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Posted in NewsTagged caleb orecchio, gabriella tito, jack cole

Caleb Orecchio

Posted on May 14, 2018

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08/15/2016

Juan FernándezAugust 15, 2016NewsJuan here with the news: Rowhouse Residency Benfit Auction of Eightball era time capsule box; Audra Stang’s Rowhouse Residency Report; Chris Kindred on how to hire an illustrator; “Tell Me All Your Bad Thoughtz on God” by Jillian Fleck; Kilgore Books & Comics Fall 2016 Lineup; Ben Juers’ comics review of Sasaki Maki’s DING DONG CIRCUS; Grants and Residency opportunities for cartoonists; J. A. Micheline discussing True Criticism; new STREET ANGEL; MOME Vol. 1 – Summer 2005 reviewed by Bill Boichel. ————————————————————————————————— First off, we have the TOTALLY AMAZING AUCTION of an Eightball era time capsule box, donated by Mr. Daniel Clowes himself to help support the Rowhouse Residency. Check out the video above for a taste of the contents and the firecracker commentary of Jim Rugg and Frank Santoro. Lots o’ hyucks. Personal items, artwork…we weren’t sure we even wanted to part with things like Clowes’ Windsor-Newton Series 7 brush #3… but they are now up for grabs!! All the items in the box could be yours, so jump into the mayhem – auction runs until Wednesday, August 17th at noon EST. Don’t sleep on it. Check it the auction HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Audra Stang’s Residency Report: Pokémon GO Edition Audra Stang visited the Rowhouse this July and accomplished an incredible amount in the three days she was in Pittsburgh, setting new Rowhouse records for “crushing it”. She shared some journal notes with us recently that describe many of her impressions and experiences of her residency. We’ve shared excerpts from them, mixed with some of the process drawings and doodles that she made while she was here. My visit to the Rowhouse was my first ever residency… I came with the goal of totally drawing out a story that I only had a hazy idea of called Pale, Sick, and Magic; this seemed fitting, considering I only had a vague idea of what a residency would entail. Between Frank, Sally, and I, we had great conversation – not just about, but often returning to, comics. It fed into the “cycle” – draw by day and tour Pittsburgh by night. Or draw by night and explore Pittsburgh by day. It was a charged atmosphere but in a positive way – I was full of energy. Franks uses language that masterfully evokes the feeling of being “in the game” and gets you hyped for the next comics bout. Check it out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— “Tell Me All Your Bad Thoughtz on God” by Jillian Fleck I’m happy to announce that we are featuring Jillian Fleck’s “Tell Me All Your Bad Thoughtz on God” on the site this week. “Tell Me All Your Bad Thoughtz on God” is part of Fleck’s on going Bad Thoughtz series and was made in 2015 for Comics Workbook. ————————————————————————————————— Kilgore Books & Comics Fall 2016 Lineup Denver based comics publisher, Kilgore Books and Comics has announced its fall publishing lineup: Blammo #9 by Noah Van Sciver The Plunge by Emi Gennis What Happened by Simon Moreton: The Complete Scorched Earth & Other Stories by Tom Van Deusen You can help support Kilgore’s fall release of four great comics by supporting their Kickstarter. Our mission is bridge the gap between self-publishing and the bigger publishing houses. We want to find talented cartoonists with unique voices and help them when they need it most by ensuring they have professional looking books and plenty of stock. We’re also able to pay royalties up front, and help take some of the logistics off artists which lets them focus on their work. ————————————————————————————————— Sasaki Maki & Abstract Comics Ben Juers has just released a comics review of Sasaki Maki’s Ding Dong Circus. It’s magnificent. All sources cited 😉 It was originally done