Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in los Cómics, NewsTagged caleb orecchio, gabriella tito, jack brougham

Juan Fernández

Posted on March 15, 2017March 15, 2017

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Connor Willumsen’s LICAF 2016 Workshops

Comics WorkbookOctober 30, 2016ClassesConnor Willumsen teaching a Comics Workbook-hosted workshop at The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, 2016 Share this page: [...]

01/27/2017

Sally IngrahamJanuary 26, 2017NewsSally here with work and wisdom to share from Hellen Jo, Zoë Taylor, Kate Lacour, Audra Stang, Trina Robbins, Glynnis Fawkes, Lale Westvind, and so many more! ————————————————————————————————— Sequential State wrote about Zoë Taylor‘s Joyride (Breakdown Press, 2016): “Taylor’s line is quick and vibrant. It seems like each image in Joyride was constructed as quickly as possible, like a one- or five-minute sketch at a live drawing class. These images look like something quickly scrawled onto a whiteboard with an erasable marker, and it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that Taylor’s tool of choice for this book was a Sharpie marker. There is also sometimes a distortion of the line, as though there was a bleed or a bad scan from the original art. Because images look so thrown together, the reader’s focus drifts towards the places where Taylor has spent the most time. This is often the main character’s eyes, with thick eyelashes rendered while the character’s hands are a quick set of lines. That said, these are the one- or five-minute sketches of an artist who was studied their craft. Each mark, despite its looseness, feels essential. There’s no wasted space, no unneeded effort. The effect of these formal choices changes the way you perceive each page, and encourages you as the reader to move as quickly as you can. Zoom through each page, soak up the emotion, and let the work take you where it wants you to go.” Read the rest HERE. Zoë Taylor is an alum of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers. See more of her work HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Rookie sat down with Hellen Jo recently. She is a cartoonist based in Los Angeles who is known for her storyboarding work on Steven Universe and Regular Show. Dream jobs, to many. However: “I don’t believe in the myth of the dream job; any job worth having is hard, requires so much work, and will make you question your love of whatever it is you’re doing. Anyone who believes that working in animation is whimsical, magical, full of light and wonder and joy…wake the fuck up! Animation, especially storyboarding, drains all of your mental and emotional energy, requires incredibly long hours, deprives you of sleep, downtime, health, and your life. Once you finish and turn in an episode, you get to do it all over again! For another 20 or 200 episodes! Much respect and love to the ubermensch talents who do well in this field!“ Her pursuits are more personal these days, a balance of editorial illustrations and commissions – and a new comic is in the works! She cites Tara Booth, Heather Benjamin, and Maren Karlson as huge inspirations to her lately, “as well as Latina activist art and old school flash tattoo imagery.“ Read more HERE. Previously on Rookie: an interview with Aidan Koch, and one with Alison Bechdel – plus lots of other cool stuff. In fact, Rookie is an online magazine founded in 2011 that publishes writing, photography, and artwork by and for teens – including many comics. Be sure to take some time to poke around the website! ————————————————————————————————— Australia’s Minicomic.club is back for a 2017 season of mini comics love! Sign up to get 12 comics in 12 months from the most interesting cartoonists on that continent – including work by Elari Harris, Georgia Kriss, Meg O’Shea (all pictured above), Leonie Brialey, and Lizzie Nagy. Sign up before the end of January and be sure to explore the website, which is a nice who’s who of Australian cartoonists working today – HERE. Minicomic.club has conducted interviews with many of the creators whose comics they’ve sent out over the years – here are recent ones with Elari Harris, and Leonie Brialey, and Meg O’Shea. Lots more HERE. (Shoutout to Gabriele Di Fazio of Just Indie Comics for writing about Australia’s mini comic subscription service and for all the amazing work he does for the Italian comics community – including running his own subscription service for Italian comics makers! Check out Just Indie Comics for reviews and comics news – mostly in Italian, but Gabriele offers some posts in English as well. Killer!) ————————————————————————————————— Kate Lacour has a new comic on Study Group called The Disciple – you can read it HERE. Updates on Mondays. Her comic Vivisectionary is also running on Study Group, updating monthly. Kate is a New Orleans cartoonist who happens to be another alum of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers. The comic she completed for the course – Zero Is – can be seen HERE and is excerpted from below: Kate joined Robin McConnell on Inkstuds earlier this month for a fascinating discussion of her “unflinching” work, which often deals with the human body in startling yet beautiful ways – listen to the podcast HERE. (Kate seems to share an interest in the body with Phoebe Gloeckner, who supported herself for a number of years by doing medical and anatomy illustration.) ————————————————————————————————— Audra Stang spent a total of 2 weeks here with us in Pittsburgh, PA, working on a new comic during her Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency. Although she left the Rowhouse for a few brief excursions during that time, her focus was entirely on her work and by the night before she left there was a draft of a 30 page comic taped to the wall in the kitchen! We can’t wait to see where this goes – both the comic and the Audra Stang story. Follow Audra on Instagram for all her latest adventures and drawings – @audra.stang Keep up with the Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency HERE. For more details and information on how to apply for a Residency, visit this page. ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— From Hither and Yon Liana Finck composed a cartoon diary for Slate of the Jan. 21st 2017 Women’s March on Washington – check it out HERE. Lauren Weinstein also drew the Women’s March – for The Village Voice. The “Eternally Optimistic Paste Comics Crew” has a wishlist for the comics industry in 2017. Although it swings more toward mainstream comics, most of the items on the list should be industry wide norms. Things like “better professional conduct on social media”, and stopping “pigeonholing diverse creators”, (“socially relevant Mutants”!), plus one I’ll get up and shout about too: “Fewer Female-led Books With All-Male Creative Teams”. Sorry guys. Here’s the whole list. Check out M. S. Harkness‘ comic about a troll of a cat – HERE. Over on Study Group there is a new Process Party podcast with Leela Corman. Sarah Glidden‘s sketchbook is full of comics reporting these days – most recently she weighed in on an executive order that halts the refugee resettlement program… From Grace Helmer, a comic about smear tests and bikini waxes and other so-called “girl stuff” – HERE. Glynnis Fawkes spoke to a local Vermont newspaper about her comic for RESIST! “No artist who’s engaged with the outside world can keep working as if nothing has happened,” Fawkes said. Read the rest. The best gig posters ever designed by cartoonists, according to the Comics Alliance – including work by Lale Westvind and a whole pile of posters by Tara McPherson. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 1-27-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 1-27-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— 1-27-2017 – by Juan Fernández Share this page: [...]

