Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in EssaysTagged fantastic four, Frank Santoro, John Byrne

Comics Workbook

Posted on February 11, 2017May 14, 2019

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08/30/2016

Aaron CockleAugust 29, 2016NewsAaron Cockle here today with the final hours of the Composition Competition; Glen Baxter; Shaw/Nadel; Lynda Barry; William Blake; Zines at the Swiss Institute; Poetry Comics Comics Poetry; EA Bethea; Kevin Czap; Sammy Harkham Auction Items ————————————————————————————————— The last day to submit work for the 2016 Comics Workbook Composition Competition is TODAY, August 30, 2016, at 11:59pm EST. The listing of entries is painstakingly managed and updated, so please take some time to look at this wonderful assortment of work. Thanks to all who have participated in the Composition Competition this year. ————————————————————————————————— Glen Baxter’s Almost Completely Baxter excerpted at the New York Review Years later at art school I came upon a similar spirit of anarchy in the work of the Dada and Surrealist poets and painters. I was home, and dry. And yet, I was distinctly out of step with the prevailing ideology. I was surrounded by abstract painters churning out fake de Koonings and Rothkos. The collage novels of Max Ernst, with their haunting dreamlike imagery and absurdity, became my beacon as I tried to escape the prevailing orthodoxy. ————————————————————————————————— Dash Shaw in Conversation with Dan Nadel Wednesday, August 31, 7pm, at the Strand, 828 Broadway & 12th Street, NYC. Signing and book release for Shaw’s Cosplayers collection. Additionally, Dash will be screening a preview of an upcoming animated movie he’s been working on. ————————————————————————————————— Etelka Lehoczky reviews Lynda Barry’s Marlys Collection at NPR.org She’s got a surgical instinct for revelatory narrative moments, but her vision of youth can also be too sweet, too nostalgic. If it weren’t for her clashing linework — from thick, sweeping, assertive strokes to disorderly scribbles — to say nothing of compositions that drag the eye around each frame as if to physically shake off old habits of seeing, her reader might be able to nestle comfortably into her stories of childhood. ————————————————————————————————— In William Blake news: World’s Largest William Blake Gallery to Open in San Francisco After 50 years in the booktrade and 43 years operating John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller, John Windle will launch his retrospective of the artist in October, 2016, within San Francisco’s historic 49 Geary building. The first physical space exclusively dedicated to Blake’s work in over two hundred years, The William Blake Gallery will display over 1,000 original Blake pieces alongside thousands of reproductions of the artist’s own writings and artwork. ————————————————————————————————— Swiss in Situ in NYC For Swiss In situ’s very first installation, independent Swiss publishing houses Nieves and Innen will bring their focus on artist-made zines to NY with a presentation of the hundreds of pocket-sized, image-based publications they have commissioned over the past 15 years. In light of the social and community-oriented nature of zine productions, Nieves and Innen have also invited a group of international collaborators and like-minded producers to exhibit their work as part of the library and to speak in workshops and artist talks about their publishing practices. Featuring work by Aidan Koch, among others. ————————————————————————————————— Alexander Rothman attempts to provide a working definition of comics poetry (with images) I’m not trying to answer these questions here, but to help generate the work that will. In outlining such broad definitions of “comics” and “poetry,” I hope to maintain as much expressive openness for the form as possible. This work does not call for a particular kind of content. Comics poetry is not synonymous with “beautiful, meaningful comics” or “self-important comics” or “very thinky comics.” It is work that draws upon the expressive potential of visual language. ————————————————————————————————— E.A. Bethea has a couple of short pieces at Animal Kingdom Publishing. Shot While Stealing Beer and Uncorking. ————————————————————————————————— Cartoonist and publisher Kevin Czapiewski recently participated in a podcast over at Inkstuds. ————————————————————————————————— INFO HERE Share this page: [...]

8/24/2016

Juan FernándezAugust 24, 2016NewsJuan here with your weekly Spanish language comics news round up! CW Spotlight on Laura Pérez Vernetti; Laura Andrea Garzón Garavito on a new wave of Colombian comics; Sol Undurraga en La Polola Podcast;Julieta Arroquoy OFELIA y Lía “La Cope” Copello en Tipos de minas; los Españoles, invitados a SPX; Reseña de VIRUS TROPICAL de Power Paola; una conversacion con Jorge Carrion; Alexis Ziritt’s HQ; Entreviñetas busca voluntarios. ————————————————————————————————— Spotlight on Laura Pérez Vernetti I’ve written a short spotlight here on the site that you might want to check out on the Spanish cartoonist and illustrator LAURA. She’s got a really wide range and has adapted a ton of canonical literature to comics in very elegant ways. Unknown to most anglophones (and even many Spaniards), Laura Pérez Vernetti is a spanish illustrator from Barcelona that contributed regularly to the underground Spanish comics magazine, el Víbora, from 1981 until 1991. Her work is distanced from standard aesthetics and conventional narratives, focusing primarily on comics that deal head on with themes of erotica, experimental forms, and socio-politcal commentary (the Spanish Civil War in particular). In addition to that work, she has adapted the works of Maupassant, De Quicey, Jung and Kafka to comics. A heavy hitter. ————————————————————————————————— New Waves in Comics: Colombia This week’s guest post here on CW about Latin American comics comes to us from Laura Andrea Garzón Garavito in Colombia. Laura gives us the ground level lowdown on what forces are shaking and moving Colombian comics and cartooning in new directions. She offers an exciting illumination on what the future holds for the world Colombian comics. Don’t sleep on Colombia! Gary Groth, editor of Fantagraphics, publisher and critic, said in a conference held in Bogotá last year, he felt Colombia’s panorama looked pretty similar to the one he had seen in the United States in the 80’s, which was a time for alternate exploration of both markets and formats. That means thinking comics through various lenses, thinking audiences can be broader than imagined, not only kids or old-time series followers, but a whole spectrum of different ages, backgrounds, genders, and so on. In this scenario, underground comix hadn’t even seen Maus yet! Just like it happened here! ————————————————————————————————— [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/278735489″ 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! It’s always a fun, relaxing and enlightening listen. If you haven’t tuned in to La Polola just yet, Póngale Play 😉 En este capítulo conversamos acerca de los viajes y las crisis, de la búsqueda de nuevas experiencias y nuevos caminos. Atreverse a cambiar de rumbo no es fácil, implica una renuncia y un saber perder para viajar lejos. Conversamos con Sol Undurraga acerca de su experiencia, su historia de vida, sus viajes y sus descubrimientos creativos. ————————————————————————————————— las Humoristas Gráficas: EN VIVO! Dalia Gutmann conversando con la ilustradora Julieta Arroquy para luego sumar a Lía “La Cope” Copello, ilustradora y comediante. Ellas comparten sus historias, el nacimiento de sus alter egos (Ofelia y La Cope), la experiencia de editar sus libros, la relación con el público, y nos cuentan cómo se les ocurren sus viñetas. Todo esto acompañado por las bonitas canciones de Agustina Leoni. No te pierdas “Tipos de Minas”. ————————————————————————————————— Spanish Fever 2016 SPX 2016 Announces Spanish guests Santiago García, Ana Galvañ, David Rubín, Javier Olivares and José Domingo for SPX 2016. From SPX: With funding and assistance from SPAIN arts & culture, Small Press Expo is proud to announce Santiago García, Ana Galvañ, David Rubín, Javier Olivares and José Domingo as special international guests at SPX 2016. These gifted artists are featured in Spanish Fever-Stories By The New Spanish Cartoonists, an anthology of 28 contemporary comics by 30 authors from Spain showcasing the best of the new wave of art comics hailing from a country with one of the strongest cartoon traditions in Europe. Spanish Fever is published by Fantagraphics and will be debuting at SPX 2016. Guinista Gerardo Vilches habla sobre los invitados y su importancia: Al margen de la calidad fuera de toda duda de los invitados españoles, componen una delegación bastante representativa del cómic que se hace aquí y ahora: Olivares y el propio García, autores de Las meninas, son máximos exponentes de la novela gráfica; Olivares es, además, un artista que comenzó su carrera en los años ochenta, lo que le confiere una experiencia y una perspectiva privilegiadas. Galvañ es una de las representantes más potentes del cómic vanguardista, es impulsora de Tik Tok Comics y su trabajo conecta sin problemas con las corrientes más novedosas del cómic americano. De Domingo podría decirse esto mismo, pero, además su experiencia en el mercado europeo y su trabajo para el público infantil y juvenil le da un matiz con respecto a sus compañeros. Rubín, finalmente, por su trabajo para el mercado del comic book será el más conocido del grupo por el público estadounidense, y además representa un tipo de cómic diferente, que demuestra que el cómic de autor también tiene cabida para la acción, la fantasía y la aventura. ————————————————————————————————— Space Riders + Tarantula HQ – Alexis Ziritt’s Comics “Dream Machine” ————————————————————————————————— Reseña de Virus Tropical Sean Rogers at The Globe and Mail has some nice coverage of Power Paola’s memoir, Virus Tropical. Virus Tropical is available via preorder through 2dcloud in the United States. Rogers: Powerpaola’s detailed, deadpan memoir depicts her upbringing in 1990s Ecuador and Colombia, where she comes of age and finds her calling as an artist amid a feverish combination of religion (her father’s a former priest), fortune-telling (her mother’s clairvoyant), drugs (the cartels are warring) and wiser older sisters. ————————————————————————————————— Entreviñetas busca voluntarios! ENTREVIÑETAS, plataforma cultural colombiana, invita a todas las personas en Colombia con interés en donar su tiempo para ayudar en la navegación del #FESTIVALENTREVIÑETAS2016 como voluntarios de la *red viñetera*. El voluntariado supone a menudo un desafío, pero significa también adquirir nuevos conocimientos y realizar actividades gratificantes. En el voluntariado no se recibe un pago y se entiende como una donación de tiempo y conocimiento para comprender y atender a los detalles que permitirán llevar el festival a buen puerto en sus sedes de este año: ————————————————————————————————— Los Bros Hernandez Benefit Auction Items From Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez. All Proceeds go towards funding the Rowhouse Residency in Pittsburgh, PA. hasta la proxima, JF Share this page: [...]

04/17/2017

Sally IngrahamApril 16, 2017NewsDigging into a new week with news and comics from Dash Shaw, Frank Santoro, Eleanor Davis, Sam Alden, Jen Sorensen, and M. S. Harkness. ————————————————————————————————— Dash Shaw writes about curating the pop-up shop at the Metrograph theater in New York City, where his film My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea opened on April 14th 2017 – on The Comics Journal. The shop carries: “…rare DVDs, film-related books, and issues of Cahiers du Cinéma. They asked me to pick books and DVDs that felt related to my movie, or that a cinema-going audience would be interested in.” Included in the selection is Frank Santoro’s Incanto (above). Dash Shaw writes that Frank: “…painted the key exterior background paintings in High School Sinking. This particular zine by Santoro is lovely and poetic, and also, to me, utterly hilarious, because a section of it comes from a Speed Racer episode. Santoro told me that this was drawn after working as Francesco Clemente’s assistant. Clemente would often interpret preexisting old drawings, so that inspired Santoro to adapt a two-second Speed Racer moment. It’s perfect – like seeing something you’ve seen before for the first time. He captures the stillness of those Speed Racer cartoons with their minimal background paintings.” Incanto is out of print and a rare find, so if you don’t stop by the Metrograph pop-up shop in April to get a copy, you might still be able to find it at Copacetic Comics – HERE. Read about the rest of Dash’s picks for the shop and be sure to catch My Entire Highschool Sinking Into the Sea in a city near you soon! Here are some recent reviews of the film/interviews with Dash: “Drawn to Disaster” – Filmmaker Magazine interview “The Strife’s Aquatic” – NPR movie review Q&A from Denver Alamo Drafthouse screening, with artist Andrew Lorenzi “Alt Comix Artists Revives Classic Animation Tech” – Inverse feature “Resplendent Teenage Turmoil” – Fandor Keyframe interview Dash Shaw will be coming to Pittsburgh for a screening of his movie on April 25th 2017 at the Rowhouse Cinema! Full event details are HERE. Creator and director Dash Shaw along with cartoonist Frank Santoro will kick off the Pittsburgh Premiere of “My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea” with a live interview followed by a sneak preview showing of the film. VIP tickets include everything above plus a private Meet & Greet in the Bierport taproom (limit 30 people)! Tuesday, April 25th 7:15pm $12 Regular Ticket: Live Interview & Screening $20 VIP Ticket: Live Interview & Screening AND private Meet & Greet post screening. If you are in the region be sure to come out for this event! For a list of other screenings around the country visit this page. ————————————————————————————————— You can find an excerpt from the upcoming You & A Bike & A Road by Eleanor Davis (Koyama Press, May 2017) on Illustrated PEN, presented by guest editor MariNaomi. She writes: “Eleanor Davis puts out consistently great work, so much that it amazes me when I’m surprised (each and every time) by how wonderful her work is. This book is no exception, filled with moments that are full of joy, pain, beauty, and trouble. Using minimal lines and words, Eleanor conveys so much about the spectrum of emotions involved with being human.“ See the excerpt HERE. ————————————————————————————————— M. S. Harkness has offered a preview of her upcoming comic Tinderella – see it HERE. Marina is coming to Pittsburgh this summer for a Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency, and she will be working on Tinderella and other comics while she is here in July. Unperturbed by a tentative post-graduation financial state, Marina has been creating the ways and means to get to Pittsburgh – she’s determined to cause some havoc around here, come hell or high water – but you can help her get here with a little more comfort and ease by contributing to her Generosity campaign. She – and the Comics Workbook team – thank you in advance! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Alden published part 2 of 4 of his comic Sledgehammer on Hazlitt….in February – I somehow missed it, so possibly you did as well. Check it out HERE. New on Hazlitt is Rory Frances‘ Look Outside – view part 1 HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Jen Sorensen is interviewed on The Comics Beat. She talks about making political cartoons, being the comics editor at Fusion, and what it means to be a cartoonist in the present world. “Dueben: You won the Herblock Award a few years ago and you said that your job is “worrying about how humanity is destroying itself.” Which is a good line, but do you think that is the role of the cartoonist in some way? Sorensen: I’m doing a lot of worrying about humanity destroying itself these days. I think it is an important role of a political cartoonist. I think sometimes it’s probably more acute than others. It’s something that’s hard to deal with sometimes. Right now I find that these aren’t really funny times. There are ludicrous characters and you can make fun of Trump and these ridiculous nominees, but at the same time I don’t want to normalize him. I find myself not even wanting to draw him. I mean, I do and I will, but I don’t want to treat him like any other President. I’ve been struggling with that. How to be humorous at a time when things are just very serious. I guess what I wind up doing is somewhat darker humor, darker cartoons, and more informative cartoons that say, this is what’s happening, can you believe it? With the Bush administration things were terrible and there were definitely some dark times, but I felt like you could make fun of Bush for being a buffoon and the implications just weren’t quite as grave. It’s a different time now.“ Read the rest HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 4-17-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 4-17-2017 – by Christian Southgate Christian is a member of the Charlottetown Comics Club (Prince Edward Island, Canada) which is headed by Comics Workbook alum Tyler Landry – more about Christian Southgate and the CCC HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 4-17-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

11/10/2017

Sally IngrahamNovember 9, 2017NewsSally here with Cricket magazine, work by Madeleine Witt and Audra Stang, your CAB reminder, and tons more comics and news! ————————————————————————————————— There is an article about the “secret history of Cricket magazine” on Electric Literature. Written by A. J. O’Connell, it details the creation and life of the beloved children’s magazine, with insights from founder Marianne Carus, quotes from long time art director Trina Schart Hyman (my FAVORITE illustrator as a child), and lots of love from authors and illustrators who read the magazine when they were kids. I myself found Cricket in my local library and enjoyed every new issue I read – and was lucky in that the library had an archive of many of the old issues. It was the very best sort of magazine, full of stories and glorious illustrations by the greatest working creators of the time – and it never really felt like it was “for kids” – which was Marianne Carus’ goal, after all. She felt like kids could handle stories that were darker, that might make you cry, just as well as funny, lighthearted stuff. Like many others, I was inspired by Cricket to make my own “magazine” and published some of the stories I wrote along with illustrations for my family. Read all about Cricket HERE. Trina Schart Hyman was a Caldecott Medal winner for her work on St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges, and earned a couple of Caldecott Honors as well. I adored her fairy tale illustrations and wrote her a long letter when I was 11 or 12 (and received a lovely response and an autographed book in return). I think I didn’t know that she was the art editor for Cricket magazine until later – I just knew that her illustrations showed up in the magazine frequently. I also didn’t really understand that the SAME Trina Schart Hyman drew the Cricket and Ladybug comic in the magazine. Each issue had a four-panel strip, and additionally the characters Cricket, Old Cricket, Ladybug, and Sluggo would scamper and scurry throughout the magazine, popping up to comment on the stories or merely harass each other for a moment. ” “ just had such a wonderful way of drawing them,” said Leonard. “They served as explanation of difficult words so if there was a vocabulary word that might stop a kid reader the crickets would explain what that word meant. They also had their own little life in the four-block cartoon.” “ They were great, and a big part of what made the magazine beloved to me and so many others. Again, read all about it HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Madeleine Witt has been making a comic a day this month. She and a number of others I know are doing the “30 Days of Comics” challenge that was begun by Derik Badman in 2009 or 2011 (depending on how you count it). Madeleine’s take on the challenge offers a good insight into why things like this can be good for creators: “I’ll be drawing 1 comic a day for the month of November. I admire & bless all those who draw a comic a day EVERY day, but especially for people who can be paralyzed by internal expectation (me) / aren’t sure of their voices (also me, particularly circa 2014), Novembers have been a fruitful time to experiment and grow. If you’re a young cartoonist or an old cartoonist or a not-yet-cartoonist looking to explore an artistic practice, I think November is a very good time to pick some constraints and try doing 1 thing a day for a little while. Big general caveat: This sort of thing is not healthy for everyone—you know yourself & your needs and please don’t do this if it isn’t be healthy for you! Everyone please care for yourselves! Thank you! Goodbye!“ I like that Madeleine has expanded the context of the challenge beyond just “draw a comic everyday” to include formal restraints. She suggests picking colors, medium, panel setup, or subject matter and then sticking to those choices for the whole month. From my own experience over the past year of drawing a Suzy & Cecil comic every other day, I can vouch for the freedom and creative rush that (perhaps surprisingly) comes from forced structure, discipline, and regularity. I like the work that Madeleine has been making – you can see all of it HERE. The hashtag #30dayscomics will lead you to more work, both on Instagram and Twitter, and you can follow the 30 Days of Comics Tumblr to keep up with many of this year’s participants. Audra Stang is another cartoonist who is releasing her latest comic in this fashion (hot on the heels of the comic she made during the month of October – not necessarily for “Inktober”…!) Her comics all exist within the world and lengthy timeline of “Star Valley”, and this current story catches up with her character Owen (who appeared in last month’s Little Minnow, as a significantly younger version of himself – read that story HERE) and the irrepressible Adelaide, last seen, briefly, a year ago in Secret Knowledge and in April 2008 (in April 2016). Read the new story so far HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Katie Ball a.k.a. Katbus has a new endeavor – My Lucky Sticker Book is a monthly newsletter that showcases sticker artists from around the world. You can check out issue #4 – Halloween edition! – HERE, and subscribe to the newsletter HERE. Katie is putting together an extra large issue for release in late November, and has sent out the message that if YOU include sticker-making in your bag of tricks, and would like some hype leading into the holiday season, let her know! She will finish compiling her list around the 25th, so send her your website and details about your stickers if you want to be listed. Write to Katie at katie.brawl@gmail.com ————————————————————————————————— Katie Fricas has a “cartoon scrapbook” detailing the first year of Trump’s presidency on The Guardian – read the whole thing HERE. ————————————————————————————————— If you’re in NYC go check out Comic Arts Brooklyn tomorrow. Here’s a write-up on the new location of the show – via Hyperallergic. Comics Workbook will be there, and I will be too with a few copies of Suzy & Cecil. See you Saturday! ————————————————————————————————— Post Script Mardou‘s Some Day My Witch Will Come is reviewed by Rob Clough on High-Low – check it out HERE. Rob also reviews recent Santoro Correspondence Course alum Drew Lerman’s course-made comic Boucher’s House, (and his comic Milk Debt) in the same post. Paste Magazine‘s Hillary Brown talks to Brigitte Findakly and Lewis Trondheim about their comic Poppies of Iraq – interview HERE. Check out Liana Finck on The Awl – loads of comics and comical commentary. Sara Lautman illustrates the 280-character “microficitions” that were created for Electric Literature‘s Twitter-inspired contest – HERE. Sara Lautman is the comics editor for Electric Lit‘s Okey-Panky. Here is a recent comic on that site by Shing Yin Khor, called A Tiny Ritual to Talk to Your Past Self. Sequential State (Alex Hoffman) reviews Tillie Walden‘s Spinning – HERE. Part 2 of an interview with Katherine Collins is up on The Comics Journal – read it HERE. Also on The Comics Journal, Carta Monir reviews Higu Rose‘s Titychop Boobslash. MariNaomi has a new book coming out from Lerner Publishing – Losing the Girl (May 2018). HERE is a cover reveal and giveaway on The Book Smugglers. Lauren Purje on Hyperallergic – Is Any Artist Truly Satisfied? Julia Wertz‘s Drinking At the Movies was featured on Fumetto Logica, for the Italian speakers out there. Meanwhile the A. V. Club offers their take on Julia Wertz‘s Tenements, Towers and Trash – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 11-10-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 11-10-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 11-10-2017 – by Juan Fernandez Share this page: [...]

05/09/2018

Juan FernándezMay 9, 2018los Cómics / NewsWomen Write About Comics, Vanesa R. Del Rey y Jordie Bellaire, Judith Gociol, Sindy Elefante, Daniel Jiménez, Klari Moreno y Lorenzo Montatore —————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: ~ en Español y “sometimes in English” ~ —————————————— Worth your time (& money): Women Write About Comics are raising funds to solve some tech issues. @womenoncomics is important for comics criticism and not a voice I’d like to see disappear. If you have a few spare dollars, I’m sure they’d appreciate them. The cost of moving WWAC to a new host, including all the background work to transfer seven years worth of archives, is more than we can handle on our own, so we’re asking for your help to get us over that initial hump. Our transition will also involve designing a layout that can handle the site. Donate today. —————————————— ¿Ya escucharon la cuarta entrega de #Womansplaining? Es sobre el papel de la mujer en el cómic colombiano y latinoamericano y tiene como invitados a Judith Gociol, Sindy Elefante, Daniel Jiménez – una conversación super, pero super enriquecedora. Tal vez uno de los nichos más permeados con la percepción de que eso “es cosa de hombres” es el cómic. Tal vez porque para muchos las historietas se limitan al universo de los superhéroes, o porque la idea del “comiquero” es la de un chico que se reúne con sus amigos a dibujar y a tomar cerveza. Sin embargo, desde hace algunos años, nombres como Power Paola, Sindy Elefante o Sofía La Watson han comenzado a sonar dentro de la escena editorial, no solo local sino también internacional. En este capítulo de Womansplaining hablamos con Sindy Elefante, autora de la novela gráfica Elefantes en el cuarto, con Judith Gociol, coordinadora del archivo de cómic de la Biblioteca Nacional de Argentina y con Daniel Jiménez, director de Entreviñetas sobre las diferentes maneras en las que la mujer hace parte del mundo del cómic. Una conversación sobre la rabiosa Helga, la esposa de Olafo, la hipersexual Yayita, la idea de que los cómics hechos por mujeres solo pueden ser autobiográficos y el importante papel de la mujer dentro de un universo en donde la autogestión es fundamental. Escúchenlo AQUI. —————————————— Muy informativa e interesante esta reseña sobre Redlands de Vanesa R. Del Rey y Jordie Bellaire en español, échale un vistazo: Tres brujas. La historia de todas las mujeres desde la Antigüedad. Sangre. Fuego. Venganza. Justicia. La sociedad contemplando su propio retrato de Dorian Gray. Establecido, pues, que las mujeres son las grandes destructoras y desestabilizadoras del mundo de los hombres, entramos por fin a hablar de Redlands, el primer tebeo guionizado por la colorista Jordie Bellaire (apoyada para desarrollar la historia por la ex-editora y amante de los batidos Heather Antos), e ilustrado por la dibujante cubana y valor en alza Vanesa R. del Rey. Desde las primeras páginas de esta serie queda establecido que las autoras han abrazado por completo todos los prejuicios y afrentas históricas contra la mujer y les han dado la vuelta para transformarlas en literales fuerzas de la naturaleza, encarnadas en tres mujeres muy diferentes. Léanlo todo AQUI. —————————————— En Revista Cactus 29, Klari Moreno se transmuta en Lorenzo Montatore en su entrevista dibujada. Estupendo. 100%. Léanlo la entrevista AQUI. —————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-9-2018 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

Frank’s Comics Corner #1 – Fantastic Four #233

Posted on February 11, 2017May 14, 2019 by Frank Santoro

Frank’s Comics Corner 2-4-2017

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in EssaysTagged fantastic four, Frank Santoro, John Byrne

Comics Workbook

Posted on February 11, 2017May 14, 2019

Explore

Frank Santoro @ SPX 2016

Comics WorkbookOctober 8, 2016Santoro School / School Updateshttps://vimeo.com/185881298 SPX – September 17th 2016 Exerpts from the workshop with Cameron Weston Nicholson and Frank Santoro Filmed and edited by Tyler Q Tucker and Sally Ingraham (Watch the rest of the workshop footage HERE.) Share this page: [...]

05/27/2016

Sally IngrahamMay 27, 2016NewsSally here with new stuff from Sacha Mardou, wise and funny words from Dan Nadel and Alexi Worth, clowns with Nils Balls, and a Philadelphia walkabout from Meghan Turbitt. ————————————————————————————————— Sacha Mardou has a double hit today on our news, with a comic she made for The Common Reader (a publication of Washington University in St. Louis) and a review she wrote for Comics Workbook. First up, Sacha’s review of The Complete Wimmen’s Comix is a rumination on an important and challenging anthology, recently collected into a two volume set by Fantagraphics. “Reading the two-volume release of The Complete Wimmen’s Comix made me think about those sort of cultural assumptions and blank spots. The first volume in particular feels like a powerful raw gust of real comics history. … Another aspect that occurs to me is that volume one is essentially my mother’s generation making those comics (I was born in ’75) which makes the lack of respect for cultural niceties and cartooning norms seem even more punk rock and revelatory, as well as being somewhat nostalgic. It reminds me of looking though my aunt’s closet in the early 1980’s and finding all her old platform shoes and boots. My childish trespassing got me yelled at after the event, but I’m glad to own that childhood memory of trying on and walking around in those beautiful and weird, too-big-for-me ‘space’ shoes.” Read the rest of Sacha’s review HERE. For a different look at The Complete Wimmen’s Comix, check out this in-depth review by Alex Duebin on The Comic’s Journal from March 2016. Well, I say “review”, but it includes conversations conducted via phone, skype, google chat, and e-mail over a period of a year or so with many of the women who made comics for the anthology – a true “oral history”, well worth a gander. ————————————————————————————————— Sacha Mardou’s comic for The Common Reader (above) was published in “The Aging Issue”. It feels very, very real somehow…! ————————————————————————————————— Art in America published a followup to Dan Nadel‘s killer essay on Paper Radio recently. It’s a conversation between Dan, Alexi Worth (who wrote an article in January for A.i.A about Jack Kirby’s superhero art) and A.i.A‘s editor Julia Wolkoff. They dig into the complexities of comics, and more specifically, the intentional and accidental wonders that appeared under a culture of crushing deadlines. As Alexi Worth describes: “The earlier comics artists were, for the most part, pencil serfs. Kirby began as an inbetweener for film, and much of the work he produced early on wasn’t credited at all. But there was something productive and interesting about the lack of art expectations. Kirby was reflexively creative. And his creativity was, somehow, enabled by the ruinous deadlines and enormous production demands of the industry. At one point he was pretty much drawing all of Marvel himself—one guy. Instead of making him more of a hack, it made him more of an artist.“ Dan Nadel breaks out some more stories about the Paper Radio guys – Benjamin Jones and Christopher Forgues, or CF – whom he continues to call “the two most important cartoonists of their generation.” “One famous story: they sent Gary Panter, who was their artist spirit-god, one of their early zines that was baked in chocolate. Gary thought it was LSD and immediately threw it away. It’s one of the only copies of that work they made.“ It’s good stuff – check out the whole discussion HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Nils Balls is staying on top of the Pittsburgh City Council with his comic reports for The Glassblock – see above and more HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Meghan Turbitt released her Philadelphia Sketchbook this week! Developed for Comics Workbook between 2015-2016, it features full-color sketches of her varied adventures and the details that caught her eye around the city during that period. Get a glimpse at more pages here, and a copy for yourself HERE! ————————————————————————————————— See you knocking round the universe next week folks! Cheers – Sally Share this page: [...]

07/26/2017

Juan FernándezJuly 26, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos el día con La Polola EN VIVO con Sebastián Ilabaca; Antonio Altarriba y Sergio García; Mincho Magazine #13; Dis-Tinta, la historieta actual en argentina; Autoras de Cómic; Krazy Kat y el Museo Reina Sofía; La Competencia de Composición de Comics Workbook 2017; y los tebeos de Cómics Workbook! —————————————————————————————————Cuerpos del delito. Entrevista a Antonio Altarriba y Sergio García en Bilbao24horas: Cuerpos del delito es la historia de Miroslav Matjevic, francotirador serbio-bosnio; Ratko Petrovic y su banda, contrabandistas serbio-bosnios; François Laplanche y el Sargento Hervé Dumont, y algunos cascos azules del regimiento francés de Sarajevo. Cuatro vidas diferentes entrelazadas por una ciudad (Sarajevo), un año (1994) y la fragilidad del ser humano. Contiene un póster en el que aparece la historia en la silueta de un cadáver con la historia completa. Bilbao24Horas: ¿Qué es Cuerpos del delito? Sergio: Cuerpos del delito, básicamente, es un contenedor de historias. La idea surge de los dibujos que hace la policía en el suelo cuando alguien muere, generalmente asesinado. Lo que pretendíamos es descubrir que historia tiene ese dibujo de tiza. Lo que hicimos fue dibujar la silueta de un soldado y en el interior contar su historia y la de su muerte, todo ello en un formato póster. Todo ello acompañado por los maravillosos textos de Antonio. Unos relatos cortos que complementan la historia y que, a su vez, también están ilustrados. Antonio: Lo que me gusta del formato es la complementariedad de lecturas entre los textos, que cuentan la historia de los 4 personajes protagonistas, las ilustraciones y el póster. Se van superponiendo por capas niveles de lectura de la historia. Si solo ves el póster puedes ver la acción. Es una primera capa en la que vemos los desplazamientos de los personajes en la geografía de Sarajevo. Los textos con sus ilustraciones le dan profundidad a esa acción. Allí vemos sus motivaciones, lo que les ha llevado a ese punto e, incluso, lo que sucede después de ese momento que les ha llevado al asesinato. Me parece una idea innovadora. Léelo todo AQUI. ———————————————————————————————— A post shared by Comics Workbook (@comicsworkbook) on Jul 24, 2017 at 8:33pm PDT ¡Está aquí por fin! LA Competencia de Composición de Comics Workbook 2017. Esta vez el formato se trata de paginas con una cuadrícula de 6 viñetas utilizando en las proporciónes tradicionales de cómics norteamericanos – ¡con un giro! Encontraras todos los detalles aquí: http://comicsworkbook.com/comics-workbook-composition-competition-2017/ FECHA DE LÍMITE 5 de septiembre de 2017, ¡así que empiecen! El 1er premio es una estadia en nuestra residencia de arte, la Rowhouse Residency en Pittsburgh, PA. OJO: Si necessitan ayuda entiendiendo las direcciones (a vezes son un poquito confusas!), mandenme un mensaje: fernandez.juan.j@gmail.com ————————————————————————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo tienen una nueva edicion de La Polola Podcast! Las chicas conversan con el ilustrador Sebastián Ilabaca EN VIVO en Chile acerca de las personas que lo apoyaron e inspiraron, de su paso por la escuela de cine, de su forma de ilustrar, los materiales que usa, su visión, proyectos a futuro y mucho más! The newest edition, #13, of Mincho Magazine, the illustration and graphic arts magazine is now available. Autoras de Cómic iniciaron un llamamiento por twitter para que les recomendéis cómic, tebeos, fanzines hechos por autoras. Es un thread asombroso, por que la mayoria estan disponibles en Español! Dis-Tinta, la coleccion de tonalidades de la historieta argentina actual, editada por Liniers y Martín Pérez fue reseñada por La Nación. El Museo Reina Sofía en Madrid se apunta al cómic con el que es, a mi entender, el mejor cómic de la historia: Krazy Kat de George Herriman con su nueva exhibición Krazy Kat es Krazy Kat es Krazy Kat. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 7-26-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 7-26-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

Rowhouse Residency Report – Bronson Smillie

Comics WorkbookSeptember 6, 2018Residency Reports / School UpdatesBronson Smillie is a cartoonist based in Montréal, QC, where he is finishing a painting and drawing undergrad at Concordia University. He joined us in Pittsburgh, PA, for a weeklong Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency in July of 2018. Here are his thoughts about visiting the city and his Rowhouse Residency experience. ——————————————————————————————— Bronson Smillie here: I arrived in Pittsburgh from Montreal in the middle of July, with just a carry-on full of art supplies and a few carefully selected articles of summer attire that would allow me to beat the record-breaking heatwave that had been plaguing Montreal and most of Eastern Canada for weeks. Prior to my departure, I had been trying to gather intel from friends as to what to expect during my stay in Pittsburgh. No matter how hard I dug, it seemed practically no one, apart from a few internet acquaintances, had much information to offer. So, without expectations, I rode the bus from the airport into downtown to meet Sally who would take me to my home for the week. Pittsburgh is undoubtedly the hilliest city I have ever been to. As someone who enjoys walking as a means of sight-seeing, I fantasized about the thigh muscles I would develop after a week navigating the city’s steep inclines. The Residency itself is located in a neighbourhood called Swissvale. As a longterm resident of the neighbourhood, Frank has some really interesting anecdotes about the history of Swissvale that are worth pining for in order to better understand the space and energy of the Residency. Frank’s historical knowledge of the city combined with his historical knowledge of comics affirmed and contradicted preconceived notions I had about the “North American Comics Industry”. It’s all super valuable information, and it was interesting for me to stack his old school values against my new school ideals. It’s safe to say that the rose coloured glasses I showed up to the Residency wearing have been now replaced with a more practical pair of shades. The ! air conditioned ! bedroom/work-space was the perfect place to dive head first into my work. As someone that is easily distracted in new environments, it was nice to be able to shut myself into a quiet space. Each morning I would devour a handful of comics/zines selected from the extensive and ever-growing library at the Residency. I would recommend spending as much time reading comics as you do drawing them while you are a resident. They offer such an amazing resource and I got to read things that I had never had access to before. I worked on a 10 page mini-comic that I’ve since completed and took time to digitize my entire stamp collection (boring but satisfying). I wanted to explore a new way of image-making while I was at the residency and broke away from the more rigid, panel-based comic making I was used to in order to explore more experimental ideas I had been tossing around for a while. It was an extremely rewarding week – for both my thighs and my craft – topped off with drives around the city with both Frank and Sally as well as a trip to visit the uh-may-zing Copacetic Comics to drop off some of my own comics and choose a few to bring back with me as well. Before I headed off to the airport and back to Montreal – Frank handed me a folded newsprint copy of something that he forbid me to open in his presence. I awkwardly shoved it into my carry on and as I sat down on my bus headed back to the airport I opened the gift. It was a short comic by Frank that acted as a first person reflection on Swissvale as well as Frank’s personal memories attached to it. I flipped through pages illustrated by someone with a lifetime of experiences attached to a place I had spent just one week. I realized, by my surprisingly emotional response to what I was reading, that Pittsburgh had effectively gotten under my skin. I understand why, after leaving for many years, Frank has decided to come back to his roots. Frank and Sally are creating a special place for comic makers to come develop and I’m super thankful that I had the opportunity to be a part of it! Keep up with Bronson Smillie HERE! For more information about the Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency visit this page or email santoroschool@gmail.com Share this page: [...]

09/11/2017

Caleb OrecchioSeptember 10, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here with thought’s on GG’s new book, I’m Not Here, from Koyama Press and other news. ———————————————————————————————— GG’s work has a lot of pain. I’ve always been very frustrated in the past by GG’s work because I felt like, though her comics are excellent, I was not being “let in” so to speak. It always seemed that the emotional resonance of her work was being muffled to the point of complete ambiguity–which isn’t bad–I just felt like something was being consciously held back. I don’t want to pretend that I know GG’s intentions, (and obviously, this is my own opinion) but I definitely feel that lately her work has taken on a more emotionally straight-forward approach, for the better–particularly with I’m Not Here, published by Koyama Press. The joy of reading a GG comic is the sensational drawing. I really like the below page of suburban houses and lawns. There is an undeniable beauty there that I hesitate to elaborate on just because I don’t feel like I have to explain why something like this is beautiful. GG’s drawing is a really excellent vessel for emotion. Her “cartoony realism” style (that arguably skirts the border of realism if not for lack of detail–or rather, the use of minimal detail) feels completely comfortable to my eyes and I believe in everything I see. So, when a child cries because a precious toy must be thrown away or a mother is bent over in physical and emotional anguish, it hits like an F# note on a piano–it’s jarring and instantaneous. GG’s drawing eschews the use of impressionistic facial expressions that a less technical cartoonist must utilize to impress emotion upon a reader, and is able to directly depict emotion through face and body language. This to me is a mark of an excellent cartoonist–which, I don’t have to tell you, GG is. This has always been true of GG’s work. I hope I’m not being presumptuous, but what separates this work from her past work, for me, is that this book feels particularly personal. Not that GG’s work has never been personal–in fact I’d argue all of GG’s work is intensely personal. However–I have never felt that F# note with her other work. The immediacy of I’m Not Here is undeniably pertinent–almost like we are going to the source of it all or something. The pain depicted in this book feels real as oppose to metaphorical or situational to me. Make sense? Personally, this is (if I haven’t made myself clear) GG’s best work. I had a sigh of relief after reading I’m Not Here. There is a real catharsis to this book. If you believe in everything you see therein, like I did, and allow yourself to partake in the emotional arc of the story, you will find yourself–like you just ate a very nice, delicious meal without feeling overly full or drunk–satisfied. -CO ———————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know Plan your SPX weekend!–it’s this week! Comics Workbook will be there in full force haven’t you heard! CXC is just around the corner too Dan Nadel on and talking to Richard Kyle on TCJ. Looks like Study Group Comics is serializing another Farel Dalrymple comic which is good news for all. Latest Comic Books Are Burning in Hell is excellent, duh. Speaking of Study Group, last weeks Process Party guest was Jeff Smith–pretty good interview. They usually post a new episode after this news post goes live so see what the latest one will be this week while you’re at it. I like when Tom Surgeon posts links to sites like this that posts Golden Age and other not particularly easy to find comics. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil– 9-11-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 9-11-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

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