Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged caleb orecchio, gabriella tito, growing gills, jessica abel, jessica campbell, julie maroh, meg lemke, melanie gillman, Mutha Magazine, sophie goldstein

Sally Ingraham

Posted on November 23, 2017November 24, 2017

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08/24/2018

Sally IngrahamAugust 23, 2018NewsSally here with a look at Anne Simon’s “Song of Aglaia” ————————————————————————————————— I found Anne Simon‘s Song of Aglaia difficult, but in a way, the things I didn’t like about it are what makes it interesting. When I am presented with a female protagonist I want to get behind them 100%. When a female protagonist turns out to be complicated and prone to making decisions that hurt the people around her, I have to adjust my expectations. Such is life, of course. Simon demands many adjusted expectations with Song of Aglaia. She begins by upsetting a number of traditional tropes that are usually found in myths and fairy tales. A water nymph, Aglaia, is presented at the beginning of the comic as a fairly typical victim of male violence and oppression. She wants to be happy and loved, and in the pursuit of that finds herself abandoned and with child, rejected by her father, and then forced into a marriage of convienence in order to avoid a punishment of death handed down by a tyrannical ruler. Switching things up from there, Simon draws Aglaia with more backbone than is usually the case in fairy tales. Aglaia fights back, rescuing her children, killing the tyrant, escaping her loveless marriage – but at what cost? Once she has gained power, Aglaia wields it poorly, decreeing her own opressions and abondoning people who care for her. The moral clarity that many fairy tales lay claim to is definitely blurry in this comic. It’s easy to root for Aglaia to a point, but when her choices continue to lead to heartbreak, reality sets in and I am forced to consider that Song of Aglaia is NOT a fairy tale. It is a story that asks “what happens next?” After the male oppressors are overthrown and equality is achieved, when women in fact gain the upper hand and are free to build the world they wish for…then what? The example that Aglaia provides is an all too possible result. There is no triumph when cruelty leads to more cruelty, when the abused turn into abusers. With interesting artwork and good storytelling Simon offers a thoughtful comic, but one that doesn’t answer the questions she brings up. It’s a fairly heavy reminder that in the fairy tale and in real life there are no easy answers. Everyone is complicated and nursing their own wounds, and we are caught in a cycle that often seems inescapable. At best, we can hope to muddle onward, perhaps with a little more grace than Aglaia manages. Although it may sound as though I didn’t like this comic, I do recommend taking a look at it! Somewhere, hidden between asking these types of questions and imagining the possible answers, there lies the potential for discovering a solution – and examining the “difficult” things always brings us closer to that. ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

09/21/2018

Sally IngrahamSeptember 21, 2018NewsSally Ingraham here with my Small Press Expo 2018 memories and pictures! (See Juan Fernandez’s SPX report HERE, and read Caleb Orecchio’s thoughts HERE.) ————————————————————————————————— I headed to Bethesda a day early and on Friday I was fortunate enough to tag along on SPX Director Warren Bernard’s annual field trip to the Library of Congress with some of the Expo’s special guests. At the Library of Congress we got to see some of the comics holdings that are kept in the Prints and Photographs collection. Here’s a few that I took note of: After looking at the comics holding for a bit, Emma Ríos, Rina Ayuyang, Liv Strömquist and her son and their travel companion, Kate Harmon, and myself, made the long dangerous trek underground through the maze of the Library of Congress (there were tunnels involved!) to find the Jefferson Building and the Drawn To Purpose show. There was a nice timeline of work made by female cartoonists and illustrators, including the Little Lulu strip I shared at the top of this post, and this Brenda Starr, Reporter piece by Dale Messick: We found our way back to the Madison Building in time to catch Carol Tyler‘s big presentation on her life and comics. Having formed a bond over the morning, Emma Ríos, Rina Ayuyang, Kate Harmon and I continued to hang out for the rest of the day. And as we were leaving the Library of Congress in search of lunch, who should we bump into but Congressman John Lewis…?! (Check out the March trilogy that Congressman John Lewis wrote with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell HERE.) It was a real treat to explore Washington D.C. with my dear friend Kate Harmon, guided by our pal Adam Griffiths, and get to know Emma Ríos and Rina Ayuyang along the way. I knew Spanish cartoonist Emma Ríos‘ work from the Image titles Pretty Deadly, with Kelly Sue DeConnick, and Mirror, with Hwei Lim. In 2016 she put out a comic that she drew as well as wrote (the first comic she has written in English), called I.D., which I’ve been meaning to read (and I was so delighted later in the weekend when she gave me her last copy!) Here’s an interview with Emma from last year that details more of her comics adventures. Rina Ayuyang is originally from Pittsburgh, PA, so we hit it off right away! I’m super excited to read her new book, just out from Drawn & Quarterly – Blame This on the Boogie (get a copy of it HERE). Getting to meet cartoonists like Emma and Rina is why I come to SPX every year. I’m interested in the quick friendships that form because of the common interest that pulls us together. You’ve never met before, and may come from different career/publishing backgrounds, but especially in groups of women I have found that there is a powerful connection and a desire to support and celebrate all the varied comics-making paths that we’ve traversed. I felt that strongly with Emma and Rina, and although our encounter was more incidental, with Liv Strömquist as well. (Check out Liv’s powerful new book The Fruit of Knowledge HERE.) By the end of day on Friday Kate Harmon and I were having dinner with Fiona Smyth, due to a quick invitation in the hotel elevator (another key part of the success of SPX – everyone is in the same hotel!) I am such a big fan of Fiona’s work, and was lucky enough to meet her during her visit to Pittsburgh, PA, a few years ago. It was terrific to catch up and congratulate her in person on her new book, just out from Koyama Press – Somnambulance. Saturday and Sunday at SPX I was completely engrossed in running the Comics Workbook-hosted workshops. These workshops provided a veritable crash-course in comics making, beginning with Juan Fernandez‘s highly energetic intro to image-making as language. This was followed by Dash Shaw‘s in-depth exploration of comics writing, and Molly Ostertag‘s (standing room only!) session on digging a fresh story out of yourself. There were numerous other offerings (we ran 8 workshops this year!) including a clay sculpture workshop with Liz Reed and a Kickstarter intro course with Camilla Zhang. (Big shoutout to Caleb Orecchio for being doorman on Saturday and wrangling the enthusiastic and lengthy lines of folks who attended – and for his own great workshop on Sunday! And to Kate Harmon for helping with supply runs and the door on Sunday!) Saturday night is always bonkers – for me it’s a balance of hanging out with the Comics Workbook and Pittsburgh Comics Salon crew, and finding my more far-flung comics friends to catch up with (Andrew White, M. S. Harkness, Iona Fox!) But despite great conversations and late hours kept, I somehow got up on Sunday morning and drove 30 minutes to Great Falls Park, VA, to pursue the topic of all my own comics lately – BIRDS! Sunday at SPX went by in a flash, and before I knew it we were packing up the workshop room, and I was making a last round of the Expo floor to find cartoonists I’d missed before they in turn packed up and took off. Dinner with Kate Harmon and Emma Ríos and Fiona Smyth, followed by late-night chats with Iona Fox, and then the show was officially over for me. I crawled into bed to sleep for a bit before racing back to Pittsburgh, PA, on Monday morning in time to work at 10 AM… Phew! Thanks to Warren Bernard, Lynda Bernard, Rob Clough, Danethin Mejia, and Eden Miller for the organization behind the show, and especially their help in making the workshops happen. Thanks to Juan Fernandez, Liz Reed, Dash Shaw, Molly Ostertag, Jason Rodriguez and the Latin American Youth Council, Mosi, Camilla Zhang, and Caleb Orecchio for delivering such stellar workshops! And many, many thanks to all the folks who turned up to learn about comics with us over the weekend. See you next year for SPX 2019! ————————————————————————————————— 09-21-2018 – by Niall Breen Share this page: [...]

