Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in News

Juan Fernández

Posted on June 27, 2016June 27, 2016

Explore

Gabriella TitoApril 22, 2016Art Trip / EssaysGabriella Tito reports in from Orlando, FL, with this process meditation. ————————————————————————————————— Hi all! I’m here to talk a bit about how we reflect ourselves in comics. Now, I won’t break down the psychology or anything, or go into how “mainstream comics” are a reflection of our society, but I think it’s safe to say that whether we realize it or not, a part of us is “merged” into our comics. The most obvious would be an auto-bio comic. Even if it’s not about a character that looks like you or is intended to be you, they still could represent a certain ideology or interest you may have. So what about comics without characters? Abstract comics? Excellent point! From my own experience in making abstract comics and comics without relatable humans, I realize I have drawn content from a particular emotion or thought I was feeling at the time. Maybe a song inspired me to put something on paper. You probably have done this too, given the nature of abstract works. Usually, the less I thought about the content, the more fluid the comic was. Abstract comics, and it goes without saying, abstract art in general, is filled with more character than meets the eye. Abstract works can be charged with so many emotions, and the thoughts the creator has, and they can grab the audience so much that they might even relate themselves to that specific work. It’s not a mistake that this leads to why good representation is always important, simply because of the fact that the audience is always trying to find themselves in characters or concepts. Where do they fit into this? If the characters are reflections of the creator or intention, what can it say about them? Now, this doesn’t apply 100% of the time, but it is a real possibility that does happen. These are thoughts a creator should always be aware of, but also be mindful of how far they push it. In any case, this brings us back to how we reflect ourselves in creative mediums. I’m aware that what I’m saying may not line up with your opinions and that’s OK. These are just some reoccurring ideas I’ve thought about when in the process of making a comic. I’m curious if other cartoonists think of the same things. ————————————————————————————————— Gabriella Tito is a cartoonist living in Orlando, FL. She is currently contributing to Comics Workbook through her own comics and article tidbits and is a graduate of Frank Santoro’s Correspondence Course. You can find more of her work HERE. Share this page: [...]

Comics Workbook at CXC 2016 – in brief!

Sally IngrahamOctober 21, 2016Festivals and ShowsThe Comics Workbook team at CXC 2016 – in brief! Share this page: [...]

04/26/2016

Aaron CockleApril 26, 2016NewsAtena Farghadani; Right-of-copy; Mok/Doucet; Lilli Carré; Roy Crane ————————————————————————————————— From Maren Williams over at the CBLDF: BREAKING NEWS: Atena Farghadani Set to be Released Next Month ‘After nearly 18 months in prison for a cartoon depicting politicians as animals, Iranian artist and activist Atena Farghadani will reportedly be released sometime next month. She had been sentenced to 12 years and 9 months, but according to her lawyer the sentence has just been reduced on appeal.’ ————————————————————————————————— What we talk about when we talk about copyright On Medium.com: ‘Myth #3. Copyright is an Attack on Artistic Freedom I have been a working, professional wrter for close to thirty years. I’ve felt my artistic freedom threatened by a great many things — state censorship, all manner of fundamentalisms, Internet bullying and shaming… to name but a few. Copyright law is not on that list, and it will NEVER be on that list. The very foundation of copyright is the insistence that if I create an artistic expression, I own that artistic expression. And if I own something, you best believe I will protect it from those who want to impose their restrictions on it.’ On Priceonomics.com: ‘Copyright law in America long predated Mickey Mouse. The first of these laws, the Copyright Act of 1790, stipulated that creative works were entitled to up to 28 years of protection (14 years, plus an additional “renewal” period of 14 years, supposing the original hadn’t died). This was followed by an 1831 act, which extended the copyright period to a max of 42 years, and a 1909 act, which elongated that period again, to 56 years. As the Art Law Journal clarifies, “very few works actually maintained copyright durations”: only a fraction of those who secured copyrights protected them, or opted to renew them. Mickey Mouse was brought into the world in 1928, under the 1909 Copyright Act, entitling him to 56 years of protection under the law — no more. In accordance with the law, his copyright was set to expire in 1984.’ ————————————————————————————————— Annie Mok Interviews Julie Doucet ‘DOUCET: Yeah, but the dictionary—the new language that I created—has nothing to do with the words that are in Carpet Sweeper Tales. MOK: I meant just a new language in general, I guess. So major themes of the book are masculinity, toxic masculinity, and cars? And it’s so interesting—you’re taking these images from these ‘60s Italian fumetti, which are this incredibly butch series of scenes, some of them very threatening men—like, threatening to women, and women in compromised positions, and then there’s this constant iteration of cars and men speaking of women as if they are cars in some cases, or alluding to them that way. And talking about, like, where someone can take you, and what is freedom. How did this playful thing around cars develop, and what does that mean to you? DOUCET: In those fumettis, for some reason, there’s lots and lots and lots of action going on in cars—a lot of conversations. And I talked to my aunts, my older aunts, and they told me that was just the way it was at the time, because people didn’t really have any places to go to flirt or anything like that, so pretty much everything happened in cars. So in that sense, it makes sense in that context. But I just loved the car thing, so I just cut out everything I could find going on in the cars.’ ————————————————————————————————— Lilli Carré MFA Thesis Show May 5-June 19, 2016 Opening & Reception: Thursday, May 5, 6-9PM Alsdorf Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL This exhibition presents work by: Lilli Carré, Max Guy, Erin Hayden, Dan Miller, and David Sprecher. Culminating their Master of Fine Arts (MFA) studies in the Department of Art Theory & Practice at Northwestern University. ————————————————————————————————— Roy Crane’s Scrapbook Share this page: [...]

02/09/2018

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

05/23/2016

Juan FernándezMay 23, 2016NewsJuan Fernandez with: Berliac’s Gwai-Lo of the Heart; Jessica Abel on becoming a professional; Sara Lautman and Sophia Foster-Dimino; Matt Furie; Abhay Khosla on Dan DiDio; New comics from Matt Seneca + Cameron Weston Nicholson; Comics in the Globe and Mail. ————————————————————————————————— Gwai-Lo of the Heart We’re happy to feature Gwai-Lo of the Heart by Berliac on the site this week. Made in 2015 for Comics Workbook, Gwai-Lo of the Heart is a clever and mysteriously striking series of 4 panel comics that plays with the associations usually made with the West’s gaze towards manga.These little comics pack a poetic. punch. Can you dig it? Read it all here. ————————————————————————————————— Art and Commerce – Raising the Bastard Jessica Abel has put together an honest look over on her site at why you shouldn’t be disregarding the finances of your comics making practices if you want to be a professional. Jessica Abel: I hear so many aspiring cartoonists, writers, artists, audio producers, and other creatives saying something along the lines of: “I’m hoping to really master this art form so that I can achieve my dream of becoming a professional _____.” But mastering the art form, finishing work that is at a professional level, this counts for maybe 40% of what it means to become a professional…whatever. Mastering your art form is how you become a great artist. It is not how you become a professional. ————————————————————————————————— Sara Lautman and Sophia Foster-Dimino in Conversation Foster-Dimino: Making art, even commercial illustration, is a tricky premise, because you want to distinguish yourself from the crowd, but not so much that you become an aberration, so you look within yourself to try to mine what makes you unique, but you also look out to confirm that your uniqueness is still relatable—it’s a very delicate balance, a struggle between wanting to experiment and make progress versus wanting to play it safe and stay predictable. People want to see growth from themselves and the world, but not too much too quickly. I think many folks have an innate sense for this. But a mood disorder by nature warps your metrics. ————————————————————————————————— Myspace -> Meme -> Mainstream Creator of Boy’s Club, Matt “Big Dog” Furie getting the credit he’s due. It’s about time! Here’s a great look at Furie’s invisibly effective comics technique by George Elkind. L.A. TACO interview (2016). VICE interview (2015) TMSIDK Podcast interview (2012) Boy’s Club is now available from Fantagraphics! ————————————————————————————————— ISSUE, RULE, APPLICATION – Abhay Khosla on Dan DiDio For many years, I know I’ve complained about Dan DiDio, and this has seemed like an especially worthy topic to discuss given recent events. So below is some of my own reasoning that I’ve had in believing that Mr. DiDio should have been removed many years ago from his position at DC, a belief I only feel more urgently given recent events. In an ideal world, he would be promoted higher in a corporate hierarchy to a position of irrelevancy, to a position that actually utilized whatever strengths Mr. Davis and others might see in him, while removing him far from the day-to-day nuts & bolts of the mainstream comics industry, where I will argue below he is unsuited. Read it all in depth over at Savage Critic. ————————————————————————————————— Burgundy Cameron Weston Nicholson’s got a new comic for sale post-TCAF. Visual Poetry, mixing the hue with who. Illustrated Poetry with visual definition, feeling. An 18 Page Poem comic. Will come signed with a doodle by yours truly. Get ’em while you can! Only 22 left 😉 ————————————————————————————————— Frankie Teardrop and 200 Deaf Boys Matt Seneca’s latest comics are now available in his webstore. Frankie Teardrop, a brutal, action packed superhero parody and the 4th and final part of 200 Deaf Boys, a Christian mysticism horror show. ————————————————————————————————— 2016 Igntatz Submissions Deadline – June 7th Since 1997, the Ignatz Awards have been intended to recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. If you would like your recent work to be considered for the Ignatzes, now’s the time to send in your comics. Submission details are available here! ————————————————————————————————— The Globe & Comics Sean Rogers over at The Globe and Mail has reviewed After Nothing Comes by Aidan Koch,, Bird in a Cage by Rebecca Roher and, Kramers Ergot 9. It’s exciting to see quality, independently produced work reviewed online and in print by a publication with such wide range. ————————————————————————————————— Until next time! Juan Share this page: [...]

