Best Of The Fests
Rob Clough takes a look at mini-comics from Kayla E., Sam Sharpe, Hyena Hell, Haleigh Buck and more in a column he’s calling a return “to the roots” of High-Low!
High-Low
Welcome to Paradise Systems
R. Orion Martin (with kuš!) has helped translate and publish a number of underground Chinese comics artists, which American alternative comics readers will find familiar in subject matter, but strange and original in tone and approach.
The Reveries of E.A. Bethea
E.A. Bethea’s comics read as a detailed, confessional fever dream.
Telling on Your Secrets: Comics from Kevin Budnik, 2014-2017
In Budnik’s comics, he reveals his deepest fears and the ongoing, active experience of living with mental illness.
Rediscovering Genre: Study Group Comics
A close look at the recent output of Zack Soto’s genre-focused small publishing house, Study Group.
The Best Short-Form Comics of 2016
Our minicomics columnist chooses his thirty favorite shortform comics published last year.
The Comics Nurturer: Kevin Czap & Czap Books
Kevin Czap was recently awarded the Emerging Talent award at the Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) festival, a fitting honor for a cartoonist and publisher who is starting to publish on a more aggressive basis. A self-proclaimed “Comics Mom,” Czap’s goal as a publisher is to nurture and encourage the artists that they publish (Czap’s preferred… Read more »
A Retrofit Comics Survey
Taking stock of a wide, stylistically various range of comics, released over the past three years by the imprint run by Box Brown and Big Planet Comics.
Twenty Small Press Anthologies Of Note
Taking the pulse of the alt-comics world by way of a traditional method: evaluating anthologies.
Reading Centrala
A survey of the new Polish/English imprint’s early and recent output, which ranges from all-ages material to autobio to stuff that’s far stranger.
Best Of 2014
A personal list of Clough’s favorite comics published last year, both long and short.
Comics From Oceania: Pikitia Press
Matt Emery’s Pikitia Press is located in Melbourne, but Emery is a New Zealand native and unsurprisingly publishes the work of a number of Kiwis as well as Aussies. The scene has long been small but feisty but it has grown dramatically in the past five to ten years.
State of the Art: QU33R
Kirby’s new anthology is very much a reaction to and extension of Justin Hall’s No Straight Lines. If the latter represents the past of queer comics, Kirby wanted to take a snapshot of its present.
The Ballpoint Worlds of Jeremy Baum
Baum’s comics and illustrations revolve around a set of subverted genre themes, as fantasy, conspiracy, and science fiction tropes are blended with pet images.
The Wuvable World of Ed Luce
Some have referred to Luce’s Oaf comics as “the gay version of Scott Pilgrim,” but the obvious alt-comics comparison is Jaime Hernandez.
MCAD and the Minneapolis Scene
Rob Clough takes a close look at the local comics scene in Minneapolis, and particularly the work of current and former students from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD).
Sequential Artists Workshop: Output From The First Year
The sense I get from SAW’s first year is that Hart’s aim was to create a collaboration and dialogue with his students, rather than create a rigid differentiation between the teacher and his pupils.
First Impressions
Let’s take a look at the work of a sextet of new cartoonists.
Minicomics Of Note
Ten of the most interesting comics that have come my way over the past few months.
Small Press Spotlight
What I find impressive about many of the recently emergent small-press and boutique publishers is their rate of output.
The Stanford Graphic Novel Project
I’ve yet to see any school with such a particular and exhaustive focus on the creation of comics as Stanford, with its Graphic Novel Project.
Reading Periodicals
In an age when companies like Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly have almost completely curtailed their publishing of traditional comic books, it’s heartening to see so many smaller publishers embracing the concept.
A Survey Of International Small Press Comics
Minicomics and handsome books are appearing from countries not necessarily known for their alt-comics scenes. In this column, I’ll be looking at comics by cartoonists from Poland, Latvia, England, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Turkey.
The Top 30 Minicomics of 2011
What it sounds like. Rob Clough picks his thirty favorite minicomics from last year.
