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When six of today’s finest, funniest cartoonists created a studio together two years ago, it was news; that all of them were women somehow made it a “thing“. Thus it is with some sadness but a sense of inevitability that the disbanding of the Pizza Island studio has been noted on its blog. Gathering together Kate Beaton, Sarah Glidden, Domitille Collardey, Julia Wertz, Lisa Hanawalt, Meredith Gran and most recently Deana Sobel, this kind of talent put in one room would have been noteworthy under any circumstances.

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The blog post linked above hilariously plays on the expectation that anytime a bunch of girls team up, the whole thing had to end in hair pulling and cat fights. After emailing a few of the members, an even more sordid truth emerged: the lease on the studio was up, and two members were moving and it just made sense to break up. All the cartoonists are, against all odds, still friends. “We’ll all go back to working from home or in cafes or at each other’s houses sometimes,” Wertz told The Beat.

Hanawalt concurred with the friendly break-up. “If we’re feeling like miserable hermits, we can always rent a new space and start Calzone Island.”

If the end of Pizza Island says anything about cartooning it’s that being thrifty by working at home seems to be the biggest trend of the year. It was cool while it lasted — let the legends begin.

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1 COMMENT

  1. This is horrible! Pizza Island was an intense collection of talent. It’s like The Beatles breaking up. But who is responsible, *really*?? Who is the Yoko Ono???

    Still, the idea of a Calzone Island, with it’s rich ricotta flavor, is something to hope for.

  2. In other news, Drawbridge Studio ( former Deep6 ) just added 5 more comics artists , bringing it to a total of 17 comics artists under one roof ( in 3 rooms ). Some of them are even…female!(gasp)