Storyboard

April 11, 2013 1,713 notes

Welcome to the Museum of Copulatory Organs

It all started with a flea circus. This is the story of Maria Fernanda Cardoso, whose biology-based artwork progressed from her very own circus of live fleas to detailed models of nature’s most intricate and unlikely reproductive systems. Industrial design, electron microscopy, and 3D printing were all brought to bear, and the results are fascinating.

This story, created in partnership with Symbolia and Popular Science, was illustrated and animated by Andy Warner. “My father is a marine biologist who specialized in fish sex change,” says Warner, “and I grew up learning about weird and wonderful animal behavior and morphology at the dinner table.”

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April 2, 2013 5,906 notes

Noelle Stevenson’s Guide to Blowing Up on Tumblr

Noelle Stevenson, aka gingerhaze, joined Tumblr to share her fan art — comics based on movies like X-Men: First Class and Lord of the Rings. In the summer of 2011, she started posting “The Broship of the Ring,” a modern interpretation of the LoTR characters as hipsters and fratboys, and everything kind of … exploded. Stevenson’s online following shot way up, and since then, she’s landed an internship at a comics publisher and has signed with a literary agent.

She’s also been offered a contract to publish in hard copy her original webcomic project, Nimona — the story of aspiring supervillain Lord Ballister Blackheart, who never seems to get anywhere with his evil plots. That is, until he takes on a new sidekick, Nimona, a shapeshifter with poor impulse control who likes to solve problems by blowing things up. Nimona recently won the Cartoonist Studio Prize for Best Webcomic of the Year by Slate Magazine and the Center for Cartoon Studies. It was also named one of io9’s top ten Best New and Short Webcomics of 2012. We had a chance to talk to Stevenson about breaking out and Hulking out.

How long have you been drawing?

I’ve been drawing pretty much as long as I can remember. It was a hobby of mine as a child, and I grew up and that was still what I wanted to do.

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February 11, 2013 1,634 notes

The Hot ‘n Dog: Where Franks & Comics Collide
Shorty after 3pm each weekday, kids from two Toronto grade schools hang out at a tiny neighborhood hot-dog joint. This is the Hot ‘n Dog, where the specialty is toppings. Lots and lots of toppings. Behind the counter is Keith Jones, a cartoonist (and hot dog connoisseur) responsible for graphic novels like dystopian pet epic Catland Empire and abstract-ish activity book Colour Me Busy. Jones loves comics, frumpy cartoon animals and filling up spaces — interests that synced with a Toronto entrepreneur who, a year ago, decided to open a hot dog shop. Now co-owner, Jones is dressing $2 hot dogs with comic artistry, along with toppings (100 of them in all) that range from wasabi to flaxseed to rainbow sprinkles. We asked Jones about renovations, post-apocalyptic BBQ cars and, of course, hot dogs.
This is kind of an odd place for a comic artist to end up. Do you have any particular feelings toward hot dogs?
I think hot dogs are hilarious. As a kid, they were one of my favorite foods. I like that you can decorate them, just put junk on them. A hundred different things. I made a great dessert dog just the other day. It had two different kinds of jam, chocolate chips, marshmallows, pretzels and bacon bits, maple syrup. Then I mixed in Hickory Sticks and graham crackers. It looked insane. Also I made a chili cheese dog with 10 different things on it for fun. Supposedly, there are kids who have come in here and gotten all 100 toppings on their hot dogs. I haven’t done that yet.
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How did you come to run the Hot ‘n Dog?
I met George Karpouzis when he opened up a comic book shop in Kensington. I hung out at that comic book shop all the time. He was trying to sell the Hot ‘n Dog to somebody else, but that didn’t work out. I woke up one day thinking, “I should own that.” So I just went and asked him. I wanted this place to look like a cartoon-land. He knew what I wanted to do with it, and that made him excited to have me.
Is it true you enjoy filling spaces like this?
Oh yeah. I don’t know why, it’s obsessive to me. Might be an insecurity, I don’t know, but it’s fun! I’ve done a couple spaces like this before, redecorated a bar and had some gallery shows. Usually I come in and I don’t know what I’m doing, start with a couple things and new ideas flourish. I remember when I came up with “My Hot Dog is Bigger Than Yours.” I was just staring at this white empty space wondering how the hell I’m going to fill that in. I came up with that line and just laughed for about a half-hour. Great ideas lead to more ideas. I want to make those rotor fan blades up on the ceiling hot dogs. That’s an idea I just came up with.
And you’re selling comics here too?
Yeah, I just brought in a couple comics that I made, to sell. I’m actually going to make a newspaper called Hot Dog Times. It’ll have different cartoonists from all over doing hot dog-themed things. Articles all about hot dogs. I’ve talked to five or six artists who want to do stuff.
What do you like about drawing rude animals?
I don’t know, it just happens that way. I just think they’re weird. I like cartoon characters, but I want them to be doing things that cartoon characters don’t usually do, like swearing and throwing junk around and drinking alcohol.
What do you foresee in the future of Hot ‘n Dog?
Well, I want to get karaoke going in here. My goal is by the end of the summer is to buy a 1986 Chevrolet Caprice and jack it up on dump truck wheels and take all the chrome off of it and paint it with Tremclad, flat red, gut the whole interior, make it yellow, get an old school bus steering wheel, take the trunk, open it, turn it into a Hibachi BBQ and write “All Dogs Go to Heaven” on the side. Just a weird Mad Max BBQ car.
Were you a fan of Pee Wee’s Playhouse growing up? The colour scheme in here seems Gary Panter-ish.
Oh yeah. It’s one of my most favourite shows ever. Actually, I wanted to play it in here but the TV broke. It’ll be a regular thing that’ll be on here. It’s like playtime. Playtime in Dumboland. That’s what hot dogs are, they’re Dumboland food.
— Zack Kotzer

The Hot ‘n Dog: Where Franks & Comics Collide

Shorty after 3pm each weekday, kids from two Toronto grade schools hang out at a tiny neighborhood hot-dog joint. This is the Hot ‘n Dog, where the specialty is toppings. Lots and lots of toppings. Behind the counter is Keith Jones, a cartoonist (and hot dog connoisseur) responsible for graphic novels like dystopian pet epic Catland Empire and abstract-ish activity book Colour Me Busy. Jones loves comics, frumpy cartoon animals and filling up spaces — interests that synced with a Toronto entrepreneur who, a year ago, decided to open a hot dog shop. Now co-owner, Jones is dressing $2 hot dogs with comic artistry, along with toppings (100 of them in all) that range from wasabi to flaxseed to rainbow sprinkles. We asked Jones about renovations, post-apocalyptic BBQ cars and, of course, hot dogs.

This is kind of an odd place for a comic artist to end up. Do you have any particular feelings toward hot dogs?

I think hot dogs are hilarious. As a kid, they were one of my favorite foods. I like that you can decorate them, just put junk on them. A hundred different things. I made a great dessert dog just the other day. It had two different kinds of jam, chocolate chips, marshmallows, pretzels and bacon bits, maple syrup. Then I mixed in Hickory Sticks and graham crackers. It looked insane. Also I made a chili cheese dog with 10 different things on it for fun. Supposedly, there are kids who have come in here and gotten all 100 toppings on their hot dogs. I haven’t done that yet.

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January 30, 2013 8,473 notes

Ukiyo-e Heroes: Donkey Kong Visits 17th-Century Japan
Mario racing a rickshaw, Kirby wielding a katana, and Donkey Kong bounding past cherry blossoms. In his fantastical Ukiyo-e Heroes series, 29-year-old illustrator Jed Henry reimagines classic video game characters in the style, setting, and medium of traditional Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e). Growing up in Indiana in the 1980s, Henry learned to draw by copying the art in his video game manuals. It was an exciting time to be a gamer, as companies like Nintendo and Sega raced to create the best systems and graphics. A decade later, with a degree in animation and living in Utah, the illustrator and children’s book author is working with Canadian (by way of Tokyo) printmaking master Dave Bull to to create fine art prints of his characters. With the help of a Kickstarter campaign — Henry raised $290,000 more than his original goal — his illustrations are celebrating Japan’s vibrant pop culture, both then and now. We talked to him about his craft.
How do you choose which video games to feature?
I’m a big retro gamer. I played a lot of games as a kid, and my heart is really stuck on those games — a lot of Nintendo, Konami, and Capcom titles. So, that’s how I choose, it’s just my favorites from when I was a kid.

What’s your process like for each print?
I start with the game I want to base the print on, and I think about all the things from that game that I want to include in the print — situations, characters, interactions. Then I go back to mostly the prints of Yoshitoshi, a late 1800s ukiyo-e artist. I love his stuff. I look at his artwork and try to find visual symbols and characters that I can repurpose or borrow from.
Do you usually use digital media, traditional media, or a combination of the two?
I use a combination. I sketch everything in Photoshop, and then I trace the sketch on a lightbox using a Japanese brush, to get the final line quality I need for the ukiyo-e. Then I use Photoshop to get the colors exactly how I want them. After my design is complete, I send it to David Bull, my partner in Tokyo. He translates my design, carves it, and prints it by hand into the final product. You can see videos of each step of the process here.
Has your approach evolved since?
At first, I feel like my technique was a little clumsier — I hadn’t really gotten the feel for drawing with a Japanese brush. Also, I do a lot more research now. I quickly realized that if I really wanted these images to look authentic, I needed to find a reference for every element in the composition, so that the 21st century American white boy doesn’t butcher it too much, you know? To channel the Japanese artists, I have to immerse myself in their work for a couple days before my brush actually touches paper. It’s great practice for me to try and retrace their steps … it’s a real honor for me to be able to do that.
There are only a few people making this kind of woodblock print in Japan. What has it been like working with them?
It’s a really cool, tight-knit community. David Bull is a unique figure: He’s a foreigner who moved to Japan and mastered one of their ancient techniques. There are only a few people who can do what he does. And a lot of them are having a hard time finding work these days, because within Japan, there’s not a lot of interest in woodblock prints. To the Japanese, it’s like folk art — not very current. But foreigners love it because it’s a connection to a kind of fantasy Japan. With the money from our Kickstarter, we’ve been able to channel tens of thousands of dollars back into the industry, hiring talented artists and trying to keep the community going.
You also illustrate children’s books. How do you balance all your projects?
Well, I don’t sleep very much.
— Sue Ding

Ukiyo-e Heroes: Donkey Kong Visits 17th-Century Japan

Mario racing a rickshaw, Kirby wielding a katana, and Donkey Kong bounding past cherry blossoms. In his fantastical Ukiyo-e Heroes series, 29-year-old illustrator Jed Henry reimagines classic video game characters in the style, setting, and medium of traditional Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e). Growing up in Indiana in the 1980s, Henry learned to draw by copying the art in his video game manuals. It was an exciting time to be a gamer, as companies like Nintendo and Sega raced to create the best systems and graphics. A decade later, with a degree in animation and living in Utah, the illustrator and children’s book author is working with Canadian (by way of Tokyo) printmaking master Dave Bull to to create fine art prints of his characters. With the help of a Kickstarter campaign — Henry raised $290,000 more than his original goal — his illustrations are celebrating Japan’s vibrant pop culture, both then and now. We talked to him about his craft.

How do you choose which video games to feature?

I’m a big retro gamer. I played a lot of games as a kid, and my heart is really stuck on those games — a lot of Nintendo, Konami, and Capcom titles. So, that’s how I choose, it’s just my favorites from when I was a kid.

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December 5, 2012 4,756 notes

Seo Kim: Cats, Comics, & Burbank

She said it with a cat on her head. Seo Kim had realized that posting a daily comic was becoming difficult. “I’m traditionally not super prolific, and I’m not super good at time management. If you’d asked me before I started posting comics every day, I’d have said it’s really unlikely that I’d be able to keep it up,” she admits. But people began following her, and liking her drawings, so she continued. “It became easier to keep doing it because someone was expecting a new comic each day.”

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November 5, 2012 1,570 notes

Marvel’s C.B. Cebulski on Comics & Ramen
C.B. Cebulski may be the luckiest nerd on the planet. A recruiter for Marvel Comics, the 41-year-old travels the world scouting his well-trained eye for new comic talent. As a veteran writer and editor, Cebulski seeks out style and storytelling ability; his recruits have been responsible for titles like Young Avengers, Runaways and Marvel Fairytales. But Cebulski isn’t just on the lookout for great comics when he travels—he’s also the author of the popular Eataku Tumblr (a play on “eat” and “otaku,” the Japanese word for “obsessed”), which documents his gastronomic journeys across the globe. We caught the gregarious Cebulski during a rare day off in New York.
Do you see any connection between the food and comic worlds? They’re both creative, competitive industries, and they attract die-hard, opinionated fans. What else ties them together?
A lot of chefs are comic fans. I’ve talked to a few chefs about this, and the similarities are pretty remarkable: both chefs and comics are artistic types, maybe a bit of an outsider; they work in a very solitary job, very in your own head, and the creation aspect is the same. Whether they’re working with a pencil or a knife, the thought flows through their head and into their hands. Every chef can tell you a story about his or her food and sound just like an artist, only instead of X-Men, they’re talking about tamales.

You’ve been at Marvel on and off for 13 years. What does it mean to be a talent scout?
I travel around to schools, art shows and conferences, do portfolio reviews and speak about what it takes to become an artist for Marvel. For the artists who are good enough, I help open the door. The ones on the verge, I help work with them to bring them to the next level.
What does it take to make it as a Marvel artist?
You have to be good, fast and nice. If you have two of the three, then you have what it takes. If you have all three, you’ll have a long career. The truth is, when I’m looking for an artist, I’m looking for storytelling ability and style, which really go hand in hand. We’re visual storytellers, so we have to make sure an artist can move the characters from panel to panel. I try to read a comic without the word balloons and see if I can follow along. If I like what I see there, then I start judging on your personality and your ability to fit into Marvel family. A lot of companies do scouting online. But for me, it’s really important to meet face to face.
Your Tumblr, Eataku, tracks your eating habits across the globe. When did you start blogging?
I started Eataku about three years ago. The secret history is that it was done for my mother. She’s big into food, and she’s a great cook—our family loves getting together to eat. The more I started traveling for Marvel, the more she’d want to see pictures of the food, so I had to put them somewhere.
What kind of food did your family eat growing up?
My mom is Swedish and my dad is Polish, so I grew up with a healthy European diet. I would spend every summer in Europe—in Sweden, Finland, Belgium, France, Greece—and food was always a big part of those trips. I remember my first gyro, my first oyster, my first foie gras. In the ‘70s, my mom decided to go macrobiotic. She went to a Japanese nutritionist, and he recommended a macrobiotic diet for her health. We’d drive an hour and a half to the Fuji Market in Stamford, and my mom would put my siblings and me in the manga section while she grocery shopped. They were all black and white, in Japanese, so I thought they were coloring books. You can trace my love of comics all the way back to those trips.
So you’ve pretty much always loved comics.
I read a lot of X-Men, and authors like Chris Claremont and John Byrne were very influential to me. When I read comics I didn’t realize people could actually do that for a living. That and Star Wars blew me away. I remember watching an interview with George Lucas with my dad, and my dad told me, “That’s the guy who made Star Wars.” I thought, “Oh my god, you can do that?” I decided then and there I wanted to be the guy who told stories.
When you’re traveling for work, how do you decide where to eat?
At first, I didn’t research anything. I’d let the artist take me wherever they wanted to go. A lot of them are big eaters—so much for starving artists. But eventually I started going to all of the same places, and I wanted something new, so I started researching. Now, I rely on word-of-mouth, Google, old Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern episodes, and food magazines and newspapers. I keep notes on everything. And now, because of the blog, people invite me out to eat in other cities. A bunch of Korean college kids took me out for live octopus a few months ago. I ate it. It stuck to my lip; it was good.
—Jamie Feldmar

Marvel’s C.B. Cebulski on Comics & Ramen

C.B. Cebulski may be the luckiest nerd on the planet. A recruiter for Marvel Comics, the 41-year-old travels the world scouting his well-trained eye for new comic talent. As a veteran writer and editor, Cebulski seeks out style and storytelling ability; his recruits have been responsible for titles like Young Avengers, Runaways and Marvel Fairytales. But Cebulski isn’t just on the lookout for great comics when he travels—he’s also the author of the popular Eataku Tumblr (a play on “eat” and “otaku,” the Japanese word for “obsessed”), which documents his gastronomic journeys across the globe. We caught the gregarious Cebulski during a rare day off in New York.

Do you see any connection between the food and comic worlds? They’re both creative, competitive industries, and they attract die-hard, opinionated fans. What else ties them together?

A lot of chefs are comic fans. I’ve talked to a few chefs about this, and the similarities are pretty remarkable: both chefs and comics are artistic types, maybe a bit of an outsider; they work in a very solitary job, very in your own head, and the creation aspect is the same. Whether they’re working with a pencil or a knife, the thought flows through their head and into their hands. Every chef can tell you a story about his or her food and sound just like an artist, only instead of X-Men, they’re talking about tamales.

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