Friday, August 08, 2014

Fandom Comics atypical crowdfunding campaign

Fandom Comics has launched an Indiegogo campaign "Help Fantom Comics Bring New Fans Into Comics". They note, "We're a small comic book shop in DC looking to do extensive outreach and we need the funds to do it!"

Honestly, I'm not sure about this, but if you're interested, click through.

The Post reviews the new TMNT movie

'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' movie review:
Megan Fox and reptilian sidekicks

By Sandie Angulo Chen Washington Post August 8 2014

This also ran in today's Express newspaper.

Sept 6: Gownley, Roman and Telgemeier at Politics and Prose

Jimmy Gownley - The Dumbest Idea Ever!, Dave Roman - Astronaut Academy: Re-entry, and Raina Telgemeier - Sisters

Sep 6 2014 3:30 pm

BYT on Fantom Comics

The local blog Brightest Young Things profiles the new location of Fantom Comics in Dupont Circle: “While finishing touches are still being done, Fantom retains the qualities that made it popular. They foster a welcoming environment, where everyone (even women and newbies) are accepted into the comic book community.” Read more.

Photo: BYT

Thursday, August 07, 2014

Comic Riffs talks to Rutu Modan

SHELFIES: Revisiting Rutu Modan's new Eisner winner: Post-Holocaust longings in 'The Property'

By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog August 7 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2014/08/07/shelfies-revisiting-rutu-modans-new-eisner-winner-post-holocaust-longings-in-the-property/

8/9: Tom King at Third Eye Comics

Saturday 8/9/14

11AM-1PM

at THIRD EYE ANNAPOLIS

Click here for event info on FACEBOOK.

First 30 in line receive a FREE gift!

Signing from 11AM-1PM!

Hello Third Eye Faithful!

You guys know us -- we're huge fans of NIGHTWING, and hot damn, we know you guys are too!

So, when we found out that the rising star writer behind the hit new DC Comics series, GRAYSON, would be able to pop by Third Eye and sign copies of his incredible new ongoing series starring the one and only DICK GRAYSON -- we had to make it happen!

This Saturday, we're totally pumped to have Tom King in-store to sign copies of GRAYSON #1 & #2, as we celebrate the release of this past Wednesday's GRAYSON #2!

We'll also have plenty of Tom's own NIGHTWING #30 on hand, which is the perfect set-up issue for GRAYSON, as it concludes the NIGHTWING run and sets the stage for what's happening now!

Make sure to line up early, and score yourself a super cool piece of free swag!

We know a lot of you guys are excited about this one (because hey, Nightwing fans are LEGION!), so we're super pumped to see you all bright and early Saturday morning for the fun!

Click here to for the info on the event on FACEBOOK.

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Skip Williamson documentary coming soon

Local cartoonist and filmmaker John Kinhart has a teaser for his upcoming documentary “Pigheaded” about underground comix artist Skip Williamson. The documentary will include appearances by Jay Lynch, Kim Deitch, Cayetano Garza Jr., Stephen Bissette, Robert W. Cox and Patrick Rosenkranz, according to Kinhart. (Folks, this looks amazing!)

Click on image to see trailer

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Sept. 4-7: Marvel Universe LIVE!

Marvel Universe LIVE! hits the Verizon Center Sept. 4-7.

From the press release: “To defeat Loki, Marvel’s biggest Super Heroes must band together, including The Avengers - Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor along with Spider-Man and Wolverine, must trek across the globe to retrieve the Cosmic Cube fragments and unite them. As the Super Heroes track the Cube, they will encounter some of their biggest adversaries including Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Red Skull, Madame Hydra, Aldrich Killian, Electro and more, in the quest for the very same fragments. These foes have no problem teaming up if it gets them closer to their ultimate goal of world domination.”

Photo: Feld Entertainment

PSA: Help support Asian comics at Michigan State University's Comic Art Collection UPDATED

Asian Comics Cataloging at Michigan State University

reprinted from Insight May 2014 - http://img.lib.msu.edu/giving/insight/Insight_May2014.pdf

"I always recommend the MSU Comic Art Collection to fellow comic researchers since it is the world's most comprehensive and internationally oriented collection in the field." Matthias Harbeck, doctoral candidate, Carl von Ossietzky Universität, Oldenburg, Germany

Help make our Asian comics accessible!

Comics are truly a global phenomenon, and an important goal of our Comic Art Collection is to document how cultures around the world have adopted and transformed the medium.

That's why our collection ranges from Golden Age adventure strips to South American fotonovelas, and from Japanese manga to a nearly complete run of THE 99 – the world's first comic series with Muslim superheroes.

