Category: comics

  • Release Event For the 2nd Printing of Jeff Zwirek's Burning Building Comix 8/15

    bbcChicago artist, Jeff Zwirek self-published his debut Graphic Novel, Burning Building Comix, in late 2012. Less than a year later, Zwirek’s supply was nearly gone thanks in large part to the direct market distribution he received with Diamond Comics Distribution through alternative comic’s publisher Top Shelf. After a spate of universal acclaim, Zwirek has gone back to press with a 2nd printing.  In that time, Burning Building Comix, was named in a few, year-end top ten lists, including USA Today, and it gained Zwirek the role of Slate.com’s featured artist for their July book review section, which also called the book, “The most inventively made comic of the year.” Join Jeff at Quimby’s to celebrate the second printing.

    “A Bold Exploration of the Form”  – The Chicago Tribune

    Jeff Zwirek is the author of several self-published works, including Burning Building Comix, Jack Rabbit, BlackStar, Pinstriped Bloodbath, and many others. His work has been nominated for Ignatz and Space prize awards, and his work has been named a “notable comic” several times in the Best American Comics anthology. His freelance work has been seen on NFL.com, IFC, and ESPN. He is also one of the founders of, and continues to co-organize, CAKE (the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo).

    Join Jeff at Quimby’s to celebrate the occasion on Friday, August 15th at 7pm.

    Book Tour Poster - Quimbys Flat

  • Corinne Mucha Reads from “Get Over It!” 7/25

     

    getoveritbiggerCorinne Mucha’s new graphic novel, Get Over It! (Secret Acres), details the true-life story of a messy breakup.  Through a series of comic vignettes, the story follows the author as she deals with a  serious relationship’s end, and eventually learns the tough lessons of letting go. “Get Over It!” is a hilarious tale about a subject every decent person can relate to: getting BURNED BY LOVE.

     

     “Corinne Mucha’s Get Over It! is a balm for the heart broken… We’re bombarded with romance all the time; rarer is the tale that gets you to root for the life-giving joys of letting go.”- Kevin Tang, Buzzfeed

     

    “(In Get Over It!) Mucha maintains the auto-biographical sweet-spot, maintaining a balance between the personal and involved, without descending into narcissism, whilst hilariously dredging through the universal impulses and emotions of the post break-up period.” –Zainab Ahktar, Publisher’s Weekly

     

    Corinne Mucha is a Chicago based cartoonist, illustrator, and teaching artist. Her comics work includes the Xeric funded My Alaskan Summer, the Ignatz award winning The Monkey in the Basement and Other Delusions (Retrofit Comics) and the YA graphic novel Freshman: Tales of 9th Grade Obsessions, Revelations, and Other Nonsense. Her work has appeared in publications such as Chicago Magazine, Cicada, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Truthout.

     

    For more info: web or contact info: www.maidenhousefly.com

    Friday,  July 25th, 7pm – Free Event

  • Elisha Lim, MariNaomi & Mike Dawson read from their Graphic Novels to kick off the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo at Quimby’s 5/30

    The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo will kick off its third year’s festivities with a reading at Quimby’s Bookstore with three of its many exciting exhibitors. Join us the Friday before the festival to welcome comics makers, MariNaomi, Elisha Lim and Mike Dawson as they read excerpts from their new graphic novels.

    100-Crushes_560px   tumblr_n0mw6wCrbJ1soutgdo1_1280   dragonsbreath

    MariNaomi will read from her book, Dragon’s Breath and Other True Stories (2DCloud). In this collection of thought-provoking, emotionally honest graphic vignettes, MariNaomi explores a wide spectrum of topics including youthful rebellion, mortality, disillusionment and compassion.

    Mike Dawson will read from his book Angie Bongiolatti (Secret Acres). Set in the same universe as Troop 142, Dawson’s much acclaimed tale of Boy Scouts gone wild, Angie Bongiolatti puts away childish things and moves into the city.

    Elisha Lim will read from their book 100 Crushes (Koyama Press), which compiles five years of queer comics. It is an absorbing documentary that travels through Toronto, Berlin, Singapore, and beyond in the form of interviews, memoirs, and gossip from an international queer vanguard.

    Entertainment Weekly called Mike Dawson’s debut graphic novel, Freddie & Me: A Coming-of-Age (Bohemian) Rhapsody, “undeniably contagious”, while the UK Daily Telegraph said it was “Charming, sincere and, above all, expressively drawn”. Troop 142, his second graphic novel, was nominated for multiple Ignatz Awards, including Outstanding Graphic Novel, and was the winner in the Online Comic category. Dawson is also the co-host of The Ink Panthers Show!, a comics-themed “lifestyle” podcast. http://mikedawwwson.tumblr.com

    Toronto-based artist Elisha Lim’s work celebrates the dignity and power of being neither straight, nor white, nor cis-gendered. In 2011 they also successfully advocated for Canadian gay media to adopt the gender neutral pronoun “they.” http://elishalim.com

    MariNaomi is the author and illustrator of the award-winning graphic memoir Kiss & Tell: A Romantic Resume, Ages 0 to 22 (Harper Perennial, 2011), the upcoming books Dragon’s Breath and Other True Stories and Turning Japanese (2D Cloud), and her self-published zine, Estrus Comics (1998 to 2009). Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies, including I Saw You: Comics Inspired by Real Life Missed Connections, Cheers to Muses: Contemporary Works by Asian American Women, No Straight Lines, Anything That Loves, QU33R and Action Girl Comics.Her comics and essays have been featured on The Rumpus, The Weeklings, Truth-out, SFBay.CA, The Comics Journal, The Bay Citizen, XOJane and more. http://marinaomi.com

    Cake14-banner_final

    The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo [CAKE] is a weekend-long celebration of independent comics, inspired by Chicago’s rich legacy as home to many of underground and alternative comics’ most talented artists– past, present and future. Featuring comics for sale, workshops, exhibitions, panel discussions and more, CAKE is dedicated to fostering community and dialogue amongst independent artists, small presses, publishers and readers. This year’s CAKE is May 31 & June 1st at the Center on Halsted (3656 N Halsted), and is free and open to the public. http://cakechicago.com

    Visit http://cakechicago.com or e-mail cakexpo [at] gmail.com for more information.

    Fri, May 30, 7pm – Free Event
    Quimby’s Bookstore Chicago, IL quimbys.com

  • Trubble Club Draws Your True Inner Self for Free Comic Book Day 5/3

    trubble-club-header

    Join the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo [CAKE] at Quimby’s Bookstore [1854 W North Ave] on Saturday May 3rd 7pm to celebrate Free Comic Book Day with Chicago’s Trubble Club!

    This year, the Trubble Club has modified the Quimby’s photo booth to capture your true essence. Come hang out with some of Chicago’s best comics artists as they collaboratively reveal your inner self by interpreting psychic signals from their magical photobooth. Snacks and refreshments will be provided by CAKE, and free comic books will be available for pick up (while supplies last).

    glory

    Trubble Club started as a group of Chicago-based cartoonist making jam comics. While we still do that, and love doing that, we’ve been branching out. The Infinite Corpse is a never-ending webcomic spearheaded by Trubble Club, that includes panels by both totally unknown artists, and institutions, like Art Speigelman and Kim Deitch. We have also recently done commissioned installations for the Museum of Contemporary Art, The DePaul Art Museum, and the John Michael Kohler Art Center.

    The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo [CAKE] is a weekend-long celebration of independent comics, inspired by Chicago’s rich legacy as home to many of underground and alternative comics’ most talented artists– past, present and future. Featuring comics for sale, workshops, exhibitions, panel discussions and more, CAKE is dedicated to fostering community and dialogue amongst independent artists, small presses, publishers and readers. This year’s CAKE is May 31 & June 1st at the Center on Halsted (3656 N Halsted), and is free and open to the public.

    Visit http://cakechicago.com or e-mail cakexpo@gmail.com for more information.

    Sat, May 3, 7pm – Free Event
    Quimby’s Bookstore Chicago, IL quimbys.com

  • off-site: CAKE FRAME 2: Live Art Auction and Brain Frame Comics Performance Event to Benefit CAKE 4/20

    cakeframeSun, April 20 at the Co-Prosperity Sphere, 3219 S Morgan Street, Chicago IL 60608 (NOT at Quimby’s)

    Doors at 6pm, show at 7pm
    $5 – $20 sliding scale entry

    For the second year running, the performative comics reading series Brain Frame is teaming up with the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE) to host the CAKE Frame fundraiser, an evening of comics readings and a live art auction. Cake Frame 2 is All proceeds go to benefit CAKE, the weekend-long celebration of independent comics featuring comics for sale, workshops, exhibitions, panel discussions and more. CAKE is dedicated to fostering community and dialogue amongst independent artists, small presses, publishers and readers.

