Secret History of Comics - Ephemera Finds in TN

 One of the things I like to do is wander around antique stores and junk shops. Here's some stuff I found in Tennessee last month.

This is a Herblock cover caricaturing Art Buchwald for Newsweek that I didn't know existed, so I was quite surprised by it.

This appears to be an advertising card for Union Pacific Tea from the latter half of the nineteenth century. It's being donated to the Library of Congress soon.

This matchbook looked like a New Yorker cartoonist to me so I reached out to historian/cartoonist Michael Maslin:

Maslin wrote back, "Not all of the faces, but a few (figs a&b), look like Steig's early work. The fellow extreme lower right most especially (fig. a) . But I'm not confident enough to say it is Steig's work."

fig. a

fig. b

Beetle Bailey original comic strip 9/13/1993. 

Note that the dealer thought it was a print, and not the original, and priced it accordingly.

A Buck Rogers post-production mini-poster by Dave Perillo that's being donated to Library of Congress.

Three British digest-sized comic books that will be donated to the Library of Congress comic book collection. The cover photos have been added to the Grand Comics Database already.

WorldCat doesn't list any copies in the United States, and almost none worldwide. When Randy Scott was at Michigan State's comic book collection, I would feed material such as this to them.

Love Story Picture Library #1259

Star Love Stories #591

Love Story Picture Library #1254

World War II cartoon postcards are easy to find, but the antique mall was waiting 

on me to close so I felt compelled to buy something.

Note the dental drill, for graphic medicine fans.

Meet a Local Cartoonist: A Chat with Sierra Barnes

by Mike Rhode

 Sierra Barnes, aka Sierra Bravo, is a local webcomics creator. I'm going to lift her bio from her website, since we haven't met in person during these crazy times.

Sierra Barnes is a historian-turned-comic-creator who currently lives in Washington, DC making webcomics and print comics based on history and folklore. She graduated in 2014 from the College of William & Mary with a double-major in History and German Studies, and graduated in August of 2019 with a MFA in Comics from California College of the Arts. She is particularly interested in the relationship between history, mythology, and memory, and her comics (including webcomic HANS VOGEL IS DEAD) reflect this. When she’s not making comics, you can usually find her haunting cafes and museums like a very nerdy ghost.

What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

I do graphic novels and webcomics! Mostly long-form a la Monstress and Namesake.

How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

Digital art all the way, baby. I started out drawing pencils and scanning in but found it really cumbersome, so now I work directly in photoshop/clip studio with a Cintiq tablet.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

I was born in 1991 in Houston, Texas! Don't ask me anything about it though, my family moved out of state six months later.

Why are you in Washington now?  What neighborhood or area do you live in?

I moved to Arlington to be with my fiancee (I've spent most of my life in Northern California), but mostly because I was done living in a small rural town with not a lot of art prospects.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

I taught myself how to draw with help from my mother, who is a fine artist, and got an MFA in Comics from California College of the Arts last year.

Who are your influences?

Writing-wise I love Susanna Clarke, John Connolly, and Marjorie Liu, and visual art-wise I draw a lot from Mike Mignola, Natasha Alterici, Ivan Bilibin, and Alex Alice. I love Eastern European folk art as well!

Is Sierra Bravo a pen name that you use?

Sierra Bravo is a pen name I use! It's just my initials in the NATO alphabet, but since my first name is also Sierra, I thought it was kinda funny.

Are you a full-time artist now, or do you have a job that pays the bills?

I wish I were arting full time! I work part-time as an admin assistant for AASHTO's publications wing working with transportation and infrastructure oversight. My favorite part about the gig--other than my coworkers haha--is that they have all the records of transportation standards and whatnot stretching back to 1914, so I've gotten the chance to look at some really cool transportation history in America! Road materials in 1920 pre-standardization were WILD.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

I don't think my career is far enough along for me to have regrets, per say, but I think I definitely would have resized all my pages to be industry standard comic size if I knew five years ago I would spend 40+ hours trying to format my weirdly-sized webcomic pages for print!!

What work are you best-known for?

I would say my webcomic of five years, Hans Vogel is Dead. A dead Nazi realizes in the afterlife his actions in our world have had greater consequences than he could have imagined, and must journey through the world of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales to rectify them. 

