former DC resident David Lewis profiled

See "A DAVE LEWIS & JASON COPLAND ON EMPTY CHAMBER" by Koben Kelly, Newsarama (June 5, 2007). Dave lived around here until heading off to Boston's environs a few years back.

new International Journal of Comic Art is out

The new International J. of Comic Art is out with articles on the history of Chinese comics, and reviews of exhibits mentioned here. It's 750 pages! For $15! If you don't subscribe, hang your head in shame. Here's the info:

An individual subscription for one year (two issues) is US$30; institutions, $40.
Back Issues are available at same rates.

Payment must be made by check or international money order in U.S. dollars payable to John A. Lent/IJOCA.

Susbscriptions should be sent to

John A. Lent,
669 Ferne Blvd.,
Drexel Hill, PA 19026
USA.

Volume 1 is no longer available (but plans to reprint it are underway).

World War II posters

These four posters were from Linkbelt plant in Indianapolis during the war and are owned by a friend of mine who made them available for scanning. Her grandfather saved them. I really like those monkeys.

"A Good Egg is Always on the Job: Accidents Help the Enemy ...Grandpop" by Lawson Wood.


"Production Will Knock Out the Axis: Get Plenty of Sleep ...Grandpop" by Lawson Wood.


Rumors - The Axis' Secret Weapon: Only a Dope Spills the Dope ...Grandpop" by Lawson Wood.



"Mah Engagements Been Announced, Maw" Carelessness is Costly by P. Warr.

Tonight at 8 PM: Creature Comforts

Aardman Animation's Creature Comforts, which has already been running in the UK, makes its US debut in 7 minutes. Aardman's one of the best animation studios around - leave the computer and go watch the show.

Cartoonists in Portrait Gallery's Presidents exhibit

Cartoons are making more inroads into our culture, including the Smithsonian. The National Portrait Gallery's exhibit on the presidents includes the following art by cartoonists.

Oliphant's sculptures of Presidents.


Two views of Pat Oliphant's sculpture of George H.W. Bush.

Edward Sorel's caricature of Jimmy Carter.

MAD cartoonist Jack Davis' caricature of Brezhnev and Nixon.

MAD cartoonist Mort Drucker's caricature of Mao and Nixon.

Fun times with Bob Mankoff

Bob Mankoff gave a very interesting talk today at the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of their Steinberg exhibit. The talk was held in the lovely new auditorium apparently buried under the former courtyard. Mr. Mankoff talked about Steinberg's early cartoons for the New Yorker (which can be seen on the Complete New Yorker Cartoons cd), Steinberg's influence on his early work, and the nature of gag cartoons and humor. Mankoff said that the Caption Contest gets about 10,000 entries per week and showed a slide of how he and his assistants break up the entries to make sense of them. He had a lot of interesting points to make, and the working cartoonists I was sitting with, AAEC head Rob Rogers, Matt Wuerker, Nick Galifianakis and Richard Thompson all seemed engaged. I certainly was, but I'm not a professional cartoonist.

Crawford cartoon to illustrate the nature of humor.

Some of the 10,000 entries to the New Yorker Cartoon Contest sorted into categories.

Sample page of Cartoon Bank database.

Afterwards Mr. Mankoff signed books including the New Yorker Book of Art Cartoons. In the accompanying pictures (below), Warren Bernard gets confirmation that four books is the complete set of Mankoff books, and gets them all signed at one fell swoop. Mankoff said that he didn't even have copies of them all anymore.




The rain started in earnest so Rob Rogers invited Mr. Mankoff to the museum's cafe with us and we had a fun hour hearing stories of the New Yorker, and talking shop. Matt stood us all to drinks, and Rob picked up the chips - thanks guys! One point Mankoff did make was that by animating cartoons, the Cartoon Bank could pick up new sponsors like Lexus - here's an example that Richard found.

Rob Rogers, Matt Wuerker, Bob Mankoff, Richard Thompson and Nick Galifianakis talking in the museum lobby after the booksigning.

Rob Rogers forcibly suggests that Bob Mankoff might not want to go out in that rain.

The last two photos are everyone in the cafe. Richard's in the blue denim shirt, Nick's in blue shirt with long hair, Matt's in the brown jacket, Rob's in the dark blue jacket and Bob Mankoff's in the suit. This was a thoroughly enjoyable Sunday. Matt wrote down the best epigraphs from the talk, and hopefully one of the others will flesh out this entry a bit.

June 2: Comics librarian Randy Scott's birthday

Saturday is ace comics librarian Randy Scott's 60th birthday. Randy has built the Michigan State University Comic Art Collection into a world-class institution, while putting up one of the most helpful websites for in-depth scholarly comics research. Let's raise a glass to Randy! (and send him some comics. Obscure ones, not in English. I do it all the time.)

