IJOCA's editorial

Some changes need to be made in IJOCA's distribution thanks to the Post Office's new rates for magazines. Here's what editor-in-chief Lent had to say. Write to him at john.lent at gmail.com if you have an opinion, especially on the overseas issues. Click on the page to make them larger and legible.

Nov 18: Alan Moore, Art Spiegelman and Dan Clowes on Simpsons

I'm not usually a Simpsons viewer (oddly enough - I could never get past a dislike for Life in Hell), but some of the greatest cartoonists will be on it tonight. Alan Moore discusses his appearance here.

And his League of Extraordinary Gentleman's Black Dossier came out this week. This is the real thing, not that Hollywood abomination.

Vip, Bok, Ware and Fish N Chips

A few new acquisitions can also make points about the Secret History of Comics.

The first is a set of three in-house books by CACI, a defense contractor. While these types of companies aren't usually known for their sense of humor, CACI's had the good sense to have their books initially illustrated by 'Vip' aka Virgil Partch. He was followed by gag and Playboy cartoonist John Dempsey and then most recently by editorial cartoonist Chip Bok.

Front cover to one of the three books with art by Vip.

Vip interior art.

John Dempsey cartoon.

Chip Bok cartoon.

Back cover of boxed set with art by Bok.

All three of these are major cartoonists, but I don't think their work here would be easily found.

The next item is the interior cover page of Chris Ware's Quimby the Mouse.

This is actually what a book signed by Chris Ware looks like - it's so subtle it's not something you'd really notice if you were in a hurry. Chris signed this for me at PENFaulkner, so I guarantee this is what you should be looking for.

Finally, at the Small Press Expo, I picked up Fish N Chips by Steve Hamaker. This book's apparently available now since I bought it two months ago, so one could ask 'what's it doing in a secret history post?' Steve's book, nominally from Vigil Press, is apparently self-published and there's no info in the book on how to order it. These days, Google tosses up his website with more information on the book, but parts of it appear to be last updated in 2005 and there's no guarantee that he'll keep the site up and a library or collector of the future might be confused by the lack of information in the book. Buy a copy from him to help comic scholars of the future and because he's a nice guy who did a fun fish sketch for me. BTW, he's coloring Bone for Jeff Smith.

KISS and Superman in Post

For Gene Simmons' take on Superman, see Sridhar Pappu's interview "I was immediately drawn to the idea of the cape and fancy outfit."; Kiss Man Gene Simmons Comes Out of the Phone Booth, Washington Post Sunday, November 18, 2007; M02.

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 11-21-07

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 11-21-07
By John Judy
(Support striking writers! Buy ‘em turkey AND comics, especially “Scalped” from Vertigo!)

52 VOL. 4 SC by Johns, Morrison, Rucka, Waid, and Friends. Concluding the epic weekly series in trade format. If you’ve forgotten how impressive this was try reading COUNTDOWN. On second thought, don’t.

ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #1 by Brian Lynch, and Franco Urru. Angel Season Six anyone? Ya gotta look! Whedon-approved and recommended!

ACTION COMICS #859 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. Supes and the Legion in a time-twisting adventure that promises lots of non-suckiness!

BOYS #12 by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. Something about sending The Boys into the mob-ruled kleptocracy of modern Russia just feels… right. Recommended. Absolutely NOT for kids.

BRAVE AND BOLD #8 by Mark Waid and George Perez. The Doom Patrol and the Flash. Between this and the creative team, who could ask for more?

CAPTAIN AMERICA #32 by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. Picking up where there are so many hangers one can hardly see the cliff. Recommended.

CAPTAIN AMERICA VOL. 1 DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA PREMIERE HC by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. Collecting issues 25-30 of the story so well told it’s hard to remember it’s the cheapest ploy in the super-hero comics bag-o-tricks. “Death.” Feh…

DETECTIVE COMICS #838 by Paul Dini and Ryan Benjamin. Batman and…. I-Ching. He’s a guy named… “I-Ching”… Look it’s a long story, it goes back to the 70s when everyone was doing a lot of… Hey, it’s part of the Ras al-Ghul story, okay?!

EX MACHINA #32 by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris. The super-hero Mayor of New York meets the Pope. No rabbis, dogs, or bars involved. And they don’t go golfing. Honest.

GOON: CHINATOWN AND THE MYSTERY OF MR. WICKER HC written and drawn by Eric Powell. Powell’s first original graphic novel providing 128 uninterrupted pages of the Goon’s formative years. A must-have for all fans.

GRENDEL: BEHOLD THE DEVIL #1 of 8 written and drawn by Matt Wagner. An untold tale of novelist/assassin Hunter Rose in his prime. You need this.

HELLBLAZER #238 by Andy Diggle and Danijel Zezelj. Imagine a London where every urban legend is real and (GASP!) smoking is outlawed in pubs!!! It cannot be emphasized enough how much this title doesn’t suck anymore. Highly recommended.

JACK KIRBY’S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS VOL.3 HC by “The King.” Third of four volumes, kids! Featuring more re-drawn faces than Carmine Infantino ever thought we’d notice.

MAD ARCHIVES VOL.2 HC by Harvey Kurtzman and Artists Whose Names I Am Unworthy to Type. Collecting issues #7-12. You must own this or be forever diminished as a human being. Highly recommended.

SHE-HULK #23 by Peter David and Shawn Moll. Shulkie takes on Titania (the Marvel one) and the Absorbing Man, despite being at least partly…dead?

SPIRIT #11 written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke. Featuring Denny Colt’s continuing battle with “El Morte!” Awesome cover by Cooke. Highly recommended.

UMBRELLA ACADEMY APOCALYPSE SUITE #3 of 6 by Gerard Way Gabriel Ba. Featuring robot crime-sprees, dead musicians, and the apocalypse! Big fun from that guy in My Chemical Romance!

WALKING DEAD #44 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard. The Governor is just gonna kill all kinds of people now. The most suspenseful title on the market today. Never for kids. Always recommended.

PS – Buy SCALPED by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera every month or you’ll go blind and sterile. It’s noir on an Indian reservation and that’s just for starters. Not for kids or the delicate of spleen. It even comes with this money-back guarantee from the creators:

Guéra and I really want you to read SCALPED. We want you to have no excuse for not trying SCALPED. To that end, we're now offering a money-back guarantee on the first trade paperback collection, "Indian Country." If you buy a copy and don't like it, just mail it back to us and we'll refund the price, plus the cost of your shipping. It's as easy as that. Here are the details:

http://www.scalped.info/

Tell your friends.

Listen to Garth Ennis: The best new series in years. Spread the word. Tell your friends. Talk about it. Blog about it.

Listen to Ed Brubaker: Read SCALPED and love it, or your money back! Jason Aaron is going a different route to try to get more readers for his excellent Vertigo book - SCALPED. This is one of my very favorite comics right now, and I highly recommend you all take him up on his offer. Please give a great book a chance. Drop some superhero book (not one of mine, of course) that you've been buying out of habit and not enjoying and try something new.

www.johnjudy.net

ICAF and OSU's Festival - another blog

My buddy Charles Hatfield stayed with me for ICAF and then we drove to Ohio for OSU's event. If you click those preceeding sentence's links, you'll see he's put up blog entries on the two with many more links than I ever bother with. He did note that OSU's put up highlight photos so I'll steal that link from him.

Nov 16-17: Jerry Robinson, Lee Marrs in Rockville

Late-breaking news - Jerry Robinson's in town. Saturday Lee Marrs speaks at 4 pm. No time to link but here's Marrs' website - http://www.leemarrs.com/ I'm going to try to make it up there for Marrs talk.

This is their event description:

Comic-con
Come see our new building, and this Comic Book exhibition and convention, and our inaugural exhibit, Zapp! Comic Books and the Arts. Fun for the whole family begins with a free talk Friday night from 7 to 8 by authority Jerry Robinson, who wikipedia notes began work on Batman and Joker beginning in 1939! Activities continue through the weekend with guest artists, special costume events, prizes, commemorative t-shirts, dealers and collectors. Saturday, 10 to 5, and Sunday 11 to 4. For more information, call 301-315-8200.
Nov. 16-18 - VisArts at Rockville, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville, Md. 20850

Bush Leaguers editorial cartoon exhibit review

Here's the review I wrote for the exhibit, from the new issue of IJOCA.

Nov 16: Fantom Comics grand opening ad

Scanned from the paper, since they don't send me press releases.

Latest Marvel comic for the military

I was able to pick up a copy of this at work. I find these all mawkish, rather than inspiring. And silly. The plot to this makes no sense at all. AIM devotes millions of dollars to keeping a brother and sister in the military from communicating with each other?

new International Journal of Comic Art's Table of Contents

We're still having website problems, but here's scans of the table of contents for the new issue. You can order a copy by clicking on the link in the column on the right and sending a check to John Lent at the address on the website. Note there's articles on Spiegelman's 9-11 comic book, Egyptian comics, Art Gallery comics, Brazilian comics, French prints, World War I cartoons... and all for $15!

Paul Hornschemeier has a band? Who knew?

Scott Rosenberg had an article on the cartoonist's band in November 12th's Express: "Paradox Rocks: Arks."

Washington Post on Marvel's digital comics subscription

See "Superheroes on Demand: Marvel Goes After New Fans With Subscription Site," by Mike Musgrove, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, November 14, 2007; Page D01.

Most of this article comes out of Marvel's press release from yesterday, but author Mike Musgrove did get a comment from Joel Pollack - "Some of my fellow retailers are kind of upset, but I think you can't turn back the hands of time and it's inevitable," he said. "If it hurts the sale of Marvel Comics, it's more self-destructive of Marvel . . . than anything else. . . . I don't know if it's going to have any impact on my business or not."

This isn't going to hurt anyone because Marvel is charging $10 a month for six-month-old comics that you can't download and take with you, but only read on their website. Why would anyone pay them for this? Nobody else has been able to make this model work - not the New York Times, nobody. And most publishers don't have scanners making the material available almost immediately (which I'm not condoning, just noting. I prefer my comics as paper). And none of their comics are hard to find - certainly not the ones they listed as being available online - unless you live in Nepal maybe, and then you're going to have internet connectivity issues anyway.

Also note that Fantom Comics is opening in Union Station - I wish them the best, but I think that's a high-risk move unless they're getting a super deal in rent.

new International Journal of Comic Art is out!

Details to follow, but it's 643 pages for $15.00 - click on the right for more information.

Nov 16: SCAD program on doing comics at Arlington Arts Center

Jeffry Cudlin of the Arlington Arts Center wrote in to tell us about a program on Friday night. I'm not sure if I can make it, but it sounds like it'll be interesting.

TWO FREE WORKSHOPS AT AAC!
By faculty members of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)

Sculpture Body Casting
Thursday, November 15 from 5 to 7 pm

Black and White Sequential Art —The placement of compositional black
Friday, November 16 from 5 to 7 pm

For mature high school students and adults.
Registration required: call 703.248.6800

Susan Krause, chair of sculpture at SCAD-Atlanta, will direct a hands-on workshop called Sculpture Body Casting on Thursday, November 15 from 5 to 7 pm. Participants will pair up to create casts of each other.

Have you ever wanted to try your hand at designing your own comic strip? Then sign up for Black and White Sequential Art—The placement of compositional blacks on Friday, November 16 from 5 to 7 pm. Taught by Dove McHargue, professor of Sequential Art and Animation at SCAD, this workshop will include a discussion about the sequential art major offered at SCAD and careers available in this field.

All levels of experience are welcome at both workshops, but class size is limited, so registration is required. To register click here, www.arlingtonartscenter.org/classes/FALL%202007%20REGISTRATION%20FORM.pdf for a print out of our registration form, or call 703.248.6800.

ABOUT SCAD
Savannah College of Art and Design was recently named one of Kaplan’s “25 cutting-edge schools with an eye toward the future.” It prepares talented students for professional careers, emphasizing learning through individual attention in a positively oriented university environment. The goal of the college is to nurture and cultivate the unique qualities of each student through an interesting curriculum, in an inspiring environment, under the leadership of involved professors. SCAD features locations in Atlanta and Savannah GA and in Lacoste, France, and also offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs online through SCAD-eLearning. http://www.scad.edu/admission/yourarea/index.cfm

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP TEACHERS
Originally from Canada, Susan Krause has been with SCAD since 2000 and is chair of sculpture at SCAD-Atlanta. She received her MFA from Yale University in 1989 and has exhibited nationally and internationally for 15 years. Her work is in the form of installation art relating to aspects of the human condition, authenticity and commonality. Dove McHargue teaches sequential art and animation at SCAD. He earned his MFA in Sequential Art from SCAD in 2005 and joined the faculty shortly thereafter.

Founded in 1974, the AAC is dedicated to presenting and supporting new work of contemporary artists in the Mid-Atlantic States. Located in the historic Maury School building, it holds exhibitions, rents studio spaces, and conducts educational programs for all ages. Normal public hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm. For more information, call 703.248.6800 or visit www.arlingtonartscenter.org. The AAC is located at 3550 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington VA, just one block off the Virginia Square-GMU Metro stop on the Orange Line.

Arlington Arts Center programs are made possible through the generous support of the Virginia Commission for the Arts/NEA, the Arlington Commission for the Arts, Arlington County Division of Cultural Affairs, the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, Strategic Analysis, BB&T Bank, the Arlington Community Foundation, Arlington Catering, and our members.

Arlington Arts Center
3550 Wilson Blvd Arlington VA 22201
Metro: Orange Line: Virginia Square
703.248.6800
www.arlingtonartscenter.org

It's done!

And this isn't the cover! Although the photo by Gary Dumm may end up being the cover - that's the idea at the moment. But I sent the manuscript of Harvey Pekar: Conversations in to the University Press of Mississippi today and sometime in about a year (slightly longer than human gestation apparently) a book should pop out.

The Conversations books are collections of interviews over the career of cartoonists. You've got a couple of days left to get other books in the Conversations series in this website sale.

I've got almost all of the comics and cartoon books listed on the site.

Nov 14-17 manga play in Georgetown

Phil Troutman sends in a reminder of this:

"Trees and Ghosts," Adapted and Directed by Natsu Onoda, from the Graphic Novels of Osamu Tezuka.

WORLD PREMIERE! Nov. 14 - 17 (remaining performances) at 8 pm, Gonda Theatre, Davis Performing Arts Center, Georgetown University.

Advance tickets required, $7 student - $15 general admission: phone 202-687-6933 or http://performingarts.georgetown.edu/THEATER/2007-2008/2007-2008Season.html

From their website: "A new multimedia production adapted from three short graphic novels by a Japanese cartoonist Osamu Tezuka, who is considered the inventor of manga (contemporary Japanese comics). Spirits, elements of nature and memories of World War II haunt each of the stories that make up this highly visual production which employs interactive video, live on-stage drawing, and live taiko drums."

Reviewed in The Washington Post, Tu 13 Nov, page C2.

Which would be here -
"Trees and Ghosts': Manga's Magical Touch" by Nelson Pressley, Washington Post, Tuesday, November 13, 2007; Page C02

Simpson's mag in stores

In the new acquisitions pile is this Simpson's cover for E, the Environmental Magazine (November / December 2007), that I picked up at Busboys and Poets before the PEN/Faulkner event. Interestingly, although 'signed' by Matt Groening, the art is credited inside to Julius Preite. (The fish, blinded by the flash, has three eyes, by the way).

CFP: GRAVEN IMAGES: RELIGION IN COMIC BOOKS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

Posted for former DC-area comics type A. David Lewis...

GRAVEN IMAGES: RELIGION IN COMIC BOOKS & GRAPHIC NOVELS
April 11-13, 2008

Presented by the Luce Program in Scripture and Literary Arts
and the New England-Maritimes American Academy of Religion
Boston University Department of Religion

Keynote Speaker:
James Sturm
The Golem’s Mighty Swing
and James Sturm’s America: God, Gold, and Golems

THE GOLEM'S MIGHTY SWING Cover“Graven Images” will explore the roles of religion in comic books and graphic novels. This conference is open to all interpretations of “religious comics”; in fact, we welcome debate as to what that term might mean. >From the performance of religion in comics, to religious or mythic traditions among the elements of various works, to the use of comics by religious practitioners themselves, the relationship between comics and religion is dynamic and evolving. Given the increasing seriousness with which the public has come to view comics as an art form as well as Americans’ fraught but passionate relationship with religion, “Graven Images” provides an opportunity for discussion of cutting-edge artistic and social issues.

Examples of religion in comics abound. Preacher is the tale of a lapsed Texan clergyman armed with the literal Word of God in order to track down the Creator Himself. The Golem’s Mighty Swing features a group of Jewish ballplayers in the 1920s who invoke a biblical force amidst competition and prejudice. Cerebus, the world’s first and only 6,000-page graphic novel, resolves around the creation of a new religion, its sacred text, the author’s own account of Genesis, and a final accounting with God. Kingdom Come presents a “twilight of the superheroes,” set against the backdrops of both Nordic Ragnarok and Christian Revelation and seen through the eyes of a faith-weary minister and a divine Spirit of Vengeance. Although there is no shortage of religious material in comic books and graphic novels, there is a dearth of formal, academic discussion on the topic. “Graven Images” aims to begin a conversation that will rectify this lack.

The focus will be primarily English-language works produced over the last 60 years for the American market, though special exceptions will be made for particularly strong abstracts. We are particularly interested in the following works and topics, though others will be considered:

Age of Bronze, Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, Blankets, Buddha, Castle Waiting, Cairo, Contract with God, From Hell, Finder, Hellboy, Hey Mister: The Trouble with Jesus, Invisibles, Jew of New York, King David, Lucifer, Marked!, MAUS, Megillat Esther, Persepolis, Promethea, Sandman, Testament, and the Virgin Comics line.

· Pagan Missionaries: the works of Moore, Gaiman, and Morrison as mouthpieces for New Religious MovementsGraven Images icon
· Christian Comic Books and the Evangelicals
· The Market for Religious Comics
· Daniel: Prophet of Dreams, Samson: Judge of Israel, The Lone and Level Sands, Marked!, and other depictions of the Hebrew Bible or New Testament
· Using Comics to Teach Religion
· Non-Western Religious Traditions in Western Comic Books
· Ritual Wednesdays at the Comic Shop: Comic Book Culture and its Elements of Faith
· What does a Messiah look like? Chosen, Battle Pope, and The New Adventures of Jesus
· Binky Brown and other Irreverent Portraits of Religion: The Role of Humor

500-word abstracts should be sent to the attention of A. David Lewis either through e-mail at ADL@bu.edu or by mail to
“Graven Images” Conference, Department of Religion, Boston University, 145 Bay State Road, Boston MA 02215.

ABSTRACTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY JANUARY 31, 2008.

Charlotteville's Sorenson in top 10

Daryl Cagle reported on the top ten cartoonists on his syndicate's site, and Jen Sorenson was on the list:

MORE INTERESTING STATS

We have a great new system that allows our readers to subscribe to any cartoonist on the site and receive an e-mail with that cartoonist's most recent cartoon, whenever we post a new cartoon from each cartoonist. It has been running for about three months now. Take a look, it is pretty cool. Subscribe to as many as you want, it is FREE.

I just got stats on the individual artist newsletters for the first time and I was a bit surprised to see who the most popular cartoonists are with our reader/subscribers. Here is the top ten list, with the most popular first (I blush, but my name is plastered on everything so I don't know that my being on the list means much):

1. Daryl Cagle
2. Pat Bagley
3. Eric Allie
4. Monte Wolverton
5. Matt Bors
6. Andy Singer
7. Brian Fairrington
8. Shannon Wheeler
9. Clay Bennett
10. Jen Sorensen

Mark Wheatley's new webcomic project again

Here's an interview: "INSIGHT & NASCAR'S MIGHTY-MOTOR SAPIENS" by Jennifer M. Contino,
Comicon's The Pulse 11-09-2007. Mark lives somewhere between DC and Baltimore, I think.

Bush Leaguers redux

Actually, I knew this, because I bought a copy at OSU, but forgot to mention it. Luckily Dave Astor caught it. "New Catalog of Cartoons From 'Bush Leaguers' Exhibit", E&P Online November 12, 2007. This was the show at American University this summer - it was excellent. My review appears in the new issue of the International J of Comic Art which is wending its way through the postal system now.

Post squishes SpongeBob

See "'SquarePantis': Squeezing The Life Out of SpongeBob" by Tom Shales, Washington Post Staff Writer, Monday, November 12, 2007; Page C01.

And just to put an aposite image in your head, yesterday I missed this Persepolis review: "Artful Women" by Nora Krug, Washington Post Book World Sunday, November 11, 2007; Page BW11

Tom Toles taken to task

The letter:

Caricature Run Amok, Washington Post November 10, 2007

While I have found Tom Toles's cartoons often trivial and sometimes annoying, the Nov. 7 submission left me infuriated. To suggest that Vice President Cheney supports or dreams of taking dictatorial actions of the type in Pakistan indicated in the cartoon is disgusting and beneath The Post's standards of fairness.

There are legitimate arguments about the president's wartime powers, but our basic freedoms remain intact, as evidenced by the ability of Toles and all journalists and citizens to freely express their views, however repugnant, without fear of governmental retribution.

-- Lawrence L. Thompson
Washington

and the cartoon:

Late-breakinging SPX con report

Well, it's not like I've written mine yet, but see "SPX 2007: Life at a Small Press Gathering," By Lee Atchison, Sequential Tart November 5, 2007

Post reviews Michaelis' Schulz biography tomorrow

See "It's Your Life, Charlie Brown! A portrait of the anxious artist who taught Snoopy how to dance," reviewed by Julie Phillips, Washington Post Book World Sunday, November 11, 2007; Page BW04.

Writings on comics by American U professor

I was introduced to American U professor Erik Dussere last night at the PEN/Faulkner talk. He's written a couple of articles on comics:

"Subversion in the Swamp: Pogo and the Folk in the McCarthy Era," Journal of American Culture 26 (1; March 2003): 134-141

"The queer world of the X-Men; OK, Wolverine never built a shrine to Judy Garland, but 'the strangest teens' were obviously homo superior -- emphasis on the homo," Salon (July 12, 2000)

Today's Richard's Poor Almanack

Isn't online yet, but it's another finger puppet. Whoo-hoo! In the meantime, enjoy last week's Peanuts parody.

Tomorrow's Washington Post bit on Caniff's Terry and the Pirates

See "Terry and the Pirates" by Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post Book World Sunday, November 11, 2007; Page BW04.

Zadzooks on Spidey game

See "Unlikely collaborators help Spidey in mission" by Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times November 10, 2007.

Another DC-area blogger spotlight

Michael Wenthe - mentioned earlier today - shares a blog with Isaac Cates. Both teach about comics, and together they make minicomics. I hadn't realized they had a blog until Isaac mentioned it in passing today - check out Satisfactory Comics. Right now, it appears that their latest mini-comic is an intellectual exercise of the type that Matt Madden is the best promoter of - if you haven't bought his 99 Ways to Tell A Story, you should and you should shelve it next to McCloud, Eisner and Buscema.

A link to Satisfactory Comics will be up on the right for future visits.

Speaking of comics in the classroom

...Geppi's Museum curator Arnold Blumberg writes about teaching Watchmen at the University of Maryland.

Comics and Graphic Novels in the Classroom panel report

Literature professors Marc Singer (Howard U) and Michael Wenthe (American U) and I did a short panel at Busboys and Poets on 14th St at the request of PENFaulkner. Lynda Barry, Alison Bechdel and Chris Ware were in the audience and hopefully got some of the buffet supper. My friend, and potential breakout cartoonist for Cul de Sac, Richard Thompson accompanied me and didn't look too glazed over when the talk went academic at times.

I recorded 99% of the panel  - I missed my first question as moderator "Why have comics in the classroom, and how do you do it" was roughly the question. Marc Singer begins replying and the beginning of his reply is cut off too.

After the event, I was able to talk briefly with Lynda Barry who has some very interesting working methods. For her 100 Demons book, which I recommend, she has words written on cards that she pulls at random out of a bag. She then takes the word she's selected and writes other words that it reminds her of. When she has an idea for the strip, she starts writing and drawing it. As she said, 'The first draft is the only draft.' She also talked to Michael and I about her novel Cruddy, saying that she had been trying to write it for nine years on a computer. When she switched to writing with her brush and ink, it was done in under a year, so she feels that for cartoonists the link between moving your hand and thinking is wired into one's brain. Also for Cruddy, the illustrations are finger-painted, using ink, I think.

Lynda was absolutely great to talk to and very encouraging to anyone (including Chris Ware as he related the next night) who approached her. Alison and Chris are fun to talk to as well, and I'd like to spend more time talking comics with Dan Raeburn who's done three booklets and one big book on them. He moderated the talk by the cartoonists on the following night and I'll post on that separately.

Lynda's strips are now being posted on the Drawn & Quarterly blog.

QUICK REVIEWS OF COMICS DUE 11-14-07

QUICK REVIEWS OF COMICS DUE 11-14-07
Support striking Writers Guild members! Buy them comics!
By John Judy

ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #9 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. It’s the DC “All-Star” series where they HAVEN’T turned Black Canary into an Irish whore! Recommended!

AVENGERS INITIATIVE #7 by Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli. It’s Scarlet Spiders versus Vulturians but it’s written by Dan Slott, the man who can take even the lamest characters and make you love them. Highly recommended.

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #1 by Chuck Dixon and Julian Lopez. The dark-night detective teams up with a S.E. Hinton’s loveable band of scamps and…. Ah, heck, it’s time to refresh the trademark, guys. You know how it is.

BLACK ADAM THE DARK AGE #4 of 8 by Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke. This amazingly grim series is still holding up quite well in spite of being way too dark for the traditional Captain Marvel/Shazam audience. Half-way home. Not too late to jump on, readers.

BOOSTER GOLD #4 by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz. It’s time-travel stories that not only don’t suck, but actually entertain and surprise! It’s a holiday miracle! Plus it has Flashes! Barry Allen even! Check it out!

CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 of 5 by Brian Reed and Lee Weeks. The blonde, disco-era Protector of the Universe is back from the dead, checking out paintings and punching robots! A decent start even if you think Marv shoulda stayed dead.

EX MACHINA VOL. 6: POWER DOWN SC by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris. Collecting what Vaughan has called his favorite run on the book so far, issues #26-29, exploring what a power outage means to a guy who talks to machines. Recommended.

HOUSE OF M: AVENGERS #1 of 5 by Christos Gage and Mike Perkins. A well-drawn romp through a universe that sorta doesn’t exist anymore. Maybe it’s one of DC’s 52?

KIMMIE66 GN written and drawn by Aaron Alexovich. So what are awkward teen girls doing on the internet 200 years from now? Same as today only more so and with vampires. Take a gander.

LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN: THE BLACK DOSSIER HC by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill. Okay, Moore has gone seriously nuts over the years, but whether a guy believes in ”magick” or not, if that same guy authored “Watchmen”, “Miracleman”, and the other “LoEG” books, you still have to sit up and take notice. This one has a lot of extras and will still be fascinating even if you end up hating it. (Yeah, I read “Lost Girls” and all the Lovecraft craziness. It’s like Frank Miller. You have to look to see if he’s recovering yet.) And Kevin O’Neill always rocks.

NEW AVENGERS #36 by Brian Michael Bendis and Lieinil Francis Yu. New York City’s been “Venom-ized” and The Hood is basking in his victory over Tigra the Were-Woman. Yeah, he hasn’t figured out that Tigra isn’t exactly A-list. Did I mention Wolverine is on the cover? Some people think he’s a Skrull because it’s the only way to account for him being in every single comic Marvel puts out each month, including the Classics Illustrated things they’re doing. I love this theory because it explains how Wolverine killed Moby Dick.

PUNISHER #52 by Garth Ennis and Goran Parlov Frank has to save the little girl and kill the Barracuda. One of the most intense Punisher stories in years. And then there’s…

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #13 by Matt Fraction and Cory Walker. Kraven the Hunter Junior, I swear to …. For the Punisher completists out there.

SALVATION RUN #1 of 7 by Bill Willingham and Sean Chen. The villains of the DC Universe finally get exiled to a whole ‘nother planet for their crimes! It’s like Australia only with super-powers and no beer!

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL.4 SCOTT PILGRIM GETS IT TOGETHER GN by Bryan Lee O’Malley. Scott plays in a band, dates a girl, and fights her evil ex-boyfriends. How is this not a TV series yet? A new one for all you Oni Press manga-maniacs.

THOR #4 by J. Michael Straczynski and Olivier Copiel. Thor’s looking up old friends. You see this one coming a mile away but it looks like they’re getting past that soon and anyway, it looks nice.

WOLVERINE #59 by Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin. Featuring every version of Wolvie you’ve ever heard of. I smell action figure assortment…

WONDER WOMAN #14 by Gail Simone and Terry & Rachel Dodson. Honest! This time I mean it! Gail’s totally writing this! And WW’s fighting abominable snowmen on the cover! How great is that?!

WORLD OF WARCRAFT #1 by Walt Simonson and Ludo Lullabi. Yes, this is based on the popular on-line game and it is drawn by a guy named “Lullabi.” Lots of swords, armor, and fighting! Best of all, a comic book can’t crash right when you’re really enjoying it!

WORLD WAR HULK #5 of 5 by Greg Pak and John Romita Jr. Smash-smash-smashity-smash-smash!!!! Guest-starring the Sentry.

X-FACTOR #25 by Peter David and Scot Eaton. Rictor goes to church looking for the killer mutant-Jesus. Hijinks ensue.

www.johnjudy.net

Detroit Free Press picks up Cul de Sac

Richard Thompsons's added another paper. See "Quirky new comic has fan in 'Calvin and Hobbes' creator," Detroit Free Press November 5, 2007.

And he's been named by Tom Spurgeon on Comicsreporter.com as the Potential Breakout Cartoonist of 2008.

Richard Thompson's faves

Alan started a neat new feature over at the Daily Cartoonist by asking cartoonists who they like. His first victim was Arlington's own Richard Thompson. See "The Cartoonist’s Cartoonists: Richard Thompson" by Alan Gardner Nov 06, 2007. Personally I wouldn't have guessed Lynda Barry.

Richard tossed a few more names around on his blog.

Meet Lynda Barry, Chris Ware and Alison Bechdel and Richard at Busboy's and Poets on Thursday - click on the Upcoming Events link on the right to see details.

Nate Beeler goes national

Nate's emailed me that he's signed a syndication deal with Darryl Cagle's Cagle Cartoon syndicate and written about it on his blog. Congratulations, Nate. For those who don't pick up the Examiner regularly, Nate's cartoons are one of the best things in it.

Dave Astor adds a bit more to the story. So Nate, are you a right-leaning libertarian?

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 11-07-07

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 11-07-07
(Support striking Writers Guild members! Bring ‘em comics!)
By John Judy

ASTONISHING X-MEN #23 by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday. Maybe this book can go monthly now that Joss has all that extra time….

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #8 by Brian K. Vaughan and Georges Jeanty. Buffy versus Faith. The cover looks like Faith’s water-boarding The Buffster. Maybe she wants to be our new Attorney-General?

CAIRO HC by G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker. An original slam-bang action thriller set in Egypt’s largest city. Contains magic!

COUNTDOWN AND FRIENDS by Whoever Drew the Short Straw. Remember when weekly comics making their ship-dates was a good thing?

CRIMINAL #10 by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. A big finale in this awesome noir that keeps Daddy from getting a life. Highly recommended.

DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN PREMIERE HC by Peter David and Jae Lee. Marvel heard a rumor that some of you still had money.

FANTASTIC FOUR #551 by Dwayne Mac Duffie and Paul Pelletier. Okay, it’s a time-travel story but it has an awesome last page. Enjoy!

GROO: HELL ON EARTH #1 of 4 by Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones. The Wanderer battles the ultimate global warning in a humorous, fantastical way. From the guys who brought you MAD Magazine and “Welcome Back Kotter” among other things.

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #10 by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and David Aja. Like reading a really good kung-fu flick. Recommended.

NEW AVENGERS ILLUMINATI #5 of 5 by Brian Michael Bendis and Jim Cheung. In which we finally learn which one of Our Heroes is not who he appears. “Skrull! Cough! Cough!”

SCALPED #11 by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera. This noir Western set on an Indian reservation has all the right people raving. Check it out and see why. NOT for kids.

SUPERMAN #670 by Kurt Busiek and Rick Leonardi. It’s the end of “The Third Kryptonian!” Because there’s only FIVE OF THEM on the cover, not including The Character Formerly Known as Superboy-Prime! Sigh…

UNCANNY X-MEN #492 by Ed Brubaker and Billy Tan. Everyone’s looking for the Killer Jesus-Mutant! What a caper! Can a week ever have too much Brubaker? Not in my house, bub!

Y THE LAST MAN #59 by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra. It’s the next to last issue of this amazing series. If you haven’t read it before now is the time to start plowing through the trades. On a par with Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” for depth and imagination. Highly recommended.

www.johnjudy.net

KAL exhibit somewhere down south

KAL, from our northern neighbor city Baltimore, has an exhibit of cartoons up at Duke University. See "Work of Editorial Cartoonist Goes on Display at Duke: Decades of contentious political cartoons by Kevin 'KAL' Kallaugher will be displayed at Duke starting Nov. 7," Thursday, November 1, 2007

Articles in today's papers - Bee Movie and Spider-Man game

Two Bee Movie reviews in the Express (an AP one) and the Examiner and Bumbling 'Bee Movie' Needs More of Jerry"

By Desson Thomson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 2, 2007; Page C01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/01/AR2007110102491.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/01/AR200711
0100906.html
Spider-Man: Both Sides Now
Washington Post Friday, November 2, 2007; Page WE54

Hero novel review in Metro Weekly

Metro Weekly is actually one of the free papers that I don't regularly pick up, mostly because it doesn't run comics, but the new issue has this book review in it - "Heroic Exploits: Delving into the life of a young, gay superhero, Perry Moore's 'Hero' is a wonderful combo of reality and fantasy," by Tim Plant, Metro Weekly November 1, 2007.

Nov 10: Persepolis at AFI Silver

The animated film based on Marjane Satrapi's book at 8 pm in Silver Spring on the 10th. 1 showing! Geez.

Articles in today's papers - Bee Movie and Dethklok

The Post's got "The Bee in His Bonnet: Jerry Seinfeld's New Flick Began as a Joke but Made Him Busy as a . . . You Know," by William Booth, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, November 1, 2007; C01.

Over in the Onion, a Cartoon Network band is profiled in "Brian Posehn Interviews Dethklok" [expanded version online], by Josh Modell, Onion November 1st, 2007.

Erik Evensen, author and artist of Gods of Asgard

For the online only interview, see "Visiting Valhalla: 'Gods of Asgard'," by Christopher Porter, Express October 31, 2007.

Patrick McDonnell report by guest columnist

Guest columnist Miron Murcury returns with the following report on Patrick McDonnell's appearance in Alameda, CA.

Good Humorist News

October 25, 2007. Newspaper cartoonist Patrick McDonnell spoke in Alameda, California at Books, Inc. McDonnell, the writer and cartoonist of MUTTS introduced his newest picture book, HUGS. The story features Jules the Kitten who travels the world hugging everyone he meets. He spoke on behalf of the East Bay SPCA.

After a few moments with HUGS, McDonnell from the audience suggestions drew the MUTTS characters on a 2X3 foot sketch pad. The quick sketches will later be auctioned by and for the benefit of the East Bay SPCA. For further information please contact: alindquist@eastbayspca.org

McDonnell asked for questions from the enchanted audience.

'Who inspired you?'' A lady asked.

''Charles Schulz. I wanted to be Charles Schulz.'' McDonnell answered without hesitation. He went from Peanuts to spinach, pointing out the delights of Popeye and Krazy Kat.

''Will Eisner was a teacher of mine at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.'' He continued, ''I was an illustrator before becoming a newspaper strip cartoonist.''

Asked about Winsor McCay, he drew special attention to 'Little Nemo, So Many Splendid Sundays' edited by Pete Maresca.

''It was like seeing Little Nemo for the first time.'' McDonnell said in praise of Maresca's award winning book.

A member of the audience asked, ''You seem to have really shot to national prominence after your appearance in ARF. Will you be contributing to future issues?''

McDonnell, chuckling humorously, thanked editor Craig Yoe for his big break.

''Yes, I will be in the next issue of ARF.'' McDonnell revealed, ''Craig had the great idea of having today's cartoonists complete a Milt Gross multi-panel cartoon gag. I am one of the contributors.''

Click to find out everything about ARF, the unholy marriage of Art and Comics and to see McDonnell's contribution.

McDonnell will be a guest speaker at the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, Saturday, October 27, 1-3pm. He was tickled, (my interpretation of his excitement, disbelief and sense of awe), by the temporary mural sized reproduction of Schulz's homage panel featuring MUTTS characters.

After his talk McDonnell graciously signed books for the enthused crowd adding small character sketches at purchasers request.

The official Patrick McDonnell web site.


Photo c. 2007 MMurcury

--Miron Murcury

Ohio State Cartoon Festival Report UPDATED 2

The Ohio State University's Cartoon Research Library's tri-annual Festival of Cartoon Art wrapped up yesterday. I was there for the three days.

I'll fill this in with some photos (which are going up on Flickr now) and reports as I get time. And energy. But co-pilot Charles Hatfield and I had a great time.

Thursday, October 25th began with three academic panels in OSU’s hotel across from the very, very large football stadium. None were of particular interest to me although several – Wanzo on Black comics, Conners on Caniff’s growth as an artist, and Yesbick on George Carlson were engaging. Unfortunately there was no lunch break built in and Charles and I had skipped breakfast. The two of us, accompanied by Tom Inge, snuck out and missed the end of the second and the beginning of the third panels.

Bob Harvey spoke on Caniff for an hour. This was an overview of his early career and the differences in Caniff’s adventure strips, especially his art, from others of the time.
After Bob’s talk we adjourned across town to the Thurber Center Gallery, next door to the Thurber House where the New Yorker cartoonist grew up. One of their volunteers had covered her car with cartoon repros and drew quite an audience.

The Gallery had a small exhibit of original art from the Great Lakes branch of the National Cartoonists Society. The room filled rapidly so I headed for the food table promptly. Washington Examiner cartoonist Nate Beeler is from Columbus and was there with his girlfriend Eve. He introduced me to Mike Thompson and Nick Anderson and I got the three of them to sign Bush Leaguers, the book based on the AAEC exhibit that was in DC this summer. Rob Rogers put the book together and also signed it for me. We talked shop a little bit, discussing the difficulties of putting together an exhibit. Martha Kennedy, ass’t curator at the Library of Congress was there as well, and with Charles, we drove back to the hotel to hang around in the bar. John Jennings and Damien Duffy from the U of Ill Chicago joined us and hung around after we left around midnight.
Arnold Roth

Mort Walker
Friday, October 26th - Registration was far too early, but ran smoothly. A lovely breakfast was put on by the Renaissance hotel which was recently renovated and had a very reasonable rate for the conference. It also has an original Chihuly glass chandelier hanging in the bar. The morning opened with Brian Walker offering a quick overview of the state of comics prior to Caniff. I think this was adapted from his book on comics before 1945. This was followed by a panel with Bob Harvey, Pete Poplaski, Arnold Roth and Mort Walker telling anecdotes about Caniff. I’ll try to recall and add in some of them.

P. Craig Russell was on next and talked about converting Wagner’s Ring of the Niebelung opera to comics. He was fascinating, especially when discussing his attention to layout (which he told me later was the most interesting part of comics for him). Without examples, it’s hard to do justice to his talk, but one page – when Odin realizes the sword that will end his age has been forged, made an excellent example.

Nate Beeler, Eve and his brother Adam took me to North Market by the Arena, a former meat market now converted to stalls for food and antiques. A giant Peanuts bin held pumpkins at one stall and I bought a Herb Gardner “The Nebbishes” mug at another. Bob Harvey id’d the strip for me off the top of his head, and it only ran from 1959-61.

I caught the tail-end of Ted Rall’s talk on graphic journalism where he was talking about travelling through the ‘Stans for his book. I’d seen a similar version of this one before. Jessica Abel’s talk about storytelling was somewhat disappointing. She showed a couple of panels from her Artbabe comic which she said didn’t work, but not any examples from her more successful La Perdita.

Buses then took people to OSU’s campus. I started in the Cartoon Research Library tour. The Library sits in the basement of the new Wexner Center. A good sized reading room was filled with tables and lined with glass-fronted shelves, one of which held the current issue of the International Journal of Comic Art. An exhibit of mylar-encapsulated pieces from Caniff’s papers lined the walls and included juvenilia, a fan letter from John Steinbeck, and art by Hal Foster and others drawing Caniff’s characters with their own.
In the stacks, row after row of movable aisle shelving was filled with reference books, cartoonist’s collections and lots of manga. File cabinets along one wall held biographical files – a quick check revealed that Nate Beeler’s got a slim file. A couple of file cabinets held files by subject. To be honest, I expected more reference files like these. But the flat files, or map cases, had a massive amount of original art and there were a lot of them. A new digital camera that will shoot oversize artwork was shown to us a pride and joy.

The Caniff exhibit in the other building included a reception sponsored by Bone cartoonist Jeff Smith and his wife Vijaya Iyer. This is the first time I’ve seen roast beef wrapped around a sweet pickle. The exhibit gave one plenty of opportunity to view Caniff’s originals, including the death of Raven Sherman. Two cases of Caniff licensing rounded out the exhibit as did a small sub-exhibit of tear sheets of other comic strips influenced by Caniff.

October 27th – Dragging a bit by this point, I lingered over the hotel breakfast and had a pleasant conversation with Jan Eliot, the ‘Stone Soup’ cartoonist. She told me about finding a patron to help her set up her own publishing house, Planet Nine.

As a result of lingering, I missed the beginning of the publisher’s roundtable. One of the questions was interesting – when asked about the prevalence of scanned comics, defined by the questioner as ‘piracy,’ Scholastic Books editor David Saylor said piracy is evil. Gary Groth demurred and said that he viewed it as advertising. He thought most people prefer the experience of a book, especially with the increased attention to book design. I must say that I agree with Gary.

Frank Stack gave an overview of his underground career, focusing on his anti-religious work, The New Adventures of Jesus. Stack spoke lovingly of his deceased wife, showing us some pages where he drew her into the story, and he still seems to be pining for her.

'Curtis' cartoonist Ray Billingsly spoke very briefly and then took questions. Billingsly appears bitter about the arc of his career, imputing a lack of books and animation deals to racism. Having spoke to Jan Eliot, who is white, earlier that morning about her difficulty in getting books, I’m taking his points with a grain of salt.

Mike Peters could have been a stand-up comedian. His talk about how he became a cartoonist was hilarious. "Little Mikey" as he was unfortunately known in St. Louis due to his mother's TV show was sent to a Catholic (!) Military (!!) school, usually attending summer school, and was flunking out of college until one of his teachers suggested that he do cartooning for all of his arts classes. He had the audience rolling on the floor as he recounted this and raced the clock to show some cartoons.

I missed Nick Anderson when Tom Inge and I went in search of a book store which proved not to be very interesting.

Paul Pope's got a fashion line coming out from DKNY. He was asked to do something with camouflage so he drew moth wings that will be reproduced on cotton clothing. Pope's talk was fascinating - he really thinks about his work and articulates his point of view clearly. He talked about his influences in silver age comics and record cover art too. When he started taking questions, I rushed out and bought his book Pulphope from Adhouse books and got him to sign it.

Alison Bechdel’s always an interesting speaker. On her art technique, she said she eschewed Photoshop and did coloring for Fun Home on a vellum overlay. I asked her about her next project. She said it’s another memoir of her life as a young adult lesbian, but she’s having trouble getting it to gel. I also asked if ‘Dykes to Watch Out For,’ which has been dark for years and that I attributed to the current political climate. She said she’s gotten back to doing the strip twice a month and also thinks that it’ll be lightening up.

At the cocktail party, I was able to tell Roy Doty of ‘Wordless Workshop’ how much I appreciated his work. I didn’t win anything at the banquet raffle. In the bar that night, I got to speak with Brian Walker about the difficulties of putting up exhibits, eavesdropped on Mike Peters telling a story, spoke with Bechdel about her appearance in DC next week and met Bill ‘Foxtrot’ Amend and political cartoonist Cullum Rogers. I can hardly wait for three more years.

Cartoonists Mike Thompson and Mark Anderson have blogged about it as well. Anderson was blogging live (!) during the talks and is well worth reading - he's reminded me of lots I forgot. He's got 3 pages up. Also, he posted a link to part of Mike Peters' talk on Youtube.

Oct 31: Halloween comics giveaway

I'll be handing out the three Halloween Ashcans available this year - Little Archie "The House that Wouldn't Move"; Iron Man Halloween Ashcan 2007; and Uncle Scrooge "Hound of the Whiskervilles" by Carl Barks. If you're in South Arlington, stop on by.

Richard Thompson and the Secret History of Comics

I'm in some boring training at work so I brought in I'm with Stupid by Gene Weingarten and Gina Barreca. Lo! and Behold! It's illustrated by RT. He used to illustrate Weingarten's column in the Post Magazine, so I guess this was a natural.

Steve Niles interview in The Onion

Scott Rosenberg's got an interview with Steve Niles who writes 30 Days of Night the latest comic book to become a movie. I imagine this is only in the paper copy since it's a local story. Also there's an article on food to eat while watching, It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

The Nebbishes

One of my finds in Columbus is this mug by Herb Gardner of his comic strip, The Nebbishes. Bob Harvey identified the strip for me just from Gardner's name, and Allan Holtz's Strippers Guide said it ran Sundays-only from 1959-1961. So this can't be too common.