Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Juan Fernández

Posted on October 5, 2016October 5, 2016

Explore

01/26/2018

Sally IngrahamJanuary 25, 2018NewsSally here with comics by Ellice Weaver, Katie Fricas, Jessica Campbell, Cara Gormally, and more! ————————————————————————————————— The Washington Post has more on the new exhibition on female cartoonists at the Library of Congress. Michael Cavna reports: “It is possible, in this era of increasing recognition of women artists, to gaze at the recent prize-laced success of Alison Bechdel and Roz Chast and Raina Telgemeier and Lynda Barry, to name just a few, and consider that the field of illustration is becoming more level along gender lines. But then you consider that only two women have ever won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning, or that The Washington Post runs only two comic strips created by women — and none by a woman of color — and you remember how much further the cause of women artists getting fair representation has yet to travel. That is a central thread running through “Drawn to Purpose: American Women Illustrators and Cartoonists,” the rotating exhibit of nearly 70 works now up at the Library of Congress’s Swann Gallery from its Prints and Photographs Division.“ Read more HERE. I don’t know if I can wait until September to plan a visit to the Library of Congress, in conjunction with SPX – I may need a spring visit. Who’s with me? ————————————————————————————————— John Sevin reviews Ellice Weaver‘s Something City on The Comics Beat. Weaver is an English artist who currently lives in Berlin – I hadn’t heard of her or this comic before, but it looks pretty interesting. “Like a Richard Scarry book for the modern urbanite, Ellice Weaver’s beautifully drawn Something City weaves together various corners of an urban environment to create a tapestry of experience that portrays the trees to make the forest more clear. A city is a super-organism, a compilation of sections and neighborhoods, which are in turn the sum of their residents. Each short piece in Something City corresponds to an area of the city, with some characters and situations making more than one appearance, but none dominating the travelogue. These are pit stops that give you a flavor for the parts of the city, echoing the intro to the old TV show Naked City that promises you the existence of eight million stories there. In Something City, there are at least 10, but probably more.“ More images and details HERE. I’m keeping an eye out for this one! ————————————————————————————————— Katie Fricas has a review in comics form of Paul Alexander’s Trinkets, on Hyperallergic. The first part is above – see the rest HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Chris Diaz has published his collection of photos from Comic Arts Brooklyn 2017 – check them out HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Upstairs and Downstairs November Garcia concludes her adventure in daily comics – see the results HERE. The U. P. Supply Co. interviewed Sara Lautman, after discovering her hilarious comic about how the Great Lakes were named in the New Yorker. Read the interview HERE. Frank Santoro talks John Pham‘s J + K over on The Comics Journal – read about it HERE. Biologist and cartoonist Cara Gormally shares a story about making certain long-term decisions for your child – on Mutha Magazine. Jessica Campbell has a new comic up at Hyperallergic – on the totally enthralling life of an artist at her day job. Michael Cavna on Ann Telnaes‘ new Trump-themed A-B-C book, which is out this week from Fantagraphics – read about it HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Collected from the thousands of pages of material that Frank has left scattered all over the digital landscape, these 4 PDF collections contain Frank’s best writing on comics and comics making from the past decade. Theory and process, reviews and discoveries, journeys both physical and spiritual. Check out the “Best of Frank Santoro” PDF collections, available HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 1-26-2018 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 1-26-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

