Tuesday, September 08, 2015

PR: KREMOS: Lost Art of Niso Ramponi / SPX 2015 [Lost Art Books]

▪ ▪ KREMOS: Lost Art of Niso Ramponi Vols. 1 & 2 ▪ ▪ Lost Art Books celebrates fifth year at Small Press Expo ▪ ▪ Forthcoming No. 8 – September 2015

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▪ KREMOS: Lost Art of Niso Ramponi Vols. 1 & 2

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▪ Lost Art Books celebrates fifth year at Small Press Expo

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▪ Forthcoming

No. 8 – September 2015

KREMOS: Lost Art of Niso Ramponi, Vols. 1 & 2

World's first Kremos collection available now!

Lost Art Books publishes the first collection of its sort anywhere in the world: a grand two-volume set on Niso Ramponi (1924–2002), covering the Italian cartoonist and animator's entire career. As part of the ongoing Lost Art Books imprint, Kremos: The Lost Art of Niso Ramponi was a decade in the making and represents the publisher's ninth collection of never-before-reprinted art.

Although Ramponi worked under numerous names—Kremos, Niso, Nys O'Ramp—he occupies a singular space as Italy's premiere pin-up cartoonist. From the mid-1940s through the early 1960s, Ramponi's work was everywhere. In an Allied-occupied Rome, Ramponi and future film legend Federico Fellini industriously set up shop, collaborating on caricatures to sell to American soldiers (Ramponi worked out the backgrounds, and Fellini filled in the likenesses). Capitalizing on Ramponi's war-time career in television animation, the pair parlayed their skills and experience into a collaboration on an animated featurette for Roberto Rossellini's film Rome, Open City (1945).

Watch the Kremos video!

By the late 1940s, Ramponi found himself in high demand as a movie-poster artist for the likes of Walt Disney and as a gag cartoonist and cover artist for some of Italy's more irreverent satirical magazines. It was in these sometimes-confiscated periodicals that Ramponi made his name drawing some of the world's best "good girl" art for over a decade. As contemporary cartoonist Jerry Carr describes in Volume 2's foreword, "Kremos's work reminds us of the layouts of Hank Ketcham, the polish of Bill Ward, the humor of Dan DeCarlo, and the grace of Jack Cole—while exemplifying something entirely original." Eventually, however, beautifully drawn covers were slowly displaced by photography on the newsstands, and in the mid-1960s Ramponi returned to working in animation for the remainder of his career.

Benefiting from careful restoration, Volume 1 collects over 200 of Kremos's bodacious black and white cartoons and illustrations and is fronted by a 6,000-word introduction by Ramponi's friend and current-day animator, Mario Verger. Volume 2 adds 250 curvaceous color comics and covers to the set, with a foreword by contemporary comic artist Jerry Carr. Combined, these volumes offer nearly 500 examples of his work and a comprehensive overview of a maverick artist at the height of his powers.

Vol. 1: $27.95 • 200 pp. • B&W • paper • ISBN: 978-0-9906932-3-9
Vol. 2: $34.95 • 260 pp. • Color • paper • ISBN: 978-0-9906932-4-6

PRE-ORDER COMBO SPECIAL

Volumes 1 & 2 Pre-Order: $49.95 (Retail: $62.90)

PUBLICATION DATE: October 2015
To reward our early supporters we are offering the two-volume set at a pre-order discount. Amazon's recent policies for book publishers of all sizes, including this one, make it impossible for us to offer these books to Amazon for distribution. Pre-orders will ship in October. Thanks in advance for your continued support.

Lost Art Books celebrates fifth year at Small Press Expo

Find us at table #M7 at the Small Press Expo!

Lost Art Books made its debut at the Small Press Expo in 2010 launching with three titles right out of the gate. We haven't missed a show since, and this year we will debut our latest release, Kremos: The Lost Art of Niso Ramponi, Vols. 1 & 2 (we're air shipping some advanced copies from the printer just for the SPX faithful). We'll also have the full line of Lost Art Books releases available at the show, as well as the usual convention-only items we bring along, like the Lost Art Chapbooks, t-shirts, and limited-edition posters and prints. Stop by and introduce yourself...meeting all of you is our favorite part of exhibiting at these shows!

Click above for a PDF of the SPX map!

Forthcoming

The Lost Art of Dan Smith

Another book that has been years in the making, Lost Art Books is proud to officially announce our most ambitious project yet, The Lost Art of Dan Smith. This massive tome will include hundreds of pieces by this unsung master reproduced from original art, proof sheets, and meticulously restored newspapers and books. We are working closely with Smith's only known descendants not only to provide a wealth of beautiful art but also to weave together a tapestry of an artist's life that has been shrouded in obscurity. Look for more information in future newsletters or on our website.
Spring 2016

The Lost Art of Ethel Hays

Foreword by Trina Robbins / Essay by Katherine Roeder

Hundreds of beautifully rendered pen-and-ink drawings from this pioneering flapper-era cartoonist.

Spring 2016

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Publishers Joe and Ellen

Please help us spread the word!

Most of our resources go toward producing our books, with little left for paid promotion and advertising. It means the world to us when you share our videos, pictures, and this newsletter with your friends on social media. Lost Art Books needs you! Thanks for anything and everything!

Picture This Press is dedicated to broadening the appreciation and awareness of artists who work in the fields of illustration, cartooning, graphic arts, photography, and poster design. Picture This Press founder Joseph Procopio and co-publisher Ellen Levy have a combined 40 years of publishing experience as writers, managing editors, and publications directors for a variety of organizations.

Lost Art Books, the award-winning flagship series from Picture This Press, collects and preserves the works of illustrators and cartoonists from the first half of the 20th century. Too many of these artists have gone underappreciated for too long, with much of their work uncollected or unexamined for decades, if at all. The Lost Art Books series aims to preserve this cultural heritage by re-introducing these past masters to new generations of working artists, historians, and admirers of things beautiful.

Monday, September 07, 2015

Oct 19: Cartoons for Victory at Busboys and Poets

From http://www.politics-prose.com/event/book/busboys-and-poets-takoma-warren-bernard-cartoons-victory

@ Busboys and Poets Takoma: Warren Bernard - Cartoons for Victory

Monday, October 19, 2015 at 6:30 p.m.

Busboys and Poets Takoma

235 Carroll Street NW

WashingtonDC20012

Cartoons for Victory (Hardcover)

By Warren Bernard, Bob Dole (Introduction by)

$34.99

9781606998229

Q&A: Goldfield on 'Captive of Friendly Cove'

Rebecca Goldfield is a local documentary film producer who recently has ventured into the world of graphic novels and comics to tell her stories. This week, her first graphic novel, Captive of Friendly Cove: Based on the Secret Journal of John Jewitt (Fulcrum Publishing) its bookstores. A summary of the story: After his ship is burned and his shipmates killed, British sailor John Jewitt lived for nearly three years as a captive of the Mowachaht people, a Native American tribe on the west coast of Vancouver Island. During his captivity, Jewitt kept journals of his experiences and of tribal life. Follow his adventures as he plies his skills as a blacksmith, saves the life of his only remaining crew member, and comes up with a strategy to free them both.

Later this month, Goldfield will be signing at the Small Press Expo in Rockville, Md.

Below, Goldfield answers a few questions about Captive. (Editor’s note: Matt Dembicki, who conducting this Q&A, inked Captive.)

How did you come up this story? What was it that grabbed your interest?

I was living in Vancouver BC and was in Horseshoe Bay one day, when I discovered this whacky little shop--a combination post office-candy counter-bookstore. I was soon poking through a creaky rotating rack that displayed just a handful of books--and one turned out to be John Jewitt’s journals. I thought it was a great story; a sympathetic young protagonist sets out alone to make his way in the world and suddenly finds himself caught up in an historical conflict he had no idea existed. His personal story was that he was injured in a bloody massacre aboard his ship and then spent several years having to survive both physically and mentally in the wilderness, as a slave in a culture that was utterly alien to him. But the larger story is the conflict between the native world and the explorers and traders of the time and that gave it another whole dimension.

Of all the ways to tell this story—a prose short story, article, documentary, etc.—why did you decide to make it a graphic novel?

Part of it was a matter of my own background, having produced and written TV documentaries for so long, it just felt natural to choose another visual medium. But as I read the source material I found a great adventure story that was a bit buried in descriptions of daily life, of rituals, of hunting techniques, of migratory patterns. I thought the art could very effectively depict those elements as well as action sequences, and even emotion, while I as a writer could focus more on building the characters and structuring plot and creating dialogue and narration.

