Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in los Cómics, NewsTagged caleb orecchio, gabriella tito, jack brougham

Juan Fernández

Posted on June 14, 2017

Explore

01/13/2017

Sally IngrahamJanuary 12, 2017NewsSally here, reveling in this week’s collection of cool women who have made or are currently making comics: Elizabeth Stohn, Julie Doucet, Rachel Masilamani, Jessica Abel, Sarah Glidden, Audra Stang, and more! ————————————————————————————————— I’m delighted that we are featuring Rachel Masilamani here on the site this week. Juan Fernandez wrote a thoughtful piece about her comics, highlighting work made between 2000 and 2013. Rachel began making comics in Baltimore in 1997, and has stuck with the form through thick and thin. She won a Xeric Foundation grant, moved to Pittsburgh, became a librarian, started a family, and never stopped self-publishing her comics, which often deal with intense subject matters. I am a big fan of her work and have so much respect for her as a creator – it’s an honor to share the city of Pittsburgh with badass cartoonists like Rachel. Read Juan’s thoughts on her work HERE. Juan doesn’t dig into Rachel’s more recent work, the NON PARTUM series that she published on Mutha Magazine – you can check those comics out HERE. Megan Purdy of Women Write About Comics composed a collection of essays about the comics as they were coming out in early 2015. Here are her thoughts on Plan B-200, followed by The Subject, Spontaneous, Habitual, Inevitable, and finally We Conceive. ————————————————————————————————— Dan Nadel shared this incredible blog post about the work of Elizabeth Stohn on The Comics Journal this week. The author of the post – Jim Linderman – found these comic strips (above) in a sketchbook and gathered as much info as he could about the young woman who made them 100 years ago. Really cool stuff – be sure to check it out. (Make time also to peruse Jim’s blog further – he’s been called “one of the world’s greatest pickers” by the New York Times, and his blog and the books he’s authored about the bits of American art and history he collects are wonderful!) ————————————————————————————————— Sarah Glidden has a new comic up on Tablet called A Temple in Time. “When the news became too much to bear, I tried observing an ‘internet Shabbat,’ where I could unplug one day a week. It didn’t quite work as planned.” The first page is shown above – you can read the rest is HERE. ————————————————————————————————— I got to read Jessica Abel‘s Trish Trash: Rollergirl of Mars while working at Copacetic Comics this week – I’d been looking forward to it for awhile. I love the world of rollerderby, and Jessica has basically taken that sport and propelled it into the future. Life on Mars is tough, and 15-year old Trish wants to become a pro “hoverderby” player and escape her family’s moisture farm. Things start to work out for her and her dream is within reach, but then a native Martian shows up and may just “dust” her plans. As it says on the Trish Trash website: “Check Trish out if you (or someone you love) is totally into sci-fi, rollerderby, reading about kickass girls, reading about kickass girls who are not white, and/or semi-dystopian post-environmental-collapse speculative fiction (oh wait, that’s everyone, isn’t it?).“ It certainly describes me, and despite not being entirely engrossed by the story I still have high hopes for it’s continued development. The “behind the scenes” Tumblr for the book is pretty fun, so while we’re waiting for the next installment you can explore the concept of rollerderby + Mars to your heart’s content. ————————————————————————————————— Poking around the 2dcloud website recently revealed an interview with Julie Doucet. It’s unclear who conducted the interview with her – the whole thing is oddly formatted and frankly frustrating to read – but it was interesting to dig into some of Julie’s thoughts about her present work, and her continuing relationship with comics – which is at the moment one of disconnect and disinterest, and extreme frustration over people trying to MAKE her current work “still be comics” in some fashion. “Julie: i simply had more than enough of it when i quit. had enough of the all boy crowd (something i was comfortable with for a long time) i simply lost interest in it. of course i kept reading my friends comics, but no more than that. when i say i feel i can’t connect, i mean i don’t know what’s going on in comics these days, i’m totally out of touch, i don’t know what the hell comics people are talking about, don’t know the new names, the new titles, the new publishers etc… 2dcloud: Reading Julie Delporte’s beautiful Journal recently, she mentions something about your new work still being comics in its own way. Do you think of your work in this way? Julie: i am not sure i agree with what Julie Delporte says. i work pretty much with words only! what i do is more like Dada poetry, if you like…i swear comics people INSIST to death, i HAVE to be doing comics whatever i do!! i’ve heard that kind of affirmation one million times!!! i don’t get it! why isn’t it normal to to other things?? like in visual arts, you can do whatever you like and be coherent in your work. why why why why am i not allowed to do just that?“ Check out the rest of the interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Various and Sundry’s Sara Lautman completes her week as The Comic Journal‘s diarist – her comics are HERE. She Does the City conducted a lovely interview with Annie Koyama this week – HERE. Mariana Harkness is organizing Headlocks for Hope – a fundraiser that brings pro-wrestling fans together in support of Planned Parenthood and The Southern Poverty Law Center. Check out the campaign HERE and pick up some artwork by Mariana, Box Brown, Pete Faecke, and others. Lauren Weinstein‘s strip on The Village Voice is quite exciting this week… The Rockettes Start the Revolution! Miranda Harmon drew up her memories from attending MICE last year – and shared a resolution: “In the coming years I will continue to make things, and resist, and survive.“ Eleanor Davis‘ upcoming You & A Bike & A Road (Koyama Press, May 26th 2017) made the National Post‘s list of 5 graphic books that are “a winning draw for 2017“. ————————————————————————————————— Superstar Comics Workbook student Audra Stang is back in Pittsburgh for her second Rowhouse Residency! She joined us in July of 2016 for a long weekend and drew the entire first draft of her comic Pale, Sick, and Magic (read it HERE – also check out Rob Clough’s review of that comic, as well as Love My Like an Autograph HERE.) Audra is joining us for a week this time. She is christening the new residency space for us, filling it with index card drawings and good energy – and digging into her new long-form comic project with the determination of a recent college grad who has every intention of making comics a lifetime adventure, and not just the thing she fought with her art professors about for 4 years…! It’s thrilling to have her back and I can’t wait to see what Audra gets done in the next week. You can read about her first residency experience HERE. If you are interested in applying for a Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency or just looking for more info, visit this page or email santoroschoolATgmail – we will happily answer any questions you might have! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 1-13-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 1-13-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— 1-13-2017 – by Juan Fernández Share this page: [...]

