Creation Matrix – This Week’s Links
I’ve been keeping a journal of inspiring phrases that pop into my head at night to use in this space. Last night I came up with “Reticence is Nothing to the Flying Man.” Is that any good? The rest were dirty.
Features
Koyama Provides: The Artists
A collection of Koyama Provides grant recipients share about the projects, creations, and collaborations that they’ve received over the last year.
“If I Can Inspire Others To Do This Kind Of Thing, That Would Be Amazing”: A Conversation About Koyama Provides
After closing Koyama Press at the beginning of 2021, Annie Koyama turned her energies towards Koyama Provides, an ongoing series of financial grants for cartoonists, comics makers and other artistic ventures. We caught up with her about the project’s first year and the motives behind it.
Charlie Dear
There’s a new book of S. Clay Wilson’s correspondence out there, and Goshkin is ready to report back on the experience…and to consider why some artists end up with French bank accounts, while others worry about “a doorway reeking of piss”.
We’ll Take A Cup O’ Kindness – This Week’s Links
No— no, I’m glad about the first snowfall of the season. More time to read the links, right? Ha ha, no, it’ll melt, I’ll just let it…
“I Was Completely Out Of My Comfort Zone. I Was Outside Under A Pouring Rain”: Manuele Fior on Celestia and Beyond
Sitting down with one of Italian comics’ most visible contemporary talents, who saw his fifth book released in English last year: the lyrical SF story Celestia.
The Best Comics of 2021
Gadzooks! It’s the Best Comics of 2021! And it’s so long, you can read it until 2023.
Fantastic Ideas For A Fantastic World – This Week’s Links
My god, the madmen did it… they’ve closed TCJ! For this year, that is…
Islands In The Stream: 20 Years With Michel Rabagliati’s Paul
Cartoonist Mardou reflects on what decades of Michel Rabagliati’s Paul comics have given readers, and provides a guided path through reading them…or at least, reading as much of them as current English language translation allows!
“We’re Not Doing Books To Make Our Living.”: A Dungeon Interview With Lewis Trondheim
With all new English language editions of Lewis Trondheim & Joann Sfar’s Dungeon series making its way to the United States, it was about time to check in and find out how things are going with all those fantasy mammals, and the murderer’s row of talent that has been drawing them!
Tuono Pettinato: Super Cartoonist, Super Friend
Remembering the cartoonist Tuono Pettinato, a beloved figure on the Italian comics scene who died this past June.
Benefits Of A Classical Education – This Week’s Links
Wow, there really is only one more week ‘till Christmas. I ought to buy edible gifts tomorrow; there’s probably still food left… you know what’s REALLY nourishing, though?
Comix Experience Talks Enigma with Peter Milligan & Duncan Fegredo
Brian Hibbs of Comix Experience sits down with Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo, creators of seminal Vertigo era “anti-superhero” comic Enigma, newly reprinted by Dark Horse and Berger Books.
“A Book That Contains Years of My Life”: An Interview with Andrew White
As cartoonist Andrew White prepares to release we are breathing, a collection of his earlier comics, he catches up with Alec Berry on what has changed about his approach to the work, the art, and the intersection of the two.
Sharon Smith Kane, February 18, 1932 – November 3, 2021
Remembering the creator of the early teen humor comic Buttons an’ Beaux – begun when the artist was a teenager herself, with many years of creative work ahead.
Very Big In Sheboygan – This Week’s Links
Leaving, moving, selling, getting bought – that’s right, another week in comics.
Forever an Enigma: The History and Meaning(s) of Peter Milligan’s and Duncan Fegredo’s Postmodern Classic
Exactly 4,000 words on the sweep and meaning of the quintessential Vertigo era superhero comic, newly reissued in a deluxe collected edition.
Catching Up with Tom Kaczynski
Publisher, cartoonist and thinker, Tom Kaczynski has his hand in as many art forms and intellectual pursuits as one can. Craig Fischer caught up with him about all of them not once, but twice.
Me I Want A Hula Hoop – This Week’s Links
What a spread of links! I bet you thought the feasting was over; you fool… you fool!
Remembering Two Titans of Manga: Shirato Sanpei and Saitō Takao
Artist and scholar Natsume Fusanosuke remembers two authors of landmark manga in this compendium of recent newspaper writing, presented in English for the first time.
Going to Pieces – Peacemaker Lost and Found
They say nobody prays harder for peace than the soldier… but for what does the Peacemaker pray? Tom Shapira sifts through the rubble of another Charlton concept blown to bits in the blood & thunder of the 1980s.
“These are Modern American Family Comics”: The Derek M. Ballard Interview
We speak with Derek M. Ballard about growing up in the South, learning comics from catalogs, creating cartoons with Pendleton Ward, all in an attempt to figure out how he got this good, and how it is that he keeps getting better.
A Portrait of a Manga Scholar Offering His Arm to Shirato Sanpei
Ryan Holmberg remembers Shirato Sanpei, one of the masters of politically-informed action comics, who died this past October.
The Art of Graphic Narrative: An Apology for the “Lascaux Hypothesis”
Sometimes you’ve got to take a step back, look at the whole picture of comics, and figure out: what kind of language are we using here? What is this art form we’re talking about, and are we doing an accurate enough job talking about it? Also: CAVES.
