Shiny New Comic

And a farewell to summer through Sketchbook drawings

Hello!

I am absolutely dying to share with you my new comic, Wedding Juice and Other Melodramas: Issue 2 that comes out in TOMORROW ! And as a way of thanking you for following my work here, I thought I would send you a never seen before story from it. Each Issue of Wedding Juice is a collection of comics stories. This is a self-contained segment from the comic titled, Wedding Prep-Montage that appears in Issue 2.

Sketchbook Drawings:

July: I was introduced to the oldest 4th of July parade in America, which takes place in Bristol, Rhode Island, and passes through my cousin-in-law’s front yard.

People I saw walking in the parade: Five year olds who were beauty pageant winners, A man in a cowboy hat with a baby goat on his head, Kickemuit Middle School Science Olympiad club spraying the crowd with water guns, the Portuguese independent band, The Patriots Mascot (a night-terror come to life), A huge boat that said, “Make America Kind'“, Thousands of sailors - an absolute ocean of white uniforms, A Lion Dance performance from the local Chinese Association, a seven person rock band performing Red Hot Chili Peppers covers atop an eighteen-wheeler - a performance that brought made my father-in-law emotional, one family of four (parents and two children) holding one Japanese and One American flag. The crowd did not cheer for them, and I felt very stressed.

Other parts of July:

I was invited to exhibit my work at the INCREDIBLE reportage festival, Sketcher Fest in Edmonds, Washington. There is so much I have to say about that, that it should probably be a separate newsletter. Until then, here are some sketchbook drawings from my time in Washington.

Deception Pass:

Hiking in the Mount Baker Wilderness

There are more drawings, but I have reached the length limit. So I will share them in the next letter.

Upcoming News and Events:

#1. Today is the last day that you can vote for Wedding Juice and Other Melodramas to win the Ignatz award in the Outstanding Series Category! Here is the link to sign up to vote:

#2. New England folks! I am going to be tabling and selling copies of my new comic and other zines and graphic novels, at Somerville Zine Fest on October 4th and Watertown Zine Fest on October 18th!

#3. Seattle peeps! I will be tabling at Short Run on November 1st! And I will be bringing something *new*…

#4. Los Angeles! I have never ever been to L.A., but I am so excited to meet you and your beautiful city! I will be tabling at Comic Arts LA on December 13th and 14th! I will have another day or two to bop around before I have to head back to Boston, so local folks, please send me recommendations! Where/What should I eat? What/Who should I go watch? Where should I hike? One of my dearest friends from college lives in LA, and the knowledge that I am going to get to see her soon, after TWO YEARS, is making me emotional.

I am writing this letter to you from the airport. I am on my way to Small Press Expo in Maryland. If you are going to be there, please come say say hi! I will be at table W76B. Making comics can be a lonely experience and any time someone tells me that they have read/or want to read something, that I have spent months working on alone in my studio ( second guessing everything), it still absolutely blows my mind.

I am far to early the airport because I was anxious about being late. And now I can’t help but reflect on how insane this last year has been. Exactly one year ago, I debuted Wedding Juice and Other Melodramas: Issue 1. at SPX. I was my first time tabling at SPX. I got to attend and watch the Ignatz awards ceremony for the first time, and get after-show falafels with artists who I have admired deeply for years. Now one year later, Wedding Juice is nominated for an Ignatz Award! (I still can’t believe this is real), I have been invited to be on a panel at SPX, about World-building with Color, I just finished coloring 24 pages of Issue 3. And I have plans to get after-show falafels with my friends again!

It’s been a year of many personal ups and downs. A month ago, I completed 10 years of living in America, and I have lots of complicated feelings about that. But I can’t help thinking how grateful I am to have met so many incredible people here, who have made want to stay, and make this country my home, and I am so grateful that I started making comics.

Thank you so much for being here.

Sanika