QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 12-12-07
By John Judy
ART OF P. CRAIG RUSSELL HC by Himself. A sweet hardcover exploring Russell’s career from the beginning through today, including the artist’s personal favorites. Makes a great gift! For yourself!
ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #4 by Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard Tough week for the reluctant murderer/hero with fur. Recommended.
BAT LASH #1 of 6 by Peter Brandvold, Sergio Aragones, and John Severin. A fresh look at a classic DC Western hero by A-List creators. Gorgeous art by Severin. Recommended even if you’re not into Westerns.
BLACK ADAM THE DARK AGE #5 of 8 by Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke. This gore-soaked epic continues as we see how far an obsessed super-man can go and still consider himself a hero. Not for kids.
BOOSTER GOLD #5 by Geoff Johns and Dan Jurgens. The time-travel series that doesn’t suck asks “Can Booster go back and prevent the Joker from shooting Batgirl?” So far this has been a great bunch of comics. Give it a look. Recommended.
BOYS #13 by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. When super-heroes explode, who ya gonna call? Always highly recommended. NEVER for kids.
BPRD: KILLING GROUND #5 of 5 by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and Guy Davis. Wrapping things up on this latest Mignola Monster Mystery.
CHRONICLES OF WORMWOOD: THE LAST ENEMY GN by Garth Ennis and Rob Steen. Aussie Pope Jacko dispatches his killer eunuch to whack Danny the anti-Christ. How are you possibly not gonna look? NOT for kids, highly recommended.
COUNTDOWN & STUFF by Everyone Who Was Available. #20 plus ARENA, plus RAY PALMER/RED SON, plus THE ATOM. DC sez “Gimme all yer money, punk!”
CRIMINAL VOL. 2: LAWLESS SC by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. If you’re a noir addict this is the week for you as we welcome this second collection of hard-hitting underworld tales from Brubaker/Phillips, as well as the criminally under-read SCALPED #12. (See below.) Highly recommended.
DC NEW FRONTIER ACTION FIGURES SERIES 2 including BATMAN, DR. FATE, MARTIAN MANHUNTER, and THE FLASH. Based on the Darwyn Cooke designs. Nice!
ELEPHANTMEN: WAR TOYS #1 of 3 by Richard Starkings and Moritat. Africa and China are at war, fighting in Europe. Because what goes around comes around. It’s even better when it comes around with huge, genetically-mutated animal soldiers. Gotta look!
FANTASTIC FOUR #552 by Dwayne McDuffie and Paul Pelletier. Big fights with Doc Doom, droids, and maybe a Skrull…? They’re out there you know.
GREEN LANTERN #25 by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, and Ethan Van Sciver. A double-sized issue wrapping up the Sinestro Corps War in style!
HATE ANNUAL #7 written and drawn by Peter Bagge. The latest on Buddy Bradley, plus the first re-printing of Bagge’s “Bat-Boy” strips from the late Weekly World News. There may be more but Fantagraphics’ website sucks almost as much as Avatar’s so I really don’t know.
MODERN MASTERS VOL. 14: FRANK CHO by Eric Nolen-Weathington. A book about a humble guy from Maryland who loves to draw monkeys, dinosaurs, and Lynda Carter. Read it and learn more!
NEW AVENGERS #37 by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu. The Hood gets spanked. That didn’t take long. Skrulls?
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #14 Matt Fraction and Cory Walker. Kraven the Hunter’s kid can punch out the Rhino. If it happens in comics it must be true.
SALVATION RUN #2 of 7 by Bill Willingham and Sean Chen. Imagine the world’s worst super-villains all in one place. Now imagine it’s not the Republican National Convention. Fun stuff from the writer of “Fables.”
SCALPED #12 by Jason Aaron and John Paul Leon. The best comic you’re not reading concludes its first story-arc. So read it already! Highly recommended. Not for kids.
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA VOL. 3 SC by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, Carmine Infantino, and Others. Collecting the original series #37-60. Classic Silver-Age Fun! Great for all ages! Recommended!
STREETS OF GLORY #3 of 6 by Garth Ennis and Mike Wolfer. Colonel Dunn takes a posse of mercenaries on a hunt for Red Crow, the Apache terrorist/evil-doer who doesn’t appreciate all the freedom the white man wants to bring him. Not for kids. Recommended.
ULTIMATE IRON MAN II #1 by Orson Scott Card and Pasqual Ferry. Orson Scott Card comics trivia: If three people read this book that’ll be three times more than are reading “Red Prophet.” (Not counting the editor.)
ULTIMATES 2 HC by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch. It’s got the whole second year, plus extra stuff. Basically crack in comics form. Lots of violence, some adult situations, not for younger kids.
WALKING DEAD #45 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard. Who’s gonna die this issue? Flip a coin. Highly recommended, NEVER for kids.
WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY VOL.1 SC by Gail Simon and Neil Googe. Collecting the first six issues of this clever and under-appreciated series about a town where super-heroes go to retire. Or at least try to… Recommended, especially if you like strong female leads.
WOLVERINE #60 by Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin. The art’s kind of pretty.
WONDER WOMAN #15 by Gail Simone and Terry & Rachel Dodson. WW goes Old-School as she thumps Nazis like they oughta be thumped! Plus there’s dire doings on Paradise Island! Recommended!
X-FACTOR #26 by Peter David and Scot Eaton. Still hunting that mutant-killer Jesus-baby. Also, time travel happens. Big X-book cross-overs are the best. Always have been, going back decades especially at high altitudes in a tent full of smoke.
www.johnjudy.net
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Friday, December 07, 2007
Berryman award named for DC cartoonists goes to Breen
Clifford Berryman, the dean of Washington cartoonists, and his son and fellow cartoonist Jim, are largely forgotten, but there's still a national cartooning award named for them and it's just been award to Steve Breen. See "National award for U-T's Breen," By Michael Stetz, San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER, December 6, 2007.
Bits from the DC papers
In the Onion, we have Rabin, Nathan. 2007. Score one more: Futurama is back, in disappointingly familar form. Onion (December 6).
online at http://www.avclub.com/content/dvds/futurama_benders_big_score
Dale Rawlings and I have letters on Rob Ullman's dismissal in Savages!
Washington City Paper (December 7, 2007): 11
and finally in the Express, there's a wire story on the resurrection of the stop-motion puppets from Rankin-Bass's animation Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, and their triumphant US tour.
online at http://www.avclub.com/content/dvds/futurama_benders_big_score
Dale Rawlings and I have letters on Rob Ullman's dismissal in Savages!
Washington City Paper (December 7, 2007): 11
and finally in the Express, there's a wire story on the resurrection of the stop-motion puppets from Rankin-Bass's animation Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, and their triumphant US tour.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
December 8: 'Princess of Manga' Rumiko Takahashi films
The DC Anime Club is showing a marathon of Takahashi films including Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2 and InuYasha (the manga of which I'm reading now). Martin Luther King Jr. Library on 9th and G Sts, NW, noon to 5 pm, free.
OT: Nick Thorkelson & Harvey Pekar in NYC
Nick (who did the cover to the Interplanetary J... below) wrote in to say:
CUNY is hosting a promotion Monday night for SDS: A Graphic History, which has a story by me in it, that I will be presenting. Harvey Pekar, who wrote most of the book, will be there too. Here's the link, if you know anybody that might be interested: http://www.gothamcenter.org/forums/current.shtml (and if you want to see the comic I wrote for this, it's online at Http://nickthorkelson.com/hazardfinal01.htm ).
CUNY is hosting a promotion Monday night for SDS: A Graphic History, which has a story by me in it, that I will be presenting. Harvey Pekar, who wrote most of the book, will be there too. Here's the link, if you know anybody that might be interested: http://www.gothamcenter.org/forums/current.shtml (and if you want to see the comic I wrote for this, it's online at Http://nickthorkelson.com/hazardfinal01.htm ).
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Wash Post cancels Tom the Dancing Bug UPDATED
Ruben Bolling just sent me this press release:
PRESS RELEASE
December 5, 2007
The Washington Post to cancel “Tom the Dancing Bug”
The Washington Post’s Weekend section has decided to drop Ruben Bolling’s weekly comic strip “Tom the Dancing Bug,” as of the end of the year. The Weekend section has a new editor, Tracy Grant, who said that it was canceled for space reasons, and that her staffers did not object.
Ruben Bolling is extremely disappointed: “I feel that the strip has a special relationship with the readers in DC. The Washington Post is one of my earliest clients, and when they took on the comic strip, no other daily newspaper was running it. They took a big chance on me, and I hope that it continues to pay off. I get tons of emails from Post readers, and at my last appearance at a DC bookstore, there was a line out the door.”
However, Bolling said that the decision to drop the strip is not irreversible. “Tracy Grant did say that the cancelation is not written in stone. If she comes to feel that it was a mistake, she would reinstate the comic.”
“Tom the Dancing Bug” is distributed by Universal Press Syndicate to about 50 newspapers, and also appears in Salon.com. See www.tomthedancingbug.com
---------
Boy, how much more can the Post do for (rather to) us this week? Sunday they announced a shrunken Sunday comics section with smaller strips and Wizard of Id dropped, and now this. It makes me reconsider being a subscriber, I must say.
Ms. Grant's contact information should be grantt@washpost.com. Again, the Post is attempting to shrink to be interesting, and it's not working - literally half the reason I bother looking at the Weekend section is Tom the Dancing Bug (the other half is the museum review page since they dropped the stamps column years ago. Actually I read Eve Zibart's restaurant reviews too - and I really stopped paying attention to Weekend a year ago when they dropped their independent movie reviews in favor of rehashed Style section ones).
I was talking about this last night - why do newspapers offer their readers less and less and then act surprised when they lose readers? Why not offer more? Say an annual compilation of Cul de Sac Sunday strips in a collectible booklet? Or a full-spread cartoon map of DC? Make the comics section into a collectible comic book (and not reprint 1960s Spider-Man stories like the Examiner and Marvel did)? Or make it bigger and pay a cartoonist to stretch his imagination? Put some manga in the comics - something only available in the Post? Do something that people would like to have and keep and buy the paper for?
PRESS RELEASE
December 5, 2007
The Washington Post to cancel “Tom the Dancing Bug”
The Washington Post’s Weekend section has decided to drop Ruben Bolling’s weekly comic strip “Tom the Dancing Bug,” as of the end of the year. The Weekend section has a new editor, Tracy Grant, who said that it was canceled for space reasons, and that her staffers did not object.
Ruben Bolling is extremely disappointed: “I feel that the strip has a special relationship with the readers in DC. The Washington Post is one of my earliest clients, and when they took on the comic strip, no other daily newspaper was running it. They took a big chance on me, and I hope that it continues to pay off. I get tons of emails from Post readers, and at my last appearance at a DC bookstore, there was a line out the door.”
However, Bolling said that the decision to drop the strip is not irreversible. “Tracy Grant did say that the cancelation is not written in stone. If she comes to feel that it was a mistake, she would reinstate the comic.”
“Tom the Dancing Bug” is distributed by Universal Press Syndicate to about 50 newspapers, and also appears in Salon.com. See www.tomthedancingbug.com
---------
Boy, how much more can the Post do for (rather to) us this week? Sunday they announced a shrunken Sunday comics section with smaller strips and Wizard of Id dropped, and now this. It makes me reconsider being a subscriber, I must say.
