Robots Never Sleep blog

I discovered this guy's blog one day as I Google searched Abara - Tsutomu Nihei's most recent work in progress. He writes an alright review of that particular manga along with a hell of a lot of other comics work from the Japanese archipelago. He covers a wide variety of titles and artists; Kazuo Umezu, Osamu Tezuka, Taiyo Matsumoto, Hideki Arai + many more - a good range of different styles and subjects amongst this lot. Of his long list of works Ive only read Abara, BLAME! and The World is Mine. His BLAME! review bugged me a little. I guess he doesn't look for what I look for - which has me recommending this blog not necessarily for his opinion, but rather, as a great source for manga you may never have heard of before. He mentions what sound like interesting projects, check them out.

http://robotsneversleep.blogspot.com/

Other blogs

Here are some links to other blogs that might be interesting to search through...

ASIFA
Its a developing animation archive I volunteered at and they have lots to look at. Newspaper comics are aplenty there and have works by Pat Sullivan, George McManus and more. The director is a nice guy and would be more than happy to share the information he's gathered up over the years, just send him an e-mail.

Comicrazys
Relatively high-res images of all types of comics and comic related things. Recently posted some pages for inking from the Famous Artists Course (1948).

Will post more as I find them, hope these will suffice.

Comic art show/expo

Hey class!

Here's some information you might be interested in. It's a small comic expo in conjunction with a big comic art exhibit opening in Champaign, IL. It is being organized by my friends/collaborators Damian Duffy and John Jennings that I mentioned in my little autobiography comic. This particular press release deal mostly with the expo, but the links at the bottom will point you to more information about the art show itself.

Also, if you get the time, check out the Eye Trauma Comix website for some of my previous work. eyetrauma.net

Krannert Art Museum Invites Comics Creators to The Next Panel Comics Expo

Champaign, IL – Comics creators are invited to show their art and sell their wares at The Next Panel Independent Comics Expo, taking place Friday, October 24 and Saturday October 25, 2008, at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

The Next Panel expo will take place in the Link Gallery, adjacent to the University of Illinois Krannert Art Museum, and celebrate the opening weekend of the museum’s Fall 2008 exhibition Out of Sequence: Underrepresented Voices in American Comics. The exhibition features 65 comics luminaries, including Dale Messick, Kyle Baker, Colleen Doran, Spike, Stan Sakai, and many more.

Out of Sequence is a ground breaking exhibition of diversity in comics, both as a community of artists and as a medium. “This show is a look at underrepresented demographics of artists and underrepresented forms of comics,” said co-curator John Jennings, “so it’s an incredibly varied mix of artists, styles, and formats.”

“There are women creators, minority creators, gay and lesbian creators, webcomics, small press comics, gallery comics, educational comics and virtual reality comics,” added co-curator Damian Duffy. “It really is an historic collection of creators and comics that aren’t often acknowledged in mainstream conceptions of the medium. And, really, a big excuse to show people as many kinds of cool comics as possible, in a setting that recognizes them as an art form.”

The Next Panel Independent Comics Expo gives comics artists the opportunity to promote their work and sell art and books to attendees of Out of Sequence, an event sure to draw audiences from the university, the community, and beyond.

Tables are 6”x3”, and cost $20 for a full table and $10 for a half table. To register for the event, please contact Chris Schaede at the Krannert Art Museum at (217) 244-0516 with your name, address, e-mail, credit card number and expiration date, and preference of table size.

Registration will be open from August 11- September 26, 2008, and space is limited.

For more information on the Next Panel, including a list of local hotels, visit: http://www.comicspace.com/nextpanel/

For more information on Out of Sequence, including a full list of artists, visit: http://www.kam.uiuc.edu/pr/outofsequence/

Questions concerning registration can be directed to Chris Schaede at the Krannert Art Museum.

All other questions concerning the exhibition and expo can be directed to the curators.

Damian Duffy: duff@eyetrauma.net, (217) 355-8569

John Jennings: jayjay@illinois.edu, (217) 419-1071

Chicago Comics Artists

Chicago is a hotbed of amazing comics activity, and not surprisingly many communities have formed as a result. Some have formed into official groups, and others just hang out informally and draw in coffee shops together. Not a bad plan! Here are just a few Chicago-based artists and groups:

Chicago Artists You Should Know About

Ron Rege Jr.
Lilli Carre
Anders Nilsen
Jeremy Tinder
Becca Taylor
Paul Hornschemeier
Ezra Claytan-Daniels
Sarah Becan
Grant Reynolds

John Hankiewicz

Surabhi Ghosh
Eric Lebofsky
Jeffrey Brown
Lucy Knisley
Onsmith Jeremi
Chris Ware
Ivan Brunetti
Lynda Barry

I know I'm forgetting some, so if you've got any to add, drop me a note and I'll add them to this post!

Chicago Comics Communities

The Holy Consumption:
Paul Hornschemeier, Anders Nilsen, Jeffrey Brown and John Hankiewicz
Click "This Week's Service" for sketchbook views, special projects, and more!

Shortpants Press:
a small-press comics site co-run by Chicago comics artist Sarah Becan. Showcases work by other midwest comics artists including Grant Reynolds, who co-runs the newspaper "Skeleton News" (not much of a web-presence for that one, but worth getting involved with!)

Hairy Nipples Comics Crew:

The myspace page for a whole slew of great area artists: Lilli Carre, Grant Reynolds, Becca Taylor, Lucy Knisley, and many more. Very inclusive group, also affiliated with the "Skeleton News," a paper-only publication with numerous contributors.

Chicago Comics and Quimby's Bookstore
both places where you can find a wide range of independent and foreign comics and other interesting small-press publications, as well as sell your own. Comics signings, zine events, and discounts for anyone who sells their work through the shops.

Comic Art Battles

Attention all comics artists who secretly harbor fantasies of being rock stars: Ezra Claytan Daniels' famous Comic Art Battles now have a website, so you can get involved. Find out about upcoming battles, contact members of the CAB community, view video footage of past showdowns, and check out others' photos of these fabulous multimedia events. I can't recommend them highly enough, as a participant and/or audience member. The very pinnacle of performative, competitive, collaborative, narrative drawing.

Whatever Happened to Victorine Meurent?

Former Narrative Ink student Victoria Morris has officially published her final comic, a graphic biography of legendary French artist/muse/model Victorine Meurent online for all to see. Check it out HERE.

Interested in other approaches to historical/biographical comics?
Try these:
Chester Brown's Louis Riel
Osamu Tezuka's Buddha
Ho Che Anderson's King
Art Spiegelman's Maus
and if you speak basic French (or Italian), Marco Corona's Frida Kahlo: A Surreal Biography is well worth seeking out.

Activism in the Sunday Funnies

Interesting comics coverage in Newsweek and Editor & Publisher: Darrin Bell and eight other minority newspaper cartoonists join forces to make a pointed comment about racism and the Sunday funnies. Keep your eyes peeled on February 10th for their protest on paper.