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THREE HUNDRED! Who’da thunk it?  I am pleased as punch that this milestone episode includes Justin Thompson of the comic “Mythtickle,” who was there with me at the dawn of my podcast journey, way back with Comics Coast to Coast, which we did around 79 episodes together! Justin has a been a great friend since then, and has been on many a Tall Tale Radio.  So it was a thrill to have him on this episode, along with one of his old actor/writer/singer/musician friends, Chant MacLeod! They go way back to Justin’s Renaissance Faire days, and we have a great talk about creativity, acting, inspiration, and comics! It’s been a heck of a ride to 300, and here’s hoping there are many more to come! This is a good time to thank people like Mike Witmer, artist of “Pinkerton,” and original driving force behind “Tall Tale Features,” the comics site that spawned “Tall Tale Radio.”  Also, Irma Beck of “Imy,” webmistress, invaluable tech support, and source of inspiration.  And of course Lucas Turnbloom of “How To Cat,” co-host for many of my episodes in recent years.  This whole virus thing kept him from being involved in this recent blitz, but the episodes we do are always my favorites!

The multi-talented cartoonist, writer, and animator Dee Parson joins me today for a great talk about his life, his influences, his love of comics, and what inspires him! Dee is one of those rare young creators with great drive, a deep love of the art, and obvious respect for the history and people involved in it.  We talk about how mentors like Dave Reddick and Jim Davis helped him along his path, and his comics “Life with Kurami” and “Pen and Ink.”  Come take a listen to the next generation of cartoonists…from the sound of it, we’re in good hands!

The mad genius behind the comic “Company Man,” Frank Jordan, is here to talk about how he got into comics, why it’s so fun (and necessary) to skewer pop culture, sports and politics, and how it took a comment from his young grandchild to make him realize there are no black people on “The Jetsons.”  A great, inspiring talk from one of my favorite cartoonists and writers!  

Video game Art Director, amazing character designer, and Marketing artist, Rick Schmitz joins me to talk about his move five years ago to Germany with his family to pursue jobs over there.  It’s inspiring to hear about their travels and experiences, and living overseas is one of those romantic dreams that many of us have had. Rick has always been an inspiring artist, but even more so now with his experiences in Germany and around Europe.  Take a listen!

Georgia Dunn, illustrator, painter, cartoonist, and writer, does the sweet and funny comic “Breaking Cat News.”  It’s beautifully watercolored, really funny, and obviously inspired by her deep love of her cats Elvis, Lupin, and Puck.  Georgia is a fantastic artist, and we talk about her journey from a career in the banking world to making the leap into full time freelance art, and how “Breaking Cat News” came from a goofy tweet about one of her cats getting into trouble. Her story is wonderfully inspiring, and a testament to how you just never know where things are going to end up until you start walking the path. Georgia has several books out there, including “Take It Away, Tommy!” which literally came this week! Go forth and find it!

Dan Santat, incredibly talented and prolific author and illustrator, joins me for a great talk about his career, art and illustration in general, the power of memoir writing, and how parenting changes us as artists. In every interview I’ve read with Dan doing this research, he’s so honest and thoughtful in his approach to life, and this conversation is no exception.  Inspirational stuff, and an honor to talk to a Caldecott Award winning creator. Follow Dan on Instagram for great updates (especially his recent stuff on the Covid-19 situation calling on his microbiology degree to demystify what’s going on and help parents and kids talk about it all constructively). You can find his books here, many of them signed through Vroman’s books!    

Rob Harrell, artist and writer of the comic strip “Adam @ Home,” the graphic novel “Monster on the Hill,” and the illustrated novel series, “Life of Zarf,” is here to talk with me about his brand new book, “Wink” which comes out this week!  “Wink” is a fictionalized version of the very real and very rare eye cancer that Rob went through some 13 years ago.  It’s an intense but very inspirational book that follows the story of young Ross Moloy who has to deal with the very real cancer in his life, navigate the strange waters of middle school, and how to deal with friends who just don’t know what to say in this situation.  Rob balances humor, music, relationships, and the uncertainty of fear with such a diagnosis with expert grace, and “Wink” is a wonderful and powerful read that kids and adults will love. We also talk about the 2021 movie “Rumble,” which is, shall we say, loosely based on his great graphic novel, “The Monster on the Hill.”  It’s a fascinating process how it went from the original book to the world wrestling-inspired film that’s coming out!

