Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged alexander hoffman, anya davidson, Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, Caitlin Skaalrud, Inkstuds, sequential state

Juan Fernández

Posted on May 4, 2016May 5, 2016

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04/06/2018

Sally IngrahamApril 5, 2018NewsSally here with words and images from Lynda Barry, Hilda Terry, Jillian Tamaki and Eleanor Davis, and Huda Fahmy – plus much more! ————————————————————————————————— The National Cartoonists Society announced the finalists for its annual Reuben Award for outstanding cartoonist of the year. Lynda Barry is once again on the list of 5 finalists, as well as Hilary B. Price (and Glen Kean, Stephan Pastis, and Mark Tatulli.) The Washington Post has more details HERE. Lynda Barry’s comments regarding the nomination are great: ” “My personal reaction as a cartoonist is a feeling-combo of honored, giddy and delighted,” Barry says of the Reuben nomination. “My deeper reaction as a professor … is much more than that. Showing people how to make comics and tell their stories by drawing and writing things by hand on paper in a way that is nondigital, non-searchable, non-‘scrapeable’ or monetizable now feels like something of a revolutionary act. Being a cartoonist and being recognized as a cartoonist means more to me now than it ever has.“ ————————————————————————————————— Speaking of the National Cartoonists Society, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund wrote about some of the first women to be recognized by the Society. Hilda Terry was the first women to be nominated to join (by her husband, Gregory D’Alessio) in 1950, but she had to fight a fair amount of push back from the organization, which was historically all men. Discovering nothing in the rules that prevented women from joining, Terry wrote a biting letter which demanded that the Society either change its name to “National MEN Cartoonists Society”, or admit women. With the support of folks like Milton Caniff and Al Capp, Terry was eventually recognized by the Society, along with Edwina Dumm, and Barbara Shermund. Terry quickly set about nominating other women and years later won an award for animation from the Society. Read Terry’s excellent letter in defense of her admittance, and see examples of all three cartoonists work HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Jillian Tamaki sat down via DM with Eleanor Davis (for The Comics Journal) and discussed Davis’ most recent book, Why Art?, her activism, her current project (a new 100+ page graphic novel!!), and a lot more. I found one part of the interview particularly interesting, and it contributed to the ongoing conversation in my head about the different way that women navigate life and the creative process: “Tamaki: I realized that we were doing that very stereotypical “woman” thing of praising each others work while criticizing our own haha. If we really want to be taken seriously we should be icy ice queens who just pontificate and never explain shit or express any doubt! Davis: Oh my gosh, my mom said a very interesting thing. When talking about meeting you, she said “It’s so nice that you and Jillian can be friends while at the same time you’re competitors.” But it’s never occurred to me that we could be competitors! I aspire to keep up with you artistically, but as far as “success” goes, mostly I think of it being you and me and Sophia & Gabrielle and all the other women against the world, against history, against this raging current that’s pummeling all of us. Oh goodness, and when you cite people like that it’s like, their individual things are so rich that it’s like comparing… planets. I am capable of really horrible jealousy but that’s not how it manifests, anyway. Haha me too – I think I’m just in a mood right now, like, “competitive? me? never!” when really I’m violently competitive in a lot of ways. But luckily with the women artists who I think of as my crew (peers? contemporaries?), I’ve narcissistically chosen to consider y’alls achievements and success as also being my own somehow.“ Read the rest of the conversation HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Web comics are a fascinating platform for sharing stories, making connections, and finding ways to relate to one another. For Huda Fahmy, her Instagram comic – Yes, I’m Hot in This – is a way to deal with the misconceptions she faces on a daily basis as a woman who wears a hijab. The Huffington Post reports: “American Muslim women who wear the hijab often experience bigotry and hate. It’s important to tell their stories… “Muslim women don’t often get a platform to tell our stories or share the silly ― sometimes stressful ― idiosyncrasies of our day-to-day lives,” said. “ Figuring it out as she goes, Fahmy has been drawing and posting her comic for a year now and has gained thousands of followers, who revel in her humorous look at her “mundane yet meaningful” life. Read more about Huda Fahmy HERE – and follow her on Instagram. ————————————————————————————————— MoCCA is going on this weekend in Manhattan – among many workshops and other offerings is the event above, featuring Kriota Willberg, Lauren Weinstein, and Kate Lacour talking “pathology, anatomy and BODIES“. Forbes has an article about Ellen Forney and her book Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice from My Bipolar Life – read it HERE. Chicago Magazine chats with Nicole Hollander about her new memoir, We Ate Wonder Bread. GG has been interviewed and her latest comic I’m Not Here has been reviewed a number of places recently – new interview on The Comics Journal HERE; review on High-Low HERE and on The Hidden Hipsters HERE. Rob Clough takes a look at Anna Haifisch‘s Von Spatz on High-Low – read the review HERE. The Comics Beat has a preview of Ann Nocenti and David Aja’s new project – The Seeds – coming soon from Dark Horse’s imprint Berger Books – check it out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Announcing the Spring Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers 8 weeks! $500 bux! 10 spots available! Rolling start date because of spring break – start NOW! Deadline to apply is April 12th. Read all about the course HERE and email santoroschool@gmail.com for more details or to apply. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 4-6-2018 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 4-6-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

07/30/2018

Caleb OrecchioJuly 30, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here, as usual, with your Monday edition of the news! ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know Paul Kirchner is the latest guest on Inkstuds. Rob Clough reviews Benji Nate’s Catboy as well as some issue of Jepcomix by Jep Sometimes, as a cartoonist, I wish I was French. Also on TCJ.com, one new Ditko piece by Tegan O’Neill, and one not new by Ken Parille. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 7-30-18 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

