ComicsDC

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Team Cul de Sac's FAVORITES Zine Available for Mail Order

For a fundraising effort near-and-dear to Our Man Thompson's heart, and one in which I have a slight contribution...

From: Craig Fischer

This is just a note to let you know that we're finally selling the Favorite zine through mail order. There's a PayPal button up now on the Team Cul de Sac blog [http://teamculdesac.blogspot.com/]. I've sold about $300 worth of the zines so far at conventions and to friends, but I'm confident that we'll sell a lot more now that people can mail-order.

PR: Intervention Con in September

INTERVENTION CONVENTION BRINGS CYBER-LIFE TO REAL LIFE

Event brings creators and fans together for weekend of learning and fun

ROCKVILLE, MD, June 14, 2011:
Intervention, taking place at the Hilton Washington DC/Rockville in Rockville, MD, from September 16-18, 2011, is an indie creator and geek culture convention for the Internet generation. One part conference, one part fandom event, Intervention aims to provide both creators and fans a venue to learn, appreciate, and celebrate the opportunities technology provides.
"James [Harknell] and I wanted to put together an event that would complement the existing print-centric conventions – we wanted to showcase the creators who use the Internet as their primary publishing method,"
says convention founder Onezumi Hartstein. "I went to conventions for years to promote my webcomic, and was always treated well, but felt that web creators needed their own space. We're giving them that with Intervention." After a very successful first run in 2010, this year will mark Hartstein's second time organizing the event.

Over thirty guests are currently scheduled to attend, bringing three days of panels and educational workshops. Fans of all stripes are also encouraged to submit their own cutting-edge programming, showcase their own works, and schedule their own meetups at the event. A special track of children's programming will be overseen by Matt Blum, managing editor of the GeekDad blog on Wired.com.

Sponsored by Think Geek (www.thinkgeek.com), Wacom (www.wacom.com), Foam Brain Games (www.foambrain.com), 4Imprint (www.4imprint.com), Squishable (www.squishable.com), and Toy Vault (www.toyvault.com), the convention will also feature video and board gaming, an extensive Artist Alley, live action roleplay (LARP), musical performances, a Steampunk-themed dance, and plenty of giveaways. A charity auction will benefit the Electronic Frontier Foundation (www.eff.org), a civil liberties group that aims to defend freedom on the Internet.

Tickets for Intervention can be bought at http://www.interventioncon.com for $35 for the full weekend (through June 30, 2011). Tickets bought at the door will cost $45, with single-day rates available. More information about guests and events can be found at http://www.interventioncon.com.

Beeler's Harry Potter cartoon leads to commentary

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/07/17/beeler-on-magical-thinking-and-the-debt/

Truitt on Superman

Superman flying solo in DC Comics relaunch

By Brian Truitt, USA TODAY July 18 2011

http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2011-07-18-superman-a-bachelor-in-comics-relaunch_n.htm

PEPCO to use stop motion animation in commercials

For those not in DC, PEPCO is the local electrical utility. Here's a link to the PR:

Pepco Launches New Latino Advertising Campaign Using Stop Motion Animation to Deliver its Conservation Message
Press Release Source: MAYA Advertising and Communications On Tuesday July 19, 2011,

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Pepco-Launches-New-Latino-prnews-2038735103.html?x=0&.v=1

Monday, July 18, 2011

July 20: Dan Wasserman speaks on political cartoons at Smithsonian

It’s a Draw: Political Cartooning Evening Seminar
Wednesday, July 20 - 6:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.

With the stroke of a pen, great political cartoonists bring clarity to political chaos. Over the centuries, they have used brevity to capture burning issues of their day—from war to civil rights. In the 19th century, Thomas Nast created the elephant as the symbol of the Republican Party. Washington Post cartoonist Herblock signaled Nixon’s tarnished image by giving him a thug-like beard.

Sharing drawings from his 30 years in the profession and examples from his predecessors, Boston Globe cartoonist Dan Wasserman, whose work is syndicated in 40 newspapers, discusses the history of the craft from the days of Benjamin Franklin to the Obama years. He also gives you the chance to write a caption for one of his political cartoons. The winner receives a signed copy of the cartoon.

$35 Member
$32 Senior Member
$45 Gen. Admission

LOCATION:
S. Dillon Ripley Center
1100 Jefferson Drive, SW
Metro: Smithsonian Mall Exit (Blue/Orange)

Quick Tix Code: 1H0-764

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Truitt on Locke & Key and Graphic Elvis

'Clockworks' is the beginning of the end for 'Locke & Key'
By Brian Truitt, USA TODAY July 15 2011
http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2011-07-15-Clockworks-begins-the-end-of-Locke-amp-Key-comic_n.htm

'Graphic Elvis' illustrates The King's love of comics
By Brian Truitt, USA TODAY July 17 2011
http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2011-07-17-graphic-elvis-presley_n.htm

Post likes new Pooh movie

This Pooh is worth a bother
By Sandie Angulo Chen
Washington Post July 15, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/movies/winnie-the-pooh,1104787/critic-review.html

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Comic Riffs' Rango interview

As a creative renaissance man, writer-director James Ward Byrkit brings 'RANGO' and 'PIRATES' film to your screen
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs Blog July 15 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/as-a-creative-renaissance-man-writer-director-james-ward-byrkit-brings-rango-and-pirates-film-to-your-screen/2011/05/26/gIQAhPlKGI_blog.html

Friday, July 15, 2011

Winnie the Pooh reviews run in today's free papers

Lemire, Christy / Associated Press. 2011.

'Winnie the Pooh' delights on every level without 3-D or CG.

Washington Examiner (July 15): 22

Chen, Sandy Angulo / Washington Post. 2011.

As Sweet as Honey: A children's classic gets a fitting update in 'Winnie the Pooh'.

Washington Express (July 15): 33

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Truitt on Witchblade

'Witchblade' taps new writer for its resident superheroine
By Brian Truitt, USA TODAY July 13 2011
http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2011-07-13-Witchblade-comic-taps-new-writer-for-its-resident-superheroine_n.htm

Team Cul de Sac fanzine and prints now available to order online

Click here for more information on ordering Team Cul de Sac fanzines or prints.

August 10: Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier in Arlington

· Wed, August 10, 6:30 pm: Special visit from the acclaimed authors/illustrators of Astronaut Academy (Dave Roman) and Smile (Raina Telgemeier)

One More Page | 2200 N. Westmoreland Street | #101 | Arlington | VA | 22213

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Monkey See blog on graphic novels and Winnie the Pooh

Playing Catch-Up: Five Recent Graphic Novels You Really Shouldn't Miss.

by Glen Weldon

Natinonal Public Radio's Monkey See blog (July 13 2011): http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/07/13/137788687/playing-catch-up-five-recent-graphic-novels-you-really-shouldnt-miss

Will Christopher Robin Ever Grow Up?

by Andrew Lapin

National Public Radio's Monkey See blog (July 13 2011):

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/07/13/137816699/will-christopher-robin-ever-grow-up

Mahendra Singh, former local cartoonist, profiled at length by Comics Journal

Carroll, Cross-Contour, and the Demi-Fecund Ram: An Interview with Mahendra Singh
BY Sean Michael Robinson Jul 12, 2011
http://www.tcj.com/carroll-cross-contour-and-the-demi-fecund-ram-an-interview-with-mahendra-singh/

...Mahendra Singh was born in Libya ("against his better judgment," reads one of his official bios) to German and Indian parents. Although he lived in Washington, DC for many years, he is now a resident of Montreal, where he works as an illustrator. His full-length comic debut was the (very) short-lived Adventures of Mr. Pyridine, published by Fantagraphics in 1989. ...

PR: Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon Announces Fellowships

Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave. SE
Washington DC 20540

July 13, 2011

Swann Foundation Announces Fellowships for 2011-2012

The Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, administered by the Library of Congress, announces fellowship awards to four applicants for the 2011-2012 academic year: Lara Saguisag, Margaret Samu, Masha Kowell and Jeremy Stoll.

The award winners will use the Library’s collections to explore the following topics: child characters in early American comic strips; Russian caricature as a form of art criticism; political satire in Soviet posters; and the recent use of comic-book format by artists in India.

Due to an unusually large number of strong applications, the foundation's advisory board did not award a single fellowship this year but instead decided to support four applicants’ projects with smaller awards.

Lara Saguisag, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, will conduct research for her dissertation “Drawing the Lines of Innocence: Representations of Childhood in Early American Comic Strips, 1896-1920.” Focusing on “kid strips,” or comic strips that featured child protagonists, she will investigate why the child became a popular subject in early American comics. She will analyze how these works at once reflected and shaped contemporary beliefs and anxieties about childhood. She will study original drawings by such creators as Rudolph Dirks, Lyonel Feininger, Winsor McCay and R.F. Outcault, whose works are well represented in the cartoon collections of the Library’s Prints and Photographs Division.

Margaret Samu, a lecturer in the Education Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will work on her postdoctoral research project titled “Russian Caricature and Art Criticism 1850-1910.” Caricature in Russian periodicals became a significant outlet for voicing opinions on the state of the art world during the turbulent period of artistic and social reforms that Samu’s study covers. She will draw on the Library’s strong holdings of Russian satirical and political periodicals in her study, the first to address caricatures on art, in contrast with most work in the field, which has focused on political caricature.

Masha Kowell, a doctoral candidate in the History of Art Department at the University of Pennsylvania, will conduct research for her dissertation “Agit-plakat: Political Posters of the Thaw (1956-1967).” Her project focuses on Soviet political satire produced by the publishing house Agit-plakat. As an official player in the process of de-Stalinization, this publisher facilitated the transformation of caricature into a vehicle for previously forbidden stylistic diversity and formal experimentation. The Library’s holdings of the Soviet humor magazine Krokodil and many Soviet posters will provide the main basis for Kowell’s comparative and contextual study of Agit-plakat iconography.

Jeremy Stoll, a Ph.D. candidate in Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University, will pursue research for his dissertation “Drawing Down the Nation: Reviving Folklore and Social Justice Through Comics in India.” Stoll will explore how contemporary Indian artists combine regional folklore with comic-book format to produce visual narratives that convey to mass audiences the urgency of social change arising from industrialization and globalization. He will study examples of recently published Indian comic books and the American roots of these works in the Library’s extensive comic-book collections.

New York advertising executive Erwin Swann (1906‑1973) established the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon in 1967. An avid collector, Swann assembled a large group of original drawings by over 500 artists, spanning two centuries, which his estate bequeathed to the Library of Congress in the 1970s. Swann's original purpose was to build a collection of original drawings by significant creators of humorous and satiric art and to encourage the study of original cartoon and caricature drawings as works of art. The foundation=s support of research and academic publication is carried out in part through a program of fellowships.

# # #

PR11-132
7/13/11
ISSN: 0731-3527

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Heroes Con panel on classic comic strips now online

Here's a panel that I moderated, but I haven't listened to the recording yet:

HeroesCon 2011: Taking over the Property-The Comic Strips
Dollar Bin podcast July 7, 2011
http://www.thedollarbin.net/shows/heroescon-2011-taking-over-the-property-the-comic-strips.html
http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/www.thedollarbin.net/storage/shows/audio/Discussion-Taking-Over-the-Property-Comic-Strips.mp3

The Comic Strips—As always, this is another great year for the classic comic strips at HeroesCon. How do you follow a cartooning legend and take those already established characters and work to make them your own? Mike Rhode will ask veteran cartoonists Jim Scancarelli (Gasoline Alley), Marcus Hamilton (Dennis the Menace), Alex Saviuk (Spider-man) and we will be joined by welcome veteran newbie: Joe Staton (Dick Tracy)

Runtime 1 hour 05 minutes 47 seconds