TCAF 2022: Chad Bilyeu talks about his ‘Chad In Amsterdam’ comic books

Illustration by Jenn Woodall

In celebration of the comic book creators exhibiting at the 2022 Toronto Comic Arts Festival, here’s my chat with Chad Bilyeu about Chad In Amsterdam. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. And the podcast is also available on YouTube. Please like and subscribe to that video channel.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Chad studied, worked, and came of age in Washington, DC. Currently residing in Amsterdam, he’s a writer, art director, producer, editor, and publisher. His acclaimed autobiographical series Chad In Amsterdam details his life as an atypical American living in the Dutch capital. Chad has written and published six issues of Chad In Amsterdam in the last three years, featuring art from an international array of artists. In 2021 Chad ventured into the realm of comic anthology with his title Megillah which gives a curated selection of artists eight pages to create a story. For TCAF, Chad will be debuting a new comic entitled The Re-Up created with his good friend and illustrator Juliette de Wit.

Chad In Amsterdam is described as “the tale of an obstinate autodidact in one of the world’s most infamous places. Amsterdam is a city that most know of but do not know much about. This comic book is a portrait of a diverse metropolis as presented by a man destined to live there.”