Cartoons at Walter Reed hospital

Here's a couple of pictures with cartoon themes that have shown up in the process of doing a photo book on Walter Reed Army Medical Center:



Early 1970s ward in Walter Reed Army Medical Center hospital where soldiers wounded in Vietnam were treated. Note the Uncle Scrooge poster on the wall. From the WRAMC DPW collection.



Garry Trudeau visits wounded soldier at Walter Reed Army Medical Center hospital. Courtesy of the Stripe newspaper.

Working Wuerker

I picked up a copy of the Feb. 5th Politico over the weekend. Matt Wuerker had 4! illustrations in it - a front page cartoon, an editorial cartoon under Wuerking Drawings, a full page ad for Starbucks/Politico's cozy new arrangement, and a full page ad for the Politico's White House coverage. Is Matt the hardest working man in cartooning?

Feb 21: John Malloy exhibit at National Harbor

John Malloy has written in about his first solo exhibition at National Harbor in Maryland, south of DC.

Here's the PR:

Art Whino Announces: One Out Of A Hundred - The Art of John Malloy

"One Out of a Hundred" centers around John Malloy's personal series of mixed-media works that explore drug side effects as a metaphor for consumer and media-driven culture's long-term effects on the human spirit. The originals for each piece include pen & ink, oil paint, and other media, and will be exhibited along with large-format, limited edition signed prints of the series. Limited edition prints of Malloy's comics "Queasy" [Image Comics], "Channel One", and rock-interview comics for the award-winning Lemon Magazine will also be on display, in addition to illustrations for the band Minus The Bear, I Heart Comix, and other magazines and publications. Over 40 Limited Edition Prints and over 50 Works of Original Art, including illustration, fine art, and comics will be on display in the exhibit and for sale.

Saturday, February 21st, from 6pm – Midnight

Location:
173 Waterfront St.
National Harbor, MD 20745
Music by Rank and File

Show end date: March 12th

The event is FREE and open to the public.

John Malloy:
ImageBorn in rural northern Pennsylvania to a cemetery caretaker and a coal-miner's daughter, John Malloy began drawing at very young age. He later earned a background in painting with one of the world's most eminent trompe l'oeil artists, and has since been self taught in fine art, illustration, comics, and design. His first graphic novel, "Amnesia" [2001] combined pen & ink, painted, and digital media, and he is presently working on two new graphic novels, as well as an autobiographical comic for Image Comics' PopGun Anthology titled, "Queasy"

Zadzooks on toys again, including one based on Kirby

"Zadzooks: Reviews of Bionicle Glatorians and Kalibak," Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times Thursday, February 5, 2009.

On the blog, Greg Bennett has two sets of recommendations.

"Bennett's Best for the week of February 1", Zadzooks Blog February 06 2009 suggests Marvel's Secret WARRIORS (ehhhh) and I Am Legend, which has artwork by John Cassedy.

In "Bennett's Best for the week of January 25," Zadzooks Blog February 01 2009, he suggests a couple of Ed Brubaker collections.

Bash Magazine's future

This explanatory note came in from BASH this morning. I'm very sorry to see the print edition go, as I much prefer paper, but given the economy I understand completely:

So begins the next incarnation of BASH Magazine. We've put seven issues featuring exclusively comic content onto the streets of Washington, D.C. in a big way, approximately 20,000 copies of each. We've grown our pool of artists and brought a unique form of comic storytelling to thousands of people who would have never been exposed to it. Producing and distributing BASH Magazine in this way is a helluva lot of fun and, we believe, worthwhile. But, it has not been sustainable. As a niche magazine fighting for print advertising dollars in a recession, let us say simply, "Yikes." That said, we're ready to usher in the next age of BASH Magazine.

Beginning in March, we will stop monthly printing of the free comic paper. Our website, www.bashmagazine.com - which has heretofore redistributed the paper content with a few extras - will become the focus of our time and efforts. We will continue to showcase unique comic storytelling from a variety of artists. Additionally, this freedom will allow us to provide more content to a growing audience. Our artists, our readers, and us - we love to see comics on a printed page. As such, we haven't closed the door on printing: keep an eye out for special printed collections in the future. But, as of now, BASH Magazine Online will be our focus. A whole new website is in the works. We'll keep you posted on its progress and launch date.

Until then, we remain...

The BASH Magazine Editorial Team

David Hagen exhibit coming to Arlington in March

I've fallen behind on checking out David's blog, but he posted the information on his exhibit recently. Here's the main info, but click through the link to check out the type of artwork he'll be displaying: The show will be from the beginning of March through the end of April with a reception on Friday, March 27 from 6pm to 9pm. All invited. Refreshments served! Century21 gallery space, 1711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22209.

David, at this moment, I am wearing a sweatshirt with your ComicsDC logo art on it. Bring the original along and I'll buy that from you.

Cavna on comics polls

Nice article, with some journalism as opposed to just opinions, here - "Are Too Many Newspaper Comic Polls a Sham?" By Michael Cavna, Washington Post's Comic Riffs blog February 6, 2009.

New conservative webcomic apparently launches in Manassas

Here's the PR:

ConservativeHQ.com Launches "Conservatives' Answer to Doonesbury"


MANASSAS, Va., Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ConservativeHQ.com is launching a new daily comic strip that is the conservatives' answer to political comics like "Doonesbury" and the strip-turned-animated-cartoon "The Boondocks."

"Liberal comedians and cartoonists have expressed great anguish at the rise of Barack Obama to the presidency, because having a perfect president makes it impossible to make fun of Washington," says Richard Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com. "'The Gentleman from Lickskillet' is conservatives' response."

"The strip is for people who can't help but laugh at the politicians in Washington," says Viguerie.

"The Gentleman from Lickskillet" is the first conservative comic strip to interweave humor and satire with continuing storylines and a large cast of characters. The strip runs daily, Monday through Saturday. A Sunday version is set to launch next month.

The strip stars Randall Dill, a member of Congress; his family, including his wife (an assistant district attorney) and their young daughter; his congressional staff; his friends and constituents back home; and the politicians, bureaucrats, and politically-correct people that they encounter in the course of their adventures.

The strip, which appears at ConservativeHQ.com, began unofficially three weeks ago with a sequence satirizing the inauguration of the new President. The current week, with a link to the complete archive, can be found at http://conservativehq.com/lickskillet/.

The strip's creators are Steven J. Allen, a journalist and longtime Washington insider, and cartoonist Kevin Tuma.

Allen was raised on a chicken farm -- like his main character -- in the Appalachian foothills of Alabama. A former newspaper reporter and radio news director, Allen served as senior editor of Conservative Digest magazine, as vice president of a think tank on Washington's K Street, and as press secretary to a U.S. Senator. His commentaries have appeared in such publications as Newsday and The New York Times. He has a Juris Doctorate from Cumberland School of Law and a PhD from George Mason University.

Tuma is an editorial cartoonist and comic book artist from Texas. He penciled such comic book series as Tales of the Green Hornet, The Twilight Zone, and Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective, and was a regular contributor to Cracked magazine. His political cartoons have appeared on the CNS News Web site and in such publications as The American Conservative and the Cato Institute journal Regulation.

For material for the strip, Allen and Tuma say they will scour canonical sources such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Blagojevich transcripts, the written works of Caroline Kennedy, and the Army Field Manual section on interrogation. "This will be the most accurate, thoroughly researched comic strip ever to feature time-traveling historians and Dutch-speaking cows," the cartoonists promised.

For more information on "The Gentleman from Lickskillet," contact Allen & Tuma at editor@lickskillet.org.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called "one of the creators of the modern conservative movement" (The Nation magazine) and one of the "conservatives of the century" (The Washington Times).

CONTACT:
Bob Sturm
(703) 396-6974
(703) 307-8176 (After 6 PM Eastern & on weekends)
Cynthia Chambliss
(703) 930-5148
rav@conservativesbetrayed.com


SOURCE ConservativeHQ.com

Smithsonian exhibit has accompanying webcomic

The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History has opened a new exhibit on a skeleton from southern Maryland and put up a webcomic - "The Secret in the Cellar: a written in bone forensic mystery from colonial America."

Printable pdfs of the whole comic and all of the accompanying material are provided as well - a very nice feature.

Post reviews Coraline

3-D 'Coraline' Lacks the Human Dimension
Technical Gem Fails to Engage Viewer's Emotions
By Desson Thomson
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, February 6, 2009; C04

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 02-11-09

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 02-11-09
By John Judy

ACTION COMICS #874 by James Robinson and Pablo Raimondi. Mon-El may be getting out of the Phantom Zone early! Fingers crossed! BTW, can someone explain how it is that Mon-El can spend 1,000 years in the P-Zone and not come out as the DCU’s most gigantic, super-powered head-case? Think about spending 1,000 years stuck in what is essentially Limbo. How do you not come out the other end making the Joker look like an accountant? Just sayin’…

ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, VOL. 2 HC by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. Collecting issues 7-12 of the series in which somebody made Morrison tell a story. See the last son of Krypton in classic Silver-Age style battling Bizarro, Zibarro and eating at S’Barro! Okay, I made that last one up, but this is still Good Comics. Recommended.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #586 by Marc Guggenheim and John Romita Jr. In which we finally get to stop referring to Menace as a “he.” Maybe more of a “S/He?” Oh, these modern comics…

BATMAN #686 by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert. Neil takes a swing at the Dark Knight. Part one of two. Must have.

FLAMING CARROT LIMITED EDITION, VOL. 1 HC written, drawn and published by Bob Burden. This edition, limited to 850 signed and numbered copies, collects the earliest CARROT comics from the 1980s. Add to that ten pages of all-new material and a forward by Dave Sim and you have just the thing for, well, yourself probably because who else deserves a treasure like this?

INCOGNITO #2 by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Meet the Black Death. He wants to kill a lot of people and he’s used to getting what he wants. From the team that gave us CRIMINAL. Highly recommended.

MASQUERADE #1 of 4 by Phil Hester and Carlos Paul. Another Golden-Age public domain revival overseen by Alex Ross. This one features the pistol-packin’ femme fatale who looks kinda like The Shadow in drag.

SCALPED #25 by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera. Part one of an all-new story arc in which a newcomer arrives at the Prairie Rose reservation. Because with Dash Bad Horse hooked on crack and Red Crow beating Mr. Brass damn near to death, things needed shaking up. Highly, highly recommended. Not for kids.

THOR #600 by J. Michael Straczynski, Stan Lee and Olivier Coipel. No, you didn’t miss 500-plus issues. Marvel just decided to go back to the original numbering for the series in order to make Robert Overstreet cry. And yes, Smilin’ Stan does indeed contribute some new material for this special anniversary issue. Gotta look!

WALKING DEAD #58 by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard. After last issue’s horror, it appears Mr. Kirkman is even more determined to turn all his fans into emotional basket cases. NOT. FOR. KIDS. (And maybe not for anyone with kids.)

WOLVERINE: MANIFEST DESTINY #4 of 4 by Jason Aaron and Stephen Segovia. The Sons of the Tiger reunite and Logan has to make a “dark decision.” That’s always good for some twisted amusement. And Jason Aaron writes Wolverine better than anyone in recent memory. Recommended.

WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ #3 of 8 by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young. Featuring all the stuff they left out of the movie. This series has been getting raves from fans both young and old. It is da Baum! (I’m sorry…)

www.johnjudy.net

Spider-Man Obama comic still ridiculous over-popular and over-priced

See "Spider-Man, Obama comic a hot sell at Bowie comic book store: Web-slinging superhero prevents villain from disrupting inauguration," by Andrea Noble | Staff Writer, Maryland Gazette February 5 2009.

So this store was selling the first printing for $40. That'll have a good effect on the customers who bought it for that when they're told in 6 months that it's worth a dollar, won't it?

Cul de Sac rattling around longer than you expected?

Alan Gardner says today's the fifth anniversary for the strip - counting its Sunday-only Post publication. Given that Richard's done more strips in the last 12 months than the preceeding 48 ones, this kind of seems like a dog's years anniversary or something.

KAL online exhibit

E-transom news from Kal:

I would like to invite you to visit a unique new Kal exhibition. The Show takes place entirely ONLINE at the virtual Forward Thinking Museum. The FTM is an online venture of Joy of Giving Something, Inc. (JGS), a not-for-profit philanthropic corporation dedicated to encouraging aesthetic reflection about present realities and future possibilities.

Visit the show here: http://www.forwardthinkingmuseum.com/index.php?gallery=141

The Forward Thinking museum houses multiple floors of artist’s works (primarily photograhers). The Kal exhibition currently contains 18 cartoons that will be changed and updated on a monthly basis. The exhibition will expand in the future to include animation. Admission is free!

February 6: Oscar animated shorts in town

See "The Oscars' Brief Lives: Nominated Short Films," By Arion Berger, Express February 5, 2009 for information on the films shown tomorrow at E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW, live action, 12:50 &5:20 p.m.; animated, 3:10 & 7:45 p.m.; 202-452-7672. (Metro Center)

Play based on romance comics opens

My Comic Valentine is the play - here's the Post story about it - "Romance Ripped From The Comics," By Raymond M. Lane, Washington Post, Friday, February 6, 2009; Page WE41.

And here's the play's info: My Comic Valentine: A Comic Book for the Stage Fort Fringe 610 L St. NW. 443-803-1163. http://www.banishedproductions.org/productions.html. Wednesday through Feb. 15. $15, pay-what-you-can preview Wednesday.

Coraline reviews begin appearing in DC papers

I liked the book which my daughter hasn't read yet, my daughter likes the graphic novel which I haven't read yet, and we'll see where we stand on the movie.

Monsters, Ink: The 3-D Movie 'Coraline' uses scare tactics children know well.
Written by Express contributor Chris Klimek
Express (February 5): E6.

Adventures in Blunderland: Coraline's heroine gets duped by fantasy; Pink Panther 2 is as bumbling as its protagonist.
By Tricia Olszewski
Washington City Paper Feb. 5 - 11, 2009.

Frame by Frame
A visual wonder, Coraline is narratively sluggish
by Randy Shulman
Metro Weekly February 5, 2009.

and there's a shorter version of this in the hardcopy Onion (which has another truly great headline about Dick Cheney in a dunk tank):
Henry Selick
by Tasha Robinson, February 3, 200

OT: On Spiegelman's Maus and ... hmmm .... what works there...?

My friend Rusty Witek, who's written a book or two about Art Spiegelman sent me an email yesterday with the subject line "If you ever"

. . .find yourself writing anything—anything at all—on Art Spiegelman’s best-known work, do NOT title it “Of Mice and [Something].” Please.

So, just to be sure, I asked him if he meant something like this:

OF 'MAUS' AND MAN: Two decades after his Holocaust memoir gained him a Pulitzer Prize and comics cultural acceptance, Art Spiegelman still struggles and strives to break the medium wide open, By Kiel Phegley, 2/3/2009.

To which he responded:

Very much so. And like this:

Of Maus and More

Of Mice and Memory

Of Maus and Memory

Of Mice and Vermin

Of Mice and Mimesis

Of Maus and Men

Of Mice and Menschen (this one also worked in “Comics Come of Age” in the title.)

Of Men and Mice

Of Mice and Supermen

Of Mice and Jews

These are almost all from peer-reviewed journals—don’t even think about the reviews and feature articles.

So yeah, like that.

That makes “The Maus That Roared” seem charmingly inventive. And after a certain point it means one of two disturbing things: either they aren’t reading the critical literature on Maus before submitting their own stuff, or they know it and use the title anyway. And either way an editor lets them do it.

You've been warned.

G. Weingarten's chat - opinions on Sally Forth

From Tuesday, February 3rd's chat:

Baltimore, Md.: Re the divorce of comics from the real world: I may be overly sensitive, having spent my working life in advertising, PR and marketing, but the re[ce]nt plot development in Sally Forth has me blind, or least nearsighted, with rage. For those not regular readers, Sally was moved from being co-manager of her company's HR Dept. to being marketing manager. What?!?! No wonder American business is in such trouble -- people with no previous demonstrable experience in a pretty complex line of work are suddenly put in charge of it.

Seriously, does the guy now drawing strip know nothing about how the real world works? I swear a couple of years ago there was a storyline about HR being unprofitable. If it were profitable, that would be a miracle.

Gene Weingarten: Wow. Well, I admit this line of thinking had not occurred to me. I like the storyline, as a storyline; the dysfunctional marketers are funny.

March 21: Animated Environmental Film Features

National Geographic is showing two films - at noon, Spirit of the Forest with film maker Lucas Mackey of Spain in attendance.

At 2pm, Wall-E with Burt Berry, Shading Art Director for Wall-E.

Both are $5 tickets at http://www.nglive.org or 202-857-7700.