PR: Small Press Expo Announces Michael DeForge, Gemma Correll and Noah Van Sciver

For Immediate Release Contact: Warren Bernard Email: warren@spxpo.com Small Press Expo Announces Michael DeForge, Gemma Correll and Noah Van Sciver to Celebrate SPX's 21st Birthday Bethesda, Maryland; June 30, 2015 Media Release ­— SPX is pleased to announce 21st Century creators Michael DeForge, Gemma Correll and Noah Van Sciver as guests at SPX 2016. This is in addition to the previously announced creators of the current century Kate Beaton, Luke Pearson and Noelle Stevenson. SPX 2016 takes place on Saturday and Sunday, September 19-20, and will have over 650 creators, 280 exhibitor tables and 22 programming slots to entertain, enlighten and introduce attendees to the amazing world of independent and small press comics. Having recently designed an Adventure Time title card and running an active Patreon account, Michael DeForge represents the modern cartoonist and working freelancer. DeForge marches onward in 2015, with SPX privileged in seeing the debut of his Koyama Press publications, the graphic novel Dressing and Lose #7, the latest in his award winning comics series. 2015 also saw the release of the collection of two of his Patreon works in On Topics from Breakdown Press, as well as First Year Healthy from D&Q. His singular vision and design-influenced style of storytelling make each new work instantly recognizable and remain with readers well after they have put the book back on the shelf. Illustrator, writer, artist Gemma Correll rounds out the guest list with her succinct cartoons and whimsical books. Correll's The Worrier's Guide to Life hits stands this year from Andrews McMeel while A Pug's to Guide to Etiquette is still making readers' sides ache from laughter. With a pen line easily suited to many audiences, Correll also celebrates illustrating new children's books this year with Pig and Pug, written by Lynne Berry, from Simon & Schuster and Being a Girl, written by Hayley Long, from Hot Key Books. Noah Van Sciver continues to create new work as the "cartographer of his generation" (Paul Buhle, TCJ).  A true powerhouse, Van Sciver has one-two-three-FOUR new books out this year: Saint Cole and Fante Bukowski from Fantagraphics, My Hot Date from Kilgore Books, and Cheer Up from Hic and Hoc. Van Sciver utilizes the aesthetics of underground and alternative cartoonists before him like Crumb, Clowes and Bagge while speaking straight from the heart of today's disenchanted and disenfranchised youth. Small Press Expo (SPX) is the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels, and alternative political cartoons. SPX is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit that brings together more than 650 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers, and distributors each year. Graphic novels, mini comics, and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators. The expo includes a series of panel discussions and interviews with this year's guests. The Ignatz Award is a festival prize held every year at SPX recognizing outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning, with the winners chosen by attendees at the show. As in previous years, profits from the SPX will go to support the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program, which funds graphic novel purchases for public and academic libraries, as well as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), which protects the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals. For more information on the CBLDF, visit their website at http://www.cbldf.org. For more information on the Small Press Expo, please visit http://www.spxpo.com.

WJLA reports on Montgomery Sentinel's cartoon plagiarism

Lewis, Kevin.  2015.

Cartoon plagiarism at issue in Montgomery County.

WJLA's ABC7 news 06/26/2015

http://www.wjla.com/video/2015/06/cartoon-plagiarism-at-issue-in-montgomery-county.html

(caught by Alan Gardener's Daily Cartoonist)

SPX 2014 videos online, suddenly en masse

These are by Joe Mochove and Rusty Rowley.

SPX 2014: Tom Scioli

SmallPressExpo

Jun 23, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KddLbcT_yDU

Joe and Rusty convene with Tom Scioli to discuss comics, Transformers, GI Joe, and Transformers vs. GI Joe.

SPX 2014: Rafer Roberts

SmallPressExpo

 Jun 23, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rydsXSOukTc

Rusty and Joe have a heartfelt sit-down with Rafer Roberts talking about comics, giant books as flotation devices and weapons, and the state of snakes.

SPX 2014: RM Rhodes

SmallPressExpo

 Jun 23, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGa3mesUing

Joe and Rusty chat with RM Rhodes about comics, liquor laws, and the importance of purple.

SPX 2014: MDT & Sam Marx

SmallPressExpo

 Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VwezgQLufE

Rusty and Joe chat with MDT and Sam Marx about comics, unrepentant manliness, and vertical exhibiting because gravity is for losers.

SPX 2014: Katy Rex

SmallPressExpo

 Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ClGP3zToAU

Joe and Rusty sit down with faux-Joe Katy Rex to talk about comics, the mystery of dinosaurs, and emotional naps.

SPX 2014: Matt Dembicki

SmallPressExpo

Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBaB9W9igzM

Rusty and Joe talk with Matt Dembicki about editing anthologies, teaching comics, and making comics about what's happening right now!

SPX 2014: Luke Humphris

SmallPressExpo

 Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFVZSZpvhm4

Joe and Rusty speak the devil's tongue with Luke Humphris and chat about comics, Australian handshakes, fresh-pressed vinyl emotions.

SPX 2014: Joey Weiser

SmallPressExpo

 Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6S0ai8GX1Y

Rusty and Joe kick back with Joey Weiser to talk about comics, the challenges of writing and drawing, and a confluence of Joes.

SPX 2014: Claire Folkman & Kelly Phillips

SmallPressExpo

 Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKbKSBBabWQ

Joe and Rusty sit down with the ladies of Dirty Diamonds to talk about their anthology, sPromX, and Joe's last days as a contributing member of society.

SPX 2014: Neil Brideau & Kenan Rubenstein

SmallPressExpo

 Jun 24, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mTs5_RbHOo

Rusty and Joe team up with Neil Brideau and Kenan Rubenstein to talk about comics, creating new avenues for sharing comics, and that old guy over there.

SPX 2014: Caitlin Major & Matt Hoddy

SmallPressExpo

 Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGtZxzIQRSY

Joe and Rusty make magic happen with Caitlin and Matt as they breakdown comics, the benefits of eating trash, and wondrous meat pies!

SPX 2014: Catherine Fraas

SmallPressExpo

Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEwzyxFWMpo

Joe and Rusty chat with Catherine Fraas about comics, being fancy at the prom, and question opinions on maximum macaroni and cheese intake.

SPX 2014: Jessica Anderson

SmallPressExpo

 Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAEcvhfZGmc

Rusty and Joe interview Jessica Anderson about things that aren't comics, regrettable crimes, and the sort of sandwiches that change the game.

SPX 2014: Hannah Lee Stockdale

SmallPressExpo

Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdENCKmtTtE

Joe and Rusty talk to Hannah Lee Stockdale about a plethora of topics including comics, dreams, and the mortality of tires.

SPX 2014: Alexis Sugden

SmallPressExpo

Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0JY4rNRqMo

Rusty and Joe chat with Alexis about Australian comic conventions, spooky stories, and a pinch of murder.

SPX 2014: Frank Candiloro

SmallPressExpo

Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0bAPDrW5xw

Joe and Rusty have a time with Frank Candiloro as they ruminate on comics, traveling the world, and the skill of romance.

SPX 2014: Jeff Zwirek

SmallPressExpo

 Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TifRcYPy9Ig

Rusty and Joe verbally cohabit with Jeff Zwirek to exchange ideas about comics, impressive website addresses, and unwanted children finding new homes.

SPX 2014: Matt Czap

SmallPressExpo

 Jun 23, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od3wW0_EfCw

Rusty and Joe have a mighty discourse with Matt Czap to discuss comics, approved bootlegging, and the art of pantomime.

Dembicki on 'Pilot Waves' podcast

I had an opportunity to chat with Alex Vidales of Pilot Waves, a local arts and music podcast, about small press, the DC Conspiracy, Magic Bullet, distribution, inspiration, dedication, persistence and, of course, the Small Press Expo. Give it a listen, won't ya?

Photo by Chris Mararac

The Post reviews Inside Out game

Burst bubbles with Joy, Sadness and Anger in 'Inside Out' app

By Hayley Tsukayama
June 28 2015

online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2015/06/25/78b3dd02-1ac0-11e5-ab92-c75ae6ab94b5_story.html

"Inside Out" animator Pete Docter wants to draw like Richard Thompson

Pete Docter

By KATE MURPHY

JUNE 28, 2015 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/opinion/sunday/pete-docter.html

Remember, you can buy Richard's latest book, Compleating Cul de Sac, now.

Compleating Cul de Sac
by Richard Thompson, Michael Rhode and Chris Sparks
Asheville, NC: Team Cul de Sac & Arlington, VA: ComicsDC, 2015.


Available in paperback: http://www.lulu.com/shop/michael-rhode/compleating-cul-de-sac/paperback/product-22163926.html

hardcover: http://www.lulu.com/shop/michael-rhode/compleating-cul-de-sac-hardcover/hardcover/product-22163989.html

ebook pdf: http://www.lulu.com/shop/michael-rhode/compleating-cul-de-sac-ebook/ebook/product-22185584.html

July 10: Animezing: Mai Mai Miracle

Animezing Series Presented by the JICC, Embassy of Japan Mai Mai Miracle Friday, July 10, 6:30 p.m. Never miss another event!   Our Location: JICC, Embassy of Japan 1150 18th St, NW Suite 100 Washington, DC 20036 Driving Directions © 2009 Nobuko Takagi / MAGAZINE HOUSE / "MAIMAISHINKO" Film Committee  | 2009 | 95 min | Not Rated | In Japanese with English subtitles | Directed by Sunao  Katabuchi In 1955 Japan, Shinko, a curious third grade elementary school student lives in a small village with her parents and grandparents where she spends her free time running free in the sea of wheat fields surrounding her house, immersed in her childhood daydreams.   Inspired by her grandfather's historical tales of the land on which they live, Shinko's fantasies travel far into the days of Japan's Heian Period (794 - 1185). One day a girl called Kiiko transfers from Tokyo and joins Shinko's class where they become good friends. Before long, the two of them become engulfed in a strange incident of one thousand years ago.   Winner of the Audience Award for Best Animated Feature for adults & the BeTV Award for Best Animated Feature at Anima (Brussels Animation Film Festival) in 2010; Jury Prize at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal in 2010; and the Excellence Prize for Feature Length Animation at the 14th Japan Media Arts Festival. Nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 4th Asia Pacific Screen Awards.   Register Now! This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Please note that seating is limited and registration does not guarantee guests a seat. Registered guests will be seated on a first come, first served basis. Please contact us at jicc@ws.mofa.go.jp in the event of cancellation. Doors open at 6:00 pm. No admission or re-entry after 7:00 pm.

JICC, Embassy of Japan | 1150 18th St., NW | Suite 100 | Washington | DC | 20036

July 1: Sevara #1 available on ComiXology

Damian Wampler writes in:

I just wanted to let you know that Sevara #1 will be released on ComiXology on Wednesday, July 1, sometime during the day.

This is the link to Sevara issue #1 on ComiXology: http://bit.ly/1dioZcf
NOTE: this link won't be live until July 1.

Here's a link to the Sevara series on ComiXology, live all the time: https://www.comixology.com/Sevara/comics-series/46184? 

July 29: Bill Plympton in Silver Spring

CHEATIN' with Oscar® nominated animator Bill Plympton in person!

Public · Film · Hosted by AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center

https://www.facebook.com/events/447020438811401/

 

• Wednesday, July 29 at 7:00pm in EDT

• Show Map AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910

• Find Tickets Tickets Available www.afi.com

Widely considered the "King of Indie Animation", Bill Plympton is the only person to hand draw an entire animated feature film. Twice nominated for Oscars® for his animated short films, his work as also won the prestigious Cannes Palme d'Or.

After producing many shorts that appeared on MTV and Spike and Mike's, Plympton turned his talent to feature films. The subject of his 7th animated feature film Cheatin' (film), is a newlywed wife who proves the depth of her love by becoming her cheating husband's mistresses.

"Strife and sexual humor reign in this energetic romp, one of Bill Plympton's best long form animated works." --Dennis Harvey, Variety

John Cuneo on Richard Thompson

"I've also been looking closely at the aforementioned book of Goya's etchings, Ronald Searle's remarkable drawings in The Second Coming of Toulouse-Lautrec, and The Art of Richard Thompson. For me, Thompson's work has the capacity to conjure both inspiration and despair. I take it in small portions, no more than three or four pages at a time so as not to give up hope entirely."

- Illustrator Profile - John Cuneo: "The act of making marks on paper is a rare and singular pleasure"
By Robert Newman Thursday June 25, 2015
http://www.ai-ap.com/publications/article/14337/illustrator-profile-john-cuneo-the-act-of-maki.html

Andrew Cohen has illustrated his grandfather's new book

Local cartoonist Andrew Cohen has provided illustrations for a new collection of his grandfather's writings, Reflections on Martha's Vineyard.

From the publisher ...

William A. Caldwell was already a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his work as editor of a New Jersey newspaper when he moved to the Martha's Vineyard, MA, in 1972. For the next 12 years, he wrote a column for the Vineyard Gazette called Reflections of That Man Friday. Reflections on Martha's Vineyard is a collection of those brilliant essays whether funny or critical, angry or compassionate, irrefutably logical but often philosophically surprising. The essays remain surprisingly relevant to today's Vineyard, an island eight miles off the coast of Massachusetts, written in a style that captures some of the best of writing about this small place.

More information at http://howzitfunnies.blogspot.com/2015/06/reflections-on-marthas-vineyard.html"

Ullman returns to the City Paper

Rob Ullman, formerly a long-time illustrator of the Savage Love column for the City Paper, has an illo in the paper again, after a long drought.

See The Last Supper: Horror Stories of Breaking Up in D.C. Restaurants and Bars

PR: Small Press Expo Announces Kate Beaton, Luke Pearson and Noelle Stevenson

For Immediate Release Contact: Warren Bernard Email: warren@spxpo.com Small Press Expo Announces Kate Beaton, Luke Pearson and Noelle Stevenson to Celebrate SPX's 21st Birthday   Bethesda, Maryland; June 25, 2015 Media Release ­— To commemorate its 21st birthday, the Small Press Expo (SPX) is proud to announce that SPX 2015 will spotlight creators who have only worked in the 21st Century.   We are pleased to announce that our first 21st Century/21st Birthday guests at SPX 2015 are Kate Beaton, Luke Pearson and Noelle Stevenson.   Her humorous, quirky takes on history, literature and famous people propelled Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant! series of webcomics into a New York Times bestseller, as well as winning both the Harvey and Ignatz Awards. SPX 2015 will see the debut of Ms. Beaton's latest compendium of comics, Step Aside Pops! A Hark! A Vagrant Collection  for Drawn and Quarterly. She also just published her very first children's book,  The Princess and The Pony from Scholastic Books.   Luke Pearson's Hildafolk series started as a single issue comic that expanded into three volumes of Scandinavian inspired, critically acclaimed children's books for the artistically daring publisher Nobrow. Mr. Pearson's notoriety with the Hilda series and his other comics have led him to storyboard episodes of Adventure Time, as well as illustration assignments for such prestigious outlets as The New York Times, The New Yorker and the New Republic.   Noelle Stevenson's hit webcomic Nimona  has just been nominated for a 2015 Eisner Award for Best Digital/Web Comic, on top of having the first Nimona graphic novel released last month by Harpercollins. Ms. Stevenson was one of the primary writers of the hit series Lumberjanes from Boom! Studios, which has just been optioned for a movie. She is now writing for such Marvel titles as Thor and Runaways, as well for the Disney series Wander Over Yonder. SPX is honored to host Ms. Stevenson as guest for the first time.   SPX 2015 takes place on Saturday and Sunday, September 19-20, and will have over 650 creators, 280 exhibitor tables and 22 programming slots to entertain, enlighten and introduce attendees to the amazing world of independent and small press comics.   Small Press Expo (SPX) is the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels, and alternative political cartoons. SPX is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit that brings together more than 650 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers, and distributors each year. Graphic novels, mini comics, and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators. The expo includes a series of panel discussions and interviews with this year's guests.   The Ignatz Award is a festival prize held every year at SPX recognizing outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning, with the winners chosen by attendees at the show. As in previous years, profits from the SPX will go to support the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program, which funds graphic novel purchases for public and academic libraries, as well as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), which protects the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals. For more information on the CBLDF, visit their website at http://www.cbldf.org. For more information on the Small Press Expo, please visit http://www.spxpo.com.