Toles goes MAD

Tom Toles' editorial cartoon today is based on the fold-in by famed MAD cartoonist Al Jaffee. Here's a good article on Jaffee from the NY Times, and some online fold-ins.

Jaffee is nominated for the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben award this weekend (and Richard Thompson's up for best strip) and I believe he will win it. I don't know if Toles was making a prediction, or just was reminded of Jaffee's work, but according to Dave Astor, Wiley's made a bet who'll win by doing an early Sunday strip - check the Post on Sunday and see if either of us was right.

And for those reading it online, with less fold-in experience than us long-time Mad readers, here's what it looks like folded:

June 11-12: Bleach anime showing

At area theaters...

May 21: Death Note anime showing

Tonight at 7:30!

Weingarten corrupted three comic strips for Post Hunt

Gene Weingarten's May 20th chat had some comments about a 'comics' clue to the Post Hunt.

Arlington: G-Dub. How in THE hell can anyone claim that the "Comics" clue was hard? The comedians made it obvious what the topic was, Liz and Ginger walking around with the comics pages made it obvious where to look (not to mention that everyone was reading the Comics section) and the numbers weren't terribly hard to find. What was hard about it?

(Every other clue was @#$! impossible, btw.)

washingtonpost.com: And yet there were people who -- when offered a Comics section -- declined, saying "I have one at home."

Gene Weingarten: Heh heh.

As Tom said yesterday, the monitors at the fortune cookie site watched several times as small children were tugging at parents' clothing saying, "It tastes like coconut!" and the parents said, "Ssh. We're trying to solve the puzzle."

and later...

Consiracy Theories: It's bad enough that clueless Post readers may be misled by the clues planted in the magazine and comics, but what about the rest of the country? Is there an army of folks coming up with diabolical explanations for the numbers appearing in the three comics? Or do they get an explanation somewhere somehow (without stumbling on the Post)?

Gene Weingarten: Yeah, I owe a great thank you to Stephan Pastis, Jef Mallett, and Berkeley Breathed. They were great sports about it. I'm sure they're getting dozens of letters from elsewhere in the country asking, yknow, what that "nine" was about.

and...

Opus Hunt: Gene,

A friend was telling me about Hunt (she went, I couldn't) and when I looked at the Opus strip, the first thing I thought of when she pointed it out was Al Hirschfeld. Did Breathed do that on purpose? And were the other numbers in the strip used as decoys?

Gene Weingarten: Yep, it was an homage to Hirschfeld, I believe. "Nine" was done exactly the way Hirschfeld did "Nina."

The other numbers were coincidence! He wasn't trying to be deceptive.

...with some debate over that...

Washington, D.C.: Did you notice that both Breathed and Mallet hid other numerals in their strips? The s in the title "OPUS" was a 5. In Frazz, the word "school" had both a 5 instead of an s, and an 8 instead of the two o's. The second occurrence of that word didn't have the 5, but it did have the 8. So we weren't sure which hidden numbers to use, until we finally noticed the "nine" on the doctor's coat, and decided to use the spelled-out numbers "six," "eight," and "nine," and ignore the hidden numerals 5, 8, 8 and 5.

Gene Weingarten: I disagree about the S being a 5.

But we noticed the "oo" looking like an eight. We noticed this at the very last minute. It turns out that is simply how Patty Mallett (who inks Jef's art) makes a double o! If the hidden number had been anything but eight, we'd a been scrood!

This is all nonsensical, until you go to the Post website. This video explains that Weingarten's friends Stephan (Pearls Before Swine), Berkeley (Opus) Breathed and Jeff (Frazz) Mallett snuck in clues for the Post Hunt.

Who donated Spider-Man to the Library of Congress?

It's a new parlor game! One blogger guesses Stan Lee although he was going by memory rather than rereading my original post. I don't think he's right as the art probably sat around for years after it was first published, and as one of his commenters also noted, Sara Duke says it was given to the donor as a gift that he's now passing on. Blake Bell for example has demonstrated that the artwork was reshot again years later for reprints in Marvel Tales, for instance. Also it wouldn't have to be one of the original bullpen members as it wouldn't have been considered that important until the Marvel offices had grown a lot.

Wow, Sara Duke is the new version of Woodward and Bernstein. Who is DEEP POCKETS?

