Katsucon 15 featured in Post

For some reason, people volunteer to work in a maid cafe - "For Anime Fans: Maids For a Day," By Dan Zak, Washington Post Staff Writer, Saturday, February 14, 2009; C01. Notwithstanding this article, hopefully the manga/anime convention is going well. I've seen more than enough Pow! Zap! Wham! comic book articles to realize that what you get in the mass media isn't really what the people attending are enjoying.

I'm still not sure about maid cafes though...

Kerry James Marshall featured in Sunday's Post

A fine artist who uses comic book motifs is featured in Sunday's Post, including a new piece commissioned by the paper - see "Coloring Perception: Kerry James Marshall Thinks the Old Masters Have Room for a New Face: His Own," BY BLAKE GOPNIK - WASHINGTON POST STAFF WRITER, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009.

Richmond's Adhouse Books on Diamond limits

Actually, it's Chris Pitzer speaking on Diamond's new minimum orders at Indie Spinner Rack Issue #148, Friday, February 06, 2009.

Chicago Reader reports on City Paper's comics 'savings'

See "Comics Stripped: As alt-weeklies drop their funnies, is the end of a genre near?" By Michael Miner, Chicago Reader February 12, 2009, which reports on how much money the City Paper saved by dropping all its comics except Dirtfarm. Tip from Spurgeon.

Mar 6: Comic Art Indigène exhibit opens

On March 6th, the Comic Art Indigène exhibit opens at the National Museum of the American Indian. I'd be interested in putting together a group to visit this if anyone wants to...

Feb 18: Geppi's Entertainment Museum starts lecture series

On February 18th, Geppi's Entertainment Museum starts a lecture series with Arnold Blumberg speaking on pop culture and love.

OT: Cartoonists ads from Playboy continued

New Yorker cartoonist George Price ad for Chival Regal scotch in Playboy, March 1981. What a wonderful wacky line he has!


Edward Sorel art for an ACLU ad against the Moral Majority in Playboy, March 1981. Oooh, Sorel can be hard-hitting.


Arnold Roth caricature of William Buckley in letters section, Playboy, March 1981. Roth just had a lovely color illo in a recent New Yorker issue.

Editorial cartoonist Garner let go at Times?

Alan Gardner is reporting that Bill Garner has been fired as the Washington Times' editorial cartoonist. Rob Tornoe has more details on the story. I haven't seen the Times in a few weeks so I don't know if his work has been appearing or not.

Beeler wins Berryman

Congratulations, Nate!

Details at "Examiner’s Beeler gets national praise for cartoons," By Alan Suderman, Washington Examiner Staff Writer 2/11/09.

Toad, a local gag cartoonist

Toad Toons is a site that I've just been tipped to, by the eponymous 'Toad.' He's been doing and posting a gag cartoon per day for years, and would appreciate people checking the site out.

Ok, Luann's in DC, but Greg Evans isn't

On the south side of the Mall, close to the Lincoln Memorial, you really can't see a Starbucks or a McDonald's.

OT: What about this year's Angouleme festival anyway?

My buddy's got all the details on his blog - "Comix Influx Blog: Angoulême 2009" by Stephen Betts on 11th February 2009. Check it out, and then stay to note the Comix Influx project. Stephen and co. are translating European graphic novels into English, and then providing the text for you to read along with your copy. These aren't scanlations and you have to have the original comic already, but this is a neat way you can get ahead of Fantagraphics, Drawn and Quarterly or NBM and be the hippest person on your block.

Feb 16: Dinotopia's James Gurney in Rockville

Colin Solan wrote in, "James Gurney, the writer/illustrator of the Dinotopia series, will be in Rockville next Monday. Details at the link."

I love his stuff and he's very interesting to hear in person.

Ok, it's not comics, but it's an allied art.

Luann arrives in DC; Over the Hedge lurks in White House

Luann's group just rode in over the Memorial Bridge (recognizably! but probably from Google Earth) while Verne and the gang refuse to leave the President alone.

OT: Cartoonists ads from Playboy

Jack Davis Dexter shoe ad in Playboy, Dec. 1980. Around this time, Davis seemed to be everywhere. He regularly covered TV Guide, drew a postage stamp, did posters for the American Cancer Society... hard to believe this is almost 30 years ago.



Cassette recorder? What's that? Charles Saxon gag cartoon ad in Playboy, Dec. 1980. Saxon's best known for his New Yorker work.

Examiner increases size of political cartoons

The Examiner, Nate Beeler's home paper, dramatically increased the size of their political cartoons this week - to about a third of the tabloid page, at least by height. After months of shrinking cartoons, with them finally ending up at about 4"x3", this was a nice development to see.

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.