Thursday, August 24, 2017

PR: Small Press Expo Announces Programming Schedule for SPX 2017


Small Press Expo Announces Programming Schedule for SPX 2017

For Immediate Release
Contact: Warren Bernard
Email: warren@spxpo.com

Bethesda, Maryland; August 24, 2017

Media Release - Small Press Expo is pleased to announce the Programming Schedule for SPX 2017. SPX is continuing the festival's established tradition of rich, thought provoking programming featuring leading comics artists and critics in conversation. As in previous years, the Programming Schedule features 22 sessions with two simultaneous tracks on both Saturday and Sunday, September 16 and 17.

Here are some highlights:
  • Tillie Walden discusses her new work, Spinning, focusing on her decade spent in competitive figure skating, with Small Press Expo executive director Warren Bernard.
  • Jillian Tamaki (Boundless) and Eleanor Davis (You And A Bike And The Road) are two of our generation's greatest cartoonists. Both create beautiful imagery while telling incredibly poignant stories which are thoughtful and evocative. With moderator Jim Rugg.
  • Moderator L.Nichols will explore the recent movement in comics toward exploring genderfluidity within a science-fiction context, with an emphasis on technology and utopian ideals. Panelists Jeremy Sorese (Curveball), Carta Monir (Secure Connect), Kevin Czap (Futchi Perf) and Rio Aubry Taylor (Jetty) will each discuss how their own work fits into this bold new vision of comics,
  • Gene Luen Yang has distinguished himself as a prominent voice in youth-friendly literature through his books American Born Chinese and Boxers and Saints. He continues to inspire young readers by championing diversity as the recently appointed National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Join us for a very special conversation with Gene as we spotlight Reading Without Walls. Moderated by Johanna Draper Carlson.
  • Join moderator Jared Gardner, publisher Raighne Hogan and an array of 2dcloud artists as they celebrate and recount the history of this cutting-edge indy publisher and look toward its future.
Additionally, several panels will focus on the cartooning into today's political climate:
  • Tom Spurgeon moderates political cartoonists Ann Telnaes, Matt Wuerker, Keith Knight and Ben Passmore as they explore the role and responsibility of being a political cartoonist in a time when the freedom of the press is under attack.
  • In a world that seems increasingly difficult to satirize, come see how cartoonists Tommi Musturi (Simply Samuel), Aaron Lange (Trim), Sabin Cauldron (Maleficium), and Katie Fricas (The New Yorker) use different comedic tools to address the absurd, the awful and the just plain ridiculous. Moderated by Heidi MacDonald.
  • Celebrants and detractors alike are chewing on the fact that Donald Trump was elected president. Shannon Wheeler and Robert Sikoryak will help you swallow. In their books Sh*t My President Says from Top Shelf and The Unquotable Trump from Drawn & Quarterly (respectively), these two cartoonists illustrate Trump's words for comedic effect and insight. 
The complete schedule with times and descriptions can be found at http://www.smallpressexpo.com/spx-2017-programming-schedule.
Small Press Expo (SPX) is the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels, and alternative political cartoons. SPX is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit that brings together more than 650 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers, and distributors each year. Graphic novels, mini comics, and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators. The expo includes a series of panel discussions and interviews with this year's guests.
The Ignatz Award is a festival prize held every year at SPX recognizing outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning, with the winners chosen by attendees at the show.
As in previous years, profits from the SPX will go to support the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program, which funds graphic novel purchases for public and academic libraries, as well as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), which protects the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals. For more information on the CBLDF, visit their website at http://www.cbldf.org. For more information on the Small Press Expo, please visit http://www.smallpressexpo.com.

 


Silver Spring's Ryan Holmberg on manga

Eye Drum: Yokoyama Yuichi and Audiovisual Abstraction in Comics

BY Ryan Holmberg

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

The Post on Hiroshima anime

The reviewer seems unaware of how censored news in Japan, which was governed by the military, would have been.

'In This Corner of the World': A quietly devastating tale of Hiroshima [in print as The atomic bomb drop, as seen by people below it].


Washington Post August 18 2017, p. weekend 26
online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/in-this-corner-of-the-world-a-quietly-devastating-tale-of-hiroshima/2017/08/17/46be2c72-7f7b-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html

Interview with Keith Knight, whose strip appears in Sunday's Post

Cartoonist Keith Knight on Politics, Satire and His Very Busy Schedule

by 

The City Paper on Hind's Poe and King Kirby

Edgar Allan Poe Gets the Illustrated Treatment in Poe: Stories and Poems

Local author Gareth Hinds brings Poe's visceral stories and poems to life in this graphic novel.

