Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in News

Juan Fernández

Posted on December 19, 2016December 19, 2016

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07/17/2018

Aaron CockleJuly 17, 2018NewsDavid Wojnarowicz; Comics & Medicine; Connie Sun; Hartley Lin; Ellen Lindner; Brutalist Web Design ————————————————————————————————— David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night July 13-September 30, 2018, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC. Via Jerry Saltz at Vulture.com: Today, David Wojnarowicz is known mostly as a martyr to the culture wars of the 1980s, another artist diagnosed with AIDS who fought along with so many to get the government to act, for a long time in vain, and who then, like so many others, died of the disease, a terrible tear in the fabric of art that was savagely exacted on gay men of that generation. Wojnarowicz came out of the same deeply downtown bohemianism of the early 1980s that fueled Jean-Michel Basquiat’s equally short, culture-altering arc through the art world: small cadres of like-minded underground characters and self-defined artists, desperate to act on the culture but denied the usual access to artistic power structures for reasons financial, psychological, racial, sexual. Wojnarowicz rose amid a gritty East Village aesthetic of graffiti, Expressionistic gestures, roughly assembled surfaces, funky found objects, one-night shows at clubs, and midnight guerrilla actions on the finer art. But in a way, Wojnarowicz’s tremendous, almost Rimbaud-like reputation suits, since he was an even better, more lucid freedom fighter than he was an artist. Via Holland Carter at the NY Times: True, Wojnarowicz’s formal means — stenciling, spray painting, collaging — are anti-academic. But his fact-and-fantasy images of existential violence and degradation, past and present, are in an old allegorical mode. With its allover collage of rifle targets, national flags and United States currency, the 1986 painting that gives the show its title could easily be re-dated to 2018. So could the quartet of 1987 paintings named for the four elements: Earth, Water, Wind and Fire. Each depicts an ecological Armageddon, though there are other things going on too. ————————————————————————————————— Comics and Medicine Conference: The Ways We Work August 16-18, 2018, White River Junction, VT. Featuring Keynote Speakers: David Macaulay, Susan Merrill Squier, and Whit Taylor Graphic Medicine explores the interaction between the medium of comics and the discourse of healthcare. We are a community of academics, health carers, authors, artists, and fans of comics and medicine. For more information about Graphic Medicine, and to see recent conference programming, visit: graphicmedicine.org Last year’s Seattle-based conference focused on “accessibility” as an aspect linking comics and health; two areas where improvements in reaching diverse audiences and creating platforms for marginalized voices are continuous and important topics of discussion. ————————————————————————————————— Meals You Can Eat on the New York City Subway Connie Sun in the NY-er. ————————————————————————————————— Pope Hats Tour 2018 ————————————————————————————————— Mantle, Baby Ellen Lindner Baseball Comics ————————————————————————————————— Guidelines for Brutalist Web Design Via David Copeland. A website is not a book or a magazine. Because it’s viewed in a browser, users can scroll the browser’s viewport to read content that can’t fit on one screen. This mechanism works beautifully and allows visitors to read content uninterrupted by clicking and page-reloading. While long-form content may require navigation and multiple pages, there’s rarely need to artificially paginate articles, blog posts, or other medium-length content simply to satisfy advertisers or inflate engagement numbers. Scrolling also allows the visitor to consume content at their pace using a method they prefer. Like the back button, this can only be broken by intentional design and careless implementation. ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 7-17-18 – by Kurt Ankeny Share this page: [...]

