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BOY, I LOVE YOU
Boy, I Love You is a comics anthology celebrating the boys' love genre. Seven stories from seven creators will introduce you to radio hosts, models, mecha pilots, & scientists, and the challenges they'll face at the intersection of life & love.
Boy, I Love You features the work of Aatmaja Pandya, Kou Chen, Shivana Sookdeo, Emily Forster, Marlena Konglau, Eric Alexander Arroyo, and S.M. Vidaurri, with a cover by Caelin Cacciatore.
Another panel from Kou’s story, “Aperture”
A moody panel from Kou Chen’s comic, “Aperture”
Smoking’s bad for you, kids!
Same, Tsukasa.
An excerpt from Kou Chen’s story, “Aperture”
Newsletter: September 7th
Operation: Pizza Jam
Friday, 9/7 • 6:30 PM • Room 703G
Get ready for a fantastic evening this Friday as we start off the new year with free pizza, mingling, and a rad jam comic session!
Continue below the cut for more info, local events, and art credits!
For those that are newcomers to Cartoon Allies, we'll introduce to you to useful resources and share what Cartoon Allies can do for you. We'll cover SVA's cartooning-related facilities, CA's promotional services, and how to stay active in our fun & spectacular comics community!
Returning students can expect to find old friends and word of new events and guest speakers. Discuss your summer projects, welcome new allies, and submit your minicomics to be sold at the Small Press Expo!
Once you all know what's in store for the upcoming year, we're going to join together for an awesome round of jam comics! Join forces with our newest generation of cartoonists or form a bond with more experienced peers to guide you through your comics journey.
Stick around till the end because the groovy comics fun doesn't stop there.
Be sure to RSVP and spread the word on Facebook!
A Stronger Community
Cartoon Allies' foundation has always lain in the ties that bind the SVA comics community. As the publishing world becomes a crazier place, it's never been more important for our student body to stand united, share their skills and goals, and help build the support network that will keep us strong well beyond graduation.
Chris Ware: Building Stories
This weekend, an exhibition of cartoonist Chris Ware's work will be debuting at the Adam Baumbold Gallery. Entitled Building Stories, the show will run from September 8th to October 27th. The opening will be held this Saturday from 5 to 8 pm, with Ware in attendance.
Brooklyn Book Festival
On Sunday, September 23rd, Brooklyn will be hosting a book festival involving over 200 authors, including Becky Cloonan, Adrian Tomine, Derek Kirk Kim, and Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez. Check out their schedule for a week's worth of bookend events, starting September 17th.
Peter Schmidt
Wyeth Yates
Kate Drwecka
Emily Kay Jolkovski
Eric Alexander Arroyo
Suzi Glass
Kou Chen
Library Recommendations: Wandering Son
The School of Visual Arts Library is a sanctuary for students and comics lovers. While it's easy to get caught up in our work, it's important that we take advantage of this great resource to find inspiration, get a new perspective on our work, and to take a break and remember why we're working so hard. Join us as the Cartoon Allies recommend stories in our library that captivate and inspire us in these semi-regular Library Recommendations.
Wandering Son by Shimura Takako (published in the U.S. by Fantagraphics) is one of my favorite Japanese comics, and I can safely say it has contributed in changing my life. The sensitive, well-paced, and down-to-earth storytelling coupled with Shimura's simple yet effective art only touch the surface of the reasons why you should pick up Wandering Son for an afternoon browse.
Before I explore how much I love the art style and the characters in this series, I’d like to take a moment to mention how much I appreciate the effort Fantagraphics has put into publishing Wandering Son. The story is well-deservedly published with a beautiful spot-glossed hardcover in an oversized format; its larger than average printing helps the artwork's subtleties shine, while Fantagraphics treats the release with the same sophistication it does its Western comics. The book's editing offers many translation and cultural notes which target an audience new to reading manga, without assuming a patronizing tone that could shun other readers. My only complaint with this localization regard a few typos I encountered in the dialogue. The importance of Wandering Son matches the attention given to its presentation.
The book opens up to gorgeous colors from the character introduction, contents, and opening pages, Shimura’s gentle gradient watercolors bringing the reader into Wandering Son’s atmosphere right from the start.
Wandering Son follows Nitori Shuichi, a boy who wants to be a girl, and Takatsuki Yoshino, a girl who wants to be a boy. They are drawn to each other and form a friendship that helps guide them through finding their own identities and confirming who they want to be.
The storyline is relatively low-drama, but by no means boring. The reader is sometimes led into the mind of Shuichi and his thoughts and daydreams as he interacts with his fellow classmates as well as a couple other special people he meets outside of school. All of the characters have distinct and realistic personalities, and as you read through and get to meet each and every one of them, you’ll probably be reminded of a similar person you’ve met in school before, too. The story starts when they’re in fifth grade, a time where childhood innocence begins to end and complex thoughts begin. In my eyes, the flaws and insecurities of the kids in Wandering Son are very pure. Despite the chronological daily life style of storytelling, it’s definitely a page-turner.
Anybody could benefit from reading Wandering Son; whether you relate to the characters personally or not, the story shows a fair and accurate depiction of the train of thought these kids go through and the actions they take. It focuses a lot more on their interactions rather than the drama that is most often attached to this genre. Bullying is present, but it's not the main focus. What's made important is the self-exploration of Shuichi and Yoshino (and of course, other characters do a bit of growing up, too).
The first volume is available in the library for those who wish to check it out. If you enjoy it, please consider purchasing a copy to support the series and help guarantee the printing of further volumes! The second volume is not yet in the library, but it is available for purchase now, and the third volume is set to release in May. The original series is still on-going in Japan, but hopefully it will be fully translated when it’s finished.
Kou Chen is a sophomore cartooning major who comes from Taiwan. He enjoys movies like The Fall, books like The Book Thief, and comics like Black Jack. His life goal is to overhear someone talking about something he created, because "by all means if my stories are interesting enough to share, I've done my job." He loves tea and fluffy things... like alpacas.
From the Frontline: Mark Siegel
The Cartoonist Alliance's campaign in the fight for spectacular comics has been a long and thrilling adventure. In From the Frontline, officers put the spotlight on notable events and meetings our club has organized or been a part of. Be sure to check out our last article, Hayley @ Group Critique Night #1.
Illustration by Aodhan Cummings
Guest Speaker: Mark Siegel
Two weeks ago, Mark Siegel from First Second Books came to Cartoon Allies as a guest speaker and shared valuable advice from the perspective of both a publisher and an artist.
If you wanted to know what he had to say but weren’t able to be there to experience it all, read on to find out more about it! The list isn’t perfect, but we’ve got some important notes down on what most publishing companies are about and good ideas for artists to follow when trying to appeal to editors or publishers.
Mark Siegel entered publishing ten years ago. Having grown up in France, he was used to comics being a part of mainstream reading, and the same could be said about Japan. In France, if you wanted to be successful, you’d go into comics, but in America, comics were a tougher, less profitable business. It was time America’s comics got into every household. It was time to make comics that you never throw away.
A lot of people had questions about editors. Mark told us that a lot of people think of editors a little differently than what they really are. DC and Marvel’s creation of the idea of editors is this icy cold hovering person, treating comics like an assembly line. But we need to understand what an editor is. An editor is essential. When you need help, they ask the tough questions that help the artist find their own way around the problem. They aren’t the ones who tell you that you forgot a hat or needed to change a panel; that would be in proofreading, something a copy editor does.
In case some people didn’t know what the mindset of publishing companies was like, Mark Siegel gave us a fair warning and a mindset of our own to have when going to work with publishers. “Publishing companies are in the business of books, not your art. Go into it wisely,” he told us. To them it’s a source of profit, not a praise of how great your work is. It’s not a good or bad thing, it just is. Some people forget that and expect that once companies want them, they can do whatever they want, but that is widely not the case.
Now some tips for the artists!
“Don’t only breathe comics. Accept all kinds of inspiration.”
Go to tables and talk to editors and publishers at conventions if you want, but don’t show up with a big portfolio and expect them to want to carefully look through it. These people are already tired enough from being at the convention and dealing with a multitude of other things. Most likely they already had several offers to look at work before you, so if you show up with a thick portfolio at the wrong timing, they may turn you away.
Instead, it’s better to show them a mini comic you made if you have one and give it to them. Even if they don’t look at it on the spot, at least somehow it will probably end up back in the office, and then someone might eventually look at it.
If you’re showing your storytelling, show them your mini comic and give it to them. If you’re showing your chops as an artist, show them a portfolio but have your portfolio be consistent in what you want them to know you can do. If you want to show how good you are at inking, for example, have the portfolio be filled with inked pages or illustrations.
Trust your work when talking to editors and publishers in person. Be confident. Sell yourself. Your work may not be ripe yet, but if it’s right, the editors will have an instinct and tell you if they think it’s getting there. Know that if they want you to work with them right away, they’ll trade contact information with you and get to you within the week. If they seem to be interested in your work but perhaps not immediately, it’s okay to send emails to them, but be careful how you go about it.
If there’s a connection and you want to keep in touch with them, you can make little updates with brief samples of your work. Make it count! Keep it warm, and don’t send long pointless emails. Simple short interactions over a longer period of time are better than long chunky emails that will make the receiver of the email uninterested. There’s no need to elaborate so much on your work if you trust that your work speaks for itself. Editors will appreciate it and even enjoy quick, short updates on your work to see how you’re doing, and that will help you get your foot in the door if you build a good relationship with them.
When sending a proposal, get the editor hooked into your story. Be BRIEF. Give a synopsis, samples up to three pages, character designs, etc. to help them get a feel for the story. There’s no need for long extensive essays on the background of your tale. Again, trust that your work speaks for itself.
Be ambitious!
“Aim to create works that’ll last forever, not just to satisfy yourself. “
There are many ‘good’ stories that start on a great premise, but halfway through the story, some of these ideas start falling apart. That’s how some stories remain good, and don't go on to become great or sublime.
May you take this advice to heart and keep fighting.
Onwards, Allies!
Kou Chen is a sophomore cartooning major who comes from Taiwan. He enjoys movies like The Fall, books like The Book Thief, and comics like Black Jack. His life goal is to overhear someone talking about something he created, because "by all means if my stories are interesting enough to share, I've done my job." He loves tea and fluffy things... like alpacas.
Meet the Officers
The semester's well underway, and we're off to a great start! It's about time, then, that we formally introduced the intrepid officers behind the Cartoon Allies. We asked the team to summarize themselves and talk about why they think CA is a significant part of our department. Hilary Allison The President Hilary is a senior comic-stripper and fourth-year Cartoon Ally... a hyperactive social pollinator with a big mouth and an addiction to projects that induce a sense of purpose. Born on a Friday, five blocks from SVA, she has since bounced through a sundry of addresses and is happy to call Brooklyn Navy Yard her current home.
"It is our mission to foster a spirit of camaraderie between cartoonists of all majors while strengthening ties to the larger cartoonisphere. We promote our art beyond individual capability. And we have a fun time."
Adrian James
The Admiral (Treasurer & Table Manager)
Adrian is a queer cartooning senior on the lam from reality. "I want Allies to be a safe space for all realms of cartooning, for it to be a conduit that allows people to meet like-minded individuals and expound, collaborate, and extend the means of comics-making as well as give each other helpful advice so we can grow and advance. CA should provide an alternative to that sometimes awkward experience of being thrown into classes, not knowing your peers, and being held in the binds of quiet academia. I want CA to be a Salon des Comics, where we will entertain ideas, share history, and move forward in our thinking!"
Eric Alexander Arroyo
The Major (Email & Blog Commander)
Eric Alexander Arroyo (accept no substitutes) is a hot-blooded junior who wears a fedora, digs giant robots, and obsesses over flowing scarves. He's spent his life wandering Florida and Las Vegas, and hopes to find an apartment in the bowels of a volcano. Although he's training to be a cartoonist, he'd rather be a crime-fighting cyborg when he grows up.
"Above all, I want Cartoon Allies to be a valuable resource for everyone who loves comics. CA should be a community through which we can share our knowledge, collaborate, and form bonds that extend beyond this school. Using multimedia tools to help push this organization and our department's amazing artists into the greater comicsphere is integral to that."
Hayley Weber
Lieutenant (Email Officer & Blogger)
Hayley is a junior cartooning major who hails from the most boring part of New Jersey. To distract herself from this sad fate, she reads and draws girly comic books, watches weird British TV shows, and stalks her favorite bands.
"I want Cartoon Allies to be a place where everyone feels comfortable speaking up and participating, no matter their year or style, so that it becomes a tight-knit community."
Kou Chen
Agent
Kou is a sophomore cartooning major who comes from Taiwan. He enjoys movies like The Fall, books like The Book Thief and comics like Black Jack. His life goal is to overhear someone talking about something he created, because "by all means if my stories are interesting enough to share, I've done my job". He loves tea and fluffy things... like alpacas.
"I want there to be something interesting in the club for everyone, that Cartoon Allies becomes a destination for cool facts about the comics world and quenches the thirst of curious minds."
Matt Clark
Matt is a cartooning sophomore. He is a golden retriever, woof, woof (...though he would rather not be). He has weird obsessions.
"Cartoon Allies' mission should be to advance the skills of artists while giving them a place of community to expand their networks."
Emily Kay Jolkovski
Sergeant-in-Arms
Emily "Skippy" Kay Jolkovski, a sophomore cartooning major from a small DC suburb in Northern Virginia, was born the year Punk broke and became a werewolf shortly afterwards. She enjoys 80's-90's alt rock and grunge, early swing and jazz, Klezmer music, Mexican Indian and Chinese cuisine, Coen Bros films, magical realism, sharks, controlling peoples' minds, and long walks on the beach after driving a stake into a Vampire's heart.
"I love Cartoon Allies because of the wonderful community it builds between comic artists and comic lovers, and the opportunities it brings to young artists like myself. Cartoon Allies is a great opportunity and I hope to see you there. If you see me, say hi!"
