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Dear Friends,
As many of you know, I've been planning for a number of years to start my own publishing company devoted to the artists who worked in illustration, comic art, and graphic design in the first half of the 20th century. Well, that day has arrived. Ellen and I have started PICTURE THIS PRESS, and we are about to launch its first imprint, LOST ART BOOKS. The first book is at the printer, the second book goes to the printer early next week, and a third is over halfway through production.
The first book, THE LOST ART OF ZIM: CARTOONS AND CARICATURES, brings back to print for the first time in a century Eugene Zimmerman's wonderful coursebook for aspiring comic artists. Zim was a founding father of American cartooning, drawing tens of thousands of gags for America's early humor magazines. In addition to the original coursebook, this new edition features an introduction by Zim scholar Walter Brasch, a biography, and rare photos and illustrations from Zim's other work.
The second book, THE LOST ART OF E.T. REED: PREHISTORIC PEEPS, is the first book on this British cartoonist in over 50 years, and the first devoted to his seminal "Prehistoric Peeps" cartoons in more than a century. The wonderful introduction by comic artist and teacher Stephen Bissette grounds Reed's work in the time in which it was created and then traces its influence through the decades all the way to "The Flintstones" and beyond. The book is fleshed out by a biography of Reed and many examples of his other cartoon work. To top it off, wonderful comic artist and friend Jerry Carr created a new color cover for this Lost Art volume.
The third book, THE LOST ART OF FREDERICK RICHARDSON, pulls together an exceedingly rare collection of this Detroit newspaper artist's wonderful illustrations and cartoons from the 1890s, a time when Richardson was first feeling the influence of the Art Nouveau movement in Europe. The introduction was contributed by scholars Martin Gardner and Ruth Berman, providing a biography and overview of his work from this period.
MISSION STATEMENT
Lost Art Books, the flagship series from Picture This Press, collects and preserves the works of illustrators and cartoonists from the late 19th through the mid-20th centuries. Too many of these artists have gone under appreciated for too long, with much of their work uncollected or unexamined for decades, if at all. The Lost Art series of books aims to preserve this cultural heritage by re-introducing these artists to new generations of working illustrators, cultural historians, and admirers of things beautiful.
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By Nick Galifianakis
Washington Post August 20, 2010; C04
Small Press Expo Announces the Ignatz Award Nominees for SPX 2010
Bethesda, Maryland; August 19, 2010 - The Small Press Expo (SPX), the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons, is pleased to announce nominees for the fourteenth annual presentation of the Ignatz Awards, a celebration of outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning.
The Ignatz, named after George Herriman's brick-wielding mouse, recognizes exceptional work that challenges popular notions of what comics can achieve, both as an art form and as a means of personal expression. The Ignatz Awards are a festival prize, the first of such in the United States comic book industry.
The nominees for the ballot were determined by a panel of five of the best of today's comic artists, Anders Nilsen, David Kelly, Rob G, Joshua Cotter and Trevor Alixopoulos, with the votes cast for the awards by the attendees during SPX. The Ignatz Awards will be presented at the gala Ignatz Awards ceremony held on Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 9:00 PM.
SPX will be held Saturday, September 11 from 11AM to 7PM and Sunday, September 12, noon-6PM at The North Bethesda Marriott Convention Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Admission is $10 for a single day and $15 for both days.
For further information on the Ignatz Awards, the nominees or to request an interview, please contact Warren Bernard at warren@spxpo.com.
For more information on the Small Press Expo and the Ignatz Awards, please visit http://www.spxpo.com.
2010 Ignatz Awards Ballot
Outstanding Artist
Eddie Campbell, Alec: The Years Have Pants (A Life-Sized Omnibus) (Top Shelf Productions)
Al Columbia, Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days (Fantagraphics Books)
Mike Dawson, Troop 142 (self-published & http://troop142.mikedawsoncomics.com)
John Pham, Sublife #2 (Fantagraphics Books)
Sully, The Hipless Boy (Conundrum Press)
Outstanding Anthology or Collection
The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum Press)
Lemon Styles, David King (Sparkplug Comic Books)
Masterpiece Comics, R. Sikoryak (Drawn & Quarterly)
Red Snow, Susumu Katsumata (Drawn & Quarterly)
Ten Thousand Things to Do, Jesse Reklaw (self-published)
Outstanding Graphic Novel
The Complete Jack Survives, Jerry Moriarty (Buentaventura Press)
Market Day, James Sturm (Drawn & Quarterly)
Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days, Al Columbia (Fantagraphics Books)
Summit of the Gods Vol. 1, Yumemakura Baku and Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
Years of the Elephant, Willy Linthout (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
Outstanding Story
"John Wesley Harding", The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book, Joe Daly (Fantagraphics Books)
Market Day, James Sturm (Drawn & Quarterly)
Monsters, Ken Dahl (Secret Acres)
"Turd Place", The Hipless Boy, Sully (Conundrum Press)
"Untitled", Mome Vol. 16, Laura Park (Fantagraphics Books)
Promising New Talent
Rina Ayuyang, Whirlwind Wonderland, (Sparkplug Comic Books & Tugboat Press)
Rami Efal, Never Forget, Never Forgive (Studio Namu)
Blaise Larmee, Young Lions (self-published)
Sully, The Hipless Boy (Conundrum Press)
Matt Wiegle, "The Orphan Baiter", Papercutter #13 (Tugboat Press)
Outstanding Series
Ganges, Kevin Huizenga (Fantagraphics Books)
King-Cat Comics & Stories, John Porcellino (self-published)
Sublife, John Pham (Fantagraphics Books)
Summit of the Gods, Yumemakura Baku and Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
Troop 142, Mike Dawson (self-published)
Outstanding Comic
Blammo #6, Noah Van Sciver (Kilgore Books)
Eschew #2, Robert Sergel (Sparkplug Comic Books)
Flesh and Bone, Julia Gfrörer (Sparkplug Comic Books)
I Want You, Lisa Hanawalt (Buenaventura Press)
Sublife #2, John Pham (Fantagraphics Books)
Outstanding Mini-Comic
Don't Drink from the Sea, Lille Carre
Rambo 3.5, Jim Rugg
Stories by...Vol. 1, Martin Cendreda
Troop 142, Mike Dawson
Water Column #3, Josh Frankel
Outstanding Online Comic
Callahan Online, John Callahan (www.callahanonline.com/calarc.html)
I Think You're Sauceome, Sarah Becan (www.sauceome.com)
The Lesttrygonians, Stephen Gilpin (www.sgilpin.com/2010_site/Weekly_Comic_Strip/Weekly_Comic_Strip.html)
Reliable Comics, David King (www.reliablecomics.com)
Troop 142, Mike Dawson (troop142.mikedawsoncomics.com)
Small Press Expo Animation Showcase Announces Selections for SPX 2010
Bethesda, Maryland; August 13, 2010 - The Small Press Expo announces selections for the First Annual Animation Showcase, to be screened September 11 and 12 in conjunction with the Small Press Expo.
The 2010 SPX Animation Showcase features indepedently made animation created in a variety of styles and techniques. "These films let people know independent animation is as sophisticated as its big-budget brothers," says Showcase committee co-chair Paul Nadjmabadi. "Every year at SPX we see that pool of talent in comics that hasn't been recognized yet, that one-off that someone did that's the most amazing thing you've seen all year.
We want to bring that to animation."
Animations screening in the showcase include traditional and abstract storytelling in a variety of styles including stop-motion, clay-mation, hand-drawn, and computer animation. Selections include:
Good %^&$ing Morning Nick Arcidy
Suck It Up Rebecca Boensch
Building Blocks Vanessa Chan
Bleach and Glitter Vanessa Chan
Head Garden Lilli Carre
The Discovery Rodgers Dameron
The Magician Dustin Maassen
Wonders of Nature: Our National Parks Yosemite Clasrissa Maralone
Hocas Croakus Mark McDonald
One of a Kind Dixie Pizani
The Melting Pot Shani Vargo
Krawll Matthew Wade
Birdy Agnieszka Woznicka
Deadline Bang Yaoliu
More information on animators and films is available via the SPX Animation Showcase Web site at www.spxpo.com/animation.
SPX is a registered 501(c)3 which brings together more than 300 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers and distributors each year. Graphic novels, mini comics and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators.
As in previous years, profits from the SPX will go to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), protecting the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals. For more information on the CBLDF, go to their website at http://www.cbldf.org/.
The hours for SPX 2010 are 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Saturday, September 11, and noon – 6 p.m. Sunday, September 12. Admission, which includes the Expo and Showcase, is $10 for a single day and $15 for both days.
For more information, visit http://www.spxpo.com/animation/
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Written by Express contributor Stephen M. Deusner
Express August 11 2010
Costly 'Spider-Man' musical finally set to open on Broadway
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 11, 2010; C05