Tuesday, March 09, 2021

Jules Feiffer's collaborator Norton Juster RIP

Norton Juster, who conjured worlds of wordplay in 'Phantom Tollbooth,' dies at 91

Emily Langer

Washington Post March 9, 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/norton-juster-dead/2021/03/09/42d60a84-1035-11e9-831f-3aa2c2be4cbd_story.html

Controversial Dr. Seuss Titles to Remain at Library, But Won't Be Replaced

Matt Blitz

ArlNow March 9 2021

https://www.arlnow.com/2021/03/09/controversial-dr-seuss-titles-to-remain-at-library-but-wont-be-replaced/

John Gallagher's Max Meow books signed from Bard's Alley

While you're at it, grab a copy of Max Meow: Cat Crusader and preorder book two, Max Meow: Donuts and Danger. This graphic novel series is sure to be your Dog Man-fan's next favorite series. Plus, author John Gallagher is local, so preorders through our physical location will be signed and doodled! (Keep your eyes peeled for some very exciting Independent Bookstore Day news, too!) Out April 6th.

New graphic medicine Kickstarter by GE Gallas - "The Plague and Doctor Caim"

The Plague and Doctor Caim

A darkly comic graphic novel about a 17th century plague doctor by G.E. Gallas.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/castironbooks/the-plague-and-doctor-caim

The Plague and Doctor Caim is a 112-page full colour original graphic novel from acclaimed creator G.E. Gallas and is the latest project from new independent publisher Cast Iron Books.

The Plague and Doctor Caim Book and Ebook

This campaign is to fund production and distribution costs, to get this story printed and out into the world and as many hands as possible.

The Plague and Doctor Caim follows the life of a 17th-century plague doctor: an Everyman with a beak.

Doctor Caim is hired by a village to treat both the rich and the poor. The doctor readily accepts the position, but goes about the work with much trial and error.

Doctor Caim encounters patients from all walks of life, experimenting with treatments while monitoring his own health and watching the stars for omens...

Interior Pages

Research is the integral foundation of both the script and design of The Plague and Doctor Caim. Each medical treatment Doctor Caim tries and every situation Doctor Caim finds himself in is based on historical facts.

With the aesthetic of a medieval illuminated manuscript, this graphic novel finds macabre comedy within the history of the bubonic plague.

Monday, March 08, 2021

Examining Dr. Seuss - Arlington, VA public library's policy

Examining Dr. Seuss

Arlington Public Library (March 8 2021)

https://library.arlingtonva.us/2021/03/08/examining-dr-seuss/

Libraries across the country, Arlington Public Library among them, are having conversations about how to balance the core library value of intellectual freedom with the harmful stereotypes depicted in many of what are regarded as children's classics.

Last week, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that it will cease publication and sales of six titles because they portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong: "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," "If I Ran the Zoo," "McElligot's Pool," "On Beyond Zebra!," "Scrambled Eggs Super!" and "The Cat's Quizzer."

Existing copies of these titles in the Arlington Public Library collection will remain in circulation until they are no longer usable. As they are now out of print, these titles will not be replaced when they leave the collection.

In light of this news, it's worth taking a look at the books of our childhood with a critical eye. We no longer live in the world Seuss lived in when he created these works. If you want to share classics and older titles with young readers, consider taking the opportunity to have a conversation about the themes, characterization and the time period a book was published. Then balance these stories with other diverse titles.

Diversity in publishing, especially in youth literature, has been a topic of conversation and concern in the industry for a number of years. Arlington Public Library intentionally curates its collections to ensure diversity of themes, characters and authors, and systematically reviews the collection for gaps. We invite you to discover new titles and authors through our booklists, catalog and collections.

Sunday, March 07, 2021

Cavna talks to Raya

Kelly Marie Tran's journey to becoming a fighting Disney princess: 'It feels like an absolute miracle' [in print as Following a fairy tale].

Michael Cavna

Washington Post March 6, 2021 p. C1-2

online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/03/05/kelly-marie-tran-raya-last-dragon/

‘WandaVision’ stories recently in The Post

The 'WandaVision' finale did what it had to do — not what we wanted it to do

David Betancourt

Reporter

March 6, 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/03/06/wandavision-finale-agatha/

How a 'WandaVision' viral tweet explains the passion of Marvel fans — and haters [in print as An uncivil war about Marvel].

Travis M. Andrews

Washington Post March 6, 2021 C1, 5

online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/03/05/wandavision-tweet-grief-love-persevering/

'WandaVision,' a sitcom sendup, was a pandemic parable, too

By Ted Anthony | AP

March 5, 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/wandavision-a-sitcom-sendup-was-a-pandemic-parable-too/2021/03/05/497e12f0-7d89-11eb-8c5e-32e47b42b51b_story.html

'WandaVision' is making us question everything we know about Wanda's powers

David Betancourt

Feb. 27, 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/02/27/wandavision-agatha-episode-eight/

The Post reviews the latest Stan Lee biography

'True Believer' tries to capture Stan Lee. It isn't easy. [in print as Stan Lee's complicated creation story].

By Glen David Gold

Washington Post (March 7 2021): E10

online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/stan-lee-true-believer-review/2021/02/18/5e9f4fc4-71e4-11eb-b8a9-b9467510f0fe_story.html

That darn Beetle Bailey

Advice that bears repeating

Marc Hoffman, Silver Spring

Washington Post March 5, 2021

online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/letters-to-the-editor/readers-critique-the-post-copying-big-mamas-style-wasnt-elviss-only-offense/2021/03/05/6d17fbd8-7dbe-11eb-a976-c028a4215c78_story.html

The Post on Raya and current animated movies

Disney's 'Raya and the Last Dragon' dazzles and delights the senses [in print as Plucky princess must save the world].

Michael O'Sullivan

Washington Post March 5, 2021

online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/raya-and-the-last-dragon-movie-review/2021/03/02/85bdd56e-7aa7-11eb-85cd-9b7fa90c8873_story.html

What to watch with your kids: 'Raya and the Last Dragon,' 'Moxie' and more [Tom & Jerry; SpongeBob Squarepants; in print as Common Sense Media].

Washington Post March 5, 2021

online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/what-to-watch-with-your-kids-raya-and-the-last-dragon-moxie-and-more/2021/03/03/ee7d770c-7aa3-11eb-85cd-9b7fa90c8873_story.html

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Boop Boop Bee Doop"

From DC's anarchist cartoonist, Mike Flugennock -

"Boop Boop Bee Doop"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3166

Ever since the 1988 Dukakis tank-driving campaign ad ushered in the
modern era of media fuckery, all the way through to Nancy Pelosi's
fridge, the Democrats have been the Party Of Just Not Fucking Getting
It. F'crissake, the woman who sang the Anthem at CPAC wasn't as
tone-deaf as the goddamn Democrats.

And so it was that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) gave us her own Marie
Antoinette moment, live on C-SPAN, as she cast her "no" vote on the
minimum wage raise in the current toothless COVID Relief Bill.

Have this woman's staff and media people just once taken her aside and
reminded her that C-SPAN telecasts live from the floor of the Senate,
where the whole goddamn planet and their cats can see her feckless
hijinks?

My guess is that people like Sen. Sinema are fully aware, but just
don't care — and that this moment is not just indicative of her own
attitude, but that of the entire Democratic Party.

11x14 inch medium-res color .jpg image, 1.4mb

-----

"Senator Sinema a little too happy for poverty wages to remain"
@Roots_Action on Twitter, 03.05.2021
https://twitter.com/Roots_Action/status/1367906192626831363

"After Voting No On The $15 Minimum Wage, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Had Her
Marie Antoinette Moment", Elly Belle at Refinery29, 03.05.2021
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/03/10349169/krysten-sinema-marie-antoinette-cake-twitter-backlash

"The $15 Minimum Wage Is Officially Dead In Democrats' COVID-19 Relief
Bill", Tara Golshan at the Huffington Post, 03.05.2021
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/minimum-wage-15-dead-covid-relief-bill_n_604256cdc5b613cec15d4c8a?hxi

"Manchin Wins Cuts to Unemployment Benefits as COVID Relief Bill
Passes Senate", Andrea Germanos at Truthout, 03.06.2021
https://truthout.org/articles/manchin-wins-cuts-to-unemployment-benefits-as-covid-relief-bill-passes-senate/

"Seven facts about tipped workers and the tipped minimum wage", Elise
Gould and David Cooper at the Economic Policy Institute
https://www.epi.org/blog/seven-facts-about-tipped-workers-and-the-tipped-minimum-wage/

Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage and follow me on Mastodon at https://mastodon.social/@flugennock

Saturday, March 06, 2021

The Post teases that a comic book collection can pay for a house renovation...

in ...

How a comic book collection helped build a home renovation [in print as Vintage comics aid a modern renovation]

By Scott Sowers

Washington Post March 6, 2021

online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/how-a-comic-book-collection-helped-build-a-home-renovation/2021/03/03/66122f82-7ad2-11eb-a976-c028a4215c78_story.html

but all they say in the story is...

