Good Richard Thompson interview in City Paper

Amanda Hess of the Washington City Paper sent a note saying that she'd interviewed Richard Thompson in the current issue and I'd missed it, although I did catch the "cartoonist with an odd theme" as I prefer to put it. I've got to stop reading the paper after going to the dentist.

I just read her article - it's good one. People aren't paying enough attention to Richard's caricature although that's how he made his name. Recently I was at his house and saw the sketches for his Palin finger puppet in the recycling, along with a bunch of photos of her he'd printed from the web. It was a fascinating look at how caricature works (I'm not a cartoonist and can't draw). For those who are interested, Richard runs a lot of his caricatures on his blog.

City Paper takes note of Thompson's blog

Unsurprisingly it's Mark Athitakis who notes Richard's blog on his blog. See "Local Cartoonist Injured by Untenable Malcolm Gladwell Thesis." The City Paper's headline today is about their bankruptcy, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

Bad News in DC #1

Read "City Paper's parent files for bankruptcy," By Bill Myers, Examiner Staff Writer 9/30/08. This would be Creative Loafing, the Florida chain that took over the City Paper last year and immediately slashed budgets, forcing the laying off of freelance cartoonists Rob Ullman and Shawn Belschwender. All of the strips in the paper were also dropped including Derf's The City, Cannon's Red Meat and Lynda Barry's Marilys.

Derf's got a new book out and will be at SPX

One of the things I miss the most (besides Rob Ullman) from Creative (HAH!) Loafing's takeover of the City Paper is Derf's strip, The City. Here's an article about his new book - "DERF HOPES FOR A HIT WITH PUNK ROCK & TRAILER PARKS," Jennifer M. Contino, Comicon's The Pulse 09-18-2008.

Washington City Paper on Bash's Onion Head

See "Five Minutes with Onion Head," by Mike Riggs, Washington City Paper's City Desks blog Sep. 12, 2008 for an interview with Bryan Stone on his feature in the Bash comics tabloid.

Washington City Paper Cover Illustration

Today's City Paper cover story is illustrated by Danny Hellman.

Bash, alt-comics newspaper to debut on Friday

Bash, an alt-comics newspaper will debut on Friday, August 1st. The Washington City Paper's website has the story - "Talkin’ Bash," by Andrew Beaujon on Jul. 28, 2008. A pdf will be on their website, but if anyone can grab me a copy or five, I'd appreciate it as I'll be traveling that day. I am very interested in how this works out - I've thought for some time that an alternative approach to newspaper comic strips would be a good idea. The Simpsons is now the longest-running sitcom, the major movies this year are based on comic books, Jim Davis (happy birthday!) sold his jet, but is still a millionaire - there's money in comics.

BTW, I'm not quite sure how I keep getting scooped by every paper in DC, but it's getting embarrassing...

Ullman and Hellman

Rob Ullman did this cover to the Washington City Paper's June 20th edition. I saw Rob at Heroes Con and bought another three pieces of original art from him.

and Danny Hellman, who's illustrating a column in the Post's Source section on Sunday has a podcast interview by Robin McConnell at Inkstuds (June 19 2008).

Hellman and the Hulk

The Washington City Paper has a cover by Danny Hellman, who's also still doing regular illos for the Sunday Source in the Post. It's also got a review of the Incredible Hulk movie, which I guess opens tomorrow. See "The latest Hulk is smartly big and stupid, while Savage Grace keeps its horrors pretty," By Tricia Olszewski, Washington City Paper June 12, 2008.

Meanwhile, Keith Phipps in The Onion also reviewed the Hulk fairly positively. Donna Bowman has a good review of The Pixar Touch book by David Price.

June 28: Crafty Bastards fair in Silver Spring

The Washington City Paper's crafts fair has gone bi-annual. There's usually cartoonists selling material of one sort or another.

Best of DC 2008 - Richard Thompson is Best Cartoonist!

From Washington City Paper's 2008 Best of DC (April 18, 2008)...

Best Cartoonist - Richard Thompson!

...and the crowd goes wild!

Mark Athitakis has a nice writeup of Richard's virtues. The WCP also selected this site as...

Best (Comic) Art Blogger - ComicsDC

Thank you very much! That's very kind, especially after I beat up on the WCP so much this past year about their comics losses. I now feel a very teensy bit guilty. Teensy though.


Both of these were spotted by my friend and houseguest Nick "The System of Comics" Nguyen.

Piskor covers City Paper

The new issue of the Washington City Paper has a really nice cover of books as buildings by Pekar-collaborator Ed Piskor. He did interior illos for the story too. I'm willing to entertain requests for tear sheets if they come in soon.

The City Paper and Ullman - The Final Chapter

Well, sort of. See "Savage Outcry," by editor Andrew Beaujon, posted on Jan. 16, 2008 for his take on the whole "laying off illustrators" then followed unfortunately by "laying off staff." I really am not sure what the new owners are doing, but I feel sorry for Mr. Beaujon who was very nice on the phone when confirming that I actually did write a letter, and who has been stuck doing a really crummy job at someone else's behest. Read the blog post for his side of the story - a man who says, "The cause was taken up by ComicsDC" as though that means something. I'm just glad I didn't pull out Rob's new baby as a tearjerker guilt-trip (whoops, just did). But note Rob's response to the editor's post slightly further down the page too.

