Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Introducing: Democratic Donuts"!
From DC's anarchist cartoonist, Mike Flugennock:
"Democratic Donuts"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2533
If you've been involved as long as I have with the Dirtbag Left -- or, as us old folks call it, the Left -- you're intimately familiar with the infamous Donut Incident at the DNC Galactic HQ on Capitol Hill:
"...The grievances converge around a recent trip to deliver petitions to the party's headquarters in Washington, where Turner and other progressives were greeted by barricades, security guards, and an offering of donuts and water, which she saw as an empty gesture indicative of an institution that isn't 'smart enough, humble enough, to say, 'let's take a step back and really listen to the people'...".
– Nina Turner, quoted on BuzzFeed, 08.09.17
Needless to say, the Hillaroids and other centrist dead-enders proceeded to taunt the Left on Twitter with snide donut references and the use of donut emojis in their handles, earning them the epithet "Twitter Donuts".
On top of all that, what with Nancy Pelosi personally promising to do exactly jack shit -- and, in fact, make things even worse -- if the Progressives help the DNC take back the House, it seemed high time that the disruptive entrepreneurs who brought you the Democratic Diner rolled out a new, even more disruptive food spectacular, Democratic Donuts!
Feast your retinas and drool at their inaugural "Premier Assortment"...
"Democratic Donuts"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=25
If you've been involved as long as I have with the Dirtbag Left -- or, as us old folks call it, the Left -- you're intimately familiar with the infamous Donut Incident at the DNC Galactic HQ on Capitol Hill:
"...The grievances converge around a recent trip to deliver petitions to the party's headquarters in Washington, where Turner and other progressives were greeted by barricades, security guards, and an offering of donuts and water, which she saw as an empty gesture indicative of an institution that isn't 'smart enough, humble enough, to say, 'let's take a step back and really listen to the people'...".
– Nina Turner, quoted on BuzzFeed, 08.09.17
Needless to say, the Hillaroids and other centrist dead-enders proceeded to taunt the Left on Twitter with snide donut references and the use of donut emojis in their handles, earning them the epithet "Twitter Donuts".
On top of all that, what with Nancy Pelosi personally promising to do exactly jack shit -- and, in fact, make things even worse -- if the Progressives help the DNC take back the House, it seemed high time that the disruptive entrepreneurs who brought you the Democratic Diner rolled out a new, even more disruptive food spectacular, Democratic Donuts!
Feast your retinas and drool at their inaugural "Premier Assortment"...
Comic Riffs talks to Jules Feiffer
How a hunt through the Library of Congress helped get a new movie made
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
You, too, can write reviews!
by Melissa Riggio
You close the book (or click "exit" on the eReader). Satisfied with the story, you briefly think over the characters, the plot, and maybe one or two things you would have changed, but overall, it was a great read. You've got a bit of time left today before you tackle your responsibilities - perhaps time to start another book?
You close the book (or click "exit" on the eReader). Satisfied with the story, you briefly think over the characters, the plot, and maybe one or two things you would have changed, but overall, it was a great read. You've got a bit of time left today before you tackle your responsibilities - perhaps time to start another book?
Or you could consider pausing to write a review.
Reviews are a huge industry within the publishing world. From a one-line Goodreads review to a full-page review in the New York Times, a good review can boost a book up in sales - or plummet it down to obscurity. There are entire blogs dedicated to book reviews, down to specific genres (YA, urban paranormal romance, steampunk, LGBTQ - endlessly niche for every taste). Comic books (graphic novels, individual issues, tradebacks) also are items you can review.
Where does the average reader without a blog or following fit into this? They fit in quite easily, actually. There are plenty of platforms to leave a review, the most popular ones being Amazon and Goodreads. The reviews can be short - from one sentence to several paragraphs, to a whole page.
So why should you write a review, even if you don't have the clout of a New York Times or NPR reviewer?
It's useful for publishing companies and authors to see the reviews and use them for publicity, or, in turn, learn from them - if enough reviews say the same thing, it could affect the publishing of the book, for better or worse.
Some tips for writing reviews
· avoid negatively reviewing a book due to a shipping problem, or error with the online ordering service.
