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An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in Festivals and Shows, InterviewsTagged ethan rilly, Hartley Lin, pope hats

Frank Santoro

Posted on June 3, 2016May 15, 2019

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Art Trip: The Orlando Museum of Art

Art Trip: The Orlando Museum of Art

Gabriella TitoAugust 12, 2016Art Trip / EssaysThe Orlando Museum of Art is located in Loch Haven Park with the Science Center close by. Their biggest exhibition right now is their Contemporary Art exhibit from May 13th to August 28th. When I visited recently I was pleasantly surprised to find that the the exhibition was extremely diverse, with many female and Latino artists. Of the many artists I saw, it was Maria Martinez-Cañas who stood out to me. She is an artist who works WITH photos but does not really use a camera to take photos. My interest was captured as soon as I walked into the exhibition and saw the faded out prints. Her Vestigios Series is my absolute favorite body of work in the museum. She takes images from Gelatin silver prints or printed pages of books and manually “erases” them with sandpaper, creating a vintage look. Her whole Vestigios Series can be found HERE. I feel like she was trying to find a connection to the past in this series. In the same exhibition room, there was a video of Dawn Roe’s Mountain Field Studies being projected onto the wall (pictured above). I almost felt like I was looking at a comic of fleeting observations of a mountain. In this series, she carefully put together details of a mountain into a series of blocked out images, and even some grids thrown in there! I couldn’t help but think about the observations I make when I’m creating a comic based on the environment around me. When I’m making an observational comic, I’ll usually make broader “statements” at first, meaning I don’t go too much into detail with the environment. These drawings will usually be wide shots of the scene, or even quick silhouettes of the subject matter. Then, I’ll start zooming in more and capturing those details in different ways. I like holding the tempo sometimes and lingering on a subject for a panel or two and then moving on. I apply this concept to other works I make as well and it hasn’t failed me yet! Also, on Dawn Roe’s portfolio site I found something in her statement that I completely resonated with – “This earthly presence is distinct from the seemingly stable, reproducible image – one that persists, suggesting that all matter is sound enough to endure the world’s relentless shifts, however benign or catastrophic.“ In her statement, Dawn talks about the spaces that objects in the world make and that she captures the “unique situations” these objects make. This completely applies to comics as well – not just observational, but the way cartoonists capture moments in time, opinions, a romantic scene, and just about everything you can think of really. You can watch Dawn Roe’s Mountain Field Studies HERE. Throwback to Sally, I also ran into a Georgia O’Keefe piece! Red Hills and White Flower was her featured painting there. I really enjoyed my visit to OMART! There were so many galleries and exhibits there, it was a little mind boggling – but these were just some of the pieces I thought more intensely about. I went in there thinking like a cartoonist, but I also kept my mind open to new thoughts and art forms I had never been exposed to. ————————————————————————————————— Art Trip is a series that features reflections on art and comics, and the adventures that transform those who seek it out. ————————————————————————————————— Gabriella Tito is a cartoonist living in Orlando, FL. She is a graduate of Frank Santoro’s Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers and a member of the Comics Workbook Roller Derby team. You can find more of her work HERE. Share this page: [...]

Sally IngrahamAugust 9, 2017NewsSam Ombiri shares thoughts on Taiyo Matsumoto’s Sunny; plus work by E. Simms Campbell, George Lee, and other comics and news. ———————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here. I am about 100 pages into volume one of Sunny by Taiyo Matsumoto. It is about a group of kids living in a Japanese orphanage, who turn an old car – “Sunny” – into their clubhouse or refuge. It’s such a rich experience – I keep finding myself rereading what I’ve already read. Sunny has really great sequences that transition from moment to moment, inflicting emotion. I really like getting this from comics. It is like having a really good song stuck in your head. I am not just given information – I am inflicted with it. You can tell that certain interactions aren’t meant to happen naturally, as the characters stubbornly stick to their established personality. This is not done in a hockey way. The way the characters’ personalities show up feel especially real. You can sense if a certain interaction pans a certain way, and can tell that it is a special occasion for the interaction to go this way. So the characters almost have to swim through a current going against them, to be talking as they are. When we are introduced to Haruo and Kiko’s relationship to each other, it is quickly established that there’s no reason for them to be getting along. There’s a point when Haruo – otherwise known as White – is asking Kiko who this other girl called Megumu likes. White knows how odd of a question it is to ask, as he often likes to mess with Megumu. He can’t admit that he likes Megumu, but by asking he’s clearly admitting that he likes her. So with every question, he keeps saying “Not that I care“. When White asks Kiko, she just giggles and doesn’t tell White, instead opting to confess to White her feelings for him. We don’t get a response for that confession from White. It feels like miraculous story telling, and I’m amazed that comics can go this far. It’s what many people try to do, and rarely succeed in – having this much sentimentality, and then diving further into it, with fitting situations coming out of it. What is the consequence of all this sentimentality, what happens as a result? Well we ever get a response from Kiko’s confession at that moment? The next few moments show the response as this other character, Junsuke, really loudly interrupts. He’s telling White’s he’s being called to be sent on an errand and White agrees to go. The next panel shows a laying bike, which is both a transition and a break for the reader in that empty space to consider what had happened, how it happened, and what it all means. The bike isn’t calling attention, it’s just laying there as it would because White isn’t riding it yet to do his errand. Then White during that errand runs into Megumu, who’s bummed out about a forgotten dead cat, and she feels forgotten as a result. White gets the cat upon Megumu’s request and they carry it to the orphanage where they stay. The characters have real flavor to them. I am excited to read their exploits and re-read their exploits, especially when they’re doing things that don’t matter and aren’t of much consequence to the rest of the story – they’re just being themselves. Like when Junsuke obnoxiously plays his harmonica loudly to everyone else’s frustration, or when he’s drawn with a pencil up his nose, conspiring to steal really nice chopsticks. The situations that surface are a joy to read. (Even if you feel at the back of your mind that this scene is overly sentimental.) When I reread other moments I get a lot out of the overly sentimental parts. For example, when I see White’s hesitation to exist in that emotional space, when he’s told “Sometimes you can be a real good kid,” after bringing that dead stray home. He tries to just scoff at the idea of being this good kid. (Or maybe it’s because White is jealous of the person who said that, because they are who Megumu likes, but I really doubt that.) – Sam Ombiri Check out Sunny Vol. 1 by Taiyo Matsumoto HERE. ———————————————————————————————— Sally here. Take a look at the work of E. Simms Campbell, a celebrated black cartoonist for nearly 4 decades who has since been obscured by history. Back in the 1930’s his full-color comics in the pages of Esquire played a huge role in the popularity of the magazine – and catapulted him across the color line in mass-market publications. Fame and fortune followed – to some extent (his race was kept a secret more often than not – one story goes that when he went out on the town with other cartoonists, they got him into bars with them by introducing him as an “Arabian” prince…!) This article on Print by Michael Dooley (from 2015) shares info on E. Simms Campbell and an interview with Robert C. Harvey, who had just published Insider Histories of Cartooning: Rediscovering Forgotten Famous Comics and Their Creators, where Campbell was featured extensively. “Dooley: What’s Campbell’s primary appeal for you? Harvey: I’m interested in Campbell more for his personal history and career than because of his art, although he’s obviously a fine artist. He’s probably the first famous African American cartoonist, but he wasn’t known at the time as being African American. He was known for harem girls – and other representatives of the curvaceous gender – but not at all for his race. Campbell and his publisher and the syndicate that distributed his cartoons had kept his race a secret, so Southerners wouldn’t reject the publications in which his work appeared. By a perverse extension of logic, then, they also kept him a secret, or – at least, I suppose – never much mentioned him, in order to avoid revealing his race.“ Read more of the article and interview HERE and see plenty more comics and illustrations by E. Simms Campbell. Things to track down – Campell’s nationally syndicated cartoon strip Cuties, and his famous “A Night-Club Map of 1930s Harlem”. ———————————————————————————————— In the interview mentioned above, Robert C. Harvey talks about another Black cartoonist he came across in his research: “…I’m eager to read George Lee’s 1989 book – which I just learned about – Interesting People: Black American History Makers. Lee was an African American cartoonist who did portraits in words and pictures of famous black Americans, which were syndicated to newspapers in the 1930s and 1940s.“ When I was at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh recently, looking for comics by Oliver Harrington and Jackie Ormes in old copies of The Pittsburgh Courier, I was delighted to come across one of George Lee‘s “strips” in a May 1937 newspaper. (Apologies for a photograph of microfilm on the screen!) I’m sure there are many more in the papers – I will keep an eye out for them next time I am digging for comics! ———————————————————————————————— In Other News The Cartoonists Of Color Database has a new user interface, and is way more searchable now – check it out! Ariell Johnson – Philly’s comics and coffee shop superhero – has an interview on The Root – watch it here. Women Who Write About Comics has a long interview with Taneka Stotts – she talks about publishing and promoting queer POC work, discusses the new anthology Elements: Fire, and clarifies that Nilah Magruder was in fact the first black woman to write for Marvel (that story HERE). Read the interview with Taneka Stotts HERE. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-10-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ———————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

Juan FernándezApril 20, 2016News Comics Workbook: El Rincón: Tiktok; The Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press collectio; Libros Mutantes ’16; Feria Internacional del Libro Bogotá; Úlcera; El Tiempo de Mi Casa; Chancha via Circuito. Buenos dias a todos y bienvenidos a esta nueva émision del Rincón! Juan here with your Wednesday Spanish and South American comics round up. Let’s start off with the juicy stuff, the stuff you I’m betting you’ll get lost in. Empezemos con lo mas jugoso! —————————————————————————— Tapeando con los comics Tiktok TikTok Comics is an online comics hub for a kaleidoscope visually experimental comics centered around Spain. They offer their comics in Spanish AND English. Quienes son Tiktok? Somos una pequeña organización polimorfa sin ánimo de lucro ubicada en el Estrecho de Herschel. Este es un espacio-tiempo dedicado al cómic porque sí. ¡Disfrutadlo! Es una orden. Tik-tok-tik-tok… We are a small polymorphous organization located in the Strait of Herschel. This is a space-time devoted to comics for no reason. Enjoy it! That’s an order. Tik-tok-tik-tok … The site is curated and edited by Alexis Nolla, Marc Gustá, Andrés Magán, Ana Galvañ, Pau Anglada y Miriam Persand. They have so many wide ranging comics contributions, it’s hard to know where to start! If you need help, check out the authors section. No te pierdas en los archivos! Don’t get lost in the archives! – You’re going to want to bookmark this one. Or at least make sure you follow them on twitter or tumblr as they update a couple of times every week. —————————————————————————— Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press Collection Thanks to the University of Arizona there is now a database you can peruse, full of 150 years of regionally published newspapers chronicling Mexican and Mexican-Amercan history online. Among the 20 publications that have been curated, researched and digitized for the Historic Mexican and Mexican-American Press Archive you’ll find political cartoons in their natural context about the border from 100 years ago. Entre todas las 20 publicaciones del archivo encontraras bastantes caricaturas políticas sobre la frontera Mexicana desde hace un siglo. Dig around and see what you can find. No te imaginas lo que podrás encontrar… I suggest exploring the El Paso Morning Times. It is an especially good comics resource, chock a block with cartooning from 1914-1918. Tiras y caricaturas por todos lados! The Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press collection documents and showcases historic Mexican and Mexican American publications published in Tucson, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonora, Mexico from the mid-1800s to the 1970s. The collection covers important periods in Mexican-American history, from the Mexican Revolution to the Bracero Program to the Chicano Movement. There are about 1,900,000 Latino and Hispanic population in Arizona and more than 50 million in the United States. Having this collection available to the public through digitization of these materials, will raise awareness to issues that advance the image and identity of Latinos in American politics and media and their contributions to the United States. —————————————————————————— Libros Mutantes Esta feria en Madrid empieza este fin de semana y seguro que sera bien chula. This fair is sure to be a doozy. Lots of exciting programming. Libros Mutantes is focused on the relation between publishing and visual arts. Throughout the year they organize different events in order to bring this creative universe closer to the public. The main event in their calendar is Libros Mutantes Madrid Art Book Fair, held at La Casa Encendida. Since 2010, this Art Book Fair gathers a wide selection of national and international art books, independent publications and zines, and attracts a wide audience, making Libros Mutantes the largest and most comprehensive Spain-based project aimed at researching and spreading the creations of independent publishers. Autoeditoriales que son igualmentes “High y low”… There’s going to be so many books all over the spectrum, so self-publishing nerds you won’t want to miss this. —————————————————————————— Feria Internacional del Libro Bogotá From now until May 2nd, Bogotá is going hard with their international book fair. La Feria Internacional del Libro de Bogotá (Filbo) es el evento de promoción de la lectura y la industria editorial más importante de Colombia. You can think of FILBO as Colombia’s equivalent to ALA Conference. It’s big, and it’s a big deal to comics publishing houses! This year, Colombia has partnered up with the Netherlands to create a cross-cultural dialogue via literature. Empieza el conteo regresivo de la #FILBo2016 y queremos que tú seas el protagonista, ¿cuáles son tus recomendados? ?https://t.co/8wS0pbyA6b — Alcaldía de Bogotá (@AlcaldiaBogota) April 13, 2016 In light of this dialogue with the Netherlands, our friends over at Entreviñetas, one of Latin America’s leading comics festivals, are presenting a series of programs and exhibitions that celebrate 20th & 21st century dutch cartooning and comics making. Their collaboration Hola Holanda: es Cómic runs from April 25th – May 12th. Las tradiciones gráficas y narrativas de los Países Bajos han encontrado en el cómic un fértil camino para la creación de historias. Renovador a la vez que evocativo, tan fascinante por su delicadeza visual y su ingenio para el relato, el cómic revela una conversación inspiradora con la imagen y la palabra del pueblo neerlandés. La organización cultural Entreviñetas, a propósito de la participación de dicho país como invitado de honor a la Feria Internacional del Libro de Bogotá 2016, presenta un recorrido breve y múltiple por la obra de los autores más distintivos de las últimas décadas del siglo XX y las primeras del XXI. Son ellos quienes componen el novedoso panorama del cómic neerlandés. Invitamos así a una exposición que, de manera abierta y flexible en su cronología, exhibe por primera vez en Colombia el trabajo de 16 artistas en 80 piezas. *** On display for the first time in Colombia will be the work of 16 artists //Artistas en exhibición: Joost Swarte (1947, Heemstede) Peter Pontiac (1951, Beverwijk – 2015, Ámsterdam) TYPEX (1962, Ámsterdam) Erik Kriek (1966, Ámsterdam) Marcel Ruijters (1966, Róterdam) Barbara Stok (1970, Groningen) Tobias Schalken (1972,’s-Hertogenbosch) Milan Hulsing (1973, Ámsterdam) Boris Peeters (1974, Kampen), Lamelos collective Aleks Deurloo (1975, Kampen), Lamelos collective Sam Peeters (1976, Kampen), Lamelos collective Jeroen Funke (1976, Kampen), Lamelos collective Tim Ethoven (1985, Den Haag) Lennard Kok (1988, Utrecht) Aimée De Jongh (1988, Róterdam) Ludwig Volbeda (1990, Oosterhout) —————————————————————————— Puiupo + Pantazopoulos Over here in the states, Czap books has announced that they are publishing Brazil-based artists Puiupo and Adonis Pantazopoulos’ visceral sci-fi headtrip, Úlcera. From Kevin Czap it’s going to be “In the vein of Jodorowsky mixed with Masaaki Yuasa (Kaiba).” About the Artists Puiupo is a Portuguese cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in a number of Portuguese anthologies like LODAÇAL COMIX, Journal Altamira, and Nemesis. Adonis Pantazopoulos, a self-described “corretor de imóveis,” makes comics and paintings, the former having appeared on Nébula. Learn more about Úlcera and order a copy here. —————————————————————————— Less than 24 hours left on our Benefit Auction – Consider supporting or sharing our efforts! https://t.co/PSV43StWpO pic.twitter.com/JTdyssGJZt — Rowhouse Residency (@comicsworkbook) April 19, 2016 BENEFIT AUCTION ENDS TODAY Now’s your chance to sweep in and make all the incredible art that Chris Ware donated to Comics Workbook yours. Your support is invaluable to us. Go on, bid before you miss your chance! http://www.ebay.com/sch/copaceticcomicscompany/m.html?_trksid=p3692 —————————————————————————— Here’s Chancha Via Circuito’s 2010 release, río arriba. Put it on and do your thing. Lo que te dé la gana. It’s slow and it spirals deep into you. Take it easy and take care. Cuidense, chicos. Share this page: [...]

Rowhouse Residency Report – Ian Densford

Rowhouse Residency Report – Ian Densford

Comics WorkbookJuly 1, 2018Residency Reports / School UpdatesIan Densford is a cartoonist based in New York state. He joined us in Pittsburgh for a weeklong Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency in July of 2017. Here are his thoughts about visiting the city and his Rowhouse Residency experience. ———————————————————————————————— Ian Densford here: The Rowhouse Residency is great opportunity to get away from the all your distractions and focus on your work. You will be exposed to excellent comics, find interesting reading material on subjects like sacred geometry and interviews with cartoonists, and you will hold interesting conversations with both Frank & Sally, as they are both passionate, intelligent, and creative. You will learn new skills, discover new influences, and talk about comics history in contrast to today’s sphere. In the summer of 2017, from August 23-26, I briefly held a room at the Rowhouse Residency in Pittsburgh, PA. I drove seven hours from the NYC area, and it was a hot week! I shared the house with fellow Comics Workbook Correspondence alum Andrew White, and we spent our time drawing, talking with Frank & Sally, and diving into books from Frank’s unique collection. I came to the residency with a halfway-finished project called Trench Dogs, a collection of first hand accounts from soldiers in World War One. It was something that had originally been created for the Comics Workbook tumblr around 2015, a simple 16 page mini that was now becoming a 180 page book, so it felt like completing the circle to me. During my time there, I inked about 16 pages of naval warfare, big steel hulks exploding and sinking, full of sailors. It was some pretty dark stuff. I can still vividly recall being hunched over a lamplit desk, on one of those hot nights with the fan on, inking the creepy submarine interiors from a reference image. I loved it. Pittsburgh is a strange land, the steep tree covered hills and countless stairs amongst the winding rivers and old buildings. The Residency is a two story rowhouse on a small street by the train tracks. Since I had a large project to focus on, I mostly chose to lock myself in, though the Residency is essentially tailored to your wishes, including exercises and lessons if you want. But the city has alot of great exploring to offer. Sally and Frank also provided occasional outings in the city, such as a visit to Copacetic Comics, or the pool if its hot; and while I was there the library held a special talk with Jim Rugg and Ed Piskor that we attended. During these excursions, the conversations we had were in depth and revealing, everyone had so much experience and knowledge, and those were some of my favorite moments. Frank is indeed a wealth of knowledge, and understands a great deal about the craft and its history up until now. Ask him about numerology, its great. I really connected with Sally too, we had a lot of similar interests and inspiration, and I really appreciated having her voice and insight alongside Frank during my final critique. During that final critique, as we discussed all kinds of things, Frank suggested I share certain details about my creative process. Here is my attempt to do so: I was going for a handmade look, so I inked with a single 1 size brush, and the pages are close to 1:1 ratio with the final print size. I prefer to work on pages together as a two page spread on a single sheet. Trench Dogs was drawn on 11 x 17 watercolor paper, using Frank’s layout template to make sure every page had good balance and movement throughout the spread. I copy each panel from my sketches, but I do not trace. I find tracing makes things very stiff and lifeless, I prefer artists that have some movement and excitement in their line work, so I aspire towards that. I like to keep the pencil drawing very loose, with few details, blocking in the space and characters with simple boxes and circles mostly, very basic “puppet-like” figures, making sure everything has enough room to breathe. Frank thought this aspect was important to mention: I save the actual “drawing” for the inking part of the process, I enjoy the spontaneity and mark making. Its ok to be messy, its fun, plus I like being able to see the artists hand in the work. I used watercolors to paint everything, I love how quick and messy they are, the soft colors and texture. With everything colored in the appropriate solid, I would go back and do two layers of shadows. One layer was dark blue and applied everywhere, the second was dark purple and only applied to the foreground. This helped pull my foreground elements towards the front, because they were darker with a second shadow color, plus the warmer tones of the purple come forward while the cooler ones get pushed back. I was also conscious of my overall color key, and tried to make each section have different tones, so there is a progression of color through the story. After scanning a page, I would add a layer of white highlights in photoshop here and there, which helped the foreground stand out even more, and would focus the eye on certain important details. I also did my sound effects on the same overlaying white layer, which was a nice pop, as it was the only true white on the page. Drawing from reference was great, and almost every panel had at least one ref picture to go along with it. Deciding how to turn everything “toonsy” was a fun challenge, to simplify and reduce to lumpy shapes. I like how drawings by John Pham or Ben Sears look like simple little clay sculptures, with nice curves, and characters like Andrea Falkas, and the carefree linework of Gipi. I chose animal people as a nod to Art Spiegelman, but reaching back to Richard Scarry’s Busy Town and PD Eastman’s Go Dog Go, with strong influences from Herge’s TinTin and Miyazaki’s Dream Diary Hobby Magazine war comics. Animal type was a fun way to distinguish the different armies, but you also feel a different kind of pity for these animal people, I think. That is all I have for this report. I had a blast, got a lot of drawing accomplished, expanded my knowledge and influences, and learned more than I expected. This has been Ian Densford, signing off. ———————————————————————————————— Trench Dogs by Ian Densford will debut at NY Comic Con 2018 – find it at the Dead Reckoning table and in stores after Sept. 15th 2018. 184 pages, color, $18.95 – you can preorder it from Dead Reckoning HERE (use Discount Code FALL18 to get 25% off!) ———————————————————————————————— Ian Densford is a cartoonist living in New York state with his wife, Tae, and their son, Anderson. When not animating on the computer, or drawing in his sketchbook, you can find him frolicking in the nearby forest and rocky hillsides. ———————————————————————————————— For more information about the Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency visit this page or email santoroschoolATgmail Share this page: [...]

Sally IngrahamJuly 27, 2017NewsSam Ombiri on Gabrielle Bell’s Everything is Flammable – plus other comics and news! —————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here: The reason for my enthusiasm for Everything Is Flammable by Gabrielle Bell is hard to pin down – but I’ll try! I liked how everything flows without interruptions. There’s a seamless transition between what’s going on in her head and what’s happening around her, in what’s treated by her as her reality. She doesn’t treat any incoming moment with more reverence than the last. I got a surprising amount from the book – I just expected to have some fun reading another Gabrielle Bell book, but I kept feeling a lot from panel to panel. I’d read it and keep reading it, and I’d savor it. Gabrielle throws you these incredibly insightful things about life, but they are given no more weight than what was happening earlier. What’s great is that they are open ended insights – ones that you as the reader continue to work out as her stories continue. There’s a part in book where Gabrielle is saying how she is wanting to go see if her Mom is alright after a house fire, but it’s so that she can be a hero – it’s really funny and speaks to the spirit of the book, that spirit of celebrating these minor victories. I’m addicted to reading them. The quests aren’t minor, but the triumphs aren’t a bigger event than those small, small moments of failure we might experience. Everything moment is given the same weight as far as the way they are portrayed. The stories in the comic aren’t desperate to build for “a moment”. For example, Gabrielle may have a part where she’s about to check on her mother after an accident happened, and she says “And I have to admit my own selfishness in wanting to go. First, to draw comics about it…” This attitude doesn’t show, exclusively, an attempt to exploit every possible event. Gabrielle tells very little and conveys a lot. Take the little things you love about people – you don’t have to escape into fantasizing and romanticizing these things about people. You don’t have to look too far to find them, every detail in life doesn’t always lead to a climatic ending. It’s consistent in Gabrielle Bell’s fiction and her auto bio that she seems uninterested in big endings or big conclusions, based on the work I’ve read. I think, as a result, there’s more of what I can believe in the reality that Gabrielle Bell portrays. Related to this: I’m thinking of Gabrielle’s segment in Tokyo! – the Interior Design part directed by Michel Gondry. In contrast to the rest of Gondry’s filmography, it felt like the most nuanced and layered portrayal of this certain (for lack of a better term) mysterious nature of life. Even Gondry commented, and this might be him speaking as a comics maker himself, on how much Gabrielle can convey in just one panel. – Sam Ombiri Get a copy of Everything is Flammable by Gabrielle Bell HERE. —————————————————————————————————— 7-27-2017 – by Sam Ombiri on the eve of Microsoft Paint’s passing – more info HERE —————————————————————————————————— Sally here – Ronald Wimberly did some character designs (above) recently for LeSean Thomas’ new animated short Children of Ether. The Blerdgurl writes: “What I think makes Thomas’ Children of Ether so significant is that not only is he an African-American artist and director who worked exclusively with a Japanese team to create Children of Ether, the main character, Rhonda, is also woman of color, a rare image in the world of anime.“ Read more HERE. —————————————————————————————————— Above is an excerpt from a comic about Abdi, part of a 14 comic series about various Somalian people published by PositiveNegative. “In collaboration with the Open Society Foundations (OSF) we produced a series of fourteen comics, based on personal testimonies, that highlight integration issues of the Somali communities across seven cities of Europe – London, Leicester, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Malmo, Oslo and Helsinki. The focus of the project was to accompany the OSF policy research on the same subjects and locations and to engage a wide, general audience and challenge negative media stereotyping of the Somali community.“ Read all of the comics HERE. Read about the Somali diaspora HERE. —————————————————————————————————— It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Thee Comics Workbook Composition Competition 2017 has been announced! This year it’s a riff on the 6-panel grid, in the traditional North American comic book size – but with a twist! Full details HERE. —————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 7-27-2017 – by Gabriella Tito —————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 7-27-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

TCAF 2016 | Ethan Rilly

Posted on June 3, 2016May 15, 2019 by Frank Santoro

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Posted in Festivals and Shows, InterviewsTagged ethan rilly, Hartley Lin, pope hats

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TCAF 2016 | Chippendale, Mickey, Como, Marra, Minette, Jesjit

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in Festivals and Shows, InterviewsTagged ethan rilly, Hartley Lin, pope hats

Frank Santoro

Posted on June 3, 2016May 15, 2019

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Aaron CockleMarch 21, 2017NewsAaron here today with Sikoryak; Feiffer/Eisner; Drawing Lessons with Victoria Lomasko; Intensive Publication Intensive; Till Doomsday; Fit to Print. ————————————————————————————————— ‘Other than that, there’s very little in the book that has any connection, visually, to the text.’ Rachel Davies interviewed R. Sikoryak on the occasion of the release of Sikoryak’s Terms and Conditions collection: RD: Both of your most recent projects—Terms and Conditions, and the Unquotable Trump—were first realized online. How does your attitude toward a work change when transitioning it from the internet to something tangible? RS: It’s funny, they were first seen online, but the iTunes project started as a mini comic. I published the first two parts of the iTunes book in April 2015, and I published the second two parts, the finale of the iTunes book, in September 2015. I had been selling them at conventions, and I’d been distributing them a little bit online through a mini comics distributor called Birdcage Bottom, I had gotten them out a little bit and I showed the mini comics to Françoise Mouly, and she said, Oh, you should put these on Tumblr! I did that, and then I sent out an email to everyone I knew in the world, and said, I’m doing this thing! The minute I sent out that email, this was like 20 or 30 days after putting it on Tumblr, the day I sent that email, Boing Boing had done a story, NPR called me to do an interview, The Guardian, all these other places came in, and started writing about it. I tip my hat to Françoise for knowing enough about the internet to tell me to use it. I kind of like to know what my work is before I release it to the world, like the iTunes book, I put out the first mini comic after I’d finished the first half of it—I wanted to stake my claim to it, but I’d already done like 35 pages. By the time I put it on Tumblr I was done, and I was really astounded by the response. I don’t know if it would have been more paralyzing to have seen all those people be very excited about it. It was a little startling to see how fast it clicked in with people. With the Trump book, again I made a mini comic, but this time I already knew I was going to start putting it on Tumblr. But I did make all of it, 16 pages, and I published the comic—published, I photocopied it, and then I put it on Tumblr. The response to that was so great that I was encouraged to make more. In this case, for Trump now [The Unquotable Trump], I’m making images, and posting them on Tumblr, and in some ways I’m certainly open to suggestions, people have , Oh, you should do this or that! But most people don’t have it all thoroughly worked out, so you end up just having to do what you’re doing. I’m certainly keeping my ear open if anyone has any ideas. In the Trump case, I kind of have my approach, and I’ve mapped out where I’m going, but who knows what he’ll say tomorrow! He’s a different case because the iTunes thing is a living document, they do update it, but he’s a living human, and a volatile one, so I don’t know what he’s going to do next. I’m happy if he stops giving me material! I don’t need anymore, but we’ll see what happens. I have to admit, I’m really glad that Françoise suggested Tumblr to me, it’s definitely increased my visibility. I don’t know what I’ll do next online, but I might post my next project there. It is part of what comics are now, and I hadn’t embraced it before. I feel like the iTunes thing in a lot of ways has just made me think about how comics work, and how I can make comics in a new way. I also think that’s what I’m all about is thinking about comics, so it’s definitely achieved way more than I expected it would! – via The Comics Journal ————————————————————————————————— Jules Feiffer Honors Will Eisner at 100: A Will Eisner Week Event The 182nd meeting of the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium will be held on Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at 8 pm at Parsons School of Design, 2 West 13th Street, in the Bark Room (off the lobby). Free and open to the public. Please note 8 pm starting time! Will Eisner (1917-2005) innovated and pioneered comics in two different eras. Eisner helped invent the comics industry in the 1930s and created The Spirit in the 1940s as a heroic crime-fighting figure who appeared in a Sunday newspaper comics insert. The Spirit walked through a world of noir-inflected, urban drama, one suffused with humor and insight into the human condition, a world not afraid to essay the occasional Yiddish in-joke or Bronx social drama vignette. Then after producing comics for training and education, Eisner, in 1978, re-invented himself―and the medium of comics―with his first graphic novel, A Contract With God, followed, until his 2005 passing, with many additional graphic novels and textbooks. From 1946 until The Spirit’s end in 1952, Eisner counted as part of his close-knit, talented staff, a precocious teenager named Jules Feiffer, who worked on The Spirit and Clifford for Eisner, and also took on the self-appointed role of Eisner’s social conscience and resident smart-ass. In the years since, Feiffer’s own multifaceted career as satirical cartoonist, screenwriter (Carnal Knowledge), playwright (Little Murders) and children’s book author (The Man in the Ceiling)―and most recently, creator of his own trilogy of graphic novels (so far Kill My Mother and Cousin Joseph have been released, with the third volume in the works)―has blossomed in a unique and spectacular manner. But he did get his start with Will Eisner, with whom he was friend and colleague―and admirer―through the rest of Eisner’s life. Tonight, Jules will speak about his experience working for Eisner, what he learned from him and how Eisner influenced his own work, and why Eisner, a century after his birth, is still an important figure in the past, present and future of comics and graphic novels and in our culture as a whole. Jules will speak and present via Skype, and will be joined by in-person panelists, including Paul Levitz (author of Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel) and Danny Fingeroth (co-editor of The Stan Lee Universe and Chair of Will Eisner Week). ————————————————————————————————— ‘On the outside, I drew cartoon characters.’ Other Russians, by Victoria Lomasko, excerpted at n+1: In August 2010, I visited the Mozhaysk Juvenile Prison for the first time, as a volunteer for the Center for Prison Reform, and gave a drawing lesson to some of the inmates. I taught drawing classes at the girls’ penitentiaries in Novy Oskol and Ryazan and the boys’ penitentiary in Aleksin, but Mozhaysk is the only place I visited more or less regularly. I was originally trained as an educator, and before I came to Mozhaysk I prepared an experimental syllabus with ten lesson plans. There was almost no funding for the trips. We traveled by commuter train, carrying everything we needed for classes in our backpacks, so, with rare exceptions, we used the simplest materials during the lessons: paper and black pens. The Center organized the trips once a month. If you missed a trip, you had to wait for the next time around. There is a constant turnover of inmates at the juvenile prison. Some are released on parole, others are transferred to adult prisons, and new inmates show up all the time. Over a six-month period, the roster of my drawing groups changed completely. Some of the teens were well educated, while others were hearing everything for the first time. Many of them had psychological problems. In short, teaching classes at a penitentiary was tricky: you had to experiment and develop your own lesson plans. ————————————————————————————————— Publication Intensive at Triple Canopy: July 19-30, 2017 Triple Canopy is pleased to announce its fourth Publication Intensive, a two-week program in the history and contemporary practice of publication. During the Publication Intensive, Triple Canopy editors and invited artists, writers, and technologists will lead discussions and workshops with twelve participating students, who will research, analyze, and enact an approach to publication that hinges on today’s networked forms of production and circulation but also mines the history of print culture and artistic practice. The program will take place at Triple Canopy’s venue in Manhattan, and will include visits to studios of artists and designers, archives, and cultural institutions. Apply online through 11:59pm on Monday, April 17 2017. Participants will be notified no later than Friday, April 21. If you have further questions, please write edu@canopycanopycanopy.com. Read a conversation between participants in 2014’s program here. ————————————————————————————————— TILL DOOMSDAY Coming up on March 30th: John Malta & Siobhan Gallagher launch new doomsday anthology zine and Desert Island window installation, and Ezequiel García visits from Buenos Aries to sign his Fantagraphics book “Growing Up In a Public”. One big event Thurs the 30th at 7 pm! Come hang and meet the artists. ————————————————————————————————— FIT TO PRINT Fit to Print brings together a selection of art and editorial illustration created by 17 graduates of the Haute école des arts du Rhin (H.E.A.R.) in Strasbourg, one of the preeminent art schools in France. First presented at the Tomi Ungerer Museum in Strasbourg from January–April 2016, the exhibition debuts in New York in two parts — one at the Society of Illustrators, and another at The New York Times. Since 2012, The New York Times’s Opinion section has commissioned more than 100 illustrations from H.E.A.R.-educated artists to accompany a wide range of articles, or “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” in the words of the famous Times slogan. These artists caught the art directors’ attention with their excellent drawing and printmaking skills, strong sense of visual storytelling, and an often surreal, poetic approach to composition and concept. On view here is a selection of the artists’ personal and collaborative projects, primarily created for galleries or self-initiated publications. The exhibition continues at The New York Times with a collection of the artists’ commissioned illustrations. My hope is that these two shows demonstrate the power of editorial illustration, not only in its functional role as visual communication, but also as a unique form of fine art. – Alexandra Zsigmond, curator and art director at The New York Times ————————————————————————————————— Among many interesting offerings on the CW School Store is this set of comics (above) by Jake Terrell and GG – check it out here and explore the rest of the site while you’re there! ————————————————————————————————— A Cosmic Journey – 3-21-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-21-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-21-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

Aaron CockleOctober 30, 2017NewsAaron here today with Schneemann; Walker; Ernst; Reinhardt; Short Run 2017 ————————————————————————————————— Interior Scroll Here’s something from the Kinetic Painting show at MoMA PS1 (via PS1’s Instagram): While we can’t show you the photo documentation of Carolee Schneemann’s iconic performance work, “Interior Scroll,” on Instagram, above is a portion of the scroll itself on view in our new exhibition “Carolee Schneemann: Kinetic Painting.” From the second of only two performances of the piece in 1977, the scroll reads: I don’t take the advice of men who talk only to themselves PAY ATTENTION TO CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL FILM LANGUAGE IT EXISTS FOR AND IN ONLY ONE GENDER These powerful reflections were a response to a screening at the Telluride Film Festival, where Schneemann’s films “Fuses” and “Plumb Line” were included in a program entitled “The Erotic Woman.” Schneemann objected to the program for being proscribed by the male imagination, and having a contradictory effect to the films themselves. Explore more documentation of “Interior Scroll” and other seminal performances by Carolee Schneemann in her retrospective #KineticPainting on view through March 11. ————————————————————————————————— ‘She said she was thinking of Thomas Eakins’s surgical theater paintings as she was also imagining house slaves disemboweling their master with a soup ladle.’ At the New York Review, Darryl Pinckney looks at the recently closed Kara Walker exhibit, Kara Walker: Sikkema Jenkins and Co. is Compelled to present The most Astounding and Important Painting show of the fall Art Show viewing season! I sometimes find myself remembering the great Sphinx of white sugar that Kara Walker built three years ago in an unused, emptied-out sugar refinery in Brooklyn along the East River: A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby, an Homage to the unpaid and overworked Artisans who have refined our Sweet tastes from the cane fields to the Kitchens of the New World on the Occasion of the demolition of the Domino Sugar Refining Plant. The refinery was enormous, the walls streaked with sugar. In the distance, the large figure of a Mammy rested in her Egyptian pose, a bandana on her head. The small basket-carrying boys made of dark red molasses who attended her were melting in the summer heat, folding over onto the floor. The large and roving crowd was quiet, as if under a spell. People took photographs of themselves standing between her creamy-looking arms. ————————————————————————————————— Max Ernst: Beyond Painting, Museum of Modern Art, NYC, through January 1, 2018 This exhibition surveys the career of the preeminent Dada and Surrealist artist Max Ernst (French and American, born Germany, 1891–1976), with particular emphasis on his ceaseless experimentation. Ernst began his pursuit of radical new techniques that went “beyond painting” to articulate the irrational and unexplainable in the wake of World War I, continuing through the advent and aftermath of World War II. Featuring approximately 100 works drawn from the Museum’s collection, the exhibition includes paintings that challenged material and compositional conventions; collages and overpaintings utilizing found printed reproductions; frottages (rubbings); illustrated books and collage novels; sculptures of painted stone and bronze; and prints made using a range of techniques. Several major, multipart projects represent key moments in Ernst’s long career, ranging from early Dada and Surrealist portfolios of the late 1910s and 1920s to his late masterpiece—a recent acquisition to MoMA’s collection—65 Maximiliana or the Illegal Practice of Astronomy (1964). This illustrated book comprises 34 aquatints complemented by imaginative typographic designs and a secret hieroglyphic script of the artist’s own invention. From MoMA’s Instagram: Max Ernst’s love of puns was likely fostered by Sigmund Freud’s book “Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious.” Here, the Dada artist overpainted a page from a sales catalogue showing women’s hats printed in an orderly grid. Ernst added more cut-and-pasted hats to make the phallic tower at the left. This visual pun relates to Freud’s identification of the hat—the requisite accessory of the bourgeois man—as a common symbol of repressed desire, adding new meaning and gender ambiguity to the cliché inscribed on the work, “C’est le chapeau qui fait l’homme” (“The hat makes the man”). ————————————————————————————————— ‘A lot of the best horror movies give you the sense that the movie you’re watching is itself somehow evil.’ Today (Tuesday, October 31, 2017) is Halloween, and what better way to celebrate than looking back at Simon Reinhardt’s reviews of horror movies from this past month. Reinhardt reviews some classics (TBOF, seen below; The Fog) as well as some rarities and gems (Kuroneko; Beyond the Darkness) and newer works (Prevenge; Butter on the Latch). Take a look, maybe your favorite horror movie was reviewed. ————————————————————————————————— SHORT RUN 2017, Saturday, November 4, 2017 ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 10-31-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 10-31-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 10-31-2017 – by Juan Fernandez [1][2] Share this page: [...]

Copacetic Resources

Copacetic Resources

Juan FernándezJanuary 12, 2016ResourcesDISCLAIMER PLEASE NOTE: All links on this page will take you off of and away from our site. Comics Workbook is not responsible for any material you may encounter therein. That said, we’ve tried to include only those sites that we believe are interesting, informative and/or entertaining. – Bill Boichel ———- Index —————————————– COMICS •Reference •News •Blogs •Curatorial •On Line Comics •Pedagogical •Support •Publishers •Pittsburgh Comics ART & LITERATURE BOOKS & PERIODICALS MUSIC •Pittsburgh Music Scene CINÉMA KID STUFF HISTORY & SOCIETY INTERNET RESOURCES WEB LIFE POLITICS CHARITY/NGO ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PITTSBURGH INFO COMICS Reference GCD: The Grand Comics Database — This is it! The single most important site for those who are serious about their comics facts. The GCD is the ultimate in ambition: to assemble the complete information on everything comics ever! While what’s been assembled so far is impressive — over 200,000 individual comics entered, over 80,000 completely indexed and more than 100,000 cover images — there’s still a long way to go, and you can be a part of it! Join up and share your knowledge. Just think — you can contribute to the permanent record of the history of comics to be shared by comics fans, collectors, and scholars for generations to come! The Comiclopedia — A searchable gallery of comic artist biographies and artwork examples. This is a great site packed with info. It originates in the Netherlands so it’s heavy on European comics creators. You’ll find plenty of unfamilar names to explore and be exposed to along with the ones you already know and love. The Toonopedia — Donald D. Markstein’s massive online encyclopedia devoted to everything toon — which covers comics as well as cartoons. Heavily cross-indexed and regularly updated, this site is indeed the proverbial treasure trove of information, or in this case, perhaps we should say “toonformation.” It’s not complete — not by a longshot — but there’s still more to be found here on this subject than just about anywhere else on the web. The History of Comic Books by Jamie Colville — This is a great site for those of you interested in brushing up on your history of comics. Even if you think you know it all, Mr. Colville may surprise you with a tidbit or two. Lots of cover reproductions as well. Check it out. To get started, choose between the “Frames” and “No Frames” option at the top of the start page, and you’re off! The Comic Book Page — This page contains links to a fairly detailed history of comics. The links are located on the left side of the page (“Pre-Golden Age”, ” Golden Age”, etc.); once you’ve connected to a page, to continue click on “next page” at the bottom of each page. Mikel Midnight’s Golden Age Directory — This is a hubsite of links and directories that will be of interest to anyone looking to geek out on any and all aspects of Golden Age comic books. Frustratingly, many of the links are dead, but there are still enough functioning links to make a visit worthwhile to those interested in this era. The Comic Book Database — This one looks like it’s been dormant for awhile, as it’s out of date. It’s full of holes and errors abound, but there’s still a lot of info to be had. We’re not sure if all the info here has been incorporated into GCD, so we’re leaving this link up for the time being. Clearly a great deal of effort went into this, but it does’nt look like it’s going anywhere from here. The Master List — Whether you’re planning a vacation, are already on the road, or just looking to find a friendly neighborhood store in your area, be sure to check here for a fantastic listing of comics stores around the world! Includes in-depth info and links from those stores that supply them. Comic Book Resources — This is a hub site devoted to comics, with news bulletins, chat rooms, free mail services, etc. It is advertising based (or was last time we checked) so be prepared. News The Comics Reporter — This is an up-to-the-minute, real-deal, news-website devoted to all things comics. Maintained by Tom Spurgeon, fully linked, archived, and databased,it is an invaluable resource. Visit it often to keep abreast of current comics events. The Comics Journal — Here it is, the longest running critical voice in the comics world. Now (as of March 2011) in it’s new and improved “ComicsComics” format! And don’t forget to visit the hottest virtual watering hole in the world of comics: The TCJ Message Board. The Beat – The news blog of comics culture by Heidi McDonald. Veteran comics reporter McDonald dishes out droll daily doses of comics and pop culture. It’s constantly updated so you’ll want to keep checking in to see what’s new. Newsarama — A great news site devoted to all things comics. They’re the place to look for scoops, like this one on R. Crumb’s new project Indy Magazine: The Guide To Alternative Comics — Check out their interview with Chris Ware Comics Alliance — This as a fairly mainstream site, with tons of news, reviews, commentary and more. Blogs Mad Ink Beard — The thinking person’s comics and literature blog, by Derik A. Badman. Will warm your heart and stimulate your brain. Size Matters: The Mini-Comic Blog — This is a much to be commended review blog by Shawn Hoke that covers only self-published comics. This is a good spot to learn about comics you might not ever hear about otherwise. Well written and jam packed; and don’t miss the great links along the right side! Jog – The Blog — This dude is one serious poster. An omnivore with a big appetite for comics and the intellectual ability to process what he consumes, separate the wheat from the chaff, and clue the rest of us in. In other words: he has good taste and he knows what he’s talking about. Recommended. Thought Balloonists — Charles Hatfield and Craig Fischer provide a thorough-going critical dialogue and in-depth reviews in what may be the most intellectually engaging comics site out there. Comics readers looking for challenging, substantial fare need look no further. Sans Everything — This is a lively, engaging, intelligent, articulate and engrossing blog written by four Canadians: John Haffner, Jeet Heer, A. M. Lamey, and Ian Garrick Mason. It covers many topics and subjects, and while it ranges far and wide, it manages to quite frequently find comics and comics related items along the way; thus its inclusion here. We can pretty much guarantee that you will enjoy your visits and come away each time with a fresh kernal of knowledge. The Balloonist — Kevin Huizenga‘s blog is filled with excellent graphics — primarily examples from off the beaten path that he sees as possessing special historical and/or artistic interest, but also including the occasional sneak peek at what he’s working on himself — along with the occasional rumination. Always worth a look. Zettwoch’s Suitcase — An while we’re on the topic of Artist’s blogs, who better to mention that Dan Zettwoch. As opposed to Kevin H’s blog listed above, Dan Z’s is chock a block with his own work: sketches, drawings, diagrams, paintings, prints, hand-painted shoes, bowling pins and you never know what else, so be sure to keep going back and be prepared for a surprise. ¡Journalista! The Comics Journal Weblog — The go-to page for the comics junkie, this page is guaranteed to have something for your comics jones. Constantly updated every day, this blog is packed with new links to all things comics. How they find the time to dig up all this stuff we’ll never know… (PLEASE NOTE: This site is now basically just an archive) Comics Comics — The cultural nexus of all things comics, from Timothy “ComicsComics” Hodler, Dan “PictureBox” Nadel and, Frank “Storeyville” Santoro. PLEASE NOTE: The Comics Comics team has now taken over the helm of The Comics Journal online edition! Thus, this site is now – at least for the time being – a fully indexed archive of the glory days of Comics Comics. Still well worth a visit. Curatorial ThomasNast.com — Believe it or not, an officially sanctioned site devoted entirely to Nast. Does he rate? You bet he does! Interesting stuff. The Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center — Jack’s career was so gigantic and far-ranging that you can be sure that this one will be under construction for some time, but there’s a lot up already, so check it out and — if you’re a true believer — lend a hand. A Guidebook to the Carl Barks Universe — This is one fabulous site. A true goldmine for anyone interested in delving into and learning more about the life and work of Carl Barks, the genius behind the universe of “Walt Disney’s” Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge and so many other unforgettable characters that together form one of the single greatest bodies of work in the history of Comics. The comics listing is particularly valuable to any collector of Barks’s work, whether a neophyte or a completist. There’s a lot here. A real labor of love Carl Barks, His Life and Work — Nice site devoted to Carl Barks. Link page includes links to actual Barks comics on the web (although many are in German). The Official Alex Toth Website — This is every Toth fan’s web-dream. Tons of Toth art here, including a new comic art page posted each and every day! Galleries, articles, checklists, and columns including some by the man himself. If you’re into Toth you’ll definitely be bookmarking this one. The Jaime Hernandez Chronology and Character Index — The source for All Things Jaime, this page is by far the best Jaime Hernandez source on the web. Contains what is more than likely the best Love and Rockets link page as well. Now if only the host and compiler, Mark Rosenfelder, would do the same for Gilberto… Dan Clowes Checklist — If you’re a fanatic Dan Clowes collector, then this is the page for you. Recommended for true obsessives. MARVEL UNIVERSE: THE APPENDIX: The Unofficial, No-Frills, Marvel Zombie, Obscure Characters Profile Page — If you thought the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe covered it all, boy were you wrong. Delve into the far-flung corners of Marvel arcana and feel the frisson of fandom. Salon.com Comics — We were’nt sure where to put this link as it includes on-line comics — by the likes of Lynda Barry, Tom Tomorrow, Ruben Bolling, Keith Knight and more (and then there’s the archives; how aboutLynda Barry to start) — while also providing news on and about the world of comics. A good place to start is the Los Bros Hernandez interview — it also links to some other nifty comic creator articles. Marlys Magazine –Speaking of Lynda Barry… here’s the Official Lynda Barry Site! (or if not, the closest thing to it) It’s nicely done, with a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but most of all it’s got the goods: The strips! So whenever you’re feeling a little blue and need to remember what it was like being a kid (again) just click here to spend some time with Marlys and Co. This is definitely the place to be! Friends of Lulu— After delving into Lynda Barry you’re going to be all revved up and excited about comics, and here’s somewhere to go. Friends of Lulu is a national nonprofit organization whose purpose is to promote and encourage female readership and participation in the comic book industry. Paul Gravett — Hailing from the UK, Mr. Gravett is a one-man comics-army. The author of definitive guides on graphic novels, manga and British comics, he writes regularly on a wide variety of comics topics: new releases, classic works, events, creators, genres, etc. and has a massive archive of articles waiting for your perusal. Do yourself a favor and spend some time on this amazing site – Gravett is truly prolific! There’s so much here, that one of the challenges is figuring out where to start. We recommend this excellent appreciation of Jack Kirby, done on the occasion of the Fumetto International Comics Festival exhibition, “Jack Kirby: The House That Jack Built,” as it’s one that we really don’t want you to miss. Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr.’s Ilustrator Biographies — 105 heavily illustrated biographies of illustrators, comics artists and cartoonists of the last century +, written (and hosted) by one of the most comprehensibly knowledgeable authorities on the popular narrative graphic arts of the twentieth century, that unsung hero of pioneer comics scholars, Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Mark Evanier’s Home Page — Lots of comic (and non-comic) stuff along with more links. Of special interest to Jack Kirby fans will be his Jack FAQ. Mark was Jack’s assistant for many years and can so offer some rare insights into and glimpses of Jack. The Cartoon Art Museum — As if you need another reason to visit San Francisco! Torture yourself by reading about what you’re missing. Unless of course you live in the Bay area, in which case… you lucky dog! ScottMcCloud.com — From the author of Understanding Comics and Reinventing Comics comes a website that complements these works but is especially devoted to promoting comics on the web. On Line Comics: Classic & Contemporary Coconino Classics – A beautifully designed, and thought-provoking site. While, as its title suggests, it does indeed provide a focus on the early days of newspaper comics, featuring such greats as George Herriman, Winsor McCay, George McManus, Cliff Sterret, Noel Sickles, Milton Caniff and Roy Crane, it also provides many examples of the precursors to 20th century comics, such as Hokusaï, Töppfer, Cruikshank and Doré, among others, all arranged chronologically by birthdate to help give you an idea of progression. A must-visit site for all interested in experincing more of the history of comics as well as all aficianados of the form. All text available in either Francais or English. High quality reproductions throughout! Classic Comic Archives — Get a taste of the classics. Includes Krazy Kat, Terry and the Pirates, and more. Here’s a direct link to More Krazy Kat Strips. Believe us: You can’t ever get enough Krazy Kat. Krazy Kat: The Coconino County Home Page — The best Herriman site on the web. Carl Barks Stories – As impossible to believe as it may seem, here it is: ALL of the madly inspired comics work produced by Carl Barks for the Western Publishing Dell and Gold Key imprints, featuring the creation and unfolding of the entire Duck Universe (as well as his sole Mickey Mouse effort), are posted here for one and all. An unbelievable 659 complete stories. ¡WOW! We’re still shaking our heads in wonder at it all… Don Rosa Stories – And, as if that weren’t already enough, here – from the same amazing benefactor – are ALL the Don Rosa duck stories to boot! Golden Age Comic Book Stories — While the title is somewhat misleading as this site focuses as much on classic SF & fantasy illustration as on comic book art, and, technically, it is formatted as a blog, it is nevertheless a motherlode of incredible, amazing and fantastic art the likes of which we have not seen anywhere else on the web. The monthly archives are HUGE — often containing in excess of 200 high quality image files — and include some of the greatest comics and illustratin artwork of the 20th century, including works by the well known as well as the obscure. A virtual paradise for the aficionado of classic comics and illustration work. These pages are so packed that even those of you with super high speed connections to the internet will have to pause a moment to wait for them to load; but be patient, your wait will be amply rewarded. Celebrating Short Stories in Comics — This new site “takes a look back at the nearly forgotten comic book short stories that appeared in various magazines and anthologies from the 70’s-80s” and includes commentary by contemporary small press comics creator Dave Keirsh. Like the Golden Age Comic Book Stories site above, this one is formatted as a blog. While there are drawbacks to this format as far as ease of navigation while reading a story goes, the ease in setting up a blog enables time constrained individuals to post great work we might not otherwise see, so we feel that it must be considered a worthwhile trade off. Already posted are rare gems by the likes of Wally Wood, Alex Toth, and the (relatively) unsung Angel Trinidad, Jr., among others. Last of the Spinner Rack Junkies — This is the DIY blog of comics aficionado, Chance Fiveash. It includes a bevy of amazing full size scans of classic comic book covers and full uncut stories by some of the all time greats, including Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, Harry Lucey, John Stanley, Boody Rogers, Pete Morisi and more! Get ready for a feast for the eyes here. Recommended. PLEASE NOTE: This site is no longer up, although there’s a chance it will come back at a new URL, so we are keeping it up. (If you know it’s back up,please let us know!) Monster Blog — Tremble at the name! Try as you might, you cannot flee its awesome power… MONSTER BLOG LIVES! Monster Blog is a truly wonderful site that pays homage to the monster comics produced by Jack “king” Kirby (and lets not forget “sturdy” Steve Ditko! and, yes, “smilin'” Stan has to get some credit too, if only for all those hyperbolic captions) for Atlas/Marvel during (roughly) 1959 -1962. This site contains hundreds of excellent cover repros, dozens of complete stories — including most of those that have never before been reprinted!!! — and is very well organized, as well as searchable. What a great service not only to fans of this material, but to those who have yet to be introduced to this amazing group of comics which led directly to the Marvel Age of Comics that reigned supreme throughout the 1960s. Well, what are you waiting for? Check it out! (Sadly, the Mighty Monster Blog has fallen. We have linked here to it’s ghost image using the Wayback Machine™, and a lot of great information remains retrievable, but not much in the way of images. Still totally worth a visit if only to marvel at the labor of love and to send a dash of energy towards its possible revival… perhaps one day we will once again be able to say, “Monster Blog Lives!”) United Feature Syndicate — There’s a lot of comics here, nearly a hundred daily and Sunday newspaper strips to choose from, including: Rose is Rose, a neat strip that’s been running for years, just not in Pittsburgh; Nancy, the Gilchrest version; and don’t forget to check out the classics section to see what they’re featuring this week. And as if that weren’t enough, there’s also the Cartoon Bank of New Yorker Cartoons to sift through. King Features Syndicate — Never miss a day of your favorite daily comic strips. All in full color, too! The past four weeks of all of their daily strips are archived. Please note, however, that there is a two-week time lag (For example, the 1 June 2001 strip doesn’t appear on the site until 15 June 2001.) Don’t forget to check out Mutts (Which is now, as of 19 November 2001, at last running in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette )and, of course, you’ll want to get the benefit of color on Zippy. I don’t know why they don’t include the Sunday strips…. uComics — Universal Press Syndicate Comics On line: Includes Doonesbury, Boondocks, Sylvia, Tom the Dancing Bug and many others. Also includes an archive of classic strips like Bloom County and Calvin & Hobbes. Last 14 days of most strips are free. But for a mere $9.95 per YEAR, you get unfettered access to the entire online archives! The Official Mutts Site — The online home for Patrick McDonnell’s modern classic. Archives and more! Five Card Nancy— Whether you’re a comics fan, a Dadaist, or a Ph.D. candidate in narrative theory, you’ll enjoy this paean to the latent possibilities of Ernie Bushmiller’s art. Check it out! The Official Zippy the Pinhead Website — No longer will you need to ask, “Are we having fun yet?” as you will be, here in Zipy’s own playground of comics fun. Strips archived back to 1994 (although, some of the images seem to have vanished…) Leviathan by Peter Blegvad — For once, a truly unique sensibility. Yes, it’s weird, but well worth checking out. At the risk of making a crude comparison, it could be considered something of a British counterpart to Bill Griffith’s Zippy; but really, it’s much more than that. If visiting this site whet’s your appetite, then stop on by the shop and check out The Book of Leviathan. The Official Gary Panter Website — Go now and get hep. Check out the comics, the fine art, the commercial art, and more; and don’t forget to read The Rozz Tox Manifesto. Maakies.com — No matter what you might think of the work of Tony Millionaire– which is quite amply on display here– there is no disputing the fact that he knows how to handle a pen. There’s tons and tons o’ stuff here, including the entire Maakies archive! WARNING: not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach; especially appealing to and encouraging of alcoholics and alcoholism in general. Beware! Kaz’s Underworld – You’ll find the latest installment along with a sizeable archive of classic Kaz. Short animations, merch, links and more. Not for the faint hearted. The Hotel Fred: Cartoons by Roger Landridge — Yes, this stuff is goofy and mindless, and indicative of a severe depression being desperately held at bay through an intense focused effort on something– anything– that will deflect the pain by channeling it through a productive effort; but what’s wrong with that? And boy, can this guy ink! Great technique. Cartoonists everywhere could learn a thing or two from this guy. Kyle Baker Luxury Cartoons — You can get lost wondering through this virtual amusement park of all things Kyle Baker. We especially recommend the comics and cartoons. Low Bright — A fabulous online comics site by Derek Kirk Kim. Don’t delay, go there today! And if you like what you find, you’ll be happy to learn that we carry his print collection, Same Difference. Unicorn Jelly – A nicely done online comics site containing a huge and insanely elaborate philosophical science fiction manga strip that ran five days a week, from September 5th, 2000 to April 14, 2003. Now it’s done and you can read the entire work all the way through. There are MANY options, just scroll down the index page for a taste. Great Moments in Rock ‘n’ Roll — This is an original comics site. It is by Joel Orff and contains a large archive of strips relating individual stories somehow connected with the world of rock/punk/alt/etc music. The form and style is clearly indebted to Lynda Barry, but is differentiated and original in that it relates the stories of others. Definitely worth a visit. Alternative comics has just released an oversize collection of these strips for $6.95. We sell it for 10% off. Dreamtoons — This is a weekly strip that translates readers’ dreams to four panel comic strips. All strips since the beginning of 2002 are archived, so there’s a lot to look at. Comics have always been especially good at translating and communicating dreams, so it’s good to know someone’s out there doing it on a weekly basis. Don’t skip this one! Shiga Books — There are some pretty amazing comics here, both under the heading, “strips” and under “interactive.” We especially recommend Meanwhile: Be prepared to be blown away. Meanwhile employs an innovative use of HTML to create a fascinating sense of parallelism that is a meditation on possibility. This is web comics, a form that intelligently exploits the potential of web architecture to push the boundries of what comics can be. Essential. a maps little spell — Here’s another site that stands out from the crowd. Rather than simply host or display comics like other sites, this site is comics. HTML is central to the experience of the comics that make up a maps little spell. It is based on, designed around, integrated with, and dependent on links and linking. Craghead is a natural born experimenter and, while there are several instances of traditional (if experimental) comics