Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Sally Ingraham

Posted on October 27, 2017October 27, 2017

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08/08/2018

Juan FernándezAugust 8, 2018NewsBoris is still sick, so no news from the “world of comics” for today. Just hunkering down and being with the beloved. For the Boris lovers: he’s been eating and drinking more thanks to some cortisone injections and an appetite stimulant called Entyce. Baby boy has required a lot of attention and I’ve had to keep my head down for the most part away from contemporary comics news. For the comics lovers: here are some Boris comics by the great Jenn Lisa: Share this page: [...]

01/09/2017

Juan FernándezJanuary 8, 2017NewsA month of diary comics by Hannah Kaplan; Simon Reinhardt’s Mystery Town; Michael Deforge’s twitter comics; Gary Panter; Dash Shaw on Moonlight; Robyn Chapman’s 2016 Micro-Press Survey; Weird chat robot theater; and daily strips by Juan Fernandez, Caleb Orecchio and Gabriella Tito. Juan here. It’s getting bone chillingly cold here in Pittsburgh. We’re starting to burn the shitty minicomics to stay warm…it’s getting rough out here. Hope you’re warm at least, dear reader! ————————————————————————————————— The 2016 Micro-Press Survey is now live! If you’re a micropublisher, would you take a moment to fill it out? Robyn Chapman puts this together every year and its an invaluable resource for the scene as it ebbs and flows in energy and size. New for the 2016 Yearbook: Publishers that only publish anthologies will now be included in the Micro-Press Yearbook. If you only publish anthologies, please complete the regular 2016 Survey. If you’d like to recommend some anthology publishers for the list, please contact Robyn at robertaraechapman (at) gmail (dot) com. Weird robot theater – You can now watch Two Google home bots chat live. They go at it on a variety of topics, usually bickering back and forth. There’s a text stream in case you can’t quite make out what they’re saying. If you want a fun comics excercise, jot down some of their exchanges and use them as the fuel for a dialogue in a strip. Weird AI (fueled by cleverbot‘s AI) that creates a quiet, DADAist bit of chat logs you could imagine Samuel Beckett scripting. Philadelphia based cartoonist Hannah Kaplan is making a diary comic everyday this month. Catch up with the past week and tune in for the rest of the month. Highly recommended if you like the work of Gabrielle Bell, Julie Delporte or Sacha Mardou. ————————————————————————————————— Did you know Simon Reinhardt released twelve issues of Mystery Town in 2016? 1 Every month. You can read them all (plus the first two issues, from 2015) right here: http://mystery-town.tumblr.com/all Featuring guest comics from Luke Healy, Reilly Hadden, Nik James, Dean Sudarsky, Aaron Cockle and yours truly. The diligence and commitment of a King Cat zine with the far out obliqueness of comics by CF. Simon Reinhart has been putting out these monthly issues in a really fun and smart distribution model for zines. He makes the print ready PDF available online for free for you to print at home and brings copies around with him to give away wherever he exhibits. It’s clever in that the physical version of these comics is available for distribution anywhere, without him having to do a crazy amount of work printing and distributing. What I think is the most beautiful part of this is the nature of distortion in these zines. He’s playing around with different kinds of visual distortion and abstraction of images through his cartooning and the digital and analogue reproduction techniques he uses. Physical drawings scanned, photographed, halftoned, dithered… And of course, each zine comes out printed differently according to the kind of printer that is being used by the reader at home. So, hop on over to Mystery Town, print some issues out, staple them together, have a read and leave it somewhere for someone to find it. CW students, here’s my word to the wise: Consider self-publishing a monthly zine. Whatever writing or drawings you make that month, include it in the zine. Give it a cool name like SIRK or DEEP GIRL. Hold yourself to that deadline. Keep production simple. Black and white xerox it. Some months will be great, some months will be not so great. That’s ok. What’s most important is that you’ll be processing your world on your own terms through your comics. You can do it. ————————————————————————————————— Michael DeForge is publishing a new comic on his Twitter thread…! The first episode is shown above, and there have been further updates since then. Check it out – follow Michael on Twitter – @michael_deforge. ————————————————————————————————— Dash Shaw was one of a number of contributors to a cool feature on Talkhouse Film – The 2016 Talkies: Talkhouse Film Contributors’ Top Films of the Year. The favorite theatrical releases of 2016 were voted on and then graphic and written responses were shared, including Dash’s illustration for the movie Moonlight (above). Check out the rest of the list HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The pages pictured above are from Gary Panter’s ground-breaking and totally hilarious Cola Madnes. “Cola Madnes was created by Panter primarily for his Japanese audience (who named a cafe in Nagoya ‘Gary Panter Squar’ in his honor) using a manga-style two-panel-per-page layout that paid silent and respectful homage to the work of Toho Studios (creator of Godzilla) and comic book legend Jack “King” Kirby. Cola Madnes was Gary Panter’s artistic “holy mission” way back in 1983. A project that was spawned from sketch-book jottings to rise up phoenix-like 18 years later as a smoldering piece of graphic and literary art that deserves to be stacked alongside J.G. Ballard’s Crash and William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch.” – via Fantagraphics.com Gary Panter generously donated this seminal book – along with 100 Drawings, where Gary documents many of his best commissions – to Comics Workbook to help support the Rowhouse Residency and our other projects. Get copies of both at the school store – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— 1-9-2017 – by Juan Fernández ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 1-9-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 1-9-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

