Cropped Will Cardini artwork

May 29th, 2012

Catch Up on Sale; Kirby’s Influence on Art Comics

Filed under: Press — Tags: , , , , , , , , — William Cardini @ 7:21 am

Whew, it’s been a while since I’ve posted on this blog. I’ve gotten lost in drawing comics and I haven’t had time to put anything here but I’ve met most of my deadlines so I’m going to get back to my regular schedule of Tuesday/Friday blog posts. I’ve got two things to tell y’all about today:


Catch Up Winter Issue, cover by Max Bode.

The Catch Up Winter Issue is for sale. Josh Burggraf and I are the comics editors for this issue of the poetry/comics journal. It has comics by Box Brown, Victor Kerlow, Andrei Molotiu, Jo-Jo Sherrow, and others. You can buy it here.


A Jack Kirby drawing of a Celestial from the Eternals comics.

Robert Boyd, local Houston art critic and former Comics Journal staff member, has written a lengthy blog post discussing Kirby’s impact on art comics, in which he compares Vortex to comics by Jesse Jacobs and Jesse Moynihan. I’m honored to be discussed in such good company.

May 11th, 2012

Vortex #2 Preview

Filed under: Press,Print Comics — Tags: , — William Cardini @ 7:03 am

There’s a five-page preview of Vortex #2 on Squidface & the Meddler, click the screenshot to check it out: (Update 1/13/2017: This preview is no longer up.)

Vortex #2 preview screenshot from Squidface & the Meddler

May 3rd, 2012

Vortex #2 on Sale in my Online Store

Filed under: Press,Print Comics — Tags: , — William Cardini @ 8:18 am

I just added Vortex #2 to my online store.

Vortex #2

You can buy it individually or in a combo pack with #1 for a discount.

Vortex #1 and #2 Combo Pack

Instead of being Xeroxed, Vortex #1 and #2 were printed digitally in black by the Print Shoppe. Unfortunately, this increase in quality comes with an increase in price. But I think they look great. Look at my buddy Grant, he loves it:

Grant Davis with Vortex #2

There’s already an advance review of the first two issues of Vortex on the Novi Magazine site because it’s William Cardini takeover week there! Be warned, that review has minor plot spoilers. Check back on Novi throughout the week for more content related to me in some way.

April 24th, 2012

Double Comic Book Release Party Tomorrow Night

Filed under: Press,Print Comics — Tags: , , , — William Cardini @ 7:17 am

Just a reminder y’all, tomorrow night from 7-9pm at Domy Books in Austin is a double comic book release party for my new minicomic Vortex #2 and Melinda Tracy Boyce’s first issue of her quarterly short fiction and autobio comics collection The Melinderly. Click this flyer for more details:

Double Comic Book Release Party

Here’s the cover spread for Vortex #2:

Double Comic Book Release Party

Just like Vortex #1, #2 is 32 pages of black-and-white sf madness.

April 19th, 2012

Rob Clough Reviews VORTEX #1

Filed under: Press,Print Comics — Tags: , — William Cardini @ 12:26 am

Just in time for the Vortex #2/The Melinderly #1 double comic release party at Domy Books, Rob Clough has posted a review of Vortex #1 alongside some other sf minis! He analyzes how my “deliberately artificial-looking style of line” changes the feeling he gets from the images. Also, I’m honored to be reviewed in the same post as Ryan Cecil Smith.

February 3rd, 2012

RUB THE BLOOD for Sale, RTB Artwork, and Interview

Filed under: Artwork,Press,Print Comics — Tags: , , , , , , — William Cardini @ 7:28 am

Hey y’all, I got my contributor copies of RUB THE BLOOD, edited by Ian Harker and Pat Aulisio, in the mail:

RUB THE BLOOD stack on my cutting board
I’m proud to be in this monstrosity. You can see the front and back covers by Victor Cayro and the interior spread by Mickey Z.

You can now order RTB on my store, it’s $5 plus shipping. (Update 1/13/2017: I’ve been sold out of RTB for years.) You can also order it from editor Ian Harker through mail order, just email him at doppelgangercomics@yahoo.com. I’m also going to be sure to bring these bad boys to STAPLE! where the Gold County Paper Mill will be tabling alongside Glademade for the fourth year in a row.

This also seems like a good post to show y’all the ink drawings that I made for the RUB THE BLOOD art show at Brave New Worlds in Philly this past January. The drawings are 7×10″ ink renditions of the two characters I used in my RUB THE BLOOD comic, Lightbeam and Bludwurld the Living Battle Planet:

Lightbeam ink drawing

Bludwurld ink drawing

Also, I didn’t realize this, but 2012 is the 20th anniversary of Image. In honor of this, Ao Meng has a post up on the Daily Texan Comics blog that discusses the legacy of Image, the Brandon Graham and Simon Roy reinterpretation of Prophet, and RUB THE BLOOD. It includes a short interview with yours truly.

October 12th, 2010

Review of Hypermorph on The Great God Pan Is Dead

Robert Boyd reviewed my show Hypermorph at Domy Books Houston on his blog The Great God Pan Is Dead. I appreciate his thoughtful review, you can read it here.

In his review, Boyd quotes my description of the Hyperverse from the press release and then says that his “first reaction to this is that it seems pretty dumb.” Ha! I can dig that. Boyd goes on to say that, what makes my approach to genre dumb is that, unlike the Fort Thunder artists that I am (all-too clearly, I know) influenced by, my work lacks does not take genre ironically or satirically. Well, that’s true. I definitely take genre, even the most ridiculous parts of it, extremely seriously. If you want me to get all metaphorical on you, I feel like I do live in, to quote my description of the Hyperverse, “a realm filled with immensely powerful inhuman beings who battle over worlds with strange geologies and hoard advanced technologies” where “mountains shift from molten to crystal between moments and clumps of rock are inhabited by malevolent intelligences ready to hurl face-melting spells,” a cosmos of constant flux, “of constant magical warfare.”

I mean, look at these photos by Edward Burtynsky:

I’m just reflecting the world as I see it.

And I have a response to Boyd’s final question:

So, if creating boyish sci-fi worlds is an aspect of the whole Fort Thunder aesthetic, can we say that aesthetic is inherently male? And if we accept that, is there a female counterpart? And if so, are plush frog heads a part of it?

I definitely wanted Glade to be a part of my show. I’m well aware of how much of a “boy’s club” all of the collectives that I am a part of (Totally Wreck, The Gold County Paper Mill) slash admire (Okaymountain, Fort Thunder), with some exceptions, are, and it’s something that I don’t like about them. All I can say is, I am going to make sure that my first long-form comics narrative passes the Bechdel Test.

April 20th, 2010

SHAMAN THUNDER Reviewed at Optical Sloth and on Sale at Forbidden Planet and Domy Austin

Josh Burggraf and I’s comic SHAMAN THUNDER was just reviewed over at Optical Sloth, here’s a snippet:

Sometimes it’s tough to say who would enjoy a particular mini and who wouldn’t, but this one is easy. If you’re enough of a dork to want to see a thoroughly ridiculous though oddly realistic fight between two shamans, it’s never been done better to my knowledge. If you consider yourself above such things, lucky for you there are many other mini comics in the world for you to choose from.
Review

And while you’re over at Optical Sloth checking out the rest of that review, be sure to contribute to Bramer’s fundraiser to go to SPACE and check out his interesting online comic rental store idea.

Our comic is one sale over at Forbidden Planet, at Domy Books in Austin, or you can buy it from us, leave a comment or send me a message.

November 13th, 2009

East Austin Studio Tour

Glade and I are participating in the East Austin Studio Tour this year as Boongoo Studio. We’re number 125 on the map, come check out our spaces!

Here are some shots of my studio:

As you can see in the upper left, I’ve got plenty of Gold County Paper Mill books left over from STAPLE! 2008, including Jak Cardini Achieves the Narratological Singularity, a book of J.C.‘s poems, and Impossible Objects, a collaborative book between me and Jak.

Here’s a detail shot. I’ve also got some color drawz, raw comix pages, and black and white india ink drawz.

Here’s my drawing space and something that I was working on.

Our good friend Alison Kuo came and did an installation in our living room! We’re also going to be featuring the artwork of Beverly Anderson and Aaron Flynn.

October 6th, 2009

Taffy Hips #5 Release Party this Friday

My comic Herakles of Mars Attacks the Lion of Tharsis has been included in the latest issue of Taffy Hips, here’s the cover:

They’re having a release party this Friday at Desert Island Books in Brooklyn (where you can also pick up a copy of Hyperbox #3, as my buddy Lanneau just reminded me!). If you’re gonna be in the area, be sure to check it out!