Comics Workbook

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Posted in NewsTagged caleb orecchio, Charlton Comics, gabriella tito, Steve Ditko

Caleb Orecchio

Posted on June 18, 2018June 18, 2018

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07/04/2017

Aaron CockleJuly 4, 2017NewsAaron Cockle here today with Jackie Kirby at the Rowhouse Residency; Leonara Carrington; Babel Unbound; some dispatches from the CBLDF; Florine Stettheimer; William Blake ————————————————————————————————— Jackie Kirby writes about their Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency this past June here on the site. A poet and a comics maker, they really dug deep into their practice while they were here and had a lot to share and teach Frank and Sally and the Pittsburgh comics community in their turn. “My conversations with Frank were thoughtful, engaging, and exciting. Among the most interesting aspects of our discussions was comparing analogies of music and poetry to comics. I know very little when it comes to music. Half-kidding – it’s one of the few popular art forms I’m not a snob about, and I’ve tried to keep it like that. Frank, on the other hand, is a total music nerd. I came into his house for espresso one afternoon and he presented me with a piece of scrap paper on which he had written “2/3 ¾ rectangle riff seen from a poet’s pov in relation to ‘meter’ / and relation to ‘the Breath’ or Dylan’s ‘long line of spit.’ ” Frank and I chatted for hours regarding this. He would riff for fifteen minutes or so about music and I would respond with a riff on poetics. Forty five minutes could go by without comics being explicitly mentioned once, but the composition and formal techniques of comics practice underlined every moment. When I brought this up, Frank brushed it off, saying “Of course we could talk about how Robert Crumb is this or that but we both know that.” What’s interesting is what we can learn from each other.” Read more of Jackie’s thoughts HERE. You can read more Rowhouse Residency Reports HERE – and learn more about the Residency program HERE or email santoroschoolATgmail for more info. ————————————————————————————————— ‘Even though you won’t believe me / my story is beautiful’ At Hyperallergic, Elisa Wouk Almino looks at some books by Leonara Carrington: In her memoir and fiction — and, in retrospect, her visual art as well — Carrington strives to understand people’s “systems;” to peer into them and visualize all their beautiful or ugly selves, often through animal incarnations, as in fables. Evil characters have hair “like black vipers” or “a little bird’s laugh,” and good ones have skin that glints like stars. In Pamela Robertson-Pearce’s 2000 film about women Surrealist artists, Gifted Beauty, Carrington advises, “We have to listen to the soul … and to know when it’s a soul. … Each soul has a daemon.” It seems to me that both her writing and visual art takes up this very exercise — a kind of study of the human soul. ————————————————————————————————— Babel Unbound Closing July 8 at the CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery in Cork, Ireland, Babel Unbound, by Leslie Mutchler and Jason Urban. Referencing a series of historical works intertwined with the function and performance of the library, such as Aby Warburg’s Atlas Mnemosyne, Borges’ The Library of Babel, and Walter Benjamin’s Unpacking my Library, the artists contemplate the library of today- one filtered through reproducibility, access to information and an ever-evolving understanding of curation, aesthetics and the archive. The library is a fertile place for exploration, a place that most often prioritizes use over display whereas the gallery is a site that prioritizes display over functionality. Babel Unbound attempts to do both; and while doing so slowly becomes aware of itself, as illegible, complicated, incomplete… ————————————————————————————————— At the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund A couple of recent posts of note from Maren Williams at the CBLDF: Cartoonists Under Threat Worldwide Two years after the attack on Charlie Hebdo staff, the world’s free expression focus has largely shifted away from cartoonists. That certainly does not mean the danger has disappeared, however, as a recent 30-page report from the French nonprofit Cartooning for Peace/Dessins Pour la Paix shows. The report brings together profiles of cartoonists under threat and background information on the free speech situation in the countries where they work — or from which they’ve been forced to flee. New TSA Rules May Require Books to be Scanned Separately Air travel in the U.S. may be about to get a bit worse for the literate, as the Transportation Security Administration is reportedly testing a new requirement for passengers to remove books and other paper items from their carry-on luggage during security screening. While the TSA says the proposed new policy arises only from scanning machines’ limitations in discerning explosives from other contents of packed bags, there is no doubt that privacy concerns can and will arise.Testing of the new procedures quietly began last month at a handful of small airports including Colorado Springs, Boise, and Lubbock. Since that time, according to the Wall Street Journal, passengers at larger airports have also encountered new rules on paper goods but those rules may “change line by line, airport by airport.” ————————————————————————————————— ‘You might say she took the red, yellow and blue that Mondrian was just discovering and added purple, orange, pink and black.’ Roberta Smith at the New York Times reviews the Florine Stettheimer: Painting Poetry show: The first Stettheimer cult was the one she painted. After a disappointing — and premature — solo show at Knoedler in 1916, she exhibited most frequently at her private salons. The women in her scenes were almost always her mother and sisters. The men were for the most part movers and shakers of the small New York art world, dandies, if not gay, who frequented the salon and admired Stettheimer. ————————————————————————————————— William Blake and the Age of Aquarius September 23, 2017 – March 11, 2018 Block Museum of Art Northwestern University William Blake and the Age of Aquarius will consider parallels between Blake’s time and mid-twentieth-century America, touching on such issues as political repression, social transformation, and struggles for civil rights. Blake’s protests against the conventions of his day were inspirational for many young Americans disillusioned by perceived cultural tendencies of social uniformity, materialism and consumerism, racial and gender discrimination, and environmental degradation. This generation sought in Blake a model of independence, imagination, and resistance to authority. The exhibition will feature American artists for whom Blake was an important inspiration and will include more than 130 paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, films, and posters, as well as original Blake prints and illuminated books from collections throughout the United States. ————————————————————————————————— A Cosmic Journey – 7-4-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 7-4-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 7-4-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

09/27/2018

Caleb OrecchioSeptember 27, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here, and I’m headed to CXC ————————————————————————————————— Hi folks I’m about to head out the door to head to the Billy Ireland to check out the programming for CXC (though I feel like I’m still recovering from SPX). If you are attending CXC on Saturday come visit me at the Columbus Metropolitan Library in Room 2-A where I’ll be holding an hour-long workshop at 3:30 pm. We will be breaking down some of the basics and fundamentals of comics together. Come ready to draw! No pressure. Some of the best comics made in my workshops have been made by people who never draw and have never made comics. Meanwhile, I’ve been flipping through Andrew White’s comic Yearly 2018, and I have to say I’m very impressed. I’ll be reviewing it later next week so be on the lookout for that. Talk soon. Take it away Niall. ————————————————————————————————— 09-27-2018 – by Niall Breen Share this page: [...]

