Nils and Ralph

Who knew that Ralph Steadman did two album covers for former Montgomery County resident Nils Lofgren? Not me. Here's a poster of one at Alexandria's Birchmere club.

America's most famous comic strip commentator is a DC resident

Barack Obama on Peanuts: an American treasure

Peanuts was our own daily security blanket, even if Lucy's advice isn't very good

Barack Obama

Friday 15 April 2016

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/barack-obama-peanuts-american-treasure-charles-schulz

Our local Eisner nominees (updated with Big Planet Comics entry)

Today we got the nomination list for the Eisner Awards, comicdom's equivalent of the Oscar, but with a real man's name attached to them.

Several local people are nominated, including a ComicsDC contributor. We wish everyone the best of luck, and congratulate them on just being nominated for this prestigious award:

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

• Mowgli’s Mirror, by Olivier Schrauwen (Retrofit/Big Planet)

Best Short Story

• "Black Death in America," by Tom King and John Paul Leon, in Vertigo Quarterly: Black (Vertigo/DC)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

• Little Robot, by Ben Hatke (First Second)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

• March: Book Two, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Top Shelf/IDW)

Best Reality-Based Work

• March: Book Two, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Top Shelf/IDW)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

• Captive of Friendly Cove: Based on the Secret Journals of John Jewitt, by Rebecca Goldfield, Mike Short, and Matt Dembicki (Fulcrum)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips

• Cartoons for Victory, by Warren Bernard (Fantagraphics)
• Kremos: The Lost Art of Niso Ramponi, vols. 1 and 2, edited by Joseph P. Procopio (Picture This/Lost Art Books)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

• Comic Riffs blog by Michael Cavna, washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/

CBR talks to Tom King

King's "Vision" Collides with the Marvel Universe, Scarlet Witch

Mon, April 18th, 2016

Comic Book Resources

CBR News Team, Editor
http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/tom-king-vision-marvel-universe-scarlet-witch

(CBR was bought out recently and seems to be doing FAR more movie and TV stories already. Plus they now have four ads interrupting the text instead of one. I fear that they may follow the Pulse and Newsrama down the rabbit hole of irrelevance....)

Comic Riffs on the cartoonist of the year

NCS's 'Cartoonist of the Year' list of finalists continues growing recognition of women

By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog April 15 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/04/15/ncss-cartoonist-of-the-year-finalists-continues-growing-recognition-of-pioneering-women-creators/

 

Elizabeth Warren comic book featured in today's Express

Leblanc, Steve / Associated Press.  2016.

To Wall Street, she's a super-villain [Female Force: Elizabeth Warren].

Express (April 19): 21

Comic Riffs talks to Pulitzer Winner Jack Ohman

Cartoonist Jack Ohman stopped thinking about awards. Only then came today's Pulitzer Prize win.

By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog April 18  2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/04/18/cartoonist-jack-ohman-stopped-thinking-about-awards-only-then-came-todays-pulitzer-prize-win/

Pokemon songs in the key of Bethesda

This Bethesda Folk Artist is Trying to Write a Song For All 700+ Pokémon

By Dean Essner on April 15, 2016
http://www.washingtonian.com/2016/04/15/jacob-newman-pokemon-songs/

April 29: Animezing - Fuse: Memoirs of a Huntress

Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress | April 29, 2016 | Friday at 6:30PM Action/Fantasy | 2014 | 110 min | Unrated |In Japanese with English Subtitles © Kazuki Sakuraba ・BUNGEISHUNJU/FUSE-PROJECT  Directed by Masayuki Miyaji, Assistant Director on Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away   Official Nomination for Best Animated Film at the 16th Japan Media Arts Festival Hamaji, a young huntress from the mountains, stumbles into the middle of a shogun's vendetta against a group of human and dog hybrids, the Fusé. Rumors of Fusé murdering innocent people in the bustling city of Edo have sparked a bounty for their heads. Along with her brother, Hamaji joins the hunt for this dangerous quarry. However, after accidentally befriending one of them, Hamaji is torn between her life as a self-reliant huntress and the complex underworld of the Fusé. An adaptation of the Edo-period fantasy novel The Tale of Eight Dogs (Nanso Satomi Hakkenden) by Kyokutei Bakin. This film contains scenes of violence and some thematic material.  Recommended for ages 14+. This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Click HERE to register. In the event of a cancellation, please contact us at jicc@ws.mofa.go.jp. Doors open 30 minutes before the program begins.  No admittance after 7:00PM or once seating is full.  Registered guests will be seated on a first come, first served basis. Please note that seating is limited and registration does not guarantee a seat. Interested in more great Japan-related activities in the area? Check out our upcoming area events page, updated three times a week, for a list of the latest events in the region. Presented at: THE JAPAN INFORMATION AND CULTURE CENTER 1150 18th Street NW, Suite 100 Washington DC, 20036 We are located near Farragut North on the Red metro line and Farragut West on the Orange, Silver, and Blue metro lines. There is after-business-hours street parking along 18th St NW and the surrounding area. There are also multiple parking garages on 18th Street NW and the surrounding area. Unfortunately, we are unable to validate these tickets.

