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Thursday, June 14, 2018
July 2: Cuddles & Rage at Hooray for Books
Ted White editorial in Falls Church News-Press
Shortly after he had a letter appear in The Post, retired comic book writer/editor Ted White has a substantial anti-gun editorial in his local newspaper.
Guest Commentary: On School Shootings, Falls Church & the Past
By Ted White
RVA Magazine profiles Richmond-based comic book
Sink/Swim Press Releases Third Issue of Post-Apocalyptic Comic, The Savage Lyrics
https://rvamag.com/art/zines-books/sink-swim-press-releases-third-issue-of-post-apocalyptic-comic-the-savage-lyrics.html
David Apatoff's Saturday Evening Post columns
Who knew that Northern Virginian David Apatoff was writing for the Saturday Evening Post on illustration and cartooning? Who knew the SE Post even still existed?
DD Degg of the Daily Cartoonist spotted David's most recent article on the National Cartoonists Society.Wednesday, June 13, 2018
DCist on Wonder Woman 2 filming in Georgetown
Filming For 'Wonder Woman' Sequel To Hit Georgetown Streets
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.
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