Saturday, June 25, 2022

Comics Research Bibliography citations have moved back

I'm going to keep posting them to the International Journal of Comic Art blog at http://ijoca.blogspot.com , but they were getting literally 10x the viewership here then they are there. A catch-up for the week post will follow shortly.

Martha Kennedy on curating Jim Morin's exhibit at IJOCA blog

Curator's Notes on Jim Morin: Drawing and Painting, An Exhibition of Political Cartoon Drawings and Landscape Paintings

by Martha Kennedy 

International Journal of Comic Art blog

June 25, 2022

Friday, June 24, 2022

Clay Jones wins SDX award

Here's Clay's recounting of the award ceremony - https://claytoonz.com/2022/06/24/sdx-award/

6:24: Rodney Barnes (Killadelphia, Nita Hawes Nightmare Blog) at Third Eye Annapolis



THE NEW SERIES FROM KILLADELPHIA WRITER RODNEY BARNES DELIVERS A MUST-READ HORROR TALE FROM IMAGE COMICS SET IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND!
From the team of Image's Eisner-nominated series KILLADELPHIA comes a terrifying new horror series created by acclaimed Marvel writer Rodney Barnes and fan-favorite SPAWN artist Jason Shawn Alexander.

Untold evil lurks the streets of Baltimore, Maryland as the demon Corson surfaces from the underworld to possess a man-once-wronged... and his vengeance will come at humanity's despair!

As Gods and Demons clash, humanity's fate hangs in the balance! But paranormal investigator Nita Haweswoman with demons of her ownset out on a quest to root out the evil from her city.

Guided by the ghost of her dead brother, she must come to terms with her own past, else she become a victim herself and join her brother in a state worse than death!

Collects NITA HAWES NIGHTMARE BLOG #1-6

NOT LOCAL? CAN'T MAKE THE SIGNING?
Check out Rodney's other incredible IMAGE COMICS series, KILLADELPHIA & get it signed this weekend as well!

Featuring the show-stopping talents of SPAWN series artist JASON SHAWN ALEXANDER and the writer behind such hit shows as Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Marvel's Runaways, and STARZ's American Gods-RODNEY BARNES.

When small-town beat cop Jimmy Sangster returns to his Philadelphia roots to bury his murdered father, he stumbles into a mystery that will lead him down a path of horrors and shake his beliefs to their core.

The city that was once the symbol of liberty and freedom has fallen prey to corruption, poverty, unemployment, brutality...and vampires.

There's a reason they say you can't go home again. Welcome to Killadelphia. Collects KILLADELPHIA #1-6.




STAY CONNECTED  



Phillip Kennedy Johnson writes Bond

INTERVIEW: Phillip Kennedy Johnson discusses his take on James Bond in 007

The new Dynamite title is set to release this August

New manga translation by former Silver Springer Ryan Holmberg

Talk to My Back by Yamada Murasaki review – feminist awakenings in 1980s Japan

ALA: Library Comic: ALA Annual Conference Tips.


From: Library Comic newsletter <LibraryComic@buttondown.email>

Hey there! We're sending out this bonus email as ALA Annual is underway today in D.C. Come by the Library Comic booth in the Graphic Novel Pavillion if you're on the exhibits floor – I'd love to hear your stories.

And over the next few days check out the conference tips we created for ALA this year. Here's a link to the first – the rest of these special comics will be appearing on librarycomic.com and our social media over this conference weekend.


ALA: Astra (inluding Liniers)



Visit Us at Booth #2005

Saturday, 6/25
9 am - 9:45 am: Louise Borden
10:30 am - 11:15 am: LiniersDan Yaccarino
1 pm - 1:45 pm: Claudia Friddell
2 pm - 2:45 pm: Gail Jarrow

Sunday, 6/26
10 am - 10:45 am: Vanessa A. Bee
2 pm - 2:45 pm: Ann Marie Stephens

One free book during each signing + get an ABFYR tote in the booth while supplies last!

ALA: Oni - Lion Forge

We Can't Wait to See You at ALA!
We are SO excited to be seeing so many of you later this week at ALA Annual! Make sure to stop by Oni Press booth #1509 to meet some of your favorite (and soon-to-be-favorite) creators, snag some free signed ARCs, get 50% off all books and other swag! See you in D.C.!

Thursday, June 23, 2022

July 3: Back issue sale in Alexandria


From: Big Planet Comics <bethesda@bigplanetcomics.com>
Date: Thu, Jun 23, 2022 at 12:39 PM



As you know, Big Planet Comics Bethesda store has been closed to walk-in buyers since May, 2020. That means we've been unable to offer back issues to our customers.

On Sunday, July 3rd, our friend, Todd McDevitt of New Dimension Comics of Pittsburgh, will be in Alexandria hosting a massive back issue sale. This will be a perfect opportunity to grab those elusive comics you've been searching for at very reasonable prices.

