Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Juan Fernández

Posted on May 31, 2017May 31, 2017

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11/01/2017

Juan FernándezNovember 1, 2017NewsEmpezamos el día con Marcela Trujillo; Isabel Mendez; Berliac, Museo ABC, Daniel Jiménez Quiroz; y los tebeos de Cómics Workbook! ————————————————————————————————— Marcela Trujillo: Siempre Hay una palabra para destruir a la mujer libre que escoge cómo vivir. Denisse Leighton entrevista Marcela Trujillo en Belelu: Marcela “Maliki” Trujillo (48) es una de las más famosas ilustradoras chilenas, una de las pocas mujeres en el Olimpo del dibujo a lápiz y/o tinta china en este país. Sin embargo, para llegar a este lugar de reconocimiento ha debido pasar por muchas situaciones que han forjado su carácter y carrera artística. Porque ser mujer en todas las áreas significa un cuestionamiento, más si tus primeros proyectos hablan de cuánto te gusta el sexo. “Enamorada de mi Clítoris”, publicado en The Clinic, fue el comic que la llevó a convertirse en una de las ilustradoras más irreverentes de Chile a inicios del 2000 cuando aún vivía en New York. Inspirada en las obras de Phoebe Gloeckner, Julie Doucet y Aline Kominsky-Crumb y también los capítulos de Sex And The City serie que veía en VHS mientras vivía en la Gran Manzana. El inicio de su carrera se enfocó en la pintura tras sus estudios de arte en la Universidad de Chile, sin embargo, las experiencias en New York la acercaron al cómic donde hoy es todo un referente en un momento álgido para esta técnica. Asegura que una obra de Phoebe Gloeckner hablando de abuso la impactó al punto de comenzar a indagar en el cómic hecho por mujeres creando así su personaje “Maliki 4 ojos” que relataba al inicio bromas sobre sí misma pero que mutó hacia la sexualidad, a hablar de la masturbación y el deseo femenino en general. Léanlo todo AQUI. ————————————————————————————————— Las ideas ¿Nacen o se hacen? Isabel Méndez nos ofrece un vistazo a nuestras erramientas creativas en Firmado Por: Hoy vengo con un post sobre CREATIVIDAD. No, no te has equivocado de página. Esto es FirmadoPor y ya te adelanto que estamos preparando nueva web. ¡Oh Yeah! Esta semana el post es distinto, aunque no nos alejamos mucho de la propiedad intelectual ya que la creatividad tiene mucho que ver con los derechos de autor ¿No es requisito indispensable para que una obra esté protegida por derechos de autor que la misma sea ORIGINAL? ¿No tiene que ver la originalidad con la CREACIÓN? ¿No es acaso la creatividad la HERRAMIENTA más valiosa de los autores? Voy a dejarme llevar en estos post, investigar y curiosear sobre el proceso creativo. Ver cómo creaban o qué opinaban del arte y la creatividad otros artistas y, por qué no, ponerlo en relación con nuestra Ley de Propiedad Intelectual. Léanlo todo AQUI. ————————————————————————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: Seis libreros colombianos hablan sobre las ventas del cómic, el nacimiento de autores locales y el Festival Entreviñetas en El Espectador. ¡Queremos tebeos! No os perdáis la exposición HISTORIETAS DEL TEBEO, 1917—1977 en el Museo ABC. Berliac talks Identity Politics in Exberliner magazine Issue 165 on Full article on page 20. En StartUp, Daniel Jiménez Quiroz habló de la importancia de establecer redes de comunicación entre abogados y creadores de cómic. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 11-1-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 11-1-2017 – by Juan Fernandez ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 11-1-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

