Douglas Laubacher is a cartoonist and art educator from Northeast Ohio. You can find his comic strip, "Unbound," in the Tuscarawas County Bargain Hunter and the Wooster Weekly News. A member of the National Cartoonist Society, Doug can often be found traversing the land, teaching the mysterious craft of cartooning in various art centers and libraries throughout the region. (We know because he told us.) Check out our wide-ranging interview with Doug about "Unbound" and his cartooning history, along with some news about our latest Pet Peeves projects and a few adventures of our own.

Arnon Z. Shorr has done his part to expand the palette of Jewish stories being told, in both film and later in comics and graphic novels . He's penned tales of mythical creatures (a High Holidays unicorn tale will be out soon), monsters, and perhaps most successfully, pirates, all with more than a nod toward Jewish history and culture. Shorr talked to Strip Search about the joys of telling those stories — and also the challenges, especially in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the war that followed. Also: Update on Friends of Strip Search taking home the gold (i.e. a Reuben Award), and find out where to see Dave and Pete this November!

Boston Kids Comics Fest, which had grown exponentially since it launched in 2018, is taking a pause this year. But the good news is that there's a viable alternative, particularly for those west of Boston: the very first Young Artists Comics Fest, aka ALYAC Fest, coming to the Ashland Public Library on July 13, 2025. We talked to event organizers Meena Jain, past director of the Boston Kids Comics Fest and current director of the Ashland Public Library; Tony Davis, owner of the Million Year Picnic Comic Book Store in Harvard Square and a co-founder of the Boston Kids Comics Fest; and Katrina Ireland-Bilodeau, director of youth services/assistant director of the Ashland Public Library, about what to expect.

Also, the latest on not one, but TWO new "Pet Peeves" books, based on Dave and Pete's popular comic strip.