Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged Aidan Koch, comics workbook roller derby team, Connor Willumsen, daniel clowes, Frank Santoro, Jaime Hernandez, jewish comics, lakes international comic arts festival, leela corman, maki naro, pika virus, sara lautman

Aaron Cockle

Posted on August 8, 2016August 8, 2016

Explore

02/29/2016

Juan FernándezFebruary 29, 2016NewsAvast, a new Kramer’s Ergot is right around the corner! Editor, Sammy Harkham has shown off a peak at the glorious comics interiors of this anthology. It’s going to be bursting at the seams with color, clocking in at 298 pages, 12 spot colors with CMYK. Fantagraphics is doing the heavy financial lifting on this one. They’ll be selling and distributing it a little later in May. More details on that to come. Have a look for yourself at the preview Sammy has put together. Don’t want to spoil it for you over here. This thing’s going to be a beast. Laura Knetzger has been making comics every month about games she plays. A week ago ZEAL published her 4th game reflection, Laura K plays 4: Threads of Fate/Anger and today she’s written a little more about Threads of Fate over on her blog. I encourage you to check out the comic and then read more of Laura’s thoughts. Laura reflects on video games in a really satisfying way… Replaying the story really knocked me on my ass too. I remembered the basics of what happened, but I was really moved by how quietly emotional it is. A lot of characters are living dolls created by sorcerers, and since the sorcerers have long since died, they’re struggling to find meaning in their lives. The emotional aspect of the story comes out when you play as the boy, and the humor comes out when you play as the girl. I guess I like that instead of being a demure healing-magic type of RPG girl, she’s a super snotty spoiled princess who solves a lot of her problems by kicking people in the face. This past weekend the Society of Illustrators hosted the second of the Stories Matters talks. This time around, Richie Pope hosted a roundtable with illustrators and comics makers Odera Igbokwe, Cathy G Johnson, John Lee, Ronald Wimberly, Shannon Wright, Yao Xiao, Alexandra Zsigmond. They discussed mentoring through interactions, the creation of safe spaces in schools, Angouleme, and the many played out diversity narratives, among other things. The audio is not online yet, but it will be posted soon. For the moment, you can look at the Mixlr chat history to look at the questions, comments and shout outs that were being sent in live during the panel. If you haven’t yet listened to the panel SoI hosted in the fall on the cultural significance of the popular image, you can do so over at SoI’s soundcloud. Let Bill Kartolopolous show you around the ground-breaking catalogues of 5 contemporary comics publishers from around the world: nos:books, la Editorial Común, Éditions Matière, kuš! komiksi, Boomkniga Press. If you’re looking to get your nose into some new books with totally new perspectives on the world on the comics form. Look no further. Kartolopolous gives you the perfect jumping off point over on World Literature Today to do further research. Money, money, money: Everybody needs it!! I want to point you in the way of some fine folks who have work for you, should you choose to be a patron of the arts. Today is the LAST DAY to get Cathy Johnson‘s February print from her 2016 print subscription. This year Johnson has been pushing her screen printing work by making 12 prints in 12 months. Patreon subscribers will get a brand new screen print every month in the mail. This subscription is on a rolling basis! Subscribe early to get the complete 2016 collection!! You’ll also get first look at my behind-the-scenes diary while I draw my upcoming graphic novel, No Dogs Allowed. I’ve cut a monthly deal with the amazing Dirt Palace, a 15+ year old feminist art space here in Providence: http://www.dirtpalace.org. I’ll be screen printing at this amazing place all year! A big goal for this Patreon is to help afford renting print space at the Dirt Palace. Let’s talk Vanesa Del Rey. She is taking commissions for the days leading up to C2E2 on March 18-20. Del Rey’s got what you need if you’re looking for lush, sensual original art that drips with drama. Don’t sleep on her commissions. OG Ron Rege Jr. is taking custom commisions and offering you the possibility being a recurring patron through paypal. Should you choose this noble path, you can be on the inside curve of the machinations of this modern master. What else could you want? Check it out. I’m going to be making a bunch of small minicomics in the coming months. For a $10 monthly donation, I’ll make sure that you get all of them, and some other fan-club style goodies as well. I’ll also make you an original drawing in time for the holidays this year. My true dream & idea for all of this is to get 100 people to sign up for $10 a month. That way, I could do an unadvertised subscription. Members would get sent secret comics that I never mention online. That would be cool, right? hm…. Help me continue to make as much new work as I can. I’ve been at it for 25 years, and am really starting to feel my stride. The drawings seem to just make themselves. I have endless ideas. That part is all really easy. It feels almost dumb for me to be doing anything else at this point. I try to draw all day every day & not worry about it, but I need to eat like anyone. I quit my day job in ’03. There’s always ups & downs, but I live pretty strictly hand to mouth. No assets / No savings / No credit. $$$, spread it if you got it. ’til next time jf Share this page: [...]