06/09/2017

Sally IngrahamJune 8, 2017NewsFriday with the cool kids – Rhoda Kellogg, Eleanor Davis, Trina Robbins, Katie Skelly, Lisa Lim, Gabrielle Bell, and more! ————————————————————————————————— Brian Belott has designed an exhibition inspired by the work of Rhoda Kellogg, “one of the foremost, undersung researchers of the doodles, wiggles, and dreams that kids draw.” Among his varied art projects, over the last 15 years Belott has been studying children’s art and he repeatedly bumped into Rhoda Kellogg’s name. Her work as a child psychologist and scholar led her to collect over a million pieces of children’s art between 1948 and 1981, but it all wound up in a storage unit in Connecticut until Brian Belott took an interest in the collection. The show he put together includes 300 pieces from Kellogg’s collection, his own work and attempts at making child-like art (or “forgeries” as he calls them, of his favorite kid-produced originals), and the classroom component (pictured above), which is staffed by his friends and peers during weekend workshops. As a teacher of kids myself, and someone who is experiencing a growing fascination with how kids process the world through art, I recognize the “natural force” that Belott describes and am eager to see this show if it does travel (as he hopes) and will certainly be picking up some of the books that Rhoda Kellogg wrote on the subject of children’s art. Learn more about her HERE. Find out more about the “Dr. Kid President Jr.” show via this article on Artsy. ————————————————————————————————— Hillary Brown chats with Eleanor Davis about her new comic You & a Bike & a Road (Koyama Press, May 2017) for Paste Magazine, starting off by wondering if she is perhaps “the most renowned comics artist of her generation“. Eleanor talks about the process of making the book: “I started out drawing every day of my trip because I always wish I was the sort of person who draws every day on a trip. (I’m not). And I was nervous about essentially taking a two-month vacation—what if everyone forgot who I was, what if I lost all my clients, etc. So I wanted something to post online. I kept drawing, however, because my knees were slowing me down, and that meant I was spending less time biking and more time resting and bored. Otherwise I might have let the journal peter out, like most of my journals tend to. When I got home, I wanted to collect the comics because I’m not productive enough to draw 100 pages of comics and then just let them blow away in the wind. At first I only wanted to put out a mini comic, but it was too many pages. I felt very upset about the idea of making it into a book because I didn’t think it had the merit to be a book. The comics are sloppy and self-indulgent, and collected together they have real life’s irritating lack of narrative structure. But once I filled it out a little it came together a little bit. And folks seemed to respond to the comics emotionally, so I thought it might work out.“ Read the rest of the interview HERE. Get a copy of the book HERE. ————————————————————————————————— I have yet to see the new Wonder Woman film, and in an effort to not spoil it by reading too much about it, I have found myself reading about other takes on the character – from Trina Robbins’ solidly Amazonian Diana (no fancy flying or special powers, just TRAINING) to George Perez’s vision, which brought the “wonder” back to Wonder Woman. This article at The Fresh Toast details Trina Robbins’ adventures with Diana. Trina was the first woman to draw a Wonder Woman series, digging into The Legend of Wonder Woman in 1986 (with writer Kurt Busiek). Trina’s artwork in this 4-issue series brought back the Golden Age, and the little girl whom Wonder Woman saves looks more than a bit like Trina as a child. George Perez’s relaunch of Wonder Woman in 1987 was admittedly a bit more exciting. There is an excellent article on Vulture about Perez and what he brought to the continuing saga of the character. Now that a badass female director has made a Wonder Woman film that folks are pretty delighted by (despite it being a DC flick!), I can only hope that good things are in store for Diana and her creators down the road. ————————————————————————————————— And Also Katie Skelly joins Mike Dawson and Zach Soto for Episode 35 of Process Party. Dominique Goblet‘s Pretending Is Lying is reviewed on the Los Angeles Review of Books by Tahneer Oksman. Meredith Gran concludes her long-running web comic Octopus Pie. Lisa Lim writes and draws about how she went from being an “apolitical to a little more political Asian” on Mutha Magazine. Jillian Tamaki goes through her process for one of the stories in her new collection Boundless – at The Cut. Check out Madeleine Witt and Andrew White’s Kickstarter for their upcoming collection Warmer: A collection of comics about climate change for the fearful & hopeful. The Ladybroad Ledger, edited by Stephanie Zuppo, is campaigning for funds to print issue #2. Gabrielle Bell was on The Rumpus Book Club chat near the end of May – her new book Everything Is Flammable came out June 6th. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 6-9-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 6-9-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

The Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency

Comics WorkbookJune 13, 2016School UpdatesThe Rowhouse doors are open! We are accepting applications for 2018 and 2019 Residencies! The Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency was founded by Frank Santoro in the spring of 2016, thanks to the incredible support of the comics community and a successful Indiegogo campaign in 2015. Check out the Indiegogo campaign video HERE! Now in it’s 3rd year, the Rowhouse is a busy place, as we run residencies for aspiring and experienced comics makers alike, and host certain master cartoonists who are making a point of coming through Pittsburgh to spar in the Comics Workbook dojo. Facilitated by Sally Ingraham, with the assistance of Frank Santoro, Juan Fernandez, and other members of the Comics Workbook crew, the Rowhouse Residency is a transformative place of discipline, study, and creative energy. __________________________________________________________ Email santoroschool@gmail.com for more info about how to apply for a residency and find more details about the program below! Check out our School Updates and News – Read the Residency Reports Follow our Instagram (@rowhouseresidency) – Visit the School Store __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Application details are below – visit Pittsburgh and make comics in 2018 or 2019! Please email santoroschool@gmail.com to apply. The application process is more like a conversation – please kick it off by telling us a little bit about yourself, sharing some of your comics or art work, and detailing what your goals might be for your time at the Rowhouse. Folks have enjoyed residencies that were a weekend to a month long, and we provide different fee structures for the various lengths of stay. You are guaranteed a private room in our comfortably furnished Rowhouse, space and time to work, instruction and mentoring from Frank Santoro and other members of the Comics Workbook team, plus access to Frank’s extensive comics library and the resources of the greater Pittsburgh comics community. We are currently accepting Residents for a minimum of a week and longer. Email santoroschool@gmail.com for more details! __________________________________________________________ So what exactly is the Rowhouse Residency? And who the hell are we, anyways? The Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency is facilitated by Sally Ingraham, with the assistance of Juan Fernandez and local members of the Comics Workbook team. However, it all begins with Frank Santoro. In his words: “I’ve been making and writing about comics since 1988. My work has been exhibited at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York and the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. Allegedly, I’m a good egg and one of the most passionate proselytizers for comic books and visual literacy that you will ever meet. I’m from Pittsburgh, PA and I want to make this city the best place in the world to learn comic book making. Beyond that and closer to home I want to improve the neighborhood I am from. I grew up in this neighborhood in Pittsburgh called Swissvale – and my family has been on this tiny little street since 1933. This was a booming steel town hamlet and then it went into decline. Now, the city and the neighborhood are on the upswing. I want to be a part of that change and now my schoolhouse residency is anchor on this street and in this neighborhood. I’ve traveled all over the world and there is something special about Pittsburgh besides my own nostalgia or hometown pride. The Rowhouse Residency is now a part of the incredible ecosystem of learning institutions here in Pittsburgh. We are such an interesting city, I think, because we have this combination of a hard working blue collar mentality and a broad appreciation of the arts. I know it’s because of the ecosystem of museums, libraries, universities and independent learning institutions we have in Pittsburgh. Everyone from here has been to the Carnegie Museum and a Steeler game. City of Champions in more ways than one. Even if you know very little about comic books please consider that comics are where many kids learn to read. Comics are words and pictures. And words and pictures are the internet. So the artform of comics promotes “visual literacy”. Learning comics is like learning music or learning how to communicate with more than just words. And that’s the world we live in today. We are creating a dojo for students much like a martial arts academy. The beginner student will learn from more experienced students. We run the school like a sports clinic. What’s wrong with your swing? We can fix it. The dojo sparring sessions (so to speak) are recorded and broadcast. We have a “broadcast booth” and a radio show. We interview veterans and rookies and make room for friendly competition in order to push the boundaries of what is possible in the art form. This is not your regular comic book academy. This is a ninja academy, a samurai school, a Jedi academy. I do a really good Yoda impression. The student can live for a day, a weekend, a week or a month at a time in the same space. That way, the student-resident can have a total immersion in the process. Most cartoonists work out of their home, so why have an expensive school building and make the student live in a crappy dorm or apartment off campus? Why not just give them a desk and their own bedroom? The residents take classes with me in the living room of the house. And my mom lives up the street and makes great spaghetti sauce and lasagna. So it’s a family affair. We broadcast lessons and publish the work of residents through the local powerhouse, Copacetic Comics. Bill Boichel, the proprietor of Copacetic Comics in the Polish Hill section of Pittsburgh, is my Yoda. I want to pass on the lessons he taught me to a new generation of Jedis. The circle is now complete.” __________________________________________________________ Email santoroschool@gmail.com for more info about how to apply for a residency Check out our School Updates and News – Read the Residency Reports Follow our Instagram (@rowhouseresidency) – Visit the School Store __________________________________________________________ Share this page: [...]

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: [...]

PIX 2016 | Grace Ellis Interview

Juan FernándezMay 30, 2016InterviewsCWTV Interviews Grace Ellis, Lumberjanes co-creator and writer, about her time with the series. more from Grace // ohheygrace.tumblr.com/ // twitter.com/gracecellis Video by Michael Pisano and Di-ay Battad // michaelpisano.com // cargocollective.com/di-ay Share this page: [...]

12/19/2016

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

Juan here with PIX 2017, Art Happens on PCTV21, comics and image related news that’s caught my eye and of course the inimitable Suzy and Cecil.

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Feast your eyes on the first official PIX 2017 Poster, by PIX 2017 special guest, Lale Westvind. Damn.

PIX is pleased to announce it’s first confirmed guest at PIX 2017 – Lale Westvind!
Lale is a beacon of self-publishing and a veteran of small press comics. She has self published many small batch comics, among them Titus and the Cyber Sun, Hot Dog Beach, Now and Here, Double Head Tour, and the just released Yazar and Arkadas. Her stunning multicolor risograph, Hax, published by Breakdown Press in the UK, was one of the standout releases of 2016. Her work has also appeared in numerous anthologies, most notably the latest Kramers Ergot (#9).

And, she has graced PIX 2017 with its first graphic, which will soon be posted here. Watch for it!

