Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Juan Fernández

Posted on October 4, 2017October 4, 2017

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06/07/2017

Juan FernándezJune 7, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos el día con Isabel Méndez y los derechos de ls traductores; Fernanda Frick en La Polola; Ines Estrada; Sol Díaz; Tercer Encuentro Internacional de Narrativas Dibujadas; y por supuesto los tebeos de Comics Workbook! ————————————————————————————————— Y los traductores… ¿tienen derechos de autor? Isabel Méndez nos presenta un guía genial sobre los derechos del autor. En este mundo de intercambio cultural internacional, los traductores son inestimables! Si tienes algún interés en el mundo de traduccíon, tienen que léer este articulo. ¿En qué consisten los derechos de autor de los traductores? Si eres traductor, debes tener en cuenta que nuestra legislación te atribuye los mismos derechos que a cualquier otro autor. Esto es, tendrás derechos patrimoniales y derechos morales. Conocer bien tus derechos te ayudará a proteger y reivindicar mejor tu trabajo. Los derechos patrimoniales te servirán para explotar la traducción y los derechos morales te servirán, entre otras cosas, para que se reconozca la autoría de tu trabajo y aparezcas, por ejemplo, en los créditos de la obra. También, como cualquier otro autor, tendrás derecho a registrar tu obra. Al igual que con el resto de autores, muchas veces los traductores son trabajadores asalariados, por lo que la cesión de los derechos de las traducciones que realicen bajo un contrato laboral, deberán quedar bien determinadas y reflejadas en el mismo. Es conveniente leer en este caso el artículo 51 de nuestra Ley de Propiedad Intelectual, dedicado a la transmisión de los derechos de un autor asalariado. Léanlo todo AQUI! ————————————————————————————————— Cómics y 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 el gran dibujante Fernanda Frick, directora, animadora y dibujante. Hablamos acerca de su nuevo corto “Here`s the plan”, cómo empezó su carrera, su experiencia en la animación, sus estudios, temores, ideas, planes y mucho más!! Ya puedes léer Alienation #3 de Inés Estrada en línea. Léanlo si les gusta el sci fi, hentai & conversaciones intensas. Esta historieta fue adaptada a HTML maravillosamente. La Universidad de Santiago y @PLOPGaleria convocan al Tercer Encuentro Internacional de Narrativas Dibujadas! Para este año, el eje del Encuentro será Narrativas gráficas: sociedad, política y género, y el plazo para enviar las propuestas de ponencias es hasta el lunes 12 de junio de 2017. Pueden ver la entretenida entrevista que Carlos Reyes le hizo a Sol Díaz en un nuevo VIÑETAS DEL FIN DEL MUNDO. La semana pasada Drawn & Quarterly annuncio la publicacion de Sadboi por Berliac. Hubo una reacción inmediata en línea, ya que dibujantes y lectores señalaron las declaraciones públicas sobre personas transgénero realizadas por el dibujante, algunas dirigidas agresivamente a la artista Sarah Horrocks, quienes descomprimieron sus interacciones y pensamientos en Twitter. Después de dos días de investigación y pensamiento, D & Q, que al igual que muchas editoriales pequeñas, se basa en relaciones bastante íntimas con sus autores, ya no sentía que podía apoyar Berliac dado su comportamiento. La declaración de la compañía está aquí. La declaración de Berliac en respuesta a la situacíon está en su Facebook. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 6-7-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 6-7-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

brb ;)

Juan FernándezOctober 19, 2019Festivals and Shows / Newshello! This is just a little smoke signal to let you know we are tending well, but quietly, to the fire over here in the Comics Workbook hearth. It’s been a BUSY fall IRL with workshops at SPX and CXC. You can catch us at Comic Arts Brooklyn, November 2nd. We’ll be slingling rare back issues, wild art books and wonky zines + new comics by the Comics Workbook crew. Stop on by for some surprise NYC guests at our table. Big picture-wise: We’ll be back soon with some robust regular comics and writing. For now though, I’m finishing some unfinished non-comics business, disentangling some wicked knots in my life. All is well. I’m just laying low before powering the signals up to 11. Ever wanted some CW merch? Something neat is on it’s way ;^) If you’d like to write reflections on comics, comics making process or comics pedagogy, please email me at juan@comicsworkbook.com – we pay. I’d be happy to talk more at length. Simply send me a line. take good care of yours selves until we next meet on the internet or IRL. yours in visual language, juan Share this page: [...]

05/11/2018

Comics WorkbookMay 10, 2018NewsBryce Davidson here with thoughts on Chris Claremont, The New Mutants, and the almighty thought bubble! ———————————————————————————— Bryce Davidson here today, with thoughts on Chris Claremont, the New Mutants and the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Over the weekend I went to see Avengers: Infinity War, as I’m sure many other people did. I liked it. I even saw it a second time. I really thought it was a good movie. On the ride home a friend and I tried unraveling it to try and figure out why it worked so well, as we both agreed that it shouldn’t have. It was too big, there was too much stuff going on, too many characters, too many motivations, it was an absolute cluster f***. Even the nearly 3 hour duration shouldn’t have been enough to house it all. Now granted there have been other movie franchises that have operated on this level – The Lord of the Rings is the first one that comes to mind – but Infinity War feels different. Denser maybe? More tangled, web-like? Sure, a large part of that is the fact that its been built on by over a dozen films, but surely if that’s the case then Infinity War should have been some incomprehensible, jargon filled slog. But it wasn’t! It was great! And not just for big nerds. It was a genuinely good movie. So my friend and I talked about it a bit and I began thinking about the New Mutants comics I have been binging on lately and more importantly, Chris Claremont. I assume most people who read this blog are familiar with him. For the few who don’t he’s surely worth a google. At one point Claremont was writing upwards of 6 X-Men titles and spin-offs at once – each one containing god-knows how many characters. His writing has been highly praised for it’s complex narrative structures and endless sub-plot stacks. X-Men editor Louise Simonson, recalled about Claremonts’ writing, “that whenever he was at a loss for story ideas, “All I’d have to do was go through all of the plot threads that he had left for the last year or two (Grant, 1993).” Everyone’s favorite cartoonist, Ed Piskor also talks about this a lot in his work on Hip-Hop Family Tree and X-men Grand Design. A lot of it can be found HERE in his interview with Claremont for Paste Magazine. There is just so much there in those stories. The depth of the characters, the breadth of the world (or worlds) they existed in, and the delicate intricacies of how each part interacted with each other. It looked like a mess, at times it could even feel like a mess (intentionally though I think, as to increase drama and friction.) If I was going to try and describe it, it feels like zooming out from a microscopic view. It all looks odd and crazy until you see the larger picture. This is how they did it. This is why the MCU feels ok to me. It’s certainly not an easy task, but it’s all there in the Claremont’s work. They’re using the “Claremont Method”. Small fringes of plots that end up being (literally) universe shattering events would start out as small whispers in the background years before (Magik anybody?). Obviously the people behind the MCU aren’t stupid and have done their research. Sure, they’re pulling from lots of source material, none of which is really the X-Men, but the structure’s feels so similar to me that I hardly believe its a coincidence. On the other hand something interesting to note that I picked up on is how Claremont leans into the comic book form, which contrasts with how the plots are presented in the MCU. It’s called the almighty Thought Bubble. It’s a staple of comics, and a very effective tool. Like life, people think in an instant. You can have an entire conversation with yourself or recall entire events in a fraction of a second, a small slice of time. It’s why thought bubbles work. We can see how it’s used by Claremont in this page from New Mutants #1 where Daniel Moonstar finally summons up her courage enough to enter the Danger Room and fight some robots. There is a lot of character being fleshed out here that is exclusively told through the thought bubbles. Could this scene work without the bubbles? Sure. Would we know that she’s grown up in the mountains hunting and tracking animals? No. You can’t do that in a film, as it operates within time. Comics allow the viewer to slice up time into moments, where thought bursts like these can exist. Does that mean it’s trickier to write that it in film? Eh, I don’t know. More showing, less telling I guess. You do lose a lot of detail. Although with that said, I am genuinely impressed by how much they were able to pack into Infinity War. I would say there is almost as mush as Claremont can pack, though not quite. Either way I think it’s a good study on narrative structure and storytelling approaches through different mediums. I’m curious to see if the Claremont Method continues to shine though. – Bryce Davidson Grant, Paul J. (August 1993). “Poor Dead Doug, and Other Mutant Memories”. Wizard: X-Men Turn Thirty. pp. 66–69. ———————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

03/28/2017

Aaron CockleMarch 28, 2017NewsAaron here today with Samplerman; Alice Neel; Raymond Pettibon (in Conversation); MOCCAFEST 2017 Looms ————————————————————————————————— I have always chosen the DIY way to make my fanzines and minicomics: it is affordable and it mostly requires commitment and time. Frank Young interviews Yves ‘Samplerman’ Guillo over on The Comics Journal: I would imagine you use Adobe Photoshop, or a similar computer program, to assemble your images. Does your creative process occur within those programs? Or do you make sketches or do other pre-planning before each image is assembled? Some “Samplerman” images seem extremely composed, while others have a feeling of spontaneity. The blending of these two opposites is a compelling factor in your work. The creative moment occurs mostly when I face the computer screen. I only make sketches when the computer is not on—when I take a walk with a paper and pen in my pocket, or when I have an idea related to structure or geometry for potential compositions. I am always thinking about some elementary geometrical manipulations, combined and applied to the samples. Squares, triangles and circles are everywhere. And I fear this is where my work could start being boring and repetitive—I could apply this to anything. I try to keep a sense of movement in my work. Sometimes I feel the urge to break my composition, to destabilize the eye-scan and push it toward the next panel. I tend to use symmetry a lot when I start putting together a background and the elements. It’s somewhat satisfying but at the same time it paralyzes any feeling of movement. I usually end up distorting the symmetry I rely on. I try to give it a shake and extend the life of these unearthed objects in any way, like a mad scientist. ————————————————————————————————— Alice Neel, Uptown Hilton Als has curated an exhibit of work by Alice Neel, at David Zwirner through 22 April: …the first comprehensive look at Neel’s portraits of people of color, is an attempt to honor not only what Neel saw, but the generosity behind her seeing. ————————————————————————————————— Raymond Pettibon in Conversation with Massimiliano Gioni Thursday, March 30, 7pm at the New Museum Join us for a special conversation between artist Raymond Pettibon and Massimiliano Gioni, Edlis Neeson Artistic Director of the New Museum, on the occasion of the survey “Raymond Pettibon: A Pen of All Work.” Gioni and Pettibon will discuss the artist’s storied trajectory over the last four decades, during which Pettibon has gained a reputation as one of the most influential and visionary living American artists. The conversation will take its cues from “Raymond Pettibon: A Pen of All Work,” which occupies the three main floors of the Museum and includes more than eight hundred drawings from the 1960s to the present, as well as a number of his early self-produced zines and artist’s books and several videos made in collaboration with fellow artists and his musician friends. Although Pettibon has been an unquestionably pivotal figure of American art since the 1990s, he has never before had a major museum survey exhibition in New York. ————————————————————————————————— MoCCA 2017 The Society of Illustrators-sponsored, Museum of Cartooning and Comic Arts (MoCCA) Festival will be taking place this weekend, April 1-2, at Metropolitan West, 639 West 46th Street, NYC. As with previous years, there will be some great panel discussions, organized by CW favorite Bill Kartalopoulos as well as satellite programming of events and activities. Here are a few highlights from the Sunday programming schedule: 12:30PM / Helvetica Room Teaching Comics Internationally For much of their history, comics have been a self-taught discipline. Now students are learning how to make comics in a variety of academic environments, from dedicated schools to majors to minors to electives. This panel will bring together a group of international comics educators to discuss the programs they teach in and the different ways in which they approach teaching comics. Bill Kartalopoulos will lead a conversation with Jessica Abel (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, US), Guillaume Dégé (Haute école des arts du Rhin, France), Ben Katchor (Parsons The New School for Design, US), and Merav Solomon (Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Israel). 2:00PM / Garamond Room Rutu Modan and David Polonsky in Conversation Israeli artists Rutu Modan and David Polonsky are both known for the excellence of their artwork and for their provocative approach to blending historical and current events into their imaginative works. Modan is best known in North America for her graphic novels Exit Wounds and The Property and for her short story collection Jamilti. Polonsky is best known in North America as the art director for the animated film Waltz With Bashir, directed by Ari Folman. He is also the illustrator of the graphic novel based upon the film. Modan and Polonsky will discuss their work with comics scholar and writer Tahneer Oksman (How Come Boys Get to Keep Their Noses?). 2:00PM / Helvetica Room RESIST! In the weeks between the 2016 Presidential election and the 2017 inauguration, Françoise Mouly and Nadja Spiegelman edited RESIST!, a newsprint anthology of comics and cartoons, mostly by women. 58,000 copies of the newspaper were distributed for free by a grassroots network of volunteers during the Women’s Marches in Washington and across the country. RESIST! used online networks to solicit contributions and in the process became a new kind of hybrid platform: both an ongoing online forum for urgent expression by diverse voices and a print publication that has its roots in the Sixties underground press. In this special session, Mouly and Spiegelman will discuss the development — and the future — of RESIST! 3:30PM / Garamond Room Anthologies as Art: Kramers Ergot and Lagon The great anthologies of comics history — Zap, Weirdo, RAW, and others — have both made an assertion of comics’ aesthetic ambition at a certain time and place while functioning as a personal expression by each series’ editors. Sammy Harkham is the editor of Kramers Ergot, the anthology which, since 2003, has generated excitement with each volume as a strong statement about contemporary art comics in North America. Alexis Beauclair is the co-editor of Lagon, which debuted in 2014 as a risographed encapsulation of French avant-garde comics, and has metamorphosed with each volume leading to the latest, Gouffre. They will discuss their work as artists and editors with Bill Kartalopoulos. There will (presumably) be comics for sale at this show, along with the requisite prints, stickers and tote bags. Maybe there will be some more t-shirts for sale this year as well? Come on out to the far west side this weekend and take a look! ————————————————————————————————— A Cosmic Journey – 3-28-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-28-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-28-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

04/26/2016

Aaron CockleApril 26, 2016NewsAtena Farghadani; Right-of-copy; Mok/Doucet; Lilli Carré; Roy Crane ————————————————————————————————— From Maren Williams over at the CBLDF: BREAKING NEWS: Atena Farghadani Set to be Released Next Month ‘After nearly 18 months in prison for a cartoon depicting politicians as animals, Iranian artist and activist Atena Farghadani will reportedly be released sometime next month. She had been sentenced to 12 years and 9 months, but according to her lawyer the sentence has just been reduced on appeal.’ ————————————————————————————————— What we talk about when we talk about copyright On Medium.com: ‘Myth #3. Copyright is an Attack on Artistic Freedom I have been a working, professional wrter for close to thirty years. I’ve felt my artistic freedom threatened by a great many things — state censorship, all manner of fundamentalisms, Internet bullying and shaming… to name but a few. Copyright law is not on that list, and it will NEVER be on that list. The very foundation of copyright is the insistence that if I create an artistic expression, I own that artistic expression. And if I own something, you best believe I will protect it from those who want to impose their restrictions on it.’ On Priceonomics.com: ‘Copyright law in America long predated Mickey Mouse. The first of these laws, the Copyright Act of 1790, stipulated that creative works were entitled to up to 28 years of protection (14 years, plus an additional “renewal” period of 14 years, supposing the original hadn’t died). This was followed by an 1831 act, which extended the copyright period to a max of 42 years, and a 1909 act, which elongated that period again, to 56 years. As the Art Law Journal clarifies, “very few works actually maintained copyright durations”: only a fraction of those who secured copyrights protected them, or opted to renew them. Mickey Mouse was brought into the world in 1928, under the 1909 Copyright Act, entitling him to 56 years of protection under the law — no more. In accordance with the law, his copyright was set to expire in 1984.’ ————————————————————————————————— Annie Mok Interviews Julie Doucet ‘DOUCET: Yeah, but the dictionary—the new language that I created—has nothing to do with the words that are in Carpet Sweeper Tales. MOK: I meant just a new language in general, I guess. So major themes of the book are masculinity, toxic masculinity, and cars? And it’s so interesting—you’re taking these images from these ‘60s Italian fumetti, which are this incredibly butch series of scenes, some of them very threatening men—like, threatening to women, and women in compromised positions, and then there’s this constant iteration of cars and men speaking of women as if they are cars in some cases, or alluding to them that way. And talking about, like, where someone can take you, and what is freedom. How did this playful thing around cars develop, and what does that mean to you? DOUCET: In those fumettis, for some reason, there’s lots and lots and lots of action going on in cars—a lot of conversations. And I talked to my aunts, my older aunts, and they told me that was just the way it was at the time, because people didn’t really have any places to go to flirt or anything like that, so pretty much everything happened in cars. So in that sense, it makes sense in that context. But I just loved the car thing, so I just cut out everything I could find going on in the cars.’ ————————————————————————————————— Lilli Carré MFA Thesis Show May 5-June 19, 2016 Opening & Reception: Thursday, May 5, 6-9PM Alsdorf Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL This exhibition presents work by: Lilli Carré, Max Guy, Erin Hayden, Dan Miller, and David Sprecher. Culminating their Master of Fine Arts (MFA) studies in the Department of Art Theory & Practice at Northwestern University. ————————————————————————————————— Roy Crane’s Scrapbook Share this page: [...]

10/04/2017

Posted on October 4, 2017October 4, 2017 by Juan Fernández

Empezamos el día con Daniel Blanco; José Muñoz y Maria Luque; Inés Estrada; Rodrigo la Hoz; #GRAFMAD2017 y los tebeos de Cómics Workbook!

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Juan here: Well, folks, made it through the gauntlet. I had a brilliant time at CXC as Jenn Lisa and Sean Knickerbocker’s hype man & dutiful assistant. Comics Workbook held it down and got the good word into the hands of Columbus aplenty through workshops, back issues and conversations. It’s great to have a crew like Comics Workbook where we’ll have a core crew running programming and officially representing (Frank Santoro, Sally Ingraham, Audra Stang, Caleb Orecchio, and Connor Willumsen) while also having “agents” floating around the festival. It was good to be in the company of folks like Aaron Cockle, Kurt Ankeny, Adam Griffiths, Marina Harkness. All of us doing our thing.

A huge thank you to the CXC staff and volunteers for helping establish a show that best honors cartoonists and building a deep city wide infrastructure. Most specifically, I’d like to thank the CXC Executive committee, the people who make this show what it is and tirelessly keep it going–Jeff Smith, Lucy Caswell, Vijaya Iyer, Kathleen Glosan, Tom Spurgeon and Melody Reed.

Got to catch up with the great Iona Woolmington. Hearts on fire for her. Picked up fresh Comics School USA #8 from Kevin Huizenga. Can’t wait to sink my teeth into his notes. Watched Kat Fajardo receive the CXC emerging talent and felt the waves of excitement. Still running on that energy. Talked autobio comics with Breena Nuñez. Watched Jenn Lisa find kindred spirits at this show talking autobio and DIY and talking about the garbage aspects of the intersection of ego and publishing. This is a big deal for me and her. Good stuff.

CXC 2018 is 9/27-9/30. Thursday through Sunday. Mark your calendars and make your pilgrimage to Columbus.

Stay tuned for my annual Expanding the Festival Tool Kit post. After bathing in the warmth of CXC and swimming through a year of shows and festivals, I’ve got lots of thoughts. And I hope you do too, so chime in.

Tonight in Pittsburgh we’ve got our monthly comics salon:

If you’re in Pittsburgh, be sure to stop by for some drawing exercises, coffee, shop talk, and solidarity. Tonight we’ll be riffing off of Connor Willumsen’s latest workshops, focusing on distilling action, observation and dialogue into their essential bits across tight but flexible architectures of the page. We’ll be guided by the principles he’s developed over the past couple of years, most visible in his latest work, Anti-Gone, published by Koyama Press.

Anyway here’s the usual comics gold I bring you every week from Latin America and Spain. A little lighter a haul than usual, but just as shiny.
*Turn on your translation devices*

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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 Daniel Blanco sobre sus inicios en el dibujo, su infancia en la religión mormona y su vida en peñalolen rodeado de animales y perros. Les contó acerca de su formación casi autodidacta y su amor por la filosofía y la teoría. Finalmente les habló de su editorial Endorsain y el gusto de hacer libros de autor distintos y originales
Lo que va del cómic argentino: Martín Pérez escribe en las #Entreviñetas de El Espectador acerca de la obra de José Muñoz y Maria Luque
Inés Estrada sale de gira: AUSTIN, DALLAS, TOKYO, CIUDAD DE MEXICO, LOS ANGELES y les ofrece un nuevo calendario para el 2018 en la tienda Gatosaurio.
Rodrigo la Hoz les da tres consejos para contar historias en viñetas en Revista Bacánika.
Abierta la convocatoria para participar en #GRAFMAD2017 ¡Hasta el 16 de octubre!

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Joanie and Jordie -10-04-2017- by Caleb Orecchio

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Suzy and Cecil – 10-4-2017 – by Sally Ingraham

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in los Cómics, News

Juan Fernández

Posted on October 4, 2017October 4, 2017

Explore

Adam Griffiths – Rowhouse Residency Report

Comics WorkbookFebruary 23, 2017Residency Reports / School UpdatesAdam Griffiths is a comics artist from Takoma Park, MD. He joined us in Pittsburgh for a Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency January 29th-February 4th 2017. Here are his thoughts about visiting the city and his Rowhouse Residency experience. ————————————————————————————————————— The focus for my residency was completion – this is to say, I had a project I was interested in finishing during my week in Pittsburgh, and Frank seemed to help me make this theme more concrete. My projects for the week were: Allow the Rowhouse Residency hosts to see and provide feedback on the graphic novel that I have been writing for three years. Finish drawing a mini-comic that I’d begun last summer. Work on character, setting, and script concepts for a new secret project. Follow my usual comics schedule, which includes time set aside for exercise, freestyle drawing, and a weekly illustration in an unfamiliar environment. Did I accomplish all of these tasks? Let’s start. SATURDAY I arrived in Pittsburgh around 1 AM on Saturday night. I came early because I wanted to poke around Pittsburgh. My Rowhouse Residency wasn’t supposed to begin until Monday, so I had found an AirBnB that was a 10-minute walk from downtown Pittsburgh, and stayed there for two nights. Since I’d never been to Pittsburgh before, I wanted to see as much as I could but also stay focused on art. The ToonSeum was at the top of my list, followed by the Andy Warhol Museum, and then my usual wandering, which is when I take photographs and sketch. It’s a bit like a fugue state when I do this; I don’t always schedule that, but I consider it to be work, and when it begins I sort of just know, and become less reserved about taking snapshots of whatever interests me, or stopping to sit somewhere and draw. For breakfast I walked east on Forbes Ave, up Wylie Ave to Grandma B’s, a sort of diner greasy spoon. A lot of interesting buildings along this route; I stopped to watch a group of very young-looking investors talking to a man in front of the deserted New Granada Theater, which was under some type of development. I also stopped in front of the shuttered Crawford Grill, once a center of black social life in the Hill District. I didn’t really know what to order at Grandma B’s, but the staff was really nice and wanted to know where I was from. I got some great snaps on the way up the hill. After breakfast I walked back down the hill to The ToonSeum, only a 45 minute walk. The main exhibit area was partially set up for a Will Eisner show – still I saw some really lovely works, including another Eisner comic titled Harry Karry, which was about spies. I introduced myself to John F. Kelly, Director of The ToonSeum, who was in a meeting with his landlord. While I waited for his meeting to end, I happened upon a bunch of old cartooning instruction books, and I went through all of them. There was actually quite a bit of good (albeit dated) advice on how to structure your career as a cartoonist; I worked in the fine art gallery world for about ten years as an administrator. Every five or so years a helpful book is published about creating your own career as a fine artist. With the cartoonist version of such a book, there seemed to be much more structure and visualization of the career path, which, being that cartoonists’ careers were largely appended to the newspaper and media world at first, made plenty of sense. I was able to speak with John F. Kelly briefly. I asked if there was an archive in the basement and if I could come back and have a look at it. He said there was sort of an archive, but sure. I scheduled a Tuesday visit, but ended up not returning later because I was so busy drawing. After that, I walked over to the Andy Warhol Museum. I wasn’t ready for SO MANY floors of Andy Warhol. I enjoyed the screen prints, but I wasn’t so impressed with his early drawings. I have a very “Italo Calvino writerly approach” to visual artists’ early work – which is to say, Invisible Cities (written by Calvino) was an incredible feat of early work – short stories that are concise, that point towards future works of the creative person in question (I also pretty much lump artists, writers, musicians and performers all together). One of the wall plaques stated that Warhol had a peculiar skill for “increasing his income,” which I found strange. I went into the video lounge and watched ALL of the television commercials that Warhol ever produced. I wanted to do this because I have seen quite a few of Warhol’s films, own a few of them, and I admire the aggressive boringness of Warhol’s Dracula. The commercials, however, were artless. Should I have been surprised? Evening was coming, and I’d read that the Strip District was an interesting place to go on a Saturday night. I started walking in that direction and came upon EIDE’S, a 3-floor comics emporium. The long-box comics selection there was one of the best I’d ever seen; by the time I went to another floor, I was already plotting out how to convince the owners to let me set up a home somewhere in the store. Not gonna try that, but when I checked out in the basement, the clerk gave me a ‘bonified nerd’ discount! Then, the clerk on the main floor was also kind enough to direct me to a decent place to have dinner. I walked back to my AirBnB that night, chock-full of comics-luv. SUNDAY Sunday morning I decided to meet up with Sally Ingraham from Comics Workbook. I walked up Forbes Avenue to Wylie Avenue again in order to get to the Polish Hill neighborhood. This ended up being a much longer walk than I’d anticipated; I had a suitcase full of clothes, art supplies, and books. I had breakfast and made a few sketches at Lili’s Cafe, a coffee shop located below Copacetic Comics in Polish Hill. I haven’t been around punky vegan kids for a while, but one young lady was drawing and I gave her my card. Once I finished eating, I went upstairs. Copacetic Comics was a gem of an establishment. I looked around the store, got more comics and discussed the new George Herriman biography by Michael Tisserand with the owner, Bill Boichel. After this, Sally Ingraham took me on a driving tour of Pittsburgh. We saw the sprawling Allegheny Cemetery and took in some views. It was a relief to finally get to the Rowhouse and put down my suitcase. I was ready to begin working. I started by setting out all of the books I’d brought with me, plus the new ones recently acquired. Then I wrote out my schedule for the week by hand and posted it next to my drawing seat in the kitchen. I spent the rest of the night finishing thumbnails for the mini-comic. MONDAY & TUESDAY The first two days I worked in an isolated fever, completing my weekly illustration, a jumbo post-it note sketch, lots of small drawings, and several pages of the mini-comic. While I hadn’t explicitly stated that I wished to be left alone, I knew I wouldn’t hone in on the work with tons of distractions. I TURNED OFF MY PHONE during the daytime. I had gone to the grocery store on Sunday evening, which was conveniently right across the street so no excuses to go anywhere. WEDNESDAY Toiled in isolation this day as well. At this point, I felt very concentrated on completing the work, and was very satisfied with the quality of the drawings. Part of focusing on completion has nothing to do with how fast you’re working – it’s more like being a kind of live television actor with floor marks that you need to hit during scenes. If you miss the mark, or a line, you play through anyway, and plot to sneak in the part you meant to express later. I would work on a page for as long as I could – if I hit a dead end, I’d go to the mini-library I’d set up on the floor in the front room and look through comics until I was ready to start working again. The privacy of the Rowhouse made that feasible – I just kind of tore all over the place unrelentingly, joyfully. Over dinner at Frank’s house, which was next door, I spoke with Frank about his current work, which was set up across from the dinner table. Frank read what I had completed of my mini-comic. I only had about three more pages to go at that point. Also, I left my graphic novel with Frank overnight. While looking it over, he insisted that I should go ahead and print what I had done already. This was a step I needed to make – get comfortable with – so we discussed how I’d go about getting my mini-comic printed first. I have completely drawn my graphic novel at least 5 times, and have worked the script over entirely, maybe about 9 times. Working in my edits and really being rather fussy. I am very pleased with the version I’m working on – momentum-wise I’m very good at getting myself to work, but I’m very critical of what I do! It was useful to change my frame of mind from the creative work to the production work – just the type of shock I needed. In fact, in one of my old art world jobs, I’d been responsible for printing a gargantuan full color 400-page artist catalog of fine art works for two years in a row. So, while I was familiar with most of the printing terminology, I’d never ever had to apply any of that thinking to my own work. Having to consider printing the comic renewed my enthusiasm for sharing the work. I’ve got 150 pages drawn and need to get it out there! THURSDAY Finished drawing the mini-comic on this day. 40 pages. I drew 35 of them during the residency. For the rest of the day, I worked on various sketches, including some development work for a new comics project. I invited Sally and Frank over to the Rowhouse for dinner Friday night. For dinner, I cooked herbed chicken, mashed potatoes and salad. We talked about the residency and my further involvement in Pittsburgh. FRIDAY My last day. Continued developing my new comics project. Took a late afternoon drive with Frank through Braddock, and the rest of the Steel Valley. Frank is a Pittsburgh native who has lived in other parts of the country, but is now settled here running Comics Workbook. He told me about his family’s history in Pittsburgh, and then we stopped at Jerry’s Records, where I got LPs by Gene Loves Jezebel and China Crisis. I’m hoping to return for PIX, Pittsburgh’s Indy comic con, in April. After returning home on Saturday, I’ve since put myself in conversation with four printers about the mini-comic. In keeping with the speed at which I’m now working, I’ve averaged coloring pages at about 2-5 a day. So I’m more than sure I’ll have my first mini-comic printed by then! ————————————————————————————————————— Check out more work by Adam Griffiths on his website, follow him on Instagram, and look for his new mini-comic this spring! For more information about the Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency visit this page or email santoroschoolATgmail Share this page: [...]

06/29/2016

Juan FernándezJune 29, 2016NewsJuan Fernanadez here with your Wednesday Spanish language comics news: Selo Piqui’s TOPOGRAFIAS; Valencia Línea Clara; Comics workshop with LUTO; Ana Galvañ comics making video series; Isabel Cortés Navarro entrevista a Max; taking a look at Portugal’s Chili com Carne; fotos de los cicloreaders y Sindy Elefante. ————————————————————————————————— Now available: Topografias Topographias is Selo Piqui‘s latest collection of stories, whose common thread is the way, the route: through the frames, unlikely places are discovered, all with a strangely familiar narrative. It features two color work by Barbára Malagoli, Julia Balthazar, Lovelove6, Mariana Paraizo,Puiupo e Taís Koshino. Very cool comics poetics in service of these 6 women’s stories. If you’re curious about this exciting anthology, check out their online preview. ————————————————————————————————— VLC. Valencia Línea Clara El Institut Valencià d’Art Modern presenta la exposición “VLC. Valencia Línea Clara”, que podrá verse hasta el 2 de octubre de 2016 en las salas de la instituciónn. Esta exhibicion es un recopilatorio de alrededor de 200 cómics originales del grupo erróneamente conocido como la Nueva Escuela Valenciana de los años 80, uno de los proyectos expositivos estrella de la programación del IVAM para el 2016. Entre los artistas participantes destacan Sento Llobell, Mariscal o Micharmut. Una colección que se contextualiza con otros cómics de los años 70 como Tritón de Daniel Torres, Macao de Mique Beltrán o Futurama de Micharmut, también presentes en la exposición. Durante los años 60 y 70, Valencia vivió un espectacular momento creativo. Las vanguardias creativas explotaban con grupos como el Equipo Crónica y Realidad, que influían decisivamente en los jóvenes que por aquel momento comenzaban a cursar estudios artísticos. Unos jóvenes que, además, se habían formado en la cultura del tebeo, que tuvo en Valencia un centro neurálgico durante los años 40 y 50, y que sirvió para que estos nuevos artistas generaran un bagaje visual que se amalgamó durante su etapa formativa con las nuevas tendencias artísticas que inundaban la ciudad. ————————————————————————————————— Aprende a dibujar cómics con Ana Galvañ Ana Galvañ, dibujante de cómics e ilustradora a creado una serie exhaustiva de videos y actividades en Domestika. En esta serie, Galvañ te enseñará a crear tu propio cómic con el programa de ilustración Clip Studio Paint (anteriormente conocido como Manga Studio). Aprenderás a plasmar y estructurar tus ideas de cara a la creación de una historia y llevarla a cabo de forma fácil e intuitiva. Es un guia extremadamente útil para vosotros que quieren utilizar Clip Studio Paint pero que prefieren no dibujar en un estilo de manga tradicional. Te lo recomiendo! ————————————————————————————————— Isabel Cortés Navarro entrevista a Max Isabel: ¿Qué valor tiene para alguien que ha promovido el reconocimiento artístico de la historieta ser editado por el Museo del Prado? Max: A nivel personal es una satisfacción y creo que es bueno para el cómic en general. También debo advertir —sé que hay por ahí mucha gente que me va a dar la brasa con eso— que hacer esto no significa en absoluto venderse al sistema. Para mí no es nada contradictorio, ni con mi pasado underground ni con mi presente. Igual que hago esto hoy para el Museo del Prado, mañana hago un tebeo grapado y autoeditado. No tengo problemas ni nada de eso, eso que quede claro. Isabel: Además de compartir obsesiones, entre tu obra y el Bosco se pueden encontrar muchos otros paralelismos. Simbolismo, iconografía propia, surrealismo, arte secuencial… Max: Sí, eso es mérito de Jose Manuel , que pensó que yo era el adecuado para el Bosco. Por lo demás, la influencia de este pintor la he tenido siempre. Igual no evidente, pero creo que se nota que andamos por caminos parecidos. Soy muy consciente de la tradición simbólica de ciertos personajes y objetos, y la he usado mucho siempre. Funciona como un extra narrativo en mis tebeos, para quien lo pilla. Bueno, algunos elementos simbólicos son ya tan antiguos que todo el mundo los pilla, aunque sea a nivel subconsciente, pero otros no. Por ejemplo, lo de los mochuelos es curioso. En todos los libros sobre el Bosco se citan mucho como ave de Atenea y por tanto de la sabiduría, o bien como infernal porque es el ave asociada a las brujas, y no salen de ahí. Pero me di cuenta, a raíz de esa época en que dibujaba mochuelos en las esquinas, que no tenían ninguna función especial, de que el mochuelo es el autorretrato del autor. Es el pájaro que ve en la oscuridad, por tanto es el testigo de lo que estás contando, y es el autor el que ha sido testigo de algo y lo puede enseñar a los demás. En el Bosco funciona así, en casi todos sus cuadros hay un mochuelo. ————————————————————————————————— Gerardo Vilches le da un vistazo a la editorial portugues, Chili com Carne: Una de las cosas más interesantes de la última edición de GRAF en Barcelona fue la presencia de dos editoriales independientes extranjeras. Una fue la letona Kus!, y la otra la portuguesa Chili com Carne. De esta última, gracias a la amabilidad de Marcos Farrajota, responsable de la editorial, me traje a casa un puñado de cómics que he podido ir leyendo poco a poco, y que me han resultando muy estimulantes. Chili com carne lleva años publicando cómics en su país, e incluso han publicado obras de Olivier Schrauwen o Tommi Musturi. Resulta muy significativo lo poco que conocemos del cómic que se hace en Portugal, un país que tenemos literalmente a un paso. Tiene que ver con muchas cosas, cuestiones históricas y políticas que ahora mismo no vienen al caso, pero espero aportar mi grano de arena para dar a conocer una escena independiente muy interesante, y accesible para el lector español: muchos títulos incluyen traducción al inglés, y, en realidad, no es complicado leer en portugués con un poco de voluntad por nuestra parte. ————————————————————————————————— Taller de comics con LUTO – Comics Workshop with LUTO (Luis Tobon) in Colombia ————————————————————————————————— Documentado: El 1er tour de los Cicloreaders Estuvimos dibujando y pedaleando por la sabana con @SindyElefante ¡Gracias a todos los que participaron! pic.twitter.com/Bi5we75x6D — Cicloreaders (@cicloreaders) June 26, 2016 ————————————————————————————————— hasta la proxima! Juan Share this page: [...]

04/19/2017

Juan FernándezApril 19, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos el día con fanzine alacarta!; Chicks On Comicks; Berliac; Albert Monteys; Liniers; Pablo Selin; Mariana, a miserável; y los tebeos de Comics Workbook. ————————————————————————————————— Dibujos en femenino plural – El PAÍS os ofrece una toma sobre el mundo del cómic dibujado por mujeres. Más que nada, el enfásis es en la pluralidad de perspectivas. Las protagonistas de autoras como Gina Wybrandt, Flavita Banana, Raquel Riba, Monstruo Espagueti, Meritxell Bosch, Hardcore maternity… no son las mujeres hipersexualizadas de algunos cómics. Tienen vello, sus curvas son imperfectas, andan semidesnudas por su casa, tienen la regla y la sangre mancha (que parece que es un tabú), practican sexo o no lo practican y se quejan por ello… “Reflejo la normalidad”, dice Flavita Banana, que, como las demás, se inspira mirando alrededor. Todas tienen un toque desenfadado, irónico. Cada una en su línea pero con el humor muy presente y, a veces, con un punto de mala leche, de hacer que lo que cuentan sea una sacudida, que levante algunas ampollas. A pesar de que hay algunos temas como el de la bulimia que se trata en Yo, gorda, o el cáncer de mama, del que habla Jennifer Hayden en La historia de mis tetas (Reservoir Books), que son más femeninos porque por suerte para los hombres ellos sufren en un porcentaje mínimo estas enfermedades, cualquiera se puede sentir identificado con, por ejemplo, Lola Vendetta y la idea de hacer rodar cabezas (metafóricamente) cuando algo resulta desesperante. Y de esta empatía, al éxito. ————————————————————————————————— Inmersate en el mundo Ernesto Franco, el dibujante colombiana que creó ‘Copetín’, la tira cómica que esta semana cumple 55 años, con este tronco de perfil en EL TIEMPO. Una mañana de abril de 1962, un artista sin dinero y sin trabajo decidió probar suerte llevando unos dibujos al tradicional edificio de EL TIEMPO, en la avenida Jiménez con carrera 7.ª. Había cumplido 33 años y cargaba a cuestas varias quiebras económicas. Pero tenía una idea. Y esa idea cambió la vida del artista: Ernesto Franco. ————————————————————————————————— Cómics y noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: fanzine alacarta! La segunda seccion de la nueva edicion de Panorama Federal sección esta dedicada a las historietas en una publicación muy especial realizada por 151 artistas, bajo la coordinación del colectivo Chicks On Comicks. “Arte” es el título de el fanzine gratuito que se distribuyó en la muestra que se realizó en la Fundación Proa. Dale un vistazo! Berliac‘s got some new comics on Vice – Asian Food Store Junkies – S01 E06 The fracas gets international… The Funny Pages, un extra de Orgullo y Satisfacción La historia de los cómics está trufada de maravillas olvidadas que pasaron desapercibidas en todo tipo de revistas y catálogos. Durante décadas, Albert Monteys ha estado recopilando y clasificando meticulosamente estos residuos de narrativa gráfica olvidados por el tiempo que ahora se presentan Audioentrevista con ilustrador Liniers – es Pura Mestiza nº3. Pablo Selin nos trae una hola de cómics nuevos en su sitio! Dale a los que se mueven! Perfil de fanzinera, Mariana, a miserável en la Revista Cactus – Con un estilo fresco y desenfadado, la artista portuguesa Mariana, a miserável muestra las escenas cotidianas de la vida a través de unas ilustraciones con regusto agridulce. Un golpe de realidad al dia. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 4-19-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 4-19-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 4-19-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio 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: [...]

