Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in News

Juan Fernández

Posted on September 5, 2016September 5, 2016

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06/30/2017

Sally IngrahamJune 30, 2017NewsSally here with news and comics from November Garcia, Heidi MacDonald, Sophie Yanow and Iona Fox, Anna Haifisch, Sara Lautman, and more! ————————————————————————————————— Rob Clough reviews some mini comics he picked up at CAKE recently, including work by November Garcia. “Malarkey #2, by November Garcia. Garcia is my favorite new autobio cartoonist, especially given the way she’s able to navigate humor and poignant moments with equal aplomb. Malarkey is her catch-all comic where she collects her four-panel gag strips that center around her family, her husband, comics, and life in general in the Philippines.” “Being in the Philippines, Garcia naturally feels quite distant from the North American comics scene, so seeing her do strips about listening to podcasts where her comic is mentioned or fantasizing (positively and negatively) about what going to CAKE would be like have that element present in all of Garcia’s comics: an element of pure joy & excitement about life balanced with anxiety and in particular regret for things she hasn’t actually done yet. That element adds a certain tension to these strips but doesn’t dominate it, as her enthusiasm for life is still the dominant element in her work, and it’s the engine for her sense of humor.“ Read the rest of Rob’s review HERE, as well as his thoughts on Bug Boys #14 by Laura Knetzger, and Dreaming Of Johnny by Sophie McMahan. November Garcia is a recent graduate of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers – check out her course comic HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Heidi MacDonald rounds up the list of comics coming out this Fall for Publishers Weekly. Her Top 10 has some great comics/makers on it, including Going into Town: A Love Letter to New York by Roz Chast (Bloomsbury USA, Oct. 3); Sex Fantasy by Sophia Foster-Dimino (Koyama Press, Sept. 12); Tenements, Towers & Trash: An Unconventional Illustrated History of New York City by Julia Wertz (Black Dog & Leventhal, Oct. 3); House of Women by Sophie Goldstein (Fantagraphics, Oct. 3); and others. View the complete list HERE. ————————————————————————————————— On The Comics Beat Philippe Leblanc reviews What is a Glacier? by Sophie Yanow, Undocumented, The Architecture of Migrant Detention by Tings Chak (part of N.B: Undocumented, an Indiegogo project from Ottawa-based publisher Ad Astra Comix), and Almanac 2017 by Iona Fox. “Reading these three comics gave me some hope that people understand the magnitude of the issues affecting us. Climate change in particular, but also other more complex issues such as migration detention, the burden of individuals toward reducing waste, food security and sustainability, border crossing and others. It was a reminder that knowledge helps to educate to explain complex issues in a relatable way.“ Read the full review HERE. ————————————————————————————————— It’s Nice That has a feature about Anna Haifisch‘s Drifter (Perfectly Acceptable Press, 2017). Needing a break from The Artist and wanting to try a different style, Anna was inspired by publisher Matt Davis’s desire to make a large book, “Floppy and oversized – a shelf nightmare!” and returned to her printmaking origins with this work. “Poetry became a structure in which to develop the narrative. “I came up with this poem like text about a drifting person. Drifting seems to be a thing in the 21st century. Making decisions isn’t my generations strongest point. I am a bit of a drifter myself.” The process in drawing Drifter took “longer than I thought,” quite apt for a publication about meandering. “I was used to drawing up to four pages a day for comic books, with Drifter I barely got one colour layer done per day. I spent a lot of time watching the ink dry.”“ You can see more excerpts from the book and read more about Anna’s process HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Reminder: Printed Matter, Inc. is presenting “Something Unusual is Happening: Experimental Comics and the Art of Visual Narrative”, a group exhibition featuring the work of Lale Westvind, Lala Albert, Brie Moreno, CF, Patrick Kyle, and others. The show opens TONIGHT, amid the fanfare of a Guntit performance (Lale Westvind‘s band with Laura Perez Harris and Tom Toye) – 6-8pm. It will be on view through July 31st. More info can be found HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Here on the site Kurt Ankeny wraps up his spring comics show season with a few words on PIX, CAKE, and MECAF. “So, for those of us in the indie comics circuit, the summer lull is upon us. Summer usually has very few indie-centered shows going on, even though the mainstream comicons are going full blast. The consensus is that generally, indie comics are more dependent on the college and art school crowd, and when they all go home for the summer, it’s hard to gather enough interested folks to hold a show. It seems awfully stupid to join an industry whose main customer base is one of the poorest and busiest groups of people in society, but here we are, at it again, hoping to make a buck.“ Read the rest HERE. ————————————————————————————————— In Other Words It’s time to apply for a spot at Comic Arts Brooklyn (CAB) – or just put the show on your calendar – November 5th (with other related events occurring Nov. 3rd-6th). For a limited time only, get a copy of Sara Lautman‘s new mini Ghost Sex when you order any of her other titles from Birdcage Bottom Books – offer HERE. Also Sara Lautman – this amusing comic in the New Yorker about What Wonder Woman Wonders. Jillian Tamaki talks Boundless on Hyperallergic – “Short Stories Are More Liberating“. Sloane Leong writes a tribute to Meredith Gran‘s Octopus Pie for The Comics Journal. Keiler Roberts‘ Sunburning makes Mental Floss’s list of The 10 Most Interesting Comics of June. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 6-30-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 6-30-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

