Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged Club del dibujo, Juan Diaz Canales, Martin Caceres, Rafael Villa, Santiago Garcia, Serena Di Virgilio, TIk TOK Comics

Juan Fernández

Posted on June 15, 2016June 16, 2016

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08/10/2017

Sally IngrahamAugust 9, 2017NewsSam Ombiri shares thoughts on Taiyo Matsumoto’s Sunny; plus work by E. Simms Campbell, George Lee, and other comics and news. ———————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here. I am about 100 pages into volume one of Sunny by Taiyo Matsumoto. It is about a group of kids living in a Japanese orphanage, who turn an old car – “Sunny” – into their clubhouse or refuge. It’s such a rich experience – I keep finding myself rereading what I’ve already read. Sunny has really great sequences that transition from moment to moment, inflicting emotion. I really like getting this from comics. It is like having a really good song stuck in your head. I am not just given information – I am inflicted with it. You can tell that certain interactions aren’t meant to happen naturally, as the characters stubbornly stick to their established personality. This is not done in a hockey way. The way the characters’ personalities show up feel especially real. You can sense if a certain interaction pans a certain way, and can tell that it is a special occasion for the interaction to go this way. So the characters almost have to swim through a current going against them, to be talking as they are. When we are introduced to Haruo and Kiko’s relationship to each other, it is quickly established that there’s no reason for them to be getting along. There’s a point when Haruo – otherwise known as White – is asking Kiko who this other girl called Megumu likes. White knows how odd of a question it is to ask, as he often likes to mess with Megumu. He can’t admit that he likes Megumu, but by asking he’s clearly admitting that he likes her. So with every question, he keeps saying “Not that I care“. When White asks Kiko, she just giggles and doesn’t tell White, instead opting to confess to White her feelings for him. We don’t get a response for that confession from White. It feels like miraculous story telling, and I’m amazed that comics can go this far. It’s what many people try to do, and rarely succeed in – having this much sentimentality, and then diving further into it, with fitting situations coming out of it. What is the consequence of all this sentimentality, what happens as a result? Well we ever get a response from Kiko’s confession at that moment? The next few moments show the response as this other character, Junsuke, really loudly interrupts. He’s telling White’s he’s being called to be sent on an errand and White agrees to go. The next panel shows a laying bike, which is both a transition and a break for the reader in that empty space to consider what had happened, how it happened, and what it all means. The bike isn’t calling attention, it’s just laying there as it would because White isn’t riding it yet to do his errand. Then White during that errand runs into Megumu, who’s bummed out about a forgotten dead cat, and she feels forgotten as a result. White gets the cat upon Megumu’s request and they carry it to the orphanage where they stay. The characters have real flavor to them. I am excited to read their exploits and re-read their exploits, especially when they’re doing things that don’t matter and aren’t of much consequence to the rest of the story – they’re just being themselves. Like when Junsuke obnoxiously plays his harmonica loudly to everyone else’s frustration, or when he’s drawn with a pencil up his nose, conspiring to steal really nice chopsticks. The situations that surface are a joy to read. (Even if you feel at the back of your mind that this scene is overly sentimental.) When I reread other moments I get a lot out of the overly sentimental parts. For example, when I see White’s hesitation to exist in that emotional space, when he’s told “Sometimes you can be a real good kid,” after bringing that dead stray home. He tries to just scoff at the idea of being this good kid. (Or maybe it’s because White is jealous of the person who said that, because they are who Megumu likes, but I really doubt that.) – Sam Ombiri Check out Sunny Vol. 1 by Taiyo Matsumoto HERE. ———————————————————————————————— Sally here. Take a look at the work of E. Simms Campbell, a celebrated black cartoonist for nearly 4 decades who has since been obscured by history. Back in the 1930’s his full-color comics in the pages of Esquire played a huge role in the popularity of the magazine – and catapulted him across the color line in mass-market publications. Fame and fortune followed – to some extent (his race was kept a secret more often than not – one story goes that when he went out on the town with other cartoonists, they got him into bars with them by introducing him as an “Arabian” prince…!) This article on Print by Michael Dooley (from 2015) shares info on E. Simms Campbell and an interview with Robert C. Harvey, who had just published Insider Histories of Cartooning: Rediscovering Forgotten Famous Comics and Their Creators, where Campbell was featured extensively. “Dooley: What’s Campbell’s primary appeal for you? Harvey: I’m interested in Campbell more for his personal history and career than because of his art, although he’s obviously a fine artist. He’s probably the first famous African American cartoonist, but he wasn’t known at the time as being African American. He was known for harem girls – and other representatives of the curvaceous gender – but not at all for his race. Campbell and his publisher and the syndicate that distributed his cartoons had kept his race a secret, so Southerners wouldn’t reject the publications in which his work appeared. By a perverse extension of logic, then, they also kept him a secret, or – at least, I suppose – never much mentioned him, in order to avoid revealing his race.“ Read more of the article and interview HERE and see plenty more comics and illustrations by E. Simms Campbell. Things to track down – Campell’s nationally syndicated cartoon strip Cuties, and his famous “A Night-Club Map of 1930s Harlem”. ———————————————————————————————— In the interview mentioned above, Robert C. Harvey talks about another Black cartoonist he came across in his research: “…I’m eager to read George Lee’s 1989 book – which I just learned about – Interesting People: Black American History Makers. Lee was an African American cartoonist who did portraits in words and pictures of famous black Americans, which were syndicated to newspapers in the 1930s and 1940s.“ When I was at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh recently, looking for comics by Oliver Harrington and Jackie Ormes in old copies of The Pittsburgh Courier, I was delighted to come across one of George Lee‘s “strips” in a May 1937 newspaper. (Apologies for a photograph of microfilm on the screen!) I’m sure there are many more in the papers – I will keep an eye out for them next time I am digging for comics! ———————————————————————————————— In Other News The Cartoonists Of Color Database has a new user interface, and is way more searchable now – check it out! Ariell Johnson – Philly’s comics and coffee shop superhero – has an interview on The Root – watch it here. Women Who Write About Comics has a long interview with Taneka Stotts – she talks about publishing and promoting queer POC work, discusses the new anthology Elements: Fire, and clarifies that Nilah Magruder was in fact the first black woman to write for Marvel (that story HERE). Read the interview with Taneka Stotts HERE. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-10-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ———————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

03/13/2018

Aaron CockleMarch 12, 2018NewsAaron here today with Comic Arts Tyumen; Lianhuanhua; Dorothy Iannone; Liana Finck; Pénélope Bagieu; The World of Airships ————————————————————————————————— Georgy Eleav is a current student of Frank Santoro’s Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers, and one of the primary organizers of the first ever Russian alternative comics festivals. This new festival – Comic Arts Tyumen – will take place in Tyumen City, in western Siberia, at the end of March. Georgy told us: “…we are focusing on small press, zines, indie comics scene and underground authors who are working far away from capitals. We are glad to announce that, with support from Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation, our special guests will be Anna Vaivare and David Schilter from kuš! – Anna is going to put a workshop for young local cartoonists, and David will tell about Latvian comics scene. Also we are very grateful to Breakdown Press team – they were unable to make such a long trip this time, but supplied us with a huge variety of their books to present. Our festival is also supported by Russian alternative comics publishers Boomkniga and Comfederation – they will bring indie authors to make signings, more workshops and public discussions about the current state of comics in Russia, women and comics, and the future of the scene. Local Siberian cartoonists will present an exhibition of alternative comics art and also will present themselves at huge comics & zine fair. And to sum it up, the entrance is free for everyone! Also, the event is hosted by Space Cow comicbook store and small press company (which I own) and funded and hugely supported by the local cartoonists and zinemakers community – and inspired, of course, by Gabe Fowler’s Comic Arts Brooklyn festival, Comics Workbook reports and researchings, Josh M. Bayer’s interview for Russian readers, and Copacetic Comics Company’s wide variety of all kinds of graphic literature!“ ————————————————————————————————— Migraine by Woshibai and Two Stories by Gantea Greg Hunter on 2 recent books from Paradise Systems: The effect of these sequences is alienating yet compelling. Woshibai’s narrator provides a litany of personal details, and even so, some readers might find the gulf between themselves and the cartoonist growing as the comic advances. Woshibai maintains this separation in part by depicting his adult and younger selves with blank, featureless faces. It’s the central gesture of a cold but memorable piece. Migraine leaves readers with some grim conclusions about the reliability of a person’s self-concept, never mind the challenge of sharing it with other people. Memory and memoir both can only help us so much. Two Stories, meanwhile, is less likely to stir up existential dread. Gantea has a cute aesthetic, giving her figures round heads, feet like dinner rolls, and hands like oven mitts. A reader might imagine either of the book’s pieces going viral. In addition to the cute factor, they’re quick, easy reads in basic visual-literacy terms, and they have animals too. But the net effect of these stories is something more proximal to cute; the comics aren’t Trojan horses exactly, but they’re agreeably strange at times. ————————————————————————————————— Dorothy Iannone: I Lift My Lamp Beside the Golden Door In NYC, through March 2019 For the High Line, Iannone creates a new, large-scale mural installation at 22nd St. Iannone’s mural features three colorful Statues of Liberty. Between them runs the words, “I Lift My Lamp Beside the Golden Door,” which is the final line from Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus,” the ode to the freedom promised by immigration to America engraved on a bronze plaque mounted inside the statue at Liberty Island. Iannone’s piece was conceived before the recent months of upheaval in the United States around immigration, an already contested topic; these recent debates have raised the Statue of Liberty anew as a symbol of the openness of New York City and the United States to those seeking asylum, freedom, or simply a better life. Iannone’s vibrant Liberties bring a bit of joy to an often exhausting and demoralizing political debate. ————————————————————————————————— Review of ‘The Real Life of Sebastian Knight’ Liana Finck on the Vladimir Nabokov book at the NY Times: ————————————————————————————————— Pénélope Bagieu Comics At The Paris Review: ————————————————————————————————— Via MTSHELVES: “Military School“, an animatic video made in response to the phallic death culture surrounding school shootings, the “soft civil war” hastened by the current administration, promoted by the encouragement of schools as battlefields, N.R.A. and other Death-merchant-encouraged arming of teachers and other civilians, capitalist promotion of final-gunshot-to-the-forehead imagery as plot resolution in films…with a detour into a Christian charity shop… ————————————————————————————————— VISION BOX — CAMERON ARTHUR — 03/13/2018 ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-13-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio 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: [...]

FRANK’S TIPS FOR TABLING

Juan FernándezMay 6, 2016Resources8 tips for tabling at a comics convention from Frank Santoro. NSFW for cussin’. Video by Michael Pisano. Share this page: [...]

08/09/2016

Aaron CockleAugust 8, 2016NewsAaron here today with Jaime Hernandez covers; the Lakes International Comic Arts Festival; Zika Virus – Watch Out!; Sara Lautman on Grudges; Leela Corman on Jewish Comics; some Daniel Clowes Work up for Auction ————————————————————————————————— This week’s Featured Comic is from the Comics Workbook Roller Derby Team Berg/Doersch/Fleck/Huskisson/Lisa/Mancini/Mardou/Tito have covered Locas Starring Hopey, by Jaime Hernandez. Image above by Jennifer Lisa. ————————————————————————————————— Comics Workbook at the Lakes International Comic Arts Festival Our illustrious founder Frank Santoro, along with CW stalwarts Aidan Koch and Connor Willumsen, will be in attendance at the upcoming Lakes International Comic Art Festival, October 14-16 in Kendal, UK. Santoro, Koch, and Willumsen will be conducting a Composition Competition Workshop on October 15 that should not be missed, especially if you happen to be in the Lakes District or are able to travel there. Koch and Willumsen will be conducting their own respective workshops as well. This is shaping up to be a top-notch festival! ————————————————————————————————— Maki Naro has a comic about the Zika virus over at Fusion.net. ————————————————————————————————— How To Hold A Grudge, by Sara Lautman ————————————————————————————————— Leela Corman’s Jewish Comics Rundown Corman covers a lot of comics history in a relatively short amount of space here. ————————————————————————————————— Rowhouse Auction: D. Clowes Edition This week’s Rowhouse auction will start Wednesday (August 10) at 1200 EST. 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! Share this page: [...]

06/15/2016

Posted on June 15, 2016June 16, 2016 by Juan Fernández

Juan Fernandez here with: los Cómics españoles en Bologna;lo nuevo de TIK TOK; las novedades del Club de Dibujo; Juan Diaz Canales’ COMO VIAJA EL AGUA; Santiago García y el arte del guion.

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Off the site:

Report: Spanish Art Comics Day in Bologne

Serena Di Virgilio over at Italian comics criticism hub, Just Indie Comics, has a great report on the Spanish Independent Publishing panels and exhibitions from this May in Bologne. Lots of inspiring photos and a great primer on some of the most exciting contemporary makers of Spanish speaking comics from around the world making comics in Spain.

Thursday, May 26 BilBOlbul Spring / Summer 2016 , preview of Bologna balloon festival, a meeting dedicated to Olaf Ladousse, Klari Moreno, Roberto Massó and Martín López Lam, and an exhibition of the latest works of the latter.
The four authors, mostly unknown in Italy, living in Spain and selfpublishing their creations. Apart from that, it is a rather heterogeneous group that presents a stimulating variety of imaginary and experiences.

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Novedades/New over on TIK TOK Cómics:

¡Click through to read/Dale click para continuar a los comics!

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Club de Dibujo – Weekly Drawings from Around Latin America

Club de Dibujo es la publicación serial de un grupo de artistas latinoamericanos que envían cada semana un nuevo dibujo. La curadora es Adriana Lozano. Check them out and stay atop the refreshing and raw wave of Latin American illustration and comics!

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Rafael Villa con Martín Cáceres: El Sueño de la Máquina

Here’s a neat interview of Martín Cáceres in the latest edition of Chilean arts periodical La Panera. The interview starts on page pg. 32 of the PDF, surrounded by lots of interesting contemporary arts and culture from Chile 😉

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Juan Díaz Canales y Como Viaja el Agua

Juan Díaz Canales, best known in the states for his work on the Blacksad series with Juanjo Guarnido, sits down and talks with Bilbao 24 horas about his ventures into his first solo graphic novel, Como Viaja el Agua.

P.: “Como viaja el agua” es tu primer trabajo como autor completo. ¿Cómo afrontas el reto?

R.: Como una experiencia más. Así es como me voy planteando el resto de cosas en la vida. Como apasionado de los tebeos es algo que quería hacer desde hace tiempo. También es cierto que, al no tener un pasado fanzinero tenía algo de miedo. Sin tener ese bagaje, me he enfrentado a un libro de 90 páginas. El riesgo era alto pero ha llegado un momento de madurez profesional y eso me ha dado algo de seguridad para afrontarlo.

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Santiago-García-para-JD-7-768x512 — Foto – Jorge Quiñoa

Diego Cuevas y Iván Galiano interview guionista Santiago García

Over on Jot Down, EL PAIS’ contemporary culture magazine, there’s a solid interview with Spanish comics writing all star, Santiago García. If you’re not familiar with García, take note! He’s one of the most popular writers of comics in Spain. An auteur comics writer if you will. Smash that google translate button if you need to for all the juicy details of García’s creative formation, the nature of his collaborative process with artists and his hopes for the future.

P: Estudiaste Periodismo e Historia del Arte. ¿Las hiciste pensando en trabajar en algo relacionado con los cómics?

R: No. No sabía lo que iba a hacer. Empecé Filología Inglesa y en mitad de ella me fui a la mili. Cuando volví en vez de retomarla me fui a Periodismo en la Complutense. Fue la carrera que hice con veinte años. Años después, con treinta y cinco, hice Historia del Arte.

A mí me gustaban mucho los tebeos. En realidad lo que me ha gustado siempre es el papel impreso, la prensa, los periódicos, las revistas y los libros. Yo lo que quería hacer era papel impreso. Probablemente en orden de preferencia los cómics eran lo primero, pero yo me veía de periodista. Aparte, Peter Parker era periodista, Clark Kent era periodista, era la profesión que lo aunaba todo [risas].

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hasta la proxima! (Share the love you have. Nunca sabes que pasara…)
JF

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged Club del dibujo, Juan Diaz Canales, Martin Caceres, Rafael Villa, Santiago Garcia, Serena Di Virgilio, TIk TOK Comics

Juan Fernández

Posted on June 15, 2016June 16, 2016

Explore

12/12/2016

Juan FernándezDecember 12, 2016NewsJuan here with the Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey; the 2017 Official Selections for Angoulême prizes; the glory of Katsuhika Hokusai; Censors and Satirical cartoons in Turkey; David Salle; Hallie Jay Pope on the ACLU sues NSA; understanding Neural Networks; new Suzy and Cecil. ————————————————————————————————— The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey In May 2016 Vanesa R. Del Rey came to Pittsburgh, PA, to visit the Rowhouse and share her sketchbooks and her passion for comics with Frank and the rest of us. Their conversations about her work and experiences have been transformed into the book The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey, which is full of gorgeous images as well. Frank Santoro: Vanesa, I’m quite taken aback by your sheer technical ability which seems to be married to a poetic sensibility. There’s a lightness there. Sometimes illustrators with that ability get heavy-handed. Yet you manage the push-pull between the two sides of yourself – because you’re like a samurai. The humble samurai. Vanesa R. Del Rey: It’s about trying to remember that. I can get all this praise, I can get all these amazing responses from strangers, but at the end of the day – I’m still a student. I’m still learning. The crown doesn’t fit. The crown should never fit. You can get a peek into the book and pre-order a copy HERE. I had the honor to design this publication, I’m extremely happy with how it came out and I hope you dig it. The process was so invigorating that I also went and created the following video based on some footage that Michael Pisano shot in the Rowhouse during Vanesa’s stay. I turned up all the nobs. Slam that play button to dive head first into the world of VRDR. Pre-order a copy of The art of Vanesa R. Del Rey HERE. (Video by Michael Pisano, Di-ay Battad and Juan Fernandez // michaelpisano.com // cargocollective.com/di-ay // juanjosefernandez.com – Soundtrack // Victoria’s Other Secret // Galapagoose) ————————————————————————————————— Heidi MacDonald’s got a look at the 2017 Official Selections for Angoulême prizes over on the Beat. It’s quite an eclectic list, if not as diverse as you’d like to see, but Angoulême’s move to a more modern and global outlook continues to advance. The jury this year was significantly broadened after the intense scandals of last year, with more women and booksellers. ————————————————————————————————— Hokusai – The glory of Manga Over on the New York Review of Books,Christopher Benfey takes a look at Hokusai’s Lost Manga, a collection of previously uncollected drawings by Katsuhiko Hokusai, published by the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, had long possessed—in its fabulous collection of Japanese art unparalleled anywhere outside Japan—an anonymous album of drawings long assumed to be by Hokusai. That album has now been persuasively linked to the artist, through art-historical detective work, via a hitherto mysterious publisher’s advertisement, from 1823, for Master Iitsu’s Chicken-Rib Picture Book.(Iitsu was one of Hokusai’s many disguises; the title might thus be translated, as MFA curator Sarah E. Thompson notes, “Hokusai’s Tasty Morsels.”) The volume of tasty morsels remained unpublished—until now. (…) When French artists like Manet and Degas first encountered Hokusai’s manga, in fifteen volumes numbering some 4,000 plates, it was the disjunctive, off-the-cuff quality of the images that proved most exciting. Hokusai seemed to be a Japanese flâneur, sketchbook in hand, who quickly took down whatever he saw on his travels or in his teeming imagination. Again and again in Hokusai’s Lost Manga, travelers take a break from their journeys—up craggy mountains, down dangerous rivers—to scrutinize the countryside. A couple years ago, Steve Bissette introduced me to Hokusai with an oversized collection in the Schulz Library in White River Junction. It changed my life. All the pieces came into place. Landscape, portraits, caricature, comics, beauty, humor. It was all there. The next day Connor Willumsen gave his artist lecture as the Center for Cartoon Studies fellow. The stars had aligned… On the subject of Hokusai, though: There are someecent publications worth looking at – Seigensha’s Hokusai Manga series. Small and lovely (~4″x6″), these make incredible companions for occasional contemplation throughout your day as you make your way through the world. As Hokusai would have liked. Check it out at your local library! You can find the ISBN over on Amazon,use that and ask your librarian real nicely for help getting your hands on these! ————————————————————————————————— CBLDF on Satirical Cartoon Blog Post Blocked in Turkey Maren Williams from the CBLDF reports on how a blog post featuring satirical cartoons of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is currently blocked by court order inside Turkey but freely available elsewhere. Cartooning’s once again at the forefront of censorship laws and the interaction between corporate autonomy, intellectual freedom and regional law. Faced with no ideal options, WordPress chose to geo-block the specific site requested within Turkey but direct users to a multilingual site with directions for circumventing online censorship via services such as VPNs and Tor. It also reported the takedown to the Lumen database, and the WordPress rep identified as Janet J told Jones that the company is brainstorming ways to maximize intellectual freedom and transparency for its users: There is no good solution to the issue of political censorship, and we are constantly reviewing the processes to find ways to combat it, including taking legal action in Turkey where appropriate. Going forward, we’ll look into making the current process clearer in our next transparency report. ————————————————————————————————— Encryption and You – ACLU sues NSA Every time you email or text someone overseas, the NSA copies and searches your message. It makes no difference if you or the other person has done anything wrong. An ACLU lawsuit is challenging this dragnet spying. We’re suing on behalf of a coalition of internet, human rights, legal, and media organizations whose work depends on the privacy of their communications. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the NSA’s mass interception and searching of Americans’ international communications. At issue is the NSA’s “upstream” surveillance, through which the U.S. government monitors almost all international – and many domestic – text-based communications. The ACLU’s lawsuit, filed in March 2015 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, is brought on behalf of nearly a dozen educational, legal, human rights, and media organizations that collectively engage in hundreds of billions of sensitive Internet communications and have been harmed by NSA surveillance. The district court dismissed the case in October 2015, concluding that the plaintiffs lacked “standing” to sue because they could not show with sufficient certainty that their communications have been intercepted. The ACLU appealed to the Fourth Circuit, and heard oral argument last week December 8, 2016 in Virginia. Details on the hearing are now available from Wikimedia Foundation. Hallie Jay Pope‘s created a comic that lays out the nature of the NSA’s global internet surveillance system and its implications for the present. Dig into it. ————————————————————————————————— Neural Networks and the Bridge in Parsing Images On this wavelength, here’s an interesting thing to note: it’s been shown that computers can’t read, or even effectively parse comics, try as they might. Computers can parse what is in comic, but not how it’s organized. And in comics, the composition is as important as the content. The semantic units in comics are arguably too complex for computers to model and categorize. Comics as a space for encryption. Embedded meaning within the liminal space. Think about that… Here’s a little on why. It’s all about neural networks. Let’s talk about how computers recognize objects in images – Adam Geitgey has a great 5 part series over on Medium on Machine Learning and neural networks. I urge you to check that out. Accessible writing for the layman on the algorithms that are beginning to dominate are everyday digital life. Worth a look. Get a glimpse of a field of thought that cross cuts computer science and linguistics. NeuralTalk and Walk from Kyle McDonald – See in real time a neural network identify what is being seen through a camera. It’s creepy, astounding and hilarious at the same time. All that said, of especial interest for us visual thinkers is Geitgey’s article on deep learning and convolutional neural networks, focused on object recognition in images. Any 3-year-old child can recognize a photo of a bird, but figuring out how to make a computer recognize objects has puzzled the very best computer scientists for over 50 years. This article delves into that. sidenote: What does all this digital garbage have to do with your comics? Simply put, this is the world that we live in. The Butlerian-Huxlerian-Orwellian Cyberpunk Apocalypse. Work with me, this level of digital literacy is really important nowadays. These concepts are the cogs that turn the global machinery. It’s not magic, it’s numbers. Come to terms with the machinery or else. ————————————————————————————————— What kind of Artists do we want? David Salle‘s expanded a 2000 lecture of his over on Art News to fold in much of what he has been preoccupied with over the past 16 years. An exciting read with A LOT to unpack! I’ll confess straightaway that the proliferation of presentational art makes my heart sink. The inconvenient truth is this: It’s easier to present art than to make it. It’s easier to select than it is to invent. It gets confusing, because some of the great pictorial inventors of the twentieth century, like Andy Warhol, obviously, appeared to be doing nothing more than choosing—but that was an illusion, something borrowed from the beauty industry, where the amount of time spent in the makeup chair is meant to result in an effortlessly natural look. To make something that really holds our attention, especially over repeated viewings, requires levels of integration—intellectual, visual, cultural—expressed with a unique physicality. Art that eschews this integration is unlikely to be durably compelling for the simple reason that less is at stake. One component without the others is like an unstable chemical compound; it will degrade, or, to continue the chemistry analogy, it will fail to catalyze. Over time, the result will come to have the flavor of commentary. This is incredibly resonant for me. Ask yourself, what is it that makes comics certain comics transcendant or revolutionary as developments in the form? What do you think Salle would say about the creative process that brought them into the world? ————————————————————————————————— The latest Suzy and Cecil strips by Gabriella Tito and Sally Ingraham! Suzy and Cecil is a collaborative daily comic strip project based on characters invented by Bill Boichel and Frank Santoro. It is primarily drawn by Gabriella Tito and Sally Ingraham, teammates in the Comics Workbook Roller Derby League. The strip is part of their continuing development as cartoonists – follow @suzy_and_cecil on Instagram to see the project unfold and keep an eye out for guest strips drawn by other Comics Workbook students and friends! New comics Daily! ————————————————————————————————— Like what you just read? You’ll want to get in on our Daily News Wire. Sign up here. ————————————————————————————————— until next time hot shots, Juan Share this page: [...]

03/02/2018

Sally IngrahamMarch 1, 2018NewsSally here with comics and wisdom from Shee Phon Lui, Alison Bechdel, Katherine Arnoldi, Julia Wertz, and many more! ————————————————————————————————— Philippe Leblanc’s excellent small press and indie comics roundup for The Comics Beat brought a new comic by Shee Phon Lui to my attention (above). You can see several more pages of the piece HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Alison Bechdel is Vermont’s 3rd cartoonist laureate – congratulations! HERE is an interview with Bechdel and a look at her show at UVM’s Fleming Museum called “Self-Confessed! The Inappropriately Intimate Comics of Alison Bechdel”. The show is up through May 20th 2018. ————————————————————————————————— There’s a great interview with Katherine Arnoldi on Mutha Magazine, about her adventures as a teen mom and her activism and advocacy for teen moms everywhere. Her graphic novel/instruction manual came out in 1998, and was republished in 2015. It continues to find an audience who can identify with the content and draw inspiration from her determination and drive to make a good life for herself and her daughter. Read the interview and see more scans of the comic HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Hilary Brown reviews Swedish cartoonist Anneli Furmark‘s Red Winter on Paste Magazine, calling it “just about the most Swedish book ever“. The comic “focuses on the affair between a married woman with three children (Siv) and a younger man (Ulrik).” Although the story isn’t spicy enough for Brown, she likes the artwork and the chapters told from the perspective of the children. “These are the chapters that breathe, as Marita takes advantage of her time alone in the house to snoop through cupboards and her brother’s comic books and Peter rides around with his friends drinking beer. These chapters have the feeling of real adolescence, when you’re pushing a little to see how much you can rebel, and they contrast with the slow bits of the actual revolutionaries, who worry that Ulrik’s relationship with Siv could be turned against them. There are, as you might expect, plenty of nice sweaters, and it’s always snowing. Furmark’s colors lie loosely on top of her pen lines, which have a good bit of wiggle to them, suggesting a lack of sunlight. When hints of red flood the sky, it feels like life and renewal are on the way, in contrast to the darkness of most scenes. Maybe that’s a political metaphor? Or maybe it’s just beautiful.” Read the whole review HERE. Rachel Davies also reviews Red Winter, over on The Comics Journal. ————————————————————————————————— Recently on The New Yorker‘s Daily Shouts feature: Julia Wertz‘s Conversations with Ma: Cheez Wiz and Tree-Climbing (pictured above); Leslie Stein‘s Yelp for Babies; and Barbara Smaller‘s Course of Empire: Part 2. Although the “New Yorker cartoon” holds an iconic place, I really appreciate that The New Yorker now makes space for full comic strips with this feature. And that it is full of comics by women! ————————————————————————————————— Chocolate and Crackers Aline Lemos makes a lot of comics, which you can find on her Tumblr (HERE). One of her ongoing projects is about female Brazilian artists, and she recently posted the newest in this series (#35) which is about Lídia Baís. See it HERE. Rob Clough reviews Hannah K. Lee‘s Language Barrier (Koyama Press, 2017) – read about it HERE. Katie Skelly wraps up a week of A Cartoonist’s Diary on The Comics Journal – HERE. Here’s your reminder to read all of Nnedi Okorafor‘s books – and more specifically, the issues of Black Panther: Long Live the King that she wrote recently (#1, #2, #5, and #6 which features Ngozi, a character from Okorafor’s novel Venomverse: War Stories!) Cory Doctorow highlights Jen Wang‘s The Prince and the Dressmaker for BoingBoing – read the review HERE. ————————————————————————————————— It’s the last day to get in on the blind auction for a copy of Fantastic Four #52 (pictured above) that Frank is running. Proceeds from the auction will go towards purchasing a season-long farm box for the full time Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residents – so it’s a good cause, and a terrific comic (first appearance of Black Panther!) Plus the story behind the comic, and why Frank has it is pretty cool – full details on the auction are HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-02-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-2-2018 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

07/05/2016

Aaron CockleJuly 5, 2016NewsAaron Cockle with more of Gabrielle Bell’s July Diary; Barry Blitt Comics; Pablo Auladell; Mould Map 5; Julie Doucet; Nasreen Mohamedi; BUGS! ———————————————————————————————————————————————————— Fireworks ———————————————————————————————————————————————————— Barry Blitt at the New Yorker ———————————————————————————————————————————————————— Behind-the-scenes with Pablo Auladell — via altcomix via zencomix via capegrahicnovels ———————————————————————————————————————————————————— Mould Map 5: Black Box Concealment. Stealth. Unknown unknowns, black swans and sleeper cells. Conspiracy, tactical confusion and counter-intel (UFO narrative smokescreens). Greenwashing, industrial espionage and deceit (VW emissions hacking). Self-surveillance (voluntary driver monitoring for lower insurance premiums / health tracking for life insurance). Mission creep and stealth tax. Behind the scenes, hidden agendas. False flags, dark ops and black magik. Invisibility tech and the occult (hidden from sight), obscured, ambiguous. Invisible infrastructure and the technological sublime. Secret TTIP talks and shadow courts. Far-right extremist scapegoating narratives, deny complexity. Black as the baseline screen state, visions emerging from the darkness in low resolution. Mysterious crashes & disappearances. ‘The Truth’. Server centre as black box, to be embedded in the geological crust of the early Anthropocene, BIG data left to a distant future. Antwan Horfee, Ben Mendelewicz, Blue Firth, Brenna Murphy, Caley Feeney, Daniel Swan, Jonny Negron, Julien Ceccaldi, Lala Albert, Lando, Noel Freibert, Parker Ito, Travess Smalley, Viktor Hachmang, Yannick Val Gesto, Edward Shenk (Poster), GW Duncanson (Comic), Hugh Frost (Patch & Packaging), Leon Sadler (Patch & Black Box Zine) ———————————————————————————————————————————————————— Reading Aloud with Julie Doucet The story lines do not unravel effortlessly, nor do they always cohere. Instead, Doucet seems invested in pairing these word-image collages in order to get us thinking, and feeling, about what’s in front of us. The first three chapters, for instance, follow “Mrs. Jones,” a wide-eyed, full-lipped blonde. “Mrs. Jones is in love!” the title page declares in loose cursive, and what follows is a series of images featuring this whitewashed, perfectly coiffed figure, vacantly staring off into the distance. Whether pictured alone or alongside others, Mrs. Jones does not seem capable of making eye contact, of connecting with her surroundings. Despite the fervid declarations of love so often aimed at her — “Kiddie I AM Dust-resistance for you. ME Clean ‘Magic’ carpet love” — and despite the sentiments that Mrs. Jones at times allows herself to express — “he’s so like a, a roo BOO DOO So Good Me!” — the cumulative effect is of language, and posture, as dead weight. This is not to say the pages don’t draw the readers in. Carpet Sweeper Tales offers entertainment as well as commentary, and flipping through the book is an engrossing, if anti-nostalgic, walk down a memory-less lane. Reading through, and reading out loud, gives one the sense that Doucet is after a kind of lighthearted, feminist anti-fumetti: a montage that makes illegible, or even irrelevant, the submissive pout at the heart of these now fragmented stories and advertisements. — via Tahneer Oksman at Los Angeles Review of Books ———————————————————————————————————————————————————— Nasreen Mohamedi at the Met Breuer Mohamedi mainly worked with gestures of pencil and ink on paper, experimenting with organic forms, delicate grids, and dynamic, hard-edged lines. Her cosmopolitan outlook enabled her to draw upon a range of aesthetic sensibilities, from the poetry of Rilke and Camus, as well as Indian classical music, to the modernist architecture of Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————— BUGS The wonderful science-fiction social satire feature film, BUGS, made by Toronto conceptual art luminaries, Life of a Craphead, is having several screenings next week in New York! Please attend if you can! — via Matthew Thurber ———————————————————————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

