• 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.

• Iranian-French author shares culture, Karolina Ramos, GW Hatchet
• Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2012 Questionnaire: Deanna Echanique, Mark Medley, National Post.
• I love this book: ‘Hit By Pitch’, Whitney Matheson, PopCandy.

Debuts and new issues:

• Bamn: Rob’s Adventure — free digital comic by Jay Payne (artist) and Troy-Jeffrey Allen (writer)
• Cartoon Picayune #3 — anthology edited by Josh Kramer. It is currently available online and should be in Politics & Prose and SMASH! soon.
• Starseed — ongoing webcomic that updates Tuesdays and Thursdays by Sarah P. (artist) and R.M. Rhodes (writer).

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 11: Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick, creators of Feynman appearance, 6:30 p.m. at American Institute of Physics, College Park, Md. Free and open to the public.
• May 12-13: Curls Studio (Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo) at Asbury Park Comic Con, Asbury, N.J.
• May 12-13: Rafer Roberts at Asbury Park Comic Con, Asbury, N.J.
• May 12: Full Sanction (Rusty Rowley and Joe Mochove) at Winston-Salem Toy and Comic Book Show, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m, Winston-Salem, N.C. Admission is $2 and children younger than 12 are free. Presented by Ssalefish Comics.
• 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 Ton Neely and Ed Luce, 7 p.m. at Atomic Books, Baltimore, Md.
• 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.

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.