• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

CURRENT STREET EDITION

DIG 23.05 – 4/8/21

SUB POP: NEW LOCAL INDIE COMICS ANTHOLOGY TAPS INTO SUBCULTURES

Written by DAN MCCARTHY Posted November 12, 2014 Filed Under: A+E, Books, Comics

ARTS_SubCultures

About a year ago, Dan Mazur, co-founder of the weekly meetup Boston Comics Roundtable and publisher of 9th Art Press, was talking with Brookline’s Whit Taylor about possible ideas for a new comics anthology when the conversation turned to the allure of subcultures.

 

Taylor had studied anthropology at Brown University and expressed interest in mining the ore found there for the independent comics artists. So after the duo put out an open call for submissions, strangers and friends alike started offering up their art in both story outlines and artwork samples, and fully finished strips. More than half of the submissions ended up making the cut, and Sub Cultures: A Comics Anthology was released in September.

 

“The idea for the book was [really] hers,” Mazur says. “And it was her ‘gut feelings’ that determined the order of the stories.”

 

With 37 independent cartoonists making up the collection—and about a third of the artists local or Boston-based (including Hub-born SMFA alum Liz Prince, author of the graphic memoir on gender, Tomboy)—it explores everything from Star Wars conventions to Bigfoot trackers, cosplay stories to sadomasochism. All of which bear the artistic watermarks of stylistic individualism—gruff, polished, and everything in between.

 

“There’s a wide range of styles within the spectrum of indie comics,” Mazur says. “[From] a young audience whose style is big on platforms like Tumblr to artists like [Fort Point’s] Nick Thorkelson and the underground generation where he’s from. It’s underground-influenced style meets Tumblr art. [Sub Cultures] brings old and new together.”

 

Mazur grew up in Cambridge and returned to the area in 2006 after working for years in film as a screenwriter, and upon realizing he had been drawing comics more frequently than he wrote screenplays. Once he moved back, he sought a community of comics creators, started the weekly meetup Boston Comics Roundtable along with Dave Kinder, and eventually started publishing anthologies. Before Sub Cultures, Mazur co-wrote what he calls the first comics history book to incorporate Japanese, European, and American comic history in one tome, focusing on 1968 to the present. Before that, he put out The Greatest Of All Time, a collection of superhero stories set in Boston.

 

But Mazur notes the newest collection is different in regards to the level of artists he got a chance to work with. Say, Alex Robinson (“One of my faves,” Mazur says), who has been publishing major graphic novels for some time, but also those at the other end of the spectrum, like Sam Alden, a young cartoonist who has been heating up in the indie world the last few years.

 

The selections were assembled with care, avoiding grouping similar subcultures together (not placing doll comics back-to-back, for example) and were based on gut feelings about how the style, pacing, and flow would work best. But in the end, the most important thing to Mazur was gathering really great independent and local artists together with a unified sense of celebrating what he calls “infinite and intricate subsets of humanity.”

 

Hail to the weird.

 

SUB CULTURES | $15.00 | NOW AVAILABLE AT MILLION YEAR PICNIC, HUB COMICS, OR NINTHARTPRESS.BLOGSPOT.COM


 

DAN MCCARTHY

Dan is a freelance journalist and has written for publications including Vice, Esquire, the Daily Beast, Fast Company, Pacific Standard, MEL, Leafly, Thrillist, and DigBoston.

More from author
  • DAN MCCARTHY
    https://digboston.com/author/dan-mccarthy/
    cannabis massachusetts pandemic
    RANGE OF VOICES TESTIFY TO OPEN CANNABIS DISPENSARIES DURING PANDEMIC
  • DAN MCCARTHY
    https://digboston.com/author/dan-mccarthy/
    BIG CHILL: A YAWN OF A CENTENNIAL, DINNER WITH MICHAEL J. FOX, AND THE MICHAEL BENNET PRIMARY TEST
  • DAN MCCARTHY
    https://digboston.com/author/dan-mccarthy/
    THE POLICY POLICE: CANNABIS COP AND GOP COHORT CHALLENGE CANDIDATES AND EDUCATE VOTERS ON WHY DRUGS SHOULD BE LEGAL
  • DAN MCCARTHY
    https://digboston.com/author/dan-mccarthy/
    ACCESS DENIED: BUTTIGIEG PACKS ROOM, BRUISES INDEPENDENT MEDIA EGOS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

Filed Under: A+E, Books, Comics Tagged With: 9th Art Press, Alex Robinson, boston comics roundtable, Dan Mazur, Liz Prince, Nick Thorkelson, Sub Cultures: A Comics Anthology, Tomboy, Whit Taylor

WHAT’S NEW

Massachusetts National Guard by The National Guard is licensed under CC BY 2.0

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: DON’T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN

BRIDGES AND BUDGETS: PUTTING THE COUNTRY BACK TOGETHER, FROM BOSTON TO BIDEN

BRIDGES AND BUDGETS: PUTTING THE COUNTRY BACK TOGETHER, FROM BOSTON TO BIDEN

SPECIAL FEATURE: UNCHARTED WATERS

SPECIAL FEATURE: UNCHARTED WATERS

THE OPPONENT: NEWCOMER MCBRIDE TAKES ON BAKER IN D3

THE OPPONENT: NEWCOMER MCBRIDE TAKES ON BAKER IN D3

THE IMPORTANT ART STOLEN FROM BOSTON THAT NOBODY SEEMS TO CARE ABOUT

THE IMPORTANT ART STOLEN FROM BOSTON THAT NOBODY SEEMS TO CARE ABOUT

PICS & RECAP: JUSTICE 4 DUANTE WRIGHT JUSTICE 4 ALL EMERGENCY RALLY 

PICS & RECAP: JUSTICE 4 DUANTE WRIGHT JUSTICE 4 ALL EMERGENCY RALLY 

Primary Sidebar

HEMPIRE FREEDOM PACK 25% OFF

FEATURED EVENT

Most Popular

  • VACCINE EQUITY NOW! COALITION ASKS BAKER TO ALLOCATE 20% OF NEW DOSES TO HARD HIT COMMUNITIES by ZIQI WANG
  • IF YOU’RE SURPRISED THE BPD CODDLED AN ACCUSED MOLESTER COP, YOU’RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION by CHRIS FARAONE
  • THE MYSTERY OF CHEZ TORTONI by CHRISTOPHER EHLERS
  • A FAREWELL TRIBUTE (OF SORTS) TO MARTY WALSH by DIG STAFF
  • THE IMPORTANT ART STOLEN FROM BOSTON THAT NOBODY SEEMS TO CARE ABOUT by CHRIS FARAONE

READ CURRENT MEMBER EDITION

DIG Member 2.1 – March 2021

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG 23.05 – 4/8/21

Footer

digbos

digbos
Putting the country back together, from Boston to Putting the country back together, from Boston to Biden. https://digboston.com/bridges-and-budgets-putting-the-country-back-together-from-boston-to-biden/ #news #analysis #infrastructure #Boston #Massachusetts
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: DON’T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN. K CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: DON’T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN. Keep wearing masks and social distancing until public health officials say it’s safe to stop. The latest from DigBoston's @jasonpramas. https://digboston.com/coronavirus-update-dont-let-your-guard-down/ #health #publichealth #mask #vaccine #politics #Boston #Massachusetts #coronavirus #COVID19
“My administration is doubling down on our work “My administration is doubling down on our work to stand up the #Boston Office of #Police Accountability and Transparency.” https://digboston.com/politicians-get-in-line-to-call-for-boston-police-accountability/ #politics #Massachusetts
This week is your last chance to hit up Mooby’s This week is your last chance to hit up Mooby’s in #Boston … https://digboston.com/moobys-boston-how-kevin-smith-has-brought-his-pick-up-experience-to-10-cities-during-the-pandemic/ #fan #popup #fun #restaurant #movie #Massachusetts #snoochieboochies
The group is asking that polices address the dispa The group is asking that polices address the disparities the #data has revealed. https://digboston.com/parents-release-an-analysis-of-boston-public-school-fundraising-inequities/ #education #school #public #study #fundraising #racism #Boston #Massachusetts
“We’re not going to survive for 20 more years “We’re not going to survive for 20 more years if we don’t do this [move to a bigger space].” https://digboston.com/how-juliet-hit-a-100k-kickstarter-goal-in-4-days/ #restaurant #business #food #crowdfund #SomervilleMA #coronavirus #COVID19
EDITORIAL: DIGBOSTON SEEKS CLIMATE IDEAS FOR MAYOR EDITORIAL: DIGBOSTON SEEKS CLIMATE IDEAS FOR MAYOR KIM JANEY. Environmental organizations and individual activists invited to submit opinion articles for publication. https://digboston.com/editorial-digboston-seeks-climate-ideas-for-mayor-kim-janey/ #politics @boston_mayor #environment #globalwarming #climate #activist #callforsubmissions #policy #Boston #Massachusetts
“Most are some of my favorite bars or local clas “Most are some of my favorite bars or local classics that I’ve learned to love in my time living in the city. Others just have a great facade that I know would make a great drawing.” https://digboston.com/drawn-but-not-forgotten-local-artist-sketches-beloved-boston-restaurants/ #art #artist #sketch #drawing #Boston #Massachusetts #bar #restaurant
Despite #pandemic hurdles, Mass #music instructors Despite #pandemic hurdles, Mass #music instructors hit new high notes. “My #teaching has gone to another level.” https://digboston.com/the-medium-is-the-maestro/ #education #Massachusetts #coronavirus #COVID19
From the podcast to the book, Wayne Federman chron From the podcast to the book, Wayne Federman chronicles the business of joke-telling. https://digboston.com/the-history-of-stand-up-from-mark-twain-to-dave-chappelle/ #comedy #history #book #interview #Boston #Massachusetts
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Submissions

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]