Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Juan Fernández

Posted on August 8, 2018August 8, 2018

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01/16/2018

Aaron CockleJanuary 15, 2018NewsAaron today with Richard Hell; 2 from Liana Finck; The representation of the Spanish Civil War in North-American comic strips ————————————————————————————————— Richard Hell’s Small Press Publishing At White Columns: White Columns will host a small exhibition of Richard Hell’s 50-year history – 1968-2018 – as a small press writer, publisher, editor and designer. Hell, under his original name of Richard Meyers, began his first small literary magazine and press at the age of 17, shortly after arriving in New York City. The magazine was called Genesis : Grasp, as was the press. Genesis : Grasp ran for six issues (numbers 1-5/6, 1968 – 1971), and also released three authors’ first books and two folders of broadsheets. Richard’s small press endeavors have proceeded, under a variety of names (Ernie Stomach, Theresa Stern, Richard Meyers; Genesis : Grasp Press, Dot Books, CUZ Editions …), up through the present, in publications often typeset and printed, as well as designed, by Hell. ————————————————————————————————— A Loner’s Guide to Planning and Cancellation + The Distance Test Some recent work from Liana Finck. At Topic At Catapult ————————————————————————————————— Francisco Manuel Sáez de Adana Herrero on The representation of the Spanish Civil War in North-American comic strips. The 204th meeting of the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018 at 7pm at The New School, University Center, 63 Fifth Ave, UL 105 (lower level). PLEASE NOTE NEW LOCATION. Free and open to the public. The North-American comic strip of the early twentieth century has manifested itself, on many occasions, as a powerful means of transmission of history. In that role, the form of reproduction is a determinant factor since the comic strips were published together with the news of the time and, for that reason, they had an audience of several million readers. Many times the comic strips played the role of showing the public what was happening outside the United States, especially in the years before Pearl Harbor, when American society was more concerned with what was happening within its own borders than with international events. This study shows how an event such as the Spanish Civil War is represented in the comic strips of the late 30’s and how this shows the American society’s position towards this conflict. Francisco Sáez de Adana is Professor at the the Franklin Institute of American Studies of the University of Alcalá in Spain. He works as a comic scholar, mainly focused on American comics, interested in that medium as a way to depict historical events. He has published five chapters in books, seven papers in Spanish and international journals, and several communications In international conferences. He imparted a seminar on Miton Caniff and American culture at the University of Salerno in Italy. He organizes a summer course on comics imparted in the University of Alcalá which is celebrated annually from 2014. ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

