Nevin Martell jumps the big pond in search of Calvin and Hobbes

Unless he's moved to England (in which case we're dropping him like a hot potato), Nevin's got a guest piece here - The fantastic truth of Calvin and Hobbes: Bill Watterson's work remains hilarious, and wildly inventive – but it also manages to be authentic in a way that very few cartoons ever are. Guardian's Books Blog (February 17 2010)

Politics and Prose book group reads Alan Moore

Wednesday, February 24, 7:30 p.m.
Graphic Novel Bookgroup
Top 10: The Forty-Niners, by Alan Moore

My reflections on the emerging US Mint / Captain America conspiracy at the City Paper

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/books/2010/02/18/when-captain-america-throws-his-mighty-shield/

Aquaman's back, and Glen Weldon digs him

All, and probably more than you ever needed to know, is at "Aquaman No Longer Sleeps With The Fishes! I Should Probably Rephrase That," National Public Radio's Monkey See blog (February 17 2010) as Glen Weldon recounts the past two decades of history of the Sea King.

Rappahannock librarian has some reading suggestions

Have some frightful fun with today's graphic novel: Local children's librarian offers timely reading suggestions, Fredericksburg.com 2/16/2010- Caroline Parr is coordinator of children's services for Central Rappahannock Regional Library.

Superhero mixtape from DC dj

Jon Fischer of the City Paper passed along this - Davy DMV – The Mixtape Super Heros Mixtape (Hosted by DJ Torkaveli). I'm just downloading it now and haven't listened to it, but I like the cover.

Kal quoted

More on what makes Florida special from Kal...

Famous speakers find way to SW Fla.
Bush brothers here today; many others set to follow
By GLENN MILLER
Fort Meyer News-Press February 16, 2010

John Hopkins U's JohnCon details

Our colleagues at Baltimore Gamer have some of the details including a 24-hour anime room which actually sounds a bit rough to me.

Wuerker wins Herblock

Moving to the East Coast is finally paying off for Matt Wuerker. As a staff cartoonist he was a finalist for the Pulitzer last year, and just won the Herblock award. Congratulations, Matt. It couldn't happen to a nicer, more deserving guy.

Although it will be interesting to hear his speech...

'Kelly' back in the Onion

The Onion's editorial cartoonist "Kelly" (actually Ward Sutton) returned in the February 11th issue, with a Star Trek / NASA parody. The cartoons are purposefully horrible, parodying the worst of the field, but I'm glad to see them back.

Marvel's Civil War plays out on Post blog

The rationale behind Marvel's Civil War storylines plays out on Ezra Klein's Post blog where he wrote a paragraph concluding "Iron Man was right" in favor of superhero registration - and then the comments begin...

Local cartoonist Julian Lytle is Glyph Award nomine

Matt Dembicki writes in to tell us:

Local cartoonist Julian Lytle of "Ants" (http://ants.julianlytle.com/) is a nominee for the Glyph Award's rising star category.

Let's all wish him luck.

Mo Willems comic strip in Post

Mo Willems, best known for his children's books, is a cartoonist too. He's filling in for Hilary Price this week in the Rhymes with Orange comic strip in the Post.

The Big Planet ACT-I-VATE Primer signing details (TIME corrected)

The ACT-I-VATE Primer Signing

The creators at ACT-I-VATE.com have been serializing webcomics for free since 2006, and have finally put out a print edition with stand-alone, all-new stories - The ACT-I-VATE Primer. Please join Dean Haspiel (Billy Dogma, The Alcoholic), Simon Fraser (Lilly MacKenzie, Nikolai Dante), Joe Infurnari (ULTRA-lad!, the Process, Mush!), and Jim Dougan (Sam & Lilah, Crazy Papers, No Formula) for a discussion and signing of THE ACT-I-VATE PRIMER.

