Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

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Juan Fernández

Posted on September 12, 2018

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Aaron CockleNovember 21, 2016NewsAaron here today with Daryl Seitchik; The End of Paper Jam; Comics for Troubled Times; More Mould Map; Cursed, Accursed Books; KGB Comix Night; Sign up for the Correspondence Course, why don’t you? ————————————————————————————————— On Exits Rob Clough reviews Daryl Seitchik’s new book over at the TCJ blog. Seitchik’s work has always addressed isolation, alienation and the nagging sense of anxiety that comes when one doesn’t feel like they fit into society. That sense of alienation in part addresses her status as a woman and the othering that is experienced on a daily basis, but there’s a more existential level to it as well. The classic problem of existentialism as a way of understanding the world is that it has absolutely no connection to ethics, the central question of which is “What do we do about others?” I might exist, but how do I connect with others, especially in a world where so many human relationships are what the philosopher Martin Heidgegger might describe as Zuhandenheit, or “ready-to-hand”. That is, we think of others as a means to an end and not unlike other objects in the world that have a certain function. ————————————————————————————————— No More Paper Jams Robin Enrico announced that he would be ending the bi-annual Paper Jam Small Press Festival after a 3-year run. This was a wonderful show, emphasizing small press work, featuring a different set of artists each show, free to the public, free to table at, it will be missed. That said. If there is never another Paper Jam, I am proud of what my co-curators and I have accomplished. In many ways there might not need to be another edition of Paper Jam. In the three years since I put on the first the festival, there has been an explosion in the number of micro conventions happening in New York City. I see small press events happening almost every week now. Three years ago this was far from the norm. I could not ask for a better outcome. I would happily hand this torch in a new form to someone else to carry forward. ————————————————————————————————— Situationist International Comics James Barrett has posted a bunch of comics work from the Situationist International, an organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists, prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution in 1972. Three detoured comics and an appropriated image from the Situationist International. These are copyright free if not used for the purposes of profit. Taken from “Leaving the 20th century: The Incomplete Work of the Situationist International”. Speaking of SI, here’s an excerpt from ‘The Situationists and New Forms of Action Against Politics and Art’, by René Viénet, Internationale Situationniste #11, October 1967, translated from the French by Ken Knabb: What we have to do is link up the theoretical critique of modern society with the critique of it in acts. By detourning the very propositions of the spectacle, we can directly reveal the implications of present and future revolts. I propose that we pursue: 1. Experimentation in the détournement of photo-romances and “pornographic” photos, and that we bluntly impose their real truth by restoring real dialogues . This operation will bring to the surface the subversive bubbles that are spontaneously, but only fleetingly and half-consciously, formed and then dissolved in the imaginations of those who look at these images. In the same spirit, it is also possible to detourn any advertising billboards — particularly those in subway corridors, which form remarkable sequences — by pasting pre-prepared placards onto them. 2. The promotion of guerrilla tactics in the mass media — an important form of contestation, not only at the urban guerrilla stage, but even before it. The trail was blazed by those Argentinians who took over the control station of an electronic bulletin board and used it to transmit their own directives and slogans. It is still possible to take advantage of the fact that radio and television stations are not yet guarded by troops. On a more modest level, it is known that any amateur radio operator can at little expense broadcast, or at least jam, on a local level; and that the small size of the necessary equipment permits a great mobility, enabling one to slip away before one’s position is trigonometrically located. A group of Communist Party dissidents in Denmark had their own pirate radio station a few years ago. Counterfeit issues of one or another periodical can add to the enemy’s confusion. This list of examples is vague and limited for obvious reasons. The illegality of such actions makes a sustained engagement on this terrain impossible for any organization that has not chosen to go underground, because it would require the formation within it of a specialized subgroup — a division of tasks which cannot be effectual without compartmentalization and thus hierarchy, etc. Without, in a word, finding oneself on the slippery path toward terrorism. We can more appropriately recall the notion of propaganda by deed, which is a very different matter. Our ideas are in everybody’s mind, as is well known, and any group without any relation to us, or even a few individuals coming together for a specific purpose, can improvise and improve on tactics experimented with elsewhere by others. This type of unconcerted action cannot be expected to bring about any decisive upheaval, but it can usefully serve to accentuate the coming awakening of consciousness. In any case, there’s no need to get hung up on the idea of illegality. Most actions in this domain can be done without breaking any existing law. But the fear of such interventions will make newspaper editors paranoid about their typesetters, radio managers paranoid about their technicians, etc., at least until more specific repressive legislation has been worked out and enacted. 3. The development of situationist comics. Comic strips are the only truly popular literature of our century. Even cretins marked by years at school have not been able to resist writing dissertations on them; but they’ll get little pleasure out of reading ours. No doubt they’ll buy them just to burn them. In our task of “making shame more shameful still,” it is easy to see how easy it would be, for example, to transform “13 rue de l’Espoir ” into “ 1 blvd. du Désespoir ” merely by adding a few elements; or balloons can simply be changed. In contrast to Pop Art, which breaks comics up into fragments, this method aims at restoring to comics their content and importance. 4. The production of situationist films. The cinema, which is the newest and undoubtedly most utilizable means of expression of our time, has stagnated for nearly three quarters of a century. To sum it up, we can say that it indeed became the “seventh art” so dear to film buffs, film clubs and PTAs. For our purposes this age is over (Ince, Stroheim, the one and only L’Age d’or, Citizen Kane and Mr. Arkadin, the lettrist films), even if there remain a few traditional narrative masterpieces to be unearthed in the film archives or on the shelves of foreign distributors. We should appropriate the first stammerings of this new language — in particular its most consummate and modern examples, those which have escaped artistic ideology even more than American “B” movies: newsreels, previews and, above all, filmed ads. ————————————————————————————————— “Penguin books-style pamphlets describe ancient lizard-people and mushroom parasites” The Mould Map 6: TERRAFORMERS exhibition is reviewed by Jacob Charles Wilson at The Double Negative. What’s clear is that the idea of the future has continually been presented and understood through publishing cultures. The concept of Terraformers itself resembles the design and aims of the British magazine Quest, or an issue of the radical ecological DIY magazine Whole Earth; drawing on hippy culture, late-‘60s technocratic solutions, and communist, feminist leanings. Given Frost and Sadler’s own backgrounds are in publishing, I wanted to find out why they decided that this issue should be an exhibition. “Many of the artists whose comics and graphics we’ve published also work with sculpture, video, textiles or painting etc.”, they tell me; “works that don’t necessarily translate well or at all in print. Also, it’s been such a pleasure meeting people in the space. If they follow Mould Map, or have never heard of it, it’s just been a much more social project for us. “On the downside, the longevity of a printed artefact is hard to replicate, which makes us quite concerned about documenting things properly, so we’ll be using photography, drone video footage and 3D scanning equipment to capture the show.” ————————————————————————————————— Protect Your Library the Medieval Way, With Horrifying Book Curses Sarah Laskow looks at Marc Drogin’s book Anathema! Medieval Scribes and the History of Book Curses. Given the extreme effort that went into creating books, scribes and book owners had a real incentive to protect their work. They used the only power they had: words. At the beginning or the end of books, scribes and book owners would write dramatic curses threatening thieves with pain and suffering if they were to steal or damage these treasures. They did not hesitate to use the worst punishments they knew—excommunication from the church and horrible, painful death. Steal a book, and you might be cleft by a demon sword, forced to sacrifice your hands, have your eyes gouged out, or end in the “fires of hell and brimstone.” ————————————————————————————————— Post-Thanksgiving KGB Comix Night Co-hosted by Robyn Chapman and Robin Enrico. Sunday, November 27, 7-9pm, KGB Bar, 85 E 4th St, NYC. Featuring readings by: A. T. Pratt Whit Taylor Steph Guez (better known as Stephanie Rodriguez) Robyn Chapman Bjorn Daniel Miner ————————————————————————————————— Comics Workbook has announced the Winter Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers – course starts Dec. 29th 2016! 8 week course – 500 bux – 10 spots available – apply by Dec. 13th 2016 and get $100 off course fee! Email santoroschoolATgmail for more details. Santoro School 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 – don’t post to your blog pls -specific url links to any comics work you have done. Send applications to: santoroschoolATgmail Share this page: [...]

