Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged Connor Willumsen, correspondence course, sam ombiri, SPX

Sally Ingraham

Posted on September 15, 2016

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10/25/2018

Caleb OrecchioOctober 25, 2018NewsYour friendly neighborhood Caleb Orecchio here with a public service announcement. ————————————————————————————————— Hello fellow cartoonists, winter is on its way. For some, winter is practically here. Don’t be an Ice Worm this year. Don’t hole up in your lair until some wayfaring stranger comes across your cave to slay you. Get out of the house. Have coffee with a friend. Check in on a relative. Exercise. It is important to take advantage of the cold weather by staying in to work on your comics, but don’t forget that the world keeps turning outside the drawing desk. This has been another message from your friend, Caleb, the cartoonist who cares. ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

05/08/2017

Caleb OrecchioMay 7, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here with the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers, great finds from Comic Book Day (Morphos the Shapechanger, Ms Mystic, Oriental Heroes #7), plus other comic news! ————————————————————————————————— Announcing the Summer Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers! 8 weeks! 500 bux! Payment plans are available! Summer Course starts June 1st 2017! Applications are due by May 25th. Visit THIS page for more details and email santoroschool@gmail.com with applications and questions! Caleb here: I took the above-mentioned course back in 2014 and it literally changed my life. No, I’m not paid to say that! Once you take the Course, there will be things you can’t un-see in art, geometry, and life. It’s like “The Secret” for cartoonists. But don’t take my word for it, the great Graeme Shorten Adams recently completed his comic for the Course. Check it out on his Tumblr, then message him and say something nice, then go sign up for the Course. ————————————————————————————————— This past Saturday was Free Comic Book Day 2017. As usual, Fantagraphics offered the best deal. Where most publishers put out a preview of upcoming comics (which is fine, afterall they are printing books that will be FREE), Fanta put out all new or unused material by their cartoonists in this year’s FCBD contribution. Plenty of great stuff, most notably Matt Furie’s closure with his famous publicly-abused character, Pepe. RIP. Other contributors included Anya Davidson, Emil Ferris, Dash Shaw, Joshua Cotter, Jason, Graham Chaffee, Richard Sala, Ron Rege, Jr., Eric Haven, Ed Luce, Noah Van Sciver, Tommy Musturi, Ed Piskor, Simon Hanselmann, and Cathy Malkasian. ————————————————————————————————— BUT, as we all know, the absolute best part of FCBD are the deals! Here are three highlights from my dive into the quarter bin at my preferred (depends on what I’m hunting for) local store here in Dayton, OH, Mavericks. I had recently glanced over an article from Off The Beaten Panel about Burne Hogarthe’s last comic, Morphos the Shapechanger so I was delighted to find it for 25¢ and in great condition at Maverick’s. It leans more in the direction of, as R. Fiore said about Kirby’s work in the mid-70s, (I’m paraphrasing from memory) “interesting work” as oppose to “good comics,” but nonetheless a comic worth seeking out. Complete with an introduction by Gary Groth and a prose “epilogue” by Burne’s collaborator on Morphos, Harry Hurwitz. The epilogue serves as an end and describes what would have happened in the next three of four issues if Hogarth had lived to see it through. Pacific Comics, along with Vortex and Eclipse, remains one of my favorite defunct or bought-out comic-book publishers of the 80s. I know PC mostly for their Kirby comics: i.e. Captain Victory and Silver Star; but I was very happy to find a copy of the “Origin Issue” of the great Neal Adams’ Ms. Mystic. It’s fun—great action comic. I had heard of the Hong Kong publisher, Jademan Comics from either a Brandon Graham or Frank Santoro epsiode of Inkstuds, but I can’t remember. Oriental Heroes #7 (yes, that’s the title) looks like a fusion between Ben Marra and Jim Rugg brought together by an eastern influence. Tony Wong’s (publisher of Jademan Comics and artist of this book) layouts and colors are crazy. A more traditional, rigid grid for scenes of talking and browbeating, and unhinged grids that overlap and slash into each other for intense, devastating action and violence. Some panels are rendered in a more Corben-esque way (more “realistic”) to further intensify the action. Wholly gratifying for those of you looking for that sort of thing. I laughed out loud when I saw that Mike Baron of Nexus-fame had “script” credit. It’s funny to me for some reason. ————————————————————————————————— If you don’t know, now you know Jay Disbrow, a golden-age cartoonist and victim of the The Comic Book Code of 1954, has passed away. If you don’t know, Disbrow had a comic published by Fantagraphics in 1979 called The Flames of Gyro. This was technically Fanta’s first published comic (unless you count Don Rosa’s Tagdenah which was serialized in The Comics Journal—or other strips Groth published in his fanzines during his teens), predating Love and Rockets by three years. He made a sequal called Aroc of Zenith which he serialized weekly on the web! Joe McCulloch talks a bit about these works on Comic Books Are Burning in Hell but I can’t seem to find which epsiode it was. Michael Tisserand, author of Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White sits down with one of my favorite interviewers, Elvis Mitchell, to talk about his new Herriman biography. I personally have just started reading the book and already the first chapter blew me away. The amount of in-depth investigation Tisserand did on this legendary cartoonist is nothing short of remarkable. Of course you know TCAF is this weekend and our own CW superstar, Tyler Landry will be running a workshop on making comics. His workshop titled, Comics Workbook: Composing a Spread will take place at 12:30 pm on Sunday May 14th, in the Writer’s Room on the 3rd story of the Toronto Reference Library. Check out the rest of the programming and exhibiting cartoonists as well. Also worth noting, Koyama Press is celebrating their 10th anniversary at TCAF. Aaaaaaand new from Matthew Thurber! Need I say more? ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 5-8-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-8-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 5-8-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