Aug 11, 2017

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/books/blog/20972218/poe-stories-and-poems-reviewed

Poe Cover500w


Off the Quill Retells Marvel Comics' Most Infamous Feud in King Kirby [in print as The Strangest Yard]

The story of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee's long, storied history with Marvel Comics is deftly interpreted in this production.

Aug 18, 2017 , p. 22

King Kirby


The City Paper on Hiroshima anime

In This Corner of the World Is a Dainty Anime Set Amid the Hiroshima Bomb Dropping[in print as Worlds Away]

Writer-director Sunao Katabuchi tells a strong feminist story.

Washington City Paper August 18, 2017 , p. 25

Shorts Corneroftheworld33

Gareth Hinds' Beowulf and March vols 1-3 used in teaching

Friday, August 18, 2017

August 19: Girls With Slingshots art auction for Monica Gallagher

From Danielle Corsetto's email list:

I'll be at Bmore Into Comics at The Windup Space in Baltimore this Saturday from 1-7, this time in honor of our founder, my Convention Wife* Monica Gallagher, who's currently going through chemo but is still making comics because she's a badass.

*Randy and I have an open polyconventionspouse relationship.


We're doing a silent auction and I'll be auctioning off three derby-themed GWS original strips and the original art for the event poster! Mimi Massacre's first (well, facial) appearance; Thea and Mimi makin' out in a closet; and Mimi tossing her bouquet at her wedding


I'll also be bringing the original art for some of my recent 32 strips so you can see them in person! Strips like the Dream Girl one I just posted. I maaaaayy also start selling them, we'll see! And of course I'll have books and be doing sketches.

So come out and bid on something in the silent auction, write a note to Monica, or just buy yourself a drink at the bar, because a percentage of drink sales will go to benefit Monica as well!

Don't drink? Buy me a cider! (WHAT, it's for Monica.)

If you can't be there but you wanna help Monica from afar, maybe consider pledging to her Patreon account! She's been posting comics about her experience going through chemo, and it's been fascinating to follow.

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Google Censorship: 100% 'Toxic'"

From Mike Flugennock, DC's anarchist cartoonist

"Google Censorship: 100% 'Toxic'"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2301

Under the pretense of filtering "fake news", Google has begun actively working to suppress Leftist and Progressive news and opinion sites on the Internet with heavily-tweaked algorithms and "toxicity" ratings. Artificial Intelligence? Artificial IDIOCY, more like.

Well, I've applied my own intelligence to this issue, and I've determined that Google is 100% "toxic".

Chew on that, Larry and Sergey.


Scoop on Otakon in DC

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Comic Riffs on New Yorker cover about Trump and KKK

It's done by a Baltimore artist.

Next week's striking New Yorker cover shows Trump traveling with the KKK

Washington Post Comic Riffs blog August 17 2017
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2017/08/17/next-weeks-striking-new-yorker-cover-shows-trump-giving-air-time-to-the-kkk/

PR: Small Press Expo Announces 2017 Ignatz Awards Nominees


SPX 2017 Ignatz Award Nominees

For Immediate Release
Contact: Dan Stafford
Email: danstaff@gmail.com

Bethesda, Maryland; August 17, 2017
Media Release ­—

The Small Press Expo (SPX), the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons, is pleased to announce the 2017 nominees for the annual presentation of the Ignatz Awards, a celebration of outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning. 

The Ignatz, named after George Herriman's brick-wielding mouse from his long running comic strip Krazy Kat, recognizes exceptional work that challenges popular notions of what comics can achieve, both as an art form and as a means of personal expression. The Ignatz Awards are a festival prize, the first of such in the United States comic book industry. This year's Ignatz image is by 2016 Promising New Talent winner, Tillie Walden.

The nominees for the ballot were determined by a panel of five of the best of today's comic artists, Neil Brideau, Glynnis Fawkes, Sara Lautman, Trungles and David Willis, with the votes cast for the awards by the attendees during SPX. The Ignatz Awards will be presented at the gala Ignatz Awards ceremony held on Saturday, September 16, 2017 at 9:30 P.M.

Beginning this year, there will be ten Ignatz Award categories as the Outstanding Anthology or Collection will be separated into two different awards:
  • Outstanding Anthology recognizes a book or other collection of selected writings by various writers usually in the same literary form, of the same period, or on the same subject. e.g. a book of comics by various cartoonists selected from several books by many cartoonists.
  • Outstanding Collection recognizes a book of selected writings from various sources by an author of the same theme or various themes. e.g. a book of selected short comics from various books by the same cartoonist.

Additional information about the nominees can be found at http://www.smallpressexpo.com/spx-2017-ignatz-awards-nominees.

Once again we want to thank our our friends at comiXology for sponsoring the Ignatz Awards. Information on comiXology and their self-publishing portal Submit can be found at https://submit.comixology.com.

Outstanding Artist

  • Pablo Auldadell – Paradise Lost (Pegasus Books)
  • Emil FerrisMy Favorite Thing is Monsters (Fantagrahpics)
  • Manuele FiorThe Interview (Fantagraphics)
  • Karen KatzThe Academic Hour (Secret Acres)  
  • Barbara YelinIrmina (Self Made Hero)

Outstanding Anthology

  • ALPHABET: The LGBTQAIU Creators from Prism Comics – edited by Jon Macy and Tara Madison Avery (Stacked Deck Press)
  • Comic Book Slumber Party's Deep Space Canine – edited by Hanhah K. Chapman (Avery Hill)
  • ELEMENTS: Fire - An Anthology by Creators of Color – edited by Taneka Stotts (Beyond Press)
  • POWER & MAGIC: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology – edited by Joamette Gil (P&M Press)
  • Spanish Fever: Stories by the New Spanish Cartoonists – edited by Javier Olivares & Santiago Garcia (Fantagraphics)

Outstanding Collection

  • Boundless – Jillian Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • The Complete Neat Stuff – Peter Bagge (Fantagraphics)
  • Hip Hop Family Tree, Vol. 2 – Ed Piskor (Fantagraphics)
  • Johnny Wander: Our Cats Are More Famous Than Us - Ananth Hirsh, Yuko Ota (Oni Press)
  • Time Clock – Leslie Stein (Fantagraphics)

Outstanding Graphic Novel

  • Band for Life – Anya Davidson (Fantagraphics)
  • Eartha – Cathy Malkasian (Fantagraphics)
  • March: Book 3 – John Lewis, Nate Powell, Andrew Aydin (Top Shelf)
  • My Favorite Thing is Monsters – Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
  • Tetris – Box Brown (First Second)

Outstanding Story

  • Diana's Electric Tongue – Carolyn Nowak (self published)
  • March: Book 3 – John Lewis, Nate Powell, Andrew Aydin (Top Shelf)
  • My Favorite Thing is Monsters – Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
  • "Small Enough" from Diary Comics – Dustin Harbin (Koyama Press)
  • "Too Hot to Be Cool" from Elements– Maddie Gonzales - (Beyond Press)

Promising New Talent

  • Kelly Bastow – Year Long Summer (self published)
  • Margot FerrickYours (2D Cloud)
  • Aud Koch – "Run" from the Oath Anthology (Mary's Monster)
  • Isabella RotmanLong Black Veil (self-published)
  • Bianca Xunise – Say Her Name (self-published)

Outstanding Series

  • Chester 5000 – Jess Fink (self-published)
  • Crickets – Sammy Harkham (self-published)
  • Frontier – edited by Ryan Sands (Youth in Decline)
  • Maleficium – Sabin Couldron (self-published)
  • The Old Woman – Rebecca Mock (self-published)

Outstanding Comic

  • Canopy – Karine Bernadou (Retrofit/Big Planet)
  • Libby's Dad – Eleanor Davis (Retrofit/Big Planet)
  • Public Relations #10 – Matthew Sturges, Dave Justus, Steve Rolston, Annie Wu (1First Comics)
  • Sunburning – Keiler Roberts (Koyama Press)
  • Your Black Friend – Ben Passmore (Silver Sprocket)

Outstanding Minicomic

  • The Man Who Came Down the Attic Stairs – Celine Loup
  • Our Tale of Woe – Keren Katz & Geffen Refaeli
  • Reverse Flaneur – M. Sabine Rear
  • Same Place Same Time – Ann Xu
  • Tender Hearted – Hazel Newlevant

Outstanding Online Comic


In the next few weeks, SPX will announce additional guests, special events, and a full slate of programming.
 
Small Press Expo (SPX) is the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels, and alternative political cartoons. SPX is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit that brings together more than 650 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers, and distributors each year. Graphic novels, mini comics, and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators. The expo includes a series of panel discussions and interviews with this year's guests.
 
The Ignatz Award is a festival prize held every year at SPX recognizing outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning, with the winners chosen by attendees at the show.

As in previous years, profits from the SPX will go to support the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program, which funds graphic novel purchases for public and academic libraries, as well as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), which protects the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals. For more information on the CBLDF, visit their website at http://www.cbldf.org. For more information on the Small Press Expo, please visit http://www.smallpressexpo.com.



Keeling in 'The Nib'

Would You Run 2000 Miles to Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline?

In 2016, a young group of NoDAPL activists did -- from North Dakota to Washington, D.C.

Fantom Comics seeks tavern license

Fantom Comics looks to get into the booze biz

Rebecca Cooper/Washington Business Journal

Fantom Comics co-owner Matt Klokel was getting sick of shelling out up to $300 for a temporary liquor license every time his Dupont Circle comics shop wanted to serve beer at a release party or costume event.

So Klokel, who has owned the shop with Dave Bishop and a silent partner for 12 years, is seeking a permanent tavern license to serve wine, beer and spirits at 2010 P St. NW anytime they want. That will cost $1,000 for a three-year period.

Read the article.

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Peak Liberal" Featured on the Jimmy Dore Show

DC's anarchist cartoonist, Mike Flugennock, did a cartoon that got some air time this summer:


"Peak Liberal" Featured On The Jimmy Dore Show
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2295

As usual, it seems I'm always the last to find out about stuff like this. Still, better late than never...

Back in May, the always razor-sharp Jimmy Dore Show featured my "Peak Liberal" cartoon in an episode discussing Liberals' insane obsession with their Russia conspiracy wankery in the context of the then-upcoming "March For Truth" held in Washington, DC this past June.

As Jimmy points out, the look, attitude and overall idiocy of Liberals' public events openly displaying their cracked-up freakery is a classic case of "life imitating art".

"Peak Liberal"
Cartoon by Mike Flugennock, February 20, 2017
"Peak Liberal" http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2214


"Corporate Democrats Protesting Trump Literally Turn Into Cartoon"
Jimmy Dore Show, May 17, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvxY46nzKFY

Sean Hill interviewed on Multiversity Comics

The Big Break #2: Sean Damien Hill

By Anthony Savage/Multiversity Comics

I started reading comics in the 90’s which gave way to the “rock star” artist creators like Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, and even Rob Leifield one of the creators of Deadpool, and Cable.
One aspiring artist that would’ve fit in nicely with those rock stars in my opinion is artist Sean Damien Hill.

Read the article.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Meet a Local Cartoonist: A Chat with Hobbes Holluck

20160917_133135
Hobbes Holluck and Karly Perez at SPX 2016


by Mike Rhode

Hobbes Holluck of Winchester, VA participated in the Heroic Aleworks comic book fair this spring, and asked to postpone an interview until he launched his new Kickstarter campaign.  It's live now, so he's telling us about his career by answering our usual questions.

What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

The things that seem to be constantly recurring in my work are monsters and humor.  Right now I have two fairly distinct styles I work in.  One is a very colorful cartoony style that I use when I do my own storytelling.  The other is a much more dark and expressive style I developed working with Karly Perez.

How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

I generally work traditionally if I can.  I use pencil, ink, inkwash, markers, airbrush, acrylic paint, gouache, etc.  I basically use whatever medium is appropriate for the effect I want.  For Fuzzbuquet, the current story I'm working on, I will generally start with a pencil sketch, ink it, color it using copic markers and then use airbrush for the background and special effects.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

I was born in San Juan Puerto Rico in 1981.  Growing up in the 80's had a substantial influence on my work.  Saturday morning cartoons, toy culture, Garbage Pail Kids, and that era of comics definitely resonated with me.  I could go on and on....

Why are you in Washington now?  What neighborhood or area do you live in?

I grew up in the suburbs of D.C. in Chantilly, VA.  I spent about 5 years in Richmond for grad school and then moved back to the area to work as an art teacher.  I recently moved to Winchester.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

I have a BA in fine art from Virginia Tech but I didn't learn much about comics or cartooning there.  I probably learned more about the art of cartooning from the blog of John K than anywhere else.  Spending time studying my favorite artworks/cartoons/comics and trying to recreate techniques I see is also quite illuminating.  I learn a lot from artists who share their work on YouTube and social media.

Who are your influences?

The classic Looney Tunes and Disney shorts (especially those by Jack Hannah and Chuck Jones) John K, Ralph Bakshi, Dave Sim, Eastman and Laird, Brom, Tony Diterlizzi, Eric Powell... again the list could go on and on.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

I wish I would have spent more time making things and less time playing video games.  

What work are you best-known for?

Fuzzbuquet.

What work are you most proud of?

Fuzzbuquet.  I finally feel like I am producing a story that's close to the way I envisioned it in my head.  It's a fantasy story that's heavily influenced by my love of the cartoons in the 80's and early 90's but it's also very much its own thing.  While it's a whimsical tale, I think once I get through the whole story it will be a meaningful one as well.  I also really identify with the main character- He's an idiot chasing his dreams. 

What would you like to do  or work on in the future?

If and when I finish Fuzzbuquet, I'd like to get into making wooden nutcrackers from scratch.
 
What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

If I don't feel like drawing/painting I try to force myself work for at least 30 minutes.  If I'm still not feeling it I'll take a break and come back to it when I'm ready.  As far as writer's block, I usually let my best thoughts come to me when I'm driving to work in the morning or taking a shower and then record them as soon as I can.  My wife is also a phenomenal help when it comes to writing, critiquing and bouncing off ideas.

What do you think will be the future of your field? 

It seems things are going more and more digital.  Maybe that's why I enjoy working traditionally so much.
  
What local cons do you attend? The Small Press Expo, Intervention, or others? Any comments about attending them?

Small Press Expo, Awesome Con and Baltimore Comic Con.  I think each one appeals to a slightly different crowd.  I've had good experiences at all three. 


What's your favorite thing about DC?

Joining the DC Conspiracy and finding other people that love making comics as much as me.

Least favorite?

The traffic.

What monument or museum do you like to take visitors to?

The National Gallery holds a special place in my heart.  I vividly remember my trip there in 5th grade and it changed my life.  It has a little something for everyone and it always brings back great memories.
 
How about a favorite local restaurant?

This is outside the city but in Burke, VA there is a tiny little Spanish restaurant called El Pueblo.  If you go, get the Xango's for dessert.  Bananas and cheesecake never tasted so good.

Do you have a website or blog?

Venus's Comic Shop featured in Washington Informer

D.C. Welcomes Only Black-Owned Comic Book Shop

The Washington Informer

Premiering as one of only three comic books stores located in D.C. and the only one currently owned by people of color, owners of the new Venus’s Comic Shop say it is a “dream come true.”
Read the full article.

ReDistricted on Roy Clark

The Lightening fingers of Roy Clark

Story by Matt Dembicki

Art by Matt Rawson

 https://www.redistrictedcomics.com/royclark

In the 1970s and '80s, Roy Clark was one of country music's biggest stars, thanks largely to his co-hosting the popular TV show "Hee Haw." But he cut his hillbilly playin' ways in the clubs of Washington and its suburbs, before moving on to Nashville, Las Vegas and Hollywood. 

Monday, August 14, 2017

Comic Riffs on Shannon Wheeler and Ward Sutton

One author pored over Trump's tweets for months. These are the conclusions he drew.


Washington Post
Comic Riffs blog August 14 2017
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2017/08/14/one-author-pored-over-trumps-tweets-for-months-these-are-the-conclusions-he-drew/
 

Why the Onion's 'Kelly' is the best bad cartoonist in America



Washington Post Comic Riffs blog August 10 2017
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2017/08/10/why-the-onions-kelly-is-the-best-bad-cartoonist-in-america/


Gareth Hinds' Poe adaptation reviewed in this week's City Paper

It's not online, but...

Ottenberg, Eve. 2017.
Illustrated Horror - Poe: Stories and Poems by Gareth Hinds.
Washington City Paper (August 11)

Wayne’s Comics Podcast #294: David Miller

Wayne's Comics Podcast #294: David Miller


This week's episode #294 features the return of David Miller, who discusses his newest comic limited series The Frankenstein Zombie, among other things! His Indiegogo for this series ends in the next couple of days, so this is the perfect time to jump on board! David talks about the original classic story being his inspiration for the book as well as the various supporting characters in the series as well as what it took to bring this together! For more about The Frankenstein Zombie, go to this link! Time is of the essence, so once you've listened to this interview, be sure to head to the Indiegogo link above to support this great comic!