08/30/2017

Juan FernándezAugust 30, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos el día con Carla Berrocal; Jueves Furioso de Dibujo; Simon Hanselmann; la Convocatoria de Voluntarios de Entreviñetas; La Polola con Brittany Tullis; Graficas Pro Aborto Libre; Alex Fito; Berliac y los tebeos de Cómics Workbook! ————————————————————————————————— Sobre el Proceso de Trabajo – Carla Berrocal Antes de nada, debo decir que no creo que exista un método de trabajo que sea bueno o malo o que sea el método definitivo. Creo, sencillamente, que existen miles de formasdistintas de afrontar un encargo, tantas como dibujantes. El mío es uno más de esos miles de métodos. No creo que sea el mejor ni de lejos, pero si que pienso que puede ser interesante compartirlo con vosotros. Siempre con la idea de establecer un diálogo y aprender cosas que puedan resultar interesantes para todos. Así pues, ¿cómo trabajo? ¿cómo afronto un encargo? ————————————————————————————————— Jueves Furioso de Dibujo con Virginia Abrigo 31/09 – 18:00-20:00 Plataforma Lavardén Mendoza 1085, 2000 Rosario, Santa Fe ————————————————————————————————— Simon Hanselmann: la vida no es bonita, ni siquiera en cómic En tiempos de Tumblr, de bloggers sobrevalorados, de fotos de perfil manipuladas por Photoshop y relaciones interpersonales supeditadas a una interfaz friendly, algunos pensamos que una vuelta al existencialismo honesto y deprimente es algo casi necesario. Por eso nos gusta reivindicar a Simon Hanselmann. Y no es que estemos de acuerdo con eso de levantarnos cada mañana planteándonos la existencia entre lacrimosos accesos de frustración, no. No del todo. Pero en esto coincidimos: empieza a resultar imprescindible un poco de reality bite, una dosis medicinal de realidad sucia que levante la alfombra y deje al aire toda esa porquería que se ha ocultado debajo con insistencia. Porque, sin entrar en discursos grunges, es dolorosamente cierto que la realidad, aunque pretendamos lo contrario, no suele ser algo que pueda retocarse con un filtro trendy ni reconstruir recortando el trozo que queremos mostrar. A pesar de que podamos tener momentos felices, la felicidad no es una imagen y, por lo tanto, nunca podrá permanecer demasiado tiempo. Léanlo todo en Literary Notes. ————————————————————————————————— ENTREVIÑETAS, plataforma cultural colombiana, invita a todas las personas en Colombia con interés en donar su tiempo para ayudar en la navegación del #FESTIVALENTREVIÑETAS como Voluntarios de la *red viñetera*. El voluntariado supone a menudo un desafío, pero significa también adquirir nuevos conocimientos y realizar actividades gratificantes. En el voluntariado no se recibe un pago y se entiende como una donación de tiempo y conocimiento para comprender y atender a los detalles que permitirán llevar el festival a buen puerto en sus sedes de este año: BOGOTÁ Miércoles 20 al domingo 24 de septiembre 2017 MEDELLÍN Miércoles 11 al domingo 15 de octubre de 2017 Convocatoria de Voluntarios ————————————————————————————————— 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 la académica Brittany Tullis acerca de sus estudios acerca del cómic feminista latinoamericano (grabado con público en Galería Plop!). Brittany comparte sus visiones acerca de la mujer y su rol creativo, la necesidad de replantear como nos vemos socialmente, críticar los roles impuestos y entrar en nosotros mismos a través del cómic y cómo éste a su vez tiene el poder de generar realidades que terminen en un cambio cultural. Aquí las compañeras de Gráficas ProAborto Libre y su campaña por un aborto libre en Chile. Alex Fito repasa algunos de los tótems de la historia del cómic en su último trabajo, una recopilacion en formato concertina. Una auténtica gozada que mezcla las influencias estética’s de Chris Ware y Max. Berliac‘s got a new Asian Food Store Junkies – Manga is Masturbation. The international fracas digs into the “scene” on an empty stomach… Tereixa Constenla offers a solid and interesting overview of the recent transformations in the Spanish Comics Industry in El_Pais. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-30-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

01/27/2016

Juan FernándezJanuary 27, 2016NewsThe Black Comic Book Festival at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem happened a little over a week ago. If you had been hoping to making it out, but couldn’t, good news: the panels they hosted are now online. Check it out! Organized by Deirdre Hollman, Jerry Craft and John Ira Jennings the show has experienced great growth in the past 4 years. If you weren’t able to make it to the event, or just could not get to the panel discussions Karama over at Blerd girl has put together a page with the panels! (Photo by Blerdgirl) If you’re looking for an exciting scroll comic to read today, big news: Sophia Foster Dimino andAnnie Mok‘s Swim Thru Fire, has finished its run on Hazlitt. You can now read the entire comic! Wottaday. part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8. MOOOVING SALE – Kris Mukai has discounted a lot of titles over on the BigCartel WebShoppe on account of Kris moving across country in about a month. Cool zines from a smart maker. Sale might last a week or two, and I might close the shop in February, but who knows, i might not! idk!!! idk what the future will hold!!!!!!!????!??? Melissa Mendes has an ongoing Patreon to support her comics making endeavors. She’s been focusing all her comics making energies on her greatest work to date – The Weight, an epic family saga set in rural New York state, spanning from the 1930s onward. The story is inspired by her late grandfather’s life. He wrote a short memoir, full of detailed descriptions of his childhood. Mendes is working and riffing off of that to make this work. Do share the video below if you’re down with The Weight. Melissa would appreciate it! Renee French, the creator of the creepy-cute Baby Bjornstrand, is featured on Vice’s The Creators Project for the creepy-cute aliens and exotic animals that populate her Instagram. Check out some specimens from her feed here! Your boy Aaron Cockle’s “Annotated 17″ is now available in the Birdcage Bottom Books shop: Alternate history. 5.5″ x 8.5″, 44 pages. $5 Multi-color mono-print cover with b&w interiors. Mystifying narrative movement, corporate recursion if you will… ** Each cover is different…handwritten titles, various colored mono-prints ** For your deep reading needs, Annie Mok took some time and wrote about comics maestro Carol Tyler’s 3 part epic Soldier’s Heart. – I reviewed Carol Tyler’s heartbreaking, beautiful, complex book Soldier’s Heart for TCJ. If you got a bland breakfast, read this review, cuz it’s a lil salty. Here’s an excerpt: Essayist Meghan Daum writes of “The Joni Mitchell Problem” in The Unspeakable, claiming that most audiences mistake Mitchell’s layered, Nietzche-informed lyrics for tell-all confessionals. It speaks to the inability of most people to tell the difference between putting yourself out there and letting it all hang out. Letting it all hang out is indiscriminate and frequently gratuitous. It’s the stuff of paint flung mindlessly at a canvas and words brought up via reverse peristalsis, never to be revised or thought better of It asks the audience to do the heavy lifting. It dares the audience to ‘confront the material’ without necessarily making that material worth anyone’s while. Putting yourself out there is another matter entirely. It’s an inherently generous gesture, a gift from artist to listener or reader. The artist who puts herself out there is not foisting a confession on her audience as much as letting them in on a secret, which she then turns into a story. Carol Tyler’s Soldier’s Heart collects her trilogy You’ll Never Know, which tells the story of how her father’s PTSD from serving in WWII reverberated throughout three generations. The narrative jumps between “Dad’s Army Scrapbook and Tour of Duty Highlights” and Carol’s account of the time spent making the books. During the 8-year stretch, she worked as a substitute teacher, was a semi-single mother, and slept on a mat on the floor. She mentioned in a 2012 Comics Reporter interview that she got by during this time with food stamps. (The harsh economics of cartooning makes me wonder whose stories we’re losing to time and resources, especially as deep racial and gender biases remain intact within comics institutions, as the recent Angoulême Grand Prix news illustrates. By the way: fuck the Angoulême Grand Prix.) Share this page: [...]