· avoid reviewing poorly based on a dislike of the theme itself - if you dislike horror, and read a horror book, giving it 1 star because you dislike horror is a discredit to the book for simply existing within its genre. (You may find this odd, but if you read through enough Goodreads reviews, you'll find people rating books very lowly because they "just don't like romance novels", and yet read an entire one and proceeded to review it poorly for being a romance novel.)
· if you're having trouble finding the words, just mention a particular passage, panel, or quote that struck you. For comic books, the artist and writer can sometimes be different, so commenting on them individually is something you can also do.
· "I couldn't put the book down" or "I read it so quickly because I had to know what happened" are valid reviews - it's not about the length of the review as much as the sentiment and thought behind it.
Still a little nervous about writing reviews? You can mark certain reviews on books you've read as "helpful" or not on Amazon, which can push certain reviews to the top that you feel really help a reader decide if they should read the book or not.
If you've purchased books from Amazon lately, you can go through your back orders and leave reviews on those pages. It's been debated how much leaving a review can alter the ranking of a book, and if the review being a verified purchase matters or not (as in, purchased from Amazon under your account, thus proving you did have the item) but all of the other reasons to review still apply.
If you're on Instagram, Twitter, or Tumblr, you can take a picture of the book and tag the author or publishing company - reader pictures are great inspiration and motivation for authors. Seeing their book "in the wild" is something almost every author aims for. Some people "live review" books as they are reading them, quote lines, and post critiques as they go along, which is another way to have a reviewing experience with a book.
So glance through your bookshelf (or Kindle library), see the books that inspired you or made you think, and take a minute publish a review! The authors and publishers will thank you.
Melissa Riggio is a a local comics professional who works for Rosarium Publishing in the DC area. She is an avid Goodreads/Amazon reviewer and library fanatic who will be occasionally posting on here about topics related to comics, publishing, and reviews.
Melissa Riggio is a a local comics professional who works for Rosarium Publishing in the DC area. She is an avid Goodreads/Amazon reviewer and library fanatic who will be occasionally posting on here about topics related to comics, publishing, and reviews.
Monday, June 11, 2018
June 15: PAPER CUTS / LIVE Comic Extravaganza
PAPER CUTS / LIVE Comic Extravaganza
https://www.wpadc.org/events/paper-cuts-live-comic-extravaganza
Join us for the final PAPER CUTS / LIVE conversation, curated by artist Christopher Kardambikis and featuring comic book artists: Adam Griffiths, Kendra and Kat, Athena Naylor, and Anna Sellheim. The conversation and reading will be recorded and archived as a PAPER CUTS podcast. This is part of an ongoing series of conversations related to Bookshelves: PAPER CUTS / LIVE which is on view through July 5.
Location
Washington Project for the Arts
2124 8th Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Dates
Friday, June 15, 2018, 7:30pm
Related Exhibition
Bookshelves: PAPER CUTS / LIVE
February 16 – July 5, 2018
About the artists
Adam Griffiths is a cartoonist, illustrator and arts organizer based in the DC region. Griffiths' studio practice is cartooning, comics, and illustration-focused with a politicized, diy image production ethos that he calls ZAGO. He has exhibited his illustration and video work with Washington Project for the Arts, Hillyer Art Space, School 33, the International Curatorial and Studio Practice (ISCP) program, and Transformer Gallery. He has completed workshops and residencies at The Center for Cartooning Studies in White River Junction, VT and Comics Workbook in Pittsburgh, PA, and tabled at the annual Small Press Expo (SPX) in Bethesda. He will present his first solo show at Arlington Art Center in Virginia in 2018. Recently, he published the first installment of his 600-page graphic novel Washington White as a tabloid newspaper, and last year released his first mini-comic, The Permanent Night. Online, he posts full-color illustrations, numerous character sketches, works-in-process, and a weekly comic strip titled American Cryo-.
Kendra & Kat have been making comics together for 8 years, and plotting over cupcakes for far longer. With comics and zines that run the gamut from queer space pirate shenanigans to illustrated cookbooks inspired by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, they are driven by sparkles and fun. Their work has been featured in anthologies such as Coven and Purity, and they've been a staple in the DC-area comic scene since tabling at DC Zinefest back in 2012.
