Tag Archives: marinaomi

Small Press Expo 2023: Subgenres of the Memoir

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The Small Press Expo has posted all of the programming panels from SPX 2023 on YouTube to watch!

Memoir comics have expanded from simply depicting personal narratives to dipping into the tropes of other genres. Paul Gravett moderates a panel of memoirists whose work spills over into different storytelling styles. The artists are Eddie Campbell (the meta-memoir The Second Fake Death Of Eddie Campbell), MariNaomi (the mystery-memoir I Thought You Loved Me), Elizabeth Trembley (the multiple points of view narrative Look Again), and Kayla E. (the reclaimed-image memoir Precious Rubbish).

Small Press Expo 2023: MariNaomi and Rob Kirby in Conversation with Justin Hall

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The Small Press Expo has posted all of the programming panels from SPX 2023 on YouTube to watch!

Rob Kirby has been a crucial part of the queer comics scene for over three decades, both as a cartoonist for his Curbside Boys series as well as an editor and publisher. His latest book, Marry Me A Little, focuses on what led to getting married after it was legalized for queer couples. He’ll be joined by cartoonist and organizer MariNaomi, whose new book, I Thought You Loved Me, is an intriguing mix of memoir and mystery. Educator and cartoonist Justin Hall will delve into their new books and other topics with them.

More Small Press Expo 2023 Special Guests Announced!

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Small Press Expo has announced the second list of Special Guests for SPX 2023. The show takes place on Saturday September 9 and Sunday September 10 with programming and workshops about the amazing world of independent comics and an exhibitor floor with over 500 creators.

MariNaomi, Bill Griffith, Nicole Goux, Hannah Templer, Eddie Campbell, Rob Kirby, Joel Priddy, and Raeghan Buchanan have been revealed as Special Guests for SPX 2023.

Additional Special Guests will be announced over the next few days.

MariNaomi

MariNaomi is an award-winning illustrator and banned-book author who must dig into their past in order to come to terms with the death of a close friendship in their latest book I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME from Fieldmouse Press. Using a gorgeous mix of collage and drawing, Mari excavates their own journals, ephemera, and mind to piece together their relationship with Jodie, and why it tumultuously ended.

Bill Griffith

Join Bill Griffith, creator of Zippy the Pinhead and Nobody’s Fool, to celebrate Three Rocks, a biography of cartoonist Ernie Bushmiller, creator of the iconic comic strip Nancy.

Nicole Goux

Nicole Goux is an Eisner Award nominated illustrator and cartoonist from Los Angeles. Her latest book that she’ll be signing at SPX is the fantastic Pet Peeves, released in May 2023 by Avery Hill Publishing. Pet Peeves is a magical realist urban horror story that touches on the nature of modern work-lives, creative enterprise and self-destructiveness.

Hannah Templer

Hannah Templer is best known as the writer and artist of the Ignatz-nominated graphic novel series COSMOKNIGHTS (published by Top Shelf, readable online at www.cosmoknights.space), in which a ragtag band of queer gladiators, princesses, and rebels battle the galactic patriarchy through a series of neo-medieval jousting tournaments.

Eddie Campbell

Eddie Campbell started calling his hand-stapled comics “small press” in 1981 when everybody else was saying “alternative” “underground” and “zines.” He takes some pleasure in seeing that the term has stuck. He self-published his comic book BACCHUS for 60 issues as well as the collected FROM HELL (with Alan Moore). His autobiographical concoctions form his favorite strain of his own work. This strain was collected in ALEC: THE YEARS HAVE PANTS and emerges again in his new back-to-back reversible book, THE SECOND FAKE DEATH OF EDDIE CAMPBELL / THE FATE OF THE ARTIST.

Rob Kirby

Rob Kirby will be signing his new book, the graphic memoir Marry Me a Little at the Graphic Mundi table (periodically during the weekend)… Appearing in a spotlight panel… Moderating a panel… Possibly another panel, not sure.

Joel Priddy

Greek myth has inspired stories and art for millennia. And yet some stories and characters remain unfamiliar. First There Was Chaos, by Joel Priddy, explores the formless, primordial, and extraordinary forces that preceded the Olympian gods. These tales of Creation illustrate the creative process, giving cosmic form to the universal struggles of all creators.

Raeghan Buchanan

Raeghan Buchanan will be at SPX this year as part of panels and book signings for “The Secret History of Black Punk: Record Zero” which is published by Silver Sprocket. The Secret History of Black Punk delvse into the largely overlooked footprint that Black punks have on the underground music scene in a new archival publication. It is an illustrated roll-call for punk, post-punk, hardcore, no-wave, and experimental bands from ground zero ‘til now. A starting point for anyone curious, another reference for those who devour all genre-related things, or a cool artifact for anyone in the know.

Review: Dragon’s Breath and Other True Stories

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As most writers and creators have throughout time, usually leave a part of themselves within their stories. Anyone who has read Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, can see through andromorphic personifications, how he subtly examines his love of fiction. Anyone who has read Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles, can see how he blended his love of outsiders, the occult and dystopia, into an awesome tale of saving the world. Then there is Kieron Gillen and Jamie McElvie’s brilliant yet highly underrated Phonogram, which combines occult elements with slice of life.

There is also my personal favorite, Hip Hop Family Tree, where Ed Piskor’s love for the genre and the culture seeps through every page and illustration. Then there are the books Gene Luen Yang, such as American Born Chinese, which tells of growing up as both American and Chinese. One of his most recent books, Boxers, and Saints, is not as personal as it speaks about the Boxer Rebellion, but many of his musings find their way into the book regardless.  The one book that I was a Kickstarter backer to, Shmuck, by the brilliant and gone too soon, Seth Kushner, showed just how much of a light he was in this world, through his sometimes-subversive humor and humanity.

As all these books spoke to me, so does the creative illuminations that MariNaomi brings with her seminal work, Dragon’s Breath and Other True Stories, which provides many of her meditations on life, through real world interactions. There are more than a few standouts in this collection of individual stories, such as “Dragon’s Breath”, where she speaks of her grandfather, who she saw in one light, but never knew the complete truth about him, until years later after his passing. Then there is “The Quits”, where speaks of the attraction to smoking that many of us whose parents smoked, remembered thinking it was cool, as she eventually falls victim to the same addiction, until someone close, meets a fatal consequence because of it. The last standout that I will mention which really grabbed my attention, was “The Song in My head”, which starts as a funny meeting of kindred spirits but ends in a beautiful yet melancholic dedication to a one close friend.

Altogether, a collection of short stories which are simple, irreverent, complicated, and soulful all at the same time. The stories by MariNaomi, are a myriad of memories from her life, which are just short enough to digest but long enough to affect you. The illustrations are always easy on the eyes, as she blends a simplistic cartoon style with a complex palette. Overall, an excellent collection, which will have the reader yearning for more.

Story: MariNaomi Art: MariNaomi
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

Review: Turning Japanese

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When it comes to graphic memoirs, there are very few that grabs a reader as one where the memoirist is honest about themselves and whomever else they are writing about. I remember the first autobiographical graphic memoir I read, that moved me, was American Splendor series, as the author’s works are prolific yet his life is relatable and true. There were times reading that book that I barreled over laughing, not only at the protagonist but also at myself, for doing something similar. Another book, which had a similar effect, was the graphic memoir of rapper, MF Grimm, Sentences, which I bought off the fact, I enjoyed his music, but read as to only a fan, but a comics fan, and much like Harvey Pekar’s story, I related to MF Grimm’s as well.

The last graphic memoir series, that I found myself embroiled in, even at its most cringeworthy moments, is the Love and Rockets series, as it captured some of my life through most of my 20s through my early 30s. Although these books provided great examples of life splashed on sequential art, I am constantly in search for creators who push boundaries yet pull their readers along for their adventures. So, when I read about MariNaomi, in an interview she did for another website, I was more than intrigued and a little mad at myself for just learning about her. The book which piqued my interest was her book, Turning Japanese, which talked about her adventures living in Japan, with a boyfriend who tends to rely on her as a translator, but the real conflict that got to me, was being a stranger and a native to the country you are born to and the one your parents came from.

I have personally visited both countries that my parents came from, quite a few times , even living in Trinidad for more than a few years and never quite felt like one of their own, which I really was not but as an American, as most of us who possess melanin, especially in my age group, we used to hear, when asked “where are you from?”, I would say “Queens,” and then that question would be followed by “where are you really from?” MariNoami beautifully captures this struggle many of us children of immigrants face throughout each chapter. We first meet her at age 22 after she just broke up with a boyfriend and is looking for clarity in her life. She eventually moves to Japan to work as a hostess at a hostess bar, in Japan, where she captures every detail as it really goes down in those establishments. Her story brings back memories for myself when I was still in the military when I was a stranger in a magical land. By book’s end, the writer has uncovered revelations about the country her parents are from but also about herself and her identity as a Japanese American.

Altogether, a powerful memoir, that resonated with me a 1000 times over, not only because MariNaomi is an expert storyteller, but her story is irreverent and relatable at some of the most interesting parts. Where I found myself relating to her the most is when she talked about learning her mother’s tongue, much like I did when my mother was still alive, those conversations still resonate. Overall, a humorous and moving novel, that one will want read and read again, just to imitate a certain feeling.

Story: MariNaomi Art: MariNaomi
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy