In his ongoing comic, Reel Politik, Nathan Gelgud harnesses the daily gag strip to explore cinema through the lens of radical politics (or radical politics through the lens of cinema??). The strip is peopled with a goofy but determined cast of characters hell-bent on fomenting Marxist-Leninist revolution by whatever means are available to them, having turned a small-town theater into a radical cell. The first collection of the strip has recently been released by Drawn & Quarterly.

In this episode, Nathan and I talk about his relationship to film and politics, and how these became the main focus of his comics-making. We also dive into essay-comics, Godard, sci-fi, the joys of a daily comic practice, and Nathan's revulsion at the word "practice."

Thanks as ever to Jason Butler, our heroic producer & sound engineer!

Links

Nathan's website

Nathan's instagram

Reel Politik at D&Q

Miami Review of Comics on instagram

Drew's free patreon

Jason Butler's website

Jason Butler's instagram