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Staying with the local Pittsburgh news, I hopped on the airwaves on PCTV21 to talk comics with Christiane Leach and Jennifer Saffron on Art Happens. We talked about what I’m talking about all the time with Frank and Sally here at the Rowhouse. It was good to get all this talk outta the house. If you want to know what it’s like to talk with me in person, here’s a taste.
I can’t tell you how nice it is to have conversations with comics with people who are willing to play ball and to see comics as a vital intersection of the arts. Christiane and Jennifer are amazing hosts, always ready to get their hands dirty with whatever is on hand. It’s great to bring to the world these ideas that have been instilled in me by Frank Santoro, Bill Boichel via BEM, Copacetic Comics and Comics Workbook. I’d be nowhere without these guys.

Grab something warm and sit down with us. Treat it like a podcast while you work.
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My buddy Em DeMarco, here in Pittsburgh, has put out a call for a comic that she’s making about hate-related incidents post-election. I want to pass the mic on over to her:

*IF* you’ve experienced verbal or other forms of harassment since Nov. 8th:

I’m gathering stories for a nonfiction comic about hate-related incidents that have happened since the election in Western Pennsylvania. I’d like to hear stories of people who feel like they’ve been targeted in any way because of their (real or perceived) race, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, gender, sexual orientation, or religion. *** IF you feel comfortable sharing your story *** private message me, or email me at emcorp.works@gmail.com.

Feel free to share this with friends or family who you think might be interested in speaking with me.

Thank you,

Em DeMarco

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when you can’t work harder, work smarter – for real though <3

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Comics and news that’ve caught my eye:

A look at the wonders of SAMPLERMAN. Yvan Guillo is Samplerman. Dig into his collage comics here on HyperAllergic.
Underground Art Comics in China.
VOLCAN – I can’t afford to get my hands on this, BUT I can learn a lot by looking at what Alexis Beaculair has posted online! Check out these high quality photos of Lagon Revue’s juicy publication, VOLCAN.
A memory of when the internet was young. Check out this photo from back in 1973 to see, in a way that is now impossible, what the internet used to look like…

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From Comics Workbook:

Suzy and Cecil – 12-19-2016 – by Gabriella Tito

The affordable and versatile offerings of overprinting. Important for offset and risograph printing.(Among the many topics covered in the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers)

We are accepting applications for the Winter Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers right up until Dec. 28th 2016. Course starts Dec. 29th! 8 weeks – 500 bux – the best comics education for your money. Full details and how to apply HERE.

