Lunch Break is a short round-up of favorite webcomics appearing here each weekday at noon. Here’s something for you to enjoy over your lunch break or whenever. The premise is simple: it’s another day on the internet. Here’s a new or forgotten comic that seems interesting. Have something to recommend? Email us: crosshatchdispatch@gmail.com.

1. Battle for the Planet of the Space Rabbits by Jessica McLeod // 2008
2. The End by Erika Moen // December 29, 2009
3. Masters of Painting, vol. 1 by Lisa Hanawalt // 2010
4. Ariel and Kevin Invade a Ridiculous Hollywood Party by Ariel Schrag and Kevin Seccia // April 1, 2010
5. “_______” by Brenna Zedan and Chase Allgood // December 26, 2005

– Sarah Morean

Lars Martinson grew up in a little suburb of Minneapolis on beautiful Walnut Street.  His childhood was idyllic and he grew up strong and happy.  Then, he got into comic books…

In college, he studied design, which may account for his lovely self-published books Tonoharu and Young Men of a Certain Mind.

Martinson taught English through the JET Program and returned to Japan a few years later on a Monbusho Scholarship to study East Asian Calligraphy.

In 2007, he won an enormous sum from the Xeric Foundation which he used to self-publish Tonoharu: Part 1.  Tonoharu: Part 2 came out in 2010 and the story will continue in parts 3-4 sometime in the future.  Look forward to it!

Follow the adventures of Lars Martinson on Twitter and his blog.  Buy his comics books on Amazon or direct from the author using his online store.

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This footage comes from the Paranormal Activity in Comics panel conducted at the Minneapolis Indie Xpo on Saturday, August 21, 2010.

The Cross Hatch’s own Brian Heater led the discussion between Sarah Becan (The Ouija Interviews), Ed Choy Moorman (Ghost Comics), Tim Sievert (That Salty Air) and Will Duff (Ghostbustin’ 911).

Topics include ouija encounters, haunted apartments, Bigfoot and the rights of ghosts and zombies.

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That’s right! The next Minneapolis Indie Xpo will take place over two days in 2011 on November 5-6. Our venue will stay the same. So please join us that weekend at The Soap Factory in Minneapolis for two days of indie comics fun.

Our show in 2011 will be partially curated by Minnesotans. To learn more about this opportunity, please read the MIX News page. LINK

– Sarah Morean

Lunch Break is a short round-up of favorite webcomics appearing here each weekday at noon. Here’s something for you to enjoy over your lunch break or whenever. The premise is simple: it’s another day on the internet. Here’s a new or forgotten comic that seems interesting. Have something to recommend? Email us: crosshatchdispatch@gmail.com.

1. Cyanide & Happiness by Kris, Rob, Matt and Dave // March 3, 2005
2. Stuff by Jeff Bridges // September 2010
3. Let This Be a Lesson by Jed McGowan // date unknown
4. The Pizza Party by Anders Carlson // June 14, 2010
5. “Surprise Ending” from Subnormality by Winston Rowntree // date unknown

– Sarah Morean

Every time I speak with Tom Hart, the cartoonist seems to have a million projects on the horizon. And while each requires a varying degree of ambition, none have been nearly so bold as the one he’s currently got in the works—the real reason I wanted to catch up with him in an interview.

The project already has a name—The Sequential Artists Workshop—and a Website. And while its launch is a bit down the road, Hart has already invested a good deal of time into the launch of the Gainesville, Florida-based school.

There are still plenty of details that need hammering out (such as accreditation), which is one of the main reasons that the SVA professor has yet to formally launch a media campaign. That said, he’s still plenty happy to discuss his visions and plans—and get all of the feedback he can in the meantime.

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Lunch Break is a short round-up of favorite webcomics appearing here each weekday at noon. Here’s something for you to enjoy over your lunch break or whenever. The premise is simple: it’s another day on the internet. Here’s a new or forgotten comic that seems interesting. Have something to recommend? Email us: crosshatchdispatch@gmail.com.

1. Phase 7 #011 by Alec Longstreth // date unknown
2. In My Mouth by Sam Henderson // December 21, 2010
3. Three Serious Old Men by Gabrielle Bell // December 21, 2010
4. On flux. by Meg Hunt // September 10, 2010
5. Garfield Minus Garfield // December 8, 2010

– Sarah Morean

The following is the first of a four-part transcript of a panel with Sarah Glidden. The How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less cartoonist was one of only two artists to get the spotlight treatment at Brooklyn’s King Con show, back in November. The other was Chris Claremont.

The new book had been eagerly anticipated, particularly amongst the independent comics community in Brooklyn. The cartoonist had released the first two parts in minis in 2007 and 2008 and then retreated to her drawing table to finish the rest of the story in one go, after signing a book deal with Vertigo, an attempt to push the DC imprint further into indie territory than it had previously gone.

How to Understand Isreal hit store shelves the week of King Con, and by nearly all accounts, it was well worth the wait. The cartoonist had taught herself to color in the interim, and the results are rather impressive. Glidden wasn’t staying around to celebrate, however—she was getting ready to leave the country two days later, in search of her new book.

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Lunch Break is a short round-up of favorite webcomics appearing here each weekday at noon. Here’s something for you to enjoy over your lunch break or whenever. The premise is simple: it’s another day on the internet. Here’s a new or forgotten comic that seems interesting. Have something to recommend? Email us: crosshatchdispatch@gmail.com.

1. I Think You’re Sauceome by Sarah Becan // December 20, 2010
2. Watergate Sue by Megan Kelso // 2007
3. “Evil Coffee” from Narbonic: Director’s Cut by Shaenon K. Garrity // 2000
4. High Maintenance Machine by Matt Reidsma // August 8, 2010
5. Untitled by Anthony Woodward // October 2, 2008

– Sarah Morean

Sophia Wiedeman got her MFA at the School of Visual Arts. She currently lives in New York. When she isn’t drawing or working off debt, she fills time by walking, stopping strangers on the street to pet their dogs, and disinfecting dog bites.

Her excellent comic The Deformitory won a Xeric grant in 2008. Right now she’s completing The Lettuce Girl, a re-imagining of the fairy tale Rapunzel, which should be out in time for MoCCA.

View more of her work online at sophiadraws.com and follow her blog at sophiadrawscomics.blogspot.com. You’ll also see her work featured on Top Shelf 2.0 and printed regularly in Time Out New York.

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