If the president-elect defunds government-endowed liberal media outlets like PBS and NPR, as he's threatening to do, where else will listeners go to find their unusual and alternative viewpoints? I'll miss that. But some things were too weird for even the NPR sensibility.
Ben Katchor's comics perfectly capture the echos of NYC's fading urban past. "Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer" was a regular strip, later assembled into a terrific book. With his scratchy line work, murky ink washes, and brutalized, stumpy figures, Katchor perfectly renders the city's strange mom and pop shops, beauty schools, ethnic restaurants and delis, perpetual "going out of business" businesses, all seen through the filter of a Jewish street photographer. Even the incidental names of the fictitious stores are hilarious ("Mortal Coil Mattress Co" –oy!)
In 1995 NPR aired "radio comics," audio-only versions of Katchor's metropolitan scenes and characters. You can hear them online at YouTube: 1, 2. I love how they are brought to life with sound effects and distinctive character voices provided by such iconic NYC talents as Jerry Stiller and Brother Theodore. Give a listen on YouTube.
Sadly, listeners back then thought that it was all too weird and the series was cancelled.
If the two-minute episodes are too short, try this more recent and epic interview with Ben Katchor and Fantagraphics' Gary Growth. It's like an audio version of FG's Cartoon Journal: lengthy (over two hours!), full of arcane bits of information on cartoonists, and, if you're into comics and patient enough, yields some great stuff.
Previously: The second annual Jewish Comics Experience (JewCE) in NYC
