The Onion peels for DC

DC is going to get the satirical parody newspaper, The Onion judging from an ad in today's Express. The ad is for an account manager and says "The Onion is coming to Washington...." blah, blah, blah, and will be published in partnership with the Express and the Washington Post(!). Of interest to us is the fact that the paper runs serious reviews of comics. I think it also runs some harder-to-find comic strips as well. And it's funny.

Nick Galifianakis, Washington Post illustrator

I'm working on a listing of cartoonists who regularly appear in the DC papers, and one of them whose work I especially like is Nick Galifianakis. His work appears bi-weekly or so in the Post, illustrating is ex-wife Carolyn Hax's advice column, "Tell Me About It." The picture here is from the January 12, 2007 column, but he's been doing them for years. He's a local guy, and this 2004 Suzanne Tobin chat is the only biographical bit that I know of. He was supposed to have a book out, but I don't know if that ever happened. I think he's got a very nice line, and hope he eventually does more than just advice column gag cartoons.

Hoopla! - new Arlington VA comic book review blog

Paul Weissburg has restarted his comic book review column as Hoopla! An online comic-book review column. I don't know Paul, and am just passing along the notice I got from the owner of Big Planet Comics.

Zippy around DC

I completely missed this one, but Zippy was at Arlington's Bob and Edith's diner right after Christmas. Cartoonist Brian Biggs has eaten there with me as well. Zippy's also popped into Rock Creek Cemetery in DC; Barry's Magic Shop in Wheaton (on Georgia Avenue, near the shopping mall); Ben's Chili Bowl in DC; the newly-reopened National Portrait Gallery; and the Lincoln Memorial. He's even made it out to Catonsville, MD.

Jan 27-Feb 25 Shakespeare in Washington

I can hear you all wondering, but there's a comics link here that my friend Liz pointed out. Rough Magic, a reworking of The Tempest, is written by Marvel Comics writer, and former area resident (and Big Planet Comics customer) Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. I'm going to try to catch this.

Jan 27 - Alternative comics fest at Dr. Dremo's

Today's Post reported today that Dr. Dremo's Taproom in Arlington will host DC Counter Culture Festival next Saturday that will include alt cartoonists selling their comix. Specifically listed in the Post were Jason Rodriguez, Little Foot and Angry Dog Press. It goes from 4 pm - midnight, and the bar's address is 2100 Clarendon Blvd.

"Chicago 10" animated film in today's Post

Saturday's that is. Here's the article.

March 2-3 - Academic panels on comic books in Baltimore

Vanessa Raney reports two academic panels will be at the 2007 Northeast Modern Language Association (MLA) Convention at the The Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel, Baltimore, MD, March 1-4, 2007.

* Fri. (Mar. 2), 10:00a-11:30a *

2.08 Douglas Room
God and the Graphic Novel
Chair: Kelly S. Meyer, The College of Saint Rose

"Jesus Christ, Drawn and Quartered: The 'Reformed' Stations of the Cross in Fundamentalist Tracts"
Scott Maisano, University of Massachusetts-Boston

"Jesus Christ, Drawn and Quartered: The 'Reformed' Stations of the Cross in Fundamentalist Tracts"
T. Anne Metivier, Indiana University

"This Last Thing Ya Gotta Do Alone: Preacher and Masculinity"
Gordon Sullivan, North Carolina State University

"Alan Moore's Promethea: Comics as Primer and Missionary Tool for Alternative Religion"
Christine Hoff Kraemer, Boston University


* Saturday (Mar. 3), 11:45a-1:00p *

9.07 Pratt A
Picture Books and Children's Comics: Semiotics of Illustration
Chair: Vanessa Raney, Hood College

"Semiotics of the Visual: An Introduction"
Vanessa Raney, Hood College

"Puzzle Panels: The Semiotic Riddles of George Carlson's Comic Art and Children's Media"
Daniel F. Yezbick, Peninsula College WA

"Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or, There Must be a Picture Book for Adults"
Ofra Amihay, Tel Aviv University

Ann Telnaes cartoon chosen as "Cartoon of the Month"

Dave Astor says that Capitol Hill resident and Pulitzer Prize winner Ann Telnaes has a cartoon that's been picked as "Editorial Cartoon of the Month" in Editor&Publisher's upcoming February print issue. He describes the cartoon as "...an anti-"surge" cartoon last week showing George W. Bush at a podium attached to a treadmill. As the fitness-obsessed President ran in place, one could clearly see that the treadmill's treads were flag-draped coffins of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq." Astor then goes onto discuss the current state of editorial cartooning, although he doesn't note that shamefully enough, Telnaes is self-syndicated without a home newspaper.

Cartoon-based videogames reviewed in Friday's Post

The Weekend section had reviews of videogames based on Peanuts and Family Guy. These are syndicated though, and not unique to the Post.

Spider-Man giveway in today's Washington Examiner

The Electro story from 1964 continues, but there's an interesting new cover by Kolins, dated 2006 so it's definitely new. The computerized coloring of the cover contrasts oddly with the flat colors of the original though. Remember - liberate your neighbors' copy! Capitol Hill by Eastern Market is a particularly rich stalking ground, as many people there don't want the paper and actively post signs saying so, but get it delivered anyway. Unlike my less-prosperous South Arlington neighborhood. Personally, I find it a perfectly respectable, although right-wing, free read.

Washington Post editor on language in comics

I'm pretty sure that Dave Astor is no where near DC, but he scooped me again with this one - Syndicate Editor Supports Candid Language in Comics - in which he notes that Washington Post Writers Group comic strip editor Amy Lago has posted a defense of adult language in comics. What's next - sex? Whoops, she defends that too. Seriously, it's about time - far more kids are hearing these terms on tv than reading them.

Tobacco cartoon show extended at Medical Museum

Ok, now this is embarrassing. I work in this place and didn't know the show was extended a month until reading Dave Astor about it. Anyway, the editorial cartoon exhibit, Cartoonists Take Up Smoking has been extended for another month through March 31st. The exhibit is a traveling show and not curated by us (ie me) so I can say that it's a good one with some really good cartoonists included.

If you're on the museum site, you might want to check out my recently-updated finding aid Cartoons and Comics in the National Museum of Health and Medicine, although it's already out of date again. Last week, a researcher came across a Dear Mabel World War 1 knock-off. I'll post more on that when I examine it more closely.

Oct 12 - SPX in Rockville with Jeff Smith

Everyone but me seems to have picked this up earlier today, but the Small Press Expo is returning to Rockville (North Bethesda - hah!) in October and Jeff Smith will be returning after a hiatus of years. Ben Towle has the most details (and an absolutely excellent review of a Peanuts exhibit appearing in the next issue of the International Journal of Comic Art. Buy his comics too.)

Feb 15 - Deadline for Library of Congress Swann Fellowships

I saw the talk by one of this year's Fellows - Katherine Roeder on Winsor McCay earlier this week. She gave a good talk about McCay's influences in circus posters, amusement parks (especially Coney Island) and department store windows (less convincing to my mind). So here's the announcement for next year's award.

Applications for the Swann Foundation Fellowship for the 2007-2008 academic year are due Feb. 15, 2007. Annual award of $15,000 is one of the few that supports scholarly graduate research in caricature and cartoon. Applicants must be enrolled in an accredited M.A. or Ph.D program in a university in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico. Current guidelines and application at:

http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/swann-fellow.html

Contact Martha Kennedy with questions by email at swann@loc.gov or call 202/707-9115.

My apologies for cross listing. Thanks very much for the opportunity to send this.

Martha H. Kennedy
Curatorial Assistant for Caricature and Cartoon
Prints and Photographs Division
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave. SE
Washington, DC 20540-4730
Ph.: 202/707-9115 Fax: 202/707-6647

"New Comic Book Releases" column no more

A week ago I wondered if Brian Truitt's "New Comic Book Releases" column was gone for good from the Wednesday Washington Examiner. Apparently so - I've been informed by a reliable source that he's left the paper. I enjoyed his column, and even bought books just based on his review once in a while, but let's wish him well.

ICAF - THE JOHN A. LENT SCHOLARSHIP

And for poor students reading this blog (are there any of you?) here's a generous chance at a FREE ALL EXPENSE PAID TRIP TO GLAMOROUS WASHINGTON, DC. Yes, you can win a paid accomodation...

... obviously I kind of miss the 1970s gameshows once in a while. Anywhere here's the real gen, a scholarship named after my buddy John.

THE JOHN A. LENT SCHOLARSHIP

The ICAF Executive Committee is pleased to announce its third annual John A. Lent Scholarship competition, to be held in preparation for ICAF 2007. The Lent Scholarship, named for pioneering teacher and researcher Dr. John A. Lent, is offered to encourage student research into comic art. ICAF awards the Lent Scholarship each year to a current student who has authored, or is in the process of authoring, a substantial research-based writing project about comics. (Preference is given to master's theses and doctoral dissertations, but all students of comics are encouraged to apply.)

The Scholarship for 2007 is subject to the condition that the recipient present a half-hour talk, based on their research, during ICAF 2007. The award will consist of hotel accommodations for the duration of ICAF 2007 (that is, three nights' hotel) at ICAF's expense. A commemorative letter and plaque will also be awarded.

Applicants must be students, or must show acceptance into an academic program, at the time of application. For example, applicants for ICAF 2007 must show proof of student status for the academic year 2006-2007, or proof that they have been accepted into an academic program for the academic year 2007-2008.

The Scholarship competition will be adjudicated by a three-person committee chosen from among the members of ICAF's Executive Committee. Applications should consist of:

* A self-contained excerpt from the project in question, not to exceed twenty (20) double-spaced pages of typescript.
* A brief cover letter, introducing the applicant and explaining the nature of the project.
* The applicant's professional resume.
* A letter of reference, on school letterhead, from a teacher or academic advisor (preferably thesis director), establishing the applicant's student status and speaking to her/his qualifications as a researcher and presenter.

Please note that applications for the Lent Scholarship are handled entirely separately from ICAF's general Call for Papers. Students who submit abstracts for the CFP are invited to apply separately for the Lent Award.

Please send applications by March 15, 2007 to

Marc Singer
Department of English
Howard University
Washington, DC 20059

Applicants should expect to be notified of the committee's decision in June 2006, at which point ICAF will begin working with the recipient to arrange her/his itinerary and accommodations.

Richard Thompson's Cut & Play Shakespeare Festival online

Kahn! Kahn!!! Kaaaaahhhhhnnnnn!
Finally the Post has put up Richard Thompson's Cut & Play Shakespeare Festival. I'm making mine now - that Michael Kahn was tough to cut out, but it's tempting to photocopy dozens of them and turn them loose on the world. Or perhaps just stick them in the Globe models in the National Building Museum exhibit.

CFP: International Comic Arts Forum (3/15/07; 10/18/07-10/20/07)

That's Call For Papers for the non-academic readers among us. BTW, anyone can submit a paper to ICAF - you don't have to be affiliated with a college. I've done a couple that don't seem to have harmed anyone. This is one of my favorite events in Comics DC. And look! There's that new name that I had suspicions of.


The Twelfth Annual INTERNATIONAL COMIC ARTS FORUM (ICAF)

October 18-20, 2007
The Library of Congress, James Madison Building, Washington, D.C.

The International Comic Arts Forum (formerly the International Comic Arts Festival) invites scholarly paper presentations for its twelfth annual meeting, to be held at the Madison Building of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., from Thursday, October 18, through Saturday, October 20, 2007. We welcome original proposals from a variety of disciplines and theoretical perspectives on any aspect of comics including comic strips, comic books, albums, manga, graphic novels, political cartoons, other panel cartoons, caricature, or comics in electronic media), with a special interest in international comics. Proposals will be refereed via blind review.

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

For its scholarly presentations, ICAF prefers argumentative, thesis-driven papers, clearly linked to larger critical, artistic, or cultural issues; we strive to avoid presentations that are merely summative or survey-like in character. We can only accept original papers that have not been presented or accepted for publication elsewhere. Presenters should assume an audience versed in comics and the fundamentals of comics studies. Where possible, papers should be illustrated by relevant images. In all cases, presentations should be timed to finish within the strict limit of TWENTY (20) MINUTES (roughly eight to nine typed, double-spaced pages).

Proposals should not exceed 300 WORDS. At the bottom of the proposal, the author should precisely state her/his audiovisual equipment needs.

AUDIOVISUAL EQUIPMENT: Our preferred format for the display of images is MS PowerPoint. Regretfully we cannot accommodate non-digital media such as transparencies, slides, or VHS tapes. Presenters should bring their PowerPoint or other electronic files on a CD or a USB key, not just on the hard drive of a portable computer. We cannot guarantee the compatibility of our equipment with presenters' individual laptops.

REVIEW PROCESS: All proposals will be subject to blind review by the ICAF Executive Committee, with preference given to proposals that observe the above standards. The final number of papers accepted will depend on the needs of the conference program. Due to increasing interest in the conference, in recent years ICAF has typically accepted only one third toone half of the proposals it has received.

SEND ABSTRACTS (with COMPLETE contact information) by March 15, 2007, to Prof. Cécile Danehy, ICAF Academic Coordinator, via email at .

Receipt of proposals is acknowledged immediately; if you do not receive acknowledgement within a few days of sending your proposal, please resubmit.

Applicants should expect to receive confirmation of acceptance or rejection by May 15, 2007.


(Comics scholars, please note the conference's change of name. Our currentwebsite can be found at http://go.to/icaf, though that may be changing in the next few weeks as well.)

Jan 29 - Shojo Manga exhibit at JICC

This post is cleaned up a bit and the links work now. Note that an RSVP is required for the opening lecture on January 30th - click on the JICC link at the bottom to do so. This exhibit will be in a non-descript building on 21st St, NW at about M St, but it should be a nice exhibit. The JICC does a lot of interesting stuff. I plan on attending the opening and have RSVP'd. Anyone else?


Active Anime posted this press release from the Japan Information and Culture Center -

Girl Power! Girls’ Comics from Japan - An Exhibit
Posted on Monday, January 15, 2007 - 01:04 PM
Japan Information and Culture Center, Washington D.C presents Girls' Comics from Japan - An Exhibit. The exhibit will run from January 29 - March 16, 2007


This international touring exhibit features historic Japanese manga, with a special emphasis on shojo manga—comic books for girls. The exhibit features 23 renowned shojo manga creators and more than 200 works from World War II to the present.The pieces in this exhibit come together for the first and only time in Washington D.C.

The medium reflects the evolution of the social roles of Japanese girls and women during this period. The exhibition also documents how the visual composition of manga mirrors the developments in Japanese aesthetics.

Curated by Dr. Masami Toku, Associate Professor of Art and Art History at California State University Chico, “Girl Power!” has toured throughout North and South America Details at: http://www.csuchico.edu/~mtoku/vc .

Opening lecture: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 in the JICC Auditorium,from 6:30 p.m. RSVP to jiccrsvpwinter07@embjapan.org

Join us for a special opening talk by Masami Toku, curator and general director of the Shojo Manga Project. Dr. Toku will provide an opening lecture for this exhibition, offering insights into the featured works as well as the artists themselves. Refreshments will be served and exhibition catalogue will be available.

