Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged Brandon Graham, Cameron Weston Nicholson, Daniel Reis, Drake, Fumetto, Hazlitt, jillian tamaki

Harrison

Posted on April 28, 2016April 28, 2016

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09/19/2016

Juan FernándezSeptember 19, 2016NewsJuan here! SPX just wrapped up. Wotta whirlwind! I’ve got loads to share but I’m on the road today, so only the essentials: Reflecting on our CW workshops; Ignatz Winners; Dash Shaw on instagram. ————————————————————————————————— We had the honor and privilege of presenting our one of a kind comics programming to eager creators at SPX this year. It was a joy to see cartoonists experienced and amateur to gather round for some spirited drawing and discussion. Although n depth coverage of our workshops and the full SPX experience is soon to come this week, a short recap of what went down in THE DANGER ROOM. Saturday September 17th 12:00-1:00 PM Comics with Jeffrey Brown Mr. Brown truly brought the “Star Wars Academy” to a packed audience! Jeffrey Brown was on hand to share storytelling tips and drawing advice. Jeffrey Brown challenged all participants to follow along with creation of a 4 panel slice of life comic. After some diligent work, sll participants recieved personalized reviews of their work. 1:00-3:00 PM Comics Workbook Hangout We were joined by a packed audiencefor an afternoon of comics-crafting. We explored the history of tracing and its benefits. It’s safe to say we are take your comics-making game to a new level. Simple exercises will push you in mind-bending directions. Drop in for a minute or an hour. 3:00-5:00 PM Spanish Fever (Spanish Language Workshop) This SPX, Comics Workbook, was joined by Spanish cartoonists José Domingo and David Rubín for some lively Spanish language instruction and presentations. Many thanks to SPX, Fantagraphics and the Spanish Cultural Ministry and Fantagraphics. 5:00-6:00 PM Cameron Nicholson and Frank Santoro Cameron Nicholson expanded minds as he examined his notions of the comics form and methodologies for creating and refining one’s own comics. Comics Workbook founder and internationally known cartoonist/teacher Frank Santoro piped in with color commentary. Spirits were very high during this uplifting, talk. Sunday September 18th 1:00-2:00 PM Comics with Carol Tyler The great Carol Tyler taught us the ins and outs of her unique mode of autobiographical comics, her history as a painter and the importance of cornering the market on her nibs. A maker who has been defining the form since the 1970’s, Tyler had her audience ebtranced. Carol Tyler will discuss her adventures in comics and share drawing tips and storytelling advice. 2:00-3:00 PM Comics Workbook Hangout Participants took a break from circling the ballroom and channeled their energy into a heaping helping of Dan DeCarlo and Harry Lucie studies. This hangout hammered home the idea of drawing as an exploration of drawing as a way of seeing and knowing. 3:00-4:00 PM Comics with Charles Burns The inimitable Charles Burns brought us a very special presentation wherein we explored his sometimes dark but always thrilling worlds. Participants drew along with him and got one of the heartiest Q&A sessions one could ask for. 4:00-5:00 PM Comics Workbook Hangout In our last, more laid back session, we hopped to it and explored the relationships between filmic techniques and cartooning. Participants left having completed an entire 8 panel, one page More to come this week! ————————————————————————————————— Ignatz Winners 2016 If you haven’t been checking Twitter feverishly to see the results of Saturday night’s Ignatz Winners, Tom Spurgeon’s got what you need! It’s all over on comicsreporter.com ————————————————————————————————— Dash Shaw is on instagram. I’m not messin’ around. It’s true! Hop on over to his account, follow him, and take a look behind the curtain on his latest projects. No better way to glean some insight into the american masters’ cartooning and animation process. All from the comfort of your home. ————————————————————————————————— See you next time with some JUICY, in depth, SPX Coverage. -Juan Share this page: [...]

San Diego Comic-Con International 2019

Chris Anthony DiazJuly 23, 2019Festivals and Shows / The Diaz ArchiveSan Diego Comic-Con International 2019, San Diego Convention Center, Exhibit Hall, Thursday, July 18, 2019 Share this page: [...]

05/23/2018

Juan FernándezMay 23, 2018los Cómics / NewsIsabel Méndez y el bloque deescritor, Sebastián Gonzalez, y los Ganadores del Puchi Award 2018 —————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: ~ en Español y “sometimes in English” ~ La Polola #76 – Sebastián González Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo tienen una nueva edicion de La Polola Podcast! Las chicas conversan con Sebastián González, quién les compartió parte de su infancia, su relación en el dibujo, los murales, la relación con su padre, su camino como editor, su nuevo libro y hasta la construcción de su propia casa! —————————————— Ganadores del Puchi Award 2018 Puchi Award es un proyecto internacional con el que La Casa Encendida y Fulgencio Pimentel quieren premiar uno o varios proyectos de libro en ciernes, las ideas más libres, brillantes y renovadoras, sin renunciar a ningún género, centrándose únicamente en su osadía y su vinculación con los distintos lenguajes del presente. El libro ganador de la segunda convocatoria de Puchi Award es Historia de España contada a las niñas, de María Bastarós (Zaragoza, 1987). Novela coral, a medio camino entre el esperpento y el western, Historia de España se presenta como un fresco despiadado de los clichés que nos invaden desde todos los frentes culturales, un retrato incisivo y fractal de nuestra realidad más cercana que termina de dar la puntilla a cualquier idea arraigada sobre temas como veganismo, arte contemporáneo o feminismo new age sin dejar piedra sobre piedra. De forma extraordinaria, se concede a su vez un Premio Especial del Jurado a Ética para Julia, de Ricardo Díaz Peris (Valencia, 1993), un manual contemporáneo sobre el amor y las relaciones sexuales que combina narrativa confesional y humor gráfico con cierto trasfondo filosófico para dirigirse a la hermana pequeña del autor y, con ella, a cualquier lector entre 14 y 29 años, normalizando la comunicación entre adultos y menores sobre opciones y prácticas sexuales en la era de Tinder y chemsex. Por último, el jurado ha decidido hacer una Mención Especial a la obra Ser amado de Javier Lozano (Albacete, 1981), un cómic tejido como un tapiz de múltiples hilos argumentales, frecuentemente desesperanzado y compuesto por historias dentro de historias donde sueño y vigilia se entremezclan y dibujan un recorrido en torno al concepto del amor romántico y sus consecuencias. —————————————— ¿Sufres bloqueo de escritor? ¿Te ha pasado alguna vez el quedarte paralizado ante un proyecto? El miedo es uno de los mayores enemigos de la creatividad. Hoy Isabel Méndez les cuenta cómo superarlo y ganar confianza creativa en Firmado Por! Léanlo todo AQUI. —————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-23-2018 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

09/10/18

Caleb OrecchioSeptember 10, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here with the cover for The Amazing Spider-Man no.241 by John Romita Jr. and Terry Austin ——————————————————————————————— Are those Spider-Man’s eyes sitting on The Vulture’s lap? Does this issue take place during winter? Why isn’t The Vulture green? Is this not the greatest cover ever? The above image is certainly one of the top JRJR Spidey covers. John Romita Jr. is inked by Terry Austin and I can’t tell if the pair are geniuses or one of them made a mistake and just went with it. Spidey’s face is superimposed over The Vuture’s figure as if our hero is shining his bat-signal (from his belt) directly at our villain; but rendered in a way that suggests shadow rather than light. The colors (probably by Glynis Oliver, the issues’ colorist) are brilliant too. With great contrast comes great dynamism and the orangey/purply reds against the wintery blue/greens do not serve to uncomplicated the image. There is little logic to this cover whatsoever. It is simply interesting to look at. I can’t stop looking at it. I put it near my door so I can look at it before I leave to walk my dog and after I get back from walking her. Every time I pass it I wonder, “Is this the work of visual maestros or the result of varying professional degrees within a system?” Then I think, “probably a bit of both,” then I go get on with my day. Share this page: [...]

06/20/2017

Aaron CockleJune 20, 2017NewsAaron Cockle here today with Lauren Weinstein; Jillian Tamaki; Ad Reinhardt; Georgia O’Keeffe; Kriota Willberg; Snail Farm & Friends Book Fair ————————————————————————————————— Normel Person Lauren Weinstein continues her strong run of weekly strips at the Village Voice. ————————————————————————————————— ‘Each story shifts emotional and visual register.’ Jillian Tamaki’s new book, Boundless, receives another solid review, this time over at The Atlantic: An ambitious and eclectic set of tales, it focuses on the interior lives of unexpected subjects: the writer of a pornographic sitcom, a shrinking woman, a plant-nursery employee with an internet doppelganger, even a fly. Boundless uses a constantly varying visual treatment that keeps readers on their toes and mixes and matches artistic styles with a proliferating set of genres, from speculative fiction to domestic drama to magical realism. If a reader comes to Boundless with assumptions about visual storytelling, Tamaki will confound them. ————————————————————————————————— 5. No design. “Design is everywhere.” Via ARTNEWS, Ad Reinhardt’s 12 Rules for a New Academy: Much of today’s discussion of contemporary abstraction is centered on “Zombie Formalism”—Walter Robinson’s coinage for new work that revisits (or apes, one might say) historical forms of abstraction for purely stylistic reasons. Given the intensity of that debate, we thought it would be interesting, for this week’s Retrospective column, to jump back almost 60 years, to 1957, when Ad Reinhardt took up the subject of contemporary abstraction in ARTnews. Reinhardt, who had written for the magazine previously, said that the article—titled “Twelve Rules for a New Academy”—”constitute his last words on art in terms of words.” He sharply criticized his formalist contemporaries, offering instead twelve ways to achieve purity in art. There would be no forms, no texture, no color, nothing—just pure blackness, as in Reinhardt’s most famous paintings. Reproduced in full below is Reinhardt’s article, which takes subtle swipes at Marcel Duchamp, Piet Mondrian, the Abstract Expressionists, and more. —Alex Greenberger The Six General Canons or the Six Noes to be memorized are: (1) No Realism or Existentialism. “When the vulgar and commonplace dominate, the spirit subsides.” (2) No Impressionism. “The artist should once and forever emancipate himself from the bondage of appearance.” “The eye is a menace to clear sight.” (3) No Expressionism or Surrealism. “The laying bare of oneself,” autobiographically or socially, “is obscene.” (4) No Fauvism, primitivism or brute art. “Art begins with the getting-rid of nature.” (5) No Constructivism, sculpture, plasticism, or graphic arts. No collage, paste, paper, sand or string. (6) No “trompe-l’oeil,” interior decoration or architecture. The ordinary qualities and common sensitivities of these activities lie outside free and intellectual art. ————————————————————————————————— Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern At the Brooklyn Museum through July 23, 2017: The exhibition is organized in sections that run from her early years, when O’Keeffe crafted a signature style of dress that dispensed with ornamentation; to her years in New York, in the 1920s and 1930s, when a black-and-white palette dominated much of her art and dress; and to her later years in New Mexico, where her art and clothing changed in response to the surrounding colors of the Southwestern landscape. The final section explores the enormous role photography played in the artist’s reinvention of herself in the Southwest, when a younger generation of photographers visited her, solidifying her status as a pioneer of modernism and as a contemporary style icon. ————————————————————————————————— ‘The Internal Body Interacting with the External World’ New York Academy of Medicine’s Artist-in-Residence, Kriota Willberg, recently concluded a 4-week workshop, Visualizing and Drawing Anatomy, and has a brief recap about it. And in a post from 2016, Willberg looks at some historical anatomical drawings: The images of Jacopo Berengario da Carpi’s Anatomia Carpi Isagoge breves, perlucide ac uberime, in anatomiam humani corporis… (1535) powerfully emphasize the fiber direction of the muscles of the waist. This picture in particular radiates the significance of our “core muscles.” Here, the external oblique muscles have been peeled away to show the lines of the internal obliques running from low lateral to high medial attachments. The continuance of this line is indicated in the central area of the abdomen. It perfectly illustrates the muscle’s direction of pull on its flattened tendon inserting at the midline of the trunk. ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— A Cosmic Journey – 6-20-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 6-20-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 6-20-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

04/28/2016

Posted on April 28, 2016April 28, 2016 by Harrison

Extra, Extra. News for Thursday with Hazlitt, Switzerland, and a Purple Party.

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Begin

Jillian Tamaki Early Stories Pt. 5 The ClairFree System is now up on Hazlitt. It’s the final chapter of Tamaki’s Early Stories.

Cleanser, toner and moisturizer – the backbone of the Clairfree system.

Read all of Early Stories pts. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

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Screen shot 2016-04-28 at 3.32.10 AM — Cameron Weston Nicholson

PassOVOver

Comics Workbook’s Cameron Weston Nicholson has teamed up with Daniel Reis to bring you a very special seder. Passover’s in full force, so it’s time you read this comic.

Take a seat and join us as we eat, drink, and share the untold story of how the Prince of Toronto became the 6 God.

Have a seat at the seder and read it all here.

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Festival Report

Raúl Burgos Paredes went to Switzerland for Fumetto 2016. Read up.

Something I found quite interesting was [Fremok’s] visible commitment to producing books that have a different kind of vision, a vision that clearly reflects artistic freedom. The moderator of the panel discussion inquired about how comfortable they were in financial terms, taking into account that the works of Frémok are not maybe bestsellers because of their style. Both Olivier and Yvan were emphatic in being both keen and confident to maintain their artistic freedom, not thinking too much about financial matters. For Yvan, it’s a chosen lifestyle, he prefers to be joyfully producing the work he does than maybe being more financially comfortable, but producing works that he would not feel like doing. This response was very much inspiring!

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Boiler Sketchy

I enjoyed this sketchbook page from Brandon Graham. Nice new posts over on the Royal Boiler blog. Check them out.

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Immortal

From Steve Welch, the editor of New Girl, the party playlist Prince made for his appearance on the show. pic.twitter.com/2azbr4R8C5

— Anil Dash 🥭 (@anildash) April 24, 2016

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged Brandon Graham, Cameron Weston Nicholson, Daniel Reis, Drake, Fumetto, Hazlitt, jillian tamaki

Harrison

Posted on April 28, 2016April 28, 2016

Explore

01/01/2018

Caleb OrecchioJanuary 1, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here with thoughts on Ed Piskor’s X-Men:Grand Design, and other news. ————————————————————————————————— What if Ed Piskor could do his dream X-Men comic? “I have such reverence for Kirby. I think of him every day. But there are Marvel and DC fans who only know the superhero idiom of comic storytelling, which is to say, the Jack Kirby idiom. I’m a fan of all comics,” Piskor says. “I like manga, I like French European albums, I like a lot of newspaper comic strips. The storytelling method I use is a storytelling pastiche of all that stuff. I am trying to do the least Kirby X-Men comic ever made.” -Ed Piskor from an Entertainment Weekly interview concerning his comic, X-Men:Grand Design Thee great Ed Piskor has successfully brought the “indie” aesthetic to the mainstream in a big way. To me, Piskor’ drawing is this amalgamation of what is often considered “old-school’—wearing influences like Crumb, Clowes, Wood and Kurtzman on his sleeve, plus a year at the Kubert School and we have a drawing style that probably feels alien to most of today’s Marvel readers. The furthest thing from what I’d bet on to be a commercial success has turned out, from all accounts, to be a smash. In a time where Piskor’s hatching style is practically “outdated” as far as any mainstream comic is concerned, X-Men: Grand Design looks as fresh as any great comic to come out in 2017. This is an Ed Piskor Comic published by Marvel, as opposed to a Marvel comic, made by Ed Piskor. He even mentions in the EW interview that he will be taking small liberties with the timeline to correct old, awkward editorial mishaps. He is actually shaping the canon of the property as opposed to most indie/mainstream collaborations that end up being low-stakes, non-canon work and fall to low sales. Piskor has instead made a “real” and profitable superhero comic that will serve as a genealogy for X-Men readers, just like Hip Hop Family Tree serves as a comprehensive history of the form for hip hop heads. How is all this relevant? Well true believers, this to me is the promise of “fusion,” a term coined by Comics Workbook fearless leader Frank Santoro. From a 2011 Rob Clough TCJ article on Michael DeForge and fusion, Frank sez, “’Fusion to me is about being polished and being able to rise above ‘amateur’ assemblages like the Fort Thunder second wave… I think it’s a broad term, but for me, applies to those seeking to be ‘mainstream’ – something above most art comics and something way more sophisticated than most mainstream schools.’” Earlier when the term was coined, the cartoonists who were prominently associated with fusion were Michael DeForge, Brandon Graham, Dash Shaw, James Stokoe, Michel Fiffe, etc, but I think the idea of Piskor’s work has brought this prophesy to fruition. This to me is very exciting for cartoonists who want to do their own thing on their own terms. More thoughts along these lines to come. Also, see Sally Ingraham’s write-up for the X-Men: Grand Design #1. -CO ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know TCJ.com has their annual “Year in Review Roundup.” Take a moment to reread that great takedown of Yoe Books by RJ Casey. Similarly, Tom Spurgeon’s Comics Reporter posts some reruns, notably an interview with Carol Tyler about what would become Soldier’s Heart, and an interview with Sammy Harkham about Kramers 9–my favorite installment of the series after the lamented and underrated Kramers 8. The Beat has a couple articles on that one overstated, infamous Kirby quote (made popular by Dylan Horrocks) the warning to a young James Romberger, who writes the second article, from what I can tell, in response to the first article by Heidi MacDonald. Rob Clough reviews comics by our own Aaron Cockle, along with fellow CCS alums, Matthew New and Steve Thueson. Really enjoyed this Craig Fischer’s TCJ article on Alan Moore’s Providence. Also really excited for Tom Kaczynzki’s new TCJ column, “Event Horizon”. ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 1-1-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 1-1-2018 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

04/05/2016

Aaron CockleApril 5, 2016NewsMoCCA Recapitulation; Sarah Horrocks; Edie Fake; Aidan Koch; Chester Brown; Julie Delporte; O RisoLAB, My RisoLAB!; Retrofit Comics ————————————————————————————————— MoCCA 2016 This past weekend, the Society of Illustrators hosted it’s annual Museum of Comic and Cartooning Art (‘MoCCA’) Arts Festival in some desolate, blasted-out, post-industrialized urban hinterland Manhattan’s far west side. Attendance seemed pretty good at the 2-day show. If anyone who tabled at/attended the show has anything to say about it (Was it a ‘good’ show? What does ‘good’ even mean? Like, did you make a lot of $$$ at the show, or enough to cover your table, or is that something people talk about these days? Did anyone get donuts at the car wash donut shop? How were the panels? What were the highlights of the show, comics-wise? IS this a snapshot of the current ‘industry’? Do we all wish it was 2005 again and that we were back in the Puck building? Does anybody miss that Armory space?, Where do we go from here, etc etc???)…please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this newsblog. ————————————————————————————————— Horrocks on Horrocks; Edie Fake at Marlborough Chelsea; Aidan Koch’s After Nothing Comes; Chester Brown’s Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus; Delporte in Moominland ————————————————————————————————— Summer Risography 6-8 week artist residency in NYC. Application deadline is April 22. ————————————————————————————————— 3 Days Left Please consider supporting the Retrofit Comics Kickstarter. Image above by Alabaster Pizzo. Share this page: [...]

08/24/2018

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

08/08/2017

Aaron CockleAugust 7, 2017NewsAaron Cockle here today with Flipism in the USA; New York Comics & Picture-story Symposium Fall 2017 Schedule; The Black Hood; Whit Taylor/Miranda Harmon; Workers of the World, Conform!; Book-making in the USA ————————————————————————————————— ‘At every crossroad of life, let Flipism chart your course!’ On an episode of the new season of the streaming Netflix series House of Cards, a political crisis in the United States may have to be decided by a coin flip (as determined by that country’s originating document of fundamental principals and established precedents), and the President in this alternate history extols the benefits of Flipism, a philosophy created by Carl Barks for a story in a Donald Duck comic in 1952. To date, Flipism remains as valid as any other belief system currently in practice. ————————————————————————————————— New York Comics & Picture-Story Symposium Fall 2017 Schedule Lectures of specific interest to readers of this newsblog include: September 26 – Katie Fricas October 3 – Sue Coe October 10 – Kurt Ankeny ————————————————————————————————— ‘A number of the cartoonists focus in on the grey, hazy feeling of depression.’ Rob Clough reviews the excellent anthology The Black Hood: An Anthology of Depression and Anxiety, edited by Josh Bayer and Mike Freiheit. With regard to trying to find a way out, Lizz Hickey’s “My Lamictal Side-Effect Diary” is another great fit for this book. There are many cartoonists here who do weird and unnerving autobio as well as bizarre fiction, so it makes sense not only to include them, but that they’d be willing to talk about it in such a blunt manner. Hickey goes week by week and talks about the doses of medication she’s taking and the effects, which range from nervous to sleepy, to normal, to frustrated. The final week seems promising at the highest dose, until she becomes manic, teary, and tired once again–and that’s the end of the strip. No further conclusions are offered. ————————————————————————————————— In other Rob Clough News… At his review blog, High-Low, Clough has started a new series, High-Low Intersection, an occasional (and hopefully soon to be regular) feature that will highlight reviews, essays and interviews by other writers about comics, specifically for this site. They will be posted on High-Low’s regular blank day (Friday) when they appear. There are so many excellent writers about comics and too few of them have a regular outlet for their work. In this first edition, Whit Taylor interviews Miranda Harmon: What advice would you give to fans of your work who are looking to make their own comics? People should come before work if you can help it. When you’re making friends, find your peers instead of chasing down your heroes. Keep reminding everyone that you exist by making comics and showing up. It can feel lonely at first but in my experience people respond to sincerity and kindness. Really listen and get to know people and draw from your own experiences when you make comics. ————————————————————————————————— But, Ostwald complained, in the realms of science and geistige Arbeit—which roughly translates as intellectual work—there had been “virtually no level of organization.” At Triple Canopy, Nader Vossoughian about the history of information standards, standardization of information, and what it all means for someone reading this on a computer screen (or printed out on regular paper, I guess): The imposition of uniformity that was achieved before and after WWII by the German state and party organizations is now more likely to be undertaken by software companies, industrial consortiums, and groups such as the ISO and ASTM International. They claim only to ease the circulation of information and goods, but in fact they make highly political decisions about, for instance, the flow of data in packets through broadband cables. As Andrew Russell asserts in Open Standards and the Digital Age: History, Ideology, and Networks (2014), the rhetoric of openness that characterizes the Internet belies the role of sophisticated (and nearly invisible) forms of hierarchical control. Russell scrutinizes the “system builders” who create the infrastructure on which we rely, and who are “always engaged in ideological and discursive work, not merely technical work.” ————————————————————————————————— Never Comes Tomorrow – Frank made a graphic novel about his parents and he needs help making handbound copies for each of them. Frank Santoro, our illustrious founder/editor-in-chief, is raising some money for a book-making project, and is offering a good deal of historical comics documents in support of this. Please consider helping out. ————————————————————————————————— And remember: ————————————————————————————————— A Cosmic Journey – 8-8-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-8-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 8-8-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

10/24/16

Juan FernándezOctober 24, 2016NewsJuan here with Comics Workbook’s ongoing CXC and LICAF coverage; my own thoughts on strip cartooning; HTML Flowers’ No Visitors – Issue One; Anya Davidson interviewed by Paste Magazine; a shout out to Good Comics by Kim; The Economist takes a look at the power of comics journalism; a Pepe oriented call to action from Matt Furie; Robyn Chapman soliciting stories about challenges or financial woes tabling at North American comics shows; Comics Assistant Professor Job opening at CCAD. One week out and we’re still thinking about CXC on our end! It was a hell of a weekend. Reports and thoughts seeded by CXC have been coming in left and right. I’ve wrangled them all for your convenience. Check them out and if you like what you read, consider making CXC part of your comics adventures in 2017. Here’s what we’ve got for you: The collective blow by blow take on the CXC experience, think of it as a Master post, if you will! Sacha Mardou’s personal CXC adventures Juan Fernandez’s (me ;)) CXC-inspired thoughts on expanding the “comics festival toolkit”. Kurt Ankeny’s post-CXC thoughts Alyssa Berg shares her first convention experience Caleb Orecchio’s detailed and hilarious tale of his CXC experience CXC 2016: 3 Questions for the Crew ⚡Frank and Niall Breen have taken some time to reflect on their experiences in Kendal during the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. You can check those out here to find out why if you’re anywhere near the UK, you’re going to want to add LICAF to your comics appreciation schedule next year. The Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2016 report by Frank Santoro Niall Breen on LICAF 2016 ⚡ On my end, I’ve been thinking about 4 panel comics. A lot. Reading them, drawing them, teaching them… Through all those thoughts,one that I keep coming back to is that of openness of narrative. In today’s cultural landscape of fractured narrative and more broadly the idea of narrative collapse, I’m finding I’m interested in constellations of narrative. Non-linear experiences through a narrative world. Just as how comics creates fertile liminal spaces between panels, it’s my belief that comic strips have the potential to foster inviting spaces between individual strips. No large structures, just small moments. Some link together. Many don’t. Think Cul de Sac, Moomin, Macanudos. All that said, I’m excited to announce that come Mid-November I’ll have a weekday comic strip going live online. I tried the experiment of Daily Comics from 2013-2014. But I fell off that horse. That was at the Center for Cartoon Studies. After I graduated from the Center for Cartoon Studies I had to transition back into a more regular pattern of life. Life’s commitments made it very hard to find that time. I’ve used these past two years to work on different forms and to experiment with technique. I realized that when it comes to comics, I’m here for the bliss of creation. The strip is where I feel that bliss most strongly. I’m ready and I hope you are too! ⚡ It’s exciting to see that The Economist is running a piece on the power and vitality of comics journalism in the current news media environment. It’s great to see the ascendancy of work like Sacco’s and Glidden’s happen real time. Comics journalism is nothing new. It has been around for decades, kept alive by such talented artists as Joe Sacco, who has used the medium to depict everything from a war-torn town in the Gaza Strip to the Eastern Bosnian war. But it has only been in the last few years that it has really started to find its place in the mainstream media. The Nib, founded in September 2013, consists entirely of comics, many of which contain journalism and non-fiction. It has published more than 2,000 works on its website and released a popular 300-page book of its best offerings. The Cartoon Picayune has been around even longer—since April 2011—and showcases a variety of comics journalism online as well as in its yearly publication, which it offers to readers for $4. Even some of the more established publications, such as the New York Times, are making use of the format. In May, it published Patrick Chappatte’s moving five-part piece that takes an in-depth look at the lives of four death row inmates. It is surprising, in the age of tight newspaper budgets and the 24-hour news cycle, that comics journalism is thriving. Ms Glidden says it’s because “it can make people stop and take notice.” Everyone is constantly bombarded by so many images and text that they can simply grow numb to all of the information being thrown their way. It helps that comics journalism is still novel to many people; its format encourages people to take an extra minute to fully consider the information being presented. ⚡ I wanted to share a short and sweet letter from Matt Furie: Dear friends, I need your help making positive pepe the frog memes to battle against evil trolls: Please make a kid-friendly pepe in your style and send it to me at: hashtagsavepepe@gmail.com I’m creating a positive pepe artist database, so include your name. also, please share nice pepe’s with the hashtag: #savepepe thanks! -matt ⚡ Don’t miss this juicy interview with Anya Davidson over on Paste that goes into her work on Band for Life! Paste: I think that love for your characters really shows in the work. A lot of these characters—and it was what really struck me about School Spirit, which was the first work of yours that I encountered—already feel distinct and fully formed when you first meet them. I’d be curious to know more about your process, especially for something serialized like this. How much do you plan, how much just comes from working with them for a few strips, etc.? Davidson: I had a story arc for Band for Life, but I wrote the strips week to week. It kept the project fresh and spontaneous. Sometimes I’d write a few weeks ahead when I knew there was a thread I wanted to draw out. I had a lot of fun working that way. Lovers in the Garden, the book I just finished for Retrofit Comics, was scripted start to finish before I put pen to paper. And my next book is going to be fully scripted, too. For a graphic novel, in my case, just so I can keep everything straight, and so I can hone dialogue, I really prefer scripting. But the strip form uniquely gave me the freedom to improvise. Every cartoonist has their preferred methods—there’s no right way. As far as character development, all my characters are me. I went to see George Saunders speak and a woman asked him how he was able to write the adolescent girl so well in his short story “Victory Lap,” and he said, “Because she’s me.” I also think about people I know: their mannerisms and speech patterns and personal histories. So all of my characters have elements of friends, acquaintances and myself put in a blender. And I like to drop people into stories as they’re happening. I want people to feel like they’ve been dropped in a world that is fully formed—like the story started before they got there. I think that’s most engaging, most surprising. ⚡ If you’re a comics educator that is looking for a new opportunity, check out this job opening at CCAD – Assistant Professor – Comics & Narrative Practice, Illustration ⚡ I want to give the great Robyn Chapman of Paper Rocket Comics a signal boost for her “poll”. She is looking for your thoughts about challenges or financial woes tabling at North American comics shows. She does a great job at compiling small press and minicomics trends in her zine, The Tiny Report. Hey, micro-publishers. I’m looking for a quote or two about the challenges of tabling at conventions. I’d be happy to hear numbers or about financial woes. You can remain anonymous. Please PM me in the next few days if you’re interested. robertaraechapman@gmail.com ⚡ I want to give a shout out to Good Comics by Kim Joo Ha. <3 Kim’s always turning me onto the good stuff via their posts. Kim makes it easier to find art comics and wild zines in this crazy fractured hyperactive internet mediated comics landscape. What a godsend… If you don’t follow their twitter or the Good Comics by Kim blog, I’d check that out. I don’t know how they stay on top of everything, but that doesn’t keep me from appreciating their eye on comics or their writing… Don’t sleep on Kim! Until next time! Juan Share this page: [...]

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