04/26/2016

Aaron CockleApril 26, 2016NewsAtena Farghadani; Right-of-copy; Mok/Doucet; Lilli Carré; Roy Crane ————————————————————————————————— From Maren Williams over at the CBLDF: BREAKING NEWS: Atena Farghadani Set to be Released Next Month ‘After nearly 18 months in prison for a cartoon depicting politicians as animals, Iranian artist and activist Atena Farghadani will reportedly be released sometime next month. She had been sentenced to 12 years and 9 months, but according to her lawyer the sentence has just been reduced on appeal.’ ————————————————————————————————— What we talk about when we talk about copyright On Medium.com: ‘Myth #3. Copyright is an Attack on Artistic Freedom I have been a working, professional wrter for close to thirty years. I’ve felt my artistic freedom threatened by a great many things — state censorship, all manner of fundamentalisms, Internet bullying and shaming… to name but a few. Copyright law is not on that list, and it will NEVER be on that list. The very foundation of copyright is the insistence that if I create an artistic expression, I own that artistic expression. And if I own something, you best believe I will protect it from those who want to impose their restrictions on it.’ On Priceonomics.com: ‘Copyright law in America long predated Mickey Mouse. The first of these laws, the Copyright Act of 1790, stipulated that creative works were entitled to up to 28 years of protection (14 years, plus an additional “renewal” period of 14 years, supposing the original hadn’t died). This was followed by an 1831 act, which extended the copyright period to a max of 42 years, and a 1909 act, which elongated that period again, to 56 years. As the Art Law Journal clarifies, “very few works actually maintained copyright durations”: only a fraction of those who secured copyrights protected them, or opted to renew them. Mickey Mouse was brought into the world in 1928, under the 1909 Copyright Act, entitling him to 56 years of protection under the law — no more. In accordance with the law, his copyright was set to expire in 1984.’ ————————————————————————————————— Annie Mok Interviews Julie Doucet ‘DOUCET: Yeah, but the dictionary—the new language that I created—has nothing to do with the words that are in Carpet Sweeper Tales. MOK: I meant just a new language in general, I guess. So major themes of the book are masculinity, toxic masculinity, and cars? And it’s so interesting—you’re taking these images from these ‘60s Italian fumetti, which are this incredibly butch series of scenes, some of them very threatening men—like, threatening to women, and women in compromised positions, and then there’s this constant iteration of cars and men speaking of women as if they are cars in some cases, or alluding to them that way. And talking about, like, where someone can take you, and what is freedom. How did this playful thing around cars develop, and what does that mean to you? DOUCET: In those fumettis, for some reason, there’s lots and lots and lots of action going on in cars—a lot of conversations. And I talked to my aunts, my older aunts, and they told me that was just the way it was at the time, because people didn’t really have any places to go to flirt or anything like that, so pretty much everything happened in cars. So in that sense, it makes sense in that context. But I just loved the car thing, so I just cut out everything I could find going on in the cars.’ ————————————————————————————————— Lilli Carré MFA Thesis Show May 5-June 19, 2016 Opening & Reception: Thursday, May 5, 6-9PM Alsdorf Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL This exhibition presents work by: Lilli Carré, Max Guy, Erin Hayden, Dan Miller, and David Sprecher. Culminating their Master of Fine Arts (MFA) studies in the Department of Art Theory & Practice at Northwestern University. ————————————————————————————————— Roy Crane’s Scrapbook Share this page: [...]

10/31/2017

Aaron CockleOctober 30, 2017NewsAaron here today with Schneemann; Walker; Ernst; Reinhardt; Short Run 2017 ————————————————————————————————— Interior Scroll Here’s something from the Kinetic Painting show at MoMA PS1 (via PS1’s Instagram): While we can’t show you the photo documentation of Carolee Schneemann’s iconic performance work, “Interior Scroll,” on Instagram, above is a portion of the scroll itself on view in our new exhibition “Carolee Schneemann: Kinetic Painting.” From the second of only two performances of the piece in 1977, the scroll reads: I don’t take the advice of men who talk only to themselves PAY ATTENTION TO CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL FILM LANGUAGE IT EXISTS FOR AND IN ONLY ONE GENDER These powerful reflections were a response to a screening at the Telluride Film Festival, where Schneemann’s films “Fuses” and “Plumb Line” were included in a program entitled “The Erotic Woman.” Schneemann objected to the program for being proscribed by the male imagination, and having a contradictory effect to the films themselves. Explore more documentation of “Interior Scroll” and other seminal performances by Carolee Schneemann in her retrospective #KineticPainting on view through March 11. ————————————————————————————————— ‘She said she was thinking of Thomas Eakins’s surgical theater paintings as she was also imagining house slaves disemboweling their master with a soup ladle.’ At the New York Review, Darryl Pinckney looks at the recently closed Kara Walker exhibit, Kara Walker: Sikkema Jenkins and Co. is Compelled to present The most Astounding and Important Painting show of the fall Art Show viewing season! I sometimes find myself remembering the great Sphinx of white sugar that Kara Walker built three years ago in an unused, emptied-out sugar refinery in Brooklyn along the East River: A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby, an Homage to the unpaid and overworked Artisans who have refined our Sweet tastes from the cane fields to the Kitchens of the New World on the Occasion of the demolition of the Domino Sugar Refining Plant. The refinery was enormous, the walls streaked with sugar. In the distance, the large figure of a Mammy rested in her Egyptian pose, a bandana on her head. The small basket-carrying boys made of dark red molasses who attended her were melting in the summer heat, folding over onto the floor. The large and roving crowd was quiet, as if under a spell. People took photographs of themselves standing between her creamy-looking arms. ————————————————————————————————— Max Ernst: Beyond Painting, Museum of Modern Art, NYC, through January 1, 2018 This exhibition surveys the career of the preeminent Dada and Surrealist artist Max Ernst (French and American, born Germany, 1891–1976), with particular emphasis on his ceaseless experimentation. Ernst began his pursuit of radical new techniques that went “beyond painting” to articulate the irrational and unexplainable in the wake of World War I, continuing through the advent and aftermath of World War II. Featuring approximately 100 works drawn from the Museum’s collection, the exhibition includes paintings that challenged material and compositional conventions; collages and overpaintings utilizing found printed reproductions; frottages (rubbings); illustrated books and collage novels; sculptures of painted stone and bronze; and prints made using a range of techniques. Several major, multipart projects represent key moments in Ernst’s long career, ranging from early Dada and Surrealist portfolios of the late 1910s and 1920s to his late masterpiece—a recent acquisition to MoMA’s collection—65 Maximiliana or the Illegal Practice of Astronomy (1964). This illustrated book comprises 34 aquatints complemented by imaginative typographic designs and a secret hieroglyphic script of the artist’s own invention. From MoMA’s Instagram: Max Ernst’s love of puns was likely fostered by Sigmund Freud’s book “Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious.” Here, the Dada artist overpainted a page from a sales catalogue showing women’s hats printed in an orderly grid. Ernst added more cut-and-pasted hats to make the phallic tower at the left. This visual pun relates to Freud’s identification of the hat—the requisite accessory of the bourgeois man—as a common symbol of repressed desire, adding new meaning and gender ambiguity to the cliché inscribed on the work, “C’est le chapeau qui fait l’homme” (“The hat makes the man”). ————————————————————————————————— ‘A lot of the best horror movies give you the sense that the movie you’re watching is itself somehow evil.’ Today (Tuesday, October 31, 2017) is Halloween, and what better way to celebrate than looking back at Simon Reinhardt’s reviews of horror movies from this past month. Reinhardt reviews some classics (TBOF, seen below; The Fog) as well as some rarities and gems (Kuroneko; Beyond the Darkness) and newer works (Prevenge; Butter on the Latch). Take a look, maybe your favorite horror movie was reviewed. ————————————————————————————————— SHORT RUN 2017, Saturday, November 4, 2017 ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 10-31-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 10-31-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 10-31-2017 – by Juan Fernandez [1][2] Share this page: [...]