for Australian literature and culture magazine, the Lifted Brow. It’s a real insightful joy to see comics reflections and criticism in comics. ————————————————————————————————— J. A. Micheline On True Criticism J.A. Micheline has written a new entry to her Critical Jam series of essays on cultural criticism. It’s a great, on the ground, response to Daniel Mendelsohn’s A Critic’s Manifesto published a couple years ago over in the New York Times. For those of you interested in where and how comics criticism can grow and expand as a from in 2016, it’s definitely worth a read. What we fear with the rise of grassroots criticism–and, for that matter, grassroots creation–is the absence of gods and masters. It’s a legitimation crisis. If there is no hierarchical structure, no above and below, and no true and false–then how is one to know one’s place in the world? Without modernist establishments, how am I to know whether I belong in the critical class, whether my arguments are good, whether they carry more weight than the average person’s? ————————————————————————————————— How to Hire an Illustrator Chris Kindred waxes on how to hire an illustrator over in this well thought and thorough piece over at NPR’s Editorial Training blog. The internet is a very visual place. It goes without saying that if you want your story to stand out, it needs a strong photo or illustration of some kind. But commissioning an illustrator can be confusing if you haven’t done it before. This guide will walk you through the entire process, from finding an artist to sending the final payment. ————————————————————————————————— The Sustainable Arts Foundation: $6000 Grants for Artists with Children This goes out to all you cartoonists with children. The Sustainable Arts Foundation is offering awards of up to $6000 to writers and artists with children. The money can be used for costs such as child care, workspaces, new equipment, research and travel. All the stuff that you’re hard pressed to getting when you need to get your comics done. Applications for the Fall 2016 round close on Friday 2 September. Don’t sleep on this opportunity, parents! For more information visit the Sustainable Arts Foundation website. ————————————————————————————————— Grants, Fellowships, and Residencies for Cartoonists! Cartoonist Melanie Gillman, author of As the Crow Flies, has compiled a list of grants and residencies that have demonstrated an interest in comics and cartooning. You can check them all out on their blog. If you know of any others, chime in, all ye faithful! Of course, for a rigorous, comics focused residency experience like no other, you need to look no further than our Rowhouse Residency! Level up and become your best. ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— MOME Vol. 1 – Summer 2005 reviewed by Bill Boichel Here’s a little throw back for you. Bill Boichel’s got a hearty review of the first volume of Fantagraphics’ mid-aughts anthology, MOME. Few people can write as insightful reviews as Bill, so it’s an honor to be able to share his writing with you here. This is an oldie but a goodie. Step into our little comics time machine and enjoy <3 This is an excellent semi-regular anthology that is stepping up to meet the demand for new work by the talented generation of cartoonists that have been filling the pages of annual anthologies like Non, Kramers Ergot, Top Shelf, Rosetta, SPX and others. A novel feature of this anthology title is its declared intent to feature the same collective of artists every issue, allowing the artists and audience to grow together and build an ongoing identity that is highly unusual for the world of contemporary comics. Only time will tell how this intention plays out when confronted by the realities of a publication schedule, but we can attest with confidence that it’s off to a solid start. ————————————————————————————————— keep yerr nose to the grindstone and until next time! Share this page: [...]

