CBA vol 28: Signs and science!

Rumors are going around that I’m back in C’est Bon Kultur, the comics association I started together with three others back in 2001, publisher of the international art comics anthology CBA. The rumors are true, and it actually feels good. I left in 2009 to start Wormgod with Suss, because CBK was going in directions I just wasn’t interested in, and it felt like that was a finished chapter. Obviously I was wrong, even though I was right at the time.

I’m still not sure what direction this (almost completely) new editorial crew is going, but I’m looking forward to finding out. The breaking point will be CBA vol 30, coming out in September(?), which will be the first anthology issue with the new crew, but I have also been involved in CBA vol 28 which is released this Thursday.

cba28sidebar

In this issue is my story Singularity, which you may have read before in the Novo Doba 2014 anthology (Turbo Comix) or in After the ends of the world (Wormgod, 2015). And also I helped put the issue together since the old crew had left it haning and we needed to finish some of their stuff before going on with the new. Don’t get me wrong, this issue has some good stuff. It is the last issue compiled be the former crew, the end of an era.

singularity01

In any case, the release event will be at the Tusen Serier place (Mitt Möllan, Claesgatan 8 in Malmö) (see how all the things in my life converge?) on Thursday, April 23, 17-21 and there will be an exhibition called SPACE, which has been shown in Norway and will also be in Finland soon, with Frøydis Sollid Simonsen, Karoline Stjernfelt and Mari Ahokoivu. We’ve also added some of the other material from the issue to the exhibition, since they both came out of the same concept.

11150246_811292595631403_2751859772514581663_n

So anyway, see you Thursday!

Slutsnackat

Cover I made for the book Slutsnackat, edited by Frances Tuuloskorpi.

It’s the third part of a series of anthologies about work-related conflicts.

slutsnackat

 

Here’s the (Swedish) back cover text:

– Det spelar ingen roll om jag säger ifrån på jobbet.

Det är ofta sant. Men testa att byta ut jag mot vi. Testa att byta ut jag mot alla. Då kan det bli folkrörelse i stället för gnäll. Som här i Slutsnackat där brevbärare och tågvärdar berättar om hur de kommer fram till att sätta stopp för övertidsarbete. Sopgubbar följer regler till punkt och pricka så att chefen sliter sitt hår. Sjuksköterskestudenter i Inte under 24000-rörelsen förvandlar anställningsintervjuer till lönekamp. Personliga assistenter sätter ner foten för att få månadslön. Sjuksköterskor säger upp sig kollektivt inför hotande försämringar. Deltidare och visstidare tar täten i striden för ett hotat helgtillägg. Timanställda tackar nej till kortare arbetspass. Bemanningsanställda säger Solidarnosc! Här finner du också en urskruvad saftblandare, tio kilo gömd blandfärs, nästan en ockupation, en uppviglande tomte och den stora kjolstriden.

 

Read more about it at Folkrörelselinjen.

VAMPYRES!

From Kunst Kabinet 451: 

The new issue of ner0blio black zine is ready!
ner0blio # V – Vampyr –
a5 size, b/w, cover screenprinted gold,
lim ed. 50 copies numbered

ner0blio

Special number featuring a lot of international artists: JULIEN KAFARD -MAXIME TACCARDI – AKAB -NICOLAS KRIZAN – LE NEVRALGIE COSTANTI – MARTA LODOLA – CORINA PACURAR – REIJO KARKAINEN – SOFIA FERREIRA – LE CRABE – ROBIN WIBERG – NATHALIE COHEN – ZIGENDEMONIC – KINGA DUCAJ – PAOLA VERDE – SHALTMIRA – SERHIY KRYKUN – RICALETTO – CLOPINE MALAUSSENE – MATTIAS ELFTORP – ZEKE – RAC- TIMOLEUM B.

Release party TONIGHT (but far from where I am right now so I won’t be there) at Urban Strasse 88, Berlin Hermannplatz…

My contributions (I haven’t seen the book myself so I don’t know if they used both or just one):

vampyr001bleed vampyr002bleed

After the ends of the world

AFTER THE ENDS OF THE WORLD, the newest book from Wormgod, is now available!

Art/stories by Susanne Johansson, Mattias Elftorp & Heidi Somero

Industrial/HNW soundtrack (downloadable) by Dekoder, Nimam Spregleda, Feberdröm, Knullkraft & Concrete Threat

Order it from Wormgod, Agera Distribution or one of the Swedish internet bookstores. Will also be at Textival (Göteborg March 27-28), SIS (Stockholm May 9-10), CRACK! (Rome June 25-28) etc.

wormgodbook026after

The world ended in many different ways at once, creating time lines diverging from the straight line that used to be known as history. Self-destruction! All-consuming fire! Undeath! Catastrophe! These are visions of the futures that may yet come after the end of life as you know it.

The book is an expansion of the Wormgod exhibition of the same name, held at AltCom 2014.

altcom2014foto203

 

Want a review copy? Write to us at info (at) wormgod (dot) net

 

Edit: WATCH OUT FOR NEWS OF A FUTURE RELEASE EVENT! There may be a live gig involved, depending on the success of our plans…

2015

So. We’re a couple of months into 2015 and for the moment there’s a lot of different projects that are approaching completion. Here are a few:

TUSEN SERIER
Four books are in the works. In order of probably appearance:

Lillebrors fantastiska mardrömmar
This one is finished. Just waiting for test prints to see that the colors are ok. It’s been a complex process, not without problems, but finally we are at the finishing line. By Meisam Azimi, Aida Ghardagian, Mauritz Tistelö and Bekim Gaši, translated into Farsi, Bosnian and English, this will be the first book to be published under the TUSEN SERIER GRÄNSLAND imprint (even if Destruktörerna was technically the first) for books in the borderlands between comics and illustrated litterature.

Finsmakarna
I finished most of the other work last night, so now I’m working on the translation for this sequel to Destruktörerna from 2013. Written by Rubén Aguilera, with beautiful art by Marco Leal. Another GRÄNSLAND book.

Myling
Yossra El Said is currently adapting Amanda Casanellas‘ short story. Both versions of the story will be included in the book.

Fem prostituerade kvinnors historier
I will soon meet with Amalia Alvarez to see her work so far on her follow-up to Fem papperslösa kvinnors historier. 

There are also more coming, but later during the year.

Tusen Stafettserier
This subproject to Tusen Serier is getting closer to be properly launched and finished at more or less the same time. The last workshops will happen during March and then there will be a book + exhibition of jam comics that will tour some Swedish cities during the spring.

WORMGOD
I so wish I had time to start working on Piracy is Liberation vol 03, but it looks like that’s gonna take a while longer. There are also plans for making the first two volumes available in digital form, but that’s probably going to wait some more as well.
On the other hand:

After the ends of the world
This one is being printed as we speak and should be available pretty soon, with an expanded revisiting of the exhibition of the same name from AltCom 2014. Look for it! By me, Susanne Johansson and Heidi Somero, with a soundtrack by Dekoder, Nimam Spregleda, Feberdröm, Knullkraft and Concrete Threat.

THE TROLL
This is a book that was supposed to come out last year, a re-publishing by Komika förlag of an old 24-hour comic of mine. Since it was delayed, we’ve been talking about expanding the story with more pages. I’m aiming at between 48-72 new pages of story. A new beginning and a new ending. Like the original story, this new creature will be heavily inspired by the films of Shinya Tsukamoto and the music of Chu Ishikawa. Probably some more Manga/Anime influences as well. If all goes as planned, it will be released in time for the Stockholm International Comics Festival (SIS).

FESTIVALS
So far, I’ve been to Å-fest in Borgå/Porvoo (Finland) to represent Tusen Serier.
Next one will be Textival in Göteborg in the end of March.
And I guess the next one after that will be SIS in May, but there’s also a book fair(?) in Botkyrka (Stockholm) in April…

C’EST BON KULTUR
I’M BACK IN CBK! After a 5 year absence, I’m back where I started 15 years ago, in an almost completely new editorial crew. So far it’s mostly been about finishing up after the former crew, putting together their last issue (CBA vol 28), where I happen to have a comic (Singularity, which is also published in the Novo Doba 2014 anthology and After the ends of the world. It is being printed right now and will come soon. I’m going to look at some proofs today.
I also made a comic, Viral, for the first anthology issue featuring the new crew: CBA vol 30, coming this fall. I also sent a b/w version of this story to Stripburger, so maybe you’ll see it there first. Maybe…

What else is happening?
Oh yeah, there’s some union-related stuff happening at work (the Comics Association). More on that later, unless it gets resolved.
Also some conflicts at my freelance work, after Sydsvenskan bought Helsingborgs Dagblad. More on that also later unless it gets resolved…

Also coming later: sample art, etc.

Exciting times…

KOMMER SNART: Lillebrors fantastiska mardrömmar

Kommer snart från Tusen Serier:

LILLEBRORS FANTASTISKA MARDRÖMMAR
av Meisam Azimi, Aida Ghardagian, Mauritz Tistelö, Bekim Gaši

– Jag spelar inte teater, det är inte så jag ser det. Jag spelar roller, roller som jag under mitt liv blivit påtvingad.
– Om jag tror på ödet?
– Det som händer kommer att hända.

Denna bok bygger på Mejsams mardrömmar. Hans berättelse byggs ihop med medförfattarnas mardrömmar och blir till en lång färd mot befrielse och uppvaknande.
Vad som från början var ett terapeutiskt arbete har förvandlats till en bok som också är ett möte mellan fyra konstnärer. Ett konstprojekt och samtidigt ett möte mellan det existentiella i, och det samhälle som skapar förutsättningarna för, våra drömmar och mardrömmar.
Drömberättelsen är ett sätt att komma bort från de roller som lagts över oss; papperslösa, medborgare, arbetare, konstnärer.
Ett sätt att fly och förstå våra liv.

Håll ögonen öppna för kommande releasefest med utställning av bilder ur boken.

Lillebrors fantastiska mardrömmar ingår i Tusen Seriers nya underkategori GRÄNSLAND, med böcker som befinner sig i gränslandet mellan serier och illustrerad litteratur.