Monday, June 30, 2008

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 07-02-08

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 07-02-08
By John Judy


(Good news! They’re all better than “Hancock!”)

ASTONISHING X-MEN #25 by Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi. If anyone can follow the imprisonment of Kitty Pryde in an asteroid-sized metal phallus it’s Warren “Internet Jesus” Ellis. Brace yourselves. Recommended.

ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #7 by Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard. Wolfie gets outed as a murderer! And he seemed like such a nice werewolf…

AVENGERS/INVADERS #3 of 12 by Alex Ross, Jim Kreuger and Steve Sadowski. Only nine more to go til it stops.

BATMAN #678 by Grant Morrison and Tony Daniel. Bruce is having a bad day and only has three more issues to get it together. Or 17 if you want to count all those crossover issues of other series you don’t otherwise read. Yeah, me neither. Nice try, DC.

BILLY BATSON AND THE MAGIC OF SHAZAM #1 written and drawn by Mike Kunkel. The creator of HEROBEAR takes the reins in this out-of-continuity tale of the original Captain Marvel, picking up where Jeff Smith left off at the end of “Monster Society of Evil.” Appropriate for all ages. Recommended.

BOYS #20 by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The true origins of the supers continue. Recommended. Not for the faint of gorge. Or kids. Ever.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #16 by Joss Whedon and Jo Chen. Buffy meets Fray and giant Dawn appears to be having giant cramps! Nuff said!

HELLBLAZER PRESENTS: CHAS - THE KNOWLEDGE #1 of 5 by Simon Oliver and Goran Sudzuka. Chas Chandler is a London cabbie and John Constantine’s oldest surviving friend. Can he use his knowledge of London’s streets and landmarks to defeat a Big Bad without the aid of his trench-coated pal? Gotta look.

HELLBOY: THE CROOKED MAN #1 of 3 by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben. Hellboy tries to save a man who sold his soul to a demon from West Virginia. Don’t laugh! That demon got the truck started real good!

NORTHLANDERS #7 by Brian Wood and Davide Gianfelice. It’s Go-Time for Sven the Viking as wicked Uncle Gorm decides to stop screwing around. Like “Hamlet” with less talk, more rock. Recommended.

PATSY WALKER: HELLCAT #1 of 5 by Kathryn Immonen and David Lafuente Garcia. The resurrected super-heroine has been tasked with defending Alaska from… whatever Alaska needs protecting from? Exxon-Mobil, maybe?

SQUADRON SUPREME 2 #1 written by someone who is not J. Michael Straczynski and drawn by someone who is not the guy who drew the cover. Okay, maybe they’re not all better than “Hancock.”

STEPHEN COLBERT’S TEK JANSEN #2 of 5 by People who are not Stephen Colbert. Why? Why? Why? (See above.)

TRINITY #5 by Kurt Busiek and Everyone. Okay, last issue was a big fight and a forgettable back-up story. Much as I like Busiek’s work elsewhere this is starting to smell like COUNTDOWN and it’s only issue five.

WALKING DEAD #50 by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard. Did Rick really kill himself? Will his son have to put him down for good? A stand-alone tale that no doubt will mess with whatever uneaten brains you have left. Recommended. NOT for kids.

www.johnjudy.net

Sunday, June 29, 2008

"What were they thinking?" department

Here's an American Express ad that's been running in the New York Times.


What are they trying to say here? "I own a comic book company so I can pay my Amex bill?" or "I collect comics, so I need an Amex card because they're expensive?"

Sketches from Heroes Con

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Chris Grine's Chickenhare sketch from Heroes Con.

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Aaron Renier's Spiral-Bound sketch from Heroes Con.

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Aaron Renier's King Arthur sketch from Heroes Con.

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Claire loved her Soup-erman doll handmade by Maris Wicks.

Kevin Rechin's DC Lottery cartoons

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I went to a Nationals game today (they lost in extra innings) and was the first to come up with pictures of Kevin Rechin's DC Lottery art that's used in ads in the subway. Here's some and the rest are on Flickr.

