In The Gull Yettin by Joe Kessler the loss of a home coincides with the expansion of a boundary and the discovery of a larger world, which was previously hidden to sight and body, made of violent colors and marks. The child that undertakes this journey isn’t just a wanderer in an exploration that is also an experiencing of a continuous dynamic between inward and outward, between domestic and “wild”, he is also the eyes through which the story is given to the reader. Shapes in The Gull Yettin are sometimes ample blots of primary colors, and sometimes violent pen and sharpie marks resembling doodles, symbolizing the deformed landscape of a childhood gaze, through which the unknown invades every panel. 

Maria Nadotti, Journalist, Editorial Consultant, Translator and Editor in Italy for John Berger’s works, will dialogue with Joe Kessler about his artistic endeavor. 

In presenting their independent editorial projects, these four authors aim to revive the tradition of autobiographic LGBTQIA+ fanzines by revisiting the works of great underground comic artists such as Aline Kominsky-Crumb. A tradition that they will retrace alongside Maria Nadotti, critic, essayist and translator, by holding a thread that connects the past and the present of comics history.