Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in Festivals and ShowsTagged CAKE, Sacha Mardou

Mardou

Posted on June 16, 2016August 18, 2016

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09/13/2017

Sally IngrahamSeptember 13, 2017NewsCatch the Comics Workbook team at Table N9 this weekend at SPX, and downstairs in the Glen Echo Room for workshops! Advanced signup is now closed, but walk ins are welcome, space permitting. ————————————————————————————————— Please be sure to check out the winners of the Comics Workbook Composition Competition 2017 – results are HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 9-13-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

10/27/2016

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

8/10/2016

Juan FernándezAugust 10, 2016NewsJuan here with your Spanish language comics news once more! Esta semana tenemos: Sofia Watson en @lapololapodcast; Tetas Tristes en el spotlight; Todo es Macanudo con Liniers en el Centro Cultural Borges; Informe. la antologia argentina del siglo 21; el Publicadero en Manizales; Revista Larva: Convocatoria para Publicar – La Colección Gusana; impresiones del 2º Encontro Lady’s Comics; un Space Riders Playlist via Alexis Ziritt. ————————————————————————————————— [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/276717421″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Escucha @lapololapodcast, un podcast del cómic femenino con Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo! Este episodio os ofrece un entrevista con Sofía Watson, música colombiana y un nuevo concurso (deadline es el 15 de agosto!). ————————————————————————————————— Tetas Tristes Cómics un gran shout out al Colectivo Tetas Tristes – cuatro chicas dibujando, desde sus mundos internos feministas. Estan publicando fanzines antisexistas, montando exibiciónes, y ofreciendo talleres – son unas verderas killers jovenes. Dales un vistazo a sus blogs: en fb: https://www.facebook.com/tetastristescomics/ en tumblr: http://tetastristes.tumblr.com/ ————————————————————————————————— Todo es Macanudo con Liniers en el Centro Cultural Borges Antes de su gran salido de Argentina, Liniers ha recibido una exhibición de su arte en el Centro Cultural Borges en Buenos Aires. La fiesta continua hasta el 20 de septiembre, de lunes a domingos, de 10 a 21. A donde se va Liniers? Pues: Después de tantos libros propios y de poner en circulación libros de otros en la Editorial Común (en ese sello editó a Alberto Montt, Carlos Trillo, Gus Delisle, Nine y Kazu Kibuishi, entre tantos), después de algunas tapas de discos (Calamaro, Johansen) y una muy frecuente colaboración con Kevin Johansen, sostiene su tira Macanudo desde años en la nacion y está a punto de partir rumbo a Vermont, la ciudad adonde está The Center for Cartoon Studies. Fue invitado a ingresar en ese laboratorio de ideas para historietistas y allí permanecerá dos años con su familia. ————————————————————————————————— Gerardo Vilches reseña Informe. Historieta argentina del siglo XXI, de VVAA Vilches nos da un analísis A FONDO de esta antologia argentina! Al contrario, la frescura y la ruptura de las normas del relato clásico son signos presentes en cada historia de las que conforman Informe. También, lo decía al principio, se impone cierta distancia con el dibujo académico, para profundizar en estilos gráficos sintéticos, naif o simplemente anti naturalistas, sin preocuparse por conseguir una representación de la realidad que se haga pasar por la realidad en sí. El color es un elemento que, cuando se usa, también se aleja de lo naturalista para explotar su capacidad expresionista y emotiva. Sin embargo, esto no son más que rasgos muy generales que sirven tan sólo de punto de partida para analizar a un conjunto de artistas que se caracterizan, sobre todo, por su heterogeneidad. ————————————————————————————————— El Publicadero – COLOMBIA Ya viene el encuentro de Autoedición y Fanzines celebrado en el marco de la séptima Feria del Libro de Manizales del 2016. 30 de agosto al 4 de septiembre. It’s coming! ————————————————————————————————— Revista Larva: Convocatoria para Publicar – La Colección Gusana FECHA DE CIERRE: domingo 28 de agosto de 2016 a las 11:59 p.m. A comienzos de este año presentamos una colección de fanzines de cómic y dibujo. La hemos llamada Gusana. Su objetivo en este mundo: abrir un espacio para autores de cómic que busquen un espacio de publicación y promoción para trabajos que ya tengan hechos pero que no hayan salido a la luz todavía. La prima menor de nuestra LARVA se prepara para su próxima aparición, el segundo número de la colección, y buscamos un(a) autor(a) para darle vida. ————————————————————————————————— Impresiones sobre el 2º Encontro Lady’s Comics Katherine Supnem tiene un gran recap del Encontro en el blog Comic, Genero, Femenismo. Si quieren ver otra perspectiva sobre este gran evento Manzanna nos dio sus impresiones del encontro la semana pasada AQUI en Comics Workbook. Katherine Supnem: Lo que más me llamó la atención fue la labor formativa y recopilatoria que inspiraba el evento. Estaban muy interesadas en transmitir contenido, fuerza, autogestión y lucha, ya que es difícil en toda latinoamérica ser autora de cómic, aunque ya no estemos en los 90. Además de tener un registro de otros colectivos brasileños de historietas donde sólo participen mujeres, lesbianas o trans. Para eso tenían un mapa de Brasil donde los colectivos se iban anotando para ser registrados en la historia de las comiqueras Brasileñas. No era necesario ser feminista para estar ahí, algo así como militar, porque ya es muy feminista ser artista y autora de historietas, como le oí decir a Sole Otero en nuestra Charla. A veces es difícil darle tiempo a las lecturas filosóficas que requiere el feminismo, como lo hablamos con Mariela, pero lo fundamental es comenzar a cambiar nuestras propias vidas autoconvocándonos y organizándonos junto a otras mujeres. ————————————————————————————————— Space Riders – the Playlist: BLAST YERR ASS OFF Alexis Ziritt has put together a loud, galaxy spanning mix of tunes that’ll get you tuned to the Space Riders frequency real quick. Gives these tracks a spin, if you’re up for adventure. ————————————————————————————————— hasta la proxima! JF Share this page: [...]