06/04/2018

Caleb OrecchioJune 3, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here with thoughts on Ben Sear’s latest Double+ Adventure, Ideal Copy. ————————————————————— Often people will compare Ben Sears’ Double+ stories to comics like Tintin or Dragon Ball, and I could even make a convincing comparison to Miyazaki’s first feature Castle of Cagliostro with this new installment; but I see a true spaghetti western influence in Ben’s work. The heroes are treasure hunters not “bounty killers,” but they bring in bad guys for cash. The “sidekick” Hank may be a robot, but is as vital to Plus Man as a horse is to any drifter roaming the American West by way of Italian sets and Spanish locations. There’s a character that is introduced in the new book, Ideal Copy (published be the great Koyama Press), that really gives off a Lee Van Cleef in Death Rides a Horse vibe (the old, reticent veteran with a score to settle). I enjoy all of Ben’s work, but Ideal Copy was a particularly fun issue for me. The story moves along at a pleasurably steady pace. Read. Laugh. Turn the page. Repeat. I think the way the author builds objects within his world interestingly plays a part in this seamless rhythm. It is as if everything is made of thick, malleable Legos that can be rearranged to make anything. Everything has this chunky, charming structure and the designs throughout the book don’t deviate from this visual idea. For example, there are no sleek, chrome muscle cars next to bulky cube-based cars. Every object within the world stands sturdily together. The result is nearly one-hundred percent great despite the occasional action sequence that doesn’t quite read perfectly due to color choices when conveying depth, but overall the blockiness of the environment that fills the Double+ Adventures feels limitless. Sears is the ultimate gamer in his very own Minecraft-of-the-mind, and I really have a ball touring it. I really want to come back to my point about the spaghetti western comparison, and go off the deep end and compare Ideal Copy with Sergio Corbucci’s film The Great Silence and how they mirror one another’s, not only environmental hazards but, subtextual theme of struggling against fascistic entities…but I think I’ll save that one for another time. I’m just happy that Ben has consistently put out a good book every year for the last three years (not to mention the minis before and in between). Here’s to many more! Cheers! You can order a copy of Ideal Copy by Ben Sears from Copacetic Comics! ————————————————————— Frank Santoro‘s new book – Pittsburgh – is now available from Editions çà et là! You find out how to obtain a copy here in the States – HERE – on our site. While you’re there, takes some time to read some thoughtful French reviews featured therein. We’ve gone through the trouble to (Google) translate them for our fellow English-speaking readers. Check it out! ————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 6-4-18 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

