Richard Thompson's popping up all over the place

You can see a poster he did for Arlington's Mardi Gras - St. Patrick's Day extravaganza.

Tom Richmond's drawn a caricature of him leading the pack to the National Cartoonist Society's Reuben awards.

We launched the Team Cul de Sac blog tonight to try to get more regular updates about this great project out to you.

Local cartoonist Mike Shapiro

Mike Shapiro just wrote in to let me know he's in the area:

I'm a magazine cartoonist (WSJ, Barron's, Nat. Law Journal, etc) that lives here in DC. I also do a weekly cartoon for the Post's  Capital Business. I'm featured in the latest issue of Stay Tooned magazine (it's a small feature, but I'm in there).*

My site is: http://www.mikeshapirocartoons.com

My blog is: http://mikeshapirocartoons.blogspot.com

*#6, out now, with an interview of Mike by our friend David Paccia. And I'll be doing an interview with him for the Washington City Paper too.

Takoma Park librarian on Amy Ignatow's move from webcomics to prose

Children's Corner: 'Popularity' sequel: Amy Ignatow's inner 5th-graders romp on
    * By KAREN MACPHERSON, Scripps Howard News Service 03/02/2011
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/60043

 

Karen MacPherson, is the children's/teen librarian at the Takoma Park, Md., Library.

Post review on Rango

Ann Hornaday reviews 'Rango'

By Ann Hornaday
March 4, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/movies/rango,1158940/critic-review.html

 

The Express ran this review, the Examiner ran part of an Associated Press one, and the City Paper didn't review it.

 

Mondello recommends Bambi

DVD Picks: 'Bambi'
by Bob Mondello
National Public Radio's All Things Considered March 2, 2011
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/03/02/134176859/dvd-picks-bambi
http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2011/03/20110302_atc_20.mp3
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=134176859

Comics return to the City Paper

The City Paper's redesigned itself and has this to say about comic strips -

Comics Page. Like many of our readers, we were sorry to see the paper's comics go a few years ago. Starting next week, they'll be back, on a single dedicated page that will feature Derf's excellent The City, Shawn Belschwender's Clown Time, David Malki's Wondermark, and Michael Kupperman's Up All Night. You'll still find Dirt Farm in its usual place.

- and we note that Ben Claassen is the cartoonist of Dirt Farm.

March 6: Feminist art leads to graphic novel at National Gallery of Art?

The Children of the Revolution: New Documentary Examines Trials and Triumphs of Feminism in the Arts
Jessica Roake
Express March 3 2011: E6
http://www.expressnightout.com/content/2011/03/women-art-revolution-documentary.php

 

In the above interview, one reads:

 

There's a graphic novel and a curriculum guide to complement the film. How would you like feminist art to be taught?
That it's taught at all is important. Believe it or not, there were no curriculum guides for this subject.

So you can go ask about it at:

 

National Gallery of Art, 4th Street and Constitution Avenue NW; Sun., 4:30 p.m., free; 202-737-4215, (Smithsonian)

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