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