Join special correspondent Daphne O''Neal as she tours The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, CA. Producer/host Ulysses E. Campbell talks with ComiXology co-founder John Roberts and V.P. of Marketing Chip Mosher at SPX. And panelist Abigail Pritchard interviews A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) author George R.R. Martin at Capclave.
Dive tourism is increasing at a rate of nearly one million new divers every year. Great news for the dive industry, but what about potential impacts on coral reefs and marine ecosystems? Watch this video to learn how divers and snorkelers can enhance environmental and economic sustainability through the Green Fins certification program.
The "Two Minutes on Oceans with Jim Toomey" video series uses animation and humor to explain complex scientific issues in simple terms to the general public. The series was produced as a partnership between nationally syndicated cartoonist, Jim Toomey, and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Additional videos from the series can be viewed at: www.rona.unep.org/toomey
"Kremos: The Lost Art of Niso Ramponi" chosen as one of the year's best books by Eisner judges |
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We are excited to share our good news with everyone: We've received a Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards nomination in the category for "Best Archival Collection—Strips" for our two-volume set, Kremos: The Lost Art of Niso Ramponi.
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are considered the "Oscars" of the comics world. Named for the pioneering comics creator and graphic novelist Will Eisner, the awards will be given out this year during a ceremony at Comic-Con International in San Diego on July 22.
We couldn't be more flattered to find ourselves honored in the same category as folks like Fantagraphics Books, IDW, and Sunday Press, all publishers we've admired for years. What a great way for Lost Art Books to continue celebrating our fifth anniversary!
A decade in the making, this two-volume set covers the Italian cartoonist and animator's entire career. Ramponi was at his most prolific from the mid-1940s through the early 1960s, working with everyone from friend and colleague Federico Fellini to creating the official movie posters for Walt Disney's post-war releases in Italy. But it was as a cartoonist and cover artist for some of Italy's more irreverent satirical magazines that Ramponi left his most enduring mark. 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."
Benefiting from careful restoration and translation, 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 creative powers.
Introduction by Mario Verger
Edited by Joseph V. Procopio
$27.95 • 212 pp. • 8½"x11" • paperback
Buy:
LostArtBooks.com
Foreword by Jerry Carr
Edited by Joseph V. Procopio
$34.95 • 260 pp. • full color • 8½"x11" paperback
Buy:
LostArtBooks.com
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
Mon, April 18th, 2016
Leblanc, Steve / Associated Press. 2016.
To Wall Street, she's a super-villain [Female Force: Elizabeth Warren].
Express (April 19): 21
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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
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.
