Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in los Cómics, NewsTagged caleb orecchio, Delius, Esteban Hernandez, gabriella tito, Maria Luque, Max, Palom Garcie Zuniga, Ramon Esoño

Juan Fernández

Posted on February 28, 2018March 13, 2018

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07/24/2018

Aaron CockleJuly 24, 2018NewsNatural Process; Bell/Porcellino/Duchamp; More ‘R. Mutt’; More Grip ————————————————————————————————— “Will you come see the ‘real’ webpage painting at the museum? Or will you see it ‘virtual’ through the web?” Via Rhizome.org’s Net Art Anthology: Natural Process is an installation that translates the iconic circa-2003 Google search engine home page to the form of a large-scale painting, and then back to digital media via webcam. This double remediation, enacted by Japanese net art duo exonemo (Kensuke Sembo and Yae Akaiwa) was exhibited at the Mori Art Museum in 2004, at a moment when artists were increasingly interested in the slippage between art’s circulation online and in the gallery. The painting was purchased by Google, and has not been exhibited publicly until now; it is on view through March 10, 2019 at ICC Tokyo and as part of Net Art Anthology. ————————————————————————————————— A Trip to the Museum With Cartoonist John Porcellino Always nice to see cartoonists visiting museums. ————————————————————————————————— Speaking of Marcel Duchamp… The iconic Fountain (1917) is not created by Marcel Duchamp In 1982 a letter written by Duchamp came to light. Dated 11 April 1917, it was written just a few days after that fateful exhibit. It contains one sentence that should have sent shockwaves through the world of modern art: it reveals the true creator behind Fountain – but it was not Duchamp. Instead he wrote that a female friend using a male alias had sent it in for the New York exhibition. Suddenly a few other things began to make sense. Over time Duchamp had told two different stories of how he had created Fountain, but both turned out to be untrue. An art historian who knew Duchamp admitted that he had never asked him about Fountain, he had published a standard-work on Fountain nevertheless. The place from where Fountain was sent raised more questions. That place was Philadelphia, but Duchamp had been living in New York. … Who was living in Philadelphia? Who was this ‘female friend’ that had sent the urinal using a pseudonym that Duchamp mentions? That woman was, as Duchamp wrote, the future. Art history knows her as Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. She was a brilliant pioneering New York dada artist, and Duchamp knew her well. This glaring truth has been known for some time in the art world, but each time it has to be acknowledged, it is met with indifference and silence. Via Theo Paijmans. ————————————————————————————————— Grip Vol. 1 If you didn’t get the chance this past Friday or over the weekend, please take some time to read Sally Ingraham’s review of Lale Westvind’s excellent new book, Grip, out now from Perfectly Acceptable Press. ————————————————————————————————— Vision Box – 7-24-18 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 7-24-18 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

09/03/18

Caleb OrecchioSeptember 3, 2018NewsGone fishing ———————————————————————————— We will be back tomorrow at our normal programming schedule. Have a good one! ———————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

Frank Santoro in Naples Italy 2018

Frank SantoroApril 18, 2018NewsThere are over 30 pages from Pompeii by Frank Santoro on display at the National Archeology Museum of Naples, in an exhibition which is being held in conjunction with Frank’s appearance as a special guest at the Naples Comicon (April 28-May 1 2018). The show opened yesterday (April 18th) at MANN and will continue until May 31st 2018. More details on the show can be found HERE. During Comicon Frank will be participating in a panel with Blutch, whose graphic novel Peplum also takes a look at Ancient Rome. Details on the panel are HERE. If you’re in the area, be sure to attend Comicon and meet Frank, and don’t miss the exhibition at MANN! … The Naples Comicon Instagram account was buzzing on May 18th, as famed Italian paleontologist Alberto Angela was caught at the National Archeological Museum of Naples looking at original artwork from Frank Santoro’s Pompeii (above). Alberto Angela is a popular TV presenter and commentator for science-based programs. He is the author of A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome, among other texts, and has lectured on the tragedy of Pompeii. He seemed taken by Frank’s depictions, or as the Naples Comicon put it, he “could not resist the charm of the show“. … There were two Italian news stories upon the opening of the show, with the director of MANN talking about Frank’s work and the exhibition. … There is a review and preview of Pompeii in Italian HERE. … Share this page: [...]