09/20/2017

Juan FernándezSeptember 20, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos el día con Amanda Baeza; Entreviñetas 8; Marco Toxico en La Polola; José Muñoz y Maria Luque; Gaspar Pujadas y Rodrigo Vargas;#GRAFMAD2017; Mireia Pérez entrevista a Richard McGuire; y los tebeos de Cómics Workbook! ————————————————————————————————— Amanda Baeza y las canciones dibujadas Gabriela Blanco nos invita a reflexionar sobre Su obra de narraciones autobiográficas en El Espectador. Sus historias son fragmentadas, alejadas de la estructura secuencial y más cercanas a la simultaneidad, y lo son porque responden a una representación de sus recuerdos, desde adentro, sin inicio, nudo y desenlace ordenados, así como recordamos todos. Su intención es lograr hacer sentir al lector lo mismo que ella sintió en aquellos instantes, ponerlo en su lugar. Le importa más el qué representó para ella que lo que realmente sucedió. Y es en ese punto donde Amanda emerge como vanguardia: cuando modifica las formas convencionales para contar historias y las reajusta a lo que realmente le interesa contar, porque cree en la empatía como un recurso más poderoso de conexión con el otro que la ficción misma. Léanlo todo AQUI. ————————————————————————————————— ENTREVIÑETAS 8 – BOGOTA La primera parte del gran festival Entreviñetas tendra lugar este fin de semana, del 20 al 24 de Septiembre. Si todavia no lo saben, el Festival Entreviñetas es el evento del cómic y el dibujo más influyente en la escena latinoamericana contemporanea. No se pierdan toda la programación! Pueden ver los horarios AQUÍ. Talleres, ferias, charlas y entrevistas – habra de todo, sobre TODO! ————————————————————————————————— 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 Marco Toxico, les contó de su vida, sus inspiraciones, su punto de quiebre, y motivación por hacer lo que le gusta en esta vida. Conversan acerca de referentes, la monstruosidad como tema y mucho más. 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 Entrevista Sacapunta N°1 – Gaspar Pujadas + Entrevista Sacapunta N°2 – Rodrigo Vargas Entrevista de Mireia Pérez a Richard McGuire en CuCo 5. Abierta la convocatoria para participar en #GRAFMAD2017 ¡Hasta el 16 de octubre! TIK TOK Comics os presenta una nueva entrega de DOMINGO, la serie conversacional de Muriel Bellini ¡Disfrutadla! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 9-20-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

08/24/2017

Sally IngrahamAugust 23, 2017NewsSam Ombiri talks ‘Prison Pit’ by Johnny Ryan, while Sally tracks down ‘Thriller’ comics and other news of note. ———————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: I guess Johnny Ryan is into a lot of different things. He’s really aware of what’s going on, and it all comes together in his work, making this really palatable mish-mash of all these things. His prime directive as an artist is to get you through the narrative in a clear and concise way, without any cause for interruption for the reader (either in the form of the reader not understanding, or an unfitting action or response). In a funny way, as a result, Prison Pit then feels more tasteful. Johnny’s trying to do more than just shock you. He’s trying to show off how cool and exciting comics can be. I figure he’s responding to people trying to make comics a really respectable medium that you don’t have to justify. Because of this, there’s this side of comics that’s forgotten. Johnny is reminding us with Prison Pit about this other exciting part of comics, not letting it be forgotten while this other side of it is being realized. I’ve really enjoyed reading and re-reading Prison Pit. It gets really, really awesome at times. It’ll have these excessive, uncontrollably violent blows from panel to panel, then there’ll suddenly be a gag pulled of with a lot of finesse. It all tonally registers and makes plenty of sense, making this established character of what the book is gonna be. Johnny keeps expanding this world of the “negative zone” in exciting ways. When I’m reading it, I keep asking Johnny as I’m flipping the pages, “Can this get any better?” and Johnny keeps telling me “YEAH.” My favorite part is where this one guy had collected a bunch of resources, and he uses the main character – Cannibal Fuckface – by using some kind of robot to control C.F.’s movements in his plot to escape the negative zone. The book gets really fun at that point. When we transition to a new being or story element it’s done with so much subtlety. It’s strange to read all this vile, intense stuff with such sophisticated, thoughtful transitions between them. Not that it’s strange to the point that it hinders the reading – far from it. It’s a really impressive book. Every page is a real treat. The drawings start off great and keeps getting better the more you read. It’s all around just a really good time. – Sam Ombiri ———————————————————————————————— 8-24-2017 – Sam Ombiri ———————————————————————————————— Sally here – I was digging through long boxes at one of Pittsburgh’s New Dimension Comics locations recently, and came across part of the run of Thriller – the series created in 1983 for DC by writer Robert Loren Fleming and artist Trevor Von Eeden (often called DC’s first black artist, and certainly the artist who drew DC’s first African American superhero to have his own title). Heidi MacDonald called Thriller “challenging, ahead of it’s time“, while Michel Fiffe said it was “quite possibly one of the most underrated and forgotten gems from modern comics“. Michel Fiffe wrote at length about Thriller in 2010, not long after conducting one of the best interviews in comics history with Trevor Von Eeden for The Comics Journal (#298). (You can see the outtakes and extras from that interview on Fiffe’s site – which is well worth doing! – but without a subscription to TCJ archives or a copy of the print version in hand, the interview itself is hard to track down.) Here are a couple of pages and spreads from Thriller #3, which maintains Von Eeden’s “top notch art” according to Fiffe, and “attempts to sustain the manic atmosphere the first two issues created while moving the story along“. You can see plenty more images from Thriller in Michel Fiffe’s article, and get the complete lowdown on the origin and fate of the series – HERE. ———————————————————————————————— News of Note Recently on The Nib Bianca Xunise points out that Black Women Aren’t Here to Save You. Gilbert Hernandez found a stash of original 1981 self-published B&W Love and Rockets #1 – and you can buy one! Details HERE. There’s an article on StreetWise from earlier this year about Tim Jackson‘s book Pioneering Cartoonists of Color which is worth checking out. I took note of the creator Leslie Rogers and the strip Bungleton Green in the article mentioned above, and tracked down another article about them both – plus the artists who drew the strip after Rogers gave it up. Read about Bungleton Green HERE. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-24-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ———————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 8-24-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

