Wednesday, October 08, 2014

Today: O'Barr, Komardin and Witterstaetter at Beyond Comics

Meet Award Winning
Comic Book Artist
James O'Barr
Creator of

the CROW


WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8th - 12noon to 4:00pm

 Also Meet:


Konstantin Komardin
  
Award Winning Russian Comic Artist

 

 

Renee Witterstaetter

Comics Author, Editor and Historian


 

 

 

 

                Beyond Comics, in Frederick, MD, will be hosting a rare in store appearance by internationally acclaimed comic book creator James O'Barr. O'Barr is notably recognized for the creation of "the Crow" which was adapted into the cult film of the same name which stared the late Brandon Lee. With over 1 million copies in print, the Crow, is one of the best-selling independent graphic novels of all time.

 

Not appearing alone, O'Barr will be appearing at Beyond Comics along with Konstantin Komardin and Renee Witterstaetter.

 

Komardin is an award-winning Russian sequential artist, graphic artist and animator currently living in Moscow. This marks his first appearances in the United States, providing a rare opportunity to see some amazing originals never before offered in the US.

 

Komardin's published work includes the BD magazines "Veles," "Hacker," "Max Cooler," "Moulin Rouge," and the renowned comics "Agent Z," "Sit-o-city," "Gate of Alice," and "Mechanics of Senses." Other works include the upcoming Judge Dredd project, and the Russian/Polish project "City Stories." Konstantin was awarded the Grand Prize for "The Site of Polis" at the Moscow Comics Festival in 2003.

 

Renee Witterstaetter is the author of "Excess: The Art of Michael Golden" and "Tex: The Art of Mark Texeira." As well she has worked as an editor and colorist for comics as diverse as Superman, Conan, Avengers, Spider-man, X-Files and Xena. Her newest book is "Santa Confidential," by Hagar the Horrible artist Chris Browne. She has also worked on dozens of music videos for Madonna, Seal, Ben Harper and Usher, as well as the feature movies Crime Story, Rush Hour Two, and Red Dragon.

 

   FREE AUTOGRAPHS!  

Beyond Comics
5632 Buckeystown Pike
Frederick, MD 21704
301-668-8202


Tuesday, October 07, 2014

The Roarbots blog

The Roarbots blog is a local blog about children's interests, including comics, and has six interviews with cartoonists done by five-year old Zoe.

5 Questions with Gene Luen Yang

Jamie and Zoe

September 19, 2014

http://theroarbots.com/2014/09/19/5-questions-gene-luen-yang/

 

5 Questions with Mike Maihack

  October 6, 2014

http://theroarbots.com/2014/10/06/5-questions-mike-maihack/

 

5 Questions with Jeffrey Brown

  September 19, 2014

http://theroarbots.com/2014/09/19/5-questions-jeffrey-brown/

 

5 Questions with Frank Cammuso

October 3, 2014

http://theroarbots.com/2014/10/03/5-questions-frank-cammuso/

 

5 Questions with David Petersen

  September 30, 2014

http://theroarbots.com/2014/09/30/5-questions-david-petersen-2/

 

5 Questions with Jeff Smith

  September 17, 2014

http://theroarbots.com/2014/09/17/5-questions-jeff-smith/ 


10/8: James O'Barr at Beyond Comics

Meet JAMES O'BARR!

Creator of


Wednesday October 8th
12:00noon to 4:00pm
Frederick

Also Meet 
Award Winning Russian Artist
Konstantin Komardin 
And Comics Writer, Editor and Historian
Renee Witterstaetter

Comic Riffs talks to Scott McCloud

'BEST AMERICAN COMICS 2014′: Guest editor Scott McCloud illuminates the range of modern brilliance in new must-read [Q+A]By Michael Cavna 
Washington Post October 7 2014

The Express on The Flash tv series

'The Flash' is flashy, but will it just be a flash in the pan?
By Marc Silver Washington Post's Express October 6  2014

Sunday, October 05, 2014

That darn Post comics page

The Post ran 1 page of the comics twice this week. I noted it as it happened but forgot to write about it. Fortunately, Mitch Katz did not:


 

Letters to the Editor

Seeing double in the comics [in print as A familiar sight in the comics].

Mitch Katz, Falls Church

Washington Post October 4 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/seeing-double-in-the-comics/2014/10/02/503c8192-48ae-11e4-a4bf-794ab74e90f0_story.html


October 8: Otis Frampton signing Oddly Normal at Big Planet Vienna

October 8 – Otis Frampton signing Oddly Normal

OddlyNormal_01

Big Planet Comics is proud to welcome Otis Frampton, to celebrate his new series from Image Comics, Oddly Normal!

Oddly Normal is the tale about a young girl whose mother is a witch, making it very hard for Oddly to fit in at school! But when her own magical powers might be manifesting, things go from unpopular to dangerously bad…

Otis Frampton's website: http://www.otisframpton.com/
Otis Frampton's twitter: https://twitter.com/otisframpton

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/738039909577123/

6pm-8pm
Big Planet Comics of Vienna
426 Maple Ave. East
Vienna, VA 22180
703-242-9412
vienna@bigplanetcomics.com

Friday, October 03, 2014

Comic Riffs talks to Scott Stantis about child abuse

CARTOONS OF THE YEAR: Chicago Tribune's Scott Stantis reveals own child abuse in powerful, 'wrenching' essay [Q+A]

By Michael Cavna

Washington Post Comic Riffs blog October 3 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2014/10/03/cartoons-of-the-year-chicago-tribunes-scott-stantis-reveals-own-child-abuse-in-powerful-wrenching-essay-qa/

Zunar in the Library of Congress

Malaysian political cartoonist Zunar released the following statement today:

Zunar's statement: Book "Pirate Of The Carry-BN" accepted in the Library Of Congress.

http://www.zunar.my/news/bm-eng-zunars-statement-book-pirate-carry-bn-accepted-library-congress/

Book "Pirate Of The Carry-BN" accepted in the Library Of Congress.

I hereby announce that my book, "Pirate of The Carry-BN" has been accepted as one of the collection at the Library Of Congress in Washington. The reception was held at the Library on October 1st, 2014.

Curator Sara W Duke, who is the curator of Popular and Applied Graphic Art in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress, has accepted on behalf of the Library.

It will be located and catalogued in the bookshelves of the Asia Section of the library. Prior to this, there are books of mine that have been listed but only recorded in catalogues while physically not in the Library.

The "Pirate Of The Carry-BN" will be one of the more than 120,000 cartoon books in the library.

To me, this is a form of recognition since none of my cartoon books are recognized and even banned by the Malaysian government.

The 200-year old Library of Congress is the largest library in the world with a collection of over 3 million books and 33 million catalogued books.

The "Pirate Of The Carry-BN" is not available in any library in Malaysia due to the government restrictions. For the same reason, it also cannot be sold in any shop in Malaysia. This program is part of the month-long "To Fight Through Cartoon" American tour starting September 15th, 2014. During this tour, I also held a solo cartoon exhibition at an art gallery of The Crane House in Louisville.

I also gave lectures on art and journalism at the University of East Kentucky, the University of West Kentucky, Manual High School and Berea College. Also, I will be holding a forum for Malaysians in New York City and San Francisco.

In San Francisco, I will be attending as a guest of the Annual Convention of The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists for three days from October 9th, 2014.

3 Oct 2014

Zunar

Malaysian Political Cartoonist


“The Hero of Color City” and ‘Star Wars Rebels’ reviewed in The Post

'Star Wars Rebels': In visuals and in spirit, it's a new hope [in print as 'Star Wars Rebels': The Force, and fun, are back]
Hank Stuever
By Hank Stuever TV critic October 3 2014


Family Filmgoer reviews 'Gone Girl,' 'The Good Lie' and more
Green, Blue and Black are a boy's crayons who spring to life at night in about as innocent a flick as they come. (Magnolia Picture)
By Jane Horwitz October 3 2014

Oct. 9: Batman stamps

The U.S. Postal Service is launching a series of Forever stamps (49 cents) in honor of Batman's 75th anniversary. Four versions of the iconic DC Comics superhero are depicted from four eras of the comic-book character's history (Can you name the artists?). In addition, there are four incarnations of the Bat-Signal. The stamps, which will premiere at New York Comic Con next week, go on sale Oct. 9.

MISOGYNY IN COMICS on Fantastic Forum


Season 5 opens with a discussion on MISOGYNY IN COMICS. Featuring an interview with comics writer GAIL SIMONE and Cool Toys with the DJI Phantom 2 unmanned aerial vehicle.
 — with Gabrielle 'Bria' LaVorgna,Abigail Pritchard and El Anderson at Awesome Con.

News from Rafer Roberts on Nightmare the Rat

I plan to debut the NIGHTMARE THE RAT collection at theLocust Moon Comics Festival on October 25th in beautiful Philadelphia. It seemed like an appropriate venue since the Locust Moon folks are the guys that put out the giant LITTLE NEMO: DREAM ANOTHER DREAM book. Debuting the NIGHTMARE collection alongside DREAM ANOTHER DREAM just feels right.

On Halloween, we will be having a NIGHTMARE THE RAT release party at Fantom Comics in stately Washington DC. Details are still being finalized but there will be a signing, possibly a reading, and an actual Halloween party with candy and dancing. I will be in a costume of some sort.

Finally, I'll be at New York Comic Con next week. It will be far too early to have copies of the collection available, but I will have finished commissions for those of you who pledged at that level (and who let me know that you'll also be at NYCC). I won't have my own table, but I will be doing signings at a few different publisher booths throughout the weekend. I may add one or two signings, but here is my schedule as it stands right now:

Thursday:

4:30-5:30 signing at Valiant, booth 2028

Friday:

3:15-4:00 Kickstarter Office Hours panel - 1A24

4:30-5:30 signing at Valiant, booth 2028

Saturday:

12:00-1 signing at Valiant, booth 2028

Sunday:

11-12:30 signing at ComixTribe, booth 1172

1:30-2:30 signing at Valiant, booth 2028

Oct 4: Greg Pak at Fantom Comics

Oct 4 @ 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Greg Pak Signing! @ Fantom Comics | Washington | District of Columbia | United States

Greg Pak Signing!

Award-winning comics writer Greg Pak is back at Fantom for another signing, and WE. ARE. PUMPED!

From DC's Batman/Superman and Action Comics, to Marvel's Storm, Planet Hulk, Magneto Testament, Red Skull Incarnate, and Dynamite's Turok, chances are good that if you're reading an awesome book, Mr. Pak's name is all over it.

Mr. Pak will be here in-store from 2:30pm to 4pm and we'll have copies of some of his current work available for sale, so swing on by!

Via Convention Scene which also notes he'll be showing a short film later that evening.

Thursday, October 02, 2014

Smithsonian Magazine on Wonder Woman

The Surprising Origin Story of Wonder Woman

The history of the comic-book superhero's creation seven decades ago has been hidden away—until now

Today's Unshelved done for Fairfax County Library

Unshelved is an entertaining web strip about a small staff of cranky librarians. I get it emailed to me every day, for free, which is cool. Then I buy their book collections.

Click here to see the strip of which the authors write:

I drew today's strip the old-fashioned way, on paper with pencil and ink. And I did it on the shores of Lake Michigan in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Honestly, it was pretty darned scenic. We wrote it for today's staff development day for the Fairfax County, VA Public Library. We looked over several dozen submissions and chose a great story from Randy Falkofske, presenting the library with the original art, and Randy a signed print.

We had a great time today and we'd love to do something similar for your library, conference, or customer event!

Oct 3-5: Anime USA con

Anime USA


Date: October 3–5, 2014
Location: Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC
This is a nice con with a lot of cosplay.

Caricaturist John Kascht

Caricaturist John Kascht interviewed his old friend Richard Thompson in the forthcoming book The Art of Richard Thompson.  A couple of pieces have recently appeared online about his Washington connections.

From the SPD Archives: John Kascht at The Washington Times, 1988-91
 by Linda Rubes
10.02.14

This second one talks about his work being collected by the National Portrait Gallery -

WTOP on "The end of Saturday morning cartoons"

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Keeling on 'Student Exposure'

"Student Exposure" interviews Evan Keeling about the D.C. Conspiracy, Dr. Dremo, Magic Bullet and self-publishing. Click on photo to see the video.

Comic Riffs on watermelon-toothpaste

Obama watermelon-toothpaste controversy: Apologetic Boston Herald cartoonist says, 'I detest' racist humor
By Michael Cavna Washington Post Comic Riffs blog October 1 2014

Q&A: Rodriguez on 'Colonial Comics'


by Matt Dembicki

D.C. Conspiracy member Jason Rodriguez has edited a new comics anthology called Colonial Comics (Fulcrum Publishing) that debuts this weekend at the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo in Boston. Below are a few questions Jason answered for us regarding his book. (Note: In full disclosure, I illustrated one of the stories in the book.)
What was your mission statement for the book?

I want to create a book that functions as both entertainment and education. The main idea is to tell stories that you often don't find in school history books that can, in turn, lead into larger discussions about colonial American history. When I was growing up, my knowledge of colonial American history was essentially: 1) some people came over here for religious freedom, they wore funny hats, 2) they met this one Native American...not sure what happened to him, 3) something about burning witches, and 4) we went to war with England. What I want to do is fill in those gaps and tell stories about the Native Americans and women and free-thinkers and slaves and business owners who came from the Colonies and give a better understanding of what life was like over our first 200+ years, the good and the bad.
How did you find collaborators, such as co-editors, writers and artists?
I reached out to a bunch of historians, first. That was always an interesting conversation. Writing Dr. Virginia DeJohn Anderson and telling her, "I really loved CREATURES OF EMPIRE, have you ever considered writing a comics story about free-range animal husbandry suitable for twelve year olds?" Of course the answer was, "No, I never thought of that." But over the course of several conversations we figured out what that story would look like, and then I found the right illustrator to bring it to life. As for a lot of the other creators, I reached out to folks from the DC Conspiracy and Locust Moon crews. The best resource I came across was the Boston Comics Roundtable - they are essentially the DC Conspiracy of Boston and consist of many different incredible cartoonists and writers. It was there that I found a lot of my contributors, people I've never worked with before, along with one of my assistant editors John Bell. I talked to John once and offered him the job, he was an amazing resource in this.
What were the most difficult aspects of putting this anthology together?

Probably working with people who never worked in comics before. There's a big difference between writing a history book and writing a comic script. We just needed small pieces of bigger stories and we needed to fit them into easy-to-read, 11-page comics stories. Schedules were difficult, as well - a lot of people taught and just simply didn't have the time to contribute on the level that would move the book along at a good pace. Also, I designed every page of the book and it turns out I'm a bit of a tinkerer. Two months before deadline I took the whole book part and rebuilt it with new intros, interstitials, book guides, and a reference section. I wouldn't say I'm my own worse enemy, but it turns out I'm definitely my own worst editor. 

How can Colonial Comics be used as a teaching tool?

It contextualizes history, plain and simple. When we were kids we loved the dioramas at history museums. A handful of cavemen taking down a Wooly Mammoth, we could stare at it for hours on end and build a story out of it. From there, we began to get interested in the details of the clothes and the weapons and the process of hunting. Comics afford kids that same luxury - they can study a panel, see what people were wearing and how they spoke. Get a sense of scale. All the while reading an entertaining narrative. From there, they may become interested in the details. The free-range animal husbandry story (which was illustrated by Mike Sgier) is a silent story about a troublesome pig who keeps eating Native crops. We see the escalation of destruction that eventually leads to Native American's packing up and moving westward. The story behind the story, and beyond the story, is where the real teaching comes in.
These comics can be used as a hook to get kids interested in history. Kind of like tricking them into learning a thing, and giving them several samples of topics to see what they're most interested in.

What are your future plans? Is this part of a series?

I have two more Colonial books coming out, one focusing on pre-Revolutionary New England and one focusing on Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic region. I would like to do more, but let's see how these are received, first. The other history book I'm editing is a student's memoirs about growing up in war-torn Sarajevo, but that won't come out until 2016 or so, most likely.
Beyond history comics I'm also working with AAAS to do a science and science fiction comics gallery show and comics creation workshop, with the idea being to team kids up with scientists, writers, and illustrators to help them understand how science fact turns into science fiction and then mentor them in the creation of their own comics. We're still in the planning phases for this program and it will be starting some time next year.
Below are a few images from the book that Jason gave us to share with our readers.



Rafer Roberts interview online

[Baltimore Comic-Con 2014] The Rafer Roberts & Nightmare the Rat Interview
BY: ALEX LUPP - OCTOBER 1ST, 2014  

Monday, September 29, 2014

"Oct 4: Armed Forces Appreciation Day includes Big Planet Comics"

On Saturday, Oct. 4, Harp & Fiddle Restaurant is sponsoring a street fair/benefit for our troops. Cordell Ave. will be closed to vehicular traffic. This promises to be a fun event for all ages, and Big Planet Comics will have free comics for your kids.
http://flanagansharpandfiddle.com/armed-forces-appreciation-day/

Hope to see you Saturday.

--
Joel Pollack
BIG PLANET COMICS

4849 Cordell Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20814


Sept 30: Ted Rall and Kal

Ted Rall will speak on Afghanistan at Kramerbooks on Dupont Circle at 6:30. KAL will be joining him and C-Span is filming it.

Oct 1: Zunar at Library of Congress at noon

Malaysian cartoonist Zunar is speaking in DC.

Cartoon journalist Josh Kramer on DCist

Drawn to Flavor: DC Noodles

Drawn to Flavor: DC Noodles

Illustrator Josh Kramer highlights the beef ragu and chili mojito in watercolor....
http://dcist.com/2014/09/drawn_to_flavor_dc_noodles.php

Comic Riffs on Thor

THE NEW (FEMALE) THOR: Writer Jason Aaron hammered out the groundwork ahead of this week's debut [+SNEAK PEEK]
By David Betancourt 
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog September 29 2014

Oct 21: Art Spiegelman's Wordless at GWU

Art Spiegelman's WORDLESS! with music by Phillip Johnston

Presented by GW Lisner as part of the Washington DCJCC's Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival

Tuesday, October 21, 2014 - 8:00pm

Tickets: $35, $40, $45

Art Spiegelman and Phillip Johnston unite in WORDLESS! --  a new and stimulating hybrid of slides, talk and musical performance. With original music by Phillip Johnston and live narration and text by Art Spiegelman, this live performance delves into Art's premise around comics, their history, and their capacity for images to go right to the brain as wordless messages. Experience the art of comics as Spiegelman probes further into the nature and possibilities of his medium. 
15% discount for Students/Alumni/Faculty/Staff with GWID and Seniors/Military with ID at the Lisner Box Office.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

That darn Lio and Hagar

Letters to the Editor: The wrong image of shock therapy [Lio].

Lois F. Morris, Silver Spring

Washington Post September 27 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-wrong-image-of-shock-therapy/2014/09/26/e17944b4-42a1-11e4-8042-aaff1640082e_story.html

 

Letters to the Editor: Offended by anything [Hagar the Horrible].

Frank Carpenter, Riverdale

Washington Post September 27 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/offended-by-anything/2014/09/24/4d041616-426e-11e4-8042-aaff1640082e_story.html

The Apple Creek News from Rob Steibel


From: Robert Steibel 

I'm posting samples from all 10 volumes of my The Apple Creek News books at my website robertsteibel.com over the next few weeks. Here are the covers for the first nine books (attached). This was an experiment where I just riffed on the news and current events in the early part of 2014. It takes me about 15 minutes to do a black and white comic now, so after a few months I suddenly had a stack of 800 comics! If I published them as dailies they would run until 2018, so I decided to just publish the stuff in books. In 2015 I'm going to focus on two new projects at gocomics/apple-creek one called 'Picatzo' the other called 'The Surreal World.'

Oct 2: Gene Weingarten & Eric Shansby

Comic strip writer Gene and cartoonist Eric are at Politics and Prose bookstore at 10:30 AM for their new children's book.

Sept 30: Ted Rall

Ted Rall will speak on Afghanistan at Kramerbooks on Dupont Circle at 6:30.

Bell, Roman and Telgemeier photos

One More Page bookstore in Arlington, VA gets a goodly amount of cartoonists coming through.


Recently Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier spoke to a big crowd of mostly girls.

More pictures are here.

A few days later Cece Bell spoke about El Deafo, her book about growing up hearing-impaired.



More pictures are here.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Sept. 26-28: Baltimore Book Fest

The Baltimore Book Fest is the weekend, Sept. 26-28. The Charm City Comics Book Pavilion (Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Rash Field) will include Phil Cho, Darren Soto, Steve Anderson, Andrew Aydin and Art Way Alliance.

I'll be at the fest, too. At noon, I'll be at the National Aquarium's Ocean Exploration Stage (Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Area 10, between the National Aquarium and World Trade Center), talking about Wild Ocean and using comics to spread the word about conservation.

At 3 p.m. I'll be at the Charm City Comics Book Pavilion with fellow D.C. comic booker Jason Rodriguez (editor of the upcoming Colonial Comics anthology), where we will give examples of how schools and libraries are using comics in the classroom, from teaching English to bringing history to life.


Bill Brown's artwork for the Capital Maritime Music Fest

Bill Brown says this is one of two versions he did for the Capital Maritime Music Fest.  You can see the other version that he prefers here.

Fantastic Forum's interview with Gail Simone


Washington's own comics tv show Fantastic Forum was at Baltimore Comic Con, where Devon Sanders conducted with Gail Simone.  


Their website is www.fantasticforum.tv and their Facebook page is www.facebook.com/FantasticForum



Oct 1: Dork Diaries at Politics and Prose

Rachel Renee Russell - Dork Diaries 8: Tales from a Not-So-Happily Ever After with Erin Russell and Nikki Russell

Oct 1 2014 10:30 am

The team behind the Dork Diaries is back with another entry in Nikki Maxwell's life. This time around Nikki has some particularly interesting dreams after a bad bump on the head. In them, she, and all of her, friends, enemies, crushes, and everyone in between, become the main players in a series of fairy tales. Of course, things don't play out quite as you'd expect, because when Nikki's telling the story, everything is sure to have a twist. Ages 9 – 13 (Aladdin)

$13.99
ISBN-13: 9781481421843
Availability: Coming Soon - Available for Pre-Order Now
Published: Aladdin Paperbacks, 9/2014 
 
5015 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington
District Of Columbia

Sept 30: Scott Campbell at Politics and Prose

Scott Campbell - Hug Machine

Sep 30 2014 10:30 am
Watch out! The hug machine is coming! And no one, no matter how grumpy or mean, can resist his hugs. This whimsical, sweet, and charming book from Scott Campbell will conquer the world. One hug at a time. Ages 4 – 6 (Atheneum)

Hug Machine (Hardcover)

$16.99
ISBN-13: 9781442459359
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 8/2014
5015 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington
District Of Columbia

Oct 1: Ars Electronica Animation Film Festival


October 1, 2014 | Film Screening | Ars Electronica - Animation Film Festival
FIlm Screening | Ars Electronica | October 1, 2014, 7:30 p.m.

Ars Electronica Animation Film Festival
October 1, 2014 | Film Screening | Austrian Cultural Forum

If you're interested in outstanding computer animated films as well as innovative media art, make sure you join us for this one of a kind event on
October first.

The Austrian Cultural Forum will show some of the award winning contributions to 2013's Ars Electronica Animation Festival. 
The Ars Electronica Animation Festival is a compilation selected from all entries to the 2013 Prix Ars Electronica's Computer Animation/Film/VFX category. It offers an overview of the positions and points of view of artists worldwide, and impressively documents not only the genre's explosive growth of late but also its marvelous substantive and stylistic diversity.
775 films from 73 countries were submitted for prize consideration in 2013. Even a quick perusal of the selected films reveals the broad spectrum of what's being produced now. Digital animation—sometimes recognizable as such, sometimes unidentifiably as a realistic simulation—increasingly pervades our everyday life.
These computer-generated motion pictures appear in a diverse array of often hybrid forms in a very wide-ranging and interdisciplinary field at the nexus of art, industry, science and R&D.

For further information please visit www.acfdc.org

When: Wednesday, October 1, 2014 | 7:30 p.m.
Where: Austrian Cultural Forum | 3524 International Court NW | Washington, DC, 20008
Tickets: FREE | Please register at 
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ars-electronica-animation-festival-tickets-13033632947

Dreams Really Did Come True at Disney's ToonFest



by Steve Artley

I was honored to be a part of the annual ToonFest event in Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri last week. The two-day celebration honors the memory of Walt Disney and the cartooning profession through activities including programs that feature guest cartoonists. Among the other headliners brought in to give presentations were Hilary Price, Bill Hinds, Eddie Pittman and the dynamic Guy Gilchrist.
    On Friday, the team spoke to over 400 high school and college students, who were bused in from surrounding communities. Event organizers reported that this year's attendance was a record high.
    One of the highlights, is a street parade complete with strolling performers and several bands. Guest artists are each featured as "Grand Marshal" and ride the parade route down the original Main Street USA (inspiration for the Disney parks' street of the same name) in the back of classic pickups. Following the parade, the team reprises their talks at the Marceline Community Center. Later, we were taken to Walt Disney's boyhood farm for a ceremony at the "Dreaming Tree," where youngsters Walt and his sister, Ruth reportedly spent many childhood hours gazing up through the branches, to wish upon their star. With much pomp and flair, each artist was re-introduced, brought before the assemblage and inducted into the "Order of Plantears" (each are crowned with a hardhat featuring Mickey ears). Young Mouseketeers led each of us to our respective spots to plant our own "dreaming tree." A grand BBQ picnic at the farmstead brought the event to a festive conclusion.
    Throughout our entire visit, we artists were met with an abundance of genuine welcoming warmth and charity by the good folks of Marceline. Shortly after landing at the Washington airport, I walked through the crowded corridors of fast-paced indifference. I was shoved aside without apology from one of the self-absorbed pushing his way to the VIP lounge. It took every effort to restrain myself from boarding a return flight to Marceline with intent to seek asylum.
Friday night was a banquet and tour of the Disney Museum.
Hilary Price and Bill Hinds
A horse-drawn wagon full of cartoonists and friends
The door to Walt Disney's boyhood bedroom

ToonFest Parade: Awesome. Vehicle carrying Hilary Price along the parade route: Priceless. 

During the last leg of the parade route, the classic pickup carrying Hilary Price overheated and came to an abrupt Disneyesque halt, complete with gurgling sound FX and billowing steam. Disney animators and Foley artists couldn't have done it better. Not to be left knuckle biting and helpless at the roadside, the ever resourceful Hilary got out and pushed with assistance by a couple of onlookers.

From my vantage point of the tailgate of the vehicle ahead of Hilary, I gleefully iPhone photographed the following sequence.

 


Wednesday, September 24, 2014