Thursday, December 31, 2020
The Lily's latest comic
Comics // Perspective
I visited New York museums as soon as they reopened. There was an essential element missing.
Before the pandemic, I used to spend hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA and the Brooklyn Museum
By Pepita Sándwich
|
Cavna's perspective on Wonder Woman, Calvin & Hobbes, and Bill Watterson
7 movies that do the same things 'Wonder Woman 1984' does, but better [in print as 'WW84' lacks these movies super powers]
'Calvin and Hobbes' said goodbye 25 years ago. Here's why Bill Watterson's masterwork enchants us still.
Bill Watterson and other artists reflect on 1995, the year that comics changed forever
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
A Chat with DC-Born Cartoonist Liza Donnelly
Liza Donnelly by Elena Rossini |
by Mike Rhode
We're going to wrap up this crummy, lousy, bad year with an interview with an excellent, world-class, funny cartoonist to put a hopeful spin on starting 2021. The Washington Post ran an excellent article by Liza Donnelly earlier this year in which she pointed out that she was born in DC. With this hook, she's agreed to answer our usual questions.
What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?
I do a variety of things, but I am
perhaps most known for my New Yorker cartoons. These are typically single
panel drawings with a caption below them, although I have done many for The New
Yorker that are sequential and sometimes without captions. For other
publications, I have done comic-like narratives, and I do a lot of political
cartoons as well. Some for The New Yorker, some for CNN, Medium, Politico and
others. Lately, I am the innovator of live digital drawing wherein I draw
on my tablet and share immediately on social channels. Sometimes it’s
just a visual reportage, other times I offer my commentary in the drawing of
what I am seeing. I have done this for a variety of outlets: New Yorker,
CNN, CBS, Fusion, others.
How do you do it? Traditional pen and
ink, computer or a combination?
I work in both digital and traditional
pen and ink. It depends on the job. All of my New Yorker finished drawings are
on paper with a crow quill pen and ink. No Photoshop with those. I use an
iPad for my digital work and sometimes enhance or fix with Photoshop.
When (within a decade is fine) and where
were you born? What neighborhood or area did you live in?
I was born in 1955 in Washington and was
raised near Chevy Chase Circle.
What is your training and/or education
in cartooning? Did you leave DC for it?
I began cartooning when I was around 7
years old. I traced two cartoonists I liked— Charles Schulz and James Thurber.
So I am self-taught from early on. I left DC to go to college, and art
study was only part of my plan. I went to the liberal arts college Earlham College
and thought my career would be in biology (my other interest), but eventually my
cartooning took over and I became an art major.
Who are your influences?
As I said, Schultz and Thurber.
But also Herblock, Garry Trudeau, Ben Shahn, Jules Feiffer, Dr. Seuss,
WIlliam Stieg, Saul Steinberg, Claire Bretecher, Nicole Hollander, R.O
Blechman. There are many others, and many more New Yorker cartoonists.
Did you see any of the comics exhibits
or talks that started appearing in DC as the Smithsonian, Corcoran or Kennedy
Center in the late 1960s or early 1970s? If so, any memories to share with us?
Sadly, no. But I do remember when
Saul Steinberg had a big show at the Whitney (or was it the MoMA?) in the late
70’s. That blew me away that a cartoonist could be in a museum show. I
was happy that cartoons could be considered art.
If you could, what in your career would
you do-over or change?
I would not waste so much time worrying
about whether I was good enough. And just draw!
What work are you best-known for?
Probably my New Yorker cartoons, I have
been there over 40 years and counting. But now I am being known for all
my work on social media, including my live drawing and I am known for being an
early feminist cartoonist, although not the first of course. I draw and give
talks about women’s rights a lot.
What work are you most proud of?
Getting into The New Yorker,
particularly at age 24. I am also very proud of the book that I wrote, Funny
Ladies: The New Yorker’s Greatest Women Cartoonists. I am writing an
updated version to be published next year. I am proud to have brought the
history of the women drawing cartoons to light.
What would you like to do or work on in
the future?
I hope to continue at The New Yorker,
but I really also want to develop my live drawing journalism. I feel what
I am doing is a way to look at the news in a fresh and innovative way, and I
have been told by many of my fans that it is a rewarding and interesting way to
experience the news. It’s hard to get the large outlets to hire me, but I keep
pushing forward. I also am trying my hand at screenwriting.
What prompted you to compile a book on
woman cartoonists? How do you feel the field has changed since you did that
book? (for example, I see a lot of woman comic book/ graphic novel and web
cartoonists now, even as the editorial cartoon field continues to be mostly white
men.
I became aware of the notion that there weren’t many women in cartoon field when I was in college. Before that, I just wanted to be a cartoonist and gender was not on my mind. This was at the tail end of the second wave of feminism, and I felt that equal rights was achieved pretty much, and didn’t examine my professional world very much. Boy, was I misguided. As I said, I knew I was in the minority, but it wasn’t until 1999 when I was invited to be on a panel of women cartoonists at the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) convention (which I think was in DC that year). There were five (I think) of us women at a table for the panel. I was not even a member of the AAEC, but they asked me to be on the panel because there were/are so few women drawing political cartoons. I was already doing some political cartoons for The New Yorker. In preparation for the panel, along with sitting there and looking out into the room and seeing a standing-room only audience of male cartoonists—it struck me. What is going on? Why is it there are so few women doing this? I began my search for answers and it led to me writing Funny Ladies. I spent a year in the NYC Public Library researching the archives of the magazine going back to 1925 when it was founded. The field has changed tremendously. There are so many more women drawing cartoons now, that is what inspired me to write a new edition of the book.
What do you do when you're in a rut or
have writer's block?
I do something else for a while, non-cartoon related. It helps to put it
down and return later.
What do you think will be the future of
your field?
I really don't know. I think perhaps The New Yorker will go to an online version and continue to run cartoons, so that's good. Although online payment is much less than in print it is hard to make a living. Thankfully, graphic novels are very popular and I think that's the future of our craft--graphic narratives.
What's your favorite thing about DC?
Growing up, I enjoyed being in the center of the political world. The monuments
and museums are beautiful and I like being close to the ocean. The
diversity was also something I now realize I benefited from. Washington has an
international feel to it, with all the Embassies, and I enjoyed that. I love
the proximity to the Eastern Shore and the Delaware beaches.
Least favorite?
When I grew up in DC it was a heavily segregated city, and I hated that
feeling. I rode the bus a lot to get to downtown or school--there was no
Metro back then-- but hated the car culture. Our neighborhood was just a block
from the DC line with Maryland, but you had to drive everywhere to get
groceries etc.
How often (pre-covid) do you get back?
I don't have family there anymore, so I go back every five years for my
high school reunion, or for a political event. I live draw the ICFJ Gala every
year, which I really enjoy, so that brings me back every year.
What monument or museum do you like to
return to?
I love walking around the Mall and just soaking up the atmosphere, the history.
All the museums are great. My favorite museum in my teens was the Hirshhorn
Museum. I interned when I was in college at the Natural History Museum,
cleaning bat skulls and cataloguing South American rodents (my other love
besides cartooning was biology and I thought that was the field I might end up
in).
How about a favorite local restaurant?
Past or present or both.
Remember, I didn't live in DC as an adult. When I was a kid, we rarely ate out.
But there was a fancy steakhouse downtown that we sometimes went to for special
occasions, name forgotten. There was a Chinese restaurant near Chevy
Chase Circle where we used to get take-out from and sometimes eat there, called
Peking Palace. I don't know if it's still there, but I loved it.
Do you have a website or blog?
Yes, Lizadonnelly.com and my illustrated column on Medium:
LizaDonnelly.Medium.com
How has the COVID-19 outbreak affected
you, personally and professionally?
I have been lucky not to have been affected health-wise, and no one in my immediate life has either.
Professionally, it has given me time to work on long-term writing projects and try some new ones. Also, because I can't go places and live draw, I began live drawing every day from my studio. I hold my phone over my hand and draw something and talk about it. During the pandemic, it made me feel connected to people and I was told the same by others and they said watching me was meditative. I would talk about the pandemic and draw aspects of it, then Black Lives Matter, then the election. Sometimes it's an illustration of an event or people (George Floyd, for instance), sometimes a real political cartoon created in real time for my audience. It was and is therapeutic for me and I get a lot of drawings created while gaining new followers. I learned to loosen up as well and draw freehand in front of an audience, with no preparation. It is a combination of my political cartoons and my video reportage -- a new type of editorial cartooning, if you will, with commentary. I now do this each weekday on Instagram Live (@lizadonnelly) and on a new startup called HappsTV, who approached me to work with them (Happs.tv/@liza).
Liza can also be found at the following links.
New Yorker
lizadonnelly.com
12/30/20 9:30 PM - updated with question about current cartoonists in new book.
Cavna talks to Pete Docter about Soul
Pixar's 'Soul' raises a big question for our surreal year: 'What am I doing with my time on earth?' [in print as 'Soul' crosses street to get to the Other Side]
Comics Research Bibliography 2020 ebook edition available now
Benton, Gregory
Arrant, Chris. 2014. Gregory Benton talks art, universal narratives and 'B+F'. Comic Book Resources (January 2): http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2014/01/gregory-benton-talks-art-universal-narratives-and-bf/
Benton, Gregory. 2013. B+F. Richmond, VA: Adhouse Books
Rhode, Mike. 2015. Hang Dai Studios at Baltimore Comic-Con: Gregory Benton speaks. ComicsDC blog (September 23): http://comicsdc.blogspot.com/2015/09/hang-dai-studios-gregory-benton.html
Berg, Dave
Fischer, Craig. 2013. My Friend Dave. TCJ.com (October 25): https://www.tcj.com/my-friend-dave/
Introduction v
Deaths in the comic arts field 2019-2020
United States
1. Comic Books and Strips
2. Comic Books
· BUSINESS ASPECTS - Publishers, Companies
· BUSINESS ASPECTS - Distribution, Sales
· COMIC BOOK MAKERS AND THEIR WORKS
· CHARACTERS AND TITLES
3. Comic Strips
· CHARACTERS AND TITLES
· Cartoonists
3a. Web Comics, webcomics
4. Animation, Caricature, and Gag and Political Cartoons
4a. Comic Art
4b. Gag, Illustrative, Magazine Cartoons
· New Yorker magazine
4c. Animation
· Animators and Their Works
· Characters and Titles
· Companies, Networks, and Studios
4d. Caricature
4e. Political Cartoons
· Feiffer, Jules
Canada
Global & Europe
· Danish Islamic Cartoons - Religion & Censorship Controversy
· Charlie Hebdo massacre
· Belgium
· France
· Great Britain
Africa
Middle East
Asia
· India
· Japan
Australia and Oceania
Central and South America
Caribbean
Deaths in the comic arts field 2010-2018
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
The Post reports Wonder Woman made some money
'Wonder Woman 1984' did fine in theaters, despite being available on HBO Max [in print as 'Wonder Woman 1984' earns $16.7 million from theaters, despite being available on HBO Max]
The box office results were the highest for any major film released during the pandemic.
Mark Zaid's legal defense of Mark Waid ends with case's dismissal
Richard Meyer Has Voluntarily Dismissed Lawsuit against Mark Waid
PR: IDW & The Smithsonian Institution’s ‘Airplanes: A Smithsonian Coloring Book’
IDW Publishing and the Smithsonian Institution’s enlightening new coloring book, Airplanes: A Smithsonian Coloring Book, is now available for purchase everywhere books are sold!
Airplanes: A Smithsonian Coloring Book allows readers to soar through the skies with some of the most recognized and revered airplanes from the collection at the National Air and Space Museum. The thrilling artistry of John Pirtel vivifies the very first powered aircrafts of the 1900s, revolutionary bombers and jet fighters of the 20th century, supersonic passenger airliner, and many more.
Now aviation fans of all ages can look forward to a creative exploration of their favorite topic as they color their way through this beautiful book filled with pages that stand alone as works of art.