Three comic postcards

I found three comic postcards of interest over the weekend. We saw another postcard from this series last year -


Oysters Rockefeller postcard by Canadian cartoonist Jeff for the Hilton of Canada in the 1960s. Anybody know anything about Jeff? I find it a little weird that I've found two of these cartoons in DC.

We also saw another one from this 1907 4th of July / Independence Day series by Gene Carr-


British cartoonist Tom Browne's "Joys of the Ocean" postcard is new though. I'm not sure what the sailor's words mean.


The British National Archives apparently had an exhibit that included some of these postcards.

OT: Toronto Comic Arts Festival academic panels

My friends Barbara and Bart are presenting papers.

Another New Narrative: Comics in Literature, Film, and Art
An interdisciplinary conference 9-10 May 2009

Sponsored by the Department of English at the University of Toronto and in association with the Toronto Comic Arts Festival


Saturday 9 May

All panels will take place within the Metro Central Reference Library, in the “learning centre.” There will be signage!

9:00 onward: pick-up your name tag and a program
Need help? Andrew Lesk andrew.lesk@utoronto.ca 416-841-8985

Panel 1 Contextual Shifts 9:15 – 10:30
Chair: Andrew Lesk (Toronto)

Beaty, Bart (Calgary)
“Comics Off the Page: Towards a Theory of Performance in the Comics World”

Shaviro, Steven (Wayne State)
“Iron Man as Corporate Fantasy”

Willmott, Glenn (Queen’s)
“Comics, Economy, Ecology: Winsor McCay and Junko Mizuno.”


Panel 2 The Media is the Message 10:30 – 12:15
Chair: Marni Stanley (Vancouver Island)

Coppin, Peter (Toronto)
“What Comics and Geometric Proofs have in Common”

Hains, David (Toronto)
“Fractal Literature: What Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home has in Common with Broccoli and Stock Charts”

O’Flynn, Siobhan (Toronto)
“Interactive Graphic Novels: Redefining the Form (again!)”

Postema, Barbara (Michigan State)
“Mind the Gap: Absence as Narrative Function in Comics”


Panel 3 Closer Looks 12:15 – 1:30
Chair: Glenn Willmott (Queen’s)

Hornick, Edward (Kenyon – New Orleans)
“Little Otter Lost: Understanding Achewood through its Kid”

Stanley, Marni (Vancouver Island)
“Out of Line: Closets and Consequences in Cruse's Stuck Rubber Baby”

Ziegler, Kevin (Waterloo)
“‘Piece It All Together and It’s Barely a Quarter of the Puzzle’: Seth’s It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken and Alternative Autobiographical Comics”


Panel 4 Presenting…. 1:30 – 2:30

An informal hour with authors and their works.

Jeet Heer & Ken Worcester on A Comics Studies Reader

and

David Collier & Robert Hamilton on David Collier


Panel 5 Confluence and Confusion 2:30 – 3:45

Chair: Siobahan O’Flynn (Toronto)
Cedeira Serantes, Lucia (Western)
“‘I am only really looking for a story’: Selection Practices of Four Comic Book Readers”

Rogers, Sean (York)
“‘Out of the Wild Blue Yellow Yonder’: Comic Books and Confusion in Artists and Models”

Sinervo, Kalervo (Simon Fraser)
“Gods with Teeth: Grant Morrison and the God/Author/Author/God Complex



Panel 6 Creative Bursts 3:45 – 5
Chair: Steven Shaviro (Wayne State)

Jeffries, Dru (Concordia)
“Things Ain’t Gonna Be De Same From Now On”: Dime Novels, Dick Tracy and the Emergence of the Avenger Detective.”

Sakkos, Vasileios (London)
“Transubstantiation on The Comic Book Page: Image made Flesh, Sanctified and Defiled in Ink and Pulp.”

Yao, Christine (Dalhousie)
“Ethical Questions and Literary Merit: Reverse Discourses in Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent”

Oct 23: Canadian animation at National Archives

Note animation historian Charles Solomon's appearance.

National Archives, 9th and Constitution Ave, NW
Thursday, October 23, at 7 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater
A Salute to the National Film Board of Canada

This program, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in partnership with The Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film and the Foundation for the National Archives, celebrates more than 50 years of Oscar(R)-nominated and -winning short subjects produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). Hosted by renowned animation critic and historian Charles Solomon, the program will feature several films, including Neighbours (1952), Christmas Cracker (1962), Bob's Birthday (1993), and Ryan (2004). The program will be introduced by Academy President Sid Ganis. Joining us from the NFB will be Government Film Commissioner Tom Perlmutter and animation producer Marcy Page. Torill Kove, director of the 2006 Oscar(R)-winning animated short subject The Danish Poet, will also appear.

October 23: Canadian animated films at National Archives

Bruce Guthrie sent this in today:

Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 7 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater, National Archives, 9th and Constitution Ave, NW

A Salute to the National Film Board of Canada

This program, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in partnership with The Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film and the Foundation for the National Archives, celebrates more than 50 years of Oscar®-nominated and -winning short subjects produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). Hosted by renowned animation critic and historian Charles Solomon, the program will feature several films, including Neighbours (1952), Christmas Cracker (1962), Bob’s Birthday (1993), and Ryan (2004). The program will be introduced by Academy President Sid Ganis. Joining us from the NFB will be Government Film Commissioner Tom Perlmutter and animation producer Marcy Page. Torill Kove, director of the 2006 Oscar®-winning animated short subject The Danish Poet, will also appear.

Honorary Washingtonian Von Allan has a comic

Here's his press release:

Canadian artist Von Allan publishes his first graphic novel

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (August 17, 2008) – Comic books and graphic novels have, over the past twenty years, become a widely embraced medium in book publishing. Initially dismissed as children’s entertainment, comics have now developed a maturity and range of vision that rivals other forms of art and literature. Graphic novels are read by people from all walks of life and have reached a level of critical acceptance that was unheard of decades ago. This resurgence has been led by a number of young artists who bring unique voices to the medium. Von Allan, an Ottawa-based artist and graphic novelist, joins this group with his recently published graphic novel “Li’l Kids: road to god knows… adventures!”

“Graphic novels offer a combination of words and images that speak to us on a very fundamental level,” says Allan. “In a way I think it’s storytelling at its most primal form. It allows an author to engage with a reader in a way that’s similar to literature and yet very, very different. Comics, when you come right down to it, are just ink marks on a piece of paper. That a reader can interpret that into a fully formed story is really quite remarkable. On top of it, so much of what makes sequential art come alive is defined by what’s not there. The gutter space between each panel of art is very important. This is where the reader’s imagination and personality comes into play. It’s a beautiful medium and one I love exploring. Hopefully that sense of exploration comes across in ‘Li’l Kids.’”

Another unique aspect of the graphic novel is its availability in multiple channels. “Li’l Kids” is downloadable as a free PDF eBook on the artist’s website. In addition, a free torrent version is available via LegalTorrents.com. The graphic novel is distributed under a Creative Commons Canada licence that grants readers the ability to distribute the online versions of the book for free. “I believe in both print publishing and bookstores and I always have,” says Allan. “But I also believe that obscurity is one of the hardest things for young artists to avoid. By using a variety of online distribution tools as well as more traditional print publishing, I’m hoping more people will get to know both myself and my work. I believe that this helps build a platform for my continued development as an artist and helps grow my audience at the same time. I’m also very pleased to see that the book is already available through a number of channels, notably online at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.”

“Li’l Kids” is a collection of three interlocked short stories that focus on elements from a young girl’s life. We see Marie, the main character in each story, develop and grow; from meeting a new friend to her burgeoning awareness of both her family’s poverty and her mom’s mental illness. This later theme is more fully explored in the graphic novel “the road to god knows…;” Marie is only eight years old at the time of these three stories. As a result, she is only just beginning to be aware of the world around her and her place in it. Each story stands on its own but, when taken together, they demonstrate that childhood, like most aspects of life, can have its ups and downs. Being a child can be fun, scary, and magical; but sometimes the things that seem very little at the time can have a profound effect on you later on in life. That’s certainly true for Marie and her experiences in these stories help to bear that out. Later, in “the road to god knows…,” we see just how significant some of those events can be.

In addition to the three stories, this collection includes a large amount of supporting material. Concept and thumbnail art illustrate how each story was put together. Allan also discusses where each story’s inspiration came from and how each story’s initial idea formed. Lastly, he shows each step from story outline to completed script.

“Li’l Kids: road to god knows… adventures!” is an 88 page graphic novel and has an ISBN of 978-0-9781237-1-0. The suggested retail price is $13.95 US.

About Von Allan: Von Allan was born red-headed and freckled in Arnprior, Ontario, just in time for “Star Wars: A New Hope.” He managed Perfect Books, an independent bookstore in Ottawa, for many years while working on story ideas in his spare time; eventually, he decided to make the leap to a creative life, and “the road to god knows…” was the result. Additional information about the graphic novel can be found at vonallan.com.

--
Von Allan

My first graphic novel, Li'l Kids (ISBN: 978-0-9781237-1-0) is now available! Links for a free PDF Ebook and to online retailers for a physical copy are at http://www.vonallan.com/shop.html

And my original graphic novel the road to god knows... (ISBN: 978-0-9781237-0-3) can be now read entirely online at http://www.girlamatic.com/comics/godknows.php

Von Allan Studio
P.O. Box 20520, 390 Rideau Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. K1N 1A3
Phone: 613-236-9957
Email: von@vonallan.com
Web: http://www.vonallan.com
Blog: http://vonandmoggy.livejournal.com

Bits from today's papers UPDATED

For a bit on the Danish Islam cartoons and fallout in Canada, see Meghan Cox Gurdon on "Chilling climate for journalists in our neighbor to the north," Washington Examiner (January 17, 2008): 15. Editorial cartoonist Nate Beeler's in their most days too and remains the chief reason to pick up the paper.

And then not online is a story about an upcoming event with the DC Anime Club at the Japanese Information and Culture Center - Dixon, Glenn. 2008. Playing and dress-up: Cosplayes act the parts from manga to anime to video games. [Washington Post] Express (January 17). Apparently there will be a cosplay get-together there tomorrow night.

The Express is still running 5 strips or panels, including Bizarro.

The Post has a big strip by Mark Zingarelli on the front of the Home section - my copy will go to Michigan State U's comic art collection.

The Onion has an article about Original Sin cider's ad campaign by cartoonist R. Black. Can't find it online yet, but it's page 32 of the DC edition.

The return of Von Allen

Von Allen was one of the first people to check out this blog, so even though he's Canadian, we're going to keep in touch with him. He wrote to me today to mention that he'd been interviewed about his recently completed graphic novel. See "AN UNKNOWN TAKES THE "ROAD TO GOD KNOWS…"" by Justin Jordan, Comic Book Resources, October 3, 2007. Von's taken a different route - promoting his graphic novel about schizophrenia before he finished it. I enjoyed the ashcan he handed out at SPX and am looking forward to the final book when he finds a publisher.

Montreal Gazette's 1st editorial cartoonist dies, born in DC

The master of the gentle barb; The Gazette's First Editorial Cartoonist, John Collins preferred to draw a smile than blood with his pen" by ALAN HUSTAK, The Montreal Gazette Thursday, September 20.