12/09/2016

Sally IngrahamDecember 9, 2016NewsSally here with Vanesa R. Del Rey’s new book, work by Sylvie Fontaine, Fiona Smyth, and Gabriella Tito, and notes on the All Time Comics project. ————————————————————————————————— “Frank Santoro: Vanesa, I’m quite taken aback by your sheer technical ability which seems to be married to a poetic sensibility. There’s a lightness there. Sometimes illustrators with that ability get heavy-handed. Yet you manage the push-pull between the two sides of yourself – because you’re like a samurai. The humble samurai. Vanesa R. Del Rey: It’s about trying to remember that. I can get all this praise, I can get all these amazing responses from strangers, but at the end of the day – I’m still a student. I’m still learning. The crown doesn’t fit. The crown should never fit.” In May 2016 Vanesa R. Del Rey came to Pittsburgh, PA, to visit the Rowhouse and share her sketchbooks and her passion for comics with Frank and the rest of us. Their conversations about her work and experiences have been transformed into the book The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey, which is full of gorgeous images as well. You can get a peak into the book at the pre-order site HERE – the book will be released later this month! Vanesa is known for her work on Marvel’s Black Widow, and the Boom Studios stories Hit and The Empty Man. She is the “vertical invader” in comics that Frank has always talked about – the artist who “could employ the naturalism of the Noel Sickles/Alex Toth school but who could paint like an Alice Neel or a Jenny Saville.“ Vanesa is an inspiration to me on a lot of levels, and getting to hear more of her stories and thoughts via this new book – getting to hang out with this samurai! – is a great privilege. To hear another woman voice out loud something like “I want to be a strong female – I want to be powerful” and then to watch her truly kick ass IS incredibly powerful. Check out more of Vanesa’s work HERE. Pre-order a copy of The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Big news broke yesterday – EW revealed that Fantagraphics is going to release a line of superhero comes starting in March 2017. Wait…whut?! “Headed by writer Josh Bayer, the All Time Comics line launches in March 2017 with All Time Comics: Crime Destroyer #1. The supersized issue will introduce the four main characters of this shared superhero universe: Atlas, Bullwhip, Crime Destroyer, and Blind Justice, each of whom will be getting their own individual series. As proof of the line’s blending of eras, this first issue will feature the final published comics work of the late Herb Trimpe, a Marvel veteran of the Lee/Kirby era who helped co-create Wolverine. All Time Comics will also feature work from the likes of Al Milgrom (who co-created DC’s Firestorm), as well as younger artists like Noah Van Sciver and Ben Marra. Each issue, Bayer promises, will feature a new unique mash-up of different cartoonists.” – via EW It’s true – here’s the pre-order page on Fantagraphics’ website. And I do think this is exciting news. I totally want to read a superhero comic that Noah Van Sciver has worked on. But Heidi MacDonald over on The Comics Beat has already voiced the thought that immediately occurred to me – the project is kind of “a throwback boys club that proves just how far comics have come….not. Tsk tsk, boys. Haven’t you heard the news? Girl cooties are allowed around comics now and even superheroes!” Heidi shouts for Katie Skelly to get in on the project, or else. I am going to start the clamor for Lale Westvind and Anya Davidson and Vanesa R. Del Rey for heavens sake, and I’m going to keep adding to the list! Overall I do think it’s a cool project (I look forward to collecting the issues!) and I like what Bayer has to say about it: “All Time Comics is celebration of independent comics and the best of pulpy superhero comics of the past,” Bayer tells EW. “We are making a circle complete. This is also a period when comics seem to be in danger of being eclipsed by movies and video games, and All Time Comics is here to remind people that comics, not movies, not action figures or toys, that started our cultural obsession with superheroes. All Time Comics is us, and we stand for comics. Comics are not fading. They will stand… for all time.” – via EW The EW press release is HERE. Heidi on The Comics Beat has the whole list of who exactly is working on what issues at the end of her post, HERE. ————————————————————————————————— I spend two days a week at one of the best alternative comics shops in the world – Copacetic Comics, in the Polish Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. A twice-weekly perusal of the shelves or a thorough dig through the many long boxes of small press and self-published work usually turns up a few treasures. Yesterday I poured over a little book by Sylvie Fontaine, called Miss Va-Nu-Pieds (2008). Sylvie Fontaine is a French comics maker who has been publishing work since the 90’s. Despite the fact that her book Le Poulet du Dimanche (2007) earned an introduction by Moebius himself, the internet did not reveal much more about her. I was quite content with Miss Va-Nu-Pieds though. The black and white panels reminded me of Frans Masereel woodcuts, with a little Mary Fleener mixed in. The wordless story follows a young woman through a swiftly changing wonderland. She moves forward constantly, encountering new landscapes and beings, falling into traps and narrowly avoiding accidents, planting , dancing, until she rides a giant hand to a point of rest and possibly fulfillment. I would say you can get a copy of this book at Copacetic, but I think I’m keeping it. So if you’re interested, you can order it through the publisher, Tanibis. ————————————————————————————————— Another work that I was reminded of while looking at Miss Va-Nu-Pieds was The Rendered (2016) by Fiona Smyth. Perhaps something about the harsh black and white made me long for hot pink – although there is a slight stylistic similarity. Speaking of Fiona Smyth, when I saw her this past summer she was bemoaning the fact that the building in Toronto where her studio has been located for years was being torn down, or was kicking all the artists out – something really depressing – and now I see on her site that she’s having a final studio sale. Boooooo. She’ll be selling drawings, paintings, zines, and prints on Dec. 10th and then Dec. 17/18th – here are the details. In other news – much more delightful news! – I just discovered Fiona’s CHEEZ archive. CHEEZ is a weekly strip that Fiona has been publishing on the web since…2009?! It was “originally a monthly comic/drawing published in Canada’s Exclaim Magazine over a ten year period from 1992 to 2002.“ Here is the first strip that appeared on the site in 2009: And the most recent one: Yes, you read that correctly – Fiona Smyth has drawn 489 CHEEZ strips. Check them all out HERE! ————————————————————————————————— There are 4 days left to get an early application in for the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers, and get that sweet $100 off discount on the Winter Semester. Apply by Dec. 13th! The course starts December 29th 2016, and you have until the 28th to submit an application – the course is 8 weeks long – Frank takes 10 students and you won’t find a better teacher out there. One-on-one feedback, techniques and ideas about comics that will transform your practice and push you to a whole new level. Winter is the time to hunker down and make some serious work – and have a bit of fun too. Check out the course – take the course: More details can be found HERE – or email santoroschoolATgmail. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 12-9-2016 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

