Friday, March 04, 2016

The Post on "Zootopia" and “The Boy and The Beast”

'Zootopia': A delightful menagerie, with a worthwhile message [in print as Everyone laughs and nods for all of the right reasons].



Sly fox Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) works with new police recruit Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) as they investigate a missing otter case in Disney's "Zootopia." (Walt Disney Animation )

A boy comes of age, with the help of talking animals, in this cartoon fantasy [in print as Coming of age in a wild world, seeking another].



The bear-like Kumatetsu (voiced by Jon Swasey) raises and trains young Ren — who grows to become Kyuta — in "The Boy and The Beast." (FUNimation Entertainment)

and the Express.


Rechtshaffen, Michael / Associated Press.  2016.
A wildly sincere story: 'Zootopia' is a delightful kids movie with a powerful message and beautiful backdrop.
Washington Post's Express (March 4): 14
 

Fleischer cartoon music tonight in Silver Spring

Gary Lucas gives swing to the Max Fleischer cartoons of the 1930s


Sarah Stiles, who does a mean Betty Boop, will sing with guitarist Gary Lucas and his band at AFI Silver Theatre as part of the Washington Jewish Film Festival. (Jesse Winter)

Gary Lucas

Show: Saturday at AFI Silver Theatre. Show starts at 8:30 p.m. 301-495-6720. wjff.org. $28.75.

Thursday, March 03, 2016

Fantom Comics interviewed about DC Comics reboot

Matt Klokel is one of the participants.

Retailers on the Pros and Cons of the DC Rebirth Announcement

DC's Rebirth plan has been revealed. How does it stack up in the eyes of comic shops?

By David Harper

February 29, 2016

http://sktchd.com/interview/retailers-on-dc-rebirth/


Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Small Press Expo and Nickelodeon Announce Results of SPX 2015 Nickelodeon Call For Submissions



Small Press Expo and Nickelodeon Announce Results of SPX 2015 Nickelodeon Call For Submissions
 
SPX 2015 saw the very first Nickelodeon animation call for submission at an indie comics festival. The open call was an unprecedented opportunity for SPX creators to present their animation ideas and skills to members of the Nickelodeon team and become a part of its annual 2015 global Animated Shorts Program.
 
More than 70 members of the SPX community presented their pitches to the Nickelodeon staff during SPX last September to see if theirs would be chosen to be developed into an animated short as part of the program. Nickelodeon is pleased to announce that Max Wittert's Best Baddies was selected and is in production. Mr. Wittert is an illustrator and cartoonist based out of Brooklyn NY, whose work has been published by The New York Times, Time Out New York. Additionally, web comic Jean & Scott, a take-off on The X-Men, led to it being published by Marvel Comics. Best Baddies is about four magical villainess girls who challenge the status quo of their dull city by trying to convince other girls to join them and become fellow villainesses. 
 
The SPX 2015 call for submissions was part of Nickelodeon's 2015 Animated Shorts Program, which this year chose 22 ideas from around the world to be developed into shorts that will either potentially air on Nickelodeon or be able to be viewed on its web site. The annual program, overseen by network development executives, accepts domestic and international pitches that will be developed into animated shorts for the Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. audiences. Designed to cultivate a new generation of creative talent, the Animated Shorts Program aids in Nickelodeon's mission in making the best and funniest content for today's kids.
 
Phil Rynda, Nickelodeon's Vice President of Artist Development, says:
 
"Animation and comics have been linked since the dawn of animation as an art form. Comics creators have been part of  the networks DNA for more than 5 years, with comics artists contributing to Ren and Stimpy, SpongeBob Square Pants, and the more recent Harvey Beaks and Pig Goat Banana Cricket to name a few.  SPX is overflowing with some of the most talented, inspiring, and hilarious creators in independent comics.  Our involvement with SPX was a natural fit as a creator-driven animation studio partnering with the premiere creator-driven comics event."
 