It’s animation time again on Tall Tale Radio!  Netflix animation’s Jeff Ranjo (Head of story on “Maya and the Three”) and Disney’s John Sanford (Story/Direction “Monsters At Work”) join me for a discussion of how the animation industry has changed over the years, some fun behind the scenes stories about voice work they’ve done, and the joy of the iPad Pro!  In keeping with the weird times we live in, John had to use some of our time to go out for groceries, so it’s a cinema verité episode of Tall Tale Radio!  Always a blast to talk to these two!

Maria Scrivan, syndicated cartoonist of the wonderful “Half Full” comic (you can find on GoComics right here), joins me to talk about her work, her TWO new graphic novels coming out this year, “Nat Enough,” and “Forget Me Nat,” her love of watercolor and painting, and we talk about the things we love! “Nat Enough” comes out on April 7th, and “Forget Me Nat” in September, and you can find them here! Follow Maria on Instagram to see more of her amazing work, @mariascrivan.

Artist, cartoonist, horror-movie enthusiast, and working stand-up comic for many years, Teresa Roberts Logan joins me to talk about her career and life! From a childhood in a huge, boisterous, and funny family, to school, working at Hallmark Cards, and then into the worlds of stand-up comedy and cartoons, Teresa is always a delight to talk to, and another in my series of seriously inspirational people! You can read “The Laughing Redhead” over on GoComics, and you can check out her site LaughingRedhead.com for so much more right here! She’s also made some very cool adult coloring books that sooth and relax…perfect for the times we live in!  Check them out here!  

2018 Reuben Single Panel Comics Award winner Dave Blazek chats with me about his amazing comic “Loose Parts,” the healing joys of music, hiking, and watching cool movies! “Loose Parts” is coming up on 20 years in syndication and is one of the best single panel comics in the history of such things.  Dave is truly inspirational in how he approaches life, learning, and finding the things you love, so enjoy our chat! Find copies of “Loose Parts” books right here! Follow “Loose Parts” on GoComics, and Dave is a regular updater of Instagram and the dark abyss of Twitter should you still dwell there! We talk about the cool walking tours he and his wife take in places like Scotland, Ireland, and New Zealand, and I am SOOO putting this on my bucket list.  Here’s the place he mentioned, Hillwalk Tours.  I have no association with them other than it looks cool and comes recommended by Dave!

Podcast Four in the Quarantine blitz!  Steve Conley of “The Middle Age” joins me to talk about wrapping up the third act of his story, where it’s going from here, and the obsessive detail he puts into all of his work.  We talk about his influences, the joys of role playing games, a brief chat on the show “Picard,” and much more! Steve is a GREAT Patreon creator, with lots of cool exclusives, so I highly urge you to check his stuff out on Patreon.   I downloaded his custom inking brush for Procreate on the iPad and it’s the only one I use now for inking, and you can get a free copy here! “The Middle Age” is also over on GoComics, and if you want to start at the beginning of this wonderful adventure, click here! Also, Steve recommends Webtoons for seeking out new and cool comics you might not know.  Great time to take a deep dive into the webcomics world and find some new favorites out there! Help out indie artists!

Aussie cartoonist and 3D Motion Graphics guru, Paul Caggegi joins me to talk about his influences, his comics, and his amazing use of the FREE 3D program “Blender” to help create his 2D comic, “Homebased.”  3D space is an intriguing subject, and with Blender being free for Mac and PC computers, and Paul’s YouTube channel having tutorials and help on it, it might be time to dive in if you’ve had any interest in stretching your toolset! Here’s a link to Paul’s Patreon page where he offers all sorts of tutorials, and here’s a link to get yourself a copy of Blender today! Also, he has a page over on Gumroad dot com for you to buy his amazing Manga Shader for Blender!  Nuthin’ but 5 star reviews! And be sure to check out his amazing comic “Homebased,” right here! SIDE NOTE: During our talk, Paul mentioned he talked with “the guy who does Family Circus” at a convention Down Under, and my brain could only come up with “Bil Keane.”  Now, technically, that’s true, but about a minute after that I realize I meant to say “JEFF Keane,” so I fall before the Great Cartooning Gods and beg forgiveness for my obvious faux pas!

The quarantine-inspired blitz of Tall Tale Radio continues with a talk with John McCarthy, former MoCCA guy, writer, and comics enthusiast!  John and I both grew up in the New York area (he’s still there!), and have similar but different paths through comics.  We talk about what inspired us as kids, the writers and artists we loved, and the overall affect comics have had on us, and the world around us.  Enjoy!  

