Take 1

Welcome to DOMINO BOOKS. This is our first day out in the real world but DOMINO has been forming in my mind for years. As a cartoonist myself, I strongly believe in working with other artists and supporting work that I love. DOMINO is an attempt to do that to the best of my abilities. If you care about something—and I strongly care about art made in a personal way—I think there is a built-in responsibility to do something with that care.

This is how I’ve tried to sum up DOMINO: I believe that all people—not only those that call themselves artists—have images and phrases lying in their hearts and minds. I’d much prefer a world where people sit down and try to bring these things to the surface, rather than attaching widgets to gears for someone else’s benefit.

I want to publish artists that remind us that art is worth devoting your life to, even if there are no tangible rewards. It is my sincere hope that readers of our publications will have yet another pressure put upon them to not ignore their innate creativity any longer.

We are starting things off with DARK TOMATO #1 by Sakura Maku. I’ve followed Sakura’s work for years. Back in 2005, when my first book Christina and Charles was published by Sparkplug Comicbooks, Sakura also had a new book out: CheebCheebShkaa. That comic had a big effect on me and I asked Sakura to contribute a piece to my magazine Windy Corner. That story, You Turn My Lights, has changed how I make art ever since I saw it. It was so strong in its choices: offbeat in structure, coloring, characters–but totally sure of itself. Not testing the waters but HERE. Sakura’s work is powerful enough, to me, that I know there will be people who read this new book and find something in it that will drive them to new ways of thinking/making art/walking down the street.

More about Sakura here.

The book is available for pre-orders NOW:

DARK TOMATO #1

More books and zines available here:

Domino Books Store—-we are distro-ing lots of local Stockholm zines and art books—more distro items on the way.

All orders will be shipped in early May. Look for it in finer comic stores this Summer.

With this first post, I want to acknowledge how inspired I am by Dylan Williams of Sparkplug Comicbooks in starting a publishing company. Dylan’s support and interest in my art for the last 6 years has driven me to make more work than I ever would have otherwise. His advocacy is largely responsible for me wanting to advocate for other artists as I’m doing here. As you read this, my new book from Sparkplug, The Disgusting Room, will be available. Please check it out here:

The Disgusting Room

Thanks for reading this. Please come back tomorrow–there will be news, interviews, art previews and more on this blog (almost) every day.

-Austin English

austin.robertson.english@gmail.com