Game On! Comics | 310 Dominion RD NE | Vienna | VA | 22180 |
Monday, August 20, 2012
Game On! player wins Heroclix World Championship!
Local cartoonist George Mercer passes away (UPDATED)
Published in The Washington Post on August 15, 2012
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?pid=159182597
The death notice says he was "Cartoonist for the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper" and that he designed nine stamps.
D.D. Degg spotted the story and provided the following notes:
His design for the 12-cent Freedom of Conscience "Torch" stamp as mentioned in the above obituary:
http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&tid=2029043
The single sample of his cartooning I could find:
http://kasmakes.tumblr.com/#23740534024
Allan Holtz' American Newspaper Comics lists his comics as:
SOLID SENDERS July 4, 1942 - at least December 11, 1943 panel
RICKEY October 17, 1942 - May 8, 1943 (pantomime strip)
ARLINE'S CAREER November 7, 1942 - May 8, 1943 strip
(retitled ARLENE'S CAREER March 20, 1943 - on)
The above three weekly comics were in the Baltimore Afro-American
After his hitch in the U.S.Army (May 10, 1943 - 1946?) Mercer did a couple more comics.
FRANTIC STEIN 1947 weekly strip
PEEWEE 1947 weekly panel
Holtz says these two may have been offerings from Continental Features, a 1940s syndicate for black newspapers possibly based out of the New York Amsterdam News.
"Down to Earth: Herblock and Photographers Observe the Environment" Opens Sept. 22
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave. SE
Washington DC 20540
August 20, 2012
"Down to Earth: Herblock and Photographers Observe the Environment"
Opens at Library of Congress on Sept. 22
Throughout his 72-year career, Herblock, the award-winning cartoonist at the Washington Post, revealed a concern and passion for the environment. His cartoons, along with photographs on environmental issues by 12 American photographers, will be showcased in a new exhibition at the Library of Congress.
"Down to Earth: Herblock and Photographers Observe the Environment" opens on Saturday, Sept. 22 in the Graphic Arts Galleries on the ground level of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. Free and open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, the exhibition closes on Saturday, March 23, 2013.
The exhibition will offer new perspectives with which to observe the planet. The cartoons and photographs on display are compelling compositions, because their creators intended to provoke reaction and inspire change.
The inspiration for "Down to Earth" comes from Herbert L. Block (1909-2001), commonly called Herblock, and his long-standing support for protecting the environment. A four-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Herblock was the chief editorial cartoonist at the Washington Post, where he worked for more than 55 years.
The exhibition features 15 Herblock cartoons and 17 photographs. Although the visual techniques used in photography and cartooning differ, both types of media can address such themes as the spread of toxins, water pollution, the negative effects of oil drilling, global warming, deforestation, exploitation of wetlands and overconsumption.
Sam Kittner's photographs vividly document the outrage of demonstrators in Louisiana over toxic-waste dumping. Other images are more subtle, such as Olaf Otto Becker's beautiful image of a blue river in Greenland that shows the effects of global warming and acid rain.
Herblock's cartoons rely on humor, irony and sarcasm. One of the drawings on display, from 2001, shows two businessmen smoking cigars and looking at oil derricks on the Alaskan landscape. It is titled "We Could Compromise and Paint Them Green." Another drawing, created in 1998, shows a beleaguered man, seen through the heat waves of a blazing sun. He is carrying a coat on one arm and is holding up a newspaper with the headline "Environmental Groups Warn of Global Warming." It is titled "All Right, All Right – I Believe It."
An online version of "Down to Earth" will be available on Saturday, Sept. 22, at http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/herblock-down-to-earth/.
"Down to Earth" is located in one of the three exhibition spaces of the Graphic Arts Galleries. The other spaces are the Swann Gallery and the Herblock Gallery. Currently in the Herblock Gallery is "Herblock Looks at 1962: Fifty Years Ago Today in Editorial Cartoons," which will rotate in 10 new cartoons from 1962 on Saturday, Sept. 22.
Three gallery talks about "Down to Earth" are scheduled in October. At noon on Wednesday, Oct. 3, and at noon on Wednesday, Oct. 17, curators Sara Duke and Carol Johnson will talk about the works featured in the exhibition. At noon on Thursday, Oct. 11, photographer Robert Coppola will talk about his work.
Most of the photographs displayed in "Down to Earth" are part of the Kent and Marcia Minichiello Collection at the Library of Congress, which contains 350 contemporary works by more than 20 American photographers. The collection presents ongoing environmental issues through the lens of some of the most renowned American photographers working today, such as Terry Evans, Frank Golhke, Sam Kittner, John Pfahl and Victor Landweber. Kent and Marcia Minichiello, Washingtonians committed to the environment, collected 27 in-depth photographic projects by these photographers and others. The Minichiellos donated the collection to the Library in 2001.
The Herb Block Foundation donated a collection of more than 14,000 original cartoon drawings and 50,000 rough sketches, as well as manuscripts, to the Library of Congress in 2002, and has generously continued to provide funds to support ongoing programming.
The Library has been collecting original cartoon art for more than 140 years. It is a major center for cartoon research with holdings of more than 100,000 original cartoon drawings and prints. These works, housed in the Prints and Photographs Division, span five centuries and range from 17th-century Dutch political prints to 21st-century contemporary comic strips.
