Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in News

Juan Fernández

Posted on September 19, 2016September 19, 2016

Explore

07/11/2018

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

03/22/2018

Sally IngrahamMarch 22, 2018NewsSally here with work by Shequeta Smith, E. Simms Campbell, and CM Campbell, plus much more! ————————————————————————————————— A recent article on the Los Angeles Sentinel celebrated Women’s History Month with a terrific roundup of Black Women in Comics. One creator whom I was excited to discover is Shequeta Smith (pictured above). She is a powerhouse, making the Rayven Choi series, running Shero Comics, and digging into the screenwriting industry as well. You can see a preview of Rayven Choi Chapter #3: The Bounty Hunter HERE. The L. A. Sentinel article also lists Micheline Hess (creator of Malice in Ovenland), Myisha Haynes (The Substitutes), Taneka Stotts (Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi and Fantasy Comic Anthology series), and familiar names like Marguerite Abouet (the Aya comics), and Jackie Ormes (Torchy Brown, etc.) Check out the whole list HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Here’s an article on Slate from 2016 about E. Simms Campbell – one of the first successful black cartoonists. His work appeared in numerous magazines of the day, many of them in Esquire, which launched in 1933. I thought the map pictured above was terrific, and if you are a jazz fan it is worth noting that Cab Calloway’s band appears at the bottom left-hand corner. ————————————————————————————————— CM Campbell shares a lengthy and interesting comic on Hyperallergic for “anyone who has ever asked, “How do I draw a black guy?” ” Read the full thing HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Extra, Extra! Check out Ronald Wimberly on the Comicidal Podcast – he talks about new and ongoing projects like Sunset Park, and LAAB Magazine. Listen HERE. Ta-Nehisi Coates (the writer behind two successful years of Black Panther) is going to start writing Captain America. He scribbled a brief essay for The Atlantic that announced the new project, and details why it “scares the hell out of me“. The Nib has a feature called Comics By Response, where they pose a question or concept and cartoonists respond – here are Four Cartoonists on Their Favorite Unsung Black History Heroes – with work by Keith Knight, Robyn Smith, Ben Passmore, and Mariah Rose-Marie. Illustrated PEN on PEN America’s guest editor Robert Kirby showcases the work of fellow guest editor Whit Taylor, throwing light on the final story in her collection Ghost Stories – the story is called Maker and you can see it HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Announcing the Spring Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers 8 weeks! $500 bux! 10 spots available! Rolling start date because of spring break – start as early as March 30th 2018. Deadline to apply is April 12th. Read all about the course HERE and email santoroschool@gmail.com for more details or to apply. ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-21-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

