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Posted in NewsTagged Barry Windsor-Smith, caleb orecchio, gabriella tito, marvel treasury edition, red nails

Caleb Orecchio

Posted on March 4, 2018

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04/28/2017

Sally IngrahamApril 28, 2017NewsSally here to close the week, joined by some of the cornerstones, gatekeepers, and “keepers of the flame” of the comics community – Lucy Caswell, Caitlin McGurk, Karen Berger, Dash Shaw, Frank Santoro, and more! ————————————————————————————————— Some weeks you get to meet and hang out with your heroes. Here in Pittsburgh we were lucky enough to not only get a screening of Dash Shaw’s new film My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea, but Dash himself came to town for a few days. He and Frank Santoro, who created the main exterior background paintings for the film, were interviewed onstage before a special screening at the Row House Cinema, and then there was a meet and greet after the film (photos from the event are above). I had been eagerly anticipating seeing the film, and it exceeded all my expectations. It’s beautiful and funny, with characters that I immediately identified with. I plan to see it in the theater several more times before it leaves town, and will be harassing all my friends into going as well. It plays in Pittsburgh at the Row House Cinema April 28th-May 4th. For a complete list of showings around the country, visit the official website HERE. It was cool to hear Dash talk about this type of animation and storytelling, dig into his inspirations and plans for future projects, and hear Frank’s take on being part – for a unique moment – of an animation “studio”. Most of the comics community in Pittsburgh came out for the special screening. This support of Dash and Frank was well deserved, of course – but I was even more excited that one of my comics students – a 9 year old boy – was in the audience as well. I heard afterward how much he liked the film and how thrilled he was to see the creators in real life. I can only hope that he will be inspired to keep making his own work and really invest his energy in the things he’s passionate about. Maybe he’ll be the next torchbearer. Who knows? It’s an interesting moment in the timeline of comics history, and Dash’s film, and Frank’s school, and the Pittsburgh scene, and my 9-year old student are all part of that moment. I can’t wait to see what happens next. In the meantime, go see My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea – go meet your heroes – go make your comics. ————————————————————————————————— In other news (and following a theme here, in a way), Columbus Alive celebrates the 40th anniversary of of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum with a nice feature piece. They spoke to Lucy Caswell, founding curator of the museum, about the collection’s origins. “…Caniff himself dubbed “the keeper of the flame.” “It’s hard to go back, in a way, because people think about cartoons and comics in a very different way than they did 40 years ago,” Caswell said when asked to recall those early years, when clarity and stability were in short supply. “We were outliers. When I started, I did what all good researchers would do and tried to find out what similar people had done in similar circumstances, but I found that there were no similar circumstances. We were trying to make something new, different. But I believed it was important, and there were administrators on campus who also felt it was important. Funding was always competitive, and they — the administrators in the School of Journalism and in University Libraries — had to convince higher-ups this was something to pay for.” “We were very fortunate that Milton Caniff … lived until 1988 and was a wonderful advocate for us. I can’t emphasize how important that was,” she added.“ Read the rest of the article HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Congratulations to Caitlin McGurk, Assistant Professor and Curator for Outreach for the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum – she is the recipient of the Annual Award in Teaching Excellence for 2016 from Ohio State University! “Caitlin’s agility in teaching across a wide range of courses demonstrates her adaptability and resourcefulness in bringing the unique resources of the BICLM collections to life for many faculty and students, and for others in the local community. Her outreach role has brought increasing national attention to the resources of the BICLM and to their potential for enriching curricula and deepening community engagement, and for enhancing the creativity of students and community members themselves. “ I am as much a fan of the work Caitlin does for the comics community as I am of any of my favorite cartoonists – so thanks Caitlin, and good luck as you continue! ————————————————————————————————— John Porcellino is working hard to bring the work of Jenny Zervakis back to the attention of the comics world – he has been raising funds to print The Complete Strange Growths, 1991-1997, which he hopes to debut at CAKE this year. Jenny is one of his favorite cartoonists, and this is a publishing project that he has hoped to do for over 20 years. He writes: “Jenny Zervakis is one of the great unsung creators of 1990’s DIY comics. Her zine Strange Growths was gentle and sincere at a time when most alt-comics were loud and sarcastic. They were poetic and allusive, delving into the heart of the human experience, and they were one of my biggest influences as a cartoonist.“ John P. is currently selling old and rare copies of his own work in order to fund the printing of this book – check it out HERE. You can see work from some of the Strange Growth issues and hear another glowing opinion from Kevin Bramer over on Optical Sloth. ————————————————————————————————— Karen Berger, editor extraordinaire, is starting her own imprint – Berger Books – under the banner of Dark Horse Comics. “As founder and head of DC Entertainment’s Vertigo imprint, Karen Berger brought ambitious, outré series like “Sandman” and “Preacher” to mass audiences, helped prove that comics weren’t limited to superhero adventures and kickstarted the careers of writers like Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore.“ Karen was at DC for 30 years – she left in 2013, but is now returning – to the sound of trumpets and general fanfare. Considering that she likes “weird shit“, and that part of her incentive for returning to comics stems from the need she sees for an artistic response to the Trump election, I can only imagine her line of graphic novels are going to be exciting! “In the next few months, Berger Books will announce its first titles. “I think I’ve been known for not publishing expected stuff,” Ms. Berger said, “and I think people will see that the first few books I’m publishing are not expected.” Among the first batch of titles, she hints, are “a near-future eco-fiction love story, a psychological crime horror thriller, a personal tale of race and identity, (and) an unseen side of a notorious legendary figure.” “ The Wall Street Journal has the rest of the details – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Extra, extra! Teen Vogue featured an excerpt from Melissa Mendes‘ and Anne Elizabeth Moore‘s ongoing comic series about the water crisis in Detroit. The full series so far can be found on Truthout. The Comics Beat speaks to Mariko Tamaki about her new series Supergirl: Being Super (which features art by Joelle Jones, of Lady Killers) – apparently the new comic captures “lightening in the bottle“. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 4-28-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 4-28-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 4-28-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

