The Terrible Anvil Season 2 Episode 05 - Keep it to Yourself!

In this episode, Tom and Jess talk about the things we should -and shouldn’t- keep to ourselves. Is it ok to make work in private? Is it ok to say and draw weird things? Is it ok to need to have someone draw it out of us? Is it ok to make something unmarketable?

Tom and Jess make a connection with Henry Darger, but also butts and swear words and socially inappropriate thoughts...

Is it ok to bring “nothing of value to the table” except everything we have inside?

And finally we read Nancy’s story from the chat about a kid who only wanted to fix broken staplers and is now a happy doctor in Cleveland. Go kid!

What do you keep inside?

Thanks for being here!

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Recorded at SAW on Zoom

The Terrible Anvil

How do you make comics without all the frustration? Without feeling lousy and inadequate all the time?

With the Terrible Anvil of daily deadlines! And a community, and mindset shift about what it means to make comics and art. Jess Ruliffson and Tom Hart are working through the whole process, one piece at a time, turning frustration into fun and glee.

We hope you’ll join us in the 2026 Graphic Novel Intensive (GNI)! See you there!

Get full access to How to Make a Graphic Novel at sawcomics.substack.com/subscribe