Free Online Comic Workshops!

Between The Panels | Saturdays | April 25, 2020 - Onward | 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Online | FREE!

Uncover the visual language that makes comics unique!

7000 BC's Between The Panels workshops help participants combine word and image as they learn how comics form a storytelling medium like no other.  Rather than an illustration-based workshop, 7000 BC focuses on how a story is told using the comics form — stick figures are just fine!

As our way of supporting the community, 7000 BC is providing free online comic workshops for teens and adults every saturday.  Sharpen your pencils, pull out your papers, and join us as we explore comics creation.  The workshops are free, but we ask that if you have means to pay for a workshop, please instead make a donation to an organization helping those in need at this time.

Registration is required.  To register, please email Jeff.  Once registered, you'll get a weekly invitation to upcoming workshops unless you tell us to stop.  We won't send you anything else.  We use Zoom for workshops, so you'll have to sign up for a free Zoom account here as well.

This Week's Workshop:
Saturday, May 30 - The Unexpected Three-Panel Comic (Stories are Everywhere)

An accidental re-introduction to creating comics.  Welcome to the landscape of our comic brains.

Upcoming Workshops:

Saturday, June 6 - The Covenant of the Arc (Character Arcs and Story Arcs)

Saturday, June 13 - Thumbnailing with Kaiju Claws (Enhancing Story with Tiny Broad Strokes)

Saturday, June20 - You Call That A Comic? (Theme Showing Itself as Format)

Watch for weekly updates.  We plan to continue these saturday workshops for a while after restrictions have been lifted, while everyone is still getting back on their feet.

Organizations you may want to consider donating to:
The Storehouse - A community resource fighting hunger.  They offer FREE food to people who need it regardless of their income.

First Nations Community HealthSource - Providing a culturally competent comprehensive health delivery system integrating traditional values to enhance the physical, social, emotional and spiritual needs of American Indian/Alaskan Native families and other underserved populations residing in Albuquerque and the surrounding areas.

The Food Depot - Working toward healthy, hunger-free communities in Northern New Mexico.

Book Industry Charitable Foundation - BINC offers emergency assistance to booksellers.  They have formed the Comicbook United Fund, providing relief funds to comic book retailers and employees.

Donations are entirely up to you.  This should not be considered an endorsement of specific organizations.

Stay safe, be well, and make comics!

Free Digital Comics for Fun and Charity!

Free Digital Comics! | Right Here! | Right Now! | FREE! | More added weekly!

That's right, 7000 BC is offering comics created by our members for free for a limited time!

Here's why we're doing it.  The comics are free, but we ask that if you have means to pay for these comics, please instead make a donation to an organization that is helping those in need at this time.  If you don't have the means, the comics are our gift to you.  Enjoy!

Organizations you may want to consider donating to:
The Storehouse - A community resource fighting hunger.  They offer FREE food to people who need it regardless of their income.

First Nations Community HealthSource - Providing a culturally competent comprehensive health delivery system integrating traditional values to enhance the physical, social, emotional and spiritual needs of American Indian/Alaskan Native families and other underserved populations residing in Albuquerque and the surrounding areas.

The Food Depot - Working toward healthy, hunger-free communities in Northern New Mexico.

Book Industry Charitable Foundation - BINC offers emergency assistance to booksellers.  They have formed the Comicbook United Fund, providing relief funds to comic book retailers and employees.

Donations are entirely up to you.  This should not be considered an endorsement of specific organizations.


This Week's Comics!
All comics are in pdf format.  Click on titles or image to view.  New comics are added weekly!

Fakin' the Funk: Talent Show Part 3

Peter and Paul Ziomek

Keenan knows his stylings can't be stopped once he enters the talent show.  But will he stay true to himself or will he fake the funk?

Belly Button Bubble: A Hospital Story

Dale DeForest
Life's too short.


Still Available:
HOSPITAL STORIES

Love is Not All:  A Hospital Story
Courtney Angermeier
A young woman learning where to find nourishment

Autumn:  A Hospital Story

Bram and Monica Meehan

Still sniffing for squirrels.

Fakin' the Funk: A Hospital Story
Peter and Paul Ziomek
Keenan Reynolds has always had an active imagination.  It sometimes gets the best of him as you’ll see in this short story which introduces Keenan, his wrestlin’ mom, homie Victor and uncle Derek.


GRAPHIC NOVELS AND COLLECTIONS

Fakin' the Funk: Talent Show Part 2

Peter and Paul Ziomek

Keenan knows his stylings can't be stopped once he enters the talent show.  But will he stay true to himself or will he fake the funk?

Fakin' the Funk: Talent Show Part 1

Peter and Paul Ziomek

Young Keenan Reynolds isn't very good at sports but he can rap his way out of trouble.  Will he stay true to himself or will he fake the funk?

Yesterday and Maybe Tomorrow Too
Jeff Benham and Courtney Angermeier
A collection of short comics that explores alienation, loss, and the mystery and wonder of coming into one’s self.


SHORT COMICS

Roadies
Jeff Benham

Katlo Ren and Dracula fight Goat Roadies from Mars?  Yeah, sure!