And then there's one last letter in this past week's paper -

Illo Talk

I am writing to express my sadness over the recent dismissal of Robert Ullman from your Savage Love illustrating lineup. I have been a fan of Robert’s illustrations for years, and it is apparent that he can bring wit, life, and interest to just about any topic. In many cases, his illustrations are what draw me to look at and read the columns.

I had seen Robert’s illustrations before he found work at the City Paper and knew that he was headed for great things with his talent. Likewise, when I moved to the D.C. area and found out his talent was being utilized by the City Paper, I was thrilled! I have seen many illustrators’ work and can tell you that it would be plain foolish to let him get away because you won’t find another quite like him. Please reconsider this decision and get Robert back.

Erin Antognoli
Germantown, Md.

Editor’s note: Thanks to all the fans of Robert Ullman’s illustrations who’ve written in. Our budget cuts don’t allow us to continue commisioning weekly illustrations for Savage Love, but we were able to hire Ullman to do a permanent illustration for the column; it debuted last week. We’re going to keep hiring him when possible; he illustrated last week’s Young & Hungry column, for example.

Shawn Belschwender and his News of the Weird illos didn't get as much attention here - probably because Rob draws prettier girls and is still localish (Richmond), but Shawn was doing a strip for the George Washington U's Hatchet in the mid-80s when I was in school there.

I really miss the comic strips too, especially Derf. Sigh. I just picked up the Baltimore CP (different owners fortunately) and they've got Lulu Eightball still AND When Will The Pain Stop by Tim Kreider. AND Perry Bible Fellowship!

And the 'no bluegrass' thing sucks too.

Unfortunately, no Faustian bargain at City Paper

From the paper's letters page:
Washington City Paper (January 11, 2008): 9
Missing in Action


Where is “Lulu Eightball”? I LOVE “Lulu Eightball”!! Where’s “The City” by Derf? Where the hell is the LETTERS SECTION?!?!?! You guys have removed every reason I read the City Paper. What the f-ck are you DOING?!?!?

Jim Collins
Bethesda, Md.

Editor’s Note: Due to budget cuts, Washington City Paper has dropped most of its comics, and a new accelerated deadline schedule makes it difficult for some theaters to report in time for the print edition. Up-to-the-minute showtimes are always available on our Web site at washingtoncitypaper.com/showtimes.

So to recap - the paper is bought by new owners. The immediately trim the physical size of the paper. Then they cut out so much money that long-standing illustrators are laid off. Then they cut out the comics and the movie listings. Why exactly did they buy the paper? To make it fail?

City Paper's Faustian bargain?

Did the City Paper's editors make a Faustian bargain? This week's issue again has no strips beyond local Classen's -- but it does still have new artwork by Ullman and Belschwender! Was the trade the cost of the syndicated strips vs the original spot illos?

In this week's free papers

The City Paper has a surprise review of Frederik Peeters' Blue Pill, in which he discusses having AIDS. The online version is shaky now, but pick up the paper or try the link later.

Also, the Onion has its best comics list - six in the newspaper and more online. See "The Best Comics Of 2007," by Noel Murray, Keith Phipps, Tasha Robinson, Onion January 3, 2008.

More bad news from City Paper?

The December 28th issue doesn't have any comics in it, except for local cartoonist Ben Classen's Dirt Farm. Unfortunately, I'm afraid this will carry into the new year as a cost-cutting measure. The Blade seems to be having similar issues, and certainly hasn't realized that Bechdel's gone back to bi-monthly for Dykes to Watch Out For, if they're even still running it.

On the positive side, they did hire Harvey Pekar-collaborator and nice guy Ed Piskor to do an illustration.

So the new year may bring far less reason to pick up two of the local free papers...

Local comic book contender John Reed

photo by Darrow Montgomery for the City Paper.

Catching up on some reading before the new year, I see John Reed of Alexandria was featured in "Shock and Draw: Jon Reed is suddenly a rising star in the world of superhero comics," by Josh Eiserike, Washington City Paper December 21, 2007. Reed is competeting in a Comic Book Idol contest.

Shawn Belschwender also out at City Paper

December 30, 2005 City Paper.

The editor confirmed this in a comment under the Rob Ullman post. Shawn's been illustrating News of the Weird for about twenty years now - he was the George Washington University's Hatchet comic strip artist around 1987. I don't know if he does any other cartooning anymore.

Ullman dropped by City Paper - time to write in! UPDATED

Rob Ullman's posted on The Comics Journal message board and on his own blog that he's been dropped from illustrating the Washington City Paper's Savage Love column. Rob's cute drawings are one of the best things about the City Paper and I encourage you all to write to them. All of these illustrations are from recent issues of the CP - great, aren't they?

The following is the letter I sent to them at mail@washingtoncitypaper.com earlier this evening:

I am very sorry to hear about the decision to stop using Rob Ullman to illustrate the Savage Love column. Ullman's illustrations are a large reason that I pick up the City Paper and recommend it on my blog about comics in Washington. Combined with the much smaller size of the remaining columns, this gives me much less reason to read the Paper or to recommend it to people. I hope you will reconsider this decision promptly and return Rob's illustrations - they make a column that can be a bit over the top much more amusing.

The managing editor has written in with a comment below, and suggests you write your own letter to have more of an impact so please follow his advice. Hopefully Rob will be back with no interruption and we can raise a glass in thanks.