"ACT-I-VATE makes comics better."  - Warren Ellis

THE ACT-I-VATE PRIMER

•  Official Selection of The New York Times' 2009 Holiday Gift Guide
•  Featured on Big Planet Comics' "Best of 2009" List
•  Selected for Politics and Prose's Favorite Graphic Literature of 2009

http://www.activatecomix.com

Free!
Big Planet Comics
426 Maple Ave. East
Vienna, VA 22180
http://www.bigplanetcomics.com
703-242-9412
Saturday, February 27, 2010, 2-4 pm


###

For more information, a cover image, or art samples, please contact:

Kevin Panetta or Jared Smith
bigplanetvienna@verizon.net
703-242-9412
Big Planet Comics
426 Maple Ave. East
Vienna, VA 22180

Marc Singer on Watchmen, and the teaching thereof

Marc Singer writes on teaching Watchmen for weeks 3-4 of his class on comics at Howard.

What Kevin Rechin actually did on Extreme Makeover Home Edition

Now that the show has aired, and we saw less than 5 seconds of Kevin at work, let's quote his email about what he actually did, "The room was a superhero-themed room for two of the sons. I basically designed and painted a mural of a cityscape with caricatures of each kid as a superhero incorporated into the scene and also designed personal superhero logos for each kid. These were embroidered on capes for customized costumes and used as decals on a cool car bed built for the show. That's basically it. Keep in mind I had 4 days to come up with the design, get it approved and then had from about 4 p.m. Friday to 2 p.m. the next day to do the whole room with the help of a couple more people. Needless to say it was an all-nighter! Everything done for that show is done for free or as a donation."

The family was the Tripp family of Hyattville, MD and it's episode 717 that you can watch on the Extreme Makeover Home Edition website. I quite liked Kevin's mural, and have invited him to do one in my house. I encourage you all to do the same. This time, we could pay him. Bravo to Kevin for donating his time and creativity to this!

Comics on the Rack, Quick Picks for Comics Due 02-17-10

COMICS ON THE RACK

Quick Picks for Comics Due 02-17-10

By John Judy

 

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #621 by Dan Slott and Michael Lark.  More Dark Aunt May!  Finally!  Are those wheat cakes or carb-loaded disks of death?!  Gotta look!

 

AVENGERS VS. ATLAS #2 of 4 by Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman.  The original Avengers are in the modern day and ready to rumble with the Atlas gang!  Big fight!

 

BLACKEST NIGHT: THE FLASH #3 of 3 by Geoff Johns and Tony Daniel.  Barry dukes it out with Black Lantern Professor Zoom while the rogues try to figure out whose side they need to be on.  Good times!

 

CAPTAIN AMERICA #603 by Ed Brubaker and Luke Ross.  Bucky America and the Falcon take on a group of violent racist anti-government nuts who (honest!) bear no resemblance whatsoever to the tea-baggers who got so steamed up over the depiction of tea-bagger signs and slogans last issue that they got in Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada's grill about it.  Sadly, Joe Q immediately groveled for tea-bagger forgiveness and promised that the tea-bagger signs would be redrawn for all subsequent printings of these stories featuring these evil scum who are (really!) not tea-baggers despite sharing many of the views openly espoused at tea-bagger rallies!  Point is: your first prints of these issues are now collectibles.  (BTW, Captain America would never put up with this stuff, Joe.  He'd bounce his shield off their heads and call it macaroni.)

 

DAREDEVIL #505 by Andy Diggle and Marco Checchetto.  DD heads to Japan to talk to the Hand.

 

DARK AVENGERS #14 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato.  Ripping the Greek God of War apart with his bare hands will be a tough act for the Sentry to follow, but… Well, let's just look shall we?  Not for the younger kids.

 

DEVIL #1 of 4 by Torajiro Kishi and Madhouse Studios.  "A vampire virus rages through Japan!  This disease will devour mankind."  But it will be hungry again an hour later.

 

DOOMWAR #1 of 6 by Jonathan Maberry, Will Conrad and Scot Eaton.  Doctor Doom fights everyone for six issues starting NOW!

