Tuesday, February 21, 2017

New Kickstarter from J. Robert Deans


Crass Fed Kids and Shakes the Cow Return With TWO New Books!

CFK returns with TWO new children's books! Shakes the Cow and the Bear From AUNT go racing in their latest adventures!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/13694920/crass-fed-kids-and-shakes-the-cow-return-with-two


About this project

HI!  My name is J. Robert Deans, basically known online as "That Penguin Guy."  About two years ago, I ran a campaign to start a new series of children's books, CRASS FED KIDS, with the printing of MOO THOUSAND AND PUN.  MOO featured Shakes The Cow on an adventure in Space, and thanks to my wonderful 83 supporters, Shakes came to life!

Since then, I printed three more books using a preorder system to pay for printing. First was another Shakes adventure, TEMPLE OF MOO'D.  The other two books feature Stanley, The Bear From A.U.N.T., in the young reader spy adventures THE HONEY DON'T CASE and THE CASE OF THE PUSHY OCTOPUS.  When I wrote THE CASE OF THE PUSHY OCTOPUS, I combined the characters from both series when Shakes' friend Percie showed up to help Stanley during a mission under the sea.  (You can't read that without hearing Sebastian, can you?  Neither can I.)

My books.
My books.

My newest books, scheduled for release this Summer, tell one story, from two perspectives, for two different reader levels.  Shakes is a Formoola One racing driver in MOO FAST, MOO FURRYOUS, and in the latest Bear From A.U.N.T. book, Stanley and his friends investigate Formoola One race fraud in THE CASE OF THE CHICANE MUTINY.

The new books!
The new books!

(Yeah…I still like my puns.)

 

THE CAMPAIGN

My campaign for MOO THOUSAND AND PUN included several bells and whistles, like prints and coloring books.  This time, my campaign simply covers printing a modest number of both new books.  Included with the cost of printing, taxes and fees, and shipping, are funds to advertise my catalog with libraries and bookstores across the world.  I will also print extra copies to send out packages to a few agents and publishers to begin the process of moooving Shakes and Stanley to a greater stage.  This will hopefully get me closer to being a full-time writer of puns.  And books.  Not just puns, I swear.

Printing the books will cost about $1500, with the remaining funds covering promotion, shipping, and Kickstarter fees.  Stretch Goals will be determined shortly, but extra funds raised will at the very least mean printing extra books (woohoo!).


Monday, February 20, 2017

'Comics Studies Comes of Age'


Comics Studies Comes of Age

By Lee Konstantinou February 19, 2017
Chronicle of Higher Education

The year 1986 was a turning point in the history of comics. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons began publishing their acclaimed limited series, Watchmen. Frank Miller released his four-issue miniseries reimagining the Batman story, The Dark Knight Returns. And the first volume of Art Spiegelman’s comics memoir, Maus, was published by Pantheon Books. A year earlier, while it was still being serialized in RAW magazine, the critic Ken Tucker suggested that Maus’s existence might help "expand the very notion of what a comic strip can do, to make intelligent readers reconsider — and reject — the widespread notion of … ‘comics-as-kid-culture.’"

Read the full article

Lee Konstantinou is an assistant professor of English at the University of Maryland at College Park and author of Cool Characters: Irony and American Fiction (Harvard University Press, 2016).

 

Joe Simon's granddaughter on Captain America for The Post

My grandfather helped create Captain America for times like these

I used to think of Cap as all mine. Now I want to share him with the world.

[in print as My grandfather's superhero was made for times like these: Megan Margulies on the renewed relevance of Captain America].


Washington Post February 19, 2017, p. B2
online at
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/02/16/my-grandfather-helped-create-captain-america-for-times-like-these/

Library of Congress comic book collection mentioned by New Yorker magazine

The Librarian of Congress and the Greatness of Humility

The values of Dr. Carla Hayden, the first woman and the first person of color in the position, can be seen in every aspect of the institution she runs.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Legion'

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Legion' And 'Planet Earth 2'



Syd Barrett (Rachel Keller) and David Haller (Dan Stevens) in the FX series Legion.
Chris Large/FX
This week's show brings a new voice to our fourth chair: Alan Sepinwall, TV critic at Uproxx and author (of The Revolution Was Televised and, with Matt Zoller Seitz, of TV (The Book)), is with us to talk about two new shows.

First up is Legion, the FX adaptation of a somewhat lesser-known Marvel story compared to some that have come to the screen. The show stars Dan Stevens, whom you may remember as Matthew on Downton Abbey, and was created by Noah Hawley, who most recently did FX's adaptation of Fargo. We talk about its structure and characterizations, and its combination of psychiatric questions and superpower ones.

March 6: Curatorial Display - Will Eisner Centennial at Library of Congress

Monday, March 6, 2017

 

Curatorial Display - Will Eisner Centennial: Discovering His Legacy in the Library's Collections.

Join curators from the Prints & Photographs Division and the Serial & Government Publications Division in a celebration of noted cartoonist, comic book publisher, and graphic novelist Will Eisner. A selection of comic art and comic books will be on exhibit.

 

This event is co-sponsored by Prints & Photographs Division and the Serial & Government Publications Division.

 

Where: Room 139, Madison Building, 1st floor, Madison Building

When: Monday, March 6, 2017, 11:00-1:00 PM

 

Feb 22: Library of Congress Gallery Talk Wednesday, World War I Artists


On Wednesday, February 22 at noon please join curators Katherine Blood and Sara W. Duke in the exhibition World War I: American Artists View the Great War  to discuss highlights from a new rotation of artwork chronicling the First World War. The exhibition includes posters, photographs, cartoons, fine art prints, and drawings from the Library's Prints and Photographs Division and is located in the Graphic Arts Galleries, Ground Floor, Thomas Jefferson Building.

Sara Duke will be mentioning McKee Barclay, a Baltimore cartoonist.


Feb 18: Bmore Into Comics

The quarterly Bmore Into Comics hold "Issue 12" on Saturday, February 18, from 1-7 pm at the Windup Space in Baltimore.


Feb 17-19: Farpoint Con in Baltimore

"FARPOINT is an annual gathering for fans of all genres of imaginative fiction – Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, SuperHeroes – in all the media formats in which they might appear – Cinematic Movies, Television, Direct to DVD , Books on Tape, Podcasts, Web Video – you name it, we want to celebrate it!

The con was established in 1993, by a committee led by Bev Volker and Steve Wilson. Our focus is on Fandom, and all the wonderful, creative people who comprise it. Our mission is to encourage, to educate, to enable. So, while we certainly bring in some exciting professionals from the industries which bring imagination into the mainstream, our real goal is to give you the opportunity to meet others like yourself, to forge friendships, and to develop your own creative gifts."

Comics creators Peter David and David Mack are among the guests.

Feb 17-19: Katsucon at National Harbor

The anime and cosplay show opens today - http://www.katsucon.org/

"An annual 3-day fan convention held in the D.C. metro area for multicultural enthusiasts and entertainment."

Here's the schedule - http://www.katsucon.org/download-the-katsucon-schedule/

Thursday, February 16, 2017

NPR on Neil Gaiman

Looking For Thor's Hammer: Neil Gaiman On 'Norse Mythology'

NPR.org February 13, 2017
http://www.npr.org/2017/02/13/514557427/looking-for-thors-hammer-neil-gaiman-on-norse-mythology

The Post reviews Tower

[This is showing on PBS' website]

'Tower' is a well-crafted documentary that deliberately leaves out a major detail [in print as Missing story would have given 'Tower' more statue]


A bystander rushes to help Claire Wilson in this scene from "Tower." (Tower Documentary/PBS)

Auction of John Fantucchio's comic collection begins with Spider-Man 1-50

From his widow, Mary, "The first group of John's comic books are now up for auction - Spider-man 1-50.  You can see it at www.comiclink.com/Auctions/search.asp?FocusedOnly=1&where=auctions&title=spiderman&GO=GO&ItemType=CB.  Also - for any of you who are interested, some of his superhero toys are being sold at www.hakes.com."

Dirda on Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman's suspenseful and surprising 'Norse Mythology' [in print as From Neil Gaiman, Norse tales as bracing as the north wind].

Washington Post (February 15 2017), p. C1, 3: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/neil-gaimans-suspenseful-and-surprising-norse-mythology/2017/02/13/986c0ffe-eef2-11e6-9973-c5efb7ccfb0d_story.html

Herblock coined today's Word.A.Day

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg features McCarthyism today - credited to Herb 'Herblock' Block.