» Jackie Ormes and the Red Scare: Artist Taina Cunion delves into how the groundbreaking Black female cartoonists used her powerful platform—and caught the attention of the FBI.

» Operation Ulusy: Cartoonist Ami Bogin’s grandparents fled their Soviet Union home. If they hadn't, the family would have been forcibly relocated during World War II.

The copies of Cartoonists for Palestine have arrived! Crucial Comix is the publisher of the U.S. edition of this 250-page fundraiser anthology, which collects comics from over 50 artists from around the world. If you live in Portland, Oregon, and want to help us ship the 600 or so copies that very nice people have preordered, come by our volunteer shipping party this Sunday, January 12, from 1-4pm.

A good goal for 2025: Make more art! All of our classes are sliding-scale and offered online, so they’re affordable and you can join from anywhere. We also have free spots available in every class and workshop for people who can’t afford the price—get in touch if you’d like to request a free spot!

January Classes

Facing the Blank Page: Drawing Comics When You’re Afraid of Drawing with Ali Holmes // Are you interested in comics but think you could never draw your own? Join the club! This extremely encouraging, low-stakes class starts with drawing blobs to help you face anxiety around drawing. Saturdays from 10am - noon PST/1pm-3pm EST, January 18 – February 22

Finding Your Visual Voice: Experimental Storytelling in Comics with Joaquin Golez // Get weird. Find your visual style and unique voice in this class focused on experimental approaches to comics. The six-session class uses lots of creative exercises and playfulness to help creators of all backgrounds and skill-levels to develop strong narratives, characters, and emotions even in very short stories. Sundays from 10am – noon PST/1pm-3pm EST, January 19th – February 23 

One-off Workshops 

How to Get an Agent with Al Benbow // In this two-hour workshop, cartoonist Al Benbow will cover the basics of how to get an agent: preparing you pitch, querying agents, and how to know when you’ve found an agent that’s right for you. Al will share examples from the query and graphic novel pitch that they used to get their agent, and cover best practices for querying. Thursday, March 6th from 5pm-7pm PST/8pm-10pm EST

Free Meetup 

Chronic Illness Comics Club facilitated by Zareen Choudhury // Do you make or read comics about chronic illness? Come hang out and share your work! This is a very chill, low-key monthly meetup. Zareen will offer a reflective drawing prompt for the first 30 minutes of the time, then the second half will be about sharing work and experiences. Sunday, Jan 19 at 1pm PT / 4pm ET

• Paper Rocket Press is looking for their next mini-comic to publish. They’re looking for unpublished comics between 30-90 pages and offer $500, a publishing contract, and space at their MoCCA 2025 table. Applications close January 15.

• Makes More Comics’ 2025 grant is now open! They offer $1000 to comics artists to help them publish new work in print. Applications are open now through March 31st.

The Comics Advisory Group is offering mini-grants of $500 to people making comics. This is open to comics of all genres, and creators around the world (hell yeah!). Applications are open now through January 15th.

• Secret Riso Club is offering mini-grants of $250 for people looking to create political zines. They’ll also riso print 100 copies of each zine. Applications close January 18th. 

This newsletter is written by Shay Mirk. If you have comics or opportunities you think we should feature, email Shay at [email protected]. 💌