by Kevin Czap

Note: This post is a continuation of an apparent series where I talk about story-telling methods and artistic practices that interest me, particularly in how they can be applied to comics.

“People say that life is just one damn thing after another. That is not true. It’s the same damn thing over and over again, and you’ve gotta keep your head loose enough to see it as it comes around again.” – Del Close

In high school I was a theater kid. This meant that my friends and I took theater classes every semester, we showed up on Saturday to build sets, we acted and sometimes sang in the school plays, we wrote and directed one-acts, things like that. It also meant that we did improv occasionally. Some of the most fun we had thoughout our high school careers was during improv practices and competitions (thanks in no small part to seanbaby.com).

via Dylan Sparkplug

Hey everybody! How you doing? I’ve been busy, you know how it is.

Most important of all, the image above is a screenshot of the new landing page for PUPPYTEETH, where you can buy or PREORDER both issues of our little anthology. That’s right, the second issue of PUPPYTEETH is all ready to debut at TCAF this year, and in the meantime you are more than welcome, encouraged even, to preorder a copy of your own. This issue is considerably bigger than the first, with more artists and larger physical dimensions, and in full color! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
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From Taiyo Matsumoto’s No. 5, which is not available in English

Breathtaking

(by Eleanor Davis, if you didn’t know)

By Kevin Czap

When I took a trip to New York City at the end of last year, one of the strongest impressions I came away with was about the comic shops. I wasn’t able to go to every single one, but that’s beside the point. This is a city that loves comics in the universal sense. Sure you’ve got Desert Island covering the fringes and Bergen Street which is a handsome, diverse boutique, but even Midtown and Forbidden Planet, the more mainstream-y stores, had a selection that made me weep from euphoria. Who needs the internet in such a place?

Of course, the separation anxiety began to seep in as I returned home to Cleveland. New York is probably an unhealthy comparison for any city, but sometimes you can’t keep those kind of thoughts out. Since then I’ve heard other people talk about the less-than-diverse offerings in their own cities, further establishing that week in the big city as a special case. Still, it got me thinking. If you’ve been checking out my posts here on the Cube, you’ll know that I’ve been all about local scenes lately, so it makes sense that my thoughts have been centering on the make-up of Cleveland’s comics scene. Comics shops, being the physical locations of input, are a large part of any scene’s ecosystem, naturally.