10/16/2017

Caleb OrecchioOctober 15, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here with thoughts on practicing color, and other news. ———————————————————————————————— I’ve been thinking and working with color a lot. In this day and age, where color is an option for cartoonists looking to print their work (color was not always an option for ye olde comics makers, true believer), the quantity of choice of what the colors should be and how to apply them can be intimidating. Fear not. In my opinion, the best way to start in color is the classic CMYK–which is essentially, as you probably know, blue, red, yellow, and black. One reason this is a good choice is that most riso printers carry these four colors (riso being probably the best option in self-publishing in color if you can swing it) AND they are easily acquired in forms of marker or colored pencils, AND because these are the colors comics used in the past and traditions are important to me. The Classics Illustrated series is a great gateway into classic coloring. They all have a minimal, crude feel to the coloring. It does not seem that their printer offered a large pallet, or maybe they couldn’t afford it. Anyway, I read about the 152nd installment of the Classics Illustrated line, “Wild Animals I have Known”(adapted from the book by Ernest Thompson Seton; drawn by LB Cole) from Kevin Huizenga’s blog years ago and subsequently bought it. I’m going to run through an example of how I play and practice with this book. Here’s a good panel that demonstrates a nice, simple combination of CMYK. First, I isolate the colors by tracing over them with markers on tracing paper. I don’t worry about being exact because that isn’t the point. I’m not trying to recreate the image, I just want to see how colors interact. Then I put them together–then yellow, then red and so on. Please forgive how the lightbox makes the photos look. But the idea is to keep going. Okay so how would it look like if we took one color out? Or just used one color? I could go on and on. You just have to keep trying things. Try it if you want–and feel free to mix it up. Make a new blackline drawing and put it up against the color. Flip the color layers or stagger them. This is just something to think about while you work on your comic. Follow your bliss. ———————————————————————————————— if you don’t know now you know I meant to post about this a month ago when it came out. I sincerely love this youtube documentary about comic shop owner Glenn O’Leary and his store, Comic Book Palace. My taste literally never overlaps with his and I think he is wrong about almost every aspect of comics–accept the way he retails–but I can’t help but love it. Sticking with the retail theme; TCJ.com blog made me aware of this–Dan Gearino on Jim Hanley. LOL they are making the New Mutants movie a horror movie (or seemingly so)–nothing wrong with that I guess do what you gotta do whatever. Aaaaand a shoplifter jumped out of a Midtown Comics second story window–doesn’t he know comics are worthless? ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 10-16-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ———————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 10-16-2017 – by Juan Fernandez ———————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 10-16-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