06/24/2016

Sally IngrahamJune 24, 2016NewsSally here with a stack of news that’s taller than me… We’ve got a report on HeroesCon, an announcement from Jillian Fleck, NPR’s take on Lisa Hanawalt, Heidi MacDonald’s Fall 2016 release picks, insights on Patrick Kyle and Andrea Tsurumi, an exciting development from D+Q/ALA, and a celebration of Mutha Magazine. Let’s dig in before we lose the light! ————————————————————————————————— HeroesCon was last weekend, and we heard it was a great time from all who attended. Comics Workbook special correspondent Audra Stang went on Sunday and reported back some of her adventures and encounters. Check out her report below! http://comicsworkbook.com/heroescon-2016/ ————————————————————————————————— Jillian Fleck – Comics Workbook alumni and maker of the ongoing Bad Thoughtz comic – is releasing Lake Jehovah via Conundrum Press this autumn! Jillian writes – “Lake Jehovah has been my insane passion project for the past few years and it’s incredible to think it’s going to be a real thing.“ About the story – “Lake Jehovah is a small town in northern Alberta known for its allegedly bottomless lake. It is there that Jay, a genderqueer individual, experiences a crisis of meaning regarding love in the face of a series of apocalypses.” – via Conundrum Press For some teaser pages and more details, check out the complete announcement HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Lisa Hanawalt‘s Hot Dog Taste Test got a shoutout at NPR this week. “If you’re a fan of the Hot Dog Princess, you’re going to love Hot Dog Taste Test. Lisa Hanawalt’s lushly illustrated, stream-of-consciousness diary reveals a soul cut from the same vibrant cloth as that of the 6-year-old who wore a hot dog costume to a princess-themed dance recital. Both the 6-year-old and the grownup diarist understand that there’s only one option for a free spirit confronted by the forces of conformity: You’ve got to go completely orthogonal. For a non-princess in a tulle-clad world, that means making an instinctively Dadaist gesture (and making national news with it). For a cartoonist who covers gourmet food — and even won the James Beard award — but is determined not to succumb to gourmet pretensions, it means filling a food book with Dalí-esque surrealism.” – via ETELKA LEHOCZKY Read the whole review HERE – get a copy of the book HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Heidi MacDonald (who runs The Comics Beat) recently put together the Publishers Weekly list of comics and graphic novels coming out in Fall 2016. (Pictured above is Jessica Campbell‘s Hot or Not, coming from Koyama Press.) “Fall’s graphic novels are teeming with emerging cartoonists exploring life and meaning, while established creators return to favorite themes. Riad Sattouf’s memoir continues, Jason Shiga presents a mind-bending puzzle, Sarah Glidden examines refugee life in Iraq, and Margaret Atwood turns to a fantasy about a cat-bird-man.” – via HEIDI MACDONALD Check out the list HERE. Starting with Heidi’s Top 10, and following with the complete autumn offerings, it is sure to make you start squirreling away some spending money in anticipation…! ————————————————————————————————— Speaking of The Comics Beat, John Seven reviewed Patrick Kyle’s new book over there this week. “Sometimes it’s better to just give yourself to something rather than to seek out its meaning. Not everything has to have one clear meaning, and in some cases, to bring concrete meaning to a work might mean imposing clarity on something that was not meant to have any. That imposition might actually come off as an insult, and the better approach might be to accept it on its own presentation, to let it be what it is. I understand the above might be confusing, but it won’t be if you’ve read Patrick Kyle’s Don’t Come In Here. The first indication that attaching meaning to Kyle’s work is not the point of Kyle’s work is the title itself, a direct instruction to not go any further, to not enter within its insular space. No investigation, no interpretation required.” – via JOHN SEVEN Read the rest of the review HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Harvard Magazine featured Andrea Tsurumi in their July-August issue, calling her work “comics to chew on”. “In Tsurumi’s work, details explode from the page. Her cheeky maximalism packs a visual punch, whether she’s using hard lines or a hazier, impressionist approach. Encountering it can be as overwhelming, trippy, and thrilling as visiting a new place—allowing the reader to see things in a more fun and zany light. Her sensibility, delighting in what might seem mundane, can resonate with people of all ages. It’s almost as if Tsurumi is sharing secrets of the world’s possibilities, and it’s exciting to behold—even if how she discovers these secrets and develops them on paper can be difficult to pin down.” – via SAMANTHA MALDONADO Read the whole article HERE. Keep up with Andrea HERE (although according to Tsurumi’s literary agent, Stephen Barr, “There’s no way to get ahead of Andrea’s brain“…!) ————————————————————————————————— Drawn & Quarterly is tabling at the American Library Association Annual Conference and Exhibition for the first time this weekend in Orlando, FL. This is a pretty big deal! Comics Workbook correspondent extraordinaire Juan Fernández laid it out for me the other night: “D+Q at ALA hits home the idea of libraries being directly in the loop of comics publishing. They are by no means the cutting edge, but the fact that the middle of the cultural road is being paved directly into conversations at ALA’s annual conference is a big deal. Comics to schools – comics to libraries – comics in museums – those are the new pathways that comics as a publishing form can garner new audiences and grow (publishers have been at this for decades now, but this is just nice to see).” – via JUAN FERNANDEZ Find Drawn & Quarterly at table #2263, where they will be hosting giveaways all weekend, and check out the programming that they will be involved in: “D+Q’s two panels are both at the Graphic Novel and Gaming Stage, which can be found mid-aisle 400, near booths 424 and 426: “The Best Graphic Novels You Haven’t Heard of (Yet)” – Sunday June 26th from 2:30 to 3:20 pm Drawn & Quarterly, Groundwood Books, and Nobrow Press are three international publishing houses producing landmark graphic novels with impressive production values. D+Q publisher Peggy Burns, Groundwood publisher Sheila Barry, and Nobrow US Sales & Marketing Director Tucker Stone will discuss their approach to graphic novels, preview their forthcoming titles, and share what’s in the pipeline for 2017. “The State of Graphic Novels Today” – Monday June 27th from 9:30 am to 10:20 am Drawn & Quarterly has been publishing luminaries of the graphic novel medium for over 25 years. Comics and graphic novels make great entry points for low literacy users as well as readers of all stripes, and the fastpaced world of graphic novels is booming. Join D+Q publisher Peggy Burns and executive editor Tom Devlin for a rousing discussion on the state of graphic novels today.” – via D+Q ————————————————————————————————— I want to give a shoutout today to Mutha Magazine and all the fantastic work that Meg Lemke does as Editor there (while also programming the comics and graphic novels side of the Brooklyn Book Festival…!) The magazine explores “real-life motherhood, from every angle, at every stage” and one of the ways they do that is through comics. I’m still working my way through all the comics on the site – there’s a hefty list! A recent offering was A. K. Summers‘ Those OTHER Nurses: A Nursing While Butch Comic which you can check out HERE. Other work that caught my eye includes Sacha Mardou’s The State I’m In, Rachel Masilamani’s We Conceive, and Lauren Weinstein’s Reflections on the First Week of Kindergarten. There are also several comics each from Tyler Cohen, Glynnis Fawkes, and Keiler Roberts, among others. Check out the complete Mutha Magazine Comics Archive HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Well, we got through the stack and there’s still some daylight left – so enjoy your weekend, play outside, go to the pool, or curl up on the couch with a comic – then meet us back here on Monday for our next foray into the comics community! Cheers – Sally Share this page: [...]

