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Friday, April 18, 2014
Awesome Con Newsletter
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Bleeding Cool talks to Awesome Con owner Penrod
Awesome Con Founder Ben Penrod On Breaking World Records And Getting Big Names This Year
By Devon Sanders
Bleeding Cool April 17, 2014
Comic Riffs on tomorrow's Awesome Con
The Riff: Is D.C. (finally) geeky enough to set a cosplay world record Friday?
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog April 17 2014
Puck, Judge and The Wasp cartoons from local bookstore owner
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Steve Artley's SF Aphelion Arc PREVIEW ISSUE is now available
The Aphelion Arc PREVIEW ISSUE is now available! This special preview edition contains the latest and most complete version of "Exiles of Nod," along with The Nerds' Appendix and bonus material that provides a glimpse at the process in scripting and storyboarding. This 32-page magazine also contains sketches for the new story, "Adam's Eve." You can arrange to purchase your copy by emailing info@aphelionarc.com.
If you're in the Washington DC area, look for our APHELION ARC booth at AWESOME CON, Washington DC Convention Center April 18 — 20, where we'll have the magazine on sale along with a few other items of interest. http://awesomecondc.com/.
Comic Riffs on Eisner Award nominees
2014 EISNER AWARDS: From Aydin to Yang, nominees size up this year's list
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog April 15 2014 http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2014/04/15/2014-eisner-awards-from-aydin-to-yang-nominees-size-up-this-years-incredible-list/
Herblock bio screening for Avalon movie theater Benefit
http://www.theavalon.org/support/2014benefit/
| On Sunday, April 27, 2014 at 5:00pm, the Avalon Theatre will hold its annual spring benefit event to support the theater. The focus of the event will be a local icon – legendary Washington Post editorial cartoonist Herbert L. Block – with a screening of the documentary HERBLOCK: THE BLACK AND THE WHITE. A post-film guest panel, which includes the film's producer and Honorary Chair of the event, George Stevens, Jr., as well as Tom Toles, Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post, will discuss Block's life and legacy. An hors d'oeuvres reception precedes the film. Proceeds from the event will be used for general operating funds and to complete the renovation of the Avalon 2 side of our historic building. The upstairs theater will be updated with new, more comfortable seats and a freshly painted floor to complement the lobby renovation and elevator installation done last fall. In HERBLOCK: THE BLACK AND THE WHITE, Director Michael Stevens and Producer George Stevens, Jr. draw on the best minds in journalism to tell the Herbert Block tale. Block looked to Ted Koppel like a "Vermont pharmacist" – not "the most feared editorial cartoonist in the country." Block started cartooning in his Chicago teens and went on to win four Pulitzer Prizes and the Presidential Medal of Freedom during 55 years at the Post. He challenged the high and the mighty without fear or favor. In Block's words, it was his job to remind our public servants that "they are, after all, public servants." Gwen Ifill, Bob Schieffer, Tom Friedman, Tom Brokaw, Mark Shields and David Brooks offer insights on how one man utilized his pen like a stiletto to express his belief in justice, human rights and always "watching out for the little guy" – while Jon Stewart and Lewis Black describe how Block influenced 21st-century satire. | Download a printable invitation For more information, contact Sarah Pokempner at (202) 966-2149 or spokempner@theavalon.org. |
Underwriters
Janice & Kim Abraham
Lynn & Bill Choquette
Louie & Ralph Dweck
Donetta George
Lynne & Joe Horning
Beth Wehrle & Matthew Miller
Jodie Levin-Epstein & Barry Zigas
Host Committee
Cynthia Baker & Jon Zeitler | Claire Bloch & Geoffrey Griffis | Phyllis & Barry Caldwell | Caroline Croft | Toby & Dan Edelman | Bitsey Folger | Rena & Michael Gordon | Lynne & Joe Horning | Kitty Kelley | Aviva Kempner | Judy & Peter Kovler | Kitty Lansdale | Kathleen & Chris Matthews | Janice McCall | Anne McGuirk | Peggy Parsons | Mary Ellen & David Rogers | Bev & Steve Schacht | Jan Solomon & Ken Simonson | Susan Stamberg | Vali Tschirgi & Adam Nemzer | Katharine Weymouth | Catherine Wyler & Richard Rymland | Debra Yogodzinski (as of 3/6/14)
Aftertime Comics of Alexandria is City Paper's pick
Best Comic Shop
Tim Regan
Washington City Paper (April 11 2014): 98http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/bestofdc/artsandentertainment/2014/best-comic-shop
PR: Are You Ready for The Intergalactic Nemesis?
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Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Tom King to write DC comic book Grayson
Local writer Tom King's first novel was the entertaining superhero story, A Once Crowded Sky. He'll be writing a comic book for DC next.
Batman's sidekick leaves the cave for 'Grayson' comic
Brian Truitt, USA TODAY April 14, 2014
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2014/04/14/grayson-comic-book-series/7480853/
Lincoln Peirce's new Guinness record
Toon-size: Guinness Record for longest comic strip set on TODAY
Scott Stump
TODAY April 11, 2014 http://www.today.com/news/toon-size-guinness-record-longest-comic-strip-set-today-2D79517765
Comic Riffs talks to Siers and Bechdel about Pulitzers
2014 PULITZER PRIZES: 'Fun Home's' Alison Bechdel 'thrilled' with theatrical nod
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog April 14 014
2014 PULITZER PRIZES: Charlotte Observer's Kevin Siers calls his Editorial Cartooning win 'surreal'
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog April 14 2014
For a local content footnote, Kevin Siers is a fan of Richard Thompson, and came out to meet him when Richard attended Heroes Con in Charlotte.
Meet a Local Cartoonist: A Chat with Nguyen Nguyen (updated regarding a paper version)
Nguyen Nguyen (pronounced Win Win) is self-publishing a graphic novel drawing on his family's experiences in the Vietnam War. He's posting it by chapter in the iTunes store. His website has a nice biographical note, so I'll just repost it here:Nguyen Khoi Nguyen is a multi-disciplinary artist. He was born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, raised in Cape Coral, Fl. and resides in Washington D.C. He studied visual art at the Cooper Union, music and integrated arts at Bard College and completed a master’s degree in jazz piano at the University of Maryland. Nguyen leads the jazz trio, “Superior Cling,” which performs in the D.C. metro area and released its first album this summer. As a filmmaker, Nguyen produces a wide range of content including art films, documentaries and promotional videos for non-profits and institutions. He was the recipient of the 2013 Artist Fellowship Grant from the DC Commission for the Arts. Nguyen is currently a 2014 Strathmore Fine Artist in Residence.
This week he's holding a release party for the third chapter of ten (details at the bottom of the post)
ComicsDC: What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?
Nguyen Nguyen: I make multimedia comics that include stories, drawings, music and animation. I am working on my first graphic novel called "The Gulf." The first three chapters are available now in the iBooks store.
"The Gulf," a digital mutlimedia comic, is about a
Vietnamese-American man and his family. The stories are set in
D.C., my hometown, the Gulf Coast city of Cape Coral, FL, and in Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam. Each chapter includes music and animation. I'm
releasing the individual chapters in the iBooks store. They can be
viewed on the iPad, iPad mini, and any Mac with OSX Mavericks.I received a 2013 Artist Fellowship to work on this project from the DC Commission on the Arts and I've been selected for a Strathmore Fine Artist Residency to keep working on it in 2014.
I do hope to make paper versions of "The Gulf" in the future and to add a Kindle version. The trick is that I try to make the multimedia elements not just add-ons but essential to the story. So a paper version of the gulf would be a different experience.
How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?
I draw and ink everything by hand. The images are then scanned, colored and laid out on the computer. I write and perform the music with various instruments and software. I draw the animation on the iPad.
When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?
I was born in 1981, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Why are you in Washington now? What neighborhood or area do you live in?I have found a great community of artists and friends here in DC. I live in the wonderful Le Droit Park neighborhood.
What is your training and/or education in cartooning?
I've always loved to draw and began taking drawing classes when I was ten. I was very fortunate to attend an arts high school in Florida, and then went on to art school in New York.
Who are your influences?
My influences in comics include: Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Alison Bechdel, Adrian Tomine, Bill Watterson.
Nothing.
What work are you most proud of?
I'm very proud of the most recent chapter of my graphic novel that I've released: "The Gulf: #3 Fifty Needles."
The story is based on my mother's memories of learning how to sew as a girl in Vietnam in the 1960's.
What would you like to do or work on in the future?
I've set a goal to do ten chapters of "The Gulf." I'm three-tenths done now and that's taken over a year and a half of research, planning and then finally making the art! I'll be super happy when I finish but I'm sure I'll look to the next challenge. Ten more chapters?! Who knows?
What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?
I try to work in a different medium or discipline to scramble my brain like playing piano or dancing. Also, I'll go for a run around the neighborhood reservoir.
Digital comics.
What local cons do you attend? The Small Press Expo, Intervention, or others? Any comments about attending them?
I've had great experiences at the conventions; talking shop with artists, meeting my heroes and just seeing what's out there. I love going to SPX and I attended the first Smudge convention a month ago. I'm looking forward to Awesome Con!
What's your favorite thing about DC?
Metro's green line.
Least favorite?The red line.
What monument or museum do like to take visitors to?
The Hirshhorn for their exhibits and the American Indian Museum for their cafeteria.
How about a favorite local restaurant?
So many to choose from: Fast Gourmet, Woodlands, The Big Greek Cafe in Silver Spring. La Mano Coffee bar is a fantastic coffee shop.
Do you have a website or blog?
My blog for "The Gulf:" http://ngknguyen.com/175725/978020/home/sketches-for-the-gulf
My website: http://ngknguyen.com
My etsy shop: http://etsy.com/shop/Nguyenmade
Nguyen is launching the third chapter of his story this week:
Thursday, April 17th at 7:00 PM
Shaw's Tavern, 2nd Floor
520 Florida Ave NW, Washington, DC
Monday, April 14, 2014
Hershel Kanter, friend of ComicsDC, wins civic award
SPACE Prizes
Comic Riffs talks to Gene Yang about his latest book award
COMICS LIT AWARDS: Gene Luen Yang, Ulli Lust among big winners at L.A. Times Book Festival Prizes
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog April 13 2014
Tom Toles' fundraising campaign for a musical comedy
Catapult Love
Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Tom Toles joins forces with satirical comedy sensations Katie Goodman & Soren Kisiel in a high-wire musical-comedy.
Catapult Love is a high-wire musical-comedy adventure of a woman in search of herself crow-barring her way through a catastrophic line-up of lovers. It is a head-to-head onstage throw-down between the comedic genius of Katie Goodman, her co-writer Soren Kisiel, and the high-energy, addictive wit and music of Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Tom Toles and his riotous band, Lethal Bark.
PR: X-Men Burlesque Comes to Washington DC
Come to Professor Xavier's School for the Gifted, where you will learn to understand and control your powers to strip to the betterment of mankind.
Featured professors:
Mary Cyn
Fem Appeal
Lefty Lucy
Charles Stunning
Sarah Tops
Mr. Tops
TWO Chances to matriculate:
7pm for mutants 18+ (doors 6:30)
10pm for mutants 21+ (doors 9:30)
There will be a costume contest so be proud and dress like the mutant you are.
Also, Mary Cyn will be teaching a special nerdlesque class before the show. Space is limited so reserve early!
Venue Info:
Bier Baron is located at 1523 22nd Street NW
Washington DC 20037.
Tickets $12
http://burl-x-men.brownpapertickets.com/
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Amazing Spider-Man 2 promotion with the Postal Service
Friday, April 11, 2014
Lumberjanes reviewed
March 1975: Pat Oliphant joins the Washington Star
OT: Courtney Utt, graphic designer at Viz, has passed away
Updated, 4/11/14.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Comic Riffs on comiXology purchase
This just in: Amazon.com reaches deal to buy comiXology
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog April 10 2014
Cartoonists at National Book Festival
April 10, 2014
Kai Bird, Kate DiCamillo, Francisco Goldman, Alice McDermott Among Authors at 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival
Renowned Illustrator Bob Staake Will Create Festival Poster Art
A wealth of authors, poets and illustrators for readers of all ages—including such writers as Jonathan Allen, Amie Parnes, Peter Baker, Ishmael Beah, Kai Bird, Billy Collins, Kate DiCamillo, Francisco Goldman, Henry Hodges, Siri Hustvedt, Cynthia Kadohata, U.S. Reps. John Lewis and James Clyburn, Alice McDermott, George Packer, Lisa See, Maria Venegas, and Gene Luen Yang—will thrill book-lovers at the 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival. The festival, which is free and open to the public, will take place from 10 a.m to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
The festival for the first time in its history will hold evening hours, with special events between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. including a poetry slam, a session featuring "Great Books to Great Movies," and a "super-session" for graphic-novel enthusiasts. The theme of this year’s festival is "Stay Up With a Good Book."
The festival’s new location also facilitates an expanded selection of genre pavilions. In addition to the longtime pavilions History & Biography, Fiction & Mystery, Poetry & Prose, Children’s, Contemporary Life, Teens and Special Programs, this year’s festival also will offer new pavilions focused on Science, Culinary Arts, Small Press/International and for children, Picture Books.