Residency Report: Homemake at the Rowhouse

Comics WorkbookJune 15, 2016Residency Reports / School UpdatesWe kicked off the Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency over Memorial Day Weekend with a visit from Matthew Conway and Mahmoud Hashemi. Matt is an architect and very recent Harvard grad (congrats Matt!), and Mahmoud is the lead developer of the Python Infrastructure team at eBay/PayPal. Neither of them had ever made a comic before. However, Matt and Mahmoud were men on a mission. They arrived at the Rowhouse with the clear intention of using its many resources and the full breadth and depth of Frank’s knowledge and techniques to make something great. They were challenged and inspired during their time here, and in return they challenged and inspired the whole Comics Workbook team. And yes, they did end up making their first comic! During his flight home Mahmoud wrote a detailed report of his experience at the Rowhouse, and it offers a lot of insight into what made the experience extraordinary for everyone involved. Below you will find excerpts from Mahmoud’s report along with some commentary from me. There’s a lot to unpack! – Sally ————————————————————————————————— Mahmoud Hashemi wrote: “From May 28th to June 2nd, 2016, I visited Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I went to work with Frank Santoro on Matt Conway’s game Homemake. Overall it was a great vacation because it wasn’t your typical beachside retreat. Rather, it was mounting an effort to renew creativity and productivity on Matt Conway’s longstanding project, Homemake. The timing was great, as it was right before Ramadan for me, and right after Matt Conway’s graduation from Harvard GSD. Started in 2013 and Kickstarted to the tune of 18,000 in 2014, Homemake is an experimental art game that is unique for its focus on architecture and music, and its lack of traditional game elements like enemies and time limits.” Mahmoud, who serves as an editor, instigator, and cheerleader for Matt and the game, recognized that his friend needed a burst of new energy and that the game itself needed more concentrated story development. Mahmoud continues: “Homemake was designed as a system, meaning that it was designed nonlinearly. It was a procedural way to achieve certain preconceived moments. But there were no sentences between the punctuation. Almost all games, including HM, result in linear gameplay. The player sequential acts or chapters. My goal became to quickly build the best linear structure with what was already there. In a way, there was a middle act, but no opening or closing. So, the goal was to use a comic book as a storyboard to create the opening act.” Sally here – like I said, these fellows arrived at the Rowhouse with a fire under their tails! Mahmoud had known for a while that he needed to sit down with Matt and really hash out a narrative for the game. When he discovered Frank’s Kickstarter for the Rowhouse last fall, Mahmoud knew that he wanted to support this new comic book institution, and guessed that a residency might provide the right sort of space for he and Matt to work. He wasn’t 100% sure that Frank’s methods would be the magic pill they needed, but he was willing to come to Pittsburgh to find out. Back to Mahmoud’s report: “Frank’s own creative methods have a focus on systems, especially jazz-inspired rhythmic systems, making them an exceptional fit with Homemake‘s motivations and goals. I was skeptical at first, but it worked wonders. This effectiveness may have been magnified because half of Homemake‘s vision was disparate moments, a grab bag of mental notes about certain aesthetics. This method allowed Matt to express all his thoughts and editors, like me and Frank, to come through, see the patterns a reader would want to see, and develop the most coherent narrative. Everyone wins.” ‘With Frank’s method, images come first, then words. There should be no script. The images tell almost the whole story, and those images must be allowed to find their own rhythm. A script disrupts that. Similarly, a grid is like an empty script. Frank’s method of modular, card-based creation was as effective as it was simple. Hard-earned simplicity. … Matt ended up drawing 52 cards. I found a cohesive story with 40, and we expanded that to use 48 cards to create 6 pages, 3 spreads. … With this new direction, and Conway’s drive, I expect that development will continue on the comic book and game. For the comic book, we’ll start having real deliverables within a couple months. The game has 80% of what it needs now, and may be approaching a playable version within the year.” Matt and Mahmoud did more work in about three days than most people get through in three weeks. They also found time to explore Pittsburgh a bit, catch a hockey game, and even read a few comics in the midst of drawing their own. However, the majority of Matt and Mahmoud’s time here was spent in a lively discussion which looped back to comics regularly, but ranged all over the place. It was almost a bonus that some work got done, but really it was this discourse, this rapid-fire exchange of ideas and experiences that made the time uniquely valuable. It certainly made the line between “teacher” and “student” very fluid. Mahmoud had incredibly generous things to say about the experience as a whole, and I’ll let him finish this report in his own words. Mahmoud concluded: “Frank is inspirational, completely earnest, and almost totally pure. He is not jaded, not burned out. He is hopeful and hard working. He has lived a lot of places, from Pittsburgh to New York to San Francisco to New Mexico and back to Pittsburgh, just down the street from his mom (who is very nice). Compared to my expectations of independent comics artists, Frank is well-adjusted and well-equipped, with good taste in more than just comics. This expectation is likely skewed by my reading of so many “journal comics” artists. I feel like I learned about creating and collecting in general, not just about comics. Frank never stops relating things to comics, education, and community-building. Passion is fleeting compared to this. His motivation is closer to second nature. This nature was my original hopeful realization with Frank, before I met him. I feel a deep kinship with him, as I think about creating code the same way he thinks about creating comics. Independent, expressive, and individually valuable. Corporate partnerships are inevitable and, while they can be good, ultimately these looming entities don’t care about the potential of comics/code, they just use creators opportunistically. I see Frank doing for independent print comics what E-40 does in hip hop. He seems to know everyone past and present. E-40 and Frank both act upon this knowledge, combining it with the deeply ingrained understanding that respect is the real currency of the business. Money is an inescapable reality, but it’s possible and laudable to address the group as a community first and an industry second. Economies have a tendency to be treated as zero-sum. But respect is not zero-sum. Through his music, E-40 pulls everyone together, adding to their respect, and his own. And above all he respects himself, setting a good example. So it is with Frank. Suffice it to say, we need more creator-mentor-educators like Frank (as well as Sally, who I think recognizes all this and more, and actively assists Frank in the mission). In my ideal world I would be able to spend one week per year with a creator of his caliber, but I feel lucky to even have this one trip. … Long story short, I wish Frank and team the best of luck in “reddin up” the residency in time for another visit in the next year or two.” – Mahmoud Hashemi Many thanks to Mahmoud and Matt for coming to the Rowhouse and contributing their considerable energy and talents to Comics Workbook. We’re humbled and thrilled to have hosted them, and look forward to channeling what we learned from them into future residencies. ————————————————————————————————— Please take a moment to check out Homemake, as well as some of Mahmoud and Matt’s other interesting projects. Homemake (coming soon! – keep up with the progress) Chill Anime Beats (a musical curation collaboration) Matt Conway’s website Sedimental (Accretionary thoughts by Mahmoud Hashemi) Listen to Wikipedia (seriously, check this out it is SO COOL!) Here’s a taste of what Homemake will offer – P.S. Mahmoud and Matt had a funny encounter with Frank’s Mom and a real pap-pap (Mr. Greene) at the airport. Check it out below. Share this page: [...]

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