Athena Naylor is an autobiographical cartoonist and illustrator based in DC and originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Included in her many interests are: perceptions of memory, everyday absurdity, and contemporary adaptations of historical events and stories. She earned a master's degree in art history to explore the relationship between art history and comics, and her writing has been featured in DIRT magazine. You can most easily find updates on her current creative projects on instagram @athena.naylor.
Anna Sellheim is a cartoonist practicing out of Rehoboth Beach DE and is desperately trying to relocate back to the DC/Baltimore area. Her work tends to focus on mental health and progressive politics. She received her MFA in cartooning from the Center For Cartoon Studies in 2016. She has been in multiple anthologies including Sweaty Palms, Dirty Diamonds Vol 6, and Comics for Choice. Her second volume of her mental health series Everything's Fine has been nominated for a Broken Pencil Zine Award, received an honorable mention for a DINKy award in the best zine category, and won a MICE mini grant.
Saturday, June 09, 2018
That darn Hagar, Judge Parker and Mark Trail
Why I read terrible comics such as 'Mark Trail' and 'Judge Parker' [in print as No longer at full tilt].
Asher Roth, Broadlands
Washington Post (June 9 2018): A15
online a thttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-i-read-terrible-comics-such-as-mark-trail-and-judge-parker/2018/06/07/eae4f078-691e-11e8-a335-c4503d041eaf_story.html
Under Trump, jokes about burning books aren't funny [Hagar the Horrible; in print as Searingly unfunny].
W. Luther Jett, Washington Grove
Washington Post (June 9 2018): A15
The Post on SpongeBob's staying power
How 'SpongeBob SquarePants' invaded our brains [in print as SpongeBob fits in anywhere with ease].
Friday, June 08, 2018
Weldon on Cloak and Dagger at NPR
'Marvel's Cloak & Dagger' Shines A Light That Flickers — And Then Glows
Bill Watterson art auction for Team Cul de Sac - information on bidding
In honor of Arlington's Richard Thompson who passed away two years ago fro Parkinson's disease, Bill Watterson has donated a signed sketch in The Complete Calvin and Hobbes book vol. 1
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June 29: Lucy Bellwood in DC
100 DEMON DIALOGUES, Lucy Bellwood
https://www.eastcitybookshop.com/event/100-demon-dialogues-lucy-bellwood-0
Event date:
Friday, June 29, 2018 - 6:30pm
Event address:
Store Hours
Mon - Sat 10a - 8p
Sun 11a - 6p
645 Pennsylvania Ave SE
Washington, DC 20003
tel 202.290.1636
Join East City Bookshop and Lucy Bellwood, author of 100 Demon Dialogues, for a book talk and signing.
Let us know you're coming on Facebook or at rsvp@eastcitybookshop.com
100 Demon Dialogues, a collection of comics, traces Bellwood's changing relationship with her Inner Critic over the course of 100 consecutive days. After connecting with thousands of readers online, she's taking the book on the road to hear your stories of living with imposter syndrome. If you've ever felt like you're a fake or a failure, this collection is guaranteed to make you feel less alone.
Lucy Bellwood is a professional Adventure Cartoonist based in Portland, OR. As an outspoken advocate for transparency in creative careers, Lucy has presented on subjects like following an independent path, the finances of freelancing, and working with imposter syndrome at events and institutions around the globe. Her latest collection takes a hilarious, humanizing look at what it's really like to persevere when our Inner Critics are trying to take the wheel. She is a member of Helioscope, the largest collective of freelance comics professionals in North America, where she spearheads the studio's Mentorship Program.
June 20: Fantom Comics signing
Fantom Comics presents Moon Racer / Zack Bly / L.K. Swanson
https://www.facebook.com/events/197516180881681/
· Hosted by Moon Racer and Fantom Comics
Wednesday, June 20 at 7:30 PM - 10 PM |
Fantom Comics
2010 P St NW, 2nd Floor, Washington, District of Columbia 20036
It's like a Tiny Desk Concert but at Fantom Comics!
