Category Archives: Comics

Art, Comics

Aaron Losty on Comics Composition and the Cartoonist Cooperative

Book cover of "The Hanging" showing two adults looking confused and one child looking up toward the viewer
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This week, Ian talks with Cartoonist Aaron Losty about his new graphic novel, The Hanging, out now from Strangers Publishing. Among other topics, they discuss formative works, collaboration, and making genre comics for a small press audience. In the back half, they talk about Aaron’s experience as a co-founder of Cartoonist Cooperative, the state of the organization three years after its inception, decision-making processes, and recent campaigns. Apologies for the audio quality of the interview.

Aaron Losty

  • Bluesky: @aaronlosty.bsky.social
  • Instagram: @aaronlosty
  • Patreon: patreon.com/aaronlosty
  • Website: aaronlosty.com

Cartoonist Cooperative

  • Bluesky: @cartoonist.coop
  • email: hello@cartoonist.coop
  • Instagram: @cartoonistcoop
  • Mastodon.art: @cartoonist.coop
  • Tumblr: @cartoonistcoop
  • Website: cartoonist.coop
  • YouTube: @cartoonistcoop

Strangers Publishing

Then we share a portion of an interview from September of 2024 about the case of the H5, 5 people who were facing criminal criminal charges of human trafficking for providing humanitarian aid to refugees crossing the Polish and Belarusian border through the ancient Bieloweza forest. In this interview, we spoke with a member of Szpilla anti-repression collective. The members of the H5 case were acquitted this month in a legal victory, though the state might renew it’s accusation. Meanwhile, with fly-overs by Russian drones and planes in Estonia and Poland, we see an increasing militarization of the border from states on both sides.

Art, Author, Comics

Simplicity (with Mattie Lubchansky)

book cover of Simplicity featuring a cartoon character being drawn toward glowing vines with flowers and hands reaching down toward their feet
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This week, Ian talks with cartoonist Mattie Lubchansky about her new book, Simplicity, out July 29 from Pantheon Graphic Library. The conversation touches on Mattie’s work as Associate Editor for The Nib, her history with comics, and her ambitions beyond the printed page, but mostly focuses on the role of art in organizing and living our politics amid all the compromises required of life in the Real World.

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Featured Track:

  • Take The ‘A’ Train by Duke Ellington from The Duke – The Essential Collection (1927-1962)
Anarchist, Anarchist Media, Art, Author, Cartoons, Comics, History, New Orleans, PM Press, United States

“Anarchy In The Big Easy” with Max Cafard and Vulpes

book cover of "Anarchy In The Big Easy" depicting comics of riotous scenes in the history of Bolbancha
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This week, we spoke with author Max Cafard and illustrator Vulpes about their new book, Anarchy in The Big Easy: A History of Revolt, Rebellion, and Resurgence. Among other topics, they discuss Cafard’s Surregionalism Manifesto, the origins and production of the book, and what the media gets right and wrong about New Orleans. The book came out from PM Press on April 15, 2025.

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Featured Track:

  • Four Corners (part 2) by Lee Dorsey from Four Corners EP

Continue reading “Anarchy In The Big Easy” with Max Cafard and Vulpes →

abortion, Art, Author, Comics, Feminism, gender, General, Health, Politics, Transcribed, United States, zine

Bodily Autonomy and Health Education In An Easy To Swallow Package (Abortion Pill Zine)

Abortion Pill Zine Cover featuring flowers and houses
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This week, we’re sharing an interview Ian conducted with cartoonists Isabella Rotman, Sage Coffey, and Marnie Galloway on the subject of the Abortion Pill Zine: A Community Guide to Misoprostol and Mifepristone out now from Silver Sprocket (and freely readable on their website). They discuss the process by which this resource was assembled, the benefits of local, focused abortion organizing, the timeliness and timelessness of the fight for safe abortion care, and the power of comics to disseminate valuable and complex information.

Links

Announcements

BAD News for February 2025

The A-Radio Network of anarchist and antiauthoritarian radios and podcasts just released the latest in their monthly series, B(A)D News: Angry Voices From Around The World for February 2025, episode 88. This one features Parias from Athens sharing an interview about resisting wind farms and green developmentalism in the Greek mountains as well as Črna luknja from Ljubljana speaking with antifascists from Budapest and Sofia about resisting Europes largest annual neo-nazi rally, the LukovMarch.

Support for Anarchists in Sudan

You can read a short publication by the Sudan Anarchist Gathering called Al-Amal in English thanks to the translation work of CNT-AIT France (or the original Arabic as well) at this blog. From the blog:

If you want to receive the next
issues, please contact us : contact@cnt-ait.info
If you want to support financially the Sudan Anarchist Gathering, you can use our paypal
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/cntait1
(please validate “Sending ‘money to an individual’ to pay less bank charges) Send an email to contact@cnt-ait.info to inform us of the donation and also so that we can keep you informed of its use.

Continue reading Bodily Autonomy and Health Education In An Easy To Swallow Package (Abortion Pill Zine) →

Anarchist, Anarchist Media, Art, Author, Comics, General, Immigration, Kristian Williams, North Carolina, Racism, repression, Transcribed, United States, zine

CIMA on Community Defense Against ICE + Kristian Williams on the Comics of Alan Moore

This week on the show, we’re sharing two interviews.

<a href="https://traffic.libsyn.com/forcedn/thefinalstrawradio/tfsr-podcast-20250209-CIMAKristianWilliams.mp3">Download This Episode</a>First up, Dulce, a member of Companeros Inmigrantes en las Montanas en Accion, or CIMA, a local organizing and advocacy group by and for immigrants in western NC about her experience working for dignity and solidarity in light of the current and past administrations. More on CIMA can be found at CIMAWNC.Org

Then, Ian speaks with Kristian Williams, author of Gang Politics, Resist Everything Except Temptation, and Our Enemies in Blue, among others, about his recent book, The Illuminist: Philosophical Explanations in the work of Alan Moore. The chat touches upon Moore’s work and its anarchist underpinnings, his legacy in and out of comics, the necessity of imagination, and the possibilities that arise from death and disaster. The book is available from emergencyhearts.com, emergencyhearts.bandcamp.com, and kristianwilliams.com. You can find past interviews we’ve done with Kristian here.

Continue reading CIMA on Community Defense Against ICE + Kristian Williams on the Comics of Alan Moore →

activism, Art, Cartoons, Comics, Transcribed, zine

Cypher Human Rights Comics with Adam Shapiro

Cypher Human Rights Comics with Adam Shapiro

Book cover of "We Are Many" featuring a cartoon march of a women in purple shirts with flags with the feminism symbol + the text "TFSR 12-24-23 | Cypher Human Rights Comics with Adam Shapiro"
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On this episode, Ian spoke with Adam Shapiro, Co-editor of We Are Many, a comics anthology released as part of the Cypher Zine project (@cypher_comics on Instagram) and published by Radix Media. The book pairs artists and activists to create narratives around the defense of women and sex workers around the globe.

Among other topics, the conversation touches on the process of matching local artists with the activists on the ground, notions of human rights defense (as defined by UN guidelines) as it relates to autonomous, self-directed struggle. They also speak about the strengths and limitations of NGO-led initiatives, and the effects of emergent disasters on long-term organizing initiatives.

But first, a Sean Swain shares his book reviews of 2023.

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Featured Track:

  • Glaciers of Ice by El Michels Affair

Continue reading Cypher Human Rights Comics with Adam Shapiro →

Anarcho-Syndicalism, Art, Capitalism, Cartoons, Comics, General, History, Immigration, IWW, Labor, PM Press, Transcribed, United States, zine

Mr. Block’s Past and Legacy (with Sean Carleton and Iain McIntyre)

Mr. Block’s Past and Legacy (with Sean Carleton and Iain McIntyre)

book cover of "Mr Block: The Subversive Comics and Writings of Ernest Riebe" featuring a drawing of Mr Block saying "Bosses know best!"
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This week, Ian talks to Sean Carleton of Graphic History Collective and Labor historian and activist Iain McIntyre about the recent release of Mr. Block: The Subversive Comics and Writings of Ernest Riebe by PM Press. After some background on their respective projects, they talk about the legacy of the IWW cartoonist, the origins and process of putting the book together, and what aspects of his work are still relevant today. Here’s a hint: just about all of them are.

