September 29: DC Anime Club's Shoujo Day

CONTACT: Chris Wanamaker, 202 262 2083 president@dcanimeclub.org


DC Anime Club's Shoujo Day

The DC Anime Club, an organization whose purpose is to educate the Washington, DC community about East Asian culture through the art form known as Anime (Japanese animation) will host a Marathon of Shoujo (girls) Anime on September 29, 2007 from 2pm-5pm at the Martin Luthur King, Jr Memorial Library 901 G St NW Washington, DC 20001 in Room A9.

The Marathon will consist of screenings Girls Anime, Trivia, Prizes and More. For those unfamiliar with Shoujo, Shoujo is a specific genre of Anime and Manga that is aimed at female audience with such themes as romance and drama.

About DC Anime Club:
DCAC was established in 2003 to introduce and educate people in the Washington, DC area about East Asian culture, through viewing and discussion of Japanese animation (also known as anime) and Japanese comics (manga). DCAC is a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization, contributions to DC Anime Club are tax deductible to the extent allowable under the law.

The club also works to provide a positive, alternative activity to the youth in the area by exposing them to foreign culture, encouraging artistic expression and creativity, and providing opportunities for participation in community activities and leadership.

In addition to our weekly meetings, the club holds an Annual Art Show, an Annual Costume fundraising event, and visits local schools to do presentations on anime. The club also works with the Smithsonian Freer Gallery and DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival on their anime screenings, and has helped locally promote performances for Japanese bands such as Puffy Ami Yumi and Pine am.

DC Anime Club was founded by Chris Wanamaker (President), Jules Chang (Vice President) and Craig Vaughn (Sgt in Arms) on Saturday June 5, 2003. We have a strong membership that continues to grow -- most of which are teenagers.

This program is free and open to the public. For more information please visit the DC Anime Club website at http://www.dcanimeclub.org or call DC Anime Club at 202 262 2083.

# # #



--
Christopher Wanamaker
DC Anime Club President
http://www.dcanimeclub.org
202 262 2083

Nate Beeler of Washington Examiner wins Golden Spike Award

I didn't go to the AAEC wards, but R.C. Harvey did, and in his new Rants & Raves column says it was won by Nate Beeler of the Washington Examiner for a 'cartoon [that] depicted GeeDubya saying that “artificial deadlines embolden the enemy,” accompanied by a drawing of several soldiers with artificial limbs, which also embolden the enemy.' The Golden Spike is presented for the best cartoon a newspaper refuses to run.

Nate's work can be seen every other day or so in the Examiner and there's an original cartoon of his in the Katzen exhibit, Bush Leaguers.

August 5: 50th ANNIVERSARY OF "WHAT'S OPERA, DOC?

Here's a press release I was just sent. Sounds interesting - note the book. I don't think I can make this on the 5th, but if anyone's going, stick a note in the comments. I'd be interested in going later in the month. Also, I could use an exhibit reviewer for the International Journal of Comic Art.

For Immediate release
Contact: Leslie Combemale
703-478-0778 artnsights@aol.com

ARTINSIGHTS TO HAVE NATIONAL CELEBRATION
FOR 50th ANNIVERSARY OF "WHAT'S OPERA, DOC?"


Reston, VA—ArtInsights Animation and Film Art Gallery, as part of a weekend-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Chuck Jones directed 1957 short film and National Film Registry inductee, “What’s Opera, Doc?”, will be premiering an exhibit of original animation and fine art by Chuck Jones, some of which is rare and from the Jones family collection, both at a remote exhibit at Wolf Trap and at ArtInsights, and will be hosting Emmy Award-winning film producer Linda Jones Clough at the gallery on Sunday, August 5, 2007 from 1-3 PM.

Mrs. Clough will be signing the first art book dedicated to the animation character oil paintings created by her father, the legendary animation film director and creator, Chuck Jones. The exhibit at Wolf Trap will be in conjunction with the presentation of a revised Bugs Bunny on Broadway, conceived, directed and produced by impresario George Daugherty, that pays homage to this significant film on Friday and Saturday, August 3rd and 4th at Wolf Trap. A portion of the larger exhibit, which will be at ArtInsights through September 3rd, will be on display at Wolf Trap's Encore Circle Lounge.

The book signing on Sunday features the new release, Stroke of Genius, A Collection of Paintings and Musings on Life, Love and Art by Chuck Jones, which brings together a selection of Jones’ original oil paintings depicting his best known characters-- including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Marvin Martian, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote and Pepé le Pew—with reflections by the man behind their development and creation. Jones’ thoughts on his art, his characters, his inspirations and his aspirations are laid out alongside a sampling of over 50 of his paintings.


ArtInsights is located just outside of Washington, D.C. at 11921 Freedom Drive, Reston, Virginia, in Reston Town Center. The gallery presents the works of art from the 20th century film art genre, including original art from the masters of film and moving entertainment. From film campaign artists to matte painters, from concept and layout artists to animators, ArtInsights represents the most influential artists of film art history. Representation includes Chuck Jones, John Alvin, Maurice Noble, Bill Melendez, Lawrence Noble, Toby Bluth, and many other artists made famous working for Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, and other film studios. For more information please call the gallery at 703-478-0778.

Linda Jones Clough is available for phone interviews prior to the show and on the day of the event. For images or to schedule interviews, contact Leslie Combemale at 703-478-0778.

Bush Leaguers editorial cartoon exhibit open one more week UPDATED

I saw the Bush Leaguers exhibit at the Katzen today, prefatory to reviewing it for the International Journal of Comic Art. It's an amazingly large exhibit, and a good one. The space is awkward, as you can tell from these pics, but there were some real good cartoons here and you could get up close to see the technique.
As you can tell by the above photo, Matt Wuerker did an introductory image, and AAEC President Rob Rogers wrote an introduction (and the only text) to the show.
The exibit opened with videos including KAL, Fiore and Telnaes, and then went into an overwhelming amount of print cartoons. Many of these images were now 'born-digital' as librarians like to say. It does raise a question about what original art is.
Some more random notes:

Tom Toles's "Battle Hardened" cartoon that provoked a letter from the DOD's Joint Chiefs of Staff is on display.

Good cartoonists not as well known in DC like Mike Jenkins of the Journal can be seen. His "Heartbeat Away" showed Bush playing with toys and worrying about being President when told that Cheney was having heart problems. Ed Stein of Denver drew "Band of Brothers" showing the GOP's 2004 team of Bush, Cheney and others, noting "They all weren't in Vietnam together."

Other viewers in the exhibit, of which I think I saw 3 sets, were laughing out loud.

Some memorable cartoons were VC Roger's "Iraq War Memorial," a play on the W in George W. Bush and the Vietnam War Memorial in DC was great. Mike Luckovich's "Apple-Bobbing at the Cheneys" showed Cheney holding a kid underwater in a tub while saying 'Confess!' Matt Davies' "The Concert Pianist" had Rice playing a 'White House Foreign Policy' piano that only had one key. JD Crowe's "Rumsfeld Steps Down" used the trope of flag-draped coffins, and had Rumsfeld as a blind man stepping down a long, long stairway of them. It was a lovely drawing even if the flag-draped coffin was declared to be overused at the recent AAEC convention.

Local Examiner cartoonist Nate Beeler contributed "Late Night Reading" showing Cheney hiding a copy of 'Torture Illustrated' inside a copy of 'Nurturing Democracy.' A good one.

Iraq, Cheney, wiretapping, and civil liberties were generally the topics. There were only two cartoons on Hurricane Katrina's destruction of New Orleans.

In a mis-step, two cartoons of Bush as a Roman Emperor were mounted together. The cartoons by Stuart Calsun and Steve Greenberg were both fine, but didn't benefit from being shown side-by-side.

Two had comics-references in them. Daryl Cagle used the Robert Crumb cover of Zap #1, drawing George Bush getting the show in "Surge in Iraq." It was a good drawing, but I wonder how many people got the reference. Tom Stiglitch went wider and drew George Bush as Charlie Brown leaning on the sad Christmas tree with a broken ornament labelled Iraq in "A George Bush Christmas".

Overall, this was a good show, and would make a neat fundraiser for the AAEC which could use the print-on-demand technology mentioned in the next article to do it.

OT: The most important comics news this month

Forget the San Diego Comic-Con - Dave Astor's got the real story right here:

Two Print-On-Demand Books Feature Universal Comics
By E&P Staff
Published: July 20, 2007 12:21 PM ET

The two books are "Circling Normal, A Book About Autism" by "Clear Blue Water" cartoonist Karen Montague-Reyes' and "'Come Here Often?' Bad Pickup Lines and Other Dating Atrocities" from "The Fusco Brothers" cartoonist J.C. Duffy. Some of the Cartoonists with Attitude crowd, along with Ann Telnaes, Signe Wilkinson and countless web cartoonists are already self-publishing - this is the wave of the future.

"The Universal-Lulu partnership, reported on in a May 3 E&P Online story, is designed for books that would not otherwise be acquired by Andrews McMeel Publishing, a sister company to Universal." My guess is that AMP will stay in business because of its distribution savvy, but a lot more cartoon books will be appearing as cartoonists become comfortable with the idea. You can make the Lulu publishing completely invisible to the end consumer.

It's going to make comics bibliography a continuing nightmare, of course...

Mike Carey reviewed in The Onion

The Devil You Know, the book he signed earlier this week, is reviewed in the paper copy of the Onion that came out on Weds. You can also read it online, and there's some reviews of comics online too, that weren't in the print edition.

For what it's worth, I enjoyed the book and didn't find his text overly descriptive.

ICAF: New name, new website

2007 ICAF chair Marc Singer is reporting that the International Comic Arts Forum is moving to a new website:
http://www.internationalcomicartsforum.org

The site currently features our 2007 line-up of panelists and special guest artists and scholars; please check in regularly for schedules and other conference information.

OT: Rebecca Sullivan's book recommendations

My friend Rebecca is a Canadian prof based in Calgary so this is way off topic, but in this July 17th audio interview she recommends Jessica Abel's La Perdida. I like Jessica's Artbabe work, but must confess that I haven't read the review copy of this I got. However, I strongly recommend her husband Matt Madden's 99 Ways to Tell a Story - Exercises in Style. Matt tells a short story in ... 99 ways, with different art, or timing, and his book is a useful teaching tool like Eisner or McCloud.

September 29: Gene Luen Yang at National Book Festival

Matthew Dembicki, who will be signing his story in Postcards at Olssen's next week,* also reports that Gene Luen Yang, cartoonist of American Born Chinese will be at the National Book Festival in the Mall in September. This is the Library of Congress event, and usually both mobbed and interesting.

*Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 07:00 PM at Olsson's Books & Records-Dupont Circle, 1307 19th St. NW, (202) 785-1133

Simpsons' movie drives Express to full-frontal nudity

This image is actually published on page 2 of today's Express. For the story, BBC News has a good rundown.

Simpson's Kwik-e-mart photos

A friend of mine visited the Bladensburg 7-11 that was converted. You can see her pictures here - click on the link will take you to a flickr site - or you can go directly here.

Fashionable clothing using comics - buy designs from local cartoonists

Postcards editor Jason Rodriguez sent a note reporting, "I have a friend in the district that makes his own belts and shirts. He has a workshop in his garage and he's able to knock out 50-100 belts a day, if necessary.

I think it's cool because several of his designs are from comic guys. These three are from Elk's Run's cover artist Datsun Tran:
http://www.jonwye.com/Beetle_Leather_Belt_p/beetle-spears.htm
http://www.jonwye.com/Western_Belt_p/showdown-belt.htm

This one is from Graham Annable:
http://www.jonwye.com/Men_s_freedumb_T_shirt_p/freedumb-m.htm

And some from local graphic designer D. Billy:
http://www.jonwye.com/Snap_Leather_Belt_p/snap-belt.htm
http://www.jonwye.com/Boom_Leather_Belt_p/boom-belt.htm

He's currently working with DC Conspiracy member Scott White on this hybrid mafia/graffiti belts. They look awesome.

Anyway - it's a cool marriage of comic artists and fashion coming from a local guy."

Postcards discussed in Hawaii

Remember Jason and others are signing later this month at Olssens. He talks to the paper in "New strip uses high school as metaphor," By Gary C.W. Chun, Honolulu Star-Bulletin Sunday, July 15, 2007.

Also, the Los Angeles Times has scheduled a review of it this week.

Harry Potter spoilers courtesy of Richard's Poor Alamanack

Everyone should stay away from the Post's Style section today - Richard Thompson reveals what happens in the last Harry Potter book. It's not pretty.

Weingarten on his comic strip and Tom the Dancing Bug

Gene Weingarten*, the Post's main humor writer, is a hardcore comic strip fan and his weekly chat frequently has a comics contest to pick the best strip of the preceeding week. This past week, Chatalogical Humor, as it's known also had two bits on comic strips.

In the first, Mr. W is queried about his plans to do his own comic strip:

Dangenecomic, AL: Welcome back. I know the book's been pressing, but what about the comic you and Dan are doing? When's it coming out? Have you contacted a syndicate? Will Gary, Jeff and Patty be giggling maniacally over your effort(s)?

Gene Weingarten: Dan and I and David Clark, the cartoonist, have finished 12 weeks worth. And as of basically today we are starting to write again. I anticipate you will see it some time after we finish 24 week's worth.

We're trying to make it as unfunny and derivative as possible, because we want to penetrate as many newspaper comics pages as possible.