06/27/2016

Posted on June 27, 2016June 27, 2016 by Juan Fernández

Juan here with: Warren Craghead’s COLONIALISM; Rowhouse Auction June 26-July 2; Simon Hanselmann interviewed; Vanesa Del Rey art available; Mari Naomi shares Sorese’s CURVEBALL; Ethical Sloth #6 submission deadline approaches;John Martz’ BE GOOD; LINE: AN ART STUDY.

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Featured Comics: Colonialism – Warren Craghead
I’m happy to announce that we are featuring Warren Craghead III’s Colonialism on the site this week. Made in 2013 by Warren Craghead for Comics Workbook, Colonialism is a series of wild little one page comics. Poetic comics that mix observational drawings and notes with reflections, while dancing in a playful blend of digital and analogue drawing.

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New Private Rowhouse Auction
We have a new private auction up at auction.comicsworkbook.com. email Frank Santoro at santoroschoolATgmail for a password, if you don’t already have one. If you already have a password, it is the same from last week. All funds go to helping keep the lights on and further developing the school. note: Connor Willumsen is offering commission sketches.
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Elsewhere:

“I’m Love and Rockets-ing this shit” – Simon Hanselmann

Alex Dueben interviews Simon Hanselmann over on The Beat. Great questions, great answers. Do yourself a favor and dig in.

Dueben: You vary the design of your pages but you always work in a grid. What do you like about working that way? What do you think that enables you to do?

Hanselmann: I’m just all about pacing. I want the reader to be able to process the information as fast as possible for a smooth read. This is also why I work in color, I think the color codifies everything and makes it easier for the brain to decipher. I’ve thought about experimenting with “crazy” layouts but I just don’t see the point. It wouldn’t serve the work.

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How to Draw Comics: the Vanesa Del Rey Way

Cadence Comic Art is selling all of Vanesa Del Rey’s inked pages from available for Spider-Women Alpha (Marvel Comics). Support Vanesa and snatch ’em up while you can! If you’re looking to buy comics pages from a contemporary cartoonist, look no further. Vanesa’s a killer and her art is exquisite.

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Curveball: Excerpt
Mari Naomi shares an excerpt of Jeremy Sorese‘s queer sci-fi graphic novel, Curveball, over on PEN America. If you have not yet been able to get your hands on Sorese’s work, here’s your chance to see how his narration and poetics intertwine. Sorese’s debut is juicy stuff!

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Ethical Sloth #6
3 days left to take part in the next issue of Ethical Sloth.

Ethical Sloth is a zine of queer* comic artists for other queer* comic artists and everybody else.

Like many other zines, this zine is completely d.i.y., so there‘s no money_reward in for you, but being part of this new rad & fierce comic-zine! And you‘ll get free issues and the master-print, if you want to print‘n‘sell your own copies. Sounds perfect?

The deadline for the sixth issue»Breakups And Downs« is July 1, 2016. Specifications are: A5, comic and_or illustration. Language: any. Topic: »Breakups And Downs«. Technical stuff: A5, 300dpi, b/w (please leave a white border)

For more info reach out to: Dana »Dossie« Moustache & Yori »Janet« Gagarim: ethical.sloth@gmail.com

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Be Good
John Martz presents his short story, Be Good, online. It’s a good one. Design, fragile egos and tacos come together for some good old fashioned hyucks.

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Thin Line, Thick line, Strong line, Feeble Line
Line: An Art Study by Edmund J. Sullivan, originally published in 1922, covers the basics of drawing using only line: drawing materials, types of line, freehand drawing, drawing solid objects in line, perspective, shadows and figure drawing. It’s online at archive.org for you to bury your nose in. Go forth and take what you need!

Written by Edmund J. Sullivan Line: An Art Study merges the traditional nineteenth-century style of illustration with elements of Art Nouveau, begins by introducing readers to the freehand drawing of abstract lines and advances to the freehand drawing of natural forms, consisting mainly of plane surfaces or single lines. Subsequent chapters illustrate and discuss representations of the third and fourth dimensions, the picture plane, formal perspective, and the drawing of solid objects, including their depiction in shade and shadow, and their modelling. Additional topics include shadows, reflections, and aerial perspective as well as figure drawing.

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’til next time,
Juan

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in News

Juan Fernández

Posted on June 27, 2016June 27, 2016

Explore

10/03/2017

Aaron CockleOctober 3, 2017NewsAaron here today with the continuing Cartoon Crossroads Columbus recap. ————————————————————————————————— If you haven’t already, please take a look at Caleb Orecchio’s excellent write-up of the recent Cartoon Crossroads Columbus festival. Caleb pretty much covers the entire show, it’s definitely worth the read. ————————————————————————————————— I was in attendance at that show as well, but only managed to take a few photos. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 10-3-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

10/26/2018

Sally IngrahamOctober 26, 2018NewsSally here with some comics curiosities to fill your Friday lunch break! ————————————————————————————————— Abraham Riesman has a conversation with Julie Doucet on Vulture – he concludes by reminding us not to ever believe that we “know” her. Interesting and thoughtful read – HERE. Abraham Riesman also interviews Fiona Staples for Vulture, talking Saga (of course) – check it out HERE. The Comics Journal features a new interview with Ariell Johnson, owner of Philly’s Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse, which is now over 2 years old and still going strong – chart the progress HERE. Catch up on the Dear Pepper advice column by Liana Finck that comes out every other Thursday on The New Yorker – HERE. Here’s a recent interview with Liana Finck on The Comics Beat, where she talks about her new book, Passing For Human. I found an article about female cartoonists in Turkey, including Ramize Erer, whose work is pictured above. Read about her HERE. Check out the Publishers Weekly review of Mickey Z‘s Space Academy 123. Gil Roth talked to Nora Krug on his Virtual Memories Show recently – she is the creator of the newly released memoir Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home, which is on the top of my TBR pile at the moment. Listen HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Cement Mixer – 10-26-18 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

