Check out Tuesday's Comic Riffs

I hear there will be news on the Post's Sunday Comics Section on Comic Riffs on Tuesday morning.

Great Pumpkin resonates in comics

Two strips in the Post today, Lio and Little Dog Lost, both tipped a wink towards Peanuts and Linus' search for the Great Pumpkin. If Dave Astor still was at E&P, I wouldn't have to write posts like this.

In the USA Weekend magazine including in the Examiner, there's a funny Walmart ad for the video of the Incredible Hulk movie. A family is watching the Hulk movie, and the Hulk himself has busted through the wall of their house and is crunching one side of their sofa as he settles in to watch himself on the tv. The paper also included a trick-or-treat bag for Halloween with ads for animated movies Madagascar 2 and Monsters vs. Aliens.

Art of Political Cartooning in an Election Year photographs

The event at the Writer's Center was a lot of fun. KAL showed print cartoons of the last few presidential elections and then demonstrated several of his projects including Democrazy and his live poltical animation. Richard followed his with drawing caricatures - he marveled that people think it's 'magic' that he can draw a recognizable face, but then again so do I. Matt wrapped up and talked about doing political cartoons for Politico. Links to the websites of all three can be found on the right.

All the pictures I shot can be seen on my flickr site, but here's a few. You can also download an audio recording of indifferent quality.


Richard Thompson caricaturing Sarah Palin. Lipstick courtesy of KAL.


Matt Wuerker showing his Politico home page.


KAL's cartoon journalism on attending a presidential convention.

Post's review of Philly's Crumb exhibit

This review is more for someone with no familiarity with Crumb - "Digging 'Underground': In a Temple of High Art, the Lowbrow Work Of R. Crumb Certainly Rises to the Occasion," By Paul Richard, Washington Post Sunday, October 26, 2008; M06.

Signed copies of Harvey Pekar: Conversations for sale at Big Planet Comics

I signed a few copies of Harvey Pekar: Conversations that are for sale at Big Planet Comics in the Bethesda and Georgetown stores. It would make a lovely Christmas present!

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 10-29-08

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 10-29-08
By John Judy

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1 by Marc Guggenheim and Mike McKone. In which we finally learn who Jackpot really is. Hope this issue comes with aspirin…

ASTONISHING X-MEN: GHOST BOXES #1 of 2 by Warren Ellis, Frank Cho and Alan Davis. A tie-in series to the current Ellis AXM storyline, chiefly interesting for the artists involved. Guaranteed pretty!

ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #9 by Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard. Wolf-Man on the run? Always fun! And what about this “Elder Brood” business? It’s the old Hulk TV show done right!

AVENGERS INITIATIVE #18 by Dan Slott, Christos Gage and Stefano Caselli. Scrappy kids still fightin’ Skrulls because that never gets old!

BOYS #24 by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. This issue has an “Animal House” tribute cover. Why did nobody think of this before? “In your face, first issues of Action Comics and Fantastic Four!” Highly recommended. Not for kids.

DC UNIVERSE: DECISIONS #4 of 4 by Bill Willingham, Judd Winick and Howard Porter. An evil entity is taking over Presidential candidates and forcing them to self-destruct. (Insert Sarah Palin joke here.)

ELEKTRA BY FRANK MILLER OMNIBUS HC by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz. Lots of ninja super-action from early (pre-insane) Frank Miller. This stuff is great! What happened…?

EMPOWERED, VOL. 4 SC written and drawn by Adam Warren. Kind of like a bawdy HBO comedy built around a super-hero awards show and the personalities involved. Manga-style art, salty dialogue, for older teens and up.

ESSENTIAL MARVEL HORROR, VOL.2 SC by Various Creators. “Boo!”

FINAL CRISIS: RAGE OF THE RED LANTERNS #1 by Geoff Johns and Shane Davis. Okay, the Lantern spectrum so far is Green = Will Power. Yellow = Fear. Red = Anger. Of course the ones you really need to watch out for are the Plaid With Stripes Lanterns. Get offa their lawns!

GARTH ENNIS’S BATTLEFIELDS: NIGHT WITCHES #1 of 3 by Ennis and Russ Braun. 1942. Commie women pilots drop bombs on Nazi invaders. This is so Grindhouse!

GREEN LANTERN: IN BRIGHTEST DAY SC edited by Geoff Johns. A bunch of old GL comics selected and introduced by the guy who revitalized the franchise. A chance to peek behind the curtain.

