Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged annie koyama, Gabrielle Bell, Glynnis Fawkes, Heidi MacDonald, jack brougham, jillian tamaki, jordie bellaire, Keiler Roberts, Rebecca Roher, rosemary valero-o'connell, sally ingraham, SARAH FERRICK, vanesa r. del rey

Sally Ingraham

Posted on May 18, 2017

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Frank Santoro @ SPX 2016

Comics WorkbookOctober 8, 2016Santoro School / School Updateshttps://vimeo.com/185881298 SPX – September 17th 2016 Exerpts from the workshop with Cameron Weston Nicholson and Frank Santoro Filmed and edited by Tyler Q Tucker and Sally Ingraham (Watch the rest of the workshop footage HERE.) Share this page: [...]

09/16/2016

Sally IngrahamSeptember 16, 2016NewsSally here with more on SPX, the Spanish Fever crew, Dash Shaw, Glynnis Fawkes, and Lynda Barry. ————————————————————————————————— Around this time last year I had just moved to New Mexico, and I was missing Pittsburgh desperately. I spent the weekend of Small Press Expo somewhat frantically composing my comic Walkabout (which is all about Pittsburgh) and watching the various small dramas of SPX unfold via meager internet updates. A year later I will be attending SPX myself, bringing copies of Walkabout with me, and also a car-load of special zines made by Comics Workbook for SPX and Fantagraphics‘ 40th Anniversary celebration. Quite the switch-up! You can get a copy of the “Fanta-zine” when you register at the show – and a copy of my comic as well as loads of other cool stuff from Frank Santoro, Andrew White, Juan Fernandez, Audra Stang, Emil Friis Ernst, and others at the Comics Workbook table – N8. Observe the nifty map below so that this info imprints in your memory bank: ————————————————————————————————— The workshops that Comics Workbook is hosting at SPX have created quite a buzz, and may set the stage for more programming along these lines at future shows. We are particularly pleased to be presenting members of the “new wave of Spanish cartoonists”. A portion of the talent behind the new Fantagraphics compilation Spanish Fever arrived in the D.C. area on Thursday, kicking off their US tour with a public talk at the Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain, moderated by José Villarrubia. “Asked if there was some stylistic through-line that characterized this new movement, Villarubia said, “I see the influence of American independent comics, the underground, the influence of French comics, Japanese comics. In terms of the art, the aesthetics are influenced by what everyone else all over the world is being influenced by. I think more and more people are reading comics online and have access to materials from many different traditions. This work is informed by that. The five creators who are coming are a really great sampling of that, with different styles and age and gender.” ” – via dcist.com Spanish Fever editor Santiago Garcia is joined by David Rubin, Javier Olivares, José Domingo, and Ana Galvañ as the tour moves on to SPX this weekend. You can catch them at a panel moderated by Matt Madden and then learn to make comics THEIR WAY at the Spanish Fever workshop session on Saturday, Sept. 17th at 3-5pm (Brookside A&B room). See you there! I could keep talking about SPX, but there will be plenty of time for that next week… ————————————————————————————————— Meanwhile, Dash Shaw’s film My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea is garnering praise from everyone who has seen it – No Film School sat down with Dash soon after the premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and dug into the production adventure: “NFS: The process of casting animators is in and of itself its own form of directing. Were you and Jane generally on the same page? How did you navigate when you weren’t? Shaw: Jane and I are married and we live together. When we were drawing this, it was a small apartment, so discussions from the movie would comically fall over into other aspects of life. It would be very long talks when there were disagreements about what a face would be like for a certain line. Somehow it would work itself out. Our marriage survived this movie. A great example: there’s a part where all of the characters are running and the background moves while they’re in silhouette. Jane does all the silhouettes. I did the collage paper that’s flying past them, and I think that’s a good moment to point to where it was Jane in full force juxtaposed with something that I did and it equals something that’s more than the sum of its parts.“ Read the rest of the interview here. ————————————————————————————————— Over on Mutha Magazine Glynnis Fawkes has a late summer harvest of comics about kids and adults and general weirdness. One such: Many more HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Lynda Barry has her 3rd New York solo exhibition opening this weekend at the Adam Baumgold Gallery. “The Marlys Show, from September 17th through November 5th…will be devoted to Lynda Barry’s beloved character Marlys, and will feature 80 original drawings. There will be work dating from the early appearances of Marlys in 1986 to watercolor drawings of Marlys from 2016, with stories from Barry’s books The Fun House; Come Over, Come Over; It’s So Magic, The Freddie Stories, and of course The Greatest of Marlys, which is being reissued this year in hardcover by Drawn and Quarterly. Also included will be many of Lynda Barry’s comic drawings that were published in Raw, The Village Voice, Esquire, Newsweek and The New York Times, among others.” -Adam Baumgold The opening reception is September 17th from 5-7 and promises to be a great party, although Lynda Barry claims she will be “smoking and drinking beer over in the corner and trying not to make eye-contact“…! More details about the show HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Today is the last day to apply for a spot in the fall semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers – DO IT! ————————————————————————————————— I’ll bid you farewell till next week and a very happy weekend and leave you in the joyous grip of the Dom Flemons Trio (who swung through Pittsburgh on Thursday to make a special stop mid-tour at Copacetic Comics so they could get the new volume of Hip Hop Family Tree by Ed Piskor!) Cheers! Share this page: [...]

