The Cartoonist Alliance

Matt's Good Reads: Tenjō Tenge

2012-01-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

Need some black-and-white stimulation? Join Matt Clark for Matt's Good Reads, where he'll share a bite-sized overview of what he's been reading (and what you should too) on his breaks from the drafting table. This week he recommends...

Tenjō Tenge

by Oh! great

1998-2010 in Japan

22 volumes, published by VIZ in the US

Tenjō Tenge is a 22-volume battle manga by Oh! great (pen name of cartoonist Ōgure Ito), also known for the still ongoing comic Air Gear. The story focuses on the members of the Junken Club in a high school with a curriculum based around the martial arts. This comic's use of elaborate flashbacks in its drawn out story arcs made the plot hard to follow at times, but Ōgure's beautiful illustrations and the varied and interesting cast make up for that. Tenjō Tenge is also heavy on fanservice, featuring plenty of sex and nudity.

The series' vast assortment of unique characters kept me flipping through its pages. One character who still sticks out to me, despite being one of the more obscure characters until the end of the series, was Hirohiko Myouun Kabane. He was a blind fighter who used scented acupuncture needles enfused with his ki to make thousands of swords to fight with. His motivation was to end the work of his ancestor to free himself from his familial obligations and be with his love interest. The series is perky, but I still find it to be a good read.

Matt Clark is a sophomore cartooning major. He is a golden retriever, woof, woof (though he would rather not be), and has weird obsessions.

Library Recommendations: Wandering Son

2012-01-24T12:00:00.000-05:00

The School of Visual Arts Library is a sanctuary for students and comics lovers. While it's easy to get caught up in our work, it's important that we take advantage of this great resource to find inspiration, get a new perspective on our work, and to take a break and remember why we're working so hard. Join us as the Cartoon Allies recommend stories in our library that captivate and inspire us in these semi-regular Library Recommendations.

Wandering Son by Shimura Takako (published in the U.S. by Fantagraphics) is one of my favoriteJapanese comics, and I can safely say it has contributed in changing mylife. The sensitive, well-paced, and down-to-earth storytelling coupled with Shimura's simple yet effective art only touch the surface of the reasons why you should pick up Wandering Son for an afternoon browse.

Before I explore how much I love the art style and thecharacters in this series, I’d like to take a moment to mention how much Iappreciate the effort Fantagraphics has put into publishing Wandering Son. The story is well-deservedly published with a beautiful spot-glossed hardcover in an oversized format; its larger than average printing helps the artwork's subtleties shine, while Fantagraphics treats the release with the same sophistication it does its Western comics. The book's editing offers many translation and cultural notes which target an audience new to reading manga, without assuming a patronizing tone that could shun other readers. My only complaint with this localization regard a few typos I encountered in the dialogue. The importance of Wandering Son matches the attention givento its presentation.

The book opens up to gorgeous colors from the characterintroduction, contents, and opening pages, Shimura’s gentle gradientwatercolors bringing the reader into Wandering Son’s atmosphere right from thestart.

Wandering Son follows Nitori Shuichi, a boy who wants to bea girl, and Takatsuki Yoshino, a girl who wants to be a boy. They are drawn to each other and form afriendship that helps guide them through finding their own identities andconfirming who they want to be.

The storyline is relatively low-drama, but by no meansboring. The reader is sometimes ledinto the mind of Shuichi and his thoughts and daydreams as he interacts with his fellowclassmates as well as a couple other special people he meets outside of school. All of the charactershave distinct and realistic personalities, and as you read through and get tomeet each and every one of them, you’ll probably be reminded of a similar personyou’ve met in school before, too. The story starts when they’re in fifth grade, a time where childhoodinnocence begins to end and complex thoughts begin. In my eyes, the flaws and insecurities of the kids inWandering Son are very pure. Despite the chronological daily life style of storytelling, it’s definitely apage-turner.

Anybody could benefit from reading Wandering Son; whetheryou relate to the characters personally or not, the story shows a fair andaccurate depiction of the train of thought these kids go through and the actions they take. It focuses alot more on their interactions rather than the drama that is most oftenattached to this genre. Bullying is present, but it's not the main focus. What's made important is the self-exploration of Shuichi and Yoshino (and of course, other characters do a bit of growing up, too).

The first volume is available in the library for those who wish tocheck it out. If you enjoy it, please consider purchasing a copy to support the series and help guarantee the printing of further volumes! The second volume isnot yet in the library, but it is available for purchase now, and the thirdvolume is set to release in May. Theoriginal series is still on-going in Japan, but hopefully it will be fullytranslated when it’s finished.

Kou Chen is a sophomore cartooning major who comes from Taiwan. He enjoys movies like The Fall, books like The Book Thief, and comics like Black Jack. His life goal is to overhear someone talking about something he created, because "by all means if my stories are interesting enough to share, I've done my job." He loves tea and fluffy things... like alpacas.

January 27th - Group Critique #4

2012-01-23T18:00:00.000-05:00

Hallo, Allies!

After our romp to the Rubin, it's time to return to the classroom and put the focus on our own creations. This week, we're returning to regular group critique sessions! Join us in Room 703G with whatever you're working on in class or for the CA Zine, whether you've got a plot outline to discuss, thumbnails to sharpen, or pencils to ponder.

GROUP CRITIQUE

This Friday, 1/27

6:30 - Room 703G

Bring work to share, in-progress or finished!

We'll have three groups: developed comics, story pitches, and sketches/illustrations. Check under the cut for specifics, coming events, and other business, including information regarding the CA Zine and the Fresh Meat Poster Search.

Don't forget to come prepared!

If you're bringing pages to critique, be sure to have something to take down notes on. Sticky notes that you can place on the comic to write and draw on are highly recommended, as are photocopies that your peers can read along from and scribble on.

Be sure to bring drafts of scripts, outlines, thumbnails, or any other prep material for the Story Critique. Try to memorize a concise pitch that will draw your peers into your story!

If you're showing off sketches and illustrations and you're interested in working on our Fresh Meat poster, leave us with a photocopy or two with your work and contact information.

Coming events:

Friday, 1/27

CA Meeting - Group Critique

Friday, 2/3

CA Meeting - Draw-Off

Wednesday, 2/8

Becky Cloonan & Brian Wood, Conan Signing @ Midtown Comics Downtown (6-7PM)

Friday, 2/10

CA Meeting - Perspective Tutorial

Continuous

Hero, Villain, Yeti Exhibit @ Rubin Museum of Art (running till 6/11)

Other business:

We need you to make the poster for Fresh Meat 2012! Jump over to our submissions page to find out how you can help advertise for our department's biggest annual event!
Want to see your work distributed in print? CA is developing a new print magazine! The new CA Zine is looking for submissions of 1 to 6-page self-contained comic stories for its first issue, aiming to be printed by MoCCA Fest '12. Submit photocopies of your comic to the senior cartooning studios or as 72 dpi files to blisterfish (at) gmail (dot) com by mid-March. More information to come!
The CA Blog returns! Check us out Tuesday, January 24th for new series, helpful tutorials, and more reviews!
Do you want publicity for your minicomics? Enter the Mini Reviews Box. Bring your minicomics to our meetings or the Senior Studio to submit them for review on the Cartoon Allies blog. Each week, bloggers Eric and Hayley will randomly select a student's mini from the box and offer readers a preview of the comic and their thoughts. We hope to improve student promotion and give members a space to show their work to a greater audience.
If you would like to be listed on our Members page, email your name, year, website url, and 50x50px icon to cartoonallies@gmail.com with the subject line "Active Member [Name]". As we collect a nice group of links, we'll update our long out-of-date Active Members list.
If you're interested in helping us distribute Cartoon Allies event posters, let us know by email or at the next meeting. We need posters for the Fresh Meat festival!
The SVA Library now has access to a new Underground Comix Database. Check it out!

Stay strong, Allies!

on Twitter

on Facebook

The Road to Fresh Meat: The Poster

2012-01-10T01:01:00.001-05:00

One night a year at the end of April, cartooning students at SVA transform the school's dingy basement lounge into a buzzing marketplace. The public is invited to browse, buy and barter for self-published comics by SVA's cartoonists. This is...

Fresh Meat is our annual tradition promoting the work and talent of our student body, and it needs your help! Like any convention, our comics fair is only as good as our attendance, through which students share their work with industry figures and get attention from the comics press. Long before the warmth of spring reaches our fair city, SVA's halls need to be decorated with posters heralding this culmination of a school year's work, while local magazines require early submissions for the ads they'll be running to promote our event to the public. This is where you come in:

We're calling for art submissions for Fresh Meat 2012's ad campaign!

Check under the cut for submission requirements and examples of previous ads.

Got a snazzy idea for a poster or magazine ad? Follow these requirements and it might make the cut!

Feature a prominent and legible "Fresh Meat" logo
Clearly represent the idea of a self-published comics fair or play with the event name (we love visual puns)
Leave space to include info about the event (to be added later)
Poster dimensions: Art should fit Letter or Tabloid-sized paper
Magazine ad dimensions: Magazines have been slow to give us specific dimensions, so you should leave your ad square-shaped and give room for potential cropping
Avoid excessively obscene imagery
Submit your ad as a 300 dpi TIFF file to cartoonallies (at) gmail (dot) com

What'll you get for submitting? Well, you'll be helping draw in a huge crowd for our department's biggest event of the year, potentially giving a jump-start to your career and your peers'. If your art is chosen for Fresh Meat's magazine ad, you'll be properly credited on the advertisement and your art will appear in a major publication such as the Village Voice!

And if you don't have time to put a poster together or you don't feel like you have the talent, we're going to need a dedicated street team to spread the posters far and wide once printed. If you're interested, send us an email!

If you've never been to Fresh Meat or need some ideas, check below for coverage from last year's event, as well as a few of our previous advertisements.

By Megan Brennan


By Michelle Nunnelly

By Hanh Nguyen

January 13th - Jam Comic Jam

2012-01-09T01:17:00.000-05:00

Welcome back, Allies!

We hope you had a splendid break, whether you spent it on a foreign operation or hunkered down in the trenches. Prepare to get your fingers covered in ink (and if your hands are already dirty, get a pair of gloves), 'cause classes are in session and the Cartoon Allies are back in full swing. This semester will be packed with more field trips, more tutorials, and appearances from professional cartoonists, along with returning events such as group critiques and another Live Comics Reading. The semester will culminate with MoCCA Fest and our annual Fresh Meat art show, where our department transforms the Monkey Bar Lounge into a public comic festival to showcase our work.

We're kicking off this semester with a...

JAM COMIC JAM

This Friday, 1/13

6:30 - Room 703G

Collaborate and create (or destroy) in multiple formalist comic games (while listening to JAM Project)!
Check under the cut for specifics, coming events, and other business.

Using a similar format to last semester Demo Jam, we'll have multiple tables set up with a jam comic at each. Instead of different media, each table will feature a different form of jam comic with different constraints. These will include Matt Madden and Tom Hart's Tic-Tac-Toe Jam, Béleleu's Domino Jam, where three-panel strips continually branch off each other, and more, like the return of the Demo Jam's "whatever's in your pocket" comic. Even if it's eyeliner, ketchup, or a stick of glitter glue, you can draw with it (except for blood) as long as it was in your pocket.

While we jam, always remember the improv rule of "Yes, And...": Accept what's presented in the previous panel and add to it. If you deny the characters and stories established by the other cartoonists, the jam comic will come to a halt and you'll be doing the opposite of collaboration. Have fun and work together!

Next week we'll be traveling to the Rubin Museum of Art to attend the exhibit Hero, Villain, Yeti: Tibet in Comics. Admission is free on Friday nights. Also, we urge you to participate in our ad campaign for this year's Fresh Meat by submitting poster art! Your work could appear in the Village Voice!

Coming events:

Friday, 1/13

CA Meeting - Jam Comics Jam
Johnny Wander Vol. 2 Release Party @ Bergen St. Comics (8 PM)

Friday, 1/20

CA Meeting - Field trip to Rubin Museum of Art for Hero, Villain, Yeti exhibit (running till 6/11)

Other business:

We need you to make the poster for Fresh Meat 2012! Jump over to our submissions page to find out how you can help advertise for our department's biggest annual event!
The CA Blog is still on winter hiatus. Come back Tuesday, January 24th for new series, helpful tutorials, and more reviews!
Do you want publicity for your minicomics? Enter the Mini Reviews Box. Bring your minicomics to our meetings or the Senior Studio to submit them for review on the Cartoon Allies blog. Each week, bloggers Eric and Hayley will randomly select a student's mini from the box and offer readers a preview of the comic and their thoughts. We hope to improve student promotion and give members a space to show their work to a greater audience.
If you would like to be listed on our Members page, email your name, year, website url, and 50x50px icon to cartoonallies@gmail.com with the subject line "Active Member [Name]". As we collect a nice group of links, we'll update our long out-of-date Active Members list.
If you're interested in helping us distribute Cartoon Allies event posters, let us know by email or at the next meeting. We need posters for the Rubin trip and the Fresh Meat festival!
The SVA Library now has access to a new Underground Comix Database. Check it out!

Stay strong, Allies!

on Twitter

on Facebook

Matt's Good Reads: Gamble Fish

2011-12-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

Need some black-and-white stimulation? Join Matt Clark for Matt's Good Reads, where he'll share what he's been reading (and what you should too) on his breaks from the drafting table. This week he recommends...

Gamble Fish

by Aoyama Hiromi and Yamane Kazutoshi

2007-2010 in Japan

19 volumes, unpublished in the US

THE STORY
Last month I wrote about Liar Game, a manga that involved strategy and thinking in each round of unique games. This next series is similar in the concept of fighting through games, but the premise and plot is completely different. The series of Gamble Fish, written by Aoyama Hiromi and drawn by Yamane Kazutoshi, deals with the son of a notorious swindler named Tomu Shirasagi, who has just transferred to a very prestigious boarding school. His plan for the school is to swindle the students out of a total of 1 billion yen, claiming that he has already destroyed two schools previous to this one. Through gambles and games, Tomu makes many enemies and friends at the school as he works his way to achieve his goal.

WHAT'S TO LOVE?
The games above all keep the reader interested, as they take many twists and turns and leave one guessing as to how Tomu pulled off the victory. My only criticism is that it turns into a harem manga after a while and as that may appeal to other crowds, I feel it distracts from the main plot. I did find it funny that one of the main antagonists looks like a Green Goblin knock-off, though. I recommend this manga to anyone who enjoys Liar Game.

Matt Clark is a sophomore cartooning major. He is a golden retriever, woof, woof (though he would rather not be), and has weird obsessions.

Student Comic Review: Edwin Reyes' The Golden Gosling

2011-11-29T15:00:00.000-05:00

Each Wednesday (and this week, Tuesday too!), Eric and Hayley dig into a box of minicomics by SVA students and pull one out to share with the world. If you would like to submit your minis for review, please drop them off in the Reviews box at Cartoon Allies meetings and in the senior studio. This week, we'll be looking at...

Edwin Reyes, The Golden Gosling

The Golden Gosling is based off of a Grimm Brother's fairy tale, and follows a young man called Dummy who goes out to get wood for his family. This leads to him meeting the titular character, which causes him to get into adventures that amuse a beautiful princess. The king has said that whoever could make his daughter laugh can have her hand in marriage, and though Dummy must go through a series of ridiculous tests firsts, he and the princess do end up together and in love. So how well does Edwin translate the story to comics?

This comic is a very joyful, absorbing read. Every character was hilarious and charming in their own way, and Edwin has great sense of visual comedy. This particularly comes through in the page where Dummy first finds the egg, with his exaggerated swing at the tree, followed by his reaction to the egg he finds. I became endeared to the characters quickly through their well-defined personalities, such as Dummy's ditzy action hero persona and the princess' sweet, feisty one.

The art has a shonen manga-esque feel, with its clean, bold lines and exaggerated facial expressions. Character's bodies feel somewhat rubbery, so even when the anatomy isn't perfect it feels right because the poses are comfortable and natural. A good amount of detail is paid to every aspect without being overwhelming, such as the character's costumes and the trees that inhabit the forest where the story takes place. The often over-the-top facial expressions help to make the character's more endearing and unique, each showing emotions in their own way.

The Golden Gosling shows a great grasp of characterization and a fun, exciting style that make this comic an uplifting read!

Edwin's website is ericse517.deviantart.com and he can be contacted at ereyes517 (at) gmail (dot) com.

Hayley Weber is a junior cartooning major who hails from the most boring part of New Jersey. To distract herself from this sad fate, she reads and draws girly comic books, watches weird British TV shows, and stalks her favorite bands.

December 2nd - Minicomics Tutorial Pt. I

2011-11-28T20:21:00.001-05:00

Salutations, Allies!

We hope you had a relaxing Thanksgiving! It's the final month of the semester, so the Gauntlet is finally upon us. Join us in these last three meetings for a series of fun and informative tutorials, culminating in our Digital Projection Comix Reading! But let's not get ahead of ourselves, 'cause this week we're hosting our...

MINICOMICS TUTORIAL
Part I: Digital Basics

This Friday, 12/2

6:30 - Room 703G

Learn the basics of self-publishing your own comics with just a computer, a scanner, and a printer!
Check under the cut for specifics, coming events, and other business.

This week, our officers will lead a field trip to the Digital Imaging Center, where they will give a step-by-step tutorial on scanning comic pages, laying them out in InDesign and Photoshop, and printing out a complete minicomic. This is a must-see demonstration if you've never made a mini (especially if your professors expect you to make one by semester's end) or need a refresher.

This demo will give you the foundation for the next part of our tutorial, in which we'll share advance techniques for creating cool covers and making color minis with the copier.

Also, if you don't know how to prepare you files for submission to our Digital Projection Comix Reading, we will also be hosting a short tutorial to get you prepared.

We will meet in Room 703G as usual and migrate to the DIC as a group after covering other business.

Coming events:

Saturday, 12/3:

Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival (12PM to 9PM)

Friday, 12/9

CA Meeting - Minicomics Tutorial Part II: Advanced Techniques / Digital Projection Comix Reading Tutorial

Friday, 12/16

CA Meeting - Digital Projection Comix Reading [see instructions under "Other business"]

Other business:

If you would like to perform at this semester's Digital Projection Comix Reading, please submit your files in a zipped folder emailed to cartoonallies@gmail.com (with the subject line "Winter 2011 DPCR: [Name]") or bring them to a CA meeting on a flash drive before Monday, December 12th. Files must be JPGs, GIFs, or PNGs at 72 dpi, should be no larger than 1024 pixels wide or 768 tall, and named in chronological order (e.g. xxx01.jpg, xxx02.jpg, xxx03.jpg). Panel-by-panel sequences, as opposed to full pages, are strongly advised, and you will have a 5 minute time limit. More information will be given at future CA meetings, and we will host informational tutorials in the coming weeks.
Have you checked out last week's articles on the SVA blog? New articles will be posted every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Do you want publicity for your minicomics? Enter the Mini Reviews Box. Bring your minicomics to our meetings or the Senior Studio to submit them for review on the Cartoon Allies blog. Each week, bloggers Eric and Hayley will randomly select a student's mini from the box and offer readers a preview of the comic and their thoughts. We hope to improve student promotion and give members a space to show their work to a greater audience.
If you would like to be listed on our Members page, email your name, year, website url, and 50x50px icon to cartoonallies@gmail.com with the subject line "Active Member [Name]". As we collect a nice group of links, we'll update our long out-of-date Active Members list.
If you're interested in helping us distribute Cartoon Allies event posters, let us know by email or at the next meeting. We need posters for the Digital Projection Comix Reading and next semester's Fresh Meat festival!
The SVA Library now has access to a new Underground Comix Database. Check it out!

Stay strong, Allies!

on Twitter

on Facebook

November 18th - Comics Swap

2011-11-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

Greetings, Allies!

After a tear-jerking session screening The Iron Giant, we find ourselves steadily approaching Thanksgiving Break and the end of the semester. While we prepare for a gauntlet of special events, we thought it'd be a great opportunity for you to collect new reading material for the plane flights, bus rides, and long nights ahead. So please join us for this week's...

First Ever
COMICS SWAP

This Friday, 11/18

6:30 - Room 703G

Bring in old, well-loved (or harshly despised!) comics to trade with your peers for some new reads!
Check under the cut for rules regarding our first comics market, coming events, and other business.

There will be a few ways to participate:

1. Barter with your fellow Allies!

See a comic you like? Think its owner will dig what you've got? Go for a trade! Even if your books don't fall into someone's usual interests, share what got you to pick up the comic. Don't be afraid to trade for something new, exciting, and beyond your normal palette.

2. Visit the Swap Table!

There will be a table designated for swapping comics at your leisure. If you see any comics on the table that pique your interest, deposit at least a single book of your own and pick one up! While you won't need to leave as many comics as you take, please be courteous to the other participants and pick responsibly. If you just want to get rid of some comics, drop them off here so they can find new homes!

3. Take a seat in the Reading Corner!

If you don't mind the ambient noise of rowdy cartoonists, you can read your new acquisitions at the meeting. Feel free to continue trading with others as you go through your stack.

All printed comics are fair game, from self-published minis to monthly floppies to graphic novels and collections. Our inventory will be based on what we all can bear to part with and how much space we need to make in our apartments!

Coming events:

Friday, 11/25:

NO MEETING - Thanksgiving Break

Friday, 12/2:

CA Meeting - Minicomics Tutorial Part I: The Basics / Digital Projection Comix Reading Tutorial

Saturday, 12/3:

Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival (12PM to 9PM)

Friday, 12/9

CA Meeting - Minicomics Tutorial Part II: Advanced Techniques / Digital Projection Comix Reading Tutorial

Friday, 12/16

CA Meeting - Digital Projection Comix Reading [see instructions under "Other business"]

Other business:

If you would like to perform at this semester's Digital Projection Comix Reading, please submit your files in a zipped folder emailed to cartoonallies@gmail.com (with the subject line "Winter 2011 DPCR: [Name]") or bring them to a CA meeting on a flash drive before Monday, December 12th. Files must be JPGs, GIFs, or PNGs at 72 dpi, should be no larger than 1024 pixels wide or 768 tall, and named in chronological order (e.g. xxx01.jpg, xxx02.jpg, xxx03.jpg). Panel-by-panel sequences, as opposed to full pages, are strongly advised, and you will have a 5 minute time limit. More information will be given at future CA meetings, and we will host informational tutorials in the coming weeks.
Have you checked out last week's articles on the SVA blog? New articles will be posted every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Do you want publicity for your minicomics? Enter the Mini Reviews Box. Bring your minicomics to our meetings or the Senior Studio to submit them for review on the Cartoon Allies blog. Each week, bloggers Eric and Hayley will randomly select a student's mini from the box and offer readers a preview of the comic and their thoughts. We hope to improve student promotion and give members a space to show their work to a greater audience.
If you would like to be listed on our Members page, email your name, year, website url, and 50x50px icon to cartoonallies@gmail.com with the subject line "Active Member [Name]". As we collect a nice group of links, we'll update our long out-of-date Active Members list.
If you're interested in helping us distribute Cartoon Allies event posters, let us know by email or at the next meeting. We need posters for the Digital Projection Comix Reading and next semester's Fresh Meat festival!
The SVA Library now has access to a new Underground Comix Database. Check it out!

Stay strong, Allies!

on Twitter

on Facebook

Series Spotlight: Blue Beetle

2011-11-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

Blue Beetle, art by Ig Guara, Ruy José, and Pete Pantazis (from #2)

While DC Comics’ company-wide revamp has garnered quite a share of controversy, from its problematic-to-rage-inducing depiction of female characters to still thinking that having Rob Liefeld draw comics is a valid idea, some good has come from the New 52. A group of heroes of color have been given a new opportunity to have their own books, including the late Dwayne McDuffie’s black teen hero Static and a fan-favorite Chicano with alien power-armor, Jaime Reyes, the third Blue Beetle.

Jaime originally debuted in 2006, during DC’s Infinite Crisis event. From there he was thrust into his own monthly series, critically-acclaimed for its depiction of a minority teen hero with strong family ties and a well-developed supporting cast (even tying the character to previous incarnations of the Beetle). Unfortunately, the Blue Beetle’s warm reception did not translate into consistent sales, and the series was canceled after thirty-six issues. Despite the loss of his solo comic, our blue hero found himself in the pages of Teen Titans and with a prominent role in the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold, turning to the caped crusader for guidance as a new hero. But now Jaime has a new shot at being in the spotlight, graduating once more from secondary character to headliner.

Written by Tony Bedard, penciled by Ig Guarra, and inked by Ruy José (not Ryu José), the first two issues of Blue Beetle retell Jaime Reyes’s chance encounter with the Scarab, the alien artifact that transforms him into a flight-capable champion with more built-in weapons than a suit of Iron Man armor. It is obvious from the beginning that this is a full reboot of Jaime’s short history, offering new readers a chance to jump in without any concerns of continuity. Unlike in his previous series, the origins of the Scarab are not presented as a mystery to both Jaime and the reader. Because the Scarab has already been revealed as a malfunctioning tool of The Reach, a galactic imperial hive-mind, in both the Blue Beetle’s first comic series and the Brave and the Bold television series, the new comic opens with a prologue depicting its horrifying power and how it arrives on Earth. From there, the issues introduce Jaime and his supporting cast in El Paso before he gets caught up in a conflict between two super-powered gangs and ends up attached to the titular Blue Beetle.

It can be frustrating when only twenty-two pages of a comic are published a month and the writer takes his time telling the story; however, in the case of Blue Beetle, I can appreciate Bedard and Guarra’s attention to detail as they slow down to develop Jaime’s interpersonal relationships. While the action is dynamic and has strong impact with Guarra’s art, Jaime’s characterization and family/social life are what keep me interested. As the story is set in El Paso with many Hispanic and mixed-ethnicity characters, Spanglish commonly occurs in the dialogue. This can seem like an overused gimmick after the first few pages, but the tenth page of issue #1 features a conversation between Jaime and his parents that totally sold me on the idea. As a young Cuban-American, reading those first two panels, in which the interjection of Spanish phrases into English sentences felt natural, was the first time I had seen that aspect of my life reflected on the page of a comic.

Ig Guara’s art is tightly drawn without trying to look photorealistic. He carries the action well with a lot of dynamism, coupled with well-composed backgrounds that even at their simplest do a good job of conveying a strong sense of space. While his varied choices of camera angles help make they dialogue-heavy scenes just as visually interesting, sometimes this makes them appear unnecessarily dramatic. Also, the violence in the action scenes is surprisingly graphic for a “Teen” rated comic (although it’s not disturbingly gory). His character designs are cute and expressive, featuring a good variety of body types. The main cast actually looks like a bunch of developing teenagers, which is a quality a lot of mainstream comic artists can neglect. I have no gripes against Ruy José’s inking, though it appears much stronger in the second issue. [Note: This may be because he was replaced by J. P. Mayer partway through the second issue, but the art credits are not clear.] Pete Pantazis’s colors are bright and full of compliments, though I feel he relies on gradients and textures too much for the book’s clean and bold-lined art style. For me, the big artistic disappointment comes in the form of the covers. They’re very generic and hardly reflect the content (or great art) of the interior pages; Jaime doesn’t even look like a teenager! It’ll be very unfortunate if these poor covers will dissuade new readers from picking Blue Beetle off the shelf.

The creative team behind Blue Beetle isn’t afraid to deal with Hispanic characters, ideas, and issues in a clear and sincere way. These aren’t white characters with tan skin living in a redecorated New England suburb passing off for Texas, and neither are they racist caricatures (although Paco and Amparo Cardenas come off as rather archetypical so far). While far more light-hearted than DC’s seminal police procedural Gotham Central, Blue Beetle looks like it will treat Latin American subjects as maturely as Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker did with the character of Renee Montoya (a strong female, Hispanic, and lesbian character whose return to comics I’m eagerly awaiting). I still wish I got a bit more narrative bang for my monthly $2.99 price of admission, but I can’t wait for the 16th to pick up the next issue.

Eric Alexander Arroyo is a hot-blooded junior who wears a fedora, digs giant robots, and obsesses over flowing scarves. He's spent his life wandering Florida and Las Vegas, and hopes to find an apartment in the bowels of a volcano. Although he's training to be a cartoonist, he'd rather be a crime-fighting cyborg when he grows up.

November 11th - Movie Night

2011-11-07T15:00:00.000-05:00

Hello, Allies!

Critique last meeting was very helpful and everyone's participation was great. This week, we will have something a bit more relaxing with a...

MOVIE NIGHT

This Friday, 11/11

6:30 - Room 703G

Find the poll on the our sidebar and vote for the flick you'd like to see screened this week! You can find more info about our options below the cut.

American Splendor
2003, directed by S. S. Berman and R. Pulcini
Adapted from Harvey Pekar's autobio comics of the same name
(James Urbaniak, the voice of Doc Venture on The Venture Bros. plays R. Crumb!)

Crumb
1994, directed by Terry Zwigoff
Documentary on the life of cartoonist R. Crumb

The Iron Giant
1999, directed by Brad Bird

Persepolis
2007, directed by M. Satrapi and V. Paronnaud
Adapted from Marjane Satrapi's autobio comic of the same name

Tekkonkinkreet
2006, directed by Michael Arias
Adapted from the comic by Taiyō Matsumoto

Tokyo Godfathers
2003, directed by Satoshi Kon

Coming events:

Thursday, 11/10:

Kate Beaton, Meredith Gran, and Julia Wertz @ SVA Auditorium (Main building, third floor, 7PM to 10PM)

Saturday, 11/12:

Underwire Release Party @ Bergen St. Comics (8PM to 9PM)

Friday, 11/18

CA Meeting - Comics Swap: Bring any comics you own and don't want anymore so you can trade for something new!

Other business:

Have you checked out last week's articles on the SVA blog? New articles will be posted every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Please check out out last three posts, with Emily on storytelling do's and don'ts, Hayley's look at the new Ultimate Spider-Man, and Matt's review of Liar Game.
Do you want publicity for your minicomics? Enter the Mini Reviews Box. Bring your minicomics to our meetings or the Senior Studio to submit them for review on the Cartoon Allies blog. Each week, bloggers Eric and Hayley will randomly select a student's mini from the box and offer readers a preview of the comic and their thoughts. We hope to improve student promotion and give members a space to show their work to a greater audience.
If you would like to be listed on our Members page, email your name, year, website url, and 50x50px icon to cartoonallies@gmail.com with the subject line "Active Member [Name]". As we collect a nice group of links, we'll update our long out-of-date Active Members list.
If you're interested in helping us distribute Cartoon Allies event posters, let us know by email or at the next meeting.
The SVA Library now has access to a new Underground Comix Database. Check it out!

Stay strong, Allies!

on Twitter

on Facebook

Storytelling Lessons to Learn from Southland Tales

2011-11-01T15:00:00.000-04:00

As cartoonists, we're responsible for creating entire worlds, whole casts of characters, designing everything, and, quite often, writing the plot, narration, and dialogue in a comic as well. That's a lot to do, and there's a long list of very basic do's and don't's to remember.

Now, I'm still only a sophomore, and I don't claim to be an expert in any way. But I do know that a really good way to learn the ropes of storytelling is to watch really bad movies. And for me, few films are better for this purpose than Southland Tales.

Southland Tales was written and directed by Richard Kelley, the creator of Donnie Darko. I'm sure most of you have seen Donnie Darko, or at least heard of it. It's a brilliant movie, and one of the best things about it is that nothing is over-explained. The whole film is ambiguous. I remember being captivated by it because I didn't know if the whole movie was Donnie's dream, or if he was hallucinating, or if it really was real. That was the best part of it.

When I was in middle school, several years after Donnie Darko had been released, my friend Graham and I obsessed over it, reciting our favorite lines and discussing our favorite scenes. Then, one day, he found a website that had the made-up book Philosophy of Time Travel that served as a major plot point in Donnie Darko. Graham was fascinated by it, but I flat-out refused to read it. Whoever wrote that book completely ruined the whole point of the movie. The book explains the whole plot away, assigning even the minor characters roles in the time travel equation, making into one big boring mess instead of the intricate, entrancing work of art it had been before.

And that's the major problem with Southland Tales. Kelley introduces us to a huge cast of bland, two-dimensional characters with ridiculous names, most of which have no real role in the plot to speak of, and a long confusing plot about some post-apocalyptic near-future with political nonsense no one cares about. And to make it all even better, he includes a character who over-explains the plot every time someone else isn't speaking and spouts out-of-context Bible quotes, and even with all that narration, no one knows who wants what and why. That is the entire movie.

This is the fastest way to lose your audience. First of all, make the plot absolutely clear. Don't start putting in side stories until the main goals of the major protagonists and antagonists have been established. Second, if you're going to have a large cast, make them each unique and make sure, make absolutely certain, that they are actually important and that the story wouldn't be the same or wouldn't move forward without them. And third, do not over-explain anything! Give the reader only the information they absolutely need to know. Your reader is not an idiot; give them a little credit. You don't need to say in the narration how a character reacted to a certain event, they should be able to figure out the emotions of the characters by your art. Over-explaining the plot takes out the mystery, the ambiguity, and the fun. If the reader's brain isn't doing any work while they're reading the comic, then the comic doesn't need the reader, and it might as well sit on a shelf and collect dust.

Emily "Skippy" Kay Jolkovski, a sophomore cartooning major from a small DC suburb in Northern Virginia, was born the year Punk broke and became a werewolf shortly afterwards. She enjoys 80's-90's alt rock and grunge, early swing and jazz, Klezmer music, Mexican Indian and Chinese cuisine, Coen Bros films, magical realism, sharks, controlling peoples' minds, and long walks on the beach after driving a stake into a vampire's heart.

November 4th- Group Critique

2011-10-31T21:01:00.004-04:00

Greetings, Allies!

You are cordially invited to participate in...

GROUP CRITIQUE #2

This Friday, 11/04

6:30 - Room 703G

Bring work to share... in-progress or finished!
We'll branch off into groups: Comics, Story-Pitch, Illustration and Sketch.Round #1 was a blast. Click here for full coverage.

Coming events:

11/11/11: Movie Night (What movie? We'll take a vote this Friday, 11/4!)

Other business:

Do you want publicity for your minicomics? Enter the Mini Reviews Box. Bring your minicomics to our meetings or the Senior Studio to submit them for review on the Cartoon Allies blog. Each week, bloggers Eric and Hayley will randomly select a student's mini from the box and offer readers a preview of the comic and their thoughts. We hope to improve student promotion and give members a space to show their work to a greater audience.

If you would like to be listed on our Members page, email your name, year, website url, and 50x50px icon to cartoonallies@gmail.com with the subject line "Active Member [Name]". As we collect a nice group of links, we'll update our long out-of-date Active Members list.

If you're interested in helping us distribute Cartoon Allies event posters, let us know by email or at the next meeting.

The SVA Library now has access to a new Underground Comix Database. Check it out!

HappyAll Saints Day, Kiddos!

on Twitter

on Facebook

Series Spotlight: Ultimate Comics - Spider-Man

2011-10-27T15:00:00.000-04:00

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1

This summer, Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man, was killed in the Ultimate universe of Marvel Comics. This event did not resonate beyond comics fandom until Peter's replacement would be revealed as Miles Morales, a black Hispanic middle-schooler. Some praised Marvel's bold move, while others dismissed it as "politically correct" nonsense. With all of this controversy, comics fans were anxious to see how the actually series would turn out. Now that the first two comics have been released, we can see if the story lives up to the hype.

First, however, a quick background on Ultimate Spider-Man. The Ultimate universe was created by Marvel in 2000 to draw in those who were not long-term comics fans, particularly those who enjoyed the movies made based off of the X-Men, and soon after Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. It is an entirely separate universe from the main Marvel world, where Peter Parker is still very much alive.

The idea of a black Spider-Man was first thought up by Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Axel Alonso in 2008, inspired by Barack Obama's run for President. The development of this new character was also influenced by a campaign to have black actor Donald Glover play Spider-Man in the up-coming reboot of the film series (obviously, they went for less controversial choice and cast Andrew Garfield), as well as the season two premiere of Community, which showed Glover's character Troy in Spider-Man pajamas. When it was announced that Peter Parker would be killed off in the Ultimate universe, work on this idea went into full-speed and Miles Morales was created.

Miles's story in Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man starts out months before his first appearance in the pages of Marvel comics, where he is waiting with his anxious parents to see if he made it into a charter school. After learning that he will be attending this school, he visits his uncle. We learn that his uncle is a burglar that was shown earlier in the comic, who has stolen a spider from the lab of Norman Osborn (a.k.a. Green Goblin) that is infected with the same chemicals as what turned Peter Parker into Spider-Man. As most can expect, the spider bites him and gives him powers, which sets off a series of complications for our young hero.

The introduction of the character was perfect, showing him not as a superhero but as a normal young man and as a son. This echoes Peter Parker's average-hero characterization, which is what attracts people to his character and will most likely make readers fall for Miles as well. It's also very accessible for someone like me, who has never read an Ultimate comic before in my life, and not much Marvel in general. From what I understand, this is the aim of the Ultimate line, and I applaud Marvel for not just creating stories for new readers to get into easily but also for doing it well with this book. Brian Michael Bendis' writing is full of both exciting scenes of discovery and slower moments full of vulnerability, particularly in the second issue, which is the stronger of the two released so far. My favorite scene was the one with his friend, which mixes nerdy excitement over superpowers with the burden of them, creating a situation that's lovely in its portrayal of how young Miles truly is. I was worried about how a child superhero would work as Spider-Man, as unlike a character such as Robin or one of the many teenage superhero teams, he is on his own with no other superheroes to connect to. However, throughout the comic, and in this scene and the one with his father afterwards, they show that they will keep the childishness of the character true. Not as a gimmick or caricature or as an adult in a smaller body, but as an exploration about how a middle school student would truly deal with the responsibility given to him.

My criticism lays mostly in the art. Sara Pinchelli's animation-like, bold line art is a perfect fit for a comic about a kid, and she wonderfully captures expressions that mix cartoony exaggeration with realistic nuances. However, her panel compositions can become stagnant, particularly when it comes to more dialogue heavy scenes. Sometimes the repetition works, like the page with Miles attempting to show a friend his powers and failing, as it highlights the humor of the situation and the dialogue. Oftentimes, it just makes the comic seem a little flat. For example, an intense conversation between Miles and his father in a park would have been more interesting if instead of a splash page of them sitting on a bench with a lot of world balloons about them, we saw panels that illustrated the text, and provided more emotion and insight. The colors, done by Justin Ponson, also bother me, with their over-reliance on gradients and highlights. When that style is done in a more muted way in the book, it works well, and the bright color palette is a great decision. Often, however, it seems as though the simple, cartoony drawings and the more rendered, shiny coloring are competing, never fully meshing into a coherent image. If this were more toned down, or possibly even switched to a more animation-like cell shaded style, the coloring would serve the art better. Overall, though, I loved the art and my issues are more nitpicks that major concerns.

The decision to make an alternate universe version of Marvel's most popular hero who is black and Hispanic is a very smart one, that allows for more inclusivity in a major way. There are many superheroes out there who are black and/or Hispanic, but to do it with one as iconic as Spider-Man sends a much larger message to young kids. So far, the comic has not really touched on race issues. However, I hope that future comics will, as like it affected him in the real world, in the fictional Ultimate Marvel 'verse it would be realistic for it to be dealt with, even (or maybe particularly) in a subtle manner.

Making the character a child was also an interesting choice, though one that I wasn't initially supportive of, as expanded on earlier in the review. However, after reading the comics, as well as Alonso's comments that he wanted a hero for his son to look up to, I've changed my mind. The most important audience for this comic is children, who will see that race should have nothing to do with being a hero through a character they can truly relate to. Kids may look up to adult heroes, but they see them as untouchable. One of the reasons the Teen Titans cartoon for the 2000's did well was due to showing heroes that also had to deal with typical preteen issues, and I think that if Marvel markets this really well to kids, they could have the same sort of success. There will be an Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon released in the next year; however, planning began before Miles was created and Peter Parker will be the star of it. I bought my copy of issue two from the magazine section of a Barnes & Nobles, where it was with other superhero comics, which is a step in the right direction. Placing it on display in the children's section, possibly near other books about superheroes, would work even better.

It is also interesting to compare the attention this series has gotten with DC's recent controversy over rebooting all of their comics, known as the New 52. DC has been criticized for being too regressive in terms of minority and female characters. In particular, the return of the formerly wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon to her former title of Batgirl after spending twenty years as information broker Oracle and the recent treatment of Catwoman and Starfire in their first New 52 appearances have riled up anger from some fans. Marvel, on the other hand, has been hammered, not just by comic fans but the mainstream media, for creating a black Hispanic hero. That the larger outrage is at Marvel than DC says a lot about how much progress superhero comic fandom needs to make towards inclusivity.

Miles Morales in Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man is an enjoyable read and is sure to become another hit for Marvel with its great writing and poppy art. Their choice to take a new direction cause a lot of controversy, but in the end it paid off greatly, and I can't wait to pick up issue three!

Hayley Weber is a junior cartooning major who hails from the most boring part of New Jersey. To distract herself from this sad fate, she reads and draws girly comic books, watches weird British TV shows, and stalks her favorite bands.

Matt's Good Reads: Liar Game

2011-10-25T15:23:00.000-04:00

Need some black-and-white stimulation? Join Matt Clark every other week for Matt's Good Reads, where he'll share what he's been reading (and what you should too) on his breaks from the drafting table. This week he recommends...

Liar Game

by Shinobu Kaitani

Ongoing since 2005, currently on hiatus

Unpublished in the US

THE STORY
Liar Game, written and illustrated by Shinobu Kaitani, follows the story of the naively honest college student Nao Kanzaki, who accidentally gets herself involved in the titular game by opening a package containing 100 million yen. As the title suggests, this is a game where you must lie and cheat to steal other opponents' money for your own personal gain. The losers face a debt of 100 million yen to repay.

WHAT'S TO LOVE?
Each round of the Liar Game has many twists and turn that keep the reader guessing at what might happen next, featuring games of strategy that require meticulous attention to detail. The amount of effort put into each round is apparent in the writing, and the ingenuity of the other characters is striking. It can take a while to get used to the amount of text you have to read in order to understand what's going on, but after a thorough reading, the tricks and set-up can become much easier to follow.

Matt Clark is a sophomore cartooning major. He is a golden retriever, woof, woof (though he would rather not be), and has weird obsessions.

Student Comic Review: Li-Or Zaltzman's Collection of Autobio Comics

2011-10-20T18:14:00.001-04:00

Each Wednesday, Eric and Hayley dig into a box of minicomics by SVA students and pull one out to share with the world. If you would like to submit your minis for review, please drop them off in the Reviews box at Cartoon Allies meetings and in the senior studio. This week, we'll be looking at...

Li-Or Zaltzman, Collection of Autobio Comics

Collection of Autobio Comics is a collection of many short comics, mostly following Li-Or's life, both when she was a child and now, and stories she hears from those she knows, such as her grandmother. The first story recalls Li-Or, as a child, injuring herself while sitting Shiva for her grandfather, and further tales also go into her day-to-day dealings with the MTA, her living situation, cold sores, friends, and being multilingual. Also included are sketches of museums, feet, and herself, which give the comic a spontaneous and inviting feel. My favorite comics in the book are one about her grandmother's history, which uses food as a way to show the character's personality, and a sweet, simple one-page tale that shows Li-Or observing a young family in the park.

The drawings in the first comic were a bit crude, but as the comic progresses, the art becomes looser and more expressive. Experimentations with different styles of inking are shown, with nibs, brushes, and inkwash all present. The poses of her characters all feel very natural and lively in their purposefully wonky anatomy, and this warm feel continues into her facial expressions. The bold ink lines work particularly well for how she draws, but when she dabbles in pen, it also fits with her expressive, quirky style.

The design of the comic is also gorgeous, and helps introduce the warm, somewhat dreamy world inside the book. The covers consist of a digitally altered drawing of her and some leaves, with a translucent paper with a pink paisley pattern over it. Using the decorative paper makes the comic stand out, as well as making it more inviting.

Collection of Autobio Comics is a candid, lovely look into a very talented artist's head, full of smart observation and expressive artwork.

You can visit Li-Or's website at liorca.net and she can be contacted at liorzed (at) gmail (dot) com.

From the Frontline: Mark Siegel

2011-10-19T18:20:00.000-04:00

The Cartoonist Alliance's campaign in the fight for spectacular comics has been a long and thrilling adventure. In From the Frontline, officers put the spotlight on notable events and meetings our club has organized or been a part of. Be sure to check out our last article, Hayley @ Group Critique Night #1.

Illustration by Aodhan Cummings

Guest Speaker: Mark Siegel

Two weeks ago, Mark Siegel from FirstSecond Books came to Cartoon Allies as a guest speaker and shared valuableadvice from the perspective of both a publisher and an artist.

If you wanted to know what he had to say butweren’t able to be there to experience it all, read on to find out more aboutit! The list isn’t perfect, butwe’ve got some important notes down on what most publishing companies are aboutand good ideas for artists to follow when trying to appeal to editors orpublishers.

Mark Siegel entered publishing ten years ago. Having grown up in France, he was usedto comics being a part of mainstream reading, and the same could be said aboutJapan. In France, if you wanted tobe successful, you’d go into comics, but in America, comics were a tougher, lessprofitable business. It was timeAmerica’s comics got into every household. It was time to make comics that you never throw away.

A lot of people had questions abouteditors. Mark told us that a lotof people think of editors a little differently than what they really are. DC and Marvel’s creation of the idea ofeditors is this icy cold hovering person, treating comics like an assemblyline. But we need to understandwhat an editor is. An editor isessential. When you need help,they ask the tough questions that help the artist find their own way around theproblem. They aren’t the ones whotell you that you forgot a hat or needed to change a panel; that would be in proofreading,something a copy editor does.

In case some people didn’t know what the mindset of publishing companies was like, Mark Siegel gave us a fair warning and amindset of our own to have when going to work with publishers. “Publishing companies are in thebusiness of books, not your art. Go into it wisely,” he told us. To them it’s a source of profit, not a praise of how great your workis. It’s not a good or bad thing,it just is. Some people forgetthat and expect that once companies want them, they can do whatever they want,but that is widely not the case.

Now some tips for the artists!

“Don’t only breathe comics. Accept all kinds of inspiration.”

Go to tables and talk to editors andpublishers at conventions if you want, but don’t show up with a big portfolioand expect them to want to carefully look through it. These people are already tired enough from being at theconvention and dealing with a multitude of other things. Most likely they already had severaloffers to look at work before you, so if you show up with a thick portfolio atthe wrong timing, they may turn you away.

Instead, it’s better to show them a mini comicyou made if you have one and give it tothem. Even if they don’t lookat it on the spot, at least somehow it will probably end up back in the office,and then someone might eventually look at it.

If you’re showing your storytelling, show themyour mini comic and give it to them. If you’re showing your chops as an artist, show them a portfolio buthave your portfolio be consistent in what you want them to know you cando. If you want to show how goodyou are at inking, for example, have the portfolio be filled with inked pagesor illustrations.

Trust your work when talking to editors andpublishers in person. Beconfident. Sell yourself. Your work may not be ripe yet, but ifit’s right, the editors will have an instinct and tell you if they think it’sgetting there. Know that if theywant you to work with them right away, they’ll trade contact information withyou and get to you within the week. If they seem to be interested in your work but perhaps not immediately,it’s okay to send emails to them, but be careful how you go about it.

If there’s a connection and you want to keepin touch with them, you can make little updates with brief samples of your work. Make it count! Keep it warm, and don’t send longpointless emails. Simple shortinteractions over a longer period of time are better than long chunky emailsthat will make the receiver of the email uninterested. There’s no need to elaborate so much onyour work if you trust that your work speaks for itself. Editors will appreciate it and evenenjoy quick, short updates on your work to see how you’re doing, and that willhelp you get your foot in the door if you build a good relationship with them.

When sending a proposal, get the editor hookedinto your story. Be BRIEF. Give a synopsis, samples up to threepages, character designs, etc. to help them get a feel for the story. There’s no need for long extensiveessays on the background of your tale. Again, trust that your work speaks for itself.

Be ambitious!

“Aim to create works that’ll last forever, notjust to satisfy yourself. “

There are many ‘good’ stories that start on agreat premise, but halfway through the story, some of these ideas start fallingapart. That’s how some storiesremain good, and don't go on to become great or sublime.

May you take this advice to heart and keep fighting.

Onwards, Allies!

Series Spotlight: Rocketeer Adventures

2011-10-18T20:13:00.000-04:00

Rocketeer Adventures #3, cover art by Dave Stevens

Through the 1980s, cartoonist Dave Stevens presented The Rocketeer to the comics world. Influenced by the pulps and film serials of the '30s and '40s, these stories centered around Cliff Secord, a young stunt pilot living in Los Angeles on the cusp of World War II, and his adventures with an experimental jetpack. While only a few issues were published, the character gained notoriety in 1991 when The Rocketeer was adapted into a film from Walt Disney Pictures.

While Stevens' throwback to an era of Nazi-punching and prop-planes was beloved by many, including yours truly, Cliff never flew over Hollywood again before his artist passed away in 2008. However, a fondness for the character and his world still resonates, leading to IDW's recent collection of the original Rocketeer stories and a new limited series, Rocketeer Adventures.

This four-issue anthology comic, edited by Scott Dunbier, gathers talent from across the comicsphere for an exciting and heartfelt tribute to Dave Stevens' work. The issues I've gotten my paws on, #3 and #4, feature contributions from Dave Gibbons, Ryan Sooks, Bruce Timm, Ashley Wood, and others, leaving no room for disappointment in their twenty-six pages. What surprised me the most when I dug into these comics was the thematic consistency between the stories. Although coming from a variety of artists and writers (and a refreshing variety of styles), each story seemed to get the world of characters of The Rocketeer. The sense of fun and respect to the source material portrayed in these comics really shows how much the creators love the work they're revisiting.

But sappy emotions don't tell a lot about the content of Rocketeer Adventures. As the third issue resonates with me the most, there are a few elements of it I'd like to address. While the original Rocketeer comics always revolved around how Cliff's relationship with his girlfriend Betty (modeled after the late Bettie Page) intersected with his high-flying misadventures, the third issue's stories focus more on the actress beside the hero.

"A Rocketeer Story" by Ryan Sook features some fantastic artwork in its depiction of the awful luck and coincidence that characterizes Betty and Cliff's lives. While Betty still plays the role of a damsel in distress, this story's presentation is sensitive to Betty's view on the the Rocketeer and how their lives can never intersect peacefully. One's success is often tied to the other's failure, furthering the distance between them. I think that the story's last two pages, integrating the last scene of the in-story film with the comic's events, was notably well-executed, especially with Sook's ability to depict emotions (even on the masked hero).

Joe R. Landsdale and Bruce Timm's "Heaven's Devils" uses a nontraditional format, presented as prose with center-page illustrations by Timm. The story is rather straight-forward, but its presentation as a story in an old pulp adventure magazine helps carry it. Landsdale's writing and Timm's illustrations stick to this theme perfectly, making it a swell ode to both Stevens and his influences.

This issue closes with "Junior Rocketeers" by Jonathan Ross, Tommy Lee Edwards, and John Workman. Not only do I love Tommy Lee Edwards' brushwork and color palette, but I really enjoyed how the story deals with the period The Rocketeer takes place in while focusing on the comic's female characters. "Junior Rocketeers" introduces a gang of Rocketeer fans with a single girl member who get caught up in Cliff's latest misadventure. Ross portrays Betty as a character who gets into a lot of trouble but doesn't need Cliff's help to get out of it, joining the young outcast girl in getting Cliff out of a jam his jetpack can't help him out of. It's refreshing to see these roles flipped, especially since Rocketeer stories can get formulaic in that sense. The humor and attention-to-detail also make this a strong story in my eyes, taking advantage of the comic's late-1930s setting both aesthetically and within the plot, even referencing the old Captain Marvel film serial.

From what I've read so far, Rocket Adventures is a delightful, exciting, and tasteful memorial to the work of Dave Simmons. I'm certainly picking it up when it's collected next month! If you're a fan of the pulps, the '30s, or good ol' Nazi-punching adventure, you should grab a copy as well or track down a back-issue. And if you haven't read David Stevens' original comic, I couldn't recommend it more!

Eric Alexander Arroyo is a hot-blooded junior who wears a fedora, digs giant robots, and obsesses over flowing scarves. He's spent his life wandering Florida and Las Vegas, and hopes to find an apartment in the bowels of a volcano. Although he's training to be a cartoonist, he'd rather be a crime-fighting cyborg when he grows up.

October 21st - DEMO JAM

2011-10-17T18:52:00.000-04:00

Hallo, Allies!

Thanks to your dedication, we survived NYCC! We hope you all make a quick recovery, as the semester doesn't seem to be letting up. Tomorrow we'll be having a chat with Alison Bechdel, and to help you get back on your A game, we've got a fun Friday night planned. Prepare for our next operation...

DEMO JAM

An Evening of Wisdom and Righteousness

This Friday, 10/21

6:30 - Room 703G

Wanna test your hand with a new tool? Still inking with microns? Looking to pump out ridiculously stupendous collaborative comics?

Join us for our jam comics marathon! We'll be hosting five stations, including traditional nibs, brushpens, and COPIC markers, each with its own jam comic. Test out a tool, draw a panel, and move on to the next booth in this kinetic improvisational comic spree!

And don't forget to check out our other business below, especially if you sold minicomics at NYCC or would like to submit your work for review on the CA blog!

Coming events:

10/18:

Alison Bechdel @ SVA Library (4:30PM to 6:30PM)
Daniel Clowes and Seth @ Housing Works (7PM)
Best American Comics 2011: Gabrielle Bell, Kevin Mutch, & Alison Bechdel @ Barnes & Noble - Union Square (7PM)

Other business:

If you sold minicomics at NYCC, be sure to pick them up with your money at this week's meeting! If you don't, next week will be your last chance to collect your earnings.
Have you checked out last week's articles on the SVA blog? New articles will be posted every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This week, be sure to read Eric's thoughts on Rocketeer Adventures, Hayley's latest student comic review, and Kou's report on our meeting with Mark Siegel!
Do you want publicity for your minicomics? Enter the Mini Reviews Box. Bring your minicomics to our meetings or the Senior Studio to submit them for review on the Cartoon Allies blog. Each week, bloggers Eric and Hayley will randomly select a student's mini from the box and offer readers a preview of the comic and their thoughts. We hope to improve student promotion and give members a space to show their work to a greater audience.
If you would like to be listed on our Members page, email your name, year, website url, and 50x50px icon to cartoonallies@gmail.com with the subject line "Active Member [Name]". As we collect a nice group of links, we'll update our long out-of-date Active Members list.
If you're interested in helping us distribute Cartoon Allies event posters, let us know by email or at the next meeting.
The SVA Library now has access to a new Underground Comix Database. Check it out!

Stay strong, Allies!

on Twitter

on Facebook

SURPRISE GUEST!

2011-10-14T23:57:00.001-04:00

Alison Bechdel

author of Fun Home & "Dykes to Watch Out For"

guest editor of Best American Comics 2011

Speaking at:

The SVA Library

Tuesday, October 18th

4:30 - 5:30 PM

Light refreshment will be served.

Made possible by: Your friends at the library,

Cartoon Allies and QueerSVA.

Got class? Ask your teacher to take the whole class!

Still can't make it? Catch Alison in the Union Square Barnes & Noble at 7 PM, discussing the latest volune of Best American Comics with Gabrielle Bell and Kevin Mutch.

Matt's Good Reads: Bakuman

2011-10-13T15:00:00.000-04:00

Need some black-and-white stimulation? Join Matt Clark every other Thursday for Matt's Good Reads, where he'll share what he's been reading (and what you should too) on his breaks from the drafting table . This week he recommends...

Bakuman

by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Ongoing since 2008

7 volumes published in the US by VIZ Media

THE STORY
The latest series from the team of Tsugumi Ohba (author) and Takeshi Obata (illustrator) that brought the popular series "Death Note," is a slice-of-life series about two youths who dream of being successful in the world of Japanese comics and get their work turned into an anime. The main characters Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi meet after Mashiro leaves his notebook in the class with the drawing of a girl he likes named Azuki Miho. Takagi finds this drawing and uses it to get Mashiro to help him make manga with him, and their dive into the manga world begins.

WHAT'S TO LOVE?
Tsugumi Ohba is well known for creating the unusual character L from Death Note and has let that oddity seep into a few of his characters in the series Bakuman, with Eiji, Fukuda, Hiramaru, Shizuka, and Nanamine leading the front in humerous oddities. It makes sense to have strange characters in the world of manga and comics, because, let's face it, we wouldn't be in this industry unless we were a little off. I don't know exactly how accurate of a depiction of the industry is shown, but it has a very realistic feeling to what the industry is like in Japan's Shonen Jump.

Matt Clark is a sophomore cartooning major. He is a golden retriever, woof, woof (though he would rather not be), and has weird obsessions.

Student Comic Review: Laura Knetzger's Bug Boys

2011-10-12T18:44:00.000-04:00

Laura Knetzger, Bug Boys #1 & #2, 2011

Bug Boys follows Rhinoceros Beetle (Rhino-B) and Stag Beetle (Stag-B), two pals who go on adventures throughout the tiny world of bugs. The first issue introduces us to the domain of the titular Bug Boys by way of a treasure hunt, exploring the world outside their village. The second issue features a more urgent and character-driven tale, in which Rhino-B is taken away from the village by a giant.

There's a lot to be said about the charm and technique displayed in the first two issues of Bug Boys. Laura's drawings are just as eye-catching as her funky and expressive linocut covers. While Laura's clean-lined and simple style shoots for the adorable, it's obvious from her storytelling that cuteness is just an element, not an end-goal. The world of Bug Boys is rendered intricately with attention paid to suggestive textures, while Laura's panel layouts give the world emotional power throughout the Bug Boys' adventures.

Laura's writing, especially in the second issue, balances the fun and poignancy of a good all-ages comic. In "Bug-napped!", Rhino-B meets Kuwagata in the cage of a young bug enthusiast. Laura depicts Rhino-B's distress at the situation with a touching element of honesty, while the climax, in which Kuwagata is troubled by the prospect of leaving his life in captivity, hit me in a way that even I paused to consider the beetle's words. Bug Boys is certainly a comic about adventure and the emotions associated with it, and I feel Laura's real strength is depicting those emotions in a manner that's genuine and transcends the page.

Bug Boys is a wonderful introduction to a world I can't wait to see more of. While I'd recommend it to anyone who can hold a comic and turn a page, it makes me happy to see great work targeted at children coming out of our student body.

Bug Boys #1 and #2 will be available for sale at the School of Visual Arts table at New York Comic Con, booth #1722. If you'd like to contact Laura, you can send her an email at intarsia_14 (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Eric Alexander Arroyo is a hot-blooded junior who wears a fedora, digs giant robots, and obsesses over flowing scarves. He's spent his life wandering Florida and Las Vegas, and hopes to find an apartment in the bowels of a volcano. Although he's training to be a cartoonist, he'd rather be a crime-fighting cyborg when he grows up.

From the Frontline: Hayley @ Group Critique Night #1

2011-10-11T15:04:00.000-04:00

Group Critique Night: Stories & Storytelling

September 30th's meeting focused on storytelling critique, from the pitch to the page. Our dedicated members came in with pages and scripts they were working on, from fully colored pages to thumbnails. We split into three groups, with each sitting in a circle to discuss each others' work. Everyone chipped in, giving helpful ideas to their fellow cartoonists and kicking off our group critique series with a fabulous start.

One storytelling problem that came up often in my group was clarity. Sometimes the content of a panel or even the border were hard to grasp, and with discussion, ideas were brought out to create a stronger composition. Variation in viewpoints was also a big item, as many people seemed to be fond of shots cut off at the chest or waist. Together, we worked to come up with more dynamic angles. At times, we veered off into drawing critique, though if a drawing is distracting or unclear, it can lead to a muddled story, so it all goes hand in hand. The majority of pages brought in were in pencil, making it easier to fix errors quickly. The stories people brought in were very interesting, ranging from sci-fi and fantasy (or, in one case, a parody crossover of the two) to stories grounded in real life. Some even managed to add supernatural or science fiction elements to ordinary events, such as a bike ride or going to a comic book convention.

Ideas were presented in many different ways. Some people brought in messy thumbnails and jotted down scripts, having little more than passion and determination toward their stories to show. Most showed penciled or inked pages, which gave more to talk about. With the inked pages, as well as fully colored ones, people gave suggestions to how they could make the suggested changes despite the somewhat permanent stage of their comic. One person even showed their work on an iPad, which led us in a similar conversation about how Photoshop can help with adjusting a comic page. The iPad was also a great way to show off the work, as it can blow up small thumbnails and it's easier to view final pages in this way than crowding around them.

All in all, it seems that everyone not only got a lot of help, but also got to know their fellow club members better. Hopefully, future critiques will be as fruitful!

October 13 - 16 / New York Comic Con

2011-10-10T19:00:00.000-04:00

Hey, Allies!

We've had a fantastic first month, and now NYCC is a upon us. This week, we'll be putting on the brakes to our weekly meetings as we prepare for this weekend's big convention.

NO MEETING

New York Comic Con

This Weekend, 10/13 - 10/16

Javits Center

Please continue reading for further information and other upcoming events!

While registration for volunteer hours has almost filled up, we still need a lot more people to help with breakdown on Sunday night. Please sign up if you're willing and able!

If you would like to sell minicomics at the convention, please drop them off in the NYCC box in the Senior Studio by Wednesday night. Do not forget to fill out the accompanying form! Drop an extra mini in the Reviews box while you're at it. If you will be taking your minicomics directly to the convention, you MUST still fill out a drop-off form in the Senior Studio before Wednesday night. If your minicomic is not listed on the printed out tally sheet, WE CANNOT SELL IT.

And for those looking toward the future: next week's meeting (October 21st) is going to be a materials demonstration in the form of a jam comics marathon! Get pumped to work in new ways and collaborate.

Coming events:

10/13:

Michael Kupperman @ Desert Island (7 PM)

10/15:

Desert Island Comic Zine Party @ The Whitney Museum (1PM to 4PM)
Panels, Pages, & Balloons: The Graphic Novel Club @ the Dweck Center (4PM to 5:30PM)

10/18:

Alison Bechdel @ SVA Library (4:30PM to 6:30PM)
Daniel Clowes and Seth @ Housing Works (7PM)
Best American Comics 2011: Gabrielle Bell, Kevin Mutch, & Alison Bechdel @ Barnes & Noble - Union Square (7PM)

Other business:

The SVA Library now has access to a new Underground Comix Database. Check it out!
Do you want publicity for your minicomics? Enter the Mini Reviews Box. Bring your minicomics to our meetings or the Senior Studio to submit them for review on the Cartoon Allies blog. Each week, bloggers Eric and Hayley will randomly select a student's mini from the box and offer readers a preview of the comic and their thoughts. We hope to improve student promotion and give members a space to show their work to a greater audience.
If you would like to be listed on our Members page, email your name, year, website url, and 50x50px icon to cartoonallies@gmail.com with the subject line "Active Member [Name]". As we collect a nice group of links, we'll update our long out-of-date Active Members list.
This week marks the beginning of our new blog schedule. New articles will be posted every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This week, be sure to check Hayley's new From the Frontline article, Eric's review of Laura Knetzger's Bug Boys, and a new manga review from Matt.
If you're interested in helping us distribute Cartoon Allies event posters, let us know by email or at the next meeting.

Stay strong, Allies!

on Twitter

on Facebook

October 7th / Guest Speaker Mark Siegel

2011-10-04T20:46:00.000-04:00

Salutations, Allies!We've spent the last few weeks talking about ourselves and our work. This week, we're going to start listening, as we have a very special guest ready to bestow his knowledge upon us. Let's get ready for our next operation...

GUEST SPEAKER

Mark Siegel

Editorial Director of First Second

This Friday -10/7

6:30 - Room 703G

Poster by Aodhan Cummings

Mark Siegel, Founder and Editorial Director of First Second Books, gives you the inside scoop of the graphic novel industry.

This talk will give you a behind-the-scenes look at the publishing industry that will give you a solid background on how the industry works!

Coming events:

10/7: Matthew Thurber @ Desert Island (7 PM)

10/13: Michael Kupperman @ Desert Island (7 PM)

10/13-10/16: New York Comic-Con

Be sure to get minicomics and prints ready to adorn our table at NYCC! Sign-up will start at this Friday's meeting.

10/15: Desert Island Comic Zine Party @ The Whitney Museum (1PM to 4PM)

Other business:

The SVA Library now has access to a new Underground Comix Database. Check it out!
This week we will be introducing the Mini Box. Bring your minicomics to the meeting to submit them for review on the Cartoon Allies blog. Each week, bloggers Eric and Hayley will randomly select a student's mini from the box and offer readers a preview of the comic and their thoughts. We hope to improve student promotion and give members a space to show their work to a greater audience.
If you would like to be listed on our Members page, email your name, year, website url, and 50x50px icon to cartoonallies@gmail.com with the subject line "Active Member [Name]". As we collect a nice group of links, we'll update our long out-of-date Active Members list.
Check out "Meet the Officers," featuring introductions to our valiant officers and their thoughts regarding Cartoon Allies and its potential.
If you're interested in helping us distribute Cartoon Allies event posters, let us know by email or at the next meeting. You can download a high-res version of this week's poster to print and share here.

Stay strong, Allies!

on Twitter

on Facebook

Meet the Officers

2011-09-30T16:00:00.000-04:00

The semester's well underway, and we're off to a great start! It's about time, then, that we formally introduced the intrepid officers behind the Cartoon Allies. We asked the team to summarize themselves and talk about why they think CA is a significant part of our department.

Hilary Allison
The President

Hilary is a senior comic-stripper and fourth-year Cartoon Ally... a hyperactive social pollinator with a big mouth and an addiction to projects that induce a sense of purpose. Born on a Friday, five blocks from SVA, she has since bounced through a sundry of addresses and is happy to call Brooklyn Navy Yard her current home.

"It is our mission to foster a spirit of camaraderie between cartoonists of all majors while strengthening ties to the larger cartoonisphere. We promote our art beyond individual capability. And we have a fun time."

Adrian James

The Admiral (Treasurer &
Table Manager)

Adrian is a queer cartooning senior on the lam from reality.

"I want Allies to be a safe space for all realms of cartooning, for it to be a conduit that allows people to meet like-minded individuals and expound, collaborate, and extend the means of comics-making as well as give each other helpful advice so we can grow and advance. CA should provide an alternative to that sometimes awkward experience of being thrown into classes, not knowing your peers, and being held in the binds of quiet academia. I want CA to be a Salon des Comics, where we will entertain ideas, share history, and move forward in our thinking!"

Eric Alexander Arroyo

The Major (Email & Blog Commander)

Eric Alexander Arroyo (accept no substitutes) is a hot-blooded junior who wears a fedora, digs giant robots, and obsesses over flowing scarves. He's spent his life wandering Florida and Las Vegas, and hopes to find an apartment in the bowels of a volcano. Although he's training to be a cartoonist, he'd rather be a crime-fighting cyborg when he grows up.

"Above all, I want Cartoon Allies to be a valuable resource for everyone who loves comics. CA should be a community through which we can share our knowledge, collaborate, and form bonds that extend beyond this school. Using multimedia tools to help push this organization and our department's amazing artists into the greater comicsphere is integral to that."

Hayley Weber

Lieutenant (Email Officer & Blogger)

Hayley is a junior cartooning major who hails from the most boring part of New Jersey. To distract herself from this sad fate, she reads and draws girly comic books, watches weird British TV shows, and stalks her favorite bands.

"I want Cartoon Allies to be a place where everyone feels comfortable speaking up and participating, no matter their year or style, so that it becomes a tight-knit community."

