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Steve Morris
Five Stars: How Kyle Baker Broke New Ground
Kyle Baker is one of the most accomplished cartoonists in comics today, and he's been producing hugely acclaimed comics ever since he first started working in the industry in the early 1980s, with work ranging from madcap comedy to breathtakingly sharp biography. With eight Eisner awards to his name, along with a bevy of Harvey and Glyph awards, he's also one of the industry's most decorated talents.
Steve Morris spoke to Baker about his career in comics through five milestones in his career, in a conversation that covers navigating a changing market, writing comedy versus writing drama, and why Baker chooses to self-publish.
Blue Delliquanti Brings ‘O Human Star’ Volume Two To Life [Back Pages]
This has been a tremendously exciting year for cartoonist Blue Delliquanti, whose webcomic O Human Star has gone from strength to strength. It's the story of brilliant inventor and roboticist Alastair Sterling, whose untimely death meant he never got to see how his innovations in the field changed the world... until the moment he woke up in a robotic body, and stepped out into a world populated by robots who are advancing and progressing in ways expected and thoroughly unexpected.
Following a success Kickstarter to bring a first volume of the webcomic to print, Delliquanti has now returned to crowdfunding in order to deliver the second collected volume of the ongoing story. As the Kickstarter whirrs towards the target goal, Back Pages spoke to her about the series, how it has changed and surprised her over the years, and what to expect should her newest campaign prove a success.
Sam Costello Gathers Ten Years of Horror For The ‘Split Lip’ Anthology Kickstarter [Back Pages]
For ten years, the Split Lip series has brought a new sense of horror to comics, influenced not by slasher stories and monsters-of-the-week, but by Gothic suspense and "weird fiction". It's a macabre selection of black and white chills, and for the series' anniversary, writer Sam Costello has brought the series to Kickstarter to publish a collection of his collaborations with artists Iain Laurie, Kyle Strahm, Savannah Horrocks, and more.
Back Pages spoke to Costello about how Split Lip first apparated into morbid existence, and what readers can expect from the tenth anniversary collection.
Weekender: Lion Forge Press, Cartoon Crossroads, Tintin Vs Asterix
The weekend is here! Take a look back at what’s happened in the past seven days. New comics, new stories, new podcasts, new art being made — it’s all part of the ComicsAlliance Weekender!
Weekender: Olivia Stephens, ‘Sleepless Domain’, and Nomi Kane
The weekend is here! Take a look back at what’s happened in the past seven days. New comics, new stories, new podcasts, new art being made — it’s all part of the ComicsAlliance Weekender!
‘Scurry’ Through The Post-Apocalypse With Artist Mac Smith [Back Pages]
In a post-apocalyptic world where only animals remain, Mac Smith's Scurry follows two mice as they attempt to keep together and stay alive through the most dangerous landscape imaginable. It's a terrific series that has been running as a webcomic since January, with each page fully painted by Smith.
Scurry is a blockbuster success; with the launch of a Kickstarter to bring the series to print, Smith has seen his modest target of $8,000 blown out the water. At the time of writing, the Kickstarter has received almost $70,000 in pledges! The series has hit a chord with readers, so Back Pages spoke with Smith about how the project came together, why he brought it to Kickstarter, and just what readers can expect if they back the comic.
Five Stars: Karen Berger On The History Of Vertigo And The Future Of Innovation
Karen Berger came to DC comics at the cusp of the 1980s as editor for titles including Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld and House of Mystery. As executive editor of Vertigo, Berger made stars of writers and artists who have gone on to dominate the industry, and the imprint became synonymous with an experimental, stylistic approach which gave it an added edge over every other publisher.
In 2012, Berger resigned from Vertigo. She has been largely absent from comics since, but at Image Expo earlier this year she announced a new series from writer Sara Kenney and artist John Watkiss called Surgeon X, with herself as editor. ComicsAlliance spoke to Berger to look back at her extraordinary career, and her continued dedication to bringing new and experimental ideas to the medium.
Weekender: ‘Love is Love’, Miranda Harmon, And The Majesty of Desmond Fishman
The weekend is here! Take a look back at what’s happened in the past seven days. New comics, new stories, new podcasts, new art being made — it’s all part of the ComicsAlliance Weekender!
The Question: Which Bisexual Characters Deserve A Spotlight?
The Question is the feature where we ask our contributors for their personal responses to some of the big questions weighing on our minds!
This week is Bisexual Awareness Week, a campaign that seeks to accelerate acceptance of the bisexual community. Bi visibility in fiction is an important part of that effort, as bisexual people are often marginalized or ignored in fictional worlds. Thankfully there are a growing number of bisexual characters in comics today, so to celebrate #BiWeek, we asked our writers; Which bisexual characters do you think deserve a bigger spotlight?
Van Camp, Robertson and LaPensee Join Volume Two Of The ‘Moonshot’ Anthology [Back Pages]
Following the huge success of Moonshot, the indigenous comics anthology, editor Hope Nicholson and publisher AH Comics announced a few weeks ago that they'd be bringing a sequel book to Kickstarter. Featuring stories by and about indigenous comics creators, the anthology collects comics from both new and established writers and artists, spreading their voice and stories around the world.
With the campaign for the second Moonshot anthology now running on Kickstarter, Back Pages got in touch with Nicholson and contributors David Robertson, Elizabeth LaPensée and Richard Van Camp to find out what makes Moonshot such an important project, and what kind of stories they bring to the second volume.