Sunday, January 02, 2022

Comic art and cartooning deaths in 2021

 Updates marked with *

Deaths in 2021 (with thanks to Randy Tischler of the Baltimore Comic Con, D.D. Degg of the Daily Cartoonist, Cartoon Brew’s animation list by Amid Amidi, and Animation Magazine) included British cover painter Chris Achilléos, ‘Simpsons’ artist Edwin Aguilar, Universal Press Syndicate co-founder Kathleen Andrews, voice actor Jack Angel, gag cartoonist Sam Ansell, Don Asmussen, ‘Up’ voice actor Ed Asner, Disney animator Dale Baer, British animator Bob Baker, early black women animator Brenda Banks, first woman contributing editor for the National Lampoon Anne Beatts, animator Vinnie Bell, animation historian Giannalberto Bendazzi, comic book colorist Liz Berube, Ryan "Bode" Bodenheim, animation consultant Jamie Kezlarian Bolio, Lou Brooks, Alison Brown of London’s Cartoon Museum, Claymation director Barry Bruce, armadillo cartoonist Bill Bryant, Newton Burch, former animator Allan Burns, animator Ron Campbell, French BD writer Raoul Cauvin, comics-influenced Pop Artist John Clem Clarke, editorial cartoonist Ray Collins, animator Sam Cornell, Bob's Burgers lead character designer Dave Creek, Gene D’angelo, Patrick Dean, Willie Who… cartoonist Matt Dent, animation producer David DePatie, Superman: The Movie director Richard Donner, Canadian animator Jacques Drouin, animator Don Duga, Pittsburgh comic book store owner Greg Eide, comics scholar Mark F. Fertig, Chris Foote, Belgian-American cartoonist Gérald Forton, Spiegelman's Maus editor at Pantheon Dan Frank, gay cartoonist Fran Frisch, sports cartoonis John Furlow, Claude & Ernie cartoonist Dan Gola, Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner, gag cartoon writer and gatherer Al Gottlieb, Michel Vaillant creator Jean Graton, Disney animator Troy Gustafson, Mexican comic book writer Francisco Haghenbeck, Jesse Hamm, Maryland cartoonist Steve Hauk, Eddy Hedington, Dennis the Menace’s tv mother Gloria Henry, fantasy artist Stephen Hickman, gekiga manga creator Hiroshi Hirata, ‘Down on the Farm’ cartoonist Bruce Holman, Filipino comic book inker Jeff Huet (of COVID), comics scholar M. Thomas Inge, Japan's most prolific manga historian Shimizu Isao, MAD writer Frank Jacobs, Croatian comic book publisher and translator Tatjana “Tanja” Jambrišak, Hungarian animator Marcell Jankovics, French animator Olivier Jean-Marie, Australia’s ‘first woman animator’ Anne Jolliffe, animator Don Jurwich, Jules Feiffer’s collaborator Norton Juster, Canadian cartoonist and animator Bob Kain, beer label cartoonist Bart Kaminski, student cartoonist Sharon Smith Kane, Wonder Woman writer Joye Evelyn Murchison Kelly (neé Hummel), Graphic Canon editor Russ Kick, Canadian editorial cartoonist Alan King, anime director Osamu Kobayashi, Easton Star Democrat editorial cartoonist Rick Kollinger, David Anthony Kraft, cartoonist and caricaturist Dick Kulpa, pioneering American anime producer Fred Ladd (aka Laderman), former Canadian comic book artist Jerry Lazare, cartoonist and animator Gary Leib, comic book artist John Paul Leon, comic book artist Steve Lightle, British strip editor and letterer Gerald Lip, comic book and gag cartoonist George Mandel, magazine cartoonist Don Margolis, *“Way up North” comic strip cartoonist Jayson Martin, Hungarian animator György Matolcsy, New Orleans cartoonist Bunny Matthews, NPR books editor Petra Mayer, comic book artist Gonzalo Mayo, British cartoonist Frank McDiarmid, comic book writer Pat McGreal, Penvy Pages cartoonist Moira McDonough, gag cartoonist Rod McKie, co-founder and chairman of Andrews McMeel Universal syndicate John McMeel, artist William Neal McPheeters, editorial cartoonist Barry McWilliams, Kentaro Miura, Afghan animator Fatima Mohammadi, Sport Day comic strip cartoonist Bill Morgan, fantasy artist Rowena Morrill, longterm student newspaper cartoonist Mike Mundt, Afghan animator Tayiba Musavi, animation layout artist Roy Naisbitt, anime writer Keiko Nobumot, Tetsuji Okamoto, *comics indexer George Olshevsky, Japanese animator Yasuo Otsuka, animator Vera Pacheco, Stampede cartoonist Jerry Palen, gag cartoonist W. B. Park, Straus News contributor Peter Pereira, Italian cartoonist Tuono Pettinato, Funny Times gag cartoonist Jeff Philcrantz, Canadian centenarian cartoonist Ernie Poignant, effects animator Kathleen Quaife-Hodge, Swedish comics writer Claes Reimerthi, German cartoonist and comics historian Reinhold Reitberger, vampire fantasy writer Anne Rice, all-around cartoonist Ron Rice, Simpsons producer David Richardson, occasional animation voice actor Peter Mark Richman, Dark Horse Comics series The Star Wars writer J.W. Rinzler, Sheena actress Tanya Roberts, Professor Comics Kevin Robinette, Scholastic CEO Richard Robinson, Brazilian comic book artist Robson Rocha (of COVID-19), *French editorial cartoonist Robert Rousso, Reynold Ruffins, pioneering Mexican animator Fernando Ruíz Álvarez, voice actor Will Ryan, Golgo 13 creator Takao Saito, editorial cartoonist Bill Sanders, comic book printing representative Gabriel Sauro, Italian horror comic book cover artist Enzo Sciotti, New Yorker cartoonist Danny Shanahan, Jack Kirby assistant and animator Steve Sherman, Sanpei Shirato, Margaret Shulock, gag and newspaper cartoonist David Simonson, Benoît Sokal, Canadian voice actor Paul Soles, UK writer Si Spencer, Hake’s Auctions employee and Disneyana collector Deak Stagemyer, Disney animation background artist Robert Stanton 'Heavy Metal' model Julie Strain, Japanese animator Masami Suda, *animator David Schwartz, Chicago editorial cartoonist Keith Taylor, toy designer for He-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T. Mark Taylor, writer Brandon Terrell, cartoonist turned Pop Art painter Wayne Thiebaud, Frank Thorne, British comic book artist Bill Titcombe, Dan Dare comic artist Greta Edwards Tomlinson, 111-yeard old Disney animation supervisor Ruthie Tompson, letterer Bill Tortolini, former Golden Age comic book cartoonist turned sculptor Louis Trakis, Brian “Renrut” Turner, Andrew Vachss, Canadian Quebecois underground cartoonist Henriette Valium aka Patrick Henley, comic book artist Dheeraj Verma, Swedish Mohammed cartoonist Lars Vilks, editorial cartoonist Clyde Wells, Danish Mohammed cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, ‘Muriel’ voice actress in ‘Courage the Cowardly Dog’ Thea White, editorial cartoonist Bob Wilson, underground cartoonist S. Clay Wilson, G.I. Woes cartoonist Cliff Witkowski, 'D&D' cover artist Robin Wood, voice actor Samuel E. Wright, animation character designer Derek Wyatt, Japanese animator Eiichi Yamamoto, Chris Yambar, Marvel colorist Andy Yanchus, Disney animator Phil Young …

