Friday, May 07, 2010
Richmond's Adhouse Books in Toronto
Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2010: Chris Pitzer, by Mark Medley, May 06, 2010.
Examiner on Iron Man 2
'Iron Man 2' doesn't quite live up to its first installment
Sally Kline
Washington Examiner May 7, 2010
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Weldon on Wilson
The Life And Trials Of A Full-Tilt Cartoon Misanthrope
by Glen Weldon
National Public Radio's Books We Like (April 30 2010)
by Glen Weldon
National Public Radio's Books We Like (April 30 2010)
DC Comic-Con Wrap-Up
So between Free Comic Book Day on Saturday (and a good handful of creator appearances locally to boot), the inaugural DC Comic-Con on Sunday, and Daniel Clowes appearing at Politics and Prose on Monday, it was a busy couple of days for those of us in town to experience the comic book love. I decided to give it a couple of days before I posted anything about the show to let both life settle down and to give my mind a chance to settle in on what I thought about the DC Comic-Con as an attendee. For those of you who don't know (and this is Randy posting, not Mike!), I am part of the Baltimore Comic-Con Executive Staff, and work with Marc Nathan throughout the year to maintain website content, write up PR, coordinate press passes, and a passel of other miscellaneous items that arise and time permits.
That said, I found out about the show when I read on Convention Scene that they had sold out vendor space -- Marc hadn't bothered to mention that they were throwing a little Comic-Con in my back yard! I did ultimately help write the 2 quick PRs that went out, but that was the extent of my involvement in the show. I paid my $5 like everyone else (who wasn't a veteran or GMU student/faculty member).
So all that said, I think that everyone's experience probably came down to expectations, as it does with most things in life. Understanding that it was on GMU's campus, the small number of professional guests, and that it was the first show, I was expecting something very much akin to what the first Baltimore Comic-Con was 11 years ago, and I was not disappointed. The room was on the smallish side, the aisles could be a little cramped, and there were a good handful of dealers, but among them were largely the usual cast of characters for local shows (with one or two exceptions). Dealers had everything from golden age to modern age, statues and toys to original artwork, but you had to look around to find it -- just like at any other show.
The guests were distributed throughout the show -- the headliners, Herb Trimpe, Frank Cho, and JG Jones, had individual table space at the very front of the room on a raised stage and attendees waited in line to go up and talk to them, get signatures, or get sketches. The Hero Initiative guests were on the floor but right in front of the stage, and Jo Chen and John K. Snyder III looked to be busy all show long (Jo had a line before she finished setting up and was selling merch left and right!). Steve Conley was next to Jo, also facing the stage, and the Luna and Fillbach brother teams were set up right inside the doorway to the room at the Laughing Ogre Comics table. Both sets of brothers ended up busily sketching and signing the rest of the day, and Laughing Ogre sold all of the inventory they brought to the show within minutes, thanks to a bulk purchase, so I think the show ended up working out pretty well for them!
Parking was free. Let me say that again: parking was free. I think most shows in metropolitan areas with guests and dealers like were at this one usually have only pay-parking, and depending on what else is going on in proximity to the event, that fee can be hefty. I know that when the O's or Ravens are in town for a game during the Baltimore Comic-Con weekend, I'll be shelling out more than I'd prefer for the privilege. All that said, it was a pretty long walk from the parking lot with no significant signage on a 90-something degree day to get from where I left the car to where the show was. I followed the slow stream of what I assumed to be other attendees, and eventually figured out where I needed to be, as I assume most other people did as well.
People were enjoying themselves. They were happy to see the guests, they were happy to see the dealers, and they were happy to see other attendees too -- a handful in costumes, likely for the costume contest announced just before the weekend.
All in all, I felt the event was a success, and I believe the attendees and dealers did too, as did the organizers. I think there are some lessons learned from the experience, and I'm hoping Marc and Brett will apply them to what I'm sure will be a recurring and evolving comic event in the DC area.
That said, I found out about the show when I read on Convention Scene that they had sold out vendor space -- Marc hadn't bothered to mention that they were throwing a little Comic-Con in my back yard! I did ultimately help write the 2 quick PRs that went out, but that was the extent of my involvement in the show. I paid my $5 like everyone else (who wasn't a veteran or GMU student/faculty member).
So all that said, I think that everyone's experience probably came down to expectations, as it does with most things in life. Understanding that it was on GMU's campus, the small number of professional guests, and that it was the first show, I was expecting something very much akin to what the first Baltimore Comic-Con was 11 years ago, and I was not disappointed. The room was on the smallish side, the aisles could be a little cramped, and there were a good handful of dealers, but among them were largely the usual cast of characters for local shows (with one or two exceptions). Dealers had everything from golden age to modern age, statues and toys to original artwork, but you had to look around to find it -- just like at any other show.
The guests were distributed throughout the show -- the headliners, Herb Trimpe, Frank Cho, and JG Jones, had individual table space at the very front of the room on a raised stage and attendees waited in line to go up and talk to them, get signatures, or get sketches. The Hero Initiative guests were on the floor but right in front of the stage, and Jo Chen and John K. Snyder III looked to be busy all show long (Jo had a line before she finished setting up and was selling merch left and right!). Steve Conley was next to Jo, also facing the stage, and the Luna and Fillbach brother teams were set up right inside the doorway to the room at the Laughing Ogre Comics table. Both sets of brothers ended up busily sketching and signing the rest of the day, and Laughing Ogre sold all of the inventory they brought to the show within minutes, thanks to a bulk purchase, so I think the show ended up working out pretty well for them!
Parking was free. Let me say that again: parking was free. I think most shows in metropolitan areas with guests and dealers like were at this one usually have only pay-parking, and depending on what else is going on in proximity to the event, that fee can be hefty. I know that when the O's or Ravens are in town for a game during the Baltimore Comic-Con weekend, I'll be shelling out more than I'd prefer for the privilege. All that said, it was a pretty long walk from the parking lot with no significant signage on a 90-something degree day to get from where I left the car to where the show was. I followed the slow stream of what I assumed to be other attendees, and eventually figured out where I needed to be, as I assume most other people did as well.
People were enjoying themselves. They were happy to see the guests, they were happy to see the dealers, and they were happy to see other attendees too -- a handful in costumes, likely for the costume contest announced just before the weekend.
All in all, I felt the event was a success, and I believe the attendees and dealers did too, as did the organizers. I think there are some lessons learned from the experience, and I'm hoping Marc and Brett will apply them to what I'm sure will be a recurring and evolving comic event in the DC area.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
May 7: Beyond Comics Iron Man Tickets special
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Another USO cartoonist tour passed through Walter Reed
...and I missed it. Alan Gardner caught the story.
Comics artists sought in Kensington
Nevin Martell kicks over this Craigslist ad - Looking for an artist for comic (Kensington, MD) - I know nothing else about it.
June 1: Swann Fellow lecture on Early Turkish Cartoons
Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington DC 20540
May 5, 2010
Public contact: Martha Kennedy (202) 707-9115, mkenn@loc.gov
Cartoons of Early Turkish Republic
To Be Topic of Swann Fellow's Lecture on June 1
Swann Foundation Fellow Yasemin Gencer will explore the visual and textual rhetoric of cartoons from the early years of the Turkish Republic in a lecture June 1 at the Library of Congress.
Gencer will present "Cartooning Progress: Secularism and Nationalism in the Early Turkish Republic (1922-28)" at noon on Tuesday, June 1, in Dining Room A on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations are needed.
In her illustrated talk, Gencer will discuss how cartoons had the power to create, shape and project a new Turkish national identity based on European models. She will look at cartoons that highlight reforms initiated during the early years of the Turkish Republic. In one cartoon, for example, an automobile made of Latin letters speeds past a camel composed of Arabic letters, demonstrating how the cartoonist combines text with visual metaphor to underscore the benefits of changing the official alphabet. Such cartoons from 1922-28 illustrate many reforms aimed at secularizing the nation.
The Turkish Republic of today was established in 1922, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the wake of World War I. Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938), known as Kemal Atatürk, the new republic put forth a reform program intended to distance the state socially and politically from its Ottoman and Islamic past, while simultaneously drawing itself closer to the secular and more technologically developed nations in the West.
As the first president of the Turkish Republic, Kemal is credited with modernizing his nation's legal and educational systems and encouraging the adoption of aspects of European daily life. The transition from Turkish written in Arabic to Turkish written in the Latin alphabet can be seen as part of the modernization that unfolded during this period.
In her lecture, Gencer will draw on the materials that she has studied in the collections of the African and Middle Eastern Division and the Prints and Photographs Division.
Gencer completed a master's degree in 2008, with a focus on Turkish studies, in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University. Currently a doctoral student in the Department of the History of Art at Indiana University, she is studying Islamic arts with a specialization in Ottoman and Turkish Republican print culture. Her dissertation focuses on cartoon arts and satirical journals of the early Turkish Republican period.
The lecture, sponsored by the Swann Foundation, the Prints and Photographs Division and the African and Middle Eastern Division, is part of the foundation's continuing activities to support the study, interpretation, preservation and appreciation of original works of humorous and satiric art by graphic artists from around the world.
The Swann Foundation's advisory board is comprised of scholars, collectors, cartoonists and Library of Congress staff members. The foundation strives to award fellowships annually to assist scholarly research and writing projects in the field of caricature and cartoon. Applications for the 2011-2012 academic year are due Feb. 15, 2011. More information about the fellowship is available through the Swann Foundation's website www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/swannhome or by e-mailing swann@loc.gov.
# # #
PR10-103
5/5/10
ISSN: 0731-3527
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Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20540-1610 United States
Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20540-1610 United States
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Shawn Martinbrough profiled
He used to be in the area as I'd run into him at Jim Kirkwood's store on Columbia Pike in Arlington.
Drawing Noir with Shawn Martinbrough
by Alex Dueben
Mon, May 3rd, 2010
Drawing Noir with Shawn Martinbrough
by Alex Dueben
Mon, May 3rd, 2010
Washington Blade returns while Times fades
The Washington Blade, the gay paper, returned to the stands last week after a several months absence. The paper's name and assets were bought by its former staffers who had been publishing as the DC Agenda. None of the political cartoons or comic strips the Blade had previously published have returned as of the first issue.
Meanwhile, the Washington Times has confirmed that it is for sale. The Times dropped all of its comics months ago.
Meanwhile, the Washington Times has confirmed that it is for sale. The Times dropped all of its comics months ago.
Dan Clowes at Politics and Prose pictures
I forgot my notes for this at work today - perhaps tomorrow I can put up some of the highlights. In the meantime, here are my pictures. I'd especially like to note that Daniel stayed from 7 - 10:40 pm - he made sure everyone on line got a sketch in a book.
And apparently everyone in DC interviewed him too - I like my interview best of course, but here's another -
DCist Interview: Daniel Clowes
Written by DCist Contributor Allen Brooks
April 30 2010
and another by the Post freelancer who did an excellent job interviewing him at P&P -
Panel Discussion: Daniel Clowes covers cartoon history in one graphic novel, By Dan Kois, published May 2, 2010.
There was a somewhat atypical crowd this time - I saw Martha Kennedy of the Library of Congress' cartoon collection, Larry Rodman the former Comics Journal reporter, Michael Wenthe an American University professor, Hank Stuever the Washington Post's Style reporter, Randy Tischler this blog's co-writer and publicity man for the Baltimore Comic-Con, book collector and Herblock specialist Warren Bernard and a cartoonist for the Times of India whom I didn't get to meet.
Baltimore's Jose Villarubia featured on Canadian site
Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2010: Jose Villarrubia, Posted: May 02, 2010, 4:00 AM by Mark Medley.
Monday, May 03, 2010
May 4: Richard Kelly at American Art (repost)
I've seen his collection - it's great. It's not exactly cartoonists, but there are people who went both ways in it like AB Frost.
Collectors Roundtable
7:00 PM
7:00 PM
McEvoy Auditorium, Lower Level
American Art Museum
Collecting for the Long Haul
Tuesday, May 4, 7:00 p.m.
Richard Kelly, The Kelly Collection of American Illustration
Express website also interviewed Clowes
Stick Figure: Daniel Clowes, 'Wilson', by Express contributor Stephen M. Deusner, May 3, 2010. Online only - I heard about it at the signing.
Clowes was a really interesting interview and a nice guy - if you're later on the book tour, go see this. If you missed him in DC, call Politics and Prose and order the recording of the talk.
Pictures coming soon.
Clowes was a really interesting interview and a nice guy - if you're later on the book tour, go see this. If you missed him in DC, call Politics and Prose and order the recording of the talk.
Pictures coming soon.
Barbarian Comics profiled in today's Post
This is a job for Superman, and Batman, and the Hulk, and . . ., By Thomas Heath,Washington Post Monday, May 3, 2010; A11.
As Friend of ComicsDC Robert Montgomery noted when tipping me to this article, "The reporter breathlessly mentions that one of the owners has a "30 year old Batman." Probably worth $0.50-$1.00. Or less."
Indeed. Parents, don't let your kids grow up to be comic store owners.
As Friend of ComicsDC Robert Montgomery noted when tipping me to this article, "The reporter breathlessly mentions that one of the owners has a "30 year old Batman." Probably worth $0.50-$1.00. Or less."
Indeed. Parents, don't let your kids grow up to be comic store owners.
Clowes interview up at City Paper - he's at Politics and Prose tonight
“Likable Characters Are for Weak-Minded Narcissists”: A Chat with Daniel Clowes
Monday, May 3rd, 2010 is short email interview that he did with me - he's very funny. Go read it now, and then see him tonight at Politics and Prose at 7 pm.
Here's the PR from his publisher:
Dan Clowes On Tour! WILSON in stores!
All of our North American distributors have shipped the most anticipated book of the year to stores -- WILSON by Daniel Clowes, the cartoonist of David Boring, Ghost World and Ice Haven and the legendary Eightball comic book series. Today, WILSON is available everywhere in North America, at a finer store near you. In the next year, foreign language editions will also come out in the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Netherlands and Denmark.
Dan Clowes embarks on his tour next week in support of his first ever original graphic novel. In each city, Dan will be talking with a special guest moderator complete with slide show. (and it's a great slide show) And in Boston you get to see Ghost World after the event, with an introduction by Dan himself.
05/03/10 | 7 PM Washington DC POLITICS & PROSE With Dan Kois
05/04/10 | 6 PM Cambridge BRATTLE THEATER & HARVARD BOOKSTORE With Hillary Chute
05/05/10 | 7 PM NYC THE STRAND With David Hajdu
05/07/10 | 7 PM Toronto TCAF & TPL With Mark Medley
05/08/10-05/09/10 Toronto TCAF & TPL
05/13/10 | 7:30 PM San Francisco THE BOOKSMITH With Glen David Gold
05/14/10 | 7:30 PM Los Angeles SKYLIGHT BOOKS With Dana Gould
05/16/10 | 7:30 PM Portland POWELLS With Greg Netzer, Director of Wordstock
06/03/10 | 7 PM Oakland DIESEL With Eli Horowitz
06/12/10 | 7 PM Chicago QUIMBY'S (signing only)
06/13/10 | TBA Chicago PRINTERS ROW With Ray Pride
ABOUT WILSON: Meet Wilson, an opinionated middle-aged loner who loves his dog and quite possibly no one else. In an ongoing quest to find human connection, he badgers friend and stranger alike into a series of one-sided conversations, punctuating his own lofty discursions with a brutally honest, self-negating sense of humor. After his father dies, Wilson, now irrevocably alone, sets out to find his ex-wife with the hope of rekindling their long-dead relationship, and discovers he has a teenage daughter, born after the marriage ended and given up for adoption. Wilson eventually forces all three to reconnect as a family - a doomed mission that will surely, inevitably backfire.
Full Color, 80 pages, 8 1/4 by 11 1/2 inches ISBN: 9781770460072 $21.95 US / $22.95 CDN
For more information visit www.drawnandquarterly.com/blog
Monday, May 3rd, 2010 is short email interview that he did with me - he's very funny. Go read it now, and then see him tonight at Politics and Prose at 7 pm.
Here's the PR from his publisher:
Dan Clowes On Tour! WILSON in stores!
All of our North American distributors have shipped the most anticipated book of the year to stores -- WILSON by Daniel Clowes, the cartoonist of David Boring, Ghost World and Ice Haven and the legendary Eightball comic book series. Today, WILSON is available everywhere in North America, at a finer store near you. In the next year, foreign language editions will also come out in the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Netherlands and Denmark.
Dan Clowes embarks on his tour next week in support of his first ever original graphic novel. In each city, Dan will be talking with a special guest moderator complete with slide show. (and it's a great slide show) And in Boston you get to see Ghost World after the event, with an introduction by Dan himself.
05/03/10 | 7 PM Washington DC POLITICS & PROSE With Dan Kois
05/04/10 | 6 PM Cambridge BRATTLE THEATER & HARVARD BOOKSTORE With Hillary Chute
05/05/10 | 7 PM NYC THE STRAND With David Hajdu
05/07/10 | 7 PM Toronto TCAF & TPL With Mark Medley
05/08/10-05/09/10 Toronto TCAF & TPL
05/13/10 | 7:30 PM San Francisco THE BOOKSMITH With Glen David Gold
05/14/10 | 7:30 PM Los Angeles SKYLIGHT BOOKS With Dana Gould
05/16/10 | 7:30 PM Portland POWELLS With Greg Netzer, Director of Wordstock
06/03/10 | 7 PM Oakland DIESEL With Eli Horowitz
06/12/10 | 7 PM Chicago QUIMBY'S (signing only)
06/13/10 | TBA Chicago PRINTERS ROW With Ray Pride
ABOUT WILSON: Meet Wilson, an opinionated middle-aged loner who loves his dog and quite possibly no one else. In an ongoing quest to find human connection, he badgers friend and stranger alike into a series of one-sided conversations, punctuating his own lofty discursions with a brutally honest, self-negating sense of humor. After his father dies, Wilson, now irrevocably alone, sets out to find his ex-wife with the hope of rekindling their long-dead relationship, and discovers he has a teenage daughter, born after the marriage ended and given up for adoption. Wilson eventually forces all three to reconnect as a family - a doomed mission that will surely, inevitably backfire.
Full Color, 80 pages, 8 1/4 by 11 1/2 inches ISBN: 9781770460072 $21.95 US / $22.95 CDN
For more information visit www.drawnandquarterly.com/blog
Ann Telnaes and other editorial cartoonists condemn threats against South Park
17 Pulitzer Prize Winners have signed this petition.
For what it's worth, I agree with them completely (not that anyone cares what a blogger thinks).
Comics on the Rack, Quick Picks for Comics Due 05-05-10
COMICS ON THE RACK
Quick Picks for Comics Due 05-05-10
(Or as they say in Arizona "Cinco de Mayo!)
by John Judy
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #630 by Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo. Spidey must fight a cold-blooded reptile and it ain't Dick Cheney! The Lizard is back! Yowza!
ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN/WOLVERINE #1 by Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert. The best Wolverine writer ever gets his hands on the web-slinger too! Brace yourself for the MARVEL TEAM-UP from hell! Recommended!
ASTRO CITY: THE DARK AGE BOOK FOUR #4 of 4 by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson. This is it! The final chapter of THE DARK AGE! Years in the making, two covers and eight extra pages of Astro City WOW! Recommended!
BATMAN AND ROBIN #12 by Grant Morrison and Andy Clarke. Wrapping up the big Batman-Robin fight and revealing a lot of stuff you'd never guess about characters you'd never heard of until Morrison made them up. It's bat-stuff crazy!
THE BEATS: A GRAPHIC HISTORY SC by Harvey Pekar and Various Collaborators. This is a softcover edition of Pekar's graphic exploration of a literary movement that shaped his generation. A mixed bag well worth digging into.
BRIGHTEST DAY #1 by Geoff Johns and a Lot of People. You'd think after coming back from the dead everything else would be a cake-walk. And you'd be wrong, as a whole bunch of DC heroes are about to learn.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #35 by Brad Meltzer and Georges Jeanty. Somehow they're really going to wrap this all up in this issue. With an X-Men tribute cover no less! Must read!
CAPTAIN AMERICA/BLACK PANTHER: FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS #2 by Reginald Hudlin and Denys Cowan. A World War Two adventure starring a rookie Cap versus a seasoned Panther. Oh, and the Nazis are in there too. Recommended.
DONG XOAI VIETNAM 1965 written and illustrated by Joe Kubert. A devastating true story from the days of the Vietnam War, told as only the great Joe Kubert can. Highly recommended.
ELECTRIC ANT #2 of 5 by David Mack and Pascal Alixe. Based on an original story by the legendary Philip K. Dick, this is already one of the most promising sci-fi comics in a long time. Great art and a familiar Dick theme of figuring out how much we really know about ourselves and what it means to be human. Highly recommended.
INCORRUPTIBLE, VOL. 1 SC by Mark Waid and Jean Diaz. In which we meet Max Damage, the bad guy who gets more powerful the longer he's awake. Except Max isn't bad anymore since the Plutonian went nuts. Now he's "Incorruptible." Highly recommended.
IRREDEEMABLE #13 by Mark Waid and Peter Krause. The Paradigm are locked up, leaving the mad Plutonian completely in the hands of the one guy crazier than he is. Recommended.
IZOMBIE #1 by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred. The adventures of a grave-robbing, brain-eating girl detective. Yes, you do have to look! Not for kids.
PILOT SEASON: STEALTH #1 by Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri. In the midst of a number of other difficulties a man takes in his aging father who's suffering from dementia. Unfortunately dad was also the superhero Stealth. Will Obamacare be able to handle this? From the creator of WALKING DEAD and INVINCIBLE.
PRIDE, PREJUDICE & ZOMBIES GN by Jane Austen, Seth Grahame-Smith, Tony Lee and Cliff Richards. The only thing that could make me read Jane Austen: Flesh-eating fiends from the depths of hell!!! Recommended.
SECRET SIX #21 by Gail Simone and Jim Calafiore. Catman's got his claws out like never before. Definitely not for younger kids. Recommended.
SPIDER-MAN: FEVER #2 of 3 written and drawn by Brendan McCarthy. Doctor Strange must rescue Spidey's soul from demons in a book that looks like it was painted with melted Good-n-Fruitys! Gotta look!
STEPHEN KING'S N #3 of 4 by Marc Guggenheim and Alex Maleev. Adapting a Stephen King horror story about a shrink who catches his patient's demon-induced OCD. You must read this comic ten times before you can put it down safely, in mylar, in a comic box facing north-south. Seriously.
SUPERMAN: WAR OF THE SUPERMEN #1 of 4 by James Robinson, Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle. Brainiac is now an afterthought as Supes and Zod tear into each other while 100,000 Kryptonians wait in the wings.
ULTIMATE COMICS: NEW ULTIMATES #2 by Jeph Loeb and Frank Cho. This comic was drawn by Frank Cho.
UNCANNY X-MEN #524 by Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson. Last issue "a beloved X-Man died defending Hope." Okay, I'm not gonna give it away, but come on. "Beloved?" Really? Some of these X-threads are better than others.
VERONICA #200 written and drawn by Dan Parent. A milestone issue starring Riverdale's poor little rich girl, Veronica Lodge! This issue, Veronica gets a time machine!
And this week don't forget to ask for your WHITE LANTERN PROMO RINGS for enhancing your enjoyment of comics and bringing back the dead!
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