Virtual Memories Show 667:
Jonathan Sandler
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Let’s close out 2025 with graphic memoirist and comics journalist Jonathan Sandler! We talk about his childhood secret origin in comics, the comics course in 2017 that brought him back to the form, the process of turning his grandfather’s WWII memoir into a comic, THE ENGLISH GI (with art by Brian Bicknell), and how he really became a comics aficionado after publishing his first graphic novel. We get into how he started the Graphic Memoir blog and began reviewing comics, interviewing cartoonists, visiting exhibitions, and spreading the comics gospel, and why this very podcast has provided him with a ton of inspiration. We also discuss what he’s learned from and about interviewing, why he’s started drawing his own comics, why he’s glad he dived into making The English GI instead of researching all the other WWII graphic novels out there, what the late Tom Spurgeon meant to me and everyone else he met, why the most difficult thing about making comics is choosing what to put in the panels, and more. Give it a listen! And go subscribe to Graphic Memoir and read THE ENGLISH GI!
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About our Guest
Jonathan Sandler runs a blog dedicated to exploring the latest in comics, graphic novels, and exhibitions, blending his passion for storytelling with his deep interest in visual art. He studied Politics at Leicester University and has spent much of his career in the software industry, leading and managing complex projects. In 2020, Jonathan combined his lifelong love of World War II history and graphic novels to create The English GI, a World War II graphic memoir published by graphicmemoir.co.uk in 2022. A keen sketcher, Jonathan draws inspiration from the intersection of history and art. He lives in North West London with his wife and three children.
Credits: This episode’s music is Fella by Hal Mayforth, used with permission from the artist. The conversation was recorded in a hotel room at The Westin London City on a pair of Blue enCORE 200 microphones feeding into a Zoom PodTrak P4 digital recorder & interface. I recorded the intro and outro on a Heil PR-40 Dynamic Studio Recording Microphone feeding into a Zoom PodTrak P4. All processing and editing done in Adobe Audition CC. Photo of Jonathan & me by me; photo of him at signing by someone else. It’s on my instagram.