What work are you most proud of?

Probably still Hans Vogel is Dead, I finished Volume 1 in August of this year and had a print run that sold out in three days!! Very exciting.

What would you like to do or work on in the future?

I'd love to be picked up by a publisher for HViD, but I also have another series I've been pitching around to agents as a print-only run. I really would love to be working on graphic novels full-time someday...

Why are you doing a World War II flying story? 

I did a lot of work studying various aspects of aviation history and mythology in undergrad: the Nazification of the German air force from 1918 to 1940, how that was framed in popular culture, the general myth of the "Knights of the Skies," how Manfred von Richthofen's life was weaponized as propaganda--stuff like that. I found the intersection of the popular conception of heroic and chivalric pilots and the reality of the 2-week life expectancy and horrible deaths to be really interesting, and I also found that the weaponization of those popular conceptions went hand-in-hand with how the German Air Corps of WWI became the Luftwaffe of WWII. I knew I wanted to tell a story about how regular people could become radicalized, and with my background in aviation history and the rich imagery of WWI and WWII pilots, I felt like pulling from the visual library of the Battle of Britain and the Luftwaffe would have some cool and poignant results. I did a lot of research while I was living in Austria on my Fulbright, spoke to people, and visited a lot of war memorials to get more information on how that trauma was processed--and is being processed now--in collective consciousness, and sort of solidified the idea of Hans Vogel as who he was and how he became what he did. While I was there, the far-right FPÖ party gained power in the state where I was living, and seeing the rise in right-wing nationalism around the world since has galvanized me in my decision of making this anti-fascist story. I hate it when people try and divorce things like the German Military in WWII from politics--and I see it a lot in military history nerd circles!--you just can't do that ethically. In a lot of ways, Hans Vogel is very much pushing back against the whole "Good German" myth and trying to have a conversation about culpability even when you don't "mean" to do bad things. You gotta step up.

Will Hans Vogel have a second printing?

Hans Vogel will have a second printing, but I'm waiting to hear back from a publisher before I pull the trigger on ordering a second print run myself. I should know by mid-October, so I'll be making an announcement then! 

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

Despair mostly. I'm really struggling with figuring that out!

What do you think will be the future of your field?

I've really loved seeing the growth in digital and webcomics recently, as well as seeing a rise in independent and self-published comics. I think there's a real future in non-superhero comics and comics from smaller, independent creator-owned publishers! There have been some truly fantastic indie comics, especially webcomics, that have come out in the last few years and I think the industry is coming around to recognizing these self-published pieces can be really great. Seeing the success from smaller publishers like Iron Circus and Vault has given me hope that this is the future of comics.

What local cons do you attend? The Small Press Expo, Awesome Con, or others? Any comments about attending them?

I've done one year of Small Press Expo in-person, one year of AwesomeCon in-person, and one year of DCZinefest digitally (scheduling issues between COVID and masters program has made things complicated!). I highly recommend all of them, although I will say that SPX and DCZinefest are much more indie-friendly than AwesomeCon. Even so, all of them were a great time!

What's your favorite thing about DC?

Oh man, I can't pick just one!! I love the museums, I love the National Zoo, we've got some really great restaurants, but also the hiking and kayaking around here is great? I guess most of those things are "before-COVID" pastimes but someday I believe we'll be able to go back in and draw animals at the zoo again... I appreciate that there's a lot of boba tea places near me that do good takeout at least!

Least favorite?

The weather. I don't think I'll ever be used to the humidity, or the summer thunderstorms, or snow. It's just so wet all the time here...

What monument or museum do you like to take visitors to?

I always make people visit the Air and Space Museum with me, I love to go look at the planes in the WWI and WWII exhibits. A few years ago they had a traveling exhibit on WWI artists that was INCREDIBLE. I was really happy I got to go see it.

How about a favorite local restaurant?

Daikaya in Chinatown, Sakuramen in Adams Morgan, and Hanabi Ramen in Clarendon! I'm a huge ramen fan. I also love Chill Zone in Arlington, it's a lil mom and pop Vietnamese place that I used to go pop down and grab banh mi and work for a bit.

Do you have a website or blog?

