This month, we sit down with Charles Brubaker, a talented writer, cartoonist, and animator based in Tennessee, and currently the writer and artist behind a new strip, "Lauren Ipsum." He's also doing his part to preserve some previously forgotten comics through his own Smallbug Studios. Plus: We discuss the "Zombie Strip" phenomenon (no walking dead are involved), and have some big news about friends of Strip Search Tim Jones (of Sour Grapes" fame) and Will Henry, the mastermind behind "Wallace the Brave."

If you're a fan of comic strips, you may know this month's guest Norm Feuti from his two syndicated strips, "Retail," which ran from 2006-2020, and "Gil," which he drew from 2012-2022. He also does the early reader series "Beak & Ally" — that one was the winner of the Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor in 2022 — and "Hello, Hedgehog!," and he just released a new middle-grade graphic novel, "A Kid Like Me," about finding your place in the middle school social landscape. PLUS: Dave and Pete talk about retiring cartoonists, this year's Reuben nominees, and grawlixes.

Just when you thought Tim Jones — the creator, artist and writer of the self-syndicated comic strip "Sour Grapes" — couldn't possibly have any more surprises up his sleeve, he joins Pete and Dave on Strip Search to talk about his latest endeavor, an actual Sour Grapes soda! We caught up on that, the spread of "Sour Grapes" throughout the U.S., and what's next for Mr. Jones. Meanwhile, Pete and Dave discuss the impending end of "Baby Blues," a milestone for the National Cartoonists Society, and the latest on their new chapter book, "Freddy Peeves and the Scoop on the Sinking School."