Comics Alternative Interviews: Drew Friedman

What this episode covers

Photo by Greg Preston Time Codes: 00:00:25 - Introduction 00:02:29 - Setup of interview 00:03:53 - Interview with Drew Friedman 01:10:22 - Wrap up 01:11:32 - Contact us Derek and Andy are excited to have as their guest the great Drew Friedman. His new book More Heroes of the Comics comes out this week from Fantagraphics, and the guys use this opportunity to finally have him on the podcast. Both have been big fans of Drew's work since they discovered it back in the heydays of Spy magazine, and after listening to how much fun the artist was on an early episode of Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast, Andy and Derek knew they had to get Drew on their show. And now with the release of the new book, they have the opportunity! The guys talk with Drew about this second installment in the Heroes of the Comics series and how it's both a continuation of, yet quite different from, the previous volume. Drew shares the decision-making process of inclusion, the art of portraiture, and the actual genesis of this series as a whole. This, in some ways, is similar to Friedman's earlier Old Jewish Comedian series, although there the artist set out to capture the entertainers in their later years, and with little text accompanying the portraits. In the Heroes of the Comics books, Drew pays tribute to both personage and context, as well as including brief biographical material on each artist. And in this second volume, Drew is specifically focused on very marginal figures in early comics history. Plus, their are anecdotes and laughs galore. After listening to this interview, be sure and check out and support "Vermeer of the Borscht Belt," a Kickstarter campaign currently going on for a full-length documentary about Drew Friedman. Why should you do this? Because Chico needs the money!

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