05/09/2017

Aaron CockleMay 8, 2017NewsAaron here today with Kyung Me Comics; RIP Pepe; Review of Crickets 6; Interview with Keiler Roberts; Dash Shaw at SVA; Font Maps ————————————————————————————————— Copy Kitty The featured comic on the CW site this week is Copy Kitty, by Kyung Me. ————————————————————————————————— Pepe the Frog, RIP? Marykate Jasper talks about Matt Furie’s ‘Death of Pepe the Frog’ comic, whose wake was recently depicted in Fantagraphics’ World’s Greatest Cartoonists comic for Free Comic Book Day: Feelings-wise, I’m a little torn. I love Furie’s bold, take-that rejection of a hate group’s co-opting of his art. But I’m also sad that true control of this fun, easily meme-able character was taken from him in such a way. It must be disturbing to see your “blissfully stoned” frog character used by actual Nazis to facilitate jokes about genocide and hate. ————————————————————————————————— ‘This could be the final chapter of Blood Of The Virgin, or it could not.’ arecomicsevengood posted about Sammy Harkham’s most recent issue of Crickets, #6: The scenes of driving around L.A. seem like they were researched specifically to achieve the pleasure someone takes in seeing the area where they live in a movie, taken from a time before they lived there. This new issue is good scene after good scene, capturing a flow of feelings. There is none of the internal monologue that makes up the sort of novels I mentioned. It’s unspoken, one can read that sort of thing elsewhere if they want to fill in the blanks. One feels as if it’s totally possible the characters might have read these sorts of novels, just as they go to see the sort of movies they’re making. The work alluded to fills in the milieu of the character’s emotional landscape. ————————————————————————————————— ‘It happens to be mine, but I no longer need people to connect to me because of it.’ Krystal DiFronzo talks with Keiler Roberts, whose new book, Sunburning, debuts this weekend at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival: KD: I’ve always found your pacing dynamic and this book is a great example of it. Some of the bits are one page snapshots while others develop into fully realized memories or mini-memoirs. There’s no dividing line between them, no titling to alert the reader immediately that one chapter has ended while another has begun. It connects all the stories in a way that feels most alike actual memory and thought. One moment you focus on a trauma and another moment your daughter, Xia, is saying some genius line like, “My tummy is horrified.” This feels very deliberate, how do you go about planning your books? KR: Thank you! When I’m writing individual stories, I don’t know where they’ll be located in a book. I lay them all out on the floor and find an order that creates an emotional line that I like. I’m drawn to contrast and inconsistency. Maybe it’s the effect of bipolar rapid cycling on my personality, or maybe it’s just that jokes are funnier when they’re paired with something dark. The themes that emerge aren’t planned before I begin. I didn’t set out to write so many stories with a medical component. I’d like to write more about my close friends and my teaching job because they are huge parts of my life that make only brief appearances in the book. This is where the line exists that separates my stories from my life, though. Powdered Milk has never been a totally accurate picture of my life. It’s all honest and true, but so much is excluded. It might just be about timing, though. I finally wrote Xia’s birth story, which wasn’t traumatic at all. I can’t predict which events will turn into comics, or when. ————————————————————————————————— Dash Shaw Discusses the Unique Beauty of Comics and More Next up in the SVA Features series is Dash Shaw (BFA 2005 Illustration), a comic book writer/artist, animator and author of the critically acclaimed graphic novels Cosplayers, Doctors, New School and Bottomless Belly Button, published by Fantagraphics. He has also written Love Eats Brains (Odd God Press), GardenHead (Meathaus), The Mother’s Mouth (Alternative Comics) and BodyWorld (Pantheon Books). Shaw’s feature-film debut, My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea, starring the voices of Jason Schwartzman, Lena Dunham, Reggie Watts, Maya Rudolph and Susan Sarandon, is currently in theaters. ————————————————————————————————— Finally, the bringing together of typography and artificial intelligence you (may) have been waiting for: in an exercise to investigate the ways in which machine learning can be applied to various creative challenges, designers at IDEO are bringing artificial intelligence to the world of typography. recognizing font choice as one of the most frequent visual decisions a designer makes, the IDEO team wanted to create an insightful and valuable tool that lets designers look at letterforms in an entirely new way. using AI and convolutional neural networks to draw higher-vision pattern recognition, IDEO created ‘font map’ — an interactive interface comprising more than 750 fonts that users can digitally engage with and explore. ————————————————————————————————— Announcing the Summer Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers! 8 weeks! 500 bux! Payment plans are available! Summer Course starts June 1st 2017! Applications are due by May 25th. Visit THIS page for more details and email santoroschool@gmail.com with applications and questions! ————————————————————————————————— A Cosmic Journey – 5-9-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-9-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 5-9-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

HeroesCon 2016

Audra StangJune 23, 2016Festivals and ShowsThis past weekend my pal Syd and I traveled to Charlotte, NC, to visit HeroesCon at the Charlotte Convention Center. Due to the impromptu nature of our trip, we arrived at around 3pm on Sunday, which gave us a few hours to explore this year’s convention. HeroesCon functions as a two-in-one experience – the central Indie Island acts as a mini small press festival and is flanked on both sides by the rest of the Artists Alley; in front of the entire Artists Alley are sponsors, a stage, an eating area, toys, t-shirts, backpacks, costumes, art supplies, and comics dealers. The diversity of the event lends itself to incredible sights – such as an entire family dressed as Doctor Who characters standing elbow to elbow with some crust punks while they all await the delicious reprieve of a convention center corndog. After walking the entire convention center to get a first look at everything we finally stopped to visit Ryan Cecil Smith, where I grabbed a copy of Shed & Frontlawn Zine. Comprised of contributions from three artists – Graeme McNee, An Nguyen, and Ryan Cecil Smith – and printed via four-color “fauk CMYK” risograph printing, this zine is bursting with illustrations and articles ranging from “What’s Trending” to “Drawing with Copic Markers.” (My personal favorite is “Suburban Fashion” in Charlotte, North Carolina.) Next we visited Jim Rugg, who was kind enough to pose for a photo. I picked up Rambo 3.5 and the Street Angel Xmas Special, and as we chatted we learned that he had recently launched a new Street Angel story in webcomic form – Alcatraz, Jr. – which began on June 16 and features weekly updates on Mondays and Thursdays. Around this point I got severely lost because honestly, this was my third convention ever and between all the costumed folks, crowded artist tables, and big, beautiful, banners I felt like I was in the middle of a comics fever dream. I’m sweaty, confused, and kind of annoyed because “I have walked by this baby stroller at least three times and I don’t understand how that’s even possible” when I come upon Ben Sears’ table (pictured above). He also took a photo for me with his offerings (thanks!) and I bought a copy of The Sweeper, a two color risograph comic about “a trash cleanup robot, a cat, and a bird to find food in the middle of the night.” The pairing of cool blue ink, warm cream-colored paper, and delicate linework perfectly evoke the feeling of nighttime wandering. I got lost again and at this point conceded to Syd that I actually needed one of those guidebooks – and with one in hand finally found my way to Richie Pope’s table where I got a copy of the second (and final) edition of Newdini (pictured above), described by the author as “a mini faux-documentary comic about the life of a mysterious man named Clarence who could “disappear,” featuring brief interviews with the people who knew him, a little space travel, and a nice appreciation for houseplants.” Around 5:30 – about two and a half hours later – we were exhausted and decided it was time to head home. This was good, as I had made a few more purchases than I had anticipated, my feet were killing me from walking in circles, and I needed a shower more than anything in the world. Because we came on the last day, we missed some artists who had packed up early – but for an hour and a half drive from Greensboro and a $15 Sunday ticket, it was definitely worth it! ____________________________________________________ HeroesCon is a beast, centering what is essentially a zinefest in the middle of a mainstream comics convention, but it works. At my first HeroesCon in 2014, I was buying a copy of Youth is Wasted from Noah Van Sciver when an announcement came over the speakers for a massive cosplay contest – a moment that successfully encapsulates my HeroesCon experience. It’s a funny coexistence. Other notes: I wish more folks would bring cheap xeroxed zines with them to sell – I’d feel better buying a $2 zine on copy paper from somebody than merely asking them, “Do you have a card?” I try to split my money up between as many artists as possible. You truly have to walk the floor a few times to avoid missing artists – it was on my final pass that I found the tables of Enzo Garza and Poison Press, respectively. Maybe it’s because I’m still new to conventions, but I always worry about missing hidden gems. This was the first year I had the guts to bring my zines without a table, and everybody was very kind that I shared them with. These nice people included Richie Pope, Coleman Engle, Chris Schweizer, and Chris Pitzer, publisher of AdHouse Books (“That’s what you do at conventions!”) Kyle Starks even let me trade him a zine for a sticker. Bartering at its best! ____________________________________________________ Audra Stang is a cartoonist from Greensboro, NC. Keep an eye out for Star Valley – a webcomic launching around the end of summer – and meanwhile find her other work HERE. Share this page: [...]