Ouch. And then a story from this blog, that Comics Reporter picked up, namely the Post dropping Tom the Dancing Bug last week for Cheney-bashing, comes up:

Washington, D.C.: Since The Post did not mention it, most readers are unaware that it did not publish the current "Tom the Dancing Bug." It replaced the strip, which was harshly critical of the Vice President with an old strip. It did link to the strip on the Web site.

While I think that "Tom the Dancing Bug" is generally the the best comic in The Post not written by Richard Thompson, this one is too angry to be good. But as Comics Reporter noted: "...the Post's recent tendency to take a pass on controversial strips for no stated reason and then not tell anyone they're doing so is crappy editorial policy that badly serves the Post's readership..."

Gene Weingarten: I agree about The Post. I want to know when they kill a strip. I also don't understand why they would have the original strip on the website. We are told repeatedly that the fairness standards are the same. So I don't get it.

I believe at this time it is impossible to be unfair to Cheney. I called him "Satan" once. In the high school graduation speech I say he is "the root of all evil."

I mean, really. He makes a decision and a million fish die.

I think this Dancing Bug is quite funny. So over the top it's actually LESS critical that some criticism.

I would have liked the (missing) link to go to me, and not just Tom's blog, but que sera.

*my apologies for initially getting Mr. Weingarten's name wrong; obviously I've got to stop doing these when I'm tired.

Savage Love - Ullman in color

This week's City Paper has Rob Ullman's first illustration in color for the Savage Love column. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet - I've got about a dozen of his b&w originals. Still, it's probably colored on the computer, so I can still buy the line art.

Marlette's Kudzu born in DC

Richard Thompson reminded me that Doug Marlette came up with the idea for the Kudzu strip in the Tabard Inn on N St, NW and there's a small plaque in the room with the fireplace. I took a picture of it last year. The "mortal Doug Marlette" is a bit more poignant now.

Association of American Editorial Cartoonist Cartoonapalooza pictures again

I've added a few more pictures I took at Cartoonapalooza on July 3rd. If you already have seen the earlier ones, these are a few cartoon panels from Ruben Bolling, Mike Peters and Keith Knight including the first panel of the Post-censored Tom the Dancing Bug.

July 24: Jason Rodriguez - Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened

Jason Rodriguez - Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 07:00 PM at Olsson's Books & Records-Dupont Circle, 1307 19th St. NW, (202) 785-1133

Jason Rodriguez, acclaimed editor of Elk's Run, collected a remarkable array antique postcards, dispersed them among thirty-three of comics' greatest creators, and asked each to craft a story about the person who sent it. The result is a vividly imagined, gorgeously rendered graphic anthology illustrating tales of romance, adventure, hardship, and mystery. In Postcards, these gifted artists share some of the richest and most inventive work of their careers. Artists from the book who are appearing with Jason Rodriguez include Matt Dembicki, Danielle Corsetto and Robert Tinnell. [tip thanks to both Randy T. and Chris Shields]

I've started reading a proof of this today, and it's good. Tom Beland has an absolutely lovely story in it. More to follow, but this is a great idea for a comic.

Mike Carey interview in Express and at Olssens UPDATED

Comic book writer Mike Carey who did 3 signings in town today, is also interviewed in the Express, the free paper in the yellow bins. Scott Rosenberg did the interview.

I went to the Olssen's signing after work. Mr. Carey was a bit late, having made the crucial mistake to attempt 14th St at Pennsylvania Ave at rush hour. However, he arrived and in his soft British accent, even though it was 12:30 AM according to his watch, read most of a chapter of his new novel, The Devil You Know. This is the first book in a six-book series about an exorcist detective who's trying to figure out why ghosts are suddenly returning to the real world.

He took questions as well - even though I asked four of them, I'm spacing out now. I should have taken notes. Anyway:

Even though it appears that he's doing a lot of work now, some of it's just appearing. Wetworks was written years ago, this new novel he's working on is actually the fourth in the series and two are already out in the UK (and can be bought from Amazon.ca). He's writing 4 comics now, and that's as many as he thinks he can write. He's also doing that 4th novel and a screenplay.

Some time ago he wrote animation in the UK about a fairy Romeo and Juliet, called Meadowlands, iirc. The dark elf nasty Romeo, who was 2 inches tall fell for the fairy Juliet on the other side of the meadow. This has been in animation limbo for quite some time but a UK company is supposedly finishing it.

He's doing 1 comic for Virgin, and apparently it's a big success in India if not in the US or UK. He's working with his former Marvel editor and likes the pay so he's enjoying the work.

Comic book editors differ from book editors in that they guide the story, up to the point of flying all the X-Men writers to an undisclosed location and locking them in a room in January 2006 until they script out the next year or so. Tom Breevort can be the tie-breaker in differences of opinion due to his encyclopedic knowledge of the X-Men. Book editors just make sure your story makes sense.

He was a comic reader from way back and loved the Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four so for him writing comics is not an exercise in de- and reconstruction like it is for Moore, Gaiman or Millar. He likes a good straightforward superhero story.

He originally wanted Psylocke in his X-Men title, but Claremont did too, so Carey got Cable. He warmed to the idea after reading a Cable / Deadpool story arc, and is enjoying writing the depowered pathetic ex-omnipotent character. I haven't read X-Men since before Cable was introduced, so someone can post a comment clearing that up.

He writes women well (according to an audience woman) and credits that to having a fifteen year old daughter, who in Lucifer got to ascent to godhood. And also to liking women. The audience seemed to agree that was a good thing.

Speaking of the audience, in attendance were Karon Flage, director of the Small Press Expo; Jason Rodriguez, editor of Postcards and soon to host an Olssen's signing of his own (the book looks great); Chris Shields, cIndy podcast interviewer of cartoonists; Randy T the DOJ scout who passes me some of these stories; Scott Rosenberg, the Express reporter who started this post; comics journalist and writer Greg McElhatton and Carey's nephew. I had to google Greg to figure out how to spell his last name, so here's an article about him. Apologies to any local luminaries I missed. I enjoyed talking to everyone. If anyone can add more anecdotes, please do so below.

July 20-29: The Hefner Monologues

John Hefner, a long-time Big Planet Comics Bethesda salesguy, is about to open his own one-man show in DC. Visit his site at http://www.myspace.com/hefnermonologues for details.

John considerately provided some blurbs for the show:

The Hefner Monologues's Blurbs
About me:
"How do you make a name for yourself… when someone else already has?" That's the question that John Hefner (estranged cousin of a certain international icon) explores through painfully funny stories about love, loss, nudity, traffic court, and finding an identity in a world where "Hef" is a household name.

Hefnerian (adj.) - pertaining to a situation, event, or story that seems positive and joyous, but has elements of or becomes depressing and melancholic, causing the joyous aspects to be dulled, all interlaced with humor.

Trust me, it'll make more sense when you see the show.

Full bio video of THE JOHN HEFNER STORY forthcoming. Once I master the dread beast known as youtube. Presented as a part of the 2nd Annual Capital Fringe Festival. July 19 - 29, 2007. For more information visit capfringe.org

Who I'd like to meet:
My cousin.

Anime and manga in Montgomery County Libraries

See "Far reach from the Far East: Japan’s anime films draw young readers to county libraries" by David Sabia,Montgomery Gazette Wednesday, July 11, 2007.

Post on Doug Marlette's death

The Post has two articles on Kudzu comic strip and hard-charging editorial cartoonist Doug Marlette's accidental death yesterday.

His formal obituary is "Doug Marlette, 57; Cartoonist, Vocal Defender of Free Speech" By Patricia Sullivan, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, July 11, 2007; Page B07.

An article that gives a better feel for his work is "The Cartoonist As Tenacious As Kudzu" By Linton Weeks, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, July 11, 2007; C01.

The Post dropped Kudzu years ago, and I must confess to not missing it much. It had become a one-note strip, like MacNelly's Shoe before his death. But both men were still giants of the editorial cartoon page, and should be missed for their cartoons defending the little guy.

Macauley exhibit at National Building Museum

I stopped in quickly last week and saw this exhibit in the fantastic building near Judiciary Square. Macauley is best known for his architectural books, like Mosque, and this exhibit featured plenty of them. It's fourth section though had cartoons he did for Archeology magazine, and also for the book, Great Moments in Architecture. Macauley has a wry, whimsical style, and his architectural cartoons are fun and clever. Several large, fine quality prints of the cartoons are on display too - they're probably engravings, and really show the quality of his line.

July 12: Mike Carey book and comic signings REPOST

Randy T alerts us to the fact that Mike Carey will be in town signing his new novel, and presumably his comic books as well. He's got a busy day:

WASHINGTON, DC
July 12th

1:00pm – 2:00pm Big Planet Comics, Vienna
4:00pm – 5:30pm Big Monkey Comics
7:00pm Olsson’s, Court House

I'll probably go to the Olsson's which is close to my house.

Ok, I need help here. His website says he's writing Ultimate Fantastic Four and some X-Men title, but didn't he make his name writing for Vertigo? Which trades should I pick up at Big Planet?


UPDATED - suggestions included Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, Lucifer, My Faith in Frankie (I bought the comics), Ultimate Fantastic Four, the new God Save the Queen w/ John Bolton art, Re-Gifted, his Hellblazer run, the Werewolf by Night story in the Legion of Monsters one-shot and some others. I'm going with My Faith in Frankie - it's a cheap b&w trade, Re-Gifted since I bought it two weeks ago and haven't read it yet, the UFF because Big Planet had one on sale, and the Gaiman adaptation since I liked the novel adapted from the tv show well enough. Also I'll be buying the novel. I'll be at the Olssen's signing.

Badmonkeybrain comics collective in NoVa

Thanks to Randy T for the tip, we can read about it here - "Local comic book artists unite" by Monty Tayloe, Fairfax Times? 07/10/2007.

Politico's Matt Wuerker on AAEC

Matt Wuerker, staff cartoonist of the Politico has a story and video about the AAEC online NOW!

Postcards review in Bookslut

Colleen Mondor reviews DC-ite Jason Rodriguez's forthcoming anthology Postcards in Bookslut July 2007. I've got a proof copy thanks to Chris Shields that I will attempt to review here soon.

July 20-22 - Otakon 2007 in Baltimore

See "Otakon convention takes on Baltimore" by Tyler Waldman, Baltimore Towerlight 7/8/07 for more details on this anime and manga convention.

AAEC, CWA and animation bits and pieces UPDATED

A review of a new animated TV show, "Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World," appeared in the Blade last week - "Logo's 'South Park': New animated show creates a gayer version of Comedy Central's cartoon hit" by BRIAN MOYLAN, Washington Blade Friday, July 06, 2007.

In the City Paper, Derf's strip is autobiographical from when he was a garbage man. He's done a whole comic on that which is worth reading.

Meanwhile Daryl Cagle, whom I saw but didn't get around to meeting, posted a report on his AAEC experience on his blog today. Also, South African cartoonist Zapiro's award from the Cartoonist Rights Netowrk is noted in "Zapiro's work draws bravery accolades."

The Washington Examiner has a small report in their gossip column on the Cartoonists with Attitude event at Borders. Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin wrote "Yeas & Nays : Cartoonists Weigh In On The President," Washington Examiner (July 9, 2007): 6, although I didn't notice either of them there. Also in the print version, but not online, is a recipe from Ratatouille, from and for Ratatouilee and sent by AP.

NPR reviews American U exhibit with 2 cartoonists

The exhibit's open through July 29th.

Ydstie, John. 2007.
Cartooning Bush and President Next
National Public Radio's Morning Edition (July 9).
Online at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11794366

For more than six years, President Bush has given political cartoonists plenty of fodder. But enough already. Some of them say they're ready to turn their pens on new targets.

An exhibit at American University in Washington, D.C., features cartoons of the Bush administration. John Ydstie tours "Bush Leaguers:Cartoonists Take on the White House" with Rex Babin of the Sacramento Bee and Mikhaela Reid, a freelancer whose work appears in alternative weeklies.

They talk about what it might be like to draw some of the possible presidential successors come 2009.

Bladensburg 7-11 transformed into Simpson's sim

The Bladensburg 7-11 converted to a Simpson's sim is profiled in "Apu Fans Flock to Bladensburg Kwik-E-Mart "by Express contributor Michael Tunison, online only at Express July 6, 2007. The picture here is by Mr. Tunison, and from the Express website.

Association of American Editorial Cartoonist Cartoonapalooza pictures

I've got some of the pictures I took at Cartoonapalooza on July 3rd online now.

Cartoonists with Attitude booksigning photographs

Chris Shields took pics of the booksigning - see his "cIndyCenter.com...Cartoonists crossing BORDERStm" and note that TM because it's a damn clever phrase.

Thanks for the tip, Chris! Chris also has a new cartoonist interview up that I'll try to link to later today. It was a busy week.

Jerry Robinson's Astra musical opens in DC

I ran the press release on this a few weeks ago, but now the show's hitting the mainstream media.

Japanese and Jewish; The musical 'Astra' has mixed parentage, By Lisa Traiger, Washington Jewish Week.

Y'know, I gave him and his wife a ride back to their hotel last night and forgot to ask him about this...

Rob Ullman cartoon for City Paper's Savage Love is a repeat

But he seems to have a good reason - Tom Spurgeon notes that he's now a new dad! So I guess we'll cut him some slack this time.

Congratulations, Rob, and I look forward to seeing her at SPX this year. Rob's illustrations regularly make the Savage Love sex column in the Washington City Paper a must-see, and I buy some of his original artwork each time I see him.

Censored Tom the Dancing Bug online now UPDATED

At Tuesday's Cartoonapalooza session, Reuben Bolling said the Post won't be running this week's Tom the Dancing Bug strip on Dick Cheney. It's online now, so you can see the strip the Post thought was piling on poor Dick after their reporters 5-days of articles about the V-P's creation of a fourth branch of government that certainly isn't the fourth estate. Bolling showed the censored strip which was of Cheney killing his aides when they brought bad news, but now we can all enjoy it.

Tom Spurgeon linked to my first post on this and reasonably said that he's not quite sure this is censorship and running one cartoonist over another can be a reasonable editorial policy. I don't disagree with that, but I do think when you choose not to run the strip the artist submits, for an admittedly political reason, and then run another older strip by the same artist, that's censorship, not just editing. But thanks for noticing Tom! Tom's got one of the two best blogs for consolidating comics news reports on the web and his site should be read every day.

To recap, as I've noted before, The Post has a pattern of censoring comics and not telling its readers as I reviewed here a few months ago.

UPDATE (after checking my notes): Just to show the Post is not alone, Ruben mentioned that the Richmond Post-Dispatch always drops the strip when God-man is featured.

AAEC in DC - Dave Astor continues to have the story

I "attended" most of these sessions, lurking in corners, thanks to AAEC president and Pittsburgh cartoonist Rob Roger's tolerance. He did an excellent job organizing things, and I hope we see more of him in DC - he attended the Mankoff talk I posted about last month which is where me met. I also met Dave Astor who has linked to this blog off and on, and has done an excellent job covering syndicates and cartoonists for over twenty years at Editor and Publisher. So here's Dave's coverage:

Cartoonists' Group Backs Measures To Save Jobs
By Dave Astor
E and P Online
Published: July 07, 2007 4:30 PM ET

Drawing Conflict: Cartoonists Discuss War
By Dave Astor
Published: July 07, 2007 9:00 AM ET

Shapiro Receives 'Courage in Editorial Cartooning' Prize -- Will Durst Speaks
By Dave Astor
Published: July 07, 2007 9:45 AM ET

At Cartoon Confab, Mark Shields Tweaks Pols
By Dave Astor
E and P Online
Published: July 06, 2007 3:23 PM ET

Cartoonists Have Varying Degrees of Enthusiasm for Blogging
By Dave Astor
E and P Online
Published: July 06, 2007 9:50 AM ET

Cartoonists at Confab Hail Animation
By Dave Astor
Published: July 06, 2007 10:30 PM ET

Muhammad Cartoons Editor Among Speakers Discussing Muslim Images
By Dave Astor
Published: July 06, 2007 9:43 AM ET

(One point that Dave missed that Rose made was that at least one of the cartoons, the one with the child writing on a blackboard, called the editor a 'provacateur' and had nothing to do with Mohammad, as others did not as well. Another point was the cartoonist who drew the bomb in the turban was raised as a fundamentalist and is now anti-religion and regularly draws anti-Christian cartoons as well.

Cartoonists with Attitude booksigning report

A couple of days ago, Matt Bors was commissioned to do a full-page drawing for "Drawing Blood: Cartoonists With Attitude" by Scott Rosenberg, Express July 5, 2007. I found out from Scott when I ran into him at the event that this interview with Tom the Dancing Bug cartoonist Ruben Bolling was online even though I couldn't find it. So here's the article. The event was well-attended - standing room only as I got there late having driven (duh) to the wrong downtown Borders. The gang loosely led by Ted Rall each showed three or four of their cartoons, sans microphone, and then took questions and signed books. I think I head the Borders rep say 150 people were there. I spotted local cartoonists Richard Thompson and Jason Rodriguez (whose Postcards book is coming out soon), Scott, cIndy blogger Chris Shields, SPX organizer Warren Bernard and OSU Comic curator Jenny Robb. I bought all the books I hadn't by the group and if I wasn't so tired, I'd list them for you. And yes, I got them all signed.

Cartoonists Rights Network dinner

Last night, thanks to the generosity of John Lent, I attended the
Cartoonists Rights Network dinner of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists. I may expand this post later, but I'll just note that the four after-dinner speakers were excellent. The Canadian Ambassador spoke about Canada's commitment to free speech (but not to hate speech - slippery slope there). Iranian turned Canadian cartoonist Nik Kosar, a previous winner of the CRN yearly award was there and noted that he had just been reunited with his family, four years after he was forced to flee Iran. Fleming Rose spoke on the Danish Islam cartoon controversy; at an earlier session he made the salient point, "It is individuals, not religions, who enjoy human rights." In this session, he warned strongly against capitulating on free speech issues.

Jonathan "Zapiro" Shapiro of South Africa was presented with this year's award and discussed being sued by a South African politician for $2 million dollars due to three cartoons claimed defamatory. He's fighting it of course, but also told us about his earlier career as an anti-apartheid cartoonist. An article about his award is in his newspaper
"Zapiro's truth to power lauded" Mail & Guardian 6 July 2007.

The evening ended with political humorist Will Durst cracking up all the gathered editorial cartoonists. Pictures hopefully will follow.

Dave Astor posted his take on it -
Shapiro Receives 'Courage in Editorial Cartooning' Prize -- Will Durst Speaks
By Dave Astor
Published: July 07, 2007 9:45 AM ET

AAEC in Washington - Dave Astor's got the story

The editorial cartoonists are in DC for their con, and Editor and Publisher's Dave Astor's got the stories.

Editorial Cartoonists Discuss: Can Their Profession Survive?
By Dave Astor
Published: July 05, 2007 7:00 PM ET

Longtime Cartoonist Jerry Robinson Co-Authors New Musical
By Dave Astor
Published: July 05, 2007 3:20 PM ET


Helen Thomas Praises Cartoonists for Not Fearing 'The Truth'
By Dave Astor
Published: July 05, 2007 10:40 PM ET


Dana Priest Thanks AAECers for Walter Reed Scandal Cartoons
By Dave Astor
Published: July 05, 2007 3:35 PM ET

July 5: Special comics feature in free Express! UPDATED

I got a tip last week that there would be something interesting comics-wise in Thursday's Express (the free paper in the yellow bins). It's a full color page strip by Matt Bors on Cartoonists with Attitude and then an article on the group with is in town for the AAEC convention.

I picked up a bunch should an out-of-town reader (are there any besides Journalista?) really really desire one.

July 16 Train Man manga movie

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


CONTACT: Misako ITO , 202-238-6949 misakoito@emjapan.org

The Japanese Information and Culture Center Present: Train Main

TRAIN MAN:
DENSHA OTOKO
Monday July 16th
6:30 PM
Japan Information & Culture Center

A quiet, young computer programmer decides to step out of his shell and stand up to a lecherous drunk harassing a young woman on one of Tokyo’s many trains. The Otaku (geek) then finds himself in the unfamiliar position of interacting with the grateful and attractive woman. With no knowledge of how to even talk to a girl, he enlists the help of an online forum to pursue his new love. Can his rag-tag group of chat buddies find a way to transform him into the man of her dreams?

TRAIN MAN: DENSHA OTOKO was inspired by true events on a popular online bulletin board in Japan called 2ch. It was then made into a manga series, novel and even a play. It was also turned into a hugely popular television series.

In Japanese with English subtitles 105 minutes

This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are required.
RSVP to jiccrsvpsummer07@embjapan.org
Japan Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan
Lafayette Center 1155 21Pst PSt NW Suite M200 Washington DC 20036
202-238-6949 www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jicc

This showing of TRAIN MAN: DENSHA OTOKO is made possible by VIZ Pictures
http://www.trainman-movie.com/

AAEC report with DC cartoonists quotes

A good article on the state of editorial cartooning can be found in "Trying Times In Toontown" by Randy Barrett, National Journal, Monday, July 2, 2007. Barrett talks to Tom Toles and Ann Telnaes on the local front, and many of the same points (and cartoons) were made in last night's Cartoonapalooza.

Post censors Tom the Dancing Bug - AAEC breaking news

At tonight's Cartoonapalooza session, Reuben Bolling said the Post won't be running this week's Tom the Dancing Bug strip on Dick Cheney. It's not online yet, but enjoy last week's excellent King George strip, a clipping of which I got signed by Bolling tonight. Bolling showed the censored strip which was of Cheney killing his aides when they brought bad news. The Post has a pattern of censoring comics more than other pieces as I reviewed here a few months ago.

Links, more description of the event and fuzzy pictures to follow.

Washington DC gets a Kwik-E-Mart!

Well, Bladensburg really. Still, it's close, but it's Maryland?! Does that mean that Springfield, VA is not the home of the Simpsons? Surely the 495/95/395 mixing bowl Beltway merge was designed by Homerians.

The Washington Post has the story too. There's a picture in the print version.

Richard's Poor Almanack on the transformation of Dick Cheney UPDATED

My wife, not a comics aficionado, really really liked this Saturday's panel on Dick Cheney's embodiment of the Heisenberg uncertaintity princle - he's not part of the Executive Branch, not part of the Legislative Branch, so what is he? She liked it so much I'm making photocopies so she can hang one up and mail one to her father.

It's not online yet (sigh - does the Post think you're going to run out and buy a 2-day old paper?) but you can see last week's Beach Houses.

Richard Thompson stalkers will be able to find him (and me) at tomorrow night's Cartoonapalooza.

July 4th update - it's online now. At the Cartoonpalooza event, many people were complementing Richard on this strip. Also this week, Doonesbury's been running strips on Cheney and the 4th branch, as did yesterday's Candorville.

Public Service Announcement on New Comic Book Day

Thursday July 5th is new comic book day this week. However, Big Planet is still having a 20% off sale on Wednesday.

Does anyone besides me fondly remember Friday as new comic day? I much preferred getting them on Friday evening and then staying up late reading them in bed. Who can do that on a Wednesday?

Belle Yang in Post's Book World

Stringer Rick B. reports that there's a two-page full color strip by Belle Yang in Sunday's Post Book World. He's one of those types who gets his Sunday inserts on Saturday. "Her cartooning style is nice and the coloring is rather pleasant," says Rick.

Here's the article about her, and the accompanying comic strip.

Local cartoonists finalists in Platinum comic book contest

Jon and Dave Milstein of Falls Church have had their comic book selected among 50 finalists in Platinum Studios’ Comic Book Challenge - see "Comic Book Guys Try to Knock Judges 'Dead' in Competition" by Jeff Dooley, Falls Church VA News-Press Thursday, 28 June 2007.

Good luck, gentlemen!

Library of Congress and SWANN FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES TWO FELLOWS FOR 2007 2008

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington DC 20540
Phone: (202) 707-2905
Fax: (202) 707-9199
Email: pao@loc.gov

June 29, 2007

Press contact: Donna Urschel (202) 707-1639, durschel@loc.gov
Public contact: Martha Kennedy (202) 707-9115, mkenn@loc.gov

SWANN FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES TWO FELLOWS FOR 2007 2008

The Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, administered by the Library of Congress, has selected Ellen Berg and Prudence Peiffer to receive Swann Foundation fellowships for 2007-2008.

Berg completed her doctorate in American history at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2004 and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Rothermere American Art Institute at the University of Oxford. She will receive fellowship support for her research project “Where Have You Gone, Miss Columbia: American Identity and Uncle Sam’s Forgotten Partner.” Berg will draw on her training in social history and skills in art history as she explores how depictions of Columbia and Uncle Sam developed, the ensuing disappearance of Columbia, and how this came to represent a major shift in American nationalism and identity. The Library’s collections of original caricature drawings and prints contain many relevant examples.

Peiffer, a doctoral candidate in art history at Harvard University, was awarded a fellowship that will support her work on her dissertation "Routine Extremism: Ad Reinhardt and Modern Art." Reinhardt (1913-1967) used the term “routine extremism” to refer to a code of living that would unite aesthetic ritual and everyday routine, as well as political responsibility and artistic detachment. Peiffer asserts that no aspect of Reinhardt’s art was more central to this concept than his numerous cartoon collages, which were published over four decades in such periodicals as P.M., The New Masses and ArtNews. Peiffer will study cartoons by Reinhardt’s contemporaries, including works by Miguel Covarrubias (1903-1957), whose influence on Reinhardt merits more research and development. The Library’s collections include exemplary holdings of Covarrubias’ original work, as well as original drawings by other cartoonists who also published their work in the same periodicals as Reinhardt during the same period.

This year the foundation’s advisory board awarded two fellowships, at $7,500 each, instead of one (usually with a stipend of $15,000), owing to an unusually large number of strong applications.

As Swann fellows, Berg and Peiffer will be required to make use of the Library’s collections and be in residence for at least two weeks during the award period. Each fellow also will deliver a public lecture on her work in progress during the award period.

New York advertising executive Erwin Swann (1906 1973) established the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon in 1967. An avid collector, Swann assembled a large group of original drawings by more than 500 artists, spanning two centuries, which his estate bequeathed to the Library of Congress in the 1970s. Swann’s original purpose was to build a collection of original drawings by significant creators of humorous and satiric art and to encourage the study of original cartoon and caricature drawings as works of art. The foundation’s support of research and academic publication is carried out in part through a program of fellowships.

# # #

PR07-142
6/29/07
ISSN: 0731-3527

July 3: Cartoonapalooza repost

Ok, Richard Thompson and I have bought our tickets. Anyone else?

You can buy tickets here and I don't think the AAEC will mind if I reproduce their blurb:

Cartoonapalooza: Fireworks in Pen and Ink!

Cartoonapalooza! Meet prize-winning political cartoonists from across the country as they discuss their most controversial cartoons.
Date: Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: Renaissance Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington DC 20036
Phone: 202-232-5300
Ticket Price: $25 in advance/$35 at door

Why did Tom Toles of The Washington Post get dressed down by the Joint Chiefs of Staff? How did Ted Rall invoke the wrath of a legion of 9/11 widows? Why did a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Atlanta take out a half-page ad to apologize for a Mike Luckovich cartoon? Meet ten of the nation's best political cartoonists as they discuss their most controversial cartoons. Cartoonapalooza, the kick-off event for the 50th anniversary convention of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC), is a rare opportunity for the public to meet prize-winning political cartoonists from across the country as they discuss their most controversial cartoons. Join Tom Toles, Ted Rall, Mike Peters, Mike Luckovich, Rob Rogers and five other brilliant, ground-breaking editorial artists as they talk politics, the election, Bush and beyond. The public is invited to a cocktail reception before the panel discussion to meet the artists. Door prizes at the reception will include signed original cartoons and books. The proceeds from this event will go to support Newspapers In Education's "Cartoons for the Classroom" program, a non-profit program that provides editorial cartoon-related lesson plans for teachers. Cartoonapalooza is the must-attend event of the year for all political buffs and cartoon aficionados!
Featured Cartoonists:

* Ted Rall, Universal Press Syndicate
* Tom Toles, Washington Post
* Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution
* Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News
* Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
* Jack Ohman, The Oregonian
* Ruben Bolling, Tom the Dancing Bug
* Ann Telnaes, Cartoonists and Writers Syndicate
* Keith Knight, The K-Chronicles
* Mark Fiore, Animated Political Cartoonist

This should be a lot of fun. I've heard 2/3 of the speakers and they've all been interesting. Keith Knight and Ted Rall are particularly... what's that word... articulate? Nah, I think it was opinionated. But I would imagine all the speakers are since you probably can't be an editorial cartoonist otherwise.

The whole conference schedule and registration info can be found here.

David Macaulay interview on Express site.

He's not exactly a cartoonist, although judging from this drawing of topiary presidental monuments, he could be. "Ink and Mortar: David Macaulay"
by Express contributor Glenn Dixon, Express at 12:27 AM on June 29, 2007

Photo courtesy National Building Museum

DC comics writer John Daniels interviews Septagon Studios head

You can read it at "Interview with Nick Defina" by John L. Daniels, Jr., Comiccritique.com, 2007-06-27.

The interview is about the new studio's new comic book, Scorn.

July 7: Cartoonists with Attitude in DC

Cartoonists with Attitude arrive in DC

This coming week is a good time to remember the foundations of this country especially the freedoms of the Bill of Rights and the first Amendment.

Their local publicist Warren B states, "All these people are primo political cartoonists, even if they are Sons and Daughters Of The Terrorists Who Undermine The Foundations The Founding Fathers Fought For" and he's absolutely right. I'll be there even though I live in the suburbs. That's how much I want to see this.

What - DC: Slideshow w/ Ted Rall, Keith Knight, Ruben Bolling, Stephanie McMillan, Mikhaela Reid, Masheka Wood, Jen Sorensen, Matt Bors, Brian McFadden, Ben Smith and August Pollak! @ Borders 18th & L Streets NW Washington, DC 20006 • 202.466.4999.

When - Sat Jul 7 2pm - Sat Jul 7 3:30pm

Ever wonder what Nick Galifianakis looks like?

Nah, me either. But for the curious, he drew himself for yesterday's (June 27) Ask Caroline column in the Post's style section.

...and I got to a scanner so here's the pic.

Chemtoons

My friend Warren, a collector of fine cartoon books, just wrote in, "Now, the New Yorker has put out cartoon compendiums on dogs, cats, lawyers, technology, baseball and art, amongst others. But how in the world could they have overlooked chemists? Back in 1955, someone beat them to the punch! Attached are scans of possibly the only book of cartoons dedicated to chemistry. George Lichty, Don Flowers, Alan Dunn and a plethora of cartoonists from the magazines of the day like Collier's all have their say about our under appreciated Mixers of Molecules."





Personally, I think Bob Mankoff will cover ever topic possible, but in the meantime, enjoy this sample of one more example from Warren's secret history of comic art.

Today's new acquisition - Jo Fischer's From Nine to Five

While attempting to find something else entirely, I ran across this piece of original comic art - so I bought it.



The strips is From Nine to Five by Jo Fischer from December 4, 1950. According to Allan Holtz's Stripper's Guide it ran from June 17, 1946 until sometime in 1971. For our younger readers, as the bookstore's note on the back helpfully read, "The applied toning film is usually called Zipatone." Also the gag might not be obvious anymore. Once upon a time, before sexual harassment training, there was a whole genre of gag cartoons about bosses seducing (or preying on, depending on your viewpoint) one's (definitely female) secretary. One can see the New Yorker's Cartoon Bank for more examples, I'm sure. (Oh, yeah, that works.) So, getting back to this cartoon, the secretary is turning tables by implying that she'd like to be hit on by the boss. Ahhh, the good old days.

And speaking of John Lent and the International Journal of Comic Art

John Lent in his room devoted to world cartooning especially that of Asia.

This is the complete text of a book review that I have in the current issue, 9:1, Spring 2007.

John Lent’s Comic Art Bibliographies – An Appreciation

Comic Art of Europe Through 2000: An International Bibliography. Praeger Publishers, 2003, 1089 pages in two volumes. ISBN-10: 0275982203.

Comic Art in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Latin America through 2000: An International Bibliography. Praeger Publishers, 2004, 722 pages. ISBN-10: 0313312109.

Comic Art of the United States through 2000, Animation and Cartoons: An International Bibliography. Praeger Publishers, 2005, 624 pages. ISBN-10: 0313312133.

Comic Books and Comic Strips in the United States through 2005: An International Bibliography. Praeger Publishers, 2006, 356 pages. ISBN-10: 0313338833.

Cartoonists, Works, and Characters in the United States through 2005: An International Bibliography. Praeger Publishers, 2006, 568 pages. ISBN-10: 0313312125.

I can’t write a disinterested review of John’s bibliographic achievement – in my small way, I’ve attempted to create a bibliography on comics as well, and have cooperated with John on both his and my projects, as well as in the pages of this Journal, and he’s mentioned me in the introductions to these volumes. If I had paid more attention at the Georgetown Manga Conference (now claimed as the first International Comic Arts Forum nee Festival) when John announced his project, my co-author John Bullough and I would never have started our online Comics Research Bibliography. In the 1990s, John published four volumes of citations. From 2004-2006, he added six more volumes, bringing the 10-volume total to 85,106 citations, arranged in by continent, country, media and subject order. This work is even more astonishing when you consider that he began it before computers were widely available, especially in libraries, and to this day he neither types nor uses a computer directly himself.

Lent’s work may be comparable to that of John Shaw Billings and the creation of the Index Catalogue of the Surgeon General’s Library in the nineteenth century. Like Billings did with medicine, Lent has attempted to capture every citation relevant to his subject. Billings’ work set the standard for what became the National Library of Medicine and its collections; perhaps an ambitious librarian may attempt the task of getting all the articles cited by John gathered in one place. It would be a marvel of a research library. John has also included ephemera in these pages – the fugitive material like conference papers and Convention booklets and exhibit brochures that may be helpful, but can be very hard to find, let alone know they exist.

John’s bibliographies may eventually be eclipsed by online bibliographies – he predicts as much in the introductions to the last volumes -- but there was no internet when he started. John’s tireless work in the field has led to amazing statistics like these:

All told, the ten volumes include 85,106 citations covering 144 countries. The United States accounted for 42,232 entries, broken down by comic books and comic strips, 25,416; and animation, gag, magazine, and political cartoons, 16,816. There were 26,172 sources on comic art of 41 European countries, 12,002 on 28 Asian countries, 2,306 on Central and South America’s 17 countries; 1,118 on Canada; 790 on Africa (28 countries), 688 on Australia and Oceania (six islands); 409 on Middle East (11 countries), and 466 on 11 Caribbean territories. In the first four bibliographies, 29,105 citations appeared; the number increased to 56,001 in the most recent six books. (Comic Books and Comic Strips, p. vii-viii)

These numbers may be equaled eventually, but the groundbreaking nature of John’s achievement obviously cannot. In addition to the numbers, John provided intellectual organization to the subject. His project is carefully broken down into discrete projects to manage the data. For example, in the 2006 Comic Books and Comic Strips through 2005 volume, one can drill down to a subject like “Sidekicks” this way – Comic Books – Content, Form – Genres and Types – Sidekicks to find “Shining a Spotlight on Sidekicks” from the Comics Buyer’s Guide in 2000.

As with any project of this size, errors creep in and John would have benefited from another pair of eyes reading the manuscript. A small section in Comic Books and Comic Strips in the United States through 2005, under Comic Books - Media, Popular Culture Connections – Radio (p. 267) has seven entries in it. Two of these have nothing to do with radio. An article on Archie Comics' 1960s imprint Radio Comics is misfiled here, as is an article on DC's Sandman Mystery Theatre comic book. Surprisingly enough, the other five entries are actually on radio which has not had a major cross-influence with comic books for four decades. The citation on Radio: An Illustrated Guide could also, and perhaps more appropriately, have been filed under 'Jessica Abel' since she did the comic book. These three entries also point to Lent’s relative lack of knowledge about American comic books as opposed to comic art in the rest of the world. I do not believe that he has indexed Wizard, the American superhero-loving magazine at all either.

A pair of extra eyes such as myself, or Gene Kannenberg, Jr. (Comics Scholarship Annotated Bibliographies at ComicsResearch.org) or Randy Scott (The Reading Room Index : an Index to the Holdings of the Michigan State University Libraries Comic Art Collection) would have caught Green Lantern’s alter-ego Hal Jordan being cited as a cartoonist, or misspelling Alison Bechdel’s name as Becktel and putting her under Comic Book Creators, which until the publication of 2006's Fun Home, she was not, having instead done the Dykes to Watch Out For comic strip for over a decade. I could probably continue to find mistakes like this, but what’s the point? The real point is that John was doing these bibliographies when no one else was, with the possible exception of the late Jerry Bails' Who’s Who of American Comic Books database which dates back to the 1960s as well. John still maintains a wider scope than any other similar project, including those of institutions devoted to comic art. As Gene Kannenberg, Jr. recently wrote to me, “these books point out to us stupid monolingual Americans that there's a whole world out there - and, hell, look at all the comics they have, and all that's been written about them! Granted, that might have been more of a boon to his first editions than to the newest bunch (given how the growth of the Internet has shrunk the globe a bit), but it's still a monumental specific achievement: a concrete manifestation of John's evangelical zeal in learning about the whole world and sharing that world with his country's scholars.”

As John turned seventy this past year he has maintained a busy schedule that would break a lesser man, including teaching at Temple University and two Chinese universities, editing Asian Cinema and this Journal. As a result, some lack of proper indexing and cross-referencing resulted. Any comics scholar who buys his own copy of a relevant volume (and those of us serious about studying the art form should) might be advised to take a pencil and annotate the volumes with cross-referencing linking, for example, cartoonist Harvey Pekar to his publications American Splendor and Our Cancer Year. However, I firmly believe that no single individual (and not Google or its like either) will ever compile as wide-ranging and comprehensive set of bibliographies, in spite of easier access due to the internet. Perhaps we’ll see a large project, run as a cooperative like the Grand Comic Book Database – Pete Coogan at least has proposed one for indexing of articles on comics – but if so, we’ll be standing on the shoulders of John Lent.

Michael Rhode

International Journal of Comic Art's biggest issue ever available now

Here's 4 scans of the table of contents of the new Spring vol 9, #1, 755-page, $30/2 issues academic journal. This issue concentrates on Kibyoshi manga and Australian cartooning, but also has articles on Eisner, Africa, Ghost in the Shell anime, Belgian comics, Indonesian Comics, Lalo Alcaraz's La Cucaracha, a queer reading of the X-Men and a really excellent exhibit reviews section. Click on the images for a readable version.





How can you go wrong? Order today.

An individual subscription for one year (two issues) is US$30; institutions, $40.
Back Issues are available at same rates.

Payment must be made by check or international money order in U.S. dollars
payable to John A. Lent/IJOCA.

Subscriptions should be sent to

John A. Lent,
669 Ferne Blvd.,
Drexel Hill, PA 19026
USA.

Paul Levitz interview on Kirby on Express website

Scott Rosenberg keeps cranking out the articles - see Mister Miracle: Jack Kirby's Fourth World.

July 4th Big Planet 21st anniversary sale

"We're legal!" - gotta love that. I don't want to even imagine how much I've spent in 21 years. I'm the original box 45 subscriber.

obligatory Richard Thompson mention

Well, Richard wasn't in yesterday's Post Health section so I guess his plan for taking over the Post is going a little more slowly than I expected. However, he did have a caricature in the July 2nd New Yorker, the one with the nice Staake Statue of Liberty cover.

Fred Van Lente in DC

Chris Shields, of the cIndy.com interview podcast site (linked on the right), reports, "I had lunch with Fred Van Lente at Zola earlier today. The attached picture is in front of the National Portrait Gallery where he is doing some research for his upcoming "Action Presidents" title. He was heading over to the "Hall of Presidents"...

Van Lente does the excellent Action Philosophers comic book filled with hard-hitting Kantian action. Visit his blog where he reports that he was in town for the ALA convention and mentions the new title.

"Bush Leaguers: Cartoonists Take on the White House" exhibit opens soon

Dave Astor reports 'AAEC Editorial Cartoon Show Opens This Saturday in D.C E&P Online, June 26, 2007.

The exhibit of political cartoons sponsored by the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists is at American University's Katzen Arts Center. It should be good.