05/13/2016

Sally IngrahamMay 13, 2016NewsSally here on this Friday the 13th, with nothing spooky to offer. Instead, I’ve got tons of press about Koyama Press, a bit of hero worship for Rokudenashiko, and a whole lot of longing for TCAF… ————————————————————————————————— The National Post had a write up about Annie Koyama and Koyama Press this week, detailing how truly “kick-ass” they both are. And it’s definitely their week! Mental Floss hyped two of Koyama Press’ new books – What is Obscenity by Rokudenashiko, and Night Air by Ben Sears – as 2 out of 5 favorites. “This is Sears’s first graphic novel and it reads like a marriage between the character designs of Mike Mignola, the childhood wonder of Farel Dalrymple, and the low-key humor of Adventure Time.” – Rich Barrett via Mental Floss “In What is Obscenity?…Rokudenashiko tells the story of her arrest in a funny, engaging, and eye-opening way. Interspersing photographs, legal documents, and news articles with her comedic cartooning, she re-enacts the unbelievable experience of being arrested, filmed by the local news in the back of a police car (labeled with the insulting on-screen chyron as a “so-called artist”), and dealing with male lawyers and policemen who are too ashamed to even talk about what she did.” – Rich Barrett via Mental Floss ————————————————————————————————— While the book deals with Rokudenashiko‘s original imprisonment in 2014 for building a kayak, among other things, modeled on her vagina, this “so-called artist” has been fighting obscenity charges in Japan right up until Monday of this week. The New York Post reports that a Japanese court found Rokudenashiko “not guilty of obscenity for displaying figurines modeled on her vagina, signaling a step towards freedom of expression, although the court fined her for distributing digital data of her genitals.” She isn’t about to take that fine (400,000 yen, or $3,700) on the nose – ‘”I am of course indignant. I will appeal and continue to fight in court,” she told a news conference, where she displayed several pink vagina figurines that prosecutors had argued were obscene.‘ Read the rest of the NYPost report HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Over on The Comics Beat, John Seven digs into What is Obscenity? and finds it to be – “…a passionate memoir and meditation on art, censorship, and societal attitudes towards women, but just as important, it’s a charming and amusing rundown of Rokudenashiko’s experiences that wraps in many aspects of Japanese culture, most fascinatingly, Japanese prison conditions.“ With the recent court ruling weighing on his mind, John Seven clarifies the “real beauty of Rokudenashiko’s book”- “Despite the understandable outrage, despite the big issues that her experience tackles, despite corruption and misogyny and incompetence she faced, despite the gloominess of prison and her own emotional traumas, she still puts it together in a form that is extremely personable even as it informs. She is the best possible messenger. That’s a real feat, but it also tells you something about the artist they were gunning for, about her intent and outlook and why the persecution was such a major misfire. It also tells you why people like her work so much. She made a kayak modeled after her own vagina. How is that not great? How is she not a hero?“ Read the rest of his excellent review HERE. ————————————————————————————————— John Seven was concerned that Rokudenashiko might be prevented from coming to Canada for TCAF this weekend, but according to the Koyama Press blog she has landed in Toronto and is set to strut her fabulous stuff there, and also at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York on May 18th. Check out the event page for that HERE. I don’t want to switch gears to talking about TCAF just yet (especially because a quick glance through their featured guest list is enough to make me cry…due to not being able to go this year…!) so let’s stay on the topic of “This Week with Koyama Press” for a bit longer. ————————————————————————————————— I’ve got another review of a new Koyama Press book! None other than Katie Skelly unpacks Cathy G. Johnson‘s Gorgeous on The Comics Journal. Skelly lets loose some snazzy writing, proving that she can scribble about other people’s comics just as well as she can draw her own. And she makes a good case for the need to get your hands on a copy of Gorgeous – “Gorgeous itself is a gorgeously drawn comic; Johnson’s strengths lie in lush atmospheres and the sprightliness of the character’s faces, which carry tons of gesture despite their simplicity. As the tendency for younger cartoonists to eschew ink for pencil-only work grows, Johnson stands out by demonstrating an otherwise unparalleled skill in expressive lighting and texture, especially in the smoky and anxious woods that surround her highways. Her generous panels also allow for some deft experimentation in expression of time; one particular sequence, the strongest and most effective in Gorgeous, holds a diner table in wide focus for six pages, recalling the stillness of films by Chantal Akerman while still communicating panic and frustration.“ You know you want to read it, but in case you need more incentive, check out the rest of the review HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Taking a slight turn here – let’s catch up with Alyssa Berg as she finishes her 3-part series for Comics Workbook – Sunday is a Good Day to Visit a Museum. Her continuing reflection on her visit to The Rubin Museum of Art inspired Alyssa to seek the input of a few other cartoonists. This week, in the series finale, she is joined by MariNaomi, Simon Hanselmann, Sophie Yanow and Vanesa R. Del Rey in answering the question, “What are the rituals, meditations, or devotions in your artistic process?” As you can probably guess from the lineup, the answers are wildly varied, thoughtful, and entertaining. Check out the whole piece HERE. And a big shout-out to Alyssa for writing such a rad series for Comics Workbook! ————————————————————————————————— Speaking of MariNaomi, as you hopefully noticed above, she will be reading with Rokudenashiko at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York on May 18th. Again, check out the event page for that HERE. Over on Unicorn Booty recently, MariNaomi was the first guest on the new INQ Podcast. Apparently, “The goal with this show is to create a ‘comic-con in your ears’, and have guests on to do a deep dive into some aspect of the comics world. … In the podcast, we talk about the ins and outs of autobio comics: how to do it right, how to do it wrong, how to do it without pissing people off (or at least how to learn not to care quite so much if you do.)” Sounds pretty good to me – check out the podcast HERE. ————————————————————————————————— And speaking of Simon Hanselmann, he’s buzzing around with HTML Flowers these days, hyping Megg and Mogg in Amsterdam. Last seen being kicked out of Desert Island Comics in Brooklyn, NY…he’s most likely on his way to Toronto now to make some mischief at TCAF. And here we are again at the subject of TCAF – or the Toronto Comic Arts Festival – which starts tomorrow. I can’t even begin to unpack it, honestly, so you’ll just have to wait for the after-party pile of news and stories we’ll be sharing all next week! ————————————————————————————————— Instead, to wrap up this week and this post, here’s a great check-in with Daniel Clowes, via NPR. Read some highlights from the interview, or listen to the Fresh Air program online. Here’s one such highlight: On why his speech balloons sometimes drift off the page – “It’s one of those things that just sort of happens by necessity. I think I started with that Mr. Wonderful book, and the idea was that I wanted the book to be all inside his head. So you see his thoughts and they’re always in the foreground, and whatever anybody else is saying is covered up by those thoughts. It’s sort of the way that we normally are talking to each other where we’re thinking about, like, “I really gotta go,” and somebody is telling us something and we’re not focusing. I wanted to capture that.“ Find the rest HERE. Oh, and PS: GhostWorld is now streaming on Hulu. ————————————————————————————————— Catch ya next week! – Sally Share this page: [...]