12/01/2016

Sam OmbiriDecember 1, 2016NewsToday we have Sam Ombiri with a new comic and his thoughts on rereading, Tyler Landry on the movement in Ronald Wimberly’s comic page layouts, new work by Chris Visions and Tanna Tucker, the POW! Womxn in Comics and Illustration exhibition, details on pre-ordering “The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey” and your Santoro Correspondence Course reminder, plus the latest “Suzy and Cecil” strip. ————————————————————————————————— ReRun – Sam Ombiri Someone told me that, to them, rereading is like dreaming a dream you’ve had before. This person said it to me like it was something she often did. I’ve never experienced anything like that, where I have a “rerun” of a dream. I could relate to the idea of rereading being like revising a place you’ve been before. I don’t think I can come up with one specific motivation behind rereading. It’s something people do with different motivations. Sometimes rereading is like visiting a place, a kind of copy of the original moment, with intentions maybe of recreating the original feeling. Sometimes (while engaging with work in this manner) I find that I skip ahead to the best parts, then I feel like I’m betraying the re-creation, or maybe the form? I don’t know, but I feel like I’m doing something wrong. Sometimes it’s very fulfilling to read in this manner (of recreating the first reading), and sometimes reading work this way just ruins things. It can get really boring to just validate established feelings. Like really really really really boring. Or maybe not boring, just very bland. I think that’s why my short attention span kicks in, and I flip through mindlessly. Sometimes after going through this I reproach rereading and suddenly what I’m reading is not “ruined”. It’s like if you can be anywhere you want but it’s too dissatisfying and too easy to be everywhere, so any moment you encounter ends up feeling like…unearned? Kind of like how easy it is to get information now. So then it helps to navigate more delicately (that’s probably the wrong word). – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Tyler Landry here. Gonna talk about movement in comics page layouts, via the highly energetic work of Ronald Wimberly. Sequences are nabbed from Prince of Cats. Check it out: This sequence shows the beginning of a violent altercation, with heavily weighted forward (left to right) movement, bringing your eye ever-closer to the focus, the point, the unmistakable K-T-T-T- sound of a box-cutter blade being pushed up… At a glance, there’s a powerful “X” slash through this sequence. Corner to corner, face to action/face to action, crossing through the attacker’s antic. We can also interpret, by the facing direction, and the trajectory of character movement, an intention on Ronald’s part to guide our eye along certain lines. Through the 3 horizontal strips, we feel a rhythm to this motion as well – perfectly paced out in corresponding measures. Pink > blue, pink > blue, pink > bl-blue. This next sequence acts like a ball, thrown across the page at first, then bouncing from one figure to another – still with diligent respect for a vertical stack of horizontal movement. I’ve focused mostly on characters, because they are the primarily active elements here, but this sequence leverages the content of its backgrounds beautifully for the assist. Check out the train across the top panels, then the view of the platform in bright yellow in the middle section, hauling your eye heavily towards the bottom right chunk, where tension has been building. The details get smaller, tighter, more condensed, helping you FEEL that something’s about to go down. Different groupings of characters take on different palettes, and different tones to reinforce their presence, and to balance them against each other and their background content. – Tyler Landry ————————————————————————————————— Sally Ingraham here with the news bites! While we’re on the topic, get a copy of Ronald Wimberly’s Prince of Cats from Copacetic Comics (it’s not listed on the website yet, but you can order one over the phone – I can personally vouch for copies of the book being in the shop!) From a recent NPR write-up on the book: “…Wimberly is out to do something more than just combine elements from two compatible genres. He’s clearly aiming to translate the mechanics of hip hop composition into a visual form. In Prince of Cats‘ introduction, University of California media professor John Jennings calls Wimberly a “See-Jay:” Wielding his pen the way a DJ mixes, he mashes up wildly diverse elements into a fresh creation.” – Etelka Lehoczky for NPR.org Read the rest of the review HERE. ————————————————————————————————— If you’re in the Oakland, CA, area be sure to check out the POW! Womxn in Comics & Illustration exhibition at Studio Grand. The opening reception is Dec. 2nd 2016. From the exhibition description: “Comics and illustrations have long been a popular art form, intended to reach the masses. They easily engage audiences by the use of humor, cliffhanging narratives, relatable stories, all through captivating visual narratives. Comics and illustrations have often portrayed womxn in a hyper-sexualized manner and have not shown more developed female characters. Much of this is due to the comic book industry which has historically profiled work written and created by men. POW! seeks to center womxn comics and illustrators who hold the pen and the narrative. This Exhibition centers stories that concern womxn comics and illustrators offering transformative narratives, one where women characters—speaking of mental health struggles, struggles of poverty and survival, isolation, resiliency, sisterhood—are at the forefront. The POW! Exhibition and accompanying events offer a nurturing space of solidarity and healing, letting womxn know that they are not alone in their struggles and resiliency.“ Check out the list of exhibitors HERE. I heard about the event from Tanna Tucker, an illustrator who is turning her focus increasingly towards comics. (She may join us in Pittsburgh next spring for a Rowhouse Residency!) Her recent ongoing projects include a 7-part fantasy comic with Mark Turner and Orpheus Forge Studios called Sea Wulfe – you can check it out HERE. Here’s an “excerpt” from Tanna’s piece at the POW! exhibition: Come see this piece in its entirety next week at the “POW! Womxn in Comics + Illustration” show next Friday @studiograndoakland Listened to Solange the whole way……. • • • • #womxnincomicsandillustration #afrofuturism #comics #illustration #artistsoninstagram #studiogrand #solange #wip A video posted by @t.ann.a on Nov 23, 2016 at 7:44pm PST ————————————————————————————————— Here’s Chris Visions dropping that hot fire! Gotta get back, back to the past– // ChrisVisions.BIGcartel.com, coming tomorrow! // #samuraijack #aku #red #art #comics #process #wip #ink A video posted by Chris Visions (@chrisvisions) on Nov 30, 2016 at 6:19pm PST Follow this link to get yourself one of these “visions in red” but don’t sleep on this – these pages are selling out fast. ————————————————————————————————— Thee great Vanesa R. Del Rey has generously agreed to let Comics Workbook publish selections from her sketchbooks. We designed it to look like a 1980’s comic book artist’s art book. The text is a transcription of an interview she did at The Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency in 2016. Vanesa is a once in a lifetime talent who studied with George Pratt and who has worked with Grant Morrison. We are offering pre-orders now at a lower price than we will be offering the book for in the new year. Great stocking stuffer. Pre-order your copy of The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey HERE! ————————————————————————————————— December 1st! That means you have 13 days left to get an application in for the Winter term of the Correspondence Course if you want that sweet “$100 off” discount! More details below. The Winter Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers 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 ————————————————————————————————— The latest Suzy and Cecil strip by Gabriella Tito! Suzy and Cecil is a collaborative daily comic strip project based on characters invented by Bill Boichel and Frank Santoro. It is primarily drawn by Gabriella Tito and Sally Ingraham, who are teammates in the Comics Workbook Roller Derby League. The strip is part of their continuing development as cartoonists – follow @suzy_and_cecil on Instagram to see the project unfold and keep an eye out for guest strips drawn by other Comics Workbook students and friends! 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11/18/2016

