Tag: Joamette Gil

Celebrity chef Kim-Joy teams with artist Alti Firmansyah for the OGN ‘Turtle Bread’

The graphic novel arrives on digital from Comixology Originals in May and in print from Dark Horse this fall.

The Great British Bake Off finalist and bestselling cookbook author Kim-Joy is collaborating with Alti Firmansyah on her first graphic novel, Turtle Bread: A Graphic Novel About Baking, Fitting In, and the Power of Friendship. The project will arrive on digital via Comixology Originals in May, to be followed in print from Dark Horse Comics in October.

They’ll be joined by letterer Joamette Gil, designer Cindy Leong, and editors Felix Horne and Allison O’Toole for a project that explores not only friendship and baked goods, but also mental health issues.

“Turtle Bread is a book about self-awareness,” said Kim-Joy. “It’s about that feeling of loneliness, of not fitting in or feeling good enough, of self-criticism, and the path towards self-acceptance. This is explored through baking, and in particular, the symbolism of the turtle–coming out of its shell and moving forward; however slowly that may be. Hence: Turtle Bread! (And yes, there’s actual turtle themed bread! Plus loads of other recipes). It’s NOT a magical story about how baking and friendship fix everything, but a story about the small steps forward (and sometimes sideways and backwards) gradually adding up.”

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Iko iko an day: Grannies kick ass in ‘Golden Rage’

Chrissy Williams, Lauren Knight, Sofie Dodgson, Becca Carey and Joamette Gil present a series about old women baking cakes and fighting to the death.

A new Image Comics miniseries will explore a world where old women are sent to an island to live out the reminder of their lives — and battle to the death. My grandma and your grandma, sitting by the fire …

Golden Rage by Chrissy Williams, Lauren Knight, Sofie Dodgson, Becca Carey and Joamette Gil will feature a little-seen demographic in comics — older woman, and showcase how they can kick as much ass as anyone. (My grandmother, who played bingo in some pretty sketchy places, carried a butcher knife in her purse).

“Old women are formidable—I wrote Golden Rage to reflect that,” said Williams. “These characters are tough, capable, kind, and funny. I’ve fallen in love with the combination of cake and stabbing weapons, and hope you will too.”

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Smash Pages Q&A: The ‘Mañana’ anthology interview

Alberto Rayo, Maddi Gonzalez and Tristan J. Tarwater discuss the stories they helped create for ‘Mañana: Latinx Comics From The 25th Century.’

Power & Magic Press run by Joamette Gil has put out a series of exceptional anthologies in recent years, including Heartwood, Immortal Souls and The Queer Witch. Their most recent book – and arguably their best anthology to date – is Mañana: Latinx Comics From The 25th Century, which came out at the end of 2021 in both Spanish and English language editions. The book, edited by Gil, features 27 stories that are set in Latin America in the 2490s, or in the diaspora among other planets. It features an incredible lineup of talent, including Julio Anta, Terry Blas, Kat Fajardo, Jamila Rowser, H. Pueyo and Dante Luiz.

The anthology offers a wide variety of stories, styles and approaches that are realistic and poetic, set on Earth and much further afield, small stories and large. They are stories of survival, of continuance, of possibility, of transformation, of community. They are stories of hope. As Gil wrote in the book’s introduction, “Mañana presents dozens of possible futures, with one thing in common: we’re still here. El futuro es nuestro.”

I had the chance to speak with three of the creators involved in the book. Alberto Rayo wrote “A Dream of a Thousand Stars,” which was drawn by Sebastian Carrillo. Maddi Gonzalez drew “A Little Esperanza,” which was written by Jamila Rowser, and Tristan J. Tarwater wrote “Bats and Fish,” which was drawn by Molly Mendoza. The three were kind enough to speak about their work and the possibilities of the future.

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2020 Prism Award winners announced

The awards recognize, promote and celebrate diversity and excellence in the field of queer comics.

The winners of the fourth annual Prism Awards were announced over the weekend as part of the virtual Queer Comics Expo hosted by the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. The awards ceremony and other content from the expo can be found on the CAM’s YouTube channel.

The awards are presented to comic works by queer authors and stories that promote the growing body of diverse, powerful, innovative, positive or challenging representations of LGBTQAI+ characters in fiction or nonfiction comics. The goal is to recognize, promote and celebrate diversity and excellence in the field of queer comics. Finalists and recipients were voted on by diverse panels of comics professionals, educators, librarians, journalists and writers, which can be found here.

Congratulations to all the winners, who are in bold below:

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Fund Me Monday | ‘Cupid’s Arrow,’ ‘Dagger Dagger’ and more

Check out new crowdfunding projects by Thom Zahler, Ron Marz, Matthew Dow Smith, Vincent Fiorello and more.

Crowdfunding continues to serve as a viable method for creators to fund their creative endeavors, as comic-related projects flourish on sites like Kickstarter, Patreon and IndieGoGo. If you’re looking to buy something from or support a creator directly, you’ve come to the right place. And that’s a good thing to do, now more than ever.

Send any suggestions of your own to jkparkin@yahoo.com.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Joamette Gil on ‘Heartwood’ and more

The publisher of Power & Magic Press discusses her latest anthology, editing and coloring, and more.

Joamette Gil is a comics artist, writer and illustrator, who’s contributed to The Nib, Oni Press’ Draw Out the Vote, Everyday Feminism, and elsewhere. She is a comics letterer who’s worked for Oni Press and Lion Forge. She’s also the person behind Power and Magic Press. She’s edited and published the acclaimed and award-winning anthologies Power & Magic: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology and Immortal Souls. She’s just finished kickstarting Heartwood: Non-binary Tales of Sylvan Fantasy, which is the first-ever all non-binary comics anthology

I’ve admired Gil’s artwork and her sense of design and color, and wanted to reach out to her to talk about Power & Magic Press, anthologies and color.

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