HELLBLAZER: FAMILY MAN SC by Jamie Delano and Many Great Artists. Collecting eight issues from the early days of HELLBLAZER in which John Constantine had to contend with a completely non-mystical serial killer. Still one of the best Constantine stories ever done. Highly recommended.

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #19 by Duane Swierczynski and Travel Foreman. In which Danny tries to learn why all previous Iron Fists have died at age 33. Did someone let it slip that that’s when your life as a man peaks, never to get that good again? Oops…

JOKER HC by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo. An original graphic novel focusing on the Batman’s Big Bad. Mr. J decides to take control of the Gotham underworld in his own inimitable style. Guaranteed oogies!

KILL YOUR BOYFRIEND GN by Grant Morrison and Philip Bond. A third printing of the Vertigo cult classic from 1995. Exactly what it sounds like. Fun stuff, especially when you consider the original target audience is probably having their second kids by now.

MAN OF ROCK: A BIOGRAPHY OF JOE KUBERT SC by Bill Schelly. Tracing the life and work of the 82 year-old living legend of comics. Includes interviews with the artist, his family and colleagues going back to 1938 when he got his first job in comics at age twelve. Recommended.

MARVEL APES #4 of 4 by Karl Kesel and Ramon Bachs. The final issue! Yes, it really made it all the way to number four! Your favorite Marvel heroes as apes! Some as vampire apes! Ook!

MISTER X ARCHIVES HC by Dean Motter, Los Bros Hernandez and Others. It’s 25 years old and really, really weird. But Important! If you like noir, art deco and German Expressionism this one’s for you!

NO HERO #2 of 7 by Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp. If you want to be a super-hero you have to take dangerous drugs. That nice Mr. Ellis tells me so and he’s got an honest face. Not for kids.

NORTHLANDERS #11 by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly. A tale set in the closing days of the Viking rule of Ireland. Vikings fighting Irish. Will this title ever stop being completely awesome? Highly recommended.

PREVIEWS by Marvel and Diamond Comics. See what you’re getting tomorrow today!

SOLOMON KANE #2 of 5 by Scott Allie and Mario Guevara. Starring the only Puritan that Ed Brubaker’s ever been a fan of! This series had a very strong first issue and appears to be maintaining its high quality. Recommended.

STREETS OF GLORY #6 of 6 by Garth Ennis and Mike Wolfer. Wrapping up Ennis’ oater epic in a fashion to be expected by Fans of Garth. Not for kids.

SUPERMAN #681 by James Robinson and Renato Guedes. One Hundred-Thousand Kryptonians hit the third rock! What could go wrong?

THOR #11 by J.Michael Straczynski and Olivier Coipel. Believe it or not, Loki is up to something…

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #3 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Lafuente Garcia. Ultimate Peter and Ultimate Mary-Jane appear headed to an ultimate experience, sans purity rings. Tsk-tsk, are these kids from Ultimate Alaska or something?

UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION GRAPHIC ADAPTATION HC & SC by Jonathan Hennessey and Aaron McConnell (with a little help from James Madison). What it says: A graphic exploration of the document that made us a pretty amazing country up until the age of signing statements, extraordinary rendition and warrantless wiretaps. A worthy addition to any library and an appropriate parting gift for various Congresspersons, Senators, etc. Highly recommended.

www.johnjudy.net

Tonight! Matt, Kal and Richard at the Writers Center

7:30 in Bethesda - I'll be there too.

Geppi's Entertainment Museum rent continued

Here's an update on the unpaid rent issue at Geppi's Entertainment Museum - "Geppi’s Entertainment Museum owes $600K in rent and other fees," LIZ FARMER, Maryland Daily Record Business Writer, October 22, 2008.

Post recommends uncensored Looney Tunes collection

See "Bugs Bunny Takes a Bow," By JEN CHANEY, washingtonpost.com Staff Writer, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008 which was published as Warner Bros. Says, 'That's All, Folks!', Washington Post October 24 2008. This is the 6th and last collection apparently. At some point, I'd like to pick these up but I don't know when I'd ever find the time to watch them.

Virginia Comic-Con in Richmond, November 23, 2008

The upcoming Virginia Comic-Con (or Central Virginia Comic-Con, depending on where you look on their web pages) will be on November 23rd, 2008 (the weekend before Thanksgiving). It's out of the DC metro area proper, but still within reasonable driving distance (depending on where in the region you are, I suppose!). I've never been, but it looks to be a reasonably small show, but with a decent guest list this year!

Special Guests include the Tsunami Studios gang (Rick Ketcham, Randy Green, Steve, Bird, John Wycough, Kelly Yates, and Brian Shearer). James Kuhoric (his only convention appearance this year), local yokel Steve Conley, Jason Craig, Louis Small Jr., and small press creators Martin Krause, Brian Vissagio, and Dan Nokes of 21st Century Sandshark Studios.

Their vendor list looks similar to the one you find at the Capital Associates show in Tyson's Corner -- Tomorrow's Treasures, Cards Comics and Collectibles, Richmond Comix, Dino Thore, Guy Rose, Dave Shankle, FanData Comics, Banks' Comics, Rick Fortenberry, Battlefield Comics, Brett's Comic Pile, New World, Kuti's Comics, All-American Comics, West End Comics, Heroes Aren't Hard to Find, Kupinski's Comics, Wonder Wares, Zeno's Comics, and Dominion Comics. Some names there that don't ring a bell though, so you're bound to find something you haven't seen before or are looking for that the "usual suspects" haven't had.

Caricature waaaay back in the Reagan era

Back in the 1980s when I was in college in DC, great caricature posters of President Reagan and his cabinet would appear around town glued up overnight. Robbie Conal was the artist and here's a profile of what he's doing now -- but DC needs him back! There are still plenty of politicians who need caricaturing in town.

See "Robbie Conal and the Art of Character Assassination: Guerrilla pop," By Dwayne Booth, LA Weekly October 21, 2008.

Boy, I'm sorry I never got any of those posters peeled off although I'm not sure I need to see Ed Meese ever again, even in a caricature.

Marc Singer on Morrison's Superman

Marc Singer's got a lovely essay up on his blog about Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman. Hopefully Marc will find the time to devote himself to the Morrison book he's obviously got in him.

Comic Riffs interviews Breathed

Ok, today Michael Cavna jumped from an interview on Black Panther's sex to comic strips and interviewed the once-again retiring Berkeley Breathed.

Dave Astor laid off at Editor and Publisher

Dave Astor sent a note saying he's been laid off from Editor and Publisher as of the end of this month. Dave's been a friend of this blog, but beyond that he's one of the few in the mainstream media who has covered comics for years. Dave covered the syndicates that distribute comic strips, writing both small blurbs and larger articles as necessary. Dave's voice went beyond the readers of comics-centered specialty magazines or blogs like this one, and our field is poorer for the loss of his column. I hope that another publisher realizes the richness of Dave's knowledge and his ability and quickly snaps him up so we can get back to reading his stories.

As an aside, I can't help but think that newspapers and magazines letting go of the people that know the most about their field, whether in Washington Post buyouts, Baltimore Sun layoffs or Dave's current firing makes any sense at all if "content" is king as the media moguls keep trying to tell us.

I see I used the same 'headline' as Alan Gardner whose Daily Cartoonist site has better coverage of this whole stupid story. Tom Spurgeon has much the same tenor as I do.

OT: Phil Jupitus' latest BBC interview

Jupitus, a British cartoonist turned comedian, has been interviewing cartoonists for the BBC. We've already linked to his Trudeau and Cartoonists with Attitude shows, so here's the October 21st interview with Russell Taylor and Charles Peattie about their British strip Alex which focuses on the financial world. Of the top of my head, I can't think of an American equivalent.

Richard Thompson on the differences between Virginia and Maryland suburbs

I try to avoid linking to Richard's blog too often just to avoid the overly-cozy relationship that can come up between a stalker and his objective, but this hilarious and uncannily accurate map should be seen by the ComicsDC audience.

Oct 22: Daryl Cagle at UVA

It's at the edge of our coverage area, but see "U.Va. to host political cartoonist," October 20, 2008 for details.

OT: Dennis the Menace artist Marcus Hamilton

Here's a story on Marcus Hamilton who I met over the summer at Heroes Con - he's a real nice guy, and I really enjoyed having lunch with him. See "Cartoonist shares message of perseverance with hometown,"D BY HEATHER J. SMITH, The Dispatch Monday, October 20, 2008.

Kuper covers Post Health section

Peter Kuper did a somewhat atypical drawing for the Post Health section today - the original is quite large, but only this mini-version can be seen online.

Comic Riffs breaks news of Black Panther's breast implants

David Betancourt and Michael Cavna have broken the story of Marvel's new female Black Panther. They write, "The first modern black superhero is about to get a serious facelift -- even if we can't yet see under the mask" but I believe they've gotten the type of plastic surgery wrong, since they follow that up with "Black Panther will now be a woman warrior."

The comments are hot and heavy though - proving something about comic book readers perhaps.