mini kuš! #67-70 preview

The hottest summer in a century just got even more hot with the upcoming release of four blazing hot mini kuš! comics by Mariana Pita, Marlene Krause, Erlend Peder Kvam and Lote Vilma Vītiņa, hot hot hot!

Excerpt from the mini kuš! by Erlend Peder Kvam

Each mini comes in A6 format and has 28 pages in full color with saddle stitch binding. They will be released on 23 August, 2018.

You can pre-order the 4 mini kuš! together at a special price here or get each mini kuš! for only $ 6.00 separately here. In case you'd also like to get the following š! issues and mini kuš! releases, get a kuš! subscription here.

Preview:

mini kuš! #67 'Day Tour' by Mariana Pita

Doing stuff is hard, especially outside your house. Take one step at a time, get dressed, step out, catch the subway, have a coffee... If you didn’t make it in the end, it’s okay, because you tried.

mini kuš! #68 'Weekend' by Erlend Peder Kvam

It’s the weekend! The time of the week dedicated to relaxation and family life. Our hard-working friend Silvan is immensely excited as he gets a visit from his favourite twins.

mini kuš! #69 'Maud' by Marlene Krause

Maud Wagner (née Stevens, 1877) was one of the very first female tattooists in the world. Her fascinating life full of love, art and challenging the limits of what a woman was allowed to do back then is now made into a colourful graphic narration by comic artist and tattooist Marlene Krause.

mini kuš! #70 'Worms, Clouds, Everything' by Lote Vilma Vītiņa

A passionate hermit has sent you a letter from somewhere in the middle of nowhere. There it is full of trees, rain, grass and, of course, mushrooms.

So if you want to see the rest of these smoking hot comics, better head over to our shop and pre-order them now! Enjoy the summer heat!

Comic Workshop with Anna Haifisch

Comic Workshop with Anna Haifisch

Anna Haifisch conquered the world with her web comic The Artist on Vice.com. Meanwhile the stories are also printed and available as books in many different languages. The comic is a satirical portrait of the fine art world, very colorfully told with slightly depressed animals.
In May Anna Haifisch will come to Goethe-Institute Riga to teach a comic workshop in celebration of the 100 year anniversary of Latvia and the other Baltic states. How can you celebrate such an event with fun and charming comics? You'll only find out if you take part! And for sure you'll learn a bunch more tricks to create comics!

Workshop Details
Two-day workshop
Date: Saturday 19.05.2018 (11.00-18.00) until Sunday 20.05.2018 (11.00-17.00)
Place: Goethe-Institut Riga, Torna iela 1 (Enter from Klostera iela)
The workshop is open for adult participants from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
Workshop language: English
Participation is free

Application
The spaces are limited, so you need to apply with the following information to kushmens@gmail.com:
- Name, age, city
- Link to your blog/portfolio (alternatively three drawings, or comics pages)
- Very short motivation letter
Application deadline: 01.05.2018

Travel grants
The Goethe Institute Riga offers four travel grants of 50 euros for participants from Estonia and Lithuania. The application procedure is the same as above, just mention you are interested in a travel grant.

Anna Haifisch
Anna Haifisch  has studied at the Academy of Visual Arts, Leipzig and worked as a screenprinter for Kayrock Screenprinting in Brooklyn. She co-founded the Comics and Graphics Festival 'The Millionaires Club‘. She is drawing the weekly comic ‚The Artist' for Vice.com. Her books have been published in Germany, U.K., France, Spain, USA and Canada.

For questions about the workshop contact David Schilter at kushmens@gmail.com.

Organized by the Goethe-Institut Riga in collaboration with kuš! as part of Riga Zine Fest. 

š! #33 'Misery' Open Call

After almost two years it's time again for a new open call for the š! comics anthology. Times at the kuš! office are hard. To cheer us up, we thought we'll make an issue about misery. It's better to share the pain, right? So please hit us with your most heart-wrenching and dark stories for the saddest kuš! publication ever!

Full details of participation:

- Theme: Misery 

- Page count: 4-14 

- Language: English
- Format: DIN A6, width 10.5cm × height 14.8cm
- Bleed: In case you want your comics to be full bleed make sure to add 3 mm cut off space all around the comics (in this case the width of each page should be 11.1 cm and the height 15.4 cm). Don't place texts and important details close to the page borders (Bleed explained in a graphic).

- Colors: Yes, CMYK, b/w works are also welcome

- Resolution: 300 dpi (1200 dpi for b/w works)
- File format: preferably tiff or pdf

- If we publish your comics, you'll get a hug and at least 5 free copies of the anthology

- Submit only low resolution jpgs for our consideration (but big enough to read (approximately 900 pixels in width)! The big resolution files as described above we'll ask you to send later.) Please don't send zip files, don't use google documents or wetransfer or the like, we only want preview files now!
- please include a short description of yourself and a link to your site/blog

- Deadline: 6 June 2018
- Send to komiksukonkurss@gmail.com

Additional notes: 

- After receiving your work we'll write you a confirmation e-mail within 14 days. If you don't hear from us, write us again, maybe your mail got lost or we are still crying.
- The decision what we'll publish will be made until 1 July. We'll mail you if you're in!
- We'd prefer if you don't publish the full comics on- or offline before we print it. 
- Please don't send comics which are made for a bigger format. If your comic is unreadable in A6 format, it will not be published.

- We are always happy to feature experimental approaches in storytelling and art. Don't limit yourself!
- If you have any questions, just write us. Best if you write a comment below, as other people might have the same question.

- You may cry, it's ok! 

- Previous issues of š! you can find here: komikss.lv/books/s/. If you have never seen them, it might be helpful for you to take a glimpse at some excerpts or get a previous issue to get a better feel of it.

- You can also follow us on twitter, facebook, tumblr and instagram.

kuš! winter season 2018

Does anyone read blogs anymore? We'll let's make this post short, as you can find all the info on our site www.komikss.lv. So after a brief period of hybernation we are back with five new titles. In February we'll release four new mini kuš! and a new š! comics anthology.

Excerpt from Léo Quievreux's comic in š! #31 

The mini kuš! #63-66 by Abraham Díaz (Mexico), Pedro Franz (Brazil), Francisco Sousa Lobo (Portugal) and Roman Muradov (Russia) will bring you to some dark corners of this world.

The new anthology š! #31 is dedicated to visitors and contains artists that visited us in Riga, or at least planned to, and some we visited abroad. A nice reunion of many kuš! artists we have released over the last 10 years, as well as some new ones in the club!

Each mini comes in A6 format and has 28 pages in full color with saddle stitch binding. The š! anthology is also full color, perfect bound and has 163 pages. These books will be released on 13 February, 2018.

You can pre-order the 4 mini kuš! together at a special price here or get each mini kuš! separately here, the anthology you can get here. In case you'd also like to get the following š! issues and mini kuš! releases, get a kuš! subscription here.

kuš! fall season 2017

This fall we shook hard on the kuš! tree and got the biggest harvest of the last 10 years.

We're very happy to present you seven tasty new books by Latvian and international artists!

Preview and get them here:

- Fenix by Zane Zlemeša (kuš! mono #4)

- Fearless Colors by Samplerman (kuš! mono #5)

- mini kuš! #59 'Share The Love' by Paula Bulling / Nina Hoffmann
- mini kuš! #60 'His Last Comic' by Noah Van Sciver
- mini kuš! #61 'Jonah 2017' by Tomasz Niewiadomski
- mini kuš! #62 'Daughter' by Aidan Koch

- š! #30 'Brooklyn, guest-edited by Gabe Fowler

You should definately get these books to enjoy a more colorful autumn! 


'Fenix' by Zane Zlemeša will be released at the same time as the exhibition of her work in Micēlijs  on 3 November in Riga. 

On 8 November will be a release party of š! #30 at Desert Island in Brooklyn.

All of our seven new titles will be internationally debuting at CAB in Brooklyn on 11 November at the kuš! table M2! Also come to pick up a free copy of the special international issue of Smoke Signal, guest edited by kuš!

'Fenix' and 'Fearless Colors' coming out soon!

Autumn is getting more and more colorful - not only are we releasing a new š! issue and four new minis, but also two new books in the kuš! mono series are coming out very soon!

Illustration by Samplerman

 kuš! mono #4 'Fenix' is the first long form comic by the Latvian artist Zane Zlemeša! And don't be afraid of kuš! mono #5 'Fearless Colors', the first collection of the mysterious Samplerman collected in book form!

Preview:

Fenix by Zane Zlemeša
kuš! mono #4, to be released on 31 October 2017

Fenix City is named for the magical phoenix bird. Folk tales tell us that the city was built on the spot where the first phoenix appeared. Fenix has now flourished into one of the hottest gambling and art scenes in the region.

Zane Zlemeša draws, paints, makes comics and illustration between Riga, Leipzig and Fenix.

Format: A5 (14.8 cm x 21 cm / 6" x 8"), 68 pages, full-color, perfect bound
Printed in Latvia on FSC certified paper

Supported by Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation 

Get it: Order from our webshop for $16.00 (includes worldwide shipping).

Fearless Colors by Samplerman
kuš! mono #5, to be released on 31 October 2017

Samplerman is one of the incarnations of the cartoonist Yvang, a collagist experimenting ad infinitum. His surrealist non-stories have been featured in many publications like š!, Off Life, Smoke Signal, Ink Brick, Lagon, The Village Voice, and Scratches. The featured pages were made between 2012 and 2015 and are for the first time collected as a book.

Format: A5 (14.8 cm x 21 cm / 6" x 8"), 100 pages, full-color, perfect bound
Printed in Latvia on FSC certified paper

Co-published with Ediciones Valientes and MMMNNNRRRG  

Get it: Order from our webshop for $19.00 (includes worldwide shipping).

To see more preview pictures head right over to our website www.komikss.lv and get your dose of burning hot comics!

'Fenix' by Zane Zlemeša will be released at the same time as the exhibition of her work in Micēlijs  on 3 November in Riga.

All of our seven new titles will be debuting at CAB in Brooklyn on 11 November at the kuš! table M2! Don't forget to pick up a free copy of the special international issue of Smoke Signal, guest edited by kuš!

š! #30 coming out soon!

The fall issue of our š! comics anthology is about to come out - š! #30 is dedicated to Brooklyn! Guest-edited by the mastermind behind the Desert Island comic book store, the Smoke Signal anthology and Comic Arts Brooklyn - Gabe Fowler. This issue is all about the crazyness of Brooklyn by Brooklyn artists!

Cover: Alabaster Pizzo Contributors: A. T. Pratt, Alabaster Pizzo, Austin English, Ben Mendelewicz, Caroline Paquita, Courtney Menard, Daniel Zender, Gabrielle Bell, Heather Benjamin, Jane Mai, Jen Tong, Kevin Hooyman, König Lü. Q., Lily Padula, Natalie Andrewson, Rob Corradetti, Sabin Cauldron, Siobhán Gallagher, Thu Tran, Thomas Toye, Tyler Boss, Whit Taylor.

Specs: Format A6, 180 pages, full-color, perfect bound, high quality and environmentally friendly Munken paper. To be released on 31 October 2017

Get it:  Pre-order it for $13.95 from our webshop, or get a kuš! subscription and receive also the next kuš! titles!

Preview Pages:

 Ben Mendelewciz

 Daniel Zender

 Heather Benjamin

 Kevin Hooyman

 Rob Corradetti

 Sabin Cauldron

 Thu Tran

Natalie Andrewson

Whoop, whoop! What are you waiting for? Put away your cold-brew coffee and order your copy of š! #30 'Brooklyn' right here!

This issue will be debuting at CAB in Brooklyn on 11 November at the kuš! table M2! And don't forget to pick up a free copy of the special international issue of Smoke Signal, guest edited by kuš!

mini kuš! #59-62 preview

The kuš! autumn season is gonna be hot! A new very special anthology, two mind-bending kuš! mono titles and four simply amazing new mini kuš! are awaiting you! Today we announce the new minis, about the rest of the books we'll inform you very soon! 

 Illustration by Noah Van Sciver

The mini kuš! #59-62 line-up is as diverse as ever. Get blown away by four brand new comics by Paula Bulling / Nina Hoffmann (Germany), Noah Van Sciver (USA), Tomasz Niewiadomski (Poland) and Aidan Koch (USA)!

Each mini comes in A6 format and has 28 pages in full color with saddle stitch binding. They will be released on 10 November, 2017.

You can pre-order the 4 mini kuš! together at a special price here or get each mini kuš! separately here. In case you'd also like to get the following š! issues and mini kuš! releases, get a kuš! subscription here. Continue to celebrate the 10 year kuš! anniversary with some of the best alternative comics from around the world!

Preview:

mini kuš! #59 'Share The Love' by Paula Bulling / Nina Hoffmann

It´s summer in Berlin. Philip and Simone could be lovers. But there is so much to talk about.

mini kuš! #60 'His Last Comic' by Noah Van Sciver

After 20 years of attempting to become a successful comic artist, a frustrated man resolves to publish one final issue with the help of an old witch's mysterious potion.

 

 

mini kuš! #61 'Jonah 2017' by Tomasz Niewiadomski

A story about an alchemical journey through time and space, loosely drawing from the Biblical story of Jonah.

mini kuš! #62 'Daughter' by Aidan Koch

Daughter follows the spontaneous visions of a young girl, carried to her through five million years of co-existent evolution between humans and other species – while exploring the idea of genetic history and attachment in a post-earth human colony.

So if you want to see the rest of the stories, better head over to our shop and get them now!

The books will debut at CAB in Brooklyn on  November 11.  Don't miss!