John Alvin exhibit at ArtInsights

This just came in from Leslie. ArtInsights is a nice gallery out in Reston - they've got a lot of cool things on the wall. For example, last time when I was reviewing Chiarello's Negro Leagues show, I saw an original Snow White cel. Cool stuff.

In addition to the following PR, Leslie writes that she's put some video interview footage on the web as well:

Here are the links to the 4 segments of the John Alvin interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vghyb6KqcF4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXRJWVVHw5Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq2F09ioVtM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Jw5x_uZF8I

and I think they got a young hipster to set up a myspace page.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10th, 2008

CONTACT:
Leslie Combemale
703-478-0778


ARTINSIGHTS GALLERY TO PRESENT TRIBUTE SHOW WITH NEVER BEFORE SEEN ORIGINAL ART SPANNING THE CAREER OF FAMED CINEMA ARTIST JOHN ALVIN

Reston, VA - ArtInsights Animation and Film Art Gallery, one of the only three galleries worldwide to represent original art of top cinema artist John Alvin, has curated a show of original art highlighting the career of the famed illustrator, who died unexpectedly on February 6th of this year. The art is representative of his estate, and includes graphite concept and mixed media originals, as well as limited editions and interpretive works from a variety from the over 200 movie campaigns on which he worked. In addition to Star Wars, art from Jurassic Park, Lord of the Rings, The Lion King, Blade Runner, Darkman, Mulan, Dragonheart, Band of Brothers, and other film campaigns he influenced, on will be in the show. There will be art available for purchase. The exhibit will be on display through February 6th.

John Alvin is responsible for some of the most famous movie posters from the last 30 years, including E.T., Blade Runner, The Lion King, and Young Frankenstein, as well as more than 130 other films. He created art for numerous Star Wars film promotions and events. "The sale of art by John Alvin has very much effected the popularity of celebrity and film inspired art in the fine art market. John's career has influenced many of the illustrators and cinema artists working today, as they themselves will tell you", says Michael Barry, co-owner of ArtInsights. "He was collected by George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Mel Brooks from the beginning of his career." His partner, Leslie Combemale, adds, "In the years we worked with John, we became close friends, but our respect for his place in film art history also continued to grow. We are sad for his loss as a friend, and as an artist. We are so proud and honored to have this retrospective of his career in our gallery." As part of the tribute, there is also an interview conducted by Leslie Combemale filmed in 2007 that is being released for the first time. Ms. Combemale says, "I never thought it would be the last interview he would do. John and I just did it for fun. We are putting the interview on YouTube so the greatest number of fans and film lovers can see it."

John Alvin worked as an illustrative artist in the film industry for over 35 years. He came into prominence by creating the art for the poster for Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles in 1974. He went on to design art for many films including E.T, which won the Hollywood Reporter Key Art Awards grand prize, and is the only movie art honored with the Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Films. He has created more images for Spielberg films than any other single artist, including the poster art for "Empire of the Sun", "The Color Purple", "Always", "Jurassic Park", and, of course, "E.T". He also created a lot of specialized work for George Lucas and the "Star Wars" saga. Mr. Alvin's "Star Wars Concert" and "Star Wars Tenth Anniversary" posters are among the most collectible Star Wars art on the market today. Additionally, the Smithsonian Museum exhibited Alvin's "The Phantom of the Paradise" as one of the best posters of the 20th century. Later in his life he created exclusive images of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Alien, and Predator, among others, that were used for limited editions. John Alvin's name belongs to a short list of cinema art masters whose works have become icons in Hollywood's history.

ABOUT ARTINSIGHTS

ArtInsights, established in 1994, is a privately owned gallery located in Reston Town Center, in Virginia. With their collaboration with John Alvin, they added the art of the cinema to their specialization of creating and developing collections of animation art from Disney, Warner Brothers, Hanna Barbera, and all other major studios. With more than 30 combined years of experience in the animation art field, owners Michael Barry and Leslie Combemale work closely with individuals and corporations to ensure the integrity of their collections. ArtInsights is Virginia's only animation gallery and is the only gallery in the Washington Metropolitan area authorized to represent Warner Bros. and Hanna Barbera animation art to the public. They also have exclusive rights to sell original illustrative art by Harry Potter book cover artist Mary GrandPre, Heroes of the Negro Leagues artist and DC Comics art director Mark Chiarello, and Marguerite Henry and Phantom Stallion book cover artist John Rowe.

Tatulli of Lio interviewed by his syndicate

Lio's one of my favorite strips in the Post. Universal editor John Glynn just posted 14 questions in "And now ... a very special interview with Mark "Lio/Heart of the City" Tatulli," December 8 2008. Tatulli speaks very well of Our Man Thompson's Cul de Sac therein.

Lewd melons joke in Luann

Actually I liked yesterday's Luann strip and its melons joke, but I'm sure that Greg Evans lost a bet somewhere along the line and had to do it.

OT: Francoise Mouly's Holiday Reading

Here's another essay from the Book Reporter blog: "Francoise Mouly: Holiday Reading," December 8 2008.

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 12-10-08

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 12-10-08
By John Judy

30 DAYS OF NIGHT: TIL DEATH #1 written and drawn by David Lapham. The old guard vampires are thinning out the new herd of reckless punks and one of them has gone to ground. What could go wrong? The creator of STRAY BULLETS and YOUNG LIARS brings his uniquely twisted perspective to the universe, post-Barrow.

ACTION COMICS #872 by Geoff Johns and Pete Woods. The original Creature Commandos are back. How great is that? Recommended.

ASTONISHING X-MEN: GHOST BOXES #2 of 2 by Warren Ellis, Clayton Crain and Kaare Andrews. Dark, dark alternate future stuff from that nice Mister Ellis, just the way you like it. Recommended.

BPRD: WAR ON FROGS #2 by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and John Severin. The Bureau takes on Frog-Monsters, drawn by comics legend John Severin!

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 #8 by Paul Cornell and Leonard Kirk. Really clever super-team adventures in the English way. Worth a butcher’s, wot?

FINAL CRISIS #5 of 7 by Grant Morrison, J.G. Jones and Carlos Pacheco. Evil is triumphant! Anti-Life holds dominion over all! Kegger at Darkseid’s! Whoooo!!!

FINAL CRISIS: REVELATIONS #4 of 5 by Greg Rucka and Philip Tan. If you’re a fan of Rucka, the Spectre and/or the new Question you’ll feel bad if you don’t read this. Hot Spear of Destiny action!

HERBIE ARCHIVES, VOL. 2 HC by Shane O’Shea and Ogden Whitney. Collecting issues #6-14 of the original Fat Fury, Herbie Popnecker, the most powerful endomorph ever to walk the Earth. Fun for all ages!

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #27 by Dwayne McDuffie and Ed Benes. A new arc that “integrates” the heroes of the much-missed Milestone Comics heroes into the mainstream DCU. For those of us who were there in the nineties this is very cool stuff indeed. Recommended, especially for those who like our super-teams visually distinguishable from an Elks Club meeting.

PUNISHER: WAR ZONE#1 of 6 by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. Maybe it was the excitement of the new movie but these crazy kids just couldn’t stay away from comicdom’s favorite pistol-packin’ vigilante! Or maybe it was the money. Nonetheless, it’s Ennis back on PUNISHER. Gotta look! Not for kids.

SECRET INVASION: DARK REIGN #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. So let’s talk about the New World Order in which psycho-villain Norman Osborn runs everything…

TRANSFORMERS MAXIMUM DINOBOTS #1 by Simon Furman and Nick Roche. Really this is just a reminder to myself to pick one up for my kid. Love those dinobots!

WATCHMEN #1 by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Hey look! That new movie on the internets already has a comic book adaptation! Seriously, it’s a reprinting of one of the most important comics in history at its original 1986 cover price. Beyond recommended.

WOLVERINE: FLIES TO A SPIDER #1 by Gregg Hurwitz and Jerome Opena. Wolvie chops up some bikers for New Years. A tradition is born!

WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ #1 of 8 by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young. Bringing the L. Frank Baum classic to sequential paneled life! Good for all ages!

www.johnjudy.net

The Interview: "Mutts" Cartoonist Patrick McDonnell

By Michael Cavna, Washington Post Comic Riffs blog December 8, 2008
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2008/12/the_interview_mutts_cartoonist.html

Crumb exhibit is excellent. But...

