Bennett, Marek

 

 

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Bennett, Marek

via Optical Sloth by admin on 5/28/09

Website

Publish Your Own 8-Page Mini Comic!!

I finally went over to Marek's website and the man doesn't look anything like what I figured.  Not that anybody ever does when you see their work before you see the person, but I half expected a being of pure light and goodness, and he looks like a regular guy to me.  Odd.  This is, obviously, a how-to book when it comes to making mini comic.  I had a different method back in the day (yes, I once made comics.  No, they will never see the light of day), but this one works just fine.  Marek has a whole line of these little things, all basically touting the general awesomeness of mini comics, and more power to him.  Spend about $5, get the lot of these for the artistic kid in your life, or just get this one if you want to know a simple, practical way to put one of these things together.  If you're looking for death and destruction, you'll probably want to wander off to other pages on this website…

Why Comics?

Geez, what is a reviewer supposed to do with this?  This is a short, utterly adorable comic that shows a few reasons why comics are a force for good in this world: the fact that everybody can make them, that the possibilities are limitless, that they challenge us, that they're cheap to publish, and finally just because they're fun!  I'm far too jaded of a human being to be reached by this, but it's also too utterly pure and good for me to make fun of in good conscience.  This is meant for all ages, and it's meant to inspire kids to make comics. I don't see any reason why it can't do just that, as long as it reaches the right hands.  In the hands of the jaded, this could be a terrible force for evil in the world.  Give it to the kids and keep your cynicism to yourself!  No price, but I'm guessing it costs approximately one moonbeam or one sleeping puppy, or possibly $1.

 

 

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News: The Bullsheet #86

 

 

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News: The Bullsheet #86

via HorrorScope by Talie Helene on 4/30/09

The Australian Science Fiction Bullsheet #86, May 2009 edition is now available. This issue details various publishing news, and an overview of upcoming writing, speculative fiction and fan events.

Just a reminder - the web version of The Bullsheet is now hosted at www.bullsheet.sf.org.au.

Source: Edwina Harvey

 

 

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Sydney Levy, "What Would You Do If the Government Confiscated Your Computer?"

 

 

Sydney Levy, "What Would You Do If the Government Confiscated Your Computer?"

via MRZine.org on 4/27/09

Let me cut down to the chase. We have just learned that a number of Israeli peace activists have had their computers confiscated, have been called for interrogations, and have only been released upon signing agreements not to contact their political friends for 30 days. We are asking you to contact the Israeli Attorney General to demand an immediate stop to this harassment. The activists targeted are members of New Profile, a group of feminist women and men daring to suggest that Israel need not be a militarized society. They are being wrongfully accused of inciting young people -- like the shministim -- not to enlist in the army. . . . While New Profile does not tell youngsters not to enlist, they certainly support those who do not: pacifists, those who oppose the occupation, and others. New Profile informs them of their rights and gives them legal support when necessary. But Israel is a country that does not acknowledge the basic human right to conscientious objection.

 

 

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Free Speech News Update

 

 

Free Speech News Update

via Zine World by zwstaff on 4/27/09

A news update on free speech:

A Phoenix, Arizona blogger says the police raided his home, seized his computer, electronic records and storage devices after he blogged about allegations of racism, corruption, and ineptitude in his local police department. The department is declining to talk about the incident and won't reveal the charges behind the affidavit for the warrant that allowed them to come into his home. More details here.

Here is a lengthy article about the history of school prayer and the cases that have lead up to where we are today. Somewhat related: an article about students being required to stand during the Pledge, and an article about a school board in Louisiana that is facing a federal lawsuit for using part of their school board meetings for prayer.

Here's a story about a Texan teen who was suspended for refusing to cut his shoulder-length hair. He was allowed back in class after his parents filed a federal lawsuit saying the school was in violated of freedom of religious expression. 

And for a banned books update, four sex-related books will be allowed to remain on the shelves in a library in Kansas after the Board of Trustees reversed a vote that would have banned them from being in the library. And here's an article about the books that were most complained about in 2008, including The Kite Runner and And Tango Makes Three.

 

 

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Hard Times #8 / Jackson, Ed

 

 

Jackson, Ed

via Optical Sloth by admin on 5/21/09

E-mail

Hard Times #8

There seems to be an endless assortment of ways to make fun of modern office life.  If you work in an office, these ways are either a helpful way to blow off steam or an unwelcome reminder of where you're going to be stuck for the next 40+ years of your life.  Or maybe you're lucky enough to not work in an office at all and these representations of office life are a bit like looking through the glass at various zoo animals.  Either way it's an easy concept to screw up, but Ed seems to have a decent handle on the theme.  This is the story of Jay, the (unmentioned) giant talking cat of the office.  There were 7 issues before this one, but it's no trouble picking up on the action, as the first 7 issues were either about different things or the office life described here is so constant that we don't even need a recap.  Jay is working his way up through the ranks, although he's doing it without a raise and by working much longer hours.  He's also dealing with a boss who's happy to fire everybody around him for any reason he can think of, coffee that tastes like washed feet, an overzealous security guard and the fact that Sunshine Coffee is putting up new stores everywhere.  You know, flipping through this again it just occurred to me that this was probably done on either a daily or weekly basis, as every page seems to end with a joke.  The art seems to have unerased pencil lines all over the place, and if that's a mistake it's something that grew on me by the end of the issue.  It seemed to somehow flesh out the characters more, as without the smudges and shading this whole thing would look fairly flat.  I have one more issue here to help me make a final verdict, but based on one issue I'd say this is worth a look, although possibly best to stay away from if you prefer to think that offices don't actually exist.  No price, so… $1?

Hard Times #9

Regular readers of this site probably already figured out that I occasionally wander all over the map from review to review.  For example, if you look up at the review for the last issue, I said that all the unerased pencil lines grew on me after awhile, that they fleshed out the characters.  This time around, it gets on my nerves in  a big way.  It just looks like crap way too much of the time, and while an argument could be made for leaving some of the lines on the characters, when you're forgetting to erase the pencil lines under whole blocks of text, it makes the comic almost impossible to read.  So how about the content?  It's the same format, except this time it's an over the hill superhero trying to make an honest living.  He gets his first paycheck (and considers real estate fraud), tries life as a telemarketer, gives up and gets drunk, considers becoming a super villain, and eventually starts up an internet business and makes a few book.  These are all four panel strips, mostly with some form of a punchline at the end.  Some are funny, some not so much, but they're all at least decent.  Sadly, none of it matters as those pencil lines just wore me down over the course of the book.  I've said it many times over the years, but it's such an easy thing to fix that it just gets on my nerves.  Still no price, so I'll go with $1 again, and you might like it just fine if you're a little less annoyed about this sort of thing than I am…

 

 

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first 2 pages from a "choose your own adventure" book

 

 

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first 2 pages from a "choose your own adventure" book

via Eaten By Ducks by noreply@blogger.com (manosturbo) on 4/27/09

 

 

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The Cross Hatch Dispatch 4/27/09

 

 

The Cross Hatch Dispatch 4/27/09

via The Daily Cross Hatch by bheater on 4/27/09

[Above, The Pryde of Tom Neely. Below, the Uncanny Dispatch.]

• It was no April Fool's joke: Issue #1 of Marvel's Pride & Prejudice series hit stores this month.  You can still check out six preview pages for free online.
• Matt Madden has blogged recently about some exciting SVA events coming up in Manhattan.
• For this year's upcoming Free Comic Book Day (May 2!), Wide Awake Press would like to announce a free comic download that "gathers fantastic stories about the world's earliest civilizations, as told by the mighty sequential artisans of today."    Check out some of this fantastical, mythological, magic and see what the fuss is about.
• NEWS FLASH: Big Time Attic has found a flaw in Frank Miller's The Spirit.  (Hold your laughter, please.)  This one actually has nothing to do with the movie, but instead with the special features.  When panning across one of Miller's "influences," supposedly a Jack Kirby panel, they instead pan over a drawing inked by Big Time Attic's own Kevin and Zander Cannon.  (A lingering question: why was anyone watching the DVD extras to The Spirit???)
• There are still a few days left to celebrate "Comics Month" (as the month of April has been officially declared by the Mayor of Portland, Oregon, Comics Capital of the World).  Let's get sequential, yo!
• The Dresden Comic Fest is coming up, on Saturday, May 16, from 10:00-5:00.  The city may once have been bombed to the ground, but apparently comics spring eternal.
• Germany's  "Comicstars-Contest" is holding a "casting call" for comic book characters.  The best one wins 10,000 euros!  Those who are not citizens of German-speaking countries cannot participate, but are free to gawk at the artist profiles.
• Side B: The Music Lover's Comic Anthology will be in stores June 3rd.  It features the work of many excellent music-loving cartoonists, and cover art by Lucy Knisley.  You can pre-order a copy now.
• Coming up next week is "Full of Pryde," a comics celebration/hemophilia benefit featuring over 70 artists, including Bryan Lee O'Malley, Jeffrey Brown, Tom Neely, Corey Lewis, and Zack Soto.  The event takes place Thursday, May 7, from 6:00-10:00 at Floating World Comics in Portland, Oregon.

–Athena Currier

 

 

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“CATHY” by Blaise

 

 

“CATHY” by Blaise

via ARTHUR MAGAZINE - WE FOUND THE OTHERS by Floating World on 4/26/09

I first met Blaise here at my shop in Portland.  He was actively interested in a specific new wave of minimal, experimental art comics.  I always enjoyed these discussions, and now that he's moved to Brooklyn the dialogue continues because he is now a part of, and helping to shape the art comics scene that we admired.  You can see more work on his website and also get his first book directly from him, or a number of cool shops that carry it.

 

 

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Corrigan, Matt

 

 

Corrigan, Matt

via Optical Sloth by admin on 4/26/09

Website

White Stallion Comix #27

Really?  Matt Corrigan isn't already on this website somewhere?  I see him on Dale Martin's page briefly, but I could have sworn that I already had some of his minis around.  Oh well, problem solved, I guess.  This issue is in the middle a longer storyline, or least the main story is, so I'm bound to be a little bit lost.  Still… I have no idea what's going on in that cover.  Anybody, a little help?  There's an alien (who we learn in the story is actually a human transformed into an alien (assuming that I read that part right)) poking a human in the nose with what looks like a knitting needle and… blowing up his nose?  The man seems slightly alarmed, but not nearly alarmed enough at losing his nose.  Nothing about it in the actual story, so it'll have to remain a mystery for now.  Anyway, the first story here is a stand-alone piece, about a bunch of kids coming back to school after the summer vacation.  One of the students seems to have turned into an old man during the break, and seems unaware of this phenomenon until another student hands him a mirror, at which point his head explodes.  But not really, as the summary at the end says that the student never remembered what happened to him and nobody ever mentioned it again. Um, zoom, right over my head.  The bulk of the comic is taken up with the continuation of a longer story, so I'm just going to do my best, as it was an entertaining piece all by itself.  The man on the cover is in a loony bin after reporting seeing aliens, but is let out after it happens that over 500 other people also reported seeing aliens, so maybe he isn't as crazy as everybody thought.  He promptly gets thrown back into the nuthouse after seeing a UFO after walking out the door, but manages to get a message by carrier pigeon to his transformed friend and another scientist.  The transformed friend seems to have come across an alien tank, they bust him out of the nut house and begin the difficult process of changing the "alien" back to normal.  Some funny stuff in there, and I genuinely loved the page I sampled below.  Still, a brief summary of part 1 wouldn't have hurt anything.  It's worth a look, but this looks like one of those series where you'd probably be better off if you just bought a pile of the minis and tried to make sense of them that way.  $1.50

 

 

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Havasy, Joe

 

 

Havasy, Joe

via Optical Sloth by admin on 4/25/09

Website

Misanthropic Cavalcade #1

What a great title for a collection of mostly one page strips. These were all apparently in a local (to Athen GA, that is) paper called Flagpole, but I don't live in Athens, so they're mostly new to me. In here you have the dangers of leaving a baby unattended outdoors, starving, paleo-boxing, Santa vs. an airplane, rabbit hunting, a bad break-up, fascinating facts about Joe, and a discussion about thresher sharks. Good stuff all around, as "good stuff" for page long strips mostly means to me that I laughed out loud a few times during the reading of the comic, so this definitely passes that test. Also it was tough to pick just one sample, which is another good sign. Its' $2, here's his website, which has more comics of his for you to read, if you need more convincing, or maybe just want to spend some time at work laughing.

Misanthropic Cavalcade #3

There must be something in the water down there in Athens, Georgia.  Way too many of those people are way too good at this comics business.  This is another collection of weekly strips from a local paper, and if these are the greatest hits it makes me wonder about the "crappy" ones, as these are 100% pure awesome.  In here we get stories about closure after the end of a relationship, snail murder (probably not the way you think), a walk in the park, how girls are dumb, a conversation between ducks and a platypus, a young boy trying to train birds to clean his teeth, a cautionary tale of the sea, putting on the moves, insomnia, freezing up in front of the women folk, a new hat for a little girl, a romantic practical joke, and aliens.  I could go on and on about how many times I laughed while reading this, but why bother when you could figure all this out for yourself?  I went over to Joe's website and he has (I counted) 161 strips up there for free, mostly in color, and mostly not the ones included in this collection.  People who come to this site to find good places to kill time at work, take note.  Also, I couldn't decide on just one sample strip this time around, so I'm using two.  Joe, if you would like to sue me, please note that I have no money to speak of.  I'm offering as a settlement every comic I have with either Quasar or Namor in it.  $3

