Local comics artist Freddie Williams II provides a step-by-step work-in-progress video of one of his superhero drawings. He narrates the entire piece, explaining his digital art techniques and why he makes certain artistic decisions. Here’s the first of three parts.
Category: Local Creators
Jukebox Comix #6: The Space Queen
Cartoonist Kelsey Wroten is young, talented, and she’s giving away her latest comic book. You can download a free PDF of Jukebox Comix #6 from her website. This issue features a story titled “The Space Queen.†Wroten describes it as “the plight of a young woman with a big, and as always, unreachable dream, and not to mention strange taste in men.â€
“My inspiration for ‘The Space Queen’ is the proclivity for some people, including myself sometimes, to immerse themselves in fantasy life when reality rejects them, or they can’t find the success they feel they deserve in the ‘real world’,†Wroten said. “The heroine of my story brushes off everything that a ‘normal’ person would hold important — education, work, even sex — for fantastic versions of them.â€
Wroten’s comics are literary and alternative, far from the superheroics that many people associate with comics. She says that she is heavily influenced by cartoonist Daniel Clowes (Eightball, Ghost World), whose stories feature oddball outcasts and surrealist elements. “I also really like Ariel Schrag. I think my content reflects the two,†Wroten said. “Schrag deals more with the close to home, emotional, details of her personal life, as she primarily does autobiographical comics.â€
The 20-year-old cartoonist is currently a nominee for a 2011 ACP Cartooning Award in the category of Best Comic Panel/Strip. Her comic strip Sarcastic Animals appears in the The Campus Ledger, the student paper of Johnson County Community College. The results of the competition will be announced at the 90th Annual ACP/CMA National College Media Convention in Orlando on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011.
Local publisher seeks contributions
Topeka-based creator and publisher Bill Hook is seeking creators for a new comics anthology titled 86’d. The publication will be magazine-sized with black and white interiors.
“The setting will be a freak show,” Hook said. “We are looking for a variety of styles. The genre is horror but the tone of the story is up to each creator, the more variety the better. We want pencillers, writers, gig poster artists, and pin up artists.”
Hook asks interested creators to contact him by email at bigb1113@gmail.com with “Horror Anthology” in the subject line. “We would like a note and some samples of the writing or artwork or a link to their website or blog. We will accept letters through the 14th of October. We want to promote area creators, but we are striving for professional quality,” Hook said.