05/06/2016

Sally IngrahamMay 6, 2016NewsWolverine still walks the wilds of Canada via Michael Comeau’s pen – Alyssa Berg frees her mind through the mysteries of the grid – Erik Nebel reverses expectations in every direction – the laughs come from Fabio Tonetto – the tears (perhaps) come from Lisa Wilde – Free Comic Book Day is upon us – and Bruce Lee never dies. ————————————————————————————————— Philippe Leblanc converses with Michael Comeau at Barbed Comics, digging deep into the why and how of Comeau’s Hellberta (available through Colour Code Printing). Michael Comeau is a Canadian cartoonist living in Toronto. Extensive travel throughout the provinces informed the creation of Hellberta over an 8-year period, and the book is a filter through which Comeau examines Canada’s complex relationship with the oil industry, and the mysterious “Canadian Identity”. Or, as the recently released collected edition is described – “The gloom, the entitlement, the desecration of the tar sands hangs over a province, a nation. Dirty oil addiction. A popular myth set in the rocky mountains. A mutant named Logan. A poetic salve for sore eyes weeping for a metaphorical context. WWWD? What would Wolverine do?…” The interview between Comeau and Philippe Leblanc ranges far and wide, hitting upon the nature of narrative, learning how to make comics, road tripping adventures, the shifting political climate in Canada, and exactly how tangled up Wolverine is in it all. Interesting on a number of levels – read the whole thing HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Alyssa Berg delivers Part Two of her museum-visit-inspired process meditation series today, this time exploring the grid with us. “Sometimes my mind is unwell, or full of complicated messy things or unable to think of new ideas (‘creative block’, I guess?). When I am in this state, I let my wild, creative mind rest. One way to do this is by going into a gentle analytical and physical practice. I sit down at my desk and pre-draw pages of panels and grids. Similar to preparing my work space as mentioned in Part One, pre-drawing panels and grids is a simple concentration-meditation that doesn’t require much thought (common theme: freedom from the mind!).” Read all of Part Two HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Drew Miller interviewed Erik Nebel recently, and their conversation is full of important stuff – ‘Drew Miller – You use vibrating colors as indicators of form, specifically for referencing the human body. The colors are strong on the screen! The drawing relies much less on direct line-work, which is uncharacteristic for the medium of comics. It’s an interesting way to develop distinct forms and negative space. Can you talk about color at all? Erik Nebel – I think of color in a way that may be different from how other cartoonists think of color. Traditionally, in our popular narratives, dark colors are associated with sadness and badness and things that are primitive, and light colors are associated with goodness and happiness and things that are civilized. That’s completely racist. It’s part of binary thinking. It’s poison in our society. I’m trying to reverse those expectations with my comics.’ Read the rest HERE, and follow Erik Nebel’s daily comic posts on his tumblr. ————————————————————————————————— Giving a shout out to cartoonist Fabio Tonetto, whose work has been cracking me up lately. Check out the rest of the comic above on Vice. ————————————————————————————————— Lisa Wilde’s Lacunae: Elegy For My Mother just finished being serialized on Mutha Magazine. A recent press release about the series described it as – “…a webzine that pushes the boundaries between comics and art. Tracing an arc from childhood to adulthood, the piece gives form to the unconscious side of a life narrative through single-image pages and minimal text. Wilde’s visceral and powerful drawings reference children’s art, comics, Jungian archetypes, and artists as wide-ranging as Chagall, Munch, and Eva Hesse.” Start from the beginning HERE, and follow this link to a list of all 5 parts. ————————————————————————————————— Another reminder that tomorrow (Sat. May 7th!) is Free Comic Book Day. Find a participating store near you via the Store Locator, call them up to get the details, and plan to get there early! I’ll be running out myself to find a copy of this sweet looking Bruce Lee comic! ————————————————————————————————— While we’re on the topic, here are a couple of apparently “lost sketches” by Bruce Lee, and the brief story behind them. ————————————————————————————————— Thanks for hanging out in the Comics Workbook newsroom this week! Meet back here bright and early Monday. Cheers! – Sally Share this page: [...]

