Thursday, May 03, 2018

Tom the Dancing Bug comic wins the RFK Award (from his newsletter)

TOM THE DANCING BUG WINS THE ROBERT F. KENNEDY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM

April 26, 2018

Https---cdn.evbuc.com-images-30829791-173829852514-1-originalRfk award image

 

Hey, Tom the Dancing Bug won the 2018 Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Journalism Award.  It's a special honor for me both because of the accomplishments and legacy of Robert F. Kennedy, and also because the award recognizes work in the area of human rights and social justice.

 

I'll be attending the Award Ceremony on May 22 at the Newseum in Washington, DC.

 

I'm especially looking forward to receiving the handsome bust of Robert F. Kennedy, whose stern countenance in my office will no doubt provide a constant reminder for me not to engage in organized crime.

 

As always, I thank my teammates in creating the comic strip, who share this award with me: 

  • Andrews McMeel Syndication, my partner for 21 years, and the many indispensable print clients to whom they distribute Tom the Dancing Bug; 
  • Boing Boing, the fantastic website that made the comic part of its creative, intelligent, and enthusiastic community;
  • Daily Kos, the great political website who I'm so fortunate shares with me their sharp, engaged audience; and
  • GoComics, the best and largest comics website on the internet.

 

And of course, I thank THE INNER HIVE, that superhero team of crime-fighters and evil-defiers who make the comic strip possible month after month, year after year.  In fact, if you've ever thought of joining (or even if you haven't), isn't this the perfect day to climb aboard Tom the Dancing Bug's mission of social justice, truth-telling, giant wombats, and idiotic time-travel?

 

Please join me in THE INNER HIVE here.

 

Thanks to the RFK Center and the judges for this honor.

- R. Bolling


Alexandria comic store owner Dennis Webb has died

He owned the longtime Planetarium Exotic Plants Comic and Card Collectorama on Mt. Vernon Ave.

Dennis Webb Dies After Long Illness

May 2nd 2018
http://www.alexandrianews.org/2018/05/dennis-webb-dies-after-long-illness/

More information about his store can be found at

Unusual Store Sells Comic Books and Exotic Plants

https://av.voanews.com/Videoroot/Pangeavideo/2015/06/0/0d/0d5572c2-34df-4ddc-b90d-71d90c7fc394_hq.mp4?download=1


Tour with Dennis Webb

Jesse Thomas

Del Ray Vibe Jan 24, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otijDZ_w4Bs&pbjreload=10

The Post's obituary for former animator Alice Provensen

Alice Provensen, Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator of children's books, dies at 99 [in print as Alice Provensen, 99; Co-illustrated dozens of children's books with husband].


Washington Post May 3 2018, p. B6

Wednesday, May 02, 2018

Smithsonian.com on Rube Goldberg

The Story Behind Rube Goldberg's Complicated Contraptions

In his time he was a world-famous cartoonist, but today he's best known for these wacky inventions

smithsonian.com
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-behind-rube-goldbergs-complicated-contraptions-180968928/

PR: Free Comic Book Day at Third Eye Comics











Saturday 5/5/18
9AM-9PM

   at THIRD EYE ANNAPOLIS
Click here for event info on FACEBOOK.
First 50 in line receive a FREE Third Eye Summer 2018 Shirt
First 50 in line receive a Third Eye Swag Bag Stuffed With Goodies!
First 50 In Line Get a Third Eye Faithful x FCBD 2018 Enamel Pin
First 75 In Line Get a Third Eye Faithful x FCBD 2018 DEADPOOL Patch

QUICK SCHEDULE
You can begin lining up after 6PM Friday night
 Door prizes begin at 7PM Friday night
Sales & FREE COMICS: ALL DAY 9AM-9PM
CREATOR SIGNINGS: 11AM-3PM
STORMTROOPER Photos: 10AM-1PM
KIDS COMICS ZONE: 9AM-1PM (Face-Painting 10AM-1PM!)

Heya Third Eye Faithful!


FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is here, and we are so stoked to share it with you! 

This is an extra special one because not only is it the 10 year anniversary of Third Eye, which is a pretty big deal in and of itself -- I mean, heck, we've been seeing so many of you for nearly a decade - that's AWESOME! 

But, on top of that -- it's also our 1st year celebrating FREE COMIC BOOK DAY in our brand new expanded location at 209 CHINQUAPIN ROUND RD, which is nearly three times as large as the old Third Eye! 

What does this mean? It means a TON more room, many more options for parking, and of course, loads more stuff, to help make FREE COMIC BOOK DAY awesome!

We'd be absolutely honored and flattered if you joined us this year to celebrate the 10th birthday of Third Eye with your whole Third Eye fam (and you better believe your ol' pal Third Eye Steve will be behind that counter to make sure you get that FCBD hook-up!) this Saturday!

Also, please click here for this special note about parking, line etiquette, and all that good stuff!

Click here to for the info on the event on FACEBOOK.



All About the FREE Books! 
Of course, the biggest draw of Free Comic Book Day is the thousands and thousands of FREE comics that we're going to be giving away all day beginning at 9AM.

There's so much awesome stuff on the way for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY this year, Third Eye Faithful, with big releases from all the publishers hitting, including the very first look at Marvel's epic new direction with the FREE COMIC BOOK DAY AVENGERS / CAPTAIN AMERICA special, featuring new stories from both the Jason Aaron AVENGERS run kicking off this Summer, and the Ta-Nehisi Coates CAPTAIN AMERICA run, also kicking off this Summer!
 This year is a very special year for FCBD as the line-up is not led by just one book in particular, but instead, there's several amazing top shelf reads that we cannot wait to get our hands on.
Whether it's the debut of SAGA and PAPER GIRLS creator Brian K. Vaughan's next Image hit, BARRIER, the big Marvel release that gives us a look into the major new direction that the publisher has planned for Summer 2018, or even most interesting, the debut of DC NATION #0 (which actually will be dropping a few days earlier on Wednesday 5/2/18), a brand new weekly series delving into the mysteries of the DC Universe.
Click here to check out our gallery of this year's FREE COMICS!

We've also put together a quick spotlight of a few of our favorites below, check it out!

1. DC NATION #0 - THE most important DC COMICS release of this Summer!

While not technically a FCBD book (but, hey, it's FREE), because it comes out 5/2/18, but - this is THE #1 must-get book for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY as it literally begins nearly every big story that the DC Universe is going to face this Summer!
Featuring three brand-new stories from a lineup of superstar talent-and each tale serves as a prelude to some of the biggest DC events of 2018!
First, find out how The Joker reacts when he discovers Catwoman has turned her back on crime and plans to marry his archnemesis. Can the Clown Prince of Crime stand to see Batman happy? Writer Tom King and artist Clay Mann set up the events that lead to BATMAN #50!
Then, DARK NIGHTS: METAL shook the DC Universe to its deepest foundations-now it's time to rejoin legendary writer Scott Snyder, along with all-star artist Jorge Jimenez and co-writers James Tynion IV and Joshua Williamson, for the prelude to JUSTICE LEAGUE: NO JUSTICE! Discover what universe-shattering mysteries have emerged from the most wondrous and chaotic corners of the cosmos to hunt the Justice League in DC's summer blockbuster event!
And get your first glimpse at Superman's new world in this exclusive preview of the upcoming six-issue miniseries MAN OF STEEL, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by José Luis García-López. With Truth, Justice and the American Way all under attack, both Superman and Clark Kent find there's never been a more important time to stand up for what they believe in.
 

2.AVENGERS #1 FCBD Special Edition - A New Era for MARVEL COMICS begins here!