Nickelodeon found such a wellspring of creativity at SPX, that additional opportunities have been offered to SPX creators. Numerous pitches were put up for consideration in series and long-form development, freelance design work was offered to a few creators and an internship was offered and accepted. Other SPX creators are still in contact with Nickelodeon to shape full series pitches out of their shorts pitch.
 
SPX 2016 takes place this year September 17-18 at the Bethesda North Hotel and Conference Center. It will have the largest exhibitor presence in indie comics, with more than 650 creators, 280 exhibitor tables and 22 programming slots to entertain, enlighten and introduce attendees to the amazing world of independent and small press comics. SPX is also home to the prestigious Ignatz Awards, which is the only festival prize in indie comics, with nominees voted on by attendees at the show.
 
The 2016 Nickelodeon Global Animated Shorts Program is now open for submissions through April 15.
 



PR: SuperNoVa Comicons March 6th

Herb Trimpe memorial print


SuperNoVa Comicons is happy to announce our return to Leesburg Virginia on Sunday March 6th from 10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.



50 Tables of vendors, artist, small press and special guests.
​​There will be vendors from 4 states offering comic books from Golden, Silver, Bronze and Modern Ages. Comic books for all ages.
Confirmed Guests:

Patrick Block
Shelly Block
Pop Mhan
Bill McKay
Angela McKendrick
Dan Nokes
Camilo Ruiz
Hero Initiative
Confirmed Vendors:
Fandata Bargain Comics
Everyday Comics
Shazam Comics & Toys
All American Comics
Silver Dragon Studios
Timber Grove Traders
Cards, Comics and Collectables
Phantom Wolf
Dan Cusimano
Patriot Comics and Toys
Untamed Worlds
Rocket Comic Sales
Anaconda Collectables
Painted Visions Comics
PackCracker Cards and Comics
Damion Hill
Comic Logic
Comics and Gaming
Duckys Comics
We hope you guys/gals will come out and give us a look.

A quick chat with Gary Lucas on reviving the Fleischer Brothers cartoon music

by Mike Rhode

Gary Lucas, a New York musician, will be in town this weekend with his tribute to the Fleischer animation studio music heard in Popeye and Betty Boop shorts. His band Gary Lucas Fleischerei has just released a new album Music from Max Fleischer Cartoons from Silver Spring's Cuneiform Records. I've been given a copy of the album and it's a lively, fun interpretation of cartoon music that's not been revived nearly as often as either Disney's or Warner Brothers'.

I'm on jury duty this week, so I'm going to lift a couple of paragraphs from Cuneiform's press release. Original ComicsDC material resumes with a short interview after the italicized text. 

Gary Lucas is one of the great spelunkers of contemporary culture, a fearless explorer who delves into forgotten and overlooked crevices and returns bearing exquisite treasures. His latest project Music from Max Fleischer Cartoons is a particularly spectacular find, a gleaming confection from a hurly-burly era when the Jazz Age crashed into the Great Depression and Tin Pan Alley borrowed shamelessly from Harlem. A 2016 Cuneiform release, the album features songs from Fleischer Studios cartoons originally delivered by actress Mae Questel, who provided the voice and vocals for two beloved but very different characters: the eternally sexy Betty Boop and Popeye’s sometime ‘goilfriend’ Olive Oyl. Finding a singer who could capture the insouciant spirit of Mae Questel while comfortably inhabiting the material proved far more difficult. Lucas turned to his wife Caroline Sinclair, a New York City casting director, who said, “why don’t you let me cast this one?” “That was a good idea,” Lucas says. “Sarah Stiles is really a bundle of fire who can do it all. It was crucial to find a singer who wouldn’t try to hijack the idea and make it about her. We conceived this as a tribute to Mae Questel and the Fleischers. This is about trying to spread Fleischermania.” Part of what makes Stiles such a perfect fit for the material is the way she captures the spirit of the characters. It’s immediately obvious when she’s singing a song associated with the effervescent Ms. Boop and when she’s donning the slippery guise of Ms. Oyl. The album opens and closes with bits lifted from Fleischer productions.


