Category Archives: Events

Zak Sally and Dale Flattum Talk With Andy Sturdevant at Magers & Quinn March 16th, Then at Big Table in St. Paul March 17th

event, Events, Minneapolis, mn, St. Paul

More info here.

Zak Sally and Dale Flattum discuss their new graphic art collections with artist Andy Sturdevant
The conversation will be animated when Zak Sally and Dale Flattum discuss their new graphic novel collections with artist Andy Sturdevant.

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Sammy the Mouse: Volume 1 is a collection of the first three issues of Eisner Award Nominee Zak Sally’s comic Sammy the Mouse (previously serialized as part the international Ignatz line of comics published simultaneously by Fantagraphics Books in the United States and Coconino Press in Italy). For this collection, Sally printed each copy on his own AB Dick 9810 offset press and is releasing it under his La Mano publishing house. Sally is personally responsible for every step in the bookmaking process; from conception to execution to reproduction to delivery, making each hand-signed copy the product of one artist’s unique vision.

“A grimy, metaphysical malaise drips from every line of Sally’s lush yet unwholesome artwork, especially when he’s plundering the iconography of innocence and youth in the service of disorienting discomfort.”–The Onion AV Club

Meticulously drawn and printed using a sophisticated two-color process, Sammy the Mouse: Volume 1 is an extremely funny, weird and intense introduction to what will be a truly unique series.

Zak Sally’s work has appeared all over the place. He owns and operates La Mano, an award-winning “micro-publishing” house who has published work by John Porcellino, William Schaff, Nate Denver, Jason Miles, and Kim Deitch. He spent 12 years in the band Low, and was in that Shopgirl movie.

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Showcasing 25 years of graphic art from Dale Flattum, Tooth is a 250-page volume that mixes posters, illustrations & pointless propaganda into a semi autobiographical history, as told through a Xerox machine. (It also includes a CD of music pulled from the author’s shady musical past.)

“Tooth’s exquisite work looks so effortless. He can do in a moment what I have to STRUGGLE to do. I’m jealous!”–Art Chantry

When not watching Law & Order re-runs, Dale Flattum spends his time creating posters, art forgeries, and other screen printed propaganda under the alias: TOOTH. Before all of this, he pursued a career in music, touring the world for over nine years with the noisy San Francisco rock bands Steel Pole Bath Tub and Milk Cult.

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Andy Sturdevant is an artist, writer and arts administrator living in South Minneapolis. He writes a weekly column on art and visual culture in the Twin Cities for MinnPost called “The Stroll.” He’s also the host of the monthly live arts and culture revue Salon Saloon at Bryant-Lake Bowl.

Magers & Quinn
3038 Hennepin Ave. South
Minneapolis, MN 55408

More info about the Big Table event March 17th here.

March 17, 7:00 pm–10:00 pm

Add this event
to your calendar
Big Table Studio
375 Wabasha Street North
St Paul, MN 55102

Minneapolis Jam: March 2012

Events, Jam Comics, Minneapolis


NORDEAST COMICS SUMMIT
Summary: Adrean Clark pulled the curtain back on how to create an ebook and distribute it through SmashWords — and hopefully become the next self-made millionaire! Whether you’re gunning to be a millionaire or a dollaraire, you should consider reading Adrean’s own ebook on creating ebooks (how meta!), available here.

Coming up next!:
APR. 5: Jamie Schumacher, “Tips for Organizing Groups, from Comic Book Clubs to the Next Marvel”
MAY 3: Gordon McAlpin, “Illustrator Boot Camp” – Making digital comics & using digital lettering.
JUNE 7: Jon Sloan, “A Brief History of Comics” – An historical look at the medium we all love so well.
If there’s a topic you’d like to see or even lead yourself, contact me at nordeastcomics [at] gmail.com. The next available date is June 7, 2012.

Follow us on Twitter! handle: NORDEASTCOMICS

INTERNATIONAL CARTOONIST CONSPIRACY
I’m going to assume that this topic is in some way inspired by the upcoming Russian Presidential elections coming up on Sunday. Or maybe not:

The Were Kings for a Moment…and Success Starts Here

Hello, Friend.
Click image for pdf — a royal 4 mb!

Please enjoy.

Minneapolis Jam: February 2012

Events, Jam Comics, Minneapolis, Nordeast Comics Summit


NORDEAST COMICS SUMMIT
Summary: Last night we took a quick tour of InDesign, the second in our tour of the big three Adobe programs that we’ll be covering this winter. InDesign is great for making books, large and small, from press-ready documents to web-viewable pdfs. If you missed last night’s Summit, you can watch the whole thing here:

InDesign Boot Camp:


And here is the pdf we produced during the Summit:


Coming up next!:
MAR. 1: Adrean Clark, “Getting Rich in the Ebook Gold Rush: A Mining Kit for Comic Artists”
APR. 5: Jamie Schumacher, “Tips for Organizing Groups, from Comic Book Clubs to the Next Marvel”
MAY 3: Gordon McAlpin, “Illustrator Boot Camp” – Making digital comics & using digital lettering.
If there’s a topic you’d like to see or even lead yourself, contact me at nordeastcomics [at] gmail.com. The next available date is June 7, 2012.

Follow us on Twitter! handle: NORDEASTCOMICS

INTERNATIONAL CARTOONIST CONSPIRACY
I’m not sure where this particular subject came from, but it’s making me extremely sleepy. So while I take a snooze, you should check out:

Relaxation Comfort Home

Hello, Friend.
Click image for pdf — a sleepy 3 mb!

Please enjoy.

Minneapolis Jam: December 2011

Events, Jam Comics, Minneapolis


NORDEAST COMICS SUMMIT
Summary: Steven Stwalley and I put together what we believe was the FIRST EVER comics-themed game show. Contestants were picked out of a hat a la “The Price is Right” and questions — which ranged from general knowledge about local creators to high level thinking about whether this character from the forties could beat up that other character from the forties — were structured like Jeopardy. But the highlight of the night was the DRAW! section where our six contestants were given thirty seconds in which to draw the likeness of a random cartoon character. The audience was tasked with choosing the winner, and believe me, they had talons out in full force last night. The three winners walked home with gift cards to The Source, and the losers received a consolation prize of gift cards to Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe, which they hopefully spent during the post-game jam.


Photo: Rob Stenzinger via Twitter

Coming up next!:
JAN. 5: Kevin Cannon, “Photoshop Boot Camp” – PS basics with an emphasis on scanning & coloring for comics.
FEB. 2: Nick Straight & Kevin Cannon, “InDesign Boot Camp” – ID basics with an emphasis on making print-ready comics and exporting pdfs.
MAR. 1: Adrean Clark, “Getting Rich in the Ebook Gold Rush: A Mining Kit for Comic Artists”
APR. 5: Jamie Schumacher, “Tips for Organizing Groups, from Comic Book Clubs to the Next Marvel”
MAY 3: Gordon McAlpin, “Illustrator Boot Camp” – Making digital comics & using digital lettering.
If there’s a topic you’d like to see or even lead yourself, contact me at nordeastcomics [at] gmail.com. The next available date is June 7, 2012.

Follow us on Twitter! handle: NORDEASTCOMICS

INTERNATIONAL CARTOONIST CONSPIRACY
Nine. That’s how many years ago a small band of cartoonists braved the Minnesota winter to draw jam comics at a corner table in the Spyhouse in South Minneapolis. Oh far we’ve come. Actually, not really. It’s still a big group of (mostly) guys who show up and draw with their heads down for several hours. But tack onto that a series of gallery and museum shows in collaboration with Creative Electric, Altered Esthetics, and the MN Museum of American Art, and appearances at shows like Fallcon, Springcon, and the Rain Taxi Book Festival, and it’s been a helluva near-decade. So to commemorate the birthday, the ICC presents:

9

Hello, Friend.
Click image for pdf — a nearly decades-old 8.6 mb!

Please enjoy.

MIX Links

event, Events, Festivals, Minneapolis, MIX, mn, News, press, show

This morning I was sent a link to an huge quantity of interviews with exhibitors at last month’s delightful MIX convention by Fancy Pants Gangsters. You can check them out here.

That made me realize I don’t believe I have yet posted a link to Tom Spurgeon’s amazing and enormous MIX link roundup at the Comics Reporter. You can check that out here.

Get your mini-comics ready… only 23 months until the next MIX!

Thursday, December 1st–The International Cartoonist Conspiracy turns 9! Fun and games to be had!!!

event, Events, jam, Minneapolis, mn, Nordeast Comics Summit

Good god, nearly an entire decade of the International Cartoonist Conspiracy!?! I guess.  So anyway, you should come celebrate this Thursday, Dec 1st!  First up:

http://www.nordeastcomics.com/

TOPIC: GAME SHOW TIME!
MODERATOR: Steven Stwalley and Kevin Cannon
DATE: Thursday, December 1, 2011
TIME: 6 – 6:30 pm (right before the Cartoonist Conspiracy Jam)
LOCATION: 1618 Central Ave NE, Ste. 216, Nordeast MPLS

It’s our last Summit of the year, and to celebrate we thought we’d shake things up a little around the ol’ Attic. So on Thursday, December 1, please join us for what I can only imagine is the world’s only comics-themed game show. The questions will range from arbitrary who-would-win scenarios to fun facts about famous MN cartoonists, and we even let you weigh in on some
cartoonist-themed dating advice. The point of this is to have fun, but if you learn a little something on the side, that ain’t so bad.

Six contestants will be picked randomly at the beginning of the show. If you’d like to be one of them, send your name to nordeastcomics [at] gmail.com by December 1. You can also enter your name in person on Dec. 1 if you arrive by 6pm (but
please come a little early!).

Prizes. Prizes? Yep, everyone who puts their name in the hat will receive some sort of prize. Each of the six contestants will receive a gift card to Wet Paint Art, and the WINNING TEAM (did I mention the contestants will be split into teams?) will walk away with a $150 gift card to The Source (UPDATE: It is actually 3 $50 gift cards to the Source that will be won by different people). And if you don’t want to play, but just want to stand back and watch, well you’re welcome to do that too.

The stick around and take part in the whole damn mess that the Conspiracy was based on to begin with: JAM COMICS!

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Afterwards, please join us to draw some jam comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwards, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond’s while you’re there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee… they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

 

Reminder! Special Jam at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts Tomorrow, Thursday November 17th

event, Events, jam, Minneapolis, mn

As part of their Third Thursday program, we’re having a special Third Thursday jam this month at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts next Thursday, November 17th (note that this is instead of the regular third Thursday St. Paul jam, which is cancelled for this month). It starts at 6PM and goes until 9PM. The cartooning activity will happen in Studios 111-113 on the first floor. Here is a pdf promoting the event.

The theme of the jam will be Warriors and Vixens, which is the name of the Third Thursday event. We won’t be doing the usual numbered pages, we’ll be doing isolated pages. The MIA will be providing paper and materials (although you’ll of course want to bring your preferred tools).

As always, it is open to anyone who wishes to draw. The more the merrier… so please tell your friends.

You’re encouraged to bring some of your print work along to populate a few reading lounges they will have set up, which should be a very good opportunity to get your work seen. The publications you bring are not intended to be a donation… you should take your books with you at the end of the event. The guards will be informed that it is cool for us to carry our publications out with us.

This is a part of a cross-promotion with other stuff going on at the MIA relating to their Edo Pop show of Japanese prints, relating them to our modern culture.

Special Jam at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts Thursday November 17th… and Related Events

event, Events, jam, Minneapolis, mn, St. Paul

As part of their Third Thursday program, we’re having a special Third Thursday jam this month at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts next Thursday, November 17th (note that this is instead of the regular third Thursday St. Paul jam, which is cancelled for this month). It starts at 6PM and goes until 9PM. The cartooning activity will happen in Studios 111-113 on the first floor. Here is a pdf promoting the event.

The theme of the jam will be Warriors and Vixens, which is the name of the Third Thursday event. We won’t be doing the usual numbered pages, we’ll be doing isolated pages. The MIA will be providing paper and materials (although you’ll of course want to bring your preferred tools).

As always, it is open to anyone who wishes to draw. The more the merrier… so please tell your friends.

You’re encouraged to bring some of your print work along to populate a few reading lounges they will have set up, which should be a very good opportunity to get your work seen. The publications you bring are not intended to be a donation… you should take your books with you at the end of the event. The guards will be informed that it is cool for us to carry our publications out with us.

This is a part of a cross-promotion with other stuff going on at the MIA relating to their Edo Pop show of Japanese prints, relating them to our modern culture.

Here are a couple of other related events happening. The first one was forwarded to me by our own Jamison Penny, and is happening November 15th in Hopkins:

A Cross talk about Comic Books, Helmet Girls, and Heros with Camilla d’Errico and Joshua Dysart (moderated by Katherine Milton, Director of Learning and Innovation at the MIA) Tuesday, Nov 15th 6:00-8:00 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Mainstreet, Hopkins, MN 55343

Come and enjoy a lively dialogue between two highly sought after graphic novel artists, as they discuss their creative process, collaboration in the digital age, the graphic novel business and more. There will also be a question and answer period. The event is free and no reservation is required.

Joshua Dysart is a New York Times bestselling author of 16 graphic novels, most widely known for his monthly comic, Unknown Soldier, which deals with the war in Uganda and the exploitation of child soldiers. Other collaborations include Greendale with musician Neil Young, and Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment with Deepak Chopra. Award-winning graphic novelist and collaborator Dysart integrates world mythologies, art history, social studies, and contemporary politics into his accompanying stories.

Camilla D’Errico is a Canadian comic-book illustrator, painter, and visual artist. Her clients include Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, Random House, Tokyopop, Hasbro, Disney, Sanrio, Neil Gaiman, and video game companies. Her own characters and properties include the popular Tanpopo and Helmetgirls. Borrowing from Japanese manga, D’Errico illustrates stories with an ethereal lyricism that references Japanese prints, such as those on view in “Edo Pop: The Graphic Impact of Japanese Prints” in the Target Galleries at the MIA.
Special thanks to the MIA for making this presentation possible. Joshua Dysart and Camilla d’Errico are in the Twin Cities to support of the exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Edo Pop: The Graphic Impact of Japanese Prints. Their work with the MIA will largely be in demonstrating the ways in which contemporary pop culture as seen in graphic novels and comic books have deep roots in a Japanese aesthetic and form.

re: Joshua’s work:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8221128.stm

http://joshuadysart.com/unknownsoldier/?p=454

Camilla d’Errico’s work:
http://http://www.camilladerrico.com/

http://geek-news.mtv.com/2011/05/09/video-interview-artist-camilla-derrico-helmetgirls-origins/

And, forwarded by Katie Wildfong at the MIA, and is happening November 16th at the MIA:

Free Upcoming Event at the MIA: Joshua Dysart Discusses “Unknown Soldier”

I am writing to let you know about a free event hosted by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts from 3 – 4 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16.

Acclaimed graphic novelist Joshua Dysart will discuss his experience researching and writing the comic book series “Unknown Soldier,” set in war-torn Northern Uganda. The story’s protagonist is a Ugandan-American doctor who returns home to aid victims of the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army and its leader Joseph Kony. “Unknown Soldier” highlights the ongoing civil unrest in central Africa. This talk is particularly timely in light of the US military deployment to Uganda announced last month.

Joshua Dysart has received numerous accolades for his work, including a Glyph Comics Award in 2011 for best writer of a comic made by, for, or about people of color, and a nomination for a Will Eisner Comic Industry Award, also in 2011. His work on “Unknown Soldier” has been covered by The New York Times, the BBC, and other international media:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/books/12unknown.html and http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8221128.stm.

This talk will take place on Wednesday, November 16, at 3 p.m. and will be held in the Pillsbury Auditorium. It is open to everyone; no reservations are necessary.

We hope you can come, and please feel free to invite others!

MIX is Happening!!! (November 5-6)

conventions, event, Events, Festivals, Minneapolis, MIX, mn, St. Paul

Holy Cow! MIX, the Minneapolis Indy Expo, is happening!

There are going to be a zillion great cartoonists there, and the programming looks wonderful. You won’t want to miss the parties (and gallery shows) either!

Hard to believe an event like this could be free to the public, but it is, you lucky dog. Enormous kudos and gratitude to the brilliant and fashionable Sarah Morean on putting this amazing event together. If you miss it, I assure you that you will regret it until your dying day.