The Cartoon Pad

Rich Sparks: Black Socks, Bad Ideas, and the Comedy of Imperfection This week on The Cartoon Pad, Marty and Shaw welcome the wonderfully unclassifiable Rich Sparks—cartoonist, musician, testicle enthusiast, and one of the most delightfully strange voices in modern gag cartooning. If you’ve stumbled across Sparks on Facebook or in places like The New Yorker, Air Mail, American Bystander, or Weekly Humorist, you already know: his cartoons arrive like a tonic in a sea of sameness.We dive into Rich’s peculiar visual universe—mid-century characters in horn-rim glasses, men inexplicably wearing black socks and dress shoes while otherwise naked, and the eternal comic truth that imperfection is funnier than perfection. Along the way we discuss cartoon influences (M.K. Brown, Everett Peck, Cal Schenkel), the mysterious durability of tardigrades, and why pudgy, vulnerable humans make better comedy than flawless ones.Rich also shares his unusual path into publishing cartoons—selling from his very first New Yorker batch, yet originally planning a career in illustration instead of gag cartoons. We talk sketchbooks, Facebook as a public cartoon laboratory, and the slow grind of finding your line after years of hating your own drawings.Plus: Chicago trivia, band life in power-pop groups, trade-journal illustration gigs, the lost art of drawing weird things that make people slightly uncomfortable—and Rich’s new collection Horseshoes and Tardigrades: And other drawings by Rich Sparks, a book packed with the kind of offbeat, beautifully odd humor that only Sparks seems able to deliver. Come for the cartoon craft, stay for the socks-and-shoes philosophy of comedy. Follow Rich on Facebook or Instagram (@rich.sparks) for a steady stream of wonderfully inappropriate cartoons.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-cartoon-pad--4859856/support.

Tom Toro: Soft Lines, Sharp Jabs, and Jokes that Whisper Before They Wallop! This week on The Cartoon Pad, Bob (in spirit, he's away), Shaw, and Marty welcome Tom Toro—the New Yorker stalwart whose gentle washes and calm, cat-like characters set up sneakily subversive gags. We get into process (ideas first, then drawings that don’t overact), the long grind of early submissions, and the craft of making captions optional without losing the punch. We roam the canon and the shop talk: playing with tropes (the Grim Reaper’s better lines), New Yorker fact-checks in the wild (left-handed infields, mayflies, and a note about lion manes you have to hear to believe), and cover art (those Thanksgiving turkeys in Groucho glasses). Tom also dives into kids’ books (Crocodiles Need Friends Too), where the figures get friendlier but the humor still bites. Plus: Barsotti and Ziegler lore, WC Fields detours, accordion-theft home invasions, and Tom’s new collection And to Think We Started as a Book Club (Andrews McMeel; distributed by Simon & Schuster)—a perfect palate-cleanser between your book club’s 500-page epics. Find Tom at tomtoro.com and on Instagram. Buy his book hereBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-cartoon-pad--4859856/support.

Bold Lines, Pocket Gags, and a Cat from the ’70s! This episode of The Cartoon Pad, Bob and Shaw beam across the pond to Margate—15 floors up, sea view included—to visit the brilliantly dry and dangerously efficient Jeremy Banx. You’ve seen Banx’s sharp, caption-light missiles in Private Eye, Punch, the Mail on Sunday, and most famously the Financial Times, where he files a daily pocket cartoon—yes, daily—often with about an hour to nail the drawing after the greenlight. No pressure! We talk the craft, the toolkit, and the grind. Along the way: why tiny newsprint murders fussy cross-hatching, how a “pocket cartoon” wedges perfectly where writers ran out of words, and why simplicity isn’t simple—it’s ruthless editing. There’s Brit-vs-Yank banter, a quick detour through British comedy DNA, and a love letter to gag cartoons that travel without captions. Banx also teases current side quests: a book project called “’70s Cat” (think minimal, mischievous, delightfully mew-sic), plus a film script and a novel collab—because one daily deadline apparently wasn’t enough. Come for the shop talk, stay for the chessboard with no legal moves, and leave wanting to throw away half your lines. Find Banx on Instagram/BlueSky/Twitter at @banxcartoons.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-cartoon-pad--4859856/support.

Today’s guest is the great John Cuneo—an illustrator so beloved, his sketchbooks should come with a warning label (and possibly a therapist’s number). You’ve seen his brilliant, bizarre, and sometimes blush-worthy work in The New Yorker, Esquire, and The Atlantic Monthly. Of course, Michael only wants to talk about the naughty bits. Bob tries to keep things classy. Chaos ensues.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-cartoon-pad--4859856/support.

This episode of The Cartoon Pad welcomes cartoonist, comic and author Jason Chatfield, His new book with Scott Dooley, "You're not a real dog owner until..." is out now. We chat with Jason about his Process Junkie substack and how his mitigation of social media lets him be much more social! Get the book! https://www.jasonchatfield.com/store/signed-copy-of-youre-not-a-real-dog-owner-untilBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-cartoon-pad--4859856/support.

This time on the Pad we chat with Hollywood go-getter, the multi-talented Don Young! From humble beginnings in Toronto, to NYC for acting in TV & Film, to Hollywood, selling screenplays to Carl Reiner and playing pool with Sammy Davis Jr. (after acting together in Cannonball Run). Hanging out with Hannah & Barbara, and chatting with Fara Fawcett about theater... Don has some STORIES! Plus he wrote for Inspector Gadget, Marty's favorite childhood show. He's got a new YA series called THE 4MIDABLES! GO GO Gadget check it out!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-cartoon-pad--4859856/support.

On today’s Cartoon Pad, the award-winning New Yorker cartoonist, author, teacher, TED Talk speaker and film producer and director, Liza Donnelly. Her new film project Women Laughing is a featured kickstarter now, check it out and get some great perks! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/womenlaughingfilm/women-laughingBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-cartoon-pad--4859856/support.

‘Get Back,’ the episode the public has been hankering for. The boys are back to discuss art and the craft of gag cartooning but never do quite get to it. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-cartoon-pad--4859856/support.

This holiday episode of The Cartoon Pad offers yuletide greetings, lots of myrrh, some occasional chuckles, and a lot holiday cheer!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-cartoon-pad--4859856/support.

This episode of The Cartoon Pad, the boys do a solid for the writing & cartooning community by having on Substack superstar, James Breakwell (Exploding Unicorn) share his newsletter tips. https://explodingunicorn.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-cartoon-pad--4859856/support.