03/02/2017

Sally IngrahamMarch 2, 2017NewsSam Ombiri is here today with thoughts on influences and his recent adventures in comics post-production – plus all the Comics Workbook Daily Strips! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here – David O’Reilly said something like “it’s real cool for people to hide their influences and to not admit them“, and that “people who refrain from admitting their influences tend to have the most obvious ones“. I think he’s saying that it’s not so important how well one can hide their influence or not be obvious – it’s just a reflection of a certain attitude prominent in certain people. There is something to be said to not wanting to list influences. I recall both Claire Denis and Stefan Burnett saying “listing them seems boring/contrived” after mentioning 2 or 3 things when asked something akin to what other work has shaped their work? I remember reading about the guy who created Mr. Robot – he was listing all his influences in this way that kind of drove me nuts for some reason. He said something like “Taxi Driver for the narration, Breaking Bad for it’s character arc, Blade Runner for its introspection” and such and such. It makes me understand why Matthew Thurber said “All of these shows make me want to vomit in the face of the indoctrinated fool who invariably speaks of them in rapturous tones. I’d rather spend my time cleaning out a ten-year-old Rapidograph, or picking a scab!” (Maybe I don’t understand why but for a moment I can share his sentiment!) Sammy Harkham was saying something akin to “An influence is a thing that if a solution to a problem wasn’t found, it would be a longer winding road in order to find it.” The problem being, trying to figure out how to execute something that’s not entirely clear. It sounded like a really optimistic thing – that art is made with what is already in someone, and is not exactly dependent on what art a person encounters. It seemed a bit of a mystical idea. Sort of “the man at the end of the search” type of deal. It reminded me of the time in The Dance of Reality where Jodorowsky says “Everything you are is already inside you.” Something like that. I remember it more from the trailer than the movie. I don’t remember the movie too well as I haven’t seen it in a couple years, or at least it feels that way. I remember Jodorowsky’s Dad fighting a bunch of Nazis – and this one anarchist not wanting to live in world where dogs wore clothes. I remember other things. I must disagree with what Nicolas Winding Refn said about Jodorowsky’s movies being about what we don’t see. (What Refn actually said was that Jodorowsky’s movies remind him that all movies aren’t about what you see but what you don’t see. Trailers are to a huge extent how he executes this idea, I think. The movies our minds see when we see his trailers and the movies that we see on screen, and all the ideas floating around in the movie that aren’t fully uttered… I think Sammy Harkham said something like “Plot is like a coat room for one to hang ideas in.“ I think really often Sammy’s ideas of cartooning are almost similar to Robert Bresson. Not that his work is like Bresson’s, or completely like Bresson’s – they at times share similar traits. Or at least traits in what Bresson says. I think what Sammy was saying was about what fascinates him in horror films, which sounded very much like stuff that Bresson would talk about. Or this whole thing he says of demilitarized drama, and everything having the same weight, similar to how in Brian Chippendale’s Ninja things aren’t brought so much attention to. How Sammy was talking about cartooning was similar to how Bresson was talking about a virtuoso playing music and how their faces and composure are completely controlled. Or how Sammy was saying he’d rather people’s sadness not be on display for everyone to see – it echoes how Bresson said, “The sadness on people’s faces when you pass them on the street isn’t readily apparent.” They also share similarly mysterious triumphs strictly in themselves. That’s not to say that their work is, I don’t know, too too similar. Maybe Sammy is hiding Bresson’s influence to be cool, ha ha. I know that’s not the case. I think in a way that’s why I link Michael Haneke with Sammy a lot. I’m very certain Bresson had a ton of influence on Haneke. I always in my mind link Harkham with Haneke, for what are highly shallow reasons – not thinking that there are major connections, but a certain extremely specific similarity I see. – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— The Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency is a space where cartoonists from out of town can come for a week or more of comics-making intensive – but it is also a space for Pittsburgh’s local cartoonists to “spar” and train. Sam Ombiri stopped by recently for an afternoon tutorial on final production – layout and printing. Over cups of tea and The Lounge Lizards spinning on the record player, he completed his comic Haunted VHS – debuting at the Pittsburgh Indy Comix Expo this April 9th! There’s always something interesting happening around the Rowhouse – comics to read and make and share. Learn more about the Residency program HERE or email santoroschool@gmail.com. ————————————————————————————————— The Spring Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers is about to start! Although we have a rolling start date this semester, the course will officially kick off on March 7th. We will continue taking applications past that date – Frank is always willing to make it work for your schedule. Just apply! The course is 8 weeks long – 500 bux – payment plans are available. Check out the comic Connor Willumsen made when he took the course – Calgary: Death Milks a Cow! More details can be found HERE or email santoroschool@gmail.com to apply. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 3-2-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-2-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-2-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 3-2-2017 – by Juan Fernandez Share this page: [...]

01/12/2018

Sally IngrahamJanuary 11, 2018NewsSally here with comics by November Garcia, Sara Lautman, Margoux Othats, Corinne Mucha, and much more! ————————————————————————————————— November Garcia, creator of the comics Foggy Notions and Malarkey, is trying her hand at daily comics this year. You can see the first week’s worth HERE. She sez: “So my 2018 resolution is to draw a comic everyday. Haha! What a dunce I am! Turns out, it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. The big reveal is that my life isn’t very interesting—who knew? But I figure, what the hell, it’s a good exercise and I’m quite stubborn so I might see this thing through. So here it is in all its inane glory…unphotoshopped, unedited, unthought of…whatever. All critiques welcome…my goal here is to get better and I feel that these strips improved with time but I might be biased.“ I think her comics are consistently hilarious, and these don’t disappoint, so I’m sending her good vibes and hope she continues to make them. November is also currently sharing a comic called The Rusty Trombone, which is about her SPX 2017 adventures – you can catch the action HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Sara Lautman‘s latest comic on Electric Literature is very amusing, sort of a “bad lip reading” situation, a literal translation of what she THINKS the lyrics of Auld Lang Syne are. See the whole thing HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Philippe Leblanc reviews Margoux Othats‘ new comic Blanc for The Comics Beat. It is about a girl drawing at home during a snow storm, something many of us have probably done recently as the winter has bourn down upon the East Coast with varying ferocity this year…! Just a small book, but one that Philippe says: “…shines in its simplicity, clarity and style. Margaux Othats’ pencil drawings play with the blank page to great effect. The snow is overwhelming, it engulfed everything and nearly makes you forget that there ever was anything but the blinding white of the snow. The snowball revealing the beautiful, lively green grass underneath happens slowly and gives it a magical feeling. Othats is telling a simple story. It’s about seeing something seemingly impossible to overcome and deciding to try anyway. It’s about coming out of one’s shell and letting hope thaw the frost. With hope and efforts, you can accomplish anything. It’s the perfect comic to start the year with.“ Read the rest of the review HERE. Also please check out Philippe Leblanc’s New Years edition of his usual roundup of small press news HERE. Quite a few good items on the list, including a few things I’d missed (which I’ll link to specifically below). ————————————————————————————————— Read the rest of Corinne Mucha‘s comic (pictured above) HERE. I came across a few of her stories recenly in The Shortpants Observer #1, from 2008, which was edited by Sarah Becan. Both ladies are from the Chicago area, and this issue of The Shortpants Observer also included work by Anya Davidson. Although I can’t find out much more about the anthology, Corinne Mucha has a few notes from when it came out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Also on the Radar The Canadian publisher Ad Astra Comix released a new graphic novel called The Beast last year, created by Nicole Marie Burton, Hugh Goldring, and Dr. Patrick McCurdy. There’s a review of it up at Women Write About Comics – read it HERE. Cynthia Rose celebrates French artist Annie Goetzinger, who died in Dec. 2017, for The Comics Journal. Sarah Boxer writes about Chris Ware’s Monograph for The New York Review of Books – HERE. Women Write About Comics features Leslie Stein‘s Present – read the review HERE. Elaine M. Will talks about her comic titled Look Straight Ahead, and the mental health journey that led her to create it – HERE. Quick props to myself (Sally Ingrham) here – check out Interesting Ducks for comics and writing on birding in Pittsburgh, PA, and beyond. ————————————————————————————————— Frank Santoro and Simon Hanselmann, CAB 2013 – photo by Chris Anthony Diaz, colored by Graham Willcox The Winter Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers starts January 16th 2018! 8 weeks – 500 bux – coaching for as long as you need. The course is hard, but Frank will push your comics making practice to a new level, getting you to think about timing and color in new ways. His experience and ideas have influenced the likes of Connor Willumsen, Michael DeForge, and Simon Hanselmann (quote “I consider Frank Santoro to be my L. Ron Hubbard”) among many others. Dig into something new in the new year! Full details and how to apply can be found HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 1-12-2018 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

03/15/2017

Posted on March 15, 2017March 15, 2017 by Juan Fernández

Empezamos el dia con Sol Diaz; Miguel A. Giner y Cristina Durán; Vanesa R. Del Rey; Chicks on Comics; Alvaro Ortiz; Fran Meneses and the ugly side; Billar de letras new comics club y los tebeos del dia!

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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)
@Kikeinfame picks back up with his tradition of interview comics makers – this time around, take a tour of Alvaro Ortiz’ tebeoteca y mas!

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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.

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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.

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We are in the midst of our 2nd year of the Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency! Gabriella Tito was here recently, our 4th resident of 2017, and we already starting a wait list for the summer months.

Interested in joining us for a week or more? Email santoroschool@gmail.com to learn how to apply. There are still openings in April and May, with that wait list available for the summer months. After a break for show season we will be picking up scheduling once again in late October. 500 bux for a week and a life-changing experience.

Read some of our Residency Reports HERE. Email santoroschool@gmail.com for more info.

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Blinkers – 3-15-2017 – by Jack Brougham

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Suzy and Cecil – 3-15-2017 – by Gabriella Tito

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Joanie and Jordie – 3-15-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in los Cómics, NewsTagged caleb orecchio, gabriella tito, jack brougham

Juan Fernández

Posted on March 15, 2017March 15, 2017

Explore

Brazil – Scene Report

Anna ManciniApril 29, 2016Scene ReportsHello! This is Manzanna, or Anna Mancini. I’m a Brazilian freelance designer, illustrator and comics artist. I make zines, murals, t-shirt designs, animation, lettering and more – you can see my work on my tumblr and my website. I also have a facebook page, where I usually post my comics firsthand. Right now I’m managing client work, teaching a workshop on zines at the UFJF university and working on three new zines. ———————————————————————————————— Today, I’d like to talk to you about comics making in Brazil: In the last couple of years, Brazilian comics have had quite an influx of new folks and initiatives, myself included; so let me walk you through some of the most exciting and relevant aspects of our scene in this report. I am from Juiz de Fora. Home of the first television transmission in Latin America and of a widespread claim of inaugurating electric street light earlier than New York City (wrong by a year!), my hometown – Juiz de Fora, in the state of Minas Gerais, is not your first thought when it comes to Brazilian comics. Most artists, publishers and events in Brazil are situated in state capitals like Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Brasília, Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre so I wouldn’t blame you. Despite that, coming from an uneventful city didn’t stop me from working on my own stuff and getting in touch with other artists (thanks, internet). I’ll start with my state in Brazil, Minas Gerais: our capital, Belo Horizonte, hosts the biannual International Comics Festival (Festival Internacional de Quadrinhos, or FIQ). With five days of panels, debates, workshops, exhibitions, it welcomes all sorts of enthusiasts, from the superhero fans to the more DIY, indie and experimental kinds. Every odd-numbered year, FIQ takes place in a historical lumberyard-turned-convention-center and proves itself as a great opportunity for attendees to meet in person with artists from different parts of the country, get to sell/buy/swap books + zines and hang out happily exhausted afterwards. On a smaller scale, Belo Horizonte has a monthly fair called Faísca, which showcases not only comics but all things illustration and graphic arts. Also from Belo Horizonte are the Lady’s Comics and ZiNas collectives, both committed to empowering women in comics; the former, a relevant content source on the topic, mobilized its first event in 2014 via crowdfunding and launched a magazine, Risca, in late 2015. ZiNas, in turn, are currently working on a project that includes a new book and free workshops on the subject of diversity in comics. One of the ZiNas members, Aline Lemos, was featured previously on the Daily News section of the Comics Workbook website for compiling a collaborative list of all Brazilian women involved in comics, of all time. There are more than 400 names, an impressive number that contrasts with the often assumed lack of women in the field. Other names that come to mind when talking about comics in BH are Ricardo Tokumoto, or Ryot, who makes lighthearted, funny, sometimes nonsense b&w strips, and Lu Cafaggi, who’s lending her super soft and expressive illustrations to a new release published by Nemo. As not to neglect my hometown, here are local highlights from Juiz de Fora: Raphael Salimena, an illustrator and cartoonist with a dynamic, plymptoonian style who recently set up a Patreon to support his bi-weekly strips; and Ramon Vitral, a journalist currently based in São Paulo whose blog Vitralizado, about comics and pop culture, features insightful interviews with great names like Scott McCloud, Chris Ware and Liniers. ———————————————————————————————— In the southeast but towards the coast, there’s Rio de Janeiro. There you can find the small indie publishing house A Bolha. With a staff of no more than 5 people, their passionate approach to publishing comes across with their well curated, intriguing and innovative books and warm newsletters. Among their staff is Gabriel Carvalho, who along with Mazô (this super talented young cartoonist) created Jornal Altamira, a newspaper-sized publication featuring comics by André Dahmer, L.M Melite, Fabio Zimbres, Alexandra Moraes and many others – it’s a stellar team. If you want to read more comics from Rio, make sure to take a look at the diversified, often satyrical catalog by small publisher Beleléu; and the recently published Hermínia, a graphic novel by Diego Sanchez. His wiggly, charming drawings and stories quickly gathered online praise in the last couple of years, notably in his facebook page Quadrinhos Insones. ( Facebook, by the way, has played an important role for this new wave of comics in Brazil, allowing otherwise isolated self-publishers to reach numbers people unfamiliar to independent comics. Also from Rio and this facebook-driven scene is Tombo, curator of Zine XXX, an anthology of five 24-page zines from 2014 that jumpstarted comics by women in Brazil – it featured Laura Lannes, Bárbara Malagoli, Gabriela Masson (Lovelove6) and Sirlanney, to name a few.) When it comes to events, there’s SIQ, the International Comics Week at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; Feira Pão de Forma, which gathers small publishers, artists and collectives (also produced by the folks from A Bolha); and with a similar premise is Feira Tijuana, a solid event at its 10th edition from São Paulo which is making its debut in Rio in May (days 7 