AAAS podcast on physics of comic books

Spider-Man and other comic-book characters help explain scientific ideas

-- Margaret Shapiro

Washington Post March 2, 2010

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/01/AR2010030102888.html

 

Comics on the Rack, Quick Picks for Comics Due 03-03-10

COMICS ON THE RACK

Quick Picks for Comics Due 03-03-10

By John Judy

 

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #623 by Mark Waid, Tom Peyer and Paul Azaceta.  There's a new Vulture in town.  In fact make it a NEW new Vulture!  The newest in fact!

 

ASTRO CITY THE DARK AGE BOOK FOUR #2 of 4 by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson.  New heroes, a new villain and a big fight in Vegas!  New and big!  The best!  Recommended.

 

THE BOYS #40 by Garth Ennis and Darick Roberston.  Featuring a tragic misunderstanding between Butcher and Wee Hughie.  Also a supe with Tourette's who turns into an anvil.  Recommended.  Not for kids.

 

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON EIGHT, VOL. 6: RETREAT SC by Jane Espenson, Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty.  Collecting issues #26-30, the return of Oz the Zen Werewolf!

 

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #33 by Brad Meltzer and Georges Jeanty.  This is the issue before they unmask Twilight so you probably want to read it just so you're braced.

 

CHEW #9 John Layman and Rob Guillory.  Tony Chu versus vampires?  What happens if Tony takes a bite out of a vampire?  Recommended.

 

CROSSED #9 of 9 by Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows.  The big, bloody wrap-up to Garth's most twisted series to date.  NOT for kids.

 

DETECTIVE COMICS #862 by Greg Rucka, Jock and Cully Hamner.  Serious detectin' and bad-guy fightin' from Batwoman and the Question!  I hope those two crazy kids work it out.

 

FALL OF THE HULKS: SAVAGE SHE-HULKS #1 of 3 by Jeff Parker and Salva Espin.  Two She-Hulks for the price of one!  What a bargain!

 

FIRST WAVE #1 of 6 by Brian Azzarello and Rags Morales.  An alternate DCU going back to its pulp roots with non-super vigilantes like Doc Savage, the Spirit, the Blackhawks and Batman!  Recommended!

 

GIRL COMICS #1 of 3 by Many Talented Creators with Double X Chromosomes.  So it's an anthology book about the women of the Marvel Universe, written and drawn by female creators.  Hmmm, they're all adults so what should we call it….?  Let's chalk the title up to post-irony and have a look anyway.

 

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #24 by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca.  Tony Stark re-threads his head with a little help from his friends.

 

JUSTICE LEAGUE CRY FOR JUSTICE #7 of 7 by James Robinson and Mauro Cascioli.  The grand finale against Prometheus, leading into Robinson's new JLA run.

 

KEVIN SMITH'S GREEN HORNET #1 by Kevin Smith and Jonathan Lau.  It's Smith's unproduced "Hornet" screenplay done as a comic, which means all the scripts are in!  If future issues are late, blame the artist!  (Man, I hope "Lau" isn't a Smith alias…)

 

MIGHTY AVENGERS #34 by Dan Slott, Neil Edwards and Khoi Pham.  "The most insane thing Hank Pym will ever do!"  Give money to the Sarah Palin campaign?

 

MILESTONE FOREVER #2 of 2 by Dwayne McDuffie and the Milestone Art Crew.  The conclusion of how the Milestone and DC Universes merged, from the guy who would know.  Good stuff.

 

PLANETARY, VOL. 4 HC by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday.  Collecting issues #19-27 of the series and wrapping it up in a bow of quantum foam.  It's pretty.

 

PRELUDE TO DEADPOOL CORPS #1 of 5 by Victor Gischler, Ed McGuinness and Rob Freakin' Liefeld.  Featuring Deadpool, Lady Deadpool, Headpool, Kidpool and Dogpool all drawn by Rob Freakin' Liefeld.  Comes with a promotional set of Deadpool chopsticks for gouging out your own eyes.  (Not really.  You have to buy your own.)

 

PUNISHER MAX: BUTTERFLY ONE-SHOT by Valerie D'Orazio and Laurence Campbell.  Y'know how good guys never hurt women or kids?  The Punisher's not a good guy.  Not for kids.

 

SPARTA: USA #1 of 6 by David Lapham and Johnny Timmons.  A rebel returns to his dystopian hometown.  This is … SPARTA!!!

 

STEPHEN KING'S N #1 of 4 by Marc Guggenheim and Alex Maleev.  Believe it or not, something strange is going on in rural Maine.  Based on King's short story collection "Just After Sunset."

 

ULTIMATE COMICS: AVENGERS #5 by Mark Millar and Carlos Pacheco.  Ultimate Captain America's still on the trail of his son the Ultimate Red Skull.  Oh, Millar…  Gotta look.

 

ULTIMATE COMICS: NEW ULTIMATES #1 by Jeph Loeb and Frank Cho.  Ummm… Frank Cho's drawing it!

 

UNDERGROUND #5 of 5 by Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber.  A great week for finales.  A tandem chimney climb has never been so intense.  Great mini-series.  Highly recommended.

 

WOLVERINE WEAPON X #11 by Jason Aaron and Ron Garney.  Wolvie and Cap go out for a beer and end up fighting Deathlok the Demolisher.  He's a cyborg from the future.  Aren't they all?

 

X-MEN: HOPE #1 by Duane Swierczynski and Steve Dillon.  The adventures of the possible alternate future mutant heroine Hope Summers!  Okay, seriously did any mutants anywhere have kids other than Scott Summers and his redhead du jour?  Scott Summers is like the Jim-Bob Duggar of the Marvel Universe!  How many kids is this guy gonna have?!

 

www.johnjudy.net

Cavna mixes and matches ridiculous auction prices

And here's Michael's summing up of recent auction madness - Batman, Superman comic books set records for sale price, By Michael Cavna, Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, February 27, 2010.

Singer on Spiegelman and Maus

Marc Singer writes on teaching Maus for weeks 6-7 of his class on comics at Howard.

Asaf Hanuka in Sunday's Post Magazine

Asaf Hanuka illustrated The Substitute in Sunday's Post Magazine (Feb 28, 2010).

March 18: Jules Feiffer at Politics and Prose

Jules Feiffer will be reading from his autobiography - I heard part of it a couple of years ago, and it's good.

Denver Post drops Cul de Sac; local IQ immediately drops

Alan Gardner is reporting that the Denver Post dropped 21 comic strips and added... 1. But hey, Pluggers is going to be in color now, so who cares?

Seriously, they dropped some of the best new strips in favor of this tired old lineup, and then adding insult to injury, had the nerve to headline it "We're serious about your comics and puzzles." Perhaps, but if you're going to assume your readers are that stupid, maybe you should have a subheading "But we're more concerned with lining our pockets than putting out a decent paper." Which they might as well be, actually, because they're not going to be in business once the generation voting for Family Circus and Classic Peanuts kicks off.

New, hard to find Nick Galifianakis interview

A new Nick Galifianakis interview appears in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Signature: The Magazine of Association Media & Publishing. He also did the cover, and there's a 2 page spread about how the cover was designed w/ 4 illos.

Nate Beeler interview up at City Paper

Meet a Local Cartoonist: A Chat with Nate Beeler

Posted by Mike Rhode on Mar. 1, 2010

 

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/books/2010/03/01/meet-a-local-cartoonist-a-chat-with-nate-beeler/

 

Reason Magazine sort of recommends government comics library site

The local libertarian chaps at Reason Magazine have noted the digital library of government educational comics at the University of Nebraska - check out Hey Citizens! Comics! by Brian Doherty from the January 2010 issue.

March 4: Howard University comics symposium

Kyle Baker, William H. Foster visit Howard University

 

Comics artist Kyle Baker (Nat Turner, Truth: Red, White & Black, Birth of a Nation) and scholar William H. Foster III (Looking for a Face like Mine) will visit Howard University for "Comics on Campus," a symposium held in the Blackburn Auditorium from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 4. Baker and Foster will discuss the history and production of graphic novels, recent landmark works, and the unique opportunities and challenges that face African American cartoonists. The event is sponsored by the Department of English with support from the Fund for Academic Excellence. For information please contact Prof. Marc Singer at msinger@howard.edu. The event is free and open to the public.

The Blackburn Auditorium is inside the Blackburn University Center, between 5th and 6th streets NW and above Howard Place. It's on the main quad at the top of campus. Here's a document with driving and Metro directions to Blackburn.

Here's an interview from last week with Dr. Foster - Full Color Fun With Dr. William Foster, Scoop (February 26 2010).

ACT-I-VATE signing report by comicsgirl

Comicsgirl has a good report on the ACT-I-VATE guys at Politics and Prose up now, so I'm just going to refer you to her site. The only thing I would add is that you can buy a cd recording of the event from the store if you want to hold her picture up and pretend you were there. This may be historically important at some point, like being able to claim you were at the Constitutional Convention.

I took a few snaps too, and when I pull them off the camera, I'll post them here if they're any good.

If anyone local is reading this, P&P has some good remaindered comic-type books. Plenty of copies of Hajdu's 10-Cent Plague, 1 copy of Art Spiegelman: Conversations by my friend Rusty Witek for $5, 1 copy of Stan Lee: Conversations for $5, a bunch of Tomine, and one of the odd Spirit pop-up comics. And the Barnes & Noble on Rte 50 in Fairfax has the Moby Dick pop-up comic while I'm thinking about it.

Kevin Rechin's Boom! out

I saw Kevin tonight and he had a copy of Boom! Splat! Kablooey!: Safe Science That's a Real Blast (Klutz) for which he did the cartoon illustrations. Buy 2 now - 1 for your collection, and 1 to use.

PR: Next Sun, March 7-Capicons Comic Book & Pop Culture Con

Capicons Comic Book & Pop Culture Con
Next Sunday, March 7, 2010
(Rescheduled from Feb. 7)
10 am - 3 pm
Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire Dept.
2148 Gallows Rd. Dunn Loring, VA

- FREE Admission!

- Our Guest Artist Tim Dzon--Marvel inker and cover artist (Avengers West
Coast, Hawkeye, Marvel Comics Presents, GI Joe, etc.)

- Also featuring:

Capes 'N Babes' creator Chris Flick
http://www.capesnbabes.com/

and 21st Century Sandshark Studios' Dan Nokes
http://21sandshark.com/

- Door Prize Drawing courtesy of Victory Comics-Falls Church's newest
comic shop
                                                                                                 
Vendors/Artist Tables will include:
21st Century Sandshark Studios/All-American Comics/Doug
Cheshire/Collector's Choice/Comics to Astonish/Michael & Connie
Creager/Tim Dzon/Everyday Comics/FANDATA/Fantasy Comics/Chris
Flick/Donald and Kathy Gehl/Outpost Station/Packcracker/Silver Fox/TNT
Comics/Tomorrow's Treasures/Victory Comics/Venture Effects/Zeno's
Books...and more!

The show is open to the public from 10 am - 3 pm. Buy, sell and
trade...Gold, Silver, Bronze Age comics; Indie & Modern comics, Publishers
& Creators, TV & Movie Collectibles. Non-sport cards; Videos and DVDs;
Horror/Sci-Fi; figures, toys; Star Wars and Star Trek memorabilia;
original artwork, posters, T-shirts/clothing and various other comic
related items.  

========================================================
Directions to DLVFRD:
========================================================
Take I-495 (DC/Capital Beltway) to Exit 47A (Rt. 7 West). Go 1/2 Mile,
Left on Gallows Rd. 1 mile to 2148 Gallows Rd

========================================================
Capicons is on Facebook!
========================================================
Become a fan on Facebook, and keep on top of show updates.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Merrifield-VA/Capicons-Comic-Book-Pop-Culture-Con/221236176794?ref=ts

========================================================
Capicons 2010 Dates

Sun. March 7
Sun. April 18
Sun. June 6
Sun, Aug. 1
Sun. Oct. 3
Sun. Dec. 5

=======================================================

To book a table, be added to our mailing list, request flyers, or for more
info about our show, email info@capicons.com.

See you next week,
Jeff & Laura & Ed
Capicons

      

===================
 *Capicons does not guarantee the arrival, arrival time or departure time
of the artist(s)/writer(s)/other guest(s) attending our shows or attending
on behalf of another group.
 ===================

Capicons
PO Box 2488
Merrifield, VA 22116
capicons.com

Another reason to read Dougan's Sam & Lilah

Besides the interesting storyline and the lovely art, he destroys RFK Stadium in chapter 2 of Sam & Lilah.

Catching up with Bennett's Best at Zadzooks blog

I saw Greg Bennett yesterday and found out that he's still doing his Bennett's Best mini-reviews at Zadzooks blog - the Times had changed the address of the site. Here are links to what we missed, although it looks like only 2010 is still up so we definitely missed a bunch from 2009 unfortunately.

Bennett's Best: Ignition City and Kick Ass
Greg Bennett provides a pair of recommendations for comic book lovers for the week of February 14, 2010. This week its Ignition City: Volume 1 and Kick Ass.

Bennett's Best: Hicksville: Definitive Edition and Hellblazer: Pandemonium
Legendary comic book store owner Greg Bennett provides a pair of recommendations for comic book lovers for the week of February 7, 2010. This week its Hicksville: Definitive Edition and Hellblazer: Pandemonium

Bennett's Best: Ultimate Comics X and Demo
Legendary comic book store owner Greg Bennett provides a pair of recommendations for comic book lovers for the week of January 31, 2010. This week its Ultimate Comics X, No. 1 and Demo: Volume 2, No. 1.

Bennett's Best: Ultimate Comics Enemy and Atom and Hawkman
Legendary comic book store owner Greg Bennett provides a pair of recommendations for comic book lovers for the week of January 24, 2010. This week its Ultimate Comics Enemy, No. 1 and Atom and Hawkman, No. 46.

Beyond Comics Artist Appearance March 3rd

B E Y O N D      C O M I C S March 3rd ONLY! Meet ASPEN Comics Artist Micah Gunnell at the Beyond Comics Gaithersburg Square Store 536 North Frederick Avenue 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm   Free Sketches and Autographs   Original Art For Sale. INFO Now on Facebook Website eBay Store New Items Added 1/5/10 Amazon Store Follow us on Twitter Next Week Shipping Next Week On Sale Date Wednesday March 3rd Newsletter Signup Please Note, some items are not available at all store locations. For more information please speak with any store representative. Some items may also be allocated by the manufacturer and may not be available. Beyond Comics does not guarantee items being in stock; however we will do our best to keep them available. Email: Gaithersburg John Shine Mgr or Frederick Mike Imboden Mgr Gaithersburg Store 536 North Frederick Ave Gaithersburg, MD (301) 216-0007 Hours: M,Tu 11-8; W-Sat 10-9; Sun 12-6 Frederick Store 5632 Route 85 Frederick, MD (301) 668-8202 Hours: M,Tu 10-8; W-Sat 10-9; Sun 12-6

Comic Riffs confirms new Doonesbury collection

DOONESBURY: Garry Trudeau to release 40th-anniversary retrospective, Michael Cavna, February 25, 2010.

Not a stunning surprise as there have been specific collections for a couple of decades now - going back to Duke's Action Hero, I think, but welcome all the same. In my opinion, Doonesbury is still one of the top 3 strips in the paper.

Wimpy Kid movie posters begin appearing in DC

I've seen one in a bus shelter on 16th St, NW and here's one on the side of a bus courtesy of Kathleen Stocker. As we've noted before, Jeff Kinney was a U of Maryland cartoonist back when.

Comic Riffs on silly Batman auction price

1939 Batman Detective Comics No. 27 sells for record $1 million at auction, By Michael Cavna, Washington Post February 26, 2010.