national book festival – Comicsgirl https://www.comicsgirl.com Tue, 01 Oct 2013 22:32:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 https://www.comicsgirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/cropped-EdenMiller2017-1-32x32.jpg national book festival – Comicsgirl https://www.comicsgirl.com 32 32 59683043 The D.C. Area Comics Scene for Oct. 1 https://www.comicsgirl.com/2013/10/01/the-d-c-area-comics-scene-for-oct-1/ Tue, 01 Oct 2013 22:32:32 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=3957 DC Conspiracy
Comics Making Studio with Members of the DC Conspiracy at the Artisphere, Sept. 21

News/reviews/interviews: 

Event coverage:

Multimedia:

Debut comic:

Kickstarter:

Events:

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me by 4 p.m. Tuesday. More information is here.

]]> 3957 Lynda Barry at the National Book Festival https://www.comicsgirl.com/2013/09/24/lynda-barry-at-the-national-book-festival/ https://www.comicsgirl.com/2013/09/24/lynda-barry-at-the-national-book-festival/#comments Tue, 24 Sep 2013 23:32:55 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=3951 lynda-barryWhy do we enjoy art? Why do we want to make art? I’m not sure if Lynda Barry knows the answers to these questions, but she’s someone who is going to find out.

Her presentation at the National Book Festival on Sept. 22 was hilarious and insightful and it’s really hard to do it justice by writing about it (I think video should be up on the National Book Festival website eventually). Her points where made mostly through anecdotes which were all entertaining. The 45 minutes she was allotted weren’t nearly enough (sadly, there was too much glare on the screen so she abandoned using her slideshow).

She started her talk by saying this was the sort of thing she would’ve made up when she was in the second grade — she gets invited by the Library of Congress to talk to a bunch of people! — and her delight at being in front of this crowd was always clear. She said art was a form of “transportation.” Basically, since she had drawn a picture, she got to be here. And while that’s a really simple way of looking at it, when Barry says it, it’s absolutely true. Art can and does take us places.

She talked a bit about her family life (making jokes about her amazing Filipino grandmother and her Norwegian heritage) before asking the audience to remember their first phone number and say it out loud (I, sadly, do not remember mine). In our minds, our phone numbers are images. This introduced the recurring theme throughout her talk — that we are attracted to and attached to images.

She told a few funny stories about the objects children get attached to, including one friends’ daughter had named Mr. Banana. She joked that when you ask kids if their favorite stuffed toy is “alive,” they know you’re a grownup messing with them. But when you ask if their favorite stuffed toy is dead, it completely changes. Objects have meaning beyond their physical reality.

She then joked about how she never had an imaginary friend as a kid and tried to make one up — an imaginary imaginary friend, but that didn’t quite work. She knew she’d never succeed because she had a friend who had an imaginary friend named Sprinkles that she could only talk to through a fan. Nothing about that was rational, which made it both satisfying and real.

Because of that kind of thing, Barry said she always likes talking to kids. They’re honest and intense in their play. And play is essential to who we are. She basically said adults are crazy because we don’t play enough (that’s something I absolutely agree with).

Probably the most powerful story she told was about research into mirror therapy. People who have phantom pain after having a limb removed often feel better after they see the opposite limb relax in a mirror. The only way to resolve pain is to see it reflected, she said. And that’s what art does. We can hear a song or read a book or see a painting and suddenly feel like we’re understood. It lessens our pain because it’s reflected back at us.

Consuming art is fine, she said, but making art is better. That’s what makes life worth living. It’s not about if it’s “good” or “bad” — it’s about doing it, about expressing something. It’s a good lesson for everyone.

And that reminds me: I’ve done some abstract paintings off and on in the past year. I said to someone that “Oh, they’re not good but I don’t really care.” This person told me “They’re good because you made them.” That seems to be Barry’s point, ultimately. All art is good if you’ve made it. So just go make it.

]]> https://www.comicsgirl.com/2013/09/24/lynda-barry-at-the-national-book-festival/feed/ 1 3951 The D.C. Area Comics Scene for Sept. 3 https://www.comicsgirl.com/2013/09/03/the-d-c-area-comics-scene-for-sept-3/ Tue, 03 Sep 2013 21:38:47 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=3935 News/reviews/interviews:

New releases:

Events:

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me by 4 p.m. Tuesday. More information is here.

]]> 3935 The D.C. Area Comics Scene for April 23 https://www.comicsgirl.com/2013/04/23/the-d-c-area-comics-scene-for-april-23/ Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:58:16 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=3729 News/reviews/interviews:

Event coverage:

Podcasts:

Free Comic Book Day events (May 4):

  • Matt Dembicki, S.G. Artley and Michael Cowgill at Big Planet Comics,  Vienna, Va.
  • Andrew Cohen and Evan Keeling  at Big Planet Comics, Washington, D.C.
  • Art Hondros at Big Planet Comics, Bethesda, Md.
  • Troy-Jeffery Allen and Matt Rawson at Fantom Comics, Washington, D.C.
  • Jacob Warrenfelt?z at Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md.
  • Rafer Roberts and John Shine at Beyond Comics, Gaithersburg, Md.
  • Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo at Laughing Ogre Comics, Fairfax, Va.
  • Rob Anderson at Laughing Ogre, Lansdowne, Va.
  • Cary Nord, Brandon Seifert, Greg LaRocqoue, Joe Keatinge, Mike Moreci, Steve Seeley, Marc Hempel at Collectors Corner, Baltimore, Md.
  • Adam Kubert, Frank Cho, and Steve Conley at Cards, Comics & Collectibles, Riestertown, Md.

Kickstarter:

Events:

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me by 4 p.m. Tuesday. More information is here. I’m still taking FCBD events.

]]> 3729 The D.C. Area Comics Scene for April 16 https://www.comicsgirl.com/2013/04/16/the-d-c-area-comics-scene-for-april-16/ Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:01:32 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=3721 News/reviews/interviews/etc.

Announcements:

Free Comic Book Day events (May 4):

  • Matt Dembicki, S.G. Artley and Michael Cowgill at Big Planet Comics,  Vienna, Va.
  • Andrew Cohen and Evan Keeling  at Big Planet Comics, Washington, D.C.
  • Art Hondros at Big Planet Comics, Bethesda, Md.
  • Troy-Jeffery Allen and Matt Rawson at Fantom Comics, Washington, D.C.
  • Jacob Warrenfelt?z at Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md.
  • Rafer Roberts and John Shine at Beyond Comics, Gaithersburg, Md.
  • Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo at Laughing Ogre Comics, Fairfax, Va.
  • Rob Anderson at Laughing Ogre, Lansdowne, Va.
  • Cary Nord, Brandon Seifert, Greg LaRocqoue, Joe Keatinge, Mike Moreci, Steve Seeley, Marc Hempel at Collectors Corner, Baltimore, Md.

Kickstarter:

Events:

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. I’m still taking FCBD events.

]]> 3721 The D.C. Area Comics Scene for Aug. 28 https://www.comicsgirl.com/2012/08/28/the-d-c-area-comics-scene-for-aug-28-2/ Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:00:04 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=3378
Michael Rex at Big Planet Comics Vienna. Photo courtesy of Big Planet Comics.

My apologies for taking last week off!

News/interviews/reviews:

Announcements:

Event/con reports:

Kickstarter:

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:

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.

]]> 3378 The D.C. Area Comics Scene for July 31 https://www.comicsgirl.com/2012/07/31/the-d-c-area-comics-scene-for-july-31/ Tue, 31 Jul 2012 12:00:27 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=3314
Matt Dembicki (left) and Evan Keeling sign copies of Xoc: The Journey of a Great White at Big Planet Comics Vienna on July 28.

News/interviews/reviews:

Event/con reports:

Announcements and debuts:

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:

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.

]]> 3314 The D.C. Area Comics Scene for May 24 https://www.comicsgirl.com/2012/05/24/the-d-c-area-comics-scene-for-may-24/ Thu, 24 May 2012 12:00:07 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=3144
Ben Claassen III's display at Artomatic in Arlington, Va.

News, interviews and reviews:

Announcements:

Debuts and new issues (etc.):

Kickstarter/Indiegogo:

Upcoming releases:

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.

]]> 3144 Kazu Kibuishi at the National Book Festival https://www.comicsgirl.com/2011/09/25/kazu-kibuishi-at-the-national-book-festival/ https://www.comicsgirl.com/2011/09/25/kazu-kibuishi-at-the-national-book-festival/#comments Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:37:44 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=2847
For the first time this year, The National Book Festival had an entire pavilion devoted to graphic novels. The festival has been quite welcoming to comic creators in the past, so this wasn’t necessarily a huge leap. Still, it’s a welcome addition.

And clearly the star of the lineup was Amulet creator Kazu Kibuishi.

Kibuishi opened his talk by saying when he was 3 or 4, his mother had her sights on him becoming a doctor. As a child who already liked drawing, he figured the only chance he’d really get to make cartoons was by doing caricatures of his patients, and that didn’t seem good enough. He expressed his excitement for the Scholastic Book Fair at school, where he’d pick up Garfield collections And sometimes, if they were out, he’d begrudgingly get a Marmaduke one instead (he then jokingly clarified that since this was being recorded, he did want to state Marmaduke is great). He also said he’s delighted that his books are now published through Scholastic and being sold at the same book fairs he loved.

Kibuishi said he didn’t go to art school — as much as he loved drawing and comics, he realized he probably couldn’t make a living at it. So he picked what he thought was a safer bet — filmmaking. He said, basically, film school taught him “to watch movies really well” rather than the actual craft of making movies. Still, even he admits that his film background tends to give his comics a cinematic scope.

After graduating, seeing that his family was facing some financial difficulties, he got a job as a graphic designer. But he decided that wasn’t for him and after turning down a promotion, he landed in animation, including a stint at Disney. His frustrations there (he said he was being paid to not do anything) eventually decided to give comics another try.

Amulet began as a pitch for an animated movie and was inspired by his parents’ financial situation — or as Kibuishi put it, that he, in some ways, had to become his “parents’ parent.” He said that the siblings Emily and Navin are, in a good number of ways, based on his sister and brother.

Since Kibuishi was not able to use any computer-assisted visual aids, he drew for the audience instead as he talked. I know he’s quite used to drawing these characters at this point, but I was amazed at how quickly and casually he was able to do this, especially when his attention was elsewhere.

Kibuishi also talked about his high school teacher that encouraged him to write and that he feels like his training is stronger as a writer and storyteller rather than someone who makes comics.

Kibuishi then turned it over to audience questions (which probably took up about half of his allotted time). Many of the young fans of Amulet had questions, from specific plot points to his inspirations (there were a good number of children in the audience), which I think is great.

I liked his responses to the question of his recommendations for elementary and middle school students interested in drawing and making comics. He said that the technical aspects aren’t as important as just doing it. He said the main problem is trying to find a way to function while doing it (as well as making money) but that at this point, he feels like it’s his job to teach and encourage children to read.

When asked when the fifth book of Amulet was coming out, he pulled out his three-ring binder containing his thumbnails of pages and sketches. He said he’s working on it now. Later, when someone asked how long the series was going to be, he joked that he thought it was going to be 2 books and at this point, it will be over “whenever the story decides it’s over” but probably somewhere between 7 and 10 books. (In any case, we have more Amulet to look forward to.)

He talked a bit about the Flight anthologies he edited. Initially, he had seen other animators and artists in his position and wanted to give them a platform to showcase their works. He also mentioned being inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s comic works (it should come as no surprised to anyone that Kibuishi is inspired by Miyazaki). Even though Flight has ended with volume 8 (which he said was for a variety of reasons, but partially just that anthologies are often hard to sell), the concept will continue in a format for younger readers called Explorer.

A few questions were asked about an Amulet movie and he said a live-action one is in the works with Will Smith’s children in the lead roles. He said he wrote a treatment but understanding how the film industry works, he doesn’t know if they’ll use it. When asked if he wanted to write the script, he said it’s still a possibility but he’s more interested in doing his comics.

Around that point, his time was up and he gave thanks as he began to leave the stage to make way for the next guest.

I am curious, though, what happened with his drawing that he created on stage. I did see two girls excitedly approach the stage and ask about it. I don’t know if they ended up with it but I would love it if they did.

It was a good first year for a dedicated Graphic Novel pavilion at the National Book Festival and I hope it’s back next year. Especially if they continue to bring in creators like Kibuishi.

]]> https://www.comicsgirl.com/2011/09/25/kazu-kibuishi-at-the-national-book-festival/feed/ 2 2847 Things I’m excited about https://www.comicsgirl.com/2009/09/14/things-im-excited-about/ Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:44:19 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=1126 I really did not intend to not write anything for a couple of weeks (but you knew I wasn’t dead since I managed to use Twitter). Things have been busy. Which is a likely story.

And things are about to get busier. It will be a fun fall. Here are the things I’m excited about.

  • Beasts of Burden by Jill Thompson and Evan Dorkin. I’ve loved the shorts in the various Dark Horse Book of … anthologies, and really, I don’t think you can go wrong with this one.

    I really wish I could get up to Bergen Street Comics this weekend for the launch party, but I still think it’s really cool.

  • Small Press Expo. My love for SPX is well-known, but it’s one of my favorite events of the year. I am volunteering again (I think at this point, I’m not allowed to not volunteer) and I’ll be around all weekend. I will have Comicsgirl buttons which I will be more than happy to pass out to anyone who wants one (and probably, people who don’t). I’ll have more SPX stuff next week.
  • Baltimore Comic-Con. I’m still deciding on my travel plans, but it’s probably unlikely I’ll be staying for the Harvey Awards. Still, Baltimore is a cozy con — it’s not so big to be overwhelming and is genuinely focused on comics.
  • I’d probably be excited about Alternative Press Expo if I had gotten it together to go. I mean, I guess anything can happen, but I don’t think I’m going to find an abundance of money lying around for a plane ticket any time soon.
  • Not so much comics, but Crafty Bastards on Oct. 3 is always enjoyable. There’s also the National Book Festival on Sept. 26 (which overlaps with SPX). There are a few writers who may be of interest to comic book fans. But you should be going to SPX.

    • There are a few other things I’m working on and we’ll see what comes of them. But I’m definitely looking forward to all of this. Fun will be had.

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