I’ll be presenting two online talks in early February derived from my research for How Comics Were Made. Both talks are free to attend—one will be recorded and have a more general bent; the other, live only and more academic in focus. Both require advance registration to receive the information needed to watch. (Updated with link to recorded Feb. 4 talk.)

February 4: Newspaper Comics Production in the Era of Mechanical Perfection

Watch the recorded video of “Newspaper Comics Production in the Era of Mechanical Perfection,” New York Comics & Picture-story Symposium: event occurred February 4 at 4 pm PST/7 pm EST. I’ll be talking about how many mechanical processes came together to create a complicated but routine way to print newspaper comics in the metal and mechanical age. The long-running weekly symposium is a great source of past and future insight into comics and storytelling with pictures from every angle!

February 12: How Comics Were Made: Dawn of the Dots

Color Studies group at CHSTM (Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine): 9 am PST/noon EST/5 pm GMT. Create an account via link to register (free). This talk and conversation will focus on the Ben Day process used to give comics their color for several decades in the relief metal printing era. The Color Studies group regularly hosts presentations and conversations on the use of color in culture, media, and material goods.

Previous Live Q&A

If you missed my live Q&A about the book in December, you can find the video in full on YouTube. I will likely schedule another session later in 2025, given the great questions and number of attendees for that one!