02/13/2017

Juan FernándezFebruary 13, 2017NewsJuan and Sally tag teaming it today: Drew Alderfer’s THE ROOK; Pixels, tones and the aesthetics of granularity; Berliac on Vice; Fantom Comics Signing and Roundtable; Juan Fernandez at the ToonSeum; Frank Santoro’s Comics Corner #2; and much more! Take note! We are featuring the work of Drew Alderfer – or Meaty Comics – on the site this week. His comic The Rook was made for the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers in 2014. Check it out HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Pixels, Tones and the Aesthetics of Granularity Juan here! I wanted to share with you a digital painting method I’ve come across, created by Dan Fessler, where he’s developed for his environment work on Chasm a way of turning Photoshop into the most powerful pixel art tool. What he calls “HD index painting”. What’s interesting about this? It works on the granular level of the pixel and plays with abstraction for story telling and evocation in the way that comics and cartooning does. It also does it in an incredibly robust and non-destructive way. It got me thinking about a lot of things. But first, have a look at what makes this technique tick. Why “HD?”: The backbone of this method that makes all the magic happen is the concept of manipulating higher resolution data than the end result. Instead of painting directly with an indexed color palette, you’re always painting in HD which then procedurally gets mapped to the indexed palette. For every color ramp you define your source data is 8bit allowing for a possible 256 colors, with no limit on the number of ramps you define. Typically when dealing with pixel art you’d map that to 32 colors or less. What’s most important though is the indexing is non-destructive. All of the high resolution detail is retained allowing you to do things that no other index painting tool allows, essentially making this the most powerful “pure” pixel art tool in existence. I’m not, necessarily a pixel artist, but I’ve been working extensively in exploring color and compression across digital file formats. Especially through collaging animations. I don’t know why, but I’m really interested in it. It’s the same way that I’m interested in how Jordan Crane and other master screen printers separate their colors in their prints. All of this has me think about halftone and more generally the voice of a story in a visual tradition. For some examples, I’d like you to think about how certain contemporary comics makers, like Laura Knetzeger, Kevin Huizenga, Dan Zettwoch, Sophie Yanow, Ron Wimberly, Mickey Z, or Berliac all use halftones. While many artists use halftone traditions in ways that are used to evoke an aesthetic of nostalgia (most effectively used by Ed Piskor in The Hip Hop Family Tree) these previous artists use them in ways that break from the print based traditions and the limitations of halftones. Instead, they use the half-tone as a framework that provides an aesthetic tool to help create their sequences. They all do this in different ways that create hums, and musical tones in the work. Different line qualities with different size tone dots that result in different feelings. Different voices for the soundless music of their comics. In a way that harkens back to previous technologies and grounds the work within a larger tradition, but that also side steps certain associations and assumptions related to genre. It’s great to think of these tools in a way that allows for more technologically mediated impressionist painting than commercial illustration. If you’d like a bit of a look into different coloring ideologies at the nuts and bolts level, take a look at this post by Dan Fessler on Pixel Purism. And of course, in the weekly “Please think about contemporary AI” department I have an article for you to read – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— There is a new weekly comic by “the mysterious Berliac” on Vice – titled Asian Store Junkies it is about “MSG-addicted youngsters who crave ramen“. Read it HERE. Follow Berliac on Instagram – @yung_qin_berliac. ————————————————————————————————— Reminder to go check out this signing and roundtable if you are in the Washington, D.C., area this week – catch up with Ronald Wimberly, Chris Visions, Shannon Wright, and Chris Kindred at Fantom Comics on Wednesday, Feb. 15th, 7-9 PM! ————————————————————————————————— PCS’s Artist Lecture Series 007: Juan Fernandez Join Juan and the rest of the @pittsburghcomicssalon this Thursday! Come on down to The ToonSeum to catch Juan talk about strip cartooning, expanding & teaching visual literacy, and comics making systems. He’ll cover principles in youth and adult comics education. He’ll show a little of what he’s making & how he does what he does. We’ll play some keygen tunes, dive into Photoshop, and talk about oblique strategies in comics making. The presentation will be followed by Q+A. You can join the Comics Salon at The ToonSeum (945 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15222) – art, conversation, and an atmosphere of solidarity. ————————————————————————————————— Frank’s Comics Corner #2 is here! Gather round one and all. ————————————————————————————————— The Ebb and Flow Enter the lottery for a table at the Small Press Expo this year – the registration form and more details are HERE. You have until February 24th 2017! Get to it. There will be a second issue of RESIST!, due to be released around July 4th. It’s message will be “Picturing the America We Want to Live In.” Submit work. Julia Wertz spoke to Sarah Glidden about her book Rolling Blackouts – via The Comics Journal. Pepe the Frog is making a new appearance in MAD Magazine – the story is HERE on Vulture. And in greater, more personal detail, HERE on the Huffington Post. Françoise Mouly and Genevieve Bormes offer a preview of Emil Ferris’ My Favorite Thing is Monsters for The New Yorker – check it out. There is a review of Charles Burns’ Vortex on Just Indie Comics – for those of you who read Italian! ————————————————————————————————— Announcing the Spring Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers! The course starts March 7th 2017. Apply by February 26th to get 100 bux off! The course is 8 weeks long – payment plans are available. Application guidelines: – 3 figure drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards – 3 landscape drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards – 3 still life drawings done on blank 3 x 5 cards – draw in a contour line style –think Matisse – no under-drawing – draw directly in ink – just send me small jpgs of images – dont post to your blog pls – send specific url links to any comics work you have done. If you haven’t done comics before that is not a problem. Email santoroschoolATgmail to apply! More details HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 2-13-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 2-13-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 2-13-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 2-13-2017 – by Juan Fernandez Share this page: [...]