Cul de Sac marches into Maryville

Our Man Thompson's picked up a paper with a space vacated by Preteena's cessation - "Cul De Sac comic debuts today," Maryville TN Daily Times May 19 2008. Today Maryville... tomorrow Knoxville!

Gene Colan charity benefit book

I was sent the following email today from Rufus Dayglo. Gene Colan's one of the greats of Marvel Comics. I just sent in my $23.00 via Paypal -

Gene Colan, the legendary Marvel Comics artist is ill in hospital with a failing liver, and his family need financial help.

My good friend, the writer Cliff Meth has done a book with Gene Colan, and Cliff sent me the following info.

PLEASE buy this book. The money will immediately help with Gene's medical bills.

From Cliff...

"Gene and I are doing for Aardwolf Publishing.

It is called METH, COLAN & OTHER THEOLOGIANS and will include everything that was in our PERVERTS, PEDOPHILES & OTHER THEORLOGIANS (a Barnes & Noble "Horror Pick of the Week" from 1997 that saw multiple printings) as well as new stories by Gene and I, along with introductions by several of the comic industry's noted luminaries.

People can order the signed/numbered limited edition now by sending $20 + $3 shipping to sales@aardwolfpublishing.com [via Paypal] -- proceeds directly and immediately benefit Gene."

Again... buy this book. help Gene.

Thank you!

Rufus Dayglo (IDW Artist)

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 05-21-08

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 05-21-08
By John Judy

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #560 by Dan Slott and Marcos Martin. Starring Peter Parker: Paparazzi! Fun stuff!

AVENGERS INITIATIVE #13 by Christos Gage and Steve Uy. Following in the large footsteps of Dan Slott/ the new creative team hands in a worthy first effort. Recommended.

BLACK PANTHER #36 by Reginald Hudlin and Francis Portela. The Panther’s back in his kingdom of Wakanda to clean house!

BRAVE AND BOLD #13 by Mark Waid and Jerry Ordway. Batman and the Golden-Age Flash fight a samurai. This could be a really short comic…

CAPTAIN AMERICA #38 by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. In which we learn the identity of “Steve Rogers.”

CASEY BLUE: BEYOND TOMORROW #1 of 6 by B. Clay Moore and Carlo Barberi. Typical teenager discovers she’s humanity’s salvation after killing a stranger with her bare hands. How many times has this happened to you?

DEAD SHE SAID #1 by Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson. The noir-horror tale of a dead detective who has to figure out who killed him. It’s Wrightson so you’d need it even if it didn’t sound this cool. Recommended.

FANTASTIC FOUR #557 by Mark Millar and Brian Hitch. Big robot fights and romance!

GHOST RIDER #23 by Jason Aaron and Roland Boschi. The author of SCALPED, WOLVERINE (the one that doesn’t suck), and THE OTHER SIDE is writing this book so you know you got to have it! Find out who gets the burning chain this issue! Recommended!

GRENDEL: BEHOLD THE DEVIL #7 of 8 written and drawn by Matt Wagner. The penultimate issue in this untold tale of crimelord/novelist Hunter Rose. A great week for Wagner fans since we’re also getting the DEVIL CHILD HC and DEVIL QUEST HC. Nice!

HELLBLAZER #244 by Andy Diggle and Giuseppe Camuncoli. Constantine’s in the Vatican. Hijinks ensue. Recommended!

INCREDIBLE HULK OMNIBUS VOL.1 HC by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and a Who’s Who of Sixties Marvel Bullpen Greatness. Collecting every Hulk story up through Hulk #102, plus extras! Highly recommended!

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #21 by Dwayne McDuffie and Carlos Pacheco. Introducing Libra and the Human Flame from FINAL CRISIS. They will be on the test.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #15 by Geoff Johns, Alex Ross, and Dale Eaglesham. The guy behind all the hero-killings is revealed.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: MIGHTY THOR VOL.7 HC by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Collecting THOR #153-162, featuring Loki, Galactus, Ego the Living Planet and lots more from the Silver Age of Comics!

MIGHTY AVENGERS #14 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. Nick Fury’s ramping up to stomp some Skrull patootie! Avengers appear also!

SCALPED #17 by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera. Bad Horse versus Diesel, Round Two as “Dead Mothers” wraps up. Highly recommended, too rough for kids.