04/24/2018

Aaron CockleApril 23, 2018NewsAaron here today with Global Art Comics; Frank in Italia; Print Slam #8; Paradise Systems; Cy Twombly; Remote Mind Control ————————————————————————————————— Save the date! April 27th: SPRING GROUP SHOW | GLOBAL ALT COMICS! Featuring work by Trina Robbins, Mary Fleener, Lauren Weinstein, Powerpaola, Gina Wynbrandt, Conxita Herrero, Tommi Parrish, Gabrielle Bell. ————————————————————————————————— Do you have any peculiar habits or routines before starting to draw? I try to do drawing warmups. I like to copy Archie comics. It lets my brain draw without thinking, without inventing. And Archie comics have a type of cartoony realism which I think is perfect to copy. Ideally, I warm up for 30 minutes or so before beginning to work on my own comics. Although as my comic nears completion, I warm up less because I feel confident about my direction. Also, I obsessively make coffee on the stovetop with my Bialetti caffettiera. I have to drive far away to find Lavazza coffee at the Italian grocery in a different neighborhood. American coffee is crap. Frank Santoro is interviewed at Fumettologica, in support of the publication of Pompeii in Italy, and Frank’s trip this week to Naples Comicon. An excerpt from the Italian edition has been posted as well. ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— Paradise Systems: Woshibai, Lisk Feng and Jun Cen in conversation April 27, 2018, 6-8 PM Shanghai-based cartoonist Woshibai reads from his new book Migraine, newly released by Paradise Systems. Woshibai will be joined by New York-based cartoonists Jun Cen and Lisk Feng in conversation about Chinese comics and the illustration community. Jun Cen will also have copies of his book Negative Space availanble, which was recently published in China. ————————————————————————————————— Cy Twombly: In Beauty it is finished: Drawings 1951–2008 Through April 25, 2018, 522 West 21st Street, NY Cy Twombly: Coronation of Sesostris Through April 28, 2018, 980 Madison Avenue, NYC ————————————————————————————————— ‘EM stands for electromagnetic.’ Curtis Waltman at Muckrock found some good graphics in a recent Freedom of Information Act request: As part of my ongoing project looking at fusion centers’ investigations into Antifa and various white supremacist groups, I filed a request with the WSFC. I got back many standard documents in response, including emails, intelligence briefings and bulletins, reposts from other fusion centers – and then there was one file titled “EM effects on human body.zip.” ————————————————————————————————— Vison Box – 4-24- 2018 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 4-24- 2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

