Comics Workbook

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Posted in NewsTagged caleb orecchio, glynis oliver, marvel john romita jr, Terry Austin, the amazing spider-man

Caleb Orecchio

Posted on September 10, 2018September 10, 2018

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06/06/2016

Juan FernándezJune 6, 2016NewsJuan Fernandez here! We start Monday at Comics Workbook with: a newly stocked SCHOOL STORE; Oliver East’s COTTONOPOLIS; Genevieve Castree’s time of need; Roman Muradov in conversation with Tim Hensley on INKSTUDS; Puiupo and Adonis interviewed by Kevin Czap; Eleri Mai Harris on the origins of the Islamic State; Kramers Ergot/ Ganges Mini Tour 2016 Dates. ————————————————————————————————— On the site: School Store STOCKED We have some new items up on the school store – ZONA #03 was just released, plus there are some cool comics sets and other collectibles/delectables – check it out! ————————————————————————————————— Cottonopolis by Oliver East I’m happy to announce that this week we are featuring Oliver East’s Cottonopolis series on Comics Workbook. Made from November 2014 through January 2015 by Oliver East for Comics Workbook, Cottonopolis is a series of 6 panel comics that, among other things, blurs the lines between the historical documentation of a place and the documentation of identity. In their own mysterious way, these comics unpack moments in a life that swirl in the history of Manchester, England. ————————————————————————————————— Off the site: HELP GENEVIÈVE ELVERUM AND HER FAMILY FACE CANCER In May of 2015, Geneviève Elverum (Cartoonist: Geneviève Castrée/ Musician: Woelv/Ô Paon) was out of the blue diagnosed with inoperable stage 4 pancreatic cancer. In the last year that she has undergone necessary treatment, Geneviève and her husband, Phil, have had to deplete all their savings to face the medical costs associated with this illness. At the moment, Phil is reaching out for financial help. Phil Elverum: We are asking the world to please donate money to us. Treatment is ongoing. Nobody in our household has been able to work for over a year. Geneviève has not made any new work. Phil has not made any music or been able to perform or do anything. Life is 100% occupied by this humongous medical battle (plus the already overwhelming reality of raising a baby with less than 2 fully available parents). We don’t know what the future holds and how long this uncertainty will last. In any case, the amount we’ve spent over the last year alone has left us in a precarious financial position as a family. Genevieve and Phil are asking for help through a GoFundMe campaign. Any amount helps. ————————————————————————————————— [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/267747519″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Roman Muradov interviews Tim Hensley on Inkstuds Muradov:Dan Clowes described Wally Gropius as “a work of unassuming genius that rewards on ever-deepening levels on each re-reading” and this quote applies just as well to Tim’s two other books, Ticket Stub and, most recently, Sir Alfred Number 3, a comic-strip biography of Alfred Hitchcock that is unlike anything you may expect from the phrase “comic-strip biography.” ————————————————————————————————— Puiupo and Adonis Kevin Czapieski interviews Puiupo & Adonis Pantazopoulos, the author’s of Czap Book’s latest release, the Brazilian sci-fi comic Úlcera. K – Adonis, what is your background? You paint as well as make comics, did you go to art school? A – “I did, here in São Paulo there’s an art school called Quanta that I attended between 2010~2012 and I’ve recently dropped out of an animation college (I did only one period, ).” K – Puiupo, you’re currently studying animation, right? What kind of animation influenced that decision – is there anything out there that you’re really excited about? P – “Well, I’m really into modern Japanese animation and it’s been my main influence since I started drawing. Masaaki Yuasa has to be my life goal without a doubt (laughs). I am also very exited about the pace that the Brazilian animation scene has been growing at recently, and I want to be a part of it’s growth, if I manage to stay motivated (laughs). Generally, an animation major was the thing that made more sense for me at the time, coming from comics and all, you know. But I don’t want to restrain myself to it, personally or professionally. I have a deep interest in comics and animation just as much as I have for fashion, painting, and performance. I hope to get the time to work on these other creative areas at some point.” Read it all here. ————————————————————————————————— Islamic State Illustrated Eleri Mai Harris has written and illustrated a well researched piece of comics journalism on the origins of the Islamic State over on the ABC. For those interested, Harris and her team have compiled lots of references for you to dig into after reading this piece of comics journalism to further educate yourself. ————————————————————————————————— Kramers Ergot / Ganges MINI TOUR 2016 June 10-12th – Chicago – QUIMBY’S June 14th – Toronto – THE BEGUILING June 15th – Pittsburgh – COPACETIC COMICS June 16th – New York City – DESERT ISLAND ————————————————————————————————— see you Wednesday! Until then, keep your volume knobs turned all the way up. -Juan Share this page: [...]