03/02/2017

Sally IngrahamMarch 2, 2017NewsSam Ombiri is here today with thoughts on influences and his recent adventures in comics post-production – plus all the Comics Workbook Daily Strips! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here – David O’Reilly said something like “it’s real cool for people to hide their influences and to not admit them“, and that “people who refrain from admitting their influences tend to have the most obvious ones“. I think he’s saying that it’s not so important how well one can hide their influence or not be obvious – it’s just a reflection of a certain attitude prominent in certain people. There is something to be said to not wanting to list influences. I recall both Claire Denis and Stefan Burnett saying “listing them seems boring/contrived” after mentioning 2 or 3 things when asked something akin to what other work has shaped their work? I remember reading about the guy who created Mr. Robot – he was listing all his influences in this way that kind of drove me nuts for some reason. He said something like “Taxi Driver for the narration, Breaking Bad for it’s character arc, Blade Runner for its introspection” and such and such. It makes me understand why Matthew Thurber said “All of these shows make me want to vomit in the face of the indoctrinated fool who invariably speaks of them in rapturous tones. I’d rather spend my time cleaning out a ten-year-old Rapidograph, or picking a scab!” (Maybe I don’t understand why but for a moment I can share his sentiment!) Sammy Harkham was saying something akin to “An influence is a thing that if a solution to a problem wasn’t found, it would be a longer winding road in order to find it.” The problem being, trying to figure out how to execute something that’s not entirely clear. It sounded like a really optimistic thing – that art is made with what is already in someone, and is not exactly dependent on what art a person encounters. It seemed a bit of a mystical idea. Sort of “the man at the end of the search” type of deal. It reminded me of the time in The Dance of Reality where Jodorowsky says “Everything you are is already inside you.” Something like that. I remember it more from the trailer than the movie. I don’t remember the movie too well as I haven’t seen it in a couple years, or at least it feels that way. I remember Jodorowsky’s Dad fighting a bunch of Nazis – and this one anarchist not wanting to live in world where dogs wore clothes. I remember other things. I must disagree with what Nicolas Winding Refn said about Jodorowsky’s movies being about what we don’t see. (What Refn actually said was that Jodorowsky’s movies remind him that all movies aren’t about what you see but what you don’t see. Trailers are to a huge extent how he executes this idea, I think. The movies our minds see when we see his trailers and the movies that we see on screen, and all the ideas floating around in the movie that aren’t fully uttered… I think Sammy Harkham said something like “Plot is like a coat room for one to hang ideas in.“ I think really often Sammy’s ideas of cartooning are almost similar to Robert Bresson. Not that his work is like Bresson’s, or completely like Bresson’s – they at times share similar traits. Or at least traits in what Bresson says. I think what Sammy was saying was about what fascinates him in horror films, which sounded very much like stuff that Bresson would talk about. Or this whole thing he says of demilitarized drama, and everything having the same weight, similar to how in Brian Chippendale’s Ninja things aren’t brought so much attention to. How Sammy was talking about cartooning was similar to how Bresson was talking about a virtuoso playing music and how their faces and composure are completely controlled. Or how Sammy was saying he’d rather people’s sadness not be on display for everyone to see – it echoes how Bresson said, “The sadness on people’s faces when you pass them on the street isn’t readily apparent.” They also share similarly mysterious triumphs strictly in themselves. That’s not to say that their work is, I don’t know, too too similar. Maybe Sammy is hiding Bresson’s influence to be cool, ha ha. I know that’s not the case. I think in a way that’s why I link Michael Haneke with Sammy a lot. I’m very certain Bresson had a ton of influence on Haneke. I always in my mind link Harkham with Haneke, for what are highly shallow reasons – not thinking that there are major connections, but a certain extremely specific similarity I see. – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— The Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency is a space where cartoonists from out of town can come for a week or more of comics-making intensive – but it is also a space for Pittsburgh’s local cartoonists to “spar” and train. Sam Ombiri stopped by recently for an afternoon tutorial on final production – layout and printing. Over cups of tea and The Lounge Lizards spinning on the record player, he completed his comic Haunted VHS – debuting at the Pittsburgh Indy Comix Expo this April 9th! There’s always something interesting happening around the Rowhouse – comics to read and make and share. Learn more about the Residency program HERE or email santoroschool@gmail.com. ————————————————————————————————— The Spring Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers is about to start! Although we have a rolling start date this semester, the course will officially kick off on March 7th. We will continue taking applications past that date – Frank is always willing to make it work for your schedule. Just apply! The course is 8 weeks long – 500 bux – payment plans are available. Check out the comic Connor Willumsen made when he took the course – Calgary: Death Milks a Cow! More details can be found HERE or email santoroschool@gmail.com to apply. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 3-2-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-2-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-2-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 3-2-2017 – by Juan Fernandez Share this page: [...]

