One June 7th, we held Optimist Con, our first annual convention featuring the work of over 100 students from around the city! What makes our convention unique is that our artist alley is solely dedicated to our students. This is a family friendly space to have fun, build community and gain access to literacy resources but above all, it's a place to celebrate the literary accomplishments of young people. We published and printed 3 comic anthologies, 3 artbooks, 3 mini comics a

This version of our Mini Comic workshop would not have been possible without some outstanding collaborators. It was important to us that we be able to provide drop-in services for young people who weren't affiliated with a particular school or youth center. We met with Eva France and Dierdre Garcia from Open Books for months to build, fund, and showcase our first-ever free-to-the-public workshop series. This time we're splitting duties with Open Books, so we're reading The

We had the privilege of rolling out a brand-new workshop at on of our long-term partner schools, Lawndale Community Academy. Optimist Comics was brought in to run prep classes for rising 4th-6th graders. Splitting our time between two classes meant that we didn't have many opportunities for long-form storytelling, so we taught students how to design their very own customized pin-up posters using Clip Studio Paint. Take a look at some of their work!

This summer, we had the pleasure of working with an amazing class of 22 students at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning in Little Village. Last year, CRCL was our first summer partnership and we had a great time learning the ropes and working with the students to produce our first run of student-made mini comics. This year was even better because we were able to build on existing student relationships while also bringing on a second teaching artist. Daimon Hampton is a

If you haven’t read Saga yet, you are absolutely our target demographic. Because while this series set the comic book world on fire, nearly swept the 2013 Eisner Awards, moved hundreds of thousands of books off the shelves, and took permanent residence in the hearts and minds of fans around the globe, comics are still a niche medium. We’re not talking about a big fish in a small pond, this is a megalodon in a swimming pool. Keep scrolling if you want to see my best shot at co

If the cover art and the name don’t draw you in immediately, this is not the book for you. But if you are the type of reader drawn to feminist criticism, patriarchal dystopias, and bad-ass women, then buckle-up, Buttercup, because we’re ALL going to “Bitch Planet”. The first volume of writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Valentine De Landro's knock-out series is truly a monumental piece of science-fiction that combines the feeling of existential dread, a case study of humani

Self/Made is the kind of book that lets me know this site is necessary. It’s a beautifully constructed, deeply philosophical, yet criminally underrated masterwork of science fiction. I was shocked to find that co-creators Mat Groom and Eduardo Ferigato haven’t just been engulfed in awards and accolades by now. The high concept alone is its own victory lap, and it's so deftly executed that I’m having a tough time explaining it to you without ruining the turn at the end of the

I can’t think of a more appropriate book for our first spotlight recommendation. Excellence more than lives up to its name-sake. It’s an afro futuristic, action-fantasy tour de force with the soul-baring emotional vulnerability usually reserved for memoirs. This book fills the space between Rawlings’ Harry Potter and Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time . If you’re anything like me, this is the best kind of gift. A work of art so urgent and vital that it made me a little mad at myse