09/18/2018

Aaron CockleSeptember 17, 2018NewsOld Drawings; Flocks; ‘Against Clarity’; Her garden, a mirror; RM; NYABF 2018 ————————————————————————————————— This South African cave stone may bear the world’s oldest drawing Other finds have included 100,000- to 70,000-year-old pigment chunks engraved with crosshatched and line designs, 100,000-year-old abalone shells containing remnants of a pigment-infused paint and shell beads from around the same time. ————————————————————————————————— Shea Hennum reviews the new book by L. Nichols, Flocks The way that Nichols visually renders these pleasures is similarly worth noting. Throughout the book, Nichols signals emotional states by drawing arrows towards himself. These arrows sometimes take the form of lightning bolts, scraggly and castigating lines, or straight lines annotated with mathematical formulae. Whenever he is made to feel bad, insulted, or harassed, he represents this by drawing a line—literally—from the elicitor to himself, as if to say that these figures are pushing in on him, enforcing themselves on him. The lines coming at him are signs of oppression and hate. He reverses this to represent the love he feels in communion with God, rendering those scenes with a halo of lines emanating outward, emerging from within himself. This is part and parcel of Nichols’ broader aesthetic, which merges expressionistic portraiture with elements of naturalistic cartooning. The world is, by and large, rendered realistically so that it resembles the world and the people resemble people. Nichols renders himself, however, as a doll—alternately resembling a ragdoll and a crash-test dummy. This method of portraiture makes Nichols’ self-image infinitely pliable, and, I imagine, less emotionally taxing for him to manipulate. We see his body altered—in some cases, expressionistically disfigured; in some cases, literally disfigured—and Nichols can be explicit without being graphic. He can affect us deeply without it repelling us with viscera. The story is a deeply emotional one—that is, it is about emotions, emotional turmoil and distress—and Nichols affectively renders that core thematic visually. He makes it felt in not just what he draws but also in the way he draws it. ————————————————————————————————— Against Clarity Austin English continues his deep dive into comics, art, and art comics, this time looking at work by Megan Kelso, William Blake, 400 year-old paintings from India, and some contemporary political cartoonists (to name a few). A masterpiece like “Three Trees of India”, an illuminated 16th-century manuscript (sometimes on view at the Met), feels like a grand lost artifact of sequential art that, again, fits uneasily with contemporary comics’ self-conception as vessels of clarity. The peaks and valleys of emotion that this work suggests has been traded for a photocopy of Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy, which in theory sounds fine, as Bushmiller’s simplicity rivals the complexity of Blake. Yet few (if any) cartoonists are Bushmiller. ————————————————————————————————— Her garden, a mirror Chitra Ganesh continues her exploration of gender and power in a futurist imaginary in this solo exhibition taking as a point of departure the utopian, feminist, sci-fi novella from 1905 called Sultana’s Dream by Bengali author and social reformer Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain. These new works in printmaking, sculpture, and video engage art historical and literary sources to further reimagine the roles of the individual and the collective during periods of societal turbulence. Curated by Matthew Lyons. ————————————————————————————————— Reclamation Project: Rob Clough reviews Josh Bayer’s RM Bayer veers from an open page format with no panels to hand-drawn panels. He carefully employs a lot of negative space in order to let his drawings breathe a little and to make the otherwise blocky aspect of his figures more legible in terms of their actions on the page. Bayer is once again interpreting the drawings of Sal Buscema here, a master storyteller in terms of pacing, panel-to-panel transitions, and clarity, and he maintains these aspects of the original art while putting his own unique stamp. ————————————————————————————————— http://nyartbookfair.com/ ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

The Comics Code and the Patriarchy

Comics WorkbookApril 4, 2016EssaysClip from “Bill and Frank’s Excellent Romance Adventure” (vimeo.com/160250579), in which Bill expounds on the Comics Code as a defense against anti-authoritarianism and loose women. Share this page: [...]

Connor Willumsen Draws PRIS from BLADE RUNNER

Chris Anthony DiazMay 24, 2016The Diaz Archiveconnor willumsen’s portrait of daryl hannah as PRIS in ridley scott’s BLADE RUNNER (1982, USA) for my ILLUSTRATED MOMENTS IN CINEMA/TELEVISION collection. the commission done in pencil was completed in 2015. willumsen’s candid portrait taken at CAB 2014 in williamsburg, new york and color by graham willcox Share this page: [...]

06/14/2017

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Juan Fernández

Empezamos el día con Alexis Ziritt, Fabian Rangel Jr.; Power Paola; La Polola;Vincente Jose Cociña; Tenderete Fest 14; Casa Ajena; Begoña García-Alén; Sol Díaz; y los tebeos de Comics Workbook!
—————————————————————————————————

To celebrate the arrival of Alexis Ziritt and Fabian Rangel Jr.’s, return to North American bookshelves with the hardcover graphic novel, Tarantula. Vault of Midnight Detroit hit up Alexis with some questions about Tarantula:

Vault of Midnight: What can you tell us about Tarantula and the inspirations for its concept?

Alexis Ziritt: Tarantula is our love letter to pulp comics. Around 2006 I found some Argentian fotonovelas (a form of sequential storytelling that uses photographs) online. These were based on strong female characters fighting crime and dressing up like super heroes, but also I am a big fan of pulp and golden age comics and was able to find a bunch of comics from the 40’s with super heroines.

VoM: Your art has a very retro vibe to it and seems inspired by more than just other artists, but also movies, music, and pop culture in general. Who and what are some of the biggest influences on your style?

AZ: Sam Hiti, Jordi Bernet, Go Nagai, Steranko, Blade Runner, Forbidden World, Galaxy of Terror, Star Crash, Tokyo Drifter, Spaghetti Westerns, Fantomas, Judex, Doom Metal, Synth Wave, Goblin, Zombi…

Read it all HERE.

—————————————————————————————————

Power Paola: In-Situ en Correos

Cuando alguien me quiere mandar algo por correo a Argentina sufro, porque hay que perder un día de tu vida haciendo el trámite, además te cobran por recibirlo. Así que la última vez que fui decidí hacer un cómic in-situ para que cuando a alguien me pida mi dirección para enviarme un regalito acá le pueda explicar por qué no.
– Power Paola

Léanlo todo de este cómic AQUI.

—————————————————————————————————

Cómics y 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 el gran dibujante Vincente Jose Cociña acerca de su camino creativo, de su relación con la poesía, sus libros y proyectos de dibujo en diferentes áreas y mucho más.
Este fin de semana Valencia celebra Tenderete Fest 14, el festival de autoedición gráfica y sonora por excelencia de Valencia. Participan una tonelada de artistas que son de todos lados del mundo Colombia y Alemania… Prepárate.
Plop! Galéria ha compartido un trozito de la exposición Casa Ajena, de Mathias Sielfeld, Nico González, Matías Prado y Pablo Luebert. Denle un vistazo.
Breixo Harguindey de 13 Millones de Naves reseña Nuevas Estructuras firmado por Begoña García-Alén, “uno de los cómics más revolucionarios del año”.
Denle un vistazo a SPACE RIDERS: GALAXY OF BRUTALITY #2 en este preview! Fabian Rangel Jr. y Alexis Ziritt lógran algo maravilloso con esta edicion.
Pueden ver la entretenida entrevista que Carlos Reyes le hizo a Sol Díaz en un nuevo VIÑETAS DEL FIN DEL MUNDO.

—————————————————————————————————

Blinkers – 6-14-2017 – by Jack Brougham

—————————————————————————————————

Suzy and Cecil – 6-14-2017 – by Gabriella Tito

—————————————————————————————————

Joanie and Jordie – 6-14-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio

Share this page:

Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in los Cómics, NewsTagged caleb orecchio, gabriella tito, jack brougham

Juan Fernández

Posted on June 14, 2017

Explore

THE ENVELOPE MANUFACTURER by Chris Oliveros

Chris Anthony DiazJuly 9, 2016The Diaz ArchiveTHE ENVELOPE MANUFACTURER (all versions, softcover collection and mini-comic book issues) by Chris Oliveros. Photo of Chris Oliveros taken at TCAF 2015, Toronto, Sunday, May 9th and photo colored by Graham Willcox Share this page: [...]

04/03/2017

Sally IngrahamApril 2, 2017NewsWe start the week with Wilson and Dan Clowes, on old/new comic by Dash Shaw, insights from HTML Flowers and Michael Comeau, and Gloria Rivera’s CW Rowhouse Residency Report – plus much more! ————————————————————————————————— Dash Shaw wrote a “Filmmaker’s Letter” for Landmark Theater, which will be showing his film My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea! in locations around the country starting next week (find the complete list of showings HERE). Along with the letter, which details some of his thoughts behind the creation of the film, Dash shares the original mini-comic that inspired the film. The first spread is above – you can see the rest HERE. Read Dash’s Filmmakers Letter and be sure to see the film when it comes through your town! ————————————————————————————————— Daniel Clowes spoke to The Guardian recently about the similarities between the cynical world of his 90’s comics and this new “Trumpland” we live in – plus the experience of making Wilson, the new movie staring Woody Harrelson that is based on his 2010 comic of the same name. I read the comic and then saw the movie last week – Wilson the comic was quite amazing, and the movie didn’t disappoint either. Dan Clowes talks here about a powerful scene in the comic and the movie – and in real life, as it turns out: “You drew the graphic novel around the time your father was dying, and Wilson’s father dies in the book. How much of it is autobiographical? I began writing it when he was in the hospital, on his literal deathbed. He never got to see any of it. When I first began it was just something to keep my mind occupied while I was sitting in the hospital room with him. He was very much like Wilson’s dad, where he was just tuned out. He was clearly in his own head trying to process what was going on. I sort of expected that he would try to impart some, you know, final wisdom to his son, but he had no interest in that whatsoever. He was really just thinking about bigger things that I couldn’t comprehend. That’s a moment in the book, isn’t it? Yeah, it was a surprising moment in life and it was one of those things where we’d always had that kind of strained relationship where we never talked about anything deep or emotional. And I was waiting for that kind of my whole life. “When he’s dying, he’ll finally summon the courage to talk to me in that way!” and that just didn’t ever happen. That was very surprising, in a way. Even though it makes perfect sense: there was always this feeling that we had this unspoken thing between us, and now I realize maybe that thing can’t be put into words. Maybe that’s how it takes form – as an unspoken thing.“ Read the rest of the interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Shawn Starr interviews HTML Flowers and talks with him about the evolution of the No Visitors series. “There’s a greater focus on storytelling in No Visitors #2 compared to your earlier work, has your thoughts on writing comics changed? i started trying to really talk about my life in a simple, non fantasy manner. i wanted to build something, see myself changed or change things about my life that i can’t go back and change. show people how painful, rare & sometimes beautiful life with a chronic illness is. No Visitors #1 is basically just scraps and shorts that were all a part of the lead up to developing Little & his lifestyle, in fact i don’t really consider the series properly starting until No Visitors 2. i’ve been working up to this for years, now i’ve arrived and i feel so much myself. i feel like i’m really making the work i’m supposed to have always made in a weird way. lol destiny.“ Read more HERE. Get a copy of No Visitors #2 HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Nicole Burton of Ad Astra Comix interviews Michael Comeau. They discuss his comic Hellberta, which “has been described elsewhere on the internet as “one of the most meaningful and interesting” variations of a Wolverine comic, and I must agree. It explores the Canadian home of one of comic fandom’s most celebrated characters, against a background that is at once both more realistic and more surreal than your garden-variety Marvel title.” Ad Astra Comix is an activism-based comics publisher, so Nicole finds this comic easy to love: “NB: I often find myself fantasizing about the ability of the supernatural (and by extension, superheroes) solving the world’s social and political problems, beyond what I would see in your standard comic book. So I’ve found that Hellberta has been really satisfying for me and other activist folks I’ve shown it to. Would you describe Hellberta as a kind of political revenge porn, like Inglorious Bestards is to nazism or Django Unchained to slavery and racism? MC: I am a straight/cis/white man from Ontario who learned about Albertan activist culture among the oil sands boom while living and traveling with queer and trans people from Calgary. I was unsure how to depict the queer flight from Calgary or the environmental impact of the tar sands so I took a popular myth from the area and supplanted it onto the situation. What would Wolverine do? Superheroes are extensions and exaggerations of our hopes and fears I don’t really see them as rising above anything. I’d rather see them struggle with our same mundane problems in spite them being so exceptional.“ Later in the interview they also dig into the printing process of this exceptional duel-tone comic – good stuff for the printing nerds! Read the rest of the interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Vulture has a spring comics preview which details mainstream and alternative comics releases. Among their picks is Simon Hanselmann‘s new book, One More Year (Fantagraphics, April 26th 2017). “…don’t let the straightforward nature of One More Year deceive you — it’s an astoundingly well-crafted and punishingly heartfelt depiction of mental illness and codependence, one that also manages to make you laugh uncomfortably at the horrible decisions made by the characters you’re watching. The use of longstanding visual and narrative tropes only serves to draw you in more and make each disaster all the more relatable.“ More HERE (including a brief write-up on Jillian Tamaki’s Boundless.) ————————————————————————————————— Gloria Rivera wrote a report about her stay at the Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency in March 2017. She came with the single expectation to work hard on making comics – but her experience turned out to be much greater than that. “I am more than willing to report that while the uninterrupted work time, the comics lectures, and accessible reading material was what whipped me into completing my goal, what I am bringing home with me – more than another book done – is a sense of what true community is, and the importance of holding your peers to standards that will benefit them in the longer run.“ Calling Pittsburgh “…a town constantly working its bellows to support its comics scene” Gloria returned home to California with renewed intention and a great sense of purpose. Read more about her experience HERE. Email santoroschool@gmail.com for more info on how to apply for a Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency! ————————————————————————————————— Also also Simon Hanselmann wrote a new episode of Truth Zone – check it out HERE. In related news, Dan Nadel reviews All Time Comics’ Crime Destroyer #1. The New York Times remembers Bernie Wrightson. Gary Panter has a new book coming out from Fantagraphics in May 2017! Keep an eye out for the two-color stamped cloth-bound hardcover book – Songy of Paradise – “an inspired interpretation of John Milton’s retelling of the story of Jesus being tempted by Satan after being baptized by John the Baptist and fasting for forty days and nights in the Judaean Desert“. In this version “Jesus” is a hillbilly named Songy. Stay tuned. Emil Ferris talks about My Favorite Thing Is Monsters on NPR’s Fresh Air. Bill Kartalopoulos looks “near and far for comics” on Commarts. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 4-3-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 4-3-2017 – by Tyler Landry ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 4-3-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