Co-Sponsored by: Japan Information and Culture Center; The Japan-America Society of Washington, Inc.; The Japan Foundation, New York; and California State University, Chico.

Shojo Manga Project: http://www.csuchico.edu/~mtoku/vc

Visit the Japan Information and Culture Center - Embassy of Japan - Washington D.C. at http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jicc/index.htm

Jan 16 - Winsor McCay lecture at LOC REPOST

Martha Kennedy reports Swann Foundation Fellow Katherine Roeder will present a lecture titled "Wide Awake in Slumberland: Fantasy and Mass Culture in the work of Winsor McCay," at noon on Tuesday January 16, 2007, in the Library of Congress's Dining Room A on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC. Roeder's illustrated presentation is based on a research project, which has been supported by her fellowship from the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, which is administered by the Library. The lecture, sponsored by the foundation and the Library's Prints and Photographs Division, is free and open to the public; no reservations are required.

Jan 13 Cut & Play Shakespeare Festival in Post

Richard Thompson's Richard's Poor Almanack (note that new spelling) has another set of cutouts today, and there's six of them! DC's staging an area-wide Shakespeare festival this spring (including an adaptation by comic book writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa). This set of cutouts has the greats - Richard III, Lady MacBeth and director Michael Kahn! I'll be making these. Unfortunately, it's not online yet so you'll have to buy, beg or borrow the Post's Style section for p. C3.

Richard Thompson has not paid for mentions in this blog.

Spiegelman, Katchor to speak in spring

Nextbook is advertising Art Spiegelman on February 20th at 7:30 and Ben Katchor on April 17th at 7:30 at the Washington DC Jewish Cultural Center on 16th St. Tickets are $8.00 each apparently. Novelist Myla Goldberg is speaking on February 5th; for our purposes, her husband is cartoonist Jason Little, but she's done a couple of good novels.

Cartoon America - the missing pictures

The Library put up an online version of the exhibit, but had to leave out some of the images. For those who were wondering what they were missing, we present this gallery. The description and numbering are from the checklist, which has links to all the other images.


Edmund Duffy. From Ever Darkening Clouds, ca. 1944
Probably published in the Baltimore Sun
Crayon, ink brush, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing
LC-DIG-ppmsca-07517 (4)








John Jensen. "Ah'm makin' way fer Bobby K," ca. 1968
Watercolor and ink brush over graphite underdrawing
LC-DIG-ppmsca-07182 (9)







William Gropper. Fat man with telescope standing on a mound of skulls
Possibly published in New Masses
Ink, crayon, and opaque white with spatter over blue pencil, between 1920 and 1940
LC-DIG-ppmsca-03602 (12)



Pat Oliphant. Waiting for Reagan, 1982
Published by Universal Press Syndicate, August 11, 1982
Ink with opaque white out graphite underdrawing
LC-DIG-ppmsca-10609 (23)

Ollie Harrington. Bootsie. "Brother Bootsie we really appreciate you droppin' in to wish us Merry Chris'mus but we got a few things to do right now, so drop by some other time -- aroun' the first of April for instance!" December 30, 1961
Drawn for the Pittsburgh Courier
Crayon and ink over blue pencil underdrawing
LC-DIG-ppmsca-03492 (33)


Clare Briggs. When a Feller Needs a Friend. When You Meet Her Daddy and Somehow You Feel So Inadequate, 1923
Published by New York Tribune, Inc., November 5, 1923
Ink over graphite underdrawing with paste-on
LC-DIG-ppmsca-03607 (34)


David Pascal. "Couldn't we meet in a more secluded place, dear?" between 1965 and 1974
Published in 1000 Jokes
Ink wash, ink, opaque white, and charcoal over graphite underdrawing
LC-DIG-ppmsca-09122 (41)





Chester Gould. Dick Tracy. The Ultimatum. "What did you find out, Tracy?" 1931
Published by News Syndicate Co., Inc., December 18, 1931
Ink with scraping out over graphite underdrawing with paste-on
LC-DIG-ppmsca-07736 (58)


Elzie Segar. Popeye. "I'll bet poor Wimpy has desert madness -- probably raving around saying poetry," 1935
Published by King Features Syndicate, Inc., May 12, 1935
Ink over graphite underdrawing with paste-ons
LC-DIG-ppmsca-03468 (68)



George Herriman. "Krazy Kat." Panel shows Ignatz taking a bow below the trapeze, 1942
Published by King Features Syndicate, April 19, 1942
Ink with scraping out over graphite underdrawing with paste-on
LC-DIG-ppmsca-03340 (72)







Phil Davis and Lee Falk. Mandrake the Magician. Reaching the Road Block, Mandrake Gestures Hypnotically at the Plane Robbers --, 1961
Published by King Features Syndicate February 5, 1961
India ink over graphite underdrawing with blue pencil and paste-ons
LC-DIG-ppmsca-09492 (73)


Johnny Hart. B.C. "Do you believe in destiny?" 1969
Published by Field Enterprises, February 5, 1969
India ink over graphite underdrawing with porous point pen
LC-DIG-ppmsca-09129 (76)


Joseph Barbera. Jerry of Tom and Jerry, ca. 1940
Graphite and blue pencil
LC-DIG-ppmsca-06459 (81)



Joseph Barbera. Tom of Tom and Jerry, between 1940 and 1957
Graphite and blue pencil
LC-DIG-ppmsca-06460 (85)



Saul Steinberg. Self Portrait, 1954
Close variant version published in the New Yorker, July 10, 1954
Ink
LC-DIG-ppmsca-05870 (89)








Fleischer Studios. Popeye fighting his way out of a jellyfish, ca. 1940
Preparatory drawing for Females is Fickle, directed by Dave Fleischer and animated by David Tendlar and William Sturm, and released by Fleischer Studios on March 8, 1940
Graphite and colored pencil
LC-DIG-ppmsca-12917 (97)



Raymond Allen Jackson. "I can't stand any more of this, I think I'll go out and face the unions," 1969, Probably published in the London Evening Standard, April 15, 1969
Ink brush, crayon, opaque white, and watercolor wash over graphite underdrawing
LC-DIG-ppmsca-03297 (101)

and some special bonuses--



Fred Flinstone model sheets from Art Wood now in American Treasures exhibit.













Snoopy cel from Art Wood now in American Treasures exhibit.













Original Eisner art now in American Treasures exhibit.

Spider-Man returns to Washington Examiner

Today's Washington Examiner is carrying the Spider-Man Collectible Series comic book again - #19 reprints Amazing Spider-Man #9 introducing Electro. Yay! Steal your neighbor's copy today.

On the negative side, Brian Truitt's New Comics Releases column hasn't been in the paper for the past three weeks. Is it coming back? I actually buy comics based on his recs.

Library of Congress imprint of approval for Cathy

Scooped again! E&P Online's Dave Astor reported that the Library of Congress is using a Cathy strip on preserving photographs on their website. And I'm an archivist! I've even got this strip hanging up in my office, even though it is Cathy!

Remember folks, always back up your data. And anything you can view with eyeballs instead of machinery works best.

W-DC mentions in Best Comics Scholarship 2006

"Best Comics Scholarship 2006" by Beth Davies-Stofka, at Broken Frontier (January 8, 2007) mentions a few bits related to Comics in DC. Of the International Journal of Comic Art of which I'm pleased to be the exhibitions and media reviews editor, she says, "IJOCA remained the best bargain in 2006, charging only $30.00 for an individual subscription." She also singles out former Big Planet Comics employee Dan Nadel’s book Art Out of Time and The Library of Congress' exhibit and book Cartoon America as deserving notice.

Actually, I've seen just about everything on her list, and concur with her recommendations and conclusions, and hopes for 2007.

Washington comics blogger Marc Singer

My friend Prof Marc Singer recently returned to DC to take a post in the English Dept. at Howard University. Marc's been writing a blog for years at I am NOT the Beastmaster. (I never thought he was, having no idea what movie he's referencing). Marc's one of the organizers of the annual International Comic Arts Festival -- an annual event that I enjoy immensely and which I believe just changed its name again.

Marc's got a very literate blog, as one would expect from an English Professor, and this post on Eric Reynold's anthologyMome was singled out today by Tom Spurgeon's Comic Reporter for good reason I think (although I reserve my opinion of Mome, because Eric's a friend too, and I only have one issue that I haven't read yet. Mea culpa.) Marc's also done some excellent posts on Grant Morrison which are worth tracking down.

Beyond our focus, his post on Casino Royale is excellent too - perhaps because he's seems sympathetic to the first Timothy Dalton movie, which I enjoyed as it returned Bond to being a stone-cold killer -- the rationale behind the 'double 0'.

3rd in a series of posts on DC comics-types.

Catching up on the weekend Post - Richard's Poor Almanack

Scoop! Richard Thompson changed the way he spells his strip!

Ok, that's not much of a scoop, but the strip "Comic Strip Previews for 2007" is a really good one.

Boy, everybody hates Anthony, don't they?

So, anybody besides me actually cut out and make the fingerpuppets that he draws? I made Sorry Santa today, during a dull moment (rare! I promise!) at work. Unfortunately, it looks as though the Post only links to the most recent panel so you'll have to dig through the two-week old recycling to make yours.

Catching up on the weekend Post - Dilbert on torture

One of the oddest editorials in recent memory appeared in the Sunday's Post Outlook section -
"I'm Tortured by Doubt" by Scott Adams, Sunday, January 7, 2007; Page B01. Fortunately, he doesn't make us wait, but puts his conclusion in the first paragraph: "Lately I've moved from "pretty certain" to "doubtful" about the effectiveness of torture." Whew, that's a relief from the suspense.

He's also got some fun free wallpapers on his site, and that's where the illo for this post came from.

Keith R.A. DeCandido on Pierce Askegren

Yesterday's Post obituary on Askegren led to Tom Spurgeon posting a link to Keith R.A. DeCandido's blog entry on the local superhero writer. DeCandido edited the line of stories for Marvel that Askegren was writing.

Pierce Askegren obituary in today's Post

The local writer of prose superhero stories for Marvel got a larger obituary today - A Technical Writer's Alter Ego: Engaging Comic Book Novelist By Louie Estrada, Washington Post Staff Writer, Sunday, January 7, 2007; C06. The print version has a nice picture.

Jan 10 12 noon - Eisner talk at Library of Congress

Bob Andelman scoooped me on this in his Spirited Life newsletter (you'll be hearing from me, Martha):

Gallery Talk on Will Eisner at Library of Congress, Jan. 10
Did you know that the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., has original art by Will Eisner?

Martha Kennedy of the Prints and Photographs Division will discuss the work of graphic novelist Will Eisner on Wednesday, January 10 at noon in the “American Treasures” exhibition at the Library of Congress’ Jefferson Building, the Southwest Gallery of the Great Hall, which is on the second floor.

“We were able to acquire a group of drawings of his from a short story in City People Notebook,” Kennedy tells the Eisner eNewsletter. “We were interested in acquiring examples and we had limited funds, so Will gave us the original drawings for the story ‘Collision.’ During the gallery talk, I’m going to talk about five of the eight drawings and give a brief biography of Will Eisner. The talks are informal and are given by curators. I’ll talk about the three stories within the story in this piece and talk about his enormous significance in the field of comic art.”

If you decide to go, don’t be late; the talk will only last about 20 minutes, with time for questions afterward.

“Its not a footnoted academic paper,” Kennedy says. “But it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I wanted to convey a sense of Eisner’s importance. The gallery talks are a nice, informal way of letting the public and the Library of Congress staff itself know more about these wonderful treasures we’re able to add to the collection.”

And yes, Kennedy is an Eisner fan.

“We were able to bring him in twice to talk,” she says. “The first time as a part of a panel and the second to talk about the graphic novel. It was such a pleasure to work with him.”

For more information, please call: 202-707-9203.

Jan 7 - Animation festival - Norman McLaren restored REPOST

Norman McLaren Restored
Premiere of new 35 mm prints
January 7 at 4:30 p.m., National Gallery of Art

Brilliant Scottish-born Canadian animator Norman McLaren (1914–1987) perfected many of the techniques that became the standard of animation art. Often imitated, McLaren's work during the 1930s and 1940s for the National Film Board of Canada and Britain's GPO film unit was legendary. Eleven of his classic short films — including Begone Dull Care (1949), Neighbours (1952), A Chairy Tale (1957), Pas de deux (1968), Synchromy (1971), Blinkity Blank (1955), and Hen Hop (1942) — have now been restored by the National Film Board of Canada to their original 35 mm format. Viewed in these spectacular new prints, McLaren's films demonstrate cinema's close affinity with painting and music — a concept that was one of this artist's main preoccupations. (total running time 85 mins.)

Jan 6: Animation festival in Frederick

Ninety minutes of classic Looney Tunes will be shown at the Cartoon Festival at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, MD the Frederick Herald-Mail is reporting, along with these details:

WHAT: Cartoon Festival

WHEN: 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 6.

WHERE: Weinberg Center for the Arts, 20 N. Patrick St., Frederick, Md.

COST: $6 for adults; $4 for children.

MORE: Tickets are available at the box office and at the door. Go to www.weinbergcenter.org for box office hours and for more information.

Tom Toles profile online

Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter picked this one up today -
"Post's Toles Skewers Bush for Breakfast" By Harry Jaffe

Washington Examiner's political gossip column notices Marvel's Civil War

In their Yeas and Nays column, Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin of the Washington Examiner for January 3, 2007 have "Spider-Man lassos White House in his web."In their opinion, Marvel's current Civil War storyline draws obvious links to the current actual war in Iraq.

Emily Flake covers Washington City Paper

The December 29th issue of the City Paper has a cover and interior illustrations by Emily Flake. I think she's Baltimore based. The paper carries her strip, Lulu Eightball.

The Year According to Toles

The Post did run the annual compilation page in the Dec. 31 Outlook section. Unfortunately, I can't find it online so if you're reading this and aren't local, you'd better call a friend in the area before recycling day.

Judge Parker artist changes

Alan Gardner checked into the changing artists on the Judge Parker strip. Eduardo Baretto had taken over the strip in the spring, but lately different artists have been appearing. This isn't a strip I read reguarly, although I like Baretto's art - an Ecuadoran, he's worked on the Shadow for DC .A similar situation was happening with Prickly City, but Scott Stantis was known to have scheduled surgery and replacement cartoonists. Alan's story about Baretto can be read here - Chaos ensues, order restored in Judge Parker serial (UPDATED), Daily Cartoonist, Dec 29, 2006

Big Planet Comics New Year's Sale

The 3 stores have 20% off everything today, from noon to 5 pm.

Washington Post adds Pooch Cafe to replace Foxtrot

So I think Paul Gilligan has done a very rare thing - he's in 3 papers in one city. He appears to be running in the Washington Examiner again as of this week. Perhaps writing into ComicsDC is a luck generator (see his comment in my earlier post on the Examiner dropping comics).