07/25/2018

Juan FernándezJuly 25, 2018los Cómics / NewsSan Diego Comic-Con International 2018 by way of Chris Anthony Diaz, the Eisners, New Latin Wave, Cornish Fellowship Residency, Lauren Weinstein on Paula Modersohn-Becker, Frank Santoro’s Pittsburgh to be published in the US Here on the site, Chris Anthony Diaz offers a beautiful glimpse of his time at San Diego Comic-Con International 2018. These photos were taken in the downtown San Diego Convention Center Exhibit Hall, Thursday, July 19, 2018. Jaime Hernandez shooting rubber bands, Manuele Fior in America, margaritas tacos and lots of smiles… Los Eisners- 2018 Over on High-Low, Rob Clough explains the nature of how the Eisner’s are awarded. It’s a convoluted process that lags behind history in terms of the culture that it reflects. It’s a solid system, but not perfect – Clough explains why: I was happy to see so many women and people of color win Eisners this year, in unprecedented fashion. Indeed, Marjorie Liu, for example, was the first woman to ever win a Best Writer award. Taneka Stotts, Roxane Gay and Alitha Martinez became just the second, third and fourth black women to win Eisners, and Jackie Ormes became the first black woman in the Eisner Hall of Fame. Emil Ferris continued to rack up every award for My Favorite Thing Is Monsters. The slate this year was more skewed this year toward the mainstream than last year’s slate, when I was a juror, though it was still quite solid. However, when it came time for voting last year, the people who did the voting chose a lot of the same old things. This was really disappointing, but not surprising. This year, it was surprising to see who won, and I think it might represent a shift in those who are choosing to vote. Autoras de Cómic les ofrece un hilo de autoras de cómic premiadas/homenajeadas en los Eisners. Lleno de entrevistas, previews, y ensayos, este hilo les sirve como buena introduccíon a las obras de estas mujeres, si no las conocéis! New Latin Wave Festival 2018 is looking for applicants to the Book and Zine component of their show on September 30th. It’s a one day show held at the Brooklyn Bazaar Brooklyn, NY and the table is FREE! Check out their website for more information: https://newlatinwave.com/2018-book-zine-fair-registration/https://newlatinwave.com/ *DEADLINE July 29th* New Latin Wave esta buscando vendedores de comics, zines y libros para el proximo New Latin Wave Festival 2018. El festival es un dia en Brooklyn Bazaar y la mesa es gratis! The Third Year of the Cornish CCS Fellowship Residency Applications for the Cornish Cartoon Studies Fellowship are open! It’s a month-long residency is held during the height of New England’s fall foliage season and includes a $3000 stipend. Think this might be good for you? The deadline to apply is August 15! You can learn more here: https://www.cartoonstudies.org/cornishccsfellowship2018/ Being an Artist And Mother Lauren Wienstein, The New Yorker Wienstein’s piece about Paula Modersohn-Becker is up at the New Yorker. It’s a deft, natural and masterful reflection on motherhood and art history. In Rachel Masilamani’s words, “This says everything about mothering and art making.” New York Review Comics anunció ayer que publicarán el libro de Frank Santoro, Pittsburgh, en 2019. POR FIN! Esto significa que el libro se verá impreso en inglés y mantendremos las mismas dimensiones que la edición francesa original de Éditions çà et là, como dios manda. Y que piensan los criticos franceses? Pues les ha encanta este chef-accompli de Santoro. Ahora falta encontrar una editorial en España o Latinoamérica que publiqueesta obra maestra… Share this page: [...]

09/14/2017

Sally IngrahamSeptember 13, 2017NewsSam Ombiri on Patrick Kyle’s Everywhere Disappeared, plus other comics and news! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: I had a chance to read an advanced PDF copy of Patrick Kyle’s new comic Everywhere Disappeared. (The book has now come out from Koyama Press.) At first I had trouble with this book, but I took the time to read through it twice and I made many discoveries. There is part of the book that feels rather navel-gazy and a bit vain as a result, (for him to be showing work like this). This was an initial misinterpretation on my part, because it looks at first like this new book is just a reflection of how Patrick is a private person. From what I’ve heard him say about this, he is pretty private, and he’ll keep many elements of his work that could be interpreted as personal, hidden. The work then feels somewhat rigid when he’s documenting what we might see as his artistic struggles, and personal struggles. Being who he is, he is doing this in a really roundabout way, and while I enjoyed the book, it’s a little bothersome to sit through. (Although the bothersome aspect became the interesting aspect later.) When I first read the second strip I thought to myself “Does Patrick think his work is in so much demand that we’re willing to sit through this nonsense?!” It’s not as focused as his last book (Don’t Come In Here, 2016), which might answer why any emotional triumph in the beginning of the book feels unearned, and this made me a little nervous, because that was a problem I had with certain parts of Don’t Come In Here. Now I had to read a whole book that was filled to the brim with that problem? I discovered that I should not have worried. I felt at first that there wasn’t any long term investment to be had with Everywhere Disappeared, but as I read more and more of the book, I was proven wrong. Patrick has a big artistic triumph. Everywhere Disappeared is a collection of stories in the form of comic strips. Taken together the book seemed to me to be about taking risks, and people reacting to your insincerity, be it through art or just normal interaction. The first strip functions really well in telling the reader what mindset Patrick is in. The strip that follows just baffled me in how much he’s testing the reader’s patience, as I mentioned above. Then I had to eat my words with the following strips, which were just amazing – hilariously portraying his solutions to his dilemmas in his current role (with the sentiments expressed in the first and second strip, and the answer being the third strip.) Point being, though I felt at first that the second strip was a lousy strip, it really served the book well. It was a step up from just being a self-conscious comic, a major step up – instead of stagnating with his self-consciousness, he advanced. Not only that, but it tells you as the reader that Patrick isn’t suddenly making these big conceptual leaps as a maker. He’s still this guy who you come to to read some fun stuff, and he’s still very much thriving in this territory. At a certain point as a reader of Everywhere Disappeared, even looking back at the Dracula story (the second strip), I realize it’s been really fun and it’s going to continue to be fun. The illustrations are getting tastier and the punchlines are getting funnier. The ridiculous concepts are more acceptable to the reader. There a style that was introduced in the Dracula strip, then a couple strips later we get the pay off with it. Amazing pay off too, when a character does a print with Bart Simpson with Nike for eyes (and that gag only manages to get better). It reminds me of a gag I’d see from Ben Jones, but it’s all Patrick Kyle. By the time I read the strip titled “Glory of the Pile” I knew that I was completely wrong in thinking that Patrick was running out of his bag of tricks. That strip hit me hard. There’s a real impressive element to how Patrick is recycling shapes he normally draws and just uses them here and there, to elicit some kind of emotion or feeling or sentiment he’s trying to get across to the reader. The book speaks its own language now and is super comfortable in it, and this seemingly comes out of nowhere (or everywhere?). – Sam Ombiri Get a copy of Everywhere Disappeared HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Sally here – The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey was reviewed as an Orbital Comics staff pick recently (Orbital Comics is currently hosting a show of Vanesa’s work!). “Thomas says: I wasn’t aware of Del Rey’s art until her work came in for the show that is currently running in our gallery (until the end of the month) and was absolutely blown away by what I saw. Her work is gorgeous, her line work free and energetic with an exuberant life of it’s own. Even static figures seem to be in motion, breathing with a life of their own. This sketchbook serves two functions; it is a beautiful selection of Del Rey’s work but is as much a glimpse into her life, past, present and future as it is anything else. Interviewed by Frank Santoro, Del Rey is open and forth coming about her work explaining as best as she can her thoughts regarding the human figure, to the influence art has had on her life and is also quite open about her life and her childhood. With a new book out this past month written by the wonderful Jordie Bellaire, Del Rey’s star is in the ascendant and you would be foolish to ignore this talented young artist. Excitingly, Vanesa will be signing here on Saturday 16th September 2017, from 17:00 till 19:00 so come along and pick up a copy of her sketch book or Redlands and say ‘Hi’. Click here for more details.“ Get a copy of The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey HERE. ————————————————————————————————— There’s a piece in the Washington Post‘s Comic Riffs about Shawn Martinbrough, and how he came to draw Hellboy in a recent one-shot issue of Hellboy and the B. P. R. D. Heavily influenced by the artwork of Mike Mignola as a kid, this was a dream project for Martinbrough, who has been storming the mainstream comics scene for a few decades (more on his story HERE). “Martinbrough…is known for going out of his way to add diversity to the comics he works on. If a story’s script doesn’t specify the race of a supporting or background character, he’ll frequently draw that character as a person of color. That wouldn’t be necessary with this Hellboy story (written by Mignola and Chris Roberson), in which Woodrow, Hellboy’s partner, is a brilliant African American from Chicago. In the story, Woodrow is offended but not shocked when he brushes up against some racism even noticing that the white man he and Hellboy have questions for is more comfortable around a giant demon from hell than a black man. “Hellboy is an average Joe in the form of a large, fantastical red demon with a large stone hand and tail,” Martinbrough said. “The idea of a white guy accepting Hellboy without skipping a beat, but questioning the legitimacy of a black scientist is tragic but, unfortunately, very realistic. The social commentary was a very pleasant and welcome surprise.”“ Read more about it HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 9-14-2017 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

06/18/2018

Posted on June 18, 2018June 18, 2018 by Caleb Orecchio

Caleb Orecchio here with a brief discourse on the fundamental prowess of Steve Ditko, and more!

