ComicsDC

Tokyo assembly votes down measure to regulate child porn in comics
(Mainichi Japan) June 14, 2010

We may have the First Amendment, but there's a law in the US that says possessors drawings of imaginary under-age cartoon characters (how is that even possible?) can be prosecuted for child pornography. Support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund today.

Here's a new interview with its head - Spurgeon, Tom. 2010.
CR Newsmaker Interview: Charles Brownstein Of The CBLDF.
Comics Reporter (June 13).

Comic book reviews by a local reader

Emilia, one of my co-workers in the Museum, let me know that she's got a site, Emilia's bookshelf: comic-books, where she reviews the comics she's read. I'm just checking it out now - and boy is she tough.

Interview with Trickster artist Andrew Cohen up at City Paper

Meet a Local Cartoonist: A Chat with Trickster’s Andrew Cohen, Posted by Mike Rhode on Jun. 14, 2010.

Andrew and I will also be appearing on a panel at the DC Public Library on June 26th, talking about comics.

June 26: Graphic Content: A Conversation with Four DC Area Graphic Storytellers

I'll be moderating this, and Shannon "G.I. Joe" Gallant, Matt "Politico" Wuerker, Andrew "Trickster" Cohen and Evan "DC Conspiracy" Keeling will be speaking on creating comics.

Event: Graphic Content: A Conversation with Four DC Area Graphic Storytellers
Start Time: Saturday, June 26 at 1:00pm
End Time: Saturday, June 26 at 2:30pm
Where: Northwest One Neighborhood Library
155 L St, NW @ New Jersey Avenue

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=130811430278136&mid=280312cG40206d0eG1a637daG7

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Zadzooks on Elektra blue-ray release, Wednesday Comics and more

Zadzooks: Elektra, Alice in Wonderland and Spartacus
Depp's Hatter, Elektra worlds apart
By Joseph Szadkowski
Washington Times June 8, 2010

Comic book review: Wednesday Comics (hardcover)
by Joseph Szadkowski
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 - Zadzooks - Worlds of Comics, Gaming and Action Figures

Bennett's Best: Secret Avengers and Mystery Society
By Greg Bennett, Special to Zadzooks
Thursday, May 27, 2010

Bennett's Best: Serenity: Float Out and Superman/Batman
By Greg Bennett, Special to Zadzooks
Saturday, June 5, 2010

Brian Truitt on the formerly-dead Robin

'Lost Days' looks at Red Hood's tragic saga
By Brian Truitt, USA TODAY 6/3/2010

Comics on the Rack, Quick Picks for Comics Due 06-16-10

COMICS ON THE RACK

Quick Picks for Comics Due 06-16-10

By John Judy

AGE OF HEROES #2 of 4 by Paul Cornell, Dan Slott, Ty Templeton and Others. An anthology of Marvel misfits taking their turns in the spotlight. A must for fans of Gravity and The Gauntlet!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #633 by Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo. The all-new, all-improved, kid-killing Lizard takes his shot at killing Spidey. Disturbing because, y'know, he killed his own kid. The Lizard, I mean. Probably not for younger readers.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #634 by Joe Kelly and Michael Lark. Back-up stories by Stan Lee and Marcos Martin and J.M. DeMatteis and Max Fiumara. The Kraven chicks finally get into the game. The comic so good they couldn't wait a week! Twice the web-slinging in the same week! Excelsior!

ATLAS #2 by Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman. The 3-D Man enters the scene. But will he be in IMAX too?

BIRDS OF PREY #2 by Gail Simone and Ed Benes. The gals gang up to protect the Penguin! They have their reasons!

THE BOYS #43 by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. Wee Hughie versus Malchemical! Everybody fights! Awesome stuff! NOT for kids!

BRIGHTEST DAY #4 by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis and Others. Black Lantern Firestorm?!? Are you kidding?!? Okay Johns, time to get the clues out there… Recommended.

CRIMINAL VOL. 5: SINNERS SC by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. The return of military deserter/bad-ass Tracy Lawless. Highly recommended. Not for kids.

CROSSED: FAMILY VALUES #2 of 6 by David Lapham and Javier Barreno. Picking up where Garth Ennis left off, this one's about a country family running from the plague-infected maniacs who have taken over the world with at least one of them wondering if she wouldn't be safer on her own. Absolutely not for kids, but great reading for the strong of stomach.

DC UNIVERSE LEGACIES #2 of 10 by Ken Wein and Andy and Joe Kubert, J.H. Williams and Scott Kolins. Recounting the early days of masked adventuring in the DCU. Newsboy Legion, Seven Soldiers and (of course) the JSA. Awesome artists on the job!

HELLBLAZER #268 by Peter Milligan and Guiseppi Camuncoli. Constantine is so desperate to get his marbles back he summons Shade the Changing Man! All the way from the eighties! A blast from the past!

I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE FUNNIER SC written and drawn by Shannon Wheeler. A collection of stuff by Eisner Award-winning New Yorker cartoonist Wheeler. No long articles about restaurants and plays you'll never see, guaranteed!

INCREDIBLE HULK #610 by Greg Pak and Paul Pelletier. Guess who's back. The cover says it all. About time!

NEW AVENGERS #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen. Oh come on, we all knew Bendis was never gonna leave this one behind! A new assemblage begins here! Gotta look!

ULTIMATE COMICS X #3 by Jeph Loeb and Arthur Adams. Wow, that Arthur Adams is still a swell artist! He's drawing this!

WALKING DEAD #73 by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard. Living in the zombie-free haven of the DC metro area can make you lower your guard. Don't do that. Highly recommended. Not for kids.

www.johnjudy.net

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Weingarten interviewed himself on Barney & Clyde

'Barney & Clyde' a tale of rich man, poor man, Miami Herald June 6 2010.

I guess the Herald couldn't spare a reporter...

And here's the note the Post ran about the strip a week ago - A note to comics readers, Sunday, June 6, 2010.

Post on Marmaduke

Playing catch-up due to Heroes Con,here's one for the record as I would imagine anyone who wanted to see this already has - He ought to stick to the funny pages, By Michael O'Sullivan, ,Friday, June 4, 2010.

Local cartoonist Issa Nyaphaga is fundraising for a Mobile Clinic Project to Cameroon

From: Issa Nyaphaga

Dear Friends,

We're not going to go have fun in South Africa.

I hope this message finds you well. On June 25th, we will be taking medical care to a place it's never gone before—the remote, indigenous villages of Tikar country in Cameroon, West Africa.

Soulful Presence and HITIP (Hope International for Tikar People) are partnering to bring Dr. Georges Bwelle, a local Cameroonian surgeon, and his team of 25 medical volunteers to remote, marginalized communities where most people have never even seen a doctor.

By supporting our Mobile Health Clinic, you will help provide critical health services and much-needed medical supplies to children, women, families, individuals with disabilities, and the elderly in the equatorial rainforest.

By donating just $10, you can send an indigenous Tikar villager to the doctor for the first time. Your donation will cover the cost of the doctor's visit and any necessary medication.

Will you please help us? The more donations we receive, the more people we can serve during our trip. You can donate online at http://www.soulfulpresence.org/donate.php or call us at 505.982.1977.

It only takes a few seconds to help us change a life. We deeply appreciate your generosity and your sense of shared humanity!

Thank you,

Marcie Davis, Jenny Sanborn, Anita Woodley, Ceci Tchakounte Tadfor and Issa Nyaphaga

www.soulfulpresence.org

www.hitip.org

Catch me in facebook if you can

Issa Nyaphaga - www.hitip.org
"Think Local... Act Global!"
Or inverse these words, it works as well.
nyaphagart@gmail.com is my current email.

That darn Babin

Another letter to the editor - this time on Rex Babin:
Cruel treatment of the Gores, Gerald Kamens, Arlington, Washington Post (June 12 2010).

Friday, June 11, 2010

Meet a MSU comic librarian

Here's a feature with my friend Randy Scott - Faculty conversations: Randy Scott, Emily Fox, University Relations student writer, June 11, 2010.

July 12: Comic Book Boom! exhibit

Comic Book Boom!
Start Time:
Monday, July 12, 2010 at 9:00am
End Time:
Friday, August 27, 2010 at 5:00pm
Location:
Martin Luther King, JR. Memorial Library
Street:
901 G Street, NW
City/Town:
Washington, DC

COMIC BOOK BOOM! The D.C. Conspiracy's high-flyin' summer celebration of local comics, presented at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.

July 12 - August 27, features an exhibit of original comic art and comic book reading room, showcasing the talents of local D.C. cartoonists.

July 31 and August 21, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm, bring you workshops to teach you how to make your own comics, led by conspirators Matt Dembicki and Evan Keeling.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library
901 G Street, NW
2nd Floor, West Lobby

More info on ALA 2010 Conference

It turns out that the American Library Association (ALA) 2010 Annual Conference has quite a bit of comic book/graphic novel content this year. Their Exhibitor Search function has a specific category for "Graphic Novels/Comic Books" under the "Books Periodicals Documents" (I suspect someone left off some punctuation there!) Product Category. These include:

ABDO Publishing - Spotlight - Magic Wagon - ABDO iBooks (Booth #3109)
Albert Whitman & Company (Booth #2616)
Alexander Street Press (Booth #3813)
Beijing Chinese Book Trading Co. (Booth #830)
BOOM! Studios (Booth #2359)
Brodart Co. (Booth #3225)
BWI (Booth #3231)
Capstone Press (Booth #2609)
Cinco Puntos Press (Booth #2833)
Classical Comics Ltd. (dist. in US by Publishers Group West) (Booth #2740)
Consortium Book Sales (Booth #2833)
Dark Horse Books (Booth #2453)
Diamond Book Distributors (Booth #2453)
Diversity Foundation (Booth #2464)
Feiwel and Friends (Booth #2813)
First Second Books (Booth #2813)
Gareth Stevens Publishing (Booth #2856)
Henry Holt for Young Readers (Booth #2817)
Hermes Press (Booth #2453)
IDW Publishing (Booth #2453)
Image Comics (Booth #2453)
Ingram Library Services (Booth #1942)
Junior Library Guild - Media Source Inc. (Booth #2959)
Kids Can Press (Booth #2852)
Lerner Publishing Group (Booth #2311)
NBM Publishing, Inc./Papercutz (Booth #2465)
Penguin Group (USA) (Booth #2506)
Roaring Brook Press (Booth #2812)
Rouke Publishing LLC (Booth #4136)
Scholastic (Booth #2624)
Sterling Publishing (Children`s Books) (Booth #2739)
Stone Arch Books (Booth #2609)
Top Shelf Productions (Booth #2466)
University of Nebraska State Museum (Booth #4233)
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. (Booth #2415)

That's a pretty impressive list of publishers! If you follow the links, you will find that some are very niche publishers, and others are very generic. Either way, we are well-represented. Top Shelf will have Andy Runton (Owly) and James Kochalka (Johnny Boo) signing at their booth. Additionally, perusing the Author Signing listings, I noticed names like Gene Yang (American Born Chinese), David Small (Stitches), Matt Phelan (The Storm in the Barn), Tony DiTerlizzi (Nodwick), and Mo Willems (Bizarro World), and I'm sure there are others that are either outside of my paradigm or are new and upcoming. I also noticed that Bill Galvan (Archie) and Fred Mausser (Archie Comics Co-President / Director of Circulation, or at least he was at one point) will be at the Diversity Foundation booth.

The show is June 24th-June 29th. Registration can be done on-line. If you are up for it, there is some interesting programming, though I'm not clear whether the $25 Exhibits Only pass buys you into these or if you have to go to Exhibits Supreme ($100) or actually join ALA ($170 for a day, $260 for the year):

Friday, 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Comic World: Graphic Novels Come of Age ALA - PUBLISHING Washington Convention Center -144A-C Booklist magazine's Books for Youth Annual Forum celebrates graphic novels with a program featuring comics creators and publishers Francoise Mouly, Gene Luen Yang, Mark Siegel, and Matt Phelan. Moderator: Ian Chipman, Booklist magazine, Associate Editor Speakers: Francoise Mouly, Toon Books, Editorial Director; Matt Phelan, Candlewick Press, author; Mark Siegel, First Second, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, Editorial Director; Gene Luen Yang, First Second, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, author

Saturday, 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Back to the Future: Comics and Graphic Novels in Special Collections ALSC Washington Convention Center -145B Children & Young Adults; Literature & Collection Development This program will present the value of collecting and maintaining comics and graphic novels as a special collection. Françoise Mouly, Editorial Director of Toon Books, will consider the genre’s historic and contemporary impact within juvenile publishing. Georgia Higley, Newspaper Section Head, will describe the evolution of these collections and use by researchers within the Library of Congress. Janet Weber, Youth Services Librarian, Tigard Public Library (OR) will serve as moderator. Speakers: Georgia Higley, Library of Congress, Head, Newspaper Section, Serial & Government Publications; Françoise Mouly, Toon Books, Editorial Director; Janet Weber, Tigard Public Library, Youth Services Librarian

Sunday, 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Good Comics for Kids: Building a Collection of Graphic Novels for Young Readers ALSC Washington Convention Center -152A Children & Young Adults; Collection Development Graphic novels are moving out of the teen section and into the rest of the library. With so many new titles released every month, building a graphic novel collection for kids can be a daunting task. Join comics experts from School Library Journal's Good Comics for Kids blog as they discuss what comics and graphic novels are, why they are important to include in children's libraries, where to find them, and how to evaluate them. Speakers: Brigid Alverson, Good Comics for Kids, Contributing Writer; Robin Brenner, Brookline Public Library, Reference and Teen Librarian; Esther Keller, Marine Park Intermediate School, School Media Specialist; Scott Robins, Good Comics for Kids, Contributing Writer; Eva Volin, Alameda Free Library, Supervising Children's Librarian; Snow Wildsmith, Good Comics for Kids, Contributing Writer

Monday, 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. AUDITORIUM SPEAKER SERIES - Graphic Novel Panel ALA Washington Convention Center -Ballroom C

It all sounds very interesting!

OT: National Geographic and Google on Jacques Cousteau's 100th birthday

My wife, Cathy Hunter, blogs for National Geographic in between her archivist duties and also provides some news stories for them. Today, one of hers on Jacques Cousteau's 100th birthday was picked up, and appparently used as the basis for Google's customized logo.

June 25: American Library Association in DC with comics programs

ALA Expands Graphic Novel Programming
At Its Summer Conference in D.C.
ICv2 06/11/2010

Some of this sounds like fun, but it'll only be open to registered attendees. However, I will be moderating a panel with some local cartoonists for the DC Public Library that weekend and will have more details as they're finalized.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Animated "JC" cartoon protested before it's even started.

Plum Loco web comic from Roy Delgado

Monday, June 14, 2010

Trickster on NPR

Washington City Paper's Jonah Hex contest

One key difference between us and Japan - freedom of speech