04/06/2016

Juan FernándezApril 6, 2016NewsJuan here with your mid-week comics news fix. A pair of interesting comics events in the United States, MoCCA Awards of Excellence, Mari Naomi, Gabrielle Bell, Leslie Stein, Retrofit Comics Kickstarter in the final stretch, Rosarium Publishing launches its Indiegogo, the Picturebox Inc. bibliography. Let’s do this. ————————————————————————————————— Small Press events this weekend PMF 7 Building on six consecutive years of growing print celebrations, Baltimore’s Open Space gallery will present PMF VII, the Seventh Annual Publications & Multiples Fair, taking place April 9th and 10th, 2016, from 12 pm – 6 pm each day, at the Baltimore Design School, 1500 Barclay St. This annual exposition provides the opportunity to peruse, purchase, and discuss artist publications, prints, and objects produced in multiple. There’ll be over 130 local and national artists, and on-site programming all weekend. The fair is free and open to the public. There’s a killer line up of really raw work. Meghan Turbitt, Lala Albert, Lale Westving and Aidan Koch will be there among the throngs 😉 Learn more here. SPACE 2016 Now coming up on it’s 17th year, S.P.A.C.E. (Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo) is the midwest’s longest running exhibition of small press,creator owned and art comics. And Columbus’ longest locally owned and operated COMICS show of any kind. Long live the Rustbelt. Read more here. ————————————————————————————————— Gabrielle Bell Instagram In the age of fractured social media, it’s important to know who posts where or you’ll miss out on the beautiful writing or drawing they might do. Now you’ve got no excuse to be missing Bell’s off the cuff drawings. You can follow her here. ————————————————————————————————— Cheerleader by Mari Naomi Mari Naomi’s got a new one for you via Buzz Feed. Lot’s of eyes sure to get on this one. Smart use of the scroll and subtle visual punctuation makes this a satisfying look back on an unexpected friendship. Take a trip down memory lane and read it here! ————————————————————————————————— Retrofit Kickstarter – Last 2 Rounds Retrofit Comics is in its last TWO days of their Kickstarter campaign! They’re in the last rounds of their bout. You can help them win this fight. Support them to make it happen. The crop of books they’re currently publishing is really special. It includes titles by the likes of James Kochalka (Elf Cat in Love), the first Cartoonist Laureate of Vermont, Eleanor Davis with her an offering (Libby’s Dad), and Kaeleigh Forsyth and Alabaster Pizzo with a team up on Hellbound (here’s a process post from them about the “raw material” the book was sourced from). Also among the comics that may get loosed on the world, should the Kickstarter make it to the stretch goals, are works by Anya Davidson and Tyler Landry. Please support Retrofit Comics by pitching some funds their way, or helping to spread the word.Less than $2,000 left to go. Check out the Kickstarter and make it happen HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Time Clock Leslie Stein is back with the newest installment of The Eye of the Majestic Creature is back! Here’s a link to see some of the pages Stein has posted on tumblr, there’ll be more soon until Time Clock is out. You can snag a copy by preordering from Fantagraphics Books. The book will be out in June. ————————————————————————————————— Rosarium Publishing launches an Indiegogo As Retrofit wraps up it’s big push, ROSARIUM PUBLISHING begins to rev their engines. Rosarium Publishing is a publishing house founded by Bill Campbell that is a space of resistance to the erasure of diverse voices by a saturated public sphere of massive hegemonic media giants pushing the authors they want to the forefront of the market place.f …Rosarium Publishing was started with an idea; it was not, however, started with a lot of money. This has all been funded by the publisher’s day job. So, with the rapid growth we’ve been experiencing, it is now time for us to move away from print-on-demand, which, in the long run, is too expensive for any publisher to rely on, and have to move to offset printing. – Bill Campbell Read more about their campaign here. ————————————————————————————————— Awards of Excellence at MoCCA Fest Chosen by a jury of professional peers including Senior Editor at First Seond Books Calista Brill, artist Cliff Chiang, Editorial Director Charles Kochman, artist Mark Newgarden, and cartoonist, illustrator, and painter Lauren Weinstein. Awards of Excellence are given out to recognize the most outstanding work on view at the festival created by an independent artist. This Award of Excellence year’s winners include: Glynnis Fawkes, “Alle Ego” Pat Dorian, “Lon Chaney Talks Part 2” Shreyas R. Krishnan, “Becoming Rosie” Kate Lacour, “Vivisectionary II” R. Sikoryak, “iTunes Terms and Conditions” The SOI will host this year’s MoCCA Arts Festival Awards of Excellence winners in an exhibit featuring original art from their award-winning books. The exhibit will run from May 06-June 11th. More information here. For a full list of the works awarded recognition by the Society of Illustrators at MoCCA Fest 2016 hop on over to Comics Beat. ————————————————————————————————— The Classics The closing up of Picturebox Inc. isn’t news to anyone but it should never go forgotten. Nadel and company created an incredible publishing legacy and it is of vital importance that comics makers young and old understand the scope of what Picturebox accomplished with comics. Here’s a list of their bibliography so you can dig into the raw material yourself: Study up on the classics. If you can’t find what you want at Copacetic Comics, check your local library. You can thank Bill Boichel and your librarian in advance. Share this page: [...]

Michael Deforge’s Sticks Angelica: Folk Hero Release Tour

Chris Anthony DiazApril 6, 2017The Diaz ArchiveMichael Deforge signed his awesome new book from DRAWN & QUARTERLY at Comix Experience, Wednesday, April 5, 2017, San Francisco. All photos colored by Graham Willcox Share this page: [...]