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Hellboy manhole covers!

Last night in Chinatown, or whatever they're calling that neighborhood now, I saw manhole covers that had Hellboy crawling out of them! Cool! It's actually a photograph stuck onto the real sewer cover of course. Didn't get a snap, but if anyone does, send it along.

Post on theater's animation adaptations

"A Roaring Success and Its Effects on Broadway: 'Lion King' Changed Everything, and the Stampede Isn't Over," By Nelson Pressley, Washington Post Sunday, June 29, 2008; M03.

To be honest, when these adaptations started they seemed like a really, really dumb idea. Why try to bring something to an earthbound stage when you've got unlimited imagination in animation? Not having seen one yet, I'm still unsure. But comic strips have been adapted to the stage and screen since forever (or the 1890s) so why should animation be any different?

Olsson's slides into bankruptcy (fixed to add link)

"Olsson's Braces For Chapter 11 Filing," By Anita Huslin, Washington Post Staff Writer, Saturday, June 28, 2008; Page D01. I was very sorry to see this. I've bought a lot of books at Olsson's, saw some great cartoonists including Joann Sfar (did I record that? I'll check and upload it if so), and like it as a local chain.

Heroes Con hangover

Richard had a table next to Stuart and Kathryn Immonen so I talked to them briefly. Ms. Immomen had some copies of her Hellcat comics at the table and it sounded interesting. Here's an interview about the new miniseries: "Hell's Belle," Lowdown by Tony Ingram, June 26, 2008.

Post reviews Pixar book

"Incredibles, Inc.: The story of how computer programmers transformed the art of movie animation." by Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post Book World Sunday, June 29, 2008; Page BW08

The book is:

THE PIXAR TOUCH
The Making of a Company
By David A. Price
Knopf. 308 pp. $27.95

Politics and Prose had the author last weekend, and probably still has signed copies. Also they sell a cd recording of the talks. Since I was at Heroes Con I bought the cd .

Saturday, June 28, 2008

AAEC touches on Washington issues

"At AAEC Confab, Cartoonist and Columnist Debate the Fate of Wrong-on-Iraq Pundits," by Dave Astor, E and P Online June 26, 2008.

I hope Dave won't mind if I repost the Herblock memory from that story, which is about editorial writer David Ignatius who was totally rolled by the Bush White House on Iraq, as I want to make a point off of it:

One of his strongest early Post memories was meeting Herblock and being thrilled that he became one of the people the editorial cartoonist would show his sketches to.

But one day Herblock showed Ignatius a cartoon idea in which King Hussein of Jordan was depicted in a very nasty way. "That's a little rough," said Ignatius -- and Herblock never came to him with a sketch again.

Speaking more generally of editorial cartoonists, Ignatius said he and other columnists are a little jealous of them. "You guys get to be caustic, irreverent, and crusading. We're pundits and, if we're in Washington, we're Beltway insiders. We use layers and layers of words. We wish we could be as quick and clean."


Roger Wilkins, an editorial writer for the Post during Watergate, made the exact same point about an editor at the Post being jealous of Herblock.

Herblock was also mentioned by Harry Katz at another panel - "Animated Discussion of Animation at Cartoon Confab," By Dave Astor, E and P Online June 27, 2008.

Tony Auth mentioned doing this at the Herblock event linked to in an earlier post. Graham was the publisher of the Washington Post - "Editorial Cartoonists Hear LBJ and Kay (Graham) on Tape," By Dave Astor, E and P Online June 27, 2008.

Friday's newspapers - Ed Arno, Wall-E and Wanted

In the local papers on Friday, one could find a lot of comics articles:

"Ed Arno, Cartoonist of New Yorker Whimsy, Is Dead at 92," By WILLIAM GRIMES, New York Times June 27, 2008 namechecks and quotes two bloggers, Michael Maslin and Mike Lynch. This is the first obituary I've seen that's taken information from blogs, I think.

