When the 2021 Guysner Award winner Nate McDonough asked us to have Providence-based cartoonist and illustrator Ryan Alves on an episode, we knew this was a big favor. Would we set a dangerous precedent by allowing someone to dictate who comes on? Would Ryan Alves meet the high watermark set by past guests? The answer to both questions is yes. If you're a Guysner winner, you get more leeway. And besides, Ryan is great and he would've been on the show anyway. To Nate's credit, he did expedite the process. Again, Guysner. After a few scheduling conflicts, we finally sat down with Ryan to talk about his rapidly growing body of work including Bubblegum Maelstrom and Moustache, why he got into comics, his experience at the Winter Hocking Hills Cartoonist Retreat, and who has the biggest hog in Batman's rogues gallery (it's Bane).

Check out his work at on his website and follow him on Instagram @alvestagram and Twitter @AWE_comics.

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