JICC, Embassy of Japan, 1150 18th St., NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20036

Q&A with Bill Campbell, publisher of Rosarium Publishing

Local indie publisher Rosarium Publishing is in the midst of an Indiegogo fundraising campaign for its upcoming line of books. Publisher Bill Campbell answers a few questions about his endeavor, which has drawn kudos from Publishers Weekly, the Library Journal and the Washington Post, to name a few.

You publish an interesting mix of books and flow seamlessly in the prose and comics worlds. Has that always been so smooth?  Do you find readers (or maybe distributors and retailers) sometimes raise an eyebrow that you publish both types of books?

I would say that the general public doesn't really bat an eye. You can oftentimes find somebody selling a novel at a comic book convention. So, it's not so much that we have novels and anthologies there; it's just that we have so many. I generally go to the more literary science fiction conventions. Those folks are avid readers, so it's not too hard to convince them to pick up new reading material. It never really hurts to be the book people at a comics convention or the comics people at a book convention. When you're both, you generally have something for everybody.

Well, retailers are hard, and I really understand what they're going through. They have very limited space with which to make money. Every cubic inch of their store has to bring in income, so they don't necessarily want to take risks. The excuses sometimes, though. One time, I was pitching The Assimilated Cuban's Guide to Quantum Santeria to a store, and the manager said, “Oh, we don't get many Cubans in this store.” Ha!

Distribution's just hard for any small publisher. The entire field is divvied up by a cartel of distributors who have cornered their individual markets. I don't care what you publish. It's just rough dealing with people who are never hungry and know they'll never be able to feed off the tiny morsels you bring to the table—no matter how tasty.

Being an indie publisher with a drive such as yours is obviously hard work. Can you briefly give a taste of what your recent travel for Rosarium Publishing has entailed? What keeps you motivated?

Back in 2012, just before I started Rosarium and was pushing my novel Koontown Killing Kaper, I did over 50 events in a year. I swore I'd never do that again, but I still find myself doing 20 to 30. I'm still trying to cut those down, but you're right, I do have drive. So, I sometimes find myself in traveling frenzies. For example, this past month I was in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and the Hamptons. I'm doing something local in a couple weeks (Creator Con), and then in May I'm off to Toronto (T-CAF), Philadelphia (ECBACC), and Madison, WI (WisCon). I'm actually supposed to be in Chicago, too, that month, but I think I'm going to skip that. I'm turning 46 on May Day!

What’s been the most difficult part in starting and continuing Rosarium?

Beginnings are hard no matter who you are or what you're trying to do. Usually, the biggest challenge is getting other people to take you seriously. That was definitely ours. On the sff side, we've been really fortunate. Our first anthology, Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond eventually garnered a lot of attention, and our next two (Stories for Chip and The SEA Is Ours) as well. We've been really well-received within that community.

The comics side of things has been harder. We've talked about this personally: It's because comics is a medium, not a genre, and it's immense. So, it's been much harder finding reviewers who'd be interested in what we do, etc.

And frankly, Diamond doesn't make it any easier with the monopoly they have over comics shops. They don't seem particularly fond of what we do. We've taken critically-acclaimed, award-winning comics to them, and they've been like, “Nope! Not carrying them!” Because of that, the irony with our comics is that you can find them in Barnes & Nobles and other bookstores, you can find them in libraries, you can even find some of them being taught in college classrooms, but you'd be hard-pressed to find them in a comic book shop.

But what can you do? It's things like this that simply make me work harder.

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "#WitchHillary"

from the pen of Mike Flugennock, DC's anarchist cartoonist

"#WitchHillary"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=1914

For a few weeks or so earlier this year, MSNBC was running a network promo with this clip of Hillary Clinton speaking, and it had to be the nastiest sounding stuff I'd heard her spew out in years. Hillary's voice sounded raspy, raw, shrieking like a pissed-off junior high school principal, a voice that could cut glass. You could tell she was trying to sound all forceful and dynamic and Presidential n'shit, but instead all I could think of was the Wicked Witch Of The West. With that raspy shrieky voice, all Hillary needed was a big pointy hat and a broom.

No doubt buttloads of old-skool 1970s feminist language cops will get on my case for comparing Hillary to the WWotW, but, hey... if the shoe fits, strap that motherf'r on.

