A new graphic novel from Melanie Gillman ’12 is out, Other Ever Afters. Random House Graphic, a collection of their queer fairy tales. The features four 24-hour comics and three brand-new stories. You can read the four existing comics right now: Sweetrock, The King’s Forest, Hsthete, and The Fish Wife.
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Tags: Melanie Gillman, new book, Other Ever After, Queer Comics, Random House Graphic
Stage Dreams by The Center for Cartoon Studies graduate Melanie Gillman ′12 released on September 3rd through Lerner Books. In this rollicking queer western adventure, Flor and Grace, a Latinx outlaw and a trans runaway, team up to thwart a Confederate plot in the New Mexico Territory. When Flor robs the stagecoach that Grace has used to escape her Georgia home, the first thing on her mind is ransom. But when the two get to talking about Flor’s plan to crash a Confederate gala and steal some crucial documents, Grace convinces Flor to let her join the heist
Praise for Stage Dreams:
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Tags: book release, Lerner Books, Melanie Gillman, Stage Dreams
MICE, the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo, is coming up on October 19 and 20 in Cambridge, MA. A perennial favorite, MICE is showcase space for artists and writers in the greater-Boston area working in the field of comics. The show is free and open to the public of all ages. And you can find lots of CCS grads and instructors tabling and in various workshops throughout the weekend.
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Tags: Allie Kleber, Amelia Onorato, Anna Sellheim, Anna Strong and the Revolutionary War Culper Spy Ring, As the Crow Flies, Astal Forest, Beth Barnett, Can Mazur, Cara Bean, Catalina Rufin, Cathy G. Johnson, Charlotte Bronte before Jane Eyre, Convention, Dave Ortega, Dias de Consuelo, Everything's Fine, Four Years Collected, Glynnis Fawkes, Graveyard Shakes, How To Read Nancy, Jess Johnson, Joel Christian Gill, Jon Chad, Kate Castelli, Keren Katz, Kevin Czap, Ladybroad Ledger, Laura Terry, Mark Newgarden, Melanie Gillman, MICE, Michael Gianfrancesco, Nick Thorkelson, Paul Karasik, Queer Thrills, Reilly Hadden, Science Comics, Shirley, Solar System, Stephanie Zuppo, Strange Fruit, The Academic Hour, The Breakaways, The Eternal Rocks, The Jernegan Solution, The Odds Are Good
Lucy Knisley ′09 (Kid Gloves, First Second, 2019) and Melanie Gillman ′12 (As the Crow Flies, Iron Circus, 2017) are authors at this year’s Brooklyn Book Festival, September 16-23.
The Brooklyn Book Festival features free and low-cost programs celebrating reading, authors, discussion, and published literature. As New York City’s largest free literary festival, the show presents programs that are hip, smart, diverse, and inclusive. The festival presents challenging, engaging, and thoughtful programming in the areas of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, graphic novels, youth, and children literature. Other cartoonists you can find at this year’s show include Kevin Huizenga (The River at Night, Drawn and Quarterly, 2019), MariNaomi (Gravity’s Pull, Graphic Universe, 2019), Dylan Meconis (Queen of the Sea, Candlewick, 2019), and Ben Passmore (Your Black Friend and Other Strangers, Silver Sproket, 2016).
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Tags: As the Crow Flies, Brooklyn Book Festival, First Second, Graphic Novel, Iron Circus, Kid Gloves, Lucy Knisley, Melanie Gillman, Relish, Stage Dreams
Melanie Gillman ′12 is an instructor and graphic novelist who specializes in LGBTQ books for kids and teens. They’re the creator of the webcomic and graphic novel As the Crow Flies, which has won multiple awards, including being named a 2018 Stonewall Honor Book by the American Library Association. They have also worked on several licensed kids comics titles in the past, including Steven Universe, Adventure Time, and Care Bears. Melanie is a member of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship. Melanie’s newest graphic novel, a lesbian western romance titled Stage Dreams, will be published by Lerner/Graphic Universe in Fall 2019.
Tags: As the Crow Flies, cartoonstudies, CCS Alumni, Graphic Universe, Iron Circus, Lerner, Melanie Gillman, Stonewall Honor Book, Visiting Artist
Congratulations to Melanie Gillman ′13 yet again! The first volume of As the Crow Flies (Iron Circus, 2017) appears on the 2019 Amelia Bloomer list for Young Adult Fiction. The Amelia Bloomer list is an ALA-curated list of recommended feminist lit for young readers.
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Tags: ALA, Amelia Bloomer, American Library Association, As the Crow Flies, cartoonstudies, Iron Circus, Melanie Gillman, Stonewall Award
NEW! Children’s Book Workshop: Exploring Jewish Themes and Content
PLUS! Cartoon Club Summer Session
Kids + Comics = YOWZA! Cartooning Club: Summer Edition! All the fun of our Saturday Cartoon Club, plus summer, multiplied by five! If you’re at least 9 years old and want to spend a week or two drawing comics, register now for our Summer Cartoon Club.
Tags: Alec Longstreth, Beth Hetland, create comics, Graphic Memoirs, Graphic Novels, Hilary Price, Jo Knowles, Jon Chad, Melanie Gillman, Paul Karasik, Queer Comics, Single Panel Comics, Summer Workshops, Tillie Walden, Young Adult Graphic Novels
The American Association of Librarians has posted a list of the 2018 top ten graphic novels for youth in Booklist Online. Three from The Center for Cartoon Studies made the list!
Melanie Gillman ′13 already won the Stonewall Award from ALA for As the Crow Flies Vol. 1 (Iron Circus Comics), so it comes as no surprise that this comic is also in the top ten YA graphic novels. From the ALA post:
Lush, warm colored-pencil artwork relates the story of 13-year-old Charlie, a queer black girl who struggles with her faith—as well as outdated concepts and whitewashed history—on an all-girls hiking trip.
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Tags: ALA, As the Crow Flies, Booklist, Cartoon Studies, First Second, Good Night Planet, Iron Circus Comics, Liniers, Melanie Gillman, Spinning, Tillie, TOON Books
Melanie Gillman with their Stonewall Book Award
The first volume of Melanie Gillman’s As the Crow Flies (Iron Circus) recently won the Stonewall Book Award from the American Library Association (ALA). The comic, originally published online where it is still updating, is about Charlie Lamonte, a thirtee-year-old, queer, black girl spending a week of summer vacation at an all-white Christian youth backpacking camp where they learn to question the rhetoric. Melanie ′12 gave a speech at the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition upon receiving the award in New Orleans. You can view their heartfelt speech on Twitter. They discuss how important comics in particular are in sharing experiences:
Drawings are still, even in our advanced stage of technology, the most direct way that we have as human beings to be able to see visually through another human being’s eyes.
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Tags: ALA, American Library Association, As the Crow Flies, CCS Alum, glbt, Iron Circus, Melanie Gillman, Stonewall Book Award
Starred reviews, awards, and accolades for As the Crow Flies
The first print volume of As the Crow Flies, by Melanie Gillman ’12, was released by Iron Circus Comics in November 2017. Since it’s release, it has received three starred reviews and numerous awards and reviews! The comic, originally published online where it is still updating, is about Charlie Lamonte, a thirtee-year-old, queer, black girl spending a week of summer vacation at an all-white Christian youth backpacking camp where she learns to question the rhetoric. This volume is 250 pages and $30. They started posting the web comic in January, 2012.
Stonewall Honor named “As the Crow Flies,” written and illustrated by The Center for Cartoon Studies alum Melanie Gillman ′12 and published by Iron Circus Comics. Congratulations to Melanie and Iron Circus!
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Tags: ALA, ATCF, AV Club, Booklist, CCS Alumni, Iron Circus, Iron Spike, Melanie Gillman, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Stonewall Award, Stonewall Award Honor Book
A free self-directed eCourse to improve your cartooning skills. Online, Start Anytime!
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CCS wants your old comics! These comics and many more were donated to support CCS's BIPOC Cartoonist Fund. If you're interested in making a comic book or cash donation drop us a line.
Cartooning In An Anxious Age (pdf) is a free comic by Cara Bean on the act of drawing, which focuses your attention and intimately connects you with the generative act of creation. It’s an inspiring read.
Created for middle and high school students, Let’s Talk About It: A Graphic Guide To Mental Health is a lively and educational comic book that destigmatizes the conversation around mental health.
Using the power of comics to teach teens about the way our government works This Is What Democracy Looks Like, A Graphic Guide To Governance is a 32-page comic book created by The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS). This short comic guide helps to bring democracy back to the hands of the people by explaining what democracy actually means and how the whole thing works. This guide will be a great jumping-off point to learn about our government.
Download a free copy of The World is Made of Cheese, The Applied Cartooning Manifesto.
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