Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged caleb orecchio, Chris Anthony Diaz, comicsworkbook, jack brougham, Jim Rugg, lale westvind, Michael DeForge, pix 2017, Seth, vanessa davis

Sally Ingraham

Posted on April 10, 2017

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White River Junction Scene Report

Frank SantoroOctober 16, 2011Riff Raff / Scene ReportsUp with local comics scene. Down with Marvel. Down with DC. Boycott Disney. Boycott Time Warner. Kill Super Heroes. Do I sound like a broken record? I don’t fuckin’ care! I’m so tired of sifting through “coverage” of the Big Two on comics blogs. You guys are just workin’ for The Man. Knock it off! I should have a “greater concern”? Bullshit. Stop promoting corporate culture in comics. This week’s local comics scene report brought to you by the great Jen Vaughn. Jen lives in White River Junction, Vermont – home of The Center for Cartoon Studies. She is awesome, does awesome stuff and also writes awesomely for the Schulz Library Blog. Don’t forget! My CARTOONING CORRESPONDENCE COURSE starts at the end the end of October! Hurry up and apply – you can do it! I will make you a comics expert in eight weeks! —— Also! Michael DeForge ups the ante again with his story in Thickness number two. I call it a knife fight. He will cut you! The rest of the issue is equally astonishing – lots of different looks – a well edited anthology if there ever was one. It’s also beautifully printed – Ryan Sands crushed this one out of the park, folks. Don’t delay – buy your copy today. INTERMISSION FUNNIES with MICHAEL DEFORGE ———- White River Junction scene report by Jen Vaughn Here in the thicket of White River Junction, a town of small proportions (~2500 people), a lot of cartoonist students dream big. Montreal, Boston and New York are at most five hours away but in this sleepy place often referred to as WRJ or my favorite, the Junc, everything closes around 5pm and good luck on Sundays. My house is behind that green tree on the right The local coffee shop, the Tuckerbox, hangs cartoonist work on the walls year round and is the morning or late afternoon studio space for some. LtoR: Cartoonists Pat Barrett, Josh Kramer, Max de Radigues, Kevin Uehlein and Ben Horak However, there is no shortage of fun and events. Like anywhere, a toonie amidst all all these other toonies and townies must concentrate to keep their butt firmly in their drawing table seat. Thanks to the Center for Cartoon Studies, we have visiting artists every week that come to speak to the school and a lot that just visit! HOLY SHIT, IT’S LYNDA BARRY Cartoonists: Katherine Roy, me and Jon Fine) Dartmouth College is near by with great plays, events and often employs cartoonists. Laura Terry, Katherine Roy and I have made one large mural and have a current exhibit of collegiate fun paintings on display in their student union cafe. —– This is the first place I’ve lived where I draw anywhere I go and people ask ‘Are you a cartoonist?’ instead of ‘artist.’ The villagers know what’s shakin’. Although, if you asked me to describe our activities in three words I’d say “costumes, games and animals.” I’ve pet more goats, pigs and more pigs in my time here than my combined 13 years in Texas. Moving a pig coral at a co-op —– A lot of us like, scratch that, LOVE board games. Night of playing resource management games like Agricola, Carcassone, or Dominion are planned out usually with wine and dinner to boot. Although, it is constantly an odd bag being one of the few female cartoonists in the area with a boyfriend at events with couples. Luckily, we’re all friends so I don’t care about whether I should talk craft with ‘the guys’ or any other subject with ‘the ladies.’ Sometimes its nice to step away from the work. CCS professor Jason Lutes is kind enough let us beta-test his own creation, “Thrilling Tales of Adventure” and hosts a weekly board game night (meanwhile Steve Bissette hosts an often horrifying weekly movie night) LtoR: Cartoonists David Yoder, Joe Lambert, Bill Bedard and Rio Aubrey Taylor play Merchants and Marauders —— In my free time not spent at my day jobs at the Schulz Graphic Novel Library and at the Main Street Museum OR drawing, I spent wrapped up in a butterfly/caterpillar costume as part of the local puppeteer’s gang at Fantasy Technicians. Becoming something else for a bit, whether a butterfly or a pair of shoes, is amazing and I’m totally working on my own articulating costume. And preparing for my week long job in New Orleans next Mardi Gras. Jennerfly. —– Parties usually have a theme, a costumed theme. Like the going away party, Lady Gaga Gone. Featuring toonies Penina Gal, Carol Thompson, Betsey Swardlick, Beth Hetland and me. —– And in any other city you might buy comics at a comic book store but our Border’s closed down AND the local comic shop is more of a game shop (although not a problem for those of us hoping to score the Cthulhu Gloom expansion). The Schulz Graphic Novel Library gets a lot of comic books sent to it by publishers, writers, artists and people who just want to send their favorite to such a grand library. The school also buys a lot of new graphic novels and is open to the public on First Fridays Unfortunately, due to the flood waters of Hurricane Irene, we had to move our library to a temporary storage space but hope to move soon. We save a lot of our buying bucks for conventions, where comics are like currency! —– Here’s my boyfriend, Ryan Anderson and cartoonist, Molly Howard, enjoying comics in our old space —– And here’s a photo of my comics class! —– In the town of White River Junction, friends are around every corner and they like to have a good time. Which is great because I love to pose under silly signs. My town may be small but its heart is huge. at Tunbridge World’s Fair with Linda Walker and cartoonist Rachel Foss Share this page: [...]