10/27/2016

Sally IngrahamOctober 27, 2016NewsSam Ombiri kicks off your Thursday with some thoughts on reading and Sally Ingraham follows up with interviews with Kyle Baker and Whit Taylor, a teaser video from Chris Visions and Tyler Q. Tucker, Ronald Wimberly’s latest adventures, and Whit Taylor’s CXC “Report Card”. ————————————————————————————————— Smart Reader I’m not too good of a reader. Maybe one day I’ll be a good reader. I struggle with concerning myself with just getting to the next page, and then the next page, and then the next page. I’ll rush to get to the last page only to be met with the lamest feeling ever. Then I say to myself stuff like “I should have paid more attention, I should have had more concern with the work, than the “task at hand”. Sometimes, I’m like, “I love this movie! This movie is great, but when will it end? I want my life back already!” When I carry myself this way through the work, and naively rush to get to the end, it’s like the feeling of unearned reward. At my job there are kids who whine to their parents until the parents buy them candy, and then there are the kids who are well behaved so the parents urge them to “go pick out something for yourself, since you’ve been great!” I feel like the whining kid more often than I’d like to admit. I really dig Joseph Conrad’s way of rendering emotion in relation to the characters’ shared circumstance, but I want to hurry up and finish it so I can sound smart, and brag about how I’ve read Joseph Conrad. That’s not to say that I’m always like this. It’s an annoying feeling that pops up every now and then. Maybe it’s because I’m reading “important work.” I heard Matt Thurber say that he felt small press stuff is more important to him than hardbound graphic novels. I don’t know if he still feels this way. The smaller parts are most important as opposed to the whole, because you can’t tackle work all at once. (Or maybe you can.) – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Sally here with some other happenings in the comics world. Adam Griffiths interviewed Whit Taylor recently for his ongoing “Zine Tree” series. He dug into her work Passing, a good deal of which is available to look at in the interview, as well as her latest book Wallpaper. “WT:Wallpaper is largely about “flashbulb” memory, which can be particularly vivid when we are kids. It’s not fully autobio, as not all the chronology or details follow my life, but it definitely deals with certain recurring themes from my family. Some of the patterns are from childhood and others are not. As for the ‘unsaid’, yes, I feel like this is usually an element in my work. I think it is hard when doing memoir/autobio work to figure out how to tell a story without getting bogged down in the details. My primary goal is to create a mood or a feeling, which doesn’t always rely on telling one’s personal history in detail. I remember when I was a kid, feeling confused a lot about the world and what adults were doing in it. I also felt like I had a partner in crime, my younger brother, to help navigate that world with. That’s what I wanted to communicate.” – Whit Taylor Read the rest of the interview HERE. Also check out Adam Griffiths’ work HERE – he is a cartoonists based out of Takoma Park, MD (who will be joining us in Pittsburgh in early 2017 for a Rowhouse Residency!) ————————————————————————————————— Get Why I Hate Saturn now at https://www.createspace.com/5628261 #graphicnovel A photo posted by Kyle Baker (@qualityjollity) on Oct 24, 2016 at 5:50am PDT Kyle Baker posted this reminder on Instagram recently – you can get his breakthrough story Why I Hate Saturn via his website HERE (follow @qualityjollity!). The Comics Alliance published a lengthy interview with Kyle this month, part of their Five Stars series which highlights 5 milestones of an artist’s career. Why I Hate Saturn (1990) is certainly on the list, and Kyle and Steve Morris talk about it’s continued importance: “CA: At the time, it wasn’t a huge sales success. It took years, and is arguably only now really getting the notice it deserves. Is it difficult to take a hit like that — to build up and work on a project, only for it to then not break out commercially in the way you might have hoped? KB: I think that it’s never wise to measure one’s worth by the opinions of strangers. I’m just trying to create the work I enjoy. I can’t imagine how sad it would be for a person to live their life worrying about what other people think of them. When I work, I do the best job I can according to my skill level at the time. I’m always studying, and looking to learn how to write and draw better, and that’s what’s important to me.” – via Comics Alliance Read the full interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Whit Taylor‘s Cartoon Crossroads Columbus 2016 “Report Card” article is up on the site. According to Caitlin McGurk, one of the festival committee members and Associate Curator at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, the show reflected the goals of the organizers – “We want it to include everyone from comic strip artists to punk mini-comics makers to political cartoonists, web cartoonists, mainstream cartoonists and the “indie” folks. Animators, too! A place where someone who has just made their first mini-comic can stand beside a MAD Magazine legend in the BICLM galleries and chat about Winsor McCay. A place to learn about developing professional skills for artists, be it from inking to legacy planning, from foreign rights to how to fill out your taxes, etc. We want to create a support system for comics, in a place that already serves as a home and shrine to comics.” – Caitlin McGurk Read the rest of Whit’s report HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Lots of people went to NYCC and they all seemed to have a pretty good time – but no one tells the story with as much style as Chris Visions and Tyler Q. Tucker: Created by @tylerqtucker ・・・ #NYCC with the @outofsteparts crew was a blast! Can’t wait to release the full video! #OOSA #nycc2016 @chrisvisions @punkrockjazz @andrewmaclean @nathanfoxy @newyorkcomiccon A video posted by Chris Visions (@chrisvisions) on Oct 11, 2016 at 7:10pm PDT Just a teaser of the soon-to-be-released full video. Follow @chrivisions on Instagram for tons of life drawing sketches and other process posts! ————————————————————————————————— Ronald Wimberly has finished his residency in Columbus (but check out the video above for a lengthy talk and tour of his exhibit at the Columbus Museum of Art). He’s back in New York City, and will be doing a talk and signing on Halloween at Kinokuniya New York – if you’re in town, you need to be there! ————————————————————————————————— The Comics Reporter has a comprehensive list of all CXC-related reports – check out out. Here on the site we have our own massive roundup post of CXC-related stories and reports. We also have Frank’s LICAF report with the recent addition of Aidan Koch’s thoughts on the event – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Comics Workbook has had a great show season, with visits to SPX, CXC, and LICAF. The workshops we have hosted at these events have been a highlight and folks all over are digging into comics making with new ideas swirling in their heads. If you didn’t making it to a workshop this year, be sure to keep an eye out for us next year – and meanwhile, check out thee Santoro School Handbook for Making Better Comics by Frank Santoro and Kurt Ankeny. Printed offset on cardstock by the professionals at The Prolific Group, Winnipeg, Canada, this is not some cheap color xerox or risograph. Looks great, feels great, and even smells great. Always available at our store HERE – free shipping worldwide! Share this page: [...]

07/03/2018

Aaron CockleJuly 3, 2018NewsChitra Ganesh & Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze; English on ‘Simplification’; Some Outsider Art; Military Internet(s) ————————————————————————————————— Open Sessions at The Drawing Center Chitra Ganesh in conversation with Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze: CG: “I am so glad that the Drawing Center has offered alternative axes, alignments, and contexts to situate your own work, thinking and growth––I would say that its mere presence, focus and decades long commitment to that focus, has sustained me in similar ways.” . ROA: “Drawing transcends all dividing factors, it is the most human form of expression. The DC has given me the freedom of simply being a human artist. It has been priceless to be in dialogue with other artists, who have their own relationship with the medium.” ————————————————————————————————— Simplify, Stupid Austin English continues with his wide-ranging look at comics from the past 70 years or so. There may be something to that. Simply, (1) drawing competently is an out of the ordinary achievement people instantly recognize. The ability to (2) tell a story with drawing? Even rarer. The most elusive seems to be (3) having something unique to say with a picture story. Most of comics seems to be content with varying combinations of (1) and (2). Artists like Feuchtenberger give us (3) every time they draw something. Why work like hers is considered an aquired taste still seems odd to me, and involves a condescending attitude to readers in general. Who doesn’t (if we limit ourselves to those who care about narrative in even the most limited way) want to be engaged by a picture story that is genuinely felt and mindfully arranged? When we consider a masterpiece like Dominique Goblet’s Pretending is Lying, which is firmly in the (1) + (2) + (3) camp, we know this is a work that readers will refer to in their lives over and over again. Goblet might simplify faces in service of telling her story within the medium of comics, but to simplify her ideas would be anathema to the artist. The richness of what she has to say is, itself, the point. Her statement, a composition of relationships that fade in an out if view, isn’t grafted on to her storytelling ability, it isn’t in service of a need to finish pages to fufill a pre-existing belief that her style requires an important statement to validate it. When Goblet’s father character sways and monlogues to promote himself, his personality impresses itself upon the reader with a shrieking force, because Goblet has something specific to say (3) about a man like this. Also, take a scroll through the comments: ————————————————————————————————— In Their Own Worlds Sanford Schwarz looks at some recent exhibitions of ‘outsider art’. Cartoons and comic strips—or a sense of these forms—underlie, finally, the work of the most impressive figures in the exhibition, Darger and Adolf Wölfli. For viewers concerned with outsider art they are among the territory’s old masters. Both have been the subjects of books and have been seen, like Martín Ramírez, who is their equal, in defining and revelatory retrospectives over the last fifteen years at the Folk Art Museum. This doesn’t mean that Wölfli, who died in 1930 at sixty-six, is exactly an embraceable figure. There is a degree of flowing inventiveness and industry in his pictures, which can resemble fantasy versions of carpets, game boards, or aerial views of places, suggesting that the man was on a different wavelength from the rest of us. ————————————————————————————————— ARPANETS Zachary Loeb reviews Yasha Levine’s Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet Levine highlights NBC reporting from 1975 on the CIA and NSA spying on Americans by utilizing ARPANET, and on the efforts of Senators to rein in these projects. Though Levine is not presenting, nor is he claiming to present, a comprehensive history of pushback and resistance, his account makes it clear that liberatory claims regarding technology were often met with skepticism. And much of that skepticism proved to be highly prescient. ————————————————————————————————— Vision Box – 7-3-2018 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 7-3-18 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

08/08/2018

Posted on August 8, 2018August 8, 2018 by Juan Fernández

Boris is still sick, so no news from the “world of comics” for today. Just hunkering down and being with the beloved.

For the Boris lovers: he’s been eating and drinking more thanks to some cortisone injections and an appetite stimulant called Entyce. Baby boy has required a lot of attention and I’ve had to keep my head down for the most part away from contemporary comics news.

For the comics lovers: here are some Boris comics by the great Jenn Lisa:

