Thursday, December 01, 2016

Rosarium Publishing's new graphic novels

I got 3 new graphic novels in the mail today from Greenbelt's Rosarium Publishing presumably as review copies. Bill Campbell is the man behind the company, and we really should interview him soon.

However, following my general policy for books by people or publishers I know, I'll highlight, but not review them (unless one really knocks my socks off like March vol 1-3, which is rare these days. Honestly, life's too short to hurt anyone's feelings with a casual sentence in a review).

So these arrived, and all look interesting:

Malice in Ovenland

Vol. 1

By Micheline Hess

Malice in Ovenland
JUVENILE FICTION
128 Pages, 7 x 10
Formats: Paperback, ebook: PDF, Fixed Layout EPUB, Fixed Layout KF8
Paperback, $17.95 (US $17.95) (CA $23.95)
Publication Date: August 2016
ISBN 9780996769228

Instead of falling down a rabbit hole, Lily finds her way to a fantasy world through a messy kitchen appliance.

Lily Brown is a bright, curious, energetic young girl from Queens, New York. When her mom forces her to stay home for the summer and do chores, Lily fumes. Little did she know that the greasy oven in the kitchen was going to give her more excitement and adventure than she could possibly handle.

Born and raised in NYC, Micheline Hess does design at a prominent ad agency in Chelsea and spends her spare time developing graphic novels, short stories, and interactive iBooks for kids. She has always been fascinated by the visual narrative in books and film and is constantly endeavoring to weave her own sense of humorous story-telling into both her personal and sometimes professional work. She lives in New York City.

The art in this next one is very stylized, seemingly influenced by 1970s poster art.

The Little Black Fish

Illustrated by Bizhan Khodabandeh

7-9
JUVENILE FICTION
52 Pages, 6.75 x 10
Formats: Paperback, ebook: PDF, Fixed Layout KF8, Fixed Layout EPUB
Paperback, $9.95 (US $9.95) (CA $12.95)
Publication Date: August 2016
ISBN 9781495607295

Based on the Persian children's classic by Samad Behrangi, this book is about a young fish's courage to question authority and strike out on her own An inquisitive little fish decided to question authority and leave the safety of her own home to venture out into the expansive sea. The creatures she meets along the way teach her important lessons and make her learn the most valuable treasure in life: freedom.

Bizhan Khodabandeh is a designer, illustrator, artist, and activist. He is the communications director for Virginia Commonwealth University's department of communication arts and design and the design manager of Gallery5 in Richmond. He is the recipient of a Silver Medal Award for comics and cartooning through the Society of Illustrators. He lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Jennifer's Journal: The Life of a SubUrban Girl Vol. 1

By Jennifer Crute

Jennifer's Journal
COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS
62 Pages, 7 x 10
Formats: Paperback, Fixed Layout EPUB, ebook: PDF, Fixed Layout KF8
Paperback, $8.95 (US $8.95) (CA $15.95)
Publication Date: May 2015
ISBN 9780990319160

"...this graphic novel chronicles the life of me, Jennifer Crute, a freckled-face African American artists. Pages from my actual journals illustrate my upbringing as a misfit in the suburbs of New Jersey and my daily interactions as an adult living in New York City."

Jennifer Cruté started writing comics in 2003. She is featured in a Current TV segment about women in comics called "KAPOW! The New Comic Book Heroines." She was nominated for a Glyph Comic Award for Best Rising Star. Her cartoons have been featured in BITCH magazine. She was a finalist in Lambda Legal's Life Without Fair Courts contest. She has lectured at the Museum of Comic & Cartoon Art, Miami University, Ohio, and Skidmore College, and her comics and oil and mixed media work has shown at the Medialia Gallery in New York City, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MOCADA) in Brooklyn; the Limner Gallery in Hudson, N.Y.; and the Ocean Hill Arts Sanctuary in Brooklyn.

March v. 3 makes School Library Journal's best list

Best Graphic Novels of 2016
By LJ Reviews
Columnists Tom Batten and Martha Cornog chose the year's best graphic novels.
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/bestbooks2016/graphicnovels.php

Andrew Aydin's website

March's co-author has a website at http://www.andrewaydin.com/

I've just ordered March buttons to hand out.

Barbershop Stories with Jon Batiste and Congressman John Lewis

Nov 28, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCHBi030TMM

Jon Batiste chats with Congressman John Lewis about "March" while getting a haircut from his barber Chad.

Dec 17: GRUMP arts fair in Crystal City

Local comic writers Matt Dembicki and Jason Rodriguez have tables.

GRUMP Holiday Arts & Crafts Show

Sat., Dec 17

Crystal City Underground

GRUMP returns! Featuring 55 local artists and makers selling everything from handmade soap to letterpress cards to locally designed and printed t-shirts to graphic novels! It's like Etsy in real life. 11:00am-5:00pm, 1750 Crystal Drive, Arlington.

A Winter Wonderland at P&P

Come see our new holiday window display, spanning the entire storefront at our Connecticut Avenue location! We teamed up with local children's book author and illustrator Juana Medina, who drew characters playing against a snowy backdrop exclusively for this display in her typically colorful and vibrant style. Underneath, our Holiday Countdown Calendar will reveal a new item we love each day until December 24, so keep checking to see what's new. Appropriately, our first pick for the Countdown Calendar is the picture book Juana and Lucas, by Juana Medina.