01/08/2018

Caleb OrecchioJanuary 8, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio with thoughts on Dash Shaw’s Doctor Strange comic, and other news ————————————————————————————————— I’ve been thinking about Dash Shaw’s Doctor Strange story in Strange Tales #1 (2009) (above), and how it contrasts to Ed Piskor’s new X-Men comic—X-Men: Grand Design is 100% sincere X-Men superhero comics, as oppose to Shaw’s tongue-in-cheek, yet sincere in its own way, superhero comic. Piskor’s X-Men is a “real” comic about the X-Men, and may affect the canon. Dash Shaw’s superhero comic was to editors and Marvel readers alike, a non-canon, non-consequential story by an artist they’ve never heard of. “Does he work for DC?” Almost everyone in that first volume of Strange Tales made short Marvel comics that were obviously by an “indie” cartoonist. Almost every story was “humorous,” the kind of humorous that can make a fanboy/fangirl confused and mad that an outside source is tampering with his/her livelihood. Shaw’s Doctor Strange was very funny and silly, it’s like if Wes Anderson wrote a superhero script. This utterly ignores any characterization Doctor Strange might have, which is why, as an alt comics reader, I like the comic. This is exactly the opposite to the kind of comic that pleases Marvel/mainstream fans. What Shaw does that is completely and utterly sincere is a homage to Doctor Strange’s creator, Steve Ditko, by having our hero fight his nemesis in “the dream dimension.” Two pages of really colorful and pretty Ditko-esque combat fills our eyes to a high-point on the pleasure meter. I think about these pages often. Then Shaw brings us back to his fun, silly world of superhero parody where Doctor Strange must now stay awake by drinking coffee, resisting a contagious yawn. There is a comical knowingness there. There is the consciousness of the cartoonist when reading this work that does not exist (or exist in such hostility to the status quo) with a “straight” superhero/mainstream work. Which again, is why an alternative reader would enjoy Doctor Strange by Dash Shaw, one may even say, “that’s my favorite non-Ditko Doctor Strange comic!” While a modern Marvel fan may argue that it is unrealistic that Doctor Strange would make his own soup. ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know Austin Enlgish continues his 10 Cent Museum column over at TCJ.com. Cynthia Rose on Annie Goetzinger over TCJ.com. I feel that I have found at least 10 stories about dudes stealing a bunch of comic books said to cost a lot of money. Here is another one. The guy who has been doing Nancy for over 22 years is quitting. Can you imagine if Noah Van Sciver or someone took over Nancy? What if comic strips were good?? There is a Google app that turns your videos into “comic strips.” Basically seems like the same method Greg Land uses to make his work. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 1-8-2018 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