12/14/2017

Sally IngrahamDecember 14, 2017NewsSally here with comics by Zimbabwean cartoonists and writers Bill Masuku and Amanda Chaniwa, plus new work from Mohammed Sabaaneh. ————————————————————————————————— I found this write-up on the Zimbabwe comics scene, from back in March on Hyperallergic. It is an interview with Bill Masuku, who created the characters/comics Black Zeus (with Dananayi Muwanigwa), Razor-Man, Arcadia Knights, and more. In his writing and comics Masuku can’t avoid social justice issues, and as a Zimbabwean his perspective on the industry is particularly unique. There are socioeconomic issues that he is forced to deal with – for example, “Because of economic sanctions, Zimbabwean artists can’t use services like PayPal or Kickstarter.” The avenues to funding and visibility that so many cartoonists rely on are crossed off the list for cartoonists in his homeland. Just like his character Razor-Man, however, Masuku operates under “the Zimbabwean idea that no matter your situation, you can “make a plan.” Every Zimbabwean knows that catchphrase. It reflects the idea that no matter how bad things get, you’ll make it to the other side.” He also comments on the idea that the world needs more black people representing themselves, but not in isolation. There can’t be this tokenism, one character representing “an entire race on their own.” “Hyperallergic: Why do you think it’s important that we have Zimbabwean comic books specifically? How can Zimbabwean artists address the social issues Zimbabweans face in a way international artists can’t? Bill Masuku: It all comes back to context. Because of intersectionality, race, gender, and class are all big things that affect us globally. But then colorism, tribalism, and the intricacies of intersectionality come into play when you’re in a different socioeconomic location, or even just a different geographical location. As a writer, it’s crucial to be able to raise awareness about these issues at home. For example, there’s no one talking about being gay in a country where that’s illegal, and what actually happens to you when you come out to your parents. When someone who is not from here , they’ll miss the subtle nuances that make the issue relevant to someone who is here and going through it. Having an open-minded writer who talks about these issues creates hope for the reader.“ Read the rest of this article/interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Bill Masuku collaborated with Amanda Chaniwa on the comic Drama Mama. She talks about the comic and her hopes for the scene in Zimbabwe in the video below. Chaniwa is the first professional female comic book writer from Zimbabwe. ————————————————————————————————— In the Forward to the White and Black collection by Palestinian cartoonist Mohammad Sabaaneh shown above, “veteran American political cartoonist Seth Tobocman notes the influence of Picasso and Braque on Sabaaneh’s work, and asks: “Can there be an accurate depiction of an insane situation? Why should we draw in perspective when the world has lost its perspective? When reality becomes bizarre social realism gives way to social surrealism.” ” Sabaaneh published the book earlier this year – you can get a copy HERE. More recently, he’s turned his attention and his cartoons toward Trump – not surprisingly. You can read more about Sabaaneh’s life and often controversial work over on Al-Monitor. His most recent strips and caricatures can be seen on the website of the daily paper al-Haya al-Jadida. ————————————————————————————————— The Winter Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers starts January 18th 2018! 8 weeks – 500 bux – coaching for as long as you need. The course is hard, but Frank will push your comics making practice to a new level, getting you to think about timing and color in new ways. Makes a great holiday gift for yourself – or for a loved one who is interested in comics. Apply by midnight (EST) on Dec. 25th and get $100 off the course price. Full details and how to apply can be found HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

08/09/2018

Caleb OrecchioAugust 9, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here briefly comparing my old comics with Trevor Von Eeden’s. ————————————————————————————————— I was flipping through my dad’s childhood copy of Black Lightning no. 10. Look at how professional Von Eeden’s work was at eighteen. It’s good, good enough to be published by DC. The work looks Golden Age-y at times due to the artist’s unwieldy ambition combined with solid, albeit still developing, drawing chops. I enjoyed this elephant charging scene. Hahahaha! I horse laugh when I consider the comics I was making at eighteen! Oh look, here’s one from my vault. This is from my high school newspaper. Probably late 2010 to early-2011. Don’t laugh. ————————————————————————————————— Cement Mixer – 8-9-18 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