Sally IngrahamNovember 18, 2016NewsSally here with comics from Jessica Campbell and Gabriella Tito, interviews with Keiler Roberts and Roz Chast, a look at the book Black Women in Sequence, Mardou on Clowes, a moment with Frank Santoro, and the Winter Correspondence Course details. ————————————————————————————————— I was startled to discover an illustration by The New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast on the cover of Birding, the monthly magazine published by the American Birding Association, of which I am a member. Although I often think about the parallels between the two worlds that I stand with feet planted in, this was an amusing direct collision. Roz Chast, like many cartoonists , prefers to spend her time safely indoors with her two pet birds – but has also been coaxed as far as the Pantanal to check out Jabirus, Hyacinth Macaws, caracaras, Wattled Jacanas, toucans, and wild parakeets. Her parents had parakeets when Roz was a girl, and ever since then birds have been part of her life, and often pop up in her work (her two children’s books feature a red parrot named Marco, modeled after a bird she owned in real-life). One of her famous cartoons features a very classic New Yorker pigeon: I grew up in “the birding world”, paling around with my Dad on birding trips and to festivals where bird enthusiasts flocked, much like a comic con. I still go searching for odd birds in interesting corners of the world, and now I make comics about that, because as Roz Chast put it so well: “Birds are fun to draw and interesting to think about. I think they’re a lot smarter and more verbal than other animals. They’re like us in some ways. … I’m 100% sure birds talk to one another. I would guess it’s mostly gossip.” I agree, Roz! I’d direct you to the full interview, but you have to be an ABA member to see the online article (you can join HERE if you’re interested in letting your bird-nerd flag fly.) Check out more of Roz Chast’s work HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Jessica Campbell has a comic on The Nib, and as usual I find her work extremely relatable… Read the rest HERE. ————————————————————————————————— I picked this book up while at work at Copacetic Comics yesterday, and spent some time digging into this essential, important discussion of race, feminism, exoticism, and the social development of the comics community. Recently published by the University of Washington Press, it finds a balance between scholarly text and lively investigation – and has plenty of pictures of rare and unusual comics. (Right off the bat I learned that the very first black superheroine was The Butterfly, who debuted in Hell-Rider #1 in August 1971 – there’s a full write-up about this comic HERE for those interested.) The author of Black Women in Sequence – Deborah Elizabeth Whaley – is an Associate Professor of American Studies and African American Studies at the University of Iowa. She has been studying how mass media reflects and shapes culture for her entire career. This book started out as an article about the representation of Catwoman over the years, but a brief search through the writing on women in comics revealed that there was NO writing to speak of about Black women in comics as producers, readers, and characters. Whaley quickly, thoroughly fixed that, and there is information in this book that until now has been almost impossible to find. “I tried to read every comic book, comic strip, and graphic novel with Black female characters. This meant reaching back to the 1930s. I went through a lot of Black and mainstream newspapers from the 1930s to the 1990s and tried to find storylines in comic strips that addressed larger issues in culture, especially concerning politics, nation-making, gender, class, race, and sexuality. I approached as many Black women writers and artists doing comics that I could find to conduct interviews. I worked to make connections between the print representations and representations in film, video games, and anime. I of course had to read as many secondary sources as possible, address all relevant historical contexts, and did research on the background of artists and writers and other things they were involved in like civil rights and the Communist Party. For one of the artists and writers I write about I had to obtain and then read her 250-page FBI file.” – Dr. Whaley There’s an interview with her about the book on Sequart that gets into her research process and her hopes for the work, as well as her next project. Check it out HERE. I’ll be continuing to read the book over the next few weeks and will report back on what I find! ————————————————————————————————— Rob Clough interviewed Keiler Roberts for The Comics Journal. “Roberts is also a keen observer of character dynamics and the humor of awkwardness, as a hilarious strip about a trip to a day spa that involves comparing bodies with a friend demonstrates. Roberts writes a lot about social anxiety and the ways in which she copes with the world, but her strong storytelling and character focus prevents it from being didactic. Her stories are little bursts of truth that trust the reader to make connections, and even the most emotionally wrought situations are tapped for their humor. She won an Ignatz award for Outstanding Series at SPX 2016, a couple of years after she drew strips in which she discussed her dread in potentially attending the show. She addressed all of these topics and many more in this interview…“ Read the interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Frank Santoro gave a talk at the ToonSeum last night as part of the Pittsburgh Comic Salon’s monthly lecture series. The clip below catches him speaking about his comic Kora. ————————————————————————————————— There are always decent comics over on VICE – Leslie Stein is running diary comics there right now, while Dame Darcy‘s Ghost Castle series continues, and Anna Haifisch has at least Three Jolly Autumn Strips. ————————————————————————————————— Sacha Mardou has a feature here on Comics Workbook this week – an essay On Being a Woman in the Manly World of Daniel Clowes. She really digs in, exploring her own relationship with the characters in Clowes’ work as much as the the topic of her piece. “What is going on here? The women get more choices than Clowes’s men. From Clay Loudermilk to Daniel Pussey to David Boring the men inhabit this spectrum of sad indignities like Fate’s blind somnambulists. The women are operating on a more awakened level I think. Dan Clowes writes women so damn well that they overshadow the men they deal with on every page that they interact together. Why is this so? Is it because of feminism? Post modernism? Punk rock? What’s driving this?“ Read the rest HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Comics Workbook has announced the Winter Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers – course starts Dec. 29th 2016! 10 spots available – apply by Dec. 13th 2016 and get $100 of course fee! Email santoroschoolATgmail for more details. 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 ————————————————————————————————— Connor Willumsen is selling the original pages from his Punisher story – check them out here. ————————————————————————————————— Inspired by a story that originates with Bill Boichel and Frank Santoro, Gabriella Tito and I have been drawing Suzy & Cecil strips this week. #suzyandcecil #comicsworkbook A photo posted by Gabriella Tito (@gabriella.tito) on Nov 15, 2016 at 1:02pm PST #suzyandcecil #fairvale #comicsworkbook A photo posted by Sally Ingraham (@sally_ingraham) on Nov 17, 2016 at 1:53pm PST Keep an eye on us via Instagram for more strips in the coming weeks – @sally_ingraham and @gabriella.tito! ————————————————————————————————— Have a great weekend folks! – Sally Share this page: [...]

