So who's going to SPX, what day, and want to get together?

I plan on being there around opening time on Friday, depending on how soon I can get away from work. I'm not sure about Saturday yet, but I'm hopeful. Anybody else?

Takoma Park librarian on Yang's American Born Chinese

See "Children's Corner: Mild-mannered high school teacher channels Batman" by Karen MacPherson, Scripps Howard News Service Tuesday, October 09, 2007.

It's no wonder this editorial isn't signed

This editorial "Get a clue, Bruce", by The Washington DC Examiner Oct 8, 2007 conflates the threats against Fleming Rose for publishing the Danish Islam cartoons with Springsteen's opposition to the Iraq war. Cause and effect seem to be a problem here as America invaded two Muslim countries years before Rose published the cartoons AND ignoring the fact that it took six months of agitating to actually get anyone excited about the Islam cartoons. I wonder why this editorial feels that Freedom of Speech can be exported and supported by invasion. So I call it a crock.

Richard Thompson and the Big L

Since he's got his own blog, these mentions are becoming redundant, but check out this post for the Big L story.

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 10-10-07

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 10-10-07
By John Judy

ABSOLUTE SANDMAN VOL.2 HC by Neil Gaiman and Too Many Art Gods to Mention. Collecting issues #21-39 of the classic series along with all kinds of extra goodies in an over-sized format worthy of the material. To paraphrase Robin Williams “Absolute Editions are God’s way of saying “You got too much money!””

BLACK ADAM THE DARK AGE #3 of 6 by Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke. DC’s best-loved mass murderer fights Hawkman. Good thing the Big H is into reincarnation.

BLACK SUMMER #3 of 7 by Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp. Bodies everywhere, super-heroes on the run, and a U.S. President in the morgue. The series that’s gonna get Ellis water-boarded in an undisclosed location. Read it before they burn down the comic stores! Not for kids. Recommended.

BOOSTER GOLD #3 by Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz, and Dan Jurgens. Our Hero goes back to the Old West and meets Jonah Hex, as everyone who goes back to the Old West is wont to do. If you miss HBO’s “Deadwood” this will just remind you how bad it hurts. It’s a time-travel story that doesn’t suck. Recommended.

CAPTAIN CARROT AND THE FINAL ARK #1 of 3 by Bill Morrison and Scott Shaw! The anthropomorphic JLA is back and the they brought The Funny with ‘em! It might be possible to read this book sober but I wouldn’t advise it. Gotta look!

EC ARCHIVES: VAULT OF HORROR VOL.1 HC by The Elder Gods of Horror. Collecting the first six issues from 1950-51. Twenty-four spine-tingling, subversive tales with a foreward by R.L. Stine. You must own this book. Highly recommended.

FANTASTIC FOUR #550 by Dwayne McDuffie and Paul Pelletier. Somebody in Marvel Editorial really wants us to care about a minor character named “Gravity.” It’s time to let it go, Somebody. We’re just not that into him. Also guest-starring the Silver Surfer and Dr. Strange, pre- or post- “Civil War.” Can’t tell anymore.

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #24 by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada. “One More Day”, chapter two of the Aunt may death-watch can be found here.

GARTH ENNIS CHRONICLES OF WORMWOOD SC by GE and Jacen Burrows. A rollicking good six issues of blasphemy from Ireland’s favorite son. Featuring a brain-damaged Rasta Jesus, a talking rabbit, and an Aussie Pope. It’s great, but absolutely NOT FOR KIDS. Recommended.

GREEN LANTERN #24 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. Hal’s still fighting the Sinestro Corps War but this issue features one of those classic “Screwed-Up Statue of Liberty” covers that have been a staple of fantasy adventure ever since Charlton Heston had the worst walk on the beach ever in “Planet of the Apes.”

I KILLED ADOLF HITLER GN by Jason. Okay, what if a hitman traveled back in time to kill Hitler but somehow Hitler got away and came to the future? Wouldn’t it have made those “Back to the Future” movies way more interesting? Especially if the crazy actor who played George McFly got to play Hitler? From Fantagraphics.

