NPR on Afterlife with Archie; local variant editions to collect

And remember that Big Planet Comics and Game On! Comics both got special variant editions that you can buy at their stores.

World War R: New Comic Pits Archie And Friends Against The Undead

by Jody Arlington

October 18, 2013

Oct 21-22: Brian Biggs booksignings

Cartoonist turned children's book illustrator Brian Biggs will be at Hooray for Kids in Alexandria on Monday afternoon Oct 21 at 4 pm, and at Politics and Prose on Tuesday Oct 22 at 10:30 am. Here's the trailer he's made for his new book, Everything Goes: By Sea. I'm sure he'd be glad to sign your copy of Dear Julia too.

Bleeding Cool has a Washington, DC correspondent, who interviews Nobrow founder

"We Want To Print Books That Deserve To Be Printed" – The Bleeding Cool Interview With Nobrow Co-Founder Alex Spiro
October 15, 2013
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/10/15/we-want-to-print-books-that-deserve-to-be-printed-the-bleeding-cool-interview-with-nobrow-co-founder-alex-spiro/

David Dissanayake, our Washington DC Correspondent, interviews Nobrow co-founder Alex Spiro shortly after their New York office opening.

MSU Libraries reprint classic comic Tim Tyler's Luck

I'm a big fan of MSU's Comic Art Collection.

MSU Libraries' Comic Art Preservation Project releases first volume

The Michigan State University Libraries, home to one of the world's largest collections of comic art, have established the Comic Art Preservation Project (CAPP), with the goal of making classic comics more widely available to libraries, collectors, and fans.

The first CAPP volume reprints two and a half years of Tim Tyler's Luck, a Golden Age adventure strip created by Lyman Young and distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1928 to 1996. The reprint is authorized by King Features.

The reprint volume contains daily strips from July 1, 1937 to December 30, 1939, and follows young Tim as he faces wild animals, dangerous criminals, and constant excitement as a member of the "Ivory Patrol," a fictitious law enforcement organization in Africa.

The strips were scanned from original proof sheets in the collections of the Michigan State University Libraries, resulting in a clear, crisp reproduction. The MSU Libraries have more than one million proof sheets from King Features Syndicate, along with more than 200,000 comic books and an extensive collection of books and journals about comic art.

The volume also features an introduction by Reade W. Dornan, a recently retired faculty member from MSU's Department of English. In her lively essay, Dornan examines the pop culture influences of the time – including Westerns, the Rough Riders, and boys' adventure books – and compares the adventure hero Tim exemplified to the superheroes created a decade later.

"The years of Tim Tyler's Luck reissued in these volumes showcase Young's career at the top of his game," says Dornan in the introduction. "By 1937, nine years after the strip started, Young has figured out how to tell a whopping good story."

"Newspaper comic strips like Tim Tyler were – and are – read daily by millions of people, but they're virtually lost to historians if not collected into volumes like this," explains Clifford H. Haka, director of the MSU Libraries. "We're extremely happy to help preserve this wonderful piece of American popular culture."

Tim Tyler's Luck is printed on the MSU Libraries' Espresso Book Machine, and available through Amazon.com for $18 plus shipping: http://amzn.to/17L7ffK.

For more information, contact  Ruth Ann Jones, Michigan State University Libraries, 517-884-0910, jonesr@msu.edu.

Cicada: Exotic Views by Davy Shian available now

Cicada: Exotic Views by Davy Shian is available now at Big Planet Comics Bethesda. Davy owns Lulu Florist in Bethesda, around the corner from Big Planet. Davy's artist Wang Xing is a cartoonist in Taiwan. He recently answered my standard interview questions and they'll be online soon. 

Oct. 23: 'March' writers at Fantom Comics

Fantom Comics will host Rep. John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, co-authors of best-selling graphic novel March: Book One (Top Shelf Productions), on Oct. 23 from 6-7 p.m., in the East Hall of Union Station. Fantom says it will provide updates on its Facebook page.

Jeff Smith at this year's SPX video online

SPX 2013 - Jeff Smith Q&A.
Isaac Cates
SmallPressExpo Oct 15, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoUko1wOuWw

Oct 21: FIVE FANTASTIC CARTOON ILLUSTRATORS panel discussion

... also in Alexandria that day is Brian Biggs at Hooray for Kids bookstore. I think it will be possible to do both events.

Tyler Arts Life This coming Monday!!!!!! Join us for an informative panel discussion moderated by NOVA's Rachel Martin and Chris Choi with the following cartoon artists: Marty Bauman Artist at Pixar Animation Studios, and illustrator for Disney on such films as Toy Story 3 and Cars 2. Steve Conley Award-winning cartoonist, designer and co-creator of Comicon.com. His comics work includes Star Trek: Year Four, Michael Chabon's Escapist and his own self-published Astounding Space Thrills. Kevin Rechin Editorial cartoonist for USA Today, National Geographic, and the Wall Street Journal among others. Matt Wuerker POLITICO's editorial cartoonist and the winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. Tyler Gallery, Room AT-270  7-9:30 pm Current Exhibit: Five Fantastic Cartoon Artists: A Look at Art, Process, Story, and Design For more information, contact Lisa Hill ehill@nvcc.edu or Britt Conley bconley@nvcc.edu

DCist Loves Big Planet Comics

Eleven Classic Washington Stores DCist Loves
By Sarah Anne Hughes
 Oct 16, 2013
http://dcist.com/2013/10/the_11_classic_washington_stores.php

Comic Riffs on Watterson and Thompson, together again

'CALVIN' MEETS 'CUL DE SAC': Bill Watterson, Richard Thompson say they're 'happy' to share new two-man OSU show next March *(dates announced)
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comci Riffs blog October 16 2013
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/calvin-meets-cul-de-sac-bill-watterson-richard-thompson-say-theyre-happy-to-share-new-two-man-osu-show-next-march-dates-announced/2013/10/16/1a3f417c-3547-11e3-80c6-7e6dd8d22d8f_blog.html

Monkey See on Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle

Why You, Yes You, Might Enjoy A Superhero Documentary

by LINDA HOLMES

National Public Radio's Monkey See blog October 15, 2013

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2013/10/15/234837378/why-you-yes-you-might-enjoy-a-superhero-documentary

, 

Oct 17: Seth Goldman at One More Page Books

Cold War and 10-year olds, The Founding of Honest Tea & Young Adult Authors Talk Writing Every event this week is someone's favorite!                              October 15, 2013

Thurs, Oct 17 at 7 pm
Seth Goldman - Mission in a Bottle

Terry says this is "don't miss" and bought me the book. We'll both be on hand to hear Honest Tea co-founder Seth Goldman discuss Mission in a Bottle: The Honest Guide to Doing Business Differently-and Succeeding.

"An utterly engrossing story of the frustrations and ecstasies involved in transforming a simple idea into a hugely successful business. Anyone who has ever been curious about the inner-workings of a start-up will find this intimate account both refreshing and--need it be said?--honest." Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein

Remember, in addition to street parking, there is limited retail parking available in the WestLee garage while you are shopping at One More Page.  Follow the store signs to our back door, ring the buzzer and we'll welcome you in. 

We are 6 blocks from the East Falls Church Metro!  Go to the right as you exit the Metro station and then go right on 19th Street.  As the road curves, the name changes from 19th street to N. Westmoreland Street. Our store is on the left hand side of the street.  Click here for directions from the Metro or if you are coming by car. 

Please call (703) 300-9746 or Email if you have any questions.  

Oct. 17, 19: Hondros at Artisphere

Cartoonist Art Hondros is this week's resident artist at the D.C. Conspiracy's Comics Making Workshop at the Artisphere in Rosslyn, Va. He will be at the Works In Progress Gallery Oct. 17 from about 6:30-9:30 p.m. and on Oct. 19 from 1-4 p.m. Art has had a hot year, having self-published several comics, contributed a comic to the Washington Post Magazine, illustrated the cover to Magic Bullet #6 and most recently started working with former local cartoonist Scott Mills on an online comic about Ivan the Terrible.

A page from Hondros' Song of Sandy Hook

Local reporting on Syrian cartoonist Akram Raslan

Akram Raslan reported dead.
Dr. Robert Russell
10/07/2013
http://www.cartoonistsrights.org/recent_developments_article.php?id=110

Akram Raslan: Rights group clarifies report that Syrian political cartoonist was executed
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog October 13 2013
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/akram-raslan-rights-group-clarifies-report-that-syrian-political-cartoonist-was-executed/2013/10/13/7f0ed88a-3478-11e3-80c6-7e6dd8d22d8f_blog.html#pagebreak

Mark Burrier's New Exhibition: "Chosen" at Frederick Community College

Nov 2 - Dec 3, 2013 at Frederick Community College View this email in your browser Chosen Illustrations & Comics Mark Burrier Nov 2 - Dec 3, 2013 Opening Reception Saturday, Nov 2 from 5-7pm Mary Condon Hodgson Art Gallery Frederick Community College 7932 Opossumtown Pike, Frederick, MD 21702 Campus Directions Share Tweet Forward to Friend Copyright © 2013 Mark Burrier Illustration, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up at www.markburrier.com Our mailing address is: Mark Burrier Illustration Mark Burrier Illustration Frederick, MD 21701

Thoughts on Superheroes: A Never Ending Battle part 3 (airing tonight)

Thanks to WETA, I've gotten an advance look at the new 3-part documentary Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle directed by Michael Kantor who co-wrote it with Laurence Maslon.

Part 3, “A Hero Can Be Anyone” (1978-Present), is largely about how superheroes have moved from being entertainment for children to being popular culture for adults. It opens with highlights from the Avengers movie, noting that it was the third highest grossing movie of all time. The San Diego Comic-Con is visited next, showing plenty of quick interviews with adult cosplayers rather than comic book fans.



The documentary then steps back to the 1970s and the lack of trust in government due to Richard Nixon. In this telling, the release of Superman: The Movie in 1978 inspired people, especially with its tagline "You'll believe a man can fly." Several comic book writers point out that Christopher Reeves' great dual performance as Clark Kent and Superman, and the use of romantic situations were the thing that made the movie work more than the special effects. Superman: The Movie also led to a campaign to compensate and credit Siegel and Shuster for their creation, and Kantor covers this in some detail.

Meanwhile comic book sales continued to drop (and as noted in my second review, the creation of the direct market is not mentioned here either). Marvel pulled one of the early stunts by having Spider-Man get married, although former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada notes that once you've started time passing, when does it end? Should Spider-Man grow old? It's not mentioned in the film, but Quesada believes not, and retconned Spider-Man's marriage out of existence with a literal deal with the devil.

Frank Miller's tour-de force Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) is the next highlight, and is held up as the first adult superhero comic book. Comic book and television writer J. Michael Straczynski called the comic book about an aging Batman "the most seminal work in the field today" and I agree. Mark Waid then notes that 1986 saw another seminal work, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's Watchmen. Watchmen took the opposite approach to B:TDKR, and looked at the issues of vigilante justice and fascism inherent in superheroes.

Marvel's new X-Men pre-dated these two comics, but are introduced next. The multicultural and multiracial cast is held up as a model in which anyone could find a character or situation to relate to. Gay comics artist Phil Jiminez explicitly states the comic was "a most amazing metaphor for young gay people." The similar success of Marv Wolfman and George Perez's New Teen Titans is not mentioned at all however.

The film segues into the reworking of Spider-Man by artist Todd McFarlane and the subsequent formation of Image Comics by hotshot young enegade artists. McFarlane's interview segments are among the most entertaining in this segment. The Death of Superman is then examined as another highlight drawing media attention, but also as beginning of the bursting of the collectible bubble as people bought multiple copies as investments.

Kantor argues that the "grim and gritty era was ending" by this point, which I disagree with, and the film says that 9-11 ended that type of comic story which began in Dark Knight Returns fifteen years earlier. Marvel's 9-11 comic book is shown (although DC's is not), and then the Civil War story line is featured. This long and wide story put superheroes led by Captain America and Iron Man on opposite sides of a government-sponsored initiative to keep track of superheroes. DC's Batman movies directed by Christopher Nolan are also cited as a response to America's post-9-11 angst - convincingly I believe.

The film then circles back to fun and 'sexy' movies such as Spider-Man. Zach Snyder states that such movies are keeping superheroes alive when comic books can't, and Grant Morrison claims that videogames will be the future. The film ends optimistically of course - it's about superheroes.

All 3 parts of the documentary air locally on WETA at 8 pm tonight.   Previews and outtakes can be seen on Youtube.


Images courtesy of Grand Comics Database.

The Post reviews ‘Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle’ which airs tonight

PBS' 'Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle' shows comics as uniquely American stories

By Michael Cavna, 

Washington Post October 15 2013

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/pbs-superheroes-a-never-ending-battle-shows-comics-as-uniquely-american-stories/2013/10/14/743a9b44-350c-11e3-be86-6aeaa439845b_story.html

Catherine Labonte's cartoon-influenced glass cats

are on sale at the Phillips Collection gift shop. Dogs too.

Mike's flea market finds, continued

Because everyone needs a set of Family Circus buttons from Burger Chef.



I don't even like Family Guy, but I rescued them from the 6 for $1 bin.



These are all brand-new in 2013. Zodiac Starforce webcomic, animator Raul Aguirre Jr, and Halloween Comicfest 2013 buttons. Zodiac Starforce is done by local creators out of Big Planet Vienna.

And here's what I'm happiest to have found. My second Daumier print from the AAFSW book sale at the State Dept.



"C'est pourtant comme ça qu'on se donne des tours de reins!....... "
From Le Charivari August 28, 1868. "This is just the way to catch a strain in the back." See http://www.daumier-register.org/werkview.php?key=3658

Thoughts on Superheroes: A Never Ending Battle part 2

Thanks to WETA, I've gotten an advance look at the new 3-part documentary Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle directed by Michael Kantor who co-wrote it with Laurence Maslon.

“Great Power, Great Responsibility” covers 1959-1977, two time periods termed by fans as the Silver and Bronze ages. The Silver Age is considered starting when DC reintroduces its Golden Age heroes such as the Flash and Green Lantern in new, science-fiction themed identities. The Bronze Age begins roughly by Jack Kirby's leaving Marvel for DC, and Stan Lee stopping writing in favor of promotion. The merging of the two periods is somewhat uneven.

Fewer key creators appear in this segment, and include Stan Lee, Neal Adams, Denny O'Neil, Len Wein, and Gerry Conway.

Jarringly, Marvel's early 1960s books are discussed before the DC comics that made them possible. Received wisdom is that the Fantastic Four was conceived as a response to DC's success with the Justice League of America. Whether that's true or not, DC certainly reinvented the superhero before Marvel did. Instead the film opens with Marvel, switches back in time to DC and then jumps forward to 1966's camp Batman tv show. Marvel universe co-creators Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko are also given short-shrift.

From there, while noting DC's comic books withering on the vine when the show is cancelled, director Michael Kantor moves on to socially relevant comics such as Marvel's introduction of the African prince the Black Panther. Unfortunately, more credit may be given to introducing characters including  Luke Cage, Hero for Hire and the Panther than is deserved. But Bill Foster's commentary, as a black man reading comics, is at this point and is fun to watch, and I'll defer to his viewpoint.


Comics slowly-growing social relevance is tracked via the use of an issue of Spider-Man to warn against drugs, even though the Comic Code Authority wouldn't approve it. DC followed that up with an issue of Green Lantern / Green Arrow by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams that had Arrow's superhero sidekick Speedy as a heroin addict. The section on GL/GA is among the best in this segment, and includes some old film footage of the creators talking about the series at the time. Another good section is Jim Steranko's take on how he reinvigorated Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. DC's attempt to depower and do something similar with Wonder Woman is held up as a triumph of feminism, but the comic books sold miserably at the time. Her successful television show (1976-1979), and commentary by Linda Carter round this section out.

Kantor then moves achronologically again, and switches to a "backlash" against sunny and optimistic superheroes while the real streets of New York are mean and gritty. The death of Spider-Man's girlfriend Gwen Stacy (1973) and the introduction of the Punisher (1974) are held up as examples. The Punisher gets more cultural significance than he deserves - as the film points out, characters such as Dirty Harry had already been successful in movies. Comic books were just following a trend, as usual. The character didn't really take off until the late 1970s when Frank Miller reworked him in Daredevil, and then he truly boomed during the 1980s grim-and-gritty years. Issues from the same year have Spider-Man driving a Spidey-mobile and fighting a hopping villain called the Kangeroo.

The change from newsstand sales to direct market sales in comic book stores occurred in this time period, and is arguably the most important factor in sustaining superheroes, but I don't believe it was mentioned. Overall this episode probably tries to cover too much time in a period when comic books changed a lot. I still enjoyed the show, especially the creator interviews.

All 3 parts of the documentary air locally on WETA at 8 pm on October 15th.  

Images courtesy of Grand Comics Database.