07/02/2018

Caleb OrecchioJuly 1, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here with thoughts on “Dream World!” by Steve Ditko, and other news! ———————————————————————————————— Okay so Frank was selling this comic, Chamber of Chills no. 19 on Instagram (a 1975 Marvel reprint comic mostly re-presenting comics from Tales to Astonish), and I had to steal it for the time being until it was sold. It contains the Ditko strip, “Dream World” which is really striking. In glorious 9-panel grid, Ditko (and Lee) very tactfully build upon layers of dreams that wake the protagonist only to find he is still dreaming. Think Inception. Ditko uses the 9-panel grid expertly and waltzes us through this man’s dream layers. 1-2-3, 1-2-3-, 1-2-3. Something I find interesting is that the action takes place in the middle tiers whereas the top and bottom tiers are close-ups which show the protagonist’s expressions and emotions (or realizations and reactions). He expertly zooms in and out for emphasis in a way that isn’t tedious, but useful (and natural somehow). Look! you can “read” the strip across the spread without having to follow the rigid comics zigzag reading format and it still makes sense visually. You could also scan the spreads randomly and easily decipher the idea of the pictures. It’s so simple. Really this is a comic where “nothing happens,” which is its strength. It actually reminds me of David Hockney’s Gregory Swimming, Los Angeles, March 31st 1982 (below). Hockney is thinking about and showing how we see and look. An argument could be made that Ditko is showing how we think, and in such a simple way that it resembles how we look or see. ———————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know Michael Dooley talks to Robert Williams and over at TCJ.com. While you’re there, read the latest installment of Austin English’s column, “10 Cent Museum“. Here on the site we have Ian Densford’s Rowhouse Residency report! Happy to see a new episode of Make It Then Tell Everybody. ———————————————————————————————— Thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers Summer Session starts NOW! Floating start date! Apply anytime between now and July 12th 2018 to join the summer course. Email santoroschoolATgmail for more details. Ask about the Fall Course if now is too busy for you! The course is 8 weeks – 500 bux for 8 weeks plus access to Frank’s coaching for as long as you need. Payment plans are available. Put your summer to good use! ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 7-2-18 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

Frank Santoro’s 2016 LICAF Workshop – Notes for Attendees

Frank SantoroOctober 6, 2016Classesthee Comics Workbook crew from the USA Aidan Koch, Frank Santoro, and Connor Willumsen at The Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2016 presentation notes and videos During this presentation I will be referring to this master blog post – please open it in a separate window: http://coldheatcomics.blogspot.com/2015/02/notes-for-comics-symposium.html ================================ Watch these videos later – https://vimeo.com/185881298 ================================ watch the above and consider that “comic books” are the intersection of art and commerce and watch at the end for the doodle by Michelangelo ============================ 1:02 inversion of the traditional hierachy of art – where the doodle, so to speak, is the height of the craft ============================================ 1:04 on becoming a writer incrementally =============================== watch the above and draw a loved one from memory – in your sketchbook – or on a scrap of paper – but it has to be a drawing made with real effort – as if you had someone like a parent or respected elder or friend who knew the loved one and were judging if it looked like the person or not =============================================== Aidan’s work connects to what Dyer speaks of–the inversion of the traditional hierarchy. She isn’t so interested in the “graphic novel” as a proving ground for being a cartoonist in 2016 – the fragments expand the conversation of what is possible within the form and much like Lawrence’s most poetic and mysterious works, like his travel diaries, expand what the idea of a novel is or can be. ============================== Connor’s work connects to Berger’s idea of fighting disappearance Connor’s drawings of loved ones are done “in real life” and through video phone calls and his sequential narratives are often presented “unbound” and exist as numbered drawings and not necessarily as a book at all ========================================================== =================================================== Berger on Storytelling as a space time that exists like music ========================================================= I read a Guy Davenport essay about a Eudora Welty novel which used a very clear symbolism of the Persephone myth and I adapted that symbolism into a “melody” with a 4/4 time signature – I was also thinking about the 8 of an octave–or at least humbly attempting to draw a myth in 8 panels without the normal sequencing–I want a more “all at once” reading. The panels are numbered and it can be read “across the spread” or in a traditional zig-zag or even out of order and I believe the “song” is still heard; the melody is clear and the symbolism there to peel away like an onion. In the Welty novel the symbolism is spread through the characters and the period drama of a southern American wedding in the early 20th century. A sprawling literary use of the symbolism. I wanted to see if I could distill it down to the most core “notes” or “sounds” by using words and pictures (color and line) in the most simple and (i hope) clear way possible to present the symbolism with drawing. =================================== Watch the above “Berger 4” video and then watch the video of Aidan’s “original” drawings made for her books (below) ============================= I feel that Aidan’s work, like Connor’s, and my own, is rooted in the belief that drawing is a language. Letters and words are symbols after all. Lines. Shapes. Words written are but lines drawn, aren’t they? Even the printed word or the word on a computer screen is an image. Comic books are simply words and images together. Comic books and graphic novels and even comic strips have been overly concerned with character serial narrative “soap operas” than they have been with the poetry and mystery of visual literacy. ============================= =========================================== ============================================= Click on the below and then click back. Layout Workbook 3 Back? Great. Then, of course, there is the idea and the reality of genre narratives, like a vampire story or a science-fiction story. These comic books are very different than the “poetic comics” we are discussing here today. HOWEVER, I think that as Berger says “Metaphor is our guide” and so the super-hero escapism of many mainstream comics reflects our 2016 world me thinks (like a Black guy who wants to be bulletproof). In cartooning circles, how one draws is like how one speaks or writes. Connor’s “digressive” drawn line offers a type of “familiar” language that comics are often phrased. The digressiveness is disciplined in service of the genre. Genre and style are just raincoats, umbrellas under which to play within convention and to stretch the idea of what is familiar–the time in the narrative is experienced through the space depicted on the page with such stylized lines—a language unto itself within complex, many drawer-d toolbox that is the craft of comics. (said with a straight face – comic book drawing and this type of pen and ink drawing is often impenetrable by non-initiates) ============================================================ Dyer talks about metaphor and the fictive below (:48) and I think his ideas connect to how cartoonists can use style like a jazz musician and metaphor and invented scenes to serve the wild heights of style – even Aidan can engage in the style game, the dynamism of comics and the space, the glimpse, between the “genre” of western art’s depiction of the figure and how the figure is depicted in *most mainstream comic books ========================== ================================================================== ============================== ============================== ============================== Share this page: [...]

