Category Archives: mini-comics

Swingin’ Hits anthology now available

anthologies, comics, hype, mini-comics, News, trees and hills comics group

Swingin’ Hits by Anne Thalheimer, Bill Couture, Blake Parker, Chris Grotke, Colin Tedford, Colleen Frakes, Daniel Barlow, Jade Harmon, Jennifer Omand, Kathie Mullen, Keith Moriarty, Marek Bennett, Marianne R. Petit, Matt Levin, Tim Hulsizer.

The fourth Trees & Hills anthology is themed around music, from the powerful memories that music can conjure to the joy in creating it and performing before an audience. Includes a bonus audio CD of music by cartoonists! (namely Jennifer Omand & Matt Talbot, Lucy Knisley, Marek Bennett, Keith Moriarty, James Kochalka, Chris Grotke, Tim Hulsizer, Cayetano Garza, and Colin Tedford.) Edited by Daniel Barlow & Colin Tedford. Cover by Gregory Giordano.

5.5″ x 8.5″, 52 pgs. Available now for $5.00 at Trees & Hills Comics Distro!

TWIG #2 (now with lutefisk!)

comics, mini-comics, trees and hills comics group

Lutefisk!The second issue of the Trees & Hills Comics Group‘s free monthly comics flyer TWIG is online now, leaving you enough time to not only read it, but download the PDF, print, copy & distribute it to your local comic shop & other places by Free Comic Book Day!

Perhaps of special interest to Minnesota conspirators & sushi-makers, this issue contains a strip involving lutefisk.

Will Dinski to teach “Mini-Comics” at Book Arts

artists, Cartooning Lessons, cartoonist conspiracy, mini-comics, Uncategorized

Minicomics as Artist Books
with Will Dinski
Mondays: March 24, 31, April 7, 14
6-9pm
All skill levels welcome

With so many new comics going directly to the web, many minicomic
creators
have started making higher quality books with a lower print run.
Screen-printing, letterpress, inkjet as well as photocopying are three
trusted printing techniques of these artists. This workshop will review
these techniques and discuss their usefulness as a storytelling
vehicle. By
the end of the four weeks, students will have crafted their own
minicomic.

$170 ($155 members)
$10 supply fee
Mention the CARTOONIST CONSPIRACY to waive the supply fee.

Lutefisk Sushi Volume C Deadline, Sideshows

Events, Lutefisk Sushi, mini-comics, Minneapolis, Opportunities


Mark your calendars! Our recurring big box of Minnesota mini-comics project, Lutefisk Sushi Volume C, will be happening this May 2nd (and during Art-A-Whirl!) at Altered Esthetics. As with the two previous Sushi events, the show features a huge, limited-edition box set of tons of Minnesota mini-comics, as well as original art by the artists participating in the set. Click on the image above to visit the event website for more information on the event and on participating.

The deadline has been extended to March 31st (previously March 15th) for mini-comics submissions to the box. The deadline for original art and other stuff to sell at the gallery (Altered Esthetics) has been set at April 12th. We are planning on having a pot-luck for artists to meet and socialize April 12th as well. More info about that will be forthcoming. You can drop off stuff at Big Time Attic during regular business hours, or up until 7:30PM on March 21st.

We’ve got some fantastic submissions coming in… we’re going to have a whole lot of participants. WE HAVE LIMITED SPACE IN THE BOX, so if you want to insure you get your work in there, handing it in sooner rather than later would be a very good idea.

If you’re participating, please remember to hand in the two forms with your submission, so we don’t have to hassle you for them.

There are two sideshow events that we’d love to have you participate in as well:

The Amazing Zoetrope: Conspirator Ken Avidor has built an incredible hand-cranked zoetrope for our use during the event. We’d love to have more folks make animated strips for this. Here are the specs:

Strips are 37 inches long (with one inch extra to go behind the other end), so 38 inches total. There should be 12 evenly spaced drawings in the 37 inches (3.08 inches per panel). They should be 5.5 inches to 6 inches high. Note that this is a hands-on thing, so if you care about your originals getting pawed and potentially mangled, you’ll want to submit a copy of them.

The Potty Humor Exhibit: We want to hang your utterly inappropriate and anti-social original art in the bathroom. Frame it or matte it, and get it to us by April 12th.

Other sideshows will include The Art of Kevin Cannon (who will premiering a special limited edition of his fantastic graphic novel Far Arden) and The Art Vending Machine. We are wide open to suggestions for other sideshows as well… particularly if you have good ideas for events you would like to take on organizing during Art-A-Whirl. Suggest ideas in the comments, or email me. Note that we are much more likely to pursue sideshows that individuals are willing to personally take on organizing.

PLEASE DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO HELP PROMOTE THIS EVENT. Let’s make this the best attended Sushi show yet (the last two were both packed houses).

  • Grab one of the banners at the bottom of this post and put it on your websites, blogs, social networking sites, and message boards you frequent with a link to the Sushi site.
  • Write about the upcoming show and your preparations for it on your websites, blogs, social networking sites, and message boards you frequent with a link to the Sushi site.
  • We’ve got a ton of beautiful postcards at Big Time Attic and Altered Esthetics that we could use your help distributing… please pick some up when you drop off your submission to hand out to friends and put in your favorite coffee shops, bars, bookstores, etc.
  • Know reporters? Hit them up for a story. Let us know if you need contact information, we will have a press release available very soon.
  • Most importantly: TELL YOUR FRIENDS in person or via phone or email and tell them to spread the word.

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Further questions about this event are hopefully answered in this document.

NEW STARS anthology available now

anthologies, mini-comics, trees and hills comics group


The Trees & Hills Comics Group’s latest anthology NEW STARS is now available for online purchase at Trees & Hills Comix Distro! The anthology debuted at SPX in October 2007, and since that month also marked the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, we took that as our theme. We’re not some kind of fascists, though, so every piece didn’t have to be about Sputnik itself – most of them do relate to space in some way, though. This all-ages anthology by the Trees & Hills Comic Group features an eye-popping full-color cover by Gregory Giordano and comics by Daniel Barlow, Marek Bennett, Miles Cota, Colleen Frakes, Cat Garza, Chris Grotke, Jade Harmon, Tim Hulsizer, Matt Levin, Keith Moriarty, Kathie Mullen, Raymond Prado, Matthew Reidsma, Colin Tedford, and Anne Thalheimer. 5.5″ x 8.5″, 52 pgs. $3.00

May 5th: Free Mini-Comics Day!

Events, mini-comics

My second favorite holiday of the year (after 24 Hour Comics Day) just got a lot better… Free Comic Book Day on May 5th is now also Free Mini-Comic Day!
Read the information about how to submit your mini-comics here.

SUBMISSIONS

For 2007, FMCD has this list of guidelines those who wish to parcipate:

*All comics must be printed in mini-comic format. Anything ranging from 4.25 x 5.5 to 7 x 8 in size.
*Interior and exterior artwork may be in b&w, greyscale, or color. White paper is preferred for interior pages.
*Comics must be no less than 4 pages(covers included)to no more than 36 pages long. Binding options and choice of paper types are up to the creators.
*All entries can by either printed up by the creator on their own, or from any outside printer. Mini-Komix will be available to print out any comics for FMCD, but only until Apr. 13, 2007.
*Story content for each comic cannot contain sex, nudity, or explicit violence.
*Comics submitted may contain ads for the creators, artists, or publishers who printed them, or someone associated with them.
*Each issue must be actual comics, comic strips, or comic stories. No artbooks, sketchbooks or personal catalogs.
*The actual comic may be either original to FMCD, or a reprint of past material from the creators.
*Send in only completed submissions. No sample drawings or sketch art.
*All entries must have the FMCD logo printed somewhere on the front of the each comic book.
*The minimum accepted amount of copies per comic is 25. The maximum amount is 75. Send no more or less than that.
*Post all finished submissions to: P.O. Box 53113, Atlanta, GA. 30355
*All entries must be recieved no later than Apr. 23, 2007.
*No comics from the FMCD 2007 lineup may be distributed or given away prior to May 5, 2007.
*All who submit a title to FMCD can give them away on their own either through their own site, or at any store signing/convention on May 5, 2007 or afterwards.

If you need any further info about FMCD, please email us!

Don’t know how to make a mini-comic? Download and print our How to Make Mini-Comics mini-comic to learn how.

How to Make Mini-Comics

Cartooning Lessons, Cartoonist Conspiracy Li'l Library, Lessons, mini-comics, Projects, Useful Information

We recently completed work on the first volume of the Cartoonist Conspiracy L’il Library (to be used at this weekend’s Mouth Off event at The Center For Book Arts)… How to Make Mini-Comics. Click on the image below to download the pdf… then print it out, cut it up, fold it, staple it and learn. Please note that this is a pretty big (4MB) file, so please help conserve our bandwidth and only download it if you intend to use it.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 License. It may be printed and distributed freely. It is intended to be an educational tool, and it is our hope that it will be widely used as a “textbook” for teaching how to make a mini-comic.

Thanks to Adam Wirtzfeld, Bob Lipski, Maxeem, Bud Burgy, Zander Cannon, Kevin Cannon, Dank!, and Eric Lappegard for helping me (Steven Stwalley) put this together.

Note that any cartoonist who is interested can contribute a volume to the new Cartoonist Conspiracy Li’l Library. This is intended to become a downloadable pdf library of cartooning tips and techniques in mini-comics format, all using the above creative commons license. Let us know if you’re interested.

>23 and <25 Hour Sequential Art Event Box Set

24 Hour Comics, Events, mini-comics, Minneapolis, Projects

The Minneapolis >23 and <25 Hour Sequential Art Event this weekend was a blast... Thanks much to Minneapolis Conspiracy Events Monkey Danno for all his efforts in making this a huge success. Thanks also to our sponsors The Minnesota Center For Book Arts, Wet Paint Art, Big Time Attic, Pizza Luce, Grumpy’s, Sip Coffee Bar, Big Brain Comics.

I believe we had 34 cartoonists participating… not sure how many completed 24 pages, but I’m pretty sure it was a majority. I can’t wait to read them. What will certainly be one of the best, Kevin Cannon’s comic, is already online:

http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/2006/09/24-hour-comics-day.html

Kevin has done it for the past two years as well, and now has produced three of the best 24 Hour comics I’ve ever read… they don’t read or look at all like they were produced in 24 hours. Kevin was born to do this stuff… I keep hassling him to do it once every month and he could have a 288 page best-selling graphic novel in a year. If you agree with me, you should hassle him too… I desperately want to read “The Ballad of Armatage Shanks.”

Any of the rest of y’all who get your comics from the event online, send me the links and I’ll post the links to them in the blog and the gallery.

We will be collecting all of the >23 and <25 hour comics from folks who want to collect theirs in boxes at the October Jam meeting at Diamond's on October 5th. To do this, simply print 100 of them into mini-comics and we'll collate them into a box with a groovy Bob Lipski cover. Boxes will be for sale (in limited quantities) to the artists for 50 cents each, after which you can sell them for whatever you want (ten bucks will most likely be the suggested retail) and hopefully recoup the costs of printing your minis.

Lutefisk Sushi Opening Overview

Events, Lutefisk Sushi, mini-comics, Minneapolis, Projects

Well, the Lutefisk Sushi Volume B opening was a roaring success… we had a great turnout, lots of fun, and a lot of sales. Best of all, we put together a fantastic box set of comics… you should all be proud. When you tell folks about it, make sure to mention that they can still check it out on Saturdays until April 21st from 11-4, or by appointment with the gallery.

We had a great write up in Minnesota Monthly… we were also written up in the Pulse and we were mentioned in the Pioneer Press, the Star Tribune, on the front of mnspeak.com, on a City Pages blog, on the Comics Reporter, and on the Minneapolis public radio station The Current by Mary Luccia on Thursday (and on the MPR website calendar)… and probably some other places. If you know of other press that we received for the show (or have any clippings you want to give me, including of the stuff mentioned above), please let me know about it.

Also, I encourage you all to send your digital photos from the opening my way so we can put them on the website… suggested captions encouraged, in case we don’t know who is pictured in the photo. You can view some photos from the opening by Shad here and by Nik Arnoldi here.

Participants can pick up their boxes at Big Time Attic any time (make sure you cross your name off the list when you get it)… if you haven’t made it over by April 6th, that is a good time for it, since the monthly Cartoonist Conspiracy meeting will be taking place at Diamond’s Coffee in that building that evening.

For those of you who participated in the Weiner Roast, I’m hoping to get those dropped off at BTA very soon as well so you can pick up your ten copies… I have them rubber banded between cardboard with your names on them.

It is possible we may be having a closing party as well, which would be a very good thing to harass people you know that missed the opening to show up for… I’ll keep you posted.

And now that we pulled this thing off, some thank yous…

Thanks to everyone at Big Time Attic for their extensive efforts putting things together, in every part of the process… the website, the silkscreening, putting up money for printing Weiner Roasts, collating, making signs and tags, laying out and printing the postcard, helping hang, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc…. and etc. Shad, Kevin, Max, Zander, Tim, Brett, Brittany and John all did a tremendous amount of work to make the show happen and look great.

Thanks to Ken Avidor for being an exceptionally good sport and letting us further soil his bad reputation with the Weiner Roast, for putting together a fantastic display of his life’s work, and for making us all look good with his art for the box and website.

Thanks to Lonny Unitus for doing such a gorgeous job screen printing the boxes with Shad in deep, rich, velvety colors… they really couldn’t have turned out better.

Thanks to Danno, as always, for helping make so many of the comics look so much better than they would have without his knowledge and expertise in the zine arts, and for helping with putting together 400 Weiner Roasts!

Thanks to everyone who helped with setup and hanging… Sean, Andrey, Quillan, Bob, Danno, Shad, Kevin, Seamus, Chris, Tim, and anyone else who helped that I’m more than likely forgetting.

Thanks to Sean for putting together his Shitty Art display in the bathroom.

Thanks to Dave, Jenny, Karl and Kurt at Creative Electric for providing such a great venue for our chaos, for helping extensively with setting up, for dealing with the crowd and for manning the sales at the show.

Thanks to everyone who helped promote the show on websites, blogs and through word of mouth. Please continue to do so until it closes!

And, of course, thanks to all the artists who participated in the box and the Weiner Roast and made the whole thing possible.