 

GARTH ENNIS BATTLEFIELDS: HAPPY VALLEY #3 of 3 by Ennis and Carlos Ezquerra.  It's the final mission for our heroic WW2 bomber crew.  One way or another.  Highly recommended.

 

GREEN LANTERN #51 by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke.  So Hal's Parallax again by choice, which is kind of a "Hail Mary" thing if you ask me.  Still a great spandex epic.  Recommended.

 

HELLBLAZER #264 by Peter Milligan and Giuseppe Camuncoli.  John Constantine wraps up an adventure in India.  Cue the dance number!

 

HULK #20 by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness.  Okay, everyone raise your hand if you are NOT a gamma ray-powered, green, red or sometimes gray or blue rampaging monster.  Right, both of you go talk to Loeb, get him to fix you up, write you a maxi-series or something…

 

IGNITION CITY SC by Warren Ellis and Gianluca Pagliarani.  A gorgeously illustrated sci-fi noir set in earth's last spaceport.  This one reads like "Blade Runner" only with more alcoholic perverts.  Look at the credits and go figure.  Not for kids.

 

INCORRUPTIBLE #3 by Mark Waid and Jean Diaz.  The companion title to Waid's superb IRREDEEMABLE, this one is the story of Max Damage, a bad guy driven to virtue by a hero turned monster.  In this issue Max shuts down a mad scientist who's giving out super-powers for money.  And killing people.  Recommended.

 

INCREDIBLE HULK #607 by Greg Pak and Paul Pelletier. The Red She-Hulk fights everyone and then gets a back-up feature. The real Hulk appears too but only on the variant cover.  Excelsior!

 

JOE THE BARBARIAN #2 of 8 by Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy.  "Toy Story" meets a diabetic coma.  We shall see….

 

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #42 by James Robinson and Mark Bagley.  Lots of adjustments taking place in the wake of Red Arrow getting his arm ripped off.  Plus, Doctor Impossible!

 

KICK-ASS PREMIERE HC by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.  All the violent, vulgar visuals collected in hardcover!  Suitable for reading AND throwing short distances!

 

MARVELS: EYE OF THE CAMERA #6 of 6 by Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern and Jay Anacleto.  Having reached my weekly limit on Marvel-bashing, I will say only that Kurt Busiek is a great writer, the art looks very nice and issue #5 was released on April 22^nd 2009.

 

SKIM GN by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki.  This coming of age tale about a mixed-race Canadian Wiccan goth lesbian has won a bunch of awards.  Read it and see why.  Highly recommended.

 

SPIDER-WOMAN #6 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev.  SW is fighting Skrulls, apparently unaware that she's seriously dating herself.

 

THE STAND: SOUL SURVIVORS #4 of 5 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.  Mother Abigail versus the rats of Flagg!  Highly recommended.

 

STARMAN OMNIBUS, VOL. 4 HC by James Robinson and Friends.  Collecting all kinds of adventures starring Starman Jack Knight and the heroes of many worlds!  Recommended.

 

UNCANNY X-MEN #521 by Matt Fraction and Greg Land.  Mutant mischief and mayhem, Part Infinity.

 

www.johnjudy.net

Tonight!: Kevin Rechin on Extreme Makeover Home Edition

Kevin Rechin writes in "I think you wanted me to give you a heads up about the air date for the Extreme Makeover Home Edition show. It airs this Sunday at 9 p.m. I designed and illustrated a mural and other elements for a superhero-based kid's room."

Belgian stop motion animation 'A Town Called Panic' at Landmark in DC

Here's the Post's review: "Movie review: 'A Town Called Panic' is a surreal riot," By Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, February 12, 2010; WE29.

Michigan State U's Comic Art Collection additions for November 2009

It's been over a month since we looked at October, but I'm not getting a groundswell of interest in these posts anyway. So without further ado, here's bits added in November 2009 to the MSU Library's Comic Art Collection that struck me as interesting.

Hey, DC's Nate Beeler is the first entry:

"Bexley Graduate National Honoree" p. D3 in The Columbus
Dispatch, Nov. 21, 2008. -- Item about Nage Beeler and the
2008 Berryman Award for Editorial Cartooning. -- Call no.:
NC1320.S35 2008

This is followed by other articles from the newspapers, a lot of which are on Harvey Pekar for some reason. Maybe somebody else is doing a book on him.

Ahhh, remember the days when people really cared about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Enough to parody them?

Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters Classics. --
Eureka, CA : Parody Press, 1992- . -- ill. ; 26 cm. --
Began with no. 1 (Aug./Sept. 1992). -- Parody and funny
animal genres. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.:
PN6728.6.P35A3


More newspaper articles, and oooh...

"Ultimate Comic Book" AP wirephoto in the Michigan State News,
East Lansing, Michigan, 1974. -- Shows collector Mitchell
Mehdy with a copy of Action Comics, no. 1 which he has
bought for $1,800. -- Call no.: PN6710.S35 1974

I wonder what's happened to that copy?

It's hard to imagine a comic less likely to cause ADD...

"Minds at 1,000 Miles an Hour" / by Michael D. Clark. p. 8A in
the Cincinnati Post, Dec. 4, 1989. -- Uses a Family Circus
panel by Bil Keane to illustrate an article on attention
deficit disorder. -- The panel is captioned: "Another
evening in the life on an A.D.D. child." -- Call no.:
PN6710.S35 1989

This looks vaguely interesting, at least to a bibliographer...

"Drawn from Life : How Comic Books are Changing Young People's
Lives, from Asia to the Middle East" / by Marco Visscher.
p. 20-24 in Ode, May 2009. -- Article about Suleiman Bakhit
and his company Aranim Media Factory, publishing comic
books for the Arabic language market. -- Call no.:
PN6710.S35 2009

I feel guilty saying it, but this sounds painful:

The Novel of Nonel and Vovel / Oreet Ashery ; Larissa Sansour.
-- Milano : Edizioni Charta, 2009. -- 183 p. : col. ill. ;
24 cm. -- "Oreet Ashery is from Israel and lives in London.
Larissa Sansour is from Palestine and lives in Copenhagen.
These two artists have created a very special graphic novel
that raises questions on artistic practice, the nature of
authority and art and politics, and offers an eye-opening
take on Palestine. All this assumes particular importance
considering that these artists come from both sides of the
Middle Eastern divide. Nonel and Vovel, the artists' alter
egos, are given superpowers from a virus compromising their
creativity. With their new powers and the help of local
ninja women, they strive to save Palestine" -- Political
and superhero genres. -- Call no.: PN6790 .I83 A77N6 2009

Remember when newspapers used to publish collections of their editorial cartoonists?

Macpherson Editorial Cartoons 1977. -- Toronto : Star Reader
Service, 1977. -- 126 p. : ill. ; 24 x 23 cm. -- Cartoons
published in the Toronto Star. -- Call no.: NC1449.M3A52
1977

Shouldn't there be a 'Little Orphan Annie' subject heading here?

"Little Red Wonder Girl : Annie, the Broadway Orphan Who Stole
Our Hearts Almost 30 Years Ago, Arrives at the Wharton
Center for a Six-Day Run" / by Mike Hughes. p. 1D, 3D in
the Lansing State Journal, Apr. 18, 2006. -- The Annie
musical arrives in East Lansing. Sidebar, "Stars Who've
Played Annie," lists several actresses. -- Call no.:
PN6710.S35 2006

Fantagraphics published 50 issues of this? Must be before they became ideologically pure (that's a joke, Gary)...

Critters. -- Agoura, CA : Fantagraphics Books, 1986-1990. --
ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published no. 1 (1986) - no. 50 (Mar.
1990). -- Funny animal genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-50. --
Call no.: PN6728.5.F3C7
COMPLETE HOLDINGS

...actually I wonder if there's material worth collecting in there. I seem to recall some fairly good stuff in the few issues I've seen.

There's a lot of NY Times articles indexed. The Times is becoming the paper of record for comic art as well, something I'd never have predicted:

"Captain America Chooses Its Director" p. C2 in the New York
Times, Nov. 11, 2008. -- Item about Joe Johnston being
chosen to direct a Captain America film. -- Call no.:
PN6710.S35 2008
-----------------------------------------------------
"Sad News for Mad Fans" / George Gene Gustines. p. C2 in the
New York Times, Jan. 24, 2009. -- Item about Mad becoming
quarterly, quoting editor John Ficarra. -- Call no.:
PN6710.S35 2009
-----------------------------------------------------
"In Tough Times, Finding the Humor in Value" / Edward
Rothstein. p. C1, C6 in the New York Times, Jan. 31, 2009.
-- Review of an exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum,
titled "On the Money : Cartoons for the New Yorker," which
collects cartoons about money. -- Call no.: NC1320.S35 2009
-----------------------------------------------------
"Civil War in Uganda, Illustrated and In Panels" / by George
Gene Gustines. p. C1, C5, in the New York Times, Aug. 12,
2009. -- Article about the DC/Vertigo series Unknown
Soldier. -- Call no.: PN6710.S35 2009
-----------------------------------------------------
"Spain Pulls Book with Grown-Up Tintin" p. B2 in the New York
Times, Aug. 19, 2008. -- Item about a book ("The Pink
Lotus") by Antonio Altarriba, which shows Tintin in his 30s
and "contains graphic sex scenes that the Hergé estate
considers to be inappropriate." -- Call no.: PN6710.S35


Not to worry though - obscurities continue!

George Morrow : His Book / with an introduction by E.V. Lucas.
-- 2d ed. -- London : Methuen & Co., 1921. -- 97 leaves :
ill. ; 25 cm. -- Cartoons reprinted from Punch and Land and
Water. -- Call no.: NC1479.M6G4 1921
Morrow, George, 1869-1955.
Lucas, E. V. (Edward Verrall), 1868-1938.
-----------------------------------------------------
More Morrow : a Book of Drawings / by George Morrow. -- London
: Methuen & Co., 1921. -- 97 leaves : chiefly ill. ; 25 cm.
-- Cartoons. -- "Thanks are due to the proprietors of Punch
for permission to reprint ... contributions in this
volume." -- Call no.: NC1479.M6M6 1921
-----------------------------------------------------
It's that Min again! (1968-69) : Cartoons from the New Zealand
Herald / by Minhinnick. -- Auckland : Wilson and Horton,
1969. -- 56 p. : chiefly ill. ; 19 x 24 cm. -- Editorial
cartoons. -- Call no.: NC1761.M5 I8 1969
Minhinnick, 1902-1992.

Furries!

1001 Arabian Tails. -- Miami, FL : Conquest Press, 1992. -- 32
p. : ill. ; 26 cm. -- Numbered "1" on cover. -- Indicia
title: 1001 Arabian Tales. -- Funny animal and erotic
genres. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.C59 O5 1992

The lack of follow through with this was a disappoint to me, as I'm a big Zelazny fan:

Roger Zelazny's Amber: Nine Princes in Amber / adapted by
Terry Bisson ; illustrated by Lou Harrison, Bryn Barnard,
Tom Roberts. -- New York : DC Comics, 1996. -- col. ill. ;
26 cm. -- Cover title: Roger Zelazny's Nine Princes in
Amber. -- Complete in 3 nos. -- "A Byron Preiss Visual
Publications, Inc. book." -- Fantasy genre. -- LIBRARY HAS:
no. 1-3. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.D3R638 1996

Here's our buddy Nevin's book:

Looking for Calvin and Hobbes : the Unconventional Story of
Bill Watterson and his Revolutionary Comic Strip / by Nevin
Martell. -- New York : Continuum International Publishing
Group, 2009. -- 247 p. ; 23 cm. -- Call no.: PN6727.W337M3
2009

Coming soon - December!