Weekly Sunday Comix Jam (2008-03-30)

Starting today, there will be a posting every Sunday of one of our groups many Jam comics, which have been taken out from the Sunday Comix archives and polished up (just a bit) for your reading pleasure. Here's the first one:

Click on image to enlarge.

What is an "arform?"

From About.com Spotlight: Edward Steichen, born on this date in 1879, was a pictorialist photographer at a time when photography was not universally respected as an art form. Steichen worked with his close friend, Alfred Stieglitz, to found Photo-Secession, a group that strived to have photography recognized as a fine art. As curator of NY's Museum of Modern Art, Steichen created the Family of Man exhibition. The collection of 503 photos taken by some 270 photographers in 68 countries was a depiction of the human experience. It was turned into a book, with a forward written by Steichen's brother-in-law, Carl Sandburg.

Quote: "Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man." — Edward Steichen

I know this has nothing to do with comics (so to speak), but when I read blurbs like the one above, it gives me hope for the future of comics (as perceived by the mainstream culture). Maybe Sunday Comix will one day be written about in the same light as Photo-Secession... who knows?

Mid-Ohio-Con Acquired By GCX Holdings

Mid-Ohio-Con Acquired By GCX Holdings Mid-Ohio-Con 2008 Scheduled For October 4th-5th R.A.P. Promotions, Inc. announced that it has reached an agreement to sell Mid-Ohio-Con to GCX Holdings LLC. Now entering its 28th consecutive year, Mid-Ohio-Con is one of America's longest running and most successful pop culture conventions. Every year, Mid-Ohio-Con brings fans of all ages together with leading comic book writers and artists, film and television creators and stars, as well as publishers and retailers from across the nation. “I am delighted to have reached an agreement to sell Mid-Ohio-Con to GCX Holdings”, said Roger A. Price, President of R.A.P. Promotions and founder of Mid-Ohio-Con. “I know that the GCX team is excited about the opportunity to continue the tradition of Mid-Ohio-Con and I’m looking forward to working with them as we get underway with the planning and execution of the 2008 event. We have selected the weekend of October 4th–5th for Mid-Ohio-Con 2008 and we will be reaching out to invite guests, exhibitors and sponsors shortly.” “Mid-Ohio-Con is a fantastic event with a unique heritage and a loyal base of fans that have enjoyed this convention year after year,” said James H. Henry, Managing Director of GCX Holdings. “We are committed to staying true to the things that have made Mid-Ohio-Con successful in the past while looking for opportunities to further grow the event over time. We are particularly pleased that Rog has agreed to stay on to work with us since his insight, knowledge and relationships are second to none and will be invaluable to us in the future.” Mid-Ohio-Con 2008 will be held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center at 400 North High Street in Columbus, OH. The event will be held in Exhibit Hall E and several adjoining panel rooms which will offer more than 70,000 sq. ft. of space for exhibitors, panels and other activities. As the winner of multiple Prime Site and Inner Circle Awards, this state-of-the art facility has become one of North America’s most popular sites for local, state, regional and national groups and organizations. Contacts:

James H. Henry GCX Holdings LLC jhenry@gcxholdings.com

Roger A. Price R.A.P. Promotions, Inc. conman@midohiocon.com

A BONE Film In The Works?

The Hollywood Reporter announced that Warner Bros. has picked up rights to "Bone," the acclaimed independent comic book series from artist Jeff Smith. The series ran irregularly from 1991-2004 through Smith's publishing company Cartoon Books as a black & white comic. Scholastic has been publishing the collected stories in full color graphic novel format since 2005, selling more than 1 million copies so far.

Smith, who will executive produce, was influenced by classic cartoonists Walt Kelly, Charles Schultz and Will Eisner on the series, which won several comic industry awards. Smith went on to become a noted artist whose work will be exhibited in the spring at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Ohio.

A decision on what kind of format "Bone" should take -- live-action or animated or both -- will be based on filmmaker meetings.

An animated version was in development at Nickelodeon Films back in the `90s but fell through, partly because Smith was displeased that the studio was aiming it for kids and wanted the film to include pop songs.

Toonseum Events Update

Opening in March at ToonSeum in the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

March 8th-April 26th
Inside Peanuts: The Life and Art of Charles M. Schulz

Organized by the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, Santa Rosa California
Sponsored by Clearview Credit Union
Special appearance by Snoopy on April 12th and 13th!



--::--

With guest appearance by:
Dan Piraro, Creator of Bizarro!

Saturday, March 15
A special visit and performance from nationally acclaimed creator of the comic Bizarro, Dan Piraro!

Dan will be visiting the ToonSeum for a special performance at 2pm on Saturday March 15th. He will be signing his book after the performance. Be sure to catch Dan in a rare performance for the whole family. Performance is included with paid admission to the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.

ToonSeum is located at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, 10 Children’s Way, Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Three for Three (Almost)

As stated before, Spring 2008 marks the return of three living legends in comic book self publishing and within the span of one week, I've read Jeff Smith's RASL, Dave Sim's Judenhass and Terry Moore's Echo (I still have to wait until April to read Sim's Glamourpuss). I know there's some ruffled feathers between Sim & Smith (that's putting mildly), I don't have any idea how things are between Sim & Moore (Terry, not Alan) and I know things are cool between Moore & Smith (being as Terry's coming to Columbus in May to help celebrate Jeff Smith's BONE exhibit at the Wex Center), I just thgought I'd share a bit of my appreciation for their return (and share the above slideshow).

Every Day is Sunday Comix Day (in March)

Chuck Moore just emailed me pointing out that his Comic Related news site has named Sunday Comix March's Site of the Month! I'll have to buy him a Sundae when I see him at Gem City Comic Con next month.

Knock one down, set another one up

Gem City Comic Con is just one month away! Taking place in Dayton Ohio on April 6th from 10 AM to 5 PM, this year's show marks the third year for the event. The show is sponsored by Fearless Readers Comic shop in Dayton and will be housed in the Wright State University Student Union (directions) and admission is only $3 for adults, $2 for students and kids under 10 get in free with a paying adult.

Announced guest for this year's show include Billy Tan, Marv Wolfman, Chad Lambert, Sean Forney, Eric Adams, David Aikins, Max Ink, Dan Davis, Andy Bennett, Matt Feazell, Pam Bliss, Tony Moran, Dara Naraghi and many others.

The good people at Bell Book and Comic are going to host the following GCCC Gaming Tournaments: Magic the Gathering tournament (Booster Draft), a Heroclix sealed event and a UFS tournament. There will also be side events as well as game demos. Details about the prizes and game specifics will be announce on their website. Also check out info on their VIP TICKET PACKAGE which provides early entrance into the show and a slew of goodies.

SPACE Coverage

I just wanted to quickly say thanks to all the attendees, exhibitors and fellow Sunday Comixers who came to this year's SPACE. There's a slew of coverage & photos from the show at the Comic Related site and I posted a more detailed report of my own SPACE experience on my personal blog. Next year's show is slated for April 18 & 19, 2009.