Ley Lines is a project focused on having a dialog between comics and the world of fine art. I’ve been championing the work of Ley Lines for years. I think it’s one of the most innovative art comics that have been made in the last few years. Czap Books and Grindstone comics revealed the 2020 line-up of their joint publishing experiment and it is once again very interesting. Ley Lines is published quarterly and, as per their own description is dedicated to “exploring the intersection of comics and the various fields of art & culture that inspire us. Each issue features a different artist’s take on a different subject matter taken from the larger context of art making, past and present.”
This year’s publications will feature the work of Xia Gordon, Simon Moreton, Victor Martins, and Brendan Leach. You can see the line-up and which artists they’ll be exploring below.
- Victor Martins on Virginia Woolf’s Orlando – February 2020
- Simon Moreton on Alfred Watkins, originator of “ley lines” concept – May 2020
- Xia Gordon on Octavia Butler – August 2020
- Brendan Leach on Lincoln Center, San Juan Hill, and West Side Story – November 2020
I’ve praised Ley Lines before. The idea of putting comic artists in conversations with other fields in the world of art has led to some extremely interesting, peculiar and challenging work. Their 2019 issue featuring the work of Gloria Rivera was absolutely stunning and one of the best thing I’ve read all year. I wouldn’t be surprised that this years work remain as strong as it was in the past.
It’s also an interesting lens to see what the future of Koyama Press might look like. Annie Koyama will be shutting down Koyama Press and will focus on providing financial opportunities to comics artists. She’s already started doing this in January where she made available membership passes for the Art Gallery of Ontario (in Toronto). She has been backing this publication financially since the start and is even giving away some free subscription on Twitter RIGHT NOW. This is probably one of the more concrete ways we’ll see her be involved in the world of comics in the future.
Go subscribe to Ley Lines 2020 and if you haven’t done so already, pick up some of their back issues. They’re phenomenal.