08/15/2016

Juan FernándezAugust 15, 2016NewsJuan here with the news: Rowhouse Residency Benfit Auction of Eightball era time capsule box; Audra Stang’s Rowhouse Residency Report; Chris Kindred on how to hire an illustrator; “Tell Me All Your Bad Thoughtz on God” by Jillian Fleck; Kilgore Books & Comics Fall 2016 Lineup; Ben Juers’ comics review of Sasaki Maki’s DING DONG CIRCUS; Grants and Residency opportunities for cartoonists; J. A. Micheline discussing True Criticism; new STREET ANGEL; MOME Vol. 1 – Summer 2005 reviewed by Bill Boichel. ————————————————————————————————— First off, we have the TOTALLY AMAZING AUCTION of an Eightball era time capsule box, donated by Mr. Daniel Clowes himself to help support the Rowhouse Residency. Check out the video above for a taste of the contents and the firecracker commentary of Jim Rugg and Frank Santoro. Lots o’ hyucks. Personal items, artwork…we weren’t sure we even wanted to part with things like Clowes’ Windsor-Newton Series 7 brush #3… but they are now up for grabs!! All the items in the box could be yours, so jump into the mayhem – auction runs until Wednesday, August 17th at noon EST. Don’t sleep on it. Check it the auction HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Audra Stang’s Residency Report: Pokémon GO Edition Audra Stang visited the Rowhouse this July and accomplished an incredible amount in the three days she was in Pittsburgh, setting new Rowhouse records for “crushing it”. She shared some journal notes with us recently that describe many of her impressions and experiences of her residency. We’ve shared excerpts from them, mixed with some of the process drawings and doodles that she made while she was here. My visit to the Rowhouse was my first ever residency… I came with the goal of totally drawing out a story that I only had a hazy idea of called Pale, Sick, and Magic; this seemed fitting, considering I only had a vague idea of what a residency would entail. Between Frank, Sally, and I, we had great conversation – not just about, but often returning to, comics. It fed into the “cycle” – draw by day and tour Pittsburgh by night. Or draw by night and explore Pittsburgh by day. It was a charged atmosphere but in a positive way – I was full of energy. Franks uses language that masterfully evokes the feeling of being “in the game” and gets you hyped for the next comics bout. Check it out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— “Tell Me All Your Bad Thoughtz on God” by Jillian Fleck I’m happy to announce that we are featuring Jillian Fleck’s “Tell Me All Your Bad Thoughtz on God” on the site this week. “Tell Me All Your Bad Thoughtz on God” is part of Fleck’s on going Bad Thoughtz series and was made in 2015 for Comics Workbook. ————————————————————————————————— Kilgore Books & Comics Fall 2016 Lineup Denver based comics publisher, Kilgore Books and Comics has announced its fall publishing lineup: Blammo #9 by Noah Van Sciver The Plunge by Emi Gennis What Happened by Simon Moreton: The Complete Scorched Earth & Other Stories by Tom Van Deusen You can help support Kilgore’s fall release of four great comics by supporting their Kickstarter. Our mission is bridge the gap between self-publishing and the bigger publishing houses. We want to find talented cartoonists with unique voices and help them when they need it most by ensuring they have professional looking books and plenty of stock. We’re also able to pay royalties up front, and help take some of the logistics off artists which lets them focus on their work. ————————————————————————————————— Sasaki Maki & Abstract Comics Ben Juers has just released a comics review of Sasaki Maki’s Ding Dong Circus. It’s magnificent. All sources cited 😉 It was originally done for Australian literature and culture magazine, the Lifted Brow. It’s a real insightful joy to see comics reflections and criticism in comics. ————————————————————————————————— J. A. Micheline On True Criticism J.A. Micheline has written a new entry to her Critical Jam series of essays on cultural criticism. It’s a great, on the ground, response to Daniel Mendelsohn’s A Critic’s Manifesto published a couple years ago over in the New York Times. For those of you interested in where and how comics criticism can grow and expand as a from in 2016, it’s definitely worth a read. What we fear with the rise of grassroots criticism–and, for that matter, grassroots creation–is the absence of gods and masters. It’s a legitimation crisis. If there is no hierarchical structure, no above and below, and no true and false–then how is one to know one’s place in the world? Without modernist establishments, how am I to know whether I belong in the critical class, whether my arguments are good, whether they carry more weight than the average person’s? ————————————————————————————————— How to Hire an Illustrator Chris Kindred waxes on how to hire an illustrator over in this well thought and thorough piece over at NPR’s Editorial Training blog. The internet is a very visual place. It goes without saying that if you want your story to stand out, it needs a strong photo or illustration of some kind. But commissioning an illustrator can be confusing if you haven’t done it before. This guide will walk you through the entire process, from finding an artist to sending the final payment. ————————————————————————————————— The Sustainable Arts Foundation: $6000 Grants for Artists with Children This goes out to all you cartoonists with children. The Sustainable Arts Foundation is offering awards of up to $6000 to writers and artists with children. The money can be used for costs such as child care, workspaces, new equipment, research and travel. All the stuff that you’re hard pressed to getting when you need to get your comics done. Applications for the Fall 2016 round close on Friday 2 September. Don’t sleep on this opportunity, parents! For more information visit the Sustainable Arts Foundation website. ————————————————————————————————— Grants, Fellowships, and Residencies for Cartoonists! Cartoonist Melanie Gillman, author of As the Crow Flies, has compiled a list of grants and residencies that have demonstrated an interest in comics and cartooning. You can check them all out on their blog. If you know of any others, chime in, all ye faithful! Of course, for a rigorous, comics focused residency experience like no other, you need to look no further than our Rowhouse Residency! Level up and become your best. ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— MOME Vol. 1 – Summer 2005 reviewed by Bill Boichel Here’s a little throw back for you. Bill Boichel’s got a hearty review of the first volume of Fantagraphics’ mid-aughts anthology, MOME. Few people can write as insightful reviews as Bill, so it’s an honor to be able to share his writing with you here. This is an oldie but a goodie. Step into our little comics time machine and enjoy <3 This is an excellent semi-regular anthology that is stepping up to meet the demand for new work by the talented generation of cartoonists that have been filling the pages of annual anthologies like Non, Kramers Ergot, Top Shelf, Rosetta, SPX and others. A novel feature of this anthology title is its declared intent to feature the same collective of artists every issue, allowing the artists and audience to grow together and build an ongoing identity that is highly unusual for the world of contemporary comics. Only time will tell how this intention plays out when confronted by the realities of a publication schedule, but we can attest with confidence that it’s off to a solid start. ————————————————————————————————— keep yerr nose to the grindstone and until next time! Share this page: [...]

02/12/2018

Caleb OrecchioFebruary 12, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here, come back with me to 1979, and then back to the present with other news. ————————————————————————————————— I find right now to be a purgatorial time in comics. Comic book sales have reportedly went down significantly in 2017 making retailers nervous, while superhero movies seem unable to not make money. So when I read my copy of The Comics Journal #47 from 1979, I couldn’t help seeing spooky parallels to the present. Most significantly, comic book writer Steve Skeates’ cover article, “THE DEATH OF THE SUPERHEROES.” Skeates’ vehement essay “persuades” us on why Marvel and DC should let their superheroes go away and never return, and rather focus on other genres of comics—i.e. Howard the Duck and Plop!. He gives many reasons superheroes should die, mainly that superheroes are stupid, fascist, endlessly-recycled and not making any money on the newsstand (you’ll notice, True Believer, that this is around the time the direct market started to become more and more dominant). What Steve did not take into account is the fact that the big wigs at these companies do not actually care about the success—financial or intellectual or otherwise—of the comics themselves. The Big Two are more interested in the products that make actual money, like movies and TV. Towards the end of the issue, Reich Benasutti and Lawrence Speerloop report on a conversation between Stan Lee and Jenette Kahn (then President of DC Comics) at Temple University (pg. 59). The article reads, From his opening gambit, “Hello Culture Lovers,” Lee dominated the session with his customary one-liners, covering his sometime astounding ignorance of the current Marvel line with a mixture of glib repartee and a disarming bafflement. It goes on to say, Lee spoke with considerable candor on the subject of television shows based on Marvel characters. And, for me, the kicker: Lee was quite gallant toward Jenette Kahn, compelling the audience to give her a hand: ‘She could be in an ivory tower somewhere because of the Superman movie,’ said Lee, ‘but she still comes here. I think that deserves a round of applause.’ The audience agreed. All the above made me think of last year’s announcement that Netflix had bought Mark Millar and his company, Millarworld, out to create comic books that could, or could not, be adapted into Netflix series, depending on the market. Of course, his comics have a great track record for becoming successful movies, and one could argue that his comic The Ultimates basically gave Marvel their movie mealticket. It’s marketing. Comics are disposable marketing collateral. These companies are basically glorified ad agencies keeping the pot warm and stirred for all the fans so they spend money on the products that actually make these companies real money. So, to Steve Skeates, yes, maybe superheroes should go away and The Big Two should stop recycling the same old garbage decade after decade because they could make such better comics! But The Big Two don’t care at all if they make good comics in the end—as long as the comics bring the nerds and geeks and fans to conventions, movie theaters and the television screens, they don’t care. Period. So don’t be surprised if the executives at these companies don’t shed a tear for the comic book stores who have to close their doors permanently due to low sales of crappy comics. ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know Joe McCulloch talked Steve Ditko at NY Comics and Pictures Symposium at Parsons last week and he has a recording—what more could you want as far as news goes honestly. Alexxa Gotthardt on feminist underground comics like Wimmen’s Comix and It Ain’t Me Babe on Artsy. If you want, you can vote for your favorite comics people for the Eisner Awards. Eric Reynolds talks to Inkstuds guest host, Kit Brash about Now. Study Group Podcast talks to Whit Taylor and bring it back to 2014 with an Ink Panther rerun. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 2-12-2018 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 2-12-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

Bucket of Blood

MardouSeptember 8, 2016EssaysWomen self-censor. Think about all the non-pregnant women of childbearing age that you know. A quarter of them are probably menstruating right now. So what? Is that statistical fact even a big deal? Yeah. Kinda. I think so. You’re sat here reading these words on a screen because a woman once had a functioning menstrual cycle many years ago. The thing is, for something that’s so common and abundant and ordinary (PERIODS), we don’t see or hear much about it. Which is quite odd and antiquated if you think about it. I mean, how does society benefit to be so shielded* from our menses? Or for that fact, from our lactating breasts or our miscarriages or our ‘women’s troubles’, etc etc? (*I don’t mean literally. I don’t want anyone to have a tampon thrown at them, thanks.) This little essay is a personal response to the comics of Julie Doucet, which, since I first encountered them in my early twenties, served to rock my world. They forced me to question the kind of comics I wanted to make, my attitudes towards the female experience on and off the page, towards biology, sex and shame. All that stuff factored in my response to Julie Doucet’s comics. Plus they look and read great. They still hold this timeless, glorious power for me. I’m so freaking glad she made the comics she did! Let us take a look! I love these panels from Doucet’s Leve ta Jame, Mon Poisson Est Mort (pictured above). So serious and elegant, the details of the bathroom perfectly rendered, that toilet paper! (Julie draws the toilet quite a lot in her comics. Deal with it). Look at the little sweattels on her beatific forehead. This is about using imagination and humor to dealing with a familiar, tiresome fact of life (tampon overfull in the night). The ‘I succeed’ makes me chuckle, the gush of blood is not so terrifying, is it? It’s rendered in black ink after all. It’s cute even. Well it got me thinking, this comic does present an unusual sight, does it not? A relieved woman, legs akimbo bleeding it to the toilet bowl from her levitating hover. Where are all the other women getting their periods in comics, or on screen? Sure, there’s Stephen King’s Carrie. She once had her period. I also seem to remember Brook Adams rummaging for a Tampax in Gas, Food Lodgings in 1992. Well so what about literature? Uterine bleeding was never fully acknowledged by the literary establishment until 1957 when Anna Wulf famously forgot her tampons in the novel The Golden Notebook, which ultimately won Doris Lessing a Nobel Prize, so groundbreaking was this depiction. Doris described the smells, stained sheets, the nebulous grotty feeling, the worry of accidentally bleeding through her dress in front of her male colleagues. The Golden Notebook unleashed a free-for-all spurting of literary menstrual blood from Sylvia Plath all the way to Philip Roth (hey, Roth, want to really shock? Lovingly whip a tampon out of your female protagonist. She probably won’t mind). Those creators recognized some latent dark power when they needed it. It’s a useful taboo, creatively. It speaks to those dark fears and misunderstood feminine powers right? And then there’s Julie, baring all with a shrug and a grin. God, how I love comics…. When I was in high school a girl from another grade bled through her skirt and obliviously walked through the teenage crowd. A female teacher came up behind her with her sweater outstretched, tied it around the unsuspecting girl’s waist and hustled her away. There it was the biggest fear in all my years of high school in plain sight. I saw it! It happened to that girl I saw, it can happen to you too, teenage female! Never relax, never let down your guard! And…OH JULIE, you can’t do that! You can’t grow to King Kong proportions and drown the streets in your inky period blood whilst on the rampage for a box of Tampax. You just can’t do that! This page (above) is the equivalent of a