05/31/2017

Posted on May 31, 2017May 31, 2017 by Juan Fernández

Empezamos el día con ‘Viñetas y bocadillos’; Calpurnio; Catherine Meurisse; Antonio Altarriba y Sergio García; Tercer Encuentro Internacional de Narrativas Dibujadas; Barbara Stok ; Jim Pluk y Alice Bohl y por supuesto los tebeos de Comics Workbook!
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Entrevista – José Domingo
Aprovechando la reedición de “Aventuras de un oficinista japonés”, recuperamos entrevista a Jose Domingo en CuCo 5:

José Domingo (Zaragoza, 1982) es uno de los autores más interesantes y rompedores del panorama nacional. Integrante tardío de la escena de la autoedición gallega centralizada en el colectivo Polaqia, su obra Aventuras de un oficinista japonés (Bang Ediciones, 2011) le valió el premio a mejor obra nacional en el Saló del Cómic de Barcelona y lo consagró como autor. Desde entonces ha desarrollado una actividad incesante, que incluso lo ha llevado a colaborar con la editorial inglesa Nobrow. Hace unas semanas, José tuvo la amabilidad de atender a los directores de CuCo, Cuadernos de cómic a través de videoconferencia, y contestar a una entrevista que repasa minuciosamente toda su carrera

Léanlo aqui!

Si te gusta esa entrevista, conoce el #crowdfunding de @CuCoCuadernos! CuCo, cuadernos de cómic es la revista digital de estudio y crítica de cómic, una de las mejores publicaciones de crítica de cómic en español!
—> https://goo.gl/p1vqhu

En septiembre de 2013 nació CuCo, Cuadernos de cómic, una revista digital de investigación y crítica de la historieta, codirigida por Octavio Beares y Gerardo Vilches. La revista surgió, principalmente, como una plataforma de publicación para todas las personas que están realizando su tesis doctoral o proyecto de investigación sobre algún aspecto relacionado con el cómic, desde cualquier disciplina científica. Hasta la fecha hemos publicado siete números disponibles en cuadernosdecomic.com, en los que han tenido cabida tanto artículos y ensayos como una sección de crítica con algunas de las firmas más interesantes del panorama nacional, además de entrevistas a autores nacionales e internacionales. Desde 2014, la revista está incluida en el índice de publicaciones académicas Latindex, y cumple 29 de sus criterios.

CuCo, Cuadernos de cómic ha sido concebido desde su nacimiento como un proyecto sin ánimo de lucro, que surge desde la pasión por el cómic y la conciencia de que existe la necesidad de desarrollar una sólida labor teórica a su alrededor.

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Creadora de comics y ilustradora chilena, Fran Meneses les comparte su sabiduria con respeto al dibujo natural y las figuras en el espacio. Fran tiene una tronco de serie de videos… Póngale play!

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Cómics y noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana:

Todos los lunes en España Radio 5 y Radio 3, resumen lo mejor del mundo del comic: Esta semana en ‘Viñetas y bocadillos’ hablaron con Calpurnio (‘Cuttlas’) y Catherine Meurisse (‘La Levedad’). Además: La Hora del Bocadillo y Fallo de sistema. Escúchenlo aqui.
En @JotDownSpain hablan de Cuerpos del Delito de Antonio Altarriba y Sergio García. Cuatro vidas diferentes entrelazadas en el Sarajevo de 1994.
La Universidad de Santiago y @PLOPGaleria convocan al Tercer Encuentro Internacional de Narrativas Dibujadas! Para este año, el eje del Encuentro será Narrativas gráficas: sociedad, política y género, y el plazo para enviar las propuestas de ponencias es hasta el lunes 12 de junio de 2017.
Elizabeth Casillas escribe sobre la biografía de Van Gogh que Barbara Stok ha llevado a cómic en Revista Cactus.
Vean el fantástico trabajo de Jim Pluk y Alice Bohl en el pabellón de Francia en la @FILBogota.

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Blinkers – 5-31-2017 – by Jack Brougham

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Suzy and Cecil -05-31-2017- by Sally Ingraham

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Joanie and Jordie – 5-31-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in los Cómics, News

Juan Fernández

Posted on May 31, 2017May 31, 2017

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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: [...]

06/13/2018

Juan FernándezJune 13, 2018los Cómics / NewsArelis Uribe; Margarita Valdés; 30 Millones de Naves; Berliac; el panorama de la ilustración española – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: ~ en Español y “sometimes in English” ~ La Polola #78 – Arelis Uribe Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo tienen una nueva edicion de La Polola Podcast! Las chicas conversan con la escritora y periodista Arelis Uribe. Conversaron entre bombas, de quiltras, vida, calle y feminismo, compartió parte de su historia, recuerdos y proyectos. Es un viaje entre conceptos, libros, preguntas y mucho más. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – La dibujante Margarita Valdés entrevistada Pablo Andulce, Más Deco Explícanos la necesidad de una revista de cómic hecha por mujeres. Cuando vi los cómics de Maliki en The Clinic sentí alivio de leer a una mujer hablando con honestidad de su cotidianidad, su sexualidad, o sus fracasos, sin florituras. Casi siempre veía aparecer, desde un autor hombre, una mujer idealizada, casi inhumana, con la que no me identificaba nada (esto no solo con los cómics, también en los libros, películas, etc.). Aunque ha cambiado para bien desde esos años hasta ahora, las voces femeninas siguen siendo escasas. En Chile hace algunos años Melina Rapimán hizo Tribuna Femenina, también de cómic de mujeres; participé de uno de sus números. Ahora con Brígida es buenísimo que se reabra ese espacio, y que sea un proyecto con varios números y que incluyan autoras de otros países. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Novedades – 13 Millones de Naves La revista de cómics, 13 Millones De Naves les ofrece un monton de reseñasnuevas para ayudarlos en decidir su lectura de verano: Röhner de Max Baitinger, TheEndOfTheFuckingWorld de Charles Forsman, la 4ª entrega del Gus de Cristophe Blain, lo nuevo de Enki Bilal, el nª 3 de Sex Criminals y más! – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Un Degenerado. Entrevista con Berliac L. De Paoli y Santi Sanchez Kutika, Revista Kamandi Quizás hay un asunto sensible, la referencia fotográfica. Noto en muchas conversaciones de dibujantes en las que siempre se lo menciona peyorativamente, y para mí es desatender un poco cómo funciona en el manga la referencia fotográfica y la necesidad de imponer un cierto realismo a los escenarios. Yo veo SADBOI y entiendo el sentido holístico que tiene dentro de la obra… Siento que todavía hay un cierto tabú en el uso de referencias. ¿Cómo funciona para vos? Lo peyorativo es una cuestión puramente ideológica, una cosa es decir de modo descriptivo: “el manga usa referencias fotográficas”, y otra muy distinta es el tono normativo según el cual “en la historieta de verdad (la argentina) eso no se hace”. Pero eso esconde una mirada superficial del manga. La referencia fotográfica no es una cuestión de dibujo, sino que ayuda a leer mejor, es una cuestión narrativa, no estilística. En este sentido transicionar al manga también consistió en cambiar de ética de trabajo, e incluso ya nos vamos por el terreno filosófico si nos detenemos a pensar en la figura del autor en sí. En occidente, autor es aquel que deja su impronta en toda la obra. En el manga, en cambio, pasa por otro lado, por lo que no se ve. El manga en ese sentido es también superar el deseo de querer ser visto. Sino por ejemplo, el sistema de asistentes sería imposible. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Mujeres ilustradoras, el panorama de la ilustración española Rigo, Momoko En momoko.es, os hablan esta mañana del panorama de la ilustración en manos de mujeres ilustradoras en España. Hay un gran número de ilustradoras españolas que están triunfando actualmente, viendo en muchos casos su trabajo impulsado por el poder de las redes sociales. Esta corriente artística y esta forma de consumo inmediato a través de las redes está cambiando los códigos tanto en el mundo de las artes plásticas como en el de la literatura. En Momoko os dejamos una lista de algunas de las mujeres ilustradoras españolas que más relevancia tienen actualmente, ¡las admiramos a todas y cada una de ellas! – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Suzy and Cecil – 06-13-2018 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

09/22/2016

Sally IngrahamSeptember 22, 2016NewsSally Ingraham here with Sam Ombiri, bringing you more highlights from SPX weekend and an examination of The Act of Seeing! ————————————————————————————————— SPX is always a whirlwind, but when that spinning vortex touches down now and then, you inevitably bump into someone cool. Frank careened into the great Chris Visions, who just released his Lunchtime Loosies Vol. 1 Deluxe Edition (get it here!) and Ronald Wimberly, who said that other conventions are good – but SPX is the one to beat! ————————————————————————————————— Down in the Comics Workbook workshop room the likes of Charles Burns, Carol Tyler, and Jeffrey Brown regaled folks with their pen and paper choices and other process and storytelling tips over SPX weekend. Cameron Weston Nicholson (pictured above) dug into the relationship between comics and music. “Comics are a symphonic mixture of picture & word. Geometry to form a melodic comic (as pictured above) the red is the “eye” or the “main tempo” the blue is the rhythm and the green activates the bass which brings you back to the beginning.” – Cameron Nicholson ————————————————————————————————— The Comics Workbook workshop space at SPX was also a great place to meet new people – Samuel Sharpe, a DC area cartoonist, attended a “hangout” session and got his first taste of the CW index cards method. He shared some of his own comics with us – More of Samuel Sharpe’s work can be found HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Back upstairs in the expo showroom, Shannon Wright was selling copies of her comic 4-99 (which you can get as a digital download HERE if you missed it at the show!) She was tabling with Chris Kindred, who was debuting Night Hunter at the show (also available as a digital download HERE). Another one of our Richmond, VA, friends – Richie Pope – was also there, showing off his recent killer illustration work. ————————————————————————————————— Whit Taylor was tabling as well, debuting her comic Wallpaper, and keeping her sharp eye on the show as a whole – we will be presenting a full report from her soon! She was interviewed by Jake Grubman at Comicsverse shortly before the show. “By nature, being an autobio cartoonist, it’s easier for me to reveal things about myself even though I’m shy by nature. It was kind of therapeutic for me to work through those things, and…the least I could do was produce something that could be helpful to other people.” – Whit Taylor Read the full article HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Switching gears from SPX coverage now – we have this week’s thoughts from Samuel Ombiri – The Act of Seeing I like the title of the coffee table book Nicolas Winding Refn put out last year – The Act of Seeing. I never think of reading or viewing something like it’s an action I’m performing. So this title brings with it a bunch of excitement for me, and it feels like a bit of a challenge. The book itself has a bunch of cinema posters from…the 60’s and 70’s maybe? He said he approached it no more different than the way he edits his movies. So then, what I wonder is, was he still following the same impulse of what his movies are about? That it’s more about what you don’t see than what you see, which creates, in his words “penetration of the mind”? It reminds me of something CF said, about how when he was younger, he was looking at catalogs of comics he couldn’t get. He would think about what the comic would be like based off the cover. I don’t remember whether he did it naturally out of impulse or if it was a conscious thing he did – I think he did it out of impulse. I kind of wonder if CF drew any comics based off what he thought was in those comics he couldn’t read; his comics have the energy, when I read it, where I feel it’s alluding to that comic book cover from that catalog he was reading (but I’m also imagining what that cover looked like, so I guess I’m just imaging reading it in whole different context…) Maybe this will make more sense; let’s say Refn puts together a catalog of movie posters he hasn’t seen (in the video above he said he only knows 10% of the movies in the poster book, but let’s pretend he knows 0%.) Now this next part is actually true – sometimes when he would have no direction for the movie he was making, so he would look to at the posters he was accumulating for the book for inspiration. He would use the posters of the movies he didn’t know and think about what movie they’d be. (I don’t know if he was using the supposed 90% mysterious posters for this process but let’s just suppose he was – this is part of his “penetration of the mind” spiel, that it creates a new idea). When I saw his new movie, I could imagine the poster he was looking at…the era it was alluding to…the theme…and like… the novelty of the time, from the image and the sound. I don’t want to fully grasp where it’s from, in fact I have no interest in watching these movies myself, not just because it ruins the mysterious quality, but watching those movies would just be reaaaal drag. They sound like the worst movies to watch, but that’s probably just my weakness as a viewer, but it is suddenly easier to watch them filtered through Refn. It’s also convenient, how he has pretty much taken every element that interested me in the posters. So it’s also a bit of shortcut, instead of sitting through those other movies. There are ones he alluded to that I like that are not in the same category of the movies in the book too. These allusions can give me a lot of energy and I really welcome that mystery as much as possible, but that mystery means that I’m also avoiding looking at good work. Anyways this supposed experience – I’ve had it too. I bet I’m not the only one who it has happened to, where I draw a comic, based off of what I think a show that hasn’t aired yet will look like. One time I realized I had done 300 pages without realizing it. – Samuel Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Final note before we let you go – we now have both of Connor Willumsen’s new publications in hand! The brand new one – Portraits – and the super rare one – Swinespritzen – both limited editions, both incredible. Details about both and where to order them can be found HERE. Proceeds from these books will help send Connor to the UK for The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival in October! Share this page: [...]

09/17/2018

Caleb OrecchioSeptember 17, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here, writing from my hotel the morning after SPX 2018 ————————————————————————————————— Like an idiot, I didn’t take any photos at SPX 2018. I don’t like taking pictures at comics festivals for some reason, but usually I suck it up because I know I will have to write about it on Monday. This year I did not suck it up. A bunch of us from Pittsburgh met up at our Pittsburgh Comics Salon headquarters Kaibur Coffee and caravanned up the turnpike to the Marriott here in Bethesda (or North Bethesda or Rockville or wherever this is) where SPX is held. It’s fun to go as a pack. You know there will be someone you can hangout and tag along with. Once again at SPX, Comics Workbook held workshops all weekend. Sally Ingraham brilliantly facilitated the workshops and kept the engine oiled. We didn’t have a table this year which gave us plenty of time and energy to channel into the workshops which filled the Glen Oak room to the brim with hungry learners almost every time. Comic enthusiasts young and old, green and seasoned lined up along the walls to make comics with Juan Fernandez, Dash Shaw, Molly Ostertag, The Latin American Youth Council, Mosi and yours truly. Liz Reed and Camilla Zhang broke up the comics-making pattern by instructing a sculpting class and giving a presentation on Kickstarter campaigns respectively. Saturday, I was the doorman for the Glen Echo room and was able to catch a glimpse and sit in on most of the workshops. Juan as always began the batting line-up as the sure hitter. Juan is a natural educator and genuinely wants people to learn and understand the way comics work. His workshop was energetic and comfortable for all. Dash was an unsurprisingly great instructor. As the attendees drew comics from his prompts he gave constant feedback and helped to instill the fundamentals in them. Sunday I had a bit more freedom and was able to catch Rachel Miller’s interview with Julie Doucet. Doucet is a humble badass who has no intention of not following her own path. What can I say? You had to be there. In theory a video recording will be available to watch soon. Got to take some time to walk the floor between Doucet’s panel and my workshop. I didn’t have a whole lot of time but managed to say hi to Jim Rugg and buy Lauren Weinstein’s new book from Youth in Decline and then head back down to the Glen Echo Room. I had a really fun workshop. Juan helped me figure out exactly what I wanted teach and made a few suggestions to work out the kinks. I made the attendees make a six-panel comic, and then redraw that comic in different ways with different layouts. We started with a six-panel grid, then redrew it as a nine-panel comic, then redrew that as a three panel comic. Same story each time with a different layout. Everyone quickly caught on to the idea of how to expand and simplify the amount of information depending on the layout. It was really fun to watch. That’s it for me, I gotta get to Pittsburgh before the rain does. Special thanks to the team at SPX, especially Warren Bernard, Lynda Bernard, Rob Clough, Danethin Mejia and Eden Miller for helping us with making these workshops happen! WE had a great time! Also thank you to all of our workshop instructors! Personal thanks to Sally Ingraham and Juan Fernandez who move mountains to ensure Comics Workbook is a fun and interesting team to be on! ————————————————————————————————— 9-17-18 – By Niall Breen Share this page: [...]

02/09/2018

Sally IngrahamFebruary 8, 2018NewsSally here with Caitlin McGurk talking Edwina Dumm, the Apple Mary/Mary Worth comic strip story, and Six Chix! ————————————————————————————————— Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum Associate Curator Caitlin McGurk was a guest on Episode 4 of the Library of American Comics & EuroComics Podcast, with Dean Mullaney and Kurtis Findlay. She talked about the upcoming American Comics Essentials Vol. 11, which collects Edwina Dumm‘s “Tippie” comic strip from 1945. Listen to the podcast HERE. Check out the Edwina Dumm LOAC Essentials book HERE – it will be coming out soon, and features an introduction by Caitlin McGurk. I am a huge fan of Edwina Dumm and am personally so excited for this collection! ————————————————————————————————— I like to root around in the archives of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, both in person and online. I was systematically going through the list of creators the other day, looking for WOMEN, and I came across June Brigman. I remembered that she was the last artist who worked on the comic Brenda Starr, Reporter (a long-running strip that has a fantastic, complete history of female creators – but that’s a tale for another day!) I looked into what she is currently working on, and noted that she is the artist behind the strip Mary Worth (syndicated by King Features). Mary Worth is an interesting comic strip. It’s been around since 1938 or so, making it one of the longest running “continuity” strips ever. It’s like a soap opera, with loads of characters and swirling plot lines, but it is centered on Mary – a 60-something widow and former teacher. Currently written by Karen Moy and drawn since 2016 by Brigman, it touches on all sorts of social issues and features classic cliff-hanger endings. You can read it HERE. Mary Worth was created by writer Allen Saunders and artist Dale Connor in 1938, but it has an interesting and somewhat debated connection to an earlier strip called Apple Mary. Martha Orr (the niece of Carey Orr, a cartoonist with the Chicago Tribune) started Apple Mary in 1934. It was about an old woman named Mary, who sold apples out of a pushcart, and tended to her crippled grandson Dennie. (You can see an example of the strip at the top of this section.) The strip was successful, but Martha had to quit making it after about 4 years, in favor of raising her own family. This is when Mary Worth appeared, but whether it was made to fill the popular hole that Apple Mary had left, maintaining some of the same tone and subjects, or whether it was the true evolution of Apple Mary, is up for continuing debate. Don Markstein notes on his Toonopida page for Apple Mary that “Whatever the case may be, as the Great Depression lifted, Apple Mary was left behind. There is little to be seen of her in the Mary Worth of today.” Here’s another Apple Mary strip by Martha Orr, one that does feature her being called Mary Worth by name. I like the idea of this character existing for 84 years, bookended by female creators. Next time I’m at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum I’ll have to take a look at the one original Apple Mary strip by Martha Orr that they house in the archive! See it online HERE. ————————————————————————————————— I recently discovered a really unique comic strip called Six Chix. It’s a daily strip syndicated by King Features and created by six women cartoonists – they each have their assigned day, and then they rotate for the Sunday strip. “Isabella Bannerman draws Mondays; Martha Gradisher draws Tuesdays; Susan Camilleri Konar draws Wednesdays; Mary Lawton draws Thursdays; Benita Epstein draws Fridays; and Stephanie Piro draws Saturdays. Each cartoonist writes and draws with her own style and perspective. In any given week, you might find gags about the economy, technology, zombies, pirates or health care — and the main characters will be female and funny.“ The strip began in 2000 and was the idea of Jay Kennedy, the editor-in-chief at King Features at the time. You can read it online at the Six Chix website and learn more about the cartoonists HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Collected from the thousands of pages of material that Frank has left scattered all over the digital landscape, these 4 PDF collections contain Frank’s best writing on comics and comics making from the past decade. Theory and process, reviews and discoveries, journeys both physical and spiritual. Check out the “Best of Frank Santoro” PDF collections, available HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 2-9-2018 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

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