Jenn and Boris watching snow — From Dotty Spotty 2 by Jenn Lisa

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged Boris, jenn lisa

Juan Fernández

Posted on August 8, 2018August 8, 2018

Explore

01/12/2017

Sally IngrahamJanuary 12, 2017NewsSam and Sally here to share info on the 5th Annual Black Comic Book Festival, work from Derick Jones and Shannon Wright, a whole pile of comic strips, and thoughts from Sam on influences in film. ————————————————————————————————— Sally here – This Friday and Saturday the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library will be hosting the 5th Annual Black Comic Book Festival. You can register to attend HERE. Expanded this year to fill two days, the schedule of events includes panels with Kyle Baker, Trevor Von Eeden, and Ronald Wimberly among others, a tribute to Jackie Ormes, and a number of “how-to” workshops including “How to Draw Afrakan Superheroes” with Akinseye Brown. There will be a comics exhibition both days as well. More details on the event HERE. Ronald Wimberly is pumped about going – he reported via Instagram: “Of course white people are welcome! Who’d exclude white commerce after the opium wars?! …. This weekend I’ll be at the Black Comics Festival (@schomburgblackcomics) at the Schomburg Center. I’ll be selling and signing copies of Prince of Cats, the Attack on Titan Anthology and maybe something else… On Saturday 5:30-6:45, I’ll be on the Comics and Hip-Hop panel moderated by Jonathan Gray featuring Andre Leroy Davis, Eric Orr (@orrdesigns), and Sole Rebel in the Langston Hughes Auditorium.“ Be there! ————————————————————————————————— Shannon Wright drew this cute comic about “A proud father recording his son demolish DDR” and went on to comment on these rare cool Dads: “…in a lot of cases it’s shocking because we don’t see that involvement, especially when the hobby or interest doesn’t revolve around a sport or a prominent musical instrument. It was refreshing to see.“ I love when Shannon makes these quick comics – her skill set is incredible and I enjoy her more illustrative work – but her 4-panel strip comics and work like the piece above really capture moments in a special way. More please! ————————————————————————————————— Derick Jones is publishing a webcomic called Dead Days in Kowloon – he’s been at it since October of 2016. He updates it twice a week – read it from the beginning HERE. I really like the work Derick has been posting on his Instagram recently – check it out @skudsink – straight inks, no midtones is his tune for the year so far! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: The quote of the week comes from Jafar Panahi – “Every film is worth watching.” This is from his last risky movie that he “didn’t make”, using a security dash cam, called Taxi. (Editor’s Note: Jafar Panahi has been making films while under house arrest in Iran since 2010…!) He’s more optimistic than his buddy Abbas Kiarostami was. I read somewhere that Abbas Kiarostami was optimistic about the idea up until he realized, eventually, that the public having cameras wasn’t enough, and the promise he had felt about the general population having easy access to the camera didn’t yield what he had hoped. What Jafar Panahi says reminds me of Andrei Tarkovsky’s whole thing of “zen in art”, that it can be something like nature – you can choose to interact with it or not. I think it’s really interesting the amount of danger both directors put themselves in for their movies. (They also each made great movies called The Mirror.) At the beginning of Powr Mastrs 3 CF says, “I see you all imitating me – Disappointing – Follow your own star.” One hope with looking at how movies are made – it’s something like what Robert Bresson said, something along the lines of “I’m often influenced by other mediums.” (He was actually quoting someone else whom I can’t remember. He was about to walk off the interview because he thought they were going to ask questions that he didn’t want to engage in. or in the context with which they were asking.) Anyways, I’m thinking about the way people like Lynne Ramsay, Jafar Panahi, Abbas Kiarostami, and Michael Haneke process their Bresson/Tarkovsky influences. (With Panahi I’m only guessing that he’s influenced by them – the other two I know for sure, and with Ramsay I only sense Bresson). Whereas there are others who are processing that influence in a way that can feel… I don’t really know the right word. I don’t want to be more harsh than necessary. I think Haneke’s work studies the relationship between projected reality and reality as it’s happening. In White Ribbon, which I haven’t seen for a long time, I think it’s the relationship between the photos taken in that time in relation to what could have been going on in those photos, that could suggest that this generation of kids will be the ones that accept Hitler. There is the ideal image being imposed…or, well…because of being caught up in these ideal images that are being imposed, the adults remain naive and too blind to see this other mysterious “behavior” rise from their romanticization of their children. The behavior is only being suspected, as you can’t tell whether or not the children are lying. – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Adam Griffiths brings us another ‘Zine Tree Interview – this time with JB Brager – a Philadelphia-based cartoonist and writer, and a PhD candidate in Women’s & Gender Studies at Rutgers University. Tarantula by Alexis Ziritt & Fabian Rangel Jr. & Evelyn Rangel is coming out via AdHouse Books any minute now – and they have released a gorgeous full color preview for us to drool over – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— From the Comics Workbook school store – Zona #3 – all student work – 40 pages of comics – stories by Kurt Ankeny, Jacqueline Huskisson, Paddy Lynch, and Tyler Landry. Covers include an additional unique hand drawing by Frank Santoro – edition of 100 – signed and numbered. Get a copy of this book HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 1-12-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 1-12-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— 1-12-2017 – by Juan Fernández ————————————————————————————————— Dungeon Lollers – 1-12-2017 – by Tyler Landry Share this page: [...]

Noah Van Sciver and Joseph Remnant’s Secret Headquarters Signing

Chris Anthony DiazOctober 26, 2017The Diaz Archive Share this page: [...]