06/18/2018

Caleb OrecchioJune 18, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here with a brief discourse on the fundamental prowess of Steve Ditko, and more! ——————————————————————————— This Ditko spread is breathtaking. To me at least. It’s so simple. Simple and balanced colors, simple shapes, strong silhouettes, and I love the way he uses hatching to convey the foggy atmosphere. I understand the action immediately. It’s beautifully structured like a painting. Fundamental. Every comic student should be made to copy it. Consider the left page. Notice how the top and middle tiers make an “X” so to speak. They correspond or “rhyme.” You see what I mean? And look, that bottom wide panel opens it up while maintaining the flow of images. And that’s just the obvious stuff I notice! It is not terribly complicated, but it’s smart comics. Ditko is like a good quarterback. He patiently stays in the pocket – he waits he waits – then bang – right in the bread basket! He’s not resorting to hail marys or 180 degree flipping of perspective. The entire page is essentially from the same camera angle, he just pulls it in and out to create tension. Then, on the next page, he flips the perspective to show spacial relations and to keep the action moving towards the center of the page. The result is great sequencing on top of the fact that the spread itself is pleasing to look at as a whole. I can’t stop looking at it. Oh yeah, also check out the Pat Boyette strip in this issue of Haunted #14 (1973) if you can find it – – it’s really good too. ——————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know Did you see the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum announcement for the 2018 Lucy Shelton Caswell Research Award winners? One of three recipients was our own Frank Santoro! Go read all about what Frank and the other cartoon researchers will be getting into. Scott Cederlund takes a look at the newest Love and Rockets over on Panel Patter. Elijah Brubaker is the latest guest on Inkstuds. ——————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 6-18-18 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

05/15/2017

Caleb OrecchioMay 14, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here. Some good comics are on Instagram. Did you know that? Plus I’m very very excited for Koyama Press’ Fall 2017 lineup. Are you? Also people can’t stop talking about Sammy Harkham’s Crickets. ————————————————————————————————— I made the lists below for a friend I was talking to about my comic strip (Joanie and Jordie—just scroll down), and how they enjoy seeing it everyday on Instagram (always nice to hear). It’s a very convenient way to view comic strips, they said. Do other people do comic strips on Instagram, they asked—of course they meant other than the legion of memes and bad nerd/fan clickbait crap civilians refer to as “comics” sometimes. I said yeah: It’s interesting to me—to my knowledge, Comics Workbook’s own “Suzy and Cecil” was the first real traditionally minded comic strip to come out of the comics community on Instagram. And one specifically made to fit the format to boot. I think maybe Michael Deforge’s “Leaving Richard’s Valley” came about around the same time (exclusively on Twitter originally) – followed closely by Jim Rugg’s “Running Comic,” where he documents his training for the Pittsburgh Marathon, and Mickey Z’s “Space Academy 123.” I like that cartoonists are constantly adapting to the next best available format to get our stuff out there. Since the slow and quiet fall of tumblr cartoonists are making their Instagrams a prominent place to put out work, and the work is morphing to its new platform. Instead of short serialized comic book pages every few weeks or months on tumblr, Instagram allows good use for square (literally) four-panel daily strips. I think it also helps that real civilians are on Instagram, whereas tumblr or deviant art was preaching to the choir. ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know Koyama Press has announced their Fall 2017 lineup and it’s gonna be a good Fall. My favorite comics podcast, Comic Books Are Burning in Hell has a new episode where they talk about the new Crickets. I love to listen to these dudes talk comics. Speaking of Crickets, you all read TCJ’s great interview with the author, Sammy Harkham right? Part one here and part two here. TCAF was this past weekend. I’m sure we’ll have some sort of coverage this week. Stay tuned. Tyler Landry did a workshop, did you go to it? The NY Times has a weekly comic called Welcome to the New World, about “the true story of a Syrians family’s journey to America.” Which is great. Non-ficiton contemporary stories like these are what we need to help create empathy and awareness for a.) people who don’t know what this kind of thing is like and b.) the people living it. Cool cool. However, the actual cartooning is achingly dull and elementary. There is no emphasis or even an attempt at visual rhetoric here. It drives me crazy that “high-profile” mainstream comics fucking suck and are not done by cartoonists within the comics tradition; but instead are drawn by the most boring hack illustrators. Oh well, it’s comics journalism after all—I can’t help but notice that The Sculptor obviously had an influence on the look of this work. ————————————————————————————————— Announcing the Summer Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers! 8 weeks! 500 bux! Payment plans are available! Summer Course starts June 1st 2017! Applications are due by May 25th. Visit THIS page for more details and email santoroschool@gmail.com with applications and questions! ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 5-15-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-15-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 5-15-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

