Monday, September 29, 2014

"Oct 4: Armed Forces Appreciation Day includes Big Planet Comics"

On Saturday, Oct. 4, Harp & Fiddle Restaurant is sponsoring a street fair/benefit for our troops. Cordell Ave. will be closed to vehicular traffic. This promises to be a fun event for all ages, and Big Planet Comics will have free comics for your kids.
http://flanagansharpandfiddle.com/armed-forces-appreciation-day/

Hope to see you Saturday.

--
Joel Pollack
BIG PLANET COMICS

4849 Cordell Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20814


Sept 30: Ted Rall and Kal

Ted Rall will speak on Afghanistan at Kramerbooks on Dupont Circle at 6:30. KAL will be joining him and C-Span is filming it.

Oct 1: Zunar at Library of Congress at noon

Malaysian cartoonist Zunar is speaking in DC.

Cartoon journalist Josh Kramer on DCist

Drawn to Flavor: DC Noodles

Drawn to Flavor: DC Noodles

Illustrator Josh Kramer highlights the beef ragu and chili mojito in watercolor....
http://dcist.com/2014/09/drawn_to_flavor_dc_noodles.php

Comic Riffs on Thor

THE NEW (FEMALE) THOR: Writer Jason Aaron hammered out the groundwork ahead of this week's debut [+SNEAK PEEK]
By David Betancourt 
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog September 29 2014

Oct 21: Art Spiegelman's Wordless at GWU

Art Spiegelman's WORDLESS! with music by Phillip Johnston

Presented by GW Lisner as part of the Washington DCJCC's Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival

Tuesday, October 21, 2014 - 8:00pm

Tickets: $35, $40, $45

Art Spiegelman and Phillip Johnston unite in WORDLESS! --  a new and stimulating hybrid of slides, talk and musical performance. With original music by Phillip Johnston and live narration and text by Art Spiegelman, this live performance delves into Art's premise around comics, their history, and their capacity for images to go right to the brain as wordless messages. Experience the art of comics as Spiegelman probes further into the nature and possibilities of his medium. 
15% discount for Students/Alumni/Faculty/Staff with GWID and Seniors/Military with ID at the Lisner Box Office.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

That darn Lio and Hagar

Letters to the Editor: The wrong image of shock therapy [Lio].

Lois F. Morris, Silver Spring

Washington Post September 27 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-wrong-image-of-shock-therapy/2014/09/26/e17944b4-42a1-11e4-8042-aaff1640082e_story.html

 

Letters to the Editor: Offended by anything [Hagar the Horrible].

Frank Carpenter, Riverdale

Washington Post September 27 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/offended-by-anything/2014/09/24/4d041616-426e-11e4-8042-aaff1640082e_story.html

The Apple Creek News from Rob Steibel


From: Robert Steibel 

I'm posting samples from all 10 volumes of my The Apple Creek News books at my website robertsteibel.com over the next few weeks. Here are the covers for the first nine books (attached). This was an experiment where I just riffed on the news and current events in the early part of 2014. It takes me about 15 minutes to do a black and white comic now, so after a few months I suddenly had a stack of 800 comics! If I published them as dailies they would run until 2018, so I decided to just publish the stuff in books. In 2015 I'm going to focus on two new projects at gocomics/apple-creek one called 'Picatzo' the other called 'The Surreal World.'

Oct 2: Gene Weingarten & Eric Shansby

Comic strip writer Gene and cartoonist Eric are at Politics and Prose bookstore at 10:30 AM for their new children's book.

Sept 30: Ted Rall

Ted Rall will speak on Afghanistan at Kramerbooks on Dupont Circle at 6:30.

Bell, Roman and Telgemeier photos

One More Page bookstore in Arlington, VA gets a goodly amount of cartoonists coming through.


Recently Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier spoke to a big crowd of mostly girls.

More pictures are here.

A few days later Cece Bell spoke about El Deafo, her book about growing up hearing-impaired.