Comics Community Heart: an Interview with Kevin Czap

Alyssa BergNovember 1, 2016Interviews“The Emerging Talent Award – this goes to a cartoonist whom we feel has plenty of promise as a cartoonist and has shown themselves to be a solid and giving community member as well… We love everything we’ve ever learned about you, in terms of your comics community heart.” —Tom Spurgeon, during the presentation of Jeff Smith and Vijaya Iyer’s Emerging Talent Award to Kevin Czap at CXC, 2016. By a combination of good luck and being an early bird at a pick-your-own-table convention, I ended up tabling close to Kevin Czap of Czap Books during the recent Cartoon Crossroads Columbus expo. This proximity allowed for neighborly chats and also afforded me a front-row spot when they were awarded the CXC 2016 Emerging Talent Award. Jeff Smith and Vijaya Iyer presented Kevin with a $7,500, no-strings-attached award in the form of a novelty check. It was a special moment to witness at CXC – a generous display of support for a deserving artist. A week later, I met up with Kevin in Providence, Rhode Island, to continue the conversation about CXC, comics and community. Alyssa: Tell me a little bit about winning the Emerging Talent Award at CXC. What was that like for you? Kevin Czap: I’ve been going to shows in Columbus with that crowd for a long time. I do a lot of shows – this year I’m going to be doing a total of 14 or 15, more than I usually do. So I know a lot of people, but there are a number of people I don’t necessarily think they know who I am, or I’m not necessarily on their radar… I’m just going about my thing. I didn’t expect it at all. It felt nice in that regard – plugging away at this thing and trying to be a part of the larger conversation of comics that I feel a part of is being represented at CXC. So the award felt like acknowledgement, that you are being noticed and heard, which feels nice. I’m doing all of this stuff without expectation of reward, it’s just what I what I want to do, but it’s definitely nice to see some traction. A: You recently did a Kickstarter for the 2017 collection from Czap Books that more than doubled the amount of money you asked for, and you won this Emerging Talent Award, both within a short span of time. It’s pretty wild, right? KC: I was thinking about that on the drive home and I was crying a lot. Not only that, last year Annie Koyama approached L. Nichols and I about funding Ley Lines, and she gave us a big check for printing the whole line for a year (as well as to pay the artists). And she just did that again for next year. I’ve collected close to what my salary was at my old full-time job to put into making comics, just out of people’s kindness and support of me. It’s too much (laughs). A: It’s the perfect amount! What was your old full-time job? KC: I was a web and graphic designer for a marketing firm in Northeast Ohio. It took good care of me but as I was becoming more ambitious with comics-things that had various facets of identity, the time got to be too much. I was spending the whole day thinking about the comics work that I was not getting done. A: It’s a leap of faith, as an artist, to leave a full-time job. KC: This award validates that decision even more. And also with the Kickstarter, I’ve been able to see the gains that I’ve made since leaving that job, and all of the time I’ve been able to put to good use. A: You have a lot of projects going at once: your own comics, publishing other people’s work, Ley Lines… In addition to those projects you are going to 15 festivals this year. It’s a pretty basic question but how do you manage your time? KC: In the beginning of the year, I figured out a really nice system of dividing up the days into specific blocks so everything is being worked on continually. But then after the first couple of big shows I fell off that a little bit. Now I’m trying to catch back up and get in to it again. Generally I just have a million to-do lists. I realized there are things I really don’t want to do, like call somebody on the phone or ask a stranger a question where the ‘no’ could be a scary thing. But if I put it on the to-do list, I have to cross it off. A: Do you love crossing things off? KC: It’s the greatest thing in the world. A: I was just reading Fütchi Perf and I’m wondering about the process that goes into your comics. KC: I’ve been trying to speed it up a little bit. Generally I’ll have ideas and over a couple months, they’ll formulate. Different bits and pieces of an idea will grow and crystallize and an image will pop out of that. I feel like I work better in smaller chunks. Fütchi Perf was made in discreet units over time. The first couple stories were for specific publications or tasks. I was living in Cleveland and the local alt-weekly had a comics issue: ‘do Cleveland of the future.‘ I did a single page that I later adapted to the first story in Fütchi Perf. A lot of them are based off of experiences I’ve had. I try to shove across any plotting ideas I have. ‘Alright that doesn’t matter, what is the feeling, what do I keep obsessing over?’ The story I was just talking about, I was trying to capture the feeling of going to my first house show – going down this hill and there is this weird house and it’s going to change your life but you don’t know it yet. From there I’ll have the images and then I try to run through the actions in my head. I’ll write out the lyrics or phrasing of the song. I’ve always been obsessed with this idea of somehow translating the feeling or structure of a song to a comic. Some of the more recent work I’ve done I’ll literally try and dissect the structure of song lyrics and try and transcribe that to panels. But for Ley Lines, it was different. I wrote all of the words first. I had some images like I usually do but it was writing out the actual lines, then rewriting and editing before drawing. A: Your Ley Lines book, The Letting Go, was inspired by a conceptual artist (Bas Jan Ader)? KC: Yeah, it’s an artist I learned about in college who I’m still interested in. I was reading a lot of writing about his work and my friend gave me a copy of a documentary about his life and work. I was thinking about these things in general and trying to shove that into a more personal, auto-biographical thing. A: I work with auto-bio in my own work but I try to pull away from the specific and make it more of a relatable feeling. With the auto-bio stuff, is that really close to you? KC: I feel like it’s really personal but it’s heavily coded. There’s a very thick screen. Some of the lines or words are directly things I’ve thought about my own situation but taken out of context to be more relatable and capture a feeling. Everything I do is really earnest, but there is a layer of self-consciousness about that because you have a sense that people don’t take earnestness seriously or it’s an easy route to being bad. There’s always an awareness of that. I don’t want it to be naive, but I do think that earnestness and honesty are important. A: When I made Alpenglow for the Comics Workbook competition, I made a conscious decision to re-imagine that story through kinder eyes. I have the tendency to go toward a heavy-hearted place but I wanted to be more positive, for myself and the people who would read it. When you’re making your work are you conscious of what’s being put out into the ether…of wanting to put positive vibrations into the universe (I’m sorry, I’m a half-hippie!)? KC: No, totally. That’s a lot of where Fütchi Perf started coming from. That idea of how can I turn this into positive energy that I can put into the world? It’s partly what I’m putting out into the world but it’s also what I’m putting into myself, too. I realized at some point it’s very easy to grow negativity in your own mind and I could see where that path leads. How can you correct that behavior, or view it another way? It is a lot of explicitly taking something and flipping it to see, what’s another outcome of this, what do you actually want to happen? A: That’s interesting that you say ‘what do you actually want to happen’ because as I was reading Fütchi Perf, in the first story, a character is “chosen to receive a sizable arts grant.” KC: Oh, ha, I forgot about that. That’s so funny because that specifically came out of not getting a grant and I thought, wouldn’t it be great if I had? A: Tell me about the comics community and how you might add to it. KC: As far as the community goes, my role – if I can do anything, I want to be able to bridge some gaps and constantly be true to my idea of comics being a very diverse and interesting medium full of possibility and not about any one particular way a comic looks or is made. A lot of it involves me constantly questioning and revisiting my own assumptions and tastes. I think it’s valuable to revisit those assumptions. Part of why it seemed important to me to go into publishing, besides liking it – promoting other people’s work and putting books together which is fun – is being very aware that the culture and history of comics is editable. It’s created by active involvement. ———————————————————————————————————————— One of my favorite things to see is a work in progress or sketchbook from an artist I admire. I asked Kevin if they would bring something in progress along to our meeting. KC: Right now I’m working on some things, but it’s all writing at this point. This is a recent sketchbook. It started as all ballpoint pen, and more recently I brought in the highlighter. With the line drawings, it’s like a wall I can’t get past. I want to do more blocky color. ———————————————————————————————————————— Kevin Czap – a.k.a. “Comics Mom” – has been making comics since they were a child in Northern Virginia. They live in Providence, RI, where they run the publisher and distro Czap Books. Their most recent work is The Letting Go (Ley Lines #8 – August 2016). Catch up with Kevin at Comic Arts Brooklyn this weekend (Nov. 5th 2016)! Alyssa Berg makes comics in Brooklyn, NY. You can find her work HERE. Share this page: [...]