07/25/2017

Aaron CockleJuly 25, 2017NewsAaron Cockle today with Liana Finck; Warren Craghead; Glynnis Fawkes; The New York Review of Comic Books, and the Comics Workbook Composition Competition 2017. ————————————————————————————————— Sara Berman’s Closet Liana Finck has a piece at The New York Review of Books blog about an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and her personal relationship to it. Finck also has an exhibition currently at Equity Gallery in NYC through August 5: Finck presents 80 drawings from a series of work posted on Instagram over the last year. The complexities of life are distilled into seemingly simple ink cartoons. With precision, honesty and biting wit, she explores the highs and lows of living in New York City and how relationships — and we ourselves — evolve. Her work has been described as “gently savage,” “bleakly hilarious” and “transportative” and Finck’s smart authentic voice reminds us of the beauty of experiencing the broad range of emotions that make us human. ————————————————————————————————— Warren Craghead, Political Cartoonist Warren Craghead recently posted about the one-year anniversary of his TRUMPTRUMP comics. Congrats, Warren! I started this TRUMPTRUMP project a year ago, on the night Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president. Every day since then I have drawn and shared a grotesque portrait of him and his minions, trying to document who he is and what he is doing to us. Here’s the first post. Here’s a bird’s-eye view of the drawings. This project started like my other drawing projects LADYH8RS and USAH8RS: I drew quick portraits of Trump paired with the seemingly inexhaustible supply of horrible quotes form him. I thought I’d be done on November 8, but when he won I vowed to keep drawing until, as I wrote when starting this project, “—this nightmare ends.” The drawings have turned more detailed and angry and full. At times I can’t keep up! I’ve drawn from and stolen from Goya, Picasso, Steinberg, Grosz, Kollwitz and, most of all, Philip Guston and his 1970s drawings of the Nixon Administration. In a few weeks Retrofit Comics/Big Planet Comics will be publishing a collection of the first six months of the drawings, from the nomination until the inauguration. I’m so grateful to them and to everyone who has seen and encouraged this stupid endeavor. I’m still drawing, every EVERY day, and posting them. People have ask me if I’m ok, if this is taking a toll and I always answer No. I love it – I get to DO something about all this insanity. ————————————————————————————————— An In-Depth Analysis by Glynnis Fawkes Fawkes on mother/daughter relationships, at the New Yorker. ————————————————————————————————— ‘But since he acts in all purity, without any guile, society is prompt to reject him through its representative, Lucy, treacherous, self-confident, an entrepreneur with assured profits, ready to peddle a security that is completely bogus but of unquestioned effect.’ – Umberto Eco on Peanuts In a recent e-newsletter, The New York Review of Books recently included a bunch of links to reviews of different comics works it’s done over the years, including: A Triumph of the Comic-Book Novel (Chris Ware), Gabriel Winslow-Yost, December 20, 2012 Issue Lost New York (Ben Katchor), Anthony Grafton, November 15, 2001 Issue Lyrics in the Swamp (Pogo/Walt Kelly), Brad Leithauser, April 25, 2002 Issue On ‘Krazy Kat’ and ‘Peanuts’, Umberto Eco, June 13, 1985 Issue Girls and Indians (White Boy/Garrett Price), Thomas Powers, January 2016 ————————————————————————————————— Here it is, thee Comics Workbook Composition Competition 2017 – 6-panel grid, traditional North American comic book proportions – but with a twist! Deadline Sept. 5th 2017. FULL DETAILS HERE. ————————————————————————————————— A Cosmic Journey – 7-25-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 7-25-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

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: [...]

09/19/2016

Posted on September 19, 2016September 19, 2016 by Juan Fernández

Juan here! SPX just wrapped up. Wotta whirlwind! I’ve got loads to share but I’m on the road today, so only the essentials: Reflecting on our CW workshops; Ignatz Winners; Dash Shaw on instagram.
—————————————————————————————————

We had the honor and privilege of presenting our one of a kind comics programming to eager creators at SPX this year. It was a joy to see cartoonists experienced and amateur to gather round for some spirited drawing and discussion. Although n depth coverage of our workshops and the full SPX experience is soon to come this week, a short recap of what went down in THE DANGER ROOM.

Saturday September 17th

12:00-1:00 PM
Comics with Jeffrey Brown
Mr. Brown truly brought the “Star Wars Academy” to a packed audience! Jeffrey Brown was on hand to share storytelling tips and drawing advice. Jeffrey Brown challenged all participants to follow along with creation of a 4 panel slice of life comic. After some diligent work, sll participants recieved personalized reviews of their work.

1:00-3:00 PM
Comics Workbook Hangout
We were joined by a packed audiencefor an afternoon of comics-crafting. We explored the history of tracing and its benefits. It’s safe to say we are take your comics-making game to a new level. Simple exercises will push you in mind-bending directions. Drop in for a minute or an hour.

3:00-5:00 PM
Spanish Fever (Spanish Language Workshop)
This SPX, Comics Workbook, was joined by Spanish cartoonists José Domingo and David Rubín for some lively Spanish language instruction and presentations. Many thanks to SPX, Fantagraphics and the Spanish Cultural Ministry and Fantagraphics.

5:00-6:00 PM
Cameron Nicholson and Frank Santoro
Cameron Nicholson expanded minds as he examined his notions of the comics form and methodologies for creating and refining one’s own comics. Comics Workbook founder and internationally known cartoonist/teacher Frank Santoro piped in with color commentary. Spirits were very high during this uplifting, talk.