11/16/2016

Juan FernándezNovember 16, 2016los Cómics / NewsJuan con un poquito sobre: las Comiqueras en diciembre; Octavio Beares sobre GrafMadrid + video; Venta de arte: Alexis Ziritt; Revista La Traca; La Polola Podcast #20: Realidad; Inés Estrada WINTER MEGASALE. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Madrid, España – GrafMadrid Octavio Beares ha escrito un poco sobre el milagro que es el festival, Graf. Octavio Beares es un veterano de los cómics, osea que su perspectiva es muy pero muy valorosa. Si no han ido a Graf, hay que ir, este festival es el “Comic Arts Brooklyn” del cómic hispanohablante! Entonces voy a Graf, y Mireia Pérez, cuando se cosca de que este tipo al que recuerda de otros grafs “soy yo”, Octavio, y me suelta una risa así de grande y sincera y un abrazorte del doce, se disipa cansancio y dudas. Porque es la primera. Vienen más de seguido, de más encuentros, y cuando me reencuentro con Gerardo y con tantos autores y colegas críticos, con gente que veo muy de vez en vez y con gente que solo conocía por Redes Sociales, y cuando estalla ese ambiente ígneo que es estar en Graf… “cansados mis bemoles”. El cómic es un manantial de cosas buenas, de gente BELLA, de talento, de ganas. Reventados todos por tres días duros, sobre todo organizadores y expositores. pero felices, o eso creo yo. En serio, id a Graf si os gustan los cómics y no conocéis este festival. El manantial brota de allí, es la gente, el pozo en que nace el arco iris. Hay una sinergia brutal, es centrifugante y vertiginoso. Es amoroso, afectivo, admirativo, alegre y POSITIVO. Es una sinfonía luminosa de ganas de hacer cosas, conocer gentes, autores, amigos virtuales. Es tan intenso que te balda y sabe a poco a la vez. Y si no conoces a nadie, te encontrarás en un espacio que acoge y que alimenta, con charlas bárbaras y talleres para todas las edades y todos los pelajes. Léelo todo AQUI! Aquí podéis ver una pequeña muestra de los expositores de GrafMadrid: ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Santiago, Chile: Comiqueras – Diciembre 10, 2016 Con la intención de fomentar la autopublicación de cómics y la producción de Autoras en la historieta local, se ha creado este evento. Para que se pueda exponer y conversar sobre la historieta hecha por mujeres cis, hetero o lgbtiq y compartir experiencias sobre la historia de las comiqueras en Chile y compartir conocimientos sobre autopublicación con aquellas que estén interesadas en comenzar a autopublicarse. Pueden participar todes aquelles mujeres y/o trans heterosexuales o lgbtiq que se dediquen a la creación de cómics de forma independiente y autogestinada en formato libro artesanal, fanzine u otro tipo de autopublicación. ¿Eres chica y haces cómics? Inscríbete para participar de este evento! ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Miami, Florida: Space Riders pages by Alexis Ziritt are on sale via Out of Step Arts. Buy a couple and bring ’em home! If you’re wondering what Ziritt’s tools of choice are, he’s got the answer for you right here. He gets this question, pretty often! Practicality above all. Road-friendly, simple & reliable. Pentel Pocket Brush. Kuretake No. 8 brush pen. Pentel Brush Pilot Petit3 Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph Ultradraw Waterproof Ink ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Valencia, España: La exposición Revista La Traca. La transgresión como norma acaba de habrir sus puertas. Se puede ver hasta el próximo 15 de enero en La Universitat de València en la Sala Estudi General del Centre Cultural La Nau. Comisariada por los profesores Antonio Laguna y Francesc-Andreu Martínez, la muestra es la primera dedicada a la revista, en la que se puede ver material inédito sobre la que fue la publicación de mayor tirada de España, con en torno a medio millón de ejemplares despachados en su época dorada. La revista La Traca. Semanari pa la chent de tro reflejó una cultura alternativa a la corriente mayoritaria de los medios de comunicación, siendo inmisericordes con la corrupción. No en vano, la revista fue una de las poquísimas publicaciones en caricaturizar la figura de Franco. La propaganda antifascista se convirtió en el eje central del semanario una vez estalló la Guerra Civil cuando, derivado de su éxito en Valencia, ya se editaba en castellano y distribuía por todo el país. Hitler y Mussolini eran representados como enemigos de la cultura y el progreso, siendo el 17 de marzo de 1937 cuando, por primera vez y de manos del colaborador José María Carnicero, aparece la figura de Franco, dibujado como homosexual –“el general invertido”-. Vestido de mujer, suspirando por los bellos marroquíes o mirando de forma golosa a unos platanos (la fruta), las viñetas no dejaban de producirse. Hasta el final. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ Texas, USA: Inés Estrada esta ofreciendo un MEGAbundle, su “Winter reading mega pack“! Prepárate para el invierno y ahora $41 cuando compras este mega pack. Get over $90 of comics for just $49! Solamente disponible en http://gatosaurio.com. Prepárate! ————————————————————————————————— [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/292329543″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] ⚡Santiago, Chile –Escucha @lapololapodcast, un podcast del cómic femenino con Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo! It’s always a fun, relaxing and enlightening listen. If you haven’t tuned in to La Polola just yet, Póngale Play 😉 En este capítulo las chicas conversanacerca de los límites entre la realidad y la ficción, entre lo concreto y la fantasía, entre lo comprobable y lo imaginario, lo privado y lo público. Conversan acerca de estas posturas en la narrativa a través de diferentes libros que vamos poniendo como ejemplo. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: thee Santoro School Handbook by Kurt Ankeny Comics Workbook has had a great show season, with visits to SPX, CXC, LICAF, & CAB. The workshops we have hosted at these events have been a highlight and folks all over are digging into comics making with new ideas swirling in their heads. If you didn’t making it to a workshop this year, be sure to keep an eye out for us next year – and meanwhile, check out thee Santoro School Handbook for Making Better Comics by Frank Santoro and Kurt Ankeny. Printed offset on cardstock by the professionals at The Prolific Group, Winnipeg, Canada, this is not some cheap color xerox or risograph. Looks great, feels great, and even smells great. Always available at our store HERE – free shipping worldwide! ————————————————————————————————— hasta la proxima! Juan Share this page: [...]