07/24/2017

Caleb OrecchioJuly 23, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here with The Power of Kirby and other news. ———————————————————————————————— all images herein are from the collection of comics given to me by my dad and uncle from when they were kids, circa 1976 to 1978. All images are drawn by Jack Kirby. The Power of Kirby Jack King Kirby, the powerhouse conundrum who unwittingly created the foundation of modern day popcorn flicks, is undoubtedly thee heavyweight champion of the comic book. Often, I think, it is hard to convince the layperson of the prowess of Jack. The boys who grew to men who are now my dad’s age (just turned the big five oh) have a less fond memory of him. At the point my dad would have seen Kirby’s work, Jack was drawing at his most “square” – that is to say, to my mind, his most “Kirby.” This was between 1976 and 1978, at the time my dad was 9, 10, and 11 and evidently a connoisseur of comic book quality. This was also arguably one of the lowest points in comics history as far as the amount of good comics on the stands and the amount of money pumping through the industry. At this point in time Kirby was working on such Marvel titles as Devil Dinosaur, Machine Man, Captain America and Falcon, Black Panther, 2001: A Space Oddysey, Captain America Bicentennial Battles, some Thor covers, etc. Basically, titles that have become very revered by today’s cartoonists. My dear ol’ dad would have none of it though. This is how I know… My dad had ZERO Kirby comics in his collection as a child. I know this because I inherited these comics when I was seven – my first comics! My dad really liked The Hulk, Spider-Man, Star Wars, The Champions, The X-Men, Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Two in One – stuff like that. It wasn’t until I convinced my uncle (my dad’s younger brother by a year or two) to give me his collection from the same era that I was exposed to Kirby. HE seemed to like Kirby whether he knew it or not. He had a few of the reprints Marvel put out like Marvel Super Action (reprinting Captain America runs) and Marvel’s Greatest Comics (reprinting Lee/Kirby era FF). I have a feeling the covers caught his eye. He even had The Mighty Thor #252 that had a Kirby cover. My dad would have never got a comic with a Kirby cover. How do I know he’d never knowingly buy a comic with a Kirby cover? Well one day I was meeting him for coffee. I live in Dayton, OH and he was driving from Cincinnati to Columbus for a conference. If you don’t know, Dayton is more or less in between so it’s what inspired my dad to ask me to meet for coffee. Anyway, I thought I’d get to the coffee shop way before him and so I brought along one of those 80’s reprints of New Gods to read while I waited. You know the ones? They had new covers by Kirby and mostly dumb essays by Mark Evanier in the back. Recolored and all that. Basically, my dad would have not been aware of these. He got there and saw the comic and pointed to it, “That’s an oldie but a goodie.” You have to understand he was referencing his familiarity with Kirby’s drawing style rather than his affinity for the work or his familiarity with the particular book sitting on the table. “What?” I said, “You didn’t have any of this guy’s comics in your collection. How do you know him?” He replied with a sour face, “I never liked him. He drew too square. Too blocky.” “But you know this is him?! This comic came out in the 80’s! You read comics in the seventies!” “Yeah. His style is distinct.” This, true believers is one of the many facets to Kirby’s genius. He carves his lines right into the lining of your brain. Whether you like him or not, you cannot forget Kirby. Now, if I had, say, Conan the Barbarian #99 at that table that day I met with my dad, he still would have said that’s an oldie but a goodie but he would have meant it. And he would remember having that comic and reading it and that he liked it probably, but he wouldn’t have known it was by John Buscema or written by Roy Thomas or anything particular like that. He may have just said, “It was cool and I liked the art.” Do you see what I’m trying to say? Do not underestimate the King. Kirby IS comics. He can draw his way into your dreams and nightmares. He can brand his vision into your eyes forever. So much so that after 40 years have passed, whether you like him or not, you can spot a Kirby drawing wherever it may be – namely at your son’s table at the coffee shop in Dayton, OH. ———————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know I think it’s interesting when the mainstream media tries to be hip to comics. They almost always drop the ball. The real cartoonists tend to get the shaft. Like this LA Times article that spends more time on Wayne Brady than it does on the fact that the Hernandez Brothers made it into the Eisner Hall of Fame. Kudos to Rob Clough for fighting the good fight and getting some good nominations out there this year. There’s going to be a lot of post San Diego Comic Con news this week. Here is one about comics for kids, particularly girls. The proliferation of Wonder Woman fandom is pretty interesting. I think a lot of it stems from the new movie obviously, but also from the book by Jill Lepore. And I’d be remiss not to mention Ron Regé Jr. So when I saw this trailer, I was both surprised and not surprised. There is a roundtable discussion over at TCJ.com concerning Gary Panter’s latest book. Also if you didn’t know, Panter is on Instagram now:) ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 7-24-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 7-24-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

