Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged annie koyama, carol tyler, gabriella tito, genevieve castree, jessica campbell, lauren weinstein, leela corman, mimi pond, Nancy Peña, nick fowler

Sally Ingraham

Posted on July 27, 2018

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Fumetto 2016!

Sally IngrahamApril 27, 2016Festivals and ShowsComics Workbook special correspondent Raúl Burgos Paredes brings us this exciting report from his trip to Fumetto on Saturday, April 23rd ————————————————————————————————— I had the pleasure of attending the Fumetto festival in Luzerne last Saturday. Although I would have liked to attend more days and for longer periods of time, personal constraints did not make it possible – nevertheless the experience I had was very rewarding. Knowing beforehand that my time in Luzerne would be limited, I planned ahead what I wanted to explore and left open the possibility for randomness. My main motivations were the “Small Press Heaven” and the exhibitions of Frémok and Lorenzo Mattotti. When I arrived at the festival’s main meeting point I headed directly to explore the Small Press Heaven. My first interaction was with the Latvian publiser kuš!. They publish a great deal of their books in small format, A6, which I find especially appealing. I treated myself to several of their mini kuš!, which are individual artists’ comics, and also to some of their regular numbers where they publish a large amount of artists in the same issue. Then I talked with the people of Stripburger (Slovenia), Kutikuti (Finland) and Centrala (Poland). They were all really friendly, and enthusiastic to discuss their publications and aims. All I can say is that the books I bought are all great discoveries because even if I had seen some of what they publish on the net, it can never be the same as having them in your hands in a neatly printed form. They’re all sometimes fun, at times odd, and overall very unique and highly recommendable. Afterwards I found out that there would be a panel discussion with Frémok’s artists Yvan Alagbé and Olivier Deprez. I impatiently headed there and listened to their talk, where they discussed the history of Frémok as a collective. They also gave details about their editorial concept, which is non hierarchical. They seek to incorporate the use of mixed techniques to have, as a result, works that depart from the classical comics style. Frémok’s works are highly poetic and experimental as well. For example, they talked about Match-Catch, which is a book that was made by some of Frémok’s people in collaboration with handicapped artists. Something I found quite interesting was their visible commitment to producing books that have a different kind of vision, a vision that clearly reflects artistic freedom. The moderator of the panel discussion inquired about how comfortable they were in financial terms, taking into account that the works of Frémok are not maybe bestsellers because of their style. Both Olivier and Yvan were emphatic in being both keen and confident to maintain their artistic freedom, not thinking too much about financial matters. For Yvan, it’s a chosen lifestyle, he prefers to be joyfully producing the work he does than maybe being more financially comfortable, but producing works that he would not feel like doing. This response was very much inspiring! Then I headed to the Fremok’s exhibition and reception. By the way, I did not know there would be one so I was quite happy to know that I would be able to interact more with the artists while having a glass of wine. This was a really fantastic exhibition where the works were smartly ordered to create a world of its own. I was delighted to see in original some of the works I appreciate the most. During the reception I could talk more in detail with Mr Alagbé about Match-Catch. He explained to me that they regarded handicapped people as independent artists of their own and that they were not imposing limits on them. He said that Frémok’s artists had to adapt to them and not the other way around. The result is a formidable book in which narrative is not linear and therefore, very dynamic. Personally, I’m not very much into narrative styles in general, I’ve always preferred to read a poetry book than a novel, and Frémok’s books are poetical imagery linked with sometimes poetic writing. I highly recommend école de la misère by Yvan Alagbé, coloforme by Etienne Beck, and plus si entente by Dominique Goblet and Kai Pffeifer. During the exhibition I also talked a little bit with Kai Pffeifer and I told him I was surprised to realize that the original works did not differ that much from their form in a the published book. He explained to me that first of all the editorial committee was formed by the artists themselves and that they placed high importance first, to the scanner, and second, to the printing process. He explained with great detail the complex printing process, but I can not tell you more about it because I forgot and it encompassed things I did not know. Then I headed to see Lorenzo Mattotti’s exhibition named Oltremai. Oltremai is another world of its own, all in black and white, populated by dark and ever moving characters. As you enter the exhibition room you sense you’re entering something special by starting to notice the soft and eerie music that accompanies the works. The imagery contained in it is fantastic, sometimes mythological, and an aspect that astonished me is the flow that can be felt in each individual work. The whole works do not follow a narrative and the pieces are nameless. The book of Oltremai, big and heavy, does good justice to the original works of the exhibition. Finally I headed to the train station to catch my train back home (Neuchâtel). To make my travel more enjoyable I started drawing some of my impressions of the festival. One of those drawings is my interpretation of Yvan Alagbé. To conclude, I would like to say that it was overall a very gratifying experience and I was very much pleased to interact with publishers and artists alike. Surely something to repeat in 2017! ————————————————————————————————— Raúl Burgos Paredes is a Mexican tripolar social scientist who has been living in Switzerland for the last 7 years. He finds time, in the midst of writing his dissertation, to explore his drawing abilities and enjoy all the comics he can find. You can see more of his work HERE. Share this page: [...]