“Fleischer’s animation has a gritty, funky urban sensibility that feeds right into R. Crumb,” Lucas says. “His cartoons had that Jewish and urban wiseguy sensibility. There’s a dark, black humor associated with Eastern European immigrants, and even though I’m from upstate, those are my roots. Betty Boop in particular embodies a knowing sophistication emanating out of Times Square, which was a node of melting pot culture where Broadway, Yiddish theater, and jazz all converged.”

Did you have to have the music transcribed from cartoons, or does written music for the cartoons still exist?

I transcribed and arranged the guitar parts by ear off the soundtracks; I'm not sure how Joe Fiedler who arranged the group parts did it that way, but he could have-- we both have very good ears. I really don't know if any of the cartoon music exists in their original arrangements as written music. It is possible it's filed somewhere, at for the stuff that the assembled studio bands cut in front of the cartoons being projected, photos exist of one of the main composers Sammy Timberg conducting one of these ensembles in a Fleischer cartoons recording session. Some of the music came from actual records of the day that the Fleischer's edited right onto their cartoon soundtracks--such as the "jungle jazz" instrumental tag on "Betty Boop's Penthouse" which FLEISCHEREI perform, which I recently learned comes off a 78 recording of the Mills Blue Rhythm Band entitled "Heat Waves." Perhaps the group re-cut it for the cartoon because it sounds slightly faster on the soundtrack, but, if so, they stuck to the identical arrangement. The connection with current Harlem recording acts is a natural as Mills Blue Rhythm Band were one of the regular ensembles at the Cotton Club uptown.  Paramount was the distributor of the cartoons - and as part of its arrangements with Fleischer Studios, the studio lent some of the artists in their catalog such as Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong to make cameo appearances in the Fleischer cartoons, which were filmed at Paramount Studios in Astoria, Queens. Sometimes these artists toured nationally in the same Paramount theaters that the Fleischer cartoons were screened in, with the cartoons themselves serving as advance publicity for the artist's live appearances.

Did you consider showing the cartoons behind you while you play, as is so popular with symphony orchestras?

Yes we do this, in a roughly synchronized way. As we improvise a lot unlike symphony orchestras it's not easy to always have the right clip on the screen behind us, but I don't think it matters much. It's more about capturing a flavor. We show the intact cartoons also as part of our show.

What did singer Sara Stiles really think when someone asked her to channel Betty Boop's voice?

That someone was I, and Sarah loves Betty Boop's voice. She has no problem channeling it. That is one reason I selected her as the singer.

How has the reception been so far for the tour/album?

We haven't really begun touring this yet. Reaction to the album has been extremely positive.
Do you know who the original composers are?

Yes, and they are duly noted in the booklet credits.

(And so they are. There's a variety of names with Sammy Timberg being credited the most with five songs)

Did you have a hard time convincing the other musicians to join you in this project, or is everyone just seeing it as a fun way to spend a few months?

Everyone in the group loves playing this music. They wouldn't be part of this otherwise.

How does the live audience react?

The reaction has been phenomenal - people love this project, they get off on hearing the music and they adore the cartoons.

Why do you think that Disney and Warner Bros. cartoon music has survived, and relatively prospered, while the Fleischers' was forgotten?

I don't think it was forgotten, I mean, come on - people all over the world know Sammy Lerner's "Popeye the Sailor Man" theme for instance. I just don't' think the music has been effectively  curated (until now!). 

What's your favorite Fleischer cartoon?

1930's "Swing You Singers"  - a surrealist classic.

Favorite animation overall?

Ditto.

I note Robert Crumb is mentioned in your press release; are you a Crumb fan? Have you seen him and his Cheap Suit Serenaders? Have you ever met him and talked music or cartoons?

Yes I love Crumb's work. I never did see his ensemble, although I did see his guitarist, the late Bob Brozman in action, I have never met Crumb alas - but I feel a kindred spirit there. I know he was a HUGE  fan of Max Fleischer!