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from “A Voice in the Fog” – Art by Steve Ditko – Written by Joe Gill – from *Haunted* Vol. 3 No. 14, 1973

This Ditko spread is breathtaking. To me at least. It’s so simple. Simple and balanced colors, simple shapes, strong silhouettes, and I love the way he uses hatching to convey the foggy atmosphere. I understand the action immediately. It’s beautifully structured like a painting. Fundamental. Every comic student should be made to copy it.

Consider the left page. Notice how the top and middle tiers make an “X” so to speak. They correspond or “rhyme.”

You see what I mean? And look, that bottom wide panel opens it up while maintaining the flow of images.

And that’s just the obvious stuff I notice! It is not terribly complicated, but it’s smart comics. Ditko is like a good quarterback. He patiently stays in the pocket – he waits he waits – then bang – right in the bread basket! He’s not resorting to hail marys or 180 degree flipping of perspective. The entire page is essentially from the same camera angle, he just pulls it in and out to create tension. Then, on the next page, he flips the perspective to show spacial relations and to keep the action moving towards the center of the page.

The result is great sequencing on top of the fact that the spread itself is pleasing to look at as a whole. I can’t stop looking at it.

Oh yeah, also check out the Pat Boyette strip in this issue of Haunted #14 (1973) if you can find it – – it’s really good too.

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if you don’t know, now you know

Did you see the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum announcement for the 2018 Lucy Shelton Caswell Research Award winners? One of three recipients was our own Frank Santoro! Go read all about what Frank and the other cartoon researchers will be getting into.
Scott Cederlund takes a look at the newest Love and Rockets over on Panel Patter.
Elijah Brubaker is the latest guest on Inkstuds.

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Suzy and Cecil – 6-18-18 – by Gabriella Tito

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged caleb orecchio, Charlton Comics, gabriella tito, Steve Ditko

Caleb Orecchio

Posted on June 18, 2018June 18, 2018

Explore

04/06/2018

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

Richard Diebenkorn’s Sketchbooks at the Cantor Museum

Comics WorkbookJanuary 15, 2017EssaysJesse Rimler reports on the Richard Diebenkorn Sketchbook show that hung at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University last summer. ————————————————————————————————— The painter Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993) is probably best known for his abstracts, especially his large Ocean Park series. He also painted from life, and is included in the group of artists now known as the Bay Area Figurative movement, along with Elmer Bischoff, David Park and Joan Brown, among others. These painters moved in and out of abstraction while never abandoning the figure and landscapes as subjects. The Cantor Museum recently acquired 29 of Diebenkorn’s sketchbooks. My favorite works by Diebenkorn are his prints and drawings, so I was excited to see these up close. Plus, as someone who keeps a sketchbook and has spent the last several years trying to learn how to draw better, I’m always curious to see anyone’s sketchbook and raw drawing style. It turns out there isn’t much difference between Diebenkorn’s sketchbook drawings and his etchings – he had a lively, spontaneous line and an unfailing sense of composition no matter the medium or size. Here are few of my favorites from this great collection: Though these are worth seeing in person, one cool thing is that the Cantor has scanned all of his sketchbooks and put them online HERE. This exhibit made me think about the general use of a sketchbook. Diebenkorn called his sketchbook his “portable studio,” and it’s clear he took drawing in these beatup spiralbounds as seriously as he did etching on a copper plate or painting on a canvas. I think some comics makers, myself included, tend to treat their sketchbooks as something completely different from their final art. The idea of closing the gap between the two is appealing to me, and Diebenkorn’s example is inspiring. On the practical side, I liked how Diebenkorn used fairly inexpensive sketchbooks, often with a low page count. He felt free to glop on gouache or use heavy ink washes, and so almost always used one side of the page. This was exciting to me, as I’ve found the use of a pricey, bound, moleskin-style sketchbook to be a little inhibiting. It’s nice to work with a pad with few pages – if you dislike the run you’ve been on in your current sketchbook, you’re not tied to it for very long. I also love the look of the old Strathmore books. I went out and got a bunch of Strathmore drawing pads. The covers aren’t as nice these days but the size and lack of pretense freed me up a bit. These little ones are 4 bucks and have pretty good off-white paper. At 24 pages, I filled several up pretty quickly. Satisfying! Here are a few of my recent sketches: ————————————————————————————————— Jesse Rimler makes comics in the Bay Area. You can see more of his sketches and comics by following him on Instagram – @rimblecomics. His submission to the Comics Workbook Composition Competition can be seen HERE. Share this page: [...]