Fumetto 2016!

Sally IngrahamApril 27, 2016Festivals and ShowsComics Workbook special correspondent Raúl Burgos Paredes brings us this exciting report from his trip to Fumetto on Saturday, April 23rd ————————————————————————————————— I had the pleasure of attending the Fumetto festival in Luzerne last Saturday. Although I would have liked to attend more days and for longer periods of time, personal constraints did not make it possible – nevertheless the experience I had was very rewarding. Knowing beforehand that my time in Luzerne would be limited, I planned ahead what I wanted to explore and left open the possibility for randomness. My main motivations were the “Small Press Heaven” and the exhibitions of Frémok and Lorenzo Mattotti. When I arrived at the festival’s main meeting point I headed directly to explore the Small Press Heaven. My first interaction was with the Latvian publiser kuš!. They publish a great deal of their books in small format, A6, which I find especially appealing. I treated myself to several of their mini kuš!, which are individual artists’ comics, and also to some of their regular numbers where they publish a large amount of artists in the same issue. Then I talked with the people of Stripburger (Slovenia), Kutikuti (Finland) and Centrala (Poland). They were all really friendly, and enthusiastic to discuss their publications and aims. All I can say is that the books I bought are all great discoveries because even if I had seen some of what they publish on the net, it can never be the same as having them in your hands in a neatly printed form. They’re all sometimes fun, at times odd, and overall very unique and highly recommendable. Afterwards I found out that there would be a panel discussion with Frémok’s artists Yvan Alagbé and Olivier Deprez. I impatiently headed there and listened to their talk, where they discussed the history of Frémok as a collective. They also gave details about their editorial concept, which is non hierarchical. They seek to incorporate the use of mixed techniques to have, as a result, works that depart from the classical comics style. Frémok’s works are highly poetic and experimental as well. For example, they talked about Match-Catch, which is a book that was made by some of Frémok’s people in collaboration with handicapped artists. Something I found quite interesting was their visible commitment to producing books that have a different kind of vision, a vision that clearly reflects artistic freedom. The moderator of the panel discussion inquired about how comfortable they were in financial terms, taking into account that the works of Frémok are not maybe bestsellers because of their style. Both Olivier and Yvan were emphatic in being both keen and confident to maintain their artistic freedom, not thinking too much about financial matters. For Yvan, it’s a chosen lifestyle, he prefers to be joyfully producing the work he does than maybe being more financially comfortable, but producing works that he would not feel like doing. This response was very much inspiring! Then I headed to the Fremok’s exhibition and reception. By the way, I did not know there would be one so I was quite happy to know that I would be able to interact more with the artists while having a glass of wine. This was a really fantastic exhibition where the works were smartly ordered to create a world of its own. I was delighted to see in original some of the works I appreciate the most. During the reception I could talk more in detail with Mr Alagbé about Match-Catch. He explained to me that they regarded handicapped people as independent artists of their own and that they were not imposing limits on them. He said that Frémok’s artists had to adapt to them and not the other way around. The result is a formidable book in which narrative is not linear and therefore, very dynamic. Personally, I’m not very much into narrative styles in general, I’ve always preferred to read a poetry book than a novel, and Frémok’s books are poetical imagery linked with sometimes poetic writing. I highly recommend école de la misère by Yvan Alagbé, coloforme by Etienne Beck, and plus si entente by Dominique Goblet and Kai Pffeifer. During the exhibition I also talked a little bit with Kai Pffeifer and I told him I was surprised to realize that the original works did not differ that much from their form in a the published book. He explained to me that first of all the editorial committee was formed by the artists themselves and that they placed high importance first, to the scanner, and second, to the printing process. He explained with great detail the complex printing process, but I can not tell you more about it because I forgot and it encompassed things I did not know. Then I headed to see Lorenzo Mattotti’s exhibition named Oltremai. Oltremai is another world of its own, all in black and white, populated by dark and ever moving characters. As you enter the exhibition room you sense you’re entering something special by starting to notice the soft and eerie music that accompanies the works. The imagery contained in it is fantastic, sometimes mythological, and an aspect that astonished me is the flow that can be felt in each individual work. The whole works do not follow a narrative and the pieces are nameless. The book of Oltremai, big and heavy, does good justice to the original works of the exhibition. Finally I headed to the train station to catch my train back home (Neuchâtel). To make my travel more enjoyable I started drawing some of my impressions of the festival. One of those drawings is my interpretation of Yvan Alagbé. To conclude, I would like to say that it was overall a very gratifying experience and I was very much pleased to interact with publishers and artists alike. Surely something to repeat in 2017! ————————————————————————————————— Raúl Burgos Paredes is a Mexican tripolar social scientist who has been living in Switzerland for the last 7 years. He finds time, in the midst of writing his dissertation, to explore his drawing abilities and enjoy all the comics he can find. You can see more of his work HERE. Share this page: [...]