10/09/2017

Caleb OrecchioOctober 8, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here with thoughts on The Best American Comics 2017, and other news. ————————————————————————————————— The Best American Comics 2017 is here, compiled by series editor Bill Kartolopoulos, and guest editor Ben Katchor. When I heard Katchor was the guest editor this year and saw Matthew Thurber’s cover for the book, I was quite looking forward to the latest edition. It’s a really solid one and feels fairly intimate due to the amount of personal work. There are several thematically personal works, but mostly I mean work that feels “drawn”–as opposed to laborious, exacting work that can often bog down a large anthology when bumping shoulders with more spontaneous comics. There is literally no Image, DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, etc. and many, if not all, of the comics are drawn using analog materials. So the whole book feels really nice to read, you don’t have to adjust your eyes before reading each piece. First up to bat was Gary Panter with a comic originally published in frieze no. 181, which sets a nice tone and basically sets the gold standard for the rest of the book. I thought it was interesting how many Pittsburgh people made it in the book, which may or may not continue to solidify Pittsburgh as a thriving comics town. You have Ed Piskor (of course) plus Laura Pallmall and Sienna Cittadino, who not only are now residents of Pittsburgh, but also made their way through Comics Workbook one way or another. Cittadino’s featured work, Jeremy Meets the Forest Cow, was an entry to the 2016 Comics Workbook Composition Competition (Cittadino literally won the 2017 competition), and Pallmall is a graduate of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers. Just thought that was interesting. Another Comics Workbook connection is Kurt Ankeny whose amazing book, In Pieces: Some Place Which I Call Home, (originally serialized on Comics Workbook’s Tumblr) was excerpted (see image below). Kurt is an excellent drawer and I’ve seen his sketchbooks full of great coffee shop portraits, so I know he can draw really well on the first take. So I asked him, “Is that sequence in The Best American Comics first-take? Like, you literally drew these pages in your sketchbook more or less?” He responded, “They were done in a pad of perforated paper, but yes, essentially first take. That first page was drawn onsite from observation.” This reminds me, Kurt was invited by thee Ben Katchor himself to give a talk at Parsons for the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017 at 7pm. Kurt is very smart and an excellent cartoonist so if you’re in the area, treat yourself. Anyway, that’s all the time we have today folks–see you next week as I attempt to jump the Grand Canyon with a pair of roller skates, a parachute, and a box of tissue paper. Should be fun. Bye now. ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know now you know Here on this very site, Juan Fernandez is looking forward and looking to expand the comics festival toolkit. This is an excellent article and everyone should at least hear him out. In case you missed it earlier, just wanted to remind you that Kurt Ankeny will be giving a talk at Parsons for the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017 at 7pm. (TOMORROW) Tom Spurgeon has post-festival press release of CXC 2017. CXC was great, Tom is an excellent host and I already can’t wait to go back next year. Joe McCulloch’s weekly column at TCJ.com is no longer with us, but Joe still is–here he gives us a review of Berserker #1 from Breakdown Press. Right now The Comics Beat has a lot of coverage of New York Comic Con if you’re into that sort of thing–I personally think it’s always interesting to read about the mainstream side of comics whether or nor I’m actually interested in the comics themselves. ————————————————————————————————— Check out thee exclusive Connor Willumsen bundle from Comics Workbook! Get Anti-Gone by the great Connor Willumsen, along with two zines – a 20 page bootleg, and a special collage zine – as well as a unique Anti-Gone drawing by Connor. Get a “Connor box” HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie– 10-9-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 10-9-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

05/09/2017

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

09/07/2017

Sally IngrahamSeptember 7, 2017NewsSally here with a look at the work of Mogorosi Motshumi, and a comic by Kyle Baker, plus the final list of entries for the 2017 Comics Workbook Composition Competition. ————————————————————————————————— The page above is from part 1 of the 360 Degrees Trilogy by Mogorosi Motshumi. He is the first black South African to make a long form comic. The first part of the trilogy is The Initiation, which came out last year. Mogorosi Motshumi has led an eventful and difficult life, and comics have always been a part of how he survived. Now in his 60s and fighting failing eyesight and other illnesses, he is trying to finish as much work as he can. There’s a recent article in The New Yorker about him, providing an overview of his life and work to date. “It was around this time (the age of 9) that he started reading comic books that his older brother brought home from high school. Though some were local comics written in the colonial language of Afrikaans, he preferred American superhero comics, like “Spider-Man.” “These comics, they always had solutions,” he told me. In a comic book, evil exists, but justice prevails. Villains rise up, but heroes rise to meet them. “That is the light that you’re looking for,” he said. When policemen persecuted the Hulk, he felt vindicated in his hatred of authority. “He’d run and run and run until he could run no more, and he’d start to fight back,” Motshumi told me. “That was my kind of world.” He taught himself to draw in his grandmother’s backyard, tracing characters in the sand with his fingers.“ Read the rest of the article HERE. I’m looking for some of Motshumi’s Sloppy strips, a monthly four page comic about township life that he is best known for in South Africa, but meanwhile here’s an interesting article from 2012 about someone’s week-long trip through South Africa’s underground comics scene. The author meets Motshumi, but mostly pals around with N.D. Mazin (who also goes by Andy Mason) who is one of the cornerstones of the underground comics scene in that country. Mazin actually co-created Sloppy with Mitshumi, and it appeared in the Learn and Teach magazine…and THERE, I’ve found a strip: See the rest of the comic HERE. This comic appeared in the Learn and Teach magazine in 1986, and for context here on this blog are a number of other entries that come from the magazine at that time. ————————————————————————————————— I pulled this comic by Kyle Baker out of a dollar longbox the other day and was delighted to peruse it. Bummer that the cassette tape it once came with wasn’t around to listen to! The comic came out in 1994 and was a collaboration between Kyle Baker, hip-hop legend KRS-One, and Marshall Chess. The cassette was a live performance of the story, and included some original tracks as well. The comic itself is about a rapper named Big Joe Krash, and his younger friends Malcolm and Minasha, who are struggling with school on a number of levels. The message of the comic is about “breaking the chains” – using education and knowledge of culture and history to free the mind. I love Kyle Baker’s artwork – his lines and coloring always grabs me – so the real pleasure in this comic comes from that of course! You’re supposed to turn the page whenever you see/hear the word “WORD!” down in the corner. Fun. I found this Modern Masters Volume 20 preview on Issuu which is all about Kyle Baker and includes a lengthy interview with him. They call it a “preview” but you can pretty much read the whole thing online if your vision is good enough! Check it out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The Comics Workbook Composition Competition 2017 has ended. HERE is a complete list of the comics entered into the competition – 43 entries in total this year! Thanks to all the folks who entered – the winners will be announced soon. Stay tuned! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 9-7-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 9-7-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

05/01/2017

Caleb OrecchioApril 30, 2017NewsCaleb here with Crickets 6 and Ganges 6, comics news out of Columbus, OH, Tom Scioli, and more! ————————————————————————————————— Tom Scioli’s weekly webcomic, Princess, continues to utterly mop the floor with most other contemporary genre comics. Scioli’s recent oeuvre has impressively combined the aesthetic intelligence of an “art comic,” with the most entertaining aspects of a mainstream superhero/scf-fi comic. It’s amazing to me with what he got away with on his fantastic run on Transformers vs G.I. Joe for IDW, and not to mention his current run of “Super Powers” shorts for DC’s Cave Carson. Once a bonafide and accepted Kirby clone (or Life Model Decoy), Scioli has cracked his own code and has morphed into something more uniquely himself while continuing the Kirby tradition in a similar way Barry (Windsor-) Smith did in the early 70’s. Check out Scioli’s recently re-released love letter to Kirby, American Barbarian. ————————————————————————————————— I recently got my copies of Crickets 6 by Sammy Harkham and Ganges 6 by Kevin Huizenga from What Things Do, which included an attractive print by Sammy Harkham. I cannot say enough about just how good these two cartoonists are. In a way they make an interesting yin and yang. Harkham’s straight-forward narrative style somehow combines the efficiency of a one-shot American comic with the lackadaisical European take-your-time-and-relax way of storytelling. Does that make sense? It’s slow and fast at the same time which creates this steady line-drive of a story that is clear, organic, and wholly satisfying to read. I particularly enjoyed (SPOILER!) and funny fist fight on a flight of stairs. Kevin H’s comic is a line drive too, but it’s claustrophobic (in a good way) and not nearly as light and atmospheric as Harkham’s. Ganges 6, in the tradition of it’s past issues, demands that you scrutinize the comic as thoroughly as the comic scrutinizes its subjects. Every panel is crammed to the borders with information and symbols and word balloons. Most of it anyway. The parts that let us breath are welcome and help to balance the overload of information. We are just as relieved as Glenn is when he finally finds some peace before being thrown back into a world of endless thinking and distractions. Get these comics at whatthingsdo.com. ————————————————————————————————— Sally touched on this particular subject last week, but I was in Columbus, OH on Saturday, just passing through on my way back from my little sister’s college graduation, where I came across a copy of Alive, Columbus’ weekly alt newspaper. It contained an article on the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum founder Lucy Caswell and the “The Billy’s” 40th anniversary, a highlight of an exhibit called “Tales From the Vault: 40 Years/40 Stories” by curators Caitlin McGurk and Jenny Robb, AND Noah Van Sciver’s weekly comic for Alive -“The Introvert’s Club”. This isn’t the first time I’ve been passing through C’bus and found an issue of Alive that covered comics pretty heavily (granted one of those times was during CXC, but still). The folks at the Billy Ireland and the Columbus comics community in general seems to be pretty in-tune with the overall culture there. When people call Columbus “Comics Town, USA” I think it may be a bit of an overstatement, but you certainly can’t deny their involvement in their community. ————————————————————————————————— If you don’t know, now you know British cartoonist Leo Baxendale dies at 86. The Guardian has an obituary. Simon Moreton reflects on 10 years of comic-making, autobio comics, and his fathers passing. Just Indie Comics has a preview of William Cardini’s new Retrofit book, Tales From the Hyperverse. You can preorder/support Cardini’s new book plus several other new Retrofit releases by donating to their Kickstarter. It’s probably worth it for the new English-translated Yokoyama book alone! TCAF is just around the corner, eh (Saturday May 13 through Sunday May 14). Check out what is planned for programming during this big honking festival. Here’s a review of Luke Healy’s How to Survive in the North from Women Write about Comics. Free Comic Book Day is this coming Saturday. Overall it’s a sucky day where I wait in line with a bunch of smelly nerds and civilian parents holding their kids’ hands just so I can get the Fantagraphics contribution. This year though I’m going for the Fanta book AND The Incal for the Humanoids FCBD debut featuring 30 pages from the classic. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-1-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 5-1-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

07/27/2018

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Sally Ingraham

Sally Ingraham here with comics and news from Nick Fowler, Annie Koyama, Believer Magazine, and much more!

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Nick Fowler – drawn in Pittsburgh, PA, at the Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency

Here on the site Nick Fowler writes about his recent Rowhouse Residency:

“One of the most important things that was cemented for me during my time at the Rowhouse was the immense importance of environment. In both a social sense…and a more literal, spatial sense. The room at the Rowhouse had a bed, a table and a box of Love and Rockets (#17-28 if I remember correctly). And nothing else. Every day I would wake up and take two steps to the drawing table to either draw, or to read Love and Rockets and then draw. For the week I was there, there was nothing else I had to do. It felt like a splash of cold water on my face.“

Read the rest of Nick’s Residency Report HERE.

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Annie Koyama has announced that she is changing the way in which she supports artists. She will conclude her time as a publisher in 2021, closing the doors of Koyama Press. Her focus will shift to channelling her financial support and incredible positive energy directly into the hands of specific artists whom she chooses to be a patron of. She spoke to The Comics Journal about “switching gears”:

” “I will not tell the artists how to do anything,” Koyama said. “There are no strings attached. Once I decide to work with an artist, as I have always done with the press, I put enough trust in them and their project not to interfere. They don’t need my creative help, they need money.”

How this next venture will work is still being formulated. Though the projects she supports will not be owned by Koyama, recipients of these “micro-grants” will be expected to fulfill their end of the bargain, whether if be self-publishing the project, offering a performance, or whatever Koyama and the participating party agree to.

Additionally, the publisher expects to continue to pursue broader methods of support by hosting financial and business literary workshops and supplementing residencies. Her support will not be limited to cartoonists, either. Koyama recently supported a feature film and is already contributing support to projects with several fine artists.

“I am choosing the artists because I like their work,” Koyama said. “I feel that they deserve a higher profile. I know that they can’t do it on their own. What I am most interested in is taking people who are known for one discipline and for example, helping them to try another discipline. For example, people who are good at drawing already but really want to work on a little stop motion animation. Or they want to go off and learn to play the trumpet, try sculpture, learn printmaking or start community art related initiatives.”

Read the rest of the article and full announcement HERE.

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Believer Magazine has updated their website and built an archive for the comics that have appeared in the printed mag. Above is a page from Leela Corman‘s story Kraut – read the rest HERE.

You will also find comics by Andrea Tsurumi, Ann Xu, Jennifer Camper, Anna Haifisch, and others. Check out the archive!

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Hyperallergic features an article about Carol Tyler and her new comic Fab4 Mania – HERE.
Lauren Weinstein‘s Normal Person now appears at popula.com – here’s the latest strip!
Mimi Pond also has a new comic up at Popula – Blind Dates of the Near Future.
Jessica Campbell‘s latest comic on Hyperallergic – Musings About Life Today – can be read HERE.
Anders Nilson writes about the process and responsibility of finishing a friend’s last book – A Bubble, by Geneviève Castrée (who passed away in 2016) – on The Comics Journal.
Here’s an excerpt from Nancy Peña’s Madame Cat – on Paste Magazine.

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Suzy and Cecil – 7-27-2018 – by Gabriella Tito

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged annie koyama, carol tyler, gabriella tito, genevieve castree, jessica campbell, lauren weinstein, leela corman, mimi pond, Nancy Peña, nick fowler

Sally Ingraham

Posted on July 27, 2018

Explore

05/26/2016

HarrisonMay 26, 2016News Daily News for Thursday with books, phones, panels, and Mos. Euro Books Find some rare books. https://sobooks.jp/ http://so-books.tumblr.com/ Panel Exercise Check out your favorite comics news correspondent’s new work right here. Understanding Any words of wisdom for our readers? Words of wisdom, I’d just say: – Understand who you are. – Understand what you want to express. – Understand how you want to express it and be understood. – Express the truest form of yourself as a person however you want – without disrupting anyone from doing so themselves. Read The Hundreds interview with @ggariba. City Chronicles :: Inside the Mind of Visual Artist Gyimah Gariba Ummmm……. Memories http://pre-convergence-morgue.tumblr.com/ Mos Definite “They all talk fast but they all think slow” Share this page: [...]

07/12/2018

Comics WorkbookJuly 12, 2018NewsSam Ombiri here: I found myself reading and re-reading Ganges 4 by Kevin Huizenga. Of course I have to re-read it as it is a very intricate comic. There’s a lot of information conveyed, but especially for this comic it seems that for Huizenga it’s important for the nature of the encounter to be felt. I very much felt the nature of the concepts, thoughts, and anxieties that Glenn Ganges encounters. At one point, for example, Huizenga’s stand-in (whom we know as Glenn) attempts to bore himself to sleep with information. This bland and life-less information that we, the readers, are given, is through the comics form brought to life. This information, being juxtaposed cohesively with a bunch of goofy nonsense, is delivered in the same fashion as actual facts. As a result, the comic stirs a deep emotional reaction from me as a reader, in a manner that isn’t contrived in any way shape or form. It’s often off-putting when a comic is contrived. It’s often off-putting when a maker demands that the reader be compelled, as opposed to allowing the reader to just feel what they feel. I realize that measuring how contrived something comes off as is difficult, and it’s even more difficult to design a system that avoids it, but following a construct can back an artist’s honesty and sincerity – as it does in this installment of Ganges. This issue showed me that serving a construct can really vouch for an artist’s sincerity. Part of the what makes reading this comic an amazing experience comes from me knowing the intent of Huizenga’s experimentation. I mean knowing this from reading his work as opposed to reading his interviews. I know that the comic is first and foremost concerned (but not too concerned) with me as the reader comprehending these moments that transpire all throughout the comic, and more importantly, it’s at the service of a construct. This in turn vouches for the sincerity of the work. The comic, while dealing with these various concepts, is at its core inviting the reader to think of those moments where sleep refuses to come. Which is something all humans have experienced. Huizenga is working in this setting; this space in order to reveal certain patterns in “being”. Like the spontaneous way our thoughts manifest and then vanish even quicker than they came. In the comic it’s all brilliantly displayed at the service of the comics form, and by the nature of the story itself. There are some moments we only catch brief glimpses of as in the majority of the panel cuts off at the bottom of the book. That these events stretch beyond the book. As we only see some speech bubbles without seeing the part of the panel that shows the characters, or sometimes we catch brief glances of moments we can’t fully perceive as readers. There’s an aspect of this method of sequencing that resonates with the idea of seeking the truth or the essence of the moment by cutting crucial aspects. By implying that there’s a comic to read, that the reader has been reading. Then this comic that’s at the service of a construct, that has intricate rhythm, suddenly deprives the reader of moments the reader has been made so keen to read. The comic plays with the reader’s patience. All that’s happening in the comic feels to me as if it’s at the service of delivering these delightful punchlines which are at times hilarious, at times melancholic. Even the melancholic punchlines in Ganges 4 are delightful. For example Glenn’s conversation with Death which was discouraging because it displays a way we ourselves may approach life. What was portrayed was discouraging. Death is attempting to comfort Glenn in the most earnest way it can, and the whole encounter with Death is thankfully not turned into a punchline. Rhythm didn’t dictate that Death in itself to be the punchline. Rather, it’s treated as something to pass over – that Death’s presence in the following panels aren’t supposed to be registered as a spectacle. Likewise in those panels that Death spoke in, Death didn’t speak in a fashion that would be perceived as a spectacle. It was still an incredibly emotional moment. Death’s ultimate morbid punchline was being delivered by the running gag in which instead of seeing an actual book title and author on a book’s cover, we’re given Glenn’s idiosyncratic goofy projection of what a book contains according to him. Even this running gag doesn’t present itself as a spectacle. The moments leading up to Death’s timely arrival is of equal weight and distinction. It’s up to the reader to engage with what’s given, and Huizenga is incredibly generous with what he has given to engage with. I’m still re-reading it! – Sam Ombiri Share this page: [...]

03/16/2016

Juan FernándezMarch 16, 2016NewsDôme – Review Gabriele Di Fazio over at Just Indie Comics has a review of the production-as-performance anthology, Dôme. Dôme was published by French collective Lagon together with Breakdown Press, LIVE at Angouleme via risograph and then handbound in the presence of the majority of the featured artists. 40 pages 17 authors, this one is a doozy worth looking into! Read the review. Embellished by the idea of reiterating in the central pages an appendix of the different stories as single strips, Dôme is the best anthology of recent years thanks to the exceptional ability of the editors (Alexis Beauclair, Joe Kessler, Sammy Stein) to summarize in a few pages the greatest virtues of contemporary comics. If the eighth Kramers Ergot lacked an overall view, if Mould Map #3 over-indulged in an old-fashioned cyber aesthetics, if Volcan was a bit dispersive, Dôme in just 40 pages gives an example of a really rare aesthetic coherence. ————————————————————————————————— [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/247095998″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Jillian Tamaki on Cavern of Secrets On this episode of Cavern of Secrets, Lauren Mitchell talks about turning 30 and nostalgia before speaking with Jillian Tamaki(This One Summer, SuperMutant Magic Academy). They cover the gamut: the curse of absolute freedom, life in Toronto compared to life in New York City, learning curves, “creative culture” and how money changes everything. ————————————————————————————————— On Not Being a Dick (Comics Criticism Realities) Kim O’Connor lays it out plain and simple over at Comics and Cola. I’m writing today because I think I know the answer to a question that comics types revisit every so often: Why aren’t there more people writing comics crit? Some of the reasons are universal. (There’s no money in it. There’s no real audience.) Others are huge, but not universal, like systemic racism and sexism. On top of all that there’s another, more nebulous obstacle that some of us experience, and that’s the fact that comics promotes a culture in which people feel way too comfortable acting like total dicks to complete strangers. I know what some of you are thinking. Kim, I can’t help but notice that you yourself are a total dick. No, my friend. You are mistaken. I am a bitch. Read her thoughts in full. ————————————————————————————————— Silent Treatment by Celine Loup Celine Loup has posted her contribution Laura Lannes’ Bad Boyfriends Zine. An alarmingly relatable story and comic. Many have been near similar scenarios. Celine Loup and the Anonymous writer take a stand and break this silence. A tough read that is brilliantly executed. Read Silent Treatment now. ————————————————————————————————— A History of Wingdings Something not so new but definitely worth taking a look at is the history of Wingdings. This one comes courtesy of Phil Edwards over at Vox. Read it! Often derided as a silly by product of corporate culture and the technosphere, there’s a lot more to the font than you think. Take some time and read it, you’re sure to learn something. Recommended for those of you interested in visual literacy and its evolution, especially as a product of reproduction technologies intersecting with modalities of human communication. “Emojis are like dingbats in being typographical symbols,” Bigelow says. “But they also hark back to the ancient concept of picture writing from which pictographic-ideographic-logographic Chinese characters and kanji evolved.” Chinese and Japanese writing came from pictures and, like today’s emojis, are ways of expressing our ideas and ourselves. Share this page: [...]

06/14/2017

Juan FernándezJune 14, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos 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: [...]

05/03/2016

Aaron CockleMay 2, 2016NewsSara Lautman; RIPE 2016; MVR4; Matthew Thurber; Hellbound Lifestyle Book Release; Katie Skelly; Last days of Sparkplug Books ————————————————————————————————— Sara Lautman is doing A Cartoonist’s Diary over at TCJ this week. ————————————————————————————————— Rhode Island Independent Publishing Expo: Application Deadline Extended! ————————————————————————————————— MVR4 School of for Poetic Computation Wednesday, May 4 at 7:00 PM 11–15° Cloudy https://www.facebook.com/events/774574382675480/ 155 Bank St, New York, New York 10014 ‘MVR is an event series focused on new forms of exchange between body and technology. With the decreasing size and cost of computer vision, digital components and advances in virtual reality, we are faced with a new awareness of the impact of current digital practices on the physical body. MVR provides a platform for learning and discussion concerning the new interaction between body and information, device, and action. Confirmed presenters: Kate Sicchio on live coding, performance and wearables; Pablo Garcia on drawing machines; Pamela Liou on technology, textiles, bodies and craft; Claire Kearney-Volpe on screen-readers and coding.’ ————————————————————————————————— Curtainphonehorn, a show of Matthew Thurber drawings, will open May 12 at Weird Things in Toronto. ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— Katie Skelly Comics ————————————————————————————————— Sparkplug Books May 17th – Last day to place any online orders, including wholesale orders. May 22nd – Sparkplug will be tabling at Linework NW with Suzette Smith (Ce/Ze). June 11th & 12th – Sparkplug will be tabling at CAKE in Chicago, with Suzette Smith. This will be Sparkplug’s last show. ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

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