Virtual Memories Show 661:
Josh Neufeld
“It was a really fulfilling thing, as an artist, as a journalist, to feel like I was carrying these people’s stories, that I was representing them, bringing out who they were, and that they were trusting me to give them a voice.”
Comics journalist Josh Neufeld joins the show to talk about the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the legacy of his fantastic graphic reporting of the lives upended by that catastrophe, A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge (Pantheon). We talk about his new ‘zine followup, Beyond A.D., how the storm inspired him to become an emergency response volunteer and what he learned when he was stationed in Biloxi, what it was like to learn journalism and reporting on the fly and integrate those with his comics storytelling skills, and why his goal with A.D. was to make a people’s history. We get into how he viewed the anniversary, whether he’s gone back to New Orleans since reporting on it, and how he stayed connected with his subjects after the project and what it was like putting the anniversary ‘zine together. We also discuss his comics upbringing, what it was like drawing for Harvey Pekar after years of American Splendor fandom, how constraints can lead to greater creativity, how neither of us have the lying gene necessary for fiction, his interest in graphic medicine and how that shapes his recent comics, the difference between journalism and nonfiction, a couple of my Small Press Expo anecdotes, how Michael Jordan’s minor league baseball experience helps explain why comics people (usually) treat newbies well, and more. Give it a listen! And go read A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge and Beyond A.D.!
“A.D. for me as a comics journalist was the sweet spot because so much of it could be told through action and dialogue.”
“I’m not the greatest journalist in the world; I’m certainly not the greatest artist in the world. But I can combine the two of them pretty . . . okay.”
Enjoy the conversation! Then check out the archives for more great episodes!
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About our Guest, in his own words
I am a cartoonist who works primarily in the field of nonfiction comics, specifically as a comics journalist. I’m the writer/artist of the Eisner and Harvey Award-nominated A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, and the Xeric Award-winning graphic travelogue A Few Perfect Hours (and Other Stories from Southeast Asia & Central Europe). I am the illustrator of the New York Times bestseller The Influencing Machine: Brook Gladstone On the Media. I was a longtime artist for Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor, and my art has been exhibited in gallery and museum shows in the United States and Europe.
Follow Josh on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram.
Credits: This episode’s music is Fella by Hal Mayforth, used with permission from the artist. The conversation was recorded in a hotel room during the Small Press Expo 2025 on a pair of Blue enCORE 200 microphones feeding into a Zoom PodTrak P4 digital recorder & interface. I recorded the intro and outro on the same setup, since I’m sitting in a hotel room in Frankfurt right now. All processing and editing done in Adobe Audition CC. Photo of Josh by someone else. It’s on my instagram.