Wall-E's all over the place:

"In a World Left Silent, One Heart Beeps," By A. O. SCOTT, New York Times June 27, 2008.

"From Pixar, A Droid Piece of Filmmaking," By John Anderson, Washington Post Friday, June 27, 2008; C01.

"'Wall•E's' world Strong visuals, comic brilliance can't save environmental fable," by Christian Toto, Washington Times Friday, June 27, 2008.

[this is longer than the print version...]
"Wall-E director Andrew Stanton," Interviewed by Tasha Robinson, Onion June 26th, 2008.

Millar and Jones' Wanted, based a comic that I hadn't read, was widely reviewed:

"'Wanted': This Angelina Jolie Is Not One for the Kiddies," By Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
Friday, June 27, 2008; C01.

"You Talkin' to Me, Boys? (Bang-Bang, My Pretties)," By MANOHLA DARGIS, New York Times June 27, 2008.

"Wanting more: A brotherhood of assassins fails to discover any deeper meaning," by Sonny Bunch, Washington Times Friday, June 27, 2008.

...a new tv cartoon - 'Three Delivery' - that I'll probably never see -

"With 3 You Get Egg Roll and a Side of Adventure," By MIKE HALE, New York Times June 27, 2008

...an animation voice was interviewed - the online version is much, much longer than the July 26th print one...


"Random Roles: Billy West," by David Wolinsky, June 18th, 2008.

Finally, it's online only this month, but the Onion also reviewed comic books...

"Comics Panel: June 27, 2008," Reviewed by Noel Murray, Keith Phipps, Tasha Robinson, Onion June 27th, 2008,

...and published this guide to Pixar...

"Primer: Pixar,"
by Donna Bowman, Noel Murray, Onion June 27th, 2008.

Whew! No wonder I'm two days late with this.

Herblock, Drawn from Memory panel recording

I caught the National Portrait Gallery's excellent panel on Herblock last night. Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, here's a link to download it. The NPG's description of the event read: The political cartoons of Herbert Lawrence Block (1909-2001), known by the pen name "Herblock," appeared in American newspapers for more than seventy years. National Portrait Gallery senior historian Sid Hart, Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Haynes Johnson, historian Roger Wilkins together with Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist Tony Auth, will join in a conversation about the life and work of one of the nation's greatest political cartoonists, Herblock.

More commentary to follow after I visit Afghanistan (at the National Gallery of Art) and Bhutan (Smithsonian Folklife Festival). Also Bruce Guthrie took photographs which I'll track down

Friday, June 27, 2008

July 25: Anime showing in DC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Chris Wanamaker, (202) 262 2083 president@dcanimeclub.org

DC Anime Club and Japan Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan
Present:Shinobi: Heart under blade

The DC Anime Club and the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC), Embassy of Japan Present the Shinobi : Heart under blade on Friday July 25 ,2008 at 6:30pm as part of the Anime Summer Series. A live-action ninja movie featuring two rising stars of Japanese cinema- Joe Odagiri and Yukie Nakama. Shinobi is about two rival ninja clans, the Koga and the Iga, who have honed their skills to super human levels. The screening will be held at the Japanese Information and Culture Center, Embasy of Japan located at Lafayette Center III 1155 21st Street, NW Washington, DC 20036-3308. Seating for the screening of Shinobi is limited and attendees are encouraged to rsvp by sending an e-mail to jiccrsvpspring08@embjapan.org.

This program is free and open to the public. For more information please visit the Japanese Information and Culture Center website at http://www.us.embjapan.go.jp/jicc/ or visit the DC Anime Club website
at http://dcanimeclub.org.

About DC Anime Club:
DCAC was established in 2003 to introduce and educate people in the Washington,DC area about East Asian culture, through viewing and discussion of Japanese animation (also known as anime) and Japanese comics (manga). DCAC is a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization, contributions to DC Anime Club are taxed deductible to the extent allowable under the law.