and 8) at the insanely beautiful School of Visual Arts Parque Laje, located at the foot of the Corcovado mountain. ———————————————————————————————— Let’s talk São Paulo. With its strong visual arts, publishing culture and centralizing tendency, the city is packed with collectives, artists and exhibitions. One can find comics and zines by Brazilian indie publishers events like: Kraft (at the State University of São Paulo), Avessa (at Sesc Pompeia), Miolo(s) (at the Mário de Andrade Library). Miolo(s) is a production by the same folks of Lote 42, a small publisher of literature, poetry, careful & crazy formats and, yes!, comics. They’re also related to Banca Tatuí, a newsstand transformed into a pocket book shop at the heart of the city, where not only the works by Lote 42 can be found but also self-published, hand-made titles from other parts of the country. The greatest, most anticipated independent event in SP, though, must be Feira Plana. Ever-growing, the latest edition offered, for the first time, a residency program and the next one is announced to happen at was it to be the largest venue to date, the Bienal of Ibirapuera. Comics by women get the spotlight at Mina de HQ, an initiative by Gabriela Borges; also from the city is the hugely influential, outspoken genius Laerte Coutinho. Her son, Rafael Coutinho, also works in comics, being at the front of initiatives like A Nébula, an anthology of contemporary Brazilian comics, the book Teen Kiss and the publisher Narval. Collaborating with Narval there’s the talented Julia Balthazar, and since I’m dropping names, let me also recommend Puiupo, Wagner Willian, Pedro Cobiaco (from the publisher Mino), and still in the SP state but from the interior – Felipe Nunes and Amanda Paschoal. Back to the city, you don’t miss a chance of visiting Ugra – a store, and an online shop and a publishing house that releases every year a comprehensive compilation of ibero-american zines. ———————————————————————————————— Now to Brasilia, closer to the actual geographical center of Brazil and capital. From its number-named urban-planned streets comes a group of active, prolific comics artists such as Lucas Gehre, aka LTG, who makes a page everyday for his experimental, contemplative series Quadradinhas (he’s also part of the collective/magazine SAMBA); and Daniel Lopes, Augusto Botelho and João Diniz, who make MÊS, a series of zines published every month, with comics by themselves and open-call guests. Worth mentioning again, more in-depth, is Gabriela Masson and her character Garota Siririca (something like Masturbation Girl). Defying taboos and misconceptions about sexuality, her story is updated every week at her website, which also sells sex toys. Gabriela is also part of the collective Batata Frita Murcha (Stale French Fries), along with Daniel Lopes and Heron Prado, that creates bummer stories on classic strip format. All the folks mentioned above, plus Selo Piqui and Extraterrestre, organize the event Dente, whose second edition happens in June. ———————————————————————————————— Despite often being underrepresented, northeast Brazil has been stirring with comics-related news. There’s Felipe Portugal, from Piauí, who’s on a super fast pace releasing new strips for his series O Eremita (The Hermit); There’s Netuno Press, from the state of Ceará, which despite only having been launched recently has nine published titles under their belt and a consistent presence on events and fairs. Events like GeekExpo and Tabuão are shaking up the scene, as are artists like Luiza de Souza, Éff, Sirlanney and Aureliano Medeiros, who all have published works at Tribo and have found caring audiences through social media. Tribo has also published Laura Athayde, originally from Manaus (North Brazil), an illustrator who makes funny strips about everyday life, but who transitions well to more somber themes in her longest stories. Worth mentioning, too, is Ramon Cavalcante, a partner at Cosmic, a comics streaming service focused on independent Brazilian authors; creator of a very quiet, movie-like comics series called Inoffensive Comics and of a project that produced around 4000 screen-printed single-page comics that were offered in place of coin change at the local commerce in Fortaleza. ———————————————————————————————— At last, let’s talk about the South. One of its states, Rio Grande do Sul, is home to Estúdio Complementares. This comics and illustration studio is formed by some really great names of comics in Brazil: Ana Luiza Koehler, author of the historical graphic novel Beco do Rosário; Cris Peter, colorist for Marvel and DC and Eisner nominee; Ariane Rauber and Ursula Dorada. They often teach comics and illustration classes at Galeria Hipotética, in Porto Alegre. The city also hosts its own indie publishing event, called Parada Gráfica – this year’s is going to happen in August. Artists from Porto Alegre include Samanta Flôor, a freelance cartoonist who makes sweet, endearing comics; Chiquinha, whose work might remind you of a dirtier, more daring Maitena; Odyr, both a skillfull painter and synthetic cartoonist; Fefê Torquato and Giovana Medeiros. Curitiba, in the state of Paraná, often hosts book releases at the Itiban Comic Shop, as well as talks and debates. One of the latest featured was Estelle Flores, co-founder of Selva Press – one of the few risograph printing studios in Brazil. ———————————————————————————————— For more information on Anna Mancini, visit her online on her website, tumblr or her facebook page. Share this page: [...]

11/01/2017

Juan FernándezNovember 1, 2017NewsEmpezamos el día con Marcela Trujillo; Isabel Mendez; Berliac, Museo ABC, Daniel Jiménez Quiroz; y los tebeos de Cómics Workbook! ————————————————————————————————— Marcela Trujillo: Siempre Hay una palabra para destruir a la mujer libre que escoge cómo vivir. Denisse Leighton entrevista Marcela Trujillo en Belelu: Marcela “Maliki” Trujillo (48) es una de las más famosas ilustradoras chilenas, una de las pocas mujeres en el Olimpo del dibujo a lápiz y/o tinta china en este país. Sin embargo, para llegar a este lugar de reconocimiento ha debido pasar por muchas situaciones que han forjado su carácter y carrera artística. Porque ser mujer en todas las áreas significa un cuestionamiento, más si tus primeros proyectos hablan de cuánto te gusta el sexo. “Enamorada de mi Clítoris”, publicado en The Clinic, fue el comic que la llevó a convertirse en una de las ilustradoras más irreverentes de Chile a inicios del 2000 cuando aún vivía en New York. Inspirada en las obras de Phoebe Gloeckner, Julie Doucet y Aline Kominsky-Crumb y también los capítulos de Sex And The City serie que veía en VHS mientras vivía en la Gran Manzana. El inicio de su carrera se enfocó en la pintura tras sus estudios de arte en la Universidad de Chile, sin embargo, las experiencias en New York la acercaron al cómic donde hoy es todo un referente en un momento álgido para esta técnica. Asegura que una obra de Phoebe Gloeckner hablando de abuso la impactó al punto de comenzar a indagar en el cómic hecho por mujeres creando así su personaje “Maliki 4 ojos” que relataba al inicio bromas sobre sí misma pero que mutó hacia la sexualidad, a hablar de la masturbación y el deseo femenino en general. Léanlo todo AQUI. ————————————————————————————————— Las ideas ¿Nacen o se hacen? Isabel Méndez nos ofrece un vistazo a nuestras erramientas creativas en Firmado Por: Hoy vengo con un post sobre CREATIVIDAD. No, no te has equivocado de página. Esto es FirmadoPor y ya te adelanto que estamos preparando nueva web. ¡Oh Yeah! Esta semana el post es distinto, aunque no nos alejamos mucho de la propiedad intelectual ya que la creatividad tiene mucho que ver con los derechos de autor ¿No es requisito indispensable para que una obra esté protegida por derechos de autor que la misma sea ORIGINAL? ¿No tiene que ver la originalidad con la CREACIÓN? ¿No es acaso la creatividad la HERRAMIENTA más valiosa de los autores? Voy a dejarme llevar en estos post, investigar y curiosear sobre el proceso creativo. Ver cómo creaban o qué opinaban del arte y la creatividad otros artistas y, por qué no, ponerlo en relación con nuestra Ley de Propiedad Intelectual. Léanlo todo AQUI. ————————————————————————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: Seis libreros colombianos hablan sobre las ventas del cómic, el nacimiento de autores locales y el Festival Entreviñetas en El Espectador. ¡Queremos tebeos! No os perdáis la exposición HISTORIETAS DEL TEBEO, 1917—1977 en el Museo ABC. Berliac talks Identity Politics in Exberliner magazine Issue 165 on Full article on page 20. En StartUp, Daniel Jiménez Quiroz habló de la importancia de establecer redes de comunicación entre abogados y creadores de cómic. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 11-1-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 11-1-2017 – by Juan Fernandez ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 11-1-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

07/28/2016

HarrisonJuly 28, 2016NewsH*rris*n returns with news about various forms of pictures arranged in a sequence of boxes and the people who make them and read them. ————————————————————————————————— Help Out – Czap Books Hello hello! My name is Kevin Czap and I’m the Comics Mom, aka the publisher, of Czap Books(pronounced “chapbooks”). We’re a micro-press based in Providence, RI dedicated to publishing genre-defying comics that celebrate the poetic, the personal, and the weird. We’re turning to you to help us fund the production of our next three titles: Witchlight by Jessi Zabarsky; don’t tell me not to worry (i’ll worry all i want) by Kelly Kwang; and Egg Creme #1 by Liz Suburbia! Read on ————————————————————————————————— Out of Step Arts – Chris Visions Original Art for sale BUY ART Follow Chris Visions to stay up to date with what he’s up to: https://instagram.com/chrisvisions/ ————————————————————————————————— https://www.instagram.com/p/BIYlJQoANQj/ LOOK AT ART Salute to the RVA king prof_weston. ————————————————————————————————— Zeanie Weenies “We want to print your zine and put it inside VICE Magazine, so we’re giving you the next few weeks to download the Zean.it app, upload your finest 16 images into one print-ready publication, and hashtag #TCPOffensive. Then, a special panel of guest judges, including VICE photo editor Elizabeth Renstrom, The Creators Project’s Editor-in-Chief, Marina Garcia-Vasquez, and a super special guest judge TBA, will select the top zine, to be printed and distributed as an insert within the September Issue of VICE.” Sure. ————————————————————————————————— Ghosts and Flesh – Patrick McHale. Here’s the first half of an 8 page comic called “The Blood Ghoul” I did for a german comic anthology called “Mondo #4: Fear”. I did it right before i started work on the C.W. Stoneking music video for “The Zombie”, and used it as an opportunity to figure out the right style for that video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvNCGtZlQso) The color image at the top was a test; I had been hoping to color it, but I ran out of time. Same thing happened with the music video; I’d been hoping to color it, but just ran out of time. Oh well. I’m not sure of the best place to get the anthology, but seems like you can get it here: https://www.kwimbi.de/Kwimbi-Shop/Comics/Mondo-4-Fear.html Maybe someday i’ll post the rest of it. Oh, and maybe I’ll post a different comic that I ended up not using which was not scary at all. –Patrick McHale. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡️ ? “Let all the cosmos see reality, illusions will decompress ya dome.” Share this page: [...]

A Studio Visit with Jim Rugg | Part II: TRICKRTREAT

Juan FernándezApril 18, 2016ClassesJim Rugg, creator of “Street Angel” and “Aphrodisiac”, shows Comics Workbook TV how he takes a story from script to final. Part II focuses on “GHOST MONSTER”, a story from Street Angel 4. Video by Michael Pisano | michaelpisano.com “GHOST MONSTER” is available as a mini here: copaceticcomics.com/comics/street-angel-twofer-trick-or-treat-x-mas-special Soundtrack | Johann Sebastian Bach // Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen, BWV 43 – 7. Aria: Er ists, der ganz allein // performed by Michel Rondeau Share this page: [...]

09/20/2016

Aaron CockleSeptember 20, 2016NewsAaron here today with the post-SPX malaise/norovirus update; Some upcoming shows of note; ‘We are Pepe/Pepe is us’; T. Edward Bak; Storyboarding for the movies; Seymour Chwast; ‘This amusing textile’ The Small Press Exposition was held this past weekend in scenic and sprawling Bethesda, MD. This is a big show, and each year it provides an overview of some of the best comics being made in North America, in Europe, and other parts of the world. There really is something for everyone at this show, some works seen this weekend of specific interest to readers of this news-blog include: Powdered Milk vol. 15, Keiler Roberts Roberts was handing out freebies in promotion of her Ignatz nomination for Outstanding Series, which she ended up winning on Saturday night. Congrats, Keiler! The Black Hood: An Anthology of Depression and Anxiety, edited/published by Josh Bayer, co-edited/designed by Mike Freiheit Including work by CW favorites E.A. Bethea, John Porcellino, Katie Fricas, Mike Taylor, Bayer, and a very remarkable list of fellow contributors. BLAMMO #9, Noah Van Sciver The time jumps in the White River Junction story were used really well, and reminded me of how Chester Brown’s Louis Riel jumped around in random places. Van Sciver is consistently doing high level comics, and this issue is a really nice chronicle of work. The Shirley Jackson Project, edited by Robert Kirby Another terrific lineup of contributors here: Colleen Frakes, Robert Triptow, Jennifer Camper, Eric Orner, Josh Simmons,Annie Murphy, Pinc Roq, Dan Mazur, Gabrielle Gamboa, Ivan Velez Jr.,Hannah Blumenreich, Maggie Umber, Asher & Lillie Craw, Jon Macy, W. Woods, Rob Kirby. Rob Clough was in attendance this weekend. He gave CW a quick peek of his heavily annotated map of who he wanted to see at which table, but we were unable to get a picture of it for the record. One of these years. Rhode Island Independent Publishing Expo Saturday-Sunday, September 24-25, Providence, RI Paper Jam Small Press Festival 6 Saturday, October 1, Bushwick, NY Indigenous Comic Con Friday-Sunday, November 18-20, Albuquerque, NM Furie on Pepe Abraham Riesman talks with Matt Furie about the Pepe meme phenomenon: Furie says people email him Pepes “retty much everyday.” “Someone just sent one that was based on a quote I said at a comic convention panel,” he adds. “Something about a new frog in town and it had ‘Dat Boi’” (referring, of course, to the year’s best meme so far). That said, he doesn’t seek Pepes out. “I don’t sit there and trip out on Pepe all day like you seem to think,” he says. “I’m just a normal guy trying to connect with people and have a good time.” He doesn’t seem that interested in discussing the other characters and comics, either. “They are what they are: just weird comics about a bunch of weird fraggles hanging out in mysterious nothingness,” he says. I ask him if he sees any sadness in the quartet’s gross lives and his reply is blunt: “No, they are just dumb cartoons.” T. Edward Bak has an essay comic about family history at High Country News In a dream that follows my grandfather’s death, everyone is familiar but I recognize no one. Passengers drift on and off the train as it wends through the prairie. The dream unfolds as a temporally distorted vignette, like a comic strip. My grandfather’s death seems a strange plotline, half-remembered. Storyboarding Blood Simple …photographer Grant Delin created a video that compares scenes from the film to their original storyboards. Featuring commentary by the Coens, Sonnenfeld, and actor Frances McDormand, this fascinating glimpse at their creative process highlights the careful planning that went into the film’s construction. The 160th meeting of the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 at 7pm at Parsons The New School for Design, 2 West 13th Street, in the Bark Room (off the lobby). Free and open to the public. Seymour Chwast on GOD WAR SEX P.W. Herman at Brooklyn Museum This amusing textile was clearly manufactured as a commercial tie-in for Paul Reubens’ enormously successful TV show Pee-Wee’s Playhouse that aired from 1986-1990. The show was designed by Wayne White, Gary Panter, Craig Bartlett, and others, and this brightly printed textile faithfully depicts the characters and props of this wildly inventive program. Manufactured commercial product tie-ins to motion pictures and television programs are almost as old as the media. The acquisition of this textile helps to explain the myriad impetuses for the production of textiles and to elucidate the taste and preoccupations of a specific historical moment. The actual printer of this textile is not known, but the company was formulated specifically to manufacture promotional souvenirs. Posted by Barry R. Harwood, Lark Morgenstern, and Caitlin Crews. Share this page: [...]

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