Moon Racer (Durham, NC)
https://orindalrecords.bandcamp.com/album/is-it-really-a-secret
Moon Racer is a hazy, lo-fi spell of distorted beats, warm synths, and melodically melancholic vocals. Stopping in at Fantom Comics to play songs from her new tape out on Orindal Records
Zack Bly (DC)
https://blycomics.com/nat-comics/
DC cartoonist providing comic and zine accompaniment.
Zack also illustrated Moon Racer's bedroom in the video for "Song of the Mogwai," which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThAhZHE4vcw
LK Swanson (DC)
Opening with a The Moth-style story about friendship and art.
Starts at 7:30! Free!
It's like a Tiny Desk Concert but at Fantom Comics!
Moon Racer (Durham, NC)
https://orindalrecords.bandcamp.com/album/is-it-really-a-secret
Moon Racer is a hazy, lo-fi spell of distorted beats, warm synths, and melodically melancholic vocals. Stopping in at Fantom Comics to play songs from her new tape out on Orindal Records
Zack Bly (DC)
https://blycomics.com/nat-comics/
DC cartoonist providing comic and zine accompaniment.
Zack also illustrated Moon Racer's bedroom in the video for "Song of the Mogwai," which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThAhZHE4vcw
LK Swanson (DC)
Opening with a The Moth-style story about friendship and art.
Starts at 7:30! Free!
June 13: Darron DJ Jackson signing in Silver Spring
The Magic Order Cover Artist Darron DJ Jackson Signing
https://www.facebook.com/events/218235662313572/
Public
· Hosted by Alliance Comics Silver Spring
Wednesday, June 13 at 3 PM - 8 PM |
Alliance Comics Silver Spring
8317 Fenton St, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
Details
So much to say about this! Mark Millar's THE MAGIC ORDER #1 is going to be the coolest book of the summer and Alliance is proud to have our very own exclusive variant cover by the incomparable Darron DJ Jackson!
DJ has not only drawn the cover for this limited edition variant. He is going to be autographing your copy at the store on release day: Wednesday June 13th. Join us from 3pm to 8pm and get yours before they are gone!!!
DJ has not only drawn the cover for this limited edition variant. He is going to be autographing your copy at the store on release day: Wednesday June 13th. Join us from 3pm to 8pm and get yours before they are gone!!!
Thursday, June 07, 2018
An Interview on Dead Reckoning with editor Gary Thompson
by Mike Rhode
When was the Naval Institute Press established, and why? Was Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October its first foray into fiction?
The U.S. Naval Institute was founded in 1873 by a group of Naval Officers to serve as a forum outside of the chain of command in which they could discuss matters of professional interest in the Navy. At these meetings the initial members of the Institute would exchange ideas, discuss how to advance the knowledge of sea power, and consider ways to preserve our naval and maritime heritage. Eventually, the proceedings of those meetings were published and distributed throughout the fleet. These publications are what became our Proceedings magazine, which is still being published today.
Yes, The Hunt for Red October was the first book of fiction to be put out by the Naval Institute Press, the book publishing arm of the Naval Institute. Though we aren’t formally affiliated with the Navy or military, we do serve as the university press for the U.S. Naval Academy. For most of the history of the Naval Institute Press, which started back in 1898, you can easily see that relationship since the Press published mostly manuals on how to be a good sailor for the Academy. Since then the Press has branched out considerably. We still publish academic histories and professional development books, but eventually took on books of general interest, moved onto fiction, and now we are pressing on to graphic novels.
When was the decision made to move into graphic novels / non-fiction?
We made the decision back in 2015 to move into graphic novels. I was in a meeting with the Press Director and he was asking me what I wanted to do next and how I wanted to move forward in my career. I put forward the idea of graphic novels thinking it would be dismissed immediately, but to the Director’s credit he instantly liked the idea. Then it became a matter of finding a book, then a question of why we would only do one book, then a presentation on why graphic novels are a growing market and a sound investment, and finally it was decided to make the leap into creating a whole imprint.
How did the clever name come up for the imprint?