11/28/2016

Juan FernándezNovember 28, 2016NewsJuan here with Ghengis Con Cleveland Check in; Gou Miyagi; Suzanne Ciani; Appplications for the Santoro Correspondence Course. ————————————————————————————————— I was just in Cleveland with the CW gang at Ghengis Con Cleveland. Sally Ingraham, Caleb Orecchio, Frank Santoro, Jenn Lisa and yours truly. I had a great time. Lots of fun. I love my team. John “draw hard” G. organized a cozy, profitable afternoon of comics sellers. He did an amazing job for this special show. This is my third year attending. I grew up in Cleveland, so there’s something very personal about coming back to where I grew up annually. It’s a good rustbelt comics reunion.The local seasons cycle is nice. Healthy. Ghengis Con in Cleveland November as winter sets in. PIX in Pittsburgh in April as spring cracks apart winters icy clutch. I’ll be sharing my experience there with you later this week in my Ghengis Con 2016 Report. The who’s who, the what’s what and favorite books from the show. Stay tuned Got some great photos.Lots of smiling faces, good conversations, hot coffee. No news for today. This is more important. Watch this: Listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73hRNJ0YkiM&t=395s Do your drills. ————————————————————————————————— Oh yeah, and don’t you forget that we’re still taking applications for the Winter term of the Santoro School Correspondence Course. Applications are coming in left and right, don’t get left behind! 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! More details can be found HERE – or email santoroschoolATgmail. 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 – dont post to your blog pls -specific url links to any comics work you have done. Send applications to: santoroschoolATgmail Share this page: [...]