05/04/2016

Posted on May 4, 2016May 5, 2016 by Juan Fernández

Ratatà 2016 Recap; Salón del Cómic de Barcelona; Anya Davidson; Caitlin Skaalrud; New exhibitions at Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum; Sequential State; Meaning in the brain.

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ratata_2016_mostra-mercato_02-1001x1024 — Ratatà mostra-mercato – Serena Di Virgilio

Ratatà 2016

Serena Di Virgilio brings you a nice recap of all the happenings from Macerata’s Ratatà Festival (April 12-17) over on Italian comics blog Just Indie Comics. It’s a European festival so there were activities scattered all around the city center. Workshops, gallery exhibitions, independent press marketplace, signings and coffee. The good stuff. Lots to look at here. Join Di Virgilio for a stroll through Macerata and soak it all in!

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Salón del Cómic de Barcelona – 34

This weekend in Barcelona. Este fin de semana, nenes!
Salon/Saloon, what’s the difference? It’s on that old school San Diego Comic-Con wavelength, but Catalan, you feel me?
Big show, lots of nooks and crannies, not completely flooded with licensed characters and merchandising. Vale la pena darle una visita si estas en Barcelona.

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tumblr_o0wk4zSPpa1sgsc3co1_500 — Anya Davidson

Anya Davidson in conversation with Greg Hunter on TCJ

“As far as trends in underground comics…I hate cute. I really do…and I’m kind of leery of…the mania for cuteness that has kind of infected underground comics. I really feel allergic to that. … I don’t know why I find it so repellent. I guess because I think that cuteness is used as a marketing tool? And it’s used to sell us things, like, we breed these puppies that can’t walk and can’t move, you know? I think cuteness, for me, equals subjugation, and I just really feel passionately that…cartooning for me is a way to break the chains of that, and so… It freaks me out.” –Anya Davidson

Check it all out over on The Comics Journal.

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Caitlin Skaalrud interviewed Inkstuds

“The thing that I find attractive about these occult things or symbols is not necessarily what they implicitly mean but what that those images have a structured meaning that people can sort of agree. There’s a certain amount of understanding from those classic tarot images, we can all sort of understand what those mean… It’s more along the symbolism and motifs that paintings would use to indicate certain things… for me it was a way to not cheat find shortcuts in how people would receive it on a visceral, emotional way.” -Caitlin Skaalrud

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Comics in Columbus, OH
The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum have just announced their summer/fall exhibits. LITTLE NEMO: DREAM ANOTHER DREAM and GOOD GRIEF! CHILDREN AND COMICS –These two new exhibits will debut in June and run through October 2016. These exhibits are free and open to the public.

Get all the details on these upcoming exhibitions here. Start planning your pilgrimmage now.

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Support Comics Criticism
Alex Hoffman over at Sequential State is passing around the hat. Consider chipping in if you’ve previously enjoyed their reviews and interviews that they put together.

Since day one, I’ve tried to make Sequential State a reader-friendly place, with no advertisements, strong writing, and a fun monthly podcast. I want to explore comics, and I want you to enjoy what I find.

Keeping up the website and the podcast isn’t free though, and I’d love to expand Sequential State’s coverage. I want to pay other great authors to write criticism for Sequential State, support our podcast archives, and maybe even publish some new comics by great cartoonists.

You can contribute here.
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Mental Map
Neural networks and the form of our forms. Great study over at UC Berkley explores the nature of semantic connections in the brain developed in language via storytelling. Really beautiful stuff that points to the inherently synaestheic framework for how humans build natural language. It’d be interesting to see the way the brain is “lit” when exposed to image and word stimuli embedded in comics.

To better understand how the brain processes language, researchers from the University of California (UC), Berkeley, and their colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map the brains of people listening to a storytelling podcast(ed. The Moth). Using the resulting maps, the team could accurately predict the study participant’s neural responses to hearing new stories. And these responses were surprisingly consistent across individuals, according to the team’s study, published today (April 27) in Nature.

Check it all out over on The Scientist.

