SFZF2020 Guests of Honor
& Invited Artists
Alex L. Combs
Guest of Honor, Week 1
Alex (he/they) is an artist and educator who likes to create comics that are fun to look at, with engaging and sometimes personal narratives. Their visual style has been described as indie comics plus manga with influences including anime, fine art, illustration, portraiture, tattoo, and sign painting. Alex's first self-published comics were fanzines, and a lot of their art is related to being queer and a geek. They enjoy connecting with fan communities and attending zine, comic, and anime conventions and festivals. Alex studied art and gender in school earning a BA in 2011 and MFA in 2019, and is combining these areas of study to write and draw a graphic novel with their partner Andrew.
Deth P. Sun
Guest of Honor, Week 2
Influenced by the works of Richard Scarry, Charles Schultz, and the likes of Tove Jannson, Cambodian artist Deth P. Sun’s interest in art and zines started early on–from drawing everything in an encyclopedia to creating his first zine in high school. From that point on, Deth has been a prolific painter, zine maker, and doodler, focused on making his art on his own terms. With his central hero– a genderless cat – Deth explores various natural and strange worlds through a subtle narrative, created by his brushwork, ambiguity, and color palettes.
Paypal: dethpsun@gmail.com
Tanna Tucker
Guest of Honor, Week 3
Often employing an Afrofuturist framework, Tanna uses comics and drawing as a way to map her relationship to the Black Diaspora, and to interrogate the utility of Black presence (or absence) in historical and mythical spaces. She is currently illustrating the Afrofuturist graphic novel, Black Kube, written by Ytasha Womack (Abrams ComicArts, Megascope 2022). Her work has been featured in LAAB Magazine,The Nib and in various anthologies including Black Comix Returns and Cosmic Underground: A Grimoire of Black Speculative Content. She recently concluded a Political Power Fellowship at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
venmo: @tanna-tucker
Photo credit: Jacob Cruz-Rine
Invited Artists
Thinking Captions #1
Invited by Guest of Honor Alex L. Combs
Breena, Maxi, and Shuchita will be reading and sharing their work with us on Sep. 10 at our first Thinking Captions Zine Reading of Cyber Fest.
Breena Nuñez
An Afro Guatemalan-Salvadoran cartoonist based in the Peninsula of the Bay Area. Breena identifies as a non-binary womxn who uses She/Her/They/Them pronouns. The narratives that are held in her comics are autobiographical and her zines center the nuances of existing as an Afrodescendiente from the Bay Area. Her hope as a cartoonist is to help BIPOC folks give themselves permission to cry or laugh through the language of comics and to see this as a valuable form of storytelling.
Breena’s comics are primarily self-published as zines, but you will also find some of the comics in other publications such as The New Yorker: Daily Shouts and The Nib, as well as anthologies like Tales From La Vida: A Latinx Comics Anthology, Drawing Power (Eisner Nominated), and Be Gay, Do Comics!.
Some of her work has been featured in online articles and interviews such as CultureStrike, Fierce Mitú (one authored by Alán Pelaez Lopez and another by Stephanie Ginese), Taco Talk with Julio Salgado, Huffington Post, Prime Vice, Colorlines, The Beat, Remezcla, and The Baylies.
Maxi Rodriguez
Maxi Rodriguez (KasutoProductions) is a Latina body positivity cartoonist/multimedia designer. They hold a BA in Graphic Design from CSU Dominguez Hills (2014) and an MFA in Comics from California College of the Arts (2019). Born in Long Beach, CA and currently lives in Norwalk, CA. Self-published cartoonist; their work include, Chronicles of a ChubbyBunny, Plus Size Girl Magic, BrownGirl Awkwardness, and ChibiBunny’s Rules of Boundaries.
Maxi’s comics mostly talk about body positivity and mental health but also show the dynamic of a mixed size relationship. Chronicles of a ChubbyBunny are more like journal entries depicting the relationship between Artist and her character/alter ego ChubbyBunny while also dealing with being bullied by Depression and Anxiety (with Imposter Syndrome now joining in the bullying). Plus Size Girl Magic is a love letter to self that talks more about body positivity and mixed size relationships but without the filters.
Shuchita Mishra
“A line is a line till you give it your own imagination and a word is a word till you give it your own story.”
This fascination with lines and words has led me onto my journey as a comic artist. In 2019, I graduated with a MFA in Comics from California College of the Arts. Since then I have been conducting comic and basic animation workshops at various schools across the Bay Area. My curriculum focuses on visual storytelling, personal expression and exploration through images and words. I love teaching comics as I believe, it broadens one's imagination and deepens the understanding of any subject matter by breaking down complex thoughts in to simple sequential art. Also it is my pleasure to constantly get inspired and amazed by the work produced in my classrooms by my very talented students. My art takes its inspiration from science, nature, mythology and human behavior. I occasionally stumble across freelance projects, where I try to understand my client's vision and bring in my own style and sensibilities. When I'm not drawing or teaching, I'm usually walking or hiking out in the wilderness.
venmo: @Shuchita-Mishra
Thinking Captions #2
Invited by Guest of Honor Deth P. Sun
Eric, Hellen, and Kerry Ann will be reading and sharing their work with us on Friday, Sep. 18 at 5 pm.
Eric Nakamura
Eric Nakamura founded Giant Robot as a photocopied and stapled zine in 1994 and grew the publication until late 2010/early 2011. Giant Robot magazine reached a multiracial audience interested Asian popular culture and became known as the premier magazine in the field. Nakamura built on the success of Giant Robot with stores and galleries in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, and has curated over 300 exhibitions. Currently, Nakamura works in and owns the Giant Robot store and GR2 Gallery in Los Angeles, which continue to offer pop culture goods and hold art exhibitions.
In 2017, Giant Robot Media was launched as new entity. You can see and read articles at GiantRobot.media The project tapered off in 2018.
Nakamura holds a degree in East Asian Studies from UCLA and is currently a Board Member on the West Los Angeles Sawtelle Neighborhood Council. You can sign up for the Weekly Giant Robot email or the less Frequent West LA Sawtelle email here.
Hellen Jo
Hellen Jo was born in the American South in 1983, but grew up in San Jose, California. She came of age in Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco, where she dropped out of college twice while developing her DIY comics and art practice. She currently works as an illustrator, cartoonist, merchandise peddler, and painter in Los Angeles. Her art explores and exalts the power of sullen, strong and pissed-off Asian American girls and women.
Venmo: @HellenJo
helllllen.bigcartel.com
Kerry Ann Lee
Kerry Ann Lee is a visual artist, designer, and scholar in Design at Massey University College of Creative Arts, in Wellington, New Zealand. Lee's art and design practice is rooted in her experience of being a New Zealander of Chinese descent, and frequently explores these cultural intersections. This includes topics such as Chinese settlement in the 19th century, particularly the establishment of Chinatowns and Cantonese urban diaspora communities in New Zealand. Lee is also known for her independent publishing work, especially zines, including Help, My Snowman’s Burning, and Permanent Vacation. Her practice frequently employs collage. Lee has undertaken international residencies in China, Taiwan, US, Mexico and Australia and exhibits regularly in New Zealand. Lee's 2017 solo exhibition, Fruits in the Backwater at Pātaka Art + Museum explores notions of identity and place,with juxtaposition of Chinese and New Zealand cultural signifiers a central theme. In December 2018, her installation Return to Skyland opened within the Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality exhibition at Te Papa.
Thinking Captions #3
Invited by Guest of Honor Tanna Tucker
Minnie, Richie, and Soleil will be reading and sharing their work with us on Thursday, Sep. 24 at 6 pm.
Minnie Phan
Minnie Phan is an illustrator and cartoonist based in Oakland, CA. She is passionate about character driven stories and inclusive image making. With a unique focus on diversity, her work ranges from editorial illustrations to comics, animation, and posters. Past clients include Google, NPR, and AirBnB. See more of her work at minniephan.com.
venmo: @minnie-phan
Richie Pope
Richie Pope is a freelance illustrator from Newport News, VA. His work has been recognized by New York Society of Illustrators, Richmond Illustrators Club and CMYK Magazine. His client list includes publications such as UTNE Reader and Wired. He currently resides in Richmond, VA where he can be found sketching away at random locales with other Richmond illustrators.
Soleil Summer
Soleil (so-lay; she/they) Summer is an illustrator, zinemaker & cartoonist currently based in Philadelphia, PA.