ACT-I-VATE Primer Coming in October from IDW

Jim Dougan writes in to pass along some information about his strip's print appearance:

Have you heard about the ACT-I-VATE Primer?  It's a hardcover collection of stories from the A-I-V creators (including Dean Haspiel, Nick Bertozzi, Roger Langridge, Molly Crabapple, Simon Fraser, Tim Hamilton, etc. etc.) coming in October from IDW.  Hyeondo Park and I have a new SAM & LILAH story in there, and all of the stories in the book are exclusive (that is, they don't appear on the http://www.activatecomix.com website). It will make its official debut at the Baltimore Comicon, and will be in stores either immediately before the show or immediately thereafter (depending on Diamond's shipping schedule).  Oh, and it's got an introduction by Warren Ellis.

The Diamond code is AUG090968.

You can see a preview of the book, which includes the covers and one page from each story, here:

http://www.act-i-vate.com/88-1-1.comic

This is the official IDW announcement:

http://www.idwpublishing.com/news/article/767/

And here are various articles/interviews with Dean (who edited the book) and various other contributors:

Dean Haspiel on the ACT-I-VATE Primer at CBR:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=22511

LA Times: Dean Haspiel and Billy Dogma's broken heart
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2009/08/deal-haspiel-.html

CBR: ACT-I-VATE Artists on IDW's "Primer"
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=22559

Blake Gopnik reviews student animation

See "Diving Into Highlights of Student Shows," By Blake Gopnik, Washington Post Staff Writer, Saturday, August 22, 2009 for his review of "Divers," by Pratt Institute MFA Paris Mavroidis.

Advice columnists words to Betty in today's Post

This appears in today's Style section, but here's another link to it, with super-voice-action!

Dickinson, Amy.  2009.

Archie Broke My Heart! Now What?

National Public Radio's All Things Considered (August 19).

online at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112029322&ps=cprs and http://public.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2009/08/20090819_atc_08.mp3

Tintin Banned in Brooklyn

See "An Intrepid Cartoon Reporter, Bound for the Big Screen but Shut in a Library Vault," By Alison Leigh Cowan
New York Times (August 20, 2009): A21. The story appeared on their blog yesterday as "A Library's Approach to Books That Offend, New York Times City Room blog August 19, 2009, http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/a-librarys-approach-to-books-that-offend/?ref=nyregion

Washington Post Weekly ceasing publication, affects editorial cartoonists

The Washington Post Weekly is apparently ceasing publication, which affects editorial cartoonists. In his article "Bad things come in threes" The Steve Greenberg Blog August 13th, 2009, Greenberg notes:

The WP Weekly stood out for running more editorial cartoons than probably any publication in the country, save for cartooning-oriented periodicals like The Funny Times. Their pay was very low — $10 per cartoon — but they ran cartoons on nearly every page, dozens per issue.

Just as significantly, they were willing to run work beyond the usual syndicated people, giving never-syndicated cartoonists such as myself valuable national exposure, as well as the prestigious Washington Post name to mention. I've had cartoons in the WP Weekly one, two or three times a year for many years now, including places I've worked that never had national exposure.

I've never even heard of this publication, probably because I'm a regular Post subscriber, but it's a shame another venue is gone. I wonder if a syndicate or a bunch of editorial cartoonists should try putting together their own monthly subscription publication?

Aug 26: Excellent manga in Politics and Prose book group

I liked this a lot – it’s a little choppy because it was done over a period of time, but it’s a cartoonist’s battle with alcoholism and homelessness.

 

Wednesday, 26 August, 7:30 p.m.
GRAPHIC NOVEL (4th Wednesday)
Disappearance Diary
by Hideo Azuma

P&P's book groups

PR: Baltimore Comic-Con 2009 Adds More Guests!

Baltimore Comic-Con 2009 Adds Rob Liefeld and More! Baltimore, Maryland - August 19, 2009 - The Baltimore Comic-Con, celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2009, continues to add to this year's big show as we get closer to the event!  Our web pages are now updated with this year's exhibitors, retailers, and Artists Alley, and you can both buy tickets (http://www.baltimorecomiccon.com/tickets.htm) and reserve discounted hotel rooms (http://www.baltimorecomiccon.com/hotels.htm) via the website. Guests In our most recent press release, we announced an amazing number of guests, but we didn't get to everyone, and we're still adding!   We're very pleased to announce the return of Rob Liefeld to this year's Baltimore Comic-Con!  Rob's body of work as an artist, writer, founding member of Image Comics, and publisher on is own is filled with noteworthy contributions, from his New Mutants, X-Force, and the controversial Heroes Reborn titles at Marvel to his numerous creations, such as Youngblood at Image.   In addition to Rob, here's the latest batch of stars from the world of creating comics:  Ryan Bodenheim (Red Mass for Mars), Buzz (Atomika), Eric Canete (Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin), Jay Faerber (Noble Causes), Sanford Greene (Marvel Adventures Spider-Man), Jamal Igle (Supergirl), Jerry "The King" Lawler (Headlocked), Norman Lee (GeNext), Pop Mhan (World of Warcraft), Terry Moore (Echo), Mike Oeming (Mice Templar), Ryan Ottley (Invincible), Khoi Pham (Mighty Avengers), Mike Raicht (Army of Darkness), Alex Saviuk (The Phantom Generations), John K. Snyder III (Doctor Mid-Nite), Allison Sohn (Star Wars trading card artist), Taki Soma (Rapture), Paul Storrie (Worlds of Dungeons & Dragons), Mark Texeira (Moon Knight), and Thom Zahler (Love & Capes). Already announced guests, new and returning, include:  Jason Aaron (Wolverine), Mike and Laura Allred (Madman), Dick Ayers (Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos), Brian Michael Bendis (Avengers), Doug Braithwaite (Wolverine: Origins), Pat Broderick (Vincent Price Presents), Jim Calafiore (Batgirl), Nick Cardy (Aquaman), Bernard Chang (Wonder Woman), Jo Chen (New Avengers:  The Reunion), Sean Chen (Dark Reign:  Fantastic Four), Jimmy Cheung (New Avengers: Illuminati), Cliff Chiang (Green Arrow & Black Canary), Frank Cho (Ultimates 4), Chris Claremont (X-Men Forever), Steve Conley (Star Trek:  Year Four), Amanda Conner (Power Girl), J.M. DeMatteis (Metal Men), Todd Dezago (Marvel Adventures:  Spider-Man), Evan Dorkin (Beasts of Burden), Jan Duursema (Star Wars:  Legacy), Sarah Dyer (Superman Adventures), Steve Englehart (Avengers), Al Feldstein (Mad), David Finch (Ultimatum), Bob Fingerman (Recess Pieces), Matt Fraction (Uncanny X-Men), John Gallagher (Buzzboy), Ron Garney (Wolverine:  Weapon X), Bryan J.L. Glass (Mice Templar), Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules), Cully Hamner (Detective Comics), Tony Harris (Ex Machina), Dean Haspiel (The Alcoholic), Adam Hughes (Power Girl), Kathryn Immonen (Runaways), Stuart Immonen (New Avengers), Georges Jeanty (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), J.G. Jones (Final Crisis), Joe Jusko (Kolchak:  Tales of the Night Stalker), Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Barry Kitson (Amazing Spider-Man), Scott Koblish (Final Crisis:  Legion of Three Worlds), Scott Kurtz (PvP), Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon), Greg LaRocque (Peter Parker:  The Spectacular Spider-Man), Steve Lieber (Underground), Luna Brothers (The Sword), David Mack (Kabuki), Tom Mandrake (The Outsiders), Larry Marder (Beanworld), Laura Martin (Thor), Ron Marz (Witchblade), Sean McKeever (Teen Titans), Mark McKenna (BananaTail), Mike McKone (Amazing Spider-Man), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Mark Morales (Secret Invasion), Doug Murray (Jungle Girl Season 2), Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), Phil Noto (Batgirl), Kevin Nowlan (The Spirit), Jimmy Palmiotti (Jonah Hex), Jeff Parker (Agents of ATLAS), Dan Parsons (Star Wars:  The Clone Wars), Guest of Honor George Perez (Final Crisis:  Legion of Three Worlds), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Brandon Peterson (Ultimate Comics Armor Wars), Whilce Portacio (Spawn), Eric Powell (The Goon), Buddy Prince (Night), Brian Pulido (Lady Death), Tom Raney (Dark Reign:  Hawkeye), Alex Robinson (Too Cool to be Forgotten), James Robinson (Superman), Budd Root (Cavewoman), Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge), Craig Rousseau (Iron Man & The Armor Wars), Stephane Roux (Amazing Spider-Man), Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo), Tim Sale (Heroes), Ian Sattler (Final Crisis:  Aftermath), Scott Christian Sava (Dreamland Chronicles), Marc Silvestri (Witchblade), Walt Simonson (Thor), Andy Smith (Dean Koontz's Nevermore), Jim Starlin (Strange Adventures), Brian Stelfreeze (Final Crisis Aftermath:  Ink), Karl Story (Batman:  Streets of Gotham), Peter Tomasi (Blackest Night:  Batman), Herb Trimpe (Hulk), Billy Tucci (Sgt. Rock:  The Lost Battalion), Jim Valentino (Shadowline Comics), Rob Venditti (The Surrogates), Dexter Vines (Wolverine), Neil Vokes (The Black Forest), Doug Wagner (The Ride), Matt Wagner (Grendel), Mark Waid (The Incredibles), Len Wein (Justice League of America), Brian Wood (sponsored by Laughing Ogre Comics, Northlanders), and Bernie Wrightson (Swamp Thing). "We keep adding great guests.  Rob added to our list of other Image United creators is leading to a very special day for Image," said Baltimore Comic-Con promoter, Marc Nathan. "Rob is great to his fans.  When we had him a few years back, he proved once again to be an overwhelming fan-favorite." In coming weeks, look for ongoing announcements from the Baltimore Comic-Con.  We are looking forward to adding yet more guests and providing details on the Harvey Awards, industry exclusives, and programming.  The latest developments can always be found at our website, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and ComicSpace pages. This year's Baltimore Comic-Con will be held October 10-11, 2009. Convention hours are Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM and Sunday 10 AM to 5 PM. The ceremony and banquet for the Harvey Awards will be held Saturday night, October 10th. As we continue to get ready for this year's show, we would like to remind you to mark your calendar for next year's Baltimore Comic-Con dates: August 28-29, 2010. About The Baltimore Comic-Con The Baltimore Comic-Con is celebrating its 10th year of bringing the comic book industry to the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area. With a guest list unequaled in the industry, the Baltimore Comic-Con will be held Oct 10-11, 2009. For more information, please visit www.baltimorecomiccon.com.   About The Harvey Awards The Harvey Awards are one of the comic book industry's oldest and most respected awards. With a history of over 20 years, the last 4 in conjunction with the Baltimore Comic-Con, the Harveys recognize outstanding achievements in over 20 categories. They are the only industry awards nominated and selected by the full body of comic book professionals. For more information, please visit www.harveyawards.org.

NPR on Archie, Veronica and poor Betty

Archie Marries Veronica! Not a Dream! Not an Imaginary Story! Oh. Wait.
By Glen Weldon
National Public Radio's Monkey See blog August 19, 2009

Washington Post on Archie, Veronica and poor Betty

Arch Rivals: As Archie Sidles Up to a Bride, Why Does The Betty-vs.-Veronica Debate Ring Eternal?
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 19, 2009

and

The Interview: Archie Comics EIC Victor Gorelick
By Michael Cavna, Washington Post Comic Riffs blog  August 19, 2009

Examiner goes negative

Today's Examiner printed Eric Allie's "Bending the Curve" syndicated cartoon from Cagle Cartoons, as a negative image, so it's black and
green and purple. It's an odd effect.

Simpsons profile on Express website

This wasn't in the hardcopy paper today - Worst. Retrospective. Ever: Comic Book Guy's Top 7 'Simpsons' Appearances, Written by Express contributor Meg Zamula, August 18 2009.

PR: First Comic Strip Superstar Competition Announced by Amazon and Andews McMeel Universal

This sounds a lot like other contests such as DC's Zuda, but since it's a big chance for someone, I'm posting it even though it's not Washington-related. - Mike

 

Amazon and Andrews McMeel Universal Announce First Comic Strip Superstar Competition

 

Andrews McMeel to run inaugural contest to be hosted by Amazon, seeking out the next great comic strip artist; grand prize winner to receive publishing contract with sponsor Andrews McMeel Publishing

 

SEATTLE – Aug. 18, 2009 – Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Andrews McMeel Universal today announced the launch of the first Comic Strip Superstar, the international competition in search of the next popular comic strip artist. The winner will receive a publishing contract from Andrews McMeel Publishing, a $5,000 advance from Universal Uclick and a monthly stipend for the development of 20 comic strips that will be considered for syndication.

 

"As the nation's premier humor publisher in newspapers, books, mobile phones and online, Andrews McMeel Universal is uniquely suited to bring this comic strip contest to the public," said Hugh T. Andrews, executive vice president of Andrews McMeel Universal. "We are excited by the opportunity this contest provides to continue our mission to seek, recognize and celebrate remarkable creative talent, and to share it with an appreciative and enthusiastic audience through a variety of distribution channels."

 

Beginning today through Sept. 12, 2009, up to 5,000 entries will be accepted for the competition at www.amazon.com/comicstripsuperstar. Each entry should be original, unpublished work consisting of 10 daily comic strips and two Sunday comics, a title and a brief synopsis. From the submissions, Universal Uclick will narrow the entries down to 250 quarterfinalists. The quarterfinalists will then be narrowed down to 50 semifinalists by John Glynn and Lee Salem, seasoned Universal Uclick editors. In the semifinal round, popular comic strip creators Garry Trudeau ("Doonesbury"), Lynn Johnston ("For Better or For Worse"), Scott Hilburn ("The Argyle Sweater") and Mark Tatulli ("Lió" and "Heart of the City") will choose 10 finalists and post feedback for each on Amazon.com. Amazon.com customers will then have the opportunity to view the finalists' submissions and vote for the grand prize winner.

 

"We know Amazon customers are extremely creative and enjoy discovering new talent. This competition gives them the opportunity to discover great new comic strip artists, while having a few laughs along the way," said Jeff Belle, vice president of U.S. Books, Amazon.com.

 

The winner will be announced Nov. 9, 2009, and will receive a prize package from Andrews McMeel Universal which includes a publishing contract with Andrews McMeel Publishing and a newspaper syndication development deal and contract for distribution on GoComics.com desktop and mobile applications from Universal Uclick.

 

For complete terms and conditions on the Comic Strip Superstars competition, please visit www.amazon.com/comicstripsuperstar.

 

###

 

About Andrews McMeel Universal

Both Andrews McMeel Publishing and Universal Uclick are divisions of Andrews McMeel Universal, which was founded in 1970 by Jim Andrews and John McMeel. Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC is an industry-leading publisher of humor, gift, general trade, cookbooks, and calendars with more than 300 new titles annually. Universal Uclick includes the nation's largest independent newspaper and licensed property syndicate and the leading digital entertainment provider of humor, comics, editorial cartoons, daily games and text features for the desktop, Web, and mobile phones.

 

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as books, movies, music & games, digital downloads, electronics & computers, home & garden, toys, kids & baby, grocery, apparel, shoes & jewelry, health & beauty, sports & outdoors, and tools, auto & industrial.

 

Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business.  Examples of the services offered by Amazon Web Services are Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS), Amazon Flexible Payments Service (Amazon FPS), Amazon Mechanical Turk and Amazon CloudFront.

 

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca and www.amazon.cn.

 

As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

 

I have seen the future of animation

...and it looks a lot like the past. Ponyo rocks! When Miyazaki melds the Little Mermaid with Apocalypse Now, adds a strong shot of Verne's Captain Nemo and liberally seasons with JG Ballard's The Drowned World and shakes well, we get Ponyo.

Weingarten and Shansby seek government employment

Unfortunately the Bureau of Public Dept has canceled the job opening, but should it reopen the duo stand ready as evidenced by Owe, That's a Riot! Red ink is no reason to feel blue, By Gene Weingarten and Eric Shansby, Washington Post Magazine Sunday, August 16, 2009.

Watch Your Head sneaks condom gag in on Post

After having a storyline about Quincy's girlfriend who was pretending to be pregnant to get married, the Watch Your Head strip ended up on August 11th with a condom joke, using terminology that became common during the AIDS crisis. As his friend says, "...You'd think someone like you would always wear a helmet." "I don't like the way headgear feels," replies Quincy.

I can't believe we're protected by the Post's vigilant editors from Dick Cheney innuendos in Tank McNamara, but Cory Thomas is able to sneak such filthy double entendres in.

Aug 17: Batman 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

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

Is it Live? Or is it Richard Thompson?

Tom Racine recorded one of the panels Our Man Thompson was on at San Diego - and it's on his Tall Tale Radio site (which has lots of other interviews on it). Return with us to the thrilling days of yestermonth as Thompson, Stephan Pastis and Keith Knight ride again!

Glenn Martin, DDS animator featured in Post

See "The Back Story: This Animator Knows the Drill," Washington Post August 16 2009

Astro Boy videogame interview

DC apparently has a Videogame Examiner as well as a Comic Book one - here's a story about the Japanese hero Astro Boy.

Interview: Astro Boy: The Video Game, Cameron Rains, Producer, High Voltage Software
August 13, 2009
DC Video Game Examiner James Fleenor

American Association of University Professors president condemns Yale's cowardice on Danish Islam cartoons

See the Washington, DC-based American Association of University Professors' letter at "Academic Freedom Abridged at Yale Press" August 13, 2009.

Here's what the book's author thinks - "Culture Vulture: Interview with Prof. Jytte Klausen," by Helen Epstein, ArtsFuse blog on Aug 14, 2009.