Ms. Grant's contact information should be grantt@washpost.com. Again, the Post is attempting to shrink to be interesting, and it's not working - literally half the reason I bother looking at the Weekend section is Tom the Dancing Bug (the other half is the museum review page since they dropped the stamps column years ago. Actually I read Eve Zibart's restaurant reviews too - and I really stopped paying attention to Weekend a year ago when they dropped their independent movie reviews in favor of rehashed Style section ones).
I was talking about this last night - why do newspapers offer their readers less and less and then act surprised when they lose readers? Why not offer more? Say an annual compilation of Cul de Sac Sunday strips in a collectible booklet? Or a full-spread cartoon map of DC? Make the comics section into a collectible comic book (and not reprint 1960s Spider-Man stories like the Examiner and Marvel did)? Or make it bigger and pay a cartoonist to stretch his imagination? Put some manga in the comics - something only available in the Post? Do something that people would like to have and keep and buy the paper for?
INTERPLANETARY JOURNAL OF COMIC ART: A Festschrift in Honor of John Lent repost
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
Cartoons in Hay-Adams Hotel's Off the Record bar
Last night I had dinner with Alan Gardner of the Daily Cartoonist blog, Post relationship cartoonist Nick Galifianakis, Politico cartoonist Matt Wuerker and, oh yeah, Richard Thompson. A good time was had by all, I think and Alan will be posting pictures on his blog (link to the right) at some point. But perhaps of interest to local readers is the cartoons hung in the Off the Record bar in the Hay-Adams hotel on 16th St, NW just off of Lafayette Square. Ed Vallaton's late-1960s caricatures were in a David Levine vein, and were the most numerous. I don't know anything about Vallaton, but the people were recognizable even 30 years later. It was a bit weird seeing a bunch of dead politicians and still recognizing them. Also on display were caricatures by Ron Coddington - these may have been slightly better drawn, albeit in the big-head manner, but I recognized less of them.
A few random pieces were scattered around - two of Richard's color cartoons, dedicated to Art Wood, and what appears to be some pages from Puck or Judge. But of the most interest are 15 color caricatures of presidential candidates and politicians that the bar has rented from Richard. There's John Edwards, Hilary Clinton, George Bush, Karl Rove, Barack Obama, and others, all framed next to each other in a 5 x 3 grid. Very cool. Again, watch Alan's blog.
In this picture from the bar's website, we're looking into the room from about where Richard's cartoons are. The ones directly ahead on either side of the fireplace are Coddington's and they're flanked by Vallaton's.
A few random pieces were scattered around - two of Richard's color cartoons, dedicated to Art Wood, and what appears to be some pages from Puck or Judge. But of the most interest are 15 color caricatures of presidential candidates and politicians that the bar has rented from Richard. There's John Edwards, Hilary Clinton, George Bush, Karl Rove, Barack Obama, and others, all framed next to each other in a 5 x 3 grid. Very cool. Again, watch Alan's blog.
In this picture from the bar's website, we're looking into the room from about where Richard's cartoons are. The ones directly ahead on either side of the fireplace are Coddington's and they're flanked by Vallaton's.
Gerald Scarfe interviewed; Matt Wuerker linked
The Politico's cartoonist Matt Wuerker pointed me to this last night in a bar. Riz Khan of Al-Jazeera based here in DC interviewed Gerald Scarfe in September. The 17-minute interview is really quite interesting. Check out Matt's cartoons as well - I apologize for not linking to him earlier, but I didn't realize he had a page on the Politico website. Matt appears on Al-Jazeera too, but I haven't found any of those links yet.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Thompson's back on track for Post domination
Richard's got an illo in Tuesday's health section of a racketball match - the first in a couple weeks, I think. So he's back up to appearing three times a week, although Cul De Sac is STILL not in the daily paper.
BTW, I had dinner with him - check the Daily Cartoonist blog.
BTW, I had dinner with him - check the Daily Cartoonist blog.
One of those Benoit ads was in Tuesday's Post...
...at the bottom of the front page of the business section. It shows an elegant couple preparing to hand over the keys to a valet who's dressed as a race car driver.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Nick Anderson on front page of Post recently
I got a bit behind in my newspaper reading and missed the fact that Houston editorial cartoonist Nick Anderson appeared on the front page of the Post lately, and in fact, had more cartoons in the paper than Toles.
Of course that was because one of his animated editorial cartoons asked a question at the Republican debate and the Post repro'd a screen shot - see "Republicans Get Own Mixed Bag of Questions, Sans Snowman" By Jose Antonio Vargas, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, November 29, 2007; A06.
Of course that was because one of his animated editorial cartoons asked a question at the Republican debate and the Post repro'd a screen shot - see "Republicans Get Own Mixed Bag of Questions, Sans Snowman" By Jose Antonio Vargas, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, November 29, 2007; A06.
Onion recommends Cul de Sac
See "Strip-Off: Girls & Sports vs. Cul De Sac," posted by: Noel Murray on the Onion's blog December 3, 2007.
Go Richard!
Sling that ink!
Go for 100 papers!
So financially you'll be in the pink!
Go Richard!
Sling that ink!
Go for 100 papers!
So financially you'll be in the pink!
Shawn Belschwender also out at City Paper
December 30, 2005 City Paper.The editor confirmed this in a comment under the Rob Ullman post. Shawn's been illustrating News of the Weird for about twenty years now - he was the George Washington University's Hatchet comic strip artist around 1987. I don't know if he does any other cartooning anymore.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Ted Benoit ads
This is late, but Capgemini has been having Ted Benoit art in their ads that run in the Post business section; they've also been running far larger in the NY Times biz section. I think there are 5 pieces of illustration alternating - a lumberjack, a moonscape, a racing scene... their website has a pdf press release about the ad campaign with one of the images embedded in it.
Manga for the foodies
Lisa Cherkasky, whose hand is seen most often in the Washington Post's Food section, has turned said hand to looking at manga when she takes a quick look at Kitchen Princess.
OT: Barry Blitt's Fantastic Four parody in NY Times
This is off-topic, but it's an amusing caricature of the self-declared presidential candidates.
Junot Diaz wants to be the Sub-Mariner
In "Imagining the Holidays," Washington Post Sunday, December 2, 2007; Page BW08, the Book World asked Junot Diaz, "IF YOU COULD SPEND A HOLIDAY WEEK AS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER , WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?"
He picked Sub-Mariner, King of Atlantis, a Marvel Comics character. Click on the link to read why.
He picked Sub-Mariner, King of Atlantis, a Marvel Comics character. Click on the link to read why.
Post's Source section has list of best comics AND Danny Hellman
See "The A List: Titles That Earned the Top Grade From Our Reviewers This Year," Washington Post Sunday, December 2, 2007; Page N03.
Also, did I mention that Danny Hellman's illustrating the Source's advice column? He had a good one today which I think was the third he'd done. I think I mentioned this already.
Also, did I mention that Danny Hellman's illustrating the Source's advice column? He had a good one today which I think was the third he'd done. I think I mentioned this already.
Feiffer covers Blume
I noticed in Aladdin's Lamp bookstore, the children's bookstore in Arlington, that Jules Feiffer has done a cover for a Judy Blume book. So I got a shot of the standup and also one of the graphic novel shelf in the bookstore. There was some atypical stuff there including Boyd's Chester the Crab's Comix with Content and a couple of manga Shakespeare books which I bought.
I'm going to call this one a Secret History of Comics as I doubt that most Feiffer collectors know about it.
I'm going to call this one a Secret History of Comics as I doubt that most Feiffer collectors know about it.
Wash Post does us another favor - Stop already!
Today's Zits was shrunk so the Post could inform us that it's shrinking the comics section as a favor to us. The following isn't online so I've typed it all (emphasis beyond the title is mine):
To Our Readers:
The Sunday comics will look a little different beginning next week. A new page design will allow us to combine the two comics sections into one convenient section with nearly all of our extensive offering of comics, puzzles and features.
To accommodate the more compact layout, "The Wizard of Id" strip and the "Hints From Heloise" column will no longer appear in the comics section, and the size of several of our larger comics as well as the Samurai Sudoku puzzle will be slightly reduced. Heloise can still be found in the Tuesday Style section, and "The Wizard of Id" appears on washingtonpost.com daily, including Sunday.
All of the other Sunday comics and features will remain, including the Mini Page, although some will be located on a different page than you're used to. We hope you'll find the combined section easier to navigate. We welcome your feedback. Write: Comics Editor, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071; email comics@washpost.com or call 202-334-4775.
So, if I'm reading this correctly, for our convenience, they've reduced the section, dropped Wizard of Id, and shrunk the rest. I don't understand why they just couldn't move the puzzles to say... the Magazine Section... and leave the comics, but that's why I'm just a blogger. Also, I don't really understand why editors think that actually offering you less in the paper you pay for will make you more inclined to buy one. Perhaps someone can explain this to me?
What a great week for comics in DC! As with Rob Ullman's situation, I'll be sending a letter to the Post, suggesting that Less is not actually More and that 1984 is well in the past. And it appears that Cul de Sac will not be moving to the Sunday section either, and presumably not appearing during the week.
To Our Readers:
The Sunday comics will look a little different beginning next week. A new page design will allow us to combine the two comics sections into one convenient section with nearly all of our extensive offering of comics, puzzles and features.
To accommodate the more compact layout, "The Wizard of Id" strip and the "Hints From Heloise" column will no longer appear in the comics section, and the size of several of our larger comics as well as the Samurai Sudoku puzzle will be slightly reduced. Heloise can still be found in the Tuesday Style section, and "The Wizard of Id" appears on washingtonpost.com daily, including Sunday.
All of the other Sunday comics and features will remain, including the Mini Page, although some will be located on a different page than you're used to. We hope you'll find the combined section easier to navigate. We welcome your feedback. Write: Comics Editor, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071; email comics@washpost.com or call 202-334-4775.
So, if I'm reading this correctly, for our convenience, they've reduced the section, dropped Wizard of Id, and shrunk the rest. I don't understand why they just couldn't move the puzzles to say... the Magazine Section... and leave the comics, but that's why I'm just a blogger. Also, I don't really understand why editors think that actually offering you less in the paper you pay for will make you more inclined to buy one. Perhaps someone can explain this to me?
What a great week for comics in DC! As with Rob Ullman's situation, I'll be sending a letter to the Post, suggesting that Less is not actually More and that 1984 is well in the past. And it appears that Cul de Sac will not be moving to the Sunday section either, and presumably not appearing during the week.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Clarendon Barnes & Nobles comics specials and manga pictures
The Barnes & Nobles in Clarendon has some remaindered books of interest:
Stan Lee's Amazing Marvel Universe by Roy Thomas, with audio commentary by Stan Lee - $7.98
Superman Sunday Classics 1939-1943 hardcover - $6.98
Misunderestimated and Overunderappreciated - George W. Bush editorial cartoons - $9.98
Pictures of the manga section follow.
Stan Lee's Amazing Marvel Universe by Roy Thomas, with audio commentary by Stan Lee - $7.98
Superman Sunday Classics 1939-1943 hardcover - $6.98
Misunderestimated and Overunderappreciated - George W. Bush editorial cartoons - $9.98
Pictures of the manga section follow.
OT: DC needs one last Spirit section
From Bob Andelman's Mr. Media list (which is very interesting - Bob interviews cartoonists and other media people weekly). And I've bought all of The Spirit Archives - DC's done a great job with them and the material is first rate as one would expect from Will Eisner.
I don't know if you're a collector of the original printed SPIRIT newspaper sections, but on the chance that you might be, I wanted to ask if you could help with a search I'm conducting for a scan of one specific Spirit Section. I'm currently working on the 24th volume of THE SPIRIT ARCHIVES, which will complete the collection of the published Spirit Sections (it contains all of the sections published in 1952), and for the 8/31/52 episode, "The Last Man on the Planet Moon," I don't have a copy of the original printed section that I can use to reconstruct the color for the book. I have copies of every other section's original color, but on this one all my regular sources have come up empty -- Bill Blackbeard, Denis Kitchen, Diamond and OSU are all missing this one section, and Heritage Auctions and eBay have also came up dry. So I'm writing to see if you might have a copy of this original printed section in your collection which you'd be willing to make color xeroxes or color scans (even a relatively low-resolution scan of 150 dpi is good enough to get the color info from) of the four pages for me to use, and, if not, if you know of any other collectors who might have the section whose contact info you could pass on to me. Please let me know.
Thanks,
Scott Nybakken
Scott.Nybakken@dccomics.com
I don't know if you're a collector of the original printed SPIRIT newspaper sections, but on the chance that you might be, I wanted to ask if you could help with a search I'm conducting for a scan of one specific Spirit Section. I'm currently working on the 24th volume of THE SPIRIT ARCHIVES, which will complete the collection of the published Spirit Sections (it contains all of the sections published in 1952), and for the 8/31/52 episode, "The Last Man on the Planet Moon," I don't have a copy of the original printed section that I can use to reconstruct the color for the book. I have copies of every other section's original color, but on this one all my regular sources have come up empty -- Bill Blackbeard, Denis Kitchen, Diamond and OSU are all missing this one section, and Heritage Auctions and eBay have also came up dry. So I'm writing to see if you might have a copy of this original printed section in your collection which you'd be willing to make color xeroxes or color scans (even a relatively low-resolution scan of 150 dpi is good enough to get the color info from) of the four pages for me to use, and, if not, if you know of any other collectors who might have the section whose contact info you could pass on to me. Please let me know.
Thanks,
Scott Nybakken
Scott.Nybakken@dccomics.com
Zadzooks mostly on toys this week.
See "G.I. Joe American Hero teams up three new sets," by Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times December 1, 2007.
QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 12-05-07
QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 12-05-07
(Happy Hanukkah!)
By John Judy
(Support striking WGA members! Bring ‘em dreidels!)
AVENGERS INITIATIVE ANNUAL #1 by Dan Slott and Chris Weston. Secrets revealed and the new Liberty Legion makes its first (and last?) appearance. Dan Slott: Always Recommended.
BATMAN/SUPERMAN:SAGA OF THE SUPER-SONS SC by Bob Haney, Murphy Anderson, Dick Dillon, and Others. For fans of a certain age this complete collection of the adventures of Clark and Bruce Juniors is a Must-Have. Check it out, whipper-snappers!
BLACK SUMMER #4 of 7 by Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp. Last issue Tom Noir got shot by a tank. In the aftermath of a presidential assassination, who’s next?
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Georges Jeanty. Wrapping up the “Faith” story-arc with appropriate fisticuffs. Highly recommended.
COUNTDOWN: ARENA #1 of 4 by Keith Champagne and Scott McDaniel. Big Bad Monarch has the heroes of 52 universes fighting each other. I’m guessing at some point they figure out “Hey, there’s 52 universes of us and one of him.” Too easy?
THE ESCAPISTS HC by Brian K. Vaughan and Various Artists. The story of how three guys end up with the publishing rights to The Escapist and what ensues. From the universe of Michael Chabon’s “Kavalier and Clay.” Crack cocaine for geeks.
HOUSE OF M: AVENGERS #2 of 5 by Christos Gage and Mike Perkins. A fun little diversion into an alternate universe that kinda got wiped out over a year ago.
INFINITE HORIZON #1 of 6 by Gerry Dugan and Phil Noto. It’s the Odyssey set in the Middle East today, the story of a soldier trying to get back home. Gutsy stuff.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #15 by Dwayne McDuffie and Ed Benes. Last round of the JLA versus the Injustice League. And isn’t “Injustice League” right up there with “Brotherhood of Evil Mutants” and “Masters of Evil” in terms of true self-knowledge and acceptance? Royal Flush Gang, call your office.
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #11 by Geoff Johns, Alex Ross, and Dale Eaglesham. It’s the “Kingdom Come” Supes and the cosmic treadmill. It’s like the KC sequel never even happened! Recommended for that alone.
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL. 9 HC by Stan Lee, John Romita, John Buscema, and Jim Mooney. Collecting the original AMAZING issues #78-87. “Thwip!”
MS. MARVEL #22 by Brian Reed and Aaron Lopresti. Carol Danvers’ old costumes on parade! Also she fights the Brood, which I guess every hero is required to do if they finish their assignment early.
NORTHLANDERS #1 by Brian Wood and Davide Gianfelice. In which a callow Viking learns how hard it can be to go home again, circa 1000 A.D. This one’s getting a lot of good buzz, but is NOT for the young ‘uns. Certainly worth a read for the elders.
OMEGA THE UNKNOWN #3 of 10 by Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple. A David Lynch-y take on Steve Gerber’s cult hero from the seventies. Not for everyone but worth a look if you like your heroes a little different.
OVERMAN #1 of 5 by Scott Reed and Shane White. Hard sci-fi noir set in the art-deco Pittsburgh of 2135. Gotta be a step up, right?
POPEYE VOL. 2 WELL BLOW ME DOWN HC by E.C. Segar. The early stuff from 1930-32, including the first appearance of J. Wellington Wimpy, collected here by the good folks at Fantagraphics who are really quite wonderful at this. Recommended.
SIGNAL TO NOISE 2nd EDITION HC by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. The classic graphic novel re-issued for you lucky punks who missed the early nineties. Lots of extras in this one, worth it even if you already have a copy. Recommended.
THE TWELVE #0 by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston. A seriously fun revival of some long-forgotten Golden-Age heroes from the days when Marvel was Timely and Stan Lee was still an office gopher. Chris Weston has a real talent for stuff like this, as he demonstrated a few years back on the JSA/ALL-STAR mini-series over at DC. Looks like this could be a real winner. Also contains three stories which I’m betting haven’t been reprinted anywhere until now. Recommended.
ULTIMATES 3 #1 of 5 by Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira. Season Three begins with a murder at Avengers..I mean, “Ultimates” Mansion. How ‘bout dem apples, mister?
UNCANNY X-MEN #493 by Ed Brubaker and Billy Tan. “Baby, baby, who’s got the Mutant-Killer-Jesus-Baby???” Part Whatever of Whatever.
WHAT IF? CLASSIC VOL.4 SC by Everyone. Original series #21-26. In-sane….
WONDER WOMAN SERIES 1 ACTION FIGURES including Agent Diana Prince, Circe, Donna Troy as Wonder Woman, and WW herself. Designed by Terry Dodson.
WORLD WAR HULK: AFTER-SMASH #1 by Greg Pak and Rafa Sandoval. Cute title. For the WWH completists out there. Also features the first appearance of the new Goliath. So there’s that….
www.johnjudy.net
(Happy Hanukkah!)
By John Judy
(Support striking WGA members! Bring ‘em dreidels!)
AVENGERS INITIATIVE ANNUAL #1 by Dan Slott and Chris Weston. Secrets revealed and the new Liberty Legion makes its first (and last?) appearance. Dan Slott: Always Recommended.
BATMAN/SUPERMAN:SAGA OF THE SUPER-SONS SC by Bob Haney, Murphy Anderson, Dick Dillon, and Others. For fans of a certain age this complete collection of the adventures of Clark and Bruce Juniors is a Must-Have. Check it out, whipper-snappers!
BLACK SUMMER #4 of 7 by Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp. Last issue Tom Noir got shot by a tank. In the aftermath of a presidential assassination, who’s next?
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Georges Jeanty. Wrapping up the “Faith” story-arc with appropriate fisticuffs. Highly recommended.
COUNTDOWN: ARENA #1 of 4 by Keith Champagne and Scott McDaniel. Big Bad Monarch has the heroes of 52 universes fighting each other. I’m guessing at some point they figure out “Hey, there’s 52 universes of us and one of him.” Too easy?
THE ESCAPISTS HC by Brian K. Vaughan and Various Artists. The story of how three guys end up with the publishing rights to The Escapist and what ensues. From the universe of Michael Chabon’s “Kavalier and Clay.” Crack cocaine for geeks.
HOUSE OF M: AVENGERS #2 of 5 by Christos Gage and Mike Perkins. A fun little diversion into an alternate universe that kinda got wiped out over a year ago.
INFINITE HORIZON #1 of 6 by Gerry Dugan and Phil Noto. It’s the Odyssey set in the Middle East today, the story of a soldier trying to get back home. Gutsy stuff.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #15 by Dwayne McDuffie and Ed Benes. Last round of the JLA versus the Injustice League. And isn’t “Injustice League” right up there with “Brotherhood of Evil Mutants” and “Masters of Evil” in terms of true self-knowledge and acceptance? Royal Flush Gang, call your office.
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #11 by Geoff Johns, Alex Ross, and Dale Eaglesham. It’s the “Kingdom Come” Supes and the cosmic treadmill. It’s like the KC sequel never even happened! Recommended for that alone.
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL. 9 HC by Stan Lee, John Romita, John Buscema, and Jim Mooney. Collecting the original AMAZING issues #78-87. “Thwip!”
MS. MARVEL #22 by Brian Reed and Aaron Lopresti. Carol Danvers’ old costumes on parade! Also she fights the Brood, which I guess every hero is required to do if they finish their assignment early.
NORTHLANDERS #1 by Brian Wood and Davide Gianfelice. In which a callow Viking learns how hard it can be to go home again, circa 1000 A.D. This one’s getting a lot of good buzz, but is NOT for the young ‘uns. Certainly worth a read for the elders.
OMEGA THE UNKNOWN #3 of 10 by Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple. A David Lynch-y take on Steve Gerber’s cult hero from the seventies. Not for everyone but worth a look if you like your heroes a little different.
OVERMAN #1 of 5 by Scott Reed and Shane White. Hard sci-fi noir set in the art-deco Pittsburgh of 2135. Gotta be a step up, right?
POPEYE VOL. 2 WELL BLOW ME DOWN HC by E.C. Segar. The early stuff from 1930-32, including the first appearance of J. Wellington Wimpy, collected here by the good folks at Fantagraphics who are really quite wonderful at this. Recommended.
SIGNAL TO NOISE 2nd EDITION HC by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. The classic graphic novel re-issued for you lucky punks who missed the early nineties. Lots of extras in this one, worth it even if you already have a copy. Recommended.
THE TWELVE #0 by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston. A seriously fun revival of some long-forgotten Golden-Age heroes from the days when Marvel was Timely and Stan Lee was still an office gopher. Chris Weston has a real talent for stuff like this, as he demonstrated a few years back on the JSA/ALL-STAR mini-series over at DC. Looks like this could be a real winner. Also contains three stories which I’m betting haven’t been reprinted anywhere until now. Recommended.
ULTIMATES 3 #1 of 5 by Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira. Season Three begins with a murder at Avengers..I mean, “Ultimates” Mansion. How ‘bout dem apples, mister?
UNCANNY X-MEN #493 by Ed Brubaker and Billy Tan. “Baby, baby, who’s got the Mutant-Killer-Jesus-Baby???” Part Whatever of Whatever.
WHAT IF? CLASSIC VOL.4 SC by Everyone. Original series #21-26. In-sane….
WONDER WOMAN SERIES 1 ACTION FIGURES including Agent Diana Prince, Circe, Donna Troy as Wonder Woman, and WW herself. Designed by Terry Dodson.
WORLD WAR HULK: AFTER-SMASH #1 by Greg Pak and Rafa Sandoval. Cute title. For the WWH completists out there. Also features the first appearance of the new Goliath. So there’s that….
www.johnjudy.net
Friday, November 30, 2007
Comics, comics everywhere
click on the image for a larger, readable view.I was with my daughter's 4th grade trip to Jamestown today and saw the accompanying editorial cartoon on display in the museum. It's the original for "How Jamestown Was Saved For Posterity" by Fred O. Seibel, Richmond Times-Dispatch May 13, 1938. I don't know Seibel's work, but it's certainly competent enough and it was nice to see the art prominently displayed.
We'll flag this one with a SHoC label as I imagine Seibel's mostly forgotten.
Toles smacks Post 's Obama coverage
See "'Wash Post' Cartoonist Mocks Own Paper Over Obama Story," By Greg Mitchell, with Dave Astor, E and P Online November 30, 2007.This was actually useful as I had no idea what today's cartoon referred to before reading this. However, it's worth noting that last week's Doonesbury strips referred to the same issue, and might be useful to look at for anyone interested in this issue.
Ullman dropped by City Paper - time to write in! UPDATED
Rob Ullman's posted on The Comics Journal message board and on his own blog that he's been dropped from illustrating the Washington City Paper's Savage Love column. Rob's cute drawings are one of the best things about the City Paper and I encourage you all to write to them. All of these illustrations are from recent issues of the CP - great, aren't they?The following is the letter I sent to them at mail@washingtoncitypaper.com earlier this evening:
I am very sorry to hear about the decision to stop using Rob Ullman to illustrate the Savage Love column. Ullman's illustrations are a large reason that I pick up the City Paper and recommend it on my blog about comics in Washington. Combined with the much smaller size of the remaining columns, this gives me much less reason to read the Paper or to recommend it to people. I hope you will reconsider this decision promptly and return Rob's illustrations - they make a column that can be a bit over the top much more amusing.
The managing editor has written in with a comment below, and suggests you write your own letter to have more of an impact so please follow his advice. Hopefully Rob will be back with no interruption and we can raise a glass in thanks.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Schulz bio cartoon in The Onion
"Kelly" (aka Ward Sutton) has a cartoon in the Onion on the stands now, "Happiness is a warm dose of truth (at last)" about the Michaelis biography of Schulz. Couldn't find it online though...
...so I'll describe it. People are throwing copies of Peanuts books in the trash can while Charlie Brown says "Suddenly I don't feel like such a LOSER after all," while holding up a newspaper headlined, "New Schulz Bio exposes cartoonist to be a lonely, pathetic philanderer" while 'Kelly' says, "Mr. Success, the original blockhead," in the lower right corner.
...so I'll describe it. People are throwing copies of Peanuts books in the trash can while Charlie Brown says "Suddenly I don't feel like such a LOSER after all," while holding up a newspaper headlined, "New Schulz Bio exposes cartoonist to be a lonely, pathetic philanderer" while 'Kelly' says, "Mr. Success, the original blockhead," in the lower right corner.
Secret History of Comics with Richard Thompson's mother
Seriously. Richard's mother Anne Hall Whitt wrote an autobiographical book The Suitcases, a moving story about being orphaned with her two sisters during the Depression. I read it over Thanksgiving weekend, and found it very touching. I don't think I'm giving anything away when I say it all appears to have worked out well in the end, but it was pretty harrowing getting there. It was a good book to read around Thanksgiving since she gave you something to think and be thankful about. Copies of the book can be found on Amazon and other book sites. Oh, and it's illustrated by Richard, but in a non-cartoony art style that you wouldn't recognize.
Actually, this might make a good graphic novel, Richard...
Actually, this might make a good graphic novel, Richard...
Gurewitch and Perry Bible Fellowship in Express
See "Fellowship of Absurdity: Nicholas Gurewitch releases a new volume of comic strip-oddities [online title - Fellowship of Absurdity: Artist Nicholas Gurewitch]." by Scott Rosenberg, Express (November 29, 2007)
Gurewitch will be appearing at Atomic Pop in Baltimore tonight. If anyone goes to this, I'd like a signed copy of the book and will reimburse you. Late notice, I know.
Gurewitch will be appearing at Atomic Pop in Baltimore tonight. If anyone goes to this, I'd like a signed copy of the book and will reimburse you. Late notice, I know.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
OT: New Yorker cartoon issue out and going...
The November 26th issue turned out to be the Cartoon Issue which gets earlier every year. I just got the first December issue in the mail, so if you want the Cartoon one, better go to a newsstand soon. It's got a nice Bruce McCall cover gag on recycling, Gahan Wilson, and "how do you get your ideas" cartoons.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Secret History of Comics courtesy of Warren Bernard UPDATED
Here's two pieces in three images from Warren's collection that deal with forgotten works by famous cartoonists.
Percy Crosby for the January 1924 Telephone News from the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania
A Bill Mauldin booklet.
The Mauldin booklet should be reproduced in one of the new Fantagraphics books, courtesy of Warren.
Percy Crosby for the January 1924 Telephone News from the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania
A Bill Mauldin booklet.
The Mauldin booklet should be reproduced in one of the new Fantagraphics books, courtesy of Warren.
Randy T finds more local creators and their websites
Randy T's found more local creators and their websites for us somehow (I have no idea how he did this) but cautions: Please note though that this was based on information available some time ago and creators do tend to lead a nomadic life, so some of these folks might not still be in the area!
Anthony Flamini (Writer for Marvel Comics)
Sara Grace McCandless (Writer for Dark Horse)
Marylanders:
Katie Bair (Writer/Penciller/Inker for Antarctic Press)
Pat Carlucci (Penciller for Angel, Entity Comics)
http://www.pencilx.com/
http://www.hotinks.com/pat.htm
http://www.comicspace.com/pencilx/
http://patcarlucci.deviantart.com/
Frank Cho (Writer/Penciller for Marvel, Image, Small Press Expo, Caliber, Insight Studios, Dark Horse, DC, AAA Pop Comics, America's Best Comics, Exhibit A Press, NBM, Dynamite Entertainment)
Brian Clopper (Writer/Penciller for Alternative Comics, Small Press Expo, Caliber, Fantagraphics, Amazing Heroes Publishing, Slave Labor)
Michael DeVito (Colorist for Arcana Studios)
http://www.th3rdworld.com/
http://www.myspace.com/madevito
http://www.comicspace.com/th3rdworld/
Scott Edelman (Writer/Penciller for Marvel, Charlton, DC)
Lurene Haines (Writer/Penciller for Marvel, Malibu, DC, Caliber, Fantagraphics, Literacy Voluteers of Chicago)
Mike Imboden (Writer for Digital Webbing Presents)
http://www.imboden.org/
http://imboden-org.blogspot.com/
http://www.comicspace.com/imboden/
http://www.ponentmon.com/
Alfred T. Kamajian (Penciller for DC)
Sunny Lee (Penciller for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, AiT/Planet Lar)
http://www.geocities.com/sunnylee753/
http://www.sunnylee753.com/
http://mysite.verizon.net/~sunny615/
Jamie Noguchi (Colorist for Marvel)
Saul D. Orihuela (Colorist for Marvel, Image, DC, King Syndicates, Hasbro)
John Harris Staton (Writer/Penciller for Alternative Comics, Insight Studios Group, Fantaco)
Jim Warden (Writer for Marvel)
John Watkins-Chow (Writer/Penciller for Blink Comics, Lightning Comics)
Lawrence Watt-Evans (Writer for Marvel, Palliard Press, TeknoComix, DC)
Virginians:
Marty Baumann (Writer/Penciller for Day One Comics, Image, Cartoon Books)
David Bovey (Penciller for Labyrinth)
Jerry Carr (Penciller for NBM)
Steve Conley (Writer/Penciller for Image, IDW, Day One Comics, Bardic Press, Small Press Expo, Peregrine, Funk-o-Tron)
http://www.steveconley.com/
http://www.astoundingspacethrills.com/
(Boy, Astounding Space Thrills was a great comic - bring it back, Steve!)
Otis Frampton (Writer/Penciller for Viper Comics)
http://www.otisframpton.com/
http://otisframpton.typepad.com/otisframpton/
John Gallagher (Writer/Penciller/Inker for Dark Horse, Eternity (Malibu), Sky Dog Press, Small Press Expo, Peregrine)
http://www.buzzboy.com/
http://www.skydogcomics.com/
Khalid "Iszy" Iszard (Penciller for NBM)
http://www.iszard.com/
http://www.comicspace.com/iszyiszard/
Mal P. Jones (Writer/Inker for AiT/Planet Lar, Speakeasy)
Laurie J. Kronenberg (Colorist for Marvel, DC, CrossGen)
Jonathan Luna (Writer/Penciller for Marvel, Image, Desperado)
http://www.jonluna.com/
http://www.lunabrothers.com/
Josh Luna (Writer for Image)
http://www.joshualuna.com/
http://www.lunabrothers.com/
Nathan MacDicken (Penciller for Jitterbug Press, Small Press Expo)
Shawn Martinbrough (Writer/Penciller/Inker for Marvel, DC, Comico, Dark Horse)
Ken Meyer, Jr. (Writer/Penciller/Inker for Marvel, Entity Comics, Caliber, DC, Amazing Heroes Publishing, Avatar, Comic-Con Int'l, Megaton, Visual Anarchy (CFD), Fantagraphics, Image, Desperado)
Pop Mhan (Writer/Penciller/Inker for Marvel, Maximum Press, DC, Image, Dark Horse, TokyoPop)
David Napoliello (Writer/Penciller for Peregrine, Small Press Expo, Exiled Studio)
George T. Singley (Writer for Image, Speakeasy)
Anthony Flamini (Writer for Marvel Comics)
Sara Grace McCandless (Writer for Dark Horse)
Marylanders:
Katie Bair (Writer/Penciller/Inker for Antarctic Press)
Pat Carlucci (Penciller for Angel, Entity Comics)
http://www.pencilx.com/
http://www.hotinks.com/pat.htm
http://www.comicspace.com/pencilx/
http://patcarlucci.deviantart.com/
Frank Cho (Writer/Penciller for Marvel, Image, Small Press Expo, Caliber, Insight Studios, Dark Horse, DC, AAA Pop Comics, America's Best Comics, Exhibit A Press, NBM, Dynamite Entertainment)
Brian Clopper (Writer/Penciller for Alternative Comics, Small Press Expo, Caliber, Fantagraphics, Amazing Heroes Publishing, Slave Labor)
Michael DeVito (Colorist for Arcana Studios)
http://www.th3rdworld.com/
http://www.myspace.com/madevito
http://www.comicspace.com/th3rdworld/
Scott Edelman (Writer/Penciller for Marvel, Charlton, DC)
Lurene Haines (Writer/Penciller for Marvel, Malibu, DC, Caliber, Fantagraphics, Literacy Voluteers of Chicago)
Mike Imboden (Writer for Digital Webbing Presents)
http://www.imboden.org/
http://imboden-org.blogspot.com/
http://www.comicspace.com/imboden/
http://www.ponentmon.com/
Alfred T. Kamajian (Penciller for DC)
Sunny Lee (Penciller for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, AiT/Planet Lar)
http://www.geocities.com/sunnylee753/
http://www.sunnylee753.com/
http://mysite.verizon.net/~sunny615/
Jamie Noguchi (Colorist for Marvel)
Saul D. Orihuela (Colorist for Marvel, Image, DC, King Syndicates, Hasbro)
John Harris Staton (Writer/Penciller for Alternative Comics, Insight Studios Group, Fantaco)
Jim Warden (Writer for Marvel)
John Watkins-Chow (Writer/Penciller for Blink Comics, Lightning Comics)
Lawrence Watt-Evans (Writer for Marvel, Palliard Press, TeknoComix, DC)
Virginians:
Marty Baumann (Writer/Penciller for Day One Comics, Image, Cartoon Books)
David Bovey (Penciller for Labyrinth)
Jerry Carr (Penciller for NBM)
Steve Conley (Writer/Penciller for Image, IDW, Day One Comics, Bardic Press, Small Press Expo, Peregrine, Funk-o-Tron)
http://www.steveconley.com/
http://www.astoundingspacethrills.com/
(Boy, Astounding Space Thrills was a great comic - bring it back, Steve!)
Otis Frampton (Writer/Penciller for Viper Comics)
http://www.otisframpton.com/
http://otisframpton.typepad.com/otisframpton/
John Gallagher (Writer/Penciller/Inker for Dark Horse, Eternity (Malibu), Sky Dog Press, Small Press Expo, Peregrine)
http://www.buzzboy.com/
http://www.skydogcomics.com/
Khalid "Iszy" Iszard (Penciller for NBM)
http://www.iszard.com/
http://www.comicspace.com/iszyiszard/
Mal P. Jones (Writer/Inker for AiT/Planet Lar, Speakeasy)
Laurie J. Kronenberg (Colorist for Marvel, DC, CrossGen)
Jonathan Luna (Writer/Penciller for Marvel, Image, Desperado)
http://www.jonluna.com/
http://www.lunabrothers.com/
Josh Luna (Writer for Image)
http://www.joshualuna.com/
http://www.lunabrothers.com/
Nathan MacDicken (Penciller for Jitterbug Press, Small Press Expo)
Shawn Martinbrough (Writer/Penciller/Inker for Marvel, DC, Comico, Dark Horse)
Ken Meyer, Jr. (Writer/Penciller/Inker for Marvel, Entity Comics, Caliber, DC, Amazing Heroes Publishing, Avatar, Comic-Con Int'l, Megaton, Visual Anarchy (CFD), Fantagraphics, Image, Desperado)
Pop Mhan (Writer/Penciller/Inker for Marvel, Maximum Press, DC, Image, Dark Horse, TokyoPop)
David Napoliello (Writer/Penciller for Peregrine, Small Press Expo, Exiled Studio)
George T. Singley (Writer for Image, Speakeasy)
A Charlie Brown Christmas reflections in Times
See "An enduring Christmas gift," by J.T. Young, Washington Times November 27, 2007. The family's watching it right now, of course.
Futurama bits in today's papers
Both free papers ran articles on the direct to dvd return of Futurama. Scott Rosenberg wrote one for the Express - see "Back to the Drawing Board: 'Futurama'." The one in the Examiner was an AP story. The Express also ran a little feature on A Charlie Brown Christmas which is on in seven minutes.
Bruce Guthrie on Mid-Ohio Con
Hellboy, photo by Bruce GuthrieGuest columnist Bruce Guthrie has written a report on Mid-Ohio Con:
I attended the Mid-Ohio-Con in Columbus, Ohio last weekend. I used to go to the show a decade or more ago when it was in Mansfield, Ohio and I hadn't been back since then but they still send me postcards.
If you've never done the Mid-Ohio-Con, it's a nice little show. It doesn't have that many special guests but it's low-key enough that you can actually talk to them.
This year, one of the guests of honor was to be Margot Kidder, who had played Lois Lane in the Superman movies, and that sounded pretty cool given what I had heard about her bi-polar issues. Other people I was looking forward to were Sergio Aragones (Groo, MAD Magazine), Tom Batiuk (Funky Winkerbean), Noel Neill (the original "Lois Lane"), Mark Goddard (from "Lost In Space"), Dave Dorman, Mark Evanier, and Steve Rude.
Tom Batiuk of Funky Winkerbean, photo by Bruce GuthrieThere was no appearance by local boy Jeff Smith ("Bone") but I did get lost in his neighborhood one night...
As far the convention itself was concerned, they thought their headliners were Doug Jones (who played Silver Surfer in the most recent Fantastic Four movie), Arthur Suydam, Rich Buckler, Gary Friedrich, Michael Golden, Arvell Jones, Tony Isabella, Keith Pollard, Roger Stern, Herb Trimpe, and Rob Wilson.
Well, long story short, Margot Kidder didn't make it. They said she was working that weekend up in Canada. Anyway...
The two-day ticket to the show was all of $15. Columbus is pretty quiet over Thanksgiving so I got a Motel 6 room for about $35/night. I was willing to walk a couple of blocks for parking -- parking on Saturday cost me $2 and parking on Sunday was free. And gas at the local Costco was $2.78.9. Okay, so I'm cheap. Deal with it.
All right, so back to the show. It featured two program tracks -- 10 sessions on Friday and 8 on Saturday. Being photo-obsessive, I hopped around to most of the sessions. (Pictures from the weekend are on my web site at http://www.digitalphalanx.com/bguthrie ) [editor's note - 6 pages of them!]
Sergio Aragones, photo by Bruce GuthrieOver a quarter of the sessions involved Mark Evanier. He handled a birthday interview with Noel Neill, a panel discussing reprinting all of the comic strips from Pogo (Carolyn Kelly -- Walt Kelly's daughter -- was there for that), a Groo panel (with Sergio Aragones), an interview with Steve Rude, and a roast for Maggie Thompson (editor of the Comics Buyer's Guide). He's working on a biography of Jack Kirby who Evanier had served as an assistant to. You check out his Wikipedia entry and he's written for a number of television series -- including the third Bob Newhart series "Bob" and a variety of, well, kind of crappy cartoons. He's got Emmy nominations for that but he's on strike now along with the other TV writers. This is one interesting guy! He's got a wonderful, dry sense of humor and an amazing memory.
I ended up chatting with quite a few of the people including Mark,Sergio Aragones, Steve Rude, Noel Neill, etc. If you've never met Sergio before, do so! He's got a sparkling personality. And he draws so quickly and with such detail -- truly a marvel to watch.
One conversation was with Craig Boldman who was manning a booth for the National Cartoonists Society (Great Lakes Chapter) and the OSU Cartoon Research Library. In that capacity, he had been involved with the 2007 Festival of Cartoon Arts which our own Mike Rhode had attended just last month. A friendly guy, Craig's someone who likes to know everyone's name and home city when he talks to you. I told him I was from Silver Spring and he said Kim DeMulder was from around there too (Bethesda). He also told me there was an artist at the show who was from around me. It turned out she was from Harpers Ferry. Well, no, not *that* near me...
Craig Boldman of NCS, photo by Bruce GuthrieSome of the panels were better than others. The most popular ones -- "Horror you? Fine by me!", "Superhero Trivia Challenge", and "Who Wants to be a Superhero?" -- were the least appealing to me. Most of the remaining panels were half-filled at best. I think all of Mark's fit into this category. This isn't a criticism of Mark.
Realistically, he represents the old guard in comic-dom -- Wikipedia mentions he's "the documented administrator for the official Walt Kelly Pogo site" -- and at San Diego, he often chaired sessions for golden age comic book folks. I asked him if he liked newer comics and he said, except for the ones he writes, he doesn't read them at all anymore. I asked if that was because he was stuck on the comics he grew up on. He said that might be part of it but he said most of the comic books these days have lost their emphasis on storylines. He also says they're too hard for most people to pick up anymore since they're usually confined to specialty shops. I'm a little younger than he is but I agree with him -- all of his panels were of interest to me.
There was a panel with three science fiction-related performers -- Mark Goddard (Major Don West in "Lost In Space"), Sarah Douglas ("Ursa" in Superman II), and Scott L. Schwartz ("bad guy" in a variety of shows -- even his web site http://www.ultimatebadguy.com/ promotes him as the ultimate bad guy -- including Bruiser on the three Oceans Eleven films). Mark and Sarah commented a lot about why you should pay them for their autographs because they don't make residuals for
their shows. Well, sorry folks, but you're not making buckets of money in part because you're mostly doing bit parts, often in shows that weren't that great in the first place. Personally, I used to watch "Lost In Space" as a kid but, unlike "Andy Griffith", "Gunsmoke", and "Combat", I don't think the show holds up very well and I have zero interest in watching the episodes again.
Sarah Douglas talked about working with Marlon Brando and how he never remembered lines. They'd put his scripts within eye shot using teleprompters and text stuck on fence posts, foreheads, etc. She said for "Last Tango," his lines were written on the naked body of the actress he was making love to. I know George Clooney is similar -- doesn't remember lines -- and Noel mentioned that the Perry White actor usually had the lines written on the papers he was always shuffling on his desk.
Bruce with Sergio AragonesAnyway, that's about it. I enjoyed the show. I don't know what the attendance was -- after San Diego, everything is small. There were a higher percentage of people in costume than I'm used to seeing at the Baltimore and San Diego cons. I can't say much about the dealer room since I don't shop for comic books anymore -- they looked pretty busy so I guess things were good in that department.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Comics Reporter reviews Cul de Sac
...one strip of it at least. Tom Spurgeon's got a good book of criticism in him waiting to get out.
Gobbledygook by Coulter
As part of the Secret History of Comics (SHoC), I present the book, Gobbledygook Has Got To Go, published by those wild humorists in the Bureau of Land Management, circa 1970. They credited the writer, John O'Hayre, but not the cartoonist who signed some of the following drawings as 'Coulter.' Anyone know who that is? There's a William Coulter (b. 1946) listed in one National Cartoonists Society album.
I didn't have access to a scanner today, so these are shot with a camera - the quality of the originals is much better.
I'm not quite sure why the Bureau of Land Management ends their booklet with a picture of an astronaut.
I didn't have access to a scanner today, so these are shot with a camera - the quality of the originals is much better.
I'm not quite sure why the Bureau of Land Management ends their booklet with a picture of an astronaut.
Cartoons Magazine from 1918 online
This is not the REAL SHoC (Secret History of Comics) promised yesterday, but it's a pretty good one. It's a scan on Google Books of Cartoons Magazine from 1918 - actually it's over 500 pages long so it must be most of the year's issues! Hoo-hah!
These are pretty well-known to hardcore collectors, but out of the price range of ordinary guys like me. Let's give a moment to appreciate the bequest of John Amory Lowell.
Now... to print or not to print...
Here's a 1920 Keeping Up with the Joneses from Pop Momand...
...Winsor McCay's Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend...
...Thomas Masson's 1922 Our American Humorists has a chapter on comics artists - with few kind words...
...and a microfiche version of The Good Things of Life, Sixth Series, which is early gag cartooning.
These are pretty well-known to hardcore collectors, but out of the price range of ordinary guys like me. Let's give a moment to appreciate the bequest of John Amory Lowell.
Now... to print or not to print...
Here's a 1920 Keeping Up with the Joneses from Pop Momand...
...Winsor McCay's Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend...
...Thomas Masson's 1922 Our American Humorists has a chapter on comics artists - with few kind words...
...and a microfiche version of The Good Things of Life, Sixth Series, which is early gag cartooning.
QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 11-29-07
QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 11-29-07
By John Judy, WGA-Wanabee
(NOTE: This week comics are shipping one day later than usual due to that thing with the turkeys and the people who buckled their hats. Look for ‘em Thursday, not Wednesday.)
ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #8 by Frank Miller and Jim Lee. Which iconic DC heroine will be rendered as an unstable slut this issue? The latest milestone in Frank Miller’s ongoing mental collapse! Ho-ho-ho!
AVENGERS INITIATIVE: BASIC TRAINING VOL. 1 PREMIERE HC by Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli. Collecting the first six issues of this smart, funny adventure series. Recommended.
BATMAN #671 by Grant Morrison and Tony Daniel. Bats versus Sensei versus Ras al Ghul. Could be a short resurrection for The Ras.
BLACK PANTHER #32 by Reginald Hudlin and Francis Portela. Fun and games on the Skrull Gangsta Planet. Also featuring a nefarious frog. Oddly recommended.
CRIME BIBLE: THE FIVE LESSONS OF BLOOD #2 of 5 by Greg Rucka and Jose Saiz. Featuring “The Lesson of Lust.” This Religion of Crime is sounding better and better…
DAN DARE #1 of 7 by Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine. A classic British science-hero as written by Garth Ennis. To be read with tongs and blast goggles. Thank-you, Virgin Comics.
DAREDEVIL #102 by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark. Mister Fear is having way too much fun making DD’s life difficult. It’s good to be Mister Fear. Recommended.
ESSENTIAL X-MEN VOL.8 SC by Chris Claremont, Marc Silvestri, and Rick Leonardi. Collecting a buncha stuff from Claremont’s 100-year run on the Uncanny X-books. Issues #229-243, plus Annual #12 and some X-FACTOR to boot.
IT ATE BILLY ON CHRISTMAS HC by Roman Dirge and Steven Daily. From the creator of LENORE, a little seasonal fun in the vein of “Little Shop of Horrors meets all those Rankin-Bass Christmas specials of days gone by.” Gotta look!
MARVEL ZOMBIES 2 #2 of 5 by Robert Kirkman and Sean Phillips. Forty years after the zombie plague turned Earth’s mightiest heroes into glowing-eyed ghouls with no lips, strange alliances are forming. Recommended. Absolutely not for kids.
SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #41 by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada. “One More Day” part 3 of 4, in which Aunt May takes her shot at the Lingering World’s Record. What is it with Aunt May? She’s had more heart attacks than Cheney, been shot by a sniper and pumped full of radioactive Spidey-blood, but she still won’t die! What is she, some kind of passive-aggressive Wolverine? Does her healing power only get her well enough to be a 1000-pound guilt-anchor on her nephew? Die or get off the pot, Aunt May! And get me some wheat cakes!
SHAZAM ACTION FIGURES featuring Cap, Billy, Junior, Mary, Sivana, Mr. Mind, and Hoppy the Marvel Bunny! You want these. Don’t pretend you don’t.
SUB-MARINER #6 of 6 by Matt Cherniss, Peter Johnson, and Phil Briones. Namor makes some cold, hard decisions and renews an old business relationship. Not bad.
SUPERMAN ANNUAL #13 by Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco. The long-awaited conclusion to “Camelot Falls” in which Supes and Arion duke it out. Recommended.
WARREN ELLIS BLACK GAS SC by Internet Jesus and Max Fiumara. If the holidays make you want to eat people until civilization falls to ruin this is the book for you.
WORLD WAR HULK FRONT LINE #6 of 6 by Paul Jenkins and Ramon Bachs. Answering the musical question “After the Hulk and the Sentry turn New York into New Orleans what’s a drunk reporter to do?” Better than it sounds.
X-MEN #205 by Mike Carey and Chris Bachalo. “Mutant Killer Jesus-Baby” Part 5 of 13. Big fights.
X-MEN FIRST CLASS #6 by Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz. A story that appears to be about the early X-Men losing their powers because of something from space. The preview copy looked like a lot of pages were printed out of order. Maybe the X-books are all mangas now?
Plus, PREVIEWS from Diamond and Marvel!
www.johnjudy.net
By John Judy, WGA-Wanabee
(NOTE: This week comics are shipping one day later than usual due to that thing with the turkeys and the people who buckled their hats. Look for ‘em Thursday, not Wednesday.)
ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #8 by Frank Miller and Jim Lee. Which iconic DC heroine will be rendered as an unstable slut this issue? The latest milestone in Frank Miller’s ongoing mental collapse! Ho-ho-ho!
AVENGERS INITIATIVE: BASIC TRAINING VOL. 1 PREMIERE HC by Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli. Collecting the first six issues of this smart, funny adventure series. Recommended.
BATMAN #671 by Grant Morrison and Tony Daniel. Bats versus Sensei versus Ras al Ghul. Could be a short resurrection for The Ras.
BLACK PANTHER #32 by Reginald Hudlin and Francis Portela. Fun and games on the Skrull Gangsta Planet. Also featuring a nefarious frog. Oddly recommended.
CRIME BIBLE: THE FIVE LESSONS OF BLOOD #2 of 5 by Greg Rucka and Jose Saiz. Featuring “The Lesson of Lust.” This Religion of Crime is sounding better and better…
DAN DARE #1 of 7 by Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine. A classic British science-hero as written by Garth Ennis. To be read with tongs and blast goggles. Thank-you, Virgin Comics.
DAREDEVIL #102 by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark. Mister Fear is having way too much fun making DD’s life difficult. It’s good to be Mister Fear. Recommended.
ESSENTIAL X-MEN VOL.8 SC by Chris Claremont, Marc Silvestri, and Rick Leonardi. Collecting a buncha stuff from Claremont’s 100-year run on the Uncanny X-books. Issues #229-243, plus Annual #12 and some X-FACTOR to boot.
IT ATE BILLY ON CHRISTMAS HC by Roman Dirge and Steven Daily. From the creator of LENORE, a little seasonal fun in the vein of “Little Shop of Horrors meets all those Rankin-Bass Christmas specials of days gone by.” Gotta look!
MARVEL ZOMBIES 2 #2 of 5 by Robert Kirkman and Sean Phillips. Forty years after the zombie plague turned Earth’s mightiest heroes into glowing-eyed ghouls with no lips, strange alliances are forming. Recommended. Absolutely not for kids.
SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #41 by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada. “One More Day” part 3 of 4, in which Aunt May takes her shot at the Lingering World’s Record. What is it with Aunt May? She’s had more heart attacks than Cheney, been shot by a sniper and pumped full of radioactive Spidey-blood, but she still won’t die! What is she, some kind of passive-aggressive Wolverine? Does her healing power only get her well enough to be a 1000-pound guilt-anchor on her nephew? Die or get off the pot, Aunt May! And get me some wheat cakes!
SHAZAM ACTION FIGURES featuring Cap, Billy, Junior, Mary, Sivana, Mr. Mind, and Hoppy the Marvel Bunny! You want these. Don’t pretend you don’t.
SUB-MARINER #6 of 6 by Matt Cherniss, Peter Johnson, and Phil Briones. Namor makes some cold, hard decisions and renews an old business relationship. Not bad.
SUPERMAN ANNUAL #13 by Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco. The long-awaited conclusion to “Camelot Falls” in which Supes and Arion duke it out. Recommended.
WARREN ELLIS BLACK GAS SC by Internet Jesus and Max Fiumara. If the holidays make you want to eat people until civilization falls to ruin this is the book for you.
WORLD WAR HULK FRONT LINE #6 of 6 by Paul Jenkins and Ramon Bachs. Answering the musical question “After the Hulk and the Sentry turn New York into New Orleans what’s a drunk reporter to do?” Better than it sounds.
X-MEN #205 by Mike Carey and Chris Bachalo. “Mutant Killer Jesus-Baby” Part 5 of 13. Big fights.
X-MEN FIRST CLASS #6 by Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz. A story that appears to be about the early X-Men losing their powers because of something from space. The preview copy looked like a lot of pages were printed out of order. Maybe the X-books are all mangas now?
Plus, PREVIEWS from Diamond and Marvel!
www.johnjudy.net
Metalocalypse in Express, Homer Simpson in Post
An extended version of Christopher Porter's interview with animation writer Brendon Small "Brutally Hilarious: 'Metalocalypse' is a double-devil-horns delight on Adult Swim," Express (November 26): 20, is online as "Brutally Funny: 'Metalocalypse'"
Also, in yesterday's paper, Christopher Healy reviews YouTube parodies of Homer Simpson wrestling matches in "Taekwond'oh!," Washington Post Sunday, November 25, 2007; Page N04.
Danny Helman seems to have gotten a gig illustrating The Three Wise Guys column for the Post's Source section on Sunday - he's been in there for two consecutive weeks. The Post doesn't seem to have bought online repro rights though.
Also, in yesterday's paper, Christopher Healy reviews YouTube parodies of Homer Simpson wrestling matches in "Taekwond'oh!," Washington Post Sunday, November 25, 2007; Page N04.
Danny Helman seems to have gotten a gig illustrating The Three Wise Guys column for the Post's Source section on Sunday - he's been in there for two consecutive weeks. The Post doesn't seem to have bought online repro rights though.
Comics arrive on Thursday this week
According to Joel Pollack of Big Planet Comics who notes these will be what arrives:
SPECIAL NOTE: Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, new comics will be delayed 24-hours, and will be on sale THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29th this week. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
New comics arriving this THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29TH
DC COMICS
52 AFTERMATH #4
ALL STAR BATMAN #8
AMERICAN VIRGIN #21
AUTHORITY: PRIME #2
BATMAN #671
BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #2
BLUE BEETLE #21
COUNTDOWN: LORD HAVOK AND THE EXTREMISTS #2
COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE #4
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 22
CRIME BIBLE #2
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #13
DEATHBLOW #8
DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #3
FAKER #5
FREDDY VS. JASON VS. ASH #2
GEN13 ARMAGEDDON #1
GOTHAM UNDERGROUND #2
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #18
HAWKGIRL: HAWKMAN RETURNS TP
JACK OF FABLES #17
JLA CLASSIFIED #47
JSA CLASSIFIED #32
MIDNIGHTER VOL. 1: KILLING MACHINE TP
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERGIRL VOL. 1 TP
SUPERGIRL AND THE LSH #36
SUPERMAN ANNUAL #13
SUPERMAN BATMAN #43
UNCLE SAM AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS #3
TEEN TITANS #53
TEEN TITANS GO #49
TESTAMENT VOL 3 BABEL TP
TRIALS OF SHAZAM #10
MARVEL COMICS
BLACK PANTHER #32
CABLE DEADPOOL #47
DAREDEVIL #102
ESSENTIAL X-MEN VOL 8 TP
FOOLKILLER #2
MAGICIAN APPRENTICE #11
MARVEL ADVENTURES: IRON MAN #7
MARVEL ATLAS #1
MARVEL ZOMBIES 2 #2
MOON KNIGHT ANNUAL #1
SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #41
SPIDER-MAN: FAIRY TALES TP
SUB-MARINER #6
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #116
WORLD WAR HULK: FRONT LINE #6
X-MEN #205
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS VOL. 2 #6
ZOMBIE: SIMON GARTH #1
SIGNIFICANT OTHERS
AGE OF BRONZE VOL. 3 TP
ARCHIE #580
ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #184
CASANOVA #11
DAN DARE #1
DOC FRANKENSTEIN #6
FIRST BORN #3
FRANK FRAZETTA’S DEATH DEALER #5
FUTURAMA COMICS #34
GARGOYLES: BAD GUYS #1
IT ATE BILLY ON CHRISTMAS HC
MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #5
PREVIEWS VOL XVII #12
SIMPSONS WINTER WINGDING #2
SPEAK O/T DEVIL #3
STAR WARS: KOTOR #23
TRANSFORMERS: DEVASTATION #3
USAGI YOJIMBO #107
WARREN ELLIS’ BLACK GAS TP
PLANET PICKS
AGE OF BRONZE VOL. 3 TP
ALL STAR BATMAN #8
BATMAN #671
DAN DARE #1
DAREDEVIL #102
DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #3
MARVEL ZOMBIES 2 #2
SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #41
SIMPSONS WINTER WINGDING #2
SUPERMAN ANNUAL #13
SPECIAL NOTE: Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, new comics will be delayed 24-hours, and will be on sale THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29th this week. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
New comics arriving this THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29TH
DC COMICS
52 AFTERMATH #4
ALL STAR BATMAN #8
AMERICAN VIRGIN #21
AUTHORITY: PRIME #2
BATMAN #671
BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #2
BLUE BEETLE #21
COUNTDOWN: LORD HAVOK AND THE EXTREMISTS #2
COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE #4
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 22
CRIME BIBLE #2
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #13
DEATHBLOW #8
DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #3
FAKER #5
FREDDY VS. JASON VS. ASH #2
GEN13 ARMAGEDDON #1
GOTHAM UNDERGROUND #2
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #18
HAWKGIRL: HAWKMAN RETURNS TP
JACK OF FABLES #17
JLA CLASSIFIED #47
JSA CLASSIFIED #32
MIDNIGHTER VOL. 1: KILLING MACHINE TP
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERGIRL VOL. 1 TP
SUPERGIRL AND THE LSH #36
SUPERMAN ANNUAL #13
SUPERMAN BATMAN #43
UNCLE SAM AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS #3
TEEN TITANS #53
TEEN TITANS GO #49
TESTAMENT VOL 3 BABEL TP
TRIALS OF SHAZAM #10
MARVEL COMICS
BLACK PANTHER #32
CABLE DEADPOOL #47
DAREDEVIL #102
ESSENTIAL X-MEN VOL 8 TP
FOOLKILLER #2
MAGICIAN APPRENTICE #11
MARVEL ADVENTURES: IRON MAN #7
MARVEL ATLAS #1
MARVEL ZOMBIES 2 #2
MOON KNIGHT ANNUAL #1
SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #41
SPIDER-MAN: FAIRY TALES TP
SUB-MARINER #6
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #116
WORLD WAR HULK: FRONT LINE #6
X-MEN #205
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS VOL. 2 #6
ZOMBIE: SIMON GARTH #1
SIGNIFICANT OTHERS
AGE OF BRONZE VOL. 3 TP
ARCHIE #580
ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #184
CASANOVA #11
DAN DARE #1
DOC FRANKENSTEIN #6
FIRST BORN #3
FRANK FRAZETTA’S DEATH DEALER #5
FUTURAMA COMICS #34
GARGOYLES: BAD GUYS #1
IT ATE BILLY ON CHRISTMAS HC
MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #5
PREVIEWS VOL XVII #12
SIMPSONS WINTER WINGDING #2
SPEAK O/T DEVIL #3
STAR WARS: KOTOR #23
TRANSFORMERS: DEVASTATION #3
USAGI YOJIMBO #107
WARREN ELLIS’ BLACK GAS TP
PLANET PICKS
AGE OF BRONZE VOL. 3 TP
ALL STAR BATMAN #8
BATMAN #671
DAN DARE #1
DAREDEVIL #102
DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #3
MARVEL ZOMBIES 2 #2
SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #41
SIMPSONS WINTER WINGDING #2
SUPERMAN ANNUAL #13
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Color Cul de Sac two-fer
The Post had two magazines this week, one a special for Thanksgiving, and they both had Richard Thompson's Cul de Sac in them. The Thanksgiving one, which can be seen on Richard's blog, probably wasn't syndicated so it's a Washington special. Except that it's on the web so everyone can enjoy it. Kind of takes the fun out, doesn't it?
This barely qualifies as Secret History of Comics except when Fantagraphics tries to put together the complete CdS in 2072...
...tune in tomorrow for a REAL SHoC (hmmm, not a half-bad acronym).
This barely qualifies as Secret History of Comics except when Fantagraphics tries to put together the complete CdS in 2072...
...tune in tomorrow for a REAL SHoC (hmmm, not a half-bad acronym).
Zadzooks comic book reviews
Joseph Szadkowski reviews a few comic book titles this week in "Silly space adventures with alien odd couple," Washington Times November 24, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Matt Dembicki and Mr. Big profiled in today's Examiner
Chris Klimek has an article on northern Virginia's Matt Dembicki and his comic book, Mr. Big. It's not online, but it's "Serious Talk with Local Comics' 'Mr. Big'" Washington Examiner (November 24-25, 2007). Steal a copy off your neighbor's lawn, or look for the red boxes.
Friday, November 23, 2007
DC's homegrown real superheroes
The Post had this bit about people that dress up as superheroes to distribute food. In the end, I'm still not quite sure what the costumes add to the experience on either side, but more power to them. See "Public Service With a Side of Spandex," by Delphine Schrank, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, November 23, 2007; B03.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
OT: Posy Simmonds interview in the new Comics Journal
Posy Simmonds is one of my favorite cartoonists who should be better known in the States (along with Raymond Briggs). My friend Paul Gravett has an excellent interview with her in the new Comics Journal.
Buy it today, and then order Gemma Bovary and preorder Tamara Drewe.
Blake Gopnik on Beowulf
I can't really decide if motion capture computer animation is really animation or not, so I'm not really posting about it or tracking it for the Comics Research Bibliography (link found to the right). However, in this article 'Beowulf' Movie Magic Can't Conjure The Poem's Bare-Bones Enchantment" by Blake Gopnik, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, November 22, 2007; C01, Gopnik, one of the Post's best art critics also confesses his love for the Spider-Man movies and X-Men III. So I'll put the link up here and you can make up your own mind.
Animation leads Bomani Armah to fame and infamy
This article, "His Punch Line Smarts: Hip-Hop Parodist Bomani Armah Juggles Sense of Humor and Identity," by Kevin Merida, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, November 22, 2007; C01, is about a DC man who wrote Read a Book, a satirical hip-hop song, but when it was animated and put out in the big world via BET, he got a lot of grief. It's an interesting article - it reads here like some of the choices made by the animators compounded the mixing of his message.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Post on Enchanted
In a move not seen in quite a while - Roger Rabbit, I'd guess, and before that the currently-supressed Song of the South - Disney's mixed live-action with animation, to generally excellent reviews. For the Post's take, see "Princess Power: In Charming 'Enchanted,' Once Upon A Time Is Right Now" By Ann Hornaday, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, November 21, 2007; Page C01
Marc Singer on Moore's Black Dossier
Marc's one of the keener observers of superhero comics, so his post on Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neil's League of Extraordinary Gentleman: Black Dossier is worth reading.
A couple of sites for local creators
Randy T sent these in and will hopefully return to give more framing info:
Pop Mhan's website
Jo Chen's blog
Pop Mhan's website
Jo Chen's blog
Von Allan to be published by webcomics site Girlamatic.com
off-topic, but VA was one of our first readers - and look at those pseudonymous intials! Congratulations Von!
Von Allan to be published by webcomics site Girlamatic.com
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (November 19, 2007) – Webcomics have, over the past ten years, become a phenomenon and are read by people of all ages. This popularity has greatly increased both the diversity and sheer amount of high quality comics that might not have been able to find an audience in a traditional print format. Coinciding with this growth has been the development of a number of webcomic publishing sites that collect similarly themed webcomics under one roof. One of the most notable is GirlAMatic.com, primarily due to its focus on comics that would appeal to female readers both young and old. Canadian graphic novelist Von Allan’s original graphic novel the road to god knows… has recently been accepted into GirlAMatic.com and will launch as a webcomic on December 3rd, 2007. The story will update four times per week (Monday through Thursday).
“Comics are a wonderful and diverse medium that can showcase stories from any particular genre. This is often forgotten due to the overwhelming market presence of both Marvel and DC’s superhero comics in print format. As a result of this, comics have traditionally been considered a ‘boys club’,” says Allan. “Most comics, especially in North America, tended to exclude women and girls by creating characters and stories that few female readers would ever identify with. Which, of course, is an odd thing to say but it can still occur even in this day and age. GirlAMatic has tried very hard to change this by creating a home for stories that, while running the gamut in terms of genre, can all be considered female friendly. Webcomics have managed to become a great leveler when it comes to genre and it’s fascinating to see how many readers of webcomics are female. When one combines that with the phenomenal growth of manga, driven primarily by female readers, comics of all forms are seeing a remarkable equalization in readership that they’ve never experienced before. And I’m pleased as punch to be a part of that.”
The road to god knows... is the story of Marie, a young teenage girl coming to grips with her Mom’s schizophrenia. As a result, she’s struggling to grow up fast; wrestling with poverty, loneliness, and her Mom’s illness every step of the way. Betty, Marie’s Mom, can’t help; she’s living with an illness that’s slowly getting worse and increasingly frightening. With her Mom absorbed in her own problems,
Marie is essentially alone while she learns to deal with the chaos in her young life.
The road to god knows… is expected to be printed in 2008 and has an ISBN of 978-0-9781237-0-3.
About Von Allan: Von Allan was born red-headed and freckled in Arnprior, Ontario, just in time for Star Wars: A New Hope. The single child of two loving but troubled parents, Von split most of his childhood between their two homes and, consequently, spent a lot of time in the worlds of comics and wrestling. He managed Perfect Books, an independent bookstore in Ottawa, for many years while working on story ideas in his spare time; eventually, he decided to make the leap to a creative life, and
the road to god knows… was the result. Additional information about the graphic novel can be found at www.vonallan.com.
About GirlAMatic: Launched on March 31st 2003, GirlAMatic.com has become the home for a variety of female-friendly webcomics. Perhaps more importantly, the site has been the home for multiple award winning comics creators, including Leigh Dragoon and Raina Telgemeier (Kim Yale Award Winner for Best New Female Talent 2006 and 2003 respectively), Hope Larson (Ignatz Award Winner 2006), and Donna Barr (Xeric Winner 2002).
Contact:
Von Allan
P.O. Box 20520, 390 Rideau Street,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. K1N 1A3
Email: von@vonallan.com
Phone: 613-236-9957
Girlamatic.com
Editor-in-Chief: Lisa R. Jonté
Email: gam.editor@gmail.com
Von Allan to be published by webcomics site Girlamatic.com
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (November 19, 2007) – Webcomics have, over the past ten years, become a phenomenon and are read by people of all ages. This popularity has greatly increased both the diversity and sheer amount of high quality comics that might not have been able to find an audience in a traditional print format. Coinciding with this growth has been the development of a number of webcomic publishing sites that collect similarly themed webcomics under one roof. One of the most notable is GirlAMatic.com, primarily due to its focus on comics that would appeal to female readers both young and old. Canadian graphic novelist Von Allan’s original graphic novel the road to god knows… has recently been accepted into GirlAMatic.com and will launch as a webcomic on December 3rd, 2007. The story will update four times per week (Monday through Thursday).
“Comics are a wonderful and diverse medium that can showcase stories from any particular genre. This is often forgotten due to the overwhelming market presence of both Marvel and DC’s superhero comics in print format. As a result of this, comics have traditionally been considered a ‘boys club’,” says Allan. “Most comics, especially in North America, tended to exclude women and girls by creating characters and stories that few female readers would ever identify with. Which, of course, is an odd thing to say but it can still occur even in this day and age. GirlAMatic has tried very hard to change this by creating a home for stories that, while running the gamut in terms of genre, can all be considered female friendly. Webcomics have managed to become a great leveler when it comes to genre and it’s fascinating to see how many readers of webcomics are female. When one combines that with the phenomenal growth of manga, driven primarily by female readers, comics of all forms are seeing a remarkable equalization in readership that they’ve never experienced before. And I’m pleased as punch to be a part of that.”
The road to god knows... is the story of Marie, a young teenage girl coming to grips with her Mom’s schizophrenia. As a result, she’s struggling to grow up fast; wrestling with poverty, loneliness, and her Mom’s illness every step of the way. Betty, Marie’s Mom, can’t help; she’s living with an illness that’s slowly getting worse and increasingly frightening. With her Mom absorbed in her own problems,
Marie is essentially alone while she learns to deal with the chaos in her young life.
The road to god knows… is expected to be printed in 2008 and has an ISBN of 978-0-9781237-0-3.
About Von Allan: Von Allan was born red-headed and freckled in Arnprior, Ontario, just in time for Star Wars: A New Hope. The single child of two loving but troubled parents, Von split most of his childhood between their two homes and, consequently, spent a lot of time in the worlds of comics and wrestling. He managed Perfect Books, an independent bookstore in Ottawa, for many years while working on story ideas in his spare time; eventually, he decided to make the leap to a creative life, and
the road to god knows… was the result. Additional information about the graphic novel can be found at www.vonallan.com.
About GirlAMatic: Launched on March 31st 2003, GirlAMatic.com has become the home for a variety of female-friendly webcomics. Perhaps more importantly, the site has been the home for multiple award winning comics creators, including Leigh Dragoon and Raina Telgemeier (Kim Yale Award Winner for Best New Female Talent 2006 and 2003 respectively), Hope Larson (Ignatz Award Winner 2006), and Donna Barr (Xeric Winner 2002).
Contact:
Von Allan
P.O. Box 20520, 390 Rideau Street,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. K1N 1A3
Email: von@vonallan.com
Phone: 613-236-9957
Girlamatic.com
Editor-in-Chief: Lisa R. Jonté
Email: gam.editor@gmail.com
NEXT Sun, Dec 2 - CapiCons.com Comic & Pop Culture Show
Randy T. forwarded this Con announcement.
This show features a special guest appearance by John K. Snyder, III, courtesy of www.HeroInitiative.org. John K. Snyder, III, is a writer/illustrator whose work has been published by D.C. Comics (The Green Lantern, Dr. Mid-nite and an upcoming Batman mini-series) and many independent comic book publishers (The Duckberg Times).
- If you receive a postcard in the mail before the show, PLEASE BRING POSTCARD TO THE SHOW.
*******************************************************************
Our next Tysons Corner Monthly Comic & Pop Culture Show will be on Sun, December 2, 2007 at the Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire Department. The show is open to the public from 10 am - 3 pm.
Buy, sell and trade: gold, silver age and new comics; Magic and other gaming cards; non sport cards; videos and DVDs; anime; Horror; Sci-Fi; figures, toys; Star Wars and Star Trek memorabilia; original artwork, posters, T-shirts and various other comic related items.
Vendors confirmed for this show include:
All-American Comics
Cards Comics & Collectibles
Doug Cheshire
Michael Creager
Everyday Comics
FANDATA
Jerry Flynn
Gold Coast Collectibles
HeroInitiative.org
Damion Hill
Koop's Comics
Jim Montgomery
Outpost Station
Silver Fox Comics
TNT Comics
Tomorrow's Treasures
Steven Wagner
Brian Weinshenker
Welcome Back Comics
Zeno's Books
and more!
The Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire Department (directions - please see below) has a 70-space parking lot. Plus, there is a school behind the fire department with hundreds of parking spaces that are rarely used on the weekends.
To get to the Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire Department (located about 20 minutes west of Washington, D.C.). Take I-495 (DC/Capital Beltway) to Exit 47A (Rt 7 West). Go 1/2 mile, Take a Left on Gallows Rd and proceed 1 mile to 2148 Gallows Rd.
Or visit our website for detailed directions and Mapquest directions:
http://www.capicons.com/directions_dlvfd.htm
Venue Address:
Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire Department
2148 Gallows Road
Dunn Loring, VA 22027
We no longer require the Door Prize winner to be present to claim their prize. The door prize winner will be drawn after the show and the prize will be sent to the winner and announced in the next show's email.
Also, if you receive a postcard reminder for the event, PLEASE BRING THE POSTCARD TO THE SHOW. This will allow you to enter the door prize drawing without taking the time to fill out a new form.
If you do not receive a postcard before the show and would like this reminder, please visit our website and sign up for our mailing list:
http://www.capicons.com/contact_customer.htm
Or print out the following form, complete it and bring it to the next show:
http://www.capicons.com/door_prize_entry_form.htm
If you have any other questions, please visit our website:
http://www.CapiCons.com
Or send us an e-mail at:
info@capicons.com
Hope to see you soon.
Jeff
http://www.CapiCons.com
info@capicons.com
===================
*Capital Associates does not guarantee the arrival, arrival time or
departure time of the artist(s)/writer(s)/other guest(s) attending our
shows or attending on behalf of another group.
===================
This show features a special guest appearance by John K. Snyder, III, courtesy of www.HeroInitiative.org. John K. Snyder, III, is a writer/illustrator whose work has been published by D.C. Comics (The Green Lantern, Dr. Mid-nite and an upcoming Batman mini-series) and many independent comic book publishers (The Duckberg Times).
- If you receive a postcard in the mail before the show, PLEASE BRING POSTCARD TO THE SHOW.
*******************************************************************
Our next Tysons Corner Monthly Comic & Pop Culture Show will be on Sun, December 2, 2007 at the Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire Department. The show is open to the public from 10 am - 3 pm.
Buy, sell and trade: gold, silver age and new comics; Magic and other gaming cards; non sport cards; videos and DVDs; anime; Horror; Sci-Fi; figures, toys; Star Wars and Star Trek memorabilia; original artwork, posters, T-shirts and various other comic related items.
Vendors confirmed for this show include:
All-American Comics
Cards Comics & Collectibles
Doug Cheshire
Michael Creager
Everyday Comics
FANDATA
Jerry Flynn
Gold Coast Collectibles
HeroInitiative.org
Damion Hill
Koop's Comics
Jim Montgomery
Outpost Station
Silver Fox Comics
TNT Comics
Tomorrow's Treasures
Steven Wagner
Brian Weinshenker
Welcome Back Comics
Zeno's Books
and more!
The Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire Department (directions - please see below) has a 70-space parking lot. Plus, there is a school behind the fire department with hundreds of parking spaces that are rarely used on the weekends.
To get to the Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire Department (located about 20 minutes west of Washington, D.C.). Take I-495 (DC/Capital Beltway) to Exit 47A (Rt 7 West). Go 1/2 mile, Take a Left on Gallows Rd and proceed 1 mile to 2148 Gallows Rd.
Or visit our website for detailed directions and Mapquest directions:
http://www.capicons.com/directions_dlvfd.htm
Venue Address:
Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire Department
2148 Gallows Road
Dunn Loring, VA 22027
We no longer require the Door Prize winner to be present to claim their prize. The door prize winner will be drawn after the show and the prize will be sent to the winner and announced in the next show's email.
Also, if you receive a postcard reminder for the event, PLEASE BRING THE POSTCARD TO THE SHOW. This will allow you to enter the door prize drawing without taking the time to fill out a new form.
If you do not receive a postcard before the show and would like this reminder, please visit our website and sign up for our mailing list:
http://www.capicons.com/contact_customer.htm
Or print out the following form, complete it and bring it to the next show:
http://www.capicons.com/door_prize_entry_form.htm
If you have any other questions, please visit our website:
http://www.CapiCons.com
Or send us an e-mail at:
info@capicons.com
Hope to see you soon.
Jeff
http://www.CapiCons.com
info@capicons.com
===================
*Capital Associates does not guarantee the arrival, arrival time or
departure time of the artist(s)/writer(s)/other guest(s) attending our
shows or attending on behalf of another group.
===================
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Nov 28: Shrek the Halls?
During the Peanuts' Thanksgiving show, we just saw an ad for what appears to be a made-for-tv movie, Shrek the Halls. I'm sure this has potential - remember the Star Wars Ewok holiday special?
Nate Beeler congratulated by Examinerr
The Examiner ran this thingie (I'm sure it has a technical name) congratulating Nate for getting syndicated today.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Dec 12-13: South African artist William Kentridge
South African artist William Kentridge's animated "9 Drawings for Projection" at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, 202-467-4600, with original music by Philip Miller. 7:30 pm for $38.
Nov 20: Peanuts cartoons on tv
Peanuts cartoons are on tv at 8 pm. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is followed by He's A Bully, Charlie Brown. Writer's strike? What writer's strike?
Nov 21: Ben 10 movie on Cartoon Network
AT 8 pm, Cartoon Network's Ben 10 animated series converts to a live action movie in Ben 10: Race Against Time.
Zapp! Comic Books and the Arts exhibit, Jerry Robinson and Lee Marrs photos
Jerry Robinson and me; photo by Bruce GuthrieBruce Guthrie was up at the VisArts at Rockville building this weekend and took some shots of the Zapp! Comic Books and the Arts exhibit that was closing on November 18th, as well as pictures of Jerry Robinson and Lee Marrs in the convention space. Ms. Marrs gave a talk on webcomics and Bruce got pictures of that as well. I did too, and I'll try to post mine soon.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Zadzooks mostly on Dr. Who, but also Spider-Man hi-def dvds
See Joseph Szadkowski's "Doctor Who treats fans to more sci-fi humor," Washington Times November 17, 2007
Dove McHargue of SCAD's class in Arlington
On Friday night, my daughter and I got over to the Arlington Art Center about an hour after Dove McHargue started his class, Black and White Sequential Art -- The placement of compositional blacks. I had just planned to introduce myself and leave, but the class was well underway with about 10 students, including one dad who was there with his son. Dove was under the weather with a cold, but struggling through it as he showed several powerpoints on using inking to accent art. A lot of examples came from DC's Batman: Black and White books so I picked up volume 2 at a con yesterday. I think I had v.1 already. Dove gave the kids, who were all in high school, (and two dads) four pages from a Disney coloring book and suggested highlighting an element of each of the artwork. This was a very simple exercise to give out, but one that really made the kids (and me) think. There were a bunch of different solutions and Dove pointed out what worked and what didn't, talked about lighting, and was really very instructive. I personally found this absolutely fascinating and I have no desire at all to be a cartoonist. His explanation of how things work on the page was just really interesting. As the kids were working on their pages, he showed one of his black and white comic strips projected, and then how to color it with Photoshop - light dawned for me. If you have a chance, sit in on one of his sessions.
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