    Brain Frame founder Lyra Hill will host the evening as master of ceremonies and auctioneer. Attendees can bid on original art from 30 talented Chicagoans including Chris Ware, Nicole Hollander, Ivan Brunetti, and Edie Fake. All bids for artworks will start at $30. The evening will also include a wide variety of comics performances by Brain Frame alums Kevin Budnik, Rachel Niffenegger, Pup House and Jen Rickert. There will be live drawing by Jenna Caravello and live music by El Is A Sound Of Joy. Doors open at 6pm and the event starts at 7pm, but we recommend attendees arrive early if they want to review the auction items before bidding.

    With only two months until CAKE on May 31/June 1 at the Center on Halstead, the CAKE organizers are kicked into full gear. Organizers Ben Bertin, Neil Brideau, Marnie Galloway, Max Morris, Grace Tran and Jeff Zwirek are committed to making this year’s show one that goes down in history, and the CAKE Frame 2 fundraiser will help them towards that goal.

    For more information on CAKE, please visit cakechicago.com
    For more information on Brain Frame, please visit brainframe.tumblr.com
    Contact: Max Morris, cakexpo(at)gmail(dot)com

  • Gregory Benton Brings B+F to Quimby's 3/22

    AD.BplusFcover.REDO3x4

    Gregory Benton’s book B+F was awarded the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art’s inaugural Award of Excellence at MoCCAFest 2013. An expanded version of B+F was published in the autumn of 2013 through AdHouse Books (USA) and Editions ça et la (France).

    B+F is a wordless meditation on goodwill, hostility, and isolation. It’s a fable, a meandering tale of two friends that explores an otherworldly forest with a naked woman “F” and a large yellow dog “B” as they encounter its denizens, both benevolent and malicious. The characters are pulled apart by circumstance and the obstacles that they must overcome to find each other again.

    Gregory has embarked on a nation-wide tour in support of B+F. He is excited to add Quimby’s of Chicago to the list of stores he is visiting. He’ll be “dedicating” books to customers, meaning that he’ll spend time with each customer drawing in their books, more common in the European comics festival tradition.

    Gregory Benton has been making comix since 1993. He cut his teeth on the political anthology World War 3, moving on to writing and drawing stories for Nickelodoeon, Vertigo, DC Comics, Disney Adventures, Watson-Guptil, Entertainment Weekly, as well as contributing to numerous alternate-press comix anthologies. A graphic novel, Hummingbird, was published by Slave Labor Graphics in 1996. Gregory has also produced numerous limited-edition mini-comix. Hopefully you have some. His illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice and Fortune, among others.

    Details:
    B+F
    64 4C pages
    10 ” x 15 ” HC
    $24.95 US funds
    ISBN 978-1-935233-25-1

    For more info: gregorybenton.com

    Click here to read an interview with Gregory Benton.

    gregorybentonauthorphoto

    (author photo credit to Seth Kushner)

    Saturday, March 22nd, 7pm

    Click here to see the Facebook event post for this event.

  • Hillary Chute Discusses Outside the Box: Interviews with Contemporary Cartoonists 4/19

    outsidethebox

    We are living in a golden age of cartoon art. Never before has graphic storytelling been so prominent or garnered such respect: critics and readers alike agree that contemporary cartoonists are creating some of the most innovative and exciting work in all the arts.

    For nearly a decade Hillary L. Chute has been sitting down for extensive interviews with the leading figures in comics, and with Outside the Box: Interviews With Contemporary Cartoonists (University of Chicago | 272 pages | 39 color plates, 31 halftones | 7 x 10) she offers readers a chance to share her ringside seat. Chute’s in-depth discussions with twelve of the most accomplished artists and writers in comics today reveal a creative community that is richly interconnected yet fiercely independent, its members sharing many interests while working with wildly different styles and themes. Chute’s subjects run the gamut of contemporary comics practice, from those of underground pioneers like Art Spiegelman and Lynda Barry, to the analytic work of Scott McCloud, the journalism of Joe Sacco, and the extended narratives of Alison Bechdel and Charles Burns. They reflect on their experience and innovations, the influence of peers and mentors, the reception of their art and the growth of critical attention, and the crucial place of print amid the encroachment of the digital age.

    “This is a book of great interviews with great cartoonists. The interviews are great because Hillary Chute is great. She knows how cartooning works and she intimately knows the work of the artists she’s interviewing. The interviews are smart, insightful, and very readable. This isn’t dry stuff nor is it fluffy. It’s the real stuff. Anyone interested in the minds of today’s cartooning masters will want to read it.” –Seth, author of Palookaville

    Hillary L. Chute is the Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of English at the University of Chicago and the author of Graphic Women: Life Narrative and Contemporary Comics.

    For more info:

    press.uchicago.edu

    Levi Stahl, promotions director, University of Chicago Press; lstahl(at)press(dot)uchicago.edu or 773 702 0289.

    Sat, Apr 19th, 7pm – Free Event

  • New Online Literary Journal, Goreyesque, Seeking Submissions

    gorey_2014-450x300

    Columbia College Chicago’s Department of Creative Writing is launching a new online literary journal, Goreyesque (www.goreyesque.com), now open for submissions. (And no, you don’t have to be a student at Columbia to submit your work).

    Both an homage and showcase of contemporary artists and storytellers inspired by Edward Gorey’s lasting influence across genres, Goreyesque seeks works that are darkly humorous, surreal, playful, and anything in between. Short stories, essays, poems, illustrations, video/animation and other forms of art all welcome. Original work preferred but reprints that fit the project’s scope also appreciated (see submission guidelines). Work can be sent to: goreysubmissions(at)gmail(dot)com.

    The launch of Goreyesque coincides with the Chicago debut of Elegant Enigmas: The Art of Edward Gorey and G is for Gorey—C is for Chicago: The Collection of Thomas Michalak, at the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA), Feb. 15 – Jun. 15. While Elegant Enigmas has traveled the country since 2009, the companion exhibition G is for Gorey provides an even closer in-depth look at Gorey’s legacy, including his illustrations for book jackets and magazine articles, and his life and work on Cape Cod.

    Gorey’s artwork returns to his home town for the first time with this special exhibition and reading/performance showcase, so writers and artists should be sure to send Gorey-inspired work soon! All works submitted before Apr. 14 will be considered for a public reading and showcase at LUMA’s gallery space in Chicago on Apr. 29. Top 5 submissions will also receive the exhibition catalogue Elegant Enigmas: The Art of Edward Gorey.

    Special guest judges for the reading: Sam Weller, author of The Bradbury Chronicles, and Mort Castle, author of Bram Stoker award-winning New Moon on the Water. Both served as co-editors of Stoker award-winning Shadow Show: All New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury.

    For more info, contact Todd Summar at goreysubmissions@gmail.com

  • Art Spiegelman's WORDLESS! with music by Phillip Johnston at the Logan Center, Performance Hall

    a63c7b1fb38a36f79dc46025_580x408

    Two performances only
    Sat, Jan 25, 2014 / 3 pm and 8 pm
    Logan Center, Performance Hall
    In his Pulitzer prize-winning masterpiece, Maus—a moving father-son memoir about the Holocaust drawn with cats and mice—Art Spiegelman changed the definition of comics forever. In WORDLESS!—a new and stimulating hybrid of slides, talk and musical performance—he probes further into the nature and possibilities of his medium.
    A noted artist, historian and theorist of comics, Spiegelman collaborates with critically-acclaimed jazz composer Phillip Johnston, whose all-new scores performed by his sextet will accompany the cartoonist’s personal tour of early graphic novels and their influence on him: silent picture stories made by early 20th Century masters like Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward and Milt Gross. As Spiegelman explores “the battle between Words and Pictures,” he smashes at the hyphen between High and Low Art in a presentation featuring a new work drawn specifically for this project, “Shaping Thought.”
    The Logan Center is proud to host the Chicago premiere of Art Spiegelman and Phillip Johnston’s WORDLESS!, an innovative show combining slides, talk, film, and live musical performance.

  • Chicago Zine Fest Looking For Submissions For Zine

    CZF-14-web-banner

    As per their press release:

    The Chicago Zine Fest will be celebrating its fifth year of existence next year! We’re blown away by the massive zine love that takes place in Chicago each spring, and we are thankful that you’ve been a part of making that happen. To celebrate this five year milestone, we are putting together a comp zine of CZF stories. Do you have a memorable CZF experience, anecdote, or adventure? We’d love it if you could be a part of this project!

    The details:
    Submissions should be 1-3 pages
    Submissions should be half size (5.5” x 8.5”)
    New or previously published work accepted
    Submissions should be about something related to the Chicago Zine Fest
    A high resolution (at least 300 dpi) JPEG or PDF of the submission can be emailed to chicagozinefest@gmail.com.

    Along with your submission, please send a contributor bio (featuring your name, the title of your zine, contact info, and a few sentences about yourself) to be listed in the back of the zine.

    We reserve the right not to include every submission. Contributors will receive a copy of the zine, so please include your mailing address with your submission.

    Submissions are due by February 1, 2014. The zine will be sold at CZF 2014 & online, with all proceeds going towards CZF.

    Thank you for being a part of the Chicago Zine Fest!