Support the National Zoo by commissioning a comic book

Ryan Estrada will draw a custom comic book about your pet if you win this bid to raise money for the National Zoo. Bidding starts at $500, there are no bids yet, and the projected value is $1500. Think of how good you'll feel when you present your parakeet with the story of its life in comic form and bid early and often.

Actually, I was tempted but wiser heads (ie the wife) stepped in.

DCist reviews Iron Man 2

I didn't know DCist ran movie reviews, but here's Ian Buckwalter on Iron Man 2.

Cavna on Comedy Central Jesus cartoon

Comedy Central considers giving Jesus his own show [online title: Comedy Central considering cartoon series about Jesus], By Michael Cavna, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, May 7, 2010; C05.

Post on Iron Man 2

The Post, in its continuing efforts to confuse its readers, has run 2 reviews of Iron Man 2, by the same reviewer, but with different content:


'Man' of the hour [online title: Ann Hornaday on 'Iron Man 2' and 'Casino Jack and the United States of Money'], By Ann Hornaday, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, May 7, 2010; C01 should be the premier article, but a review of a totally unrelated type of movie is interwoven.

Movie review: 'Iron Man 2' loses its magnetism, By Ann Hornaday, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, May 7, 2010; WE37 should be the minor article, but is the one that actually makes more sense.

May 22: Windup Comic Fest in Baltimore

Windup Comic Fest, Spring 2010
Saturday, May 22
2pm - 7pm

The Windup Space
12 West North Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21201-5904

More details here.

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

 

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)

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.

May 7: Beyond Comics Iron Man Tickets special

B E Y O N D      C O M I C S Iron Man 2 Tickets $9.00 Only From Beyond Comics (While They Last) Regular Price $11.00 Show Times Germantown 10:30pm Theater #7 Frederick 10:00pm Theater #9 These showings only: Win Free Stuff: posters, comics, gift cards and more. INFO Now on Facebook Website eBay Store New Items Added 1/5/10 Amazon Store Follow us on Twitter Newsletter Signup Please Note, some items are not available at all store locations. For more information please speak with any store representative. Some items may also be allocated by the manufacturer and may not be available. Beyond Comics does not guarantee items being in stock; however we will do our best to keep them available. Email: Gaithersburg John Shine Mgr or Frederick Mike Imboden Mgr Gaithersburg Store 536 North Frederick Ave Gaithersburg, MD (301) 216-0007 Hours: M,Tu 11-8; W-Sat 10-9; Sun 12-6 Frederick Store 5632 Route 85 Frederick, MD (301) 668-8202 Hours: M,Tu 10-8; W-Sat 10-9; Sun 12-6

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

 

If you would rather not receive future communications from Library of Congress, let us know by clicking here.
Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20540-1610 United States

Truitt on Jonah Hex motion comic

Jonah Hex kicks up some multimedia dust 
By Brian Truitt, USA TODAY

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

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.

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.

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

McEvoy Auditorium, Lower Level
American Art Museum

This annual series provides insight and invaluable advice on collecting art from museum directors, curators, collectors, and art dealers and consultants. Free and open to the public; no advance registration required. All lectures begin at 7 p.m.; doors open at 6:30 p.m.

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.