THE BOSTON COMICS ROUNDTABLE: a community of comics creators, meeting weekly since 2006.

Category: News

“Showcase Your Comic”
We are starting a new activity for our weekly meetings that we hope to repeat regularly. Next Week Starting at 6:30pm (2/18 Thursday at the Cambridge Main Library “Community Room” SubLevel 2).

Bring your most recent comic (Printed or Online). Talk about it and show us your art for 2 minutes. We will have the projector setup* so everyone can see them at the same time and bring copies to sell. Your presentation will be followed by a brief Q&A.

We hope to help everyone familiarize themselves with your comics and explore the diversity of work created on our community.

*If you want to use the projector to show your comic art please:
- Upload here (include #showcaseyourcomic so it will not be posted).
- Or Email your art here.
- Or bring it on a USB drive.
February 10, 2016
MICE Member Debuts!

This weekend will be the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE), located in Cambridge at University Hall at Lesley University, 1815 Massachusetts Ave (Porter Sq.). The show will be open Saturday 10am – 6pm and Sunday 11am – 5pm. The Boston Comics Roundtable will have a table there at D01. We also have a ton of members debuting lots of awesome material so be sure to check it out!

Debut Comics

Hands: An Anti-Story by Kimball Anderson (A54): Kimball Anderson’s experimental new mini from Ink Brick centers on iterative drawings of hands. Each set starts with a life drawing, with subsequent entries using each other for reference. These sequences buzz with subtle flickers and glitches. Paired with stream-of-consciousness text, they’re at once beautiful and unsettling.

Spilt Milk by Eric Boeker (D11): You’ve heard of Cops and Robbers stories, right? What about a Cows and Robbers story? “Spilt Milk” is an all-ages, kid-friendly, full-color adventure romp comic in the spirit of the Keystone Cops.

Super Animals with Hats #5 by Eric Boeker (D11): An all-ages, kid-friendly, little coloring book featuring awesome animals wearing fantastic super-hero hats! Up, Up and Away!

Day of the Ducks by Dan Moynihan (B81): A collection of zany all-ages comics, including some from Nickelodeon Magazine.

Highland Girl by Catalina Rufin (103): Ainsley is a young witch who loves fairies. Sofia is a fairy who is searching for other fairies like herself. They run into each other near Ainsley’s home in the Scottish Highlands, and bond over their mutual interest in magic, music, and the feeling of being an outcast.

Unpleasant People #5 by Holly Foltz (D11): After a lengthy delay in new material, the fifth issue of “Unpleasant People” is complete! “Unpleasant People” is the story about the trials and tribulations of a villain, his second-in-command and their long-suffering administrative assistant. This issue contains ninja hijinks, family drama, and some plot thrown in there just for fun!

So, You’re Going to Die by Kirk Israel, Art by James Harvey (A47): Knowing that you will die someday can be rough, especially if you’re not so sure about there being some kind of afterlife. Still, there are comforting philosophies and thoughts to be had, and “So, You’re Going to Die”, the skeptical nerd’s
comic guide to coping with your own mortality, can help. Illustrated by UK artist James Harvey (Masterplasty, DC’s “We Are ROBIN”) this work shares ideas proven to help cope with our existential situation.

Puddle Jumpers by Jess Semeraro (D10):3 Dogs, one owner and an animal control officer with a secret- what could possibly go wrong? All ages.

The Nowhere Man #1 by Jon Juniman (C117): The Nowhere Man is the story of Richard, who finds himself lost in The Dreamtime; an afterlife where dreams manifest, and thoughts become reality. Life after death is nothing like he imagined, and Richard must come to terms with a universe that is infinitely stranger than he expected. Probably best for ages 17+.

Good Morning Gorgon by Ben Doane and Olivia Li (D02): Maddie the gorgon is your average single mother, except that her six hissing kids are attached to her head. In Good Morning, Gorgon!, she and her children navigate their everyday life of grocery shopping, freelancing, and professional wrestling (wait, what?).

Jeremy Thomas and the Old House by Neil Johnson (D02): The explorations and adventures of a duck named Jeremy Thomas and a boy named Patrick. All ages.

The Wampa’s Tale by Spencer Hawks (C116): A short story detailing the hitherto unknown backstory of one of the Star Wars saga’s most misunderstood characters.

Tree Rats! or, The Crepuscular Hobbyhorse: A Farrago by E. J. Barnes (C92): This 29-page short story is inspired by the work of Blaster Al Ackerman and a long list of true incidents improbably mashed together. If you like cranky old constipated men, supercilious neighbors with nasty dogs, road trips with unreliable friends, and backyard rodents, this story is for you.