02/28/2018

Posted on February 28, 2018March 13, 2018 by Juan Fernández

Juan empieza el dia con la Casa Transparente de María Luque, los recreantes de Delius y más!

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La Vida en una Casa Transparente – Maria Luque

En Revista Cactus, Elizabeth Casillas presenta la nueva novela grafica de la argentina, María Luque: La Vida en una Casa Transparente. Se trata de la vida nómada, sobre apropiarse de los “no lugares” y utilizarlos como fuente de inspiración:

María Luque (Rosario, Argentina, 1983) acaba de publicar su última novela gráfica, Casa transparente, un relato autobiográfico en el que cuenta cómo, desde hace unos años, compagina su trabajo de ilustradora y dibujante de tebeos con cuidar las casa de sus amigos cuando se van de viaje. «Pago sus impuestos, riego las plantas y paseo sus perros. Todo el tiempo soy una vecina nueva, en algunas casas no llego a averiguar cuál es la mejor verdulería del barrio y en otras me quedo varios meses y hasta aprendo el nombre de las calles», explica Luque.

Casa transparente llega a las librerías gracias a que la autora argentina se ha hecho con el I Premio de Novela Gráfica Ciudades Iberoamericanas que organiza la Unión de Ciudades Capitales Iberoamericanas (UCCI) junto al Ayuntamiento de Madrid y a la Editorial Sexto Piso. El jurado destacó la obra por su calidad, tanto en el dibujo como en el relato, valorando precisamente ese paso de la protagonista por distintas ciudades latinoamericanas –Luque recorre medio continente, de Buenos Aires a México, pasando por Cuzco o Bariloche– en una búsqueda de un espacio propio. Y aunque el jurado añade: «como le sucede a muchos y muchas jóvenes», esta novela gráfica no es necesariamente un relato generacional.

Pueden léerlo todo AQUI.

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#GRAFBCN2018

Ya viene, ya llega. #GRAFBCN2018 a la vuelta de la esquina. GRAF is coming to Barcelona. Here’s all the info you need for #GRAFBCN2018‘s programming. March 2-4 at the wacky warehouse space, Fabra i Coats. It’s the ninth edition of the Festival so it should get pretty wild. You can sign up for workshops here: http://grafcomic.com/talleres

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Los Recreantes

Delius (María Delia Lozupone) les ofrece un apunte sobre los “recreantes”* en el 2016. * los campamenteros del c.n.b.a. desde fines de los ’80 hasta ppios de los ’90. Todo en su blog.

Delius: Durante el colegio secundario participé en la organización de campamentos para los alumnos, las actividades las organizábamos desde la “Comisión de Recreación” que tenía el centro de estudiantes en aquella época. Es una de las cosas que recuerdo con más alegría de mi paso por el C.N.B.A.
Hace algunos años, los amigos de aquella época decidimos volver a reunirnos anualmente para pasar un fin de semana campamenteando, ahora como adultos.
Posteo una historieta-apunte de uno que hicimos hace un año y medio, en el 2016, y un par de flyers de cuando decidimos volver a juntarnos, en el 2014.

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Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana:
~ en Español ~

En el último #FanzineMagazine Paloma García Zúñiga habla de “Necrópolis del Este” y el gran MAX les cuenta su música para dibujar con Victor Coyote y Mireia Pérez. Escúchalo aquí.
Acabamos de saber que el juicio a Ramón Esono ha sido fijado para hoy. Aquí puedes escuchar su caso, explica su mujer Eloisa Vaello Marco en La Hora del Bocadillo.
Esteban Hernández charla en Cafe con Vistas sobre tebeos y su Moneda músical.

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Suzy and Cecil – 02-28-2018- by Gabriella Tito

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Joanie and Jordie – 02-28-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in los Cómics, NewsTagged caleb orecchio, Delius, Esteban Hernandez, gabriella tito, Maria Luque, Max, Palom Garcie Zuniga, Ramon Esoño

Juan Fernández

Posted on February 28, 2018March 13, 2018

Explore

08/03/2017

Sally IngrahamAugust 2, 2017NewsSally here with comics from The Pittsburgh Courier and Oliver Harrington, plus other comics and persons of interest. ———————————————————————————————— I came across a great article on Blavity from earlier this year about our mostly forgotten black political cartoonists – including Oliver Harrington (his work seen above) who some consider to be the greatest political cartoonist of all time. In the 1940’s and ’50s many black political cartoonists voiced powerful and unpopular opinions in publications like The Amsterdam News and The Chicago Defender. Strong anti-racist views made artists like Harrington targets during the McCarthy era however, and like many artists before him, he went into self-exile in Paris. Other cartoonists from that period to remember are Bill Chase and Jan Jackson. “Jan Jackson’s cartoon of two American soldiers running across the Atlantic Ocean to save a European white woman in chains as they turn their back to an American black woman in chains speaks to the selective grieving and racism which were both rampant during the WWII era.” – Orit Mohamed via Blavity Demanding the necessary viewpoint of the black political cartoonist – needed now more than ever before – and bemoaning the lack of a single full-time black cartoonist in any American daily newspapers (as pointed out earlier by Michael Cavna in The Washington Post), the author of the article presents a list of artists working today, including Keith Knight, Cory Thomas, Darrin Bell, Chris Kindred, and Shannon Wright. Read the whole article HERE. ———————————————————————————————— I knew that The Pittsburgh Courier was another famous Black newspaper from the 20th century, so I went to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh to look at copies of the paper on microfilm. “I’m here for the comics!” I told the librarian who helped me out. I picked a roll of film somewhat at random, and was soon browsing through 1945 newspapers. I found comics by Oliver Harrington, as well as other cartoonists of the time. Here’s the “funny pages” from March 31st, 1945: And here is the same paper’s edition of Harrington’s Dark Laughter comic, staring Bootsie: Later on in Harrington’s Jive Gray strip, the pilot (Jive Gray) has been shot down, but he runs into the person he was sent on mission to find – a female Colonel! I’ll have to go back to the library soon and get printouts of some of these comics – apologies for bad photos of microfilm! But it is a real treat to see these comics “in person” at my local library and get a sense of the time and cartoonists who were being published in national newspapers. More to come next week, including some of Jackie Ormes‘ comics! ———————————————————————————————— Yona Harvey was kind enough to stop by the monthly meeting of the Pittsburgh Comics Salon last night, and I had the pleasure of running her and the other attendees through a classic Comics Workbook drill. The comics community in Pittsburgh is constantly evolving, and is full of an energy that is pretty unique. It’s a place where a talented poet like Yona (who has written stories set in the world of Marvel’s The Black Panther) can spar with Jonas Goonface (currently finishing up a comic series with Boom! Studios) and I (who is publishing the 248th Suzy and Cecil strip below!) and each one of us can challenge and inspire the other. The entire city of Pittsburgh is a comics academy. Join us! ———————————————————————————————— Another way to jump into our floating comics academy is to participate in thee Comics Workbook Composition Competition 2017. Now in it’s 5th year, this iteration is a riff on the 6-panel grid, in the traditional North American comic book size – but with a twist! Full details HERE. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-3-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ———————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 8-3-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

06/30/2016

HarrisonJune 30, 2016NewsJune 30th 2016, Harrison is filling your doggie bag with scenes from Chicago, a classic format returning, darkness on television, sex and mystery, and the ten greatest songs of June 30th 2016. Starships and Rockets LOVE AND ROCKETS: THE MAGAZINE returns! Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez to revive their beloved series. The new Love and Rockets marks Gilbert and Jaime’s return to the “floppy” format for the first time in a decade and will measure 8 ½” x 10 ¾”, with at least 32 pages per issue, retailing at $4.99. Get all the details on the Flog. Shadows “But one problem with the wave of technological change that has made dark lighting easy and cheap for filmmakers is that it doesn’t translate to all television sets. Old televisions did a better job of rendering dark colors than modern ones. Detail that’s visible on an expensive television disappears on a cheap one, and suddenly Game of Thrones is indecipherable. The same is true when a television is viewed in a brightly-lit room or from an angle: Dark scenes lose more detail than bright ones. There’s a reason Best Buy doesn’t have The Godfather playing on their wall of TVs show. (There’s also a reason they were running The Dark Knight in their more dimly-lit Magnolia showrooms for years, directed at people willing to buy their most expensive models.)” Read about Darkness. There is no try – Watching the George Lucas Fiasco “When plans to develop the Presidio site were shelved, Lucas went looking for a new city. Enter Rahm Emanuel. Lucas found an eager suitor in the mayor, who offered up a lakefront site in Grant Park and a sweetheart lease. And clearly the mayor provided Lucas something else, too, something the filmmaker was very accustomed to receiving in Hollywood, but certainly didn’t get in San Francisco: brash creative freedom.” Read about a mess. Dr. Paracletus! “You spoke of love. But I loved you! It was like sinking into a quicksand for me….” The Trash Twins Sarah Horrocks and Katie Skelly published THE COMPLETE AGENT 73 yesterday. Click below for cigs, sex, mystery, eyepatches, thigh highs, revolvers, and colors. Read it all here THE TEN GREATEST SONGS OF JUNE 30,2016 De La Soul “Ego Trippin’ Part Three (Egoristic Mix)” (1994) Young Thug “OD” (2015) Aphex Twin “Bodmin 3” (2009) Max Roach “Effi” (1968) Milton Nascimento “Volver a Los 17 (Violeta Parra) feat. Mercedes Sosa“ Jazmine Sullivan “Let It Burn” (2014) VAGUE001 “got em’ buzzing“ halpe “emerald“ Moses Sumney “Pleas“ Beyankha “Stones“ Share this page: [...]

03/15/2016

Aaron CockleMarch 15, 2016NewsComics in China Cartoonist and critic R. Orion Martin did a brief overview of Chinese webcomics on the TCJ blog a while ago. From his post: ‘Although there are many working cartoonists, publishing is tightly controlled and few are able to reach a wide audience through bookstores. As a result, many cartoonists publish their comics on social media sites such as Douban. Douban began in 2005 as a review and recommendation site, and is something like a mix between Facebook, IMDb, and Tumblr.’ Artwork above by Scarlet-Faced Dog and Bu Er Miao, respectively. ————————————————————————————————— MoCCA 2016 Programming Schedule The Society of Illustrators MoCCA Arts Festival is April 2-3, 2016. As with previous years, there is a robust programming schedule. Of specific interest to readers of this newsblog would be the lead-off talk with Phoebe Gloeckner and Ariel Schrag, as well as the ‘Venn Diagram: Art/Comics’ discussion with Bill Kartalopoulos, Austin English, Aidan Koch, and Blaise Larmee. But really, there’s something for everyone this year. The above 2016 MoCCA Arts Festival image is by Noelle Stevenson. ————————————————————————————————— Laura Poitras + Vigée Le Brun 2 exhibits by 2 artists with very different relationships to institutional power are currently on view in NYC. Laura Poitras: ASTRO NOISE is at the Whitney Museum through May 1, and Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France is at The Metropolitan Museum of Art through May 15. ————————————————————————————————— Pedagogical Sketchbook Based on Paul Klee’s extensive lectures on visual form at the Bauhaus Staatliche Art School. Originally handwritten – as a pile of working notes he used in his lectures – it was eventually edited by Walter Gropius, designed by László Moholy-Nagy and published in 1925 as a Bauhaus student manual (Bauhausbucher No.2, as the second in the series of the fourteen Bauhaus books) under the original title: Pädagogisches Skizzenbuch. It was translated into English by Sibyl Moholy-Nagy (in 1953), who also wrote an introduction for it. ————————————————————————————————— Comics Journalism and The COJO List This is a newly-launched and expansive clearing house for all things comics journalism and nonfiction comics-related, run by Josh Kramer and Em DeMarco. Above image by Susie Cagle. Share this page: [...]