Sunday September 18th

1:00-2:00 PM
Comics with Carol Tyler
The great Carol Tyler taught us the ins and outs of her unique mode of autobiographical comics, her history as a painter and the importance of cornering the market on her nibs. A maker who has been defining the form since the 1970’s, Tyler had her audience ebtranced. Carol Tyler will discuss her adventures in comics and share drawing tips and storytelling advice.

2:00-3:00 PM
Comics Workbook Hangout
Participants took a break from circling the ballroom and channeled their energy into a heaping helping of Dan DeCarlo and Harry Lucie studies. This hangout hammered home the idea of drawing as an exploration of drawing as a way of seeing and knowing.

3:00-4:00 PM
Comics with Charles Burns
The inimitable Charles Burns brought us a very special presentation wherein we explored his sometimes dark but always thrilling worlds. Participants drew along with him and got one of the heartiest Q&A sessions one could ask for.

4:00-5:00 PM
Comics Workbook Hangout
In our last, more laid back session, we hopped to it and explored the relationships between filmic techniques and cartooning. Participants left having completed an entire 8 panel, one page

More to come this week!

—————————————————————————————————

Ignatz Winners 2016

If you haven’t been checking Twitter feverishly to see the results of Saturday night’s Ignatz Winners, Tom Spurgeon’s got what you need! It’s all over on comicsreporter.com

—————————————————————————————————

Dash Shaw is on instagram.
I’m not messin’ around. It’s true! Hop on over to his account, follow him, and take a look behind the curtain on his latest projects. No better way to glean some insight into the american masters’ cartooning and animation process. All from the comfort of your home.

—————————————————————————————————

See you next time with some JUICY, in depth, SPX Coverage.

-Juan

Share this page:

Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in News

Juan Fernández

Posted on September 19, 2016September 19, 2016

Explore

10/11/2016

Aaron CockleOctober 10, 2016NewsAaron here today with CW festival events for this upcoming weekend; Chinese Comics; Agnes Martin; Dog City 3; Screening Dash Shaw; Reviewing Safe Distance; Some Notable Comics of Note ————————————————————————————————— Comics Workbook will be participating in 2 festivals this weekend in the U.S. and U.K. Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, October 13-16. We will be hosting workshops and tabling. Join Comics Workbook, along with cartoonists Alyssa Berg and Kurt Ankeny, for an immersive weekend of comics creation. We will examine art and the grid, bringing the strong artistic practices of Berg and Ankeny together with the discipline and rhythm of the grid, as laid out by Comics Workbook founder Frank Santoro. Four hours across two days will be filled with the exploration of a variety of techniques and methods which will inspire the beginner, and challenge the established cartoonist. Comics as jazz; comics as architecture; how a simple index card can transform your sequencing and storytelling process – come join us for an hour or four and take your comics making to a new level. The full festival schedule is here. The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, October 14-16. Join Frank Santoro, Aidan Koch, and Connor Willumsen for some cool workshops and visit table 67 in the Comics Clocktower to meet Oliver East and Jack Brougham, among others. We will be hosting 3 special workshops, “Visual Poetry” with Aidan Koch, “The Hammer Party” with Connor Willumsen and “Composition Competition” with Frank Santoro. Visit our event page for more information. ————————————————————————————————— Chinese Indie Comix Writer, critic, and translator R. Orion Martin has an overview of the Special Comix anthologies published in China during the past 10 years or so: Like other iterations of Special Comix, the artists are working in a range of qualities and directing their work towards diverse, sometimes mutually exclusive audiences. Some artists use the poster format to great effect, creating dense visual landscapes that challenge the reader to interpret them. Yayi’s intricately constructed illustration guides the viewer from one symbol-laden visual to another, refusing to settle into any obvious reading. Similarly, New York-based illustrators Lisk Feng and Jun Cen contribute surreal works that seem to a capture a single moment from a much longer tale. Lisk Feng’s work depicts a troop of Boy Scouts and the creatures that haunt them, while Jun Cen presents a naked woman who has just encountered a giant praying mantis encased in a Mignola-esque crystal prison. Though both these artists come from a background in illustration, they use the poster format to build the foundation for a narrative that could develop in multiple directions. Image above by Chihoi, I’m waiting for you to come back (from Special Comix 6: Transform). Additionally, Martin has been conducting interviews with Chinese cartoonists and artists (Yan Cong, Li Kong, Fanqiao Wang), as well as translating work into English (Bu Er Miao). ————————————————————————————————— Agnes Martin on view at the Guggenheim through January 11 One of the few female artists who gained recognition in the male-dominated art world of the 1950s and ’60s, Martin is a pivotal figure between two of that era’s dominant movements: Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism. Her content—an expression of essential emotions—relates her to the earlier group, the Abstract Expressionists, but her methods—repetition, geometric compositions, and basic means—were adopted by the Minimalists, who came to prominence during the ’60s. Martin’s work, however, is more than a bridge between the two. It stands apart by never losing sight of the subjective while aspiring toward perfection. “I would like to represent beauty, innocence and happiness,” she said. “I would like them all to represent that. Exaltation.” ————————————————————————————————— Dog City #3 CW’s intrepid Juan Fernandez recently unearthed some copies of Dog City 3, from 2014. From his Instagram: I found some of the LAST copies of Dog City 3 and took some to @copaceticcomics – the rest of ’em are safe and sound at my place 😉 Want to bring one of these puppies home?$27 bux postpaid. US shipping only. “The comics expo in a box.” Mad props to Closed Caption Comics for setting the bar way back when. For those of you not yet in the know: Dog City is a small press comics magazine dedicated to publishing quality minicomics. Each issue of Dog City consists of a curated selection of minicomics packaged in an artfully designed cardboard box. Dog City 3 features comics by: Jennifer Lisa, Sophie Goldstein, Caitlin Rose Boyle, Luke Healy, Simon Reinhardt, Amelia Onorato, dw n me, Allison Banister and Tom O’Brien with a collaborative mini, Iris Yan, D. Rinylo – prints and posters by Laurel Lynne Leake and Steven Krall + reprints a selection of strips from the now-forgotten newspaper series Who’s Zoo, which has been restored and compiled by Reilly Hadden! ————————————————————————————————— Making My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea Wednesday, October 12, 7pm, as part of the New York Film Festival, at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, 144 West 65the Street, NYC With My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea, playing in this year’s Main Slate, celebrated graphic novelist Dash Shaw and his team have created a beautifully layered, colorful, and entertaining new animated film. Shaw’s first feature is a comic adventure about friends overcoming their differences and having each other’s backs in times of crisis, and its marvelously complex characters are voiced by Jason Schwartzman, Lena Dunham, Reggie Watts, Maya Rudolph, and Susan Sarandon. This discussion—featuring writer-director Dash Shaw, lead animator Jane Samborski, and producer Kyle Martin—will go behind the scenes to explore the making of this distinctive new movie. ————————————————————————————————— James K. Hindle’s mini-comic, Safe Distance, is reviewed over at Sequential State Hindle sets the stage of the comic with a bizarre chemical spill that only affects his apartment. The strange spill causes an overgrowth of plants and trees inside his apartment, eventually causing the destruction of his home and his disconnection from the rest of the world. The metaphor of destructive change, acceptance, and growth links closely with the way death affects families and people. No matter where you are when you start, you aren’t the same at the end. The grieving, the anger, those final questions – they all change you irrevocably. ————————————————————————————————— B.A.C. 2016 The Notable Comics list from The Best American Comics 2016 has been posted, see if you (or someone you may care dearly for and/or feel massively ambivalent about) are on the list! Thanks to series editor Bill Kartalopoulos for compiling and painstakingly linking to each of the cartoonists and their individual works on the list. And here’s a quick note from Bill K about the B.A.C. series: As Series Editor of The Best American Comics, it is my job to attempt to see as many of each year’s most interesting comics as I can. The majority of these arrive as submissions through our public postal address (below). Others I find by attending comics festivals, consulting with colleagues, reaching out individually to artists and publishers, visiting comic books stores, endlessly scanning the internet, and generally keeping my antenna up at all times. After nearly a year of looking and reading, I forward to each year’s Guest Editor a selection of more than one hundred outstanding works. From this pool of material, the Guest Editor selects the pieces that will appear in each year’s Best American Comics (while retaining, as well, the latitude to bring in some work they may have discovered independently). On the subject of our process, I cannot urge any artist or publisher strongly enough to submit work to Best American Comics. We have a completely open submission process, and all work that is submitted will be considered. Please send work, labeled with contact information and date of publication, to: Bill Kartalopoulos Series Editor The Best American Comics Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company 3 Park Avenue, 19th floor New York, NY 10016 ————————————————————————————————— Have you seen the recent collaboration between Frank Santoro and master jeweler Airi Maeno? Want to help us get Connor Willumsen to The Lakes International Comic Art Festival? Share this page: [...]

