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!

 

INDUSTRY NEWS

Koyama Press has added 12 titles to ComiXology this month, meaning Julia Wertz’s representation on the site has now drastically increased --- to the benefit of the world as a whole. Both Drinking at the Movies and The Infinite Wait And Other Stories will be available on the site as a result of the deal, as well as John Martz’s A Cat Named Tim and Other Stories.

Last weekend the Ignatz Awards took place at the annual Small Press Expo in Maryland, and Tom Spurgeon has a full rundown of winners. 2016’s most valuable cartoonist, Tillie Walden, picked up the award for promising new talent for I Love This Part, and for outstanding artist for The End of Summer, continuing her dominant run through the year. Noah Van Sciver managed to kill the curse as he finally picked up his first award after years of nominations, with My Hot Date winning for Outstanding Story; and Carolyn Nowak and Meredith Gran each came away with a trophy. The awards are literal bricks, so enjoy picking those up from the post office.

As one ceremony closes, another opens the doors. The Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics has announced the list of judges who will determine next year’s winners. Joe Illidge, Joan Hilty and more will remain on the panel for the next ceremony, while Mark Bright, Gail Simone, and Don McGregor will all be joining. Recurring judge Heidi MacDonald has a rundown of all the panelists for 2017’s award, which will be handed out in February next year at Long Beach Comic Expo. If you’re interested in submitting a work for consideration, you can do so here.

 

Rafael Albuquerque
Rafael Albuquerque
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The biggest announcement of the week was a collaboration between IDW and DC Comics, as comics writer Marc Andreyko announced the benefit anthology Love is Love. The comic will feature work from a raft of comics creators, including several prominent queer writers and artists, as well as Latinx creators. That last part is notable because the book will raise funds for survivors of the shooting earlier this year at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida, which targeted the queer Latinx community. The book is planned for release in December, retailing for $9.99, and with all proceeds donated to survivors via Equality Florida.

 

EVENTS

Daniel Elkin was on hand at SF Zine Fest this year, and dedicated the most recent edition of his small press roundup column on ComicsBulletin to zines from this year’s event. He tackles work by Tristan Wright, Geoff Vasile, Silver Sprocket, Andy Warner, and Patrick Sean Gibson, and generally makes the event sound absolutely fantastic; a must-visit for 2017.

 

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Three of FirstSecond’s many distinguished writers and artists will be on tour starting this weekend and into October.

Newly minted MacArthur Genius Gene Luen Yang will be touring in support of Secret Coders, the all-ages book that follows a team of young coders as they explore a series of mysteries left for them by the founder of their school. Yang writes, with art by Mike Holmes.

 

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Ben Hatke will be in Louisville on Monday to kick off the Mighty Jack fall tour. Published this month, Mighty Jack is the story of a young boy who is asked every summer to babysit his autistic sister. This latest summer, however, his sister talks for the first time --- and her instructions send him off on a bizarre adventure.

 

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Then, as we reach NYCC, Tetris: The Games People Play cartoonist Box Brown will head around the US in support of the biography. Brown will be travelling across America all through October, beginning with New York on the 6th.

 

NEW AND UPCOMING COMICS

Soaring Penguin Press will publish an English-language edition of A Small Revolution by French-Canadian cartoonist Boum (the pen name of Samantha Leriche-Gionet), which was nominated for outstanding online comic at this year’s Ignatz Awards. This follows Soaring Penguin's publication of Boulet’s Notes, establishing the company's interest in bringing notable French work to an English-speaking audience. Boum describes her book as “a story of dictatorship and revolution as seen through the eyes of a little girl, and her love for Boris Vian’s music.”

 

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Miranda Harmon
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Artist Miranda Harmon brought some new work to SPX this year, in the form of a comic called Turtles. Part platonic halfshell romance, part biography of her imminent real-life move to a new home, it’s a seriously charming piece of work --- backed up in almost every panel by the presence of some totally radical turtles. You can find more of her work over on her Tumblr!

Desmond Fishman is a name that should strike fear and joy into your heart in equal measure, the creation of that most delightful of devils, John Allison. If you only know Allison from Giant Days over at Boom, it’s high time you headed over to see his webcomics work over at Bad Machinery. A new story started only a few days ago --- but most importantly, a few days prior to that, Allison brought the further exploits of Desmond to a willing and grateful nation. A knighthood must surely follow for the cartoonist, or at least a lifetime’s supply of Greggs.

 

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WEEKEND READING

Medium has a profile of Michel Fiffe, best known for his cult favorite series Copra. Taking the obvious comparison between the series and Suicide Squad, the article focuses a little too heavily on the idea that Fiffe should make the move to DC --- forgetting that perhaps Copra is exactly where he wants to be. Still, it’s nice to see a talent like Fiffe getting major profiles online. There’s certainly plenty to talk about.

Rosie Knight, whose writing you should be aware of from WomenWriteAboutComics, has headed to The Beat. As somebody who spent a deal of time working at London’s Orbital Comics store, she’s now writing a recurring feature in which she’ll discuss how she’s seen the industry change and develop from the other side of the counter. She’s a fantastic writer, and this should be a really interesting series of articles.

Cartoonist Ben Katchor heads to Paste for a chat with Tobias Carroll about the new edition of his Cheap Novelties collection, and takes the opportunity to talk about how city life and structure has helped him shape his comics over the years.

 

AND FINALLY

It was an app-heavy week, with two tangentially comics-related apps taking their turn in the spotlight. The first is the Nerd-Out App, delved into by The Daily Dot over here, which was conceived by Michelle Jensen as a comprehensive guide to local conventions and events. Then there's the Draw app, conceived by Aidan Sliney and Marvel artist Will Sliney and billed as a new way for artists to learn anatomy. In the development phase now, you can sign up for the early access release through the official Twitter account.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Have a tip you’d like to share for Weekender? Get in touch at steve@comicsalliance.com!

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