APRIL-MAY 2024 NEWSLETTER
april fools? more like april you're a fool, you suck, you're awful (jk)
Hi everybody! Sorry this one’s a bit late. There’s been a lot going on, and my favorite thing: this newsletter, has fallen off the wayside. The Frogs are furious.
Been prepping for fests, and had more things on my plate then I realized. One of these has been a big secret project that has been taking up most of my bandwidth. As of typing this, a big chunk of that has been finished and is off my plate for the time being. All to say, the past few weeks has kind of thrown whatever semblance of structure this newsletter page had into utter chaos. I’m very sorry! I’ve already heard it all and more from the Frogs (they are very disappointed in me.) So you do not have to say it.
Not that you would be though, everyone subscribed here seems like the very nice and forgiving lot. In the last month we tipped over well past 300 subscribers as well, so it’s been making me feel extra guilty that I haven’t been able to eagerly type up another one of my saucy little diatribes in time. Who will I be railing against this time? Myself for not writing this in time.
Okay so what’s been going on??
Well I guess we haven’t talked much since the last Frog Farm show in March? It went very well. Absolutely stacked show as you well know. Here are some pics from that:
If you wanna see more photos from the show…
go here —> https://frogfarm.online/frogfarm5
Also here’s the current vista at Frog Farm that was at the last show. We met a mysterious new Frog Statue, who claims to be called “Froglisa.” So that’s kinda interesting? Her and Frogghoul seemed to have a fun little conversation at the end of the show…so maybe we will be hearing more from them?
Also if you go on that youtube page, you can see the previously made loops for all our past Frog Farm shows (six so far!)
What else? Oh we did that fest called BICS. It’s at Industry City in Sunset Park in Brooklyn, so it’s a fairly convenient home show. We were next to A.T. Pratt who called me out for saying that I heard that the fest was mid in our last newsletter, but you know what, it kinda was! So I guess I win Andy?
A lot of fun people came out and I think it was worth it in the end, but def a bad taste in my mouth from being told that 20 mph winds were fine for setting up for a comic festival. We eventually moved to an inside space, but only after collectively making a big stink. This show is experiencing growing pains, as everything does, and I think this will form into being a nice staple fest for comics in NYC in the next few years.
Also did you notice the new print on the table? I made like 10-15 of them with slight colour variations as a little test of some new riso ink colours. Does this print interest you, should I put it on the store? Should I make more?
Hellavision’s new show “Cuntavision” went very well. The Brooklyn one was last week. Unlike last time, Frog Farm didn’t do an official collab on the zine project that went along with it, but I did personally print and assemble all of the books and sent them out to all the other show’s cities in LA, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Chicago. I think they turned out very nice. As far as “jobs” go, this was great. Here’s a pic of Lije and I at the show and also of the zine.
Maddie Brewer led the charge with the show and the zine, and you can tell, everything has an amazing succinct vision. She obvi drew the cover, and it looks amazing. Check her animation work out if you haven’t yet.
Ok ok so what else?
Well were plugging away on Smoku Deluxe’s release for TCAF. Really I should be working on that right now, but I’m procrastinating with this newsletter I guess? This is the official final cover riso printed and everything:
Here’s a little test sheet I printed a few weeks ago:
So yeah, it’s gonna be baller sauce. If you’re interested…pre-orders have opened up on that here —> https://frogfarm.bigcartel.com/product/smoku-deluxe-by-alex-swift
Speaking of Alex Swift…he’s a co-host of Bug Milk in Toronto…which is where the next Frog Farm will be…specifically during TCAF. More specifically on Saturday May 11th, after the first day of the fest.
Frog Farm is teaming up with Bug Milk! Alex and Olea put together this little piece for promo purposes on social media and a few magazines that are printing this month. We are currently finalizing our lineup for the show, which is looking pretty sick ngl. More info soon! Will send another little newsletter blast with all that stuff.
We will be hosting the next proper Frog Farm show back in Brooklyn later in May or early June hopefully. Keep tabs on all of that.
Hope to see you in Toronto for TCAF!
What else is there to look forward to?
I’ll be sending out a very juicy Burg Land related paid-subscriber post out in a day or so, so look forward to that if you’re one of my generous benefactors.
It’s not directly related to “the Urpur Satoom” but will most likely be incorporated into future comics. Thank you for everyone’s patience on my workings on that comic. I think the patience will be rewarded, eventually? And hey, if you haven’t upgraded…and want to see this new stuff…how about clicking here…
Thinking even further into the future… we’ve been coming up on the one year anniversary of Frog Farm’s existence. I’ve been pondering what type of impact it’s made so far, and what else can be done in the future to generate excitement in the larger “community.” It’s probably an impossible question, and is maybe kinda cringe. Yet I still think about it…
I definitely want to do another FROG FARM FAIR for the end of summer, but am currently still on the hunt for a new venue. If you have a lead on a medium to large sized space for a comic and zine fair please hit me up.
But what else should Frog Farm be doing? It’s supporting the work of other artists it feels strongly about by putting out their work into the world.
But what’s the purpose of Frog Farm?
Is it a vanity project to make the Frogs feel better about their awkward existence as spirits from an ancient extinct advanced civilization of frog-like peoples? I mean, yes for sure, of course. I am happy to help with that, and I always will be.
But I’m hoping it’s providing a little bubble of good work being made, and encouraging others to strive to make interesting and unique work?
What does that mean? You can try and shape a “scene” so much, but it’s really going to take it’s own direction away from the whims of any one person. But positive impact can be made by individuals too especially when they team up, and I think there are clever and interesting ways that haven’t been explored enough yet either.
Indie comic publishers eventually close their doors, scenes fall apart, nothing lasts forever but I think there’s still juice in the engine.
Going forward it would be great to hear more from everyone invested in this weird little nexus of the best comics, animations, and vids. What would make you feel more invested? What does that means? I don’t know but let me know if you have thoughts on any of this.
It’s kinda all I think about, honestly.
Lmao should I start a discord? (No probably not.) But comment below, or DM me etc.
This is the official newsletter for April and May, but I will be sending out plenty of smaller blasts and updates in the next 6 weeks, so fret not. Then in June we’ll be back on a regular monthly newsletter schedule with hopefully a lot of new exciting things to talk about.
Ok cheers talk soon,
Alex
Community is something I think about a lot; maybe more than the actual making of comics sometimes. I can’t stress enough how fulfilling it is to participate in the comix community! But I have also learned that it is possible to overstretch one’s self by trying to do too much. I think you are providing a consistent, quality part of the infrastructure of comics with the readings, newsletter, and print productions. That is plenty! You should be really proud. TLDR keep on keepin on!