Stories tagged reviews

Luke Healy’s ′14 Americana Guardian’s Book of Year

Cover of Americana by Luke Healy

Americana by Luke Healy ′14 is in The Guardian’s list of Best Comics of 2019. The list includes comic greats like Chris Ware’s Rusty Brown (Pantheon), an epic tale about a single day at a Nebraska school in the mid-1970s; and Jaime Hernandez’s Is This How You See Me? (Fantagraphics), focusing on how the time has molded Maggie and Hopey into complex, middle-aged women from young LA punks.

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Alum Spotlight: Tillie Walden’s “On a Sunbeam”

On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden (UK cover)

In 2016/2017, Tillie Walden ′16 posted On a Sunbeam as a web comic, which was nominated for an Eisner in 2017. And this fall, it is coming out in print form, through First Second in the US and through Avery Hill Publishing in the UK.  In addition, Tillie will be a special guest at International Comic-Con in San Diego.

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Alum Spotlight: Otis and Will drawn by Katherine Roy

Otis and Will cover by Barb Rosenstock and Katherine Roy

Otis and Will Discover the Deep is the newest book out by Katherine Roy ’10, written by Barb Rosenstock. Otis Barton and Will Beebe dove into the ocean in their own invention, the Bathysphere, on June 6, 1930. Up until these brave explorers and their hollow metal ball, no one had ever dived more than a few hundred feet (and come back). And it is coming out to rave reviews.

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Melanie Gillman’s “As the Crow Flies” receives third starred review

Recent page from As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman

The first 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! 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.

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Air and Space picks Knisley’s “Margaret and the Moon”

Margaret and the Moon cover and a photo of Margaret Hamilton

Margaret and the Moon, written by Dean Robbins and illustrated by Lucy Knisley (’09) was released in May this year, telling the story of one of the women of NASA, Margaret Hamilton. And now Air and Space, a Smithsonian magazine, has listed it among the best aviation- and space-themed children’s books of 2017. “Young readers are sure to be engrossed . . . .”

Page from Margaret and the Moon

Margaret Hamilton originally started working for NASA on the Apollo space mission. Her teams were responsible for developing in-flight software and the systems software, including error detection and recovery software (like restarts). She helped Apollo 11 land on the moon after several computer alarms went of and became the hero of the mission. She also coined the term “software engineering” during these Apollo space missions!

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Alum Spotlight: Luke Healy

Spread from "How to Survive in the North" by Luke Healy

Luke Healy‘s (′14) debut comic How to Survive in the North started as his thesis at The Center for Cartoon Studies and was later picked up for publication by Nobrow Press. This comic is based on the true story of Ada Blackjack, an Inuit woman who survived a disaster of an expedition in the Arctic, and weaves in a fictional story to better explore the events. How to Survive in the North is a Junior Library Guild Selection and one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2016.

  • Alex Dueben, “Interview: Luke Healy on Arctic Expeditions and How to Survive in the North”
  • Comic Bastards: “You could read a lot of this story as a warning to people to recognize when a situation is dangerous.”
  • Deborah Stevenson, Muse: “The two Arctic tales . . . are truly haunting. . . .”

Page from "How to Survive in the North" by Luke Healy

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CCS Jon Chad’s “Leo Geo” Reviewed in Publishers Weekly

“Chad’s inventive vertical artwork acts as a spoonful of sugar to the medicine of geology lessons.”

Read the full review of Leo Geo and His Miraculous Journey Through the Center of the Earth, by CCS faculty member Jon Chad, on the Publishers Weekly website.

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Cartoon Studies Alumni Make the Top Minis of 2010

Rob Clough recently listed his top 25 minicomics, and five interesting broadsheets, in his Comics Journal column “High-Low”.  Of the 25, eight entries were created by CCS alumni!  In addition, Caboose was listed among his broadsheet picks.  The alumni comics, and their ratings are:

6. Make: Comics About An Intimate Act edited by Robyn Chapman (CCS Fellow ′06)

13. Courtship of Miss Smith (image above) by Alexis Frederick-Frost (CCS ′07)

14. Nymphonomena edited by Betsey Swardlick, Pat Barrett, Josh Kramer, Ben Horak (all CCS ′11)

15. Annotated #5 by Aaron Cockle (CCS ′08)

16. L’Age Dur by Max De Radigues (CCS Fellow ′10)

19. Freddy: More Stories by Melissa Mendes (CCS ′10)

21. Everyday by Joseph Lambert (CCS ′08)

24. Dance After Dark by Laura Terry (CCS ′10)

Read the complete review on The Comics Journal.

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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. 

FREE COMICS

CARTOONING IN AN ANXIOUS AGE

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.

Let's Talk About It: A Graphic Guide to Mental Health

Let's Talk About It: A Graphic Guide to Mental Health

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.

A 32-page comic on how our government works

This Is What Democracy Looks Like comic cover

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.

THE APPLIED CARTOONING MANIFESTO

Download a free copy of The World is Made of Cheese, The Applied Cartooning Manifesto.

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