Dave and Brad return from the 80th Annual National Cartoonists Society Conference and Reuben Awards with stories to tell!

They look back on ComicLab LIVE and a private tour of the newly redesigned Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum!

Then it’s on to the Reuben Awards, where Mark Tatulli finally won the Reuben Award after years of nominations.

But some of the best moments happened between the scheduled events. Brad gets the chance to sit down with 95-year-old cartooning legend Mort Gerberg and hear stories about the golden age of magazine cartooning — including an incredible story about a newly arrived Sergio Aragonés taking Manhattan by storm. Jim Davis shares the story behind Garfield’s famous suction-cup dolls, along with his surprisingly strict 25-word rule for writing the strip. And the farewell brunch turns into an exchange of sketches, original art, and some wonderful reminders of why cartoonists come back to this event year after year.

Finally, an old collection of America’s “best college cartoonists” offers an unexpected lesson about making a career in comics: You don’t have to start out at the front of the pack. You just have to keep going.

ON THIS WEEK’S SHOW…

• ComicLab LIVE at the NCS Conference
• The newly redesigned Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
• Which original would you save from a museum fire?
• The Reuben Awards
• Katie Cook and Mark Tatulli take home awards
• Lunch with Dave and Eileen Blazek
• Brad’s conversation with Mort Gerberg
• Mort’s stories about Sergio Aragonés
• Jim Davis on writing Garfield
• The accidental origin of the Garfield suction-cup doll
• Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott
• Original art at the farewell brunch
• ComicLab listeners at the NCS
• The NCS Cartoonist Showcase
• Why persistence matters more than being the best