• Fellow Update: Comics Forging Communities

    At the end of October, I finished the artwork for the history comic project I’ve been working on for the past five years in partnership with Kumeyaay tribal historians. The Kumeyaay are the Native inhabitants of what we now call California and Baja California, Mexico, and are centered now on the city of San Diego.…

  • Scott McCloud and Eddie Ahn

    Two Non-fiction Cartoonists Come to Campus Cartoonists Scott McCloud and Eddie Ahn both visited CCS last week, bringing distinct insights on non-fiction comic making. McCloud, well-known for his seminal Understanding Comics, is a touchstone for the Applied Cartooning Lab. He met with CCS’s freshman class, discussing his work-in-progress book on visual communication, his preference for…

  • New Release: Art & Courage

    The Applied Cartooning Lab is pleased to announce its newest graphic guide, Art & Courage: A Guide to Sustaining a Creative Path. The comic book is based on Art & Fear, Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland. Since its release in 1993, that book has become an underground classic…

  • 2024-25 Applied Cartooning Fellow: John Swogger

    John Swogger was introduced to CCS by Al Wesolosky (’09). Like Al, John enjoyed a career in archeology before turning his attention to comics. We’re excited to have John on campus and help support him as he continues to deepen his cartooning practice. —James Sturm… I make comics about archaeology – about the excavations and…

  • Emily Bazelon and Erica Heilman in Conversation

    Each year, the Center for Cartoon Studies and Dartmouth College host the Will and Ann Eisner Lecture, a public presentation by artists and storytellers at the top of their craft. This year’s event involved a conversation between two storytellers working in journalism and podcasts, Erica Heilman (Rumblestrip) and Emily Bazelon (NYT Magazine, Slate Political Gabfest).…

  • The Vermont Statehouse Presents: Applied Cartooning

    The Center for Cartoon Studies was invited to present an evening of comics and applied cartooning for the Farmer’s Night series at the Vermont Statehouse. This is a weekly tradition that goes back over 100 years, bringing mid-week entertainment to lawmakers during the legislative session. Michelle Ollie, cofounder and president of CCS, and cartoonist Dan…

  • The Humanities and Mass Incarceration 

    In March, the Applied Cartooning Lab was invited as a community partner (thank you, VT Humanities) to attend a special national convening, Inside & Out: The Humanities and Mass Incarceration. The Lab is currently developing a public education campaign about mass incarceration, so this was an ideal opportunity to deepen our understanding of the subject.…

  • Queer Joy Collective Zine Workshop 

    Earlier this February, Shay Mirk, the 2023-24 Applied Cartooning Fellow, led a Queer Friendship Making Zine workshop hosted by Queer Joy Collective. Here’s a dispatch from Sebastian Crissey, the Collective’s co-director: “Bringing together queer youth from across the country to attend this virtual workshop provided a space for us to not only create but also…

  • Global Health & Applied Cartooning

    Working with the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, the Applied Cartooning Lab partnered with global health researchers, including the African Academy for Public Health (AAPH) and University of Dodoma (UDOM), to translate a page of Let’s Talk About It, A Graphic Guide To Mental Health into Swahili to be shared in a workshop of ten…

  • Teaching Applied Cartooning @ CCS 

    The Applied Cartooning Lab is housed within the larger academic program of the Center for Cartoon Studies, where MFA, certificate, and workshop students develop storytelling and visual communication skills across a range of classes. Within the current MFA/Certificate program, students have many opportunities to build applied cartooning skills. First year students are given an in-depth…