Joshua Luna accuses brother & ex-business partner Jonathan Luna of theft, emotional & physical abuse
The Luna brothers have shared credits on series including THE SWORD and GIRLS
By Samantha Puc
12/09/2019
Friday, December 13, 2019
Bloom makes the Beat's best of 2019 list.
The Best Comics of 2019
The Beat staff reveals the most exciting and moving comics they read this year
Cartoons in National Geographic's Jane Goodall exhibit
Patrick McDonnell of course, but also a Gary Larson mention.
Thursday, December 12, 2019
This week's Liz at Large in the City Paper
Liz At Large: "Perfect"
There's no such thing as perfect.
Liz Montague
Dec 12, 2019
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Trump's campaign compares him to genocidal fictional villain
'These are sad and strange times': Thanos creator rips widely mocked campaign video portraying Trump as Avengers supervillain
Former Washington Examiner cartoonist Nate Beeler's best of the decade
Nate Beeler's best of the decade is online at USA Today, which doesn't have it's own editorial cartoonist.
Thanks to Daryl Cagle's newsletter for the tip.
Arlington Library puts out top 100 titles checkout list...
and the cartoonists on it are...
... all for children.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney - 5 books
children's books by Mo Willems - 7 books
Dog Man by Dav Pilkey - 2 books
Baby-sitter's Club - 1 book (and not by Raina Telgemeier!)
and DVDs of the Incredibles 2 and Moana make the list too.
Two comic-art related movies on National Film Registry choices for 2019
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today (Dec 11, 2019) the annual selection of 25 of America's most influential motion pictures to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. Selected because of their cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the nation's film heritage, the films in the class of 2019 range from Prince's 1984 autobiographical hit "Purple Rain" and Spike Lee's 1986 breakout movie "She's Gotta Have It" to Disney's 1959 timeless fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty" and this year's biggest public vote getter, Kevin Smith's 1994 "Clerks."
"The National Film Registry has become an important record of American history, culture and creativity," said Hayden. "Unlike many other honors, the registry is not restricted to a time, place or genre. It encompasses 130 years of the full American cinematic experience – a virtual Olympiad of motion pictures. With the support of Congress, the studios and other archives, we are ensuring that the nation's cinematic history will be around for generations to come."
....
Clerks (1994)
A hilarious, in-your-face, bawdy-yet-provocative look at two sardonic young slackers (Dante and Randal). One toils as a New Jersey convenience store clerk while his alter-ego video store friend works when the mood strikes him. At 23 years old, Kevin Smith made his debut film for $27,000, reportedly financed by selling his comic book collection and using proceeds from when his car was lost in a flood. This sleeper hit helped define an era, grossed over $3 million, achieved prominent cult status among Generations X to Z, and easily garnered the most public votes in this year's National Film Registry balloting. Critic Roger Ebert described "Clerks" as "utterly authentic" with "the attitude of a gas station attendant who tells you to check your own oil. It's grungy and unkempt, and Dante and Randal look like they have been nourished from birth on beef jerky and Cheetos. They are tired and bored, underpaid and unlucky in love, and their encounters with customers feel like a series of psychological tests."
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
The story of the sleeping princess Aurora, awakened by a kiss, already was widely known to theater audiences. But Disney transformed this timeless fable from the original Charles Perrault fairy tale ("The Sleeping Beauty of the Wood") and The Brothers Grimm ("Little Briar-Rose") by tweaking plot elements and characters (such as the number and role of the fairies), as well as with the film's magnificent score. Along with its vivid images and charming details, the film introduced movie audiences to one of Disney's most enduring villainesses — Maleficent (voiced in the 1959 film by Eleanor Audley). "Beauty" was the last of classic animated fairy-tale adaptations produced by Walt Disney, whose influence suffuses the film.
The story of the sleeping princess Aurora, awakened by a kiss, already was widely known to theater audiences. But Disney transformed this timeless fable from the original Charles Perrault fairy tale ("The Sleeping Beauty of the Wood") and The Brothers Grimm ("Little Briar-Rose") by tweaking plot elements and characters (such as the number and role of the fairies), as well as with the film's magnificent score. Along with its vivid images and charming details, the film introduced movie audiences to one of Disney's most enduring villainesses — Maleficent (voiced in the 1959 film by Eleanor Audley). "Beauty" was the last of classic animated fairy-tale adaptations produced by Walt Disney, whose influence suffuses the film.
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Washingtonian on Wonder Woman 1984's DC
All the DC-Area Stuff We've Identified in the "Wonder Woman 1984" Trailer (So Far)
Written by Andrew Beaujon
Washingtonian December 9, 2019
The Pennsylvania Ave scene takes place in front of the National Archives.
Monday, December 09, 2019
Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Jack Evans, Hometown Hero"
From Mike Flugennock, DC's anarchist cartoonist -
"Jack Evans, Hometown Hero"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2884
Well, isn't this just all-time... Vincent Orange, DC Chamber of Commerce CEO and former disgraced DC City Council member, is throwing a bash for himself and a host of fellow grifters to congratulate themselves for bringing big-league baseball back to DC. Anybody who was anybody making this city miserable back in the '00s is going there, a turn-of-the-century rogues' gallery featuring none other than former Mayor Tony "The Rat" Williams himself. Honorees' schwag is to include replicas of the World Series trophy, and baseballs personally autographed by the owners of the Washington Nationals.
The truly spectacular irony here is that at a masturbatory shindig held by a guy who ended up resigning from the City Council after taking the Chamber gig, one of the honorees is our current champion multi-dipper, soon-to-be-bounced-out-of-his-seat and likely to end up with a C of C spot, Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans — an irony so spectacular, in fact, that I'm really going to have to go lie down now.
------
"Let's Celebrate Vincent Orange, Local Baseball Hero", Washington CityPaper 12.06.19
https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/loose-lips/article/21104820/lets-celebrate-vincent-orange-local-baseball-hero
"Vincent Orange Gets an Outrageous Side Job", Washington City Paper 07.29.16
https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/loose-lips/blog/20829331/vincent-orange-gets-an-outrageous-side-job
"Anthony Williams' Greatest Hits", posters by Mike Flugennock, 03.01.01 http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=215
"Thanks, Washington Post (finally)", cartoon by Mike Flugennock, 06.22.19 http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2751
"Chamber to Honor 'Hometown Heroes' at Dec. 12 Event", The Georgetowner 12.04.19
https://georgetowner.com/articles/2019/12/04/chamber-to-honor-hometown-heroes-at-dec-12-event/
"All of Jack Evans' Colleagues Recommend Expelling Him from the Council", Washington City Paper 12.03.19
https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/loose-lips/article/21104227/all-of-jack-evans-colleagues-recommend-expelling-him-from-the-council
"Jack Evans, Hometown Hero"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2884
Well, isn't this just all-time... Vincent Orange, DC Chamber of Commerce CEO and former disgraced DC City Council member, is throwing a bash for himself and a host of fellow grifters to congratulate themselves for bringing big-league baseball back to DC. Anybody who was anybody making this city miserable back in the '00s is going there, a turn-of-the-century rogues' gallery featuring none other than former Mayor Tony "The Rat" Williams himself. Honorees' schwag is to include replicas of the World Series trophy, and baseballs personally autographed by the owners of the Washington Nationals.
The truly spectacular irony here is that at a masturbatory shindig held by a guy who ended up resigning from the City Council after taking the Chamber gig, one of the honorees is our current champion multi-dipper, soon-to-be-bounced-out-of-his-seat and likely to end up with a C of C spot, Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans — an irony so spectacular, in fact, that I'm really going to have to go lie down now.
------
"Let's Celebrate Vincent Orange, Local Baseball Hero", Washington CityPaper 12.06.19
https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/loose-lips/article/21104820/lets-celebrate-vincent-orange-local-baseball-hero
"Vincent Orange Gets an Outrageous Side Job", Washington City Paper 07.29.16
https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/loose-lips/blog/20829331/vincent-orange-gets-an-outrageous-side-job
"Anthony Williams' Greatest Hits", posters by Mike Flugennock, 03.01.01 http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=215
"Thanks, Washington Post (finally)", cartoon by Mike Flugennock, 06.22.19 http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2751
"Chamber to Honor 'Hometown Heroes' at Dec. 12 Event", The Georgetowner 12.04.19
https://georgetowner.com/articles/2019/12/04/chamber-to-honor-hometown-heroes-at-dec-12-event/
"All of Jack Evans' Colleagues Recommend Expelling Him from the Council", Washington City Paper 12.03.19
https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/loose-lips/article/21104227/all-of-jack-evans-colleagues-recommend-expelling-him-from-the-council
Wonder Woman 1984 trailer shows bits of DC
The new Wonder Woman 1984 trailer is online. Much of the movie takes place in DC, and I'm sure it'll be nostalgic for me because I was at George Washington University at the time.
A couple of local writers have looked at it already -
There Is A Lot Of D.C. On Display In The New 'Wonder Woman' Trailer
The Luna Brothers feud story continues
Joshua Luna Speaks Out on Why He No Longer Works with His Brother, Jonathan Luna
Saturday, December 07, 2019
That darn Gahan Wilson
Right is wrong
Jeff Hamilton, Jessup
Washington Post Dec. 7, 2019, p. A13.