11/21/2017

Aaron CockleNovember 20, 2017NewsAaron Cockle here today with Amy Lockhart at Anthology Film Archives; Jerry Saltz on Bill Taylor; Austin English on ‘Feininger’s Grandkids’; Spearfishing Explained (in comics format) ————————————————————————————————— SHOW & TELL: AMY LOCKHART At Anthology Film Archives, Thursday, December 7, 7:30pm An animator with a style and sensibility entirely her own, Amy Lockhart has been drawing pictures of creepy ladies since she was seven years old. Utilizing everything from paper cutouts and puppets to digital tools, Lockhart’s films exude a handcrafted, rough-edged surrealism. Populated primarily by female figures whose body types are as distinctive and transgressive as those of R. Crumb, as well as by a cavalcade of anthropomorphized animals, objects, and shapes, her universe evokes kids-show animation seen through a distinctly demented lens, while also displaying a genuinely childlike, pre-socialized preoccupation with bodily functions. Profoundly intuitive and endlessly surprising, Lockhart’s mysterious and delirious world behaves according to a logic that’s as astonishing as it is inscrutable. “Amy Lockhart works across a range of mediums including zines, sculptures, paintings, drawings, and animations. Her work exudes an imperfection and oddness that feels very human, at once unpredictable, heartfelt, funny, and disturbing. Many of her works feature an array of stumbling, distorted cartoon characters whose misshapen bodies limp, bend, and bulge, often while smoking, licking, drooling, or crying. Also recurring in her work are disembodied facial features, hands, and limbs, as well as various joyfully rendered muscly women, frequently missing their arms. Such characters drive her work, but there is as much pleasure and interest to be taken in the way they are drawn, animated or constructed as in what they do or who they are. The form of her work has its own rich, non-verbal meaning and content.” – Edwin Rostron, EDGE OF FRAME SYLVA LINING (1998, 1 min, 16mm) THE DEVIL LIVES IN HOLLYWOOD (1999, 6 min, 16mm) MISS EDMONTON TEENBURGER 1983 IN, IT’S PARTY TIME! (2001, 17 min, digital) MISS EDMONTON TEENBURGER 1983 IN, YOU’RE ETERNAL… (2002, 6 min, digital) WALK FOR WALK (2005, 10 min, 16mm) THE COLLAGIST (2009, 2 min, digital) LANDSCAPE (2012, 8 min, digital) JESSICA (2014, 5 min, digital) Total running time: ca. 60 min. ————————————————————————————————— Jerry Saltz on Instagram ————————————————————————————————— Austin English at TCJ I have a personal theory as to why Doucet abandoned comics, one that relates to the context of this column but might not bear out factually. Anyone who wants to correct me should do so. But bear with me: Doucet, being a extremely sophisticated artist, continued to sharpen and evolve. Her mature comics work, My New York Diary, is as sharp a piece of traditional cartooning as one can find in the alternative era. But after that story, Doucet leaves comics. My theory is that Doucet looks at what people define “real” comics as, pushes her work in that direction, and thinks, “Well… why bother with all this if this is what people want?” Her early and later work are, to me, without flaw. But I’d argue that the comics community’s view of what a serious artist must apply themselves to is a pressure that doesn’t need to be grafted on to every artist. And yet the view is so dominant that it’s hard to avoid. Someone like Doucet can master the ins and outs of traditional cartoon integrity but probably notices quicker than most what a closed system it is, how much feeling it excludes and how much one gives up to offer one’s entire art up to it. ————————————————————————————————— ‘Instead of opening a sketchy attachment on your computer, upload it to Google Drive and look at it in your web browser.’ ————————————————————————————————— Vision Box – 11-21-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 11-21-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Caleb Orecchio – 11-21-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

05/19/2017

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Sally Ingraham

Sally here with new comics coming from Glynnis Fawkes, and Vanesa R. Del Rey and Jordie Bellaire – plus work from Gabrielle Bell, Keiler Roberts, Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, and more!

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Image Comics officially announced a new ongoing series called Redlands – it is made by “Eisner award-winning Jordie Bellaire (PRETTY DEADLY, Vision, Batman) and critically-acclaimed Vanesa R. del Rey (ZERO, Scarlet Witch, Constantine)“, and will come out in August. It’s going to be “witchy”, dark, and a “sick, weird love letter to Stephen King, Florida and Riot Grrrls everywhere but ultimately, hate mail for everything else,” according to Jordie Bellaire. More from the announcement HERE.

Earlier this month Vanesa and Jordie spoke to Entertainment about the series, a story that Jordie has been developing for years and one that Vanesa was immediately attracted to. Witches in Florida – what could be weirder and more wonderful? Jordie first had the idea in college, but shelved it for a number of years:

“I’m glad I waited because as each year passed, I grew as a person and the story changed as I became angrier and more passionate about things that were important to me. One day it clicked as I wondered what could change the things that upset me: What about the archetype female figure, the witch, could she change things? Witches taking over a town and assuming roles of actual influence really frightened me. And as the world has changed so much since November 2016, I find myself getting even darker with the material, and in a horrible way it makes even more sense now. The idea of corruption and monsters in places of power seems more believable than ever… Regarding art, I just knew Vanesa would be a great fit for this book. She has a relentless and visceral style that really gets under your skin and stays there.“

The setting is perfect, as Jordie grew up there and Vanesa currently lives in Florida. As Vanesa says:

“Florida is the exemplification of juxtaposition. It is a place where death and decay live together with growth and bloom. Where the young and old come to have fun in the sun. I wanted to work on something that was closer to home, someplace I could relate to better. I’ve been living in South Florida for over a decade now and I still don’t know it well. I want this project to be a chance for me to understand a little more, and a chance to bring readers into this strange world.“

Impatient, tired, ancient witches who are sick of the patriarchy decide to take over the local government and make some real changes – I can’t wait for this comic! Read more about it HERE.

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Glynnis Fawkes has announced a new comic – Reign of Crumbs, coming from Kilgore Books this spring. Some of the strips appeared on Mutha Magazine over the past year or so, and they all deal with “kids’ antics and bedtime conversations“.

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Gabrielle Bell has a comic in The New Yorker called 1-800-CATS – read the rest of it HERE. Keep an eye out for her new comic Everything is Flammable, coming June 6th 2017 from Uncivilized Books.

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Rosemary Valero-O’Connell spoke to Vice Money about being one of the few incredibly lucky cartoonists who can currently support herself by drawing comics. She lives cheaply in Minneapolis with a mess of roommates, mixes an almost un-manageable amount of freelance work with a full-time comics project she is working on with Mariko Tamaki (Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me), and realizes that she is living the dream – and that it may not last forever. The terrors and joys of the artist’s life. Watch the short video HERE. Check out more of Rosemary’s work on her website and via her Patreon.