scanned and posted, it appears that, taking the site as a whole, he is attempting here to adapt analytical cubism to cyberspace, a risky endeavor to be sure, but one that he clearly enjoys. While there are plenty of HTML-based narrative forms out there, Craghead’s employment of cubism is fairly unique and if any are bold enough to build on what is here, it could lead to further possiblities for comics. So, if you feel like taking a chance, then take a stroll through this site and see where it takes you. The Holy Consumption — Web home to Jeffrey Brown, John Hankiewicz, Paul Hornschemeier and Anders Nilsen. Graphics, comics, sketches, and all-around off-beat weirdness are to be found in abundance here. Hark! A Vagrant — Kate Beaton’s phenomenally popular – and very funny (thus the popularity…) – online comics series spoofing historical figures both real and literary is entirely archived here; over 300 pieces and counting! The USS Catastrophe — A hub site for a great group of independent cartoonists including many promising talents; notable among them Kevin Huizenga and Dan Zettwoch. Expand your horizons, take a trip on the USS Catastrophe. Well worth a visit– things are happening here. New Bodega — The hep cats comics blog that is comics — “in progress, finished, or never started.” Contributors include Jordan Crane, Jef Czekaj, Tom Devlin, Megan Kelso, Barc Mell (Marc Bell ?), Paper Rad, Brian Ralph, Ron Rege, Jr., and Kurt Wolfgang. Dash Shaw-– Mr. Shaw is one of the most interesting — not to mention talented — of today’s younger cartoonists. Visit his website and you’ll quickly discover why. Make sure you visit his work in progress, Bodyworld, and if you find that you like what you’re seeing, make sure to go back and start at the beginning. Connor Willumsen – Get ready for a sizeable selection of new and interesting work from this up and coming talent. Worth a look! What Things Do – This is an AMAZING new online comics site. Founded by Jordan Crane, it features high-quality full size scans of great old and new comics by the likes of Sammy Harkham, John Porcellino, Ted May, Steve Weissman, Abner Dean, and, of course, Mr. Crane himself. The site also promises comics by John Pham, Ben Jones and Gabrielle Bell, “Coming Soon!” Studygroup – Great, regularly updated site filled with new comics that will knock your socks off. What are you waiting for? Check it out! Pedagogical The National Association of Comics Arts Educators — A remarkable resource, the NACAE is a true boon to any and all individuals and institutions involved in teaching comics, cartooning, and visual storytelling of any kind. Their teaching resources are invaluable, especially the syllibi. Anyone currently involved — or planning to be involved, or even contemplating involvement — in any sort of teaching that engages comics in any way should head to this site right this very second! ImageText — Now in their fifth year of publication, ImageText is a truly excellent resource. They’ve really done it right here: well written, thoroughly researched essays, reviews, articles, interviews, presentations of conference papers, and more; all fully annotated and complete with bibiliographies (when appropriate). This site is a goldmine for for comics scholars and anyone else ready, willing and able to fig deeper into the signs, meaning, methods and practices embedded in and employed by comics, cartoons, and their creators. Written by top comics acedemics as well as practicing cartoonists and comics artists and writers. There’s something for everyone here. Fully Archived! Highly recommended. ComicsResearch.org — Featuring The Comics Scholarship Annotated Bibliographies — The Comics Scholarship Annotated Bibliographies (CSAB) cover book-length works about comic books and comic strips, from “fannish” histories to academic monographs. This site was designed to provide more information and guidance on such books than you’d normally find in a library catalogue entry. Comics Research Bibliography — This is an international bibliography of comic books, comic strips, animation, caricature, cartoons, bandes dessinees, and related topics, that welcomes any additions or comments. As of the latest major update (October 2005), there are approximately 18,500 entries in the bibliography. And it’s searchable! Film Genre: Comic Books, Graphic Novels and Film – Syllabus — While we’re thinking of syllibi, here’s one for the class taught by the in-house Coapcetic comics scholar. The objective of this class is for the student to gain an understanding and an appreciation of the respective values and mutual relationships of comics and film. Here’s a PDF of the class suggested reading list. Exercises in Style — By Matt Madden, this is a must-visit site for any practicing cartoonist/comics artist. Madden is the reigning comics formalist and there are insights aplenty to be gained by a visit here as Madden takes the same simple domestic episode and presents it in the style of a wide variety of comics artists and schools. The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art — And let’s not forget the pioneer! Joe Kubert’s school has now been up and running for over a quarter century and can count many well known comics and animation professional among its alumni. Support Network The National Cartoonists Society — This society is primarily geared towards those involved with producing comic strips for the newspapers, but any comics fan is bound to find something of interest here. National Cartoonists Society Foundation — The National Cartoonists Society Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) charity that works in tandem with the NCS to advance the ideals and standards of the cartooning profession, to stimulate and encourage aspiring cartoonists through scholarships and educational programs, and to provide financial assistance to cartoonists and their families in times of hardship. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund — Founded in 1986 as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights for members of the comics community. Comics Publishers NOTE: While these publishers do sell directly over the web, we here at The Copacetic Comics Company just want to remind you that we carry or can order for you anything on these sites and will offer a minimum of 10% — 15% – 20% in most cases– off of the retail prices that you would be charged if you ordered direct. Fantagraphics Books — Home to comics maestros Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez, Dan Clowes, Chris Ware, Robert Crumb, Joe Sacco, and many more. Drawn and Quarterly — The premiere Canadian comics publisher. Home to comics iconoclasts Chester Brown, David Collier, Julie Doucet, Seth, Adrian Tomine, Dylan Horrocks, and now Kevin Huizenga and Anders Nilsen and more. Picture Box — You want some Art Comics? Well then, Picture Box is your boy! Home to Pittsburgh’s own Frank Santoro as well as Brian Chippendale, Chris Forgues, Paper Rad, Gary Panter, Peter Blegvad, Julie Doucet, Marc Bell and more. This is a publisher to watch. Adhouse Books — Home to Pulpatoon Pilgramage, Project: Telstar, Project: Superior, the upcoming Project: Romantic and much more to come. Buenaventura Press — A budding arthouse of comics. New publisher of Kramers Ergot and Comic Art Magazine. Sadly, now out of business… Top Shelf Productions — The mighty upstart US alternative comics publisher. Taking the hefty profits from their US rights to Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s mega-hit graphic novel, From Hell, and plowing them back into the fertile field of indy-comics, Chris Staros and Brett Warnock fight for truth, justice and the American Way (in their own inimitable fashion, of course). Home to James Kochalka, Craig Thompson, Pete Sickman-Garner, and other new and less well-known comics creators. Alternative Comics — Home to a slew of established and up-and-coming alternative cartoonists and host to an abundance of, what else, alternative comics! Publisher, Jeff Mason & Co. have been responsible for suppporting and promoting a number of important artists as they were up and coming and have published and continue to publish quite a bit of excellent work. :01 – First Second — The most successful of the recent entries into the wonderful world of graphic novel publishing, First Second seems to know what they are doing. They’ve gotten off to a strong start and they contue to put out an ever expanding catalogue of engaging quality work with (genrally) European leanings that place it on the aesthetic spectrum somewhere between D & Q and NBM, as well as running parallel (in places) with Pantheon’s graphic novel line. Definitely worth a look. Ponent Mon — A Spanish publisher of French inflected Japanese manga that are co-published in English by British publisher Fanfare. A truly international operation! What you’ll find here is a small but growing selection of nice, high quality graphic novels, serials and anthologies that contain some of the most engaging contemporary comics on the market. Includes our personal favorite, The Walking Man, by Jiro Taniguchi. Copacetic stocks all Ponent Mon/Fanfare titles published in English. Sparkplug Comic Books — The entrepreneurial alter ego of Dylan Wiliiams, Sparkplug publishes a small but excellent line of comics for the thinking person. Jeff Levine, John Hankiewicz, Eric Haven , Mats!?, Austin English, Ted May, Philip Barret and Dylan’s own work all have a cozy, well-produced home here, and we carry it all, here at Copacetic. Tugboat Press — It’s the little press that could! Publisher of the wonderful (and regularly published!) anthology title, Papercutter, and a growing catalogue of funky indies. Red Ink — Micro-press brainchild of Jordan Crane, this little-engine-that-could presents work well worth looking into. And while visiting, don’t miss the opportunity to download their quite valuable yet freely offered PDF file of A Comic Artist’s Guide to Reproduction. TwoMorrows — This is the Home page for the publishers of The Jack Kirby Collector, Comic Book Artist, Alter Ego, Comicology and Draw magazines. Slave Labor Graphics — Home to Evan Dorkin and other minor luminaries of indie comics publishing. Dark Horse Comics — Home to Sock Monkey, Concrete, and many other characters as well as comics creators Frank Miller, Geoff Darrow, and others. Marvel — Alright, alright, here it is; but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Home to the Fantastic Four, the Amazing Spider-Man, the Uncanny X-Men, the Incedible Hulk and a cast of Thousands (Sam Thousands, that is, from Long Neck, NJ). DC — Ditto, for this one. Home to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and more characters than any team of trademark lawyers could ever hope to keep track of. Archie — Well, believe it or not, we saved the best for last. This one actually has more going on than all the rest! Ideal for the younger comics fan, and the only comics site that has any appeal to young girls. And it’s cute to boot! Home to Archie & Jughead, Betty & Veronica, Reggie and the rest. Come back to Riverdale… Comics Pittsburgh Frank Santoro – Check out what’s up with Frank as he posts comics, drawings, writings, paintings and more here on his Cold Heat Comics blog. Jim Rugg – There’s plenty of fine comics and illustration work on view here from this amazing Pittsburgh-based talent. Well worth a visit. But that’s just the ground floor – to really keep up to minute with this prodigious talent, make sure to visit his Live Journal, where you’ll see all of Jim’s latest work. It’s a must! Ed Piskor’s Comics & Stories – It’s just like the title says, only moreso! There’s a ton of stuff here by the hardest working man in Pittsburgh’s comics biz, including well over 100 pages of comics! 741.5 Comics— You can spend an eternity here, at Dave “the knave” White’s seemingly inexhaustible site. Unicorn Mountain — Hub of happenning Pittsburgh creativeness centering on comics, music, performance, parties and more. Tom Scioli — Drop in and see what the creator of Godland and The Myth of 8-Opus is up to. Jasen Lex — Check in with the creator of Science Fair, The Gypsy Lounge and much more. Wayno — Veteran Pittburgh comics artist and illustrator shows off his ample wares on this jam packed website. Mark Zingarelli’s House of Zing — Whether you’re an aspiring artist looking for some pointers, or an art director looking for pro, you’ll find what you’re looking for here. back to top ART & LITERATURE The Fairvale Public Library — With Flannery at the helm you know there’ll always be something worthwhile to connect with. Contains links to the major online collections of literature. Survey the Western canon without leaving your computer. Nothing to buy (although it may lead you to consider that maybe there’s something to those eBooks and RocketBooks, after all). No assembly is required (but varying degrees of navigation are). WebMuseum, Paris — Don’t miss this if you like fine art. Lots of links to tons of great work. A caveat here is that the image size (not just file size) is large — 800 x 800 pixels and up) and while this provides images of higher than usual resolution, it disables all but those with the largest monitors from seeing the entire image at a glance. This is a small quibble, but nonetheless germane to your experience of this link. That said, you won’t want to miss this Cezanne Exhibit, just for starters. Then there’s the AMAZING close-up details on some paintings. Check out this look at Pollock’s Full Fathom Five. And don’t forget to check out Stuart Davis, the most copacetic of them all. Mark Harden’s Artchive — You could spend quite a while at this site exploring all the art they have available for perusal. Tons of great stuff, decently reproduced and viewable in pop-up windows. A true Virtual Art Museum. There are, however, some glaring omissions. Stuart Davis and Romare Bearden, just for starters… Artcyclopedia: The Fine Art Search Engine — Handy resource. Regularly updated. Check it out. You could start with Andy Warhol, Romare Bearden, or how about Wassily Kandinsky? AbsoluteArts.com — A web hub for the DIY art world. Check out amateur and semi-pro artworks ranging from the totally obscure to the completely unknown alomg with the occasional, “hey, wait a minute, I know that guy/gal!”; or post your own art work on the site at no charge. Also contains a regurlarly updated section of links to art exhibits around the world and regional art news links to the art scenes in many major cities, including Pittsburgh. Jim Breen’s Ukiyo-E Gallery — A fabulous selection of full-screen size images of Ukiyo-e prints by masters such as Hiroshige, Hokusai, Utamaro, and about a dozen others. Comes complete with an equally fabulous selection of pertinent links. If you would like to experience and explore the centuries old tradition of Japanese wood-block printing and the “Floating World” from which it received its name, then this is the place to start. The Woodblock Prints of Ando Hiroshige — Go here now! Maxfield Parrish Online Gallery — Great selection of images along with some good links(although several have expired). The Rockwell Gallery Collection of Norman Rockwell Art — Nice site, holding approximately 100 images, each individually enlargeable. The Loomis Project (now defunct – but still accessible — see note below) — Andrew Loomis was one of the all time great instructors of classic illustration techniques. His greatest work for the general public was Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth. Sadly (not to mention inexplicably: “Hello, Pearson PLC — WAKE UP!”), this great work has been out of print for over two decades. Now, amazingly– through the good graces of Yoyodyne Production Systems– this masterwork has been posted on the web IN ITS ENTIRETY and full-size to boot. PLEASE NOTE: Amazingly, even though the Loomis Project is no more, you can stil access it via the one and only Wayback Machine, by clicking right here. All the links are — or at least were when we posted this — still active and take you to a recreation of the entire site. Incroyable! Illuminated Manuscripts from the Collection of the Bodleian Library of Oxford University –There’s about a thousand images culled from one of the world’s most important collections of illuminated manuscripts. The William Blake Archive — Awe-inspiring William Blake resource. It’s all here. It may take you a little while to figure out how it works, but it’s well worth the effort. William Faulkner on the Web –Fabulous All-Faulkner Site with an heavily interlinked site architecture that structurally mirrors the interconnection of Faulkner’s literary works. Tender Buttons: Gertrude Stein Online — A very nice site devoted to the study and promulgation of Stein and her works. The Ralph Ellison Webliography — A good place to start to learn more about one of the most insightful thinkers and writers of the 20th century. Online Center for Gidean Studies— If you’re into André Gide then chances are you’re already familiar with this site; if not, then you’re in for a treat. If, on the other hand, you’re only superficially aware of Gide and would like to learn more, then this super site by local web-whiz Todd Sanders, is certainly the place to start. And while you’re at it, you might want to check out his other site, french lit. research Blackmask.com — Did you ever wonder where all the old pulp novels went? Yes, you’ve guessed it, they’re now on-line. The Shadow, Doc Savage, The Avenger and many others, along with much, much more in the way of literary production are all available to read– at no cost– online from Blackmask.com. Check it out! back to top SCIENCE FICTION Majic 12— Describes as well as promotes the integration of science fiction into society in general and popular culture in specific. Created and managed by Pittsburgh-based pop-culture maven, Phillip Shropshire– who does not shy away from expressing his own views in essays, fiction and art as well as in his many reviews (including those for Locus.com)– Majic 12 will link you to many of the facets of SF on the web. To experience the full brunt of Shropshire’s rhetorical onslaught, check out his dissenting opinion on Harlan Ellison’s latest lawsuit. Full Disclosure: You might notice a plug for this site on Majic 12; if Spy magazine were still around we would qualify for “Log-Rolling In Our Time.” Science Fiction Resource Guide — Links to all things SF, last updated 13 November 2000. Dr. Sparks’ Science Fiction Site at Clemson , 2001 Edition — An engaging amalgam of Professor and student SF Sites. James Tiptree, Jr. World Wide Website — Good introduction — with time-line and bibliography — of the science fiction author whose works address crucial issues that are currently being almost totally ignored; to our great peril. While practically all her works are currently — and criminally — out of print, they are easily found on ABE and half.com. American Pulp Magazines Cover Gallery — This site offers a mind-boggling selection of American Science FIction, Fantasy & Horror pulp magazine covers from the 1920s through the 1950s. Included are huge runs of such seminal pulps as Amazing Stories and Weird Tales. The site is hosted by L’ENCYCLOPEDIE FRANCOPHONE DE LA SF, so the text is all in French, but it’s fairly easy to navigate as the titles are still in English. Just click on the thumbnail images for a full size scan of the cover. It’s amazing! And, if you feel like even more, scroll to the bottom of the opage for even more!!! back to top BOOKS & PERIODICALS Arts & Letters Daily — This is a really, really great site — one of the best on the web — it links to EVERYTHING. Check it out! Arthur Mag — The heppest mag around. Where else could you find articles like this one on the dawning realization that the world’s bacteria is Eartth’s dominant species? Yes! — This quarterly print magazine also has a strong online presence, and both are dedicated to “Building a Just and Sustainable World.” Highly recommended to anyone interested in building a better tomorrow (which should be everyone, right?). For starters, check out this excellent climate solutions resource guide prepared for the Spring 2008 issue. The New Yinzer — Pittsburgh’s very own online magazine. And it’s all archived online! with a user friendly interface! The High Hat — A great online magzine that provides excellent critical studies of so many facets of American culture that it manages to put to rest once and for all the whole notion of high and low; if it’s good, it’s good, and that’s all there is to it. Includes Chris Lanier’s superb comics critiques on the likes of Fort Thunder/Matt Brinkman and Ron Rege’s Skibber Bee Bye. McSweeney’s — Well, most people seem to fall into two camps concerning McSweeney’s: either they’re into it or they aren’t; those who are into it probably already know about their site, and those who aren’t probably wouldn’t care to know; but, as always, there are some people who fall into neither camp — if you consider yourself one of them, then this link’s for you! Gearhead Magazine — Whether you suffer from LaVella nostalgia, or are interested in his freewheeling amalgamation of muscle cars and Let-The-Good-Times-Rock-‘N’-Roll music, all done in the DIY spirit that is punk rock’s greatest legacy, this is the site for you. And don’t forget to check out Gearhead Radio™. PopMatters — Yes, this is a big budget, commercial, advertising-driven site, but, that said, it’s about as hep as they come, and has a regular comics feature, so we have to say: it’s worth a look. On what other commercial site will you find in-depth pieces on Julie Doucet and Harvey Pekar, as well as Brooklyn-based troubadour (and ex-pat Pittsburgher) Reid Paley? Rain Taxi: Online Edition — A well written online journal that covers areas likely to of interest to Copacetic Customers. This link will take you to the archive. For the latest issue, click here. Smokebox — a non-profit, bimonthly e-zine. Much interesting reading. Wayne Wise’s Web-Site — Learn more about Wayne Wise– the Pittsburgh area comic book store clerk who made good– and his new novel, King of Summer, which is now available for purchase at the Copacetic Comics Company and other fine retail establishments, as well as direct from Wayne himself. Slate — “Why Slate?” you might well ask. “Everybody already knows about Slate. And, doesn’t, like, Microsoft™ own it, or something?” Well, the answer to “Why Slate?” is pretty much this: they gave James Sturm a week-long Journal to plug the launch of The Center for Cartoon Studies. It’s archived, so you can still read the whole thing, starting here. back to top MUSIC TV Radio World: Your Internet Broadcast Directory and Listing of Radio Television Stations on the Web — Whether you want to locate a particular station on the web, or just want to explore what’s out there, make this site your first stop. And despite the fact that this is listed under music, there’s a lot more besides that you can connect with here. The BBC — While we’re on the subject of the world of radio, we would be quite remiss not to provide you with a direct link to what is, in all liklihood, its single most important broadcasting source–The BBC. This page will not only fill you on what’s happenning but will allow you to immediately connect and listen in to BBC 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and more. Classical Net — An exhaustive database of classical music. Whether you’re a life-long devotee, an afficianado, or a novice, it’s worth your while to check out this site when in search of anything pertaining to classical music (at least, of the Western world, anyway). The Classical Music Department of the WWW Virtual Library — This is a hub site with zillions of links to the world of classical music. Bob Keller’s Jazz Page — An amazing array of links dedicated to furthering your awareness of all things jazz. Well worth a visit. The Red Hot Jazz Archive — Jazz before 1930. An awesome site with viewable short early jazz films, essays, info on