Tortoise Beats the Hare
Houston's coolest zine and a legend's birthday
Everything seems to be falling nicely into place. Why is it that I can’t enjoy nice things when they're happening? I’m always worried about the next day, the next panel, the other project… hurry, hurry, I need to finish this thing before the end of the world.
These newsletters are nice because it gives me a chance to step away from all of my spinning plates and reflect on what I’ve done recently.
As all of you lovely people know, my main priority has been my upcoming graphic novel West, Not South. As of this post, I have 21 pages left to paint. I feel like I've made some damn good process since my last update. I think that I had something like 80 pages left at that time. Finally, I’m on the last leg of interior artwork. Keep on burning! Like I mentioned before, I still have a good bit of work ahead of me – scanning, clean-up, captioning, design pages, formatting, etc. but finishing painting will certainly be a nice milestone.
HCS is for the People
I don't think that I've mentioned it here before so now is the time! My buddies and fellow comic bookers have banded together to create a quarterly comics zine called Houston Comics Scene. The purpose of this publication is to showcase local comics talent and be an advocate for everything related to indie comics. We love and are inspired by collection pieces like Raw, Weirdo, MAD, and Heavy Metal, and while HCS is tiny in comparison, the mission is the same --facilitate any and all comics creativity. The zine features work by all of us founders as well as a bunch of other local creators. Issue #1 is available now and #2 should be in print early October.
Happy Birthday to Sergio!
This month marks the 86th birthday of legendary cartoonist Sergio Aragońes. Sergio is a master of cartoons, humor comics, and what he calls “pantomime” strips, gag pages that are entirely silent and rely solely on situational humor.
Every time I come across his work, whether online or in my numerous Groo comics, I can't help but to stop and admire his craft, both in construction and penmanship. His mastery of humor and succinct cleverness is one of a kind. Oh, and he's still making monthly Groo comics. He can't be stopped! Do yourself a favor and check out some of Sergio's work if you haven’t already.
Happy Birthday, Maestro!
What I'm Reading
Do you ever have Half Price Books days? You know, it's that lazy Sunday when you stroll into a HPB looking for what ever random, good looking stuff that you can find. Well, I did recently and I stumbled upon these beautiful gems.
The art in Swan Song Part 1 is incredible. It’s cartoony in the best way and colored in such a painterly style. European comic artists just have a different brand and it’s so refreshing to read and study. It’s also a book about WWI, so yeah… it’s right up my alley.
The River is a graphic novel about reflection told through beautifully silent watercolors. Each chapter takes us through a season of the year from the perspective of the Po River in Northern Italy.
The art is simple and meditative and can be used as a color study just as much as a story piece. It won’t jive with some comic book fans, but those who’d like to think more deeply about sequential art will surely want this book in their collection.
Final Lap
I’m proud of the conversations that my buddy Ken and I are having over on our weekly YouTube podcast/videocast, The Comics Grind. If you haven’t already, head over to our channel and check out some vids.
If you like the content, please consider subscribing. We’re working really hard on this project!
Bedrock City Con is happening October 7th and 8th in Stafford, TX! I’m super fortunate to be one of their creator guests. It’s a hometown show, so come out to a show that is all about comic BOOKS! The lineup is fantastic. Also, if you’re interested in getting on my pre-show commission list, shoot me a DM on my Instagram (@nico_writes) or drop me an email at nicorodriguezcreative@gmail.com. Here are the options for this go around:
Time to shut this down and get back to splattering paint. Until next time!
Thanks for your time,
Nico
Radical!