 

 

 

 

Zeen Review: TMGC + WHERE DO PANDAS COME FROM

 

 

Zeen Review: TMGC + WHERE DO PANDAS COME FROM

via Happiness is a Warm Simon Gray on 4/24/09

TMGC + WHERE DO PANDAS COME FROM by Licky the Cream (Natalie Aylward)

Some clever-clogs has figured out how to make a simple zeen w/ just an A4 piece of paper & a pen. If you make a cut through through the middle in the right spot, you can fold into a 6-page (+ cover) A7 mini-zeen. You could even flip it over & make another zeen on the other side of the paper. I've seen 1 or 2 by Tom Roberts @ an Ex-A-Sketch meeting I wandered into & got sent a couple by Natalie Aylward AKA Licky the Cream. Being such small zeens they are kind of cute & pocketable. Which is why the 2 zeens are so appropriately themed around tamagotchis. I used to like tamagotchis but I became suspicious they were a yuppie conspiracy to pre-condition us for the use of the now ubiquitous mobile phone. (My, a digital gizmo I keep in  my pocket & fiddle w/ every 5 minutes in a vain attempt to seem less lonely, where have I seen this before?) I've yet to see a tamagotchi game or app on a mobile phone probably because this would make the comparison all too clear. But that's my own thoughts on 'tamas', Natalie regales us w/ her own stories of tamagotchi play in 'TMGC', the critters she's raised, what their names were etc. & On the other side of the paper is secret tama gossip, not unlike the pony gossip in Chris Tamm's 'Spicy Pony Secret Fantasy'. 'Where Do Pandas Come From' is a little less anecdotal, it's a wordless picture book of comic that shows the evolution of a panda tamagotchi. From hatching from an egg & watering to make it grow, all the scientifically accurate methods of rearing pandas are covered. All in B&W, portrait format, myspace.com/zombetty

 

 

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Guest Strip: Nathan Gelgud

 

Guest Strip: Nathan Gelgud

via The Daily Cross Hatch by smorean on 4/24/09

If you ask Nathan Gelgud to draw something, he probably will.  Recently, he drew a page of famous dogs for a guy to give to his wife.  No joke.  Proof positive that dirt-cheap dudes and low-brow ladies are a match made in heaven.

For a sample of his diary strips and baseball portraits, check out his art blog called Take the Soda Free and Jet. You can also find issues 1-2 of his series Simon's Soup at Desert Island in Brooklyn, NY, or buy them online through his etsy shop.

- Sarah Morean

 

ZINECORE # 9: The Business of Zines! LISTEN NOW!!!!

 

 

ZINECORE # 9: The Business of Zines! LISTEN NOW!!!!

via Zine Writers Guild by hannah neurotica on 4/23/09

behind the cut is the player so you can listen to the show right on here! i apologize for not putting it behind a cut last time, i didn;'t realize i was autoplaying!!

this was a GREAT episode ! thank you to ALLLLLLLL the zinesters who called in!!!!!!





www.blogtalkradio.com/thezineshow

 

 

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Underworld Crawl #6

Underworld Crawl #6

$2 or trade, 5 ½“ x 8 ½“, copied, 28 pgs.

I liked this issue even better than the last. This is one of the things that got lost in the move (TX to OH). Below are links to two good reviews. The only thing I would add is more emphasis on the quality of the writing, which is about as good as it gets: crisp, clean, precise, and dead on.

 R. Lee, PO Box 1421, Oshkosh WI 54903.

http://syndicateconsumption.tumblr.com/post/88249456/zine-underworld-crawl-6

http://www.razorcake.org/site/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17368

Zine World #27

 

Zine World #27 now available!

The new issue of Zine World is now available! Zine World #27 includes:
200+ reviews of zines, comics, books, DVDs, and other self-published materials
articles on Bound Printed Matter, the importance of small press & self-publishing (by e), We Make Zines (by Chantel) and selling zines on Etsy (by Alex Wrekk)
a discussion of review zines vs. the internet
a column about the film I’m Not There (by Evan Fleischer)
word of mouth and tips on distros, zine libraries, postage & mailing, and upcoming events
dozens of classified listings
cool cover by Erica Brodie and art by Jim Sumii and Pat M.