07/11/2018

Juan FernándezJuly 11, 2018los Cómics / NewsHartley Lin at Comix Experience; Drawing A Dialogue Episode 13; CARTOON DIALECTICS #3 by Tom Kaczynski and Clara Jetsmark; Shortbox U.S.Distribution – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Hartley Lin Talk with Brian Hibbs at Comix Experience Here on the site, Chris Anthony Diaz offers us some great documentation of Hartley Lin‘s talk at Comix Experience from this past June. After his Young Frances (published by Adhouse Books) book signing, Brian Hibbs interviewed Hartley Lin for the Comix Experience Graphic Novel Club, San Francisco, Wednesday evening, June 13, 2018 You can watch the interview HERE. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Review – CARTOON DIALECTICS #3 by Tom Kaczynski and Clara Jetsmark Nick Hanover, Your Chicken Enemy Inside the pages of Cartoon Dialectics #3, Tom Kaczynski and Clara Jetsmarkforce you to consider the cheerful yet ominous reach of the nostalgic blob, that cultural motivator that compels us to look backward even as we’re moving forward. Connecting nostalgia to Trump’s Make America Great Again movement as well as the styles and tastes of progressives and, in its potent final section, Kaczynski’s own relationship with his past, the central question of Cartoon Dialectics’ third installment isn’t “How did we get here?” but “Why do we keep returning here?” When I spoke to Kaczynski in 2013, that question weighed heavily on both our minds, running through our discussions of gentrification, global warming, the mystification of technology and beyond. Kaczynski told me that the frequently bleak stories collected in his impressive work Beta Testing the Apocalypse were inspired not by dystopian works but his interest in utopian fiction and his time growing up under communism, a system that was itself utopian in design but nonetheless broke down in execution. Responding to a point I made about the negative outcomes of his stories, Kaczynski said: “If my stories seem really negative, it’s only because I’m examining the negative to see if a positive can be teased out eventually.” – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – U.K. Based ShortBox Rolling out US distribution Zainab Akhtar: I’m happy to share some good news today: ShortBox is partnering with White Squirrel to offer domestic fulfilment to our US-based customers. What this means is if you’re based in the US and want to buy ShortBox, you will no longer be charged international shipping rates, but a domestic rate, with packages shipping through the US postal system. (Read More) – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Vivir para Contarla – Jesus Cossio Entrevistado Pablo Turnes, Revista Kamandi Jesús Cossio (Lima, 1974) es uno de los autores contemporáneos de historieta más notables de Perú. Su trayectoria como historietista comenzó en el circuito limeño de los fanzines pero fue sin dudas con Rupay – coproducido junto a Alfredo Villar y Luis Rossell – que su obra comenzó a generar interés y a ser conocida por fuera de las fronteras nacionales. Su trabajo sobre la memoria del pasado inmediato siguió con Barbarie (Lima: Contracultura, 2010). Además de dar talleres, ha organizado exposiciones y presentado su obra en otros países como Argentina – al que estuvo invitado para el festival Viñetas Sueltas en 2009 y 2010 – Brasil, Colombia, Venezuela y más recientemente los Estados Unidos. Tuve la oportunidad de ver su presentación en el ICAF en 2017, y fue francamente estremecedor su relato tranquilo pero sin concesiones, como quien habla con la certeza del que ha comprobado e indagado en lo más terrible de su sociedad. Cossio no es verborrágico: va al grano y es exacto como un bisturí. A partir de ciertas inquietudes sobre la dimensión ética de su trabajo, sus propias posiciones y compromiso, se generó este diálogo a la distancia. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Drawing A Dialogue – Episode 13 New episode of Cathy G. Johnson and e jackson’s, Drawing A Dialogue is up! They are building off of the stereotypes in cartooning we discussed in Ep 12, specifically how fat bodies are depicted in the media. It’s a great listen. Listen here. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Suzy and Cecil – 07-11-2018 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