The club also works to provide a positive, alternative activity to the youth in the area by exposing them to foreign culture, encouraging artistic expression and creativity, and providing opportunities for participation in community activities and leadership.

In addition to our weekly meetings, the club holds an Annual Art Show, an Annual Costume fundraising event, and visits local schools to do presentations on anime. The club also works with the Smithsonian Freer Gallery and DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival on their anime screenings, and has helped locally promote performances for Japanese bands such as Puffy Ami Yumi and Pine am. DC Anime Club was founded by Chris Wanamaker (President), Jules Chang (Vice President) and Craig Vaughn (Sgt in ARMS) on Saturday June 5, 2003. We have a strong membership that continues to grow -- most of which are teenagers.

About Japan Information and Culture Center:
The Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) is the cultural and public affairs section of the Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C. Our primary role is to promote better understanding of Japan and Japanese culture by providing a wide range of
information, educational services and programs to the public. The JICC is located on the lower level of the glass-enclosed Galleria at Lafayette Centre III in downtown Washington, D.C. Its facilities include a research library, a 152-seat auditorium, and a 1,500-square-foot exhibition gallery where a wide variety of events sponsored by the JICC are hosted throughout the year.

Comic Creators at Shore Leave Sci-Fi Con in B-More

Baltimore hosts the July 11-13, 2008 Shore Leave Sci-Fi Convention at the Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn. While I've never attended myself, they bring in comics and comics-related guests every year.

This year's media guests have all played characters represented in comics: David Hewlett (Stargate: Atlantis & Stargate: SG-1's Dr. Rodney McKay), George Takei (Star Trek's Lt. Hikaru Sulu, Heroes' Kaito Nakamura), Malcolm McDowell (Star Trek: Generations' Dr. Soran, Heroes' Mr. Linderman), Jewel Staite (Firefly's Kaylee Frye, Stargate: Atlantis's Dr. Jennifer Keller), Kate Hewlett (Stargate: Atlantis' Jeanie Miller), Mark Sheppard (Battlestar Galactica's Romo Lampkin, Bionic Woman's Anthony Anthos, Firefly's Badger, 24's Ivan Erwich), and W. Morgan Sheppard (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country's Klingon Commander, Babylon 5's Soul Hunter, Transformers' Captain Witwicky).

Their writer guest list is pretty long and broad, and includes a number of noteworthy names who have created comics work as well as sci-fi stories and novels, including: T.A. Chafin, Greg Cox, Peter David, Keith DeCandido, Michael Jan Friedman, Bob Greenberger, Jeffrey Lang, Polly Luttrull, David Mack (no, not the Kabuki one, the other one), Marco Palmieri, and Howard Weinstein.

Some of the other guests may also be part of the industry and I just don't know -- see the full list for more details!

Clifford Berryman exhibit press preview remarks

Here's another audio file. I found this again as I wrote my review for the International Journal of Comic Art, so I figured I'd make it available. It features the Archivist of the United States Howard Weinstein and the curators of the exhibit when the exhibit was previewed for the press.

Press preview remarks to the Clifford Berryman exhibit, "Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman" at the National Archives, Washington, DC from February 8 - August 17th, 2008.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Chris Oarr, former Silver Spring resident, on ADV Manga

Chris used to live just outside of DC in Silver Spring, frequented Big Planet Comics and organized SPX. And he left the area to run the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Here's a story about what he's up to now - "ADV Manga Is Still in the Picture," By Brigid Alverson -- Publishers Weekly, 6/23/2008.

Heroes Con Feldstein (and Friends) panel recording online

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Al Feldstein and Ben Towle

I've uploaded Craig Fischer and Ben Towle's panel to the Internet Archive as an mp3. Click on the link to download it.

NOT THE USUAL GANG OF IDIOTS: EC COMICS PANEL
Part 2: A Chat With Al Feldstein (and Friends)

Ben Towle and Craig Fischer host an in-depth interview with Al Feldstein, EC artist and writer and MAD MAGAZINE editor extraordinaire! Along for the ride is a pair of celebrity funsters - FRED THE CLOWN and FIN FANG FOUR cartoonist Roger Langridge and CUL DE SAC comic stripper Richard Thompson - ready to roast and grill Feldstein about The Lighter Side of Editing America's #1 Humor Magazine!

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Craig Fischer, Richard Thompson, Roger Langridge, Al Feldstein.

Comics in the Fairfax County Public Library system

I'm probably going to miss some of the entries they put in here, but I was flipping through the Fairfax County Public Library catalog of free events and other news tonight and noticed that a good number of branches have comics-oriented events. In the "For Teens" blurb, a bullet reads "Find your inner artist -- create comics with graphic artist Matt Dembicki". Matt's featured at quite a few branches actually. Take a look!

Burke Center:
Teens - Monday, July 21, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

Centreville Regional:
School Age - Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2:30 - Artful Doodles! A graphic artist presents drawing basics in this hands-on program. Age 6-12.
Teens - Thursday, July 17, 1:00 - Anime Afternoon. Anime and refreshments. Call for movie title. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Centreville Regional Library. Age 12-18.
Wednesday, July 30, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

Chantilly Regional:
Teens - Monday, June 7, 7:00/Monday, July 7, 7:00/Monday, Aug. 4, 7:00 - Monday Night Manga. Discuss your favorite manga and anime titles with other teens. Age 12-18.
Monday, July 14, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

City of Fairfax Regional:
Teens - Wednesday, July 9, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

George Mason Regional:
Teens - Monday, June 23, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

John Marshall:
Teens - Wednesday, Aug. 6, 6:00 - Anime Night. Come watch anime moview and discuss your favorites. Age 13-18.

Kings Park:
School Age - Thursday, June 26, 10:30 - Artful Doodles! A graphic artist presents drawing basics in this hands-on program. Age 6-12.

Kingstowne:
School Age - Wednesday, July 16, 10:30 - Artful Doodles! A graphic artist presents drawing basics in this hands-on program. Age 6-12.
Teens - Saturday, July 19, 2:30 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

Lorton:
Teens - Tuesday, July 15, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

Martha Washington:
Teens - Monday, July 7, 7:00 - Comics Around the World. See comics from around the world and create your own with graphic artist and author Matt Dembicki. Cosponsored by the Friends of the Kings Park Library. Age 12-18.

Patrick Henry:
Teens - Saturdays, June 7 & 21, 11:00/Saturdays, July 5 & 19, 11:00/Saturdays, Aug. 2, 16, & 30, 11:00 - Manga Club. Manga, Anime and refreshments. Age 12-18.
Adults - Thursday, June 5, 7:00 - Manga and Japanese Pop Culture. Confused about manga? Why are these Japanese comics so popular in the U.S.? Charles Nguyen will present a rough guide to this literary medium and its import to the American market.

It is worth noting that there are a ton of other interesting programs available. Additionally, in the Teen Summer Reading List, under Fiction, are The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor (though I suspect this is the prose and not the comics/TPB), The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci, and American Born Chinese by Gene Yang, and in Non-Fiction, Flight, Volume Four by kazu Kibuishi and Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi.

Today's newspapers roundup

Cartoon Network's Dethklok animation series - "As Seen on TV: Dethklok" by Glenn Dixon, Express June 26, 2008

Wall-E review - "Droid to the World," by Tricia Olszewski, Washington City Paper June 26, 2008.

Zadzooks on the Hulk - "ZADZOOKS: Hulk, foe take rivalry to stores," by Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times Thursday, June 26, 2008.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

New York Times on Disney.com

"In Overhaul, Disney.com Seeks a Path to More Fun," By BROOKS BARNES, New York Times June 25, 2008.

The Walt Disney Company, concerned that its main Web site is too corporate and not fun enough, is moving once again to overhaul Disney.com.

Barnes is rapidly becoming one of my favorite animation writers.