All this can be yours for just 4 bucks (or $5 Canada/$7 overseas).
Send cash, stamps, or money order payable to Jerianne to:
Zine World
PO Box 330156
Murfreesboro TN 37133-0156

Or subscribe: $10 for 3 issues (or $13 Canada/$20 overseas).

Show your love of Zine World by sporting a 1″ ZW button. Yours free with a new subscription or with any donation of $1 or more. Your donations help to pay for extra expenses, like hosting the website, mailing zines to reviewers, etc. If you support what we’re doing here at Zine World, please consider sending a few extra bucks our way to help the cause.

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soulcraft

Zine Watch: soulcraft by Alma Stoller

Posted on December 31st, 2008CroqReviews

Alma Stoller just announced her newest zine project, soulcraft. Alma is an artist who makes beautiful zines full of handmade details. You can just tell from this cover how much time, care, and soul went into the creation of this zine!

Alma describes the zine this way: soulcraft is a mixture of zine, journal and workbook made of recycled and original materials. Take in all the little bits and pieces included in this zine and see the hidden potential. Inside you will find collage items, images, original rubber stamp designs, fabrics and inspiration.

Check her blog entry to see more photos and read more description of this zine. She’s going to list 20 for pre-order on her etsy shop.

I have been the lucky recipient of one of Alma’s zines and I can’t tell you how amazing they are!

The Barnard Zine Library

The Barnard Zine Library

via Aid & Abet by Jen Angel on 5/17/09

Here's Jenna (on the left) with some other Radical Reference librarians in 2005 at the Allied Media Conference in Bowling Green

While I was in New York in April, I had the distinct pleasure of visiting Jenna Freedman at the Barnard Zine Library. The library, which Jenna started in 2003, holds over 2000 zines. Many of them are available in the library and you can just pick one off the shelf and read it. Students of Barnard and Columbia can just walk in to the library – and the collection is open to the public if you call ahead and tell them to expect you (so they will let you in without an ID). You can get all the info on their web page.

I have known Jenna for quite some time but had never visited the library. While the last few months have seemed to kick off a year of meeting and interacting with people and things from my past (like meeting lots of old punks while living in Portland for 3 months, or doing an interview for Mike McKee’s book all about ’90s hardcore, or looking through all my old copies of Fucktooth), visiting this library was particularly nostalgic for me. The collection has quite a few zines by women, and as I flipped through old copies of Emergency, for example, I couldn’t help but remember reading those issues for the first time, and how important they were for me. There were so many zines that were so intimate and personal and important, they really had an impact on me and how I think about myself and interact with people. Of course I haven’t talked to many of those people in eons, and I wonder where Ammi is these days, or Travis Fristoe from America? or Theo Witsell from Spectacle or Mike from In Abandon. Maybe I just need to search Facebook until I find them.

There were tons of old zines that I hadn’t seen in forever, but there were also tons more zines I had never seen – maybe that is the best part of libraries and bookstores, that they give you access to things you would never find otherwise. I loved browsing the zines, old and new, touching and holding them in a way that satisfies like the Internet never will.

When Jason (from Clamor) and I moved we gave thousands of zines to the Pop Culture Library at Bowling Green State University. I love that zine libraries exist, and I have my own box of favorites stashed under my bed. But when I get out old copies of Fucktooth – and even when I talk about doing another issue (which will be happening this summer), I want it to be in a way that is looking forward, and not dwelling too much on the past. I don’t want to be one of those people that always talks about the way things used to be, I want to know how I can help recreate those same feelings moving forward in a way that doesn’t leave us mired in the past. Just like I don’t always want to be the person who “used to publish Clamor.”

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Science Fiction Classics: Graphic Classics Volume Seventeen

Science Fiction Classics:
Graphic Classics Volume Seventeen

Visions of the Future!
Science Fiction Classics presents comics adaptations of stories from the original creators of science fiction including “The War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells and “A Martian Odyssey” by Stanley G. Weinbaum. Also featured are “In the Year 2889” a rare short story by Jules Verne, and “The Disintegration Machine”, starring Arthur Conan Doyle’s Professor Challenger. Plus E.M. Forster’s only SF tale “The Machine Stops”, and shorts by Lord Dunsany and Hans Christian Anderson.

FULL COLOR — only $15!

Order On Line:

http://www.graphicclassics.com/pgs/gc17.htm