Viva Cartozia!

These are images I contributed to a booklet on Cartozian magic published as a bonus to accompany  Cartozia Tales #2

An incantor named Hroner who specializes in finding lost objects, sometimes even ones that weren't really lost after all. Kudos to all who get the allusion. Be the first to call it in the comments below.

"Long exposure to harsh, strange, and potent materials sometimes makes older alchemists a bit peculiar."

I'm sipping champagne (okay, why pretend? It's Negro Modelo) in celebration of  the successful Kickstarter campaign for Cartozia Tales. Here are highlights from the copious press we received on the project, including one reviewer who loved everything about it except for me (Ouch!):

• http://comicsbulletin.com/interviews/6061/isaac-cates-can-cartozia-be-the-next-fantasy-harry-potter/
• http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/symbiartic/2013/09/22/cartozia-maps-isaac-cates/
• http://www.usatoday.com/story/popcandy/2013/08/22/crowdfunding-kickstarter/2685373/
• http://comicsalliance.com/buy-this-book-cartozia-tales-kickstarter/
• http://comicsforgrownups.tumblr.com/post/60408561561/episode-22
• http://www.comicstherapy.com/p/interviews.html
• http://kellysue.tumblr.com/post/60935744268/okay-lets-see-where-do-i-start-how-about-with
• http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/09/12/seven-spx-debuts-that-are-like-crack-tales-of-the-night-watchmen-behold-the-killbot-rushes-journey-into-the-valley-of-whispers-the-black-feather-falls-cartozia-tales-2-vs/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
• http://edit.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/cartozia-turns-kickstarter-fund-kid-607343
• http://www.panelpatter.com/2013/08/spx-spotlight-2013-cartozia-tales.html
• http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2013/09/cartozia-tales-calls-out-to-kickstarter-to-fund-anthology-series/
• http://highlowcomics.blogspot.com/2013/08/more-worthy-kickstarters-star-fruit-and.html
• http://geekmom.com/2013/09/kickstarter-cartozia-tales/
• http://guttergeek.com/2013/09/cartozia-tales/
• http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=47464
• http://highlowcomics.blogspot.com/2013/09/maps-as-comics-cartozia-tales-1.html
• http://mentalfloss.com/article/52213/wednesday-new-comics-day#ixzz2c7JdrzXU
• http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/visual-arts/2013/09/13/meet-a-local-cartoonist-a-pre-small-press-expo-chat-with-michael-wenthe/
• http://www.inkstuds.org/jen-vaughn/
• http://seehatfield.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/cartozia/
• http://everypageofmobydick.blogspot.com/2013/09/cartozia-tales-kickstarter.html
• http://bullyscomics.blogspot.com/2013/09/bully-recommends-cartozia-tales.html
• http://crowleycrow.livejournal.com/236200.html
• http://aukward.tumblr.com/post/60851828692/cartozia-tales
• http://www.savagecritic.com/podcasts/wait-what-ep-131/
• http://hu-mu.blogspot.com/2013/09/cartozia-tales.html

Scientific American, USA Today, Hollywood Reporter, podcasts, interviews with the artists, endorsements by a stuffed bull and some blog in France,... Margaret Atwood, Alison Bechdel, and Neil Gaiman tweeted about it (what's past tense of "tweet"? "tweeted"? "twat"?)... such enthusiasm all around. Holy smokes!

I've worked on a great many structuralist comic collaborations, including several launched by Cartozia's mastermind, Isaac Cates (I'll blog more about these hence). It's SO gratifying to see one capture the public's imagination.

The Kickstarter and its rewards are finito, but you can still subscribe via the Cartozia website.

Thanks y'all! 'S time to draw more episodes...

Before Cartozia

About 5 years ago, cartooning genius Isaac Cates launched an earlier attempt at the map jam comics approach that's since evolved into Cartozia Tales (and which, I beg of you, you really should subscribe to on Kickstarter so it can continue). That first take was called, simply, Mapjam.

The original Mapjam wasn't as focused as Cartozia Tales and it was more for adults, but the material was all really good. I was part of that first team. We only completed two rounds of the game, which were both collected in a single issue. After that, I think Isaac became too busy with new professorships to prod the artists into producing more. So the whole thing fizzled, only to be revived, sharper, now.

Here's one of the stories I contributed. It features a character who's also appearing in the new issue, Cartozia Tales #2. Meet Conan Doyle, Barbarian Detective:

Recent Plugs

I received a couple of nice plugs recently.

Salgood Sam, in his new release, Revolver #2, wrote a piece on comic jams in which he mentions my work and several friends and collaborators. Here's a chunk:

And he includes this sidebar image. Jams are fun.


And the newest podcast on Comics for Grownups gives a nice description of the project and mentions my piece specifically. Listen to it while making a pledge on our Kickstarter.



Addendum: right after posting this, I found a summary on The Rumpus of the workshop I conducted a few weeks back for the New York Comics and Picture Story Symposium.

New Tragic Strip: The Brick That Made a Offissa Out of "Pupp"

This is the latest installment in my Made Out of "Mac" series, more of which can be found by scrolling here.

It appears in the current issue of The Brooklyn Rail, on the stands right now. This issue, we're launching an expanded comics section exclusive to the website, on the fiction page. Please have a look. In addition to the comics from the print edition, it includes great comics from France by David Prudhomme and Alfred.

David Prudhomme will be attending this year's Brooklyn Book Festival, as will another contributor to this issue, Lebanese cartoonist, Zeina Abirached.

Student Spotlight: Earl Barrett-Holloway

Earl's been studying with me for awhile now and he's getting so good, it's scary! He recently completed my Figure Drawing for Graphic Novelists course for the second time. I was able to give him some higher level assignments. The one above came from comparing Harvey Kurtzman rough sketches to Will Elder's finished artwork in the quest for an ideal hybrid. Earl blogged about it here.




And here's his final project, a page from the second issue of his comic, The Squid:












Here are more examples of assignments Earl completed for me over the years:

From a model sheet assignment.

Studies from a live model.

Final project page: Aquaman vs a creature from the Black Lagoon.

Another project page.

Earl has a Tumblr, an Instagram, and a website. It's all worth following.