(Photos by Aaron Igler, from the ICA website)

We drove up today, had excellent cheesesteaks (is that one word?) at University City's Abner's Cheesesteaks, and then walked around the UPenn campus to the Institute of Contemporary Art for the last day of the R. Crumb's Underground exhibit. They didn't allow us to take pictures, but there's some on their website. The exhibit was originally curated by Todd Hignite and "coordinated at the ICA by Associate Curator Jenelle Porter."

The exhibit, which closed today, was fantastic... or at least the artwork was. The exhibit proper I was less happy with. Pieces were arranged in orders that weren't apparent - neither historical, nor by purpose, nor by media. Judging from the 4-page handout, which says, "Rather than a chronological retrospective, this career-spanning exhibition is organized around specific underlying themes and ideologies" which it then lists as 'Young Crumb,' 'Crumb Draws Crumb,' 'Counterculture,' 'Collaboration,' and 'Old-Time Tunes.' However none of the sections of art in the two cavernous rooms were labeled with these headings, nor were the brief descriptive paragraphs on the section in the brochure included in the actual exhibit. The pieces, except for those published in comic books, were frequently only labeled with the title and media so one could not necessarily place them in context. I happened to recognize two of his New Yorker strips done with his wife Aline, but many other viewers less familiar with his work wouldn't have known where "Fashion Week in New York" and "Cheering Global Villagism" were done for, facts that are relevant in terms of the lessening of some of Crumb's more scatalogical tendencies in the two strips. Interestingly, the artwork was uncolored which was something of a surprise to me as it appears in color in the magazine - my companion and I wondered if Crumb supervised the coloring or if it was done on a computer without him. Crumb's color New Yorker cover of Eustace Tilley as a young punk was included in the show, again without its publication information.
Entrance to exhibit
In spite of these cavils, the exhibit was filled with fantastic pieces, many loaned by Eric Sack. Included were napkins from restaurants that Crumb drew on, which have been the subject of several of his recent books, an Oog & Blik comics publisher's folder he drew a self-portrait on, the back cover of Zap Comix 0, "Early Jazz Greats" watercolor on paper paintings for a card set, his Patton strip which was also in the Masters of American Comics exhibit, Little Wonder Hot Book (1969) - a minicomic with Spain and S. Clay Wilson, original Mr. Natural pages from 1968-1969, the metal printing plate from Zap Comix 0, "Angel Food McSpade" and "Meatball" strips from Zap, and pages of jam comix and posters. A small case of published versions of his art included Zap Comix 1, 0 and 2, Help, Gothic Blimpworks, an American Greeting Card "Season's Greetings" from 1965, and 3 specimens of the unpublished comic he created with his brothers (as seen in the Crumb film).

More art highlights included a complete Fritz the Cat story from 1965, a 1987 Christmas card by Crumb, his wife and daughter, a CBNDI Belgian comics museum poster original and a sketchbook circa the 1960s. One wall had original artwork for comic book covers including Arcade #3 with a pasted-in Zippy by Bill Griffith and the book, R. Crumb's Head Comix. Crumb's work was generally only slightly larger than the published version and he seems to usually work 1 1/2x up. His style evolved somewhat during the 1960s, but by the end of the decade he'd settled into essentially the same one that he uses today although it's obvious that he takes more time and effort on his art now. Much of the material in the show came from a fine art gallery that presumably sells the artwork for him.

The exhibit was a fantastic overview of Crumb's career, even if sadly lacking in information on him. This trend towards treating comics artists solely as fine artists seriously misinterprets the essentially commercial component of comic book publishing, even in the undergrounds that Crumb worked in. However, anyone who likes his work would be well-advised to see the next site it travels to. The exhibit, as stated, was accompanied at the ICA by a four-page brochure and a poster was available for purchase.

Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers movie? UPDATED

Did you know there was a Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers movie? According to Joel Pollack of Big Planet Comics, Gilbert Shelton's underground comic was adapted into a live action short, The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Acquire a Groupie. This was around 1971 by a DC-area filmmaker whose company was Reel Meat. Joel did the promo art and showed it to me today. The filmmakers were Bill Pace and Celia Symbarski aided by Joel Jacobson. The actors were Jeff Wolfe as Fat Freddy, Tom Scott as Freewheelin' Frank, and Dave Eisner as Phineas. Bill Pace would be the only one likely to own a copy, Joel thinks. The movie disappeared when Shelton pulled his approval of the license.

Zadzooks back to toys

"ZADZOOKS: Silver Savage and Despero action figure reviews; Surfer is Savage to help Hulk," Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times December 3, 2008.

And Bennett's best is Sgt. Rock and Umbrella Academy:

Bennett's Best for the week of November 23, Zadzooks Blog November 30 2008, By Greg Bennett.

Also on the blog are videos for "VIDEO GAME INTERVIEW: ESA's Mike Gallagher".

Off to see some Crumbs

A friend suggested we ride up to Philly to catch the last day of the traveling Robert Crumb show, so that's where I'll be today. If I don't already have someone reviewing it for IJOCA, I'll write one and post it here.

New York Times' comics gifts recommendations

It's tomorrow's news, but see "Holiday Books: Comics," DOUGLAS WOLK, New York Times Book Review December 7, 2008. I'm in agreement with the second half of his recommendations and although I haven't read 'Swallow Me Whole' yet, I do have it.

Al Rio's 2008 Wonder Woman postcard

The artist Al Rio sends out a postcard to people who will send a digital picture of them with it back to him. This year he drew a nice Wonder Woman card. I got mine in the mail and just sent him back the picture below.

Special bonus points go to anyone who can name the books with it.

Finding Bash on DC's streets

The editor's pointed out some new Bash information to me...

You'll notice the work of Sean Ford and Jeff Lok, both new to BASH. Sean's story ("Waiting for your Bro") along with 25 pages from Only Skin and a nine-page story called "Disappearing Kids" will be posted on the December Comic Calendar between the 7th and 10th. The continuation of Jeff Lok's Sam n' Dan will be posted the 16th-18th, 13 pages in all.

Here's their distribution list, which is not completely up-to-date, and has a few [modifications by me]:

Washington, D.C.:

18th and U Duplex: 2004 18th Street NW
American University at Nebraska Avenue/New Mexico
Art Gallery Grille at 1706 T Street NW
AU/Tenleytown Avenue Metro North
AU/Tenleytown Avenue Metro South
Brookland/CUA Metro
Bus Stop at 12th Street and H Street NE
Bus Stop at Ward Circle/Massachusetts Avenue
Capitol South Metro
Caribou Coffee at 1400 14th Street NW
Chinatown Gallery Plaza Metro: 7th and D Stree NW
Cleveland Park Metro: North
Columbia Heights Metro North
Convention Center: 7th and Mt. Vernon Place NW
Convention Center: 9th and Mt. Vernon Place NW
Corner of 28th and M Street NW [this one's gone - it was the one I used!]
Corner of Wisconsin and M Street NW
Cosi at 14th and H Street NW
DC Government 12th and U Street NW
Dunn Loring Metro
Dupont Circle Metro: Connecticut and Q Street NW
East Falls Church Metro
Eastern Market Metro
Farragut North Metro: L Street and Connecticut Avenue
Federal Center Metro: 3rd and D Street SW
Federal Triangle Metro: 12th NW
Five Guys: Wisconsin Avenue @ Dunbarton Street NW
Foggy Bottom Metro
Friendship Heights Metro: 5230 Wisconsin Avenue
Friendship Heights Metro: Wisconsin @ Western
Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro at 9th and 6th Street NW
George Mason University Bus Stop
[Georgetown, Wisconsin at M, in front of PNC bank]
Georgetown University Hopital: Washington Circle at 23rd Street [actually George Washington]
Georgetown University Hospital 3800 Reservoir Road
Howard School of Business at 2600 6th Street
Howard University Bookstore: 2225 Georgia Avenue
Howard University Metro at 7th Street
Howard University: 6th and W Street NW
Judiciary Square Metro
L'Enfant Plaza Metro: 7th and MD Avenue SW
L'Enfant Plaza Metro: 8th and D Street SW
McDonald's 169 18th Street NW
McPherson Square Metro: 14th and I Street NW
McPherson Square Metro: 15th and T Street NW
Media and Public Affairs: 805 21st Street
Metro Center at 12th & G Street NW
Metro Center Metro: 11th and G Street NW
Mt. Vernon Square: 7th Street Convention Center
Navy Yard Metro: M Street and N.J. Avenue SW
PNC Bank: Wisconsin Avenue at M Street NW
Post Office: 2300 18 th Street NW
Potomac Avenue Metro: Potomac Avenue and PN Avenue
Safeway 1747 Columbia Road NW
Smithsonian Metro: 12th and Independence Avenue SW
Starbucks 1203: 19th Street @ M Street NW
Starbucks 1501 Connecticut Avenue at Dupont Circle
Starbucks 1600 U Street at New Hampshire Avenue
Starbucks 1801 Columbia Road NW
Starbucks 700 Connecticut Avenue at R Avenue
Starbucks at 1429 P Street NW
Starbucks: 7th and E Street NW
SunTrust: 1369 Connecticut Avenue at Dupont Circle
Takoma Park Metro
Tryst Lounge at 2457 18th Street NW
U St/African American Civil War Memorial at 13th
Van Ness/UDC Metro: North
Van Ness/UDC Metro: South
Waterfront Metro: 4th and M Street SW
Woodley Park/200 Metro



Virginia

Ballston Metro
Braddock Road Metro
Clarendon Metro
Courthouse Road Metro
Crystal City Metro
Eisenhower Avenue Metro
Huntington Metro: Lower
Huntington Metro: Upper
Kings Street Metro
Pentagon City Metro: Borders Side
Pentagon City Metro: Ritz Side
Rosslyn Metro
Springfield Metro
Van Dorn Metro: Bus Side
Van Dorn Metro: Kiss and Ride Side
Vienna Metro: North
Vienna Metro: South
Virginia Square Metro
West Falls Church Metro



Montgomery County, Maryland:
Bethesda Metro
Medical Center Metro
Silver Spring Metro
White Flint Metro
Wheaton Metro

Prince George's County, Maryland:
College Park Metro
Route 1 College Park (two locations)

OT: Blog by an artist friend

A work buddy, Navjeet Singh Chhina, has started a blog for his work. Navjeet says he's influenced by cartoons. The paintings he's got up so far show Indian Gods and Gurus.

Punisher and Bat movie bits from today's papers

Unsurprisingly, nobody appears to fond of the Punisher: War Zone movie. I must confess that I don't understand the popularity of the character, but I'm sure it ties into a thread that runs through the Shadow to Dirty Harry to the Mack Bolan novels and then into the comics. Anyway, here's some articles.

"A Comic-Book Avenger Strikes," By A. O. SCOTT, New York Times December 5, 2008.

"A Glut of Punishment," Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post Friday, December 5, 2008; Page WE28.

"DVD's Lack Of Ledger May Leave Fans Cold," By Jen Chaney, Washington Post Friday, December 5, 2008; Page WE32 on "The Dark Knight" Batman movie.

And surprisingly enough, New Yorker and New York Times (Science section, on Tuesdays) cartoonist Victoria Roberts did the cover of the Post's Weekend section. No pic online that I see.

OT: Bill Willingham's most important book

There's nothing to do with Washington in this essay, but I like Willingham's work and have since he was writing about undead superheroes a long time ago. So check out the Book Reporter's blog for Bill Willingham's most important book.

And here's more info from publicist Nicole Bruce about the larger project which is neat:

Bookreporter.com's Author Holiday Blogs

Many great writers share that their path to publishing started by being a voracious reader. To celebrate this season of giving --- and getting --- more than thirty authors are sharing their favorite memories of giving or receiving a book at the holidays on the Bookreporter.com Author Holiday Blog. For example, International best-selling author Mary Higgins Clark reminisces about the books that she was overjoyed to find under the Christmas tree during her childhood, while her daughter and co-writer, Carol Higgins Clark, theorizes that her most popular character, private detective Regan Reilly, may have had her roots in books given to her as a young girl. Meanwhile, Wendy Corsi Staub tells us why Christmas always means Little Women to her.

Upcoming blogs include a piece by Francoise Mouly, who reminisces about the intimate experience she shared over a comic strip with her now-husband, cartoonist Art Spiegelman, during the early stages of their relationship, and how that event forever changed the way she approached the solitary act of reading. Head over to Bookreporter.com each day until Christmas to read these essays and others from David Baldacci, Laura Pedersen, Ad Hudler, Kristin Hannah, Garth Stein, M.J. Rose, Mary Kay Andrews and more.

The blogs can be read each day at: http://www.bookreporter.com/blog/blog/index.asp

Dec 8: Swann fellow speaks on Civil War prints

Just a reminder from the Library of Congress -

Of possible interest to those in the Washington, D.C. area -- an invitation to a public lecture by Mazie Harris, Swann award winner, on Civil War era chromolithographs created by Henry Louis Stephens, a major illustrator and caricaturist for Vanity Fair. Her talk, entitled, "A Colorful Union: The Development of Union Patriotism in Henry Louis Stephens’ 1863 Chromolithographs," will be on Monday, Dec. 8, 2008, at noon in Dining Room A, 6th floor, Madison Building, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, D.C.

Unfortunately I probably can't make this one.

Dec 13: Marc Tyler Nobleman in town for Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman

Marc Tyler Nobleman writes in,

I will be signing my latest book, Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman , in Alexandria, Virginia, at Hooray for Books on Saturday, December 13, at 2 p.m. The book is aimed at people ages 7 and up, though I have read it to my 4-year-old (the first time was against her will but she did voluntarily ask for it again at least once). Boys, girls, geeks - all welcome.

As of now, it is my only DC-area appearance so I hope you can overcome the short notice, skip that nap, and stop by!

Also, please forward to any friends who may be interested and, if you are willing, post for your DC/VA network on Facebook.

Best, thanks, and hope to see you,
Marc Tyler Nobleman

I bought this when it came out and enjoyed it a lot. Ross MacDonald's retro-style artwork is excellent too. I'm going to try to be there for this. Thanks to Casey Shaw of USA Weekend for the tip and the contact info!

Dec 16: Gag cartoonist Mort Gerberg in town

NEXTBOOK Public Programs presents Mort Gerberg

Last Laughs: Cartoons About Aging, Retirement...and the Great Beyond
December 16, 7:30 pm
$9; Discount Member Price $6
Washington DCJCC, 1529 16th Street NW

Longtime New Yorker cartoonist Mort Gerberg has assembled an all-star cast of gifted and popular cartoonists to join him in this exclusive collection confronting, illuminating and celebrating the inevitabilities of life. Everything from cloning to cryogenics is tackled with humor and pathos. Gerberg has written, illustrated or edited nearly forty books, including his textbook, Cartooning: The Art and the Business. Gerberg will discuss his most recent collection as well as demonstrate his drawing process. He will also touch on his upcoming book The All-Jewish Cartoon Collection.

Reprinted from huffingtonpost.com Review

"Be careful about taking this book on a long plane trip. From page to page you'll chuckle, you'll guffaw, you'll be seized with hysterical, uncontrollable laughter. Fellow passengers will be curious and you'll say (with tears streaming down your face) it's all about age and death. Fellow passengers might ask for a change of seats. You won't mind one bit as you become more and more helpless with laughter."
-- Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes and Teacher Man

Click here to purchase tickets.

Thanks to Casey Shaw of USA Weekend for the tip!

The fall 2008 International Journal of Comic Art

Ok, back to the fall 2008 International Journal of Comic Art issue that clocks in at 872 pages. Editor & publisher John Lent wrote an introduction to it in which he highlighted the current issue and also looked back at the past 10 years of publishing. Here's some of John's introduction:

This issue marks the tenth anniversary of the International Journal of Comic Art, and fitting the occasion, is packed with informative, entertaining, and even some provocative articles and reviews. Two symposia are offered, one of 14 articles on women and cartooning worldwide; another, the fifth installment of the “Pioneers of Comic Art Scholarship Series,” featuring Seetha Srinivasan of University Press of Mississippi and Bi Keguan of China.

A couple of granddaughters of famous cartooning personnel provide insights gleaned from primary sources about their grandfathers. Nicky Heron Brown (nee Wheeler-Nicholson) refutes statements made by David Hajdu about her grandfather, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, one of the “inventors” of the modern American comic book in the 1930s. Her article is especially welcomed as perhaps the first of a number of expected published accounts of the Major’s career planned by his family. Carolyn Wong contributes a second article on her grandfather, Huang Yao, a Chinese cartoonist who worked throughout East and Southeast Asia for decades; she unearthed new findings about his World War II work which supplement the article on World War II Chinese cartooning Xu Ying and I wrote in 10:1.

This anniversary issue is also enriched by an interview with Nakazawa Keiji of Barefoot Gen; a comprehensive “family tree” of educational comics by Sol M. Davidson (with help from his wife, Penny), many of which are culled from their collection; an analysis of Burmese political cartoons published in exile, written by Lisa Brooten; and articles or reviews written by cartoonists -- Trina Robbins and Matt Wuerker of U.S., Frank Hoffmann and Marlene Pohle of Germany, Ġorġ Mallia of Malta, Raquel Orzuj of Uruguay, and Arcadio Esquivel Mayorga of Costa Rica. It is the first time Burma, Costa Rica, Malta, and the Indian Ocean were featured in the International Journal of Comic Art. Besides articles on the American “Popeye,” Maus, Johnny the Homicidal Killer, Sin City, “Feiffer,” Captain America, war comics, and political cartoons, others in this issue dealt with Australia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Europe more generally, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.


So that's what you get in the current issue. Here's what the ten year period saw overall:

At least two articles (Fredrik Strömberg on Sweden and Fabio Gadducci on Italy) were developed into monographs by their authors, and many other articles were reprinted in books and very frequently cited in the scholarly literature. The journal is known worldwide, gracing the shelves of 111 university libraries, comic centers, art institutes, museums, and comics publishers in at least 20 countries; some of them are British Library, Library of Congress, Victoria & Albert Museum, Serieteket (Stockholm), Centre National de la Bande Dessinée de l’Image Bibliotheque (Angoulême), New York Public Library, Ivy League universities (Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale), MIT, Stanford, UCLA, Georgetown, School of Visual Arts, and University of Chicago.

We take pride also in the quantity of production. In 20 issues, the International Journal of Comic Art published 493 articles, including 16 symposia [see list], 71 book reviews, and 141 exhibition reviews, the latter very ably handled by Michael Rhode. The total number of pages was 9,198. At least 357 different authors (151 in Vols. 1-5, 206 in Vols. 6-10) wrote articles;* some of them had multiple contributions. Sixty countries were written about individually and others were treated less exhaustively in regional treatments on Africa (2 articles), Asia (1), East Africa (2), East Europe (1), Europe (3), Francophone Africa (1), and Latin America (1). The most articles dealt with North America (U.S., 179; Canada, 6) with 185; Europe (107), Asia (100), Latin America (40), Africa (31), and Australia/New Zealand (14). Nineteen countries of Europe were featured in articles, followed by 14 each for Africa and Asia, nine for Latin America, and two each for North America (U.S., Canada) and Australia and New Zealand. The top ten countries with articles were U.S., 179; Japan, 45; France, 24; England, 23; China, 18; Russia, 14; Spain, 13; Australia, 12; Brazil, 11, and Argentina, 9.


He wraps up with a list of special issues in case any of these are of interest to you (we're working on a plan to get the out of print issues back into print):

List of Symposia

10:2 “Women in/of Cartooning: A Symposium” -- edited by John A. Lent (14 articles)
“Pioneers of Comic Art Scholarship Series, Part V” -- (2 articles)
10:1 “Biff! Bam!! Crikey!!! A Comics Conference in Scotland, 2007 -- edited by Christopher Murray (10 articles)
9:2 “Gallery Comics: A Symposium” -- edited by C Hill (4 articles)
“Egyptian Cartooning: A Symposium” -- edited by John A. Lent (4 articles)
9:1 “Kibyōshi: The World’s First Comicbook?” -- edited by Adam L. Kern (7 articles)
“Cartooning in Australia: A Symposium” -- edited by John A. Lent (6 articles)
8:2 “Racial Identity: A Mini Symposium” -- edited by William Foster, III (4 articles)
8:1 “Ever-Ending Battle: A Symposium” -- edited by A. David Lewis (8 articles)
7:2 “Pioneers of Comic Art Scholarship Series, Part IV” -- edited by John A. Lent (5 articles)
7:1 “Late/Post-Soviet Russian Komiks: A Symposium” -- edited by José Alaniz (10 articles)
5:2 “Spanish Comics: A Symposium” -- edited by Ana Merino (10 articles)
“Pioneers of Comic Art Scholarship Series, Part III” (4 articles)
5:1 “Pioneers of Comic Art Scholarship Series, Part II” (4 articles)
4:1 “There at the Beginning: Early Days of Comics Scholarship”
(“Pioneers of Comic Art Scholarship Series, Part I”) -- edited by John A. Lent (9 articles)
3:2 “Latin American Comic Art: A Symposium” -- edited by John A. Lent (10 articles)