Infinite Loop by Nick Nazzaro (C107): Space exploration goes awry in unexpected and sudden disaster. Survival is never guaranteed. Basically a marooned tale starring an astronaut. PG-13 for graphic death scenes. No bad language.

Black Fuska Ashcan by Roho and Ben Doane (D01): An adventure comic set in the south of Brazil on the mid-eighties. Ripped from the pages of the Outbound Science Fiction anthology! Cover art by Roho. Teen.

Thirteen by Roho (D01): An existential western comics about rage, life and the origins of consciousness. This is the second title on the “Moody Melodies” Series that started with the minicomic titled “El Oso”. Nothing inappropriate for kids but it’s geared toward sophisticated grown ups.

Where Is My Head? by Mel Cartagena (C105):It’s the brief story of the construction of the android of science fiction author Philip K. Dick, the successful exhibition at a Wired Festival, and the loss of the head by its creator in a connecting flight. Was it really lost, or was it stolen, and by who? An intriguing and entertaining tale for all ages.

Bowery Boys:Our Fathers by Corey Levine, Ian Bertram, and Brent McKee (D10): When his father is framed for murder, immigrant son Nikolaus McGovern rallies together a motley crew of street youths in a rip-roaring coming-of-age adventure based on the period history of antebellum New York City! Set against the backdrop of rampant political corruption, vicious street gangs, nascent labor reform and ardent xenophobia–can Niko and his friends triumph in a life-and-death battle against their oppressors, or will they succumb to the engines of socio-economic progress?

Debut Art/Prints:

Ansis Purins (A49)

Cara Bean (A21)

October 17, 2015
Inaction Comics: Creator Spotlights

Cathy G. Johnson

There’s a truly conversational tone to Cathy G. Johnson’s dialogue, which, when combined with her raw and expressionistic art, creates an immersive sense of being “there” with her characters. Johnson’s loyalty to activist punk scenes clearly informs her subjects, which are so often pitch-perfect representations of young people making sense of living in a system that doesn’t value them. Her stories wrap around central ambiguities, the elusiveness and power of human connection, and the sometimes frightening lengths we’re willing to go to find them. Bold and messy pencils and paint fill her compositions with an infectious energy that drives further reflection on the questions her stories raise long after you’ve put the book down. Cathy G. Johnson was the recipient of the 2014 Ignatz award for Promising New Talent, and has upcoming books from Koyama Press and First Second. She is also a founder and organizer of the Rhode Island Independent Press Expo, where Inaction Comics debuted.

Official website with a selection of her comics from the past years available in full: http://www.cathyboy.com/

Her tumblr which you can follow for sketches and stylistic experiments, and browse them by medium….news and reviews too:http://cathyboy.tumblr.com/

M.J. Robinson

The comics MJ Robinson creates have a musicality to them. You can hear the words in their comics bouncing off of eachother like you are thinking them yourself, their sounds and rhythms revealing as much as their meanings. There’s a playful atonality to some of their work, where they seem to be pulling from children’s drawings in the same way other artists are inspired by outsider art. Which is no surprise, as much of their recent work has been informed by their experiences as an educator of small children. This childish earnestness is counterbalanced by a jangly hipness, and somehow together they reveal complexity and truth in simple autobiographical narratives.

MJ grew up in Pennsylvania (mostly) and graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio with a BA in Studio Art and Creative Writing. They currently work as an arts and museum educator, freelance illustrator, and cartoonist.

You can read through 5 years worth of their comics at http://mjcomics.com/and follow http://kickintheeyes.tumblr.com/ for new sketches, art, and news on upcoming events! Their printed books and comics are available for purchase at Czap Books.

Laurel Lynn Leake

Capable of going very playful and sweet, very thoughtful and minimal, or straight for the throat emotionally and intellectually, Laurel Lynn Leake’s work is able to be immediately identified by it’s distinctive sincerity. From her time at the Center for Cartoon Studies, Leake’s style has a clarity and accessibility that is immediately appealing. She is an active analyst of comics and the arts, and how it all impacts on our world. This is evident in her comics, where she has an interest in portraying a variety of experiences with sympathy and authenticity. She affectionately represents characters who vary in race, gender, ability, and orientation as they navigate realistic contexts in fantastical worlds.

Read Deep Forest #1

Kimball Anderson

There’s a peaceful and gentle energy that permeates Kimball Anderson’s work, but though it might take a moment to see it, there’s also an unyielding drive to understand and analyze the world. Their art is always in flux, going with the style and medium that most suits the message that is trying to be communicated. Their comics delve into feel of things on a basic level, a phenomenological exploration of human existence. A perfect realism seems often tantalizingly within their grasp, but they intentionally eschew it, aiming for expressionistic messiness. They avoid professionalism and polish, because as a physically and mentally ill person, those ring false for Anderson. They are not trying to represent themself as competent, but to represent the world honestly.