07/29/2016

Sally IngrahamJuly 29, 2016NewsSally here, ready to dig into a roller-coaster of a week. We went from the excitement of the Eisner Awards to the wild Democratic National Convention, and then were hit with the sad passing of two comic masters – and the week isn’t over yet! Perhaps we will be able to catch our breath and our balance today? ————————————————————————————————— First up, a summer report from Frank Santoro, live from the Rowhouse Residency in Pittsburgh, PA – ————————————————————————————————— The EISNER AWARDS! They were incredible this year. Image Comics may have claimed the most awards, but it was Drawn & Quarterly that owned the stage that night (pictured above, publisher Peggy Burns accepting the Best Anthology award for Drawn & Quarterly: Twenty-five years of contemporary comics, cartoons, and graphic novels). From the D+Q blog: “D+Q authors were nominated in five categories and swept all five of them, with wins for Kate Beaton (Best Humor Publication for Step Aside, Pops), Shigeru Mizuki (Best American Edition of International Material – Asia for Showa 1953-1989), Jillian Tamaki (Best Publication for Teens for SuperMutant Magic Academy) and Adrian Tomine (Best Short Story for “Killing and Dying”)! Beaton was the first solo female cartoonist to win in the humor category, a deserved and significant win. In addition to all that wonderfulness, two of our legendary and defining authors, Lynda Barry and Tove Jansson were inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame.” Read more about D+Q’s Eisner sweep HERE, as well as a transcript of Peggy Burns’ wonderful speech inducting Tove Jansson into the hall of fame. Paste Magazine has a more general overview of the Eisner Awards, and the complete list of winners HERE. And for even more SDCC and Eisner Awards coverage: Jamie Coville recorded the ceremony plus 21 panels during the week, and took a million photos for The Comics Beat. You can check it all out HERE. Of particular interest to me were the panels “We Need Diverse Comics” with Raina Telgemeier, Nilah Magruder, Ron Wimberly, Ben Hatke, Nidhi Chanani and moderator Glen Weldon; the “Daniel Clowes Spotlight” with Clowes and Eric Reynolds; the “Trina Robbins Spotlight“; and “The Complete Wimmen’s Comix: Her-Story” with founders and contributors Trina Robbins, Terre Richards, Sharon Ruduhl, Lee Marrs, Rebecka Wright, Mary Fleener, Joan Hilty and Barbara “Willy” Mendes. ————————————————————————————————— Here on the site, Jillian Fleck has a fascinating report on a thriving corner of the comics world that many of us may not be aware of. Graphic Medicine is a thing, and a great thing at that – Jillian digs into why, via her experiences at the Graphic Medicine 2016 Conference in Dundee, Scotland earlier this month. Read the article HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Okay, let’s turn to politics briefly – The Nib has held my attention all week with comics that explore the scene around the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Once again Sophie Louise Dam killed it, this time teaming up with Eleri Harris. Their comic gets you on the Democratic Platform and makes you want to linger there – check it out HERE. CNN caught up with Matt Bors, editor of The Nib, and followed him around on day 4 of the DNC, checking in with the artists and getting the “funny” side of things. Video below. ————————————————————————————————— The Washington Post reported on Wednesday – “RICHARD THOMPSON, the “Cul de Sac” cartoonist who is widely considered one of the greatest comic-strip creators and illustrators of his generation, died Wednesday in Northern Virginia, family friends confirm. He was 58.” – via Michael Cavna John Martz drew some memories of Richard Thompson for Slate – See the rest HERE. Jack Davis also died on Wednesday, at the age of 91. The Comics Journal has begun collecting tributes to this beloved cartoonist, written by the likes of Gary Panter, Peter Bagge, and Jim Woodring among others – with more to come. Check them out HERE. And it was Gary Groth himself who sat down to write an obituary for Jack Davis for The Comics Journal, which you can read HERE. ————————————————————————————————— NPR turned it’s gaze to minicomics this week, with Etelka Lehoczky’s brief look at a few titles she got her hands on recently – among them Bonnie N. Collide, Nine to Five by Monica Gallagher. About minicomics Lehoczky wrote – “Shouldn’t minicomics be obsolete by now? Printed by their creators in tiny batches and sold for a few bucks at “alternative” comic shops and conventions, they’re as cumbersome to produce as they are to obtain. It would be much more sensible for the artists to just put up their work online — right? Fortunately, these artists aren’t interested in being sensible. They’re in love with the unique tangibility of print on paper, the sight and feel of pages under their fingers. It’s a powerful yen, as evidenced by the recent resurgence of printed books in the larger publishing world. There are enough artists who share it to make minicomics a thriving and diverse genre. Some of these creations really are “mini” — they may be 4″x6″ or smaller, or contain only eight pages. Even if they’re magazine-sized, they take some work to discover.” via NPR Check out the rest of the article and the minicomic reviews HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Lastly, also here on Comics Workbook today, we have a new Art Trip piece from Anna Mancini! Not to give anything away, but she was in a museum in Rio de Janeiro and had a definite encounter with comics. Check it out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Hang in there folks! The summer still has surprises for us I think. – Sally Share this page: [...]