NOTE TO COMICS READERS
Washington Post
Monday, January 1, 2007; Page C10


"Pooch Cafe" by Paul Gilligan debuts today on the comics pages, because Bill Amend, the creator of "FoxTrot," has chosen to discontinue daily publication of his strip. The Post will continue to publish "FoxTrot" each Sunday. Today, "Out of the Gene Pool" is not running today to allow room for this note, but it will be back tomorrow in its usual spot.

As always, we appreciate reader feedback. You can call our comics hotline at 202-334-4775, e-mail http://comics@washpost.com or write Comics Feedback, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071.

DC-based comics interviewer Chris Shields & cIndy Center

Chris Shields runs cIndy Center, a podcast that frequently deals with comics. DC-based Chris interviews cartoonists (as well as other types of artists) and releases the interviews as podcasts on a regular basis. You can subscribe to Chris's podcast through itunes or sign up at his website.

Recent interviews of cartoonists include Mark Millar, Fred Hembeck (a real favorite of mine), and Zak Smith (the artist who illustrated Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow sort of as a graphic novel).

2nd in a series of profiles on local comics bloggers.

Matt Diffee at Politics & Prose covered in Post

Although it happened a couple of weeks ago, Peter Carlson's coverage of Matt Diffee's booksigning for the Rejection Collection of New Yorker cartoons is in the paper today.

Also, the Travel section has an article on the Saul Steinberg exhibit in NYC and says the show will be in DC at American Art in the spring. And the Style Invitational Contest a few weeks ago was about comic strip writing and the winners are announced.

Finally, the Year in Editorial Cartoons in the last page of the Outlook section; presumably Toles' Year will be next week.

Jan 7 - Animation - Norman McLaren Restored

My buddy Rick Banning just called me with this film information from the National Gallery of Art.

Norman McLaren Restored
Premiere of new 35 mm prints
January 7 at 4:30 p.m.

Brilliant Scottish-born Canadian animator Norman McLaren (1914–1987) perfected many of the techniques that became the standard of animation art. Often imitated, McLaren's work during the 1930s and 1940s for the National Film Board of Canada and Britain's GPO film unit was legendary. Eleven of his classic short films — including Begone Dull Care (1949), Neighbours (1952), A Chairy Tale (1957), Pas de deux (1968), Synchromy (1971), Blinkity Blank (1955), and Hen Hop (1942) — have now been restored by the National Film Board of Canada to their original 35 mm format. Viewed in these spectacular new prints, McLaren's films demonstrate cinema's close affinity with painting and music — a concept that was one of this artist's main preoccupations. (total running time 85 mins.)

Local superhero novelist Pierce Askegren dies

The Post carried obituary for him today. I hadn't realized he lived in Northern Virginia in Annandale when I read Scoop's obituary last week.

Articles in today's papers

The Post carried Joseph Barbera's obituary of course. Not an AP article, but a competent, if not deep, obit written by Martin Weil. The hagiographic obits are somewhat amusing since it's not been long since Hanna-Barbera were accused, with some justification, of killing animation.

Suprisingly, both the Examiner and the Express slipped in articles. The Express had an AP article on Jerry Seinfeld's animated 'Bee Movie'. The Examiner had Brian Truitt's recommendations for comics as Christmas gifts. The Last Christmas (Image), Identity Crisis, Revelations, Young Avengers 1, and Pride of Baghdad if you're wondering. This is a very depressing list actually.

SWANN FELLOW TO LECTURE ON WINSOR MCCAY AT LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, JAN. 16

SWANN FELLOW TO LECTURE ON WINSOR MCCAY AT LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, JAN. 16

Swann Foundation Fellow Katherine Roeder will discuss the work of distinguished cartoonist Winsor McCay and its relationship to the mass culture of the early 20th century in a lecture next month at the Library of Congress.

Roeder will present her talk, titled “Wide Awake in Slumberland: Fantasy and Mass Culture in the Work of Winsor McCay,” at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 16, in Dining Room A on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.

The illustrated presentation is based on Roeder’s research project, which has been supported by her fellowship from the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon. The Library of Congress administers the foundation. The lecture, sponsored by the foundation and the Library’s Prints and Photographs Division, is free and open to the public; no reservations are required.

A pioneering master in newspaper comics and early animation, and a notable editorial cartoonist, McCay (1867-1934) first gained national notice for his detailed and fantastical comic strips that included “Dream of the Rarebit Fiend” (1904-1911), “Little Sammy Sneeze” (1904-1906) and, arguably the best known and beloved of all, “Little Nemo in Slumberland” (1905-1914). “Little Nemo” was a weekly comic strip in which the title character repeatedly embarked on epic journeys to exciting, strange and sometimes frightening places, only to awaken in the last frame safe at home in his bed. McCay’s comic strips, in the Sunday editions of American newspapers, made an important contribution to the proliferation of fantastic imagery at the dawn of the 20th century.

McCay’s work centered on fantasy and longing, qualities that were key features of the burgeoning commercial environment. In her lecture, Roeder will make formal comparisons between McCay’s comic strips and the design of department stores, printed advertisements and amusement parks. McCay drew from a broad spectrum of visual sources to create a richly textured world that engaged viewers and excited their imaginations. His comic strips produced a dream world shaped by the visual language of modern urban experience.

Roeder is a doctoral candidate in art history at the University of Delaware, where her area of focus is American art and culture. Her dissertation is titled, “Cultivating Dreamfulness: Fantasy, Longing and Commodity Culture in the Work of Winsor McCay.” In addition to being one of three Swann Fellows for 2006-2007, Roeder is a Smithsonian pre-doctoral fellow at the National Portrait Gallery for 2006-2007. Last year, she was a research fellow in American art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Roeder received a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College and a master’s from the University of Maryland.

Roeder’s lecture is part of the Swann Foundation’s continuing activities to support the study, interpretation, preservation and appreciation of original works of humorous and satiric art by graphic artists from around the world. The Swann Foundation’s advisory board is composed of scholars, collectors, cartoonists and Library of Congress staff members.

The foundation customarily awards one fellowship annually, with a stipend of $15,000, to assist scholarly research and writing projects in the field of caricature and cartoon. Applications for the academic year 2007-2008 will be due on Feb. 15, 2007. More information about the fellowship is available through the Swann Foundation’s Web site: www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/swannhome.html or by e-mailing swann@loc.gov.

# # #
PR06-232
12/18/06
ISSN: 0731-3527

Post article on Palestinian political cartoonist

The Post ran a fairly atypical article today on Palistinian cartoonist Khalil Abu Arafeh that's well worth reading. See Subversive Palestinian Cartoons Reflect New Political Introspection by Scott Wilson, Washington Post Foreign Service, Sunday, December 17, 2006; Page A27

Cartoon America opening video on web

The Library of Congress has put some video of the November opening speeches. The video is poor, but just listen to the sound which is fine.

TITLE: Library of Congress Opens "Cartoon America" Exhibition
SPEAKER: Harry Katz, Jules Feiffer, Brian Walker, Ann Telnaes, Kevin Kallaugher, Art Wood
EVENT DATE: 11/01/2006
RUNNING TIME: 46 minutes


DESCRIPTION:

A host of well-known cartoonists and publishers were on hand at the Library of Congress to celebrate the opening of "Cartoon America: Highlights from the Art Wood Collection of Cartoon and Caricature," a exhibition featuring 100 masterworks of the nation's most renown cartoonists. It was also the occasion for the launching of a companion book titled "Cartoon America: Comic Art in the Library of Congress" which is published by Harry N. Abrams, in association with the Library of Congress. The book is edited by Harry Katz, former head curator of the Library's Prints and Photographs Division. Images of many cartoon drawings in the exhibition are included among the 275 full-color illustrations in the book, which also surveys the Library's other holdings of related art.

