My apologies for taking last week off!

News/interviews/reviews:

• Backers help comic book creator fulfill dream – Cathy Jett, Freelance-Star/Fredericksburg.com
• Exhibit peeks into psyche of underground comic book artist – Virginia Terhune, Gazette.Net
• DCJCC showcases some wonder women of underground comics – Mark Jenkins, Washington Post (also mentions Rafer Roberts’ exhibit)
• Comic Creator Delves Into Self-publishing and D.C.’s ‘Unconventional History’ – Chris Jessen, InfoZine/Scripps Howard Foundation Wire
• District Comics Tells Unconventional Stories Using Unconventional Means – Martin Austermuhle, DCist
• ‘District Comics: An Unconventional History of Washington, DC’: Q&A With Artist And Anthology Editor Matt Dembicki – Arin Greenwood, The Huffington Post
• ‘CUL DE SAC’: Amid Parkinson’s battle, Richard Thompson ends beloved comic – Michael Cavna, Comic Riffs/Washington Post
• Six by 6 | My six favorite Cul de Sac characters – Chris Mautner, Robot 6
• On Richard Thompson and Cul de Sac – R.C. Harvey, TCJ.com
• “He Was a Good Man … “ – Stacy Curtis
• SPX Spotlight 2012: The DC Conspiracy and Magic Bullet 5 – Rob McMonigal
• SPX Spotlight 2012: Katie Omberg and Gay Kid 4 – Rob McMonigal
• SPX Spotlight 2012: Andrew Cohen – Rob McMonigal

Announcements:

• Small Press Expo’s slate of programming
• Full Sanction opened an online shop

Event/con reports:

• Curls Studio on District Comics signing at One More Page Books (Curls Studio’s photos)
• go flying turtle: district comics signing at one more page books, arlington, va
• District Comics Signing at One More Page, August 19th, 2012 – Rob McMonigal
• Mike Rex signing at Big Planet Comics

Kickstarter:

• BLOOP: Part One – Deluxe, Oversized Hardcover
• WatchGuard + Teen Force 5

Upcoming releases:

• Mr. Big: A Tale of Pond Life, Carol and Matt Dembicki, Sky Pony Press. Sept. 1.
• The Lost Art of Heinrich Kley, Lost Art Books, Sept. 14 (Small Press Expo)
• Remake: 3Xtra, Lamar Abrams, AdHouse Books, December 2012.

Events:

• Through Sept. 2: “Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women” at the Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery, Jewish Community Center, Washington, D.C.
• Through Sept. 8: Fever Dreams of Organic Machines: The Comic Book Art of Rafer Roberts, Common Ground Gallery, Rockville, Md.
• Sept. 8-9: Baltimore Comic Con, Baltimore, Md.
• Sept. 14: Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, 7 p.m., Politics & Prose, Washington, D.C.
• Sept. 15-16: Small Press Expo, North Bethesda, Md.
• Sept. 15: Justin Jordan Team 7 Launch Party, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md.
• Sept. 22:Raina Telgemeier signing at Big Planet Comics Vienna (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and Big Planet Comics College Park (3 to 5 p.m.)
• Sept. 22-23:National Book Festival with Raina Telgemeier, Craig Thompson and Hope Larson (comics-related events are on Sept. 23)

Housekeeping:

If you are a D.C. area creator who will be at Small Press Expo, let me know! I’m putting together a list that I’d like to have up next week and I don’t want to miss anyone!

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

News/interviews/reviews:

• District Comics: Interview with Tom Allen, Michael Cowgill
• Indie on Indie Spotlight on RM Rhodes, Ken Eppstein for The Outhousers
• Matt Dembicki talks Xoc and District Comics on the Big Planet Podcast

Announcements:

• Ignatz Award nominations! I would love to take all kinds of credit, but all I did was sort through too many comics (by my last count, we got 270 separate titles, so at six copies per, that’s more than 1,600 comics that were sorted). All the love goes to our awesome jurors.
• &@$#!: An Exhibition of Comic Artists begins Sept. 7 at Gallery 5, Richmond, Va. Sadly, it only runs until Sept. 29, so if I do get to see it, it will be on the last day. September is a busy month!
• Another Big Planet signing, another cool poster for Michael Rex on Aug. 18. (Linking to Rex’s site since I can’t seem to find it on Big Planet’s.)

Event/con reports:

• Comics in the District: A Discussion with Local Creators, audio from panel courtesy of Curls Studio

New releases:

• T.S. O’Banion’s The Pugilist began Aug. 6. Updates every Monday.

Upcoming releases:

• Mr. Big: A Tale of Pond Life, Carol and Matt Dembicki, Sky Pony Press. Sept. 1.
• The Lost Art of Heinrich Kley, Lost Art Books, Sept. 14 (Small Press Expo)
• Remake: 3Xtra, Lamar Abrams, AdHouse Books, December 2012.