02/16/2017

Sally IngrahamFebruary 15, 2017NewsSam Ombiri riffs on Henry Darger and Hideo Furukawa, and Sally shares updates from the Fifth Annual Black Comic Book Festival and other comics news! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: I’ve really been into this Henry Darger documentary – The Realms of the Unreal. It’s really good. There’s this amazing part where they are recounting a time when Henry lost one picture – one that I think was one of his main references for drawing the girls. (Editor’s Note: “The girls” are the Vivian Girls, characters in Darger’s 15,000 page fantasy novel The Realms of the Unreal.) He held in such high regard that the story changes as a result, and he punishes his characters until he can find the picture. That part was amazing. I kind of skipped all over the place as a result of my low attention span, so I don’t remember where it was. I think my attention span wass also lowered because this documentary reminded me of the ones I’d see in elementary school that I wouldn’t pay attention to. At times I feel Henry Darger would purposely lie to himself in order to go through with a certain aspect of the story, and then get away from that lie. At least I’d like to think that, but maybe I’m the one doing that. There’s a part in this video where Jesse Moynihan talks about how there’s still power in rearranging history and things aren’t tied down to one telling. Or in what feels like a similar spirit, Hideo Furukawa, who is known for sometimes writing remixes of already written books, says “Music can be divided into melody and the rest, and you can take out either of them separately. If you take out the former, you “cover” that music; if you take out the whole of the latter, you “remix” it. Likewise, fiction is divided into the narrative and the rest.” At the beginning of his novel Belka Why Don’t You Bark he puts at the beginning, “Yes I admit this is fiction but then what isn’t?” He also put after that, “This book is dedicated to Boris Yeltsin; Hey Boris I know your secret!” Hideo continued, “The narrative needs some vehicle, which is provided by different storytellers each age. In other words, the same narrative can change their vehicle, and in that sense the simple re-telling (covering, you might say) is always possible. Remixing is, for me anyway, an attempt to go beyond that, to take the whole of the preceding work.” Hideo Furukawa is someone who’s often referred to as a chameleon for doing all kinds of experiments with the way he writes his books. (Side Note: I like CF’s idea that experimenting just means not taking yourself seriously and that you go into a state where the ordinary laws of creativity don’t apply. I think it’s what he said.) Here’s one experiment Hideo Furukawa did, for example: There’s this book called Tribes of Arabian Nights that takes place in Cairo. Because there were more and more books coming into Japan that needed to be translated, he claimed that he didn’t write the novel, he was just translating it. (At least that’s what I think could be his reason. This is just speculation on my part – this was the automatic reason that formed in my mind. The more I think about it though that’s like every country.) I’m not too sure what Hideo’s remixes are like. Thankfully there’s gonna be one that’s being released in English in June which I’m excited to read. Although, I’d rather just read one of his actual novels. I read part of something he did for Tale of Genji, but it wasn’t strictly speaking a remix – it wasn’t a retelling. To my knowledge it doesn’t have the same rules as his remixes. For one thing, he re-titled it 300 Treacherous Women, instead of Tale of Genji Remix (which would make for a pretty hilarious title. My one friend was telling me about how this musician who I think is part of the Brainfeeder collective recorded Pomegranates by Parajanov. My immediate reaction was ha ha oh no!) Hideo’s version of the story was more based on a ghost coming and proclaiming how, until the story was modified back to how it actually happened, this one woman would keep giving unrest to this other woman. I assume his remixes are different. Hideo said, “For the remix of Kenji Miyazawa’s The Bears of Mount Nametoko the bears appear in the ‘Mount Nametoko’ story. In Japan bears are something of a deity, reigning over the mountains (the natural world). They don’t appear in towns (the human world). Hunters, however, play the role of mediators, and turn part of the mountains into commodities, which are circulated in the towns. What we witness here is the violent contact between nature and man. We are made to face the fact that bears are something which are not cattle but are eaten, and humans allow themselves to take something out of nature to keep themselves alive in this world. Kenji Miyazawa, as author Kenji, kept writing about this staggering fact. When Japan was violently attacked by nature in 2011 (the year of the Great East Japan Earthquake), I thought I, as author Hideo Furukawa, had to retell those stories written by Kenji. I could re-tell the stories, precisely because Kenji had already told them.” – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Sally here – Over on Vice there’s a video of Ronald Wimberly speaking at the Schomburg Center during the Fifth Annual Black Comic Book Festival. Wimberly tells us about growing up in D.C., his new book, and what it means to have black representation in comics. Check it out HERE (watch the full episode of ‘Daily VICE’ on go90.) There was a nice write-up of the Fifth Annual Black Comic Book Festival (which took place Jan. 13th and 14th 2017) on Okay Africa – it includes lots of pictures! Even better than pictures, The Blerdgurl offers up Part One of her interview series with creators at the Black Comic Book Festival this year – check it out below! ————————————————————————————————— The Comics Reporter draws our attention to a treasure-trove of Ta-Nehisi Coates‘ thoughts about writing The Black Panther, posted on The Atlantic – HERE. From his interest in the Dora Milajae – the all-female troop of bodyguards to the King – and how he uses them to talk about feminism in the story, to the poetry that opens and closes issue #3, to his thoughts on Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, there’s a lot of interesting stuff to unpack. ————————————————————————————————— From the Comics Workbook TV archives – Bill Boichel riffs on Jackie Ormes. She was the first African-American woman to be a syndicated cartoonist. She is one of the nominees for this year’s Will Eisner Hall of Fame inductees. ————————————————————————————————— Announcing the Spring Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers! The course starts March 7th 2017. Apply by February 26th to get 100 bux off! The course is 8 weeks long – payment plans are available. Application guidelines: – 3 figure drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards – 3 landscape drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards – 3 still life drawings done on blank 3 x 5 cards – draw in a contour line style –think Matisse – no under-drawing – draw directly in ink – just send me small jpgs of images – dont post to your blog pls – send specific url links to any comics work you have done. If you haven’t done comics before that is not a problem. Email santoroschoolATgmail to apply! More details HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 2-16-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 2-16-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 2-16-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 2-16-2017 – by Juan Fernandez Share this page: [...]

