45 Days Of CCS, #37: Filipa Estrela and Allison Bannister

Filipa Estrela is one of the more fascinating graduates of CCS due to their interest in what they refer to as "unconventional material comics" or "crafted comics." These are comics made in whole or part with materials other than traditional pen or pencil. This includes photos, mixed media, felting, clay, woodcuts, etc, as they outline in their very useful mini Building Realms. This is a companion piece to Meandering Realms, the anthology they edited (and which I will be reviewing in a few more days), as well as a guide. Estrela lists some of their preferred supplies, how to plan and set intentions for such a comic, post-production tips, and much more--all with delightful crafted creations in the background. Estrela's specialty is felt and thread, and you could see them playing around with this here. 

Estrela is also quite adept at more traditional cartooning and risograph printing. Dream Of A Brighter Tomorrow, like much of Estrela's work, is aspirational. Using bold and cute figures along with bright and vivid colors, Estrela makes a claim and a wish for a better world, one where needs are attended to, radical acceptance is the norm, and collaborations are the standard. It's a lovely sentiment, and Estrela's imaginative character design brings a playfulness to the comic that prevents it from simply being a polemic. 

Little Friend, Big Feelings is the sort of delicate Risographed comic that is directly in Estrela's wheelhouse. Using bright pinks and darker blues and a cute character design style, Estrela talks about the "little one" that accompanies us all (a little fuzzy creature) that reflects our emotions, be they joy, grief, rage, fear, or even boredom. Whatever the feelings, the little one is grateful to feel them, no matter what. This is a beautiful sentiment and one that's a consistent theme throughout all of Estrela's work: feeling our feelings in a direct manner is essential to our health. 

Allison Bannister is currently working on a long-form comic called At The Inn, and she sent me the first 12 pages (the prelude and first chapter). This is an excellent example of world-building meeting character-driven narratives right in the middle, as she creates a rich environment and several memorable characters in the span of just a few pages. This is a fantasy narrative about an inn owned by a woman named Minerva who comes across a young wizard who steals food. Recognizing a proud but scared runaway when she sees one, she offers the adept (named Andreja) a job and passage to the city. While the dialogue in some of the talking heads scenes gets a bit thick, Bannister balances that with several pages that have minimal text. With a mixture of body language and knowing hints in the dialogue, Bannister imparts a great deal of information to the reader about these characters without being overly direct; the plot details are less important than the characters and what we see as their basic motivations to start with. Bannister's use of color is also tasteful and intentional, adding even more information to the narrative while also establishing beautiful, lush backgrounds.