"The world of books always offers us something new. This year, the Library’s National Book Festival will return the favor, offering our fresh approach to the world of books," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington.
Authors who have accepted the Library’s invitation to speak and sign books at the 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival also include Bob Adelman, Paul Auster, Andrea Beaty, Eula Biss, Kendare Blake, Paul Bogard, Jeffrey Brown, Peter Brown, Eric H. Cline, Bryan Collier, Raúl Colón, James Conaway, Ilene Cooper, Jerry Craft, H. Allen Day, Liza Donnelly, Margaret Engle, Percival Everett, Jules Feiffer, David Theodore George, Carla Hall, Molly Idle, Peniel E. Joseph, Nick Kotz, Nina Krushcheva, Louisa Lim, Eric Litwin, Adrienne Mayor, Meg Medina, Claire Messud, Anchee Min, Elizabeth Mitchell, Richard Moe, John Moeller, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Alicia Ostriker, Laura Overdeck, Dav Pilkey, Paisley Rekdal, Amanda Ripley, Cokie Roberts, Ilyasah Shabazz, Lynn Sherr, Brando Skyhorse, Vivek Tiwary, David Treuer, Ann Ursu, Lynn Weise, Rita Williams-Garcia, Natasha Wimmer, Jacqueline Woodson and Tiphanie Yanique.
Details about the Library of Congress National Book Festival can be found on its website at www.loc.gov/bookfest. The website offers a variety of features, and new material will be added to the website as authors continue to join this year’s stellar lineup.
Among those notables, Alice McDermott, born in Brooklyn and educated in New York and New Hampshire, won the National Book Award for Fiction for her novel "Charming Billy" (1998). Her latest novel is "Someone" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2013). McDermott’s other novels include "A Bigamist’s Daughter" (1983), "That Night" (1987), "At Weddings and Wakes" (1992), "Child of My Heart" (2002) and "After This" (2006). McDermott, who also writes extensively for The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Washington Post, is the Richard A. Macksey Professor of Humanities at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Kai Bird is the author of the soon-to-be-released "The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames" (Crown/Random House). He also wrote "Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956-1978" (2010) and was co-author with Martin J. Sherwin of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer" (2005), which additionally won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography and the Duff Cooper Prize for History in London. A contributing editor of The Nation, Bird is also the author of the books "The Chairman: John J. McCloy, the Making of the American Establishment" (1992) and "The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy & William Bundy, Brothers in Arms" (1998).
Kate DiCamillo, the Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, wrote "Because of Winn-Dixie" (a Newbery Honor book), "A Tiger Rising" (a National Book Award finalist), "The Tale of Despereaux" (the 2003 Newbery Medal winner) and "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" (winner of the Boston Globe Horn Book Award), among others. Her most recent book, a New York Times best-seller, is "Flora & Ulysses" (Candlewick Press, 2013).
Francisco Goldman’s most recent novel is "Say Her Name," which won the 2011 Prix Femina Étranger. His novel "The Long Night of White Chickens" was awarded the American Academy's Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction. Goldman’s novels have been finalists for several prizes, including The PEN/Faulkner Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His other books include "The Ordinary Seaman," "The Divine Husband," "The Art of Political Murder" and "The Interior Circuit." Goldman has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a Cullman Center Fellow at the New York Public Library and a Berlin Fellow at the American Academy. He has written for The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Harper's and other publications. He directs the Aura Estrada Prize. Goldman teaches at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
Well-known artist and illustrator Bob Staake has designed the artwork for this year’s Library of Congress National Book Festival poster, a collector’s item throughout the 14-year life of the festival.
Staake has been the author or illustrator of more than 60 books, including "The Donut Chef," "Bluebird," "Bugs Galore," "Hello Robots," "Look! A Book," "This Is Not A Pumpkin," "Pets Go Pop" and others. He has also illustrated extensively for magazines, including several covers for The New Yorker, and for newspapers and advertising.
The festival’s new setting will offer many familiar and popular activities. Representatives from across the United States and its territories will celebrate their unique literary offerings in the Pavilion of the States. The Let’s Read America area will offer reading activities that are fun for the whole family. The Library of Congress Pavilion will showcase treasures in the Library’s vast online collections and offer information about Library programs.
The 2014 National Book Festival is made possible through the generous support of National Book Festival Board Co-Chairman David M. Rubenstein; Charter Sponsors the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Washington Post and Wells Fargo; Patrons the National Endowment for the Arts and PBS KIDS; Contributor Scholastic Inc. and—in the Friends category—the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may be accessed through its website, www.loc.gov.
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PR 14-062
04/10/14
ISSN 0731-3527
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Wonder Woman's granddaughter talks to Marc Nobleman
by Marc Tyler Nobleman
Noblemania blog April 7, 2014
http://noblemania.blogspot.com/2014/04/granddaughter-of-wonder-womans-creator.html
The Post's Act Four on Archie's death
Comics delayed until this afternoon at Big Planet Bethesda
--The management
-- Joel Pollack BIG PLANET COMICS 4849 Cordell Ave. Bethesda, MD 20814
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
Brooke Allen's Lumberjanes reviewed at The Comic Age
Five Reasons To Read Lumberjanes
by: Alex Lupp - April 8th, 2014http://www.thecomicage.com/2014/04/08/five-reasons-why-you-should-pick-up-lumberjanes-this-week-or-any-week/#more-5296
Cartoonists Draw Blood Returns May 31st
Monday, April 07, 2014
Comic Riffs on next year's Peanuts movie
You're a Good Plan, Charlie Brown: A peek into the meticulous vision behind 2015′s 'Peanuts' feature film
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog April 7 2014
Sunday, April 06, 2014
Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Ripple Of Action"
"Ripple Of Action"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=1467
Apparently, some kind of Worldwide Wave Of Action started last week, billed as a rekindling of the Occupy movement. Having covered at least half a dozen previous "international days of action", my well-honed cynicism kicked into gear as I remembered how all the previous "worldwide" action days drew hundreds of thousands in cities outside the US -- while inside the US, the turnouts could be generously described as pathetic.
The current "worldwide" Wave Of Action was no different, judging from what I was seeing on my Twitter feed. Cities in the UK and Europe turned out healthy numbers while in the meantime, in the US, I saw the usual sad smattering of thin, weak protests, with small veterans' contingents and others gathering in places like the NYC Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Zucotti Park, only to be chased off or arrested by police.
I was also somewhat less than inspired by the vagueness of their rhetoric and sloganeering. On Twitter I saw pronouncements like "movement of movements" and "bring your own goals", with no mention of any specific issues, such as war and militarization, unemployment, state-enforced economic austerity, the destruction of civil liberties, or the US-instigated "revolution" in the Ukraine -- just lots of lofty faux revolutionary hype and empty poetic slogans.
I won't speak for the rest of the world, but in the US, the "Wave Of Action" was more like a "ripple of action".
Oh, yeah -- and, cupcakes.
________________________________________________________________
Mike Flugennock, flugennock at sinkers dot org
Mike's Political Cartoons: dubya dubya dubya dot sinkers dot org
The Post talks to Pixar's president
An animated leadership talk with Pixar’s president
-
By Jena McGregor
Washington Post April 6 2014
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2014/04/04/an-animated-leadership-talk-with-pixars-president/
Ed Catmull is photographed on January 15, 2010 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)
April 6: Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch at Big Planet College Park
- Show MapBig Planet Comics of College Park7315 Baltimore Ave, College Park, Maryland 20740
Rat Queens is a dark humor/fantasy book, where an all-female team of mercenaries goes on adventures and missions while trying to get as much money as possible (and trying to get out all the trouble they get each other into!)
You can download a preview of Rat Queens for free at Image's website: https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/rat-queens-free-preview
Kurtis's website: http://kurtiswiebe.wordpress.com/
Roc's website: http://johnnyrocwell.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RatQueens
Saturday, April 05, 2014
May 15: R.M. Rhodes is teaching a free class on French comics
At the Petworth Citizen (829 Upshur St NW in Washington, DC)
May 15 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Free
This class will highlight the past 150 years of French-language comics, including the works of Rodolphe Töpffer, Hergé, René Goscinny, Moebius, and Lewis Trondheim — some of which are available in English. You’ll depart with a road map for exploring this fascinating comics culture.
For more information and to register visit: http://knowledgecommonsdc.org/classes/
The registration for the class isn’t live yet, but it should be up in the next week or two.
This is a reprise of the class I taught in January, which went so well that they asked me to teach it again. If this one goes like the last one, there will be a lot of questions and some good discussion. Plus I bring in part of my collection of BD as examples.
The Post talks to Captain America 2 directors
Redford and the movie's very timely politics
By Emily Yahr
April 4 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/04/04/captain-america-2-directors-talk-filming-in-d-c-casting-robert-redford-and-the-movies-very-timely-politics/