04/05/2018

Sally IngrahamApril 5, 2018NewsSally here with “Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story”, plus comics by Morrie Turner, Brumsic Brandon Jr., and Ted Shearer! ————————————————————————————————— Yesterday we marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and PREVIEWSworld took the opportunity to share a particularly important comic – Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story(above). “In the late 1950s, as the Civil Rights Movement was gaining strength throughout the country, the peace organization The Fellowship of Reconciliation saw the need to promote their philosophy of nonviolent resistance to as many people as possible. To accomplish this, they used one of the most accessible formats of the day – the comic book – to tell the story of the successful bus boycotts by African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama, and the man who helped inspire them.“ Originally handed out in churches and nonviolence workshops, this comic was a powerful inspiration to many. You can read the whole thing HERE. The creation of the comic is a pretty interesting story in itself. Originally conceived by a man who didn’t allow his own kids to read comics – Alfred Hassler – it was meant to help convey the ideas of the Civil Rights Movement to the semiliterate. The comic soon became something much greater than anyone would have guessed. You can read a very thorough examination of it’s history and influence HERE. It is interesting to note that the identity of the artist who drew the comic has been entirely lost. Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story helped inspire John Lewis to write the award winning March trilogy, with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell. Check out that comic HERE. ————————————————————————————————— There were a couple of cartoonists who found their work in much greater demand immediately following the death of Martin Luther King Jr. – a bittersweet turn of events, for sure. Morrie Turner had a strip called Wee Pals (above), which was syndicated an 4-5 papers in the mid-60’s. It was considered “subversive” because it featured a diverse cast of childhood playmates. He had in fact been encouraged by his friend Charles Schulz to create the strip, after Turner had complained about the lack of black characters in newspaper comics. When Martin Luther King Jr. died, in short order nearly 100 papers picked up his strip. Morrie Turner continued to draw the strip well into his 80’s. You can read more about him HERE. Brumsic Brandon Jr.‘s strip Luther was also picked up by numerous papers in the late 60’s, remaining in syndication for two decades. It’s cast of characters were from a poor neighborhood and were a bit more “streetwise” than Morrie Turner’s. Read more about Brumsic Brandon Jr. HERE. I’ve encountered Wee Pals and Luther before, but another comic by a black creator that was in newspapers at the time was new to me. Ted Shearer‘s Quincy appeared in 1970. He had made a variety of strips over the years, aimed at an adult audience, and they had appeared in numerous publications. Before Quincy took off, Shearer was working in an ad agency, but with the success of the strip – which, like Turner’s and Brandon’s comics, featured black kids commenting on life as they experienced it – he was able to focus on Quincy exclusively. He enjoyed syndication for 16 years. I’d really like to find the collection that was published in 1972, but for now you can see a selection of strips that kind souls have scanned and shared on the web HERE. Read more about Ted Shearer HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Announcing the Spring Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers 8 weeks! $500 bux! 10 spots available! Rolling start date because of spring break – start NOW! Deadline to apply is April 12th. Read all about the course HERE and email santoroschool@gmail.com for more details or to apply. ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 4-5-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio 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: [...]