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until next time!
juan

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in News

Juan Fernández

Posted on December 19, 2016December 19, 2016

Explore

03/07/2017

Aaron CockleMarch 6, 2017NewsAaron here today with CHOICES; Squid Maps; Stuck in the Middle; Terms & Conditions; Shaw Screening at SVA. ————————————————————————————————— Over at try harder, Carrie Jones takes another look at the 1990 anthology, CHOICES: A Pro-Choice Benefit Comic: White supremacism, economic injustice, incest, suicide, and religious persecution all make appearances in CHOICES. Re-reading this book has been an unpleasantly surreal experience. 27 years have gone by since its publication and women are still fighting to be seen as human beings. It’s frightening to see how fragile the gains made are. As a personal touchstone, the book reminds me of the special power of comics to convey complicated stories in an accessible way. As an artifact, CHOICES is a stark reminder to take nothing for granted. ————————————————————————————————— Serio-Comic War Map For The Year 1877 Donna Seger at streetsofsalem posted a few years back about octopus propaganda maps from the 19th-20th centuries: 1870 marks a turning point in European and world history with the unification of Germany (as well as Italy): Europe was now “filled out” and further territorial ambitions could only be satisfied by global imperialism and/or war. The maps from this time forward reflect this jingoism and fear, but anthropomorphic satire dulls the edge. One of the first major octopus maps, Fred Rose’s “Serio-Comic War Map For The Year 1877” shows Russia as the octopus-aggressor rather than Germany, even though the Crimean War had revealed the severe weaknesses of the Russian Empire (this is reflected on the map below by a wound on one of the octopus’ tentacles–that which is located in the proximity of the Crimea). From the British perspective that this map represents, it’s a bit early to portray Germany as the aggressor, and so Russia becomes either the ferocious bear or the reaching octopus. ————————————————————————————————— CBLDF Interviews Ariel Schrag Betsy Gomez at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund spoke with Ariel Schrag about the anthology she edited, Stuck in the Middle, being challenged for removal from a school library in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A. : What would you say to parents who consider some of the subject matter of Stuck in the Middle inappropriate for their middle school-aged kids to read? Ariel Schrag: Every parent has the right to monitor his or her child’s reading (or TV watching, or movie watching, etc.), and if you don’t want your child reading Stuck in the Middle, I completely respect that choice. However, there’s a big difference between making that choice for your child and making it for every child, which is what banning the book does. My intent in editing this book was to help children who might be experiencing some of the things the characters in the book experience — bullying, rejection, acne, depression, etc. — feel less alone. These ‘messages’ are expressed through art and humor to make them more accessible and fun. In terms of foul language, sexual content, and teen smoking in the book, all the authors strove to present the teens and pre-teens in a realistic light. We may not like all of the decisions teenagers make, but if we sanitize their speech and behavior in our stories, our characters won’t be authentic. Real teens and pre-teens sometimes use these words and say and do these things. A book like this can present a good opportunity for dialogue between children and parents. Banning the book isn’t going to change children’s behavior or somehow save them from the hard truths of teenage life — I find it very hard to believe that a child would hear a swear word for the very first time in the book or that he or she would be made aware that teenagers sometimes have sexual relationships or smoke cigarettes. The only thing that can make an impact in the way children act is communication, and this book provides a platform for that. What would you say to students in Mid-Del School District who want to read your book? Thankfully, it is available in public libraries and for purchase at stores or online. ————————————————————————————————— Terms and Conditions: the bloviating cruft of the iTunes EULA combined with extraordinary comic book mashups Cory Doctorow reviews R.Sikoryak’s iTunes Terms & Conditions collection: In his end-notes, Sikoryak notes that he didn’t try to match the language to the action in the panels, drawing his pages first then shuffling them and flowing the text into them. What’s interesting (and revealing) is how often there is some weird confluence between the text and the pictures, and this says something important about the Terms and Conditions Sikoryak is lampooning. ————————————————————————————————— “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea” Screening with Director Dash Shaw Thursday, March 16, 7-10pm SVA Amphitheater, 209 East 23rd Street, 3rd floor, NYC Free and open to the public. Dash Shaw will introduce the film and Cartooning Coordinator Jason Little will interview him following the screening. ————————————————————————————————— The Spring Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers starts today! There is a rolling start date for this semester of the course, so we will continue taking applications beyond this date. There are a few spots left – just apply! The course is 8 weeks long – 500 bux – payment plans are available. More details can be found HERE – or email santoroschoolATgmail to apply. ————————————————————————————————— A Cosmic Journey – 3-7-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-7-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-7-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 3-7-2017 – by Juan Fernandez Share this page: [...]

05/12/2017

Sally IngrahamMay 11, 2017NewsSally here with thoughts from Annie Koyama, Shee Phon, and Ann Telnaes, a new direction for The ToonSeum, and other news and comics! ————————————————————————————————— Koyama Press is officially celebrating 10 years as a publishing company at TCAF this weekend. Fearless leader Annie Koyama has been tapped a few times already this year for her thoughts on her publishing venture – most recently Quill & Quire interviewed her. Check out her continuing reflections and some well-deserved praise of her efforts HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Over on The Comics Beat Philippe Leblanc has conducted a series of interviews with comics makers who are attending TCAF. It’s a great list of folks – including Shee Phon, Iona Fox, Alabaster Pizzo, Tyler Landry, and others. Philippe identifies a few distinguishing characteristics of each maker’s work, the scene they’re a part of, or their target audience, and breaks it down with them. It’s great to see The Beat focusing this attention on makers outside of mainstream comics. This series documents an interesting moment in the community, and I appreciate the effort Philippe Leblanc has put into educating himself about the scene. I noticed in the interview with Shee Phon that Philippe found her work through last summer’s Comics Workbook Composition Competition, where Shee Phon won 2nd place for her comic I know it’s not about me, but I don’t want to die. It’s worth noting how many makers find a broader audience for their work through this competition, or in fact are “forced” to complete their first comic. And so the community keeps on growing, thanks to the stewardship of folks like Frank Santoro – and Philippe Leblanc, and of course Heidi MacDonald (editor extraordinaire of The Comics Beat!) ————————————————————————————————— Ann Telnaes delivered a speech to the Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom recently, and the Washington Post shared a version of it. Ann is a Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist, and the current worldwide threats to her colleagues weighs on her mind. In theory, she and her American fellows are protected by the First Amendment, but some days she doesn’t feel very safe. “I’ve always felt in the United States that an editorial cartoonist is the bastard child of journalism. This is because most editors see us only as comic relief, less than the serious, legitimate opinion writer. In reality, the only difference is that we use images and satire to express a point of view. And specifically because of the visual language we use, cartoonists will always be first in the line of fire when controversial subjects are being debated and free speech is threatened. Editorial cartoonists are a barometer for all our free speech rights; a silenced cartoonist is an indicator of an unhealthy environment for freedom of expression in any given society. If we want to protect free speech and the free press, we must vigorously protect the editorial cartoonist.” – Ann Telnaes Read the rest of the speech HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Emily Flake has a comic on The Nib called Beyond “Bridezilla” which is amusing – see the rest of it HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Here in Pittsburgh, PA, The ToonSeum is directing new focus towards comics education – check out the I Can Draw! Generosity fundraiser. The funds raised during this campaign will go directly to developing and running educational programming for kids and teens interested in making comics. Executive Directer John F. Kelly has rounded up some truly amazing donation rewards which must be seen to be believed. Pittsburgh is becoming a hub for comics education, and those of us at ground zero know how important this is to strengthening the community and ensuring it’s growth and staying power. I’ll be personally involved in this new direction for The ToonSeum, helping to teach and channel fresh energy and talent straight into the heart of things. If you can donate to the fundraiser, thank you! If you can share the campaign, thank you! You can do both HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Found In the Button Box Chris Gavaler reviews Eleanor Davis’ You & a Bike & a Road (Koyama Press, 2017) for PopMatters – HERE. Hope Nicholson, who wrote the recently published The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen (a sort of history/small encyclopedia of notable women in the comics community) has a guest post on Nerdophiles that features 5 Female Publishers Who Changed Comics. Hyperallergic reviews Miror Miror II, the second anthology collection from 2dcloud, edited by Sean T. Collins and Julia Gfrörer, calling it “a porn stash you’d find in the cupboard of a medieval demon” which is about what I would have expected – read more HERE. Cara Gormally has a comic on Mutha Magazine about making a baby with IVF – check it out. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 5-12-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-12-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 5-12-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

