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Anniversary by Sophie Goldstein :

It was a clean seep for female creators in the 2015 Ignatz Awards. Sophia Foster-Dimino won three of the bricks for her comic Sex Fantasy while Sophie Goldstein won two for her SF graphic novel The Oven. The complete list of winners is below, marked with a *** Outstanding Artist ***Emily Carroll – Through The […]

Today is a day to send shout-outs to the Center for Cartoon Studies, located in White River Junction, VT and recognize it’s many good deeds. While my shout out should be a loving essay on how teaching comics has had a strong effect on storytelling and how the bucolic yet isolated campus in rural Vermont allows students to focus in on making comics, or the print room or the other great things about the faculty which includes James Sturm and Steve Bissette, I don’t have time for that.

Instead I will just direct you to Rob Clough’s series looking at the WORK of CCS grads (which he didn’t tag with CCS, shame shame shame), and spotlight a few of them:

• Chuck Forsman, now putting out an exciting new action focused comics series, THE REVENGER:

• Melissa Mendes, who is serializing a great comic called The Weight.

• Colleen Frakes, creator of Island Brat and much more, including StevenUniverse fan art.

• Melanie Gilman creator of the Eisner nominated webcomic As The Crow Flies

• Sean Ford creator of Only Skin and Shadow Hills.

• Eleri Mai Harris whose non fiction comics grace The Nib on numerous occasions.

• Alexis Frederick-Frost artist on the Adventures in Cartooning series.

• Sophie Goldstein, whose The Oven is coming out later this month and is amazing.

……and dozens more. I have to leave the office now or I would spend hours more looking at the great great yards from this school. Someone smarter than me needs to look at how the precepts taught at CCS have changed cartooning, and how Sturms ideas about applied cartooning are changing the business. But for today…just a shout out.

CCS just keeps turning out interesting new cartoonists. Sophie Goldstein is a recent grad whose works defies easy categorization, except to say that she’s got a great line and a keen eye, she writes stories and anything can happen. And now AdHouse is bringing out The Oven by Goldstein in April. It’s set in a totalitarian future where “dwindling resources have driven the human race into domed cities where population controls are strictly enforced. When a young couple goes looking for an anti-government paradise in the desert they may have found more than they bargained for.”

Biblio deets:
80 2C pages
5.5″ x 7.5″ SC
$12.95 US funds
ISBN 978-1-935233-33-6
Shipping April 2015
Diamond Order Code: FEB15 0903

And here’s a preview, AND a link to Goldstein’s 20 thumbnails for the cover image.

BY JEN VAUGHN – Torsten gave a fantastic review of things to do this weekend but I’ll focus on two fun events for the Maine and Washington people, who desperately should enjoy themselves while the sun is still out!

East Coast gets MeCAF! One of the best small press cons that is kid-focused. Plenty of adult comics are sold (believe me) but signage on the table lets parents with lots of disposable income know which books are great for their 6 year old, 12 year old and 15 year old kiddos. Today the Portland Public Library hosted a ton of events including yet another Cartoon Carousel led by funny man himself, R. Sikorayak.

Tomorrow, Sunday May 20th is the actual con with plenty of panels and events geared towards comic publishing and small humans.

10:30 AM- Kids Workshop: From Concept to Comic
Learn how an idea in your head becomes a comic on a page. John Green (co-creator of Teen Boat! and illustrator for Phineas and Ferb), Colleen AF Venable (author of Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye and designer for First Second Books), and Zack Giallongo (Broxo) will take you on a collaborative journey through the process of creating characters and stories for comics.

Noon: Join Raina Telgemeier, winner of the Maine Student Book Award, for a fun visual talk about her book, SMILE, and what exactly it means to be a graphic novelist! Raina will do some live drawing and give away some prizes, too!

1:00 PM- The Center for Cartoon Studies One Sheet Workshop

2:00 PM-Monster Alert!  Junior Cartoonists Needed!
The Fizzmont Institute of Rad Science is looking for young, excited cartoonists that can draw ferocious monsters and deadly dwellers of the deep!  Our famed scientist, Leo Geo, has gone missing on his experiment to the center of the earth, and we need help drawing the monsters that might have taken him!  Join Jon Chad, from the Center for Cartoon Studies, as he leads a monster drawing session and an interactive reading from his new book, Leo Geo.

So get your butts in the car and head up to Portland, Maine for comics and of course, the infamous Duckfat restaurant or unparalleled fresh sushi. If you miss MeCAF, be sure to stop by Casablanca Comics downtown to find work by the same cartoonists. Owner and MeCAF sponser, Rick Lowell is gracious enough to sell the small press comics not sold at MeCAF if said cartoonists are smart enough to remember to stop by!