Drawing & Illustration

As a young gay man leading a closeted life in the 1960s American South, Toland Polk tries his best to keep a low profile, until he finds himself unexpectedly drawn to a lively community of civil rights activists, folk singers, and night club performers. Emboldened by his new friends, he joins local protests and even finds the courage to venture into a gay bar. No longer content to stay on the sidelines, Toland takes a stand against bigotry. But in Clayfield, Alabama, that can be dangerous—even deadly. Painstakingly researched and exquisitely illustrated, Stuck Rubber Baby is a groundbreaking graphic novel that draws on Howard Cruse's experience coming of age and coming out in 1960s Birmingham, Alabama. Just in time for its 25th anniversary, this rich and moving tale of identity and resistance is back in print—complete with unpublished archival material and a behind-the-scenes look at the author's creative process.

Howard Cruse's career as an underground cartoonist was launched during the 1970s, and in 1980 he served as the founding editor of the groundbreaking Gay Comix series. His comic strip Wendel was serialized in the Advocate through much of the 1980s. Stuck Rubber Baby, his most widely known work, was the winner of Eisner and Harvey Awards in the U.S. and (in translation) a Comics Critics Award in Spain, a Luchs Award in Germany, and a Prix de la critique at the International Comics Festival in Angoulême, France.

Published 2020. 

The humor in Delirium seems a cross between the classic comic strip gags of Ernie Bushmiller and the theatrical absurdity of Monty Python, with a dose of Jim Woodring’s colorful, acid-trip antics thrown in as well.

What makes these strips special is that they achieve things that can only be done in comics; Virot’s mastery of the medium’s fundamental mechanics (timing, composition, closure) is matched only by his unbounded imagination. But for all of its absurdity, Virot captures simple moments of undeniable humor and pure joy with simple punchlines and and unexpected twists.

This makes Delirium a unique and special work that excels on two levels: a formal experiment that pushes the visual language of comics to dazzling and frantic limits, as well as a deeply satisfying and laugh-out-loud compendium of surrealist set-ups and visual one-liners.

“Dilara: Warrior Sorceress” is a traditional 70s style comic where Dilara is a superhero, a warrior queen with magical powers, living in a floating castle in a sea of the skulls of her opponents.

We join Dilara on an adventure through time and space, kidnapping a glam metal band and teaming up with historical figures to save the world from calamity. The comic is drawn by Benjamin Filby with a story by fantasy writer Amy Tipper-Hale. All of the characters have been styled by Dilara Findikoglu.

It features everyone's favourite fashion designer transformed in to a warrior queen using her magical powers to save the world. Drawn by Benjamin AE Filby and written by Amy Tipper-Hale, this comic is printed in a limited edition of 250.

Pulp paper
Golden centre spread
Deluxe cover with gold inks
28 pgs, 24 × 16 cm, Softcover, 2017

A collection of texts, notes and drawings from Alina Popa (1982-2019), edited as a tribute publication by her longtime accomplice, the artist Florin Flueras. A political and theoretical work that questioned both the intimate and social mechanisms of the contemporary.

Square of Will in Square of Love gathers a selection of texts, notes and drawings by Alina Popa, edited by Florin Flueras. Most texts are more poetic and more personal than Alina’s previously published writing, “...a mixture of styles, subjects and mediums—theory, poetry, drawings, diary notes, it's unclassifiable, as she liked it.” (Florin Flueras).

Alina Popa (1982-2019) was a Romanian artist who moved between choreography, theory, and contemporary art.

Ladies wear the blue is a collection of watercolour drawings by the hand of Melissa Mabesoone and Oshin Albrecht. The blue watercolours portray women from different moments in time. The adjacent texts describe these women's existence, roles, desires or ideosyncrasies deriving from the 'blue' in their lives. From the first female police officers and Alices all around, to Courtney Love's blue baby dolls and the girl with the blue tattoo Olive Oatman, this publication is an ode to women venturing into the world, and a way to continue telling their herstories.