Aimée Pijpers’ comics are like a well-curated mixtape, the kind that the maker stays up all night recording, rewinding, and re-recording, in order to make sure the song selection, the message, and the flow are just right—which is one of the reasons we adore her art.
In case you missed the big announcement earlier this week, As You Were, Volume Four is now available for pre-order. The theme this time around is Living Situations, and we’re stoked to feature cover art by Chicago-based Kriss Stress, whose stuff we dig because of its intricate ink work and stark use of black and white.
Steve Larder has been with As You Were since the very first issue, when his artwork appeared on the cover. Since then, we’ve come to love and expect his intricate, and dare we say beautiful, illustration work. In addition to his comic contributions, he also creates his own zine, Rum Lad.
Rick V is probably one of the only ones among us who still actually uses LiveJournal. If that’s not reason enough to keep reading, get off the Internet.
Far be it from us to define what constitutes “good” art, but we do have to admit there is something refreshing about art that is real and just doesn’t give a fuck. For an example, we need not look any further than Mel’s comix, which are sometimes funny, sometimes gross, but always offer an honest, unfiltered world view.
A lot of artists got their start with drawing in their younger years, and our pal Jim Kettner is no exception. But what many artists don’t do is consider themselves writers, at least, not in the traditional sense. For Kettner, however, drawing and storytelling have always gone hand in hand, as he finds inspiration in both the art and words of others.
Navigating this life unscathed is no easy feat, and no one knows that better than Meg Has Issues. Her contribution to As You Were #3 is intense as they come, and deals with issues of depression, mental illness, and bipolar disorder. Yet in spite of hardship, Meg is a survivor.
For more than five years now, Marcos Siref has been contributing his badass art to Razorcake, one of the most legit magazines around. Lucky for us, he’s also appeared in two-thirds of the As You Were comix anthologies, most recently as our personal astrological adviser.
Not everyone is lucky enough to work full-time doing what they love, but our pal Rob Cureton is. By day, he’s an animator, and by night, he’s either drawing comics or making the memories that inform the comics.