Batman at the Renwick

Herschel K writes in "As part of the exhibit Staged Stories: Renwick Craft Invitational 2009, at the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery August 7 to January 3rd, 2010 there are a number of Batman items by fiber artist Mark Newport."

Sounds interesting - the Renwick is a gem of a museum too.

Baltimore Sun recaps Otakon

Anything goes at Otakon
Fans of Japanese animation converge on Baltimore
By Julie Bykowicz
Baltimore Sun July 20, 2009

Seth on Cul de Sac

The Canadian cartoonist says, "I bought the first collection that came out this year, and I was impressed, I thought it was really good." See more at "Seth on classic cartoonists and illustrators,"
by Noel Murray, Onion AV Club July 20, 2009.

July 20: X-Men X2 in Crystal City

Crystal Screen - Superheroes

Join the Crystal City BID for 21 weeks of Superheros! On Monday nights from May 4, 2009-September 21, 2009, Crystal City will be protected by Batman, Spiderman, Superman, and many others. Each night will also have special giveaways, sponsors, and other activities.

Date(s):
May 4, 2009 - September 21, 2009

Location:
18th and Bell Street - Courtyard Across from Crystal City Metro Station & Marriott Hotel

Event Fee:
Free

Hours:
Movies begin at sundown

Description:
Join the Crystal City BID for 21 weeks of Superheros! On Monday nights from May 4, 2009-September 21, 2009, Crystal City will be protected by Batman, Spiderman, Superman, and many others. Each night will also have special giveaways, sponsors, and other activities. Check back here for more information.

CRYSTAL KID BONUS: Since it gets dark later in the summer and movies often start past bedtime, the BID has partnered with Crystal City Sports Pub to rebroadcast each movie at 3:30 PM on the 3rd Floor of CCSP on the Wednesday following the outdoor showing, starting May 6. Bring your kids and a blanket and enjoy the fabulous surround network of TVs.

Festival Rules: Patrons can bring their own picnics as long as they abide by city and festival rules. Low-backed chairs and blankets are allowed, but grills, umbrellas, and pets are prohibited.


Schedule

July 20, 2009 - X2
July 22, 2009 - X2 - at CCSP
July 27, 2009 - X-Men: The Last Stand
July 29, 2009 - X-Men: The Last Stand - at CCSP
August 3, 2009 - Fantastic Four
August 5, 2009 - Fantastic Four - at CCSP
August 10, 2009 - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
August 12, 2009 - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - at CCSP
August 17, 2009 - Batman
August 19, 2009 - Batman - at CCSP
August 24, 2009 - Batman Returns
August 26, 2009 - Batman Returns - at CCSP
August 31, 2009 - Batman Forever
September 2, 2009 - Batman Forever - at CCSP
September 7, 2009 - Batman & Robin
September 9, 2009 - Batman & Robin - at CCSP
September 14, 2009 - Batman Begins
September 16, 2009 - Batman Begins - at CCSP
September 21, 2009 - Batman: The Dark Knight
September 23, 2009 - Batman: The Dark Knight - at CCSP

Luna Brothers wrapping up their current series

Wizard has the press release.

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 07-22-09

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 07-22-09

By John Judy

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #600 by Lotsa People, including Stan the Man, Mark Waid, Dan Slott and JR Jr. It’s an all-new, no reprints anniversary issue featuring 104 pages of web-slinging wonderment! Read it!

ARCHIE #599 by Stan Goldberg and the Gang. It’s the last one before #600, Riverdaliens! This one features three stories including “Return to Riverstock” in which the gang commemorates the 40^th anniversary of a certain music festival. Fun for all ages.

AVENGERS INITIATIVE #26 by Christos Gage and Rafa Sandoval. Norman Osborn is taking the old Mr. Miyagi’s Little Tree Initiative and turning it into the evil Cobra Kai Initiative. Because he’s EVIL!

BEANWORLD VOL.2 HC: A GIFT COMES written and drawn by Larry Marder. Collecting the final twelve issues of this unique and imaginative series.

BLACK PANTHER #6 by Reginald Hudlin and Mitch Brietwieser. The final battle with Morlun, Devourer of Totems! Please, god, let this be the final battle with Morlun, Devourer of Totems…

BOYS: HEROGASM #3 of 6 by Garth Ennis and John McCrea. A death at Herogasm! And not a little one either. Not for kids. Recommended.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI13 #15 by Paul Cornell and Leonard Kirk. The final dust-up between Dracula and all the limey super-spies he hasn’t already killed.

CREEPY ARCHIVES, VOL. 4 HC by Various Creators. Collecting issues 16-20 of this classic horror series with a spooky/fabulous cover by Frank Frazetta. Nice!

DETHLOK VS THE GOON ONE-SHOT by Eric Powell and Brandon Small. No, it’s not the Marvel cyborg from the future. The Goon is mixing it up with the greatest American/Scandinavian death-metal band in the world, DETHLOK!!! Thank-you, Dark Horse. Thank-you Adult Swim. Gotta look!

FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #5 of 5 by Geoff Johns and George Perez. Hey, ya remember FINAL CRISIS? Me neither, musta been retconned out of my brain. Nevertheless, here straggling across the finish-line after all the other FC titles and cross-overs have showered, gone home, gone back to work, married and had babies is FCLOTW #5! Enjoy!

GREEN LANTERN #44 by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke. Black Lantern Jonn Jonzz is back from the dead and looking to eat what he kills. At least he no longer looks like a Skrull. Now he looks like Thanos.

HELLBLAZER #257 by Peter Milligan and Giuseppe Camuncoli. Featuring a cover by Simon Bisley suggesting John Constantine is now working as a greeter at Abercrombie and Fitch. Rated “A” for abs.

IMMORTAL WEAPONS #1 of 5 by Jason Aaron, Duane Swierczynski and Many Talented Artists. It’s the story of Fat Cobra so you want it! It’s by Jason Aaron so you need it! Highly recommended.

INCREDIBLE HULK #600 by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. Spidey’s gonna try and find out who the Red Hulk really is. Yeah, he’s gonna try…. SPOILER: He’s Michael Jackson.

PROJECT SUPERPOWERS CHAPTER TWO #1 by The Alex Ross Factory. Because some of you still haven’t learned…

RICHARD STARK’S PARKER THE HUNTER HC written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke. Donald Westlake’s first Parker novel adapted by comics master Cooke. Yeah, you need this, especially if you enjoyed the movie “Payback” with Mel Gibson and Maria Bello. Highly recommended.

WEDNESDAY COMICS #3 of 12 by Various Awesome Folk. Now this is the weekly series DC should have been doing for the past couple of years! Beautiful, serialized stories presented in glorious tabloid format. Even my least favorite of the strips (“Wonder Woman! Cough! Cough!”) looks amazing. This is one to share with your friends, especially if your friends publish newspapers with comics sections. Highly recommended!

YOU HAVE KILLED ME HC by Jamie S. Rich and Joelle Jones. From Oni Press and the creators of 12 REASONS WHY I LOVE HER, this is a noir tale to remind all us hard-boiled private dicks why it’s a bad idea to take your ex on as a client.

YOU SHALL DIE BY YOUR OWN EVIL CREATION SC by Fletcher Hanks and Paul Karasik. This is the sequel volume to 2007’s deeply disturbing and entertaining I SHALL DESTROY ALL CIVILIZED PLANETS and completes the collection of golden-age writer/artist (and monster) Fletcher Hanks. Publisher Fantagraphics has generously provided a 13 page preview on their website http://www.fantagraphics.com/. Highly recommended.

www.johnjudy.net

Another article on Otakon

Otakon convention brings thousands of Japanese anime fans to Baltimore
by Rachel Bernstein
Baltimore Business Journal July 17 2009

Secret Identities Coast-to-Coast

On Saturday, July 18 in Baltimore, Maryland, Keith Chow, Jerry Ma, Alex Tarampi, John Franzese and Larry Hama will be hosted by Geppi’s Entertainment Museum beginning at 12:30pm. The museum presentation will be followed by a special signing event at Ukazoo Books in Towson, Maryland at 6pm that same day. Finally on Sunday, July 19 at 1pm, veteran DC and Marvel artist Greg LaRocque will be joining Hama and the Secret Identities team for a meet & greet and signing event at The Avenue’s Barnes & Noble in White Marsh, Maryland.

http://www.secretidentities.org/

Hello Kitty exhibit reviewed in Post

Hello Kitty wanders into fine art masterpieces in the exhibit reviewed in "Leslie Holt at Curator's Office," By Jessica Dawson, Special to The Washington Post, Friday, July 17, 2009.

July 18: Simpsons at Postal Museum

The Post is reporting that the first 1000 visitors to the Postal Museum tomorrow will get a Simpsons First Day Cover. The Museum's near Union Station.

Otakon starts tomorrow in Baltimore

The big anime/manga/Japanese culture fest starts at the Baltimore Convention Center on July 17th. Here's a profile and details - "Devotees of anime have a weekend of adventure at Otakon Convention," By Chris Kaltenbach, Baltimore Sun July 16, 2009.

Ooooh, Bill Plympton in Baltimore tomorrow night

For news about Plympton's July 17th appearance, see Brett D. Rogers, Baltimore Animation Examiner, Just announced - Bill Plympton to host Artscape opening night animated shorts at The Charles Theatre, July 15, 2009. Rogers has a list of all the animated shorts as well.

As an aside, these citizen-journalist pieces in the Examiner website are spreading fast. I get various alerts for comic art and a good quarter of them are probably Examiner pieces now.

Boston Globe picks up Riffs' SpongeBob interview

I'm betting Michael Cavna isn't getting paid any extra for the Globe's use of his Riff's interview with SpongeBob's creator Steve Hillenburg.

Some news from Richard Thompson pre-San Diego

Richard's got a bit of disturbing news on his blog today.

We, in the royal editorial sense, wish him the best of course. In the personal sense, we intend to see that he gets some exercise.

Hello Kitty and Ben Classen in Express

Ben "Dirt Farm" Classen, who is using bendependent.com as his signature and is the only cartoonist left in the City Paper, has a nice Escher-inspired full page piece in today's Express for the Capital Fringe Festival.

Also in the paper is an article about a local exhibit -

Art History Gets Cute: Say Hello Kitty to a thought-provoking show of cheeky art.

Written by Express contributor Danielle O'Steen

Posted By Express July 16, 2009
http://www.expressnightout.com/content/2009/07/art_history_gets_cute_leslie_holt_and_he.php

Lamented ex-Baltimore City Paper cartoonist Tim Kreider at NY Times

God, I miss his stuff.

Isn’t It Outrageous?
By Tim Kreider
New York Times' Happy Days Blog July 14, 2009

DC Comic Books Examiner: Pride & Prejudice by Marvel a sincere effort

Pride & Prejudice by Marvel a sincere effort Wednesday, July 15, 2009 Read more » DC Comic Books Examiner, Mark Ruffin Mark Ruffin, a reader of comics for over twenty years, is a freelance writer who tirelessly generates awareness for the Non-Fraternity Conversation and Write-up on Comic Books. Contact Mark here.

DC Comic Books Examiner: Sherlock Holmes re-invented in comic book series

Sherlock Holmes re-invented in comic book series Tuesday, July 14, 2009   "Trial of Sherlock Holmes" / First Issue   The famed investigator's literary elements re-emerge through Dynamite Comics' one-of-a-kind limited series. Boxing and bartitsu grant the London investigator the ... Read more » DC Comic Books Examiner, Mark Ruffin Mark Ruffin, a reader of comics for over twenty years, is a freelance writer who tirelessly generates awareness for the Non-Fraternity Conversation and Write-up on Comic Books. Contact Mark here.

EXHIBITION OPENING: Moving Perspectives: Shahzia Sikander/ Sun Xun, Saturday, July 18, Sackler Gallery

This sounds like animation to me, albeit a fine art sort. I'd be interested in a report if anyone sees it before I do.

Moving Perspectives: Shahzia Sikander/ Sun Xun Video Art at the Sackler Gallery July 18 - November 8 Trained in Pakistan and in the United States, Shahzia Sikander (b. 1969, Lahore, Pakistan) deftly reinterprets miniature painting by isolating and abstracting formal compositional elements often found in this densely layered and intricate art form. The dynamism of her paintings is set in motion in her video works, where the repetition of abstract forms becomes a buzzing hive, calligraphy whirls in and out of view, and imaginary curves morph into vivid landscapes. Similarly, Sun Xun (b. 1980, Fuxin, China) creates hundreds of paintings and drawings by using old newspapers or entire blank walls. Filming his hand-drawn images, he transforms clocks, magicians, words, and insects into animated symbols that flicker across the screen in dark allegories on the nature of historical consciousness and the passage of time. Visit www.asia.si.edu for information on all our events, exhibitions, and public programs. Image Credit: Shock of time, 2006. video stills by Sun Xun.

1050 Independence Ave. SW 202.633.1000 Metro: Smithsonian www.asia.si.edu publicaffairsAsia@si.edu films | performances | talks | ImaginAsia | membership | shops

Weldon on Thor movie

I can't say I agree... the poor God's 3000 years old at least. I think he's pretty laid back for that.

The Upcoming Thor Movie: Tho What? He's Still A Jerk.

by Glen Weldon

National Public Radio's Monkey See blog July 15 2009

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2009/07/the_upcoming_thor_movie_tho_wh_1.html?sc=nl&cc=msb-20090715