NEW AVENGERS #35 by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Yu. Something bad appears to happen to Tigra the Were-Woman beyond being named “Tigra the were-Woman.” Guest-starring “Wol-Venom-Rine” if we are to believe the cover.

PUNISHER #51 by Garth Ennis and Goran Parlov. How hard is it to get a sitter if the Barracuda’s got your baby? Looks like a seriously dark story-line even by Garth Ennis standards. NOT for kids.

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #12 by Matt Fraction and Ariel Olivetti. Frank puts on a insane exo-skeleton super-suit and fights aliens in this “World War Hulk” cross-over. Because isn’t that what the Punisher’s all about?

RUNAWAYS #28 by Joss Whedon and Michael Ryan. Your semi-annual dose of Joss Whedon-y goodness can be found here! Lotsa twists and turns in yet another of the few time-travel stories that doesn’t suck. Recommended.

SIMON DARK #1 by Steve Niles and Scott Hampton. Gotham City has a new guardian creature of the night. Okay, it’s kind of like opening next to a Wal-Mart, but the creative team is amazing. Gotta look.

SUPERMAN #668 by Kurt Busiek and Rick Leonardi. “The Third Kryptonian” story-line begins here, although because the mystery-supe is a new character he or she should properly be called “The 6th or 7th Kryptonian.” Of course that doesn’t sound as cool…

WOLVERINE #58 by Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin. Did you know that every time Logan gets really messed up his soul goes to heaven to fight an angel who hides his real name in an anagram? See? This is why you’re not part of Marvel’s on-going “Who Can Write the Stupidest Wolverine Story EVER?!” contest.

WONDER WOMAN #13 by Gail Simone and Terry & Rachel Dodson. At long last we have Gail Simone writing this title! Between that and the Dodsons’ art we are looking at this week’s Must-Read. Recommended.

X-FACTOR #24 by Peter David and Pablo Raimondi. Wrapping up the latest story of the latest guy who wants to kill all the mutants.

X-MEN DIE BY THE SWORD #1 of 5 by Chris Claremont and Juan Santacruz. Don’t let the title fool you. It’s “Excalibur Meets the Exiles.” Recommended for people with easy access to whiskey and guns with one bullet. Five issues, dear god….

www.johnjudy.net

The return of Von Allen

Von Allen was one of the first people to check out this blog, so even though he's Canadian, we're going to keep in touch with him. He wrote to me today to mention that he'd been interviewed about his recently completed graphic novel. See "AN UNKNOWN TAKES THE "ROAD TO GOD KNOWS…"" by Justin Jordan, Comic Book Resources, October 3, 2007. Von's taken a different route - promoting his graphic novel about schizophrenia before he finished it. I enjoyed the ashcan he handed out at SPX and am looking forward to the final book when he finds a publisher.

Jason Rodriguez interviewed by Newsarama

Local comics writer Jason Rodriguez is interviewed about his next project after Postcards. See "LIFE AFTER POSTCARDS: CATCHING UP WITH JASON RODRIGUEZ" by Zack Smith, Newsarama October 1, 2007.

Baltimore sessions on Jewish comic book creators

See "Jewish authors bring novels to life: McDaniel College hosts five-part discussion series on graphic novels" By Laura McCandlish, Baltimore Sun Reporter.

Richard Thompson attempts to fill all Post pages by himself, part deux UPDATED

Richard, in addition to the usual Cul de Sac strip in the Post's Magazine, has a piece on how to create a cartoon in the Style & Arts section. Giving away part of it, a hammer, a head and drumming might be involved. Richard's posted it on his blog too.


AND, he has a full-page illo for an Achenbach article about open houses later in the Magazine as well.

Chilling, isn't it?

Richard's Poor Almanack blogs in paper

Richard's panel today makes fun of blogs and then gives the address of his new, and raaaather entertaining, blog.

Beeler, Herblock cartoons auctioned at Cartoons and Cocktails

See "Yeas & Nays: Cartoonists enjoy evening in the sun" by Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin, Washington Examiner October 5, 2007.

Nobody invited me as their date, so this is the first I've seen of this. Good work, Nate! Anybody who was there (Nate?) want to post a few details? The menu? Risque stories?

Small Press Expo To Be Held October 12-13, with Special Guests Bill Griffith, Gilbert Hernandez, Rutu Modan, Matt Wagner, Jeff Smith and Kim Deitch

Small Press Expo To Be Held October 12-13, with Special Guests Bill Griffith, Gilbert Hernandez, Rutu Modan, Matt Wagner, Jeff Smith and Kim Deitch

Bethesda, Maryland; October 4, 2007 - The Small Press Expo (SPX), the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comic books, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons, will hold its annual exposition from October 12 to October 13. This years exposition will again be held at the at The North Bethesda Marriott Convention Center in Bethesda, Maryland across from the White Flint Metro.

This year’s slate of special guests include:

Bill Griffith, who is known world wide for his syndicated strip, Zippy The Pinhead, which runs daily in The Washington Post. He has a new Zippy collection out from Fantagraphics entitled “Zippy: Walk A Mile In MY Muu-Muu”. SPX is proud to have him make one of his rare convention appearances at this years show.

Jeff Smith, is the creator of the celebrated epic “Bone”, which has over a half million copies in print and is now available in Italian, Spanish, German and many other foreign languages. Jeff recently completed his critically acclaimed reworking of the Golden Age hero Captain Marvel, “Shazaam! The Monster Society of Evil” for DC Comics. He has recently been named by Fantagraphics as the art designer in charge of the upcoming reprints of Walt Kelly’s classic, “Pogo”.

Matt Wagner is one of the pioneers of indie comics with his original creation of “Grendel”, which celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year. Matt also created, wrote and drew “Mage”, and has worked on a number of projects for both DC and Vertigo. His next installment of the Grendel saga, “Behold The Devil” is due to be released this November from Dark Horse.

Gilbert Hernandez, whose Love and Rockets is considered one of the groundbreaking works in the history of comics, will be at SPX to promote his first graphic novel in four years, “Chance in Hell” from Fantagraphics.

Rutu Modan, one of the founders of the Actus Tragicus comics collective, will be at SPX with her first full length graphic novel entitled “Exit Wounds”, from Drawn & Quarterly.

Kim Deitch will be at SPX to promote his well received latest graphic novel, “Alias The Cat” from Pantheon Books. Kim is one of the original “underground” cartoonists who redefined comics in the 1960’s and has also worked in the field of animation.

There will be a full two day session of Creator Spotlights, where each of the above special guests and others will have a live 1 hour interview session, in addition to a number of panels and workshops on the comic arts.

As in previous years, there will be an exposition hall with over 300 creators and publishers, where attendees can buy the latest in commix and graphic novels, as well as interact with the exhibitors.

SPX will be open to the public from 2 pm - 8 pm, Friday, October 12 and 10am - 7 pm Saturday, October 13. Admission is $8 for a single day and $15 for both days.

SPX culminates with the presentation of the 11th Annual Ignatz Awards for outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning. The awards will be held Saturday evening at 9PM and is open to all SPX attendees for free. The Ignatz is the first Festival Prize in the US comic book industry, with winners chosen by balloting during the SPX.

For further information on the artists or to request an interview, please contact Warren Bernard at webernard@spxpo.com.

SPX, a non-profit organization, brings together more than 300 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers and distributors each year. Graphic novels, political cartoon books and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators. A series of panel discussions will also be held of interest to readers, academicians and creators of graphic novels and political cartoons.

As in previous years, all 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/.

Founded in 1994, SPX is North America's premier alternative comic-book festival. This annual event brings together comic creators, publishers and more than 2000 fans together to celebrate the art of storytelling.

Two minor bits

Today's Express gave The Jungle Book dvd a glowing review. The article's not online.

And in the Post's Food section, the Palm, the restaurant chain with local caricatures got a write-up with a photograph of said caricatures, and the photograph actually is online.

OT: Oct 15: Pekar at Walsh University in North Canton, OH

Some readers may have noticed I've asked about a couple of Harvey Pekar interviews. That's because I'm compiling a book of them for the University of Mississippi Press. I think it's far enough along that mentioning it won't jinx it, and besides I wanted to post my friend Mark Roger's flier about Harvey's appearance. Note the FREE appearance at 7:30 PM on OCTOBER 15 at WALSH UNIVERSITY in NORTH CANTON, OHIO.

Harvey's pretty darned entertaining in person actually, and a nice guy. Everyone reading this blog, say within 8 hours drive, should go.

Anybody wondered about Thingpart in the City Paper?

Yeah, me too. Namely why they waste the ink to print it. And, "For this they dropped Ted Rall?" But here's an interview with the cartoonist - "Cartoonists, craftspeople do it themselves," by Christina Troup, The San Francisco? Examiner Oct 3, 2007

2007 Festival of Cartoon Art adds Pope, Roth and Saylor to line-up

Off-topic, I know, but... I'm going! Anyone else? Besides Jenny Robb of the library asked me to let people know that there's still time to sign up.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 2, 2007

2007 Festival of Cartoon Art adds Pope, Roth and Saylor to line-up
October 25-27, 2007

The Cartoon Research Library is pleased to announce the addition of Paul Pope, Arnold Roth and David Saylor to its list of speakers for the 2007 Festival of Cartoon Art: Graphic Storytelling. Spaces are currently still available, but please note that participants must make their hotel reservations by October 14th in order to receive the amazing rate of only $109 per night. Registration forms are available at http://cartoons.osu.edu/FCA2007/site/registration.php.

Paul Pope’s career spans alternative comics, manga, superhero comics, and graphic design. Pope is the creator of the comic book series, THB, begun in 1995. He worked for Japan’s leading manga publisher, Kodansha, for 5 years, and has published several graphic novels including The One Trick Rip-off and Heavy Liquid.

Arnold Roth is an award-winning free-lance cartoonist and illustrator whose work has appeared in numerous publications including the New Yorker, TIME, Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Punch, the New York Times, and many more. Roth will join the Remembering Milton: A Gathering of Friends panel.
David Saylor is Vice President and Creative Director for Scholastic Books. In addition to designing the U.S. editions of the Harry Potter series, he is the creative director for Scholastic’s graphic novel imprint, Graphix. Saylor joins the panel of graphic novel publishers.
In addition, we are sorry to announce that Jules Feiffer, Guy Delisle and Mark Siegel have had to cancel and will not be appearing at the Festival.

About the Festival: The ninth triennial Festival of Cartoon Art organized by the Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Columbus. Attendees will enjoy presentations by top cartoonists, scholars and comics professionals on the art of graphic storytelling. Registration is $150 (only $25 for students and seniors 65 and over!) and includes admission to all Festival of Cartoon Art Forum presentations and special pre-conference events, the exhibit catalogue for Milton Caniff: American Master and School of Caniff, morning refreshments and lunch at the Renaissance Hotel on both Forum days, a special exhibit reception at The Ohio State University, and a souvenir tote bag.

For an updated schedule, please see our website: http://cartoons.osu.edu.

For further information or images contact cartoons@osu.edu or telephone 614-292-0538.

###

Contact: Lucy Caswell
023L Wexner
27 W. 17th Avenue Mall
Columbus OH 43210-1393
614-292-0538
cartoons@osu.edu
www.cartoons.osu.edu

Nick Galifianakis on Post chat

Earlier today, the Post had "Tell Me About It: The Art; Nick Galifianakis, Illustrator." Wednesday, October 3, 2007 which consisted of

Nick Galifianakis, who illustrates Carolyn Hax's Tell Me About It advice column, will be online Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 1 p.m. ET to field questions and comments about his work and the column's new daily appearance in The Post.

The article also linked to this 2001 chat, with Nick and his ex-wife. with whom he's still working, discussing their divorce.

"Tell Me About It" Hosted by Carolyn Hax, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, Nov. 9, 2001

Astro City review

Howard University professor Marc Singer has a nice piece on Kurt Busiek's Astro City up.

Bendis interview in Express

For Brian Michael Bendis's take on Halo and the comic book resulting from it, see "The Empire Strikes Back: 'Halo: Uprising'" by Scott Rosenberg, Express October 2, 2007.

Big Planet expands in College Park part 2

See "Liberty comics store becomes a Big Planet" by Rudi Greenberg, University of Maryland Diamondback 10/1/07. Tip courtesy of Richard Thompson.