A Studio Visit with Steven Weissman

Chris Anthony DiazJune 6, 2016The Diaz ArchiveBe on the lookout for Steven’s upcoming book LOOKING FOR AMERICA’S DOG from FANTAGRAPHICS this September, and the awesome BUTTER AND BLOOD from RETROFIT is out now. And you can purchase original art and merch directly from Steven. Photos taken in Little Armenia, Los Angeles, Thursday, May 19 2016 and color by Graham Willcox. Thanks Steven! Share this page: [...]

02/28/2018

Juan FernándezFebruary 28, 2018los Cómics / NewsJuan empieza el dia con la Casa Transparente de María Luque, los recreantes de Delius y más! ————————————————————————————————— La Vida en una Casa Transparente – Maria Luque En Revista Cactus, Elizabeth Casillas presenta la nueva novela grafica de la argentina, María Luque: La Vida en una Casa Transparente. Se trata de la vida nómada, sobre apropiarse de los “no lugares” y utilizarlos como fuente de inspiración: María Luque (Rosario, Argentina, 1983) acaba de publicar su última novela gráfica, Casa transparente, un relato autobiográfico en el que cuenta cómo, desde hace unos años, compagina su trabajo de ilustradora y dibujante de tebeos con cuidar las casa de sus amigos cuando se van de viaje. «Pago sus impuestos, riego las plantas y paseo sus perros. Todo el tiempo soy una vecina nueva, en algunas casas no llego a averiguar cuál es la mejor verdulería del barrio y en otras me quedo varios meses y hasta aprendo el nombre de las calles», explica Luque. Casa transparente llega a las librerías gracias a que la autora argentina se ha hecho con el I Premio de Novela Gráfica Ciudades Iberoamericanas que organiza la Unión de Ciudades Capitales Iberoamericanas (UCCI) junto al Ayuntamiento de Madrid y a la Editorial Sexto Piso. El jurado destacó la obra por su calidad, tanto en el dibujo como en el relato, valorando precisamente ese paso de la protagonista por distintas ciudades latinoamericanas –Luque recorre medio continente, de Buenos Aires a México, pasando por Cuzco o Bariloche– en una búsqueda de un espacio propio. Y aunque el jurado añade: «como le sucede a muchos y muchas jóvenes», esta novela gráfica no es necesariamente un relato generacional. Pueden léerlo todo AQUI. ————————————————————————————————— #GRAFBCN2018 Ya viene, ya llega. #GRAFBCN2018 a la vuelta de la esquina. GRAF is coming to Barcelona. Here’s all the info you need for #GRAFBCN2018‘s programming. March 2-4 at the wacky warehouse space, Fabra i Coats. It’s the ninth edition of the Festival so it should get pretty wild. You can sign up for workshops here: http://grafcomic.com/talleres ————————————————————————————————— Los Recreantes Delius (María Delia Lozupone) les ofrece un apunte sobre los “recreantes”* en el 2016. * los campamenteros del c.n.b.a. desde fines de los ’80 hasta ppios de los ’90. Todo en su blog. Delius: Durante el colegio secundario participé en la organización de campamentos para los alumnos, las actividades las organizábamos desde la “Comisión de Recreación” que tenía el centro de estudiantes en aquella época. Es una de las cosas que recuerdo con más alegría de mi paso por el C.N.B.A. Hace algunos años, los amigos de aquella época decidimos volver a reunirnos anualmente para pasar un fin de semana campamenteando, ahora como adultos. Posteo una historieta-apunte de uno que hicimos hace un año y medio, en el 2016, y un par de flyers de cuando decidimos volver a juntarnos, en el 2014. ————————————————————————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: ~ en Español ~ En el último #FanzineMagazine Paloma García Zúñiga habla de “Necrópolis del Este” y el gran MAX les cuenta su música para dibujar con Victor Coyote y Mireia Pérez. Escúchalo aquí. Acabamos de saber que el juicio a Ramón Esono ha sido fijado para hoy. Aquí puedes escuchar su caso, explica su mujer Eloisa Vaello Marco en La Hora del Bocadillo. Esteban Hernández charla en Cafe con Vistas sobre tebeos y su Moneda músical. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 02-28-2018- by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 02-28-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

09/05/2016

Posted on September 5, 2016September 5, 2016 by Juan Fernández

Juan here. It’s Labor Day in the United States, which means no insane barrage of news for today. Just the juicy bits.

Celebrate Labor History

& Mourn the end of summer.