teenage air punch and I wished I owned the original. I would put it on the wall in my dining room in a heartbeat. The comic strip ends on sweet note. I don’t feel like the menstruating women of the world ask for all that much. Tax-free sanitary products and a little understanding would be a start though. In Jedi terms our menstrual cycles can be understood to have two aspects, the waxing of the full moon, the ‘light’ and wonderful powers of the fertile period and the dank, smelly and scary shadow world of the menses. The ‘Dark’ side. This is known to us, albeit unconsciously. “Researchers at the University of Mexico…concluded that the financial reward for being a topless-lap dancer are far greater during the fertile part of the menstrual cycle with dancers earning nearly twice as much a peak ovulation time.”1 The same pattern played out with waitresses at truck-stop café diners, researchers discovered. Waitresses found their tips peaked during ovulation (the pleasant part) and waned as the cycle moved towards menstruation (ew gross!). In other words, according to Earth Feminist writer, Uma Dinsmore-Tuli: “Our culture has a clear message to us: that we are rewarded for ovulating and devalued for menstruating…that menstruation is worthless to men and thus should be disregarded and rendered invisible.”2 Julie Doucet’s comics don’t ‘render invisible’ this aspect of her biology but nor is she just letting it all hang out. She renders the female existence (and female-as-artist) experience in a relatable, funny, transformative way. Sex, masturbation, miscarriage, dreams of pregnancy are not held as taboos. Taboos can harm us, repress us, and shame us. And for what? To be stiffed on tips when you get your period (read: men know anyway). Why are we hiding all this bleeding?) This page (above) from Julie is a dream comic from her 2007 book 365 Days. It’s personal to her so I’m not going to attempt to interpret it – but I do want to point out that it’s full of imagery familiar to many women. Here she dreams of a liquefied baby in a yogurt cup called ‘Liberte’, a line of women with their successfully acquired babies, and getting your period yet again. These are familiar symbols for any woman who’s given thought to pregnancy, either wanting or not wanting it. Or both. It’s perfectly simple, complex, elegant, dashed off – it’s the absolute mastery Doucet has with pen and paper that makes difficult things look easy. And she writes with a clarity and honesty about themes with are common to many women, specifically perhaps, to women who want to create things and not just babies. Here’s a fetus and a fashion model! I mean, woah! She takes bullshit women’s magazines and turns them into something transcendentally awesome. And this (above). It’s so funny, pretty, ironic. And smart. We the ladies, are the expansive force of the universe, are we not? Women’s lives contain many interconnected cycles. And we overlap – put us in a house together and our menstruation will become synchronous. We’ll bleed together, more or less. And things have changed, generationally. I’m personally having more periods than my grandmother who birthed and nursed six babies ever did. All this bleeding is the new normal, at least in the Western world, for now. All this latent creative female energy and we’re so embarrassed about it? We should own our cyclic power. That’s what I get from Julie Doucet’s comics. She connects to her inner forces, laughing and with a self-assured shrug, over many, many accomplished pages. 1 Hallinan, Joseph T, 2009 Errornomics: Why We Make Mistakes and How We Can Avoid Them, p.47 2 Dinsmore-Tulli, Uma, 2014 Yoni Shakti: A Woman’s Guide to Power and Freedom Through Yoga and Tantra, p.259 ————————————————————————————————— Sacha Mardou is a Brit making comics in St Louis, Missouri. Sky in Stereo is her most recent comic. Share this page: [...]

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