Arlington County's Central Library has a stand-alone graphic novel section now

Arlington County's Central Library has a stand-alone graphic novel section now - I found this out a few weeks ago and was quite surprised. There's a decent selection here too - let's name the titles in the comments. I'll start off here.

300 by Frank Miller, Breakdowns by Art Spiegelman, Shooting War, Late Bloomer by Carol Tyler, Jimbo in Purgatory by Gary Panter...

OT: Marvel Digital adds 4 pages to Spider-Man - Obama story

Here's the PR. I'm not sure how collectible the electrons will be:

MARVEL CELEBRATES PRESIDENT'S DAY AND PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S BICENTENNIAL WITH EXCLUSIVE ONLINE CONTENT OF PRESIDENTIAL PROPORTIONS

Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited celebrates President Lincoln's 200th birthday with President's Day release of exclusive free digital comic featuring Spider-Man and Captain America at the historic Gettysburg Address

Site will also offer free online access to hugely popular Spidey Meets the President! storyline featured in Amazing Spider-Man #583 along with exclusive new content for online release

NEW YORK - To honor President's Day and President Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday, Marvel Comics will be celebrating all weekend long with the launch of two major exclusive events at Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited that will put both Presidents Lincoln and Obama in the Marvel Universe spotlight. The Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited destination can be accessed through www.marvel.com/digitalcomics/presidents.

In honor of President Lincoln's 200th birthday this month, Marvel will release Gettysburg Distress, an exclusive 6-page free digital comic featuring Spider-Man and Captain America as they witness Lincoln's historic Gettysburg Address. A tribute to the Bicentennial of the 16th President, the storyline - which is being written by Matt Fraction with art by Andy MacDonald - will be available online beginning President's Day, Monday, February 16, 2009.

Additionally, following the milestone 5th printing and unprecedented continued demand for Spidey Meets the President, in which President Obama joins Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #583, Marvel will kick off President's Day weekend by offering the special storyline - along with added never-before-seen bonus content - for free on Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. Four all-new, exclusive prologue pages have been added to the storyline -- created by the same team behind the original blockbuster (written by Zeb Wells and art by Todd Nauck and Frank D'Armata). The book will be available beginning Friday afternoon, February 13, 2009 at www.marvel.com/digitalcomics/presidents. All five variant covers created for each printing of the Amazing Spider-Man #583 issue featuring the Spidey Meets the President storyline will also be available to view at Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.

"We were completely blown away by the overwhelming response to the Spidey Meets the President storyline. Comic book shops have not been able to keep it on shelves, so we thought it would a fitting way to celebrate President's Day by offering free online access to all fans to view and read the storyline - including some exclusive new content - only at Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited," says Dan Buckley, President of Marvel Publishing. "And in celebration of President Lincoln's historic Bicentennial, we could think of no better tribute in the Marvel Universe than to have Spider-Man and Cap honoring one of his enduring legacies, the Gettysburg Address."

Both comics can be viewed for free at Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, Marvel's innovative online subscription service, accessible at www.marvel.com/digitalcomics/presidents.

Curated by Marvel editors, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited is the ultimate digital comic Internet destination that allows unparalleled access to more than 5,500 comic books from Marvel's illustrious archives, along with exclusive content only available online. With subscription rates as low as $4.99/month, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited is affordable to both new readers and longtime fans.


The comics aren't downloadable however.

Katsucon 15 featured in Post

For some reason, people volunteer to work in a maid cafe - "For Anime Fans: Maids For a Day," By Dan Zak, Washington Post Staff Writer, Saturday, February 14, 2009; C01. Notwithstanding this article, hopefully the manga/anime convention is going well. I've seen more than enough Pow! Zap! Wham! comic book articles to realize that what you get in the mass media isn't really what the people attending are enjoying.

I'm still not sure about maid cafes though...

Kerry James Marshall featured in Sunday's Post

A fine artist who uses comic book motifs is featured in Sunday's Post, including a new piece commissioned by the paper - see "Coloring Perception: Kerry James Marshall Thinks the Old Masters Have Room for a New Face: His Own," BY BLAKE GOPNIK - WASHINGTON POST STAFF WRITER, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009.

Richmond's Adhouse Books on Diamond limits

Actually, it's Chris Pitzer speaking on Diamond's new minimum orders at Indie Spinner Rack Issue #148, Friday, February 06, 2009.

Chicago Reader reports on City Paper's comics 'savings'

See "Comics Stripped: As alt-weeklies drop their funnies, is the end of a genre near?" By Michael Miner, Chicago Reader February 12, 2009, which reports on how much money the City Paper saved by dropping all its comics except Dirtfarm. Tip from Spurgeon.

Mar 6: Comic Art Indigène exhibit opens

On March 6th, the Comic Art Indigène exhibit opens at the National Museum of the American Indian. I'd be interested in putting together a group to visit this if anyone wants to...

Feb 18: Geppi's Entertainment Museum starts lecture series

On February 18th, Geppi's Entertainment Museum starts a lecture series with Arnold Blumberg speaking on pop culture and love.

OT: Cartoonists ads from Playboy continued

New Yorker cartoonist George Price ad for Chival Regal scotch in Playboy, March 1981. What a wonderful wacky line he has!


Edward Sorel art for an ACLU ad against the Moral Majority in Playboy, March 1981. Oooh, Sorel can be hard-hitting.


Arnold Roth caricature of William Buckley in letters section, Playboy, March 1981. Roth just had a lovely color illo in a recent New Yorker issue.

Editorial cartoonist Garner let go at Times?

Alan Gardner is reporting that Bill Garner has been fired as the Washington Times' editorial cartoonist. Rob Tornoe has more details on the story. I haven't seen the Times in a few weeks so I don't know if his work has been appearing or not.

Beeler wins Berryman

Congratulations, Nate!

Details at "Examiner’s Beeler gets national praise for cartoons," By Alan Suderman, Washington Examiner Staff Writer 2/11/09.

Toad, a local gag cartoonist

Toad Toons is a site that I've just been tipped to, by the eponymous 'Toad.' He's been doing and posting a gag cartoon per day for years, and would appreciate people checking the site out.

Ok, Luann's in DC, but Greg Evans isn't

On the south side of the Mall, close to the Lincoln Memorial, you really can't see a Starbucks or a McDonald's.

OT: What about this year's Angouleme festival anyway?

My buddy's got all the details on his blog - "Comix Influx Blog: Angoulême 2009" by Stephen Betts on 11th February 2009. Check it out, and then stay to note the Comix Influx project. Stephen and co. are translating European graphic novels into English, and then providing the text for you to read along with your copy. These aren't scanlations and you have to have the original comic already, but this is a neat way you can get ahead of Fantagraphics, Drawn and Quarterly or NBM and be the hippest person on your block.

Feb 16: Dinotopia's James Gurney in Rockville

Colin Solan wrote in, "James Gurney, the writer/illustrator of the Dinotopia series, will be in Rockville next Monday. Details at the link."

I love his stuff and he's very interesting to hear in person.

Ok, it's not comics, but it's an allied art.

Luann arrives in DC; Over the Hedge lurks in White House

Luann's group just rode in over the Memorial Bridge (recognizably! but probably from Google Earth) while Verne and the gang refuse to leave the President alone.

OT: Cartoonists ads from Playboy

Jack Davis Dexter shoe ad in Playboy, Dec. 1980. Around this time, Davis seemed to be everywhere. He regularly covered TV Guide, drew a postage stamp, did posters for the American Cancer Society... hard to believe this is almost 30 years ago.



Cassette recorder? What's that? Charles Saxon gag cartoon ad in Playboy, Dec. 1980. Saxon's best known for his New Yorker work.

Examiner increases size of political cartoons

The Examiner, Nate Beeler's home paper, dramatically increased the size of their political cartoons this week - to about a third of the tabloid page, at least by height. After months of shrinking cartoons, with them finally ending up at about 4"x3", this was a nice development to see.

Cartoons at Walter Reed hospital

Here's a couple of pictures with cartoon themes that have shown up in the process of doing a photo book on Walter Reed Army Medical Center:



Early 1970s ward in Walter Reed Army Medical Center hospital where soldiers wounded in Vietnam were treated. Note the Uncle Scrooge poster on the wall. From the WRAMC DPW collection.



Garry Trudeau visits wounded soldier at Walter Reed Army Medical Center hospital. Courtesy of the Stripe newspaper.

Working Wuerker

I picked up a copy of the Feb. 5th Politico over the weekend. Matt Wuerker had 4! illustrations in it - a front page cartoon, an editorial cartoon under Wuerking Drawings, a full page ad for Starbucks/Politico's cozy new arrangement, and a full page ad for the Politico's White House coverage. Is Matt the hardest working man in cartooning?