Why would I want to join The International Cartoonist Conspiracy?
How is the Conspiracy organized?
What does the Conspiracy do?
Who is in charge of The International Cartoonist Conspiracy?
How is The International Cartoonist Conspiracy
funded?
What goes on at one of your meetings?
Has the Conspiracy published anything?
How can I start a Cartoonist Conspiracy cell in my community?
How can I contribute to The Conspiracy website?
How much does this cost? What's the catch?
Do you have a logo I can download?
Why would I want to join The International Cartoonist Conspiracy?
The most fundamental goal of The Conspiracy is to meet,
interact and collaborate with fellow amateur and professional cartoonists on whatever
comic related projects the members choose to pursue. Basically,
we are building a COMMUNITY. If you would like to be a part
of such a community, we hope you will join us. The
Conspiracy has a wide and diverse membership
of cartoonists from around the world, with active cells in Minneapolis, San Francisco, Pennsylvania.and Montreal. While we organize and interact on this website, we also have meetings in the real world where we draw and socialize together.
How is the Conspiracy organized?
Cartoonists can participate in the conspiracy at whatever level of activity they choose. There are three major ways to participate:
A) Participate in public meetings with your local cell of the International Cartoonist Conspiracy. If your community doesn't have a local cell, you are encouraged to start one.
B) Contribute comics to publications put out by the Cartoonist Conspiracy.
C) Join the online community... comment on the blog, check out the Google Plus page, etc.
You can be a member of the conspiracy by participating in one or all of these things, with whatever level of commitment works for you. There is no obligation at all.
What does the Conspiracy do?
We make comics, collaborate, publish and socialize. You can read our agenda here.
Who is in charge of The International Cartoonist Conspiracy?
The Conspiracy has no leadership, and plans to keep things informal and non-hierarchical. However, this may or may not be the case with individual cells of the Conspiracy. How individual cells are run is up to the members of that cell, and some of them may indeed have a president, treasurer, secretary and ass-counter. The Conspiracy operates on the principle of "use what works."
How is The International Cartoonist
Conspiracy funded?
It isn't. Members must fund their own endeavors out of the sheer joy of producing comics. Unfortunately, publishing comics isn't free, and the membership must figure out its own methods for acquiring financing for their projects. If anyone out there would like to provide free printing, free web space, or other free stuff for our membership, we encourage you to offer it.
What goes on at one of your meetings?
Most meetings have consisted of getting together once a month in a coffee shop or bar, and mostly
sitting around and drawing "jam comics." Jam comics are comics where one cartoonist draws for a bit and
then passes the page to another cartoonist to continue it (historically, I believe this was first done by the Zap
cartoonists of the late 60's). This often antisocial social activity (drawing and talking at the same time does
not come naturally to most of us) is broken up with setting the pen down to shoot the shit and plot with fellow
conspirators.
Eventually, when things seem done, the meetings end, and then we typically go drink beer or go
home.
Although we generally meet to draw jam comics, sometimes we like to mix it up and try other collaborative endeavors as well. Jam comics certainly work well to promote a collaborative, community
environment, though.
The Minneapolis cell now has a second monthly meeting that is an open studio session as well.
How can I contribute to The International Cartoonist Conspiracy?
There are a number or ways one can contribute. Here are some of them, in no particular order.
A) Draw comics.
B) Publish and distribute comics.
C) Collaborate with other cartoonists.
D) Start an International Cartoonist Conspiracy cell in your
community (read how).
E) Promote the Conspiracy through articles, advertisements, links, web banners, t-shirts, bumper stickers, coffee mugs etc. (note: As a participating conspirator and cartoonist, you are welcome to produce whatever items you wish with the Conspiracy's logo or name on it and keep the profits. We suggest using these funds to publish comics, but it's your decision. However, we do request that you put our web address on any item you produce so people can go and get more information if they are curious. As long as you don't get us in any legal trouble, we thank you for your promotional efforts).
F) Recruit other cartoonists into the Conspiracy.
G) Offer free printing and web space to other members.
H) Share comics you find inspiring with other members.
I) Teach other members what you know that is useful.
J) Socialize and make friends with fellow cartoonists.
K) Expose new readers to comics.
L) Donate comics you don't want any more to your public library, or to other organizations where they will get read, or to your fellow cartoonists.
M) Encourage your local library to order graphic novels you think should be in their collection.
N) Meet with your fellow conspirators for regular cartooning sessions.
Has the Conspiracy published anything?
The Minneapolis cell of the Conspiracy published:
Panelfesto: The Journal of The International Cartoonist Conspiracy #1, collecting various jam comics from the monthly meetings of the Minneapolis cell.
Panelfesto: The Journal of The International Cartoonist Conspiracy #2, collecting various jam comics from the monthly meetings of the Minneapolis cell.
Jam Packed (Panelfesto #3) A set of 4 monthly 16 page jams in mini comics and wrapped in a decorative band. Limited to 200 copies.
24 Hours, an almost 200 page book collecting 24 Hour comics produced by members on the first 24 Hour Comic day in 2003 (which was published and sold at a comic convention less than 24 hours after they were finished! You can see some of the 24 hour comics in the Gallery section)
24 Hour Comics Day 2005 A boxed set of 17 mini-comics drawn in 24 hours at the 2005 Minneapolis event and published the next day.
Lutefisk Sushi Volume A , a limited edition of 100 hand-serigraphed boxed set of mini-comics by
34 Minnesota cartoonists. Featured/cover artist King Mini. (for more info see www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/sushia)
Lutefisk Sushi Volume B , a limited edition of 150 hand-serigraphed boxed set of mini-comics by
over 40 Minnesota cartoonists. Featured/cover artist Ken Avidor. (for more info see www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/sushi)
The Weiner Roast A mini-comics anthology roasting/honoring the work of cartoonist Ken Avidor (aka Ken Weiner) .
Alley Cat, a benefit book for the family of the late cartoonist and conspirator Eric Lappegard, with works by over 50 cartoonists. (for more info go here)
Lutefisk Sushi Volume C , a limited edition of 150 hand-serigraphed boxed set of mini-comics by
over 40 Minnesota cartoonists. Featured/cover artist Kevin Cannon. (for more info see www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/sushic)
Lutefisk Sushi Volume D , a limited edition of 150 hand-serigraphed boxed set of mini-comics by
over 40 Minnesota cartoonists. Featured/cover artist Danno Klonowski. (for more info see www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/sushid)
Lutefisk Sushi Volume E , a limited edition of 150 hand-serigraphed boxed set of mini-comics by
over 40 Minnesota cartoonists. Featured/cover artist Zander Cannon. (for more info see www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/sushi)
Big Funny, an oversized newspaper of "Sunday-style" comics by almost 50 artists. (for more info see http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/bigfunny)
Little Funny, a few hundred small boxes of micro-comics (over 50 different random issues included in random quantities of five or more in the different boxes) that were sold out of a vending machine. (for more info see: http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/bigfunny/littlefunny.html)
Just Add Ink, a comic cookbook with recipes from 45 cartoonists. (for more info see: http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/justaddink)
The San Francisco Cell of the Conspiracy has published:
You Are Here, collecting various jam comics from the monthly meetings of the San Francisco cell.
Future publications of the Conspiracy, and how to contribute to them, will be announced on our blog.
How can I start a Cartoonist Conspiracy cell in my community?
Any cartoonist can start a local cell and call it part of the Cartoonist Conspiracy with or without our blessing.
We do hope that you will let us know about your cells though, so they can be promoted appropriately on the
Conspiracy website (or so we can link to your website).
The Minneapolis cell was started primarily by making
a website and putting up flyers that announced the first meeting in places cartoonists were likely to frequent
(coffee shops, comic book stores, art schools, bars, etc.), and by the instigator harassing anyone he knew who
drew funny pictures to show up. You can download a example poster, flyer and sticker sheet on our resources page, which you are free to use and alter as appropriate, or (a better alternative) you can create your own posters and stickers.
Once you have announced the first meeting,
hopefully some folks will show up (I think we had about eight folks at our first meeting). Make sure to bring
plenty of pencils, pens and paper for folks to draw with, and bring a sign up sheet for peoples' contact
information, so you can send them announcements for future meetings. We encourage you to direct them to our website as well, so they can keep track of what is happening with the conspiracy-at-large.
We suggest you determine a good time and place to meet monthly, as having a regular routine tends to help groups stay active.
Contact us if you would like an account so you can post your activities, comics, etc. on our blog.
You are also greatly encouraged to create a web site for your local Conspiracy cell with meeting information and member work that we can link to.
How can I contribute to The Conspiracy website?
If you are one of the main people doing promoting or organizing for your cell, we can set you up with an account on the blog. Just contact us and ask for an account.
You are encouraged to create a website for your local cell as well that we can link to and otherwise help to promote.
Suggestions for improving the site are always welcomed and encouraged.
How much does this cost? What's the catch?
The Cartoonist Conspiracy is free to all cartoonists, and the website is provided as a free service to cartoonists. There is no catch.
Do you have a logo I can download?
Yes, you can download it here, along with a number of other resources.
If you don't like that logo, you are encouraged to create your own and use it. You may want to create a logo for your local cell as well. Members can feel free to alter the existing logo for their own purposes in any way.