03/17/2017

Sally IngrahamMarch 17, 2017NewsSally Ingraham here to finish your week with Alison Bechdel, Iona Fox, Sally Cantrino, the Women In Comics Collective, and more! ————————————————————————————————— Keep an eye out for new Dykes To Watch Out For strips from Alison Bechdel! After drawing them continually from 1983 to 2008, she now makes new ones when inspiration strikes – which it did this week, along with the “Ides of Trump” campaign. See the rest of the strip above at Seven Days – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The Women in Comics Collective has a show up at the Grace Gallery in Namm Hall at the New York City College of Technology in Downtown Brooklyn from March 16th – April 20th. The show was curated by Sara Woolley and includes artwork by these rad ladies (@etc. are all Instagram handles, FYI – look them up!): Laura Alvarez @bigeyesworld, Lara Antal @sowhatpress, Selina Briggs @thejellyempire, Marguerite Dabaie @mdabaie, Micheline Hess @gamera2000, Janet Lee @dapper_janet, Alice Meichi Li @alicemeichi, Ellen Lindner @ellenlinda, Alitha Martinez @ariotstorm, Paige Pumphrey @paigey_pumphrey, Regine Sawyer @rslockettdown (panel discussion moderator & exhibitor) and Dr. Shamika Mitchell @blackbootie (panel discussion moderator) The Women in Comics Collective “(WinC for short- Pronounced Wink), is an Artistic and Informative Initiative that began in May of 2012. It serves to educate communities about the role and merit of Women working in the Comic Book/Multimedia industries as well as highlight the importance of Literacy through Comic Books.” They do a lot of outreach through panels and workshops, and a traveling art exhibition. Learn more about them HERE. Check out the Women in Comics Con on March 25th at The Bronx Library Center – more details HERE and Facebook event details HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Adam Griffiths interviewed Sally Cantrino for his latest Zine Tree. They talk about how music plays a roll in Sally’s storytelling. “I pretty much always build a playlist or end up with one specific song/album attached in my head to whatever comic I’m working on, The starting point for a lot of my comics is “I was listening to a song and it reminded me of/made me feel like…” and building from there. For Mysteries in particular I wanted to express the intense emotional experiences and catharsis I’ve had involving music, especially at live shows – feeling completely in a moment to the point where time and space don’t matter, where you’re just overwhelmed with love and joy or sorrow or whatever emotion is being evoked in the song, or with dancing or moshing or keeping your head above the crowd, sharing that experience with your closest friend or total strangers. Or how songs or albums get associated with specific experiences and places and times in your life, that big swell of emotion and longing that you feel.“ Read the rest of the interview HERE! ————————————————————————————————— The A.V. Club released a list of 10 Female Cartoonists You Need To Know. Composed by Zainab Akhtar (of Comics and Cola) it recognizes the work of folks like Mickey Z – whose Instagram comic Space Academy 123 (above) is currently my favorite thing online – and Vanesa R. Del Rey, Laura Park, and Aphton Corbin among others. Zainab’s comments on why such lists are still needed ring 100% true. “On the one hand, it’s absolutely strange to continue to have “women in X field” features when women make up more than half the world’s population, and sure, it’d be nice to be beyond the engagement of these reductive stances. On the other hand, we’re not even close to parity, and lists like this can be very effective in quickly introducing work that’s overlooked. So, yes, these are all female artists, but these are all excellent artists, full stop. Here’s a selection of artists who you may not be as familiar with, but who are producing interesting and brilliant work—work that is resonating within the medium and with audiences. And that’s what we aim to recognize and celebrate.“ Check out the whole list HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The Vermont Folk Life Center has shared their project The Most Costly Journey (in Spanish, El viaje más caro). It is “an ethnographic cartooning project that employs collaborative storytelling as a tool to mitigate loneliness, isolation, and despair among Latin American migrant farm workers on Vermont dairy farms.” Learn more about it HERE. Among the 8 contributing cartoonists are Tillie Walden, and Iona Fox (whose story is pictured above). ————————————————————————————————— P. S. Paste Magazine interviews Liz Prince and Amanda Kirk about their comic Coady and the Creepies – the latest “girl-band” romp, coming out from Boom! Studios – more HERE. Katie Skelly on Eleanor Davis‘ Libby’s Dad – for The Comics Journal. ————————————————————————————————— The Spring Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers is upon us – rolling start date – just apply! The course is 8 weeks long – 500 bux – payment plans are available. More details can be found HERE – or email santoroschoolATgmail. Not ready to commit to an 8 week course but still want to put some thought towards making comics or leveling up your skill set? Check out thee Santoro School Handbook – 16 pages of comics-making gold! ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 3-17-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-17-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-17-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

11/24/2017

Posted on November 23, 2017November 24, 2017 by Sally Ingraham

Sally here with work by Jessica Campbell, Jessica Abel and Meg Lemke, Sophie Goldstein, and more!

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Hillary Brown talks House of Women with Sophie Goldstein on Paste Magazine. About the comic itself Hillary writes:

“Alternately spiky and luscious, it draws you in by receding. She writes with economy, but the resulting story isn’t irritatingly arty or hard to follow; it’s not drawn by a comics artist only for other comics artists who speak the lingo and can read the subtext. It’s no surprise, in fact, that Margaret Atwood (restless, relentless experimenter, unafraid to leap into any genre that grabs her interest, including comics) is an inspiration for this female-centered and complexly feminist story of colonization and controlled social dynamics.

Goldstein provides no easy answers—the book is thematically driven rather than focused on plot first and foremost—but she knows how to be just difficult enough.“

Read the interview HERE.

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Jessica Campbell has a comic about The Bad Behavior of Men in Comics up on Hyperallergic – it’ll probably make you squirm or steam, depending, because she brings up all kinds of things that no one likes to talk about. Read it HERE.

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Meg Lemke interviews Jessica Abel about her new book Growing Gills over on Mutha Magazine. Jessica has spent her life making comics, working in arts education, and developing theories about maintaining creative focus – something that I’d say the majority of us struggle with. This book came out of a series of online courses she taught and a working group she managed – where instead of dealing with issues like “how can I tell better stories?”, for example, the overwhelming chorus from her students and peers was “how can I deal with my paralyzing anxiety and procrastination?!”

In Growing Gills Jessica offers some working theories she’s developed (although she struggles with the same issues in her own life on a regular basis.) In the interview Jessica and Meg talk about organization, self-forgiveness, and process over progress.

“MUTHA: You talk in the book also about process over project outcomes, can you unpack that more?

JESSICA ABEL: What’s destructive is when people want to make art, but don’t want to sell art. AND at the same time they feel they can’t be artists if they aren’t attempting to be professionals. “If I’m not showing in a gallery, am I really an artist? If I don’t have a mainstream publisher, am I a writer?”

Yes, you are.

It may be that the business side is not what you’re interested in; it requires sacrifice of your creative time to do the work required to be a “pro.” People miss that the selling part is a separate project. If they can recognize and commit to selling as a separate project, great. If you constantly find yourself saying “I don’t want to do the things needed to sell my work,” then maybe you need to rethink the underlying model. Maybe the creative work on its own is what you need to feed your psyche. Make room in your life for your work without worrying about making it pay for itself. Maybe it’s enough to share it with your family, friends, or put it up for free on Medium. Don’t confuse the creative work with your childhood dreams of fame.“

This speaks to me right now, as a good reminder that making comics and making money can’t always be the same thing, and if I’m sacrificing making good comics in favor of making money, then I need to reevaluate.

The book is long and full of good stuff, but if you don’t have time to squeeze reading it into your already busy life, at least read this interview, which unpacks a lot.

Check out Growing Gills HERE.

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Thanksgiving Leftovers (always better the next day!)

Melanie Gillman‘s webcomic As the Crow Flies has been released by Iron Circus Comics – the A.V. Club reviews the comic HERE.
GG discusses I’m Not Here over on Smash Pages.
NPR reviews Body Music by Julie Maroh – apparently “earnest romanticism buoys it over the trouble spots“. Read the review HERE.
Drawn + Quarterly is publishing new work by Rina Ayuyang and the last work of Geneviève Castrée – both comics coming in 2018.

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Suzy and Cecil – 11-24-2017 – by Gabriella Tito

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Joanie and Jordie – 11-24-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio

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Posted in NewsTagged caleb orecchio, gabriella tito, growing gills, jessica abel, jessica campbell, julie maroh, meg lemke, melanie gillman, Mutha Magazine, sophie goldstein

Sally Ingraham

Posted on November 23, 2017November 24, 2017

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8/8/2016

Juan FernándezAugust 8, 2016NewsJuan here with your news for the day: Locas Reimagined by the CW Derby Team; Rep. John Lewis speaks with Rachel Maddow; ARM’S LENGTH by K.L. Ricks; Applied Comics in Action: Doctors Drawing Mickey Mouse; Paul Gravett interviews Alexander Tucker; Ken Parille on Comics Criticism in 2016; Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman reviewed by Bill Boichel; new STREET ANGEL; special weekly Rowhouse Auction preview: CLOWES. ————————————————————————————————— Locas Reimagined I’m happy to announce that we are featuring a collaborative comics jam by the Comics Workbook Roller Derby Team on the site this week. The team copied and transformed Jaime Hernandez’ 1984 story, Locas Starring Hopey. This bout featured work by Allie Doersch – Alyssa Berg – Anna Mancini – Gabriella Tito – Sacha Mardou – Jillian Fleck – Jackie Huskisson – Jennifer Lisa In case you’ve been sleeping under a rock, Comics Workbook Roller Derby is the world’s only all-female, cartoonist-operated “roller derby of the mind” league. The league is comprised of strong, diverse, and independent women from the international comics community. ————————————————————————————————— Memorializing a life in the Civil Rights Movement Congressman John Lewis speaks with Rachel Maddow over at MSNBC about his work with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell on their graphic novel trilogy, March. March brings readers a vivid comics account of Lewis’s “lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation… Book One spans Lewis’s youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and their battle to tear down segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins.” The third and final installment is out now. It’s great to see Lewis speak of the road map he’s tried to create to guide and inspire a new generation to the way of peace, love and non-violence, to follow the moral obligation of taking action in the face of injustice. ————————————————————————————————— Arm’s Length Pt. 1 K.L. RICKS‘ newest comic, Arm’s Length is out over at Hazlitt Magazine. It’s an enticing first chapter. Damn, if this comic doesn’t breathe. Ricks’ inking is smart, evocative and efficient. Inspiring stuff. Ricks’ knows how to leave you hanging, hungry for more… ————————————————————————————————— Applied Cartooning in Action: Doctors Drawing Mickey Mouse Cartoonist Benjamin Schwartz writes over at The New York Times about the role that comics can play in the professional development of medical practitioners. It’s a brief look at the holistic nature of cartooning and the effects of the craft on it’s practitioners’ empathy and perspective. The concept of doctor as storyteller is not a new one, nor is the idea that it’s a critical component of a doctor’s identity. What’s changed in recent years is the idea that storytelling is a skill that can be taught directly in the classroom—that it’s not some vague life skill that can only be learned through experience (or, worse, the type of ability one either does or doesn’t have). Credit for this development goes in large part to Dr. Rita Charon, an internist at Columbia University Medical Center. In the early two-thousands, she formalized a program in narrative medicine, with a stated mission to train health-care workers “to recognize, absorb, metabolize, interpret, and be moved by the stories of illness.” ————————————————————————————————— Paul Gravett interviews Alexander Tucker Paul Gravett and Alexander Tucker, author of World in the Forcefield, talk about alienation from the art world, the relationships between music, painting and comics, conveying spiritual concerns through comics over on Gravett’s site. Be sure to dive into Tucker’s existential boredom if you’re hungry for something new. I’m interested in how you see the relationship and dialogue between your music-making and your comics/art-making? The thing I didn’t like about the fine art world was having to tie up concepts and ideas into neat little fully formed packages, what I feel about music and comics is this attempt to create a fluid way of expressing ideas, the process can become the actual piece of work and the lessons learned can weave themselves into the work throughout the act of making the song or comic page. colloquial, slightly cynical everyday speech. What are your ideas behind this? I’ve always liked the balance between the mundane and philosophical, the everyday and the fantastical. Since my early teens my love of surrealism and directors like David Lynch, Derek Jarman and Terry Gilliam introduced the concept of reality’s thin veil between the spirit world and our own. ————————————————————————————————— Ken Parille on Comics Criticism in 2016 Parille’s got a satisfying piece on the state of comics criticism in 2016. 7 hot takes. It’s real, it’s honest and it gets to the core of the idea that it’s only good comics that will foster the growth of comics as a form. Anything else is likely to just be hot air. Parille puts forward an idea I’d been thinking about for a little. Comics criticism and discussion in a hyperfractured mainstream? What does that look like? How does it exist and not eat itself alive? Enter post-relevancy. It might sound silly, but it’s a useful sentiment: Relevancy criticism often plays an ironic joke on its writer. We’re convinced that we matter when calling out the man and his corrupt ideology, but perhaps our truth-to-power musings and mumblings only advance the corporate agenda: “Everybody’s talking about the scandalous new issue of Wondrous Lad! So I bought a copy and tore it apart on my blog!” We excitedly create free buzz for mega-corporations and they move more units. Who’s the chump now? Not the post-relevancy comics critic. She refuses to be co-opted, to be an unsuspecting shill for shit. An aesthetic adventurer with a sublime sensitivity to image, form, and detail, she seeks out comics that the mainstream ignores — yes, even fears! She heroically undertakes the sub-minimum-wage, time-consuming, socially-unrewarding, and emotionally-alienating journey of reading and writing about comics with deliberate care. She returns from her solitary excursions with something revelatory — and irrelevant — to offer us. She’s my role model. ————————————————————————————————— Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman reviewed by Bill Boichel Bill Boichel’s got a hearty review of the 1986, desert-island classic, Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman on the site this week. Few people can write as insightful reviews as Bill, so it’s an honor to be able to share his writing with you here. This is an oldie but a goodie <3 Where to begin with such a book. It is clearly and definitely the best book ever done on Krazy Kat, which is, at least in our estimation, the greatest work ever produced in comics form. Ergo, it is, Copacetically speaking, the best single volume of comics ever produced. In other words, it wins the Deserted Island Award™: If there were one comics related book we’d take with us to a deserted island, this would undoubtedly be it. And as if that weren’t enough, it has now been reissued in an economy softcover edition that’ll only set you back a double sawbuck. Think of it – a lifetime of pleasure and consolation for what it would cost you to spend a few hours in a bar. And they say there is no God. ————————————————————————————————— —————————————————————————— New Private Rowhouse Auction – 7.31-8.6 Last but not least, I’d like announce that this week’s Rowhouse auction will start Wednesday at noon NYC time. We will be auctioning off artwork and other rarities generously donated by the great Daniel Clowes over on eBay. Stay tuned for details – or email Frank here santoroschoolATgmail.com – You won’t want to miss this! —————————————————————————— until next time, Juan Share this page: [...]

10/04/2016

Aaron CockleOctober 3, 2016NewsAaron here today with CW in the UK (and USA); Best North American Comics; Alex Citrin Remembers Geneviève Castrée; Review of Dane Martin Comics; Tentacular Thinking; New CW Auction Items ————————————————————————————————— Comics Workbook will be participating in two festivals next week: One in the UK The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, October 14-16. Join Frank Santoro, Aidan Koch, and Connor Willumsen for some cool workshops and visit table 67 in the Comics Clocktower to meet Oliver East and Jack Brougham, among others. We will be hosting 3 special workshops, “Visual Poetry” with Aidan Koch, “The Hammer Party” with Connor Willumsen and “Composition Competition” with Frank Santoro. Tickets for the main events at this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival are on sale now. Visit our event page for more information. And one in the US Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, October 13-16. We will be hosting workshops and tabling. Join Comics Workbook, along with cartoonists Alyssa Berg and Kurt Ankeny, for an immersive weekend of comics creation. We will examine art and the grid, bringing the strong artistic practices of Berg and Ankeny together with the discipline and rhythm of the grid, as laid out by Comics Workbook founder Frank Santoro. Four hours across two days will be filled with the exploration of a variety of techniques and methods which will inspire the beginner, and challenge the established cartoonist. Comics as jazz; comics as architecture; how a simple index card can transform your sequencing and storytelling process – come join us for an hour or four and take your comics making to a new level. More information on our CXC exploits to come soon – the full festival schedule is here! ————————————————————————————————— Wednesday at the Strand Roz Chast and Bill Kartalopoulos will be in conversation at Strand Books in NYC on Wednesday, October 5 at 7pm with Anne Emond, Lianna Finck, and Char Esme in promotion of the 2016 edition of the Best American Comics. Chast guest edits this year, Bill K remains the series editor. Cover by Marc Bell. ————————————————————————————————— For Geneviève and Elsewhere: A comic by Alex Citrin ————————————————————————————————— Upon Review of Dane Martin’s Unfortunate Horse Magazine Dane’s comics are grouped generically under the title The Horror of the Gag, which, while apparently at odds with itself, perfectly describes his product. These strips and stories follow the funny animal tradition of anthropomorphic critter hijinx and have an olde timey aura befitting the venerable genre. However, unlike the blithe cavorting of a Mickey or a Mini, Dane takes the ire and consternation of Donald and stokes its flames until it they reach a fever pitch of pride, loathing and anxiety–and injects this toxic serum into the veins of his bug-eyed characters. So burdened, Dane’s ducks and their compatriots scramble across a crepuscular dust bowl, seemingly located in the early 20th century, manipulating and terrorizing each other as they compete for capitalist supremacy, or bicker about false memories, or worry the internal scars of childhood. And yet, somehow, in the midst of this unenviable existence, their antics are frequently, legitimately funny. – via Donner, Party of One ————————————————————————————————— Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Chthulucene Donna Haraway has a lovely (and lovingly-footnoted) piece at e-flux about homo sapiens from, like, a geological perspective: As a provocation, let me summarize my objections to the Anthropocene as a tool, story, or epoch to think with: (1) The myth system associated with the Anthropos is a setup, and the stories end badly. More to the point, they end in double death; they are not about ongoingness. It is hard to tell a good story with such a bad actor. Bad actors need a story, but not the whole story. (2) Species Man does not make history. (3) Man plus Tool does not make history. That is the story of History human exceptionalists tell. (4) That History must give way to geostories, to Gaia stories, to symchthonic stories; terrans do webbed, braided, and tentacular living and dying in sympoietic multispecies string figures; they do not do History. (5) The human social apparatus of the Anthropocene tends to be top-heavy and bureaucracy prone. Revolt needs other forms of action and other stories for solace, inspiration, and effectiveness. (6) Despite its reliance on agile computer modeling and autopoietic systems theories, the Anthropocene relies too much on what should be an “unthinkable” theory of relations, namely the old one of bounded utilitarian individualism — preexisting units in competition relations that take up all the air in the atmosphere (except, apparently, carbon dioxide). (7) The sciences of the Anthropocene are too much contained within restrictive systems theories and within evolutionary theories called the Modern Synthesis, which for all their extraordinary importance have proven unable to think well about sympoiesis, symbiosis, symbiogenesis, development, webbed ecologies, and microbes. That’s a lot of trouble for adequate evolutionary theory. (8) Anthropocene is a term most easily meaningful and usable by intellectuals in wealthy classes and regions; it is not an idiomatic term for climate, weather, land, care of country, or much else in great swathes of the world, especially but not only among indigenous peoples. ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

05/02/2018

Juan FernándezMay 2, 2018los Cómics / News Marcela Trujillo, Power Paola, Elisa McCausland, Autoras de Cómic + Digital Comics Museum’s Access Month —————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: ~ en Español y “sometimes in English” ~ —————————————— Digital Comics Museum – Access Month For this month of May 2018 every user who donates to the Digital Comics Museum, the best site for downloading FREE public domain Golden Age comic books, will be given FTP access as an alternate method to download files from the 21000+ Digital Comic Museum collection. For each dollar donated donors will receive 5 gigs of file downloads over the next 31 days from the day the donation was made. Click on the Donate link here (or at the top of the page) to contribute to the cause and receive your FTP login info in an email. For the last two years our FTP Access Month has been remarkably popular. Donations to the site are vital for keeping our server bill covered. These FTP Access Months help DCM build a reserve fund for those months we come up short in our monthly goal of $288 or if there is an emergency such as a hard drive that needs replacing in our servers. —————————————— De Frente Me Escondo – Cali, Colombia Este sábado 5 de mayo, desde las 3:00 p.m. en el Museo la Tertulia inaugurará la exposición y conversatorio “De frente, me escondo”, que intentará poner en escena el mundo de la artista colombo-ecuatoriana Power Paola con sus dibujos. —————————————— Marcela Trujillo y los Abusadores de Poder – Chile Hoy en el DesconCierto, dibujante Marcela Trujillo revela vergonzoso episodio de abuso de poder y acoso laboral de Rodrigo Salinas, Carlos Reyes y otros editores de Feroces Editores. Me acusaron que me había robado la plata. Llamé y les devolvieron la plata al día siguiente. Y a la semana hicieron programa en Internet donde invitaron a dibujantes y dijeron: ‘Invitamos a una dibujante chilena muy conocida, Marcela Trujillo, que venga Maliki’… y llegó una vedette argentina, casi en pelotas, con plumas, bailando. Estaban todos súper curados en el video. Le tocaban el poto, le ponían la cabeza entre las tetas y en la tele ponían ‘Marcela Trujillo, Maliki‘, ¡todos mis nombres! La hicieron dibujar y ella dibujó un corazón y empiezan ‘ah que dibuja bonito la Maliki’. Yo no lo podía creer, eran mis editores, mis amigos, eso no se puede hacer. Cómo tan machista, tan indigno. Después me llamó la hermana de Rodrigo para retarme porque hablaba mal de su hermano en Internet. Eso fue lo único que recibí de ellos, porque nunca nadie me pidió disculpas. Léanlo todo AQUI. —————————————— Fanzine Magazine – 26/04/2018 Ya disponible el #FanzineMagazine donde Mireia Pérez y Víctor Coyote hablan largo y tendido con Elisa McCausland sobre la trayectoria del colectivo de Autoras de Cómic y de otras cosas ocultas… Además Cynthia Alfonso les recomienda a viva voz sus canciones para dibujar. —————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-2-2018 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

