laziness has conquered my millennial fear of not pleasing all the people all the time (not to mention, of being twee). C'est la guerre!

I also royally fucked up my recounting of Steven Weissman's Obama gag. Obama does not say "Charlie Brown is Jewish"; he says "Charlie Brown is a Jew." Which makes all the difference in the world, of course. So much for being lodged in my mind!

OK, enough self-flagellation.

Thank you, Sammy, thank you, Jason!

Enjoy!

Links

Sammy's online shop

Sammy's instagram

Miami Review of Comics instagram

Drew's instagram

Drew's free patreon

Jason Butler's website

Jason Butler's instagram

Welcome to the Miami Review of Comics' Mailbag Extravaganza!

In this seventh episode of the show, producer Jason Butler joined me to read some listener mail and answer your most urgent concerns. Past guests also chimed in to reveal their answers to the question: "Has a drawing you made ever frightened you?"

In the back half we are joined by the wonderful Alex Laird for a chat about the way the indie comics landscape has changed in the last decade. And I shout out a few comics that were sent in to me. To those who were kind enough to send me PDFs of their comics -- I'm sorry, I'm a bad reader of digital comics. It's not you, it's me.

I mention at the end that Michael Kennedy will be our next guest, but unfortunately we had to reschedule! I'm hoping to have Michael on very soon, though.

Keep your ears peeled for a very special xylophone solo!

Links

Alex Laird's website

Alex Laird's instagram

Miami Review of Comics instagram

Drew's instagram

Drew's (free) patreon

Jason Butler's website

Jason Butler's instagram

Saul Steinberg? Sure, he's the GOAT. But does Steinberg really mean anything to us in 2025? Even those of us who love him may find it hard to articulate what exactly he was up to.

Today, the Miami Review of Comics is joined by cartoonist, publisher, distributor & polemicist(!) Austin English to help unpack Steinberg's legacy.

Our jumping-off point is Austin's forthcoming essay on All in Line, a New York Review reprint of Steinberg's debut book of drawings. From there we get into Steinberg's evolution from a clever illustrator to a world class artist, putting his work in conversation with gag cartoonists like Peter Arno and Gahan Wilson and painters like Philip Guston and the Chicago Imagists. George Herriman, too, joins the party.

Had a ton of fun talking to Austin and learned a lot. Will link to his essay once it appears on TCJ.com!

Thanks as always to the show's wonderful producer Jason Butler.

Links

Austin's Saul Steinberg essay at TCJ

Domino Books

Austin's website

Austin's instagram

All In Line by Saul Steinberg

The Labyrinth by Saul Steinberg

Poor Richard by Philip Guston

Miami Review of Comics instagram

Drew's instagram

Drew's (free) patreon

Jason Butler's website

Jason Butler's instagram

How do you get your comics to the people? Distros and shows!

Neil Brideau knows distros and shows.

A founding member of the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE) and the Chicago Zine Fest, as well as the owner and operator of Radiator Comics (a distro and publisher), Neil has built his life around helping cartoonists find readers and find one another.

He is also our guest today! The episode was extra special because Neil and I got to talk face-to-face here in Miami.

Topics include Quimby's Bookstore, Dylan Williams, having and not having collaborators, the Small Business Administration's SCORE program, wishing to clone oneself, and more. Neil also shares some practical advice to cartoonists trying to navigate the world of distros, as well as to folks dreaming of starting a distro or show of their own.

Thanks to Jason Butler for producing our program!

Links

Radiator Comics website

Radiator Comics instagram

Neil's website

Quimby's Bookstore

Small Business Administration SCORE

Miami Review of Comics instagram

Drew's instagram

Drew's (free) patreon

Jason Butler's website

Jason Butler's instagram

In the comics medium's ongoing quest for respectability, the 21st century has seen a proliferation of so-called literary comics: buttoned up, digestible, "realistic" -- comic strips cosplaying as New Yorker stories.

Today's guest, Tana Oshima, explodes any ideas a reader might have about what a literary comic can or should look like. By day, Tana is an accomplished Japanese-to-Spanish literary translator, whose credits include books by Yu Miri, Hiroko Oyamada, Yuko Tsushima, and Nobel-prize winner Yasunari Kawabata. By night, she has produced (in English) a slew of playful, inventive comic books, a form that she considers her playground.

Join us as we discuss drawing vs. writing, the joys of bullshit literature, the mouths of Francis Bacon, our liberation from perfectionism, and much else. Hear me mangle some fairly simple Spanish phrases, and even read a few passages from Tana's work!

Links:

Tana's shop

Tana's instagram

Interviews with Francis Bacon

Today I Wrote Nothing by Daniil Kharms

Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan

Miami Review of Comics instagram

Drew's instagram

Drew's (free) patreon

Jason Butler's website

Jason Butler's instagram