One of those Benoit ads was in Tuesday's Post...

...at the bottom of the front page of the business section. It shows an elegant couple preparing to hand over the keys to a valet who's dressed as a race car driver.

Nick Anderson on front page of Post recently

I got a bit behind in my newspaper reading and missed the fact that Houston editorial cartoonist Nick Anderson appeared on the front page of the Post lately, and in fact, had more cartoons in the paper than Toles.

Of course that was because one of his animated editorial cartoons asked a question at the Republican debate and the Post repro'd a screen shot - see "Republicans Get Own Mixed Bag of Questions, Sans Snowman" By Jose Antonio Vargas, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, November 29, 2007; A06.

Onion recommends Cul de Sac

See "Strip-Off: Girls & Sports vs. Cul De Sac," posted by: Noel Murray on the Onion's blog December 3, 2007.

Go Richard!
Sling that ink!
Go for 100 papers!
So financially you'll be in the pink!

Shawn Belschwender also out at City Paper

December 30, 2005 City Paper.

The editor confirmed this in a comment under the Rob Ullman post. Shawn's been illustrating News of the Weird for about twenty years now - he was the George Washington University's Hatchet comic strip artist around 1987. I don't know if he does any other cartooning anymore.

Ted Benoit ads

This is late, but Capgemini has been having Ted Benoit art in their ads that run in the Post business section; they've also been running far larger in the NY Times biz section. I think there are 5 pieces of illustration alternating - a lumberjack, a moonscape, a racing scene... their website has a pdf press release about the ad campaign with one of the images embedded in it.

Manga for the foodies

Lisa Cherkasky, whose hand is seen most often in the Washington Post's Food section, has turned said hand to looking at manga when she takes a quick look at Kitchen Princess.

OT: Barry Blitt's Fantastic Four parody in NY Times

This is off-topic, but it's an amusing caricature of the self-declared presidential candidates.

Junot Diaz wants to be the Sub-Mariner

In "Imagining the Holidays," Washington Post Sunday, December 2, 2007; Page BW08, the Book World asked Junot Diaz, "IF YOU COULD SPEND A HOLIDAY WEEK AS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER , WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?"

He picked Sub-Mariner, King of Atlantis, a Marvel Comics character. Click on the link to read why.

Post's Source section has list of best comics AND Danny Hellman

See "The A List: Titles That Earned the Top Grade From Our Reviewers This Year," Washington Post Sunday, December 2, 2007; Page N03.

Also, did I mention that Danny Hellman's illustrating the Source's advice column? He had a good one today which I think was the third he'd done. I think I mentioned this already.

Feiffer covers Blume

I noticed in Aladdin's Lamp bookstore, the children's bookstore in Arlington, that Jules Feiffer has done a cover for a Judy Blume book. So I got a shot of the standup and also one of the graphic novel shelf in the bookstore. There was some atypical stuff there including Boyd's Chester the Crab's Comix with Content and a couple of manga Shakespeare books which I bought.

I'm going to call this one a Secret History of Comics as I doubt that most Feiffer collectors know about it.

Wash Post does us another favor - Stop already!

Today's Zits was shrunk so the Post could inform us that it's shrinking the comics section as a favor to us. The following isn't online so I've typed it all (emphasis beyond the title is mine):

To Our Readers:

The Sunday comics will look a little different beginning next week. A new page design will allow us to combine the two comics sections into one convenient section with nearly all of our extensive offering of comics, puzzles and features.

To accommodate the more compact layout, "The Wizard of Id" strip and the "Hints From Heloise" column will no longer appear in the comics section, and the size of several of our larger comics as well as the Samurai Sudoku puzzle will be slightly reduced. Heloise can still be found in the Tuesday Style section, and "The Wizard of Id" appears on washingtonpost.com daily, including Sunday.

All of the other Sunday comics and features will remain, including the Mini Page, although some will be located on a different page than you're used to. We hope you'll find the combined section easier to navigate. We welcome your feedback. Write: Comics Editor, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071; email comics@washpost.com or call 202-334-4775.

So, if I'm reading this correctly, for our convenience, they've reduced the section, dropped Wizard of Id, and shrunk the rest. I don't understand why they just couldn't move the puzzles to say... the Magazine Section... and leave the comics, but that's why I'm just a blogger. Also, I don't really understand why editors think that actually offering you less in the paper you pay for will make you more inclined to buy one. Perhaps someone can explain this to me?

What a great week for comics in DC! As with Rob Ullman's situation, I'll be sending a letter to the Post, suggesting that Less is not actually More and that 1984 is well in the past. And it appears that Cul de Sac will not be moving to the Sunday section either, and presumably not appearing during the week.

Clarendon Barnes & Nobles comics specials and manga pictures

The Barnes & Nobles in Clarendon has some remaindered books of interest:

Stan Lee's Amazing Marvel Universe by Roy Thomas, with audio commentary by Stan Lee - $7.98

Superman Sunday Classics 1939-1943 hardcover - $6.98

Misunderestimated and Overunderappreciated - George W. Bush editorial cartoons - $9.98

Pictures of the manga section follow.

OT: DC needs one last Spirit section

From Bob Andelman's Mr. Media list (which is very interesting - Bob interviews cartoonists and other media people weekly). And I've bought all of The Spirit Archives - DC's done a great job with them and the material is first rate as one would expect from Will Eisner.

I don't know if you're a collector of the original printed SPIRIT newspaper sections, but on the chance that you might be, I wanted to ask if you could help with a search I'm conducting for a scan of one specific Spirit Section. I'm currently working on the 24th volume of THE SPIRIT ARCHIVES, which will complete the collection of the published Spirit Sections (it contains all of the sections published in 1952), and for the 8/31/52 episode, "The Last Man on the Planet Moon," I don't have a copy of the original printed section that I can use to reconstruct the color for the book. I have copies of every other section's original color, but on this one all my regular sources have come up empty -- Bill Blackbeard, Denis Kitchen, Diamond and OSU are all missing this one section, and Heritage Auctions and eBay have also came up dry. So I'm writing to see if you might have a copy of this original printed section in your collection which you'd be willing to make color xeroxes or color scans (even a relatively low-resolution scan of 150 dpi is good enough to get the color info from) of the four pages for me to use, and, if not, if you know of any other collectors who might have the section whose contact info you could pass on to me. Please let me know.

Thanks,
Scott Nybakken
Scott.Nybakken@dccomics.com

Zadzooks mostly on toys this week.

See "G.I. Joe American Hero teams up three new sets," by Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times December 1, 2007.

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 12-05-07

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 12-05-07
(Happy Hanukkah!)
By John Judy

(Support striking WGA members! Bring ‘em dreidels!)

AVENGERS INITIATIVE ANNUAL #1 by Dan Slott and Chris Weston. Secrets revealed and the new Liberty Legion makes its first (and last?) appearance. Dan Slott: Always Recommended.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN:SAGA OF THE SUPER-SONS SC by Bob Haney, Murphy Anderson, Dick Dillon, and Others. For fans of a certain age this complete collection of the adventures of Clark and Bruce Juniors is a Must-Have. Check it out, whipper-snappers!

BLACK SUMMER #4 of 7 by Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp. Last issue Tom Noir got shot by a tank. In the aftermath of a presidential assassination, who’s next?

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Georges Jeanty. Wrapping up the “Faith” story-arc with appropriate fisticuffs. Highly recommended.

COUNTDOWN: ARENA #1 of 4 by Keith Champagne and Scott McDaniel. Big Bad Monarch has the heroes of 52 universes fighting each other. I’m guessing at some point they figure out “Hey, there’s 52 universes of us and one of him.” Too easy?

THE ESCAPISTS HC by Brian K. Vaughan and Various Artists. The story of how three guys end up with the publishing rights to The Escapist and what ensues. From the universe of Michael Chabon’s “Kavalier and Clay.” Crack cocaine for geeks.

HOUSE OF M: AVENGERS #2 of 5 by Christos Gage and Mike Perkins. A fun little diversion into an alternate universe that kinda got wiped out over a year ago.

INFINITE HORIZON #1 of 6 by Gerry Dugan and Phil Noto. It’s the Odyssey set in the Middle East today, the story of a soldier trying to get back home. Gutsy stuff.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #15 by Dwayne McDuffie and Ed Benes. Last round of the JLA versus the Injustice League. And isn’t “Injustice League” right up there with “Brotherhood of Evil Mutants” and “Masters of Evil” in terms of true self-knowledge and acceptance? Royal Flush Gang, call your office.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #11 by Geoff Johns, Alex Ross, and Dale Eaglesham. It’s the “Kingdom Come” Supes and the cosmic treadmill. It’s like the KC sequel never even happened! Recommended for that alone.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL. 9 HC by Stan Lee, John Romita, John Buscema, and Jim Mooney. Collecting the original AMAZING issues #78-87. “Thwip!”

MS. MARVEL #22 by Brian Reed and Aaron Lopresti. Carol Danvers’ old costumes on parade! Also she fights the Brood, which I guess every hero is required to do if they finish their assignment early.

NORTHLANDERS #1 by Brian Wood and Davide Gianfelice. In which a callow Viking learns how hard it can be to go home again, circa 1000 A.D. This one’s getting a lot of good buzz, but is NOT for the young ‘uns. Certainly worth a read for the elders.

OMEGA THE UNKNOWN #3 of 10 by Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple. A David Lynch-y take on Steve Gerber’s cult hero from the seventies. Not for everyone but worth a look if you like your heroes a little different.

OVERMAN #1 of 5 by Scott Reed and Shane White. Hard sci-fi noir set in the art-deco Pittsburgh of 2135. Gotta be a step up, right?

POPEYE VOL. 2 WELL BLOW ME DOWN HC by E.C. Segar. The early stuff from 1930-32, including the first appearance of J. Wellington Wimpy, collected here by the good folks at Fantagraphics who are really quite wonderful at this. Recommended.

SIGNAL TO NOISE 2nd EDITION HC by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. The classic graphic novel re-issued for you lucky punks who missed the early nineties. Lots of extras in this one, worth it even if you already have a copy. Recommended.

THE TWELVE #0 by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston. A seriously fun revival of some long-forgotten Golden-Age heroes from the days when Marvel was Timely and Stan Lee was still an office gopher. Chris Weston has a real talent for stuff like this, as he demonstrated a few years back on the JSA/ALL-STAR mini-series over at DC. Looks like this could be a real winner. Also contains three stories which I’m betting haven’t been reprinted anywhere until now. Recommended.

ULTIMATES 3 #1 of 5 by Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira. Season Three begins with a murder at Avengers..I mean, “Ultimates” Mansion. How ‘bout dem apples, mister?

UNCANNY X-MEN #493 by Ed Brubaker and Billy Tan. “Baby, baby, who’s got the Mutant-Killer-Jesus-Baby???” Part Whatever of Whatever.

WHAT IF? CLASSIC VOL.4 SC by Everyone. Original series #21-26. In-sane….

WONDER WOMAN SERIES 1 ACTION FIGURES including Agent Diana Prince, Circe, Donna Troy as Wonder Woman, and WW herself. Designed by Terry Dodson.

WORLD WAR HULK: AFTER-SMASH #1 by Greg Pak and Rafa Sandoval. Cute title. For the WWH completists out there. Also features the first appearance of the new Goliath. So there’s that….

www.johnjudy.net

Comics, comics everywhere

click on the image for a larger, readable view.

I was with my daughter's 4th grade trip to Jamestown today and saw the accompanying editorial cartoon on display in the museum. It's the original for "How Jamestown Was Saved For Posterity" by Fred O. Seibel, Richmond Times-Dispatch May 13, 1938. I don't know Seibel's work, but it's certainly competent enough and it was nice to see the art prominently displayed.

We'll flag this one with a SHoC label as I imagine Seibel's mostly forgotten.

Toles smacks Post 's Obama coverage

See "'Wash Post' Cartoonist Mocks Own Paper Over Obama Story," By Greg Mitchell, with Dave Astor, E and P Online November 30, 2007.

This was actually useful as I had no idea what today's cartoon referred to before reading this. However, it's worth noting that last week's Doonesbury strips referred to the same issue, and might be useful to look at for anyone interested in this issue.

Ullman dropped by City Paper - time to write in! UPDATED

Rob Ullman's posted on The Comics Journal message board and on his own blog that he's been dropped from illustrating the Washington City Paper's Savage Love column. Rob's cute drawings are one of the best things about the City Paper and I encourage you all to write to them. All of these illustrations are from recent issues of the CP - great, aren't they?

The following is the letter I sent to them at mail@washingtoncitypaper.com earlier this evening:

I am very sorry to hear about the decision to stop using Rob Ullman to illustrate the Savage Love column. Ullman's illustrations are a large reason that I pick up the City Paper and recommend it on my blog about comics in Washington. Combined with the much smaller size of the remaining columns, this gives me much less reason to read the Paper or to recommend it to people. I hope you will reconsider this decision promptly and return Rob's illustrations - they make a column that can be a bit over the top much more amusing.

The managing editor has written in with a comment below, and suggests you write your own letter to have more of an impact so please follow his advice. Hopefully Rob will be back with no interruption and we can raise a glass in thanks.

Schulz bio cartoon in The Onion

"Kelly" (aka Ward Sutton) has a cartoon in the Onion on the stands now, "Happiness is a warm dose of truth (at last)" about the Michaelis biography of Schulz. Couldn't find it online though...

...so I'll describe it. People are throwing copies of Peanuts books in the trash can while Charlie Brown says "Suddenly I don't feel like such a LOSER after all," while holding up a newspaper headlined, "New Schulz Bio exposes cartoonist to be a lonely, pathetic philanderer" while 'Kelly' says, "Mr. Success, the original blockhead," in the lower right corner.

Secret History of Comics with Richard Thompson's mother

Seriously. Richard's mother Anne Hall Whitt wrote an autobiographical book The Suitcases, a moving story about being orphaned with her two sisters during the Depression. I read it over Thanksgiving weekend, and found it very touching. I don't think I'm giving anything away when I say it all appears to have worked out well in the end, but it was pretty harrowing getting there. It was a good book to read around Thanksgiving since she gave you something to think and be thankful about. Copies of the book can be found on Amazon and other book sites. Oh, and it's illustrated by Richard, but in a non-cartoony art style that you wouldn't recognize.

Actually, this might make a good graphic novel, Richard...