Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Reviews for three local exhibits

Here are reviews for the fall issue of the International Journal of Comic Art that I just turned in tonight. I'm posting them here first because I usually say that I'll be doing a more complete review, but don't get around to it until the last minute. 2 of these shows are gone, but the Herblock exhibit is still up and well worth seeing.

Scrooged! Arnold Blumberg, Andy Herschberger, and John K. Snyder Jr. Baltimore, MD: Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, February 29-May 31, 2008. http://www.geppismuseum.com/


Thanks to the generosity of curator Arnold Blumberg, I saw this exhibit almost a month before it officially opened. All the artwork had been hung, but its final form was different with more labeling and information. Carl Barks was the focus of the exhibit – the title derives from Uncle Scrooge, Barks’ most enduring creation for Disney. The exhibit was rather diffuse, not focusing on any particular aspect of either Scrooge or Barks. It included the complete original artwork for the Scrooge story “North of the Yukon,” oil paintings of the Disney Ducks, oil paintings of landscapes from the 1960s, prints of “Famous Characters In Fictions As Waterfowl,” i.e. Robin Hood as a anthropometric duck, from when Disney was not permitting Barks to paint their ducks, pencil sketches of Disney work, and Another Rainbow objects such as a Faberge egg with Scrooge inside. All the items exhibited are apparently owned by museum founder and Diamond Distributors owner Steve Geppi.

Certainly displaying the entire original “North of the Yukon” artwork is justification enough for a small exhibit on Barks, and I enjoyed this show even though it did not really hold together. See Barks’ small landscapes which were obviously done for his own pleasure, scenes as so many cartoonists do in their retirement, was satisfying. Seeing him draw rather sexy dancing female ducks was odd, but interesting. Blumberg said to me, “I found it most fascinating looking at the paintings. There’s something really luminescent in the way the characters leap off the painting. It’s so much more than a casual viewer expects from a cartoonist.” Blumberg may be selling many cartoonists a bit short, but there is a peculiar fascination in seeing Donald Duck rendered using Old Master techniques, and the exhibit was worth visiting to see examples of Barks’ art beyond the pages of the comic book.

The museum’s current exhibit is “Out of the Box” – a playroom for the type of toys that will eventually make it into the Museum.


Heroes of the Negro League. Mark Chiarello, Michael Barry and Leslie Combemale. Reston, VA: ArtInsights, March 29-May 30, 2008. http://www.artinsights.com/

This exhibit is reviewed by virtue of Chiarello’s position as art editor for DC Comics. In 1990, Chiarello, in collaboration with his best friend Jack Morelli, created baseball cards for forgotten baseball players from the Negro Leagues, who had never had cards in America before. These paintings were watercolors over pencil that were based on photographs. The exhibit came about as the paintings were collected in a book, Heroes of the Negro Leagues (Abrams, 2007; $19.95, ISBN-10: 0810994348). Chiarello and Morelli did research at Cooperstown and the Schomburg Center in Harlem, and Chiarello painted the images from photographs and, surprisingly baseball cards – which had been issued in Cuba and Venezuela for some of the players.

Gallery co-owner Leslie Combemale interviewed Chiarello for a March 10th press release that is no longer on the gallery’s website. An exchange on Chiarello’s techniques is worthy of reprinting here:

LC- The Negro Leagues players portraits have a depth that goes beyond just (an image) How do you find the perfect picture to use?
MM- I can look through 200 or more pictures and only one is just right. With my portraits, I try to let the viewer know who that person is, just by looking in their eyes. I think the Cool Papa Bell is the most successful at that...it's why I chose it for the cover. I know the moment I find the right picture for reference, and I'll keep looking as long as it takes...
LC- Once you find that picture, how do you proceed from there?
MC- I pencil it out as tightly as I can. It’s my roadmap, so there's not much guesswork. After that I just try to get out of the way.
LC- I see your two styles of painting as so different from each other. One being the watercolor you used for the Negro League illustrations and the other the style you paint in oil, used for the Star Wars Celebration "Enlist Now" propaganda limited edition. I think of watercolors as unforgiving, hard to do, and hard to control.
MC- A lot of people say that and I disagree. Maybe it can't be controlled, but that's what's so great about it. After I pencil the image in, painting in watercolor is all about feel, control is beside the point. Your brain has to stay out of it and you have to stay out of the way of the paint. It becomes itself.
LC- What do you mean by that?
MC- For me it becomes about the emotional connection between the artist, the subject, and the wetness of the paint. The watercolor helps you-
LC- If you know what you're doing...
MC- Watercolor is in the moment. It flows into weird shapes and if you corral these shapes, they form the person's face. But you'll never see it if you have expectations or try to control the outcome too much from the beginning. With watercolor, once you have the roadmap a drawing creates, you've done most the work. After that you just have to enjoy the ride...Really my two styles are diametrically opposed. When I paint in oil it's very cerebral, I have to map the entire piece out from start to finish. It’s very precise work. Watercolor is all about flow.

Chiarello was also featured in the April issue of Juxtapose magazine for anyone who would like more details on this project; the paintings were technically excellent and appealing and the exhibit was worth seeing.

The gallery, which sells artwork (including the Negro League paintings) had other items of interest to IJOCA readers. There was an original story book artwork page from Snow White as well as an original movie cel with a background. Other cels from Lady and the Tramp, The Fox and the Hound, Aristocats, Fantasia and Peanuts lined the walls. Combemale told me that for fourteen years the focus of the gallery had been on animation, but recently they were widening their scope. "Tim Rogerson's World of Disney Color," their next exhibit, opens on July 12th.

Herblock’s Presidents: ‘Puncturing Pomposity’. Sidney Hart. Washington, DC: National Portrait Gallery, May 2-November 30, 2008.

Herbert ‘Herblock’ Block died in 2001, but his images linger on in Washington, at least partly because his estate donated over 10,000 of his cartoons to the Library of Congress with the proviso that they be displayed regularly. Curator Sidney Hart, a historian by trade, undertook the current exhibition and did a very credible job. Hart made two key decisions to define the show – it would be on presidents and the cartoon had to be negative. Hoover was not included because he “didn’t fit the theme of our show.” The two decisions had three points backing them up – 1.) Herblock’s presidential cartoons were among his most powerful, 2.) a negative cartoon was a more constructive force and, 3.) the exhibit went into the Presidential Gallery space.

The show was arranged by president beginning with Roosevelt. Herblock’s line was visibly smoother and he used the texture of the paper for shading. On the gallery tour, Hart pointed out some of his favorite cartoons. In one on McArthur and Truman, Truman is on a treadmill that McArthur is pulling in a different direction. For Eisenhower, Herblock drew him in a boat, blowing on a paper sale, while not running the motor on the boat. Another Eisenhower cartoon featured Herblock’s hated foe, Senator McCarthy, who is shown mugging the State Department and the Army, while Eisenhower is told, “Relax – he hasn’t gotten to you yet.” Hart noted the curious omission of no Kennedy cartoon for the Bay of Pigs; the JFK cartoons were usually positive so it was harder to find ones for the exhibit. Herblock’s best cartoon of Lyndon Johnson, from January 6, 1967 read “That’s a little better, but couldn’t you do it in luminous paint.” It showed Johnson looking at a painting of himself and referred to his official White House portrait -- which showed a heroic Johnson, but since LBJ did not like it, it rests in the next gallery over in the Portrait Gallery. Herblock’s Nixon cartoons were among his most famous – the exhibit included ones of Vice President Spiro Agnew in a sewer and the Saturday Night Massacre when Justice Department investigators of the Watergate break-in were fired on Nixon’s orders.

The Ford cartoon that Hart focused on showed both the President and the economy going to hell in a hand basket. Reflecting Block’s fondness for Alice in Wonderland, Jimmy Carter was depicted as the Cheshire Cat. One of the Carter cartoons showed an amazing detail from Block’s working methods – the paste-up corrections were done on mailing labels! Reagan and Nixon got the most cartoons with five each. Reagan was the president that Block disliked the most and his cartoons showed it. Clinton disappointed Herblock and his cartoons frequently showed Clinton with mud from scandals on him.

There was one major flaw in this exhibit for viewers. Some cartoons were matted badly and had their titles covered, or had no titles on them. The June 28, 1990 cartoon of George H.W. Bush crossing a bridge labeled “no new taxes” makes little sense without its caption “Anyhow, it got us across.” Frequently the individual cartoon labels, while full of historical information, were no where near the piece they were describing.

Also on display were Block’s Pulitzer Prize from 1941, a Reuben Award from 1956 and his Presidential Medal of Freedom from 1994 as well as some of his art supplies. A kiosk in the corner had hundreds more cartoons on it. The exhibit had only forty cartoons in it, but they were well selected. The exhibit was of the artwork, not necessarily the content, and seeing the cartoons on a screen detracted from the ideal of the museum in this reviewer’s opinion. As a museum curator myself, I would have stuck the kiosk in the exhibit as well since one always feels that more information is better, but it was not really needed in the show. I believe it became technically possible this year as the Herblock Foundation is planning on issuing a book with an accompanying DVD of 16,000 cartoons for Block’s 100th birthday next year.

Herblock: Drawn from Memory was an accompanying program by Hart who moderated with Pulitzer prize-winning Washington Post reporter Haynes Johnson, Washington Post editorial writer Roger Wilkins and Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist Tony Auth. The three men mainly talked about Herblock’s mid-career at the Post, especially the Nixon and Johnson years. Block’s internationalist, and thus interventionalist, approach to foreign policy and the display of this in his cartoons was a particularly interesting part of the evening. Auth also made an extremely interesting observation. While Block was a good enough caricaturist to avoid labeling everyone, he still used labels on characters regularly. Auth said, “I was struck going through the exhibit here today – I always thought of cartoons as having kind of a half-life. They being to lose their power – and sometimes it’s a very long half-life and sometimes it’s eternal because it’s beyond the moment – but many cartoons have a relatively short half-life. I realized his use of labels extends that so that coming to a cartoon of his that was done forty years ago, you really can figure out what it’s about whereas a lot of cartoonists expend a lot of energy trying to get away from labels and they end up with cartoons that maybe a week, or two weeks later, you can’t figure out because you don’t know exactly what stimulated this drawing.” For those interested in the program, a recording of it can be found at http://www.archive.org/details/Herblock-drawnFromMemory

Overall Hart did an excellent job boiling down a massive amount of material to a coherent exhibit which, while not large, was well-done and informative.

July 12: "Tim Rogerson's World of Disney Color" at ArtInsights gallery in Reston

Co-owner Leslie Combemale posted on their website:

Also, we have Disney interpretive and 2006 official olympic poster artist Tim Rogerson coming to the opening weekend of his show "Tim Rogerson's World of Disney Color". Not sure honestly how many originals we'll be getting for the show as he just had a baby, but what we are getting is wonderful, and there'll be color concepts for his newest works which my clients get first dibs on, and the originals they are sending are really cool! He has a website of his Disney and non-Disney art, www.timrogerson.com. Let us know if you are interested in some of the art you see, and remember you can commission him when he's here!

The show starts on July 12th, and he'll be here 2-6 pm, along with Merrie Lasky, who has worked for Disney for many years and is now with Collectors Editions, who represents all Disney interpretive art. She will not only be helping out with orders for Tim, but will be onhand to explain the new Disney Fine Art Glass we just started carrying, that is gorgeous and very intricately designed and created.

Hancock reviews in today's papers

Both the Post and the NY Times gave so-so reviews to it.

"Man of Bent Steel: 'Hancock' Runs Into a Kryptonite Plot Twist and Loses Its Superpowers," By Stephen Hunter, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, July 2, 2008; C01.

"Able to Leap Tall Buildings, Even if Hung Over," By MANOHLA DARGIS, New York Times July 2, 2008.

I'm going out on a limb here and guess the twist that's referred to in both reviews:

Hunter: ...and then the movie takes the strangest turn in quite possibly movie history, which I will not disclose. It's as if the screenwriters were working in their bungalow one day, stuck on a plot point, and one said to the other, "What if --" and the other said, "No way," and the first said, "Okay, genius, you come up with something better!" and genius never did.

Dargis: The extent of that complexity doesn’t emerge until the big reveal, which involves Ms. Theron’s character and is so surprising that I heard several grown men loudly gasp. (“No way!”)

My guess, without anything beyond those two sentences, is that Theron's character is actually a superhero, just one who does things right and keeps a secret identity secret. Feel free to write in and let me know if I got it.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Kal is back, back, back in the USA

He reports on his trip on his blog at "Kal talks Cartoons in Azerbaijan" from June 29 2008.

Post likes local Lion King

See "The Circle Is Unbroken: 'Lion King' Still Roars," By Peter Marks, Washington Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, July 1, 2008; C01. Unfortunately for anyone who was waiting for a review, the story says it's sold out.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Monday's papers

The NY Times continues to be the paper of comic art, with at least four new articles:

"From Trash to Auction, Faster Than a Speeding ...Well, You Know," By GEORGE GENE GUSTINES, New York Times June 30, 2008 is on collecting original comic book art.

"In China, Jeers and Cheers for ‘Kung Fu Panda’," By DAVID BARBOZA, New York Times June 30, 2008.

"Free to Follow His Heart Right Back to 'Star Wars'," By DAVE ITZKOFF, New York Times June 29, 2008 on the coming Clone Wars cartoon movie.

"Google and Creator of 'Family Guy' Strike a Deal," By BROOKS BARNES, New York Times June 30, 2008.

and a local article, "DVD Review: 'Futurama: Beast With a Billion Backs'," by Rudi Greenberg, Express June 30 2008

Richmond comic book store profiled

See "Patrick Godfrey: We get 20 answers from the co-owner of Velocity Comics," by Ryan Brosmer, Richmond.com Monday, June 30, 2008.

SWANN FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES AWARDS FOR 2008‑2009

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
June 30, 2008

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

SWANN FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES AWARDS FOR 2008‑2009

The Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, administered by the Library of Congress, announces the awarding of academic grants to five applicants for the 2008-2009 Swann Fellowship: Marie-Stéphanie Delamaire, Mazie Harris, Jared Richman, Christina Smylitopoulos and Veronica White.

Because of an unusually large number of strong applications, the foundation’s advisory board chose to support five applicants with smaller awards instead of selecting a single recipient of the fellowship.

Delamaire, a doctoral candidate in art history and archaeology at Columbia University, will receive an award of $3,000 to support her research on the influence of French academic painting traditions on the work of Thomas Nast, a predominant American political cartoonist in the second half of the 19th century. In her dissertation, titled “Transatlantic Encounters: Franco-American Exchanges in the Civil War and Reconstruction Era,” she will contend that Nast, who collected prints of paintings by such artists as Paul Delaroche and Jean Léon Gérôme, used pictorial and technical conventions that characterize these and other French artists’ work in his compositions.

Harris, a doctoral candidate in the history of art at Brown University, will receive $3,500 for research for her dissertation titled, “A Colorful Union: Patriotic Caricature and Characterization in Henry Louis Stephens’ Civil War Chromolithographs.” In her study of this underappreciated graphic artist, she will analyze the vacillation between caricature and characterization in Stephens’ two chromolithographic series, published in 1863, and clarify his struggle to portray race relations as a motivation for the Union cause.

Richman will receive $2,000 for research into political caricature as part of the visual culture that shaped popular attitudes toward America during the Romantic Era. He plans to study prints in the Library’s collection of British satires to illuminate the conceptual treatment of America during the period before, during and after the Revolutionary War. Analysis of this material will inform a key part of his dissertation titled “Transatlantic Realms: The Idea of America in the British Literary Imagination.” Richman is a doctoral candidate in the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania.

Smylitopoulos, a doctoral candidate in art history and communication studies at McGill University, will receive $3,000 to support her research for her dissertation titled “A Nabob’s Progress: Graphic Satire, The Grand Master and British Excess, 1770-1830.” She intends to strengthen the broad art historical context for the figure of the nabob (a provincial governor in the Mogul empire in India, also often a person of great wealth or prominence) by conducting research in the Library’s outstanding holdings of British satires in the Prints and Photographs Division.

White, who will soon complete her doctorate in art history at Columbia University, will receive $2,000 to help underwrite work on postdoctoral research. Embarking on a new project titled, “Dangerous Domestics: Satirical Depiction of Wives in English Prints from 1745 to 1821,” she intends to identify and analyze the varied artistic treatments of married women during the Golden Age of British Satire through exploring the Library’s collection.

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.

# # #

PR08-122

6/30/08

ISSN: 0731-3527

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 07-02-08

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 07-02-08
By John Judy


(Good news! They’re all better than “Hancock!”)

ASTONISHING X-MEN #25 by Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi. If anyone can follow the imprisonment of Kitty Pryde in an asteroid-sized metal phallus it’s Warren “Internet Jesus” Ellis. Brace yourselves. Recommended.

ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #7 by Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard. Wolfie gets outed as a murderer! And he seemed like such a nice werewolf…

AVENGERS/INVADERS #3 of 12 by Alex Ross, Jim Kreuger and Steve Sadowski. Only nine more to go til it stops.

BATMAN #678 by Grant Morrison and Tony Daniel. Bruce is having a bad day and only has three more issues to get it together. Or 17 if you want to count all those crossover issues of other series you don’t otherwise read. Yeah, me neither. Nice try, DC.

BILLY BATSON AND THE MAGIC OF SHAZAM #1 written and drawn by Mike Kunkel. The creator of HEROBEAR takes the reins in this out-of-continuity tale of the original Captain Marvel, picking up where Jeff Smith left off at the end of “Monster Society of Evil.” Appropriate for all ages. Recommended.

BOYS #20 by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The true origins of the supers continue. Recommended. Not for the faint of gorge. Or kids. Ever.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #16 by Joss Whedon and Jo Chen. Buffy meets Fray and giant Dawn appears to be having giant cramps! Nuff said!

HELLBLAZER PRESENTS: CHAS - THE KNOWLEDGE #1 of 5 by Simon Oliver and Goran Sudzuka. Chas Chandler is a London cabbie and John Constantine’s oldest surviving friend. Can he use his knowledge of London’s streets and landmarks to defeat a Big Bad without the aid of his trench-coated pal? Gotta look.

HELLBOY: THE CROOKED MAN #1 of 3 by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben. Hellboy tries to save a man who sold his soul to a demon from West Virginia. Don’t laugh! That demon got the truck started real good!

NORTHLANDERS #7 by Brian Wood and Davide Gianfelice. It’s Go-Time for Sven the Viking as wicked Uncle Gorm decides to stop screwing around. Like “Hamlet” with less talk, more rock. Recommended.

PATSY WALKER: HELLCAT #1 of 5 by Kathryn Immonen and David Lafuente Garcia. The resurrected super-heroine has been tasked with defending Alaska from… whatever Alaska needs protecting from? Exxon-Mobil, maybe?

SQUADRON SUPREME 2 #1 written by someone who is not J. Michael Straczynski and drawn by someone who is not the guy who drew the cover. Okay, maybe they’re not all better than “Hancock.”

STEPHEN COLBERT’S TEK JANSEN #2 of 5 by People who are not Stephen Colbert. Why? Why? Why? (See above.)

TRINITY #5 by Kurt Busiek and Everyone. Okay, last issue was a big fight and a forgettable back-up story. Much as I like Busiek’s work elsewhere this is starting to smell like COUNTDOWN and it’s only issue five.

WALKING DEAD #50 by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard. Did Rick really kill himself? Will his son have to put him down for good? A stand-alone tale that no doubt will mess with whatever uneaten brains you have left. Recommended. NOT for kids.

www.johnjudy.net

Sunday, June 29, 2008

"What were they thinking?" department

Here's an American Express ad that's been running in the New York Times.


What are they trying to say here? "I own a comic book company so I can pay my Amex bill?" or "I collect comics, so I need an Amex card because they're expensive?"

Sketches from Heroes Con

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Chris Grine's Chickenhare sketch from Heroes Con.

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Aaron Renier's Spiral-Bound sketch from Heroes Con.

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Aaron Renier's King Arthur sketch from Heroes Con.

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Claire loved her Soup-erman doll handmade by Maris Wicks.

Kevin Rechin's DC Lottery cartoons

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I went to a Nationals game today (they lost in extra innings) and was the first to come up with pictures of Kevin Rechin's DC Lottery art that's used in ads in the subway. Here's some and the rest are on Flickr.

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Hellboy manhole covers!

Last night in Chinatown, or whatever they're calling that neighborhood now, I saw manhole covers that had Hellboy crawling out of them! Cool! It's actually a photograph stuck onto the real sewer cover of course. Didn't get a snap, but if anyone does, send it along.

Post on theater's animation adaptations

"A Roaring Success and Its Effects on Broadway: 'Lion King' Changed Everything, and the Stampede Isn't Over," By Nelson Pressley, Washington Post Sunday, June 29, 2008; M03.

To be honest, when these adaptations started they seemed like a really, really dumb idea. Why try to bring something to an earthbound stage when you've got unlimited imagination in animation? Not having seen one yet, I'm still unsure. But comic strips have been adapted to the stage and screen since forever (or the 1890s) so why should animation be any different?

Olsson's slides into bankruptcy (fixed to add link)

"Olsson's Braces For Chapter 11 Filing," By Anita Huslin, Washington Post Staff Writer, Saturday, June 28, 2008; Page D01. I was very sorry to see this. I've bought a lot of books at Olsson's, saw some great cartoonists including Joann Sfar (did I record that? I'll check and upload it if so), and like it as a local chain.

Heroes Con hangover

Richard had a table next to Stuart and Kathryn Immonen so I talked to them briefly. Ms. Immomen had some copies of her Hellcat comics at the table and it sounded interesting. Here's an interview about the new miniseries: "Hell's Belle," Lowdown by Tony Ingram, June 26, 2008.

Post reviews Pixar book

"Incredibles, Inc.: The story of how computer programmers transformed the art of movie animation." by Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post Book World Sunday, June 29, 2008; Page BW08

The book is:

THE PIXAR TOUCH
The Making of a Company
By David A. Price
Knopf. 308 pp. $27.95

Politics and Prose had the author last weekend, and probably still has signed copies. Also they sell a cd recording of the talks. Since I was at Heroes Con I bought the cd .

Saturday, June 28, 2008

AAEC touches on Washington issues

"At AAEC Confab, Cartoonist and Columnist Debate the Fate of Wrong-on-Iraq Pundits," by Dave Astor, E and P Online June 26, 2008.

I hope Dave won't mind if I repost the Herblock memory from that story, which is about editorial writer David Ignatius who was totally rolled by the Bush White House on Iraq, as I want to make a point off of it:

One of his strongest early Post memories was meeting Herblock and being thrilled that he became one of the people the editorial cartoonist would show his sketches to.

But one day Herblock showed Ignatius a cartoon idea in which King Hussein of Jordan was depicted in a very nasty way. "That's a little rough," said Ignatius -- and Herblock never came to him with a sketch again.

Speaking more generally of editorial cartoonists, Ignatius said he and other columnists are a little jealous of them. "You guys get to be caustic, irreverent, and crusading. We're pundits and, if we're in Washington, we're Beltway insiders. We use layers and layers of words. We wish we could be as quick and clean."


Roger Wilkins, an editorial writer for the Post during Watergate, made the exact same point about an editor at the Post being jealous of Herblock.

Herblock was also mentioned by Harry Katz at another panel - "Animated Discussion of Animation at Cartoon Confab," By Dave Astor, E and P Online June 27, 2008.

Tony Auth mentioned doing this at the Herblock event linked to in an earlier post. Graham was the publisher of the Washington Post - "Editorial Cartoonists Hear LBJ and Kay (Graham) on Tape," By Dave Astor, E and P Online June 27, 2008.

Friday's newspapers - Ed Arno, Wall-E and Wanted

In the local papers on Friday, one could find a lot of comics articles:

"Ed Arno, Cartoonist of New Yorker Whimsy, Is Dead at 92," By WILLIAM GRIMES, New York Times June 27, 2008 namechecks and quotes two bloggers, Michael Maslin and Mike Lynch. This is the first obituary I've seen that's taken information from blogs, I think.

Wall-E's all over the place:

"In a World Left Silent, One Heart Beeps," By A. O. SCOTT, New York Times June 27, 2008.

"From Pixar, A Droid Piece of Filmmaking," By John Anderson, Washington Post Friday, June 27, 2008; C01.

"'Wall•E's' world Strong visuals, comic brilliance can't save environmental fable," by Christian Toto, Washington Times Friday, June 27, 2008.

[this is longer than the print version...]
"Wall-E director Andrew Stanton," Interviewed by Tasha Robinson, Onion June 26th, 2008.

Millar and Jones' Wanted, based a comic that I hadn't read, was widely reviewed:

"'Wanted': This Angelina Jolie Is Not One for the Kiddies," By Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
Friday, June 27, 2008; C01.

"You Talkin' to Me, Boys? (Bang-Bang, My Pretties)," By MANOHLA DARGIS, New York Times June 27, 2008.

"Wanting more: A brotherhood of assassins fails to discover any deeper meaning," by Sonny Bunch, Washington Times Friday, June 27, 2008.

...a new tv cartoon - 'Three Delivery' - that I'll probably never see -

"With 3 You Get Egg Roll and a Side of Adventure," By MIKE HALE, New York Times June 27, 2008

...an animation voice was interviewed - the online version is much, much longer than the July 26th print one...


"Random Roles: Billy West," by David Wolinsky, June 18th, 2008.

Finally, it's online only this month, but the Onion also reviewed comic books...

"Comics Panel: June 27, 2008," Reviewed by Noel Murray, Keith Phipps, Tasha Robinson, Onion June 27th, 2008,

...and published this guide to Pixar...

"Primer: Pixar,"
by Donna Bowman, Noel Murray, Onion June 27th, 2008.

Whew! No wonder I'm two days late with this.

Herblock, Drawn from Memory panel recording

I caught the National Portrait Gallery's excellent panel on Herblock last night. Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, here's a link to download it. The NPG's description of the event read: The political cartoons of Herbert Lawrence Block (1909-2001), known by the pen name "Herblock," appeared in American newspapers for more than seventy years. National Portrait Gallery senior historian Sid Hart, Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Haynes Johnson, historian Roger Wilkins together with Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist Tony Auth, will join in a conversation about the life and work of one of the nation's greatest political cartoonists, Herblock.

More commentary to follow after I visit Afghanistan (at the National Gallery of Art) and Bhutan (Smithsonian Folklife Festival). Also Bruce Guthrie took photographs which I'll track down

Friday, June 27, 2008

July 25: Anime showing in DC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

DC Anime Club and Japan Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan
Present:Shinobi: Heart under blade

The DC Anime Club and the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC), Embassy of Japan Present the Shinobi : Heart under blade on Friday July 25 ,2008 at 6:30pm as part of the Anime Summer Series. A live-action ninja movie featuring two rising stars of Japanese cinema- Joe Odagiri and Yukie Nakama. Shinobi is about two rival ninja clans, the Koga and the Iga, who have honed their skills to super human levels. The screening will be held at the Japanese Information and Culture Center, Embasy of Japan located at Lafayette Center III 1155 21st Street, NW Washington, DC 20036-3308. Seating for the screening of Shinobi is limited and attendees are encouraged to rsvp by sending an e-mail to jiccrsvpspring08@embjapan.org.

This program is free and open to the public. For more information please visit the Japanese Information and Culture Center website at http://www.us.embjapan.go.jp/jicc/ or visit the DC Anime Club website
at http://dcanimeclub.org.

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 taxed 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.

About Japan Information and Culture Center:
The Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) is the cultural and public affairs section of the Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C. Our primary role is to promote better understanding of Japan and Japanese culture by providing a wide range of
information, educational services and programs to the public. The JICC is located on the lower level of the glass-enclosed Galleria at Lafayette Centre III in downtown Washington, D.C. Its facilities include a research library, a 152-seat auditorium, and a 1,500-square-foot exhibition gallery where a wide variety of events sponsored by the JICC are hosted throughout the year.

Comic Creators at Shore Leave Sci-Fi Con in B-More

Baltimore hosts the July 11-13, 2008 Shore Leave Sci-Fi Convention at the Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn. While I've never attended myself, they bring in comics and comics-related guests every year.

This year's media guests have all played characters represented in comics: David Hewlett (Stargate: Atlantis & Stargate: SG-1's Dr. Rodney McKay), George Takei (Star Trek's Lt. Hikaru Sulu, Heroes' Kaito Nakamura), Malcolm McDowell (Star Trek: Generations' Dr. Soran, Heroes' Mr. Linderman), Jewel Staite (Firefly's Kaylee Frye, Stargate: Atlantis's Dr. Jennifer Keller), Kate Hewlett (Stargate: Atlantis' Jeanie Miller), Mark Sheppard (Battlestar Galactica's Romo Lampkin, Bionic Woman's Anthony Anthos, Firefly's Badger, 24's Ivan Erwich), and W. Morgan Sheppard (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country's Klingon Commander, Babylon 5's Soul Hunter, Transformers' Captain Witwicky).

Their writer guest list is pretty long and broad, and includes a number of noteworthy names who have created comics work as well as sci-fi stories and novels, including: T.A. Chafin, Greg Cox, Peter David, Keith DeCandido, Michael Jan Friedman, Bob Greenberger, Jeffrey Lang, Polly Luttrull, David Mack (no, not the Kabuki one, the other one), Marco Palmieri, and Howard Weinstein.

Some of the other guests may also be part of the industry and I just don't know -- see the full list for more details!

Clifford Berryman exhibit press preview remarks

Here's another audio file. I found this again as I wrote my review for the International Journal of Comic Art, so I figured I'd make it available. It features the Archivist of the United States Howard Weinstein and the curators of the exhibit when the exhibit was previewed for the press.

Press preview remarks to the Clifford Berryman exhibit, "Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman" at the National Archives, Washington, DC from February 8 - August 17th, 2008.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Chris Oarr, former Silver Spring resident, on ADV Manga

Chris used to live just outside of DC in Silver Spring, frequented Big Planet Comics and organized SPX. And he left the area to run the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Here's a story about what he's up to now - "ADV Manga Is Still in the Picture," By Brigid Alverson -- Publishers Weekly, 6/23/2008.

Heroes Con Feldstein (and Friends) panel recording online

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Al Feldstein and Ben Towle

I've uploaded Craig Fischer and Ben Towle's panel to the Internet Archive as an mp3. Click on the link to download it.

NOT THE USUAL GANG OF IDIOTS: EC COMICS PANEL
Part 2: A Chat With Al Feldstein (and Friends)

Ben Towle and Craig Fischer host an in-depth interview with Al Feldstein, EC artist and writer and MAD MAGAZINE editor extraordinaire! Along for the ride is a pair of celebrity funsters - FRED THE CLOWN and FIN FANG FOUR cartoonist Roger Langridge and CUL DE SAC comic stripper Richard Thompson - ready to roast and grill Feldstein about The Lighter Side of Editing America's #1 Humor Magazine!

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Craig Fischer, Richard Thompson, Roger Langridge, Al Feldstein.

Comics in the Fairfax County Public Library system

I'm probably going to miss some of the entries they put in here, but I was flipping through the Fairfax County Public Library catalog of free events and other news tonight and noticed that a good number of branches have comics-oriented events. In the "For Teens" blurb, a bullet reads "Find your inner artist -- create comics with graphic artist Matt Dembicki". Matt's featured at quite a few branches actually. Take a look!

Burke Center:
Teens - Monday, July 21, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

Centreville Regional:
School Age - Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2:30 - Artful Doodles! A graphic artist presents drawing basics in this hands-on program. Age 6-12.
Teens - Thursday, July 17, 1:00 - Anime Afternoon. Anime and refreshments. Call for movie title. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Centreville Regional Library. Age 12-18.
Wednesday, July 30, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

Chantilly Regional:
Teens - Monday, June 7, 7:00/Monday, July 7, 7:00/Monday, Aug. 4, 7:00 - Monday Night Manga. Discuss your favorite manga and anime titles with other teens. Age 12-18.
Monday, July 14, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

City of Fairfax Regional:
Teens - Wednesday, July 9, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

George Mason Regional:
Teens - Monday, June 23, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

John Marshall:
Teens - Wednesday, Aug. 6, 6:00 - Anime Night. Come watch anime moview and discuss your favorites. Age 13-18.

Kings Park:
School Age - Thursday, June 26, 10:30 - Artful Doodles! A graphic artist presents drawing basics in this hands-on program. Age 6-12.

Kingstowne:
School Age - Wednesday, July 16, 10:30 - Artful Doodles! A graphic artist presents drawing basics in this hands-on program. Age 6-12.
Teens - Saturday, July 19, 2:30 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

Lorton:
Teens - Tuesday, July 15, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

Martha Washington:
Teens - Monday, July 7, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

Patrick Henry:
Teens - Saturdays, June 7 & 21, 11:00/Saturdays, July 5 & 19, 11:00/Saturdays, Aug. 2, 16, & 30, 11:00 - Manga Club. Manga, Anime and refreshments. Age 12-18.
Adults - Thursday, June 5, 7:00 - Manga and Japanese Pop Culture. Confused about manga? Why are these Japanese comics so popular in the U.S.? Charles Nguyen will present a rough guide to this literary medium and its import to the American market.

It is worth noting that there are a ton of other interesting programs available. Additionally, in the Teen Summer Reading List, under Fiction, are The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor (though I suspect this is the prose and not the comics/TPB), The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci, and American Born Chinese by Gene Yang, and in Non-Fiction, Flight, Volume Four by kazu Kibuishi and Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi.

Today's newspapers roundup

Cartoon Network's Dethklok animation series - "As Seen on TV: Dethklok" by Glenn Dixon, Express June 26, 2008

Wall-E review - "Droid to the World," by Tricia Olszewski, Washington City Paper June 26, 2008.

Zadzooks on the Hulk - "ZADZOOKS: Hulk, foe take rivalry to stores," by Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times Thursday, June 26, 2008.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

New York Times on Disney.com

"In Overhaul, Disney.com Seeks a Path to More Fun," By BROOKS BARNES, New York Times June 25, 2008.

The Walt Disney Company, concerned that its main Web site is too corporate and not fun enough, is moving once again to overhaul Disney.com.

Barnes is rapidly becoming one of my favorite animation writers.

Jim Dougan in new anthology

I still haven't met local cartoonist Jim Dougan, but Joel Pollack of Big Planet Comics told me today that his work will be appearing in No Formula: Stories from The Chemistry Set vol. 1, (Desperado) and you can order it from the June Previews using Jun083849 as your code. So I ordered it. My buddy Dean Haspiel appears to be in it as well.

Ullman and Hellman


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

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

Mark Wheatley interview online today

See "Interview: Mark Wheatley and Robert Tinnell on 'EZ Street'," by Rick Marshall, Wed Jun 25, 2008 for information on the Maryland cartoonist's latest work, the webcomic EZ Street.

Rory Root's memorial - guest column part 2

Here's Miron's remarks from the memorial:

Rory was the kind of knowledgeable reader who'd pick up a coverless comic and say, 'Atlas, I knew them well.'

He was a marvel who supported many of the industry's dark horses. His interests, as many speakers will attest, ran the spectrum from AC to DC, Archie to Zap, Little Lulu to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. For a celibate guy, he sure enjoyed a lot of sects.

I've known Rory for about 25 years. We first met as employees of Bob Beerbohm's 'Best of Two Worlds' comicbook shop, on Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, California. He understood the value and need of selling anything and everything. If there were a rainbow flag made from four colors Rory, a real life comic book guy, might have inspired it.

Some will say, 'He never grew up.'

I will say, 'Rory brought his childhood sweetheart forward through life and time. He bravely married his fortunes to the art that dared not speak it's name at a time when society shunned comicbook love. To the surprise of professional critics and cynical skeptics, they survived and prospered.

It was a good, independent life for them both. Like many happy couples they watched their children, named the Store and the Industry, grow, mature and have many successful children of their own. Tonight I see Rory, a loveable racantour, posed imitating a Grant Wood painting: He is Outstanding in his field.

Thank you Rory.

In realizing his dream he provided serious comic relief many.

Friends forever, pals for life.

Yours,
Miron Murcury

Rory Root's memorial - guest column

Our California correspondent Miron Mercury sent this in tonight:

June 21 the first day of summer was as hot as a barb on Q and the longest day in memory. My birthday and Rory Root's memorial shared the same heat drenched day.

Comic Relief, the famous Berkeley, California comicbook shop that Rory and Mike Patchen opened in April 1987, hosted the memorial party.

Hundreds of geeks and freaks, punks and hippies, parents with their children and children who found a home in the warm embrace of a comics store came to pay homage to a fallen brother.

The crowd littered the sidewalk like scree spilled from a mountain hidden in the store. The store floor was packed, resembling a crowded George Perez superhero poster. In attendance were heroes and heroines from many companies, countries and decades.
Ron Turner, still looking like himself, Joe Field, a founder of WonderCon, owner of Flying Colors, creator of Free Comics Day, and representatives of the Berkeley Downtown improvement

Everyone toasted Rory with stories and remembrances. Some people, actually lots of friends, toasted Rory with glasses drank in his memory. Salute. La Chaim. We drink to life.

The event felt like a warm fuzzy Viking's funeral. I do suspect that if Rory were there he'd want a pyre.

Mark and Molly Bode were there. Things are good for them. You know about the (not so) recent cartoon movie deal. Also, he's been working with Puma, the sneaker manufacturer. There's some kind of Bode Lizard 'Hoodie' that's going to be made. The future bodes well ... for us all.

More then a two dozen people spoke on Rory's behalf.

Bob Wayne, representing DC comics, spoke highly of Rory's devotion to comics. He reminded the attentive audience that Rory was always, 'Asking, cajoling and bothering me to get DC to publish graphic novels and keep them in print. He was never slow to pay a compliment and just as quick to call me up over an error our company was making.'

The lovely Sequential Tart reminded every one of Rory's quick and immediate support. She was, like many speakers, grateful to Rory.

My short piece felt twice to long when in front of a watching crowd.

Some speeches went on for hours! Were those people part Ent?

??? Hey??? What's this white cylindrical object in my pocket in an Altoids tin? Ahh, it's labeled ''Rory Root Rocket.'' It must be a memorial thing.

Picture a small group of astro nuts walking two baby blocks to the alley behind the original Comic Relief store. Once in the alley one large rotund guy in a Green Lantern shirt says to a short underground gent wearing a Jack Kirby Silver Surfer, 'Hey, you have a Larry Todd Proto Pipe! :) Well, let me fill that up.'

Then a guy came running into the alley pulling at his shirt buttons. He saw the crowd and exclaimed, 'Sheesh, there's never an empty ally any more!' He seem to be wearing a strange red undershirt with a huge S on it.

The Rory rocket was ignited without NASA's guidance. It sent everyone to the moon.

The memorial was a happy couple of hours. It provided an opportunity for old and new friends to renew their connections and remember rewarding decades now past. The smiles on everyone's face said, I'm glad I knew Rory. Our spirit was boosted by the warmth of friends, pals and comics countrymen.

Yours,
Alee O'Saurous

Matt Dembicki interview about new anthology

Dirk at Journalista pointed out that Arlington's Matt Dembicki's got an interview onlne about his new anthology - see "Trickster' - a Native anthology of tales in graphic novel form," by: Robert Schmidt, Pechanga.net June 25, 2008.

We're all just one big incestous group of Thompson fans

In a column today entitled, "Twelve Mostly Overlooked Comics Published In The Last Twelve Or So Years," Tom Spurgeon listed Richard's Poor Alamanac. The permalink isn't working, but it's his July 25th column. He writes, "The great, emerging star of this decade's newspaper strip scene, Richard Thompson hasn't stopped doing his Richard's Poor Almanac work in favor of spending more time getting Cul De Sac out. This collection of those works from a few years back shows that were he to abandon the Almanac for any reason it would be a total shame. Trenchant and exceedingly wry, this book may frighten if like me you realize that these comics have been around for as long as they have without your being aware of them."

And he hasn't even seen the color ones. You can see some of them on Richard's blog. I've read about 1/2 of Tom's other recommendations.

Meanwhile over in Gene Weingarten's June 24th chat, someone who wasn't me said:

Arlington, Va.: Today as I was reading through the comics, I exclaimed out loud when I saw Cul de Sac. It's about time! I have no idea why it took the Post so long to pick it up, but I'm glad they finally did.

Gene Weingarten: It happened a year too late. This is not just one of the best new strips out there, it is one of the best strips out there. Richard Thompson is a genius.

Big Monkey problems?

I've heard a rumor that they're closing their Fredericksburg store. Anyone heard that? Know anything about the 14th St store?

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Zadzooks interviews Rick Remender

Another one from last week courtesy of Wim - Zadzooks interviews Rick Remender at "Creative freedom found in comics, writer asserts," by Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times Thursday, June 19, 2008.

Keith Knight on Post chat last week

Keith Knight did a Washington Post chat last Friday. I missed this as I was deep in the Charlotte Convention Center when it happened, but Ephemerist blogger Wim Lockefeer let me know about it. Check out Wim's blog too - he finds really cool stuff, and he's in Belgium so a lot of it is new to me.

Cartoonists Rights Network award to Palestinian cartoonist

The Northern Virgina-based organization issued the following press release.

Palestinian cartoonist awarded 2008 Courage Award
Friday, 20 June 2008, 10:27 am
Press Release: Cartoonists Rights Network International

PRESS RELEASE - INTERNATIONAL/PALESTINE

19 June 2008

Palestinian cartoonist awarded CRNI's 2008 Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award

SOURCE: Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI), Burke

(CRNI/IFEX) - The following is a CRNI press release:

CRNI announces annual award winner

June 19, 2008, Burke, Virginia - Today, Cartoonists Rights Network International announced the winner of its 2008 Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award: Bahaa Boukhari, a Palestinian. CRNI, the only international organization devoted to defending the human rights of cartoonists imperiled because of their work, will present the award to Boukhari at its annual dinner on June 26. The dinner is to be held at the Hotel Contessa in San Antonio, Texas.

A group of cartoonists deemed the Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award the "Nobel Prize" of the cartooning world several years ago.

Every year, CRNI recognizes a cartoonist who has shown exemplary courage in the face of unrelenting threat, legal action or other pressure as punishment or disincentive for cartoons that were too powerful for some officials, sects, terrorists or demagogues.

Bahaa Boukhari has a long career in political cartooning in the Middle East. Last winter, Gaza authorities arrested him and suspended publication of the newspaper that published a cartoon that ran in November. Boukhari and two colleagues were convicted of insulting the Hamas Parliament on February 3 2008. Although their fines and prison sentences were suspended, an unprecedented series of demonstrations took place in Ramallah on February 27 in defense of Boukhari and the right of Palestinians to express themselves freely without fear of intimidation or reprisal.

CRNI has affiliate organizations in 15 countries throughout the world; it conducts workshops and other training in freedom of expression issues for cartoonists. Its programs include actions to reduce violence with impunity against journalists. CRNI is a member of IFEX and the New York Foundation for the Arts.

Please contact CRNI for more information about Bahaa Boukhari and former awardees who are once again endangered. Algerian Ali Dilem, the most popular cartoonist in North Africa, is facing his third trial since January. In February, Danish security forces thwarted an international plot to kill Kurt Westergaard. Dilem and Westergaard were CRNI honorees in 2006. CRNI has witnessed an alarming rise in reprisals directed at editorial cartoonists due to the power and influence of their work.

For further information on the February 2008 conviction of Boukhari and his colleagues, see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/91081

For further information on the Dilem case, see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/94526

For further information on the Westergaard case, see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/90719

Jimmy Margulies to get award in DC

Jimmy Margulies of the Record, in Northern New Jersey (my Dad's local paper) will be in DC for an award on September 27th. Dave Astor's got the story at "Another Clarion Award for Editorial Cartoonist Jimmy Margulies," E&P June 24, 2008.

Watterson on Cul de Sac

Alan Gardener and Dave Astor noted that Bill Watterson's written an intro to Our Man Thompson's Cul de Sac collection coming out in September. See "Coup for 'Cul de Sac' Book: Reclusive 'Calvin and Hobbes' Creator Writes the Foreword," E&P June 19, 2008.

Richard noted to me that you can read it on Amazon in their look inside the book feature. Personally I'm waiting until I buy a copy. Anti - ci - pa - tion, as they said in Rocky Horror.

Thompson's plot to fill the Post


Here's his illo for today's Health section in the Post. This was done right before we left for Heroes Con, after he was up for about 24 hours, I think. I like it.

June 27: Auth in town at National Portrait Gallery

Bruce Guthrie reports on an event happening this week -

Curator’s Conversation: Herblock, Drawn from Memory
Friday, June 27, 7 p.m.
Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium

The political cartoons of Herbert Lawrence Block (1909–2001), known by the pen name “Herblock,” appeared in American newspapers for more than seventy years. National Portrait Gallery senior historian Sid Hart, Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Haynes Johnson, historian Roger Wilkins together with Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist Tony Auth, will join in a conversation about the life and work of one of the nation’s greatest political cartoonists, Herblock. No reservations required; first come, first served.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Heroes Con pictures

Here's a flickr set of my Heroes Con pics.

And some quick choices before trying to catch up on sleep. More to follow with commentary later this week.

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Irwin Hasen signing Dondi reprint book.

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Our man Thompson.

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Karl Kesel and our man Thompson.

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Richard Thompson and his first customer, Kevin Greenlee. We had a nice breakfast at Lola's, although livermush was an option that we all skipped.

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Chris Grine selling Chickenhare (Dark Horse Comics) at Heroes Con 2008. I bought a robot sketch from him too.

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 06-25-08

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 06-25-08
By John Judy


ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER HC VOL. 01 by Frank Miller and Jim Lee. Collecting the first nine issues of this sporadically-released endeavor in which Batman swears a lot and all the women are either slutty, mean, or Irish. But I repeat myself…

AVENGERS INITIATIVE #14 by Dan Slott, Christos Gage and Stefano Caselli. It’s the return of the new 3-D Man! Only Dan Slott could make this work! Recommended!

BLACK PANTHER #37 by Reginald Hudlin and Francis Portella. T’Challa must take down Killmonger once and for all, if only for having a name like “Killmonger.”

CAPTAIN AMERICA #39 by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. Two Caps! No waiting! Recommended!

CONAN THE CIMMERIAN #0 by Tim Truman and Tomas Giorello. An impressive team launches the latest adventures of Robert E. Howard’s most famous creation. And for only ninety-nine cents! Bargain of the week!

DAREDEVIL #108 by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka and Michael Lark. DD faces his most impossible battle yet! A death penalty appeal during an election year!

EX MACHINA DELUXE EDITION HC VOL. 01 by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris. Collecting the first eleven issues of Vaughan’s entertaining, thoughtful mix of modern politics and post-modern superhero adventures. Highly recommended.

FANTASTIC FOUR #558 by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch. Doctor Doom by Millar and Hitch. Nuff said!

FINAL CRISIS #2 of 7 by Grant Morrison and J.G. Jones. It’s action in the Mighty Morrison Manner, featuring all kinds of nifty ideas with a possible story thrown into the mix! Gotta look!

GREEN LANTERN #32 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. The Secret Origin of Green Lantern continues!

HULK #4 by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. Red Hulk vs. Green Hulk. One’s got a gun. The other is the frikkin’ Hulk! Place your bets! (And how about that movie, huh?)

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #16 by Matt Fraction and David Aja. It’s IM’s birthday. So what do you get for the man with a huge ol’ dragon brand on his chest?

MARVEL 1985 #2 of 6 by Mark Millar and Tommy Lee Edwards. In which we explore what happens when old comic book characters invade the Earth.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #15 by Brian Michael Bendis and Khoi Pham. A little back-story on how the Avengers got infiltrated by those dirty, low-down Skrulls!

NEW AVENGERS #42 by Brian Michael Bendis and Jim Cheung. In which we find out who caused the prison break that created the New Avengers! It’s Back-Story Month from the House of Ideas!

NO HERO #0 of 7 by Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp. From the team that brought you BLACK SUMMER comes …. Okay, a book that sounds an awful lot like BLACK SUMMER. I was actually hoping BLACK SUMMER would finish before now, but it’s Ellis so we must accept such things. This is from Avatar because material by leading comics creators should never be too easy to find on the web.

PREVIEWS from Marvel and Diamond Comics. Peeking three months into the future has never been so easy!

PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #4 of 7 by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger and Carlos Paul. The series that exists to make you appreciate Marvel’s THE TWELVE continues!

RUNAWAYS #30 by Joss Whedon and Michael Ryan. Hey, kids! It’s a new issue of RUNAWAYS! This must be 2008! Cool!

SHE-HULK #30 byPeter David and Val Semekis. Hercules fight!

SUPERMAN #677 by James Robinson and Renato Guedes. The creator of the modern-age Starman joins up as the new regular Supes writer with changes and guest-stars galore for the Man of Tomorrow! Recommended!

THUNDERBOLTS #121 by Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato. The Green Goblin will see you now…

TRINITY #4 by Kurt Busiek and Everyone! Still weekly! Still non-sucky! How long can this go on?! The adventures of DC’s Big Three continue!

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #123 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen. This issue begins the Ultimate version of “War of the Symbiotes” and ties in with the Ult-Spidey video game which Bendis co-wrote. Brace yourselves…

ULTIMATES 3 #4 of 5 by Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira. This was originally scheduled for March 12th but was delayed for some reason. I’m hoping that reason was that someone at Marvel actually read the first two issues and said “No, we don’t want to publish stories in which iconic superhero brothers and sisters are doing things that are illegal outside of Texas, West Virginia and Utah. Please, sir, write something that explains it all away. We’ll wait.” That’s just a guess though.

UNCANNY X-MEN #499 by Ed Brubaker and Mike Choi. For the X-Men to live San Francisco hippies must die! Okay.

WALKING DEAD SC VOL. 08: MADE TO SUFFER by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard. Collecting the apocalyptic issues 43-48 in which we learned “No one is safe.” Traumatic stuff even without the zombies. Recommended. Not for kids.

WOLVERINE ORIGINS #26 by Daniel Way and Stephen Segovia. In which Wolverine learns where babies come from. This issue features new artist Segovia which means Steve Dillon must have chewed off his own leg and escaped.

X-MEN LEGACY #213 by Mike Carey and Scot Eaton. Brain-damaged, exiled Professor X continues his search for clues as to why all those Star Trekkies keep staring at him.

YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS #6 of 6 by Matt Fraction and Alan Davis. Kate Bishop has to fight Clint Barton for the name “Hawkeye.” Then she has to duke it out with Alan Alda and Daniel Day-Lewis. Maybe she should just be “Bishop.” No one’s using that name are they?

www.johnjudy.net

Craig Fischer on Heroes Con

My friend Craig and I got to hang out a lot over the weekend and it was great. I finally got to meet 2/3 of his family - wife Kathy and son Nate - his younger daughter was playing hookie. Craig's done blog posts on his trip - 1 anda 2 anda 3. I'll try to get my thoughts together and get them up soon. Here's Craig with MAD editor Al Feldstein.
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Thompson transported from Heroes Con directly to Washington Post

Richard and I drove in from a great time at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC (posts and pics to follow) to discover that his strip Cul de Sac has taken the spot of the canceled Single And Looking strip in the Post as of today. Whoo-hoo! He's finally in his hometown paper every day. And now twice on Wednesday and Saturday. Hmmm... Has anyone ever seen him and Donald Graham at the same time?

In the meantime, Tom Spurgeon's coverage of Heroes Con largely mirrors mine, except he knows and interviewed more people. Richard and I had a very pleasant conversation in him at the Westin's bar on Saturday night, and we both agree that Tom's one of the best writers and critics around. We both read his site every day, and you should too. And I'm not just saying that because he likes Cul de Sac - some of the very best years of The Comics Journal (which has had a lot of great material in it) were when he was editing it.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Baltimore Comic-Con Welcomes Robinson & Tomasi!

You get a special sneak preview since I'm privy to this press release before it gets sent out! Not much other DC-oriented comics news has leapt out at me so far this weekend. -Randy


BALTIMORE, MD (June 18, 2008) - A fan-favorite creator marks his stunning return to comics in a first-time appearance at this year's Baltimore Comic-Con, held at the Baltimore Convention Center on September 27-28, 2008. In addition, a long-time industry insider makes his Baltimore debut as a comics writer.

James Robinson, best known for his work on DC Comics' Starman, The Golden Age and JSA, is returning to comics in a big way, taking over Superman in the near future and gearing up for the launch of a new Justice League title.

Peter Tomasi, currently strutting his stuff in Nightwing and Green Lantern Corps, is a former long-time DC Comics editor who has worked with most of DC's major characters, as well as many of the heavy hitter talents in the field (including the aforementioned Mr. Robinson).

"We're extremely happy to welcome these two talented gents to Baltimore," said show promoter Marc Nathan. "We know our fans are going to have a lot of questions for James, and we're hoping they realize what a rising star Pete is. And there'll be plenty of opportunity to talk to both of them!"

Swamp Thing co-creator and Frankenstein artist Bernie Wrightson will be the show's Guest of Honor.

He headlines a guest list that includes, in alphabetical order, Kyle Baker (The Bakers), Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man, New Avengers), Jim Calafiore (Exiles, Captain Marvel), Howard Chaykin (American Flagg), Cliff Chiang (Green Arrow & Black Canary), Darwyn Cooke (New Frontier, The Spirit), Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows, Mighty Avengers), Steve Conley (Star Trek, The Escapist), Amanda Conner (JSA Classified, Terra), Todd Dezago (Perhapanauts, Tellos), David Finch (World War Hulk, New Avengers), Ramona Fradon (Aquaman), John Gallagher (Buzzboy, Roboy Red), Ron Garney (Wolverine), Michael Golden (Micronauts, The 'Nam), Mike Grell (John Sable, Iron Man), Cully Hamner (Blue Beetle, Black Lightning), Dean Haspiel (Brawl), Adam Hughes (Catwoman), Stuart Immonen (Ultimate Spider-Man), Geoff Johns (Green Lantern, Action Comics), J.G. Jones (52, Wonder Woman), Robert Kirkman (Invincible, Ultimate X-Men), Barry Kitson (Empire, The Order), Scott Kurtz (PvP), Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon, Image EIC), Jim Lee (Batman: Hush, Wildcats), the Luna Brothers (The Sword, Girls), David Mack (Kabuki, Daredevil), Mike Mignola (Hellboy, Disney's Atlantis), Phil Noto (Danger Girl, Jonah Hex), Michael Avon Oeming (Mice Templar, Powers), Jimmy Palmiotti (Painkiller Jane, Jonah Hex), Brandon Peterson (Ultimate X-Men, Strange), Eric Powell (The Goon), Tom Raney (Ultimate X-Men), John Romita Sr. (Amazing Spider-Man), Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge), Craig Rousseau (Perhapanauts, X-Men: First Class), Tim Sale (Batman: The Long Halloween, Heroes), Alex Saviuk (Web of Spider-Man, Feast of the Seven Fishes), Jim Shooter (Legion of Super-Heroes), Robert Tinnell (EZ Street), Herb Trimpe (Incredible Hulk), Timothy Truman (Conan, Grimjack), Neil Vokes (The Black Forest, The Wicked West), Matt Wagner (Zorro, Grendel), Mark Waid (Flash, Boom! Studios), Mark Wheatley (Frankenstein Mobster), and Ron Wilson (The Thing).

The Harvey Awards will return to the Baltimore Comic-Con for the third consecutive year. The awards dinner and ceremony will be held Saturday night, September 27, 2008, following the convention's normal hours. As in 2007, the first 300 paid attendees and honorees at the 2008 Harvey Awards Ceremonies will receive a Hollywood-style bag of swag. Last year's bag included The EC Archives: Two-Fisted Tales - Volume 1 from Gemstone Publishing, a complete base set of the soon-to-be-released Jericho Season One trading cards from Inkworks, an exclusive pin from AdHouse Books, a Comic-Con exclusive edition of 30 Days of Night: Red Snow #1 from IDW Publishing, a Toon Tumbler from Popfun Merchandising, and an exclusive Harvey Awards keychain from LaserMach. Nominating ballots are presently online at www.harveyawards.org. Kyle Baker will return as Master of Ceremonies for the evening's events.

For more information about the Baltimore Comic-Con, e-mail cardscomicscollectilbes@yahoo.com or call (410) 526-7410. The guest list and other information can be found on the convention's website or on its MySpace page. For more information about the Harvey Awards, including sponsorship opportunities, e-mail baltimorecomiccon@yahoo.com.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Have you seen us? Probably not


While ComicsDC is theoretically on break for an extended weekend - we're off to Heroes Con - Richard is still at home rushing to finish some strips and panels so all of his readers enjoy uninterrupted Cul de Sac and Richard's Poor Almanack (and he gets paid). I begin to see why he's using me as a driver, rather than taking a plane. We'll be there though!

And if anyone was wondering - the pictures are bobbleheads that ran in the Post when they were running Almanac in color - before it got the extra 'k'. I photocopied them, laminated them and then folded and spring-mounted and now they look down on me from a windowsill.

Herblock and Oliphant exhibits featured on Voice of America

See "Cartoonists, Lampooning the Political Elite," By George Dwyer, Voice of America 18 June 2008. There's a video report as well as the web text.

June 21: Pixar book author at Politics and Prose

Reminder - June 21 Saturday: 6 p.m. With THE PIXAR TOUCH, David A. Price has written a history of what might have been the most successful movie factory ever.

Takoma Park librarian on Babymouse

See "'Babymouse' a superhero kids can identify with," By KAREN MACPHERSON, Scripps Howard News Service 06/18/2008.

The Amory Wars: The Second Stage Turbine Blade review

From a Maryland high school senior, we get this review "Coheed and Cambria singer should stick to what he knows" BY BEN JENNINGS, Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star 6/19/2008 which opens:

The band Coheed and Cambria has received good reviews, with its soothing alto vocals and progressive rock sound. But maybe it should stick to the music side of its business.

The lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the band, Claudio Sanchez, opened a new front in the comic-book business when he released a series of songs in tandem with a graphic-novel companion, both called "The Amory Wars: The Second Stage Turbine Blade.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Have you seen us?


ComicsDC is on break for an extended weekend - we're off to Heroes Con. Well, Richard and I are. Randy T. may keep posting as we're off to Charlotte, NC. Stop by Richard's table if you want to find me. Or him actually.

By the way, I'll have a few copies of the Interplanetary Journal of Comic Art, and 3 copies of Film & TV Adaptations of Comics for sale (you can tell I didn't plan ahead when Richard asked me to come along) and a dummy of the Harvey Pekar: Conversations book. Richard will have his Richard's Poor Almanac book and original art for sale.

Larry Gonick web strip

Master Ibid writes in to tell us "Larry Gonick has a new strip at the Discovery Channel site."

Calvin returns! In Lio?

This week, Mark Tatulli's Lio, through a Frankenstein-like experiment has featured a familiar boy ... and today, his tiger as well.

Summer anime in DC

DC Anime Club and Japan Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan Present:

Anime Summer Series


The DC Anime Club and the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC), Embassy of Japan Present the Anime Summer Series. An continuation for the monthly Anime/Live
Action screenings held at the Japanese Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan located at Lafayette Center III 1155 21st Street, NW Washington, DC
20036-3308.The following Anime/Live Films will be screened every last Friday of every month starting Friday June 27,2008 at 6:30pm: Dragon Ball Z: Brolly the Super Sayajin (on Friday June 27, 2008 at 6:30pm), Shinobi (on Friday July 25,2008 at 6:30pm) and DeathNote Live Action Movie (on Friday August 29, 2008 at 6:30pm). Other activities that will
be included during the Anime Summer Series will be Cosplay, raffle, free posters
and more.

This program is free and open to the public. For more information please visit the Japanese Information and Culture Center website at http://www.us.embjapan.go.jp/jicc/ or visit the DC Anime Club website at http://dcanimeclub.org.

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.

About Japan Information and Culture Center:
The Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) is the cultural and public affairs section of the Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C. Our primary role is to promote better understanding of Japan and Japanese culture by providing a wide range of
information, educational services and programs to the public. The JICC is located on the lower level of the glass-enclosed Galleria at Lafayette Centre III in downtown Washington, D.C. Its facilities include a research library, a 152-seat auditorium, and a 1,500-square-foot exhibition gallery where a wide variety of events sponsored by the JICC are hosted throughout the year.

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

Harvey Awards at Baltimore Comic-con

2008 Harvey Awards Nominees Announced!
Visit www.harveyawards.org for Ballots & Submission Details!

BALTIMORE, MD (June 18, 2008) -- The 2008 Harvey Awards Nominees have been announced with the release of the final ballot, presented by the Executive Committees of the Harvey Awards and the Baltimore Comic-Con. Named in honor of the late Harvey Kurtzman, one of the industry's most innovative talents, the Harvey Awards recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art. They will be presented September 27, 2008 in Baltimore, MD, in conjunction with the Baltimore Comic-Con.

Nominations for the Harvey Awards are selected exclusively by creators - those who write, draw, ink, letter, color, design, edit or are otherwise involved in a creative capacity in the comics field. They are the only industry awards both nominated and selected by the full body of comic book professionals. Professionals who participate will be joining nearly 2,000 other comics professionals in honoring the outstanding comics achievements of 2007. Thank you to all that have already participated by submitting a nomination ballot.

Final ballots are due to the Harvey Awards by Friday, August 15, 2008. Full details for submission of completed ballots can be found on the final ballot. Voting is open to anyone involved in a creative capacity within the comics field. Final ballots are available for download at www.harveyawards.org. Those without Internet access may request that paper ballots be sent to them via mail or fax by calling the Baltimore Comic-Con (410-526-7410) or e-mailing baltimorecomicccon@yahoo.com.

This will be the third year for the Harvey Awards in Baltimore, MD. Our Master of Ceremonies will once again be Kyle Baker. Look for more details soon on how you can attend the Harvey Awards dinner.

This year's Baltimore Comic-Con will be held September 27-28, 2008. Convention hours are Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM and Sunday 10 AM to 5 PM. The ceremony and banquet for the 2008 Harvey Awards will be held Saturday night, September 27.

Without further delay, the 2008 Harvey Award Nominees:

BEST WRITER

Ed Brubaker, Captain America, Marvel Comics
Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Amulet Books
Grant Morrison, All Star Superman, DC Comics
William Van Horn, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, Gemstone
Brian K. Vaughan, Y: The Last Man, Vertigo/DC Comics

BEST ARTIST

Gabriel Ba, Umbrella Academy, Dark Horse Comics
John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men, Marvel Comics
Guy Davis, BPRD, Dark Horse Comics
Frank Quitely, All Star Superman, DC Comics
William Van Horn, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, Gemstone

BEST CARTOONIST

Darwyn Cooke, The Spirit, DC Comics
Matt Kindt, Super Spy, Top Shelf
Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Amulet Books
Bryan Lee O'Malley, Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, Oni Press
Vasilis Lolos, Last Call, Oni Press
William Van Horn, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, Gemstone

BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM - ORIGINAL

The Arrival, Scholastic Books
Donald Duck: The Case of the Missing Mummy, Gemstone
Exit Wounds, Drawn & Quarterly
Laika, First Second
Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, Oni Press

BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM - PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED

The Annotated Northwest Passage, Oni Press
Antiques, Volume 1, Gemstone
Captain America Omnibus, Volume 1, Marvel Comics
Damned, Volume 1, Oni Press
Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born, Marvel Comics

BEST DOMESTIC REPRINT PROJECT

Complete Peanuts, Fantagraphics Books
Complete Terry and the Pirates, IDW
EC Archives, Gemstone
Popeye, Fantagraphics Books
Walt and Skeezix, Drawn & Quarterly

BEST AMERICAN EDITION OF FOREIGN MATERIAL

Eduardo Risso's Tales of Terror, Dynamite Entertainment
Exit Wounds, Drawn & Quarterly
Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, Abrams
Moomin, Volume 2, Drawn & Quarterly
Witchblade Manga, Top Cow/Image

SPECIAL AWARD FOR HUMOR

Chris Eliopoulos, Franklin Richards series, Marvel Comics
Nicholas Gurewitch, Perry Bible Fellowship, www.pbfcomics.com
Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Amulet Books
Bryan Lee O'Malley, Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, Oni Press
William Van Horn, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, Gemstone

BEST ON-LINE COMIC

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney, www.wimpykid.com
EZ Street, Robert Tinnell and Mark Wheatley, www.comicmix.com/title/ez-street/
Penny Arcade, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, www.penny-arcade.com
Perry Bible Fellowship, Nicholas Gurewitch, www.pbfcomics.com
Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo, Dwight L. Macpherson,
Thomas Boatwright and Thomas Mauer,
www.drunkduck.com/The_Surreal_Adventures_of_Edgar_Allan_Poo

SPECIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESENTATION

The Annotated Northwest Passage, Scott Chantler, Oni Press
Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney, Amulet Books
EC Archives, Various, edited by John Clark, Gemstone
Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened, edited by Jason Rodriguez, Villard
Super Spy, Matt Kindt, Top Shelf

BEST SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY

Alice in Sunderland, Dark Horse Comics
All Star Superman # 8, DC Comics
Captain America # 25, Marvel Comics
Donald Duck: The Case of the Missing Mummy, Gemstone
I Killed Adolf Hitler, Fantagraphics Books
Immortal Iron Fist # 7, Marvel Comics
Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen # 1, Oni Press

BEST BIOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL OR JOURNALISTIC PRESENTATION

Blah Blah Blog, Tom Brevoort, http://www.marvel.com/blogs/Tom%20Brevoort/
The Comics Journal, edited by Gary Groth and Michael Dean, Fantagraphics Books
Meanwhile...Comics!, John, Jason and Scott, http://www.meanwhilecomics.com
The Naked Artist: Comic Book Legends, Bryan Talbot and Hunt Emerson,
Moonstone Books
Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, edited by J.C. Vaughn, Gemstone
Reading Comics: How Graphic Albums Work and What They Mean, Douglas Wolk,
Da Capo Press

BEST COVER ARTIST

John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men, Marvel Comics
Marko Djurdjevic, Daredevil, Marvel Comics
James Jean, Fables, Vertigo/DC Comics
Mike Mignola, Hellboy, Dark Horse Comics
William Van Horn, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, Gemstone

BEST LETTERER

Chris Eliopoulos, Daredevil, Marvel Comics
Jared K. Fletcher, The Spirit, DC Comics
Willie Schubert, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, Gemstone
Douglas E. Sherwood, Local, Oni Books
Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library, Acme Novelty

BEST COLORIST

Susan Daigle-Leach, Uncle Scrooge, Gemstone
Jamie Grant, All Star Superman, DC Comics
Matt Hollingsworth, Daredevil, Marvel Comics
Matt Kindt, Super Spy, Top Shelf
Laura Martin, Thor, Marvel Comics

BEST INKER

Stefano Gaudiano, Daredevil, Marvel Comics
Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Amulet Books
Steve Leialoha, Fables, DC Comics
Mark Morales, Thor, Marvel Comics
Kevin Nowlan, Witchblade, Top Cow/Image

BEST SYNDICATED STRIP OR PANEL

Doonesbury, Garry Trudeau, Universal Press Syndicate
Get Fuzzy, Darby Conley, United Feature Syndicate
The K Chronicles, Keith Knight, Self-Syndicated
The Mighty Motor-Sapiens, Mark Wheatley, Daniel Krall, Robert Tinnell, MJ Butler,
Craig Taillerfer, Matthew Plog, and Jerry Carr, Self-Syndicated
Mutts, Patrick McDonnell, King Features Syndicate

BEST CONTINUING OR LIMITED SERIES

All Star Superman, DC Comics
Captain America, Marvel Comics
Damned, Oni Press
Daredevil, Marvel Comics
Umbrella Academy, Dark Horse Comics
Uncle Scrooge, Gemstone Comics

BEST NEW SERIES

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Amulet Books
The Order, Marvel Comics
Resurrection, Oni Press
Thor, Marvel Comics
Umbrella Academy, Dark Horse Comics

BEST NEW TALENT

Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Amulet Books
Jeff Lemire, Essex County, Top Shelf
Vasilis Lolos, Last Call, Oni Press
Robbi Rodriguez, Maintenance, Oni Press
Christian Slade, Korgi #1: Sprouting Wings, Top Shelf

BEST ANTHOLOGY

Flight Volume 4, edited by Kazu Kibuishi, Ballantine Books
Mome Volume 8, edited by Gary Groth and Eric Reynolds, Fantagraphics Books
Popgun Volume 1, edited by Joe Keatinge and Mark Andrew Smith, Image Books
Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened, edited by Jason Rodriquez, Villard
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, edited by John Clark, Gemstone

Congratulations to all the nominees! If you know a nominee, please pass on the good news!

The Harvey committee and the Baltimore Comic-Con will make every effort to contact all nominees. If you are a nominee and do not hear from us by the end of June, please contact us at baltimorecomiccon@yahoo.com. We would love to discuss your involvement in the ceremony and the Baltimore Comic-Con.

For additional information about the Harvey Kurtzman and the Harvey Awards, visit www.harveyawards.org.

For additional information about the Baltimore Comic-Con, visit www.comicon.com/baltimore.

For additional information about the Harvey Awards Master of Ceremonies Kyle Baker, visit www.kylebaker.com.