09/29/2016

Sally IngrahamSeptember 29, 2016NewsSam Ombiri and Sally Ingraham here to present Cameron Weston Nicholson’s amazing Small Press Expo workshop to you today! (Plus some tangents well worth following.) ————————————————————————————————— https://vimeo.com/184552852 We just received the complete video footage of Cameron Weston Nicholson‘s SPX cartoon workshop from ace filmmaker Tyler Q. Tucker. View it above! Sally can vouch for the fact that Cameron caught on film is just as powerful as he was in person. You can find a few more details about the event HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri was one of the first people to lay eyes on the film of Cameron’s workshop. He is a regular attendee of the Pittsburgh Comics Salon, where we discuss music and comics a lot, so this was familiar ground. Sam wrote some notes while he viewed the film – check it out: “This video was rad for many reasons. The video will articulate the things I can’t better, so I guess I won’t say too much. I kind of laughed at the idea that Cameron proposed: musical literature. It’s funny to imagine people reading sheet music, and those people imagining the sound from the notes – and then they cry (that’s not to say this doesn’t happen, but it’s a super bizarre way to listen to music – though, ultimately notes are a language, so there’s no reason a book with sheet music shouldn’t be read like a novel) but in the context of comics it’s exactly what transpires! (And images are for the most part a universal language, unlike musical notes where you need someone who can read them, and who then must learn an instrument to play the song. Then you have to do this over and over til you find a piece that you like. Even then, it might just be the musician that lacks the soul to play the tune you want to hear.) Cameron says “In music you have your notes, in comics you have your panels.” I dig how he talks about sculpting/directing the focus of the reader through emphasis (or lack thereof) for dramatic effect (or really any effect – I just think he was using dramatic effect as an example) to bury an idea in the reader’s mind. So their interest is peaked or their shoulder is tapped, and then the reader suspects there’s something else going on. So then the reader will follow Cameron, out of curiosity…then Cameron’s got the reader sucked into his image, and then there’s no escape! Another thing I like is how he has a simulator of how fast most readers read this (mostly) universal language. It’s super cool the amount of awareness he has for the reader. There is of course more to look at in the video, but especially at the 24 minute mark there’s a zillion things that are being articulated better than I could – I can articulate that it’s a must watch!” ————————————————————————————————— Comics Workbook was absolutely delighted that Tyler Q. Tucker could attend Cameron’s workshop and film the event. We discovered Tyler’s work after he made a film of the live drawing event that Chris Visions, Alexis Ziritt, and Vanesa R. Del Ray took part in at HeroesCon 2016. He has continued to make fantastic films for Chris Visions, which you can check out HERE – the newest films, which show off Rocky Roswell and the Adventures of the Neon Space Cowboy (which debuted at SPX) can be viewed HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Alexis Ziritt attended one of the Comics Workbook-hosted workshops at SPX, taking a break from his table (and from working on finishing Tarantula!) Sombra. A photo posted by Alexis Ziritt (@aziritt) on Sep 28, 2016 at 10:22am PDT Alexis Ziritt is part of the super art collective Out of Step Arts – check it out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Shannon Wright has been dashing off comics for Instagram lately – here’s one such: The power randomly went out, it’s not even close to the time I go to bed, I figured this would “mak3 @ coOl coMix” but it’s actually really stupid, I thought a spark of creativity would hit me if I just started drawing but I actually wasted battery and precious data to upload this . My mom thinks someone hit the electric lines (box??) somewhere. A photo posted by Shannon Wright (@shanneyy23) on Sep 25, 2016 at 8:59pm PDT Check out more HERE. ————————————————————————————————— On the site we have the first collection of images from the Comics Workbook-hosted cartoon workshops at SPX – check them out HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Help send Connor Willumsen to the UK for The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival in October! He will be teaching workshops with Frank Santoro and Aidan Koch while there – if you’re in the area check it out. To help him get to the show, Comics Workbook is offering two new Connor publications. Portraits and Swinespritzen – both limited editions, both incredible. Details about both and where to order them can be found HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Happy Thursday folks! – Sally and Sam Share this page: [...]

