Some more Richard Thompson book dedication drawings

My buddy Doug has four shots of drawings in Cul de Sac books up at his Dougintology blog. The drawings appear to be by Richard Thompson, but if he offers them on e-bay, I'd ask for a certificate of authenticity.

Hey, readership, what's the word for 'book dedication drawings' in French?

Cul de Sac - another signature sketch

Photographs of Richard Thompson's Cul de Sac booksignings

Here's a set of the pictures of recent signings that Richard Thompson did for his new Cul de Sac book. One groups is at Big Planet Comics in Bethesda, and the other is at the new One More Page book store in Arlington. The images are labelled for Creative Commons so they can be downloaded.

Dec 14: Richard Thompson signing at Big Planet Comics

Richard Thompson will be at Big Planet Comics Bethesda on December 14th. That's tomorrow! He'll also be in Northern Virginia at a new bookstore on December 20th at 7 pm.

Richard Thompson has an artistic temperament and he's a sweetheart, says advice columnist

Carolyn Hax held Richard Thompson up as an exemplar of artistic temperament in her Tell Me About It column on November 29th. Funny, he didn't mention it. Me, I'd have t-shirts quoting her made for my family.

Dec 20: Cul de Sac booksigning

Richard Thompson will be at a new bookstore on December 20th at 7 pm. As previously noted, he'll be at Big Planet Comics Bethesda on December 14th. Lucky these are bookstores so he can get his Christmas shopping done.

Richard Thompson on his USN&WR days

Complete with a Bill Clinton caricature for old times sake - Your Old Caricature from USN&WR for Today, November 28, 2010

Richard Thompson interview

There's a Richard Thompson interview embedded in this press release -

Web and Mobile Content Platform also Acquires First-Run Rights to Previously Unpublished Interviews with Today's Most Renowned Animators
NEW YORK & LONDON, November 11, 2010 | SHOOT Publicity Wire

which leads you to 'Gifted but not talented' and 'Frankenstein Monsters' and 'Cross-hatching' and 'Venn Diagrams' and 'High Point of Invention' and 'Meet the Otterloops' as well as a bunch of adaptations of Cul de Sac strips.

Death of USNWR lets Spurgeon dig up Richard Thompson's comics history

Tom Spurgeon looks at the end of US News & World Report through a peculiarly comics lens - he gets Richard Thompson to comment on his time working for them -

USN&WR Ending Its Print Iteration.
Comics Reporter (November 8 2010).

If you're not reading The Comics Reporter, you should be. It's one of three comics blogs I read every day.

Cul de Sac picks up another paper

Comics page offers something new today*
Mansfield News Journal November 1, 2010

*i.e. a fine, fine strip produced here in America, and not outsourced to North Korea.

'The Millions' recommends Cul de Sac

If You Don’t Read “Cul de Sac,” You Really Probably Should
By Jacob Lambert
The Millions October 30, 2010

TCJ.com on Cul de Sac

Shaenon Garrity reviews the first Cul de Sac Treasury. Spoiler warning: She likes it. She compares it to "the giant tubeworms that flourish around the hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor..."

Our Man Thompson on Our OSU Trip

Richard blogs about the trip to OSU's Cartoon Festival, so I don't have to. However, I do have pictures waiting to go up on Flickr. And more people knew who he was - must be something about having your name in a couple hundred papers, rather than a blog and a local paper, that leads people to recognize you. At least that's the only thing I can figure.

Dustin Harbin draws me in a comic strip

My buddy Dustin Harbin drew me (and Richard Thompson and Roger Langridge) in a comic strip about a meal at SPX - how cool is that?

Jef Mallett's kind words for Cul de Sac

"Today, my absolute favorite strip is called 'Cul de Sac.' I think it's only about three years old. It's by a guy named Richard Thompson and he's an absolute genius. He's in the Washington, D.C. area, but he's actually got roots in Michigan. He's absolutely brilliant and his strip is a thing of beauty."

The rest of the long interview is at -

Frazz is moving in: Comic strip with Michigan roots finds a new home in the Enquirer
Andy Fitzpatrick • The Enquirer • October 10, 2010

Cul de Sac starts Batman homage UPDATED

Richard Thompson in Cul de Sac starts a Batman homage or parody or swipe today.

If you're not familiar enough with the superhero to see the whatchamacallit, click here.

Ok, apparently I wasn't the first to notice that. Richard mentioned it on his blog yesterday. BTW, it's his birthday.

Minor bits by Arlingtonians in new books

Richard Thompson has a 1-page cartoon introduction to the new Barney Google book from Craig Yoe.

Meanwhile I'm thanked in Daniel Clowes: Conversations (Conversations With Comics Artists Series) by Ken Parille (Editor) and Isaac Cates (Editor), for suggesting to Isaac that he do a Conversations book. The book was already finished when I interviewed Clowes, so print out “Likable Characters Are for Weak-Minded Narcissists”: A Chat with Daniel Clowes" and glue it in the back of the book. In the book trade, they call that 'tipping-in' and I'll autograph it for you to increase the value.

Bruce Guthrie's Small Press Expo photos

Bruce has two pages of pictures up - one from panels and one from the floor. When you go to one of his pages, the little pencil icon under the picture lets you create a caption for the image. Some caption fairies would be helpful, because Bruce doesn't do that - he's too busy taking more pictures.

That's is the great New Zealand expat Roger Langridge being interviewed.

And this is Kate Beaton and Julia Wertz on Dustin Harbin's panel blowing attendance for my counter-programmed one out of the water.



But we looked gooood.


Me, Richard Thompson, Marguerite Dabaie and Keith Knight.

Oooh, and Spurgeon linked to a video of Dean Haspiel's shirtless SPX moment.

And Dirk Deppey pointed out Brian Heater's con report. I love the Daily Cross Hatch and have never managed to run into Brian at the show.

Brave New Comic Strips panel at SPX audio is online

I had a good time doing this, and I think everyone was happy with it, so here's my recording for those who couldn't make it.

Brave New Comic Strips (September 12, 2010)


Small Press Expo panel from September 12, 2010.

The newspaper industry, long the home of American comics first popular dedicated format, faces an existential crisis presented by the emergence and proliferation of digital media. Against all odds, artists interested in the daily strip format continue to produce work with an eye for print. Mike Rhode will discuss the present and the future of the newspaper comic strip with Marguerite Dabaie, Keith Knight, and Richard Thompson.

Patriot-News comics poll considers adding Cul de Sac

Vote on the comic strip that will replace 'Cathy' in The Patriot-News
CHRIS MAUTNER, The Patriot-News September 12, 2010.

No ballot stuffing now. My friend Chris is undoubtedly technically savvy enough to detect that, and the fact that he undoubtedly spent time in Richard's vicinity at SPX this weekend doesn't mean anything.