Actually, it was one of the first things that came to mind! It just had a cool ring to it. Of course, I put together a list of other candidates—I asked around, read through dictionaries of nautical terminology, researched mythologies and lore, even came up with a few that just sounded cool. Ultimately, I think everyone just liked Dead Reckoning. The more you thought about it the more applicable it felt.
How many people work on the graphic novel line?For now, I am the only person that is working exclusively for Dead Reckoning, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t several of us. For now, as this imprint gets off the ground, I am sharing the people and resources of the Naval Institute Press staff, so we have directors, marketing and publicity staff, production editors, and freelancers all working to make Dead Reckoning a successful imprint and to make our books as good as they can be. There’s about a dozen of us that have our hands in this pot, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people.
What's your role in acquiring and shaping the books for publication?
I have a weird title: Graphic Novel Lead. I wish there were something more common I could give you, but that’s what I’ve got. Still, I think it shows that I do a little bit of everything here, though I gladly hand off duties beyond my ken to those who have a better grasp of them. My main function—or maybe it’s just the function I enjoy the most—is in acquisitions. I find as may projects as I can that I think would work, pitch the ones I think are worthwhile to our directors, then do what I can to make the deal, and finally work with the teams as an editor to help make their scripts and art the best version of their vision that they can be. And while acquisitions and editorial are almost exclusively my realm, I’ve probably played some part in every decision big or small.
Out of your first four titles, two are memoirs of current wars, one is a 'funny animal' retelling of World War I, and one is a reprint of a classic comic book. What was the thinking behind launching the imprint with a fairly wide range of genres?
I don’t think of Trench Dogs as a funny animal book*, but that aside, the idea is to show a broad range of interests and approaches. So far, when we’ve been showing these off, we’ve had good reactions from people who all like the books, but one stands out as their favorite. I like to think that shows a positive response to this “something for everybody” approach. Machete Squad is a more literary memoir, The ‘Stan is more graphic journalism, Trench Dogs is a work of indie art, and The Best of Don Winslow of the Navy is classic comics. With that, we provide several different entry points for a wide variety of readers.
As a comics fan, I grew up reading lots of superheroes and monthly floppies, then I read tons of manga, then I really fell in love with indie comics. For me, that seemed like a natural progression and a way to always have something to read in this medium. Maybe I was naïve, but it took me a long time to realize that for most people these three readerships are completely unique and separate from each other. I think that’s a dumb idea. Comics, as a whole, is growing, the readership is expanding, and the way to cultivate life-long readers is to create content that reflects a wider variety of interests.
As we continue to grow, the titles we publish will get broader, partially because of my eclectic tastes, and partially to create as many ports of entry as possible.
For the books with multiple creators, do you put together a team to work on it (as children's books and mainstream comic books do), or do you accept a pre-existing proposal with the team already assembled?I greatly, greatly prefer pre-existing teams. I have and will put more teams together in the future, but I’d rather that be the minority.
How many books do you plan to do a year? Is 2019's slate already full and in production?
We’ll have to see. We are starting for four titles in the Fall 2018 season, but will certainly be growing from there. For 2019 I’m aiming for around 10 titles and hoping to expand to an even dozen in 2020. I believe there’s still room to grow beyond that, but I’d hope to have another editor to help out by then!
Who do you see the audience being? Do you see sales through comic book stores, bookstores, or student book fairs? Are you anticipating strong library sales?
I see the audience as young, smart, and curious. I’m interested in making many of the topics we are looking to publish more accessible, but not childish or hand-holdy. Even though we won’t exclusively publish non-fiction, I see everything we print as being educational in some way, but that doesn’t mean is has to be didactic, just more realistic.
You should be able to find our books in comic shops (this first round will be solicited in the July Previews), book shops, and maybe even a specialty store or two. The library market is huge for graphic novels in general and we feel that our books would be a great fit for them. I’ll be at the American Library Association’s Annual Meeting later this month to meet with more librarians and talk about our upcoming slate.
Is the size of the proof books going to be the standard size of the line? (I'm thinking of the Don Winslow book in particular as it is about half the size of the original comic books).No, the ARCs aren’t representative of the final sizes of the books. Most will be in the standard comic trim of 6-5/8 x 10-1/4”. Don Winslow will be 8-1/2 x 11” like most of Craig Yoe’s other books.
It’s funny you mention the size of the books (all of our ARCs being 6 x 9”) because I think that’s been a great example of how we have had to learn on the fly when transitioning our book publishing knowledge to graphic novel publishing knowledge. For the most part, when you are doing an ARC or review galley for a regular book, you can print them in a different trim or with various differences for whatever reason and it doesn’t really matter. People know that’s not a perfect representation of the final product. For the comic market, though, that doesn’t seem to be the case. As we have been sending out our ARCs we have fielded the question of their size more than I ever thought we would. Over time, we realized that most people in this part of the publishing world expect their early copies to be almost exactly the final product. So I imagine we will do something different for our Spring 2019 books.
Beyond that, I would say the final sizes of these initial four books are very representative of what we are looking for. Creators can certainly suggest trim sizes they think work better for their stories, but we are looking for books that are roughly between 128 and 250 pages. Classic collections like Don Winslow will tend to be longer than original works.
At its heart, Maus is a war memoir. Are you open to publishing books that would tell the story of the people that suffer from a war?
I would argue that all of our books are about people who suffer in war, but yes, I would love to see projects that are like Maus or similar. With books like Machete Squad and The ‘Stan, we put ourselves in a great position to tell the true stories of ground-level participants in our current ongoing wars. But the effects of war don’t stop with the men and women who fight them. We are just as interested in publishing stories of their aftermath and fallout.
Though our primary focus is military history, we are also interested in nautical and maritime stories, espionage stories, space exploration, and more. There’s a lot that come from a general area of interest. For example, it’s a goal of mine to eventually get a Macross or The Legend of the Galactic Heroes-style space drama. Not only because I’m a fan of those kinds of stories, but because I’d like for us to contribute to the long history of military science fiction that lead to them.
Are you looking into acquiring non-American material and publishing translations?
You will see books that we have licensed and translated starting in 2019!
There are several markets in the world that have long-standing traditions of publishing the kinds of books we are looking for, so it would be silly of me to ignore them. I’m happy to say that we have already made a number of agreements with foreign publishers and I’m always looking for more.
I've read three of the books you've sent so far, but want to ask about one specific story. Trench Dogs seems be largely a linear, but non-narrative depiction of the horrors of World War I as seen by each nation participating, all of which are depicted as different animals, until it reaches America and suddenly veers into race relations. Given that the animals are all depicted as one color anyway, and Americans are all cats, it's hard to tell what is happening and why, especially since it's outside of the main storyline. Can you give us some idea of what author Ian Densford wanted to do with this narrative twist?This is a great point and I would love to address it.
So, spoilers, obviously, for the book that isn’t out yet, but it isn’t terribly narrative, so take that with a grain of salt. When Ian Densford and I were discussing the story he wanted to tell, he described it as something of a “floating camera” that would move its way from character to character and from front to front. In his efforts to show the absolute horrors of World War I, it was necessary to show several characters not only dying, buy dying in the abysmally terrific ways that were true and common for the conflict. So you usually only follow a character for a little while before they either die or pass on the “camera” in some other way. But the goal was to encompass the totality of the horrors of the war in one grand swoop. But, as I mentioned before, the effects of war don’t stop with the men and women who are immediately participating in them. They sow chaos and unrest in other ways. This was a topic of conversation when discussing how to end the book, and that brings us to the Harlem Hellfighters and the “Red Summer” race riots.
In Trench Dogs all of the different countries are represented by different animals, the Americans being cats. When we are introduced to the Harlem Hellfighters, an infantry unit made up mostly of African Americans, they are painted in the same way and with the same coloration as all other Americans. You see them at first being sneered at and being tasked with menial and offensive labor before they take on an attachment with the French army and are treated as equals, rather than inferiors. There, the Hellfighters preform some extraordinary feats and are both honored and decorated by the French. But when they get back to America, they are scorned yet again and attacked in the ensuing race riots, leading one member to run for his life at the very end, something he managed to avoid doing while at war.
But, as you say, there is a confusion there—a tension between the book and the reader, who likely doesn’t understand what is happening and why. Why are these men being treated so poorly? Why are people sneering and giving them dirty looks? Why are they being attacked? Then the KKK shows up, and it all fits into place.
Ian, rightly, stood his ground when we discussed this segment. I suggested we make them black cats or calico, just something to help out the reader. But for Ian the question and the confusion were more important. Why are these men being treated this way? They are no different than the men around them. They are serving their country and putting their lives on the line like everyone else.
Ultimately, racists find a way to hate, no matter what the difference is nor how consequential. Ian did not want to give people even that modicum of an opportunity to say these men are different. So that confusion you and other readers will have when reading that segment is Ian sitting on your shoulder and whispering in your ear, “Why is this happening? Why is this happening?” And you can’t answer it. There is no reason. Until the KKK show up. Then you know that regardless of reason, someone found a way.
Hopefully, as readers close the book and are left thinking about how much these men sacrificed and how they were subsequently treated, they will take a moment to think that we are in the centennial of the first World War, and will soon be in the centennial of the riots. Perhaps they will ask themselves, “Why is this happening?”
*It's not a conventional funny animal comic (you can see a list here), but that's the traditional term used, as anthropomorphic animal doesn't really roll off people's tongues.
In keeping with our self-appointed mandate to cover local comics news, two other interviews with Thompson can be found at:
Griepp, Milton. 2017.
ICv2 Interview: Gary Thompson On New Imprint; Dead Reckoning Will Specialize in Military and Naval GNs.ICv2 (October 20): https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/38720/icv2-interview-gary-thompson-new-imprint
Sahadachny, Greg. 2018.
Debatable – Gary Thompson On Comics Imprint “Dead Reckoning”.
Debatable podcast (135; March 31): https://actionagogo.com/2018/03/31/debatable-gary-thompson-on-comics-imprint-dead-reckoning/ and http://traffic.libsyn.com/debatablepod/DEBATABLE_135_-_Dead_Reckoning_with_Gary_Thompson.mp3
June 9: Isola creators at Third Eye Comics
at THIRD EYE ANNAPOLIS
Click here for the event info on FACEBOOK
Hello Third Eye Faithful!
When we first took a glance at ISOLA - we knew right away that this book was going to be truly special, and Third Eye Faithful, after sitting down with issue #1 - we can tell you we were absolutely right.
This lush, gorgeously illustrated sci-fi fantasy epic takes us back to our youth when we spent way too much time playing FINAL FANTASY VII, and eagerly sought out every Miyazaki film we could find.
Seriously though, imagine the world-building and epic storytelling of SEVEN TO ETERNITY and mix that with a STUDIO GHIBLI aesthetic, and that sums up ISOLA very well.
And, because we're so pumped on the book, we've put together a very special signing to bring ISOLA creators BRENDEN FLETCHER (BATGIRL OF BURNSIDE, MOTOR CRUSH, GOTHAM ACADEMY) and KARL KERSCHL (GOTHAM ACADEMY) to Third Eye!
PR: Ready for Steadman? Opening Reception and Gallery Talk 6/16
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Wednesday, June 06, 2018
Fluggenock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Where's Melania?"
From Mike Fluggenock, DC's anarchist cartoonist.
"Where's Melania?"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2526
So... Flint, Michigan still doesn't have clean water, at least half of
Puerto Rico still doesn't have electricity months after the hurricane,
the Israeli army is shooting first responders at the protests in Gaza,
we're still funding Saudi atrocities in Yemen, and what are the US
media yelling about...?
I can't even, man.
Tuesday, June 05, 2018
June 6: Comics Auction in Falls Church
Collectors Series: Comic Books & Comic Art - June 6, 2018 June 6, 2018 @ 6:00PM Quinn's Auction Galleries and Waverly Rare Books are proud to offer a Collectors Series Auction of Comic Books & Comic Art. Amassed from several long-standing collections, this sale ranges from the Golden Age of Comics to Modern and present-day issues. A significant number have been graded by the CGC, an independent comic evaulation service trusted by collectors worldwide. Highlights of the sale include: original storyboard art by Sal and John Buscema, The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (Marvel, 1964), and Thor #165 (Marvel, 1969).
Absentee
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