• Dining With Strangers – #43 Drawn Together: Interview with Ben Claassen III
• Artomatic for the People — Ben Claassen once again!
• Jarrett J. Krosoczka visits Loudoun County libraries during Children’s Book Week

Announcements:

• Library Congress announces preliminary lineup for the National Book Festival, including Raina Telgemeier, Hope Larson and Craig Thompson. If that’s all the comic creators they have this year, that’s a great lineup. I’m very happy to see them on the list.

Debuts and new issues (etc.):

• Big Planet Comics has a cool new bookmark with art by Mike Short
• Meat Bun’s Passing Breeze (Sunshine) T-shirt features art by Lamar Abrams

Kickstarter/Indiegogo:

• Magic Bullet #5 – D.C. area’s comic newspaper

Upcoming releases:

• Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson’s, various artists, Andrews McMeel Publishing. Benefit book for cartoonist Richard Thompson. June 5.
• Xoc: The Journey of a Great White, Matt Dembicki with colors by Evan Keeling, Oni Press. July 25.
• Mr. Big: A Tale of Pond Life, Carol and Matt Dembicki, Sky Pony Press. Sept. 1.
• District Comics: An Unconventional History of Washington, DC, various artists, Fulcrum Publishing. Sept. 11.

Events:

• Ongoing until June 17: “Life Unreal: Art by Evan Keeling and Scott White,” Northside Social, Arlington, Va. Artist reception is May 26 from 7 to 9 p.m.
• Ongoing until June 23: Artomatic, featuring Christiann MacAuley, Ben Claassen III, Urvi Mehta, Jeff Kollins, Sarah Palaszynski, Ivan Collich, Michael Auger and many others. (I plan on going back — I only made it through four floors Friday — and hope to come up with a more complete list before it ends. I also plan a separate post on it.)
• May 24: Henry & Glenn Forever #1 release party with Tom Neely and Ed Luce, 7 p.m. at Atomic Books, Baltimore, Md.
• May 26: Jerry Gaylord, artist of Fanboys vs. Zombies, singing, 1 to 3 p.m. at Big Planet Comics, College Park, Md.
• May 27: Tumbler Tour of the Tumbler and Bat-Pod, Washington D.C. Time and place to be determined.
• Beginning June 2: Mark Burrier: Rare Words Exhibition, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, Md. Opening reception 7 to 10 p.m. June 2 with music by Old Indian.
• June 2: Russ Kick, editor of The Graphic Canon, signing, 1 to 3 p.m. at Big Planet Comics, Bethesda, Md.
• June 5: Matt Dembicki, Trickster signing, 2 to 3 p.m., Book Expo America, New York, N.Y.
• June 6-July 8: The History of Invulnerability , Theater J, Jewish Community Center, Washington, D.C. Tickets and showtime information at the link.

  Theater J offers $10 off tickets to readers of this blog using “DCCOMICS” either online at the Theater J website or by phone at 800-494-8497. The theater also offers a discount to those 35 and younger, which makes $15 during the week and $25 on the weekends. No discount code is needed.

• Beginning June 7: “Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women” at the Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery, Jewish Community Center, Washington, D.C. More details to come.
• June 9: Nick Abadzis, creator of Hugo Tate, signing, 3 to 5 p.m. at Big Planet Comics, Bethesda, Md.
• June 9 and June 10: Robert Venditti, writer of X-O Manowar and The Surrogates signing, noon to 3 p.m, at Alliance Comics Baltimore (June 9) and Alliance Comics Silver Spring (June 10).
• June 10: Team Cul de Sac book launch, 5 to 7 p.m., One More Page Books, Arlington, Va.

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me! Submit no later than Wednesday at 9 p.m. for inclusion each Thursday, but the earlier, the better! More information is here.

• Written in Blood: A Conversation with Comics Artist/Writer Mark Wheatley, Bill Baker, The Morton Report.
• Review of Xoc by Matt Dembicki, Publishers Weekly, May 2012 (about a third of the way down the page).

Con/event reports:

• Big Planet Comics’ photos of Jorge Aguirre/Jeremy Whitley signing and Free Comic Book Day in general.
• Full Sanction on Free Comic Book Day (video).
• Steve Anderson of Third Eye Comics writes about Free Comic Book Day
• Cinco de Sandra: A May 5 Chronicle by Hannah Means-Shannon, Trip City.
• Rafer Roberts’ photos (part 2) from Asbury Comic Con.
• Recap: Asbury Park Comic Con – May 12, 2012 by Curls Studio.

Debuts and new issues:

• Curls begins new storyline, May 14.
• Fantastic Forum unveils new website, May 10.

Upcoming releases:

• Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson’s, various artists, Andrews McMeel Publishing. Benefit book for cartoonist Richard Thompson. June 5.
• Xoc: The Journey of a Great White, Matt Dembicki with colors by Evan Keeling, Oni Press. July 25.
• Mr. Big: A Tale of Pond Life, Carol and Matt Dembicki, Sky Pony Press. Sept. 1.
• District Comics: An Unconventional History of Washington, DC, various artists, Fulcrum Publishing. Sept. 11.

Events:

• Ongoing until June 17: “Life Unreal: Art by Evan Keeling and Scott White,” Northside Social, Arlington, Va. Artist reception is May 26 from 7 to 9 p.m.
• May 18-June 23: Christiann MacAuley (artist profile) at Artomatic, Arlington, Va.
• May 19: Super Art Fest 2012, noon to midnight, Metro Gallery, Baltimore, Md. Benefit for Ulman Cancer Fund. More information on Facebook or at Super Art Fight.
• May 24: Henry & Glenn Forever #1 release party with Tom Neely and Ed Luce, 7 p.m. at Atomic Books, Baltimore, Md.
• May 26: Jerry Gaylord, artist of Fanboys vs. Zombies, singing, 1 to 3 p.m. at Big Planet Comics, College Park, Md.
• May 27: Tumbler Tour of the Tumbler and Bat-Pod, Washington D.C. Time and place to be determined.
• Beginning June 2: Mark Burrier: Rare Words Exhibition, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, Md. Opening reception 7 to 10 p.m. June 2 with music by Old Indian.
• June 2: Russ Kick, editor of The Graphic Canon, signing, 1 to 3 p.m. at Big Planet Comics, Bethesda, Md.
• June 5: Matt Dembicki, Trickster signing, 2 to 3 p.m., Book Expo America, New York, N.Y.
• June 6-July 8: The History of Invulnerability , Theater J, Jewish Community Center, Washington, D.C. Tickets and showtime information at the link.
• Beginning June 7: “Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women” at the Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery, Jewish Community Center, Washington, D.C. More details to come.
• June 9: Nick Abadzis, creator of Hugo Tate, signing, 3 to 5 p.m. at Big Planet Comics, Bethesda, Md.
• June 10: Team Cul de Sac book launch, 5 to 7 p.m., One More Page Books, Arlington, Va.

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me! Submit no later than Wednesday at 9 p.m. for inclusion each Thursday, but the earlier, the better! More information is here.