12/2/2016

Sally IngrahamDecember 2, 2016NewsSally here with comics by Ulli Lust, Mai-Li Bernard, Laila Milevski, and the CW Roller Derby League, a Standing Rock and Resist! check-in, plus new stuff from Carol Tyler and Vanesa R. Del Rey. ————————————————————————————————— One of my favorite comics is Ulli Lust‘s Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life. I traversed it’s 450 pages again this past summer and found that I heartily agree with Jaime Hernandez’s review of the book: “Ulli Lust really nails my favorite part of storytelling. Bumming cigarettes, learning how to hitchhike – the small details that create great character.” The haphazard travels of Ulli’s then 17-year old self from Vienna to Sicily, described in lively pencil drawings, are the “stranger than fiction” stuff that life is made out of. I’ve had similar adventures (perhaps a little less perilous) and tromping through Today is the Last Day always makes me want to get on the road again, while simultaneously making me especially grateful for my warm house and glass of wine and comparatively sane companions. It’s been awhile now since this book was released, and it is out of print and out of stock most places. (You can amazingly still get a copy from Copacetic Comics however!) I’m always keeping an ear open for news of more work by Ulli Lust, and was thrilled when she mentioned back in September that she had drawn page 333 of her new book! Today I was poking around on her website again and I noticed that for a few months this year she was publishing a comic series in an English language magazine from Berlin, the Exberliner. She has four of the comics up on her website – here’s the first one: You can check out the rest of them HERE – (use the arrows at the top of the page to move forward.) The second comic is pretty hilarious, and the third hit me right in the gut – I have so been there (yesterday morning, for example…read it to see what I mean!) ————————————————————————————————— My internet wanderings took me from the Exberliner to a German comics blog where there was a blurb about Ulli Lust. It appears that this site – Dreimalalles – has concluded its comics reporting, but it seems to be an interesting archival document about the German comics scene in the last few years. They hosted the German version of Matt Madden’s Style Exercises: 99 Ways to Tell a Story as well as a webcomic called Pigments by Mai-Li Bernard. Mai-Li was born in Vietnam and currently makes comics in Angoulême, France. According to her Dreimalalles bio (translated by Google…) she “playfully explores the possibilities of narrating stories with reduced means“. This is apparent in Pigments, which is about two lovers. It follows their interactions and conversations, many of which end in dark thoughts… Check out the rest of this work HERE. And more of Mai-Li Bernard’s work can be found HERE. cafébabel interviewed Mai-Li in January of this year, right before France’s Angoulême International Comics Festival, where her book Mortelle Vinasse (Deadly Wine) was an official selection. “cafébabel: Mortelle Vinasse is a mute comic strip. Why the choice of a story without text? Mai-Li Bernard: I am not very comfortable with words. Paradoxically, I have a great interest in linguistic tools and everything related to the mechanisms of language. That’s why I like making comic strips without text. The subject of my Master’s dissertation was the process of reading silent comic strips. I have to mitigate this absence of text through the way I work. In reality, there’s a lot of dialogue in my strips – they are very talkative! I use a very minimal language, quasi-autonomous, which is close to pictograms. The reader is forced to analyse the images. I built the story so that during the first reading they can appreciate all this information. I wanted something playful that called for a participatory reading.“ Mai-Li feels like she is part of the OuBaPo school of thought (which is “the artistic equivalent of OuLiPo (that emphasized self-imposed constraints in literature, ed.) created by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lyonnais.” (I used to be super obsessed with this group – I had a whole sub-category on my blog devoted to reviews of books by Raymond Queneau and Georges Perec…) The topic of women in comics comes up in the interview, of course, as it took place right after that notorious Angoulême Grand Prix 2016 list came out… There are some other good moments in the conversation too – check it out HERE. Get a copy of Mortelle Vinasse HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Laila Milevski‘s Enter, Holy Pilgrim just came out! It is the 9th book in the Ley Lines series published by Czap Books and Grindstone Comics (November 2016). It is about a troubled serf who is seeking spiritual guidance while on a pilgrimage. You can see pages from the book HERE at Laila’s website. Get a copy HERE. Also check out Drawing Antonioni, a comic series Laila drew for Comics Workbook in 2014 – the whole thing is available HERE. ————————————————————————————————— I wrote about a recent Comics Workbook Roller Derby League bout – some of the gals and I copied a whole Locas story by Jaime Hernandez. It was pretty nuts to trace these highly detailed pages, to get the gestures and expressions of these familiar faces down to my satisfaction. Labor intensive, to say the least, and incredibly eye-opening for myself and the other women involved in the project – all of whom are intent on pushing themselves to new levels and continuing to develop as cartoonists. Check out the rest of the pages HERE – mine are p.6-10. ————————————————————————————————— There is a hideous lack of news coverage of the ongoing situation at Standing Rock – but The Nib featured a comic by Jen Sorensen that weighed in a bit – here’s a panel: Read the rest HERE. ————————————————————————————————— You can now help support the Resist! project by ordering a “supporters copy” – the proceeds will go towards production costs – more info HERE. Be sure to keep checking for the Daily Image – which is actually being updated every few hours with new comics from folks – mostly women – from around the country. Intense stuff. Print ran a brief feature on the project – Gabe Fowler’s intent is for the project to have “a strong and powerful roar of female voices without meddling by men“, which is why he tagged New Yorker art editor Françoise Mouly to be the editor. ” “Oy! I’m so overwhelmed with work and projects as it is,” she told him. “But this is exactly the kind of project I’d drop other things for!” Mouly mentioned it to her daughter, writer Nadja Spiegelman, who immediately signed on and drew up a list of their favorite artists, and also put together a website in order to place an open call for submissions.“ This free special issue of Gabe Fowler’s Smoke Signals will be handed out “by the tens of thousands from the back of a van during the Women’s March in Washington D.C.” on January 21st, 2017. ————————————————————————————————— Carol Tyler just released a teaser cover for her new book Fab4 Mania, due out from Fantagraphics late Summer/Fall of next year. If you’re eager to stay on top of developments for this book, here’s the FB page. ————————————————————————————————— I love Vanesa R. Del Rey‘s work – her drawing chops are a constant source of inspiration and sometimes jealousy to me. Her Instagram feed is one of the best, full of process posts and badass ladies. It’s been fun to be on the edges of a Comics Workbook publishing project involving her work, and I’m so excited to see the finished book – The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey. Check out the video: You can pre-order a copy of the book HERE! ————————————————————————————————— It’s high time for a new gif, but this one continues to crack me up – and it is exactly what the school email feels like. I help field applications for the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers, and can report that the Winter Semester is filling up rapidly. It starts December 29th, and you have until the 28th to submit an application – but only 12 days now to get in on the early application discount! The details: 8 week course – 500 bux – 10 spots available – apply by Dec. 13th 2016 and get $100 off course fee! More details can be found HERE – or email santoroschoolATgmail. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 12-2-2016 – by Sally Ingraham More via @suzy_and_cecil ————————————————————————————————— Enjoy your weekend folks. I’ll be spending it drawing more strips like the one above, getting a start on making some Xmas presents, and hanging out at Copacetic Comics! Cheers – Sally Share this page: [...]