09/30/2016

Sally IngrahamSeptember 30, 2016NewsSally here with Meg Lemke on censorship, the return of Karen Berger, reviews of work by Whit Taylor, Hazel Newlevant, and Daryl Seitchik, Ulli Lust on “drawing as language”, and Sarah Bowie’s adventures in Angouleme. ————————————————————————————————— On the site we have the first roundup of photos from the Comics Workbook hosted cartoon workshops at the Small Press Expo 2016! Check them out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The last week in September is traditionally Banned Book Week. This annual event put on by the American Library Association brings attention to the books that have received censorship across the years, but more importantly it is a celebration of the freedom to read whatever you want. Meg Lemke, Editor-and-Chief of MUTHA, wrote a piece for Pen America on Jillian and Mariko Tamaki’s This One Summer, which has been frequently removed from schools and K-12 school libraries for it’s use of “profanity” and “vulgarity”. Comics have always had a close relationship with the firing squad, and Lemke muses on why: “As with other banned comics (such as Alison Bechdel’s lauded Fun Home), we see how easily images read as obscenity to those unfamiliar with the form. They are seen as more dangerous by their accessibility. It is what makes them attractive to younger readers, and too tempting a mark for censorship.” – Meg Lemke for Pen Read the rest of the piece HERE. Read an excerpt from This One Summer HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Karen Berger is BACK! If that name is unfamiliar, get on the same page quick: “For three decades, she worked as an editor at mega-publisher DC Comics, and her long list of accomplishments while there can mostly be traced back to one risky venture: creating and running a mature-leaning imprint called Vertigo from 1993 to 2013. In that position she did more than just about anybody else in comics history to get ambitious, avant-garde, serious non-superhero work in front of a mass audience. The Sandman, V for Vendetta, Preacher, iZombie, Y: The Last Man, Transmetropolitan, 100 Bullets, Hellblazer — those are just a few of the better-known titles Vertigo produced during Berger’s tenure.” – via Vulture.com After a falling out with DC Comics and a silence of 3 years, Karen Berger has returned to the scene, making her return with a new comic she’s edited – Surgeon X – which hit stands on Sept. 28th. More on this story HERE. (via The Comics Reporter) ————————————————————————————————— Rob Clough has reviews of Whit Taylor‘s Wallpaper and Hazel Newlevant‘s Tender-Hearted on High-Low this week! Check them out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Ulli Lust has a report on the International Comics Festival Boomfest on her blog – check it out HERE and plug into the Russian alternative comics scene for a bit. Speaking of Ulli Lust, she has a preview on her website of one page from the new book she’s been working on over the last 3 years. Page 333: ————————————————————————————————— And to continue speaking of Ulli Lust, she was one of several cartoonists who appear in a series of films about “drawing as language”, made by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Art. Gabrielle Bell, Ben Katchor, Jooste Swart, and Joe Sacco, among others, are also interviewed. Ulli Lust’s film is below: ————————————————————————————————— The Comics Beat presents a review of Daryl Seitchik‘s Exits (Koyama Press, 2016). “Moving past something might be the central message of Seitchik’s story, and the idea that even as a healthy endeavor it might not look like we expect it and it might have its own set of issues. Claire moves past the corporeal being that she feels is the center of her problems, but pushing that aside to another state doesn’t really solve anything for her, and reality becomes the result of whatever you make of it.” – John Seven Read the rest HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Sarah Bowie is in Angouleme, doing a residency in La Maison des Auteurs – and she is keeping a diary of the adventure. Today’s story: Catch up and keep up with Sarah HERE. ————————————————————————————————— If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the video of Cameron Weston Nicholson‘s workshop at SPX – he riffs on many of the things that I love about making comics myself. Well worth a watch! ————————————————————————————————— Help send Connor Willumsen to the UK for The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival in October! ————————————————————————————————— It’s finally feeling like Fall in Pittsburgh! I have plans to usher October in with some spooky reading and adventures in apple orchards. Have a good weekend folks! – Sally Share this page: [...]

10/27/2017

Posted on October 27, 2017October 27, 2017 by Sally Ingraham

Sally here with new work from Chris Anthony Diaz, insights from Lauren Weinstein, and inspiration from Tove Jansson – plus much more!

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Vanessa Davis by Chris Anthony Diaz. Colored by Graham Willcox

Today on the site Chris Anthony Diaz shares his latest photo archive, featuring Noah Van Sciver and Joseph Remnant’s recent signing at Secret Headquarters. There are lots of terrific photographs of the guys from comics’ best documentarian, but I especially like this photo of Vanessa Davis (above). Check out the rest of the pictures HERE.

We are looking forward to catching up with Chris at CAB in a few weeks, where he is looking forward to photographing cartoonists in the new location at Pratt. See you there!