Speaker Biography: Harry Katz is former head curator of the Library's Prints and Photographs Division.

Speaker Biography: Jules Feiffer is an American syndicated comic-strip cartoonist and author. In 1986 he won the Pulitzer Prize for his editorial cartooning in The Village Voice, and in 2004 was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame. Feiffer's cartoons ran for 42 years in the The Village Voice and have been collected into 19 books. They have also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, Esquire, Playboy and The Nation. He was commissioned in 1997 by The New York Times to create its first op-ed page comic strip which ran monthly until 2000. Feiffer has most recently written several award-winning children's books including "The Man in the Ceiling" and "A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears." Feiffer is an adjunct professor at Southampton College. Previously he taught at the Yale School of Drama and Northwestern University. He has been a senior fellow at the Columbia University National Arts Journalism Program. Feiffer is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council and has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He received the National Cartoonist Society Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 and the Creativity Foundation's 2006 Laureate.

Speaker Biography: Brian Walker is a professional cartoonist, a cartoon scholar and a founder and former director of the Museum of Cartoon Art (now the International Museum of Cartoon Art), where he worked from 1974 to 1992. In addition, he has contributed gags for the comic strips "Beetle Bailey" and "Hi and Lois" since 1984. Walker has written and edited more than a dozen books on cartoon art, as well as numerous exhibition catalogs and magazine articles. He has curated 65 cartoon exhibitions, including the retrospectives "The Sunday Funnies: 100 Years of Comics in American Life" at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Conn. and "100 Years of American Comics" at the Belgian Center for Comic Art in Brussels.

Speaker Biography: Born in Sweden, Ann Telnaes' editorial cartoons are syndicated with Cartoonists and Writers Syndicate/ New York Times Syndicate. Her work has appeared in such prestigious publications as The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Le Monde, Courrier International, The Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, The New York Times, Austin American Statesman,The American Prospect and Ms magazine. Telnaes also contributes an exclusive weekly cartoon to Women's eNews, an online news service. Telnaes' work was shown in a solo exhibition at the Great Hall in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress in 2004. Her first book, "Humor's Edge," was published by Pomegranate Press and the Library of Congress in 2004. Her work has also been exhibited in Paris and Jerusalem.

Speaker Biography: Kevin Kallaugher is the editorial cartoonist for The Baltimore Sun and The Economist magazine of London. In March 1978, The Economist recruited him to become its first resident cartoonist in its 145-year history. Kevin spent the next ten years working in London as a cartoonist for such publications as The Observer, The Sunday Telegraph, Today and The Mail on Sunday. Kallaugher returned to the U.S. in 1988 to join The Sun as its editorial cartoonist. His work for The Sun and The Economist has appeared in more than 100 papers worldwide. His cartoons are distributed worldwide by Cartoonist and Writer's Syndicate. He has won many awards for his work, including the 1999 Thomas Nast Award presented by the Overseas Press Club of America and the 1996 Grafica Internazionale Award at the International Festival of Satire in Pisa, Italy. He has published one collection of his Economist drawings titled "Drawn from the Economist" in 1988 and three collections of his Baltimore Sun cartoons: "KALtoons" (1992), "KAL Draws a Crowd" (1997) and "KAL Draws the Line (2000)." Kallaugher is past president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists and has had his work on display in the Tate Gallery in London and The Library of Congress. He has had one man exhibitions in London, New York, Washington and Baltimore.

Speaker Biography: A resident of Washington, D.C., Art Wood collected the works of his leading American and European colleagues throughout his long career. His collection also includes works that he purchased, particularly in the areas of animation art and illustrators' drawings. The purchased portion of the collection under the agreement with the Library includes only those items that he bought to expand the collection. During his professional life, Wood worked diligently to establish a museum or gallery to preserve and showcase his collection. He achieved his goal in 1995 with the opening of the National Gallery of Caricature and Cartoon Art in downtown Washington, D.C., but the gallery closed in 1997 due to a lack of sustained funding. Undeterred, Wood turned to the Library of Congress, where he had worked early in his career, to preserve and present his collection.

Dec 16 - Comics signing at Big Planet

Today's Express has a story by Darona Williams saying that Shannon O'Leary will be signing her comic anthology, Pet Noir at the Georgetown Big Planet (3145 Dumbarton St, NW) at 3:30 - the phone is 202-342-1961. The anthology is subtitled "An Illustrated Anthology of Strange but True Pet Crime Stories" which sounds depressing to me. Still, the article makes it look interesting, and I'll try to stop by.

Brian Ralph in Baltimore City Paper

It's under an hour away, but it seems farther than that. Anyway, here's the story, which Tom Spurgeon's Comics Reporter picked up first:

"Q+A | People - Brian Ralph" By Lee Gardner, Baltimore City Paper (December 13, 2006).

Derf!!!

Totally-cool cartoonist Derf did the cover and illustrations for the December 15th Washington City Paper. It's not online yet though. His "The City" strip regularly runs in the City Paper.

Last March, Derf (aka John Backderf) won the RFK Award for political cartoons, in a contest judged by local cartoonists and aficionados. In his March 21st Post chat, "Chatalogical Humor"
Gene Weingarten had the following to report:

"On Sunday, I was one of four judges for the Robert F. Kennedy Awards, in the category of political cartoons. (Two of the others were Richard Thompson and Nick Galifianakis, the ex-hubby who illustrates Hax's column.)

It was an odd experience. The RFK award goes to those who most effectively highlight the plight of the powerless and disenfranchised. We were looking at the best work of some of the best editorial cartoonists of our generation, and yet so much of their portfolios for 2005 didn't really fit the contest's criteria. Why?

Because editorial cartoonists tend to focus their criticism, and outrage, on the political and emotional issues that define their times. Alas, the plight of the underclasses and the disenfranchised tended to take a back seat to the grotesque mismanagement of our supposed war on terror. Not the cartoonists' fault, but a sign of the utter failure of our national policies, and the corruption of our national will."

Dave Astor picked up the story in May and noted the award ceremony was to be on May 25th. I wasn't invited, but presume it happened.

New Ann Telnaes book

One of my moles in the Library of Congress (hi, Martha!) emailed me to tell me about this book this morning, but Dave Astor already beat me to the story. Telnaes, trained as an animator, has a collection of Dick Cheney cartoons out through a print-on-demand publisher, but my mole tells me it's also available in DC bookstores Trover and Politics & Prose. I'll be definitely picking this one up. I wonder if this is the start of a trend for cartoonists?

Neal Gabler on Walt Disney

I attended Neal Gabler's talk about his biography of Walt Disney tonight at Politics and Prose. Gabler's an animated speaker, and blew his alloted time, but nobody except the staff cared because he was entertaining. He also is so animated that he didn't stay at the microphone, so there won't be a recording sold of this one. I took a few notes though.

Gabler began by stating that he was "not one of the people who worship at the alter of Walt Disney," but that he was interested in people who "shape the American conciousness particularly in popular culture. I call them architects of American conciousness."

"No one is neutral about Walt Disney. There is no middle ground with Walt Disney... The two great visual imaginations of the 20th century -- I think of Picasso and Walt Disney."

The book took seven years of work with open access to the Disney archives under archivist Dave Smith. "It was seven years of work because The Walt Disney Company finally did open the archives for me. There was no quid pro quo and I couldn't have accepted one." Apparently Howard Green, a PR vice president at Disney thought enough time had passed to have perspective...

The archives revealed that "Walt Disney, for better or worse was a packrat.. So when you go into the archives you will find things no one else would have retained." Gabler attributed this to Disney's sense of his own importance and destiny. Gabler said that he does research in chronological order to try to follow the story and maintain the suspense. While we all know Disney was a success, Disney didn't know he would be and reading his letters in order gives a better feel for his life.