07/25/2016

Juan FernándezJuly 25, 2016NewsJuan Fernandez here with: Tom Kemp’s MIDDEN FEEDER; building your goddamn website;Roxane Gay and Yona Harvey to Write Black Panther spin off World of Wakanda; Mark Newgarden’s Garbage Pail Kids interview; Zara rips off illustrators; Comic Arts Brooklyn 2016; The NIB takes Philly; 2016 Eisner Award Winners; new Street Angel; latest Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency Auction. ————————————————————————————————— midden feeder by Tom Kemp I’m happy to announce that we are featuring Tom Kemp’s midden feeder on the site this week. midden feeder was made by Tom Kemp in 2015 and was printed for Safari Festival 2015. Kemp will be surfing the new waves in contemporary comics and art at this year’s Safari Festival in London on August 27th. Don’t miss him! ————————————————————————————————— Build yerr own damn Website Max Riffner lays out how to build a comics website that works for you. It takes some effort but with Riffner’s detailed tips, you can make the most of the best tools available online today to make the site that best suits your work. and can keep you from getting stuck with antiquated web hosting services. No one else is going to do it for you, so get cracking! Your cartoonist website is your digital hub. Get that through your head right now. Your website is home base for everything that you do. It’s going to represent you and your work. It needs to be professional. It needs to work, and it needs to work for you. In fact, this is all about you and your freedom. Some of the hosting services may offer to provide domain name registration. And whichever domain registrar you use may offer hosting. The temptation to have everything in one spot is high. Don’t do it. Sometimes, either one will hold the name or the hosting hostage. You want to have these pieces all separate from each other so you can easily move services. ————————————————————————————————— Taking trash with Mark Newgarden – 2016 Interview The Garbage Pail Kids website has a wonderful, extensive intervew with Mark Newgarden on his time working for GPK. They go into lots of juicy production details and discuss Newgarden’s formative years. Exciting. What was it like working with the many artists involved in creating GPK? Correspondence and communications is so different now-a-days; I would imagine receiving Pound’s paintings with paint strokes would be a lot different than receiving a scanned electronic image these days. Can you explain the teacher/student relationship you had with Spiegelman and were you comfortable directing the GPK artists? I have to say, the original sets are untouchable when it comes to the level of quality (even printed on lesser-grade card). There was always a lot of creative back and forth, it was a big part of the job. Phone meetings, faxes, Fed-Exed tracing paper overlays with notes. Art and I were usually on the same page. John’s pencils or paintings would come in on a Monday and I’d make notes all over them. Then on Tuesday, Art would make notes on my notes and we’d usually call John in the afternoon and hash it all out. Tom Bunk and James Warhola were local, so they’d take the subway. We’d all do lunch in the fabled Topps cafeteria and then go through the same routine in person. At times (when there was time) we’d go through 2, 3, even 4 rounds of revisions on a single image to get it just right. The input usually focused on emphasizing clarity and amplifying (or extending) the gag. The goal was always to balance impact with visual clarity. May sound obvious, but it really isn’t always so simple. The initial staging or composition of a GPK gag was crucial as to whether it lived or died. Then the execution needed to be solid and plausible and never distract, or get in the way of the concept. John set a very high bar from the start. Tom brought a wacky energy to the mix. James added an air of foreboding mood and mystery. Seeing what these guys would come back with was always the highlight of my week. It was fun and collaborative, and I think our fresh eyes and brain cells helped make better GPKs. ————————————————————————————————— Roxane Gay and Yona Harvey to Write Black Panther spin off World of Wakanda The New York Times has announced that Ta-Nehisi Coates has brought on Roxane Gay and Yona Harvey to work on Black Panther: World of Wakanda, an upcoming Black Panther spin off. News out of left-field from the world of the Big 2 but a relief and a ray of very necessary light. And just like the current Black Panther series, which is written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author and a national correspondent for The Atlantic, the new comic will be written by newcomers to the industry: the feminist writer Roxane Gay and the poet Yona Harvey. “My agent was not thrilled that I was taking on another project,” Ms. Gay said. But learning to write comics exercised different creative muscles, which she said she found exciting. “It’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever done, and I mean that in the best possible way,” she said. ————————————————————————————————— Comic Arts Brooklyn 2016: It’s a go! The premiere NYC art comics show, CAB, has announced that the festival WILL be happening this year. It will take place on November 5th. Exhibitor applications available soon. ————————————————————————————————— Artists Take a Bold Stand After Accusing Zara of Ripping Off Over a Dozen of Their Designs Spanish clothing retailer Zara, like many corporations, has no qualms at throwing their weight around when it comes to plagiarizing the designs of illustrators for their own use. Zara was found to be ripping off illustrator Tuesday Bassen’s designs. Bassen took matters into her own hands and spoke publicly on twitter last week about the incident. The internet took notice. Marie Solis has comprehensive coverage of the whole corporate debacle over on Mic.com. In an interview with the Daily Dot Bassen said, “It absolutely hurts my business and waters down the brand I’ve slowly built based around my original artwork.” She added that the legal fees alone are enough to tear down an independent artist: She’d paid $2,000 just to send her claims to Zara. But Bassen isn’t giving up — not just for her own sake, but for the recognition of at least a dozen other artists who also believe Zara has stolen their designs. New York City illustrator Adam J. Kurtz said when Bassen’s tweet blew up, he and a handful of other artists were texting and Facebook messaging each other, realizing the brand had stolen a slew of their designs all at once. ————————————————————————————————— The NIB takes Philly The NIB is taking over an art gallery and transforming it into their headquarters, bringing in six cartoonists to cover the 2016 Democratic Convention. If you loved their coverage of the Republican Convention last week, you’re not going to want to miss them this week. They’re going full force. ————————————————————————————————— 2016 Eisner Award Winners Announced Tom Spurgeon reports this years Eisner Award winners from San Diego Comic Con. The award ceremony was held Friday July 22nd. The winners for this year’s Eisner Awards were announced last night at a fancy program at the Hilton Bayfront. It was a well-received program, with a little bit of something for everyone: John Barrowman making nerd-culture and penis jokes, emotional speeches, people being adorable, Ed Brubaker and Gary Groth and Peggy Burns kind of mixing it up acceptance-speech wise. It was great to see a night where Kate Beaton got an award and Lynda Barry got in the Hall Of Fame. Two great cartoonists. I thought the winners were all pretty good. There were two I’d change if I could — actually more, because I’m a jerk, but two stood out to me as personal “aw, man” moments. That’s actually really good for an awards show. Biggest surprise was Bill Schelly’s Kurtzman book, I think. Spurgeon’s full reporting from SDCC 2016 is now online and available HERE. It’s always a pleasure to see this world through Spurgeon’s eyes, especially if you’ve never stepped foot in SDCC before. ————————————————————————————————— —————————————————————————— New Private Rowhouse Auction – 7.24-7.30 Last but not least, we have a new private auction up at auction.comicsworkbook.com! Lots of old and new comics for you to take home. email Frank Santoro at santoroschoolATgmail for a password, if you don’t already have one. If you already have a password, it is the same from last week. All funds go to helping keep the lights on and further developing the school. until next time! Juan Share this page: [...]

Lale Westvind: Sometimes an overgrown golf course will do

Sally IngrahamJune 9, 2016InterviewsLale Westvind parked her bike outside the Comics Workbook rowhouse in Pittsburgh, PA, on a cool early summer night – and was immediately pulled into conversation with the neighbors. They wanted to know everything about this motorcycle riding, pencil wielding samurai of a cartoonist. Their interest was well founded – her work includes the recent Breakdown Press publication HAX, which has been rocking boats and knocking socks off ever since it’s release at CAB last year, as well as many self-published comics (Hyperspeed to Nowhere, Hot Dog Beach, and Express Less). Her spectacular forays into animation include pieces like Flesh Gun (2010) and the official music video for Lightning Bolt‘s The Metal East (2015). When she’s not making comics or riding her motorcycle or playing the guitar, Lale teaches animation at Parsons. When I met Lale at PIX this year, I knew I wanted to interview her for Comics Workbook. With her busy schedule in mind, I was content to conduct a conversation via email. However, as luck would have it, Lale decided to stop by the CW headquarters on her way to CAKE in Chicago this week. She knocked out 4 pages of a new comic in the course of an evening, explored the amazing library at the rowhouse, and matched Frank story for story until late in the night. A few hours later she got back on her motorcycle and zoomed off to the next adventure. I’m pleased to share our email exchange below, some photos from Lale’s visit, and a peak into the new comic that she is debuting at CAKE this weekend. ————————————————————————————————— Sally Ingraham – Thanks for taking the time to chat with me! I’ve got a few questions that I’ve really wanted to ask ever since finding your work. To start off though, what are you really hyped about right now – planned adventures, current projects, the Philly scene? What’s going on? Lale Westvind – I’m hyped about getting a break, gettin’ away somewhere on my motorcycle for a little bit and the end of a large project I’ve been working on for months. I’m hyped about getting into some comics projects that were started and left unfinished due to more urgent deadlines, about making weird paintings. I’ve been fending off a lot of anxiety and stress for a while and I’ll be very relieved when the pressure’s off a bit. I don’t know the Philly scene much yet, I kind of came down here to hide out and I’ve been cooped up in my house mostly trying to churn out an animation thing, but! Will Laren is down here at Space 1026, as is Mark Beyer who I keep trying to meet up with. I consider him legendary. There’s also Ian Harker and Pat Aulisio. I’ve met Jenna Brager, who lives in my neighborhood, an academic badass who makes excellent personal comics. There is an awesome group called Metropolarity down here that writes and sometimes reads excellent speculative fiction. There is a comic/coffee shop up north I have yet to visit called Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse that seems really cool. I have to go out more now that it’s warm. I’m looking forward to CAKE in Chicago, when I’ll have a mandatory break from working and can see some of my most cherished friends and peers. Sally – Okay, now for my pressing questions. When you were a teenager, what were you into? What was the dream life? Lale – I wanted to be an environmentalist working in the Siberian tundra or living in a pristine wilderness working to keep it that way. My dream lives involved travel to isolated places and writing. It’s increasingly difficult to get to a space where there are no people – sometimes an overgrown golf course will do though. Canadian environmentalist/writer Farley Mowat, was/is my hero. He had a lot of wild solitary adventures and wrote beautiful compassionate books. Counter to that I fantasized about making my own films and cartoons too, ha. I would love to make work that inspired the kind of compassion and awareness that Mowat inspires. Sally – Your colors are super intense and key to the overall telling of the story. Tell me how you approach making comics directly in color as opposed to making black and white line art first and then coloring it all. Lale – I use colors as an energy conduit, like the line, to direct energy outward from the work. They are the same primary color combinations of advertising, used for the same reasons. I like to create visually exciting imagery. I get the most joy from drawing that. I don’t think I’ve ever made comics directly in color, though I do make notes as I am penciling. If the comic is to remain black and white I’ve usually made that decision before starting the drawings. I’ve done some experiments with cartooning directly in colored pencils that I have not published anywhere. Sally – Are comics and music connected in your head? Is making music with your metal band anything like making comics for you? Lale – No, they’re not. Not at the moment any how. And unfortunately since moving I haven’t been able to play with Gun Tit for a while. If anything the connection is that it’s a total break from comics where I can still be creative. My approach to music is idiotic and unproductive but that’s ok with me, I just love to play guitar. It gives me a lot of joy to pick it up and try to make something up on the spot even if I usually forget it afterward. I keep a guitar by my desk so if I get stuck I play. Perhaps the connection is that I try to create both out of joy, or total desire to create, the difference being that with comics I follow up with the grunt work of parsing it together to be read, (mostly) and with guitar I don’t usually. I think I just do it for myself. Gun Tit is definitely metal influenced, but I think calling it a metal band is a stretch. I’m a little embarrassed to describe it actually – improvisational sludge incantation maybe? Freaky art band? Sally – You went to a LOT of shows last year – just generally speaking how would you like to see shows change for you as an exhibitor? Lale – I have no ideas about changing them. But…I think smaller shows put on by the people who are excited about making comics is a great thing. I like the idea of it being a community building/educational model rather than a capitalist event although it’s definitely both. I get very worn out after awhile being a salesman. I have more fun if I talk to my peers and attend panels, so sometimes a slower show sales-wise is better, long as you’re not counting on it. I think that alternative comics roots in self-publishing is very important as a political act, increasingly so. Even if the work is not political, the way one depicts characters in a story is inherently an expression of personal morals and/or desires. My favorite comics shows are the one which are open and encouraging to all types of people. It should be a place where we exercise our freedom of speech, in an intelligent way conducive to love, change, appreciation, mutual respect, new construction. Having people tabling at different levels in their career, from different backgrounds. Comics, specifically alternative comics, have the potential to be a space for idealistic expression, which is important for generating and encouraging hope and faith in a better future; in solutions to issues facing our society. For that reason I think we should stress accessibility, stress exchange, stress discourse and stress vigilance. In it’s best form I think a convention would stimulate everyone, in different age groups, experience, race, class, to make work that is more aware and more challenging while still encouraging experimentation. I think the more voices in comics, the better. Sally – Thanks so much Lale! Good luck at CAKE and wherever else the road takes you. ————————————————————————————————— Keep up with Lale Westvind HERE – buy her comics HERE Share this page: [...]

08/24/2018

Sally IngrahamAugust 23, 2018NewsSally here with a look at Anne Simon’s “Song of Aglaia” ————————————————————————————————— I found Anne Simon‘s Song of Aglaia difficult, but in a way, the things I didn’t like about it are what makes it interesting. When I am presented with a female protagonist I want to get behind them 100%. When a female protagonist turns out to be complicated and prone to making decisions that hurt the people around her, I have to adjust my expectations. Such is life, of course. Simon demands many adjusted expectations with Song of Aglaia. She begins by upsetting a number of traditional tropes that are usually found in myths and fairy tales. A water nymph, Aglaia, is presented at the beginning of the comic as a fairly typical victim of male violence and oppression. She wants to be happy and loved, and in the pursuit of that finds herself abandoned and with child, rejected by her father, and then forced into a marriage of convienence in order to avoid a punishment of death handed down by a tyrannical ruler. Switching things up from there, Simon draws Aglaia with more backbone than is usually the case in fairy tales. Aglaia fights back, rescuing her children, killing the tyrant, escaping her loveless marriage – but at what cost? Once she has gained power, Aglaia wields it poorly, decreeing her own opressions and abondoning people who care for her. The moral clarity that many fairy tales lay claim to is definitely blurry in this comic. It’s easy to root for Aglaia to a point, but when her choices continue to lead to heartbreak, reality sets in and I am forced to consider that Song of Aglaia is NOT a fairy tale. It is a story that asks “what happens next?” After the male oppressors are overthrown and equality is achieved, when women in fact gain the upper hand and are free to build the world they wish for…then what? The example that Aglaia provides is an all too possible result. There is no triumph when cruelty leads to more cruelty, when the abused turn into abusers. With interesting artwork and good storytelling Simon offers a thoughtful comic, but one that doesn’t answer the questions she brings up. It’s a fairly heavy reminder that in the fairy tale and in real life there are no easy answers. Everyone is complicated and nursing their own wounds, and we are caught in a cycle that often seems inescapable. At best, we can hope to muddle onward, perhaps with a little more grace than Aglaia manages. Although it may sound as though I didn’t like this comic, I do recommend taking a look at it! Somewhere, hidden between asking these types of questions and imagining the possible answers, there lies the potential for discovering a solution – and examining the “difficult” things always brings us closer to that. ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

03/05/2018

Posted on March 4, 2018 by Caleb Orecchio

Caleb Orecchio here with, yet again, thoughts on Barry Windsor-Smith and his excellent adaption of Red Nails, plus the usual gang of links.

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All images herein are scans from Marvel Treasury Edition #4.

Long story short, I think Barry Windsor-Smith’s Red Nails should be considered a masterpiece among the pantheon of comics. Old school fandom has more or less made this claim over the years, but the later “intellectual” generation (particularly the cartoonists and distinguished readers coming up out of the 80s) sees it as “good for the time”—at least, that’s what I sense. I also think many indie comics fans look down on adaptions as if adaptions are not a valid form of expression or something; or that a Marvel sword and sorcery comic simply is not good comics as a matter of principle and should basically be forgotten except when waxing nostalgia or appreciating good inking.

I think independent comics and mini comics culture has come far enough to the point where we don’t have to demonize these old mainstream comics anymore. Yes, Red Nails is more or less violent, swashbuckling entertainment for young adults (or young adults at heart), but that’s what it was intended to be. No, I don’t walk away from it with a deep emotional revelation and it doesn’t cause me to rethink my life, but I had a damn good time looking at it.

Smith’s images return to my thoughts for weeks on end and I marvel at the visual sensationalism. Is not the basic goal of a cartoonist to make something visually interesting and worth looking at/reading? I’d argue that this is the cartoonist’s most basic goal, and I’d argue that it’s in this manner that Barry Windsor-Smith achieved one of thee great works in comics.

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if you don’t know, now you know

Good news for Chicago locals and CAKE 2018 attendees! The Monday after CAKE (June 4th) John Porcellino will be “running an All-Day Comics Workshop at the Chicago Publishers Resource Center.” More details are on the way, but save the date fer crying out loud!
To raise funds to publish Linework 8, an anthology by Ivan Brunetti’s Columbia College Chicago students, Brunetti and company are holding a silent auction on Facebook from March 5 through March 9. This auction will feature select Brunetti originals(!) and other good stuff. Learn more about the silent auction here. And/or preorder Linework 8 here.
Lauren Weinstein is the latest guest on Process Party. She also recently graced the airwaves of The Virtual Memories Show.
RiYL has featured an extra dose of cartoonists recently including, Joseph Remnant, Emil Ferris, and Gina Wynbrandt.

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Suzy and Cecil – 3-5-2018 – by Gabriella Tito

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged Barry Windsor-Smith, caleb orecchio, gabriella tito, marvel treasury edition, red nails

Caleb Orecchio

Posted on March 4, 2018

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Angoulême International Comics Festival Report 2017 (Part 1)

Juan FernándezFebruary 6, 2017Festivals and ShowsThis is the first of a 3 part series on the Comics Workbook Experience at the 44th Angoulême International Comics Festival. Before we get into all dissecting and reflecting on this latest edition of the heavy weight championship of comics expos, Angoulême, let’s go for a stroll, take it easy and soak it all in. What do you say? Intentionally presented free of commentary, this series of photos invites you to take a look and see what tickles your eye. In depth reflections on this edition of the annual festival appears in the next next installment of this Comics Workbook Festival News series. See something you like? Write down some book names and follow that curiousity! You’re sure to find more with an online search. In the next installment I’ll unpack some of these photos and with some links to outposts and hubs online to explore the perspectives that were present at this spectacular Festival. -JF Share this page: [...]

01/17/2018

Juan FernándezJanuary 17, 2018los Cómics / NewsJuan empieza el día con Klari Moreno dibuja-charl-ando con Jose Ja Ja Ja en Revista Cactus, Panchulei en La Polola, y más! ——————————————— En el último número de Revista Cactus, Klari Moreno dibujo una entrevista a José Ja ja ja. Es un verdadero placer ver este formato de entrevista entre dibujantes. “José Ja Ja Ja se dedicaba precisamente a diseñar casas cuando trabajaba de arquitecto, hasta que lo dejó para hacer comics y seguir, a su manera, contando historias, como nos cuenta en una entrevista gráfica.” Podéis leerla completa aquí. ————————————————————————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: ~ In English and en Español ~ Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo tienen una nueva edicion de La Polola Podcast! Las chicas conversan con Panchulei (Francisca Cárcamo) dibujante, escritora, editora de Pánico Ediciones y dueña de la librería del mismo nombre. Hablaron acerca de la injusta diferencia en la cantidad de hombres versus la cantidad de mujeres invitadas a festivales, conversaron acerca del mundo de la historieta, los festivales, las mejoras que pueden construir y los espacios que aún faltan por explorar. Enero viene con sus listas de propósitos y también con las de las nuevas obras que pasan al dominio público. ¿Te apetece conocer algunos de los entresijos del DOMINIO PUBLICO? Firmado Por, tu asesor en derechos del autor, te lo cuenta en el post de hoy! Crítica de “Sadboi” de Berliac y publicado por Sapristi Comic a cargo de Álvaro Arbonés en CuCo 9. Reseña doble del excepcional rescate por parte de El Nadir de los trabajos de Gustave Doré y Olaf Gulbransson. Un auténtico tesoro revisado por Óscar Gual que además sirve para revisar algunas cuestiones formales del arte secuencial. ————————————————————————————————— Convocatorias + Deadlines: ¡¡Convocatoria abierta del I Concurso Nacional de Cómic Biblioteca Insular de Gran Canaria!! 3 premios y 9 accésits con una dotación de entre 3.000 y 400 euros y la publicación de las obras ganadoras en un volumen conjunto editado por Astiberri. Bases. Deadline Reminder: submissions for Ink Brick no. 9 are due Monday, Feb 19, 2018! Do yourself a favor and submit your comics-poetry, won’t you? La Casa Encendida y Fulgencio Pimentel siguen buscando un libro. La convocatoria de #PuchiAward 2018 está abierta a todo tipo de géneros y formas: ficción, no ficción, novela, poesía, cómic, álbum ilustrado, ensayo, libro de cocina, geografía… Hasta el 25 de enero. Call for Chapter Contributions: Comics Beyond the Page in Latin America. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 01-17-2018 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

2/17/2016

Juan FernándezFebruary 17, 2016NewsWottaday… Sarah Bowie, Disa Wallander and L. Nichols all have some new comics for you to dig your teeth into! For some messy, honest, social realism, you can take a poke into Wallander’s world through her hourly comics that swallow up any and all documentary images for the sake of comics. Bowie’s got a new short, Saucepan. Image and narration dance together nicely in this nice slice of microfiction for you. And for the more observational stroll through the woods, join L. Nichols up Hunter Mountain in the latest of Nichol’s hiking comics. There’s a cool new video of Steve Oliff reflecting on his coloring work with Katsuhiro Otomo on Akira. In 1989, Oliff, a veteran colorist, was personally selected by Katsuhiro Otomo to color his seminal manga, AKIRA. This video documents their working relationship, including Otomo’s trip to Point Arena, CA to collaborate with Steve on developing the color scheme. Steve hand-painted every page of AKIRA, using some combination of airbrush, gouache, water marker, colored pencil, Pantone film; these original color guides are now available exclusively from Felix Comic Art. John Kelly’s got a killer piece over at the Comics Journal that delves deep into the history of the East Village Eye, an important alt-newspaper back in the day. It’s really an excellent investigation. Take some time and sit with the article. It’ll have you hopping back and forth across the web, over turning loads of stones to learn more about the publication. “The East Village Eye did a lot of the most significant early hip-hop and aerosol ‘graffiti’ art coverage,” said James Romberger, whose strip and events at his art gallery–both called Ground Zero and both done with his partner and collaborator Marguerite Van Cook–appeared in the Eye. “It highlighted that the East Village of the early and mid-80s as a whole was very multicultural and inclusive. The art that people were doing was aggressive and accessible; and the art scene crossed-over at the time with the music, film and club scenes.” And that was the point of the Eye. “My point of view with the Eye was to blur the lines–and try to obliterate the lines–between the kind of popular culture that people took seriously–that the artists took seriously and the media took seriously,” said Eye founder and editor Leonard Abrams. “And I think that we succeeded. We definitely helped push that point of view.” Bill Boichel riffs on Michale Pisano’s camera about the new Michael DeForge’s issue of Frontier. Watch the review. Matt Davis over at Perfecty Acceptable press just announced the Spring/Summer publishing line up. It looks like a really strong line up of deft cartoonists who know how to use color to great effect. New books by: Daria Tessler @animalsleepstories Jim Pluk @jimpluk Talya Modlin @talyamodlin & Inés Estrada @inechi Share this page: [...]

08/25/2017

Sally IngrahamAugust 25, 2017NewsBon voyage to Caitlin Rose Boyle, and to Suzy & Cecil too – plus weird longbox comics finds and other news! ———————————————————————————————— Caitlin Rose Boyle‘s work was featured on the cover of Pittsburgh’s City Paper this week, and inside there’s an interview with her, on the eve of her departure for L.A. After a successful stint as the artist for Jonsey, Caitlin is ready to focus on animation for awhile and wants to be nearer to the studios where she hopes to collaborate. One of the things she’ll miss about Pittsburgh however are the comic makers here. “There are too many wonderful artists in this city. John Peña taught a comics class at CMU that kind of helped jumpstart my comics making process. Juan Fernandez has been a constant friend since our time at school and he’s one of the hardest working comics people I know! I’m always inspired after a conversation with Juan. Jenn Lisa’s drawings are so full of life and heart; her comics & drawings supercharge me when I look at them. Lizzie Solomon’s work pushes me to be bolder and weirder, Rachel Masilamani’s work is so powerful and raw and makes me want to share my heart on the page. I’m very lucky I got to share a space with Pittsburgh artists and comics-makers for awhile.“ Caitlin also makes note of her influences and the changing comics scene. “I wasn’t super into American comics growing up, and the male-dominated atmosphere was a big part of it. I gravitated towards manga, which had a huge selection of female creators to choose from in a bunch of different genres. There’s still totally an old guard of comics dudes making really stale stuff with the bigger publishers, but there are honestly SO many women and non-binary people doing amazing work in comics right now, here and all over the world. A large chunk of it is independently published, or published online, but it’s accessible and there’s so much of it that I frequently have a backlog of amazing work to read through.“ Read the rest of the interview HERE – and good luck to you Caitlin! ———————————————————————————————— Gabriella Tito and I are releasing a collection of Suzy & Cecil strips! Pulling from the comic strip that has been shared daily on Instagram and here in the Comics Workbook Daily News since November 2016, it will feature 44 strips picked out of the hundreds that we’ve made so far. Please pre-order a copy HERE! ———————————————————————————————— Digging through longboxes is often how I discover new-to-me comics makers who happen to be women. As with any sort of hunting, there are good days, and bad days, and just weird days. It’s interesting and informative to add names to my mental list, and file comics titles away, but not surprising that there is a great deal of chaff to sift through. Above is a comic by Diana Sasse, which at first glance I thought was a story by Donna Barr, who made those wild Stinz comics about centaurs. There are talking animals and centaurs galore in Diana Sasse’s Frenchie Doudou series, which follows a French soldier through a fantasy version of Europe in a time similar to WWI. The centaurs, and their more humanoid biped strain of being, are the Germans. Diana is Swiss, and began publishing comics in 1988. I think her most recent project was this Antique White House series from the early 2000’s (a European fairy-tale-style take on JFK…) I guess the wind has blown away much other traces of her work. Far more interesting – probably I should have led with this one – is one of Rachel Pollack‘s Doom Patrol issues, with art by Linda Medley. Rachel Pollack took over the writing on Doom Patrol when Grant Morrison left, and scribbled issues 64-87. Fans were heartbroken when Morrison left, but Rachel Pollack did some pretty interesting stuff with the series despite being a newcomer to comics – most notably, introducing a transgender character. Here’s an interview with Rachel from 2014 where she talks about some of what she tried to do with the series. DC is actually finally collecting Rachel’s run of Doom Patrol – Doom Patrol Book Four will be released in February of 2018. Rachel Pollack’s run of Doom Patrol featured a number of different artists, but the issue I found was penciled by Linda Medley. She, of course, went on to be the award-winning creator of Castle Waiting, a series she started publishing in 1996 with the help of a Xeric grant, and continued to self-published for years on her own. Fantagraphics collected two volumes of Castle Waiting, but as of now Linda is working on volume 3 and is back to funding it herself (with a little help from her friends, hopefully). One more longbox find – and this one IS by Donna Barr. No centaurs – instead we have the adventures of the (sadly fictitious) younger brother of the notorious German general the Desert Fox (Erwin Rommel). His little brother is Oberst Manfred Pfirsich Marie Rommel, and he is the Desert Peach. An openly gay German soldier during WWII is somewhat intriguing, and his misadventures as the commander of the 469th Halftrack, Gravedigging and Support Unit of the Afrika Korps, are pretty bonkers. Supposedly this unit is for the fellows who are really not “fit for service” in the German Army, the weirdos and strays who were nonetheless enlisted. The Desert Peach mainly tries to keep them out of any fighting, beyond what fighting they do among themselves. From the looks of issue #2, the series is pretty lively, and it appears that Donna aimed to bring a few more dimensions to the good vs. evil story-line of WWII. I guess I’d have to read the rest to see if she succeeded… Earlier this year Donna Barr announced that the San Diego State University Library had released her Black Manuscripts – a series of 12 “ornate” works that collect what she was writing and drawing about in the mid-1970’s, soon after she got out of the army – things she never expected to see published (like many girls of the time, she noted). You can peruse the manuscripts in the digital library HERE. ———————————————————————————————— In Addition Andrea Ayres digs into the barrier breaking/industry leading work of Kelly Sue DeConnick and MariNaomi over on The Comics Beat, laying out the resources both women have created to combat the problem of diversity in comics. Read the article HERE. Sara Lautman gives a shoutout to her “Microgeneration” on the New Yorker. Check out new online magazine Anomaly 25, featuring the work of a bunch of rad women – HERE. Melissa Mendes shared a comic she created based on a Twitter thread written by Julius Groat that deals with the recent white supremacist activity in Charlottsville. Read it HERE. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-25-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ———————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie- 8-25-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

05/25/2017

Sally IngrahamMay 24, 2017NewsSam Ombiri on Fante Bukowski Two, plus other comics news! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: Fante Bukowski Two by Noah Van Sciver (Fantagraphics, 2017) is a fantastic book with fantastic characters. Audrey (Fante’s old girlfriend, who is also a writer) was my favorite character in the first Fante Bukowski book, so I was really thrilled that she came back, and a good chunk of the book was following her, away from Fante. Audrey was the only character that really felt real, and the only one who wasn’t there to torment Fante’s existence. In the new book she does a different kind of tormenting of Fante in this specific way that the other characters don’t. All these people are making fun of Fante. On some level Fante is surprisingly aware of why he’s getting made fun of. In this new book, Fante’s conflict wasn’t a complete joke. I was kind of bummed on the first Fante Bukowski book. While Van Sciver sympathized with Fante, he’d torment Fante. The joke was Fante’s hysterical sadness, which was just played off as something to laugh at. Fante is someone who has to live with himself, with being who he is and doing what he’d doing – he’s a great writer. If he’s NOT a great writer than it means a huge amount of shame which he can’t bare to confront will come his way. Of course, if Van Sciver actually had no interest in sympathizing with the characters it would still be a really good book. It’s just that as a reader, the sympathy is what I’ve been sold on with Van Sciver; the way he’s able to portray humanity with sympathy so, so well. There’s a mysterious element to the way Van Sciver portrays humans, from that I’ve seen – and that’s really astounded me. Like in this new book, while everyone is laughing at Fante, you the reader know that Audrey is sincerely seeking Fante out. The other characters are all trying to get on Audrey’s good side, and part of this is reflected in how hard they’re laughing at Fante – but they don’t see how she secretly holds him in higher regard than them, for some special reason that Audrey has. Despite all of Audrey’s new literary success, she’s finding that she’s dissatisfied, but not in a very extreme way. Her dissatisfaction isn’t shoved down your throat. The dissatisfaction comes subtly and slowly in moments where she isn’t thankful for her success. She finds all this discomfort in doubting herself, as she’s really intimidated by the next steps she’s supposed to take to either keep, or perpetuate, her success. Then she gets nostalgic, as a result of the new stress she has, which she hadn’t previously dealt with. She remembers how she felt refreshed by how naive Fante was. Fante himself, in a way, says she won’t find what she’s looking for in him (although Fante is unaware of that being exactly what he’s said to her). Then Audrey’s reaction towards this is astounding. All in all, Fante Bukowski Two is really, really fun, the art is terrific, and it was hard to stop reading it when I started. You can get a copy of this book from Copacetic Comics. – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Sally here – since we’re on the topic of Noah Van Sciver today, I will link to the recent TCJ interview with him, conducted by Caitlin McGurk. They talk Fante Bukowski Two, Noah’s time at CCS, and both Fante and Noah’s recent move to Columbus, OH – a few real locations of which show up in the book (such as Forno, seen above in a scene that Sam was describing where everyone is hating on Fante in order to get on Audrey’s good side…!) Something that I really appreciate about Noah is that his output and work ethic are tied into his own growth as an artist and storyteller – each of his books feels fresh and moves confidently in a new direction. Caitlin touches on this constant growth in the interview: “This book is so genuinely funny – there are sequences on almost every page that had me actually laughing out loud. You’ve gotten very good at comedic timing. While I’ve found humor in all of your work in one way or another, most of your other long-form books have been much more directly reflective or downright sad. Do you feel like one tone is calling you more than the other these days, and why? I’m conscious of learning to be a proficient comedy and drama storyteller. I don’t want to be a single note cartoonist. If I learn to blend it all together then I’ll draw comics that readers can’t just passively read. I want people to feel satisfied after reading my stories if it’s possible. You’re doing a great job at it. When you say learning, I assume you mean by way of studying other works. Who are you reading and what are you watching that you learn the most from? For a long time I was buying and reading alternative comics from the 90s and early 2000s. Drawn & Quarterly magazines and issues of Zero Zero, stuff like that. There are a bunch of artists from that era that I get inspired by that you don’t hear about much these days. Someone like Pentti Otsamo, for example, did a little book called The Fall Of Homunculus that I really love. Just straight storytelling. I don’t dig very deep with film, but I pay attention to story structure and look up to the Coen Brothers who are perfect at weaving humor into an otherwise dramatic story.” Take a lesson from Noah’s career, work hard if you really mean to be a cartoonist, keep learning and moving forward. Read the rest of the interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Brazilian artist Hugo Canuto has been reworking famous comic covers (like Avengers No. 4 – 1963, above) to depict Jack Kirby-like renditions of African gods and goddesses. Dangerous Minds reports: “Many deities of modern-day Afro-Brazilian religions find their roots in the mythologies of Nigeria and Benin, and these covers reflect that, using specifically local, that is to say Portuguese, spellings of the names. … Last year Canuto reworked an iconic early cover of The Avengers to showcase the major Orishas, called Orixas in Portuguese, which are key elemental spirits of the Yoruba religion. So “The Orixas” is the umbrella category, like “The Avengers,” that houses all of the mythological figures that followed.“ See more of Hugo Canuto’s covers HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Shannon Wright’s artwork is featured on NPR once again, this time accompanying the Comics And Graphic Novels Reader Poll. “Here at NPR headquarters in DC, MARVELous IMAGEs and FANTAstic GRAPHICS are dancing in our heads as we contemplate this year’s edition of our famous Summer Reader Poll — who will make the cut? Will it be packed with old favorites or BOOM! Will a DARK HORSE muscle in? Oh god, we can’t keep this up anymore. Let’s just come right out and say it: This summer, we’re celebrating comics and graphic novels, and we need your help! Whether it’s a dogeared childhood treasure, the latest Eisner award winner or the webcomic you binge-read last week, tell us about it using the form on this page.“ Help NPR curate a final list of 100 favorite comics – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The summer semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers begins June 1st! 8 weeks – $500 bux. Coaching for as long as you need it – payment plans available. More details HERE. ————————————————————————————————— 5-25-2017 – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 5-25-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-25-2017 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

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