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Lauren Weinstein on the Village Voice with the latest Normal Person…

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There is an article on the Evening Standard about Tove Jansson‘s Moomin comic strip, and how it came about. As her novels gained international popularity, Charles Sutton (syndication director of Associated Newspapers) flew to Finland and talked her into doing a strip for the London Evening News. This was in 1952, but two years of discussion and planning followed before the first Moomin comic came out in September of 1954. (Food for thought, for those of us who may present a strip for syndication and find the first idea turned down – and we are no Tove Janssons…!)

According to comics historian Paul Gravett, she was actually taught how to layout and design her strips, using “contemporary” word balloons as part of the art, instead of relying on accompanying text blocks. She agreed to do the strip because it offered her a steady paycheck which would in turn give her more time to devote to painting, in theory. Of course the strip was immensely time consuming in the end, and we can only imagine what paintings she might have made had she NOT been drawing it… Lots more interesting details in the article, supplied by Paul Gravett, so read it HERE.

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Assorted Awesome

Athena Naylor has taken over the Our Comics, Ourselves blog for a bit and is writing artist spotlights on a number of rad female cartoonists – check out her thoughts on Carolyn Nowak, Meredith Gran, Kate Beaton, and Sarah Glidden.
Kelly Sue DeConnick claps back at folks who find her comics either triggering, or too political. Syfy Wire has the goods. Now please excuse me while I go read Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #5.
The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco is kicking off their reopening with a retrospective of Raina Telgemeier‘s work.
The Nib is running it’s first comics serial – Reported Missing by Eleri Harris. It’s a “true crime” story, and I will admit to being sucked in so far. I believe it’s up to 4 parts so far – catch up!
The Comics Beat has a lengthy preview of Hazel Newlevant‘s new comic, No Ivy League, coming out in 2018 from Lion Forge (where Hazel was recently hired as an editor, by the way).
Leslie Stein lets her mother interview her over on The Comics Journal!
Jessica Campbell shares part of Georgia O’Keefe and Alfred Stieglitz’s story on Hyperallergic – HERE.
Sophie Foster-Dimino made a zine about making Sex Fantasy – which you can check out on her Tumblr.
Rookie Mag has an excerpt from Lynda Barry‘s The Good Times are Killing Me – HERE.

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Suzy and Cecil – 10-27-2017 – by Gabriella Tito

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Joanie and Jordie – 10-27-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio

—————————————————————————————————Cozytown -10-27-2017- by Juan Fernandez

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Sally Ingraham

Posted on October 27, 2017October 27, 2017

Explore

07/24/2018

Aaron CockleJuly 24, 2018NewsNatural Process; Bell/Porcellino/Duchamp; More ‘R. Mutt’; More Grip ————————————————————————————————— “Will you come see the ‘real’ webpage painting at the museum? Or will you see it ‘virtual’ through the web?” Via Rhizome.org’s Net Art Anthology: Natural Process is an installation that translates the iconic circa-2003 Google search engine home page to the form of a large-scale painting, and then back to digital media via webcam. This double remediation, enacted by Japanese net art duo exonemo (Kensuke Sembo and Yae Akaiwa) was exhibited at the Mori Art Museum in 2004, at a moment when artists were increasingly interested in the slippage between art’s circulation online and in the gallery. The painting was purchased by Google, and has not been exhibited publicly until now; it is on view through March 10, 2019 at ICC Tokyo and as part of Net Art Anthology. ————————————————————————————————— A Trip to the Museum With Cartoonist John Porcellino Always nice to see cartoonists visiting museums. ————————————————————————————————— Speaking of Marcel Duchamp… The iconic Fountain (1917) is not created by Marcel Duchamp In 1982 a letter written by Duchamp came to light. Dated 11 April 1917, it was written just a few days after that fateful exhibit. It contains one sentence that should have sent shockwaves through the world of modern art: it reveals the true creator behind Fountain – but it was not Duchamp. Instead he wrote that a female friend using a male alias had sent it in for the New York exhibition. Suddenly a few other things began to make sense. Over time Duchamp had told two different stories of how he had created Fountain, but both turned out to be untrue. An art historian who knew Duchamp admitted that he had never asked him about Fountain, he had published a standard-work on Fountain nevertheless. The place from where Fountain was sent raised more questions. That place was Philadelphia, but Duchamp had been living in New York. … Who was living in Philadelphia? Who was this ‘female friend’ that had sent the urinal using a pseudonym that Duchamp mentions? That woman was, as Duchamp wrote, the future. Art history knows her as Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. She was a brilliant pioneering New York dada artist, and Duchamp knew her well. This glaring truth has been known for some time in the art world, but each time it has to be acknowledged, it is met with indifference and silence. Via Theo Paijmans. ————————————————————————————————— Grip Vol. 1 If you didn’t get the chance this past Friday or over the weekend, please take some time to read Sally Ingraham’s review of Lale Westvind’s excellent new book, Grip, out now from Perfectly Acceptable Press. ————————————————————————————————— Vision Box – 7-24-18 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 7-24-18 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