Disney was a control-freak at his studio which he owned. He was the only one who issued memos on blue paper, so everyone knew what came from him. "Walt Disney's word is holy writ at the Walt Disney Co. Walt Disney was not a collaborative artist. He was a fellow who had a vision in his head and asked people to realize the visions."

Gabler related a few stories from the book, which has gotten gotten excellent reviews in the Washington Post and New York Timeswhich did two reviews a month apart. The Times also recommended the book as an Editor's Choice. And Reuters reviewed it and labelled it a 'literary triumph.'

At the end, in response to a question, in his opinion, the studio never completely recovered after the bitter 1941 strike, but "I think Pinnochio is the apex of animation. That opinion's not in the book so you've gotten something new tonight."

And for some reason Amazon France has an English 10 Second Interview: A Few Words with Neal Gabler.

HERBLOCK EXHIBITION EXTENDED THROUGH FEB. 3

The Library's public affairs office sent this out today.

HERBLOCK DISPLAY IN “AMERICAN TREASURES” EXTENDED THROUGH FEB. 3

“American Treasures” Exhibition To Close Feb. 5-21

“Enduring Outrage: Editorial Cartoons by Herblock,” currently on display in the “American Treasures of the Library of Congress” exhibition, will be extended through Feb. 3. The exhibition may be viewed free of charge from 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday, in the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building at 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C.

“American Treasures of the Library of Congress” will close on Feb. 5 and reopen Feb. 22 with a featured display titled “A Century of Creativity: The MacDowell Colony 1907–2007” to commemorate the centennial of the artists’ colony, located in Peterborough, N.H.

Also on display in “American Treasures” beginning Feb. 22 will be a selection of items drawn from the Library’s collections that feature William Shakespeare. The display will be part of a city-wide celebration of Shakespeare in Washington, to be held January through June 2007.

The “American Treasures” exhibition opened on May 1, 1997, as the centerpiece of a yearlong celebration marking the official reopening of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building during its 100th anniversary. Made possible by a grant from the Xerox Foundation, the exhibition features the rarest and most significant items from the Library’s collections relating to America’s past. For preservation considerations, some of the more fragile documents are displayed on a rotating basis.

The “American Treasures exhibition can be viewed online at www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures. “Enduring Outrage” can be viewed at www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/herblock-home.html.

For more information about the Shakespeare celebration, visit www.shakespeareinwashington.org.

Cartoon America in Publishers Weekly newsletter

Peter Sanderson described the exhibit for the newsletter PW Comics Week. On reading his article, I can't tell if he actually has seen the exhibit, but it's an acceptible overview of the show. I would quibble with phrase "The uniquely American art of the comic strip and the cartoon are on display..." since some of the pieces are by Europeans including Cruickshank and Kley, but the Library's curators set reviewers up for that with the title of the show.

Comics arriving December 13th

List courtesy of Big Planet Comics.

New comics arriving this WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13TH

DC COMICS
52 WEEK #32
100 BULLETS #79
BATMAN #660
BATMAN STRIKES #28
DMZ #14
EX MACHINA #25
FIRESTORM #32
GEN 13 #3
GREEN ARROW #69
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #7
JLA CLASSIFIED #30
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #4
MAD MAGAZINE #473
MARTIAN MANHUNTER #5
NEW TEEN TITANS: TERRA INCOGNITO TP
OMAC #6
ROBIN #157
SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE: SLEEP OF REASON #1
SPIRIT #1
STORMWATCH PHD #2
SUPERMAN: GREATEST STORIES VOL. 2 TP
TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED #3
TRIALS OF SHAZAM #4

MARVEL COMICS
AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL #3
AVENGERS: NEXT #3
BLADE #4
BULLET POINTS #2
ESSENTIAL OFF. HANDBOOK UPDATE ‘89 VOL. 1 TP
EXILES ANNUAL #1
FANTASTIC FOUR: THE END #3
GHOST RIDER #6
HEROES REBORN: AVENGERS TP
MAGICIAN APPRENTICE #4
MARVEL ADVENTURES: FF #19
NEW X-MEN #33
ULTIMATE X-MEN #77
WOLVERINE #49
WOLVERINE: ORIGINS & ENDINGS TP
WONDER MAN #1
X-23: TARGET X #1
X-FACTOR #14
X-MEN: PHOENIX WARSONG #4

INDYVILLE
ALTER EGO #63
BATTLE POPE #12
BETTY #161
CURSES HC
DAMNED #3
ELEPHANTMEN #5
ESCAPISTS #6
GIRLS #20
HUNTER KILLER #10
JUGHEAD AND FRIENDS DIGEST #16
LITTLE LULU VOL. 13 TP
LONE RACER GN
OUTER ORBIT #1
PALS ‘N’ GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #108
TRANSFORMERS: ANIMATED MOVIE ADAPTATION #3

PLANET PICKS
52 WEEK #32
BULLET POINTS #2

CURSES HC
ESCAPISTS #6
EX MACHINA #25
FANTASTIC FOUR: THE END #3
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #4
SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE: SLEEP OF REASON #1
SPIRIT #1
SUPERMAN: GREATEST STORIES VOL. 2 TP
WONDER MAN #1
X-FACTOR #14

Jan 16 - Winsor McCay lecture at Library of Congress

Martha Kennedy reports Swann Foundation Fellow Katherine Roeder will present a lecture titled "Wide Awake in Slumberland: Fantasy and Mass Culture in the work of Winsor McCay," at noon on Tuesday January 16, 2007, in the Library of Congress's Dining Room A on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC. Roeder's illustrated presentation is based on a research project, which has been supported by her fellowship from the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, which is administered by the Library. The lecture, sponsored by the foundation and the Library's Prints and Photographs Division, is free and open to the public; no reservations are required.

Cartoon America exhibit extended for another month

Whoo-hoo, a press release from the Library reads:

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS EXHIBITION “CARTOON AMERICA” EXTENDED THROUGH FEBRUARY 24

WHAT: “Cartoon America: Highlights from the Art Wood Collection of Cartoon and Caricature,” a Library of Congress exhibition, will be extended.

WHEN: Instead of closing on January 27, the exhibition will remain open through Saturday, Feb. 24, 2006. The free exhibition is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Saturday.

WHERE: Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C.


“Cartoon America: Highlights from the Art Wood Collection” opened on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2006. It features 100 masterworks of celebrated artists, including political cartoonists Thomas Nast, Rube Goldberg, Bill Mauldin and Patrick Oliphant; comic strip creators Winsor McCay, George Herriman, Chic Young, Milt Caniff, Charles Schulz and Lynn Johnston; humorous gag cartoonists Peter Arno and William Steig; caricaturists Al Hirschfeld and David Levine; animation drawings and cels from Walt Disney Productions and Hanna-Barbera; and illustrations by Edwin A. Abbey, John Held and Michael Hague.

Early underground publisher dies in Baltimore

Tom Spurgeon also picked this one up at the Comics Reporter.

Donald Dohler [ Age 60 ] Journalist and filmmaker was passionately committed to community newspapers and his low-budget films.
By Frederick N. Rasmussen
Baltimore Sun reporter
Originally published December 9, 2006
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/obituaries/bal-md.ob.dohler09dec09,0,2458425.story?coll=bal-news-obituaries

Rasmussen writes, ""As a teenager, he began his publishing career with a humor fanzine called Wild, which featured the early work of noted underground cartoonists Jay Lynch and Art Spiegelman," said his son, Greg Dohler of Baltimore."

Martin Nodell, Green Lantern creator, dies

Tom Spurgeon's got the story and all the links, but I'll put up this picture of Mr. Nodell, myself and my daughter Claire taken at last year's Baltimore Comic-Con. It was a real pleasure to meet him and thank him for creating such a great character.

Bits from Monday, December 11th's papers

The Washington Examiner published a long, but fairly uninteresting interview with Disney's CEO Robert Iger. For some reason, they don't put most of their articles up as text, so to read it you have to open a PDF version for December 11th and select page 24.

On the positive side, I found that they've given Nate Beeler, their excellent editorial cartoonist, blog space starting in November.

In the Express, comics guru Scott Rosenberg recommends Popeye, Dick Tracy and Moomin reprint volumes, all available now. The Express's website is even worse than the Examiner's, so no links. Complain to the Post which owns it.

Dec 16 - Comics signing at Big Planet?

Dirk Deppey's put a comics signing by Abby Denson and Shannon O'Leary at the Big Planet Georgetown store at 3:30. I'm checking on this, but I figured I'd put it out there in case anyone needs to make plans. Anybody familiar with their work?

Dec 13 - Booksigning - Neal Gabler on Walt Disney REPOST

Gabler's signing his new biography on Disney at 7 pm on Wednesday, December 13th at Politics and Prose. It's been getting very good reviews including one posted here last weekend from Dirda in the Post. I'm going to try to attend.

Berryman bookplate article

Years ago, I dashed off a quick article about Washington editorial cartoonist Clifford Berryman's design of bookplates. I sent it to Hogan's Alley along with copies of the plates and somehow it fell between the cracks with both of us forgetting about it. Now editor Tom Heintjes has resurrected it on the web. I think there's some cute stuff here. There's also an article on Berryman that I helped with a bit in the Fall 2002 issue of the International Journal of Comic Art.

Speaking of editorial cartoons...

... I can't believe that this one, by Mike Luckovich and published in December 9th's Post, comparing Mary Cheney's pregnancy to the Virgin Mary's, won't bring in letters. For those not following the story, lesbian Mary Cheney, the Vice-President's daughter, has campaigned for the current administration, but lives in anti-gay-marriage Constitutional-amendment-passing Virginia, and has chosen to bear a child. I'll leave further commentary to the comments section.

"Peanuts" music profile in Post

'Charlie Brown,' an Evergreen Treat By Matt Schudel, Washington Post Staff Writer, Sunday, December 10, 2006; Page N01 is a nice look at Vince Guaraldi's involvement from the beginning with the Schulz "Peanuts" animated cartoons.

The Post Magazine section also has a brief bit about the profusion of celebrity voices in animation. Right over Richard Thompson's "Cul de Sac" strip in fact. ;^)

Black Christian Heroes To the Rescue in Comics

The Post's run a story on comics on the religion page in the back of their Metro section:

Black Christian Heroes To the Rescue in Comics;
Stories Meld Religious, African American Themes
By Timothy Wilson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 9, 2006; B09

Milestone Media member Michael Davis has founded the Guardian Line in cooperation with a religious group. Longtime comics readers may recall Milestone Media as the DC-distibuted black superhero line from the 1990s. The stories were generally good, but there was an explosion of superhero lines at the time, and they didn't really catch on. "Static," cleaned up a bit, did become a Saturday morning TV series, "Static Shock."

Cartoon America reviewed in Dec 9 Examiner

The free Washington Examiner ran a review of Cartoon America today.

Also in the paper was the USA Weekend section which had an a article on the voice of Wilbur in the new animated Charlotte's Web. The Spider-Man comic book continues reprinting the original #8 with another new cover, this time by Olivier and Morales again.

Geppi's Museum reviewed in Post

Today's Post Weekend section has a favorable review of Geppi's Entertainment Museum in Baltimore. At $10 per person, the museum's a bit pricier than I expected. Another bit or two about the Museum appeared in their Scoop newsletter today.


There's also a review of Marvel's Ultimate Alliance videogame on the preceeding page.

That 'truly disgusting' cartoon in the Post

A few days ago, I mentioned this letter from the December 2 Post - Drawing Disgust: The Post has achieved a new low. The Nov. 25 Drawing Board cartoon on the op-ed page concerning contraception and a presidential "withdrawal plan" was truly disgusting. Enough said. -- Nancy Copeland, Manassas.

Thanks to my neighbor Bill's archive, we can identify it as a cartoon by Dan Wasserman of the Boston Globe - specifically this one.

Truly disgusting? Moreso than this one by Luckovich that was next to it?

New comics expected Dec 6, courtesy of Big Planet Comics

Big Planet highlighted that Captain Marvel (the Fawcett one) Showcase and it's impossible to disagree. I spent many happy hours taking the 1970s hardcover rerpint Shazam From the '30s to the '70s out of the library and poring through the unknown (to me at least) characters.

And I'm not sure where my pictures went - a lot of links seem to be broken - but when it's working right, I'll post comics-related pictures from the National Postal Museum's exhibit.

New comics arriving this WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6TH

DC COMICS
52 WEEK #31
ALL-NEW ATOM #6
AMERICAN SPLENDOR #4
BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #1
DESOLATION JONES #8
DETECTIVE COMICS #826
EXTERMINATORS #12
FRIDAY THE 13TH #1
JONAH HEX #14
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #28
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #1
LOONEY TUNES #145
MANHUNTER #26
MIDNIGHTER #2
MYSTERY IN SPACE #4
NEXT #6
NIGHTWING #127
NINJA SCROLL #3
OTHER SIDE #3
OUTSIDERS #43
SACHS AND VIOLENS TP
SHOWCASE PRESENTS SHAZAM VOL. 1 TP
SPIRIT ARCHIVES VOL. 20 HC
SUPERGIRL #12
SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL #2
TRANQUILITY #1
WRAITHBORNE TP

MARVEL COMICS
AGENTS OF ATLAS #5
AVENGERS: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST HEROES II #3
BEYOND #6
DOCTOR STRANGE: OATH #3
ESSENTIAL DEFENDERS VOL. 2 TP
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IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN #3
MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #22
MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS WOLVERINE VOL. 4 TP
MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL
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NEW X-MEN: CHILDHOOD’S END VOL 3 TP
NEWUNIVERSAL #1
RED PROPHET #4
RUNAWAYS VOL. 2 HC
SPIDER-MAN AND POWER PACK #2
SPIDER-MAN: REIGN #1
STAN LEE MEETS SILVER SURFER
STAR BRAND CLASSIC VOL. 1 TP
ULTIMATE VISION #1
UNCANNY X-MEN #481
WHAT IF CLASSIC VOL. 3 TP
WHITE TIGER #2

INDYVILLE
ANGEL: AULD LANG SYNE #2
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CROSS BRONX #4
GI JOE: AMERICA’S ELITE #18
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JEREMIAH HARM #5
MELTDOWN #1
MODERN MASTERS VOL. 9: MIKE WIERINGO SC
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OFFICIAL HANDBOOK O/T INVINCIBLE UNIVERSE #1
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PLANET PICKS
52 WEEK #31
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DOCTOR STRANGE: OATH #3
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JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #1
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SHOWCASE PRESENTS SHAZAM VOL. 1 TP
SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL #2
ULTIMATE VISION #1
WALKING DEAD #33

ComicsDC profiled in GW Hatchet, OR, Tooting my own horn

Mike Rhode at the Library of Congress,
photograph by Erin Shea of the GW Hatchet

I was the subject of a profile in today's George Washington University's Hatchet as an alumnus with too much time on his hands, I think. Both the author Megan Marinos, and the photographer Erin Shea, were very pleasant and professional and I'm pleased at the way this turned out (although Hogan's Alley is an actual magazine that will send you a paper copy if you send them money).