Gahan Wilson, self-portrait. (Fantagraphics Books)Feud between Luna Brothers exposed on Facebook
[ I thought about continuing to stay silent, but that doesn't help anyone but him, so I'll say it now. ]
Joshua Luna
December 6 2019
Today's Sally Forth strip has a new Christmas cartoon attached to it
Sally Forth runs in The Post, and amazingly enough, is as small on the computer screen as it is in the printed paper. One wouldn't have thought that possible. The increasingly surreal strip by Francesco Marciuliano and Jim Keefe has Hillary and Ted watching an animated holiday special...
... which really is a new online cartoon.
Friday, December 06, 2019
The Post's obituary for Howard Cruse
Howard Cruse, underground cartoonist and 'godfather of queer comics,' dies at 75 [in print as Pioneering chronicler of LGBTQ life in comics].
Liz at Large comic's 2nd week in City Paper
This is in the print paper as well.
Liz At Large: "Now"
Week two of our new cartoon series is here.
Liz Montague
Dec 5, 2019
Thursday, December 05, 2019
Telnaes live-cartooning the impeachement hearings
Sketches from the House Judiciary Committee's first impeachment hearing
The Mueller Report Illustrated on the Post's website
"The Mueller Report Illustrated: A six-part series on the obstruction investigation" came out as a book this week, but it's also on the Post's website, with sound.
Wednesday, December 04, 2019
Government-produced comics in the Library of Congress
How the Government Connects through Pop Culture: From Comics to Memes
Frankenstein Zombie launch page
From Springfield's David Miller: "Just thought I'd share the launch page for The Frankenstein Zombie on the Markosia site. It has links to where the Frankenstein Zombie can be bought and you can see a dramatic reading of the text by me if you wish. https://markosia.com/2019/10/21/the-frankenstein-zombie-out-now/ "
Photos of Cartoons, Controversy and Caricatures (w/Matt Wuerker and Kevin Kallaugher)
Bruce Guthrie has his pictures of the Georgetown University event online.
Cartoons, Controversy and Caricatures: Political Cartooning in the Age of Trump
Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Join POLITICO's Matt Wuerker and The Economist's Kevin Kallaugher for a workshop and open discussion on the theory and practice of political cartoons. Attendees will participate in the conversation and even learn to draw some famous politicians.
Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Join POLITICO's Matt Wuerker and The Economist's Kevin Kallaugher for a workshop and open discussion on the theory and practice of political cartoons. Attendees will participate in the conversation and even learn to draw some famous politicians.
Library of Congress' Swann Foundation is accepting fellowship applications
The Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, administered by the Library of Congress is accepting applications for its graduate fellowship, one of the few in the field, for the 2020-2021 academic year. Deadline for applications is February 14, 2020. Please see the following for criteria, guidelines, and application forms:
https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/swann-fellow.html
Please email swann@loc.gov or call (202) 707-9115 if you have questions.
https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/swann-fellow.html
Please email swann@loc.gov or call (202) 707-9115 if you have questions.
Tuesday, December 03, 2019
The Post releases The Mueller Report as graphic journalism today
Monday, December 02, 2019
The Post on a year and a decade of live-action superheroes
2019 was a rocky year for superheroes — until 'Watchmen' raised the bar for the genre
The 11 superheroes who defined the decade onscreen, from Iron Man to one of the Watchmen
Washington Post November 26, 2019
Pioneering Gay Cartoonist Howard Cruse Dies at 75 (posted by request)
Howard Cruse's family sent out this press release and asked for coverage of his passing. I have a great deal of respect for his work, and haven't seen anything yet in local media although the area has a large LGBTQ population. I definitely recommend reading Stuck Rubber Baby.
Pioneering
Gay Cartoonist Howard Cruse
Dies at
75
(WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS., Nov. 26 2019) -- Howard
Cruse, a pioneer in the LGBTQ cartooning movement and the author of Stuck Rubber Baby, an award-winning
graphic novel about the intersection of race and sexuality in the South, died
on Tuesday, November 26. He was 75.
His husband of
40 years, Ed Sedarbaum, said that Cruse succumbed to complications from lymphoma
at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, MA. Cruse, who lived in
Williamstown, Ma., had been diagnosed in August.
Cruse’s
masterwork, the bold graphic novel Stuck
Rubber Baby, was published in 1995. It was based on Cruse’s interior struggles
as a closeted gay man during the civil rights era of the 1960s. Widely
translated, Stuck Rubber Baby has won
numerous awards, including a critics prize at the Angoulême International
Comics in France, the Harvey Award, Eisner Award and United Kingdom Comic Art
Award for Best Graphic Album.
Stuck Rubber Baby will be reissued in a 25th anniversary
edition by First Second Books in May 2020.
Howard Russell
Cruse was born May 2, 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama, as the younger of two sons
born to Clyde and Irma Cruse. The family moved to Springville when his father,
a photojournalist, was ordained as a Methodist minister and assigned to
Springville Methodist Church. Cruse's creative talents were encouraged by both
his parents. His first published work was a 1959 comic strip called “Calvin” in
the St. Clair County Reporter. Young Cruse also had cartoon art published in the
humor magazines Fooey and Sick. He was mentored through an ongoing
correspondence with famed cartoonist Milton Caniff, the creator of “Terry and
the Pirates” and “Steve Canyon” newspaper comic strips. At age 16, Cruse was
invited to visit Caniff in New York City.
At Birmingham Southern
College, Cruse became involved in the theatre program, designing sets and
appearing In several productions. He wrote and directed his own play during his
senior year. For the college literary magazine, Quad, Cruse satirized the conservative organization the John Birch
Society. The controversial work appeared in print, but the faculty advisor
insisted on running a full-page disclaimer.
After
graduating from BSC in 1968, Cruse joined Birmingham’s WBMG-TV as art
director and a
puppeteer on “The Sergeant Jack Show.” At this time, he became
romantically
involved with a man, Don Higdon, for the first time.
During this
time, Cruse created “Tops & Button,” a cartoon panel about two
squirrels,
which ran daily in The Birmingham
Post-Herald from 1970 to
1972. He also
created the subtly subversive comic strip “Barefootz,” which
debuted in the
University of Alabama's newspaper Crimson
White. “Barefootz” would appear in several Birmingham-area publications
during the decade, and later in underground comic books.
In 1977 Cruse
relocated to New York City to make cartooning his full-time profession. In
1979, he met Eddie Sedarbaum and they moved in together. The couple was married
in 2004.
Cruse’s career
reached a personal and professional breakthrough in 1980 when he was founding
editor of Gay Comix, an underground
anthology for lesbian and gay cartoonists. Cruse’s own work, exploring his
conflicted childhood and repressive Southern upbringing, appeared in these comic
books.
In an era
before the formal passage of LGBT rights, these frank cartoon explorations of
gay culture, politics, sex, and camp had a huge influence on young people in
the closet. During the four years of his editorship, Cruse received letters of
gratitude from readers all over the country, many who had considered suicide.
During this period, Cruse did many pro bono illustrations to support fledgling
LGBT organizations, as well as mentoring of young queer cartoonists. Cruse
created a high-profile poster about gay male safe sex practices in 1985 for New
York City’s Gay Men’s Health Crisis.
Cruse’s profile
as a cartoonist grew with the debut of “Wendel,” a comic
strip about a gay
everyman, his lover, friends and family. It appeared in the national
newsmagazine The Advocate from 1983
to 1989. He also contributed frequently to The Village Voice. Cruse and Sedarbaum became active in LGBT and AIDS grass-roots
politics, joining the direct-action organizations ACT UP and Queer Nation.
Cruse and
Sedarbaum left New York City in 2003 and moved to Western Massachusetts, settling
first in North Adams and then Williamstown.
Cruse
frequently appeared at comic book conventions over the decades, and was the
guest of honor at academic and fan conferences, especially those addressing the
subject of queer comic art. His final published comic work appeared this year in
Northwest Press's horror anthology “Theater of Terror: Revenge of the Queers.” Cruse was among LGBT
cartoonists and illustrators appearing in the documentary “No Straight Lines,” scheduled for a
2020 release.
Cruse’s work has been collected in several
books, among them, Barefootz Funnies (Kitchen
Sink, 1975-79), Wendel (Gay Presses
of New York, 1986), Dancin’ Nekkid with
the Angels (St, Martin’s, Kitchen Sink, 1987) and Wendel on the Rebound (St. Martin’s Press, 1989).
In addition to his
husband Ed Sedarbaum, Cruse is survived by his daughter, Kimberly Kolze Venter,
and his brother, Allan Cruse.
Donations in
his memory can be made to New York City’s LGBT Community Center, the Queers &
Comics Conference, and Rainbow Seniors of Berkshire County.
Memorial
services, open to the public, will be held in Berkshire County, Massachusetts,
and New York City in the near future. Exact information will be posted on howardcruse.com/
Obituary
compiled by Richard Goldstein and Jay Blotcher
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