Comics Alternative Interviews: Benjamin Frisch

What this episode covers

For this interview show, Gwen and Derek talk with Benjamin Frisch about his new book from Top Shelf Productions, The Fun Family. In many ways, this is a parody of Bil and Jeff Keane's The Family Circus. The narrative concerns the family life of beloved cartoonist Robert Fun and chronicles the threads of domesticity as everything begins to unravel. Fun has a strip very much like Keane's, a family-oriented single-circular-panel daily, but Frisch doesn't demean the legendary newspaper strip or take it into obscene territory. However, there are dark places where Frisch travels, and that's much of the fun of this book. Both Gwen and Derek ask their guest about the genesis of his project, his history with newspaper dailies, and his recent experiences in the residency program, La Maison des Auteurs, in Angoulême, France. They also discuss Frisch's background in sound production and his own work in podcasting, specifically with Jessica Abel (a previous guest) and Out on the Wire. This experience with Benjamin Frisch is yet one more example of the fruitful intersection of comics and podcasting.

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