Comics Workbook

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Posted in ResourcesTagged festivals, Frank Santoro, shows, tips

Juan Fernández

Posted on May 6, 2016May 21, 2019

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05/29/2018

Juan FernándezMay 29, 2018NewsJuan here covering for Aaron, who’s been traveling far and wide. I’ve got a juicy preview Frank Santoro’s Pittsburgh, thoughts by Spike Trotman, David Brothers and Ron Wimberly talking radical application of black aesthetic and Michael Deforge comics. Fun for the whole family. ————————————————————— You can read a preview of Frank Santoro‘s newest book, Pittsburgh over on Éditions çà et là.‘s website. You’ll want to brush up on your french, because it’s not yet in English! It’s gorgeous, painful and well worth a look. And here is a great review which was in Libération, (a nationwide daily newspaper), slam that google translate button, me hearties. You can read it HERE. Pittsburgh’s splendid graphical instability helps to create a space of evanescent memory, as if it were dangerous to remember too much, that to try to materialize things would lose their souls. Barely sketched, the details of a bus ride escape us but not the enveloping heat of the sun that taps on the skin through the windows in the early morning. Condemned to wander between California where he lives and Pennsylvania, which recalls him all the time, Santoro ends up looking like a ghost come to haunt his family while rehearsing the past. The territory he travels also has something unreal, since instead of Pittsburgh, he surveys its peripheries. Perrons, hardware, living-room: a space that only the family seems to frequent. Places that change over time, replaced by a no man’s land of bridges, roads and deserted railways. “Pittsburgh is like Pompeii, a ruin of what it was,”wrote Santoro in a previous book. ————————————————————— In case you missed the talk this year at TCAF, Ronald Wimberly and David Brothers jammed out on radical application of black aesthetic at TCAF 2018. Sit back, tune in and take notes! David Brothers asks Ronald Wimberly questions about his thoughts on how the black body is depicted in pop culture. Ronald reads from his LAAP magazine in regards to that issue and other images he created in it. Why the depictions of the black body was bad and what their purpose was. They spoke briefly about the Cotton Club, the production of Cotton and it’s impact on Europe. There was just discussion on Jay Z’s The Story of OJ and the Sambo character. Other topics touched on was Anime and appropriation, seeing stereotypes as kids and changing it for modern audience (eg the Mammy character from Tom & Jerry cartoons), black women vs black men depictions, blaxpoitation done by white creators, the 1975 Coonskin animated movie, Donald Glover’s / Childish Gambino’s This is America video, the White Gaze & David Chappel and Monsters & black bodies. Listen HERE. ————————————————————— Spike Trotman offers up “unpopular creative opinions” on twitter. Unpopular, honest and useful. Some gems: – What is happening in the superhero book scene, unless you explicitly want to be part of it, literally doesn’t matter and should occupy zero percent of your thoughts. – If you want to make comics, read something other than comics. – If your publisher doesn’t do promo, doesn’t at least attempt to get you nominations and reviews, and doesn’t grant your work access to wider dissemination than you could manage by yourself, you have no reason to be using them. Read on! ————————————————————— The Comics Journal posted an excerpt of Michael Deforge‘s A Western World you can read HERE. Soak it up. ————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 5-29-18 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

06/06/2018

Juan FernándezJune 6, 2018los Cómics / NewsAntonia Herrera y María Soto Aguilar, Rosa Colón, Kelly Fernandez, Sol Díaz Castillo, and Love and Rockets #5 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: ~ en Español y “sometimes in English” ~ – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – La Polola #77 – Antonia Herrera y María Soto Aguilar; las Punkrobotinas Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo tienen una nueva edicion de La Polola Podcast! Las chicas conversan con con Antonia Herrera y María Soto Aguilar, primas, amigas y las dos socias de Punkrobot Estudio, autores de “Historia de un Oso”, ganadora del primer premio Oscar en Chile! – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – “We have only begun to mourn our dead.” Rosa Colón‘s latest comic for The Nib reckons with Hurricane Maria’s real toll. Nobody knows exactly how many people were killed, but it’s more than the government says. Read it HERE. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Starting from Mini-Comics with Kelly Fernandez Loso Perez has put together a profile on the multi-talented Kelly Fernandez over on Prime Vice Studios. Kelly Fernandez is a cartoonist from Queens, New York. She was the recipient of the CAKE’s annual Cupcake Award in 2017 and a winner of Scholastic’s “Get Published by Graphix” competition. Her work has appeared in various comic anthologies such as Mine! and Dates: Volume 2 , as well as the teen literature and comics magazine CICADA. Her work often stars Latino women, and usually has something to do with folklore, monsters, or video games. When she’s not at her desk, you might find her looking for new places to eat or singing karaoke with friends. Take the opportunity to get yourself more acquainted with her work, HERE! – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – La dibujante Sol Díaz Castillo fue entrevistada por Vicio y Virtud! ¿Cuáles son las ventajas y desventajas de tener estudios formales? ¿Le recomendarías la carrera que estudiaste a alguien que aspira a ser historietista? ¿Por qué?: Mmm, creo que estudiar cualquier cosa, por muy lejos que pareciera estar de tu interés más específico, sirve y aporta en un bagaje cultural, social e incluso emocional dentro de una persona. Me parecen importantes las herramientas no sólo técnicas, sino conceptuales, sobretodo en un contexto educacional básico que busca sólo resultados y obediencia. De todas maneras las Universidades también tienen cosas muy cuestionables, muchas veces son más aire que contenido… Yo creo que para ser historietista no hay una sola carrera, se necesitan varias cosas, podrías venir de Arte, de Diseño, de Literatura incluso… Aún así, desde mi experiencia, Diseño me aportó mucho en cuanto a comunicación visual, a contar con imágenes, creo que eso es lo que hago como dibujante, cuento historias y los dibujos son mi herramienta principal. Léanlo todo AQUI! – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Love And Rockets concludes its Locas reunion with bittersweet nostalgia Over on the AV Club, Oliver Sava takes a look at Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez‘s latest issue of Love and Rockets (#5). Memory and the effect of time, explored by Gilbert and Jaime’s different narrative techniques and aesthetic focuses – good stuff! It’s a nice comparison of emotional techniques that they employ in this issue. The differences in the brothers’ tones can be seen in how they start their stories in this issue. Like Gilbert, Jaime begins in the middle of a conversation, but the dialogue invites readers into the action rather than keeping them at a distance. Hopey is looking back at messy moments in her angsty, aggressive past, her first line recounting the time she and her friends beat up Hilary Pute and stole her lunch box. Readers might have already forgotten that this story was presented in the previous issue, putting them in Maggie’s position. Hopey continues by lamenting how she treated her old boyfriend, Tex, during their time together on the East Coast. Once again there are multiple options for engagement that depend on the readers’ retainment of past Love And Rocketsstories. Read it all HERE! – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Suzy and Cecil – 06-06-2018 – by Gabriella Tito – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Cozytown -06-06-2018- by Juan Fernandez Share this page: [...]

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: [...]

CXC 2016: Report Card

Whit TaylorOctober 24, 2016Festivals and ShowsComics Crossroads Columbus (CXC), is a 4 day long comics festival in Columbus, Ohio, that is now in its second year. Organized by comics industry professionals with a track record of both artistic contributions and service to the independent comics community, the show has largely been touted as a soon-to-be American version of France’s Angouleme; that is, a multi-day festival that explores the various facets of comics, and serves as more than just a marketplace for cartoonists, but a support of their careers and celebration of the medium. CXC is situated in Columbus, a cozy Midwestern college town (home to Ohio State University) that is quickly building up its reputation as a “cartoonists” town due to its arts friendly institutions, reasonable cost of living, and the number of artists who have either grown up or elected to move there. Tom Spurgeon, CXC’s Festival Director, credits Columbus-native Jeff Smith, Vijaya Iyer and Lucy Caswell with the initial idea for the show, as well as Jenny Robb, Caitlin McGurk and Jared Gardner. Caitlin McGurk, CXC committee member and Associate Curator at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, explained to me that planning for the first festival began in 2012. “The idea for CXC was born out of the realization that there were a significant number of institutions in Columbus paying attention to/promoting/working with comics,” she explains. “From the obvious like The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (BICLM) and the Thurber House (James Thurber’s childhood home turned museum), to Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD) kicking off a new comics major, to the Columbus Museum of Art hosting regular comic art exhibits (including the first US show of R. Crumb‘s Book of Genesis), and a dozen other examples, it occurred to us that few other cities have that kind of institutional power behind comics.” The events of the first two days, held on Ohio State University’s campus, included professional development for cartoonists, tours of the BICLM, programming for young students of color through Sol-Con (a convention celebrating black and brown creators), and a scholarly symposium organized by OSU professor and CXC organizer, Jared Gardner. The weekend “marketplace” at the newly renovated Columbus Metropolitan Library, served as a small convention with exhibitors and programming, including the Comics Workbook workshop sessions. I missed checking out Ron Wimberly’s CMA Thurber House Graphic Residency as well as seeing Raina Telgemeier speak (more on this later), but I do believe that I was able to get a nice snapshot of the show. It was one that reflected the goals of the organizers, according to McGurk – “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.” I decided to approach my write up as a “report card” absent of a final grade, but with some notes on the strengths of the show, some areas for improvement, as well as some notes concerning the future of the show. I would like to thank the show’s Executive Committee: Tom Spurgeon, Jeff Smith, Vijaya Iyer, Kathleen Glosan, Lucy Caswell as well as Caitlin McGurk (Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum), Laurenn McCubbin (CCAD), Jared Gardner, Neil Cameron, Frederick L. Aldama (Sol-Con), Comics Workbook, and countless volunteers. Strengths & Highlights Versatility: Overall all, CXC’s greatest asset was its understanding that comics culture is multidimensional. The show welcomed cartoonists, comics scholars, publishers, fans, and those with specific interests within the community. It strove to be inclusive, even if it was not fully realized. Talk and Teach: There were two days of professional development workshops and talks before the weekend convention commenced. For those who were able to make it out, it was a wonderful way for cartoonists, who are usually stuck behind their tables at shows, to take time for themselves to learn and grow. Two highlights for me included Sacha Mardou’s long form fiction planning talk and Kriota Willberg’s Drawing with No Pain! Injury Prevention for Cartoonists workshop. Dustin Harbin, T. Edward Bak, and Ann Telnaes also led Talk and Teach workshops. Scholarly Symposium: In its first year, the theme chosen for this 2-day symposium was “Canon Fodder”, as the goal of the gathering was to “seek to test and remix the still-damp concrete of comics histories and canons before they set.” Chaired by OSU Professor of English (and comics scholar), Jared Gardner, the symposium was intended to bring together academics to present, learn, and open a dialogue about everything from representation in comics to who is responsible for dominant narratives. I spoke with some attendees later at the marketplace. Comics scholarship seems to be a relatively small field at this point and one that is not always directly tied into the comics industry itself. That’s why I think it was smart to include the symposium in this show. Plus, it provided academics a chance to observe small-press culture and acquire comics and graphic novels from indie artists whose work they may not have encountered otherwise. Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Tours: On Friday, tours were given on the hour of the archives. This provided us with a fascinating look at their vast collection, which included everything from original art, graphic novels, and manga, to fan letters written to cartoonists. Additionally, librarians selected a diverse display of original art to look at in the reading room. Upstairs was the Little Nemo:Dream Another Dream exhibit featuring contemporary artists who contributed to the Eisner-winning book from Locust Moon Press, as well as Good Grief! Children and Comics, an exhibition featuring original art from everyone from Charles Schultz and Bill Watterson, to that of the late Richard Thompson. Garry Trudeau Talk: Trudeau spoke with writer Glen David Gold at the Wexner Center for the Arts on Friday night. The event provided a snapshot of his cartooning career and a reflection on his work. I was most interested in their discussion about covering war in comics strips and Trudeau’s admitted struggle to fully capture the experience of those serving in the military. I was also surprised by Trudeau’s relative outsider status as a cartoonist, as he shared that he was not very involved in the comics world as an industry person or as a reader. Other notable talks at CXC included “Animator and Author John Canemaker on Windsor McCay’s Little Nemo”, “25 Years: Seth in Conversation with Ben Katchor“, Charles Burns at CCAD, and Raina Telgemeier in Conversation with Jeff Smith. Social Opportunities: The organizers also understood the necessity of socializing. Again, perhaps this is because many are cartoonists themselves and have an understanding of the rather solitary nature of the craft. The show provided ample opportunities to socialize beyond the marketplace, including after parties each night hosted by different cartoonists (Katie Skelly, Stan Sakai, Julia Gfrorer, and Sean T. Collins) at local bars. Awards: On Friday, the CXC 2016 Master Cartoonist Awards went to Carol Tyler and Sergio Aragones, honoring their bodies of work, while Garry Trudeau received the CXC 2016 Masterwork Award for Doonesbury. At the weekend’s marketplace, cartoonist and publisher, Kevin Czap was honored with the Emerging Talent Award. Discussing his award with CW presenter Alyssa Berg, Czap said “I didn’t expect it at all. It felt nice in that regard—plugging away at this thing and trying to be a part of the larger conversation of comics, which I feel a part of is being represented at CXC. So the award felt like acknowledgement, that you are being noticed and heard, which feels nice. I’m doing all of this stuff without expectation of reward, it’s just what I want to do, but it’s nice to see some traction.” In the same way that it is important to celebrate seasoned artists with “lifetime achievement awards”, supporting artists in their formative years (and even more so with funds) shows respect and appreciation for cartoonists in a unique part of their career. Location: Columbus was a nice choice for a comics festival given its small size, affordability, and comics foundation (including the local talent and facilities). The facilities, including those at OSU as well as the newly renovated Columbus Metropolitan Public Library, were a major asset to this show given their accessibility and presenter-friendliness. Hospitality and Support: Many exhibitors told me that CXC organizers and volunteers made them feel very welcome. Whether it was arrangements being made to pick up individuals from the airport or snacks made available to exhibitors, the little touches conveyed a sense of pride about the show as well as for the show’s city. Raina Telgemeier: As evidenced by the massive line of young girls and their families waiting in line to see her for her spotlight panel and signing of her new bestseller, Ghosts, one can assume it was a success! Seeing young, particularly female readers, develop a passion for comics is inspiring and hopeful for the medium. Weaknesses and Room for Improvement Tom Spurgeon was in agreement with my perception that there were some logistical flaws to this year’s show. “The big change will probably be adding a showrunner for just that day,” he elaborated. “I’d also like to add an element of shining a spotlight on 2018 in comics. I think we need to do a better job hitting our diversity goals across the board.” Sol-Con Omission: Let me say first that I stopped by Sol-Con’s expo and programming on Friday and was heartened by all of the black and brown school children who had been invited to learn about comics and meet cartoonists. It was clear that participants had a passion for engaging youth as well as discussing topics relevant to the black and Latino creators, publishers, and other comics professionals. The problem was that CXC’s program did not have enough specifics on Sol-Con, including locations for the weekend programming (they were available on OSU’s site for the convention). I spoke with Sol-Con’s Project Director Frederick Luis Aldama, and he told me that detailed info on the workshops had been submitted in time but were not included. He expressed that he did not believe this to be malicious, but an oversight that nonetheless upset many Sol-Con exhibitors and participants. Unevenness of Panels: I attended as many panels as I could, despite exhibiting. There were many highlights for me, including the Political Cartoons panel which featured Lalo Alcatraz, Nate Beeler, Keith Knight, and Ann Telneas discussing their coverage of the 2016 presidential election. There were also some less consistent panels, including the State of the Industry panel. Image’s Eric Stephenson dropped out, leaving Rich Tommaso (cartoonist), Keith Knight (cartoonist) Chip Mosher (ComiXology), Shena Wolf (GoComics.com), and Brendan Burford (King Features Syndicates) to do a syndicate-heavy panel without a print publisher present. Tom Spurgeon moderated, asking insightful and well-rounded questions, but I sensed a hesitancy to answer questions around creator incomes or anything wage-related. The panel avoided being overly negative, but tense exchanges on diversity and what being a “good artist” means in some ways reflected greater industry hot topics. The details: While some of CXC’s greatest successes were in its attention to detail, it’s also clear that some remain to be worked out. Issues such as not having assigned tables on an exhibitor map or the scheduling of multiple sought-after events at the same time, are worth re-visiting. I chalk this up to it being a new show more than anything else. I’m curious to see what the future holds for this festival. I look forward to seeing what happens as comics scholarship grows and CCAD’s Comic & Narrative Major moves beyond its launch year. Given the great experiences I’ve been hearing, it seems likely that applications will go up in coming years. CXC will have to figure out what type of show its going to be, similar in some ways to what SPX is now facing. Given that its festival setup is unlike any other in this country at this point, it may not be able to rely on shows that have aged gracefully, as role models. If demand for the marketplace grows, logistics concerning lodging, transportation, and show curation will be unavoidable, as will its connections with the scholarly symposium and Sol-Con. When I asked Spurgeon what he wanted for this festival in coming years he said he hoped that CXC would “not just having a strong show but driving attention to the entire world of comics in a kind of Cannes Film Festival way.” He talked of developing a housing program as well. “I’d love for the show to become successful enough we can aim it at some of comics intractable problems!” I truly hope the best for this show, as it left me with a homey feeling that was a testament to it’s passionate featured talent and its hardworking organizers. ————————————————————————————————— Whit Taylor is a New Jersey-born cartoonist, editor, and comics writer. Her most recent books are Ghost and Wallpaper. She has previously reported on CAB 2014, SPX 2014, and the 2014 Comics & Medicine Conference. She lives in New York City. ————————————————————————————————— (For more Comics Workbook CXC 2016 coverage check out our special “round up” report HERE.) Share this page: [...]