Shrek videogame review in Post

John Gaudiosi reviews the game in "You'll Get Ogre It All Too Quickly", Washington Post Friday, June , 2007; WE60.

June 2, 9: Improvs on Steinberg at American Art

On the next 2 Saturdays at 3 pm, Now This! will be presenting Sketchy Sketches improvs based on Steinberg's cartoons at American Art. It's free. And Bob Mankoff is appearing at 3 pm this Sunday.

LUNA BROTHERS ON THE END OF GIRLS

The Luna Brothers live somewhere between DC and Baltimore. An interview with them, "LUNA BROTHERS ON THE END OF GIRLS" by Vaneta Rogers, Newsrama (April 6, 2007) ran recently and might be of interest. I think they usually attend the Baltimore Comic-Con if wishes to meet them.

Comics: 'Avril Lavigne's Make 5 Wishes'

Scott Rosenberg has an online interview with artist Camilla d'Errico in "Comics: 'Avril Lavigne's Make 5 Wishes'". It came out on the 30th, but I would have missed it without Tom Spurgeon's Comic Reporter. I read the Express every day too...

June 3: Bob Mankoff at American Art

New Yorker cartoonist and comics editor Bob Mankoff will be at the Saul Steinberg exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The free program is at 3 pm on Sunday

Post dropping B.C. and Wizard of Id after cartoonists' deaths

A NOTE TO READERS
Washington Post Monday, May 28, 2007; Page C10

Beginning June 4, we will be adding two of our Sunday only comic strips to our daily lineup. "Sherman's Lagoon" and "Lio" will now run every day. The same day, we will drop "B.C." and "The Wizard of Id" from our daily pages. "Wizard of Id" will still run on Sundays. Johnny Hart, who created "B.C.," and Brant Parker, who co-created "The Wizard of Id" with Hart, died in April. Both "B.C." and "The Wizard of Id," now being done by family members, will still be available on our Web site, http://www.washingtonpost.com. As always, we welcome your comments. See our "Comics Feedback" contact information above "Garfield" on Page C11.

Bits from the papers

Remember, the City Paper that's on the racks until Thursday has Brian Ralph illustrations exactly like these in it.

I was traveling and haven't read the weekend's papers yet, but Friday's Post had a videogame review - "Now Spider-Man Needs Rescuing" by John Gaudiosi, Washington Post Friday, May 25, 2007; Page WE36.

The Onion had a Shrek videogame review, "Shrek The Third" by Chris Dahlen, Onion May 24st, 2007.

And of most interest to me, a review of the reissue of Jules Feiffer's novel from 1963, "Harry, The Rat With Women" by Jules Feiffer (Fantagraphics), Reviewed by Tasha Robinson, Onion May 24th, 2007.

Today's Post has a wire story on the Teletubbies, "Pursed Lips in Poland over Image of Purple Teletubby", Reuters, Washington Post May 29, 2007.

Tom Toles profiled by Dave Astor

"Tom Toles Reviews Five Years At 'Wash Post'" by Dave Astor, E and P Online May 25, 2007. Nothing surprising, unsurprisingly, as Mr. Toles has pretty straightforward views in his cartoons, but a good general interview.

Stuff in today's DC papers

Quick hits - I'll try to get links later...

The City Paper is covered and illustrated by Baltimore cartoonist Brian Ralph. Step away from the computer and go get one now.

The Express has 3 bits on comics:

Ennio Marchetto dresses in paper clothes as 'living cartoon' caricatures. There's a pic of him as Marilyn Monroe. Comics? I don't know.

Glenn Dixon reviews the Steinberg exhibit at American Art.

The Library of Congress has an exhibit of Radoslav's Times which appears to be a Serbian comic book. I'll follow up on that.

Also, the Express notes that the Arena Stage's excellent posters are on display at the Museum of American Illustration in NYC.

In the Examiner, Allison Hatfield has a page on all the goofy Spider-Man 3 merchandising available including the Mr. Potato Head which is sitting on my kitchen table right now.

I haven't read the Post yet - hopefully updates and links to follow.

Berkeley Breathed pictures - special edition!!!!

Cartoonist Berkeley Breathed reads from and signs his children's book, Mars Needs Moms in Alameda, CA on May 11, 2007. Photos courtesy of ComicsDC stringer Miron Murcury.






And look at this excellent scrapbook:

At Miron's request, the original cd of photos is being donated to Michigan State University's Comic Art Collection. The link is over there on the right.

Here's a few recent articles on and interviews with Breathed, as they wait to go into my Comics Research Bibliography (link also over there on the right):

Now that he's a parent, a cartoonist ponders the ultimate sacrifice
Regan McMahon, San Francisco Chronicle Deputy Book Editor
Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Interview: Berkeley Breathed
by Ken Plume
Quick Stop Entertainment May 22, 2007

Just asking: A conversation with cartoonist/author Berkeley Breathed
– Eric Schelkopf
Northwest Herald (May 18, 2007)

Rehm, Diane. 2007.
Berkeley Breathed: "Mars Needs Moms".
National Public Radio's Diane Rehm Show (May 8).

Cartoonist knows kid lit
BY SARA PEARCE
Cincinnati Enquirer (May 6, 2007)

Exclusive: Berkeley Breathed Speaks!
Berkeley Breathed, celebrated creator of the "Bloom County" comic strip, writes a book for the grammar school set.
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Jamie Reno
Newsweek May 3, 2007

Random Rules: Berkeley Breathed
by Tasha Robinson
Onion April 26th, 2007

Bob McLeod visits Hagerstown

See "'Spidey' Comic Book Artist Inspires Local Students" by Jennifer Von Reuter. I always liked McLeod's work - he has a nice smooth fluid style. Now... why Hagerstown?

INTERPLANETARY JOURNAL OF COMIC ART repost

April 5, 2007 – INTERPLANETARY JOURNAL OF COMIC ART: A Festschrift in Honor of John Lent is now available.

Editor's note - The first issue of the new InterPlanetary Journal of Comic Art (or IPJOCA as we call it around the virtual office) is now available. We are proud to invite you to the 43rd indispensable academic organ published by JOHN LENT MULTIMEDIA ENTERPRISES. All are personally hand-edited by our founder and publisher JOHN LENT, and we remind you that any suggestions of forced labor or involuntary servitude were completely dismissed in Temple University grad students v. JOHN LENT FAMILY CONGLOMERATE. This issue is slightly late, and we apologize for that. Editor JOHN LENT was traveling widely with stops on Pluto, Venus, Charon, Deimos and Phobos, Antarctica, Cyprus, Monte Carlo and the French Riviera, interviewing aging cartoonists and presenting learned discourses on the history of comic art. LENT's presentation on Pluto, "Which came first? The planet or the dog?" was particularly well-received and will appear in a future issue of IPJOCA. IPJOCA is a proud successor to the Colonial Journal of Comic Art, the Union Journal of Comic Art, the Confederate Journal of Comic Art, and the Imperial Journal of Comic Art, as well as the continuing flagship International Journal of Comic Art.

Actually, IPJOCA is a work of satire and parody, published on the occasion of John's seventieth birthday in 2006, give or take a few months. Since 1960, John has published, taught, and lectured widely on comic art, and since 1999 has been the publisher and editor-in-chief of the academic International Journal of Comic Art. In March of this year, John served on the Pulitzer Prize Nominating Juries in Journalism. John has published over 70 books and 800 articles on comic art, mass communication and Asian studies.

John's colleagues in the comic world have come together to create a tribute book, and to present it to him on April 6th at the Popular Culture Association meeting in Boston. The fully-illustrated book features a front cover by cartoonist Nick Thorkelson, and a back cover by Ralph Steadman as well as 100 pages of witty articles.

To order your copy for $10, go to http://www.lulu.com/content/679026; to subscribe to the International Journal of Comic Art, go to
http://www.ijoca.com and follow the instructions.

Table of Contents

Lent Knows – cover by Nick Thorkelson

Seqart Scholarship across the United Planets: A Brief Survey - Josty Ketew (Randy Duncan)

ICAF Times – comic strip by Roger Sabin & C. Hill

"Domus inferna Sancti Guthlaci": A Rediscovery of the twelfth-century narrative of "The Saint and the Money Pit" - K. A. Laity

ICAF Round-table: 'The Contribution of John Lent' - Rogerius Sabinis

Give It Up For Lent! – cartoons by E.C. Lockett, from ideas by Sabin & Rhode

The Exegesis of John Lent's Exegesis: A Postmodest Explalicinalysis of John Lent's Comicological Scholarship - Dr. Solomon Davidoff

Cartooning on Venus: A Problematic Field - Michael Rhode

Cheroots of the Gods: Ancient Contact with Talking Animals from the Stars - Er'q Vondan Iken (Steve Thompson)

Letters - Fusami Ogi

From the X-JOCA Family Archives - K.A. Laity

Men's Comics are from Mars, Women's Comics are from Venus: A Visual Exploration - M.O.D.O.C.A. (Barbara Postema)

A Dozen True Facts about Fredric Wertham That I Will Only Reveal For John Lent - Bart Beaty

Japanese Comic Art History's Mystery Bearded Figure - Ronarudo Suchuwaato (Ron Stewart)

Battle of the Titans: The Great National Geographic - New Yorker Cartoon Rivalry - Cathy Hunter and Michael Rhode

Out of this World (…and back again…) – autobiographical comix by Craig Fischer

Animated Yoga - Cathy Hunter

News - Fantagraphics Books Searches for Saints - Ana Merino

Obituaries - Therian Blackenshort, Theban political cartoonist - Mark C. Rogers

Faded Star Column - Rad Signal by Weary'in Ellis -Michael Rhode

Book Reviews
Leonardo da Vinci, The da Vinci Codex - Trina Robbins

Purty Pitchers All In A Row: A Review of The Interplanetary Comic Art Bibliographies of JOHN LENT Comprehensive Companion Series - Dr. Solomon Davidoff

Martianorum Mangorum Universalis Historia - Marcus Titus Pellitterius (Marco Pellitteri)

Exhibition and Media Reviews
The McDuck Collection: World's Greatest Collection of Rarities, Duckburg Museum - Michael Rhode

Disney Planet Amusement Facility, the dwarf planet formerly known as Pluto, Sol system - Gene Kannenberg, Jr.

Corrections - Leonard Rifas

Anticipatory Errata - Charles Hatfield

Comic Art Bibliography - New Resources in the Field - Michael Rhode

So Who is JOHN LENT really? - Xu Ying

Contributors' Self-Serving Biographic Blurbs

The Serious Art of Laughter – back cover by Ralph Steadman

Cartoonists in Washington, DC area newspapers as of late May 2007

Thanks to "Hackwork hacked: The "Kelly" cartoons bring back a golden age of parody" by Tim Cavanaugh, Los Angeles Times March 29, 2007, I now know that the Onion political cartoon is actually by Ward Sutton, and is meant to be a right-wing satire.

Cartoonists in Washington, DC area newspapers
as of late May 2007
compiled by Mike Rhode

Washington Post
Tom Toles - editorial cartoonist (semi-daily)
Richard Thompson - Richard’s Poor Almanac (Saturdays); Cul de Sac strip (Sunday’s Magazine), illustrations for Joel Achenbach’s Rough Draft column (Sunday’s Magazine)
Rob Shepperson, Tim Grajek - illustrations for Sunday's Business section
Nick Galifianakis - cartoons for ex-wife Carolyn Hax's Tell Me About It advice column.
Bob Staake - cartoons for Style Invitational contest (Sunday)
Patrick M. Reynolds - Flashback comic strip; unique Washington version (Sunday comics)
Eric Shansby - illustrations for Gene Weingarten’s Below the Beltway column (Sunday’s Magazine)
Christopher Gash; Christopher Neimen - spot illos especially on Sunday
Michael Cavna - editorial cartoons in Arts section, extremely irregularly
Julie Zhu - Montgomery Blair High School student cartoonist for Extra Credit column in local Extra sections
Saturday box of syndicated editorial cartoons
Turkish cartoonist Selcuk Demirel illustrations in Book World, semi-regularly

Washington Times
Garner - editorial cartoonist
Joseph Szadkowski - Zadzooks column on comic books (Saturday)
Large array of editorial cartoons and illustrations every day.

Washington Examiner (daily, except Sundays)
Nate Beeler - editorial cartoonist (semi-daily); alternates with syndicated cartoonists

Washington City Paper (Friday-only paper)
Shawn Belschwender - News of the Weird column illustrator, unique to WCP
Ben Claasen III - Dirtfarm comic strip, unique to WCP; advertising illustrations
Joe Sayers - thingpart comic strip, started in 2006, unique to WCP?
Slug Signorino - The Straight Dope column illustrator
Robert Ullman - Savage Love column illustrator, unique to WCP
Max Kornell, Josh Neufeld - article illustrations
Syndicated comic strips - The City by Derf, Red Meat by Max Cannon, Ernie Pook’s Comeek by Lynda Barry, and Lulu Eightball by Emily Flake. (Ted Rall was dropped earlier this year).

Express
Eric Reece - illustration for Baggage Check advice column (Tuesday)

Washington Blade
No regular cartoonist - runs one syndicated editorial cartoon and six syndicated strips - Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel, Jane’s World by Paige Braddock (2002 strips), Chelsea Boys by Glen Hanson and Allan Neuwirth (still running?), Troy by Michael Derry, Kyle’s Bed & Breakfast by Greg Fox and Adam & Andy by James Asal

The Hill
Weyant - editorial cartoonist for “Weyant’s World”

The Politico
Matt Wuerker - editorial cartoons, column-heading caricatures, maps

The Onion (national, not local content)
Kelly - fictional editorial cartoonist, actually done by Ward Sutton
Syndicated strips - Postage Stamp Funnies by Shannon Wheeler, The Leftersons by Colin T. Hayes, Wondermark by David Maiki, The Spats, Cathy by Cathy Guisewhite (in Spanish) and Red Meat by Max Cannon.

Additions, corrections and comments welcome.