March 5: Secret of Kells at Artisphere in Arlington

At 11 am and 2 pm on March 5, you can see the excellent animated film Secret of Kells at Artisphere in Arlington for $6.

A little more on the Herblock Award, from two of the judges

Matt Wuerker, 2010's winner of the Herblock award, and Signe Wilkinson are the editorial cartoonists who were two of the three judges for the 2011 award. They've shared their thinking behind the selection of Tom Toles as the winner with us.

Judging the Herblock award this year was really, really hard.  There was too much good work in way too many inventive forms.  It's good news for our readers ... but hard for judges. Different judges would have ended up with a different decision.

In the spirit of transparency, we'd like to lift the veil a little on the thinking that went into our judging this year. Think of this as a little WikiLeak of what happened on the path to awarding the 2011 Herblock Prize.

Before the judging, it was agreed that this year the finalist would also be recognized.  We knew the job was to come up with two top cartoonists.

We had a great, broad sampling of political cartooning today: lots of traditional single-panel cartoons, plenty of stellar "altie" work, a number of great ventures into cartoon journalism and, of course, the animation submissions. We even had cartoons rendered with actual oil from the BP spill.

In the apples and oranges comparisons that are such a big part of the process, it was hard to measure the simple punchy genius of single panels by the likes of Pett and Britt against long-form docucomics that went beyond the headlines, like those submitted by Ohman, Wasserman and Varvel, or for that matter animated reporter's sketchbooks such as the engaging submission from Rex Babin.

Mike Thompson's finger on the pulse of Detroit crime and Bill Day's attention to child abuse were both powerful uses of our medium. For taking us where cartooning had not gone before, Ted Rall's enterprising trip to Afghanistan was particularly noteworthy.  Pat Bagley's wonderful loose humor and engagement with his readers made him a contender. The "Alties," led by Bors and Sorensen, all made it to the semifinal pile, as did Ramirez, whose graphic punch and strong, clearly expressed political opinions kept him in the running right up to the end.

We all agreed that, to the best of our abilities, we'd not judge according to our political bent but solely on the quality and consistency of the cartooning found in the portfolios we were looking at.

Though Matt Davies had what we all agreed was the single best cartoon of the year, "WikiLeaks" (by the way, a non-animated black-and-white single panel),  the quality and creativity of the Toles and Telnaes portfolios put them at the very top.  Choosing between the two was excruciating and took a while, but in the end we felt the overall consistency of Toles's complete portfolio made him the winner, with Telnaes No. 2 by a hair ... or a .3 Micron line.

---- Signe Wilkinson and Matt Wuerker

Donna Lewis interview on WBAL

Click the link to watch the 2 minute interview -

Md. Woman Behind New 'Post' Comic.
Franciotti, Jennifer
WBAL  March 1, 2011
http://www.wbaltv.com/video/27044999/detail.html
 
Washington Post readers may have noticed a new comic strip this week called Reply All that is written by a woman who grew up in the Baltimore area. Donna Lewis is an attorney with the Department of Homeland Security and tells 11 News all about what has inspired her to write it. To see her comic, go to ReplyAllComic.com.

Don Rosa's eye problems

This is somewhat off-topic, but it's by Team Cul de Sac grand poobah (and Cul de Sac webmaster) Chris Sparks.

Don Rosa and his eyesight
jeditrue Mar 1, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjuluT8W16k

Don Rosa tells us about how he sees objects. A big thank you to the Great Don Rosa for your time.
This video is from sparkingdesign.com and Chris Sparks

Daniel Boris and Hoxwinder Hall profiled by NBC

Daniel Boris' Hoxwinder Hall strip was one of the finalists for the Post's Next Great Cartoonist contest, but I hadn't realized he was in the DC area until now.

Local Cartoonist Draws on Inspiration
Sarah Pixley
NBC Washington March 2, 2011
http://www.nbcwashington.com/the-scene/events/Local-Cartoonist-Drawing-on-Inspiration-117193138.html

PR: Fábio Moon delivers ultra-rare variant cover for Dark Horse Presents #2!

As we continue to note, Carla Speed McNeil's strip Finder is appearing in Dark Horse Presents, which is being published with variant covers. Ultra-rare ones.

From the Dark Horse blog: http://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/282/moons-over-stuff

More info on DHP #2 can be found here: http://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/270/dark-horse-presents-2-covers-revealed

Weldon on Peanuts

It's a New Peanuts Comic, Charlie Brown
by Glen Weldon
National Public Radio's Monkey See blog March 2, 2011
  http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/03/02/134176527/its-a-new-peanuts-comic-charlie-brown

Wash Post's Tom Toles Herblock Prize Winner 2011

According to Jennifer Lee of the Post, "Washington Post's Tom Toles is this year's winner of the Herblock Prize & Lecture for excellence in editorial cartooning: http://www.herbblockfoundation.org/herblock-prize-winner/737 "

 

Congratulations to Tom, and that's two Washington winners in a row, as Matt Wuerker took it last year.

 

 

Comic Riffs has additional details including noting that Ann Telnaes was a runner-up.

Nick Bertozzi fumetti

Nick Bertozzi's made a fumetti about his trip to Big Planet Comics last weekend.

Truitt on Manapul and the Flash

'Flash' artist Francis Manapul speeds to stardom
By Brian Truitt, USA TODAY March 1 2011
http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2011-03-01-FrancisManapul_N.htm

Comics-related photographs incidentally in the NY Times

The Business section of the February 28th NY Times had a couple of photographs that had comics in them, even though the stories were on completely different topics.

 

Kevin Gentzel of Forbes says it benefits by selling its own ad space rather than delegating to third-party clearinghouses. and he's standing in front of what appears to be a wall of framed original comic strips and editorial cartoons. The clothing boutique Kitson sold twice as many books in 2010 as the year before. including the 75th anniversary DC Covers book.

Catching up with Comic Riffs

Michael was busy on Sunday...

The 'Riffs Interview: 'FRAZZ' creator Jef Mallett on art, childhood -- and inspiration at the 10-year mark
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog February 27 2011
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2011/02/the_riffs_inteview_frazz_creat.html

'ZUCKERBERG' writer likes 'Social Network's' Oscars chances tonight
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog February 27 2011
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2011/02/mark_zuckerberg_comics_writer.html#more

THE 2011 OSCARS: Top 10 Quotes from the nominees for Best Animated Feature
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog February 27 2011
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2011/02/the_2011_oscars_quoting_the_no.html

THE 2011 OSCARS: 10 Geeky Facts About the Academy Award winners & losers
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog February 28 2011
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2011/02/the_2011_oscars_geeky_factoids.html

Live chat with Donna Lewis at Post right now (and an interview)

http://live.washingtonpost.com/reply-all-cartoonist-donna-lewis.html

 

The 'Riffs Interview: Post syndicate launches Donna Lewis's 'REPLY ALL' today
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog February 28 2011
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2011/02/the_riffs_interview_post_syndi.html

 

Tom Arvis chat at City Paper

Meet a Local Cartoonist: A Chat with Tom Arvis

by Mike Rhode on Feb. 28, 2011

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/books/2011/02/28/meet-a-local-cartoonist-a-chat-with-tom-arvis/

 

Tom's got a particularly unique perspective on the upcoming film 'Cowboys & Aliens.'

Disney jazz reviewed in today's Express

There's an AP article on a Disney Jazz album in today's free Express newspaper.

Gaithersburg painting exhibit described as 'graphic novel'

A Portrait of the Artist: Marcie Wolf-Hubbard
By Bora Mici
February 26, 2011
http://gaithersburg.patch.com/articles/a-portrait-of-the-artist-marcie-wolf-hubbard

Mici writes, "Mousetrapped," a 15-piece graphic novel about her seven-month-long effort to curb and permanently put an end to a mouse infestation in her 1923 SEARS home in Silver Spring, is currently on view at The Arts Barn in Gaithersburg.

If anyone goes to see this exhibit, I'd be interested in hearing from you.

Zadzooks on DC Universe Online videogame

Zadzooks: DC Universe Online review
Earth stands a chance in DC Universe
By Joseph Szadkowski
Washington Times February 22, 2011
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/22/zadzooks-dc-universe-online-review/

Wash Post obituary of interest for its photography

Note the family photograph of everyone reading the Sunday comics around 1955.

A Local Life: Alan L. Dean, 92, the 'Ideal Father'

By T. Rees Shapiro

Washington Post February 27, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/26/AR2011022603196.html

Alan L. Dean, with wife Vera and daughters Diana, left, and Claudia in 1955. Mr. Dean won The Washington Post's "Ideal Father" contest. (Family Photo)

Tim Kreider on Ink Panthers show

The Ink Panthers Show! #81 featuring Tim Kreider
Mike Dawson and Alex Ronbinson
 The Ink Panthers Show February 22nd, 2011
http://www.mikedawsoncomics.com/the-ink-panthers-show-81-featuring-tim-kreider/

SPX tables sell out

I saw Warren Bernard, the SPX exec at Big Planet last night and he said that the artist's tables for the Small Press Expo sold out at the end of last week.