A little bit of Crumb in the city

Apparently a couple of Crumb prints are on display in town, but the reviewer likes the rest of the exhibit better. "Pulp Fiction" To Saturday, July 14, at Adamson Gallery
By Jeffry Cudlin, Washington City Paper June 15, 2007

June 28 anime - Tekkonkinkreet DC premiere

Tekkonkinkreet
A film by Michael Arias (The Animatrix)
Thursday·June 28, 2007 ·6:30pm
The JICC Auditorium

Takara Machi. A claustrophobic maze of gambling, corruption and violence, controlled by the Yakuza. This is the place two young boys, Kuro and Shiro call home. Equal parts superhero, hardened street urchin, and innocent child, the boys do battle with those who threaten Takara Machi. Until one day a strange new presence comes into town with plans to destroy the old city and make way for a new one. Now the boys must battle not only for their town, but for their very lives. TEKKONKINKREET combines the imaginative fantasy and action elements of the best Japanimation
with a dark and modern children’s story. A hybrid of cutting-edge 3D CGI technology and traditional Japanese anime, TEKKONKINKREET is unlike anything ever seen before, combining dynamic action, virtuoso visual treats, and heart-rending tragedy Director Michael Arias and Screenwriter Anthony Weintraub will be on hand to discuss TEKKONKINKREET following the film.

TEKKONKINKREET is based on the comic book by Taiyou Matsumoto (Ping Pong). The title is a play on the Japanese words for “concrete”, “steel”, and “muscle”. TekkonKinkreet won the prestigious Best Film Award at the 2006 Mainichi Film Awards. It was also named the Number One film of 2006 in the annual "Best of" roundup by the New York Museum of Modern Art's Artforum magazine. The film will be in Japanese with English subtitles. It is not recommended for young children.

This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are required.
RSVP to jiccrsvpspring07@embjapan.org
Japan Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan·3 Lafayette Center·1155
21st St NW·Washington DC 20036
202-238-6949·www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jicc

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

July 6: Cartoonists Rights Network dinner

"Dinner Will Raise Funds to Help Threatened Cartoonists" by Dave Astor, E&P Online, June 14, 2007 reports that Flemming Rose, the Danish Islam cartoons editor will be speaking at a benefit dinner for Cartoonists Rights Network. I'll actually be at the dinner because John Lent, International Journal of Comic Arts publisher is sponsoring a table.

It's a good cause and I'm sure it'll be a fun evening - more info can be found here.

Jerry Robinson's Astra on stage in DC

Karen Berman, Director, Super Heroine Manga Musical Astra from the Washington Women in Theatre has written in to say:

"Jerry Robinson (responsible for the iconic Joker in the Batman series) has joined forces with Washington Women in Theatre to produce an original musical about a superheroine named Astra. She’s a fearless, no-fuss woman who visits Earth for the first time, attempting to save her all-female planet from extinction. Her mission? To capture sperm. While discovering men for the first time on Earth, Astra also observes a confused world in the midst of a Cold War."



"This tongue-and-cheek parody about America from an outsider’s perspective was created back in the ‘80s, and has since become a popular Japanese manga by artists Shojin Tanaka and Ken-ichi Oishi. It all started one summer when Washington Women in Theatre co-founder Sidra Rausch approached Robinson in Cape Cod, where the two were both vacationing. A longtime fan, Rausch fearlessly approached him and asked, “how do you feel about feminism?” He was immediately on board. The two brainstormed Astra on the sand that summer, and worked for many years on the concept. The Super Heroine Manga Musical now includes original artwork, thirty never-before-heard songs and Robinson’s legendary spirit."


"The show’s national debut will take place at the Warehouse Theatre between July 7-14. Astra is part of the Washington Women in Theatre’s fifth annual festival of new plays. This year’s theme is "Laptops Ladies Playfest.” WWIT encourages original works written, directed and/or highlighting women such as Astra."

If I recall correctly, at least 1 issue of the comic was published in English as well. Jerry Robinson's still active in promoting comics - I think he's updating his history of the comics book, and he recently helped fill-in with a version of his superheroes exhibit when Art Spiegelman pulled out of Masters of American Comics at the Jewish Museum in NYC and left a hole. Plus he's a darn nice guy who's always been friendly whenever I've run into him.

The Mad War on Bush continues at Big Planet Comics

Joel Pollack, owner of the Bethesda branch of Big Planet Comics, has done something generally unthinkable for him (which is why he's still in business.) He's drastically overordered The Mad War on Bush - to the tune of 100 copies of it. I asked him why, and he said, "I think it's very important for people to see it. I think Mad's strength, since they reworked the magazine almost 10 years ago, is when they do political humor. When it comes to George Bush, people should laugh instead of crying." What, me worry?

David Petersen interview online

David Petersen's interviewed in The Lord of the Cheese: 'Mouse Guard' by Scott Rosenberg at Readexpress.com (June 13, 2007).

I ran into Scott today and he said that a couple more interviews are forthcoming.

Also his compadre Nate Beeler has an absolutely awesome political cartoon in today's Examiner. You've got to love that Gitmo Frankenstein.

Finally, both free papers, the Examiner and the Express ran the same Associated Press article by Frazier Moore on the new Comedy Central animated series, Li'l Bush. One could probably find the article through either of the above links fairly easily.

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa podcast interview

We never crossed paths, but the former Washington City Paper writer, and current comic book writer / playwright was a Big Planet Comics customer. Here's a podcast interview (thanks to Tom Spurgeon's Comic Reporter for the tip) -
Comic Book Queers (June 5, 2007)
http://www.comicbookqueers.com/podcasts.php

Episode 34 - Out Queer Creators (part 2 of 2) - Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
More on out queer creators, and the Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa interview.
Our discussion about out queer creators continues. What do queer comics creators bring to the table that straight creators can't?

This episode also includes our interview with the giggly and adorable Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

June 15 - Lecture on Brazilian cartoons at Library of Congress

The Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress and the staff-led Portuguese language table present:

"On the eve of the 1964 military coup: Brazil thorugh the eyes of cartoonists," a lecture by Dr. Rodrigo P. S. Motta of Minas Gerais University and the University of Maryland.

Friday, June 15, 2007, noon - 1:00 pm, Mary Pickford Theater, James Madison Building, 3rd floor.

For further information, please contact Cynthia Acosta at (202) 707-2013 or caco@loc.gov

Cartoons from Stamp Wholesaler

My friend Warren noted that I've got Cartoonphilately, a Yahoo group on cartoonists and stamps and sent this, "Attached are two scans that somewhat reverses the whole concept. Amazingly enough, a cartoon book about stamp collecting. I scanned the centerfold so you can get an idea of the cartoons inside. Its 72 pages of cartoons that was published in 1951."

Warren is fond of noting that there's a whole secret history of cartoons contained in magazines like this Stamp Wholesaler. I think he's absolutely correct, and we could use in the US a biographical dictionary of cartoonists like has been done for the UK.

'Bush' League: Comedy Central Bullies the President

Scott Rosenberg's got an online only story on a new animation series - 'Bush' League: Comedy Central Bullies the President.

Ask Cerebra: The Comics Blog search engine

Dirk Deppey linked to this neat new tool - Ask Cerebra: The Comics Blog search engine. Who woulda thunk? But, boy I'm never going to finish a publishable version of my Comics Research Bibliography.

Speaking of which, if any Wizard readers would like to help out with citations, I'd be glad to give them credit and a section of the book which I'm hoping to publish through Lulu, using John Lent's schema that he carried through his 10 volumes of comic art bibliography. And in the meantime, the online version - link to the right - is still the main version. Nothing goes into this print draft until it's been sent to John Bullough for inclusion in the online original.

Here's an example of local interest - citations for articles on the Small Press Expo:

EXHIBITIONS, FESTIVALS, AWARDS
Conventions, Festivals (2006; also under Comic Art in 2005)
Small Press Expo / Expo / SPX
-Aguirre-Sacasa, Roberto. 1998. Small Press Expo. Washington City Paper (September 25): 104
-Arnold, Andrew D. 2002. The Non-Con Comic Con: TIME.comix at the Small Press Expo. Time.com (September 13): http://www.time.com/time/columnist/arnold/article/0,9565,350691,00.html
-Atchinson, Lee. 2002. The Dreamiest of Cons: SPX 2002 [convention]. Sequential Tart (October)
-Atchison, Lee. 2004. SPX Dreams [convention]. Sequential Tart (November)
-Atchison, Lee. 2006. Behind the Scenes with SPX: Jeff Alexander [convention]. Sequential Tart (June)
-Barnes, Derek et.al. 1999. Small Press Expo 99 [(sic), actually 1998 coverage]. [Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington] Fullbleed (Summer): 24-31
-Barnes, Derek. 1999. SPX99: Casting its own shadow. The Comics Journal (217; November): 21-23
-Bennet, Greg, Charles Brownstein, Greg McElhatton and Chris Pitzer (eds). 2003. The SPX 2003 Anthology [Travel-themed small press comic book anthology with some wordless stories]. Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
-Berger, Arion. 1997. Small Press Expo [convention announcement]. Washington City Paper (Sep 19).
-Bieri, Sean. 2000. A whole lotta comics: Small Press Expo is one-stop shopping for the mad medium's finest. Chicago Metro Times (October 24). online at http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=783
-Bothe, Jocelyn. 2006. SPX 2006: A Friday Night Perspective. Sequential Tart (November)
-Daly, Sean. 1997. Only the lonely can play: Silver Spring's Small Press Expo '97 brings the area's top underground cartoonists out of the darkness. Washington City Paper (Sep 26):33-4.
-Flage, Karon. 2000. The Expo 2000 Anthology [Small Press Expo anthology]. Sequential Tart 3 (7; July): http://www.sequentialtart.com/
-Henn, Rich. 1998 Small Press Expo provides showcase in Bethesda Comics Buyer's Guide (1296; September 18): 24
-Jellinek, Anna. 2003. SPX [small press comic book convention]. Sequential Tart (October)
-Keller, Katherine. 2000. In the Driver's Seat: An Interview With SPX/The Expo Steering Committee Member (and Founding Tart) Karon Flage. Sequential Tart 3 (6; June): http://www.sequentialtart.com/
-Keller, Katherine. 2006. SPX: The S stands for Spectacular. Sequential Tart (November)
-Moody, Jenni. 2006. SPX: Favorite Comic Con. Sequential Tart (November)
-Procopio, Joseph. 2000. The Greatly Exaggerated Death of Comic Books: Notes from the underground at the Small Press Expo 2000. Snap Pop! (12; December/January). online at http://www.snappopmag.com/stories/decjan00-01/smallpress1200.html
-O'Bryan, Will. 2006. Independent Ink: Small Press Expo in Bethesda includes 'Gay Interest' section for GLBT cartoonists & artists. Metro Weekly (October 12).
online at http://www.metroweekly.com/gauge/?ak=2354
-Ramos, Nicole. 2003. SPX [small press comic book convention]. Sequential Tart (October)
-Sebastian, Trisha L. 2004. SPX 2004: Small Press Resolutions [convention]. Sequential Tart (November)
-Spurgeon, Tom. 1998. SPX '98 [Small Press Expo convention]: Over the hump. Comics Journal (208; November): 23-27
-Tapper, Jake. 1998. Artifacts: Cartoon weekend [Small Press Expo]. Washington City Paper (October 2): 46
-Various. 1999. The Expo / SPX99 / ICAF Official Guide. Comics Buyer's Guide (1348; September 17)

More needs to be added here, especially the annual anthologies, but it's a start.

Visit the Hall of Justice

If reading Cul de Sac's version of suburbia is too tame for you, Zadzooks reports that you can visit the Hall of Justice in PG County. Personally I preferred the Justice League's space station and teleport tubes to the Superfriends lame Hall of Justice, but I guess Six Flags doesn't have NASA's budget.

Now It Can Be Told - Cul de Sac bursts out of Post...

...much like that scene in Aliens when they hatch out of the guy's stomach? Perhaps.

Richard Thompson is making the leap towards daily syndication with his formerly Sunday-only Washington Post magazine strip Cul de Sac. Congratulations, Richard! You've got to love a strip that has the line, "You interest me strangely" as today's does.

The UPS website says:

Richard Thompson's "Cul de Sac," is a comic strip about the life of a pre-school girl named Alice Otterloop. It is a light-hearted comic strip centered around a four-year old girl and her suburban life experiences on a cul-de-sac. with her friends Beni and Dill, older brother Petey and her classmates at Blisshaven Academy pre-school. Alice describes her father's car as a "Honda-Tonka Cuisinart" (Cuisinart being a toaster brand) and talks to the class guinea pig, Mr. Danders. She has the typical older brother who plays jokes on her, and she contemplates ways to keep the scary clown from jumping out of the jack-in-the-box with friends.

Richard Thompson has been drawing "Cul de Sac" for the Washington Post for nearly three years. He also does the comic strip, "Richard's Poor Almanac" for the Washington Post, which he been creating for the past 10 years. Thompson's work can be seen in galleries and in several illustrated works.

"Since we came up with 'Cul de Sac' for our magazine three years ago, it's become one of our more popular features. A December 2006 web survey (randomized, but not fully scientific) indicated that 43.2 percent of our readers read 'Cul de Sac' all/almost all the time, which placed it in the top third of our recurring features. We also have anecdotal evidence that the readers who follow 'Cul de Sac' feel very attached to it — based on many impassioned letters, both to the editors, and to Richard.," explains Tom Shroder, editor, The Washington Post Magazine.

From Bill Watterson, creator of "Calvin and Hobbes":

"I became a big fan of Richard Thompson when I saw his book, Richard’s Poor Almanac. Thompson has a sharp eye, a fun sense of language and a charmingly odd take on the world. Best of all, his drawings arewonderful—something one doesn’t often see in cartoons anymore. I'm delighted to see 'Cul de Sac', and I have high hopes that Thompson will bring a much-needed jolt of energy to the daily newspaper. We have a real talent here."

Tooned In editorial cartoon site

An email from MJ, editorial cartoonist sent these three cartoons - and I'm a sucker for creative reuses of existing comics tropes (hah! Say that 3 times fast). His (or possibly hers, but I doubt it) site can be found here.

Fred Thompson finger puppet

Richard Thompson's Richard's Poor Almanack (why'd you add the 'k' anyway?) on Saturday has a Fred Thompson finger puppet... to which I can only say, "Fred Thompson?" Who cares about Fred Thompson? We could have had a Paris Hilton puppet, or a Angela Merkel or a Putin, but we get Fred Thompson? This isn't some underhanded propagandizing by relatives, is it?

Wash Post chat - Tim Rickard

Meet the Comics Pages Tim Rickard Cartoonist -- "Brewster Rockit"
Friday, June 8, 2007; 1:00 PM


Join Washington Post Comics page editor Suzanne Tobin on Friday, June 8 at 1 p.m. ET for a discussion with "Brewster Rockit" cartoonist Tim Rickard.

I was able to get a few questions in - I'd encourage you to read the whole thing as it was interesting, but here's the bits from me:

IJOCA, VA: How do you draw the strip? Pen and ink, or is it done on a computer?

Tim Rickard: Half and half. It's drawn in ink, scanned into a computer, and the rest of the work is done in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop using a Wacom tablet.
------------------------

IJOCA, VA: How long did it take you to develop the strip and get it syndicated? How many papers do you have? Did you pick up more than the Post when Amend dropped his daily?

Tim Rickard: Not enough. Now I'll have to convince another cartoonist to cutback.
_______________________

IJOCA, VA: Will you be in DC in July for the AAEC convention?

Suzanne Tobin: For those of you that don't know, AAEC is the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists convention, which will be held in D.C. July 4-7.

Tim Rickard: Sorry. I'll be busy that week staying up til 4 doing cartoons.

_______________________

IJOCA, VA: Did this strip start as a webcomic? If so, did you have to make any changes in technique, style or story when taking it into print?

Tim Rickard: No, it was a syndicated strip from the start. But it has gone through different looks since its inception, though.

_______________________

Actually, I think I was 4/4 on this one. I started posting questions because Ms. Tobin was asking them which I usually figure isn't a good sign. People might have just been surprised though as the chat has been on hiatus for a good long while except for last month's Reuben nominees. It looks like she's back though, because she closed with "Join us again next month when we meet another fascinating cartoonist
here on "Comics: Meet the Pages."" I'm glad to see these back - they're always interesting.

July 7 - Cartoonists With Attitude Cartoon Slideshow

Stringer Randy T. reports that Heidi MacDonald is reporting that in addition to attending the AAEC meeting, Ted Rall's group will be speaking downtown.

Sat July 7, 2pm | DC: Cartoonists With Attitude Cartoon Slideshow w/ Ted Rall, Keith Knight, Mikhaela Reid, Stephanie McMillan, Ruben Bolling, Jen Sorensen, Masheka Wood & more @ Borders, 18th & L Streets NW Washington, DC

Ann Telnaes editorial animations in London's Guardian

Stringer (just kidding!) and Politico editorial cartoonist (really) Matt Wuerker just emailed to say, "Ann Telnaes is just today starting to run animations off the front page of the Guardian UK. check it out-- a great new venue for political cartoons on the front page of one of the marquee international newspaper's website--- http://www.guardian.co.uk/ "

Great news, Matt. I love her work. Here's the direct link. But... "specializing in animated cartoons?" I thought she put Disney behind her when she won that Pulitzer.

Comic Strip play in Baltimore

The Baltimore Sun mentions a play of interest:

A Comic Strip
Baltimore Theatre Project
45 W. Preston St.
Baltimore, MD


This delightfully funny drama tells the story of a famous comic-strip artist who, in the midst of an identity crisis, receives help from his favorite childhood comic strip characters. But despite the show's seemingly juvenile subject matter, it is definitely not for kids.

The show replaces "The 761st: Men of War" as the last show in Theatre Project's 2006-07 season.

More information about Touchstone Theater can be found at www.touchstone.org.


Jun. 7: 8 p.m.
Jun. 8: 8 p.m.
Jun. 9: 8 p.m.
Jun. 10: 7 p.m.
Jun. 14: 8 p.m.
Jun. 15: 8 p.m.
Jun. 16: 8 p.m.
Jun. 17: 7 p.m.

Price: $16
Seniors and students: $11

Box office: 410-752-8558

Victor Vashi cartoons

Last weekend, I picked up some original cartoons by Victor Vashi at a flea market. These were originally done for the Plumbers Journal. The bookseller who had them wrote a note saying Vashi was the author of Red Primer for Children and Diplomats, Viewpoint Books, 1967 and illustrated the Handbook of Humor by Famous Politicians by Stephen Skubik.

Here's scans of all the cartoons, only a few of which still have their captions.