01/16/2018

Aaron CockleJanuary 15, 2018NewsAaron today with Richard Hell; 2 from Liana Finck; The representation of the Spanish Civil War in North-American comic strips ————————————————————————————————— Richard Hell’s Small Press Publishing At White Columns: White Columns will host a small exhibition of Richard Hell’s 50-year history – 1968-2018 – as a small press writer, publisher, editor and designer. Hell, under his original name of Richard Meyers, began his first small literary magazine and press at the age of 17, shortly after arriving in New York City. The magazine was called Genesis : Grasp, as was the press. Genesis : Grasp ran for six issues (numbers 1-5/6, 1968 – 1971), and also released three authors’ first books and two folders of broadsheets. Richard’s small press endeavors have proceeded, under a variety of names (Ernie Stomach, Theresa Stern, Richard Meyers; Genesis : Grasp Press, Dot Books, CUZ Editions …), up through the present, in publications often typeset and printed, as well as designed, by Hell. ————————————————————————————————— A Loner’s Guide to Planning and Cancellation + The Distance Test Some recent work from Liana Finck. At Topic At Catapult ————————————————————————————————— Francisco Manuel Sáez de Adana Herrero on The representation of the Spanish Civil War in North-American comic strips. The 204th meeting of the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018 at 7pm at The New School, University Center, 63 Fifth Ave, UL 105 (lower level). PLEASE NOTE NEW LOCATION. Free and open to the public. The North-American comic strip of the early twentieth century has manifested itself, on many occasions, as a powerful means of transmission of history. In that role, the form of reproduction is a determinant factor since the comic strips were published together with the news of the time and, for that reason, they had an audience of several million readers. Many times the comic strips played the role of showing the public what was happening outside the United States, especially in the years before Pearl Harbor, when American society was more concerned with what was happening within its own borders than with international events. This study shows how an event such as the Spanish Civil War is represented in the comic strips of the late 30’s and how this shows the American society’s position towards this conflict. Francisco Sáez de Adana is Professor at the the Franklin Institute of American Studies of the University of Alcalá in Spain. He works as a comic scholar, mainly focused on American comics, interested in that medium as a way to depict historical events. He has published five chapters in books, seven papers in Spanish and international journals, and several communications In international conferences. He imparted a seminar on Miton Caniff and American culture at the University of Salerno in Italy. He organizes a summer course on comics imparted in the University of Alcalá which is celebrated annually from 2014. ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

