Our June 30th Carousel has been postponed!
Sorry for the very short notice.
We will schedule another show later in the summer.
Details to follow soon!

Our June 30th Carousel has been postponed!
Sorry for the very short notice.
We will schedule another show later in the summer.
Details to follow soon!
Carousel: Comics Performances returns with an outdoor, in-person show atThe City Reliquary!
Live readings and projections of graphic novels, cartoons, and more from a wide range of authors and artists.
Featuring:
Todd Alcott
Julia Alekseyeva
Maria Hoey
Michael Kupperman
Jeremy Nguyen
Sanika Phawde
Hosted by R. Sikoryak.
The show will be followed by a book signing.
This is an all-vaccinated event.
At The City Reliquary
370 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Thursday, May 12, 2022
Times: 7:30pm door 8:00pm show
Tickets: $10 Pre-Sale and $12 Day-Of
https://withfriends.co/event/14329018/carousel_comics_performances_and_picture_shows
Bios:
Todd Alcott was a screenwriter for many years, and now works as a graphic artist. He has designed and published a tarot deck, The Pulp Tarot, and has a new book titled Ephemera: The Cultural Mashups of Todd Alcott. He is now working on a “graphic memoir” of his life with his abusive father. Instagram: @toddalcott
Dr. Julia Alekseyeva is an assistant professor at UPenn and the author-illustrator of the award-winning Soviet Daughter: A Graphic Revolution(Microcosm, 2017). She publishes graphic essays on themes as varied as philosopher Walter Benjamin, the George Floyd protests, Jews with Christmas trees, 1968 protest movements, and Russian formalism in Jewish Currents, The Nib, World Literature Today, Lilith, The Paper Brigade, and elsewhere. www.jalekseyeva.com
Maria Hoey along with her brother Peter create the Eisner-nominated comic series, Coin-Op. Their first graphic novel, Animal Stories, a 6-story collection of inter-connected stories about animals and people, was published by Top Shelf Productions in March, 2022. coinopbooks.com
Michael Kupperman is an award-winning artist and writer whose work has appeared in outlets such as The New Yorker, Fortune, The New York Times, Nickelodeon Magazine, Forbes, Playboy, Heavy Metal, McSweeney’s, DC, Marvel, Vice, Saturday Night Live, Adult Swim, Comedy Central, and five of his own books. His most recent was All the Answers, published in 2018 by Simon & Schuster. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife Muire and son Ulysses. michaelkupperman.com
Jeremy Nguyen is cartoonist and illustrator, whose cartoons appear regularly in The New Yorker magazine. www.jeremywinslife.com
Sanika Phawde is an illustrator, cartoonist and reportage artist based in Jersey City. Sanika makes comics to process her life and document instances of emotional connection, and conversations people have over meals. www.sanikap.com
Carousel returns with an outdoor, in-person comics show at The City Reliquary.
Live readings, music, and projections of graphic novels, cartoons, and more.
Featuring: Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell, Yinfan Huang, Cynthia Kaplan, Mattie Lubchansky, Joe Dator & Kevin Maher, and Bishakh Som. Hosted by R. Sikoryak.
The show will be followed by a book signing.
This is an all-vaccinated event. Please bring proof of vaccination for entry.
At The City Reliquary
370 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Friday, November 12, 2021
Tickets: $10 https://withfriends.co/event/12994004/carousel_comics_performances_and_picture_shows
Time: 7:30pm door 8:00pm show
Bios:
Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell is first and foremost a Law and Order enthusiast, and only second a comedian and New Yorker cartoonist. Murder Book is her debut graphic memoir out this November 9th in bookstores near you. Instagram: @cartoonsbyhilary
Born and raised in China, Yinfan Huang is a NY-based illustrator and cartoonist who creates joyful, whimsical work for children’s books, magazines, brands, and institutions around the world. She is the first Asian cartoonist published in The New Yorker in print without growing up in the West. She is the illustrator of the children’s book The Couch Potato and is working on her first graphic memoir, Yellow Singing Sail (Kids Can Press, 2024). You can find her at: yinfanhuang.com and Instagram @yinfanhuang and @infuncomic
Cynthia Kaplan is the author of two books of humorous personal essays, Why I’m Like This: True Stories and Leave the Building Quickly, and is founder of the comedy rock band The Cynthia Kaplan Ordeal. Her writing and music can be found at www.cynthiakaplan.com.
Mattie Lubchansky is the Associate Editor of The Nib and a cartoonist and illustrator living in Queens, NY. They are the author of The Antifa Super-Soldier Cookbook (Silver Sprocket, 2020) and the upcoming Boys Weekend (Pantheon, 2023) Instagram: @mattielubchansky
Joe Dator has been a cartoonist for The New Yorker since 2006. He is a winner of The National Cartoonists Society’s 2018 Silver Reuben Award, and is the author of Inked: Cartoons, Confessions, Rejected ideas And Secret Sketches. www.JoeDator.com
Kevin Maher is an Emmy-nominated comedy writer and an award-winning filmmaker. His long-running variety show “Kevin Geeks Out” returns this December. www.LoveKevin.com
Bishakh Som is an Indian-American trans femme visual artist, author, and ex-architect. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Boston Review, and many queer and not necessarily queer comix anthologies. Her graphic novel Apsara Engine (The Feminist Press) is the winner of a 2020 L.A. Times Book Prize for Best Graphic Novel and a 2020 Lambda Literary Award winner for Best LGBTQ Comics. Her graphic memoir Spellbound (Street Noise Books) was also a 2021 Lambda Literary Award finalist. http://www.bishakh.com
Carousel returns with an outdoor, in-person show with the Brooklyn Book Festival:
Presentations of graphic novels and comics as performed by the artists: Emily Flake, R. Kikuo Johnson, Arielle Jovellanos & Emily Borromeo, Matt Madden, Robyn Smith, and Jeremy Sorese. Hosted by R. Sikoryak. The event will be followed by a book signing.
THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2021 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL EVENT.
At The City Reliquary: 370 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211 Monday, Sept 27, 2021
Tickets: https://withfriends.co/event/12496949/carousel_comics_performances_and_picture_shows
TICKETS
$10 pre-sale
$12 at-the-door
TIMES
7:00pm doors
8:00pm show
10:00pm end
SAFETY
This is an ALL-VACCINATED EVENT! A vaccination card or Excelsior pass with matching photo ID is REQUIRED for entry to this event. Masks are required for all inside the building of The City Reliquary, but may be taken off outside in the backyard, where you will have ample room to social distance if you choose.
Please remember to BRING CASH for a bar stocked with drinks, sweets, and snacks.
BIOS:
Emily Flake is a cartoonist, writer, illustrator and performer living in Brooklyn, NY. Her work appears regularly in the New Yorker, the Nib, McSweeney’s, and many other publications. She is the author of “That Was Awkward: the Art and Etiquette of the Awkward Hug.” She is also the founder of St. Nell’s Humor Writing Residency, a residency for women and NB people working in humor-related fields. You can find her at www.emilyflake.com and www.stnells.com. Twitter: @EmilyFlake
R. Kikuo Johnson was born on Maui in 1981. His books include the graphic novels No One Else, Night Fisher, and the all-ages tale, The Shark King. Since 2006, his comics and illustrations have regularly appeared on the cover and in the pages of The New Yorker. He divides his time living and working in Brooklyn, NY, teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design, and playing the ukulele with his family on Maui. Instagram: @r_kikuo_johnson
Arielle Jovellanos is a NY based freelance illustrator, writer, and comic artist. Her work has been featured in the Eisner & Harvey nominated anthology FRESH ROMANCE and in magazines, comics, books, and branded social media campaigns. Recently, she illustrated BLACK STAR, an original graphic novel written by Eric Anthony Glover (Abrams Megascope). Her next graphic novel EVIL THING, adapted from Serena Valentino’s bestselling Cruella De Vil novel, will be out this fall from Disney-Hyperion. Arielle will be joined this evening by Broadway and TV actress Emily Borromeo for a live musical performance. Instagram: @ joviellety
Matt Madden is a cartoonist. His best-known book is 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style (Penguin). In 2013 he was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government. He wrote two comics textbooks in collaboration with his wife, Jessica Abel, and the couple were series editors for The Best American Comics from Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt for six years. His newest book, Ex Libris, is coming out in October 2021 from Uncivilized Books. Instagram @mmaddencomics
Robyn Smith is a Jamaican cartoonist known for her mini-comic The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town, illustrating DC Comics’ Nubia: Real One (written by L.L. McKinney) and Black Josei Press’ Wash Day (written by Jamila Rowser). She has an MFA from the Center for Cartoon Studies and has also worked on comics for College Humor, Nike, and The Nib. Instagram: @robrosmo
After graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2010, Jeremy Sorese was accepted to La Maison des Auteurs, a residency program in Angoulême, France. His first book Curveball, published with Nobrow in 2015, was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. A sequel, The Short While, will be published with Archaia in November 2021. He’s been teaching art for eleven years. Instagram: @jeremy_sorese
R. Sikoryak is a cartoonist and the author of Constitution Illustrated, Masterpiece Comics, Terms and Conditions, and The Unquotable Trump (Drawn & Quarterly). Instagram: @rsikoryak
More info: https://brooklynbookfestival.org
Our first in-person show since 2019!