04/13/2018

Sally IngrahamApril 12, 2018NewsSally Ingraham here with Nancy and her new artist, Olivia Jaimes, plus many more “Inking Women”! ————————————————————————————————— The Washington Post reported earlier this week that for the first time in 85 years, the comic strip Nancy will be drawn by a woman! Olivia Jaimes takes on the legacy, and the future of the strip. ” “Nancy has been my favorite sassy grouch for a long time,” Jaimes says in a syndicate statement. “I’m excited to be sassy and grouchy through her voice instead of just mine, and I can complain to the whole world about things that bother me instead of just my friends and family.” “ Read the rest of the Washington Post story HERE. In a new story from yesterday, the Washington Post digs in deeper, covering the origins and history of Nancy, why Roz Chast loves it, and what Olivia Jaimes brings to this new iteration of it – along with a look at her first strip, which was published Monday. The internet continues to be “mums the word” on who Olivia Jaimes really is (the name is a psyeudonym) and what the webcomics that so impressed her new syndicate were… Heidi MacDonald and Mike Peterson have both theorized that her webcomic may have been a bit too “naughty” to sit in company with Nancy. We shall see where all this leads. ————————————————————————————————— Here’s a very worthy addition to the comic historian’s bookshelf. As much as I’ve been attempting to thoroughly familiarize myself with female cartoonists working in America, the tradition of women working in comics in the UK is just as lengthy and rich – and here’s the proof. In fact, editors Nicola Streeten and Cath Tate state that women have been making comics in England since 1760…! Britain’s first true comic character, Ally Slopper, was created by a woman named Marie Duval. I have bumped into info about Marie Duval before, and wrote about her HERE, but this was a new one to me: “In 1920, Mary Tourtel created Rupert Bear for the Daily Express, and nearly a hundred years later her character is still going strong.“ Mary Tourtel wrote and drew Rupert stories for 15 years, before her eyesight began to fail and Punch cartoonist Alfred Bestall took it over. There’s a bit more about Mary Tourtel HERE. There is more info on The Inking Women HERE on the publisher’s website, as well as in this article. This is definitely a book I need to track down in person, however – I’ll get on that ASAP! Incidentally, The Inking Women editor Nicola Streeten is one of the founders of Laydeez Do Comics, a woman led comics forum in the UK (with branches increasingly worldwide) . Read about the project HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Chris Anthony Diaz shares a terrific photo journal of MoCCA 2018 for Comics Workbook – check it out HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Weekend Snacks Leela Corman has a new comic up on Tablet Magazine about a visit to Buchenwald which left her feeling defiantly alive – read it HERE. Hillary Brown looks at Penelope Bagieu’s Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World – for Paste Magazine. Jessica Campbell takes on the tricky topic of “when your friend becomes a famous artist” – for Hyperallergic. Do you hate Cathy (the comic strip by Cathy Guisewite)? If so, you are far from alone, but Juliet Kahn wants you to question why you hate it/her and asks you to consider why Cathy is perhaps one of the more important comic strips of last few decades. HERE on The Comics Journal. While you’re on the Journal, check out Alejandra Gutiérrez‘s A Cartoonist’s Diary which has been going live this week and will be wrapping up today. Hazlitt has an interview with Anna Haifisch about her new comic Von Spatz and other weirdness – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 4-13-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

02/17/2017

Sally IngrahamFebruary 16, 2017NewsHappy Friday! Sally here with another amazing group of cartoonists and comics scholars – joining me today are Lucy Caswell, Mickey Z, Dominique Goblet, Jillian Fleck, Vanesa R. Del Rey, Gabriella Tito, Caitlin Rose Boyle, and many more. I invite YOU to join me as well in celebrating a special anniversary! ————————————————————————————————— The Lucy Caswell Research Award is roaring to life! The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum is partnering with the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation to create an endowment that will provide funding for comics scholars to travel to Columbus, OH, and conduct research at the BICLM. The Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation issued a challenge – if the BICLM and Ohio State University Libraries can raise $35, 000, they will match that amount, generating $70, 000 for comics scholars. During the “Buckey Love” campaign over the last week, the Libraries raised $11, 061 which is a tremendous start to the project! You can make a gift to the Lucy Caswell Research Award HERE. The Award is named after the great Lucy Shelton Caswell, Professor Emerita at Ohio State University and founding curator of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. “Prior to her retirement, her scholarly work and teaching focused on the history of newspaper comic strips and the history of American editorial cartoons. She has curated more than seventy-five cartoon-related exhibits and is the author of several articles and books, the most recent being the revised edition of Billy Ireland. Caswell is co-editor of The Ohio State University Press Studies in Cartoons and Comics series. She also serves as the vice president of Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, the annual citywide celebration of cartoon art.“ It’s hard to actually put into words the importance of Lucy in the comics community, and this award is just one of many ways that her influence will continue to impact the coming generations. More details about the award can be found HERE. ————————————————————————————————— In Mickey Z‘s recent interview with Frank Santoro about risography (HERE on The Comics Journal) she mentioned that she was experimenting with online comics. I immediately went on a hunt for them, and found the (mostly) daily comic that she has been publishing on Instagram for awhile – Space Academy 123 (the latest episode is pictured above)! It is a hilarious story about “space school” that I insist you go and read NOW. Once you’re in the Mickey Z mood check out her RAV collection from Youth and Decline – HERE. She is a cartoonist to keep on your radar – she’s always making terrific work and doing interesting collaborations while holding up her corner of the comics community tent in Providence, RI! ————————————————————————————————— Paste Magazine has a review of Dominique Goblet‘s Pretending is Lying (translated by Sophie Yanow). “In many ways, the book is a mess. The narrative is scattered and patchy, and the characters are often frustrating. On the other hand, it holds an immediate power. Goblet conveys her messy childhood, her difficult relationships with her parents and her lasting problems from her upbringing. The mess is the point, even if it can feel smothering. If pretending is lying (something one character says to another in the heat of anger), these pages avoid deception by being as raw and direct as Goblet can render them. Characters also lie to one another (or to themselves) throughout. It’s complicated. Life is complicated. There’s no clear, overarching storyline because forcing experience into a narrative is a kind of lying.” – Hillary Brown This is the latest release from New York Review Comics, an fairly new imprint that has already published a bunch of really neat comics, including some of my favorite books from last year – the reissue of Mark Beyer’s Agony, the collection of Glen Baxter’s wild single-panel gag strips, and Pushwagner’s Soft City. I’m excited to see what else they put out, and will definitely be taking some time with Dominique Goblet’s Pretending is Lying soon. Read the whole Paste review HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Rob Clough recently reviewed Jillian Fleck‘s Lake Jehovah. “Jillian Fleck’s debut book Lake Jehovah is the sort that an artist with a lot to say tends to throw at the world; there are multiple levels of meaning, metaphor and symbol in the comic that take a long time to unpack, along with a complex visual playbook that riffs on all sorts of formal tricks like the use of the grid and repeating visual motifs. Fortunately for the reader, Fleck was up to the task that she set for herself in telling a story of multiple apocalypses, mysterious illnesses, horny demons and talking animals, and a remarkable balance of the absurd and the deadly serious. Along the way, there’s a serious examination of the value of poetry, the utility of language in general and a restless exploration of gender and sexuality, It’s done with a humane and sympathetic take on all of the characters, no matter their experiences.“ Read the rest HERE! Get a copy of the book from Conundrum Press. Jillian is an alum of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers and a member of the Comics Workbook Roller Derby League. ————————————————————————————————— Vanesa R. Del Rey‘s artwork launched Marvel’s Scarlet Witch back in 2015, and then the series continued with collaborations between writer James Robinson and a number of other artists. Keeping things mixed up like this was always the intent of the series. Now, Vanesa returns with issue #15 – out on February 22nd 2017! There’s an interview with her over on Marvel News and some preview pages of her inks for the story – check it out HERE. Be sure to follow Vanesa in Instagram, where she shares tons of process drawings and other artwork – @vrdelrey – and check out the Comics Workbook publication The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Women Who Write About Comics is expanding their reach through a publishing project – their new imprint, Bleating Heart Press, will be releasing Secrets of the Goat People #1: Voice (above) in late March 2017. “In this inaugural double issue, you’ll find 40+ pages of original comics, illustrations, and prose from 17 international creators. Learn about the power of silence, how a superhero finds her inner strength, the strength of goat women, and what it means for these creators’ voices to be heard.