Recorded live at the Comics Without Borders / Sans Frontières gathering at Rice University, this episode dives deep into international comics publishing, aesthetic risk-taking, and how underground networks drive a truly global comics culture.

David Schilter, publisher and editor of Latvia’s acclaimed kuš! comics, joins us alongside Pedro Vieira de Moura, Portuguese critic, writer, and co-founder of the bookstore/gallery Mundo Fantasma. We talk about how a small-format anthology changed Latvian comics forever, why RAW magazine changed Pedro's life, and how comics have always been a place for outsiders to find their people.

It’s about pornographic comics, lipstick in mirrors, misnumbered anthologies, institutional resistance, aesthetic weirdness, bookstores as public educators, and why no one in Latvia is publishing Maus.

Guest Links:

kuš! comics (David Schilter): https://www.komikss.lv
Pedro Vieira de Moura: http://www.laboratori.net
Mundo Fantasma (Porto bookstore/gallery): https://www.mundofantasma.pt

Names Dropped:

Art Spiegelman – Creator of Maus, influence on RAW magazine: Art Spiegelman on Wikipedia
Barbara Shermund – queer comics history: Barbara Shermund
Basil Wolverton – Iconic MAD magazine illustrator: Basil Wolverton on Wikipedia
Charles Burns – Known for Black Hole and RAW magazine: Charles Burns on Wikipedia
Gary Panter – RAW magazine artist, punk comics icon: Gary Panter on Wikipedia
Al Jaffee – Fold-in master at MAD Magazine: Al Jaffee on Wikipedia
Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli – Daredevil and Batman: Year One:
- Frank Miller
- David Mazzucchelli
Moebius – Legendary French comics artist: Moebius on Wikipedia
Neil Adams, George Pérez, Jim Lee –
Scott McCloud – Author of Understanding Comics: Scott McCloud
Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro – Early Portuguese cartoonist and comic pioneer
David B. – French cartoonist and co-founder of L’Association: David B. on Wikipedia
Adrian Tomine – Acclaimed alternative cartoonist: Adrian Tomine
Marjane Satrapi – Creator of Persepolis: Marjane Satrapi
Brian Baynes – Publisher of Bubbles Zine: Bubbles Zine