Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in News

Juan Fernández

Posted on December 21, 2016December 23, 2016

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05/13/2016

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

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: [...]

02/02/2018

Sally IngrahamFebruary 1, 2018NewsSally here with the myth of the Wonder Woman, plus Vanessa Davis, Little Dot, Ulli Lust, and more! ————————————————————————————————— There is a lengthy, intense essay on Artforum by Sarah Nicole Prickett titled Serious Sex Battle – it is about the myth of the “wonder woman”. She digs into comics, literature, and film and discusses the ways that pop culture has tried and repeatedly failed to make women “super” – often by stripping them of all the real things that in fact make them super. For example: “The scholar Michele Wallace argues in Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman (1978) that the black woman doesn’t need a costume. She is already held to be a “woman of inordinate strength.” She “does not have the same fears, weaknesses, and insecurities as other women, but believes herself to be and is, in fact, stronger emotionally than most men. Less of a woman in that she is less ‘feminine’ and helpless, she is really more of a woman in that she is the embodiment of Mother Earth.” Ergo, says Wallace, she is a superwoman, burdened by the source of her powers.“ Prickett talks about Wonder Woman quite a bit, of course, both the strengths and weaknesses of the character and what she represents. She also brings up Miss Fury, Scarlett O’Hara, Tim Burton’s take on Cat Woman, and a whole lot more. Devote an hour at least to sifting through this piece (one that Prickett spent a few years writing!) Read the whole essay HERE. ————————————————————————————————— There is a nice interview with Vanessa Davis on Pocko, which digs into her career as a whole so far, her influences, and the choices she’s made along the way. “Pocko: Your father was a commercial artist and photo-journalist. Can you see any of his work in your own? How did your childhood affect your career? Davis: It feels natural (if not always easy) for me to live and work within an uncertain freelance lifestyle. The humility of struggle and uncertainty mixed with the rush of work and money… that’s always been sort of central to my experience, but both my mom and dad worked doing what they loved, so that’s just paramount, by any means necessary, to me. It is a high-maintenance lifestyle, but it feels almost just cultural or religious or something–I can’t get away from it. My dad definitely had an eye for the absurd and could criticize his subjects by merely portraying them. But he also maintained a sort of joy for the chaos of this world. That’s definitely something I aspire to in my work and in my own viewpoint.“ Read the whole interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Michael Dooley has another great article on Print, this time tying a famous comic book character of the 1950s/60s – Little Dot – to today’s art scene and specifically the work of Yayoi Kusama (who is, if it’s possible, even more dot-happy than Dot). The article includes multiple scans of old Little Dot comics, and this excellent reminder of what made them interesting: “If you’ve never heard of this one-time comic book celebrity, it’s because Little Dot hasn’t been getting around much anymore. She started out in 1949 as a back-up feature in kids’ comics like Richie Rich but soon earned her own title. As originally conceived by cartoonist Vic Herman, she was designed with a distinctive flair and personality. But in 1953 her appearance melded into Harvey’s house style. She was softened and rounded out, which rendered her barely distinguishable from Little Audrey and Wendy the Good Little Witch. But from a marketing angle, it was a huge success. Like the gluttonous Little Lotta, Dot fits neatly into Harvey’s formula of one-dimensional, obsessive-compulsive personalities. The less said about the actual stories, the better, because what’s truly fascinating is that this kid is completely dot-crazy, hooked on circles. She’s constantly compelled to reconstitute her surroundings to conform to her own private fetish. And why not? She may simply be an instinctual Design Modernist, sensing the dot as infinite, supremely iconic, the purest, most perfect single form in the universe. Not to mention that her very existence is totally dependent on the CMYK/benday process. Insert a shout-out to Pop Art’s Roy Lichtenstein here.” Check out the rest of this enjoyable read HERE. ————————————————————————————————— France Culture asked ten authors to make a comic about their relationship to Chris Ware, in the event that he won a big prize at Angouleme. Ulli Lust made the little scene pictured above. As it turns out, neither Chris Ware or Ulli Lust won prizes this year at Angouleme, so when she shared the strip Ulli said it could have an alternate title: In the same boat again with Chris Ware. ————————————————————————————————— An announcement went out this week from the organizers of the Pittsburgh Indy Comix Exposition: Dear Friends of PIX — We know some of you have been wondering about the status of PIX 2018. To make a long story short: there will NOT be a PIX 2018. We apologize for the late announcement of this fact. We are, however, already working on PIX 2019 and plan to return to the August Wilson Center in April 2019. We will make a formal announcement in the summer of this year. Thank you for your past support. Stay tuned… —Team PIX ————————————————————————————————— Sticky Notes Apply for the Lucy Shelton Caswell Research Award, offered by the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum – applications due by March 1st – more details HERE! The Daily Beast has a lengthy profile on Trina Robbins – read it HERE. Sara Lautman writes a comic for the New Yorker about Cow Tools and a new tattoo – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Collected from the thousands of pages of material that Frank has left scattered all over the digital landscape, these 4 PDF collections contain Frank’s best writing on comics and comics making from the past decade. Theory and process, reviews and discoveries, journeys both physical and spiritual. Check out the “Best of Frank Santoro” PDF collections, available HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 2-2-2018 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 2-2-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

