STRIP ARTIST
Cartoonist collects 10 years of saucy sci-fi comics
By Jessica Parks He’s ahead of the curves!
A sexy sci-fi comic
strip has finally reached
its climax, exploding into a
520-page graphic novel. “The
Complete Curvy” collects 10 years
of the weekly webcomic “Curvy,”
created by Flatbush resident
Sylvan Migdal, who also works as
a web designer and illustrator for
this newspaper.
The series was born from
Migdal’s experience as a comic
book artist at a highbrow fine
arts college. Instead of creating
a literary graphic novel full with
subtle metaphors, the artist said
he found himself sketching a story
of sexy princesses, wizards, and
caramel cockroaches.
“I was trying to figure out how
to do work that I was excited about
and how to impress my professors
and peers with what a fine, fine
artist I was,” Migdal said. “So I
was racking my brain trying to
think of how to do comics that
were in that vein, and then this
comic kind of happened as a
reaction against that.”
Migdal also wanted to create
an inclusive erotic novel, one that
would be a fun and exciting read
for audiences of any orientation.
But it took a little while to work
out the kinks in his art style, said
the author.
“I had to develop my artistic
skills to draw naked people that
didn’t look like a pile of legos,”
Migdal said. “But also drawing
images that were representing
body positivity and figuring out
how to get that on to the page.”
The story follows Anais
Slice of life: An alien princess and a Brooklyn girl share a slice in Sylvan Migdal’s
comic “Curvy,” which has just been collected into a 520-page graphic novel.
Sylvan Migdal
Phalese, a Brooklynite who meets
a visitor from another world —
Fauna Lokjum, the Liquorice
Princess of Candy World — who
is on the run from an arranged
marriage to a supervillain. The two
hop across dimensions and explore
their sexualities while trying
to save the world from Fauna’s
would-be fiance.
Migdal’s art style evolved over
Brooklyn goes out to the movies
COURIER L 48 IFE, JANUARY 10-16, 2020
the years, and for “The Complete
Curvy” he added color to the
original black and white panels —
an element that adds more context
to the story, the artist said.
“Candy World, as depicted in
the original comic, was colorless,
so I wanted to bring color to it
and be able to bring that to life,”
Migdal said. “I was able to do
some very nice effects with these
colors.”
Migdal’s experience working at
a Brooklyn paper also helped to
solidify Anais as a Brooklynite, just
as the local newspaper experience
helped to forge his own identity
as a King County resident rather
than a generic New Yorker. He also
incorporated some landmarks and
elements of the borough into his
story that locals might recognize,
Migdal said.
“The school handball court that
is the magic monolith that much of
the overarching story centers on is
based in a particular school in Fort
Greene,” he hinted.
Read “The Complete Curvy” at
c.urvy.org, or order the collection
from ironcircus.com. $50.
Big book: Cartoonist Sylvan Migdal
shows off the complete collection of his
web comic “Curvy.” Photo by Ben Verde
People will talk: Brooklyn band Phony Ppl will play the Music Hall Of
Williamsburg during the Winter Jazz Fest marathon of music on Jan. 17.
Courtesy Winter Jazz Fest
Winter blues
Manhattan jazz festival
expands into Brooklyn
IBy Ben Verde t will blow the borough
away!
A long-running
Manhattan jazz festival will
expand to Brooklyn next
weekend for the first time
in its 16-year run, bringing
a marathon of swing, bebop,
and free jazz to a half-dozen
Brooklyn venues on Jan. 17.
Bringing the Winter Jazz Fest
to the city’s most creative
borough will give local jazz
lovers a chance to soak up
hours of eclectic tunes while
close to home, said the event’s
organizer.
“We were confident that the
audience in Brooklyn would
be hungry for the music,” said
Brice Rosenbloom, who lives in
Fort Greene.
Brooklyn’s jazz scene has
expanded in recent years,
noted Rosenbloom, with new
spots cropping up all over the
borough, including Bushwick’s
Sultan Room, Bedford-
Stuyvesant’s Bar Lunatico, and
the Made in NY Jazz Cafe in
Park Slope.
The marathon of music,
however, will take place
solely at venues in northern
Brooklyn, including Music
Hall of Williamsburg, National
Sawdust, Brooklyn Bowl, and
Rough Trade in Williamsburg;
and at the House of Yes and
the Sultan Room in Bushwick.
Each venue will host between
three and six different
performances during the night,
with most starting around 6 pm
and continuing past midnight.
Audience members with
Festival passes can hop from
venue to venue during the
fest, which provides a great
opportunity for discovering
new music, said Rosenbloom.
“People go see stuff they
know, but there’s also an
opportunity for discovery
because even if one venue is
full, there’s space at another
venue down the street,” he said.
The Brooklyn marathon will
feature plenty of hometown
talent, including a three-act run
of Brooklyn bands at the Music
Hall of Williamsburg, featuring
jazz and hip-hop fusion act
QNA at 7 pm; experimental
Brooklyn artist L’Rain at 8:15
pm; and Phony Ppl, a five-piece
staple of the Brooklyn jazz
scene, at 9 pm.
The Winter Jazz Fest, which
started in 2004, will also host
marathons in Manhattan on
Jan. 10 and 11, along with
discussions about gender,
health, and social justice in the
jazz scene. The Winter Jazz
Fest has become a showcase
for up-and-coming artists with
a progressive message in their
work, said Rosenbloom.
“It’s become a beacon for
artists who have something to
say in their music,” he said.
Winter Jazz Fest Brooklyn
Marathon (at various locations
in Williamsburg and Bushwick,
www.winterjazzfest.com). Jan
17; 6 pm–1 am. $35 ($75 VIP).
IBy Bill Roundy t’s cold outside and we are sick
of it, so we are staying in a dark
theater with some hot popcorn
this weekend.
This year’s most talked about
— and possibly least-seen — film
is “Cats,” an adaptation of the plotfree
Andrew Lloyd Webber musical
that has been described as both a
mind-melting CGI nightmare and
a camp masterpiece. If you’d like
to see it for yourself, one of the few
theaters still showing it is the Regal
UA Court Street (106 Court St. at
State Street in Brooklyn Heights,
www.regmovies.com), with a 6:30
pm screening on Friday (and three
more screenings each day this
weekend). Tickets are $16.40 for
adults.
After that show,
restore your sanity
with a properly
animated musical,
at the Disney Singalong
at Union
Hall (702 Union
St. between Fifth
and Sixth avenues in
Park Slope, unionhallny.
com), where you can request
your favorite song from the House
of the Mouse — we recommend
something from “Aristocats.”
Tickets are $10.
And on Saturday, you can settle
in for a full day of short films and
videos, at the Vimeo Festival and
Awards at Murmrr (17 Eastern
Parkway between Grand
Army Plaza and
Underhill Avenue
in Prospect
Heights, www.
murmr r.com).
The day will
feature panel
discussions about
creating your own
films, and all-day
screenings of some of the
year’s best shorts, accompanied
by a live director’s commentary.
A $20 ticket will get you access
to the event starting at 1 pm and
continuing through the happy hour
and awards ceremony at 6 pm —
and a $40 Deluxe Pass will also get
you into the After-Party at 9 pm!
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