WAR IS HELL: FIRST FLIGHT OF THE PHANTOM EAGLE #3 by Garth Ennis and Howard Chaykin. The P.E. continues to discover that World War I is not all it’s cracked up to be. Recommended.

WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #25 by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon. The final chapter of the big Deadpool fight. Plus a bonus reprint of the first appearance of Deadpool, just to remind us how completely comics can suck.

X-FACTOR #31 by Peter David and Pablo Raimondi. Mutant-Town is burning. On the plus-side a comedy club is destroyed.

www.johnjudy.net

Otis Sweat cartoon artwork in Post mag

Today's Post Hunt contest was started in the Post Magazine which had a ton of artwork by Otis Sweat and it's online too. Sweat's done cartoons for the early Florida-based hunts.

Elder obituary in NY Times

Will Elder, Cartoonist of Satiric Gifts and Overpopulated Scenes, Dies at 86
By WILLIAM GRIMES
New York Times May 18, 2008

Mr. Elder, whose frantic, gag-filled illustrations helped to define the comic identity of Mad magazine, was also a creator of the Playboy cartoon serial “Little Annie Fanny.”

Usually the Times beats the Post on national obits, especially ones from their area...

Zadzooks on Indiana Jones UPDATED

"Bonanza of Indy toys and adventure games," By Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times May 17, 2008. Back in the day, I bought the Marvel Comics series, which had art by one of my favorite teams, John Byrne with one of comics greatest inkers every, Terry Austin.

Sunday's Post had an article about Indiana Jones, the character, which was interesting even if not comics-focussed: "Indiana Jones and the Meaningless Void: If You Really Want a Quest for The Holy Grail, Try Looking for Significance in an Indy Adventure," By Hank Stuever, Washington Post Staff Writer, Sunday, May 18, 2008; M01.

Image from Grand Comics Database.

Keith Knight starts in Post on Sunday

Keith's new strip appears as third of the trial ones in the Sunday comics section on May 18th. Write into the Post to support it! He's got a child on the way! And he's funny! And, apropos of the controversy over the number of cartoonists of color earlier in the year, he's of color! But the important thing is that Keith's funny and an excellent cartoonist. I've bought every one of his collections at SPX and will keep buying them as long as he keeps doing them. And I've got his coffee mug with a (Th)Ink panel of Bush's Shadow(y) Government showing Bush with a shadow of Darth Vader displayed prominently on one of my comics shelves.

Keith (or Keef as he prefers, but I don't know him that well) must be reading this as he just emailed the following information:

*KEEF AT THE CHARLES SCHULZ MUSEUM/INTERSECTION FOR THE ARTS
I'll be up in the Bay Area in late May for a couple of events. On Sunday, May 18th, I'll be the guest cartoonist at the Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, from 1-3pm. I'll be signing copies of "I Left My Arse in San Francisco". If you've never been there, go!! It's a really swanky place.
http://www.schulzmuseum.org

On Tuesday, May 20th, I'll be sharing the stage with co-horts Miriam Libicki, Ariel Schrag and Jaime Cortez for a panel discussion about graphic storytelling as part of a month-long series of comic strip and cartoon based events put on by the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. It takes place from 7-9 pm at the Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia St. (between 15th and 16th) San Francisco.

http://www.jccsf.org/content_main.aspx?catid=448

Show up to both events and I'll give you something nice.

*THE COMPLETE K CHRONICLES: NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!!
You can now go to my website and pre-order the upcoming 500-page K Chronicles Omnibus Collection (being published by Dark Horse this summer). It collects the first four books (including the out-of-print "Dances with Sheep", "Fear of a Black Marker", and "Passion of the Keef"), sketches, notes and a foreword by Kyle Baker!! Click on the link below to got to the pre-order:

http://www.kchronicles.com/store/index.shtml

Corcoran graduate Roy Delgado publishes cartoon collection

Corcoran School of Arts graduate Roy Delgado has published a gag cartoon collection. See "Petersburg artist publishes cartoon collection," Cumberland Times-News May 16 2008.

Toles video on Post site

See "Timelapse: From Sketch to Cartoon," by Whitney Shefte, Washingtonpost.com May 15 2008. Watch as today's cartoon by Tom Toles, the Post's Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, takes shape.

This is of the May 16th cartoon.

Will Elder obituary in Post

A truly great cartoonist is gone - "Will Elder, 86; Zany Cartoonist for Mad and Playboy", By Adam Bernstein, Washington Post Staff Writer, Saturday, May 17, 2008; B06.

Marvel business story in Wash Post? Nah.

Dirk Deppey over at Journalista had linked to what he said was a Washington Post story, which made me wonder how I missed it. Actually, it's a wire story on the Post's site - "Marvel Entertainment: Super Hero Stock?" Anne Kates Smith, Senior Associate Editor, Kiplinger.com, Thursday, May 15, 2008. We'll note it here for posterity.

Also this story was in the paper today, although I can't decide if it's comics or not: "Kid e-Land: Disney's DGamer Enters the Crowded Virtual World," By Mike Musgrove, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, May 16, 2008; D01.

RFK Journalism Award to Signe Wilkinson

Alan Gardner broke the story, but here's the citation from the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial's press release:

Cartoon Winner: Signe Wilkinson’s editorial cartoons from The Daily News were instrumental in moving the issue of violence in disadvantaged neighborhoods and schools to the top of the city’s agenda. Her cartoons offer a “steady drumbeat of funny, moving and shocking images”. The RFK Cartoon Judges write, “Her series attacking gun violence in Philadelphia spared no one and drew complaints from everyone- the hallmark of any good cartoonist”.

Some DC-area cartoonists are usually on the awards panel - perhaps they'll chime in.

Also note, "All recipients of the 40th Annual Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards will be honored at a ceremony on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 6:30 PM at the Newseum in Washington, DC."

Mauldin's Willie and Joe

Longtime readers may recall that last summer I was trying to help out Todd DePastino and Gary Groth with scanning images for Fantagraphics' reprint project on Mauldin's Willie & Joe: The WWII Years. In the end I didn't accomplish much, although I did find a picture of a meeting between Mauldin and Sad Sack's Baker that Todd had missed. Fantagraphics kindly gave me an acknowledgement (another 15 seconds of fame!) and sent me a comp copy of the book - which is just lovely. Raise a glass to Gary and Kim Thompson and Eric Reynolds and the rest of the Fantagraphics crew - the books they're doing with Peanuts money are astounding. And Todd's work on this and the biography of Mauldin that came out earlier is fantastic as well.

For a good review of the book, see "'Willie & Joe': Bill Mauldin's Wartime Classic: Ken Tucker cracks open this newly released two-volume compilation of landmark cartoons about WWII grunts," EW.com May 13 2008.

Feiffer interview at Cosmos Club coming to IJOCA

I just finished transcribing Alan Fern's interview of Jules Feiffer at the Cosmos Club in Washington last year, on the occasion of the McGovern award. It will appear in the Fall 2008 issue of the International Journal of Comic Art. Subscribe now!

Here's a sample, with Feiffer talking about bringing his portfolio to show to Will Eisner and being told his art was no good:

...But I had long ago established a habit of responding to unpleasant truths by not hearing them, or changing the subject, and I sure as hell was not going to walk out of this meeting with Will Eisner, my hero, with my tail between my legs, being told I had no talent. This was not the way this was going to end, so I started improvising and the only thing I could think of talking about was him and his work. Now here was a guy who had revolutionized comic book art and he had three highly crafted professionals in the other room who didn’t give a damn about his work. Who thought he was kind of out of date, and didn’t know anything about his career, and then he met me and I had a whole dossier. I knew everything he ever had done. I could talk about it not just as a little boy, but as a knowledgeable fan. He had no choice but to hire me as a groupie.

[audience laughs]

That darn Toles

Another letter to the editor...

Deserving of Impeachment
Washington Post Thursday, May 15, 2008; Page A14

I applaud Tom Toles for his May 9 cartoon on the Bush White House's illegal destruction of e-mail records. This makes Mr. Toles the first of The Post's editorial commentators to take seriously the array of impeachable offenses with which President Bush could be charged.

Impeachment has been attempted at the presidential level three times in the nation's history. Two -- of Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton -- were patently political. The attempt to impeach Richard M. Nixon was appropriate, to protect us from an out-of-control presidency, and it would have gone further had it not been for his resignation and pardon.

Mr. Bush's tenure has been marked by high crimes and misdemeanors far more extreme even than President Nixon's. The Post has taken note of many of them, but never, until now, has one of its commentators seen the matter to its appropriate conclusion.

WARREN KORNBERG
Garrett Park