If you’re still hankering for a massive dose of comics jump into this years submissions to the Comics Workbook Composition Contest. There were a record number entries this year and some real gems. Read them all HERE.

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If you haven’t caught wind already, Comics Workbook will be firing on all cylinders at SPX this year.

We are excited to announce that Comics Workbook will be hosting a series of special workshops at SPX this year!
A Danger Room of our own. Learn more about this year’s special Comics Workbook workshops HERE.

We will be at table N8 this year – stop by and say “Hello” – check out new work by Frank and our students – buy some old comics from Frank’s mind blowingly extensive collection. More to come!

We’ll be back full force tomoroow, coming at you like an SPX maelstrom. Hold on to your butts -JF

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in News

Juan Fernández

Posted on September 5, 2016September 5, 2016

Explore

09/21/2018

Sally IngrahamSeptember 21, 2018NewsSally Ingraham here with my Small Press Expo 2018 memories and pictures! (See Juan Fernandez’s SPX report HERE, and read Caleb Orecchio’s thoughts HERE.) ————————————————————————————————— I headed to Bethesda a day early and on Friday I was fortunate enough to tag along on SPX Director Warren Bernard’s annual field trip to the Library of Congress with some of the Expo’s special guests. At the Library of Congress we got to see some of the comics holdings that are kept in the Prints and Photographs collection. Here’s a few that I took note of: After looking at the comics holding for a bit, Emma Ríos, Rina Ayuyang, Liv Strömquist and her son and their travel companion, Kate Harmon, and myself, made the long dangerous trek underground through the maze of the Library of Congress (there were tunnels involved!) to find the Jefferson Building and the Drawn To Purpose show. There was a nice timeline of work made by female cartoonists and illustrators, including the Little Lulu strip I shared at the top of this post, and this Brenda Starr, Reporter piece by Dale Messick: We found our way back to the Madison Building in time to catch Carol Tyler‘s big presentation on her life and comics. Having formed a bond over the morning, Emma Ríos, Rina Ayuyang, Kate Harmon and I continued to hang out for the rest of the day. And as we were leaving the Library of Congress in search of lunch, who should we bump into but Congressman John Lewis…?! (Check out the March trilogy that Congressman John Lewis wrote with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell HERE.) It was a real treat to explore Washington D.C. with my dear friend Kate Harmon, guided by our pal Adam Griffiths, and get to know Emma Ríos and Rina Ayuyang along the way. I knew Spanish cartoonist Emma Ríos‘ work from the Image titles Pretty Deadly, with Kelly Sue DeConnick, and Mirror, with Hwei Lim. In 2016 she put out a comic that she drew as well as wrote (the first comic she has written in English), called I.D., which I’ve been meaning to read (and I was so delighted later in the weekend when she gave me her last copy!) Here’s an interview with Emma from last year that details more of her comics adventures. Rina Ayuyang is originally from Pittsburgh, PA, so we hit it off right away! I’m super excited to read her new book, just out from Drawn & Quarterly – Blame This on the Boogie (get a copy of it HERE). Getting to meet cartoonists like Emma and Rina is why I come to SPX every year. I’m interested in the quick friendships that form because of the common interest that pulls us together. You’ve never met before, and may come from different career/publishing backgrounds, but especially in groups of women I have found that there is a powerful connection and a desire to support and celebrate all the varied comics-making paths that we’ve traversed. I felt that strongly with Emma and Rina, and although our encounter was more incidental, with Liv Strömquist as well. (Check out Liv’s powerful new book The Fruit of Knowledge HERE.) By the end of day on Friday Kate Harmon and I were having dinner with Fiona Smyth, due to a quick invitation in the hotel elevator (another key part of the success of SPX – everyone is in the same hotel!) I am such a big fan of Fiona’s work, and was lucky enough to meet her during her visit to Pittsburgh, PA, a few years ago. It was terrific to catch up and congratulate her in person on her new book, just out from Koyama Press – Somnambulance. Saturday and Sunday at SPX I was completely engrossed in running the Comics Workbook-hosted workshops. These workshops provided a veritable crash-course in comics making, beginning with Juan Fernandez‘s highly energetic intro to image-making as language. This was followed by Dash Shaw‘s in-depth exploration of comics writing, and Molly Ostertag‘s (standing room only!) session on digging a fresh story out of yourself. There were numerous other offerings (we ran 8 workshops this year!) including a clay sculpture workshop with Liz Reed and a Kickstarter intro course with Camilla Zhang. (Big shoutout to Caleb Orecchio for being doorman on Saturday and wrangling the enthusiastic and lengthy lines of folks who attended – and for his own great workshop on Sunday! And to Kate Harmon for helping with supply runs and the door on Sunday!) Saturday night is always bonkers – for me it’s a balance of hanging out with the Comics Workbook and Pittsburgh Comics Salon crew, and finding my more far-flung comics friends to catch up with (Andrew White, M. S. Harkness, Iona Fox!) But despite great conversations and late hours kept, I somehow got up on Sunday morning and drove 30 minutes to Great Falls Park, VA, to pursue the topic of all my own comics lately – BIRDS! Sunday at SPX went by in a flash, and before I knew it we were packing up the workshop room, and I was making a last round of the Expo floor to find cartoonists I’d missed before they in turn packed up and took off. Dinner with Kate Harmon and Emma Ríos and Fiona Smyth, followed by late-night chats with Iona Fox, and then the show was officially over for me. I crawled into bed to sleep for a bit before racing back to Pittsburgh, PA, on Monday morning in time to work at 10 AM… Phew! Thanks to Warren Bernard, Lynda Bernard, Rob Clough, Danethin Mejia, and Eden Miller for the organization behind the show, and especially their help in making the workshops happen. Thanks to Juan Fernandez, Liz Reed, Dash Shaw, Molly Ostertag, Jason Rodriguez and the Latin American Youth Council, Mosi, Camilla Zhang, and Caleb Orecchio for delivering such stellar workshops! And many, many thanks to all the folks who turned up to learn about comics with us over the weekend. See you next year for SPX 2019! ————————————————————————————————— 09-21-2018 – by Niall Breen Share this page: [...]

11/09/2017

Comics WorkbookNovember 8, 2017NewsSam Ombiri with thoughts on Yuichi Yokoyama’s Garden, and Bryce Davidson with info on Grass Green, and South African comics! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: At first I struggled to read Garden more than any other Yuichi Yokoyama book. At one point, maybe out of frustration, I began just reading the images. In Garden, Yokoyama isn’t putting much effort into the emotional build up of his characters, or making their expressions stack up – unlike in World Map Room, where the enjoyment of the words, and what the characters say, is more immediate. The interactions in World Map Room culminate into something larger, something which pushes the rest of the book, and which is key to understanding what structure that the characters will enter next. In Garden, there is no guide, whereas in World Map Room we had Enterprise – and at the very beginning, those mysterious workers who were going across the river. In Garden there is no one to tell the characters what’s going on. After all, the whole book is about trespassing – how then can you have a guide? I like how the characters have no motivation beyond curiosity, and that their trespassing is presented purely as function. It makes their quest all the more unspecific, and therefore their run-ins unspecific. The inherent philosophical tone in their inquiry toward a foreign structure or force affecting them really resonates with me as a reader, and says a lot without saying anything directly, about the nature of the lives we live. It asks questions that are at the back of our minds, ones that don’t form. We can’t always, if ever, present all the attributes of being a human to every second in a story. We have to make concessions, because certain things will strike us automatically, and we like that for many reasons. One reason is that it makes it easier to make and read comics. It’s strange for Yokoyama to try to erase the typical feelings humans possess, and only surrender to certain ones, but, especially in comics we always do this – it always happens. Yokoyama’s concessions with portrayal aren’t concessions at all – he’s directing all his efforts to erase what we’d typically see as a concession, if we were to look. It’s important to note that he’s doing this purposefully, turning what we’d see as a concession into a primary function! (I feel this could make his readers distrustful of his work.) Yokoyama isn’t demanding a huge amount of reaction from doing this – it’s only because he’s interested in doing his work this way that it turns out this way. I think it was Derik Badman who said that World Map Room is basically Yokoyama in a rut. I think that’s a false assessment, just based on the way Yokoyama works. The strip with the copier in New Engineering tells it all – he has run out of ideas from the very beginning, and is creating a new function for the way we draw. It’s judging Yokoyama by the wrong criteria, because he doesn’t engage, as far as I know, with thrilling or entertaining the reader – which is not to say that he does or doesn’t. We as the readers are the ones who react to it. “Why would you be so selective with what emotions are put on display?!” we ask him. While Yokoyama isn’t exactly portraying the characters in a humanistic way, or rather is aiming to disconnect from a humanistic take on the characters (but even to this Yokoyama has to make concessions to his own goal, by making his characters inquisitive at times, as mild as it may be, and a microscopic amount of sentimentality shows up every now and then) he’s still presenting humans. They may not be attached to a specific culture – they are only the specific species of human. Even if the story is told from what he imagines to be the perspective of birds, animals don’t, as far as I know, have a real point of reference for our behavior. His goal is well realized here in Garden, again with no guide and with no one except the other characters to ask questions, the answer often being silence – since they’re trespassers. For those who haven’t read Garden I urge you to read it, not for what I’ve said above – but you have to visit these structures in Garden. Some of the most spectacular stuff is in there. It’s one of the easiest comics I’ve read, and continues to be. Just read the images, and if you feel lost just read what the characters are saying – their words are there simply to help you read the image. You’re traveling with them. – Sam Ombiri Get a copy of Garden (PictureBox, 2011) HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Bryce Davidson here with thoughts on Afri-comics, Grass Green, and tiger men. Before I start I want to introduce myself to the CW readers out there, as this is my first post. I am a cartoonist and illustrator from Boston. I have released multiple comics and anthologies showcasing my work, most of which can be found at my website. I am also a Santoro Correspondence Course alumni and had recently met Frank for the first time in person at SPX this past August. He was nice enough to ask if I wanted to write for the blog so here I am! Also thanks to Sally and the rest of the CW crew for having me. I had very little in mind when starting this article. Most of this was found doing research into the South African comic book market, which had interested me after I had seen images of what I would later know as Afri-comics – all South African comics in the style of popular American titles that were produced from 1976-1978 – on the website, southafricancomicbooks.blogspot.com, which, as far as I can tell is a very extensive, constantly updated, database of South African comics. Most of these appear to be reprints and imports of famous American comics like Superman, Batman, etc. You can look for yourself if you want. The site is credited to George van der Riet, of whom I can’t find much on. The Afri-comics I was finding on there seemed at first to be knockoffs of famous EC titles, re-branded to a South African market, with examples such as, “The Vault of Horror” being replaced by “The Witch Doctor’s Cave”, with really good art. The art was good enough to compete with most of the EC guys, and I thought some of the characters were nice too, Tiger Ingwe especially. While most of these titles had clear American analogues, the aforementioned EC rips and their most popular title, Mighty Man, a blatant Superman knock off. Tiger Ingwe on the other hand seemed kind of his own thing. Half-man, half-tiger, all action. It was a pretty straight-forward title – he went around going on Conan-esque adventures in the jungles of South Africa. Battling tribes, saving people, you get the idea. Still it was nice to see that quality work in a market I otherwise knew very little about. With this peaking my interest I did a little more research into the topic. Pretty much, up until the time that Afri-comics debuted, South Africa was saturated with “Photo Story Magazines.” Serial magazines which used photography and actors to tell stories in a comic format with word balloons and all. They were cheap and quick to produce and very popular. Other than reprints or imports of American comics, there was no official South African-made comics. New and existing artwork of high quality, paving the way for country’s comic scene! Who was making these? Who was this unknown pioneer from Apartheid era South Africa who was producing close to Wally Wood level work? Unfortunately, as it turns out that’s not quite the case. There was a reason it was such a superior EC knock off… It may have been drawn by them. While there are no creator credits listed in the books themselves, according to Nick Wood’s article, “Soweto’s Super Man: ‘Mighty Man’ and the mid-70s in South Africa”: “That funding for the comic had come from a group of Republican Americans, including the media magnate John McGoff – and was developed by Richard Manville, a New York marketing consultant with clients in South Africa. Manville had sold the idea to J. Van Zyl Alberts in South Africa, who ran the pro-government newsweekly ‘To The Point’. Manville had developed the stories with a team of free-lance cartoonists, which apparently included Joe Orlando.” Crazy capitalists pushing republican propaganda to South Africa in the form of Joe Orlando comics? Joe Orlando, for those unfamiliar, is one of the best members of the EC gang. IMHO his story, Judgment Day (1953), which focuses on race politics, still holds up as one of the best sci-fi comics ever. Hands down. The article continues: “ had said: ‘there were certain guidelines…Like not screwing around with the government.’ Orlando had wanted the comic to include one-page outlines of heroes for black readers to identify with, such as the slain leader of the anti- Portuguese struggle in West Africa’s Guinea-Bissau, Amilcar Cabral. Not surprisingly, this idea was turned down and extra short strips run were instead about African folk stories such as ‘Anansi Plays Dead’ and black soccer players in local leagues.” Come to think of it the laws that Mighty Man, “The Human Law Enforcing Dynamo” was enforcing were in fact apartheid laws. Tiger Ingwe on the other hand, whose stories focused on straight action/adventure themes, doesn’t suffer quite as bad; but you can see how awkward it is to have what should be a purely black African character, acting like they are cut out of a Buck Rogers strip. Well it’s a pretty big bummer without a doubt. My hopes of finding the South African Jim Davis were crushed, so I shifted my focus over to Richard “Grass” Green – notable for being the first black participant in the American underground comix scene of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. While his professional work is few and far between, mostly working for Charlatan comics, his fanzine work, most notably Xal-Kor: The Human Cat is great, crazy, trippy, interesting Afro-futurist stuff. Part Kirby, part Ditko, but definitely it’s own thing, Xal-Kor offers a slightly gentler super-hero experience then we are used to. It is defiantly worth reading if you are able to track down the issues. One thing I couldn’t help thinking though is how similar the design was for both Tiger Ingwe and Xal-Kor. Both were obviously tiger men, not exactly a new concept, yet the way they were both depicted in their beastliness was shockingly similar. I noticed the distinction because the other beast hybrid characters I can think of (mostly Japanese) are King from Tekken, Guin from Guin Saga, Tiger Mask, all completely replace the head with the animals’. Xal-Kor and Ingwe don’t do that. Instead the creators chose to retain many of the human features, most notably the noses and mouths. It is a neat choice and seems to push the man/beast metaphor further than purely replacing parts. I can’t say if Grass Green had ever seen Tiger Ingwe or would have known anything about it, but it stands out as a nice little design connection within comic book history. Overall it seems to me that the beast/man motif seems to play nice with a lot of the themes within both the political agendas being pushed into the Afri-comics and the Afro-futurist, civil rights message which rings throughout Xal-Kor. Both works grappling with the burdens of the world through the medium of comics. You can read more about Grass Green and see more of his work HERE. (Bibliography – Wood, Nick. “Soweto’s Super Man: ‘Mighty Man’ and the mid-70s in South Africa.” South African Comic Books, 2011, southafricancomicbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/sowetos-super-man-mighty-man-and-mid.html.) ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 11-9-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 11-9-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ———————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 11-9-2017 – by Juan Fernandez ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

Tac au Tac

Juan FernándezSeptember 18, 2017ResourcesFrom the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, Jean Frappat presented a show that was a joy to watch, Tac au Tac. Based on the concept of exquisite corpses so dear to the surrealists, the show generally set up two, three or even four cartoonists to compete in a friendly drawing match. The concept was simple, efficient, and allowed for many variations: A huge, blank white page and cartoonists equipped with just a simple marker. A theme was proposed (ex. invasion or pursuit), sometimes a visual starting point (simple line, spiral, circle), and the authors improvised, either collaboratively with their peers, or in a duel facing off against their opponents. The result was often far more than a juxtaposition of drawings, it was often a real visual dialogue between cartoonists. The tone of the rare commentaries by Jean Frappat gives an old-fashioned charm to these shows. It is a nice way to casually watch some of the greatest French cartoonists: Franquin, Uderzo, Moebius, Druillet, Roba , Bretecher, and Gotlib. Interestingly, there was a season recorded in New York in the fall of 1972, with guest artists Jim Steranko, Bernie Wrighston, Burne Hogarth, Neal Adams, Joe Kubert and John Buscema who wound up facing off against Gir, Druillet, Forest and Gigi from France. The INA (Institut national de l’audiovisuel) has posted on its site about one hundred Tac Au Tac programs. Below you will find a convenient index of those programs so you can dig in and watch. -Juan August 14, 1969 : Pouzet/Morez against Faizant/Gus August 22, 1969 : Piem against Maurice Henry September 1, 1969 : Philippe/Gébé against Fred/Gotlib September 26, 1969 : (Michel Douay, Mose, Tetsu and Piem) then (Urs, Philippe, Cardon and Jean By) December 15, 1969 : Laville/Soulas against Pichon/Barbe December 22, 1969 : Philippe, Urs, Cardon and Jean By July 5, 1971 : Franquin, Morris, Roba and Peyo July 19, 1971 : Piem, Mose, Trez and Rauch se piègent July 26, 1971 : (Urs, Philippe, Blachon and Jean By) then (Soulas, Laville, Pichon and Barbe) August 2, 1971 : Gotlib, Uderzo, Fred and Gébé August 9, 1971 : (Philippe, Urs, Blachon and Jean By) then (Piem, Trez, Rauch and Mose) August 16, 1971 : (Pichon, Laville, Soulas, Barbe) then (Piem, Trez, Rauch and Mose) August 30, 1971 : Barbe, Pichon, Laville and Soulas September 6, 1971 : Franquin, Morris, Roba and Peyo se piègent September 13, 1971 : (Alexis and Alessandrini) then (Gébé, Cardon, Siné and Philippe) September 20, 1971 : Siné, Philippe, Cardon and Gébé September 27, 1971 : Alexis, Fred, Gotlib and Alessandrini October 11, 1971 : (Piem, Urs, Pichat and Mose) then (Franquin, Morris, Roba and Peyo) October 18, 1971 : Gébé, Philippe and Cardon trap Siné October 25, 1971 : Exquisite Corpse with Gébé, Topor, Bretécher and Cardon November 15, 1971 : Caricatures by Ricord and Mulatier November 22, 1971 : Siné, Desclozeaux, Picha and Puig Rosado play and draw with food. November 29, 1971 : Franquin, Forest, Gigi and Druillet December 6, 1971 : (Gébé, Cardon, Philippe and Siné) then (Siné, Puig Rosado, Picha and Desclozeaux) December 13, 1971 : Franquin, Morris, Roba and Peyo December 20, 1971 : Franquin, Forest, Gigi and Druillet December 27, 1971 : The animals refused from Noah’s arc according to Giraud, Gotlib, Mandryka and Alexis January 8, 1972 :Exquisite Corpse with Cardon, Faizant, Tim and Ghertman January 22, 1972 : Giraud, Gotlib, Alexis and Mandryka February 5, 1972 : Jacques Faizant, Tim, Cardon and Alain Ghertman February 19, 1972 : Bretécher, Barbe, Laville and Loup February 26. 1972 : Druillet, Enric Sio, Buzzelli and Forest March 4, 1972 : Franquin, Bretécher, Uderzo and Fournier March 18, 1972 : Fred, Gébé, Soulas and Philippe March 25, 1972 : Druillet, Enric Sio, Buzzelli and Forest April 1, 1972 : (Piem, Cardon, Siné and Topor) then (Ricord, Mulatier, Solo and Gibo) April 29, 1972 : Jean Giraud faces of Jijé in 4 situations, with Hugo Pratt and Jean-Claude Forest as onlookers May 11, 1972 : Forest faces Hugo Pratt under the scrutiny of Jijé and Giraud May 13, 1972 : Horror with Guido Crepax, Esteban Maroto and Thé Tjong-Khing May 20, 1972 : Jean Giraud challenges Hugo Pratt under the scrutiny of Jijé and Jean-Claude Forest May 27, 1972 : Exquisite Corpse with Cardon, Gébé and Gourmelin June 3, 1972 : Piem, Siné, Cardon and Topor June 18, 1972 : Franquin/Roba against Brétecher/Gotlib June 24, 1972 : The theme of gas inspires Cardon, Gébé and Gourmelin September 16, 1972 : Jean-Claude Forest, Jim Steranko and Robert Gigi on a boat in New York (1) September 30, 1972 : Neal Adams, Joe Kubert and Jean Giraud October 7, 1972 : Exquisite Corpse between Bretécher, Johnny Hart and Parker Brant (no sound) October 14, 1972 : Burne Hogarth, Philippe Druillet and John Buscema in New York October 21, 1972 : Neal Adams, Joe Kubert and Jean Giraud October 28, 1972 : Mike Kaluta, Bernie Wrightson, Forest and Druillet in New York November 4, 1972 : Jean-Claude Forest, Jim Steranko and Robert Gigi on a boat in New York (2 November 25, 1972 : Fred, Gébé, Soulas and Philippe December 2, 1972 : Tillieux, Jidéhem, Morris and Brétécher December 9, 1972 : Piem and Siné December 16, 1972 : Piem against Siné December 23, 1972 : Desclozeaux and Puig Rosado drawing dreams December 30,1972 : Dali Special (without drawing) July 29, 1973 : Bretécher, Fred, Soulas, Gourmelin, Desclozeaux and Serre August 5, 1973 : Exquisite Corpse with Laville and Barbe August 26, 1973 : Serre, Cardon and Gourmelin (without sound) September 2, 1973 : caricatures by Ricord and Mulatier September 9, 1973 : childhood by Cardon, Serre and Gourmelin September 15, 1973 : Exquisite Corpse with Jean-Claude Forest and Gourmelin September 22, 1973 :Exquisite Corpse with Tim, Cardon, Desclozeaux and Faizant September 29, 1973 : Tim, Cardon, Jacques Faizant and Desclozeaux July 26, 1975 :Exquisite Corpse between Greg/Dany and Goscinny/Uderzo August 2, 1975 : Piem against Siné August 9, 1975 : Gourmelin, Cardon and Forest August 23, 1975 : Serre against Christian Broutin August 30, 1975 : Piem, Wiaz, Tim and Maja September 6, 1975 : caricatures with Ricord and Mulatier September 13, 1975 : The Storm Forest, Cardon and Gourmelin September 20, 1975 : Bretécher/Gotlib against Giraud/Druillet September 27, 1975 : Christian Broutin and Claude Serre improvising October 4, 1975 : Buzzelli, Peter Foldes and Thé Tjong-Khing October 11, 1975 : Maja, Piem, Tim and Wiaz October 18, 1975 : Christian Broutin against Claude Serre Share this page: [...]