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See you later, nenes 😉
-Juan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvRkJzVQBP0

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged alexander hoffman, anya davidson, Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, Caitlin Skaalrud, Inkstuds, sequential state

Juan Fernández

Posted on May 4, 2016May 5, 2016

Explore

8/1/2016

Juan FernándezAugust 1, 2016NewsJuan here with your news for the day: Caleb Orecchio Rowhouse Report; Mickey Z straight outta 2012; Bill Boichel reviews Stroppy; Tillie Walden dailies; Tucker Stone on The Factual Opinion; SDCC 2016 panels; AIGA on Koyama Press, Breakdown and Retrofit; new Street Angel from Jim Rugg; New Private Rowhouse Auction – 7.31-8.6 ————————————————————————————————— First up, we’ve a Rowhouse Residency report from Caleb Orecchio and Frank Santoro, live from the Rowhouse Residency in Pittsburgh, PA. ————————————————————————————————— Mickey Z – THROWBACK EDITION – 2012/2013 I’m happy to announce that we are featuring Mickey Z’s comics made for Comics Workbook in 2012 and 2013 on the site this week. There’s no one quite like Mickey Z: an inimitable, full force assault of joy and recklessness on graph paper. Jump in! The waters fine. ————————————————————————————————— Stroppy reviewed by Bill Boichel Bill Boichel’s got a killer review of Marc Bell’s Stroppy on the site this week. Few people can write as insightful reviews as Bill, so it’s an honor to be able to share his writing with you here. Stroppy channels the vigorous populist cartooning energy that can trace its roots back to the classic comics strips – especially the depression-era Popeye by E.C. Segar and Harold Grey’s Little Orphan Annie. This vital populism was an integral part of American life and lore, but with the advent of the war economy in the late-1930s, it was sublimated into the national war effort throughout the Second World War, and beyond. ————————————————————————————————— Tillie Walden Daily Comics Tillie Walden is an introverted comics workhorse. a deft image maker and even more cunning sequencer of images. Very smart, very intuitive. She’s been making posting comics like this every day over at her Patreon. If you’re interested in supporting her emerging talent give her Patreon a look and consider making a regular contribution to help her grow. ————————————————————————————————— Tucker Stone talks The Factual Opinion Sean Witzke interviews Tucker Stone about the past 10 years of founding and running The Factual Opinion. Fellow TFO authors Nina Stone, Abhay Khosla, Matt Seneca, Michel Fiffe, Morgan Jeske, Joe McCulloch, Chris Mautner and Marty Brown all chime in with their memories of writing by Stone’s side on the site. Interesting perspectives on the difficulties of cultural writing that spotlights comics. TS: The thing that makes a lot of comics arguments (especially the ones driven by the comics blogosphere) so fucking absurd was that it takes a solid 20 minutes to explain what drives them. You have to go so deep into the woods, explaining the subject matter, explaining why you dislike this one person and the website they write for, how that old irritation infects the current conversation you’re imagining having with them–it makes you sound crazy. The jump that I think I had to make–that I still have to make–is that is IS crazy. It’s fucking lunacy, completely, to act as if those little battles have any bearing on anything at all outside the bubble. Nobody outside this thing is ever going to comprehend what the hell you’re talking about if you try to explain why you don’t like the person who handles press releases about books they’ve never read at some website they’ve never heard of. I think that’s what makes it a little more fun and crazy (albeit very gross) right now, because you don’t actually have to read the comics anymore, you can just go after some assholes for the way they treat women. Nobody has to read DMZ anymore or The Massive or whatever bullshit, you can just all band together under the umbrella of thinking that it’s fucked up to get handsy with some lady at a bar under the pretense that you’ll get her an inking gig somewhere. I think that’s great! Nothing in comics was ever going to change for the better when you kept demanding people read these dopey things that come out infrequently, look like shit, cost too much, aren’t as entertaining as the most bottom rung television show, etc. We got rid of that barricade. Hell yes, I say! The wider cultural context thing that always got me was the way digital comics was gonna save something–that idea that you could put these things in a device capable of showing off the top tiers of media. What kind of lunatic is going to choose the New 52 version of Booster Gold over watching million dollar movie trailers? ————————————————————————————————— Sarah Ferrick’s Sec on Rookie Mag Rachel Davies shares her thoughts on Sarah Ferrick’s latest publication, Sec over at Rookie. As someone who really enjoyed this 2dcloud release from the winter, I highly encourage you to check out this review. If you’re interested in a comic that sets the bar for emotionally driven, visceral yet abstracted, sexual comics making, Sec is where it’s at. Sec somehow finds a way to flawlessly illustrate those moments when, laying in bed, I attempt to recreate one of my wildest dreams: I have all the words for it, know the specifics of the fantasy, yet I’m unsure of the visuals. ————————————————————————————————— SDCC 2016 Panels now online You can now tune into the many quality panels that were held at SDCC (July 20-24 2016) from the comfort of your home thanks to Jamie Coville. Here are some noteworthy listens to start you off right: We Need Diverse Comics The Complete Wimmen’s Comix: A Her-story Celebrating 40 years of Fantagraphics Daniel Clowes Spotlight Comics Arts Conference #11: Trina Robbins Spotlight ————————————————————————————————— AIGA on Koyama Press, Breakdown and Retrofit There’s a nice pice on AIGA’s Eye on Design blog that touches upon the heavy hitters of independent comics publishing that have been pushing the frontiers of the comics market. They talk about what separates small presses from their larger counterparts, the crossover appeal of small presses, broad mainstream misunderstanding of independent comics making and their motivating love of the medium. Kessler blames the mainstream media for the public’s misunderstanding. “Scott McCloud’s The Sculptor gets loads of coverage,” he says. “It’s terrible, that book. But The Guardian riffed on it quite a lot, and so did a lot of other papers. I spoke to a lot of people who picked it up because they wanted to get into comics and they just thought it was total shit. My grandma, who’s very literate and culturally engaged, wanted to get into comics, and instead of asking me what comics to read, picked up what The Guardian recommended, and was just so confused. She said she felt like a fool reading it. I just had to tell her that I agreed, it was shit, and I sent her some comics that I thought were good instead.” ————————————————————————————————— —————————————————————————— New Private Rowhouse Auction – 7.31-8.6 Last but not least, we have a new private auction up at auction.comicsworkbook.com! Lots of old and new comics for you to take home. Lots of you have been writing in and saying you want cheaper stuff to bid on. So we’re going to do this different this week. Email Frank Santoro at santoroschoolATgmail for a password, if you don’t already have one. If you already have a password, it is the same from last week. All funds go to helping keep the lights on and further developing the school. —————————————————————————— until next time! jf Share this page: [...]