04/26/2016

Aaron CockleApril 26, 2016NewsAtena Farghadani; Right-of-copy; Mok/Doucet; Lilli Carré; Roy Crane ————————————————————————————————— From Maren Williams over at the CBLDF: BREAKING NEWS: Atena Farghadani Set to be Released Next Month ‘After nearly 18 months in prison for a cartoon depicting politicians as animals, Iranian artist and activist Atena Farghadani will reportedly be released sometime next month. She had been sentenced to 12 years and 9 months, but according to her lawyer the sentence has just been reduced on appeal.’ ————————————————————————————————— What we talk about when we talk about copyright On Medium.com: ‘Myth #3. Copyright is an Attack on Artistic Freedom I have been a working, professional wrter for close to thirty years. I’ve felt my artistic freedom threatened by a great many things — state censorship, all manner of fundamentalisms, Internet bullying and shaming… to name but a few. Copyright law is not on that list, and it will NEVER be on that list. The very foundation of copyright is the insistence that if I create an artistic expression, I own that artistic expression. And if I own something, you best believe I will protect it from those who want to impose their restrictions on it.’ On Priceonomics.com: ‘Copyright law in America long predated Mickey Mouse. The first of these laws, the Copyright Act of 1790, stipulated that creative works were entitled to up to 28 years of protection (14 years, plus an additional “renewal” period of 14 years, supposing the original hadn’t died). This was followed by an 1831 act, which extended the copyright period to a max of 42 years, and a 1909 act, which elongated that period again, to 56 years. As the Art Law Journal clarifies, “very few works actually maintained copyright durations”: only a fraction of those who secured copyrights protected them, or opted to renew them. Mickey Mouse was brought into the world in 1928, under the 1909 Copyright Act, entitling him to 56 years of protection under the law — no more. In accordance with the law, his copyright was set to expire in 1984.’ ————————————————————————————————— Annie Mok Interviews Julie Doucet ‘DOUCET: Yeah, but the dictionary—the new language that I created—has nothing to do with the words that are in Carpet Sweeper Tales. MOK: I meant just a new language in general, I guess. So major themes of the book are masculinity, toxic masculinity, and cars? And it’s so interesting—you’re taking these images from these ‘60s Italian fumetti, which are this incredibly butch series of scenes, some of them very threatening men—like, threatening to women, and women in compromised positions, and then there’s this constant iteration of cars and men speaking of women as if they are cars in some cases, or alluding to them that way. And talking about, like, where someone can take you, and what is freedom. How did this playful thing around cars develop, and what does that mean to you? DOUCET: In those fumettis, for some reason, there’s lots and lots and lots of action going on in cars—a lot of conversations. And I talked to my aunts, my older aunts, and they told me that was just the way it was at the time, because people didn’t really have any places to go to flirt or anything like that, so pretty much everything happened in cars. So in that sense, it makes sense in that context. But I just loved the car thing, so I just cut out everything I could find going on in the cars.’ ————————————————————————————————— Lilli Carré MFA Thesis Show May 5-June 19, 2016 Opening & Reception: Thursday, May 5, 6-9PM Alsdorf Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL This exhibition presents work by: Lilli Carré, Max Guy, Erin Hayden, Dan Miller, and David Sprecher. Culminating their Master of Fine Arts (MFA) studies in the Department of Art Theory & Practice at Northwestern University. ————————————————————————————————— Roy Crane’s Scrapbook Share this page: [...]