My art website is here: https://www.sierrabravoart.com/
webcomic is here: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/hans-vogel-is-dead/list?title_no=62633
Twitter: @chjorniy_voron
Instagram: @sierra_bravo_art

How has the COVID-19 outbreak affected you, personally and professionally?

Closing shows has really bummed me out, and that's really the biggest impact it's had on my professional career as well. Online shows have not had the same response as in-person, and they're nowhere near as fun. I miss getting to do the networking and hanging out. Personally, it's been a struggle to keep up with productivity and burnout is real, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to use the end of the year to kinda collect myself and figure out how to start the next volume of my webcomic and get some more pitches out there!

PR: Announcing Dead Reckoning Fall 2020 Titles

Dead Reckoning announces three new graphic novels in Fall 2020.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Great Naval Battles of the Twentieth Century: Tsushima, Jutland, Midway

By Jean-Yves Delitte and Giuseppe Baiguera

In the history of civilizations, sea power has always played a preponderant role. This symbol of a nation’s scientific and military genius has very often been the deciding factor during major conflicts, putting the names of several clashes down into legend. With this collection, Jean-Yves Delitte and Giuseppe Baiguera plunge you into the heart of three of the twentieth century’s greatest naval battles:

Tsushima, Jutland, and Midway.

“This is an immersive tour of war at sea in the twentieth century that brings readers alongside sailors and pilots in the battles that shaped the modern world. Delitte and Baiguera are masters of the form, crafting elaborate comics art to recreate time and place in ways that will transport, teach, and thrill you.” —Jeff Parker (James Bond: Origin, X-men First Class, The Hulk and Batman ’66)

9781682475249 | 21 October 2020 | Paperback and eBook | $24.95

Atlas at War!

Edited by Michael J. Vassallo; Art Restoration by Allan Harvey

Atlas at War! collects fifty hard-hitting stories from Atlas Comics, the company that became Marvel Comics and published more war titles than anyone in the industry between 1951 and 1960. Comics historian Dr. Michael J. Vassallo has chosen the best of the best, many of which are coming back into print for the first time, from sixteen different Atlas war titles and featuring the artwork of twenty different artists—giants of the genre, including Russ Heath, John Severin, Bernie Krigstein, Joe Maneely, Jerry Robinson, Steve Ditko, and Jack Kirby. Each page has been meticulously restored from its first printing by comic art restorer Allan Harvey.

Atlas at War! covers the brutal pre-code period where graphic depictions of war action were rendered by artists who were World War II veterans themselves, as well as the post-code period, where code restrictions forced creators to tell stories without graphic violence but produced some of the most beautiful comic art of the genre. In addition to the artists, stories cover all aspects of war—from famous campaigns, weaponry, and personal soldier stories to political topics, Nazi atrocities, and even one story tinged with pre-code horror! Often overlooked in favor of its competitors, Atlas at War! will finally show that Atlas’ war titles were second to no one.

“Michael Vassallo knows more than anybody in the Marvel Universe about the rich history of the company's comics. His grasp and insights are astonishing! Make mine Michael's!” —Craig Yoe, curator of Don Winslow of the Navy and Marvel Masterwork Pin-Ups

“Atlas at War! is a treasure trove of lost war classics.”

—PJ Holden, artist for The Stringbags

9781682474709 | 9 September 2020 | Hardcover and eBook | $65.00

The Photographer of Mauthausen

Written by Salva Rubio; Drawn by Pedro J. Colombo; Colored by Aintzane Landa

This is a dramatic retelling of true events in the life of Francisco Boix, a Spanish press photographer and communist who fled to France at the beginning of World War II. But there, he found himself handed over by the French to the Nazis, who sent him to the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp, where he spent the war among thousands of other Spaniards and other prisoners. More than half of them would lose their lives there. Through an odd turn of events, Boix finds himself the confidant of an SS officer who is documenting prisoner deaths at the camp. Boix realizes that he has a chance to prove Nazi war crimes by stealing the negatives of these perverse photos—but only at the risk of his own life, that of a young Spanish boy he has sworn to protect, and, indeed, that of every prisoner in the camp.

Now a major motion picture streaming on Netflix.

