A new newspaper comic strip has hit the stands.
WHAM! Comics is by Maria Gnoza and Rachel Yaros
and is now appearing in the monthly alternative Kansas City paper The Pitch.
There are still questions we have about the strip:
Is WHAM! Comics the official title of the strip?
Did it first appear in the October 2020 issue of Pitch?
Each strip has its individual titles, “WHAM! Comics” comes from The Pitch’s intro:
We’ve been missing out lately on comic strips and comic-adjacent art. Rachel Yaros and Maria Gnoza are young local artists whose work we adore. As such, we’re giving them a regular column here at The Pitch for showcasing their excellent work. We think the tone and message of what they make aligns perfectly with what we do here. We hope you’ll enjoy this journey with Wham! Comics as much as we do.
But artist Rachel calls it “Wham!”:
Looking to continue challenging myself and being immersed in an intensely opinionated political climate, Wham! was formed. Wham! is a comic series that my former colleague, Maria Gnoza, and I established. With my illustrations and Maria’s story creations, this politically – nonpolitical series was born out of our desire to create interpretive work with other creatives.
And then it is late in October for the paper to be introducing the new strip. Did it appear in the October issue? Or will it debut in the November issue? Or maybe September, ’cause that is when Maria and Rachel announced it on their Facebook pages:
Yo! I’m so stoked to introduce a collaboration project that has been in the works for months. My boss lady-friend Maria Gnoza and I created “Wham!” which is a series of punchy satirical comics free to interpretation while, at times, proving to be obviously current. Maria Gnoza wrote and curated the stories and copy. I illustrated and collaborated on the final creation. The first comic is titled, “Necessary Detour. “
So maybe the strip’s title is “Time Sensitive?”:
Also, exciting news for myself personally— Wham! is the first piece in “Time Sensitive,” a sub-brand under my personal design brand. Time Sensitive will be a collection of individual and collaborative artwork that focuses on an urgent/relevant/societal need. It will be an artist plea to the world, if you may. (official sub-brand introduction coming soon)
Anyway continue to check in at The Pitch or the creators’ pages to follow the new comic.
update
It seems. for the moment, Wham! will be online only.
Rachel was kind enough to respond to inquiries:
… our comic strip is called “Wham!”. We published with The Pitch KC releasing a series in Wham! which will be posted in parts. Two comics “Necessary Detour” and “Peek-A-Boo” have been released online and on The Pitch KC socials this week. More to come in the coming months, but these will not be in the October issue.