A Studio Visit with Steven Weissman

05/04/2018

Sally IngrahamMay 4, 2018NewsSally here with Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Hillary Chute, Roz Chast, Jennifer Camper, and many more! ———————————————————————————————————— Hillary Chute takes a look at comics in black and white for The New York Times, reviewing Eleanor Davis‘ most recent work, Why Art?, and John Porcellino’s From Lone Mountain, concluding with a mention of Jennifer Camper. Hillary Chute suggests that there is nothing simple about these comics, although their appearance may lead you to believe otherwise. About Eleanor Davis’ book she writes: “Eccentric and visually inventive, answering all the many questions it raises, “Why Art?” is about the power that comes from creating. The art that we mold with our own hands shows us how to be strong; it shows us how to live.“ Chute notes the “zine-style” display of Porcellino’s work, and the quiet power behind his lyrical and sweet comics. She ties Davis and Porcellino to Jennifer Camper on the basis of their shared dedication to “the punk-inspired world of self-publishing” and references a new comic by Camper that appears in the April/May issue of The Believer. “Camper’s piece is devastatingly timeless and current at once. It includes hard-to-look-at scenes of assault, rendered in a black and white much less airy than either Porcellino’s or Davis’s. The discomfort it produces is its strength — another potent answer to the question “why art?”“ Read the whole article HERE. I highly recommend both Davis and Porcellino’s new books – and you can get a copy of The Believer HERE. Here’s the first page of a comic from 2003 by Jennifer Camper – you can read the rest HERE. ———————————————————————————————————— The Gothamist is running a series called Sketchy Interviews – visual interviews with cartoonists, illustrators, and graphic artists currently working in NYC. First up is Roz Chast! As you might guess, her answers to the interview questions are both funny and personal. See them all HERE. ———————————————————————————————————— The book (above) is out and Aline Kominsky-Crumb has been on tour and is FINALLY getting a lot of press and hype, and the recognition that she deserves! Called “the whiny grandmother of tell-all comics” by CBC Radio, she has been long-overlooked and even hated by fans of her husband, Robert Crumb. The recent Drawn & Quarterly reissue of her 1990’s collection – expanded to include 40 pages of new work, and sporting the hefty title Love That Bunch: Food, Sex, Death, Pain, Romance, Joy – is her only solo work in print. The Montreal Gazette writes: “A thread connecting all of Kominsky-Crumb’s work, and a quality especially evident in Love That Bunch, is the dynamic tension between self-deprecation and self-assurance. Yes, she’s hard on herself, but it takes real strength to reveal so much. “That was one of my arguments with the early feminists — that to learn to reveal your weaknesses and ugliness, you have to feel OK about yourself,” she said. “They thought I was being a poor role model. They didn’t understand that it’s a gift to other people, to allow them to get rid of it and live with it better. Even now, some people will say ‘Why do you draw yourself so ugly? Do you really feel that bad about yourself?’ I say: ‘Not really, but I’ve been there and I’ve lived through those feelings. Everybody does sometimes.’ I feel confident enough to expose that about myself and be willing to live with the results of it.” “ Read the rest of the article HERE. ———————————————————————————————————— Weekend Brunch The Comics Journal is running another A Cartoonist’s Diary, this time with Fiona Smyth sharing a week in her life – check it out HERE. John Seven reviews Jessica Campbell‘s new comic – XTC69 – (out from Koyama Press in a week!) for The Comics Beat – read the review HERE. Here’s a nice check in with Pénélope Bagieu, whose recent book Brazen tells the stories of dozens of female rebels and heroes – on MSN News. Rob Kirby reviews Love That Bunch – the deluxe hardcover reissue of Aline Kominsky-Crumb‘s original 1990 comic – on The Comics Journal. San Francisco Magazine has a list of famous female creators (of comics, film, and TV) who are the direct “Nasty Gal” decedents of Aline Kominsky-Crumb – HERE. Hillary Brown interviews Vera Brosgol, during which they discuss Brosgol’s new comic – Be Prepared – for Paste Magazine. ———————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-4-2018 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

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