08/08/2017

Aaron CockleAugust 7, 2017NewsAaron Cockle here today with Flipism in the USA; New York Comics & Picture-story Symposium Fall 2017 Schedule; The Black Hood; Whit Taylor/Miranda Harmon; Workers of the World, Conform!; Book-making in the USA ————————————————————————————————— ‘At every crossroad of life, let Flipism chart your course!’ On an episode of the new season of the streaming Netflix series House of Cards, a political crisis in the United States may have to be decided by a coin flip (as determined by that country’s originating document of fundamental principals and established precedents), and the President in this alternate history extols the benefits of Flipism, a philosophy created by Carl Barks for a story in a Donald Duck comic in 1952. To date, Flipism remains as valid as any other belief system currently in practice. ————————————————————————————————— New York Comics & Picture-Story Symposium Fall 2017 Schedule Lectures of specific interest to readers of this newsblog include: September 26 – Katie Fricas October 3 – Sue Coe October 10 – Kurt Ankeny ————————————————————————————————— ‘A number of the cartoonists focus in on the grey, hazy feeling of depression.’ Rob Clough reviews the excellent anthology The Black Hood: An Anthology of Depression and Anxiety, edited by Josh Bayer and Mike Freiheit. With regard to trying to find a way out, Lizz Hickey’s “My Lamictal Side-Effect Diary” is another great fit for this book. There are many cartoonists here who do weird and unnerving autobio as well as bizarre fiction, so it makes sense not only to include them, but that they’d be willing to talk about it in such a blunt manner. Hickey goes week by week and talks about the doses of medication she’s taking and the effects, which range from nervous to sleepy, to normal, to frustrated. The final week seems promising at the highest dose, until she becomes manic, teary, and tired once again–and that’s the end of the strip. No further conclusions are offered. ————————————————————————————————— In other Rob Clough News… At his review blog, High-Low, Clough has started a new series, High-Low Intersection, an occasional (and hopefully soon to be regular) feature that will highlight reviews, essays and interviews by other writers about comics, specifically for this site. They will be posted on High-Low’s regular blank day (Friday) when they appear. There are so many excellent writers about comics and too few of them have a regular outlet for their work. In this first edition, Whit Taylor interviews Miranda Harmon: What advice would you give to fans of your work who are looking to make their own comics? People should come before work if you can help it. When you’re making friends, find your peers instead of chasing down your heroes. Keep reminding everyone that you exist by making comics and showing up. It can feel lonely at first but in my experience people respond to sincerity and kindness. Really listen and get to know people and draw from your own experiences when you make comics. ————————————————————————————————— But, Ostwald complained, in the realms of science and geistige Arbeit—which roughly translates as intellectual work—there had been “virtually no level of organization.” At Triple Canopy, Nader Vossoughian about the history of information standards, standardization of information, and what it all means for someone reading this on a computer screen (or printed out on regular paper, I guess): The imposition of uniformity that was achieved before and after WWII by the German state and party organizations is now more likely to be undertaken by software companies, industrial consortiums, and groups such as the ISO and ASTM International. They claim only to ease the circulation of information and goods, but in fact they make highly political decisions about, for instance, the flow of data in packets through broadband cables. As Andrew Russell asserts in Open Standards and the Digital Age: History, Ideology, and Networks (2014), the rhetoric of openness that characterizes the Internet belies the role of sophisticated (and nearly invisible) forms of hierarchical control. Russell scrutinizes the “system builders” who create the infrastructure on which we rely, and who are “always engaged in ideological and discursive work, not merely technical work.” ————————————————————————————————— Never Comes Tomorrow – Frank made a graphic novel about his parents and he needs help making handbound copies for each of them. Frank Santoro, our illustrious founder/editor-in-chief, is raising some money for a book-making project, and is offering a good deal of historical comics documents in support of this. Please consider helping out. ————————————————————————————————— And remember: ————————————————————————————————— A Cosmic Journey – 8-8-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-8-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 8-8-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

05/14/2018

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Caleb Orecchio

Caleb Orecchio here with thoughts on Betsy and Me by Jack Cole, and other news.————————————————————————————

Hey comics lovers, doing alright? I’m doing alright. I’m a bit tired. My cousins, brother and brother-in-law destroyed me in spikeball on Sunday during a Mother’s Day get together, so I am also sore and a bit grass-stained from jumping and flailing around. They all had a good laugh about it. Good for them, I left all my dignity behind in the 7th grade so I’m happy to be the weird family member who rolls around in the grass during family games. Anyway.

Last week I wrote a bit about going to Copacetic Comics here in Pittsburgh and taking advantage of the Free Comic Book Day deals. Reading through my FCBD haul this past week, I was really taken with the collection of the short-lived Jack Cole strip, Betsy and Me. A really charming, funny strip about two parents and their genius son that only ran for a handful of months before Jack Cole bought a .22 and took his own life. Dwight Parks took over the strip after his predecessor’s death, but despite his strengths, could not live up to the legend of Jack Cole. The strip ran from May to December in 1958, Cole’s run ending in September.

In the introduction, siting such Cole biographers as Art Spiegelman and Ron Goulart, R.C. Harvey paints this ironic image of a man who at the height of cartooning power (having a daily strip), ended his own life. The couple in Betsy and Me (Chet and Betsy) have a son they so dearly love that it verges on absurdity, but in reality, the Cole’s could not have a child which they so definitely wanted. There is this dark musing on Cole’s part when you know this part of the story. He practically invents an ideal situation that could medically never happen. You can see the Sun set and turn to eternal night on our hero’s psyche. I recommend the book even if just for the Harvey’s introduction.

The strip itself expertly balances word and picture. There is a bobbing and weaving of narration, dialogue and action that unfolds in a very sophisticated way, and delivers a satisfying punchline most every time. There is nothing in the strip that would suggest this was the same cartoonist who invented Plastic Man, visually or otherwise, but the expertise and cartooning skills are present and undeniable.

