October 15, 2024

Issue 24: Getting Messy, SBCF, + More

Messy art, a disabled horror mini comic about filicide, hurricane relief, ShortBox Comics Fair 2024, Cartoonber progress, crowdfunding campaigns, and recent reads!

Hello hello, friends and good folk!

One day I will not be shocked at how quickly time flows, but today is not that day lol Can you believe it’s already mid-October?? I’m ready to see all the kiddos trick-or-treating in their cute costumes! 🎃

Are you dressing up for Halloween this year? 👀

Quick content note: The second image after this paragraph contains the illustrated death of a child with blood coming from a wound, and there is a brief mention of filicide of disabled children. I wouldn’t say it’s super graphic, but it may be upsetting to some. Please take care when viewing!

IN THE STUDIO

In recent years, I’ve made attempts to accept showing up where I am that day, allowing myself to not be “perfect”— to be messy, and I gotta say, I’m pretty proud of my progress with that these last few months! I’ve been showing up where I can, as I am, and that’s perfect. Here’s a sketch I made exploring this idea:

Perfectly messy.

I’ve also been working on my piece for the Comics Intensive course I’m taking with the esteemed Polly Guo. Our assignment (to be completed in February) is a 10 page mini comic, with only 1-2 panels per page and in black and white. It’s gonna be a fun challenge!

I’ve decided to go with a disability horror story exploring the topic of filicide. I apparently have this subject on my mind a lot lately given that another mini comic I’m working on deals with the same issue from a different approach 😅

I won’t say too much else about this for now since it’s under development, but I am very excited for this! I’m liking this color palette so far, but since our assignment is to create a piece in black and white, it may change. Either way, I’m looking forward to sharing more with you later 😄

HURRICANE RELIEF

I may live in NYC now, but I grew up in the Southeast of the US which is still recovering from multiple devastating hurricanes. Disabled people are particularly vulnerable to emergencies such as these due to our higher likelihood of experiencing poverty, racial discrimination, access limitations, and other ableist factors.

New Disabled South, as recommended by the wonderful disability advocate Imani Barbarin, is raising relief funds for people impacted by the storms. If you’ve got the ability, they’d appreciate your donation! If you’ve been impacted by the hurricanes yourself, you can apply for some of that financial aid through this form.

Donate to New Disabled South —>

SHORTBOX COMICS FAIR 2024

It’s ShortBox Comics Fair time!! There are about two weeks left before they close, so I want to take a moment to shout out my fellow Cartoonist Cooperative members with comics in this year’s fair:

If this is your first time hearing about the ShortBox Comics Fair, it’s an annual, month-long event where cartoonists self-publish their brand new comics at the fair in October. I’m always excited to see what so many incredible artists have made, and I’m blown away as usual this year by just how great this year’s group is, too!

Here are the ones I was able to pick up this year after much agonizing on not being able to buy all of the comics:

They’re sometimes sold later on the creators’ websites, but it’s not a guarantee, so I encourage you to check them out during these last couple weeks of the fair if you like what you see here. I’ve already read through all of mine (SO! GOOD!!), and I’m seriously considering picking up some more if I can squeeze them in 😅

And if you’re a fellow comics creator, don’t forget to apply for next year’s fair by November 22 at 8 PM UK Time!

Check out the fair! —>

IN THE SHOP

Disabled Witches is a zine celebrating fat, queer, disabled witches. Each of the thirty-one characters within was traditionally inked with pen and paper, then collected along with a profile for each of them into this zine, along with a bonus image at the end.

View in the Shop —>

OCTOBER ONGOINGS

Cartoonber is off to an amazing start! It’s been an absolute delight to watch folks teaming up and making art together, and I’m chuffed by my very kind Co-op friends going out of their way to share with me the eagerness of others about it! I feel lucky to be working with such kind and thoughtful people 💖

I was also very pleasantly surprised to hear about a generous write-up of Buttercup’s and my work on Cartoonber in SKTCHD’s post Comics Disassembled: Ten Things I Liked or Didn’t Like from the Past Week in Comics, Led by the Fairest of Them All. It’s only accessible to subscribers, but from what I’ve been told, it was evident that David Harper saw our intentions for the event clearly and was glad to see this kind of challenge happening in the online comics space, which feels amazing!

I’m also paired up with a lovely group to work on our own contribution to Cartoonber, a mini comic about reclaiming your inner child. My teammates are Joan Zahra Dark (script), Lief Bennett (illustrator), and Bruce Delo (letters); I’ll be practicing as a colorist for the team. I can’t wait to share what we’re working on with y’all!

It’s not too late to join us for Cartoonber if you’re interested! You don’t need experience to have fun with us this fall 😄 Check out the graphics above and join us on social media!

COMMUNITY FEATURES

Silver Sprocket, a beloved indie comics publisher whose owner Avi Ehrlich happens to be a volunteer with the Co-op, is having a fundraiser through the end of this month! Silver Sprocket publishes and sells an amazing collection of comics, many of them mini comics (which are near and dear to my heart), and they’re known for their love of socially conscious works.

Check Out the Fundraiser —>

Art by Al Acevedo

unSEEN/unHEARD: Disability & Neurodivergence Comic Anthology is a project on Kickstarter I’m excited to see happening! It's a “64-page anthology that collects 12 new slice of life, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, and horror short comics about dealing with disabilities or being neurodivergent.”

I was eager for this collection when I first saw it pop up on social media, then I was even more pleased to learn later that some Co-op members were involved in creating it: one of the editors/contributors, Anas Abdulhak, along with contributors Llewellyn and Mike Morrocco! Their crowdfunding campaign is ending October 18 at 8 PM ET, so check out before then if you’re interested in seeing this project come to life!

Check Out the Campaign —>

CARTOONIST COOPERATIVE

I think I forgot to mention last time, but one of the teams I’m on for the Nib + Ink Fest Committee is the Submissions Team, so I’ve been busy reading a TON of comics in my spare time these last couple weeks. We received 130 comic submissions! How amazing is that!

As of writing this, I’ve read a solid half of our submissions so far. It’s a really cool experience to read so many fantastic comics— our Co-op membership is chock full of talented people, and it’s an honor to read and review their work. I’m inspired and so impressed by the range of topics and art styles and stories I’ve seen!

I’ve also been helping out a bit with events and promo, and omg, I can’t wait to share what we have planned for May with y’all!! I definitely recommend signing up for our public NIF Mailing List if you’re interested in seeing those comics and events in the Spring!

Join the NIF 2025 Mailing List! —>

RECENT READS + FAVORITES

Here’s what I’ve been reading the last couple weeks in addition to my ShortBox Comics Fair haul:

Don’t forget, you can see all the links taking you directly to each comic in my Recent Reads 2024 post!

View Recent Reads 2024 —>

And here are some of my favorite things from the past couple weeks:

Listening: Chillhop Haunted House 🎃
Watching: Salem’s Lot (2024, on Max)
Using: These Colored Pencil Brushes by Fatima Mandouh
Experiencing: Hanging out with my friends and partner, playing with worms in the dirt with one of my favorite kiddos, and getting to meet the newest additions to our family!

And of course, finally being able to enjoy sweater weather! So happy to be able to wear my ghosties~

How about you? What’s been bringing you a lil bit of joy these last two weeks?

Hope this week is being kind to you, and if you celebrate, I hope you have a fun and safe Halloween! 💖 Thanks for reading!