12/20/2017

Juan FernándezDecember 20, 2017los Cómics / NewsJuan empieza el día con Entreviñetas 2018 y otros trocitos jugosos! —————————— ENTREVIÑETAS 2018 Desde ya te invitamos a marcar las fechas en el calendario del próximo año. #FestivalEntreviñetas2018. Medéllin | 3-6 Mayo – 2018 Bogotá | 26-30 Septiembre – 2018 Aquí puedes lanzar ideas para presentar tu trabajo como autor, editor o gestor en el #FestivalEntreviñetas2018 —> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdrGer3ywbKGALEScNma0g_4o9L31oXimbrxD2jvQr2bkMkqQ/viewform ————————————————————————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo tienen una nueva edicion de La Polola Podcast! Las chicas conversan con varios de los participantes de la Furia del Libro 2017: Pato Mena, Karlo Humor, Daniela Thiers, Vero Rodríguez, Carlos Andueza, Marli, Caro Celis, Garvo, Florencia Olivos, Isa Molina, Simón López, Paula Ilabaca, Pamela Aravena y Lucho y sus serigrafías. Revista Kamandi nos ofrece la primera parte de un debate en torno a la idea de “vanguardia” en el cómic. Participan Horacio Muños y Gerardo Vilches. Miguel R. Fervenza‏ le dedico unas líneas al cómic «Vampir» de Joann Sfar y a la estupenda edición de Fulgencio Pimentel. Klari Moreno charla con la dibujante Juan Zhou y lo plasma en forma de original entrevista dibujada. Este 2017 la editorial mexicana, Ediciones Hungría editó un mazo de tarot hecho por Rodrigo Téllez Repetto con personajes, paisajes, objetos y escenas de películas del cineasta sueco Ingmar Bergman y con el cual resignificaron este juego adivinatorio. El cómic colombiano premiado en Japón: ¡Dos Aldos de Pablo Guerra y Henry Diaz ganó medalla de oro en el 11th Japan International MANGA Award! ————————————————————————————————— The Winter Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers starts January 16th 2018! 8 weeks – 500 bux – coaching for as long as you need. The course is hard, but Frank will push your comics making practice to a new level, getting you to think about timing and color in new ways. Makes a great holiday gift for yourself – or for a loved one who is interested in comics. Apply by midnight (EST) on Dec. 25th and get $100 off the course price. Full details and how to apply can be found HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 12-20-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 12-20-2017 – by Frank Santoro Share this page: [...]

09/15/2016

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Sally Ingraham

Sally here to introduce a new Daily News team member and run you through the Comics Workbook happenings this week, in between making books and packing the car for the big trip to Small Press Expo this weekend…!

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sam-comics-salon — Pittsburgh cartoonists – L-R Jonas Goonface, Sam Ombiri, Sally Ingraham, Juan Fernandez, Lane Graff

This week we are joined by Samuel Ombiri, a Pittsburgh cartoonist and one of the cornerstones of our monthly Pittsburgh Comics Salons (pictured above). To kick off his CW Daily News career, Sam shares some thoughts on “Furukawa and Nara”. He writes:

“An Interview With Yoshimoto Nara

Above is a link to a dialogue [between Yoshimoto Nara and Hideo Furukawa] that’s pretty inspiring to me in kind of a symbolic manner (Hideo Furukawa is probably my favorite author – or maybe not).

I found an album where he’s featured in a track (and there’s a track by Oval and the Zs – it almost feels like a dream, but I wish I could speak Japanese in this dream I’m having.)

I don’t have a favorite artist, because it would be physically painful to pick one, but let’s pretend that Yoshimoto Nara is my favorite artist (though to be honest I don’t know too much about him – Ian Jones-Quartey did a really cool short based off his work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrpmIZlFpWY )

So on a shallow level …words and images… and I guess.. comics right?

Though I don’t know if their words and images would compliment each other too well if put together, but I look at howww they are maybeee people with massive strengths in their own domain, and them coming together to talk gives me power……..If I was better at writing I’m sure I’d be able to articulate this concept better – that’s it! I give up!

“The only thing I allow myself to expect is that something unexpected will happen or appear through the course of writing. This ‘something unexpected,’ which underlies the work in a piece of writing should be independent from the writer, and only then does this ‘something’ emerge. In this way the writer is simply a bridge between the piece and image to be delivered. The writer wouldn’t need to claim ‘This is My work. Read My story.” – Hideo Furukawa

Oddly Cozy. Photo by Keizo Kioku. Copyright Yoshitomo Nara. Courtesy of the artist and Pace Gallery, NY.

“As for me, I don’t care much about the audience and their reactions nowadays. It might be another effect of aging. What I wish now is that my works remain for, say, 200 years after my death. I hope they are strong enough, in various senses to over to overcome the disappearance and death of the person who’s created them.” -Yoshimoto Nara

Thanks for sharing this Sam – here’s the link again to the full conversation between Furukawa and Nara. Sam will continue to contribute news items and his own thoughts in the coming weeks – and probably a comic or two!