03/17/2017

Sally IngrahamMarch 17, 2017NewsSally Ingraham here to finish your week with Alison Bechdel, Iona Fox, Sally Cantrino, the Women In Comics Collective, and more! ————————————————————————————————— Keep an eye out for new Dykes To Watch Out For strips from Alison Bechdel! After drawing them continually from 1983 to 2008, she now makes new ones when inspiration strikes – which it did this week, along with the “Ides of Trump” campaign. See the rest of the strip above at Seven Days – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The Women in Comics Collective has a show up at the Grace Gallery in Namm Hall at the New York City College of Technology in Downtown Brooklyn from March 16th – April 20th. The show was curated by Sara Woolley and includes artwork by these rad ladies (@etc. are all Instagram handles, FYI – look them up!): Laura Alvarez @bigeyesworld, Lara Antal @sowhatpress, Selina Briggs @thejellyempire, Marguerite Dabaie @mdabaie, Micheline Hess @gamera2000, Janet Lee @dapper_janet, Alice Meichi Li @alicemeichi, Ellen Lindner @ellenlinda, Alitha Martinez @ariotstorm, Paige Pumphrey @paigey_pumphrey, Regine Sawyer @rslockettdown (panel discussion moderator & exhibitor) and Dr. Shamika Mitchell @blackbootie (panel discussion moderator) The Women in Comics Collective “(WinC for short- Pronounced Wink), is an Artistic and Informative Initiative that began in May of 2012. It serves to educate communities about the role and merit of Women working in the Comic Book/Multimedia industries as well as highlight the importance of Literacy through Comic Books.” They do a lot of outreach through panels and workshops, and a traveling art exhibition. Learn more about them HERE. Check out the Women in Comics Con on March 25th at The Bronx Library Center – more details HERE and Facebook event details HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Adam Griffiths interviewed Sally Cantrino for his latest Zine Tree. They talk about how music plays a roll in Sally’s storytelling. “I pretty much always build a playlist or end up with one specific song/album attached in my head to whatever comic I’m working on, The starting point for a lot of my comics is “I was listening to a song and it reminded me of/made me feel like…” and building from there. For Mysteries in particular I wanted to express the intense emotional experiences and catharsis I’ve had involving music, especially at live shows – feeling completely in a moment to the point where time and space don’t matter, where you’re just overwhelmed with love and joy or sorrow or whatever emotion is being evoked in the song, or with dancing or moshing or keeping your head above the crowd, sharing that experience with your closest friend or total strangers. Or how songs or albums get associated with specific experiences and places and times in your life, that big swell of emotion and longing that you feel.“ Read the rest of the interview HERE! ————————————————————————————————— The A.V. Club released a list of 10 Female Cartoonists You Need To Know. Composed by Zainab Akhtar (of Comics and Cola) it recognizes the work of folks like Mickey Z – whose Instagram comic Space Academy 123 (above) is currently my favorite thing online – and Vanesa R. Del Rey, Laura Park, and Aphton Corbin among others. Zainab’s comments on why such lists are still needed ring 100% true. “On the one hand, it’s absolutely strange to continue to have “women in X field” features when women make up more than half the world’s population, and sure, it’d be nice to be beyond the engagement of these reductive stances. On the other hand, we’re not even close to parity, and lists like this can be very effective in quickly introducing work that’s overlooked. So, yes, these are all female artists, but these are all excellent artists, full stop. Here’s a selection of artists who you may not be as familiar with, but who are producing interesting and brilliant work—work that is resonating within the medium and with audiences. And that’s what we aim to recognize and celebrate.“ Check out the whole list HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The Vermont Folk Life Center has shared their project The Most Costly Journey (in Spanish, El viaje más caro). It is “an ethnographic cartooning project that employs collaborative storytelling as a tool to mitigate loneliness, isolation, and despair among Latin American migrant farm workers on Vermont dairy farms.” Learn more about it HERE. Among the 8 contributing cartoonists are Tillie Walden, and Iona Fox (whose story is pictured above). ————————————————————————————————— P. S. Paste Magazine interviews Liz Prince and Amanda Kirk about their comic Coady and the Creepies – the latest “girl-band” romp, coming out from Boom! Studios – more HERE. Katie Skelly on Eleanor Davis‘ Libby’s Dad – for The Comics Journal. ————————————————————————————————— The Spring Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers is upon us – rolling start date – just apply! The course is 8 weeks long – 500 bux – payment plans are available. More details can be found HERE – or email santoroschoolATgmail. Not ready to commit to an 8 week course but still want to put some thought towards making comics or leveling up your skill set? Check out thee Santoro School Handbook – 16 pages of comics-making gold! ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 3-17-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-17-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-17-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

