I visit Cookeville, TN regularly to see my wife's family and off and on have visited local comics shops. I thought they were all gone, but last year for Free Comic Book Day, my in-laws heard about Mountain Top Comics and kindly stopped in for me. I took the opportunity to visit recently and met the owner Michael Hargis. It's the only shop left in Cookeville, which at one point in the 90s had at least three of them. The shop at, 1683 S. Jefferson Ave, has a good assortment of new comics. Hargis probably stocks more new floppies than the Big Planet stores around DC that I regularly shop at. Hargis has a good run of the non-big two comics, including a reasonable shelf of indy graphic novels, and lots of Image and Boom comics. He also has a fun selection of comics-based toys, a decent amount of back issues and a little bit of games. If I lived here, I'd be perfectly happy with this as my regular shop. Today's purchases were Camelot 3000 chosen by my daughter, Batman 66 trade for me, and a Conan print and The Haunt of Wylding Wood minicomic by local cartoonist Matt Knieling (pictured below).
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| Back issues for sale in a side room |
Stacy Curtis loses sight from stroke; Pig and Banjo drawings fill Facebook wall
by Alan Gardner
March 30, 2015
Life Out on the Political Fringe: Peter Bagge hits the campaign trail
Peter Bagge
Reason April 2015 issue
http://reason.com/archives/2015/03/29/life-out-on-the-political-fringe
By DCist Contributor Josh Kramer
March 30 2015
http://dcist.com/2015/03/drawn_to_flavor_zaytinya.php
Susan Schearer,
Winchester, Va.
Washington Post March 28 2015
Starting out, I was heavily influenced by anime like Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Dragonball Z. Currently, my work is most influenced by other local creators I've met as well as webcomics I follow. Comics like Namesake, Sister Claire, and Stand Still Stay Silent are the first ones that come to mind for works I look to for inspiration and technique.
I have two comics that I'm super proud of. Jikoshia has come so far and turned into a project I really love. I recently brought my latest 24-hour comic to print as well, All You Held Dear, and for being a comic written in such a short amount of time, I'm really happy with the way both the writing and the art turned out!
I go to almost every one I can find! I regularly attend Katsucon and Small Press Expo and look forward to this year's Awesome Con. I've only managed to go to Intervention once so far, but would definitely like to again! I also make appearances at smaller shows like Tiger Con in Towson, Library Con in Petworth, and Nippon Con in Westminster. I'm currently planning a small show for a comics group I'm a part of called Square City Comics in June and hope to turn that into an annual gig.
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 Submit to the Ignatz Awards!It's time to submit your comics for consideration in Small Press Expo's festival prize, the Ignatz Award! The nominees are selected by a jury of creators and voted on by attendees and exhibitors of Small Press Expo. Previous winners include Kate Beaton, Michael DeForge, Lisa Hanawalt, Jaime Hernandez, Nate Powell, Jillian Tamaki, Mariko Tamaki, Ulli Lust and Sophie Goldstein. Categories are:
All work will be eligible in all applicable categories. We need six copies of work published between June 1, 2014 and May 31, 2015 sent to: SPX Ignatz Awards c/o Big Planet Comics 4849 Cordell Ave. Bethesda, MD 20814 When submitting, please fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hCrJzVJ9x9MP6ZyqCKiiMvkRSuflsW39QQy-cQfdZZc/viewform (If you have already submitted, please go ahead and fill it out now!) Links to online comics should be emailed to spxignatz@gmail.com All submissions must be received by June 7, 2015. Full guidelines are available at: http://www.spxpo.com/ignatz-guidelines. All questions should be sent to Ignatz Award coordinator, Eden Miller, at spxignatz@gmail.com. This year's image of Ignatz, as seen above, was created by 2014 Promising New Talent Winner Cathy G. Johnson. |
This cartoon, courtesy of the Defense Department, depicts two extremist fighters at a "recruiting office" leading young people toward a blood-splattered meat grinder.
Dharavi Comics Epidemic: An Interview with Chaitanya Modak
BY Ryan Holmberg Mar 26, 2015
http://www.tcj.com/dharavi-comics-epidemic-an-interview-with-chaitanya-modak/
Group Art Exhibit with MF DOOM Inspired Artwork, MC Ciphering and MF Doom Cover songs by local MC's
Art Whino presents "We're all DOOMed" a group art show with artwork inspired by MF Doom. MF Doom is engraved in psyche of many artists, with a career that spans over 26 years and a relentless push for creativity with each album. It's this creativity with references from comic books, freestyle, and instrumentals second to none that a vast pool for artists will to pay homage to in their artwork. With a vast lineup of worldwide artists there will a diverse array of work presented in the exhibit. To continue the theme we will have a MC Ciphering as well at live performance of MF Doom Cover songs by top MC's such as DC's Own Flex Mathews.
Saturday, April 25th, from 8pm - Midnight
Come out for a full night of all things MF Doom!
MF Doom Inspired Group Art Show
Open to the public MC Ciphering
MF Doom Cover songs performed by the dopest local MC's such as Flex Matthews
DJ Oso Fresh on the Turntbales
This event is Free
Location:
BLIND WHINO:Sw Arts Club
700 Delaware Ave, SW Washington, DC 20024
About MF DOOM
Daniel Dumile ("doom-uh-lay") is a British born American hip-hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most famously MF DOOM (standing for metal fingers/metal face doom). He has also been known as Zev Love X, King Geedorah, Metal Fingers, Viktor Vaughn, Doom, and has appeared in several collaborative projects such as DANGERDOOM (with Danger Mouse), Madvillain (with Madlib), JJ DOOM (with Jneiro Jarel) and NehruvianDOOM (with Bishop Nehru). Little is known about his personal life.
About Flex Mathews
Flex Mathews has been a rising star in the Mid Atlantic regional Hip Hop scene for much of the last 9 years. He was named one of URB Magazine's Next 100 Artists in 2005, and his transition from the local DC underground to national recognition has been the product of his dedication, quality live show performance, as well as his numerous victories in MC battles. On top of that Mr. Mathews has been voted best rap artist of 2009 in Washington DC area. I'm telling you, this South Dakota boy has drive, and then some.Flex Mathews is a 2x Guerrilla Grammar Battle Champion, and 3x Tru Skool Rip The Mic Battle Champion, 2x Kool Cigarettes Battle Champion (That he now regrets), and a 8x H.E.R Battle Champion to name a few. He has also made appearances on the 2004 and 2005 Vans Warped Tour on the Code of the Cuts Stage. A familiar face in the local scene – Flex has come to represent a new generation of the DC Underground. Versatility? Mr. Mathews has it and has shown when he was the MC for the Drum and Base group "Common Knowledge". This group made several appearances at Nations Night Club and open for such greats as Chase and Status and MC Armoni. So basically the boy got skills.
About DJ Oso Fresh
The first hip hop song I heard was "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugar Hill Gang shortly after I arrived in the United States in 1979. In the early 80's as B-boying (or breakdancing) started to get national exposure, my friends and I formed our own B-boy crew. We practiced after school for hours on end. We performed at all of our High School events. As I was always into art, it was easy for me to fall in love with graffiti art, as well. A DCU student named Frank Ski hosted an hour-long radio show called "Breaker's Delight", which turned me on to a lot of new music. I hadn't started deejaying yet, but I bought all my favorite records and recorded the music on cassette tapes, so my friends and I could listen to them while we practiced dancing. Soon, I was known as the guy with the newest music and was regularly asked to bring my records to local parties. In 1985, I met a Puerto Rican guy from the Bronx named Juan Ortiz, aka DJ Boom, who lived in my building and had his own deejaying equipment. I began to practice and when he moved out, he used to bring his equipment (one turntable, mixer, and a crate of records) to school and after school he would ride the bus to my house to set up and practice until i pieced together my own deejay set. I started making mixtapes and deejaying parties, but I was still too young to work in nightclubs. Finally, in 1993, I entered a deejay competition at a club called The Vault in downtown DC and came in second place. I didn't realize the club owner, Kommi, had been standing behind me during my set. He contacted me through the promoter, M.C. Bitch, a few days later and offered me a chance to play at the Vault on a regular basis.
Participating Artists in the Doom inspired group art show
Art Whino is located at the National Harbor waterfront in Maryland. Click here for contact info.
Robin Ferrier
March 25, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kbjht3vz28
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| Cul de Sac interpreted by Flippo for Parkinson's fundraising |
What work are you best-known for?
What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?It's got to be the monuments and museums!
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| 1st collection of strips with an original sketch on the back cover |
At this time I don't have a website or blog. I'm on Facebook so that's where I post everything Axel and Alex. I post new strips every Sunday and Wednesday. They're posted publicly under Terry Flippo. I also accept all friend requests, so friend me and have all the Axel and Alex goodness sent to your feed!
I'm very pleased to announce I will have another Splotch Monster solo art exhibit, this time at The Griffin Art Center in beautiful downtown Frederick, Maryland. The exhibit will start April 1st, however, my opening reception will take place on Saturday, April 11, from 5-8pm. The following Saturday I will be holding an artists' talk and workshop from 3-5pm, same location. Contrary to what the flyer says, the exhibit will actually take place in the large, front gallery. Hope to see folks there! (lifted from his Facebook feed)
!['I'm very pleased to announce I will have another Splotch Monster solo art exhibit, this time at @[214048915354672:274:The Griffin Art Center] in beautiful downtown Frederick, Maryland. The exhibit will start April 1st, however, my opening reception will take place on Saturday, April 11, from 5-8pm. The following Saturday I will be holding an artists' talk and workshop from 3-5pm, same location. Contrary to what the flyer says, the exhibit will actually take place in the large, front gallery. Hope to see folks there!'](https://scontent-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/s526x395/16882_1634779436756241_1791616928861019028_n.jpg?oh=924f2a9cc00db9ea451b10ead141895d&oe=55B9A00B)
Kata Kane has returned to her Altar Girl webcomic, after a decade away from it. She's moved in the meantime from suburban DC to Baltimore, but was back in town recently for the Smudge Expo in Arlington.
pencil sketches, scan them in, and then I ink, color, and use screentones digitally. I use a Wacom tablet, and a combination of programs like Photoshop, Illustrator and Manga Studio.
I’m proud of Altar Girl. The comic is very much ongoing, but it’s already given me so many opportunities to meet comic creators and artists I admire, as well avid comic readers and aspiring young artists. I’m especially proud to meet the young women who come to comic cons and feel a connection with my art and my book. It’s really wonderful and also very humbling.