In this time of self-quarantine and the general uncertainness that surrounds us currently, I have decided what people need is more of me rambling on with cool artists, writers, and creators!  So get ready for an influx of episodes coming your way! First up is a chat about one of my favorite subjects with one of my favorite people.  Francesco Marciuliano, author of the New York Time Bestselling poetry series books that started with the smash hit, “I Could Pee On This, and Other Poems by Cats,” is here to talk with me about poetry.  What is it about it that moves us, that invokes such powerful emotional responses? How do so few words add up to such power?  We read some of our favorites, delve deep into the philosophy behind it, and to wrap things up, we have fun talking about pop music lyrics which may fall slightly short of being “great poems.”  Enjoy! Here’s a link to site that has 100 links to poetry of all sorts!  

Nearly 200 episodes ago, back in 2010, I talked to one of my favorite new webcartoonists, Adam Huber of the great comic “Bug.”  Well, “Bug” became “Bug Martini,” but 10 years later, the strip is still as funny as ever, and now Adam is running a Kickstarter to start collecting them into physical copies!  It’s been a long time coming, so Lucas Turnbloom (“How To Cat”) and I talk to Adam about his journey, how much life has changed over ten years (married and a kid!), and how the Kickstarter is going. Trust me, this is one you want to support, so head over to Kickstarter and get yourself a copy of the very first “Bug Martini” book! And if you’re interested in a blast from the past, here’s a link to the first time Adam was on back in 2010!

Norm Feuti is retiring his 14-year run on the great syndicated comic, “Retail!”  Lucas Turnbloom (“How to Cat”) and I talk to Norm about the decision to end the strip, his exploding career in early reader books with the utterly adorable “Hello Hedgehog” books, as well as spilling some future projects never before announced until now! I love getting a scoop!

Terri Libenson is retiring the “Pajama Diaries” comic strip after 14 years! (Not 15 as I mistakenly say right at the top of the episode!)  The long running and beloved comic ended on January 4, 2020, as Terri moves on to more books and new adventures! Her series that started with “Invisible Emmie” is going strong, with a new book, “Becoming Brianna” coming out this May, and the grind of a daily strip coupled with all the other work with her book series just became too much, and it was a good time to end the saga of the Kaplan family.  Terri is always a joy to talk to, and we discuss her hard decision, what’s next, and how she felt about the last “Star Wars” film! Speaking of which, hang out after Lucas Turnbloom and I talk to Terri to get our discussion about “The Rise of Skywalker,” because Crom knows the internet has just been waiting for us to weigh in!

At the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards weekend, I was honored to be given a time slot to record a live podcast with co-host Lucas Turnbloom (“How To Cat”) and we had a blast interviewing a bunch of people!  You’ll hear Mark Tatulli (“Lio,” “Short and Skinny”), Rob Harrell (“Monster on the Hill,” “Adam@home”), Single Panel Comic NCS Division Award Winner Dave Blazek (“Loose Parts”), Joe Sliger from Wacom, Kenny Durkin (“Father of the Brood”), Teresa Roberts Logan (“Laughing Redhead,” Host of the Reuben Awards Ceremony), John Hambrock (“Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee,” NCS Board Member), and Jason Chatfield (“Ginger Meggs,” and new NCS President)! These are a ton of fun to do, and I hope I can find ways to do more of them!  Enjoy!

The first ever NCS Fest was held in Huntington Beach, CA, in coordination with the National Cartoonists’ Society annual Reubens Awards weekend, and I was there walking around with some microphones getting artists to talk about the experience! Scads and scads of artists at tables, events at the nearby library, a big tent on the Boardwalk called appropriately enough “The Big Tent” where there were various larger events and signings.  Including a panel on “The Simpsons” hosted by yours truly which was a bucket-list level event of epic proportions for me! Take a listen to me chat with Greg Cravens (“The Buckets,”  “Hubris”), Lonnie Millsap (“Bacön”), Bobby Timony (Twin Comics), Jeff Knurek (“The Jumble”), Tom Richmond (“MAD Magazine”), Mark Parisi (“Off the Mark”), and animator Jim Lujan (“Revengeance,” “All That Glitters”). The NCS Fest was a rousing success in my eyes, and it looks like they’ll be doing it again next year some time (I heard September, but nothing set in stone).  Enjoy the interviews!