Marvel has HUGE plans this Summer with their new direction beginning in May, and one of the biggest components of that is the upcoming new AVENGERS series by comic superstar JASON AARON (THOR GOD OF THUNDER, STAR WARS, SOUTHERN BASTARDS, and so many others) and ED MCGUINNESS!
The FCBD Avengers #1 is GROUND ZERO not just for what's going to be shaking with the AVENGERS, but the future of the Marvel U as a whole, with this one-shot providing your perfect chance to dive into the Marvel Universe, whether it's for the first time ever - or a return after having been gone for a bit!
Also featured in here is a prelude into the upcoming CAPTAIN AMERICA by TA-NEHISI COATES run, which looks incredible!
 

3. OVERWATCH FCBD Special

We know lots of you are big fans of OVERWATCH, as are we, Third Eye Faithful, so when we saw that DARK HORSE was going to be putting out a special OVERWATCH FCBD one-shot - we knew we had to shout it out!
In Overwatch, agent Zarya is sent to eliminate an elusive hacker, and she is at her wit's end. She reluctantly teams up - and butts heads - with an omnic hacker. As they hone in on their target, Zarya realizes that she will have to reassess her worldview about omnics.
 
 

4. DC SUPERHERO GIRLS Free Comic Book Day Special

We LOVE seeing kids of all ages get into comics, and one of the best superhero comics we've seen aimed at young readers has gotta be the DC SUPERHERO GIRLS stuff!
Catwoman is out on the prowl one night when - KABOOM! - an explosion at S.T.A.R. Labs rouses the heroes from their slumber. Star students Batgirl and Lois Lane both know the lab incident is fishy, and they meet later to share clues. But nothing could've prepared Batgirl for what they see next: Batgirl's dad out on a date!? DC Super Hero Girls Free Comic Book Day 2018#1 is written by Shea Fontana with art and cover by Yancey Labat.
 

5. BARRIER #1 - From the creator of SAGA!

We're huge fans of Brian K. Vaughan and his work on series like SAGA, PAPER GIRLS, and Y: THE LAST MAN, so when we saw he had something new on the way - AND it was debuting on FCBD, we knew we were in for a treat!
From the Eisner Award-winning team behind The Private EyeBarrier is an unconventional drama about violence, language and illegal immigration with a shocking sci-fi twist.
 
 
 

6. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FCBD SPECIAL - In the wake of GO DOWN SWINGING, get an early look at the upcoming new Spidey run!

While we've loved some aspects of Slott's incredible, decade plus run of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, we gotta tell ya: we are so stoked to see what's in store for Spidey with the arrival of Nick Spencer & Ryan Ottley (INVINCIBLE)!
New creative teams. New series. New directions. New beginnings.
A new era for SPIDER-MAN begins here, and this provides THE perfect place to jump onto your favorite wall crawler!
 
 

7. LEGEND OF KORRA FCBD Special - More KORRA awesomeness!

When Meelo shirks his duties at the refugee camp, Korra recruits him for a top-secret, super-important mission: tracking down a pack of lost pets!
 
 
 
 
 

8. MY HERO ACADEMIA FCBD Special

My Hero Academia: What would the world be like if 80 percent of the population manifested superpowers called "Quirks"?
Heroes and villains would be battling it out everywhere!
Being a hero would mean learning to use your power, but where would you go to study?
The Hero Academy of course! But what would you do if you were one of the 20 percent who were born Quirkless?


PLUS, TONS MORE FREE COMICS! To see the full list of what's available at this year's FCBD festivities, click here. 

HUGE ONE-DAY ONLY SALE!
 
You guys know us, when we do something -- we like to do it big, and that's why we save one of our biggest sales of the year for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!
 
All day Saturday beginning at 9AM, we'll be offering TONS of great discounts, both inside, and outside the store! 
 
This includes special sidewalk sale offerings, tons of discounts on all products inside, and more! 

And, the discount on games does extend to our sister store THIRD EYE GAMES & HOBBIES!
 
What's the sale consist of? Check it out below...
 
20% OFF ALL Graphic Novels

20% OFF ALL Statues & Toys

20% OFF ALL Games at both THIRD EYE COMICS & THIRD EYE GAMES AND HOBBIES! 

50% OFF SELECT SIDEWALK SALE Trade Paperbacks & Hardcovers

50% OFF SELECT SIDEWALK SALE Toys & Statues

$1.00 Back Issue Bins or Fill A Short Box for $50.00
 

GET THE 2018 THIRD EYE X FCBD T-SHIRT!

We couldn't think of a better time to roll out our brand new 2018 Third Eye t-shirt than FCBD 2017, and Third Eye Faithful, if you're one of the first 50 in line.. you can get you'rs totally free!
Of course, if you can't make it in time to be the 1st 50 - we'll have sizes available for purchase inside on FCBD as well!
 
 


Special Creator Guests
Signing from 11AM-3PM 
 

SEE INFINITY WAR THE NIGHT BEFORE FCBD AND THEN MEET INFINITY COUNTDOWN CREATORS GERRY DUGGAN (DEADPOOL, ANALOG, INFINITY COUNTDOWN) & MIKE HAWTHORNE (DEADPOOL, ANALOG THIRD EYE COVER, INFINITY COUNTDOWN)

With the 10 year anniversary of Third Eye making this our biggest FREE COMIC BOOK DAY of all-time, we knew we had to do something extra special, and as such, we brought out two of comics biggest superstars (as well as two long-time friends of Third Eye!), Gerry Duggan and Mike Hawthorne!
Gerry & Mike have wowed you with their work on DEADPOOL for the last few years, and we're flattered to have them joining us to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the shop.
And, even cooler, Gerry and Mike are the driving creative forces behind the upcoming INFINITY COUNTDOWN mini-series, which is going to be leading us into some MAJOR stuff for the Marvel Universe in 2018!
On top of all that, we'll have a very special THIRD EYE COMICS variant of Gerry Duggan's incredible new IMAGE COMICS series ANALOG #1, limited to just 500 copies, and available for purchase only at our FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 10th anniversary celebration, featuring art by Mike Hawthorne.
You can get it signed by both creators, and hold a little slice of Third Eye history in your hands!

Get the Third Eye Comics 10 Year Anniversary exclusive variant of Gerry Duggan's ANALOG #1 from Image Comics featuring art by Mike Hawthorne and featuring colors by the incredible Val Staples! 

EXCLUSIVELY available in-store only at FREE COMIC BOOK DAY on 5/5/18 for $3.99!

When we saw that we were having two of the best guests ever for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY with Mike Hawthorne & Gerry Duggan joining us, and with Gerry's brand new IMAGE COMICS ongoing series, ANALOG, releasing shortly before FCBD - we knew we had to do something special to celebrate!
So, we were lucky enough to have Mike put together one of the best darn Third Eye variants we've ever done!
We'll be making this exclusive cover of Gerry's ANALOG #1 available exclusively at Third Eye for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2018 to commemorate our 10 year anniversary, and you can snag yours for just $3.99.
And of course, Mike & Gerry will both be on hand to sign copies of your ANALOG #1 Third Eye 10th Anniversary variant!

GET YOUR PHOTO TAKEN WITH THE IMPERIAL 501ST LEGION STORMTROOPERS! (10AM-1PM)

So, we LOVE Star Wars here at Third Eye, and well, any chance we get to hang out with a bunch of Stormtroopers, well, hot diggity, we're going to take it!
So, joining us from 9AM-1PM at Third Eye, we'll have the Old Line Garrison 501st Legion Stormtroopers taking photos and hanging out!
 
 

FACE-PAINTING & MORE AT OUR SUPER-FUN FREE COMIC BOOK DAY KIDS TENT! (FACE-PAINTING 10AM-2PM)

One of our favorite parts of FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is seeing kids getting into comics, and having a blast, and just like we've done before, we'll be hosting a super fun dedicated FCBD Kids Tent loaded with kids FREE COMIC BOOK DAY books, and featuring our special guest: face-painting artist extraordinaire Mr. Corey!
Get your face painted, grab some free comics, and have some fun with us!


Be A Part of the Experience and Camp Out!
 

Camp out! Line Up Early! Get FREE STUFF! Camp out anytime after 6PM on Friday Night (5/4/18)!

You guys should know by now that it's the festival-like atmosphere of FREE COMIC BOOK DAY that really makes it extra fun, and we love the almost Rocky Horror Picture Show like environment that we've built and can only be found at Third Eye's FCBD celebrations!
So, with FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2018 on the way, we thought we'd remind you guys of just how much AWESOME stuff we're going to be hooking you up with for lining up early, camping out, and helping us make this event a blast!
Check out what we have in store:
  • FIRST 50 IN LINE RECEIVE A FREE THIRD EYE COMICS X FCBD 2018 T-SHIRT
  • FIRST 50 IN LINE RECEIVE A FREE THIRD EYE SWAG BAG LOADED WITH GOODIES
  • FIRST 50 IN LINE RECEIVE A FREE THIRD EYE FAITHFUL ENAMEL PIN
  • FIRST 75 IN LINE RECEIVE A FREE THIRD EYE X FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2017 DEADPOOL PATCH


  
parking
PARKING, FREE COMIC & LINE ETIQUETTE NOTES
Okay, Third Eye Faithful, you know us: our number one concern is that every single one of you guys is having an awesome time!

Due to how big our FCBD event is, we do have a few favors we'd like to ask of you guys, as well as a heads-up on a couple of things. 

I know this email has a ton of info, but if you read anything, please read this. :)

PARKING

We have a TON of open, free parking in our building's lot, but -- it can and will fill up fast with the amount of folks FCBD can bring. 

Please, do us a favor:

DO park in the rear lot of the store if spaces are available BEFORE parking in the rest of the lot, there's a ton of open spaces in the back, and these are the best spots to use if you're getting here early to camp out the night prior.

DO carpool if you have friends / family going. The more folks you can condense into one vehicle the better.

DO park off-site somewhere near-by if our lot is full. On weekends, there's a TON of open street parking within a minute or two's walk of our store. There's also a couple of walkable parking garages near-by.

DO use our overflow parking at AIRECO, which is a 3 minute walk down the street from our store, and will have a THIRD EYE EVENT PARKING sign up. 

DO park off-site especially if you are hanging around the shop for the day, cosplaying, etc.

DON'T park in front of the cone'd off spaces for our neighbors. There's only a few spots we have to cone off for them, but we want to make sure we don't take up all their spots!


RESTROOMS -- provided by Third Eye! :)

We'll have two portapotties set up for you, Third Eye Faithful, so that while you're waiting in line you have a quick and accessible option for restrooms! 

LINE ETIQUETTE 

Third Eye Faithful: we love to bring you all together as a community, and I swear, all of you guys and gals are the coolest people in the world. We never have issues with people being uncool in line, but we just wanted to take a second to remind you guys of some good line etiquette:

You can begin lining up after 6PM on Friday night. Our door prize drawings don't begin until after 7PM on Friday night. 

When you arrive to line-up, you'll be given a numbered token. Our staff will be periodically checking for new line attendees throughout the day and evening on Friday.

We will be giving out tokens until 10:00PM Friday night, and then resume (if the giveaways aren't already maxed out at the 100 mark) the next morning at 7:30AM.

Once in line, PLEASE only leave the line to use the restroom, or grab food. Please make sure to let your line mates know, and please try not to be out of the line too long. It gets really difficult keeping things organized if everyone is not there. Just please: do not lose your token! :)

Please try to stay in the vicinity of the store - while we cannot be there all night to police this, we count on you to help us keep the line orderly and fun. 

FREE swag will be given out once we hit our target #s (i.e first 50 in line for t-shirt, first 100 for prize bags, etc.) -- this means we need you guys to try to stay in an orderly line as much as possible to get your swag! Do NOT lose your tokens; you must have your token to give to us to get your swag. 

Please: bring tents, board games, grills, whatever -- but make sure that you are in a neat line, so you don't lose your spot! 

Please do not bring alcohol (even if it's in your tent, and we don't know about it!) -- we gotta keep FCBD an all-ages thing, Third Eye Faithful! :)

TENTS are welcome, but please avoid anything so large that it blocks the flow of traffic. We don't have hard guidelines about how big is too big - but if it's the size of a mid-sized vehicle -- that may make traffic flow in the parking lot a bit difficult. :)

Also, we're pretty darn awesome at Third Eye, but not super-human, our staff needs some sleep the night before such a big day. :) 

We'll be having everyone pack up their tents and whatnot around 6:00AM, so if you could set an alarm to be up and packing up then - that would be awesome.
 
The tents tend to take up a lot of parking lot space, and the sooner we can get them up - the happier our neighbors typically are due to truck deliveries, etc.

We really, really cannot stress enough how important it is to make sure we have everyone packed up and good to go before 7AM so we can properly manage the line.

So, please be cool to each other in line, and make sure there's no line-jumping going on, and that you guys are taking care of each other. This is your community, and we count on you to keep it awesome.

At 8AM Saturday, we will be splitting the line, so that those of you who are here for the creators first, will be taken to that area, while those of you who want to hit the free comics are in that line. Please note: the creators do not begin signing until 11AM, so you may not want to wait in that line until after you've gotten your free comics!

Most importantly: be cool to each other. We're all here to have fun! 

LINES WILL BE MOVING FAST
One thing we've gotten good at is moving through lines quickly and smoothly, and that's one thing that you can count on for FCBD. There'll be a lot of people, but after getting plenty of practice doing this in the past, we've gotten pretty good at this. :) 

We will have multiple cashiers open, with more than just the four normal checkout lines. 

For Third Eye Cards, we will be writing out a voucher for you to bring in redeem at a later date, so that the check-out process is quick and efficient.

FREE COMIC ETIQUETTE!
Our goal is to make sure you get the free comics you're most excited about, and to do that, we're going to be counting on you, Third Eye Faithful! :)

Please do not take more than 1 each of the free comics. Please ONLY take the free comics you are genuinely excited about - so that everyone is able to get their favorites.

We do not enforce limits on how many free comics folks can take, because you are all super awesome and super kind about making sure that you scoop the comics you genuinely want, and not just a big stack of everything, without any thought into what is what. :) 

With that being said, please review our list of FREE COMICS here and have an idea of the free comics you'd like to grab. While we can't guarantee they'll all be in stock, it does help move the line for free comics along quicker, instead of waiting to pick and choose once you hit the table. 

And, don't forget: you can always come back for more free comics after you get done doing all your fun FCBD stuff!

We do receive a lot of requests each year to hold free comics, and unfortunately, we cannot hold free comics. :( We're sorry about this, but we promise: FCBD is about so much more than the free comics; it's about the experience itself, and coming out for the event is totally worth it!


Celebrate FREE COMIC BOOK DAY every Saturday in May with our FREE COMIC BOOK MAY Promotion!

So, kicking off in May, Third Eye Faithful, we're bringing the return of our big FREE COMIC BOOK MAY promotion, where we'll be giving you a FREE non-FCBD issue #1 every Saturday in May to get you started on a great new series!
One of the things we love most about FCBD is turning folks onto great new comics, and by celebrating FREE COMIC BOOK MAY, we can hook you guys up with tons of awesome stuff all month long!
On FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, when you check out at the register, we'll give you your very own FREE COMIC BOOK MAY card, with the first event, with FCBDay already checked off!
From there, if you bring the card back every Saturday in May, you can get it stamped, and use it to get a great FREE #1 comic to try out!
If you fill your card by Saturday 5/26 by attending each FCBMay event, then you can redeem your card for a LITERAL pound (we'll be weighing 'em!) of select comics... for FREE! Heck, we'll even wrap 'em nice like they do at the deli. ��