JUMBO LOOP COMICS are, as the name says:
BOSTON COMICS ROUNDTABLE PRESENTS: Inaction Comics with Kimball Anderson, Cathy G. Johnson, MJ Robinson, and Laurel Lynn Leake
SOMERVILLE, Mass. – The Boston Comics Roundtable invites you to a conversational discussion on the genesis, process, and philosophy of the Inaction Comics anthology on Sunday October 11th at 7 PM with editor Kimball Anderson and fellow contributors Cathy G. Johnson, MJ Robinson, and Laurel Lynn Leake. Held at the Boston Comics Workspace at 561 Windsor St., Studio 306, the event is free and open to the public, though a suggested donation of $5 is welcome. The event is sponsored by Ninth Art Press.
The talk will cover the concept and ideas behind what became Inaction Comics, rooted in the aim of wanting to diverge from action-based storytelling and the desire to allow for a wider range of representation to occur. It will also include a discussion of how artistic choices can impact the ability to represent varied experiences and identities and delve into the contributors’ shared “Art Comics” aesthetic and how this reflects in the book. The panel will go over their own individual work and how it relates to the central theme of the anthology.
The event will allow audiences to examine the process of putting together a new kind of anthology and promises to be an engaging evening of art and comics. For more information on the anthology, or to purchase, please go to http://earnestattempts.storenvy.com/products/12243240-inaction-comics-1-productivity.
About the Panel
Kimball Anderson is an artist and writer who draws from personal experiences of chronic fatigue syndrome and agoraphobia, which manifest in an interest in delineating the subtlest of sensation with accuracy. Kimball’s art gently but analytically probes at our automatic and seemingly uninteresting self, honoring it as something meaningful and filled with beautiful ambiguities.
Cathy G. Johnson is an artist in Providence, RI. She grew up in Minnesota and graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2011. She was awarded the Small Press Expo 2014 Ignatz Award for Promising New Talent. Her inspiration is drawn from community and critical theory.
Laurel Lynn Leake is drawn to the fluid communication of comics. It’s uniquely intertwining language of words, image, and iconography comes the closest to how her own mind works, and to how she understands and perceives the world. Through her work, she cultivates a space both for herself (a queer, mentally ill woman) and for the reader where they can not only find solace in the free expression of marginalized selves, but also the strength to challenge the way we define the world around us.”
MJ Robinson draws stories and writes pictures in Providence, RI. Their recent art explores internal and relational power dynamics by calling out for and echoing back through the emotional resonances of things unsaid. 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.
About Boston Comics Roundtable
The Boston Comics Roundtable is a community of independent comics artists and writers based in the Greater Boston area, acting as a resource for local creators. We encourage development and collaboration and welcome anyone interested in creating or publishing comics, at all ages and levels of experience. Our weekly meetings revolve around discussions of news in comics, showing of members’ work, and the professional development of everyone involved.
BOSTON COMICS ROUNDTABLE PRESENTS: Creator Talks, with Levon Gyulkhasyan on Jumbo Comics, A Tool for Building Communities
The Boston Comics Roundtable’s Creator Talk series will continue on Sunday September 20th with artist Levon Gyulkhasyan discussing the use of giant comic strips in public spaces. Held at the new Boston Comics Workspace at 561 Windsor St., Studio 306, the event is free and open to the public, though a suggested donation of $5 is welcome. The talk will begin at 2:00 pm and is sponsored by Ninth Art Press.
Comics need not only be on the page. There is a new dimension of comics in which giant comic strips are installed in public spaces. One such initiative, Jumbo Loop Comics, was spearheaded in part by Gyulkhasan and resulted in installations in many locations in Armenia and France. The large panels feature life size characters and act to engage those who behold them, giving a sense of involvement in the plot. The project also made paint and brushes accessible, encouraging passersby to color the strip and thereby become a participant, spreading awareness and enjoyment of comics. The giant strip can be wrapped around trees or poles, forming a ring, where the end of the story logically continues to the beginning, making it a never ending story.
Gyulkhasyan’s talk will cover the creation of these jumbo comics and how it affects communities, focusing on the process and challenges one may face.
About Levon Gyulkhasyan
One of the activists of comics development in Armenia, Gyulkhasyan was involved in works of the French Association pour la promotion de la bande dessinée en Arménie and a participant of exhibitions, workshops, and anthologies. In a team, he took part in 24-hour comics in Angouleme, France, which he then introduced in Armenia. He also was an initiator of Jumbo Loop Comics, seven of which were installed in public spaces in Armenia and France. With friends, Gyulkhasyan launched weekly comics making workshops using constraint as a means of advancing comic creation. After moving to the United States, he continues this activity in Boston.
When: Sunday September 20th at 2:00 PM
Where: 561 Windsor St., Studio 306, Somerville, MA
BOSTON COMICS ROUNDTABLE PRESENTS: Creator Talks, with LB Lee on Mental Health Comics
The Boston Comics Roundtable’s Creator Talk series will continue on Sunday September 6th with mental health cartoonist LB Lee. Held at the new Boston Comics Workspace at 561 Windsor St., Studio 306, the event is free and open to the public, though a suggested donation of $5 is welcome. Lee’s talk will begin at 2:00 pm and is sponsored by Ninth Art Press.
Lee lives with Dissociative Identity Disorder, a topic explored in their comic MPD For You and Me. Their work, populated with “mentally unusual people,” incorporates rigorous research with a playful approach. They have appeared at various academic conferences and comics conventions, shining a light on the realities of trauma, homelessness, eating disorders, and other less-than-traditional but important topics.
Lee’s Creator Talk will focus on process, from research to the final product. They will discuss the challenges that come with mental health cartooning—telling difficult stories and translating psychological phenomena into readable art—as well as personal challenges that come with working around a disordered memory.
About LB Lee
LB is a multivarious entity who make mental health comics, draw pretty pictures, and write stories about a mythical medieval Europe where the Roman Empire never existed. You can find more about LB Lee and their work online at http://healthymultiplicity.com/loonybrain/Home.html.
When: Sunday September 6, 2015 at 2:00 PM
Where: 561 Windsor Street, Studio 306, in Somerville
SOMERVILLE, Mass. – Please join the Boston Comics Roundtable (BCR) for our next Creator Talk with cartoonist L.J.-Baptiste on his webcomic series COMIXSCAPE, a story about the absurd adventures of a young boy and his pet raccoon in his new town. The event will take place at the Boston Comics Workspace at 561 Windsor Street in Somerville, Studio 306, and begin at 2:00 pm on Sunday August 23. Admission is free and open to the public, though a suggested donation of $5 is welcome.
L.J. will discuss the development of the web series and go over the process of creating each chapter as well as streamlining the upcoming fourth chapter. Additionally, he will go into his technique for creating motion comics, detailing each step from holding auditions, to directing, producing, animating, and all manner of logistics. L.J. will also talk about his forthcoming ventures such as a character song mixtape and how these kinds of outside the panel projects affect his writing.
It promises to be an engaging afternoon of comics, animation, and fun.
About L.J.-Baptiste
L.J.-Baptiste is a 22-year-old artist from Dorchester, MA. His current work is COMIXSCAPE, which he began for DigBoston‘s Sunday Comics Project back in 2013. L.J. continues to work on the series in the hopes of reaching the climactic schoolgirl-zombie apocalypse that will be its final scene.
Read his comics at http://www.comixscape.net/