The July 2024 Cab Post
Sunshine, the birth of Cab Sans and twisters
Recap
Hello everyone! I hope you're doing well. It’s full-on summer over here and I’m making the most of it, as shown by my most excellent tan. This month, I biked a lot, saw an outdoor wrestling show, swam in three different bodies of water, and got mosquito bites all over my legs. Summer also marks the return of homemade pickles!
After years of using American comic book fonts for lettering my comics, I decided to get a font modeled after my own handwriting. It was the Canadian cartoonist John Martz who took care of it. I have always been very self-conscious of my calligraphy and I spent a lot of time testing various tools in order to produce a typeface that would blend in with my lineart. A real exercise as a copyist! I'm really happy with the result and can't wait to introduce Cab Sans into my future books! If you're interested, I shared the process in more detail at Patreon.
It was friend Ken’s 40th birthday this month and since he’s surrounded himself with comic artists, he was treated to a birthday fanzine. I love making cards for friends and I took the opportunity to try a more cartoon style, which I sorely miss doing these days.
There’s a meme going around which consists of redoing a panel by the late mangaka Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragonball. It was cool to see the different artists drawing each other with their favorite objects and snacks. If you draw yourself, I encourage you to try it!
Announcements
Not much, really. I received a large restock of prints in July and since summer is often a slow period for me, I encourage you to visit my shop! And what's more, I pass by an ice cream shop on the way to the post office, which is NEVER unpleasant. So if you want to encourage my “almost” normal ice cream consumption, know that I will always be grateful to you.
Deep inside me is a weird little archivist who loves documenting the most mundane things for my own enjoyement. I posted the best sandwiches I ate during July and will continue to do so as I keep working on L’heure du Lunch. If that doesn’t compel you to contribute to my Patreon, I don’t know what will :P
That’s all for the month of July! If I survive Osheaga, I’ll see you again in a month. Until then, take it easy, folks. I would also like to wish everyone a happy Montreal Pride Festival!
Cool stuff
I’m a bit late but I stumbled upon a rather mysterious Japanese artist whose name is just Nagabe. Although he has published several books, he does not have a website, but he does have an Instagram. I really like his limited palette and his inking style.
Friko is a band that sounds like Arcade Fire and We Are Wolves had made a baby. A sad baby, but a baby who’s trying really hard, you know? Among all the indie-ish efforts out there, the album Where We’ve Been, Where We Go From Here sounds really solid.
There’s a lot of different styles and energy on Master Peace’s first album. I can't wait to see what he comes up with in the future!
On Thursday July 18 at 4 p.m., I was at the Starcité movie theater to see TWISTERS, the sequel to the best weather-related film of all time. It was good. I screamed, questioned the motivations for every single character, established a list of my favorite tornadoes and ate way too much popcorn. The first one is better, and is still extremely watchable. The ragtag scientist crew, the van with instruments spinning on top, the threatening skies... it's crazy how I channeled this film into Nuclear Winter. My friend recommended I watch 2014’s Into the Storm, and it was really good. My Youtube front page is full of tornado-related videos and the website’s auto closed-captions often switches “tornado” for “burrito” in the subtitles. I wouldn’t say no to a F5 burrito storm!
Damien Elwes paints large scenes representing studios from famous artists. I really like Basquiat’s studio!
Freddy has too many crushes while working in one of the last standing video rental shops around, in this new webcomic called Flying Saucer Video.
I’ve been getting angry at tech companies for a while now, but not as angry as my dear, pasty Ed Zitron has. I found him very eloquent during this hour-long interview with Adam Conover. For anyone who needs a good explainer on A.I., the tech bubble and why we all feel a little insane right now.
Thank you for sharing!
That toriyama style sketch is great, you got me inspired to do one, as I do owe a lot of my afternoons to his amazing stories.
I love your monthly newsletters so much, Cab.
I'm not a huge fan of tuna, but that sandwich looks top notch, f'real.
That illustration of your friend Ken as a mage rules so hard.
Is that Toriyama meme taking place on Blue Sky? I may have to partake!