06/03/2016

Sally IngrahamJune 3, 2016NewsSally here with an update from the Rowhouse, a conversation with Phoebe Gloeckner, a new Art Trip with Sacha Mardou, wise words from Lynda Barry, and a couple of unique interpretations of visual or non-visual communication – plus, a very chill anime beat. ————————————————————————————————— It was a busy week around the Rowhouse in Pittsburgh, as the Comics Workbook team had our first residency! Matt and Mahmoud worked with Frank on a comic book based on a game they are developing – but beyond that (the nitty-gritty of arranging and rearranging index cards!), the days were spent in a ferociously exciting exchange of ideas on comics, architecture, music, social-media communication, and so much more. The time is NOW, folks! ————————————————————————————————— Ariel Schrag interviewed Phoebe Gloeckner at MoCCA this year, and a video of the whole conversation is available to view (below). It is a lively discussion between two powerful female voices in comics. Phoebe Gloeckner is known for A Child’s Life and Other Stories and The Diary of a Teenage Girl – both considered to be essential works about adolescent girlhood. Ariel Schrag has also been known to dig into the trials and tribulations of adolescence, via comics such as her autobiographical high school series Awkward, Definition, Potential, and Likewise. The two women talk about Phoebe’s work as a medical illustrator, the filming of The Diary of a Teenage Girl, and many other things. Take an hour to sit down with them! For more information about Phoebe, check out THE Phoebe Gloeckner interview on The Comics Journal. ————————————————————————————————— Having recently moved from Santa Fe, NM, to Pittsburgh, PA, I was somewhat miffed to discover that within a week of my move, the extraordinary Lynda Barry came to speak at a theater in Santa Fe…! Fortunately, a close friend of mine went to the event and was kind enough to report back for me/us. In the words of Comics Workbook extra-special correspondent Julie Kirby: “Rather than field questions she insisted we already knew the answers to, cartoonist Lynda Barry ended her talk at the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe Tuesday night with a dirty joke and a song. Such a satisfying finale after an already intriguing presentation was precisely why nearly 800 people turned out to see her speak, and surprisingly, to hear her sing. While Barry was indeed entertaining and undeniably hilarious -who doesn’t love a collection of awkward figure drawing anecdotes? – I believe she had a much more important purpose. To encourage! To inspire! An adamant proponent of the 30 second drawing, Barry suggested that allowing ourselves too much time, too many opportunities for regret inhibits our art. That recognition does not require exact duplication. Barry demonstrated how familiar shapes – the profiles of Popeye and Marge Simpson, or the outline of the United States – can be reproduced with little accuracy, yet great familiarity still results. She lamented that by 8, 9, 10 years of age we often quit drawing because we believe we are unable to properly depict a nose. (In my personal experience, it was hair.) Barry basically said STOP. Stop editing, stop erasing. Start writing with a paintbrush and without expectations. While even she acknowledged that many of her ideas are not entirely original, her unconventional delivery of them certainly was.” Thanks Julie! ————————————————————————————————— Today on Comics Workbook we’re featuring a new Art Trip piece. Sacha Mardou had a run-in with an iconic dress, and scribbled down her impressions and thoughts for us. Check out Art Trip: Little Black Dress HERE! ————————————————————————————————— On Tuesday, Aaron Cockle featured the work of Ilan Manouach (a cartoonist, musician, publisher, and more from Greece) in his Daily News post. He highlighted part of an essay by Bill Kartalopoulos about Manauach’s work Katz (which is a riff on Art Spiegelman’s Maus). I bring this up again for two reasons – ONE: because Bill Kartalopoulos guest-edited a whole section on comics for World Literature Today, which features numerous essays, interviews, and book lists. Check it out HERE. AND TWO: because the part of the essay on Ilan Manouach that caught my interest was his project Shapereader. Manouach is working on developing a system of comics for the visually impaired! Incredible stuff. Check out the image above. It is a laser-engraved communication board, one of six that accompany a graphic novel called Arctic Circle, which employs the Shapereader repertoire. Below is another such board. The communication boards “…carry the index for 210 different shapes, providing the tactile equivalents for the specific features of the story. They are divided into groups according to their semantic content and function: characters, props, settings, actions, affections as well as graphic and textual devices forming the well-known toolbox of graphic storytelling craft.” In Manouach’s words: “I think comic books are interesting because they are both very material and very immaterial. … Comics is a language, a very immaterial thing, but at the same time it’s a very tangible thing. There are books, they take space, they are printed in Singapore, they travel back to the States, they are carried in distribution, sold in bookstores, etc. I wanted to do a work that takes both of these directions and puts them to the extreme.” Take the time to learn more about this fascinating new “tactile” comic form, and read Bill Kartalopoulos’s essay on Ilan Manouach a few times – there are more projects and ideas in there that neither Aaron or I even touched on…! ————————————————————————————————— Here’s another interesting angle on communication – The Toronto Symphony Orchestra uses “listening guides” that use symbols and what looks almost like Morse Code to aid a listener experiencing a (sometimes overwhelming) live orchestra performance. Over on Creative Review they get into the details of the project with it’s creator – Hannah Chan-Hartley – the managing editor and musicologist at the TSO. ‘In developing the listening guides for Key, Chan-Hartley says she “wanted to remove some of the barriers to comprehension that more ‘traditional’ guides you see in print tend to have. For one, these traditional aids often have a lot of descriptive text, which you have to read through and then remember as you listen to the piece. I wanted my guide to be visual, and one that you can follow along with in ‘real time’ while listening. “Secondly, only people who can read musical notation would find the excerpts in the traditional guides useful, so I wanted a graphic way to represent what is being heard so anyone could understand. “And finally, I wanted the guide to be in a format through which you could visually grasp the overall structure of a symphonic movement or an entire symphony – by showing when the main musical themes are presented, developed, and recur, and thereby help to structure your listening”.’ Read the rest of the article and see lots more pics of the “visual listening guides” HERE! ————————————————————————————————— https://vine.co/v/iEObIUemwFP Our recent Rowhouse residents are guys of many talents – one of their projects is the curation of the Chill Anime Beats tumblr, where you can find many soothing, lonely, lovely Vines like the one above – CHECK IT OUT HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Have a fantastic weekend folks! More sock-knocking-off comics news coming your way on Monday. Cheers – Sally Share this page: [...]

06/10/2016

Sally IngrahamJune 10, 2016NewsFrom Sally to you – interviews, reviews, and Rowhouse mischief. Dig in! ————————————————————————————————— The Rowhouse had a special guest this week – samurai ninja badass cartoonist Lale Westvind stopped by on her way to CAKE in Chicago. She spent an evening digging into Frank’s library, and somehow simultaneously drew four pages of a new comic, all the while sharing stories about her cross-country motorcycle adventures. You can catch up with her yourself at CAKE this weekend (table 42b), or if you’re not in Chicago, check out a nicely coincidental interview with Lale here on the Comics Workbook site – follow the link below. http://comicsworkbook.com/lale-westvind-sometimes-an-overgrown-golf-course-will-do/ ————————————————————————————————— Speaking of CAKE, there are lots of brilliant books debuting at the show. I’m particularly excited about Hip Hop Family Tree Vol. 4 by Ed Piskor. Here’s the whole list! ————————————————————————————————— Over on The Comics Journal RJ Casey reviewed Ben Sears‘ new book Night Air (Koyama Press, 2016). “I’m nostalgic for things not beholden to nostalgia. I want to read adventure comics without the guilt of knowing that the original creators died flat broke and drowning in menacing legalese. I want to laugh at jokes that aren’t slathered in sanctimonious pandering. Frankly, I’m on the lookout for fun comics with no icky strings attached. So thank goodness for Night Air.” – RJ Casey Read the whole review HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The Comics Beat has a review of Melissa Mendes‘ Lou (Oily Comics). John Seven writes: “Mendes presents a full picture of this family’s life, working with multiple perspectives in reaction to the possibility of getting a puppy, as well as Lou’s hang-outs in an abandoned theater with her buddies, the shady dealings that Eddie encounters at the pizza place, and the mother’s reminiscence of the simpler, more intimate life with her husband before her children came along. Mendes brings all these pieces together to present a family as a form of super organism that can be jolted or made buoyant be the way separate parts of its life fester or expand. The mundanity of a new puppy can bounce up against the desperate actions of a criminal to create the family dynamic.“ Read the rest of the review HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Around the Comics Workbook HQ, we’re still processing the successful first official residency that took place last week. Mahmoud Hashemi, one of the two fellows who joined us, sent us a detailed report of his experience which we will share more of soon. For the moment, here’s the light touch, in Mahmoud’s words: “From May 28th to June 2nd, 2016, I visited Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I went to work with Frank Santoro on Matt Conway’s game Homemake. Overall it was a great vacation because it wasn’t your typical beachside retreat. Rather, it was mounting an effort to renew creativity and productivity on Matt Conway’s longstanding project, Homemake. … Frank’s own creative methods have a focus on systems, especially jazz-inspired rhythmic systems, making them an exceptional fit with Homemake‘s motivations and goals. I was skeptical at first, but it worked wonders. This effectiveness may have been magnified because half of Homemake‘s vision was disparate moments, a grab bag of mental notes about certain aesthetics. This method allowed Matt to express all his thoughts and editors, like me and Frank, to come through, see the patterns a reader would want to see, and develop the most coherent narrative. Everyone wins.” Look for more from Mahmoud and Matt and Frank on the exceptional days they spent together here on Comics Workbook soon! ————————————————————————————————— Have a great weekend folks! – Sally Share this page: [...]

03/30/2016

Sally IngrahamMarch 30, 2016NewsHighlighting Retrofit Comics and bringing some words of wisdom from Jillian Fleck, along with a new comic – plus a kitchen disaster from Byron Alaff and dating woes from Julia Wertz. ————————————————————————————————— Retrofit Comics has 9 days left on their Kickstarter campaign! Take a gander at their list of artists, and you’ll immediately recognize the publisher to be a general force for greatness in the comics community. The crop of books they’re currently publishing is particularly spectacular. It includes titles by the likes of James Kochalka (Elf Cat in Love), who has the distinction of being the first Cartoonist Laureate of Vermont. Eleanor Davis has an offering (Libby’s Dad), and Kaeleigh Forsyth and Alabaster Pizzo teamed up on Hellbound (here’s a process post from them about the “raw material” the book was sourced from). Also among the comics that may get loosed on the world, should the Kickstarter make it to the stretch goals, are works by Anya Davidson and Tyler Landry. Pretty rad. Please support Retrofit Comics by pitching some funds their way, or helping to spread the word. Check out the Kickstarter HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Jillian Fleck joined us today on the Comics Workbook website with some thoughts about finishing your comic, and the type of value you place on your own work. Jillian is a cartoonist from Calgary, Alberta, who is currently going to school in Scotland. She still finds time to draw Bad Thoughtz on a regular basis (check out this achingly hilarious comic HERE) and recently made a lovely observational piece for the Comics Workbook tumblr. This one demonstrates how Jillian follows her own suggestions regarding keeping the process playful, mixing it up. From her article: This is why I encourage you to finish your comic, so you can get up tomorrow and begin your next one. It can be about whatever you want, and can be drawn however you choose. Itʼs entirely new and up to you. Just think, if you finish it in one day, tomorrow you wonʼt have to suffer under the decisions of the past. If you finish your comic in one go, you could put it up on the wall and look at it, think about why you did what you did. Then the day after, maybe you can build on that. Or do something different. You can set challenges for yourself. Can you tell a complete story in a single page? Inside a triangle? On a roll of toilet paper? Please read the full piece HERE – lots of good stuff to consider. ————————————————————————————————— Byron Alaff published a one pager today that cracked me up. We’ve all had that kitchen mishap I’m sure! Byron keeps up a steady stream of comics on his website – take some time to scan through and find your favorite among the various styles and topics he lands on. ————————————————————————————————— The Denver Independent Comics Expo (DINK) went down last weekend (March 25-26) and although we’re still waiting for a proper scene report for this brand new event, Julia Wertz gave us a little glimpse of the action: Indeed it is. (Noah Van Sciver will be one of the guests at PIX this coming weekend, incidentally.) ————————————————————————————————— That’s a wrap on your Wednesday news! I’ll bump into you with more tidbits next week. – Sally Share this page: [...]

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