At The City Reliquary, 370 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Thursday, June 10 – Presentation at 8pm – Doors at 7pm
$7 General Admission – Free for City Reliquary Members (tickets required)
The City Reliquary is proud to present a very special event celebrating America’s favorite eyepatched rascal Bazooka Joe! A distinguished panel of candy and comics experts will discuss the history of the iconic character and his lasting impact on marketing and design.
Also featuring a live reading of classic Bazooka comics.
Our guests include:
Ira Friedman has spent his career on the merchandising side of pop culture. Since his early days at Starlog and Fangoria magazines, to a stint at Lucasfilm during the original release of The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ira landed at Topps in 1988 as the director of new product development. Since that time, Ira has been a fixture at the famed bubble gum and trading card company involved in hundreds of different projects, publishing, and confectionery products – ‘homegrown’ and licensed.
Charles Kochman is the Editorial Director of Abrams ComicArts and editor of the #1 bestselling series Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. For thirty-five years, Kochman has edited several hundred books for all age groups, including award-winning picture books, middle-grade novels, retrospectives, monographs, graphic novels, and art book collections published by Abrams, DC Comics, MADmagazine, Bantam Books, and Putnam. He is a recipient of the Inkpot Award, presented by Comic-Con International for achievement in comics.
Jason Liebig is regarded as one of the nation’s foremost experts on candy and snack food brand history and is considered an arbiter of candy as pop culture and nostalgia. As such, he has written hundreds of articles on the subject matter and has served as a brand consultant as well as period television consultant for shows such as Stranger Things, Young Sheldon, Mad Men, and more. His unique perspective and expert knowledge have led him to become an occasional television host and frequent guest, sharing his love of the candy and snack worlds he loves. Blog: http://www.collectingcandy.com/wordpress/
R. Sikoryak is a cartoonist and author of the graphic novels Constitution Illustrated, The Unquotable Trump, Masterpiece Comics, and Terms and Conditions (Drawn & Quarterly). His comics and illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, The Nation, The Onion, and more. Sikoryak presents his live comics performance series, Carousel, around the U.S. and Canada.
Special guest voices by M. Sweeney Lawless, writer of ill repute. Twitter: @Specky4Eyes
Bazooka Joe and his Gang appeared in mini-comics on Bazooka bubble gum wrappers starting in 1954. The comic concept was the brainchild of Woody Gelman and Ben Solomon, heads of product development at Topps, and the original comic artist was Wesley Morse. Topps, the king of trading card companies, has been based in NYC since 1947.
Admission to the Museum and The Call of Candy exhibit included – come early to check out vintage Topps and Bazooka Joe ephemera as well as that of other NYC candy manufacturers from the 1800s to today!
http://www.cityreliquary.org
The 2021 virtual Toronto Comics Arts Festival runs from May 7- 16, with a wide range of events.
Carousel: Comics Performances at TCAF
Friday, May 14. 7 pm ET
Carousel returns with live readings and images from Abby Denson (Kitty Sweet Tooth), Decur (When You Look Up), and John Jennings (After the Rain). Hosted by R. Sikoryak.
These creators will offer an illuminating intersection of comics of the moment. Take a spin and stay to ask some questions about the varied and wonderful world of comics! Lorena Torres Loaiza joins as Spanish interpreter.
Register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Ff5jBjdeQWiiZ2381bYpxg
Full TCAF Program schedule:
TCAF Marketplace
May 8 – May 16.
You can also peruse and purchase from the TCAF exhibitors, Spring Canzine vendors, and check out some amazing indie games from Comics x Games. Sikoryak link:
https://brokenpencil.com/tcaf/tcaf.html?passageName=208_RSikoryak
Link to all:
https://brokenpencil.com/tcaf/
TCAF Zoom Exhibitor Room
A virtual space for creators, publishers, and TCAF attendees to meet each other. R. Sikoryak will be participating on Sunday, May 9. 8-10pm ET. Scroll down to the time for the Zoom link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m5CGIRqS3xmTq5F26mre43P9U6KwwV-N/view
Many artists will also have rooms during the week, and you can jump from one room to the next. More info:
Several cartoonists are taking part in this Fall for the Book live drawing event hosted by R. Sikoryak.
Illustrator Sprint
February 25, 2021, 7 p.m. via Crowdcast
Ready, set, draw! In this fast-paced, hilarious sketch showdown, four illustrators (Ursula Murray Husted, Brian Michael Weaver, Andrea Tsurumi, and Ann Xu) compete for audience votes as they complete wacky prompts given to them by host R. Sikoryak. This event is brought to you by Fall for the Book.
Reserve your spot and watch the event here.
Meet the creative competitors:
Brian Michael Weaver is the totally tubular illustrator of such groovy graphic novels as the Joey Fly, Private Eye series, and writer of the mondo bodacious picture book Do NOT Build a Frankenstein!
Ann Xu is an Ignatz-nominated cartoonist and illustrator working in Baltimore. She is the illustrator of Measuring Up and upcoming graphic novel Shadow Life.
Ursula Murray Husted holds an MFA in comics from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a PhD in Design Communication/Visual Ethnography from the University of Minnesota. She makes comics and lives in Minneapolis with her partner, their daughter, three cats, and many, many books. You can learn more at http://ursulamurrayhusted.com/
Andrea Tsurumi is an author, illustrator and cartoonist originally from New York who now lives with her spouse and their dog in Philadelphia. She’s the creator of Accident!, Crab Cake, and I’m on It: an Elephant and Piggie Like Reading book and the illustrator of David Goodner’s Kondo & Kezumi series. Find out more at andreatsurumi.com
R. Sikoryak is a cartoonist and author of the graphic novels Constitution Illustrated, The Unquotable Trump, Masterpiece Comics and Terms and Conditions.
Our Carousel for The Brooklyn Book Festival 2020 was presented virtually in September, and here’s the video. It features readings by Glynnis Fawkes, Shary Flenniken, Mikki Kendall, Sophie Yanow, and R. Sikoryak, as well as a conversation with the artists at the end.
Carousel: Comics Performances
An online event of the 2020 Brooklyn Book Festival
Readings of graphic novels and comics, with images, presented by:
Glynnis Fawkes (Charlotte Bronte Before Jane Eyre)
Shary Flenniken (Trots and Bonnie)
Mikki Kendall (Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists)
Sophie Yanow (The Contradictions)
Hosted by R. Sikoryak (Constitution Illustrated)
Watch online:
Monday, September 28, 2020 at 8:00pm EDT
Info: https://brooklynbookfestival.org/event/carousel-comics-performances/
THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2020 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL EVENT
BIOS:
Glynnis Fawkes is the author of Charlotte Bronte Before Jane Eyre and Persephone’s Garden, both out in 2019. She teaches at the Center for Cartoon Studies and her work has appeared in The New Yorker. Twitter and Instagram: @glynnisfawkes
Shary Flenniken is a Seattle-based cartoonist, editor, and screenwriter currently living in Seattle, Washington – best known for incorporating elements of feminism and gender politics in her Trots and Bonnie comic in National Lampoon Magazine.
Mikki Kendall is the author of AMAZONS, ABOLITIONISTS, AND ACTIVISTS (illustrated by A. D’Amico), and of HOOD FEMINISM. Her essays can be found at TIME, the New York Times, The Guardian, the Washington Post; recent media appearances include BBC, NPR, the Daily Show, PBS, Good Morning America, MSNBC, and Showtime. Website: mikkikendall.com
Sophie Yanow is the Eisner Award-winning cartoonist of The Contradictions, What is a Glacier?, and War of Streets and Houses. Her comics have appeared in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Nib.
R. Sikoryak’s new book is Constitution Illustrated, published by Drawn & Quarterly. His other books include The Unquotable Trump, Terms and Conditions, and Masterpiece Comics.rsikoryak.com
Our first Carousel: Quarantined was presented virtually last month, and here’s the video. It features performances by Joel Christian Gill, Carolita Johnson, Sanika Phawde, Brian Michael Weaver, Bianca Xunise, and R. Sikoryak, as well as a long conversation with the artists and audience at the end. Scroll down to the bottom of this page: http://dixonplace.org/performances/carousel-quarantined-06-27-20/