05/25/2017

Sally IngrahamMay 24, 2017NewsSam Ombiri on Fante Bukowski Two, plus other comics news! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: Fante Bukowski Two by Noah Van Sciver (Fantagraphics, 2017) is a fantastic book with fantastic characters. Audrey (Fante’s old girlfriend, who is also a writer) was my favorite character in the first Fante Bukowski book, so I was really thrilled that she came back, and a good chunk of the book was following her, away from Fante. Audrey was the only character that really felt real, and the only one who wasn’t there to torment Fante’s existence. In the new book she does a different kind of tormenting of Fante in this specific way that the other characters don’t. All these people are making fun of Fante. On some level Fante is surprisingly aware of why he’s getting made fun of. In this new book, Fante’s conflict wasn’t a complete joke. I was kind of bummed on the first Fante Bukowski book. While Van Sciver sympathized with Fante, he’d torment Fante. The joke was Fante’s hysterical sadness, which was just played off as something to laugh at. Fante is someone who has to live with himself, with being who he is and doing what he’d doing – he’s a great writer. If he’s NOT a great writer than it means a huge amount of shame which he can’t bare to confront will come his way. Of course, if Van Sciver actually had no interest in sympathizing with the characters it would still be a really good book. It’s just that as a reader, the sympathy is what I’ve been sold on with Van Sciver; the way he’s able to portray humanity with sympathy so, so well. There’s a mysterious element to the way Van Sciver portrays humans, from that I’ve seen – and that’s really astounded me. Like in this new book, while everyone is laughing at Fante, you the reader know that Audrey is sincerely seeking Fante out. The other characters are all trying to get on Audrey’s good side, and part of this is reflected in how hard they’re laughing at Fante – but they don’t see how she secretly holds him in higher regard than them, for some special reason that Audrey has. Despite all of Audrey’s new literary success, she’s finding that she’s dissatisfied, but not in a very extreme way. Her dissatisfaction isn’t shoved down your throat. The dissatisfaction comes subtly and slowly in moments where she isn’t thankful for her success. She finds all this discomfort in doubting herself, as she’s really intimidated by the next steps she’s supposed to take to either keep, or perpetuate, her success. Then she gets nostalgic, as a result of the new stress she has, which she hadn’t previously dealt with. She remembers how she felt refreshed by how naive Fante was. Fante himself, in a way, says she won’t find what she’s looking for in him (although Fante is unaware of that being exactly what he’s said to her). Then Audrey’s reaction towards this is astounding. All in all, Fante Bukowski Two is really, really fun, the art is terrific, and it was hard to stop reading it when I started. You can get a copy of this book from Copacetic Comics. – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Sally here – since we’re on the topic of Noah Van Sciver today, I will link to the recent TCJ interview with him, conducted by Caitlin McGurk. They talk Fante Bukowski Two, Noah’s time at CCS, and both Fante and Noah’s recent move to Columbus, OH – a few real locations of which show up in the book (such as Forno, seen above in a scene that Sam was describing where everyone is hating on Fante in order to get on Audrey’s good side…!) Something that I really appreciate about Noah is that his output and work ethic are tied into his own growth as an artist and storyteller – each of his books feels fresh and moves confidently in