#2dcloud

Hey comics friends, I’ve been seeing the Altcomics tumblr being reblogged a lot lately, and I understand why! It’s got a great collection of independent comics on the artistic/poetic side of things. But people may not know that altcomics is run by Blaise Larmee,  who was fired from his position as creative editor at 2dcloud publishing for “predatory behavior” in January, 2018.

There's not much more information out there, but 2dcloud felt this was serious enough to actually pulp his most recent book 3 Books and to even discontinue their original zine/event series Altcomics on top of firing him! They made two statements on their twitter on Jan 21st, 2018, and also published a longer public statement on Medium on Jan 14th that has now been deleted, but can be read via the Wayback Machine. Here’s some relevant quotes: 

(1) We regret publishing 3 Books. We take responsibility for publishing it and thus hurting survivors. Although we did not know what we know now, we acknowledge that we should have known better and researched more thoroughly prior to publication.

(2) Survivors want complete privacy. More on this subject would be inappropriate to share. Please respect their wishes and do not make inquiries.

(3) We pulped and pulled all of our copies of 3 Books from our inventory and no longer offer it for sale on our site.

(4) 2dcloud is cutting ties with Blaise Larmee. Blaise Larmee was in charge of 2dcloud’s website, visual designs, and Altcomics magazine. We are working on the new website; we discontinued using “Altcomics” name for our zines and our event series.

Margot Ferrick is an artist based in Chicago and published several books with 2dcloud, Perfectly Acceptable Press and Believed Behavior. I saw her work in her wonderful studio in Chicago. Beautiful dark drawings of unknown animals and people in different formats were hanging next and on top of each other. I’m so impressed by the unusual look and colors, unlike anything I have ever seen before. Looking at Margots drawings feels like you’re getting lost in someones sacred chamber. Margot gave us a little insight to her art and we are so happy to show her work at The Millionaires Club!

I admire your use of Typography. It is very unique in the comics world. How did you come with that look? Thanks! I don't know anything about typography or calligraphy...I feel like I'm a child just making shapes that are intuitive. I was trying to learn more about medieval manuscripts at the time and took at lot from that. There's a weird quality to those written letters that I don't really know how to articulate. I read that at the time the act of reading was really different from what it is now - you wouldn't necessarily sit down and read a book silently to yourself, you would read to speak the words out loud. I think you can sense that when you look at that stuff. The letters seem more physical, they come from the mouth and body instead of the mind... they're more connected to voice and action.  

Poetry is the leading narrative in most of your books. Who are the writers that inspire you the most? What are you reading lately? I actually don't read much poetry and I'm pretty unfamiliar that world! I also have never thought of my work or writing as poetry. I think I took more inspiration from song lyrics, which I guess are similar to poetry anyway? I was thinking about D'angelo a lot while making my book Yours. Maybe it's not so much the words themselves but the delivery that I think about. I do think about Emily Dickinson a lot though because of how compact and powerful her language is. Her original manuscripts were a huge inspiration to me too- her handwriting has this weird, amazing sensitivity, very visceral and expressive but never flashy. Even her placement of words on a piece of paper is expressive and meaningful. She would write on envelopes and irregularly shaped scraps of paper and always seemed aware of the space and borders of the writing surface. Maybe that's kind of off topic though!

Your work seems very personal but yet abstract. How important is it for you that the reader is able to grasp your visual code?   It's very important to me! I really really want people to understand what I'm making and one of my major goals moving forward is to make my work more accessible. I hadn't really thought about it that much when I made my book Yours...I'm always worried that book comes off as too inward gazing or too self-indulgent. I just really needed to make something cathartic at the time and maybe it didn't matter whether or not anyone one else could enter the work. That work is still important to me but I really want to go back to making narratives where there's more room for a reader to move around and interpret things.

You changed your artist name from Sarah Ferrick to Margot Ferrick last year. What was the reason for this transformation? I think I really just needed the sense of control. There's a lot of other reasons that might not make as much sense if I try to explain it... Margot is what I would've named a child if I had one, my grandmother's name was Margaret, the ballerina Margot Fonteyn is important to me... I guess I also felt like the part of me that was Sarah died in some way. Also, Sarah I think means "princess" or "lady" and I sort of stopped resonating with that meaning. Margot seems like an older creature to me and I associate more with queens (there was a French queen named  Margot.)

What are you working on at the moment? I have a lot of stories with characters I want to work on! Maybe longer narratives. I have a story about swan people, it's maybe the closest I'll ever get to sci-fi and it requires a lot of research and world-building. It's maybe like a better version of something I would have made as a teenager.

Thank you so much, Margot. See you soon in Leipzig!

FORGE. Art Magazine has teamed up with alternative comics publisher @2dcloud  and psychedelic projectionists Drippy Eye Projections to curate a reading and light show during the CURRENTS gallery show at Secret Project Robot on Sunday November 12th (the day after @comicartsbrooklyn!) The event will feature comic readings by cartoonists Margot Ferrick, Xia Gordon, Laura Lanes, Jack Reese, Tommi Parrish, and Kyung Me. After the readings Drippy Eye will host a Record Club where they'll select two surprise records and invite the audience to listen and watch an improvised light show performed to the music. During both records we ask for there to be no talking so you can fully dive into the audio/visual experience. Suggest a record for Drippy Eye to play during the light show to [email protected]

“In a year that many have found bleak and depressing, Mirror Mirror II managed to channel this energy into one of the most riveting visual experiences of the year....the best horror comics anthology available.” —Phillippe Leblanc

“This book should win all the design awards for 2017. It’s as magnificent as the contents are (purposely) horrific.” —Heidi MacDonald

PaperJazz Exhibitor #20 - Julia Gfrörer

Julia lives and works in the NYC metropolitan area. Her work has appeared in Kramer's Ergot as well as The Best American Comics. She pronounces her name "gruh fare" and is represented by several publishers including the great @fantagraphics Julia along with Sean T. Collins co-edit the newest Mirror Mirror #2 anthology for the wonderful publishers @2dcloud. She is sharp as a knife and a must visit this September 30th.