Events:

• Through Sept. 2: “Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women” at the Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery, Jewish Community Center, Washington, D.C.
• Through Sept. 8: Fever Dreams of Organic Machines: The Comic Book Art of Rafer Roberts, Common Ground Gallery, Rockville, Md.
• Aug. 18: Michael Rex, creator of Fangbone, signing, Big Planet Comics Vienna, Va., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Big Planet Comics College Park, Md., 3 to 5 p.m.
• Aug. 19: District Comics signing event, 3 to 5 p.m. at One More Page Books, Arlington, Va. Facebook event page.
• Sept. 8-9: Baltimore Comic Con, Baltimore, Md.
• Sept. 14: Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, 7 p.m., Politics & Prose, Washington, D.C.
• Sept. 15-16: Small Press Expo, North Bethesda, Md.

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

News/interviews/reviews:

• Brigid Alverson mentions both XOC and District Comics at What Are You Reading? at Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources
• Interview with Matt Dembicki at ComicAttack.net
• Interview with Matt Dembicki and feature on XOC at Diamond Bookshelf

Event/con reports:

• Curls Studio report on Team Cul de Sac signing at Politics & Prose
• DC Zinefest report and photos by Rob McMonigal/Panel Patter
• Report on Rafer Robert’s Fever Dreams of Organic Machines gallery opening by Rob McMonigal/Panel Patter
• Photos from Fever Dreams of Organic Machines opening reception (video of live reading)

Upcoming releases:

• District Comics: An Unconventional History of Washington, DC, various artists, Fulcrum Publishing. Out today.
• Mr. Big: A Tale of Pond Life, Carol and Matt Dembicki, Sky Pony Press. Sept. 1.
• Remake: 3Xtra, Lamar Abrams, AdHouse Books, December 2012.

Events:

• Through Sept. 2:“Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women” at the Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery, Jewish Community Center, Washington, D.C.
• Through Sept. 8:, Common Ground Gallery, Rockville, Md.
• Aug. 18:Michael Rex, creator of Fangbone, signing, Big Planet Comics Vienna, Va., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Big Planet Comics College Park, Md., 3 to 5 p.m.
• Aug. 19: District Comics signing event, 3 to 5 p.m. at One More Page Books, Arlington, Va. Facebook event page.
• Sept. 8-9:Baltimore Comic Con, Baltimore, Md.
• Sept. 15-16:Small Press Expo, North Bethesda, Md.

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

News/interviews/reviews:

• From Friendly Ghosts To Gamma Rays: Xoc, Aesop’s Ark and Super Dinosaur!, ComicAttack.net
• Review – Xoc: The Journey of a Great White, meep[zine]
• Review: Xoc: The Journey of a Great White, Comic Bastards
• SDCC: Interview with Matt Dembicki, Angela Jones, The Outhousers
• Graphic novels being used to encourage reading by middle school summer students, Baltimore County Public Schools
• Small Press Expo 2012: Recognizing and Promoting Indie Comic Book Artists, Carmina de Vera, You the Designer

Event/con reports:

• Fever Dreams of the Organic Machines (Behind the Scenes), photos from Rafer Roberts’ upcoming exhibition
• Rusty Rowley’s photos of DC Zinefest
• splotch monsters invade 2012 dc zinefest, Steven Loya’s report and photos from DC Zinefest

Announcements and debuts:

• National Book Festival schedule. The graphic novel programming is on Sunday and it’s a little dismaying that Raina Telgemeier and Hope Larson’s events are competing.
• Rafer Roberts shares all the things he’s been up to.
• Becky Dreistadt’s poster for Small Press Expo

Upcoming releases:

• District Comics: An Unconventional History of Washington, DC, various artists, Fulcrum Publishing. Now Aug. 7 (there have been some reports of Amazon already shipping copies)
• Mr. Big: A Tale of Pond Life, Carol and Matt Dembicki, Sky Pony Press. Sept. 1.
• Remake: 3Xtra, Lamar Abrams, AdHouse Books, December 2012.

Events:

• Through Sept. 2: “Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women” at the Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery, Jewish Community Center, Washington, D.C.
• Various dates beginning June 17: Create a Comic Book with Matt Dembicki, 7 p.m. at Fairfax County Libraries.
• Beginning Aug. 3: Fever Dreams of Organic Machines: The Comic Book Art of Rafer Roberts, Common Ground Gallery, Rockville, Md.
• Aug. 18: Michael Rex, creator of Fangbone, signing, Big Planet Comics Vienna, Va., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Big Planet Comics College Park, Md., 3 to 5 p.m.

Housekeeping:

• I am compiling a standing list of D.C. area webcomics, comics-related podcasts/TV shows, yearly events and other things that I’m not always able to include in the weekly roundup, so email me with whatever you’re up to. Thanks!

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