[Note “Future Comic” is the category we assign to comics that use interactive elements to tell stories. Here is one such comic.]
It’s been a while since we had a good “future comic” to talk about, as they’ve become way too expensive for the casual creator to produce, but here’s one that is beautiful, inventive AND moving. The Boat adapts the internationally acclaimed Dylan Thomas Award-winning story by Nam Le about Vietnamese resettlement in Australia following the fall of Saigon in 1975. It was commissioned by Australian network SBS and their interactive unit has created a scrolling graphic novel that uses limited animation, archival footage, text, gorgeous hand drawn art by Matt Huynh and sound design by Sam Petty (Animal Kingdom, The Rover) to tell this story.
Both Le and Huynh are connected to the story of 16-year-old Mai, who is sent alone in a boat to what her parents hope will be a welcoming new home. Le’s family was part of the diaspora and Huynh’s family left Saigon a few years after the fall.
said: “The Boat is the most urgent and immediate comic I’ve ever made – a work of a kind I’ve never quite seen before and a unique chance to engage an issue so entangled with my own life. It’s a work that deals not in metaphor or analogy, not exclusively fiction or history and impossible to segment artist from subject. This resulting work is proof of my life, luck, of a country’s compassion for people in the most vulnerable of circumstances over 40 years ago and our urgent, unavoidable connection to today’s asylum seekers and refugees.”
Le said: “An astounding and original piece of work: Matt Huynh and the team at SBS have taken a short story and shifted it into another register. The result is strange and powerful; more importantly, it opens up new ground. I’m thrilled to be part of it.”
As I’ve mentioned, making a project like this is not cheap, so props to SBS for having the resources to make something that tells an important story in a new and moving way.
And here’s a video on the making of the comic:
Whoops a LOT to do tonight! Fire up your Über! These are ALL tonight.
A Faintly Lit Light- Group Show
at 4:00pm – 7:00pm
Right now! HOT DRINKS!
The Perfect Nothing Catalog
260 Johnson Ave, Brooklyn, New York 11206
Blaise Larmee / Quintessa Matranga / Lms Sadler / Aidan Koch / Marie Jacotey / Anthony Cudahy / Wiley Guillot
Pre-CAB party! Join us 4-7, Friday November 7th at The Perfect Nothing Catalog shack for art, a bonfire, and hot drinks ^_^
Al Jaffee ART SHOW opening reception FRIDAY NIGHT Nov 7th 6-9 PM
Scott Eder Gallery
18 Bridge St Apt 2I,
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Come celebrate the opening of our new show ‘The Mad Fold-In Art Of Al Jaffee’. Enjoy the majesty of these paintings in all their glory. Al will be in attendance.
Anya Davidson: CHARACTER FLAWS
6:00pm – 10:00pm
Tomato House
301 Saratoga Avenue,
Brooklyn, New York 11233
Tomato House is thrilled to present a solo show of drawings by the acclaimed cartoonist, printmaker, and musician Anya Davidson.
Davidson has produced an avalanche, a torrent, a dizzying froth of comic work over the course of the last decade, often self-published in labor-intensive, fully silkscreened editions. Her storylines frequently collapse elements of the fantastic, the grotesque, and the mythological onto scenes of everyday life, exposing the ancient forces at work under our veneer of modern civilization. Her story “Barbarian Bitch” appeared in Kramers Ergot 8 and the graphic novel “School Spirits” was published in 2013 by PictureBox. “Band For Life”, her Ignatz-nominated online comic about the trials and tribulations of a group of young musicians, continues to appear weekly on vice.com.
“Character flaws is an attempt to capture some of the inhabitants of my brain, my neighborhood, my planet and my galaxy. They are usually in motion but they stood still for these portraits. As a cartoonist I have a deep and abiding obsession with the human figure and the myriad ways it can be altered, twisted and re-interpreted. I also have a compulsion to make up stories. Sometimes my character designs generate stories and sometimes it’s vice versa. Each one of these creatures is the potential protagonist of a story I haven’t thought up yet.” -A.D.
CHARACTER FLAWS opens November 7, with a reception from 6 to 10 PM and continues through December 6.
NY Launch Party of Matt Huynh’s comic book ‘Magpie, Magpie’
at 6:00pm – 8:30pm
B_SPACE NYC,
219 Mulberry St
New York, NY 10012
Come join us for drinks and great music to celebrate the launch of Australian artist Matt Huynh’s gothic sumi-e comic book ‘Magpie, Magpie’ including exhibition of original art.
More
Prints Gone Wild! 2014
Today
at 6:00pm – 1:00am
littlefield 622 Degraw St,
Brooklyn’s own legendary Cannonball Press has again assembled an extraordinary menagerie of graphic artists under one roof who will be present displaying and selling their prints for $50 or less for one night only on Nov. 8th at LITTLEFIELD NYC.
ONE NIGHT ONLY. Friday, Nov. 7th, 6pm – 1am
LITTLEFIELD
622 Degraw St., Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY 11217
btwn. 3rd and 4th Aves.
www.littlefieldnyc.com
Take the 2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, N, or Q to Atlantic Terminal or the R train to Union St.
directions: www.littlefieldnyc.com/directions
21 and over only.
As part of New York Fine Art Print Week, organized by the International Fine Print Dealers Association in conjunction with the Annual IFPDA Pint Fair, long-time champion of the affordable art cause Cannonball Press has brought together these great artists so that New York can have a chance to see first-hand the incredible resurgence in affordable fine art printing that is happening across the country.
Featuring:
Justseeds
Bikini Press International
Sean Star Wars
Drive By Press
Cinders Gallery
Non Grata
Florence Gidez
Deerjerk and Haypeep
Raking Light Projects
Church of Type
The Amazing Hancock Brothers
Cannonball Press
Come join us for live printing, beer, music, and a GIANT dogpile of awesome cheap prints!!!
Graphic Canon of Children’s Literature Book Launch Party
6:30pm – 8:30pm
Society Of Illustrators 128 E 63rd St,
New York, New York 10065
Come out and celebrate the official book launch of The Graphic Canon of Children’s Literature by master anthologist Russ Kick. The launch party will be held in conjunction with the second annual “Push and Kick Awards” at the Society of Illustrators. Seven Stories Press would like to recognize the enthusiasm and support of three important figures in the comics art community, R. Sikoryak, Hillary Chute, and Lynda Barry. The reception is being co-sponsored by The Society of Illustrators and Publishers Weekly. The awards ceremony also coincides with the opening of an accompanying exhibition at the Society of Illustrators, of original artwork by contributors to The Graphic Canon of Children’s Literature.The exhibition will run November 4–December 20.
Pre-CAB Comic Book Party
7:00pm – 10:00pm
Park Slope Ale House
356 6th Ave,
Brooklyn, New York 11215
Join Hic & Hoc Publications, Space Face, Secret Acres, Breakdown Press, Decadence Comics & Happiness Comix for our first annual pre-CAB Comic Book Party, Friday, November 7 from 7-10PM at the Park Slope Ale House.
Come out, have a beer and tell us universal truths that we’ll try to dispute. It’ll be a good opportunity to get ready for CAB, where we’ll all try to out-cool each other and fail miserably.
We’ll be in the back room but a group of sad-faced comic nerds shouldn’t be too hard to spot.
Poster art by Joe Kessler!
