{"id":6603,"date":"2012-10-03T03:00:41","date_gmt":"2012-10-03T07:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=6603"},"modified":"2017-12-16T08:14:56","modified_gmt":"2017-12-16T12:14:56","slug":"podcast-comic-sans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-comic-sans","title":{"rendered":"Podcast: Comic Sans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories \u2013 season 2 episode 12
\nTom Spurgeon – Comic Sans<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_2_Episode_12_-_Comic_Sans.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“I was morphined up and looking out the back of an ambulance for about three hours. You get to see things as a beginning, middle and end. . . . My story might end in a couple of hours. What does that mean? What was that life like?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s time for another cheery episode of The Virtual Memories Show<\/strong><\/em>!<\/p>\n

“The two things that allow people to consume more are rapture — ‘this is awesome!’ — and dissatisfaction — ‘this sucks.'”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In this one, Tom Spurgeon<\/strong>, editor of The Comics Reporter<\/a> talks about his near-death in June 2011 and how he’s changed his life since, a process that involved losing more than 175 lbs. in 16 months.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_2_Episode_12_-_Comic_Sans.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“The danger isn’t in the limits of what you can do for someone. The danger is in withdrawing, and realizing you don’t have those relationships anymore. If you can be engaged in someone’s life . . . that’s what you have and that’s what you work with.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We also share conversation on the nature of junk culture, the good and bad sides of internet commenters, the meanings of nostalgia, and absolutely nothing about that Batman movie.<\/p>\n

“For junk culture consumers, you always want as much as you can have. It’s not about curating what you have; it’s about seeing all the movies and collecting all the editions.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Enjoy the conversation!<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0About Our Guest<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tom Spurgeon is a writer and editor living in Silver City, NM. He currently serves as the editor of The Comics Reporter<\/a>, and has written about comic strips, comic books and editorial cartons for various publications since 1982. He worked for five years 1994-1999 as Managing Editor and then Executive Editor of the lauded and controversial industry trade magazine The Comics Journal<\/em>. The magazine won several industry awards under his stewardship. He is a former contributing writer at The Stranger<\/em> and for the late satirical web ‘zine Suck.com. As an editor, Tom helped assemble volumes in The Collected Pogo<\/em> series and books such as Bob Levin’s The Pirates and the Mouse<\/em>. As a writer, Tom co-wrote with Jordan Raphael the historical profile, Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book<\/a>\"\", and he was privileged to write for the King Features Syndicate strip Wildwood<\/em> from 1999 to 2002. You can reach him at tom@comicsreporter.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0About Our Sponsor<\/strong><\/p>\n

This episode is sponsored by Out of Print Clothing<\/a>! Visit their site and check out their great selection of T-shirts, fleeces, bags and other gear featuring gorgeous and iconic book cover designs. I’m wearing my Naked Lunch T-shirt in the photo above! (Photo by Amy Roth<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Follow The Virtual Memories Show<\/em> on iTunes<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, Tumblr<\/a>, and RSS<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits: This episode\u2019s music is <\/em>That’s Entertainment\u00a0by Morrissey (covering The Jam). I recorded the intro on a Blue Yeti mic into Audacity, and the conversation with was recorded in a hotel room in Bethesda, MD on a pair of Blue Encore 100 mics, feeding into a Zoom H4N recorder. All editing was done in Garage Band. Have mics, will travel!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories \u2013 season 2 episode 12 Tom Spurgeon – Comic Sans “I was morphined up and looking out the back of an ambulance for about three hours. You get to see things as a beginning, middle and end. . . . My story might end in a couple of hours. What does that mean? … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Podcast: Comic Sans”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[793,26,4,1183,5],"tags":[1453,1236,174],"class_list":["post-6603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classic-comics-criticism","category-comics","category-literature","category-podcasts","category-travel","tag-comics-reporter","tag-podcast","tag-tom-spurgeon","post_format-post-format-audio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/7996380319_8551fce71b_o.jpg?fit=1280%2C960","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-1Iv","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12632,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/tom-spurgeon-bonus-episode","url_meta":{"origin":6603,"position":0},"title":"Tom Spurgeon Bonus Episode","author":"Gil","date":"November 18, 2019","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show: Tom Spurgeon Bonus Episode \u201cThe danger isn\u2019t in the limits of what you can do for someone. The danger is in withdrawing, and realizing you don\u2019t have those relationships anymore. If you can be engaged in someone\u2019s life . . . that\u2019s what you have and that\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/tomandmetcaf.jpg?fit=1000%2C665&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/tomandmetcaf.jpg?fit=1000%2C665&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/tomandmetcaf.jpg?fit=1000%2C665&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/tomandmetcaf.jpg?fit=1000%2C665&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12719,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/tom-spurgeon-birthday-memorial-episode","url_meta":{"origin":6603,"position":1},"title":"Tom Spurgeon Birthday Memorial Episode","author":"Gil","date":"December 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show: Tom Spurgeon Birthday Memorial Episode \"The thing about Tom was, he wasn\u2019t necessarily interested in everything you were interested in, but he was interested in learning about WHY you were interested in it. That sort of curiosity is rare, and it\u2019s part of what made him a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1684.jpg?fit=1200%2C626&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1684.jpg?fit=1200%2C626&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1684.jpg?fit=1200%2C626&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1684.jpg?fit=1200%2C626&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1684.jpg?fit=1200%2C626&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7844,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-hello-columbus","url_meta":{"origin":6603,"position":2},"title":"Podcast: Hello, Columbus","author":"Gil","date":"April 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories \u2013 season 4 episode 15 - Hello, Columbus \"I'm a person who works in comics and knows a lot about comics, and I'm teaching people who know nothing about comics to talk to other people who know nothing about comics, about comics.\" Caitiln McGurk, fresh off of curating\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Classic Comics Criticism"","block_context":{"text":"Classic Comics Criticism","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature\/classic-comics-criticism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=voyantpublishing&l=as2&o=1&a=B002SQJLA4","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17884,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-667-jonathan-sandler","url_meta":{"origin":6603,"position":3},"title":"Episode 667 – Jonathan Sandler","author":"Gil","date":"December 16, 2025","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 667: Jonathan Sandler 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,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sandler2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C534&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sandler2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C534&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sandler2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C534&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sandler2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C534&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sandler2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C534&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12347,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-327-karl-stevens","url_meta":{"origin":6603,"position":4},"title":"Episode 327 – Karl Stevens","author":"Gil","date":"July 1, 2019","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 327: Karl Stevens \"I wanted to be an artist but I didn't know how, and comics were so accessible that I latched onto that.\" It may be a fine line between comics and art, but Karl Stevens' fine line crosses effortlessly between them. 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