Saturday, January 01, 2022

Herblock in the Cold War academic article

 

Laughter Louder Than Bombs? Apocalyptic Graphic Satire in Cold War Cartooning, 1946–1959

American Quarterly, Volume 70, Number 2, June 2018, pp. 235-266


In the postwar American media landscape, “the bomb” symbolized both security and insecurity. Two of the nation’s leading syndicated cartoonists—the Washington Post’s Herbert Block and the Village Voice’s Jules Feiffer—played on this paradox by parodying the arms race, civil defense, nuclear testing and deterrence. But the schisms within progressive politics in this period distinguished Block and Feiffer as social critics. At the height of anticommunist hysteria, Block’s single-panel editorial cartoons often featured the anthropomorphized Mr. Atom, who became a spectral figure within the Cold War imaginary. In the post-McCarthy era, Feiffer’s narrative-driven strips spoofed military Keynesianism by critiquing the role capitalism played in fueling the nuclear crisis. While Block and Feiffer both recognized the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons, they were representative of a left-liberal divide at a point when humor was undergoing transformations in the wider culture and a political struggle over the bomb’s future was being fiercely waged. By foregrounding these cleavages, this essay argues that satirizing the full slate of contradictions of the nuclear era meant questioning the basic assumptions of the Cold War rivalry and breaking from the consensus framework altogether. Only by critiquing the ideology of the American Cold War commitment could the absurdities of the arms race be laid bare.

The Post's year in editorial cartoons

2021 in editorial cartoons

Washington Post December 25 2021: 17

Online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/24/2021-newspaper-cartoons-opinion/

Sonia Rao on Wall-E's climate message

Climate change is the greatest threat to humanity. Here's how filmmakers have tried to make sense of it all.[in print as Climate change plays out on the big screen; Wall-E]

Over the past 20 years, directors have increasingly put out movies that help viewers process a crisis of existential proportions



That darn Mark Trail

The other half of herpetology [Mark Trail letter]

Comics Research Bibliography citations update, 1/1/22

Year In Review: Cape Breton Post's editorial cartoons of 2021

Cape Breton Post

/ SaltWire Network December 30 2021

https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/opinion/year-in-review-cape-breton-posts-editorial-cartoons-of-2021-100675242/

 

Phew, Pugh... what a year! Amid Covid and sleaze, how cartoonist cheered us up in 2021

Jonathan Pugh

By Pugh For The Daily Mail

  29 December 2021

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10354445/Phew-Pugh-year-Amid-Covid-sleaze-cartoonist-cheered-2021.html

 

Walt Handelsman: A Cartoon Review of local topics from 2021

    BY Walt Handelsman | Staff editorial cartoonist

    Dec 29, 2021 -

 

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/article_bb257822-5f8c-11ec-9391-ab331c1a0f57.html

 

USA TODAY Network cartoonist Don Landgren's 2021 in review

Dec. 29, 2021

https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/opinion/2021/12/29/2021-in-eview-cartoons-humor-today-network-cartoonist-don-landgrens-2021-review/8893338002/

 

A cartoonist's look back at 2021

Joe Heller's Cartoon Collection

December 29, 2021

http://www.timberjay.com/stories/a-cartoonists-look-back-at-2021,18525

 

JD Crowe: Drawing 2021 to a Coup Klutz Klan close

AL.com Dec. 30, 2021

By J.D. Crowe | jdcrowe@al.com https://www.al.com/news/2021/12/jd-crowe-drawing-2021-to-a-coup-klutz-klan-close.html

 

Citrus County Chronicle Changes Comics Codex

by D. D. Degg

December 30, 2021

http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2021/12/30/citrus-county-chronicle-changes-comics-codex/ 

 

Hollywood's top 12 superhero performances of the year, ranked [in print as The top 12 superhero performances of the year, ranked]

By David Betancourt and Michael Cavna

Washington Post December 31 2021 C1, 3

https://www.washingtonpost.com/comics/2021/12/30/best-superhero-perfomances-2021/

 

'Seal Team' Review: Leave No Pun Behind

By Amy Nicholson

A version of this article appears in print on Dec. 31, 2021, Section C, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: Seal Team.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/30/arts/seal-team-review.html

 

She-Hulk, Martian Manhunter, and the Marvel - DC trade that almost was

By Jim McLauchlin

August 25, 2021

https://www.gamesradar.com/she-hulk-for-martian-manhunter-the-marveldc-trade-that-almost-happened/ 

 

Best comics of 2021

By Chris Arrant

Newsarama December 17 2021

https://www.gamesradar.com/best-comic-comics-2021-books-graphic-novels/

 

7 Comics Sell for Over $1M in 2021; Record Price Set Twice

Scoop December 31 2021

https://scoop.previewsworld.com/Home/4/1/73/1012?ArticleID=256267

 

 

Alison Bechdel In Conversation (virtual)

Eric Orner

Nov 15, 2021

Brooklyn Book Festival

https://brooklynbookfestival.org/event/alison-bechdel-in-conversation/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIRIKya9Euo

 

 

Personal Stories, Universal Resonance (virtual) [autobiography]

Mariko Tamaki , Kristen Radtke , Hiromi Goto, Lee Lai , and Julia Kaye

Nov 15, 2021

Brooklyn Book Festival

https://brooklynbookfestival.org/event/personal-stories-universal-resonance/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cALoLGIM75I

 

Building Worlds in Speculative Storytelling (virtual)

Danny Lore,  Tim Fielder, Kat Leyh, John Jennings, and Aminder Dhaliwal

Nov 15, 2021

Brooklyn Book Festival

https://brooklynbookfestival.org/event/building-worlds-in-speculative-storytelling/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgrOgy8QTSc

 

Using History to Break Its Cycle (virtual)

Calvin Reid,  Nate Powell, Sharon Lee De La Cruz , Beka Feathers, and Dr. Rebecca Hall

Nov 15, 2021

Brooklyn Book Festival

https://brooklynbookfestival.org/event/using-history-to-break-its-cycle/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5YQc7w3nMs

 

Life as Magically Unusual (virtual) [YA]

MJ Franklin,  Nidhi Chanani, Shing Yin Khor, Molly Ostertag, and Olivia Stephens

Nov 15, 2021

Brooklyn Book Festival

https://brooklynbookfestival.org/event/life-as-magically-unusual/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlD39wb7Lk4

 

'Animating' the narrative in abstract comics

Paul Fisher Davies

2013, Studies in Comics 4.2

https://www.academia.edu/5890646/Animating_the_narrative_in_abstract_comics

TODAY! New Years Day Specials at Third Eye!

Feb 5: X Deaths of Wolverine signing at Third Eye Comics in Annapolis

http://www.conventionscene.com/2021/12/24/md-x-deaths-of-wolverine-signing/

Comic creators Ben Percy and Joshua Cassara sign at Third Eye Comics in Annapolis on Saturday, February 5th from 11am – 1pm.

RSVP on Facebook!

Third Eye Comics
209 Chinquapin Round Road, Annapolis, MD 21401
(410) 897-0322

Jan 9: P&P Live! Xavier Navarro Aquino | VELORIO - with Victor LaValle

Lavalle has done comics for Marvel and BOOM! Studios.

Jan  09 P&P Live! Xavier Navarro Aquino | VELORIO - with Victor LaValle

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pp-live-xavier-navarro-aquino-velorio-with-victor-lavalle-tickets-224752218937

Event Information

Join P&P Live! with Xavier Navarro Aquino and Victor LaValle, discussing Aquino's forthcoming "Velorio"!

About this event

Velorio—meaning "wake"—is a story of strength, resilience, and hope; a tale of peril and possibility buoyed by the deeply held belief in a people's ability to unite against those corrupted by power.

Camila is haunted by the death of her sister, Marisol, who was caught by a mudslide during the huracán. Unable to part with Marisol, Camila carries her through town, past the churchyard, and, eventually, to the supposed utopia of Memoria.

Urayoán, the idealistic, yet troubled cult leader of Memoria, has a vision for this new society, one that in his eyes is peaceful and democratic. The paradise he preaches lures in the young, including Bayfish, a boy on the cusp of manhood, and Morivivi, a woman whose outward toughness belies an inner tenderness for her friends. But as the different members of Memoria navigate Urayoán's fiery rise, they will need to confront his violent authoritarian impulses in order to find a way to reclaim their home.

Xavier Navarro Aquino was born and raised in Puerto Rico. His fiction has appeared in Tin House, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, and Guernica. He has been awarded scholarships from the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, a MacDowell Fellowship, and an ACLS Emerging Voices Fellowship at Dartmouth College. Aquino is currently an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame where he teaches in the MFA program.

Victor LaValle is the author of the short story collection Slapboxing with Jesus, four novels, The Ecstatic, Big Machine, The Devil in Silver, and The Changeling and two novellas, Lucretia and the Kroons and The Ballad of Black Tom. He is also the creator and writer of two comic books: Destroyer and Eve. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, Bram Stoker Award, Whiting Writers' Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, Shirley Jackson Award, American Book Award, and the key to Southeast Queens.

Jan 19: Nnedi Okorafor and Jesse Morales-Small for AKATA WOMAN

Nnedi has written for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, IDW, and Abrams.

Nnedi Okorafor and Jesse Morales-Small for AKATA WOMAN

Loyalty is so excited to celebrate Akata Woman, the highly anticipated new release by Nnedi Okorafor! Nnedi Okorafor will be in conversation with Jesse Morales-Small (aka @bowtiesandbooks)! This event is free to attend and will be held digitally via Crowdcast. Click here to register for the event. You can also order a copy of Akata Woman below to be automatically added to the registration list, and there will be an option to snag the book during the event. **Each purchase of Akata Woman will include a signed bookplate while supplies last!**

ABOUT THE BOOK

From the moment Sunny Nwazue discovered she had mystical energy flowing in her blood, she sought to understand and control her powers. Throughout her adventures in Akata Witch and Akata Warrior, she had to navigate the balance between nearly everything in her life—America and Nigeria, the "normal" world and the one infused with juju, human and spirit, good daughter and powerful Leopard Person. Now, those hard lessons and abilities are put to the test in a quest so dangerous and fantastical, it would be madness to go...but may destroy the world if she does not. With the help of her friends, Sunny embarks on a mission to find a precious object hidden deep in an otherworldly realm. Defeating the guardians of the prize will take more from Sunny than she has to give, and triumph will mean she will be forever changed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nnedi Okorafor is an international award-winning novelist of science fiction and fantasy for children and adults. Born in the United States to Nigerian immigrant parents, Nnedi is known for weaving African culture into evocative settings and memorable characters. Nnedi has received the World Fantasy, Hugo, Nebula, and Lodestar Awards, amongst others, for her books. Her fans include Neil Gaiman, Rick Riordan, John Green, and Ursula K. Le Guin. She holds a PhD in Literature. Learn more at nnedi.com or follow her on Twitter @nnedi.

ABOUT THE IN CONVERSATION PARTNER

Jesse Morales-Small (they/y'all pronouns) is a trans Afro-Chicano Booktuber focusing on marginalized narratives across genres. They are also the founder of Enby Book Club, a Non-Binary bookclub centering Non-Binary/Trans spectrum authors and their stories. Often, Jesse can be found in the woods with their therapy dog or hard at work on their debut novel. In addition to their BookTube channel, you can also find Jesse on Bookstagram and on Twitter @bowtiesbooks.

Please note Loyalty has a zero tolerance policy for harassment or intimidation of any kind during this virtual event. 

Event date: 
Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - 6:00pm

Flugennock's Latest'n'Greatest: "What's Happy About It?"

From Mike Flugennock, DC's anarchist cartoonist -

"What's Happy About It?"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3365

As seen from the POV of Old Father Time.

Happy New Year? Huh, what's happy about it?
No, really; I know it's only January 1st, but what the hell's happy about it?


Mike Flugennock, Political Cartoons: http://www.sinkers.org/stage
and follow me on Mastodon at https://mastodon.social/@flugennock

Friday, December 31, 2021

Happy New Year from Mike & ComicsDC



The Post on superhero movie actors

Hollywood's top 12 superhero performances of the year, ranked

Comics Research Bibliography citations update, 12/31/21

Andrew Vachss, Hardboiled Writer, Defender of Children, Passes Away

December 29, 2021

by Adi Tantimedh

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/andrew-vachss-hardboiled-writer-defender-of-children-passes-away/

 

A Hero's Legacy Comics & Collectibles In Dire Need Of Assistance [store]

  December 30, 2021

by Rich Johnston

 https://bleedingcool.com/comics/a-heros-legacy-comics-collectibles-in-dire-need-of-assistance/

 

The Marvel vs. Martin Scorsese Feud Needs to Die

Kyndall Cunningham

Dec. 28, 2021

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-marvel-vs-martin-scorsese-feud-needs-to-die

 

Angoulême 2022 issues formal statement on postponement of festival

Originally scheduled for January 27 to 30, the festival hopes to still take place sometime in late March/early April

Dean Simons

12/30/2021

https://www.comicsbeat.com/angouleme-2022-postponement-statement/

 

INTERVIEW: Nick Bruel on line one for BAD KITTY GETS A PHONE

The newest entry in the New York Times-Bestselling series sees Kitty entering the cellular age!

Avery Kaplan

12/30/2021

https://www.comicsbeat.com/interview-nick-bruel-on-line-one-for-bad-kitty-gets-a-phone/

 

Bulletproof Comics sets up a pop-up shop at the movies for SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME

Imagine coming out of a superhero movie and straight into a comics shop.

Ricardo Serrano Denis

12/30/2021

https://www.comicsbeat.com/bulletproof-comics-spider-man-no-way-home-pop-up-shop/

 

INTERVIEW: R.M. Peaslee and R.G. Weiner Deconstruct Spider-Man in WEB-SPINNING HEROICS [scholarship]

Hannah Means-Shannon

03/11/2013

https://www.comicsbeat.com/interview-r-m-peaslee-and-r-g-weiner-deconstruct-spider-man-in-web-spinning-heroics/

 

TOP 10 KIDS COMICS OF 2021

We Laughed, We Cried, We Bombarded Our Friends with Trivia

 by Brigid Alverson on December 29, 2021

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/50076/top-10-kids-comics-2021

 

'Poupelle of Chimney Town' Review: Seeking Refuse

By Ben Kenigsberg

A version of this article appears in print on Dec. 31, 2021, Section C, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: Poupelle of Chimney Town.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/30/movies/poupelle-of-chimney-town-review.html