We now go back to Mr. Lucas' website to round out this post.

Next up, the full swinging FLEISCHEREI 6-piece band will appear along with many classic Max Fleischer cartoons as a special event night at the Washington Jewish Film Festival on Sat. March 5th 8pm at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring Maryland.

Preview the tracks "The Broken Record" and "Ain'tcha" from the new FLEISCHEREI album—
and order the album now!

Monday, February 29, 2016

March 5: Fleischerei concert (tune in tomorrow for an interview with Gary Lucas)

GARY LUCAS' FLEISCHEREI @ WASHINGTON JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL SAT. MARCH 5th /
UPCOMING GL APPEARANCES

"THE FLEISCHER EVENT WAS AMAZING AND THE RESPONSE WAS RAPTUROUS; I CANT REMEMBER A MORE ENJOYABLE PROGRAM IN OUR THEATER."

       --David Schwartz, chief curator of the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens

          re Gary Lucas & Sarah Stiles' FLEISCHEREI duo performance Feb. 7th


Check out Gary Lucas & 2015 Tony Award nominee Sarah Stiles'  FLEISCHEREI duo performing "The Broken Record" 

at the Museum of the Moving Image's tribute to pioneer animation genius MAX FLEISCHER:

https://vimeo.com/155776682

Now GARY LUCAS brings his full 6-piece swinging FLEISCHEREI ensemble to the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring Maryland,

as a special event of the Washington Jewish Film Festival Sat. March 5th at 8:30pm:

http://bit.ly/1QYZjOF.

Featuring Joe Fiedler  trombone, Jeff Lederer on reeds, Ron Jost acoustic bass, and Rob Garcia drums.

Their new album is just out on Cuneiform Records

Reviews, photos, clips and more here:

http://bit.ly/1JPkqFX

Saturday, February 27, 2016

2 new Rafer Roberts interviews

Rafer Roberts Talks A&A: The Adventures of Archer & Armstrong

 Jim Dandeneau 2/24/2016
http://www.denofgeek.us/books-comics/archer-armstrong/252982/rafer-roberts-talks-aa-the-adventures-of-archer-armstrong


FCBD Interview: Rafer Roberts Talks About The Adventures of Archer and Armstrong
February 2016
http://www.freecomicbookday.com/Home/1/1/27/206?articleID=174452

More SPX 2015 Panels

SPX 2015 Panel - SPX Spotlight on Phoebe Gloeckner

Feb 23, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AZJ36ilvsA

Phoebe Gloeckner has produced one of the most powerful and innovative bodies of works in the comics field. Her classic book "A Child's Life and Other Stories" anthologizes short pieces which, together, powerfully express a textured portrait of adolescent desire and despair. Her mixed format book "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" blends prose, illustration, and comics. The book has been adapted as a critically acclaimed film, and was also republished in a new edition with additional supplementary material. For the past several years she has been researching a book about people living in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Ms. Gloeckner discuses her work in a spotlight conversation with Slate Magazine culture editor Dan Kois.


SPX 2015 - Ignatz Awards Ceremony

 Feb 19, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NobdAw_Hyw

The Ignatz Award, named for the character in the classic comic strip Krazy Kat by George Herriman, is the festival prize of the Small Press Expo. Since 1997 the Ignatz has recognized outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning. The award recognizes exceptional work that challenges popular notions of what comics can achieve, both as an art form and as a means of personal expression. Only those present at the Small Press Expo may cast a vote to decide the winners. The ballot is created by a jury of five cartoonists and is voted on by the attendees of the SPX festival. 2015 Jurors are Lamar Abrams, Cara Bean, Robyn Chapman, Sophie Goldstein and Corrine Mucha.