02/13/2018

Aaron CockleFebruary 13, 2018NewsAaron here today with Charlotte Salomon: Life? or Theatre?; 3 Comics from Ben Katchor; Tommi Parrish; Adrian Tomine covers TEOTFW; 1987; 24 Frames ————————————————————————————————— Life? or Theatre? At The New York Review of Books, Lisa Appignanesi looks at work by Charlotte Salomon, including a current exhibition at the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam. All of the images and text in Life? or Theatre? are painted in three colors: red, yellow, and blue. Salomon blends these into brightly radiant or deadly somber hues. Whether this restricted palette was a deliberate choice or an accident of impoverished circumstances, we will never know. What is clear, however, is that with this paucity of means, the twenty-three-year-old Charlotte created a hybrid work of startling artistic innovation, at once a book, a storyboard for a silent film with indicated musical accompaniment (though sometimes a talkie complete with long shots and close-ups), and a powerful graphic novel decades ahead of its time, incorporating some of the stunning poster-art techniques of Weimar Germany. ————————————————————————————————— An Evening Demonstration. / Hi & Dri in Connecticut / At The Old Unh-Unh Factory Ben Katchor has been posting some comics here, and Oliver Lee Bateman interviewed him over at the Pacific Standard blog. “To be a cartoonist now, in this world, with the costs it imposes on you? Well, it certainly isn’t easy, because this is as bad as I can recall things having been,” he says. “When I was developing my interest in cartoon art, I was enrolled in college studying painting and literature. But I loved this idea of the mass reproduction of artwork that could live on a rack near a candy stand, and I didn’t have nearly that same passion for the world of galleries and high modernist art. And fortunately, when I started working on these projects, the old New York City in which I lived was so astonishingly cheap. Rent, in my case, amounted to $200 a month, and if I sold a strip a week for somewhere between $25 and $100, I could squeeze by. This way of working was possible then.” ————————————————————————————————— The Lie and How We Told It At The Comics Journal, Rachel Davies talks with Tommi Parrish. On that note about bookmaking, I was so shocked when I first got The Lie in the mail because of its size ‘cause Perfect Hair is almost like a pocket book, or something you can easily slip into a bag. I wanted to know if when you’re making the drawings, you’re thinking about how it’s going to look physically. I try to! It’s a really important part of how the story feels, how the object feels in your hand. Ideally I’d like it all to be one of the same. I don’t know if everyone’s the same with this, but it really affects the way that I feel about a piece of writing, if I feel like the vehicle for it is clunky and ugly. I don’t know, making something that’s strange and beautiful, and also trying to make the contents of the book pretty, but also engaging. I want it to all be like… all of it as an object, I guess. I don’t know, I was really unhappy with how Perfect Hair looked. I really like it! It was a fun book. I really like, I don’t know the technical term, but how it has the reflective title. The spot gloss! It’s all about the spot gloss. ————————————————————————————————— TEOTFW Emily Nussbaum on the Netflix adaptation of Charles Forsman’s The End of the Fucking World. Instead, “The End of the F***ing World”—which is written by Charlie Covell, adapted from Charles Forsman’s graphic novel, and directed by Jonathan Entwistle and Lucy Tcherniak—evolves into something much rarer, a convincing teen-age romance. At once a joyful watch and a morally destabilizing one, it bears some relationship to “Fleabag,” another dark British comedy driven by the narration of a deeply screwed-up individual, plotted so that its more compassionate themes come as a pleasant shock. Luckily, in an age of TV overkill, the show doesn’t take long to get there: it is only eight episodes long; each is twenty minutes. ————————————————————————————————— 1987: Drawings by John Ruggeri In 1981, five young men were diagnosed with a rare lung infection. At the same time, numerous gay men in New York and Los Angeles were being diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, Kaposi Sarcoma. These illnesses would soon be understood as being caused by an immuno-suppressing virus, HIV. By the end of 1987, the World Health Organization estimated that up to 10 million people were living with HIV worldwide. This exhibition is titled “1987,” the year that the antiretroviral drug AZT was made available to help combat the plague. By 1999 an estimated 33 million people were living with HIV and 14 million people had died of AIDS. Today, approximately 36.7 million people are living with HIV. BFA Visual & Critical Studies proudly presents “1987: Drawings by John Ruggeri” (1973 Illustration, BFA 1984 Media Arts, MFA 1986 Illustration as Visual Essay), an exhibition of approximately 80 drawings made between 1984 and 1987 that document the devastating early years of the AIDS crisis in New York City. The work, all charcoal drawings on Strathmore spiral-bound paper, were done in the bars, bathhouses, hospitals, prisons and public spaces of New York City and poignantly capture the anxiety etched onto the city and particularly to its often marginalized denizens. School of Visual Arts, 133/141 West 21st Street, through February 28. ————————————————————————————————— Abbas Kiarostami / 24 Frames At Film Comment, Imogen Sara Smith on Abbas Kiarostami’s final film. Photography shows us things invisible to the naked eye, whether it is the moment when a galloping horse takes all four feet off the ground, or a murder in a public park, or just a facial expression too fleeting to catch. When Kiarostami took the original photographs, he was presumably trying to capture something in the world: the hunting motif, from the Brueghel painting through the animals being shot, might also be a metaphor for photography itself. By digitally elaborating on these images, it seems he is trying to paint something seen in his mind’s eye, a memory or an imagined scene. This mixing of the real and the unreal is summed up in that final image: a photograph of a film, or rather a film of a photograph of a film, suspended between stillness and motion, between watching and dreaming. ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 02-13-18 – Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Vision Box – 2-13-2018 – by Cameron Arthur Share this page: [...]

