kaiju press

Just printed the first issue of Thursday Night Comics, a loosey goosey newsletter from  Northside Comics Artists. We have open, barrier-free submissions. It’s an experiment: What comes in when you let anyone submit anything? What will be the appeal of seeing this chillin in the free stuff pile by the door of a comic book store? All these things I will learn as we go. Already learned some stuff doing this first one. Planning on taking these to a bunch of the stores in the city this weekend, so keep your eyes peeled.

OK so I’m a little late. But since @emdemarco and I are starting The Cojo List up to bring you the best new nonfiction comics, I thought I’d revisit some of the best stuff from last year.

The last time I took stock of the year’s progress in nonfiction comics was at the end of 2013. Here were my predictions: 

Higher-profile freelance pieces in national publications, new and exciting books, and new ways to post comics online that are intuitive and offer a natural reading experience.

I think we’ve definitely seen all three since I wrote that, and I want to pick out some examples of each. 

Higher-profile freelance pieces in national publications: So many! I loved Ron Wimberly’s snapshot of New Orleans in the printed pages of the New Yorker. Online, Julia Wertz has been creating hilarious mainly history-based pieces for the NYer, including this one with a delightful IRL surprise at the end. 

new and exciting books: I have loved books One and Two of “March,” by Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell. Powell’s cartooning is amazing and the story is fantastic and really needs to be told right now. Next year will bring some exciting books by Andy Warner, Sarah Glidden, and the Illustrated Press.

new ways to post comics online that are intuitive and offer a natural reading experience: Sites like the Nib and Fusion made posting comics look easy, with many beautiful examples. See Andy on legal weed and Mike Dawson on ethical eating. Also, this piece by Matt Huynh called “The Boat” is so successful as an interactive experience it may become the “Snowfall” of this kind of work.

Another trend this year: More than ever, there are plenty of stories that blend drawing and writing successfully in ways that might not be comics, but feel like something besides illustrated essays. Richard Johnson, who was until recently Senior Graphics Editor at the Washington Post, did a number of amazing stories, like this one, that integrate live sketching and other elements. This horizontal slideshow about soccer “Ultras” on Italian site Graphic News by Brochendors Brothers really charmed me. Susie Cagle has done a lot of long text stories featuring her art, and her longread about Housing First was great and about an issue very important to me.

Other stories that I really jumped out at me this year:

Gary Rivlin and Jackie Roche on the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans

Em DeMarco on John Fetterman’s Senate campaign

Kazimir Lee Iskander on trans people in Malaysia

Jess Ruliffson and Josiah White about a veteran’s forgiveness

Rebecca Roher on her friend’s “Mom Body”

And so many more! Again, these are just my subjective favorites from 2015.

My prediction for 2016 and on: More and more, I think nonfiction cartoonists are realizing what they have in common with writers of what has been called “narrative nonfiction,” “the New Journalism” or more recently, just “longform.” (We’re not the only medium with an identity crisis). This influence has always been there, but comics journalism has always leaned pretty heavily on documentary tropes. I think we’ll see more character-driven longform stories, and more interest from longform readers. On the technology side, I’m hoping for more solutions towards making text in comics searchable. Project Naptha’s chrome extension is a good start but has a really hard time with hand-drawn typefaces. 

Wondering around spx​ not paying much attention a little book called to me. It’s name was:

a. afarensis 

Drawn and put together by johnvestevich who I met and exchanged some words about the the current and fast changing landscape of hominids including Homo floresiensis and the recently discovered  Homo naledi and how much of a fertile ground for stories each of this discoveries is.

The comic itself is a very enjoyable experience equal parts science and brutal nature. The punishing narrative is quickly rewarded with some handsome illustrations by a selection of great artist including my friend Jamie Hibdon ( linguafrancacomics  ).