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if you don’t know, now you know

Connor Willumsen answers questions at CBC.
At TCJ.com, Tom Kaczynski is the latest guest on “Comics Decalogue” and The Dragon (featuring owner and founder, Jenn Haines) is the latest comic shop showcased on the “Retail Therapy” column.
The Comics Reporter has the scoop on Koyama Press’ Fall 2018 lineup.
TCAF was this past weekend and the results of the 2018 Doug Wright Awards are up.
A. Degen is the latest guest on Process Party.
The Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center had a pop-up show on Kirby’s work on 2001: A Space Odyssey. The show was this past weekend, but I figured I’d write about it anyway:)

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Suzy and Cecil – 5-14-18 – by Gabriella Tito

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Comics Workbook

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Posted in NewsTagged caleb orecchio, gabriella tito, jack cole

Caleb Orecchio

Posted on May 14, 2018

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08/30/2018

Caleb OrecchioAugust 30, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here. I think about Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli all the time and I know you do too. ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— Once I read a comic book At midnight, 2009, Asterios Polyp, the name of it, The Petty Bickering Deities Strike again (on the Page) Yes ma’am life never gets tired of resurrecting ————————————————————————————————— ———————————————————— Cement Mixer – 8-30-18 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

07/18/2017

Aaron CockleJuly 18, 2017NewsAaron Cockle here today with Helen Jo; Safari Festival Reminder; Chitra Ganesh; Helen Frankenthaler ————————————————————————————————— ‘Without a car, commuting into the city via public transit becomes a nightmare.’ Alex Wong talks with Helen Jo about Jo’s translation of Yeon-sik Hong’s Uncomfortably Happily: Do you think, compared to other books, there was less of a risk of the original material being lost in translation in Uncomfortably Happily? Because of all the universal themes that are covered in the book? I think that something may always be lost in translation. Translating from one language to the next is not mathematics. Even if you strip away all of the cultural context and stick to the academic bare bones of a language itself, you can’t fit a Korean peg into an English hole. Each language is a system of words, connotations, innuendo, context, unspoken intentions, and none of it is exactly equal to its foreign counterparts. I think a good translation is mindful of that fact, and tries to re-interpret the intent behind the words for the new audience. I may not have been able to provide an exact translation, because an exact translation cannot truly exist, but I did my best to bring the intention and meaning and context of each and every page to the English reader. ————————————————————————————————— Safari Festival 2017 ————————————————————————————————— Tales of Amnesia This is just a link to an image search for Chitra Ganesh’s Tales of Amnesia comics. ————————————————————————————————— As in Nature: Helen Frankenthaler Paintings / No Rules: Helen Frankenthaler Woodcuts Helen Frankenthaler has two exhibitions currently at the Clark Institute in Williamstown, MA, USA. ————————————————————————————————— A Cosmic Journey – 7-18-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 7-18-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 7-18-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

11/07/2016

Juan FernándezNovember 7, 2016NewsJuan here coming at you from the road! Just wrapped up a revitalizing Comic Arts Brooklyn experience. I have tons to say. Bustling, profitable, and inspiring. But I gotta get back to Pittsburgh in time for work!! A HUGE thank you to Gabe Fowler for the opportunity to exhibit with Comics Workbook at THE premiere NYC show. Endless thanks to the CAB team and their tireless team of volunteers for making his explosion of print a reality. As always, thanks to Frank Santoro for letting me step up to the plate and sling our comics and propaganda. The dream is alive folks. Droves descended upon Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Nobody left empty handed and that was a sight to see. For now here’s a quick overview of what we did as Comics Workbook at the show. More photos and reflections to come from me and other fine folks. Holding down the fort throughout most of the day was Jenn Lisa and Ron Wimberly. We had Truth Zone bootlegs, rare comics by Connor Willumsen, new comics by CW alums, zines from Pittsburgh, short boxes with comics rarities for the whole family – a one stop shop, if you will, in the hullabaloo of CAB. The fans saw Wimberly’s bat signal through social media and knew to come out to catch him signing at our table. No surprise to anyone, Ron sold out of Prince of Cats in minutes. The line wrapped around the table and fans we’re elated to meet the comics shinobi himself. It was honor to have him with us at Comics Workbook. Needless to say, I had a blast at CAB 2016 <3 Here are some juicy bits for you to dig from elsewhere on the web: ⚡️New Tiny Report! The great Robyn Chapman has crunched all the numbers from her surveys and has cooked up the latest informational zine on the state of the micro press industry. Order a copy from her today! And be sure to check out the section that includes photographs by thee great Chris Anthony Diaz. ⚡️Forgotten Mother News Interview: Jacob Khepler, beating heart of Providence, RI’s thoughtleading free newspaper, Mothers News, chats with Brian Nicholson on the inspiration for the endeavor and his history working on it through the years – plus what he’s going to do next: “I’m healing, reading, playing music, relaxing my mind, working on some more abstract projects, and thinking about how to do whatever the next thing is without the bad parts of the last thing. I’d really like to do a book collection – I think this would be a good endcap. And the way I see it, I did a good job with the paper on an insane deadline for no money – with time to proofread and someone else doing promotion/logistics, I feel like I could mop a book up.“ ⚡️Rob Clough on Comics Workbook alumnus, Audra Stang: Stang has an exceptional ear for dialogue and has an ability to bring a scene to life (in the case of these comics, either high school or the milieu of a traveling band). Her figure drawing has all the right elements: attention to body language, attention to the way characters interact in space, the nuances of gesture, etc. She also shows an enormous amount of restraint as a storyteller, sometimes even leaving backstories deliberately oblique. Stang has little interest in backstory, except when she’s ready to reveal a detail that has an especially pertinent impact on the story at that moment. ok, until next time!! Juan Share this page: [...]

Happy Holidays from Comics Workbook!

Sally IngrahamDecember 25, 2017NewsHappy Holidays from all of us here at Comics Workbook! Comics Workbook’s Daily News is taking a holiday break the week of Dec. 25-29! Our news team will return, refreshed, on January 1st. Do yourself a favor and get ready for the new year: Subscribe to the most exciting comics news site in the world. ⚡ Comics Workbook Daily News ⚡ SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL TODAY Share this page: [...]

09/20/2017

Juan FernándezSeptember 20, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos el día con Amanda Baeza; Entreviñetas 8; Marco Toxico en La Polola; José Muñoz y Maria Luque; Gaspar Pujadas y Rodrigo Vargas;#GRAFMAD2017; Mireia Pérez entrevista a Richard McGuire; y los tebeos de Cómics Workbook! ————————————————————————————————— Amanda Baeza y las canciones dibujadas Gabriela Blanco nos invita a reflexionar sobre Su obra de narraciones autobiográficas en El Espectador. Sus historias son fragmentadas, alejadas de la estructura secuencial y más cercanas a la simultaneidad, y lo son porque responden a una representación de sus recuerdos, desde adentro, sin inicio, nudo y desenlace ordenados, así como recordamos todos. Su intención es lograr hacer sentir al lector lo mismo que ella sintió en aquellos instantes, ponerlo en su lugar. Le importa más el qué representó para ella que lo que realmente sucedió. Y es en ese punto donde Amanda emerge como vanguardia: cuando modifica las formas convencionales para contar historias y las reajusta a lo que realmente le interesa contar, porque cree en la empatía como un recurso más poderoso de conexión con el otro que la ficción misma. Léanlo todo AQUI. ————————————————————————————————— ENTREVIÑETAS 8 – BOGOTA La primera parte del gran festival Entreviñetas tendra lugar este fin de semana, del 20 al 24 de Septiembre. Si todavia no lo saben, el Festival Entreviñetas es el evento del cómic y el dibujo más influyente en la escena latinoamericana contemporanea. No se pierdan toda la programación! Pueden ver los horarios AQUÍ. Talleres, ferias, charlas y entrevistas – habra de todo, sobre TODO! ————————————————————————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo tienen una nueva edicion de La Polola Podcast! Las chicas conversan con Marco Toxico, les contó de su vida, sus inspiraciones, su punto de quiebre, y motivación por hacer lo que le gusta en esta vida. Conversan acerca de referentes, la monstruosidad como tema y mucho más. Lo que va del cómic argentino: Martín Pérez escribe en las #Entreviñetas de El Espectador acerca de la obra de José Muñoz y Maria Luque Entrevista Sacapunta N°1 – Gaspar Pujadas + Entrevista Sacapunta N°2 – Rodrigo Vargas Entrevista de Mireia Pérez a Richard McGuire en CuCo 5. Abierta la convocatoria para participar en #GRAFMAD2017 ¡Hasta el 16 de octubre! TIK TOK Comics os presenta una nueva entrega de DOMINGO, la serie conversacional de Muriel Bellini ¡Disfrutadla! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 9-20-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

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