02/22/2017

Juan FernándezFebruary 22, 2017los Cómics / NewsJuan José con un poquito sobre #GRAFBCN2017; Chicks on Cómics video tour; lo nuevo de Inés Estrada; #GRAFBCN2017; Talleres de Narrativas Dibujadas del Club de Lectores de Cómic de Manizales Gerardo Vilches on the contemporary Argentinian Comics Landscape; Desiree Rodriguez and #BeingLatinxInComics; TARANTULA; CW Daily Comics. Cómics y noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: Ya viene, ya llega. #GRAFBCN2017 a la vuelta de la esquina. GRAF is coming to Barcelona. Here’s all the info you need for #GRAFBCN2017‘s programming. March 3-5 at the wacky warehouse space, Fabra i Coats. It’s the ninth edition of the Festival so it should get pretty wild. You can sign up for workshops here: http://grafcomic.com/talleres Chicks on Comics has released a video of the exhibition they put together at Fundacion PROA, in Buenos Aires. This sprawling exhibition is open until this Sunday, the 26th. Can’t make it physically? Enjoy this little video tour! Wild child, Inés Estrada is dropping a bunch of comics on her site today Alienation #3, reprints of her out of print Alienation #1 and her comics diary of our Southwest Roadtrip. It happens today at http://gatosaurio.com El futuro del cómic pasa en parte obligatoriamente por Argentina, donde están ocurriendo un montón de cosas. Gerardo Vilches offers up an expansive vision of contemporary Argentinian comics. It’s a hell of a national scene report over on Revista Cactus. Desiree Rodriguez is compiling the work of the contemporary Latinx comics making community in North America, all together under #BeingLatinxInComics. Check it out and get hep to these artists, writers and critics. Know someone she should add? Want to add yourself? Here’s the submission form. Looking to lose yourself in pile of comics? Catch up/Dig into the TikTok Comics archive. Might I suggest you check out María Medem‘s Kinki Onírica series? ————————————————————————————————— Sharpen yerr pencils – Afilen sus lápices: El Club de Lectores de Cómic de Manizales, Colombia. invites you to a new space that they’re opening in the city, dedicated to the creation and study of comics. All are welcome to their Talleres de Narrativas Dibujadas. Their free weekly workshops happen every Tuesday from 2:30 to 4 PM at Banrepcultural. ————————————————————————————————— Hold on to your hats: TARANTULA is coming! Alexis Ziritt & Fabian Rangel Jr. & Evelyn Rangel are bringing you the psychoactive horror crime thriller you’ve always wanted by way of Adhouse Books. Pre-order a copy today! ————————————————————————————————— Announcing the Spring Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers! Frank here: This semester has a rolling start date – it will officially start March 7th but I will continue taking applications past that date. I will make it work for your schedule. Just apply! Applications received by February 26th will get 100 bux off! The course is 8 weeks long – payment plans are available. Many more details can be found HERE. Email santoroschoolATgmail to apply ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 2-22-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 2-22-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 2-22-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 2-22-2017 – by Juan Fernandez Share this page: [...]

07/29/2016

Sally IngrahamJuly 29, 2016NewsSally here, ready to dig into a roller-coaster of a week. We went from the excitement of the Eisner Awards to the wild Democratic National Convention, and then were hit with the sad passing of two comic masters – and the week isn’t over yet! Perhaps we will be able to catch our breath and our balance today? ————————————————————————————————— First up, a summer report from Frank Santoro, live from the Rowhouse Residency in Pittsburgh, PA – ————————————————————————————————— The EISNER AWARDS! They were incredible this year. Image Comics may have claimed the most awards, but it was Drawn & Quarterly that owned the stage that night (pictured above, publisher Peggy Burns accepting the Best Anthology award for Drawn & Quarterly: Twenty-five years of contemporary comics, cartoons, and graphic novels). From the D+Q blog: “D+Q authors were nominated in five categories and swept all five of them, with wins for Kate Beaton (Best Humor Publication for Step Aside, Pops), Shigeru Mizuki (Best American Edition of International Material – Asia for Showa 1953-1989), Jillian Tamaki (Best Publication for Teens for SuperMutant Magic Academy) and Adrian Tomine (Best Short Story for “Killing and Dying”)! Beaton was the first solo female cartoonist to win in the humor category, a deserved and significant win. In addition to all that wonderfulness, two of our legendary and defining authors, Lynda Barry and Tove Jansson were inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame.” Read more about D+Q’s Eisner sweep HERE, as well as a transcript of Peggy Burns’ wonderful speech inducting Tove Jansson into the hall of fame. Paste Magazine has a more general overview of the Eisner Awards, and the complete list of winners HERE. And for even more SDCC and Eisner Awards coverage: Jamie Coville recorded the ceremony plus 21 panels during the week, and took a million photos for The Comics Beat. You can check it all out HERE. Of particular interest to me were the panels “We Need Diverse Comics” with Raina Telgemeier, Nilah Magruder, Ron Wimberly, Ben Hatke, Nidhi Chanani and moderator Glen Weldon; the “Daniel Clowes Spotlight” with Clowes and Eric Reynolds; the “Trina Robbins Spotlight“; and “The Complete Wimmen’s Comix: Her-Story” with founders and contributors Trina Robbins, Terre Richards, Sharon Ruduhl, Lee Marrs, Rebecka Wright, Mary Fleener, Joan Hilty and Barbara “Willy” Mendes. ————————————————————————————————— Here on the site, Jillian Fleck has a fascinating report on a thriving corner of the comics world that many of us may not be aware of. Graphic Medicine is a thing, and a great thing at that – Jillian digs into why, via her experiences at the Graphic Medicine 2016 Conference in Dundee, Scotland earlier this month. Read the article HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Okay, let’s turn to politics briefly – The Nib has held my attention all week with comics that explore the scene around the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Once again Sophie Louise Dam killed it, this time teaming up with Eleri Harris. Their comic gets you on the Democratic Platform and makes you want to linger there – check it out HERE. CNN caught up with Matt Bors, editor of The Nib, and followed him around on day 4 of the DNC, checking in with the artists and getting the “funny” side of things. Video below. ————————————————————————————————— The Washington Post reported on Wednesday – “RICHARD THOMPSON, the “Cul de Sac” cartoonist who is widely considered one of the greatest comic-strip creators and illustrators of his generation, died Wednesday in Northern Virginia, family friends confirm. He was 58.” – via Michael Cavna John Martz drew some memories of Richard Thompson for Slate – See the rest HERE. Jack Davis also died on Wednesday, at the age of 91. The Comics Journal has begun collecting tributes to this beloved cartoonist, written by the likes of Gary Panter, Peter Bagge, and Jim Woodring among others – with more to come. Check them out HERE. And it was Gary Groth himself who sat down to write an obituary for Jack Davis for The Comics Journal, which you can read HERE. ————————————————————————————————— NPR turned it’s gaze to minicomics this week, with Etelka Lehoczky’s brief look at a few titles she got her hands on recently – among them Bonnie N. Collide, Nine to Five by Monica Gallagher. About minicomics Lehoczky wrote – “Shouldn’t minicomics be obsolete by now? Printed by their creators in tiny batches and sold for a few bucks at “alternative” comic shops and conventions, they’re as cumbersome to produce as they are to obtain. It would be much more sensible for the artists to just put up their work online — right? Fortunately, these artists aren’t interested in being sensible. They’re in love with the unique tangibility of print on paper, the sight and feel of pages under their fingers. It’s a powerful yen, as evidenced by the recent resurgence of printed books in the larger publishing world. There are enough artists who share it to make minicomics a thriving and diverse genre. Some of these creations really are “mini” — they may be 4″x6″ or smaller, or contain only eight pages. Even if they’re magazine-sized, they take some work to discover.” via NPR Check out the rest of the article and the minicomic reviews HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Lastly, also here on Comics Workbook today, we have a new Art Trip piece from Anna Mancini! Not to give anything away, but she was in a museum in Rio de Janeiro and had a definite encounter with comics. Check it out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Hang in there folks! The summer still has surprises for us I think. – Sally Share this page: [...]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply