Category: Politics

Birdcage Bottom benefit backs ACLU

Publisher/distributor J.T. Yost shares more on his current fundraiser.

Birdcage Bottom Books, which publishes minicomics and distributes for other small presses and individuals, is running a fundraiser through the month of February: 50% of the sales of selected comics will go to the ACLU. This is a great opportunity to pick up minicomics by rising and accomplished creators such as Glynis Fawkes, Whit Taylor, Hazel Newlevant, Kevin Budnik, and Jonathan Baylis, and help a great cause at the same time.

I checked in with J.T. Yost, who runs Birdcage Bottom and publishes his own comics there, to find out more about the fundraiser—and ask for some personal recommendations!

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Reading for Resistance: “Rolling Blackouts”

Brigid Alverson kicks off a new column highlighting comics that explore issues in the news, starting with an interview with Sarah Glidden.

Reading for Resistance is a new column highlighting comics and graphic novels that shed light on issues in the news.

On Saturday, everyone was talking about refugees. Six years ago, Sarah Glidden made a journey through parts of Turkey, Iraq, and Syria with a group of independent journalists who were focusing on refugees and their situation throughout the region; they were accompanied by a veteran of the Iraq War who was recording his own reflections. Last September, Drawn and Quarterly published Glidden’s graphic memoir of that trip, Rolling Blackouts.

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Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie & Jeff Lemire tells story of the mistreatment of Canadian Indigenous children

The story of a 12-year old boy who died from hunger and exposure is the subject of a new project spearheaded by the Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie with comic writer and illustrator Jeff Lemire. This multi-media production is a mix of poems, music, a graphic novel and animated film.

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Jeff Smith, Keith Knight, Peter Kuper and more turn their pens to the presidential election

With Comic-Con and the Republican National Convention occurring in the same week, The Guardian enlisted several cartoonists to draw their renditions of Trump and more.

Comic-Con International wasn’t the only convention happening in the United States last week; there was another convention with crazier, more colorful characters living in a fantasy world — the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. To mark this confluence of events, The Guardian asked several comic artists to turn their artistic talents to that other convention and the upcoming election.

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Oh, Canada! Government declassifies files on Supersoldier James “Logan” Howlett

Records of James "Logan" Howlett

Library and Archives Canada made a stunning announcement today: the acquisition of the declassified journals and military records of James Howlett. Howlett was the primary subject of the rumoured Canadian “Supersoldier” program. Better known as “Logan,” Howlett worked for both Canadian and United States government agencies and later, under the code-name “Wolverine,” continued freelance for various non-government organizations.

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Must Read: Tom Spurgeon’s Initial Reaction to Paris Attack

Understandably Tom Spurgeon is still gathering his thoughts regarding the situation in Paris but his initial reaction is still a must read specifically for this line of thinking:

In terms of practical considerations if an entity coordinated last night’s attacks in a way that they have the complexity and power and intent that seemed to me indicated by my initial reading of last night’s on-the-ground news, this may present a real security issue for the festival in Angouleme that maybe wasn’t as reasonable to expect or fear for last year’s show.