The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division includes approximately 14.4 million photographs, drawings and prints from the 15th century to the present day. International in scope, these visual collections represent a uniquely rich array of human experience, knowledge, creativity and achievement, touching on almost every realm of endeavor: science, art, invention, government and political struggle, and the recording of history. For more information, visit www.loc.gov/rr/print/.
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PR12-155
8/20/12
ISSN: 0731-3527
Sunday, August 19, 2012
David Astor's "Comic (and Column) Confessional" book published
TODAY! DC Comics history graphic novel anthology signing
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Editorial cartoonist Clay Jones fired by Fredericksburg paper
By Clay Jones on August 17th, 2012
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
http://blogs.fredericksburg.com/toontalk/
http://blogs.fredericksburg.com/toontalk/2012/08/17/hasta-la-vista/
Alan Gardner of the Daily Cartoonist caught the story - a sadly common one now.
Matt Dembicki interviewed
Chris Jessen
Scripps Howard Foundation Wire August 16, 2012
http://shfwire.com/node/6794
The Post on ParaNorman's directors
'ParaNorman': '80s on the braaains; directors say zombie comedy celebrates the John Hughes decade
By Michael Cavna,
Washington Post August 18 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/paranorman-directors-its-clearly-not-the-sixth-sense/2012/08/17/93a98038-e8a7-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_story.html
Articles on Cul de Sac's end
Richard Thompson ends 'Cul de Sac' comic
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog August 17 2012
Parkinson's forces creator of 'Cul de Sac' comic to retire
Richard Thompson of the strip 'Cul de Sac' battles Parkinson's.
By TIM ENGLE
The Kansas City Star August 17 2012
http://www.kansascity.com/2012/08/17/3767240/parkinsons-forces-creator-of-cul.html
Parkinson's forces 'Cul de Sac' creator to call it quits
Deseret News Friday, Aug. 17 2012
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765597718/Parkinsons-forces-Cul-de-Sac-creator-to-call-it-quits.html
Cul de Sac: A Special Q&A with creator Richard Thompson
John Glynn
August 17 2012
http://www.gocomics.com/richardthompsonqa
Huffington Post on District Comics
The Huffington Post | By Arin Greenwood
08/17/2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/17/district-comics-matt-dembicki_n_1796591.html
Friday, August 17, 2012
Big Planet Comics Orbit Newsletter - August 17, 2012
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Cul de Sac ends due to illness
Richard Thompson ends 'Cul de Sac' comic
The Post's Paranorman review
Middle school and zombies? Awwwkward!
By Sean O'Connell
Washington Post August 17, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/movies/paranorman,1208210.html
City Paper says buy District Comics at One More Page Books
District Comics at One More Page Books Sunday, Aug. 19
Thursday, August 16, 2012
NPR critic picks for graphic novels
by Oliver Sava
NPR.org (August 15, 2012)
http://www.npr.org/2012/08/15/154441182/lit-illustrated-five-fantastic-graphic-novels
DC Comics history graphic novel anthology signing
Actor/Comedian Phil LaMarr to Host the 2012 Harvey Awards at Baltimore Comic-Con
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SPX Announces Small Press Expo 2012 Programming Schedule
Spotlight Sessions to Feature Clowes, Ware, Mouly, Tomine, and Jaime & Gilbert Hernandez
For Immediate Release Contact: Warren Bernard
E-Mail: warren@spxpo.com
Bethesda, Maryland; August 16, 2012 – The Small Press Expo is pleased to announce the SPX 2012 Programming Schedule. SPX is proud to continue its established tradition of rich, thought-provoking programming featuring leading comics artists and critics in conversation. As in previous years, the Programming Schedule will feature two simultaneous tracks on both Saturday and Sunday, September 15th and 16th.
SPX 2012 programming highlights include special spotlight discussions with headline guests Daniel Clowes, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, François Mouly, Adrian Tomine, and Chris Ware, all of whom will also join in several other panel discussions.
This year's programming schedule will include several panel discussions, with artists including Nick Abadzis, Derf Backderf, Michael DeForge, Theo Ellsworth, Renée French, Sammy Harkham, Tom Hart, Dean Haspiel, Stan Mack, John Porcellino, Katie Skelly and Lauren Weinstein.
This year's panel discussions will include:
This year is the seventh year that SPX programming has been organized by Programming Coordinator Bill Kartalopoulos. Kartalopoulos is a comics educator, critic and curator who has taught classes about comics at Parsons The New School for Design and co-organizes the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival. He is a Contributing Editor for Print Magazine, and assisted Art Spiegelman on the production of the Eisner Award-winning book MetaMaus.
Programming on Saturday will run from 11:30AM until 7 p.m. Sunday programming will run from 12:30 p.m. until 6 p.m. The complete SPX 2012 Programming Schedule may be found at http://www.spxpo.com/programming.
About SPX
Small Press Expo (SPX) is the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels, and alternative political cartoons. SPX is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit that brings together more than 300 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers, and distributors each year. Graphic novels, mini comics, and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators, as well as a series of panel discussions and interviews with this year's guests.
As in previous years, profits from the SPX will go to support the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program, which funds graphic novel purchases for public and academic libraries, as well as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), which protects the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals. For more information on the CBLDF, visit their website at http://www.cbldf.org.
SPX 2012 will be held Saturday, September 15 and Sunday, September 16. For more information on the Small Press Expo, please visit http://www.spxpo.com.