8 1/2 by Roman Muradov

Chris Anthony DiazAugust 4, 2016The Diaz ArchiveRoman Muradov’s portrayal of Barbara Steele as Gloria Morin from Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 (Italy, 1963) for my ILLUSTRATED MOMENTS IN CINEMA/TELEVISION. Roman dressed up like TOBY DAMMIT and his candid along with Alison Dubois was taken at Mission: Comics & Art, San Francisco, Friday, October 12, 2012. And Graham Willcox did the color on Roman’s candid Share this page: [...]

TCAF 2017 Recap – by Tyler Landry

Comics WorkbookMay 25, 2017Festivals and ShowsTyler Landry here: The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) is the only comics show I’ve ever attended, except for our local small-town con (held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada) which I did for the very first time this year. There are a couple of reasons for this, and they all fall into the realm of “excuses”, but, that’s how my cookie crumbles. I have, however, been to TCAF every year since 2013, and have been told by con-hoppers of all stripes that it’s one of the best, if not THE best show of its type. To me, it’s always felt huge, diverse, and rewarding in a thousand ways – so I take those observations with considerable weight. I’ve met (and bought comics from) a huge majority of my favorite cartoonists, made loads of new comics friends, and tabled – both independently and with publishers. I always like to arrive in Toronto early on Friday, settle in, walk around the city, have an eat and/or a drink with friends – and get comfortable before the chaos on Saturday morning. Spent a veritable stack of cash on comics right away. Exciting new work from Anya Davidson, Ben Passmore, Connor Willumsen, and Sophie Yanow – to name only a few. This year I spent time tabling with two publishers – signing some of last year’s comics with Study Group (The Coward’s Hole, and Lonesome), and with Retrofit, signing copies of the collected Shit and Piss, which debuted this year at TCAF. It was cool to meet some people who follow my work, and to see others discover it for the first time. This is why I attend TCAF. To participate in a significant way in the comics community, as a cartoonist, an enthusiast, and more recently as a (new) community leader and educator. With that in mind, in addition to signing, I did something sorta new – I ran a Comics Workbook workshop on composing a comic spread. The workshop made use of a standardized 6-panel grid, a quick idea gathering on story cards, and heavy panel-by-panel editing with a printed spread in mind. It was geared towards beginners, but the process we explored is the basis for how I make comics, and can be useful to anyone telling stories in a visual medium. Some of the essential materials I’d requested were missing from the room when we started (index cards, guys!), but we did have a fat stack of copy paper, and before long I had everyone in the (very full) room folding and tearing it into manageable chunks. I brought along some comics I’ve done, a few in-progress spreads, and the associated story cards as examples of the process from beginning to end. After a bit of discussion everyone began to get a sense of modular structure, the importance of editing oneself early, and some basic notions of pacing, dynamics thru motion, tone, and directionality across panels/the spread. Because of our slightly later start, we didn’t delve as deep into the spread as I’d have liked – but everyone got a taste of quick drawing and editing, and at least the beginnings of controlling the flow of information across the spread. By the time we were being kicked out of the room, we were having huge open discussions about the different participants’ comics, talking in terms of pacing, making switcheroos for clarity, capitalizing on directional flow, etc. We could’ve easily spent another 2 hours together as a group and accomplished even more. Being so busy during both days, I didn’t get to take in any additional programming, but Idid have a chance to share a few pints and meals with friends old and new. TCAF definitely does a great job of bringing us all together once a year to gush like fools about the things we love in comics. ————————————————————————————————— Check out more of Tyler’s work HERE and pick up a copy of his new book HERE. Share this page: [...]

09/23/2016

Sally IngrahamSeptember 23, 2016NewsSally here to finish the week with Carol Tyler at SPX, the women who took the Ignatz Awards, Anya Davidson, Dame Darcy, V. Vale and RE/Search, Phoebe Gloeckner, and other Friday tidbits. ————————————————————————————————— One of my favorite parts of helping with the Comics Workbook hosted workshops at SPX last weekend was getting to meet Carol Tyler and dig into the process and story behind the making of Soldier’s Heart: The Campaign to Understand my WWII Veteran Father. It was a long and difficult journey, and one that favorite pens and a good scanner helped get her through – the type of details that other cartoonists in the audience ate up! We will have our own video footage from that excellent talk soon, but for the moment Derek Royal has a podcast interview with her over on Comics Alternative – “They spend a good deal of time talking about the current state of veteran’s affairs, the debilitating effects of PTSD, and how Soldier’s Heart both has and hasn’t resonated within the veteran’s community. Carol also discusses the current projects she has underway, including a follow up (sort of) to her father’s story and a project documenting the days leading up to her attending The Beatles concert at Comiskey Park in August 1965. As she tells Derek, in that work she’ll be channeling her inner 13-year-old-girl self. This is a moving and, at times, a deeply personal interview, one that reflects the sheer impact of Carol Tyler’s writing.” – Comics Alternative Check out the interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Although the list of Ignatz nominations was tipped toward male creators, in the end it was women who soundly won the day, with Tillie Walden earning two nods. “Walden was voted outstanding artist for her debut graphic novel, “The End of Summer,” and named most promising new talent for “I Love This Part.” Elsewhere, former Brooklyn studiomates Kate Beaton, Lisa Hanawalt and Meredith Gran all picked up Ignatz “brick” trophies. The event was held at the Bethesda North Marriott convention center.” – Michael Cavna at The Washington Post Michael Cavna has the full list of Ignatz Award Winners HERE. ————————————————————————————————— I didn’t get a chance to say hello to Anya Davidson while running around SPX, but I am eager to find a moment to sit down and read Band For Life, with debuted at the show last weekend. Keep an eye out for it in your local comic book shops in the coming weeks! ————————————————————————————————— Over on The Portland Mercury Dame Darcy gets a shoutout for her Meat Cake Bible – which is part of the proof in the pudding that history is full of female cartoonists – “When the great authorities of comics leave women out of their history, we listicle and fume. It feels like a victory, but I also worry such rants are only seen by people who already care about gender equality. That’s why it’s important to see Darcy’s groundbreaking comics wrapped up in a book so worthy of them. This tome cements it. Dame Darcy is an irrevocable part of comics history. I dare those French comics dads to ignore her now. Like any true independent spirit, Darcy is arriving, even if it is later than her due. The world is catching up.” – The Portland Mercury Read the rest of the article HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Over on Vice Nick Gazin digs into a different comics-related event that took place last weekend – The New York Art Book Fair. He wasn’t overwhelmingly delighted with it, but his report is worth scanning through if just for the few moments he spends with V. Vale, creator of RE/Search. “While other people at neighboring booths were making bootleg merchandise that ripped off cultures they weren’t a part of, Vale created and steered culture with these books. The Industrial Handbook, the book he’s holding, informed and helped give birth to whatever industrial turned into. Modern Primitives helped spawn the modern body piercing and giant full body tattoo culture. The RE/Search book of Pranks (titled Pranks!) is just one of the best books ever made and will give any oddball or misanthropic recluse hope.” – Nick Gazin Check out the full report HERE. ————————————————————————————————— When I think about RE/Search I think about Phoebe Gloeckner and The Atrocity Exhibition. I’ve always been interested in her background as a medical illustrator – in an interview with Varoom! she talked about working on The Atrocity Exhibition – “The illustrations inside are cold but soft. I wanted them to be harmless and approachable, like doing a fuzzy animal, so they have some humanity. It isn’t because of what they are but because of that softness, not rejecting of humanity. I tried to make them beautiful. I didn’t want it to be horror. It has impermanence but this is beauty as we live it.” – Phoebe Gloeckner Read the whole interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— A few other things that have caught my eye recently – The animation in this video is by Jon Vermilyea (who was a production manager for PictureBox back in the day). ————————————————————————————————— Sophia Fs was working on a comic for the Comics Workbook Composition Competition earlier this month when she was hospitalized – she recently posted the finished work on her tumblr – check it out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Help send Connor Willumsen to the UK for The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival in October! He will be teaching workshops with Frank Santoro and Aidan Koch while there – if you’re in the area check it out. To help him get to the show, Comics Workbook is offering two new Connor publications. Portraits and Swinespritzen – both limited editions, both incredible. Details about both and where to order them can be found HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Have a good weekend folks – Happy Autumn, and Happy Birthday to John Coltrane too. Drink some pumpkin beers and listen to some jazz, won’t you. See you next week. – Sally Share this page: [...]

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