06/27/2018

Juan FernándezJune 27, 2018los Cómics / NewsToto Duarte y Camila Barrales, Rutu Modan entrevistada y Frank’s Cosmic Corner – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – La Polola #78 -Toto Duarte y Camila Barrales Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo tienen una nueva edicion de La Polola Podcast! Las chicas conversan los dibujantes Toto Duarte y Camila Barrales. Conversaron sobre formas de narrar, de mirar, de criticar y de cuestionar lo establecido a través de la gráfica, el fanzine y las auto publicaciones. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Entrevista con Rutu Modan: Jelena Arsić, Jotdown.es En tu cómic-blog del New York Times, Mixed Emotions, hablas simplemente de tu familia. ¿Son historias reales? Lo más que hago es cambiar los nombres, por lo general son historias reales. Toda ficción no deja de ser una mezcla de experiencias reales. Yo solo escondo un poco la realidad en una ficción. El origen es que me hicieron el encargo en el New York Times a modo de columna mensual. Trabajo muy despacio, vi que no me iba a dar tiempo y decidí tomar los guiones prestados de la realidad. Así iba a ser más fácil que se me ocurrieran ideas. Le fui dedicando una historia a cada miembro de mi familia. Como era en inglés, pensaba que nunca lo verían y me solté. Pero lo vieron. Por supuesto, lo encontró uno de mis primos y directamente se lo envió a toda la familia. Tengo un tío que todavía está enfadado conmigo porque le puse de «oveja negra». Cada vez que me ve me pregunta por qué. El resto, en cambio, están muy orgullosos de que cuente historias sobre ellos. Soy muy cercana a mi familia, a mis tíos y tías, y también a mi abuela, que ya está muerta, la protagonista de La propiedad. Cuando estaba escribiendo esa novela gráfica les preguntaba mucho por cosas, les pedía información, porque mi abuela ya había fallecido. Les hice como entrevistas a cada uno, porque sabían todas las anécdotas e historias que les había contado mi abuela. Cuando luego se vio que era un libro sobre Polonia y sobre la abuela, se quedaron muy decepcionados, porque pensaban que iba a ser sobre ellos. Se enfadaron, además, porque le cambié el nombre a la abuela. Un primo mío, que sale en la historia, ya se refiere siempre a la abuela por su nombre en La propiedad. Mi tío y su hija me decían que no les gustaba cómo la había representado, que ella no era así, que ni siquiera era su nombre. Pero es que no era la historia de mi abuela, era una historia construida a partir de la personalidad de mi abuela. Y ellos: «Ya, pero es que no es ella». – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Frank’s Cosmic Corner At Comics Workbook we are testing what it means to be a new kind of learning institution for comic book making. One of the many things we do at Comics Workbook is resell comics. Hop on over to @frankscosmiccorner on instagram and check out all the comics Frank Santoro has up for sale. You name it, we’ve got it! Lots of great mainstream and inside comics – lots of good-bad comics. All proceeds go to helping keep the lights on here at Comics Workbook, so your support is much appreciated! – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Suzy and Cecil – 06-27-2018 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

10/06/2017

Sally IngrahamOctober 5, 2017NewsSally here with original artwork by some rad ladies, a bit more about CXC 2017, and other comics news. ————————————————————————————————— To pick up where I left off last week…at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, in Columbus, OH, or thereabouts… In the midst of the CXC excitement last Friday afternoon, I found time to poke around in the Reading Room at the BICLM, and although my eyes strayed to huge Prince Valiant originals and Noel Sickles paintings, and I was distracted by the comments of Mimi Pond and Chris Ware and Derf Backderf as they circled the room simultaneously…I was able to zero in on some fantastic pages by several of the female cartoonists I write about here all the time (see the Mary Fleener page above). I believe many of the pages that I got to enjoy were from a recent donation, part of a 113-piece collection given to the BICLM this past summer by Scott Jonas. Above is one of Aline Kominsky-Crumb‘s earliest comics. Below are pages by Dori Seda, and Lynda Barry. Here’s the lovely Mimi Pond looking at pages in the Reading Room: This is easily my favorite thing about Cartoon Crossroads Columbus – you have the chance to hang out with your peers and your heroes as you all share together the experience of looking at artwork by the cartoonists who came before us. Everyone exclaims. Everyone cries. It’s wonderful. Then too you can learn from each other and share the things of your heart/hands. I attended Leslie Stein‘s watercolor demo and appreciated getting to see her process and listen to her stories. So did Signe Wilkinson, the Pulitzer-prize winning editorial cartoonist, and afterward in her turn Signe shared her experiences in the trenches and a whole other world of cartooning. And then when my own number was called, on Saturday afternoon when our Comics Workbook-featured workshop leader Connor Willumsen was needed for a panel, I stood up and led a workshop on comics-making. Making comics in isolation still has its place, but increasingly it seems that if we want to keep this community thriving, it’s got to really embrace its punk side. Share and share alike. Growth, education, everyone lending a hand in order to keep these plates spinning. Cartoon Crossroads Columbus feels like a show that is constantly striving to embrace that spirit. For more on the show please see Caleb’s beautifully exuberant Monday morning post, HERE, and Adam Griffiths’ detailed and thoughtful notes on his own experience, HERE. ————————————————————————————————— I have to touch on Connor Willumsen’s Comics Workbook-hosted workshops at CXC, as that is where I spent much of my time on Sat./Sun. of the show. Connor had workshops almost every hour during the show those two days, and he was able to translate his thoughts on shoebox vs. “forensic” comics-making to audiences made up of all adults, as well as a lively group of kids during one workshop. Here’s a “forensic”-style comic by Zoey (which really is how most kids make comics): I will be cutting together a highlights reel of Connor’s workshop, so keep an eye out. Many thanks to Tom Spurgeon and the other CXC organizers for providing us with the space to bring this transformative take on comics-making to Columbus, OH. Back again next year for more! For the record, you can get a really unique package of Connor Willumsen books and zines right now from Comics Workbook – full details on the official “Anti-Gone Bundle” can be found HERE. ————————————————————————————————— News of Note from Elsewhere This is cool (but also annoying in its way) – Marvel canceled The Black Panther series recently, but now Paste Magazine announces that Marvel has hired the incredible Nnedi Okorafor to write a new Black Panther series (for digital publication on Marvel and ComiXoligy) – full details HERE. The Comics Journal has an interview with the unstoppable Tillie Walden – try to catch up with her, HERE. Also, this came out while I was at CXC, so if you too missed it be sure to check out the interview with Sophie Foster-Dimino conducted by Annie Mok on tcj.com. Check out Leela Corman‘s latest comic on The Nib – It Only Masquerades as Entertainment. Laurel Lynn Leake writes about Ariel Ries‘ webcomic Witchy, using the comic to comment on ideas of power and uselessness. Pretty interesting – read it HERE. Hit your translation button to read this German review of Ulli Lust‘s new book (compared favorably to work by Chester Brown and Jason Lutes, although Ulli isn’t sure she agrees with the Lutes comparison!) – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 10-6-2017 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

Cleveland, OH Scene Report

Frank SantoroNovember 6, 2011Riff Raff / Scene ReportsCleveland, OH scene report by Kevin Czap Despite a less-than-inspiring reputation, or maybe because of it, the past several years have seen a growing number of dedicated Clevelanders building a rich arts culture across all disciplines – design, music, the gallery scene, culinary arts. The comics scene in particular is at the very early stages of this same kind of growth. While there’s always been local comics activity, it’s tended to be fairly isolated. Now, however, we’re seeing concerted efforts to bring these cartoonists together, pooling our efforts to foster a thriving community. This was all put in motion by the establishment of the Genghis Con, a one-day expo focusing on underground and independent publishers, cartoonists and zinesters. The con was founded by Scott Rudge, owner of Astound! comics shop, and John G, the godfather of the Cleveland comics scene. Free to exhibitors and with a low door price for attendees, Genghis Con represents the current state of Cleveland comics. (November 26, 2011 will be the third annual! Come on out!) Cleveland’s a town with a rich comics history, with a host of significant figures calling it home through the years ó Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster (not to mention Joanne Siegel), Robert Crumb (briefly), Peter Kuper, Brian Michael Bendis. Personal heroes Bill Watterson and Harvey Pekar (we’re working on getting a statue built) are/were lifers. But what is the Cleveland comics scene of the moment? Well, I mentioned John G, who for years was putting out comics like the anthology Shiner, co-edited with Kevin Fagan. John’s work is an indelible part of Cleveland’s visual identity, focusing on poster illustrations for countless rock shows and the popular grilled cheese restaurant Melt, as well as extensive illustration work for the alt weekly Scene magazine. Similarly, we’ve got Jake Kelly, whose Crosston was the first local comic I got here. Jake’s also gone the gig poster route, as well as painting huge murals throughout the city. Other vets in the area include Gary Dumm and Greg Budgett, longtime contributors to American Splendor, and Derf, author of the alt-weekly fixture “The City” and childhood friend of Jeffrey Dahmer. I also mentioned Scott Rudge and Astound!, the best comic shop in town from an indie perspective. There aren’t really any other stores where you can get hand-made comics in Cleveland, and believe me, I’ve looked. Carol & John’s is another great shop, as well as the graphic-novel-friendly indie book stores Mac’s Backs and Visible Voice. And then there’s the new kids. Centered largely around Cleveland Institute of Art students and alumni, there’s been a fresh wave of talent flooding Cleveland’s streets. For instance, Niki Smith, artist on the Zuda-winning digital comic In Maps & Legends, was recently awarded a huge grant from the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture that funded a trip to China to research her graphic-novel-in-progress. Hardcore comics “nerd” Liz Valasco is still fresh from interning at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at OSU and is making work I’m especially excited about. One of the reasons I started the PUPPYTEETH anthology was to provide a showcase for Cleveland folks like these (as well as a number of other CIA expats). I’ve also been happy to have the opportunity to teach a community course on the art of comics at CIA. There’s plenty happening apart from CIA, as well. Keith Pakiz is continuing the Watterson visual tradition with his mad-cap Condiment Squad. (side-note: Keith is part of a group of promising cartoonists coming out of BGSU in Toledo. Although the majority live too far away to be considered Clevelanders, they’re honorary members of the scene and I’d be remiss to not drop some names: Jessi Zabarsky, Eric Kubli, Geneva Hodgson being the most active). We’ve also got the Elyria Comic Book Initiative, which is on a mission to indoctrinate the children of Cleveland. It’s encouraging to think that the next generation is already being formed. And finally, Cleveland benefits greatly from its neighbors. Pittsburgh and Columbus are roughly equidistant to us (about a 2 hour drive), so it’s really easy to share and learn from our sister cities. That’s where we are now, lots of activity just beginning to be brought together. One of the nice things about a “city of choice” like Cleveland is that the people living here do so because they want to. We’re all committed to making a better community for ourselves, for neighboring scenes, and for the comics community at large. To paraphrase Ian MacKaye, we’re putting Cleveland on the map. ————————— INTERMISSION FUNNIES by MICHAEL DEFORGE ————————— FRANK’S GOT A NEW AUDIO RECORDER – LOOKOUT FOR FUTURE PODCASTS! **I am accepting “blind” scene reports. 300 words MAX. A few photos. Please send me the HTML ready text with photos already embedded. I am going to begin running more than one scene report a week like Maximum Rock-n-Roll scene reports. Please send them to capneasyATgmailDOTcom. Share this page: [...]