a new direction. Caitlin touches on this constant growth in the interview: “This book is so genuinely funny – there are sequences on almost every page that had me actually laughing out loud. You’ve gotten very good at comedic timing. While I’ve found humor in all of your work in one way or another, most of your other long-form books have been much more directly reflective or downright sad. Do you feel like one tone is calling you more than the other these days, and why? I’m conscious of learning to be a proficient comedy and drama storyteller. I don’t want to be a single note cartoonist. If I learn to blend it all together then I’ll draw comics that readers can’t just passively read. I want people to feel satisfied after reading my stories if it’s possible. You’re doing a great job at it. When you say learning, I assume you mean by way of studying other works. Who are you reading and what are you watching that you learn the most from? For a long time I was buying and reading alternative comics from the 90s and early 2000s. Drawn & Quarterly magazines and issues of Zero Zero, stuff like that. There are a bunch of artists from that era that I get inspired by that you don’t hear about much these days. Someone like Pentti Otsamo, for example, did a little book called The Fall Of Homunculus that I really love. Just straight storytelling. I don’t dig very deep with film, but I pay attention to story structure and look up to the Coen Brothers who are perfect at weaving humor into an otherwise dramatic story.” Take a lesson from Noah’s career, work hard if you really mean to be a cartoonist, keep learning and moving forward. Read the rest of the interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Brazilian artist Hugo Canuto has been reworking famous comic covers (like Avengers No. 4 – 1963, above) to depict Jack Kirby-like renditions of African gods and goddesses. Dangerous Minds reports: “Many deities of modern-day Afro-Brazilian religions find their roots in the mythologies of Nigeria and Benin, and these covers reflect that, using specifically local, that is to say Portuguese, spellings of the names. … Last year Canuto reworked an iconic early cover of The Avengers to showcase the major Orishas, called Orixas in Portuguese, which are key elemental spirits of the Yoruba religion. So “The Orixas” is the umbrella category, like “The Avengers,” that houses all of the mythological figures that followed.“ See more of Hugo Canuto’s covers HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Shannon Wright’s artwork is featured on NPR once again, this time accompanying the Comics And Graphic Novels Reader Poll. “Here at NPR headquarters in DC, MARVELous IMAGEs and FANTAstic GRAPHICS are dancing in our heads as we contemplate this year’s edition of our famous Summer Reader Poll — who will make the cut? Will it be packed with old favorites or BOOM! Will a DARK HORSE muscle in? Oh god, we can’t keep this up anymore. Let’s just come right out and say it: This summer, we’re celebrating comics and graphic novels, and we need your help! Whether it’s a dogeared childhood treasure, the latest Eisner award winner or the webcomic you binge-read last week, tell us about it using the form on this page.“ Help NPR curate a final list of 100 favorite comics – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— The summer semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers begins June 1st! 8 weeks – $500 bux. Coaching for as long as you need it – payment plans available. More details HERE. ————————————————————————————————— 5-25-2017 – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 5-25-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 5-25-2017 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

03/29/2018

Comics WorkbookMarch 28, 2018NewsHere’s Sam Ombiri on Sophie Goldstein’s House of Women! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: At times when I read comics I’m really invested in the scenario being presented, and I don’t really identify the characters well enough. I’m reading the story and I have to interrupt myself to study who is who. With House of Women by Sophie Goldstein, however, I was really struck by the characters’ various expressions, and the gestures the characters would make. I was impressed by how much information was conveyed through this, and in ways that aren’t that obvious. I was just reading and reading, invested in the scenario, but I found that I was experiencing who each character was in a different way. It wasn’t just their distinctive design – it had more to do with their facial expressions, and the moments that took place really stuck in my mind after reading because I could feel who the characters were. Before the characters could speak, I felt a deep understanding of who they were. Whenever characters would act a certain way, it would come as no surprise because just their facial expressions would communicate so much. This was more so for Sarai, Kizzy, Rhivka, and Aphra than for Mr. Dean or the aliens (above). And that makes sense. It’s the equivalent of shining a spotlight. For example, it’s not unlike Aphra to look so cross – she’s clearly a very level-headed person, so when she looks cross or worried, it’s for good reason. When Kizzy appreciates the smell of the blossoms or is really taken by children, it’s very expected. Rhivka, for good reason, is hard to pin down and her absence is really felt. She looks like someone who would be mysteriously absent while the other women are gathered. All the expressions a character has ever made has molded that character’s face, and their gestures dictate the shape of their body. I was really struck by this – maybe because the style the book is drawn in is seemingly trying to get in the way of the story. It seems like there are things that should be obscuring my understanding and such, but the story is so clearly laid out – even the word balloons tell me where to go as a reader. What’s alluded to is what’s being said, making a rhyme with the image and words. Maybe I’m also thinking about how straightforward the visual narration in The Oven was, whereas in House of Women Sophie Goldstein is more specific with how moments should unfold. The book is very aware of a reader reading the pages – each moment is paced very distinctly. If a scene is of the women walking up a hill (above), the page is drawn in such a way that you feel it, you feel the moment passing slowly. It’s a case of using the comics medium to its full extent. This is perhaps like it’s filmic counterpart, Black Narcissus. I was anticipating a retelling of Black Narcissus because of how much Sophie emphasized it as a major influence – though truth be told, to me it was very far from that. I see maybe, for lack of a better term, iconography from Black Narcissus (like the title itself for example), and certain moments from Black Narcissus playing out in the book, but it simultaneously feels independent of the movie and any comparison to it would be inappropriate. What happened to Rhivka is perhaps comparable to Sister Ruth in Black Narcissus, but Rhivka is more aware of what’s happening to her. There is also this Cronenberg-esque mutation that one of the alien natives has gone through. This was actually a fantastic point in the book. The alien’s mutation was amazing. I really liked the design of the aliens in the book. All the drawings in this book are enjoyable both to look at, and to read – from the way the story is told through the panels, to the way the sounds the characters are hearing is communicated, and the words the characters say to each other. All great. – Sam Ombiri Get a copy of House of Women by Sophie Goldstein 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 as early as March 30th 2018. Deadline to apply is April 12th. Read all about the course HERE and email santoroschool@gmail.com for more details or to apply. ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-29-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

Happy Holidays from Comics Workbook!

Posted on December 21, 2016December 23, 2016 by Juan Fernández

Happy Holidays from all of us here at Comics Workbook!

Comics Workbook’s Daily News is taking a holiday break from Dec. 22-28!
Our news team will return, refreshed, on December 29th.

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in News

Juan Fernández

Posted on December 21, 2016December 23, 2016

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06/08/2017

Sally IngrahamJune 8, 2017NewsSam Ombiri on Josh Bayer’s RAW POWER, a Tarantula, and chain-breaking Wonder Woman for your Thursday. ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: Raw Power by Josh Bayer is a barrage of one moment after the other, that never ends. Every time I tried reading the book before, it wasn’t so accommodating. I’d try to follow the story, and then as I was going from panel to panel I’d find that my eyes were thrown away from the book. Whenever I read Raw Power, I feel a sense of guilt, because I can’t read with the same energy that it seems to have been produced with. Meanwhile I’ve been reading Kirby and Simon’s romance comics – I don’t feel the same threat when reading Kirby’s comics or for that matter really any other comic artists who are known to have intense drafting. I think it maybe comes from reading the title RAW POWER and seeing the cover. The title almost just flat out says no matter how you read this you won’t possibly match the energy that this was made with. This is regardless of whether the book was drawn with that supposed energy. I remember Austin English talking about Raw Power in a review on The Comics Journal, and saying that it probably wasn’t drawn how it feels, but it exudes this specific energy, which up until the the first issue of Raw Power came out, Austin hadn’t seen in Bayer’s other comics. Despite the dizzy frantic drawing, there’s a really dogmatic nature present in the book. Maybe this surfaces from him being a teacher and the way he talks in interviews, so as I approach reading it, I read it with a dogmatic voice in my head. I’m going to contradict what I previously said, by saying that it IS a very accommodating book. The feeling of the book changed as I was reading it. Reading Raw Power felt more like I had to hang on tight, and not fall off. A real Paper Rodeo. It sometimes felt like Bayer was trying to kick me off the pages, and then invite me back in. I’m experiencing an overload of moments, and a lot is being explored, and the art doesn’t do me any favors in terms of recovering from my dizziness. It’s about obsession with figures who make work that spur to extreme degrees, and then there’s this comic Josh is covering, and he’s bringing for me as a reader interest in what he’s modified, and he managed to wrap a really engrossing story around it. Most of all, it’s great how, despite the extremely fun tirades Josh goes on, it always comes back to the original path it was on and elements resurface with major twists. I think that the most satisfying thing is the story. I truly truly think that. In the end I got my fill. – Sam Ombiri 6-8-2017 – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Sally here – I’m eager to get my hands on the new comic by Alexis Ziritt, Fabian Rangel Jr., and Evelyn Rangel – Tarantula (AdHouse Books, June 2017)! It was recently on Paste Magazine‘s list of required reading for the month: “Looking like a vintage pulp novel straight off the dollar racks at your local used book store, Tarantula promises “Satanic noir” from the same creative team that brought the world the psychedelic Space Riders. Artist Alexis Ziritt is a grindhouse force to be reckoned with, channeling Kirby and Dan Brereton in equal parts for this tale of supernatural agents of order standing strong against the forces of chaos. Writer Fabian Rangel, Jr., by now a staple of most non-Big Two publishers, knows how to set Ziritt up for a home run and get out of his way. Adhouse Books is a new home for these two, but the handsome throwback hardcover they’ve produced should sit nicely next to Black Mask’s Space Riders and Rangel and Logan Faerber’s Albatross Funnybooks Vietnam-era lycanthrope tale,‘Namwolf. ” -Steve Foxe Get a copy of the comic HERE. ————————————————————————————————— With all the excitement of the new Wonder Woman film going around, I remembered that Gilbert Hernandez drew a Wonder Woman story in 2014, which appeared in Sensation Comics #3 and #4. Although it may not be the most “wondrous” Wonder Woman tale (Supergirl gets a lot of the glory), it is certainly one of the most powerful depictions of Diana – see more of the comic HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 6-8-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 6-8-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

09/17/2018

Caleb OrecchioSeptember 17, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here, writing from my hotel the morning after SPX 2018 ————————————————————————————————— Like an idiot, I didn’t take any photos at SPX 2018. I don’t like taking pictures at comics festivals for some reason, but usually I suck it up because I know I will have to write about it on Monday. This year I did not suck it up. A bunch of us from Pittsburgh met up at our Pittsburgh Comics Salon headquarters Kaibur Coffee and caravanned up the turnpike to the Marriott here in Bethesda (or North Bethesda or Rockville or wherever this is) where SPX is held. It’s fun to go as a pack. You know there will be someone you can hangout and tag along with. Once again at SPX, Comics Workbook held workshops all weekend. Sally Ingraham brilliantly facilitated the workshops and kept the engine oiled. We didn’t have a table this year which gave us plenty of time and energy to channel into the workshops which filled the Glen Oak room to the brim with hungry learners almost every time. Comic enthusiasts young and old, green and seasoned lined up along the walls to make comics with Juan Fernandez, Dash Shaw, Molly Ostertag, The Latin American Youth Council, Mosi and yours truly. Liz Reed and Camilla Zhang broke up the comics-making pattern by instructing a sculpting class and giving a presentation on Kickstarter campaigns respectively. Saturday, I was the doorman for the Glen Echo room and was able to catch a glimpse and sit in on most of the workshops. Juan as always began the batting line-up as the sure hitter. Juan is a natural educator and genuinely wants people to learn and understand the way comics work. His workshop was energetic and comfortable for all. Dash was an unsurprisingly great instructor. As the attendees drew comics from his prompts he gave constant feedback and helped to instill the fundamentals in them. Sunday I had a bit more freedom and was able to catch Rachel Miller’s interview with Julie Doucet. Doucet is a humble badass who has no intention of not following her own path. What can I say? You had to be there. In theory a video recording will be available to watch soon. Got to take some time to walk the floor between Doucet’s panel and my workshop. I didn’t have a whole lot of time but managed to say hi to Jim Rugg and buy Lauren Weinstein’s new book from Youth in Decline and then head back down to the Glen Echo Room. I had a really fun workshop. Juan helped me figure out exactly what I wanted teach and made a few suggestions to work out the kinks. I made the attendees make a six-panel comic, and then redraw that comic in different ways with different layouts. We started with a six-panel grid, then redrew it as a nine-panel comic, then redrew that as a three panel comic. Same story each time with a different layout. Everyone quickly caught on to the idea of how to expand and simplify the amount of information depending on the layout. It was really fun to watch. That’s it for me, I gotta get to Pittsburgh before the rain does. Special thanks to the team at SPX, especially Warren Bernard, Lynda Bernard, Rob Clough, Danethin Mejia and Eden Miller for helping us with making these workshops happen! WE had a great time! Also thank you to all of our workshop instructors! Personal thanks to Sally Ingraham and Juan Fernandez who move mountains to ensure Comics Workbook is a fun and interesting team to be on! ————————————————————————————————— 9-17-18 – By Niall Breen Share this page: [...]

07/06/2016

Juan FernándezJuly 6, 2016NewsJuan Fernandez here with your Spanish language comics news: Cuadernos de cómic número 6;los consejos de Inés Estrada; Novedades de Fulgencio Pimentel; la historia del cómic Chileno; una reseña del PLAYGROUND de Berliac. ————————————————————————————————— CuCo, Cuadernos de cómic número 6. Junio de 2016 La nueva edicion de la revista de estudio y crítica de la historieta, CuCo, hay sido publicada este fin de semana! Puedes descargar Revista 6 aqui – GRATIS. Entre sus ensayos, debates, y estudios esta edicion incluye entrevistas con Martin Lopez Lam, Mirion Malle, y Sergio Garcia. En CuCo, se toma lo del cómic en serio! ————————————————————————————————— Consejos de Inés Estrada Hot tips and encouragement from Inés Estrada on how to make comics and illustration work for you. Lots more over on her site. *Expensive tools aren’t mandatory I draw all my comics with just a mechanical pencil and I have a 10 year old wacom tablet. I only splurge on nice Fabriano paper. This is what I’ve found that works for me. Find whatever works best for YOU, it doesn’t have to be the same as what other people use! *Share your work anywhere you can If you can go to fests or shows, that’s great, but if you can’t, use the internet! I grew up in Mexico City where there is no “comics scene” but I was still able to make it because I’ve been consistently posting my work on the internet for years. Commit yourself to posting your work on Tumblr, Twitter or Instagram as often as you can. Try to have a separate account for your professional work that doesn’t feature a million photos of your beautiful cat and the delicious breakfast you made today. NEVER STOP DRAWING, NEVER STOP MAKING, DON’T LET ANYTHING DISCOURAGE YOU! STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF! ————————————————————————————————— La historia del cómic Chileno La Biblioteca Nacional de Chile le ofrece una vista cronológica del desarrollamiento del cómic chileno desde 1906 hasta el presente. Aunque no sea exhaustivo, es un buen punto de partida para quienes quieran aprender mas sobre el mundo del cómic Chileno. Edúcate! La historia del cómic en nuestro país se encuentra estrechamente relacionada con el desarrollo de la historieta y el humor gráfico, que iniciaron su recorrido entre el siglo XIX y la primera mitad del siglo XX. Este desarrollo, en sus inicios, estuvo centrado principalmente en la sátira política, y más tarde en publicaciones orientadas al entretenimiento infantil. El primer personaje de historietas nacional, Von Pilsener, fue creado en 1906 por Lustig (Pedro Subercaseaux), y sus aventuras fueron reeditadas en la década de 1990 por el poeta e investigador Jorge Montealegre. De estos años datan gran cantidad de publicaciones con historietas extranjeras y nacionales, entre las que destacaban algunas como El Pibe (1923), Don Fausto (1924), Pulgarcito (1938) y Pobre Diablo (1946), así como otras más conocidas por los lectores de hoy, como Topaze, dedicada al humor político, y El Peneca, dirigido desde la década de 1920 por Elvira Santa Cruz. Nació también antes de 1950 el más famoso de los personajes ilustrados de nuestro país: Condorito. ————————————————————————————————— Reseña de Playground por Berliac “ ‘Playground’ is a fundamental work to understand comics of today. It’s a complex, postmodern piece, about the medium and its limitations (…) Berliac breaks through these limits and starts from scratch (…) using, in short, all the posibilities of comics”. – Jesús Jádiva, Zona Negativa Y no se pierdan la reseña de Playground que Frank Santoro hizo pare TCJ en 2014. Te dara otra perspectiva en el valor de esta obra de Berliac. ————————————————————————————————— Novedades de Fulgencio Pimentel Editorial Fulgencio Pimentel a lanzado su nueva suscripción, y como mola: 1. Beverly de Nick Drnaso 2. Meeting Jari de José Ja Ja Ja 3. Melancolía de Simon Hanselmann 4. Talco de Amanda Baeza 5. La yaya Meti de Aapo Rapi 6. Mi pequeño (edición integral) de Olivier Schrauwen Suscríbete por 89.00€ hoy! Presentación DMLQL en Barcelona Y si estas en Barcelona, no te pierdas la presentacion de Gabriel Corbera este Sabado en Fatbottom! 9 de julio a las 12:00 horas. Fatbottom C/ Lluna, 10. Barcelona DÍAS MÁS LARGOS QUE LONGANIZAS de Gabriel Corbera es sencillamente uno de nuestros tebeos favoritos ever. Deudor del manga más cinemático tanto como de las novelas de Marcial Lafuente Estefanía, salpicado de referencias a videojuegos, envuelto en una atmósfera ominosa y risible a un tiempo, DMLQL es mayormente una lección acerca de cómo se ordenan los silencios y los blancos de un poema; o para el caso, de un tebeo. Para nosotros, desde la primera lectura, este tebeo es El Rock y El Verano, los dos en uno, y eso a pesar de que DMLQL es un cómic de tormenta. ————————————————————————————————— hasta la proxima! JF Share this page: [...]

06/23/2016

HarrisonJune 23, 2016NewsHarrison’s Daily News for June 23, 2016 starts off in the Salon, drops off midway with Inkbrick 5, and lands with some Busdriver. ————————————————————————————————— Salon Etiquette Your favorite correspondent’s favorite correspondent Juan Fernandez reflects on the latest meeting of the Pittsburgh Comics Salon. Ingest your daily vitamins of theory, modular grids, holding the center, and more below. http://comicsworkbook.com/notes-from-the-salon-june-18th-2016/ ————————————————————————————————— Visions Chris Visions was at Heroes Con last weekend, where Izzy Renzi took this photo. As soon as he got back… “’…all of a sudden, for no pahticulah reason… I decided to go for a little run…’ And draw.” Always moving. Check out The Chris Visions Summer Collection, 2016 ————————————————————————————————— Ink Squad Alexander Rothman: We’re proud to announce that INK BRICK no. 5 is now available for preorder from our online store! Yet again our submission pool brought us more excellent work than we could hope to print, and as a result this will be our largest to date. Part of the book is a special section excerpting Jenny Zervakis’s upcoming book Strange Growths, which will be published jointly by John Porcellino of Spit And A Half and Tom Hart of the Sequential Artists Workshop. ————————————————————————————————— GATOSAURIO Gatosaurio Grab Bags! Each includes one surprise tee, sticker pack, tote bag and enamel pin plus more surprises like zines, 90s tattoo chokers, a pocket notebook or a coin purse! inechi.com ————————————————————————————————— Color is Light I heart kokooma_, you should too. instagram.com/kokooma_ Quang Comics ————————————————————————————————— Thumbs “Po-pos don’t wan’t to follow me, when they see me in sneakers and cotton tees.” Busdriver Thumbs out now. Share this page: [...]

07/31/2017

Caleb OrecchioJuly 31, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here and I can’t stop thinking about Jack Kirby ———————————————————————————————— Kirby Complex Not a day goes by that I don’t flip through a Kirby comic. Lately I’ve taken keen interest in the “Tales of Asgard” stories that were the back up feature for Thor. Love those 4-panel grids. And I don’t care what anyone says, Colletta was NOT Kirby’s worst inker—in fact I’d argue (at least in the case of the Tales of Asgard) that Colletta was one of Kirby’s BEST inkers. Chic Stone is the most underwhelming Kirby inker in my humble opinion—but that is neither here nor there. I’m just thinking out loud. Hmmm…I’m stalling because I’m having a hard time collecting my thoughts at the moment. More and more each day I am convinced that Jack Kirby was a prophet. And I know I’m not the only who thinks this. Just one google search led me to this. I’ve heard others talk about Kirby amazing ability to either affect future culture or basically predict future events. Ever heard the story of how Kirby drew a mushroom cloud before the public was even aware what that was? He got a visit from the FBI. I’m having a hard time remembering where I read/heard this so you get a “No-Prize” if you leave a link in the comments to it. Whenever I talk about Kirby to a layperson, I like to point out Mother Box. Basically, Kirby’s prediction of the smartphone and tablet. See below how Orion of the New Gods uses Mother Box to hide his real face like a Instagram or Snapchat filter—he’s practically taking a selfie. Or this one where Orion (as O’Ryan) mentions Mother Box’s GPS capabilities. And when I see this page, I can’t help but think of how we now have the technology to control drones with our devices. These were just the examples that came to me off the top of my head. If the spirit moves you, dear reader, feel free to leave any other examples that struck you while reading Kirby’s work that gives evidence of Kirby’s prophetic gift. I’m sure there are those of you who have given this much thought. Anyway, have a good Monday ———————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know I found this talk on Kirby by Arlene Schumer to be really really fantastic. I particularly like how he gave context to Kirby’s roll in culture through the years. I have very much been enjoying Gabrielle Bell’s Annual July Dairies this year. I’m a sucker for comics with dogs. If you wanted to apply for CAB this year and haven’t yet–you’re too late, but here is Chris Ware art you can snag if you do go. I spent my lunches this past week watching this esoteric comic store documentary series on youtube. For those of you with taste, much of the content will probably infuriate you as it did me. Almost all of the people involved in this comic store HATE everything I love. That being said, I absolutely love this series for its non-judgemental take on an aspect of comics culture. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 7-31-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ———————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 7-31-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

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