10/26/2018

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

Cartoon Crossroads Columbus 2016, Part ll of ll

Chris Anthony DiazDecember 14, 2016The Diaz ArchiveSacha Mardou Sacha Mardou Seth and Craig Fischer Seth Keith Knight, Rich Tommaso and Tom Spurgeon Caitlin McGurk Sergio Arragonés, Carol Tyler, Jeff Smith and Tom Spurgeon The Billy Ireland Museum Galleries The Billy Ireland Museum Galleries The Billy Ireland Museum Galleries The Billy Ireland Museum Galleries The Billy Ireland Museum Galleries The Billy Ireland Museum GalleriesThe Horseshoe aka Ohio Football Stadium Wexner Center for the Arts Gary Trudeau and Glen David Gold in conversation at the Wexner Center’s Mershon Auditorium Columbus Metropolitan Libary, Downtown Branch Columbus Metropolitan Libary, Downtown Branch Sacha Mardou Sacha Mardou Joseph Remnant, Noah Van Sciver and Robin McConnell Alyssa Berg Rich Tommaso Noah Van Sciver Kevin Czap (backturned), Tom Spurgeon and Jeff Smith (on Spurgeon’s right)Charles Burns Live at CCAD Canzani Center Auditorium Charles BurnsTom Spurgeon, Ben Katchor and Seth in conversation at the Columbus Museum of Art SethTom Spurgeon, Ben Katchor and Seth Sacha Mardou Sacha Mardou Juan José Fernández Juan José Fernández and Sally Ingraham (top far right)Sally Ingraham, Juan José Fernández , Caleb Orecchio, Sacha Mardou, Whitney Taylor and Alyssa Berg Peter Arno original at the Billy Ireland Museum Reading Room Robert Crumb Charles Schulz Ohio State Buckeye running back and Heisman Trophy winner and favorite son Eddie George, Columbus Airport Titans running back Eddie George, Columbus Airport Share this page: [...]

07/06/2016

Juan FernándezJuly 6, 2016NewsJuan Fernandez here with your Spanish language comics news: Cuadernos de cómic número 6;los consejos de Inés Estrada; Novedades de Fulgencio Pimentel; la historia del cómic Chileno; una reseña del PLAYGROUND de Berliac. ————————————————————————————————— CuCo, Cuadernos de cómic número 6. Junio de 2016 La nueva edicion de la revista de estudio y crítica de la historieta, CuCo, hay sido publicada este fin de semana! Puedes descargar Revista 6 aqui – GRATIS. Entre sus ensayos, debates, y estudios esta edicion incluye entrevistas con Martin Lopez Lam, Mirion Malle, y Sergio Garcia. En CuCo, se toma lo del cómic en serio! ————————————————————————————————— Consejos de Inés Estrada Hot tips and encouragement from Inés Estrada on how to make comics and illustration work for you. Lots more over on her site. *Expensive tools aren’t mandatory I draw all my comics with just a mechanical pencil and I have a 10 year old wacom tablet. I only splurge on nice Fabriano paper. This is what I’ve found that works for me. Find whatever works best for YOU, it doesn’t have to be the same as what other people use! *Share your work anywhere you can If you can go to fests or shows, that’s great, but if you can’t, use the internet! I grew up in Mexico City where there is no “comics scene” but I was still able to make it because I’ve been consistently posting my work on the internet for years. Commit yourself to posting your work on Tumblr, Twitter or Instagram as often as you can. Try to have a separate account for your professional work that doesn’t feature a million photos of your beautiful cat and the delicious breakfast you made today. NEVER STOP DRAWING, NEVER STOP MAKING, DON’T LET ANYTHING DISCOURAGE YOU! STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF! ————————————————————————————————— La historia del cómic Chileno La Biblioteca Nacional de Chile le ofrece una vista cronológica del desarrollamiento del cómic chileno desde 1906 hasta el presente. Aunque no sea exhaustivo, es un buen punto de partida para quienes quieran aprender mas sobre el mundo del cómic Chileno. Edúcate! La historia del cómic en nuestro país se encuentra estrechamente relacionada con el desarrollo de la historieta y el humor gráfico, que iniciaron su recorrido entre el siglo XIX y la primera mitad del siglo XX. Este desarrollo, en sus inicios, estuvo centrado principalmente en la sátira política, y más tarde en publicaciones orientadas al entretenimiento infantil. El primer personaje de historietas nacional, Von Pilsener, fue creado en 1906 por Lustig (Pedro Subercaseaux), y sus aventuras fueron reeditadas en la década de 1990 por el poeta e investigador Jorge Montealegre. De estos años datan gran cantidad de publicaciones con historietas extranjeras y nacionales, entre las que destacaban algunas como El Pibe (1923), Don Fausto (1924), Pulgarcito (1938) y Pobre Diablo (1946), así como otras más conocidas por los lectores de hoy, como Topaze, dedicada al humor político, y El Peneca, dirigido desde la década de 1920 por Elvira Santa Cruz. Nació también antes de 1950 el más famoso de los personajes ilustrados de nuestro país: Condorito. ————————————————————————————————— Reseña de Playground por Berliac “ ‘Playground’ is a fundamental work to understand comics of today. It’s a complex, postmodern piece, about the medium and its limitations (…) Berliac breaks through these limits and starts from scratch (…) using, in short, all the posibilities of comics”. – Jesús Jádiva, Zona Negativa Y no se pierdan la reseña de Playground que Frank Santoro hizo pare TCJ en 2014. Te dara otra perspectiva en el valor de esta obra de Berliac. ————————————————————————————————— Novedades de Fulgencio Pimentel Editorial Fulgencio Pimentel a lanzado su nueva suscripción, y como mola: 1. Beverly de Nick Drnaso 2. Meeting Jari de José Ja Ja Ja 3. Melancolía de Simon Hanselmann 4. Talco de Amanda Baeza 5. La yaya Meti de Aapo Rapi 6. Mi pequeño (edición integral) de Olivier Schrauwen Suscríbete por 89.00€ hoy! Presentación DMLQL en Barcelona Y si estas en Barcelona, no te pierdas la presentacion de Gabriel Corbera este Sabado en Fatbottom! 9 de julio a las 12:00 horas. Fatbottom C/ Lluna, 10. Barcelona DÍAS MÁS LARGOS QUE LONGANIZAS de Gabriel Corbera es sencillamente uno de nuestros tebeos favoritos ever. Deudor del manga más cinemático tanto como de las novelas de Marcial Lafuente Estefanía, salpicado de referencias a videojuegos, envuelto en una atmósfera ominosa y risible a un tiempo, DMLQL es mayormente una lección acerca de cómo se ordenan los silencios y los blancos de un poema; o para el caso, de un tebeo. Para nosotros, desde la primera lectura, este tebeo es El Rock y El Verano, los dos en uno, y eso a pesar de que DMLQL es un cómic de tormenta. ————————————————————————————————— hasta la proxima! JF Share this page: [...]

09/12/2018

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Juan Fernández

Juan Fernandez on Comics Workbook’s 2018 SPX Workshops

This weekend the Comics Workbook gang makes the annual pilgrimage from Pittsburgh to Bethesda, Maryland to join in on the explosion that is the Small Press Expo. If you’d like to take part in any of our workshops, or just want to find us to chat, you can find us posted at the Glen Echo Room at SPX.
See you soon!

Below’s the schedule of our workshops:

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15

12:00 – 1:00 pm Glen Echo Room

Comics with Juan Fernandez

Join the Comics Workbook team for an hour of comics-crafting. Learn about color and line, explore the rhythm of the grid, and take your comics-making game to a new level. Simple exercises will push you in mind-bending directions. Juan Fernandez is a cartoonist and educator in Pittsburgh, PA. He organizes the Pittsburgh Comics Salon, facilitates Comics Workbook, and works for the Pittsburgh Arts Council. All ages.

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Glen Echo Room

Clay Sculpture Characters With Liz Reed

Learn how to make clay ice cream cone characters with Sweet Success author/sculptor Liz Reed. Attendees will create their very own unique clay character as Liz guides the class through different sculpting techniques using everyday household items. All ages.

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm Glen Echo Room

Comics With Dash Shaw

Spend an hour with groundbreaking cartoonist Dash Shaw, creator of BodyWorld, Bottomless Belly Button, New School, Doctors, and Cosplayers, as well as the animated film My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea. Dig into his experience and influences, and pick up tips on storytelling and techniques from a master of the form. All ages.

4:15 pm – 5:15 pm Glen Echo Room

Comics with Molly Ostertag

Join Molly Ostertag, award-winning creator of the middle-grade graphic novel Witch Boy, and ongoing webcomic Strong Female Protagonist, among other projects, as she discusses creative process, discipline, and Dungeons & Dragons. All ages.

5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Glen Echo Room

Comics With The Latin American Youth Council & Mentors

Join Jason Rodriguez, Santi Cesares, and young creators from LYLC for a bilingual workshop about using comics to tell stories that can cross language barriers and break down cultural differences, giving a voice to children and teens who desperately need to be heard. Comics as a transformative tool for change! Please note that there will be a No Pictures policy during this workshop. All ages.

SIGN UP HERE FOR ANY OF THE SPX 2018 COMICS WORKBOOK WORKSHOPS.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 16

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Glen Echo Room

Comics With Mosi

Mosi is a Portuguese cartoonist and art teacher based in Lisbon. Join her for a discussion about comics as a medium of communication and self-expression. Drawing is a wide and complex language that can be explored to express our deepest feelings, emotions, thoughts and – above all – express who we really are! In this workshop Mosi will use comics as a tool to get to know more about each other; break the ice, start a conversation and learn about the others around us through what they draw and how they do it. Bring your positivity, curiosity and get in the mood for a good time! All ages.

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm Glen Echo Room

Kickstarter Presents: Five Elements of a Healthy Comics Campaign

Whether you’re gearing up for volume 3 of your ongoing series or on the fence about launching your first ever anthology, you can make a killer Kickstarter campaign when you come prepared. Join Comics Outreach Lead Camilla Zhang in this educational seminar about the key elements of a successful Kickstarter campaign. And feel free to tweet specific questions @illathekilla using the #KickstarterSPX hashtag prior to the event!

3:30 pm – 4:30 pm Glen Echo Room

Comics Workbook Hangout

Take a crash course in comics making – for kids big and small. We will bring the grids, the markers, the know-how – you bring your personal spark. Discover the comics-maker within you and let them out! Join Caleb Orecchio and other members of the Comics Workbook team for an easy foray into comics making – the perfect thing to conclude a weekend at SPX! All ages.

09-12-2018 – by Niall Breen

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in News

Juan Fernández

Posted on September 12, 2018

Explore

06/26/2017

Caleb OrecchioJune 26, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here with thoughts on the art of Kull the Conqueror #3 by John Buscema and Klaus Janson. Plus, you guessed it, links! ————————————————————————————————— Here are some thoughts on one of my favorite look-but-don’t-read comics. Below are some highlights from the book I always refer to: Often when I am tired or depressed about comics, I will dig out Kull the Conqueror #3 (vol. 3). Penciled by John Buscema with inks and colors by Klaus Janson in 1983. I don’t “read” it because the writing sucks, but I love looking at the artwork. This is during a time when Buscema was no longer the next best thing to Kirby. He’s basically been dethroned by the likes of John Byrne and Frank Miller. He’s more or less the barbarian guy at this point. On the other hand, Janson is really hitting his stride. Post Miller-Daredevil and Pre-Dark Knight Returns, Janson is becoming one of the most sought-after inkers of the 80s. So it’s a bit of a transitional yin-yang comic and it harmonizes perfectly; the solid, “generic” drawing of Buscema laying the foundation down for Janson’s scratchy, energetic lines and rich colors—it just sings for me. The seasoned veteran fuses with the ambitious dynamo. The above spread is one of my favorite “passages” in the book. Notice the first panel on the left page. The clouds are green and yellow without any dividing lines in the inking to indicate any division of color. Usually an inker would have a line to “hold” the colors, basically guiding the colorist where the colors change. But since Janson is doing both, he can think in color. Color and lines combine to a point that feels much more cohesive than most mainstream comics of the time. And look at that torch. Instead of inking the outline of the fire, Janson cuts out the zipatone (dots) to make the fire seem more alive and bright. I also really like how he used brown to yellow to white to show the range of the torch. Again, no holding lines—and notice the sparse inking where he knew he wanted to use brown. I could go on and on about the little ways Janson makes this book interesting, but again, keep in mind that Buscema was a really solid penciler. He literally wrote the book on drawing Marvel comics. The concrete drawing of Buscema I think really let Janson stretch his legs; and I assume Buscema had a generally quick turnaround so I imagine working with Buscema lent itself to an inker or colorist taking their time to push themselves if they so desired. I will cap this off with an excerpt from Amazing Heroes No. 155 where Andy Mengels’ interview with Janson is the cover story for the issue. This is 1988—post-Dark Knight Returns, and Janson is gaining more penciling and writing credits. ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know Matthew Thurber writes an excellent article for Artsy–“10 Cartoonists Every Art Lover Needs to Know” Françoise Mouly and Genevieve Bormes talk to Gary Panter at The New Yorker about his new book, Songy of Paradise. Sally covered this last week but I just really like this Mardou comic about her pregnancy and firing her doctor 38 weeks in. If you missed Friday’s post, give this comic a look. It’s so achingly personal, I cannot recommend it enough. I heard about this via Desert Island‘s Instagram—art from Dan Clowes’ tenure at Cracked over on Last of the Spinner Rack Junkies. Last but not least, there’s a new comics publisher in my hometown. This is indicative of Dayton, OH’s cultural taste: horror/fantasy—general genre. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 6-26-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 6-26-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

8/10/2016

Juan FernándezAugust 10, 2016NewsJuan here with your Spanish language comics news once more! Esta semana tenemos: Sofia Watson en @lapololapodcast; Tetas Tristes en el spotlight; Todo es Macanudo con Liniers en el Centro Cultural Borges; Informe. la antologia argentina del siglo 21; el Publicadero en Manizales; Revista Larva: Convocatoria para Publicar – La Colección Gusana; impresiones del 2º Encontro Lady’s Comics; un Space Riders Playlist via Alexis Ziritt. ————————————————————————————————— [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/276717421″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Escucha @lapololapodcast, un podcast del cómic femenino con Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo! Este episodio os ofrece un entrevista con Sofía Watson, música colombiana y un nuevo concurso (deadline es el 15 de agosto!). ————————————————————————————————— Tetas Tristes Cómics un gran shout out al Colectivo Tetas Tristes – cuatro chicas dibujando, desde sus mundos internos feministas. Estan publicando fanzines antisexistas, montando exibiciónes, y ofreciendo talleres – son unas verderas killers jovenes. Dales un vistazo a sus blogs: en fb: https://www.facebook.com/tetastristescomics/ en tumblr: http://tetastristes.tumblr.com/ ————————————————————————————————— Todo es Macanudo con Liniers en el Centro Cultural Borges Antes de su gran salido de Argentina, Liniers ha recibido una exhibición de su arte en el Centro Cultural Borges en Buenos Aires. La fiesta continua hasta el 20 de septiembre, de lunes a domingos, de 10 a 21. A donde se va Liniers? Pues: Después de tantos libros propios y de poner en circulación libros de otros en la Editorial Común (en ese sello editó a Alberto Montt, Carlos Trillo, Gus Delisle, Nine y Kazu Kibuishi, entre tantos), después de algunas tapas de discos (Calamaro, Johansen) y una muy frecuente colaboración con Kevin Johansen, sostiene su tira Macanudo desde años en la nacion y está a punto de partir rumbo a Vermont, la ciudad adonde está The Center for Cartoon Studies. Fue invitado a ingresar en ese laboratorio de ideas para historietistas y allí permanecerá dos años con su familia. ————————————————————————————————— Gerardo Vilches reseña Informe. Historieta argentina del siglo XXI, de VVAA Vilches nos da un analísis A FONDO de esta antologia argentina! Al contrario, la frescura y la ruptura de las normas del relato clásico son signos presentes en cada historia de las que conforman Informe. También, lo decía al principio, se impone cierta distancia con el dibujo académico, para profundizar en estilos gráficos sintéticos, naif o simplemente anti naturalistas, sin preocuparse por conseguir una representación de la realidad que se haga pasar por la realidad en sí. El color es un elemento que, cuando se usa, también se aleja de lo naturalista para explotar su capacidad expresionista y emotiva. Sin embargo, esto no son más que rasgos muy generales que sirven tan sólo de punto de partida para analizar a un conjunto de artistas que se caracterizan, sobre todo, por su heterogeneidad. ————————————————————————————————— El Publicadero – COLOMBIA Ya viene el encuentro de Autoedición y Fanzines celebrado en el marco de la séptima Feria del Libro de Manizales del 2016. 30 de agosto al 4 de septiembre. It’s coming! ————————————————————————————————— Revista Larva: Convocatoria para Publicar – La Colección Gusana FECHA DE CIERRE: domingo 28 de agosto de 2016 a las 11:59 p.m. A comienzos de este año presentamos una colección de fanzines de cómic y dibujo. La hemos llamada Gusana. Su objetivo en este mundo: abrir un espacio para autores de cómic que busquen un espacio de publicación y promoción para trabajos que ya tengan hechos pero que no hayan salido a la luz todavía. La prima menor de nuestra LARVA se prepara para su próxima aparición, el segundo número de la colección, y buscamos un(a) autor(a) para darle vida. ————————————————————————————————— Impresiones sobre el 2º Encontro Lady’s Comics Katherine Supnem tiene un gran recap del Encontro en el blog Comic, Genero, Femenismo. Si quieren ver otra perspectiva sobre este gran evento Manzanna nos dio sus impresiones del encontro la semana pasada AQUI en Comics Workbook. Katherine Supnem: Lo que más me llamó la atención fue la labor formativa y recopilatoria que inspiraba el evento. Estaban muy interesadas en transmitir contenido, fuerza, autogestión y lucha, ya que es difícil en toda latinoamérica ser autora de cómic, aunque ya no estemos en los 90. Además de tener un registro de otros colectivos brasileños de historietas donde sólo participen mujeres, lesbianas o trans. Para eso tenían un mapa de Brasil donde los colectivos se iban anotando para ser registrados en la historia de las comiqueras Brasileñas. No era necesario ser feminista para estar ahí, algo así como militar, porque ya es muy feminista ser artista y autora de historietas, como le oí decir a Sole Otero en nuestra Charla. A veces es difícil darle tiempo a las lecturas filosóficas que requiere el feminismo, como lo hablamos con Mariela, pero lo fundamental es comenzar a cambiar nuestras propias vidas autoconvocándonos y organizándonos junto a otras mujeres. ————————————————————————————————— Space Riders – the Playlist: BLAST YERR ASS OFF Alexis Ziritt has put together a loud, galaxy spanning mix of tunes that’ll get you tuned to the Space Riders frequency real quick. Gives these tracks a spin, if you’re up for adventure. ————————————————————————————————— hasta la proxima! JF Share this page: [...]

04/16/2018

Caleb OrecchioApril 16, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here with John Porcellino’s recent stop in Pittsburgh, and other news. ————————————————————————————————— He has seen but half the universe who has never been shown the house of Pain. –Ralph Waldo Emerson This past Friday, John Porcellino stopped by Copacetic Comics here in Pittsburgh while on tour for his book, From Lone Mountain, a collection of his King-Cat “comics and stories” from 2003 to 2007, published by Drawn and Quarterly. This was the first signing at Copacetic I’ve attended since I moved to Pittsburgh this year. It was great. Porcellino did his song and dance at Kaibur Coffee (same building as Copacetic but two floors below) by taking us, via slideshow, through excerpts of his book and giving background details and tangents revolving around the events therein. John laid bare his soul during his presentation as he does with every annual release of King-Cat. Pain and Joy are one, and the audience often found ourselves laughing in hindsight at the misfortunes along with our hero. After the presentation and rather intimate audience Q&A, we hiked up to Copacetic where books were signed and comics were talked about. It was great. Not only could you chat with John Porcellino, but you could also hangout with the Pittsburgh crowd: Sam Ombiri, Sally Ingraham, Juan Fernandez, Jenn Lisa, Audra Stang, Nate McDonough, and many others. I showed Sam my favorite King City gag, while Juan waxed different ways to read and comprehend information with Audra and Sally. I clumsily talked about Pittsburgh roads vs every other American road system with John P as he signed my copy of his book. I asked Bill Boichel (Copacetic proprietor) if he agreed that Red Nails was Barry Windsor-Smith’s best work, and I think he did. Then we started talking about Kaluta. Lots of things seemed to be going on. The hours went by quickly. It was a beautiful day. Only several days before, the city was snow-capped, but today it felt like how I imagine California feels on its best days. On the Copacetic Balcony, you could see the beautiful old buildings over the hills that run through the city and the purple dusk. Thanks to John P. for coming to Pittsburgh and thanks to Bill Boichel and Copacetic Comics for hosting. ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know TCJ.com launched a bi-weekly column called “Retail Therapy.” Every other week will evidently feature an interview with a comics retailer. First up, Portland’s Floating World Comics. Who, will be publishing Zack Soto’s debut The Secret Voice graphic novel. Your Chicken Enemy has the scoop on upcoming Uncivilized Books titles. TCAF 2018 is right around the corner! It will be here before you know it! Eddie Campbells limited weekly strip ended. Did you see it? ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 4-16-2018 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 4-16-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

TCAF 2017 Recap – by Tyler Landry

Comics WorkbookMay 25, 2017Festivals and ShowsTyler Landry here: The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) is the only comics show I’ve ever attended, except for our local small-town con (held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada) which I did for the very first time this year. There are a couple of reasons for this, and they all fall into the realm of “excuses”, but, that’s how my cookie crumbles. I have, however, been to TCAF every year since 2013, and have been told by con-hoppers of all stripes that it’s one of the best, if not THE best show of its type. To me, it’s always felt huge, diverse, and rewarding in a thousand ways – so I take those observations with considerable weight. I’ve met (and bought comics from) a huge majority of my favorite cartoonists, made loads of new comics friends, and tabled – both independently and with publishers. I always like to arrive in Toronto early on Friday, settle in, walk around the city, have an eat and/or a drink with friends – and get comfortable before the chaos on Saturday morning. Spent a veritable stack of cash on comics right away. Exciting new work from Anya Davidson, Ben Passmore, Connor Willumsen, and Sophie Yanow – to name only a few. This year I spent time tabling with two publishers – signing some of last year’s comics with Study Group (The Coward’s Hole, and Lonesome), and with Retrofit, signing copies of the collected Shit and Piss, which debuted this year at TCAF. It was cool to meet some people who follow my work, and to see others discover it for the first time. This is why I attend TCAF. To participate in a significant way in the comics community, as a cartoonist, an enthusiast, and more recently as a (new) community leader and educator. With that in mind, in addition to signing, I did something sorta new – I ran a Comics Workbook workshop on composing a comic spread. The workshop made use of a standardized 6-panel grid, a quick idea gathering on story cards, and heavy panel-by-panel editing with a printed spread in mind. It was geared towards beginners, but the process we explored is the basis for how I make comics, and can be useful to anyone telling stories in a visual medium. Some of the essential materials I’d requested were missing from the room when we started (index cards, guys!), but we did have a fat stack of copy paper, and before long I had everyone in the (very full) room folding and tearing it into manageable chunks. I brought along some comics I’ve done, a few in-progress spreads, and the associated story cards as examples of the process from beginning to end. After a bit of discussion everyone began to get a sense of modular structure, the importance of editing oneself early, and some basic notions of pacing, dynamics thru motion, tone, and directionality across panels/the spread. Because of our slightly later start, we didn’t delve as deep into the spread as I’d have liked – but everyone got a taste of quick drawing and editing, and at least the beginnings of controlling the flow of information across the spread. By the time we were being kicked out of the room, we were having huge open discussions about the different participants’ comics, talking in terms of pacing, making switcheroos for clarity, capitalizing on directional flow, etc. We could’ve easily spent another 2 hours together as a group and accomplished even more. Being so busy during both days, I didn’t get to take in any additional programming, but Idid have a chance to share a few pints and meals with friends old and new. TCAF definitely does a great job of bringing us all together once a year to gush like fools about the things we love in comics. ————————————————————————————————— Check out more of Tyler’s work HERE and pick up a copy of his new book HERE. Share this page: [...]

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2016 report

Frank SantoroOctober 19, 2016Festivals and ShowsFrank Santoro here – reporting from Kendal, England. If you are only hearing about “The Lakes Festival” or “LICAF”, please read last year’s report. This is my second year of going to “The Lakes” and I hope to make it back every year. Why? Frankly, it’s because this show has Mr. Chris “TCAF” Butcher’s stamp of approval, and anything Mr. Butcher touches is gold, so I’m sold. Meaning LICAF and TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival) have some cross-cultural curation going on with the great Julie Tait, who steers the fleet of LICAF activities and who was at TCAF’s 2016 show, helping with the expansion of that festival’s venues. So, I see the big picture. A comics festival that appeals to just about everyone – not just the “mainstream” or the “alternative” crowd. LICAF, like TCAF, has something for everyone. Indeed, this year’s LICAF hosted Gilbert Shelton and Bryan Lee O’Malley and Tillie Walden and Jordi Bernet (amongst many other greats, see the full list here). That’s about four major demographics in my comics world. Plus, ahem, Aidan Koch, Connor Willumsen and l’il ole me representing some other, uh, demographic. Kendal is a small town on the northwest coast of England, above Manchester. The whole surrounding area is absolutely beautiful and up the road is where Beatrix Potter called home. What I like about it is how pleasantly unique this show is because of the way the show is embedded in the town. The festival takes place, primarily, at a few different venues spread within walking distance to each other. It is a Saturday/Sunday type of show, however, one can feel it expanding. The Comics Workbook crew arrived a day early to present at an academic conference at The Kendal Museum and The Box Theatre on Friday. Then over the weekend we hosted workshops at The Brewery Arts Centre and sold our wares at The Clock Tower. And then had a closing party at Ruskin’s Bar. The Comics Workbook crew at LICAF: Aidan Koch, Connor Willumsen, Oliver East, Jack Brougham and myself – with a special appearances by Naomi Nowak. A number of students from Kendal College and the University of Cumbria participated in Comics Workbook workshops after the presentation to “the academics” at The Box Theatre. The great comics scholar and author Paul Gravett was in the audience, so you can be sure, loyal reader, that the Comics Workbook team “slayed them”, as the saying goes. Here is a link to my “notes” for our presentation on Friday. I like to have a long rambling blog post of inspirational videos and rough notes to refer to during a presentation. I find that it allows the audience to revisit the material later or even during the talk. My basic argument that afternoon is, as Geoff Dyer says of D.H. Lawrence, an inversion of the “traditional hierarchy of genre” has occurred – in comics – and more importantly for those associated with Comics Workbook. Aidan Koch spoke of how she rejects the idea of “the great American Graphic Novel” or even telling stories. She spoke eloquently of how she is concerned mostly with “the poetics of comics”. Connor Willumsen talked about genre being merely a raincoat and umbrella under which to make comics. He even lovingly compared it to a sport where performing under pressure to “do it right the first time” was valued. I riffed on my modular notecard method. A lively and valuable discussion followed within the question and answer period. It was, for me, one of the best received presentations I’ve been a part of and I would like to thank Aileen McEvoy for helping myself and my team feel so welcomed. Oliver East and Jack Brougham – the UK CW representatives – worked the table at the Clock Tower. Generally, there are tables selling comics like a traditional comics show at the Clock Tower. And “programming” is at The Brewery Arts Centre, however, there is programming and signings at The Clock Tower. For example, the great Jordi Bernet was signing in the same room as our table on Sunday. Actually, the signing area was behind us on an elevated stage which helped ease the flow of traffic at busy times. Also, hats off to Ollie and Jack who stuck to CW’s number one rule at shows, which is, of course: “sitting is not selling”! One of the current riffs about comics festivals is that many different shows exist within the show. Meaning, you can go to SPX and not even see everything or miss your friends completely – whereas in years past you could lap the room each hour and see everything and everyone there. LICAF is different insomuch as it is not situated centrally in a hotel or a convention center. So what happens is that one has their interactions in the town of Kendal itself. The Brewery Arts Centre provides ample space to host everyone and the short walk to the Clock Tower is where I found myself most often running into friendly faces – friends and strangers alike. It was very pleasant, I thought, especially because it was so unlike what we are used to in the States and specific to the town of Kendal. During the fantastic opening night ceremony for, ahem, VIPs, I was lucky enough to meet the Mayor of Kendal, Mr. Stephen Coleman, and his wife, Sarah. Mrs. Coleman was kind enough to give me some driving directions up to see the beautiful countryside around Kendal. On Friday and Saturday after our obligations at the festival concluded, myself and the CW gang piled into our hired car and I drove us up as far as Ambleside and Windemere. Believe me when I tell you that everyone in the car was startled at how beautiful this part of the world really is – you gotta see it to believe it, folks. Book your tickets in advance for next year and head to LICAF and “The Lakes”, you won’t be disappointed. Aidan Koch, Connor Willumsen and I have just returned Stateside as I type this on the plane now. I will try and fill out this report a little bit more as the jetlag wears off. (I gotta tell you about talking shop with Gilbert Shelton.) Until then, I’d like to thank Julie Tait, Carole Tait, Aileen McEvoy, and everyone who believed in the Comics Workbook programme and helped us make it to LICAF 2016. For additional reading: Connor Willumsen on Mint Cakes, sheep photography, his LICAF workshop experiences, and Frank’s “intuitive” driving. Aidan Koch shares some of her LICAF experiences HERE. My student Niall Breen’s thoughts on LICAF – he came from Ireland to hang out with us. Jack Brougham sent his thoughts on tabling with Comics Workbook at the festival – HERE. LICAF opening night #licaf A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 13, 2016 at 2:17pm PDT Connor Willumsen’s workshop LICAF UK 2016 #comicsworkbook He is talking about his comic Swinespritzen – available through the link my bio #licaf A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 15, 2016 at 2:07pm PDT Aidan Koch discussing her collaborative workshop project from LICAF UK 2016 #comicsworkbook @aidanalexiskoch #licaf A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 15, 2016 at 2:11pm PDT Connor Willumsen demonstrating the differences between Western and Eastern landscape painting #comicsworkbook LICAF UK 2016 #licaf A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 15, 2016 at 2:16pm PDT Ahem. Hanging out and talking shop with thee one and only Gilbert Shelton at LICAF UK 2016 #comicsworkbook #gilbertshelton #licaf A photo posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 16, 2016 at 3:39am PDT Ambleside UK A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 14, 2016 at 12:58pm PDT Connor Willumsen talking about working with colorists #comicsworkbook #licaf LICAF UK 2016 A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 17, 2016 at 2:24pm PDT Aidan Koch workshop at LICAF – Connor’s was next door at same time (note @comeauslomeau appearance) #licaf @aidanalexiskoch #comicsworkbook A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 17, 2016 at 10:05pm PDT This is one of the LICAF locations – ye olde clock tower in Kendal England – from yesterday Sunday #licaf A photo posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 17, 2016 at 1:24pm PDT Share this page: [...]

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