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Stuff and Nonsense

There’s a great article in The Globe and Mail about Annie Koyama‘s journey to becoming one the world’s most celebrated comics publishers – check it out.
Heidi MacDonald is taking The Comics Beat to Havana for C3 (Comic Creators Conference) Cuba edition – can I please come too?? More about Cuba’s first Comic Con HERE.
There is an excerpt from Keiler Roberts‘ Sunburning (Koyama Press 2017) on Illustrated PEN, thanks to guest editor Rob Kirby – read it HERE.
The Comics Beat has a roundup of Rebecca Roher‘s comics as part of their “A Year of Free Comics” series – HERE. Rebecca recently won the Doug Wright Award for her graphic novel Bird in a Cage.
Irene Velentzas reviews Jillian Tamaki‘s Boundless for The Comics Journal, while Rachel Davies reviews Sarah Ferrick‘s Yours.

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Take thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers this summer! More details HERE.

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Blinkers – 5-19-2017 – by Jack Brougham

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Suzy and Cecil – 5-19-2017 – by Sally Ingraham

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Sally Ingraham

Posted on May 18, 2017

Explore

11/24/2016

Sam OmbiriNovember 24, 2016NewsToday we have thoughts from Tyler Landry on the recent work-in-progress of Cameron Weston Nicholson, and Sam Ombiri’s response to this with further exploration of the act of sketching and process work – plus other news items from the week. ————————————————————————————————— Tyler Landry here. I’ve been following some of Cameron Weston Nicholson’s semi-secret endeavors over the last week or two, and the man is ON FIRE! Several simultaneous streams of intense character development are taking place here – some involving characters you might recognize from a certain book/film about a peculiar little girl who’s looking for her place in the world, while some are brand new, straight from Cam’s brain-swamp. The latter are the first manifestations of a new comic he’s got in the works. Sssshhhhhh… There is a sincere (and successful) attempt here to accentuate each character’s unique physicality which, for me, helps to telegraph their personalities directly into their appearance. Think of it like exaggerated facial expressions – for the whole body. This next set of character poses is as much about movement as it is about base structure. In this case, what they do outwardly speaks volumes about what’s going on inside. Combined, the physical form and the gestures amount to much of what’s required for these characters to communicate who they are. What Cameron’s been doing here is the beginning of world-building for a story. Be it in comics, film/tv, a novel, or a video game, steps like these towards developing characters and, by extension, the world they inhabit, are essential. Cam’s really feeling these guys out, trying to understand what makes ‘em tick, how they dress, how they act, how they go about their business in the world he’s going to place them in. Just like any exercise in copying the masters, there’s a wealth of information to be gleaned from retracing the steps of your predecessors on the way to (or alongside) taking your own. – Tyler Landry Follow Cameron Weston Nicholson‘s Instagram to keep up with more of his process work – @prof_weston Watch the video of Cameron’s Comics Workbook-hosted workshop at SPX 2016 HERE. We have presented this Feature in full, but you can also read it HERE on the site, and check out more links to Cameron and Tyler Landry’s work. What follows is Sam Ombiri’s response to the above piece about Cameron’s work. ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here. Gary Panter said something like sketchbooks are your friend – sometimes you hide an idea in there and you find it later when you need it (I think that’s what he said). CF said he likes to think of a sketchbook or blank page as an experimental plane. Mieko Kawakami said that for her, sketching (she actually said poetry – but it’s in a different cultural context, which unless you avidly read contemporary Japanese literature in Japanese, and keep up to date with the trends in relation to the history of Western influence on Japanese poetry, mixing with the more traditional Japanese poetry, then going back to a mix of traditional and Western influence and just what’s hot in the scene right now…you’d get it – not that I know anything about all that, I just heard it somewhere). Anyway for Mieko Kawakami “sketching” is like delusion and the “final draft” (she actually said prose) is like imagination. I kinda partly disagree with this illustration. I don’t think – with my ignorance of what’s going on with Japanese poetry right now – work of that kind is pure delusion, but it is emotion tapered with structure at least for the time being (though there’s still structure at play, as shown in Cameron Weston Nicholson’s work – see above – but there’s room for expression created here. Or maybe it’s just one’s personal fears and reservations.) CF said something like the best way to draw is to turn your back on everyone you know and your ideals – at least I think that’s what he said. Japanese poetry is really preoccupied with rhythm, so even with the “delusion” it’s still grounded in something. Mieko Kawakami said the delusion she was referring to was like how she could have a family live in a house made out of pancakes – but ironically when she’s referring to her imagination she feels she can’t do that. It makes me wonder – why make novels that limit yourself if they are a “higher calling”? From my understanding, for awhile the attitude readers had for novels in Japan were: the more difficult the better. I’m not sure whether it was The Tale of Genji or Don Quixote that was the first novel, but I think it’s safe to say the novelists most likely have a strong sense of tradition strictly built on the foundation that The Tale of Genji set up (I’m only assuming). So then, maybe that strong sense of tradition is what drives Kawakami to limit herself. That doesn’t really make any sense though, because a lot of the more popular contemporary Japanese authors, at least popular outside of Japan, have been influenced by novels outside the Japanese tradition. I think she cited Virginia Woolf as a big influence. Someone said that the current movement is a fusion of the old difficult traditional Japanese literature and the new fun Japanese literature. Maybe in delusion/sketching/experimentation there’s a lack of tampering (which isn’t always the case). The only tampering to be found in imagination or in the work is in one’s limitations (sometimes). Ambiguity is subtracted so there’s a more possible chance of connection, but connection can happen either way. Sketches/process work is the most honest/real documentation. It doesn’t always show up in apparent ways in all works but sometimes it shows up in the final work, which usually rocks. I like to be reminded when I’m looking at a drawing that it’s a drawing made by a person who isn’t always graceful. – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— A few other news items for the day: Ben Passmore has a comic up on The Nib this week about getting arrested for protesting the KKK – check it out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The New Yorker ran a piece last week about the “Hidden Black Female Figures of Western Art” that is well worth a read. An excerpt: “What began as a small experiment expanded into the history of art in the entire Western world. The museums were invisible graveyards. They were just sitting there: broken, defaced, unseen. A catalogue of bodies. It was an invisible archaeology—an archaeology that crisscrossed time and space. Everywhere I went, I found them, just off, just to the edge, just beneath: pieces of black female bodies buried in plain sight. A small black female carved into the handle of a tool. Miniature black women who could fit into your palm. A three-inch-long black female carved into a knife handle, so you could hold on to her body tightly whenever you sliced your daily bread. A palm-sized black woman in your hand when you brushed your hair at night, looking absently into the mirror. A spoon handle, a drum, a hammer, a flute—black bodies sculpted into the wooden frame surrounding a heroic painting of a white male on top of a white horse, riding triumphantly into war. Black female bodies ornamenting the tripods, the base of a table, sleeping inside the frame, selling, offering, tending in the background of innumerable paintings. Bending, standing, waiting. Our whole artistic history crawling with the decorative bodies of black women.” – Robin Coste Lewis for The New Yorker Read the rest of the article HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Robin McConnell has a massive Cartoon Crossroads Columbus report up on the Inkstuds site – check it out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Matthew Thurber‘s comics have been adapted into the play 1-800-MICE, being put on by the Baltimore Annex Theater – info and tickets HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Comics Workbook has announced the Winter Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers – course starts Dec. 29th 2016! 8 week course – 500 bux – 10 spots available – apply by Dec. 13th 2016 and get $100 off course fee! More details can be found HERE – or email santoroschoolATgmail. Santoro School Application guidelines: -3 figure drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards -3 landscape drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards -3 still life drawings done on blank 3 x 5 cards -draw in a contour line style – Think Matisse – no under-drawing – draw directly in ink -just send small jpgs of images – dont post to your blog pls -specific url links to any comics work you have done. Send applications to: santoroschoolATgmail Share this page: [...]

11/24/2017

Sally IngrahamNovember 23, 2017NewsSally here with work by Jessica Campbell, Jessica Abel and Meg Lemke, Sophie Goldstein, and more! ————————————————————————————————— Hillary Brown talks House of Women with Sophie Goldstein on Paste Magazine. About the comic itself Hillary writes: “Alternately spiky and luscious, it draws you in by receding. She writes with economy, but the resulting story isn’t irritatingly arty or hard to follow; it’s not drawn by a comics artist only for other comics artists who speak the lingo and can read the subtext. It’s no surprise, in fact, that Margaret Atwood (restless, relentless experimenter, unafraid to leap into any genre that grabs her interest, including comics) is an inspiration for this female-centered and complexly feminist story of colonization and controlled social dynamics. Goldstein provides no easy answers—the book is thematically driven rather than focused on plot first and foremost—but she knows how to be just difficult enough.“ Read the interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Jessica Campbell has a comic about The Bad Behavior of Men in Comics up on Hyperallergic – it’ll probably make you squirm or steam, depending, because she brings up all kinds of things that no one likes to talk about. Read it HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Meg Lemke interviews Jessica Abel about her new book Growing Gills over on Mutha Magazine. Jessica has spent her life making comics, working in arts education, and developing theories about maintaining creative focus – something that I’d say the majority of us struggle with. This book came out of a series of online courses she taught and a working group she managed – where instead of dealing with issues like “how can I tell better stories?”, for example, the overwhelming chorus from her students and peers was “how can I deal with my paralyzing anxiety and procrastination?!” In Growing Gills Jessica offers some working theories she’s developed (although she struggles with the same issues in her own life on a regular basis.) In the interview Jessica and Meg talk about organization, self-forgiveness, and process over progress. “MUTHA: You talk in the book also about process over project outcomes, can you unpack that more? JESSICA ABEL: What’s destructive is when people want to make art, but don’t want to sell art. AND at the same time they feel they can’t be artists if they aren’t attempting to be professionals. “If I’m not showing in a gallery, am I really an artist? If I don’t have a mainstream publisher, am I a writer?” Yes, you are. It may be that the business side is not what you’re interested in; it requires sacrifice of your creative time to do the work required to be a “pro.” People miss that the selling part is a separate project. If they can recognize and commit to selling as a separate project, great. If you constantly find yourself saying “I don’t want to do the things needed to sell my work,” then maybe you need to rethink the underlying model. Maybe the creative work on its own is what you need to feed your psyche. Make room in your life for your work without worrying about making it pay for itself. Maybe it’s enough to share it with your family, friends, or put it up for free on Medium. Don’t confuse the creative work with your childhood dreams of fame.“ This speaks to me right now, as a good reminder that making comics and making money can’t always be the same thing, and if I’m sacrificing making good comics in favor of making money, then I need to reevaluate. The book is long and full of good stuff, but if you don’t have time to squeeze reading it into your already busy life, at least read this interview, which unpacks a lot. Check out Growing Gills HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Thanksgiving Leftovers (always better the next day!) Melanie Gillman‘s webcomic As the Crow Flies has been released by Iron Circus Comics – the A.V. Club reviews the comic HERE. GG discusses I’m Not Here over on Smash Pages. NPR reviews Body Music by Julie Maroh – apparently “earnest romanticism buoys it over the trouble spots“. Read the review HERE. Drawn + Quarterly is publishing new work by Rina Ayuyang and the last work of Geneviève Castrée – both comics coming in 2018. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 11-24-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 11-24-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

Comics Workbook Composition Competition 2013

Frank SantoroSeptember 12, 2013News / Riff RaffI just wanted to write something the composition competition I ran over at Comics Workbook on Tumblr. Tumblr is an interesting phenomenon. It’s sort of like Facebook, sort of like Twitter, and sort of like Instagram. But it’s different. It feels perfect for sharing short comics. You can “reblog” a post similarly to how on Twitter you can “retweet”. So the post that you reblog shows up on your own Tumblr homepage. Forgive me if you know all this. I’ve been surprised how Tumblr has taken off within indie comics. And I’m surprised how many comics makers I have gotten to know all over the world simply from following different people’s Tumblrs. It’s really widened my eyes to how many different kinds of comics are out there. For example, I became aware of Simon Hanselmann, the Australian cartoonist, because I was seeing some of his comics being reblogged. I think Tumblr has really changed the indie comics landscape for the better. The thing about Tumblr though is that if someone posts something on the other side of the world while I am sleeping I may just miss it entirely. Posts just seem to disappear. There are specific url links of course that you can locate – however when you go back to look through someone’s Tumblr usually they have added so many new posts since the last time you visited their homepage that it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. So, I wanted to share the amazing comics that poured into the Comics Workbook Composition Competition with the TCJ audience who may not be on Tumblr. Now that the Xeric Foundation no longer exists there are very few institutions that offer cash rewards for making comics. The Xeric grants also provided something for makers to aim for on the calendar. Having a deadline is often the thing that really kicks one in the ass to MAKE something; to finish something. I was truly humbled by the response. There were, in the end, over 70 entries. I thought there would be about a dozen. I was surprised when it went over 20. In fact, with only two weeks to go before the deadline there were under 30 entries. Then the floodgates opened. Deadlines work wonders apparently. (Add smiley face icon here) Myself and the other judges (three women and three men) crafted this response when we announced the winners: “The evidence is piling up: comics is THE ascendant art form. The sheer amount of energy and talent that poured into this competition during its relatively brief window provides ample testimony to this. It is our belief that artistic creation is a two way street. An artist, or any other creator, grows in the process of creating; the greater the efforts, the greater the growth. By this measure, comics creators in general – and those who submitted work to this competition in particular – are growing by leaps and bounds, and so, by definition, is the comics form; as in the final analysis, the value of a form is coincident with the work that it contains. It is our hope that all of the makers who participated in this contest have been TRANSFORMED in some way – artistically, personally, spiritually, and/or physically (improved eye-hand coordination? yes!) – by the time and energy dedicated to the creation of their submissions. Everyone who took part in this exercise has completed a hero’s journey.” When I took part in the Eisner Award judging this year, I learned that everyone has different tastes (duh). For some judges on the Eisner Awards, the art in the comic book is the most important factor. For other judges it seemed that the story was the most important thing. Obviously, the combination of great art and great writing makes for great comics. However, I was very surprised for example when a fellow judge didn’t care for a comic that I thought was brilliant. I asked why and the response was,”I just don’t like the art style.” The same thing happened when judging the Comics Workbook contest. Certain comics that I thought were stunning registered a “meh” by some of the other judges. And vice versa. It was a very difficult process. Everyone has different tastes. So, with that in mind I hope that the TCJ audience will sift through these wonderful comics and discuss them in the comments section. Feel free to “vote” for your favorites. However, please refrain from taking the time to bitch about the ones that you don’t like. Cool? Cool! The requirements for the competition were that each entry had to use the same page size and panel arrangement. Each comic had to be 14 pages in length plus a front and back cover. This, of course, creates a 16 page “signature” which can easily be made into a comic book. The requirements, I believe, leveled the playing field and allowed the maker to easily print the comic up when complete. ——————————————————- ——————————————————– COMPLETE LIST OF ENTRIES to the COMPETITION (Triangle Circle Square) by Alexander Tanazefti A Cramped, Well Pressurized Place by Scott Kroll A Kat, A Brick, A Mouse, A Dog or Comics: A Vast Waste Land by Paul A Poorly Edited Ending by Alison Crofts A Tender-Hearted Beheading by Nick Francis Potter Arachnodacks by Rowan Tedge Attempt 101 by MK Stangeland Jr Baba’s Accordion by Jared Cullum Bibo by Lauren Molina Big Wheel (AKA The Curse of Santoro) by Tyler Luetkehans Black Goo by Moonpulse Blue Dusk by Mica Agregado Boxes by Whit Taylor Clangor by Derek Timm-Brock Close One by Nick Alexander Death of Spot by Bill Wehmann Dog Dead Afternoon by Eva Houzard & Tarquin Pons Escape to the Top by Andy Frederick Exile from Cyclops Island by Pat Guppy Freefall by Alexey Sokolin Glory Trolls by Nicky Minus Goldie Over There by Jeremy Sorese Good Night Billy Moon by Ian Chachere and Jesse Dewyer Hacienda by Dave Ortega Hiccup by Mike Centeno House of Bees by Jillian Fleck JAS by Phillip Dokes Joey by Melissa Mendes July 99 by Suny Gao Late Night by Jack Reese Lesbian Sunrise by Rick Manlapig Little Dreamers by Dan Tabata Loner Anger by Mike Olson Meet by Harrison G Prince Molarhead by Mou Moon Festival by Todd Webb Moonling by Lydia Grace Henderson Mouth by Tristan Wright Object Memory Featuring Mother Koala and Mi the Yellow Dolphin by Saicoink Off the Grid by AT Pratt Old Port by Evangelos Androutsopoulos On The Way by Michael Fikaris One Woods by Brad A Post Fallout by Blake R. Sims Problem Child by PR Gamlen ProcrastiNation by Camilo Vieco Prof Lewis by KL Ricks Real Real Deep by Nick Jankowski Red and the Wolf by Michelle LaPlante Redneck Beach by Gabrielle Mulholland Repetition is a Form of Change by RM Rhodes Ringed Planets by Bob Schofield Sea by Rosie Haghighi Searching by Andrew Pannell Shield by Zoe Coughlin Stay Frosty by Ben Duncan Strange Outpost by Pablo Selin Swampy 93 by Bjorn Symbolon by Lucas Teixeira Temple by Jared Morgan The Abridged History of a Moon by Patt Kelley The Bad Unicorn by Yuliya Sobotyuk The Green Fly Theater by James Dale The Grid is the Thing by Derik A Badman The Perfect Human by L. Nichols The Quest by Kalen Knowles The Secret Life of Steven Seagal by Mat Barton and Adam Cooper The Steganographer’s Dream by Miranda The Story So Far by Royce Icon Then They Stand Stationary Again by Derik A Badman They Live by Night by Cole Johnson Thin Virtual Cloud Structure by Shawn Eisenach Tides by Andrew White Transaction by Joseph Lambert Valley Post by Mark Wang Vespers by Alexander Rothman —————————————————— —————————————————— The winners, as chosen by the judges: FIRST PLACE – $500 cash prize Hacienda by Dave Ortega Our decision to award “Hacienda” First Place recognizes Dave Ortega’s creation of an ambitious, multi-layered narrative that cuts through history, class, status and power in a deftly constructed story which takes the reader back and forth in time to reveal the conceit and illusion undergirding dominant paradigms in a way that only comics can. This complex concoction of culture and character made for a winning combination. ————————————————————————————- SECOND PLACE – $250 gift certificate at Copacetic Comics Shield by Zoe Coughlin In Second Place, Zoe Choughlin’s “Shield” puts an inventive twist on the mutant superhero theme, and in so doing gives new meaning to the phrase, “prickly personality.” Here is an adolescent power fantasy right where it’s needed most: the hallways of high school. Bullying takes many forms, some invisible to all but the victim. By recognizing this in a convincing and dramatic fashion, Ms. Coughlin has effectively demonstrated the power of comics to contribute to the eventual remedying of this unfortunate human trait. ———————————————————————————— THIRD PLACE – $100 gift certificate at Copacetic Comics Old Port by Evangelos Androutsopoulos The Comics Workbook Competition’s Third Place, “Old Port”, clearly embodies excellence in both conception and execution. In telling the story of youth’s first forays into independence and how the discovery of a nurturing space and mentorship can lead to creativity’s first flowering, the story provides an apt recapitulation of the very ideals powering this competition; its excellence in execution is plain for all to see. ———————————————————————————— ———————————————————————————- HONORABLE MENTIONS – $50 gift (each) at Big Planet Comics A Cramped, Well Pressurized Place by Scott Kroll Prof. Lewis by K. L. Ricks Goldie Over There by Jeremy Sorese Arachnodacks by Rowan Tedge ———————————————————— ———————————————————- SPECIAL MENTION – $25 gift certificate at PictureBox The Perfect Human by L. Nichols ————————————————- ———————————————— ———————————————– THANK YOU to everyone who participated. The plan is to make it a yearly event. I think it worked out to have the contest deadline so close to SPX. It seems like everyone in the small press community furiously makes comics over the summer to debut at SPX. So for those who can’t make it to SPX this contest and the deadline allowed them to join in that special mania. Many of the comics that were created for the contest will be on display at SPX, so check ’em out! Thanks again. This was a truly humbling experience for myself and the folks involved in making the contest possible. Cheers. Share this page: [...]

03/22/2018

Sally IngrahamMarch 22, 2018NewsSally here with work by Shequeta Smith, E. Simms Campbell, and CM Campbell, plus much more! ————————————————————————————————— A recent article on the Los Angeles Sentinel celebrated Women’s History Month with a terrific roundup of Black Women in Comics. One creator whom I was excited to discover is Shequeta Smith (pictured above). She is a powerhouse, making the Rayven Choi series, running Shero Comics, and digging into the screenwriting industry as well. You can see a preview of Rayven Choi Chapter #3: The Bounty Hunter HERE. The L. A. Sentinel article also lists Micheline Hess (creator of Malice in Ovenland), Myisha Haynes (The Substitutes), Taneka Stotts (Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi and Fantasy Comic Anthology series), and familiar names like Marguerite Abouet (the Aya comics), and Jackie Ormes (Torchy Brown, etc.) Check out the whole list HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Here’s an article on Slate from 2016 about E. Simms Campbell – one of the first successful black cartoonists. His work appeared in numerous magazines of the day, many of them in Esquire, which launched in 1933. I thought the map pictured above was terrific, and if you are a jazz fan it is worth noting that Cab Calloway’s band appears at the bottom left-hand corner. ————————————————————————————————— CM Campbell shares a lengthy and interesting comic on Hyperallergic for “anyone who has ever asked, “How do I draw a black guy?” ” Read the full thing HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Extra, Extra! Check out Ronald Wimberly on the Comicidal Podcast – he talks about new and ongoing projects like Sunset Park, and LAAB Magazine. Listen HERE. Ta-Nehisi Coates (the writer behind two successful years of Black Panther) is going to start writing Captain America. He scribbled a brief essay for The Atlantic that announced the new project, and details why it “scares the hell out of me“. The Nib has a feature called Comics By Response, where they pose a question or concept and cartoonists respond – here are Four Cartoonists on Their Favorite Unsung Black History Heroes – with work by Keith Knight, Robyn Smith, Ben Passmore, and Mariah Rose-Marie. Illustrated PEN on PEN America’s guest editor Robert Kirby showcases the work of fellow guest editor Whit Taylor, throwing light on the final story in her collection Ghost Stories – the story is called Maker and you can see it 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 as early as March 30th 2018. Deadline to apply is April 12th. Read all about the course HERE and email santoroschool@gmail.com for more details or to apply. ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-21-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

10/25/2017

Juan FernándezOctober 25, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos el día con Cristina Daura; La Polola; Begoña García-Alén; Inés Estrada; y los tebeos de Cómics Workbook! ————————————————————————————————— Cristina Daura y la Presencia del Cómic Participaste en el comic ‘’Todas Putas: los cuentos gráficos’’, además de un premio a Mejor autora revelación en el Salón Expocomic de 2015, ¿qué supuso éste encargo para ti? Disfrutar mucho del proyecto, fue algo que me apetecía hacer. Me dieron una historia muy oscura de dos páginas que transformé en 12 páginas de cómic. Agradezco mucho que Carla Berrocal pensara en mí para el libro. ¿Hay algún proyecto más de éste formato o parecido en el que estés trabajando? He leído que te traes entre manos una novela gráfica… Ese es el proyecto que está en standby continuo (risas). Se trataba de mi proyecto final de Ilustración que años más tarde enseñé a dos amigos, ellos me querían empujar a publicarlo. Pero claro, lo quería rehacer, y de tanto rehacer no salió. Cuando me propusieron publicarlo, yo estaba todavía trabajando a media jornada en otro empleo y a la vez intentando vivir de la ilustración. Y en ese momento la novela gráfica era el tipo de proyecto al que podía refugiarme y crear algo personal. Actualmente trabajo a tiempo completo de la ilustración y tampoco me deja tiempo para seguir con el proyecto. No descarto vender mi alma al diablo, aka una marca que pague un buen puñado de euros, y encontrar tiempo para terminarlo. Barcelona es una ciudad cara, tengo un alquiler que pagar, una cuota de autónomos que pagar, y otros gastos que poder cubrir. ¡Ah sí!, y recodar que tengo una vida, amigos, familia, etcétera. Si a todo esto le sumas que el cómic en España está vergonzosamente mal pagado y que no tengo tiempo para todo, te das cuenta que tienes que tomar decisiones. El cómic es de las cosas más infravaloradas en este país, que tan poco invierte en la cultura. Por suerte, todavía hay dibujantes y dibujantas que emergen o continúan dando lo mejor en el cómic nacional, entre ellos, Marc Torices, Conxita Herrero, Roberta Vázquez, Natacha Bustos, Clara Soriano, Carla Berrocal, Antonio Hitos, Lorenzo Montatore, José Jajaja, Roberto Massó, y un largo largo etcétera. Léanlo todo AQUI. ————————————————————————————————— “La Polola is creating a podcast” If you didn’t know already, La Polola is – THE Latin American comics podcast. They have been road testing their show for over a year now, having recorded over 50 episodes. Audio AND video. They are now passing the hat to make this a sustainable operation – tune in – support and get hep. FYI -La Polola is a comics podcast, created and conducted by Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo; two Chilean women who love to draw and have published many autobiographical and fiction comic books. Bored that the Chilean comic scene was led by men, they decided to open a space where the heads were us. They lead the forefront of documenting contemporary comics happenings across nations in Latin America. La Polola es un podcast de cómic femenino, creado y conducido por Sol Díaz y Maliki 4 ojos; dos chilenas que amamos dibujar y hemos publicado muchos libros de cómic autobiográficos y de ficción. Aburridas de que la escena del cómic chileno estuviese liderada por hombres, decidimos abrir un espacio donde las jefas fuéramos nosotras. Con la idea de incentivar al público a dibujar e ilustrar, nos juntamos una vez a la semana (en un café o en nuestras casas o talleres) y conversamos -con desayuno en la mesa- sobre el dibujo, el arte, la creatividad, los libros que nos gustan, los autor@s que admiramos y muchísimas cosas mas (la rabia, el miedo, la madre, los estereotipos, el embarazo, los viajes, etc) y en nuestro blog subimos las fotos de los libros que recomendamos. En la mayoría de los capítulos invitamos a conversar con nosotras a ilustrador@s, dibujantes y personas creativas de muchos ámbitos (cantantes, comediantes, filósofos, periodistas, astronautas, bomberos, etc). También ponemos canciones de músicos emergentes y recomendamos fanzines, novelas gráficas, series de TV, exposiciones y eventos de cómic. ————————————————————————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: Inés Estrada: “Millions of years of evolution for us to all be bored on our phones right now…” The last issue of her Alienation comic is now available from her webshop, Gatosaurio. If you haven’t picked up all previous 5 issues, you’d be remiss not to get all 6 for $25. Miguel A. Pérez-Gómez reseña Nuevas estructuras de Begoña García-Alén – el lector como constructor. Seis libreros colombianos hablan sobre las ventas del cómic, el nacimiento de autores locales y el Festival Entreviñetas en El Espectador. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 10-25-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 10-25-2017- by Juan Fernandez ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 10-25-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

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