We recently published three comics featuring fresh perspectives on ecology:

We Can’t Kill Our Way Out of a Problem: As ecologists debate what to do about “invasive” swans in New York City, volunteers fight to keep them alive. 

The Queer Ecology of Pigeons: Pigeons remind me that I can create my own feral life in a big city.

Catching Sight of San Francisco’s Urban Wildlife: Wildlife is everywhere, you just need to know where to look.

Plus two very interesting pieces reflecting on politics and history:

“It Was Our Place”: Looking back at the vibrant Japanese American community of Los Angeles’s Crenshaw neighborhood. Artist Sam Nakahira created this history comic through our editing program, developing the comic over several months of working with volunteer editors. 

The Rabbit’s Scream: A dispatch from artist Aleksandar Zogrof in Serbia, where massive youth-led protests have been taking over the streets as hundreds of thousands of people reach a breaking point with government corruption. 

Seattle-based artist Madeleine Jubilee Saito is known for her poetic and profound four-panel grid comics. This spring, she’s marking the release of a gorgeous new book, You Are a Sacred Place: Visual Poems for Living in Climate Crisis, and is co-teaching a compelling workshop for Crucial: Navigating Climate Anxiety and Grief Through Comics. 

I love the visual rhythm of your comics. Do you draw them intuitively or do you work through many drafts of each idea? 

I work through many, many drafts, and I’m always trying to get the best possible rhythm. For my new book, I worked with each spread as a group in Photoshop, and I’d constantly reread the section by making each spread visible to make sure the whole section worked rhythmically. Alongside trying for perfect balance within each four-panel comic and within each spread. 

How did you start making your four-panel grid comics? I love the form! 

I’ve been using the four-panel grid since I started doing 30 days of comics in November 2014. I printed out four squares on printer paper and drew everything straight in ink, then photographed it with my busted iPhone 4.  I remember being really inspired by other people making four-panel comics on Tumblr. I remember Alyssa Berg in particular. The four-panel format is just the right length for a single thought, and there are so many possibilities for vertical symmetry, horizontal symmetry, and radial symmetry. You can make the pacing super fast with no words, or you can make the pacing super slow with lots of text. 

Here’s a comic from that first November that I still really like:

What feeling do you hope readers take away from this book?

There are a lot of emotions in this book—despair, rage, sadness, hope. I hope that this book helps people be more present with whatever is already going on within themselves. Emotions that maybe have been buried, haven’t had space to breathe because everyone is working so hard just to survive. I hope this book helps people start to access their own feelings, and their own wisdom, more deeply.

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!

May 

Intro to Digital Drawing With Procreate: Just picked up a new iPad? Want to get into drawing digitally? This beginner-friendly workshop led by Audra McNamee will go over a basic comics-making workflow in Procreate. Saturday, May 3 from 10-12am PST/1-3pm EST

Big Fat Comics:  Do you find yourself gravitating towards drawing one type of body image in your work? This two-hour workshop led by Nicole Testa LaLiberty playfully examines fatphobia in comics art and offers a couple fat-positive prompts to explore.  Wednesday, May 14th at 4pm-6pm PST/7pm-9pm EST

Chronic Illness Comics Club: This free, low-key meetup is a place for people with chronic illnesses to connect and create art. Artist Zareen Choudhury will lead the group through a writing and drawing prompt, then everyone is given the chance to share their work. Next meetup is Sunday, May 18th at 11am PST/2pm EST

Navigating Climate Anxiety and Grief Through Comics: Artists Denali Sai Nalamalapu and Madeleine Jubilee Saito team up to lead this timely and reflective two-hour workshop.  Tuesday, May 20th, 2pm-4pm PST/5pm-7pm EST

June

Sexy Comics for Shy People: Are you a lover of steamy little pictures but are maybe afraid to make eye contact? This sex-positive, neurodivergent-friendly comics class centering queer and trans erotic art is four sessions stuffed with flirty prompts to get your creative juices flowing. Perfect for Pride month! Taught by Joaquin Golez. Wednesdays in June 2025, 5-7pm PST/8pm-10pm EST  

Pitching a Graphic Novel: In this two-hour workshop, cartoonist Al Benbow will go over the key components of a successful graphic novel pitch.  Thursday June 12, 5-7pm PST/8-10pm EST

Over the next two months, Crucial is tabling at two comics festivals in Europe, one in Canada, and one in the Midwest! If you live in any of these places, come say hi! 

May 3rd: Comic Invasion Berlin - A very fun, free, volunteer-run festival celebrating indie creators at Berlin’s Museum for Communication. The theme this year is dis_ability. 

May 16 and 17: Fanzineist Vienna - We’re excited to table at this rad gathering of independent publishers from over 33 countries, all coming together for this free three-day festival. 

June 7-8: Toronto Comics Arts Fest (TCAF) - Canadians! Come revel at this beloved, long-running comics festival that takes over Toronto for two days. 

June 23rd: Summer Story Fest in Portland - This small hometown showcase of cartoonist and zine-makers is perfect for meandering around.

June 28-29: Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE) - We’ll be at this very fun gathering of cartoonists in the great Midwest. It’s free, come hang!

• Scholarships are now open for the Center for Cartoon Studies’ summer workshops. These merit-based scholarships cover the cost of tuition for one summer session at the Vermont-based comics school. It’s open to applicants living in the United States and the deadline to apply is May 8th. 

• For artists in the U.K. and Ireland, there’s a competition to get a short (maximum four-page) comic published in the Observer New Review. Winners receive £1000. The deadline is September 8th. 

• Solstice Magazine is offering a $500 award and print publication for a new piece of graphic fiction or nonfiction. If you’ve got a 1-6 page comic, consider submitting it before June 1! 

• Ignatz Award submissions are now open! The Ignatz Awards are the biggest small-press award for comics in the United States. Winners receive a literal brick. It’s totally okay to submit self-published work!

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