“Five meditations on grief receding into memory, phantoms of traumas past but not yet forgotten, people struggling to make peace with loss. Hagiwara Rei sets out a sequential tapestry of transcendent watercolor comics which linger in the back of your mind like words you never got to tell someone you loved. Heart-wrenching, intimate. Open Pandora and allow its haunted pages a home in your soul.”
“For josei & seinen comics lovers … MOTHERS is Kusahara Umi’s debut English title, collecting and translating 15 years worth of self-published short stories developed on themes of love, family, and loss. This Kickstarter is to help fund the printing of this new 260+ page book.”
“This long-awaited new graphic novel from Daniel Clowes ( Ghost World and Patience ) is a genre-bending thriller from one of the most assured storytellers of all time.”
Kickstarter: Steve Lafler’s Dog Boy 40th Anniversary Collection.
Steve Lafler is planning on celebrating the 40th anniversary of Dog Boy with the release of Dog Boy Choice Cuts & Happy Endings. Collecting the best of 80s Dog Boy, this 328 page collection will include new cover art and sundry notes. You can get an April release copy as well as original artwork via the Dog Boy Kickstarter.
Great. Though I personally feel the Mini Comic Awards would benefit enormously from the addition of a “What the **** is this?” category.
Watch the ceremony. ↓
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Strangers Publishing opens comic submissions for 2023/24.
Strangers Publishing is taking comic submissions for potential fourth quarter 2023 or 2024 publication, with a heavy preference for unique looking genre comics.
* Thanks to Brad Curry for getting me to take a closer look at Strangers.
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This Week’s Indie Releases. ↓
Ultrafugu Vs Fugamera by Cameron Hatheway
What began as a boring assignment in Antarctica quickly turns into a monster problem as the creature known as Fugamera emerges from the ice, ready for destruction. Can Ultrafugu stop the beast and save the day once again? Or will Fugamera leave him shell-shocked?
A loving homage to all-things Kaiju. Back cover by Rachel Leah Gallo. Includes a holographic sticker.
Buy a copy from Cameron’s store this March and stand a chance to win the original artwork from the holographic sticker design.
Ultrafugu Vs Fugamera by Cameron Hatheway. 36 pages, B&W. $5.
His winning the best horror category in the 2023 Mini Comic Awards reminded me that Bhanu Pratap, creator of Dear Mother and Other Stories, one of the most interesting works of 2021, is serializing his new comic Afternoon Pockets on Substack. Check out chapter one, part one below and then go sign up to read the rest. Or you can follow along to a censored version on Instagram.
Plus, Dear Mother is apparently due back in print soon, which is good news, and Bhanu’s taking commissions via DM on Instagram. Also good.
Strangers Publishing is taking comic submissions for potential fourth quarter 2023 or 2024 publication, with a heavy preference for unique looking genre comics.
Broken Frontier recently posted a good review of the Collected John G. Miller books. If you haven’t checked out Miller, a sub-underground cartoonist from Glasgow, you definitely should. He’s been working for decades and his style is something else. Comix Report ran an extract from the Collected John G. Miller 1980/1989 back in January. Now, in case you needed another nudge, here’s a selection of one pagers from the book covering Miller’s 2000s work.
The Collected John G. Miller 2000/2011. 160 pages. 8.25″ x 12″. B/W interiors throughout. Braw Books.
In only four short years, Brian Baynes has built Bubbles Zine into a much loved and respected presence on the comics scene. And, y’know, it’s easy to see why the response has been so good and so quick. Bubbles is old school. Visually, yeah, but also in spirit. Each page reads like a tribute to the medium and the people who make it what it is: the artists, the letterers, retailers, fans, everyone. For comics people, it’s a blast of pure joy.
Since the 2023 subscriptions window for Bubbles is closing in about a week or so, it seemed like a good time to ask Brian a few questions and get his thoughts on the zine and state of comics.
How do you go about putting each issue of Bubbles together? What’s your process? Has the zine’s success changed how you tackle things?
I start working on each issue a little bit before the last one is finished. I want to stay contemporary, and I want to stay spontaneous. So I try not to fill up slots for interviews and such too far in advance, I never know what comics I’ll be obsessed with in a few months, and I want to have room to cover those. My process includes just reading a ton, writing a bunch, and researching all the time. Every issue takes me a few months of working on it all the time. As for the “success” – When I made Bubbles #1 I started off with just 30 copies, and I printed another 30 after those were out. I didn’t expect it to become what it is. And yet when I read that introduction I wrote in the beginning of that issue, I think it stays true now four years later. I wanted to bring a little spark of comic fanzine life back into comics, and just write about whatever my interests are. I’m proud that I’ve stayed true to myself. I cast my net pretty wide in comics, so it’s never hard for me to find more stuff I want to talk about.
Quality content aside, why do you think comics people have responded so well to the fanzine nature of Bubbles?
I think that comics is one of the last sub-cultures that love and appreciate the physical item. I’ve made punk zines for years before Bubbles, no one really read them, heck maybe they just sucked. But the comic readers had a real taste for Bubbles even with the first issue, which is far from my best one. To me the tactility of comics is one of the reasons I love them. Flipping through a comic or fanzine is such a unique experience that’s not replicated in other mediums. I’d guess that has something to do with it, people like reading an actual magazine rather than a blog. I want to think people want a break from screens. I don’t know, I’m thrilled that anyone reads the zine, it’s a blessing.
How would you describe the current state of the comics industry? Any emerging trends you’ve noticed?
I’d say it’s pretty good. I think there’s a ton of amazing artists going right now. In Bubbles #16 I’ll have the “Readers Best of 2022” lists, and it’s full of literally incredible work. It’s exciting all the different kinds of comics out right now, I always tell my non-comic reading friends that there’s a comic out there that they’d like. And every month it becomes more true. As far as trends, well there’s certainly a taste for manga that continues to build. Some of the best stuff coming out right now is newly translated work from decades ago. Not really sure what other insight I have, but definitely tons of great books out right now. It’s a good time to buy some comics.
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You’ve got ’til March 15th to grab a 2023 subscription to Bubbles. For that, back issues, and more, head over to the Bubbles Zine site.
What began as a boring assignment in Antarctica quickly turns into a monster problem as the creature known as Fugamera emerges from the ice, ready for destruction. Can Ultrafugu stop the beast and save the day once again? Or will Fugamera leave him shell-shocked?
A loving homage to all-things Kaiju. Back cover by Rachel Leah Gallo. Includes a holographic sticker.
Buy a copy from Cameron’s store this March and stand a chance to win the original artwork from the holographic sticker design.
Ultrafugu Vs Fugamera by Cameron Hatheway. 36 pages, B&W. $5.
Ryan Morris has done a full reworking of his B’GOK – Foodge is the Future comic. New art, new pages, rejigged story. You can get it in his store for $5 or download a pdf to try before you buy.
B’GOK – Foodge is the Future (vol 1) by Ryan Morris. 28 Pages. Staple Bound.
Steve Lafler is planning on celebrating the 40th anniversary of Dog Boy with the release of Dog Boy Choice Cuts & Happy Endings. Collecting the best of 80s Dog Boy, this 328 page collection will include new cover art and sundry notes. You can get an April release copy as well as original artwork via the Dog Boy Kickstarter.
