Jason Shiga, whose comic strip “Fleep” is serialized on Modern Tales, is the first cartoonist featured in the Cartoon Art Museum of San Francisco’s new “Small Press Spotlight.”
San Francisco has been a hotbed of independent, groundbreaking comic art since the 1960s, when cartoonists like Robert Crumb, Spain Rodriguez, Victor Moscoso, and Trina Robbins launched the underground comix movement from San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. Today, some of the biggest names in alternative and small-press comics hail from the Bay Area, and The Cartoon Art Museum’s Small Press Spotlight will focus on these talented individuals.
The first subject of the Small Press Spotlight is Oakland resident Jason Shiga. In the past five years, Shiga has gone from virtual anonymity to becoming one of the most influential and respected small press creators. His work has been praised by numerous comic experts and critics, including Scott McCloud (Reinventing Comics), The Comics Journal, and Time.com. Shiga has drawn for the San Francisco newspaper Asian Week, was praised by SF Weekly as “San Francisco’s Best Under-recognized Cartoonist,†and won the prestigious Xeric Grant for his graphic novel “Double Happiness.†On display will be Shiga’s “Meanwhile…” matrix, a massive choose-your-own-adventure story measuring six feet by six feet.
Shiga’s “Meanwhile” matrix will be displayed in the museum from February 1 to April 19. The next Small Press Spotlight will focus on Ben Catmull, whose most recent series, “Monster Parade,” appears on Serializer.net. More information on the Cartoon Art Museum can be found at http://www.cartoonart.org.
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