Mistress of Ceremonies C. Spike Trotman hosts the 2015 award ceremony. The 2015 Ignatz Awards are sponsored by Comixology Submit

2015 Ignatz Award Winners:

Outstanding Anthology of Collection - How To Be Happy by Eleanor Davis

Outstanding Graphic Novel - The Oven by Sophie Goldstein

Outstanding Artist - Emily Carroll for Through the Woods

Outstanding Story - Sex Coven from Frontier #7 by Jillian Tamaki

Promising New Talent - Sophia Foster-Dimino for Sphincter, Sex Fantasy

Outstanding Series - Sex Fantasy by Sophia Foster-Dimino

Outstanding Minicomic - Sex Fantasy #4 by Sophia Foster-Dimino

Outstanding Online Comic - The Bloody Footprint by Lilli Carre

Outstanding Comic - The Oven by Sophie Goldstein

Friday, February 26, 2016

Thursday, February 25, 2016

April1: Wine Tasting and Coloring Party with artist Teresa Roberts Logan (or Coloring Fools Day)

at 6:30 PM - 8 PM

One More Page Books & More
2200 N Westmoreland St, Ste 101, Arlington, Virginia 22213

What do you get when you combine a wine tasting, coloring party, aartist and April Fool's Day? You get Coloring Fools' Day!

We'll start with a wine tasting at 6:30 and then at 7, artist Teresa Roberts Logan will talk about the making of Posh Coloring Book: Paisley Designs for Fun and Relaxation. After answering questions, we'll get down to the serious fun of coloring some of Teresa's beautiful designs. A very fun and funny evening!

As a professional artist and illustrator, Teresa Roberts Logan has created thousands of paintings and drawings (collectors include Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd, and Kyoko Cox). Teresa also is the founder of Laughing Redhead Studio, a line of hilarious greeting cards that universally celebrates women through contemporary, edgy humor. She is a cartoonist, humor writer, and standup comic who lives in Washington, DC.


Tom King podcast interviews online now

Loika, Pat.  2016.

Tom King.

Loikamania (244; February 23): http://comicbooknoise.com/loikamania/2016/02/23/loikamania-244-tom-king/ and http://comicbooknoise.com/loikamania/podcasts/loikamania244.mp3

 

Word Balloon Tom King Has The Vision, Leaves Grayson, And Creates The Sheriff Of Babylon

by john siuntres

February 10, 2016

http://wordballoon.blogspot.com/2016/02/word-balloon-tom-king-has-vision-leaves.html

http://traffic.libsyn.com/wordballoon/wbTomKing0216.mp3

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Comic Riffs talks to Mark Fiore

He once made a pilgrimage to see Herblock. Today, 'pretty emotional' artist wins Herblock Prize.



A frame from Mark Fiore's Herblock Prize-winning animations. (Courtesy of the artist)

A couple of quotes on the Herblock Award, from moi

Here's a quote I submitted when helping to choose Mark Fiore to select the Herblock award. It's at http://www.herbblockfoundation.org/herblock-prize-winner/1251 along with the 15 cartoon videos he sent in.

From Mike Rhode: for Fiore –

Mark Fiore, who practices editorial cartooning through animation, quickly rose to the top of the list for me, but he started as a dark horse. Animated editorial cartooning is young compared to traditional pen & ink drawings in the newspaper, but Fiore is among the first masters of the field. His cartoons covered a range of topics from deeply obscure but important mining law to the constant gun violence warping American society. It was a pleasure to be able to select him for this ground-breaking expansion of the Herblock award.

And here's my quote for Ruben Bolling as the runner-up for the Herblock award - it's at http://www.herbblockfoundation.org/2016-Finalist

From Mike Rhode: for Bolling –

Ruben Bolling's Tom the Dancing Bug has been a consistently excellent strip usually run in alternative newspapers and thus visible to fewer readers. This year Bolling submitted excellent, tight and hard-hitting cartoons on a variety of liberal topics.

PR: Winner of the 2016 Herblock Prize is Mark Fiore

[corrected 2nd paragraph]

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON, DC, Wednesday, February 24th, 2016 – Mark Fiore has been named the winner of the 2016 Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning. Fiore is the first to win the Prize with all animated cartoon entries.