12/15/2016

Sally IngrahamDecember 15, 2016NewsToday we have Sam Ombiri on film director Robert Bresson, and Tyler Landry on Kyle Baker’s sequencing – plus more Kyle Baker news, Chris Diaz’s photos, Vanesa R. Del Rey’s new book, a comics education sampler, and new Suzy and Cecil. ————————————————————————————————— This is Sam Ombiri. I’m going to be talking more about the reappropriation of methods and style than the movies I talk about here, so I’m more than likely not going to do the films justice as I try to write about them. I watched Funny Games again not too long ago, and parts of it reminded me of Au Hasard Balthazar, which is the number one movie for me – but more importantly, Michael Haneke‘s direction compared to Robert Bresson‘s. I think the main antagonists are just people (or maybe a more appropriate term for them is forces) who purely inflict themselves on their victims. In Funny Games it was just maybe infliction rooted in the overbearing nature of politeness? Maybe? I think Balthazar was rooted in…haha…I don’t know, there’s too many places it goes for me to think about right now. I think the way Haneke used methods akin to Bresson’s weren’t on a (I can’t find a better word than this, I’m probably wrong as I say this) superficial level. Andrei Tarkovsky said “When people tell me during the shooting of my film that a certain scene is in a way reminiscent of Bresson–and this has happened–I will immediately change the approach to avoid any resemblance. If there’s such an influence, it doesn’t show on the surface of my work. This is an influence of a deeper nature. It’s a moral influence between artists, without which art cannot exist.” I was watching part two of Solaris – there were a couple of scenes where faces weren’t in the frame, but as people passed a doorway they’d caress it as they were passing by – to the same effect as when Bresson does it. I can safely say it was not an attempt to copy Bresson, it was just a moment passing by. Bresson said something like the way he films is based on how you pass someone on the street. I think the small scene in Solaris happened as result of just a coincidence of aims, and not so much attention, and reliability was placed not on the methods used in that scene, but instead on what was accomplished. Austin English was saying how for awhile he was a big fan of Hal Hartley, but because his new movies are still made in the same way, he feels that they’re lacking. I couldn’t agree more – whenever I see Hal Hartley’s movies (the few I’ve seen), it leaves a bit of bad taste in my mouth, the way he just uses Bresson’s methods. That’s just me though, and that is not to say it’s bad to reappropriate Bresson’s methods – many of my favorite directors have. I’m even typing about one of them right now. Sammy Harkham said something like how influence is like a shortcut to achieving something you previously wanted to do, but lacked the possible way to. I can’t conjure up a reason for why, but Austin’s frustration with the lack of change and advancement will do. At the root of Bresson there’s a lack of reliance on…what one would typically rely on. He says he doesn’t want to know where he’ll shoot, he doesn’t have professional actors. Maybe since Hal’s dad was a construction worker he’s doomed to make ‘em like he does. Frank Santoro was telling me how Jordan Crane and Kevin Huizenga were coincidentally both doing comics that were taking place over one night, but that one night was taking years to unfold. But pretty I’m sure that the comics aren’t great just because they take place over one night. I’m pretty sure if someone wanted to be on par with their work, they’d have to do more than make the story take place over one night. That’s what Hal Hartley is to me. Although I have to admit Amateur is a real fun movie. It reminds me of how in Please Say Something there’s a reference to the famous Funny Games remote scene. They don’t achieve the same thing, and it’s more than likely a different influence that prompted David OReilly to use that reference in that way – the Haneke influence in Please Say Something wouldn’t be that direct. (I can only guess) So then, what I saw between Au Hasard Balthazar and Funny Games was… I don’t know if I can write about it too well – but their similarities aren’t so direct except for the forces that afflict the people. – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Tyler Landry here – let’s take a peek at some of Kyle Baker’s work. Deadpool doesn’t mean anything to me – but this sequence of Baker’s does. What’s striking me here is overall repetition + changed elements over time (panels). Same scene, same pile of bodies, same ornate backdrop – but slightly closer and with less active bodies across the sequence. As Deadpool reduces these guys to chum, the scene becomes more focused on a particular individual – and Deadpool’s attention on him too. He also gets smaller in the scene, and the chaos quiets down, enforcing his/the trajectory. I went on about color last week, buzzing over Space Riders, and although not my primary concern here, I have to give it a mention. Follow those REDs, watch’em boil down to see where the action goes. One more page I wanted to look at, just for its sheer compositional beauty, was this one from a Hawkman story. It’s stark, powerful, and crystal clear. Again, it’s about creating focus – guided by form, by color, by directionality, by connecting elements across the page. Among other things, Baker’s dealing with concentrations of “noise” VS simpler, more solitary forms. The top two panels are almost mirrored – the bird, the plane – balancing noise and larger forms. On the right, a heavier bird shape sorta scoops your view, and dumps you into the middle down below. The central panel is key in using the birds and Hawkman himself as silhouetted parallels, but focusing on him specifically – larger, darker – as the driving force in moving this one forward. He’s advancing to the right, but his body, and the angle of his sword, are turned to the lower left – which lends itself to comfortably directing your eye in the lower left panel. Then, look at the total slickness in which the line of the edge of that windshield slides right across the panel, hops over the co-pilot’s hat, and continues right along the hijacker’s bent arm, DIRECTLY into the pilot’s terrified face. Nice, dude. – Tyler Landry ————————————————————————————————— Sally Ingraham here – funny that Tyler should be thinking about Kyle Baker today, as I was just listening to a podcast with him over on RiYL. Taped at the New York Comic Con amid a great deal of bustle, the interview digs into the intricate hustle that has been life as a cartoonist for Baker. He offers up some good stories about being a business-minded artist, and shares the experiences and decisions that have allowed him to remain independent AND working for two and a half decades. Check it out HERE. (via TCJ.com) Here’s a 15 page preview of Kyle Baker’s Nat Turner (from a piece on Vulture published in 2008). Get a copy of the book and other comics by Kyle HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Chris Anthony Diaz – easily the best photographer working in the comics scene – has kept busy this autumn documenting festivals and special events all across the country, from Columbus, OH, to Seattle, WA, to Los Angeles, CA. He has updated The Diaz Archive, found here on Comics Workbook, with his recent adventures – check them out: Comic Arts Los Angeles 2016 The Fantagraphics 40th Anniversary Party Cartoon Crossroads Columbus 2016 Part II (part 1 can be found HERE). ————————————————————————————————— Check out The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey – now available from Comics Workbook! Vanesa generously agreed to let us published selections from her sketchbooks, as well as excerpts from an interview she did at the Rowhouse last spring. She is an incredible talent, the “vertical invaider” that we’ve been looking for, and this book offers up a new look at her work, process, and passions. Get a copy HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Give the gift of comics education! The Santoro School Handbook is a great place to start – get a copy HERE. We are still accepting applications for the Winter Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers – details are HERE. Maybe you know someone who could benefit from one-on-one coaching? You won’t find a more passionate, or engaging teacher than Frank. Email us at santoroschoolATgmail to find out how you can help a friend or family member get in on the Correspondence Course. You can also check out the Rowhouse Residency program – perhaps the ideal gift for YOURSELF – a crash course in comics making for the newcomers, or a week of uninterupted time dedicated to making that comic you’ve always dreamed about. There are more details HERE – or email us to schedule your visit to Pittsburgh, PA, in 2017! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 12/15/2016 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

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