"As additional funding was needed, the decision was made to cash in the comics. Snotherly, 51, is a principal at Levi and Snotherly, a law firm based in D.C., and had been collecting comic books since he was 8 years old. He stopped in his 40s after amassing 4,000 titles. The collection had moved from his mother’s house, to his own, and then it began a final journey. “We rented a U-Haul and drove them to Heritage auction house in Dallas,” he says. “They sold them slowly over a few months so there was money coming in for a while.” Snotherly pegs the return as “a considerable amount” that financed more than a quarter of the renovation costs, which they did not disclose."

The Lily's latest comic strip

Depression is more than just feeling sad. Here's how I'm recognizing other symptoms.

I'm realizing 'quirky' aspects of my personality may be related to my illness

By Maritsa Patrinos

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Listen To The Science"

From DC's anarchist cartoonist, Mike Flugennock -

"Listen To The Science"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3158

(shown: full-length and "short mix";
Washington Post clipping 02.27.2021)

Oh, sweet jeeeeeezus, where do I even start with this? What, are they
taking a break from slagging on Maduro? It's almost breathtaking, the
way the Post is so obviously, openly mortified that the poor are being
vaccinated first in Mexico...

Not to mention that they're basically taking this whole article to
simply bleat "Listen to the science!" like everybody and their
freakin' dog who's trying to shoehorn their goddamn agenda into
someplace where it doesn't belong (usually people trying to whip the
kids back to school so they can whip their parents back to work).
"Listen To The Science" hit my Top Ten Bullshit Alarm List even faster
than "Existential Threat". Why am I not the least surprised to see
that clunker so quickly and clumsily weaponized?

I see absolutely jack in the Post about China doing their part in the
WHO's cooperative vaccination program all over Africa and the Global
South, but ZOMFG, López Obrador is vaccinating the poor first...! No
big surprise here, either, as it seems Obrador is "the new Maduro" at
the Post these days.

-----

"Mexico's Poor Go First Despite Science", Washington Post 02.26.2021
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/mexico-coronavirus-vaccine-lopez-obrador/2021/02/25/81c28c50-76ad-11eb-9537-496158cc5fd9_story.html

"China joins WHO-backed vaccine programme COVAX rejected by Trump",
Reuters 10.08.2020
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-covax-idUKKBN26U027

"Venezuela Receives 500,000 COVID-19 Vaccines From China", TeleSur 03.02.2021
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Venezuela-Receives-500000-COVID-19-Vaccines-From-China-20210302-0002.html

Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
and follow me on Mastodon at https://mastodon.social/@flugennock

Wash Times follows up on Mallard Fillmore

Gannett: Conservative 'Mallard Fillmore' comic 'did not meet our standards'

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Thursday, March 4, 2021

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/mar/4/gannett-mallard-fillmore-comic-did-not-meet-our-st/

Friday, March 05, 2021

March 10: Eisner Judges on Eisner Week: A Comics Celebration

Eisner Judges on Eisner Week: A Comics Celebration

Wednesday, March 10, 2021 - 4:00pm to 5:30pm

Location: Zoom Webinar
Cost:Free

Register for this event

In honor of Will Eisner Week, Comics@CSUN co-sponsors a webinar on graphic novels and the changing comics field

On Wednesday, March 10, 2021, at 4:00-5:30 pm PST, Comics@CSUN will host a free Zoom panel presented by five past judges of the Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards, the most prestigious prizes in the US comics field. The panelists will discuss their Eisner Award judging experiences as well as the current state of the graphic novel genre.

This webinar celebrates Will Eisner Week, an annual literacy-themed event named (like the Eisner Awards) for pioneering comics artist, graphic novelist, and educator Will Eisner. Sponsored by the Will & Ann Eisner Family Foundation, Eisner Week champions comics-reading, graphic novels, and freedom of expression in the comics field.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

The five panelists (with their Eisner Award-judging years noted in parenthesis) are:

Michael Dooley (2020), designer, author, history professor, contributing editor to Print magazine
Karen Green (2011), teacher, Curator for Comics and Cartoons at Columbia University
William H. Foster (2014), scholar, lecturer, curator, teacher
Charles Hatfield (2013), scholar, CSUN professor, cofounder of the Comics Studies Society
Heidi MacDonald (1993), editor, journalist, podcaster, founder and editor-in-chief of The Beat: The Blog of Comics Culture

Registrants will have the opportunity to submit questions for Q&A during the event. Video of the event will hopefully be provided afterward, for independent viewing.

Please help Comics@CSUN spread the word about this special event! Feel free to send questions to co-organizer charles.hatfield@csun.edu [.]

Below is a flyer for the event: