Tom Spurgeon, a comics advocate, historian, and journalist, passed away on November 13, 2019. Tom was a frequent guest on this podcast, and had a huge impact on comics in general. In this episode, Tim and Kumar discuss his effect on the comics industry and his appearances on DCP. Then, Tim talks to three people who knew him well:

* Caitlin McGurk, associate curator of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum (Caitlin appeared on our show once before);

* Gil Roth, of the Virtual Memories Show podcast; and

* Dan Wright, a cartoonist who knew Tom growing up, and invited Tom to collaborate with him on the syndicated comic strip Wildwood. (Dan also appeared on our show once before.)

New York memorial for Tom on January 24

Comics Journal obit for Tom

Sequential Tart‘s interview with Tom and Dan from 2001

Tom’s appearances on our show:

* #300 Love & Rockets: Jaime Hernandez

* #305 Love & Rockets: Gilbert Hernandez

* #331 The End of the Road for “Cul de Sac”

* #339 “King-Cat”: The Mundane, Re-observed

* #349 Expanding Comics’ Audience, pt 1

* #358 Carl Barks, “The Good Duck Artist”

* #404 Jules Feiffer’s “Sick Sick Sick”

* #420 Kupperman and Hanawalt: Our Guides to the Absurd

* #446 Tom Spurgeon (interviewed by Tim)

* #462 “Usagi Yojimbo”

* #488 Farewell, Alvin; Hello, MoCCA

* #527 Tom Spurgeon’s “We Told You So”

* #564 T-Rex and CXC