Kou Chen

Agent

Kou is a sophomore cartooning major who comes from Taiwan. He enjoys movies like The Fall, books like The Book Thief and comics like Black Jack. His life goal is to overhear someone talking about something he created, because "by all means if my stories are interesting enough to share, I've done my job". He loves tea and fluffy things... like alpacas.

"I want there to be something interesting in the club for everyone, that Cartoon Allies becomes a destination for cool facts about the comics world and quenches the thirst of curious minds."

Matt Clark

Matt is a cartooning sophomore. He is a golden retriever, woof, woof (...though he would rather not be). He has weird obsessions.

"Cartoon Allies' mission should be to advance the skills of artists while giving them a place of community to expand their networks."

Emily Kay Jolkovski

Sergeant-in-Arms

Emily "Skippy" Kay Jolkovski, a sophomore cartooning major from a small DC suburb in Northern Virginia, was born the year Punk broke and became a werewolf shortly afterwards. She enjoys 80's-90's alt rock and grunge, early swing and jazz, Klezmer music, Mexican Indian and Chinese cuisine, Coen Bros films, magical realism, sharks, controlling peoples' minds, and long walks on the beach after driving a stake into a Vampire's heart.

"I love Cartoon Allies because of the wonderful community it builds between comic artists and comic lovers, and the opportunities it brings to young artists like myself. Cartoon Allies is a great opportunity and I hope to see you there. If you see me, say hi!"

September 30th / Group Critiques

2011-09-27T16:39:00.000-04:00

Greetings, Allies!
We've kicked off the year by tabling at SPX, swapping minis at our first weekly meeting, and getting acquainted with our histories last Friday night. Let's get ready for our next operation...

Group Critiques

STORY AND STORYTELLING

This Friday - 9/30

6:30 - Room 703G

Our first group critique night will focus on pitching and plotting your stories. Come prepared with a draft of your script, thumbnails, outlines, ideas, or any in-progress materials you have on-hand! Shoot some pitches at your friends and we'll help you clean up that long-winded thesis project or tight one-page.

Even if you don't have work, come and help your friends with constructive criticism!

Coming events:

9/27: Kate Beaton @ Housing Works (7 PM)

9/28: Neal Adams @ Jim Hanley's Universe (6 PM)

10/13-10/16: New York Comic-Con

Be sure to get minicomics and prints ready to adorn our table at NYCC! Volunteering information will be available soon.

Other business:

If you're interested in helping us distribute Cartoon Allies event posters, let us know by email or at the next meeting.
The SVA Library now has access to a new Underground Comix Database. Check it out!
Allies Laura Knetzger and Adrian James were interviewed at SPX. You can check out the video at Comics Forge.

Stay strong, Allies!

on Twitter

on Facebook

September 23rd / Retrospective

2011-09-20T22:03:00.002-04:00

Greetings, Allies!

We've kicked off the year by tabling at SPX and swapping minis at our first weekly meeting. Get ready for our next operation...

Retrospective Night
A PRELUDE TO GROUP CRITIQUE SESSIONS

This Friday - 9/23

6:30 - Room 703G

Bring in your old comic art

(Yeah, the really embarrassing stuff.)
along with a sample of current work
(Phew!)
on paper or thumbdrive
(We have a projector!)
to share and discuss.

THE INTENT is: NOT a session of schadenfreude / self-humiliation, but rather...

to discuss improvement. (Round-table style)
to SEE our own growth. (When was the last time you compared old to new?)
to humble ourselves before peers of less practice. (Group critique nights coming up!)
to glimpse our potential in peers of longer practice.
to get to know each other better.
to practice talking about our work and our friends' work, critically and constructively!

Future operations:

9/30: Plot and Storytelling Critique
Our first group critique night will focus on pitching and plotting your stories. Come prepared with a draft of your script, thumbnails, outlines, or whatever preliminary ideas materials you have on-hand! Shoot some pitches at your friends and we'll help you clean up that long-winded thesis project or tight one-pager.

10/14-10/16: New York Comic-Con

Make sure to get minicomics and prints ready to adorn our table at NYCC! Volunteering information will be available soon.

Other business:

If you're interested in helping us distribute Cartoon Allies event posters, let us know by email or at the next meeting.
Check out Kou Chen's SPX 2011 report at the Cartoon Allies blog.
Also, if you received a copy of Eric's mini Nuclear Fiction v1.1 last meeting, it might be missing a few pages! Bring it back this Friday and he'll fix it for you.

Stay strong, Allies!

---

on Twitter

on Facebook

From the Frontline: Kou @ SPX2011

2011-09-20T12:08:00.001-04:00

This year's valiant journey to Bethesda, Maryland was a first for me, so may I humbly present to you with the best of my abilities...

Laura Knetzger and Adrian James [front], Eric Alexander Arroyo and Kou [back]

The Cartoon Allies Go to the Small Press Expo 2011

By the sixth hour of Saturday morning, dawn had just begun to crack over the distant horizon, gently washing away the dark blues of the night sky. Members of our group found each other along the way and by seven, the whole of us had gathered, patiently awaiting the Chinatown bus. Good fellow Hondo was kind enough to bring us snacks and fruits to help us maintain energy throughout the four hours of our ride and the rest of the weekend.

After passing the hurdle of the DC Metro's ticket dispenser, the group was on its merry way through D.C.'s magnificent tunnel subway. At last, the Mariott Hotel in all its glory was before us as we carried along our baggage, minutes away from joining our President, Hilary, at our table. After exchanging hugs with our dedicated leader, we witnessed our latest addition in action: the hot rod red Char Custom Comics Rack.

I must say I enjoyed the atmosphere of SPX very much. I loved to watch the people pass by and adjust the corners of our mini-comics every two seconds. I loved it a little too much and didn't really eat until... later, but who needs to eat, am I correct? Yes? I'm sure many others would agree.

That evening, after resting up and reading comics from our first day's haul...

...we all walked out to the balcony outside the halls, where the parents of one of our officers had set up a delicious banquet for us.

Because it is important, I must repeat: it was the most delicious food. There were three gorgeous and mouth-watering salads, grilled chicken, home-made bread loafs, cookies, lemonade, and apple cider. It was so beautiful.

Wyeth Yates, Hilary Allison, & Laura Knetzger

That night, the lot of us stood shoulder to shoulder with many other artists and convention attendees in watching the commencement of the Ignatz Awards Ceremony. Although it was quite stuffy in the room, it didn't stifle any laughter from the witty comments some of the award presenters shared and all in all it was a ceremony I enjoyed quite a lot. I think the best part about it was how there was a very "cartoony" atmosphere to how the ceremony went, as opposed to any other generic awards ceremony where it's overly-long and sometimes dull.

For those that do not know, the Ignatz Awards are based off a running gag in the classic comic Krazy Kat. Krazy is madly in love with Ignatz the mouse. Ignatz despises Krazy and constantly throws bricks at Krazy's head, but the cat misinterprets this as a sign of affection. Hence, at the Ignatz Awards Ceremony, real bricks on wooden stands are given as trophies to winning comic artists in various categories. I thought that was pretty swell.

Also there was chocolate fondue.

Major Arroyo doesn't understand the meaning of "restraint"

The second day consisted mostly of working the table in shifts and occasionally replenishing ourselves with nutrients called food and drink. I would sometimes get too caught up in pondering over the wonderful comics that were catching my attention all over SPX and end up leaving my station for too long. Also, many comics were bought. (I REGRET NOTHING.) Sales at the SVA table also did pretty well on Sunday, so everything was incredibly rad.

As SPX drew to a close, it was announced over megaphone that we had ten more minutes and that everyone was awesome. There was much cheering!! It was a lovely thing to hear.

Kou is a paragon of resourcefulness

We packed up right on time and quickly began our move back to the D.C. subway and reached the bus stop in the nick of time.

This is where the party split, a few deciding to stay in D.C. to have a more relaxing dinner while the rest of us got onto the 8:00 bus. Apparently, the others, who were supposed to get on a 10:00 bus, had to wait a while longer, watching the bus not open their doors until a lot later. They are alive and well now, so eventually I suppose the magical doors finally parted ways for them.

Meanwhile on the long exhausting ride back into Manhattan, some of us made deep and meaningful conversation about Gundam and My Little Pony and life to pass the time. Ah, priceless educational bonding. Eventually, the bus stopped in our homeland and we bid adieu to each other, living happily ever after.

Thus concluded our glorious SPX weekend together! The Small Press Expo was a wonderful success and it was a beautiful convention this year! I'm so glad I got to experience going with the best group ever.

Kou and Wyeth Yates on the Metro back to DC

Thank you for reading thus far, and I bid you good evening and good day!

Kou Chen is a sophomore in the School of Visual Arts' Cartooning program. He lovess to watch movies, pet cats, make spaghetti, and daydream. This is his first article for the Cartoon Allies blog.

For our last adventure to SPX, check out Major Arroyo's report from last year.

Operation: Mini-Swap is a Go!

2011-09-16T14:12:00.001-04:00

Poster by SVA Junior Wyeth Yates

Attention, people of SVA! Tonight is a night of daring and excitement: the first Cartoon Allies meeting of the year and Operation: Mini Swap! Join us at 6:30 in room 703G (E 22nd St Building) for comics, camaraderie, mini trading, and elaborate speeches as we kick off the semester.

Call to Arms / Operation Mini-Swap

2011-09-07T23:28:00.002-04:00

Dust shakes from the ceiling, gliding down in a grey fog, as the building rattles from another fallen shell. The battle outside has been intense; the splotches of ink staining your coat remind you that it's not going to get easier from here. Your walk to this last bastion of resistance, a crumbling cafe run by a guy named Moe, was marked by broken nibs, empty inkwells, and recruitment posters. "Enlist today! Tomorrow's comics depend on today's youth!" "Buy Minicomics!" "YOU give us the ink! WE'LL give 'em awesome!" You're here to meet up with... oh, there he is. Major Arroyo. A fellow in a leather jacket and a fedora steps in and sits across from you. The collar of an olive uniform peeks out from under his jacket as he passes you a missive.

Cartoonist Alliance, SVA Corps

Special Orders // Operation Mini-Swap

By direction of President H. Allison, you have been recruited for active duty based on your skills and knowledge of comics, cartoons, and related media. Between marches through conventions, our operatives will be infiltrating local comic shops, training under the tutelage of highly-distinguished guest commanders, collaborating amongst each other to craft stories unrivaled in sheer radness, and participating in countless other training exercises and field operations to refine their cartooning prowess and cooperation as a unit.

We will be initiating operations on Friday, September 16th. This inaugural meeting will take place at 6:30 PM in room 703G of the East 22nd Street building (between 1st and 2nd Ave). The command staff, including Representative Mayerson, will outline our year-long campaign, organizing the major operations and addressing concerns regarding our practices and the threats ahead.

We will then exchange intelligence in the form of minicomics. Be sure to print copies of your work to trade with your allies, exposing your skills to your peers and sharing your passion with new friends. The senior staff looks forward to seeing your work.

Your participation is crucial to the success of this alliance. May we succeed in all our artistic endeavors and valiantly represent awesome in all its many forms. Stay strong, Ally.

- CA Command

After you take your orders, the Major salutes you and marches on in pursuit of the next determined soldier.

--

Cartoon Allies hopes to create a fun and safe environment for sharing your art, collaborating, and learning. Our club is a communal resource for our department and beyond, aimed to help us grow as cartoonists, students, and professionals. We've got a sensational semester in the works already, so join us as we embark upon the new year.

Fresh Meat 2011

2011-04-16T21:59:00.006-04:00

April 29th, 2011. 6-9 PM.
the Monkey Bar Lounge, 217 East 23rd Street, Manhattan.

Presented by Cartoon Allies & the Illustration and Cartooning BFA department.

CLICK HERE for posters and banners!
Spread the news on Facebook!

One night a year, cartooning students at SVA transform the school's dingy basement lounge into a buzzing marketplace. The public is invited to browse, buy and barter for self-published comics by the following talents...

Megan Brennan Jean Calderone
Haemi Choung Henry Fernau
Rebecca Fleeman Rel Finkelstein
  DaYoung Jung ^
Shauna Grant
Jason Grossman
Emily Hu Kevin Hsi
Yura Kim Bo Ae Lee

^ Mike Luckas

Nicolas Micciola
Robert Richburg
Stephanie Rodriguez
Julian Rowe >



Maggie Siegel-Berele ^
<   Steve Yurko
Allison Strejlau v

Hilary Allison
Pablo Castro
Chloe Finore
Raymund Florida
Noni Garcia Alexa James
Adrian James Carolyn Kim

< Ian Bertram
Sung-jae Kim Christina Koran Laura Knetzger
Lily MacHugh
Edwin Reyes

Erin Roseberry

Vreni Stollberger

Gus Storms

Wellington Sun

JP Kim v

Heather Nunnelly >

v Michelle Nunnelly

Eric Alexander Arroyo Kate Drwecka
Lori Esposito
John Gutierrez
Ben Mendelewicz
Chandler Moses

Kat Fajardo > William Patterson Lindsey Richter Lucretia

Gray Rostron
Mia Schwartz
Christina Sciorilli
Gobby Smith
Wyeth Yates

^ Yao Xiao
Lior Zaltzman >
Jessica Chen
Carla Asperilla
Matthew Clark

Our Presence at MoCCA

2011-04-16T00:07:00.000-04:00

Quotes:

"I saw a ton of great work over the weekend at MOCCA. One of the artists that really impressed me was Kiki Jones."

-Cubecraft [full article]

"Ian Bertram's "1001"... was the strongest 17 pages of artwork at the entire show, period."
- Tim Callahan, CBR [full article]

"Amazing SVA presence, love and talent at MOCCA 2011."
-Tom Hart [shout-outs]

"Maggie Siegel-Berele stopped by and chatted – love her comics!"
-Andrea Tsurumi of Tapir Tooth [full blog post]

Got more? Please share!

Down the Trap Door

2011-04-02T23:09:00.000-04:00

a contemplative series by Serhend Sirkecioglu

#3 Why I Avoid Joseph Campbell like the Plague... and You Should Too
My fellow contemporaries, I have an odd feeling you will strongly disagree with me on this topic, but through conflict comes the splitting of the atom. With that said, let me explain why I avoid Joseph Campbell. This one was inspired by an unrealized debate with the wise and humble Ogun Afariogun, which I feel indebted to explain my stance to him.

If you had Madden, Abel, Hart, Bertozzi, Mayerson or in fact any professor in our dept they would have most likely explained (esp. Jessica during the first semester, great class!) narrative structure. Now in that explanation of narrative you might have heard the name Joseph Campbell or The Mono-myth or The Hero’s Journey. We were taught this structure as a means of constructing our stories and for good reason. It works, very well. The structure is like the Helvetica of narrative structure, in that it is applicable to almost any genre. In fact, the structure is a gold standard for shonen manga and Hollywood films (Star Wars being the most well known example).

Now let’s take a look at the mythic cycle:

It so simple and applicable I think it would be redundant to explain it! So with that aside let me get into why I choose not to use the mono-myth

1. It’s only one type of story. The mono-myth is quite simply a “chosen one” story. It’s about a nobody who becomes a somebody. Most young writers tend to lean towards this story since it was the most frequent and relatable story in their childhood. It's natural to draw upon your past to develop a narrative style, but what fun is it if we recycle the same story structure? Sure, in our individualist society, it resonates with everyone. But I’m one for critical analysis and creative diversity, and the mono-myth offers none of that to me and you. There are plenty more narrative structures/movements to draw upon, like the 5 act play, Aarne and Thompson’s 33 types of folktales, or my personal favorites, postmodern or enlightenment lit. To simply build mono-myths is like a writer saying I’m going to write stories using only three words. Sure you could do it, but would it yield a interesting body of work?

2. You're not the only one with a copy of Hero of a Thousand Faces. The use of the mono-myth is an arms race. Many are using it. Those who are successful knock it out of the park, and often their success is always trying to be copied *cough* Star Wars*cough*Lord of the Rings*cough*Harry Potter*cough*. If you do use the mono-myth you will end up in of two camps: the imitations of successful mono-myth inspired stories (Eragon) and those cut from the same cloth as the successful ones (Legend of the Guardians). You're not the only one with a sprawling long form epic. To quote Donald Trump (sigh), “when everyone else is selling, buy." Give your self the overlooked edge, and you're more likely to float to the top than if you join the band wagon.

3. If you use this structure you're secretly a Nazi (sort of). What I mean by this is in the roots of the mono-myth. The structure is based around a chosen one and his (no her, I‘ll explain this in #4) consolidation of a birthright and/or power. It emphasizes the power of the individual and his ascension. In a way, this the core of The American Dream; where anybody can embark on their hero’s journey and become somebody. Now back to the whole Nazi accusation, the monomyth is a fascist because it consist of a good v. evil, reclamation of a birthright, justice and punishment, and ending with a golden age. Nazism consisted of the Aryan race versus the rest of the world, keeping Aryan blood pure and strong while purging the world of the impure, and end in a glorious 3000 year Reich. No, this does not make you a Nazi, but the point I wanted to get across is the tyrannical undertone of the structure and a simple-minded good bad perspective.

4.NO GIRLS ALLOWED!: The monomyth by nature is a patriarchal narrative, women in these stories are little more than set pieces and plot coupons ( The goddess, the virgin birth, and the boon at times) and simply swapping gender’s loses the full effect of the tale without some serious retooling and structuring(In fact there is a book called the Heroines Journey by which goes into that process, check it out.). This one I’ll admit is a muddy argument, but I still stand by my argument that there is a gender bias to the structure.

5.Monomyth=Money Grab: remember I mentioned Hollywood using the structure A LOT, cause everyone gets it and it screams PG-13 jackpot. Here are some recent films that used the structure

Star Wars

Lord of the Rings

Star Trek(2009)

Batman Begins

Tron: Legacy

X-Men(first film)

Eragon

Harry Potter series

Avatar

Transformers

Rocky

Now all except Eragon had great returns at the box office cause of the populist nature of the structure and simplicity to digest, in fact Eragon was criticized for being so derivative of the other films, namely LOD and SW that one critic even said you could find his ideas and writing style inside his DVD collection. It’s a highly impressionable style that most amateurs gravitate toward due to its success and mostly fill in blank structure. There’s a inherent cheapness and desperation for a quick buck to the structure which is hard to ignore.

6. Make it count for something: I’m a lover and semi-aficionado of fighting games and common sense in most games is don’t spam moves, you look like a amateur and douche at the same time. The monomyth is a good structure but a severely overused one, like a spammed Hadouken it became very predictable. The good ones are designed very conscientiously, with a incomprehensible drive and desire to make every choice count behind it. From going beyond the first layer of narrative, a unique premise, and daring visuals just to name a few, approaching the structure with great intent instead of defaulting on it is in my opinion how those stories resonate with the masses. It’s because they feel and experience the artist’s choices through their storytelling and aesthetic choices.

Now though I do not use the structure and in some cases hate it, I do none the less respect it. When I find that story I must tell through the mythic cycle I’ll make sure I approach it with care and go beyond the structure to honor it’s legacy. So are there any points you agree or disagree with? Am I too harsh on the mythic cycle?

MoCCA Fest : Sign Up Online!

2011-04-01T17:34:00.001-04:00

Sign up HERE to man the Cartoon Allies table (and get into MoCCA Fest for free)!

Coming soon: "Friends of SVA @ MoCCA" floormap.

Inkstains: The Missing Issue

2011-03-02T10:08:00.000-05:00

Introducing... the first digital edition of Inkstains.

This is the issue that almost wasn't, the elusive Fall 2010.

It will remain a web exclusive.


Click cover to open issue in new window.

Inkstains of Spring 2011 is well underway, and will be released in print at MoCCA.

4th Manga Recommendation: "Black Cat"

2011-03-02T09:47:00.000-05:00

by Matt Clark

Black Cat

by Kentaro Yabuki

2000 - 2004 in Japan.

All 20 volumes published in the USA by Viz Media.

THE STORY

Our protagonist is turning over a new leaf. Sure, his chest still bears the number XIII, and his gun still glints black and gold... But Train "the Black Cat" Heartnet has left the assassin's life, and the world organization of Chronos, far behind him. Chronos wants world peace, or so they say. Train just wants a light-hearted existence. But his new life as a bounty hunter, or "sweeper," is abruptly derailed when an old partner, Creed Diskenth, raises revolt against Chronos.

WHAT'S TO LOVE

This is typical shonen manga at its best. Creed makes an interesting villain... His hate for Train is fused with love, in the fashion of Shakespeare's Iago/Othello dynamic. Creed sees Train as his god... until his god becomes "soft." Feeling that his idol has betrayed him, Creed goes mad in an attempt to win Train back to his side. Black Cat features exhilarating fights to keep readers thrilled, as well as endearing characters to keep readers invested.

MAECA

Inkstains Deadline Looms!

2011-02-17T19:45:00.000-05:00

Over the past twelve years, Inkstains editorship has passed through the hands of Raina Telgemeier, Matt Bernier, Dash Shaw, Marguerite Dabaie, and a long succession of other cartoonists. Following President and Chief-Editor Allison Strejlau's recent resignation, the magazine has been entrusted to two new editors: Amedeo Turturro and Trent Thompson.

The submission deadline for their first issue, a preview of the reinkarnation, is February 25th. It's in color, folks.

Check out submission guidelines here.

Ready to send your files? Never used Dropbox? This video explains all:

INKMAG DEMO from INKMAG DEMO on Vimeo.

Demo Night Snapshots

2011-02-08T19:20:00.001-05:00

Thank you to all the volunteers who shared their time, tools and skills with us last Friday! We had...

Megan Brennan on basic perspective

Jean Calderone on watercolor

Laura Knetzger on brush inking

Michelle Nunnelly on micron inking

Adrian Dutton on Ames guide and nib lettering

Amedeo Turturro and Trent Thompson on Inkstains dropbox submission

Come back Friday the 18th for part two of the skillshare (digital coloring and other secondary/advanced techniques.)

And more photos.......

3rd Manga Recommendation: "O-Parts Hunter"

2011-02-06T22:20:00.001-05:00

Need some black-and-white visual stimulation? Let Matt Clark recommend...

O-Parts Hunter

known in Japan as 666 Satan
by Seishi Kishimoto

19 volumes
published in the US by Viz Media

THE STORY

The story introduces the reader to the world of "O-Parts," ancient weapons with mysterious powers. A small percentage of the population, known as "O-Part Tacticians," can use these objects. The two main characters, Ruby Crescent and Jio Freed, both have big dreams in this world. Ruby dreams of finding the legendary O-Part while Jio, a kid with half black, half white hair, dreams of world domination. Their chance meeting triggers the series of events through which they will discover what the demon inside Jio really is.

WHAT'S TO LOVE

This manga is a good choice for anyone trying to acquaint themselves with mainstream battle manga, even though it's rather dark and not too well known. The thing I personally like about Kishimoto's work is that his writing style keeps characters likable and allows you watch them grow up without any unnecessary filler. The comic gets its mythology from Judeo-Christian roots of angels and demons, even going so far as to use the actual Kabbalah in the story. This series offers an interesting story that takes its roots from myths and religion and helps the first-time manga reader get their feet wet into the ocean of the manga world.

-MAECA

Koren Shadmi's Abaddon

2011-02-04T12:37:00.001-05:00

Last Friday, we had the pleasure of hosting SVA alumnus Koren Shadmi for a talk about his experience as a professional cartoonist and illustrator.

If you liked the comics he passed around, check out his new webcomic, The Adabbon, here!

"Just a few pages so far, so now’s a good time to grab a front row seat." -Scott McCloud

Down the Trap Door

2011-02-04T08:05:00.000-05:00

a contemplative series by Serhend Sirkecioglu

#2 : The Tao of Style

This has been on my mind for a while, the meaning of the oh so abstract idea of style. Personally I would define it as more of a social idea than an aesthetic one on the count of style is ultimately determined by others according to some established canon or principles in said field, but that would be the dismissive non-rambling way of answering it and I LOVE rambling plus God has yet to cut me down so enjoy this pomegranate green tea fueled rant on my opinion on the nature of style.

Style, which is a person’s personal method of working kind of meshes with the philosophy of Yin and Yang, collectively Taiji and for good reason. Despite the arbitrary everybody wins attitude of my fellow Gen Y’s, there is a finality to the way we work where you are one of the three: Yin, Yang, or Wuji. Reading this you may also see overlap with Isaiah Berlin’s essay The Hedgehog and the Fox and McCloud’s four tribes of artists from Making Comics, both of which you should buy/read. That said I hope no one takes this seriously and remember this is less about the look of the art but more the approach of making art/solving problems.

Yin is control. Consistent, Cool, Collected, and Calculating control. A Yin artist has a style and they impose that style on the whatever they approach. Now an example of a Yin artist would be the slight majority of the art world, most of us have a way we like to work and we stick to it & for good reason whether for refining our craft, finding an endless challenge in it or quite simply it works for us and we enjoy it. Like lightning it will find the best route to imposing that style or in lightning’s case reach the ground, meaning there a “good” and “bad” to a Yin Artist when working. Like I mentioned earlier the majority of artists work this was since it’s natural for people to work in a way they like, refine it till it becomes second nature, pick and choose which techniques to benefit said style. A concrete constant.

Examples of Yin artists Ralph Baseman
John K.
Steve Ditko
Will Eisner
Walt Disney
Piet Mondrian
Osamu Tezuka

Yang is not Yin, far from it. A good analogy for Yang is fire, which burns and finds anyway possible to burn regardless of outside forces. Yang artists are flexible in their approach and daring in trying new things but there is a recurring quality that carries over every time. Fire burns in many different colors and ways but will always burn. Now with yang though there is variety in their approach there is a consistent quality stringing it all together, yang artists do get homesick from what is their default aka their preferred fuel to the fire. When it come to a good and bad yang perceives all as good until they are “extinguished” and yang will work around the “bad” instead of avoiding it . The yang artists are opposite to the yin work in this manner possibly cause of a lack of mastery in one focus and compensates by being competent in many skills, You can say Yin knows one big thing and yang knows many little things. Yang’s variance is grounded and compliment’s Yin’s grounded focus. An adjustable constant

Examples of Yang Artists Peter Kuper
Moebius
Paul Klee
Art Spiegleman

Now Wuji, which means “emptiness” is the third type of artist. For this type of artist imagine Ice, it can be solid like yin, become water and flow like yang, or evaporate into to something radically different(Remember the Porcupine and Fox? Wuji is a chimera). A Wuji artist unlike yin mixes things up but not because of a lack like yang. They are focused unlike yang but not doesn’t stick with anything like yin. Simply Wuji has no style, instead has multiple styles that can be called upon. This does not mean working in many different medium or genre but more like artists DID (multiple personalities). While a Yin artist refines their style and a Yang artist looks for a new approach/spin on their style, Wuji artists invent a new style, sticks with for a while before making another style based on a quality from the prior style then finds a new quality in that style to make another style and so on. Now Wuji artists are very uncommon and like ice we never see it phase change(unless were lucky/patient), we see it in it’s many forms more often which can act like Yin or Yang artists. A viral constant

Examples of Wuji Artists Picasso
Marcel Duchamp

Max Ernst

So to summarize this analysis I’ll breakdown the three types again

Yin Artist A Concrete Constant
Goal: To refine/master
Focuses on a particular way of working
Has a personal canon( a good and bad)
Good is used to reinforce their way of working
Bad is avoided
Technician

Transparent(sees what they did before as “the way“)

Yang Artist An Adjustable Constant
Goal: to explore/mix things up
To find variations to a way of working
Has a loose canon, willing to experiment
Has a default style as a jump off point/aesthetic HQ
Curious

Translucent(see what they did before as a launch pad)

Wuji Artist A Viral constant
Goal: to invent and reinvent

Multiple distinct ways of working
Can be Yin or Yang but not married to either approach
No canon
Erratic
Opaque(always starting from square one)

You may be saying that we also as artists experiment regularly to get better and find new ways of working, but people do experiment but even in a deliberate fashion. Do we find things to reinforce the way we work? Do we experiment generously with a way of working, or do we start from square one altogether? With all that said and done where do you think you fit? Personally I see myself as Wuji or Yang, what do you think about that observation and where you see yourself?

In Memory of James Corry

2011-02-03T00:28:00.000-05:00

James Corry, the director of the School of Visual Arts' Digital Imaging Center, recently passed away. James was a friend to everyone who used that facility to bring art into this world. He will be dearly missed. His funeral will be held this Friday; further information is available below.

McCalls Funeral Home
4035 Bronxwood Ave.
Bronx, N. Y.

Friday February 4th 2011
4pm - 7pm
7pm - 8:30pm

Inkstains 2.0

2011-02-01T22:11:00.000-05:00

Over the past twelve years, Inkstains editorship has passed through the hands of Raina Telgemeier, Matt Bernier, Dash Shaw, Marguerite Dabaie, and a long succession of other cartoonists.

Following President and Chief-Editor Allison Strejlau's recent resignation, Inkstains has been entrusted to two new editors: Amedeo Turturro and Trent Thompson. The submission deadline for their first issue, a preview of the reinkarnation, is February 25th. It's in color, folks. Check out submission guidelines here.

Down the Trap Door

2011-01-27T06:00:00.001-05:00

a contemplative series by Serhend Sirkecioglu

#1 : Form, Layout, Grids and 3D Comics

For those who don't know me, I'm one to travel the more unconventional roads in comics and play with narrative and form along the way. A Formalist/Iconoclast if you must. For my thesis I've been working on a bit of an experiment...
... a sculpture comic, which, for the sake of getting to the point, I'll leave at that.

Prior to working on my thesis (one year ago), I was tinkering with the conversion of the 2D space we are familiar with in comics to a 3D one. In this process i realized an error on my part. My conversion was too literal, and i paid the price with countless redesigns and artist's blocks during this semester. Looking to one of my muses, documentary film, I re-watched Objectified (a documentary film about industrial design, which I highly recommend, along with Helvetica). One of the interviewees briefly chronicled the design of the camera.

Since its invention, the camera has been designed designed around holding film. Why is it that even today, digital cameras still retain the same shape? "Familiarity," one would say, but I'll go out on a limb and say "conditioning." We are so tuned to the shape and function of the camera, from where the flash button is to where to put the film, that even today we are slaves to an old design

Human nature is learning, which leads to tradition and inevitably to "the norm." That said, why is it that we cartoonists acknowledge only two forms of layout: 1) the grid and 2) free-form (everything else)? The grid has a consistent rhythm, consistent passing of time, and a natural design. We can see examples of this in the work of Chris Ware and Dash Shaw. On the other hand, manga makes a a fine example of the ebb and flow of time and space that is the free-form layout.

The question I pose: Why 2 forms?

In graphic design, the grid is more than a series of identical boxes (I cite Making and Breaking the Grid by Timothy Samara and Basics Design: Grids by Ambrose and Harris, also highly recommended). It has variants worthy of distinction. "Free form, in my opinion, is a cop out term, one that amounts to gambling. Free-form by nature is hit or miss, which next to the Grid, is the more amateurish approach. I recently have been using the graphic design grid as a means of building free-form layouts on my side projects... Please forgive me, I'm a VERY secretive artist.

By no means am I saying we need to sit down and figure out and define every possible layout (exactly) but I am saying we need to be more observant about the design of the page and make note of recurring designs. What makes them work? We can solve problems for future cartoonists - and ourselves - by defining an expanded set of layouts.

2nd Manga Recommendation: "SWOT"

2011-01-24T06:00:00.006-05:00

For manga aficionados and beginners alike...

allow Matt Clark to suggest.....

SWOT

a japanese comic

written and illustrated by Sugita Naoya

This hilarious fighting manga is a cult classic. Cancelled after only twenty chapters, SWOT is a prime example of stories that were never given the chance to show their true potential, a common tragedy in the manga industry (see Double Arts, Silvery Crow, and Busou Renkin).

THE STORY

Manabizaki Kyou is a swot (swot: n. a student who studies assiduously, esp. to the exclusion ofother activities or interests; grind.). His dream of going into space keeps his nose glued to his books. In the hope of eventual acceptance to Tokyo University, Kyou transfers to a supposedly prestigious academy... only to find this new school overrun with battle-crazy delinquents and gangs. Much to the delinquents' surprise, Kyou is actually very strong. He'll beat out anyone who interferes in his studies, drawing more attention than he expected.

WHAT'S TO LOVE

SWOT's twenty chapters are full of gags, perverse humor, action, and a cast of memorable characters. Despite the short life of the series, a lot happens between beginning and end - and the end is quite satisfying. It's a light-hearted series.. and a nice change of pace from the darker stories that I have and will present.

-MAECA

1st Manga Recommendation: "Alive: the Final Evolution"

2011-01-13T06:00:00.005-05:00

Looking for an engaging new read?

Let Matt Clark talk you into some psychological superhero manga.

(Alive: the Final Evolution)
review by Matt Clark

a japanese comic
21 volumes long (not all in the USA yet)
written by the late Tadashi Kawashima and illustrated by Adachitoka.

THE STORY

The story starts off with the spread of a mysterious virus, appearing from space, that causes masses of people around the world to commit suicide... a sweeping pandemic that ends within a week. Those who were tempted by the thoughts of suicide but still held onto life developed super powers. A group of three childhood friends are swept up in the subsequent events. Taisuke Kanou and his best friend Yuichi Hirose are given powers, but their friendship is shattered over the love of a third friend, Megumi Ochai.

Hirose, a lifelong victim of bullying, has always hated the feeling of being needed to be rescued. He become mad with the power to kill and kidnaps Megumi to make her love him. Taisuke goes after them and is forced to fight with other "Comrades," discovering his powers as he tries to save Megumi.

WHAT'S TO LOVE

What I found interesting about the series was, not only the beautiful illustrations and panelling, but the uniqueness of how each character was written. Each of the power users has a "hole" inside them that makes them want to live... The reader is able to sympathize with each, regardless of the terrible acts they commit. EXAMPLE: My favorite character is an artist by the name of Takumi Yura. He uses his talent to understand the thought-process of the people he draws. His fatal flaw? He was so afraid that people would judge his work that he would destroy each piece before anyone had a chance to see it. You may not relate as well to this character, but each comes off as a real person. There is no definite totally bad guy, like in those cheesy superhero stories we're all accustomed to. If you're looking for a series that can offer well rounded character development, this is a manga worth looking into.