early jazz pioneers, and… OVER 2000 CLASSIC JAZZ TUNES in Real Audio 3 format for your listening pleasure! These are complete recordings, NOT excerpts. If you don’t know where to start, we suggest getting in on the ground floor with Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five. JazzDisco.org — If you have a discographical question concerning jazz, make this your first stop. Who played what, when, with who, for what label? Trying to find a record can’t remember the label? Trying to find a song and can’t remember the record? Trying to find a record, can only rembmer the name of the song? These and many other questions maly be answered here. This fully indexed and searchable database is a labor of love compilied and maintained by the Jazz Discography Project (Nobuaki Togashi, Kohji ‘Shaolin’ Matsubayashi andMasayuki Hatta). All Reet! Satchography.com — The Louis Armstrong Discography and more. Excellent site dedicated to the recordings of Louis Armstrong. Amazing cut by cut and take by take details of every single one of Louis’s recording sessions. There’s enough info here to keep you checking the bins at Jerry’s Records for the rest of your life. It’s very comforting, in a way, going through this site, knowing that no matter how much Louis one might manage to get a hold of there will always be a new surprise waiting. The Duke Ellington Society — This one has moved around a bit and is currently being reconstructed. There’s an older version, here. The Official Raymond Scott Site — Learn more about the composer of Powerhouse and other quirky unpigeonholeable compositions. If you don’t know anything about Scott or want to learn more, here’s where to start. Miles Ahead: The Miles Davis Website — Everything you wanted to know about the work of Miles Davis. It also has incorporated the Charlie Parker Discography. BobDylan.com — The All-Bob Site, including complete song lyrics and one minute RealPlayer™ music files of many (all?) his Columbia Records/Sony Music releases. An excellent site definitely worth checking out. The Internet Beatles Album — A fairly interesting and well designed Beatles site. The Complete Beatles Lyrics Axis: A Jimi Hendrix Experience — The best place to start for Hendrix on the web. Includes a Lyrics page, although it’s unlikely to be complete as Hendrix’s releases are so scattered that a few invariably seem to fall through the cracks. Independent Lens on Parliament Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove — This is a link page for all things Parliament Funkadelic, one that will help bring you up to speed on the truly amazing conglomeration of musical and spiritual genius that is P-Funk. Of special note is The Motherpage, an jam packed info page full of funky facts and figures. David Bowie Wonderworld — All you ever wanted to know about David Bowie and then some. Up to the minute account of everything Bowie. If you suffer from a Bowie obsession, then this could be the site for you. Including the complete lyrics (However,this page takes a long time to load. For an alternative, you could try the complete searchable lyrics from Teenage Wildlife: The Interactive David Bowie Fanpage.) A Patti Smith Babelogue — The All-Patti Site, including complete lyrics. Gillian Welch’s Official Home Page — Take a few moments to familiarize yourself with one of the best. Click here for her discography, which includes not only her four studio albums — Revival, Hell Among the Yearlings,Time (The Revelator) and Soul Journey (All currently in stock at The Copacetic Comics Co.), but numerous appearances on compilation and soundtrack albums. Gillian Welch and her musical partner David Rawlings are producing some truly moving music. If you’d like to know more, click here for a Gillian Welch capsule bio wriitten at the time of the release of her first album, Revival, in 1996. Joe Henry — Do yourself a favor and get hep to this cat. There’s a lot on this site, including videos — one of a complete live show — sample tracks, blogs, liner notes, archived NPR shows, and more reviews of his latest LP,Civilians, than you can shake a stick at. back to top PITTSBURGH MUSIC SCENE (BAND & LABEL) SITES The Deliberate Strangers — Corrallng spirits driving hard out of Appalachia and points unknown, The Deliberate Stangers mix it up with the Dark Side to save your soul. Reid Paley — Well, yes, technically, The Reid Paley Trio is not a Pittsburgh band; but seeing as how Reid both penned and continues to sing the line, “I must’ve left my heart in Pittsburgh,” after having resided here for over a decade, we’d say that he continues to be a part of the Pittsburgh music scene, if only in spirit, wouldn’t you? The Modey Lemon — Check out these crazy rock ‘n’ roll kids! Anti-Flag — These guys have moved beyond the category, but since they’re rooted in and still based in the ‘burgh, here they are. Punk’s not dead! Cenotaph Audio — Yes, it’s true: A local label specializing in music that is quite off the beaten path, some of which is actually produced here in the ‘burgh. Check it out and see if you think it’s up your alley. CINÉMA The one and only Internet Movie Database –One of the best resources on the web. If it’s information pertaining to any and all films you are looking for, it’s all here. Everything. Really. On the other hand, most films available for sale have links to Amazon.com, trying to lure your business away from your friendly neighborhood retail outlet, such as, for example, The Copacetic Comics Company. So before clicking on “add to cart” at Amazon.com give us a call or send us an email and see if we can meet or beat their price on DVDs. The Big Cartoon Data Base — Doing for cartoons what IMDB does for movies. If you’re into cartoons, you’ll definitely want to bookmark this one. Tens of thousands of cartoons are indexed. Awesome! The Prelinger Film Archives — Well, for all of you folks out there with”fat pipes” — otherwise known as high speed connections to the internet — have we got a site for you! This one archives tons of obscure gems from the hidden history of American cinema. It truly boggles the mind. Better put in a good supply of food and drink before connecting to this one; it may be awhile before you can tear yourself away. UbuWeb Online Film & Video Archives — Included are complete viewable-on-line films by the likes of Maya Deren, George Kuchar (almost all his classics are here!), Jack Smith (Flaming Creatures!), Dziga Vertovand many, many more! Yes, the quality of the viewing experience leaves a lot to be desired, but still, c’mon — this is quite a resource. Mondo Digital — This is a great site for anyone looking to expand their cinematic horizons and/or dig deeper into the cinematic underworld. Mondo Digital focuses on the “weird and wild cinema” and does a good job of it. There are hundreds of reviews accompanied by choice screen shots of a wide variety of films from off the beaten path. The home page features the latest reviews, but at the bottom there are links to the archives and more. Worth a look. Really Good Films — This is a really good site for any film fanatic or cinephile. Really! It’s hard to believe. There must be a catch somewhere. Enjoy it now before they are forced to either sell out or close down. Scope — An entirely free online journal of film studies. Lots of interesting articles that you can sink your intellectual teeth into. Full text of all articles online! BUBL LINK / 5:15 Catalogue of Internet Resources: Film studies — A great link page for film resources on the web. The Roland Collection of Films & Videos on Art — We weren’t sure what category to list this under, but put it here because these are films, after all. There are an amazing 48 programs on art and artists stored on this site, with — even more amazing — a special focus on comics! Requires an up-to-date RealPlayer to view. The Criterion Collection — The DVD label for connoisseurs. We’re doing our best to get and keep their titles in stock, so check with us after you check with them. The British Film Institute Fellini Internet Fan Club Derek Malcom’s Century of FiIm The Unofficial Monty Python Home Page — Well, Monty Python may not exactly qualify as cinéma, but it certainly rates as one of life’s joys. This is probably the best place to start for Python on the web. KID STUFF The ALA Great Sites for Kids page — Here’s a hub page of sites recommended for children put together by the folks at the American Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children. Chelmsford Library: Children’s Page – Book recommendations, links to kid-friendly sites, learning resources and more. Elder Scrolls Online: Guide to Internet Resources for Kids – A selection of links to kid friendly sites; each with a description (a bit like what is here at Copacetic Links, but even more in depth). Technology and Young Children – Online resources are listed here to help parents and caregivers find information on best practices regarding technology use with young children in the home. Dav Pilkey’s Web Site O’ Fun! — Extreme silliness from the author/illustrator of Captain Underpants,Cat Kong, Dogzilla,and many other books for kids. back to top HISTORY & SOCIETY WorldChanging.com — They say: “WorldChanging.com works from a simple premise: that the tools, models and ideas for building a better future lie all around us. That plenty of people are working on tools for change, but the fields in which they work remain unconnected. That the motive, means and opportunity for profound positive change are already present. That another world is not just possible, it’s here. We only need to put the pieces together.” Renowned author, Bruce Sterling says: “The most important web site on the planet.” Check it out and see if you agree. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University — This is a really great site that everyone could stand to visit at least once. back to top INTERNET RESOURCES Wikipedia — Well, we kinda’ figure that you probably already know about this one, but, if not, you’ll be happy to learn that it is a multilingual project to create a complete and accurate [a claim that is highly controversial]free content encyclopedia. The site started in January 2001 and — as of 15 February 2008 — had posted 2,239,877 articles in the English version, all of which are, theoretically at least, constantly being updated and revised. Visit the help page and experiment in the sandbox to learn how you can edit any article right now. WordReference.com — And, speaking of multilingual. If you need help tranlating a word from French, Italian and/or Spanish into English — or vice versa — this site is your boy! FreeTranslation.com — This site actually translates entire blocks of text — we’re not sure what the upper limit is — for no cost. The translation is what they term a “gist” translation in that it should be enough to give you an idea of what the text is saying but it will be very clunky — like it was written by someone who takes pleasure in flouting the rules of grammar and has some serious pronoun issues. But hey, it can be very helpful when you’re in a pinch. The Internet Archive — Use the Wayback Machine™ to visit 85 billion web pages that have been digitally archived. Miss an old website that’s no longer around? It’s here! All you need to know is the original URL and you’re good to go. AMAZING! BUBL LINK / 5:15 — Selected Internet resources covering all academic subject areas. You could spend every waking moment of the rest of your life and still not exhaust all the resources assembled here in a simple to navigate, easy to understand, and efficiently organized site that presents an astounding collection of primo links to resources informing a truly stunning array of topics and subjects. Voice of the Shuttle: Web Page for Humanities Research — An excellent complement to BUBL Link. A bit less elegant but a lot more personal as it is primarily the work of one man, Alan Liu. A fascinating resource. Questia.com — The World’s Largest Online Library; or so they say… Digital Librarian: a librarian’s choice of the best of the Web — A great selection of links well organized and thoughtfully presented. The San Antonio College Library Learning Resource Center Page Devoted to Art, Architecture and Fashion History — A links-page that will connect you to interesting web sites that give background information and (even more) links to art and artists, art history, clip art, digital images, museums, architecture and architects, fashion history and costumes, comics and cartoon strips, and handicrafts and home improvement. A great resource, that’s regularly updated. UbuWeb — This is a truly awe inspiring site filled with a hard-to-believe abundance of all things avant-garde and outsider. Art, poetry, mp3 sound archives, and so much more. Make sure you visit their truly mind boggling selection of classic avant garde & experimental film. Included are complete viewable-on-line films by the likes of Maya Deren, George Kuchar (almost all his classics are here!), Jack Smith (Flaming Creatures!), Dziga Vertovand many, many more! Yes, the quality of the viewing experience leaves a lot to be desired, but still, c’mon — this is quite a resource. Feel like exploring online? These sites are designed to provide you with a place to start your trek: — Yahoo Picks — Yahoo Directory: New for the Day — Memepool — Metafilter — Internet Scout Report — Librarian’s Index to the Internet — Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching back to top WEB LIFE BoingBoing – A Directory of Wonderful Things is how they describe themselves, and it’s an apt description. Most wonderful of all is the amount of new material they manage to post every single day. Whenever you’re feeling zoned out and looking for a distraction, this is a site to keep in mind. And if you’re looking for some serious distraction, you can really go to town here as it’s fully archived! Retro Lounge — There’s something for everybody here in this endless online remembrance of things past. Gravity Lens — “Observations from a Distance by Jeff Patterson.” This is what blogging is about: A daily digest of fully interlinked bits from all over the web that are found to be of interest by the Blog’s author and those whose interests overlap at least at some point. Well done and, well, interesting. World Wide Words — Michael Quinion’s site on the wide world of the English language is, in our opinion, the best site going for word freaks. Many an idle moment can be profitably spent here by anyone with a passion for language and language history; or, for that matter, by anyone who is just curious about words, their origins, their history and their usage. There are so many fascinating examples here that we feel confident that just about anyone who likes to read will benefit from partaking in Quinion’s joy of exploration and discovery in the wide world of words, which is, when all is said and done, perhaps the widest world of them all. Be sure to check outtopical words, turns of phrase, and our personal favorite, weird words The Amateur — Pete Blegvad strikes again with another brilliant website. Mind expanding. Virtual Parks — If you’re ever in the mood for a five minute virtual nature retreat this may do the trick. Note: might be more trouble than it’s worth for those without a broadband connection (on the other hand you could imagine that the download time is the virtual equivalent of the leisurely drive to your vacation getaway). BugGuide.net — If you’re interested in insects, then this site will boggle your mind with the immensity of its resources — especially all the great photographic images — all assembled just for you, and available to access 24/7. The navagation is multi-levelled and may take a moment or two to figure out, but it is designed to provide insight into the interconnectivity of the species, genera, families, etc. Bug out! Tree of Life Web Project — “The Tree of Life Web Project is a collection of information about biodiversity compiled collaboratively by hundreds of expert and amateur contributors. Its goal is to contain a page with pictures, text, and other information for every species and for each group of organisms, living or extinct. Connections between Tree of Life web pages follow phylogenetic branching patterns between groups of organisms, so visitors can browse the hierarchy of life and learn about phylogeny and evolution as well as the characteristics of individual groups.” All we have to add is, “WOW!” The Philosophy of Pattern: The Philosophy Homepage of Jaap Bax — Look out Loretta! If you like to be intellectually stimulated and/or challenged and you have a block of free time you’re not sure what to do with, you might want to check this one out. But beware! There’s a vortexical quality to this site that might pull you in deeper than you expect. back to top POLITICS Your Vote Matters — Here’s a site where you can register to vote, right now. It’s a secure (https://) site brought to you by the folks at Working Assets. If you’re already registered to vote, great! If not, you owe it to yourself, your country and your world to not just register, but to vote as well. Thanks! Federal Election Committee — This is their official site, where they have .pdf files of all the information and forms you’ll need: to get registered to vote yourself, and, if you’re interested, to help other people get registered as well; and not only that: you’ll gain some insight into the entire process as well. This is how it works. Are you trying hard to make informed political decisions but having trouble getting straight, unfiltered information from the mainstream media outlets? These sites may help: http://c-span.org/ http://campaigndesk.org/ http://mediamatters.org/ http://dailyhowler.com/ Check them out and see what you think. MoveOn.org — A great site for people who like to get involved. This site also hosts many important texts, none more so than the full text of Al Gore’s speech of May 26, 2004. Thank you for voting! back to top Charity/NGO sites Oxfam America — If you want to help make the more copacetic, this is a very good place to start. Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, few if any groups accomplish more with their resources. Working around the world and around the clock, Oxfam works to help people build lives that they will be happy to live. The International Rescue Committee — “Founded in 1933 , the IRC is a global leader in emergency relief, rehabilitation, protection of human rights, post-conflict development, resettlement services and advocacy for those uprooted or affected by violent conflict and oppression.” The IRC gets our vote for the best organization devoted to alleviating suffering on the ground. Union of Concerned Scientists — If you would like to support smart people trying to make the world a smarter– not to mention better– place, then this is your NGO. They are especially focused right now on promoting the understanding of how a simple, technologically feasible step like encouraging consumers to buy and car manufacturers to produce more fuel efficient cars can have so many far-reaching and long-lasting positive effects, such as helping the environment, lowering the gigantic trade deficit of the USA, and lowering our dependence on foreign oil and thereby improving our leverage in the Middle East. American Indian College Fund — Of all those organizations that exist to help the American Indian, this is the one we found to be the most direct and efficacious: The money goes to American Indian run tribal colleges to support and assist American Indians as they gain a higher education which they can then in turn use towards rebuilding American Indian society. Feeding America – Spends its time and money transporting excess food (yes, America is indeed the land of plenty) that would otherwise go to waste to food pantires around the country – such as the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank – who then distribute it to the hungry. Sounds like a good idea to us. and here are some sites to guide you through the charity landscape: Give.Org : The BBB Wise Giving Alliance The American Institute of Philanthropy Charity Navigator The Charity Commission for England and Wales back to top Alternative Energy Resources EERE: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy — Here’s the U.S. Department of Energy’s official Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy website. You can really learn a lot about what’s going on here. Of special note: The Solar Energy Technologies Program. REN21: Renewable Energy and Policy Network for the 21st Century — REN21 is a global policy network aimed at providing a forum for international leadership on renewable energy. Its goal is to allow the rapid expansion of renewable energies in developing and industrial countries by bolstering policy development and decision-making on sub-national, national and international levels. Interstate Renewable Energy Council — The Interstate Renewable Energy Council’s mission is to accelerate the sustainable utilization of renewable energy sources and technologies in and through state and local government and community activities. The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) — is a national organization dedicated to advancing the use of solar energy for the benefit of U.S. citizens and the global environment. ASES promotes the widespread near- and long-term use of solar energy. Solar Nation — “Where citizens rally and convince their leaders to make America a true Solar Power.” This is THE site to go to to join the effort to get involved in shaping the policy debate and encouraging our elected officials to see the light when it comes to the importance, value and necessity of fostering the nascent solar power industry. NWCC: National Wind Coordinating Committee — A U.S. consensus-based collaborative formed in 1994, the National Wind Coordinating Committee (NWCC) identifies issues that affect the use of wind power, establishes dialogue among key stakeholders, and catalyzes appropriate activities to support the development of environmentally, economically, and politically sustainable commercial markets for wind power. SEPA: The Solar Electric Power Association — SEPA is a collaboration of utilities, energy service providers and the photovoltaic industry working together to create and encourage commercial use of new solar electric power business models. SEPA helps to establish standards for photovoltaic systems and their interconnection to the utility grid, hosts cross-industry workshops, and manages educational and outreach campaigns. Solar Mosaic — Worthy ideas – as well as ways to implement them – about helping us all go solar; from Oakland, CA. Solar Buzz — Connect to solar energy companies worldwide, follow solar energy developments. or access their solarbuzz research and consultancy services. Renewable Energy Access — The alternate energy business hub site. ¡NEW¡ A Guide To Green Careers — Interested parties should check this out; there’s plenty to glean from this well organized, informative page; well worth a look! back to top PITTSBURGH INFO SITES Copacetic Pittsburgh — This is our own hub page for all things copacetic in and about Pittsburgh. Here we take a look at many of the fine creations by Pittsburghers and/or about Pittsburgh, including those on the web. The Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh — The greatest Pittsburgh resource of them all! Especially valuable is their resources page. Be forewarned, however, that sometimes their site is slow, due to the large amount of traffic sometimes overwhelming their underfunded servers. back to top That’s all for now. We’re working hard to add more as they come to our attention, so be sure to check back. If you have a site that you think would go well here just send it to: links and we’ll check it out. – BB P.S. Please let us know if any of these links are stale, dead, misdirected, or otherwise malfunctioning by sending a note about the link in question to webhead. Share this page: [...]

Sally IngrahamAugust 4, 2017NewsSally here to finish the week with the focus on Flo Steinberg, and Lynda Barry – plus other news and comics by fabulous women! ———————————————————————————————— Flo Steinberg, longtime secretary of Marvel’s Stan Lee, and underground comics publisher extraordinaire, died last week. Any number of obituaries and tributes have shown up since then, but I especially enjoyed the memories of Michael J. Vassallo, who was a friend as well as a fan of Flo’s. He wrote about her life and work and their friendship on his blog Timely-Atlas-Comics – read all about her HERE (via The Comics Reporter). Flo’s escapades at Marvel are well known – her work ethic, her enjoyment of the form, and her support and interest in the creators inspired devotion and respect from everyone she met. When she left Marvel in 1968 she dove into the world of underground comics, and produced one of the very first independent comics EVER – Big Apple Comix (1975). The one-shot featured work by Wally Wood, Neil Adams, Al Williamson, Denny O’Neil, Archie Goodwin, Ralph Reese, Marie Severin, Paul Kirchner, Stu Schwartzberg, Alan Weiss, Herb Trimpe, Mike Ploog and Larry Hama. Linda Fite contributed a strip and helped with the production, alongside John Verpoorten and Michele Brand. Flo was the editor. She printed 20,000 copies (some stories say) and Warren Publishing helped her store and distribute it. The comic helped build the wave of direct market publications which led to the thriving alternative and underground comics scene of the 80’s. Read more about Big Apple Comix HERE. As one of the stewards of the comics community and a bridge between the mainstream and underground worlds, “Fabulous” Flo earned her status as a “legend” and is certainly an inspiration to those of us who feel compelled to till the earth and look to the tending of this scene. I hope she continues to turn that beautiful smile on us from wherever she is now – and keep us on target as well! ———————————————————————————————— If you were to only read comics by Lynda Barry, and no one else, for a year, you would learn just as much about living – with yourself and with others, and in this weird world – and about the craft of making comics, as you would by reading widely and deeply all across the medium. I revisited One! Hundred! Demons! (2002) recently and it was like being picked up by a tornado full of bright objects, spun round roughly, and spat back out a few blocks away from where I’d started, dizzy and bruised, but laughing. Lynda’s ability to delve into her own memories of childhood, to summon the demons and put them in their place, is frightening and beautiful. Lyda reminds one that childhood is a wild place, and how you felt then is not so different from how you feel now – and that’s okay. I appreciate that Lynda stuck to some formal restraints in the making of this comic – all square panels, arranged in a row of 4 across a spread – which makes for a comforting beat as you move through the somewhat tumultuous story. The black line (made with a brush) and the colors are very satisfying. Her figures are somewhat grotesque at times – even the “pretty” ones – but they are wonderfully alive and vivid. This is great cartooning, in the proper sense of the word, not just lovely illustrations in sequence with word balloons. Groundbreaking at it’s time of publication, and still just as good. Get a copy of One! Hundred! Demons! HERE. Lynda is one of my greatest inspirations as a master cartoonist and a woman. Her teaching and lecturing has impacted numerous creatives and non-creatives alike – as this New York Times Magazine article from 2011 proclaimed, “Cartoonist Lynda Barry Will Make You Believe in Yourself“. For another dose of passion and drive, check out this Ink Talk about how “the answer is in the picture“: Lynda Barry lives and teaches in Wisconsin. She created a comic strip that was nationally syndicated for 2-decades (Ernie Pook’s Comeek), and has created numerous graphic novels, prose novels, plays, and how-to books. She was recently given the National Cartooning Society’s Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award, and is in the Will Eisner Hall of Fame. She doesn’t mess around, and she doesn’t keep quiet – Lynda is a force of nature and we are lucky as cartoonists to count her among us. Keep up with Lynda Barry HERE – and with “the Near-Sighted Monkey” version of Lynda HERE. ———————————————————————————————— The Rest of the Party Women Write About Comics has a nice overview of some recent acquisitions to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum – a wonderful new collection of original art by female cartoonists of the 80’s and 90’s. Read and see pictures HERE. Philippe Leblanc reviews a number of Shee Phon‘s comics over on The Comics Beat – check out his take on her “progressive and personal” work HERE. Imagine Wanting Only This by Kristin Radtke has been getting mixed reviews – over on The Comics Journal Greg Hunter is pretty clear about not liking it – and I find myself thankful that some people are still willing to talk about what makes certain comics poor works of art and storytelling. Check out the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum’s Digital Exhibit of work by Edwina Dumm! Zainab Akhtar is going for Critical Chips 2 – check out the Kickstarter HERE. Brigid Alverson writes about Svetlana Chmakova‘s career over on Publishers Weekly. Sarah Glidden has an on-the-spot autobio comic posted HERE. The celebration of Annie Koyama and Koyama Press’s 10th anniversary continues! Read about it over on Nekkei Voice. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-4-17 – by Gabriella Tito ———————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 8-4-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

