I just launched the monthly bonus podcast for The Virtual Memories Show, called Fear of a Square Planet! It’s only for patrons/supporters of the podcast, so visit my Patreon or Paypal page to make a contribution to the show, and you’ll get access to the new podcast, along with other exclusive blog-items from the show.
This month’s Fear of a Square Planet features our four January guests — Keith Knight, Molly Crabapple, Harold Bloom, and Carol Tyler — along with past guest Dmitry Samarov each answering my deceptively simple question, “So, who are you reading?”
Help support The Virtual Memories Show through Patreon or Paypal and you’ll be able to listen to that bonus episode, get access to the lists of books we talked about, and more!
Logo by Dustin Harbin
(Fantagraphics). We sat down at her home in Cincinnati to talk about her perspective on the book now that it’s in her rear-view mirror. We also talk about the glass ceiling for female cartoonists, what it means to be a parent first and cartoonist second, how her dad’s PTSD affected so much of her life, how she drew the last part of Soldier’s Heart in hospital rooms, going on food stamps in the midst of this project, her struggle to retain her hippie-ish enthusiasm during a period of heavy loss (4 family members and 3 close friends in 4 years), and how she broke into a frat-house to steal post-party empties for recycling. It’s a fun, deep conversation with a master cartoonist (even when it borders on Gil-as-therapist), so 
(1993) and 
(2005), all with Fantagraphics Books. Professor Tyler teaches Comics, Graphic Novels & Sequential Art at the University of Cincinnati and is also a Residency Artist with the Ohio Arts Council.
feeding into a 
digital recorder. I recorded the intro and outro on a 
. Processing was done in Audacity and Logic Pro. Photos of Ms. Tyler by me.
(Harper), making illustrated journalism from Syria, Guantanamo and Abu Dhabi, translating Nizar Qabbani, growing into her parents’ legacy of art, Marxism and argumentation, finding her soul in the 
. A few segments were recorded by the guests and e-mailed in (which is to say: don’t blame me!). Processing was done in Audacity and Logic Pro.
!)
(Top Shelf, 2011), was excerpted in the Best American Comics 2013 and named one of “the best comics by women” by DoubleX. She is a member of 
(which the Boston Globe called, “A virtual bible for artists and day jobs”) and 
. Her writing and art have appeared in The Rumpus, Hobart, The Nashville Review & Booth Literary Journal, among other places.
feeding into a 
We also talk about Charlie Hebdo, the historical arc of gay marriage covers, the contrasts of her multimodal education in France with the American model, which comics she started her kids off with, how she deals with the moving target of diversity, the evolution of women in the comics scene, and why kids are a fantastic audience. 
collection of comics with HarperCollins, then 
with Abrams, and launched the TOON Books imprint.