02/14/2018

Juan FernándezFebruary 14, 2018NewsJuan starts the day off with Annie Mok’s “Pictures of Candy” and the arrival of Anomaly 26! ————————————————————————————————— Candy Says – Annie Mok on the journey making of “Pictures of Candy” Over on Rookie Magazine Annie Mok offers the long and winding story of the origins of a great interbiographic comic, Pictures of Candy, she made about herself and Candy Darling. It’s a good story on the struggles in creating the art we need to make, and the oftentimes surreal way that the pieces fall into place years after the struggle. It’s a good story on the power that of stories. In Annie’s words, “Stories change you, and you change the stories.” In 2011, feeling rusty on comics and wanting new direction, I took the cartoonist Frank Santoro’s comics correspondence course online. Because I knew Frank was from Pittsburgh, I thought he’d love the idea of me going to the Andy Warhol Museum in his hometown to see the letters, diaries, and photos that Jay Newton donated after Candy died of cancer. This was all Jay could carry out of Candy’s childhood home after interviewing her mother, following Candy’s death. In a heartbreaking scene in Beautiful Darling, Jay recounts that Candy’s mother burned the rest of her late daughter’s belongings in the hopes that the mother’s new husband, a very conservative man, would never find out that she had a trans daughter. Read the story here. ————————————————————————————————— Anomaly 26 A new issue of the literary journal, Anomaly, formerly Drunken Boat, is now out. The journal has had a history of editing a robust collection of comics. Challenging work, lush work, inspired work. Needless to say it’s an interesting collection of comics edited by Nick Francis Potter that highlights a wide range of artists cartooning poetics. In this issue you’ll find short works by Anapurna, Anja Wicki, Aya Kakeda, Hue Nguyen, Ishita Basu Mallik, Jennifer Lisa, Mark Ehling, Wenting Li and Émille Gleason. Make yourself some coffee or tea and hop on over to Anomaly’s site to check it out. ————————————————————————————————— 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 – 02-14-2018 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

04/10/2017

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Sally Ingraham

A report from PIX! plus a few other comics happenings to start your week.

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PIX 2017 in extreme, but exciting, brief

Sally here, still riding the wave of the Pittsburgh Indy Comix Expo – I’m writing this after midnight at the Comics Workbook Rowhouse, where Connor Willumsen is holding court with some of the CW crew, and Anya Davidson and Lale Westvind are on their way over to close out the night.

The comics community in Pittsburgh just keeps on getting stronger. This year PIX took place right in the triangle of downtown. The expo at the August Wilson Center was well attended, the ToonSeum was packed out the night before for the opening of Ed Piskor’s “Hermetically Sealed” art show and then throughout the day on Sunday as programs and panels took place there. Comics Workbook students and instructors led workshops around the corner at the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council building for local kids and adults alike, and hosted a talk by Carol Tyler, and a conversation with Connor Willumsen and Lale Westvind.

It was warm and sunny where the three rivers of Pittsburgh meet, and the comics energy managed to lure away, or at least detour, some of the anime characters attending a nearby convention, as well as a few baseball fans from the Pirates game!

Shown above from left to right, top to bottom…Connor Willumsen sewing a new comic together at his table; the “Do-be-do” workshop for kids led by Juan Fernandez; a Pittsburgh Comics Salon workshop; in front of the August Wilson Center; Lale Westvind in conversation; Bill Boichel purchasing an original art page from Anya Davidson’s Lovers In the Garden, with Lane Milburn and Lale Westvind looking on; Carol Tyler talking comics-making; Connor Willumsen doing the same; Carol Tyler’s workshop.

Just a small sampling of what was going on and a tiny glimpse of who was there – more to come!

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Elsewhere

New in the Diaz Archive – photos from Michael DeForge‘s Sticks Angelica tour, thanks to Chris Anthony Diaz!
11 O’Clock Comics has a great interview with Jim Rugg – check it out HERE. Street Angel: After School Kung Fu Special will be released April 26th 2017!
Sequential State reviews Lale Westvind‘s Yazar & Arkadaş – HERE.
Seth has a new show at the Richmond Art Gallery – April 9, 2017 – June 25, 2017 – which combines his comics with the music of Mark Haney. Details HERE. Pictures of Seth and the show can be found HERE.
The Comics Beat has notes on a conversation between Frank Miller and Klaus Janson (remembering Will Eisner) which took place last week at the SVA Theater.
There is a lengthy interview with Vanessa Davis over on The Comics Journal – check it out.