You previously wrote a short story for the comics anthology District Comics, but this is your first longer comics project. What were your impressions about the process, from researching and writing, to collaborating with the artists?

I had absolutely no idea of the scope of what I was undertaking. I went from having never created a single panel to committing to a full length graphic novel and the learning curve was about as steep as they come. I was used to writing for film but despite the similarities, I soon learned that producing a graphic novel is its own art form, one that plays out in space, not time, as film does. And structuring a story that took place over several years, a number of locations, different seasons, many characters, all taking place in an environment and culture that was new to me--it was a lot to figure out. My wonderful artists were incredibly generous about letting me, a novice, take the lead--teaching me as we went--because I had a lot to learn. I’m sure they rolled their eyes often.

This is a historical graphic novel. What was the hardest part of researching it? Did you reach out to any of the descendants of the people in the story?

Research is always the most pleasurable part of any project for me, and I could not have been happier reading every book I could find on the contact period in the Pacific Northwest, and speaking with historians, anthropologists and museum curators. The hard part was connecting with the Mowachaht people themselves---it took a very long time for anyone to really talk to me. After all, they’d been living very successfully in the area for thousands of years, John was there for under three and so was not even a footnote to a footnote in their history. Ultimately, though, I did spend a wonderful day in Yuquot (Friendly Cove) and found the people to be extraordinarily open and willing to share their collective memories of John and contribute their perspectives. And though the story is told through our protagonist’s point of view, I did get some of that in.

Who is the target audience for this book? Do you envision it being used in classrooms?

It is targeted to middle school students and older, and yes, the hope is that it will be used in schools and libraries. It’s a great, true adventure story, with memorable characters and a dramatic historical conflict. I think it will appeal to young adults and not so young adults as well. Hope so, anyway!

Saturday, September 05, 2015

Graphic novels live at Library of Congress book festival

Michael David Thomas of SPX, Michael Cavna, Keith Knight, Lalo Alcaraz and Scott Stantis.

Peter de Seve at Library of Congress book festival now

Friday, September 04, 2015

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "'Progressive' Sanders Loves Him Some Drones"

From Mike Flugennock:

"Progressive" Sanders Loves Him Some Drones
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=1780

I was just checking out this short article in The Hill today about Pwogwessive hero Bernie Sanders and his declaration that he wouldn't end the US drone warfare program. Can somebody please tell me again why I should so much as lift a finger to support this brazen hypocrite? Check this out:

"I think we have to use drones very, very selectively and effectively. That has not always been the case," Sanders said.

No shit, Sherlock. Christ, is this clown really the Great Progressive Hope? Are you friggin' kidding me, man?

"What you can argue is that there are times and places where drone attacks have been effective," he added.

Oh, yeah, especially against weddings, funerals and schools. Now we know why Bernie doesn't spend much time discussing foreign policy, and prefers to keep beating the shit out of that old economic inequality riff. If Pwogwessive America found out too much too soon, they'd bolt the Donkeycratic Party and run like the place was on fire.

Basically, what we're got here is a warmed-over Obama, with the economic inequality rhetoric dialed up a notch or two for all the gullible bougie pwogwessives. Dude had to be dragged kicking and screaming into addressing the ongoing police reign of terror against Black America, and he'd probably still be ignoring the issue if #BlackLivesMatter hadn't publicly gotten all up in his shit about it.

This doorknob needs to stop referring to his sheepdog campaign as a goddamn' "revolution". It's really offensive.

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/252270-sanders-i-wouldnt-end-drone-program

________________________________________________________________
Mike Flugennock, flugennock at sinkers dot org
Mike's Political Cartoons: dubya dubya dubya dot sinkers dot org

Comic Riffs' pre-National Book Festival interviews

National Book Festival: Are you 'cynical' and 'twisted'? Stephan 'Pearls' Pastis wants you.

By Michael Cavna September 4 2015
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/09/04/national-book-festival-are-you-cynical-twisted-stephan-pearls-pastis-wants-you/

National Book Festival: Miss Lasko-Gross enchantingly taps the art of our unease

By Michael Cavna September 4 2015
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/09/04/national-book-festival-miss-lasko-gross-enchantingly-taps-the-art-of-our-unease/

National Book Festival: Pioneer Trina Robbins ever a vital voice for women creators

By Michael Cavna September 4 2015
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/09/04/national-book-festival-pioneer-trina-robbins-ever-a-vital-voice-for-women-creators/

ED. NOTE: Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Comic Riffs will host and emcee the Graphic Novel Night pavilion at the Library of Congress's National Book Festival. The participating cartoonists will include Lalo Alcaraz, Keith Knight, Miss Lasko-Gross, Diane Noomin, Stephan Pastis and Scott Stantis.

Jennifer Holm at Hooray for Books

Today: Jennifer Holm in Alexandria

Editorializing here - this is one of my favorite graphic novels of the year so far. I'm going to this signing. - Mike

Friday, September 4th at 4 pm: Join us for an exclusive sit-down with Newbery honoree Jennifer Holm! She will drop by to chat and sign copies of her new graphic novel, Sunny Side Up, on her way to the National Book Festival on Saturday, September 5th. Her new graphic novel is a collaboration with her brother, Matthew Holm, with whom she co-wrote the ALA Notable Children's Book and Gryphon Award-winning graphic novel series Babymouse.

Following the lives of kids whose older brother's delinquent behavior has thrown their family into chaos, Sunny Side Up is at once a compelling "problem" story and a love letter to the comic books that help the protagonist make sense of her world.

EW.com on Frank Cho's new Hulk series

Marvel reveals Amadeus Cho as Totally Awesome Hulk

Editor-In-Chief Axel Alonso promises that, "come December, arguably the strongest character in the Marvel Universe is going to be Asian-American."

by Andrea Towers

EW.com September 4 2015

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/04/marvel-amadeus-cho-totally-awesome-hulk

And they appear to be jettisoning some of their extraneous characters:

"But I also want to say that he will be the only Hulk in the Marvel Universe. He will be the Hulk, the green Hulk, that will be him. Just like there’s one Thor in the Marvel Universe and she’s a she, there is one Hulk and it is Amadeus Cho."

But apparently "only" has a different meaning in Marvel-land:

"Amadeus is the main character of course, She-Hulk is right there in the very first issue — she’s got a great and big role to play in the first few issues."

Sept 17: Frederik Peeters in Takoma

Busboys and Poets Takoma: Frederik Peeters - Aama: 4. You Will Be Glorious, My Daughter

Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 6:30 p.m.

Peeters, the Geneva-based graphic novelist, has won world-wide acclaim for Blue Pills and Pachyderme, and was awarded the Best Series Prize at Angoul'me for the first two volumes of his four-book Aama. Set in the distant future, the series began with Verloc, his brother Conrad, and a cigar-smoking robotic monkey named Churchill. Rejecting the technology he feels destroys old values like humanity and beauty, Verloc, with his companions, travels across the galaxy in an attempt to recover the mysterious biorobotic experiment known as aama. As the quest continues on the planet Ona(ji), which aama has populated with biorobotic creatures, the expedition dwindles to a single man: can Verloc alone, himself radically transformed, regain control of aama? Peeters will be in conversation with Sam Marx, Exhibitor Coordinator at the Small Press Expo.

Busboys and Poets Takoma

235 Carroll Street NW

Washington DC 20012

Cache of Grandma Rose's vintage NJ landscape paintings is Hagenized

For Immediate Release

Local artist and cartoonist David Hagen has undertaken the delicate and time-consuming process of "Hagenizing" a newly-revealed cache of vintage paintings from Northern New Jersey. The paintings were done from the late 1950s through the early 1970s by the mysterious Grandma Rose's. Largely a collection of landscapes, with a few still lifes known, the paintings by themselves capture the hallucinatory reality of the world made famous in Bruce Springsteen songs.

"I was pleased to be able to rescue these oddly-moving paintings from a house that was about to be demolished, and to place them with such a distinguished and groundbreaking modern artist to be safely and proudly Hagenized," said ComicsDC publisher Mike Rhode.

After a careful study of the work, Hagen applies his own particular brand of restoration to each painting, resulting in a new and improved masterwork. With about 50 paintings to work through, Hagen anticipates his production to be slow, but just in time for the holiday shopping season. The first painting, seen here in before and after versions, debuts tomorrow at the Civitan Flea Market in Arlington, VA.

Keep following this breaking story as there's more to come.

DISCLAIMER: ComicsDC's Mike Rhode provided the paintings to Hagen for free, and is not making any money from his reuse of them (but is enjoying it).

Sept. 30, 2015: Second painting is revealed.