ToonSeum Press Release: January Cartoon Arts Lecture Series

The ToonSeum's in Pittsburgh, but DC's Nevin Martell is speaking there...

The ToonSeum January Lecture Series
The ToonSeum announces the line up for it's January Saturday Lecture Series.
The series features artists and authors discussing various aspects of the cartoon arts and its history.
The ToonSeum is Pittsburgh's Museum of Cartoon Art. Located in downtown Pittsburgh's cultural district. It is one of only three museums dedicated to comics and cartoons in the nation.


January 16th, 5:30 PM

Rob Rogers

Rob Rogers will be at the ToonSeum speaking about his 25 years as an editorial cartoonist in Pittsburgh and his new book, "No Cartoon Left Behind."

As a editorial cartoonist for the last 25 years, Rob Rogers' cartoons appear regularly in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Newsweek, and USA Today, among others. His "How the Gingrich Stole Christmas" graced the cover of Newsweek's 1994 year-end issue. He received the 1995 National Headliner Award, the 2000 Overseas Press Club Award and has won seven Golden Quill Awards. In 1999, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

In his new book, "No Cartoon Left Behind", Rogers recounts his humorous path to cartooning and shares his own personal perspective on the major news stories of the past two and a half decades, covering a diverse range of topics including the Cold War, gun control, smoking, racism, the environment, 9/11 and presidential elections. It is considered as a must-have for political junkies, history buffs, cartoon fans.


January 23rd, 5:30 pm

Finding Calvin and Hobbes with author Nevin Martell

Author Nevin Martell shares his quest to uncover the story behind one of comics most elusive creators, Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes.

For ten years, between 1985 and 1995, Calvin and Hobbes was one the world's most beloved comic strips. And then, on the last day of 1995, the strip ended. Its mercurial and reclusive creator, Bill Watterson, not only finished the strip but withdrew entirely from public life. There is no merchandising associated with Calvin and Hobbes: no movie franchise; no plush toys; no coffee mugs; no t-shirts (except a handful of illegal ones).
There is only the strip itself, and the books in which it has been compiled
- including The Complete Calvin and Hobbes: the heaviest book ever to hit the New York Times bestseller list.

In Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip, writer Nevin Martell traces the life and career of the extraordinary, influential, and intensely private man behind Calvin and Hobbes. With input from a wide range of artists and writers (including Dave Barry, Harvey Pekar, Jonathan Lethem, andBrad Bird) as well as some of Watterson's closest friends and professional colleagues, this is as close as we're ever likely to get to one of America's most ingenious and intriguing figures - and a fascinating detective story, at the same time.

Only 3,160 Calvin and Hobbes strips were ever produced, but Watterson has left behind an impressive legacy. Calvin and Hobbes references litter the pop culture landscape and his fans are as varied as they are numerable.
Looking for Calvin and Hobbes is an affectionate and revealing book about uncovering the story behind this most uncommon trio - a man, a boy, and his tiger.


January 30th, 5:30 pm

Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front, Author- Todd Depastino

The program will be an illustrated talk on the great World War II cartoonist Bill Mauldin, an army infantry sergeant who rocketed to fame at age twenty-two with his wildly popular feature "Up Front."  Week after week, Mauldin defied army censors, German artillery, and General George Patton's pledge to throw him in jail for insubordination to deliver his grim depictions of war to "Stars and Stripes" and hundreds of homefront newspapers.

There, readers followed the stories of Willie and Joe, two wise-cracking 'dogfaces' whose mud-caked uniforms and pidgin of army slang and slum dialect bore eloquent witness to the world of combat and the men who lived
- and died - in it.  We have never viewed war in the same way since.

The talk is based on Todd's book, BILL MAULDIN: A LIFE UP FRONT (W.W.
Norton, 2008), a winner of the 2009 Anne M. Sperber Prize for biography.
Todd is also editor of acclaimed WILLIE & JOE: THE WWII YEARS (Fantagraphics Books, 2008), the first complete collection of Mauldin's World War II.

His previous books include CITIZEN HOBO: HOW A CENTURY OF HOMELESSNESS SHAPED AMERICA (University of Chicago Press, 2003) which won a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship. He has a Ph.D. in American History from Yale University and teaches at Waynesburg University.
Currently, he lives in Mt. Lebanon with his wife and two daughters.

Lecture series is included with paid admission to the ToonSeum.

4 dollars for adults

3 dollars for students

www.toonseum.org


For more information visit www.toonseum.org or call 412-232-0199.

Our mailing address is:
The ToonSeum
945 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
 

Kal on Maryland NPR

From: kevin Kallaugher

I wanted to alert you to an interview that will be airing tomorrow (Friday) at the local NPR station in Baltimore, WYPR 88.1FM. 

It is dedicated to my work with the new 2010 Illustrated Kalendar and The Economist.... it's long (15 minutes) and is the second leg of the hour long show which is called The Signal.  

The show airs Friday at noon and again at 7PM. But they have already released the show on the web. Here's the link to the web audio (my interview starts at the 15:30 mark):  

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wypr/arts.artsmain?action=viewArticle&id=1596412&pid=347&sid=14

I hope you enjoy it!

Best

Kal

Kevin Kallaugher

kaltoons@comcast.net

www.Kaltoons.com

Matt Wuerker defends his Cheney record

Here's a letter by him on Poynter.

Beetle Bailey found by DC bloggers on the road

A couple of my friends, well one friend and his girlfriend whom I haven't actually met, drove across country and discovered Beetle Bailey on the road. One senses the possibility of an epic poem here.

Today's Beeler Cartoon hearkens back to x-ray specs ads

 Nate Beeler's Washington Examiner cartoon today hearkens back to the golden days of comic book advertisements, as he shows TSA agents using those x-ray spectacles that would purportedly see through women's clothing.  Ahh, if only everything sold in comic books worked as advertised...

Click the link to see the cartoon - Full-Body Scanning and the TSA

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs DVD

Jen Chaney gives the animated Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs DVD a rave review in today's print Express. I saw this movie recently and thoroughly enjoyed it.

This also appeared in the following day's Washington Post, and online.

Textile Museum's cosplay

Arion Berger at the Express notes in today's print edition that the Textile Museum has a program on 'Harajuku Japanese Street" which probably has some relevance to cosplay.  The event is January 10, 2-4 pm, $20 for non-members.

Dirda on science fiction

Michael Dirda, a Post book critic, isn't afraid to get his mind dirty with genre fiction. He's reviewed longform comics for the Post. Here, courtesy of a link from Politics and Prose, are excerpts from an interview with Locus magazine that focuses on science fiction..

Richmond, VA, February 5th: Jim Rugg and Chris Pitzer @ Velocity Comics

From: Colin S

Jim Rugg and Chris Pitzer hit the road to talk about their latest creation: AFRODISIAC.

http://www.conventionscene.com/2010/01/06/vanc-afrodisiac-tour/

This is a bit too far afield to me, but the book looks pretty amusing.

NPR's Weldon's graphic novel year in review

Glen goes back to the well ...

