QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 10-28-09

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 10-28-09
By John Judy

ABE SAPIEN ONE-SHOT by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and Patric Reynolds.  A story from Abe's early days with the BPRD that is haunting in all senses of the word.  Recommended.

ARKHAM REBORN #1 of 3 by David Hine and Jeremy Haun.  Arkham Asylum is being rebuilt to its original specs.  This cannot possibly bode well for anyone…

ASTRO CITY: ASTRA SPECIAL #2 of 2 by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson. Not-so-little Astra and her beau have a bit of a to-do at an extra-dimensional watering hole.  Fun stuff and a nice reprieve from the grimness of "The Dark Age" epic in the regular title.  Recommended.

BLACKEST NIGHT #4 of 8 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis.  Earth is evacuated as the dead continue to rise.  Can even Hal Jordan discover the secret behind the Black Lanterns?  Well, one would hope…  Recommended.

DARK REIGN: THE LIST – WOLVERINE #1 by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic.  It's Jason Aaron writing Wolverine and he's one of the only guys on the planet who can do that and not suck.  For this reason alone we must read this comic.  Oh, and Ribic's art is choice as always.  Recommended.

FANTASTIC FOUR #572 by Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham.  Things were going so well for the Justice League of Reed Richardses.  But then they stopped going well and started getting very problematic.  Can even the JLoRRs solve this one?  Big Brains and Big Fights galore!  Excelsior!

FREAKANGELS VOL.3 SC by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield.  The third collection of the adventures of "twelve strange children."  Featuring a serial killer and a breaking of a rule.  Recommended.

GREEN LANTERN #47  by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke.  Lantern fight!  Blue Lanterns mix it up with Orange Lanterns and things are looking… Brown?  Seriously, that's what you get when you mix blue with orange.  A Brown Lantern would just be… kind of disturbing…

HULK #16 by Jeph Loeb and Ian Churchill.  "Red She-Hulk."  There, I said it.  A She-Hulk who's red.  This issue: Streaky the Hulk Cat.  I mean, why not at this point?

IGNITION CITY #5 of 5 by Warren Ellis and Gianluca Pagliarani.  The grand finale in which we finally stop hearing how crappy Ignition City is and find out why it's so crappy!  Plus, jet packs, zap guns and explodey stuff!  Recommended.

MAP OF MY HEART GN written and drawn by John Porcellino.  A little something from Porcellino celebrating the 20th anniversary of his zine KING CAT COMICS and mourning his divorce.  From Drawn and Quarterly.

NEW AVENGERS #58 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen.  The Hood, guest-starring some Avengers!  Ya remember Korvac?  Thanos?  Those were guys ya felt deserved to fight Earth's Mightiest Heroes.  The Hood?  Not so much.  Just sayin'…

NORTHLANDERS #21 by Brian Wood and Leandro Fernandez.  The new story-arc begins here!  "The Plague Widow" follows the troubles of a Russian Viking village in the year 1020.  A contagion afflicts them, as does an enemy within.  Recommended.

PREVIEWS by Marvel and Diamond Comics.  The Future of Comics!  Literally!

SUPERMAN #693 by James Robinson and Fernando Dagnino.  Lois Lane's evil military dad is torturing the super-people again.  Also Bizarro.

SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN #2 of 6 by Geoff Johns and Mike McKone.  Superboy meets the Legion of Super-Heroes for the first time!  Again! Recommended!

ULTIMATE COMICS: ARMOR WARS #2 of 4 by Warren Ellis and Steve Kurth.  Ultimate Tony Stark fights a bunch of people over his stolen technology.  Ellis on the scripting so it will involve lots of "bleeding edge" references and violence.  Recommended.

ULTIMATE COMICS: AVENGERS #3 by Mark Millar and Carlos Pacheco.  Ultimate Captain America has gone rogue hunting down his son, the Ultimate Red Skull.  Seriously.  The Skull is Cap's son.  And let's not even get into the whole "cutting his own face off" thing.  Maybe not the title to give to the "Super Hero Squad" fan on your list.

WOLVERINE: WEAPON X #6 by Jason Aaron and Yanick Paquette.  Wolverine's in a nut-house with a doctor who wants to cut his brain out.  And this is why Jason Aaron is the best writer ever.  Recommended.

WONDER WOMAN #37 by Gail Simone and Bernard Chang.  There's a rash among the Amazons!  Of pregnancies!  Why couldn't they have called it a spate?  Go figure…

X-FACTOR #50 by Peter David and Valentine De Landro. Big wrap-up to a year's worth of story-lines!  Or else!  Recommended.

www.johnjudy.net


     

PR: Fellowship applications being accepted by Swann Foundation

The Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, administered by the Library of Congress is accepting applications for its graduate fellowship, one of the few for scholarly work in the field, for the 2010-1011 academic year. Deadline for receipt of applications is February 15, 2011. Please email swann@loc.gov or call (202) 707-9115, if you have questions. For criteria, guidelines, and application forms, please see:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/swann-fellow.html

Thank you for the opportunity to post this notice. My apologies for cross listing.


Martha H. Kennedy
Curator, Popular & Applied Graphic Art
Prints and Photographs Division
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave. SE
Washington, DC   20540-4730
Ph.: 202/707-9115     Fax: 202/707-6647

Nov 2: Geppi's Entertainment Museum teacher's night

For details, see GEM’s Second Annual Teacher’s Night, Scoop October 23 2009

Crumb's appearance in Richmond

Here's a student mulling over it, and passing along the discount code - "The Good Book gets a new look," by Matt Fisher, RVA News October 22, 2009.

Based on David Hagen's comment earlier this week (boy I hope I remembered that right), and a ridiculous discount on Amazon, I've ordered the book.

Martell's Calvin and Hobbes in NY Times blog

See Page Turner | ‘Looking for Calvin and Hobbes’ By Adam Kepler, New York Times' The Moment blog October 23, 2009, and remember he'll be signing the book at Big Planet Bethesda next week.

Comic Riffs looks at the 'Incredible Shrinking Comic' in the Washington Post

Michael Cavna's got some good points in When the Incredible Shrinking Comic Reaches the Reader's Tipping Point and you can't go wrong by starting an article with Henry Allen's opinion, but check out the comment section as well.

By the way, there was a 'stamp-sized comic' done on purpose - Shannon Wheeler's Postage Stamp Funnies that used to run in the Onion before they axed their comics. There's a collection one can buy.

Cartoons & Cocktails high seller NOT from DC (corrected)

Mark Streeter*** had the high-selling cartoon last night. His eulogy for Ted Kennedy went for $1,750.

There seemed to be a pretty good crowd there last night. I went as Nate Beeler's date* and saw Justin Dembicki (formerly of the NY Observer) whose work sold well, and Steve Breen -- the three did a jam cartoon of Obama holding a pit bull on one leash and Cheney on another. Matt Wuerker's pieces went for more than I could afford. David Hagen was there too with his wife, but they had to leave early for the long drive home. The mysterious #123 bought by far the most cartoons - I'm guessing at least 1/3 of what was offered.  I'm missing other people, but I'm still pretty tired. I got 4 pieces of art in the silent auctions, so I appreciate Nate's kindness** at asking me to go along.

*He's not a great date folks. First he was at least 1/2 hour late; then he kept rushing away and leaving me standing alone on the dance floor, and then I did cadge a ride home, but he dropped me off blocks from my house.

**This is the true footnote. Nate's a generous guy and an excellent cartoonist and you should all pick up the Examiner regularly to check out his work. He's got it all on his work blog too.


***my thanks to Clay Jones for the correction from Wuerker to Streeter. I shouldn't write these things when I'm tired. My apologies to anyone I misled.

Dilbert 2.0: News you can use

Borders is remaindering the massive $85 Dilbert 2.0 with its cd of 6500 comics for $20, at least at the store at 14th and F Sts, NW. They had about 10 of them last night.

Oct 24: Barrio Grrrl!: A New Musical

Barrio Grrrl!: A New Musical opens at the Kennedy Center on Saturday. The 9-year old heroine, "as her alter-ego Barrio Grrrl with her invisible sidekick Amazing Voice, is pretty busy preserving justice in the barrio and protecting her neighborhood." The play is in the Family Theatre, is for ages 9+ and costs $15.

OT: Batmobile replica for charity auction for Africa

I was asked to post about this, and it seems like a good cause. However, you will not see this under the "Mike's new acquisitions" heading.

A working replica of the 1960s Batmobile is being auctioned for The Life Project For Africa, Giving Hope To The Poor.  The replica has 705 hp 514 cu in Stroker motor with Billett alum parts, flame thrower, custom transmission, adjustable air suspension, Pioneer AZIC 3 Navigation system, and much more. 

You can view the detailed information and bid on the Batmobile here: http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/106401

 

PBS cartoon on film premieres in DC yesterday

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Lisa Henson, CEO of the Jim Henson Company, will join local DC-area school children for a screening of the new Sid the Science Kid special episode on the flu on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009. The Department of Health and Human Services has teamed up with the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR) through a cooperative agreement to work with the Henson Company and its partners to create a special episode of PBS' Sid the Science Kid, in which Sid explores the science behind flu vaccinations. The episode, which is also supported by PBS kids, will premiere on PBS on Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. The title is "Getting a Shot: You Can Do It!"

 

You can view the video at http://www.flu.gov/psa/#sid

Belgian cartoonist postcards (and a Caribean one)

Here's some more Secret History of Comics bits - postcards found at the State Dept. booksale last weekend.

I didn't recognize the artists behind these first 3 cards at all, but the style looked vaguely familiar - it's that Franco-Belgian look.


Mazel artwork. #22.010-50 Belgian postcard.


Jean-Pol artwork. #22.010-58 Belgian postcard.


Jean-Pol artwork. # 22.010-53 Belgian postcard/

Now I want the rest of the set of course...


Caribbean Classic Series postcard. Pam Kerschner artwork. She's a cartoonist on the Virgin Islands. See "Caribbean Living With a Sense of Humor," By Pam Kerschner.

And here's the great Pat Oliphant, working for the man (or the US Postal Service)...

"This maximum card was issued in connection with the U.S./ Australia commemorative stamp which was jointly issued in Washington, D.C. and Sydney, Australia, on January 26, 1988. The stamps was designed by Roland Harvey of Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia. The art shown on the reverse of this card was designed by the renowned syndicated cartoonist, Pat Oliphant.

No. 88-1

Cartoons and Cocktails tomorrow night

I'll be at Cartoons & Cocktails on Thursday night as Nate Beeler's guest. Or date. We're still negotiating.

Anyone else going?

Ceaseless self-promotion

I wrote about part of my comic art book collection today at Comic Book Resources for my friend Chris Mautner, who's a real journalist in Pennsylvania. Anyone who'd like to see the original photos can click through to my Flickr site for the closeups that I used to write the captions.

Paul Karasik at Politics and Prose

Paul Karasik spoke last weekend on Fletcher Hanks, the odd comic book artist who worked from 1939-1941. Paul just compiled a second, and final collection of Hanks' works. All the pictures are here. Paul ran a little movie interview with Hanks' son, who certainly did not like his father.

Weldon on Stitches

The Curious Case of David Small's 'Stitches'

By Glen Weldon

National Public Radio's Monkey See blog (October 21, 2009)

Glen also goes into one makes a graphic novel vs a memoir. I think this is largely a false dichotomy - as a marketing term, Graphic Novel should just be accepted, just like Movie is.

Crumb in Richmond reminder

Local cartoonist David Hagen writes in to remind us that -

 R. Crumb speaking in Richmond next week.  He's only doing two US stops and Richmond, for some reason is one of them.  They're charging something like $30 a ticket for the talk and I don't think he's signing anything.
http://rvamag.com/articles/full/4912/r-crumb-coming-town

Oct 2: Bechdel at American U reminder

http://www.american.edu/cas/literature/colloquium/index.cfm
An all-day Sunday event that needs an RSVP. Bechdel's Fun Home is great though, so consider going.

Oct 25, Richmond: Discussing Contemporary Comics

Oct. 25, 7 p.m.

Modlin Center for the Arts at Richmond University

"Graphic Details: Discussing Contemporary Comics"

A panel discussion, moderated by Chris Pitzer of AdHouse Books, that includes Gabrielle Bell, Kim Deitch, Hope Larson and Anders Nilsen. A book-signing will follow.

Good line up - thanks to Matt Dembicki for the tip.

Oct 29: SPECIAL VIDEO SCREENING AND CONVERSATION WITH ARTIST SUN XUN

MOVING PERSPECTIVES: VIDEO ART FROM ASIA SPECIAL VIDEO SCREENING AND CONVERSATION WITH ARTIST SUN XUN   SUN XUN: FROM PAINTING TO ANIMATION Thursday, October 29. 7:00 PM Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art Artist and filmmaker Sun Xun (b. 1980, Fuxin, China), whose videos are currently on view in "Moving Perspectives" at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, will screen several of his recent video works and discuss his creative process. A graduate in printmaking at the Hangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Xun has gained considerable recognition for his drawings and complex animations. Composing hundreds of paintings and drawings on old newspapers, canvas, or entire blank walls, he then films his hand-drawn images to create densely layered works that evoke China's turbulent past. Clocks, magicians, words, insects and bleak industrial landscapes become characters flickering across the screen in dark allegories on the nature of historical consciousness and the passage of time. The screening and presentation will be followed by a conversation with Carol Huh, curator for contemporary Asian art at the Freer and Sackler Galleries. A translator will be present. No tickets required: seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Seating begins at 6:30 p.m.   Click here to learn more about the Contemporary Asian Art Program at the Freer and Sackler Galleries.

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