9781682476277 | 11 November 2020 | Paperback and eBook | $19.95

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Library of Congress collection used for wartime comic book research

#22 from Grand Comics Database

Paul Hirsch used the papers of the Writers' War Board held in the Library of Congress, specifically Box 11 of the collection, to look at how a semi-official government body influenced the depiction of the Axis in comic books during the war. DC Comics, Fawcett Comics, and Street & Smith are specifically mentioned.

The WWB also encouraged racial reconciliation in America at the same time, with a 'Race Hatred Committee' which helped with an anti-lynching story in Captain Marvel, Jr. #22.

Here's the citation and the abstract:

"This Is Our Enemy" The Writers' War Board and Representations of Race in Comic Books,1942–1945

Author(s): Paul Hirsch

Source: Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 83, No. 3 (Aug., 2014), pp. 448-486

Published by: University of California Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/phr.2014.83.3.448

Abstract

During World War II, the U.S. government, through the Writers' War Board (WWB), co-opted comic books as an essential means of disseminating race-based propaganda to adult Americans, including members of the armed forces. Working with comic creators, the WWB crafted narratives supporting two seemingly incompatible wartime policies: racializing America's enemies as a justification for total war and simultaneously emphasizing the need for racial tolerance within American society. Initially, anti-German and anti-Japanese narratives depicted those enemies as racially defective but eminently beatable opponents. By late 1944, however, WWB members demanded increasingly vicious comic-book depictions of America's opponents, portraying them as irredeemably violent. Still, the Board embraced racial and ethnic unity at home as essential to victory, promoting the contributions of Chinese, Jewish, and African Americans.

Posters at the National Library of Medicine

'Could you poison your child?': images from a century of medical propaganda;  Health, history, and design collide at the National Library of Medicine.

 By Amar Toor

The Verge April 12, 2013

http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/12/4214262/national-library-of-medicine-online-image-archive-health-psa-posters

The first image, about a sailor blinded at Pearl Harbor, is by the noted cartoonist Alex Raymond.

A Dental Tech's Scribbles: The Collection of Bill Baltezar

A Dental Tech's Scribbles: The Collection of Bill Baltezar

Andre Sobocinski

The Grog - Vol 6 Number 2 - Spring 2011

online at http://archive.org/details/TheGrog-Vol6Number2-Spring2011 - click thru for pictures

Recently, the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Library and Archives accessioned a collection of artwork by a Navy dental technician named William "Bill" Baltezar (1924-2009). Before enlisting in the Navy, Baltezar was a trained artist; and through service on active duty (1943-1946) and in the reserves (1946-1953), he never stopped exercising his talent or need to present the daily life of an enlisted sailor through sketch and scribble. This collection consists of letters to his mother while at boot camp and later Hospital Corps School in San Diego, CA (1944), 26 pages of sketches drawn aboard Patrol Cruiser Escort-851 (1945-46), and illustrated envelopes that once enclosed love letters to his future wife, Dorothea. Dorothea Baltezar recalled of her husband, "he illustrated every envelope of every letter he ever sent—I kept all that he sent me over a two-year courtship." After leaving the Navy, Baltezar worked as an artist in Salinas, CA, where, in addition
to earning a reputation for his art work, Baltezar was a popular character in the community known for his fanciful stories, and performances in local community theater productions. In 2010, the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, CA, posthumously honored Baltezar with an exhibit of his watercolors entitled "When Ya Gonna Give Me a Damn Show?"

Donald Duck in Navy medicine

I was filing some material at work today, and ran across this image of Donald Duck.

There's two other uses of the same image in the book that can be seen on the Flickr site. The caption for this one is:

Disney's Donald Duck "Mob 8 Insignia" page 160 of The Story of U.S. Naval Mobile Hospital Number 8 by CAPT. William H.H. Turville, NY: Robert W. Kelly Publishing Corp, ca. 1946.

From BUMED's Navy Medicine Historical Files Collection - Facilities - Base Hospitals.  12-0185-003

Donald in pre-World War 2 US Navy yearbook

I'm not an expert in Disney history, but most people know the company helped America's war effort in World War II by designing logos for units, and making training films. At work, I've stumbled across this pre-war (to America at least) example of the Naval Air Station Pensacola Florida yearbook The Flight Jacket 1940, which was compiled for the training class for new pilots. At some point in the next few months, the yearbook will be transferred to the more appropriate Navy Department Library in the Washington Navy Yard which appears to need a copy. In the meantime, one can see scans of the famed Duck here.