09/10/18

Posted on September 10, 2018September 10, 2018 by Caleb Orecchio

Caleb Orecchio here with the cover for The Amazing Spider-Man no.241 by John Romita Jr. and Terry Austin

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The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1 no. 241, 1983; cover by JRJR and Terry Austin

Are those Spider-Man’s eyes sitting on The Vulture’s lap? Does this issue take place during winter? Why isn’t The Vulture green? Is this not the greatest cover ever?

The above image is certainly one of the top JRJR Spidey covers. John Romita Jr. is inked by Terry Austin and I can’t tell if the pair are geniuses or one of them made a mistake and just went with it. Spidey’s face is superimposed over The Vuture’s figure as if our hero is shining his bat-signal (from his belt) directly at our villain; but rendered in a way that suggests shadow rather than light.

The colors (probably by Glynis Oliver, the issues’ colorist) are brilliant too. With great contrast comes great dynamism and the orangey/purply reds against the wintery blue/greens do not serve to uncomplicated the image. There is little logic to this cover whatsoever. It is simply interesting to look at.

I can’t stop looking at it. I put it near my door so I can look at it before I leave to walk my dog and after I get back from walking her. Every time I pass it I wonder, “Is this the work of visual maestros or the result of varying professional degrees within a system?” Then I think, “probably a bit of both,” then I go get on with my day.

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged caleb orecchio, glynis oliver, marvel john romita jr, Terry Austin, the amazing spider-man

Caleb Orecchio

Posted on September 10, 2018September 10, 2018

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Rowhouse Residency Report – Bronson Smillie

Comics WorkbookSeptember 6, 2018Residency Reports / School UpdatesBronson Smillie is a cartoonist based in Montréal, QC, where he is finishing a painting and drawing undergrad at Concordia University. He joined us in Pittsburgh, PA, for a weeklong Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency in July of 2018. Here are his thoughts about visiting the city and his Rowhouse Residency experience. ——————————————————————————————— Bronson Smillie here: I arrived in Pittsburgh from Montreal in the middle of July, with just a carry-on full of art supplies and a few carefully selected articles of summer attire that would allow me to beat the record-breaking heatwave that had been plaguing Montreal and most of Eastern Canada for weeks. Prior to my departure, I had been trying to gather intel from friends as to what to expect during my stay in Pittsburgh. No matter how hard I dug, it seemed practically no one, apart from a few internet acquaintances, had much information to offer. So, without expectations, I rode the bus from the airport into downtown to meet Sally who would take me to my home for the week. Pittsburgh is undoubtedly the hilliest city I have ever been to. As someone who enjoys walking as a means of sight-seeing, I fantasized about the thigh muscles I would develop after a week navigating the city’s steep inclines. The Residency itself is located in a neighbourhood called Swissvale. As a longterm resident of the neighbourhood, Frank has some really interesting anecdotes about the history of Swissvale that are worth pining for in order to better understand the space and energy of the Residency. Frank’s historical knowledge of the city combined with his historical knowledge of comics affirmed and contradicted preconceived notions I had about the “North American Comics Industry”. It’s all super valuable information, and it was interesting for me to stack his old school values against my new school ideals. It’s safe to say that the rose coloured glasses I showed up to the Residency wearing have been now replaced with a more practical pair of shades. The ! air conditioned ! bedroom/work-space was the perfect place to dive head first into my work. As someone that is easily distracted in new environments, it was nice to be able to shut myself into a quiet space. Each morning I would devour a handful of comics/zines selected from the extensive and ever-growing library at the Residency. I would recommend spending as much time reading comics as you do drawing them while you are a resident. They offer such an amazing resource and I got to read things that I had never had access to before. I worked on a 10 page mini-comic that I’ve since completed and took time to digitize my entire stamp collection (boring but satisfying). I wanted to explore a new way of image-making while I was at the residency and broke away from the more rigid, panel-based comic making I was used to in order to explore more experimental ideas I had been tossing around for a while. It was an extremely rewarding week – for both my thighs and my craft – topped off with drives around the city with both Frank and Sally as well as a trip to visit the uh-may-zing Copacetic Comics to drop off some of my own comics and choose a few to bring back with me as well. Before I headed off to the airport and back to Montreal – Frank handed me a folded newsprint copy of something that he forbid me to open in his presence. I awkwardly shoved it into my carry on and as I sat down on my bus headed back to the airport I opened the gift. It was a short comic by Frank that acted as a first person reflection on Swissvale as well as Frank’s personal memories attached to it. I flipped through pages illustrated by someone with a lifetime of experiences attached to a place I had spent just one week. I realized, by my surprisingly emotional response to what I was reading, that Pittsburgh had effectively gotten under my skin. I understand why, after leaving for many years, Frank has decided to come back to his roots. Frank and Sally are creating a special place for comic makers to come develop and I’m super thankful that I had the opportunity to be a part of it! Keep up with Bronson Smillie HERE! For more information about the Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency visit this page or email santoroschool@gmail.com Share this page: [...]