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Bethesda, MD – where we will be this weekend, in force – look for the blue shirts! Some of the fantastic workshops Comics Workbook is offering at SPX this weekend will be standing room only based on the signup numbers! We hope to see you there. Full Small Press Expo details HERE!

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Applications for the fall semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers are due September 16th 2016 – course starts September 23rd. FULL DETAILS HERE. The course is filling up, so if you are interested make sure to shoot us an email asap at santoroschoolATgmail…!

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Once again presenting this unique opportunity to get a rare Connor Willumsen book. “Swinespritzen” is now available from Comics Workbook. Connor and Frank Santoro reprinted this classic wacky pack originally produced for Breakdown Press in 2014. We have recreated the original item right down to the envelopes, paper, and crappy glue-job that Connor manifested one late night at Kinkos. We will have these at SPX but this is an extremely limited edition – so if you want one email santoroschoolATgmail or DM @santoro.frank on Instagram!

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I’ll be back with more news tomorrow (and hopefully full of the mysterious calm that descends right before a momentous occasion…?) Cheers – Sally

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged Connor Willumsen, correspondence course, sam ombiri, SPX

Sally Ingraham

Posted on September 15, 2016

Explore

07/04/2016

Juan FernándezJuly 4, 2016NewsJuan Fernandez here with: Daniel Clowes at the Bay Area Book Festival; Ronald Wimberly on spec work for corporations; Gabrielle Bell’s July Diary; Lauren Weinstein at the shore; Lunch at Alcatraz Jr.; Aline Kominsky-Crumb und Robert Crumb. ————————————————————————————————— On the site: New in the DIAZ ARCHIVE: http://comicsworkbook.com/daniel-clowes-talk-at-the-bay-area-book-festival-2016/ ————————————————————————————————— No More Free Work for Corporations Stop Doing Spec Pages Pt. 1 Ronald Wimberly: A quick preface: Yesterday a friend of mine told me the story of how she was scouted by DC Comics to participate in their “talent” workshop. My colleague, who worked as a professional for 7 years and had books from Marvel under her belt, made time to meet up with a rookie editor only to subject herself to the editor’s rejection and novice opinion as to how my colleague may one day meet the standards of the DC talent workshop- some other time I’ll talk about how lame this DC Comics talent workshop is in how it is manufacturing the spectacle of demand for their brand by creators and using that to forego the cost and editorial aptitude it takes to curate and build a stable of … but they had the gaul to ask my colleague to do test pages, so here’s my opinion on that. Pt. 2. Ronald Wimberly: If you can’t generate surplus value, then your business model is broken, fam. That means you need to go out of business or fix it. You don’t fix it by getting free labor. Or you can, but that is unjust. ————————————————————————————————— Gabrielle Bell’s July Diary July is here and that means that it’s time to relish in Gabrielle Bell’s July Diary. Since 2012, every July, except for 2015, Gabrielle Bell has been posting a “July Diary,” on her site, which have been collected in her book Truth is Fragmentary from Uncivilized Books. Subscribe to Bell’s blog and receive Bell’s comics in your inbox on the regular. Oh, what a day! This year, Bell is shaking things up a bit in her process. It’s going to be really excited to see where her new process takes her stories… This year I’ve set the parameter for myself of no penciling, no erasing, no revising, no redrawing, no editing. It still isn’t exactly a diary though. If it were really a diary, I’d be exposing all my ugly secrets, my inappropriate crushes, the people I hate and all kinds of incriminating and compromising information about everyone I know. I’d love to do that but it took me so long to get the friends I’ve got and I’d like to keep them. You could call this a journal but I don’t like that word either…it sounds too much like “journaling.” At this point it’s an experiment and I’ll figure out what it is in the future hindsight. ————————————————————————————————— Drawn Together: Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Robert Crumb at Cartoonmuseum Basel 7.2-11.13.2016 A comprehensive exhibition that charts the history of Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Robert Crumb’s collaborative work in their comics series Drawn Together has just opened at Cartoonmuseum Basel. If you’re in Switzerland, you won’t want to miss out on seeing this bit of taboo busting underground comics history in the flesh. ————————————————————————————————— “… I can feel time passing and it aches.” Summer vacation comics from Lauren Weinstein over on the Guardian. Frageile memory, raw parenthood and wild horses swirl together in this one. ————————————————————————————————— New Street Angel update: Jesse’s first breakfast in the big house! So gross yummy! SUBSCRIBE here to keep up with Street Angel news + art via Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca. ————————————————————————————————— New Private Rowhouse Auction – 7.3-7.9 Last but not least, we have a new private auction up at auction.comicsworkbook.com! Lots of old and new comics for you to take home. email Frank Santoro at santoroschoolATgmail for a password, if you don’t already have one. If you already have a password, it is the same from last week. All funds go to helping keep the lights on and further developing the school. Connor Willumsen is offering commission sketches that you don’t want to miss out on, all at different tiers. Don’t sleep on your chance to get work by this contemporary heavy hitter. ————————————————————————————————— soak up the sun, bomb some hills, and feel the wind in your hair, until next time! JF Share this page: [...]