“ This website is a great resource for comics news and reviews – take a minute to explore it. Recent posts include this roundup of mini reviews of work by Anya Davidson, Eleanor Davis, and more – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The A.V. Club offers up a review of Marvel’s new series The Unstoppable Wasp: “Written by Jeremy Whitley with art by Elsa Charretier and colorist Megan Wilson, The Unstoppable Wasp is a book full of good intentions: It focuses on bringing girls into the male-dominated STEM field (including backmatter interviews with real-life female STEM professionals), features a cast of characters from different ethnic backgrounds, and prioritizes fun and compassion in its storytelling. The artwork from Charretier and Wilson is dynamic, expressive, and bright, with imaginative layouts and detailed linework, particularly when it comes to the messy science lab environments. Charretier has quickly risen through the ranks of comic artist with her animated, effervescent style, and she’s the perfect artist to handle a story about a joyful new superhero.” – Oliver Sava Sounds pretty good, right? The reviewer makes a point of noting, however, that this is yet another series where a female hero is being written by a man. “That’s not to say that every book about a female superhero should have a woman writing it, but the overall message of The Unstoppable Wasp makes it difficult to ignore the lack of female creators in superhero comics while most of Marvel’s superheroine titles are written by men.” – Oliver Sava This is followed by a hefty list of Marvel stories with female leads that are being written by men. At least the rest of the creative team for The Unstoppable Wasp are women – check out more work by Elsa Charretier and Megan Wilson! The A.V. Club piece can be read in full HERE – and among the four comics reviews is a nice write up about Lady Castle, so bonus! ————————————————————————————————— From the Comics Workbook TV archives – Frank met up with Caitlin Rose Boyle around the time the first issue of Jonsey was released. Check out more of Caitlin’s work HERE. We’re up to issue #10 of Jonsey now – read about Jonsey’s recent adventures as an activist HERE. ————————————————————————————————— It’s my Comics Workbook Daily News 1 Year Anniversary! I’ve been with you on 50 of the past 52 Fridays and shone my face plenty of other days too. It has been tremendously satisfying to keep an eye on the comics scene and share what I think is interesting and important with this community. Thanks for hanging out with me and the rest of the CW News team for a year and more – we look forward to continuing to provide quality content and commentary for many years to come. For the record, here’s my first Friday Daily News post! ————————————————————————————————— Popsicle Sticks Julia Wertz‘s The Infinite Wait and Other Stories is reviewed on Fantasy Literature. Reminder to check out Fiona Smyth‘s weekly strip – CHEEZ. Last I checked there were 499 drawings posted there! Emma Lawson reviews Jessica Campbell‘s Hot or Not: 20th Century Male Artists over on Comics Alliance. One of my favorite comics from last year. The Argentinian women’s comics collective Chicks on Comics has released a fanzine – you can view it on Issuu – HERE. It includes work by 150 women from around the world. A reviewer on Forbes believes that Emil Ferris‘ My Favorite Things Are Monsters is about to transform graphic literature – find out how HERE. The Comics Journal has the first long form interview with Emil Ferris EVER – check out Part 1. Jessica Abel blogs about working smarter, not harder, even in your creative life. She is also offering a “live-journal” experience to subscribers who wish to follow her current project – writing and publishing a book about creative focus in 3 months. Check it out. Can we talk about the fact that Jillian Tamaki, creator of SuperMutant Magic Academy, and co-author of This One Summer, also makes the most incredible quilts (pictured below)?! In my mind there is a strong connection between quilting and comics. See more of her work HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Announcing the Spring Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers! The course starts March 7th 2017. Apply by February 26th to get 100 bux off! The course is 8 weeks long – payment plans are available. Application guidelines: – 3 figure drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards – 3 landscape drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards – 3 still life drawings done on blank 3 x 5 cards – draw in a contour line style –think Matisse – no under-drawing – draw directly in ink – just send small jpgs of images – dont post to your blog pls – send specific url links to any comics work you have done. If you haven’t done comics before that is not a problem. Email santoroschoolATgmail to apply! More details HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 2-17-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 2-17-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 2-17-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 2-17-2017 – Juan Fernandez Share this page: [...]