10/5/2016

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

Juan con: el tour de talleres de Comics Workbook; Rodrigo Elgueta y los Años de Allende; Natalia Silva en conversacíon con Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo; la llegada de Entreviñetas – Medellín; una venta paginas de Michael Deforge; Frank Santoro y el medallon de Pompeii.

—————————————————————————————————

Comics Workbook participará en dos festivales la semana que viene:

En el Reino Unido

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, Octubre 14-16. Frank Santoro, Aidan Koch, and Connor Willumsen en Kendal, UK. Buscános para y visita la mesa 67 en el Comics Clocktower para conocer a Oliver East y Jack Brougham, entre otros. Tendremos 3 talleres especiales, “Visual Poetry” con Aidan Koch, “The Hammer Party” con Connor Willumsen y “Composition Competition” con Frank Santoro. Las entradas para los eventos principales en el Festival Internacional de Lagos Arte cómico de este año están a la venta.ickets for the main events at this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival are on sale now.
Visita nuestra página de eventos para más información..
En los Estados Unidos
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, October 13-16. Ofreciendo talleres y tendremos libros de venta. Júntate con la boca y dibujantes Alexa bar y Kurt Ankeny para disfrutar un fin de semana Juan llenísimo y de creación de cómics. Examinarémos el arte y la cuadricula, uniendo las pracitcas artísticas de Berg y Ankeny junto con la disciplina y el ritmo de la cuadricula, según lo principios establecidos por Frank Santoro. Cuatro horas a través de dos días, llenas de la exploración de una variedad de técnicas y métodos – que inspirarán el principiante, y desafiarán al dibujante avancado.
Cómics como el jazz; cómics como la arquitectura; cómo una simple tarjeta de índice puede transformar su proceso de secuenciación y la narración. El horario completo del Festival CXC esta disponible AQUI.

—————————————————————————————————

Una Entrevista Con Rodrigo Elgueta

¿Cómo ingresaste al mundo del cómic en Chile?

Creo que se podría decir que el cómic es una actividad que me encanta, desde muy niño supe que iba a ser dibujante de cómic. Entre las cosas que me gustan de este mundo es que todos los dibujantes de historieta tenemos en común experiencias de niño, hay algo que nos conecta con ese mundo infantil que ha sobrevivido con el tiempo y que se manifiesta cuando uno hace historietas. Por ejemplo, a los siete años tengo el recuerdo concreto de una tarde especial, donde estaba dibujando personajes de Barrabases, en el cual dije “voy a ser dibujante”, y aquello me acompañó durante toda la vida.

Más detalles sobre su libro Los Años de Allende – AQUI!

Cuando el 4 de septiembre de 1970 Salvador Allende obtuvo el 36,2 por ciento de los votos que lo llevaron a ser presidente de la República, empezaron los mil días más intensos de la historia de Chile. El país fue un ejemplo inédito de socialismo popular democrático, con planes revolucionarios de igualdad, y al mismo tiempo un temido enclave marxista que amenazaba los privilegios, los negocios privados y los grandes capitales. Esta novela gráfica enseña con rigor los hechos políticos, los factores y actores que determinaron el fin de la vía chilena, a través de la mirada de un periodista norteamericano que llega a reportear un proceso y se encuentra con conspiraciones, efervescencia cultural y agitadas noches con una mujer fascinante. Muestra, así, las esperanzas y temores de los protagonistas de entonces, quienes vieron con pasión y dolor cómo se articulaba y destruía un experimento social único en el siglo XX.