09/18/2017

Caleb OrecchioSeptember 18, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here with your post SPX 2017 review, and some links. ———————————————————————————————— Want to start by saying thanks to Frank Santoro for taking care and sticking his neck out for his “kids.” My SPX experience would not be nearly as fruitful or as interesting without Frank. Also want to thank Sally Ingraham who also runs herself ragged making sure us Comics Workbook “kids” are having the most beneficial experience. ———————————————————————————————— I am writing this on Monday morning, the day after SPX 2017 ended. My tank was practically empty by the end of the day as I went through all the events of the week/end in my mind. It was a really fun show where I participated in running workshops and being a gopher for Comics Workbook. On Thursday, I tagged along with Frank Santoro, Sally Ingraham, and Audra Stang from Pittsburgh to Bethesda, Maryland where SPX is held. Friday I got to meet thee great Gilbert Hernandez during a secret workshop Frank set up for his “kids.” We drew our “Blubber-esque” comics while Gilbert and Frank riffed. Everyone in attendance had their work reviewed by Mr. Hernandez–needless to say we all had a fantastic time–just happy to spend time with and talk to one of the great cartoonists walking the earth right now. Saturday and Sunday were busy busy busy busy. Comics Workbook held workshops in Glen Echo Room, four on Saturday and four on Sunday. The excellent Juan Fernandez kicked off the weekend of workshops with roaring energy and a full house–Juan is an excellent comics educator who never ceases to impress me. Liz Reed gave tutorials on making characters out of clay–I was called elsewhere, but form all accounts the experience was really great. I, along with Audra Stang, had to be bouncers for Gilbert Hernandez’s workshop that Frank moderated. We filled the room to the brim–the hotel staff was concerned because we had to form two lines that snaked through two hallways. A lot of people had to be turned away simply because we had no room. As I stayed outside the room making sure no stragglers trespassed, I talked to Whit Taylor before she went to moderate her panel held in the White Oak Room. Gilbert’s workshop saw people like Tom Spurgeon and Noel Freibert making it in before we had to basicially guard the door. Connor Willumsen had to follow Gilbert and he killed. Connor filled the room too and led an excellent workshop. The incredible Alexis Ziritt led the first workshop on Sunday. What a nice, talented guy. Kids both young and old drew and laughed for an hour through Alexis’ great workshop. Next up was Sally and Audra co-piloted a workshop. Both are experienced comics educators and had really excellent results. The joy in the room was bursting and the comics made were many. Great tag-team. After that, Sally helped me lead a “free-draw” workshop. I had particular topics I wanted to talk about but talked about none of them. Instead I discussed my process of making my (“daily”) comic-strip, Joanie and Jordie. I drew an improvised J&J live which people seemed to think was funny. Sally helped me to focus the workshop making great points and giving me good prompts. Had good questions to answer from the crowd too. Finally, Mardou ended the CW workshops with a reading of an upcoming book and presentation of her process. Mardou is great, there is a showmanship to her presentations and made me laugh out loud. Great presentation for those who want to up their storytelling game. Had a couple shifts at the CW table in the main exhibitor hall. Frank’s longboxes, of course, are famous and 10 minutes don’t pass without someone commenting on how happy they are to see Frank’s longboxes there. CW was also selling my comic, a collection of J&J strips called Poor Little Joanie. I was happy to see it sold fairly well. Some people were familiar with the strip who I didn’t know which was nice. Same with Sally and Gabriella Tito’s collection of Suzy and Cecil strips. I had a couple customers who bought both. I kept my eye on the Simon Hanselmann Truth Zone collections–those things are coveted by many. Got to talk to Jim Rugg while I tabled–Jim is always very nice and attentive. A good tablemate. Saw thee great Bill Boichel and he told me he wanted to buy a handful of copies to sell at his store. It was busy busy busy out on the floor. Got to see Alyssa Berg who I hadn’t seen since CXC last year. Her new riso comics are fantastic–she’s taking her paintings and converting them to riso for print. The results are fantastic. Got to meet Cameron Nicholson for the first time. And Tyler Landry. It was an amalgamation of familiar and new people to see irl: Kate Harmon, Kurt Ankeny, Adam Griffiths, Jenn Lisa (makes excellent cookies), RM Rhodes, Simon Reinhardt, Megan Turbitt, etc. etc. I’m exhausted–in a good way. I’m depleted, left it all out on the court. Thanks again to Frank and Sally who lead the way for us CW “kids.” ———————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know Koyama Press announces Spring 2018 Line-up TCJ has dug up their Len Wein interview from the archives. Brian Nicholson reviews Farel Dalrymple’s Pop Gun War: Chain Letter. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 9-15-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

06/16/2016

HarrisonJune 16, 2016NewsHarrison is here and the news follows. Today we venture beyond comics, get faster at drawing, and finish with fire. “Please, no more boring comics podcasts” Man can’t live off comics alone. https://longform.org/ nikolehannahjones.com “Choosing a School for My Daughter in a Segregated City” Secrets http://www.infiniteguest.org/secret-skin/ @Mike_Eagle Quickness “Recently I did an interview over at comicsverse.com that was conducted by Jake Grubman. In it, I talk a lot about how I’m trying to be “ruthlessly efficient” in my cartooning, ever since I finished Basewood. “Draw Comics Faster” has been sort of like my second motto (next to “Draw Comics EVERY Day”) based on the great drawing shown above that Nate Beaty sent me when I was still slogging through Basewood. As my time constraints constrict around me (new dad!) it is important that I make the most out of every available minute of drawing time.” Here. Pop “What does Gutter Pop refer to? That was a weird little journey. I was planning on doing a music zine called Gutter Pop, just sort of referring to my friends in the DIY scene that make kind of poppy music but it’s all underground, so I thought Gutter Pop was a fun play. And then I needed a name for the store and I thought it would be fun, because in between the panels is called a gutter, and then the pop is like the pop of pop art.” Read More. ? Share this page: [...]

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