Politics & Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse
(5015 Connecticut Ave. NW)

(202) 364-1919

www.politics-prose.com

books@politics-prose.com

Bruce Guthrie stopped by and took some photographs this afternoon. Click through to see more.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

ReDistricted: 'Up the River'

There's a new installment at ReDistrictedComics.com: "Up the River: The Story of Captain Henry Fleet" by Joe Sutliff.

Dec 9: Animezing!: Only Yesterday

From the legendary Studio Ghibli, the creators of "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Spirited Away", comes the 25th anniversary re-release of this touching story about life and reflection.

It's 1982, and Taeko is 27 years old, single, and has lived her whole life in Tokyo. She decides to visit her relatives in the countryside, and as the train travels through the night, memories flood back of her younger years: her first budding romance, the physical manifestations of maturation, and the frustration of math and boys.

At the station she is met by young farmer Toshio, and her encounter with him begins to reconnect her with forgotten dreams. In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the current arc of her life, and wonders if she has really been true to the dreams of her childhood self.

Japanese w. English subtitles | Rated PG | 118 min | 1991 | Dir. by Isao Takahata

Registration is required

Women in Cinema

ANIMATOR MICHIYO YASUDA

For five decades, Michiyo Yasuda worked as an animator and color designer, and powerfully influenced the trademark Ghibli look. Director of the Studio Ghibli color department since 1984, Ms. Yasuda created the signature feel for beloved films such as Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997), and Howl's Moving Castle (2004).

In 2011 she was recognized for her work and received the Animation Lifetime Achievement Award from the Japanese Movie Critics Awards. Michiya Yasuda recently passed away on October 5, 2016 at the age of 77, but her memory lives within the palettes of her films.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

In the event of a cancellation, please contact us at jicc@ws.mofa.go.jp.

Doors open 30 minutes before the program. Program begins at 6:30PM.

No admittance after 7PM 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.

1150 18th Street NW, Suite 100 | Washington, D.C. 20036-3838
TEL: 202-238-6900 | FAX: 202-822-6524 | jicc@ws.mofa.go.jp

This facility is free and open to the public Monday - Friday, 9AM - 5PM

Self-serving post about Master Jeffrey webcomic

Joe Sutliff drew my family into the strip again today, so you should read it at http://masterjeffrey.com/index.html

An interview with March's John Lewis

John Lewis: 'Read Everything. Be Kind. Be Bold.'

In Conversation with an American Hero

Literary Hub November 28, 2016 By Margaret Renkl

http://lithub.com/john-lewis-read-everything-be-kind-be-bold/

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "'Smoke Sessions' Hits Capitol Hill"

From DC's anarchist cartoonist Mike Flugennock:

"'Smoke Sessions' hits Capitol Hill"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2118

Photographed and edited by Mike Flugennock, TRT 08:53 https://youtu.be/D_SRru006mE

And so it was that activists from the DC Cannabis Coalition convened at the office of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Trump's nominee for Attorney General, to discuss the Senator's recent remarks that "good people don't smoke marijuana"...

CBLDF education guide to Trickster

Using Graphic Novels in Education: Trickster

November 9, 2016

By Meryl Jaffe
http://cbldf.org/2016/11/using-graphic-novels-in-education-trickster/

Welcome to Using Graphic Novels in Education, an ongoing feature from CBLDF that is designed to allay confusion around the content of graphic novels and to help parents and teachers raise readers. In this column, we examine graphic novels, including those that have been targeted by censors, and provide teaching and discussion suggestions for the use of such books in classrooms.

Nov. 30: Robin Ha at University Club Book Fair

Robin Ha (Cook Korean! A Comic Book With Recipes) will be among the authors at the annual Meet the Author Night and Book Fair Nov. 30 at the University Club of Washington, D.C. This is the only time the club is open free to the general public, and it's a good chance to look at some of the cartoons and illustrations hanging at the club.

Catching up with Comic Riffs

The fight for comic books' First Amendment rights in the era of Trump

By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog November 29 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/11/29/the-fight-for-comic-books-first-amendment-rights-in-the-era-of-trump/

The top 10 superhero comics of 2016

By David Betancourt
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog November 28 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/11/28/the-top-10-superhero-comics-of-2016/

'South Park' had planned on a Clinton win. Here's how the show scrambled to depict President Trump and sexism.

By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog November 10 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/11/10/south-park-had-planned-on-a-clinton-win-heres-how-the-show-scrambled-to-depict-president-trump-and-sexism/

'Being Right Sucks': 'The Simpsons' are not thrilled that they predicted President Trump in 2000

By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog November 14 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/11/14/being-right-sucks-the-simpsons-are-not-thrilled-that-they-predicted-president-trump-in-2000/

The young female Iron Man Riri Williams makes an impressive debut — despite controversy

By David Betancourt

Washington Post Comic Riffs blog November 11 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/11/11/the-young-female-iron-man-riri-williams-makes-an-impressive-debut-despite-controversy/

Joe Sutliff launches Trumpy doll Kickstarter

The direct link is https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/485242647/trumpy-doll/

Gareth Hinds' graphic novels for Christmas

Gareth has recently sent out a note reminding people that one can get signed copies of his books directly from him.

As you do your holiday shopping, may I suggest that signed books make great gifts? Orders from my online store are signed and can be personalized on request. Order processing usually takes about 2 days, and shipping time varies based on location and shipping method, so plan accordingly.

I recently saw a cool custom beach towel from Society6 and decided I needed to create an Odyssey beach towel. So this might be another gift idea: