The Land is an Ancestor We Refuse to Abandon

New comics plus paid opportunities for artists

Author

Crucial Comix
July 10, 2025

 Read new comics!

» The Land Is an Ancestor We Refuse to Abandon: The bats didn’t come back to our garden this year. I think it’s because of the mines.

» OCD and Me: Sometimes I feel like my brain is only half mine.

Meet the Artist: Ree Artemisa

Ree Artemisa created the stunning comic The Land is an Ancestor We Refuse to Abandon about their family’s relationship to the land of Rio Rico, Arizona, and the grassroots efforts to protest the construction of new mines in the area. Ree paints zines and comics that often center on magic, nature, and queer identity, but taking on the creation of a 50-panel reported story took months of work. This comic was edited and published as a collaboration between Crucial and The Revelator.  

What was your process for creating this comic? 

I paint and draw all my comics and also like to use walnut ink for the words. Since I don't smoke like I used to, I need to frantically chew on a little toothpick while working. I usually like to sit alone with my window open, just listening to the birds outside and staring at a blank page for a little while before things start pouring out. I like to draw the most in the early morning because it's beautifully quiet and it’s the best lighting I get at my desk all day. 

How did making this comic feel? It's different from a lot of your previous work! 

This comic is definitely different than my previous work! I heavily relied on colored pencils to create a backdrop of the land. Rio Rico sometimes feels like it's been drawn in colored pencil IRL, the land is vast and airy and the colors of the earth and sky smudge together in a way I haven't seen anywhere else. I was also heavily inspired by the colorful ways my people paint retablos and build road shrines down here. There are a lot of little shrines for loved ones who have passed or shrines for La Virgen. People often paint the religious and their personal iconography in simple, accessible and colorful ways that I find beautiful. Making this felt like a form of love and devotion to the land here and to all the people who take care of it and respect it. My roots are humble but they're strong and deep.

 So Many Cool New Zines & Stickers

We’re excited to feature some very fun new zines and stickers in our store, all made by independent artists whose work we want to support. Check out what’s new. 

• OCD and Me Zine: The response to Scott McCormick’s comic OCD and Me was so strong and positive that we printed it up as a 20-page zine. 

• Top Surgery Care Zine Pack: This collection of two mini-zines documenting trans experiences with top surgery plus a holographic “Gender Euphoria” sticker by artist Leif J. Lee makes a perfect gift for anyone who’s considering top surgery. 

• Making Memoir Comics Zine: Since 2020, Shay Mirk has taught the class “Making Memoir Comics.” This zine collects 10 thought-provoking exercises on storytelling and comics-creation from that class.

• Normalize Crying in Public sticker: Unfortunately, Los Angeles artist Sandy Lopez created the absolutely perfect sticker for our time. 

 Upcoming classes

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!

• 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. Monday, July 14 from 5-7pm PST/8-10pm EST

• Make Your Dang Comic! Cartooning Fundamentals: Artist Kane Lynch’s popular class on kickstarting your creativity returns for a new eight-week session in August. Whether you’re an experienced artist or a total beginner, this class will put you on track to create a finished comic you can be proud of. Tuesdays from 5pm-7pmPST/8pm-10pm EST from August 12th – September 30 

• How to Never Get Writer’s Block Again: Berlin-based animator and comic artist Ami Bogin will share a series of prompts and practical techniques to blow away the brain fog and help you develop a creative practice that works for you. This is a two-part online workshop in the Central European Timezone. Saturdays August 9th and 16th from 2pm-4pm CET.

Pleasure is Powerful: A Sex-Positive Zine-Making Workshop: Whether you’re a seasoned sex educator, or you’re just beginning to unlearn the culture of sex negativity, come join artist Caitlin Chow-Ise for some low-stakes reflection and creation! Saturday, August 23rd at 10am-noon PST/1pm-3pm EST.

Free Meetup

Chronic Illness Comics Club: 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. Arielle Duhaime-Ross is facilitating July’s meetup. Sunday July 27th at 11am PST/1pm EST.

$$ Opportunities for artists $$

• Bay Area artists! The San Francisco library is looking for an illustrator who has published a children’s book to feature for a citywide literacy campaign. The stipend is $5,000. If that sounds like you, applications are open until July 14.

• Utah, Texas, and St. Louis artists! A project called Local Artist Sticker Machine is looking for work to turn into stickers that they sell from cute vending machines. Featured artists are paid royalties for their work. Apply here!

• Are you looking for places to pitch a graphic novel? The newsletter Tea Goblin Cafe put together a very helpful spreadsheet of publishers and anthologies currently looking for submissions.

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