Shout-out: Jeff Zwirek

DIGESTATE CONTRIBUTOR:

JEFF ZWIREK!

Jeff Zwirek's comics work includes Jack Rabbit, Black Star, Pinstriped Bloodbath, and Burning Building Comix. He has received a nomination for an Ignatz award, and his comics have been named "Notable Comics" multiple times by the Best American Comics anthology. He lives and works in Chicago, with his wife and two sons.

www.jeffscomics.com

Editor's note: Mr. Zwirek is one of the few people who can keep me from being last in an alphabetical listing. He also knows how to create a striking mini comic. So much so, in fact, that I always bring copies of his 'Burning Building' series and 'Pinstriped Bloodbath' anthology along as examples of superb presentation whenever I sit in as a guest lecturer at C.M. Butzer's 'Creating Independent Comics' class at SVA. 

'Burning Buildings' features ten independent stories linked together by the fact that they all take place in an apartment building that has caught fire. The stories each center around the inhabitants of each floor of the building, with the fire creeping slowly upwards. Each issue contains two stories (in both senses of the word), and each issue is meant to be placed atop the last to form the entire building. Plus, each issue has a hand-burned drawing glued inside!

Jeff recently got funding to produce the series into a full-color book, so I can't wait to see how he tackles the logistics of translating it from separate minis into a single piece. 

Front cover of "Burning Building Comix'

Page 8 from 'Burning Building'

Page 14 from 'Burning Building'

'Pinstriped Bloodbath' is a fantastic anthology of true-crime comics featuring artists all from Chicago. Arguably the best part of the anthology is it's cover: a wraparound silk-screened suit that "unbuttons" to reveal the comic inside. The crowning touch is a hand-splattered splash of blood (red ink) on each issue. That Ivan Brunetti illustrated belly-band ain't bad, either!

Shout-out: Aron Nels Steinke

DIGESTATE CONTRIBUTOR:

ARON NELS STEINKE!

Portrait of The Artist as a young wolf

Aron Nels Steinke first studied hand-drawn animation before eventually drawing and writing comics and children's books. In 2006 he received a Xeric Grant which propelled him into the self-publishing and cartooning world. Aron has published 5 issues of the autobiographical comics series, Big Plans, and has frequently participated in numerous anthologies including Not My Small Diary and the award winning Papercutter anthology. 

Aron's all-ages graphic novel, Neptune, first published by Sparkplug Comic Books and Tugboat Press, has been translated and published into French and selected as a notable book for this year's BestAmerican Comics, published by Houghton Mifflin. Aron's two early-reader children's books, The Super Crazy Cat Dance and The Super-Duper Dog Park were published by Blue Apple Books. The latter of the two was chosen as a Publisher's Weekly honorable mention for the Best Comics of 2011. Bozo the Teacher, a comic strip based on the author's daily life as an elementary school teacher updates weekly on the author's website, www.aronnelssteinke.com.

Editor's note: I touched on this in the previous post about James Kochalka, but I am a big fan of simplicity in comics. Aron Nels Steinke is very adept at drawing in a style that can appeal to both children and adults. Given his other profession (elementary school teacher), it's not surprising that he is able to tap into the fun & innocence many of us associate with childhood. 

My introduction to Steinke was through his self-published autobiographical comics. I recommend checking out his Big Plans series...very compelling and fun to read!

Shout-out: Box Brown

DIGESTATE CONTRIBUTOR: 

BOX BROWN!

Box Brown is a cartoonist, illustrator and comic publisher from Philadelphia.  His comics have been featured in Mad Magazine and his illustrations have been on Wired.com.  His web and print comic "Everything Dies" was named a notable comic of 2011 in the Best American Comics Anthology and was honored with two Ignatz Awards.  His comics publishing outfit, Retrofit launched in 2011.  He's currently working on a comic biography of pro wrestler Andre the Giant.  

 boxbrown.com, retrofitcomics.com

Page from "Best Friends 4 Ever"

Editor's Note: I think Box won a Xeric grant in the same cycle as Sophia Wiedeman and me, because I remember meeting him around the same time as her. I always look forward to seeing what new minis he'll have at the various comic conventions at which we both have tables. The man is incredibly prolific. I consider it an accomplishment if I have a new comic at each convention, but Box seems to always have at least two or more new ones! 


I love his work for the same reasons I love James Kochalka's work: he is able to pare his drawings down to the essentials without losing any emotional impact. Clean, simple and easy to read. 


Oh, and I should mention how much I love his Retrofit Comics outfit. By subscribing you'll have a new "floppy" comic sent to you about once every month. It seems that most everyone has switched over to putting out graphic novels, so it's refreshing to have this neglected format embraced once again. 

Page from "Everything Dies" series

Page from "Ghosts & Aliens" ("Everything Dies" series)