Mark Fiore, who the Wall Street Journal has called “the undisputed guru of the form,” creates animated political cartoons in San Francisco, one of the most fertile regions for creating political animation and cartoons. His work has appeared on the San Francisco Chronicle’s web site, Newsweek.com, Slate.com, CBSNews.com, MotherJones.com, NPR’s web site and is currently being featured on online news sites ranging from KQED and Truthdig.com to The Progressive and DailyKos.com. Fiore’s political animation has been featured on CNN, Frontline, BillMoyers.com, Salon.com and cable and broadcast outlets across the globe.

Beginning his professional life by drawing traditional political cartoons for newspapers, Fiore's work appeared in publications ranging from The Washington Post to the Los Angeles Times. In the late 1990s, he began to experiment with animating political cartoons and, after a short stint at the San Jose Mercury News as their staff cartoonist, Fiore devoted all his energies to animation.

Mark Fiore was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for political cartooning in 2010, a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in 2004 and has twice received an Online Journalism Award for commentary from the Online News Association (2002, 2008). Fiore has received two awards for his work in new media from the National Cartoonists Society (2001, 2002), and in 2006 received The James Madison Freedom of Information Award from The Society of Professional Journalists.

The Herblock Prize is awarded annually by The Herb Block Foundation for "distinguished examples of editorial cartooning that exemplify the courageous independent standard set by Herblock." The winner receives a $15,000 after-tax cash prize and a sterling silver Tiffany trophy. Mark Fiore will receive the Prize on May 24th in a ceremony held at the Library of Congress. Mark Shields, a nationally known political analyst, columnist and commentator, will deliver the annual Herblock Lecture at the awards ceremony.

Judges for this year's contest were Kevin Kallaugher (KAL), editorial cartoonist for The Baltimore Sun and The Economist, winner of the 2015 Herblock Prize; Michael Rhode, archivist and author, commentator on comics for the Washington City Paper and creator of the ComicsDC blog; and Peter Kuper, alternative cartoonist and illustrator best known for his autobiographical, political, and social observations is also a visiting professor at Harvard University.

Judge Kevin Kallaugher (Kal) commented, "Mark Fiore's entry contained an engaging and powerful collection of visual commentaries.  Fiore demonstrated a great use of parody, adept writing, great visualizations and solid journalism to deliver thought provoking editorials. Like a good Herblock cartoon, Mark's work displayed a consistent and determined passion to fight against societies' ills and absurdities. It is his skilled and masterful cartoon craftsmanship steeped with determined political convictions that make Fiore's animations worthy of the Herblock Prize."

Peter Kuper added, "From the numerous high quality entries to this year's Herblock Foundation award, Mark Fiore's animation entry rose to the top. Not because it was animated, but rather because he demonstrated a consistently strong handle on his subject matter with an ability to convey complex topics with great humor, rage and irony. Fiore produced a powerful body of work that addresses a range of current events and brilliantly serves them up with a smile and a kick in the gut, heart, and other body parts. His work honors the legacy of Herblock and expands the form."

This year's finalist is Ruben Bolling, pen name for Ken Fisher. He is the author of the weekly comic strip "Tom the Dancing Bug" and will receive a $5,000 after-tax cash prize.  Judge Peter Kuper stated "For decades Ruben Bolling has consistently produced full page comics that find new angles of attack on familiar subjects. With subtlety, yet tremendous humor, he constructs each comic without any wasted space to build to surprising conclusions. Many of his strips take on several topics at the same time and over the years he has honed his art to deliver these ideas with great verve."

The Herb Block Foundation seeks to further the recognition and support of editorial cartooning: www.HerblockFoundation.org.  

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

March 19: Goode and Ganucheau signing at Big Planet


Big Planet Comics welcomes local artists Kendall Goode and Paulina Ganucheau for their two new comic series, The Doorman from Heavy Metal and Another Castle from Oni Press. The signing will be March 19 from 2-5 p.m. at the College Park store.