Anime USA
Date: October 3–5, 2014
Location: Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC
This is a nice con with a lot of cosplay.
Thursday, October 02, 2014
Caricaturist John Kascht
Caricaturist John Kascht interviewed his old friend Richard Thompson in the forthcoming book The Art of Richard Thompson. A couple of pieces have recently appeared online about his Washington connections.
From the SPD Archives: John Kascht at The Washington Times, 1988-91
by Linda Rubes
10.02.14
This second one talks about his work being collected by the National Portrait Gallery -
BIG INTERVIEW - JOHN KASCHT
July 2014
WTOP on "The end of Saturday morning cartoons"
The end of Saturday morning cartoons
WTOP October 1 2014
Wednesday, October 01, 2014
Keeling on 'Student Exposure'
"Student Exposure" interviews Evan Keeling about the D.C.
Conspiracy, Dr. Dremo, Magic Bullet and self-publishing. Click on photo to see the video.
Comic Riffs on watermelon-toothpaste
Obama watermelon-toothpaste controversy: Apologetic Boston Herald cartoonist says, 'I detest' racist humor
By Michael Cavna Washington Post Comic Riffs blog October 1 2014
Q&A: Rodriguez on 'Colonial Comics'
by Matt Dembicki
D.C. Conspiracy member Jason Rodriguez has edited a new comics anthology called Colonial Comics (Fulcrum Publishing) that debuts this weekend at the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo in Boston. Below are a few questions Jason answered for us regarding his book. (Note: In full disclosure, I illustrated one of the stories in the book.)
What was your mission statement for the book?
I want to create a book that functions as both entertainment and education. The main idea is to tell stories that you often don't find in school history books that can, in turn, lead into larger discussions about colonial American history. When I was growing up, my knowledge of colonial American history was essentially: 1) some people came over here for religious freedom, they wore funny hats, 2) they met this one Native American...not sure what happened to him, 3) something about burning witches, and 4) we went to war with England. What I want to do is fill in those gaps and tell stories about the Native Americans and women and free-thinkers and slaves and business owners who came from the Colonies and give a better understanding of what life was like over our first 200+ years, the good and the bad.
I want to create a book that functions as both entertainment and education. The main idea is to tell stories that you often don't find in school history books that can, in turn, lead into larger discussions about colonial American history. When I was growing up, my knowledge of colonial American history was essentially: 1) some people came over here for religious freedom, they wore funny hats, 2) they met this one Native American...not sure what happened to him, 3) something about burning witches, and 4) we went to war with England. What I want to do is fill in those gaps and tell stories about the Native Americans and women and free-thinkers and slaves and business owners who came from the Colonies and give a better understanding of what life was like over our first 200+ years, the good and the bad.
How did you find collaborators, such as co-editors, writers and artists?
I reached out to a bunch of historians, first. That was always an interesting conversation. Writing Dr. Virginia DeJohn Anderson and telling her, "I really loved CREATURES OF EMPIRE, have you ever considered writing a comics story about free-range animal husbandry suitable for twelve year olds?" Of course the answer was, "No, I never thought of that." But over the course of several conversations we figured out what that story would look like, and then I found the right illustrator to bring it to life. As for a lot of the other creators, I reached out to folks from the DC Conspiracy and Locust Moon crews. The best resource I came across was the Boston Comics Roundtable - they are essentially the DC Conspiracy of Boston and consist of many different incredible cartoonists and writers. It was there that I found a lot of my contributors, people I've never worked with before, along with one of my assistant editors John Bell. I talked to John once and offered him the job, he was an amazing resource in this.
Probably working with people who never worked in comics before. There's a big difference between writing a history book and writing a comic script. We just needed small pieces of bigger stories and we needed to fit them into easy-to-read, 11-page comics stories. Schedules were difficult, as well - a lot of people taught and just simply didn't have the time to contribute on the level that would move the book along at a good pace. Also, I designed every page of the book and it turns out I'm a bit of a tinkerer. Two months before deadline I took the whole book part and rebuilt it with new intros, interstitials, book guides, and a reference section. I wouldn't say I'm my own worse enemy, but it turns out I'm definitely my own worst editor.
How can Colonial Comics be used as a teaching tool?
It contextualizes history, plain and simple. When we were kids we loved the dioramas at history museums. A handful of cavemen taking down a Wooly Mammoth, we could stare at it for hours on end and build a story out of it. From there, we began to get interested in the details of the clothes and the weapons and the process of hunting. Comics afford kids that same luxury - they can study a panel, see what people were wearing and how they spoke. Get a sense of scale. All the while reading an entertaining narrative. From there, they may become interested in the details. The free-range animal husbandry story (which was illustrated by Mike Sgier) is a silent story about a troublesome pig who keeps eating Native crops. We see the escalation of destruction that eventually leads to Native American's packing up and moving westward. The story behind the story, and beyond the story, is where the real teaching comes in.
It contextualizes history, plain and simple. When we were kids we loved the dioramas at history museums. A handful of cavemen taking down a Wooly Mammoth, we could stare at it for hours on end and build a story out of it. From there, we began to get interested in the details of the clothes and the weapons and the process of hunting. Comics afford kids that same luxury - they can study a panel, see what people were wearing and how they spoke. Get a sense of scale. All the while reading an entertaining narrative. From there, they may become interested in the details. The free-range animal husbandry story (which was illustrated by Mike Sgier) is a silent story about a troublesome pig who keeps eating Native crops. We see the escalation of destruction that eventually leads to Native American's packing up and moving westward. The story behind the story, and beyond the story, is where the real teaching comes in.
These comics can be used as a hook to get kids interested in history. Kind of like tricking them into learning a thing, and giving them several samples of topics to see what they're most interested in.
What are your future plans? Is this part of a series?
I have two more Colonial books coming out, one focusing on pre-Revolutionary New England and one focusing on Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic region. I would like to do more, but let's see how these are received, first. The other history book I'm editing is a student's memoirs about growing up in war-torn Sarajevo, but that won't come out until 2016 or so, most likely.
I have two more Colonial books coming out, one focusing on pre-Revolutionary New England and one focusing on Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic region. I would like to do more, but let's see how these are received, first. The other history book I'm editing is a student's memoirs about growing up in war-torn Sarajevo, but that won't come out until 2016 or so, most likely.
Beyond history comics I'm also working with AAAS to do a science and science fiction comics gallery show and comics creation workshop, with the idea being to team kids up with scientists, writers, and illustrators to help them understand how science fact turns into science fiction and then mentor them in the creation of their own comics. We're still in the planning phases for this program and it will be starting some time next year.
Below are a few images from the book that Jason gave us to share with our readers.
Rafer Roberts interview online
[Baltimore Comic-Con 2014] The Rafer Roberts & Nightmare the Rat Interview
BY: ALEX LUPP - OCTOBER 1ST, 2014
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Comic Riffs talks to gag cartoonist Liza Donnelly
Tonight's Thurber Prize: New Yorker cartoonist LIZA DONNELLY strikes apt chords with 'Women on Men' [Q+A]
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog September 30 2014
Comic Riffs on women cartoonists
The Kirkus! The Thurber! It's been a 'banner' month for women graphic novelists & editorial artists
By Michael Cavna Washington Post Comic Riffs blog September 30 2014
Monday, September 29, 2014
"Oct 4: Armed Forces Appreciation Day includes Big Planet Comics"
On Saturday, Oct. 4, Harp & Fiddle Restaurant is sponsoring a street fair/benefit for our troops. Cordell Ave. will be closed to vehicular traffic. This promises to be a fun event for all ages, and Big Planet Comics will have free comics for your kids.
http://flanagansharpandfiddle.com/armed-forces-appreciation-day/
Hope to see you Saturday.
--
Joel Pollack
BIG PLANET COMICS
4849 Cordell Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20814
Hope to see you Saturday.
--
Joel Pollack
BIG PLANET COMICS
4849 Cordell Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20814
Sept 30: Ted Rall and Kal
Ted Rall will speak on Afghanistan at Kramerbooks on Dupont Circle at 6:30. KAL will be joining him and C-Span is filming it.
Cartoon journalist Josh Kramer on DCist
Drawn to Flavor: DC Noodles
Illustrator Josh Kramer highlights the beef ragu and chili mojito in watercolor....http://dcist.com/2014/09/drawn_to_flavor_dc_noodles.php
Comic Riffs on Thor
THE NEW (FEMALE) THOR: Writer Jason Aaron hammered out the groundwork ahead of this week's debut [+SNEAK PEEK]
By David Betancourt
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog September 29 2014
Oct 21: Art Spiegelman's Wordless at GWU
Art Spiegelman's WORDLESS! with music by Phillip Johnston
Presented by GW Lisner as part of the Washington DCJCC's Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival
Presented by GW Lisner as part of the Washington DCJCC's Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival
Tuesday, October 21, 2014 - 8:00pm
Tickets: $35, $40, $45
Art Spiegelman and Phillip Johnston unite in WORDLESS! -- a new and stimulating hybrid of slides, talk and musical performance. With original music by Phillip Johnston and live narration and text by Art Spiegelman, this live performance delves into Art's premise around comics, their history, and their capacity for images to go right to the brain as wordless messages. Experience the art of comics as Spiegelman probes further into the nature and possibilities of his medium.
15% discount for Students/Alumni/Faculty/Staff with GWID and Seniors/Military with ID at the Lisner Box Office.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
That darn Lio and Hagar
Letters to the Editor: The wrong image of shock therapy [Lio].
Lois F. Morris, Silver Spring
Washington Post September 27 2014
Letters to the Editor: Offended by anything [Hagar the Horrible].
Frank Carpenter, Riverdale
Washington Post September 27 2014
The Apple Creek News from Rob Steibel
From: Robert Steibel
I'm posting samples from all 10 volumes of my The Apple Creek News books at my website robertsteibel.com over the next few weeks. Here are the covers for the first nine books (attached). This was an experiment where I just riffed on the news and current events in the early part of 2014. It takes me about 15 minutes to do a black and white comic now, so after a few months I suddenly had a stack of 800 comics! If I published them as dailies they would run until 2018, so I decided to just publish the stuff in books. In 2015 I'm going to focus on two new projects at gocomics/apple-creek one called 'Picatzo' the other called 'The Surreal World.'
Oct 2: Gene Weingarten & Eric Shansby
Comic strip writer Gene and cartoonist Eric are at Politics and Prose bookstore at 10:30 AM for their new children's book.
Bell, Roman and Telgemeier photos
One More Page bookstore in Arlington, VA gets a goodly amount of cartoonists coming through.
Recently Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier spoke to a big crowd of mostly girls.
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