10/12/2017

Sally IngrahamOctober 12, 2017NewsSally here with announcements and excitement from Adam Griffiths, Kyle Baker, Derick Jones, Ronald Wimberly, and more! ————————————————————————————————— East City Art featured an official shout-out regarding Adam Griffiths‘ forthcoming graphic novel Washington White: “Science fiction meets the aftermath of the 1960s civil rights movement in Adam Griffiths’ forthcoming self-published graphic novel, Washington White, a pseudo techno-thriller about corporate greed, gentrification, and corruption set inside the District of Columbia. Drawn in pencil with digital coloring, Griffiths has been working on the 600-page book for nine years; the first installment will be published as a 70-page newspaper tabloid. Written in the form of a spy thriller, the civil rights science-fiction plot and the mad-cap challenges that the story’s range of characters face make for a bombastic, silly, and disturbing experience.“ If you’re in the D.C. area keep an eye out for this newspaper and perhaps catch Adam at CAB this year with copies of the comic. Adam gave Frank and I a peek at the manuscript of this work when he was here in January for a Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency, and I can tell you right now, it exists in a parallel dimension. I am eagerly anticipating this one! ————————————————————————————————— Like Derick Jones says, sometimes you gotta just use brute force to dig into a comics project, or page, or panel…! Above is part of a page from his new minicomic Rhythm Man, written by Storme Smith and recently published by Buno (which was founded in 2016 by Ulises Farinas and Storme Smith). You can see more pages and learn some of Derick’s thoughts behind them over on his Instagram – @skudsink – and get a copy of the comic HERE. ————————————————————————————————— An exciting announcement that came out of the New York Comic Con last week was that the Milestone imprint is coming back to DC Comics. A number of characters will return to or be born in the world of Earth M, including Static Shock (above) drawn by Kyle Baker and written by Denys Cowan and Reginald Hudlin. Cheers of delight met the announcement, made by Kyle Baker himself, as the character is a fan favorite. I’m just excited or anything and everything drawn by Kyle Baker, so we all must keep an eye out in 2018 for Static Shock #1…! Read the full report HERE on The Comics Beat. ————————————————————————————————— Ronald Wimberly is the featured artist at Superchief Gallery NY tonight (Oct. 12th 2017), so if you’re in the area you should go hang out with him from 7 PM – 12 AM. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 10-12-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 10-12-2017 – by Juan Fernandez ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 10-12-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