Juan FernándezDecember 6, 2017los Cómics / NewsJuan empieza el día con Gerardo Vilches y un elogia de mal dibujo; La Polola; un documental sobre Jim Pluk; #JusticiaParaHonduras, Call for Papers CuCo, Cuadernos de Cómic n.º 10 y más! ————————————————————————————————— «Eso lo dibuja un niño de cinco años»: Elogio del mal dibujo Over on Revista Cactus, the great Gerardo Vilches offers a fun exploration on the power of bad drawing. It moves through many different aesthetic streams, in the vein of Austin English’s recent piece for the Comics Journal, Feininger’s Grandkids. Gerardo Vilches: No es casual que estas corrientes de mal dibujo se estén desarrollando de forma paralela a la aparición de cómics que se publican al margen de la tradicional industria de la historieta infantil y juvenil, centrada en la aventura y la acción. Mientras que el dibujo realista es más literal y, por tanto, idóneo para reproducir la realidad tal cual la vemos, el dibujo que prescinde de todas las reglas académicas se ha mostrado especialmente adecuado para desarrollar temáticas nuevas y transmitir una información más abstracta, que va más allá de la descripción de situaciones y la narración de una acción. En eso coinciden todos los autores mencionados anteriormente, y otros nombres que sin llegar a sus extremos también se saltan ciertas normas en algunos trabajos —como puede ser el caso de Aisha Franz en Planeta Tierra, dibujado a lápiz de un modo muy fresco—: practican un tipo de cómic en el que la acción es secundaria, y lo que interesa es lo personal, lo psicológico, las ideas. Todo aquello que no puede dibujarse con herramientas convencionales. Léanlo todo AQUI. – All hail Heta-uma.- ————————————————————————————————— Los cómics y las noticias que me han llamado la atención esta semana: Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo tienen una nueva edicion de La Polola Podcast! Las chicas conversan con Majo Puga, una de las gestoras de la feria, Viña del Mar, y de la carrera de ilustración. Les habló de su carrera como ilustradora, su gusto por hacer clases, por enseñar y motivar el amor por el dibujo y por la necesidad de gestionar y tomarse espacios de creación de forma colectiva. Ya pueden ver “Hasta que el cuerpo resista”, el documental para conocer de la creatividad y los retos del historietista colombiano Jim Pluk. With #JusticiaParaHonduras, cartoonists are turning their sketchpads into a form of protest against the recent electoral debacle in Honduras. Check out the aggregation over on REMEZCLA. Cuadernos de Cómic han lanzado el call for papers de CuCo 10. Podéis enviar propuestas desde ya. //Call for Papers CuCo, Cuadernos de Cómic n.º 10 Exposición: MUJERES DIBUJADAS. Seis autoras de hoy revisitan a Núria Pompeia en Barcelona. ————————————————————————————————— The Winter Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers starts January 18th 2018! 8 weeks – 500 bux – coaching for as long as you need. The course is hard, but Frank will push your comics making practice to a new level, getting you to think about timing and color in new ways. Makes a great holiday gift for yourself – or for a loved one who is interested in comics. Apply by midnight (EST) on Dec. 25th and get $100 off the course price. Full details and how to apply can be found HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 12-6-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 12-6-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]