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Blinkers – 4-10-2017 – by Jack Brougham

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Suzy and Cecil – 4-9-2017 & 4-10-2017 – by Sally Ingraham

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Joanie and Jordie – 4-10-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged caleb orecchio, Chris Anthony Diaz, comicsworkbook, jack brougham, Jim Rugg, lale westvind, Michael DeForge, pix 2017, Seth, vanessa davis

Sally Ingraham

Posted on April 10, 2017

Explore

08/07/2018

Aaron CockleAugust 6, 2018NewsSAZ; TAZ; Dan Archer in Colombia ————————————————————————————————— Semi-Autonomous Zine Via the Asia Art Archive: Observing that the term zine has been in recent years co-opted to apply to nearly anything—cute, small, nicely printed, not entirely mainstream—our research led to the proposal of a new definition, one borne of conditions specific to this part of the world’s sociopolitical ecology. By exposing fluid streams of influence and proposing other possible routes for the formation of zine culture in Asia, we may begin to depart from a Western-dominated narrative and to rethink and refine what zines and independent publishing culture can be. ————————————————————————————————— TEMPORARY AUTONOMOUS ZONE Always worth a revisit, Hakim Bey’s work from the 1980’s, 1990’s: And–the map is closed, but the autonomous zone is open. Metaphorically it unfolds within the fractal dimensions invisible to the cartography of Control. And here we should introduce the concept of psychotopology (and -topography) as an alternative “science” to that of the State’s surveying and mapmaking and “psychic imperialism.” Only psychotopography can draw 1:1 maps of reality because only the human mind provides sufficient complexity to model the real. But a 1:1 map cannot “control” its territory because it is virtually identical with its territory. It can only be used to suggest, in a sense gesture towards, certain features. We are looking for “spaces” (geographic, social, cultural, imaginal) with potential to flower as autonomous zones–and we are looking for times in which these spaces are relatively open, either through neglect on the part of the State or because they have somehow escaped notice by the mapmakers, or for whatever reason. Psychotopology is the art of dowsing for potential TAZs. ————————————————————————————————— Colombia’s Uncertain Road to Peace At The Nib, Dan Archer takes a look at Colombia’s past, present, and future. ————————————————————————————————— Vision Box – 8-7-18 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Cement Mixer – 8-7-18 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