11/05/2018

Caleb OrecchioNovember 5, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here with another ancient comic strip. This time it’s Happy Hooligan by Frederick Opper. ————————————————————————————————— This seventh installment of Frederick Opper’s Happy Hooligan from the turn of the 20th Century is another strip I think about often. The olde platitude of the drunk Irish bum being carried away by the malevolent cop, the obstruction of the free spirit. The classic one-two of the vaudeville era. What makes this strip funny is the thought of work, or even hearing or reading the word “WORK,” is enough to throw our hero into a panic on the street. The idea is compounded by repetition and the seemingly infinite prisons-of-the-mind a tramp is prone to by avoiding “WORK.” There is a metaphor for cartoonists in here somewhere but I’ll leave it up to individual readers to find their own meaning in this. What I like about this strip is the aforementioned repetition. This is key in comic strip comedy (not to mention comics themselves), but today’s example is different from the kind of repetition found in Swinnerton’s strip from last week. The Swinnerton strip “held” the “shot” for the entirety of the drama, whereas this strip holds the “idea” for the joke until the punchline. The punchline simply serves as a “FIN” and indicates the audience should stand and clap now. The more interested I become in these early comic works the more I realize that these guys really did write the rules for comics. Yes yes I know this is a redundant statement, but it’s funny to me that these idea of repetition I’m obsessed with served as a comedic tool. To my point, you can’t repeat images unless there are multiple images, and when you sequence these multiple images you get a comic strip. I’m trying to say that our form was birthed in comedy and the tools and techniques we still use today were made to tell a joke. Make sense? I love comics. I like to ramble on and on about these things. Maybe I’m not saying anything new here, but I like thinking about these ideas. What are comics and how did we come to do what we do now? To find out you have to go back over one-hundred years. ————————————————————————————————— Cement Mixer – 11-05-18 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

Ch1: The Comic Head (FACC)

Juan FernándezJanuary 1, 2016ResourcesShare this page: [...]

12/31/2018

Caleb OrecchioDecember 31, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here on the last day of 2018 with Parallel Lives by Olivier Schrauwen ————————————————————————————————— Parallel Lives by Olivier Schrauwen Olivier Schrauwen lives way up there with kings and queens of our medium. I have a lot to say about the author and his new book, but brevity may stop me from going too far over my head so in brevity I will write. Schrauwen has set a hammock between the rigid and the naturalistic. Schrauwen’s drawing veers towards the rigid often. His use of ruled lines and strict character models nearly teeter into stone. Yet, it is his natural, loose free-hand that brings balance to the force. His wonderful, thin pencil lines themselves serve to soften that rigidity as well. O how I love that pencil that leaves smudges though they are hardly noticeable in direct sunlight, but nonetheless make looking all the more pleasurable. The feature story of Parallel Lives, “Space Bodies,” is undeniably inspired by Moebius’ Gardens of Aedena (concept-wise), and is probably his most visually striking comic to date. His colors are masterful and beautiful. You’ve scarcely seen blue until you have seen it in this comic. The future he illustrates is completely enviable if only for want to walk around in it. Schrauwen fleshes out worlds that seem impossible, and yet inviting to live in. The whole book is practically beckoning one to jump in. Olivier Schrauwen can not be more on the up and up right now. He is steam-rolling over the lame and sickly cartoonists and driving himself to the center of the universe. ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

Comics Workbook at CXC 2016 – in brief!

Sally IngrahamOctober 21, 2016Festivals and ShowsThe Comics Workbook team at CXC 2016 – in brief! Share this page: [...]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply