Here are the five comics that people read the most on our Instagram this year. Let’s go!

1. Hoy No Circula - By Mercedes Campos López - To fight pollution, in 1989 Mexico City passed a law to limit the number of cars on the road. How did that turn out?

2. Swapping Genders With My Ex - By Cee Lavery - We saw our futures in each other, one where both of us would change.

3. OCD and Me - By Scott McCormick - Sometimes I feel like my brain is only half mine. 

4. Pride and Pelicans - By Mariah-Rose Marie - My queer first date doesn’t go quite as planned. 

5. Bald - By Štěpánka Jislová and Tereza Čechová - When I lost all my hair due to alopecia, my perspective on relationships and work—and myself—radically changed.

• Sorry I had to make this comic even though it will make you feel uncomfortable - By Benedicte O’Leary-Rutherford // Years after a sexual assault, I sometimes feel like a broken record.

• Writing Nonfiction Comics - by Eleri Harris and Shay Mirk // Read a chapter all about writing from the new book Making Nonfiction Comics.

Multi-week classes

All of our classes and workshops are online and sliding scale.

» Facing the Blank Page - Creating Comics When You’re Afraid of Drawing: Are you interested in comics but think you could never draw your own? Join the club! This extremely encouraging, low-stakes class taught by Ali Holmes starts with drawing blobs to help you face anxiety around drawing. January 24 – March 14, on Saturdays from 10am-12pm PST/1pm-3pm EST

» Making Memoir Comics: This seven-session memoir comics class will focus on telling real-life stories about your life, identity, and family. Artist Shay Mirk guides participants through writing and drawing a 20-panel personal story, and everyone also creates many shorter comics to practice different techniques and find their visual voice. February 10 – March 24th, on Tuesdays from 5pm-7pmPST/8pm-10pm EST

Workshops

» Age Inappropriate - Making Comics About Aging: This workshop led by Barbara Osborn, who teaches a class on “Reimagining Aging” at UCLA, invites you to surface unchallenged assumptions, share stories, and draw your way into unexpected insights about aging. Sunday February 1st, 10am-12pm PST (1pm-3pm EST)

» Graphic Essays: Using Comics to Make Academic Theory More Accessible Cartoonist and academic Darya Foroohar discusses different ways to incorporate academia into the graphic medium and gives examples of existing works students can learn from. Thursday February 12th, 5pm-7pm PST (8pm-10pm EST)

» Telling Trans Stories: Let’s make trans comics! In this two-hour workshop, artist Al Benbow will talk about some of their favorite trans comics and cartoonists, discuss trans character-building, and different ways of exploring trans identity and experiences in comics. Thursday, February 26, 2026 from 4-6pm PST (7-9pm EST)

» Draw Your Feelings: Whether it’s impostor syndrome, creative anxiety, or wider worries about the world, comics are a great way to face and move through big emotions. Artist Cassy Lee leads this two-hour workshop about illustrating your feelings as a tool for emotional regulation. Saturday, March 21st, 10am-12:30pm PST (1:30pm-3:30pm EST)

Cartoonists for Palestine Second Edition: Cover Reveal

Exciting news: We’re gearing up to publish the second edition of Cartoonists for Palestine this winter! The second edition of this acclaimed anthology of 50 artists is being printed in Beirut (!!) and features a new cover designed by Khajag Apelian and Reina Hasbini. In the meantime, after selling out of the anthology earlier this year, we reprinted a small number of copies of the first edition of Cartoonists for Palestine to have on hand until the Beirut edition arrives. You can get a copy here. Crucial donates all profits from this collection to Palestinian medical aid—in 2025, we were able to donate nearly $3,000! Work from the book is also being featured in an exhibit at the brand-new Northwest Museum of Cartoon Arts in Portland, Oregon. If you’re in Portland, Crucial publisher Shay Mirk will be doing an artist talk about the exhibition at NWMOCA on January 10th. 

⭐️ Event: Cartoonists for Palestine Artist Talk at Northwest Museum of Cartoon Arts (322 NW 8th Ave, Portland, Oregon), January 10th, 1-3pm

Five comics to read about Palestine

• How to Raise Your Bubba from the Dead: A reflective comic by Rebecca Katz about how to talk to her kids about the ongoing genocide. 

• Issa: Journalist Franchesca Mannocchi and artist Gianluca Constantini capture what daily life is like for a Palestinian activist in Hebron. 

• Diary of a Human Animal: Excerpts from a diary kept by Palestinian visual artist Amal El Nakahala during 2023 and 2024. 

• The War on Gaza: In Joe Sacco’s new book is a series of graphic essays that add up to “an uncompromising critique of Israel’s genocide.” You can read several pages for free online at The Comics Journal. 

• Power Born of Dreams: My Story is Palestine: In panels that feel like dark woodcuts, Palestinian cartoonist Mohammad Sabaaneh illustrates his experience being held in an Israeli prison. 

>> Public transit fans: Seattle is looking to create a series of six comics documenting stories from communities along their new rapid bus lines. This is such a cool opportunity for nonfiction comics artists! The budget is $54,000 per artist (!!!) and is limited to artists in Washington and Oregon. Deadline to apply is January 13th. 

>> Want to distribute your zine? The Stelton Distro in Jersey City, NJ, is looking for new zines to distribute. They’re prioritizing zinemakers who are BIPOC and/or based around Jersey City. Deadline to apply is January 10th.

>> Cartoonist Studio Prize: Applications are open for the Cartoonist Studio Prize, which celebrates two exceptional comics each year. All genres are welcome (fiction or nonfiction) and the prize is for both long-form and short-form comics. It’s free to apply, just send in your work by February 28th.

This newsletter was written by Shay Mirk. Crucial Comix is supported in part by our backers on Patreon and by the Sequential Artists Workshop (thank you, friends!).