03/09/2018

Sally IngrahamMarch 8, 2018NewsSally here with Katie Fricas, Eleanor Davis, Fiona Smyth, Karabo Poppy Moletsane, and a lot more! ————————————————————————————————— Katie Fricas has a new comic that is being serialized on Spiral Bound via Medium. The comic is called Checked Out and is about “library life”, a.k.a. her observations and experiences at work, and so far I love everything about it! The subject matter is very relatable for me, and I always enjoy her lines and use of color. I appreciate that she’s using the grid with this comic as well – it makes for a very nice rhythm to each story, and provides some structure for her to hang the wild drawings on. (This comic finally made me sign up for a Medium account, and I may just cough up $5 a month so I can keep up with this story and the numerous other comics that appear in the Spiral Bound section of the site – learn more about this publication HERE.) ————————————————————————————————— Eleanor Davis‘ new book Why Art? is reviewed on The Red & Black, by a reader who also attended a slideshow presentation by Eleanor Davis on the book, in Athens, GA. Eleanor has been on tour doing a lot of these presentations with this book, and getting really good turnouts. The author of this particular piece, Lara Strydom, writes: “Probably one of the most thought-provoking moments was during the introduction, when the various purposes of art are described and the novel reveals that sometimes art will remind us of things that we’d rather forget. We often reject what we don’t want to hear or see because of the way it might make us feel. This idea is then represented by a completely blacked out page in the book, almost as if it is representing how we shield our eyes from unwanted emotions or ideas.” Strydom spoke to other folks who attended the presentation, and got their thoughts on the work. ” “ that whole cyclical idea of ‘We create our own lives and destroy our own lives, we create our own worlds and destroy our own worlds,’ and there’s this constant cycle of birth and destruction,” said Melissa Link, an audience member and Athens resident.” Read the rest of the article HERE. In his piece for the Copacetic Comics website on Why Art?, Bill Boichel mentions “a surprising – and intriguing – twist that longtime comics readers will recognize as a thematic recapitulation of the late-’50s/early-’60s work of Steve Ditko(!).” Get a copy of the comic HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Here’s your reminder to keep up with Fiona Smyth‘s weekly strip CHEEZ. The most recent piece is above – the rest are HERE. ————————————————————————————————— In celebration of International Woman’s Day yesterday (March 8th, 2018) the Google Doodle featured 12 comics by women from around the world, including familiar names like Tillie Walden and Anna Haifisch. You can see the archive of the project HERE, and check out the work of the other women featured. Of the artists who were new to me, I particularly liked the work of Karabo Poppy Moletsane. She is from Johannesburg, South Africa, where she does mostly illustration and graphic design work. However, as you can see above, she has made a few zines and comics as well, and I hope she does more in the future! You can check out the rest of the “Sho’t Left” zine HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Paste Magazine talks to Cecil Castellucci about why Shade, the Changing Girl grew up recently (as seen above). Read the interview HERE. Pam Wye’s third installment in her Water I’ve Loved graphic memoir is up at MUTHA Magazine – read it HERE. New comics by Jessica Campbell and Katie Fricas are up on Hyperallergic – read American Artists Have No Shame (Campbell) and take a look at the Jayne County retrospective (Fricas). The Comics Beat has a review of Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson with artwork by Emily Carroll. Read it HERE. Jessica Abel is offering a free online workshop on March 9th – How to carve out space in your life to achieve your big, deadline-free creative goals. Check it out and sign up HERE. Anya Davidson is staying on top of her weekly podcast with impressive regularity – last week she spoke to Margot Ferrick and this week Tomi Parrish was at the mic. Keep up with Mindkiller HERE. Whit Taylor was the guest on Episode 27 of Comic Book Decalogue on The Comics Journal. Listen HERE. Also on The Comics Journal, an interview with Taneka Stotts. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-9-2018 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