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Featured Track:

  • Mr. Block performed by Utah Philips from Rebel Voices: Songs of the Industrial Workers of the World
  • Beware The Friendly Stranger by Boards Of Canada from Alpha and Omega

Continue reading Mr. Block’s Past and Legacy (with Sean Carleton and Iain McIntyre) →

Art, Author, Capitalism, Cartoons, Comics, General, Labor, Transcribed, zine

#ComicsBrokeMe and The Labor of Comics (with Shea Hennum)

#ComicsBrokeMe and The Labor of Comics (with Shea Hennum)

blood splatter with ransom note-style lettering reading "#ComicsBrokeMe"
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Ian speaks with journalist Shea Hennum about their article on #comicsbrokeme, in which workers in the comics industry shared their stories of tight deadlines, unreasonable workloads, and low pay following the death of cartoonist Ian McGinty. For the article, which appeared at solrad.co, they applied an analysis that synthesized communist and anarchist traditions in order to identify a multitude of sites of political struggle, challenge systems of domination and violence, and chart possible ways forward, similar to analysis applied in the movement to abolish the Prison Industrial Complex.

They discuss past efforts to organize within the comic book industry as well as current organization efforts, such as the formation of the United Workers of Seven Seas, a union of workers at Seven Seas Entertainment, Comic Book Workers United, a union of workers at Image Comics, and Cartoonist Cooperative, a cohort of cartoonists committed to mutual promotion, skill and info sharing, and efforts to make industry wages and practices more transparent. They also discuss possible ways for comic book readers to offer support.

Further reading and archived documents referred to in the chat:

Continue reading #ComicsBrokeMe and The Labor of Comics (with Shea Hennum) →

abolition, Art, Author, Cartoons, Comics, History, Police, Transcribed, zine

Comics, Collage and Anti-Copaganda with Johnny Damm

Comics, Collage and Anti-Copaganda with Johnny Damm

Cartoon cop pointing collaged onto a distressed brick wall, a word bubble reading "Straight From The Mouths of Riot Participants" + sidebar with "TFSR 05-14-2023, Comics, Collage & Anti-Copaganda with Johnny Damm"
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This week, a new contributor, Ian, talks to cartoonist and educator Johnny Damm about his recent releases I’m a cop, featuring dialogue from Police Union speeches and Riot Comics: Tompkins Square Park, which explores the 1988 Tompkins Square Riot in which Police evicted an unhoused encampment in the park on New York’s Lower East Side. They discuss the collage technique by which Damm assembles his comics, how his work dovetails with the larger work of abolition, and the role of propaganda in movement-making. Listeners can follow Johnny Damm on twitter @dammjohnny (with two m’s) and on IG @johnny.damm. His website is JohnnyDamm.com

Also notable, are Damm’s influence by Jack Halberstam‘s ideas that became the book The Queer Art of Failure ala the Failure Biographies book, and Damm’s representations of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, a similar but smaller trans and queer uprising in San Francisco  in 1966, preceding the more famous Stone Wall Riots of 1969 in New York City.

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Featured Track:

  • More Light by J Mascis and The Fog from More Light

. … . ..

Continue reading Comics, Collage and Anti-Copaganda with Johnny Damm →

Art, Cartoons, Comics, Prisons, Queer

Io of ABO COMIX On Abolition, Comics, Queer Prisoner Support and Nerding

Prison Abolition, Queer Comicking, Nerding

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This week Cypress spoke with Io Ascarium. The conversation covered their work as a member of ABO Comix Collective and their work in comics and print.

Io is “a maurading pillar of salt just doing their best to make what
could, in a sense, be described as ‘art'” (I love them dearly but could not bring myself to write this into the actual script).

ABO Comix Collective is a group of buds and comrades working to help LGBTQ and HIV + prisoners publish their art and stay connected to the outside world. They also provide direct material aid to those inside and spread the good word of prison abolition. Their 3rd volume was released for presale earlier this month. All proceeds go back to the contributors.

You can visit their site at Abocomix.com.
You can visit Io’s online shop at thing.bigcartel.com

Io (they/them)
Cypress (he/him)

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playlist pending…