Brooke Allen is now a local cartoonist, having moved here from SCAD. Her new comic book, Lumberjanes is reviewed here, and Big Planet Comics has a special variant cover. I got mine today at Bethesda.
Friday, April 11, 2014
March 1975: Pat Oliphant joins the Washington Star
Introducing Oliphant, New Cartoonist for The Washington Star
Washington Star (March 30 ,1975)
Braaten, David. 1975.
Meet Pat Oliphant, The Washington Star's New Cartoonist.
Washington Star (March 31 ,1975) A-1, 7
OT: Courtney Utt, graphic designer at Viz, has passed away
A former Viz employee has informed me: "The graphic designer Courtney Utt, who worked on many of Viz’s finest book covers, died the week of April 7, 2014." A death notice will run on Sunday (found courtesy of D.D. Degg), but it doesn't mention her comics work.
Off-topic, but posting, with respect, for the historical record.
Updated, 4/11/14.
Updated, 4/11/14.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Comic Riffs on comiXology purchase
This just in: Amazon.com reaches deal to buy comiXology
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog April 10 2014
Cartoonists at National Book Festival
Nice list: Bob Staake, Jules Feiffer, Rep. John Lewis, Gene Luen Yang, Jeffrey Brown, Liza Donnelly, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Dav Pilkey
April 10, 2014
Kai Bird, Kate DiCamillo, Francisco Goldman, Alice McDermott Among Authors at 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival
Renowned Illustrator Bob Staake Will Create Festival Poster Art
A wealth of authors, poets and illustrators for readers of all ages—including such writers as Jonathan Allen, Amie Parnes, Peter Baker, Ishmael Beah, Kai Bird, Billy Collins, Kate DiCamillo, Francisco Goldman, Henry Hodges, Siri Hustvedt, Cynthia Kadohata, U.S. Reps. John Lewis and James Clyburn, Alice McDermott, George Packer, Lisa See, Maria Venegas, and Gene Luen Yang—will thrill book-lovers at the 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival. The festival, which is free and open to the public, will take place from 10 a.m to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
The festival for the first time in its history will hold evening hours, with special events between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. including a poetry slam, a session featuring "Great Books to Great Movies," and a "super-session" for graphic-novel enthusiasts. The theme of this year’s festival is "Stay Up With a Good Book."
The festival’s new location also facilitates an expanded selection of genre pavilions. In addition to the longtime pavilions History & Biography, Fiction & Mystery, Poetry & Prose, Children’s, Contemporary Life, Teens and Special Programs, this year’s festival also will offer new pavilions focused on Science, Culinary Arts, Small Press/International and for children, Picture Books.
"The world of books always offers us something new. This year, the Library’s National Book Festival will return the favor, offering our fresh approach to the world of books," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington.
Authors who have accepted the Library’s invitation to speak and sign books at the 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival also include Bob Adelman, Paul Auster, Andrea Beaty, Eula Biss, Kendare Blake, Paul Bogard, Jeffrey Brown, Peter Brown, Eric H. Cline, Bryan Collier, Raúl Colón, James Conaway, Ilene Cooper, Jerry Craft, H. Allen Day, Liza Donnelly, Margaret Engle, Percival Everett, Jules Feiffer, David Theodore George, Carla Hall, Molly Idle, Peniel E. Joseph, Nick Kotz, Nina Krushcheva, Louisa Lim, Eric Litwin, Adrienne Mayor, Meg Medina, Claire Messud, Anchee Min, Elizabeth Mitchell, Richard Moe, John Moeller, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Alicia Ostriker, Laura Overdeck, Dav Pilkey, Paisley Rekdal, Amanda Ripley, Cokie Roberts, Ilyasah Shabazz, Lynn Sherr, Brando Skyhorse, Vivek Tiwary, David Treuer, Ann Ursu, Lynn Weise, Rita Williams-Garcia, Natasha Wimmer, Jacqueline Woodson and Tiphanie Yanique.
Details about the Library of Congress National Book Festival can be found on its website at www.loc.gov/bookfest. The website offers a variety of features, and new material will be added to the website as authors continue to join this year’s stellar lineup.
Among those notables, Alice McDermott, born in Brooklyn and educated in New York and New Hampshire, won the National Book Award for Fiction for her novel "Charming Billy" (1998). Her latest novel is "Someone" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2013). McDermott’s other novels include "A Bigamist’s Daughter" (1983), "That Night" (1987), "At Weddings and Wakes" (1992), "Child of My Heart" (2002) and "After This" (2006). McDermott, who also writes extensively for The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Washington Post, is the Richard A. Macksey Professor of Humanities at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Kai Bird is the author of the soon-to-be-released "The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames" (Crown/Random House). He also wrote "Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956-1978" (2010) and was co-author with Martin J. Sherwin of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer" (2005), which additionally won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography and the Duff Cooper Prize for History in London. A contributing editor of The Nation, Bird is also the author of the books "The Chairman: John J. McCloy, the Making of the American Establishment" (1992) and "The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy & William Bundy, Brothers in Arms" (1998).
Kate DiCamillo, the Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, wrote "Because of Winn-Dixie" (a Newbery Honor book), "A Tiger Rising" (a National Book Award finalist), "The Tale of Despereaux" (the 2003 Newbery Medal winner) and "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" (winner of the Boston Globe Horn Book Award), among others. Her most recent book, a New York Times best-seller, is "Flora & Ulysses" (Candlewick Press, 2013).
Francisco Goldman’s most recent novel is "Say Her Name," which won the 2011 Prix Femina Étranger. His novel "The Long Night of White Chickens" was awarded the American Academy's Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction. Goldman’s novels have been finalists for several prizes, including The PEN/Faulkner Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His other books include "The Ordinary Seaman," "The Divine Husband," "The Art of Political Murder" and "The Interior Circuit." Goldman has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a Cullman Center Fellow at the New York Public Library and a Berlin Fellow at the American Academy. He has written for The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Harper's and other publications. He directs the Aura Estrada Prize. Goldman teaches at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
Well-known artist and illustrator Bob Staake has designed the artwork for this year’s Library of Congress National Book Festival poster, a collector’s item throughout the 14-year life of the festival.
Staake has been the author or illustrator of more than 60 books, including "The Donut Chef," "Bluebird," "Bugs Galore," "Hello Robots," "Look! A Book," "This Is Not A Pumpkin," "Pets Go Pop" and others. He has also illustrated extensively for magazines, including several covers for The New Yorker, and for newspapers and advertising.
The festival’s new setting will offer many familiar and popular activities. Representatives from across the United States and its territories will celebrate their unique literary offerings in the Pavilion of the States. The Let’s Read America area will offer reading activities that are fun for the whole family. The Library of Congress Pavilion will showcase treasures in the Library’s vast online collections and offer information about Library programs.
The 2014 National Book Festival is made possible through the generous support of National Book Festival Board Co-Chairman David M. Rubenstein; Charter Sponsors the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Washington Post and Wells Fargo; Patrons the National Endowment for the Arts and PBS KIDS; Contributor Scholastic Inc. and—in the Friends category—the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may be accessed through its website, www.loc.gov.
# # #
PR 14-062
04/10/14
ISSN 0731-3527
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Wonder Woman's granddaughter talks to Marc Nobleman
Granddaughter of Wonder Woman's creator - her first interview
by Marc Tyler Nobleman
Noblemania blog April 7, 2014
http://noblemania.blogspot.com/2014/04/granddaughter-of-wonder-womans-creator.html
by Marc Tyler Nobleman
Noblemania blog April 7, 2014
http://noblemania.blogspot.com/2014/04/granddaughter-of-wonder-womans-creator.html
The Post's Act Four on Archie's death
Why Archie Andrews’s impending comic-book death makes me so sad
BY ALYSSA ROSENBERG
Washington Post's Act Four blog April 8 2014
Comics delayed until this afternoon at Big Planet Bethesda
Because of shipping delays, Big Planet Comics Bethesda store will open at 1 PM Wednesday, hopefully with new comics on the rack.
--The management
--The management
-- Joel Pollack BIG PLANET COMICS 4849 Cordell Ave. Bethesda, MD 20814
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
Brooke Allen's Lumberjanes reviewed at The Comic Age
Five Reasons To Read Lumberjanes
by: Alex Lupp - April 8th, 2014http://www.thecomicage.com/2014/04/08/five-reasons-why-you-should-pick-up-lumberjanes-this-week-or-any-week/#more-5296
Cartoonists Draw Blood Returns May 31st
Cartoonists Draw Blood will be returning this May.
Last year's Cartoonists Draw Blood was a great success! Because of you, the American Red Cross has asked us to do another on May 31, 2014! Once again, the event will be held at Seeker's Church in Washington, DC and all blood donors will receive a complimentary sketch by one of our cartoonists while they wait.
Blood donors, sign up by email for appointments between 10:00AM and 3:30PM BEFORE the 31st of May.
To sign up and donate, e-mail us at CARTOONISTSDRAWBLOOD@GMAIL.COM with your preferred appointment time.
On the day of your blood donation:
-drink plenty of fluids
-include iron-rich foods in your diet
-bring a list of medications you are taking
-bring a photo ID
Even if you can't attend the event, please tell your friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/1437807213121707/
Cartoonists Draw Blood
Seekers Church, Takoma Park
Saturday, May 31, 2014
10am to 3:30pm
276 Carroll Street NW, Washington, DC 20012
Sponsored by: Cartoonists Draw Blood, American Red Cross, National Cartoonists Society, and Seekers Church
We hope to see you on the 31st!
Troy-Jeffrey Allen and Carolyn Belefski
Drive Coordinators
Make an appointment: CartoonistsDrawBlood@gmail.com
Get more info: CartoonistsDrawBlood.Blogspot.com
Monday, April 07, 2014
Comic Riffs on next year's Peanuts movie
You're a Good Plan, Charlie Brown: A peek into the meticulous vision behind 2015′s 'Peanuts' feature film
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog April 7 2014
Sunday, April 06, 2014
Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Ripple Of Action"
"Ripple Of Action"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=1467
Apparently, some kind of Worldwide Wave Of Action started last week, billed as a rekindling of the Occupy movement. Having covered at least half a dozen previous "international days of action", my well-honed cynicism kicked into gear as I remembered how all the previous "worldwide" action days drew hundreds of thousands in cities outside the US -- while inside the US, the turnouts could be generously described as pathetic.
The current "worldwide" Wave Of Action was no different, judging from what I was seeing on my Twitter feed. Cities in the UK and Europe turned out healthy numbers while in the meantime, in the US, I saw the usual sad smattering of thin, weak protests, with small veterans' contingents and others gathering in places like the NYC Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Zucotti Park, only to be chased off or arrested by police.
I was also somewhat less than inspired by the vagueness of their rhetoric and sloganeering. On Twitter I saw pronouncements like "movement of movements" and "bring your own goals", with no mention of any specific issues, such as war and militarization, unemployment, state-enforced economic austerity, the destruction of civil liberties, or the US-instigated "revolution" in the Ukraine -- just lots of lofty faux revolutionary hype and empty poetic slogans.
I won't speak for the rest of the world, but in the US, the "Wave Of Action" was more like a "ripple of action".
Oh, yeah -- and, cupcakes.
________________________________________________________________
Mike Flugennock, flugennock at sinkers dot org
Mike's Political Cartoons: dubya dubya dubya dot sinkers dot org
The Post talks to Pixar's president
An animated leadership talk with Pixar’s president
-
By Jena McGregor
Washington Post April 6 2014
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2014/04/04/an-animated-leadership-talk-with-pixars-president/
Ed Catmull is photographed on January 15, 2010 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)
April 6: Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch at Big Planet College Park
- Show MapBig Planet Comics of College Park7315 Baltimore Ave, College Park, Maryland 20740
Big Planet Comics is proud to welcome Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch for a signing of the first collection of their new series, Rat Queens!
Rat Queens is a dark humor/fantasy book, where an all-female team of mercenaries goes on adventures and missions while trying to get as much money as possible (and trying to get out all the trouble they get each other into!)
You can download a preview of Rat Queens for free at Image's website: https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/rat-queens-free-preview
Kurtis's website: http://kurtiswiebe.wordpress.com/
Roc's website: http://johnnyrocwell.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RatQueens
Rat Queens is a dark humor/fantasy book, where an all-female team of mercenaries goes on adventures and missions while trying to get as much money as possible (and trying to get out all the trouble they get each other into!)
You can download a preview of Rat Queens for free at Image's website: https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/rat-queens-free-preview
Kurtis's website: http://kurtiswiebe.wordpress.com/
Roc's website: http://johnnyrocwell.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RatQueens
Saturday, April 05, 2014
May 15: R.M. Rhodes is teaching a free class on French comics
An Introduction to French Comics (reprise)
At the Petworth Citizen (829 Upshur St NW in Washington, DC)
May 15 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Free
This class will highlight the past 150 years of French-language comics, including the works of Rodolphe Töpffer, Hergé, René Goscinny, Moebius, and Lewis Trondheim — some of which are available in English. You’ll depart with a road map for exploring this fascinating comics culture.
For more information and to register visit: http://knowledgecommonsdc.org/classes/
The registration for the class isn’t live yet, but it should be up in the next week or two.
This is a reprise of the class I taught in January, which went so well that they asked me to teach it again. If this one goes like the last one, there will be a lot of questions and some good discussion. Plus I bring in part of my collection of BD as examples.
At the Petworth Citizen (829 Upshur St NW in Washington, DC)
May 15 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Free
This class will highlight the past 150 years of French-language comics, including the works of Rodolphe Töpffer, Hergé, René Goscinny, Moebius, and Lewis Trondheim — some of which are available in English. You’ll depart with a road map for exploring this fascinating comics culture.
For more information and to register visit: http://knowledgecommonsdc.org/classes/
The registration for the class isn’t live yet, but it should be up in the next week or two.
This is a reprise of the class I taught in January, which went so well that they asked me to teach it again. If this one goes like the last one, there will be a lot of questions and some good discussion. Plus I bring in part of my collection of BD as examples.
The Post talks to Captain America 2 directors
'Captain America 2′ directors talk filming in D.C., casting Robert
Redford and the movie's very timely politics
By Emily Yahr
April 4 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/04/04/captain-america-2-directors-talk-filming-in-d-c-casting-robert-redford-and-the-movies-very-timely-politics/
Redford and the movie's very timely politics
By Emily Yahr
April 4 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/04/04/captain-america-2-directors-talk-filming-in-d-c-casting-robert-redford-and-the-movies-very-timely-politics/
That darn Toles and Luckovich
Letter to the Editor: Caveats for cultural critiques
Eric R. Carey, Arlington
Bruce G. Kauffmann, Alexandria
Washington Post April 5 2014, pp. A13
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