08/09/2016

Posted on August 8, 2016August 8, 2016 by Aaron Cockle

Aaron here today with Jaime Hernandez covers; the Lakes International Comic Arts Festival; Zika Virus – Watch Out!; Sara Lautman on Grudges; Leela Corman on Jewish Comics; some Daniel Clowes Work up for Auction

—————————————————————————————————

This week’s Featured Comic is from the Comics Workbook Roller Derby Team
Berg/Doersch/Fleck/Huskisson/Lisa/Mancini/Mardou/Tito have covered Locas Starring Hopey, by Jaime Hernandez. Image above by Jennifer Lisa.

—————————————————————————————————

Comics Workbook at the Lakes International Comic Arts Festival
Our illustrious founder Frank Santoro, along with CW stalwarts Aidan Koch and Connor Willumsen, will be in attendance at the upcoming Lakes International Comic Art Festival, October 14-16 in Kendal, UK. Santoro, Koch, and Willumsen will be conducting a Composition Competition Workshop on October 15 that should not be missed, especially if you happen to be in the Lakes District or are able to travel there. Koch and Willumsen will be conducting their own respective workshops as well. This is shaping up to be a top-notch festival!

—————————————————————————————————

Maki Naro has a comic about the Zika virus over at Fusion.net.

—————————————————————————————————

How To Hold A Grudge, by Sara Lautman

—————————————————————————————————

Leela Corman’s Jewish Comics Rundown
Corman covers a lot of comics history in a relatively short amount of space here.

—————————————————————————————————

Rowhouse Auction: D. Clowes Edition
This week’s Rowhouse auction will start Wednesday (August 10) at 1200 EST. We will be auctioning off artwork and other rarities generously donated by the great Daniel Clowes over on eBay. Stay tuned for details – or email Frank here santoroschoolATgmail.com – You won’t want to miss this!

Share this page:

Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Aaron Cockle

Posted on August 8, 2016August 8, 2016

Explore

08/16/2018

Caleb OrecchioAugust 16, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here with a Kirby Fantastic Four sequence I’ve been thinking about. ————————————————————————————————— I swear I think about this Kirby sequence from Fantastic Four no. 18 once a week. When I was a growing up, superheroes were becoming more and more “realistic.” That’s what the fans wanted. “Believable” superheroes. They demanded superheroes follow the logic of The Bourne Identity or something. Captain America was invading the Middle East (The Ultimates), The X-Men wore leather jackets (The New X-Men), I could go on and on. I loved that crap and still do in a nostalgic way, but as I would start investigating comics’ history in reverse I began to appreciate the unrestricted imagination of the early masters. The Golden Age superheroes had such whacky, bizarre adventures that had their own hermetically sealed logic. If you’ve ever read really early Jack Cole, for instance, you know what I’m talking about. That’s a big factor in my appreciation of Kirby. Throughout his career, without exception, The King maintained a sense of unchained imaginative ferocity from The Golden Age that the Silver Agers didn’t quite harness (and into the modern age). This is a small example, but when I think of this sequence of The Super Skrull transforming his head into a battering ram to headbutt The Thing I am reminded of how such whacky imagery burns itself into the folds of the brain. ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

07/30/2018

Caleb OrecchioJuly 30, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here, as usual, with your Monday edition of the news! ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know Paul Kirchner is the latest guest on Inkstuds. Rob Clough reviews Benji Nate’s Catboy as well as some issue of Jepcomix by Jep Sometimes, as a cartoonist, I wish I was French. Also on TCJ.com, one new Ditko piece by Tegan O’Neill, and one not new by Ken Parille. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 7-30-18 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

06/12/2017

Caleb OrecchioJune 12, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here with some thoughts on Brighter Than You Think: Ten Short Works by Alan Moore—plus some links ————————————————————————————————— Though Alan Moore has not really drawn a comic since the late 70’s, he is so obviously the auteur of the comics he writes that I am tempted to consider him a “cartoonist.” I mean, not really, but I think a more articulate, alternate-dimension version of myself could make a strong case for that designation. Regardless of the artist, Moore’s comics have an undeniable feel and pace, even when drawn by a sub-par cartoonist—AND is never out-shined by a particularly excellent cartoonist. The latest installment of Uncivilized Books’ “Critical Cartoons” series, Brighter Than You Think: Ten Short Works by Alan Moore with essays by Marc Sobel, has been my in-between-other-readings book for about a month now. I like not reading it all the way through at once because 1.) it is a collection of short stories over almost 20 years so it makes sense to pace myself, and 2.) Moore’s work is just too damn dense to swallow in one sitting. If you add Marc Sobel’s essays that follow each comic, you’re looking at a very annotated and involved effort that requires time for thinking and reflection with each story. Something I find very interesting about Moore is his awareness of the artist. He seems to know how to “use” an artist better than any writer I know of, which, to me, aids him in diversifying the types of stories he can tell. He uses them like a solo cartoonist might pick a color to evoke mood, or use a certain brush to evoke a certain era of comics’ past. Using an artist like Mark Beyer can help to abstract a story and give it a heightened sense of reality and playfulness, whereas using an artist like Stephen Bissette can help ground a story to real-life and make a comic more like a documentary. If you’re writing a story for Peter Bagge, the writing is funny and whimsical (Moore’s ability to write comedy is WAY under appreciated in my opinion); and you write strange stories of flight and fantasy for Rick Veitch. I always found his collaboration with Melinda Gebbie, “This Is Information” (a “reaction” comic to 9/11), to be very interesting. Moore wisely keeps character at arm’s length and is communicating in symbols and metaphors; and Gebbie’s art is key because she can draw cartoony caricatures, she can draw realistic rendering of hands clasping in desperation, or she can precisely and patiently draw a falling house of cards (harder than you think). The breadth and nuance of her skills matches the breadth and nuance of emotions Alan Moore implements in this story about a devastating and monumental event. There’s so much I could say about Moore, and there’s so much people have already said. If I were a better writer I could better explain the value of such a great contributor to comics clearer. The best I can really do is point you to the work, and right now I’m pointing you to Brighter Than You Think. Go grab a copy at Uncivilized Books’ website. ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know There were several links I was hoping to share today, but came to find out Sally covered most of them here on Friday (I was involved with my sisters wedding all weekend so I’m a few days behind). Go back and check out Sally’s post if you haven’t already, featuring good stuff from Trina Robbins, Jillian Tamaki, Eleanor Davis, and more. Adam West, Batman star and icon to, I’m sure, more than a few comics fans, has died at age 88. Anita Gates has an obituary over at The New York Times. I thought Chris Mautner expressed the brilliance of Alan Moore’s Providence quite well in this article on The Smart Set. The way he briefly-yet-impressively articulates Jacen Burrows’ contribution to the work was overdue I think. The Panic Fables by Alejandro Jodorowski have finally been collected and translated to English. Get a copy from Copacetic Comics. The legendary Steve Ditko is still at it, and you can contribute to his latest Kickstarter (though the goal was met very rapidly with plenty of days still to go) to get a copy of the new Mr. A which marks the 50th anniversary of the character. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 6-12-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 6-12-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 6-12-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

08/24/2018

Sally IngrahamAugust 23, 2018NewsSally here with a look at Anne Simon’s “Song of Aglaia” ————————————————————————————————— I found Anne Simon‘s Song of Aglaia difficult, but in a way, the things I didn’t like about it are what makes it interesting. When I am presented with a female protagonist I want to get behind them 100%. When a female protagonist turns out to be complicated and prone to making decisions that hurt the people around her, I have to adjust my expectations. Such is life, of course. Simon demands many adjusted expectations with Song of Aglaia. She begins by upsetting a number of traditional tropes that are usually found in myths and fairy tales. A water nymph, Aglaia, is presented at the beginning of the comic as a fairly typical victim of male violence and oppression. She wants to be happy and loved, and in the pursuit of that finds herself abandoned and with child, rejected by her father, and then forced into a marriage of convienence in order to avoid a punishment of death handed down by a tyrannical ruler. Switching things up from there, Simon draws Aglaia with more backbone than is usually the case in fairy tales. Aglaia fights back, rescuing her children, killing the tyrant, escaping her loveless marriage – but at what cost? Once she has gained power, Aglaia wields it poorly, decreeing her own opressions and abondoning people who care for her. The moral clarity that many fairy tales lay claim to is definitely blurry in this comic. It’s easy to root for Aglaia to a point, but when her choices continue to lead to heartbreak, reality sets in and I am forced to consider that Song of Aglaia is NOT a fairy tale. It is a story that asks “what happens next?” After the male oppressors are overthrown and equality is achieved, when women in fact gain the upper hand and are free to build the world they wish for…then what? The example that Aglaia provides is an all too possible result. There is no triumph when cruelty leads to more cruelty, when the abused turn into abusers. With interesting artwork and good storytelling Simon offers a thoughtful comic, but one that doesn’t answer the questions she brings up. It’s a fairly heavy reminder that in the fairy tale and in real life there are no easy answers. Everyone is complicated and nursing their own wounds, and we are caught in a cycle that often seems inescapable. At best, we can hope to muddle onward, perhaps with a little more grace than Aglaia manages. Although it may sound as though I didn’t like this comic, I do recommend taking a look at it! Somewhere, hidden between asking these types of questions and imagining the possible answers, there lies the potential for discovering a solution – and examining the “difficult” things always brings us closer to that. ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

CARTOON CROSSROADS COLUMBUS 2016, Part l of ll

Chris Anthony DiazOctober 29, 2016The Diaz ArchiveAll photos colored by Graham Willcox Charles BurnsSacha Mardou SethSally Ingraham Noah Van SciverRich TommasoJoseph RemnantTed StearnSean FordCaleb OrecchioGregory BentonChris PitzerJosh BayerRobin McConnellMarc Arsenault Share this page: [...]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply