More PSAs from The Hospital Clipper - Doonesbury and Wee Pals (and Love Is and Moon Mullins)

As in the previous post, these are from a newspaper held in the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery's archives, in Falls Church. The run is being digitized and put online in the Medical Heritage Library.

I'm not actually sure if the Doonesbury panel is actually a PSA, or if an enterprising editor just pulled it out from a strip. Any thoughts?

These are from the US Naval Hospital Memphis' newspaper The Hospital Clipper from 1972-1973.

Mo Willems profiled in Washingtonian

Mo Willems's "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" Will Be a Musical at the Kennedy Center This November

The world-premiere show is part of the author's two-year residency

Written by Aly Prouty

Washingtonian September 5, 2019

https://www.washingtonian.com/2019/09/05/kids-author-mo-willems-is-spending-two-years-at-the-kennedy-center/

Exhibit Review: 100 Years of Cartoons in El Universal: Mexico-United States As Seen By Mexican Cartoonists.

by Mike Rhode

100 Years of Cartoons in El Universal: Mexico-United States As Seen By Mexican Cartoonists. Augustin Sánchez González. Washington, DC: Mexican Cultural Institute, September 4 – October 30, 2019.  https://www.instituteofmexicodc.org/

El Universal was Mexico’s first modern newspaper, according to the exhibit, and on its first day of publication in October 1916, the first thing readers would see was group caricature of the men writing the new Mexican constitution. The exhibit commemorates both the 50^th anniversary of editor Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz, and the 100^th anniversary of the newspaper.

Sánchez González organized the bilingual exhibit into five sections. The first deals with the establishment of the newspaper with its early cartoonists Andrés Audiffred and Hugo Thilgmann, as well as comic strips influenced by American strips. Two original strips by Audiffred and two caricatures by Thilgmann are highlights of this section, which also includes two sheets of the original comics section of the paper, as well as reproductions of front pages with cartoons. This section is supplemented with a video of the curator discussing the exhibit. 

The second section is on the influence of the American cartoon and comic strip. A reproduction of a newspaper page by Guillermo “Cas” Castillo of comic strip characters such as the Katzenjammer Kids and Mutt and Jeff with caricatures of Charlie Chaplin is displayed with large reproduction drawings by Juan Terrazas of Cas’ drawings of the characters. Terrazas is the director of the Museum of Caricature which was a major contributor of pieces to the exhibit. This room is by far the weakest part of the show. In spite of the curator’s comments about fame of the characters during the exhibit opening, the comic strips are too far removed from the current audience’s experience to be recognizable. Only students of the form recognize the 100-year old characters today. A local connection to the exhibit venue is seen in Rogelio Naranjo’s self-caricature of as a young dandy holding the Washington Post with a headline announcing his arrival in D.C., but the placement of the piece in this section is odd, and probably just is an artifact of the layout of the rooms.

The third part concentrates on caricature of American presidents, and the fourth on Uncle Sam and U.S. politics. These and the next section are by far the strongest part of the exhibit with original artwork by masters such as Antonio Arias Bernal, Ruis, Naranjo and Helioflores featured. It can be interesting and instructive to look at caricatures by artists who are not natives of the country, because they tend not to use the same tropes or exaggerated features as a local cartoonist might. Bernal’s drawing of Eisenhower is clearly recognizable, but Ruis’ cartoon of John F. Kennedy makes him look more like Superman’s Jimmy Olsen, and Efren’s caricature of Reagan does not seem accurate at all. Audiffred is still working for the newspaper at this time, and has a nice heavy ink line displayed in his drawing of Vice President Richard Nixon. Naranjo’s drawing of Jimmy Carter is firmly in the large-headed David Levine-influenced style, but with two men hanging on barbed wire behind Carter, is probably harsher than what would have appeared in an American publication. One of the pieces that resonates today is Helioflores drawing of Richard Nixon as a tree with multiple cuts in its trunk and titled, “¿Caerá? (Will it Fall?).” Although there are two good caricatures of Trump in this section, the Nixon drawing feels timely.

 

 The section on Uncle Sam’s best piece is “Cáscaras (Banana Peel Fall)” by Bernal, showing Uncle Sam slipping on a United Fruit Company banana peel. This section however, reveals the problem of the lack of dates in the captions as the viewer will not necessarily be aware of the events that prompted the cartoon. An exception of course is Altamrino’s odd untitled drawing of Uncle Sam missing two front teeth after September 11, 2001. Kemchs’ “Alambrada (Barbed Wire), a color print of Trump’s name as barbed wire is a clever piece even if it does not feature Uncle Sam.

 

The exhibit closes with a section on masters of Mexican cartooning. Without needing to hew closely to a theme, this section is the strongest part of the exhibit. Excellent examples by all the previously named cartoonists are featured along with others by Omar, PIT, Carilla, and Dzib. 

Overall the exhibit is an interesting and educational introduction to one particular niche in Mexican cartooning. Additional photographs can be seen at https://flic.kr/s/aHsmGJtK1B. The exhibition is open Monday – Saturday on 16^th St NW, and includes a free booklet. The historic mansion that holds the exhibit is available for a guided tour as well, and features striking murals by Roberto Cueva del Río of Mexican history up the three levels of the main staircase. I believe there is an accompanying book and will provide additional details if I can confirm that.

(This review was written for the International Journal of Comic Art 21:2, but this version appears on both the IJOCA and ComicsDC websites on September 6, 2019, while the exhibit is still open for viewing.)

Bruce Guthrie on Batman @ Society of Illustrators Museum in NYC

by Bruce Guthrie

Ace local photographer Bruce Guthrie visited the exhibit and wrote some notes to go alone with his pictures:

 

I visited the Society of Illustrators Museum in NYC on Tuesday.  The entire museum was devoted to four (!) Batman exhibits.  

Batman has always been my favorite comic character, probably helped by the fact that his real name is Bruce Wayne.  (Ages ago, I was going some contracting work for NIH while I was working for the Department of Commerce.  NIH said I couldn't sign up as a Commerce person so they said I needed another company.  Bruce... Batman...  So Wayne Software did the programming work for them.  My business card had "Batman Lives" in hexadecimal characters under the company name which probably drove the proof readers at the card company crazy.)

The four exhibits, which run through October 12, a week after the New York Comic-Con event, are fully described on https://www.societyillustrators.org/exhibits . 

 * (Third Floor) Batman Collected: Chip Kidd's Batman Obsession
 * (Second Floor) Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan

 * (Second Floor) Batman Black and White: Sketch Covers Selected by Chip Kidd

 * (First Floor and Basement) Illustrating Batman: Eighty Years of Comics and Pop Culture

The Eighty Years One is the biggest.  It includes original pages going back to the 1940s and some commissions by Alex Ross, Neal Adams, Bob Kane, Joe Giella (much of the collection was from Joe's son Frank), Dick Sprang, Jerry Robinson, Sheldon Moldoff, Carmen Infantino, Irv Novick, Brian Bolland, Kelley Jones, Jim Aparo (including the famous back-cracking sequence from Bane), Sam Kieth, Mike Mignola, Ross Andru, Gene Colan, and others.  I recognized way too many of those pages!  There were also originals of the daily comic strips.

The manga exhibit had about 50 original pages from a Manga Batman story by Jiro Kuwata.

Chip Kidd's Batman Obsession section had lots of originals and commissions by various folks.  The pieces by Frank Quitely were gorgeous.

My favorite, however, was Chip's Black and White exhibit.  He had 100 illustrators create original cover art for him.  Two dozen of the original illustrations are on exhibit.  Some of the artists -- Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Jim Lee, Steve Rude, Michael Golden, Kyle Baker, etc -- you expect to see.  But he also approached folks like Xaime Hernandez, Roz Chast, and Liniers. 

One of the things I loved was that the entire museum has flying bats in various corners.  Similar to how the Ralph Steadman exhibit at American University's Katzen had splatters periodically.  Steadman, BTW, came to SOI so there is a Steadman splatter on the wall.  The cleaning crew thought it was a spill and started to clean it up before panicked people stopped them.

Of course I did my normal photo obsessive thing so you'll find all of the exhibits on my site --

http://www.bguthriephotos.com/graphlib.nsf/keys/2019_08_27E2_SOI_Batman_Pop

http://www.bguthriephotos.com/graphlib.nsf/keys/2019_08_27E3_SOI_Bat_Manga

http://www.bguthriephotos.com/graphlib.nsf/keys/2019_08_27E4_SOI_Batman_BW

http://www.bguthriephotos.com/graphlib.nsf/keys/2019_08_27E5_SOI_Batman_Coll

--

Bruce Guthrie
Photo obsessive
http://www.bguthriephotos.com

.

__,_._,___

PR: Meet Justice League Dark writer James Tynion IV this Saturday & Sunday

Less than 5 VIP passes remaining!

Meet comics superstar James Tynion IV (Detective Comics, Justice League, Batman / TMNT, The Woods) for our Something is Killing the Children #1 Launch Signing at Third Eye Annapolis & Third Eye Richmond Saturday 9/7/19! (Annapolis) Sunday 9/8/19 (Richmond) Another epic Third Eye signing event as we bring JUSTICE LEAGUE (the current run!) superstar James Tynion IV to Third Eye for the first time ever to kick off his new indie horror series! CLICK HERE TO READ ALL ABOUT James Tynion IV's Other Projects (JUSTICE LEAGUE, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, BATMAN TMNT, and more!) Click here for full info on our Tynion Signing at Annapolis Read all about Something is Killing the Children launch signing with James Tynion IV by clicking here! Order our AND JUSTICE FOR ALL Pass & get priority admission, extended signing limits & free swag! Click here to order now for Annapolis VIPs! STAY CONNECTED   ‌ ‌ ‌

Sept 11: Yann Kebbi: The Structure is Rotten, Comrade at Solid State Books

Yann Kebbi: The Structure is Rotten, Comrade

https://www.solidstatebooksdc.com/events/2019/7/26/yannkebi

• Wednesday, September 11, 2019
• 7:00 PM 8:00 PM

Discover French artist and illustrator Yann Kebbi and his graphic novel The Structure is Rotten, Comrade

A young man's arrogance and ambition collide with revolutionary politics in a visually groundbreaking graphic novel.

Written by Viken Berberian with his signature originality and verve and drawn with audacious compositions, delirious colors, and a kinetic expressionistic technique by the acclaimed painter and illustrator Yann Kebbi, The Structure is Rotten, Comrade is a formally innovative and politically resonant work, by turns prescient, punchy, cautionary, and fearless.

This event is free and open for all to attend!

Sept 21: Meet Greg Pak, Asian Superheroes "Agents of Atlas" Author! at Fantom Comics

Meet Greg Pak, Asian Superheroes "Agents of Atlas" Author!

https://www.facebook.com/events/417992899073948/?active_tab=about

Public

· Hosted by OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates and Fantom Comics

• Saturday, September 21, 2019 at 2 PM – 4 PM

• Fantom Comics 2010 P St NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, District of Columbia 20036 Show Map

• Hosted by OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates

Otakon interview of anime music composer

Otakon Interview: Kaoru Wada

Carrie Wood

Scoop September 6 2019

http://scoop.previewsworld.com/Home/4/1/73/1018?ArticleID=232954

Sept 12: Conversation with Jaime Hernandez

Conversation with Jaime Hernandez

https://www.loc.gov/item/event-397330/conversation-with-jaime-hernandez/2019-09-12/

Date and Location

• When: Thursday, September 12, 2019

  4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EDT
  Add to calendar

• Where: Thomas Jefferson Building - Kluge Center (LJ119)

  10 1st Street SE, Washington, DC 20540

  • View Floorplan
  • Get Directions External

The event is free, but due to expected demand, tickets are recommended, and there may be special restrictions. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Click the "Get Tickets" link below for more information and to secure your ticket. Entry is not guaranteed.

Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov.

Conversation with comic artist Jaime Hernandez, co-creator of the alternative comic Love and Rockets. Hernandez was the winner of the 2014 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for best graphic novel/comic and the 2014 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Writer/Artist. He will be interviewed by Gary Groth, founder and president of Fantagraphics, about his work and creative process, representing Latinx experiences in comic art, and changes in the field over the course of his career.

This is the SPX Lecture at the Library of Congress, held annually in conjunction with Small Press Expo, which this year celebrates its 25th Anniversary at its yearly festival September 14-15.

Sept 11: Newsprint: The Medium That Launched Comics exhibit gallery talk

8/13 – 9/27, 2019

http://newsprintexhibit.com/index.html

The Cade Art Gallery at Anne Arundel Community College

Exhibition Reception with curator Warren Bernard on September 11, 2019 from 5 to 7pm.

The multi-billion dollar pop culture phenomenon of comics finds it roots in the cheap paper known as newsprint.

The colorful world of newspaper comic strip characters and today's superheroes can be traced back to the 1890s with the development of high-speed color printing presses. Color printing gave publishers a competitive edge in the bruising newspaper circulation wars of the time.

The large size of a broadsheet newspaper gave both editors and artists a vast canvas upon which to create ground-breaking comics like Little Nemo in Slumberland, Gasoline Alley, and The Spirit.
Here in the 21st Century, we still find newsprint relevant to the comics world, even as physical newspapers and comic books fade in favor of digital content. Newsprint's cheap production price coupled with the latest digital technologies have encouraged publishers and creators of indie comics to embrace the medium.

This has led to the creation of such long-running newsprint-based publications such as Smoke Signal and Magic Bullet, both mainstays of the indie comics field. The editors and artists of these and other comics across the United States leverage the large form factor and low costs of newsprint to create stories and compositions that could not be entertained in smaller print formats like comic books or in any digital medium.

This exhibit of over 50 pieces is curated by comics historian and Small Press Expo Executive Director Warren Bernard from his personal collection. It traces the use of newsprint in comics from its first commercial application in 1892, through the adoption of this very old medium by today's indie comics artists.

About the Curator

List of Works Exhibited

Cade Art Gallery

John A. Cade Center for Fine Arts
Anne Arundel Community College
Google Maps

Gallery Hours

Monday–Thursday: 8am–6pm
Friday: 8am–4pm
Saturday: 8am–3pm

Exhibition Reception

Wednesday, September 11, 2019 from 5 to 7pm

Curator Warren Bernard will be on hand to discuss the exhibition and answer questions.
The event is free and open to the public.

Troy-Jeffrey Allen interviews Todd McFarlane on Spawn 300

"It started as a sci-fi comic...because of Star Wars." Extended Todd McFarlane Spawn 300 Interview

Troy-Jeffrey Allen

PREVIEWSworld Weekly

Published on Sep 1, 2019

In the above interview with PREVIEWsworld Weekly's Troy-Jeffrey Allen, creator Todd McFarlane reflects on 300 issues of his creation, creators, concepts, and crazy ideas that spawned the SPAWN legacy. https://previewsworld.com/Article/233422

J.R. Williams collection of Out Our Way co-edited by Ron Evry

Local cartoonist and historian Ron Evry has coedited a collection of the great J.R. Williams' panel, Out Our Way titled Hoo-Hah! Out Our Way - The Poetry of J. R. Williams.

It's available on Amazon for order, and the description reads:

J. R. Williams has often been called "The Mark Twain of the American Newspaper Cartoon." This volume is first of a series devoted to J. R. Williams' long-running "Out Our Way" panels (1922-1957). It deals with the remarkable poetry contained in his comics, sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching, and always authentic. Williams himself left home at an early age and worked as a cavalry man, a cowboy, and machinist. His true-life experiences became the basis for his cartoons, and his panels were among the most clipped ever to appear in newspapers. To this day, "Out Our Way" scrapbooks from the twenties and thirties still regularly show up at estate sales and thrift shops. The editors of Hoo-Hah! have restored Williams' drawings from yellowed clippings to look like they originally appeared when first printed -- large formatted and with clean lines. In the near future, more Hoo-Hah! publications will be printed, devoted to single subjects, or a variety of Classic American humorous stories, comics, and film.

Bruce Guthrie's photos of Randall Munroe's book talk

Randall Munroe - How To — in conversation with Alexandra Petri at Sidwell Friends

http://www.bguthriephotos.com/graphlib.nsf/keys/2019_09_04E1_Munroe

PR: D+Q at SPX

D+Q at SPX

https://www.drawnandquarterly.com/event/2019/06/dq-spx

in Bethesda, MD with Davis, Flowers, Huizenga, Nickerson

D+Q will be exhibiting at this year's Small Press Expo on September 14th and 15th in Bethesda, Maryland. Eleanor Davis (The Hard Tomorrow), Ebony Flowers (Hot Comb), Kevin Huizenga (The River at Night), and Sylvia Nickerson (Creation) will be in attendance with their brand new books.

Our complete programming lineup and signing schedule is below! All signings will take place at D+Q booth #W1-W4, and all programming takes place in the Marriott North Bethesda Hotel.  

PROGRAMMING:

Saturday September 14, 11 am to 7 pm

12:00 - 1:00 pm, Kevin Huizenga signing 

1:00 - 2:00 pm, Eleanor Davis and Sylvia Nickerson signing 

2:00 - 3:00 pm, Kevin Huizenga signing  

3:00 - 4:00 pm, IMAGE, ACTIVISM, AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY in the White Oak Room, featuring Ebony Flowers and Sylvia Nickerson

For many autobiographical cartoonists, the personal truly is political. From direct participation in protests and political unrest, to suffering the effects of gentrification, to horrifying encounters with the police, to exploring self-image, each of the cartoonists on this panel has a unique perspective on recording these narratives. Join moderator and scholar Francesca Lyn as she discusses these issues with Ben Passmore (Your Black Friend And Other Stories), Ebony Flowers (Hot Comb), Bianca Xunise (Say Her Name), Sylvia Nickerson (Creation), and Halfdan Pisket (Deserter).

4:00 - 5:00pm, Ebony Flowers and Sylvia Nickerson signing 

Sunday September 15, 12 pm to 6 pm

12:30 - 1:30 pm, HARD THOUGHTS AND VISUAL METAPHORS in the White Oak Room, featuring Eleanor Davis and Kevin Huizenga

Cartoonists whose work differs in tone, style, and subject matter are often united in their visual solutions to the problem of trying to get at difficult thoughts, feelings, and concepts. Join scholar and moderator Isaac Cates as he explores the idea of cartoonists pushing themselves to express uncomfortable and enigmatic ideas with Rikki Villadsen (The Sea), Kevin Huizenga (The River At Night), Eleanor Davis (Why Art?), and Simon Hanselmann (Bad Gateway).

1:00 - 2:00 pm, Sylvia Nickerson signing 

1:30 - 2:30 pm, Eleanor Davis signing 

1:30 - 3:00 pm, Kevin Huizenga signing 

2:30 - 4:00 pm, Ebony Flowers signing 

 

Bethesda, MD

Saturday, September 14, 2019 - 11:00am to 7:00pm

Sunday, September 15, 2019 - 12:00pm to 6:00pm

Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center

5701 Marinelli Road

Eleanor Davis

Kevin Huizenga

Sylvia Nickerson