With his amazing IN THE CITY comics (self-published), cartoonist Karl Christian Krumpholz manages to capture the ephemerality and dynamism of urban life, fueled by the stories of bar and club patrons. We talk about how he began In The City and how it unfolded and grew over five parts, how he learned to let his minor characters breathe and have their own stories, why his stand-in plays the Harpo-ish role of mute observer, and why The City isn't a specific city (but isn't Chicago). We get into Orwell's 10 rules for a perfect pub and why his new coda to In The City is (tentatively) named Moon Under Water, why it's better for his characters to embody flâneur-hood instead of his trying to seem smart by being explicit about it, how he began drawing cityscapes to get over how much he hated drawing backgrounds and then fell in love with that mode, how Evan Dorkin's Milk & Cheese was his gateway drug into indy comics, how it took him quite a while to find his voice and comics-mode, and why he hopes to keep making comics about The City for a long time. We also discuss his fashion choices and hat fixation, and how led to him getting (visually) mistaken for Seth (or cosplay-/stunt double Seth), the importance of showing up at comics events, getting stories from his adventures in different cities (esp. the bars, of course), how he's the second guest of mine named Karl who has a comic about his cat, and more. Follow Karl on Instagram, Bluesky and Flickr, and check out his Etsy shop, • More info at our site • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Stripe, Patreon, or Paypal, and subscribe to our e-newsletter