Friday, April 01, 2016

Apr. 17: Charles Ross’ ONE MAN DARK KNIGHT: A BATMAN PARODY

http://www.birchmere.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/rsz_batman_tab_poster.jpg

Sun. Apr. 17: Charles Ross' ONE MAN DARK KNIGHT: A BATMAN PARODY -7:30pm- $35.00

Why so serious? From the madmen behind One Man Star Wars and One Man Lord of the Rings comes an irreverent parody and homage to the Dark Knight Trilogy. Two-faced super-nerd, Charles Ross, lovingly tears Christopher Nolan's masterpiece a new one in his new One Man Dark Knight: A Batman Parody. No costumes, no sets, no Batmobiles, Ross takes you on a one-hour comedic joyride, from Batman's origins to his epic battles against Gotham's super-villains. Hold onto your utility belt!

Written and Performed by Charles Ross

Directed by TJ Dawe

Interview on Disney Alice in Wonderland exhibit in Baltimore

Matt Crandall: Disney's Alice in Wonderland at GEM

Scoop April 1 2016
http://scoop.previewsworld.com/Home/4/1/73/1018?ArticleID=176824

Al Jaffee passes Herblock in professional longevity, but what about Hirschfeld?

When I saw this story, I wondered about Herblock's career's length.

AL JAFFEE SETS RECORD FOR LONGEST CAREER AS A COMICS ARTIST

As He Celebrates 95th Birthday

by Milton Griepp on April 1, 2016
http://icv2.com/articles/news/view/34112/al-jaffee-sets-record-longest-career-comics-artist

Herb "Herblock" Block worked as an editorial cartoonist from 1929-2001, for 72 years. Jaffee definitely worked longer with over 73 months and counting.

However, I think Al Hirschfeld's tenure still beats Jaffee's. According to the Library of Congress, "In fact, Hirschfeld's first published caricature was for a Warner Brothers film in April 1925; his first theatrical drawing appeared in December 1926." Hirschfeld was still working for the New York Times when he died in January 2003. This would be either 77 years and 9 months (from the poster), or 78 years in newspapers, but either of them beat Jaffee's "record of 73 years and three months" unless one defines a comics artist as working only in comic books.

However Al Jaffee is still alive, so more power to him.

April 3: Victory Comics store event

Courtesy of Colin at http://www.conventionscene.com/2016/03/25/va-living-boy-signing/

00000000-The Only Living Boy

David Gallaher and Steve Ellis, author and artist of The Only Living Boy, appear at Victory Comics on Sunday, April 3, 2016 from 1:00 – 4:00 PM! Steve will conduct a learn-to-draw workshop for all ages and both will be signing copies of their book.

RSVP on Facebook!

Victory Comics
586 S Washington Street, Falls Church, VA 22046
(703) 241-9393

Thursday, March 31, 2016

April 8: Patrick Carman at Hooray for Books

Friday, April 8th: Award-winning author Patrick Carman presents his two recent middle grade books Voyagers #3: Omega Rising and Fizzopolis #1: The Trouble with Fuzzwonker Fizz. 7 pm.

In this new graphic novel set in the land of Fizzopolis, Harold Fuzzwonker is an ordinary kid with an extraordinary fizzy friend, Floyd. But Floyd's a secret--like a top super-secret. Harold must protect him, as well as the family recipe for Fuzzwonker Fizz, from the evil Snood Candy Factory.

1555 King Street

Alexandria, VA 22314

(703) 548-4092

info@hooray4books.com
www.hooray4books.com

New comic out from John Kinhart

John Kinhart notes on Facebook:

I recently self-published 2 issues of a comic and I'm now selling them online to raise money for diapers and baby wipes for Julia, who is due in 10 weeks or so! http://johnkinhart.storenvy.com/

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

April 3-4: Fantom Comics events

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Sunday, April 3 at 12 PM - 4 PM – Fantom KidsCon – Come one, come all to Fantom's inaugural KidsCon! Comics conventions are fun for all ages, but if your littlest nerds aren't ready for the hustle and bustle of bigger venues, bring them to Fantom for a day of fun and activities! We'll have tons of workshops, kid-friendly vendors, a costume parade, and lots of "super" special guests!

Monday, April 4 at 6:30 PM – Faith Erin Hicks signing – Meet Faith Erin Hicks, comics creator and author of "Adventures of Superhero Girl" and "Friends with Boys" as she signs your copy of her new graphic novel "The Nameless City."

Patreon for Venus Winston to present at IGMC

Local cartoonist Venus Winston has been invited to present her comic "Cooking with Cancer" at Dundee University in Scotland this summer for the Annual International Graphic Medicine Conference and potentially also University College London for its "Encountering Pain" Conference.

"This is an awesome experience, but an expensive one. So I have started a Patreon page to help with some of the travel expenses," she writes. "Any help from you all is greatly appreciated and patrons will be receiving artwork made by me for their contributions."

This project started in July 2014 as her own therapy, while on chemotherapy, she writes on her Patreon page.

"I lost my ovaries to cancerous Krukenberg tumors and it is my belief I survived by enforcing a healthy diet and mindset within my personal environment. 'Cooking with Cancer' has now grown into a collection of short stories, recipes and informative pieces focusing on my experience with cancer and how food can help beat illness."

Venus contributed a "Cooking with Cancer" installment in the current issue of Magic Bullet, the D.C. Conspiracy's free comics newspaper.

Courtesy of Venus Winston

April 1: Teresa Roberts Logan at One More Page

One More Page Books

2200 N. Westmoreland Street, #101
Arlington, VA 22213
703-300-9746 Visit our website
Mon-Sat: 10 am - 8 pm; Sun: noon to 5 pm

Fri, April 1 at 6:30: Instead of April Fools how about Coloring Fools night? We have a super fun night planned with a wine tasting and professional artist and illustrator Teresa Roberts Logan. Teresa's adult coloring book Paisley Designs for Fun & Relaxation is filled with more than 100 gorgeous paisley designs to color. She'll talk with us about creating the book, answer questions and then we'll all color while tasting luscious new wines.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Retrofit / Big Planet Comics Kickstarter only at 50%

President Truman meets the National Cartoonists Society

Local photographer Bruce Guthrie found a photograph of President Harry Truman and cartoonists and wrote to the Truman Library asking about it.

They sent him links to two versions -

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/photographs/view.php?id=37184 -- best one
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/photographs/view.php?id=37185 -- similar but some people cut off

For the following photo, they identify the folks as such:

President Harry S. Truman (center, wearing glasses) posing outside the White House with a group of visiting cartoonists, as they exhibit the sketches they have just made of the President. The cartoonists holding up drawings are: Ham Fisher (left), Milton Caniff (behind Fisher), Alex Raymond (behind Truman), Jo Fischer (behind Truman's left shoulder), Ray Van Buren (standing behind Pieretti), Alfred Andriola (standing at Mr. Truman's left, wearing bow tie), John Pierotti (second from right), Rube Goldberg (right), and Gus Edson (kneeling, right). All others are unidentified. October 3, 1949.

In case you're drawing blanks --

Ham Fisher -- "Joe Palooka"
Milton Caniff -- "Terry and the Pirates" and "Steve Canyon"
Alex Raymond -- "Flash Gordon"
Jo Fischer -- "From Nine to Five"
Ray Van Buren -- "Abbie 'n Slats" (and distant relative of President Martin Van Buren)
Alfred Andriola -- "Kerry Drake"
John Pierotti -- editorial cartoonist
Gus Edson -- "The Gumps" and "Dondi"

TODAY: Glen Weldon on Batman at Kramer Books

Glen Weldon for The Caped Crusade at Kramerbooks

Tuesday, March 29th 6:30pm

A witty, intelligent cultural history from NPR book critic Glen Weldon explains Batman's rises and falls throughout the ages—and what his story tells us about ourselves.

Since his creation, Batman has been many things: a two-fisted detective; a planet-hopping gadabout; a campy Pop-art sensation; a pointy-eared master spy; and a grim and gritty ninja of the urban night. For more than three quarters of a century, he has cycled from a figure of darkness to one of lightness and back again; he's a bat-shaped Rorschach inkblot who takes on the various meanings our changing culture projects onto him. How we perceive Batman's character, whether he's delivering dire threats in a raspy Christian Bale growl or trading blithely homoerotic double-entendres with partner Robin on the comics page, speaks to who we are and how we wish to be seen by the world. It's this endlessly mutable quality that has made him so enduring.

And it's Batman's fundamental nerdiness—his gadgets, his obsession, his oath, even his lack of superpowers—that uniquely resonates with his fans who feel a fiercely protective love for the character. Today, fueled by the internet, that breed of passion for elements of popular culture is everywhere. Which is what makes Batman the perfect lens through which to understand geek culture, its current popularity, and social significance.

In The Caped Crusade, with humor and insight, Glen Weldon, book critic for NPR and author of Superman: The Unauthorized Biography, lays out Batman's seventy-eight-year cultural history and shows how he has helped make us who we are today and why his legacy remains so strong.

Glen Weldon will be in conversation with Linda Holmes, host and editor of NPR's Monkey See blog.

Monday, March 28, 2016

Meet Molly Crabapple, an Artist, Activist, Reporter, and Fire-Eater All in One

With pen and brush, the talented journalist fights for justice in the Middle East, and closer to home

By Ron Rosenbaum

Smithsonian Magazine |
April 2016
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/molly-crabapple-artist-arctivist-reporter-fire-eater-180958502/?no-ist

Juana Medina's immigration story on Fusion

A decade in immigration purgatory: My struggle to become an American citizen

by Juana Medina

March 24, 2016
http://fusion.net/story/264140/legal-immigration-purgatory-comic-colombia-american-citizen/

The Post on superhero movies

'Batman v Superman' broke records at the box office. But that doesn't justify its existence. [in print as An unmistakable superhero malaise].

By Ann Hornaday
Washington Post March 28 2016, p. C1, 3
online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/batman-v-superman-broke-records-at-the-box-office-but-that-doesnt-justify-its-existence/2016/03/27/2d66b426-f2c1-11e5-a61f-e9c95c06edca_story.html

Locals noted for Comic and Cartoon Annual

Bizhan Khodabandeh, James Moffit, Paul Zdepski and Matt Dembicki were selected to have their work displayed at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art at the Society of Illustrators in New York as part of the 2016 Comic and Cartoon Annual. Khodabandeh and Moffit's comic book Red Fish #2 was selected for the short form category. Zdepski and Dembicki were selected for the comic strip category. (Both of their strips appeared in the D.C. Conspiracy's free comics newspaper Magic Bullet.) Below are panels from the selected works.