2009: The Graphic Novels That, Um ... Grabbed?
by Glen Weldon
National Public Radio's Monkey See blog January 6, 2010

OT: Help send Ted Rall to Afghanistan

Ted's an acquaintance of mine, thru SPX and the like, and he's asking to raise $25,000 to go back to Afghanistan to do more cartoon journalism. One can pledge funds here -
Comix Journalism: Send Ted Rall Back to Afghanistan to Get the Real Story or click the Widget below. I just pledged $50 because I think cartoon journalism like Ted and Joe Sacco do is an important emerging media (or genre if you'd like).

Catching up with Cavna

Michael's got a piece on the Post's new Sunday Funnies design. I agree with him that Doonesbury reads horizontally much better. This vertical thing may work fine for native Japanese readers* and people that read a LOT of manga, but for me it's distracting.

Another new post is on animation and the Academy Awards and he's got quotes from the makers of the movies that should be of interest. Of these, I've seen Up, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Ponyo, all of which I thought were excellent. Coraline rests on the DVD pile, but I've already read the book and listened to the audiobook so I wasn't in as much of a hurry as I normally would be.

I'm glad that Avatar is not being considered an animated film. I think a line is going to have to be drawn between movies that are intended to look animated and movies that are not, no matter how much computer-animation is backing both types.



*Feel free to insert any other cultural group of your choice.

Post's Blake Gopnik on Daumier

I missed this one due to travelling, but I'm catching up. I don't recall this painting, but one of the best exhibits I've ever seen was on Daumier at the Phillips. Daumier's sculptures of the French Assembly, caricatures in bronze, are in the National Gallery of Art, displayed in the sculpture halls.

 

Setting the stage for the contemplative connoisseur [online as Rediscovering Honoré Daumier in the intimate Phillips Collection]
By Blake Gopnik

Washington Post , December 31, 2009; C10

OT: National Geographic's cover history

My wife helped out with the research for this article and is thanked at the end. Some cartoonists have worked for Geographic over the years, but I don't think they have any there. The children's magazine still has some freelancing for it.
 

Fauquier designer changed National Geographic's look
 

From February 1910 until August 1979, that most collectible of magazines, National Geographic, was recognizable by its yellow cover and its border of clustered oak and laurel leaves. Howard E. Paine of Delaplane removed them gradually, sometimes one at a time. He replaced the border with color...

 

Update - Richard Thompson wrote in to tell me that Paine hired him for jobs and is quite a cartoon fan.

Adult Swim music featured in Express

Animated Mixtapes: Adult Swim
By Christopher Porter

Express (January 5, 2010): 21

http://www.expressnightout.com/content/2010/01/adult-swim-mixtapes.php

Porter links to some free downloads.

Post website reports Graphic.ly e-comics has raised a million bucks

Graphic.ly Raises $1.2M For Comic Publishing
Daniel Brusilovsky
TechCrunch.com
Monday, January 4, 2010

Looks a little too optimistic to me, but what do I know.

Real World DC's cartoonist's taste questioned

Amanda Hess has got a couple of stories on The Real World: DC's cartoonist, Andrew at her Washington City Paper blog, The Sexist. The first is an overview "Rape Cartoons by the Real World D.C.’s Andrew Woods" of his work at the Rocky Mountain Collegian while the second is "Sexist Comments of the Week: Real World Rape Cartoons Edition" on the preceeding week's story.

I bow to Amanda's actual reporting as opposed to the "Eh, he was mentioned in this article as a cartoonist" approach that I took. She even tracks him down to being an intern at the Washington Times and getting an editorial cartoon published.

Tom Grindberg grew up in DC suburb

Tom Grindberg grew up in a DC suburb but he doesn't say which one in this interview:

 

Best, Daniel.  2009.

LOOKING BACK WITH TOM GRINDBERG

20th Century Danny Boy blog December 22, 2009

http://ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2009/12/looking-back-with-tom-grindberg.html

 

Dragon Ball videogame review in today's Examiner

'Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo' for Wii gets 2 out of 5 stars from Greg Prince in today's Washington Examiner.

Post magazine photo puzzle is comic books

The Second Glance puzzle by Randy Mays is pictures of comic books from David Kennedy.

 

Also, the cartoon journalism of Our Town continues.

Danny Hellman's Typhon anthology deeply reduced

This isn't Washington news, but I'm posting the fact that Danny Hellman's Typhon anthology has a deeply-reduced sale price because it was a book I meant to review, and Danny sent me a pdf, but I still haven't gotten to it. So, out of guilt, I'll tell you all you can get the book for $14.95, $10 off the original price. I just ordered a paper copy that I hope to have more luck in reading than the e-version. I'm old school and much prefer paper.

For a DC connection, Danny's cartoons used to appear regularly in the Post when the Source section existed, and he was often in the City Paper before they were bought out by a company that rapidly went bankrupt.

Post shoehorns Sudoku puzzle into Sunday comics section

Note to Comics readers: Post debuts Sudoku Monster puzzles by David Bodycombe
Washington Post Sunday, January 3, 2010

Make of it what you will - And while all your favorites are still in the section, you'll notice some have swapped places for greater readability. Among others, "Mutts," with its Zenlike simplicity, cedes its front-page space to the wordier "Sherman's Lagoon."

Michigan State U's Comic Art Collection's October additions

October opened with a annoying problem for bibliographers. Some companies, that don't take their product line all that seriously in my opinion, put out different books with exactly the same title. Like these. Note the only way to tell them apart is by the description of the cover art.

Garfield : Jumbo Coloring & Activity Book. -- Ashland, OH :
Bendon Publishing International, 2007. -- 96 p. : ill. ; 27
cm. -- Copyright by Paws Incorporated. -- Includes reprints
of Garfield newspaper comic strips. -- Cover has Odie and
Garfield side by side smiling at the reader. -- Funny
animal genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.G28C6 2007
-----------------------------------------------------
Garfield : Jumbo Coloring & Activity Book. -- Ashland, OH :
Bendon Publishing International, 2007. -- 96 p. : ill. ; 27
cm. -- Copyright by Paws Incorporated. -- Includes reprints
of Garfield newspaper comic strips. -- Cover has Garfield
riding Odie as though he were a horse. -- Funny animal
genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.G28C6 2007c
-----------------------------------------------------
Garfield : Jumbo Coloring & Activity Book. -- Ashland, OH :
Bendon Publishing International, 2007. -- 96 p. : ill. ; 27
cm. -- Copyright by Paws Incorporated. -- Includes reprints
of Garfield newspaper comic strips. -- Cover has Garfield
walking on a wall with suction cups. -- Funny animal genre.
-- Call no.: PN6728.G28C6 2007b
-----------------------------------------------------
Garfield : Jumbo Coloring & Activity Book. -- Ashland, OH :
Bendon Publishing International, 2007. -- 96 p. : ill. ; 27
cm. -- Copyright by Paws Incorporated. -- Includes reprints
of Garfield newspaper comic strips. -- Cover has Garfield
making a face at the reader. -- Funny animal genre. -- Call
no.: PN6728.G28C6 2007d

There's a bunch of 'Africa Comics' titles from Europe, of which this is one:

Africa Comics 2003 : Antologia del Premio Africa e
Mediterraneo = Anthologie du Prix Africa e Mediterraneo. --
Sasso Marconi (Bologna) : Africa e Mediterraneo : Lai-momo,
2004. -- 148 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm. -- Exhibition
catalogue, Alessandria, Sale Espositive, 2004. -- Edited by
Sandra Federici and Andrea Marchesini Reggiani. --
Introductory text in French and Italian. -- Call no.:
PN6790.A342A35 2004
Marchesini Reggiani, Andrea.

Ooooh, Hunt Emerson!

"Leviticus, Chapter 20" / Alan Moore and Hunt Emerson. p.
17-22 in Outrageous Tales from the Old Testament (London :
Knockabout Publications, 1987). -- Call no.: PN6737 .O8
1987

Rick Detorie cartooned around a bit before making it with the One Big Happy comic strip:

No Good Men : Things Men Do that Make Women Crazy / by
Genevieve Richardson ; illustrated by Rick Detorie. -- New
York : Simon & Schuster, 1983. -- 96 p. : ill. ; 14 x 21
cm. -- "A Wallaby book." -- Call no.: NC1429.D367N62 1983

I think this was Pat Broderick leaving Captain Marvel and striking out on his own:

Tales of the Sun Runners. -- Long Beach, CA : Amazing
Publishing Co., 1986-1987. -- ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published
no. 1 (July 1986) - no. 3 (1987). -- "Amazing Comics" logo
on cover. -- Issues 1-2 in color, 3 in b&w. -- Science
fiction genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-3. -- Call no.:
PN6728.55.A47T3

This sounds interesting:

Bande Dessinée Franco-Belge et Imaginaire Colonial : des
Années 1930 aux Années 1980 / Philippe Delisle. -- Paris :
Karthala, 2008. -- 196 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. -- Includes
bibliographical references (p. 177-191) and index. -- Book
about colonies and indigenous peoples as depicted in
Franco-Belgian comics. -- Call no.: PN6745.D45 2008

There are 3! series based on this movie?

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. -- La Jolla, CA : WildStorm
Productions, 2007. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 6
nos. -- Horror genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.:
PN6728.7.W5T43 2007
-----------------------------------------------------
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre : Cut! -- La Jolla, CA : WildStorm
Productions, 2007. -- 32 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "#1,
August 2007." -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.W5T432
2007
-----------------------------------------------------
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre : Raising Cain. -- La Jolla, CA :
WildStorm Productions, 2008. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. --
Complete in 3 nos. -- Horror genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1.
-- Call no.: PN6728.7.W5T434 2008

I don't have a copy of this yet, but I'll probably buy it soon.

1,000 Comic Books You Must Read / Tony Isabella. -- Iola, WI :
Krause Publications, 2009. -- 271 p. : col. ill. ; 29 cm.
-- Includes index. -- Annotated and illustrated
bibliography. -- Call no.: PN6725 .I75 O5 2009

You ain't going to find this just anywhere. Actually, I did, but now MSU has my copy:

$honky Dollars : Basher Cartoons from the South China Morning
Post / by Templar. -- Hong Kong : Beaugard Publications,
1988. -- 1 v. : ill. ; 30 cm. -- Cartoons about Hong Kong
life and politics. -- Call no.: NC1729.T4S47 1988

This might be interesting to have translated into English:

Monsieur Schulz et ses Peanuts / Marion Vidal, avec la
participation de Barbe, Caerali, Greg, Yves Got, Gotlib,
Kerleroux, Kurtzman, Lacroix, Leconte, Loup, Lucques, Jay
Lynch, Mézières, Moebius, Mulatier, Nicoulaud, Perich,
Pétillon, Rampal, Rouzaud, Shelton, Solé, Soulas, Swarte,
Tardi, Vazquez de Sola, Willem et Wolinski. -- Paris :
Albin Michel, 1976. -- 98 p. : ill. ; 25 cm. -- (Graffiti)
-- Bibliography: p. 96. -- Call no.: PN6727.S3 Z5V5 1976

Another one of those freebies, but from DC and not Marvel this time. There are also lots of postcards and posters, but they're not being cataloged here yet.

100 Bullets #1/Crime Line Sampler Flip-Book. -- New York : DC
Comics, 2009. -- 48 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- (Vertigo)
-- Cover titles: 100 Bullets Special Edition ; Vertigo
Crime Special Edition. -- "Free previews of the new Vertigo
crime graphic novels." -- Detective genre. -- Call no.:
PN6728.7.D3 O55 2009

There's a lot of 'superhero fiction' appearing now.

Captain Freedom : a Superhero's Quest for Truth, Justice, and
the Celebrity he so Richly Deserves / G. Xavier Robillard.
-- New York : Harper, 2009. -- 258 p. ; 21 cm. -- Summary
(from OCLC): The Superhero lifestyle is all Captain Freedom
has ever known, but he couldn't fend off middle management!
With the guidance of a new life coach, can he make peace
with his parents... or commit to a single long-term
archenemy? -- Superhero fiction. -- Call no.: PS3618
.O31758C37 2009

This is done by a DC-area cartoonist.

Made Man / Mark Wheatley. -- San Diego, Calif. : IDW
Publishing, 2009. -- ca. 200 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. --
(Frankenstein Mobster ; 1) -- Horror genre, organized crime
setting. -- Call no.: PN6727.W425F7 2009

The month wrapped up with Randy's liking for underground comix books such as

"You're a Hero!" / DARVC. back cover of Weirdom Comix, no. 14
(July 1971). -- A soldier returns home without arms or
legs. -- Call no.: PN6728.45.W4W4no.14

Soon, we'll look at ... November!

Michigan State U's Comic Art Collection's September additions

Let's take a look at MSU's additions to the Comic Art Collection in September...

Heavy Metal cataloguing continued...

"Letters to the Editor" p. 3 in Heavy Metal, v. 25, no. 3
(July 2001). -- Letters from: Dave, Jungpunk, and Enrique.
-- Call no.: PN6728.H43v.25no.3
-----------------------------------------------------
"Justin Sweet" (Gallery) p. 5-8 in Heavy Metal, v. 25, no. 3
(July 2001). -- Contents page title: "Gallery on Justin
Sweet." -- Call no.: PN6728.H43v.25no.3

I can't imagine knowing that there's a letter from David in the July 2001 issue will ever be useful, but... I'm not sure who Justin Sweet is either. I do like Darryll K Sweet's fantasy book covers.

This type of thing seems to be in vogue - there's the Last Kiss webcomic, Marvel's done at least one, there's a mainstream publisher's book, and then there's this. Edition of 100? I wonder how MSU got one?

Love and Marriage / Nava Atlas. -- Poughkeepsie, NY :
Amberwood Press, 2008. -- 28 p. : col. ill. ; 27 cm. --
"Love and Marriage is an altered comic book utilizing art
from the 1950s. The original dialog has been removed,
replaced by dry deadpan banter, between male and female
characters on the mythology of modern marriage, supermoms,
media's obsession with domesticity, over the-top weddings,
and monogamy. Interspersed are ads from the era, whose
absurdity is left intact, in their original, unaltered
state"-- Bookseller's website. -- "The art in this volume
was appropriated from the following sources:" Cover from
Love and marriage (I.W. Enterprises) (no date) ; Too
sentimental from Glamorous Romances (1953) ; When a heart
breaks from Love romances (1957) ; A reason to marry from
Love Romances (1957) ; My wedding day from Secrets of young
brides (1957) ; The boy next door from Love Romances
(1957). -- Edition of 100. -- Romance and parody genres. --
Call no.: PN6726.L6 2008

I'm a big Doc Savage fan - Randy catalogued 1-4 from the 1940s. It would be nice to see a reprint project of the Doc stories from these. Or maybe it wouldn't.

Doc Savage Comics, v. 1, no. 1 (1940)
CONTENTS: "The Land of Terror" (Doc Savage) 8 p. --
"Treasure Island" 7 p. -- "Double-Barreled Magic" (Norgil
the Magician) 6 p. -- "The Gas Neutralizer Plans"* (Cap
Fury) 6 p. -- "Death on the Construction Job" (Danny
Garrett) 4 p. -- "Scarlet Give-Away" 2 p. text -- "First
Days at West Point"* (Mark Mallory at West Point) 7 p. --
"L'Liberator"* (Captain Death) 4 p. -- "Nuggets of Doom"
(Sheriff Pete Rice) 5 p. -- "Murder at the De Gron Estate"*
(The Whisperer) 7 p. -- "A Race for a Life" (Billy the Kid)
4 p. -- Data from Lou Mougin, Gary Watson & Leonard
Wolinsky via Grand Comics Database Project. -- Call no.:
Film 15791r.176

Marvel did a lot of these giveaways this year. I probably sent this one in. At some point, a catalog of comics companies ephemera will be done by somebody, and then we'll see a price guide, and inflation... Perhaps I should sponsor a giveaway to see if anyone's reading. I've got pounds of this stuff.

The Stand Sketchbook / featuring the artwork of Mike Perkins &
Lee Bermejo. -- New York : Marvel Publishing, 2008. -- 16
p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- At head of cover title: Stephen
King. -- Horror genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.M3S715 2008

Ooooh, speaking of which I don't have this one:

Work in Progress : "as if Doc Ock, Venom and the Vulture
weren't enough to worry about, now I've got an animated
series, too!" -- New York : Marvel Entertainment Group,
1994. -- 16 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Describes the
forthcoming (1994) Spider-Man animation series, with
photographs of 18 creative personnel. -- Call no.:
PN1992.77.S68W6 1994

This sounds interesting. I wonder how common it is:

A Sex by Themselves : a Collection of Cartoons about
Femininity, 1846-1958 / assembled, introduced and commented
upon by Alan Wykes. -- London : Arthur Barker Limited,
1958. -- 104 p. : ill. ; 25 cm. -- Call no.: NC1763.W6W9
1958

I wouldn't mind seeing these, apropos of my real career in an Army museum:

Army humor exhibit card collection. -- Chicago : Ex. Sup. Co.,
1944. -- 60 cards : ill. ; 14 cm. -- Exhibit cards, also
called arcade cards or pin-up cards, were sold in vending
machines at penny arcades. The Exhibit Supply Company of
Chicago was a well-known producer of these items. -- The
MSU collection is from a series of cards with cartoons
about American soldiers during World War II. Most depict
their romantic involvements with women, especially in the
South Pacific; a few address other typical subjects of
military humor such as complaints about food. The artists
are not identified. Some cards have the caption "Copr. 1944
Ex. Sup. Co., Made in U.S.A." while the rest have only
"Made in U.S.A." -- Call no.: NC1284.U6A76 1944
-----------------------------------------------------
Navy humor exhibit card collection. -- Chicago : Ex. Sup. Co.,
1944. -- 64 cards : ill. ; 14 cm. -- Exhibit cards, also
called arcade cards or pin-up cards, were sold in vending
machines at penny arcades. The Exhibit Supply Company of
Chicago was a well-known producer of these items. -- The
MSU collection is from a series of cards with cartoons
about American sailors during World War II, most depicting
their romantic involvements with women in the South Pacific
and naval ports. The artists are not identified. Some cards
have the caption "Copr. 1944 Ex. Sup. Co., Made in U.S.A."
while the rest have only "Made in U.S.A." -- Call no.:
NC1284.U6N38 1944

Just to reassure everyone, the X-Men keep rolling in:

-----------------------------------------------------
World War Hulk : X-Men. -- New York : Marvel Publishing, 2007.
-- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- (Marvel Limited Series) --
Complete in 3 nos. -- Superhero genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no.
3. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.M3W7 2007
-----------------------------------------------------
X-Factor : the Quick and the Dead. -- New York : Marvel
Publishing, 2008. -- 32 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- (Marvel
One-Shot) -- "No. 1, July 2008." -- Superhero genre. --
Call no.: PN6728.7.M3X153 2008
-----------------------------------------------------
X-Men : First Class : Special. -- New York : Marvel
Publishing, 2007. -- 48 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- "No. 1,
July 2007. Published as a one-shot." -- Superhero genre. --
Call no.: PN6728.7.M3X2453 2007
-----------------------------------------------------
X-Men : Odd Men Out. -- New York : Marvel Publishing, 2008. --
48 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- (Marvel One-Shot) -- Numbered
"1". -- Superhero genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.M3X334 2008
-----------------------------------------------------
X-Men Origins : Sabretooth. -- New York : Marvel Publishing,
2009. -- 40 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- (Marvel One-Shot) --
"No. 1, April 2009." -- Superhero genre. -- Call no.:
PN6728.7.M3 X335S3 2009

I love the description of this one:

Bad Dog. -- Berkeley, CA : Image Comics, 2009- . -- col. ill.
; 26 cm. -- Began with no. 1 (Feb. 2009). -- About bounty
hunters, one of whom is a werewolf. -- Detective genre. --
LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.: PN6728.7.I5B26

One can tell when Randy's hitting the low-price bins at his local comics store:

Black Terror. -- Runnemede, NJ : Dynamite Entertainment, 2008-
. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Began with no. 1 (2008), cf.
Grand Comics Database Project. -- Superhero genre. --
LIBRARY HAS: no. 2 (2008). -- Call no.: PN6728.7.D9B55
-----------------------------------------------------
Bomb Queen IV : Suicide Bomber. -- Berkeley, CA : Image
Comics, 2007. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- (Shadowline) --
Complete in 4 nos. -- Science fiction and superheroine
genres. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 4. -- Call no.: PN6728.7
.I5B624 2007
-----------------------------------------------------
Bomb Queen. v. 5 : the Divine Comedy. -- Berkeley, CA : Image
Comics, 2008-2009. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- (Shadowline) --
Complete in 6 nos. -- Science fiction and superheroine
genres. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 2. -- Call no.: PN6728.7

This was a good read. The old Ms. Tree team, together again:

Strip for Murder / Max Allan Collins ; illustrations by Terry
Beatty. -- New York : Berkley Prime Crime, 2008. -- 272 p.
: ill. ; 21 cm. -- Mystery set in the 1950s comic strip
industry. -- Call no.: PS3553 .O4753S88 2008

A bunch of Chaykin interviews show up because there's going to be a Conversations book from Mississippi University Press, which I'm looking forward to. Chaykin says what he thinks:

Arken Sword, no. 23 (1988)
CONTENTS: "Speaking in Tongues" (letters) p. 4, 7 --
"Talking in Parallel with Bryan Talbot" (interview) p. 8-14
-- "The Life and Times² of Howard Chaykin!" p. 16-23 --
"News and Reviews from Around the World" p. 25-36 --
"William Simpson" (interview) p. 39-40 -- "Zenith, a
Team-Up Between Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell"
(interview) p. 42-43 -- "A Chat with Dave McKean" p. 45-50
-- "Bits & Bobs" (miscellanea) p. 52 -- "Alan Davis on
Excalibur & Other Subjects" (interview) p. 53-58 -- Call
no.: PN6735.A66no.23

These two probably aren't pleasant to read. Is that MAD's Dave Berg?

The Real War Goes On! : the Truth About the Arab-Israeli War!
/ by Father David ; editing and art by Hart. -- Oakland,
Calif. : Family of Love, 1978? -- 7 p. : ill. ; 18 cm. --
Illustrated version of the 1973 publication. -- In comics
format. -- Call no.: DS119.7.B4752 1978
Berg, David, 1919-1994.
-----------------------------------------------------
Tales of the Holohoax : a Journal of Satire. -- Hull :
Heretical Press, 2004. -- 15 p. : ill. ; 28 cm. --
Antisemitic holocaust denial comic book. -- Call no.:
D810.J4T32 2004

And this appears to be a real oddity:

Graphic Opinion : newspaper feature. -- 1972. -- 49 leaves :
ill. ; 19 x 26 cm. and smaller. -- A collection of
clippings of political cartoons and strips by seven
different artists: Oscar Berger, Steve Englehart, Ranan
Lurie, Barry Smith, Herb Trimpe, Gary Viskupic, and Ron
Young. Two of the Barry Smith strips are titled only 'Love
is Strange', without the overall 'Graphic opinion' title.
Most are undated, but a few are dated 1972. They appear to
have been clipped from Newsday. -- Political genre. -- Call
no.: PN6728.G67G7 1972
Berger, Oscar, 1901-
Lurie, Ranan R., 1932-

Dark Shadows had a comic strip too? I knew there was a comic book for the tv horror soap opera:

Dark Shadows / K. Bruce. -- 1971. -- 33 leaves : col. ill. ;
17 x 26 cm. -- Clipped Sunday comic strips dated March 14,
1971 to Nov. 7, 1971. -- Horror genre. -- Call no.:
PN6728.D33D3 1971

This was an absolutely lovely comic. You can buy the collected edition now:

The Sandman : the Dream Hunters / original words by Neil
Gaiman ; graphicplay and art by P. Craig Russell. -- New
York : DC Comics, 2009. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- (Vertigo)
-- Complete in 4 nos. -- "Adapted by P. Craig Russell from
the multi-award winning illustrated novella 'The Sandman :
the Dream Hunters' by Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano." --
Fantasy genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.:
PN6728.7.D3S29 2009

This is probably not as marginal a publication as one might think at first glance:

Christian Cartoonist & Illustrator, v. 1, no. 1 (Spring 1984)
CONTENTS: "Welcome" (editorial) p. 3 -- "In Our Mail"
(letters) p. 4 -- "Gift of Laughter" (gag cartoons) p. 5 --
"Captain Marvel" p. 6-7, 18 -- "Writing for a Cartoonist"
p. 8 -- "Kids' Pull-Out Section" p. 9-12 -- "Interview -
Jack T. Chick" p. 13, 15 -- "The Life of Pope John Paul II"
(Review) p. 14 -- "The Story of Tintin" p. 16-17 -- Call
no.: PN6700.C38no.1

That was followed up by a bunch of Chick publications including this one. I'd like to see the documentary on Chick that's out now:

The Big Betrayal. -- Ontario, Calif. : Chick Publications,
1981. -- 64 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Earlier printings
are in the "Sword series." -- About Charles Paschal
Telesphore Chiniquy, 1809-1899, and the Catholic Church. --
Religious genre. -- Call no.: PN6728.5.C48B5 1981b

More Doc Savage, more X-men and then Roger Langridge!

Fin Fang Four Return. -- New York : Marvel Publishing, 2009.
-- 48 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- (Marvel One-Shot) -- "No.
1, July 2009." -- Superhero and funny horror genres. --
Call no.: PN6728.7.M3F5 2009

Speaking of Doc, I need to see this. I'm aging fast.

"The Doc Savage Method of Self Development" 2 p. text in Doc
Savage Comics, v. 1, no. 7 (Mar. 1942). -- Exercises 1-7.
-- "Continued in next issue." -- Call no.: Film 15791r.176

October comes next.

Kal on C-Span then

Matt Dembicki and I both found the show online:

Political Cartooning in 2010
December 7 2009
Economist, The

Kevin "Kal" Kallaugher, political cartoonist for The Economist, talked about the many faces in the field of political cartooning. He drew several faces of current political figures and talked about the changing face of President Obama.

The Economist Calendar that he shows at the end is completely done by him, and you can find it in the big bookstore chains - I just saw it in Books-a-million.

Today! Kal on CSPAN NOW

From: kevin Kallaugher

I have just learned  I will be on C-span at 1PM(est) Today! 


Kal

Kevin Kallaugher

kaltoons@comcast.net

www.Kaltoons.com

Michigan State U's Comic Art Collection's August additions

Let's see what items of interest Michigan State U's Comic Art Collection added to its catalog in August 2009.

August starts off with more titles I've never heard of that presumably didn't last long:

Singapore Sam Adventures. -- Toronto, Ont. : Arteffect
Entertainment Corporation, 1997- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. --
Adventure story genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.:
PN6734.S52

Sinthia. -- Farmington Hills, MI : Lightning Entertainment,
1997- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Began with no. 1 (Oct.
1997). -- Superheroine and horror genres. -- LIBRARY HAS:
no. 1A. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.L47S5

and continues with a graveyard of companies - Eclipse, Armada, Malibu, Acclaim, Topps... all gone:

Sky Wolf : An Air Fighters Mini-Series. -- Forestville, CA :
Eclipse Comics, 1988. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Indicia
title: Skywolf. -- To be complete in 3 nos. -- War genre.
-- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-3. -- Call no.: PN6728.5.E25S53 1988
COMPLETE HOLDINGS
-----------------------------------------------------
Sliders Ultimatum. -- New York : Armada, 1996. -- ill. ; 26
cm. -- "Based upon the hit TV series." -- Complete in 2
nos, also called Sliders v. 1 no. 3-4. -- Science fiction
genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-2. -- Call no.:
PN6728.6.A24S55 1996
COMPLETE HOLDINGS
-----------------------------------------------------
Sliders Darkest Hour. -- New York : Acclaim Comics, 1996. --
col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 3 nos. -- Also numbered
v. 1, no. 5-7. -- Science fiction genre. -- LIBRARY HAS:
no. 3. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.A24S56 1996
-----------------------------------------------------
The Solution. -- Westlake Village, CA : Malibu Comics
Entertainment, 1993- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published
no. 1 (Sept. 1993) - no. 17 (Feb. 1995). -- (Ultraverse) --
An issue #0 (zero) is dated Jan. 1994. -- Superhero genre.
-- LIBRARY HAS: no. 0-17. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.M25S6
COMPLETE HOLDINGS
-----------------------------------------------------
Space : Above and Beyond. -- New York : Topps Comics, 1996. --
col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 3 nos. -- Science fiction
genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-3. -- Call no.:
PN6728.6.T63S63 1996
COMPLETE HOLDINGS

Star Rangers? Published in Washington, DC? Anyone know anything about this?

Star Rangers. -- Washington, D.C. : Adventure Publications,
1987-1988. -- ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published no. 1 (Oct. 1987)
- no. 4 (Feb. 1988). -- Science fiction genre. -- LIBRARY
HAS: no. 1-4. -- Call no.: PN6728.55.A3S75
COMPLETE HOLDINGS

Some Luann strips that are a direct result of my asking about cancer comics:

"My Body's Fixed, but Now My Heart's Broken"* (Luann, Jan. 8,
1999) / by Greg Evans. -- Summary: Delta talks with Miss
Phelps about Miguel, who has become distant since news of
the cancer being in remission. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55
"cancer"

It seems like they should have more of these, doesn't it?

Playboy's Party Jokes. -- ill. ; 18 cm. -- Jokes and cartoons
about sex. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 7 (1975). -- Call no.:
PN6231.S54P53

I pick these books up when I see them and they have an interesting illustrator:

Search for Dinosaurs / David Bischoff ; illustrated by Doug
Henderson and Alex Nino. -- Toronto : Bantam, 1984. -- 120
p. : ill. ; 18 cm. -- (Time Machine ; 2) -- (A Byron Preiss
Book) -- Plot-your-own story. -- Call no.: PS3552 .I759T56
1984

This has got to be pretty obscure:

Mox Nix : Anecdotes About the Life of GI's in Europe / by Jack
Niles ; with stories by Jim Dye. -- Kassel, Germany : The
Transmitter, 1952. -- 80 p. : ill. ; 11 x 16 cm. -- Cover
title: Mox Nix : Cartoons about your Tour in Europe. --
Call no.: NC1429.N5M6 1952

Here's another DC-related book. The author's teaching at Georgetown:

God of Comics : Osamu Tezuka and the Creation of Post-World
War II Manga / Natsu Onoda Power. -- Jackson, Miss. :
University Press of Mississippi, 2009. -- 202 p. : ill. ;
23 cm. -- (Great Comics Artists Series) -- Includes
bibliographical references (p. 175-194) and index. --
Contents: Introduction and some definitions ; Tezuka in
history/History in Tezuka ; Movie in a book ; Stars and
jokes ; Communities and competitions ; Sapphire and other
heroines ; Tormenting affairs with animation ; Low h
umor/high drama, the two faces of adult comics ; God of
comics, master of quotations. -- Call no.: PN6790.J33
T47Z52 2009

Eeeewww on August 7th. Still it's good to have this type of material where it can be studied:

Here Comes Whiteman / art work & story by John Patler. --
Dallas, Tex. : ANP-Dallas, 1965? -- 8 p. : ill. ; 29 cm. --
A white supremacist comic book. -- The author was
associated with the American Nazi Party, founded by George
Lincoln Rockwell. Patler assassinated Rockwell in August of
1967. -- Antisemitism and racism, about Jews and African
Americans. -- Superhero genre. -- Call no.: DS145.A56 1965

1 issue of UK's Valiant? 1! Come on, UK donors, stand up and donate!

Valiant Picture Library. -- London : Fleetway Publications,
1963-1969. -- ill. ; 18 cm. -- Published no. 1 (June 1963)
- no. 144 (May 1969), cf. Gifford, D. The Complete
Catalogue of British Comics Including Price Guide. --
Adventure story genres. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 3 (1963). --
Call no.: PN6738.V3P5

They've got more of the excellent minicomics of Tom Gauld than they have of Valiant!

Three Very Small Comics. volume II / Tom Gauld. -- London :
Cabanon Press, 2005. -- 3 v. : ill. ; 11 cm. -- Issued in
folder (13 cm.) -- Contents: Invasion ; Our hero battles
twenty-six alphabeticised terrors ; The robots broke out of
the factory and fled as far as their batteries would allow.
-- Alternative genre. -- Call no.: PN6737.G35T4702 2005
-----------------------------------------------------
Three Very Small Comics. volume III / Tom Gauld. -- London :
Cabanon Press, 2007. -- 3 v. : ill. ; 11 cm. -- Issued in
folder (13 cm.) -- Contents: The art of war ; Gardening ;
The Gauld collection. -- Alternative genre. -- Call no.:
PN6737.G35T4703 2007

A rose is a rose is a rose...

The Graphic Novel : Walking the Borderline Between Being a
Type of Comic Books or an Independent Genre / Verfasserin,
Janina Belz. -- 2009. -- 22 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. -- Paper
for the Englisches Seminar, Philosophische Fakultät,
Universität zu Köln, Wintersemester 08/09. -- Includes
bibliographical references. -- "What makes a graphic novel
a graphic novel? Is it a genre in its own right? In this
paper, I try to find answers to these questions by
examining different definitions of the term graphic novel
and applying them to the example of Alison Bechdel's Fun
home to find out whether it should be categorized as a
comic book or graphic novel." -- Call no.: PN6710.B44 2009

Lots of religious stuff cataloged this month. Here's a typical entry:

Kingdoms : a Biblical Epic. -- Grand Rapids, Mich. :
Zondervan, 2007- . -- ill. ; 18 cm. -- Contents: v. 1: The
coming storm ; v. 2. Scions of Josiah ; v. 3 The prophet's
oracle. -- Credits, v. 1: Story by Ben Avery, art by Mat
Broome. -- Religious genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: v. 1-3. --
Call no.: PN6728.K575 2007
Avery, Ben, 1974-

I missed this one at SPX:

Just So You Know. #1 : Autobiographical Comics / by Joey
Alison Sayers. -- Berkeley, CA : J. Sayers, 2009. -- 36 p.
: ill. ; 22 cm. -- Summary (from OCLC): Comics about a
woman as she transitions from male to female, including
stories about "passing" in society, taking female hormones,
getting a new i.d., and maintaining her relationship with
her girlfriend. -- Contents: Freaking out the parents ;
Hormoning ; Springtime ; ID-entification ; Flab ; The big
question ; Oh, ma'am ; Am I a bitch now? #1 ; Selling
comics at: SPX, the Small Press Expo ; Am I a bitch now? #2
; Double threat ; Am I a bitch now? #3 ; Am I a bitch now?
#4 ; Hey, ladies ; Just so you know. -- Call no.:
PN6727.S246J8 2009

Coming soon - September!

2009 in The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

Ohio State's cartoon library 2009 report is online at IJOCA's blog.

Maira Kalman at Mount Vernon

For her last And the Pursuit of Happiness blog post, Maira Kalman visited Mount Vernon, and then the White house - "By George," December 31, 2009.

Disney's Mulan still running

I missed this interview earlier, but the play is still going on.

Actress sees self in Mulan's story, By Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, November 20, 2009.

The play's details are Disney's Mulan, Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda. 301-280-1660. http://www.imaginationstage.org. Wednesday-Jan. 10. $10-$21.

Big Planet January hardcover sale

Comics on the Rack (Quick Picks for Comics Due 01-06-10) by John Judy

The former Quick Reviews with a new name for a new year. Happy 2010!

COMICS ON THE RACK

(Quick Picks for Comics Due 01-06-10)

by John Judy

 

BLACKEST NIGHT: WONDER WOMAN #2 of 3 by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott.  Diana must battle the Black Lanterns, a hot-tempered fish-woman and Death itself!  Did I mention the hot-tempered fish-woman?

 

BPRD: KING OF FEAR #1 of 5 by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and Guy Davis.  The BPRD is gonna put the frog menace to rest once and for all!  And that's just for starters!  How can any red-blooded American resist?

 

THE BOYS #38 by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson.  The secret origin of The Female, in the inimitable BOYS fashion.  Recommended.  Not for kids.

 

DOOM PATROL#6 by Keith Giffen and Matthew Clark.  This month features everyone who's ever been wrapped completely in radiation-proof bandages to keep from killing their team-mates.  Plus, the Metal Men.

 

JSA ALL-STARS #2 by Matthew Sturges and Freddie Williams II.  Big fights and loud arguments!  And that's before the bad guys show up!

 

LIFE & TIMES OF SCROOGE McDUCK , VOL. 1 HC written and drawn by Don Rosa.  What it sounds like, kids: The biography of the fowl plutocrat who makes Monty Burns look like a dude wearing a paper hat at the deep fryer.  Great for all ages.  Recommended.

 

MARVEL BOY: THE URANIAN #1 of 3 by Jeff Parker, Marko Djurdjevic and Felix Ruiz.  A little background on your favorite Agent of Atlas: bubble-helmeted saucer jockey, Bob Grayson, the boy who fell to Earth.

 

NATION X: X-FACTOR #1 by Peter David and Valentine DeLandro.  Yeah, so like Cyclops is asking X-Factor to move into Utopia with him?  And it's like, y'know, maybe it's too soon?  Cuz, there are still, like, issues?  And Cyke's a bit of a control freak and X-Factor likes their space.  On the other hand, he would totally pay for utilities!

 

ORC STAIN #1 written and drawn by James Stokoe.  I really just wanted to type the title.  From Image Comics.

 

PREVIEWS by Marvel and Diamond Comics.  "It's 2010.  Do you know what your comics are?"

 

SIEGE #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel.  This is the big one:  Norman Osborn versus the World.  Or is it the other way around?

 

STUMPTOWN #2 by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth.  Chronic gambler and private investigator Dex must be getting closer to her target because the bullets keep getting closer to her.  Good stuff, set in Portland, Oregon, one of America's great cities.  Recommended.

 

SUICIDE SQUAD: BLACKEST NIGHT #67 by John Ostrander, Gail Simone and J. Calafiore.  A one issue revival of a classic DC title as the Squad goes after the Secret Six, the Black Lanterns and anyone else that happens along.  It's a ruckus!

 

SUPERMAN WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #11 by Greg Rucka, James Robinson and Pete Woods.  Supes and Adam Strange uncover some shenanigans in their murder investigation on New Krypton.  Super-shenanigans!

 

UNCLOTHED MAN IN THE 35^TH CENTURY AD HC written and drawn by Dash Shaw.  A series of short stories from the creator of the acclaimed BOTTOMLESS BELLY BUTTON, plus some production material from his series airing on IFC.com.  Gotta look.

 

UNWRITTEN, VOL. 1: TOMMY TAYLOR AND THE BOGUS IDENTITY SC by Mike Carey and Peter Gross.  Collecting the first five issues of the breakout hit series that blurs the line where fictional characters end and real people begin.  Clever, scary stuff for mature readers.  Recommended.

 

WALKING DEAD, VOL. 11: FEAR THE HUNTERS SC by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard.  Collecting one of the creepiest story arcs yet, in which the flesh-eating threat is no longer coming from the zombies.  Rough stuff, even for this bunch.  Recommended.  Not for kids.

 

WEIRD WESTERN TALES #71 by Dan DiDio and Renato Arlem.  Come on, admit it, you've always wanted to see DC's old Western heroes rise from the dead as evil Black Lanterns!  Y'see where the "Weird" part comes in here?  Eh?  Eh?  Yippee-ki-yay, Black Lanterns!

 

www.johnjudy.net

 

Spider-Man fan film continues

I'm still working on a book-length listing of films adapted from comics - Randy Scott's got it for indexing at the moment. I just got an email that part four of a Spider-man fan film has been put online - PETER'S WEB "BURIED ALIVE" is now available for viewing at bagandboardproductions.com

NPR's Weldon's year in review

2009: The Comics That Clung, By Glen Weldon, National Public Radio's Monkey See blog December 30, 2009.

Michigan State U's Comic Art Collection's year in review

2009 in the Comic Art Collection at Michigan State University Libraries is featured in the International Journal of Comic Art's blog this morning. Ohio State's Billy Ireland Library and Museum will be appearing tomorrow.

The fund-raising Interplanetary Journal of Comic Art is still available. Proceeds support IJOCA. And it's funny.

Comicsgirl interviews with Jo Chen, Laura Martin and Tonya Kay

I just realized I hadn't been reading Comicsgirl this fall (sorry!), so I ran back through her blog until summer. Here's 3 other good interviews she's done:

Five questions with Tonya Kay, Monday, 19 October 2009 - with 'superhero' reality show star.

Five questions with Laura Martin, Thursday, 8 October 2009 - with one of the best colorists in the business.

Five questions with Jo Chen, Thursday, 1 October 2009 - with our local comics cover painter.

Comicsgirl interviewed DC Ass't editor who's also ... a woman!

I missed this earlier, but it's still good - Comicsgirl interviewed a DC Ass't editor in "Five Questions with Janelle Siegel," Tuesday, 24 November 2009.

Nate Beeler wraps it all up

I can't agree more with Nate's cartoon today. And the 21st century had such promise. Instead we're getting 1984, 25 years late.

Jan 1: Big Planet Comics annual sale

20% off everything. Friday, Jan 1, Noon-5 pm at all 4 stores.

Bill Mauldin and Sunday Funnies US stamps coming in 2010

On my Cartoonphilately blog, you can see more details about Bill Mauldin and Sunday Funnies US stamps coming in 2010

The Real World: D.C. features a cartoonist of sorts

The Real World: D.C., a reality show thing filmed on Dupont Circle this summer, features Andrew, a would-be cartoonist of sorts. The Express and the LA Times mention his chosen career in passing. I'm sorry I didn't find out sooner so we could have had a ComicsDC event over the summer with him. On the other hand, he didn't contact us either.

Seth 'Family Guy' MacFarlane interview in Express

Seth 'Family Guy' McFarlane has an interview in today's free Express paper, reprinted from the LA Times.

The Express cropped the last question which totally changed the tenor of the end of the interview. The last Q&A was:

How did it make you feel?

Like I had no spine.

Toles through the decade feature on Post website

A Tom Toles through the decade feature is on the Post website. "Washington Post political cartoonist Tom Toles talks about highs and lows of "the Aughts" and the inspiration behind some of his most memorable cartoons from the past 10 years."

Little Nemo animation entered into Library of Congress Registry

Winsor McCay's Little Nemo animation entered into Library of Congress Registry, reports the Associated Press on the Washington Post website.

The Library's press release says:

Little Nemo (1911)

This classic work, a mix of live action and animation, was adapted from Winsor McCay’s famed 1905 comic strip "Little Nemo in Slumberland." Its fluidity, graphics and story-telling was light years beyond other films made during that time. A seminal figure in both animation and comic art, McCay profoundly influenced many generations of future animators, including Walt Disney.

This is not the 1990s Japanese animation of course. Speaking of McCay, I had an original of one of his political drawings in my hands this weekend. Hoo-hah!

Another cartoon I'm not familiar with was added as well:

Quasi at the Quackadero (1975)

"Quasi at the Quackadero" has earned the term "unique." Once described as a "mixture of 1930s Van Beuren cartoons and 1960s R. Crumb comics with a dash of Sam Flax," and a descendent of the "Depression-era funny animal cartoon," Sally Cruikshank’s wildly imaginative tale of odd creatures visiting a psychedelic amusement park careens creatively from strange to truly wacky scenes. It became a favorite of the Midnight Movie circuit in the 1970s. Cruikshank later created animation sequences for "Sesame Street," the 1986 film "Ruthless People" and the "Cartoon Land" sequence in the 1983 film "Twilight Zone: The Movie."

Caricaturist David Levine dies, Post runs AP obit

David Levine, one of the best American caricaturists of the 20th century, has died of complications from prostate cancer. The Post ran an Associated Press obituary (which does note that his work is in the Library of Congress - go here and enter "David Levine" in your search and you'll get 78 hits including this McDonald's illustration). Read the NY Times for more information.

Michael Cavna had a good piece on Comic Riffs though. The Times is running an appreciation, or rather an appraisal tomorrow too.

Maira Kalman reviewed in Post

Kalman's done these clever blog posts for the NY Times which are sort of comics. The past year's have focused on American holidays, but the 2008's have been collected in The Principles of Uncertainty. The Post reviewed it today.

Herblock! exhibit review

Another one for the International J of Comic Art that you're getting to see first...

Herblock! Sara Duke, Martha Kennedy and Cynthia Wayne. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, October 13, 2009-May 1, 2010.

By the terms of Herbert “Herblock” Block’s will, the Library of Congress must mount an exhibit of his work every three years. In spite of Block’s staggering 72-year long professional career and four Pulitzer Prizes, this reviewer begins to feel a bit jaded. Fortunately, this is an excellent exhibition that is well worth seeing and is accompanied by an excellent companion book, Herblock by Haynes Johnson and Harry Katz (New York, Norton, 2009) that also has a cd of 18,000 of Block’s cartoons (produced by Warren Bernard). The occasion for the large scale of these events was Herblock’s 100th birthday.

The exhibit is in a new gallery, created recently from a reading room, and to get to it, one has to walk through a recreation of Thomas Jefferson’s library – a highlight for any book lover. The curators (who are my friends) cleverly chose 82 original drawings that have not bee on display before. These are out of the 14,460 cartoons and 250,000 roughs he left to the library. They also added the twelve books of his cartoons that Block published in his lifetime. These copies, unlike the ones originally added to the Library, have their dustjackets because they are a recent donation to the Prints and Photographs division from the Herb Block Foundation.

The exhibit opens with a précis of who Block was and includes some of his iconic images such as the footsteps leading from the Watergate break-in to Nixon’s White House. “The Approaching Perils” covers his early years. One can see Block’s early typical Midwestern cartoonist style using pen and ink – a style that is unrecognizable to us as Herblock. This style soon gives way to his familiar use of heavy crayon or graphite lines. Some notable works were “Winged Victory” (1938) in which he quoted the sculpture from Samothrace, and “What ‘Peace Now’ Would Mean” (1940) in which he showed Hitler armed with a machine gun and sitting on the globe.

Other sections were “Psychopathic Ward” on the Depression, fascism and World War II, “White is Black, Black is White, Night is Day—“ on the Cold War, “Naughty, Naughty” on McCarthyism, “Everything’s [Not] Okay” on the 1960s, “Here He Comes Now” on Richard Nixon, “It Gets Into Everything” on the 1970s and terrorism, “Joy to the World” on Ronald Reagan, “Closing Years, Contrasting Styles of Leadership” on Clinton and the elder George Bush, and “Classic Cartoons by a Master” to catch anything that might have been missed.

One could easily select favorite drawings from each section – my notebook is full of notations such as “Man’s Reach” (1968) in which he drew, apropos of Apollo 8, a white hand with its finger and thumb meeting to encircle the moon on top of a black layer covering most of the paper. By the end of his life, and thus the end of the exhibit, Block’s ability was slipping somewhat and the images are covered with Avery labels and ink redrawings. “Creationism or Evolution – That’s Up to the States” has Bush’s head reworked and pasted on, but the final image in print would have looked fine.

During the press tour Harry Katz noted that in the future “you’re not going to see cartoons on the wall – newspapers are changing” and “With Herblock missing, we need to get the voice of the cartoonist out there and revitalizing the art form” – two sentiments that most readers of IJOCA (and this blog!) can agree with and hope for the best.

The Real Story of Superheroes exhbit review

I've submitted this for the spring issue of the International Journal of Comic Art, but will share it with my readers here first.

The Real Story of the Superheroes: Photographs by Dulce Pinzón. Washington, DC: Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, November 4-28, 2009.

Photographer Dulce Pinzón clothed Mexicans working in New York City in Halloween superhero costumes loosely related to their jobs, and photographed them doing that work. Thirteen large images were displayed. Pinzón’s biographical data sheet noted, “As a young Mexican artist living in the US, Dulce soon found new inspiration for her photography in feelings of nostalgia, questions of identity, and political and cultural frustrations. … ‘The Real Story of the Superheroes’ comes full circle to introduce the Mexican immigrant in New York in a satirical documentary style featuring ordinary men and women in their work environment donning superhero garb, thus raising questions of both our definition of heroism and our ignorance of and indifference to the workforce that fuels our ever-consuming economy.” While one should generally read press release material with ones critical faculties engaged, I actually agree strongly with the second sentence. The images do not quite stand by themselves, but with captions that explain whom the people and what their occupations are, one is easily led to musing about socio-economics and superheroes.

Some photographs were disturbing: an image of a young man in a Robin costume standing at night on a city street illuminated by a peepshow sign and a police car is labeled, “Robin. Ernesto Mendez from Mexico City works as a male prostitute in Times Square New York. He sends 200 dollars a week.” Other images are less disturbing, but still thought-provoking. “Elasticman [actually Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four – ed.]. Sergio Garcia from the State of Mexico works as a waiter in New York. He sends 350 a week.” The photograph shows him in costume reaching across a diner to present a plate to a seated woman. A cook is shown as the Human Torch, Batman is a taxi driver, Spider-man is a professional window cleaner, Acuaman (sic, Aquaman) works in a fishmarket and the Hulk loads trucks for a greengrocer.

Pinzón had a clever conceit, took thoughtful photographs and the exhibit was well worth seeing. The images were for sale in several sizes and prices ranging from US$1250-$2500.

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