However, it's not enough to acquire these diverse materials. It's essential to catalog them as well, so users near and far can determine what we have available.

Thanks to recent gifts, we have far more Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese comics waiting to be cataloged than we can handle – even with the broad range of language skills among the cataloging team!

Fortunately, help is available. We can send the work to an outside contractor, Backstage, which performs research-level cataloging in some 70 different languages. Backstage can complete about 150 of the most needed items for $5000 – and we have already have a generous gift of $1000 to start us off.

The Comic Art Collection is heavily used by MSU students and faculty working in the fields of history, literature, and cultural studies. Help us support their research by putting more Asian comics on the shelf!

Below is a link to a giving page that allows one to make a donation to support the cataloging of our Asian Comics. Thanks for your interest and help with this project.

https://givingto.msu.edu/gift/?sid=1625

Paul Pope visits the Washington Post

PAUL POPE: With 'Escapo' and 'Battling Boy,' 2014 Eisner winner deftly blends the old with the new

By Michael Cavna Washington Post Comic Riffs blog August 5 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2014/08/05/paul-pope-with-escapo-and-battling-boy-2014-eisner-winner-deftly-blends-the-old-with-the-new/

Aug 5: Despicable Me 2 in DC at NoMa

Tonight: Despicable Me 2;
National Night Out

Join us tonight, August 5 for a screening of Despicable Me 2 at Family Film Night! Free food and water courtesy of Harris Teeter will be provided for the first 100 people at 7 PM. This free outdoor movie series takes place in the plaza at L and First Streets, NW. Please note that this is a different location than the NoMa Summer Screen field. The film will start at 8:30 PM.

Sunday, August 03, 2014

That darn Jim Morin

Offensive cartoon caricaturing Muslims is no laughing matter [in print as Unflattering depictions of the war in Gaza].
Gerald Serotta, Chevy Chase
Washington Post August 2 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/unflattering-depictions-of-the-gaza-war/2014/08/01/5cbe9108-1659-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747_story.html

SPX 2014 Guest Announcement

SPX 2014 GUEST ANNOUNCEMENT

Hey Everyone,

This year is SPX's 20th birthday (one more year and we can drink!!). So in the name of having a party to remember we've rounded up a bunch of great guests to help us celebrate, and a special theme for this years show.

The SPX 2014 Particulars:

Be sure to come to SPX 2014 September 13-14 at our normal place, the North Bethesda Marriott Conference Center across from the White Flint Metro station.

Admission is: $15 Saturday, Sept. 13 / $10 Sunday, Sept. 14 / $20 for both days.

Only 9 more weeks, and we are excited already!!

But, per the title of this note, you were promised guests!

So here goes!

A Salute to the Great Alt-Weekly Cartoonists:

Now, everyone has read about the slow death of the alt-weekly newspaper. Well, the alt-weekly world has given a number of cartoonists their first start, and to celebrate, we have gathered the largest group of alt-weekly cartoonists ever assembled. Check out this list of alt-weekly cartooning dignitaries:

Jules Feiffer!
Lynda Barry!!
Charles Burns!!!
Jen Sorensen!!!!
Derf!!!!!
Shannon Wheeler!!!!!!
Ben Katchor!!!!!!!
Tom Tomorrow!!!!!!!!

SPX First-Timers:

We also have coming to the show a bunch of people that have never been to SPX before, and we are totally stoked they are gonna be here:

Emily Carroll!
Brandon Graham!!
Drew Friedman!!!
Robert Mankoff!!!!

Featured International Guests:

And coming to SPX from foreign lands across the vast oceans:

Simon Hansleman!
Aisha Franz!!

The Best of Independent Comics

Because the above are not enough for you, we also have some of the coolest indie comics people In The Universe joining us as special guests:

Box Brown!
Michael DeForge!!
Renee French!!!
John Porcellino!!!!
Roman Muradov!!!!!
Nick Abadzis!!!!!!
Raina Telgemeier!!!!!!!
Ben Hatke!!!!!!!!
Jillian Tamaki!!!!!!!!!

OMG!!!!!

Here at SPX Galactic HQ, our heads are exploding over all the cool creators who will be at the show.

We will have updates on Debuts, programming, table layout, and other stuff over the next 2 months.

Off to get mops to clean up the exploded heads.

We'll be seeing you!

Mike, Eden, Sam, Sarah, Catherine, Bill, Greg, Dan, Charles, John, Nate, Joe, Rusty, Tom and Warren

Want to lend a helping hand?

We could sure use your help to spread the word about SPX 2014! Click here to download a printable copy of John Porcellino's flyer for the show and share it wherever the indy comics faithful may gather in your hood!