For more information: https://www.facebook.com/events/s/comicbook-times/560066908950834/

 

ALA: Drawn & Quarterly

D+Q will be attending this year's American Library Association Annual Conference & Exhibition, from June 24th to 27th! Come find us at booth 1510!



And be sure to catch us present 2022's most noteworthy books, including the highly-anticipated Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton, Acting Class, Nick Drnaso's triumphant return to comics, Tom Gauld's hilarious Revenge of the Librarians, and Emma Grove's riveting graphic memoir, The Third Person.

We will be presenting on Saturday, June 25th, at 2:40 pm in the Book Buzz Theatre.

The ALA Annual Conference will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center (801 Mount Vernon Place NW, Washington, D.C.).

Exhibit Hours

  Friday, June 24 - 5:30pm – 7:00pm

Saturday, June 25 - 9:00am – 5:00pm

Sunday, June 26 - 9:00am – 5:00pm

Monday, June 27 - 9:00am – 2:00pm

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

14-year old Clifford Berryman exhibit by National Archives still chugging along

Politics as usual: Exhibit of century-old editorial cartoons show how politics never really change [Clifford Berryman]

That Gender Queer lawsuit

Cavna on ‘Lightyear’

'Lightyear' same-sex couple is part of an evolution at Pixar [in print as 'Lightyear' couple is part of an evolution at Pixar]

That darn Joe Heller

Getting the wrong idea about teachers and summer break [in print as Give us a break; Joe Heller editorial cartoon]
Leslie Backus
Washington Post June 18, 2022

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Local editorial cartooning awards given out

Hunter, Goldberg, Bowman Win SPJ-DC Awards

The Washington, D.C. chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists
announced the winners of their annual awards "

Monday, June 20, 2022

Troy-Jeffrey Allen interviews Kate Sherron

Get Graphic: Kate Sherron Takes You to the Silk Hills

Interview by Troy-Jeffrey Allen

Bill Brown's latest Ukrainian blogpost

Letter to my Congress-people

I sent this letter to my Congresspeople today, June 17, 2022.

Rafer Roberts' Plastic Farm Kickstarter is ending

It's almost over!
Posted by Rafer Roberts
Jun 20, 2022


View on Kickstarter

Thank you all once again for your amazing support. As of this writing, there are only THREE DAYS LEFT in the campaign. In order to get as many of these books into readers' hands as possible, I'd appreciate you all taking a moment for one last social media push. 

Plus, y'know, I really want to reach a few more stretch goals and send you all more stuff!

As this is the final campaign for the final volume, this will be the final time I will ever write or say the following sentence (and mean it).

PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT PLASTIC FARM!

Shout it from the rooftops! Spread the word! This is it. The final push. The big countdown. Be there or be square! There will be no second chances! Everything goes out of print after this! 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/plasticfarm/plastic-farm-the-4th-and-final-collection

Meet Thony Loui, visiting Haitian cartoonist

by Mike Rhode

Thony Loui (a pen name for Anthony Louis-Jeune), a visual designer, artist, and cartoonist from Haiti, was at Fantom Comics this weekend signing his new self-published series, Tanama comic books. He says in his capsule bio, "In 2020, I created 'Tanama' a super she-ro with special powers to support smallholder farmers, and women farmers in particular, as they overcome tremendous hardships and fight off evil forces to combat climate change through tree planting around the world." Bruce Guthrie's photos of the event are here.

What type of comic work or cartooning do you do? 

Comic books. I would consider it as Creole-futurism, fantasy and educational.

My comic book, Tanama: Origins was published in 2020 with financial support from the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, the lifestyle brand Timberland, and the Smallholder Farmers Alliance. Tanama was featured in Haiti’s national COVID-19 awareness campaign with her image on social media, videos, billboards, and murals, reaching an estimated 3 million people throughout Haiti. My comic book characters earned me a special recognition by the arts education group Teatro SEA at their 2020 annual BORIMIX festival of cultural exchange between

Puerto Rico and Haiti. The comic book’s sequel, Tanama, Metamorphosis was just released at the Haitian Embassy in Washington DC, following up with a tree planting event at a Montgomery County park. My ultimate goal is to create my own brand of visual art designs that spread awareness on global issues such as climate change, gender equality and migration. Find out more about Tanama at www.tanamaproject.org

How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

I do a combination, but I mostly use my iPad Pro nowadays. I have to tell you that I am color blind. I was born with deuteranopia.

Do you just do comic book stories? Or do you do animation, political cartoons, or webcomics?

I only do comic book stories. I know how to do animation, but I am not doing any at the moment. I do webcomics.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born? 

I was born 3 decades ago in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

What's the cartooning scene in Haiti like? 

The cartooning scene in Haiti is growing and there is a lot of talented artists.

Why did you decide to become a cartoonist? 

I always loved comic books and I grew up reading European comic books since Haiti is a also a French-speaking country. I would find some comic books in libraries or supermarkets, because there are no comic book shops.

What type of comics material do you see in Haiti? 

In Haiti you will find local comic books, a few animators and more political cartoonists. In libraries you can find a few comic books, mostly European ones.

Why are you in Washington now? 

I am in Washington because I am traveling with my partner on the way to her new job. I was working on my comic book launch and now I am promoting it.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

 I started as a self-taught artist and after the terrible earthquake in Haiti, I went to study fine arts and illustration in Altos de Chavon School of Design in the Dominican Republic.

You apprenticed with American superhero cartoonist Rich Buckler - can you tell us about that? How did you start that? 

It started because my aunt put me in touch with him in New York,  I had an art exhibit and she asked him if he could see me. After meeting, we instantly connected . He mentored me for 4 years while battling with cancer... working with him, I created Haiti’s first superhero “Djatawo.”

Who are your other influences? 

Jean Giraud, Ralph Allen, Uderzo, Salvador Dali, DaVinci, Todd McFarlane, Travis Charest, Jim Lee, Joe Madeuira.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change? 

I would have stayed in business administration class. I dropped it because I couldn't understand why my teacher didn't have a lot of money and he was teaching me how to make money...

What work are you best-known for?

I am best known for my work for Conan O'Brien.

Not the Conan tap tap

American tv comedian Conan O'Brien? How did that happen?

I did a portrait of him behind a tap tap bus ( public transportation bus). After ex former president Trump said publicly  that Haiti and African countries are "shithole" countries, Conan went to Haiti  to prove him wrong. Around 3 a.m. in the morning, after breaking up with my ex, I saw him on Instagram dancing at a local bar in Haiti with a local band. I was inspired and happy to see that he was showing Haiti in a positive way, so I decided to make a digital painting of him behind a tap tap bus. I posted the artwork on my Instagram and I went to sleep. The next day I had at least 60 missed calls and messages from friends and people telling me that Conan was looking for me. I was able to meet him and he commissioned me to make the digital painting on a real tap tap bus in 24 hours The link of my interview with Conan O'Brian is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTFmXEDZPWQ&t=4s

What work are you most proud of? 

My latest comic book Tanama: Metamorphosis.

Your two self-published comic books about Tanama have a very small first printing - 150 copies, and will be rare. Did you self-fund it completely? How did you decide to do that? Did you use Kickstarter or other crowdfunding? 

No, I received a grant from Smallholder Farmers Alliance, a non-profit planting trees in Haiti. They paid for the limited print runs so I could launch the comic book. I self published the comic book on Amazon's Kindle as well.. I will test their paperback option during this week. 

How did you decide on the charities you're supporting? 

I decided to work with them after having multiple conversations with them, and doing research myself about their operations. I am glad everything worked out and now everytime someone buy a comic book a dollar will go to tree planting in Haiti and in the sub-Saharan Africa. The 2 charities areSmallholder Farmers Alliance: http://www.haitifarmers.org/ and Trees For the Future: https://trees.org/

How can people buy your comic, without seeing you in person?

People can buy it on Amazon. The first book is only in Creole, but soon it will be in translated into English. The print version of the sequel Tanama Metamorphosis is available in  DC at Fantom Comics; it will also be in Big Planet Comics and Solid State Books.

What would you like to do or work on in the future? 

In the near future, I am planning to release a NFT collection of Tanama - a dollar will go toward tree planting in Haiti and Africa. I would like to work on a movie animation of Tanama or a video game. I think would like to be a movie director, NFT artist, or do something related to technology or business.

Are you planning a 3rd issue?
 
Yes, I am. Hopefully I will be able to.

Any thoughts about having your hero travel with you? By this I mean, when you've been to Mexico City and absorbed the atmosphere, would you set a story there about their environmental problems? 

Yes, she will travel wherever I go. I am  planning to put the comic book in Spanish and of course talk about environmental problems in Mexico city.

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block? 

I read or I listen to music.

What's your favorite thing about DC? 

 

Hiking


Least favorite? 

 

Staying indoors.

Do you have a website or blog?  

 

www.thonyloui.com - amd thonyloui for all social media ( Instagram, Twitter, Facebook).

How has the COVID-19 outbreak affected you, personally and professionally? 

Personally it was challenging because I was going through a breakup, and professionally it was good because I could find work. Several NGOS  were paying me to use Tanama as an ambassador and public figure to promote awareness messages, such as social distancing, hand washing, and to wear masks.

Here's a gallery of art that Thony sent in for this interview, and a few more pictures of him at Fantom Comics -