08/21/2017

Caleb OrecchioAugust 20, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here with your Monday edition of the Daily News with some thoughts on drawing sparked by Eleanor Davis and the reputable discipline of Leslie Stein and Gary Panter–and remember not to go blind looking at the eclipse ———————————————————————————————— Recently, a friend of mine lent me Eleanor Davis’ recent Koyama Press release, You & A Bike & A Road. I read it on Tumblr when she was serializing it live (I think) as she embarked on her cross-country bike adventure which the book illustrates; but I never really took the time to notice how immediate the drawing is. From what I understand, these pages were drawn first take as she was making her way through her journey, like a diary, which is really impressive. The drawings are sparse and noodley, yet feel perfectly complete–and they teem with a pertinent energy. Last time I was in Pittsburgh, Frank Santoro talked a lot about Gary Panter and how he draws constantly. Even while you’re having a conversation, he’s just drawing away, “He’s just someone who draws all the time no matter what.” On the most recent episode of Greg Hunter’s “Comics Decalogue,” Katie Skelly talks about going to a bar with Leslie Stein and Gary Panter and, basically confirming Frank’s story, that both Stein and Panter drew while conversing the entire time they were hanging out. I think this idea of being a “drawer” is often lost on most cartoonists. I mean, we all draw, right? But how many of us REALLY draw all the time–and how many of us can draw in any other way than our “style?” Now, I’m not throwing shade to style, but I think it’s worth thinking about. When I was going to school for graphic design, the designer Timothy Goodman came to talk to us and one of his big statements I took away from his lecture was, “Don’t have a style.” His reasoning mostly pertained to the idea that having a style will basically hinder your creativity. Now, most cartoonists are not being asked to create an ad in 3 hours for Time Magazine like a highly in-demand designer like Goodman, BUT can anyone really argue that style often does limit the kind of stories a cartoonist can make? In fact, most styles can even limit a cartoonist to a demographic–speaking strictly, and generally, in marketing terms. What am I getting at? I’m not trying to preach or sound like I have THE answers, but what I like about Davis’ recent book is the fact that it is drawn. It’s not inked with a brush with every stroke carefully crafted and feathered. It’s just drawn. Ever seen a Brian Chippendale comic? He just draws them (mostly). Crumb? Moebius? (Conflict of interest warning:) Frank Santoro? Just drawn. I like “professionally” inked comics and comics where traditional craft is essential, but there is an immediacy that is stripped at every step of the process. It’s like going acoustic, once you add a drum kit, you have to turn up the volume on everything else and the intimacy gradually is drowned out. I’m working out these thoughts as I go–thanks for reading. Next week–Kirby’s 100th birthday:) ———————————————————————————————— yikes! I’ve been so pumped about drawing and Kirby’s 100th that I almost forgot other comics existed in the world. Here are some links I found after I came back to our reality. Don’t miss that eclipse. Here, everyone is going to be talking about this so get your info about the eclipse. If you want more info, try a google search. Yo, today is Marie Severin’s birthday. You know who Marie Severin is right? Get acquainted. Heroes punching Nazis has becoming a particularly pertinent topic lately. Speaking of Kirby, I’m suspicious of the new highly hyped-up Mister Miracle comic, but maybe it’s good–who knows. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-21-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ———————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 8-21-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

02/03/2017

Sally IngrahamFebruary 2, 2017NewsSally here with plenty of good company to help kick off your weekend – Annie Koyama, Vanessa Davis, Kate Beaton, Marie Duval, Sofie Louise Dam, Shreyas Krishnan, Gabriella Tito, and more! ————————————————————————————————— Happy 10th Year Anniversary to Annie Koyama and Koyama Press! Despite Kickass Annie’s grumpy appearance (above), she promises many sweet things to come in the next months. We can hardly repay you for being there for the comics community, for your faith in us all, and for the energy and passion you’ve given so freely for a decade. We can only say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! ————————————————————————————————— The Ley Lines 2017 Subscription has been announced. Ley Lines comes from Kevin Czap and L. Nichols – it is a quarterly publication that explores the intersection of comics and other art forms and cultures. Four artists pick subjects that interest them and then compose work that compliments and describes their subject. This year Ley Lines will feature Tommi Parrish on William Blake/Lydia Lunch (February 2017), Eric Kostiuk Williams on Kylie Minogue (May 2017), Shreyas R. Krishnan on Abida Parveen (August 2017), and Evan Dahm on the Surrealists (November 2017). Get your Ley Lines 2017 Subscription HERE. I am particularly interested in seeing Shreyas Krishnan‘s book. She is an illustrator, educator, and visual journalist who started making comics more recently – her comic Becoming Rosie won the MoCCA Arts Fest Award of Excellence last year. See more of her work HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Sofie Louise Dam has a new comic on The Nib – it’s about Denmark’s move to take “being trans-gendered” off of all lists of mental disorders. Although Denmark is the first nation in the world to do this, Sofie details why that in itself isn’t nearly enough. More HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Vanessa Davis spoke to Paste about her comic Spaniel Rage, which was published in 2005 but is due to be re-released by Drawn & Quarterly this month. Vanessa talks about what it’s like to look back on work drawn over a decade ago, and the progression of her process since then. The diary comics that make up Spaniel Rage were in fact the very first comics she ever made. “Paste: You mention in your new two-page intro comic that you didn’t know how to make comics when you started this project. How did you learn how to do that? Did you grow up reading comics? Davis: I read Archie comics and Calvin and Hobbes and Garfield, but went to art school from 7th grade onwards, and was really encouraged to abandon anything comics- or illustration-influenced. I always had a cartoony “style” and that was always considered a handicap in my drawing abilities. In college I finally had a couple of teachers who finally just allowed that I knew how to draw as well as I was ever going to, and that the next thing to wrangle was my voice and perspective.“ A comic a day for a month (at a time in her life when the idea of drawing within panels seemed about as impossible as becoming a brain surgeon…!) put Vanessa on a path that she’s remained on to this day. And even if there are things about the Spaniel Rage comics that she might wish she could change, or would do differently now, she’s still glad to have them. “Some people have tattoos they regret—I have comics. But we’re still all going to dance our mistakes around from time to time.“ Read the rest of the interview HERE. See some of Vanessa’s recent short work HERE. ————————————————————————————————— There is still time to submit work for The Strumpet #5 – the theme for this issue is “Origin Stories”, and the deadline is March 1st 2017! “The Strumpet is a transatlantic annual focusing on women telling stories in comics, edited by cartoonists Ellen Lindner and Glynnis Fawkes (as well as, in prior issues, editrix emeritae Jeremy Day and Kripa Joshi). Despite ENORMOUS progress made by women in comics in the last two decades, we still feel that there’s a bit of a lag between the number of women we know who are doing comics (a lot) and those who are getting published regularly (not always a lot). At the end of the day, we can all use another deadline, and a prompt to do new and interesting work. And that’s where The Strumpet comes in.“ Submission details HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Anthologies like The Strumpet are in the tradition of the very first all-girls comics publication, It Ain’t Me, Babe, (1970). The Strumpet is in fact the continuation of Whores of Mensa, which was the brain-child of Mardou. She wanted a publication for women’s comics that was BOTH sexy and clever. As Jeremy Day wrote in a brief history of both The Strumpet and Whores of Mensa: “We wanted to tease apart the idea (and it is a dominant one, especially in comics) that people need to chose between being sexy and being clever. We wanted a comic that wore glasses and got passes; that was cunning, but also stunning.“ You can read about The Strumpet #1 HERE at The Comics Journal. I have been spending a lot of time lately digging up anthologies like these. They are incredible time capsules of various moments in comics history, preserving work by women who made mini comics in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s – pre-internet-publication days – as well as the early 2000’s. The catalog of work that each collection represents is fantastic. Other anthologies that I’ve rediscovered include Action Girl Comics, which was published between 1994 and 2000 and was edited by Sarah Dyer, and Girltalk (1995-96) edited by Isabella Bannerman, Ann Decker, and Sabrina Jones. And of course there are the groundbreaking publications like Wimmen’s Comix (1970-1991), Tits & Clits Comix (1972-1987), and Twisted Sisters (1976, 1994). There are many more – I just haven’t gotten my hands on them yet! ————————————————————————————————— There is a terrific article about Marie Duval over on Atlas Obscura. Lauren Young writes at length about this forgotten 19th century female cartoonist, who helped bring to life one of the first reoccurring characters in comics history – Ally Sloper. Marie Duval’s husband, Charles H. Ross, was the editor of Judy, a magazine that was a “cheap rival to the likes of popular magazines Fun and Punch, catering towards a primarily lower and middle class and female audience.” While Ross did create and draw the character Ally Sloper first, it was Marie Duval who developed and popularized the strip, doing the bulk of the drawing. ” “Marie Duval is important not only as perhaps Europe’s only popular female caricaturist, and not only as the chief author of the first Sloper,” wrote Kunzle. “She also deserves recognition for her graphic experimentation in an early period of the birth of modern art.” “ Read more about this rad lady HERE. And check out the Marie Duval archive HERE. (Thanks to The Comics Reporter for finding this piece!) ————————————————————————————————— The Last Cheerios Kate Beaton compiled her annual Holiday Comics – read them all HERE. Lauren Weinstein‘s comics on The Village Voice are pretty melancholy these days. Read Normal Person: The Future... Iona Fox tells the story of a guy who successfully organized other undocumented dairy workers and won the right to a drivers licence while changing the structure of policing in Vermont – Part 1 is HERE. Hyperallergic wrote about Gina Wynbrandt and her “pleasantly uncomfortable and brash” comics. Shoutout to Lady’s Comics, a collective from Brazil! Ink Brick is doing a Kickstarter campaign for Issue 8, which will debut in stores around the country this fall. Support the project. ————————————————————————————————— Check out The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey! We designed it to look like a 1980’s comic book artist’s art book. The text is a transcription of an interview she did at The Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency in 2016. Vanesa is a once in a lifetime talent who studied with George Pratt and who has worked with Grant Morrison. Get a copy of this book HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 2-3-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 2-3-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

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