Check out their sketchbook comic at http://outside-life.com/c/comic/sketchbook-1/ for an example of their autobiographical style and more of their work.

Eager for even more? Check out the Inaction Comics Creator Talk at the Boston Comics Workspace on Sunday October 11 at 7 PM featuring Kimball Anderson ( @earnestattempts ) , Cathy G. Johnson ( @cathyboy ), MJ Robinson ( @kickintheeyes ), and Laurel Lynn Leake ( @laurellynnleake ) .

See more information here.

Facebook Event. | Calendar Event.

October 9, 2015
Roundup: Creator Talk with Levon Gyulkhasyan

On Sunday, September 20, Levon Gyulkhasyan shared footage, pictures, and stories of making JUMBO LOOP COMICS in his native Armenia and in Angoulême, the home of France’s leading comics festival.

JUMBO LOOP COMICS are, as the name says:

• large—up to 7′ tall and 100′ long (enough for about sixteen square panels).

• looped, so the last panel of the strip brings the reader back to the first.

• comics, with a sequence of words and pictures together.

(more…)

October 5, 2015
Roundup: Creator Talk with L.J.-Baptiste on Comixscape

©Olivia Li

L.J.-Baptiste’s Creator Talk covered the intricacies of webcomic publishing. He showed some very early character sketches from the beginnings of Comixscape, when it was called Toonatics, citing early influence from shows like Looney Tunes.

©E. J. Barnes

©E. J. Barnes

He talked about how he developed Tyler, the main character of Comixscape, from a fairly stereotypical creation of L.J.’s childhood into the kid he is today on the page. Comixscape originally began as part of DigBoston‘s Sunday Comics Project, and L.J. decided to migrate it to its own site and eventually put together a team of animators, voice actors, and other production staff to produce the first few pages in animated format (starting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1KicfjwHbY). He has also been working with a long-time collaborator to pitch several animated TV shows to studios in California.

©E. J. Barnes

©E. J. Barnes

Comixscape currently updates twice weekly; L.J. did go on hiatus for a time in order to create all of chapter four as a buffer. The new pages have just begun to be released. L.J. showed a selection of his original pages and also brought copies of Comixscape #1 to sell.

September 6, 2015
Print Membership Update
Print Membership

Shared printing and scanning equipment is available to members during studio hours for a modest fee of $10 a month. We currently have a “Pro” level Color Laser Printer that is able to print up to Legal Size paper double sided. With a cost of 3.5 cents Black & White and 8 cents in Full Color (1 Sided Letter + Paper Cost) for all your Mini-Comics, Cards, and Flyer printing needs.
Sign up here!

Current List of Available Equipment
- HP Pro Color Laser Printer ( Max Size Legal, Double Sided).
- Epson Large Format Inkjet Printer (Max Size 13 x 18, Color).
- Scanner (Max Size Legal).
- Long Arm Staplers (x2).
- Paper Slicer.
- 2 Laptops and 2 Desktop Computers (Include Photoshop, In Design, and Illustrator).
A Few Notes about the Print Membership:

We now have a brand new Color Laser Printer at the Workspace courtesy of Dan Mazur (Thank you Dan!) and a Large Format Inkjet Printer (Thanks Cathy Leamy!).
- We are in the process of acquiring a few more pieces of equipment that will make it possible for the Boston Comics Workspace to produce a wide range of Mini-Comics, Anthologies, Cards, Brochures, Posters, and so on.
- Ongoing Monthly Memberships will help us allocate resources and more quickly improve and expand the production capabilities. So if you are interested, please sign up!
- We have paper available at the Workspace for your minis for Letter, Legal, and Larger sizes. You are also encouraged to bring your own paper to print your comics in style. We also take paper donations.
- More capabilities in printing/production at the Workspace mean more equipment available for all the members of the Boston Comics Roundtable and also considerable reductions in cost for future Anthologies produced by the Boston Comics Roundtable in house, which includes work by members (both Artist and Writers).
- With the access to the equipment we also offer limited Professional Level Assistance and guidance (by appointment). Our Equipment Coordinator (Roho) has worked at a couple of local printers and produced several comics and anthologies professionally printed. He will be happy to answer any questions and walk you through how to use the current equipment at the Workspace.
If you have any questions, clarifications, donations, or would like to get involved with our efforts to procure equipment. Please feel free to Contact us.
Thanks,

Roho
August 26, 2015