03/31/2016

HarrisonMarch 31, 2016News Cameron Weston Nicholson and Harrison G. Prince here with news and musings on work music, vegetables, blocks, and other things. ————————————————————————————————— Cameron Weston Nicholson is an exciting and talented artist out of Richmond, VA who’s work can be found on Comics Workbook. Here he is on music, mindset, and poetry. Sometimes you just can’t find that right side of the pillow right? One side is too cold, the other too hot, and the middle ground is where you end up sleeping with no pillow at all. While working I try to find music that powers my mind (depending on the project). Lately, poems have been my main priority. So how do you find that middle ground between music that doesn’t take your thoughts away from words you’re trying to conjure? I’ve got a couple remedies that work for me, but could possibly help you aswell. With news updates comes busy times. Here are some choices of music that mellow out and empower my mind simultaneously. “Breakfast with Ringgo” is a series of YouTube videos that have been keeping me going day and night. Listening to recordings of beat makers is soothing for a couple reasons. You have music (mainly beats) which automatically puts your mind in a trance, but you also have the subtle commentary of those in the room. This series makes you feel like you’re listening to a podcast. Hearing a “voice” is comforting when it’s miscellaneous and choppy. True Body is a local band based in Virginia Beach, Va that has caught my attention. Experimental with beautiful synths and a great voice on top of it. These are just two things that can get your fingers warmed up for any intense/good day of working. Give them a try, relax, and remember to drink some water! ————————————————————————————————— Mexican/Texan artist Ines Estrada made a funny update to her Pachecomics series a few days ago. Don’t open this one around kids, prudes, or the humorless. Also, make sure to check out the Gatosaurio collective from San Antonio for more comics and art too. ————————————————————————————————— Continuing off of what Jillian was talking about yesterday about finishing work, the video above from filmmaker Ze Frank shares some interesting thoughts about idea generation and getting unstuck. This particular passage (8:08) about rhythm and recognition resonated with me…. “Almost everything you do has a rhythm, and the rhythm gets established without you knowing it. For example, if you listen to yourself talk, you record yourself or something like that, you’ll notice that you have very specific rhythms, and often people when they speak in public get into a pattern of speaking in the same, exact, way. I think there is a pattern of expectation and release that in and of itself kind of starts to wash out because we tend to stop listening to patterns once we’ve identified them. So the challenge is to identify as many rhythms as possible, in all facets of the media that you’re making, and then break them.” ————————————————————————————————— Along with Cam’s choices, here’s my old school pick for the week. Listen with your good headphones. Until next week. -Harrison Share this page: [...]

01/15/2018

Caleb OrecchioJanuary 15, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here with thoughts on Dash Shaw’s Spider-Man story from Strange Tales II, and more news.————————————————————————————————— Last week I talked a bit about Dash Shaw’s Doctor Strange comic from the first volume of the indie-cartoonist-superhero-anthology, Strange Tales. This week I was thinking about his Spider-Man comic for Strange Tales II. A meta, meditation on the Sam Rami movies, with a quote from Toby Maguire about his famous upside-down kissing scene with Kirsten Dunst at the end. This idea runs parallel with a Spider-Man v Mysterio fight with the latter using his “vapors of deception! Deceit!” I enjoy this comic as much as I enjoy all Dash Shaw comics. Shaw is usually not without something to say in his work: Spider-Man is on “some kind of elaborate film stage,” trapped by Mysterios deceitful fog until he finds his way out and falls into “Garbage! That’s where the spiders thrive!” Out of the theater and into the trash where he belongs. Where Spider-Man is best. I like this comic because Shaw is “selling out” (one could argue by working with Marvel) whilst simultaneously calling a childhood obsession (from Marvel) “garbage,” yet, lovingly. There is an irony that resides in this story and its circumstances that I relish. It’s an earnest love letter to trash. I always enjoy rereading this one. ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know now you know Alex Wong talks to Jason Shiga at TCJ.com. I somehow missed that Chris Ware was a guest on RiYL. Conan the Barbarian is returning to Marvel in 2019. The latest guest on Inkstuds is Zach Hazard Vaupen. Have you checked out our own Sally Ingraham’s birding blog? Check out William Cardini’s Skew on Study Group if you’ve been snoozing. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 1-15-2018 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

03/04/2019

Caleb OrecchioMarch 4, 2019NewsWe’re back! Thanks for tuning in! ————————————————————————————————— Caleb Orecchio here with a “process” post on my use of modularity in comics ————————————————————————————————— Chris Ware made a comic called Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. The story was first serialized in various formats and dimensions (comic books and newspapers) before all the strips were compiled into the graphic novel published by Pantheon. Ware used the modularity of the grid to make decisions about panel placement, panels per page, etc. When every panel is the same dimension you can make choices about how two pages of a mini-comic can combine together to make one page of a graphic novel or how one newspaper page can make two comic book pages. The main idea here is modularity. I make a comic strip called Cement Mixer these days. I am currently serializing a story about the Arcadian huntress/hero, Atalanta. This strip appears both on this site and on my instagram page semi-daily. Eventually I want to self-publish this story as a standard-sized comic book. Here is how I make this comic a ‘strip’ and how I will eventually make this comic a ‘book.’ Below are the first three strips of the story published on this site and on instagram: This is how these three strips will look as a comic book spread (or at least this is what it looks like in InDesign right now): The spread comes first in the drawing process. Print is still king. But I am thinking about the web when making the spread so I started considering the first two tiers of each page as a section; a 1234 rhythm – one strip. This approach can be difficult. The challenge and goal is that the traditional zigzag flow of a comic book becomes optional when reading the work. My aim is that the use of diagonal/mirroring images and repetition creates an independent rhythm outside of the expected 6-panel page rhythm. I can code the sequences with color and use that as a guide for the reader. Sometimes I make the sequencing of the spread more fluid and amorphous to allow for more variation with the daily strip. To further the idea of free flowing/amorphous sequencing, I wanted the above spread to read across the page “out of order” if one’s eye so chose. So each tier could work as a unit. Therefore, in theory, I could have made strips by stacking respective tiers together. The challenge then is to depict actions in sequences throughout the spread in a way that does not disrupt the story itself. Do you follow? Below roughly illustrates the sequence variations I had in mind with this spread apart from the traditional way to read comic books. However, when dialogue or narration is introduced, this technique gets tricky. In these cases, to avoid confusing the reader with my gimmicks, I rely on the tried and true way of reading comics to determine how my strips will flow. Keep it simple sailor. ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

05/26/2017

Sally IngrahamMay 26, 2017NewsSally here with work by Gloria Rivera and Vreni Stollberger, a reality check from Hannah Berry, an update on the Resist! and Comics 4 Choice anthologies, and wisdom from Hellen Jo and Jessica Abel. ————————————————————————————————— Hellen Jo is interviewed on Giant Robot Media. She talks about making comics vs paintings, moving away from being an animator, Korean ghosts, and the political climate’s effect on her work. “GR: Can you tell me where the strong women aspect of your work comes from? HJ: When I started self-publishing comics, I was disturbed by how little representation of Asian and Asian American women I could find in comics that I could really get behind. Nearly every character I came across was either hyper-kawaii-infantile-cute, or dragon-lady yellow fever sexualized. Where the hell were the strong minded butch girls and tomboys who were gross, dirty, mean, violent, powerful? When I was a young adult, I desperately needed to see that kind of characterization; it was my aspiration, my purest personal desire, to become that type of woman, and if I wasn’t gonna find it anywhere, I was determined to build it myself. Selfishly, I also made this art to help me express this desire and to grow into this cooler version of myself; it’s a work in progress but so far so good, I think.“ Read more HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The L.A. Zine Fest is this Sunday, May 28th, from 10-6 at the California Market Center. Comics Workbook student and comics maker-extraordinaire Gloria Rivera will be tabling – find her at 34B. She will be debuting her comic We come from a desert (above) at the festival. She drew some of this comic while in Pittsburgh, PA, for her Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency in March of this year. ————————————————————————————————— Michael Cavna’s Comic Riffs on the Washington Post checks in on the progress of the second issue of Resist!, the political zine that was “co-founded by New Yorker art director Françoise Mouly to spotlight female creators and issues they view as important” following the election of President Trump. Instead of simply being a free newspaper to pass out at the Women’s March in Washington, Resist! quickly became part of a growing movement. ” “While everywhere else there may be protest fatigue, from our standpoint it seems to be an exciting moment of rebirth for comics as political activity,” Mouly tells The Post’s Comic Riffs. “It feels like a return to the Charlie Hebdo of my youth in May 1968,” during the Paris student riots. Mouly underscores the publication’s embrace of star cartoonists and young unknowns alike. “What’s unique to Resist! is the way it mixes the voices of librarians and young girls and accountants together with that of Roz Chast, Cathy Malkasian, Miriam Katin, Daniel Clowes and Art Spiegelman,” she says.“ The second issue, which received even more submissions than the first, is due to be released on Independence Day. Read more about it HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Here is an interesting piece by Hannah Berry (which I found through The Comics Reporter) – it ties into something that I’ve been thinking about and having conversations about a lot recently. Hannah writes that her recent graphic novel Livestock may very well be her last, and details her precarious financial situation and the hopeless reality/impossibility for most of making a “living” from being a working cartoonist. You can read more of Hannah’s thoughts HERE (scroll down a little bit). One cannot doubt that her heart is in the right place: “Comics are the most sublime form of storytelling, and I will never, ever stop making them. They offer such a perfect balance of narrative freedom and restrictions, of clarity and subtlety, that whenever anyone asks me why I make comics I wonder if they shouldn’t be asking all other writers and filmmakers why they’re not, the cuckoos. Comics are everything.“ Hannah, who has been published several times and won arts council grants in the UK, and managed to gain enough traction to pick up small supporting side-comic/art jobs…is one of the lucky ones. And she is STILL tempted to quit. You just can’t make a living doing this. Her solution to the problem is to raise a clamor and demand more funding and attention for work like hers…and mine…and ours… And I agree – but in the reality I face here in the United States, where funding and support of the arts is actually dwindling visibly…I don’t see that as a solution any more viable than us all going out to dig holes at the bottom of rainbows. I’m tired of talking about money. Most of us are never going to make any. And most of us didn’t get into this industry to do so – we did it because “comics are everything.” So let’s go with that. In the face of capitalism, to do something “for the love” is radical. We can create spaces, build an audience, be a community of organizers so that no one person is expected to find the funding. We can incubate, we can plant seeds. I think we have to stop demanding support from a limping industry propped against a broken capitalist system. We have to be better, more inventive, more giving, more dangerous than that. ————————————————————————————————— There is an excerpt from Vreni Stollberger‘s comic Nothing Feels Real on The Nib – see it HERE. You can see the rest of the story in the upcoming collection Comics for Choice: Anthology for Abortion Rights, edited by Hazel Newlevant. The collection will be about 250 pages, made by 60 writers and artists and featuring 41 stories. Learn more about the project HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Jessica Abel is offering a free online workshop this Sunday, May 28th 2017 – you can register HERE. Jessica’s line these days is that “being creative is not a state of mind” – her latest project is a book about finding/developing focus in your creative life. Check it out HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Just a few days left to apply for the summer semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers! The course starts June 1st. 8 weeks – $500 bux – the best comics coaching around. More details HERE or email santoroschool@gmail.com to apply. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 5-26-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-26-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

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