Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged CAKE, chuck jones, david w niven, interference archive, julie doucet, kendra lee, mirror mirror 2, nicole georges, paper rocket comics, whit taylor

Juan Fernández

Posted on March 14, 2016March 14, 2016

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12/07/2016

Juan FernándezDecember 7, 2016los Cómics / NewsJuan con un poquito sobre Frank Santoro sobre El Arte Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey;Feria del Trueque y El Garaje Festival de fanzines y editoriales independientes; Gerardo Vilches reseño “Nubes de talco”, de Amanda Baeza; Suzy y Cecil; el semestre de invierno del Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers . ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Miami, FL – The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey La gran Vanesa R. Del Rey le ha dado permiso a Comics Workbook para publicar unas selecciónes de sus cuadernos de bocetos. Hemos diseñado esta publicación para que parezca uno de esos libros de de artistas los años 80. El texto es una transcripción de la entrevista que hicimos con Vanesa cuando visito la Residencia Rowhouse en 2016. Vanesa es un artista impresionante y inigualable, quien estudió con George Pratt y quien a dibujado con Grant Morrison. Estamos ofreciendo compras adelantadas a un precio reducido. Sigan a Vanesa por Instagram – @vrdelrey – y http://vrdelrey.com/ Le pedimos a nuestro director, Frank Santoro que nos contara un poquito sobre la fuerza feroz y imparable que es Vanesa R. Del Rey. FS: “Vanesa, I’m quite taken aback by your sheer technical ability which seems to be married to a poetic sensibility. There’s a lightness there. Sometimes illustrators with that ability get heavy-handed. Yet you manage the push-pull between these two sides of yourself–because you’re like a samurai. The humble samurai.” VRDR: “It’s about trying to remember that. I can get all this praise, I can get all these amazing responses from strangers, but at the end of the day—I’m still a student. I’m still learning. The crown doesn’t fit. The crown should never fit.” Este intercambio viene de una entrevista que Frank hizo con Vanesa R. Del Rey, que occurio en la Residencia de Comics Workbook en Pittsburgh, PA USA. 2016. FS: Me encontré por primera vez con VRDR en un festival de cómics en Toronto (TCAF) en 2014. Había empezado a hacer comics profesionalmente después de un período como un animadora. Fui Sorprendido por su la capacidad de ser como un camaleón de cambiar de estilos, y por su puesto le pedí ver más de sus obras. Desenterró pilas de cuadernos de dibujos de sus días en Cuba, cuando estudiaba el realismo soviético y de trabajaba con George Pratt, maestro de cómics pintados. La educación de Vanesa como artista hace el balance suavemente entre los niveles alto y bajo del arte, así como los valores estéticos del este y el oeste. Es una base asombrosa. Ella es, a la vez, consciente de la historia del arte, la historia de los cómics y la historia de la animación de una manera NUEVA que casi parecía imposible hace quince o veinte años. Debo admitir como un estudiante y fan de cómics que se enfocan en la mezcla de “alto y bajo” y en ” los cómics pintados” — Nunca he visto tal mezcla de habilidades al nivel de VRDR. Feroz. Imparable. Un competidor feroz. Michael Jordan-esque? ¿Es eso posible en la fabricación de cómic? Siempre he dicho que habría un “invasor vertical” en los cómics que podría emplear el “naturalismo” de la escuela de Noel Sickles / Alex Toth pero que podría pintar como una Alice Neel o una Jenny Saville. Creo que “el invasor” ha llegado en forma de Vanesa R. Del Rey. Puedes comprar tu copia AQUI¡ ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Medellín, Colombia – Feria del Trueque y El Garaje Festival El sábado que viene, el 17 de diciembre desde el mediodía hasta 7:00 p.m. el Exploratorio abre sus puertas para la 2a edición de la Feria del Trueque en donde la confianza es la única moneda (social) necesaria, en unión con el Festival de Editoriales Independientes que traerá más de 25 proyectos editoriales locales e internacionales. Cuando el dinero escasea, las personas usan su creatividad para satisfacer sus necesidades y deseos, y esto se traduce en intercambios directos o trueques, mercados de redistribución y estilos de vida colaborativos. Con esta premisa Compartir Medellín, El Garaje y el Exploratorio del Parque Explora invitan a todas las personas a participar de la 2a edición de la Feria del Trueque y el Festival de Editoriales Independientes que se realizará el sábado 17 de diciembre de 12:00 a 7:00 p.m. el Exploratorio. En la Feria del Trueque podrás intercambiar objetos, alimentos, servicios y saberes sin intermediarios, hasta tu tiempo, y sin involucrar dinero. En muchas comunidades esta es una manera de cubrir las necesidades básicas, que permite fortalecer los lazos de solidaridad y amistad entre las personas. Esta Feria tendrá un lugar muy especial para que las niñas y los niños participen. En el chiquitrueque podrán intercambiar juguetes, películas, ropa, libros y todo tipo de objetos que ya no utilicen y que quieran intercambiar. Este espacio les permitirá de manera vivencial hablar de economías solidarias y del re-uso como forma de cuidar el planeta. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Madrid, España – Nubes de talco, de Amanda Baeza Ayer, Gerardo Vilches reseño “Nubes de talco”, de Amanda Baeza. Publicado por Fulgencio Pimentel. Over on his WatcherBlog! Baeza, que gracias a Fulgencio Pimentel ha publicado su primer libro en castellano al tiempo que visitaba el GRAF e impartía un taller de dibujo, ofrece en Nubes de talco muchas cosas interesantes. La primera es, sin duda, un estilo definido, una voz pura y original pero ya plenamente hecha y al mismo tiempo en evolución. Pero —lo estamos aprendiendo aún— tener un «estilo definido» en el cómic contemporáneo no significa dibujar siempre igual. Muy al contrario, Baeza muta constantemente en función de la pieza y sus necesidades específicas, y el «estilo» hay que encontrarlo en cuestiones enos obvias: la cualidad moldeable de las formas, muchas veces masas de color puro sin delimitar por líneas, los rostros esquemáticos, la ruptura de la representación naturalista del espacio… Pero ese lenguaje se plasma con gramáticas diferentes, con técnicas diferentes. Siempre se mantiene una constante en su narración, que es igualmente antinaturalista. Es decir, lo que se cuenta no es una reconstrucción de su recuerdo como si la estuviera reproduciendo de un modo objetivo, desde fuera, siguiendo un modelo de narración neutro y cinematográfico. Las escenas no responden a una lógica, porque Baeza parte de una certeza que muchos otros autores autobiográficos soslayan: los hechos tal y como sucedieron se han perdido para siempre y son irrecuperables. ¿Qué queda, entonces? Las emociones, las imágenes deformadas tras años de anidar en nuestro cerebro, a veces algo inconexas. Baeza no reconstruye lo que pasó, sino la impronta que dejó en ella. Es una autobiografía emocional, por inventar algún palabro que alcance a explicar un poco su trabajo. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Pittsburgh, PA – El comienzo de Suzy y Cecil Suzy y Cecil es una tira diaria, creada por varias estudiantes de Comics Workbook. Pueden seguir sus aventuras y su amistad en instagram: @Suzy_and_Cecil. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡️Comics Workbook ha anunciado el semestre de invierno del Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers – el curso empieza Dec. 29th 2016! Curso de 8 semanas – 500 dolares – 10 estudiantes – presentate para el curso antes del Dec. 13th 2016 y recibiras un descuento de $100! Email santoroschoolATgmail for more details. Direcciones para la Solicitud de Ingreso al Santoro School : -3 figure drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards -3 landscape drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards -3 still life drawings done on blank 3 x 5 cards -draw in a contour line style – Think Matisse – no under-drawing – draw directly in ink -just send small jpgs of images – dont post to your blog pls -specific url links to any comics work you have done. Manda tu solicitud a: santoroschoolATgmail ————————————————————————————————— hasta la proxima! Juan Share this page: [...]

01/25/2018

Comics WorkbookJanuary 25, 2018NewsSam Ombiri on Coco Moodysson’s Never Goodnight – plus other news and comics! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: I’ve been reading a splendid comic called Never Goodnight by Coco Moodysson. I found out about this fantastic book through Coco’s husband, Lukas Moodysson. Lukas Moodysson is my favorite living movie director as it stands right now. His movies have received praise from Ingmar Bergman as well as Harmony Korine, and those two directors really speak to the sensibility of Lukas. Those are two filmmakers he admires, and from my understanding this admiration was independent of the praise he receives from those two directors. He made a great adaptation of Coco’s Never Goodnight entitled We Are The Best. I just don’t know where to start with this book. This comic is one of the most fun autobio comics I’ve ever read. The drawings are spectacular, it’s great that she was able to summon enough of this creative energy for every panel, and deliver consistently. Her drawings are like candy that don’t lose their sweetness when eaten too much. The drawings are simultaneously so expressive, but all done with that line that Sammy Harkham always talks about, where every drawing has the same weight to it and it doesn’t deviate. It’s easy to see why this book has the cult following it has. The storytelling is so clear, and I can see that the whole was considered, as opposed to some parts. The jokes in this book are really funny. The jokes don’t even seem like jokes, or funny observations made by a distant person reminiscing. Which is not to say that there’d be anything wrong if that, were it the case – in fact it’s commonly the case with autobio, or even non-autobio work (although people say all work is ultimately autobio). I guess this just speaks to the nature of life, but it’s really interesting how Coco’s comics don’t have that reminiscing attitude, despite that being what she’s doing throughout the whole work(reminiscing I mean). It’s a really curious thing that when I read the comic it just feels like I’m watching life unfolding, and all the fun moments and funny moments unfolding with it. There is of course clear, concise timing in the way Coco leads us through the story, but I don’t feel the least bit, shall we say, “manipulated”. There are those moments in the book where it’s so cute I want to hurl, but I’m still completely sold. For example, where Coco talks about how she bought dog food and hid it under her pillow in case she ever got a dog, (this was after they went around begging for money to buy a guitar and instead just splurged on a bunch of snacks). I don’t know what to blame though: is it because Coco was such a likeable character to follow? Did I relate to it somehow? Are the drawings so charming that it’s disarming my suspicion? It definitely seems earned because this specific brand of sentimentality doesn’t pop up until the 78th page, and the comic hasn’t demanded as much of an emotional response to be reciprocated to the work up until that point. It’s become the trend in some comics that the author just demand that the reader reciprocate an emotional response, just because they’re being courageous in expressing themselves in comics. I can’t speak for every case, but people making comics should realize that you can’t and shouldn’t blame the reader. If what you’re doing is independent of the reader, that’s a different story. You can’t just mumble some words and expect someone to read your mind and guess the rest of the sentence. You are responsible for making the sentence. Part of what’s enjoyable (and at times it can be detrimental to me) is the ambiguity in experiencing and then re-experiencing work. This is with all art forms, though, and I really hesitate to say it’s especially so with comics because of how it’s words and images that you’re looking at. You’re also looking at the line work, you’re looking at the design. Makers should consider all this and perhaps accept this when making work and not let their vain guise of “how courageous they are for expressing themselves” be where the value of the work is derived. Coco’s book made me think of this because of how good it is. I didn’t feel cheated for reciprocating the emotional response Coco called for. I feel that I should mention that it was surprisingly easy to separate the movie from the book whenever they would intersect. This goes deeper than them being different mediums, or what couldn’t be in the movie due to Lukas and Coco’s difference in sensibility. Even when I’m reading the exact same scene play out in the book that was in the movie, they seem so separate and this book is so distinguished that I don’t even think about the movie. There’s an aspect to this book that I have no idea how to approach. I don’t know how comics are perceived in Sweden. It seems that there they have a tighter relationship with the literary world, maybe? I really don’t know. Anyway, there’s a panel in the book where Coco just coldly mentions how a friend’s friend killed himself with a guitar chord. I’m rather puzzled at the intention of this. From what I understand, she was doing some work behind the scenes with Lukas’ films, and they made some kind of comic together (which someone should translate!) so I can’t help but to think there’s this lyrical element to her including this in the comic, something that’s similar to the lyricism in Lukas’ movies. In contrast to this, though, there’s a sequence where the girls run out and there’s a homeless person with a syringe stuck in his arm, and he’s just there as a gag to convey how loud the girls are being about a bunch of nonsense, and yelling “We Are the Best!” It’s like he’s just there to be annoyed, but there’s a whole cute aspect to this. It’s funny because of how certain elements that were in the book were taken out of the movie, probably because of how it would evoke a completely different feeling, and completely change the atmosphere. The sensibility of Never Goodnight feels a lot like a YA book, but introduces bleaker elements than those found in the adaptation made by Lukas (whom people sometimes liken to a more trustworthy incarnation of Lars Von Trier and who is associated with “the New Extremity” movement). It’s just really funny how I don’t know what to make of this. Not that the comic is any less fun to read as a result, it only makes it more interesting to read. In a lot of ways, and obviously this comes as no surprise, there’s a lot of match up in terms of sensibility between Lukas and Coco. Maybe it’s because of how Lukas described his creative process as different from Coco’s that I anticipated a bigger difference. For example, Coco will say things like there’s not enough brown, or whichever color. This is strange because her comic are done in black and white! I feel that however many accolades I can try to give this book would be a futile attempt at describing how great this book is. It’s just such a wonderful book! – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Other News Ben Passmore animated – check it out HERE. Ron Wimberly on Radix Media, talking the sensual experience of paper, among other things – HERE. Philippe Leblanc reviews Carta Minor’s Passing for The Comics Beat. Zora Gilbert writes about Bingo Love by Tee Franklin, for Women Write About Comics – read the article HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Collected from the thousands of pages of material that Frank has left scattered all over the digital landscape, these 4 PDF collections contain Frank’s best writing on comics and comics making from the past decade. Theory and process, reviews and discoveries, journeys both physical and spiritual. Check out the “Best of Frank Santoro” PDF collections, available HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 1-25-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

Bill Boichel on Captain America

Bill BoichelJuly 16, 2016EssaysShare this page: [...]

08/30/2017

Juan FernándezAugust 30, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos el día con Carla Berrocal; Jueves Furioso de Dibujo; Simon Hanselmann; la Convocatoria de Voluntarios de Entreviñetas; La Polola con Brittany Tullis; Graficas Pro Aborto Libre; Alex Fito; Berliac y los tebeos de Cómics Workbook! ————————————————————————————————— Sobre el Proceso de Trabajo – Carla Berrocal Antes de nada, debo decir que no creo que exista un método de trabajo que sea bueno o malo o que sea el método definitivo. Creo, sencillamente, que existen miles de formasdistintas de afrontar un encargo, tantas como dibujantes. El mío es uno más de esos miles de métodos. No creo que sea el mejor ni de lejos, pero si que pienso que puede ser interesante compartirlo con vosotros. Siempre con la idea de establecer un diálogo y aprender cosas que puedan resultar interesantes para todos. Así pues, ¿cómo trabajo? ¿cómo afronto un encargo? ————————————————————————————————— Jueves Furioso de Dibujo con Virginia Abrigo 31/09 – 18:00-20:00 Plataforma Lavardén Mendoza 1085, 2000 Rosario, Santa Fe ————————————————————————————————— Simon Hanselmann: la vida no es bonita, ni siquiera en cómic En tiempos de Tumblr, de bloggers sobrevalorados, de fotos de perfil manipuladas por Photoshop y relaciones interpersonales supeditadas a una interfaz friendly, algunos pensamos que una vuelta al existencialismo honesto y deprimente es algo casi necesario. Por eso nos gusta reivindicar a Simon Hanselmann. Y no es que estemos de acuerdo con eso de levantarnos cada mañana planteándonos la existencia entre lacrimosos accesos de frustración, no. No del todo. Pero en esto coincidimos: empieza a resultar imprescindible un poco de reality bite, una dosis medicinal de realidad sucia que levante la alfombra y deje al aire toda esa porquería que se ha ocultado debajo con insistencia. Porque, sin entrar en discursos grunges, es dolorosamente cierto que la realidad, aunque pretendamos lo contrario, no suele ser algo que pueda retocarse con un filtro trendy ni reconstruir recortando el trozo que queremos mostrar. A pesar de que podamos tener momentos felices, la felicidad no es una imagen y, por lo tanto, nunca podrá permanecer demasiado tiempo. Léanlo todo en Literary Notes. ————————————————————————————————— ENTREVIÑETAS, plataforma cultural colombiana, invita a todas las personas en Colombia con interés en donar su tiempo para ayudar en la navegación del #FESTIVALENTREVIÑETAS como Voluntarios de la *red viñetera*. El voluntariado supone a menudo un desafío, pero significa también adquirir nuevos conocimientos y realizar actividades gratificantes. En el voluntariado no se recibe un pago y se entiende como una donación de tiempo y conocimiento para comprender y atender a los detalles que permitirán llevar el festival a buen puerto en sus sedes de este año: BOGOTÁ Miércoles 20 al domingo 24 de septiembre 2017 MEDELLÍN Miércoles 11 al domingo 15 de octubre de 2017 Convocatoria de Voluntarios ————————————————————————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo tienen una nueva edicion de La Polola Podcast! Las chicas conversan con la académica Brittany Tullis acerca de sus estudios acerca del cómic feminista latinoamericano (grabado con público en Galería Plop!). Brittany comparte sus visiones acerca de la mujer y su rol creativo, la necesidad de replantear como nos vemos socialmente, críticar los roles impuestos y entrar en nosotros mismos a través del cómic y cómo éste a su vez tiene el poder de generar realidades que terminen en un cambio cultural. Aquí las compañeras de Gráficas ProAborto Libre y su campaña por un aborto libre en Chile. Alex Fito repasa algunos de los tótems de la historia del cómic en su último trabajo, una recopilacion en formato concertina. Una auténtica gozada que mezcla las influencias estética’s de Chris Ware y Max. Berliac‘s got a new Asian Food Store Junkies – Manga is Masturbation. The international fracas digs into the “scene” on an empty stomach… Tereixa Constenla offers a solid and interesting overview of the recent transformations in the Spanish Comics Industry in El_Pais. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-30-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

03/08/2017

Juan FernándezMarch 7, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos el dia con Sol Diaz; Miguel A. Giner y Cristina Durán; Vanesa R. Del Rey; Chicks on Comics;#GRAFBCN2017; Alvaro Ortiz; Fran Meneses and the ugly side; Billar de letras new comics club y los tebeos del dia! ————————————————————————————————— Cómics y noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: Sol Diaz – spotlighted over on Es Mi Fiesta y lanza un nuevo libro: La historia ilustrada de un embarazo. Miguel A. Giner and Cristina Durán tell the story of the adoption of their daughter in their latest comic, Una Posibilidad Entre Mil. They talk shop over on RTVE3’s La Hora Del Bocadillo + there’s a fresh interview with Miguel A. Giner and Cristina Durán on their new book over at Bilbao24Horas. Constantine #3-4 original art by the great Vanesa R. Del Rey available NOW over on Cadence Comics Art Gallery. Don’t miss your chance to own some of the action. CHICAS DE COMICS/CHICKS ON COMICS Siete mujeres historietistas de distintas partes del mundo expusieron sus trabajos en la Fundación Proa de la ciudad de Buenos Aires. Nice interviews and video documentation of the exhibition over on Argentina’s TV Publica. (Start at 34:00) #GRAFBCN2017 took place this weekend and it was a whirlwind in Barcelona. From the ground + el #GRAFBCN2017 en pocas palabras según Pepo Pérez + the fine folks at @underbrain just published a juicy video recap of the fest! You can watch it HERE. @Kikeinfame picks back up with his tradition of interview comics makers – this time around, take a tour of Alvaro Ortiz’ tebeoteca y mas! ————————————————————————————————— Billar de Letras esta poniendo en marcha un club de novela gráfica y cómic donde, de la mano de Gerardo Vilches, codirector de CuCo y una de las personas que mejor conoce el mundo del cómic en España, una vez al mes se analizará de manera exhaustiva una obra para descubrir sus mecanismos narrativos y desentrañar los recursos gráficos empleados por su autor. Nuestra intención es mostrar la gran riqueza del lenguaje del cómic y sus posibilidades narrativas, a través de la lectura crítica de obras que ya forman parte del canon de la novela gráfica. En las últimas décadas, el cómic ha experimentado un gran crecimiento como medio artístico, de forma que sus posbilidades narrativas y estéticas se están desarrollando en obras de extraordinaria calidad. En la web de Billar de letras tenéis toda la información para inscribiros. ————————————————————————————————— Fran Meneses, Chilean comics maker and illustrator in England, gets real with the ugly side of freelance life. Really nice, honest lens that invites us to dispel the glorification of work-a-holism in the freelance life. It gets unhealthy fast, if unchecked and the glamour that gets associated with it winds up being destructive and causes a lot of silence and erasure of the honest struggle. ————————————————————————————————— The Spring Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers started March 7th! There is a rolling start date for this semester of the course, so we will continue taking applications beyond that date. The course is 8 weeks long – 500 bux – payment plans are available. More details can be found HERE – or email santoroschoolATgmail to apply. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 3-8-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-8-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-8-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 3-8-2017 – by Juan Fernandez Share this page: [...]

03/14/2016

Posted on March 14, 2016March 14, 2016 by Juan Fernández

Juan Fernandez here with lots of interesting bits and bobs from the comics world. There’s something here for everyone. Let’s jump right in.

special-issue-bubbles-boxes-beyond-2000d1 — Julie Doucet – Strapazin Special Issue; Bubbles, Boxes & Beyond. 2000.

Here’s a juicy one for ya, Rachel Davies in conversation with Julie Doucet over at Rookie Mag! They talk about embracing the unknown and following creativity to new media. Good stuff. Doucet is an interdisciplinary artist that has historically been pigeon holed as solely a comics maker. They talk about all that and more. Read it here.

You said you did printmaking in college but did you ever experiment with printmaking when you were younger than that? What did you work in as a teenager?

Oh, I was drawing with a felt-tip pen all the time.

Did you always see art as something you would do professionally?

I guess so, yeah. At the time, there was a crisis in the ’80s so there were no jobs for anybody. You could go to school and be an artist and it wouldn’t make it any difference because you wouldn’t have a job anyway. Being an artist sounded like the right thing to do because I was drawing all the time and I had a talent for it.

Robyn Chapman has launched a new crowdfunding campaign to fund the spring line of Paper Rocket Comics. Chapman is smart in how she uses kickstarter as a pre-order system to help defray the cost of production. She has run 7 successful funding campaigns for Paper Rocket so you can be sure she knows what she’s doing. She’s in it for life and it’s worth seeing how she’s does what she does.

Learn more about the Kickstarter on their page!

Whit Taylor is giving a talk tomorrow on Autobiography, Identity, and Self-Reflection in Comics

Tuesday, March 15, 2016
7–9pm

Join NYC-based, New Jersey-born cartoonist, editor, and comics writer, Whit Taylor as she talks about her work in the context of autobiography, identity, and self-reflection. She will present and discuss several of her comics, including The Anthropologists, a semi-autobiographical account of three strangers venturing into the Australian Outback together for a week of unexpected adventures, and her most recent work Ghost, a mind-expanding journey to remote and unanticipated landscapes, in a story of exploration, self-discovery, and healing.

You can listen and be part of the conversation at the Interference Archive – 131 8th St, Brooklyn, New York 11215. More info over on facebook.

tumblr_o40cvucBcN1ufuwaso2_1280 — by Kendra Lee

Kendra Yee has posted a short new comic that reflects on windows and how we percieve others while securing privacy for ourselves. Great imagery that really breathes and colors that swim together well. – read Part 1 – read part 2 –

tumblr_o3q7z1NFj21r9wcfho1_1280 — Clive Barker

2d Cloud has announced the nitty gritty details of Mirror Mirror 2, the second edition of their flagship anthology. It’s going to feature new comics and drawings by:

Lala Albert / Clive Barker / Heather Benjamin / Sean Christensen / Nicole Claveloux / Sean T. Collins / Al Columbia / Dame Darcy / Noel Freibert / Renee French / Meaghan Garvey / Julia Gfrörer / Simon Hanselmann / Hellen Jo / Hadrianus Junius / Aidan Koch / Laura Lannes / Céline Loup / Uno Moralez / Mou / Chloe Piene / Josh Simmons / Carol Swain

From what they’ve announced, seems that the focus is going to be around horror / pornography / the Gothic / the abject, which should come as no surprise with Julia Gfrörer and Sean T. Collins at the helm. It’ll be out next winter, with some advanced comics floating around in the Fall.

Screen shot 2016-03-14 at 12.03.01 PM — Chuck Jones

And for a little boost in assuring you that what you’re doing is important, how ’bout you reflect on Chuck Jones legacy? Zach over at Practice Positive takes a look at Chuck Jones and what it meant to master both craftsmanship and universality in art. Really useful ideas that can be put into practice by any and all comics makers. Read it here.

The whole essence of good drawing—and of good thinking, perhaps—is to work a subject down to the simplest form possible and still have it believable for what it is meant to be.

A heads up for you Chicagoans, The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE) will be holding its 4th annual art auction fundraiser at 7:00 pm on Friday, April 8th, at the The Hideout Inn, located at 1354 W Wabansia Ave.

The event will be hosted by intermedia artist Lyra Hill. The event will feature live and silent auctions of over 20 pieces of art by past special guests and exhibitors of CAKE, including Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez, Eleanor Davis, and Dash Shaw. The event will also feature live comics readings by local artists Samuel Nigrosh. Molly Colleen O’Connell, and Sam Nigrosh.

More info here.

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Simon Moreton joined Robin McConnell over on Inkstuds to chat about his new book from Uncivilized Books, Plans That We Made. Simon has a really beautiful minimal style of story telling that works really nicely. Simon’s work can be found in his Smoo mini comics. If you’ve been sleeping on Simon Moreton, I suggest you dig into his work soon. It’s quiet, but extremely grounded work in the tradition of minimal autobiographical cartooning pioneered by John Porcellino. Well worth a listen!

This Nicole Georges‘ Sagittarian Matters brings you a BETH DITTO MAILBAG TAKEOVER!!! Musician & fashion designer Beth Ditto & Nicole Georges answer questions & riff on self-deprecation, grace, gratitude, punk feminism, polyamory, and MORE. The self-deprecation riff alone is worth the listen!

To close things off, I wanted to let you know that Archive.org has recently made David W Niven‘s incredible archive of early jazz available for download. Feast your ears, babies.

650 tapes · 1,000 hours · 1,378 WAV files · 637 GB · 691 JPEG scans of cassette liner cards & literature. Meticulously Collected, Compiled, and Narrated by David W. Niven, 1930-1993. Generously Donated by David W. Niven to the Foxborough High School Jazz Program, Stephen C. Massey, Director, 2010. Archived to CD-Quality Digital Audio by Kevin J. Powers, 2010-2011.An Early Jazz Recording Collection by David W. Niven

over and out,

Juan Fernandez

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged CAKE, chuck jones, david w niven, interference archive, julie doucet, kendra lee, mirror mirror 2, nicole georges, paper rocket comics, whit taylor

Juan Fernández

Posted on March 14, 2016March 14, 2016

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02/21/2018

Juan FernándezFebruary 21, 2018los Cómics / NewsJuan empieza el dia con Las chicas del lápiz, y más! ————————————————————————————————— Ilustradoras Colombianas: las chicas del lápiz Semana gives us a grand survey of many of the women shining in Colombia’s comics and illustration world. Obviously, this is only a sampling, but it serves to show he fertility of contemporary comics making and illustration in Colombia. Las ilustradoras, historietistas y dibujantes colombianas están conquistando públicos a manos llenas. Powerpaola presentará la película “Virus tropical”, basada en su primera novela gráfica, en la Berlinale. Los libros de Amalia Andrade se han convertido en fenómenos de masas. Y detrás de ellas vienen muchas más. SEMANA habló con algunas de ellas. Hop on over to and get hep to likes of La Watson, Lady Bíonica Mariana Gil Rios and company: ————————————————————————————————— El Colectivo de Autoras de Cómic trabaja por la justa valoración de autoras e ilustradoras en la esfera pública: Por todo lo anteriormente apuntado, así como por lo especificado en la Ley de Igualdad*, que apoyamos la iniciativa del Grupo parlamentario Unidos Podemos-En Comú Podem-En Marea para presentar una proposición no de ley (PNL) sobre ilustradoras y autoras de cómic, tebeo y novela gráfica para su debate en la Comisión de Igualdad. El objetivo es instar al Gobierno, en colaboración con las Comunidades Autónomas, a la creación de un plan de visibilización y un plan de lucha contra la precariedad de las mujeres profesionales del sector del tebeo, el cómic y la ilustración, en particular; y abrir el debate sobre la situación del citado sector, en general. ————————————————————————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: ~ en Español ~ El último #FanzineMagazine está dedicado enteramente a Arséne Schrauwen, obra del belga Olivier Schrauwen editada por Fulgencio Pimentel. Escúchalo aquí:. Elizabeth Casillas escribe “Sobre contextos, libertad de expresión y el noviazgo entre artista y espectador” en Revista Cactus. El historietista argentino que triunfa en Europa y fue prohibido en Canadá – Berliac charla con La Nacion y da una gran entrevista con Fantastic Mag. ————————————————————————————————— Collected from the thousands of pages of material that Frank has left scattered all over the digital landscape, these 4 PDF collections contain Frank’s best writing on comics and comics making from the past decade. Theory and process, reviews and discoveries, journeys both physical and spiritual. Check out the “Best of Frank Santoro” PDF collections, available HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 02-21-2018 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 02-21-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

03/07/2017

Aaron CockleMarch 6, 2017NewsAaron here today with CHOICES; Squid Maps; Stuck in the Middle; Terms & Conditions; Shaw Screening at SVA. ————————————————————————————————— Over at try harder, Carrie Jones takes another look at the 1990 anthology, CHOICES: A Pro-Choice Benefit Comic: White supremacism, economic injustice, incest, suicide, and religious persecution all make appearances in CHOICES. Re-reading this book has been an unpleasantly surreal experience. 27 years have gone by since its publication and women are still fighting to be seen as human beings. It’s frightening to see how fragile the gains made are. As a personal touchstone, the book reminds me of the special power of comics to convey complicated stories in an accessible way. As an artifact, CHOICES is a stark reminder to take nothing for granted. ————————————————————————————————— Serio-Comic War Map For The Year 1877 Donna Seger at streetsofsalem posted a few years back about octopus propaganda maps from the 19th-20th centuries: 1870 marks a turning point in European and world history with the unification of Germany (as well as Italy): Europe was now “filled out” and further territorial ambitions could only be satisfied by global imperialism and/or war. The maps from this time forward reflect this jingoism and fear, but anthropomorphic satire dulls the edge. One of the first major octopus maps, Fred Rose’s “Serio-Comic War Map For The Year 1877” shows Russia as the octopus-aggressor rather than Germany, even though the Crimean War had revealed the severe weaknesses of the Russian Empire (this is reflected on the map below by a wound on one of the octopus’ tentacles–that which is located in the proximity of the Crimea). From the British perspective that this map represents, it’s a bit early to portray Germany as the aggressor, and so Russia becomes either the ferocious bear or the reaching octopus. ————————————————————————————————— CBLDF Interviews Ariel Schrag Betsy Gomez at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund spoke with Ariel Schrag about the anthology she edited, Stuck in the Middle, being challenged for removal from a school library in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A. : What would you say to parents who consider some of the subject matter of Stuck in the Middle inappropriate for their middle school-aged kids to read? Ariel Schrag: Every parent has the right to monitor his or her child’s reading (or TV watching, or movie watching, etc.), and if you don’t want your child reading Stuck in the Middle, I completely respect that choice. However, there’s a big difference between making that choice for your child and making it for every child, which is what banning the book does. My intent in editing this book was to help children who might be experiencing some of the things the characters in the book experience — bullying, rejection, acne, depression, etc. — feel less alone. These ‘messages’ are expressed through art and humor to make them more accessible and fun. In terms of foul language, sexual content, and teen smoking in the book, all the authors strove to present the teens and pre-teens in a realistic light. We may not like all of the decisions teenagers make, but if we sanitize their speech and behavior in our stories, our characters won’t be authentic. Real teens and pre-teens sometimes use these words and say and do these things. A book like this can present a good opportunity for dialogue between children and parents. Banning the book isn’t going to change children’s behavior or somehow save them from the hard truths of teenage life — I find it very hard to believe that a child would hear a swear word for the very first time in the book or that he or she would be made aware that teenagers sometimes have sexual relationships or smoke cigarettes. The only thing that can make an impact in the way children act is communication, and this book provides a platform for that. What would you say to students in Mid-Del School District who want to read your book? Thankfully, it is available in public libraries and for purchase at stores or online. ————————————————————————————————— Terms and Conditions: the bloviating cruft of the iTunes EULA combined with extraordinary comic book mashups Cory Doctorow reviews R.Sikoryak’s iTunes Terms & Conditions collection: In his end-notes, Sikoryak notes that he didn’t try to match the language to the action in the panels, drawing his pages first then shuffling them and flowing the text into them. What’s interesting (and revealing) is how often there is some weird confluence between the text and the pictures, and this says something important about the Terms and Conditions Sikoryak is lampooning. ————————————————————————————————— “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea” Screening with Director Dash Shaw Thursday, March 16, 7-10pm SVA Amphitheater, 209 East 23rd Street, 3rd floor, NYC Free and open to the public. Dash Shaw will introduce the film and Cartooning Coordinator Jason Little will interview him following the screening. ————————————————————————————————— The Spring Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers starts today! There is a rolling start date for this semester of the course, so we will continue taking applications beyond this date. There are a few spots left – just apply! The course is 8 weeks long – 500 bux – payment plans are available. More details can be found HERE – or email santoroschoolATgmail to apply. ————————————————————————————————— A Cosmic Journey – 3-7-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-7-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-7-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 3-7-2017 – by Juan Fernandez 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: [...]

07/10/2018

Aaron CockleJuly 10, 2018NewsPanels to/for the People; Médecins Sans Frontières; Maiden Form; LAAB; Art of/for War ————————————————————————————————— Panels to the People x Vinyl Fantasy Panels to the People is a comics reading showcasing a variety of creators. Come to Bushwick’s best comic book store Vinyl Fantasy for a night of brilliant comics. Admission is FREE! Readings by: Neil Dvorak (Easy Pieces) Michael Giurato April Malig (Goths on Ice, My Dumb Feelings) & more TBA! Thursday, July 12, 7-9pm at Vinyl Fantasy, 194 Knickerbocker Ave, Brooklyn, U.S.A. ————————————————————————————————— Paintings of people I met in Mosul Australian psychologist Diane Hanna turned to art to tell the story of the people she met while providing mental healthcare to people displaced from Mosul, Iraq, during her first field assignment with us. Via Doctors Without Borders. ————————————————————————————————— An Interview With Heather Benjamin, Curator and Participating Artist Of “MAIDEN FORM” Do you have a statement about the exhibition you’d like to share, some over-arching theme or discussion you’d like to be at the forefront? MAIDEN FORM is a show presenting meditations on contemporary notions of femininity. As a starting point, I’m inviting artists to interpret that and explore their own personal experiences through the lenses of any of the following perceived/desired/imposed attributes of conventional femininity, including but of course not limited to – concepts of sensitivity, purity, tenderness, deference, empathy, nurturance, beauty, sexual objectification, fragility, passivity. This is just a cross-section of some of the concepts which contribute simultaneously to the subjugation of all kinds of women, as well as provide structures which we both lean on and transgress against in order to define each of our personal womanhood. Betty Friedan wrote in 1963 that the key to women’s subjugation lay in the social construction of femininity as “childlike, passive, and dependent”, and called for a “drastic reshaping of the cultural image of femininity”. Over 50 years later, in many ways, we have progressed past some of the “classic” stereotypes about womanhood, but in just as many ways, we still struggle to throw off the same chains – and carry new ones as well. And that struggle has never been cut and dry – we can feel pulled in so many directions as we fight to hold onto pieces of our identities and shed others, to embrace one culturally imposed facet of femininity while transgressing against another, and all this happening under the shadow of what is societally or traditionally deemed appropriate or desirable. This show is a collection of artists making work about the multifaceted nature of that struggle, which can be so different for every individual and type of woman. My hope with the show is to create an exhibition of vibrant, poignant, and emotional work about individual experiences of femininity, different takes on personal experiences of womanhood by different kinds of women, with the goal of creating an environment where any kind of woman who walks into the gallery can find something moving and relatable within the body of work as a whole. ————————————————————————————————— LAAB, Ronald Wimberly This was probably posted to CW already, but here’s a youtube flip through of Wimberly’s excellent LAAB magazine. ————————————————————————————————— A conversation with C.C. Tsai, a Chinese artist and illustrator of Sunzi’s classic “The Art of War” (Princeton University Press, 2018), translated into English by Brian Bruya What do you think people most often get wrong about “The Art of War”? I think there is a basic misunderstanding that it’s not really about war — it’s about preventing war. From very early times, the Chinese attitude toward warfare was that you need to end it as quickly as possible. The way to do that was to use irregular fighting: special strategies and tactics so that you could minimize the loss of life and the damage to crops and villages and so on. This started very early in Chinese history. Sunzi says the point of warfare is not the fighting but the winning. He says that anger can turn to happiness later, but a dead person can’t be brought back to life. A country that is lost can’t be brought back either. So the main goal of war from a Chinese perspective is to avoid it at all costs, or to figure out how to win while suffering the least amount of damage. ————————————————————————————————— Vision Box – 7-10-2018 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 7-10-18 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

12/31/2018

Caleb OrecchioDecember 31, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here on the last day of 2018 with Parallel Lives by Olivier Schrauwen ————————————————————————————————— Parallel Lives by Olivier Schrauwen Olivier Schrauwen lives way up there with kings and queens of our medium. I have a lot to say about the author and his new book, but brevity may stop me from going too far over my head so in brevity I will write. Schrauwen has set a hammock between the rigid and the naturalistic. Schrauwen’s drawing veers towards the rigid often. His use of ruled lines and strict character models nearly teeter into stone. Yet, it is his natural, loose free-hand that brings balance to the force. His wonderful, thin pencil lines themselves serve to soften that rigidity as well. O how I love that pencil that leaves smudges though they are hardly noticeable in direct sunlight, but nonetheless make looking all the more pleasurable. The feature story of Parallel Lives, “Space Bodies,” is undeniably inspired by Moebius’ Gardens of Aedena (concept-wise), and is probably his most visually striking comic to date. His colors are masterful and beautiful. You’ve scarcely seen blue until you have seen it in this comic. The future he illustrates is completely enviable if only for want to walk around in it. Schrauwen fleshes out worlds that seem impossible, and yet inviting to live in. The whole book is practically beckoning one to jump in. Olivier Schrauwen can not be more on the up and up right now. He is steam-rolling over the lame and sickly cartoonists and driving himself to the center of the universe. ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

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