-MAECA

This Friday: King Con Party

2010-11-01T17:12:00.002-04:00

Halloween weekend has come and gone.

But the parties keep coming.

This Friday, 11/5, Cartoon Allies will be field-tripping it out to the Brooklyn Lyceum for this knock-your-socks-off event:

Wake up the next afternoon and GO BACK to catch the rest of the King Con, a super-homegrown comics convention that, for $7/day or $10/weekend, will make true the words "So... last weekend... me an' Paul Pope an' some other people... were chillin' in the basement of this old public bathhouse..."

UPDATE 11/2: A text snippet from the organizers provides more info:

"8pm to Midnite = KING CON KICKOFF PARTY / Live Comix Reading with Dean Haspiel, Paul Pope, Jeff Newelt aka JahFurry, Jen Ferguson, Seth Kushner, Joan Hilty & Joe Infurnari. DJ Pulphope (Paul Pope), DJ CrossHatch (Brian Heater) + live performances by Americans UK (www.americans-uk.com) & Charles Soules Band. INVITE: http://on.fb.me/KingConParty $3 at the door."

Student Salute: Ogun Afariogun

2010-10-30T01:02:00.002-04:00

“My name is Ogun Afariogun. I’m a sophomore fine arts/cartooning major.” The music of Georgia Anne Muldrow bounced off the walls of Ogun’s small single. I took a seat on an ottoman, still warm from the heat of Ogun’s laptop, and started an interview with one of my most inspiring and enlightening peers.
[Read on to take a journey with one of our young out-of-major cartoonists.]

Ogun continued by explaining his strange title. Although he was now officially enrolled as a fine arts major, transferring near the end of his freshman year, his passion engulfs both fields. “I’ve always loved art,” he calmly reflected with a large grin, looking up for a brief instant as though he was peeking into his own head. He thought back on his initial influences, the romance with Japanese art, animation, and comics that still enthralls him. It was later in life when he was introduced to American comics through Hellboy and Spawn, the latter of which he didn’t get into, but found his perspective opened by. He dug to find gems in American comics until experiencing a life-changing event over a year ago.
“Kabuki changed my life.”

I recalled a moment from orientation week. While perusing a comic shop, Ogun excitedly showed me pages from David Mack’s comics. His excitement then was no different.
“The story is personal and magical.” Ogun explained how Mack presented his own story in a metaphorical way through the pages of Kabuki. The work was Ogun’s definitive reason to come to SVA as a cartoonist.

So why did he make the transition to fine arts?

Ogun changed his major because he wanted a full education as an artist, to be able to express himself and learn more instead of just focusing on comics. Although his enrollment status no longer reflects his love for the medium, he was supremely grateful for the “dream schedule” he has this semester. He took a moment to reflect on the inspiration he’s been finding in his Art and Shamanism course before returning to a model sheet he consistently worked on over the course of the interview; it was an assignment for Gary Panter’s Storytelling class, another favorite.

When inquired about how comics affect his other art, Ogun responded that they were a total influence. “My whole mentality is so narrative.” His brain and heart have a place in comics, a fine artist on the outside with a warm cartoonist center. He motioned back to his work for Panter, based on ideas he has developed since he was fourteen. Back then his primary influences were manga, Kill Bill, and Buddhism. While the ideas have been with him since adolescence, they were now being expressed through his elegant rendering.
Familiar with David Mack’s work, the influence of fine art on Ogun’s comics are fairly obvious. He feels with fine art there is more room for interpretation. He views his narrative style as having “less of a character-driven approach, more interpretive approach”. In many ways, his comics are poetic, uniting symbols with elegant verse which require some extra work on the reader’s part to decipher the message. He remembered a quote regarding David Mack’s work as “the quintessential example of fine arts as comics.” Ogun went on to discuss the installation paintings by Inoue Takehiko, the artist behind Vagabond, and James Jean, who influenced Ogun more last year than he does now, but was the original example of the transition from comics to fine arts. He also brought up the works of Dennis Brown, including Superhero Bobby, Brown’s homage to Astro Boy.

When asked about how he ended up in Gary Panter’s Storytelling class, Ogun recounted the serendipity that helped him stumble into his favorite courses. Over the summer, one of his registered courses was canceled, forcing him to search out more credits. This is how he found his seat in an enlightening course on shamanism. Later, a spur-of-the-moment decision on Ogun’s first day of class led him away from his printmaking class to sit in on Panter’s course, easily sold and eager to make a bridge back to comics. He was quick to thank Fine Arts Chair Suzanne Anker, who was very helpful through the process of switching classes.

With my notes becoming barren of additional topics for conversation, I couldn’t help but ask Ogun about the music that seemed to form the soundtrack to his life, constantly playing throughout the course of his work and the interview. Georgia Anne Muldrow, Saul Williams, and Janelle Monae had been getting lots of attention from his ears as of late. “I listen to these artists lately, but it’s hard to talk about,” he reflected. “These artists are doing what they’re supposed to do, as artists and for me,” leaving him with clarity and nothing left to say. He compared theirs work to the Void in Taoism, his Void.
As a final note, Ogun urged for majors at SVA to be more open. Right now he can find a balance to enrich himself in all his pursuits, but he feels he received a lot of help on both a practical and fate level. Everyone should have the privilege of manipulating their own boundaries and getting the education they desire.

Also, he just bought three issues of DEMO and loves Becky Cloonan’s work.

Check out more of Ogun's work on his deviantART page!

Famous Peoples Converge

2010-10-04T23:46:00.004-04:00

Neil Gaiman the author of Coraline.
Neil Gaiman the author of Sandman.

Bryan Lee O'Malley the author of Scott Pilgrim.
Bryan Lee O'Malley the musician known as Kupek. (did not know)

Matt Madden the author of 99 Ways to Tell a Story.
Jessica Abel the author of La Perdida.
Jessica Abel and Matt Madden the authors of DWWP.
Jessica Abel and Matt Madden, the SVA teachers.
Jessica Abel and Matt Madden, the series editors of Best American Comics anthology.

Matt Madden, Jessica Abel, Bryan Lee O'Malley and Neil Gaiman appearing TOGETHER in

Union Square, at Barnes and Noble,

this Thursday at
7 PM.

For real.

P.S. Neil Gaiman the guest character on Arthur.

Tonight's Route

2010-09-24T12:35:00.000-04:00

View Comics Crawl in a larger map

This Friday.... The Comics Crawl

2010-09-21T09:27:00.002-04:00

Poster by Megan Brennan

Edwin Huang

2010-09-20T05:00:00.356-04:00

Graduated: 2010 

 Major: Cartooning 

 Recent Sightings: 

7th floor hallway (that "Monkey King" comic that probably caused you to stop in your tracks at least once between last September and May, right)
Inkstains (below)
The Village Voice (down and right)


Boxing Flapper - Inkstains cover

This time last year, Edwin Huang was just settling into his senior studio space... By this Wednesday, his work will be on comic racks nationwide.

(Read on to catch the title of the new series, as we catch up with Edwin in an email interview...)

An Interview with Edwin Huang by Hilary Allison... 8/30/10

"Straight Bears"- The Village Voice 6/10

HA: Who are your current/recent clients? Are you under contract?

EH: I'm currently working on a comic called SkullKickers for Image comics. SkullKickers is written and created by Jim Zubkavich. I'm currently on pencils and inks with Misty Coats on colors and Chris Stevens doing covers. I'm also currently freelancing on the side at Spek Studios doing storyboards and illustrations for a documentary film.

from Taking Whole

HA: How did you find those jobs, or how did they find you?

EH: I met Jim two years ago at the San Diego Comic-Con and got his business card. I shot him a blind email about a year later after I built a portfolio that I was decently confident with. Jim was kind enough to email me back. We exchanged emails for a bit until we got serious about reviving his SkullKickers idea. The title took off from there.

HA: Is cartooning/illustration your only stint?

EH: Cartooning and illustrating is definitely my passion, but I am also a Street Fighter nut. Challenge me, I dare ya =]

HA: Can you show us the illustration/comic that you're currently proudest of?

EH: I'm proud and honored to be working with Jim on SkullKickers. Here's a preview of the first issue @ Newsarama. Comes out Sept. 22!

from Skullkickers

HA: How much experience did you have, prior to SVA?

EH: Zero. I started reading comics during high school and drew pin-ups here and there. I drew my very first comic in sophomore year of College.

HA: Did you do anything with Cartoon Allies?

EH: Plenty! I went to Small Press Expo for the first time through Cartoon Allies. I road tripped there with Nina Kester, Pat Woodruf and Katie Leon. It was a wonderful experience. I also set up shop at every Fresh Meat event while I was in school. I met Scott McCloud there!

from Skullkickers

HA: What was the best class you ever took here?

EH: It's a toss up between Klaus Janson's Principles of Cartooning and Phil Jimenez's Drawing class. Both are amazing teachers and artists with invaluable lessons and tips.

HA: What do you know now that you wish you knew as a student?

EH: How to do comics! I thought it was going to be real easy, but it's not. The language of comics is truly unique and coming to SVA really helped me understand my medium.
Also, thank you Cartoon Allies for an amazing college experience!

HA: Thank you, Edwin. You make us proud!

SKULLKICKERS HITS STANDS THIS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22nd.

Support a comrade and treat yourself to a copy.

(Sure to be popular topic for discussion this Friday)

Edwin's website Skullkickers official website

SPX 2010: The Year We Made Contact

2010-09-16T19:50:00.000-04:00

"My God, it's full of comics!"

Hilary Allison, Adrian James, and Hanh Nguyen man the SVA Booth

The Small Press Expo, an annual small press comics convention held in Bethesda, Maryland, is a magical land of wonder. The aisles are congested, all concept of personal space is abandoned as soon as you wander into the hall, and the convention seems to have an ongoing Charisma debuff, but it’s filled to the brim with comics. Comics and the people who love them.

(Read on to witness the awesome that was CA's trip to SPX 2010!)

At 5:45 AM on Saturday morning, the ever-classy Adrian James and I stumbled out of the G-Dubs to meet up with the Chinatown-bound CA Special Forces group. Boxes stacked on our frail arms, we marched on to catch a bus we thought might never come. It would have been wiser of me to use that time to visit a bank and get some cash in my wallet, but I wasn’t having any of that logic crap.

We arrived at the marvelously creepy office of the Chinatown bus with more than enough time to gather, put our excessive load of minicomics and copies of Inkstains onto the bus, take them out of the first bus and dump them into the right bus, and take seats up in the front of the vehicle. The ugly pattern of the chairs momentarily filled me with strange nostalgia; I guess we were about to embark on a kind of field trip. An awesome, expensive, and frantic one.

A few states (and a rest stop where me and Adrian were amazed by the fry holsters at Roy Rogers) later, we arrived in our nation’s capital and acquired metro passes with cute pandas printed on them. We moseyed through a train station with architecture reminiscent of the Galactic Empire and took up more than enough space in DC’s well-furnished and surprisingly cozy train cars to introduce a small level of discomfort to those around us.

We arrived at the Marriott an hour after the convention doors opened and scrambled to acquire our passes and set up our table (as well as shoo a mass of MICA kids offa it). When I entered the hall, I was a little overwhelmed; if the people populating the aisles had been asteroids, my poor X-Wing wouldn’t have had the shield integrity to make it to the back corner where our booth was. Everywhere I looked I saw a person I at least partially recognized, setting off a kind of Geiger counter in my head of panic. I knew from the get-go that this was going to be crazy, but the field is nothing like boot camp.

Taking a breather from our manic trains-and-automobiles journey, Adrian and I took over the booth and commanded all our visitors to purchase lovely student-made comics and receive free issues of Inkstains. I was… well, a tad too enthusiastic at first and narrowly avoided an existential crisis when I became aware of this. I wouldn’t be so lucky with the following crises I would experience over the course of the con. While behind the table, we chatted it up with a good variety of folks, spread word of our school’s programs, and sold a good number of minis! Y’know, between periods of doodling and twiddling our thumbs.

Visitors seemed especially impressed by our most recent issues of Inkstains, the works of President Strejlau and Hanh Nguyen, and the massive amount of free stuff we were just giving away at our booth. While being able to pay for lunch is pretty dandy, our real focus was making people aware that we exist and how we’re totally awesome at existing (and making comics, o’course). When not initiating small-talk with passer-bys or emptying our wallets, Vice President Allison and I toured the convention’s many tables to boost our PR campaign; that is, we sweet-talked the coolest of the cool kids with our adorable innocence. If the cartoonists we spoke to weren’t in as much of a daze as we were (or chugged too much chocolate at the Ignatz Awards), the Allies have a long lineup of inspiring professionals to speak to us shiny-eyed youths. Hilary deserves most of the credit for our networking success; I was little more than a fearfully awkward wingman.

After the first day, we all strutted outside to find a banquet of delicious foods waiting for us. The wonderful parents of spectacular freshman Skippy Kay Jay prepared an amazing dinner for us hungry hungry Allies. I’m still nibbling on some of the cookies I stole. Skippy established her place in the Cartoon Allies pantheon that night. May we always shower her in affection and drawings of sharks.

Sketch of the Ignatz Awards by SVA senior Maggie Sigel-Berele

After filling our stomachs, we all returned to our hotel rooms to tidy up and get fancy for the Ignatz Awards! Or, we would’ve if we didn’t have homework and sleep to take care of. Waking up at 4:30 in the morning does that to already sleep-deprived college students.

Day Two was off to a much better start: we were well-rested, we had plenty of time to tidy up our table and make it spectacularly pretty, and a few of us even had breakfast! Business cards were flying everywhere, some money was exchanged, and Hanh got us donuts! It was pretty splendid.

Hilary and I went on a journey of discovery to unlock the history of the Cartoon Allies and Inkstains, conducting some awesome interviews with sweet people. (Keep your eyes on the CA Blog for Hilary’s grand exposé.) A few of us also hit up some enlightening panels, like Telling Stories, featuring the ever-awesome SVA alumna Meredith Gran, the Dustin Harbin-moderated Kate Beaton and Julia Wertz in Conversation, which emphasized the importance of making comics for yourself, and Brave New Comic Strips.

I participated in my first (and terribly embarrassing) mini-comics trade with a swell cartoonist by the name of Flynn Nicholls (who unfortunately didn’t leave any contact info in his crazy awesome scifi/fantasy comic Machine Knight). He drew this t-rex with robot arms for me. It’s pretty friggin’ rad.

Like all good things, the convention had to come to a close. Adrian and I spent the con’s final hour in a local diner, worrying our fellow Allies when Hanh decided to call Adrian as opposed to the reliable member of the duo. We gathered a lot fewer boxes than we brought, content with the number of Inkstains we got rid of, and boarded the train back to Washington, DC. The trip back was a lot more relaxing as we collectively reflected on the awesome weekend we all had just shared. We all managed to get off at the right stop (although Pat accidentally left his flaming parakeet on the train) and moseyed out of the concrete Death Star triumphantly.

Well, all except for me. My fare ticket got rejected on our way out, so I’ve been living in the DC Metro’s Chinatown station for the past week. The internet’s decent and occasionally some tourists feed me. It’s a hard life, but there are few deadlines.

I heard that the rest of the group had some bus ticket issues (they were expected to catch the bus in Baltimore), but they were able to clear that all up at the bus company and have a chill ride back to NYC.

And we all bought…

…so…

…many…

…comics!

For the most part, SPX was a splendid success!

Except for me, of course. At least I sold some copies of Nuclear Fiction v1.0. If you’re ever in the DC Chinatown area, please visit me.

This is Major Eric Alexander Arroyo, signing off.

Welcome Back, Allies!

2010-09-06T05:00:00.145-04:00

The Alliance reunites this Friday at 6:30 PM......

.... for the long-awaited RETURN TO THE LOUNGE.

We are pleased as punch to announce that starting this Friday, Cartoon Allies meetings will once again be held in the room of round tables and comfy couches, on the 7th floor of the E 21st St Building (214 E 21st St, between 3rd and 2nd Ave).

Come out to catch up with the old comrades and meet the new recruits. We'll be dishing out the details of this Fall's big events. (Teaser: three weekends of convention tabling, an adventure in the streets, and a new format for Inkstains.) Be there and/or be square!

-HA, V.P., C.A. Illustration by Hanh Nguyen

Fresh Meat 2010

2010-04-19T17:01:00.003-04:00

24-Hour Comic Day and MoCCA!

2010-04-02T15:17:00.002-04:00

It's been a while, Allies...

...And we're sorry for not updating as often as we should. We've just been crazy busy. If you've been coming frequently, you'd know that, and we hopwe you've been having fun, too!

So, two awesome things are coming up, the first of which is tonight!

It's 24-HOUR COMIC DAY!
The event will be in the East 21st street Student Lounge (on the 7th floor) and will go from 6:30 tonight (4-2-10) to 6:30 tomorrow night (4-3-10). Security made us give in a list of people who would be staying for the full 24 hours, so unfortunately, if you didn't sign up last week, you're out of luck. You snooze, you lose. However, we'd love for you to come and watch the beginnings of what could be the most hectic and productive 24 hours of several lives. People not signed in for an overnight will have to leave at 11pm, and can come back beginning at 9am, which might be a blessing in disguise (so you can get some sleep!).

Also important is the MoCCA festival! The festival is April 10th and 11th, and you're welcome to join us at our table there! In fact, if you sign up for a mere hour working at the booth and selling mini-comics, we let you run around the convention the rest of the day FOR FREE! How cool is that?!

As such, next week's meeting will be a time for anyone who can't make it to MoCCA (or will be arriving at the festival later) to drop off their mini-comics so we can put them at the table during set-up. It will also be a mini-comics tutorial night, for those of you unfamiliar with the process. It's guaranteed to be helpful! Finally, we will talk about how to work at the table, yet again for the uninitiated. By the end of that night, you should know everything you'll need to for the big event!

*****If you haven't signed up for a timeslot working at our booth yet, there's still time! Please e-mail cartoonallies@gmail.com and give us your name, e-mail, phone number, and a day(s) and time(s) you would be available to work.*****

The year is winding down, so let's keep the momentum high and blow the lid off of MoCCA!

Stay strong, Allies,

- CA

CARTOONIVAL is Just Around the Corner!

2009-11-15T16:06:00.006-05:00

Heya Allies!

Guess what's happening on

Friday, December 4th,

from 6 to 10 PM in the Monkey Bar Lounge?

It's the CARTOONIVAL, Cartoon Allies' carnival fundraiser! Get excited for....

RAFFLES! Rumored prizes include action figures, iDocks, and of course, COMICS! More details upon confirmation. If you have an item that you'd like to donate, please let us know and bring it to next Friday's meeting (the LAST MEETING before the Cartoonival). Cartoon memorabilia and other objects of geekery are sure to be hit. Ask your celebrity teachers to donate an autographed piece of their work!

GAMING! There will be competitive Rock Band. There will be a real old fashioned ball-toss. Additional games are a vivid possibility. We're looking into multiple TVs. If you have controllers or other equipment that you're willing to lend, please do let us know!

BAKE SALE! Expect a delicious array of home-baked goodies.... Red velvet cupcakes, vegan cookies, blondies, and more. Are you a baker too? Got some cupcake toppings hanging around your pantry? We'd love any contribution. (And we can hook you up with an oven.) Oh hey, does anyone have a cotton candy machine?

COMMISSIONS! Twelve of your peers have pledged their time and skill! Spend a few bucks and get an on-the-spot sketch, or commission a more time-intensive art piece to benefit Cartoon Allies.

COMICS! Bring your minis to next Friday's meeting in order to have them sold or distributed at the Cartoonival! (You can choose to keep or donate the proceeds.) We would appreciate your donation of old, worn-out comics for a "50-cents-a-pop" box.

APPEARANCES BY ESPECIALLY AWESOME PEOPLE! To be announced. Any jugglers out there? Magicians? Please talk to any big-name comic artists you may know.

FACE PAINTING? Who would like to volunteer their paint and/or talent?

Posters can be in color (but should work in black & white too).

8.5 X 11 (standard printing paper size) OR 11'' X 17''

Here is a gallery of old carnival posters, for inspiration: http://www.strates.com/carnival_posters.htm

Please email your creations to this address (cartoonallies@gmail.com) or hand them off to a point person by next Friday at the latest.

At next Friday's meeting we will be ironing details, handing out stacks of posters for distribution, and making decorations. Hope to see you there, and thanks for all your hard work!!

-CA

Indy Comic Book Week!

2009-10-13T18:05:00.002-04:00

Jambo, Allies,

Pat here. Hope everyone is doing well, and enjoyed Pictionary last week. The winning team (D Dimension, I believe) will receive their movie tickets at the next meeting.

Surely many of you have heard about Indy Comic Book Week already. Diamond Comic Distributors, one of the biggest comic distributors in the country, has announced that they won't be shipping any books during the last week of December. That means plenty of shelf space in your local comic shop for YOUR WORK! It's called the Indy Comic Book Week for a reason!

Here's the official website: http://indycomicbookweek.com/

Talk to your favorite comic shop and ask if they'll carry your mini-comic, especially for that week! You'd be nuts to let this opportunity slip by, so sharpen up those pencils and START MAKING COMICS!!! :D

Stay Strong, Allies,

- Patrick Woodruff, President of Cartoon Allies

SUCCESS!!!

2009-09-29T10:59:00.003-04:00

Way to go, Allies!

Both SPX and Anime Fest were a big success! A lot of you turned out, worked the booth, and sold those comics! A lot of people did VERY well, and you should all be really proud of yourselves, especially those of you who were new to the convention scene! Seriously, thanks so much, guys! Without you, none of this would be possible.

With these two conventions out of the way, we're pretty free in our schedule for a while. Keith Mayerson is trying to get us into King Con, a new convention in Brooklyn taking place on November 7th and 8th, but if that falls through, our next convention is MoCCA, which takes place this April.

We're trying to think of cool stuff to do in the meantime. We've got Pictionary and Jeopardy on reserve, but we wanna know what YOU wanna do! E-mail us at cartoonallies@gmail.com and let us know what you'd like to do in some of the upcoming meetings!

That's pretty much it for now! Pictures of the conventions will be posted soon! Come to the next meeting to pick up your extra mini-comics and any money you made! :D

Stay strong, Allies,

- Pat Woodruff, President of Cartoon Allies

Convention Season is Upon Us!!!

2009-09-19T22:47:00.002-04:00

Hello, Allies,

Pat here. As you all know, convention season is starting up this weekend! I hope you're all excited! I know I am!

By now, you've all made a decision as to which convention (between SPX and Anime Fest) you're going to (if you're attending a convention at all). It's REALLY important that you know what your shift will be and that everything is in order. Anime Fest has an extensive list of shifts, which will be e-mailed out to those who it applies to. Make sure you show up on time (if not early) to your shift, so as not to piss off everyone else. :)

***NOTE: This portion applies ONLY to the attendees of SPX: IF WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED YOUR $20 DEPOSIT, YOU NEED TO TURN IT IN IMMEDIATELY! Call or text me (Pat Woodruff) at 732-770-0560 as soon as you read this message! If we don't receive your deposit soon, we will not be buying bus tickets for you. You can still come with us, but you'll need to buy your own tickets. Either way, MAKE SURE TO KEEP US POSTED! PLEASE don't make your fellow Allies have to pay more for this trip than they were expecting to!***

Basic operation at the convention: when you get there, you call the point person on duty. For SPX, Allison and I will be your point people for both days; Anime Fest will receive notification of who to call in the e-mail including the shifts. You will meet a point person somewhere outside the convention area where they will give you badge to get in. You will walk by security and to the Cartoon Allies booth, where you will return your badge. Remember, after your shift, you're free to walk around the convention floor for the rest of the day! :D

If anyone has any other questions about either convention, write us an e-mail at .

The point of these conventions is to have fun, so let's go out there and have a blast!

- Pat Woodruff, President of Cartoon Allies

Mini Comics Part 1: Tips & Tricks

2009-09-19T22:02:00.002-04:00

First off, those who are going to SPX need to get their deposit to me or Pat so that we can buy the bus tickets. It's not cool for me to be charging all this money to my credit card through my own expenses if I'm not gonna get reimbursed. At least call Pat at 732-770-0560. Please? I don't want to have to be a meanie and say that people can't go. :(

Anyway, on to other stuff...I thought I would do a bit about Mini-Comics in celebration of the upcoming cons. Now you probably won't have time to get to actually use any of these techniques/gimmicks before the cons, but I thought I'd share some interesting things I've found over the years for ideas to do in the future. ^__^

This will be in two parts...this part is for people who know the basics, and the next part I'll make a walkthrough of steps to making a Mini in the Digital Imaging Center (DIC) located on the 6th floor of the main building. (I want to take pictures for that, which is why I'm doing it all opposite..lol sorry, I commute and can't get there right now!) ^_^;;; Mainly for people who missed my tutorial, and for a reference place. :)

SO Part 1: Techniques and Gimmicks!

Mainly this is going to be links to site's I've come across that are useful. :)

How to Make a Mini Comic: Basically a review of the technique of actually making one, kinda technical jargon but a good reference. I will go through this in detail next post on how to do it at our school, and how to make the most of your tuition money! :D

How to Embellish a Mini Comic: While not the most innovative, these are the basic techniques used to make a mini comic stand out a bit more. Covers things like ribbon binding, cutouts, different sizes, and utilizing color.

How to do Japanese Stab Binding: This lady is a bore to listen to, but she lays out and illustrates a pretty interesting way to bind books and does so very clearly. You can create some beautiful books with this technique if you are willing to put in the time. Certainly looks better than staples! :)

An Innovative Binding Technique: When I found this, I was just giddy with excitement. This guy figured out a poor man's way to do a perfect bound look to a mini-comic! I imagine it would be better to use with a longer comic, but how he used a sleeve, and the 3-books-in-one ploy is just genius here. Couple it with the beautiful silkscreening, and you're golden.

Silkscreening is a wonderful technique to know, and if I knew how to do it I'd be sure to tell you all about it. Luckily, we have a wonderful silkscreen class here at SVA, but you probably won't be able to take it until Senior year, maybe Junior if you want to invest the time for the 5-hr class. (I think they started having one Freshman year too?) Regardless, in order to do it you need the tools, but our silkscreen lab is open to students if you pay the lab fee I believe. It's not hard to do, but you just have to have the means to do it. It is widely popular in mini comics though, and eventually you should learn how to do it or find a printer who will let you use their lab. :)

Other sites of note for ideas:

A Mini Comic blog: If you want some more ideas on what you can do with them, this site often has some interesting comic ideas and you can see what others do to make their comics stand out.

APE: The Comics Reporter: Kind of technical jargon on how to make a mini-comic, but it lists some good sites that you can look into if you want to professionally sell and/or publish your mini comic. APE is like SPX, but it's too far away for our school to go to. :(

I'll be sure to take pictures of innovative comics or buy them and interesting new techniques artists come up with at SPX. It's the epicenter of innovative comic making, and new methods pop up every year. It's very exciting, and I'm looking forward to sharing the loot! ^__^

Okay, I guess that's it for now...I'm pretty sure I could go on and on, but I'll leave that for later. Hope you found this interesting at least!

- Allison Strejlau, V.P, CA.

ASW Watercolor Brush Sale!

2009-09-15T17:34:00.004-04:00

Hello, how did you enjoy Guy Deliesle's speech? thanks to those who came, look forward to seeing you friday!

Down to business...Now, I must inform all you lovely people about a wonderful place I discovered this summer. It is my shangri-la, if you will, a place which is called...the Art Supply Warehouse. It is the perfect haven for art material geeks to gaze upon the joys of owning import art supplies like Lukas Acrylics, and finding great deals popping up every week on supplies that you actually need...like this one.

ASW is having up to %90 off all Watercolor Brushes!

Yes...this means the much coveted W&N Series 7 and Raphäel brushes that cartoonists around the world drool over, but can never afford. Well now you can!

SALE ENDS THIS FRIDAY, but they still have normally awesome deals on these brushes.

Now being the supreme art supply geek that I am, I just had to inform you all of this deal, because I guarantee you won't find a better time to buy these beauties ever again.

If you've never inked with a brush, these are the general suggested cartoonist inking sizes:

FIRST OFF, REMEMBER: KOLINSKY SABLE! Any brush made with genuine Kolinsky hair is bound to be good, but these are what many highly suggest getting:

W&N Series 7 #2 and #4 is loved by many and is the basic awesome brush. Normally they cost upwards of 30/60 bucks a pop for these sizes respectively, and now they are down to around 10/20 with this sale! Before I got a Series 7 I couldn't ink with a brush if my life depended on it...now, I can't imagine going back to a nib! They're just amazing. Period. Everyone should know the joys of owning one.

Raphäel Series 840 of the same numbers, are alternatives of the standard awesome cartoonist brushes. A while back I got Pat some for his birthday, and they've just made his inking more awesome-er, if possible. lol They cost about the same-ish as W&N, but it depends on the size you get.

So in conclusion, if you don't have one of these brushes and are planning on doing serious Cartooning work, now's the time to get them before this sale ends!! I can almost guarantee your teachers will make you get them Sophmore year if they haven't already. Might as well get it done now and start practicing! :D

And just so you know, this seller is very good and trustworthy. I have purchased many things from this site within these past months, and they have never let me down. (unfortunately that includes a backup W&N before I knew about this sale! lol) They have great deals all the time, and I highly recommend them for buying any art supplies you may need. Their deals are so good, a starving artist can finally afford the best stuff to work with! I mean...damn, I love this site so much. <3

umm...okay I'm gonna stop rambling now. Just go already! lol

Happy Shopping!
- Allison Strejlau, Notorious ASW Lover, CA.

Con Rules

2009-09-14T16:20:00.002-04:00

Copypasta, because there's no way I'm re-typing all this. :D

As you know, Fusami Ogi will be coming in to speak with us this Friday (Sept. 18) starting at 7. Before she starts, we're gonna try to go over some of the rules and regulations we keep at the table. It's a lot to cover in a half hour, so we wanted to give you a list of stuff to keep in mind, just in case we don't get to everything.

RULE #1: NO FAN-ART OR COSPLAYING!

While fan-art can be really cool, we want to represent SVA as a breeding ground for new, fresh ideas. Allowing fan-art at our table is counterproductive to that aim. Featuring an existing character that isn't yours will disqualify that piece of work from sitting on the table.*

* If you have fan-art, you are more than welcome to bring it in a portfolio and show it to customers who are interested.

There are gray areas, though. For example, if you were doing an adaptation of, say, Death of a Salesman, we would allow that because the characters don't have an iconic, specific design or appearance. Even doing a portrait of a celebrity is okay (keep in mind, though, there IS a difference between doing a portrait of Johnny Depp and doing one of Jack Sparrow).

Your shift at the Cartoon Allies table will only be 1 hour long (maybe longer if there aren't enough people to staff the booth), and you all know that after that hour, you're welcome to walk around the convention floor for the rest of the day. That being said, if you plan on cosplaying, you must bring normal clothes to wear behind the booth. If you think about it, cosplaying is just another form of fan-art, and it's best to keep SVA separate from these existing characters.

RULE #2: SHOW UP TO YOUR SHIFT ON TIME!

If you sign up for a shift at the Cartoon Allies table, we expect you to be there on time. Think of this as a job, and taking the rest of the day at the convention is your payment. If you don't show up, that means the Point People have to scramble and find someone to cover for you, whether that means asking someone on duty before you to extend their shift, or if it means that they have to cover it themselves. This only aggravates your fellow Allies and infuriates your Point People.

Sh*t happens, though. If you get caught in traffic, or you have a family emergency or something, we expect you to have your priorities straight; do what you gotta do. We just ask you to follow up with the Point People and keep them posted. As soon as you find out that you can't do your shift, get in touch with the Point Person(s) for the event/day.

RULE #3: KEEP TRACK OF SALES AT THE TABLE!

If this one seems a little obvious, it is. However, it's worth mentioning because we occasionally come out with a total that doesn't add up. Sometimes we just forget to mark down a sale. Oops!

That "Oops" can be awfully annoying, though; especially for the artist(s) that are losing money on it! At the Cartoon Allies booth, if any of your comics sell, that money goes directly bak to you. If you sell 6 books and it only says that you sold 3 on our tally sheet, there's something wrong. Nobody wants it to happen to them, so don't let it happen to anyone! Record sales as soon as you make them, just so you don't forget.

RULE #4: ACT PROFESSIONAL!

Not only are you representing yourself, but you're representing Cartoon Allies AND the entire School of Visual Arts! If you act like a nut, it's going to reflect very poorly on everyone connected to the table.

There are a lot of perspective students of SVA wandering around these conventions. SVA is one of the only Cartooning schools in the US, and it's on the top of that heap. Let's make it sound like it! Don't act like a brainwashed zombie, but don't trash-talk the school, either. We've gotten good results by relating our experiences (specifically our good ones) to those interested in the school, as well as talking about the courses we offer, the faculty we have on staff, etc. The more people we can get interested in SVA, the more people we can welcome to Cartoon Allies!

We're also in the presence of many potential employers and colleagues. Acting cordial, respectful, and confident goes a long way. Introduce yourself to people/publishers you like and admire! The more times they see your face and your artwork, the more likely they are to remember you, which is especially important as you get ready to jump out into the real world.

RULE #5: DON'T BE NERVOUS!

Okay, this isn't really a rule, just more of a friendly suggestion. We've got a lot of stuff written here, but Cartoon Allies has always been pretty casual and flexible. Just have fun!

By the way, it's possible that you'll meet some big names. Even if you meet your idol at one of these conventions, just remember that he/she's a person just like you. Asking them how they're doing instead of kissing the ground they walk on will earn you a lot more respect in their eyes, we guarantee it.

Remember to have fun! These are coming up really early in the year, but they're also a great way to get to know your fellow classmates. :D

Also, to those of you going to SPX, 2 hotel rooms have been booked and there will be a $20 deposit required at the next meeting. More details will be in an e-mail that will be sent to you later today.

- Allison Strejlau, CA.