Juan FernándezApril 1, 2016NewsJuan Fernandez here with your weekend comics news fix. It’s been a busy week, I’ve been doing a lot of kids comics classes and have a lot on my plate personally this weekend with the all weekend long action of PIX here in Pittsburgh. Readings, workshops, exhibitors, panels. OOf, gotta remember to stay hydrated and caffeinated. (Field notes from youth workshops to come in future posts).
There’ll be loads of comics folks doing it to it in NYC for the Society of Illustrator’s MOCCA Fest, but I’ll amped to be focusing on things on the home front in Pittsburgh. Can’t say I’m not a little bummed that I can’t attend the programming that the Society is putting together this year! If you’re in the area, you’re going to want to pop by. But if you’re near Pittsburgh, you’ll want to know that Comics Workbook is doing a full day of programming during the Expo this weekend. Hands on instruction and training in the first installment of our Danger Room Workshop Series.
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Pittsburgh Independent Comics Expo Details
Tonight there will be two Pre-PIX events (no fooling’!)
Bill Griffith fans will want to know that, in addition to his being a special guest of PIX 2016, he will also be doing a presentation at The ToonSeum the night before, starting at 7pm at Bricolage, a few doors down from The ToonSeum: 45 Years of Zippy the Pinhead: An Evening with Bill Griffith. Nice interview with Griffith up at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Read it here.
AND, running from 7pm to 11pm at Lili Cafe (downstairs from The Copacetic Comics Co.) it’s The Pre-PIX Comix Reading Extravaganza! Here’s a chance to get a jump start on the PIX 2016 festivities!
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Official DANGER ROOM 001 Schedule: April 2nd, 2016
Drawing without Drawing: Explore the power of color of and form in comics// 11:30 PM // 2nd Floor Classroom
DO BE DO: A 1 Hour Comics Publication to be drawn, scanned, printed, bound. // 12:30 PM // 2nd Floor Classroom
The Architecture of Time and Space – Composing Comics with Frank Santoro// 1:30 PM // 2nd Floor Classroom
Paper Jazz – Comics, storyboards, concept art, same difference: it’s all writing. // 2:30 PM // 2nd Floor Classroom
Bill Griffith’s Drawing Workshop – That’s right, learn how to draw from the Legendary Underground comics artist creator of Zippy the Pinhead. // 3:30 PM // Lower Level Classroom
I’ll be co-facilitating all the workshops throughout the day. RSVP Here.
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Berliac’s latest
“TANGRAM” is Berliac’s contribution for the anthology “Abstraction and Comics”, edited by Aarnoud Rommens, Pablo Turnes and Bjorn-Olav Dozo, and published by PULg, (Université de Liège, Belgium), for their ACME series. It’s online now and a real formalist treat. If you’re looking for inspiration by seeing how someone masterfully composes comics within constraints (in this case the forms of the Chinese tangram puzzle), look no further. Read it here.
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Alt Comix II – LIVE
Tonight the Alt Comics crew is gathering to put on a night of readings and performances at NYC’s American Medium (424 Gates Ave. Brooklyn.) More info here. Hosted by 2dcloud x Aidan Koch there’ll be presentations and performances by:
Kayla Guthrie.
Claire Christerson.
Austin English.
Sarah Ferrick.
Julia Gfrörer.
Barkev Gulesserian aka Bernard Herman.
Aidan Koch.
Blaise Larmee.
Nikholis Planck.
Gina Wynbrandt.
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Womens’ Comix History
Over at the Comics Journal, there’s a nice, chunky piece put together by Alex Dueben that records an oral history of the publication, Wimmen’s Comix. As anecdotes contain the juiciest nuggets, the most vivid images, the most important memories, this is required reading. Lotsa hard work went into this one,
“assembled from a series of interviews with M.K. Brown, Nancy Burton (aka, “Hurricane Nancy”), Jennifer Camper, Leslie Ewing, Joyce Farmer, Mary Fleener, Shary Flenniken, Lora Fountain, Phoebe Gloeckner, Roberta Gregory, Joan Hilty, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Meredith Kurtzman, Caryn Leschen, Lisa Lyons, Lee Marrs, Barbara Mendes, Patricia Moodian, Diane Noomin, Trina Robbins, Sharon Rudahl, Carol Tyler, and Rebecca Wilson conducted by phone, skype, google chat, and e-mail in 2015 and 2016.”
Read it all here.
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Retrofit Kickstarter: Big Push
Retrofit Comics is entering the last week on their Kickstarter campaign! Take a gander at their list of artists, and you’ll immediately recognize the publisher to be a general force for greatness in the comics community. The crop of books they’re currently publishing is particularly spectacular. It includes titles by the likes of James Kochalka (Elf Cat in Love), the first Cartoonist Laureate of Vermont. Eleanor Davis has an offering (Libby’s Dad), and Kaeleigh Forsyth and Alabaster Pizzo teamed up on Hellbound (here’s a process post from them about the “raw material” the book was sourced from).
Also among the comics that may get loosed on the world, should the Kickstarter make it to the stretch goals, are works by Anya Davidson and Tyler Landry. Pretty rad. Please support Retrofit Comics by pitching some funds their way, or helping to spread the word. Check out the Kickstarter HERE! Push it to the limit.
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Remembering Jess Johnson
As yesterday was Transgender Day of Visibility, it’s a good day to think of Jess Johnson who sadly left the world last Sunday. If you have a chance, I urge you to take some time to dig into Johnson’s life and work, whether it’s by taking a moment to listen to this Ink Studs interview from 2013 or by digging into the collections of Matterhorn, the online venture that she put online. Despite never having been collected in a durable format, there’s hope that Johnson’s memory will live on by sharing this unique, idiosyncratic, and darkly funny body of work.
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