(Doesn’t really work as well as a scrolling comic, as it’s meant for a printed book.)
It’s a sort of prequel/proof-of-concept for an original work I’ve been developing, titled “BIOFRAME”. It was a ton of fun to make this! Just trying to find the right tone for what should be a complete sci-fi/horror hellscape was a challenge, and I definitely plan on delving much further into this story.
Bioframe is visually inspired by several video games and creators that I admire, namely games such as Ikaruga and artists like Keita Amemiya. I wanted this “prototype” to read like an older anime, because I’m a sucker for the melodrama that tends to show through in those 90s sci-fi escapades. Hopefully it worked out.
We are looking for comic proposals from female/femme comic creators for the next issue of our award-winning anthology around the theme of DEATH.
We are always looking for a wide and diverse range of responses to the anthology’s theme, so take your time to think about the connections you have to the theme and what it means to you. We fully encourage pushing the theme to its limits and being as creative as you can be with it.
You could cover: Death. Darkness. Closure. Endings. Passing. Finality. Loss. Silence. Mortality. Rest. Rebirth.
…Or anything else related to YOU and the subject of “DEATH.”
Send us your ideas AND help us spread the word (And yes, there will be a Kickstarter to support the book coming in January 2020.)!
All of the guidelines and the submission form are available on the Submit! page on our website, so check out the details and send us your comic proposals!
Would YOU like to have your RPG character painted by me in watercolor? (Like Starlight and Pollenbeard above???)
Well, good news, a new stretch goal was added to the Chainmail Bikini Kickstarter in which I DO JUST THAT. There are only ten slots available so if you’re into this, get on it fast! Get a sweet comic book AND a cool piece of custom art!
Holy crap, y'all are knockin’ it outta the park with the “Cthulhu is Hard to Spell Kickstarter,” which you can find over at cthulhuishardtospell.com. In one day, we’ve already raised over$12,000! This is fantastic news, because everyone involved in this anthology worked reallyhard on it.
That’s why I wanted to share one of the pages I did for my own short story, DEUS EXodus. It’s four pages long, but I really worked my ass off on them. I penciled and inked the pages traditionally, then colored them digitally, which is something I’d never done for a comic before. Needless to say, I watched a lot of tutorials, and there was a lot of trial and error and learning involved. I also lettered the pages myself, and I was told I would need to letter them by published comic standards, so I spent many hours reading up on how to do professional lettering on my own. Four pages might not sound like a lot, but it was over a month of work for me, and I’m proud of how the story turned out. So, I’d really appreciate it if you’d all check out the "Cthulhu is Hard to Spell” Kickstarter and back it if you think it looks cool!
The Kickstarter’s already steamrolled over the first two early bird perks, meaning everyone who backs this awesome anthology will get tons of free digital comics, including Vol. 1 of my very own BINARY STAR! Trust me, you really don’t wanna miss out on this Kickstarter!
“Featuring 9 different stories from 20 creators, Bi Visibility explores bisexuality from various different perspective with stories ranging from romance to high fantasy.”
Please consider checking out and backing this project! I recently did art for one of the stories included in it. I’ve read through the previews for the rest of the book and honestly was just left feeling so warm and fuzzy. I promise it’s such a sweet book with so much goodness <3
P&M Press is now taking submissions for POWER & MAGIC: The Queer Witch Comics AnthologyVolume 2.
First, there was the award-winning POWER & MAGIC: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology… then, our “spirit”-ed interstitial volume, Power & Magic: IMMORTAL SOULS… and now,POWER & MAGIC returns with a full-length Volume 2, bigger and better than ever before!
ThePOWER & MAGIC SERIES is all about queer witches of coloras icons of female power. Witches represent rebellion, transcendence, healing, feminine monstrosity, so-called “deviance,” and interconnectedness – with the cosmos, with their bodies, and with each other. These anthologies exist as a space for women of color to explore gender, power, struggle, selfhood and community, all in the context of compelling fantasy comics for young adult readers (and up)!
Submission Period
Submissions will be open to the public from February 11th - March 10th (11:59 PM Pacific Time).
Who Can Participate
To submit to POWER & MAGIC Volume 2, both of the following must apply to you:
You are a person of color.
You identify – whether fully or partially or complicatedly – as a woman. This can include cis women, trans women, bigender people, two-spirit people, demi-girls, questioning-but-leaning-woman-aligned, etc. Sex assigned at birth is irrelevant. We’re looking to represent womanhood as a spectrum rather than a fixed point.
For team submissions: At least the writer must meet the above criteria.
If you’re a member of a long-standing comics partnership that includes a white writer and an artist of color, you may pitch together so long as the partner of color plays an equal-or-greater role in determining the story.
If two submissions are equally matched, the team whose members all meet the criteria will be prioritized.
Use#CovenSearch on social media to find teammates!
Age Restrictions
All contributors must be 18 years or older. All content must be suitable for readers as young as 14 years old.
Specifications
Comics from 2 - 10 pages long (must be an even number)
6” x 9” trim size (template will be provided)
Bleed? Yes.
Black & White or Grayscale (no screentones, please)
600 dpi
.PSD final files
Timeline
Selection Process (Feb 2019 - Apr 2019)
Open Submissions: 2/11 - 3/10 (4 weeks)
Selection Period: 3/11 - 3/24 (2 weeks)
Acceptance Emails/Pitch Feedback: 3/25
Paperwork: 3/25 - 4/1 (1 week)
Creation Period (Apr 2019 - Sep 2019)
Script: 4/1 - 4/21 (3 weeks)
Feedback/Edits: 4/22 - 4/28 (1 week)
Thumbnails: 4/29 - 5/12 (2 weeks)
Feedback/Edits: 5/13 - 5/19 (1 week)
Pencils: 5/20 - 6/23 (5 weeks)
Feedback/Edits: 6/24 - 6/30 (1 week)
Inks: 7/1 - 7/21 (3 weeks)
Feedback/Edits: 7/22 - 7/28 (1 week)
Toning & Shading: 7/29 - 8/11 (2 weeks)
Feedback/Edits: 8/12 - 8/18 (1 week)
Lettering: 8/19 - 9/1 (2 weeks)
Feedback/Edits: 9/2 - 9/8 (1 week)
Final Files Due: 9/15
Kickstarter (October 2019)
Payment (November 2019)
Compensation
Contributors will be compensated at $106/page plus any Kickstarter bonuses unlocked through stretch goals. Contributors also receive a minimum of 10 complimentary copies of the anthology, royalties on all digital sales, and royalties on any future print runs of the anthology after the first printing sells out.
Rights
Creators will cede exclusive first worldwide print and digital rights to their stories for a full calendar year from the date of publication, and non-exclusive worldwide print and digital rights in perpetuity. Ownership remains with the creators.
What We *WANT*
Previously unpublished stories.
At least one protagonist must be a queer woman of color (or woman-aligned).
At least one character must be a witch, and at least one witch character must be a queer woman of color (or woman-aligned).
The queer woman of color protagonist(s) must be human or human-appearing.
Any era, any location, any type of witch – real or folkloric or invented.
Fantasy elements! How fantastical or understated is up to you.
Peaceful stories, sad stories, triumphant stories, funny stories, failure stories, action stories, love stories – the full spectrum of humanity is welcome. The catch: it must end “positively.” Everything doesn’t have to work out, but we’d prefer for stories to end on a note of hope or new understanding or resilience, etc, even if things go wrong.
What We *DON’T* Want
No fan works. No auto-bio. No prose. No one-off illustrations.
Comics that are already finished or that you’ve already started drawing.
Meet-cutes (“Two people meet and crush at first sight, the end”). A meet-cute may occur within the story, but it can’t be the whole story.
Horror: Your story can use fear and danger as plot elements, but if instilling fear/existential dread in the reader is the overarching goal, this is the wrong anthology.
Tolkienian fantasy: no elves, dwarves, orcs, etc. We won’t freak out if you make something up that’s very loosely(!) inspired by any of these (unless it replicates the problematic elements of Tolkien’s work, in which case your work will not be accepted).
Cursing is permitted as long as words aren’t used literally (i.e. “Shit, you scared me!” as opposed to “Let’s go shit in the woods!”) and are used very sparingly when used at all. In general, we’d prefer not.
No porn. No references to specific sexual acts. No explicit nudity whether sexual or non-sexual (sorry, folks). “Consensual fade-to-black sex between legal adults” is fine.
No depictions of abuse (sexual, physical, psychological) whether pictorial or written. Characters may vaguely reference (in non-graphic language) abuse that they have suffered in the past if doing so serves the story or is integral to the character.
No gore. People can get hurt, bleed, die, etc, but not in a grossly over-the-top way that fetishizes violence.
No slurs, no racism (not even “gnomes hate all faeries” fantasy racism), no misogyny, no transphobia, no ableism, no xenophobia, and no white supremacist nonsense in general. (And please, no stories whose sole purpose is to teach that these things are bad.)
Here’s what you’ll need to complete your submission:
A working title and page count for your comic (doesn’t have to be exact).
A synopsis of your story, including a beginning, middle, and end. Spoil everything, but try to keep it under 500 words.
Preliminary sketches associated with your pitch: character ideas, important creature designs, environment concepts (the latter is especially important if your portfolio lacks strong examples of background art), etc. These don’t need to be final or polished pieces! Just detailed enough to give us an idea.
Links to any relevant publishing credits (whether you’re writing the comic, drawing it, lettering it, or doing everything yourself). Self-published works and webcomics count as credits! Choose examples that best reflect the style you intend to use for this comic. You may simply include a link to your portfolio if you have no pre-existing credits, but please note that folks with sequential storytelling examples will receive preference.
Tell us about yourself and anyone else working with you, your cultural and artistic background(s), and why you want to be in POWER & MAGIC Volume 2. Short and sweet is best!
More Questions?
Check out the FAQ. If your answer isn’t there, Askaway!
Naomi Franquiz (she/her) is a freelance illustrator and comic book artist based in Florida. A queer Latina creator, she is known for her expressive character designs and illustrations that reflect a wider range of inclusive representations and body positivity. Her first monthly comic was a series called “MISFIT CITY,” written by Kiwi Smith and Kurt Lustgarten and published by BOOM! Box. She has continued to do cover illustrations and sequential work for series like “GOOSEBUMPS” (IDW), and “UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL” (Marvel Comics).
Naomi continues to focus on character-driven art and stories, and can be found working diligently on her next comic beneath the softly breathing, gently writhing pile of sweaters in front of her desk. Please announce yourself carefully - the sweaters are easily startled.
With a $1,000+ pledge, I will make you a one of a kind, ansolutely unique to you, hand embroidered garment! It’ll be super rad, and you will look very cool.
AND, you’ll get an excellent book of 40(!!!) short comics, many of them queer, all of them made by new and up coming cartoonists from the Pacific Northwest, and all of them made wih love.
What it is: The full title is Tabula Idem: a queer tarot comic anthology. And that’s what it is, with a short comic for each of the Major Arcana. Some stories are more fantastic, some are closer to scifi, each one of them is gorgeous.
Why it’s on this list: This collection has 22 stories, all of them featuring queer characters. You have girls in love, boys in love, trans characters both binary and nonbinary. Characters defying what’s expected of their gender, alone or with a lover. It really does capture the spectrum of identities that our community has to offer.
Where you can find it: You can purchase the book or the ebook at their gumroad, and you can also find more information about the editors, the project, and the contributors on their blog @tabulaidemanthology.
Sometimes, a book sits on your shelf, waiting for you to need it.
That’s exactly what happened with the comic anthology Tabula Idem.
You know it’s the right time to read something when you’re crying only a few pages in. Even the introduction had my heart aching.
“The history of queerness is a history of adaption, of using creativity and community to flourish…. We design our own destinies, and then fight to protect and realize them.”
- Iris Jay, from the Introduction
With some anthologies, I am tempted to read them out of order, flipping around until something catches my eye. It is rare that I sit down and read one from front to back, but like the Major Arcana itself these anthology transitions expertly from one story to the next, each story building on the one that came before it. It was an experience, and a journey, which really speaks to how successful they were in keeping to their theme. I laughed, I cried, and I even caught myself repeating lines out loud just so I could hear them spoken.
It is very obvious that this project was put together when it was, because there is a defiance and a hopefulness in these pages. These characters face first meetings and the threat of a goodbye, they stare down evil and their own anxieties. And to watch these characters overcome, find their own versions of a triumph, is so powerful.
“Maybe it’s nice to imagine that things can be different… But they’re not really. But I think it’s okay to feel a bit helpless… Because I’m not alone, and never will be. You’re still the same… No matter what, I love you.”
- from XII The Hanged One, by Alain Helmers
You don’t have to understand Tarot to enjoy the symbolism of each story. At the beginning of each story you’re given a few lines of what the card means, and each story is capped by a beautiful tarot card featuring the characters of the story, in full colour.
Have I mentioned yet just how beautiful this book is? Not just the stories, but the whole book. So well done.
If I start trying to go in detail about each story, this will get ridiculously long, so I’ll just give you a bit of a taste from each. A coffee shop meetcute between two different kinds of artists. A dreamt connection turned tangible. An empath and their potion-making partner falling in love. A coming-of-age journey. A knight and their charge. Two lovers remembering together. A chariot racer and his carpenter. Two art thieves and a scandal. A light being restored. A ghost arcade and a new friend. A big move. A change in perspective. A necromancer and a transformation. Two rival gang members working together. Rio De Janeiro, 1927. “Fear holds no power over me for I am at peace and I am loved.” A scientist in space realizing there is always something more to discover. Magic and realizations in the rain. The winter solstice. Music and a burning conversation. And to finish off the collection, a merman shows a newcomer a new world.
Anthologies are often tricky, because there are always stories we like more or less and ones we wish were longer and ones we could have done without. I’ve never read an anthology that was this cohesive, where each story really did feel like part of a bigger whole that was the path this collection was leading us down.
It was the perfect thing to read at one am after a few days of feeling directionless. If you like comics, short stories, tarot, or if any of the little snippets above grabbed your attention, I highly recommend you get your hands on this anthology and give it a read.
Reading Tabula Idem? Let us know what you think! And if you’re looking for more great queer content, reminder that this is Day 7 of 365 queer reviews, one for each day of 2018. You can find all the reviews here.
I’m currently gauging interest for two anthologies that will feature black creators influenced by shoujo, BL, and otome! (you don’t have to be black to fill out the form)
✨Glitter in the Night✨
original bishounen art/comics by black creators.
Otomelanin
Art, cosplay, and writing by black fans of joseimuke and otome games.
Next up, Covid Chronicles. There are dozens of authors and artists who contributed to this anthology so I decided to just snap photos of the Contents page. (If anyone is willing to do an image description for this I would be eternal grateful.) I hope to be able to read all of them but I suspect at least a few will prove to be too much for me to process at the moment.
"My Kingdom for a Panel: A Shakespearean Comic Anthology" shepherded by@arledgecomics(tumblr) @arledgecomics (twitter) is halfway to it’s goal on Kickstarter!
Some creators are also offering commissions through our Kickstarter so check it out; there LESS than a MONTH left!