01/11/2018

Comics WorkbookJanuary 10, 2018NewsSam Ombiri here with thoughts on DNA Failure: British Weapon Comics by Leon Sadler, Jonathan Chandler, and Stefan Sadler ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: DNA Failure: British Weapon Comics is Leon Sadler making comics with Jonathan Chandler and Stefan Sadler. The deal is Leon’s comics are really good, Jon’s comics are really good, and Stefan’s comics are really good, and together they compliment each other’s energy, better than ever. They all have this playful reverence for storytelling in comics that exist for existence’s sake. Or a “sake” not spoken of yet. This sensibility that’s really attractive doesn’t deviate from their enthusiasm for the story. Far from it – it only serves to take their stories to higher heights. As I’m reading this, I’m wondering what corner of a human’s mind can possibly have the capacity to make this stuff up? I’m not thinking of just the especially surreal events in the comic. I’m also thinking, for example, of how quickly these guys can ascribe a character’s role purely from their facial features. This is a wonder. As I read I’m really savoring each moment. This book is so much fun. What’s astounding is the complete lack of cynicism, which I know stems from sincerity, and it’s just what they do, but I can’t help but commend their lack of cynicism. It’s hard to talk about this comic, about this stuff, partly because I’m guilty of this too in my own comics. What is it I’m guilty of? There’s this one corner of webcomics – you see it in a lot of deviant art pages…probably the easiest place to find stuff like this is if you go to the Bad Webcomics wiki – and it feels like this is the stuff these guys are into. I’ll try to explain more clearly. (I’m not sure about Jon and Stefan, but I’ve read Leon has an intensely visceral reaction to things because there’s too much emotion in them.) This comic and what I’m trying to get at partly reminds me of what Jessica Ciocci of Paperrad said about amateur work: “When you see amateur work, you see the mistakes a professional would try and cover up – like when a person’s homemade Web site has a JPEG scaled up incorrectly. That’s the kind of stuff we like. It’s acknowledging that there are these unspoken rules about how you are supposed to do something – and when you break that rule you are acknowledging that the rule exists.” I think the inclination for most people is to pat themselves on the back instead of pushing further when they realize this rule exists. They try to outsmart the inherent perceived stupidity, instead of just engaging with this stuff as it is (if they don’t just flat out turn it into a punchline). It’s what puts Paperrad above Everything Is terrible (as cool as they are). It’s that same thing that is so great about people like Leon, Jon, and Stefan. I can’t help but think about how Dash Shaw was once talking about how for the most part, in the west at least, whenever people approach limited animation, it’s rarely without cynicism. Take those Adult Swim cartoons like Perfect Hair Forever or 12 OzMouse, in contrast to this community on YouTube which used to use programs like Pencil or the Corel software that would come with their Wacom tablets, to make wolf animations. Animations without cynicism. People like Tribble of Doom or Fluffylovey. What I’m saying is that with DNA Failure the success is three tier. Tier 1 is the lack of cynicism towards this zone of comics, Tier 2 is pushing enthusiasm – as in, they don’t feel compelled to contextualize this stuff just to prove that they’re smart. People (myself included) don’t always believe in the potency of this stuff. They don’t think it is independent of our recognition of it. I mean, sometimes it can be good to give it contextualization, but I don’t think it helps in cases where the potency of the work that one might be re-appropriating (at least for this bad webcomic stuff) is purely based on your recognition of it. It reveals this masked cynicism and masked vanity, or maybe arrogance is a better word. So then it’s not Tier 2 – it’s more like you’re in tier -2. DNA Failure reaches Tier 3, which is a complete mystery to me. I just don’t know – it’s not even three tier success now, it’s like a 2,000,000 tier success. There are many places comics can go if you open your eyes – DNA Failure opened mine. The comics in here are really fantastic. That’s another thing; when people (like me) re-appropriate this stuff, if it’s comics, they (by they, I mean we) tend to completely both forget and dismiss the comics aspect of it. We forget that it’s a comic with a story of some sort, and they (again, me included) maybe even forget that it’s a lot of fun to draw. Although when I say “fun” I don’t mean to say that you always have to draw with a bunch of wild strokes. (CF’s impression of Jack Kirby crosshatching) It doesn’t have to be fun but it certainly can be, especially when we’re talking about this zone of comics. The impulse to draw these types of comics commonly comes, after all, from having fun. (I’m using “fun” for lack of a better word, though not at the complete lack of it. I’m also thinking about how CF said that the spirit of cartooning is “just go ahead and draw.”) However, all the fun is taken out of it when it becomes a contest to see whose work is superior because of how “smart” it is. When I see this type of re-appropriation done (again, myself included), so much of it is this masked cynicism propelled by pretension. DNA Failure is amazing for so many reasons, number one because it doesn’t have any of that. There are really terrific moments in these comics and really great sequences, and instead of these guys patting themselves on the back, they just reach higher and higher and it’s really cool to see. I was very sad when I ran out of pages to read. – Sam Ombiri Read more about the comic HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Frank Santoro and Simon Hanselmann, CAB 2013 – photo by Chris Anthony Diaz, colored by Graham Willcox International Students: The Winter Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers starts January 16th 2018! 8 weeks – 500 bux – coaching for as long as you need. The course is hard, but Frank will push your comics making practice to a new level, getting you to think about timing and color in new ways. His experience and ideas have influenced the likes of Connor Willumsen, Michael DeForge, and Simon Hanselmann (quote “I consider Frank Santoro to be my L. Ron Hubbard”) among many others. Dig into something new in the new year! Full details and how to apply can be found HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 1-11-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

Chicago Alternative Comics Expo 2016

Posted on June 16, 2016August 18, 2016 by Mardou

Zak Sally and John Porcellino tabling at CAKE, with Dan Stafford perusing their wares

CAKE just happened in downtown Chicago. It’s such a fun show, currently in a great venue – the Center on Halstead. There’s a Whole Foods on the ground floor and come CAKE time it’s full of hungry cartoonists picking up lunch. It means you can momentarily pretend you live in this alternative reality comics town where you can casually run into Laura Park buying a hummus wrap, and then see Kevin Huizenga picking up a Dr Pepper on the way to the check out. It feels sort of right somehow.

This year there seemed to be less of an East and West Coast showing, at least to my memory. It felt more like a regional show this time around – you know, quite Midwestern in its focus. It felt too, like a show that had really found it’s footing, being well organized with super friendly and helpful staff. Debuting work was highlighted this year as well as kid-friendly books. And it’s free to get in, like the best shows always are. CAKE for me is one of the best shows. There was a great list of exhibitors including, this year, Chester Brown, Trina Robbins (signing Fantagraphics’ The Complete Wimmens Comix), Sammy Harkham, Patrick Kyle, and Leslie Stein amongst tons more.

I tabled with Revival House Press, alongside my husband, Ted May. It always feels like we’re running a mom and pop store together (I love it!) and it was a pretty good show for us. Sales were alright for us (most people found sales to be sort of so-so this year) and we followed ‘Frank Santoro’s Rules for Tabling‘ so we had a ‘Treasure Box’ or two of old minis for sale as well as our own books. That Treasure Box, filled with books from conventions passed, did very well for us and paid for parking a few times over (Chicago, your parking system is so territorial and extortionate. Living in St Louis is like being in an improbable movie scene, where you just drive up to a restaurant and park right outside it. For free at weekends and evening. Truth.)

Well yeah. More about that Treasure Box. Some were duplicates. Some were loved books we’d enjoyed and were ready to set free in the world. And some were junk – AKA – other people’s treasure. You know, when I went to my first ever Comix shows, dressed up, nervous, in my twenties, I’d look at every table. I was genuinely curious to feel out the scene. Boy, could vendors see me coming. I got hit by every sales pitch and in my shyness would invariable buy the cheapest thing they were selling. I’d end up with lots of stuff, stuff not always not to my taste you know. Mostly I got fleeced!

These days I’m more seasoned, experienced, inured against hard-sell sales pitches, or so I like to think. I know what my tastes are and I creep closer to a table only when my curiosity’s piqued. I know I’m missing out on some great stuff, surely, but I’m still sort of shy and still have a horror of hard sell sales-pitches. Look, comics shows are hard work! And expensive…

WELP, I spent quite a bit at CAKE this year. But happy with my purchases am I. And it’s my birthday soon so what better gift to myself than a stack of summer reading, right? Just look at this booty.

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So, in the spirit of readership I worked up the confidence to flit around on Sunday afternoon and asked a few top notch cartoonists and exhibitors, just what books THEY were psyched to have picked up at the show.

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Dave Nuss (Revival house/Alternative books) and Hazel Newlevant

Starting with my table neighbor, the awesome Hazel Newlevant – Portland born, NYC based Hazel is the editor of Chain Mail Bikini and author of No Ivy League (which is so great!).

Hazel, what was your most exciting pick this weekend?

Hazel Newlevant – “Kevin Budnick’s Handbook and Kevin Huizenga’s Comic School USA zines.”

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Marta Chudolinska is an artist whose work was new to me. She specializes in beautiful hand-cut linocut comics. I’m so glad I discovered her work at this show.

What are your top picks from the show Marta?

Marta Chudolinska – “The Ley Lines Czap books.“

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I asked Midwestern stalwart, Zak Sally, What’s your book of the show?

Zak Sally – “Well I want to buy John Pham’s book. And King Cat 76 of course.”

John Porcellino’s Spit and a Half Distro was tabled right next to Zak.

John P, how is your show going?

John P – “Thumbs up. Not as many sales as last year but last year was unusually good for some reason.”

What’s your pick of the show?

John P – “Zack Sally’s Folrath Part 1.”

(Aw, fellas!)

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I asked Chris Cilla and Onsmith what their CAKE book picks were.

Chris Cilla – “The new Zak Sally book and Tiger Baby by Nate Beaty.”

Onsmith – “The new Chester Brown book. When I bought it from him, Chester asked me about my religious background so the book came with a short discussion about Lutheranism!

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Jen Tong was selling beautiful handmade prints and mini comics. I wanted them all!

What are your best sellers this weekend, Jen?

Jen Tong – “My new mushroom print. And the PlantLife mini. I wish I’d brought more of them to sell.”

Can I ask who your visual influences are? I’m so in love with your prints.

Tong – “Maybe…Miyazaki. And Henry Darger!”

What’s your top pick from the weekend?

Tong – “John Pham’s new book.”

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Anya Davidson was selling her new book Gloom Planet. I asked her about what she looks for aesthetically when shopping for books at shows.

Anya Davidson – “Definitely a handmade versus a digital feel. If it’s raw and handmade looking, I’m going to stop and look at it. Narrative’s important too, as much as I love art comics.”

What are you going to work on when you get home from the show?

Davidson – “A new book for Retrofit called Lovers in the Garden.”

And what’s been your hot purchase this weekend?

Davidson – “Enter to Exit by George Porteus.”

(Anya’s much anticipated book, Band For Life will be debuting at SPX this Fall!)

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Dan Stafford of Kilgore Books was present and experiencing a great weekend.

Really? Most people have found sales to be middling this weekend.

Dan Stafford – “No, sales have been great. But only maybe because I do so badly at other shows, ha ha.”

What have been your bestsellers, Dan?

Stafford – “Sam Spina’s Vulture City stories, Noah Van Sciver’s My Hot Date. And of course the Joe Matt Paid for It book.”

What are your top personal purchases from the show?

Stafford – Tess Eneli Reid’s A Estonian Story: Silver for Bread. A fold out origami book, totally unique.”

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Midwestern comics superstar Kevin Huizenga was selling his new Ganges 5 at CAKE.

Hey Kevin H, what are your top CAKE picks?

Kevin H – “Chester Brown’s new book. Ley Lines by Warren Craghead (Golden Smoke) and Aisha Franz’s Eyez.”

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Thanks to old friends and new acquaintances for taking to time to talk to me! And thanks to the CAKE organizers for putting such a great show together. Ted and I drove home under a beautiful Midwestern sunset, totally enthused to get back to our St Louis hub and make more comics. I love that inspiring energy and momentum a good comics show can boost you with. And CAKE 2016 was a really great show.

I’ve got some comics to make and reading to do.

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Sacha Mardou is a Brit making comics in St Louis, Missouri. Sky in Stereo is her most recent comic.

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2 thoughts on “Chicago Alternative Comics Expo 2016”

Frank Santoro says:

June 17, 2016 at 4:00 pm

that was amazing! thanks Sacha

Reply
John Porcellino says:

June 17, 2016 at 4:00 pm

Great writeup! And I agree CAKE is really something special. For the record, when I got home and added up receipts, I did basically as well as I did last year, saleswise, and last year was record stomping. I hope more people from the coasts begin making the trip to CAKE. I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Reply

Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in Festivals and ShowsTagged CAKE, Sacha Mardou

Mardou

Posted on June 16, 2016August 18, 2016

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11/29/2017

Juan FernándezNovember 29, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos el día con Ghengis Con 2017; La Polola y #HumorAmenazado! ————————————————————————————————— Ghengis Con, the annual small press and independent comics convention run by John “draw hard” G. was held at the The Lake Erie Building, in Lakewood, Ohio on November 26th, 2017 from 2-7pm. (It’s always held on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.) Ghengis Con is the embodiment of the best of what a regional show can offer: Tradition, support, reliability and low stress. Since it’s move to the Lake Erie building spirits have been high, but I’ve felt that the crowds and exhibitors haven’t known how to best feel at home in the larger warehouse space. Not so this year! (It used to be held in the cozy, and what would become cramped, Beachland Ballroom) The long corridor that has been used in years past was abandoned and the impact was significant.This year, all 115+ exhibitors filled up the back room. Very few slumps in attendance. Lots of natural light, ample space to walk around, a nice hum of conversation. A miracle for a regional vendor fair like this. After talking to several exhibitors it’s safe to say John G. organized a warm, profitable afternoon for comics sellers and zine makers. In my opinion he did an amazing job for this small show. This is my fourth year attending. It’s his 9th year organizing it. I grew up in Cleveland, so there’s something very personal about coming back to where I grew up annually. It’s a good rustbelt comics reunion.The local seasons cycle is nice. Healthy. Ghengis Con in Cleveland November as winter sets in. PIX in Pittsburgh in April as spring cracks apart winters icy clutch. I was there representing the Comics Workbook gang. Just me and Jenn Lisa this year. No hawking comics this time around, just passionate hands on education with kids and adults. The traveling academy. Printer. Scanner. Rolling Writers. Index Cards. Crayons. Staplers. I’d proposed the idea of doing a personalized workshop space right on the show room floor. We drew, copied and assembled entire zines. 8 page 1/4 Letter zines, One sheet foldies and some wildstyle zines concocted by a motley crew of kids. Kids learned how to assemble booklets and how to smash that “Copy” button on the scanner. If it wasn’t clear before, this isn’t pandering pedagogy, we’re teaching folks how to fish. It was a smash. This is my attempt to create a parallel space for engagement at comics shows. A baby step in expanding the festival tool kit. A huge thank you to John G. for inviting us to work our stuff. I had a great time. Lots of fun. Spirits were high. Get in touch if you’d like to host Comics Workbook workshops at your show. You can email santoroschool@gmail.com to start a conversation. – JF ————————————————————————————————— Spanish Cartoonists Release Free Expression Manifesto Maren Williams brings it to you over on the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s website: Dozens of Spanish political cartoonists have signed their names to a manifesto in defense of free speech, citing recent attempts to prosecute comedy under the country’s two-year-old ‘gag law’ as well as a recent string of cartoonists abruptly fired from their jobs. Read it all HERE. Read the English-language manifesto with the full list of signatories at CRNI’s website. ————————————————————————————————— Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo tienen una nueva edicion de La Polola Podcast! Las chicas se reencontraron y hablaron de lo que fueron sus viajes, aprendizajes, charlas, feminismo y mucho más. Compartieron parte de su botín comiquero de los viajes y además podrán escuchar dos conversaciones que tuvo Maliki con dos de las invitadas al congreso, la primera con Marina Bettaglio acerca de maternidad y la segunda con Hoffy de feminismo. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 11-29-2017 – by Sally Ingraham —————————————————————————————————Joanie and Jordie – 11-29-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

03/25/2016

Sally IngrahamMarch 25, 2016NewsSally Ingraham and Gabriella Tito here today with more details on that Urasawa Naoki no Manben episode, a new article from John F. Kelly, some behind-the-scenes peeking, and comics from Stephen Beck and Cesar Erhard. ————————————————————————————————— Right off the bat we’ll hand the mic to Gabriella Tito. She’s a terrific cartoonist from Orlando, FL, whose work you can find on her own tumblr, on Comics Workbook, and most recently within the pages of Zona 01. Although the Daily News team here at Comics Workbook reported on the recently subtitled episode of Urasawa Naoki no Manben a few days ago, Gabriella wanted to dig in with some thoughts of her own. Here she is! Hi all! Gabriella Tito here reporting from Orlando Florida. I wanted to expand a bit more on the recent episode of “Urasawa Naoki no Manben“. The first episode in the new season focused on Hagio Moto, often referred to as the founding mother of Shoujo manga and BL (boy’s love, stories that involve two young men romantically). Shoujo manga loosely means “girls comics” if you are not familiar with the term. It has a general focus on the psychological aspects of the characters and romantic relationships. BL is a subculture of the Bishounen (a beautiful and youthful boy) culture that Hagio Moto and other female manga artists pioneered during the 70’s. Drama and conflict is key for both of these genres! Unfortunately, a lot of her work has not been seen in English, which is why you may recognize the famous shoujo style, but not Hagio Moto’s name. In Japan she is extremely well known and many manga artists cite her as their inspiration. To say her work was a direct inspiration to me would be a little far-fetched, but I can say I was greatly inspired by the genre she helped to create. I was always an avid manga reader growing up, always imitating my favorite artists. So naturally, watching this episode of Manben for me was truly a delight! I am a huge NERD when it comes to process and Hagio Moto’s process was no exception. Unlike many of the other artists featured on Manben, she works at a much slower pace, fully fleshing out the sketch before inking. This is a huge refreshment, given the environment I have come to know in the fast paced world of comics. There is such detail and thought given to the poses she creates because of the fact that she is trying to convey so much into one action. Naoki Urasawa in one section even pointed out that Moto’s work reads exactly like a theater drama, even down to the lighting! I think Shoujo manga in general can be seen as a theater drama if you look at it in that perspective. One final thought about the episode is how frantic Moto is about getting the “performance” just right or else her thoughts will not be conveyed correctly. She talked as if her characters are actors on a stage – the acting has to be perfect or else the drama falls flat, right? It’s why composition and being able to convey the mood of the moment is so important, even in comics without intense drama like Hagio Moto’s. Thank you all for tuning in! – Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— All righty, Sally back on the mic now to bring you the rest of your Friday comics flotsam and jetsam. John F. Kelly has delivered a fantastic article about Bill Griffith – the “legendary underground cartoonist” best known for his comic strip Zippy the Pinhead – and the weird relationship between Zippy, Bill, and the city of Pittsburgh. The article is perfectly timed, because Bill Griffith will once again be in Pittsburgh – next Saturday, for the Pittsburgh Indy Comix Expo (PIX) – and everyone is hoping that Zippy will also find himself in more odd corners of that city. Check out the article right here on Comics Workbook, and if you’re in the area, pop round to PIX to meet Bill Griffith next weekend! ————————————————————————————————— There are a lot of cartoonists out there right now who are really putting in the work, whether it’s Jim Rugg and his cat, stapling zines together in preparation for DINK (TODAY and TOMORROW in Denver!); or Anya Davidson hand coloring Band for Life (see pic above); or Oliver East numbering his run of 1,000 new books (below); or Grant Gronewold packing up comics in borrowed medical bags immediately following a surgery…not to mention the feverish activity that is taking place at the Rowhouse any given day, as Frank assembles Truth Zones and prints Zona 02 among a thousand other things. Maybe it’s because I am up to my eyeballs in my own comics at the moment, in preparation for PIX (April 2nd, Pittsburgh!), that I find all these folks so relatable. However, this part of the process – less glamorous perhaps than the drawing and composing of a comic – has always interested me, and that DIY spirit is a huge part of what makes this community viable and vibrant. Hang in there folks – you can do it! ————————————————————————————————— Giving a shout from Switzerland, Raul Burgos Paredes has a recommendation for us – Coloforme (and Greyscale) by Stephen Beck. Published by the collective Frémok (located in Brussels), the book does indeed look “trippy and awesome”, as do many of the other offerings from the group. Keep hitting that translation button if you have to as you poke around the site – you just might find a treasure. (Raul has just stumbled into comics, by way of cartoonists on tumblr and the likes of 2dcloud and Comics Workbook, but he is quickly finding his feet. We’ll see what else he digs up!) ————————————————————————————————— Cesar Erhard has been rolling out comics about various musicians over the last few weeks. The most recent offering can be seen above, featuring trumpeter Charles Tolliver. Cesar has riffed on pianist Ahmad Jamal, on Alice Coltrane and her harp, and detailed the first time he heard the music of Sun Ra. He collects something special about each artist and holds it in gentle hands, so that we can catch a few notes of the music the way he hears it. Sounds good to me. ————————————————————————————————— That’s another week wrapped up, folks! Let’s meet back here on Monday for more comics gold. – Sally Share this page: [...]

09/27/2017

Juan FernándezSeptember 27, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos el día con Andrea Galazina; El Publicadero en Manizales; Maria Luque y los tebeos de Cómics Workbook! ————————————————————————————————— Juan here: I’ve been blasting through this fall and am running on empty – OOF- the usual SPX circus, organizing the Pittsburgh Zine Fair, scheming for Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) + organizing press conferences, handling catering and other administrative craziness at the day job at the Arts Council have me running ragged. I know, I know, no complaining, no complaining. It’s all good stuff and the haul will be over come October 12th. Just wanted to let you know how I’m doing . Anyway here’s the usual comics gold I bring you every week from Latin America and Spain. A little lighter a haul than usual, but just as shiny. *Turn on your translation devices* ————————————————————————————————— Andrea Galacina acaba de publicar “¡PUEDO DECIR LO QUE QUIERA! ¡PUEDO HACER LO QUE QUIERA! UNA GENEALOGÍA INCOMPLETA DEL FANZINE HECHO POR CHICAS“, una autoedición sobre el contexto del fanzine feminista en España. La fundadora de BOMBAS PARA DESAYUNAR también da algunos detalles del próximoPICHI FEST y habla sobre el DEPARTAMENTO DE FANZINES de la biblioteca de Mujeres. Ana Flecha les ofrece todos los detalles en esta entrevista en Madriz.com Léanlo todo AQUI. ————————————————————————————————— ¿Ya están listos para el Publicadero en Manizales, Colombia? Acá la programación. Todas las actividades son gratuitas: https://goo.gl/kUdxsQ ————————————————————————————————— Las estampas de color de María Luque – Entrevista “Usa el color como Matisse y los espacios de sus dibujos parecen salidos de algún sueño naíf. Le gusta viajar, los gatos y perseguir a extraños en los museos para luego consignarlos en su libreta de dibujo.” – Andrea Uribe Yepes En la casa de familia Luque en Rosario, Argentina, hay un daguerrotipo de su abuelo Teodosio Luque. Es un cuadro de un señor solemne de barba larga y cara de serio que asustaba a todos. María recuerda que de pequeña el cuadro rodaba por la casa: lo escondían en el baño, debajo de las camas. Cree que ese daguerrotipo lo hizo Cándido López, uno de sus artistas favoritos y de los únicos que manejaban la técnica por la zona. Esto es importante porque cuando empezó la Guerra de la Triple Alianza, su abuelo Teodosio fue enviado como médico y Cándido como soldado. Esa proximidad fue la que generó curiosidad en María y la historia de la cual partió su primera novela gráfica: La mano del pintor (2016). Léanlo todo AQUI. ————————————————————————————————— Frank Santoro made a comic book about his parents and now he needs help making a handbound copy of the book for each of them. It’s a good story. Check out the Indiegogo campaign HERE – or if you want to contribute via PayPal, look at the campaign HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The fall semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers starts October 1st 2017. 8 weeks of comics instruction that will bang your practice into shape – 500 bux. Full details about the course and how to apply can be found HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 9-27-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

04/10/2018

Aaron CockleApril 9, 2018NewsAaron here today with Goblet/Alagbé & Haifisch; Warren Craghead; a Funhouse Recap; Pen America World Voices Festival ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— ‘The 45th president should be an easy target for political cartoonists, but they’ve struggled to come up with an image that sticks.’ Sarah Boxer profiles a bunch of political cartoonists, including CW favorites Philip Guston and Warren Craghead. Not long after Trump was elected, I went to the Hauser & Wirth gallery in New York, to an exhibition of Philip Guston’s drawings of Richard M. Nixon, all from the early 1970s. I’d seen them before, but this time the work—featuring Nixon as a walking nose, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as a pair of black horn-rimmed glasses, and Vice President Spiro Agnew as a triangle studded with nails—had new resonance. ————————————————————————————————— Robyn Chapman has a photo-recap of the recent Funhouse festival at The Drawing Center. ————————————————————————————————— Comics Carousel at the Pen World Voices Festival It’s a little bit of theater and a whole lot of art as comics artists Pénélope Bagieu (Brazen), Mariko Tamaki (Lumberjanes), Iasmin Omar Ata (Mi(s)hadra) and Tony Medina (I Am Alfonso Jones) join in a comics carousel led by Bob Sikoryak to showcase their visual talents and unique perspectives—and perform parts from their books! Original and subversive, they share their singular stories from the frontlines of comics that resist clichéd narratives and reimagine our futures. Q&A with the authors to follow. Check out the rest of the festival line-up, there’s some great stuff. ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 4-10-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

12/18/2017

Caleb OrecchioDecember 18, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here with positive vibes and the usual gang of links to other news. ————————————————————————————————— When my extended family ask about how my comics are going I throw myself into a frenzy of roundabout explanations and unconfident, disconnected thoughts, leaving my loved ones confused and unsure of my life decisions—or I simply change the subject. This weekend when I visited some extended family I brought copies of my book to give to them. Everyone was glad to see and own physical fruit of my–until that moment, to them, theoretical–labors. One of my aunts hugged me, tears welling up. “I remember you drawing since you were little.” I watched my family examine and flip through my book–I have to admit, it was really satisfying. I often think of being an “independent” cartoonist in terms of being a folk singer, and I think this is the closest thing (for me, so far, anyway) to standing in a room of people while playing my version of “Goodnight Irene” or something. I let the “song” speak for itself, and the crowd responded positively. ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know Cynthia Rose writes about the French comics festival, SoBD over at TCJ.com. If you are interested in supporting Cartoon Crossroads Columbus–a really great comics festival–consider donating to the cause. More info here from Tom Spurgeon at his The Comics Reporter. Alex Hoffman reviews William Cardini’s great comic, Tales from the Hyperverse, at Sequential Slate. Ben Towle reviews Tristan & Yseult by Agnés Maubpré and Singeon over at his blog, Benzilla.com. Dan Schindel talks Cerebus the Aardvark over at Hyperallergic.com, the remarkable (to few and myself) and ultimately tragic (to most and myself) self-published anomaly. ————————————————————————————————— The Winter Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers starts January 16th 2018! 8 weeks – 500 bux – coaching for as long as you need. The course is hard, but Frank will push your comics making practice to a new level, getting you to think about timing and color in new ways. Makes a great holiday gift for yourself – or for a loved one who is interested in comics. Apply by midnight (EST) on Dec. 25th and get $100 off the course price. Full details and how to apply can be found HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 12-18-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 12-18-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

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