—————————————————————————————————

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/285194140″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Escucha la nueva edición de @lapololapodcast, un podcast del cómic femenino con Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo: En este capítulo las chicas conversan con la autora del libro “No abuses de este libro” Natalia Silva, alias Natichuleta.

Conversamos acerca del abuso, de la violencia, los secretos, de cuales son los límites, cómo son los abusadores, cómo nos refugiamos en nosotros mismos y en el dibujo para darnos seguridad y sacar afuera estas experiencias.

—————————————————————————————————

Entreviñetas – MEDELLÍN
La segunda parte del gran festival Entreviñetas tendra lugar este fin de semana, del 6 al 9 de octubre. Si no lo saben ya, el Festival Entreviñetas es el evento del cómic y el dibujo más influyente en la escena latinoamericana contemporanea. No se pierdan toda la programación! Pueden ver los horarios AQUÍ. Talleres, ferias, charlas y entrevistas – habra de todo, sobre TODO!

—————————————————————————————————

Tenemos una nueva subasta para compartir con ustedes! El gran Michael DeForge nos ha donado tres dibujos a beneficio de la escuela – cada dibujo es sobre una cartulina tamaño A4 en crayón. Son de 2014. Cada dibujo estará disponible por separado. Más detalles acerca de la subasta está aquí.

—————————————————————————————————

Echa un vistazo a este medallón estilo Pompeii!

“Le encargué a la gran Airi Maeno que hiciera unos medallones de plata con sede fuera de mis dibujos. Este dibujo viende de mi libro Pompeii. Es algo que puedo imaginar que alguien se pondría hace dos mil años. Un simple medallón de un ser querido. Un retrato. Algo permanente para desafiar a la desaparición”. – Frank Santoro

Puedes comprar uno aquí!

—————————————————————————————————

hasta la proxima!
Juan

Share this page:

Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in los Cómics, News

Juan Fernández

Posted on October 5, 2016October 5, 2016

Explore

10/27/2016

Sally IngrahamOctober 27, 2016NewsSam Ombiri kicks off your Thursday with some thoughts on reading and Sally Ingraham follows up with interviews with Kyle Baker and Whit Taylor, a teaser video from Chris Visions and Tyler Q. Tucker, Ronald Wimberly’s latest adventures, and Whit Taylor’s CXC “Report Card”. ————————————————————————————————— Smart Reader I’m not too good of a reader. Maybe one day I’ll be a good reader. I struggle with concerning myself with just getting to the next page, and then the next page, and then the next page. I’ll rush to get to the last page only to be met with the lamest feeling ever. Then I say to myself stuff like “I should have paid more attention, I should have had more concern with the work, than the “task at hand”. Sometimes, I’m like, “I love this movie! This movie is great, but when will it end? I want my life back already!” When I carry myself this way through the work, and naively rush to get to the end, it’s like the feeling of unearned reward. At my job there are kids who whine to their parents until the parents buy them candy, and then there are the kids who are well behaved so the parents urge them to “go pick out something for yourself, since you’ve been great!” I feel like the whining kid more often than I’d like to admit. I really dig Joseph Conrad’s way of rendering emotion in relation to the characters’ shared circumstance, but I want to hurry up and finish it so I can sound smart, and brag about how I’ve read Joseph Conrad. That’s not to say that I’m always like this. It’s an annoying feeling that pops up every now and then. Maybe it’s because I’m reading “important work.” I heard Matt Thurber say that he felt small press stuff is more important to him than hardbound graphic novels. I don’t know if he still feels this way. The smaller parts are most important as opposed to the whole, because you can’t tackle work all at once. (Or maybe you can.) – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Sally here with some other happenings in the comics world. Adam Griffiths interviewed Whit Taylor recently for his ongoing “Zine Tree” series. He dug into her work Passing, a good deal of which is available to look at in the interview, as well as her latest book Wallpaper. “WT:Wallpaper is largely about “flashbulb” memory, which can be particularly vivid when we are kids. It’s not fully autobio, as not all the chronology or details follow my life, but it definitely deals with certain recurring themes from my family. Some of the patterns are from childhood and others are not. As for the ‘unsaid’, yes, I feel like this is usually an element in my work. I think it is hard when doing memoir/autobio work to figure out how to tell a story without getting bogged down in the details. My primary goal is to create a mood or a feeling, which doesn’t always rely on telling one’s personal history in detail. I remember when I was a kid, feeling confused a lot about the world and what adults were doing in it. I also felt like I had a partner in crime, my younger brother, to help navigate that world with. That’s what I wanted to communicate.” – Whit Taylor Read the rest of the interview HERE. Also check out Adam Griffiths’ work HERE – he is a cartoonists based out of Takoma Park, MD (who will be joining us in Pittsburgh in early 2017 for a Rowhouse Residency!) ————————————————————————————————— Get Why I Hate Saturn now at https://www.createspace.com/5628261 #graphicnovel A photo posted by Kyle Baker (@qualityjollity) on Oct 24, 2016 at 5:50am PDT Kyle Baker posted this reminder on Instagram recently – you can get his breakthrough story Why I Hate Saturn via his website HERE (follow @qualityjollity!). The Comics Alliance published a lengthy interview with Kyle this month, part of their Five Stars series which highlights 5 milestones of an artist’s career. Why I Hate Saturn (1990) is certainly on the list, and Kyle and Steve Morris talk about it’s continued importance: “CA: At the time, it wasn’t a huge sales success. It took years, and is arguably only now really getting the notice it deserves. Is it difficult to take a hit like that — to build up and work on a project, only for it to then not break out commercially in the way you might have hoped? KB: I think that it’s never wise to measure one’s worth by the opinions of strangers. I’m just trying to create the work I enjoy. I can’t imagine how sad it would be for a person to live their life worrying about what other people think of them. When I work, I do the best job I can according to my skill level at the time. I’m always studying, and looking to learn how to write and draw better, and that’s what’s important to me.” – via Comics Alliance Read the full interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Whit Taylor‘s Cartoon Crossroads Columbus 2016 “Report Card” article is up on the site. According to Caitlin McGurk, one of the festival committee members and Associate Curator at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, the show reflected the goals of the organizers – “We want it to include everyone from comic strip artists to punk mini-comics makers to political cartoonists, web cartoonists, mainstream cartoonists and the “indie” folks. Animators, too! A place where someone who has just made their first mini-comic can stand beside a MAD Magazine legend in the BICLM galleries and chat about Winsor McCay. A place to learn about developing professional skills for artists, be it from inking to legacy planning, from foreign rights to how to fill out your taxes, etc. We want to create a support system for comics, in a place that already serves as a home and shrine to comics.” – Caitlin McGurk Read the rest of Whit’s report HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Lots of people went to NYCC and they all seemed to have a pretty good time – but no one tells the story with as much style as Chris Visions and Tyler Q. Tucker: Created by @tylerqtucker ・・・ #NYCC with the @outofsteparts crew was a blast! Can’t wait to release the full video! #OOSA #nycc2016 @chrisvisions @punkrockjazz @andrewmaclean @nathanfoxy @newyorkcomiccon A video posted by Chris Visions (@chrisvisions) on Oct 11, 2016 at 7:10pm PDT Just a teaser of the soon-to-be-released full video. Follow @chrivisions on Instagram for tons of life drawing sketches and other process posts! ————————————————————————————————— Ronald Wimberly has finished his residency in Columbus (but check out the video above for a lengthy talk and tour of his exhibit at the Columbus Museum of Art). He’s back in New York City, and will be doing a talk and signing on Halloween at Kinokuniya New York – if you’re in town, you need to be there! ————————————————————————————————— The Comics Reporter has a comprehensive list of all CXC-related reports – check out out. Here on the site we have our own massive roundup post of CXC-related stories and reports. We also have Frank’s LICAF report with the recent addition of Aidan Koch’s thoughts on the event – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Comics Workbook has had a great show season, with visits to SPX, CXC, and LICAF. The workshops we have hosted at these events have been a highlight and folks all over are digging into comics making with new ideas swirling in their heads. If you didn’t making it to a workshop this year, be sure to keep an eye out for us next year – and meanwhile, check out thee Santoro School Handbook for Making Better Comics by Frank Santoro and Kurt Ankeny. Printed offset on cardstock by the professionals at The Prolific Group, Winnipeg, Canada, this is not some cheap color xerox or risograph. Looks great, feels great, and even smells great. Always available at our store HERE – free shipping worldwide! Share this page: [...]

04/05/2018

Sally IngrahamApril 5, 2018NewsSally here with “Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story”, plus comics by Morrie Turner, Brumsic Brandon Jr., and Ted Shearer! ————————————————————————————————— Yesterday we marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and PREVIEWSworld took the opportunity to share a particularly important comic – Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story(above). “In the late 1950s, as the Civil Rights Movement was gaining strength throughout the country, the peace organization The Fellowship of Reconciliation saw the need to promote their philosophy of nonviolent resistance to as many people as possible. To accomplish this, they used one of the most accessible formats of the day – the comic book – to tell the story of the successful bus boycotts by African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama, and the man who helped inspire them.“ Originally handed out in churches and nonviolence workshops, this comic was a powerful inspiration to many. You can read the whole thing HERE. The creation of the comic is a pretty interesting story in itself. Originally conceived by a man who didn’t allow his own kids to read comics – Alfred Hassler – it was meant to help convey the ideas of the Civil Rights Movement to the semiliterate. The comic soon became something much greater than anyone would have guessed. You can read a very thorough examination of it’s history and influence HERE. It is interesting to note that the identity of the artist who drew the comic has been entirely lost. Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story helped inspire John Lewis to write the award winning March trilogy, with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell. Check out that comic HERE. ————————————————————————————————— There were a couple of cartoonists who found their work in much greater demand immediately following the death of Martin Luther King Jr. – a bittersweet turn of events, for sure. Morrie Turner had a strip called Wee Pals (above), which was syndicated an 4-5 papers in the mid-60’s. It was considered “subversive” because it featured a diverse cast of childhood playmates. He had in fact been encouraged by his friend Charles Schulz to create the strip, after Turner had complained about the lack of black characters in newspaper comics. When Martin Luther King Jr. died, in short order nearly 100 papers picked up his strip. Morrie Turner continued to draw the strip well into his 80’s. You can read more about him HERE. Brumsic Brandon Jr.‘s strip Luther was also picked up by numerous papers in the late 60’s, remaining in syndication for two decades. It’s cast of characters were from a poor neighborhood and were a bit more “streetwise” than Morrie Turner’s. Read more about Brumsic Brandon Jr. HERE. I’ve encountered Wee Pals and Luther before, but another comic by a black creator that was in newspapers at the time was new to me. Ted Shearer‘s Quincy appeared in 1970. He had made a variety of strips over the years, aimed at an adult audience, and they had appeared in numerous publications. Before Quincy took off, Shearer was working in an ad agency, but with the success of the strip – which, like Turner’s and Brandon’s comics, featured black kids commenting on life as they experienced it – he was able to focus on Quincy exclusively. He enjoyed syndication for 16 years. I’d really like to find the collection that was published in 1972, but for now you can see a selection of strips that kind souls have scanned and shared on the web HERE. Read more about Ted Shearer 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 NOW! 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 – 4-5-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

10/26/2017

Sally IngrahamOctober 25, 2017NewsSam Ombiri with a review of Maggie Umber’s Sound of Snow Falling – and Sally with Adam Griffiths, Tayo Fatunla, and more! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: After reading Sound of Snow Falling by Maggie Umber I’m not content with the comic being treated only as “a nature documentary”. The comic uses the form in a way that is more than just to inform. It is true that the accuracy , the intricacy of the perceived statements, and the manner in which Maggie is feeding us the images are centered around her observations, based on a long period of research. However, in James Duncan’s introduction (which was good overall,) I was having trouble with how he would try to sell the book on its strictly functional purposes of informing. Even when he calls the book beautiful, it’s only so that the beauty can serve the purpose of informing. Of course I’m not opposed to the idea of informing, I just feel it undersells the comic. So then what purposes can a comic like this serve, if it’s not purely informative? When you read Sound of Snow Falling, it’ll jab you from the get-go. It’s the sequencing done in response to the research that drove the four years that were spent on the book. This reveals messages that even Maggie isn’t aware of, as a result of her not imposing her thoughts on the reader. This doesn’t mean she doesn’t guide the reader with intricate sequences. That’s why I’m rather frustrated with the work just being treated like a documentary. Comics and movies are very different mediums, but I guess a comic book version of a documentary is already a somewhat subversive idea, I’m more inclined to compare it to something like An owl is an owl is an owl before some random “owl nature documentary”. For example, the way that Maggie will show the Owl’s relation to the period of time it takes of the owl to hatch – it’s immensely poetic, especially with the way it’s displayed. Again, intricacy. There’s a lot of it in these sequences, and they are really great to read. – Sam Ombiri Get a copy of Sound of Snow Falling by Maggie Umber HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Sally here – Adam Griffiths‘ Washington White comic is out! Part 1: Algorithm is a 72 page tabloid style tale told in a “bonkers spy-thriller” style – and it’s all about an anti-discrimination case. Bound to intrigue and absolutely certain to entice the eye. Get a copy HERE (and look for it at the Comics Workbook table at CAB in a few weeks.) Be sure to also check out Adam’s comic A Permanent Night, mostly drawn in January of 2017 while he was doing a Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency. Actually, Adam’s conversations with Frank Santoro during that time prompted him to make the last push toward publishing Washington White, a project that he had been drawing for several years. It’s thrilling to see it come out now, especially in this tabloid format (which really seems to capture the immediacy and unpretentious quality that I love about comics). Adam just won the CAKE Cupcake Award, which grants him $250 to print a new mini-comic for CAKE 2018, along with the mentoring of Edie Fake during the process, and his webcomic American Cryo- updates most weeks on Tumblr – HERE. He’s a busy guy, and really pouring his heart into the medium right now. Try to keep up with him! Here’s the latest American Cry- strip: ————————————————————————————————— Check out the work of Tayo Fatunla, a Nigerian cartoonist who is a graduate of the Kubert School. He began a strip called Our Roots in 1983, while he was at the school in NJ, and it remains his most well-known continuing work, published internationally. He maintains the strip, along with other political cartoons, while also teaching and lecturing around the world. Check out a selection of Our Roots HERE. Read his full bio HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Tayo Fatunla wrote an introduction on EURweb.com recently to a young man whom he has been working with since he was a teen – a new cartoonist from Cameroon named Toh Bright. Read about him HERE and keep an eye out for his name and work in the future. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 10-26-2017 – by Sally Ingraham and America S. (aged 8, a student in Sally’s comics class at LAWCC) ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 10-26-2017 – by Juan Fernandez ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

06/29/2018

Sally IngrahamJune 28, 2018NewsSally here with comics and news from Rina Ayuyang, Heidi MacDonald, Carole Maurel and Mariko Tamaki, and more! ————————————————————————————————— Coming this November from Drawn & Quarterly is Rina Ayuyang‘s Blame This on the Boogie. It’s the story of her childhood as a Filipina-American in Pittsburgh, PA, and how music and pop culture got her through the tough high school years, and continues to keep her sane as she navigates her present-day life as an artist and mother in Oakland, CA. Publishers Weekly has a brief review of the comic HERE. HERE is a preview of the book! ————————————————————————————————— Heidi MacDonald attended the American Library Association annual conference in New Orleans recently, and published a complete report of her experience at The Comics Beat. As a former librarian myself, and a kid who considered my local library a second home and counted my librarians among my best friends…I am always interested in how librarians have been saving the world lately. Heidi concludes her detailed account of an uplifting and informative experience with these thoughts: “And that’s really the bottom line about the ALA. Librarians love comics not because it’s a secret hobby they try to fob off on other people – graphic novels are highly circulated books in libraries. There is an avid readership and a growing need for more information about all of it. I think a lot of first time ALA attendees” “thought that their job would be trying to persuade librarians to give comics a try, but the reality is that curators are way ahead of that – they’re always looking for MORE information about the publishers and authors their patrons are interested in, and more information to justify their purchasing budgets. They are hungry for more books that people can read and enjoy. Far from the roil of the DM, graphic novels were clearly on the upswing “Graphic novels are big and they’re just going to get bigger,” someone at the Disney booth, of all places, told me. Creator Frank Cammuso had an even more blunt assessment. “I think libraries saved comics,” he told me. Looking back at how comics emerged from the wreck of the post speculation market into the manga-fueled era of bookstore comics, and the recovery following Borders going under, library sales have risen steadily, an invisible but integral part of the business for publishers smart enough to get in on it. The numbers don’t lie: There are an estimated 119,487 libraries in the US, including 16,000 public libraries and nearly 100,000 school libraries. A hit in this market dwarfs the direct sales market, and doesn’t even show up on Bookscan.“ Read the rest of the report HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Paste Magazine has an excerpt from French cartoonist Carole Maurel’s Luisa: Now and Then, newly adapted into English by Mariko Tamaki and available this week from Humanoids’ Life Drawn imprint. “A disillusioned photographer has a chance encounter with her lost teenage self who has miraculously traveled into the future. Together, both women ultimately discover who they really are, finding the courage to live life by being true to themselves. Luisa’s sexuality is revealed to be a defining element of her identity, one which both of her selves must come to terms with. A time-traveling love story that turns coming-of-age conventions upside down, Luisa is a universal queer romance for the modern age.“ See the preview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— A few extras PRI has a brief story on the new artist behind the comic strip Nancy – HERE. A 13-year old cartoonist named Sasha Matthews responds to Trump’s family separation policy – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 6-29-2018 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

03/16/2018

Sally IngrahamMarch 15, 2018NewsSally here with a look at work by Paty Greer/Cockrum, notes on the Drawn to Purpose show at the Library of Congress, and new comics by M. S. Harkness and Eleanor Davis! ————————————————————————————————— A comics long box find inevitably leads to an internet wormhole…which I both love and hate…but it is all in pursuit of expanding my knowledge of the women who worked and continue to work in comics. An issue of The Amazing Spider-Man from 1985 surfaces, with art by “Paty” – WHO IS PATY? She is Paty Greer, who became Paty Cockrum when she married Dave Cockrum (the artist/writer behind X-Men characters like Nightcrawler). Paty Greer/Cockrum worked in the Marvel bullpen of the 1970’s under both names, and often just Paty. She did a lot of production work, but was also a colorist and occasional artist. In addition to the issue of The Amazing Spider-Man shown above, I know that she was the artist on The Claws of The Cat #3 (along with Bill Everett; a page from the comic is shown below). The Claws of The Cat (1972) was a short-lived series written by Linda Fite, and was one of the first Marvel attempts at bringing a female superhero to the comics page. (I’ll write more about this series soon – I desperately want to get my hands on the first issue, which was penciled by Marie Severin.) The title character – when she isn’t The Cat – is named Greer Nelson, which naturally leads me to believe that Linda Fite and Paty Greer were pals in the Marvel bullpen. Like Paty, Linda Fite was a production and editorial assistant at Marvel (and she married Herb Trimpe soon after). I found a piece of an interview with Paty where she describes the Marvel bullpen in her day, and specifically the day she noticed Dave Cockrum using the Xerox machine…read that story HERE. I’ll be keeping an eye out for Paty’s name as I continue to dig through long boxes and fall down internet wormholes… ————————————————————————————————— Check out the official website for the fantastic show that is on display this year at the Library of Congress – “Drawn to Purpose: American Women Illustrators and Cartoonists“. I recommend taking a look at the Online Exhibition, which offers a taste of the full show (which is so large that it will be completely switched out half way through). If you are in the D. C. area anytime this year be sure to check out the events associated with the exhibition as well – recently Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and the show curator Martha H. Kennedy had a conversation with Whitney Sherman, Barbara Brandon-Croft and Jillian Tamaki. There’s plenty more going on – keep up with it HERE. ————————————————————————————————— M. S. Harkness‘s new comic Tinderella (partially inked during her Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency last summer) will be coming out as part of the Kilgore Books & Comics 2018 Releases – consider preordering a copy HERE. If you can’t wait until June for more Harkness then order Normal Girl, another new release, from her HERE. It is sold gold. Or anyway, the cover is gold so you probably need it in your life. See what else she is up to HERE. ————————————————————————————————— HERE is an excerpt from Eleanor Davis‘ Why Art? on The New York Review of Books. And HERE is a review of Why Art? by Eleanor Davis on the A.V. Club. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-16-2018 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply