Wednesday, June 17, 2015

A shitty Kickstarter?

Meet the Web site where start-up dreams go to die

These are the Kickstarter projects that literally nobody would invest in

“This is the Rocky story for our generation,” reads a tagline for a would-be film about a would-be superhero. “Excremento is a superhero that nobody wants to be rescued by.

Monday, June 15, 2015

June 21-24: The comics side of the AJL jubilee conference



Courtesy of Steve Bergson.
 

From June 21st - June June 24th, the Association of Jewish Libraries will be holding its 50th annual conference in Silver Spring, Maryland. One of the sessions on Tuesday June 22nd is titled "Graphic Representations of the Holocaust and Jewish Life", which will be moderated by popular culture expert Rachel Leket-Mor. Steven M. Bergson (editor of Jewish Comix Anthology, volume 1) will share "Secret Origins of the Jewish Comix AnthologyChristopher Huh (who is currently working on a new novel about Raoul Wallenberg) will talk about his Holocaust graphic novel Keeping My HopeDr. Rafael Medoff, a historian who has assisted with such works as "The Last Outrage" (X-Men : Magneto : Testament #5), They Spoke Out : American Voices Against the Holocaust, and "The St. Louis Refugee Ship Blues" (Washington Post, 2009), will discuss "Cartoonists Against the Holocaust: A New Way of Teaching about Genocide".


The session is limited to conference attendees. The per diem Tuesday registration costs $184.59. To register, please go to http://www.eventbrite.com/e/association-of-jewish-libraries-conference-yoveljubilee-celebrating-50-years-of-ajl-please-scroll-registration-14689824661.


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Friday, June 12, 2015

Weingarten talks to Mankoff about the New Yorker cartoon contest

June 26: Animezing: Giovanni's Island



Banner
Animezing Series
Presented by the JICC, Embassy of Japan
Giovanni's Island
Friday, June 26, 6:30 p.m.
Never miss another event!
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Our Location:
JICC, Embassy of Japan
1150 18th St, NW
Suite 100
Washington, DC 20036


© 2014 JAME | 2014 | 102 min | Not Rated | In Japanese, Russian, and Korean with English subtitles | Directed by Mizuho Nishikubo
The critically-acclaimed film from Production I.G., the studio that brought you A Letter to Momo and Ghost in the Shell.

 

On August 15th, they told us we had lost the war.

At that time, we did not really understand.

Then one day, everything changed.

Many soldiers, wearing uniforms we had never seen before, arrived on the island.

That was the day I met Tanya.

 

1945. Junpei and his little brother Kanta are two children who live with their father Tatsuo on a tiny island off the northernmost shores of Japan, and which has remained virtually untouched by the raging war. As Japan surrenders on August 15th, everybody is expecting American troops to land anytime. But it is the Red Army which arrives instead, because the island has now become Soviet Union territory. And for the Japanese community, a new life with the Soviet citizens who have moved onto the island begins... Based on true events.

 

Winner of: Best Animated Film in the 69th Mainichi Film Awards; Excellence Prizes in the 18th Japan Media Arts Festival and the 38th Japan Academy Prize; Jury Awards at the 38th Annecy Animation Film Festival, the 5th Scotland Loves Animation, the 31st Chicago International Children's Film Festival, and many other prizes and distinctions.  

Register Now!
This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Please note that seating is limited and registration does not guarantee guests a seat.

Registered guests will be seated on a first come, first served basis. Please contact us at jicc@ws.mofa.go.jp in the event of cancellation.

Doors open at 6:00 pm. No admission or re-entry after 7:00 pm.

 


6/13: Nate Simpson at Third Eye Comics

Saturday 6/13/15: NONPLAYER Signing with NATE SIMPSON

 
at THIRD EYE ANNAPOLIS 
Click  here for event info on FACEBOOK.


Comic Riffs continues support for Iranian cartoonist

PR: Get $2 for your old empty comic box! Beyond Comics!









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Beyond Comics | Gaithersburg Square | 18749 B North Frederick Avenue | Gaithersburg | MD | 20879

Comics stories in today's Post

Studio Ghibli's 'When Marnie Was There' casts many spells [in print as Studio Ghibli's animated tale casts mysterious spells]


A Fat Cat, A Strange Circus [online as Summer fare in D.C. for theatergoers of all ages]

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Muslim women writers and famous signatures

The new summer 2015 edition of Johns Hopkins Magazine includes an article on young, female Muslim writers in the science fiction and fantasy genre, including G. Willow Wilson, who writes the current popular Ms. Marvel series for Marvel Comics.

In the same issue, there is an article about historical signature collector Stuart Lutz that includes a photo of a British Mickey Mouse Annual comic that was signed by Walt Disney.


Cul de Sac the Play coming next year



Cul de Sac

Play by Amy Thompson
Adapted from the Comic Strip, Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson

Friday, June 3, 2016 at 7:30pm
Saturday, June 4, 2016 at 11am and 3pm
Sunday, June 5, 2016 at 3pm
Friday, June 10, 2016 at 7:30pm
Saturday, June 11, 2016 at 11am and 3pm
Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 3pm

Location:
All performances are held at Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre (125 S. Old Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA 22204)


This was announced yesterday on Amy Thompson's Facebook page. Amy and Richard are married so she presumably had no problem getting permissions, but you never know with that guy.


Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Sutliff's 'Fight the Bite' calendar

The work of local cartoonist Joe Sutliff is featured in a relatively new two-year calendar for the Fairfax County Health Department. The calendar uses characters (and some of the images) from a booklet Sutliff did for the county a few years ago on avoiding ticks and mosquitoes as part of disease prevention. But there are many new drawings, too. In fact, Sutliff tells ComicsDC that he has infused the names of several health department staffers in the newer illustrations (see if you can find them in the photos below). Sutliff added that he annually adds drawings for new editions, which are also printed in California, South America, Australia, Africa and other places. "Best part about the whole deal is that every Thanksgiving, when they go around the table, I get to say 'I am grateful for blood sucking parasites," he says.





‘Pop Goes the Podcast’ at Awesome Con

Journalist/podcaster (and comics fan) Michael O’Connell posts a recording of the podcast panel on May 30 at Awesome Con in D.C. Most of the panelists had some ties to comics: O’Connell (It’s All About Journalism) has had local comic bookers on his podcast; Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo (Carolyn and Joe Show) writer and draw comics;  Jennifer Crawford (Jellyvision Show) once owned an arts venue in Virginia that hosted one of the D.C. Conspiracy’s former Counter Culture Festivals; and Alex Vidales (Pilot Waves) has interviewed cartoonist Ben Claassen III (and yours truly in an upcoming episode). All of us are members of the DC Podcaster community, a Facebook group of podcasters from the Washington, D.C., area that host monthly meetings to share tips and socialize. DC Podcaster will sponsor the inaugural DC PodFest Nov. 6-8 at the Wonderbread Factory in Washington.

(From left) Michael O’Connell of It's All Journalism, Carolyn Belefski of the Carolyn and Joe Show and Alex Vidales of Pilot Waves. Photo courtesy of O'Connell.

Comic Riffs calls for support for Iranian cartoonist

Open Call to Artists: #Draw4Atena to support appeal of Iranian artist's 12-year sentence

Atena Farghadani drew a mocking illustration of Parliament.

Tuesday, June 09, 2015

Comics Alternatives handicaps the Eisners (and asks my opinion)

Commentary: Reactions to the 2015 Eisner Award Nominations

June 9, 2015
http://comicsalternative.com/commentary-eisners2015/

I'd like to thank Derek Royal and Any Kunka for actually asking for my opinion.


UPDATE: I did pretty good on predicting. 7 right and 2 wrong.

Right: Best Continuing Series = Saga; Best for Kids (8-12) = El Deafo by Cece Bell; Best for Teens = Lumberjanes; Best Humor = Compleate Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson; Best Graphic Album = This One Summer by the Tamaki cousins; Best Archival Project = Taschen's Little Nemo; Best Cover Artist = Darwyn Cooke.

Wrong: Lovern Kindzierski for Best Colorist and Comic Book Resources for Best Journalism.

Comic Riffs talks to Stephanie McMillan

PR: Artist Peter de Sève Creates 2015 Library of Congress National Book Festival Poster




NEWS from the LIBRARY of CONGRESS

June 9, 2015

Public contact: Center for the Book (202) 707-5221; cfbook@loc.gov

Artist Peter de Sève Creates 2015 Library of Congress
National Book Festival Poster

More Than 150 Authors to Participate Sept. 5

Peter de Sève, an illustrator and character designer for feature films, is the artist for the 2015 Library of Congress National Book Festival poster. De Sève is perhaps best known for his many cover illustrations for The New Yorker magazine, but he has also designed characters for such popular animated films as "The Prince of Egypt," "Mulan," "Ice Age" and "Finding Nemo." In 2000, de Sève received the National Cartoonists Society Magazine Illustration Award. His book festival poster features a young girl intensely absorbed by her book while assuming several contorted positions on an overstuffed chair.

"The poster is absolutely inspired by my two daughters, Paulina, 14 years old, and Fia, 9 years old," said de Sève. "They are both voracious readers and, frankly, my heart swells every time I see one of them curled up with a book, which is basically always.  More specifically, the girl on the poster is Fia, whom I have found reading in almost every position you see on the poster. For her, reading is practically an Olympic sport."

De Sève will appear at the festival and will discuss and sign his book "A Sketchy Past: The Art of Peter de Sève." The festival will be held Saturday, Sept. 5, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

The poster can be seen and downloaded at the National Book Festival website at www.loc.gov/bookfest/. Also today on the website, the Library is kicking off a new National Book Festival blog, which will feature author interviews, schedule updates and other festival news.

This year's festival will be bigger than ever, with more than 150 authors, poets and illustrators participating. Ten authors will launch their books at the festival, and a new International pavilion will feature a session with three contributors to the "Norton Anthology of World Religions." Another session, "Reading Latin America," will celebrate the excellence of Latin American literature and culture.

The National Book Festival (www.loc/gov/bookfest) is funded by private donors and corporate sponsors who share the Library's commitment to reading and literacy. Since 2010, National Book Festival Board Co-Chairman David M. Rubenstein has been the festival's lead benefactor and has pledged funding for the festival for five more years. Charter Sponsors include AARP, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Washington Post and Wells Fargo; Patron sponsor, the National Endowment for the Arts; the Contributor-level sponsors are Jacqueline B. Mars, National Geographic, Scholastic Inc. and WAMU 88.5 FM; and, in the Friends category, C-SPAN2's Book TV, Georgetown University's Department of Spanish and Portuguese, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, The Hay-Adams, Susan C. Lehrman, the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute with support from board chair Roger A. Strauch, Mensa Education & Research Foundation, the Mexican Cultural Institute, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Embassy of Peru, and Small Press Expo. The Junior League of Washington will also return as the Library's primary partner for volunteer support, a role the organization has played since 2003. Those interested in supporting the National Book Festival can contact the Library at devofc@loc.gov.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs, publications and exhibitions.

The Library's Center for the Book, established by Congress in 1977 to "stimulate public interest in books and reading," is a national force for reading and literacy promotion. A public-private partnership, it sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages through its affiliated state centers, collaborations with nonprofit reading promotion partners and through the Young Readers Center and the Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress. For more information, visit read.gov.

# # #

PR 15-100
6/9/15
ISSN 0731-3527


Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/librarycongress | Blogs blogs.loc.gov | News loc.gov/today

Library of Congress | 101 Independence Ave SE | Washington DC 20540-1610 USA  | 202.707.2905

 

Kickstarter: 'First Law of Mad Science' Vol. 1

Local comic book writers Oliver Mertz and Mike Isenberg are running a Kickstarter campaign to fund a collection of their comic First Law of Mad Science: Work Until Your Family is Sad. There's 14 days left in the campaign. Personally, I enjoy this series. Consider contributing. Support your local small press.
Watch their Kickstarter video.


Monday, June 08, 2015

July 25: 5th Annual DC Zinefest

The annual DC Zinefest will be held July 25 from 11-5 p.m. at St. Stephen's Church (1525 Newton St. NW, Washington, DC). The organizers say they will soon announce exhibitors.