That darn Wumo and Flashbacks

Letters to the Editor

Correcting the record on a D.C. 'Flashback' [in print as "Setting the record...].

Mike Bohn, Alexandria

Washington Post April 23 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/correcting-the-record-on-a-dc-flashback/2016/04/22/01796614-0631-11e6-bfed-ef65dff5970d_story.html

There's no humor in this image [in print as Vets aren't laughing].

Jan Gardner, Stafford
Washington Post April 23 2016

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/theres-no-humor-in-this-image/2016/04/22/65cdedec-05dc-11e6-bfed-ef65dff5970d_story.html

OT: Seymour Chwast Kickstarter begins this week

Because of our respect for him and his work, we note that "legendary illustrator Seymour Chwast who (at age 84) is launching a Kickstarter campaign to publish his new book of antiwar illustrations: Seymour Chwast at War with War: An Illustrated Timeline of 5000 Years of Conquests, Invasions, and Terrorist Attacks."

The campaign starts on April 26th on Kickstarter. I'll be backing this.

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Gentlemen Prefer Hillary"

From DC's anarchist cartoonist Mike Flugennock:

"Gentlemen Prefer Hillary"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=1926

Economic justice seems so sentimental,
but Wall Street is a girl's best friend --

15 an hour is so detrimental,
when Wall Street is a girl's best friend...!

Comic Riffs talks to Jack Ohman

Pulitzer-winning cartoonist is inspired by his late friend — whose job he inherited

By

Michael Cavna

Washington Post Comic Riffs blog April 20 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/04/20/pulitzer-winning-cartoonist-draws-strength-from-working-right-where-his-late-friend-did/

Fantastic Forum Episode #57

Fantastic Forum

 Apr 12, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVPlbEzje-Q

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.

Two Minutes on Oceans with Jim Toomey: Green Fins for a Blue Planet

James Toomey

 Apr 15, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWtjifMDvUo

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

PR: Kremos: The Lost Art of Niso Ramponi's Eisner nomination

"Kremos: The Lost Art of Niso Ramponi" chosen as one of the year's best books by Eisner judges

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.

KREMOS: THE LOST ART OF NISO RAMPONI

Vol. 1: Bodacious B&W

Introduction by Mario Verger
Edited by Joseph V. Procopio
$27.95 • 212 pp. • 8½"x11" • paperback

Buy:
LostArtBooks.com

KREMOS: THE LOST ART OF NISO RAMPONI

Vol. 2: Curvaceous Color

Foreword by Jerry Carr
Edited by Joseph V. Procopio
$34.95 • 260 pp. • full color • 8½"x11" paperback

Buy:
LostArtBooks.com

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.