More pictures are here.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Sept. 26-28: Baltimore Book Fest

The Baltimore Book Fest is the weekend, Sept. 26-28. The Charm City Comics Book Pavilion (Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Rash Field) will include Phil Cho, Darren Soto, Steve Anderson, Andrew Aydin and Art Way Alliance.

I'll be at the fest, too. At noon, I'll be at the National Aquarium's Ocean Exploration Stage (Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Area 10, between the National Aquarium and World Trade Center), talking about Wild Ocean and using comics to spread the word about conservation.

At 3 p.m. I'll be at the Charm City Comics Book Pavilion with fellow D.C. comic booker Jason Rodriguez (editor of the upcoming Colonial Comics anthology), where we will give examples of how schools and libraries are using comics in the classroom, from teaching English to bringing history to life.


Bill Brown's artwork for the Capital Maritime Music Fest

Bill Brown says this is one of two versions he did for the Capital Maritime Music Fest.  You can see the other version that he prefers here.

Fantastic Forum's interview with Gail Simone


Washington's own comics tv show Fantastic Forum was at Baltimore Comic Con, where Devon Sanders conducted with Gail Simone.  


Their website is www.fantasticforum.tv and their Facebook page is www.facebook.com/FantasticForum



Oct 1: Dork Diaries at Politics and Prose

Rachel Renee Russell - Dork Diaries 8: Tales from a Not-So-Happily Ever After with Erin Russell and Nikki Russell

Oct 1 2014 10:30 am

The team behind the Dork Diaries is back with another entry in Nikki Maxwell's life. This time around Nikki has some particularly interesting dreams after a bad bump on the head. In them, she, and all of her, friends, enemies, crushes, and everyone in between, become the main players in a series of fairy tales. Of course, things don't play out quite as you'd expect, because when Nikki's telling the story, everything is sure to have a twist. Ages 9 – 13 (Aladdin)

$13.99
ISBN-13: 9781481421843
Availability: Coming Soon - Available for Pre-Order Now
Published: Aladdin Paperbacks, 9/2014 
 
5015 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington
District Of Columbia

Sept 30: Scott Campbell at Politics and Prose

Scott Campbell - Hug Machine

Sep 30 2014 10:30 am
Watch out! The hug machine is coming! And no one, no matter how grumpy or mean, can resist his hugs. This whimsical, sweet, and charming book from Scott Campbell will conquer the world. One hug at a time. Ages 4 – 6 (Atheneum)

Hug Machine (Hardcover)

$16.99
ISBN-13: 9781442459359
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 8/2014
5015 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington
District Of Columbia

Oct 1: Ars Electronica Animation Film Festival


October 1, 2014 | Film Screening | Ars Electronica - Animation Film Festival
FIlm Screening | Ars Electronica | October 1, 2014, 7:30 p.m.

Ars Electronica Animation Film Festival
October 1, 2014 | Film Screening | Austrian Cultural Forum

If you're interested in outstanding computer animated films as well as innovative media art, make sure you join us for this one of a kind event on
October first.

The Austrian Cultural Forum will show some of the award winning contributions to 2013's Ars Electronica Animation Festival. 
The Ars Electronica Animation Festival is a compilation selected from all entries to the 2013 Prix Ars Electronica's Computer Animation/Film/VFX category. It offers an overview of the positions and points of view of artists worldwide, and impressively documents not only the genre's explosive growth of late but also its marvelous substantive and stylistic diversity.
775 films from 73 countries were submitted for prize consideration in 2013. Even a quick perusal of the selected films reveals the broad spectrum of what's being produced now. Digital animation—sometimes recognizable as such, sometimes unidentifiably as a realistic simulation—increasingly pervades our everyday life.
These computer-generated motion pictures appear in a diverse array of often hybrid forms in a very wide-ranging and interdisciplinary field at the nexus of art, industry, science and R&D.

For further information please visit www.acfdc.org

When: Wednesday, October 1, 2014 | 7:30 p.m.
Where: Austrian Cultural Forum | 3524 International Court NW | Washington, DC, 20008
Tickets: FREE | Please register at 
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ars-electronica-animation-festival-tickets-13033632947

Dreams Really Did Come True at Disney's ToonFest



by Steve Artley

I was honored to be a part of the annual ToonFest event in Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri last week. The two-day celebration honors the memory of Walt Disney and the cartooning profession through activities including programs that feature guest cartoonists. Among the other headliners brought in to give presentations were Hilary Price, Bill Hinds, Eddie Pittman and the dynamic Guy Gilchrist.
    On Friday, the team spoke to over 400 high school and college students, who were bused in from surrounding communities. Event organizers reported that this year's attendance was a record high.
    One of the highlights, is a street parade complete with strolling performers and several bands. Guest artists are each featured as "Grand Marshal" and ride the parade route down the original Main Street USA (inspiration for the Disney parks' street of the same name) in the back of classic pickups. Following the parade, the team reprises their talks at the Marceline Community Center. Later, we were taken to Walt Disney's boyhood farm for a ceremony at the "Dreaming Tree," where youngsters Walt and his sister, Ruth reportedly spent many childhood hours gazing up through the branches, to wish upon their star. With much pomp and flair, each artist was re-introduced, brought before the assemblage and inducted into the "Order of Plantears" (each are crowned with a hardhat featuring Mickey ears). Young Mouseketeers led each of us to our respective spots to plant our own "dreaming tree." A grand BBQ picnic at the farmstead brought the event to a festive conclusion.
    Throughout our entire visit, we artists were met with an abundance of genuine welcoming warmth and charity by the good folks of Marceline. Shortly after landing at the Washington airport, I walked through the crowded corridors of fast-paced indifference. I was shoved aside without apology from one of the self-absorbed pushing his way to the VIP lounge. It took every effort to restrain myself from boarding a return flight to Marceline with intent to seek asylum.
Friday night was a banquet and tour of the Disney Museum.
Hilary Price and Bill Hinds
A horse-drawn wagon full of cartoonists and friends
The door to Walt Disney's boyhood bedroom

ToonFest Parade: Awesome. Vehicle carrying Hilary Price along the parade route: Priceless. 

During the last leg of the parade route, the classic pickup carrying Hilary Price overheated and came to an abrupt Disneyesque halt, complete with gurgling sound FX and billowing steam. Disney animators and Foley artists couldn't have done it better. Not to be left knuckle biting and helpless at the roadside, the ever resourceful Hilary got out and pushed with assistance by a couple of onlookers.

From my vantage point of the tailgate of the vehicle ahead of Hilary, I gleefully iPhone photographed the following sequence.

 


Wednesday, September 24, 2014

The Post reviews Cece Bell's book

Cece Bell's story of a deaf child's struggles reflects her own [Review: 'El Deafo' by Cece Bell

By Sharon Pajka

Washington Post September 24 2014, p. C4.

Online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/review-el-deafo-by-cece-bell/2014/09/23/947aab00-402e-11e4-b0ea-8141703bbf6f_story.html

Comic Riffs on banned books

BANNED BOOKS WEEK: No 'Bone' or 'Neverwhere'? Here's why we can't afford to shelve the debate

By Michael Cavna

Washington Post Comic Riffs blog September 24 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2014/09/24/banned-books-week-how-school-challenges-to-bone-and-neverwhere-stoke-a-time-for-honest-conversation/

Oct 8: James O'Barr at Beyond Comics

Meet JAMES O'BARR!

Creator of
The Crow 

Wednesday October 8th
12:00noon to 4:00pm

Frederick

Also Meet 
Award Winning Russian Artist
Konstantin Komardin 
And Comics Writer, Editor and Historian
Renee Witterstaetter

 Facebook Information!

Beyond Comics

Frederick Store
5632 Route 85

Frederick, MD
(301) 668-8202

Hours: M,Tu 10-8;
W-Sat 10-9; Sun 12-6

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Another satisfied Cul de Sac reader recommends it

Ten reasons why you need "The Complete Cul de Sac"

By Andy Mansell

09/17/2014

http://culturemass.com/2014/09/17/ten-reasons-need-complete-cul-de-sac/

Comic Riffs talks to Cece Bell

Bell will be visiting local bookstores tomorrow.

'EL DEAFO': With her first (and so funny) graphic novel, deaf Va. artist CECE BELL hopes her tale will help others
By Michael Cavna Washington Post Comic Riffs blog September 23 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2014/09/23/el-deafo-cece-bell/

Oct. 21: Spiegelman's 'WORDLESS!'

Art Spiegelman brings his WORDLESS! show—a mix of comics, lecture and music—

to the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University on Oct. 21. Tickets are $35, $40 and $45. Click on the image below to see a teaser of the show.

Sept 24: Cece Bell at One More Page

Wed, Sept 24 at 4 pm: In El Deafo, her funny, poignant graphic novel memoir, author/illustrator CECE BELL chronicles her hearing loss at a young age and her subsequent experiences with the Phonic Ear, a very powerful--and very awkward--hearing aid.  The Phonic Ear gives Cece the ability to hear--sometimes things she shouldn't--but also isolates her from her classmates. 

"Worthy of a superhero."  --Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"...belongs right next to Raina Telgemeier's" Smile "(2011) and Liz Prince's "Tomboy."" --Booklist


One More Page Books 2200 N. Westmoreland Street, #101
Arlington, VA 22213
703-300-9746    Visit our website
Mon-Sat: 10 am - 8 pm; Sun: noon to 5 pm

Monday, September 22, 2014

TCJ on SPX

SPX 2014: An Indie Comics Microcosm
BY WHIT TAYLOR SEP 22, 2014

THURS 9/25: George Perez Signing at Third Eye Comics

THURSDAY 9/25/14
*******************************************************************
SIRENS #1 Launch Party with comics legend GEORGE PEREZ!
*******************************************************************
Co-Creator of DEATHSTROKE, STARFIRE, CYBORG, RAVEN and more!
*******************************************************************
SIGNING FROM 11AM-1PM!
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FIRST 20 IN LINE RECEIVE A FREE GIFT!

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Visiting Peru to talk comics


by Matt Dembicki

Last week, I spent a week in Lima and Cusco, Peru, teaching comics to high school and college students who are learning English, as well as teachers who teach English. The sessions, which were organized by the U.S. State Department, were held at what are called Binational Centers (BNCs), which are partially English language schools.

Upon arriving in Lima, I first served as a co-judge for an annual national comics contest for youths, who submitted two-page comics focused on an environmental issue, ranging from recycling to deforestation and water pollution. What was especially cool was the number of girls/women who participated. In fact, two of the top three winning strips were written/drawn by women.

Following the announcement of the winners live via webcast to the BNCs, I rolled up my sleeves and got going on the comics-making workshops with ESL teachers. Since the focus was on how to use comics to raise awareness of environmental issues, the teachers did one-page comics on an environmental topic.

Over the next few days, I held similar workshops for BNC students and the general public. It was especially interesting to see the wide range of ages of folks who attended the workshops. I also had an opportunity to talk about my personal work at a few events and through media interviews.

At all these events, it was especially gratifying to see a passion for comics. Brazil and Argentina tend to grab international attention when discussing South American comics, but Peru has a wonderful array of comics creators. It’s encouraging to see an indie/self-publish scene in Peru, and to witness an acceptance of comics among the general public as a medium to entertain and educate. And it’s especially wonderful to feel a connection globally through comics. I’ve made some great friends in Peru. I think you’ll see fruits of those friendships in the years to come.

A nice write-up in the A section in El Comercio, Peru's largest daily.

A quick photo with an El Camercio photographer and editor Adolfo Bazan Coquis

Comics creator and educator Fabrizio Rivas

The BNC library staff at one of the center's in Lima

With some English-language teachers following a workshop

Some of the books I used as examples of comics with environmental/conservation themes. I donated these books to the BMC programs.

I was amazed at some of the graphic novel displays at a couple bookstores in Lima. 


A few wonderful comics I traded for in Lima. Cartoonist Renso Gonzalez and his brother put together some amazing books.

Couldn't resist getting this T-shirt for my son.

A copy of Trickster at the BNC library in Cusco