10/31/2016

Juan FernándezOctober 31, 2016NewsJuan here with the good stuff: Chris Diaz photographs CXC 2016; Connor Willumsen’s LICAF report; interview with NYRB Comics Editor, Gabriel Winslow-Yost; Rob Clough on Patreon; Maggie Umber on great horned owls; Tom Spurgeon interviews Gabe Fowler; thoughts on CAB + APE. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡Want to see some of North America’s finest cartoonists? Chris Diaz has shared some photographs of the greats who showed up at CXC in the Diaz Archive here on the site – Seth, Sacha Mardou, Charles Burns and many more! This is just part 1 of 2, so stay tuned! ————————————————————————————————— ⚡Connor Willumsen’s LICAF report is live on the site. Mint Cakes, sheep-gazing, his workshop experiences, and Frank’s “intuitive” driving. All detailed in full. Hilarious and inspiring. You’re not going to want to miss this one! It is a struggle to reflect on anything without first commenting on the unfathomable number of sheep abstractly pacing between an ancient network of low stone walls up in the Lake District of northern England. I guess I saw, by virtue of my eyes being open, over a thousand sheep over the weekend. I became self conscious and learned to be discreet about my developing preoccupation with photographing them. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ The Arkansas International has an interview with NYRB Comics Editor, Gabriel Winslow-Yost. NYRB’s comics publishing in the last year have been a delightful curation over forgotten cartooning gems. All of which have been especially visceral. A hell of a reprint project! Perhaps related to the above — what do you see as the mission of the imprint? Our main inspiration is the NYRB Classicsseries, which we’ve both been huge fans of for a long time. It’s brought hundreds of absolutely wonderful books into English and back into print over the past decade-plus, and built an audience that is adventurous and open — readers who will take a chance on books from all sorts of times and places, and in all sorts of styles. The idea behind NYR Comics is simply that something similar could be done for comics. Because of the somewhat tortured history of comics publishing in the US, there are a lot of fantastic works that have fallen way out of print, or never really even got into print, or were never translated into English —but that are still vital and exciting. And that have an audience out there, waiting for them, if only they knew… ————————————————————————————————— ⚡Rob Clough has launched a Patreon. Clough is one of the most attentive small press comics reviewers out there. He can contextualize even the most seemingly ephemeral publication. It’s incredible. AND he makes the valiant effort to review the work of cartoonists and comics makers whose work has usually never been reviewed. I encourage you to support his writing through patreon. We’ve gotten to read his excellent writing for years for free, it’s time we support his craft. I’ve been writing comics criticism for fifteen years now, in places like Savant, The Comics Journal, Cicada, Sequart, Foxing Quarterly, Sequential Magazine and the Poopsheet Foundation. Of course, my home base for a decade has been my own High-Low site: http://highlowcomics.blogspot.com I’ve been providing criticism about comics from across the alternative/indy spectrum, including shedding light on new artists, short-run minicomics, YA comics, and of course the major releases from Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, etc. Anyone who’s been following my blog for the past six months has seen that I’ve been adding reviews five days a week. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡Maggie Umber has cooked up a cool little reflection on the development of her latest long-form comics work, the Sound of Snowfalling. Learn more about the whole process over on Medium. In my tenth grade biology class we did the usual things: dissected frogs, identified birds from slide shows, and raised plants from seedlings in paper towels. It seemed like the typical high school science experience until we were asked to write a research paper in first person from an animal’s perspective. My imagination went into overdrive. The idea took ahold of me like nothing has since. For three weeks in tenth grade I became a great horned owl. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡CAB is right around the corner this weekend in Brooklyn, NY! To get you into high gear for the comics freak explosion that will sound descend upon Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, you’ll want to check out this interview with head festical organizer, Gabe Fowler. Thanks to Tom Spurgeon for always asking the right questions over on Comics Reporter. SPURGEON: My impression is that this year’s show was not a sure thing, and as I recall you announced a bit later than most shows might announce. Why the hesitancy? What put you over the top in terms of wanting to do another one? FOWLER: I’m basically burned out. Organizing a show by myself is a lot of work, I care about it a great deal, and it takes a lot out of me personally. I also have seen a widespread proliferation of shows since I conceived of our first show in 2009, and I have mixed feelings about it. When I initially wanted to start a show I knew it had to be something vital to the culture and a kick in the ass.. I don’t want to beat a dead horse. I want to make an innovative and fresh show out of nothing. Since I lack the funds or institutional support of larger festivals it becomes exhausting to create a worthwhile show while I’m running a business and working on my own creative projects. But in the end, I love it, and I can’t not do it. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡ As the latest iteration of CAB approaches, I think it serves us well to think about the constant change that these kinds of festivals take in the US. Take APE or example. The show used to be HUGE. In the early 2000s it was a juggernaut that rivaled SPX. It seemed that for everyone on the West Coast, APE was a rite of passage. Stephanie Tran‘s written a little on what it’s like today over on Women Write About Comics. It’s welcoming to new comers and is taking a different, smaller form, as demanded by the rest of the West Coast’s comics ecosystem. Interesting. It was held not in the San Jose Convention Center’s Exhibit Hall as I expected, but in its South Hall, a metal-framed structure that resembled more of a hanger than an actual hall. This turned out to be perfect for APE–unlike Heroes and Villains Fan Fest, APE spread out its exhibitors, leaving them with about a foot on each side instead of placing tables end-to-end. The setting was much more intimate and casual than Heroes and Villains, and, when coupled with the lack of a large crowd, encouraged dialogues and gave attendees the opportunity to mill around the booths and flip through a comic or look over the exhibitor’s art. According to veteran exhibitors and other attendees, the con has been getting smaller over the years (one person suggested that this was due to another independent comic fest in Berkeley though perhaps it has more to do with the SF Zine fest), but the size of APE was just right for my first time at an independent publishing expo. ————————————————————————————————— ⚡Even if you didn’t making it to one of the Comics Workbook-hosted workshops at SPX, CXC, or LICAF this year, you can still bring your comics game to a new level via thee Santoro School Handbook for Making Better Comics by Frank Santoro and Kurt Ankeny. Printed offset on cardstock by the professionals at The Prolific Group, Winnipeg, Canada, this is not some cheap color xerox or risograph. Looks great, feels great, and even smells great. Always available at our store HERE – free shipping worldwide! ————————————————————————————————— until next time! Juan Share this page: [...]

05/11/2017

Aaron CockleMay 11, 2017NewsAaron filling in today with a pre-TCAF run-down. ————————————————————————————————— The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) is scheduled for Saturday-Sunday, May 13-14. Here is a brief listing of some of the many wonderful event offerings that may be of interest to our regular and patient readers: Gengoroh Tagame My Brother’s Husband – Exhibition by Gengoroh Tagame May 9th to May 30th, 2017 @ Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, 1st Floor Display Room (Near the Browsery), Free The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is proud to a host a small display of materials from the creation of My Brother’s Husband, the new graphic novel series by TCAF Featured Guest Gengoroh Tagame. Winner of the Excellence Award for manga at The 19th Japan Media Art Festival, My Brother’s Husband is the moving story of a Japanese man learning to accept his late brother’s Canadian husband, the first LGBT person he’s ever met, who is visiting Japan. Upon winning the award, a small display of roughly 16 pieces of Tagame’s artwork, from layouts, to penciled pages, to final artwork, was assembled to be displayed for the award ceremony. It is this exhibition of materials, with additional English language material, which will be exhibited at Toronto Reference Library this May, as a part of The Toronto Comic Arts Festival. My Brother’s Husband will make its English-language debut at The Toronto Comic Arts Festival, May 13th and 14th, 2017, from Pantheon Books, a division of Penguin Random House. TCAF would like to thank Toronto Public Library, and Pantheon Books, for their assistance with this exhibition. ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— The German Comics Pavilion Featuring Anna Haifisch, Ulli Lust, and Martina Schradi Saturday May 13, 9am-5pm & Sunday May 14, 10am-5pm The Appel Salon, Novella Room, Toronto Reference Library 2nd Floor Presented in association with the Goethe-Institut, Internationaler Comic-Salon Erlangen, Germany @ Canada 2017: Partners from Immigration to Innovation, the Federal Foreign Office and the German Comics Association The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is proud to welcome a special pavilion of cartoonists, publishers, associations, and gallery shows from Germany! Germany is home to a thriving comics and artistic scene, and at TCAF 2017 you’ll be able to sample some of the diverse wares, thanks to a special international exchange between TCAF and Internationaler Comic-Salon Erlangen in Germany, with the incredible support of the Goethe-Institut. The pavilion is located on the second floor of Toronto Reference Library in the Appel Salon. TCAF will travel to Erlangen in 2018 with a cadre of Canadian cartoonists, to complete the exchange. Exhibiting in the pavilion will be cartoonists Anna Haifisch, Ulli Lust, and Martina Schradi, as well as Internationaler Comic-Salon Erlangen and The German Comics Association, and German comics publisher Rotopol (who will also be present but exhibiting on Toronto Reference Library’s first floor, so look for them there). The Pavilion will also house 3 small art exhibitions, including: “Ach, So Ist Das? (Oh, is that so?),” a survey of contemporary LGBTI society; a survey of contemporary German comics curated by comics journalist Lars von Törne for the Frankfurt Book Fair and presented here in collaboration with the German Comics Association; a selection of prints by Anna Haifisch. ————————————————————————————————— Tyler Landry will be representing Comics Workbook at TCAF with a special workshop on Sunday, May 14th, in the Writers Room, on the 3rd floor of the Toronto Reference Library. 12:30pm – Comics Workbook : Composing a Spread – This workshop is about visual storytelling. Learn essentials of generating ideas, building a page, editing, and refining a functional comic spread layout. This workshop is PERFECT for beginners, or anyone more seasoned who wants to try a different approach to bringing their ideas to the page This workshop is being facilitated by Tyler Landry (Comics Workbook Member, Santoro Correspondence Course Alumnus, Cartoonist, Art Director, Head of the Charlottetown Comics Club) ————————————————————————————————— Other Programming Highlights Saturday, May 13: 11:00 AM – Koyama Press 10th Anniversary Celebration – Koyama Press is now 10 years old! Join founder and publisher Annie Koyama, as well as a slew of artists whose work she has helped usher into the world, as they reflect back on the past 10 years, challenges and highlights of independent comics, and what their plans would’ve been had Koyama Press not come along. The comics world would be very different, that’s for sure! Happy Birthday KP!Panelists: Michael DeForge, John Martz, Jane Mai, Fiona Smyth, Aaron Leighton, Anne Koyama. Moderator: Dustin Harbin. 01:30 PM – Expressive Lines And The Power of Restraint – There are many ways of showcasing expressive art in comics. Join Hellen Jo, Ron Rege Jr., Keren Katz, Maggie Umber, and Xia Gordon as they talk about what goes into composing a page, what influences their art, and how they use expressiveness to tell a story. 2:00 PM – Watercolour and Comics – Julia Bax is an illustrator based in São Paulo, Brazil. She has been drawing comics for the majority of her career, and has been published in the United States, France, and of course, Brazil. In 2015 her book Princesse Caraboo (story by Ozanam) was published by Le Lombard in France. In this album the pages were illustrated using watercolor, and that is the theme of this workshop. Julia will explain her process from layout to completed page, and demonstrate the technique she used in Princesse Caraboo. If you have a love for traditional media and isn’t afraid of getting your hands dirty, this is the workshop for you! 02:45 PM – Spotlight: Marcelino Truong x Thi Bui – With Such a Lovely Little War and The Best We Could Do, Marcelino Truong and This Bui share their powerful and compelling stories about the Vietnam War. Following their families’ experiences in getting out of the country, to the struggles of immigration, these creators explore the traumas of war. Join Marcelino and Thi as they discuss what drew them to comics to tell their stories, and what challenges they still see ahead for Vietnamese communities around the world. Sunday, May 14 10:30 AM – Book Shrinking – Make a miniature version of your favourite zine/comic book/artist book! Bring: A book you’d like to shrink and drawing supplies (preferably dry media, i.e., markers, coloured pencils, pens, scissors and transparent tape/double sided tape). This workshop is being facilitated by Keren Katz (The Academic Hour). 12:00 PM – Comics As Political Resistance – Comics are amazing tools for communicating. This is never more vital than when telling your stories involves speaking out against oppressive systems or political climates. Join Nate Powell (March), Ben Passmore (Your Black Friend), Julia Alekseyeva (Soviet Daughter) and Matt Lubchansky (The Nib) as they talk about how creating and sharing comics can be an act of political resistance in these troubling times. 02:00 PM – So Pretty / Very Rotten – So Pretty / Very Rotten is a collection of comics and essays that are at once academic and intimate, exploring the world of Lolita fashion and cute culture. In celebration of their new book and art show, Jane Mai and An Nguyen will be at the Japan Foundation for a reading and presentation that goes beyond the clothes. 4:00 PM – 10 Years 10 Years: Koyama Press x 2dcloud – Annie Koyama & Raighne talk about 10 years at their respective labels and what the next 10 years might look like. ————————————————————————————————— Wowee Zonk Small Press Showcase The Toronto Comic Arts Festival and Wowee Zonk proudly present the Wowee Zonk Small Press Showcase for 2017. Curated by Toronto Artists Chris Kuzma, Ginette Lapalme and Patrick Kyle, the Wowee Zonk Small Press Showcase highlights some of the best and most exciting work being made in comics, zines, and independent publishing. See below for the entire list of artists! You’ll be able to find all these fantastic folks in the Browsery at the Toronto Reference Library. Patrick Kyle – patrickkyle.com Chris Kuzma – chriskuzma.com Ginette Lapalme – ginettelapalme.com Ted Gudlat – tedgudlat.tumblr.com Keith Jones – Zipzapzoo.com Brie Moreno – boogerbrie.tumblr.com Kendra Yee – kendrayee.com DDOOGG – shop.ddoogg.ca Issue Press – issue.press Swimmers Group – swimmersgroup.com Alabaster Pizzo – alabasterpizzo.com Tommi Parrish – tommipg.tumblr.com Lee Lai – lee-lai.tumblr.com Anya Davidson – anyadavidson.com Colour Code – shop.colourcodeprinting.com Eli Howey – elihowey.ca Sabrina Scott – witchbody.com Jamie Q – jamieq.net Inés Estrada – inechi.com Michael DeForge – michael-deforge.com Adam De Souza – kumerish.com Lily Snowden-Fine – lilysnowdenfine.com Walker Mettling – walkermettling.tumblr.com Ben Sears – freebensears.com Connor Willumsen – connorwillumsen.com Daryl Seitchik – darylseitchik.com Starchild Stela – instagram.com/littlestarchild <3 JG <3 PLANT WORLD PRINTING – plantworld.tictail.com Jenn Liv – jennliv.com Michael Comeau – slomeau.tumblr.com Alicia’s Klassic Kool Shoppe – alicianauta.com Forge Art Mag – forgeartmag.com Perish Publishing – perishpublishing.ca ————————————————————————————————— 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! ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 5-11-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-11-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 5-11-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

