Marian Runk: comics and other stuff

Toronto Comic Arts Festival and Illustration for Narratively!

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:29:27 -0400

Hey guys! Come visit me and Edie Fake at TCAF, table #150, May 11 and 12th! It’s my birthday weekend so it’ll be extra special!! ALSO, check out yesterday’s issue of Narratively, I did a lil’ illustration for the first story! It involves everybody’s favorite thing ever, i.e. a cat on a leash.

Cicada Magazine - www.CicadaMag.com - Spot Artist Extraordinaire: Marian Runk

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:21:00 -0400

Cicada Magazine - www.CicadaMag.com - Spot Artist Extraordinaire: Marian Runk:

I did a comic and some illustrations for the May/June issue of Cicada Magazine….They posted a little interview online! If you want to get ahold of the issue, here’s the ordering info: http://www.cobblestonepub.com/magazine/CIC/

Video from my Brain Frame Reading!

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:50:13 -0400

Video from my Brain Frame Reading!:

I can’t believe I forgot to link to this earlier! Here it is. Giiiirrrrl I coulda used some autotune for that first bit…Who knew singing a capella was so damn hard!?

brainframe: Marian Runk, assisted by the beautiful Jamie...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:08:46 -0500

brainframe:

Marian Runk, assisted by the beautiful Jamie Royce, supplemented a series of musical diary comics with wicked vocal and acoustic guitar skills at Brain Frame 10 on January 18th, 2013.

Photos thanks to Gillian Fry

PROOF that I did it! This is what my Brain Frame show looked like…Thanks to Lyra Hill for making it happen and Gillian Fry for the great documentation!

Brain Frame, Chicago Zine Fest, TCAF!!!!

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 09:39:00 -0500

Hello there! Come on out and see me read (and sing— yes, sing, not sign) from my new comics at Brain Frame #10! January 18th, 9 pm sharp (you wanna get a good seat and word is I’m on first). 1542 N Milwaukee, 2nd floor, Chicago, IL

First, a comic about a toilet, forthcoming in the all-comics issue of Lumpen Magazine.

Second, a comic about music, forthcoming from Oily Comics.

And, you’ll see me March 9 at the Chicago Zine Fest and then in Canada, tabling with Edie Fake at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival May 11-12. In the meantime, you can purchase my comics on Etsy or stop by Quimby’s Bookstore to see/touch everything in person! Thanks, y’all!!!!

from The Magic Hedge Issue #2: Firsts, Seconds and Endings

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 16:20:58 -0400

from The Magic Hedge Issue #2: Firsts, Seconds and Endings

The Magic Hedge #2 and CAKE this weekend!

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 16:06:00 -0400

The Magic Hedge #2: Firsts, Seconds, and Endings, is finally done! You’ll be able to pick up a copy this weekend, June 16th and 17th, at CAKE!! I hope that you’ll stop by my table, #46, to say hi…and also come to this panel, Real Life, a round table with a bunch of talented women who make autobiographical comics (at 12:30 on Saturday). Finally, if you want to get even more jazzed about CAKE, John Wawrzaszek says some nice things about me and let me ramble on in this pre-CAKE spotlight at Gaper’s Block…Can’t wait to see all of you comics friends this weekend!!!!!

I will have a new mini-comic to take to TCAF in May—...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:00:47 -0400

I will have a new mini-comic to take to TCAF in May— “The Jake Stories,” which will eventually be collected in The Magic Hedge Issue #2, set to debut at CAKE in June!!!! I am so excited about both festivals!! Look at this cover illustration! I just drew it!

The Magic Hedge (reviewed at Make Space!)

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:30:00 -0400

The Magic Hedge (reviewed at Make Space!):

The lovely Kelly Parsell of Make Space wrote a kind review of The Magic Hedge issue #1!!!

This is the introduction page to the story I’ve been...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:20:24 -0500

This is the introduction page to the story I’ve been writing/drawing at my residency with the Ragdale Foundation these past 2 weeks. I’m coming home in a couple days, but thought I’d post a little something to show that I’ve been working hard out here in the prairie (Lake Forest, IL). I’m a little dizzy from the joy of focusing on cartooning, singing (there’s a baby grand piano in my studio!), playing guitar, reading, and walking through the prairie with red-tailed hawks circling overhead. The story this drawing introduces will be one of the major comics in The Magic Hedge #2…It deals with something I’ve never been brave enough to write about before— my ballet-dancing past. I’m so excited & nervous to see which other stories end up in the book!

So, as he mentioned in his Chicago scene report for The Comics...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:33:47 -0500

So, as he mentioned in his Chicago scene report for The Comics Journal, the magical Edie Fake and I have been working through Ivan Brunetti’s Cartooning syllabus and meeting up to gab about our “assignments.” Here’s a quick look at a few panels from the chapter 5 homework…I think Issue #2 of The Magic Hedge is going to devote a high page count to “childhood” related stories, and I’m considering including/expanding the story that includes these panels….Thoughts, concerns!? I leave for my 2 week artist’s residency at the Ragdale Foundation this week and I’m excited to get Issue #2 mapped out and well on its way to becoming a “thing…” Don’t worry, there will also be birds and queers and present-day Chicago, but I do think we’ll go back in time for the bulk of the book.

Spring Whereabouts Update! Early Warnings!

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:27:12 -0500

Alright! The insanity of Spring is upon us! I’m off to a 2-week artist’s residency at the Ragdale Foundation in a few days, to work on solidifying what will be Issue #2 of The Magic Hedge! It won’t be done in time for:

The Chicago Zine Fest March 9-10

Where I will be tabling (alongside BFF Rebecca Mir) on March 10, and reading something exciting at the Exhibitor Reading on March 9. BUT I will have copies of The Magic Hedge #1 as well as the usual many other books and comics! The zine fest was awesome last year, and I’m so jazzed to return!

BUT, I WILL debut The Magic Hedge Issue #2 at:

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival

May 5-6……AND I CAN”T WAIT!!

Coincidentally, my comics hero Alison Bechdel will be a featured guest this year— she’s debuting her new book at TCAF, too! I plan to dramatically faint at her feet after queuing up for an autographed copy.

Now, I’ve got to get back to packing for my residency and frantically finishing up my guest page for the upcoming 3rd issue of the anthology THREE, edited by the lovely Rob Kirby.

Thanks for reading, guys! I’m so excited to see all of you comics friends on what I’m going to name the “Spring Festival Circuit!”

Starting to draw some “Life Birds” for The Magic...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:12:00 -0500

Starting to draw some “Life Birds” for The Magic Hedge #2…A couple of snowy owls have been hanging out at Montrose Point (on Lake Michigan, Chicago, IL) since late November. They’re uncommon to rare this far south, so it’s a pretty special bird. I watched it for about 45 minutes yesterday, during which time it sat in the sand, occasionally rotating its head towards me, and then away again. Fascinating stuff!

Small Press Expo & Ignatz Awards

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:35:00 -0400

Come visit me at the Small Press Expo this weekend in Washington, D.C.! I’ll have copies of The Magic Hedge ( which is Ignatz nominated!), my older books, and also a new little mini-comic I just printed, called 6 Days in a Month. I’m so excited to go to D.C. for the first time in years, and get to hang out at SPX for the first time ever!