03/16/2017

Sally IngrahamMarch 15, 2017NewsSally here with comics and news from Kyle Baker, Aphton Corbin, Shannon Wright, Keith Knight, Sam Ombiri, and more! ————————————————————————————————— Shannon Wright has a new comic about Bessie Coleman, made for KAZOO Magazine – the first part is above and you can see the rest HERE! ————————————————————————————————— I dashed headlong through Kyle Baker‘s I Die At Midnight (2000) the other day when it turned up in the library at the Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency. One of Baker’s favorite short stories, it was the 2nd comic he made that used 3D graphics and his 1st comic that was drawn entirely on the computer. Perusing it 17 years after the comic was first published, I am astounded by how good it looks. Even though the technology has improved since then, most comics I’ve seen recently that employ digital artwork don’t look this good. What Baker was doing in 2000 with these “new” tools and tricks still looks fresh, and there’s an inventiveness and joy here that hasn’t faded or grown dated. It’s crazy to think that this was his starting point for digital artwork and he only got better from here – gasoline on a flame type stuff. This comic, and his work that followed, doesn’t look like it was “built” in Photoshop – there is a naturalness to it which comes from Baker’s outrageous drawing chops, expressive characterizations, and eye for color. The story in I Die At Midnight also happens to be a wildly entertaining piece of chaos – as Baker describes it: “The Good News is Muriel has decided to take Larry back. The Bad News is Larry’s just swallowed a bottle of pills and he can’t tell her about it, or she’ll leave him again. With a stomachful of poison, Larry must race across Manhattan to meet up with the only person who can save his life and keep his secret. But first he’s got to get through a crowd of millions in Times Square – and Muriel’s Murderous Ex-Boyfriend.“ 64 pages of non-stop action, with sequences that somehow combine 3 plotlines at once (employing a blur/fade technique that really puts digital art to WORK), this comic is worth tracking down if you’ve never read it and reading again if you have. You can get a copy from Kyle Baker himself HERE. ————————————————————————————————— I came across this comic made by Aphton Corbin recently – she is a storyboard artist at Pixar but has also been publishing a comic about her life and experiences as a black female on her tumblr. The start of the most recent episode is above, but there are plenty more HERE. Check them out! ————————————————————————————————— Coming to the Brooklyn Museum this spring is the exhibition We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85 (APRIL 21–SEPTEMBER 17, 2017). “Focusing on the work of black women artists, We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85 examines the political, social, cultural, and aesthetic priorities of women of color during the emergence of second-wave feminism. It is the first exhibition to highlight the voices and experiences of women of color—distinct from the primarily white, middle-class mainstream feminist movement—in order to reorient conversations around race, feminism, political action, art production, and art history in this significant historical period.“ Not comics, but definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area! More details HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The latest strip from Keith Knight. ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri – 3-16-2017 ————————————————————————————————— The Spring Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers has begun! There is a rolling start date for this semester of the course and we are continuing to take applications. Just apply! The course is 8 weeks long – 500 bux – payment plans are available. More details can be found HERE – or email santoroschoolATgmail. Recent comics by course grads November Garcia and Drew Lerman can be seen HERE and HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 3-16-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-16-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-16-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

FRANK’S TIPS FOR TABLING

Posted on May 6, 2016May 21, 2019 by Frank Santoro

8 tips for tabling at a comics convention from Frank Santoro. NSFW for cussin’.
Video by Michael Pisano.

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in ResourcesTagged festivals, Frank Santoro, shows, tips

Juan Fernández

Posted on May 6, 2016May 21, 2019

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04/12/2018

Comics WorkbookApril 11, 2018NewsSam Ombiri on Deryl Seitchik’s “Missy No. 1”. ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: Missy #1 by Daryl Seitchik has left me floored. There are other comics that may be similarly made, and somewhat similarly successful. However, for me Missy is entirely unique, though it’s uniqueness is somewhat hard for me to articulate. This comic communicated through obscuring information. When the title character Missy either scribbles over words, or misspells something, there’s a lot of truth revealed. I honestly wonder how much it was on Daryl’s mind for this story to be effective as it was. Efforts here don’t appear to be calculated, but suspiciously efficient and mysteriously rough. Calculations in some ways are a form of improvisation. The story is so well laid out from moment to moment. It progresses with an abundance of specificity, which is surprising for such a small minicomic. Between these specifications there are small moments for me to really feel. The feelings are surprisingly rich, given how there’s not that many pages in this comic (only 12). The comic feels like watching something with the sound turned all the way down. It’s very muted and very distant, because of how timid Missy is. She is so timid that she remains secretive. Even in her own journal! Despite being presented like the drawings of a child, the drawings don’t resemble drawings a child would make. This is because we’re introduced to the pictures as a representation of what the child is writing. As a result, the drawings feel really humble. The naiveté of the book isn’t for the sake of spectacle, or to be fashionable, but it’s the most honest thing to do, and it isn’t much more than writing in a diary. This merges us with Missy’s vision; with how she sees things, every anxiety, every worry, every tiny betrayal, we’re immersed as a result. It seems like for this minicomic, it’s important for it to be physically as small as it is, or rather the way it was printed especially adds to this comic. Since Missy is small, so is the minicomic. The comic being a diary doesn’t define it completely – the book, rather, just weaves in and out of the idea of the book being a diary. Reading this I could sense that Missy was feeling like the world was about to crash down on her. At the beginning of the story with her parents divorce coming into the picture, it would seem that this was the case. It feels like she’s looking for places to run to, and this journal we’re reading seems to be one of those places. – Sam Ombiri Check out more issues of Missy by Deryl Seitchik as well as her graphic novel Exits (Koyama Press) HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Announcing the Spring Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers 8 weeks! $500 bux! 10 spots available! Rolling start date because of spring break – start NOW! Deadline to apply is April 12th- today, by midnight EST. Read all about the course HERE and email santoroschool@gmail.com for more details or to apply. ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 4-12-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

04/25/2018

Juan FernándezApril 25, 2018los Cómics / NewsMuestra Mostra, Ivan Kreilkamp, Stina Sandström, Frank Santoro —————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: ~ en Español y “sometimes in English” ~ —————————————— Larga vida a los fanzines: impresiones alternativas Muestra Mostra, llevada a cabo en Córdoba (Argentina) réune las obras de muchas en el mundo del fanzinismo feminista. Javier Mattio: Expresión material, múltiple y subterránea del hazlo-tú-mismo, el fanzine (literalmente, “revista de aficionado”) vive hoy un auge que es también una expansión de su usual destino de fotocopia alternativa: el fanzine llega a librerías y museos, se celebran festivales, ferias, talleres y charlas en su nombre, se los archiva en “fanzinotecas”, se convierten en preciados y requeridos objetos artísticos. El fenómeno se concreta en Córdoba en exponentes como la actual “Muestra Mostra” del Museo Genaro Pérez, el Festival Ctrl P y la feria La Batalla en Casa Trece (donde también opera la fanzinoteca más grande del país) o las historietas-zines que publica el sello Buen Gusto Ediciones. —————————————— In Praise of Pulp Ivan Kreilkamp: No fan of the genre can complain about such a turn of events—and yet, surely something is also always lost in this kind of upward-mobility success story. Alison Bechdel observed a few years ago that “one of the reasons I became a cartoonist was so that I could write and draw free from the kind of critical scrutiny that I was sure would wither me if I dared to enter the lists of the fine art or literary writing worlds. Comics was a dark, disreputable place … You could do what you wanted here.” —————————————— The Carnival Grotesque: Representations of femininity in Swedish feminist comics Stina Sandström: This dissertation explores the mainstream success of a new wave of Swedish female cartoonists borne out of the feminist zine community between 2004 and 2016. These cartoonists have contributed to a change in perception in Sweden about comics as a medium and their potential to introduce current feminist discourse into mainstream media and reach a wider public. The study identifies a commonality in these comics of the parodic and liberating humour of the carnivalesque; a literary tendency proposed by Russian literary critic Mikhail Bakthin which expresses frustration and discontent with the structure of society through a certain ritualistic humour which in the context of these comics expose dominant gender structures and offer new ways of performing femininity. Despite working independently for the most part, the power of their work lies in the way they expand on (even imitate) each other, often picking up on a specific subject or area of critique where another left off, with the effect of combining their individual voices into one great voice. The phenomena is investigated through a series of questions: What Swedish political and cultural preconditions allowed for these usually marginalised feminist zine makers to become part of popular culture? How do they communicate feminism in ways that appeal to a mainstream audience? How, if at all, does their work influence or improve women’s lives in Sweden? —————————————— Nello Studio di Frank Santoro Which instruments and tools do you use to draw? I do not use a computer. I do not know how to use Photoshop. Why teach the machine how to do my job? Everything is analog. I draw on conventional office paper and use conventional office supplies essentially. Pentel rolling writers which were the first rollerball pen. Alex Toth told me to use that pen. And I use color pencils and markers. Mostly Berol Prismacolor brand. As Art Spigelman says “it is more like writing” in that sense if one uses “dry” media. One of my jobs as a young man was to be an assistant to oil painters and I enjoy not having to have a separate studio in which to make art. Cartoonists are lucky that we can be relatively clean in that way. I do use the airbrush. That’s fun. But it is water based. I use the airbrush mostly for background paintings that I am hired to do by Dash Shaw. But I also did a Silver Surfer story for Marvel with the airbrush. The airbrush is fun because it is like drawing with colored air. And it is water based paint. —————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 4-25-2018 – Gabriella Tito Joanie and Jordie – 4-25-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

10/28/2016

Sally IngrahamOctober 28, 2016NewsSally Ingraham here with a whole lot of comics journalism – Sarah Glidden, Katie Fricas, Rachel Dukes, Steph Neary, and the many makers at Drawing the Times share the world according to their pens or brushes – while Aidan Koch and Vanesa R. Del Ray are caught on film, and Pittsburgh is visited by comics master (and another journalist) Rick Geary. ————————————————————————————————— Meg Lemke presents Sarah Glidden‘s new work Rolling Blackouts on PEN America this week – check out Meg’s thoughts HERE, as well as a generous selection from the book. PRI also has a feature on Sarah and Rolling Blackouts – HERE. The book is about a month-long journey she took in 2010 through Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. She was traveling with old friends who were also journalists. ‘ “The goal of the trip was really to show journalism: how it’s made, how difficult it is to do this work, how it’s more than just going in, reporting on a story and getting out of there.” Glidden quickly saw the conflicting pressures the reporters were under. “You know, journalists really care about the stories they’re working on, but they also have to think about marketing, their audience, and how they’re going to get someone to take time out of their day and read their article or watch their documentary. And this is a struggle I think that all journalists have to go through. I just really wanted to show that process.” ‘ – Sarah Glidden via PRI Read the rest of the article HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Katie Fricas has a spooky comic up on Hyperallergic called Doomocracy. It charts her navigation of Mexican artist Pedro Reyes’s politically themed haunted house – a huge installation piece at the Brooklyn Army Terminal that was funded through Kickstarter and features encounters with gun nuts, climate change, weird crops, and the specters haunting the presidential race. Katie finds it quite frightening indeed. Read the rest of the comic HERE. Learn more about Doomocracy HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Rachel Dukes has a comic on The Nib this week about The IUD Obstacle Course – and if after digging into this plus Katie Fricas’s and Sarah Glidden’s weighty works you want still more comics that deals with real world problems – pen nibs blazing – tromp on over to Drawing the Times, a website devoted to graphic journalism. ————————————————————————————————— ??30min digital warm up?? inspired by @shlohmo – Ten Days of Falling ? A video posted by Vanesa R. Del Rey (@vrdelrey) on Oct 27, 2016 at 10:36am PDT Vanesa R. Del Rey often posts videos like these on her Instagram account, offering an amazing glimpse into her working life – follow her at @vrdelrey. ————————————————————————————————— Aidan Koch‘s work is part of a show at the Whitney Museum of American Art – Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art, 1905-2016. It will be on view through Feb. 5th, 2017. Aidan Koch’s work seen at the Whitney Museum of American Art – part of the exhibition Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art, 1905-2016 – on view through Feb. 5th 2017 @aidanalexiskoch – thanks to Katherine Ball for the glimpse @katbusbrawl #aidankoch #whitneymuseum A video posted by Comics Workbook (@comicsworkbook) on Oct 26, 2016 at 2:05pm PDT Katherine Ball got a look at Aidan’s work and shared the video above. ————————————————————————————————— I need to catch up on Lumberjanes this fall, and had a nice reminder recently in the form of the little Booooooooom! Box Halloween Haunt 2016 freebie, which included sections of Lumberjanes, Giant Days, The Backstagers, and Goldie Vance. I was particularly delighted to note that Carey Pietsch drew issues #29-32 of Lumberjanes (see her work above) – Carey is a former student of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers. Check out Carey Pietsch’s work HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Steph Neary filled in for Nils Balls this week, taking on the Glassblock Pittsburgh City Council comic. This bit of comics journalism has been developed by Nils Balls over the course of the last year, and has gained a large following. It is yet another part of the rich culture of comics and cartooning found in this city! ————————————————————————————————— Speaking of that rich culture, the ToonSeum hosted Rick Geary last night for a wonderful presentation on his career and large, fantastic body of work. He talked about finding focus and direction during his 4 year stint as the art director for The Prairie Journal of Wichita, Kansas, his work for National Lampoon and the New York Review of Books, and his recent experience with self-publishing and utilizing Kickstarter. Here’s a bit of video from the event: It was a true pleasure to meet this master cartoonist – thanks Rick! (Further reading: check out this 2014 interview with Rick Geary over on The Comics Journal.) ————————————————————————————————— The Comics Reporter has a comprehensive list of all Cartoon Crossroads Columbus-related reports – check it 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 along with the thoughts of Aidan Koch and other CW students – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Even if you didn’t making it to one of the Comics Workbook-hosted workshops at SPX, CXC, or LICAF this year, you can still bring your comics game to a new level via 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! ————————————————————————————————— Have a happy Halloweenie weekend folks! – Sally Share this page: [...]

12/01/2016

Sam OmbiriDecember 1, 2016NewsToday we have Sam Ombiri with a new comic and his thoughts on rereading, Tyler Landry on the movement in Ronald Wimberly’s comic page layouts, new work by Chris Visions and Tanna Tucker, the POW! Womxn in Comics and Illustration exhibition, details on pre-ordering “The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey” and your Santoro Correspondence Course reminder, plus the latest “Suzy and Cecil” strip. ————————————————————————————————— ReRun – Sam Ombiri Someone told me that, to them, rereading is like dreaming a dream you’ve had before. This person said it to me like it was something she often did. I’ve never experienced anything like that, where I have a “rerun” of a dream. I could relate to the idea of rereading being like revising a place you’ve been before. I don’t think I can come up with one specific motivation behind rereading. It’s something people do with different motivations. Sometimes rereading is like visiting a place, a kind of copy of the original moment, with intentions maybe of recreating the original feeling. Sometimes (while engaging with work in this manner) I find that I skip ahead to the best parts, then I feel like I’m betraying the re-creation, or maybe the form? I don’t know, but I feel like I’m doing something wrong. Sometimes it’s very fulfilling to read in this manner (of recreating the first reading), and sometimes reading work this way just ruins things. It can get really boring to just validate established feelings. Like really really really really boring. Or maybe not boring, just very bland. I think that’s why my short attention span kicks in, and I flip through mindlessly. Sometimes after going through this I reproach rereading and suddenly what I’m reading is not “ruined”. It’s like if you can be anywhere you want but it’s too dissatisfying and too easy to be everywhere, so any moment you encounter ends up feeling like…unearned? Kind of like how easy it is to get information now. So then it helps to navigate more delicately (that’s probably the wrong word). – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Tyler Landry here. Gonna talk about movement in comics page layouts, via the highly energetic work of Ronald Wimberly. Sequences are nabbed from Prince of Cats. Check it out: This sequence shows the beginning of a violent altercation, with heavily weighted forward (left to right) movement, bringing your eye ever-closer to the focus, the point, the unmistakable K-T-T-T- sound of a box-cutter blade being pushed up… At a glance, there’s a powerful “X” slash through this sequence. Corner to corner, face to action/face to action, crossing through the attacker’s antic. We can also interpret, by the facing direction, and the trajectory of character movement, an intention on Ronald’s part to guide our eye along certain lines. Through the 3 horizontal strips, we feel a rhythm to this motion as well – perfectly paced out in corresponding measures. Pink > blue, pink > blue, pink > bl-blue. This next sequence acts like a ball, thrown across the page at first, then bouncing from one figure to another – still with diligent respect for a vertical stack of horizontal movement. I’ve focused mostly on characters, because they are the primarily active elements here, but this sequence leverages the content of its backgrounds beautifully for the assist. Check out the train across the top panels, then the view of the platform in bright yellow in the middle section, hauling your eye heavily towards the bottom right chunk, where tension has been building. The details get smaller, tighter, more condensed, helping you FEEL that something’s about to go down. Different groupings of characters take on different palettes, and different tones to reinforce their presence, and to balance them against each other and their background content. – Tyler Landry ————————————————————————————————— Sally Ingraham here with the news bites! While we’re on the topic, get a copy of Ronald Wimberly’s Prince of Cats from Copacetic Comics (it’s not listed on the website yet, but you can order one over the phone – I can personally vouch for copies of the book being in the shop!) From a recent NPR write-up on the book: “…Wimberly is out to do something more than just combine elements from two compatible genres. He’s clearly aiming to translate the mechanics of hip hop composition into a visual form. In Prince of Cats‘ introduction, University of California media professor John Jennings calls Wimberly a “See-Jay:” Wielding his pen the way a DJ mixes, he mashes up wildly diverse elements into a fresh creation.” – Etelka Lehoczky for NPR.org Read the rest of the review HERE. ————————————————————————————————— If you’re in the Oakland, CA, area be sure to check out the POW! Womxn in Comics & Illustration exhibition at Studio Grand. The opening reception is Dec. 2nd 2016. From the exhibition description: “Comics and illustrations have long been a popular art form, intended to reach the masses. They easily engage audiences by the use of humor, cliffhanging narratives, relatable stories, all through captivating visual narratives. Comics and illustrations have often portrayed womxn in a hyper-sexualized manner and have not shown more developed female characters. Much of this is due to the comic book industry which has historically profiled work written and created by men. POW! seeks to center womxn comics and illustrators who hold the pen and the narrative. This Exhibition centers stories that concern womxn comics and illustrators offering transformative narratives, one where women characters—speaking of mental health struggles, struggles of poverty and survival, isolation, resiliency, sisterhood—are at the forefront. The POW! Exhibition and accompanying events offer a nurturing space of solidarity and healing, letting womxn know that they are not alone in their struggles and resiliency.“ Check out the list of exhibitors HERE. I heard about the event from Tanna Tucker, an illustrator who is turning her focus increasingly towards comics. (She may join us in Pittsburgh next spring for a Rowhouse Residency!) Her recent ongoing projects include a 7-part fantasy comic with Mark Turner and Orpheus Forge Studios called Sea Wulfe – you can check it out HERE. Here’s an “excerpt” from Tanna’s piece at the POW! exhibition: Come see this piece in its entirety next week at the “POW! Womxn in Comics + Illustration” show next Friday @studiograndoakland Listened to Solange the whole way……. • • • • #womxnincomicsandillustration #afrofuturism #comics #illustration #artistsoninstagram #studiogrand #solange #wip A video posted by @t.ann.a on Nov 23, 2016 at 7:44pm PST ————————————————————————————————— Here’s Chris Visions dropping that hot fire! Gotta get back, back to the past– // ChrisVisions.BIGcartel.com, coming tomorrow! // #samuraijack #aku #red #art #comics #process #wip #ink A video posted by Chris Visions (@chrisvisions) on Nov 30, 2016 at 6:19pm PST Follow this link to get yourself one of these “visions in red” but don’t sleep on this – these pages are selling out fast. ————————————————————————————————— Thee great Vanesa R. Del Rey has generously agreed to let Comics Workbook publish selections from her sketchbooks. We designed it to look like a 1980’s comic book artist’s art book. The text is a transcription of an interview she did at The Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency in 2016. Vanesa is a once in a lifetime talent who studied with George Pratt and who has worked with Grant Morrison. We are offering pre-orders now at a lower price than we will be offering the book for in the new year. Great stocking stuffer. Pre-order your copy of The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey HERE! ————————————————————————————————— December 1st! That means you have 13 days left to get an application in for the Winter term of the Correspondence Course if you want that sweet “$100 off” discount! More details below. The Winter Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers starts Dec. 29th 2016! 8 week course – 500 bux – 10 spots available – apply by Dec. 13th 2016 and get $100 off course fee! More details can be found HERE – or email santoroschoolATgmail. Santoro School Application guidelines: -3 figure drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards -3 landscape drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards -3 still life drawings done on blank 3 x 5 cards -draw in a contour line style – Think Matisse – no under-drawing – draw directly in ink -just send small jpgs of images – dont post to your blog pls -specific url links to any comics work you have done. Send applications to: santoroschoolATgmail ————————————————————————————————— The latest Suzy and Cecil strip by Gabriella Tito! Suzy and Cecil is a collaborative daily comic strip project based on characters invented by Bill Boichel and Frank Santoro. It is primarily drawn by Gabriella Tito and Sally Ingraham, who are teammates in the Comics Workbook Roller Derby League. The strip is part of their continuing development as cartoonists – follow @suzy_and_cecil on Instagram to see the project unfold and keep an eye out for guest strips drawn by other Comics Workbook students and friends! Share this page: [...]

05/04/2017

Sally IngrahamMay 4, 2017NewsSam Ombiri shares thoughts on Sammy Harkham’s Crickets #6 – plus other comics-related news! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: What a fantastic issue of Sammy Harkham’s Crickets we got (#6)! I have to begin with how we got wonderful drawings from Harkham. Of course there are many comics drawn this way and many not, and I really don’t think about these differences so much, unless I’ve heard the author specifically bringing up the motivations for drawing the way they do. With Harkham’s drawings feeling somewhat rigid, it then becomes hard to penetrate the abstractions being offered – more so because they seem unlikely with this type of drawing. Actually it is really great that they aren’t so obvious to discern, even after “being discovered”, which is a testament to their strength. Harkham says (in Comic Book Decalogue Episode #5, 2015), “The kind of storytelling I’m interested in is making things really stacked and dense so that one thing is going on with dialogue, one thing’s going on visually, and one thing’s going on in the background.” He adds, laughing, “Just to push the anxiety level.” Abstractions are being offered to you. I think this is what is referred to by Harkham as dematerialization of drama; which I believe was first said by William Oldham in conjunction to Harkham’s work. Harkham says, regarding Somersaulting (which appears in his collected stories Everything Together, PictureBox 2012), “Any sort of plops is sort of the creative counterweight for the more quiet, calmer, open, sort of more contemplative sequences to still make it a comic.” – Comic Book Decalogue Episode #5 I think Harkham is still applying that principle to Blood of the Virgin (Crickets #6), but in a different way, thankfully. He’s advancing this new trick he found. What I really like is that Harkham didn’t just want to deal with another medium by making comics. He looks at comics like it’s the best medium, and the things that excite him about other mediums only furthers his enthusiasm for the comics medium. If I may make a contrived comparison, and this comparison isn’t completely parallel to Harkham, Leos Carax is a director who maybe wants to be a musician, so as a result his movies have scenes like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80xOJ2I2oVc Leos Carax says his first movie was called Boy Meets Girl, but all his of movies can be called “boy meets girl” and it’s often the same movie, featuring one guy in love with two women, with the exception of Holy Motors. Likewise, Sammy says his stories are all about denial (a similar denial is exemplified by Burt Lancaster in The Swimmer!) Harkham said in the past that he doesn’t want things to be expressive and moments to hold value over others. I think Harkham must see something similar in Brian Chippendale’s Ninja, where every panel has the same intensity. Or it’s like how Robert Bresson says he wants his actors to be like a virtuoso in portraying their afflictions. Of course other directors do this too – I only bring up Bresson because for me he has exhibited the most success with this mode of approaching expressiveness – in the way that I think Harkham is talking about. Harkham once said that he has a distaste for when sadness is conveyed just by showing a character crying. Harkham’s connection between comics and film has more to do with Emir Kusturica, but I’m going to speak more about intention and methods. Recently, someone brought up the duck motif – they told me they’re excited to see what Harkham will do with it. Personally I think we already saw. It has happened, it’s already an active force in the story. The ambient quality of the duck is what we’ll get. I hesitate to call it a symbol. I feel personally that if I attempt to say what it is, I’ll sully it. I was thinking a lot about how Andrei Tarkovsky said, “Bresson attempts in his films not to be symbolic; he tries to create a form as inexhaustible as nature, life itself. Of course this doesn’t always work. In fact, there are episodes in his films that are extremely symbolic and, therefore, limited – symbolic and not poetic.” (from an interview with Tarkovsky on A Bittersweet Life.) Tarkovsky then continues to say, “An obvious but banal example of this is the rabbit hunt in Mouchette.” I feel like if I rewatch Mouchette, Tarkovsky has officially ruined the scene for me, but you know, I’m only saying that as a joke, as Tarkovsky and Bresson kind of have this whole detached philosophy to the perception of their work. Harkham’s primary concern seems to be to entertain – it’s just the way that symbol works that’s similar. When the duck motif was brought to my attention it felt somewhat ruined. Now, with what Tarkovsky said in relation to Bresson’s rabbit scene, Bresson’s intentions were rather different for this scene – but there’s still something of a consensus. Tarkovsky refers to this as a moral influence between artists, without which art cannot exist. Harkham said, regarding Somersaulting and I’d imagine his work even now, “I realize that when you are directly influenced by someone, it’s not that you want to see something and copy it, it’s that you see someone, it’s a shortcut for a place you wanna go, so I knew the tone for that story and seeing Hopper’s work, in the flesh, just got me that much closer as a way to get there. Realizing that composition and a certain kind of composed quality, really measured quality, could go a long way towards that. So I think the story if I had never seen that show, the story would’ve probably resembled that in a lot of ways, but I probably would’ve taken more of a windy path to get there.“ Tarkovsky also said this one thing which is very similar to what Harkham said: “Just like everybody else who strives for simplicity and depth, I can’t help but identify with what he has achieved in this field. But on the other hand, even if Bresson would never have existed, we would have eventually come across this notion of a lapidary style, simplicity and depth.” It’s a very similar idea in my mind, that these artists with different goals, who operate on different principles, can end up at the same place with the same goals. Or it can even be like Krzysztof Kieslowski says – “People in different places and for different reasons think of the same thing I tried to talk about – things that connect people. I think this feeling, this music, all these notes already exist, scattered somewhere, waiting for the person who’ll put them in order. The fact that two different people at different times, in different places, from different social strata, can put these notes together in the same way seems to be a sign of what connects people.” (from Cinema Lesson in Blue) In The Blood of the Virgin, the story’s progression isn’t hindered by this other unnamed will to cause Seymour more afflictions slowly revealing itself. Seymour’s running out of places to go. We know he’ll end up face down just like it shows in the cover – the way it all turns out is worse than what I imagined. Especially for how believable it is. Harkham says, “I don’t really strive for realism, but more for specificity.” The order of the tragedy isn’t what’s being relied on really, and it’s not the order that makes it compelling, but it does leave everything grounded. Harkham says that the way he sees it is, “Plot is just a coat hanger to hang ideas and jokes and emotions on to.” The moment where Joy just up and says movies are cheesy – in this moment when Seymour is trying really hard to reach the destination of this major quest he’s been on – has to join the ranks of that which he greatly reveres as important. As a reader at that point, I hadn’t really realized how much of his vision is being denied to him – it had already started. All I could think was “Uh-oh”. It’s these small micro losses that tell you clearly that everything’s coming apart. For some reason I thought that Seymour’s life would maybe get better, despite his struggles. Harkham says, “I realized that what he (Edward Hopper) was doing with his paintings was something that I was really interested in – with a lot of the architectural drawings, and the interior a certain tone that you get out of the everyday objects and everyday spaces, trying to find the divine or the ambiguous – and he kind of does that so well, so it’s a visual touch point for that story I was working on, and I saw the show and there are a couple of exact echoes of the paintings in that story.“ Leos Carax compares cinema unfavorably to dreams, as in dreams you need to invent the way the way people move. Harkham says, “Cartooning is knowing how to use the sickeningly stupid blunt emotion of each panel and build something emotionally complex of it.“ Like designing someone’s car to signify what kind of person it is that drives it, or how Harkham says he likes how in The Swimmer, “It makes sense that the whole time the main character is in his swimsuit.” That the imagery is in complete conjunction with what’s going on with the story, and for one reason or another that’s what he’s aiming for. That the work dictates what’s gonna be in it. “What I liked about comics as a teenager is the same thing I liked about punk rock and what I liked about gory horror movies: It just felt completely trashy and disgusting and stupid. You’d be embarrassed to read a comic on the bus – you still would. But I like that. It’s embracing that surface quality, not trying to make your work look smart at all, and then surprising the reader that this is a little bit richer, more layered, that there’s a lot more going on.” I think what Harkham is saying is similar to how Funny Games lingers on people’s radar as just some fun horror movie to watch – but there’s really a ton of things to unpack there, so then he likes that spot. I’m not so fond of this idea of creating this spectacle of finding a dense story in an underestimated medium. I’m glad that Harkham doesn’t count on this spectacle, as it feels like a cheap trick. I feel similarly about something that Austin English said about how The Disgusting Room was made – he has in his mind come up with this idea that people who’ll read The Disgusting Room will think it’s a newspaper or something, but then be surprised with this imaginative comic (which it is). After hearing that, however, whatever enjoyment I got out of The Disgusting Room went up in flames, because what about the rest of us, where we already know how great comics can be? Or even to an extent I hear Patrick Kyle say he wants to make comics that can only be made as a comic – does that enhance the work being made though? There’s a great essay by Connor Willumsen at the end of this issue of Crickets that talks about these things better than I can, about how what the soundtrack of a movie would be, or the sound design, or a prop, is something you think differently, but not too differently from comics. What the soundtrack is, is similar to the way an author can linger on, let’s say, the gestures of a character, and really slowing things down, to the most minuscule degree. It’s more acceptable, as a medium, to do that, so in turn that might be what a recurring element in a movie might otherwise do. I’m thinking of how it may all be about lingering elements within a work. In Holy Motors a segment of this song plays before the character Mr. Oscar assumes a new identity. In some movies the soundtrack is something else entirely though. The best version of this coming to fruition that I can think of is in Blue from the Three Colors Trilogy – both movies kind of end with a musical number, though I have to insist that the song at the end of Blue is more appropriate than Holy Motors‘ within the story. Connor doesn’t hone in on a cut and paste principle – that’s just easily applied – but the way I remember it, if memory serves (it often doesn’t serve me well), he just says that this is a principle that a maker or a reader can think of in conjunction with what the author might be doing that might otherwise remain obscure. – Sam Ombiri (Additional quotes by Sammy Harkham sourced from the article Sammy Harkham: Naturalism and Specificity, and a Los Angeles Times article – Sammy Harkham, a City’s Comics Crusader.) 5-4-2017 – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Sally here – check out this incredible compilation of stock footage from Marvel and DC studios in the 1970’s – you can watch it below. There are lots of wow-inducing moments, but I especially enjoyed a brief glimpse into the beginning of Trevor Von Eeden‘s career – see him at 17 years of age showing some newly drawn pages to an editor at DC Comics – watch for him at minute 8:44! (via The Comics Journal) ————————————————————————————————— Keep an eye out for The Encyclopedia of Black Comics, coming this September from Fulcrum Publishing and Professor Sheena C. Howard (Eisner-award winning author of Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation). According to her call for writers (which went out last August) she expects the book to include entries on at least “150 Black people in the comics industry who have published significant work in the United States or done notable work in the comics field, being included in the volume (including editors, publishers, illustrators, artists, creators, etc).” You can pre-order the book on Amazon. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-4-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 5-4-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

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