10/04/2017

Juan FernándezOctober 4, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos el día con Daniel Blanco; José Muñoz y Maria Luque; Inés Estrada; Rodrigo la Hoz; #GRAFMAD2017 y los tebeos de Cómics Workbook! ————————————————————————————————— Juan here: Well, folks, made it through the gauntlet. I had a brilliant time at CXC as Jenn Lisa and Sean Knickerbocker’s hype man & dutiful assistant. Comics Workbook held it down and got the good word into the hands of Columbus aplenty through workshops, back issues and conversations. It’s great to have a crew like Comics Workbook where we’ll have a core crew running programming and officially representing (Frank Santoro, Sally Ingraham, Audra Stang, Caleb Orecchio, and Connor Willumsen) while also having “agents” floating around the festival. It was good to be in the company of folks like Aaron Cockle, Kurt Ankeny, Adam Griffiths, Marina Harkness. All of us doing our thing. A huge thank you to the CXC staff and volunteers for helping establish a show that best honors cartoonists and building a deep city wide infrastructure. Most specifically, I’d like to thank the CXC Executive committee, the people who make this show what it is and tirelessly keep it going–Jeff Smith, Lucy Caswell, Vijaya Iyer, Kathleen Glosan, Tom Spurgeon and Melody Reed. Got to catch up with the great Iona Woolmington. Hearts on fire for her. Picked up fresh Comics School USA #8 from Kevin Huizenga. Can’t wait to sink my teeth into his notes. Watched Kat Fajardo receive the CXC emerging talent and felt the waves of excitement. Still running on that energy. Talked autobio comics with Breena Nuñez. Watched Jenn Lisa find kindred spirits at this show talking autobio and DIY and talking about the garbage aspects of the intersection of ego and publishing. This is a big deal for me and her. Good stuff. CXC 2018 is 9/27-9/30. Thursday through Sunday. Mark your calendars and make your pilgrimage to Columbus. Stay tuned for my annual Expanding the Festival Tool Kit post. After bathing in the warmth of CXC and swimming through a year of shows and festivals, I’ve got lots of thoughts. And I hope you do too, so chime in. Tonight in Pittsburgh we’ve got our monthly comics salon: If you’re in Pittsburgh, be sure to stop by for some drawing exercises, coffee, shop talk, and solidarity. Tonight we’ll be riffing off of Connor Willumsen’s latest workshops, focusing on distilling action, observation and dialogue into their essential bits across tight but flexible architectures of the page. We’ll be guided by the principles he’s developed over the past couple of years, most visible in his latest work, Anti-Gone, published by Koyama Press. Anyway here’s the usual comics gold I bring you every week from Latin America and Spain. A little lighter a haul than usual, but just as shiny. *Turn on your translation devices* ————————————————————————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo tienen una nueva edicion de La Polola Podcast! Las chicas conversan con Daniel Blanco sobre sus inicios en el dibujo, su infancia en la religión mormona y su vida en peñalolen rodeado de animales y perros. Les contó acerca de su formación casi autodidacta y su amor por la filosofía y la teoría. Finalmente les habló de su editorial Endorsain y el gusto de hacer libros de autor distintos y originales Lo que va del cómic argentino: Martín Pérez escribe en las #Entreviñetas de El Espectador acerca de la obra de José Muñoz y Maria Luque Inés Estrada sale de gira: AUSTIN, DALLAS, TOKYO, CIUDAD DE MEXICO, LOS ANGELES y les ofrece un nuevo calendario para el 2018 en la tienda Gatosaurio. Rodrigo la Hoz les da tres consejos para contar historias en viñetas en Revista Bacánika. Abierta la convocatoria para participar en #GRAFMAD2017 ¡Hasta el 16 de octubre! ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie -10-04-2017- by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 10-4-2017 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

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