new Mt. Pleasant book - completely off topic

Lisa Cherkasky is a friend of mine who fluffs food for photos in the Post's food section, and her sister has a new book on DC coming out. Here's the info from Mara Cherkasky:

At long last my book on Mount Pleasant DC is out! It will go on sale April 30 in the big chain stores, on Amazon, and in some of the local businesses as well, including Pfeiffer's Hardware, at 3219 Mount Pleasant Street, NW (202-462-1431). You will also be able to purchase it directly from me (for the same price as everywhere else- $20 plus tax).

Pfeiffer's is hosting a book signing Saturday, May 5, from 10:30 am to 1 pm, so please come out if you can. This is the same day the Mount Pleasant farmers' market opens at Lamont Park across from the hardware store, so the mood will be festive.


Mara, iirc, wrote the neighborhood historical signs that have popped up.

April 28 Nick Bertozzi at Big Planet Bethesda UPDATED

From 2-4 pm. I read The Salon, his new book on Picasso, Braque and ghosts last night and enjoyed it a lot. Here's a brief interview by former Big Planet employee Ian Sattler.

UPDATED - here's an excellent review by The Comics Journal's Dirk Deppey.

I read Houdini by Lutes and Bertozzi today - enjoyable, but obviously and unnecessarily aimed at younger children, including Glen David Gold's introduction.

Secret DC comics creator's group

Well, it was a secret to me anyway, but Jason Rodriguez pointed out there's an informal group of DC comics creators, DC Conspiracy.

He also linked to this Fairfax Times article on Mr. Big the turtle.

Dagwood's coming to DC

The Washington Business Journal is reporting that the rights to open either 106 or 63* Dagwood's Sandwich Shoppes in the DC area. Hooray! More collectible ephemera!

*see if you can figure it out

One of my favorite cartoonists was in Sunday's Post Magazine...

...although I'm pretty sure that Guy Billout doesn't even consider himself a cartoonist. He began as a children's book illustrator as far as I know and now does illustration work. He did the illustration for "Hearts and Bones" in the centerfold of the magazine today. The drawing's not online, but the article is about a couple who bought an old house to renovate, only to find out that the man has a heart condition. Billout's drawing is of a building with smoke rising from it and the smoke forms a dividing line in the trees on the horizon. Check out his website to see more images, many of which were published in the Atlantic before their recent makeover. He also did work in the late 1990s for Reader's Digest which is why you can find me flipping through them at times.

Jason Rodriguez's new book

Through circumstances not ready to be detailed here, I've found that Jason Rodriguez is a DC-area comics creator. Read "MAIL CALL: JASON RODRIGUEZ TALKS POSTCARDS" by Chris Arrant in Newsrama (April 18, 2007) for details on his latest project.

Also, after visiting Jason's website earlier in the week, I went to the link to Rick Geary's website and bought all the postcards he offers. I'd recommend that you do the same. Some are political cartoons and I'll try to do a longer post on them later in the week.

TwoMorrows Free Comic Book Day offer

The stores around DC are pretty good about participating, but in case anyone wants to be sure, here's their press release:

If your can't get COMICS 101 (our Free Comic Book Day publication) at your local comics shop, you can order one now at www.twomorrows.com! We're making copies available for order now, but we will be charging enough to cover our printing and postage costs. So if you can get yours locally, you'll save some cash (and get a chance to see all the great offerings your local retailer has!). But for those who can't get one, order now while they last!NOTE: Place your order now, but we will NOT be mailing copies until the week after Free Comic Book Day (May 5). And don't delay; after May 5, if any copies remain, we will be selling them at a higher price. Here's a direct link!


Best regards,John Morrow
TwoMorrows Publishing10407 Bedfordtown
Dr.Raleigh, NC 27614919-449-0344fax 919-449-0327

April 21: Warren Craghead speaks at exhibit in Bethesda

I got a comment from Mr. Craghead that he'd be doing an artist's talk at 1 pm at his exhibit, HOW TO BE EVERYWHERE at the Gallery Neptune, 4901 Cordell Ave, Bethesda, Maryland, April 6 - 28, 2007.

I'm going to try to make this.

May 19: Anime Pavilion's Anime Festival

This one just came in the email - I know nothing more about it.

CONTACT: (703) 534-1544 anime.festival@gmail.com
Anime Pavilion's Anime Festival
A Night of Anime Fun.


Anime Pavilion Presents: Anime Festival on Saturday May 19,2007 at 6pm located at Anime Pavilion 115 Hillwood Avenue, Suite 110 Falls Church, VA 22046.
Anime Festival will consist of screenings of Anime (Japanese Animation) cosplay (the Japanese term for costume play), dressing up in homemade costumes as their favorite Japanese animated characters. There will also be video game sessions such as Dance Dance Revolution (dancing video game) for all Anime video game fans.
This program is free and open to the public. For more information please visit AnimePavilions Website at www.animepavilion.com or call (703) 534-1544.

April 21: Smithsonian Anime seminar REPOST

Japanese Art Forms Manga and Anime Topic of Smithsonian Event; Experts Discuss the Development, Creative Process and Cultural Impact

The Smithsonian Associates will feature the Japanese pop culture phenomena of manga (comics and printed cartoons) and anime in an all-day seminar on Saturday, April 21, 10 a.m. –5 p.m. as part of its cultural series “Japan WOW!” (March 31—June 9). The program “Manga to Anime: From Astro Boy to Spirited Away” will be held in the Meyer Auditorium at the Freer Gallery of Art (12th and Independence Avenue SW, DC, 20013). Tickets are $45 general admission, $30 for members, and $15 for students 18 years and under. For tickets and information, call (202) 357-3030 or visit
www.smithsonianassociates.org.

Manga and anime are now two of Japan’s biggest cultural exports—as evidenced by the popularity and record-breaking sales associated with the 2001 animated movie “Spirited Away.” In this seminar leading experts and industry veterans will explore the development of these interconnected art forms, commenting on the creative process, styles, characters and the effect these pop cultural creations have on United States markets and trends.

Leading the discussion on manga is Michael Uslan, “Batman” series producer and creative chief officer and producer of Comic Book Movies LLC. He is joined by artists/ directors Ryuhei Kitamura, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Kazuhiko Kato and Lotus representative Hiroshi Koizumi. Presenters Osamu Tezuka (creator of “Astro Boy”), Leiji Matsumoto and Masashi Kishimoto (creator of “Naruto”), use the works of Shotaro Ishinomori, as they look into manga’s history, the interaction of manga and modern culture, as well as its impact on the worlds of publishing, animation, and live action cinema with these talented artists of today’s manga creations.

In the afternoon, Dr. Susan Napier, professor of Japanese literature and culture at Tufts University, illuminates the world of anime. Considering it as a global cultural phenomenon, Napier expounds on the stories, characters and symbolism that define it.
The program “Manga to Anime: From Astro Boy to Spirited Away” is supported by the DC Anime Club. The Japan WOW! series is made possible by Amway Japan LTD, The Boeing Company, The Hay-Adams, Kikkoman, Mitsubishi International Corporation, Toyota and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (METRO); with additional support by All Nippon Airways (ANA), EYA, Embassy of Japan, Japan Information and Cultural Center, Japan Commerce Association of Washington, D.C., Japan Foundation New York, the Japan National Tourist Organization New York, Comic Book Movies, LLC, Lotus, Inc. and the Palomar Hotel.

[Tezuka's dead, so he's probably not a presenter].

Illuminated! minicomic

Students from Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Maryland have produced this minicomic and are selling it at Big Planet Comics in Bethesda. I bought one for myself and one for Michigan State University's Comic Art collection today.

Big Planet's view of online versus physical bookstores

Greg Bennet's quoted in this article from the Montgomery County Gazette (Wednesday, April 18, 2007) - "Is this ‘The End’ for local booksellers? Fierce competition forces independent bookstores to turn their last page" by Audrey Dutton.

Greg's optimistic, saying "Our business model has evolved. Now it’s based on graphic novels... We don’t have the kind of collectors coming to us who used to come to us, because everybody knows they can go to the ‘net." Greg notes that Big Planet has turned to graphic novels as the majority of its business and is making more money selling them and "That bodes much better for the long-term health of the business.”

April 19-20: Bill Griffith in Baltimore

The Baltimore City Paper (4/18/2007) has an interview with Bill Griffith by Christopher Skokna - "Things Change: Zippy the Pinhead Creator Bill Griffith Isn't Too Worried About the Sunset of the Comic Strip."

According to the story, Griffith will be in town for 2 events:
"Up From the Underground With Zippy: 38 Years and Still Climbing," a free slide lecture at Johns Hopkins University's Mattin Center April 19 at 5:30 p.m.
He signs books at Atomic Books on April 20 from 6 to 7 p.m. For more information visit www.zippythepinhead.com

International Journal of Comic Art's John Lent interview

As it says over there on the right, I work on the International Journal of Comic Art, specifically editing exhibit and media reviews. If you see an exhibit or website you'd like to review, feel free to contact me. In the meantime, here's a link to an interview with editor in chief / publisher / chief cook & bottlewasher John Lent. It's a late 2006 one by Steve Black for the College of Saint Rose's Periodical Radio and covers "Comic art as a subject of scholarly research, importance of international perspective, insights on the peer review process."

The Reaper! Stalin cartoons by Benton F. Thompson

This has nothing to do with DC, except I bought it at a book sale in Arlington. I don't know what it is, nor whom Thompson was, and a quick check on the internet hasn't revealed anything yet. The whole booklet is 16 pages long - every other page is blank and I didn't copy it. Anyone have any information or guesses? One way or another, I thought it was pretty neat and probably rare enough to share.

Doonesbury bashed, including positioning in Post

Conservative blogger Tim Graham takes a shot at Doonesbury in "Doonesbury Comic Strip Boasts 'No Divorces or Infidelities' For Clinton, Obama, Edwards" and includes the brutal critique, "Oh, and The Washington Post is especially cruel to Doonesbury, putting it on the front page of the comics section right above "Opus." Trudeau isn't even attempting to be funny most of the time, since it gets in the way of the diatribes, and Opus man Berkeley Breathed is routinely funny, even when he mocks conservatives."

Warren Craghead exhibit in Bethesda

Warren Craghead, the indy cartoonist, has an exhibit, HOW TO BE EVERYWHERE at the Gallery Neptune, 4901 Cordell Ave, Bethesda, Maryland, April 6 - 28. 2007. All the work, and a 100-page limited-edition book of drawings published at the same time, is based on the poetry of Guillaume Apollinaire.

Brant Parker, longtime Virginian cartoonist, has died too

The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times are reporting that Brant Parker, Johnny Hart's collaborator on 'The Wizard of Id' has died as well. Arlington cartoonist Richard Thompson sent me the heads-up, saying "Brant P was a local guy for a long time, his studio was above a saddlery on Lee Highway out in Fairfax. He was the first cartoonist I ever really talked to; I interviewed him for my high school paper in 1975. A very droll, nice man."

Unfortunately Jeff Parker's cartoon in this appreciation of Hart now makes sense to me. Brant Parker's tribute is here.

In their day, Parker and Hart's strips 'B.C.,' 'The Wizard of Id,' and 'Crock' ruled the comics page. Raise a glass to them.

April 17: Ben Katchor at DCJCC

In his "picture stories," Ben Katchor turns the American city into a wonderland of tin ceilings, illuminated storefronts, and unusual enterprises: the Senseless Elaboration Parlor, the Sublime Vision Center, the Mortal Coil Mattress Store. The first cartoonist to win a MacArthur "genius grant," Katchor is the author of The Jew of New York, Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer, and The Cardboard Valise. He has also collaborated on several works of musical theater, including The Carbon Copy
Building, The Rosenbach Company, and The Slugbearers of Kayrol Island. His comic strips have appeared in The New Yorker, The Forward, Metropolis, and other newspapers and magazines. In his public appearances, Katchor elevates the slide show to a form of performance art.

Tuesday, April 17th
7:30pm
Washington DCJCC
Tickets: $8/$6 (students/JCC members/under 25)
Reserve at www.nextbook.org or call 1-888-219-5222

Saul Steinberg: Illuminations special Smithsonian-only content

Boy, that cartoon has a whole new meaning these days, doesn't it?

In 1967, Saul Steinberg became the Smithsonian's first and last artist-in-residence. While in DC, he took some Smithsonian stationary and make these cartoons, influenced by his residency on the Georgetown tea circuit. These won't be in any other versions of the show. Neat, huh? Go see the originals at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and enjoy the refurbished museum.