6/20/2016

Juan FernándezJune 20, 2016NewsJuan Fernandez here with: GG’s UNATTAINABLE; the PIX 2016 Bill Griffith interview; Format Fever from the vault; Aatmaja Pandya’s PHANTOM; Sarah Bowie’s FOURTEEN EURO’s IN PRIMARK; Lisa Hanawalt at Bitch; Gulag Casual Reviewed; Reflections on Rebecca Roher’s BIRD IN A CAGE. ————————————————————————————————— On the site: Unattainable by GG We’re excited to feature Unattainable by GG on the site this week. Made in 2015 by GG for Comics Workbook, Unattainable is a short story that explores the control and the nature of boundaries in digitally mediated life. This comic presents a stark glimpse at a personal disaster in a muted, corporatized society. Read it all here. ————————————————————————————————— Bill Griffith interviewed in Pittsburgh – 2016 CWTV interviews Bill Griffith, one of underground comics’ founding fathers, about his almost 50 years of making work. Bill is the creator of Zippy the Pinhead (among 3,407 other things) // Get Bill’s latest, the beautiful graphic memoir INVISIBLE INK. ————————————————————————————————— From the Vault: Format Fever – More Notes Frank Santoro: Format Fever. I’ve been thinking about scroll comics. Not so much done on a scroll, but presented as a scroll because they’re online. What’s interesting about it to me is that reading the scroll format changes the way page reveals work. Often a left/right spread will be broken up so that the right hand side page is under the left hand side page. ————————————————————————————————— Off the site: Phantom by Aatmaja Pandya Aatmaja Pandya‘s latest comic is a forty page autobiographic piece that explores gentrification, identity and belongingness. It’s about growing up in Queens, NY as a child of immigrants, and returning there as a young adult. Phantom is also available as a PDF and in print. ————————————————————————————————— Fourteen Euro’s in Primark by Sarah Bowie Sarah Bowie has just published a 40 page “exploration of an intense, often painful relationship through a series of bite-sized reflections”. Physical copies of Fourteen Euro’s in Primark are available for purchase through her Gumroad shop. ————————————————————————————————— Lisa Hanawalt interview over at Bitch Sarah Mirk and Lisa Hanawalt talk about her latest book, Bo Jack Horseman, and her personal life. Sarah Mirk: How did you end up writing and drawing so much about food? Do you just love food because you’re human, or do you have some more personal connection to the restaurant industry? Lisa Hanawalt: Yeah, I mean, it’s one of those big aspects of life that everyone has to deal with. We all have to sleep, we all have to work, we all have to have sex. Well, we don’t have to, but a lot of us do. And we all have to eat. It’s such a wide category, I figured there’d be plenty to explore there. When Lucky Peach asked me to start being a regular contributor, I was like, “Yeah, sure.” Each issue of their magazine has a certain theme. So every time I contribute, I can kind of think about what could possibly be related to that theme. ————————————————————————————————— Review: Gulag Casual by Austin English Bob Levin writes expansively on Austin English’s latest collection of comics, Gulag Casual, over on TCJ: This open-minded “everyday”-ness has led English to an aesthetic vision which enlivens the rough structure of the comic book/graaphc novel format with the adventurism of fine art exploration. While nodding toward narrative and sequential linkage, he has more fun erasing connectives and scrambling expectations than enhancing them. “The urge to break the rules,” he told Frank, “(became)… completely irresistible.” The result is a daring and entertaining grapple with the question of how a shape – a blob, a splash, a serpentine, viscous line – with or without eyes or nose or buttons or wall hangings – can advance action, foster feeling, convey meaning. Words provide some befogged clarity – give the mind a kick of “Oh yeah! A bed! A blanket! Legs!” But the visual is what makes Gulag go. ————————————————————————————————— Bird in A Cage by Rebecca Roher Canadian cartoonist, Rebecca Roher‘s Bird in A Cage is a reflection on an often overlooked subject in contemporary comics making, senescence and coping with it. This is based on the short story of the same name that Roher did for The Nib. Canadian publisher, Conundrum Press asked Roher to expand the story into a graphic novel. She’s done so to great effect. “Once a sharp, strong-willed and independent woman, Roher’s grandmother’s life took an unexpected turn when an accident left her with a brain injury, leading to early onset dementia. An unlikely protagonist, grandma was an elderly woman trapped by her deteriorating mind, aging body and the walls around her. This story illuminates the often overlooked narrative of a senior, her complicated history and inner life. Loveable and tragic, she is determined to get back to a familiar place, to be home again. Monica Johnson’s got a thoughtful review over on the Rumpus.” – Conundrum Press Review of Bird in A Cage Over on the Rumpus, Monica Johnson has put together a very thoughtful write up of the book. Monica Johnson: Comics is a visual vocabulary, and Roher’s language is lovingly considered. Panels are demarcated without the use of traditional borders, or are “uncaged.” Clearly on par with her feelings about Grandma Wylie, her pencil lines reveal the pressure of the hand used to make them—intimate, compassionate, and wistful. Roher’s wispy and gestural pencil marks seem appropriate for illustrating a work of memory, which is how she classifies this story in its preface. Mutable. Erasable. Intentionally un-inked. Reflections on writing Bird in A Cage Roher describes the emotionally intense process of creating this tribute to her late grandmother. Roher’s reflections are documented on CBC Books’ How I Wrote It. Roher: A lot of the time while writing this book, I would just be crying and feeling sad about not being home for when she broke her hip and I hadn’t visited her at the hospital. I was thinking about how lonely she must have felt and maybe that’s why she gave up hope and decided to die, or whatever happens when you die. I thought, “Why did I start doing this? This is so painful.” But somebody told me that as an artist, you have to feel things and then make other people feel them. Go through things and create something. Go feel things for others. I kind of felt I had a greater purpose and that helped me get through it. ————————————————————————————————— until next time, Juan Share this page: [...]

05/11/2016

Juan FernándezMay 11, 2016NewsTatá Timbó; Carolina Rey on Joung Yumi; Cuadernos del Cómic; Angeli spotlight; Aidan Koch interview; Hernandez Brothers appreciation; new books at Spit and a Half distro; Abhay Khosla on Copra; Cole Closser and the Leroy Lettering System; New Statesman open call. ————————————————————————————————— Shop Spotlight: Tatá Timbó Located in the heart of the San Telmo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Tatá Timbó is a studio space and book store that specializes in the visual arts. It’s a literary arts space that focuses on youth development through the visual arts founded by Mercedes Fox, Verónica Kaplansky, and Guido Amante. By combining the idea of a studio and a book store they seamlessly blend arts with reading and writing for all ages. Visual literacy and verbal literacy. Children get the opportunity to work freely and wildly while also benefitting from arts mentorships that help them hone their craft. This all allows youth to find artistic mediums and processes they enjoy. El Sol de San Telmo offers a good look at Tatá Timbó’s mission and genesis. This past weekend they put together a small zine fair to bring together the publishing energies of their community. It’s cool stuff. Really exciting to see this kind of thing in Buenos Aires. Among the participants for this zine fair: Nicolás Mealla, Jorge Quien, Musaraña Editora, Marcela Oliva, Juan Vegetal, Pedro Mancini, Delius, Pablo Picyk, PowerPaola, Pablo Besse, Fuga Serigrafía, Luz Marchio, Diego Perrotta, Are you a cop or what?, Alfonso Piantini, Daniela Ruggeri, Miscelánea Total, Fuga Serigrafía, Lino Divas, and Hotel de las Ideas. ————————————————————————————————— Joung Yumi Carolina Rey, creative director of Rey+Naranjo Editores appreciates the work of Korean artist, Joung Yumi during Korea day at la Feria Internacional de Libros in Buenos Aires 2016. ————————————————————————————————— CuCo – Cuadernos del cómic Cuadernos del Cómic is a free digital magazine dedicated to the study and critique of comics edited by Octavio Beares and Gerardo Vilches. It is published twice a year in Madrid, Spain. It’s in the vein of old-school academic journals, but in Spanish, with spanish comics coverage. You’ll want to sink your teeth into this one. ————————————————————————————————— Angeli Retrospective – 40 Years at Folha Folha de Sao Paolo has a feature on the cartooning career of Angeli, one of the forefathers of modern graphic humor in Sao Paolo. Whether you need to brush up on your portugese or you just have to smash that translate button, there’s lots of comics for you to feast your eyes on in this feature. ————————————————————————————————— Aidan Koch interview over at BOMB Magazine. CM You set up an exercise for yourself, in which you deconstructed classical paintings. Some of these are in The Elements of Painting. And there’s a recurring interest in deconstructing classical images or classical symbols in your work. AK For sure, and also life and space and other types of images, too. Seeing what’s important, or what you can make important by pulling things in or out. Like using myself for reference—by not drawing in the background, I’m only focusing on character, but if I started drawing other details, then suddenly there’s all this concrete information that’s competing. So being able to choose where the emphasis lies, all the time, panel by panel, seems really essential in learning about pacing and building. And when looking at paintings, it’s often hard to focus. Especially ultra-dynamic ones or ones that have many characters or little actions happening. Medieval paintings are insane because there’s so much going on all the time. I’ll draw in museums a lot because it makes me look at a painting much more than giving it ten seconds and moving on. Because then you miss all these teeny tiny nuanced emotions or gestures. In case you missed the news on Monday, we are currently featuring Aidan Koch’s The Elements of Painting here on the site. These strips were originally created for and featured on Comics Workbook in 2013. The full collection is now a 14pg, b/w offset on newsprint in an edition of 500. You can buy it directly from Aidan Koch on her site. ————————————————————————————————— Abhay Thinks He Can Write About COPRA Better Than You — Nowhere to Hide – Nowhere to Cry – I Sunk Your Battleship Edition: 666 Abhay Khosla with the comics criticism gold over on Savage Critics. Khosla writes like nothing else. Read it and weep. For the last few years, one of my favorite comics to read has been Michel Fiffe’s COPRA. It’s a comic that I really pretty unabashadely love– one of the few being put out right now where I would talk about it in those terms. But for the last few years, one of my least favorite comics to read people talk about has been Michel Fiffe’s COPRA. ————————————————————————————————— BOLD NEW COMICS at SPIT AND A HALF John Porcellino has got the good stuff over on the Spit And A Half distro site. Hanselmann, Ord, Doucet, KUŠ, Irene, Clotfelter, Van Sciver, de Dionyso, Booth, Picukane, Moisseinen, Franz. Won’t last for long. Get it while you can. ————————————————————————————————— Cole Closser and the Leroy Lettering System I’m an advocate for hand-lettering. I think some comics suffer when the text doesn’t come from the same hand as the line art. That inconsistency can be jarring—and usually ruins my immersion in a story. I letter everything in my books, from the dialogue to the page numbers and front matter. I generally use my own handwriting or imitate old alphabets (like in that first picture), but when I was workin’ on Bow White for my last book, Black Rat, I wanted the lettering to look like the story had been translated from another language. I wanted it more mechanical. I wanted Leroy lettering ————————————————————————————————— Love and Rockets appreciated on The Guardian People are waking up to the master work that is Love and Rockets. Nice.It’s a good time to be alive in comics. ————————————————————————————————— New Statesman has an open call for back page cartoonists. Make something witty & make some $$$. Shoot for the stars, hungry cartoonists and send some samples. ————————————————————————————————— See you next time, hasta la proxima 😉 -Juan Share this page: [...]

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