Came across this Arabic comix magazine on my shelf and realized I have yet to post about it, and it is certainly worthy of a post, not just because I happen to be featured in it but because its format/approach isn't one I think I've come across before.
Featuring critical essays, extensive interviews and complete short comix, the inaugural issue of [+] Magazine is a hefty 154-page package, jumpstarted by editor extraordinaire Jad Khoury. Each issue has an over-arching theme (though I'm not sure if any issues have been produced since its inaugural Nov. 2022 issue), this one being “Arab Revolts and Comix Strips”. Under the umbrella of this theme are 5 critical essays and 5 complete short comix, and one graphic novel excerpt, each accompanied by an in-depth interview with its creator.
Here are a few photos from my interview:
And here's a link to my featured comix, a crop of which made the cover.
#coverage #work
Mythomatic orders fulfilled and paintings hauled to the vault, and that's my exercise for the day. Read Dominic Boyer's NO MORE FOSSILS, which distills extensive research into an immensely insightful handy 96-page sort-of-pocketbook.
Remainder of the day will have to constitute feeding myself and tidying up after spending weekend with the child, get the space in good operational order for the work week ahead.
#journal
Hit the 100-page mark on Salman Rushdie's THE SATANIC VERSES, my threshold for testing my appetite for any given book. It still feels like a drop in THE SATANIC VERSES' hellish waters, because it's not even a quarter of the way through and I'm not entirely sure what it's even about yet. Rushdie writes beautifully. It's all very poetic, but I haven't the slightest clue what the hell is going on most of the time. When I do have a grasp on the narrative, it is in fact captivating, but those pages are far and few between.
Just put the child down and my body is aching and my brain is dead and I cannot for the life of me see myself spending my extremely limited leisure time carrying on with THE SATANIC VERSES. Do I feel guilty for putting it aside? Not right now. Maybe tomorrow.
Need a palette cleanser of sorts, something easy that I know I'll enjoy. It's been years since I've read Elmore Leonard, who's always an easy bet for me. I think I'll read TOUCH, a battered old paperback of which I picked up in Denver for three bucks some years ago and have yet to crack open. Pages literally falling out, this may be the last time this particular copy will ever be read by anyone.
#reads
“Marijuana smoking by white youth represented a symbolic threat to normative suburban values and capitalist ideologies” — Mathew D. Lassiter on America's war on drugs.
The U.S. military's Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) expresses concern over China's expanding presence in Antigua and in the Caribbean region.
House passes contentious Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan aid package — “China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are working together in a new axis of evil to harm our alliances and undermine our national security,” House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said on the floor ahead of the vote.
Some light reading after failing to put the little one down for nap time. Thought for sure soccer practice would zonk him out. Could use a little shuteye myself tbh.
#journal
PROJECT OLDBOOK trudging along, around the midway point now. Really need to move faster though.
Very early on in the project, the idea of something AI-based was suggested. But no, I ended up going in the absolute polar opposite direction with the most tactile and labor intensive thing imaginable for some reason.
Masochistic tendencies probably.
#work
Steven Heller isn't wrong in calling me an “Artist Who Designs (and Vice Versa)” in this short interview over at his blog The Daily Heller (hosted by Print Mag).
Quite an honor to be featured on Steven's blog. I remember first encountering his book, Design Literacy, at the tender age of 19 some decades ago. Very formative reading for me and one that I still recommend to young designers just starting out.
#journal #coverage
Accounting today, which I am behind on and will certainly suck my soul dry by day's end.
Also on the docket:
– Fulfilling Mythomatic orders.
– Meal prep (because not enough time over the weekend).
– Excercise
And that's probably already one thing too many to fit into a single workday.
#journal
Love me a good drag show.
The thing about drag shows is that they could either be a sign of a closed society (where women performing in public is considered taboo) or an open one (where men needn't abide by heteronormative restrictions). I get the sense that in Houston, it's actually a little bit of both.
#journal
We all know about Diego Riviera the great muralist, but seldom do we hear about Diego Riviera the illustrator.
Picked this up in Mexico some time ago and I am positively obsessed. I'm not entirely sure why, but there's a quality to Riviera's lineart that I find wholly attractive.
#art #books
Sometimes you just gotta bust out that glue stick.
Nothing about how I approach comix is conventional, and it's going to get weirder and weirder.
Inboxes zero. Glorious day.
#work #comix #TSG