Cloning Penguins
Jeff Benham
For those who truly must know what that fake money used to pay demons is doing when you're not looking.  A 24-Hour comic.

The Truthly Wailful Toe of Tim
Jeff Benham
32 things Tim can do without his arms.  A 24-Hour comic.

"Grace"
Jeff Benham
Snow, memory, and loss.

Feburary 2020 Meeting at Lobo Anime & Comics

February 7000 BC Meeting | Saturday, February 22 | 2:00–4:00 (Board meeting 1:00–2:00) | Lobo Anime & Comics | Albuquerque, NM

For the first 2019 meeting, we'll be at Lobo Anime & Comics at 1016 Juan Tabo Blvd. NE in Albuquerque from 2:00-4:00. The board meets 1:00–2:00, it's open to all. Everyone interested in making comics is welcome, send an email with any questions.

7000 BC Lectures and Workshops on Graphic Medicine

Graphic Medicine: Ill-Conceived and Well-Drawn!  | Friday, November 8 - Monday, November 18, 2019 | Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine | 3501 Arrowhead Dr. | Las Cruces, NM

7000 BC will be presenting a series of lectures and workshops related to Graphic Medicine in association with the National Library of Medicine's traveling exhibit, Graphic Medicine: Ill-Conceived and Well-Drawn!

7000 BC's events will be:

Fri., Nov. 8
Noon - 3:00 PM
Burrell College
Death and After - Lecture and Workshop for Burrell College and the Community
An exploration of different understandings and approaches to death in comics and other arts throughout history.

Sat., Nov. 9
9:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Museum of Nature and Science
Comics Workshop - Nature, Science and Medicine Comics Workshop for All Ages
An open workshop for children of all ages.  Brief lessons will be at 9:30, 10:30, and 11:30 and guidance will be provided throughout.

Fri., Nov. 15
Burrell College
Graphic Medicine Workshop - Comics Workshops for Arrowhead Park Medical Academy students
Not open to the public.

Mon., Nov. 18
Noon - 1:00 PM
Burrell College
Graphic Medicine from Head to Toe - Lecture for Burrell College and the Community
A discussion of comics and medicine that shows the breadth of what is available, what's being made locally, and how it's being created.

For other events related to this Graphic Medicine exhibit, please click here.

Between the Panels at NMLA/MPLA Conference

NMLA/MPLA Conference | Wednesday, October 30–Friday, November 1, 2019 | Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town | 800 Rio Grande Blvd. NW | Albuquerque, NM

7000 BC is at the New Mexico Library Association and Mountain Plains Library Association Joint Conference for this year's poster session.  We'll be there with the poster shown above for Between the Panels, the resource guide we're creating on teaching and making comics.

Non-profit arts organization 7000 BC has been bringing comic book workshops and presentations to libraries and other venues around New Mexico for more than fifteen years. Rather than using an illustration-based approach, participants combine word and image through fast-paced, hands-on workshops focused on how a story is told using the unique storytelling medium of comics.

7000 BC is codifying its approach in Between the Panels, a new multimedia book, website, and workshop project created for teachers, librarians, students and anyone interested in programming curriculum. This expandable, adaptable method can guide a one-hour children's workshop, a full college semester, or a cross-discipline specialty presentation.

In conjunction with Between the Panels, 7000 BC is creating verum/vitae, a science fiction/fantasy comic anthology series based in New Mexico. Along with comics from 7000 BC's past sixteen years, Between the Panels will feature completed and and in-progress excerpts from verum/vitae which is being developed both for the anthology and to illustrate specific comics concepts.

We are looking for libraries, schools, and other venues that would be interested in allowing us to provide workshops, including remote workshops, in exchange for feedback beginning in 2020.  Please contact us if you would be interested in participating.

24 Hour Comics Day 2019

24-Hour Comics Day | Saturday, October 5–Sunday, October 6, 2019 | noon–noon | Lobo Anime and Comics | 1016 Juan Tabo Blvd NE | Albuquerque, NM

Be a part of 24-Hour Comics Day 2019 — accept the challenge to create 24 comic book pages in 24 consecutive hours.

Join 7000 BC at Lobo Anime and Comics for a creative exercise that will test your stamina while you explore what you're capable of.

Once again thousands of artists of all skill levels around the globe take part in this annual celebration of comics creation — everyone, regardless of experience in comics-making, is welcome, so bring your papers and pens and join in.

This event is open to all ages (with parental permission for minors) and is free. Pre-registration is not required, but it's helpful — if you know you're going to participate, please send an email. It'll be extra helpful if you can complete and return this form when you email or when you show up at the event.

Coffee courtesy of Starbucks.

Update: see the day unfold at the blog on the 24-Hour Comics Day site.



Poster by Brittany Sedillo

September 2019 Meeting at Tribes Coffee House in Santa Fe

September 2019 Meeting | Saturday, September 28 | 2:00 | Tribes Coffee House | 3470 Zafarano Dr, Santa Fe, NM

Join New Mexico comics creators for an informal gathering at Tribes Coffee House on the southern end of Santa Fe on Saturday, September 28 at 2:00.

Everyone interested in making comics is welcome, send an email with any questions.