08/25/2017

Sally IngrahamAugust 25, 2017NewsBon voyage to Caitlin Rose Boyle, and to Suzy & Cecil too – plus weird longbox comics finds and other news! ———————————————————————————————— Caitlin Rose Boyle‘s work was featured on the cover of Pittsburgh’s City Paper this week, and inside there’s an interview with her, on the eve of her departure for L.A. After a successful stint as the artist for Jonsey, Caitlin is ready to focus on animation for awhile and wants to be nearer to the studios where she hopes to collaborate. One of the things she’ll miss about Pittsburgh however are the comic makers here. “There are too many wonderful artists in this city. John Peña taught a comics class at CMU that kind of helped jumpstart my comics making process. Juan Fernandez has been a constant friend since our time at school and he’s one of the hardest working comics people I know! I’m always inspired after a conversation with Juan. Jenn Lisa’s drawings are so full of life and heart; her comics & drawings supercharge me when I look at them. Lizzie Solomon’s work pushes me to be bolder and weirder, Rachel Masilamani’s work is so powerful and raw and makes me want to share my heart on the page. I’m very lucky I got to share a space with Pittsburgh artists and comics-makers for awhile.“ Caitlin also makes note of her influences and the changing comics scene. “I wasn’t super into American comics growing up, and the male-dominated atmosphere was a big part of it. I gravitated towards manga, which had a huge selection of female creators to choose from in a bunch of different genres. There’s still totally an old guard of comics dudes making really stale stuff with the bigger publishers, but there are honestly SO many women and non-binary people doing amazing work in comics right now, here and all over the world. A large chunk of it is independently published, or published online, but it’s accessible and there’s so much of it that I frequently have a backlog of amazing work to read through.“ Read the rest of the interview HERE – and good luck to you Caitlin! ———————————————————————————————— Gabriella Tito and I are releasing a collection of Suzy & Cecil strips! Pulling from the comic strip that has been shared daily on Instagram and here in the Comics Workbook Daily News since November 2016, it will feature 44 strips picked out of the hundreds that we’ve made so far. Please pre-order a copy HERE! ———————————————————————————————— Digging through longboxes is often how I discover new-to-me comics makers who happen to be women. As with any sort of hunting, there are good days, and bad days, and just weird days. It’s interesting and informative to add names to my mental list, and file comics titles away, but not surprising that there is a great deal of chaff to sift through. Above is a comic by Diana Sasse, which at first glance I thought was a story by Donna Barr, who made those wild Stinz comics about centaurs. There are talking animals and centaurs galore in Diana Sasse’s Frenchie Doudou series, which follows a French soldier through a fantasy version of Europe in a time similar to WWI. The centaurs, and their more humanoid biped strain of being, are the Germans. Diana is Swiss, and began publishing comics in 1988. I think her most recent project was this Antique White House series from the early 2000’s (a European fairy-tale-style take on JFK…) I guess the wind has blown away much other traces of her work. Far more interesting – probably I should have led with this one – is one of Rachel Pollack‘s Doom Patrol issues, with art by Linda Medley. Rachel Pollack took over the writing on Doom Patrol when Grant Morrison left, and scribbled issues 64-87. Fans were heartbroken when Morrison left, but Rachel Pollack did some pretty interesting stuff with the series despite being a newcomer to comics – most notably, introducing a transgender character. Here’s an interview with Rachel from 2014 where she talks about some of what she tried to do with the series. DC is actually finally collecting Rachel’s run of Doom Patrol – Doom Patrol Book Four will be released in February of 2018. Rachel Pollack’s run of Doom Patrol featured a number of different artists, but the issue I found was penciled by Linda Medley. She, of course, went on to be the award-winning creator of Castle Waiting, a series she started publishing in 1996 with the help of a Xeric grant, and continued to self-published for years on her own. Fantagraphics collected two volumes of Castle Waiting, but as of now Linda is working on volume 3 and is back to funding it herself (with a little help from her friends, hopefully). One more longbox find – and this one IS by Donna Barr. No centaurs – instead we have the adventures of the (sadly fictitious) younger brother of the notorious German general the Desert Fox (Erwin Rommel). His little brother is Oberst Manfred Pfirsich Marie Rommel, and he is the Desert Peach. An openly gay German soldier during WWII is somewhat intriguing, and his misadventures as the commander of the 469th Halftrack, Gravedigging and Support Unit of the Afrika Korps, are pretty bonkers. Supposedly this unit is for the fellows who are really not “fit for service” in the German Army, the weirdos and strays who were nonetheless enlisted. The Desert Peach mainly tries to keep them out of any fighting, beyond what fighting they do among themselves. From the looks of issue #2, the series is pretty lively, and it appears that Donna aimed to bring a few more dimensions to the good vs. evil story-line of WWII. I guess I’d have to read the rest to see if she succeeded… Earlier this year Donna Barr announced that the San Diego State University Library had released her Black Manuscripts – a series of 12 “ornate” works that collect what she was writing and drawing about in the mid-1970’s, soon after she got out of the army – things she never expected to see published (like many girls of the time, she noted). You can peruse the manuscripts in the digital library HERE. ———————————————————————————————— In Addition Andrea Ayres digs into the barrier breaking/industry leading work of Kelly Sue DeConnick and MariNaomi over on The Comics Beat, laying out the resources both women have created to combat the problem of diversity in comics. Read the article HERE. Sara Lautman gives a shoutout to her “Microgeneration” on the New Yorker. Check out new online magazine Anomaly 25, featuring the work of a bunch of rad women – HERE. Melissa Mendes shared a comic she created based on a Twitter thread written by Julius Groat that deals with the recent white supremacist activity in Charlottsville. Read it HERE. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-25-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ———————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie- 8-25-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

04/04/2017

Aaron CockleApril 3, 2017NewsAaron here today with the Agony of Ben Katchor; NET ART; The Disappointment of Katie Fricas; BLUTCH; Thurber/Wegman, Wegman/Thurber; The Careful Massacre of the Bourgeoisie. ————————————————————————————————— ‘a voice emanating from a Lower East Side automat.’ Ben Katchor in conversation with his Metropolis editor, Belinda Lanks: I know people like to ask about what kind of pen I use, what kind of paper, like there’s a secret to this. I tell them, “You can sit at my table with the same pen and paper, and it’s not going to help you, because you didn’t work at figure drawing and storytelling for years.” You build up these skills. Just like somebody who makes chairs is more likely to make a great chair. When you do anything in a serial production, there are just these micro seconds of creativity, then the rest of it is just the craft of making the thing. There’s the workmanlike approach where you just say, “Here’s this thing I want to demonstrate.” I’ve practiced drawing for decades and know how to use language in some limited way, and I can put these together and make this plausible story or demonstration. ————————————————————————————————— NET ART Rhizome.org has posted an anthology of internet art from the past 30-odd years: This two-year online exhibition will present 100 artworks from net art history, restaging and contextualizing one project each week. Devised in concert with Rhizome‘s acclaimed digital preservation department, Net Art Anthology also aims to address the shortage of historical perspectives on a field in which even the most prominent artworks are often inaccessible. The series takes on the complex task of identifying, preserving, and presenting exemplary works in a field characterized by broad participation, diverse practices, promiscuous collaboration, and rapidly shifting formal and aesthetic standards, sketching a possible net art canon. ————————————————————————————————— The Casual Disappointment of Bjarne Melgaard At the Hyperallergic blog, Katie Fricas voices/draws her reaction to the Bjarne Melgaard show at Red Bull Arts New York (220 W 18th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan) through April 9. ————————————————————————————————— Blutch in NYC The 183rd meeting of the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium will be held on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 7pm at Parsons School of Design, 2 West 13th Street, in the Bark Room (off the lobby). Free and open to the public. Blutch on “A European Education.” I am currently working on a book called Variations (Dargaud, September 2017), where I recreate a series of famous graphic novel sequences by great masters of European comics. This work forces me to ask myself questions regarding the ambiguous nature of sequential art. Neither literary nor plastic, it is what Harold Rosenberg, referring to painting, once defined as an anxious object. How do we decode it? Where does it stand in our society? A graphic novel can receive a Pulitzer, cartoonists’ work is exhibited in great museums while the art establishment is still indecisive on weather to consider it a minor or a major art. Personally, I call my work ‘paradoxal literature.’ The pages that compose Variations follow each other with no beginning or end. Just fragments of stories that allow me to reach what I feel is hidden somewhere beyond the boundaries of my storytelling: sequential art as a brand new form of poetry. That is, a form of literature ‘to observe.’ Sculpted literature. ————————————————————————————————— No Maine is an Island William Wegman & Matthew Thurber Opening April 1, 7 to 10pm William Wegman and James Thurber, together at last. What’s that? A filing clerk sent the invitation to the wrong Thurber. Too late to retract the invitation now. But when Wegman met Thurber he was crestfallen. That is, he dropped a tube of toothpaste into the toilet. I don’t know why they decided to meet in the bathroom. Maybe it seemed like gender-neutral territory. Foolish Thurber left some Wegmans too close to a scented candle and…whoops. It seems they’ve started to copy each other’s drawings. To become the other’s ‘evil twin’…but let’s not be naive here!…a ‘good’ drawing? an ‘evil drawing’? No such thing exists…we all know that. We…did you close the chimney flue? You fool, don’t you know bad drawings can crawl down the chimney like bats, like leopards, like Wegmans and Thurbers???? There is however, possibly at this moment in your unattended studio washroom a witch, laughing at you in the mirror. Come on now…enough is enough. Are you being serious? Or are you just halving Fun? “No Maine Is An Island” includes new call-and-response drawings by William Wegman (b.1943) and Matthew Thurber (b.1977), as well as a selection of Wegman drawings from the ’70s and ’80s. The exhibition remains on view, by appointment, through May 7. Teen Party is located at 874 Greene Avenue, Apt 2A, in Brooklyn. ————————————————————————————————— Stories-within-stories are the best kind of stories Not ‘comics-related’ specifically, but Mr. Robot strikes me as a particularly ‘comic book-y’ show; this is the movie-within-the-show from the second season, The Careful Massacre of the Bourgeoisie. A reminder to us that these massacres of the bourgeoisie should be, above all else, careful. ————————————————————————————————— Check out Portraits by Connor Willumsen. This magazine sized 16-page beautifully printed booklet (by WestCan – who also printed thee Santoro School Handbook) of portraits by the great Connor Willumsen is now available. Edition of 500. Connor will be a special guest at the Pittsburgh Indy Comix Expo this coming weekend. If you’re in the region come meet him and other great cartoonists! ————————————————————————————————— A Cosmic Journey – 4-4-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 4-4-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie –4-4-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

11/23/2017

Sally IngrahamNovember 22, 2017NewsSally here with Egyptian comics, cartoonists on immigration, and a Happy Thanksgiving. ————————————————————————————————— The Atlantic has a great article about Egypt’s cartoonists – sort of a scene report of the Cairo Comix Festival, which took place in September, and an on-the-ground report of the comics scene as a whole in Egypt, where telling the truth is difficult and increasingly dangerous. “Despite a small readership—or perhaps thanks in part to their relative invisibility—comics in Egypt are blossoming in the shadows. “There is no distribution in Egypt. There are no graphic novel publishers. There is no real way to make a living publishing comics here,” says Sara El Masry, co-owner of an organization called MAZG that runs cartooning workshops throughout the country. But as other means of expression have been shut down, the cartoonist festival has grown, according to its organizer. With few eyes on them, these graphic storytellers are depicting the truth as they see it.“ The article profiles a number of comics makers from the country, including Mai Koraiem whose work is pictured above. “Other cartoonists at the festival approached their subjects with bare fists, particularly when it comes to gender politics in Egypt. In Traveler’s Diary, Mai Koraiem uses a rough, expressive inkwash technique to detail the history of women’s rights in Egypt and the Middle East. Through a journalistic narrative, Koraiem tells the story of the ascendance of a violent misogynist culture, and the unraveling of liberal feminist values she argues first found purchase in Cairo in the 1960s. In a small ongoing thread at the bottom of the page, Koraiem links the personal and political by including a comic strip narrating her own experiences with street harassment and sexual assault.“ Read the rest of the article HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Columbus Alive features the new exhibit at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, which looks back at how the topic of immigration has been covered by cartoonists over the last 150 years. “The resulting exhibit, “Looking Backward, Looking Forward: U.S. Immigration in Cartoons and Comics,” reveals that while the particulars of immigration may not have remained constant, the push-and-pull of public opinion as reflected in comics — and shaped by cartoonists — is something that hasn’t changed as the United States has considered the philosophical, political and practical implications of immigration. “There is a very rich history of cartoonists commenting on what’s going on in the world in terms of immigration to the United States, reflecting what people are thinking and saying, but also, we think, impacting how people are thinking about it,” Curator and Assistant Professor Jenny Robb said. “So we wanted to take a look back at the past 150 years and see how cartoonists dealt with it in their work. And not just editorial cartoonists, but in comic strips and comic books and, more recently, graphic novels.”“ The image above is the exhibition’s featured comic. “Robb and Gardner chose Joseph Keppler’s 1893 artwork “Looking Backward” as the exhibition’s featured image because of its timeless message, Robb said. The cartoon depicts “people who have immigrant pasts and have benefited from the opportunities in the U.S. in 1893, are now trying to stop new immigrants from coming over, forgetting their own past,” Robb said. “You could run that today; it would just be a different group of people.” “ Read the whole article HERE. The exhibit is up through April 15th 2018. ————————————————————————————————— On The Nib Rawand Issa details why Being Illegal is Unbearable – for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. ————————————————————————————————— Here in the USA we are celebrating Thanksgiving today – an often controversial holiday, as many cartoonists take note of. Lauren Weinstein‘s weekly Normal Person for Village Voice details the types of politically tense turkeys that grace many tables – HERE. Lauren’s also got a Thanksgiving comic in Seattle’s The Stranger: Here’s Roz Chast for The New Yorker of course: ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 11-23-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

07/11/2018

Juan FernándezJuly 11, 2018los Cómics / NewsHartley Lin at Comix Experience; Drawing A Dialogue Episode 13; CARTOON DIALECTICS #3 by Tom Kaczynski and Clara Jetsmark; Shortbox U.S.Distribution – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Hartley Lin Talk with Brian Hibbs at Comix Experience Here on the site, Chris Anthony Diaz offers us some great documentation of Hartley Lin‘s talk at Comix Experience from this past June. After his Young Frances (published by Adhouse Books) book signing, Brian Hibbs interviewed Hartley Lin for the Comix Experience Graphic Novel Club, San Francisco, Wednesday evening, June 13, 2018 You can watch the interview HERE. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Review – CARTOON DIALECTICS #3 by Tom Kaczynski and Clara Jetsmark Nick Hanover, Your Chicken Enemy Inside the pages of Cartoon Dialectics #3, Tom Kaczynski and Clara Jetsmarkforce you to consider the cheerful yet ominous reach of the nostalgic blob, that cultural motivator that compels us to look backward even as we’re moving forward. Connecting nostalgia to Trump’s Make America Great Again movement as well as the styles and tastes of progressives and, in its potent final section, Kaczynski’s own relationship with his past, the central question of Cartoon Dialectics’ third installment isn’t “How did we get here?” but “Why do we keep returning here?” When I spoke to Kaczynski in 2013, that question weighed heavily on both our minds, running through our discussions of gentrification, global warming, the mystification of technology and beyond. Kaczynski told me that the frequently bleak stories collected in his impressive work Beta Testing the Apocalypse were inspired not by dystopian works but his interest in utopian fiction and his time growing up under communism, a system that was itself utopian in design but nonetheless broke down in execution. Responding to a point I made about the negative outcomes of his stories, Kaczynski said: “If my stories seem really negative, it’s only because I’m examining the negative to see if a positive can be teased out eventually.” – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – U.K. Based ShortBox Rolling out US distribution Zainab Akhtar: I’m happy to share some good news today: ShortBox is partnering with White Squirrel to offer domestic fulfilment to our US-based customers. What this means is if you’re based in the US and want to buy ShortBox, you will no longer be charged international shipping rates, but a domestic rate, with packages shipping through the US postal system. (Read More) – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Vivir para Contarla – Jesus Cossio Entrevistado Pablo Turnes, Revista Kamandi Jesús Cossio (Lima, 1974) es uno de los autores contemporáneos de historieta más notables de Perú. Su trayectoria como historietista comenzó en el circuito limeño de los fanzines pero fue sin dudas con Rupay – coproducido junto a Alfredo Villar y Luis Rossell – que su obra comenzó a generar interés y a ser conocida por fuera de las fronteras nacionales. Su trabajo sobre la memoria del pasado inmediato siguió con Barbarie (Lima: Contracultura, 2010). Además de dar talleres, ha organizado exposiciones y presentado su obra en otros países como Argentina – al que estuvo invitado para el festival Viñetas Sueltas en 2009 y 2010 – Brasil, Colombia, Venezuela y más recientemente los Estados Unidos. Tuve la oportunidad de ver su presentación en el ICAF en 2017, y fue francamente estremecedor su relato tranquilo pero sin concesiones, como quien habla con la certeza del que ha comprobado e indagado en lo más terrible de su sociedad. Cossio no es verborrágico: va al grano y es exacto como un bisturí. A partir de ciertas inquietudes sobre la dimensión ética de su trabajo, sus propias posiciones y compromiso, se generó este diálogo a la distancia. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Drawing A Dialogue – Episode 13 New episode of Cathy G. Johnson and e jackson’s, Drawing A Dialogue is up! They are building off of the stereotypes in cartooning we discussed in Ep 12, specifically how fat bodies are depicted in the media. It’s a great listen. Listen here. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Suzy and Cecil – 07-11-2018 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

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