9/21/2016

Juan FernándezSeptember 21, 2016los Cómics / NewsBuenos días! Me da mucho gusto traerle las noticias del mundo del cómic! Una crítica de “Lapsos”; El Mundo de Felipe Almendros; Conversando con Power Paola; Mireia Perez reseña Maria lloró sobre los pies de Jesus; Clowes y la ausencia de una cultura dominante; reseñas de Hanselmann – “Hechizo Total” y “Melancoliá” – Documentando El Publicadero en Manizales; Entreviñetas arranca este fin de semana. ————————————————————————————————— https://vimeo.com/182711907 El Publicadero, en Colombia ha compartido esta documentacion de la segunda edicion del encuentro. lookin good Colombia 😉 Les presento algunas imágenes del encuentro de Autoedición y Fanzines “El Publicadero” celebrado en el marco de la sexta Feria del Libro de Manizales! Tuvo lugar desde el 30 de Agosto al 3 de Septiembre de 2016. ————————————————————————————————— Entreviñetas, el SPX/TCAF de latinoamerica, arranca este fin de semana en Bogotá! La programación del festival está en línea en su website. Dale un vistazo y prepárate! Este año va ser un TRONCO de festival. No te lo pierdas! Clic aquí si quieres aprender más sobre el festival. ————————————————————————————————— Crítica de María lloró sobre los pies de Jesús Mireia Pérez ha publicado su crítica de la obra mas reciente de Chester Brown, María lloró sobre los pies de Jesús en Medium. Originalmente, este texto apareció en la revista El Buen Salvaje: Brown ha realizado una exhaustiva documentación sobre la Biblia a partir de numerosos trabajos teóricos de diferentes investigadores siguiendo dos líneas de análisis que se entremezclan. Por un lado la que hace referencia a la obediencia religiosa y se basa en las historias de Caín y Abel, los Talentos, Job o el Hijo Pródigo y, por otro, las historias protagonizadas por prostitutas (o por mujeres que se comportan como prostitutas). La sucesión de historietas de la primera parte del libro incluye una escena singular que nos da una de las claves de este análisis. En ella Brown trata da a entender cuál era la intención de San Mateo al incluir en sus textos a Tamar, Rahab, Rut, Betsabé y María. Explicación que no desvelaré aquí porque es mucho más interesante si lo descubrís vosotras. ————————————————————————————————— Conversando con Power Paola Power Paola habla con Ben Alfaro en Hijos del Atomo los hijos de la tomo sobre su proceso, sus gustos y sus inspiraciones: ¿Qué dibujante o dibujantes han llamado más tu atención y por qué? ¿ Y qué escritores o escritor y por qué? Me gustan los dibujantes que encontraron su propio lenguaje y que dibujan más por una necesidad física que por buscar reconocimiento. Me encanta el Art Brut, dibujantes comoHenry Darger, Daisuke Ichiba, Stephane Blanquet, Caroline Sury. Y artistas comoRaymond Pettibon, Marcel Dzama, David Shrigley, Louise Bourgeois, El Bosco, Rousseau, Francis Alys, Ernesto Neto, etc. De escritores me gustan mucho Rita Indiana, Yuri Herrera, Junot Díaz,Juan Cárdenas y toda esa camada del caribe que tienen un lenguaje mezclado y muy contemporáneo. También disfruto mucho a Murakami, Banana Yoshimoto, Valerie Mrejen, Gabriela Wiener, Patti Smith, Susan Sontag, etc. Me gusta mucho lo autobiográfico y autorreferencial en el cómic y en las novelas, la mezcla de culturas, de lenguajes y de intereses. Me influencio mucho por lo que leo, veo y escucho. Así que siempre tengo referencias en cada proyecto que hago, es mi forma de agradecerles a los que me mostraron una manera de expresar. ————————————————————————————————— El Mundo de Felipe Almendros Bilbao 24 Horas nos ofrece un recorrido, bien profundo de la trayectoria de Felipe Almendros. Llama la atención como en “Save Our Souls” te despojas de todo lo aprendido para buscar el dibujo más sintético posible. R.:No quería hacer algo bonito y virtuoso, porque me parecía que la historia que quería contar en el Save Our Souls, necesitaba de un trazo y un estilo que despertasen ternura y rechazo a partes iguales. Quería que el lector lo viera casi como un diario manuscrito por mi personaje y, que esa experiencia, le ayudara a empatizar conmigo y con la historia. En cada trabajo das un nuevo giro cambiando no solo tu estilo de dibujo sino también el modo de abordar la página. ¿Cada obra te exige un acercamiento distinto? R.:Cada obra la imagino de modo diferente, porque cada historia requiere de personajes y situaciones diferentes. También hay algo de rebeldía, porque no quiero que mis dibujos se conviertan en un estilo, un logo, o una marca demasiado personal con la que me identifiquen. No me puedo ni imaginar, lo aburrido que sería tener que dibujar siempre lo mismo, o que mis dibujos fueran un producto en manos de terceros. ————————————————————————————————— Crítica de Lapsos, de Inés Estrada (Gerardo Vilches) Esta crítica es interesante, dándose cuenta que todavia no hay muchas obras de Estrada publicadas en España. Los mercados españoles y latinoamericanos tienen muchas diferencias, y aunque Estrada es prolifica, la gran parte de sus obras todavia no son conocidas en España. Gerardo Vilches nos ofrece su perspectiva española sobre esta obra: Frente a la tendencia a escribir relatos de género que parecen traducciones del inglés, a deslocalizar lo que sucede para no parecer demasiado provinciano, Inés Estrada abraza lo local y la riqueza de la lengua oral. Tanto, que a veces he tenido que recurrir a la traducción al inglés que se incluye en la obra para entender qué estaban diciendo los personajes. Sus historias son puro México, aunque nos lleven a universos desconocidos. Y esa mezcla maravillosa de lo vivamente real y lo imaginado, que está en la base del realismo mágico que alumbró Latinoamérica, es un componente esencial del trabajo no sólo de Estrada, sino de muchos otros jóvenes creadores que están renovando el panorama historietísticos de sus respectivos países. ————————————————————————————————— Reseñas de las obras más recientes de Simon Hanselmann: Melancolía, de Simon Hanselmann (Gerardo Vilches) Por eso, por grotescas y divertidas que sean algunas situaciones, siempre tienen un fondo oscuro, que sale a la luz, sobre todo, en la figura de Megg, que no por casualidad protagoniza la excelente portada. Sin ese poso, que, en el fondo, es lo que dota de alma a la serie y permite que los veamos como seres reales, Megg, Mogg & Owlpodriía fácilmente caer en la mera parodia de fumaos, a lo Freak Brothers, para entendernos. También es gracias a eso, y quizá a la proyección exagerada de vivencias reales, que Hanselmann está siendo capaz de crear un edificio enorme, una obra que acabará siendo gigantesca, pero cuya cronología siempre será difícil de delimitar: conscientemente o no, está desarrollando una continuidad totalmente laxa, alejada del modelo coherente y obsesivo que domina muchas sagas y series de cómic. Hechizo Total, de Simon Hanselmann (Mireia Pérez) La obra de Simon Hanselmann cuenta con rasgos análogos a los que definen el movimiento literario Alt Lit, una corriente encabezada por escritores jóvenes, como Tao Lin o Ben Brooks, que se caracteriza por tener la cultura de la red muy presente en su prosa o publicar sus creaciones directamente en Internet. El dibujante australiano optó por Tumblr como plataforma de difusión de sus historietas. Sus temáticas tienden a centrarse en la soledad, la precariedad social y los miedos que aterran a la juventud, pero también hacen aparición el sexo, las drogas y el alcohol utilizando el humor como hilo conductor. No obstante, Tao Lin y Simon Hanselmann han compartido páginas en una publicación tan representativa de nuestra época como Vice. Hanselmann también está a medio camino de esa otra tendencia llamada Nueva Sinceridad, que sirve de contraposición al postmodernismo y en la que lo mismo se engloba un youtuber que a la creadora de Girls, Lena Dunham. ¿Su nexo? La falta de ironía y la abundancia de melodrama, pero esto nada tiene que ver con la falta de humor. Porque, si algo es Megg, Mogg & Owl, es divertida. ————————————————————————————————— hasta la próxima! Juan Share this page: [...]

08/24/2018

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

07/20/2017

Sally IngrahamJuly 20, 2017NewsSally here with comics and commentary from Black cartoonists on The Nib, work by Sophia Zarders, insights from Seren Sensei, and more. ———————————————————————————————— The Nib is running a series of comics called Revolution in Our Lifetime: Black Cartoonists on Life Under Trump. it features work by Ben Passmore, Shannon Wright, Keith Knight, Chris Kindred, Whit Taylor, Ronald Wimberly, and Bianca Xunise. Each artist has two 4-panel strips which stand on their own, but of course together paint a picture of individual but closely shared experiences. Above and below you can see excerpts from the strips – go HERE for the full piece. ———————————————————————————————— Check out work by Sophia Zarders – she is working on a graphic novel called Jesus Freak, and publishes a series of zines called Flossie/Dickie (above), among numerous other poster, mural, comics, and activism projects. ———————————————————————————————— On Nylon Seren Sensei writes about why black female critics are so important. She’s thinking about film, but her arguments easily transfer to comics, where criticism has long been the field of white men (along with everything else in comics…) Seren cites the clap back from black female critics responding to the new Wonder Woman film, which hit lots of marks for feminism but did little to combat “mainstream feminism’s disregard for intersectionality“, as Cameron Glover wrote recently for Harpers Bazaar. Seren concludes her article with this: “…not only does diverse criticism benefit tone-deaf white cultural producers, it also provides black artists with critique from people that actually understand their culture. The lack of diversity in critique has been a disservice to creators of color who often find their work bafflingly misunderstood, from restaurant critics to art and beyond. In a field that gives white creators far too much leeway and creators of color far too little, the rise of black women critics is a shift that will only benefit the entertainment industry—and its audience.“ Read the rest of the article HERE. For an interesting new journal of arts criticism from Black perspectives check out Arts.Black. And in the comics vein, Rob Clough kicked off a new series on his blog called “High Low Intersection” with guest writer Whit Taylor interviewing Miranda Harmon – check it out HERE. ———————————————————————————————— It’s the middle of the summer and a great time to go to “summer school” – check out thee Santoro School’s Handbook for Making Better Comics and dig into the project you’ve been dreaming about. Don’t wait! Do it now. Check it out HERE. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 7-20-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 7-20-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

10/10/2016

Juan FernándezOctober 10, 2016NewsJuan here with: this weekend’s Comics Workbook events in Kendal and Columbus; Carla Speed McNeil and Ben Katchor interviewed by Heidi McDonald; Frank Santoro’s SPX riff highlights; Igort’s “Ukrainian and Russian Notebooks”; Brandon Graham sketchbook comics; Fantagraphics and Matt Furie’s Pepe the Frog; Chris Ware writes on Pushwagner’s Soft City; Ron Wimberly on The Lot Radio; Maxine Frank and Robin Bougie on porn comics. ————————————————————————————————— This weekend is just around the bend and Comics Workbook is coming at you full force in Kendal, UK and Columbus, OH! If you’re stateside, you should know that Comics Workbook is coming to Cartoon Crossroads Columbus! October 13-16th 2016. We will be hosting workshops and tabling. Join Comics Workbook, along with cartoonists, Alyssa Berg and Kurt Ankeny, for an immersive weekend of comics creation. We will examine art and the grid, bringing the strong artistic practices of Berg and Ankeny together with the discipline and rhythm of the grid, as laid out by Comics Workbook founder Frank Santoro. Four hours across two days will be filled with the exploration of a variety of techniques and methods which will inspire the beginner, and challenge the established cartoonist. Comics as jazz; comics as architecture; how a simple index card can transform your sequencing and storytelling process – come join us for an hour or four and take your comics making to a new level. More information on our CXC exploits to come soon – the full festival schedule is here! All of you in the UK, may we have your attention!! Comics Workbook is coming to The Lakes International Comic Art Festival! October 14-16th 2016! Join Frank Santoro, Aidan Koch, and Connor Willumsen for some cool workshops and visit table 67 in the Comics Clocktower to meet Oliver East and Jack Brougham among others! We will be hosting 3 special workshops, “Visual Poetry” with Aidan Koch, “The Hammer Party” with Connor Willumsen and “Composition Competition” with Frank Santoro. Tickets for the main events at this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival are on sale now. Check out the show or Visit our event page for more information! ————————————————————————————————— https://vimeo.com/185881298 If you want a feel of what you can expect, check out our newly edited video of Frank’s primo riffs from SPX 😉 – filmed in Bethesda, Maryland on September 17th 2016. Our video features excerpts from his workshop with Cameron Weston Nicholson and Frank Santoro Filmed and edited by Tyler Q Tucker and Sally Ingraham (Watch the rest of the workshop footage HERE.) ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Heidi McDonald interviews Carla Speed Mcneil and Ben Katchor on More to Come over on Publishers Weekly. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡PEN America is featuring a glorious excerpt from Igort’s “Ukrainian and Russian Notebooks” over in The Illustrated Pen series. In “The Ukrainian and Russian Notebooks: Life and Death under Soviet Rule”, award-winnng illustrator Igort details the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist and human rights activist who spoke out against Vladimir Putin and the Second Chechen War, and the Holodomor, the government-sanctioned famine in Ukraine in 1932. Below, an excerpt from the book. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Brandon Graham has shared some sketchbook work that might inspire you to pour yourself into some autobiografiction of your own. Life throws us all curve balls. It’s amazing to see how Graham can make all his comics breathe. It’s two simple pages. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Fantagraphics Books makes a public statement on the recent politicized use of Matt Furie’s Pepe the Frog. Fantagraphics Books wants to state for the record that the one, true Pepe the frog, as created by the human being and artist Matt Furie, is a peaceful cartoon amphibian who represents love, acceptance, and fun. (And getting stoned.) Both creator and creation reject the nihilism fueling Pepe’s alt-right appropriators, and all of us at Fantagraphics encourage you to help us reclaim Pepe as a symbol of positivity and togetherness, and to stand by Matt Furie. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Chris Ware writes on Pushwagner’s Soft City (Unearthed, translated and reprinted by New York Review Comics) Soft City is something of a miracle. Not only for existing in the first place, but for surviving at all. Drawn between 1969 and 1975 by the Norwegian artist Hariton Pushwagner (now often just Pushwagner, though born Terje Brofos in 1940), it languished in obscurity for decades and was very nearly lost before finally being issued in book form by the Norwegian publishers No Comprendo in 2008, following a messy legal dispute involving the artist and his former dealer. Most pointedly, however, it is a miracle of its native medium—the comic strip—for its startling and disquieting vision in a form that had never before quite seen anything like it. Funny, or maybe not so funny, that it would take forty years for the rest of the world to realize it. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Ron Wimberly visits and covers the Lot Radio. Wimberly has cooks up a really satisfying comics essay for the New Yorker on a project that has kept popping up around me on the internet. Read it all over HERE and listen to the Lot live HERE. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Maxine Frank and Robin Bougie chat with VICE about making porn comics. They talk feminist frame works, process, and pervy fan art. What is your take on feminist porn, and would you describe your work that way? Maxine: I’m interested in the idea of feminist porn and telling from a woman’s perspective. I tend to focus on women characters and what they want in a situation rather than drawing a parade of women for the male lead to fuck. I don’t know if I would describe it as feminist, but if someone said “here’s a feminist interpretation of it,” that would be very interesting. While I don’t necessarily consider the comics feminist, I am myself a feminist. Some people have this very 80s idea of the anti-porn feminist, but there’s so many ways to be one. ————————————————————————————————— Have you seen the recent collaboration between Frank Santoro and master jeweler Airi Maeno? Check out the Pompeii Medallion HERE. Want to help us get Connor Willumsen to The Lakes International Comic Art Festival – this way please! ————————————————————————————————— Until next time, Juan Share this page: [...]

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