Zines Galore

This weekend I went to the Portland Zine Symposium and picked up this lot, all through trades. Pretty good haul, I think. I'm going to read through them, and then I might come back and tell you about the best ones. 

Stumptown Comics Fest 2011

I love Stumptown Comics Fest! So much amazing art, and everyone is so nice! Comics nerds are the best.


Here's most of my haul from this year; it should keep me going for a while. Some artists I had heard of, some were new to me. I got a couple of prints too.

Some new favourites were the Perfecting Loneliness 24-hour comics which you see top right, plus an issue of Wuvable Oaf, a hand-spot-coloured comic about bears. (The hairy gay guy kind.) Plus some old favourites: Papercutter, Clutch, Erika Moen.

Some links to check out:

Reid Psaltis (fantastic illustrator - got some of his foldout minicomics)
Sarah McIntyre (adorable childrens' book illustrations, plus comics)
Wuvable Oaf
Emi Lennox (Perfecting Loneliness etc.)
Farel Dalrymple (Yeah, this guy is amazing. And he drew a lovely drawing in the comic I bought from him.)
Papercutter etc.

So Excited I Might Throw Up

Hey, guess what is happening this weekend?!

It's the annual Stumptown Comics Fest!

I have never been able to go before - never been in Portland at the right time - so this will be my first visit, and I must say I am very excited. (Not vomit excited, I was exaggerating for the post title.) Many of my favourite comics artists will be there, including Lucy Knisley and Erika Moen and Kate Beaton, and many more who I don't yet know. I have a weird feeling of being overwhelmed with celebrity, already. Clearly, I need someone who will prevent me from babbling like a weirdo if I accidentally converse with an artist. Sophie, you gonna help me out? Nope, I remember when we met Erika Moen at the last PDX comics event. I waffled, it was terrible, we had to leave quickly.

Cat Drawings of the Month

Are you all excited about the upcoming Daily Comics event that all your favourite webcomic artists are about to embark upon? Sacrificing both their time and any opportunities to lie about for a few hours without drawing anything, and all for us.

The excellent Lucy Knisley is doing it, she's just put up a preview, check it out immediately RIGHT HERE.

Here's a taste of Knisley's work:

Hipster Zombies, Lucy Knisley

Milshire, Lucy Knisley

Check out Knisley's livejournal here, her website with a ton of images here, and I have blogged about her here and here. Jeez, clearly I have a bit of fangirlishness coming on.

Cover Me

Terry Moore, Strangers in Paradise #65

My first ever issue of Strangers in Paradise. The cover caught my eye and compelled me to buy it instantly. I don't think the pin-up girl is a major character, and if it is who I think it's supposed to be she doesn't even look like this on the inside, but the image is so striking and happily reminiscent of OTT romance comics, not to mention as well-drawn as the rest of Moore's stuff, that it remains my favourite cover of all 90 issues.


Loads of people have been linking lately to this here list of the 100 Best Comic Book Covers, at 1979 Semi-Finalist. (Which is a neato blog in itself from a girl who really knows her stuff about comics.) It's a pretty good list, and I found myself admiring nearly every one of her choices.

I'm not huge on comics, to be honest. I think I peaked during my art school days, through my association with Lauren, Amy and Orville's comic book shop in Leeds. (His name is not really Orville.) These days I just keep up with a few currently-running comics titles, together with a steady stream of graphic novels.

But I did make an effort to round up some of my fave covers, or those I could recall liking off the top of my head. Hope you like.

Terry Moore, Strangers in Paradise #29

Terry Moore, Strangers in Paradise #53

Terry Moore, Strangers in Paradise #55

Three more Strangers in Paradise covers that I think work well. Overall I find Moore's covers to be a bit clumsy and melodramatic, and the melodramatic, lyrics-quoting side of SIP is really not my bag. I prefer the quippy, people just hanging out character-study scenes.

Jim Rugg, Street Angel #1

Jim Rugg, Street Angel #4

I've mentioned my undying love for Jim Rugg and Street Angel before, and I still totally mean it. All six of the covers for this short run are genius. They each employ this block pink background, which becomes pretty ironic once you know the character (she's not just some little girl, and she ain't no angel) and each is innovative, intriguing, and adapts the typography to the design.

Cover by Frank Miller, The Escapists #1

Cover by James Jean, The Escapists #2

This mini series spin-off from The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon had some kickass covers, each by a different artist. Great story, too, but I only got the first four issues out of six. Boo.

Jaime Hernandez, Love and Rockets #30

Jaime Hernandez, Love and Rockets #24

I should write some more about my love for Jaime Hernandez, because boy do I love his stuff. Not Gilbert Hernandez, his drawings give me the heebie-jeebies, but I do admit Gilbert makes good covers also. A couple of classic Jaime images, I especially love that monochrome punk scene above. That's Hopey in the background there playing the bass, quite badly by all accounts.

Cover by Jo Chen, Buffy Season 8 #10

Cover by Jo Chen, Buffy Season 8 #11

Cover by Jo Chen, Buffy Season 8 #14

Yeah, so I've been reading Buffy comics, and I don't care if you think I'm a nerd. Buffy season 8 comics, which are supposed to follow on from where the tv show ended, have some really great covers (and some sucky variant covers). The likenesses to the tv actors, SMG and all, are impressive, but they're also great designs. I like that they're painterly, rather than more traditional comics styles like the insides. (The art within these comics often sucks, by the way. You can't tell the characters apart. But the writing is usually good, it's the same folks who wrote the show, King Joss included.)

Cover by Kano, Hero #1

Finally, an issue of Hero, which I never heard much about but I picked up a couple of issues and the covers were great. The end.

Diary Comic Day!

Yes, that's right, we have five diary comics for you today. I freakin' love diary comics. People are interesting, drawings are good to look at, what could be wrong here? I like hearing about the most prosaic details of these people's lives. You feel like you know them! Aaah. 'Course the great drawing style and sharp wit sure helps.

As always: Click for Full View. Might be more necessary than usual with these comics.

First up, in no particular order! Drew Weing. This is an old one, I'm not sure he does this anymore, but the archives are all here, at The Journal Comic. He's a pretty great illustrator, here's his online portfolio. (I like this first strip because it makes me think of my own beloved long-arm stapler, Gerald.)






Hey Monkey Riot! Great title. This is drawn by a fellow named Edd. Really nothing happens in it, but I like it anyway. And let's face it, nothing really happens to me either. That's life. Nothing happens. Anyhow, I picked up a book of Hey Monkey Riot! diary comics with a lovely screenprinted cover at the London Zine Symposium earlier this year. He sure knows how to make a nice little book.






My new fave! DAR: A Super Girly Secret Comic Diary, by Erika Moen. This one is just so fun to read, you must go do it right now. Go here. Read the lot. She's been writing it for years on and off, so you can follow her evolution of style, topic and personality. Plus it's just so cute! And funny! And true to life! Enough gushing. My girlfriend introduced me to this comic, which may be partly why I am so crazy for it.







A person who seems to be real-life pals with Erika Moen is Lucy Knisley, she is fantastic. She has a book out here, another book out here, a journal here, a portfolio website here, and a cute cat. Jesus, what have I done with my life?




This is The Everyday by Adam Cadwell. He is a freakishly good artist, I think. I sure don't know how he does this, with the backgrounds and stuff. This one exemplifies one of my fave things about diary comics: look how cool and hipsterish this guy looks! He is wearing a plaid shirt and one of those little hats in the comic down there, and look at his sideburns and glasses! Too cool for the likes of us, surely? But no, he is just as dorkish as we are. Reassuring.




Phew, that will do for now I think. Another favourite diary comic is American Elf, but I have blogged about that before. Totally check it out, though.

Hey guys, if I drew a diary comic myself, today I would write a diary comic about how I wrote about diary comics! Is that freaky or what?!

Also throughout this post I kept accidentally writing "dairy comics". That's a genre waiting to happen, right there.

Lesbian Subtext Monday

I haven't posted for a while, so as a reward for your infinite patience, dear readers, here's a bunch of vaguely lesbian subtext-y Wonder Woman clips, courtesy of Superdickery. I have to admit, I had no idea Wonder Woman had such a bondage fetish. Isn't she supposed to have super-strength? How come she's always getting tied up? And then saying "Suffering Sappho!" Which I will say more often in my everyday life from now on. Enjoy:

Playing binding games on Paradise Island! If only we were all so lucky, ladies.

"DC Comics aren't just for kids!" Indeed. That is a cluttered boudoir, by the way. Dominatrix lady needs to hoover up all those bugs and skulls and symbols.

Ok, anything with the word "mistress" in it...

They seem to be hanging off the guy's moustache.

"Obedience to loving authority"? Is that kinky, or evidence that Paradise Island has some kind of totalitarian regime?

Plenty of WW to go around, girls.

Wonder Woman has changed into the classic clinging white robe riding up at the thigh, suitable for bosom-heaving captured damsels.

(You should totally check out Superdickery, by the way. Their captions are funnier than mine, for a start.)

13-year-old Assassin on a Skateboard

Speaking of Jim Rugg, I thought I would post the original covers of his Street Angel comics. They really caught my eye when I first saw them a few years back, and I thoroughly enjoyed the violent yet hilarious contents, (occasionally also touching) about a young street urchin with deathly martial arts and skateboarding skills fighting off legions of ninjas.

Street Angel #1

Street Angel #2

Street Angel #3

Street Angel #4

Street Angel #5

Printed by Slave Labour Graphics, 2004.

Cover Versions

Found this neat blog called Covered. Artists and illustrators rework their favourite comic covers in their own styles. Looks like a lot of fun to do. Some go for a straightforwardish copy, clearly admiring the style of the original, and some have a distinctly non-comic style to make things interesting.

Tales to Demolish, original version

New version by the frickin' genius Jim Rugg, creator of Street Angel, one of my favourite comics of all time. I would recommend seeing more of his stuff here.

The Amazing Spiderman 345, 1991, original cover

New version, Joe Lambert

Green Arrow 2, original version, 1983

Cover version, Dash Shaw

So yeah, here's that link again... Link!