PR: THE HISTORY OF INVULNERABILITY superhero play

THE MAN BEHIND SUPERMAN COMES TO LIFE IN DAVID BAR KATZ'S THE HISTORY OF INVULNERABILITY AT THEATER J

(Washington, DC) – The History of Invulnerability, David Bar Katz's provocative new drama, brings the origin story of the Superman comic to life, in all its political complexity. Behind every great superhero is a determined creator. In 1930s America, that creator was usually a young Jewish man with an active imagination. Batman, Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk and other iconic cartoon characters were all products of young American Jews.  Bar Katz's play illuminates the story of Jerry Siegel—the brains behind Superman's brawn—and the imagined struggle between the creative father and his uber-mensch son.

The History of Invulnerability runs June 6–July 8, 2012 at Theater J in the Washington DCJCC's Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater. Press night is Monday, June 11 at 7:30 pm. Performances on Saturday, June 9 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, June 10 at 3:00 pm are $30 previews. Performances on Wednesday, June  6 and Thursday, June 7 at 7:30 pm are pay-what-you-can previews. Performances on June 17 and 24 and July 1 and 8 at 7:30 pm are $35 Sunday night specials. On Thursday, June 21 at 7:30 pm the show will have open-captioning for the hearing impaired. There will be special matinee performances at noon on Friday, June 22.  Tickets are available starting at $30 at theaterj.org  or (800) 494-TIXS.

With a new Superman blockbuster film opening in 2013 and the re-release of the Superman comic as "The New 52" by DC Universal in September 2011, The Man of Steel remains an enduring American phenomenon.  As Bar Katz traces the iconic character back to his conception in the mid 1930s, the audience views the action from the inner landscape of creator Jerry Siegel (David Deblinger) who begins his journey in his mother's basement in Clevelend. Frustrated with feelings of powerlessness in the face of the mounting horrors of Nazi Germany, Siegel and illustrator Joe Shuster (David Raphaely) create a being capable of overpowering all enemies. After their Superman comic catches on, the duo's desire to depict Superman slaughtering Nazis is curbed by Harry Donenfeld (Conrad Feininger), the head of DC Comics who purchased the rights to Superman for a mere $130. As Jerry wrestles to retain control of his comic book sensation and his life, America is drawn into WWII.  Interspersed with scenes from Siegel's life is the story of inmates of Birkenau. Audacious Benjamin (David Raphaely) dreams of rebellion, elderly Saul (Conrad Feininger) struggles to keep faith in God, and young Joel (Noah Chiet) waits expectantly for the day when Superman will come to their rescue.  The History of Invulnerability was a finalist for the 2011 ACTA Steinberg New Play Award and the Acclaim Award for "Outstanding Play World Premiere" at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.  Theater J's production marks The History of Invulnerability's East Coast premiere and second production overall.

 

Artistic Director Ari Roth welcomes The History of Invulnerability to the Theater J stage, remarking "In the tradition of David Mamet, David Bar Katz is a writer of muscular Jews with a wild, robust writing style to match. He's got a number of interesting plays: Philip Roth in Khartoum, [staged at the Public Theatre in 2008] Burning Burning Burning [surrounding Shabbetai Tzvi, the false messiah] and The Atmosphere of Memory [Featuring Ellen Burstyn]. He's a great writer for a new generation, and we're glad to start an ongoing relationship with him."  Bar Katz is a company member of the prestigious LAByrinth Theatre in New York, which includes artists like Philip Seymour Hoffman, who directed the Emmy-nominated HBO presentation of Bar Katz's Oh The Power. Bar Katz also earned two Tony Award nominations for the Broadway production of his play Freak. In an article in CityBeat, Cincinnati, Bar Katz describes himself as a writer who understands the "desire to fight battles in the real world using your fiction."

Director Shirley Serotsky understands this impulse as well, commenting "The desire to will into existence a better place, a better solution, a better being, is a fascinating piece of the Jewish and of the human story." Initially coming from a musical theatre background, Serotsky was struck by the parallels between musical theater and comic books: "Both are uniquely American art forms…dominated by Jews, often first–generation Jews who needed an escape both from the tragedies going on in Europe, and from their own often harsh circumstances in America." As the Director of Literary and Public Programming, and frequent director at Theater J, Serotsky has an extensive background staging stories from the Jewish experience.  Ms. Serotsky's Theater J credits include The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall, The Moscows of Nantucket, Mikveh and next season's The Hampton Years.  Recently, she garnered praise with her production of Birds of a Feather at The Hub Theatre, Blood Wedding at Constellation Theatre Company, and Working at Keegan Theatre.

Serotsky describes her cast as "a gutsy group of actors who are able to embrace both the stylistic world of a comic book and the deeply honest emotions and desires of the characters in this world." They are led by David Deblinger, who garnered rave reviews for his portrayal of Jerry Siegel in Cincinnati Playhouse's world premiere of The History of Invulnerability. Deblinger is one of the founding members of the LAByrinth Theater Company, where he has performed in over 15 productions. He recently appeared in the world premiere of The Killings Room at Teatro Circulo and Animals Out Of Paper at The San Francisco Playhouse. In addition to being a talented actor, Deblinger is also a prolific playwright and solo performer. On June 25, Deblinger will share his work-in-progress Abe's Lucky Penny, which deals with the themes of fathers and sons also raised in The History of Invulnerability.

Playing the brash Harry Donenfeld is Conrad Feininger. Mr. Feininger recently appeared at Theater J in Benedictus, Either/Or and String Fever. A frequent performer at The Shakespeare Theatre, he recently appeared in their productions of King Lear, Richard II, Henry V and All's Well That Ends Well. Other recent credits include Hysteria at Rep Stage and Charming Billy at RoundHouse Theatre. Playing the Man of Steel himself is Tim Getman, fresh from his appearance in After The Fall earlier in the Theater J season.  Getman has also appeared in the Theater J productions Photograph 51, Passing the Love of Women, The Last Seder and as Danny Saunders in Theater J's original production of The Chosen. He recently starred in Gruesome Playground Injuries at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, where he also appeared in The Unmentionables and The Distance from Here.

Also making a second appearance in the Theater J season is Brandon McCoy,  who just reprised his role as Simon in Theater J's encore presentation of New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza.  Playing both Joe Shuster, the illustrator of Superman, and Benjamin, the revolutionary concentration camp inmate is David Raphaely.  One of Philadelphia's most popular young actors, Mr. Raphaely has appeared in productions at The Wilma Theatre, The Arden Theatre Company, The Walnut Street Theatre, PlayPenn, and the Philadelphia Theatre Company.  In the summer of 2010, he was a guest artist in the Theater J/TheatreLab staged readings of Ari Roth's Born Guilty cycle. Jjana Valentiner, who recently gained acclaim playing barmaid Patsy in Sideman at 1^st Stage, will play Jerry's mother and other roles. Valentiner's other recent credits include Pride and Prejudice at Round House Theatre; Birds of a Feather at The Hub Theatre;  Fucking A at The Studio Theatre 2ndStage and Tartuffe at the Journeymen Theater Ensemble. She is joined by James Whalen, returning to Theater J after appearing in last season's Voices from a Changing Middle East festival. Mr. Whalen was recently seen in The Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of Cymbeline. He is also a frequent player at Everyman Theatre, where he has appeared in The Exonerated, Betrayal and The Cripple of Inishmaan. Alyssa  Wilmoth, a graduate of the Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy for Classical Acting who recently earned accolades  in No Rules Theatre Company's production of StopKiss will play Superman's paramour, Lois Lane.  Noah Chiet completes

the ensemble as the young boy imprisoned in a concentration camp, dreaming of Superman.  By the age of 12, Mr. Chiet has already gained rave reviews for his turn in Ganeymede Arts' Falsettos and in Liberty Smith at Ford's Theatre. He has participated in two readings at Theater J, and this is his first production.

An all-star design team of Theater J veterans reunite to create the vibrant world of comic books and the equally atmospheric concentration camps. In addition to designing the set for The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall and The Moscows of Nantucket, scenic designer Robbie Hayes has worked on Theater J's Sholom Aleichem: Laughter Through Tears. Lighting will be designed by Dan Covey, who also designed lights for Mikveh at Theater J. Debra Kim Sivigny, a veteran Theater J designer (Rise and Fall of Annie Hall, The Moscows of Nantucket and Mikveh) and company member of Rorschach Theatre, will be designing costumes. Returning to Theater J after several seasons is Dre Moore, as Properties Designer. Matthew Nielson (The Whipping Man, New Jerusalem) will create the sound design.

The History of Invulnerability is presented as the annual Arthur Tracy "The Street Singer" Endowment Production honoring the memory and musical legacy of Arthur Tracy, the renowned radio, stage and screen singer and entertainer whose talent delighted millions around the world. Additional funding has been provided by Ann and Don Brown and Judy and Leo Zickler.

Complimenting The History of Invulnerability in the DCJCC Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery will be the exhibit "Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women" opening on June 7. See washingtondcjcc.org/gallery for more information.

THE HISTORY OF INVULNERABILITY FACT SHEET

WRITTEN BY: David Bar Katz

DIRECTED BY: Shirley Serotsky

SCENIC DESIGNER: Robbie Hayes

LIGHTING DESIGNER:  Dan Covey

COSTUME DESIGNER: Debra Kim Sivigny

PROPERTIES DESIGNER: Dre Moore

SOUND DESIGNER: Matthew Nielson

DRAMATURG: Stephen Spotswood

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER: Roy A. Gross

FEATURING: David Deblinger, Conrad Feininger, Tim Getman, Brandon McCoy, David Raphaely, Jjana Valentiner,
James Whalen, Alyssa Wilmoth and Noah Chiet

PRESS NIGHT:  Monday, June 11

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: June 6-July 8, 2012

Regular Schedule:  Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 8:00 pm, Sundays at 3:00 and 7:30 pm

$30 Previews:  Saturday, June 9 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, June 10 at 3:00 pm

Pay-What-You-Can Previews: Wednesday, June 6  and Thursday, June 7 at 7:30 pm

Special Matinees: Friday, June 22 at 12:00 pm
Please note: Thursday, June 21 at 7:30 pm the show will have open captioning for the hearing impaired.

THEATER J INFORMATION:

LOCATION: The Washington DC Jewish Community Center's Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater at 1529 16^th Street NW in Washington, DC, 4 blocks east of Dupont Circle.

PARKING & METRO:  Limited parking in the Washington DCJCC lot; additional parking available at Colonial Parking, 1616 P Street NW; limited street parking. Dupont Circle Station RED line.

TICKETS:  Starting at $30. Box Office Tickets (800) 494-TIXS or boxofficetickets.com.

For discounts for groups of 10+ call (202) 777-3214 or email becky@theaterj.org

Theater J is handicapped accessible and offers assisted listening devices for interested patrons.   

High resolution digital images are available upon request. More information about this production is available at (202) 777-3230 or theaterj.org.

Theater J, a program of the Washington DCJCC, produces thought-provoking, publicly engaged, personal, passionate and entertaining plays and musicals that celebrate the distinctive urban voice and social vision that are part of the Jewish cultural legacy. Acclaimed as one of the nation's premiere playwrights theaters, Theater J presents cutting edge contemporary work alongside spirited revivals and is a nurturing home for the development and production of new work by major writers and emerging artists exploring many of the pressing moral and political issues of our time. Dedicated first to a pursuit of artistic excellence, Theater J takes its dialogues beyond the stage, offering an array of innovative public discussion forums and outreach programs which explore the theatrical, psychological and social elements of our art. We frequently partner with those of other faiths and communities, stressing the importance of interchange among a great variety of people wishing to take part in frank, humane conversations about conflict and culture.

Navy World War 2 cartoon by Hotchkiss online now

"He had his heart set on pate de foie gras. Navy chow is the best!
Take all you can eat, eat all you can take! Don't be finicky!"
[Nutrition.] [Propaganda.] [World War 2.] [Illustration by "Hotchkiss USNR".] World War II. Cartoon.
1944; Bureau of Supplies and Accounts: Navy; U.S. Government Printing Office; U.S. Navy BUMED Library and Archives

Ketcham and Hotchkiss' Navy cartoon posters from World War 2

Courtesy of the US Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, the National Museum of Health and Medicine has scans of these Navy posters from World War 2.

One is by Dennis the Menace creator Hank Ketcham -



The rest are by Hotchkiss -

It's Banned Books Week...

... and this cartoon is working its way through the comics blogosphere. It's from the Library of Congress

* Title: Books are weapons in the war of ideas / S. Broder.
* Date Created/Published: [Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1942.
* Medium: 1 print (poster) : color.
* Summary: Poster showing Nazis burning books, with quotation by Franklin D. Roosevelt, "Books cannot be killed by fire ...."
* Reproduction Number: LC-USZC4-4267 (color film copy transparency) LC-USZ62-121473 (b&w film copy neg.)
* Call Number: POS - US .B761, no. 1 (C size) [P&P] [P&P] [P&P]
* Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
* Notes:
o GPO no. 1942-O-487131.
o OWI no. 7.
o Promotional goal: U.S. J49. 1942.
* Subjects:
o Book Burning--Germany--1940-1950.
o World War, 1939-1945--Communications--United States.
* Format:
o Posters--American--1940-1950.
o Prints--Color--1940-1950.
* Collections:
o Posters: Artist Posters
* Bookmark This Record:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/96502725/

Another Lynn Brudon cartoon found

A few months ago, I posted on a Lynn Brudon anti-malaria World War 2 cartoon in the National Museum of Health and Medicine. See the comments of that post for more on Brudon. Meanwhile here's one I found today.


REEVE 088546-4

Malaria prevention. Charts. "G.I bedtime story. Control malaria. Shorten the war. Bug heaven, here comes Hiroskito. Damn that d.d.t. [Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane]. Lynn Brudon [artist], 1945."

[Posters. Illustration. Insect pests, Control. Mosquitoes. Sanitation. Preventive medicine.] [Propaganda.]

Another Batchelor anti-VD cartoon

Here's another CD Batchelor cartoon from World War 2 on the dangers of venereal disease from the collection of the National Museum of Health and Medicine. You can see earlier posts on Batchelor here and here.

This photo of a poster is by Lynn Brudon also from World War 2. I don't know anything else about him or the poster.

Malaria Moe cartoons on Flickr

My colleague at the Medical Museum put up a bunch of scans of World War 2 Malaria Moe propaganda cartoons on Flickr today. The artist, Frank Mack, later went on to work for Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

Eat Right to Work and Win corrected

I had dropped pages 2-3 by not photographing them, but I just took a snapshot and added them in - the quality isn't as good, but it's still readable.
Eat Right to Work and Win, a 1942 book using King Features Syndicate characters. "Contributed by Swift & Companyto America's All-Out Effort through the National Nutrition Program. Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services." To read the whole booklet, click here.

Sara and Mike go to Charlottesville

Sara Duke and I went to Charlottesville yesterday to see an exhibit, but we also stopped at a bunch of antique stores to exercise our comics-senses. So here's some of what I found:




Opus 'n Bill On the Road Again screen saver box covers. Unfortunately, I have no idea how one could view the animated segments now.


Eat Right to Work and Win, a 1942 book using King Features Syndicate characters. "Contributed by Swift & Companyto America's All-Out Effort through the National Nutrition Program. Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services." To read the whole booklet, click here.

Foxy Grandpa doorstop by Carl 'Bunny' Schultze. This is the second Foxy Grandpa thing I've found around Charlottesville - the first was a bank of his head. Sara and I both think this was repainted, but that doesn't much matter to me.

Wordless comic strip Ferd'nand 1957 collection.

Bud Sagendorf's Davy Crockett game, done around the time he was doing Popeye. I love the fact that someone saved this out of the Sunday comics and mounted it. I'll probably make a color copy and play it with my daughter. If there's any interest, I can do a hi-res scan for you readers.









Seven plates from Merry Masterpieces Fine Porcelain plates, Dayton Hudson, 1999. Anybody know anything more about these? Is it a New Yorker artist? They look vaguely like Danny Shanahan to me.

I bought a few more books and some Puck lithographs too.

Acquisitions considered, but not made: Raymond Briggs' Snowman place setting, 4 pieces by Royal Doulton - $40; Wood bas relief carving of Charles Dana Gibson cartoon - ? (some non-buyer regret over not at least checking the price); Raymond Briggs' Snowman porcelain box by Royal Doulton - $18; James Thurber house 50th anniversary commemorative plate - $40;