10/07/2016

Sally IngrahamOctober 7, 2016NewsSally here with reviews of Sarah Glidden’s new book, some Village Voice features, Clara Jetsmark in The Nib, an odd new Washington Post strip, Anya Davidson, Jessica Campbell, and M. S. Harkness, and a funny Pittsburgh encounter. ————————————————————————————————— Sarah Glidden‘s Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches from Turkey, Syria, and Iraq (Drawn & Quarterly, October 2016) just landed on the bookshelves and is already inspiring discussion and garnering praise. “Part memoir, part ethical inquiry and part travelogue, “Rolling Blackouts” resembles the work of her great hero, Joe Sacco, the author of Palestine and “Safe Area Goražde”, at least in the sense that it is about as serious and careful as a comic can possibly be. But it also has a gentleness that is all its own, perhaps because Glidden works mostly in soft watercolour, a medium that seems somehow to reflect her refusal to deal in certainties. Stories, as she writes in her introduction to Rolling Blackouts, are “how we make sense of a chaotic world” and she wants those she tells to be gripping; clearly, her material has to be edited, refined. But that doesn’t mean that she isn’t aware of her responsibilities or that they don’t weigh heavily with her. Just as a person’s life is much more to them than a mere story, so true objectivity is all but impossible in narrative journalism.” – The Guardian Read the rest of this article HERE. The article that the Huffington Post published on the work features some of Sarah Glidden’s sketches and notes from her travels – check it out HERE. Observer also has some thoughts on the book and comics journalism – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— 1st comic for Village Voice! A photo posted by Lauren Weinstein (@vineshtein) on Oct 6, 2016 at 8:39am PDT Lauren Weinstein has a strip in The Village Voice this week (preview above – check the news stands to see the whole thing!) ————————————————————————————————— The Village Voice also ran an article about the new Ms. Marvel series this week – an in-depth look at the character’s development, the author (G. Willow Willson), the acclaimed editor of the series – Marvel’s Sana Amanat – and the constantly swirling discussion of diversity in comic book stories AND their creators. Ms. Marvel is getting a lot of things right. “Written by Wilson, and inspired by the stories of Marvel editor Sana Amanat, the new “Ms. Marvel” is a study in conversion. Not of a religious sort (though Wilson, who is white, converted to Islam in college), but a creative transfiguration: the small to the large, the honest detail into mass appeal. The series is one of Marvel’s most successful, having entered an elite class within months of its debut, when that first issue hit a sixth print, a rare mark achieved by only a few genre classics, like the first issue of Wolverine. Amanat says she and Wilson never dreamed they’d make it to thirty issues, as they did this year. She puts their success down to Khan’s believability. “There’s that quote,” she told me recently, speaking by phone from the Marvel offices. ” ‘You achieve universality through specificity.’ We didn’t have a political agenda to prove to the world that Muslims are like this or not like this. You get to know Kamala Khan through the fact that she really wants to eat a BLT and she would really like to have her first kiss. And then you get to know that yeah, she’s a Muslim. She goes to mosque.” – The Village Voice Read the rest of the article HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Michael Cavna has a story about a new Washington Post “funny” you might have noticed – it stars a USDA worker, and begs the question “how?” Cavan explains how the real life Abbey Powell, public affairs specialist with the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, became an action-adventure comic character in James Allen’s new strip – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Clara Jetsmark and Tom Kaczynski collaborated on a recent comic for The Nib – Clara was interning with Tom for a few months, on loan from Denmark’s The Animation Workshop (like her fellow classmates Cathrin Peterslund and Emil Friis Ernst, who are currently spending time in Pittsburgh with Ed Piskor and Frank Santoro, respectively!) Here’s a taste of The Nib comic (it tromps through the political nostalgia and nationalism that surround the Trump campaign…): Read the whole thing HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Anya Davidson‘s Band For Life enjoyed it’s book release party last night at Quimby’s in Chicago, IL. Get a copy of Band For Life (Fantagraphics, September 2016) HERE. ————————————————————————————————— I’ve been dipping into Jessica Campbell‘s Hot or Not: 20th Century Male Artists (Koyama Press, September 2016) and can confirm that it is a hilarious and gratifying guide – a must-have reference for any trip to the art museum. “With the way Campbell reduces Borduas’s or Mondrian’s abstractions even further, or captures what’s cute about Calder’s mien, she poo-poos macho ideas of artistic greatness, at the same time she showcases her own slyly unassuming skill.” — Sean Rogers, The Globe and Mail Jessica will be on tour this fall – catch her at The Beguiling on Oct. 28th and ask for her further thoughts on Matisse’s overall hotness… ————————————————————————————————— The Rowhouse received a package from M. S. Harkness and Peter Faecke the other day, and I immediately stole all of M. S. Harkness’ comics. Her stories about wrestling and love are a perfect combination of badassery and humor, and the energy in her drawings is catching. Download some of her comics HERE – and catch her at Cartoon Crossroads Columbus next weekend! ————————————————————————————————— Naomi Nowak is a Comics Workbook sponsor – she is a cartoonist, illustrator, and fashion designer based in Sweden. Give her clothes and jewelry a look at her online shop – Raintower – where you will find some beautiful new items (all the clothing is made to order), and the majority of my Christmas wish list…! ————————————————————————————————— Copacetic Comics had a cool visitor today – David Conrad @crawford_conrad stopped by looking for Bill and left with some books ? @copaceticcomics ❤️ #pittsburgh #comics #marvelagentsofshield A photo posted by Sally Ingraham (@sally_ingraham) on Oct 6, 2016 at 6:44pm PDT Here’s a funny story – I was working at Copacetic Comics in Pittsburgh, PA, yesterday, and who should walk into the store? It was David Conrad – a Pittsburgh native and the actor who played Jim Clancy on the TV show Ghost Whisperer, and Ian Quinn on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which is why I recognized him), among other things. He was visiting from L.A. and had been told to look up Bill Boichel at Copacetic Comics. Although he splits time between a number of locations, Pittsburgh is still his hometown, and he recently started writing a column for Pittsburgh Magazine – here is the September “Talk of The Tahn”. He grew up very close to where Comics Workbook and the Rowhouse Residency is located, and is still invested in the neighborhood and surrounding city. Keep up with him via Instagram – @crawford_conrad – and you may just bump into him somewhere in the city this weekend! ————————————————————————————————— Comics Workbook is heading to the UK for The Lakes International Comic Art Festival and to Columbus, OH, for Cartoon Crossroads Columbus next week. Hang out with Frank Santoro, Aidan Koch, Connor Willumsen in the UK – more details HERE. The team in Ohio will be doing workshops next weekend, and you can sign up in advance to get a seat – details HERE. Advanced signups will end Friday, October 7th, 2016. ————————————————————————————————— There is still time to get a bid in on the Michael DeForge drawings that we have up for auction – details HERE. Have you seen the recent collaboration between Frank Santoro and master jeweler Airi Maeno? Check out the Pompeii Medallion HERE. Help us get Connor Willumsen to The Lakes International Comic Art Festival – this way please! ————————————————————————————————— I’ll be back with you next Friday, reporting live from Ohio and Cartoon Crossroads Columbus. See you there! – Sally Share this page: [...]

10/31/2017

04/20/2016

Juan FernándezApril 20, 2016News Comics Workbook: El Rincón: Tiktok; The Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press collectio; Libros Mutantes ’16; Feria Internacional del Libro Bogotá; Úlcera; El Tiempo de Mi Casa; Chancha via Circuito. Buenos dias a todos y bienvenidos a esta nueva émision del Rincón! Juan here with your Wednesday Spanish and South American comics round up. Let’s start off with the juicy stuff, the stuff you I’m betting you’ll get lost in. Empezemos con lo mas jugoso! —————————————————————————— Tapeando con los comics Tiktok TikTok Comics is an online comics hub for a kaleidoscope visually experimental comics centered around Spain. They offer their comics in Spanish AND English. Quienes son Tiktok? Somos una pequeña organización polimorfa sin ánimo de lucro ubicada en el Estrecho de Herschel. Este es un espacio-tiempo dedicado al cómic porque sí. ¡Disfrutadlo! Es una orden. Tik-tok-tik-tok… We are a small polymorphous organization located in the Strait of Herschel. This is a space-time devoted to comics for no reason. Enjoy it! That’s an order. Tik-tok-tik-tok … The site is curated and edited by Alexis Nolla, Marc Gustá, Andrés Magán, Ana Galvañ, Pau Anglada y Miriam Persand. They have so many wide ranging comics contributions, it’s hard to know where to start! If you need help, check out the authors section. No te pierdas en los archivos! Don’t get lost in the archives! – You’re going to want to bookmark this one. Or at least make sure you follow them on twitter or tumblr as they update a couple of times every week. —————————————————————————— Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press Collection Thanks to the University of Arizona there is now a database you can peruse, full of 150 years of regionally published newspapers chronicling Mexican and Mexican-Amercan history online. Among the 20 publications that have been curated, researched and digitized for the Historic Mexican and Mexican-American Press Archive you’ll find political cartoons in their natural context about the border from 100 years ago. Entre todas las 20 publicaciones del archivo encontraras bastantes caricaturas políticas sobre la frontera Mexicana desde hace un siglo. Dig around and see what you can find. No te imaginas lo que podrás encontrar… I suggest exploring the El Paso Morning Times. It is an especially good comics resource, chock a block with cartooning from 1914-1918. Tiras y caricaturas por todos lados! The Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press collection documents and showcases historic Mexican and Mexican American publications published in Tucson, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonora, Mexico from the mid-1800s to the 1970s. The collection covers important periods in Mexican-American history, from the Mexican Revolution to the Bracero Program to the Chicano Movement. There are about 1,900,000 Latino and Hispanic population in Arizona and more than 50 million in the United States. Having this collection available to the public through digitization of these materials, will raise awareness to issues that advance the image and identity of Latinos in American politics and media and their contributions to the United States. —————————————————————————— Libros Mutantes Esta feria en Madrid empieza este fin de semana y seguro que sera bien chula. This fair is sure to be a doozy. Lots of exciting programming. Libros Mutantes is focused on the relation between publishing and visual arts. Throughout the year they organize different events in order to bring this creative universe closer to the public. The main event in their calendar is Libros Mutantes Madrid Art Book Fair, held at La Casa Encendida. Since 2010, this Art Book Fair gathers a wide selection of national and international art books, independent publications and zines, and attracts a wide audience, making Libros Mutantes the largest and most comprehensive Spain-based project aimed at researching and spreading the creations of independent publishers. Autoeditoriales que son igualmentes “High y low”… There’s going to be so many books all over the spectrum, so self-publishing nerds you won’t want to miss this. —————————————————————————— Feria Internacional del Libro Bogotá From now until May 2nd, Bogotá is going hard with their international book fair. La Feria Internacional del Libro de Bogotá (Filbo) es el evento de promoción de la lectura y la industria editorial más importante de Colombia. You can think of FILBO as Colombia’s equivalent to ALA Conference. It’s big, and it’s a big deal to comics publishing houses! This year, Colombia has partnered up with the Netherlands to create a cross-cultural dialogue via literature. Empieza el conteo regresivo de la #FILBo2016 y queremos que tú seas el protagonista, ¿cuáles son tus recomendados? ?https://t.co/8wS0pbyA6b — Alcaldía de Bogotá (@AlcaldiaBogota) April 13, 2016 In light of this dialogue with the Netherlands, our friends over at Entreviñetas, one of Latin America’s leading comics festivals, are presenting a series of programs and exhibitions that celebrate 20th & 21st century dutch cartooning and comics making. Their collaboration Hola Holanda: es Cómic runs from April 25th – May 12th. Las tradiciones gráficas y narrativas de los Países Bajos han encontrado en el cómic un fértil camino para la creación de historias. Renovador a la vez que evocativo, tan fascinante por su delicadeza visual y su ingenio para el relato, el cómic revela una conversación inspiradora con la imagen y la palabra del pueblo neerlandés. La organización cultural Entreviñetas, a propósito de la participación de dicho país como invitado de honor a la Feria Internacional del Libro de Bogotá 2016, presenta un recorrido breve y múltiple por la obra de los autores más distintivos de las últimas décadas del siglo XX y las primeras del XXI. Son ellos quienes componen el novedoso panorama del cómic neerlandés. Invitamos así a una exposición que, de manera abierta y flexible en su cronología, exhibe por primera vez en Colombia el trabajo de 16 artistas en 80 piezas. *** On display for the first time in Colombia will be the work of 16 artists //Artistas en exhibición: Joost Swarte (1947, Heemstede) Peter Pontiac (1951, Beverwijk – 2015, Ámsterdam) TYPEX (1962, Ámsterdam) Erik Kriek (1966, Ámsterdam) Marcel Ruijters (1966, Róterdam) Barbara Stok (1970, Groningen) Tobias Schalken (1972,’s-Hertogenbosch) Milan Hulsing (1973, Ámsterdam) Boris Peeters (1974, Kampen), Lamelos collective Aleks Deurloo (1975, Kampen), Lamelos collective Sam Peeters (1976, Kampen), Lamelos collective Jeroen Funke (1976, Kampen), Lamelos collective Tim Ethoven (1985, Den Haag) Lennard Kok (1988, Utrecht) Aimée De Jongh (1988, Róterdam) Ludwig Volbeda (1990, Oosterhout) —————————————————————————— Puiupo + Pantazopoulos Over here in the states, Czap books has announced that they are publishing Brazil-based artists Puiupo and Adonis Pantazopoulos’ visceral sci-fi headtrip, Úlcera. From Kevin Czap it’s going to be “In the vein of Jodorowsky mixed with Masaaki Yuasa (Kaiba).” About the Artists Puiupo is a Portuguese cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in a number of Portuguese anthologies like LODAÇAL COMIX, Journal Altamira, and Nemesis. Adonis Pantazopoulos, a self-described “corretor de imóveis,” makes comics and paintings, the former having appeared on Nébula. Learn more about Úlcera and order a copy here. —————————————————————————— Less than 24 hours left on our Benefit Auction – Consider supporting or sharing our efforts! https://t.co/PSV43StWpO pic.twitter.com/JTdyssGJZt — Rowhouse Residency (@comicsworkbook) April 19, 2016 BENEFIT AUCTION ENDS TODAY Now’s your chance to sweep in and make all the incredible art that Chris Ware donated to Comics Workbook yours. Your support is invaluable to us. Go on, bid before you miss your chance! http://www.ebay.com/sch/copaceticcomicscompany/m.html?_trksid=p3692 —————————————————————————— Here’s Chancha Via Circuito’s 2010 release, río arriba. Put it on and do your thing. Lo que te dé la gana. It’s slow and it spirals deep into you. Take it easy and take care. Cuidense, chicos. Share this page: [...]

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