Tom Toles goes home again

Tom Toles, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and Spectrum alum, speaks to newspaper's staff

Toles leads discussion in Spectrum office about journalism

  | By Evan Schneider
Spectrum April 15 2016
http://www.ubspectrum.com/article/2016/04/tom-toles-pulitzer-prize-winning-cartoonist-and-spectrum-alum-speaks-to-newspapers-current-staff

XKCD to the White House

There's just a brief mention of Randall Munroe visiting the White House in this transcript.

The World Premiere of “Cul de Sac” the play (press release)

Encore Stage & Studio Proudly Presents the World Premiere of "Cul de Sac"

Arlington, VA – Encore Stage & Studio is delighted to present Cul de Sac, the world premiere play adaption based on the nationally syndicated Cul de Sac comic strip by Richard Thompson. Thompson and his comic strip won the 2010 Reuben Award, the highest honor given by the National Cartoonists Society. The play follows four-year-old Alice Otterloop and her older brother, Petey, as they learn about friendship and the importance of being yourself. When Alice decides to help Petey become more exciting she risks sending Petey further into his shell. With the help of their parents, teachers, and new and old friends the Otterloop children just might be able to learn something from each other.  This production runs June 3 through 12 at Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre (125 S. Old Glebe Rd. Arlington, VA 22204).

"He never wanted to be anything other than a cartoonist," says playwright Amy Thompson in describing her husband Richard Thompson. Richard, a long-time Arlington resident, had created thousands of illustrations and cartoons for dozens of magazines and newspapers before Cul de Sac debuted in The Washington Post Magazine in 2007.  Thompson drew on incidents from his own childhood ("there's a lot of him in Petey, the withdrawn artist" says Amy), and the lives of his family, including two daughters, Emma and Charlotte. Everything from Charlotte's unbounded exuberance, to Emma's discovery that a manhole cover made a great stage, to the reluctant introduction of a guinea pig in their home was fodder for Thompson's re-imagined suburban Washington.

Thompson's Cul de Sac drew the attention of comic fans worldwide including some very famous fans. Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson was so impressed that he wrote the introduction to the first Cul de Sac collection.

 "[The comic strip] is one of those rare visions that shows how surprising the ordinary world really is.  Richard Thompson's wonderfully peculiar Otterloop family is closely observed with deep sympathy and rings absolutely true," stated Watterson, "I'm a huge fan."

Children's book author Mo Willems (Knuffle Bunny, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Elephant & Piggie series) wrote the introduction to the second collection. "If Cul de Sac isn't French for 'wonderfully loopily sincerely life-affirmingly stupendously hilarious' then there is something wrong with the French language," stated Willems.

Pixar director Pete Docter invited Thompson to collaborate on character development for his most recent film, Inside Out.  "Cul de Sac is the funniest strip to appear in decades," writes Oscar-winner Docter, whose other films include Monsters, Inc. and Up. "It's full of great characters, well-observed truths that most of us have forgotten about, and is so beautifully and funnily drawn that it is an absolute joy to look at even if you can't read.  (Of course, if you can't read, then you'd better stop right now.)"

 In 2009 Thompson was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and began treatment. Thompson's friend Chris Sparks solicited other artists to contribute to a book collection, Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson's, to raise money for Parkinson's research through the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Encore Stage & Studio will hold a special fundraiser in the theatre lobby in to contribute to this effort.

On September 23, 2012, Cul de Sac ended its run of original strips, and Thompson retired. He kept up his Cul de Sac blog for some years afterward, but otherwise, published no new work.  An offer was made to buy the rights to Cul de Sac and continue the strip with a new writer and artist, but Thompson declined. It seemed the world had seen the last of Alice, Petey, Madeline, and Peter Otterloop, as well as their friends Dill, Beni, Andre, Loris, Miss Bliss, and all the others.

Encore Stage & Studio, with efforts to build its performances highlighting local and original work, approached Amy Thompson about writing a play. Amy Thompson has worked for Encore as a drama teacher and director for some years, and has written several shorter works for summer camps and classes. Amy's Encore show credits include direction for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2013 and Much Ado about Nothing in 2015.   She was eager to write a full-length play, and suggested that Cul de Sac would make a perfect choice for children's theatre. Over the years, Richard had turned down all requests by other writers to adapt the strip for the stage, while asking Amy why she didn't do it herself. Encore accepted, debuting Cul de Sac's for its early summer show of the 2015/2016 season.

We are excited to announce Chuck Leonard as director for this production.  Production staff also includes Matthew Heap (Composer), Thomas Boudreaux (Technical Director), Amy Thompson, Kristen Jepperson and Marji Jepperson (Set Designer/Builder and Props), Debra Leonard (Costume Designer/Builder and Make-up Designer), Gary Hauptman (Lighting Designer), Caitlin Orzechowski (Assistant Lighting Designer), and Drew Moberley (Sound Engineer). 

Performance Dates and Showtimes:
Fridays, June 3 and 10, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturdays, June 4 and 11, 2016 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Sundays, June 5 and 12, 2016 at 3 p.m.

Every effort has been made to preserve the look, feel, and heart of the original strip. Fans of the strip will recognize the Otterloop house, Mr. Otterloop's tiny red car, Dill's kiddie car, and Alice's manhole cover. Young audiences who have never seen the strip will recognize the world of some typical (but dramatic) preschoolers and third graders. And everyone, no matter his or her age, will get to experience what it's like to be a child. We recommend this production for ages 4 and older.

Tickets are $15 for Adults; $10 for Children, Students, Military and Seniors. Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased at www.encorestage.org or by calling our box office at (703) 548-1154.

About Encore Stage & Studio

"Theatre by Kids, for Kids!" Founded in 1967, our mission is to build a lifelong appreciation for live theater by involving young people in all aspects of theater arts --onstage, backstage, in the classroom, and in the audience. Encore strives to educate and entertain by offering productions each season that are by and for young people, and through enriching classes and workshops with qualified, enthusiastic teaching artists. We believe that participating in live theatre builds problem-solving skills, teamwork, creativity, literacy, and self-confidence. We are cultivating the next generation of active and engaged art lovers.

Encore Stage & Studio's 2016 season is sponsored by Fairlington Dental and  
 is supported in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Arlington Cultural Affairs Division of Arlington Economic Development and the Arlington Commission for the Arts.

For more information visit www.encorestage.org | (703) 548-1154 | PO Box 969 Arlington, VA 22216

Richard Thompson & Bill Watterson in French?

Bill Watterson's conversation with Richard from The Art of Richard Thompson has been translated by Stephane Beaujean, a French Cul De Sac fan, and is apparently now available. Bonjour!

The rest of the magazine looks good too.

The Post on Disney's Jungle Book remake

'The Jungle Book' leaps off the screen — to dazzling effect [in print as Beauty and awe roar to life].

 

By Ann Hornaday
Washington Post April 15 2016, p. Weekend 30-31
https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/the-jungle-book-leaps-off-the-screen--to-dazzling-effect/2016/04/14/9a1c5d36-00d7-11e6-b823-707c79ce3504_story.html

Big Planet Comics Washington is picked in 10 Best list

10 Best Comic Book Stores in the US

written by Michelle Rae
April 13, 2016
https://anotherspur.com/2016/04/13/10-best-comic-book-stores-in-the-us/

Don't try to find this comic book

A couple of weeks ago (April 3, 2016), the Washington Post published this illustration by Oliver Munday. The comic book is of particular interest to us.

Because it doesn't exist. I think it's a melange of existing comic books, but I can only place the logo and the word "Assemble" both of which (along with "mightiest heroes") come from an Avengers comic book, probably from the 1970s. Any crowdsourcing suggestions?

Ridgway Award honor to Juana Medina

Juana didn't win the first price, but she was one of three honorable mention awards as noted below.

Established in 1993, the Ridgway Award is given each year to an author or illustrator in recognition of an outstanding debut in the world of children's picture books.
The award is given in memory of Marion Vannett Ridgway, a beloved artists' representative who worked in the New York City publishing community for more than forty years, and who extended generous support and encouragement especially to artists just making their way into children's book publishing.




Juana Medina
Illustrator of
Smick!

Every page of Smick! sustains a kind of joy. Medina masterfully captures doggy exuberance in her loosely scrawled thick black lines, and the contrast of her
drawing with collage elements like a stick or a flower petal bird creates a delightful visual surprise. Doreen Cronin’s rhyming text provides a terrific match for such energetic art.

April 16: Cherry Blossom Anime at American Art Museum

April 16, 2016

Cherry Blossom Anime: "Miss Hokusai" Saturday, April 16, 1 pm This screening is held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium. Watch the trailer.  Katsushika Hokusai is one of the most famous Japanese artists. His woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa and series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (both of which have been exhibited in the Freer|Sackler) are iconic the world over. Few people know, however, that Hokusai had a talented daughter, O-ei, who sometimes collaborated with…

Cherry Blossom Anime: "From Up on Poppy Hill" Saturday, April 16, 3 pm This screening is held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium. Watch the trailer.  Written by the legendary founder of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away), and directed by Goro Miyazaki, From Up on Poppy Hill marks the first feature film collaboration between this father and son. The results are stunning: a pure, nuanced, and heartfelt film that signals yet another triumph for the esteemed studio. Set in 1963,…

 

Cherry Blossom Anime: "A Letter to Momo"

Saturday, April 16, 5 pm

This screening is held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium. Watch the trailer. From the creators of Ghost in the Shell comes a wonderfully expressive and beautifully animated tale that combines bursts of whimsy and humor with deeply felt emotion. The last time Momo saw her father they had a fight; now, all she has left to remember him is an incomplete letter he wrote, penned with the words "Dear Momo" but nothing…